Well, I read to you in 1 Kings
chapter 3 that the Lord gave to Solomon unusual wisdom and
unusual understanding so that there was none wiser, none more
knowledgeable of the things of God or just general things that
he had to oversee concerning the government of Israel. He
was just an unusual man and God made him unusual. God gifted
him. Let us always remember that every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Whatever gifts
you have, you say, preacher, I don't have any gifts. Yes,
you do. Yes, you do. And the gifts that you have,
gift of being a good friend, The gift of tenderness and caring,
being compassionate. Those are gifts that God gives.
The gift of grace. The gift that God has revealed
to you. That unspeakable gift of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know him? It's because
he gifted you to know him. Have you turned away from your
dead works and your false religion? He gifted you with repentance. Have you forsaken all and turned
to Christ Jesus? He gifted you with faith. Faith
is not natural to the human heart. It's something that's altogether
foreign. But if in your heart of hearts
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you cling to Him, You
hug up to Him. He's all of your hope. He's all
of your refuge. He's all of your salvation. He's
all of your life. He's all of your righteousness.
Then, my friend, you have been gifted above most people because
the vast number of people in this world Even the vast number
of people in religion know nothing of the true God and know nothing
of that way of salvation by grace through the substitutionary sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that God will reveal Himself
to you through His Son. I want you to turn to Matthew
chapter 12. Well, I read to you about the
wisdom of Solomon and what understanding God gave him. And I want to read
here our Lord's words in Matthew chapter 12. He has performed
a couple of miracles in Matthew chapter 12. And in verse 38,
Matthew 12, 38, It says, Then certain of the
scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we
would see a sign from thee. They've already seen a couple
of miracles earlier in this chapter. They're always seeking for signs,
signs. In John chapter 10, they said,
We want to see more signs. We want to see your works. If
you'll show us more works, then we'll be convinced that you are
the Son of God. They didn't believe him. They
hated him. The false religious world has always hated God and
they hated His Son. And they still hate God and they
still hate His Son. They have no reason to love the
Lord because the Lord that they worship is not the Lord of the
Bible. They love their God, but they
hate the God of the Scriptures. So these Pharisees, leaders of
religion, they say, we want to see another sign. And then he
answered them. Verse 39, you there? Matthew
12, 39. And he answered and said unto
them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. Looking for signs? They were. He says, and there shall no sign
be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as 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. They saw that sign, still didn't
believe him. Still didn't believe him. You
remember that rich man who in hell lift up his eyes, who's
in torment? He told Abraham, he said, you
know, I wish you'd send Lazarus back to preach to my brothers.
If they saw somebody being, who'd been raised from the dead, then they'd believe. And Abraham said, even if they
saw somebody raised from the dead, they're still not gonna
believe. He said, you don't need to see a miracle. You need a
miracle. Somebody wrote me this morning,
and I appreciated it so much, and said something to the effect,
thank God for the great cardiologist. That's our Lord. He's the great
cardiologist, and He can speak to the heart, the innermost being
of your person, and give you a love and a confidence
in Him. He said, verse 41, I got to keep
going. The men of Nineveh shall rise
in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because
they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater
than Jonah is here. Now watch verse 42. The queen
of the south, and I'm going to take you back to 1 Kings, show
you who she was. The Queen of the South shall
rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn
it. For she came from the uttermost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon." Word spread. She lived about 1,200 miles away
in Arabia. And word spread that far of the
wisdom and the knowledge of Solomon. She came from the uttermost parts
of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater
than Solomon is here." Now, I want you to turn back to 1 Kings.
I want you to turn back to 1 Kings chapter 10. 1 Kings chapter 10. And I'll kind of stay here for
a few minutes. 1 Kings. Chapter 10. Verse one. And when the queen
of Sheba, Sheba of Arabia, I say roughly about, she's about 1,200
miles from Solomon's residence in Jerusalem. And when the queen
of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of
the Lord. Let me tell you something. If
God wants to get His Word to somebody, He'll get it there,
even though she may live 1,200 miles away. He will see to it
that the Word does go forth. And if the Lord wants His Word
to come to your heart this morning, or those of you who are watching,
He will get it to you. It might even be through a poor
vessel, because all of His preachers are just poor vessels. But we
have a rich message about a glorious Savior and His conquering work
of redemption. And if the Lord sees fit to send
that message to you, it doesn't matter who the vessel is, it'll
come home to your heart. That's why you're here this morning. that God has brought you here
to hear His Word, and His Word's not going to fail. Well, look
at verse 2. And she came to Jerusalem with
a very great train. She had a big entourage, camels
that bore bare spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon,
she communed with him. of all that was in her heart. And according to verse one, she
came to prove him with hard questions, hard questions. Verse three,
and Solomon told her all her questions. And there was not
anything hid from the king, which he told her not. Now here's my
subject this morning, hard questions, hard questions. I don't know
if she had raised these questions to anybody else or not. I don't
even know what the questions are. I don't know what the questions
were that she raised. I suspect it may be about nature,
about his kingdom, perhaps how he ruled, concerning the laws
of Israel. But I also suspect that she asked
him questions about his God. And she asked, who is your God? What's he like? Why do you worship
him? Who is the God of Israel? And he answered all of her questions.
There wasn't a single question that she raised but what Solomon
didn't answer him. She's a heathen woman. She's
not a Jew. She's a heathen woman who made
a long and difficult journey just to meet and hear and ask
hard questions of Solomon. I don't know all where you've
come from, but I hope you're here with an inquisitive mind
to note truth. I want to tell you about him
who is far greater than Solomon. God has raised up someone. He sent down from heaven someone
who is greater than Solomon, and his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He even said to that bunch of
scribes and Pharisees there in the passage that I read, in Matthew
chapter 12. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. Will you hear him? Will you listen to him? I'll tell you this, you'll only
listen if he gives you ears to hear. You'll only understand
if he gives you a heart to understand what his word says. Here's a
woman who was a queen She had government policies and things
that she had to do in the kingdom, concerned about the welfare for
her own people. But the Lord put it in her heart
to seek out and find this man Solomon, for she had heard by
way of mouth of the greatness of Solomon. Well, I want to tell
you of a man, the God-man, who's greater than Solomon, and you're
going to hear from my mouth and mainly from the Word of God of
His greatness and of His glory. And I hope when you leave here
this morning, you will leave beholding the glories of the
God-man, Christ Jesus, and finding refuge for your poor soul in
Him and in His sacrifice for sin only. You see, His blood
washed sinners from their sins. And that righteousness He established
by His obedience unto death, that's the righteousness that
robes sinners who are by nature clothed in self-righteousness. Our Lord said, Behold, a greater
than Solomon is here. In the book of Colossians chapter
2, we read, in whom in Christ are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. He's all wise. Bring your questions
to the Word of God. Say, Jim, I bet I can ask you
some questions that'll stump you. Probably so. And I have
no doubt about it, really. But the answers to spiritual
questions are to be found in the Word of God. And they're
answered by that one who is the incarnate Word of God, our Lord
Jesus Christ. He's greater than Solomon. He's
greater than Solomon. He has a greater nation. Solomon
had a physical nation, but most of them didn't know God. Most
of them didn't worship the Lord. Our Lord Jesus has a greater
nation because His is a spiritual nation, a chosen generation,
a people who have been purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, a people who have been regenerated by the power of the
Holy Spirit. of people who have been gifted
with repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is infinitely greater than Solomon because he's got a greater
nation. And he's a greater person than Solomon. Solomon was indeed
the son of David, but Solomon inherited David's sin and he
from Jesse, he got his sinfulness going all the way back to Adam.
But the person I'm preaching to you, this one who is greater
than Solomon, he had no sin. He did no sin. He never had any
sin. Everything he did was for the
glory of God. He lived his life in full obedience
to the commandments of God. Satan came to hurt him, to tempt
him, and Satan could find nothing in him with which to work. He
finds a lot to work with in us, but he doesn't find anything
to work with in Christ. He's greater than Solomon. Solomon,
in his later years, he proved himself to be a fool. It's embarrassing,
some of the things that he did. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. He's the perfect God-man. Every
jot and tittle of the law of God, he obeyed it fully. He always
pleased the Father. He always did those things that
were honoring to God. You know, when Solomon dedicated
the temple, I believe he offered 144,000 animals to be sacrificed. Whoo, that's a lot of animals.
All those oxen, all those sheep. Behold, they're greater than
Solomon is he. Because you see, all those 144,000
sacrifices that Solomon offered up, they could not, all of them
put together, they could not put away even one sin. The blood of bulls and goats
couldn't do that. But this man who's greater than
Solomon, he offered one sacrifice for sins forever by which he
perfected those who were sanctified. All of those set apart in eternal
grace. Solomon was a great king. Behold,
a greater than Solomon. Our Lord Jesus is the King of
kings and the Lord of lords. He is already king when he came
because he's God over all, blessed forever. But by his successful
sacrifice on the cross, by voluntarily laying down his life, by being
obedient to those promises and covenant oaths that he made in
the covenant of grace before the world began, he laid down
his life voluntarily to save his people. And by that one sacrifice
for sins forever, he put away our sins. He's infinitely greater
than Solomon. You see, Solomon could answer
this woman's questions, but he couldn't drive the answers
to her heart. But our Lord Jesus does just
that. You ask the questions, he answers
them, and he sends the answer to your heart. Oh, Solomon, Solomon
built a tremendous temple. Remember, David couldn't build
the temple, because he's a bloody warrior. But David got all the
materials together, and then Solomon built the temple. Behold,
a greater than Solomon is here. He is building a spiritual temple. He goes out into the world, into
the quarry, and he chisels out stones from the world, and he
makes them to be living stones. He quickens these stones, these
people, and he fits them in this temple that he's building. That's
a greater temple than Solomon ever built. In fact, our Lord's
earthly body was called a temple. He said, destroy this temple
and in three days I'll raise it up again. That's the temple
of his body. Solomon died. Only his dust remained somewhere. His soul went to the Lord. Our Lord Jesus died and he came
back and raised his own body. Behold a greater than Solomon
has come. Greater. He's building a church
more numerous than national Israel. Because national Israel, the
promises God made to them and the blessings that God gave to
them were conditioned upon those outward temporal blessings, were
conditioned upon their obedience. But our Lord Jesus, he lays no
conditions for his spiritual gifts upon anybody. Good thing
we couldn't meet him. Our salvation is fully dependent
upon, fully conditioned upon, and fully accomplished by the
great Redeemer. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. He did the work than nobody else
could ever do. He's the God-man. His riches
are greater than Solomon's. Remember where I read there in
1 Kings, Lord said, because you asked for understanding, I'm
gonna give you what you didn't ask for. I'm gonna give you riches.
Did you know, I was reading again last night, there wasn't even
any silver there. Everything was gold. Gold, fabulously
wealthy. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is he. He gives spiritual riches, the
unsearchable riches of Christ. That's what he gives us. forgiveness, righteousness, everlasting life, acceptance with God, a welcome
at the throne of grace. He's the God-man. Oh, the greatness
of the God-man. and few are interested in hearing
about him. Ain't that something? Here's
a woman who heard of the greatness, the wisdom, the knowledge of
Solomon, and she traveled 1,200 miles. And you can't hardly get people
to drive two miles to come and hear of the riches of Christ,
the glories of Christ, the Son of God, and the only Savior. Oh, that God would give an interest,
and that's what's gotta happen. That's what's gotta happen. Well,
she asked him hard questions. Let me refresh your memory of
a few questions in the Bible. I mean, there's a bunch of them.
I can't give them all to you. But let me give you a few. And
I think about a question that an old Egyptian pharaoh asked, When Moses said, the Lord said,
let my people go. And you know what Pharaoh asked?
Who is the Lord? Well, that's a hard question.
Who is the Lord? Ask any number of people tomorrow,
who is the Lord? You'll get a variety of answers. Well, he's certainly the creator.
He's the provider. He's the sovereign. He's the
ruler. Who is the Lord? He's the one
in whose hand your very breath is held. At His command you live and at
His command you die. You want to hear about the Lord?
Do you really want to know who He is? Who is the Lord? You really
want to know? The psalmist said, from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. You remember in John 14, our Savior had talked about going
away, going to the Father, and Philip
said, show us the Father, manifest the Father to us, and that'll
satisfy us. Jesus said unto him, Have I been
with you, have I been with you so long, and yet thou hast not
known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. How seest thou then show us the
Father? He said, Believest thou not that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Who is the Lord? See that baby
in your mind's eye in Bethlehem's manger? There's the Lord. There's the Lord. You see him
grow up, see him at 12 years old in your mind's eye as you
read in Luke chapter 2 in the temple, asking questions, answering
questions among the religious hierarchy of Israel. There's the Lord. You see that man who had not
a place to lay his head, who said the birds of the air have
their nests and the foxes have their holes. Son of man had not
a place to lay down, go to sleep. There's the Lord. Who is the
Lord? There he is right there. You see him taken, arrested,
beaten, bruised, bloodied, You see Him nailed to the cross?
There's the Lord. He's the Lord who died. Do you hear His seven cries from
the cross? Who is the Lord? It's that one
dying on the cross, the middle cross. That one who stood between God
and guilty sinners, who laid down His life as a propitiation
for our sins. He's the satisfaction of divine
justice. He didn't try to do something
on the cross. He did something. He satisfied
every demand of a holy God against the guilty sinners for whom he
died. Who is the Lord? There he is. Who is the Lord? He's my substitute. He's God's sacrifice for sin. Here's another question. I don't
have much time to spend on any of these questions, but here's
another one. What is man? And I will ask you now to turn
to Psalm 8. Look at Psalm 8. Psalm 8. What is man? The question is, who is the Lord? That's what Pharaoh asked. But
he really didn't want to know. I hope you want to know. Because
listen to me, where you find Psalm 8. I hope you're interested because
this is life eternal. To know Thee, the only true God
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. That is eternal life. Do you know God? You only know
him through Jesus Christ. And the second question is, what
is man? All right, there's Psalm eight,
look at verse three. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the
moon and the stars which thou hast ordained. Look up in the
sky, on a cloudless night and you're away from the city lights,
see all those stars. And people who's supposed to
be pretty smart say back behind those stars are a bunch of other
stars. Way out there. When I consider the greatness
of God's creation, He calls all those stars by name. And if you
got some money, you can even have a star named after you.
That's what I read. You gonna have a star named after
you? You ain't never gonna see it, but if you, then you could
finally say, well, I finally own some property. It's a gazillion
miles away, but you won't even have to put a no trespassing
sign on it. But when I think of all what
God has made, the majesty of the Creator, the
magnificence of His creation, the intricacies in all that He's
made, and how He, by His very power, by His own will, keeps
everything where it is so that the mariners They can navigate
the darkest night in the ocean. They can navigate the ocean looking
at the stars. Isn't that something? Anybody who's got any sense would
say, well, wonder who put them up there. When I consider all of that,
verse four, what is man? What is man? Well, Isaiah said, we grass.
That's what Isaiah said. Isaiah said, all of us together
just like grasshoppers. That's all you are, just another
grasshopper. Isaiah said in Isaiah 40, he
said, all of humanity together, you want to be measured, all
of us together is that insignificant drop in a bucket. You get a bucket
of water. I used to go out, my granddaddy
had one of them pumps. Some of y'all did too. Pump the
water and I'd get a bucket of water, bring it in, pour it wherever
my grandmother wanted it. Well, I didn't look to see if
I got every single drop. That's insignificant. That's
all of humanity right there. That's all of us. What is man compared to all the
Lord that you've made? What is man that you'd even give
us a thought? Or the son of man that thou visitest
him? What is man? And you know what? If you'll read in Hebrews chapter
two, you'll find the apostle Paul, and I believe he wrote
Hebrews, Wouldn't stake my life on it, but I think he did. But
you read in Hebrews chapter two, this same passage of scripture
is used by the Apostle Paul, according to the leadership of
the Spirit of God, to then direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, he's the one through
whom, by whom God deals with us. He's our mediator. He's our go-between. What is man? What is man that
thou art mindful of? Lord, who are you that you would
even consider my existence of the billions upon billions of
people who have lived in this world thus far and the billions
here? Who am I? Who am I? Who are you? That God Almighty who spoke creation
into existence, that He'd give you a thought. Well, I'll tell you who you are
if you're a believer. And your belief is evidence of
the fact you're one of His children. You're one of His offspring.
What is man? What is man? Who is the Lord? What is man? I'll give you another
question, and I won't ask you to turn to this, but in Genesis,
the third chapter, Adam had sinned and he plunged all the human
race into a state of depravity. And the Lord wouldn't let him
go. And the Lord said to Adam, Where
art thou? Boy, that's a good question.
Where are you now? Where are you, Adam? I'm out here in a mess. I'm ruined. Where are you? I'm
in a state of guilt. I'm in a state of sinfulness.
Lord, I'm alienated from you. The Lord sought him out and found
him. Oh, here's another one. I've
got to get to this one. Job 9.2 says this. Job 25 says
this. How can man be just with God? That's an important one. How
can you be righteous before God? How can you be justified before
God? How can you be forgiven by God? How? How can you be without guilt? How can you be without condemnation? How can you be forgiven, sins
washed away? How can you be just with God?
Only one way through the bloody death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what it took. I've already told you about the
144,000 sacrifices of Solomon at the dedication of the temple. That's nothing. That's nothing compared to the
death of the Son of God. God put His Son to death, because
that's a penalty for sin. How can the just God justify
sinners? How can man be just with God?
Do you know? Do you have the answer? I asked that question recently
of somebody, and they said, well, by us believing on him. I said,
that's not right. That's not right. Your faith
doesn't put your sin away. Even your repentance don't put
your sin away. That doesn't make you righteous
before God. We're made the very righteousness
of God through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God is just and the justifier
of all who believe on Him. See, the evidence that justification
has taken place is you're brought to believe Him. That's the evidence. Do you believe Him? There's another
question. Philippian Jailer said, what
must I do to be saved? Well, I can't put away my sin.
I can't establish righteousness. What must I do to be saved? And
the word comes back. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shall be saved. You believe him? Now, faith doesn't
put your guilt away. Doesn't put your sins away. It's
a gift from God. But I'll tell you what, it's
the evidence that God done something for you. That's what faith is. Who was it, Maurice Montgomery
used to say, hug up to the Savior. Hug up to the Savior. And I'll give you one more. In
Romans 8, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who can charge us with anything? And the answer comes back, the
reason we can't be charged is because Christ died. That's the
only answer that can be given. It's the only valid answer. I
don't care who you are. You're in bad shape. Those of
you who are watching, hey, no hope for you, no hope for me
except in the one whom God sent into the world. Behold! Behold! a greater than Solomon is here. You bring your questions to him,
hard questions. That's all right. Say, preacher,
can you answer my hard questions? Well, I'll tell you what, I'll
take the scriptures and answer them as long as they're valid
questions. He's our hope. He's our confidence. Behold, be astounded. Look, a greater than Solomon
is here. Let's sing the closing song,
shall we?