MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
ILL. Billy Graham once wrote, "I've met so many entertainment stars whose day is past. How unhappy & lonely & empty they feel. I've talked with many athletes & former political leaders who feel the same way.
“They have a moment of glamour, a moment when they're known, a moment when their name is on the front page; then it is over. And now they feel lonely, unhappy, & empty."
A. In the Book of Ecclesiastes we read the words of Solomon, who had it all. He tells us, "I tried everything. I sought every pleasure. I gained great knowledge. I possessed unsurpassed wealth & power. I had the power & resources to do anything I wanted to do."
Yet, in spite of all that, in Ecclesiastes 2:11, he declares, "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done & what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."
In fact, in chapter 1, vs. 2 in the King James Version, he cries out, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity." Or, in the words of the NIV version which most of you have, "Meaningless! Meaningless! ... Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!"
ILL. When Mark Chapman was sentenced for the murder of John Lennon, he said, "I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff, & all I can see is oblivion ahead."
I wonder, how many people feel like that? "I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff, & all I can see is oblivion ahead."
PROP. Let's look at the Book of Ecclesiastes & review some of the things that Solomon tells us about his life - when he came to the edge of the cliff, what he saw, & the conclusions he reached.
I. SOLOMON ACQUIRED GREAT KNOWLEDGE
A. First of all, Solomon acquired great knowledge. In chapter 1, vs. 16 He wrote, "I have grown & increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me."
In 1 Kings 4:30 we read, "Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, & greater than all the wisdom of Egypt."
In Ecclesiastes 1:17-18 Solomon went on to say, "I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom. . .but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow."
Getting a Ph.D may fulfill one of our dreams, but all the knowledge in the world won't satisfy. You see, there's a difference between knowledge & wisdom.
You can have your head full of knowledge, yet not have the wisdom to use the knowledge effectively & beneficially.
That's one trouble with our world. Our technology now surpasses our morals, & we are in danger of destroying ourselves. We have the knowledge to do it, & have fashioned the key to our own genocide in the society we have created.
B. The Bible has a lot to say about the mind. We are to “love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, & mind.” But the Bible also says, "The world through its wisdom did not know God" (1 Corinthians 1:21), for our minds have been affected & infected by evil.
Philippians 2:5 says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (KJV). Romans 12:2 says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Our minds are important, but we cannot just think our way to God. We must first come by faith, & then our mind will support our faith as we study the Scriptures & find them to be true.
SUM. Solomon had knowledge & wisdom. But they didn't satisfy. He said, "It's utterly meaningless. It's a chasing after the wind."
II. SOLOMON GAVE HIMSELF TO PLEASURE
Solomon also gave himself to pleasure. In Ecclesiastes 2:1 he says, "I thought in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.'"
So he tried wine, women, & song. He drank the finest wines from golden goblets. He had 700 wives & 300 concubines. He had every pleasure everything at his beck & call. Hundreds of servants & every exotic food from around the world.
Yet he said, "It's a chasing after the wind. It's empty. All this pleasure has satisfied nothing in my soul. Only God can satisfy my soul."
ILL. Billy Graham said, "I have traveled the world over to preach the gospel. I have traveled all over Africa & Latin America … Asia & Europe, even the islands of the sea. And I have discovered one interesting fact. People are the same everywhere." As far as spiritual things are concerned, there is no difference.
The human heart is the same all over the world longing, searching for something that eludes us, & finding it only when we come to know Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior. Permanent pleasure & happiness are to be found only in Him.
III. SOLOMON TRIED RICHES
A. Solomon was one of the richest men in the history of the world. His wealth was staggering. He had a stable of 40,000 horses (1 Kings 4:26).
He sat on a throne of solid ivory inlaid with pure gold (1 Kings 10:18). His country home, which was called “The Palace of the Forest of Lebanon” was one of the most beautiful homes ever built (1 Kings 7:1 5).
His gold came by the ton. 1 Kings 10:14 tells us, "The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 25 tons, not including the revenues from merchants & traders & from all the Arabian kings & the governors of the land."
Imagine the worth of a ton of gold at $1400 per ounce - $448 million. Solomon had 25 tons of it being added to his wealth every year! - $11 billion, 200 million.
Of course, he may have needed it to buy food for all his wives & children. His royal daily grocery list as given in 1 Kings 4:22 23 was 185 bushels of fine flour, 375 bushels of meal, 10 fat oxen, 20 pasture fed cattle, & 100 sheep & goats, plus deer & fowl. That was his royal grocery list for just one day.
B. But one night he sat in his palace, his hand clutching his pen, & he wrote, "Meaningless! Meaningless! It is utterly meaningless. It's a chasing after the wind."
It is not wrong to be rich. It's not wrong to have money. It's not wrong to have a bank account, an insurance policy, a nice home. What is important is your attitude toward money & material things. Are they first in your life?
Jesus warned, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15).
SUM. Solomon could not find real satisfaction in wealth. Nor can we, as much as we would like to try.
IV. SOLOMON HAD GREAT POWER
Solomon had great power. He had more power than any other man in his generation. He had the greatest navy in the world of that day. No nation dared to defy him. But he looked upon his mighty military power & said, "This, too, has not satisfied."
How many people today are trying to climb to the top of the political heap in order to gain power & prestige! But when they get to the top, they discover those things don't satisfy either.
V. SOLOMON SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH BEAUTY
Solomon tried surrounding himself with beauty. In Ecclesiastes 2:4 6 he says, "I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself & planted vineyards. I made gardens & parks & planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. . .
And in Ecclesiastes 2:8,10 he tells us, “I acquired men & women singers, & a harem as well the delights of the heart of man. . .I denied myself nothing my eyes desired."
Surely all those beautiful objects of art, & those beautiful gardens that he built, & those musical recitals that he listened to would have brought him the peace & happiness he longed for. But they didn't.
He said, "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done & what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). "I haven't found my peace & happiness yet."
VI. SOLOMON WAS ALSO VERY RELIGIOUS
A. Solomon was also very religious, & started out being faithful to God. He sought to express his faithfulness by building the finest temple the world has ever known. It took 183,000 men 7 years to build, & it was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
It was made of stone, granite, & marble so perfectly shaped at the quarries that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard on the site while it was being built (1 Kings 6:7). And the whole temple even the floor was overlaid with pure gold (1 Kings 6:22,30).
B. Yes, Solomon started out being faithful. But then he & the people went down hill spiritually. Finally, God had to tell them through Isaiah the prophet, "Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths & convocations I cannot bear your evil assemblies" (Isaiah 1:13).
Their practice of religion had become evil in God's sight. In some ways it could be compared to a vaccination. When you are vaccinated against cholera, you may get sick the next day & feel like you have the flu. What you have is a little bit of cholera just enough to keep you from getting the real thing.
APPL. Some of us, maybe even you, may have just enough religion to keep you from Jesus. You do not know Jesus yourself. You're depending on a church relationship, or on some religious exercise that you have gone through.
But somehow deep in your heart you know that you are a long way from God. Religion without a personal relationship with Christ will not save you or bring the real peace that you want.
VII. THE CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER
A. Finally, Solomon realized the emptiness of what he was doing. So he came back to God, & then he wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes so that people who came after him might not make the same mistakes that he had made.
In the last chapter & 1st verse of Ecclesiastes he gives this advice, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come & the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them.'"
Then he ends the book with these words, "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God & keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
“For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13 14).
B. Where is peace? Where is fulfillment? Where is happiness? In Matthew 12:42 we read, "Behold, a greater than Solomon is here." The one who is greater than Solomon in every area is Jesus.
All the things that we read about Solomon all of his wisdom & knowledge are found in their completeness & perfection in Jesus alone. The Bible says, "In (Jesus) are hidden all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).
We don't have real knowledge & wisdom until we come to know Christ.
C. Jesus can become the source of our joy, too. It is true! As the old song says,
“If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy, let Jesus come into your heart.
Your sins He’ll wash away; your night He’ll turn to day.
Your life – He’ll make it over anew.
If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy, let Jesus come into your heart.”
D. Jesus offers us riches greater than anything Solomon ever knew spiritual riches – glorious & eternal that we can lay up in the bank of heaven now.
The Bible says of Jesus, "...though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).
E. There is power in knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "All power is given unto me in heaven & in earth" (Matthew 28:18). And He offers it to us.
The Apostle Paul proclaimed, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).
SUM. All the wisdom, all the joy, all the riches, all the power are in Christ. "Behold, a greater than Solomon is here." And He offers Himself to us today.
When you accept Jesus as your Savior & Lord, & with His help begin to live that kind of life, you will have the joy, happiness, & satisfaction that comes from knowing Him.
Oh, I urge you - Come to Jesus while you can. Tomorrow may be too late. The Bible says, "Now is the time of God's favor. Now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). This is your moment of decision. Don't put it off.
INVITATION
