The basis for my remarks this
morning will be taken from 1 Kings 1-10. You can read that this afternoon
if you'd like. It will give you some account
of Solomon and his birth and his being anointed king and so
on. And continuing our study of the
types of Christ, I want us to consider David's son, Solomon. Solomon marked both the height
of Israel, Israel in its glory, but he also marked the decline
of Israel. And in this, he's a type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. What could be more glorious for
Israel than the coming Redeemer. The Redeemer came. Even the angels
celebrated his birth. And those who recognized him
by the Spirit of God, they rejoiced in the coming Redeemer. But in
Israel's persistent unbelief, it marked the end of Israel. Israel had high councils called
the Sanhedrin whose sole purpose was to look for the coming Redeemer. They were schooled in all the
prophecies concerning the coming Redeemer. They knew where He
would be born, of what tribe, all of these things. They knew
all of these things and they looked for Him. But in spite
of their preparations and high councils, they didn't recognize
Him when He did come. They look for a fleshly king
and a social deliverer and a monetary redeemer. And that's what this
world, that's all they talk about in this world. When they talk
about Christ, they talk about nations being godly and nations
doing this and God delivering the United States of America
into even more freedoms than what it has and on and on and
on it goes. And that's the way Israel was.
They had tasted that under King Solomon and they wanted it again. Their vision was to see again
the nation of Israel raised out of obscurity to its former glory
as in the days of Solomon. And as their persistent unbelief
In the Messiah, as they exercised that, it marked the decline of
the nation of Israel. And so it was in the days of
Solomon. At the end of Solomon's reign,
his wives turned his heart from God to these idols. Now let me give you five things
this morning in which Solomon was a type of Christ. First of
all, Solomon is a type of Christ in that he was anointed of God
as king over Israel. Now David, speaking in Psalm
2 of the coming redeemer, he said this. He's talking about
his kingship. Now listen to this, Psalm chapter
2. He said, why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a
vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and
cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet, in
spite of these things, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill
of Zion. Now that's the church, that's
what he's talking about, true Israel. I've set my true king
over Israel. And all the displeasures of this
world and all of their kicking and all of their rebelling, they're
not gonna make a bitty difference. Christ is gonna be king, and
he is king. He said, I will declare the decree
the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son. This day have I begotten
thee. So then, the only thing left
to do in light of this is to kiss the sun. That's what you had to do. There
was a lot of men in Israel who despised Solomon, despised David,
and despised his son Solomon. So you gonna kiss the son lest
he be angry and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled
but a little. Now, back to Solomon. There was a man called Adonijah. And he decided that he was gonna
be king. When David died, Adonijah took
it upon himself to be king. He was just sitting around the
house, and he thought, boy, I'm about the smartest one here,
and I think I deserve to be king.
So he got his relatives together and his close friends, and they
said, yeah, we're with you. We're with you. And he put together
a conspiracy, even so much as to involve Joab and Abiathar
the priest. And Adonijah prepared himself
chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him and proclaim
him as the king. And this pretender to the throne
slayed sheep and oxen and fat cattle and he prepared a great
celebration of his self-proclaimed reign through a great party. But it didn't work. It didn't
work. God anointed Solomon, and in
so doing, he embarrassed Adonijah. And Adonijah feared for his life. So what are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying Solomon became king by the will of God. It was God's
will that Solomon sit on that throne, and nobody else, no matter
how powerful they are, no matter how influential they are, nobody
else is gonna sit on that throne but Solomon. God decreed it,
his prophet anointed him, and Solomon became king by the
sovereign will of God, and even so, In spite of the plotting
and planning and self-proclaimed wannabes, God has anointed his
son to be king, and he's king. He's king. I don't, you know,
there in Psalm chapter two, he talks about the nations being
gathered together against him, and they were, but it didn't
make any difference. He's still king. He's still king. And all true Israel, bow to him
and give thanks to God that he is king. So Solomon is a type
of Christ in that he was anointed king of Israel and made king
of Israel by the sovereign will of God. And then secondly, Solomon
prefigured Christ in his superior wisdom. In 1 Kings 3, verse 12,
the Lord said, Behold, I have done according to thy words,
lo, I have given unto thee a wise and understanding heart, so that
there was none like thee before thee, neither shall one arise
after thee. Solomon was the wisest man of all. None like him before. None like
him afterward. He was a wise man. And he's remembered
for his wisdom. The wisdom which God gave to
him to enable him to judge wisely over his elect. But infinitely
more in the antitype which is Christ. Infinitely more is his
wisdom given to him. He was given the spirit without
measure. Without measure. Well what's
that mean? That means he's all wise. All
knowing. Christ is the personification
of wisdom. And I'm gonna tell you something,
when you read through the book of Proverbs, I know there's some
practical lessons in there and you can read through there and
there's some practical applications to everyday life. But when you
read through the book of Proverbs, just substitute Christ for the
word wisdom. When you see that word wisdom,
just take a little ink pen or something and write Christ above
it, and then reread that verse. And Solomon's writings in Proverbs
take on a whole new depth. In 1 Corinthians chapter one,
verse 30, it said, but of him, that is of God, Are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom? There's no understanding
of spiritual things apart from Christ. Now, people talk about
his wisdom, but they talk about his wisdom and limit it. We don't want to limit the wisdom
of Christ. He's all-knowing. And you're not going to know
anything about God, anything spiritual, anything about salvation
apart from Christ. No understanding apart from him.
And religion, while men pretend that it's logical, is in reality
nothing more than an ignorant mess. There's nothing logical
or reasonable in it. They say it just stands to reason
that Christ came to save all men. I heard a man say that on
TV. It just stands to reason that Christ came to save all
men because he loved all men and therefore he died for all
men. But that kind of reasoning is
full of holes. If Christ loved all men, nobody
would ever be condemned for who shall separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. If there's no separating
us from the love of God, then how do you explain the condemnation
of men? There's no explanation for it. If he loved everyone without
exception, why did he refuse to pray for them in John chapter
17? He said, I pray for these which thou hast given me. I pray
not for the world. Now they pray, and they bow their
heads, and they go through all kinds of ceremonial prayers,
and you can just turn your TV on on Sunday morning sometimes. If he loved everyone and died
for everyone, and he's king over everyone, and he's in heaven
making intercession for everyone, then his life, death, resurrection,
and present reign and glory is a total failure because some
are left unaffected by him. Does that make sense? You see,
religion is a mess. It's just a mess. No wonder he said they walk in
the vanity of their minds. And that's not even to mention
how contrary this is to God's sovereignty, God's immutability,
or God's omniscience. And how contrary it is to Holy
Scripture. Scripture said he shall save
his people from their sins. Religion says, yeah, but you
can make yourself unsaved. Huh? That's contrary, isn't it? He's long-suffering to usward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should be brought
to repentance. But some do perish. For that
can't be written talking about all men. Salvation is by grace
and not of works, yet they insist on salvation by works. Christ is our wisdom. You study
Christ and study what he did, who he is, why he came, what
he did, and where he's at. You study those things, and I'm
telling you, religion, it'll become a farce. It's just full
of holes. It doesn't make sense. Now, if
you want to just get rid of the Bible, which is what they try
to do, they go through here and take this out and that out, but
they don't even know what to take out, so the gospel's still
preserved. even in the translations that
they make to help you to understand. You want to understand, study
Christ. Study Christ. He's our wisdom, and only in,
by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ do the scriptures make
any sense. All right, thirdly, Solomon is
a type of Christ in that he loved many strange, We say, how in the world is that
a type of Christ? Well, this is a type of Christ
in only one respect, that Christ loved a people taken out of every
tribe and nation and tongue and people under heaven. And when
those Jews saw that Christ would preach to a Samaritan When the Jews saw the apostles
going to the Gentiles and calling them fellow heirs of the Messiah,
boy, they were upset, weren't they? They were upset. The Israelites were strictly
forbidden to take wives of the Gentiles because he knew they
would turn their hearts. from the true and living God
to serve idols and that's exactly what they did with Solomon. Exactly
what they did. Solomon, I'd forgotten that I'd
ever read this. Solomon had 700 wives. 700 wives
and princesses and 300 concubines. The bride of Christ, it says,
consists of a number that no man can number. And their marriage depends fully
upon their union with Christ. All right, fourthly, Solomon
was a type of Christ in that he was the builder of the temple
of Christ. The temple of God, it was called
by the Jews all through time Solomon's Temple. And this temple itself was a
type. Scripture said we're built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. In whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord. in whom you're also built together
for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. And that's what God
told Solomon, I'll come down in this temple, and I'll dwell
with you, and I'll commune with you in this temple. In 1 Peter 2, verse 4, speaking
of our coming to Christ, it says, to whom coming is unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.
And ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. And here's another one over here
in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16. He says, know ye not that ye
are the temple of God? Ye are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? And then Christ said
this, upon this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. And then one more verse and I'll
move on. Our Lord said to the Jews, destroy
this temple. I'm talking about his body. What
is his body? What's that significant of? His
body which is the church. Destroy this temple and in three
days. I'll raise it up and They said
now wait me this temple was 46 years in the building And you
gonna tear it down and raise it up in three days They understood
not that he spake of the temple of his body Or what went on in
this temple? Within the temple, God communed
with men. He spoke to them in this temple. How did he speak to them? Through
all these typical sacrifices. Through the high priest, the
showbread, all of these things that were inside the temple.
The veil that hung between them and the Ark of the Covenant. Within the temple, God communicated
his will and his purpose. And within the temple was the
light of the candlestick and the showbread, and within the
temple, men received assurance from God. When that high priest
came out from under that veil and the sacrifice was accepted,
that was assurance to those who came there by faith. So he's
a type of Christ in that he was the builder of the temple. And
then fifthly, Solomon is a type of Christ in the glory of his
kingdom. Now in 1 Kings chapter 10, the
Bible tells us something about the Queen of Sheba. And the writers,
they go into great length to say it wasn't really Sheba, it
was this and that and the next. I don't know. The Bible says
the Queen of Sheba. I'll just take God at his word. And the
Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, heard about his wisdom, heard
about the glory of his kingdom, and she said, I just can't hardly
believe it. I'm going to go see for myself.
Now, this was a wealthy woman. This was the queen, and wherever
the Sheba was, they were rich in gold. Frankincense, it's my
understanding that Frankincense came from there and nowhere else.
So here she comes and she's packing all this stuff with her and bringing
her entourage and all these things and said that she came to prove
Solomon with hard questions. When she saw his house, this
is what scripture said, when she saw his house, And the meat
on his table. Now listen to this. And the sitting
of his servants. His servants wasn't running around,
they were sitting down. Where was they sitting? Well,
he thought about his table. Here he is, all the servants
and they're sitting at the table with him. Inside this great house
that he built. And then she saw the attendance
of his ministers. And she saw their apparel and
his cupbearers. And then watch this. I can preach
a message on this. His ascent to the throne. His ascent up to the house. The
way by which he went up to the house of the Lord. It says there
was no spirit left in her. She just, it took her breath,
took her breath. And she said the half is not
been told. The wisdom and prosperity, his
wisdom and prosperity exceedeth, she said it exceedeth thy fame
which I heard. Now, is there a believer anywhere
who's not said the same thing about Christ? After he begins
to hear some things and see some things that he never saw before,
and he looks back on the preaching of the gospel, and he said, the
half has not been told. That was good, but you haven't
plumbed the depths yet. You haven't scaled to the height
yet. The half has not been told. The queen was amazed to see,
now listen to this, here's something else I saw in there. The queen
was amazed to see how happy Solomon's servants were. Now a servant
usually got to be a servant, either they were taken captive
and made servants, or they sold themselves into bondage because
of financial difficulty and become servants. But in either case,
those servants didn't have a smile on their face. They were forced,
either by God's providence or whatever, or by their capture,
they were forced to be servants. And they had to serve out all
their days. But just occasionally, there was a servant who understood. He served his master and saw
how good his master was. He'd become a bond slave. And
when his time was to go, when he could be released, he said,
no, I don't want to be released. I love my master. I want to stay
right here. I want to serve him until I die. The queen was amazed to see how
happy the servants of Solomon were to serve him and how they
admired him and how they gloried in him. And how much more the
servants of Christ. Seeing the Redeemer being typified
by his son Solomon, David wrote in the Psalms of the coming Redeemer
and his people, and he said in Psalm 70 to 11, all the kings
shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy
when he crieth, and the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
He's going to spare the poor and the needy and shall save
the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from
deceit and violence and precious shall be their blood in his sight.
And he shall live and to him shall be given all the gold of
Sheba. If you go back and read that
account, In chapter 10 of 1 Kings about the Queen of Sheba, she
brought much gold and gave it to Solomon. And here, Solomon's
antitype, Christ, is giving this gold to his servants. His name
shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as
long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in him
all nations. shall call him blessed. And blessed
be his glorious name forever and let the whole earth be filled
with his glory. Now listen to how David ended
this song. He said amen and amen. And then let me add this. Solomon
is a type of Christ in that his fame and his person and work
and all his accomplishments and offices was spread throughout
the known world. And before the Lord ascended
to the throne, he gave this commission to his beloved disciples. He
said, you go in all the world and you preach the gospel to
every creature. And when them Jews saw what was
taking place by these disciples, they didn't know how to go against
it, they didn't know what to say, and finally they just cried
out to the king and they said, these men, these men, have turned the world upside
down preaching one Jesus. One Jesus. And that's what happened
under Solomon's rule. Everybody talked about Solomon.
Talked about his wisdom, talked about his glory, talked about
how he shared his wealth with the people. how prosperous Israel
had become and how all nations fell down to serve him. All the
nations around, they were bringing gifts and things and gold and
all other stuff, bringing it, some special kind of tree they
brought in and gave it to David. He made pillars in the house
of the Lord with it. That's Christ.