Address—Jim Hyland
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It starts this afternoon with 132.
The person of the Christ, unfolding every grace once slain but now alive again in heaven, demands our praise. 132 If someone would please start.
So, pretty great union. Well, I'm going to.
Turn with me please, to 1St Kings Chapter 10.
First Kings Chapter 10. We'll begin reading at verse one.
And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bear spices, and very much gold and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
And Solomon told her all her questions. There was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not.
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendants of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup bearers, and his assent, by which he went up into the House of the Lord.
There was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of thy axe and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believe not the words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it.
And behold, the half was not told me, thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
Happy are thy men. Happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he the king to do judgment and justice, And she gave to the king 120 talents of gold.
And of spices, very great store and precious stones.
There came no more such abundance of spice as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
And then notice verse 13. 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. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. And just hold your finger here, we're going to come right back. But I want to go back to Luke. 11 was read to us earlier.
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Luke's Gospel, Chapter 11.
And verse 31 The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment.
With the men of this generation and 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. Well, I have it on my heart this afternoon in taking up this little incident in the Old Testament in connection with the life of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, to draw some very practical applications from the things that the Queen of Sheba observed when she came to the court of Solomon. But before we do that, it might be helpful to set this story in its context dispensationally.
Because we find at this point in Israel's history there were two men that were two kings, 2 successive kings that are beautiful pictures of different aspects of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, when we go back to the Old Testament and read these stories, it's wonderful to draw the practical applications from the lives of men and of these men in the Old Testament.
But I believe it's also very instructive and good for our souls to see that many of them are beautiful types, beautiful pictures of the Lord Jesus himself. And when we don't see them in that context, I believe we lose a great deal of the blessing that God intends for us when we read the Old Testament. And so we find that previous to the reign of Solomon, there was Solomon's father, King David.
And King David typifies to us the life of the Lord Jesus.
And his work in connection with his rejection. I realize that there are many things in connection with the life of David that point on to a future Day of Glory.
But generally speaking, David brings before us the Lord Jesus in his rejection.
David is the one who fled as a bird to the mountain. David is the one whose life was haunted by King Saul.
David is the one who slept in The Cave of Adela, and there were a few that followed David in his rejection.
And how he valued it. But then we find after David passes from the scene that King Solomon comes to the throne and King Solomon typifies to us the Lord Jesus.
In his millennial glory, that time when he's going to come and he's going to reign in righteousness, it says a king shall reign in righteousness and Princess shall rule in judgment.
It's a time when Israel is going to have their enemies put down and there's going to be a wonderful time of peace, but not only for the nation of Israel as they're drawn around themselves and there's a shout of a king amongst them. But it's going to be a wonderful time of blessing for all the nations, so different than what we find over in that part of the world today. People in the land of Israel are going to bed and getting up from day-to-day.
With a great deal of fear and trepidation, the whole Middle East, especially in the last few days, is in tremendous turmoil. The world itself is in turmoil, wars and rumors of war and violence and corruption filling the earth. But isn't it a tremendous thing to think, brethren, that there's a day coming when the King of Righteousness is going to rise with healing in his wings? And what a day that will be. And when we read the reign of Solomon we find.
That it's really as far as Israel's history up until this present time, it was a day unparalleled in their history what blessing there was. And they were recognized by the nations around them and the other nations coming up to Jerusalem, bringing their tribute and so on. The reign of Solomon is really something very remarkable in the pages of the Old Testament, and so this is what his reign typifies to us.
As far as dispensationally and no doubt we have it here in this incident where the Queen of Sheba comes up from the uttermost parts of the earth and brings up the bounty in store of her nation at that time.
But you know, Scripture always has a present application for us. And while we don't want to miss the prophetic and dispensational character of things that is brought out throughout the whole word of God, yet equally we don't want to miss the practical aspect of things as well. And so we find that in the Old Testament there were three women that made journeys, all based on different reports that they had heard.
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Of three different men. Three men again who typify to us an aspect of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find back in Genesis Chapter 24 that Rebecca made a journey. She made a journey based on the report that Abraham's servant brought, and he's a picture of the spirit of God. She made a journey based on a report of love.
And she came and was joined to a man by the name of Isaac. And what a beautiful picture.
Isaac and Rebecca are of Christ and the church, but she made that journey based on a report of love and she became his wife and he loved her earlier on too. We find there was a lady named Abigail during the life of David and she came based on a report based on a report of moral glory and grace, and she came to the feet of David and she received blessing as well.
But here we find in our story that the Queen of Sheba comes from.
Abyssinia or what was perhaps modern day Ethiopia, and she came based on a report not of love, not a report of moral glory. She came based on a report of wisdom. And you know when you put those 3 journeys together, they're very beautiful, aren't they? They are those three things that the Spirit of God uses to draw souls to Christ, whether it's Christ drawing to Christ initially for salvation.
Or whether it's drawing out the souls of the people of God closer to Christ.
And I trust that that's what happens this afternoon as we take up this little story and as we're here this weekend to have the word of God before us.
That as we consider His love, his moral glory and grace, and as we consider the wisdom of our Solomon.
That our hearts would be more attracted to himself, and that we would desire, like those 3 ladies, to be more in his presence. And so the Queen of Sheba makes this journey and I don't suppose any of us really can enter into what a long, arduous journey it must have been back in the days of Solomon. You know, in colonial times on that the continent of Africa and in the Middle East, roads were swathed by the British and the other colonizers.
And some of those roads are still used today to get through the jungle and jungles and across the deserts.
And I've had the opportunity to travel on some of those roads, but there wouldn't have been those kinds of roads in those days. No doubt the Queen of Sheba had quite an entourage of men. Perhaps that went before and cleared the jungle, cleared the way, scouts that went ahead and made sure there were no dangers as they were going to pass, and so on. But she makes this journey because she'd heard a report of Solomon.
And his wisdom. And when she came to Solomon, a picture, as I say, of the Lord Jesus Christ, there was first of all something standing in the way. And that was she had a lot of hard questions.
And maybe there's someone here this afternoon. Maybe you're just newly saved. Or maybe you've been saved for a long time and you say, I've got a lot of hard questions, just a lot of things about life I don't understand. You know, this world is full of hard questions. Sad to say. There are many people in this world who are seeking the answers to their questions in something apart from the word of God and someone apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they're not finding the answers to their questions. I try to read people's faces as I travel through this world, and I see the questions, the enigmas, written on people's faces as they hurry to and fro throughout this earth. It's a true that in the last days, knowledge is increased and knowledge has increased and its availability has increased, but it hasn't answered man's questions.
Man is going on seeking to the questions to life and they'll never find them.
Until they turn to the word of God and God's man Christ. But isn't it wonderful that we have in our hands this afternoon the answer book?
I've sometimes said, especially to the young people, we don't have all the answers, but we do have the answer book, and we have the answers found in this book and found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we're willing to search this book, and if we're willing to get into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ with our questions in his time and way, he will not only answer those questions, but he'll answer them to our satisfaction.
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Because you find that with the questions that the Queen of Sheba had, not only were her questions answered, but they were answered to her heart's desire. She went away eventually satisfied with the answers that she got. Because maybe you asked someone a question, perhaps even a godly brother or sister. You go to them with a question and you get a little bit of an answer. Maybe it's a good answer from the word of God, and you come away and you say yes. That's part of what I was looking for, but you don't feel quite satisfied.
Then you go to someone else and you get a little more, and so on. But when you really get into the presence of the Lord with this book, you'll get answers that will be to your heart's desire. Those answers will satisfy you. And so she came with these hard questions, and her heart's desire in connection with the answers was satisfied. And so I want to encourage you to do that, because one of the very names of the Lord Jesus in incarnation is Counselor.
Be thankful that we have one. Who is the great counselor. I'm thankful that they have counselors. You young people, when you go to school, you have counselors and maybe sometimes they're helpful in you deciding where the job market is going to swing and what to get into as far as natural up your your natural aptitudes and abilities. I'm not discrediting those guidance counselors. They have, but just remember too.
Sometimes those counselors give just the wisdom of this world and what those counselors tell you you need to take into the presence of the great counselor, the one that knows the end from the beginning. They have consultants, it seems, for everything today in business. And again, those consultants may be very helpful in different aspects of business and dealing with the economy. But remember, again, take their advice into the sanctuary.
Ask the counselor, whose very name is Wisdom.
For his advice, and I say in his own time and in his own way, If you are searching an orderly and consistently reading the Scriptures, you'll find the answers to every question. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Well, we find too that she came with a very great train. I can just picture that entourage and the pomp and ceremony that must have accompanied her as she finally entered Jerusalem in the court of Solomon.
Ethiopia is a base Nation Today, but it was not a base nation in the days in which we were reading. It was a very wealthy nation. It was some another nation that was recognized in the world at that time as having a great deal of wealth and a great deal of culture. But again, I want to make a practical application because I suggest what we learn from what is recorded here is that when she came to Solomon.
She really came initially full of herself. She came with a lot of self esteem and what she could bring and what she could display to Solomon. But you know, you find before she leaves the court of Solomon all that had paled. And you'll find that as you spend more and more time in the presence of the Lord Jesus, anything we think we have that's of worth. Why it's just going to pale.
That's why Paul counted the things that he once had counted worthy and dear. He counted them as nothing when he got into the presence of the Lord Jesus. When he says forgetting those things which are behind, we often apply that in a practical way to forgetting past victories or past failures. And certainly it has its application. But when you read its context there in Philippians, it's in connection with something very different, because Paul before he was saved.
He was pretty proud of what he was naturally speaking, and he lists before in that chapter some of the things he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
And so on. As to the law, he was impeccable, but when he got into the presence of the Lord Jesus.
All that was counted as nothing. And so when we get into the presence of the Lord Jesus, we find that he's everything and we're nothing. John the Baptist said when he saw the Lord Jesus, he must, he must increase. I must decrease. Well, we find them that as I said in verse three, he told her all her questions. There was not anything hid from the king that he told her not. And we find that in the presence of of Solomon.
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She could commune with him of all that was in her heart. I think that's so beautiful, you know, there's very few people you can do that with, isn't there? You know, there's people we love, family members, there's friends and we can commune with them. And we're thankful. You say, I'm glad I have someone that I can unburden to and they understand me. But I doubt there's very many people that any of us have that we could just tell them everything, you know, even my closest family, if I started to tell them everything pretty soon.
They'd hold up their hand and say, Jim, that's enough. I can't take any more, but I have one. I have a friend that I can go to and I can tell him everything. And if it takes five hours, he's still willing to listen. He sympathizes with me. He empathizes with me. He doesn't keep office hours like some people. I'll never have call waiting. I'll never have call forwarding. I'll never get an answering machine to the throne of Grace.
He's always available. He's a very present help in time of trouble.
And we can go to him anytime of the day or night, and we can commune with him of all that is in our hearts. And I want to encourage you to do that. Just get into the presence of the Lord. And maybe sometimes you don't really have any particular need or request, not any particular supplication, but just get into his presence and talk to him as a man talks to his friend. If you do that, you'll enter more into his heart. And then when the problems arise.
You say I can go to a friend like that. I know that person. That person understands me. And so she communed with him of all that was in her heart. But now I want to notice, and this is perhaps what is particularly on my heart this afternoon in taking up this little story, I want to notice eight things that the Queen of Sheba noted, and as to the court of Solomon.
Eight things that she observed as she sat down in the presence of Solomon from day-to-day. And I suggest that she probably stayed in the court of Solomon a lot longer than we think.
You know, we read of this in just a few short verses, but when she made this journey.
Any of us who know that part of the world knows she didn't make it in just a few days, or perhaps even a few weeks.
It was a long, difficult journey, and I dare say that once she arrived and was made welcome in the court of Solomon, she probably stayed quite a while. And she had lots of time to commune with Solomon and lots of time to observe the things under the hand of Solomon as he administered the Kingdom from day-to-day.
And she mentions here 8 things that she saw. And again, I want to perhaps take these things even a little bit out of their context and make some practical applications in connection with our Solomon, the Lord Jesus. And so the first thing that she notices, she notes, is in verse 4 and when the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom.
I want to notice this little word seen she had heard about his wisdom prior to her arrival.
She'd heard about it in her country and justice. The report of it had caused her to rise up from her throne and leave the comforts of her palace to make this long journey to Israel and Jerusalem.
But when she came and sat down in the presence of Solomon, there was more than just hearing his wisdom. No doubt, as she sat there she did hear more of his wisdom, but she also saw his wisdom.
She had never seen his wisdom until she came to his presence. And I want to encourage each one of us to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. It's one thing to hear of the wisdom of Christ.
It's one thing to open the Bible and hear his wisdom brought forth in the pages of the written Word. Wonderful and necessary, that is. But you will never see the wisdom of our Solomon till you spend time in his presence. There's nothing like seeing it unfold in your life. The Queen of Sheba, as she saw what she heard unfold in a practical way. I'm sure it did something to her soul.
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That had never done by just hearing the report in a far country. And I want to encourage you to walk in the conscious sense of the Lord's presence with you, so that you will see that wisdom enacted and unfolded in your life from day-to-day, so that you will experience it as a very real thing. Because Christianity and walking with Christ is more than just theory. It's more than just theology. It's more than just.
Doctrine set out.
In the word of God, it's a very, very practical thing. And so as we go on in our Christian pathway and experience this, we're going to be like the Queen of Sheba, who eventually said, as we read, the half had not been told me, what she heard in her own land was wonderful, but what she saw when she came was far, far more than she had ever anticipated. And so she saw the wisdom of Solomon, and isn't it wonderful that he's been made to us?
Wisdom. We have all the wisdom of Christ at our at our disposal.
And two, have you ever lacked wisdom in your daily walk? You know often we do, don't we?
You say sometimes I just don't know where to turn. I don't know what to say. But it says if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not because again we have the one who's very name is Wisdom. His wisdom itself as we get brought before us so beautifully in the first few chapters of the book of the book of Proverbs. So we have a person who is wisdom and when we get into His presence.
Then we see that wisdom practically expressed and carried out in our lives from day-to-day. And that wisdom, that very wisdom becomes available to us as the wisdom that we can use for our pathway here. And how can we? Do we think we can go through life? And we don't need the wisdom of God, We don't need the wisdom of Christ? Do you think that you can face life on with your own wisdom?
I have seen, sad to say, more shipwrecked Christians because they thought they could do it in their own, at their own discretion. They thought they had certain wisdom and that they were wiser than God and wiser than Scripture. But oh how wonderful. When I meet a Christian and they say, oh, I just want the Lord's mind in this, I just want to know what God has for me. I just want that wisdom that comes from above. Oh, I say, when I hear a young person or an older person talk like that.
I don't worry so much about them anymore because I know the Lord wants to show them.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path. But we find here the first thing is.
She saw the Solomon's wisdom. And then in that same fourth verse we find the second thing, and that is the house that he had built. Now I suggest that this was his own house for his own enjoyment and living it wasn't the House of God. We'll speak of that a little later on. I suggest this was the house that Solomon had had built for himself. And again, I'm going to take this a little bit out of context.
And make a practical application for us. Because the Lord Jesus is building a house for his glory and his enjoyment, a house where he can dwell. And it's not a physical house, it's a spiritual house. Sometimes we sing a hymn, view the vast building, see it rise the work, how great the plan, how wise, oh wondrous fabric power unknown that builds it on the living stone and the house that is being built today.
In this world is built not of a bricks and mortar, but it's being built of living stones. And Peter tells us that every believer is a living stone in the in the Church of God, in the House of God. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are part of this house that's being built because it tells us in the book of Hebrews we are the House of God. That's why Timothy was told how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God.
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Which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. You know that exhortation of behavior in the House of God is not just an exhortation as to how we act when we come to meeting or collectively into the presence of the Lord. Now it is true we need to be sensitive when we come together in the assembly as to whose presence we are coming into. And holiness becometh by house, O Lord, forever, and God is greatly to be reverenced.
In the assembly of the Saint greatly feared, in the assembly of the Saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him, and so on.
But when it says how thou Artest to behave thyself in the House of God, we are the House of God wherever we are.
Whether you're at home, whether you're at work, whether you're at school, whether you're at the grocery store, whether you're working out at the fitness club, wherever you are, remember there's a behavior that is in keeping with being a living stone part of the House of God. And so the Queen of Sheba noted Solomon's house and, well, this house is not viewed physically in this world. Isn't it wonderful that you and I, by faith, can view that building as it rises?
And realize that there are still stones today being added to the House of House of God. He's still adding to the church daily, such as should be saved. Well then we find that there's a third thing in verse 5, the meat of his table in another scripture. It enumerates the meat of Solomon's Table and the number of game that it took to furnish.
Solomon's Table and those that sat down at Solomon's Table.
With food every day. And it's tremendous just to think of the amount of food that was required to feed those who were part of Solomon's court and his household. But, you know, isn't it wonderful again that our Solomon has provided meat for us? You know, the thought of eating or meat and Scripture, food in Scripture brings before us the thought of fellowship. We find it earlier on with Mephibosheth.
When he was brought from Lodi Bar by Solomon's father, King David, he was not only brought to the palace and given an apartment to live there with the king, but he was brought to the King's table. It didn't. It wouldn't satisfy David just to have solemn or I'm sorry to have Mephibosheth eat in a private dining room somewhere in in the palace. No, it says he sat and he ate meat at the King's table continually. King David desired the fellowship.
Of this one that he had brought into his presence. When the prodigal son returned, it wouldn't satisfy the father to have the prodigal eat with the servants or up in his room. That no, He sat down at the Father's table and the fatted calf was killed. There was a feast, and in fellowship together they made Mary. And so we find here that there were those who ate in fellowship with King Solomon.
From day-to-day. And I believe that when it speaks of the meat of his table, it typifies to us, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the basis of our fellowship. That's what true fellowship really is. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And what is that fellowship? It's the enjoyment of the person and work of Christ. And then there's fellowship, one with another, as Re as a result. Because if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
And I just again, want to encourage each of our hearts in a practical way to.
Sit down every day at the King's table and enjoy the King's meat. Enjoy something of the person and work of Christ. It's what feeds and sustains the soul. There's nothing in this world to sustain the Newman.
There's plenty to feed our lusts, there's plenty to feed the flesh, but nothing to sustain the new man. What's going to sustain the new man is to feed on Christ. When we were young people, we used to sing a little song. Feed on God's word in the morning, Feed on God's Word at noon. Feed on God's Word in the evening. To keep your heart in tune. Well, then we find something else here in the fifth verse, the sitting of his servants. I want to take this little expression just the way it appears.
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In our Bible here the sitting of his servants. You know, when we read of servants, we don't usually think of them sitting, do we?
When we think of servants, we think of busy activity, a hustle and bustle as they carry out their.
Uh uh, day-to-day tasks. But I just suggest that what the Queen of Sheba noted here was.
That there was a time set aside in the court of Solomon where Solomon's servants could come apart each from their service and sit down with Solomon in their midst, and as they sat down with Solomon in their midst.
What were they? What was their occupation? It was Solomon himself, observing his wisdom, seeing the administration of the Kingdom under his hand, listening to his words. And brethren, do we appreciate those times set aside when collectively you find there, Collectively here it's servants, plural, when we can collectively come into the presence of the Lord Jesus and sit down on various occasions.
Whether it's to remember him in the breaking of bread, whether it's for worship and praise, whether it's for ministry of the word, whether it's for prayer. I suggest that these servants value these times, set aside when they could come and sit down with Solomon in their midst. And that's why I read to us that verse in Luke Chapter 11. Behold, a greater than Solomon is here. We have the privilege.
Unspeakable privilege of sitting down, not in the presence of some earthly king, but in the presence of the king of kings and Lord of Lords. And what what else did the Queen of Sheba note about these servants? Well, in the eighth verse she noted that they were happy servants. You know, again, we don't always think of servants as being happy. We sometimes just picture servants as carrying out their tasks because it's a requirement and but maybe they're just humdrum, mundane tasks that they have to perform.
From day-to-day, because that's their in their job description and there's a paycheck at the end of the of the pay period and so on. But perhaps there's not always joy in their service. Is that the way it was with the, with the servants of Solomon? You notice in the eighth verse they go out and they're not sitting. In the eighth verse they're standing. Standing would speak to us of those who are ready to do the bidding of their of their master, of their employer. They're standing each in their place, ready to do Solomon's bidding.
And everyone of us have a little service to perform for Christ. He has something for each one of us. Even Samuel is a young boy. It said that he he he ministered to the Lord, and so we have a little service to do for him. But as they stood there ready to do their service, they were happy servants. And I suggest that their joy in service sprang from those times when they sat in the presence of Solomon, And your joy and service will spring from those times.
When you sit with your fellow servants, your fellow believers, in the presence of the Lord Jesus for those various opportunities that we have enumerated, oh, I want to encourage you whenever there's an opportunity to be in His presence, not just on an occasion like this, but in the little assembly you come from. You say there's not very many of us, Doesn't seem to be a lot of gift and ability. Sometimes that doesn't matter. The true Solomon is there, the Lord Jesus is there. That's what attracted these servants. That's what brought them together.
Was Solomon in their midst? And if you see him and you're attracted to him, you'll want to be there on every occasion. And then there's something else. We have the fifth thing, and that is the attendance of his ministers. You know, You know, sometimes we hear the expression ministers and it is limited in the minds of many to a certain group of people. And I'm not here to criticize that, but.
You know, every Christian is a minister. Are you a minister today? Brothers, sisters, we're all ministers of Christ. Or we should be. Again, it says twice of Samuel as a boy. He ministered to the Lord, I think that's so beautiful. You know, perhaps there's some children here. And you say, well, what can I do for the Lord? Samuel ministered to the Lord. We don't know everything he did, but it was very practical things, you know, His mother brought him up to the temple.
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Eli was getting old. Eli's sons, who should have been taking responsibility. They weren't. They didn't value what they've been brought up in, and Samuel was there to help in practical ways. One thing we know for sure he did was in the morning he opened the temple doors so that people could come up and worship the Lord and bring their sacrifices. Those temple doors were no doubt heavy. Eli perhaps had a little difficulty in opening the doors. I don't want to read more into scriptures in there, but I've wondered if sometimes he didn't just help bring in the wood for the offerings.
Maybe take the ash pan and the broom around and clean up the ashes after. Whatever it was, it was Ministry to the Lord. And it starts with those little things, You children. If you learn to help out at team eating, maybe pick up the paper plates after the meal. Help sweep the floor. Turn the chairs for the next meeting. Help Mom and Dad at home. Maybe they're having company on Lord's day for dinner. Just help all you can. That's Ministry to the Lord.
And then we find that the sisters too. It says there were of three sisters. There were others. But it names three in the life of the Lord Jesus. Its names Mary, Uh, Mary, Magdalene, Johanna and Susanna. And it says they followed the Lord in his path and ministered to him of their substance. Sisters are ministers of Christ as well. And so we all have that privilege. There were those who took the practical responsibility for the assembly brothers in the New Testament.
And when there was a problem in the assembly, it speaks of them as they prayed and fasted and ministered to the Lord. They took up the practical things of the assembly. And then there's ministry in a public way. And so she noticed his ministers. But then we find the sixth thing is and their apparel, you know, as these ones ministered and moved about the Court of Solomon, there was something that marked them as the ministers of Solomon. You know, I've thought of this sometimes when I'm in the islands.
Especially in the Bahamas, where I've had an open door by the grace of God for many years in the schools.
And I have had opportunity for probably some 20 years of going from school to school and speaking to the student body and leaving literature and material for them to take home. But you know, in the islands, they it's still the old British system where the students wear uniforms to school. And I have had the privilege of being in those those islands for so long and being in the school so many times that when I see those boys and girls and young people on the street.
After school I recognize them by their uniform I recognize that a green Plaid skirt and a white blouse. Oh, that girl belongs to such and such a school. And a young man with a with blue pants and a, uh, a tan shirt and a blue tie. Oh, they come from another school. You get to recognize people by their apparel. Some of us have that opportunity to visit some of the castles and palaces of the nobility of Britain and Europe.
And when you're there, you see the guards and the different ministers of those kings and Queens. They all have very distinct uniforms, and you recognize them and their ministry to their employer by their uniform. And there ought to be something about us, brethren, that marks us as a Christian. I'm not talking now about wearing our skirts a certain length, their white shirts and ties and that kind of thing. That's not what I'm talking about now.
But there should be something about our conduct, something there ought to be an aura about us as we move through this world that marks us as a minister of Christ. Does the world look on and say, oh, there's someone who belongs to the Lord Jesus? There's a young person, and they say they're on their way to to heaven. They belong to to, to the, to the Lord, to the Lord.
There ought to be that which characterizes us as belonging to the Lord Jesus.
And the Kingdom of God, as we pass through this world. Well, so it was in the court of Solomon. Well, then we noticed the seventh thing she notices his cup bearers. Now again I just want to make a practical application. You remember that Nehemiah was the King's cup bearer. And the cup bearers in those days were the men who brought and presented the wine to the king. And they would often be required to taste that wine first of all for themselves.
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Before they presented it to the king. The kings in those days were always suspicious and lived in fear that there was somebody ready to do them in, and some of them had good reason to fear it. And so often they had food tasters and cup bearers that tasted their food and tasted their wine before they partook of it. And Nehemiah was the King's cup bearer, and it was a very, very noble and responsible job.
Back in Bible times, and we find here that Solomon had not just a cup bearer, but he had cup bearers, those that brought the wine and presented it to him. Now wine in Scripture often speaks to us of praise and joy, and you and I, I believe each one, have the privilege of being the King's cup bearer. You and I have the privilege of bringing that joy and praise to the Lord Jesus.
And how true of it is it of our lives? First of all, individually? You know, it's easy to get under the circumstances of life, isn't it? It's easy to grumble and complain. It's easy to just get depressed and under things. And I'm not saying life is easy. And I know some of you have been through and are going thing through things that I've never been called on to pass through in the path of faith and service. But isn't it wonderful that we can find our joy in the Lord?
That we can rejoice in the Lord, not just some of the time, but always.
So we can find our delight in him, that we can cultivate the habit of praise and Thanksgiving in our lives personally and then in the family circle. You know, I appreciate when I have opportunity to visit in a home, a Christian home, and after the family reading or at the meal, there's a couple of hymns sung at the table or around the living room. You know, that's I believe that's cultivating the habit of praise in the family circle. That's being the King's cup bearer.
Bringing that praise and joy to himself. I just say this and not critically, but you know, I find that singing in the family circle is almost a lost art today. When I was growing up, it happened, it seems, a lot more than it does today. Not only did we sing in our home, for which I'm thankful to my parents for, but you know when you used to go out and visit on a Friday night or you were invited to for a meal somewhere, why, you never left someone's home without standing around the piano.
And singing a few hymns before you left, thus being the King's cup there. And I want to say to those of us who are parents and heads of our homes, let's seek to cultivate that habit. I know that some can carry a tune better than others. Maybe some of us don't have somebody in the home that can play an instrument, but we can make a joyful noise under the Lord. I'm always thankful that the Lord made crows as well as nightingales. And so He wants to hear our our voice and then in the assembly as well.
You know, on Lord's Day morning, we don't come to get. We come to give, we come to give the sacrifice of praise.
And I sometimes think of that hymn on Lord's Day Morning, when we sit there in silence so long.
Brightness of the eternal glory shall thy praise unuttered lie? Who would hush the heavens sense story of the Lamb who came to die? I don't mean we trip over one another. That was a problem in Corinth uh long ago. But we need to be exercised, that we come with hearts full of praise and Thanksgiving, hearts full of joy that we can pour out to himself. Well then we find the eighth thing is his ascent by which he went up under the House of the Lord.
Well, again, I'm going to make a little application here. You know, there should be that which is characteristic of those of us who are expecting to ascend to the Father's house at any moment. We need to walk through this world as those who are just on their way through, that we would walk through this world as strangers and pilgrims. And so as the world looks on, do they see us settling down here or would they say?
There's a person. They must have something else in view. They must have a goal. They must have something better.
Here it's the House of the Lord, but as I say, we know it in a far more intimate way.
We know it as the Father's house and that promise he made long ago. I will come again, I suggest, brethren. We're just on the eve of the fulfillment of that promise. Does that really mean something to your heart and mind? Because it says, every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. If we have the sense in our souls that we're on the way to the Father's house and the Lord is coming at any moment, it will have a practical, purifying effect on our lives that will no doubt be a testimony to others.
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Well, when she saw all this, what was the result? There was number more spirit left in her and all the things that she had brought and all the pomp and ceremony that she had come with. Why, that just disappeared. That didn't mean anything anymore. And it's interesting, I think if you notice the same incident in Chronicles, it's perhaps a little clearer, but she gives up the abundance of her land to King Solomon.
But when King Solomon gives to her, he actually, I believe, not only gave up the abundance of Israel, but he actually gave her back what she brought.
You know, the Lord Jesus wants us not for what we can give him. He delights in what we give him, yes, but that is not what he wants us for. He wants us for what He can give us. And so we find there was worship in her heart, and he gives to her, and she went away with a full heart. And again, I just want to suggest for all of us if these things are true in a practical way in our lives, if we seek more and more to be occupied with the person of Christ.
As we walk in his presence, as we sit down in his company.
What is going to be produced in our heart? Why, it's going to be worship, an attraction to himself. It's going to be a deeper sense and appreciation of who he is. We find that in the New Testament with Mary, who sat at his feet as a learner when the sorrow came. She went to his feet on behalf of her brother, but at the end of it all, as she sat at his feet for the last time before he went to the cross.
Her heart was full of worship, and that will be the result in our lives. Not that we try to generate worship. You can't do it. But worship will be generated in the measure in which you and I are occupied with our Solomon, the Lord Jesus, His beauties and His glories, His person. Oh, may we get a fresh glimpse of him this afternoon. When I was younger, we used to sing that beautiful hymn, Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in his wonderful face, in the things of earth will grow strangely dim.
In the light of His glory and grace, you know we sometimes sing that prayer, and I trust it's the earnest and sincere prayer of your heart and mind.
All fix our earnest gaze so holy Lord on thee that with thy beauty, thy beauty occupied we elsewhere none may see. When the Queen of Sheba saw the beauty of Solomon, she said the half had not been told. That's what captivated her heart. It was a person that got a hold of her soul. May the person of Christ get a hold of our souls this afternoon, and may we experience that joy and blessing that he has for us.
As a result.