Okay, this morning our message
will be taken from Luke 11, from verse 27 of Luke 11, 27, down
to verse 32. And I'm taking the title for
the message from the words the Lord Jesus Christ speaks in verse
31 and verse 32. Let's read those two verses.
The Queen of the South, this is Sheba, shall rise up in the
judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them. For she came from the uttermost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold,
the Lord declares, a greater than Solomon was here. Now these
Jews, they had a great reverence for Solomon, but what do you
think they were thinking when the Lord said, I'm greater than
Solomon? You know, that had to catch their
attention. And then in verse 32, the men
of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall
condemn it. For they repented at the preaching
of one Son of God." Jonah's here, and we know it's Jonah the prophet.
And behold, a greater than Jonah is here. Now, I would encourage
you sometime this week to go back and read the story of Jonah.
It's found in the book of Jonah. And you'll see how the Lord blessed
his ministry. So, the title of the message
this morning I've entitled it, Christ the Greater King and Christ
the Greater Prophet. Christ the Greater King and Christ
the Greater Prophet. Now we know from our recent studies
through 1 Kings that Solomon was indeed a great and mighty
king in Israel. He was the chosen son of David. He was the anointed king in Israel. He was used of God to construct
the temple of the Lord. Remember, we went through that
study about the temple of the Lord and all the different aspects
of that, and how all that temple is the picture of Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. But Solomon was not a perfect
king, was he? Solomon was not a perfect man. He had many faults, flaws, and
sins. Solomon's hope of salvation was
not in Solomon. Solomon's hope of salvation was
in the greater Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ. Solomon was a sinner
justified in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the greater Solomon, the
Lord Jesus Christ, there is no fault, flaw, or sin in him. The Lord Jesus Christ, the greater
Solomon, is the perfect King. Now, I need a perfect King to
represent me. I need a perfect King who has
all power to raise me from the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ is
called the King of Kings, Lord of Lords. The Lord Jesus Christ
We can say beyond all question, beyond all doubt, the Lord Jesus
Christ is greater than all men, individually or even collectively. The Lord Jesus Christ is greater
than all, for He is God our King. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. Christ our King, He is the great
I Am that I Am. Secondly, Jonah indeed was a
prophet of God. You can read his story in the
book of Jonah. He was sent of God to preach
to the city of Nineveh. It was a great, large city, but
Jonah was a sinner. who acted contrary to the will
of the Lord at first, remember? That's why he was cast overboard
out of that ship and swallowed by that great fish that the Lord
had prepared. Jonah was going somewhere else
instead of the city of Nineveh and God said, no you're not.
And the Lord redirected his path and sent him to preach the gospel
and the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. And those people
in that city heard that message and repented. and look to Christ. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
the greater prophet. He is the only prophet that never
sinned against God. He's the only one we read of.
Isaiah was a prophet. Jeremiah was a prophet. Ezekiel
was a prophet. But these men all had sinned.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the greater prophet of God who had
no sin. Who always did the will of God
perfectly. The Lord Jesus Christ, as a prophet
of God, always accomplished the purpose of God completely, willingly,
perfectly. He said, my meat is to do the
will of Him that sent me and to finish His work. Now, aren't
you glad that we have a greater King? The Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you glad that we have
a greater prophet? God speaks from heaven and said,
this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. And I want to hear Him. I want
you to hear Him. The Lord Jesus Christ indeed
is a great prophet, the greater prophet, the greater king, and
my friend, let us not forget, He is also the greater priest.
Aaron was a priest, right? But the Lord Jesus Christ is
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And we can say
with Jonah, you remember what he said when the Lord delivered
him from that fish? He said that salvation is of
the Lord. Now can't we say that as His
people? Salvation is of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
greater King, the greater Prophet, and He is the greater Priest.
Remember from preceding messages, the Lord Jesus Christ had just
demonstrated and proved that He is God our King in His Kingdom
by casting out that demon spirit out of that man, and that man
was completely healed, put in his right mind, and then the
Lord began to describe what is involved when he saves a sinner
by his power and his grace, how he called himself the stronger
man, the greater man that must invade our heart, that must overcome
our stubborn will, our dead heart, and make us new creatures in
Christ. You see, he's the greater king,
the greater prophet, he is the greater savior who's able to
come unto us, and into us, and make us new creatures by His
power." Now with that introduction, notice Luke 11 verse 27, and
it came to pass. And it came to pass. Now it just
didn't happen, it was brought to pass. It came to pass as He
spake these things in a certain A certain woman of the company
lifted up her voice, her name is not given, and this woman,
certain woman, said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare
thee." Now, she's referring to Mary. Mary. And Mary indeed was
blessed of God, highly favored of God, to have the body formed
in her body that the Lord Jesus Christ inhabited in this earth. Blessed is the womb that bare
thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked, the Lord Jesus Christ
nursed upon his mother's breast, and he was nourished up and grew
and he was strengthened as a real man. But the Lord said, verse
28, yea rather, now Mary was blessed, but this is better,
yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and
keep it. Keep it. Keep the Word of God. Now we see here the blessedness
of God-given faith. The greatest blessing the Lord
can bestow upon any sinner is to hear the Word of the Lord
and to be granted faith to believe Him. In Romans chapter 4, Abraham
believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. But
listen to this scripture, John 5, 24. And we see something of
the precious value of faith. God-given faith. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, everlasting life." Now I'm interested in that because
I'm a dying man. I'm a dying man and I'm speaking
to dying men and women. He that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Blessed is that man who hears
the Word of God and believes it. Faith, we know, is the precious
gift of God. Mary was indeed a blessed woman,
chosen of God to give birth to the humanity of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Notice over here, if you hold
your place there and find Luke chapter 1. We've seen this in
our study before, but we'll read it one more time. Luke chapter
1, verse 28. The angel from heaven said, Luke
1, 28. The angel came in unto her and
said, Hail, thou art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women." Now, not above women, but among women. And then Elizabeth says this
in Luke chapter 1, Verse 42, And she spake out with a loud
voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb. So Mary indeed was a blessed
woman. But notice her own personal testimony. Luke chapter 1, Luke verse 46,
Mary's hope of salvation did not rest upon her physical relationship
to the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, but rather upon her spiritual
relationship with God her Savior. Christ in her heart was a far
greater blessing than Christ in her womb. Do you see that?
Look at verse 46, Luke 1. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify
the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. That's her hope. God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the lowest
state of his handmaid, and behold, from henceforth all generations
shall call me blessed, as this woman did. For he that is mighty
hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. And his
mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with his arm, and hath scattered a
proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the
mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low decree. He hath filled the hungry with
good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath opened his servants,
His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy as He spake to our
fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever. You see, Mary's
hope of salvation, and she was rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. She was indeed blessed. But the
greater blessing, the greater blessing that the Lord says here
in verse 28, notice again verse 28, but rather He said, but rather,
yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God. and
keep it. Blessed are those who hear the
Word of God as the Word of God, believe it, believing it, keeping
it in their heart, loving the Word of the Lord, desiring to
feed upon Christ as He's revealed in the Word. That indeed is a
blessed person. Believers desire the sincere
milk of the Word that we might grow thereby. You see, faith
comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of the Lord. That
is, by hearing the true gospel of Christ. And this is just not
audibly hearing the Word of God. This is hearing the Word of God
with understanding, with the power of God the Holy Spirit.
This is hearing the Word of God as it is in truth the Word of
God that affectionately works in you that believe. the Lord
Jesus when he gave the parable of the sower. Remember, he said,
blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. What does the eye of faith see? The eye of faith sees the Lord
Jesus Christ as everything in salvation. What does the ear
of faith here. The ear of faith hears Christ
speak in His Word, His sheep hear His voice, and they follow
Him. All who are given faith are truly
blessed of God with all spiritual blessings in Christ. This is
exactly how we receive the blessing and enjoy the blessing by faith. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen
to this scripture in Romans 4 verse 5. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him, he that heareth my word, and believeth
it, that's keeping it, keeping it. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. I read this hymn in my study
last week on this point here, and I'm going to cite one verse
of it. Grace is grace, and works are works, and the two shall
never meet. Those who work are those who
boast, but grace brings beggars to the Lord Jesus Christ's feet. Come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy, find grace to help in time of
need. Lord, I never want to depart from being a mercy beggar at
his seat. Yea, blessed are they that hear
the word of God. and keep it." And the tense of
that word is keep on keeping it, keep on believing it, keep
on receiving it. Now here's the second thing I
want us to look at. When the people were gathered
thick together, thick together, this was a crowd, he began to
say, Now, you imagine standing up in a crowd, and people are
all gathered around there, and the first thing he says, you're
evil, you're wicked. Now, he knows how to get an audience,
doesn't he? This is an evil generation. He knew their heart. He said,
you seek a sign, there shall no sign be given. but the sign
of Jonas the prophet. For Jonas was the sign of the
Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation."
Now, the wicked and unbelieving heart is always looking for a
religious sign rather than believing the truth of the gospel. It's
the truth that sets sinners free. Don't ever go around trying to
find some kind of religious sign or trust some kind of religious
feeling. It will just only deceive you.
This is an evil generation, the Lord says. Well, is this generation
any different? This is an evil generation. It's
been that way for a long time, ever since Adam, by that one
sin. Death entered in and sin entered
in into all men. This is an evil generation and
it has been that way since Adam's fall. Even in Noah's day, the
Lord said it was an evil generation. There was none righteous, no,
not one. All the way back in the book
of Genesis, And God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. You mean only evil continually? If you have any good, right thoughts,
you didn't think them up. God taught you from His Word.
That's the only way you had any good thought, right thought with
understanding, is because God taught you. There's none that
understandeth, there's none that seeketh, they're all gone out
of the way, there is none righteous, no, not one. In His faith, that
is based upon a sign or some physical observation, some feeling,
some emotional experience, or anything else rather than the
Word of God, now listen to me, is false faith. Any faith that's
based upon something other than the bare Word of God is nothing
but false faith. The only foundation of faith
is the Word of the Lord. I repeat again what I said earlier,
faith comes by hearing. the word of the Lord. Of His own will begat he with
the word of truth. Now what the Lord here is talking
about in verse 30 is His resurrection glory. For as Jonah was assigned
unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this
generation. Now, I'm going to go back and
read Matthew chapter 12 verse 39 and 40. And the Lord answered
and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh
after a sign. There shall no sign be given
it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three
days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son
of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Now, he's talking about Jonah being a type and picture of the
resurrection of the Lord. Now, if you'll go back to Luke
9, turn there for just a moment. The Lord had mentioned His resurrection
and death on several occasions. In Luke 9, verse 22, the Son
of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders
and chief priests, and be slain and raised up the third day. Now you see, He had to be raised
up the third day to be a fulfillment of that Scripture. You understand
that He died for our sins according to the Scripture. He was raised
again the third day according to the Scripture. It couldn't
be on the second day. The fourth day or fifth day had
to be on the third day to fulfill all Scripture, and that is exactly
what the Lord Jesus Christ did. The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ from the dead is evidence and proof of everything
He said was true. Now, He said a whole lot. Everything
He said was true, because he said, I speak not my own words,
I speak the words of Him that sent me. He spoke the very will
and testimony of God. Everything His resurrection glory
is evidence and proof that everything He said is true, everything He
did was according to the purpose of God, and everything that He
performed was and effectual work, indeed successful to the glory
of God. He is no imposter. He is a greater
prophet, the greater king, the greater priest. Now, how important
is his resurrection? What if he just died and his
body's still in the tomb? What if there be no resurrection
from the dead? Well, great implications, right? Listen to this scripture, 1 Corinthians
15. If Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. And if Christ
be not raised, your faith is also vain. And he said, you are
yet in your sin. If there be no resurrection,
we're in big trouble. But thank God. Well, preacher,
how do you know that the Lord was raised from the dead? How
do you know? I read it in the Word. I believe
His Word over and over and over again. You read every sermon
through the book of Acts. The apostles preach, God raised
Him from the dead. He being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken Him by wicked
hand, have crucified the Lord of glory. But God raised Him
from the dead. They preached that over and over
and over again. They were eyewitnesses to His
resurrection. Five hundred brethren at one
time beheld the resurrected, glorious Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when He came forth
from the dead, and the women were there looking in that empty
tomb, the messengers from heaven said, why do you seek the living
among the dead? He is not here, but He is risen,
risen. Jonah, when he was delivered
from that whale's belly, declared that salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord Jesus Christ, when
He came forth from that tomb, He declared, It is finished. Salvation is of the Lord. The
gospel message of the Lord Jesus Christ is the message that salvation
is accomplished by Christ alone. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, I've given you this outline
over these last 20 plus years. Many times, but it bears repeating
one more time. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. David said that in Psalm 37,
39. Salvation, the salvation of the righteous, is of the Lord.
Jonah, the prophet of God, declared that salvation is of the Lord.
Jeremiah declared this, it is good that a man should both hope
and quietly wait for the salvation that is of the Lord. Salvation is not of man. It's
not of the church. It doesn't originate with us. Salvation is of the Lord. Now
let me give you these five points. And this is, I've given this
to you many times, but I thought it would be good to refresh our
memory. Salvation is of the Lord, first
of all, in its origination. Where does salvation originate?
It originated with God. He planned it. He purposed it
from all eternity. So much so that the Lord Jesus
Christ is seen in Scripture as a lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. Before Adam ever sinned, the
Lord Jesus Christ stood as a charity of that everlasting covenant
of grace. So salvation is of the Lord in
its origination. It's planning. It's purpose.
Secondly, salvation of the Lord in its accomplishment. The Lord
prayed, Father, I've glorified Thee on the earth. I've finished
the work You gave me to do. For salvation of the Lord in
its accomplishment. He said on Calvary 3, it is finished. It is of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
accomplished the work of salvation for us. He did all the work of
salvation. He left nothing undone. He left
nothing for us to do. You mean, preacher, I don't have
to do anything to be saved? No, sir. Salvation by faith in
Christ, and that's the gift of God. You see, it's the Lord Jesus
Christ who has established righteousness for us. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. The Lord Jesus
Christ redeemed us to God by His blood. He obtained eternal
redemption for us. He reconciled us to God by His
blood atonement in whom we have redemption through His blood
and He will one day raise us from the grave and make us just
like Christ. You see salvation of the Lord
in its origination. Salvation is of the Lord in its
accomplishment. Thirdly, salvation is of the
Lord in its application. In its application. Being confident
of this very thing, that God who has begun a good work in
you, Christ in you, is the hope of glory. God who has begun a
good work in you, He will finish it. Whatsoever the Lord does,
it shall be forever. No one can put anything to it,
and no one can take anything from it. It is the Lord who called
us out of darkness into His marvelous light. It is the Lord who sought
us out before we ever sought Him. It is the Lord who loved
us. Way before we ever loved Him,
we only loved Him because He first loved us. It is the Lord
alone who makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus. You see, salvation
is... I've said this before, I think.
Salvation is all of grace. His purpose, His grace, given
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. It is by the grace
of God. I can say with Paul, I trust
you can too, it's by the grace of God that I am what I am, grace
alone. So salvation is of the Lord in
its origination. Salvation is of the Lord in its
accomplishment. Salvation is of the Lord in its
application. Salvation is of the Lord in its
sustaining power, fourthly. He saves us, and then what does
He do? He keeps us by His power. We're
kept by the power of God. God doesn't save a sinner one
day, and then the next day he's lost. Because salvation doesn't
depend upon you. Salvation depends upon Him. We're
kept by the power of God. You remember from our study in
the book of Jude? The book of Jude, the last second to the
last verse. He is able to keep us from falling
and to present us faultless before the presence of God's glory with
exceeding joy. He says, I give my sheep eternal
life and they'll never perish. No man can pluck them out of
my hand. God saves us when He saves us,
not with a temporary salvation. He saves us and He gives us eternal
salvation. He gives us eternal life. Salvations
of the Lord in His sustaining power. He keeps us. Here's the fifth thing. Salvations
of the Lord in His ultimate perfection. He has predestinated us. It's a good Bible word. Don't
be afraid of the word. It's used four times in the Scripture.
Twice in Ephesians. Twice in Romans. And every time
it talks about God predestinating a people to be conformed to the
image of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has chosen the people in
that eternal covenant of grace, and He has predetermined that
He's going to make them just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer says, Amen. I
want to be just like Christ. Don't you? Don't you want to
be just like Him? That's what predestination is
all about. It's a beautiful blessed truth.
It's not something that's ugly and vile. It's something that's
glorious and beautiful. We are predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ. Predestination is all about the
Lord making us like Himself. It leads me to this conclusion. One preacher of the past said,
the whole of the work, whereby a poor, blackened, darkened,
deadened sinner is brought from a spiritual grave to be made
an heir of God and a joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ is
by the power of God, by the grace of God, through the blood atonement
of Christ, by the work of God the Holy Spirit alone. Now, you can't put your finger
anywhere, anywhere, in the work of salvation and say, well, I
did this, I did that, I did the other. Salvation is of the Lord
in its origination, in its accomplishment, in its application, its sustaining
power, and its ultimate perfection. That is the sign of Jonah. It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Delivered for our offenses and
raised again because He justified us alone.