Dreams of Worldly Pleasures

On the other hand, there are many who would look with abhorrence or disgust on any such life, but imagine they are going to find happiness and contentment in the respectable pleasures of this world. These people are of a different character to the grossly sensual. But tens of thousands, yes, millions have tried this before you, and not one man or woman has ever yet found heart rest in the things of this poor world, “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world; and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:16, 17). That is why the world can never satisfy the human heart.
There is a striking passage in Ecclesiastes, in which Solomon tells us how he tried everything that his day had to offer, only to exclaim at length, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). He gives the reason why the world cannot satisfy men: “He hath set eternity in their heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, R.V.). The Authorized Version does not bring this out; it reads: “He hath set the world in their heart.” But the original Hebrew really means “eternity.” How can a man created for eternity ever be satisfied with the things of this world? The old Puritans had a rather nice conception of it; they said, “The world is round; the human heart is three-cornered; you can never fill a three-cornered heart with a round world.” We sometimes use the figure of a triangle to represent the triune God, and so they used to say, “It takes a triune God to fill a triangular heart to overflowing.”
You may be trying to find satisfaction in the world. I can understand that, for I tried it myself. I know something of the meaning of the hymn:
“O Christ, in Thee my soul hath found,
And found in Thee alone,
The peace, the joy I sought so long,
The bliss till now unknown.
“Now, none but Christ can satisfy,
None other Name for me;
There’s love, and life, and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee!
“I tried the broken cisterns, Lord,
But, ah! the waters failed;
E’en as I stooped to drink they fled,
And mocked me as I wailed.
“The pleasures lost I sadly mourned,
But never wept for Thee,
Till grace my sightless eyes received,
Thy loveliness to see.”

Then I found a satisfaction that has lasted now for forty years, and it will last for all eternity. No, there is nothing in the world that will satisfy the human heart. The man who imagines that this world will meet the cravings of his soul, will some day wake up to find that he has just been dreaming, imagining he was finding peace and satisfaction, but his soul will be empty.