Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith,
and Loving the Lord’s Appearing
In Order to Receive the Reward of Christ As the Crown of Righteousness
Message Four
Loving the Lord’s Appearing by Maintaining Our Love for Him
according to the Intrinsic Significance of Song of Songs
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
S. S. 1:2-4 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savor of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee: the King hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
8:14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
Word of Appetizer
What is the theme of the Song of Songs?
The Song of Songs is a poem, and its theme is the history of love in an excellent marriage, revealing the progressive experience of individual believers in their love relationship with Christ, preparing His bride in six main stages.
As the conclusion of this poetic book, the bride of Christ prays for her Bridegroom to return quickly in His resurrection power (the gazelles and young deer) to establish His sweet and beautiful kingdom (the mountains of spices) that will fill the whole earth.
Spiritual Burden
When the Lord comes again, faith will be turned to sight, praise will be replaced by prayer, and love will reach a perfect state without any shadow. We will be able to serve Him without any sin in the presence of the Lord. What a day this will be! Lord Jesus, come quickly!
As the conclusion of this poetic book, the bride of Christ prays for her Bridegroom to return quickly in His resurrection power (the gazelles and young deer) to establish His sweet and beautiful kingdom (the mountains of spices) that will fill the whole earth.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Song of Songs is a poem, and its theme is the history of love in an excellent marriage, revealing the progressive experience of individual believers in their love relationship with Christ, preparing His bride in six main stages.
As the conclusion of this poetic book, the bride of Christ prays for her Bridegroom to return quickly in His resurrection power (the gazelles and young deer) to establish His sweet and beautiful kingdom (the mountains of spices) that will fill the whole earth.
The Experience of Life
We who love Christ can only be one with the cross of Christ and be conformed to His death (14-15) through the resurrection power, not through our own natural life; we participate in and experience the resurrection of Christ in the mingling spirit, which enables us to be one with the cross, be saved from ourselves, and be transformed into a new man in God’s new creation to build up the living Body of Christ, fulfilling God’s economy.
Practice and Application
Sharing in the Lord’s work is working together with the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:1a); in order to work together with the Lord, we need to be mature in life, we need to be one with the Lord, and our work must also be for His Body; our work must be for the whole world; this is what Paul did, he established churches in many places, and then worked to bring the churches in many places into the full realization of the Body of Christ.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The Song of Songs unveils the stages of progress in the individual believer’s loving fellowship with Christ (Song 1:2-4)
(Please illustrate that the six stages of this progress.)
T2 We need daily personal and intimate contact with the Lord (Song 1:2-4)
(Please illustrate that with experience how after we receive Christ as life, we must have a very personal pursuit of Christ.)
Day 2
T1 Christ is resurrected; he has overcome all difficulties and obstacles (Song 2:8-9)
(Why is it said that nothing is high enough or great enough to hinder Christ?)
T2 In the second stage, Christ calls his spouse to be one with the cross (Song 2:8-9, 14)
(Please illustrate that with experience how it is not easy for man to come out of introspection.)
Day 3
T1 To live in ascension is to live in our spirit all the time (Song 3:6, Rom. 8:4)
(Please illustrate that how in the experience of the third stage, Christ’s spouse is called to live in ascension as a new creation in resurrection.)
T2 Solomon made a palanquin of the wood of lebanon (Song 3:6)
(Please illustrate that the two aspects of the palanquin: the outward structure and the inward adornment.)
Day 4
T1 The Shulammite becomes the same as Solomon in life, nature, expression, and function (Song 6:13, 2 Cor. 3:18)
(Please illustrate that how the Bible repeatedly tells us that God wants to be one with us and make us one with Him.)
T2 To share in the Lord’s work is not to work for the Lord but to work with Him (Song 7:11)
(Please illustrate that how to work with the Lord, we must be mature in life.)
Day 5
T1 Only the Lord can prepare us to be raptured (Song 8:5-6)
(Please illustrate that how the preparation for rapture is to be kept away from the world by the Beloved until the Lord comes to receive us.)
T2 All depends on God and His keeping power (Song 8:7)
(Please illustrate that how all spiritual edification is not sufficient to help a person continue until the Lord Jesus comes again.)
Day 6
T1 The Spouse’s prayer is the conclusion of the poetic book of Song of Songs (Song 8:14, Rev. 22:20)
(Please illustrate that how this, like the prayer of John, the lover of Christ, is a revelation of God’s eternal economy concerning Christ and the church in His divine love.)
T2 The book of Song of Songs twice speaks of the Lord’s coming as “like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains” (Song 8:14, 2:17)
(Please illustrate that how these two references do not point to the same thing.)