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“The Final Sermon of the Preacher”
The Final Sermon of the Preacher
Wade Webster
Alexander the Great conquered the world and then sat down and wept because there were no more worlds to conquer.
Sir Edmond Hillary conquered Everest, the highest point on earth. When asked what he felt as he looked down from Everest, Hillary answered that there was a rush of joy for a moment. However, that joy was quickly replaced by a feeling of emptiness. Where could he go from there? What mountains remained to climb?
On earth, you can only conquer so much. You can only climb so high. Then what? Almost instantly, what you have done begins to fade. It begins to lose its joy. The things of this world, however grand they may be, cannot satisfy.
Solomon penned a whole book on this topic. We know it as Ecclesiastes. Solomon reached the top. He was the son of David, Israel's greatest king. He had wisdom, unlike any before him; and, unlike all after him, except for One. He had riches. Silver was in Jerusalem like stones. He had fame. People traveled from all over the world to see and to hear him. He had a thousand beautiful women at his immediate disposal. He could go almost three years without having the same woman on his arm more than once. He had men servants and maid servants. He had musicians. He had houses and vineyards. Yet, he says that all this was vanity (Eccl. 1:2, 14; 2:1, 11, 15). He felt empty. Ecclesiastes was written to help men to avoid the mistakes he made. It is the final sermon of a preacher. He gives the conclusion of the whole matter in chapter twelve. He begins by telling young people to remember God (Eccl. 12:1). He continues by telling them to fear God and to keep His commandments (Eccl. 12:13). As we sometimes sing, "There's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."
I encourage you to pursue your dreams. If you are going into business. I hope that you own a Fortune 500 company. If acting or music is what you love, I hope that you star on Broadway or perform at Carnegie Hall. If you are into athletics, I hope that you win a Super Bowl and get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If you are into politics, I hope that you one day sit in the Oval Office. If you are a writer, I hope that you win the Pulitzer Prize. However, I want you to know that the day that you achieve those honors, they will begin to fade.
The only things that can ultimately satisfy are tied to God. They are things that are tied to the world to come. They can give you a richer and fuller life now. They can give you the richest and fullest life of all in heaven (Mk. 10:30). In God's presence there is fulness of joy and pleasures evermore (Psalms 16:11). There are many things that I can exaggerate. I can exaggerate a movie, a book, or a restaurant. You can see them, read them, and taste them and be disappointed at my appraisal. However, I cannot exaggerate heaven. It is beautiful beyond description. It is too wonderful for words. There will be no disappointments there. No one is going to look around and think, "I imagined it would be better than this." There will be "no wishing for elsewhere to be." I simply cannot exaggerate heaven. I can't make it better than what it will be. Words fail me. It will be more beautiful. It will be more comforting. It will be more joyous than I can describe. When you see it, you will say like the Queen of Sheba, "The half was not told me" (1 Kings 10:7).
Conquer all that you can in life. Climb the highest mountain. Enjoy life's fleeting victories and joys. However, if you want to taste a victory that never fades and enjoy a view that never diminishes, Remember God! Fear God! Obey God!
