Good morning. If you would please
turn with me to Luke 11. Luke chapter 11. We'll just read
a couple verses here and then our actual text will be in 1
Kings. Luke 11. We'll actually begin in verse
29. And when the people were gathered thick together, and
he began to say, this is an evil generation, they seek after a
sign. There shall be no sign given
it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign
unto the Ninevites, so shall also the son of man be to this
generation. And the queen of the south shall
rise up in judgment with the men of this generation and condemn
them. For she came from the utmost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold,
a greater than Solomon is here. Let's turn to 1 Kings 10, please. It's going to be our main text.
1 Kings 10. These words we just read of our
Lord are sobering, especially coming from Him who will judge
all men in the last days. These words were given to religious
men and women who did not believe his word or heed his miracles.
Instead, these people claimed if only they had an earthly sign
or some fleshly proof, something they could see or touch, then
they would believe. It's no different in our day.
Our generation seeks after proof from science or religion. In
science, thinking that by discovering some new crumb of knowledge that
their little brain can comprehend, then they'll understand all things.
Or in religion, they seek after a feeling, an experience, some
evidence or some doctrine or proof that they can grasp and
hold onto, ever learning, but never able to come to knowledge
of the truth. For the Jews, the religious world
seek after a sign, and the Greeks, the intellectual scientific world,
seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness.
I wonder if this describes you or I this morning. Are we, on
the outside, as the Lord declared to the scribes and Pharisees
in Matthew 23, like whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful
outward, but inside are full of dead men's bones, and all
in cleanness? Even so, ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity. Is this you? Is this me? I don't want to be self-deceived
by my own heart, thinking I am righteous, but only fooling myself
and others around me. Every way of a man is right in
his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth the hearts." And scripture is clear. If we
are deceived, trusting in our own experience, our own righteousness,
our own wisdom, our own works, and this includes free will,
We will die, and if we die trusting in these, in judgment, we, along
many of our generation, well-meaning in our day, will
hear the Lord Jesus declare, depart from me, I never knew
thee. I don't want any of us to face God alone, being found
guilty in our sins and justly condemned for rejecting and not
believing in his Savior. My hope and prayer is the Lord
would teach us this morning as he taught this queen from the
wisdom of Solomon, and that we, like this foreign queen, would
be declared justified by the Lord God of Israel, and thereby
finding some sure hope to stand and be accepted before the judgment
seat of Christ. Let's begin reading in 1 Kings
10. And when the queen of Sheba heard
the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came
to prove him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a
very great train, with camels that bear spices, very much gold
and precious stones. And when she had come to Solomon,
she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon
told her all her questions. And there was not anything hid
from the king which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba
had seen all of Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built
and the meat of his table, the sitting of his servants, and
the attendance of his ministers, their apparel, his cupholders,
and his assent, by which he went up unto 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
thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believe not the words,
until I came, and my eyes have seen it. Behold, the half was
not told. Thy wisdom and thy prosperity
exceeded the fame which I heard. Happier thy men, happier thy
servants, which stand continually before thee, that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God,
which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel,
Because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore he made thee
king to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king 120 talents
of gold, spices great store, and precious stones. And there
came no more abundance of spices as these which the Queen of Sheba
gave King Solomon. Verse 13, and King Solomon gave
unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, and 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. So as we read in Luke, the Queen
of Sheba was from, she came up from the utmost parts of the
earth. This is where she's from, this is where she rose to great
wealth and power as queen. Sheba is thought to be in modern
Yemen, which is only important in that it is not Israel, and
it is far away. We, I see a lot of similarities
between her and ourselves. You know, we also were born in
the utmost parts of the earth, just like our father, Adam, in
sin, dead in trespasses and sins, without Christ, being alienated
from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. Sometimes
we're far off. Likewise, we grow up natural
enemies, believing that we rule in our own country, our own lives,
and choosing who we are, what God we serve, what he's like,
and what we'll do or not do for him. We wouldn't have it any
other way. Does it sound like you or I? If left to ourselves, we will
hear those fateful words. But thankfully, this story begins
at this place, for she was not left to herself. As it says in
verse 1, in 1 Kings, when the Queen of Sheba heard the famous
Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she being, part of being a ruler
is staying informed of current affairs. She probably is aware
of Solomon, son of David, the king of Israel, but she had never
heard his reputation linked to the name of the Lord. And some might say, well, How
did she, her being so far away, how did she hear this news? If
you look a few verses back, King Solomon made a navy, he sent
ships out. In verse 27 of chapter 9, Hiram
sent in a navy with his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of
the sea with the servants of Solomon. They came to Ophir,
fetched from Thent's gold 400 talons, 20 talons, and brought
it to King Solomon. And then she heard the fame of
Solomon concerning the name of the Lord. The Lord God increased
Solomon and sent these ships to collect gold. But as a result,
according to God's purpose and grace, he sent her a messenger
to tell of the name of the Lord. I can imagine her listening to
her normal reports and then hearing some Israelite speaking up. No,
no, wait, what was that? Wait, you're saying your Lord
God is the only God? He has chosen Israel only as
His own nation and made a covenant just with them? He only loves
Israel and passes all other nations by? It was He that spoiled the
Egyptians and freed Israel from bondage? It's He that made Solomon
king of Israel and has given him this great wisdom and judgment
that you speak of? Solomon gives all glory to this
God for his might, his kingdom, and his wisdom. And likewise,
Solomon's built a temple to his name where God hears his prayers,
redeems him, and forgives sin. And if we read down in the verse
7 of chapter 10, she admits she did not believe the words of
this report. But the Lord, again, did not
leave her to herself. Once she heard, she came to prove
him. In verse one of chapter 10, she
came to prove him with hard questions. Her mind was not at rest on these
things that she heard, nor could she let the matter go. The king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
whithersoever he will. When she heard, she came. And
it sounds like she came quickly. Because immediately, even though
it was a very far journey, she was soon in Jerusalem in the
sequence of time. She brought with her a very great
train, verse 2, with camels that bear spices, very much gold,
precious stones. When she had come to Solomon,
she communed with him all that was in her heart. Now, in verse
1, even though she did not believe the report, She came to test. This word prove is actually test
him and the hard question is actually with riddles and parables.
She was going to figure this out one way or another and she
was going to apply her wisdom and everything she had learned
as a ruler of her own kingdom. Likewise, when she entered Jerusalem,
she entered with her own evidences of her greatness, her riches,
her power. She brought spices. Spices are
used to give food their unique flavor. This is akin to her goodnesses. Very much gold. This is the wealth
that she had chained, her riches, that which she had earned and
gained for herself, and precious stones, that which she held most
dear, her righteousnesses. She brought these for if Solomon,
because she came to test and to prove. for she did not believe. And when she came to Solomon,
she communed with him of all that was in her heart. She opened
up. She gave her the riddles, the
hard sayings, the dark questions. And he listened. Much like the
Lord Jesus is meek and lowly, he listened. And then what she's
done, once her defenses had fallen, once she'd poured out everything
she had, and she was silent, then Solomon spoke. Solomon told
her all her questions. He solved all her riddles. And
there was not a single thing hid from the king which he did
not tell her. And when the Queen of Sheba had
seen all of 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, his cupbearers,
and the ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord,
there was no more spirit in her. She had come in her own wisdom. She had come bearing her own
gifts and righteousness as her own evidences. and she was blown
away. Solomon's wisdom was not like
the wisdom of a man. The house that he built was not
just any house. The meat of his table, she had
her spices from her own area. The meat was unlike anything
she had. The sitting of his servants from
top to bottom, it was a complete feast, a complete house without
anything left to question. This shows the the immense wisdom
of Solomon. There was no doubt when she saw
the total and superior wisdom of Solomon in every detail, within
the form and function of his house, all things remembered,
considered, provided for, done the best way, with not a single
thing wasted, taken for granted, or considered too insignificant.
She had no spirit in her. There was nothing to be added,
and she knew it. And so she was silent, and she
was downcast. This is a perfect picture of
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Actually, the most
important verse of this whole story is not even in chapter
10. If you look back into chapter 9, just a few verses back, And it's actually going to be
verse 25. At the end of the verse, this
is talking about Solomon making the final sacrifices as he completed
the house of the Lord. So he finished the house. He
finished the work. And this is a perfect picture
of he who is greater than Solomon. who finished his work of salvation,
so much so that there's nothing to be left. His food is the only
meat a sinner needs, and they'll be satisfied. They'll never go
hungry. His clothing, his righteousness, is the only clothing you need
to stand before God and be accepted. And if you come with anything
else, you will not be. his cupbearers, she had brought
gold, very much gold. But actually, if you look later
in chapter 10, verse 21, all King Solomon's drinking vessels
were of gold, and all the vessels of his house of forced, pure
gold. Silver was counted as nothing
in Solomon's house. So even the very much gold, which
she was her great wealth, her great gain, was a loss, because
it was commonplace in the house of Solomon. And what did these gold goblets
carry? Wine. Wine representing the finished
work of the Savior. As he who tread the winepress
of God's wrath alone, he was crushed, bearing his people's
sins as a sin-bearing sacrifice. All of his people, their sins
became his very own, and he was crushed, and his blood was spilt
out. And God was satisfied. He was
buried and all wine, as far as I know, all wine is fermented.
It's allowed to decay. Even though the Lord never saw
corruption, he was buried for three days. And then when he
arose from the grave, showing the satisfaction and justification,
there was no more work to be finished. his people, the work
was done. The work was done, and that's
that wine, that finished work, that drink of joy. And that's also why the Lord
made a point of his first miracle, to turn the water into wine,
because it represents his work. So let's continue reading. Chapter 10. So she's downcast in spirit,
and now she speaks. She said to the king, it was
a true report that I heard in my own land of thy acts and thy
wisdom. Howbeit, I believe not thy words. Until I came, and my eyes had
seen it, and behold, behold. Not only had her eyes seen it,
but they had been opened to the truth. The half was not told. Thy wisdom and thy prosperity
exceedeth the fame which I heard." She had heard some things about
Solomon. She had heard some deeds, some
tales, and they were true. But she had not, she had to see
it for herself. And likewise, we may know some
things, you and I may be resting in some doctrines we've learned.
maybe Calvinism, maybe the doctrines of grace. But that alone, apart
from a revelation of Jesus Christ by his spirit alone, will not
save. And even giving lip service to,
I believe in Jesus. I mean, I thought everyone believes
in Jesus. That's not enough. It's got to be the Christ of
the Bible as this word, as he's represented, how he, who he is,
and how he died according to the scriptures. And he departs
from that as a false Christ, plain and simple. She goes on in verse eight, happier
thy men, happier thy servants. which stand continually before
thee, to hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God,
which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel,
because the Lord loved Israel forever. Therefore he made thee
king, to do judgment and justice. Anyone, she saw not only just
the details of the table, but she saw that Those who hear the
wisdom of this Solomon, this he who is greater than Solomon,
there's always joy. There's always joy, and they
serve. They're saved to serve. They stand before him continually.
They have to hear the word again and again and again. And you'll
notice that when she refers to the Lord, she says, the Lord
thy God, She says, he's the Lord, but he's your God. He's the God
of Israel, recognizing he's a God of covenant, but he's still the
Lord of all. You know, the promises of the
sacrifice and the promises and the law were given only to Israel.
That's why it's a huge deal for her to come so far. But if you
would turn back to 1 Kings 8, This is Solomon dedicating the
temple. He's dedicating the temple and
we'll begin in verse 33. When thy people Israel be smitten
down before the enemy because they have sinned against thee
and turn again to thee and confess thy name and pray and make supplication
unto thee in this house. Then, hear thou in heaven, and
forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again
unto the land which thou gavest their fathers. Verse 41, please. Moreover, concerning a stranger
that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country
for thy name's sake, for they shall hear thy great name, and
of thy strong arm, thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm,
And when he shall come and pray towards this house, hear thou
in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that
the stranger calleth to thee for. That all people of the earth
may know thy name, to fear thee as thy people Israel. That they
may know that this house which I have built is called by thy
name. So, what's the point? So the
gifts, so Christ died for his people and only those will be
saved. But as we see, you know, she
had no call. She had no call. She was not
an Israelite. Be it. The Lord is merciful. All that
call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved on
this Christ. So let not election, even though
true, be anything to hamper anyone from coming. Come. Come and welcome.