“A Greater Than Solomon”

"A Greater Than Solomon"

(No. 3166)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1909.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 29,
1873.

"The Queen of the South shall rise up in thejudgment 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." Matthew 12:42.

WE cannot tell exactly who the Queen of the South was, nor exactly
where Sheba lay. The expression used is Yemen, the south. Yemen is the
name of a part of Arabia Felix and it would appear from the spices
which the Queen brought with her that she came from that region. At the
same time, the Abyssinians claim her as having been their queen. They
say that she was converted through her conversations with Solomon, that
afterwards the faith of God was preserved in the country, and hence
that that famous Ethiopian, who was a eunuch of great authority under
Candace in later times, was a proselyte to the Jewish faith on account
of that faith existing in Abyssinia. We do not know. It may have been
so and it is possible that the supposition of her having come from
Arabia–and the supposition of her having come from Abyssinia may both
be true–for it appears that the two countries were at one time under
the same government, both shores of the Red Sea making up in far
distant ages one empire. And she may have been the queen of both.

Very extraordinary are the stories which tradition has handed down with
regard to her–some of them not to be repeated–others of them, when
repeated, not at all ministering to the profit of the hearer. They tell
us of many things with which she tried Solomon. Among the rest there is
a tale of her bringing some flowers, artificial flowers most
beautifully made, so that no one could detect them and, putting before
Solomon the real and the manufactured, she asked him which were the
true flowers. The wise king simply ordered that the windows should be
opened and he observed to which flowers the bees flew–and at once knew
which were the true flowers of the gardens. Many other things are
reported concerning attempts she made to test him, but the king in
every case, of course, came off triumphant. Scripture has omitted these
because they would be of no spiritual use to us–and the Book was not
written to minister to curiosity, but to be helpful to the salvation of
our souls.

This evening all that we shall have to say about her will hang upon
this fact–that she came from the very ends of the earth, from a far
off and remote country–to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And that in this
she rebukes persons who lived in the age of Christ and, I also think we
had better come to make it practical, and say that she rebukes many of
us.

The points in which she rebukes us, or some of us, will be six. I will
mention them one by one.

I. The first is this. Her interest in Solomon was readily awakened. She
heard different reports concerning him and she took an interest in
them. She heard that he was the wisest of kings. Then she thought
within herself, "I would like to know wherein he is wise, and be a
partaker of his wisdom." She was told that he was the richest of
monarchs. Then she thought, "I would like to see something of his
glory–the vast magnificence with which he surrounds himself." Some
talked about that wonderful house which he had built for his God–the
Temple, a building so glorious that none had ever rivaled it, and she
said, "I should like to see it." They spoke of the mighty stones which
he had moved from afar, and squared and fashioned and dropped into
their places without the use of hammer or engraving tools and she
wondered how this was done. His wisdom, his wealth and his various
building works, no doubt, were told to her again and again. And she
sought out persons who could tell her yet more, gathered up all the
information possible and took an interest in it. I do not see so very
much that is commendable in that except that it shows that she was a
woman of mind–a woman of intelligence–that while many of her day
would have passed the matter over with, "Well, it may be so, but it is
noth-

ing to me," or would have made it a nine days wonder. She, on the other
hand, had her whole mind stirred by it, thought it over, and laid it to
heart.

Here is the point, however, at which the Savior aimed when He said that
she would rise up in judgment against many, "For," He said, "she took
an interest in Solomon, but you take no interest in Christ." A greater
than Solomon was in the streets of Jerusalem, but the mass of the
people cared not who He was! He went up and down the sacred land
proclaiming the Gospel–the bulk of the people took some interest in
the bread and the fish with which He fed them, but not in the Doctrine
which He taught! And while He claimed to be Divine, and asserted
Himself to be the Son of David and the King of the Jews–and also to be
the Son of God, God over All, blessed forever–great crowds turned away
from Him as though it was nothing at all to them and utterly despised
Him. Here was a woman, a stranger, a foreigner–not of Jewish race–and
yet her enquiring mind rendered her inquisitive about the great king
whose scepter of peace was swayed over so wide a territory! And here
were those who were of the same race as Jesus, who saw Him at their
doors and heard Him in their streets–and yet they passed Him by as
though it were a mere trifle with which they had no concern!

Now, in the present day, Jesus Christ is not here. He is risen and gone
back to His Father But His Gospel is with us, and every day it is
proclaimed. What multitudes gather together on the Sabbath, but out of
the great city of London how comparatively few are those multitudes,
for the mass of our fellow citizens do not attend the means of Grace at
all. It seems to be no matter of curiosity to them to know who the
Savior is, or how they can be saved by Him. It is enough to make the
heart bleed to think that next door to places where the Gospel is
proclaimed with the greatest power there will be found persons who
actually never enter within the place where it is preached–and who
have no care to enter, and who, if pressed to go and hear the Word,
would say that they did not care to do so! Nor is it merely those that
stay away. The worst of it is that many who do come yet come
carelessly. Perhaps many of you are well acquainted with the letter of
the Gospel, but you have never enquired into the spirit of it. You know
that Christ is a Savior, but yet you do not know what it is to be
saved! You hear that faith is the great instrument of salvation but you
have no faith and do not practically know what faith is. You have never
bestirred yourselves to make enquiry! You have not set yourselves down
doggedly to search into Scripture and see what is the Truth of God. You
have not turned over page after page to find what there is for you, or
promise after promise to see what promise you might lay hold of and
claim as your own. You have not stirred, though God is at your doors,
though Christ is close to you, though the Kingdom of God has come near
unto you! You are content to sit and listen to the Gospel which is more
precious than diamonds, and yet treat it as though it were a common
thing!

What would the dying give if they could have their Sabbaths back again?
What would the damned in Hell give if they could hear the Gospel once
more? What would we, any of us, give in the Day of Judgment if we could
once more stand where Mercy could deal with us and where the silver
scepter could be extended to us with the blessed invitation, "Believe
and live"? Ah, it seems to you, perhaps, child's play to preach and to
listen to sermons, but a day will come when this will be the most
solemn work of all! The greatest events of history are not the battles
of the conquerors, not the changes of dynasties, but the preaching or
the non-preaching of the Gospel–the putting of the candle into the
candlestick, or the taking of the candlestick out of its place! The
most important points in English history are the points where shone the
light of Christ's Cross, or the eras wherein that light was dimmed by
superstition! And to every unconverted person here the most important
thing is, if he did but know it, that he is still within Mercy's
reach–he is still where he may look to Jesus and be saved–he is still
where he is wooed and entreated to turn from the error of his ways that
he may live!

But, alas, it does not seem so to the most of men. They are all agog
about a racehorse or about a famous trial at law! They are all
concerned to talk about the rise and fall of markets and even such
silly things as the petty gossips of a street, or the little jangles of
a family circle. All these are thought worthy of immortal souls–but
that the eternal God bowed the heavens and came down to save men, that
the Infinite became an Infant, that the Ever-Blessed stooped to be spit
upon and to be despised and rejected of men, and that on the Cross He
offered up a propitiatory Sacrifice for human guilt– ah, this seems to
be a mere trifle, a thing for poor religious people to think over, but
not for your great wits and your smart intellects, not a subject worthy
of the young man who is in the prime of his abilities, or worthy of the
thoughtful man who is accustomed to revolve great themes in his mind! O
Queen of Sheba, you do condemn this listless generation! We can
scarcely get a hearing for Christ, the most of us who are Christ's
servants, and those of us who do win a hearing

have to strain our brain and tax our powers. Whereas if men were in
their senses, they would be glad to hear Jesus preached in the humblest
tone, and by the most illiterate of His ambassadors! Now we must seek
for illustrations and parables and proverbs and goodly words, or else
men's ears are like the adder's ears that are deaf and stopped. Oh, if
they were but wise–they would be glad to learn about Jesus Christ even
if the Gospel were put in the most dull form! And they would be pleased
to find Him to be their Savior whoevermight conduct them to Him!

Thus you see, then, first of all, the Queen of Sheba condemns many for
lack of interest in the Gospel.

II. Secondly, she equally condemns many for their lack of candor in
judging about the Savior. She was a candid woman. There was a rumor
about Solomon. Well, it is probable that she did not believe all the
rumor as it came to her. In fact, she told Solomon she did not believe
it. It seemed too good to be true, too great for her to receive it all.
She knew, as we do, that things that travel generally, like snowballs,
grow bigger as they roll, and that many a thing which is a Niagara ten
thousand miles away would dribble into a very small lake if it were
anywhere nearer home. Travelers proverbially take considerable license
and we are obliged, and we usually do, perhaps, too much diminish their
reports in order to get at the truth. Now, this woman was so candid
that she desired to hear more, and whenever a Phoenician boat touched
on her shore, she would enquire of those great navigators what they
knew concerning the prince who was in alliance with Hiram, their king.
Whenever a caravan came from the east, having crossed Solomon's
territory to go south, she would get hold of the most intelligent
persons of the caravan to learn a little more. And she weighed and
judged and estimated. She was not prejudiced. While she would not
swallow everything she was told, neither would she reject all, and say,
"I won't believe a word of it."

Oh, that men were candid toward the Gospel of Jesus Christ! But the
mass of men are prejudiced–prejudiced against the Savior and against
their own salvation. Men sit and make up their minds what the Gospel
ought to be, and then they do not come to hear what it is but to judge
what is preached by their own preconceived notions. Many are prejudiced
by their education. The errors of their father they endorse and the
mistakes of their mother seems to be a heritage entailed upon them.
They are not manly enough to think. Oh, a great change would come over
religious opinion in England if people were not led by that absurd idea
that they ought to be just what their parents were! If we once could
grow a race of men and women that would read the Scriptures for
themselves, and judge of Doctrines for themselves, we would have grand
times again! The most of men do not think. They want somebody to do
their thinking for them and they go to the place of worship simply to
suck in the thoughts of other people–not to judge for themselves! Oh,
a sorry matter it is to have a set of followers of that sort! A far
greater thing it is to be surrounded by independent spirits who have
bowed themselves personally before the shrine of the Truth of
God–sought for themselves to know what the Truth of God is– asked for
themselves the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and so have shaken
themselves clear of prejudice and come into the clear Light of God!

I am certain that if many who are now skeptics could but, by God's good
help, consider the questions which now they think they have decided,
they would alter their decision. I would like some men to think a
little about the fact that there are hundreds and even thousands of men
in this world of good repute–honest, sober men, the very best
witnesses that a lawyer would desire to put into the box, whom
everybody would believe–who all bear testimony that Jesus Christ has
been most precious to them! Without any discrepancy in their
statements, they declare that He gave peace to them when their
conscience was disturbed, that He has cured in them the love of sin and
incited them to seek after holiness. Now, it would be strange if all
these people were mistaken! There must be somethingin their
testimony–and every candid man ought to accept it as such and then go
on to try for himself whether it is so or not! The Queen of Sheba had
not many witnesses. Perhaps some of them were not very reliable. But
about Christ we have all the Prophets, the Apostles, all the saints
that followed after them and we have the witness and testimony of
hundreds at the present day who are all rejoicing in Christ and who
find Him to be precious to their souls! I do pray you, dear Hearers, if
you do not know the Gospel, never rest until you do! And in your search
after the Gospel, lay aside everything which would give a twist to your
judgment. WEIGH AND PROVE AND TEST. "To the Law and to the Testimony."
If what you hear preached is not according to that Word, it is because
there is no Light of God in it. Be as judicious and as candid in
weighing the evidences as was this Queen of Sheba!

III. But now again, thirdly, the queen is to be commended and she
judges us because after having her curiosity aroused, and having
candidly weighed evidence, she proceeded to make personal
investigation. She did not send an ambassador to see if it were true.
That might have helped her, but it would not have satisfied her.
Neither did she want to pick up further evidence from others. But, as
long as the distance was, she set off to see for herself! There is
nothing like that. If a man wants to know, he had better sift the
evidence himself! "Seeing," she said, "is believing. I will try this
matter and if I find it so, all very well–my assurance will be doubly
sure."

Now, in the matter of the things of Jesus Christ, it is hard to bring
men to test Him themselves, and yet there is no other way of knowing
Him. As I have already said, the Queen of Sheba might have known
something about Solomon by sending an ambassador, but we cannot know
Christ to any purpose by sending the best possible proxy. We must go to
Him ourselves. Now every man shall be commended, as well as the Queen
of Sheba, who shall say in himself, "I hear that faith in Jesus Christ
quiets the conscience. My conscience is disturbed, so I will go and see
what reason there is to trust in Christ. I will see who He is and what
He has done. If I spend night after night in searching it out, I will
find out what this plan of salvation is which, it is said, affords this
peace. And I will try it for myself."

O, Beloved, I am not afraid of what the result would be! It has never
been my misfortune, yet, to meet with one who said, "I sought the
Savior and I have not found Him," or, "finding Him I did not find peace
to my spirit," No, and it shall not be so. No one that trusts in Him
shall be condemned. There is the matter of faith in prayer, too. You
are told repeatedly that there is a prayer-hearing God, that answers to
prayer are received. Now, the best way about that is not to read an
article against prayer, or to study a book on it, or to weigh
theoretically the likelihood or the unlikelihood of the case, but to
try it–try it for yourselves! And those who have resorted to God's
Mercy Seat in prayer have unanimously been compelled to bear witness
that there is a power in prayer. "Whether or not God can renew my soul
if I go and confess my sin to Him is a question, but it is a question I
mean to have solved." Every wise man will say that. "Whether or not
there is power in the Gospel of Christ to lift me up from the ruins of
the Fall and make me a new man, may be a question–but it is a question
that I will try for myself. I will not leave it to the opinion of this
or that. The sneer of the skeptic shall not make me doubt it and the
assurance of the confident professor shall not make me certain of it. I
will go and try for myself and see."

I wish you would even come and try Christ with your hard questions, as
this Queen of Sheba did Solomon. Come and see whetherHe can forgive
great sins. Come andsee whether He can help you ingreat trials. Come
and bring to Him your great doubts and your grievous distresses. Come
and tell Him of your despair and your horrible thoughts, and the
blasphemous questions that creep through your mind. Come and see
whether He is a Savior able to save you. It will be a new thing if He
shall have to say, "You are beyond My power. You have sinned beyond the
reach of My love." Come and try Him, I say, with your hardest question
and most difficult case–and you shall only prove the Truth of His
Word–"Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out." The Queen of
Sheba went for herself, and that is the point. Come see for yourselves.
May the Spirit of God help you to do so.

IV. The fourth point in which she deserves our imitation is this–that
in coming to Solomon she was not to be deterred by great difficulties.
She was a queen. Must she leave her government? How can that be done?
Suppose while she was away there should be a rebellion and a riot?
Great lords and counselors might object to the absence of the supreme
power, and there might come serious damage to the State through the
absence of the royal authority. Never mind! She would waive that, and
she considered that she could afford to run that risk if she might but
know something of the wisdom of Solomon. Then it was a very long
journey. Our Lord called it the ends of the earth, and journeys in
those days were far longer than now–when they had to travel across
deserts–places where there were no roads, scarcely a goat path. This
great woman had to gather together a whole train of servants, for she
could not travel as an ordinary person might. She must take with her,
in fact, a very great army of attendants–and it might be that the
tribes through whose territory she passed would rise in arms against
her! She might be waylaid by robbers, or if not by ordinary robbers
because her train was too strong, then the very strength of her train
would provoke the hostility of the various kings through whose
territory she passed.

She must have been a bold woman to undertake such a journey. It must
have been extremely expensive and wondrous-ly hazardous. And yet,
whatever it might cost her, she was so enamored of wisdom, so fond of
that which instructs the mind that she must go to hear for herself the
wisdom of Solomon! But now-a-days, oh, how little a thing keeps men
from seeking the wisdom of Christ who is far greater than Solomon! To
go up to the house of God to hear about Him is sometimes wonderfully
difficult. Persons go out on Monday to business who cannot go out on
Sunday. It is raining on Sunday

and it is very curious how rain on Sunday will keep some people
in–their health is so weak–though the same rain on Monday does not
affect them at all in that particular way! Have you never observed how
some persons appear to be periodically ill on Sundays? That seems to be
a favorite day for being ill! And then they will say they cannot walk
so far and they would object to ride, the objection probably being to
going at all! And then you will hear persons say, "Well, I found that I
must stay at home with this child," or, "I had something that must be
done in the family." You do not make those excuses if there is going to
be a party to which you are invited, or if there is some festival to be
held. Then they make up their mind to go. To go and hear some
attractive man, or to hear the voice of some sweet singer–that may be
managed! But to go and hear of Jesus Christ, well, they cannot–they
cannot manage it. It is too difficult. There is a lion in the way–they
cannot do it.

And then, after they have heard of Christ, when it comes to following
Him, you will hear them say, "Do you know, if I were really to believe
the Gospel and follow Christ, why, my friends would altogether forsake
me! I could not do it. I should sink in society. I should not be
admitted into the circles where I am now received with admiration!" One
man says, "I do not see how I could carry on my trade." Another says,
"My mother would persecute me." Another observes, "I am sure my father
and my brothers would ridicule me out of it. It could not be." They
cannot make any journey to go to Jesus. They cannot bear any risks for
Jesus, though the Queen of Sheba could risk everything to hear the
wisdom of Solomon! Oh, in those old days when Christ was preached on
the sly, down in the dark catacombs of Rome, servants at the peril of
their lives stole away from their masters' houses at the dead of night
to hear the Gospel preached! And in later times of persecution, every
man that went to sermon went knowing that if he were
caught–imprisonment, the rack and perhaps death would be the
result–yet they chose to go! They hungered and thirsted after the
Bread of Life! Then they followed the preacher–secret signals being
given–and listened to him wherever the congregation was summoned.

Do not those people put us to the blush? But now, when we have next to
nothing to suffer–for really, persecution has become almost a myth
compared with what it used to be when Smithfield's stakes became fiery
chariots for God's Elijahs–now we find soft beings that do not dare to
think! Oh, I would scorn to be what some people are–the slaves of
their neighbors and their friends!They are always asking, "What will
Mrs. Grundy say? What will fashion think about it? What will the
neighbors think of it?" Why, to a brave spirit it might almost tempt us
to do–I was going to say to do wrong, to escape from the shackles of
always being bound by custom! But certainly in the doing right, he is
not worthy of the name of man–and never shall be called a
Christian–who is always putting such difficulties as these before
himself and fearing the face of his fellow man! God grant us Grace to
be willing to lose everything if we may find Christ– and to sacrifice
all esteem and friendship if we may but be honest and faithful servants
of our great Lord and Master!

V. Now, there is another point in which the Queen of Sheba is to be
greatly admired. I will be brief upon it and it was this–that when she
came to Solomon and had seen his wisdom, she was quick to acknowledge
what she had learned. She said to Solomon that there was no spirit left
in her at the sight of what she had seen and that the half had not been
told her.

Now here I shall speak rather to Christians who know Christ than to
others. My dear Friends, there is among you who know the Lord a great
deal too much reticence–quietness about what you know. I do not like a
man who is so expressive that he says a great deal more than he knows.
There are some such. On the other hand, it is an injurious thing to
know much of the things of God, but to be anxious to conceal rather
than to publish! If our religion had any lies in it, it might be well
to hide it away. If our religion tended to sin, we might well be so
ashamed of it as never to mention it. But since the telling of the
Gospel can never do anybody any hurt–it must always do good since
there is nothing in our religion we need to blush at, since there is
everything in it of which we may glory and in which we may boast–we
cannot too often publish abroad what we know concerning our dear Lord
and Master. And I ask my dear Brothers and Sisters here. I ask them
very gently, and pray that their conscience may give the answer–do you
not think, dear Friends, that sometimes you have been too quiet about
the things of God? In your own family circle, for instance, have you
not said a great deal less than you ought to have said about the
Master? "I have been afraid of being obtrusive," says one. A very
proper fear, too, for some people–but that fear may be run too hard
until we might be afraid of another thing, namely, "I was afraid of
being cowardly." Do you not think that oftentimes when we say to
ourselves, "I didn't want to intrude," the English of it is that we had
not the courage to speak, or we thought it the easiest thing to hold
our tongue? And may not it really be that we have not zeal enough? And
if we had more love to Christ we would often speak where now we are
very quiet? When you have weighed the things concerning Christ and,
above all, have tasted them and tested them for yourself, is it not due
to the Lord Jesus that you should bear your testimony?.

There has been a great trial going on about the Savior, Jesus Christ,
for many a day. Some say, "He is a good Man." "No," say others, "but He
deceives the people." Some say, "He is the Son of God." Others say,
"No, He is not." Now, if you know, and know by the best possible means,
namely, by personal knowledge–by experience, by testing and trying–do
not stand back, but go into court! Take your place as a witness and
bear your evidence, for when the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the Glory
of His Father, with all His holy angels with Him, I for one shall feel
it a very sweet thing to be able to say, "There He is! There He is!
They mocked Him, they despised Him, they called Him impostor. They said
that He was not Divine–they would not have Him for their Savior. But I
was accustomed to stand up and say I knew Him to be the chief among ten
thousand and the altogether lovely." I think when I rise from my grave
it will be no small consolation to feel, "I was on His side. I was
always on His side. I stood up for Him. It was with a poor feeble
testimony that was marred in a thousand ways, but still I was on His
side." I should like–oh, my Brothers and Sisters, I would have all of
you to be so bearing your witness for Jesus–so lovingly, so wisely, so
continually, so honestly, so completely that when the Lord came, you,
too, may be able to say, "I did not deny Him before men. I was not
ashamed of Him. I did confess Him"–for then, remember, His promise is
He will confess you before His Father and before the holy angels! When
you shall come up ashamed, as it were, and trembling, and the question
will be asked, "Who is this man? Does anybody know him?" and you feel
in your soul, as it were, as if you expected to be unknown and to be
driven into banishment, Christ will say, "O My Father, I knew him. I
knew him. Angels, listen! I knew him. This poor man confessed me in
Baptism." "This poor woman used to confess Me before her neighbors in
the court." This merchant lost some of his trade because he followed Me
so closely." "This little child acknowledged Me, though her father
mocked Me." This young woman was accustomed to follow My rules and
Laws, and to live near to Me though all around her were Godless and
Christless." O, Beloved, do imitate, then, the Queen of Sheba–what you
know, tell out! Admit it and glorify the greater than Solomon about it!

VI. The last point about her was this–that after Solomon had told her
all that she asked, she gave to Solomon so great a treasure that, rich
as he was, it is said he had never had such a treasure before, or even
afterwards–she brought to him such costly precious things and she gave
them freely. He gave her abundance in return. In the exchange, I do not
suppose she was a loser, but still her heart was so full of
thankfulness for what she had learned that she could not but make an
offering unto the king who had been her instructor. I wish all
Christians would imitate her in this. If we have salvation from Christ,
let us never count the giving of our substance to Him to be any
hardship. Let us not need to be pressed to give, or begged to give, or
incited to give by the example of other people–let us do it
conscientiously, out of love to Him, doing it as unto Him.

I heard of a gentleman some time ago who gave a sum of money to a
Chapel and said to his minister that he might put that down as the
widow's mite, but his minister said, "No, Sir, I don't think I would
like to take so much as that from you." "How is that, Sir?" "Why," said
the minister, "if you had given me only half the widow's mite, that
would satisfy me." "What do you mean?" "Well," he said, "if you would
give me £50,000 that would satisfy me well. That is half the widow's
mite." "How so, Sir?" "Why," he said, "to my knowledge you are worth a
hundred thousand pounds. The widow's mite was all that she had. I won't
take as much as thatfrom you. I shall be quite satisfied if you will
give half the widow's mite." I thought the man who called his offering
by that sacred name, "the widow's mite," deserved the rebuke that he
received! Though we have not to give all we have as she did, we should
give till we feel it–and I think that we do not give much until we
begin to feel the pinch–until we feel it! We have not done much for a
friend if we have only given him our superfluities. True love proves
itself when it comes to something like self-denial, but how few of
God's servants ever reach to self-denial for Jesus? They could not
remember, if they sat down, that they ever denied themselves a penny's
worth of anything to eat or drink, or denied themselves a pound's worth
of finery, or a comfort in their homes, or anything else for the sake
of Christ! We should do better if we could get to feel that we love
Christ so much that we could not give too much to Him.

Oh, dear Brothers and Sisters, I invite you all–and I ask that I may
be able myself–to give to our Lord, who is greater than Solomon, our
whole being, every power of thought and expression, every faculty of
affection or of judgment–all that we are and all that we have, for if
we gave Christ our gold and nothing more, He would not accept it! He

wants us to live from morning's light to evening's shade for Him–to
eat and drink and sleep to His Glory–to do all to His honor. This is
the obligation of the Christian and this his truest privilege. May the
Spirit of God help us rise to this, so that when we came to see King
Solomon and learn His wisdom, and behold the splendor of His palace, we
may feel that He has got our hearts to be entirely His own, His portion
and His treasure, forever and forever! God bless you, dear Friends,
this night, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW12:38-42.

Verses 38, 39. Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees
answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from You. But He answered
and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a
sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the
Prophet Jonas. The Pharisees change their manner, but they are in
pursuit of the same object. How hopeless had the religionists of that
age become! Nothing would convince them. They manifested their hate of
the Lord Jesus by ignoring all the wonders He had worked. What further
signs could they seek than those He had already given? Pretty enquirers
these! They treat all the miracles of our Lord as if they had never
occurred! Well might the Lord call them, "evil and adulterous," since
they were so given to personal lasciviousness and were spiritually so
untrue to God. We have those among us now who are so brazen as to treat
all the achievements of Evangelical Doctrines as if they were nothing,
and talk to us as if no result had followed the preaching of the
Gospel. There is need of great patience to deal wisely with such.

40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
so shall the Son ofMan be three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth. The great sign of our Lord's mission is His Resurrection and
His preparing a Gospel of salvation for the heathen. His life is well
symbolized by that of Jonah. They cast our Lord overboard, even as the
sailors did the man of God. The sacrifice of Jonah calmed the sea for
the mariners–our Lord's death made peace for us. Our Lord was a while
in the heart of the earth as Jonah was in the depth of the sea but He
rose again, and His ministry was full of the power of His Resurrection.
As Jonah's ministry was certified by his restoration from the sea, so
is our Lord's ministry attested by His rising from the dead. The man
who had come back from death and burial in the sea commanded the
attention of all Nineveh, and so does the risen Savior demand and
deserve the obedient faith of all to whom His message comes!

41. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and
shall condemn it because they repented at thepreaching of Jonas; and
behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The heathen of Nineveh were
convinced by the sign of a Prophet restored from burial in the sea. And
moved by that event, they repented at his preaching. Without quibble or
delay they put the whole city in mourning and pleaded with God to turn
from His anger. Jesus came with a clearer command of repentance, and a
brighter promise of deliverance–but He spoke to stubborn hearts. Our
Lord reminds the Pharisees of this and, as they were the most Jewish of
Jews, they were touched to the quick by the fact that heathens
perceived what Israel did not understand, and that Ninevites repented
while Jews were hardened!

All men will rise at the judgment– " The men of Nineveh shall rise."
The lives of penitents will condemn those who did not repent! The
Ninevites will condemn the Jews "because they repented at the preaching
of Jonas." And the Jews did not. Those who heard Jonah and repented
will be swift witnesses against those who heard Jesus and refused His
testimony.

The standing witness to our Lord is His Resurrection from the dead. God
grant that everyone of us, believing that unquestionable fact, may be
so assured of His mission, that we may repent and believe the Gospel.

RESURRECTION is one proof. In fact, it is THE SIGN, although, as we
shall see, it is supplemented by another. The two will convince us or
condemn us.

42. 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. The second sign of our Lord's mission is HIS KINGLY
WISDOM. As the fame of Solomon brought the Queen of the South from the
uttermost parts of the earth, so does the Doctrine of our Lord command
attention from the utmost isles of the sea. If Israel perceives not His
glorious wisdom, Ethiopia and Seba shall hear of it and come bowing
before Him. The Queen of Sheba will rise again, and will "rise up"as a
witness against unbelieving Jews, for she journeyed far to hear
Solomon, while they would not hear the Son of God, Himself, who came
into their midst. The superlative excellence of His wisdom stands for
our Lord as a sign which can never be effectually disputed. What other
teaching meets all the needs of men? Who else has revealed such Grace
and Truth? He is infinitely greater than Solomon, who from a moral
point of view exhibited a sorrowful littleness. Who but the Son of God
could have made known the Father as He has done?