SONG OF SOLOMON 2:1 “THE ROSE OF SHARON”
A) I hold in my hand this morning a beautiful rose! * This rose stands for the Rose of Sharon ...
* Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Yes, He is The Rose of Sharon, The Lily of the Valley!
* Song of Sol. 5:10 – Jesus is the Chiefest of Ten Thousand .......
* Song of Sol. 5:16 – He is the Altogether Lovely One!
* Isaiah said His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace!
B) To the Architect – Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone! * To the Baker – Jesus is the Bread of Life.
* To the Banker, Jesus is more Precious Than Gold. * To the Biologist, Jesus is Life.
* To the Builder, Jesus is the Sure Foundation. * To the Carpenter, Jesus is the Door.
* To the Doctor, Jesus is the Great Physician. * To the Educator, Jesus is the Great Teacher.
* To the Engineer, Jesus is the New and Living Way.
C) To the Farmer – Jesus is the Lord of the harvest!
* To the Geologist, Jesus is the Rock of Ages. * To the Jeweler, Jesus is the Jewel of Great Price.
* To the Philanthropist, Jesus is the Unspeakable Gift.
* To the Philosopher, Jesus is the Wisdom of God.
* To the Florist, Jesus is the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the valley.
* To the Preacher, Jesus is the Word of God. * To the Servant, Jesus is the Good Master.
* To the Sinner, Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
NO ONE ELSE CAN COMPARE TO JESUS! NO EQUAL! THERE IS NONE LIKE JESUS!
* Among Men: Conceived of the Holy Spirit, Born of a virgin, an earthly mother and a Heavenly
Father. * Among other gods, Jesus resurrected from the dead!
* Among friends, Jesus is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother!
A) When you see the great men of the Bible, you see their strength and their weaknesses!
* BUT WHEN YOU SEE JESUS…. NO WEAKNESSES ... ALL STRENGTH!
* I find no fault in Him --- No man spoke like this Man --- Even the wind and seas obey His will.
B) In Jesus there is a life that will never be duplicated!
* A righteousness that will never be diminished ... A peace that cannot be disturbed ...
* A joy that cannot be discouraged ... A hope that cannot be destroyed ...
* A light that cannot be darkened ... A happiness that cannot be disappointed ...
* A purity that cannot be defiled ... A resource that cannot be depleted ...
* A Savior that cannot be defeated ... And a wisdom that cannot be debated!
C) Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, The First and the Last, The Beginning and the End!
* Jesus always was, always is, and always will be ... Jesus is unmoved, unchanged, and undefeated!
* The world cannot understand Him ... The armies cannot defeat Him ... The leaders cannot ignore
Him ... Herod could not kill Him ... The Pharisees could not confuse Him ...
* Nero could not crush Him ... Hitler could not silence Him ... The new age cannot replace Him ...
And our schools cannot explain Him away.
D) He is Love, Light, and Lord ... He is Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God!
* He is Holy, Righteous, Mighty, Powerful and Pure ... His ways are right, His Word is eternal ...
* His will is unchanging, and His mind is on me ... He is my Redeemer, my Savior, my Master ...
* My Guide, and He is my Peace ... He is my Joy, my Comfort, and my Hope ...
* He is my Lord ... He rules my life ... He will never leave me, nor forsake me ... He will never
mislead me ... Never forget me ... Never overlook me.
E) When I fall, He lifts me up ... When I fail, He forgives me ...
* When I am weak, He is strong ... When I am afraid, He is my courage ...
* When I stumble, He steadies me ... When I am hungry, He feeds me ...
* When I face troubles and trials, He is with me ... When I face persecution, He shields me ...
* When I have needs, He meets them ... And when I face death, He will be there to carry me home! * Jesus is everything, for everybody, everywhere, every time and every way!
* He is God – He is faithful!
F) The beautiful rose of Sharon ... He left the beauty of heaven and came to earth!
* He was betrayed, beaten, mocked and even spit upon ... He was nailed to a cross ...
* He wore a crown of thorns so we could wear a crown of life!
* He walked up Calvary’s hill, so we could walk on streets of gold!
G) He was crucified and died that we might live!
* He was treated unjustly, so we could be justified!
* He cried, “I thirst,” so we would never thirst in hell ... He went to hell so we could go to heaven!
* Yes, they abused the blessed Son of God!
* He died, He cried, “It is finished!” * They placed His body in a borrowed tomb ...
* But praise God on the third day, Jesus rose from the grave!
* HOLD UP A NEW ROSE! * Well let the hallelujahs roll ... They will never crucify him again!
CLOSE
A) Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas!
* She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips! * Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor
who saw patients as people ... His favorite patient was Edith Burns.
* One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns.
* When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap
earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her.
B) Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way:
* “Hello, my name is Edith Burns ... Do you believe in Easter?”
* Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved.
* Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly.
* Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure.
* Edith began by saying, “My name is Edith Burns ... Do you believe in Easter?”
C) Beverly said, “Why yes I do.” And Edith said, “Well, what do you believe about Easter?”
* Beverly said, “Well, it’s all about egg hunts, going to church, and dressing up.”
* Edith kept pressing her about the real meaning of Easter, and finally led her to a saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ.
* Dr. Phillips said, “Beverly, don’t call Edith into the office quite yet ... I believe there is another
delivery taking place in the waiting room.”
D) After being called back in the doctor’s office, Edith sat down .......
* And when she took a look at the doctor she said, “Dr. Will, why are you so sad? ... Are you
reading your Bible? ... Are you praying?”
* Dr. Phillips said gently, “Edith, I’m the doctor and you’re the patient.”
* With a heavy heart he said, “Your lab report came back and it says you have cancer, and Edith,
you’re not going to live very long.”
E) Edith said, “Why Will Phillips, shame on you ... Why are you so sad?”
* “Do you think God makes mistakes?” * “You have just told me I’m going to see my precious
Lord Jesus ... My husband ... And my friends .......”
* “You have just told me that I am going to celebrate Easter forever, and here you are having
difficulty giving me my ticket!”
F) Dr. Phillips thought to himself, “What a magnificent woman this Edith Burns is!”
* Edith continued coming to Dr. Phillips! * Christmas came and the office was closed through
January 3rd. * On the day the office opened, Edith did not show up.
* Later that afternoon, Edith called Dr. Phillips and said she would have to be moving her story to
the hospital and said, “Will, I’m very near home .......”
* “So would you make sure that they put women in here next to me in my room who need to know
about Easter.”
G) Well, they did just that and women began to come in and share that room with Edith!
* Many women were saved! * Everybody on that floor from staff to patients were so excited about
Edith, that they started calling her Edith Easter .......
* That is everyone except Phyllis Cross, the head nurse.
* Phyllis made it plain that she wanted nothing to do with Edith because she was a “religious nut.”
H) She had been a nurse in an army hospital! * She had seen it all and heard it all .......
* She was the original G.I. Jane ... She had been married three times ... She was hard, cold, and did
everything by the book! * One morning the two nurses who were to attend to Edith were sick.
* Edith had the flu and Phyllis Cross had to go in and give her a shot.
* When she walked in, Edith had a big smile on her face and said, “Phyllis, God loves you and I
love you, and I have been praying for you.”
I) Phyllis Cross said, “Well, you can quit praying for me, it won’t work, I’m not interested.”
* Edith said, “Well, I will pray and I have asked God not to let me go home until you come into the
family of God.”
* Phyllis Cross said, “Then you’ll never die because that’ll never happen,” and walked out of
the room!
* Every day Phyllis Cross would walk into the room and Edith would say, “God loves you Phyllis
and I love you, and I’m praying for you.”
J) One day Phyllis Cross said she was literally drawn to Edith’s room like a magnet would draw
iron! * She sat down on the bed and Edith said .......
* “I’m so glad you have come, because God told me that today is your special day.”
* Phyllis Cross said, “Edith, you have asked everybody here the question, ‘Do you believe in
Easter?’ but you have never asked me.”
* Edith said, “Phyllis, I wanted to many times, but God told me to wait until you asked, and now
that you have asked .......”
* Edith Burns took her Bible and shared with Phyllis Cross the Easter story of the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
K) Edith said, “Phyllis, do you believe in Easter? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is alive and
that He wants to live in your heart?”
* Phyllis Cross said, “Oh I want to believe that with all of my heart, and I do want Jesus in my
life.” * Right there, Phyllis Cross prayed and invited Jesus Christ into her heart.
* For the first time Phyllis Cross did not walk out of a hospital room, she was carried out on the
wings of angels.
L) Two days later, Phyllis Cross came in and Edith said, “Do you know what day it is?”
* Phyllis Cross said, “Why Edith, it’s Good Friday.”
* Edith said, “Oh, no, for you every day is Easter ... Happy Easter Phyllis!”
* Two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis Cross came into work, did some of her duties and then
went down to the flower shop and got some Easter lilies.
* She wanted to go up to see Edith and give her some Easter lilies and wish her a Happy Easter.
M) When she walked into Edith’s room, Edith was in bed!
* That big black Bible was on her lap ... Her hands were in that Bible.
* There was a sweet smile on her face, and when Phyllis Cross went to pick up Edith’s hand, she
realized Edith was dead.
* Her left hand was on John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were ...”
* Her right hand was on Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from ...”
* Phyllis Cross took one look at that dead body, and then lifted her face toward heaven, and with
tears streaming down her cheeks, said, “Happy Easter, Edith, Happy Easter!”
N) Phyllis Cross left Edith’s body, walked out of the room, and over to a table where two student
nurses were sitting! * She said, “My name is Phyllis Cross ... Do you believe in Easter?”
