Thank you. You may be seated. That's a good
song. How many times we sing that,
that last verse? Oh, that's wonderful. And thee do we trust, nor find
thee to fail. Thy mercies, how tender. affirm to the end, cure her,
our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend. That's a great song,
isn't it? I think. All right, let's turn
to Matthew 12. 1 Kings 10, that will be our
text where we will dwell, but Matthew 12, I want to read this
again. This is how this whole series
of messages started, and this is why the stories of Solomon
were written, recorded. This is why Solomon was born
and lived and reigned and ruled. This is why it all happened as
a picture of the greater than Solomon. Our Lord's the one that
said that. Matthew 12, verse 42, he said,
the Queen of the South, speaking of the woman from Sheba, the
Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this
generation and shall condemn it. Four, she came from the uttermost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold,
a greater than Solomon is he. The Lord Himself said that. He said this woman will condemn
all in the judgment who had no interest in Jesus Christ. All who sought Him not, who sought
not His wisdom. All who saw no beauty in Him,
that they should desire Him. It says the Queen of Sheba will
be standing there condemning all who sought not Christ to
hear his wisdom. She came from the uttermost parts
of the earth. First thing I want you to notice,
1 Kings 10. This woman was a real seeker.
That's what our Lord said. She came from the uttermost parts
of the earth. She was from Sheba. You know
how far Sheba was from Jerusalem? 1,500 miles. In a camel caravan. Do you know how long it took
her to get there? Like going from here to Miami, Florida,
at about 4 miles an hour. She was a seeker, wasn't she? She wanted to hear of Solomon.
The Lord says, Seek me, you shall find me when you search for me
with all your heart. A true seeker. It says, She heard
of the fame of Solomon. Read this, verse 1. I never noticed
this before. Concerning the name of the Lord. In other words, It wasn't just
Solomon or so much Solomon that she came to hear about, but it
was Solomon's Lord. Because that's who Solomon wrote
about. That's who Solomon talked about. I made the observation
to some of our people after Wednesday night's message, Solomon's prayer
at the dedication of the temple, where he had all of Israel before
him. The whole country gathered together to hear Solomon, their
ruler, speak to them. What did he speak of? Not the
state of the union, the state of their hearts. He said, we
all have a plague in our heart. And he talked about the great
God and how everything, this whole country and everything
was going to be dedicated to this God? And how that men should
worship and thank and praise and serve this God? That's who Solomon, the leader,
talked about. And I thought, and some of us
talked about it, what would it be like to have such a leader
as this? A man as the president of our
country in his inaugural address, stand up and say, we're going
to worship God. Every one of us. We're going
to worship the true and living God. We're going to worship him
in Jesus Christ. What would that be like? That's
the way it was. Unimaginable, isn't it? Unimaginable. So everyone heard, when they
heard of Solomon, they heard of Solomon's God. You understand? When they heard of Solomon, they
heard of Solomon's Lord, because that's who he talked about all
the time. The name of the Lord. They heard of the great God of
Solomon, the holy, sovereign God of glory. And Solomon represented
and spoke of the living and true God. Now, Solomon represents
the Lord Jesus Christ here, and all those who will know God will
learn of Him through Jesus Christ. So this woman came. She had heard
of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord. And all who seek
to know God are going to hear about Him through and of and
in the person of Jesus Christ. He hath declared it. He's only
one. Jesus Christ is only one who
truly declares the true God. Only one. The only one we want
to hear of the true God from. He hath the clarity. All right,
it says she came to prove him with hard questions, doesn't
it? This doesn't mean that she so much that she came to put
him to the test. Doesn't mean that so much because
Solomon was the greatest king on earth, he's not going to allow
some woman, some petty queen, to test him. You know that. You know that he's not going
to allow some high and mighty woman who thinks she's something
to come in there and put him to the test. Why, he wouldn't
put up with that. But yet, her proving him, she
came with hard questions. There's nothing wrong with hard
questions. Nothing wrong with hard questions.
People, I would, I wish people would ask some hard questions
rather than stupid questions. Silly questions. Endless genealogies
and so forth the scripture talks about. Foolish questions and
endless genealogies. Hard questions. Scriptural questions
such as, who is God? What is God like? How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? If God does love everybody, why? I wish people would ask some
hard questions. They weren't hard for Solomon
to answer. Oh, no. They're all plain to
him that understand it. They're all plain. These questions
I just asked are hard and, yea, impossible to understand by man. But not to him that understand
it. Not to him that find it knowledge. I wish people would ask some
hard questions. I was talking to a young man
after Wednesday night service, and he said, you know, when I
first heard this, I went home and got my Bible out and started
reading it. That's good. Boy, I like that. That's being more noble. That's
being like the Bereans who heard the apostles and said, we're
going to see if what you're saying is served from God's Word. We're
not going to take your word for it. We're going to see if that's
what God's Word says. I wish people would do that.
People read the scriptures. Nothing wrong with hard questions,
good questions. So this queen came, and you know
she didn't come with a haughty spirit, or Solomon wouldn't have.
Obviously she wanted to learn. Obviously she wanted to learn.
She came to hear his wisdom, the wisdom of Solomon. Our Lord
said this, now here's what he said, to this man will I look,
to this person I'll look. This is the person I'm going
to look to and answer and talk to. To him that is poor and of
a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word, trembles at my word.
God does not prove himself to people that say, well, I'm not
going to believe it until he proves it. No, sir. That's the reason
I believe that Solomon did not, that Sheba came with a better
attitude. Because she heard of it. She
heard of it. Alright, it says she came a great distance, our
Lord said, from the ends of the earth. So she's a true seeker. It was a difficult trip, to say
the least. Right? Fifteen hundred miles.
Fifteen hundred miles to hear a man. What man would you travel
1,500 miles to see? Can you think of anybody that
you would travel right now 1,500 miles to go see you? Anybody? I don't. I can't. Unless maybe
that's where my pastor was located permanently. There are some wise
men who folks would do well to sell out and go where they are.
But she came to hear a man. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. Many people won't travel 30 minutes,
15 minutes in an air-conditioned automobile to come and hear of
Christ. She was a true seeker, wasn't
she? No doubt in her resolve to hear the truth. Is she going
to hear it? Oh, yeah. She's going to get more than
she came for. Yes, sir. She was, it was difficult for
her. She was a queen. She had many responsibilities,
didn't she? Huh? A queen. A queen just can't leave
her country. I mean, a real reigning queen
who the whole kingdom looks to, queendom, looks to, just thought
of that. She can't leave her country.
She's got responsibilities. She's got great many things to
do. How could she leave her country?
She did. Why? There's somebody more important. See, this is a true seeker. A
true seeker. Our Lord spoke of a king making
a marriage for his son that says many gave excuses. He said, but
one by one they began to make excuses. Well, I've bought me
a piece of land. I've got some ground. I've got
to see about it. How much ground did Queen Sheba have? Or I've married me a wife. My
wife, she likes to go down here, and I can't go. Oh, greater than
Solomon. You go hear a two-bit scribe? and not come to hear a greater
song. So she was a woman. A woman. Queens were doted on and waited
on and were delicate ladies back then. They weren't hardy women,
pioneer women. They were delicate ladies. She was a woman and the difficulties
for her to travel 1,500 miles were extreme. You know that? She was in peril. A woman? It didn't deter her from coming
to hear Solomon. Neither will it deter a woman,
no matter if her husband is interested, no matter what. If she hears
of a greater than Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she'll
come. She'll come. She was a stranger. She was Arabic. She was a stranger. She had no part her lot in Israel. She had no promise that Solomon...
Solomon didn't send her an invitation. She had no promise, Dan, of receiving
an audience from him. You know that? Just because she's
the Queen of Sheba, big deal. What's that mean to Solomon?
Sheba? He probably thought, where's
that? Is that one of my kingdoms? Well, if it's not, I'll take
it. I'm biased. Sheba? Who's this coming? The noble
Sheba's here. Who? Sheba demands an audience
of you. Oh, just wait a minute. Nobody
demands an audience of me. See, this king is not obligated
to receive her. She came on a venture. See that? She came on a venture. I've got
to see Solomon. He may not see me, but I sure
want to see him. See that? She's a true seeker.
No promise of meeting the king. So she came. Verse 2. She came. Chapter 10, verse 2. She came
to Jerusalem with a very great train, camels that bear spices,
very much gold, precious stones. In other words, she brought a
lot with her. She had a lot to offer Solomon. Oh, she's going to do something
for Solomon, Ron. She's going to bring something
to Solomon. She has something Solomon needs. You've never seen
Solomon, have you? What are you going to bring to
Solomon? Pocket change? It's funny. Oh yeah, Solomon needed her.
Isn't that funny? Oh, Solomon didn't need her,
didn't need her gold, and we're going to see when she finally
saw him, she thought, she looked at what she brought. Well, she came. Verse 2. And it says she was
come to Solomon. Where'd she come? Why was she
coming? To see Israel? To see the Holy Land? Huh? Did she want to see the Holy
Land? No, no. She came to Solomon. Those that come to Christ are
going to hear from Christ. Those that come to Christ are
going to see His beauty. Those that come to Christ are
going to hear His wisdom. Those who come to Christ are going
to go away exceedingly rich. And it says she communed with
him of all that was in her heart. I like this. If you'll just hang
on. She communed with him of all
that was in her heart. This is why I believe she came
in a good attitude and spirit. This is the only way you can
approach God. She came and communed to him from the heart. She came bearing gifts, yeah.
But she came, wanted to pour out her heart to Solomon. She
wanted questions, answers. She needed answers. So she poured
out her heart to him. And it says in verse 3, I like
this, verse 3, Solomon told her all her questions. There was
nothing hid. Verse 3, there was not anything
hid from the king, which he told her not. As a matter of fact, Brother
Roy, I believe he probably brought up some questions she didn't
think to ask. I believe he exposed some things
from her heart that she had not yet considered. Solomon said this himself over
in chapter 9. Do you remember? He said, The
Lord knoweth the hearts of all men. And those who come to Christ
must come to him bearing their hearts. They come naked. The Scripture says, bear in their
hearts, coming to Christ, you bear your sin, your iniquity,
your guilt, you bear your soul to Him. Why not? Might as well,
He knows it anyway. Just pouring out your heart,
your soul unto Christ. You tell Christ your sin. He
knows it anyway. He knows it all. He knows it. Tell Christ your sin, you know
what he'll tell you of? His righteousness. Solomon answered everything she
asked. You tell Christ your sin, everything we bring to Christ
and tell Christ of and confess to Christ, he's got an answer
for. Tell him of your great sin, he'll tell you of his great righteousness.
Tell him of your guilt, your horrible guilt. He'll tell you
of his great bloodshed for the remission of such guilt. Tell him of your weakness. Oh,
but I'm helpless. I'm hopeless. I can't do anything. I can't be righteous. I can't
quit sinning. He'll tell you of his pain, his
power. Tell Christ of your ignorance.
I don't know anything about the Bible. He'll tell you, I know
all things. I'm wisdom itself. I'll be made
unto you wisdom. Tell him of your ignorance and
he'll tell you how to, by my knowledge, I'll justify you.
You don't need to know everything. You need to be known by me. Tell him all. Come to Christ and tell him all,
he'll tell you that he's all and in all. Tell Christ of your insufficiency,
he'll tell you of his sufficiency. Tell Christ of your utter and
absolute failure, he'll tell you he's an absolute success. Tell Christ of your dissatisfaction
with this world. He'll tell you that you're complete
in Him. Tell Christ of your debt. Don't
you love that over in 1 Samuel 22, John says, where all them
that were in debt, in distress, and discontented came to David,
and he became captain over them. Everybody in debt. Everybody
in distress. Everybody discontented came to
David. And he took them. And he assumed
their debts. He relieved their discontents.
They were still in a cave, but they were happy with David. They
were in distress. I love that. That's my favorite passage. Tell Christ you're all, and he'll
tell you, I'm your all and in all. Look at what the Queen saw
when she came. Look what she saw when she came. Verse 4, when the Queen of Sheba
has seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he built. She came to Solomon and what
she saw was his wisdom. She saw his person. You see that? It's the first thing she saw
was the person of Solomon, his wisdom. She saw in him true wisdom,
and she saw the house that he built, his work. She saw his
person, and she saw his work. When you see Christ, if you ever
see Christ, you'll see the glory of God in his faith. You'll see
the power of God. You'll see the wisdom of God,
the righteousness of God, the salvation of God. Yes, you will. You'll see in Him glory. You'll see glory in Him. And you'll see the house He built.
The house Christ built, what's that? That's the church. The
house that Christ built is His church. Do you know, listen to
me, really seeing If you stop and think about it. Stop and
think about the church. God's true people. Talk about
the people. It's an amazing thing. You know
that? It's an amazing thing. Like that
house of Solomon. It was all manner of things brought
together to create this beautiful house in which the king dwelt,
in which the Lord was worshipped. And the church of Christ is an
amazing thing. All those people, persons from
every tribe, kindred, nation and tongue under heaven, brought
together, brought together to be God's house. The place where
He dwells and where He is worshipped. It's an amazing thing. You know
that? The Church. The true Church. It's a diversity
of people. Brother Todd Niblett was telling
me, he was just out in California recently, and California, as
you know, It's very diverse. It's like Mars, really. Another planet. But it's full of ethnic differences. And Brother Todd said that the
congregation was about 25% white, 25% black, 25% Hispanic, and
about 25% Asian and Indian. He said it was wonderful. It
was just wonderful. And the church of God is an amazing
thing. You know that? I wish you could
meet God's people down in Mexico. Oh, I wish you could meet them.
I wish you could sit in one of those services just for 20 minutes.
It's amazing. It's wonderful. It's wonderful
to sit in the backyard and hear a language you don't understand,
but you understand every word of it. In la cruz, en la cruz, donde
vive Don Javier, en la mancha de mi alma yo la veo, y ahí por
veo a mí, a Jesús, y siempre feliz concederé. You heard, you
understood that completely, didn't you? Huh? At the cross, at the
cross where I first saw the light. It's marvelous, it's wonderful,
same thing down in Dominica, African places, Christ's church,
his work, it's his work. He's the one that can bring together
all these people, different places, and in his church you'll see
the character of Christ, all the character of Christ. You'll
see his love, his mercy, his grace, his goodness, his generosity,
his fellowship, It's the true church, what I'm trying to say.
The house that Christ built is an amazing thing. It really is. These religious houses are all
fooey on that. But the church is an amazing
place. It's just an amazing thing. It's amazing that I'm a part
of it. Brother Kelly, it's amazing that you and I are here this
morning. You know what? It's amazing. You and I ought
to be running the streets. But here we are, because the
master subdued us, put the yoke on us. And this is where we want
to be now. That's what's amazing. This is
where we want to be. Made willing. Where we'd rather
be. Rather not be anywhere else.
That's an amazing thing. In verse 5 it says, she saw the
meat of his table. the meat of his table. Do you
remember that? Do you remember that? Every day! Every day! One hundred thousand
sheep and ten thousand oxen. Every day! Not counting pheasants
and deer and elk and fish and turtles or whatever. Anybody?
Huh? Nine tons of flour. Nineteen
tons of meal. Fruit by the wagon load. Solomon. She saw Solomon's table. First thing she saw was Solomon.
His wisdom. Poured out her heart to him.
She looked around. Saw the house he built. His church. Oh, it took an amazing man to
do this. A wise man to build this. A glorious man. A man unlike
any other. And then it's time to eat. It's
time to eat. And he brought her into the table.
I've never seen food like this. I'm a queen. I thought I was eating before.
I thought I had good things. Look at this. What do you want, Sheba? One and all. We ate somewhere
yesterday, ten, at least ten courses, various things. Two
desserts. I ate it all. John, you'd have loved it. I
ate it all. Everything she put in front of
me, I hated it. It was the fool of my life. But it was wonderful. It was too beautiful. The table
she spread. Solomon's table. And here's a
picture. There's a truth seeker. A truth
seeker. A person really seeking the truth.
I mean, what phenomenal churchgoer, a person really seeking the truth,
will come to where the gospel is, where God opens His Word
and will say, I've never seen such things in all my life. All I ever knew was John 3.16, or Ruth, what she
did for Naomi. That's all I ever heard. Oh, the Lord opens up a very,
the smorgasbord of things. And you, well, maybe you just
want to eat it all, don't you? Oh, give me some more. Another
helping? Yeah. This is wonderful. Feast of fat
things, Isaiah called it. Feast of fat things. Oh, lots
of food served here. Fat things. Wine on the leaves. unsearchable riches of Jesus
Christ. The glories, the beauties, the
excellencies, more excellent knowledge. That's what you'll
find when you come to Christ, more excellent knowledge. All
this other stuff is so shallow. How can people put up with it?
Bless God we don't have to. Come to a feast, and it's just
as hungry as you are is how much you can fill up on. However hungry
you are, this is how much you can have. It's our own fault
if we go away empty. It ain't the table. A true seeker will find, and
look at this, verse 5 says, "...and the sitting of his servants."
What are you all doing right now? What are you doing? Sitting. You're not jumping and shouting
and carrying... Solomon speaking. Why won't anybody say anything?
Except amen. Huh? Why would anybody want to
do any talking when Solomon's about to speak? The only thing
I can think of is they've never heard Solomon before. Anybody
ever heard Solomon? That put my head over my mouth. She must have thought she knew
something when she came here. Probably did. When she heard
Solomon, She didn't say anything other than, oh, help me, help
me. That's all she could say was,
tell me, teach me. She heard Solomon. So they're
all sitting, sitting, listening to Solomon. See that? Sitting. And the attendance of his minister.
Verse five. The attendance of his minister.
That's the leading service. and their apparel, the leading
maids and servants, waiters and so forth. You know, if you come
into the true church, you'll observe the way in which the
leading men and women conduct themselves. Do you know that? Yes, you will. Yes, sir. Those seeking the truth, it will
make an impression on them. They're not flippant, they're
not foolish, they don't look like they came from a ball game. They're serious, they're sober. I want to tell you, the borrowed
ones back there were impressed with one man when they first
started coming here. It was one man that made a real
impression on them, and it wasn't me. It was Joe Parks. Standing back there at that door,
quiet strength exuding from that man. Serious, sober. A man. Leader. That's what you'll find in God's
church everywhere. Not a bunch of fools. Not a bunch
of flippant, careless fools. Men. Men who are men. And women who are women. That's what you'll find. And
his cup-bearers. Look at verse 5. It says, his
cup-bearers. You notice his cup-bearers. These
were the butlers. See that? The king back then
had some choice servants called butlers, cup-bearers. Now, they
weren't like these These little measly fellows, shriveled-up
fellows you see in the movies to some old English lord. No,
these fellows were the best. They were the best, the king's
best men. And Sheba observed these butlers
that waited on the king. That's what they were doing.
That's who they were serving. That's who they were ministering
to. That's the cup they bore, the king's cup. the king's wine
in it. And let me ask you, what are
all the true men which God has used over the years? True men!
Abraham! Now, there's a man. Joseph! Huh? What about him? That's the king's
cupbearer. Moses! David, Elijah, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Henry, Scott, Mary. You can look up to follow. What are they doing? Burning
the king's cup. That's all they're doing. not standing back at the door, bearing the king's cup. Preachers of the gospel, prophets,
apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers, they're not like these
idiots today. I hate them all. I hate all of
them. But despising is what Jeremiah said. God's men are true men, cup-bearers. those that go bearing the blood
of Christ, bearing the message of Christ crucified. They do
nothing more and nothing less. Blessed are you if you have seen
those cupbearers. But above all, the thing that
made the greatest impression on Sheba She saw all of that. But the thing that made the most
lasting impression upon Sheba, the thing which influenced her
most of all, the thing that finally reduced her to nothing, look at verse 5. She saw his
ascent. She saw Solomon walking up the
steps to his throne. the greatest man on earth. She
saw him walking up those steps in his royal apparel and go through
the barrier, the only one who could, of the house of the Lord. His ascent by which he went up
unto the house of the Lord, it says there was no more spirit. She saw his dignity His power,
His glory, His regal bearing, His royal honor and majesty. And she may have come in the
beginning thinking she was something, thinking she was a queen, thinking
she was rich, thinking she knew something, thinking she had something
off as a gentleman, when she finally saw him ascend to the
greatest throne on earth. I know nothing, I heard nothing,
I am nothing." Now, there's a man, there's wisdom, there's honor,
there's glory. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. Now, you try to preach this without
hollering. Now, if you see him, you try
it. Can't do it, it's impossible.
And the presence of such a great one is this. You see? And anyone who's truly seen Christ
high lifted up, in his glory, his joy, as it says, his joy
fell the temple. And the angels, the seraphim,
said one to another, holy, holy, holy. And the earth trembled
in his presence in the post of the door. What did Isaiah say
when he saw that? Oh, it's me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. I
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. I've seen the
Lord. Someone that's seen Christ. They've
seen Christ. All who see the King of kings
and Lord of lords He is a royal person. His power, his majesty,
his honor, his glory, and above all, they see his ascension upon
the Calvary's tree for them. Didn't have to. Not an offer.
Substitutionary work. A voluntary, substitutionary,
satisfactory work on Calvary's tree on their behalf. On behalf
of thieves and harlots and publicans. And they see that. And when they
see him risen and ascended into glory and exalted at the right
hand of his majesty on high, there will be no more spirit
left in them. No more brag, no more self-righteousness,
no more self-exaltation, no more talk of self at all, all talk
of a greater than self. People, this is the best message
you've ever heard. We're talking about someone who
is unlawful to speak of. King of kings and Lord of lords. Oh, worship the King, all glorious
above. Gratefully sing his power, his
love. Our greater than Solomon. No more spirit in And this is
what you'll say with Sheba, verse 6. This is what Sheba said after
seeing all that, seeing him. She was a broken woman now. And
she said in verse 6, she said to the king, this was her confession
to him. She wasn't saying this to anybody
but him. It's true. Everything I heard
is true. It's a true report. This is what
everybody who really sees Christ and hears from him will say,
true! It's all true concerning him. Is God sovereign? That question will be answered
if you see him. Ask Sheba, is Solomon, is he a sovereign king? You've never seen him, have you? You hear somebody saying, I don't
think Solomon had all that powerful. Oh, no. I think his servants,
they can do whatever they will. I think his servants had a free
will. Sheba said, you've never seen Solomon, have you? Obviously. You don't know Solomon,
do you? Is he glorious? Is he all-powerful? Does he do according to his will? Do his people do according to
his will? If you ever see him, that'll all be answered. You
know that? You know, there'll be no argument.
When a person meets the sovereign God of Scripture, there'll be
no argument about election. Does he elect? Does he have the
right to choose? You've never met him, have you?
It'll all be answered. When you see him, all of the answer, you say, it's
true. Everything I heard was true.
I didn't believe it before. Look at what she said. It's a
true report that I heard in my own land of thy acts, your work,
and your wisdom, your person. However, verse 7, I believed
not the words until I came. I didn't believe it until I came. till I saw him for myself. And
neither will anyone. No one's going to really believe
until no man, Christ said, can come unto me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw to him. And this is the will of the Father,
that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, I'll raise
him up, I'll exalt him. If you believe not that I am
he, You'll die in your sins, he said. And nobody's going to
believe until they're brought by God, by his Spirit. I believed
not until I came. And mine eyes have seen it. Verse
7, And behold, the half was not told. The half was not told. You know, somebody could try
to tell you the gospel. before you ever really hear it.
Try to tell you. I mean, that's good. You may,
oh, that's interesting. Sounds good. That's reading tapes. None of that is sufficient. None of that. To try to tell people one-on-one
is just not it. That just doesn't get it. Until
Christ comes in power through his word personally. and speaks,
and you see his glory through the preaching of the gospel personally.
You see it, and you'll say, why didn't somebody tell me? They
tried. And Brother Henry and people
come to me and say, did you see that? Look at this. Yeah, you've
been telling them that for years. You've been telling them, but
they didn't see it for themselves. But now they see it. for yourself. You've got to see
Christ for yourself. Behold, the half was not told
me, and it still hadn't been told, folks. This is the best
message you've heard to this point, but it still had not half
of it. She said, Your wisdom and
prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. So much higher,
more glorious than anybody was ever able to describe to me. And that's, I believe, our reaction
when we finally see him as he is, someday, in glory. We're
going to say, I wish, well, I've never heard that before. We've heard Ephesians 2 preached
how many times? As good as it can get. And we're
going to hear it in glory, and know as we've been known, and
know just exactly why we were dead and now alive. And how that
God, in Ephesians 1, has abounded toward us in wisdom and prudence,
making known unto us the mystery of his will, gathered together
in one all things in Christ. We're going to say, I never heard
that before. It's going to be like we never
heard it before. And Christ himself speaks it. The half has not been done. Let's hurry. She said, All happy
are thy men. Your men are happy people, blessed. Happy are these thy servants,
which stand continually before thee, that hear thy wisdom. Happy,
blessed, truly joyful, happy are those who sit and hear the
gospel. There's not a happier, more blessed
people on earth. There may be richer people, but
no one richer. in peace and joy and contentment
and mercy and grace and love and, oh my, happy are thy people,
thy servants, which stand continually before thee. Those who are found
in him, not having their own right, oh, they're blessed. You
know that? They're blessed. Those that hear
thy wisdom over and over again. Those lowly sinners that keep
coming and hearing about the high Savior. Blessed be the Lord thy God,
verse 9. I like this. Blessed be the Lord
thy God, which delighted in thee. Yes, Christ is the only but unwell
beloved Son of the Most High God, whom he delights in. He
set him on the throne of Israel because the Lord loved Israel
forever. He made him to be king. Because
the Lord set his love on his people, he made the king of kings
their king, and Lord of lords. ought to do judgment and justice,
to perform justice for them. Justify them, whereby they could
not be justified by the law. They couldn't do it. Impossible.
And not with this man. And it says, He gave the king
a hundred and twenty talents of gold and spices, a very great
store. This is a picture of gratitude.
You know, when the Lord blesses a person, there'll be They'll
be generous. They want to give. She wanted
to give to the cause, though Solomon didn't need it. She,
in gratitude and appreciation and thankfulness, she didn't
need that anyway. What did she need with that?
Give it to Solomon. She was just thankful. She gave,
freely gave. She gave of herself first, didn't
she? She went a great length to get there. Gave herself and
then of her substance. to him, the king's cause and
admiration and appreciation. But wait a minute, wait a minute,
hold on here, hold on. Are you going to out-give Solomon?
Is she going to go away empty? She got what she needed, wisdom,
answers. Are you going to out-give Solomon? Look at verse 13. So she, the
king of Solomon, gave unto the queen. King Solomon gave unto the Queen
of Sheba all her desire, the one thing needful. She needed
her heart answered, needed wisdom that she didn't have. Did she
get that? Look at this. Whatever she had
beside that which was which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. Oh, now, wait a minute. How much
money do you reckon she went home with? She gave 120 talents. She got 1,200 talents going back. No, 1,200. The king's royal bounty? The king's royal bounty? He can't
out-give the king. No sir. I'd like to see somebody
try. I'd like to see him try. I've
seen a few try. They'll tell you, can't out-give
him. Comes back a hundred-fold. His
royal bounty. So she turned and went to her
own country. All right, let me ask you a question. What'd she go home talking about? From that day forward, Somebody asks you, oh, you've
been to the Holy Land, haven't you? What do you talk about? Solomon. Solomon. And all those who've really seen
Christ, he's the topic of their conversation. If they've seen
him, everything else just fades into insignificance, doesn't
it? The building, did you see the temple? Yeah, it was nice. But Solomon, oh, Solomon. And I'll tell you,
this is what he told me. I can't tell it. You need to
go see. But he said, but he won't take
me. Oh, yes, he will. But it's a long way. Don't let
that stop you. It'll be worth it. But it'd be
costly. Look at this. It didn't cost me a thing. I hope the Lord bless that for
His glory. All right, let's sing in closing,
Majestic Sweetness, verse 52, or number 52. Number 52, Majestic
Sweetness.