The title of the message is The
Half Had Not Been Told. This is a very familiar story
of the Queen of Sheba coming to see Solomon. I want us to
look at this this evening as a picture of a sinner coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Queen is a picture of a sinner
and Solomon is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords. 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. Now, I don't know a lot about
this queen, but she heard. She heard of Solomon. She heard
of his wisdom. She heard of the proverbs that
he told. She heard of his wealth and the
things that he had built. But of all the things she heard
about Solomon, the thing that caught her attention and that
made her make this very difficult journey, which probably was from
Africa. Most people think she was from
Africa. She came on foot from Africa to Jerusalem. Pretty long
trip. And she came for this reason.
She heard of Solomon's wisdom concerning the name of the Lord.
She knew that Solomon knew the Lord God. And the Queen of Sheba
wanted to know him too. So she's going to come to somebody
that knows him. Now, I don't know how she heard
of Solomon. Maybe she heard of Solomon from one of Solomon's
ambassadors who was in her country. I don't know. But somehow she
heard. And hearing is so very important. If we're going to know God, we're
going to have to hear of God. We're going to have to hear from
God, from God's Word, and most likely, That will be from one
of his ambassadors, telling us who God is. Now God, all the
Old Testament prophets, they all identify God as the creator. God's the creator of the earth. God spoke everything you see
into existence from thin air. He spoke and it was so. And God
rules everything that he's created on this earth. What we call big
events and what we call little events. God overruled them to
happen exactly as they happen. Those things, whether we call
them big events or little events, they happen exactly according
to the decree of God Almighty. Political events. Kings. These men do not rule by some,
you know, bait or event or something. Kings rule at the pleasure of
God. And they leave the throne at
His pleasure. They're there at His pleasure. They're not there
by accident, by the will of man. This is His will. God directs
everything that happens on this earth. He directs the path of
the whale in the sea and the path of the ant on the ground.
I mean, nothing happens on this creation outside of God's will. It all happens according to His
will. He rules it. And God provides
for every living creature in this planet. He does all of that. One man, one being, God, takes
care of all of this. And God's holy. There's no sin
in God and God cannot even look on sin. Yet the scriptures say
that God humbles himself to behold the things that are in heaven
and in earth. Psalm 113. God's so holy, so
high, he has to humble himself to behold the things in heaven.
I mean, we clearly know if God's going to look on us, he's got
to humble himself, doesn't he? God's so high, he's got to humble
himself to behold the things that are in heaven. That's who
he is. He's holy, he's high, and he's righteous. God must
punish sin. God can never tolerate the breaking
of his law. At the same time, God's merciful
and He's gracious to sinners because God's love. The glory
of who God is, the glory of His attributes are beyond human comprehension. But the Queen of Sheba knew,
Solomon knew the Lord God and she came to find out who He is. She came to hear the truth concerning
God. Now in Solomon's day, It was
hard to meet someone who hadn't heard of Solomon. Everybody heard
of Solomon. His fame is spread everywhere.
If you go to verse 24, here in 1 Kings 10, And all the earth
sought to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in
his heart. Everybody heard of Solomon. Just like in our day. It's hard to find. It's truly
hard to find someone who has not heard the name of Jesus.
Everybody's at least heard the name Jesus. Now, they may have
had some bad information about this man, Jesus, because there
is another Jesus being preached today. But at least most people
have heard the name of Jesus. But the Queen of Sheba wanted
the truth. She wanted to know the truth.
So she came to someone who knew God. She came to find out from
someone who had a knowledge of who God is. And she came to Solomon. Now, she went to a lot of trouble
to come to Solomon to hear of the Lord. This was an expensive
trip. It was a difficult trip. It was
a dangerous trip. But she came because she wanted
to know the Lord. We complained about driving across
town. I mean, I complained about the traffic and the... I mean,
I complained of driving across town. But difficulty will never
deter a sinner who's seeking the Savior. They're going to
get to the Savior. Now, y'all come from Ohio. You
had it worse than I did, didn't I? I mean, this traffic with
this bridge closure, my soul. A few weeks ago, Ron Meadows
made this statement. He said, that's nothing. That
bridge traffic is nothing compared to what we get here. And that's
what the Queen of Sheba knew. None of this trouble, this trip,
was anything compared to the knowledge of God she hoped to
gain by hearing Solomon speak. And that's the way a sinner feels,
no matter the cost. I must get to Christ. And if
a sinner feels that way, they're going to get to Him. God's going
to bring Him to His Son. You see, there comes a point
in every believer's life when it's not good enough anymore
just to know some facts about the Savior. I've heard those
facts. I'm going to hear some more,
but it's not good enough to hear those facts anymore. There comes
a point when it's not good enough anymore just to be around people
who love the Savior, who already know the Savior. I enjoy being
with God's people, but there comes a point when that's not
good enough anymore. I need more than that. There
comes a point when the burden of my sin leaves me no choice
but to go to Christ myself. Not to have facts about Him,
Not to be around people who know him, but to know him myself. And that's just what the Queen
of Sheba did. And she came to Solomon to prove Solomon with
hard questions. Now, people who do not know Christ,
they don't understand the gospel. They don't understand the joy
that you have when you hear Christ preached. And they say with Nicodemus,
how can these things be? And if that describes you, if
that describes anyone here, my advice to you is go to Christ. He'll not just give you the answers.
Christ is the answer. He's the answer to every question. He's the answer to every spiritual
question. And I'm telling you, he's the answer to every question. Now, I don't know what the Queen
of Sheba, what questions she posed to Solomon, but I know
some hard questions that I read from Scripture. Job asked, how
can a man be just with God? That's a hard question. How can
a sinful man be just with God? Well, the answer is Christ, in
the Lord Jesus Christ, who had justified. Well, how can He be
clean if it's born of a woman? That's a hard question. But the
answer is simple if you know it. In Christ, we're washed clean
in His blood, the blood of His sacrifice. Well, who shall stand
in God's presence? Everyone in Christ. Well, how
can God be just and justify the ungodly? Now, that's a hard question.
How can God be just and justify the ungodly? Through the Lord
Jesus Christ, that's how. Well, Nicodemus said, well, how
can a man be born when he's old? In Christ, we're new creatures.
Well, if a man die, shall he live again? Yes, he will. In Christ, he will, because Christ
has defeated death. Our Lord posed this question
one day. It's a hard question. The Messiah is David's son. Well,
then why does David call him Lord? How can the Messiah be
David's son and David's Lord? That's such a hard question.
Those Pharisees, our Lord asked this question to these Pharisees.
They dare not ask any more questions. That's too hard of a question.
But you know the answer. Christ is the answer. The Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the God-Man. The Son of
God. The Son of Man. Here's a question. Hard question. How can God, who
sees everything, nothing can be hid from His sight. And how
can God, who remembers everything, God never forgets anything. How
can He not see nor remember a believer seeing? How's that possible?
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that blood blots
that sin out. The whole Old Testament tells
us someone's coming. Our text tonight is not about
the glory of Solomon. It's about the glory of someone
else. But who is it? Who is this one that's pictured
here? If this is not talking about
Solomon, who is this talking about? That eunuch asked Philip
as he was reading Isaiah 53, Of whom speaketh the prophet
this? Of himself or some other man? Well, you know the answer. Every word of the scriptures,
not just the Old Testament scriptures, the New Testament too, all the
scriptures, every word is the Lord Jesus Christ. All the answers are Christ. And
if you find someone that knows the answers, it'd be an awful
good idea for you to hear him speak as often as you can. because
faith cometh by hearing. Remember, I told you how important
hearing was. The Queen of Sheba heard when
she came to hear some more. Faith cometh by hearing. Now,
verse 2, she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with
camels that bear spices and very much gold and precious stones.
And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all
that was in her heart. Now, the Queen came bearing gifts, and
we ought to come to worship. bring an offering. But if you're
coming to Christ for salvation, you'd better come empty handed.
The redemption price has been paid by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And no sinner will contribute
anything to that price. That price is paid by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if we try to contribute any
of our works to this payment, the payment of redemption, Christ
shall profit us nothing. Salvation is entirely of the
Lord. Jesus paid it all. All the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. He did it by himself. I didn't
contribute to that. He washed it white as snow. In
my hand, no price I bring. Simply to that cross I cling.
But the Queen, she brought a gift. And you know, every believer
who brings a gift and comes to worship, that brings an offering
and comes to worship, she's going to leave with a whole lot more
than she brought. I promise you that. We'll see
that then. She's going to leave with a whole lot more than she
brought. Now, verse 3, Solomon told her all her questions. There was not anything hid from
the king, which he told her not. Now, I know you see how Solomon
here is a picture of Christ. How many times have these scribes
and Pharisees tried to stump our Lord with a trick question?
And every time He answered their questions so well, they were
just amazed. And sometimes He asked them a
question they never could answer, could they? And I like it when
someone comes asking questions. If they're truly seeking the
Lord and they've got questions, I like it if they come asking
questions. And every time Their answers
or their questions are hard questions. Hard questions. They cannot be
understood with the human mind. If these things could be understood
with the human mind, they wouldn't be asking the question in the
first place. These are hard questions. And they can only be understood
by God-given faith. They can only be understood in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord will never turn
away a sinner who comes seeking the Savior, like the Queen of
Sheba came seeking Solomon. See what it says here at the
end of verse 2? She communed with him of all that was in her
heart. She didn't come to have a philosophical
debate with the king. This was a heart matter. She
communed with him of what was in her heart. The queen was honest,
and she just laid her heart open to Solomon. And I bet she found
who she was looking She heard the answers to all of her questions.
And I tell you this, on the authority of God's Word, if you come to
Christ honestly, as you are, as a sinner, and you lay your
heart open to the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll find Him. You'll
find Him. You'll see. You will see. Now,
when the Holy Spirit gives a sinner eyes to see, what do they see?
Well, look at verse 4 here in our text. And when the Queen
of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he
had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his
servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel,
and his cupbearers, and his assent by which he went up into the
house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. She saw,
first of all, Solomon's wisdom. And we know, I mean, this is
something else, Solomon, other than our Lord, is at most wise
man who ever lived. And she saw Solomon's wisdom.
I am if something, I'm sure. But behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. Christ doesn't just have wisdom. Christ is the wisdom of God.
And he is made unto us who believe, wisdom. Righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. In Christ, we see God's wisdom. how he can save sinners and still
be holy and still be just. She saw Solomon's wisdom and
she saw the house that Solomon built. Now, from what we understand
of the architecture and the construction of the temple that Solomon built
and the palace that he lived in, those things were unbelievable. Wonders of the ancient world.
But those things are nothing compared to the house our Lord
built. One greater than Solomon's here. Christ takes dead sinners,
worthless, dead sinners, and he makes them living stones.
And he builds them up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood built
upon Christ, the solid rock. He's the chief cornerstone that
the whole house is built upon. And the builder and the maker
of that house is God. Now that is a house to behold,
a perfect, glorious house. And then she saw the meat of
Solomon's table. If you look back in chapter 4,
1 Kings, Solomon's table was a feast every day. I mean, this is shocking to think
of the food that was put on this table every day. In 1 Kings 4,
verse 22. And Solomon's provision for one
day was 30 measures of fine flour, three score measures of meal,
ten fat oxen and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred
sheep, besides harps and roebucks and fallow deer and fatted fowl. Now that's a feast every day. She saw this table, the feast
of it. Behold, a greater than Solomon's
here. Our Lord has a table, doesn't
He? And the meat of that table is Christ Himself. Our Lord said,
My flesh is meat indeed. This meat is life-giving meat. It's Christ that nourishes His
people. He's all the elements of His
table and Christ nourishes His people. Now you hear the gospel
and you just feel better. Why is that? You've been nourished. You've been nourished by the
meat of God's table which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
she saw the sitting of His servants. the setting of his servants.
Our girls, much to my chagrin, have got up me and Janet watching
Downton Abbey. You watch that show? Downton
Abbey. Well, if you don't watch this
show, these servants in this great house just after World
War I, it looks to me like these servants work about 18 hours
a day, six and a half days a week. I think, from what I can gather,
they get a half day off a week. I mean, the whole time they're
working. They never sleep. They're just working all the
time. And if they're sitting, you gotta eat. So they sit to
eat their meal in the servant's quarters. They don't do anything
wrong. Sit down and eat. But if the
master of the house walks in, they all jump up. There's no
sitting in the presence of the master. Well, are Solomon's servants
lazy? What's this sitting? What's this
mean? Well, you know they're not lazy. Solomon's servants
enjoyed serving someone like Solomon. And behold, greater
than Solomon's here. These sitting servants picture
the position a believer has in Christ. You know how in the Old
Testament, those priests, they never sat down in that tabernacle
or the temple because their work was never done. But Christ sits
because the work's finished. He said it's finished. Now it's
finished. And he sits because the job's
done. And every believer is seated
in Christ. We're not working for salvation.
We're seated, too, because we have full faith and confidence
in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We sit, resting
in Christ. And I looked this up yesterday.
This word sitting, it means dwelling place. This position is permanent. We are permanently sitting, a
permanent dwelling place. We're here to stay. We're here
to stay. Where else would you go? Where
else would you do? We're here to stay seated in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the queen saw the attendance
of his ministers. See, we know these aren't lazy
servants. They're busy in the service of their king. But behold,
a greater than Solomon's here. God's people. Do not work, not
one lick do they work. but they are a busy, serving
people. We're not working for salvation,
but we are employed in the service of Christ our King, aren't we?
And this word, attendance, actually it means standing. What's the
believer standing with God? Well, you're accepted in the
Beloved. Your standing with God is acceptance. Your son, daughter
of the King. If you're a daughter of the King,
You're in good standing, aren't you? That's good standing. Can't
get any better than that. Our Lord told his disciples,
I don't call you my servants. I call you my friends. If you're
a friend of God, you're in good standing with God. And then the
queen saw the apparel of Solomon's servants. Solomon's servants
were dressed better than noblemen in other countries. This is an
obvious one. Everybody knows this one. But
behold, a greater than Solomon's here. God's people are all dressed
in the same perfect spotless robe of righteousness that Christ
the King wears. And that spotless robe of righteousness
is the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's a whole lot better than a white robe. Janet and I last
year went on a cruise, and in our cabin, they had real nice,
thick, white robes. I don't even like wearing a robe,
but that thing was so nice I wore it around sometimes, just because
it was nice. I mean, it was thick and it was white, you know. But
now the righteousness of Christ, His robe of spotless righteousness
is a whole lot better than a white robe. I could have gone out there
and got all dirty, come back to our room, put on that white
robe, and then all you would have seen is that white robe.
But I would have still been dirty. And if you hung around long enough,
you'd have smelled it, wouldn't you? That's not Christ's righteousness. The righteousness of Christ,
his robe of spotless righteousness means to be pure inside and out,
cleansed inside and out, to be given a new, clean heart that's
been cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
the Queen saw Solomon's cupbearers, and the cupbearers are butlers.
Now this means a whole lot more than the Queen just noticed.
Solomon's got some good butlers, so do good work. What this means
is she saw Solomon's cup bearers, his butlers, were generous. Those cup bearers always made
sure your cup ran over. There's no lack at Solomon's
table. Solomon's a generous host. But
behold, a greater than Solomon's here. Every believer here can
say with David, my cup runs over. God's mercy and grace, there's
no lack of it. My cup runs over. Whatever else
is going on, my cup runs over. And then she saw his ascent,
that he went up by which he went up into the temple. Now, I'm
sure Solomon, our Lord talked about Solomon, how he's a rage
and all of his finery and his glory. Him walking up those steps
to that temple was a sight to see. But behold, a greater than
Solomon's here. The Lord Jesus Christ ascended.
He went up into the Holy of Holies. He went into heaven itself and
He offered the sacrifice of sacrifices. He made His soul an offering
for sin. He poured out His blood before
the Father and He died. He gave His life that His people
might live. But he was raised from the grave
because all that sin that was charged to him has been put away. And he ascended back to glory.
The disciples watched it. They were out there with him
one day. They saw him caught up into the clouds. And they
just stood there with their mouth hanging open. The glory that
he ascended back to the Father. He ascended back on high and
is seated there in glory at the Father's right hand. making intercession
for the transgressors. What an ascension. And when the
Queen saw Solomon, I mean, after she talked to him and she really
saw who Solomon was, there's no more spirit left in her. She's
just breathless and speechless. Behold, a greater than Solomon's
here. Can you identify with this Queen? If we ever truly see the Lord,
we'll identify with her right here. If we truly see the Lord
with eyes of faith, and we truly see His glory, there's not going
to be this running around playing the fool. This unholy familiarity
with God is going to be gone if we ever truly see the Lord
as He is. If we see Him, there'll be no
more spirit left in us. We'll be breathless and speechless. Paul the Apostle, caught up in
the paradise, he came back. He said, brethren, it's not possible
for me to tell you what I saw. Human language cannot express
it. The Apostle Paul was speechless.
No more spirit left in him. John, on the Isle of Patmos,
he heard a voice. He turned to see who it was that
spoke to him, and he saw the Lord Jesus. And John said, when
I saw him, I felt his feet was dead. No more spirit left in
him. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. The body of the Lord was gone,
and she wondered what to do. She thought the gardener was
there. She heard him say, Mary, and she turned. It wasn't the
gardener. It was the Lord. She felt his feet, gripped his
feet, and said, Master. No more spirit left in her. Isaiah,
he saw Christ. He said, I saw Him high and lifted
up. His train filled the temple. And I cried, woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
How do you know that, Isaiah? For mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. There's no more spirit left in
Him. Now that's the heart of true worship. No more spirit
left in us. Just breathless. at the sight
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we see, when God in
His mercy, in His grace, lets us see that Christ did that for
the vilest of sinners, He got the job done. He won the victory. He's washed us white as snow.
He's made us complete in Him. Speechless. No more spirit left
in us. She said to the king, she must
have gathered her wits about her if she could speak. She said
to the king, it was a true report that I heard of mine own land,
of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Albeit I believed not the words
until I came and mine eyes had seen it. And behold, the half
was not told me. Thy wisdom and thy prosperity
exceeded the fame which I heard." Now the queen had heard some
pretty spectacular things about Solomon. She's down there in
her country. She hears these things, she says, that can't
be true. That's too good to be true. That can't be. She came
to Solomon to find out for herself. And she saw that his greatness
far exceeded what she heard or what she even imagined. You know,
I've heard the gospel all my life. Many of you all the same
way. Heard the gospel your whole life.
As long as I can remember, I've known the doctrine. I've known
the pictures. I've known what these things
mean. And then one day, I heard God's grace. I didn't hear about
God's grace. I heard God's grace as it is
in Christ Jesus. And Christ in mercy revealed
himself to me. And to this day, I'm astounded.
Just utterly astonished. Speechless. with reverence and
awe and thanksgiving. And maybe one day, to one of
you, the Lord will reveal Himself to you. And you'll say, Frank,
why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me? You hadn't
told me half of the glory that I've now seen in the face of
Jesus Christ. That one won't be a hard question.
The answer to that one's easy. I don't know half. You know half,
Barry? Dale? I don't know half. It would be more true of our
Lord to say that one millionth has not been told. Hadn't been
told. But I'll tell you how you know
that you're truly seeing. Is when you realize you don't
see much. You're just seeing through a
glass But I believe, even though I don't see much. I believe. Because God has revealed his
son to me. He's given me eyes to see. And
I can't help but believe because I've seen him. Now, verse 8,
look what she says. She says, happier thy men, happier
these thy servants, which stand continually before thee and hear
thy wisdom. The Queen says your servants
are happy to be your servants. They're blessed. to get to be
around you and serve you and hear your wisdom firsthand. Does
it sound like to you that the Queen, the Queen is envious of
these servants? I think she is. She's envious
of these servants. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness, to
dwell in those tents as a king. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of God because God's people are blessed. And they're
happy. They're happy to have the privilege
to hear God's wisdom firsthand through the preaching of the
gospel. God blessed us to hear Christ preached, who is the wisdom
of God. And that makes me happy. I'm
just telling you, that makes me happy. It makes me happy to
hear the gospel preached. It makes me happy to preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It makes me happy to be here
with you all. I mean, it just makes me happy.
Happy are thy servants, because we know the Lord. In verse 9,
she said, Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee
to set thee on the throne of Israel. Why did he set you on
the throne of Israel? Because the Lord loved Israel
forever. Therefore made he thee king to do judgment and justice.
This queen, she knew God had blessed Israel. because He made
Solomon their king. And the reason God made Solomon
the king of Israel is He loved Israel. But behold, the greater
than Solomon's here, God Almighty loved spiritual Israel with an
eternal love. So, He made Christ king over
us. Now I want you to think about
that. How blessed are we to have Christ to be our King. What a blessing! We ought to
be so happy and thankful, not just our Savior. He's our King,
the Savior King. He rules and He reigns over us. The Father made Christ to be
prophet, priest, and King because He loves spiritual Israel with
an everlasting love, particular love. What a blessing! And the
Father sent His Son to do judgment and justice, he sent Christ to
obey the law as our substitute, to bear that awful judgment that
the sin of his people deserved, and to satisfy God's justice
on our behalf. That's our king. The king did
that for his people. What a king. And he did it. So we'd be established forever.
This kingdom is established. and his people are established
in it. Now verse 10, And she gave the king a hundred and twenty
pounds of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious
stones. There came no more such abundance
of spices as these, which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. And the navy also of Hiram brought
gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almond
trees, and precious stones. And the king made of the almond
trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's
house, harps also, and psalteries for singers. There came no such
almond trees, nor were seen unto this day. And King Solomon gave
unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked,
beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she
turned, and went to her own country, she and her servants. Now, I
told you the queen gave gifts to Solomon. She gave them out
of a grateful heart to honor his greatness. She gave abundantly. I mean, this is a wealthy gift
that she brought. But she left with a whole lot
more than she brought. She received a whole lot more
than she gave. Solomon gave her out of his royal
bounty. Not because she asked. Just because
he would. He gave out of his royal bounty. His, his. And he gave it to her
sovereignly. Now you know what that's a picture
of. That's a picture of salvation. That God gives his people out
of his royal bounty. Just because he would. Just because
he's gracious. And then, Solomon gave her whatever
she asked. Whatever she asked, he gave it
to her. God gives his people salvation
out of his royal bounty. And then, he gives them everything
their heart desires. Everything. Now, it deserves
to be pointed out. He don't give the desire of that
old heart. He gives every desire of that new heart that's born
in us. If you look over in Philippians chapter 3, I want to show you
this in closing. Brother Dale's been going through
this in our Bible class on Sunday mornings. This is the believers
heart's desire. Philippians 3 verse 7 But what
things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea,
doubtless, and I count all things but lost for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things. And to count them but done, here
is the first thing that is my heart's desire, that I may win
Christ. That I may win Christ. I looked
this word win up yesterday. It means to gain. To get gain. My heart's desire is to get gain
of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ by having a union with Him. To
have life and joy. To win that. To have the gain
of that through a union with Him. That's my heart's desire.
Secondly, my heart's desire is to be found in Him. When God
comes looking for me, My heart's desire is that all he'll see
is his son. That's my heart's desire to be
made just like the Lord Jesus Christ because I'm in him. Third,
my heart's desire is not having my own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. This is the righteousness
which is not earned It's imputed by faith. Abraham believed God
and it was imputed to him for righteousness. This is a righteousness
of faith. And my chief desire is to be
made just like the Lord Jesus Christ. To be made perfectly
righteous, just like our Lord is. Fourth, my heart's desire
is that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. Now
what is this power of his resurrection? Is it just one day my body will
be raised? Not exactly. I'll tell you what
he's referring to here. Christ was raised from the grave
because the sin that was charged to him was gone. And when he
was raised, all his people were justified. That's my desire. To be justified. Not just as
if I'd never sinned. Remember that from Bible school? Not just as if. but to be made
without sin. That's my heart's desire. My heart's desire is to know
the fellowship of his sufferings and to be made conformable unto
his death. Now, what's that mean? I can tell you right now, I don't
want to die like our Lord did. I don't want to die the horrible
death of crucifixion. So what does this mean, the fellowship
of his sufferings? It means knowing He died for
me. He died for me. I was in fellowship
with Him. He died for me. When He suffered,
I suffered in Him. And my sin debts paid because
I had the fellowship of His sufferings. Knowing when He suffered, He
suffered for my sin. Not just the sin of a number
no man can number, but my sin. My sin. The fellowship of His
sufferings. And I want to be made conformable.
unto His death." And that means, I desire to be made obedient. Christ was obedient even unto
death. When He went to the cross, that
was in obedience to His Father. And I desire, isn't it your heart's
desire to be obedient? I desire to be an obedient son.
In Christ I am. In Him I am. And seventh, my
heart's desire is if by any I might attain, under the resurrection
of the dead, by any means, I might be raised in a new body. A body just like the body of
our Lord. I'm telling you, I'm sick and
tired of this one. I want to be perfectly conformed.
This is my heart's desire. It is yours, too, if you know
Christ. What else could you want other than to be perfectly conformed
in His image? Is that your heart's desire?
God's going to give it to you. He'll give you your heart's desire. Every believer will have that.
There's that commercial now with a man sitting there talking to
the kid and he goes... It just blows our mind. It's
too much for our human mind to comprehend. The half has not
been told. And it never will be. Not in
this life it won't be. The half will never be told.
But Cecil, I like the part of Noah I mean, it gives me a lot
of joy. I like telling the part that
I know. And as long as the Lord gives
us bread, let's keep telling it. Let's keep telling it, and
let's keep believing. Whatever it is, He's pleased
to show us. It won't be half, but it'll be enough. It'll be
enough. It'll be enough to make our cup
run over, won't it? Oh, I hope the Lord bless that
too.