Let's turn tonight in our Bibles
to the Gospel according to Matthew, Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12, and let us
begin our reading in verse 38. Then certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. But he answered and said unto
them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given to 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. The men of
Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall
condemn it because they've repented at the preaching of Jonas and
behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south
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. When the unclean spirit is gone
out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and
findeth none. Then he saith, I will return
into my house from whence I came out, And when he is come, he
findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he and
taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself,
and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man
is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto
this wicked generation. In verse 38, where we began our
reading, we see that the scribes and the Pharisees asked the master
for a sign. And we know from the Apostle
Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians, that this was characteristic
of the Jews. They required a sign. The Greeks seek after wisdom,
but the Jews seek after a sign. Thomas, after the Lord's resurrection,
he said this, he said, except I shall see and put my finger
into the print of the nails, I will not believe. What was
he saying there? That he had to see, he had to
see a sign. And our Lord responded, blessed
are they that have not seen and yet believe. Faith doesn't come
by seeing, faith comes by hearing, by hearing the word of God. They were given a sign, that
wicked and adulterous generation, they were given a sign. It was
the sign of Jonas. As he was three days, our Lord
said, in the whale's belly. So he would rest in the heart
of the earth for three days and three nights and then come forth.
But this time, I want to preach to us from the words, the Lord's
words in verse 42 at the end of that verse when he said, behold,
a greater than Solomon is here. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. And I want us to take Solomon
as an Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that
The Lord Jesus was revealed in the Old Testament through types,
through the law, the shadows of the law, and various other
ways. But tonight I want us to think
of Solomon as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we will see
in each of these five ways in which he serves as a type, behold
a greater than Solomon is here. First, Solomon may serve as a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ in wisdom. That's the thing that
our Lord mentions here in this text, that the Queen of the South
came a very far distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon. You know, in James chapter one
in verse five, the apostle tells us, if any of you lack wisdom,
and don't we all? Don't we all, most of the time,
need wisdom? But James said, if any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, which giveth to all men liberally. Now Solomon, we see him tonight
as a type of the Lord in wisdom, but where did Solomon get that
wisdom, and how did he get that wisdom? Well, the scriptures
tell us, don't they? As James said, if any man lack
wisdom, let him ask of the Lord. Solomon asked of the Lord. That's
how he received the great wisdom that he had. When he was made
king, you remember, I'm sure that we're familiar with these
verses of scripture, but in 1 Kings 3 and verse 9, Solomon prayed,
and this was part of his prayer. Give therefore thy servant an
understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern
between good and evil. He asked the Lord. for that wisdom,
to be able to discern, to be a judge, because the king, if
we might think of it like this, those kings of Israel, they were
like the Supreme Court in our land. I mean, you just didn't
go any higher than the king. When he made a judgment, when
he made a decision, that was it, that was the law. And Solomon
knew that cases were going to come before him as they had come
before David, his father. Cases that he would have to decide
and he would need wisdom and knowing the difference The Lord
answered him and the Lord told him at that time behold I have
done according to thy words Isn't that something The Lord
speaking to a man and telling him I have done according to
thy words His words were give me understanding give me wisdom
And the Lord responded, I have done according to thy words.
Lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart. And
listen, the Lord went on to tell Solomon so that there was none
like thee before thee. No man before Solomon ever had
the wisdom that God gave him. Neither shall there be any arise
like unto thee. We all know the story of how
his wisdom was soon displayed when there was two women who
appeared before him and they had one baby who was alive. And both of the mothers, both
of the women claimed to be mothers of that baby. Well, how would
you know? How would you know? God gave
him the wisdom. Solomon said, bring a sword.
Bring a sword and just cut that baby in two and give her a part
and give her a part. And of course, the real mother
revealed herself, didn't she? Oh, no. Out of love for her baby. She said, no, don't do that.
And Solomon immediately knew that's the mother. The other
woman, she said, yes, do that. Do that. She didn't have any
love for the baby, but the mother did. Here's wisdom. was revealed immediately when
he became king in that way. And then this queen of the south
that he mentions here in our text, she came, the scripture
says she came on purpose. And her purpose was to prove
him, to prove him, to prove Solomon with hard questions. I'm sure
she had a list, don't you think? A list of hard questions that
she was going to prove him with. And the Queen of the South, in
her text, she came and she said she came to prove Solomon with
hard questions, but she ended up, she ended up giving this
testimony. Behold, the half was not told
me. She was amazed. She said that
half she had heard of him in her country and she made the
long journey to prove him with hard questions. And as he spoke
to her, her confession was, her testimony was, well, I didn't
even hear the half of the wisdom that this man has. She heard
of his wisdom, but when she visited him, she confessed Here's her
words, thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. She said your wisdom exceeded
all that I heard about you, your wisdom. But a greater than Solomon
is here. A greater than Solomon is here
for in him, that is in Christ, the scripture says are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Solomon was given wisdom, a great
deal of wisdom, so that there was none like him before or after,
but the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, in him are hid all the
treasures of wisdom. In John chapter 1, in verse 14,
where we are told the word, the word of verse 1, the word who
was with God, the word who was God, It was in the beginning
with God, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And notice
he was full of grace and truth. There's a fullness of wisdom
in Christ. And the fullness of wisdom in
Christ, I believe, is that he perfectly revealed the will of
God. How it is that God may justify
a sinner, a holy God, a righteous God. How it is that he can justify
a man or a woman, boy or girl like you and me. How can he do
that? How can he do that? We're guilty. That cannot be denied. And he
has proclaimed that he will by no means clear the guilty. How
is that? How is that possible? The truth
of it is revealed in Christ, isn't it? That he took the sins
of his people, bore them in his own body, the apostle Peter tells
us, on the tree. So that God is both just and
the justifier of the ungodly. If you've never read Charles
Spurgeon's little booklet on All of Grace, get that book. If you can get your hands on
that book, buy it, and read his, it's not a long book, but his
text is Him That Justifieth the Ungodly. You see, most people
have the idea they've got to clean up their lives. They've
got to change. They've got to turn over a new
leaf. And then, then God will save them. No, no. Him that justifies
the ungodly. I mean, we're ungodly by birth,
by choice, by practice, but Him, that is God, through Jesus Christ,
He justifies the ungodly. You know, in Proverbs chapter
8, it's all about wisdom, and it's all about a person. All
about a person, and that person is Christ, who is the wisdom
of God. Solomon, no doubt, as the scriptures
declare, he was great in wisdom, but a greater than Solomon is
here. A second way that he serves as a type of Christ Solomon may
serve as a type of the Lord Jesus in riches, in riches. This was also what the Queen
of the South confessed. She said, thy wisdom and prosperity,
not just his wisdom, but his prosperity exceeded the fame
which I heard. In 1 Kings 10 and verse 23, we
read, so King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for
riches. All the kings. Once every three
years, the scripture says, once in three years came his navy. It was his navy. He was a king. He had his own navy. It's amazing,
isn't it? A man has his own navy. But every
three years, his navy would return from from going out to visiting
islands and other countries where they could navigate, and they
would bring back, they would bring back, the scripture says,
gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. I mean, he had everything
coming to entertain him, and the wealth was just, it was so
great, and I do believe, like John Gill said, this is a hyper,
of Biblical expression, but the scripture says, the king made
silver to be in Jerusalem as stones. Have you ever seen any
pictures of Jerusalem on the TV? Looks like that old place
is full of stones to me, that whole country of Palestine. That's
what it is. It looks like a place of rocks.
But the scripture says that when Solomon was king, He made silver
to be in Jerusalem as stones, as abundant as the stones were. So silver, silver of course representing
wealth. But again, we see a greater than
Solomon is here. For his riches, the riches of
Christ, the Apostle Paul tells us are unsearchable. We preach
the unsearchable riches of Christ. And I thought I would name just
a few of these tonight, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Number one,
eternal life. Eternal life. This is one of
his riches. He said, I give unto them, speaking
of his sheep, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never
perish. Now, eternal life, Sometimes
because of the word itself, we just think life with unending
life, the duration throughout eternity. And that's true. But
eternal life is to know God. That's what our Lord said. This
is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. Eternal life is to know
God, to know Him. And that's only true through
Christ, only through His Son, the unsearchable riches of Christ,
eternal life. To know God is to love God. I think that was one of John
Calvin's words. To know God is to love God. You
can't know God and not love Him. Because everything about him
is lovely. And to enjoy God forever, that's
eternal life. It's to enjoy, to know God, to
enjoy God. We're gonna have to experience
that really to understand it, aren't we? We're gonna have to
experience that, to know God. You say, well, I know him now.
I know you do, but you're gonna know him a whole lot better when
you come into his presence. When you see him, you'll know
him as he is. Another riches of Christ that
I thought of is forgiveness of sins through his shed blood. Forgiveness of sins, what a blessing. What a rich grace is that, to
have all your sins forgiven. I mentioned this morning about
being found in the message, and one of the reasons I mentioned
that was to show that salvation is only given in this lifetime. When a person leaves this world,
his destiny is fixed for all eternity. There's no repentance,
there's no salvation, there's no preaching of the gospel in
hell. forgiveness of sins. But I'm
reminded again that people that are forgiven their sins, first
of all, they're convicted of sin. Our Lord said when he has come,
that is the Holy Spirit, he shall convict the world of sin and
of righteousness and of judgment. And I'm afraid that there's many
people today who profess to be believers, but they've never
felt conviction of sin, never known the burden of sin. They've just made a profession
of faith and gone on their happy way. But what a blessing, what
a rich grace is this, forgiveness of sins. And they're not partially
forgiven, they're all forgiven. and they're all forgiven through
the precious blood of Jesus Christ. A third, reconciliation through
his work as a mediator. Here we were, estranged from
God, enemy to God, enmity with God rather, and the Lord Jesus
Christ stood between us and reconciled us to God. We couldn't reconcile
ourselves. Never could have done that. And
yet he came. He came and reconciled us to
God. God is angry with the wicked
every day. We were wicked. But he's not
angry with us. He's not angry with his people.
Why? Because we've been reconciled. Reconciled. We have peace with
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. A fifth rich thing that
I thought of is adoption into the family of God. Adoption into
God's family. A household of faith. We're part
of it. We've been adopted. And that's
only through Christ. That's the only way that we could
come to know God as our father is through Christ. To have him
as our father. Adoption. As many as received
him, the Apostle John wrote, to them gave he the power to
become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his
name. So a greater than Solomon is
here. Solomon was rich, no doubt about it. He was wise, but a
greater than Solomon is here. And a third way that Solomon
may serve is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ by his name. and his peaceable reign. His
name and his peaceable reign. The name Solomon is taken from
a Hebrew word which means peaceful. I want you to look back with
me, if you will, in the Old Testament to 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles chapter seven. I'm sorry, 1 Chronicles chapter
22 and verse seven. And David said to Solomon, 1
Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 7, David said to Solomon, my
son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house unto the
name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came
to me saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made
great wars. Thou shalt not build an house
unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth
in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to
thee, who shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from
all his enemies round about, for his name shall be Solomon,
and I will give peace and quietness under Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my
name, and he shall be my son, and I will be his father, and
I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever."
Notice in those verses there, God told David that his son would
be a man of rest. and God promised peace and quietness
during his kingdom. A greater than Solomon is here,
for he is the prince of peace. You know, that's one of the titles
he was given through the prophet Isaiah. If you want to look there
in Isaiah chapter nine, Solomon, he was a man of peace. The Lord
told David he would be a peaceful, That's what his name means. But
in chapter 9 in verse 6 of Isaiah, the prophet said, for unto us
a child is born, unto us a son is given. Ain't that wonderful? I just can't pass over that.
The incarnation. He's a child born, but he's a
son given. Who is that? That's the Lord
Jesus Christ, isn't it? He's the Son given. God gave
His only begotten Son. But He's a child born. And His
name and the government shall be upon His shoulder. Remember
in the book of Revelation, He took that book and He's the one,
the only one, who could open the seals. The book was sealed
on the inside and the outside. The government is upon his shoulder. Who's running things? Who's in
control? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. And a lot of people say, well,
that's in the future. No, that's today. That's today. Right now, he's on the throne
of God. He's King of King. Lord of Lords,
and the government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace." Solomon's name was meant peaceful,
but a greater than Solomon is here. Here is the Prince of Peace. And then also in that text there
we read in 1 Chronicles 22, David said that he was told he shall
be a man of rest. Solomon, he would be a man of
rest. What a type that is of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is our rest, our Sabbath. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you what? Rest,
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. Amen. Rest. He is our rest. You know, the kingdom of God
is not meat and drink. Solomon's was. His kingdom was
meat and drink. It was a great kingdom, no doubt
about it. He ruled over a large, large
portion of the earth. But it was a kingdom of meat
and drink. The Lord's kingdom, the kingdom
of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. That's the kingdom of which we've
been translated into the kingdom of God's dear son, a kingdom
of righteousness, a kingdom of peace. We have peace with God. We have peace in our conscience.
We live in peace with others. Peace. I heard him playing that
hymn before the service just a few minutes ago. Peace, peace. God's wonderful peace coming
down from the Father above. Yes, praise God. His kingdom,
Solomon's kingdom was a great kingdom. But it wasn't anything
compared to the kingdom of Christ. A greater than Solomon is here.
Solomon reigned over his kingdom for 40 years. That was a long
reign. If you look back at the kings
of Israel, you will see that David reigned for 40 years, but
he didn't reign over all of Israel for 40 years. He reigned over
Judah several years, and then He became king over all of Israel,
and he reigned for 40 years. Those combinations, 40 years.
Solomon reigned over Israel for 40 years, but a greater than
Solomon is here. For his reign is not measured
by months and years, or decades, or centuries even. His kingdom
is forever and ever. No one will ever take his place
on that throne. And fourth, Solomon may serve
as a type of the Lord Jesus in building the temple of the Lord.
We know he built a magnificent temple. He said it had to be
magnificent because he was building a temple for the Lord God. And
it was magnificent. There's no question about it,
but you know, it was destroyed. The Babylonians burned it. It
was rebuilt and destroyed again. The Romans destroyed it. But
the temple of greater than Solomon is here because the temple that
the Lord Jesus Christ builds is his church. And it's built
upon this rock that is himself. And it's forever. It'll never
perish. Solomon's temple did. Look with
me in Ephesians 2, just a moment, this temple. And I have one other thing after
this, but a greater than Solomon is here, right? And wisdom, riches,
peace, the temple. Here in Ephesians chapter 2 and
beginning in verse 19, The Apostle Paul writing to Gentile
believers, now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of
God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
Who is the foundation of the apostles and prophets? Well,
there's only one foundation, isn't there? Jesus Christ, himself
being the chief cornerstone. And you know the cornerstone
connects the two sides, doesn't it? And in this context here,
Paul is writing to Gentile believers, but he is showing that Gentiles
are brought into the church and made fellow heirs with the Jews,
those who were the national descendants of Abraham. We were strangers
from the covenants of promise. We were without hope, he said
above this, in this world, without hope. We were far off from God. Let's see that verse. Let's look
back here in chapter 2. Yes, verse 12, that at that time
you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God in now, in Christ Jesus ye who were sometimes
far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us." You know that wall was the law,
the law that God had given to the nation of Israel. It kept
them separate. It was a wall that kept The Gentiles
on one side, the Jews on the other side. And God established
that until the seed came, until the promised seed came. But he
took those laws, those commandments, and he nailed them to his cross,
the scripture says. Yeah, he broke down that metal
wall, which was between us, between Jew and Gentile believers. having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments,
contained in ordinances for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace. Well, let's go back down in that
chapter. And are built, verse 20, 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. Remember Solomon's temple? There
was never the sound of a hammer while that temple was being constructed. Every stone was taken out of
the quarry and cut and measured so that when it was brought together,
it just all fit together. Well, this, in whom all the building
fitly framed together, growing. Here's a big difference, isn't
there? Solomon's temple didn't grow. It was made out of dead
stones. But this temple groweth as the
Lord saves and adds to his church such as are being saved. The
temple, it groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom you
also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the
Spirit. There's one other thing that
I wanted to mention. A greater than Solomon is here.
Solomon is a type of Christ in wisdom and riches, his name being
peace, building the temple, but glory, glory. Look in Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter 6, verse 29,
our Lord said, and yet I say unto you, the reason
he says this, verse 28, why take you thought for raiment? Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither
do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon, and all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these, a greater than
Solomon is here. Oh, he had glory, all right.
He had great glory, no doubt, as a king, as a wealthy king,
and as a reigning king over many people, but his glory, a greater
than Solomon is here, because his glory passed away, didn't
it? But the Lord Jesus Christ, one day He's going to come again
in the glory, the scripture says, of His holy angels. Verse 31
of chapter 25, when the Son of Man shall come in His glory,
and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the
throne of glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations.
The glory that Solomon had, no doubt it was great. It wasn't
as great as the lilies of the field, but it was great. But even the lilies of the field
pale in comparison to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
the king of glory. May the Lord bless these thoughts
and words to us here this evening.