this morning I'm preaching on the Queen of Sheba the Queen of Sheba the Bible
reads in 1st Kings chapter 10 verse 1 and when the Queen of Sheba had heard of
the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord she came to prove him with
hard questions now if you would keep your finger there in 1st Kings and go
back to Deuteronomy chapter number 4 Deuteronomy chapter number 4 the Bible
actually talks about in Deuteronomy how this would happen that when the children
of Israel followed the Word of God and people would hear about just how
righteous God's judgments were and how righteous his laws were that they would
want to come from all over and that they would get a great reputation among the
people of that region for wisdom look what the Bible says in Deuteronomy
chapter 4 verse 5 behold I have taught you statutes and judgments even as the
Lord my God commanded me that you should do so in the land whether you go to
possess it keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and your
understanding in the sight of the nations which shall hear all these
statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding
people for what nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the
Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for and what nation is
there so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law
which I set before you this day so the Bible is telling us that if we follow
God's Word people even that are outsiders are going to look at us and be
impressed by the way that we live our lives and by the wisdom of the way that
we live our lives and you know a lot of people today even if they wouldn't admit
it when they look at godly Christians and the way they live their life there
are a lot of things about that lifestyle that they're impressed by you
know people see the way our kids behave people see the way that our marriages
people see the way that our finances are and they basically see that we're being
honest we're living a clean and decent life and obviously they see that and
they attribute that to the Word of God because of the fact that if it weren't
for God's Word if weren't for us going to church you know we wouldn't be living
godly righteous lives I mean I think about what would my life be like if I
weren't a Christian if I hadn't grown up in church if I didn't read my Bible I
would have made completely different decisions I wouldn't be married with 11
kids and everything I would have gone out and just lived some worthless stupid
life doing a bunch of dumb things in my 20s going out getting drunk partying
sleeping around I mean that's what worldly people do when they have no
guidance they have no direction you know they rack up a bunch of money on
their credit cards they live above their means they've lived a stupid life and
God's Word actually gives us wisdom whereby to live our lives in a way that
makes sense and even people from the outside can look at a godly Christian
life and say hey wait a minute they must be doing something right because they
have their act together now I'm not saying that Christians are perfect or
that they're not going to have problems or issues but you know what when you
look at how life goes when you're not following the Bible and then you look at
how life goes when you are following the Bible there's a pretty big difference
between those two things and so we ought to make sure that we have that right
kind of testimony we want people to be able to look at us from the outside and
they would see a good testimony of Christianity that we would be an
advertisement for Christianity not an advertisement against Christianity we
would be an advertisement with the way that we live our lives and so God's
laws and God's statutes are the reason why worldly people would look at us and
be impressed and bless us and say wow you know these people are doing
something good that's the degree to which they're going to think that is the
degree to which we're following God's laws so what I'm saying is if you follow
the Bible if you follow God's laws and put those things into practice you're
people on the outside whereas if you're not following the Word of God you could
be a bad testimony and and give a bad report for Christianity itself and so
he's saying here that people when they hear about the nation of Israel the
thing that's going to impress them is the wisdom of God's laws and they're
going to say wow what other nation has statutes and judgments so righteous as
all this law which I set before you this day not only that but if you would
flip back to 1st Kings and go to 1st Kings chapter 8 Solomon also himself
predicted that this would happen that people would hear about the name of the
Lord they would hear about God's Word and God's laws and they would want to
come and be a part of it look at 1st Kings chapter 8 verse 41 it says
moreover concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel but cometh out
of a far country for thy name's sake verse 42 for they shall hear of thy
great name and of thy strong hand and of thy stretched out arm when he shall come
and pray toward this house hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place and do
according to all that the stranger call it to thee for that all people of the
earth may know thy name to fear thee as do thy people Israel and that they may
know that this house which I have builded is called by thy name so he
predicts in verse 42 for they shall hear of thy great name and of thy strong hand
and of thy stretched out arm and he says in verse 41 that they will come out of a
far country for God's name's sake and that's exactly what the Queen of Sheba
does because of the name of the Lord she comes from a far country just to visit
and try to learn and understand where the greatness comes from so here's the
thing God will actually exalt us and lift us up in the sight of the outside
world in the sight of even people that aren't Christians that aren't saved but
here's the thing don't ever feel like well yeah see look look how great a job
I'm doing everybody wants to be like me everybody wants to learn from me it's
not about you it's only the word of the Lord they'd even got you to that point
you know when somebody walked across the street and said to me hey you know I've
seen your family I see your kids and he said you know I want what you have you
know what you know I want to live this kind of life I want to have a family
like this I don't want to be like my my family because they're all drug addicts
and they're all messed up and everything and I was able to win that guy to Christ
now here's the thing that rarely happens so don't rely on that as your soul
winning program some people do it's called lifestyle evangelism you know you
just live a certain way and then people will come and ask you that only happens
like once every several years though that's not just you can't expect that to
happen every week and we need to be out preaching the gospel every week amen and
not just waiting for those type of occurrences but here's the thing when
when he came over I wasn't just like oh really you think so thanks you know well
you know it's nothing really no because God gets all the glory for that because
I know myself as the Apostle Paul said I know that in me that is in my flesh
dwells no good thing so if I were just out living the way that I would have
lived without having read the Bible without the Holy Spirit to guide me
nobody'd want to copy me at that point nobody'd be coming to me saying hey I
want to be like you I want to emulate you now here is what we don't want to
misunderstand here because look at verse 1 of chapter 10 it says 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 she heard the fame of Solomon
and she came here's what we need to understand first of all is that
everybody's not coming is the Queen of Sheba coming yeah okay where's the Queen
of this country in that country where's the king of the Moabites the king of the
Philistines the king of the Ammonites you know we don't want to get this idea
of oh well if we're serving God and doing right and have godly wisdom the
whole world is gonna love us is that what the Bible is teaching here no
because of the fact that narrow is the way that leadeth into life few there be
that find it most people are gonna reject the truth most people don't want
what God's Word has to offer but if we have the right testimony if we follow
God's Word if we do his commandments if we let our light shine there are gonna
be people who see that and they're impressed by that and they come to the
Lord as a result but they have to be a lover of truth they have to be a seeker
of truth they have to be a sincere person the Queen of Sheba was obviously
a sincere person that wanted the truth so she came to the right source we don't
want to get you know for example the Bible says of the pastor it says
moreover he must have a good report of them which are without lest he fall into
reproach and the snare of the devil the pastor must have a good report of them
which are without I've had people throw that at me and say well you don't have a
good report of those are without because people hate you for preaching against
homos and what it's like hold on a second Jesus said marvel not my
brethren if the world hates you we're supposed to be hated for preaching the
Word of God we're supposed to be persecuted for righteousness sake
blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake but there's some
people twist that and say oh you gotta have a good report of them which are
without okay well that's Joel Osteen that's Billy Graham that's Rick Warren
right that's John MacArthur that's all these big-name TV evangelists that all
the worldly people love that's not what the Bible is saying because that would
contradict a lot of other Bible when the Bible is saying have a good report of
them which are without lest you fall into the reproach and the snare of the
devil that means that before I became a pastor did I have a good report on my
job did did I have a reputation for being honest on the job was I a pain in
the neck neighbor or was I a decent neighbor was I decent citizen was I good
student was I good worker whatever areas of life where we interact good father
good son good brother good sister that's what we're talking about we're not
talking about pleasing the godless liberal media well I mean MSNBC didn't
like you so you don't have a good report of them which are that look what CNN
said about you folks obviously the satanic media and these demonic
organizations like Black Lives Matter and antifa and these bunch of communist
weirdos like the what's it called the the ADL and these people obviously
they're never gonna say anything good about a godly Christian they're never
gonna be the Queen of Sheba coming and saying hey let us learn from you we want
to live a righteous life too but you know what the Bible is teaching us here
that there are people out there that are sincere people and if we let our light
shine they're gonna come to the light aren't they but guess what they're also
cockroaches out there that when we let our light shine they're gonna hate it so
don't get mixed up here don't just expect that the Queen of Sheba
represents everybody in the whole world no the Queen of Sheba represents an
unsaved heathen person who's a sincere person an unsaved heathen person who
actually wants the truth who's actually seeking truth and is a person who's
pure and hard and you know what if you seek you shall find and she came to the
right place and she found it so I want to make sure that we understand that
that there are two issues at play here there's King Solomon on the one hand
putting God's Word into practice putting God's righteous judgments into practice
and letting the light shine and then there's the Queen of Sheba who's the
right recipient of that light so it takes both elements here you got to have
the right receiver and the right transmitter here in order for this to
take place so the Bible says here that the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of
Solomon concerning the name of the Lord and she came to prove him with hard
questions now what is her motivation what is her priority in verse 1 we
already find out that she comes looking for wisdom because what did she do she
came to prove him with hard questions now if she's coming to ask him hard
questions that shows that she wants knowledge she wants wisdom she wants
understanding that's what she's thinking now that's exactly like Solomon because
remember when God offered Solomon whatever he wanted he chose wisdom he
did not ask for riches he did not ask for long life for the lives of his
enemies he prayed for understanding he prayed for wisdom and so the Queen of
Sheba is the same way she's a seeker of truth she wants to learn knowledge and
understanding and like I just mentioned the Bible says in John 3 19 and this is
the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil for everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved
but he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made
manifest that they are wrought in God listen to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2
it says and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and them that perish
because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved what
kind of people are the kind of people who get saved people who love the truth
they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this
cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie
that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure
and unrighteousness look there are people out there who are lovers of truth
seekers of truth they will get saved because if you seek you shall find
they're looking for truth if they're sincere they're gonna end up at the Lord
Jesus Christ they're gonna end up saved but there are a lot of people out there
who do not love the truth they delight in lies they're not interested in what's
actually right and these are the people that are not gonna end up getting saved
typically so the Bible says in verse 2 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 now I want to point out in verse 2 here that she is bringing a lot of
precious things like she's bringing spices gold and precious stones and what
we see here is this proverb being put into practice by the truth and sell it
not she's basically willing to trade material goods for knowledge she's
bringing a bunch of presents for him very expensive things and saying here
let me give you this present now I want you to answer my questions I want to
commune with you of what's on my heart I want to prove you with hard questions go
if you would to Proverbs chapter 3 we keep a bookmark or something in 1st
Kings 10 because we'll we'll keep going back there throughout the sermon but
flip over to Proverbs chapter 3 wise people know that knowledge and
understanding are far more valuable than material goods smart people realize that
knowing things and having wisdom and understanding life is way more important
than how much money you have or how much money you make foolish people are just
out seeking money money is the biggest thing for them that's like the idiots
who go to the gas station and buy lottery tickets what are they doing
they're trying to get rich quick they're trying to just have a shortcut to having
a bunch of money but here's the thing those same people who win the lottery
what do they do they end up wasting the money ruining their lives and rarely do
they end up any better off usually they end up worse off and you say well if I
won the lottery I wouldn't be an idiot with it but here's the thing I wouldn't
be an idiot with it either but I don't play and guess what everybody who
doesn't play they're the ones who would be smart with the winnings they do
anybody who would be smart with the winnings is smart enough not to play and
anybody who's dumb enough to play is gonna be stupid with the winnings that's
why because you gotta wear like how can there be so many idiots winning the
lottery I mean if you is everybody looked up those stories about people
winning a lot of they go into debt and they they ruin all their family
relationships they often end up dying young and everything they say how can
there be so many idiots winning the lottery it's because there's so many
idiots playing the lottery that's why because a wise person is not out just to
make a quick buck just to make easy money hastening to be rich the Bible
says if you make haste to be rich you're not innocent you're not gonna be
innocent only a fool goes through life thinking that if I could just get a
million dollars that'll solve all my problems no getting a million dollars
would just give you a whole new set of problems that you haven't even
anticipated yet what you really ought to be seeking is wisdom understanding and
knowledge and let me explain something to you if you know how to live life
you'll always be able to make a living if you know how to live your life making
a living is easy but knowing how to make a living doesn't necessarily mean
you know how to live life so you can go out and get a bunch of education and
training on how to make money but that's not necessarily going to lead you to a
happy life a blessed life because it's more important that you learn how to
live your life and here's where you learn how to live your life in the Word
of God and if you do this you'll be able to pay the bills you'll be able to put
on the table this is the knowledge that you need and so it says in verse 13 of
Proverbs 3 happy is the man that finest wisdom and the man that getteth
understanding for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver
and the gain thereof than fine gold she is more precious than rubies and all the
things that thou can't desire are not to be compared under her he said look all
the things you could desire the cars the watches the clothes the boat the yacht
the money he says all of those things are so much less important than wisdom
you can't even compare the two they're not even on the same scale it'd be
impossible it's like it's like if you tried to weigh something on the wrong
scale you know it's like if you took a little kitchen scale that was for weighing
ingredients for your food and then you just put on the floor and just stepped
on it say I'm gonna weigh myself it's not gonna it's the wrong scale because
here's the thing you know you would you're not gonna you're not gonna say
hey I'm gonna put it under my truck and see how much my truck weighs because
here's the thing weighing things like trucks and you know even a human being
are gonna be different from weighing out little tiny amounts of this and that in
a little tiny electronic scale so what the Bible is saying here is that these
things aren't even on the same scale okay all the money and fame and the
things that you want in this world wisdom is so many orders of magnitude
higher on the important scale that you can't even measure it on the same scale
you're gonna need a different scale you know be like trying to measure the
distance from Phoenix to California in inches or you're measuring it in
millimeters you're on the wrong scale right we would need to use miles or
kilometers we wouldn't use these tiny measure and that's what he's saying you
know it's like I said on Wednesday night if you rounded it off then the
importance of all those other things would end up just being zero next to
wisdom wisdom is more precious than rubies it says in verse 15 and all the
things that thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her wrong scale length
of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honor and that's
what I was saying if you know how to live your life you'll be able to get the
money that you need you'll be able to be healthy it's all hinging on whether or
not you have wisdom and understanding which comes from God so that's why if
you seek first the kingdom of God all these other things will be added unto
you her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace she's a tree
of life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is everyone that retaineth her
so the Queen of Sheba she understands that she understands hey wisdom is way
more valuable than stuff so I'm gonna take some of my most expensive and
precious things and just give them to Solomon so that he can give me some of
his wisdom now is she getting a good trade absolutely that's a great trade
because of the fact that here's the thing without coming and seeing Solomon
she's not gonna know the Lord and she's gonna be going woohoo with all her
rubies and gold and everything and then die and go to hell but she's in heaven
right now why because she met the Lord how does she meet the Lord she spent
the money she made the trip she went to King Solomon and she made a good trade
you know I remember I was sowing on the Indian Reservation and somebody said
yeah you know the white man came and they you know took our land and gave us
Jesus and I said hey you that's a good trade you make a make them you make them
good trade so smoke a peace pipe and get over it because you know what I'd rather
have Jesus than the whole state of Arizona says in first Kings chapter 10
verse 3 and Solomon told her all her questions there was not anything hid
from the king which he told her not basically she wasn't able to stump him
everything she asks he gave her a good answer so she's satisfied she got what
she came for every question that she asked was well answered and what the
Bible is symbolizing here is that God has all the answers that's the
symbolism you know because her going to Solomon is a picture of going to the
Word of God because Solomon is a prophet of God Solomon is a prophet of God who
wrote three books of the Bible and so going to him is a picture of going to
God's Word and finding the answers to all of your questions it says in verse
4 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
attendance of his ministers and their apparel and his cupbearers and his
ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord there was no more
spirit in her so she sees first of all the knowledge the wisdom the
understanding he answers all of her questions and then she just sees what a
tight operation he's running just how smooth everything is how classy
everything is how everything is just a well-oiled machine I mean she even likes
the clothing that they're wearing the food that they're eating I mean it's
just a great operation and then last but not least his ascent by which he went
up unto the house of the Lord you know that's the coup de grace where she sees
his church and it says there was no more spirit in her and spirit is synonymous
in the Bible with breath so a modern way of saying this would be she was
breathless she's just completely breathtaking breathless just Wow at a
loss she has no more spirit it's not saying like her spirit left her body or
something it's talking about air it's talking about her breath she's just and
this is a powerful person this is an important person she's probably pretty
used to being impressed but she's just blown away by everything regarding King
Solomon and it says in verse 6 and she said to the king it was a true report
that I heard in my own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom how be it 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 and the
point I want to make about this is that wise people they under promise and they
over deliver under promise over deliver what do I mean by that is that wise
people and godly people don't go around tooting their own horn talking about
how great they're you know when you when you see somebody bragging a lot and
boasting a lot and telling you how great they are usually the opposite is true a
lot of times they're trying to compensate and trying to prove something
because they don't have the goods you know these guys that always have to go
around showing how tough they are they usually end up being the guys who wimp
out when there's actually something serious going on I mean I can think of
so many times you know I'm thinking of a particular guy who talked the biggest
talk of anybody huge talk about you know man when these protesters come and you
know he's gonna be so tough and and he's ready to stand up to everybody and I
mean just just totally blowing off his mouth very big talk that he talked and
I'm thinking like wow you know this is the guy we want to have around this guy's
he's ready but as soon as the slightest bit of persecution threatened to touch
his life just a little bit with a little pinky he went running away quit the
church never to be back and all upset and it wasn't our church different
but you know he talked a huge talk but then when the chips were down he was the
first one out the door to go hide as soon as he was gonna have to actually
pay the price as soon as he was actually gonna have to make good you know his
mouth was writing checks that his godliness couldn't cash you know his
mouth was writing checks that his spirituality wasn't able to cash okay
and I'm telling you it's like whenever you have these guys that are just
constantly having to show how manly they are and they're just constantly talking
how tough they are and they're constantly threatening to beat everybody
up and they're gonna beat you up and ready to fight me come face me you know
a lot of times those are the biggest wimps and they just have to make a big
show and put on a big show because they're overcompensated just like the
people who talk the most spiritual talk where just every word out of their mouth
is super hyper overly spiritual and then it turns out that they're a rotten
person and they're putting on a facade like Pharisee so people who talk a big
talk usually don't have the goods to back it up wise people under promise and
over deliver the people how many people have you seen where they have so many
titles behind their name that they're constantly you know they're constantly
putting their name with all these letters after it but then go question
people about those subjects and see if they actually know you know and it turns
out I mean look at Sam get look at dr. Sam Gipp the guy would fail a sixth
grade English class seriously that guy couldn't get a junior college degree in
English and I suppose believe he's a PhD language expert in the King James
version there's no way folks but isn't it funny how people who puff themselves
up and and if you go to his website that his description is how you know he's
read just thousands of books and just he literally claims to have read the Bible
like like 200 times or something and look I read the Bible an incredible
amount I've never read the Bible 200 times cover to cover I'll just go ahead
and say it right now reading the Bible 200 times cover to cover is is is a
pretty huge amount okay look you'd have basic grammar by the end of it you'd know
basic logic by the end of it you'd be pretty smart after reading the Bible 200
times in addition to all the thousands of other books he claims to read and it
talks about on his website oh you know Sam Gipp is just so gifted and just like
processing large amounts of information and then being able to like you know
simplify it but the guy is an imbecile he's a buffoon you know he got some
degree that he sent in so many box tops or whatever to some backwater Florida
Bible College or whatever you know where where you got his we got a participation
trophy that's what the P stands for in his PhD participation participation high
degree or something so the point is you know people they they they put these
titles behind their name they brag about their achievements a lot of times they
don't actually have the goods to back it up typically wise people under promise
and over deliver they would downplay downplay their achievements downplay
their knowledge downplay their understanding and and so that's why
when you actually put them to the test the half hasn't been told you and so
King Solomon isn't a guy who's trying to put out the word that he's better
than he is and bragging and arrogant and and boastful because when she shows up
she's like whoa this is even better than that you guys this is not as advertised
this is better than advertised and you know what that's what we ought to be we
ought to be better than advertised we shouldn't put out this facade that were
one thing and then people actually get to know us and they're really
disappointed or they ask us about the Bible we talk about how much we know the
Bible and then and then they ask us a question you know it's better to be more
humble and downplay your knowledge downplay your achievements downplay your
expertise and you know what I've noticed a lot of times the people who downplay
end up being better at that thing because truly wise people they don't go
blowing off their mouth about how great they are at something you wouldn't even
know it's like when brother segura kicked my butt in boxing because he
tried to he told me they'd never done it before that was not cool all right I
didn't like that this is I it was ten years ago and I'm still upset no I'm
sure you know like like ten or twelve years ago he acted like oh I don't know
anything about fighting I don't know anything about boxing I'm like oh yeah
I'm like giving him tips and pointers and stuff I'm like explaining to him the
basics we put on the gloves we got about 30 seconds and I'm like you liar
I'm like you I instantly knew that he's done this before okay but you know what
at least he didn't just show up to the church and just walk around be like yeah
man I could kick everybody's butt I know I box I know I'd fight you know but
that's how some idiots are that's how they talk that's how they act they just
constantly just that's what they talk about blowing off their mouth and often
dogs that bark don't bite it's better to downplay your achievements hey let
another man praise thee and not thine own mouth strangers and not thine own
lips don't go around bright the Bible says who so boasteth himself of a false
gift is like clouds and wind without rain now look people recognize King
Solomon's greatness they recognize the greatness of the nation of Israel but
you know what it wasn't because Solomon was bragging and talking big because
when people showed up they were actually surprised by how the advertisement was
met and exceeded and that actually he was even greater than they thought and
that's how we should be we should under promise and over deliver let another man
praise thee not thine own mouth let's keep reading here in verse number eight
it says happy are thy men happy are these thy servants which stand
continually before thee and that 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 so
again we don't have a Bible verse of Solomon saying look how great I am look
how smart I am what do we have a Bible verse of other people saying you're
smart you're wise you're governing well God has blessed this people by making
you their king let another man praise thee but also what verse 9 shows us is
that good leaders are a blessing from God because notice what she says she
says because the Lord loved Israel forever therefore made he the king to do
judgment and justice so what about today in 2020 in the United States of America
is good leadership a blessing from God we don't know because we've never
experienced it but anyway the point is I mean a bad leader is a curse from God
folks I believe that we get the leadership that we deserve we get the
leadership that we deserve the leader is a reflection of who we are whether it's
Bill Clinton George Bush Barack Obama Donald Trump that person is a reflection
of us as a nation it's called representative government right we
choose this person represent us and it's so funny how so many people today are
disgusted with Donald Trump I mean there are a lot of people in our country who
hate Donald Trump a lot of people that love Trump but folks there are a lot of
people who hate Donald Trump you believe that right how many do who here believes
that there's probably like a hundred million people in this country who
really don't like Donald Trump at all strongly dislike or even hate Donald
Trump I mean we're talking tens of millions of people and and here's the
thing they look at him and they're disgusted by him and they hate but but
you know what's funny is why don't they look in the mirror these people who hate
Donald Trump you know they have a look in the mirror and you know what they're
gonna find that they have a lot of the same attributes that they don't like
about Donald Trump like what is it what is it that people don't like about
Donald Trump like if someone were to say something negative about Donald Trump
what would they say full of himself we live in a country where Americans are
full of themselves you say oh man Donald Trump he's so proud he's so arrogant
he's so full of himself and you know what he really is but let me tell you
so is America 99% of America is so puffed up and thinks they're so great
so narcissistic then and you're surprised when that's the kind of person
that we elect and these liberals that hate Trump they're just as full of
themselves as he is aren't they being a hypocrite then it's like look in the
mirror America gets the leaders that we deserve you know what what else do
people not like about Trump you know they don't like the fact he's full of
so you know I know more than anybody about this Twitter what elaborate he
goes off just like Americans are constantly going off on social media
just saying whatever's on their mind on social media airing out dirty laundry
that shouldn't be aired on social media that's what he does right just whatever
it just no filter just says whatever on Twitter that's not very presidential
it's fine it's exactly how you live your life what else yeah but that's not true
though I mean I mean I want stuff that's actually true yeah I mean that you know
he made a lot of his money through sinful things like casinos and beauty
pageants and whatever just kind of immoral things selling booze casinos
whatever folks look around look at America it's just caught everywhere it's
it's and look restaurants can't even make money without selling alcohol it
seems like so they almost it's like they're selling alcohol I'm surprised
they're not selling beer at McDonald's they do in Germany they do in Germany
you go McDonald's you get a beer am I telling the truth
Zuzia right so look the point is you know alcohol flows like a river there's
so much alcohol so many casinos I mean casinos are everywhere folks there's a
huge demand for that's up that America loves that sin and so and and and and I
wonder if these godless liberals though that hate Trump you know I'm sure that
they indulge in all of the above okay what else what else have we got well
you're bringing up stuff that we don't like about him right there we go all
right how about the fact how many wives is he had no is that true he's like the
woman at the well I thought you only had three he's the man at the well who
says three who says he's on his third wife who says five whoa okay the threes
have it I'm pretty sure it's three okay but here's the thing not only is he on
his third wife but he's clearly committed adultery and he's also said a
lot of really perverted things and things like that but here's the thing
how can him you know and a lot of liberals will bring that up like well
how can you Christian support Trump when look at what he said here look what he
said and again look in the mirror look at America's I don't think left-wing
liberals have a problem with getting divorced and remarried several times I
don't think they have a problem with adultery and all these things look we
live in a cut and even if they do have a problem with it let's face it our
country's filled with fornication our country's filled with adultery am I
right divorce is pretty commonplace in our country so why are we shocked that
we have a leader who has been divorced a few times he's committed adultery he's
committed fornication he is a little bit sleazy in that regard is that what is it
it's just a reflection what's the point I'm making I'm not making a political
point right now I'm just making a point that it's a reflection of us am I right
okay and fine you don't want to talk about Trump let's talk about Obama
what's wrong with Obama he's weak he's a feminine okay we live in a country of a
feminine man we live in a country of weak men and so that's why we elected
this weak little Twinkie Barack Obama because he reflects our nation okay and
look we could go down the bill Clinton Bush and look we could talk about what a
phony fake Christian Bush is fake conservative our whole country's filled
with fake Christians and fake conservatives and that's why they love
Bush and look I'm not trying to make a political point here what I'm trying to
do here is to show you that we get bad leaders by being bad people and if we'd
be good people will get good leaders representative government that's what's
going on and you look at all the senators and the congressman and you see
how they're just making millions and millions of dollars through insider
trading and other dishonest means but you know what the majority of Americans
if they were put in that position they'd be doing the same thing because we're a
country that has lost its morals and a country that has lost its morals is
gonna elect leaders with no morals and that's where we are and you know what I
guarantee you that if the Queen of Sheba got in a time machine and showed up at
Donald Trump's White House she's not gonna have no breath in her she's not
gonna walk away like oh wow can you answer my questions Donald Trump can I
prove you with hard questions but can you imagine her proving Biden with hard
questions she's like all right Biden what's 42 divided by six he's like you
know the thing folks let's say Biden gets elected let's say by guess like we
deserve him folks let's say Biden got elected right if Biden were to get
elected you know what that shows that we're a nation full of people who love
to sniff people that they have no business sniffing maybe it would show if
Biden got elected they were a nation of idiots that were a nation of buffoons
there were a nation of imbeciles and by the way you know how he got through
college was by cheating that came out he plagiarized like ten pages at a time
he's bringing it he's turning in research papers that are just eight
pages copied and pasted from somebody else and he lied and cheated his way
through school and then but you know what hey we have a nation today filled
with uneducated imbeciles the dumbing down of America so if we ended up with
Biden it serves us right he's a reflection of what we are and so the
Bible here is right and the Queen of Sheba is right when she says here
because the Lord loved Israel forever therefore made he the king to do
judgment and justice so that's why it's not all about this election it's all
about the right people getting out to vote for the right person wrong it's
about us being the right kind of people and then we'll get the leader that we
deserve think about it if our country would be clean we'll have a clean leader
if our country would be Christian we'll have a Christian leader if our country
would be moral and respect marriage and be pure going into marriage and stay
pure in marriage then that's the kind of leader that we will have period end of
story no you just don't understand no you don't understand that has nothing to
do with the ballot box it has to do with your heart in America if it's Christian
you'll get a Christian leader if we're godly we'll get a godly leader if we do
right we'll be free if we do wrong we go into bondage that's what the Bible
teaches children of Israel do right they have freedom children of Israel do wrong
they have bondage so having some godless libertarian party isn't gonna fix it
anybody who's an atheist and a libertarian is not helping us get
freedom in this country because whatever good they're doing on the libertarian
front of fighting for our freedom by producing and promoting immorality
they're taking one step forward and ten steps back because it is God who
controls our destiny and if we're good we'll have good leaders so we need to
focus on making our country a good place so instead of going around trying to get
people to vote for the Republican that's up or who you know and whatever the
election I'd rather go around trying to get people saved and trying to get
Christians to get right with God because that's gonna do more for the
country in the long run the answer is getting people saved and getting
Christians right look even if we got nobody saved even if we just spend an
entire year where we got no one saved now obviously that would not please God
but let's say we went a whole year and we just didn't get anybody saved but we
just got the tens of millions of people in our country that are already saved
right with God we would turn this country around so we need both we need
to get the lost saved but that's not all that's not enough to just get the lost
saved what we need to do is get the saved right with God and that's where
the hard preaching comes in because look folks when we go out so any we run into
a ton of people that are already saved but does that mean they're serving God
does that mean they're living for God folks we got to get them fired up we got
to get him right with God serving God that's what's gonna turn this country
around that the hope for America is not in the White House it's in the
church house and so she says God loved Israel that's why he gave them right who
I mean look I would love to have a leader like like King Solomon but God's
got to love your nation God's got to be pleased with your nation to give you
that kind of a leader otherwise you're gonna get the other kind of leader
now look at 1st Kings chapter 10 verse 10 it says and she gave the king a
hundred and twenty talents of gold and of spices very great store and precious
stones there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the Queen of
Sheba gave to King Solomon now this is a picture and if you would flip over to
Romans chapter 15 this is a picture that those who minister God's Word should be
compensated for that so basically she you know he preaches to her teaches to
her minister sir and then basically she compensates to him now is it right for
him to accept this gift you know to accept these things well look what the
Bible says in Romans chapter 15 verse 25 it says but now I go into Jerusalem to
minister unto the Saints for it pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a
certain contribution for the poor Saints which are at Jerusalem it has pleased
them verily and their debtors they are for if the Gentiles have been made
partakers of their spiritual things their duty is also to minister unto them
in carnal things when therefore I perform this and if sealed to them this
fruit I will come by you into Spain and so what we see here is that the language
that's used here in verse 27 is first of all they're debtors they are what is
a debtor someone who owes you something and then it says their duty is to
minister unto them in carnal things here's what the Bible saying when
someone imparts to you spiritual capital you know when someone basically has
wisdom and knowledge and understanding that they've gleaned from the Lord and
they impart that to you and they teach that to you and they preach that to you
and they edify you the Bible saying you owe that person something you owe that
person something and the Bible says if you would flip over to first Timothy
chapter 5 first Timothy chapter number 5 verse 17 the Bible says let the elders
that rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially they who labor
in the word and doctrine for the scripture saith thou shalt not muzzle
the ox that treadeth out the corn and the laborer is worthy of his reward and
I'm just gonna touch on this briefly but the Bible teaches that preachers of the
Word of God that they are to be paid for that job and that that is a legitimate
source of income and a legitimate job you know when Jesus Christ called his
apostles men like Peter Andrew James and John they forsook the nets and they
followed Christ it was only in their backslidden condition that they went
back to fishing and Jesus went to them when they went fishing and he told them
that basically you know I mean you know I'm not gonna go into the whole story
for sake of time but he basically tells Peter from henceforth thou shalt catch
men you know you're gonna be a fisher of men you're not gonna be a fisher and
when he goes back to fishing he comes and corrects him in John chapter 21 to
get him feeding the lambs feeding the sheep preaching the Word of God what did
they say in Acts chapter 6 the Apostles said it's not meet for us to leave the
Word of God to serve tables did you hear that it's not me for us to leave the
Word of God to serve tables but yet there are people today teaching that
pastors should be serving tables and being a pastor so they would basically
say that a pastor must have an outside job a pastor must serve tables you know
they'll be if they saw a pastor being a waiter at a local restaurant they'd say
oh man that's great that's what he needs to be doing these pastors who get paid
or our phonies that's what the Mormon Church teaches the Mormon Church teaches
that it's a sin you know to have a paid clergy and I've had the Mormons
confront me and say so you know you know you're the pastor's church do you get
paid huh oh yeah well that's why you preach lies because you're getting paid
folks the Bible says that the workman is worthy of his meat the laborer is
worthy of his higher let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double
honor especially they labor in the word and doctrine don't muzzle the ox when he
treads out the corn okay that's what the Bible actually teaches that they that
preach the gospel should live of the gospel and all of the Apostles with the
exception of Paul and Barnabas all of the Apostles were married had children
and preached full-time and they did not work an outside job now Paul and
Barnabas at times did work an outside job so there's nothing wrong with a
pastor having a side job and look when I started the church I worked a full-time
job and for the first four and a half years pastoring faith-forward Baptist
Church I worked a full-time job and pastored the church and didn't take any
pay from the church for four and a half years and then after that I took a
part-time pay and worked less hours at my job and it was like a hybrid for
another however many years I'd have to do the math on that maybe another three
four years or something where I was a hybrid and since around the beginning of
2014 I've been full-time pastoring and here's the thing I liked working an
outside job and pastoring at the same time there were a lot of things I liked
about that and sometimes I even think about like you know almost like man I'd
almost like to be doing that again a little bit but but the thing about that
is that you know once I stopped doing it looking back it wasn't really a
sustainable lifestyle doing both because I was you know things are things suffer
when you know you try to take on too much and and pastoring the church this
size and working an outside job is too much and so you know I am thankful now
to be full-time since 2014 but you know what don't let these idiot bozos online
go on there and say oh you know tie things on scriptural and pastors
shouldn't be paid or whatever you know from their mother's basement never run a
hot dog stand let alone have they run a church but they know everything about it
hey let me tell you our church has you know typically about four full-time
staff members that's how many people we're employing full-time right now four
people full-time and that allows us to do a lot of the work that we do and
don't ever let anybody tell you that that's not legitimate hey the Bible says
that if somebody is ministering to you from the word and preaching to you the
word there's nothing wrong with compensating that person if you've
benefited from their spiritual things and they benefit from your carnal
things the Bible says that is as it should be in Romans chapter 15 he says
they are debtors to that and it makes perfect sense so I'm and you say well you
know Pastor Anderson you're getting up and saying that yourself yeah you better
know I am because I'm preaching the whole Bible and I'm not ashamed to get
up here and preach what the Bible says and I remember back when I worked a
full-time job I remember idiots coming up to me and saying like oh yeah it's
great that you work a full-time job not like these phony pastors over here and
wherever and I would always say hey stop no there's nothing phony about that the
Bible says that pastors are supposed to be paid I'm just doing this of my own
free will because even once the church got big enough to pay me I just liked my
job and so I even I even hired an assistant full-time well I was still
working my full-time job just because I liked my job but you know what though
God had other plans and it worked out for me to be full-time eventually that
ended up being the way that God led the situation so don't let bozos online
teach you this garbage doctrine that says that pastors have to work an
outside job that's the opposite of what the Bible teaches the Bible clearly
teaches that it's not me for us to leave the Word of God to serve tables and that
those that preach the gospel should live of the gospel those that minister
spiritual things it's okay for them to benefit from carnal things now I do
think it's wrong for pastors to be wealthy I do believe that that's wrong I
do not believe that any pastor should ever be wealthy from preaching the Word
of God now if he has some other outside job or business where he got wealthy or
something and it's unrelated to church okay but any pastor who all he does is
pastor and is rich is a phony and and just so you know somebody living in a
middle-class neighborhood isn't rich all right you derelicts some of you derelicts
like you look at any clean house and you're like oh this is filthy rich we go
into like we go into any like halfway clean or middle-class neighborhood
everybody's just like whoa we're going to the lifestyles of the rich and famous
I'm like dude but let me tell you something wealthy pastors are not right
with God period because because God did not ordain for pastors to get rich and
to be living high on the hog and living in lavish luxury and look obviously
there are a lot of pastors who abuse their power as a pastor and make these
incredible salaries and you know they're making a million dollars a year they're
driving fancy cars and it's out there believe me I mean these pastors with
their private jets and their their Armani suits and whatever but you don't
want to you don't want to take what those bad examples have done and then
use that to beat up on the good guy who's doing it right you can't you can't
take out your anger on some phony who's abusing the ministry and then just act
like well all preachers are like that or all pastors are like that it's like hey
my house right now okay just we just I just sold my house okay 1392 square feet
is what the appraiser came and measured it it's 1392 square feet with 13 people
living in it okay that's that's my life but yet there are people who have
accused me of fleecing the flock being a millionaire people literally have said
Sam Gipp said that I'm a millionaire but then again you know we know that he
would probably fail a sixth grade math course like I mentioned earlier he said
I was a millionaire well I'm probably the only millionaire who lives with 13
people in 1392 square feet probably the only millionaire who shares a vehicle
with his wife only millionaire who's been who wears the same threadbare suit
week after week from the thrift store but folks here's the thing I have the
right to eat and to drink I have the right to be clothed I have the right to
feed and clothe my family and we have the right to live a middle-class life
okay we don't have to take a vow of poverty this isn't the Catholic Church
I'm not gonna shave the back of my head and beat myself and take a vow of
poverty okay that's not the ministry of Christian pastors anyway I gotta hurry
for sake of time the last place we're gonna turn is Luke chapter 11 so we saw
that the Queen of Sheba you know she gets the wisdom she compensates him
financially she puts money in the offering plate as it were and it was a
good trade amen Luke chapter number 11 says this in verse 29 I'll close with
this and when the people were gathered thick together he began to say this is
an evil generation they seek a sign and there shall no sign be given it but the
sign of Jonah the Prophet for as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites so shall
also the Son of Man be to this generation and of course we know that
the way Jonah was a sign was that he was in the whale's belly for three days
and three nights and we know that how Jesus is gonna be a sign is that he's
gonna be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights and so the
sign that Jesus is alluding to here is his resurrection that's a pretty major
sign you know his death is burial and resurrection that's the sign that's
gonna be given to them and then it says in verse 31 the Queen of the South shall
rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them for she
came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and
behold a greater than Solomon is here the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the
judgment with this generation and shall condemn it for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah and behold a greater than Jonah is here now what's the Bible
saying it's saying look the Queen of the South is gonna rise up in the judgment
with this generation and condemn it that's how we know that she saved because
nobody who's unsaved is gonna be talking a bunch of smack on Judgment Day if
she's gonna talk smack on Judgment Day she's gonna be on the right side of
things just like the men of Nineveh believed God and they're gonna be in
heaven too okay so he's saying look the Queen of the South came look at verse 31
from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and he's
saying a greater than Solomon is here Jesus Christ is so much greater than
Solomon I mean who would you rather sit down with Jesus or Solomon yes it's
again not even to be compared and what Jesus is saying is look I'm bringing it
to you Jesus is saying look I'm right here and I'm bringing you the truth you
don't even have to travel and imagine how the Queen of the South is gonna say
look I heard in a distant country and I traveled many many hundreds and
hundreds of miles because I saw there was this little gleam of light of the
truth and I was a truth seeker and I went I sought the truth and I embraced
it even though I had to travel and spend money and go through danger and hardship
to get there she's saying you have the truth brought right into your lap I mean
you have it just right dropped in your lap and not only that it's better
because Jesus is better than Solomon I travel thousands of miles to go see
Solomon Jesus is coming to your door and you're rejecting him and so here's what
the Bible is teaching us here is that you know what the light is out there for
people to be saved and people like the Queen of Sheba they're gonna go seek
after it and they're gonna find it no matter how far they have to go no matter
what obstacles they have to face people like the Queen of Sheba that are truth
seekers will find the truth if they are sincere okay even if they have to
compass sea and land to do it okay but what we have to understand is that many
people the truth is right in their face and they don't even realize what they
have I mean think about how many people in America don't get saved even though
the Gospels everywhere in America Baptist churches are everywhere
Christianity and Bible verses are everywhere and yet you'll have a Hindu
you know or a Muslim or a Buddhist travel across the world to be saved
travel across the world to come to faith forward Baptist Church some people won't
even travel 10 miles to come to faith forward Baptist Church there are people
who listen to every sermon online and never darken the door of our church they
listen for years never show up other people are getting on a plane and flying
500 miles to be here a thousand miles and you say hey what brings you to
Phoenix I just flew in to come to church and then I'm flying back I can't even
count how many times people have done that and yet some people won't even
drive the 10 minutes or the 20 minutes to get here you see there are two things
at play here number one we want to be like Solomon we want to let the light
shine so that the queens of Sheba of this world will be saved so we need to
make sure that we're following God's commandments following God's laws
letting the light shine showing a good testimony and a good report to those
that are outside of the faith but then number two we need to be like the queen
of Sheba in the sense that we're a truth seeker and look for the truth and
that we're willing to buy the truth and sell it not and you know what people who
spend money to take a trip to go to some soul winning event or they spend money
to go on a mission strip or they spend money to go visit a church somewhere hey
that's money well spent and you know a lot of relatives and friends might scoff
at that but they wouldn't scoff at all if they were coming here to watch the
angels practice right right just a mile from here is where the California Angels
practice and man they have to practically shut down 48th Street when
that happens it'll be back 48th Street we backed up for miles to go watch the
California Angels practice hey there are a lot more a there are a lot of angels
in this room right now friend you know hey you want to you want to see the
angels of God ascending and descending you're more likely to see it here than
there and I'm telling you that it's it's a better trade to spend your life
seeking wisdom knowledge the Word of God be a truth seeker like the Queen of
Sheba but we don't want to just only get the queens of Sheba saved they're pretty
much gonna get saved no matter what they're gonna find it but you know what
we also want to do we want to pull some people out of the fire too that don't
know what's good for them we want to take them the gospel whether they like
it or not whether they know it or not and at least try to compel them to come
in and try to get them saved let's borrow it and have a word of prayer
father we thank you so much Lord for this this great story about the Queen of
Sheba Lord help us to be like King Solomon help us to be wise and
understanding and and let our light shine and Lord help us to be a good
Christian testimony help us to run our houses in a way that would be a good
testimony help us to raise our children in such a way that would be a good
testimony help our testimony on the job to be good help us to work hard at our
job and Lord those that are students help them be a great student so that
they can be a good testimony toward those that are without Lord and also
help us to be like the Queen of Sheba lovers of truth seekers of truth not
seeking money but willing to trade money for understanding and wisdom Lord help
us to get our priorities right in Jesus name we pray amen