A Greater Than Solomon

Delivered on Lord's-Day Evening, February 6th, 1881, by

C. H. SPURGEON,

At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

Behold a greater than Solomon is here''Luke 11:31.

OUR FIRST thought is that no mere man would have said this concerning
himself unless he had been altogether eaten up with vanity; for Solomon
was among the Jews the very ideal of greatness and wisdom. It would be
an instance of the utmost self-conceit if any mere man were to say of
himself''A greater than Solomon is here.' Any person who was really
greater and wiser than Solomon would be the last man to claim such
preeminence. A wise man would never think of it; a prudent man would
never say it. The Lord Jesus Christ, if we regard Him as a mere man,
would have never uttered such an expression, for a more modest,
self-forgetting man was never found in all our race. View it on the
supposition that the Christ of Nazareth was a mere man, and I say that
His whole conduct was totally different from the spirit which would
have suggested an utterance like this''A greater Solomon is here.' For
men to compare themselves with one another is not wise, and Christ was
wise; it is not humble, and Christ was humble. He would not have thus
spoken if there had not been cause and reason in His infinitely
glorious nature. It was because the divinity within Him must speak out.
For God to say that He is greater than all His creatures is no
boasting; for what are they in His sight? All worlds are but sparks
from the anvil of His omnipotence. Space, time, eternity, all these are
as nothing before Him; and for Him to compare or even to contrast
Himself with one of His own creatures is supreme condescension, let Him
word the comparison how He may. It was the divine within our Lord which
made Him say'and not even then with a view to exalt Himself, but with a
view to point the moral that He was trying to bring before the
people''A greater than Solomon is here.' He did as good as say, 'The
queen of the south came from a distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
but you refuse to hear me. She gave attention to a man, but you will
not regard your God. You will not listen to me incarnate Deity who
tells you words of infinite, infallible wisdom.' Our Lord Jesus is
aiming at His hearers' good, and where the motive is so disinterested
there remains no room for criticism. He tells them that He is greater
than Solomon, to convince them of the greatness of their crime in
refusing to listen to the messages of love with which His lips were
loaded. Foreigners came from afar to Solomon; but 1, says He, have come
to your door, and brought infinite wisdom into your very gates, and yet
you refuse me. Therefore the queen of the south shall rise up in
judgment against you, for, in rejecting me, you reject a greater than
Solomon.

The second thought that comes to one's mind is this: notice the
self-consciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He knows who He is, and what He is, and He is not lowly in spirit
because He is ignorant of His own greatness. He was meek and lowly in
heart'Servus servorum,' as the Latins were wont to call Him, Servant of
servants,' but all the while He knew that He was Rex regum, or King of
kings. He takes a towel and He washes His disciples' feet; but all the
while He knows that He is their Master and their Lord. He associates
with publicans and harlots, and dwells with the common people; but all
the while He knows that He is the only begotten of the Father. He sits
as a child, in the temple hearing and asking questions of the rabbis;
He stands among His disciples as though He were one of themselves,
conversing with the ignorant and foolish of the day, seeking their
good; but He knows that He is not one of them; He knows that He has
nothing to learn from them: He knows that he is able to teach senates
and to instruct kings and philosophers, for he is greater than Solomon.
He wears a peasant's garb, and has not where to lay His head; but He
knows that, whatever the lowliness of His condition, He is greater than
Solomon; He lets us perceive that he knows it, that all may understand
the love which brought Him down so low. It is grand humility on
Christ's part that He condescends to be our servant, our Saviour, when
He is so great that the greatest of men are as nothing before Him. He
counted it not robbery to be equal with God': mark that; and yet He
made himself of no reputation.' Some people do not know their own
worth, and so, when they stoop to a lowly office it is no stoop to
their minds, for they do not know their own abilities. They do not know
to what they are equal; but Christ did know: He knew all about His own
Deity, and His own wisdom and greatness as man. I admire, therefore,
the clear understanding which sparkles in His deep humiliation, like a
gem in a dark mine. He is not one who stoops down according to the old
rhyme'

As needs he must who cannot sit upright;

but He is One who comes down wittingly from His throne of glory,
marking each step and fully estimating the descent which He is making.
The cost of our redemption was known to Him, and He endured the cross,
despising the shame. Watts well sings'

This was compassion like a God,

That when the Saviour knew

The price of pardon was his blood,

His pity ne'er withdrew.

Brethren, if our Saviour Himself said that He was greater than Solomon,
you and I must fully believe it, enthusiastically own it, and prepare
to proclaim it. If others will not own it, let us be the more prompt to
confess it. If He Himself had to say, before they would own it, A
greater than Solomon is here,' let it not be necessary that the
encomium should be repeated, but let us all confess that He is indeed
greater than Solomon. Let us go home with this resolve in our minds,
that we will speak greater things of Christ than we have done, that we
will try to love Him more and serve Him better, and make Him in our own
estimation and in the world's greater than He has ever been. Oh for a
glorious high throne to set Him on, and a crown of stars to place upon
His head! Oh to bring nations to His feet! I know my words cannot honor
Him according to His merits: I wish they could. I am quite sure to fail
in my own judgment when telling out His excellence; indeed, I grow less
and less satisfied with my thoughts and language concerning Him. He is
too glorious for my feeble language to describe Him. If I could speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, I could not speak worthily of
Him. If I could borrow all the harmonies of heaven, and enlist every
harp and song of the glorified, yet were not the music sweet enough for
His praises. Our glorious Redeemer is ever blessed: let us bless Him.
He is to be extolled above the highest heavens; let us sound forth His
praises. Oh for a well-tuned harp! May the Spirit of God help both
heart and lip to extol Him at this hour.

First, then, we shall try to draw a parallel between Jesus and Solomon;
and, secondly, we will break away front all comparisons, and show where
there cannot be any parallel between Christ and Solomon at all.

I. First, then, BETWEEN CHRIST AND SOLOMON there are some points of
likeness.

When the Saviour Himself gives us a comparison it is a clear proof that
a likeness was originally intended by the Holy Spirit, and therefore we
may say without hesitation that Solomon was meant to be a type of
Christ. I am not going into detail, nor am I about to refine upon small
matters; but I shall give you five points in which Solomon was
conspicuously like to Christ, and in which our Lord was greater than
Solomon. O for help in the great task before me.

And, first, in wisdom. Whenever you talked about Solomon to a Jew his
eyes began to flash with exultation; his blood leaped in his veins with
national pride. Solomon'that name brought to mind the proudest time of
David's dynasty, the age of gold. Solomon, the magnificent, why,
surely, his name crowns Jewish history with glory, and the brightest
beam of that glory is his wisdom. In the east, and I think I may say in
the west, it still remains a proverb, To be as wise as Solomon.' No
modern philosopher or learned monarch has ever divided the fame of the
son of David, whose name abides as the synonym of wisdom. Of no man
since could it be said as of him, And all the kings of the earth sought
the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his
heart.' He intermeddled with all knowledge, and was a master in all
sciences. He was a naturalist: and he spoke of trees from the cedar
trees that are in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of
the wall: he spoke also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things,
and of fishes.' He was an engineer and architect, for he wrote: I made
me great works; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me
gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of
fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that
bringeth forth trees.' He was one who understood the science of
government' politician of the highest order. He was everything, in
fact. God gave him wisdom and largeness of heart, says the Scripture,
like the sand of the sea: and Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of
all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For
he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezralite, and Heman, and
Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations
round about.' Yes; but our Saviour knows infinitely more than Solomon.
I want you tonight to come to Him just as the Queen of Sheba came to
Solomon, only for weightier reasons. You do not want to learn anything
concerning architecture or navigation, agriculture or anatomy. You want
to know only how you shall be built up a spiritual house, and how you
shall cross those dangerous seas which lie between this land and the
celestial city. Well, you may come to Jesus and He will teach you all
that you need to know, for all wisdom is in Christ. Our divine Saviour
knows things past and present and future: the secrets of God are with
Him. He knows the inmost heart of God, for no one knoweth the Father
save the Son and He to whom the Son shall reveal Him. To Him it is
given to take the book of prophetic decree and loose the seven seals
thereof. Come, then, to Christ Jesus if you want to know the mind of
God, for it is written that He is made unto us wisdom.' Solomon might
have wisdom, but he could not be wisdom to others; Christ Jesus is that
to the full. In the multifarious knowledge which He possesses'the
universal knowledge which is stored up in Him'there is enough for your
guidance and instruction even to the end of life, however intricate and
overshadowed your path may be.

Solomon proved his wisdom in part by his remarkable inventions. We
cannot tell what Solomon did not know. At any rate, no man knows at
this present moment how those huge stones, which have lately been
discovered, which were the basis of the ascent by which Solomon went up
to the house of the Lord, were ever put into their places. Many of the
stones of Solomon's masonry are so enormous that scarcely could any
modern machinery move them; and without the slightest cement they are
put together so exactly that the blade of a knife could not be inserted
between them. It is marvelous how the thing was done. How such great
stones were brought from their original bed in the quarry'how the whole
building of the temple was executed'nobody knows. The castings in brass
and silver are scarcely less remarkable. No doubt many inventions have
passed away from the knowledge of modern times, inventions as
remarkable as those of our own age. We are a set of savages that are
beginning to learn something, but Solomon knew and invented things
which we shall, perhaps, rediscover in 500 years time. By vehement
exertion this boastful nineteenth century, wretched century as it is,
will crawl towards the wisdom which Solomon possessed ages ago. Yet is
Jesus greater than Solomon. As for inventions, Solomon is no inventor
at all compared with Him who said, Deliver him from going down into the
pit, for I have found a ransom.' O Saviour, didst thou find out the way
of our salvation? Didst thou bring into the world and carry out and
execute the way by which hell-gate should be closed, and heaven-gate,
once barred, should be set wide open? Then, indeed, art thou wiser than
Solomon. Thou art the deviser of salvation, the architect of the
church, the author and finisher of our faith.

Solomon has left us some very valuable booksthe Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
and the matchless Song. But, oh, the words of Solomon fall far short of
the words of Jesus Christ, for they are spirit and life.. The power of
the word of Jesus is infinitely greater than all the deep sayings of
the sage. Proverbial wisdom cannot match His sayings, nor can The
Preacher' rival His sermons, and even the divine Song itself would
remain without a meaning'an allegory never to be explained'if it were
not that Christ Himself is the sum and substance of it. Solomon may
sing of Christ, but Christ is the substance of the song. He is greater
than Solomon in His teachings, for His wisdom is from above, and leads
men up to heaven. Blessed are they that sit at His feet.

Again, Solomon showed His wisdom in difficult judgments. You know how
he settled the question between the two women concerning the child;
many other puzzles Solomon solved, and many other knots Solomon was
able to untie. He was a great ruler and governor'a man wise in
politics, in social economy, and in commerce'wise in all human
respects. But a greater than Solomon is present where Christ is. There
is no difficulty which Christ cannot remove, no knot which He cannot
untie, no question which He cannot answer. You may bring your hard
questions to Him, and He will answer them; and if you have any
difficulty on your heart tonight, do but resort to the Lord Jesus
Christ in prayer, and search His word, and you shall hear a voice as
from the sacred oracle, which shall lead you in the path of safety.

My point at this time, especially as we are coming to the Communion
table, is this: I want you that love the Lord Jesus Christ to believe
in His infinite wisdom, and come to Him for direction. I fear that when
you are in trouble, you half suppose that the great keeper of Israel
must have made a mistake. You get into such an intricate path that you
say, Surely, my Shepherd has not guided me aright.' Never think so.
When you are poor and needy still say, This my poverty was ordained by
a greater than Solomon.' What if you seem to be deprived of every
comfort, and you are brought into a strange and solitary way, where you
find no city to dwell in? Yet a guide is near, and that guide is not
foolish; but a greater than Solomon is here. I think I look tonight
into a great furnace. It is so fierce that I cannot bear to gaze into
its terrible blaze. For fear my eyeballs should utterly fail me and
lose the power of sight through the glare of that tremendous flame, I
turn aside, for the fury of its flame overpowers me. But when I am
strengthened to look again I see ingots of silver refining in the white
heat, and I note that the heat is tempered to the last degree of
nicety. I watch the process to the end, and I say, as I behold those
ingots brought out all clear and pure, refined from all dross, and
ready for the heavenly treasury, Behold, a greater than Solomon was in
that furnace work.' So you will find it, O sufferer. Infinite wisdom is
in your lot. Come, poor child, do not begin to interfere with your
Saviour's better judgment, but let it order all things. Do not let your
little Know' ever rise up against the great knowledge of your dear
Redeemer. Think of this when you wade in deep waters and comfortably
whisper to yourself''A greater than Solomon is here.'

I have not time to enlarge, and therefore I would have you notice,
next, that our Lord Jesus Christ is greater than Solomon in wealth.
This was one of the things for which Solomon was noted. He had great
treasures: he made gold to be as stones, and as for silver it was
little accounted of,' so rich did he become. He had multitudes of
servants. I think he had 60,000 hewers in the mountains hewing out
stones and wood, so numerous were the workmen he employed. His court
was magnificent to the last degree. When you read of the victuals that
were prepared to feed the court, and of the stately way in which
everything was arranged from the stables of the horses upwards to the
ivory throne, you feel, like the queen of Sheba, utterly astonished,
and say, The half was not told me.' But, oh, when you consider all the
wealth of Solomon, what poor stuff it is compared with the riches that
are treasured up in Christ Jesus. Beloved, He who died upon the cross,
and was indebted to a friend for a grave; He who was stripped even to
the last rag ere He died; He who possessed no wealth but that of sorrow
and sympathy, yet had about Him the power to make many rich, and He has
made multitudes rich'rich to all the intents of everlasting bliss; and
therefore He must be rich Himself. Is He not rich who enriches
millions? Why, our Lord Jesus Christ, even by a word, comforted those
that were bowed down. When He stretched out His hand He healed the sick
with a touch. There was a wealth about His every movement. He was a
full man, full of all that man could desire to be full of; and now,
seeing that He has died and risen again, there is in Him a wealth of
pardoning love, a wealth of saving power, a wealth of intercessory
might before the Father's throne, a wealth of all things by which He
enriches the sons of men, and shall enrich them to all eternity.

I want this truth to come home to you: I want you to recognize the
riches of Christ, you that are His people; and, in addition, to
remember the truth of our hymn'

Since Christ is rich can I be poor?

What can I want besides?

I wish we could learn to reckon what we are by what Christ is. An old
man said, I am very old; I have lost my only son; I am penniless; and,
worst of all, I am blind. But,' added he, this does not matter, for
Christ is not infirm; Christ is not aged; Christ has all riches; and
Christ is not blind; and Christ is mine; and I have all things in Him.'
Could you not get hold of that somehow, brothers and sisters? Will not
the Holy Spirit teach you the art of appropriating the Lord Jesus and
all that He is and has. If Christ be your representative, why, then you
are rich in Him. Go to Him to be enriched. Suppose I were to meet a
woman, and I knew her husband to be a very wealthy man, and that he
loved her very much, and she were to say to me, I am dreadfully poor; I
do not know where to get raiment and food.' Oh,' I should say, That
woman is out of her mind.' If she has such a husband, surely she has
only to go to him for all that she needs. And what if nothing is
invested in her name, yet it is in his name, and they are one, and he
will deny her nothing.' I should say, My good woman, you must not talk
in that fashion, or I will tell your husband of you.' Well, I think
that I shall have to say the same of you who are so very poor and cast
down, and yet are married to Jesus Christ. I shall have to tell your
Husband of you, that you bring such complaints against Him, for all
things are yours, for ye are Christ's and Christ is God's; wherefore,
lift up the hands that hang down, and confirm the feeble knees'; use
the knees of prayer and the hand of faith, and your estate will well
content you. Do not think, that you are married to Rehoboam, who will
beat you with scorpions, for you are joined to a greater than Solomon.
Do not fancy that your heavenly Bridegroom is a beggar. All the wealth
of eternity and infinity is His; how can you say that you are poor
while all that He has is yours?

Now, thirdly, and very briefly indeed. There was one point about
Solomon in which every Israelite rejoiced, namely that he was the
prince of peace. His name signifies peace. His father, David, was a
great warrior, but Solomon had not to carry on war. His power was such
that no one dared to venture upon a conflict with so great and potent a
monarch. Every man throughout Israel sat under his vine and figtree,
and no man was afraid. No trumpet of invader was heard in the land.
Those were halcyon days for Israel when Solomon reigned. Ah, but in
that matter a greater than Solomon is here; for Solomon could not give
his subjects peace of mind, he could not bestow upon them rest of
heart, he could not ease them of their burden of guilt, or draw the
arrow of conviction from their breast and heal its smart. But I preach
to you tonight that blessed divine Man of Sorrows who has wrought out
our redemption, and who is greater than Solomon in His peace-giving
power. Oh, come and trust Him. Then shall your peace be as a river, and
your righteousness like the waves of the sea.' Am I addressing one of
God's people who is sorely troubled, tumbled up and down in his
thoughts? Brother or sister, do not think that you must wait a week or
two before you can recover your peace. You can become restful in a
moment, for He is our peace''even He Himself, and He alone. And, oh, if
you will but take Him at once, laying hold upon Him by the hand of
faith as your Saviour, this Man shall be the peace even when the
Assyrian shall come into the land. There is no peace like the peace
which Jesus gives; it is like a river, deep, profound, renewed, ever
flowing, overflowing, increasing and widening into an ocean of bliss.
The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your
heart and mind, through Jesus Christ.' Oh, come to Him. Come to Him at
this moment. Do not remain an hour away from your Noah, or rest, for
with Him in the ark your weary wing shall be tired no longer. You shall
be safe and restful the moment you return to Him. The fruit of the
Spirit is joy. I want you to get that joy and to enter into this peace.
Blessed combination, joy and peace! Peace, peace, there is music in the
very word: get it from Him who is the Word, and whose voice can still a
storm into a calm. A greater than Solomon is here to give you that
peace; beat the sword of your inward warfare, into the plow-share of
holy service; no longer sound an alarm, but blow up the trumpet of
peace in this day of peace.

A fourth thing for which Solomon was noted was his great works. Solomon
built the temple; which was one of the seven wonders of the world in
its time. A very marvelous building it must have been, but I will not
stay to describe it, for time fails us. In addition to this he erected
for himself palaces, constructed fortifications, and made aqueducts and
great pools to bring streams from the mountains to the various towns.
He also founded Palmyra and Baalbed'those cities of the desert'to
facilitate his commerce with India, Arabia, and other remote regions.
He was a marvelous man. Earth has not seen his like. And yet a greater
than Solomon is here, for Christ has brought the living water from the
throne of God right down to thirsty men, being Himself the eternal
aqueduct through which the heavenly current streams. Christ has built
fortresses and munitions of defense, behind which His children stand
secure against the wrath of hell; and He has founded and is daily
finishing a wondrous temple, His church, of which His people are the
living stones, fashioned, polished, rendered beautiful'a temple which
God Himself shall inhabit, for He dwelleth not in temples made with
hands, that is to say, of this building'; but He dwells in a temple
which He Himself doth pile, of which Christ is architect and builder,
foundation, and chief corner-stone. But Jesus builds for eternity, an
everlasting temple, and, when all visible things pass away, and the
very ruins of Solomon's temple and Solomon's aqueduct are scarcely to
be discerned, what a sight will be seen in that New Jerusalem! The
twelve courses of its foundations are of precious stones, its walls
bedight with diamonds rare, its streets are paved with gold, and its
glory surpasses that of the sun. I am but talking figures, poor
figures, too; for the glory of the city of God is spiritual, and where
shall I find words with which to depict it? There, where the Lamb
Himself is the light, and the Lord God Himself doth dwell'there the
whole edifice, the entire New Jerusalem'shall be to the praise and the
glory of His grace who gave Jesus Christ to be the builder of the house
of His glory, of which I hope we shall form a part for ever and ever.

Now, if Christ does such great works, I want you to come to Him, that
He may work in you the work of God. That is the point. Come and trust
Him at once. Trust Him to build you up. Come and trust Him to bring the
living water to your lips. Come and trust Him to make you a temple of
the living God. Come, dear child of God, if you have great works to do,
come and ask for the power of Christ with which to perform them. Come,
you that would leave some memorial to the honor of the divine name,
come to Him to teach and strengthen you. He is the wise master-builder;
come and be workers together with Christ. Baptize your weakness into
His infinite strength, and you shall be strong in the Lord, and in the
power of His mind. God help you to do so.

Once more. I draw the parallel upon the fifth point, and I have done
with it. Solomon was great as to dominion. The kingdom of the Jews was
never anything like the size before or after that Solomon made it. It
appears to have extended from the river of Egypt right across the
wilderness far up to the Persian Gulf. We can scarcely tell how far
Solomon's dominions reached; they are said to have been from sea to
sea, and from the river even unto the ends of the earth.' By one mode
or another he managed to bring various kings into subjection to him,
and he was the greatest monarch that ever swayed the sceptre of Judah.
It has all gone now. Poor, feeble Rehoboam dropped from his foolish
hands the reins his father held. The kingdom was rent in pieces, the
tributary princes found their liberty, and the palmy days of Israel
were over. On the contrary, our Lord Jesus Christ at this moment has
dominion over all things. God has set Him over all the works of His
hands. Ay, tell it out among the heathen that the Lord reigneth. The
feet that were nailed to the tree are set upon the necks of His
enemies. The hands that bore the nails sway at this moment the sceptre
of all words: Jesus is King of kings, and Lord of lords! Hallelujah!
Let universal sovereignty be ascribed to the Son of man: to Him who was
despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief.' Tell it out, ye saints, for your own comfort. The Lord
reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of the isles be glad
thereof Everything that happens in providence is under His sway still,
and the time is coming when a moral and spiritual kingdom will be set
up by Him which shall encompass the whole world. It does not look like
it, does it? All these centuries have passed away, and little progress
has been made. Ah, but He cometh; and when He cometh, or ere He cometh,
He shall overturn, overturn, overturn, for His right it is, and God
will give it Him. And, as surely as God lives, unto Him shall every man
bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.' Do not be afraid about it. Do not
measure difficulties, much less tremble at them. What is faith made for
but to believe that which seems impossible? To expect universal
dominion for Christ when everything goes well is but the expectation of
reason; but to expect it when everything goes ill, is the triumph of
Abrahamic confidence. Look upon the great mountain and say, Who art
thou, great mountain? Before the true Zerubbabel thou shall become a
plain.' In the blackest midnight, when the ebon darkness stands thick
and hard as granite before you, believe that, at the mystic touch of
Christ, the whole of it shall pass away, and at the brightness of His
rising the eternal light shall dawn, never to be quenched. This is to
act the part of a believer; and I ask you to act that part, and believe
to the full in Christ the Omnipotent. What means this stinted faith in
an almighty arm? What a fidget we are in and what a worry seizes us if
a little delay arises! Everything has to be done in the next ten
minutes, or we count our Lord to be slack. Is this the part of wisdom?
The Eternal has infinite leisure, who are we that we should hasten Him?

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour.

A day is long to us: but a thousand years to Him are but the twinkling
of a star. Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him, for the
time shall come when the God of Israel shall put to rout His
adversaries, and the Christ of the cross shall be the Christ of the
crown. We shall one day hear it said'The great Shepherd reigns; and His
unsuffering kingdom now hath come, Then rocks and hills, and vales and
islands of the sea shall all be vocal with the one song, Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain to receive honor and glory and power and dominion
and might forever and ever!'

Thus have I tried to draw the parallel, but I pray you to see the Lord
Jesus for yourself, and know whether I have spoken the truth about Him.
You have heard the report; now, like the Queen of Sheba, go and see for
yourself. Get to Christ, as to His dominion, come under His sway and
own His sceptre. Go and trust your King; love your King; praise your
King; delight in your King. How courtiers delight to be summoned to
court! How glad they are to see the queen's face. How pleased they are
if she gives them but a kindly word! Surely, their fortune is made, or
at least their hopes arc raised and their spirits lifted up. Shall we
not sun ourselves in the presence of the blessed and only Potentate?
Let us come into the presence of our King tonight, or else let us sit
here and weep. Let us come to His table to feed upon Himself. Let us
live on His Word. Let us delight in His love; and we shall surely say,
A greater than Solomon is here.'

II. I shall not detain you longer than a minute or two while I remark
that we must rise beyond all parallels, if we would reach the height of
this great argument, for BETWEEN CHRIST AND SOLOMON THERE IS MUCH MORE
CONTRAST THAN COMPARISON'much more difference than likeness.

In His nature the Lord Jesus is greater than Solomon. Alas, poor
Solomon! The strongest man that ever lived, namely, Samson, was the
weakest of men; and the wisest man that ever lived, was, perhaps, the
greatest, certainly the most conspicuous, fool. How different is our
Lord! There is no infirmity in Christ, no folly in the incarnate God.
The backsliding of Solomon finds no parallel in Jesus, in whom the
prince of this world found nothing though he searched Him through and
through.

Our Lord is greater than Solomon because He is not mere man. He is man,
perfect man, man to the utmost of manhood, sin excepted; but still He
is more, and infinitely more, than man. In him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily.' He is God Himself, The Word was God.'
God dwells in Him, and He Himself is God.

As in nature He was infinitely superior to Solomon, and not to be
compared with him for a moment, so was He in character. Look at Christ
and Solomon for a minute as to real greatness of character, and you can
hardly see Solomon with a microscope, while Christ rises grandly before
you, growing every moment till He fills the whole horizon of your
admiration. Principally let me note the point of self-sacrifice. Jesus
lived entirely for other people; He had never a thought about Himself
Solomon was, to a great extent, wise unto himself, rich unto himself,
strong unto himself; and you see in those great palaces, and in all
their arrangements, that he seeks his own pleasure, honor, and
emolument; and, alas! that seeking of pleasure leads him into sin, that
sin into a still greater one. Solomon, wonderful as he is, only compels
you to admire him for his greatness, but you do not admire him for his
goodness. You see nothing that makes you love him, you rather tremble
before him than feel gladdened by him. Oh, but look at Christ. He does
not have a thought for Himself. He lives for others. How grandly
magnificent He is in disinterested love. He loved his church and gave
himself it.' He pours out even His heart's blood for the good of men:
and hence, dear friends, at this moment our blessed Lord is infinitely
superior to Solomon in His influence. Solomon has little or no
influence today. Even in his own time he never commanded the influence
that Christ had in His deepest humiliation. I do not hear of any that
were willing to die for Solomon; certainly nobody would do so now. But
how perpetually is enthusiasm kindled in 10,000 breasts for Christ!
They say that if again there were stakes in Smithfield we should not
find men to burn at them for Christ. I tell you, it is not so. The Lord
Jesus Christ has at this moment a remnant according to the election of
His grace who would fling themselves into a pit of fire for Him, and
joy to do it. Who can separate us''even us poor pygmies''from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?' Oh,' says one, I do not
think I could suffer martyrdom.' You are not yet called to do so, my
brother, and God has not given You the strength to do it before the
need arises; but you will have strength enough if ever it comes to your
lot to die for Jesus. Did you never hear of the martyr who, the night
before he was to be burnt, sat opposite the fire, and, taking his shoe
off, he held his foot close to the flame till he began to feel the
burning of it? He drew it back and said, I see God does not give me
power to bear such suffering as I put upon myself, but I make none the
less doubt,' said he, that I shall very well stand the stake tomorrow
morning, and burn quick to the death for Christ without starting back.'
And so he did, for he was noticed never to stir at all while the flames
were consuming him. There is a great deal of difference between your
strength today and what your strength would be if you were called to
some tremendous work or suffering. My Lord and Master, let me tell you,
wakes more enthusiasm in human breasts at this moment than any other
name in the universe. Napoleon once said, I founded a kingdom upon
force, and it will pass away'; but Christ founded a kingdom upon love,
and it will last forever and ever.' And so it will. Blot out the name
of Christ from the hearts of His people? Strike you sun from the
firmament, and quench the stars; and when you have achieved that easy
task, yet have you not begun to remove the glory of the indwelling
Christ from the hearts of His people. Some of us delight to think that
we bear in our body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Where?' says one. I
answer, it is all over us. We have been buried into His name, and we
belong to Him, in spirit, soul, and body. That watermark, which denotes
that we are His, can never be taken out of us. We are dead with Him,
wherein also we were buried with Him and are risen again with Him; and
there is nothing at this moment that stirs our soul like the name of
Jesus. Speak for yourselves. Is it not so? Have you never heard of one
who lay dying, his mind wandering, and his wife said to him, My dear,
do you not know me?' He shook his head; and they brought near his
favorite child. Do you not know me?' He shook his head. One whispered,
Do you know the lord Jesus Christ?' and he said, He is all my salvation
and all my desire.' Oh, blessed name! Blessed name! Some years ago I
was away from this place for a little rest, and I was thinking to
myself, Now, I wonder whether I really respond to the power of the
gospel as I should like to do? I will go and hear a sermon and see.' I
would like to sit down with you, in the pews sometimes and hear
somebody else preach'not everybody, mark you, for when I hear a good
many I want to be doing it myself. I get tired of them if they do not
glow and burn. But that morning I thought I would drop into a place of
worship such as there might be in the little town. A poor, plain man, a
countryman, began preaching about Jesus Christ. He praised my Master in
very humble language, but he praised Him most sincerely. Oh, but the
tears began to flow. I soon laid the dust all round me where I sat, and
I thought, Bless the Lord! I do love Him.' It only wants somebody else
to play the harp instead of me, and my soul is ready to dance to the
heavenly tune. Only let the music be Christ's sweet, dear, precious
name, and my heart leaps at the sound. Oh, my brethren, sound out the
praises of Jesus Christ! Sound out that precious name! There is none
like it under heaven to stir my heart. I hope you can all say the same.
I know you can if you love Him; for all renewed hearts are enamored of
the sweet Lord Jesus. A greater than Solomon is here.' Solomon has no
power over your hearts, but Jesus has. His influence is infinitely
greater; his power to bless is infinitely greater; and so let us
magnify and adore Him with all our hearts.

Oh, that all loved Him! Alas that so many do not! What strange
monsters! Why, if you do not love Christ, what are you at? You hearts
of stone, will you not break? If His dying love does not break them,
what will? If you cannot see the beauties of Jesus, what can you see?
You blind bats! O you that know not the music of His name, you are
deaf. O you that do not rejoice in Him, you are dead. What are you at,
that you are spared through the pleadings of His love, and yet do not
love Him? God have mercy upon you, and bring you to delight yourselves
in Christ, and trust him! As for us who do trust Him, we mean to love
Him and delight in Him more and more, world without end. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON'COLOSSIANS 1.

HYMNS FROM OUR OWN HYMN BOOK''390, 389, 416.
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The Judgment Seat Of God