The Savour Of Jesus' Name

The Savour Of Jesus’ Name

Song of Songs 1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

When we talk about the Lord Jesus Christ, when we fellowship together in His name, it is like a perfume or ointment going forth wherever we go. It is the smell of the burnt offering, wellpleasing to the Father, and we carry that savour everywhere we go. Those around us can tell we have been with Jesus! See Ephesians 5:2; 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 and Acts 4:12-13.

Song of Songs 1:12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

Notice the spikenard is the woman’s. Mary of Bethany poured HER spikenard on the Saviour, the King, then the smell filled the house. She did this in preparation for Jesus’s death:

John 12:1-3, 7 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment… Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

Song of Songs 1:13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

Next we see the believer referring to Jesus’ burial. Myrrh is the aromatic spice that the dead were wrapped in. Her thoughts of Christ were like a sachet of potpourri sitting next to her heart - her Saviour is kept close to her heart, like someone she truly treasures.

Song of Songs 1:14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

Lastly, Jesus is compared to a cluster of camphire, another aromatic spice or flower that pictures the atonement of Jesus. The Hebrew word for camphire used here is literally the same Hebrew word used elsewhere that is translated as atonement, the redemption price and covering for our sin.

As believers fellowship over the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the savour of His name fills our hearts and lives, and transform every place we go. Truly, it is a sweet smelling savour, acceptable to our Heavenly Father!

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

May 1st, 2025

Jerry Bouey

The Savour Of The Saviour’s Name

The blessed savour of my Saviour,

Like an ointment or perfume -

Oh, the joy of His dear presence

Floods my heart and fills the room.

Oh, the wonder of Jesus’ name

Captures my soul with pure delight.

And the glory that surrounds us,

Dispels our deepest, darkest night.

When we spend time with our Saviour,

There’s a gladness and a peace.

There’s a hope and expectation -

Abundant life that will never cease.

By His death and resurrection,

He paid redemption’s price for all;

Oh, the blessing of His salvation

When upon His name we call.

The wondrous savour of life unto life -

The blessings that fill our hearts.

Oh, the glory of His presence -

And the wonder His love imparts!

May 4th, 2025

Jerry Bouey

Because of the savour of thy good ointments

thy name is as ointment poured forth,

therefore do the virgins love thee.

Song of Songs 1:3 

Jesus' Compassion

Jesus’ Compassion

I was reminded recently of a poem/song I wrote based on Mark 1:40-42 (Be Thou Clean), the chorus of which is:

I wondered if Jesus would have compassion on me. I asked if He was willing, and He said, Be thou clean.

Jesus being moved with compassion was the reason He fed the 5000 and His motive for several other miracles and lessons taught by Him and the other apostles:

1) Forgiveness:

Matthew 18:27, 33 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt… Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

2) The Father's reception of the prodigal son:

Luke 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

3) A high priest's (and the High Priest's) understanding of our infirmities and weaknesses:

Hebrews 5:2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

4) Proof that we have the love of God dwelling in us:

1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

5) Growth and blessings as a Christian influencing other believers:

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

6) Growth as believers making a difference to the lost:

Jude 1:22-23 And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

July 18th, 2016
Jerry Bouey

Saved To The Uttermost! - Part Two

Saved To The Uttermost! - Part Two

This devotional builds upon one I wrote a long time ago, Cities Of Refuge. Please read that first for context.

Hebrews 7:22-28 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this Man, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people's: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our great High Priest. It might be helpful to read all of Hebrews 7 if you need a refresher on what it says, though the passage above is the part I will primarily be focusing on.

Jesus, the Son of God, became a Man so He could die for our sins. As the Bible reveals, He has never sinned; therefore, His one sacrifice on the cross of Calvary paid the complete penalty that was needed to forgive and remove our sins forever. And because He was tempted in all points as we are, but He has never given in to sin, He knows the struggles we face, He knows our weaknesses, and is the person most qualified to help us in our day to day struggles. He is the only person that can give us the grace and spiritual strength we need to conquer the sins and temptations we face in our own lives.

Hebrews 2:17-18 Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

One of the Old Testament types is the Cities of Refuge. If an Israelite or a stranger in their land killed another person unintentionally (ie. without premeditation or by accident), he was able to flee to the nearest city of refuge to find sanctuary until the death of the current high priest.

Numbers 35:25-28 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.

Once the high priest died, the sin was wiped away and the manslayer was able to return to his own land again, safe from any further retaliation or future harm from the revenger of blood. Almost 2000 years ago, our great High Priest - our Refuge - died upon the cross, and our sins were wiped away by His shed blood, but after three days and nights in the grave, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, never to die again! Not only was our sin debt fully paid for upon the cross, now we are free forever from any spiritual revenger of blood, from the accuser of the brethren, from the guilt and penalty of our own sins, from the wrath of God - Jesus paid it all, and the proof of that fact is that He is now alive forevermore.

Romans 1:3-4 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 

Revelation 1:17-18 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

All that the high priests in the Old Testament pictured was (and is!) fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Now He ever liveth, never to die again; therefore, not only is He the perfect Refuge, He is forever our own High Priest, who is able to intercede for all His spiritual brethren, all those believers who have placed their faith in His finished work of redemption.

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines uttermost as: Extreme; being in the furthest, greatest or highest degree; as the uttermost extent or end; the uttermost distress.

Strong's Concordance gives this definition for the word uttermost: from G3956 and G5056; full-ended, i.e. entire (neuter as noun, completion).

Strong's 5056: from a primary τέλλω téllō (to set out for a definite point or goal); properly, the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination (literally, figuratively or indefinitely), result (immediate, ultimate or prophetic), purpose); specially, an impost or levy (as paid).

Strong's 5055 (a related word) is defined as such: to end, i.e. complete, execute, conclude, discharge (a debt):—accomplish, make an end, expire, fill up, finish, go over, pay, perform.

We can see this last word used in John 19:30, in the phrase, "It is finished!"

From the uttermost and to the uttermost - that's from the farthest reaches to the furthest extent. As some have stated in the past: from the guttermost to the uttermost. Not only did He save us and blot out our sins forever, He gave us an inheritance in Him, a relationship with Him, a home in His presence for all eternity. What more could we ask for? To the uttermost!

...He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him...

October 26, 2024
Jerry Bouey

Saved To The Uttermost!

Behold - Your Saviour!

Behold - Your Saviour!

In the past, I have done devotions on the theme of Behold, A Fivefold Picture (of the Saviour), basically presenting the contrasts between the Gospels, using the five different Behold statements about the Saviour. Ie. Isaiah 42:1 states, "Behold my servant," and corresponds with the Gospel of Mark which presents Jesus as a servant.

Now at the Mission we are working our way through the Gospel of John, and I was covering part of John 19. I know there are five different statements about the Saviour using the word "Behold," that use the term in a different way than it is normally used (ie. Behold, ... Consider something - but these statements are commanding us to behold a Person - eg. Behold your King - no comma - ie. Take a long, deep look at your King).

For a refresher I rechecked to find behold is used 1326 times in 1275 verses - only eight verses are used differently covering these five statements:

Behold My Servant! - Isaiah 42:1 and Matthew 12:18. Corresponding to the Gospel of Mark.
Behold the Man! - John 19:5 and Zechariah 6:12. Luke presents Jesus as the perfect Man.
Behold your King! - John 19:14. Corresponding to the Gospel of Matthew.
Behold the Lamb of God! - John 1:29, 36. The overall theme of the Gospels, and the Bible as a whole.
Behold your God! - Isaiah 40:9. Corresponding to the Gospel of John.

5 statements about the Saviour in eight verses, each representing a different aspect of His character...

Today I presented Jesus going to the cross using these five statements.

1) Behold My Servant!

Isaiah 42:1-4 and Matthew 12:18-21 showing what our Saviour was like.
Matthew 20:28 how Jesus came to serve us by giving His life for us.
Isaiah 53:11 how the knowledge and reception of that Servant leads to salvation.
Here is the Saviour going to fulfill His ministry: Behold my Servant!

2) Behold The Man!

John 19:1-12 Recap Jesus' struggle in the Garden, capture by the guards, beatings, scourgings, crown of thorns beaten onto His head, etc.
Behold the Man! (this word carries the idea of weakness) - the Saviour at His weakest, then being crucified, thirsting - John 19:28 Behold the Man!

3) Behold Your King!

John 19:13-22 His authority is shown by commanding the crowd to let His disciples go - John 18:8
Mocking of Jesus by the purple kingly robe, crown of thorns, presented as the King of the Jews, sign above His head - John 19:19 (shows God's authority and overruling of His enemies' intents to show who Jesus was, even to those who refused the truth), His dying at His choice and command, not man's - John 19:30 (notice the "It is finished" - the price was paid for our sin, victory was won! Recall what God's Servant would do in Matthew 12:20). Behold Your King!

4) Behold The Lamb of God!

The Passover Lamb - perfect, young, beloved, killed and His blood shed for our salvation - see especially Exodus 12:3-7, notice "a lamb... the lamb... your lamb" - the young lamb they had grown to love now killed for them and the blood applied... On the cross, dying for our sins, shedding His blood - John 19:16-18 Has His blood been applied to your soul through faith in His sacrifice for you? Behold the Lamb of God!

More weakness - laid in the tomb for three days and nights, then...

5) Behold your God!

The Saviour has risen. He is alive! Behold the King of Kings; behold your God; behold your Saviour!

The Lord Jesus Christ has triumphed, He has risen forevermore.

Behold your God! Isaiah 40:9-10 John 20:24-28

April 14th, 2011
Jerry Bouey

An Orchard Of Delights

An Orchard Of Delights

In Song of Solomon 4 (please read the whole chapter before reading this devotional), we see the Lord Jesus Christ (pictured in the Song of Songs as Solomon) admiring the beauty of His espoused (engaged) bride (in which the individual believer and the true church collectively is pictured). In Song of Songs 4:1-5, we hear Him praising her beauty, listing seven particulars of her makeup. Matthew Henry does a great job of breaking down the symbolism for us, tracing out each symbol in this whole book and in this passage by showing how they are used elsewhere in the Word of God. There are many spiritual lessons we can glean here in regards to the believer's fellowship with her Saviour, but I am only going to focus on  a few portions of this passage in this devotional.

Notice Jesus' praise of His fiancé, His espoused bride:

Song of Songs 4:1a Behold, thou art fair, My love; behold, thou art fair...

Song of Songs 4:7 Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee.

We are perfect in the Lord's eyes, without spot or blemish. See Ephesians 1:6; 5:25-27. The seven things He praised her for show her perfection in His eyes - this is how our Heavenly Father views us when we are in Christ (which happens at the moment of our salvation, when we receive the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in His death, burial, and resurrection, and believing that He paid the full penalty needed to save us from our sins).

Jesus/Solomon goes on to describe how the Shulamite (feminine form of the name Solomon, see Song of Songs 6:13) has captured His attention and taken His breath away:

Song of Songs 4:9-11 Thou hast ravished My heart, My sister, My spouse; thou hast ravished My heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, My sister, My spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O My spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

The Pulpit Commentary says the following about this verse:

"If but a portion of her beauty so overpowers, what will be the effect of the whole blaze of her perfection? As the Church advances in her likeness to her Lord, she becomes more and more the object of his delight, and as the soul receives more and more grace, so is her fellowship with Christ more and more assured and joyful."

Again, a little further in the same commentary:

"So the Lord has said, in Isaiah 62:5, that he rejoiceth over his people as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride."

Truly, this book portrays the love the Saviour has for His people - whether His people in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel, or His people in the New Testament, the church of Christ, and each individual believer that makes up His bride.

Chapter four of this Song goes on to show the lengths our Saviour will go to bring forth fruit in the lives of true believers. He considers their souls or hearts His garden that He fellowships in. We can clearly see this in the following verses:

Song of Solomon 4:12  A garden inclosed is My sister, My spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Song of Solomon 4:16  Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon My garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits.

Song of Solomon 5:1  I am come into My garden, My sister, My spouse: I have gathered My myrrh with my spice; I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey; I have drunk My wine with My milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Notice that Song of Songs 4:16 and 5:1 goes from Solomon/Jesus speaking to the believer/Shulamite speaking. Every time this Song says "My love," it is Jesus speaking, and every time it says "my (well) Beloved," it is the believer speaking. Each of the two verses above start off with Jesus referring to His bride - "My sister, My spouse" - then ends with her referring to her "Beloved."

The important part I want to emphasize here is that though the believer is considered a garden, it is HIS garden - we are HIS GARDEN. The fruits we produce are produced by the Holy Spirit working in and through us. See John 15:1-5 and Galatians 5:22-23.

Now back to the Lord's garden - our hearts or souls:

Song of Solomon 4:13-15  Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

Jesus refers to the believer as an orchard. Strong's Concordance says this about the word "orchard" used here:

Strong’s #h6508, “p̱arḏês; of foreign origin; a park: — forest, orchard.”

In the New Testament, we find a related Greek word that is used only three times - both the Hebrew word and this Greek word come from the same Persian word, "Paradise":

Luke 23:43  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.

2 Corinthians 12:2-4  I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The Strong's definition of the word "Paradise": Strong’s #g3857, “paradeisos; of Oriental origin (compare h6508); a park, i.e. (specially), an Eden (place of future happiness, “paradise”): — paradise.”

We can see from this definition that this word is related in meaning to the same OT word we were looking at from Song of Songs 4:13, "Orchard." The orchard, the believer's garden, and ultimately God's garden, is literally a Paradise to the Lord.

Webster's 1828 Dictionary: “Paradise:

PAR'ADISE, n. Gr. The garden of Eden, in which Adam and Eve were placed immediately after their creation.

1. A place of bliss; a region of supreme felicity or delight.

2. Heaven, the blissful seat of sanctified souls after death.

3. Primarily, in Persia, a pleasure-garden with parks and other appendages.”

The Garden of Eden (which means "delight, pleasure") in Genesis was created to be a garden of delight for man. There He placed man and there He provided for all their needs as they fellowshipped day by day with Him.

Genesis 2:8-9  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

Though mankind sinned, God provided a way of redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ - and one day, the new heaven and new earth will basically be a restored Eden, where we will dwell forever in the presence of God (this is what the third heaven is referring to, Paradise, where the presence of God dwells - see Hebrews 9:24).

In eternity, man will dwell in a new Paradise, a new Garden of Eden/Delight, where we will delight forever in the Lord our God, forever worshipping in His presence. See Revelation 21:1-5; 22:1-5.

But now back to the passage that started this blessed train of thought:

Song of Solomon 4:13  Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,

To recap: "Orchard" here is "Paradise" (to use the NT Greek word and the transliterated English word to emphasize this point). The Lord Jesus Christ's Garden of Delight, His Paradise, is His people! From the moment you came to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, the moment you were born again as His child, adopted into His family, accepted in the Beloved, you became His Garden of Delight, His Paradise - and just as we will forever delight in fellowship with the God who created us, gave us life and new life in Him, even so will our Saviour delight in us and in fellowship with us for eternity.

Now tell me that did not bless your soul today!

May 3rd, 2024
Jerry Bouey

He Is Risen!

He Is Risen!

Jesus had to die on the cross of Calvary and shed His blood to pay the full penalty for our sins - but now He is resurrected and lives forevermore.

2 Corinthians 13:4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.

Liveth - ongoing, present tense. Because He lives forever, He is the perfect Saviour and the perfect Mediator between us and our Heavenly Father.

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

I love how even one of Jesus' exhortations to His people was based on knowing that He died and arose, and therefore is able to raise us up as well. We do not need to fear death - we just need to trust in our risen Saviour!

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Hebrews 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Revelation 2:8, 10 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;… Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

John 14:18-19 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

I Serve A Risen Savior
(Hymn by Alfred Henry Ackley)

I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today.
I know that He is living, whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer;
And just the time I need Him He's always near.

Chorus:
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

In all the world around me I see His loving care,
And though my heart grows weary, I never will despair;
I know that He is leading through all the stormy blast;
The day of His appearing will come at last.

Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find,
None other is so loving, so good and kind.

February 4, 2022
Devotional by Jerry Bouey