Would you turn with me to 1 Kings
chapter 4. 1 Kings chapter 4. Verse 1 of 1 Kings chapter 4. So King Solomon was king over all Israel. And we've already looked
at all these names the last two weeks, his cabinet and the people
who fed Israel. So let's pick up in verse 20.
So King Solomon was king over all Israel. Judah and Israel
were many as the sand, which is by the sea in multitude eating
and drinking and making Mary. Now, this was the state of that
nation at this time, eating and drinking and making merry. I don't think there's ever been
a nation like this. At this time, they were the most
powerful nation in all the world. Solomon was the most powerful
king. And what a state, what would have been like to live
in a place like this? Problems. Let's go on reading. And Solomon reigned over all
kingdoms from the river under the land of the Philistines and
under the border of Egypt, they brought presents and serve Solomon
all the days of his life. Now they were in such control
that everybody had to bring Solomon gifts to keep him from destroying
them. I mean, he reigned. And everyone
was afraid of Solomon that was not a part of Israel. And Solomon's
provision for one day was 30 measures of fine flour and three
score measures of meal, 10 fat oxen and 20 oxen out of the pastures
and a hundred sheep besides hearts and roebucks and fallow deer
and fatted fowl. For he had dominion, absolute
control over all. the region on this side of the
river from Tifsa even to Asa over all the kings on this side
of the river. And he had peace on all sides
round about him. Now this is why he was able to
build the temple because he didn't have any enemies. He didn't have
to worry about anything. Verse 25, and Judah and Israel
dwelt safely, securely, confidently, No cares, every man under his
vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all
the days of Solomon. Solomon's army, and Solomon had
40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots. and 12,000 horsemen. And those officers provided vittles
for King Solomon for all that came under King Solomon's table.
Every man in his month, they lacked nothing. Barley also and
straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they into the place where
the officers were. Every man according to his charge.
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much
and largeness of heart. Even as the sand that's on the
seashore, that's how large his heart was. And Solomon's wisdom
exceeded the wisdom of all the children of the East country
and of all the wisdom of Egypt, for he was wiser than all men. I don't know who these guys are,
but then Ethan and Israelite and Heman and Kalko and Darda,
the sons of Mahal. They must've been very wise men,
but Solomon was wiser than them. And his fame was in all nations
roundabout. And he spake 3000 Proverbs. His wisdom was put in a book.
And his songs were 1005. And he spake of trees. from the cedar tree that's in
Lebanon, that's what the temple was made of, the cedar tree,
under the hyssop that springeth out of the wall. What was hyssop
used for? Do you remember? It was dipped into the basin
with the blood and put over the door. He spake of cedar, strength,
and hyssop. Those are the two trees that
are mentioned. He spake also of beasts and of
fowl and of creeping things and of fishes. And there came of
all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all kings of
the earth who had heard of his wisdom. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would be pleased to meet with us. Cause your gospel to be preached
in the power of your spirit. and give us hearing ears and
receptive hearts for Christ's sake. Forgive us of our many
sins. Give us the grace to confess
our sins. And oh, that we might be found
in Christ. Be with all your people wherever they meet together.
In Christ's name we pray, amen. What a description of the kingdom
of Solomon. I love verse 20 of chapter four. Judah and Israel were many as
the sand, which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking. And I like this last phrase,
making merry, making merry. They were happy. They were rejoicing. They didn't have any problems
because of the reign of King Solomon. And I couldn't help
but think of Paul saying to the church, at Philippi, rejoice
always. Now, there's a lot of trouble. There's a lot of heartache. There's
a lot of sorrow brought on by sin. Rejoice always. Again, I say rejoice. Now, as long as Christ is on
the throne, and he is on the throne, isn't he? As long as
he's in absolute control of everybody, everything, every event and every
thought. And he is, we have reason to
rejoice. Always, even in the midst of
sorrow, we have a reason to make Mary. I love that scripture in
1 Thessalonians 5, where Paul says, in everything give thanks.
Even the difficult stuff, yes, in everything give thanks. For
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Whatever
it is God brings your way, you have reason to rejoice and thank
him for. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. As long as Romans 8, 28 is true. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. As long as that's true, and it's
true eternally, we have reason to be, even if we're sorrowful,
making merry. God brings good out of our evil. Aren't you thankful it's that
way? We can do the most wicked, dumb, stupid, evil things. And God brings good all the time
for his people. Verse 21. And Solomon reigned
over all kingdoms from the river into the land of the Philistines
under the border of Egypt. They bought presents and served
Solomon all the days of his life. Now, the reason these people
had no reason to fear was for one reason, Solomon. Solomon. He had complete dominion. He
reigned over everything. And that's why they were at peace
and that they had no fear. Solomon, as long as Solomon was
alive, everything was fine. Now you know what happened after
Solomon's death, the kingdom was fractured and there was nothing
but trouble. But as long as Solomon was alive,
as long as Solomon was king, everything was fine. Now Christ,
here's the thing about the greater Solomon, the son of David, just
like Solomon was, but the true son of David, the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's true he died, but he's not dead anymore. He's alive
forever in complete control, ruling and reigning. Therefore
we can have peace, can't we? Peace. Our King is in control. He controls Providence and all,
I like the way it says all serve him. Everything serves our Redeemer. He says regarding everything,
be of good cheer. it is I. Whatever it is, it's
Him. Now be of good cheer. Look at the riches of his provision,
verses 22 and 23, and Solomon's provision for one day. They named
these vast numbers, 30 measures of flour, three score measures
of fine meal. That's Thousands of pounds of
food, 10 fat oxen, 20 oxen out of the pastures and a hundred
sheep besides hearts and roebucks and fallow deer and fatted fowl. Everybody had plenty to eat.
Nobody lacked anything. And I think of the riches of
our Lord's provision. He, now listen to this scripture,
Romans 8.32. He that spared not his own son. but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not? What could possibly prevent him
from freely, don't you love that word? Freely giving us all things,
all things, all things. Oh, the riches of Solomon's provision
for the people. Verse 24, four. He had dominion. He had absolute
control over all the region on this side of the river, from
Tifsa even to Asa, over all the kings on this side of the river.
And he had peace on all sides round about him. He didn't have
any enemies. Now I love to think of the dominion, the sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's Lord. He's Lord. He's Lord of creation. He spake the world into existence.
That's his power. He brought something from nothing.
He's Lord of providence. He controls everything. Everything
that happens in time. Everything. You can't take that
too far. Everything that happens in time. He's the first cause
of. Somebody says, are you saying
he's the cause of evil? You can call it whatever you
want, but he's first cause of everything. He controls everything. And I
know people will object to that, but I don't care. You know what?
He's Lord. He's Lord. I'm not going to apologize for
him saying I make peace. I create evil. I make the light.
I create darkness. I, the Lord, do all these things.
He's Lord. Some puny man trying to call
into question his divine authority. Whatever he does is right. And
we bow before it, don't we? He's the Lord. Most especially,
he's the Lord of salvation. That means my salvation and your
salvation is up to him. Not up to you. It's up to him. And you know what? I like having
it that way. If it's up to me, I'll screw
it up. But if it's up to him, it's certain and sure. And I
love this description. There was peace on every side. Peace on every side. He didn't
have any enemies. Or he had people who hated him,
no doubt. It's those other countries that
had to bring him presents. They didn't love him, but there
wasn't anything they could do about it. He had peace on every
side. I mean, he had such power, nobody
would stand before him. And that's our Lord Jesus Christ.
What is it that give you peace if you're a believer. And I think
I can say this with absolute certainty as a spokesman for
every believer. The only thing that gives me
peace is that He is my peace. And that
everything that's required of me by God, He looks to His Son
for. And He is my peace. Having made
peace by the blood of His cross. He made my peace. And I have
peace. What about the peace of justification?
Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God.
Now, don't ever forget what justification means. Justification means that
you have no sin. That's what it means. It doesn't
mean that your sin is forgiven, although it is, but it means
you have no sin. It means when God looks at you, he looks at
somebody without guilt, without sin. That's what justification. What about the joy and peace
of believing? Believing that he's all and that
all God requires of you, you have in him. It gives me peace
to know that he is in control of everything. You really don't have anything
to worry about. Your worrying is stupid, isn't it? It's very
stupid. All of us are guilty of it, but
every time we're guilty of worrying, oh, how we dishonor him and how
stupid we are, he's in control. What peace there is in his kingdom,
peace on every side. Verse 25, and Judah and Israel
dwelt safely, confidently, securely. Every man under his vine. Whose vine? Solomon's vine. It
all belonged to him. Well, they all have their personal
property. Well, they may have, but it all belonged to him anyway.
Whatever they had was his. And does that mean everybody
had their own personal vine and everybody had their own fig tree?
Well, if it was theirs, it was his because he was king. He ruled. He reigned. So everybody dwelt
confidently under his vine and under his tree from Dan and to
Beersheba all the days of Solomon. As long as Solomon was alive,
everything was great. as long as Solomon was alive,
everything was great. And we know what happened after
his death. That's when the kingdom split. And that when there was
no, Israel lost its power, everything was trouble. Everything was bad.
But when Solomon reigned, they were the top dogs in the earth.
They were an absolute dominion over everybody else. As long
as Saul, everybody had all they wanted. Nobody liked anything
as long as Solomon was alive. Think of this scripture. Wherefore,
he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by
him, seeing he ever liveth. He's not gonna die. He's life
itself. I hate it when people say Jesus
is alive and well. Now that's pretty close to blasphemy. It might be blasphemy. He's not
alive and well, he's life. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Now, as long as our son of David,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who's greater than Solomon. I
love the way the Lord said that, don't you? A greater than Solomon
is here. Solomon, the greatest, I suppose
the greatest man. A greater than Solomon is here. Now, as long as Solomon was alive,
Everything was great. Verse 26. And Solomon had 40,000 stalls
of horses for his chariots. That's a lot of chariots. And 12,000 horsemen. I love the
number 12, don't you? The 12 tribes, the 12 apostles.
The 12 gates of the city, 12, it's a great number. It means perfection. And those officers provided vidal
for King Solomon and for all that came under King Solomon's
table, every man in his month, they lacked nothing. Now this statement concerning
his armies, none could stand before him. And you think of
the armies of our Lord. I love it when Peter tried to
help the Lord out, and he swung that sword at that fellow. The fellow ducked, cut off his
ear, and the Lord said, Peter, don't you know that if I willed
it, I could send 12 legions of angels at this very time and
wipe these people out? Oh, the armies of the Lord. What protection we have. I think
of the angels. Somebody says, do you believe
in guardian angels? Yes, I do. Every believer has
one because the Lord says in heaven there, the angels behold
the face. Your angels behold the face of
your father, which is in heaven. Angels, these mighty beings,
the armies of the Lord. They're greater in power and
might, the scripture says. I love that passage of scripture
in 2 Kings 6, where that servant was scared to death because the
armies of Syria had come. And the prophet said, open his
eyes. And his eyes were opened, and
he saw what the Syrian army could not see, chariots of fire round
about. Elisha said, there's more for
us than there is for them. He saw those thousands of armies,
but what were they compared to the armies of the Lord? Notice
it says in verse 27, they lacked nothing. I need to be reminded of this
because I always feel lacking. I always feel lacking in some
way. I feel lacking in every way,
not in some way, in every way. That's the way I feel. I always
feel lacking, inadequate, sinful. How could you be saved if you
fill in the blank? But the scripture says they lack
nothing. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body and you are complete. Complete. You lack nothing right now. The Lord is my shepherd. What's
the next statement? I shall not want. I shall not want anything because
the Lord is my shepherd. Verse 29. And God gave Solomon wisdom and
understanding exceeding much. Now, who is this but Christ,
the wisdom of God? Oh, his wisdom. He's called the
wisdom of God. Everybody that believes sees
him as the power of God and the wisdom of God. What wisdom that
God has made a way to make somebody like me. perfect in his sight,
in a way that honors his justice and righteousness and holy law,
even though I'm so bad. You know what? What wisdom. Man could never
come up with something like this. And if he could, he couldn't
execute it. But he did both. He made a way in his wisdom to
be just and justifier of all who believe on Christ. What wisdom,
what astonishing wisdom. And look at this. Not only did
he give him wisdom, he gave him largeness of heart. Now, what a description of our
Redeemer. Largeness of heart. You know, I would like to think
that I have a large heart, but I don't. I don't. I can talk about being merciful,
but if you cross me enough times, I'm going to get mad at you. The Lord said, him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise, for no reason whatsoever, cast out. Now that is largeness of heart. You come to Christ, he won't
turn you away for any reason. And here's how large his heart
is. If you come to Christ, it's the largeness of his heart that
caused you to do it in the first place. You wouldn't even come. Even with him saying, come to
me, you won't do it unless he calls you to. Isn't that glorious? The largeness of his heart. He
delights in mercy. He delights in forgiveness. This
is our Lord. Largeness of heart. Verse 30. And Solomon's wisdom excelled
the wisdom of all the children of these country and of all the
wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than these men.
I don't know who they were, but evidently they were famous for
being wise, but Solomon was a lot wiser. Verse 32, and he spake
3000 proverbs and his songs were 1005. Now all his wisdom he put
in a book. All of his wisdom, he put it
in a book. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, but our
greater Solomon. The son of David, the true son
of David, all his wisdom he put in a book. Aren't you thankful
for the inspired word of God? All his wisdom he put in a book. You're not dependent upon just
simply having to listen to the preacher and hope he's telling
the truth. You can look in the Bible to
see if he's telling the truth. All of his wisdom he put in a
book. Verse 33, and he spake of trees. You know, the Bible's got a lot
to say about trees, doesn't it? The tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, the tree of life, the tree Christ hung on, the tree
that its leaves are for the healing of the nations. Oh, the Bible
has a whole lot to say about trees. And I love the specific
trees that are mentioned that Solomon spake of. He spake of
cedar trees, and hyssop trees. Now cedar, we're going to be
looking in the next few weeks about how he sent into Hiram
and they brought the cedars of Lebanon and these were the hardest
trees known to man. And they were hewn down and used
to make the temple. covered with gold. These trees
speak of strength. They speak of the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. A temple was given to picture
him. Every aspect of that temple is given to picture some aspect
of his person. And the trees speak of his person. What does Hyssop speak of? His
work. His work. You take that hyssop
branch and dip it in the blood of that paschal lamb and you
put the blood over the door with that hyssop branch and you be
in that house where the blood is. And God said, when I see
the blood. I will pass over you. Now that's,
that's one of my many favorite scriptures. I need to be reminded
of that all the time. He doesn't say when I see your
sincerity or when I see your efforts at striving against sin,
or when I see the greatness of your faith or the depth of your
repentance or your, he's looking for one thing, the blood, the
blood. Now, if you're looking for anything
else, you may get an antichrist. I don't care if it's faith. He
didn't say when I see your faith, he said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Now, those are the trees that
Solomon spake of. The person and the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he spoke also of beasts,
and of all fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. He knows
everything. He knows everything. There isn't anything that he
doesn't know all about it because he's omniscient. He knows everything. Regarding what the Lord's doing,
I don't know, but he does. And I'm fine with that, aren't
you? I'm fine with that. He does. Verse 34, and there
came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all the
kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom. All people who heard of his wisdom
came to him. Now, let me tell you something about
me and you. We're unwise. Isn't that so? But we know where wisdom is.
Him. And if you really believe that
he is the wisdom of God, And He has the wisdom to make you
accepted before God. You know what you're going to
do? You're going to come to Him to hear of His wisdom. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. What a glorious kingdom.