Seeking the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to Matthew
chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12 and reading
for our text, verse 42. In fact, the latter part of verse
42, we'll read it all and then just highlight the last part
of it. The Queen of the South shall
rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn
it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. Especially those last words,
and behold, a greater then Solomon is here. The Holy Spirit through
the Scriptures of Truth has been pleased to on several occasions
use Solomon's greatness and the greatness of his kingdom as a
comparison. We have our Lord in Matthew 6
comparing the lilies of the field with Solomon,
and in this way in verse 28, And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet
I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. And so the Lord uses Solomon
in his greatness and in his glory to remind us that the grass of
the field, the lilies of the field, God has made them and
fashioned them in a way that there is no toil. The Lord performs
it and does it and gives a glory in his creation that was greater
than Solomon. We have another comparison between
Solomon's temple that was so wonderful, was magnificent, and
the glory of all lands. And then when the second temple
was built, after the first had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar,
and then after the 70 years in Babylon, brought back to their
own land, And when the foundation was laid, there were some that
were rejoicing, and there were some that were mourning. And
it couldn't be discerned, the mourning and the rejoicing, the
two mingling together, because those who had seen that former
temple in all its glory, realized that this latter building was
not going to be as magnificent at all. And yet Haggai, the prophet,
was brought to assure them that the glory of this latter house
shall be greater than the former. And the glory of it was that
the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised
seed of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head would
walk in that temple, really upon that foundation that was laid. And here we have then our Lord
in the temple, our Lord coming Our Lord teaching the people
and being with them, and setting before us here another comparison,
but very, very clearly pointing unto Himself. And it's not just
the Queen of the South that is a comparison here, or Solomon,
but even the Ninevites, and Jonah is mentioned. The men of Nineveh
shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn
it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold,
a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall
rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn
it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon, And behold, a greater than Solomon is here. And so we have again a comparison
with what the Jews would have well known, how great Solomon
was. And to think that here is Jesus,
the son of Joseph, the carpenter's son, and he is saying, and they
would have understood very well what he meant, that he was greater
than Solomon. Anyone that was but a mere man
Making that statement they'd say how arrogant, what a presumption
to call yourself in your lowly condition that you are to be
greater than Solomon. But our Lord states it so very
clearly, here is one, here is himself. that is greater than
Solomon. Now, those that were round about
him and those that were hearing him speaking, they would have
said, he is here. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ
is saying, here. They would have looked round.
Who is there to see? Here is the Lord. He is here. But that word applies as much
to us today. May we also remember When our
Lord ascended into heaven, he promised, and he said, Lo, I'm
with you always, even unto the end of the world. And he is with
his church through his spirit and grace. He has promised that
where two or three are gathered together in his name, that there
am I in the midst. And so we are to understand and
realize as well, when our Lord says, a greater than Solomon
is here, we don't just look at where our Lord was there, but
here. And the blessed truth of the
Savior who came, who stood upon the earth, a real man and real
God in one person, and that how that he then offered himself
up, a sacrifice, a ransom, the true Paschal Lamb, the Passover
Lamb, willingly offered, no man taketh my life from me, I lay
it down of myself, I have power to lay it down, I have power
to take it again, this commandment have I received of my Father,
and he laid down his life. and yielded up the ghost in full
strength. Father, into thy hands I commit
my spirit. And that sacrifice accepted,
the empty tomb after three days, he hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. We do not
worship a dead Christ. We do not worship a saviour that
is not here. He is here, He is alive, He lives
to carry on His people's cause above, and He is with His people
here below. Great is the mystery of godliness,
God manifest in the flesh. The Lord said, if ye have seen
me, ye have seen my Father also, none could be greater than God
Himself. And this is what our Lord is
saying here. that He truly is God, He is the
Son of Man, He is the Lamb of God, and He is here, a greater
than Solomon. Well, we have a comparison here,
and I wanted, with the Lord's help this evening, to look at
how this is so. There's a comparison here, and
we can draw from it those ways in which Our Lord Jesus Christ
is greater than Solomon. Very often we do need things
to compare one with another, to give some idea of the greatness
and majesty of God. And in this condition, whereas
Solomon is but a man, but a sinner, but one that also needed redeeming
and saving. And here is the Saviour, the
Saviour of sinners, the King of kings, the Lord of lords.
And to compare one against another, then we can see something of
the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need faith to view Him and
to see His greatness, but faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. And the Lord highlights here
in his own people, his own generation, and they weren't taking any heed
to his teaching, to his warnings, to all that he had to say. And
what can we say today? Is it not the same for the majority
of people who have no need of Christ? They do not feel the
need of His Word, do not seek His Word, do not read His Word,
have no desire after Him, do not see His greatness at all. Really it's one of the marks
of the privileges and blessings of a child of God when we are
brought to see the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. and
to worship him in spirit and in truth. And so I want to look
at three points. Firstly, greater than Solomon,
regarding his kingdom. Solomon's kingdom, our Lord's
kingdom. And then secondly, his wisdom. Solomon's wisdom, our Lord's
wisdom. And thirdly, his people, Solomon's
people, the Lord's people, the difference, the greatness, the
greater than Solomon. So firstly, regarding his kingdom,
Solomon's kingdom, the kingdom of Israel, Judah and Israel,
the 12 tribes all together. You have to remember that in
David's day, They were together, and over the first seven years,
David was king just over Judah. And then during the 40 years
of Solomon's reign, Solomon was over the 12 tribes. But as soon
as Solomon died, then his kingdom was divided. The 10 tribes were
given to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and Judah, and Benjamin,
they were given to read her poem. So in one sense, the kingdom
of Solomon was only a kingdom of a very short duration. And though we read of how magnificent
and wonderful it was, and the Queen of Sheba having heard of
it and heard of his wisdom, she comes, she sees everything concerning
it, and it was more than the reports that she had heard. Yet
it was a relatively short time. The King was many years in building
the houses, both of the Lord's house and his own house. And
really, when both of those were built, I only enjoyed them for
some 20 years or so with both together. With Solomon's kingdom,
magnificent as it was, it was actually a burden upon the people,
a burden of taxation. And we think of when Rehoboam
took the kingdom from his father, the very first thing that the
people wanted as coming under Jeroboam was that the burden
of that taxation was to be reduced. It came as a cost, all of that
grandeur and all of that wonder, and really any natural kingdom,
our own our own kingdom, as it were, in Great Britain. There's
talks of reducing, as it were, the royal family and that, and
one reason is because of the cost of it, all of the cost of
the ceremony and things like that. It's got to be paid for
by someone. It was Solomon's Day. It was,
and the people really felt that. And it was the advice of the
old men to actually reduce that burden. Well, most things have
been built anyway, and they alone could have done that. But the
Lord had overruled it, that's what he had said to Solomon,
because Solomon had walked after strange women, and after their
gods, and followed gods that were not of the true God of Israel,
that he would separate and take that kingdom from him, or ten
tribes from him. So it was ordered of the Lord,
but Rehoboam took the advice of the young men and really said
that he would make their burden much higher than what it was. And the people then rebelled
against him. Interesting, isn't it? Even with
events recently in our nation, how much has been revolving on
taxation, on a burden of a people, and how that reflects on those
that are in authority over us. But what a difference with the
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. With our Lord,
the debt that his people owed, he paid. And his message to his
people is to come buy wine and milk without money and without
price, and to come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls." It's a very different kingdom. Our Lord,
not a hard taskmaster, not laying burdens on men, in fact, That's
what he reproved the scribes and the Pharisees for, that they
lay burdens on men that were grievous to be born, and that
they did not release them in any way. But the Lord would have
it different so. He came to release his people
from the burden of sin, from the sentence of death, to set
them free. When he said to those that believed
in him, In John 8, he said, If ye continue in my word, then
shall ye be my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. And if the Son shall make
you free, ye shall be free indeed. And there are some that were
hearing him, they said, We were not in bondage to any man. We
be Abraham's seed." Realizing that they were paying taxes to
the Romans at that time, and that they had been under Babylon,
and many times had to be under tribute to other nations for
their sin. And yet they said that. They
did not understand the bondage that they were under to sin.
We are, all of us, slaves to sin. and to Satan, obeying. And the Apostle Paul says, Whom
ye obey, ye are servants to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto
death, or of righteousness unto life. And so the kingdom of our
Lord, so much different than of Solomon's. Instead of a burden,
it is that And the glory of our Lord's kingdom
is not that external glory. It's not seen outwardly. The Lord says, the kingdom of
God cometh not by observation, it is within you. It is not outward. And again, with the day in which
Christ was, he said that the scribes and Pharisees, they were
standing at the corners of the streets. and four of her tents
made long prayers. They went about in the marketplaces
with long robes and appeared unto men to be righteous and
to be religious and to be upright. And the Lord said, that is just
all outwardly. It is the heart, it is the hidden
man of the heart, not that it doesn't matter how we dress and
how we behave and how we act, but God looks at the heart. And
the work that is gone on by God's grace is in the heart, not outward. Now the Lord told the Pharisee
and the publican in the temple, the Pharisee speaking of all
his good works and everything that he had done, whereas the
publican could only beat upon his breast, God be merciful to
me a sinner. The Lord said that man went down
to his house justified rather than the other, free from guilt,
free from condemnation, because he had sought mercy. And mercy
is not earned, it's not deserved, it's not merited, it's completely
free. And it is the kingdom of our
Lord, is a kingdom of mercy, a kingdom of grace, a kingdom
where instead of giving us what we deserve for our sins, in the
day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die, as what
was said to our first parents, But they died spiritually, they
didn't die physically straight away, but God immediately gave
the promise of our Lord here, greater than Solomon, and it
is in the expectation of his coming, of his kingdom, that
man was allowed to continue, man continues. And that kingdom
then of our Lord is a kingdom that does not have the The burdens
does not have the outward show and grandeur why the people of
God are as a remnant in the earth, scattered here and there in the
earth. They likened to salt. If the
salt has lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? Well, you
get grains of salt and scatter them around there. Hardly see
them, hardly notice. Our Lord was despised and rejected
of men. And so will God's people be a
remnant, hardly known by the world at all. The Lord said,
I've given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, but
the Lord knows them. And the kingdom of God standeth
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and
that every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Solomon's kingdom was a temporal
kingdom. We mentioned 40 years maximum
and really in its glory only 20. So soon arisen and so soon
going away, but our Lord's kingdom eternal. The Lord speaks of it
as a kingdom that shall never pass away and a glory that shall
be in the heavens for eternity. How different. than that temporal
kingdom of Solomon. And so there are many different
ways in which we may really see the difference in the kingdom.
Our Lord says that greater than Solomon is here is greater than
Solomon in respect of his kingdom. We think of the beautiful words
of the dying thief, the converted thief upon the cross. You know,
we read of it once that both cast the same in his teeth, both
reviled him, but then there was a change in one. And his words
to his fellow was, we indeed justly, but this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he turns to our Lord and
he said, Lord, remember me. when thou comest into thy kingdom. Our Lord's answer to him was,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise, absent from the body, present with the Lord, immediately
with the Lord in heaven. Our Lord's body laid in the tomb,
the thief's body laid in the grave, no doubt, but the spirit,
the soul, in heaven and present with the Lord. And
that dear man, he saw by faith that the man hanging beside him
in agonies, with his back scourged and nailed to the tree, that
was the Son of God. That was the King over his cross,
Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. written in Hebrew,
Greek, Latin, to all of those that passed by saw it. But we
read of this dear man who saw it, who heard him, who's given
faith to believe. He was a king, though dying,
yet eternal. And that which he was doing there
at the cross was dying for his people, laying down his life
for his sheep. and taking it again, redeeming
them with the precious blood of Christ. Without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission. And there at Calvary, that precious
blood of the Lamb of God was shed." On to look then secondly
at his wisdom. The greater than Solomon is here,
the wisdom. Now it's interesting that with
the Queen of Sheba, when she comes, She came to prove him
with hard questions, and we're told that Solomon told her all
her questions. But we're not told one question
that she asked. And yet with our Lord, we read
there very specific questions that were asked him, really,
not with a desire to learn or to worship him, but to trip him
up. and to undermine him, to prove
that he was not who he said he was. And they felt how miserably
the Lord Jesus Christ answered all their questions and we read
how he answered their questions and how he perceived what they
were trying to do with him. I don't think anyone could read
that portion we read in Matthew and not marvel and wonder at
the answers. that the Lord gave to them. Simple
answers regarding the taxation, regarding giving tribute to Caesar. What a simple answer. And we
think of our coins. Well, they're going to be changing
soon, aren't they, with the king on it instead of the queen. But what an answer. Look at that. Whose is it? Render therefore
to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. And he reproved them
for tempting him and accused them of being hypocrites. And when the Lord says that,
we know they were hypocrites. They were saying what they were
not doing themselves. And then we have those that came
asking regarding the resurrection, the Sadducees, which say that
there is no resurrection. And probably with them, they
felt it was a watertight argument. The Lord couldn't answer this.
And so they proposed the situation from the law of Israel, so that
a man's inheritance stayed intact, that if he did not have a child
through marriage, then his brother would marry him, keep it in that
tribe until he had a son. And they said then that there
was seven brethren, and they all had that one woman to wife. And so they thought this was
a watertight argument, there could not be a resurrection,
because they thought that there was to be marrying and giving
in marriage in the resurrection. But our Lord said to them that
they, And it's a good thing for us to remember to take on board
why the Lord said they made a mistake in this regard. And it was because
they did not know the Scriptures. That was the first part. Do we
know the Scriptures? Do we read them? Do we have them
in our mind? Do we meditate? Do we know them
off by heart? And the other reason was that
they did not know the power of God. the power to raise the dead,
the power to raise the dust of going back to Abel and to Adam
and to all of those who have died, that the last great day,
the dead in Christ shall rise first. And we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up with them in the air. And so those two things we need
to really search our hearts as to, do we know the scriptures? Do we know the power of God? And then the Lord said regarding
the resurrection itself, the truth of that, and he speaks
of what the Lord said to Moses at the burning bush, I am the
God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God
is not the God God was alive and so was Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob. Of course, we have later on the
Mount of Transfiguration when there was Moses and Elias and
our Lord. The apostles obviously recognized
who they were, representing the law and the prophets. And the
voice, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear
ye him, the cloud lifted up, they saw no man but Jesus only,
Jesus only, greater than Solomon is here. And so with this question
that the Lord answered, hard questions, that's what the Queen
of Sheba came with, hard questions, and the Lord answered, those
hard questions and we're told what those questions were that
were brought to him. And then the question is to the
law. And our Lord summarises the law
in the two tables of the law. The table concerning God, towards
God, and secondly our duty towards man. Those two tables. And the Lord says on these two
commandments hang all the law. and the prophets. And then the
Lord asked them a question, a question that they couldn't answer, a
question that really they should have been able to answer. And again, it's a better thing
if we are able to answer it, considering the word that we
have as our text are greater than Solomon. Solomon, known
in eternity by God that he would be brought into this world, but
his existence began by his birth. Eternal his soul was. But all
the time that's spoken of here is that our Lord Jesus Christ
was before David, though he was to be David's son. And they couldn't
understand that. If ever there was a text, I'm
pointing of course to Psalm 110 and verse 1. If ever there was
a text that so proved that Jesus of Nazareth is the eternal God
and the pre-existence with the Father before he came to this
world, it is that in Psalm 110 and that which is here and that
which they could not answer. They accused our Lord of being
a man that had made himself God. But truly He is God and made
Himself man, humbled Himself, made Himself of no reputation. This is He. And so with these
hard questions regarding His wisdom, the Queen of Sheba, she
came to Solomon. And yes, we're told that He answered
these questions, but not what they were at all. But our Lord,
it is highlighted how he answered those questions, what he said,
and in answering them, set forth these precious truths of the
law of God, the resurrection of the dead, and of the eternal
existence of himself, the Son of God. So the wisdom, where did Solomon
get his wisdom from? He got it from the Lord. He is
wisdom. I remember years ago, speaking
to one of our counsellors in the town, and it was regarding
actually having a Sunday market. And thankfully, after making
representation to them, they decided not to have it at that
time. But I spoke to him about it,
and he said, regarding those council meetings, he said, we
really need the wisdom of Solomon. And I said to him, well, you
know where Solomon got his wisdom from. And I gave him the copies
of all of Solomon's writings and pointed him to the Lord,
pointed him to where Solomon was given that wisdom as he asked
it from the Lord. And it would be a wonderful thing
if each of us were mindful, if we've got wisdom at all, even
in natural things. There are many times that in
my work as a design engineer, that I've had to cry unto the
Lord, Lord, how shall I design this? How shall I make it? How
shall I do this? And that wisdom we must get from
the Lord. a greater than Solomon, a greater
wisdom. And we got those things this
evening. And we feel so lacking wisdom,
lacking understanding. You feel like Solomon, you felt
like a little child who's not up to the great things that were
before him in the kingdom. And so that's what he asked of
the Lord. And the Lord gave him more than
that. But we need to be reminded, though
Solomon has been dead, Our Lord still lives and still gives to
His people wisdom and still is with them and still lives to
answer their hard questions. And if He answered the questions
of those that came to Him seeking to trip Him up and to entangle
Him in His thought, how much more would He answer the questions
of those who sincerely come and beg of the Lord to show them
the way they should go, what they should do, What an encouragement
for us to ask and seek that wisdom which is from above. Not just
for temporal things, but for eternal things, for our souls. Remember the questions here that
were asked. You might say, well, the tribute
money was a practical, was a temporal thing. But when it comes to the
resurrection, when it comes to the eternal Son of God, They
are vital points of doctrine, of faith. And may we be established
in the faith and in the truth that is in Jesus. But then we have thirdly, regarding
his people, his people. Solomon had a people, many people,
many servants. They would have been paid servants
to do what he required them to do. You get a little glimpse
of when the people required a king and the Lord gave them Saul. And the Lord warned them through
Samuel that that king, he would take the best of their sons and
of their daughters to be his servants and to work for him. And he warned them of what would
happen, that that king in one sense would sap from them all
their best. But what a difference with the
people of the Lord, the servants of the Lord. Now the Lord said,
The servant knoweth not what his master doeth, but I have
called you friends. Pray to loveth no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends, ye are my friends,
if ye do whatsoever I command you. Solomon just paid for his
servants, but our Lord Jesus Christ redeemed his. Solomon
took the best, as it were, of the sons and daughters. Our Lord
took rebels, and he took those under the sentence of death,
and those with a huge debt upon them. And he paid that debt,
and he took them, and he not only redeemed them and paid their
debt, but clothed them with his righteousness and made them to
be what he'd have them to be for his bride, and not just to
be a servant, but to be partners with him in his throne, and to
be with him. You think of Mephibosheth lame
in both his feet, and yet he sat at the king's table. A beautiful
time. What the Lord does to his people
is because of the covenant that Mephibosheth was so blessed in
that way. And it is because of the covenant
that God's people are blessed in Christ and what he does for
them. He's loved them with an everlasting
love. and therefore with loving kindness
hath he drawn them. But he's made them to be what
he'd have them to be, at great cost to himself." So a very stark
difference between Solomon's kingdom and the kingdom of our
Lord. Each one of God's people has
been redeemed, has been personally loved, has been personally chosen,
has been made to be what they are at great cost to our Lord
and with the desire that they actually be with Him. Another type we have in Boaz
and Ruth. Now Ruth was taken from Moab,
a country that was even banned from appearing to the 10th generation
in the courts of the Lord. And yet she is brought to be
in Israel. and united by marriage to Boaz,
taken as a widow that has nothing to offer, no substance at all. You know, with David, he was
so concerned about being the king's son-in-law because he
couldn't provide a dowry. He says, I'm a poor man. I can't
pay my way to be related to the king. But the people of God,
they can never pay their way. to be related to the King. The
Lord takes them, bankrupts them, those that have nothing, and
that he makes them to be a people, a holy people, a people that
shall be with him on his throne. They are a people that are kept
by him, preserved by our Lord Jesus Christ. And all their righteousness
is of Christ. Solomon couldn't impart anything
of his grandeur, glory, wisdom, greatness to his people. Yes, he could teach them wisdom
the same as we can teach one another. But the wisdom of God
especially, and Paul points this out to those in Corinthians,
that God through wisdom has made it that man, he cannot find out
God. He can know natural things, but
spiritual things he cannot. And unless God opens their eyes,
unless God blesses the ministry of the Word, it has pleased God
through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And
so there is a difference, a greater regarding the kingdom of our
Lord than Solomon. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. Regarding the wisdom of our Lord,
behold, a greater than Solomon is here. and regarding the people
of our Lord greater than Solomon is here. And yet when the Queen
of Sheba, she came and she saw his kingdom, she heard his wisdom,
she made mention of his servants and how blessed and how favoured
they were. How favoured, how blessed are
the people of God. She viewed it that these, His
servants, were seeing Him all the time. They were in His presence
all the time. And how much more blessed are
the people of God, where the Lord says that He will never
leave them nor forsake them, and that they are chosen to see
His glory and to behold His glory, and to know of His kingdom even
in their own hearts. May we truly know what we have
then in our text that I greater, behold, behold, I greater than
Solomon is here. And we know that precious truth
of a present Jesus, a present King, and being part of his kingdom. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.