SCRIPTURE TEXT: Ecclesiastes 5:10 "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase..."
PROPOSITION: To use this text and others to show why silver can never satisfy, and also to show that true satisfaction is in Jesus Christ alone, we were created to walk with God and glorify him, and because of this a man's life never consists in the abundance of the things which he possesses.
(A.) Why silver can never satisfy.
1.) Because silver can never purchase a relationship with God. there are many people that think it can, they consider themselves "rich and increased with goods and having need of nothing." Psalms 49:6-7 "They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:"
2.) Because silver can never purchase true joy. Judas was a thief and he betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver, what he thought would satisfy him didn't, but rather drove him to end his earthly life. Matthew 27:5 "And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself."
3.) Because money can never purchase peace with God or a peace of God. Unconverted men find that "even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness." Isaiah 57:20-21 "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."
4.) Because silver cannot buy integrity or holiness, and without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Integrity cannot be borrowed or bought and "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches". Hebrews 12:14 "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
5.) Because a man's soul is immaterial, and material things can never satisfy the immaterial. When God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life he became a living soul. Luke 12:15 "...Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
6.) Because no amount of silver can induce God to spare sinners from the wrath that is to come, and no amount of money no matter how great the sum can offset the demerit of sin. Proverbs 11:4 "Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death."
(B.) Why Christ is the only one who can satisfy the deepest needs of a man's heart.
1.) Because only Christ can calm a guilty conscience, like he calmed the troubled sea. Mark 4:39 "And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Unconverted men have tried many things to calm their conscience, they have tried Reformation they have tried religion and they have tried to drown their conscience with strong drink, but all have been forced to cry out "vanity of vanities all is vanity".
2.) Because only Christ can bring us into a relationship with God. He is the mediator of the New Covenant and those that have no interest in him find that they are "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world". 1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"
3.) Because only Christ can wash our sins away. The glorified Saints sing joyful Praises unto the lamb for the cleansing power of the blood. Revelation 1:5 "...Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood"
4.) Because only Christ can remove the sting of death. death is always an infinite loss for those outside of Christ, Paul said "for me to live is Christ but to die is gain." 2 Timothy 1:10 "...our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:"
CONCLUSION: The scripture talks about the "deceitfulness of riches" because people think if they had them they would be happy. King Solomon "made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones" and yet it did not satisfy him, he said "vanity of vanities all is vanity". Christ is the great satisfier, Christ saves us, forgives us, and gives our life purpose and meaning.
Psalms 119:72 "The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver."
