Sermon Central
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Advice From The World's Richest Man
Contributed by John Baggett on Dec 29, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: Solomon teaches us we’re accountable for our mistakes. Main thrust of the sermon includes factors about falling in love with money & letting money ruin your life & the life of others. Great Approach on Dangers of Money & Living for $ instead of God
2 Chronicles 9 and Eccl 5
Advice From The World’s Richest Man
Without wanting to sound too carnal this evening…most of us can admit that we joined in the seasonal act of buying and giving gifts this season.
If you are like me and have a lot of children …or if you have a lot of grandchildren…My mom and dad have nine grandchildren…and they’re not getting anymore from me…..
But if you have a lot of children or grandchildren then you know this business of buying gifts can empty your bank account quickly.
So many of us find ourselves a little thicker around the waistline at Christmas but a lot thinner around the wallet and therefore we could use some advice perhaps from the world’s most richest man.
A visit from the Queen of Sheba to Solomon
The Queen of Sheba paid a visit to King Solomon.
She’d heard all about his lavish lifestyle…
She’d heard all about his GREAT WISDOM…
She had heard of all the marvelous things he had done and the construction projects he had completed….
And so she was exited about a trip from Ethiopia to Israel because she was going to meet the man…of the hour.
A man of prosperity
A man of power
A man of poetry
A of prestige
And certainly she would be exited about meeting the wisest man and the most wealthy man who had ever lived.
After she met with him,
After she had received the grand tour
After she had consulted with his advisors and his leadership this is what the Queen of Sheba had to say about our hero Solomon….
Here is the report
5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true.
6 But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard.
7 How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!
8 Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the LORD your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”
Verse 9
9 Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Never had there been such an abundant material giving like this witnessed…. such as was given by the Queen of Sheba…
Do you know what this has been estimated in ….in today’s economics?
It is expressed as an equivalent in our day to be a gift of the value of about ….3.5 MILLION DOLLARS!
Just say Merry Christmas…WHAT A GIFT.
Ask the church ushers how they would like to see that sort of gift land in the church offering plate….
If they don’t get excited thinking about it … I am certain the pastor does….
3.5 MILLION DOLLLARS…
Just for a tour….Just for a few words of wisdom.
This is what the Queen of Sheba gave.
Solomon’s income from the biblical account would equal in our day over 20 million dollars A YEAR.
A YEAR…..Imagine that…
After the Queen of Sheba took the tour ..she saw the sights…the great architectural feats that Solomon had undertaken….
The Zoo’s that Solomon had filled with various animals from God’s creation.
When she saw his copper mining
When she saw his many and exotic horses from Egypt and Kue …and saw his chariots and when had seen the whole shootin match…here is her report she said in verse 6
“Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me;.
She said “Oh King Solomon when they told me about this greatness…I just couldn’t believe it but now that I have come…I have found that… I had not but received half of the story….
She was awed…But what is the OTHER HALF of the story….Solomon gives to us yet “Another half” of the story and we get it in Eccl 5.
He tells to us …..“a half “ that had not yet been told but needed to be told.
Solomon is not forced into doing so or even coerced into sharing the other half but it is of his own volition.
He tells us the half that had REALLY not been told…
The half that the Queen of Sheba never saw even though she had witnessed his power and prestige and wealth and his doings…
