about this event in Matthew chapter
12. So when you get to 1 Kings chapter
10, put your finger in there and turn to Matthew chapter 12. Verse 42, Matthew chapter 12,
verse 42. The Queen of the South, speaking
of the Queen of Sheba, 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. And behold,
a greater than Solomon is here. Now turn back to first Kings
chapter 10. 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. And 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. And Solomon told her all her
questions. There was not anything hid from
the king, which he told her not. 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 or the state of his ministers and their apparel and
his cupbearers. and his ascent by which he went
up under the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
And she said to the King, it was a true report that I heard
in my own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. How be it I believe
not the words until I came and mine eyes have seen it. And behold,
the half was not told me. Thy wisdom and thy prosperity
exceeded the thing which I heard. Happier thy men, happier these
thy servants, which stand continually before thee, that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God,
which delighteth in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel,
because the Lord loved Israel forever. Therefore made he the
king to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king and 120
towns of gold and of spices, very great store and precious
stones. There came no more such abundance
of spices as those, which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Look down in verse 13 and King Solomon gave into 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. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that we might be
like this woman we read of. Who comes to hear of thy wisdom
and Lord enable us to commune with thee of all that's in our
heart. And Lord, make yourself known
to us through the preaching of your gospel. Forgive us of our
many sins for Christ's sake. Lord, how we thank you for the
forgiveness of sins. How we thank you for the complete
salvation that's in your son. How we thank you for justification
of life. How we thank you that we stand
in thy son before thee without guilt. Lord, we ask that you
would accept our thanksgiving through Christ. And we ask for
your blessing upon all your people wherever they meet together.
In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. I love the way the Lord says
to those people who were listening to him, behold, a greater than
Solomon is here. And I think of the infinite greatness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's described in this passage
of scripture. that we just read of in 1 Kings
10. Now, turn back there, verse 1,
and we know this is a real event. The Lord spoke of it, and the
Lord tells the people he's preaching to, this woman is going to rise
up in judgment against you and condemn you. Now, these people
had said, after hearing the Lord, we want a sign from thee. They
couldn't believe what he said. You need to give us a sign from
heaven to prove it. And that's when the Lord replied,
you're going to be condemned by the Queen of Sheba. Now let's
read about this woman, verse one. And when the Queen of Sheba
heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord,
that's so important. Not just his riches, not just
his greatness, but his fame concerning the name of the Lord. He knew
the living God. He knew Jehovah and somehow this
woman wanted to know him too. She knew he had some knowledge,
some understanding that she didn't have. And she heard of the fame
of the name of the Lord, that Solomon knew God. So let's go
on reading. 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. There's some things she needed
to understand. And I try to think of those hard
questions. How could God love me? You know,
to most people, that's not a hard question. They think it's his
job. You know, that's who he is. But if you know anything
about his character and your own character, you would ask
that question. How could a holy God love somebody
like me? How can God be just and holy
and righteous and yet as the judge of the earth and yet accept
someone as unrighteous and sinful as me? What a question, that's
the question of questions really. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? She might have asked what Nicodemus
asked. How can a man be born when he's
old? How can that happen? How can
a man actually experience birth when he's old? How is it that
faith is without works And yet faith without works won't save. How can that be? How can faith
be without works? And yet, if you have a faith
without works, it is not saving faith. How can that be? How can God, who never forgets
anything in his omniscient, glorious mind, how can he actually said
to Forget sin. There are sins and iniquities
I will remember no more. How can that be? I know I've
committed it. I know I've done the crime. How is it that God
can say with regard to my sin, I don't remember it. I don't
remember it. How can a man not commit sin
and yet commit sin nonstop? How can that be? These are hard
questions, aren't they? They're questions that need to
be answered. And she came to him with these hard questions.
How can Christ be your father's son and your father's Lord? David's
son and David's Lord. She came to him with these hard,
sincere questions. These are questions that someone
who's really seeking God is going to be asking. Now I realized
to many people, this would, these would be dull and uninteresting,
you know, who cares? You know, and that's because
of a lack of understanding of who God really is and who they
really are. But she came wanting to know the living God. And she came to prove Solomon
with these hard questions. Verse two, and she came to Jerusalem
with a very great train. This was a woman who had great
riches. 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, all of
her doubts, all of her fears, all of her misgivings, all of
her questions. She made bare her heart to Solomon. Now, isn't this the way you and
I ought to come into the living God's presence in Christ? To
bear our hearts. He sees anyway. It's not like
you can fool him. He sees all things. And the only
way to come into his presence is to do so bearing all our heart. Verse three, and Solomon told
her all her questions There was not anything hid from the king,
which he told her not. How could God love me? Well,
because his love is in Christ. That's how. That's the only way. Because God's love is in Christ.
And if you're in Christ, he loves you as he loves his son. That's how he could love you. How could God be just and justify
somebody like me or you? because of the cross. You see
the Lord Jesus Christ took the sins of his people. That's what
these sacrifices represent. And he was punished for them. They became his sins. He became
guilty of them. Now he never committed them.
You know that he never sinned, but he took on the sins of his
people and he was punished. The reason he was punished, because
he was guilty. God wouldn't punish someone that was not guilty,
and Christ actually became guilty on Calvary's tree. Taking the
sins of his people, and his perfect obedience, his perfect righteousness,
is given to everybody he died for. Thus, God can be just, absolutely
just and righteous, and punish all sin, and yet justify the
ungodly. There is no question greater
than that. How can a man be born when he's
old? Because you're born of the spirit. If you're born again, you were
nothing but flesh. You didn't even have a spirit.
And when God gave you new birth, when he birthed you of his spirit,
you are actually born a new man that was not there before. Um,
how can faith be without works and yet If it's without works,
it's not saving faith. I'm sure he would have gone back
to Abraham. Abraham believed God. And it was counted to him
for righteousness. And he proved it by his works
when he offered up his only son. If he would have refused to offer
up his only son, it would have proved that he did not really
believe God. How can God forget sin? Because
Christ so affectionately removed it that there's nothing there
to remember. God looks at me. And the reason he doesn't remember
my sin is there's nothing there to remember. Isn't that comforting?
I mean, the believer's salvation is perfect in Christ Jesus. When God looks at the believer,
he looks at someone without sin. And that's the way it really
is because of what Christ did. He actually put away that sin.
And we stand before God, not merely forgiven. It's a great
thing to be forgiven, but justified, perfect before God. How can a
man not commit sin and yet cannot not sin? Because he has two natures,
one nature that doesn't do anything but sin and the other nature
that is holy and that does not commit sin. He answered these
hard questions. He said the reason that Christ
is called the son of David and David's Lord is because he's
the eternal son who came as the seed of David, but he's David's
eternal Lord. He answered all these hard questions. Verse four, and when the queen of Sheba had
seen all of Solomon's wisdom. Now this is the wisdom of God
that answers these questions, isn't it? And when she had seen
and experienced all of Solomon's wisdom and the house that he
had built. Now what's the house that the
Lord Jesus Christ has built? The church, the house of God,
the church of the living God, his house. Upon this rock will
I build my church. And you know, I was thinking
of the church in the world right now. You know, this place with
the world, we don't even count. We don't even count. What power
do they have? What influence do they have?
We don't even count. Just a bunch of insignificant
people in the world. You call that the church? God
does. God does. And the church that
the world sees nothing in is beautiful to God. It's his precious
bride, it's the house that he's built, the church of the living
God, the house of God, God's church. Oh, we see these groups
around the world, small, insignificant, despised, not so by God. The house that he built. Verse five, and the meat of his
table. except you eat the flesh of the
son of man and drink his blood." Here's our meat. Except you eat
the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood. You have no
life in you. Now, you know as well as I know
that the Lord is not talking about cannibalism. He's not talking
about literally eating the flesh of the son of man and drinking
his blood. Now, I know that Catholicism
teaches that When you eat the wafer and you drink the wine,
it actually turns into the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the actual teaching. Well, I'd like to ask some of
these people, why don't you drink about a quarter of that wine
and see what it does to you? If it's the blood of Christ, it
won't do anything to you. That shows the fallacy of that
kind of thinking. It's just wrong as it can be. You understand that what you
live off of, this is what this means. You understand your necessary
food is Christ crucified. This is, at all times, everything
in your salvation. This is what you gain your nourishment
from. This is what you benefit from, feeding on the Lord Jesus
Christ. The meat of his table and the
sitting of his servants, like the gathering demonic sitting
at the feet of Christ clothed and in his right mind, sitting
at his feet, sitting accepted in the beloved city. We're seated
together with him in the heavenlies. When she saw the sitting of his
servants, that perfect place of rest. And then next it says
in verse five, and the attendance of his ministers, the attendance
of his ministers. Now, what that means is the state.
That's what the word means. That's the state of his servants,
the state of his servants. It's a state of grace accepted
in the beloved, justified, sanctified, glorified, Knowing the Lord Jesus
Christ, what a state of grace. When she saw that they're adopted,
they're perfected in Christ Jesus, she saw the state of his servants. Let's go on reading verse five.
And their apparel, their apparel. What is our apparel? The Lord
Jesus Christ. That fine garment of linen, clean
and white, the righteousness of the saints. You see, Jesus
Christ's righteousness is the righteousness of the saints.
And what a garment this is. When she saw the apparel of all
of his servants and his cupbearers. That is his butlers. And what
she saw in his butlers was this willingness to serve. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. Oh, his butlers, his
servants are glad to be his servants. She saw their state. And look
what it says next. And his assent by which he went
up into the house of the Lord. And she saw his carriage, his
ascent, his power, his glory, as he ascended up the steps into
the temple, which all that refers to is the ascension of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I don't want to say that's all
it refers to. What a glorious thing that is, to think of the
Lord ascending back to heaven, having finished the work of salvation
and all of the Lord's hosts, all of God's people ascending
with him. Now she saw the ascent of him. And what does she say? There
was no more spirit in her. How can I respond to this? There was no more spirit in her.
This is so glorious. There was no more spirit in her.
Verse six, and she said to the king, It was a true report that
I heard in mine own land of thy acts, of thy wisdom." This was
spoken of throughout all the world. Solomon at this time was
the most powerful man in all the world. He had the most powerful
army. He had the greatest commerce.
He had the greatest government. He was the top man in the world
and people came to him to hear of his wisdom. She did this and
she said, in my own country, I heard about how wise and how
glorious you are. Verse seven, how be it? I believe
not the words. I thought, no, nobody's this
wise. Nobody's this powerful. Nobody
has this much riches. Nobody has this much control.
This is impossible. I didn't believe it. I believe
not until I came and my eyes had seen it. Well, it's one thing
to hear and it's nothing to believe for yourself. It's one thing to hear. And it's
another thing to believe for yourself. You hear somebody else's
account and you don't know it's true, but when your own eyes
see, when you see who he is, you'll see who you are and you'll
have no spirit left within you. But when you, he said, how be
it? I believe 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 thing, which I heard. And you know, when you and I
see the glory of Jesus Christ, we see, we've only seen just
a little bit and it exceeds, it exceeds, it keeps getting
bigger. It keeps getting more glorious.
And if it's, if it ever becomes commonplace, you haven't seen,
but if you see, It'll keep getting bigger and more glorious and
more mysterious and more gracious and more powerful. She said the
half has never been told. And you know, even in, I was
thinking this and in heaven, I'm going to hear the Lord Jesus
Christ. And after, I know there's no
time in heaven, but after 10 trillion years, I'll still be
saying the half has never been told. So glorious. The half has never been told.
Now look what, She says in verse eight, happy, joyful are thy
men, and happy are these thy servants that stand continually
before thee, that hear of thy wisdom. What joy, what happiness
these people have. And you know, the gospel's a
thing of joy. You know, it makes me happy that God looks at Christ
and sees me in him. That makes me very happy. It
makes me very happy that my personal righteousness is nothing less
than the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That makes
me joyful. It makes me awfully happy that
Christ actually put away my sin and it's gone and I don't have
it. It makes me happy that I stand
continually before him because I stand in the beloved, accepted
in the beloved. Now, happy are these thy servants.
Happy are these thy servants. This is gospel. You know, I'm
going to preach tonight on the joy of the gospel. Does the gospel
make you happy? Do you find joy in knowing that
everything God requires of you, he looks to his son for? Does
that make you joyful? Well, it makes everybody joyful
that believes it. It surely does. Happy are these thy servants
that stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom. Verse
nine, blessed be the Lord thy God. which delighted in thee. And you think of the father delighting
in Christ. I love to think of that. Blessed
be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne
of Israel. Unto the son, he saith, thy throne,
O God, is forever. That's what God the father says
to God the son. He set him on the throne. Yet have I set my
king on my holy hill of Zion, and here's why, because the Lord
loved Israel forever, eternally. There's never a time when he
didn't. Therefore made he the king to do judgment and justice. And that's exactly what our king
does. He does judgment and justice, not just mercy. I'm thankful
for mercy, aren't you? I'm thankful for the forgiveness of sins.
I'm thankful for grace, but everything God does is an act of judgment
and justice. Because of the Lord's work on
Calvary's tree, the very justice and judgment of God demands the
salvation of everybody he died for. Now there's some confidence
there. There's some rest there. It's
not anything unfinished. It's completed. Verse 10, and she gave the king and hundred
and 20 talents of gold and the 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. Now these gifts were not gifts
of payment, but gifts of respect, awe, and love. That's why she
gave. She saw such glory in Solomon,
verse 13, and King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her
desire. Now, what is my desire? What is my desire? Well, There's
sinful things you desire. That's the old man. And you don't
really want them, do you? You want God to keep from giving
you what your wicked desire might be. Everybody's got sinful, evil
desires, and this isn't talking about that. What is it that a
believer really desires? Paul put it this way in Philippians
chapter 3, O that I may win Christ and be found in him, 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. That's my desire that I might
know him. I want to know him. I don't want to simply want to
know about him. I want to know him so that when I'm talking
about him, I'm not name dropping. I'm somebody that knows him and
he knows me. I want to be founded in Christ. I want to know him.
I want to know the power of his resurrection. I want to know
the fellowship of his sufferings. I want to know that what he did,
he did for me. I want to become conformed to his death. You know
what that means? Christ would obey God to the
point where it killed him. Oh, I want to, by his grace,
I want to be obedient to him. I want to, if by any means, I
might attain to the resurrection of the dead. That's what I want
to attain to, the resurrection of the dead, where I'm resurrected
in perfect conformity to the likeness of Christ. And that's
my desire. That's my desire. And that's the desire of every
believer. All those desires mentioned in Philippians chapter three
that Paul gives. And what does Solomon do? He grants her all
her desire. Whatsoever she asked beside that
which Solomon gave of his royal bounty. Oh, the Lord's power
to bless his royal bounty. You know, he's got, he's got
grace that cannot be exhausted. He's got mercy that cannot be
exhausted. That is who he is. And that's
what he gives. So she turned and went to her
own country, she and her servants. Now, what effort it took upon
her part. The Lord says she came from the
uttermost parts of the earth. She came from far away. She came
a long way to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And yet the Lord
looks at these people and says, behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. All Solomon does is give us a picture of who Christ
is. And then later on in chapter 11, we find out what a weak man
he was because man in his best state is altogether vanity. But oh, this greater than Solomon
that you and I are enabled to hear his wisdom. What a blessing
of grace. Amen.