A Man of Spirit and a Spiritual Man
Table of Contents
A Man of Spirit and a Spiritual Man: Part 2, She Saw All Solomon's Wisdom
What a seven-hued rainbow of glories this is around Solomon's throne! Mark well how the brilliance of each ray lies in the word "his." Take that away and all you have left is meat, servants, ministers, houses and apparel. What are they to move a queen to admiration if you leave out Solomon? If he be absent, the sun of the landscape is gone. The charm of each of them to the queen of Sheba undoubtedly was their inseparable connection with his glorious person. And as this sevenfold glory of Solomon filled her soul, might she not have wondered that she had not come before?
And now mark well the result of the full knowledge of Solomon, and all his glory. Our chapter opens with the words, "and when the queen of Sheba heard" then she came; and now, "when the queen of Sheba had seen," then "there was no more spirit in her."
Without an effort, without a thought, without a struggle, herself was all gone, and Solomon filled her heart.
How great the change! Before this we have a rich and noble queen, full of hard questions, on which doubtless she prided herself not a little. But what now? Her spirit and her questions are gone; nothing is left but Solomon and his glory filling to overflowing a heart emptied of itself.
Have not we already seized the application of this lovely picture? Do we not see here the difference between a "man of spirit," and a "spiritual man?" Before Jesus revealed Himself to our hearts, how full of ourselves were we! What self-satisfaction, what pride, what self-seeking, what ardent pursuit of one thing after another, Christians even outstripping the world in its race for riches, honor, and position! But when He is known to our hearts as the all-absorbing object; when we have sat in His presence, and gazed by faith on His beauty, though before, we were men of spirit, full of self in a thousand ways, we shall be changed into "emptied vessels full of Christ," into truly "spiritual men."
There is no effort, no struggle to subdue her spirit, nothing but a steady gaze at Solomon as he is, and all spirit goes. She had ceased to be satisfied with herself, and surely with her surroundings also. We have no reason to doubt that before she came she was perfectly satisfied with her own kingdom, her house, her throne, and her servants; but as she thought of them now, would they not have lost their. glory; would not her palace, her throne, her appointments, her servants, appear poor in comparison? Would she return with the same eyes as she left? I think not. Surely nothing could henceforth fully satisfy or please her, if the glory of her kingdom had departed. And why, when all was the same as before? It was not her kingdom that had altered, but herself. She had beheld the most glorious object beneath the sun, that made all other glories fade. Her eyes had seen the king in his beauty, and she desired nothing else.
Is this exaggerated? Is this overdrawn?
Ah! only get where she was, see what she saw, and you will find the same effect produced; all the interest of everything beneath the sun for its own sake gone; all the brightness and glory of the world dimmed.
Snares are no longer snares to the one in whose heart Christ dwells. Indeed, the soul now wonders that the vain bubbles, which it had made the end and object for so long, could ever have been worth a moment's thought. The man that has seen and known Christ, does indeed bear a royal stamp. Can you dazzle him, or draw him aside with any earthly object? Surely not. For if the sight of the most glorious one beneath the heavens took all the spirit out of a queen, the sight of Him who is the most glorious One above the heavens will fill the soul to the exclusion of all else. O! that we might know more of this in power in our own souls, and be more truly "spiritual men.". Would that we were to say, with the Psalmist, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord." Psa. 27: 4.
And now notice the result of being emptied of self, and not merely this, but filled with the king. Her mouth opens in praise.
Until now the Holy Spirit has not recorded a word uttered by the queen. We are not told a single one of her hard questions. But now that she is emptied of herself, hard questions find no place, proving Solomon is not now her object; worship, unhindered and spontaneous, flows forth.
What a song of praise it is for a spiritless one! yet not spiritless; she is full of spirit for Solomon, though she has lost all for herself.
And here let me remark that though a man of spirit can frame hard questions, no one but a spiritual man can truly worship.
Does not this song, as it pours forth from her ready lips, remind us of the beautiful opening of Psalm 45?
"My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into Thy lips: therefore God hath blessed Thee forever."
Surely this stranger queen, emptied as she was of herself, sang as sweet a song as the sweet psalmist of Israel, for
"The songs the Spirit sings,
Can ne'er want melody."
How this reveals what is really the spring of worship! Solomon was the spring of her worship. His glory put the song of praise into her mouth, whence it could now freely flow, as herself was all gone.
So with us: when Christ has been fairly seen and gazed upon; when we have been extinguished and all our spirit and will gone; then God by His Spirit can use us to pour forth the praises of His beloved Son; can give us to show Him forth by our words, and by our walk. Let us never forget, it was out of empty pitchers, and not empty only but broken, that the light shone forth in Gideon's days. (Judges 7:16-20.)
"Of His own give we unto Him." Just what Christ has given to us, we render to Him. There is no effort about true worship, it is spontaneous. How like Him too do we ourselves become in the presence of such a One. Even amongst men it is often observed that anyone who is much in the company of another he loves, grows like him in manner and ways. How much more is this true of those whose companionship is with One of whom a poet has said,
"Not living only; He infused new life:
Not beautiful alone, He beautifies:
Not only glorious, for He glorifies."
(Continued from page 136)
(To be Continued)
A Man of Spirit and a Spiritual Man: Part 4
But to pass on: verse 13 gives us Solomon's side. King Solomon satisfied her desire and gave her whatsoever she asked; this comes first. But Solomon would not be Solomon if he stopped here. Is God satisfied with meeting our need? Far be the thought!
Read the first of Ephesians, and you will find but one verse, the seventh, occupied with our need according to the riches of His grace. What is the subject of the rest? Satisfying our need? No: it is the satisfying of His own heart according to the glory of His grace. See how all this in figure is contained in the verse before us.
"And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty." He satisfied her own need, and then satisfied his own heart.
Which are the more precious to our hearts, the favors we ask for, or those we receive unasked? Ah! what should we have done, if we had not to do with One "who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think?" Where should we have been had we received nothing but what was asked for?
Infinitely do the unasked favors exceed the others! Notice too how beautiful the phrase, "of his royal bounty!" What debtors are we to that "royal bounty!" and how precious Christ becomes to our souls when we think of the way He thus anticipates our thoughts and exceeds our need! What a love is the love of Christ that passes knowledge. What a love that reveals to us by His Spirit, things that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart of man conceived, prepared by Him for them that love Him. What a God, and what a Christ are ours!
And now the queen returns to her own country, emptied of herself, laden with Solomon's favors, it is true, but still she departs. If Christ is more glorious than Solomon; if His divine glory and majesty exceed the glory of Israel's king; if the heavenly surpasses the earthly; how much on the other hand is our position higher than that of the queen of Sheba?
She had to leave all the glories, and return into her native land. We have the blessed knowledge that the One we love, has loved us and given Himself for us, to present us unto Himself a. glorious Church; that His glory is ours; that we shall share His throne.
Well, may we, with uplifted heads and happy hearts, walk through the world when we know our wondrous and glorious fortune, and can by faith enter now into the blessedness of being one with Christ.
Thus we reach the close of this story, so full of interest to those who can discern its hidden beauties. But let us beware of resting content with feeling interested in any part of God's Word.
If we have learned anything from this little story, let us not rest until we, like her, have entered His presence, and our hearts have know His love. For this is the real point of practical importance.
It is one thing to know and own the beauty and attractiveness of an object, and quite another to enjoy and be swayed by it. Do we possess this knowledge of Christ? A mere assent to the truth of what is presented to us is of no value. We want a real, practical, and individual knowledge of Christ in our own soul.
We need more to know and feed on Him as our satisfying portion. O! to possess this, to enjoy it. To be filled to overflowing with the beauties and glories of Christ, nay, with Christ Himself. This, this is indeed what we so much need. For it is this alone that can produce real spirituality in us. If, alas, we have been living the lives of "men of spirit," may Christ by His own blessed presence so empty us of ourselves and fill us with Himself, that we may become truly "spiritual men."
O, that we may know Him more, whom to know is not only "life eternal," but is also the transforming power to our souls, and the rest of our hearts. He only who knows Christ is satisfied, and yet not fully satisfied, for we are still waiting in patience to see Him as He is. It is truly good to understand these truths; but what we want in this day of knowledge is to know a little more of Him, that we may be able to say, each in his own measure, "We see Jesus."
"Unseen we love Thee, dear Thy name
But when our eyes behold,
With joyful wonder we'll exclaim,
The half has not been told.
For thou exceedest all the fame
Our ears have ever heard,
How happy we who know Thy name
And trust Thy faithful word."
(Continued from page 188)
(Concluded.)
A Man of Spirit and a Spiritual Man: Part 3
To return: how carefully the Holy Spirit now records the utterances of one emptied of herself. When all her hard questions, framed with such care in the far country (for she came to prove him with them) are forever buried in oblivion, every line of this unpremediated song of worship is recorded for our instruction. Let us look at it somewhat closely.
She begins by acknowledging the truth of the report as she had heard it; first, of all Solomon's acts, then of his wisdom. What he had done had a prior place, in the tale of his fame, to what he was.
Not so in the queen of Sheba's heart. After confessing (as, alas, we have to do) how she had not believed that which did not tell her half the tale, she says, "Thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard;" thus putting what Solomon was in himself first, and his surroundings after. Even this little change of order shows, I think (as a straw the direction of the wind), that her heart was set on the person of Solomon. (Compare 2 Chronicles 9:6. There the Spirit of God marks the person yet more clearly: "Thou Exceedest.") I grant the change is slight, but in a picture painted by the Spirit of God the most delicate touches are well worthy of our attention.
The next verse goes even still further. "Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom." This is the point with her. She does not say, which see or share thy riches, honor, or glory. A meaner mind would have been carried away by these surroundings, but in this song she ignores them all. How pure and lofty in tone are these songs that the Spirit sings. Surely they indicate a source as high as their subject. All that catches the eye alone is unnoticed here, and the real substance is firmly grasped; for, "The soul that knows thy love is taught To value naught but thee."
But the wonderful part is that a queen should find a cause of envy and delight in the lot 'of a servant, even as David of old: "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Psalm 84:10.
And now she rises in her song, as does the psalm already quoted (45) to the source of all, God Himself.
So with us, there is no true "joy in God" save "through our Lord Jesus Christ." A real knowledge of Christ, and delight in Him, leads out the soul in praise to God, by the Spirit as nothing else will. Here is the climax and close of this exquisite little song. O! that we might ponder well the cause of its simple beauty-the secret of which is supplied by the closing line of the fifth verse. At the risk of repetition, we must again acknowledge that no "man of spirit," even though a Christian, could have sung this, the true song of the "spiritual man." O! that we were a little more emptied of ourselves! that "spirit" in us had given place to spirituality.
And now we get another step. The worship of the heart should and does claim the first place, but there is more. If her heart is open, so are her treasures: gold, precious stones, spices, all are his. They are not now treasures to her. Her treasure, her delight is now in Solomon, and he has her heart, "for where your treasure is there will your heart be also."
So with us. When we have really found where the true riches are; when our eyes have seen and our heart loved the One in whom they all are centered; in what a different light do we regard all earthly treasures.
No tithe of our fortunes, our time, or our life is the Lord's portion now. Those, in whose hearts He dwells by faith, know well that all they have is His, and for His service.
But it may well be asked, What were her hundred and twenty talents (great though the actual sum was) amidst the wealth of gold that abounds in this chapter (see chap. 9:28; 10:14, 17, 21) and in which, as I have said, this little picture is set? The true Solomon, however, prizes not offerings according to their intrinsic value, but according to the motive of the heart that gives them. Here it was simple heart worship of Solomon.
Let not any Christian think his mite is too small for Christ to value. He whose loving eye marked out the widow who cast all her living, one farthing, into God's treasury, will not pass by a cup of cold water.
What a wondrous thought this presents to our souls! We all have heard of the philosopher's stone, that substance that was supposed to transmute every metal it touched into gold. Christ, with reverence, be it said, is the true philosopher's stone; everything you can connect with Him is changed into fine gold.
A cup of cold water, is a cup of cold water while in your hand; give it for the sake of Christ to some poor suffering one, and you associate it with Him whose worth is infinite, and the value of the cup of cold water is untold.
What a way to increase our riches!
If we but use whatever we have for Christ, whether it be little or much, we enhance its worth a thousand fold. What was the value in God's sight of one farthing after it had been cast into His treasury? How glorious must He be that can give, in God's eyes, such worth to a cup of cold water!
Some of us often do great things from mixed motives; would that there were more cups of cold water given purely for the sake of Christ.
But, thank God, there is yet more to comfort us in this verse. For, wonderful to say, in all the abundance that marked Solomon's reign, amid all the riches that everywhere abounded, there was one thing he lacked; one thing for which he was indebted to the queen of Sheba, which she alone could bring in abundance to him. Hiram's navy might bring him gold without count, and precious stones without number; but the queen of Sheba alone brought an abundance of spices.
Sweet spices; what were they for?
To burn as incense.
How beautiful and true the simile! Christ has all. "The Father bath given all things into His hand;" the cattle on a thousand hills are His; and yet, seated as He is on His Father's throne in glory, one thing there is that He prizes at the highest value, a thing that all heaven cannot furnish, that angels cannot give.
It is the incense, the perfume of the worship that ascends from the heart that is emptied of itself. These are the sweet spices prized by Christ. What a beautiful and comforting thought that our poor hearts can supply to Christ that which nothing else can! Let us remember that it must be genuine: a counterfeit is worthless. It must be the adoration of a heart filled with Christ.
It need not find its expression in words alone. Philippians 4:18 brings this out clearly, beautifully showing that though the gift came to Paul, the fragrance of it ascended to God. This is a little picture of what Christ was on the cross: a sin offering for man, and at the same time a burnt offering wholly for God!
(Continued from page 164.)
(To be continued.)
A Man of Spirit and a Spiritual Man: Part 1
A man of the world should be a man of spirit; a Christian should be a spiritual man.
How wide the difference between these two designations, and what a contrast they present! Necessarily so, indeed, if one be a true characteristic of an earthly, the other of a heavenly race. For heaven and earth, light and darkness, Christ and the world, are not farther apart, nor are they more opposed, than a man of spirit and a spiritual man.
What is a worldly man worth if devoid of spirit, and what is a Christian without spirituality? We all understand what is meant by a man of spirit; an energetic, active character, proud perhaps and ambitious, full of plans and projects; one that thinks well of himself, and one that is sure to make his way in this world.
The character of a spiritual man is not so easily described, though quite as marked and decided. In him natural activity and energy, pride and ambition, have given place to high and holy qualities, characteristic of those who have been called with a heavenly calling. Emptied of himself he becomes a sphere in which the Spirit of God acts for the glory of Christ. His will is gone, and he lives not unto himself, but unto Him who died for him and rose again. He can in measure say, "Not I, but Christ who liveth in me;" he bears about in his body the dying of Jesus that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in his mortal body.
This, then, is the heavenly in contrast with the earthly man.; the spiritual man in contrast with the man of spirit. Alas! how frequent the latter; how scarce the former!
It must not be supposed that every Christian is a spiritual man. For though a worldly man is generally a man of spirit, is it equally the rule for a Christian to be a spiritual man?
Indeed, the object of this article is to consider a little the question, how a Christian is to become, practically, a spiritual man.
The first step, undoubtedly, is to reckon the flesh dead, that old evil nature, yourself, in fact, which God judged, condemned, and executed at the cross of Christ. Romans 6; 2 Corinthians 4:10, and other passages all bring this out. But many a sincere Christian reading these Scriptures will ask, What is the power for this? How is this to be accomplished? Take an instance. Here am I, a Christian, but, strange anomaly, a man of spirit, interested and absorbed in worldly affairs, carried away and engrossed by one thing after another; to subdue all my tastes and desires would take all my time, even had I always the power and the will, which alas, I have not. What then is the remedy for such a case?
In answer to this question let us take up an Old Testament story, one of God's cabinet pictures, if I may so speak, that lie scattered through the word; an exquisite gem cut by the Spirit of God, set literally in gold of Ophir and adorned with precious stones. Lay aside for a short time this pamphlet and carefully read the first thirteen verses in the tenth chapter of the first book of Kings, containing the account of the queen of Sheba 's visit to King Solomon.
One fact that you will remark at the outset is that the Queen of Sheba is not attracted to Solomon by her need. Nor does she come for what Solomon has to give, This is no picture, I take it, of a sinner's approach to Christ when his need is uppermost, and Christ is valued, and rightly so, for what He has to give.
We do not find here a sinner and a Savior. Rather is it the history of one who, having been saved, has known his Savior by hearsay only; one who has been living far away, where men of spirit abound, still clinging in some form or other to the world that cast Christ out; but who, having heard such fair reports of Jesus, has come into His presence, not for the sake of what He has to give, but to know Him who has given all.
And, I think, if we travel through these verses, we shall find out how a man of spirit may become a spiritual man, always, however, remembering that in the former we do not now speak of a worldly man, but of an earthly minded Christian.
The Queen of Sheba comes to prove Solomon with hard questions, which, however, soon disappear in Solomon's presence.
And we, too, it may be, busied over our Bibles, sometimes find our hard questions all vanish as we are brought into the presence of the Lord Himself; for difficulties are all forgotten when Christ is before the soul. Notice, too, that the queen has to leave her sphere and come to his, to Jerusalem, the city of the great king: We also, while living in our circles must ever remain far from Christ. To see Him, as He is, we must leave our sphere and enter His. We must look at Him in the light, not of our thoughts, but of God's words.
"When she came to Solomon she communed with him of all that was in her heart." So gracious was he that she was encouraged to open out her whole heart, when perhaps she had only thought to puzzle him with the hard questions which filled her head.
And does not each of our hearts echo, I, too, know something of this? I have sat over Scripture full of head questions, until, getting into the Lord's presence, my heart has been opened and the head has been forgotten.
"And when the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom:" what a sight! why the half had not been told her, and what had been told was too wonderful for belief; and yet it had brought her from a far country.
Does this contain no reproof to us? Have not reports been brought to us by those who have known Him where He is? But when at last we find ourselves alone in His blessed presence, we can indeed say, in the words of an old hymn, "The love of Jesus, what it is None but His loved ones know."
But it was not the moment the Queen of Sheba came that she saw all this. It took time. And if we were to spare a little more of our time in this busy, busy age to spend with Jesus, how richly should we be repaid!
To sit and meditate on Him whom our souls love, until at last, as we get consciously in the presence of the Lord, meditation changes to praise. How this reminds us of that moment, described in Luke 24, when the Lord made as though He would have gone farther, after answering all the hard questions of the two going to Emmaus. But they constrained Him, and in due time found in whose presence they were. Had they allowed Him to pass on from want of time or interest, as we too often do, satisfied perhaps with having our difficulties solved, they might never have known it was Jesus Himself who was with them. It is the sight of the Lord's glory that makes a spiritual man.
(To be Continued)