This morning I'm going to have
you to turn to two different passages of scripture with me.
First, if you would, turn to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. I want you to look at verse 38
with me. Matthew 12, 38. Verse 38 tells us, then certain
of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, master, we
would see a sign from thee. But he, being the Lord Jesus,
answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign. And there shall no sign be given
to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas, or Jonah,
was three days and 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. In order for your sin to be put
away, Jesus Christ must die. He is going to be put in the
tomb for three days, but because of who he is, the death and the
hell that you and I deserve could not hold him. And he being the
God man, the only substitute for sin, the one mediator between
God and man must rise again and he did with the keys of hell
and death. And that means something. That
means first that God's law that condemned us is fulfilled. The soul that sins, it shall
die. The wages of sin is death. God's law demands it. But if
Christ died in our place, and he rose from the dead, and hell
and death couldn't hold him, then God's law is fulfilled.
And friends, that's not all. That means that the holy justice
of God that was against us is satisfied. God who was angry
with the wicked every day, no longer angry with his elect people. Why? Because Christ paid their
debt of sin and he's satisfied. And if you truly see yourself
as the sinner that God declares you to be, that'd be the greatest
news that you've ever heard in your life. Now Christ alone is
the sign that God gives us that redemption has been accomplished.
It was God the Son who said, it is finished. I can say it's
finished until my face turns purple, but it won't mean a thing.
It's who that said it's finished that means something. God said
it's finished. So who can lay anything to the
charge of God's elect when it is God that justified? Jesus
Christ is salvation. Without Him, no one will be saved. Let me say that again. Without
Him, no one, no body, no man, no woman, no body, no sinner
will be saved. Christ is the only sign because
He's the only way. He's the only way that a sinner
can be saved, and if you don't see that, then like the scribes
and the Pharisees, you're still seeking after a sign that God
has already given to you. Now this is the sign of the prophet
Jonas. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. And Christ was buried, and he
rose again the third day according to the scriptures. That's the
sign of the prophet Jonas. Christ crucified is the only
sign that God will ever give. The substitution of Christ is
the only sign that you'll need. And it's Christ crucified is
the only remedy that God will accept. And if you reject the
only mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, then
you're still seeking after a sign. And you're still seeking after
a way to be saved that will never come. Now because of this we
see in verse 41 that the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment
with this generation and shall condemn it. Because they repented,
they did, the men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of
Jonah. But this reprobate world hasn't. And then he says, behold,
a greater than Jonah is here. Wicked Nineveh, believing the
preaching of Jonah, the message of Christ and him crucified,
and God saved them. You see, they didn't need a sign.
And we don't need a sign. We need the Lamb of God. We need
for one who is spotless, without blemish, to shed His blood and
cover us with His perfect righteousness. That's what we need. It's an
adulterous and wicked generation that seeks after a sign. And
I can assure you that what Jonah preached unto them was Christ
and Him crucified. A Lamb's got to be slain. God
showed Jonah something in that fish's belly. And God showed
those in Nineveh that they deserved judgment. Has God shown you that?
I'm telling you, He will. A true child of God will take
sides with God against themselves, and they'll say, I deserve wrath
and condemnation. That's what I deserve. But mercy's
God not giving me what I deserve. I like that sound of mercy, don't
you? They didn't need a sign, they
needed the Lamb of God. They knew they were unworthy
of the least of God's mercy. But they repented, and they believed,
and God saved them. And they're going to rise up
in judgment, the Lord says here, with this unbelieving generation,
and they're going to condemn it. Do you see that there in
verse 41? They're going to condemn this
generation because it's not repented at the preaching of Jonah. And
Jonah's message was, salvation is of the Lord. Isn't that what
he said? When that whale spit him up, or that big fish spit
him up on the shore, he said, salvation is of the Lord. And the message is the same today.
Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah will not be the only witness
that stands up and testifies in the judgment against the unbelieving
sinner. Look at verse 42. The Queen of
the South shall rise up in 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. Have you ever considered why
the Queen of the South, the Queen of Sheba would rise up in judgment
and testify against the Christ rejecters of this world? Because
she believed the message. She believed the message of Christ
and Him crucified. And I can assure you that it
wasn't her interest in Solomon that saved her. Now, I want you
to turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 10. 1 Kings chapter 10. I want us to consider the Queen
of Sheba, this Queen of the South. And the subject of my message
this morning is a seeking sinner, a seeking sinner. Have you got
it? 1 Kings 10, look at verse one. And when the queen of Sheba heard
of the fame of Solomon, but notice these words, concerning the name
of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. Now, this queen wasn't interested
or concerned with the government Israel. She wasn't concerned
with politics. She wasn't concerned with worldly
prosperity. She had plenty of that. She was
a queen. She was concerned with her spiritual
prosperity. Are you? I mean seriously, are
you concerned with your spiritual prosperity? She came to prove,
she came to test, to see for herself Solomon's gracious knowledge
of divine things. For she asked him hard questions
concerning the name of the Lord. I can't tell you how many times
I read that and never picked up on that. Verse two, and she
came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that
bear spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when
she was come to Solomon, she communed, and that word means
submissively declared and inquired. She submissively inquired with
him of all that was in her heart. She poured out her heart to Solomon. She asked questions from the
heart. She knew that this was a heart
matter. She knew that Solomon's wisdom had come from the Lord.
She definitely heard some things. She came from a great distance.
She made a difficult trip. According to the Old Testament
maps, she traveled 1,400 miles across the desert sands of Arabia,
along the coast of the Red Sea, and then up into Moab and over
the Jordan River. Long, difficult journey. Such
a journey, according to experts, would require about six months
one way. Camels in a caravan could rarely
travel more than 20 miles a day, so that is the estimated time
that it took her to get there, six months. And I know some of
you come a distance from your home to church, but not like
this lady did. She traveled a far, far distance. She heard. Verse one and verse
two, she came. That's the order of it. She had
an unquenchable thirst and interest. Do you know where she got it?
God gave it to her. God has to give it to you. She
had heard something of far more interest than the fame of Solomon.
She heard that it was the Lord who made him wise. And she was
interested in Solomon's God. I tell you, she was a seeking
sinner. And God made her a seeker of grace. God made her a seeker
of Christ. There's absolutely none, naturally
speaking, who seeks after God. How do I know? Because the scripture
says, for there's none that seeketh after God. For they are all gone
out of the way. They are together unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. We're not God-seekers by nature.
Though no man can come to Christ, it's in and by and through Christ
that God gives the ability to obey. With a sovereign God, the
power to come to Christ follows the command to come. There's
no better example in scripture than Lazarus. Lazarus was dead. Four days dead. Four days stinking
dead. Plum dead, as we say. Plum dead. Call of Christ was Lazarus come
forth. He that was dead came forth.
With the command comes the power. Never forget that. God makes
sinners willing to come. Willing in the day of his power.
You could not come and you would not come. But God brought you. How do I know for Christ also
had suffered for sins that just for the unjust that he might
bring us unto God? How did that one lost sheep far
off on a hillside get brought back into the fold? The Lord
Jesus found him and put him upon his shoulders, and what? Brought
him all the way home. That's how we come to God. Now
this woman heard, and this woman came, and she heard some divine
things, and it was her interest in those things that drew her
to Solomon. Now if you read 2 Chronicles
1, you'll find that one night God appeared unto Solomon and
asked him what he should give to him. Solomon, I want to do
something for you. I want to give you something.
What would it be? First thing we ought to realize
there, it's God who initiated the gift. Always is. It was God
who determined to give it. And Solomon said, Lord, you're
so gracious. You've been gracious to my father.
You've been so gracious to me, and you made me king over a great
multitude of people. And Lord, if you want to give
me something, give me wisdom and give me knowledge so that
I might rightly and justly judge these people that you've given
me. Oh, that pleased the Lord. That
pleased the Lord. He said, I want to honor you.
You've been so good. You've been so gracious to me.
I want to honor you, Lord. I want to bring glory and honor
to your name in all that I do. I want to please you, dear God.
Give me wisdom and knowledge so that I might rightly judge
these people that you've given. And the Lord said, because this
was in your heart, and you hadn't asked for riches and wealth and
honor nor long life, but you've asked for wisdom and knowledge
for yourself, that you may judge my people rightly, of whom I
made you king. He said, I'm going to give you
wisdom and knowledge, and I'm going to give you riches and
wealth and honor, and I'm going to give you long life. I'm going
to give you all the things that you didn't ask for. Along with
what you did ask for. When we ask according to his
will. Lord, give me grace, give me
knowledge, give me wisdom so that I can better serve you.
That's the kind of prayer he hears. Now, the Queen of the
South had heard some things in a far away land. God gave her
ears to hear. That's why she hurt. God made
her willing to seek Solomon. But more importantly, God made
her willing to seek Solomon's God, to seek him. Look at verse
three. And Solomon told her all her
questions. And there was not anything hid
from the king which he told her not. Friends, we've got a seeking
sinner on our hands here. In verse one, she heard, she
who was spiritually deaf was made to hear. What a miracle
of grace that is. She heard, but she didn't just
hear anything. She heard the fame of Solomon,
and most of the commentators agreed that that was her main
interest and reason for coming, but that was only part of it.
She heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord. She had heard with more than
these little appendages on the side of her head. She heard something
with her heart, and she poured out her heart. She asked hard
questions to prove Solomon, to prove that all he had told her
concerning the name of the Lord was true. In verse 2, she came. She came to where Solomon was.
You know, every seeking sinner comes to where Christ is because
He's already there waiting for us. Isn't that right? That woman
came to the well in the heat of the day. Where was Christ?
He was sitting on that well. Why? Because He said, I must
need go to Samaria. She came. If you have an interest
in Christ, God has been drawing you to Him. And you didn't even
know it, did you? God was drawing her to Him, and
she didn't even know it. So there's no reason for us to
boast our glory in our coming, is there? Christ did say, no
man can come to me except. He's the exception. And the exception
is that the Father which sent me, draw he. That's the only reason we come.
So we can't take any credit, honor, or glory in that. She
came bearing gifts, but her true gifts weren't the spices and
the gold and the precious stones. She came with the God-given gift
of repentance. She came with the guilt and the
shame of her sin. You know, those are great gifts
from the Lord. You better believe they are.
You say, how so? Well, it's a great gift to receive
from the Lord repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 20 verse 21. What
great gifts those are. She came asking hard questions
concerning the name of the Lord. Maybe one of her questions was
like that that Job asked. How shall a man be just with
God? That's a hard question. But it's
a great question coming from a seeking sinner. If God must
remain just, how can He justify a sinner? Because He can by no
means clear the guilty. How can a sinner stand before
a thrice holy God? That's a good question. That's
a hard question. And don't you know that Solomon
told her only in a substitute. That's the only way that a sinner
can stand before God. Don't you know that he told her
her righteousness must come from an innocent lamb without spot
or blemish? Don't you just know that Solomon
told her that she must be covered with the blood of the Passover
lamb. And that word Passover means
exemption. Christ our Passover is our only
exemption against the wrath and judgment and justice of God.
Don't you just know that a seeking sinner wants to know how God
can be just and justify the ungodly? How can God save an ungodly sinner
without compromising his justice? He can under no circumstance
by no means clear the guilty. The soul that sins shall and
must die. And Solomon must have answered
with a question of his own. Why, who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect Meshiva? It's God that justifies. Christ
bore the penalty of sin, which is death. He stood in the chosen
sinner's place, and he died paying their great debt of sin. He was
wounded. for our transgressions. He was
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. And the only reason we have peace
with God is because God's chastisement on Christ was the reason for
our peace. By His stripes, we are healed. He did all this for His people.
And yes, these are hard questions. How can one who is born of woman
be righteous? Only by His stripes in our place
are we healed from the leprosy of sin. Only when we're washed
in the blood. You know, that sounds like substitution
to me. This may have been a hard question
that she asked. How can a man be saved by faith
alone without works? And yet not be saved by faith
that's without works. Only in and by the works of another. Our work's nothing but filthy
rags. His work's the perfect righteousness of God. Now which
one do you want to stand before God with? How can a man be born
when he's old? That's a hard question. Nicodemus
was a ruler among the Jews, a smart, educated man, but he didn't know
that. How can a man be born when he's old? That's a hard question.
The answer, only by a new birth. Only by being born from above.
Only by being born again. Being made a new creature in
Christ. Only by God making all things
new. Here's a hard question. How can
God who sees all things no longer see sin in a believer? I can
answer that real simply. Because not even God can see
what no longer exists. She asked some hard questions.
Do you have hard questions? If you have an interest, then
your interest is the gift of God. Look at verse 3 again. And
Solomon told her all her questions. There was not anything hid from
the king which he told her not. He answered all her questions.
So what do we see thus far about a seeking sinner? This woman
heard. This woman came. This woman asked. This woman poured out her heart.
This woman was answered. She received the answer to the
question she desired to desperately know. Is that not a picture of
a seeking, believing sinner? It's by the foolishness of preaching
that God is pleased to save those who believe. And there are eight
things here that I want to quickly give you that the Queen of Sheba
saw that made her understand that a greater than Solomon was
there. First, in verse four, she saw
Solomon's wisdom. Do you see that? She saw how
Solomon ruled and judged, how he judged fairly and justly with
the people. She saw how he dealt with folks. He wisely settled all the issues. God had given him great wisdom
and knowledge. But friends, there's a greater
than Solomon here. Christ is the wisdom of God.
He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness. Why, He is our
right standing before God. He is made unto us sanctification. We are set apart and made perfect
only in Him. He's our sanctification. He is
our redemptions. Salvation is of the Lord. Thus
saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. He is redemption. And he that
formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things,
that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad
the earth by myself. Salvation is at his sovereign
hand. He is the sovereign Lord. Secondly,
also according to verse four, she saw the house or the temple
that Solomon built. You know, there was no structure
on earth like that temple. What grandeur and magnificence
it displayed, a masterpiece of art and skill. What design and
expense it took to build it. No expense was spared in its
building. It stood approximately 20 stories
high and vast quantities of cedar wood and good and precious hewn
stone was ordered from King Hiram of Tyre. It's said that over
3,300 officials just oversaw the temple's construction. That's
not counting those who built it. Solomon assumed such heavy
debt that he was forced to pay off that king by handing over
20 towns in the land of Galilee. You can read that in 1 Kings
9-11. As magnificent as the house,
the temple that Solomon built, there's no house and no temple
like the one that Christ built. It was built upon the tried and
precious cornerstone of Christ, the sure foundation. I speak
of the church in which he is the head, the church that Christ
presents to himself, glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, making her holy and without blemish before him
in love. Ephesians chapter five. No expense was spared for Christ's
church, but she was purchased with his own blood. Thirdly,
in verse five, we see that the queen of Sheba saw the meat of
Solomon's table. She never saw anything like the
food that was set at King Solomon's table. Oh, it wasn't just quantity,
but it was quality. 1 Kings chapter 4 verse 22 and
23 tells us that Solomon's provisions for one day was, listen to this,
30 measures of fine flour, three score measures of meal, 10 fat
oxen, 20 oxen out of the pastures, and 100 sheep, besides hearts
and roe bucks and fowl o' deer and fatted fowl. I don't even
think I could eat all that, but that was some spread. No buffet, we got locally and
matching. It was a table fit for a king. And this woman was a queen. She
was a royal. She was accustomed to extravagant
things. It took a little more to impress
her than it would to impress me. But she had never seen anything
like the great banquet table of Solomon. But the banquet table
of Christ is far superior. Why, for a greater than Solomon
is here. The last Passover feast, the
Lord, scripture says, with desire, ate the great last banquet with
his disciples. And it was then that he instituted
the Lord's table. That was the final great banquet
and they partook from the bread from heaven by which no sinner
will ever hunger again for righteousness. The Lord said, take, eat, this
is my body which is broken for you. Then they partook of the
wine which represents the blood of the Passover lamb of God.
He said, this cup is the New Testament in my blood as often
as you drink it in remembrance of me. friends are greater than
Solomon is here. Christ our Lord and his banquet
table is one that gives eternal life. Fourthly, in verse five,
we read that she saw the sitting of his servants. I found it interesting
that that word sitting in the original Hebrew means abiding.
These servants were like family that abided with Solomon. All
who sat at His banquet table were quiet, at peace, at rest. There was no strife, there was
no friction, there was no infractions. They were abiding with Him. Behold,
a greater than Solomon is Christ. Our Lord said, if you abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will,
and it shall be done unto you. There was a day when there was
many that came out to see Christ. They look there and they seem
a little puzzled and they said, is that who I think it is that's
sitting there with Him? Isn't that that man who was possessed
by a legion of devils? Isn't that the man who cut himself
upon rocks and lived among the tombs among the dead? Isn't that
Him? Isn't that the man that no man
could tame or bind with chains and fetters? Yep, I believe that's
the same one who was naked with no covering and now he sits there
clothed and in his right mind with one desire upon his heart.
Lord, take me with you. Let me go with you. These are
the kinds that are the servants of God. These are the kind that
sit at his table. And fifthly, we see the attendance
of Solomon's ministers. That's what she saw. That was
one of the things she saw. And that word attending means
standing. These servants weren't idle.
They were standing, they were up and serving, they were attending
to those to whom they ministered. There are a lot of folks today,
a lot of quote servants of God, who are sitting and expecting
folks to wait on them. The Lord Jesus as our example
said, I didn't come to be served, I came to serve. And such are
the true ministers of Christ. What a picture here of God's
ministers. They're standing and they're
preaching the gospel. They're attending to the things
of Christ. They're ministering to the needs
of God's people. They're serving at the banquet
table of Christ our Lord. No confusion, no disorder when
eating at Solomon's banquet table. It was all about the glory and
honor of the King. How much more is it true of Christ
and His great banquet table? It was from His table that His
servants are fed. In all things, Christ has the
preeminence for a greater than Solomon is here." Oh, do you
see that? And sixthly, the Queen of the
South saw the people's apparel. Every thread of Solomon's servants'
clothing was rich and splendid in quality and in design. Only
the best material, only the highest quality thread. But behold, a
greater than Solomon is here. God's servants are clothed with
the perfect righteousness of Christ, purchased by His obedience
as Christ our King. As Adam and Eve were covered
with the blood-stained skins of the innocent lamb, God's people
are covered with the blood-bound righteousness of Christ, the
Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world. Then
the seventh thing that the Queen of Sheba saw was the king's cupbearers. These cupbearers who served the
wine, they never let the wine glasses go empty. Well, I tell
you a good sign of a good waiter or waitress when you're at a
restaurant is they never let your cup go empty. Oh, I'm telling
you, what a picture of gospel preachers constantly and continually
filling the cups of believers. Surely our cups runneth over. These are those who preach to
shed blood of Christ for the remission of sin. And then lastly,
we see this seeking sinner and how she saw Solomon's ascent
by which he went up unto the house of the Lord. She went with
Solomon into the temple, and I'm sure she had many hard questions
there. What is this, she must have asked.
Solomon said, that's the table of incense, which pictures the
sweet-smelling fragrance of Christ, our sacrifice. He's a sweet-smelling
saver unto God. What is that, she must have asked.
That's the Ark of the Covenant on which the mercy seat lies,
where the blood of the Lamb is sprinkled to appease and propitiate
the justice of God against the sinner. Christ is our mercy seat. I'm sure Solomon said, all that's
done in this temple is a picture of the Messiah that is coming
to save his people from their sins. That's our message. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
the just dying for the unjust, God seeing the blood and passing
over the sinner. And what does a seeking sinner
do? They hear, and they come, and they ask, and they're answered,
and they receive. Fear not, little flock, it's
God's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Remember, if you're
seeking, it was God who caused you to seek. And I'm convinced
that the Lord did something for this mercy seeker. I speak of
the Queen of Sheba. Why else would she rise up in
judgment against those who believe not? Now look at verse six, I'll
finish. And she said to the king, it
was a true report. Now isn't that what preaching
is, really? The gospel is, it's reporting the good news that
God has saved sinners. She said, this gospel is true,
if I may paraphrase. She said, what you're telling
me, this gospel is true, that I heard in my own land of thy
acts and of thy wisdom. And she not only saw Solomon,
she saw Solomon's God. In verse 7, look at it. Howbeit
I believed not the words until I came, and mine eyes had seen
it. And behold, the half was not
told me." Oh friends, we can open up this book and we can
preach Christ every day, every minute of our life, and I'm telling
you, not the half has been told. If all the things our Lord did
were written in a book, this world couldn't contain the books.
The half was not told me. Thy wisdom and prosperity exceeded
the fame which I heard. Thomas said, I ain't gonna believe
it till I see it. And the Lord told Thomas, because
thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are those who
have not seen and yet have believed. That's talking about faith. God
is able to save his people to the uttermost that come to God
by him, that come to God by Christ. That's the only way you'll be
saved. And that's the only way you'll be saved to the uttermost.
And I've never known a seeking sinner Not to find Christ if
they truly sought Him. They love Him because He first
loved them. They'll tell you that. Oh, I
didn't seek Him because I loved Him. I sought Him because He
loved me. They'll tell you right up front that they didn't choose
Him. They didn't make a decision. They didn't walk an hour. They
didn't raise their hand. They didn't say a prayer. They
didn't choose Him, but He chose them. May God enable you to seek
Him. May God enable you to find Him.
May God enable you to hear Him, to ask Him for the faith that
only He can give. Friends, there's one here even
now, I'm telling you, who is greater than Solomon. And He
has the power to save you from your sin. May God enable you
to trust in Him.