INTRODUCING THE DIVINE KISS: SEVEN-FOLD BRIDAL PARADIGM
I. OVERVIEW
A. What is a bridal paradigm?
B. A bridal paradigm is fundamental to the theme of the Bride’s life as well as the theme of all who sincerely seek the Lord.
It represents the prophetic cry of the Holy Spirit for the wider Body of Christ throughout the earth in this generation.
C. The most dominant theme in the Song is the affection of God in context to the beauty of the Bridegroom and bride.
What makes this Song so unique is that it gives us an intensive revelation of the affection of God. We must make it a priority
to study and meditate on the subject of God’s emotional capacities.
1. A diligent study along these lines is so important to our own emotional health. We will be transformed when we
understand the way God thinks and feels about us especially in our weakness.
2. The revelation of His affection and enjoyment of our lives awakens us to spiritual pleasure. This pleasure enables
us to enjoy Jesus as we overflow with affection back to Him. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). In a
similar way, we enjoy Him because He first enjoyed us.
II. THE CRY FOR BRIDAL KISSES (1:2A)
A. The whole eight chapter Song unfolds the implications related to the Divine kiss. This is the theme of her life. It is
actually the theme of everyone who seeks the Lord. We do not have to use the language of “Let Him kiss me”. However,
it is in principle the Holy Spirit’s goal for every believer.
B. The Divine kiss is metaphor of intimacy with Jesus.
1. Do not think of kissing Jesus on the mouth. This is entirely outside the boundaries of God’s will. Think of God’s
hand touching your heart and expanding your capacity to give yourself to Him and to receive from Him.
2. It is a metaphor speaking for the deepest things that God gives the human spirit. The Divine kiss is God’s invitation
to “casual Christianity” to go deep with Jesus.
C. “The kisses of the mouth” distinguish this kiss from the other kisses in the bible. The Word of God describes
several types of kisses:
1. There is the kiss on the hand of a friend.
2. There is the kiss on the feet of a servant. It is not the kiss of a servant who relates at a distance.
3. There is the kiss of an enemy like Judas who betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
4. This kiss is written in the language of married love. It is written in the language of love, specifically the language of
married love. Why? This is a marriage song. Why? We will be married and in love with the Bridegroom King forever.
We would expect the marriage song to be written in the language of romantic love. The Lord knows that our destiny in
eternity is to be the Bride of Christ.
a. How appropriate to write the deepest expressions of His affection through the language of bridal love.
b. In scripture God uses many different kinds of metaphors. He uses bridal language. He uses military language.
He uses agricultural language.
III. THE KISSES OF GOD’S WORD
A. The “kisses of God’s mouth” is associated with the “words that proceed out of the mouth of God”. In other words,
it speaks of the scriptures themselves that tenderizes and empower our hearts in the love of God by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 in His wilderness temptation. The scripture is the word that proceeds from God’s mouth.
“Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
God’” (Matthew 4:4)
B. For the last 3,000 years rabbis have referred to this verse as the “kiss of God’s word” or the “kiss of the Torah”.
It is the most prominent way that this verse has been interpreted throughout the rabbinical schools.
C. We must be very cautious to allow the scripture to be the glorious boundary lines of our experience of intimacy.
It is significant that we seek the “kisses of His word” and not all the subjective kisses of our imagination that are not
grounded in scripture but rather in soulish and sensual imagination.
1. This hinders people by distracting from genuine holy passion.
2. This will cause disrepute to come to the bridal message in the Song.
3. This will make us vulnerable to harmful deceptions.
IV. THE DIVINE KISS: CULTIVATING A BRIDAL PARADIGM OF THE KINGDOM
A. The Divine kiss peaks of seven spiritual principles reflected in the gospel that equip us to experience and
understand the “bridal paradigm” of the kingdom of God. This paradigm of the kingdom enables us by the Holy Spirit to
experience the holy romance of the gospel as He reveals Jesus to us as our Bridegroom King. This kiss represents the
Holy Spirit working through the Word to enlarge our capacity in seven specific ways. These seven manifestations of the
Holy Spirit can be understood as applying to the three primary “holy romance metaphors” throughout the Song i.e., the
Divine kiss (1:2), the Divine seal (8:6), or the Divine embrace (2:5; 8:4).
B. These seven dimension of the bridal paradigm have many applications to our lives. The kisses of His mouth are in
the plural. The kisses, like the perfumes, are stated in the plural.
1. They are diverse in their distinctive qualities.
2. They are varied in their effects upon the heart.
3. They are manifold in the nature of what they impart.
C. These seven dimensions of the bridal paradigm speak significantly to us.
1. It speaks of seven longings of the heart relating to seven designs of the human spirit. It results in her experience of
the superior pleasures that bring her fulfillment, emotional healing and wholeness.
2. It speaks of seven bridal “realities” of the Kingdom of God.
3. It speaks of seven foundational premises of the Holy Spirit’s prophetic activity.
D. The bridal paradigm is necessary if we are to receive the most benefit from the Song.
1. In our journey to restore the first commandment to first place in our lives.
2. In our ability to process the greatest emotional crisis in natural history.
a. The most intense presence of sin
b. The greatest release of the occult
c. Overcoming the offenses from the apparent contradictions of the Bridegroom King who releases the temporal
judgments.
E. Eschatological premise:
1. The fact of the final generation as the Bridegroom generation with the bridal paradigm.
a. Jesus was the first to introduce the bridal paradigm to the corporate church in His last sermon before the Cross.
(Matthew 22:1-13 – Parable of the Wedding Feast)
b. John the Baptist was the first to preach the context of the bridal paradigm. (John 3:29 – The Friend of the
Bridegroom)
c. The apostle John points to the universal prominence of the bridal paradigm in the generation the Lord returns.
(Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and bride say ‘Come’”; and in Hosea 2:16 “Call Me ‘My Husband’”)
2. The final generation will have the most emotional brokenness in history. However, even the most significant sexual
perversion can be healed in context to the bridal paradigm of the Kingdom of God. Jesus, as the leader of history,
declared that lawlessness, with cold hearts, (which includes the emotions behind the actions) would dominate the earth
at that time. For further reference look at the following scriptures: Matthew 24:20-14; 2 Timothy 3:1, 5; 1 Timothy 4:1-3;
2 Peter 2. Consider the following seven negative emotional realities:
a. Anger (rage, woundedness)
b. Cold love (selfishness, fear)
c. Lawlessness (rebellion)
d. Betrayal (broken relationships)
e. Hatred (bitterness, unforgiveness)
f. Sexual perversions (darkened heart)
g. Occult bondage (blinded, deceived)
F. The bridal paradigm has been strategically reserved by God for the last generation (which is the most emotionally
complex) to empower the church to overcome the coldest, most lawless, fearful, demonic, and sexually perverted
generation in history.
V. THE BRIDAL PARADIGM OF THE KINGDOM – SEVEN DIMENSIONS
A. The longing to be fascinated – is satisfied by the revelation of the beauty of the Bridegroom King (Psalm 27:4;
Isaiah 4:2; 33:17; Psalm 145:5). We need to marvel and experience wonder and awe in order to function emotionally.
The power to be deeply moved is something we all long for.
“One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek … all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord …”
(Psalm 27:4)
“In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious …” (Isaiah 4:2)
“Your eyes will see the King in His beauty …” (Isaiah 33:17)
1. Secular entertainment builds on this human need. It exploits and then destroys our heart if we partake of it in
wrong ways.
2. We have the opportunity to enjoy tokens of the deep things of God: His vast beauty, mystery, and splendor. The
Holy Spirit is described as searching and discerning the very depths of the hidden beauty and splendor of God’s Being.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared
for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, and
the deep things of God …” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)
3. We are invited on a Holy Spirit treasure hunt to search for the deep treasures of His splendor that is purposefully
hidden in the heart of God. This is the most intensive treasure hunt imaginable in this age and continues forever in the
age to come. To marvel in the mystery of God’s beauty creates holy curiosity that knows no boredom. It takes God’s
activity in us to know God. There is nothing more exhilarating than when God reveals God to the human spirit. When
God the Spirit reveals Jesus to our hearts something very powerful begins to take place in our emotions.
4. Even small tokens of these deep things capture and exhilarate the human heart in time and eternity (Isaiah 6:3;
Revelation 4:7). The Holy Spirit grants insight into God’s great majesty and splendor.
B. The longing to possess and feel beautiful is satisfied by the revelation of the Divine beauty imparted to the
redeemed (Isaiah 61:3; Psalm 90:17; 149:4). God’s beauty is transferable to us in the highest measure in created order.
A beauty that is far above the great beauty of the angelic host. Our culture has an obsession with physical appearance
and vanity as it seeks to answer this longing in a wrong way.
“… to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning.” (Isaiah 61:3)
“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the
work of our hands.” (Psalm 90:17)
C. The longing to be great and successful is satisfied by the revelation of the redeemed as enthroned with Jesus at His
right hand.
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on
His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)
1. We will fully experience the nobility and honor we long for. We are enthroned in the highest position of government
in created order entrusting us with the most significant tasks in the eternal city. (Revelation 3:21 Song 6:8) Jesus
enthrones His bride.
2. We’ll reign together with Him (Revelation 3:21). We share His throne; ruling over the vast eternal empire called the
Kingdom of God. He said, “As I have overcome and sit on My Father’s throne, so you will overcome and sit with Me on My
throne”. He’s sitting on the Father’s throne and we are sitting with Him on His throne.
3. You will live among the royalty in heaven. You are royalty. You married into royalty and wealthy. You will
possess unimaginable wealth. You are among the aristocracy of eternity. The humility of the Bride is based on gratitude
and lovesickness. This lovesickness is a holy preoccupation that subdues all pride among heaven’s royal class.
D. The longing for intimacy without shame is satisfied by the revelation of the tender affections of the heavenly
Bridegroom. We partake of bridal affection that enables us to experience intimacy with the Godhead beyond all others
in creation. The Bride experiences deep mutual sharing. Jesus with affection reveals holy secrets.
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32)
“For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am
known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
“… but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)
1. To experience bridal affection from Jesus.
a. These affections tenderize our hearts so that we feel some of what He feels (Ephesians 3:17-19).
b. The main prayer of her life is to receive an enlarged capacity to experience passionate affection from Jesus.
This is one of the most significant renewal prayers in our personal devotional life. We pray, “Father let Your Son kiss
me. Let Your Son put His hand upon my heart. Enlarge my capacity to experience affection from Jesus”. Sometimes in
a corporate worship time (regardless of what worship song is being sung) pause and pray, “Father let Him kiss me. Let
Your Son enlarge my capacity to receive His love.”
2. To fully know Him intimately: trusted with unique secrets of transcendent beauty. Secrets that even the highest
ranking in the angelic host do not know (Ephesians 3:10)
3. To be fully known without shame: to have no fear of being left to experience the mysteries of life alone.
4. Intimacy in our life experience – He understands all our secrets. The parts of our life that are unknown, unnoticed and
misunderstood by all others.
“Rejoice with those who rejoice … weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15)
a. Intimacy in our pain and struggle. He knows our sin and shame. He has walked us through every sin in our life. He
treats us with honor in this. He forgives us, feels our pain in failure, and protects us by not disclosing the vast majority of
our sin. Then He believes in us.
b. Intimacy in our victory and prosperity. He knows our true greatness and the full implications of our spiritual
identity. He sees the heights of our nobility. He shares all our joys in victory in difficulty.
c. Intimacy in our heart passions. He knows the depths of our longings, dreams and intentions to do good.
E. The longing for the assurance of being enjoyed is satisfied by the revelation of the finished work of the Cross
and God’s emotional capacities. She feels pursued, desired, sought after (approved and forgiven) and delighted in.
“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion,
and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them does not … go after the one which is lost until
he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.” (Luke 15:4-5)
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not … search carefully until she finds it …
saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:8-10)
1. Many believers are not yet able to experience the fundamental reality that God enjoys them. He wants to give us
the ability to feel enjoyed and delighted in by Jesus in our weakness.
2. This one truth will revolutionize your life. But the very powers of darkness are set on obscuring this truth in the
heart of God’s people. This one truth will set you on fire. This is the gasoline inside the engine, so to speak. This is the
fuel that aids the growth process.
F. The longing to be wholehearted and passionate is satisfied by the impartation of Divine love to our hearts. We
deeply long to be empowered to be abandoned and to know the joy of lovesickness.
“… that the love with which You loved Me may be in them …” (John 17:26)
“… the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit …” (Romans 5:5)
1. We desire the power to give the deepest affection of our heart back to God (Matthew 22:37). She longs for the grace
(supernatural ability) to enlarge our capacity to give our deepest affections to God.
2. The cry for the kisses is a mutual kiss. She wants the power to give God her whole heart. It takes God to love God.
It takes God’s power for us to love God. It is exhilarating when God, by His power, gives us the capacity to love Him back.
It is His pleasure and responsibility to impart this Divine love to us. It is a supernatural ability to give the deep things of her
heart back to God, to know the joy of lovesickness and to experience the exhilaration of wholehearted love.
3. When she prays “let me know the kisses of your mouth”, she is asking for help to give her whole heart to God. By
nature we detest being bored, passive, disloyal and compromising.
4. We can not be happy until we have passionately given ourselves back to Him. Love is not satisfied until it is fully
given back in a reciprocal way. Think of the person you love most in this life. You will never be satisfied until you have
the capacity to love them in a healthy way.
G. The longing to make a deep and lasting impact is satisfied by the anointing for service that results in eternal
rewards. We delight to share things that cause others to be exhilarated. We enjoy making significant contribution and
relevant sharing.
“… whoever gives one of these … only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall
be no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 4)
“For unclean spirits … came out of many … and many that were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was
great joy in that city. (Acts 8:7-8)
1. She longs for grace to walk in mature bridal partnership with Jesus and run with Him. He wants us to be yoked
together with Him as a partner in service in the great mandate that the Father has given Him to disciple the nations.
2. This redefines our life in a very powerful way.
VI. THE DIVINE KISS: THE BRIDE’S SUPREME REQUEST
A. Solomon’s supreme request:
1. In Solomon’s early years as king of Israel, he had a fresh and dynamic walk with God. God visited him in a dream
and tested him. The Lord tested Solomon with the following offer, “Ask anything you want”. He asked for wisdom and the
Lord gave him a supernatural impartation of wisdom. (1 Kings 3) He pleased the Lord with his response in the dream
and it resulted in Solomon receiving the greatest measure of wisdom that God has ever imparted to a person.
2. This beautiful song came out of this unique supernatural impartation of wisdom. This most glorious Song was
written in the wake of the visitation. The wisdom of God was reigning in his soul. What kind of song do you think will
flow out of a church walking in the First Commandment?
3. However, the offer was intended to test and reveal Solomon’s heart.
B. Solomon’s supreme request was for the anointing of wisdom. He wanted this more than riches, honor and long life.
C. In a similar way the Lord has invited the Body of Christ to ask for anything in His will (Mark 11:23). I think of the Bride
as standing in the very presence of God the Father asking for what she wants most “Let Him kiss me”.
D. The Song begins with the Bride’s appeal to the Father.
1. As the one with authority over the Heavenly King
2. As the one who commissions the Prince of Peace
3. As the one who sets His course in time and eternity.
E. The Bride’s Supreme Request is for the Divine kiss.
1. The prayer for the Divine kisses communicates her supreme request. She wants it more than power, prominence
and earthly comforts. This reveals her spiritual hunger for the deeper things of God. She has been awakened to new
holy desires. She has a longing for the seven dimensions of life with Jesus that is progressively dominating her thoughts
and affections.
2. The prophetic test for the church leadership in the last generation is seen in what leaders ask for most.
VII. THE DIVINE KISS AND THE DIVINE SEAL
A. Her journey begins with her longing for a kiss and ends with her receiving a seal of fiery love (8:6). The three primary
“holy romance metaphors” thought the Song, i.e. the Divine kiss (1:2), the Divine seal (8:6), or the Divine embrace (2:5;
8:4). Her cry for a kiss results in receiving a seal of supernatural love upon her heart. She cries out for a kiss and God
answers her by sealing her heart with the very flame of God’s love. Her heart is aflame with the love of God at the end
of this progression of holy passion. This kiss unlocks the drowning human heart:
1. To unlock the heart, or to have a seeing and perceiving heart, is the necessary context to bring the transformation
seen throughout the book. The perceiving heart is given in measures. All believers have a measure of this free gift in
the new birth. However, the goal is to walk in a greater measure.
2. This is a very specific request, not a general one. She is asking for a specific aspect of the grace of God … not
a general one. A general request for grace might focus on such important elements as growing in ministry skills,
relationship skills, governmental principles, apostolic strategies, and general theological studies.
B. The kiss starts as a request for a kiss and eventually results in a seal. These two terms describe a spirit of
revelation that results in a perceiving heart. (Ephesians 1:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:5).
C. The three-fold anointing of the Divine kiss:
1. The anointing to perceive (Ephesians 1:17) – revelation of the seven-fold bridal paradigm
2. The anointing to love (Ephesians 3:16) – an Holy Spirit energized heart of love.
3. The anointing to make known (Ephesians 3:8) – to communicate with power.
D. Summary – the kiss of revelation unlocks the heart by specific revelation of the beauty of the Bridegroom and Bride
unto the romance of the gospel. It enables the believer to live in another realm of understanding. The Kiss of revelation
empowers a bridegroom paradigm of life by revelation. The request is “unlock my heart specifically to the revelation of the
beauty of the Bridegroom and Bride” … resulting in the romance of the gospel as the ideal context to best fulfill the two
commandments and the great commission.
VIII. THE DIVINE KISS – CULTIVATING GODLY INTENTIONS
A. We must distinguish between our intentions to passionately seek Jesus and our attainment of spiritual maturity.
Our intentions speak of the cry of our spirit or setting the course of our heart. This is the highest purpose and intention
of her life. We need to seek the Lord of this grace through waiting on the Lord until this really becomes the strong and
primary intention, goal, and purpose of our life.
1. If our intentions are ordered according to the Word of God then our attainment of maturity will follow in due time.
2. As a teacher, you should seek to motivate people to line their intentions up with God’s word. The problem with
some is that they focus on measuring their attainment of maturity, whereas they should be focused on setting the
intentions of their heart. When we focus on measuring our attainment on maturity, then we become vulnerable to two
common spiritual problems.
a. If we measure up good, then we can feel proud about our maturity.
b. If we fail, then we feel ashamed. We feel like quitting. The Lord doesn’t want us focused on our attainment. We can
end up in pride when we do good, or we can end up in condemnation when we do bad.
3. The primary focus in the Word of God is to get people to focus on the beauty of Jesus and setting the intentions of
their heart right. We focus on setting our intentions to fully obey, and then leave the attainment to the Lord.
4. God wants us to meditate on the beauty of Jesus as we set the intention of our heart to obey. Then He Himself will
work in us until we attain to maturity in due time.
5. The cry for His seven-fold kisses is an issue of our intentions. It is something we focus on at the very beginning of
our journey.
B. In 1:2-4 she is describing her intentions and her confessions or her spiritual goals. God defines our life by what
we want, not by what we attain. The way that we understand how God defines our life determines how we think and feel
about ourselves. He looks at the seeds that are budding in our spirit. He sees the cry of a willing spirit even though it is
in the context of weak flesh. (Matthew 26:41). We get focused on our weak flesh and we lose sight of the willing spirit.
But God sees the willing spirit. That is the glory of the Song. He sees and then defines us by the intentions of the heart.
C. In times of temptation, this is a confession that we can speak before the Lord when our soul is being tested. We
say, “No I will not just passively submit to sin. The confession of my heart is: Father let Him kiss me. This is what my life
is about, the kisses of God. That is who I am.” This is a very powerful truth to use in warfare when the enemy comes
against us.
D. Also, this is important to use in times when people mistreat us. We can use this verse and declare, “I live for the kiss
of God’s mouth. My life is not primarily about being more popular. It is about freely receiving the kindness of God’s mouth.
E. Jesus’ inheritance is a Bride who longs for His seven-fold kiss – voluntary, mature bridal affection. The Holy Spirit is
wooing and drawing people to voluntarily give themselves in abandonment to the Lord Jesus. Jesus’ inheritance is a Bride
who longs for His kisses. This is what Jesus is after. He receives the Bride as a gift from the Father and as the reward
of His suffering. “To Jesus, the great prize of all the ages is a Bride who long for the deep things of His heart.”
F. She cries out for His kiss because she is no longer satisfied with the initial experience of salvation, but has a deep
hunger to love Jesus as promised in John 17:26. When God awakens a new vision for John 17:26, then deep
dissatisfaction is inevitable. This dissatisfaction is essential and valuable. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit.
IX. THE THREE-FOLD NATURE OF THE CRY FOR HIS KISSES
A. The Bride’s desire and intention to receive the kisses of Jesus touches three important realities in life.
1. First, it is a prophetic cry of what God is doing on the earth.
2. Second, it is a great philosophical cry answering why we exist on planet earth and in eternity.
3. Third, it is a great psychological cry answering how our heart functions. It gives us insight as to how we become
happy.
B. The Greatest Prophetic Cry:
1. First, it is the greatest prophetic cry across the earth. This is the prophetic theme of the Holy Spirit in the church
right now.
2. The Holy Spirit is awakening a new cry in the heart of God’s people. The ability to minister to others is not able to
fully satisfy our hearts. The Body of Christ will never be satisfied, except by the kisses of His mouth. The Holy Spirit’s
greatest desire is to fully capture the hearts of people for the Son of God.
3. In Deuteronomy 30:6, God told Moses that He would personally circumcise the heart of His people so that they love
God with all their heart. God is going to have a people that love Him with all of their strength (John 17:26). The cry for
the kisses is the number one agenda of the Holy Spirit. It is to make the first commandment first place in the Body of
Christ. The first commandment is the cry for wholehearted love. The Holy Spirit is awakening a new cry in the hearts
of God’s people.
4. The Holy Spirit is going to awaken this cry with such passion, urgency, zeal and resolution of heart in the end time
church that they are going to be crying “Come!” with the bridal cry. “Come Lord Jesus!” The Bride of Christ,
understanding who she is, will be crying out for the Bridegroom. It is the Spirit and the Bride crying, “Come!”
(Revelation 22:17). It is the Bride. It is the people of God, not as an army, not as a family, and not even as a Kingdom.
Nor as a temple or as a priesthood. It is the people of God with the bridal identity crying, “Come!” And this is whom
He answers.
C. The Greatest Philosophical cry:
1. Secondly, it is the greatest philosophical cry:
a. It is THE definition of success. It is THE definition of purpose. In the “absolute sense” we succeed, no matter what
else happens if we are lovers of God.
b. It is our inheritance to be lovers of God. God simply made us that way. When this is our main definition of success,
then we can succeed in life. If you know you are loved from the Lord and it is your desire to be a lover of God, you are
successful in the absolute sense no matter what happens.
2. Being successful doesn’t depend on anybody else doing something for you. In the most absolute definition of
success if you’re loved and a lover and that is your identity. If you are loved and you are a lover of God then you have
success in the most absolute way.
3. We may go through a season where there is relational collisions or a financial collapse. We may go through a
season where our ministry is failing or we may fall in sin and cause a scandal for a season. But, no matter what the
circumstance may be, we can know that there is something bigger going on in life. We are loved and a lover, that is our
identity. We are successful no matter what else happens on planet earth. We have the title deed to a successful life.
4. The thief on the cross in the end was successful. Because He knew God loved Him just a little bit and He said,
“Remember me!” He had a little cry of faith and it worked. He won.
D. The Greatest Psychological cry:
1. Thirdly, it is the greatest psychological cry. It defines how the human heart is satisfied, or how we experience
happiness. God has so designed our human soul that the experience of the love of God, by the revelation of the Spirit,
is the most enjoyable and pleasurable experience available to the human makeup. There is nothing as exhilarating to the
human make-up than when the Holy Spirit reveals the kisses of God to the human spirit. The human heart was created
to love God with a whole heart. There is no success in counseling to bring people to wholeness part from the pursuit of
wholeheartedness to God. It simply doesn’t work. You are not made that way. You were made to cry for the kisses of
His mouth.
2. In Matthew 22:37 Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart.” Jesus knows that we were
created to passionately love God. When we do not love God with a passionate heart, then our emotional life is out of
balance. IT does not work. Jesus is the author and creator of the human heart. You do not function properly unless
you are reaching to God to love Him passionately. You were simply made to be a passionate lover of God and when
we don’t pursue that Life, we simply do not work in a right way emotionally. We were never made to have wholeness or
to be healed emotionally outside of the pursuit of being wholehearted for God. We’re simply designed to only function
right in the pursuit of wholeheartedness.
3. If you have nothing to die for, you have nothing to live for. This is how God made the human heart. So much of
the human race (including the Body of Christ) is dying of boredom right now because they don’t understand we were
created to be passionate lovers of God. Devotion and obedience are more important than your finances, your image,
comfort zone, and sexuality.
a. It is not just that we should love passionately, we have to in order to function right.
b. The power of the captivating kisses of God is yet to be fully seen. It is the lack of this that is causing the Body of
Christ to compromise. These kisses make us loyal in the issues of money, sexuality and prominence.
c. However, this is a focused request to experience the kissed heart that awakens our spirit to the romance of the
gospel. This is a focused request to experience personal intimacy with God rather than to grow in the corporate issues
in the life of the kingdom. The unlocked heart of love is in contrast to the quenched heart and the drowned heart of 8:7.
Jesus described a fainting heart of fear in Luke 21:26. This kiss of God’s Heavenly Prince, known as the Bridegroom
King, is a kiss that wakes up the locked heart of the sleeping bride with a Laodicean spirit. (Revelation 3:17)
X. RESTING IN THE DIVINE KISS
A. There are two types of rest available to the believer:
1. The first kind of spiritual rest is found in the knowledge that you are forgiven. We rest in forgiveness through the
finished work of the cross. We can never outgrow the revelation of what the Father did for us in Christ Jesus. The legal
payment and the debt are removed.
2. The second kind of spiritual rest is found in the knowledge that everything in you is purposed to be the Lord’s. It
refers to the intention of your heart. We rest in intimacy through the impartation of the Spirit. It is called the rest of
intimacy, which involves more than the knowledge of forgiveness.
B. Resting in intimacy:
1. It is the knowledge that you are wholehearted. There is no rest until we conclude the highest purpose of our life
is intimacy with God. In the fifth century, Augustine (354-430 AD) was one of the best theologians that ever lived. One
of His most famous quotes is “Man does not rest until He finds His rest in God”. Man finds His ultimate purpose in being
wholehearted for God. God is the only place of rest. He was talking about the rest of the emotions in terms of happiness
of life. He was talking about believers who are striving even though they were forgiven. The turmoil He was addressing
was not based on whether they were going to heaven or not. The turmoil was on how the heart is made happy. He saw
amongst His peers so much strife, anguish and anxiety.
2. There is a tremendous vacuum in us where we may experience sexual bondage, and every other kind of addiction,
that can powerfully affect us because our soul was created to reach passionately to be lovers of God. We have a
vacuum in us of not being whole hearted. This leaves us open to many other addictions. The only safe place for
even the believer is in the wholehearted reach to be totally the Lord’s.
C. Illustration of the concert pianist – living before an audience of One
1. There was a great concert pianist from Europe a couple of centuries ago. He was performing a concert before
5,000 people in one of the great music halls in Europe. He played one of his most famous pieces of music. Thousands
of people stood up and they were applauding with tremendous adulation. Afterwards a man was interviewing him and
he said, “What did it feel like, in this large auditorium, receiving such applause?” Was it the great experience you ever
had?” The concert pianist replied, “No! I liked it, but that was not the most important thing to me. When they all sat
down, there was this gentleman, about 80 years old way up in the top corner of the balcony, sitting where he always
sits. He is the one that taught me for 30 years, he is the master. When everybody sat down, he looked at me and he
gave me one nod. THAT is what gave me the greatest pleasure. When he nodded one time, I said, “Yes! I’ve
accomplished my goal. That brought me more pleasure than all the standing ovations of the thousands.”
2. In other words, He learned to live before an audience of one. Receiving the nod from the Master has more power, if
we are connected to it, than the nods of all the men of the earth. He says, “and when the master nodded one time that
meant more to me than all the applause of thousands.” This is what I call living before an audience of One. The cry for
the kisses is the same thing as living before the audience of one. When that cry becomes the premier reason that we live,
we are living before an audience of One.
XI. HOW DOES HE COMMUNICATE HIS KISS TO US?
A. Personal meditation of the Word of God is primarily His way to communicate His kiss.
1. Meditation is most effective by turning the Word into personal conversation with Jesus. I am not referring to merely
bible study. As we do this we are giving our heart to Him and receiving His heart through the Word of God. The
sweetness of the Holy Spirit tenderizes our hearts through meditation on the Word. It is powerful when the Word of God
kisses our hearts in this way.
2. For the last 3,000 years rabbis have referred to this verse as the “kiss of God’s Word”. It is the most prominent
way that this verse has been interpreted throughout the Rabbinical schools. They refer to it as “the kiss of the Torah”.
3. Some may become one of the most well known bible scholars in the world and yet have a cold heart with little love
for God.
4. Some people think that all would change if they were in full time ministry. They assume that they’d have plenty of
time. Yet, often pastors openly confess that they only open the word of God to find sermons. They do not find the time
to read the Word of God to give their heart to God in love.
B. The second way His kiss is communicated is by the Word of God through others. He kisses through the Word
touching us in power through sermons, songs, or testimonies of others. This is diminished but still you can receive the
kiss of God’s Word as we hear the Word of God this way. The kiss of God’s word can happen by hearing the Word of
God being preached and feeling your heart moved by the Spirit. When we feel our hearts moving, we are experiencing
the kiss of God’s Word to us through someone else. Those are aspects of the kisses of God.
C. The third way His kiss is communicated to us is through the prophetic revelation of the Holy Spirit. It may be in the
night season with a dream, or it might simply come to your heart as you are walking down the road. The kiss of God’s
Word sometimes comes to us in direct encounters through dreams or visions. These encounters have a cleansing
affect. Sometimes these dreams touch significant areas of underlying pain that periodically resurface form time to time.
It is a gift from the Lord when he gives us a dream that washes our spirits and cleanses us.
D. A fourth way His kiss is communicated is through the ministry of other people.
1. His kiss can be experienced as others pray for you, often during these times you can feel the Holy Spirit resting
upon you.
2. Also, sometimes people will reveal the love of God to us in the most powerful way through an act of kindness.
3. We may feel the embrace of God simply in the context of genuine friendship. Have you ever had somebody do
something at the exact right time and though, “oh that just kissed my heart”? After such times, thank the Lord for such
kisses. These experiences are often the little kisses of God to His beloved.