What Are You Relying On?
People today like to think of themselves as being independent. But who really is? Most people depend on money, jobs, other people or material things to make them happy. Or they become dependent on drugs or alcohol and so make a shambles of life and relationships. We all depend on something; why not depend on the only One who can give eternal, abundant life and true satisfaction?
A Message by Billy Graham
We all depend on something; why not depend on the only One who can give eternal, abundant life and true satisfaction?
People in this generation are just as they were in Solomon's day, trying to find fun, amusement, pleasure, knowledge, security, love. It seems that almost all the people I meet are on a quest of some sort. Solomon had it all. But as recorded in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Basically, he said, "It's all just a bubble that bursts."
Though he had more material possessions than perhaps any other man in history, at the end of his life, Solomon said, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
Solomon had attained great knowledge. In 1 Kings 4:30 we read that "Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt." He said, "And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief" (Ecclesiastes 1:17-18). "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). It is all a bubble that bursts.
Scripture has a lot to say about the mind. Jesus said we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. But you cannot come to Christ with your mind alone. Our natural minds have been affected by sin.
Even if you have all knowledge and all wisdom, you still cannot find God with your mind. The Bible says, "The world through wisdom did not know God" (1 Corinthians 1:21).
The Scripture says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). Do you have the mind of Christ? The Bible says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). Your mind is important, but you cannot think your way to God. You come by faith, and then your mind will support your faith, as you study the Scriptures and prove them to be true.
Solomon gave himself to pleasure. In Ecclesiastes 2:1 he says, "I said in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure.'" So he drank the finest wines from golden goblets. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He had every pleasure--everything at his beck and call. Hundreds of servants and every exotic food from around the world.
He could afford every sensual pleasure that you can imagine. Yet in the end he said, "It's all a bubble that bursts. It doesn't satisfy." Permanent pleasure and happiness are not found anywhere except in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Solomon was the richest man in the history of the world. His gold came by the ton. He had a stable of 40,000 horses. He sat on a throne of solid ivory overlaid with pure gold.
Solomon had great power. No nation dared defy him. He had more power than any other man in his generation. He had the greatest navy in the world. He looked upon his mighty military power and said, "That too has not satisfied."
Solomon tried the aesthetic life. Surely all those beautiful objects of art that he had, those beautiful gardens that he built, those musical recitals that he had, would bring the peace that he longed for. But they didn't. He said, "I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). It doesn't satisfy.
Solomon had religion. He built the greatest temple the world has ever known. It took 150,000 men seven years to build Solomon's temple. It was called one of the seven wonders of the world. He overlaid the temple with pure gold, including the floor.
But God warns through Isaiah the Prophet, "Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies--I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting" (Isaiah 1:13).
Some of you have religion, but you don't have the Lord Jesus Christ. You do not know Christ for yourself. You have depended on your parents' religion, or you have depended on a church relationship, or you have depended on a religious exercise that you went through. But somehow, deep in your heart, you know that you are a long way from God and that sin is in your heart.
Religion without a personal encounter with Christ will not save your soul or bring the peace that your soul longs for. Millions are searching for God through religion and not finding Him.
Where is peace? Where is fulfillment? Where is happiness? Solomon said, "Fear God and keep His commandments. -- For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Solomon warns that there is a judgment coming. His experience and experiments led him back to God. He said, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
You need to find real pleasure, real joy, real satisfaction, in Jesus Christ. In Matthew 12 Jesus said, "Indeed a greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42). The One who is greater than Solomon in every area is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). He said, "I am ... the truth" (John 14:6). Can you imagine anyone making such a statement as that? "I am the embodiment of all truth. I am the truth. Come to Me."
The Scripture says, "In [Jesus Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3) -- all the things that you read about Solomon, all of his wisdom and knowledge. You don't really have knowledge and wisdom until you come to know Christ.
The Bible says that when one person repents of sin, there's joy in heaven. Jesus can become the source of your joy. When you come to know Christ, the Holy Spirit produces joy in your heart, a joy that the world knows nothing about.
You can find wisdom, you can find joy, you can find riches. The Bible says, "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). He has riches beyond anything Solomon ever dreamed of--spiritual riches, glorious lasting riches that you can lay up in the bank of heaven right now.
There is power in knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). All the power that is in all those stars and planets, all the power upon earth is His--in heaven and earth. And He offers it to you. There's a power and a boldness in Jesus Christ. That's the reason Paul could say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).
All the wisdom, all the joy, all the riches, all the greatness, all the power, are in Christ. And He offers Himself to you.
You ask, "But what do I have to do?" First, you must repent of your sins. You say to God, "Lord, I have sinned." Second, you must be willing to turn from your sins. Change your value system and your way of living.
Third, you must come to Christ by faith. That means you trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and forgiveness and fulfillment. Fourth, you promise to obey Him, to follow Him, to serve Him; you promise that He will be your only Lord, your only Master.
When you live that kind of life, you will have joy, happiness and satisfaction. I�m asking you to trust Christ, to receive Him. Come while you can, because tomorrow may be too late. The Bible says, "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).
People today like to think of themselves as being independent. But who really is? Most people depend on money, jobs, other people or material things to make them happy. Or they become dependent on drugs or alcohol and so make a shambles of life and relationships. We all depend on something; why not depend on the only One who can give eternal, abundant life and true satisfaction?
A Message by Billy Graham
We all depend on something; why not depend on the only One who can give eternal, abundant life and true satisfaction?
People in this generation are just as they were in Solomon's day, trying to find fun, amusement, pleasure, knowledge, security, love. It seems that almost all the people I meet are on a quest of some sort. Solomon had it all. But as recorded in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Basically, he said, "It's all just a bubble that bursts."
Though he had more material possessions than perhaps any other man in history, at the end of his life, Solomon said, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
Solomon had attained great knowledge. In 1 Kings 4:30 we read that "Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt." He said, "And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief" (Ecclesiastes 1:17-18). "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). It is all a bubble that bursts.
Scripture has a lot to say about the mind. Jesus said we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. But you cannot come to Christ with your mind alone. Our natural minds have been affected by sin.
Even if you have all knowledge and all wisdom, you still cannot find God with your mind. The Bible says, "The world through wisdom did not know God" (1 Corinthians 1:21).
The Scripture says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). Do you have the mind of Christ? The Bible says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). Your mind is important, but you cannot think your way to God. You come by faith, and then your mind will support your faith, as you study the Scriptures and prove them to be true.
Solomon gave himself to pleasure. In Ecclesiastes 2:1 he says, "I said in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure.'" So he drank the finest wines from golden goblets. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He had every pleasure--everything at his beck and call. Hundreds of servants and every exotic food from around the world.
He could afford every sensual pleasure that you can imagine. Yet in the end he said, "It's all a bubble that bursts. It doesn't satisfy." Permanent pleasure and happiness are not found anywhere except in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Solomon was the richest man in the history of the world. His gold came by the ton. He had a stable of 40,000 horses. He sat on a throne of solid ivory overlaid with pure gold.
Solomon had great power. No nation dared defy him. He had more power than any other man in his generation. He had the greatest navy in the world. He looked upon his mighty military power and said, "That too has not satisfied."
Solomon tried the aesthetic life. Surely all those beautiful objects of art that he had, those beautiful gardens that he built, those musical recitals that he had, would bring the peace that he longed for. But they didn't. He said, "I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). It doesn't satisfy.
Solomon had religion. He built the greatest temple the world has ever known. It took 150,000 men seven years to build Solomon's temple. It was called one of the seven wonders of the world. He overlaid the temple with pure gold, including the floor.
But God warns through Isaiah the Prophet, "Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies--I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting" (Isaiah 1:13).
Some of you have religion, but you don't have the Lord Jesus Christ. You do not know Christ for yourself. You have depended on your parents' religion, or you have depended on a church relationship, or you have depended on a religious exercise that you went through. But somehow, deep in your heart, you know that you are a long way from God and that sin is in your heart.
Religion without a personal encounter with Christ will not save your soul or bring the peace that your soul longs for. Millions are searching for God through religion and not finding Him.
Where is peace? Where is fulfillment? Where is happiness? Solomon said, "Fear God and keep His commandments. -- For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Solomon warns that there is a judgment coming. His experience and experiments led him back to God. He said, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
You need to find real pleasure, real joy, real satisfaction, in Jesus Christ. In Matthew 12 Jesus said, "Indeed a greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42). The One who is greater than Solomon in every area is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). He said, "I am ... the truth" (John 14:6). Can you imagine anyone making such a statement as that? "I am the embodiment of all truth. I am the truth. Come to Me."
The Scripture says, "In [Jesus Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3) -- all the things that you read about Solomon, all of his wisdom and knowledge. You don't really have knowledge and wisdom until you come to know Christ.
The Bible says that when one person repents of sin, there's joy in heaven. Jesus can become the source of your joy. When you come to know Christ, the Holy Spirit produces joy in your heart, a joy that the world knows nothing about.
You can find wisdom, you can find joy, you can find riches. The Bible says, "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). He has riches beyond anything Solomon ever dreamed of--spiritual riches, glorious lasting riches that you can lay up in the bank of heaven right now.
There is power in knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). All the power that is in all those stars and planets, all the power upon earth is His--in heaven and earth. And He offers it to you. There's a power and a boldness in Jesus Christ. That's the reason Paul could say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).
All the wisdom, all the joy, all the riches, all the greatness, all the power, are in Christ. And He offers Himself to you.
You ask, "But what do I have to do?" First, you must repent of your sins. You say to God, "Lord, I have sinned." Second, you must be willing to turn from your sins. Change your value system and your way of living.
Third, you must come to Christ by faith. That means you trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and forgiveness and fulfillment. Fourth, you promise to obey Him, to follow Him, to serve Him; you promise that He will be your only Lord, your only Master.
When you live that kind of life, you will have joy, happiness and satisfaction. I�m asking you to trust Christ, to receive Him. Come while you can, because tomorrow may be too late. The Bible says, "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).
