Passion 

(Part 3)

Revelation 3:7-12

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens”:⁸ “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied my name. ⁹ Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ^11] Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. ¹² He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Revelation 2:1-5

To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: ² “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for my name’s sake and have not become weary. ⁴ Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

·        Jesus makes similar declarations about two different churches, yet the outcome for each is vastly different. The one thing that separates them is _____________________.

A.    Why don’t we pursue passion after God?

1.     We think He is impersonal (i.e. A robot)

2.     We think He is ______________   ___________________ from us.

3.     We think we can’t meet His standard.

B.    The shepherd and the bride.

1.     Desire for Jesus but awareness of self.

Song of Solomon 1:2-6

² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is better than wine. ³ Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointment poured forth; therefore the virgins love you. ⁴ Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you? ⁵ I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kadar, Like the curtains of Solomon. ⁶       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.

2.     Place of enchantment.

Song of Solomon 2:7

⁷ 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?

3.     Recognizes Jesus as a conqueror, but rejects His offer to join Him. 

Song of Solomon 2:8-17

⁸ If you do not know, O fairest among women, Follow in the footsteps of the flock, And feed your little goats beside the shepherds’ tents. ⁹         I have compared you, my love, to my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots. ¹⁰ Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with chains of gold. ¹¹ We will make you ornaments of gold with studs of silver. ¹² While the king is at his table, my spikenard sends forth its fragrance. ¹³ A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me that lies all night between my breasts. ¹⁴     My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms in the vineyards of En Gedi. ¹⁵ Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes. ¹⁶ Behold, you are handsome, my beloved! Yes, pleasant! Also, our bed is green. ¹⁷ The beams of our houses are cedar and our rafters of fir.

4.     Chastisement (presence withdrawn). 

Song of Solomon 3:1

By night on my bed, I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him.

5.     Repentance (change of mind). 

Song of Solomon 3:2-5

² “I will rise now,” I said, “And go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I will seek the one I love.” I sought him, but I did not find him. ³      The watchmen who go about the city found me; I said, “Have you seen the one I love?”  ⁴ Scarcely had I passed by them, When I found the one I love. I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him to the house of my mother, And into the chamber of her who conceived me. ⁵ I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases.

6.     Affirmation of her beauty.  (Song 4:7-15)

Song of Solomon 4:7-15

⁷ You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you. ⁸ Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. ⁹ You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; you have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace. ¹⁰ How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love and the scent of your perfumes than all spices! ¹¹ Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under your tongue; and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. ¹²      A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, A fountain sealed. ¹³ Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits, Fragrant henna with spikenard, ¹⁴      Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, Myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices—¹⁵        A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

7.     Growth. 

Song of Solomon 4:16

¹⁶ Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits.

8.     Testing  

Song of Solomon 5:6-7

⁶ I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. ⁷ The watchmen who went about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls Took my veil away from me.

9.     Maturity

Song of Solomon 5:8

⁸ I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, That you tell him I am lovesick!

C.     Why do we need this?

1.     If we don’t know He loves us now, we’ll never pursue passion. 

1 John 4:19

¹⁹ We love Him because He first loved us.

John 17:23b

“…and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them as you have loved Me.”

2.     Passion turns ________________ into beauty.

Matthew 26:6-12

 ⁶ And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, ⁷ a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. ⁸ But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹ For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” ¹⁰ But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. ¹¹ For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. ¹² For in pouring this fragrant oil on my body, she did it for my burial.

3.     Without passion, we cannot fulfill the great command.

Matthew 22:37-38

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.

Answer Key: passion, emotionally detached, duty