We read before from 1st King
and Chapter 3 of how the Lord asked Solomon what should he
give him. Solomon asked that the Lord would
give him an understanding heart, that he would give him wisdom.
The Lord gave Solomon wisdom above all others. The fame of
his wisdom and his understanding went around the world. This wisdom is illustrated in
how Solomon deals with two women that come under him, disputing
over their sons. In verse 16 we read, Then came
there two women that were harlots unto the king and stood before
him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell
in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered,
that this woman was delivered also. And we were together. There was no stranger with us
in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman's child
died in the night, because she overlaid it. And she arose at
midnight and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid
slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my
bosom. And when I rose in the morning
to give my child suck, behold it was dead. But when I had considered
it in the morning, behold it was not my son which I did bear. And the other woman said, Nay,
but the living is my son and the dead is thy son. And this
said, No, but the dead is thy son and the living is my son.
Thus they spake before the king. Then said the king, the one saith,
this is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead. And the
other saith, nay, but thy son is the dead, and my son is the
living. And the king said, bring me a
sword. And they brought a sword before
the king. And the king said, divide the living child in two,
and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake
the woman whose the living child was unto the king. For her bowels
yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the
living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said,
Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king
answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise
slay it. She is the mother thereof. And
all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged, and
they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was
in him to do judgment. Then came there two women that
were harlot under the king and stood before him. These two women, described as
harlots, were both sinners. Both sinners. The one, a picture
of a sinner who is saved. The other, a picture of a sinner
who is lost. And further than this, beyond
being both sinners, we note that they both dwelt in one house.
And when the incident described that the one child died in the
night, The one mother gave her dead child to the other and took
her child for her own. We know that there was no one
else in the house, no stranger, there was just these two women
in the one house. They are in this a picture of
the warfare we see in the believer. The one is a picture of the flesh,
and the deeds of the flesh, and the attitudes of the flesh, and
the other a picture of the spirit. They dwell in one house, they
dwell in one person, yet there's a dispute, there's a warfare,
there's an enmity between them. There's no one else there, they're
in one house, and yet the one woman deceives the other. and fights against her. There's
this terrible incident in the house where death comes into
this place, where the child dies and the one takes the living
child as her own and lies about it. How evil are the actions
of the one. And what warfare there is, what
a disputed they come before the king, such is their dispute that
they are brought before the king to resolve this that none can
resolve. Who can prove who is right to
you? Who can show who is the one that
speaks the truth and who lies? They're brought before the king.
and they come before the king and the one gives an account
of what has happened that she was delivered of a child in the
house and it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered
that this woman was delivered also and we were together there
was no stranger with us in the house save we two in the house
and this woman's child died in the night because she overlaid
it And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me,
while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid
her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning
to give my child suck, behold, it was dead. But when I had considered
it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear."
Two sons are born three days apart. The one son dies in the night,
in the darkness. Slain by his own mother who overlaid
him. Destroyed by the actions of one
sinner. All this is an allusion, a pointer
to the cross. The third day. The night. The darkness. A son that dies. A son that lives. A mother's sorrow. The darkness
of the night. The tomb in which the son of
God was laid. The grave in which he was incarcerated. having died, having been crucified
and then in the morning rising again when these women rise in
the morning they find one son dead and one son alive the child of the flesh the child
of the woman that points to the flesh is slain in the darkness
of the night the child of the other, in whom we see the spirit
lives. In Galatians chapter 2, Paul
says this concerning his flesh, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. When Paul looked to the darkness
of the night upon the cross, he saw himself slain. He saw
one Son, one Son of Man, Saul, crucified with Christ and slain
in the darkness. And yet on the third day, he
saw himself risen again, living, yet not him, but Christ, the
Son of God. He looks and sees a child alive
in him who is another. Yes, these two women in one house
at enmity one with another in dispute come unto the king. The one woman had killed her
own son. Unintentionally perhaps, but
this was the result of her actions. This was the result of her actions.
She was not a careful mother to protect her child. She smothered
it. She slew it. In this we see a picture of the
flesh and the depravity of man. How fallen we are, how wicked
we are by nature, how sinful. How we cannot help our actions,
our deeds. We may not intend to do everything
we do, but such is the depravity in us that so much that we do
brings forth death. Every day we kill, we murder,
we lie, we deceive. We deceive ourselves, we deceive
others. We're in darkness, we don't know
what we're doing. Such is our foolishness. And
how we justify our every deed. Whenever we're found out, whenever
we're exposed, how we will justify ourselves, how we will lie, how
we will slander, how we will wriggle ourselves out of things,
how we will present ourselves in the best light and how we
war by nature against all that is of God. Yes, in this woman
we see a picture of the flesh and its deeds and its actions
and we see a picture of the law how the law commands and accuses
but just brings forth death because of the wickedness in the flesh.
The spirit brings life, but the flesh kills. Grace brings salvation, but the
law condemns. And not only did this woman kill
her son, for having discovered what she did she took that child
and she took the living child from the other mother as she
slept and exchanged it for her own and then she lied about it
and claimed that the living child was hers Oh, the depravity of
the fallen heart of man. Does this ring true with you? You may read of this account
and act perhaps shocked at it. Oh, what a terrible thing that
the mother should lie upon her newborn child and kill it. But
oh, what a terrible thing that she should then Take the other
child and give her dead child to the other mother and then
lie about it. You may say, I could never do
such a thing. But surely we all can. And surely
we all do. There are many things we do every
day which may not be outward in this sense. But the heart
is the same. The heart's the same. How much
we do and say that kills and steals and lies and how we justify
ourself and try to present ourself as the one who's righteous. She
came before the king and maintained her account that the child that
lived was hers. She not only did these things
but she stood self-righteously before the king and pretended
to be in the right. And how we're like this. Every day we live and the king
of kings is aware of what we've done. We live our lives out before
the Lord God Almighty. And before men we self-righteously
present ourselves, but we do this before God also. There is
a sense in which we come before the king and we say, I've done
this and I've done that. We deceive even ourselves, we
think we're right. Jeremiah says of our hearts,
the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Who can know it? Which one of
us has begun to discover the depravity of our own heart? How deceitful it is. How wicked
it is. It's desperately wicked and we
don't know it. We don't realize just how great
sinners we are. We may say, well, yes, I know
I'm a sinner, but do we? Do we see ourselves as this woman? Do we see how desperate our sin
is? This woman not only slew her
son, not only did she steal the son of another mother, not only
did she lie about it, but she was willing to accuse the other
of all her own crimes to put it upon the other and see the
other perhaps suffer the consequences not only the loss of her child but all the shame and the accusation
that could come upon her she was willing to put this upon
the other how far we've fallen but they
come before the king And Solomon in his wisdom, presented with
these two, knows how to discover the true. Here come two women
in whom figuratively we see the flesh and the spirit. Come before
the king, himself a picture of the Lord of hosts, himself a
picture of God in his wisdom. And when we come before God,
God knows how to divide the flesh from the spirit. He knows how
to discover those who are his. Then said the king, the one saith,
This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead. And the
other saith, Nay, but thy son is the dead, and my son is the
living. And the king said, bring me a
sword. And they brought a sword before the king and the king
said, divide the living child in two and give half to the one
and half to the other. Oh, what a thing to do. What
a thing to do. One child is dead. There's only
one left alive. And the king says, well, kill
it. Cut it in two and give half to
the one and half to the other. They cannot agree amongst themselves.
They dispute between each other. Let us see who's true. What a
sword this is, which is brought into this scene. A sword of justice. A sword of righteousness. A sword
of wisdom. and in some ways a picture of
the Word of God, the Word of the King, which comes as a sharp,
two-edged sword, able to divide the bones from the marrow, able
to divide the spirit from the flesh, able to divide these two
mothers between the one who is true and the one who is false. What a word. When we come before
the king, in our enmity, in our warfare, in our turmoil, with
our claims and our cries, only the truth, only the word of God,
only the gospel can bring out that which is true. What a reaction
it can bring. What an answer it can bring,
the wisdom of God in his gospel. So the king here calls for the
sword to divide the child and oh how this brings forth a reaction
from these women. Oh how it reveals the truth of
the matter. The truth. And how we will see the same
when we, like them, come before the King and the Gospel is preached
unto us. Oh, how we see the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified, the display of the sword of God's
justice falling upon His own Son. When the King says, when
the Lord God says, take a sword and divide my Son in two and
slay Him, What is our response to that?
What's our response to hearing that God took a sword and took
it upon his own son? What's our response, our reaction
to seeing God's own son, Jesus Christ, slain, crucified, nailed
to the tree, suffering in the darkness, What's our response
to seeing the sword of God's justice pierce him through? Does it cause our hearts to bleed? Does it cause our bowels to yearn
upon our son? Yearn upon the Son of God to
look upon him and say no? Does it bring forth love? towards
a God that would offer up His own Son to deliver His people
from death. Does it cause our hearts to bleed? Does it break us? Like the one
woman here who was broken when the King said, divide the Son
in two, divide this child. She said, Oh my Lord! give her
the living child and in no wise slay it. Her bowels yearned upon
her son. It was her son and her love for
him was such that she could not bear to see him die. She'd rather
the other woman had him as her son than see her son slain. When you see Christ die Does it move you like it moved
this woman? Or do you react like the other
woman did and said, let it be neither mine nor thine but divide
it. She'd lost her son. The other
was not her. She was quite content to see
both sons dead and see the other mother suffered the way that
she had suffered. Her reaction was cold and heartless,
legal. Let it be fair, let us both lose
our children. Let her suffer the way I've suffered. The cold, heartless reaction
of the law and of the unbelieving and of the wicked. How the wicked
looked on. As Christ was crucified, how
they called for him to be crucified. Away with this man, we will not
have him to reign over us. Crucify him, crucify him. How they looked on as he died,
as he hung in the darkness. How they ridiculed him and mocked
him and sneered at him. How evil were their hearts. Hearts
that kill. Hearts that steal. Hearts that
lie. Murderers. What is your heart's reaction
when you see the Lord God take a sword to his own son and offer
him up in the place of sinners? Are you moved? Are you broken?
Does your heart bleed? Or is it so cold that it says
let it be? There's two reactions we see
here to the king and his sword. And spake the woman whose the
living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her
son. And she said, O my lord, give
her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other
said, let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. The
one woman cried out as her heart bled for her child to give the
living to the other. The other was content to see
the living child die. She wanted to see the same death
fall upon her child as had fallen upon her own. Her heart cried out for vengeance,
for retribution, judgment, death. Oh, the condemnation of the law,
the coldness of the letter. How cold. is a legal religion
in the flesh. Those who would walk in the flesh
according to the letter, those who would talk of obedience to
the law and see themselves as righteous in their own obedience,
how cold, how unmoved they are by the gospel. they tire of the
gospel how many there are that say that they are believers who
believe in Christ and trust in his death but then they're so
soon returned unto living this way and their obedience and keeping
the law they're so outward and they're so cold and so unmoved the other mother would rather
give her living child to the one that killed, stole and lied
than to see him slain. Hers was a reaction of love,
of faith, of mercy. She loved her child. She couldn't
bear to see him die. Her heart bled for him. and when
the king saw her reaction and the reaction of the other how
his wisdom had divided the true from the false how it had brought
forth the one in whom was true love how it brought forth as
it were the spirit and faith Then the king answered
and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.
She is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard of the judgment
which the king had judged, and they feared the king, for they
saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment. Yes, the gospel will always bring
about such a difference. We'll see it in our own experience. There's always this warfare in
every one of us. There's this warfare between
the flesh and the spirit. There are, as it were, two mothers
dwelling in one house. And there's two children, two
sons. And they are an allegory that
points unto Christ. This allegory is depicted elsewhere
in the scriptures. by two other mothers and two
other sons. This point to two mounts and
to two covenants and one savior. Paul recounts it in Galatians
in chapter four. For it is written that Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But
he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh. But he
of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory?
For these are the two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai
which gendereth to bondage which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount
Sinai in Arabia and antereth to Jerusalem which now is and
is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above
is free. which is the mother of us all.
For it is written, Rejoice thou, barren, that bearest not. Break
forth and cry thou that travailest not. For the desolate have many
more children than she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that
was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit,
even so it is now. Nevertheless, what sayeth the
Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son. For the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So
then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the
free. Abraham was promised a son. in whom the promise of the covenant
would be fulfilled. In his old age, in Sarah's old
age, when they were both far past the age of childbearing,
he was promised a son. But in unbelief, he took things
into his own hands. He believed that God's promise
would come about, but he could not understand how. So he, in
the flesh, by his own wisdom, connived a plan to have a child
by his handmaid Hagar. And Ishmael was born. But God
told him that the promise was not through Ishmael. It would
not come through the agency of man, the works of man and the
wisdom of man. It was a child of promise. And
miraculously, in due course, Sarah conceived Isaac. And God's promises were brought
about through Isaac. But Hagar and Ishmael, the bondwomen
and the bondchild, persecuted those who were after the Spirit. Even so, it is now. Nevertheless,
what sayeth the Scriptures? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son
of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Now these things
are an allegory, as it says. The one pointing to one covenant,
the other to another. The one to Sinai, the covenant
of works. And the one to Zion. and Jerusalem which is above,
and the covenant of grace. Like the two women that came
before King Solomon, the one's a picture of the works of man
in the flesh, whereby man thinks that by his deeds and his actions
and his wisdom, he might bring about salvation. And all he brings
about is bondage, is persecution, is death, stealing, lies, deceit,
or as the other speaks of promise, God's grace and mercy which comes
from above, His miraculous salvation, His sending forth of His Son,
His Son coming into the world and taking the place of sinners,
His Son being offered up as a sacrifice for sinners, His Son coming to
where sinners are, walking amongst them in the darkness of this
world, being rejected by every one of us, being crucified, bearing
the sins of his elect, bearing the wrath and the judgment of
God in the place of sinners, taking unto him the sword of
God's justice. God by grace sent his son to
finish the work of salvation. Abraham being promised this heir
which is Jesus Christ, being promised Isaac through whom Christ
would be born, being promised salvation by grace turned unto
his own works. and saw trouble in his own household. But God declares in Christ that
salvation is of God alone, by grace alone. Whenever we turn
to our own flesh, our own works, our own understanding, our own
wisdom, we turn from Christ and the gospel and to that which
kills. We follow the way of this one
mother who slays her own son, who steals another's, who lies
about it, who persecutes and accuses, who brings about death. The wisdom of man in religion,
the wisdom of man in the things of God, though he may dwell in
the same house as another, Though they may dwell in the same house,
though they may hear the same things, whenever man considers
these things and walks according to his wisdom, all that results
is condemnation, accusation, unbelief. There are two other women in
the scripture who picture this. One who believed in Jesus Christ. and one who's a picture of works. One who was content to hear the
word of God, to hang upon Christ's every word, to look unto Him
and rest in Him, and one who was busy about many things. Like these two women who dwelt
in a house, they dwelt in a house together. one we know to be a
harlot, both of them sinners, both in the same house, and yet
one given grace to hang upon Christ, to trust in Him alone. Luke 10, verse 38, we read, Now
it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain
village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into
her house, And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at
Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about
much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not
care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore
that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Martha, Martha, Thou art careful and troubled about many
things, but one thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen that part
which shall not be taken away from her. One thing is needful. And Mary knew that one thing,
she knew Christ, she knew she needed salvation by Christ alone. She knew she was a sinner who
could do nothing to cleanse her own sin. She knew the depravity
of her heart. She knew the ugliness of her
own heart. She knew that she could kill.
She knew that she could lie and steal. She knew she was wicked
from head to toe and she needed to be cleansed. She needed to
be washed. And she hung on Christ every
word. because in him she saw her saviour. In him she heard
the words of life, eternal life. Every moment that she could take
to hear him, to follow him, to believe on him, she did. But
Martha felt, though she knew Christ, though she'd heard him,
that there were other things to be done as well. that it was
right that they should be preparing, it was right that they should
be serving, it's right that they should be busy about this. She loved Christ but she thought
that he, she should serve him by preparing for him and doing
these things. She saw her sister as lazy. Two
women in one house. One accuses the other. One comes
to Christ and says, Lord, does thou not care that my sister
have left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she helps
me. She's not walking as she should.
She's not living as she should. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things, but one thing is needful. Mary have chosen that part which
shall not be taken away from her. One accuses the other, whereas
Mary, the other, sits at the feet of the Son of God in faith,
believing, trusting, hearing. In Mary we see faith and the
work of God in the Spirit in bringing forth that faith and
that life in her. In Mary we see a picture of the
work of God in a sinner that took this harlot Mary and made
her live and made her look unto Christ and believe and cling
unto him. But in Martha, busy about many
things, we see works. We see bondage to the law and
we see self-righteousness. Martha felt she was right doing
these things. She felt Mary was wrong not to.
She looked on her sister who sat to hear Christ speak, who
hung by faith upon his every word and his gospel, as being
disobedient, as being lacking, as being careless. She felt Mary
should serve as she served. And yet when she comes to Christ
accusing her sister, Christ rebukes her. For there is one thing needful. Christ is all. He's all. He's all our salvation. He's
all our righteousness. He's all our redemption. He's
all. He's all our wisdom. You can't
add to him. And you can't take away from
him. You can't add to his righteousness. You can't add to his salvation.
You can't add to his wisdom. You'll either return unto your
busyness, you return to your works, or like Mary you will
rest in him alone. We are saved either by law, which
will condemn us, or by grace, by works which truly we cannot
render, or by faith, by ourselves in the flesh. or by Christ alone
by his spirit. Martha was encumbered by many
things. She lived in the same house as
Mary. They both knew Jesus, they both heard him, they both knew
the gospel. Yet she was troubled with many
things. Oh what a warning this is to us as believers. How many
believers Hearing of Christ, hearing of the gospel are then
taken up by what they should do, how they should live, how
they should serve. How should I serve God? Should
I be doing this? Should I be doing that? how they
turn again to works to the law to exhortations to this thing
and that thing whatever it may be and however right it may seem
to them how they may look upon their sister Mary and say but
you're not doing as you should you're not living as you should
God would have us serve it's right that we should do this no matter how we may deceive
ourselves As soon as we turn away from grace, from Christ
and his gospel, to something that we do, we've turned from
grace unto works, and we're saved by works alone. But Martha may answer, well how
would there be food on the table, except I do? The one that she
was with, the Lord Jesus Christ, fed the 5,000 with nothing, he
could provide. If she sat at his feet like Mary,
he'd provide. If we all sat at Jesus' feet
and heard his word, he'll provide. He'll provide. We read later
on of Mary at the tomb. Like the one woman who rose in
the morning to find that her son was dead, he'd gone. Only then from the king to receive
him alive again. So when Christ was offered up,
crucified, laid in the grave, Mary went early in the morning
to the tomb and found it empty. And the angels there that saw
her asked her why she sorrowed. And she said, they've taken away
my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. The son has
gone. But though he were dead, though
he was slain, though she found him not in the tomb and in the
grave, the son Now liveth. Why seek ye the living among
the dead? He is not here, but is risen.
Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying,
The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified, and the third day rise again. He's alive. And she turns and sees Jesus. whom she mistook as the gardener. And he calls her name, Mary. And she sees her savior and receives
the son alive. Mary had been crucified, and
so had the flesh had been slain in the darkness. One son was
dead, but another lived. She was crucified with Christ,
and yet now she lived. Yet not her, but Christ lived
in her. Her son was presented alive unto
her. Christ her savior. It's a read
of a similar account in 1 Kings 17 of Elijah, staying with the
woman whose son was taken sick and taken up into the loft. And
she sorrowed and said, what trouble have you brought upon me, ye
man of God? You've come into my house and
now there's death. You come with God's word and
now there's death in my household. My son has died. And he went
up into the loft and lied upon the child and took the child
as he arose, as he woke from the dead and brought him down
out of the chamber into the house and delivered him unto his mother.
And Elijah said, see, Thy son liveth. God will bring life from the
dead. Like these women, what's our
response to these things? Has God given us faith to go,
as it were, like Mary to the tomb to look for Christ? Has he filled your heart with
sorrow at his dying? Did he die in your place? What
is our response to the gospel, to the death of Christ? Are we
moved by it? Does our heart ache to see Christ
die? Do we bleed to see the sword
of justice taken and plunged into him? Do we look on and say,
that should be me. I'm the sinner. I'm the guilty wretch, he's done
nothing wrong. Do we long for him? Does our
faith gaze on in wonder? Do we long to see him risen for
us? Do we long to know him, to hear
his word, to sit at his feet, to hear him call out our name,
Mary? Do we long to hear God's servant
come unto us in the gospel and say, see, thy son liveth. He lives, he's risen, he's alive,
he's your savior. He took your sins. He was slain that you should
live. Like Paul, do we look on upon
the cross and see ourselves there. crucified with Christ. Can we say, I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Amen.