A Greater Than Solomon

Q: What does the Bible say about wisdom in Christ?

The Bible describes Christ as the embodiment of wisdom, surpassing even the greatest human wisdom, as exemplified in Solomon. In Luke 11:31, Jesus proclaims that 'a greater than Solomon is here,' highlighting that while Solomon was renowned for his wisdom, Christ embodies divine wisdom itself. This assertion is foundational for understanding the superiority of Christ over all earthly wisdom. The journey of the Queen of Sheba to hear Solomon's wisdom illustrates the lengths to which people should go to seek the truth found in Jesus Christ, who offers not just wisdom, but wisdom that leads to salvation. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). This means that believers are called to seek wisdom through Christ, who reveals the profound truths of God.

Q: How do we know that Jesus is greater than Solomon?

We recognize Jesus' greatness through His divine authority and the ultimate wisdom He imparts, which fulfills and surpasses that of Solomon. Jesus' declaration in Luke 11:31, that 'a greater than Solomon is here,' serves as an infallible proof of His divine authority and superiority. Solomon's wisdom was unmatched among mortals, yet Jesus offers a wisdom that not only reveals the mysteries of God but also provides salvation. Unlike Solomon, who occasionally faltered, Jesus embodies complete righteousness and truth. Through His life, death, and resurrection, He demonstrates authority over sin and death, affirming His position as the King of Kings. Therefore, the recognition of Jesus as greater than Solomon rests on His perfect nature and the redemptive work He completed for humanity.

Q: Why is understanding Christ's wisdom important for Christians?

Understanding Christ's wisdom is crucial for Christians as it guides their faith and equips them for living according to God's truth. The significance of understanding Christ's wisdom cannot be overstated, as it lays the foundation for a believer's faith and daily living. In 1 Kings 10, the Queen of Sheba sought wisdom from Solomon, yet Christ, who is the embodiment of wisdom, offers much more—He provides guidance that leads to eternal life. Christians are called to commune with Christ, pouring out their hearts and seeking answers to the hard questions of life, just as Sheba did. Christ's wisdom empowers Christians not only to comprehend God's truths but also to apply them throughout their lives, equipping them to navigate the complexities of the world with godly insight and knowledge. By recognizing Jesus as the source of wisdom, believers deepen their relationship with Him and thrive spiritually.

Q: What can we learn from the Queen of Sheba's journey to Solomon?

The Queen of Sheba's journey teaches Christians the importance of prioritizing the pursuit of divine wisdom and truth. The Queen of Sheba's determination to travel 1,500 miles to hear Solomon exemplifies an earnest pursuit of wisdom that Christians are called to emulate in their relationship with Christ. Her willingness to make sacrifices and overcome obstacles highlights the need for believers to prioritize the pursuit of divine truth above all else. In her encounter with Solomon, she found not only wisdom but also a glimpse of God's glory. Likewise, when Christians prioritize seeking Christ—the greater than Solomon—they open themselves up to His transformative wisdom and knowledge. This journey is symbolic of the believer's walk of faith, involving commitment, sacrifice, and a yearning to know God more deeply. It challenges Christians to evaluate their priorities and ensure that seeking Christ remains at the forefront of their lives.

Q: How does Jesus fulfill the role of wisdom personified?

Jesus fulfills the role of wisdom personified by revealing the fullness of God’s truth and the path to salvation. As the embodiment of wisdom, Jesus does not only impart knowledge but embodies all the attributes of God's truth and righteousness. In 1 Corinthians 1:30, Paul emphasizes that Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This means that through His life and teachings, He reveals God's intentions for humanity and offers guidance for living rightly in a fallen world. Unlike Solomon, who provided wise sayings, Jesus fully demonstrates how to live in accordance with divine will, culminating in His sacrificial love and redemptive work on the cross. Christians recognize that by following the wisdom found in Christ, they receive understanding that not only pertains to their earthly existence but also assures their eternal destiny.

Chapter 11, the book of Luke, chapter 11. And then 1 Kings, again, 1 Kings chapter 10 will be our
text. But look with me first at Luke
chapter And if you did not see anything
in that 1 Kings 4, our Lord reveals the mystery
in a few words. Two, three, four, five, six words,
our Lord reveals it all. All that we read in several verses,
the Lord It reveals it all. Look at Luke 11, verse 31. The queen of the south, a woman
named Sheba, the queen of the south, shall rise up in the judgment
with the men of this generation and condemn them. For she came
from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here. A greater than Solomon is here. Now, our Lord gives here a solemn
warning to those who hear his And that's everyone sitting here
right now, young and old. He gives a solemn warning to
those who hear his word, yet remain unmoved or seem to care less about it. This is Jesus. It's not this
preacher talking. This is Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the God in flesh, gives dire warnings to those who hear
the Word but seem to care less about it. And he tells a story
about this woman named Sheba, this queen, who went to great
lengths to hear the wisdom of a man named Solomon. And it says this woman is going
to be in the judgment day someday. She's not going to say anything. Just her being there will be
judgment against everybody who Paul said in Hebrews, trod underfoot
the Son of God. When he means by trod underfoot,
means on your way, on a person's way, wherever they're going,
whatever they're doing, they just walk by the Son of God and
don't care, could care less. On their way to see somebody
or hear something or see something, they pass by or trot underfoot
the Son of God Himself. He said, it's sore punishment
ahead, and said, this woman is going to be there. to bear witness
of it. All right, back to 1 Kings, now,
chapter 10. And here's the story of this
woman who came to hear this king. And I hope the Lord will show
us the king of kings. All right, look at 1 Kings, chapter
10. This is what our Lord was talking
about there. In Luke 11, 1 Kings chapter 10,
look at verse 1 with me. And when the queen of Sheba heard
of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard
questions. The Queen of Sheba. Now, stop
right there. Several things I want us to notice.
First thing is who this was that came. This was a woman who is
the weaker vessel. And she made this journey to
see this man, this king, a woman, a weaker vessel. But that didn't
stop her. She made it anyway. She was a
queen. She was a queen. She was a woman
who had many cares and responsibilities, many engagements, many things
to attend to. Some of you are women of responsibility,
perhaps in high positions. And you have little time for
few things because of your responsibilities. Every woman in here who is a
mother, who is a wife, who works a job, has many responsibilities. This woman was queen. Think of
her responsibilities. Think what all she had to do.
You think of governing your house, what about everybody else's?
She was the queen of a large country, yet she put everything
aside to go hear Solomon. Right? She wasn't too busy to
go hear about Solomon, to hear from him. And I hear many people
talk of many things, of having to do this or do that. care for
this person or that person and cannot come to worship God? Our Lord one time gave a parable. He said a man had a wedding feast
and invited many people to come, and they one by one began to
give excuse for not coming. And one fellow said, Well, I've
bought me a piece of ground. I've got to go see it." And the
Lord said, another man said, well, I'm married. My wife has
something she wants to do. Why I this, I that. This woman had a lot of responsibilities,
didn't she? She dropped them all. Why? She's
going to go hear Solomon. What could be more important
than that? Who could take the place of him? Solomon, the greatest
one that ever lived. People say, oh, but I've got
to make a living. I've got to die, though. Oh, but I have to see to this,
I have to see to that. I've already said, you have to
see him. You need to see him. Who? A greater than Solomon. You coming
this morning, are you coming? Why are you coming? Why am I
coming? Why am I here? A greater than
Solomon is here. I've come to hear him. She came a great distance. This
was a woman. She had many responsibilities.
She came a great distance. Now, from Sheba—Sheba was in
southwest Arabia, Saudi Arabia, southwest Arabia, a place called
Yemen now, which was over 1,500 miles. nearly 2,000 miles to go up to
Jerusalem to hear this man. She was going to church one Sunday
morning, Stan, and she had to go 1,500 miles to get there to
hear a man. And she traveled. She didn't
have a Mercedes-Benz. And she didn't even have a Chevro—excuse
me, a Ford—with air conditioning, and she didn't come to sit on
a padded pew. She rode a camel. It took her
months to get there. Months! Holy honey, we got thirty
minutes to travel. Thirty minutes! This took this
woman three months. to go here to Solomon. It wasn't too much. She had the
hearing. Came a great distance. Trials
and hardships and dangers and discomfort. Five mile mountain,
a little bit of breeze to this woman. From Catalina here on 602, Oh, that's a wide road. That's a wide road compared to
some of the ones she traveled in by camel. She was a stranger. She had never
met Solomon. Solomon never called her on the
phone and said, would you come on down and see me? She didn't
even know she was going to hear him when she got there. She didn't even know if she was
going to get it all. She's a stranger. She was an idolater. She was
a woman out of Arabia. She was worshiping idols. She
didn't believe like Solomon believed, but she heard about him, and
she had to come here first thing. She wasn't sure if she was going
to get to hear him or see him or talk to him or not. A greater than Solomon says,
a sinner comes. come, let us reason together. I'll stop what I'm doing, the
Lord of Glory says, for any sinner who comes, and I'll reveal myself to you, and I'll
talk to you. And though your sins be as scarlet,
they'll be as white as snow." She had no promise of a audience
with this great king. He could have said, Who is this?
And they said, The Queen of Sheba is coming. Who? The Queen of
Sheba. Where's that? It's down in southwest
Arabia. Where? Rocky Mount? Yes, sir, from Rocky Mount. Who? What? Somebody go away. I have no time. But this man
is kind of like somebody else. He had time. Solomon. I've heard people, you know,
who pass by left and right. Well, I can't go there. I'm a Methodist. There's a central Baptist church. Who goes there? A greater-than-Solomon. Well, I can't go there. I'm a
Methodist. I'm an idol worshiper. I can't go there. What difference
does that make? You better. You better go where
Solomon is. It was a costly journey. Look
at verse 2. She came to Jerusalem with a
very great train of camels that bear spices and very much gold
and precious stones when she was come to Solomon. She was
bringing these things, gifts, a very great train, a long camel
train, bearing spices and gold. It was a costly journey that
she made. She sacrificed a great deal,
and it took several months to get there, and it cost her a
great deal to get there. Gold and stones and money spent
to get there. Where are you going, Sheba? Going
to Jerusalem. Why? Here's Solomon. Who? Solomon. I've heard of his
glory. I've got to go hear him. When
are you leaving? Leave it tomorrow. When are you
going to get there? The next six months from now. What? You're
going all that way? What's it going to cost you?
I'm going to have to give up a month's salary. You're writing a check for all
that money to give it to... Oh, it's not enough. I'd gladly
forfeit all I had to go hear this man. Not enough. Not enough. She considered it
very little to spend in order to come hear Solomon. I know
a man who had a job with General Motors in Detroit, Michigan.
And at the time, this was more than 10 years ago, at the time
a young man in his early 30s had a good job in the design
department of General Motors in Detroit, Michigan. He earned
at the time more than $50,000 a year, which is now, 10 years
later, has escalated to about $75,000. He had a brand new home,
just built a brand spanking new home, had a young child, wife,
and a very good job, making a lot of money on his way up the corporate
ladder. Everybody liked him, and he was
on his way up, conceivably with a six-figure salary and a bigger
home. Well, the Lord revealed the gospel
to him. He heard Solomon. And Solomon wasn't being preached
in Detroit, Michigan. The gospel of a greater than
Solomon was not in Detroit, Michigan. He couldn't hear it there. He
quit his job. No, he didn't go look for a job
somewhere. He just quit his job. He sold his house, and he moved
to Lexington, Kentucky, where a man was preaching about a greater
than Solomon. And he sat there, and he struggled
for months, for years he struggled for two years, living in an apartment
with his wife and children, trying to make ends meet, making about
five dollars an hour to hear Solomon. And every time
you'd talk to him, you'd never hear him say, Oh, what I've given
up. Or, oh, would I sacrifice? Or, oh, I wish I was back where
I was." You know what you'd hear him say? You should have heard
the message I heard last Sunday. I'm here in the gospel. Are you
happy? Happier than I've ever been in my life. Ask his wife
the same thing. She'd say, We're so glad we made
the move. Now, this woman made a costly
journey and went a long way to hear this gospel. And she was
happy. It's the only thing that mattered.
And like I said, she received no invitation to get there, and
she went to hear a mere man. A mere man. Albeit he was a great
man. He was the greatest man there
to live up to that point. And for many years afterward,
he's still a man. Still a man. And the one that
you're coming to hear this morning, the one I'm trying to tell you
about, if you heard it, the woman at the well, when she
got back from hearing this man, she said, Come see a man. Is not this the Christ? Come
see a man. Come hear him. I told me all
things. She came, Sheba came to hear
the wisdom of the world. We're coming to hear wisdom personified. Him who is called wisdom. We're coming to hear the one
that Solomon got all his wisdom from. We're coming to hear the
one that Solomon prayed to and said, I'll give you wisdom greater than Solomon. Christ is the wisdom of God,
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. You know, Solomon
could expound unto her some wisdom. He could tell her some wise things,
but Christ can impart wisdom. can make you wise unto salvation. All right, look at who came here
again. Look at verse 2. It says that
when she came to Jerusalem, stop right there, she didn't send
somebody up. She didn't send her servant or
an ambassador or a letter or a call. She didn't make a call.
She didn't send for the tape. She didn't say, well, I'm not
going, but I'll get the tape. She came. She had to come for
herself. She came. She came. And it says that when she was
come, look at who she came to. When she came to Jerusalem, with
very great train and so forth, precious stone, when she was
come to Solomon. Now there it is. She came to
Solomon. Where are you going today? I'm
going to church. A big deal. Everybody goes to church. That's
not going to do us a bit of good, is it? That's what the Lord says over
and over again. This people draw near to me with
their lips. I hear all this lip service.
Right, Stan? I'm hearing all this. Don't you
know the Lord's hearing all this goings-on in religion today?
Jesus, Jesus, this Jesus, that God, Christ, the Holy Spirit. This people draw near with their
lips. He says, "...the day cometh, the Lord seeketh thus to worship
him, that worship him in spirit and truth, those that come to
him." Come to God, buy a crack. Lord, I want to know you. I want
to see God. I want to see you. I'm not here
to play church. I'm not here to be religious
this morning because it's Sunday morning. I want to hear Him,
but I've never heard Him. I hear about Him. I've never
heard Him. Would you speak to me? I've never
seen Him. People act like they've seen
Him. I've never seen Him. I want to see Him. Lord, would
you show Him? That's who He said, You come, I'll show you. Seek
us such to worship Him in spirit from the heart and in truth,
and truly. You want to know Him? Do you? Do you? That's the way we're
to come here. She came to Solomon. She wasn't
coming to see Jerusalem. She wasn't coming to see the
Holy Land. Why would she want to see that?
The dirt in Jerusalem was like the dirt in South Arabia. A lot
of people make their pilgrimage to the Holy Land, don't they?
I get invitations all the time by letter. We're having an excursion
to go to the Holy Land. Where's that? You're going to
heaven? Yeah, I ought to go there. When
are you leaving? Heaven's the Holy Land. But Jerusalem's not the dirtiest
city. They tell me it's one of the
dirtiest of all cities. They were going to get a little
vial of dirt and bring it back with us. She was come to Solomon. Jerusalem, that just happened
to be where he was. Where are you going? Rocky Mountain.
Who's there? It's greater than Solomon. I'll go, too. That's who I want
to see. And here, where are you going?
To church? Where are you going? Going to
see Him. I want to see Him. Hopefully my pastor will preach
Him, and I'll see Him." She came to Solomon, wisdom personified. Look at her purpose in coming.
Look at it again. It says, verse 1, she came to
prove him with hard questions. Now there's nothing wrong with
that. And everybody that comes and
hears the gospel for the first time has questions. And there's nothing wrong with
questions. I don't want to hear, you know, I get tired of hearing
how many and where Cain get his wife. All that, you know. Well, what about this? What about
that preacher? Those are foolish questions and endless genealogy.
If we can answer them, fine. But that's not the question.
Here's the question. What think ye of Christ? Here's
the question. Like Job asked. Job asked the
question. This is a hard question. Who
can hear? Hard say. I wish more people
would ask this question. Job said, Now I know it's of
truth. But how can man be just with
God? Job says, I have a question,
and none of you, nobody seems to be able to answer it to me.
He said, how can he be clean that's born of woman? That's a hard question. That's
one that needs answering. How can a holy God love a sinner like me. That's
a good question. How can this Jesus dying and
shedding his blood save my soul? That's a good question, a hard
question. I wish people asked those kind
of questions. How many you got on Sunday morning? That ain't no hard question.
That's standard, isn't it? Hard question. Prove him
with hard questions. She came, look at verse 2, the
last verse, it says, she communed with him of all that was in her
heart. She came with hard questions
and she came to commune with him. Do you come to the Lord
and say she communed with him of all that was in her heart?
If you come here this morning as a sinner, wanting to hear
from a greater than Solomon, the God of glory, Jesus Christ
Himself, the One, the Man, Jesus Christ, and you commune with
Him. That's why we're coming here
to worship. Commune with Him, heart to heart, of all that's
in your heart. Come unto Him, this woman, this
Sheba. Poured out her heart to Solomon.
She heard he was wise. She had, he had answered. So
she opened up her heart. I got troubles with this. I got
problems with this. I need some answers. They tell
me you have all the answers. I need some answers. Would you
tell me? Here's my problem. She communed, look at, look at
what it says, verse 3, and Solomon told her all her questions. There
was not anything hid from the king which he told her not. She came to ask questions, and
she asked all she could ask, and you know, he began to ask
some. He asked some questions she hadn't
thought of asking. And she told him all of her heart,
and he told her more than she had asked for. He began to open
up the recesses of her heart to see some things she hadn't
seen before. It was like he was reading her
heart and her mind. It was like he had known all
about her, though she had never met him. "'Who told you about
me?' Sheba said. "'Did my husband tell you about
me?' Did he tell you that? I'm Solomon. And there's nothing, and we come
to a greater than Solomon and pour out our heart to him, and
you know this woman, and we're going to see in a moment how
that after she saw him, he said there's no more spirit left in
her. She came, a woman on a high horse or a high camel, and all
of her garb and dress and somebody, she came, she was somebody, and
came to sit down to prove Solomon with hard questions. And after
she saw him, and after she heard him, and after he began to reveal
her heart to herself, before long she was crumpled down in
her seat and didn't have anything else to say. Her spirit was gone before this
great man. She was a nobody sitting at the
feet of the greatest man who ever lived. A greater than Solomon
is here. And then she opened her heart
to him. And you, if you ever see who this is, there'll be
no more spirit in you. No more spirit in you. Now you'll
open your heart to him, and he'll prove himself to you and open
your heart to you. And you, no matter who you are,
no matter who you are, how bad you are, whatever, there's nothing
you have been or will be or has gone through or will go through
that is uncommon to every saint before you, and Christ has received
them all, all sinners. And there's nothing you could
tell him that would shock him or turn him away from you. He's
heard it all. He's seen it all. He's a greater
than Solomon. He knows everything about you.
But Lord, I've done this. I know. I saw it. And so did someone else beside
you. But I received them too. I received them." Look at verse
3, and it says, Solomon told her all her questions. There
was not hid anything from the king which he told her not. Solomon
told her all, nothing hid, all revealed, as if he knew her thoughts. You tell Christ your sin, tell
it to him. He knows it anyway, but he'll
tell you of his mercy. You tell him of your weakness,
he'll reveal his strength. You tell him of your distance
from him, He'll draw you close to God. You tell him of your
poverty, he'll show you his unsearchable riches. You tell him all, he'll
show you himself. He's all and enough. You tell
it. And look at what she saw in Solomon.
This is glorious. Oh, Lord, show us. Verse 4, When
the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, All Solomon's
wisdom. Talk about a person here now,
Deborah. I would have loved to have sat and listened to Solomon. Listened.
I hope I'd listened, and I believe I would have. After I heard him
speak, son, I believe my lips would have been sealed. Because
as soon as I heard him stand, I thought, he's going to show
me a fool. Well, here's what I think, Solomon. Let me show you a bit. Solomon. How greater than Solomon. I would
have loved to have seen him. Wouldn't you? I would have loved
to have sat there. Wisest man to ever live. But to that point. A person. If we come to a greater
than Solomon. To see his person. Have you ever
seen his person? The person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And his work, look at his work, it says, all Solomon's
wisdom and the house that he built. You want some interesting
reading, go back this afternoon and read 1 Kings chapter 6 and
7. Talks about Solomon building
the house and all that the house that he built. It's some, it's
some, really. Hunter-Tin-Hills is a shack on
the other side of the tracks. thing that I've got. But look
at the woodwork. Ha! I've brought cedars from
Lebanon. Well, look at the inlaid top.
Ain't no gold on these floors, Solomon said. Polished oak, puh! Gold was all
through his palace and through his temple, through his house.
Read it sometime. The house he built, The great
Solomon, the house he built, and I tell you what, people,
this is a spiritual picture of the house Jesus Christ built. I'm talking about a people, a temple
of the Holy Spirit, a people. And also talking about a new
heaven and a new earth. I can't preach on it. I haven't
seen it. I live with it. This here is
a little tide, just a little shadow. Solomon's house is a
shadow of that big temple. It's just a little picture, a
little tide, a little glimpse of that big picture. The big
house. The big house that the Lord built. But a people he's talking about
particularly, he calls them his precious stones, his people,
jewels, his jewels and his crown. Ah, boy. You know, read on. It says, when she saw his wisdom
and the house that he built, verse 5, and it says, and the
meat of his table, the meat of his table, You ought to go back and read
the sacrifice that he made. John, he sacrificed, when he
dedicated the temple, a hundred and twenty-two thousand lambs. A ranch of blood! A great sacrifice! Twenty-two thousand bullets! One sacrifice this king made
to dedicate this temple. What a great sacrifice it was. You see, rivers of blood, the
bloodiest sacrifice, the greatest sacrifice ever made. And it says, after he made the
sacrifice, he divided all the meat, all the people feasted
that day. It says, after he made the feast, there was blood in
the king, it says. and went home rejoicing in the
king and his sacrifice." Read it for yourself. The house that
he built, the meat of his table, Christ said, My body is meat,
isn't it? My sacrifice, Plenty of food
to go around. They all ate it. The meat of
his table. You remember reading that back
in chapter 4? Look back there quickly. Look back there and
I'll tell you what all this was. 1 Kings 4. Look back there. In 1 Kings 4 it says that one
day's provision, verse 22, One day's provision
for one day was thirty measures of fine flour. That's 19,940
pounds of flour to make bread with. My wife makes six loaves at a
time. 19,940 pounds of—that's just the bread,
Sherry. Read on. It says that there were
three score measures of meal, 38,880 pounds of cornmeal. Read on. Ten fat oxen, ten grain-fed
oxen, big, fat bullets, and twenty others, ten grain—and twenty
oxen out of the pasture, a hundred sheep or lamb, deer, elk, does,
pheasants, turkeys, vegetables, fruits, with all the trimmings,
wine, milk, honey, molasses, Solomon, you want it, come get
it. Come and eat," he said. All my provisions. Look at what
all Solomon made for the people. Unspeakable. Unsearchable. A feast coming down, he said. All things are ready. Anybody
hungry? Come on. Why don't you bring
a cake? What? It's not enough? Do you see? Got your glasses
on, John? Do you see a greater than Solomon
and what he has spread at his table? One day's provision for
all of his people, which are the sand of the seashore, this
wouldn't, that wouldn't feed them, would it? But greater than
Solomon. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. We're talking about the gospel.
How many gospel messages are being preached this morning?
Oh, Don Fortner preaching, and on and on the list go. Don Bell
and and different men, a preacher and unsearchable riches, and
there's going out truths and delicacies and honey and milk
and meat and deer, and as the heart paneth after the water,
meals are being spread, tables of people feasting, lots of people
feasting, unsearched gospel table. Ever been there? Ever ate at
it? Ever had a little helping of
His mercy? Ever had a little bowl of rice? Huh? Huh? Ever had a little loaf of
love? His love, sweetest ever was. Sweetest ever. Oh, ever had a
glass of wisdom? Drunk it? Huh? Ever seen that
righteousness? Ever seen His sanctification?
Holiness, gentleness, goodness, meekness, sweetness, kindness?
Fair for all. Fair for all. Come and eat,"
he said. Read on. Verse 5 says in our
text, chapter 10, verse 5, it says, "...the meat of his table,
which he saw the sitting of his servants." He saw all the sitting of his
servants. They were all seated at the table with one billion
things of cornbread on it, and thirty, thirty-eight thousand
plates of roast beef, and all those thousands of people, dignitaries,
fine people, sitting around the table. And if I could show you,
you there, generate, if I could show you that place up there,
where the greater than Solomon is, And who was sitting around
that table? Look over there. There's Abraham.
And right next to him is Moses. And over there is Mephibosheth. Yeah, he's as great as Moses.
And right next to him is David. There's David. Look next to David,
Joseph. And next to Joseph is Isaac.
And there's Jacob. Yeah, Jacob, sir. He's the God
of Jacob too. Look at there, there's Mary Magdalene.
What's she doing there? Ah, she's there. Zacchaeus, look
at there, that little fella. He ain't little anymore, he's
as big as everybody else. Look at all of them, look at
the table. Peter, James, John, Gil, Spurgeon,
Barney, Barnard, Reed Harper. Look at all those people around
that table. That makes them all sit there. where a greater than Solomon
is. He's at the head of the table. It's a round table, too. It's
a round table with one head. Everybody else is equal, you
see. Moses hasn't got the special
place, nor does David. They're all equal here. But there's
one more equal than the rest of them. The God-man, Jesus,
greater than Solomon. Look at the table. You know,
we're actually going to eat in heaven. And like I said, this wouldn't have made that
table. It wasn't good enough. Solomon's
table. Look at, read on. It says the
sending of his servants, the attendance of his ministers.
He had some maids. Solomon had some maids and some
butlers and some people, some servants running around, feeding
everybody and doing things. angels, cherubs. Michael, the
archangel. Barbara, Michael is serving Mephibosheth. Michael, the archangel, is serving
taters to Mary Magdalene. Cherubs and serabs. Servants are a little lower than
the angels to men. All around, read on. And their
apparel. Look at what they're wearing.
Where'd you get that suit? Neiman Marcus. No, no, I didn't
really. I didn't get it there. Just use
an illustration. Hart, Shaffer, and Marcus, what
this suit is. No, it's not. Really. But if
you want to impress somebody, you'd say that. Where'd you get
that suit? Bloomingdale's. Oh, wow, ooh, look at what they're
wearing up in heaven. Where'd you get that robe? I've never seen the likes of
it. Looks like spun gold. It is. Looks like gold and jewels and
precious stones. It is. Where'd you get it? The Lord gave it to me. Where'd
you get that suit of clothes?" President Clinton gave me this.
Wow! Send it back! Who gave you that
robe of righteousness? Jesus Christ! He may have handmade
it and covered me. The robe of righteousness, the
white robe. Read on. It says, "...their apparel and
his cupbearers." his cupbearer. You know the king's cupbearers,
the butlers, that's the finest man. The finest men were the
butler. You ever seen the TV shows, the
one that had the butler? I don't know if you've seen that
movie, what was the name of it? A fellow named Anthony Hopkins
played the part of a butler, and he was the finest man. About
like old, what was his name, Wanda Griffith, the other day?
Huh? Good man. Fine man, wasn't he?
The butlers were the finest of men. What was his name? Malcolm
Merrill! The finest of men, butlers were.
Look at the Lord Jesus Christ past cupbearers. Elijah. Wouldn't you like to have known
Elijah? Huh? I have. I've known a few of them. I knew
Barnard. I know Montgomery. I know it. He's one of the king's
cup bearers, butlers, personal servants. He bears the cup, pours
the wine. I know Richardson. Fine man. Aren't these the finest of men?
The finest men of whom the world is not worthy? The Scripture
says. That's the king's cup bearer. And look at this. Let me preach
this. Verse 5, and here's a scene. It says that Sheba was sitting
back, and she was looking at this table, looking at all these
people and the servants and the spread on the table, and it says
that his ascent, look at it, by which he went up into the
house of the Lord. She watched Solomon. Here he
came in. Solomon came in. Now, she'd seen
all the people and the table and all that. She saw him, and
she saw him walk up the steps to his throne. And his train
filled that temple. And he walked up to Solomon. Well, you know how he carried
himself? The greatest man ever, ever born. He descended those
steps and sat down on his throne. And she thought she was something
before she got there. And it says the Spirit left her. She got down with everybody else. Would you look at that man? Sitting on that throne. Do you see? A greater than Solomon
has been here. And he's here right now, I believe.
Killing you himself. Huh? It's just a glance, John.
If you saw him fully, you couldn't stand it. You'd bust. That old
cocoon went bust, and the eagle had to soar into his presence. You couldn't live from here on
out if you could see him. People talking about seeing bridges?
If they ever saw the Lord, they fully couldn't live anymore.
You couldn't live anymore staying in a bridge. You'd be a broken,
miserable wretch. Living and you'd be an eagle
among turkeys. A fine feathered fowl among barnyard
beasts. Right? He couldn't live. You
see a blemish. Do you see him? You see him a
little bit? He ascended the throne. Jesus
Christ, the greatest of Solomon's here. Becca, Amy, Ellen, you
see him? Ascended his throne. Where he's
sitting right now. He ain't dead. I'm greater than
Solomon's Spirit. Is this proof to you? Is this
so clear to you that this speaking of Jesus Christ, you see, has
got to be a lie? This is just too amazing. That's
how he proves himself, Stan. Infallible proof. Do you see
that? I see it so clear. That can't be talking about anybody
but Jesus Christ. And he's alive. He's speaking.
I'll read on. It says, And she said to the
king, there was no more spirit left in her. And she had one
more thing to say. She had all these questions up
to that point. And she quit talking after Solomon
started talking. And she quit talking and started
gawking. And her comeliness melted. Her beauty, her glory, worth
her, everything about her. She thought she was a queen,
but she realized, hey, I ain't. Now, there's the king. Now, I
might have a little authority, but he's got it all. He's got
all authority. And here's what she said. I love
this. Verse six, she said to the king, it was true. A true report. that I heard in
mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I just
didn't believe it until I came and sought myself. And behold, the half was not
told me. Thy wisdom and thy prosperity,
it exceeds the same that I ever heard." And, folks, when we get
there, we're going to say the exact same thing. I heard a message
one time. We're going to say, Lord, I heard
a message, a preacher preach on a grave in Sodom, and he told
me, and I saw some beauty in some guy. I heard it in my own
land. I didn't hear the half of it.
It was true. Everything is said about you
more. And behold, thy wisdom and thy prosperity, it exceeds
everything I've ever heard. Verse 8, look at this. Oh, I
love this. Happy are the men, thy servants, which stand continually
before thee, and hear thy wisdom. Those people sit around just
listening to you all the time? I envy them. They're so happy. They're happy people. Why are
you crying then? Out of happiness? You ever cried
out of happiness? My daughter, one time, we were
getting to Florida, and we said, Honey, we're here. We looked
back, and she's doing it. See, what's wrong? She said,
I'm so happy I got tears in my eyes. You ever been that happy? Upon
hearing the gospel? Brother Bell says that all the
time. He says, I preached the other
day, and Lord bless us, we got happy. We got happy. We got happy. In my presence,
he says, there's abundance of joy. Abundance of life and joy. Verse 9, "'Blessed be the Lord
thy God.'" Look at this. This is greater than Solomon.
This is all about Christ, people. Happier they that hear his wisdom
all the time. Verse 9, it says, "'Blessed be
the Lord thy God, which delighteth in thee, to set you on the throne
of Israel. Because the Lord loved Israel
forever, he made you king.'" the reign over history. Solomon, you're the greatest,
and all your people are so happy to have you for the king, to
hear you all the time. Bless the Lord that made you
king from this day forward. Bless the Lord, O my soul, that
greater than Solomon is here. Come up and we'll try to.

A Greater Than Solomon

What does the Bible say about wisdom in Christ?

How do we know that Jesus is greater than Solomon?

Why is understanding Christ's wisdom important for Christians?

What can we learn from the Queen of Sheba's journey to Solomon?

How does Jesus fulfill the role of wisdom personified?

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A Greater Than Solomon

What does the Bible say about wisdom in Christ?

How do we know that Jesus is greater than Solomon?

Why is understanding Christ's wisdom important for Christians?

What can we learn from the Queen of Sheba's journey to Solomon?

How does Jesus fulfill the role of wisdom personified?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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