 Good evening, and thank you for joining us tonight. In a moment, we will go to our study. You will see that we will not have a bulletin, but we'll go directly to our teaching and then we'll conclude the teaching with a few words of encouragement to you who are viewing our services online. Please take the opportunity of letting us know that you're watching, and if you desire to give an offering, you can do so online. If you're watching us via computer, click on the give button in the upper right corner of your screen. If you're watching on your mobile device or iPad, click give under the menu button. If this is your first time giving digitally, follow the instruction under four ways to give to process your gift. You can also mail your checks to 1-2-2-0-5 North Pipeline Avenue, Chino, California 91710, and remember, you can still come in and use the kiosks we have in the foyer that are set up to process gifts, or you can place your gift in an envelope and hand it to one of our receptionists in the foyer. Thank you, and with that, let's get into the teaching. Let's open our Bibles to the song of Solomon. I'll give you a few minutes to find that book. Song of Solomon. Because we're going to start a series in song of Solomon, and we'll begin today by looking at chapter chapter one, and we'll be covering verses one through eight. So as you're looking for song of Solomon, a couple of announcements tonight, we begin a new series in our evening service. We meet here for our evening service at five o'clock tonight, and I'm going to be doing a series on spiritual warfare. So I invite you to be with us because all of you who are believers in Jesus Christ are presently involved in spiritual warfare, and Paul gives to us great insight into the weapons that God has given to us in order that we might do all and that we ultimately would stand victorious. And so we'll begin tonight by looking at Ephesians chapter six, verses 10 through 13, and we're going to actually begin by looking at the origin and fall of Satan. And then we're going to pick up in Ephesians six next week and following, looking at each item of weapons that God has given to us individually. I invite you to be with us tonight as we gather for our evening service at five o'clock and as we begin our series on spiritual warfare. Then on Wednesday, I'd also encourage you if you're able to be with us, to be with us on Wednesday as we continue our study in the Gospel of John. We're in chapter seven this upcoming Wednesday, and I'd encourage you to read that chapter and come prepared for the study. That's John chapter seven on Wednesday night. And then finally, this upcoming Friday at 430, I've been asked to invite you to my daughter Anna's wedding. My daughter's getting married this upcoming Friday here in the church and the ceremonies at 430. If you could be with us, we'd love to have you as our guests. She was real awkward about extending an invitation because not everybody's going to be able to go to the reception afterwards and she was awkward about that and as she should because I'm paying for the reception. But you know, so you're not invited. No, but if you'd like to, but I'd love to have you join in the celebration of my daughter and Gabe, her fiance, soon to be Vic's husband. This upcoming Friday, I'd love to have you with us. First service, I was really emotional sharing that. Second service, you get a little harder. Third service, it's a party. I mean, I don't know what to say. It's kind of like sin, it hardens you. But today, we're going to be looking at Song of Solomon. It's actually Song of Songs and you'll see in just a moment why that's referred to in that way. And what I wanted to do is I wanted to take us through a series in this particular book. I've never taught this book to the entire congregation. I have two years ago, I taught this book to our Monday night study that we have. It was for the 18 to 35 year olds. And I've been thinking about teaching it to the entire church. And so this is the first time in all the years I've been teaching that I've ever taught this book to the entire congregation. And it's an interesting, interesting book. It speaks concerning romance and love. And that's what we'll be looking at as we go through this particular book that is called the Song of Songs or the Song of Solomon. So let's begin reading together in chapter one. We'll begin reading at verse one. I'll read to verse eight. We'll get into our study. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. For your love is better than wine. Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointment poured forth. Therefore the virgins love you. Lead me away. We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad in rejoicing you. We will remember your love more than wine. Brightly do they love you. I'm dark but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedah, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not look upon me because I am dark because the sun has tanned me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. Tell me, O you whom I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions? If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock and feed your little goats beside the shepherd's tents. What does that mean? I've got a clue. No, I'll share with you some things as we go through this. But let's begin by simply saying this. This book is normally referred to as the Song of Solomon. Actually, it is literally the Song of Songs because in Hebrew, those are the first two words of chapter 1 verse 1, Song of Songs. But it's called the Song of Songs because even as it says in verse 1, the Song of Songs, which is Solomon, therefore it's really the Song of Songs but also called the Song of Solomon. And calling it the Song of Solomon actually gives more sense to the entire book. You see, when you read your Bible and you look at First Kings chapter 4 verse 32, in that scripture it states that Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs and he wrote 1,000 in five songs. And Solomon is described in the Bible as having wisdom and understanding. And he's spoken up as having a heart that is so large it's really beyond understanding. You see that in First Kings 429. So you could see that this was a man who was prolific in his writing, 3,000 proverbs, 1,000 and five songs. But this is what they call his greatest hit. This was his Song of Songs. This is a song above all songs. Now, when you look at the life of Solomon, you'll notice that that he actually wrote three books that you find in the Bible. Solomon wrote the book of proverbs. He wrote Ecclesiastes as well as Song of Songs. The Song of Songs was written somewhere around 965 years before Christ. So it's said that he wrote proverbs in his middle age. He wrote Ecclesiastes when he was an old man, but he wrote Song of Songs when he was a young man. And this is a book that can be looked at as the premier book relating to what is called romantic love. This is a book that is a love story, a love story that has two main characters. You have Solomon. Solomon was a king of Israel and his kingship is mentioned five times. It's mentioned in chapter 1 verse 4, chapter 1 verse 12, chapter 3 verse 9, chapter 3 verse 11, as well as chapter 7 verse 5. So you have one character, the king by the name of Solomon. But you also have another character, a woman who is simply referred to as the Shulamite. The reason she's called a Shulamite is because she's in a region in the lowest portion of Galilee and therefore she was from that region and she was a Shulamite. Some believe that her family was employed by Solomon. You see a hint of that in chapter 8 verse 11, but that's conjecture. What this is though is a love song. It's a love song that exalts the purity of marital love and it's a love song that exalts true romance. And when it's viewed from the position of being a love song, you get great practical understanding. Now somebody would say, why should we spend some time looking at this kind of book? Aren't people able to instinctively just determine who it is that they're going to marry? And a lot of people think that they think, well, yeah, you know, I don't need any instruction. I don't need any encouragement. I know how to choose the right person to marry and all of that. There are those who believe in something called love at first sight. I would wonder how many, though I won't ask you to raise your hand, I would wonder how many in this room actually believe in such a concept, love at first sight. You know, I was seated there in the restaurant and the door opened up and there she was, you know, floating across slowly with crystal slippers. Some people believe in love at first sight. Some are openly, oh, yes, man, the minute I saw her, I was in love with her. Well, it's interesting. There was a national survey that was actually taken that surveyed a man and some 48% of the men said that they believe in love at first sight. Interesting to me. 48% of men surveyed in this national survey say that they believe in love at first sight. But when they were questioned deeper concerning what they mean by love at first sight, something interesting was found out. What in reality was happening was this. Within the first few minutes of meeting a woman, they are actually wondering if they would like to sleep with that woman. And so that's what they were referring to as love at first sight. In reality, what the men were actually speaking about was physical attraction. And it's a fact that men are obviously attracted visually. And so it's easy for a man to think, man, she's a doll. I'm in love with her. But in reality, that's not what's going on at all. And so the fact is our culture is so absolutely caught up with the idea of romance that it pervades everything. And we could be filled with that without even realizing it. We can have the sense of romance that the culture gives. And we're not even aware that we have that. My wife Marie and I on occasion, she doesn't really watch TV, but on occasion, this occurs. I don't know if you know this or not. I've never really mentioned it to you. I probably should say this, you know, I'm a surfer. People don't know I'm a surfer. I'm a channel surfer. You know, I have a lot of channel surfers. Can I get an amen? I'm a channel surfer. You know, and I'll sit there with remote, you know, and I'll just surf. And Marie doesn't really watch TV very much, but she'll be seated next to me and she'll have the newspaper in front of her. And she's reading that or a magazine while I'm surfing. And then all of a sudden, I'll hit this lifetime movie. And you hear this woman saying, oh, I don't know. He's so mean to me. Oh, yeah, you ought to kill him. You'll do it at the end of the movie. Because that's all you ever see on lifetime. Some angry woman killing all the men. It's true. It's true. They're always anyway. So man, the minute Marie hears that woman's voice, there goes the newspaper. It comes down and she's looking and I'm just pushing the button. I'm getting out of here. I'm going to watch this. Let's see some UFC fighters. I'm going to watch this. But that's the way it is. Love, you know, the idea of love, the notion of romantic love, it grabs people. And that's why you have these romance novels. You know, that's why you have these songs, so many songs that are simply what you used to call love songs. So though I do feel a sense of sorrow for a younger generation because much of the songs that are popular today couldn't in any way, shape or form be really be called the love song. You know, in many ways, they're just angry songs and all. But a lot of the songs will speak about love. A lot of the books that are sold love, you watch TV and women get and men too, unfortunately, human beings get addicted to soap operas. And you go to the movies and they always have this idea of romance. And the funny thing about it or sad as you define it really is that casual sex that leads to love is the overall theme of what is called romance today. It's a casual sexual encounter. And then later on, they discover they can care for each other and you see that all the time. And so what happens is there's a definition for romance that is created that actually produces unrealistic expectations. And we end up in relationships that are driven by hormones or wishful thinking and they don't work out and we get hurt. And some people never learned from their past mistakes. So they get into what are called serial relationships, one relationship after another, and they never even heal after the failed one they just got out of. And they move right into the next one with this idea that they're going to find the one, the one. Sometimes they think that the one is going to be at a club, the one is going to be at a bar, the one is going to be where they work out. They look for the one and they want this individual in their life. And so they have a desire for romance. Well, we need to ask ourselves a question, even as we begin this study. And the question is this, what is attractive to you? What is it about a person of the opposite sex that you find to be most appealing? Obviously physical attraction is fine. And it's normally the first thing that usually begins a relationship. But there has to be a sense of this person being somebody you could spend more time with just because somebody may be good looking or beautiful doesn't mean that we can actually have a relationship. But we do admit and understand that physical attraction is something that is generally one of the very first, if not the very first thing that begins a romantic relationship. Notice in verse two how this woman referred to as the Shulamite. Notice what she says. She's speaking of Solomon and she says, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for your love is better than wine. And so this is a physical attraction. This is something that causes her to have an attraction. There's something about this person Solomon that attracts her and that's why she says, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. I'm attracted to this man. Now Solomon obviously was an extremely handsome man. Solomon was a very handsome man. When you read the Bible and the Bible speaks of his father David, the Bible says that David was an extremely handsome man as is true for all David's. No, and he was, he says this somewhere in there. I'm sure it does. He was an extremely handsome man and nobody would argue that Bathsheba was not beautiful because when David was there looking down at her bathing, he was captivated by her beauty. She was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. David was absolutely a handsome man. They had a son named Solomon together. There's no doubt that Solomon was quite a home. This was a very handsome, handsome man. And so the Shulamite sees him and has an attraction. I want him to kiss me is what she's saying. He is so, so handsome and so attractive. She says his kisses will intoxicate me. So she wants him to kiss her. She actually longs for him to do so. Now obviously there's nothing wrong with kissing. But there are a whole lot of people who seem to make it into some kind of sport. Kissing on the first date isn't even thought about anymore. It's just a natural thing to do. You kiss them goodbye. Kiss them good night, kiss her good night. You don't even think about it. I'm one of these people who really caution against starting relationships, dating relationships on a physical level. I caution singles to be careful because when you begin to kiss, you're also going to begin to desire other things. That's just a bottom line fact. Women and men are still different in one thing. A lot of things. But one thing and that is a woman very often can be kissed simply because she enjoys being kissed. Very often a man kisses because it's first step to something else. It isn't because he just feels like kissing her lips. It's because that's a step in intimacy that he's hoping is going to move beyond that to other things. That's how men think. That's how men have always thought. Now, of course, you younger ladies are being taught today that you're really a man. You just built differently. You're taught that. I mean, there's a commercial. I happen to, I watch commercials not because I like them. I actually watch commercials because I analyze them. And I was watching one recently. All of us have seen this commercial. I forget. I don't even know what it's for. Frankly, I was so bothered by it where there's a football game going on. Some guys going to run up the middle and there are two guys standing on the sidelines and they're wearing their jeans and their t-shirts and they have a drink in their hands, probably a beer. And here comes this girl and she stands like a guy and she's leaning. She's got her beer and she's dressed like a guy or a t-shirt and her jeans on. Hey, what's going on here? And I look at that and it turns me off like nothing like very few things do. I think this girl thinks she's a guy. Somebody taught her she's a guy and these guys are talking to her like she's got. Now maybe that's the way things are today and I'm so old. I just don't know that. But there's just something about that that just turns me off. Women who are being taught that they're like men and they are men. They're not men at all. And the fact of the matter is that women can still allow a guy to kiss her and she doesn't necessarily get anything out of it, but the guy does. And within a short time he's bored with kissing, I guarantee you. And so be very careful in your dating relationship, those of you who are single, those of you unmarried, that you don't just enter into physicality simply because you think it's normal and part of dating. It is not necessarily that way. And just because somebody bought you a meal or took you to a movie doesn't mean you owe them something after the date. You don't. And so in the case of the Shulamite, she sees him. She's very attracted to him. She'd even like him to kiss her, but there are other things going on that you're going to see in just a moment. Notice how she says in verse three, because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointment poured forth. Therefore the virgins love you. And so as she's looking at him, she's saying, you know, not only are you attractive, you even smell good. You have an ointment, it's a fragrance and you smell good. This indicates that he's clean and he takes care of his appearance and that's a pretty good hint. If you're unmarried guys, take a bath. You'll probably have a date or two after the first one. Brushing your teeth is a good habit. And wearing deodorant, that helps. I had a guy in the army who bunked above me who didn't wear deodorant. He did not wear deodorant. It's kind of like Lazarus, you know, he stinks. And I remember telling him, I finally said, listen, you know, deodorant is your friend. Put some on. And his answer to me was, no, I'll get into habit. He says, once you put on deodorant, you have to do it as a habit. This is a good habit. That's not a bad habit. Get into the habit, man. Get addicted, but do it. You will not have any dates, I promise you. He started dating a girl and before you know it, he wore cologne and he wore deodorant. He got the message. Well, she's saying his fragrance is beautiful. And she's speaking of the fact that this is a man who's obviously very attractive and cares for himself. But I want you to notice something that goes deeper than that in verse three. She says to him, your name is Ointment Horde Ford. Now that's something that she finds attractive beyond his physicality because this is a man who is handsome in physical appearance, but it is overshadowed by his reputation. Your name is Ointment. What seems to be attractive to her is his character. You see, in Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verse one, it says a good name is better than precious Ointment. What she's saying is not just that he bathes and brushes his teeth, that he puts on Ointment. During that day, the men would not bathe as often as we do today. And because of the just the climate, they would actually put a fragrant Ointment on them to keep the skin from drying out. And it also hid the odors, the natural odors and all that he didn't find to be attractive. She appreciates that, but she goes deeper than that. And that's really what I want to point out because not only did she find him attractive, but there was something deeper than his simple, the way he looks and how handsome he is to her. And that is that this man has character. This is a man of character. This is a man with a reputation. And notice how she says, therefore, the virgins love you. Now that's given us some insight because his character is revealed because he could be trusted with a woman's purity. His character is of such nature that he can be trusted with a woman's purity. In some dating relationships when the man finds that the girl he's with is pure, then to take her purity becomes a prize for him. He actually goes after her. He sees her virtue as a prize to be won. What she's saying is Solomon is a gentleman. He treats women the way they ought to be, to be treated as ladies. And that is a very attractive thing. I have a granddaughter named Sophie who's soon to turn four. She's three years old at the moment. Just this week, we were walking together and we came to a door and she stopped. And you've got a picture. She's just a little thing, three years old. She stops at the door and she looks up at me and she says to me, men open doors for ladies. I love it. I loved it. I said, absolutely. Don't you forget that when you get older, baby? Actually, yes. And when you get older, you remember what you just said, baby girl, because that is right. Gentlemen open doors for ladies. That's right, baby. You see, today there are some ladies who actually take insult in that. I open the door for women all the time, of course. But some of you ladies have perhaps seen this. A man opens a door and a woman just barges through. They don't even turn and say, thank you. They just expect it. They just walk through. I'm used to that. I don't even expect anything to be said. Because 99% of the women who walked through the door, don't even notice you opened it. But I remember hearing of one man who opened the door for a woman. The woman stops at the door and looks at the man and says, you don't have to open the door because I'm a lady. And he looked back at her and he said, I didn't open the door because you're a lady. I opened the door because I'm a gentleman. And there's this mentality that we need to have. And you really ought to have that mentality. And so this woman sees this man as somebody who actually knows how to treat a lady, how to treat her. And she has character so much so that he's not hitting on her girlfriends, the virgins trust you. You're a man that actually can be trusted. And she loves not only the fact that he's extremely handsome. He cares for himself, but he's got a reputation and the reputation is very good. So if you want a relationship that is strong, it's not just a physical attraction. It's not just the outward appearance. Look for somebody who has character. The Bible in Proverbs 31 30 says charm is deceitful, beauty is passing. But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Outer beauty is not all there is to it. Look for character. Now I wonder how many of you in this room have ever heard a Jimmy Soul. Anybody raise your hand. I'd love to see Jimmy Soul. Anybody. Nobody, or Jimmy, he's upset. You've never heard a Jimmy Soul. Do you recognize these words? If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife. So from my personal point of view, get an ugly girl to marry you. Don't let your friends say you have no taste. Go ahead and marry anyway. Though her face is ugly, her eyes don't match. Take it from me. She's a better catch. He got that right out of the Bible. Character. Character matters. Character always matters. Beauty fades. A man's handsome, maybe nobody, it fades. I had an uncle whom I loved very much. And I only knew him as an older man. I knew him when he was in his late 60s, and I was just a little boy. And, you know, he had little pot belly and, you know, he had balded and all. I loved him very, very much. Not a very attractive man, but one day he, and I were talking, and he actually pulled a picture out of him, of him, this picture of him, pulled it out to show me it was when he was a young man in World War I, and he was a, he was a marine, and he was in his uniform. And my uncle Louis was a very handsome man when he was a young man. But I didn't know him as a handsome man, as an older man, because age does what age does. And so if you're looking right now for just the outside, just remember, gravity happens to everybody. And that 44 inch chest becomes a 46 inch waist, I tell you. That just does what it does. So there's got to be something greater than that, I promise you. So there's the physical and there's the spiritual, the character. And the character element is, is because in New Testament terms, it's because, because our character is formed through our relationship with Jesus Christ, our love for his word and the work of his Holy Spirit. And, and we ought to be looking in relationships to those who love the Lord. And not, you're not going to find the one when you go to a, to a club, you're not going to find the one when you go to a bar, you're not going to find them there. You're going to normally find them where the Lord is worshiped. And so we need to have a relationship with God. And, and Solomon really was somebody of character that she could trust in. And that's why, again, she says, all the virgins love you. This is a person with such a great reputation that solid Christians would love to date them. Now, again, there's something else here. His reputation was good. She says like ointment. The ointment she's talking about is actually made out of olive oil. And olive oil is the result of olives that are being pressed. And so when you put the olives in the pits in and they're pressed, the olive oil comes out, especially from the center, especially from the pit. That's where the beautiful olive oil comes out. And so what you're really dealing with this character in which he speaks concerning his, his character being like oil and the oil, that ointment being made out of olive oil, then you realize that his character is revealed and the way his character is revealed is under pressure. You can be really cool and have a real cool character and oh, you know, have the christian ease down, you know, praise the Lord. Oh, yeah, let's pray. You can have that attitude in church. But when you begin to date somebody and you see them going through pressure within the first few dates, you may see them under pressure, you get an idea what they're really like. And if this person's got a bad temper, if this person's dominating, if this is a person that is a controller, if this is a person who is, is pushy, this person has a bad, you know, kind of a sullen kind of a upset attitude or is depressed all the time. Ask yourself, that's really what you want to be hooked up with for the rest of your life. Because if you're dating, you don't, you don't need to put up with that. It's interesting in verse four how it says lead me away. This is a one, when it says lead me away, this is the one that you would love bringing home to meet the family. This is the one that you want to be seen with at church. This is the one that you're blessed to be asked out by. This is somebody that you're not kind of like saying, I'll see you at church and you kind of sit next to them, but not really. This is, you know, you put your Bible between you and your whatever, so you're not, so people don't know you're together. You know, this is a person that you're going to take them home to meet mom and dad to go through that gauntlet. You bring them on home and dad looks at them and says to them, so who are you? What are you doing with my girl? Oh, I just want to take your girl out. Oh really? Why? Well, because I like her. How do you know? You don't even know her. If you knew her, you wouldn't like her. Yeah, that's my baby. It's my girl. I don't mind going back to prison. You know, you bring them home to meet daddy and mama. That's the kind of person, you know, you want to bring a good person. You want to bring somebody with character. You want to bring somebody who has not that charm, because I can tell you, you know, especially as an older guy now, but even, you know, you know, there's an old saying, it takes a con to know a con. You know, and I lived a life of a liar for a long time, so I can pretty much smell out lies pretty easily. And I know when they're lying to me. And I've, you know, I've met the guys, you know, who won't look you in the eye when you shake their hands, but that little thing, you know, hold on to them, pull them closer. Anybody there? You know, you want the guy who's going to date your girl or you want the girl who's with your son to be somebody who's got character. And when your daughter brings home that guy or your son brings home that girl and says, I want you to marry, I want to meet this person I care about. You want to have a connection with them. You really do. My daughter Anna, when she told us that she was dating a young man named Gabe, Gabriel, we, I said, well, great, let's, you know, let's take him out for dinner. And so Marie and I took Gabe and Anna out, had a meal with them. And he, you know, he's a real quiet kind of guy. And he was sitting across the table from us and he's directly in front of me, you know, honest to my left and Marie's to my right and Gabe's in my sights. And I said to him, are you nervous? He looks at me. He's a very confident man, very confident young man. He goes, no, I'm not. I said, yes, you are. He said, yes, you are. I said, I'll tell you why because when I met my wife's dad, I was nervous. I said, you're nervous. I said, that's okay. I understand because he needed to be nervous because I'm one of these dads who scrutinizes. I look very closely at that person. I don't, I don't make the decision for my daughter. My daughter needs to choose who the Lord has given to her. That's her responsibility, but I'm the father. I, I want to have somebody who's going to be with my daughter who's going to treat her the way she ought to be treated. That's what dads normally do. That's how we are. And, and he passed the test with flying colors quite, quite honestly. And so there's that sense that this is a person that can go through this and the scrutiny and actually come out shining it. And that's what it was like there. This one is the one that you'd bring home. Now notice how it says in verse four, the king has brought me into his chambers. This can be translated, may the king draw me into his chambers. In other words, in her heart, she desires to be close to him and to be loved by him, even to marry him. Well, going on in verse five, I am dark but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Gadar, like the curtains of Solomon. The tents were made of black wool, the, the, the tents she's speaking of, the tents of Gadar. It was black wool. Solomon's curtains would be made of a deep purple. What she's saying is, and I want you to notice in verse five, she's simply saying, I am dark but lovely. She is a woman who doesn't need constant attention. She doesn't need to be told how beautiful she was, because she was aware of that. You know, not all men are capable of communicating these kinds of things. This is a woman who's self-aware. Some of you ladies have a husband or a boyfriend who may be very natural at this. He's able to look at you and say, you look, you look beautiful today. You know, and, and he may say it so easy that you begin to think, is that just something you say? You know, and there are other guys who, you know, you're with and they don't even notice. They don't, you know, you may spend an hour and a half putting on your eye makeup. And, and you come out and it's, every eyelash is perfect. And he says to you, let's go. He doesn't even notice. There are guys like that. You know that, don't you? Some of you are married to, that's the way we are. That's men, you know, and, and, and there's nothing wrong with that. But that's the way a lot of us are. And this was a woman who was saying, I'm dark and she's got dark from the sun. She actually was, by her brother's told, you need to work out in the fields. And at that time, the woman would not necessarily work out in the fields because she didn't want to be tanned by the sun. But this is a woman who was under authority. She was under the right authority, authority of her family. She did that, which was the proper thing to do in her culture during her time. And she's simply saying, my dark skin came as a result of me actually following the authority that I've been placed under, which I have to tell you is very attractive to a man, especially the husband, to have a wife who is under proper God given authority is such a blessing. So her character is revealed by her submission to authority. This is a hardworking woman under proper authority. Now in verse seven, tell me, oh, you whom I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself? Notice that phrase as one who veils herself by the flock, flocks of your companions. Why should I be as one who veils herself? Now, when you read that, that may not make any sense to you at all until you know the culture once again. In Solomon's time, the women who veiled themselves at noon were prostitutes. Why should I be as one who veils herself? He said, where you make it rest at noon, why should I be? She's saying, I have character. That's what she's saying. She's saying, I'm not one who compromises. She was not a woman who was willing to compromise her walk just to be married. She didn't compromise. Someone says, how do I know when I'm ready to be married? Well, you're ready when you do not have to make compromises in your relationship to God. You're ready when you do not have to lower the bar just because you begin to think you're getting older and you're never going to be able to get married. You see, if you're being tempted or pressured to do something you know is wrong, don't compromise. Don't compromise yourself so that you might keep somebody because you're in hopes that that person is going to marry you, especially when you begin to compromise your walk with the Lord and to do things that you ought not to do. There's an old saying that I think is still used. Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free? And there are guys who actually live by that. Why would I get into a marital relationship and have the physicality of it when I don't need to be married to have that? And so don't compromise. There are guys who actually will use scripture to try and convince women that it's okay to have physical relations with them. I have ministered in this church many years ago to a woman who went through that with somebody who was a wolf who came in and used scripture to convince her that it was okay for her to involve herself in a physical relationship with him. Don't compromise. If you're interested in a guy or in a woman, if you're a man and you're interested in a woman, don't go out with them and spend time with them and get romantically involved with them if they make fun of your walk with God. Don't compromise if they make fun of your friends and relationship you have with them and your walk with God with them. If you've got somebody that is making fun of your church or tells you you read the Bible too much or you're serving too much, that's really not a good relationship to have. What you need is someone who builds you up not tears you down. You see, you're ready for marriage when you're not anxious for marriage and are willing to live as a single person. I've told the story before, it bears repetition here, how that when Marie and I met, well, I had prayed and I had asked the Lord, I had said, God, put me to sleep to my desires. And then I was teaching a Bible study. I said, I just want to do your will. So I was teaching a Bible study. My brother invited a young woman named Marie and that's how I met her. And a couple months later, that's how we began dating. And so I've mentioned that story many times in this church, how that I had said, put me to sleep to my desires. And then the Lord brought me Marie even as he brought Eve to Adam. Well, my son Joseph has heard that since he was a little boy. And and he walked up to me one day and he said, dad, he goes, I want to ask you a question. He said, you know that story of how that you, you asked God to put you to sleep to your desires. And and then you met mom. I said, yeah, he said, I got to tell you something, dad. He said, I prayed that prayer two weeks ago. I said, really? He said, I prayed that prayer two weeks ago. He said, I got a problem. I said, what's the problem? He says, I got interested in a young woman in the church. And I said, really? And what's the problem? He said, dad, I feel like I'm, I'm lying to God. I told God, put me to sleep to my desire. And now there's this girl. I said, son, let me tell you something in that story I've never said. I said, I prayed that prayer and within three weeks I met your mom. I said, what do you think? I became a hermit, went off into a mountain and stayed there for years. That did not happen. I said, all God wants is your heart. There's no time limit on that. He said, really, dad? I said, yeah. Now this girl that he had this prayer for that he met is his wife, Karina. And it worked in his life that way, just like it did in mine. I said, God, I just want to serve you. And then God brought Karina to my Joseph, the way God brought Marie to me. Don't compromise. Don't compromise. Don't be there saying, oh, I got to get married. I'm getting old. That's one fight. Nobody wins. Everybody grows old. It's better to grow old and walk with Jesus and not have a husband or a wife than to get married in an unwise fashion and have the pain of an unequal or an unloving marriage. This woman was not willing to compromise. And so finally, and we'll close with verse eight, her beloved Solomon says this, if you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock and feed your little goats beside the shepherd's tent. Oh, that's clear. Thanks, Solomon. You're a beautiful woman. You're lovely. You're a prize. But if you want the answer, if you want my love, now notice, follow the footsteps of the flock, feed your little goats. All you need to do is continue in the way that you're living, retain your innocence, retain your character. Do not move away from them. The result you will have the love of your life. Just keep moving in the direction you're going. And the Lord has a way of connecting the one into your path. And it's the right one at the right moment. We'll stop here and we'll pick up next time at verse nine. Father, we ask that you would work within us, that we would not compromise our faith, and we would look for the things that are real. In the cases of Solomon, the Shulamite saw him as a man who was very handsome. But he was also a man of great character, a godly man. And Father, that is what you would have for all of us in our relationships to have a godly relationship. They have someone in our life who makes us better because they are in our life, is our desire. So I ask that you would work that in all of us today. We husbands, and even these who are single men, may we be spiritual men, and become spiritual leaders or be spiritual leaders in our homes. And our ladies, may they live as ladies, not compromising, but living with purity, retaining innocence, and looking for the proper things in a man. And Father, we ask that you would just work in us, your will, and we would serve you with all of our hearts. Even as our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed, perhaps there are some in this room we need prayer right now. I want to pray for you before we close. And if you need to get right with the Lord, or you have a concern that you're lifting to him, would you lift your hand now? Let me pray for you right now. Father, you see these hands and you know what they all represent. You know that there are needs here on the spiritual level and sometimes in a very practical level and everything in between. I'm asking that you reach down. I'm asking that you touch these lives. And I'm asking Lord that you relieve them and that you minister to them. Lord, I ask that you would just work within us all. And may we just yield right now to you so that you might just work within us. We give you praise for this and we receive from you now. Lord, and we thank you that you hear our voice. Bless you, Lord. Thank you. You can put your hands down. And Lord, would you keep moving amongst us to your glory? And we ask this now in Jesus' name. Amen. I pray the study was encouraging and I want to thank you for your continued support and prayers and invite you to join us next Sunday night as we move into the next part of our study. As I mentioned earlier, if you would like to give your offering, you can do so online. If you're using a computer, click on the give button in the upper right corner of your screen. If you're watching on your mobile device or iPad, click give under the menu button. If this is your first time giving digitally, follow the instruction under four ways to give to process your gift. And finally, you can either mail your checks to 1205 North Pipeline Avenue, Chino, California, 91710. Or if you're able, you can come to the sanctuary and use the kiosk we have in the foyer that are set up to process gifts. You can also place your gift in an envelope handed to one of the receptionists in the foyer. So thank you. God be with you. And we look forward to having you with us once again.