The Bridal Seal Of Mature Love
I. INTRODUCTION
A. The Song of Solomon was written to extol the beauty of natural married love as well as to give us insight into our
relationship with Jesus as our Bridegroom God. The Holy Spirit inspired all Scripture to glorify Jesus forever. Marriage
will cease but the Word remains forever.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (Jn. 16:14)
30 In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage… (Mt. 22:30)
B. God’s purpose is to bring forth an eternal companion for Jesus or a Bride that is equally yoked to Him in voluntary
love. Obedience to Jesus is mandatory, love is voluntary (Phil. 2:9-11).
C. It takes God to love God. God sets a “seal of fire” on our heart. It is the anointing of the Spirit to experience God’s
love. A supernatural seal of divine fire empowers the hearts of God's people.
26 I declared Your name…that the love with which You loved Me may be in them… (Jn. 17:26)
5 The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit… (Rom. 5:5)
II. JESUS CALLS US TO INVITE HIM TO COME TO US AS THE JEALOUS BRIDEGROOM
6 Set Me (Jesus) as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love (God’s love in you) is as strong as death,
(God’s) jealousy as cruel (demanding) as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame. 7 Many waters
(sin, pressures) cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house,
it would be utterly despised. (Song 8:6-7)
A. The Lord spoke to me by His audible voice in July 1988. I was in my office and I was reading Song of Solomon
8:6 and began to pray, “Let Jesus seal my heart with the seal of His love.” The Lord said that He would release grace
to walk in Song 8:6-7 across the Body of Christ worldwide and that I was to focus on this theme throughout my ministry.
B. Jesus calls her to set Him as a seal on her heart. Jesus is the bridal seal. He urges us to cry out to know Him as
the God of all consuming love. We must actively do this. Jesus wants to reveal Himself to us as more than our forgiver,
healer and master but as the God of holy jealous love.
C. We set Jesus as the seal on our heart by putting on the Lord Jesus or by putting on the new man.
14 Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh… (Rom. 13:14)
10 Put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to God’s image. (Col. 3:10)
24 Put on the new man which was created…in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4:24)
III. GOD’S LOVE IN US IS AS STRONG AS DEATH: NOTHING ESCAPES ITS GRASP
6 Set Me (Jesus) as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love (God’s love in you) is as strong as death,
(God’s) jealousy as cruel (demanding) as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame. 7 Many
waters (sin, pressures) cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of
his house, it would be utterly despised. (Song 8:6-7)
A. God’s love in us is as strong or as comprehensive as death. Nothing in the natural realm escapes the power of
death. Its grasp is comprehensive. So also, God’s jealous love will not allow any areas of darkness to escape its grasp.
It is “as cruel as the grave” or as demanding as death.
B. Jesus as the Jealous God wants all of us. We walk with God according to the light He gives us. When we obey
that light, the Spirit gives us more to show us how to walk in a deeper measure of love. God’s love poured in our heart
conquers every area of sin that we continually yield to Him.
5 Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? (Jas 4:5)
C. We must earnestly ask Jesus to come to us as the God of Jealous Love who demands everything. This is the
highest thing that God will give the human spirit in this age.
14 For the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God… (Exod. 34:14)
D. God wants us to love Him as He loves us. He loves us with all His heart, soul, mind and strength. He only asks from
us that which He gives us. Jesus gave His life because of love (Heb. 12:2).
30 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
This is the first commandment. (Mk. 12:30)
E. Jesus as the jealous Bridegroom God will not relent in His pursuit of us until He has all our heart. Jesus prayed
that our hearts would one with each other as we are one with His heart
21 As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…22 The glory which You gave Me I have
given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one.
(Jn. 17:21-23)
F. We cry, “Lord we want more of You.” Jesus responds by saying, “I want more of you.” This is the spiritual
violence of holy love (Mt. 11:12).
12 The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. (Mt. 11:12)
IV. THE FIERY SEAL OF LOVE
A. In the ancient world, kings put a “seal of wax” on important documents. They encased them with wax then
stamped it with the king’s signet ring. They were protected and authenticated by a royal seal. This wax seal spoke
of the king’s ownership, protection and authority. A king’s seal spoke of his guarantee. It was backed up by all the
power of his kingdom.
B. The seal of fire has two dimensions. It is God’s signature on our heart that burns all that gets in the way as it imparts
God’s love into our spirit.
C. The seal on our heart is our present tense experience with the Holy Spirit. Our fellowship with the Holy Spirit is
the seal, not our record of spiritual victories or failures.
D. To set Jesus as the seal on our heart means to invite His fiery presence to touch or seal our heart. By the very
definition of love, we must invite Him. He will not force us into a relationship of voluntary love. He waits until we invite Him
in the issue of love or in the matters of the heart.
E. God requires us to cooperate with His grace. We can receive God’s empowering grace in vain by neglecting to
cooperate with it. In the resurrection, Jesus established “now” as the perpetual day of salvation (deliverance from the
kingdom of darkness).
1 We…plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 He says: "…In the day of salvation I helped you.
"Behold…now is the day of salvation… (2 Cor. 6:1-2)
F. God requires us to cooperate with Him in the grace of God. This is an expression of His desire for intimate
partnership with us. God will not do our part and we cannot do His part. If we do not do our part then God withholds
some of the help and blessing He would have given us.
G. We are the only one who can give God all our love. God will not force us to love Him. It is our gift to Him that we give
voluntarily as we cooperate with the Spirit’s work in our life. This is the work of the Spirit in her because it takes God to
love God.
H. God’s love yielded to is more powerful than the floods of temptation or persecution.
7 Many waters (persecution, sin, pressures) cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love
all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised. (Song 8:7)
I. Water always puts out fire (unless it is God’s supernatural fire). The enemy will send the waters of persecution,
temptation, apathy, disappointment, pain, etc. to put this fire out. God’s love yielded to is more powerful than the dark
floods of temptation or persecution.
J. Paul spoke of love that will pay any price. He laid down his open doors of opportunity. The highest reward of true
love is found in possessing the love itself. Those who are wealthy in love do not look at price tags. Anybody can quit
except a person in love. When we are tempted to quit, the obstacle in our path is that we love God. God is raising up a
people who will not quit.
7 If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised. (Song 8:7)
8 I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ…for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (Phil. 3:8)
V. ENCOUNTERING JESUS: THE END-TIME CHURCH VICTORIOUS IN LOVE
5 Who is this coming up (victory) from the wilderness (testing), leaning upon her Beloved? I awakened you under the apple
tree. There your mother brought you forth….6 Set Me (Jesus) as a seal upon your heart… (Song 8:5-6)
A. Song 8:5-7 summarizes the journey and destination of the Bride who ends natural history with a leaning and
loving heart as she is victorious in love. This passage describes the pinnacle of our experience in the love of God.
This passage describes our ultimate experiences in God in this age. May the Holy Spirit stir up our holy imagination
with this passage describing the Church in mature love and obedience to Jesus.
B. The Spirit is speaking here prophetically as He declares the Bride's victory in the End-Times (8:5). She “comes
up” in victory in the testing, temptations and difficulties in the wilderness in this fallen world. This principle has been rightly
applied to individuals through Church history.
C. We are called to endure the pressures and temptations of this wilderness in a fallen world. The wilderness in a
personal sense speaks of our testing, temptations and difficulties as God trains us in love, meekness and righteousness.
This momentary light affliction is working an eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17-18). Our confidence is found in living
for another age.
D. The Holy Spirit is preparing a bride with a loving and a leaning heart. She leans on her Beloved or fully
acknowledges her weakness as she acknowledges Jesus as her life goal and life source.
E. The Bride is leaning upon Jesus as her Beloved empowered by love and gratitude. This is the only way that we
can persevere and not quit in the wilderness. Anybody can quit except a person in love. When we are tempted to quit,
the big obstacle in our path is that we really love God.
F. The Spirit makes provision for us to “come up” victorious over the obstacles to our love for God.
2 Those who have victory (in love) over the Beast (Antichrist)…on the sea of glass (Rev. 15:2)
7 His wife has made herself ready…arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright… (Rev. 19:7-8)
G. The Church in her bridal identity will be glorious and ready by the time of Jesus’ return.
27 That He might present her to Himself a glorious church…that she should be holy and without blemish. (Eph. 5:27)