Matthew 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it… Wilt thou not be sore confounded, Christian, when — born, as thou art, in the bosom of the Church, in the midst of so many oracles of Scriptures, so many examples of saints — thou shalt yet see many heathens outstripping thee in goodness; so that, excepting only thy faith, which being " without works" shall only serve to increase thy shame, instead of adding to thy glory, thou shalt find thyself placed below an Aristides in justice, below a Zeleucus in rectitude, below a Palemon in chastity, below an Antigonus in meekness, below a Socrates in patience, below an Epaminondas in disinterestedness; men who were all of them born in the deep gloom of heathenism, never favoured (as thou hast been) with any knowledge of life eternal, with any gospel, with any sacraments — men who had never seen a God dying for them, as thou hast seen. (Segneri.) I. She went, notwithstanding the distance of her residence. The gospel is brought to our door. II. She went, notwithstanding all the anxieties of her public station. The claims of business must not be allowed to clash with the claims of religion, III. She went, though uninvited. We have been invited — how often! IV. She went to hear the wisdom of a mortal, at best fallible, and who, after all, was guilty of sad and criminal defection. We are invited to hear One greater than Solomon. Let us beware lest the Queen of the South, by her treatment of the less, become a swift witness against us on account of our treatment of the greater. (Brooks.) Parallel Verses KJV: The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall 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. |
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