Let us turn then to God's Word
and we turn to the chapter that we read in the first book of
Kings chapter 10 reading again verse 4 following the first book
of Kings chapter 10 reading verse 4 to verse 7 And when the Queen of Sheba had
seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,
and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants,
and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel, and his cupbearers,
and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord,
there was no more spirit in her. and she said to the king it was
a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and
of thy wisdom albeit I believed not the words until I came and
mine eyes had seen it and behold the hearth was not told me thy
wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard particularly
those words in verse 7 where the Queen of Sheba says to King
Solomon, albeit I believe not the words until I came and mine
eyes had seen it and behold the half was not told me by wisdom
and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. I want us
then this morning to consider something of this woman, the
Queen of Sheba, and first of all to observe that in many ways
she is a typical character. She is not a type of the Gentile
church. We know that Solomon himself
is a type, a type of course of the Lord Jesus Christ, the son
of David. Here is Solomon then, David's
son, who directs us to him who is David's greatest son, even
Christ himself. We read of the birth of Solomon
back in the second book of Samuel and there in chapter 12. At verse 24 we're told how David
had comforted Bathsheba, his wife, remember the previous history
and that David in fact was guilty of adultery with this woman.
She was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and The child had been
conceived, David had acted in such a blameworthy, such a wicked
and sinful fashion in trying to cover his sin and ultimately
had arranged the death, the murder we might say, of Uriah the Hittite. The child that had been conceived
by David in the womb of Bathsheba had died and The prophet Nathan
comes here in this 12th chapter of 2 Samuel and speaks the faithful
word of God to the king and fingers him, fingers his conscience as
it were, tells him plainly, thou art the man. But God was pleased
to forgive David's sin. Though the child that was born
to Bathsheba died. David's sin was forgiven and
subsequently David takes this woman to his wife and so we're
told here in verse 24 David comforted Bathsheba his wife and went in
unto her and lay with her and she bare a son and he called
his name Solomon and the Lord loved him and he sent by the
hand of Nathan the prophet and he called his name Jedidida because
of the Lord. So he has two names and each
of the names of course are significant when we think of this man as
a typical character. Solomon literally means peace. He is the prince of peace. David
his father was a man of war. And David, because his hands
were bloody hands, was not to be the man who would build the
temple of the Lord, but this was left to Solomon and his peaceable
reign. And Solomon, as I say, reminds
us very much of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't Christ that one
who is the great Prince of Peace? Isn't that one of the names that
He's given to Him? Unto us a child is born, unto
us a Son He's given. And the government shall be upon
His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor
of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace is that name
that He's given then to Christ there in Isaiah chapter 9. But then also that other name
that was given to the child by the Prophet, Jedidiah. It means Beloved of the Lord. And isn't Christ that One who
is God's Beloved? Behold My servant whom I have
chosen, My Beloved. in whom my soul delighteth is
the way in which those words from Isaiah 42 are taken up and
spoken by Christ himself in Matthew chapter 12. my servant whom I have chosen,
my Beloved, and the Father says from heaven both at Christ's
baptizing and again in the Mount of Transfiguration, this is my
Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Solomon then is a type. He is the one who builds the
temple of the Lord. Christ is that one who comes
to build his church and the gates of hell, he says, shall not prevail
against it. The Queen of Sheba also can be
considered as a typical character, as I said, a type of the Church,
and particularly a type of the Gentile Church, those who were
to be caught under the gospel of the grace of God in the prophecy
of Isaiah, and there in chapter 60. We read of the calling of
the Gentiles, do we not? Verse 3. The Gentiles shall come
to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising, lift
up thine eyes round about, and see all they gather themselves
together. They come to thee, thy sons shall
come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy sight. Then they shall see and float
together, and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged, because
the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces
of the Gentiles shall come unto thee, the multitude of camels
shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all they
from Sheba, all they from Sheba shall come, they shall bring
gold and incense, and they shall show forth the praises of the
Lord." The very imagery that's used there in Isaiah 60 concerning
Sheba and the gold and the incense and so forth. Surely the prophet
is mindful of that that had occurred in the days of King Sodom. The
calling of Gentiles then is set forth here with regards to the
Queen of Sheba. Again, we have the place of Sheba
spoken of in the Psalms, in Psalm 72, which is a psalm for Solomon, and that psalm of course we know
well in the paraphrase of Isaac Watts. Jesus shall reign where'er
the sun doth his successive kingdoms run is the way in which Watts
brings out the New Testament, the spiritual significance of
the great promises that are contained in the 72nd Psalm. And there, again, we read of
Sheba. In verse 10, the kings of Tarshish
And of the Isles shall bring presents the kings of Sheba,
and Sheba shall offer gifts. Verse 15 He shall live, and to
him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. Prayer also shall be
made for him continually, and daily shall he be praised. the calling of the Gentiles,
and we see it, I say, typified in this particular historic incident
that's recorded here in this tenth chapter of the first book
of Kings with the coming of this woman to King Solomon. She is a type, a type of the
Gentile Church. Now, having established that,
then let us, in the second place, observe that she came to Solomon. She came to Solomon. When the Queen of Sheba heard
of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came
to prove him with hard question. Observe how she comes. She comes
to him with hard questions. Now, is it not a fact, friends,
that oftentimes sinners come to the Lord Jesus Christ and
they come with hard questions? How the sinner, when he comes,
will question the Lord Jesus Christ. Is my conviction of sin
really deep enough? Do I have a real sense of my
need? Or do I need a greater conviction
of sin? Have I delayed coming for far
too long? Have I now come into that condition
where I'm so gospel hardened? Is my sin too great? Is there
really no forgiveness for such a character as I am? Oh, the
sinner, you see, will come with his objections, as it were, to
prove the Lord Jesus Christ with these hard questions. What do we read concerning the
Queen of Sheba here in verse 7? She says, O be it, I believed
not the words until I came. I believe not the words until
I come." Now, we have the Word of God, and we have the great
promise of the Gospel, of course, here in the Word of God, and
yet how apt is that expression, so often in our case. We believe
not, and we believe not until we come. It's in the coming,
you see, that we prove the gracious truths of the words of God and
the promises of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find the answer then. And we can only find the answer
to our questions when we venture, when we come to the Lord Jesus
Christ just as this woman came. I believe not, she says, I believe
not the words until I came and mine eyes had seen it. Now, there
is every encouragement to us here in Scripture to come. There
is the voice of God the Father, is there not? Those words, those
gracious gospel words that we find in the opening of the 55th
chapter of Isaiah's prophecy, O everyone that thirsteth, come
ye to the water. And he that hath no money, come
ye by, and eat ye come by wine and milk without money and without
price. Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth
not? Hearken diligently unto me, eat
ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me, here and your soul shall live. Here is the Word of God,
the gracious invitation of God the Father. It is the voice of
the Father speaking, is it not, there through his servant the
prophet Isaiah. And then, furthermore, we have
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. the eternal Son of God, manifest
in the flesh, we can read those gracious words that fell from
His lips, recorded for us in the Gospels. Come unto me, it
says, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. My yoke is easy, it says, my
burden is light. Oh, there is that voice then
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He would have the sinner come.
He is that one who has come as he nods to minister to sinners,
to save sinners. And then furthermore, as there
is the voice of the Father and the voice of God the Son, so
there is the voice of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit saith come. Almost the very last words of
Scripture there in Isaiah 22. The Spirit and the Bride said
come. And let him that heareth come. Let him that is at first come.
And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. There is that voice of the Spirit. the threefold voicing from all
the persons in the Godhead. And what is the voice of the
Trinity? It is that gracious word, calm. That is what the Gospel says.
In the law, you see, it's as if God spurs a sinner. Oh, the people must stand afar
off. Oh, the sinner is made to feel
what he is. before all God's holiness and
righteousness and justice. We see it here in the setting
of the giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 in the previous
chapter when they come to Mount Sinai. Oh, the mount is to be
roped off and the people must be kept at a distance. How different
is the Gospel. All the law was given by Moses,
grace and truth, kind by Jesus Christ. Here is the voice then.
The voice of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit come. And as I said, it's in coming
that we find the answer. But it's not only the voice of
God, it's also the voice of the Church there in Revelation 22. The Spirit and the Bride say
come. All the people of God, you see,
are to desire the salvation of sinners. Isn't that one of the
marks of the grace of God in the soul of a sinner, where he
has a desire that others might yet know that great salvation?
The one thing that I so love about Mr. Spurgeon, I know there
are many criticisms that people might make of dear old Charles
Spurgeon, but one thing that stands out so clearly is the
great love that he had for sinners his desire to see sinners being
saved or to have a heart like that that mark of those who are
the true bride of Christ the spirit and the bride say come
and so the coming sinner needs to observe these various truths
you see this gracious invitation that
we find here on the page of Holy Scripture. Is it not clear that
it is the will of the Father not to cast the sinner out? We have those words of the Lord
Jesus in the Gospel in John chapter 6, for example, and there at
verse 37 Again at verse 39, he says, "...all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I will in no ways cast out. This is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."
Well, this is the Father's will, the Father in the covenant has
given the people to the Lord Jesus Christ. in order that they
might be saved. Now, that will of the Father,
then, is on the side of the coming sinner. And then, of course,
there is the gracious word of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
here. He says, Him that cometh to me,
I will in no ways cast out. Christ promised. And what has
Christ promised? That He will receive sinners.
that the sinner can never come to Him in vain. And then, of
course, we know how the Spirit Himself is the One who is always
bearing testimony to Christ as that One who is the Saviour.
When He has come, says Christ, He shall testify of mine. All these things stand on the
side of coming sinners. There's the church. What does
the church do? Isn't the church there to travail
in birth for sinners? Again, we see it there in the
book of the prophet Isaiah at the end, in that final chapter
of the prophecy. Verse 7 of chapter 66, we are
told, before she travailed she brought forth Before her pain
came, she was delivered of a man-child who had heard such a thing, who
had seen such things. Shall the earth be made to bring
forth in one day, or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon
as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." How the
Church, the people of God then, are to be travailing. And we
see it when we come to the New Testament, we see it in the ministry
of a man like the Apostle Paul himself, when he writes to the
Galatians, his great concern for them, his travailings for
them. He says, my little children of whom I travail in birth again
until Christ be formed in you. How he travails, what is his
travailing in the church? It is those wrestling prayers.
prayers for the salvation of sinners, prayers for the conversion
of sinners. I say, friends, that when we
consider this woman, the Queen of Sheba, as a type of the Gentile
Church, we see her as one who will come. When she heard of
the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came. Oh yes, she came to prove him
with hard questions, but how he was able to answer her. We're told how she communed with
him of all that was in her heart. Isn't this what the sinner can
do when he comes to the Lord Jesus Christ? We can tell the
Lord Jesus Christ all that's in our hearts. We're to unburden
ourselves. And this is what this woman does
when she comes to King Solomon, and verse 3 Solomon told her
all her questions. There was not anything hid from
the king which he told her not. Oh, there's every encouragement
then, if we rightly consider this portion of Scripture, to
be those who would come to the Lord Jesus Christ. as a type
then I say of the church we see her as one who comes and as she
came so thirdly we see here that she saw she saw something of
the glory of King Solomon's court verse 4 when the Queen of Sheba
had seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built,
and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants,
and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers,
and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord,
there was no more spirit in her. How the sight that she witnessed
so overwhelmed her. And I say, friends, is there
not something of type here? Consider his table. His table. We're told, as she saw the meat
of his table. And do we not have set before
us in the Scriptures the table of the Lord, that gospel feast
that he spread forth for sinners? We're told in the opening words
of Luke 15, then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners. And the scribes and Pharisees
murmured, saying, this man receive of sinners and eateth with them. How the proud, self-righteous
Pharisees scorned him and rejected him. And yet, here was the one,
you see, who would receive sinners. And as he received the sinner,
so he would eat with the sinner. When the publicans and sinners
came unto him, What is the language of the Lord Jesus Christ to sinners? We have it there in the Psalms
of Solomon chapter 5. Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink
abundantly, beloved. Oh, there is a feast. There is
a table that is spread for sinners. John Berridge said, A feast is
now prepared for thee in spite of all thy unbelief. A feast
of mercy. sweetly fruit for sinners and
the sinners chief that is what the gospel is and this is what
this woman witnesses the meat of Solomon's table as we come
together friends this is what we desire to behold that faith
that the Lord sets before us and so we desire to come into
his house as those who have a lappet on who are the blessed ones it's
those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, says the Lord
Jesus in the Beatitudes. They are the blessed, they are
the happy ones. How do we come under the word
of God? Do we really have an appetite for these things? Do
we really want to know something more of the wonder of the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ? We want to behold Him and we
want to behold Him as He has so graciously revealed Himself
to us here in His work. And it's not only His person,
we want to enter more significantly into the significance of that
work that He accomplished here upon the earth, that work that
the Father guided Him to do. Does He not say in John chapter
6 that His flesh is meat? and His blood, His drink, indeed. And that we want to be partakers,
you see, of that work that Christ has accomplished. We want to
know that we have an interest, a real union with Him, a true
spiritual union, a feasting upon Him. She beholds His table, but
then also She beholds the whole court. We read of his servants
and ministers and cupbearers and so forth. Now observe what
we're told concerning those who are in this royal court of King
Solomon. We have mention of their sitting. The meat of his table and the
sitting of His servants. Now what does that indicate to
us? Does it not indicate something of permanence? They're there,
they're serving Him. And those who are with Him, they
do not go out of His presence, but they constantly wait upon
Him. Again we are reminded of the
significance of that when we come to the very last book of
Scripture. There, in the Revelation, as you know, we can only really
understand the content of the last book of Scripture by those
things that are recorded in all the former parts of Scripture.
Isn't much of the key to Revelation found back in the Old Testament
Scripture? And there, in Revelation chapter 3, verse 12, the letter to the church at Philadelphia. We read, Him
that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he
shall go no more out And I will write upon him the name of my
God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from my God. And I will write
upon him my new name. This is the one who has that
faith that overcometh. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, says John in his first epistle, chapter 5. This is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Him that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no
more out. And these who are serving him,
you see, there is a permanence. They sit, they are in his presence
permanently, never to go out. She observes the meat of his
table, the sitting of his servants, and the attendance, it says,
of his ministers or as the margin says, the standing the standing
of his ministers and look at verse 8, she says, happy are
thy men, happy are these thy servants which stand continually
before them and that hear thy wisdom there is such a permanency
And when we think of their standing, you see they're there to serve
Him, and they will serve Him day and night. They never go
out again. We see it in Revelation, this
time in the 7th chapter of the book of Revelation, and there
at verse 15. Therefore are they before the
throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.
And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat. For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto
living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. they are before his throne it
is, they serve him and their service is constant, it is day
and night and then also of course we read here of their apparel the attendance of his ministers
and their apparences and what is their apparel? well again
we have it there At the end of Revelation 7, in
the previous verses to what we just read, verse 13, one of the
elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are
arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood, of the now. All their apparel. What is their
apparel? It is those garments washed and
made white. It's those robes. And they're
robes of salvation, are they not? See how the church glories
and rejoices in these things. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with jewels." There in Isaiah 61 and verse 10. And what is
that righteousness? It's the righteousness of Christ.
Paul expresses his desire, does he, not to be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness which is of the Lord, but that
which is through the faith of Christ. The righteousness which
is of God by faith, he says. Isn't that the name that's given
to Christ in Jeremiah 23.6? This is the name whereby he shall
be called the Lord our righteousness. and then again in Jeremiah 33
and verse 16 this is the name wherewith she shall be called
the Lord our righteousness his righteousness becomes her righteousness
as in Christ himself clothed his bride as we see there in
Isaiah 61 verse 10 all those who are about this court they
have on a wedding garment And that wedding garment is nothing
less than the righteousness of saints, which is the righteousness
of Christ that has been imputed to them. These are some of the
things that this woman is brought to behold. These are the things
that she sees. when the Queen of Sheba had seen
all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and
the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and
the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers,
and his ascent, his ascent by which he went up unto the house
of the Lord. There was no more spirit in her,
or his ascent. is ascent. We read, or we sang
rather, there in the Metrical Psalm, Psalm 23. And doesn't
the Psalm there speak of Christ's ascension, having completed that
great work? Remember how He was made under
the law, and He honoured and magnified the Lord, He was obedient,
unto death, even the death of the cross. The question is asked,
who shall ascend into the house of the Lord? Who shall stand
in His holy presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully. Who is this man? Who is this
man with clean hands and a pure heart? Why, it's Christ. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the
King of glory. Selah. O God hath highly exalted
him. That great passage in Philippians
2 it's a wonderful Christological chapter Philippians chapter 2
and it speaks of Christ and it speaks of Christ's humiliation
how he humbled himself and humbles himself again and again wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him says Paul and given him a
name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow and every tongue confess. All is ascent. The ascent of this King of whom
Solomon is not a type, is ascent by which he went up unto the
house of the Lord. Our Christ has ascended now into
the house of the Lord, even into heaven itself, there to appear
in the presence of God for His people. Remember the words, again,
of the Psalmist in the Messianic Psalm, Psalm 68, thou hast ascended
on high. Now that Psalm is taken up by
the Apostle in Ephesians chapter 4. It's quite clear from what
Paul says there in Ephesians 4.8 that Psalm 68 is prophetic,
it speaks of Christ. He is the one who was ascended.
Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou
hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also,
says the Psalmist. This is what Christ has done,
he has ascended on high and he has received gifts for rebellious
sinners, even Gentile sinners, even those that were afar off.
can come, and He appears for such sinners as that, and He
pleads for such sinners as that. He's able to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by Him. Look at what we're told
concerning King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, verse 13. King
Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever
she asked." And he is but a faint type of
the Lord Jesus, this man. Doesn't the Lord Jesus Christ
give to sinners all their desire, whatsoever they ask? He's able
to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. And so, what do we read concerning
this woman here? At the end of verse 5, there was
no more spirit in her. She's overwhelmed by what she
hears when she puts her heart questions, the way he answers
all her questions. She's overwhelmed by what she
sees of the glories of his cause. There was no more spirit in her. Verse 7, Now be it, I believe,
not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it, and
behold, the half was not told me. The half was not told me. Who can tell the half of the
glories that belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ? It's impossible. We cannot tell even the minutest
parts of those glories that belong unto the Saviour of sinners. The half was not told me, she
says, thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. You see, what we have with this
woman, in that she comes herself, She comes and she sees these
things. She has an experimental knowledge
of these things. That's a vital thing, is it not?
It's not enough to hear with the hearing of the ear. It's not enough. What do we read
concerning Job? I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eyes see of thee. Now mine eyes see
of thee, wherefore I abhor myself, he says, and repent. in dust and ashes. Oh, we see
ourselves when we see something of Christ. And we see much to
fill our hearts with shame. But we rejoice in this, that
this is the man who receives sinners. This is the man who
eats and drinks and feasts with sinners, the meat of his table.
Oh, God's grant, friends, that we might know something of what
it is to come to Christ and in coming to discover all that fullness
of grace that is in Him, to behold something by the eye of faith,
something of the glories of His royal court. The Lord bless to
us His Word. The four afflicted souls give ear, who seek the Lord, but fear
his crown. What things ye ask in fervent
prayer, believing, Christ will send them down.