. Is this all? By John Macduff. Since then you have been raised
with Christ. Set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds
on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3, 1 and 2. The history of six thousand years
has given indisputable evidence of the insufficiency of all earthly
objects to yield true and satisfying enjoyment. Man has needs which
no earthly riches can supply. He has soul diseases which no
human skill can cure. He has fears, which no mortal
courage can quell, he has debts, which no finite resources can
discharge, and he has miseries, which no earth-bound sagacity
can console. In earthly things, to whatever
extent they may be possessed, there is a lack of adaptation
to yield real happiness. It is recorded of Caesar that
he exclaimed when in possession of universal empire, Is this
all? His expectations of happiness
were not answered by the attainment of worldly things. Reader, have
you not often felt something similar to this? You may have
set your heart upon some distant object, and oh! what sacrifices
you made for its attainment, what self-denial did you undergo! At length, perhaps, the desire
of your heart was granted you, But was it what you expected? Were you not, on the contrary,
led to exclaim, in the language of the disappointed emperor,
is this all? It is an absolute certainty that
the things of earth cannot satisfy the cravings of our immortal
nature. Wealth, fame, learning, pleasure,
domestic happiness—none of these things can do it. Whoever drinks
of these waters shall thirst again, as the Savior declared
to the Samaritan woman. But whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst, but it shall be in him
a well of water springing up into everlasting life. But the
things of earth, besides being unsatisfying in their nature,
are at best transistory in their duration. What are riches, uncertain,
is the epithet which the pen of inspiration employs in describing
them, 1 Timothy 6.16. Will you set your eyes upon that
which is not? For riches certainly make themselves
wings, they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Proverbs 23.5
What is pleasure? Something that is only for a
season. What is wisdom? More precious
than rubies, if it is the wisdom which comes from above. But if
it is the wisdom of this world, it also is vanity, and will soon
pass away. What is fame? Often a bubble,
no sooner blown than it bursts. Yes, the earth itself is only
temporary. A Roman general, on one occasion,
when elated by the splendours of a triumphal entrance into
the imperial city which had been awarded to him in honour of the
victories he had won, exclaimed, ah, that it would continue, but,
alas, it did not continue. All the glittering pomp soon
vanished, it floated away like a fleeting dream, and so with
all earthly bliss it will not and cannot continue. Had earthly
things a character of abiding permanence belonging to them,
men might with some semblance of reason make them the fit objects
of their desires and pursuits. Such a character, however, they
do not possess. The world with its lust is passing
away. Why spend money on what is not
bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? But, O blessed
heavenly world, this fullness of joy, this unclouded vision
of God and the Lamb, this sweet fellowship with saints and angels,
this day without a night, The sky without a cloud, the sea
without a ruffle, These ravishing melodies, this seraphic transport,
And exulting joy, they will continue, and that for ever. We have a
priceless inheritance, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of
change and decay. 1 Peter 1.4. Oh, what folly! Oh, what madness! that my thoughts
should go astray, after toys and empty pleasures, pleasures
only of a day! This vain world, with all its
trifles, Soon alas will be no more. There's no object worth
admiring But the God whom I adore.