Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Matthew, the Gospel according
to Matthew chapter 12 and verse 42. We have one of our free Bibles,
that's page 897. Matthew chapter 12 and verse
42. This is our Lord and Saviour
speaking. The Queen of the South, that
is, the Queen of Sheba that we read of, 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. Matthew 12 and verse 42. You read from verse 38 that the
scribes and Pharisees came to our Lord saying, Master, we would
see a sign from thee. Of course, the Lord has worked
many miracles. He had given them many, many
signs in the things that he had said. the things that he'd done,
the miracles that had been performed, and yet they did not believe,
they did not receive him. And just previous in this chapter,
they were accusing him of casting out devils by the prince of devils. And so our Lord then directed
them to a previous generation He directs them to Jonah and
he says that as Jonah was three days, three nights in the whale's
belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth. Really a prophesying of what
he was to go through in his death, his burial, his rising again. But then he refers to the men
of Nineveh that Jonah was sent to preach to and whose preaching
brought them to repentance. And he says that those men of
Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation and shall
condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah's.
Beholder greater than Jonas is here. So he's comparing himself
with Jonah. And then, in the words of our
text, he's comparing the Queen of Sheba with himself as well,
and, or comparing Solomon with himself, and that the Queen of
Sheba came to see Solomon, to see his wisdom, And he concludes
with this application, and behold a greater than Solomon is here. And so it is my desire that on
this occasion when we would remember the reign of our Queen, and we
could say in this whatever may be said of our monarch, that
the Lord Jesus Christ is greater. It's a good thing if we're led
from kings, queens, that we can actually see here below and to
then think that our Lord and Saviour is greater and in what
way He is greater. In the words of our text, what
way is our Lord greater? than Solomon. And so I want to
look then at four things and we introduce them as we come.
Firstly, as this is a comparison with Solomon and his greatness,
then let us just think again what we read in 1 Kings chapter
10 of Solomon's greatness. The Queen of Sheba had heard
the report, but when she comes, she herself has things that she
has to say of his greatness as a first-hand witness. The things that she perceived
as she came and saw him was concerning the Lord his God, concerning
the name of the Lord, in verse one of chapter 10. And then it
was the wisdom that God had given him that was so evidenced in
the questions that she asked, the things that she tested and
tried him in. And then when she saw his table, all of the evidence of that well.
Sometimes we get pictures of the banquets in Buckingham Palace
and we see all the layouts of that table so different than
ours in our homes and how all of the officials are all dressed
and those invited are and it is a picture of great great wealth
and great pomp and great evidence just in looking at it of a wealth
that is far beyond most people's even expectation. And then she
viewed his servants. She viewed how happy they were. She viewed how he went up to
the house of God, how he worshipped the Lord. And then she viewed
all of the material wealth that he had, the gold, the silver. The silver really wasn't accounted
anything in his days, but gold and everything made of that.
Then we had the throne, the ivory throne, and the observation again
and again made that there is nothing like that made of any
kingdom. The whole picture is really the
greatest, most wonderful, blessed kingdom, and in material things,
in wisdom, that ever could be. And this is the picture that
she has, and we are told later on further, Things were told
of his navy, were told of his chariots, his horsemen. And in
verse 23, so Solomon, King Solomon, exceeded all the kings of the
earth for riches and wisdom. Now those to whom our Lord spake,
they would have known this in the Old Testament scriptures.
They would have been well aware of that. And for this man, Jesus
of Nazareth, who they had only just been likening or saying
that he was casting out devils by the Prince of Devils, for
him to compare himself with Solomon and say that he was greater than
Solomon, that surely must have made such an impression on those
that were listening to him. And I want then to look secondly
at a greater than Solomon. Our Lord makes this statement,
this comparison. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. How is our Lord greater? Well, what they could not see
was here was God manifest in the flesh. This was God himself. This was he of whom Solomon said,
the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. How much less this
house that I have builted, but will God in very deed dwell upon
the earth. This is he. The Lord Jesus Christ,
veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. This was he that had given
that wisdom to Solomon. I well remember some years ago
speaking to one of the businessmen in this town, and they were seeking
to, he's one of the counsellors, to have a Sunday market. And I'm very thankful to say
at that time they listened and they did not have that market. But he said to me, he said, you
know, in these council meetings, he said, we need the wisdom of
Solomon. I said, yes, that's right. But
you've got to remember where Solomon got his wisdom from.
And I gave him the printouts of the Proverbs, the Ecclesiastes
and these accounts of Solomon and what God had given him. Our hymn that we've just sung,
it refers to the time that Solomon had the dream and God asked him
what he would give him, what he should ask when he first came
to the kingdom, that is in 1 Kings Chapter 3. And Solomon answered
the Lord and said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David,
my father, great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth
and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee. Thou hast
kept for him this great kindness, Thou hast given him a son to
sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now he felt but as a little
child, and so he confessed, he said he knew not how to go out
or how to come in, and in the midst of the people that is the
people of the Lord. And so he asked this, give therefore
thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that
I may discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge
this? Thy so great a people." And that
speech, it pleased the Lord. And he said to Solomon, because
he had not asked for riches for himself, or long life, or the
life of his enemies, but had asked that thing, asked wisdom,
and to understand judgment and discern judgment, that he would
give him that wisdom, but also the riches and honour as well. And so the scriptures very clearly
said before us that that wisdom that came from the Lord. So where the Lord says that he
is greater than Solomon, Solomon had the wisdom that was given
him, but here in the Lord Jesus Christ, was the one that was
the source of that wisdom and source of the riches as well. If you were to go back to Deuteronomy
chapter 8 and the Lord charging his people when they had to go
into the promised land and the Lord would bless them and he
warned them that when he had blessed them, that they say,
even in their heart, not even outwardly, but just in their
heart, my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this
wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord
thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that
he may establish his covenant, which he swear unto thy fathers,
as it is this day. And so when our Lord says a greater
than Solomon is here, first level we would look at it when you're
just looking at those riches that he had, that they all came
from the Lord. He was the giver of them. We
need to remember that whatever the Lord blesses us with in this
life, it is that the Lord has given us power to get those things
and he has given them to us. That is then for temporal things. But what about eternal things? Solomon must needs die. Solomon was a sinner. His sins
are recorded. He went after the idols, the
gods of his many, many wives, and they turned his heart away
from the Lord. Solomon was not at all perfect. And yet before he was born, the
Lord blessed his father David and showed him something of the
manner of his kingdom. And David sat before the Lord
and said, is this the manner of man, O Lord God? I believe
David looked right past the son that was to be born and to sit
on the throne of Israel. and to see our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ. Our Lord backs this up in this
comparison here. Many times in the prophecies,
some people would stop short at what is being described of
a king, whether it be Hezekiah or Solomon or other kings, David
himself, but the whole teaching of scripture is to go past those
earthly kings and to the king of kings. When Israel wanted
to imitate the nations, the heathen nations, in the days of Samuel,
and they wanted a king, and God gave them King Saul, But Samuel, he was very grieved
at it. And the Lord said, they have
not rejected thee, they have rejected me. And he made them
to understand what a solemn thing it was, that they should want
to imitate the heathen or to have a king in that way. And yet when he gave it to them,
he said, if you and your king, if you serve the Lord, then he
will bless you. But if they were to turn aside
and turn away from serving him, then the Lord would deal with
them both. Which of course, later on in
their history, he did. In the carrying away into Babylon,
and before that, the 10 tribes into Assyria. are greater than Solomon is here. Here is the spotless, pure, innocent
Son of God, God Himself, manifest in the flesh. Here is the giver
of natural life and the giver of eternal life. Here is the
Redeemer, the Saviour, the only name given among men, whereby
we must be saved, however much Solomon might have a name that
is a great name, or any king, a great name. The Lord Jesus has a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. And that is because he was obedient,
even unto death, the death of the cross. Therefore God hath
highly exalted him. So with our Lord Jesus Christ
we are directed unto where his greatness really lay and how
many they saw just Joseph and his son Jesus. They saw the brethren
of our Lord. They were offended at him. they
could not see that greatness. And nor can we, unless the Lord
opens our eyes and shows that greatness to us. On to look then thirdly, at hearing
of his fame. Our Lord says in our text that
she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom
of Solomon. In the portion we read, we read
that the first step was hearing of his fame. When she came, she
says that the half had not been told her the wisdom, the fame
had exceeded the report, but the report was needed It was
vital. We're not told how she heard,
but she did. And when we put that to hearing
of the fame of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord has so ordered
it that sinners do hear of him. It's not left to there is an organised way that
the Lord makes sure that his name is set forth and what he
has done is made known. And so the Lord has given us
the Word of God, the Bible that we have, in all the scriptures
our Lord spoke, those two are the way to Emmaus, the things
concerning himself, the whole of the Word of God. It speaks
to exalt and lift up and to show the Lord Jesus Christ in the
very words that the Holy Spirit, God himself, has designed he
should be shown forth. It is not man that has thought,
well, this would be nice to save him, or that would be nice. God has. as it were written,
his own testimony and own account of his beloved son. And that
is set forth in the word of God. So when the Queen of Sheba heard
of his fame, if we have read the word of God, then we also
have heard of his fame. The Lord has not just left it
there, he has also sent forth his servants and as at the end
of this gospel the sending of them forth was prefaced by the
Lord saying that all power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth. Over all kings, over everyone,
all power is given unto me. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all the
way even unto the end of the world. The Lord has ordained
that his fame that which he has accomplished and finished at
Calvary, the putting away of sin or the sacrifice of himself,
the finished work that he declared was finished, that work that
he said when he was 12, wished he not, that I must be about
my father's business, that work that he came to do and did accomplish
and did do, the death that he died the rising saviour, the
empty tomb, those things are to be preached. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. And that fame of Him is to go
forth. He is lifted up in this way. Another way that His fame is
set forth is in His people, those that have seen those who have
been partakers of his grace, those who have been blessed with
spiritual life. This people have I formed for
myself, they shall show forth my praise. When the Lord healed
those like the mad Gadarene and others, many they wanted to be
with him, but he sent them, go to thy friends and tell how great
things God hath done for thee. And each one of them became ambassadors,
became of those that spake well of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
man that was born blind. He says even to the scribes and
Pharisees which were speaking against him, will ye also be
his disciple. So we have his people, the means
that his fame is noised and heard. Then we have the ordinances of
the house of God. We have the ordinance of baptism
and of the Lord's Supper, showing his death till the Lord come,
doing this in remembrance of him so that his fame, especially
in what he has accomplished in putting away sin by the sacrifice
at Calvary, never forgotten. And there are many that do not
have any idea of the Christian faith and yet their idea is of
a worship is of the Lord's Supper, the communion. Can we sit down? Can we join in that? And especially
those brought up with a Church of England tradition where every
service or every Lord's Day especially there is the ordinance, there
is the Lord's Supper, the communion service. I remember I have spoken
to several in Leverting some years ago and been questioned,
especially on this point and just before this service as well.
And the thought that a person cannot sit down and partake of
the ordinance The immediate thought is, well, I can't have anything
to do with this service. There's nothing for me at all. They're not used to the preaching
of the word. They're only used to the ordinance.
And yet, if it is rightly taught, even in that, it is exalting
the Lord, it is setting him forth. how vital we do need a right
teaching of it. We know, of course, the Roman
Catholics teach it as another sacrifice instead of a remembrance
service. It is a sacrifice again of our
Lord as he is somehow supposedly turned into the bread and into
the wine. The Lord has ordained these means
then of hearing of his fame. And before I pass on to our last
point, maybe think of the way it's put here. We may think,
well, we've heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've heard the
gospel. Sometimes we can be gospel-hardened. We've heard it so many times. But maybe here is a different
way that it is set forth, the fame of Jesus. Maybe think of those times we've
heard the word preached, we've heard it from his people, we've
heard their testimonies, we've read it in the word of God. And
may, when we go from the Lord's house today, we think of this
in this way, What is the Lord famed for? Why is he so spoken
of with such high regard from those that know him? We know
the world is in the Psalms. They only consult to cast him
down from his excellency. But the people of God in his
temple, everyone does speak of his glory. Why is there such
a disparity? Some just trying to cast him
down and others they're speaking of his glory. May we be of those
that hear of his fame, we see the beauty, the grandeur, the
preciousness of Christ greater than Solomon is here. When we're thinking, this time of our own sovereign,
we have a comparison very nigh at hand. Here is a greater, a
greater than our sovereign. What a solemn thing it is. How
many go after a king, a queen, that they can see, but despise
and have no time for the king of kings? The Queen of Sheba, when she
heard, she came. So I want to think of this coming
to him. You know, it was not just the
Queen of Sheba. When the wise men heard of the
star, they came to see him. When the shepherds heard from
the angels about the Lord being born and
where he was in the stable, they went and to see him. When Philip would speak to Nathaniel,
and Nathaniel under the fig tree says, can any good thing come
out of Nazareth? Then Philip says, come and see.
And Nathaniel did and believed. The woman at the well of Samaria
when the Lord had blessed her with that eternal life, those
living waters, showing her what her life, her heart was, and
telling her very explicitly that He was the Christ. She doesn't
say to the men of Samaria, come see a man that told me He was
the Christ, but come see a man that told me all things that
ever I did. And she puts that question to
them, for them to decide, is not this the Christ? And they
did come, and they saw Him. They heard Him for themselves. And then they believed, they
were brought to believe. What response? Does it move our
hearts at all? Does it bring us in prayer? Does
it draw us to Him? We know our Lord has said, that
no man can come unto me except the Father which sent me draw
him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. Be a blessed thing,
we're able to see through the lattice of the Word, see through
this Word here this evening, a greater than Solomon, and that
our response is like unto the Queen of Sheba, that we desire
to go after Him to see more of his glory, to see that which
is revealed by the Holy Spirit. One thing that the Queen of Sheba
said was that when she came, it was more than the report.
And we may say this, that those who hear the report, even in
an outward way, that is very, very different than having the
Holy Spirit precious things of Jesus. Give
faith and give one to see his beauty, his loveliness, his suitability
to a sinner. And we will say, when we have
seen that, that the half was not told us. You say to the ministers
and the pastors, you have not described the Lord as we see
him now. To those that have been converted
or given their testimony to the church, you say, your words have
not really described what now we see in him and how beautiful
he is. This was the effect when the
Queen of Sheba she came. May we be a coming sinner. coming
on the report to the throne of grace, coming seeking like the
Greeks did, serves. We would see Jesus. What had
they heard? What had they heard to make them
want to see him? What had the eunuch heard that
he wanted to read the word of God? and to be found in it and
to be found in the very place where the Lord was to be revealed
to him. And so may we, from this word,
a greater than Solomon is here, the comparisons that we have
at this time, that we be drawn to the Lord and to his fame as
a saviour of sinners and to the King of Kings So may the Lord bless this word
to us. A greater than Solomon is here
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.