In the sermon titled 'Satisfaction Sold Separately,' Mike Davenport explores the themes of satisfaction and vanity through the lens of Ecclesiastes 5:18 to 6:12. The sermon emphasizes that while God grants us the blessings of life, satisfaction is not inherently included with these gifts. True satisfaction is found in a personal relationship with God, the giver of all good things. Davenport highlights four key areas: the life of satisfaction, the loss of satisfaction, the longing for satisfaction, and the limitations of satisfaction. He explains that many people, like the wise, the fools, and the poor, seek satisfaction in material possessions, but their souls remain unsatisfied because they ignore their spiritual needs. The sermon underscores the importance of focusing on God rather than earthly desires and warns of the futility of seeking fulfillment in temporal things. Ultimately, true and lasting joy comes from a close relationship with God, which allows believers to enjoy the blessings of life without being consumed by them. Davenport invites listeners to find their satisfaction in Jesus Christ, reminding them that nothing can separate them from His love.

Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 18 we're going to read all the way through chapter 6 verse 12. Let's hear the word of the Lord. Here is what I have seen. It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the Sun all the days of his life which God gives him for it is his heritage As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor, this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is common among men. A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires. Yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction. If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial.

I say that a stillborn child is better than he, for it comes in vanity into parts in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, even if he lives a thousand years twice, but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place? All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied. For what more has the wise man than the fool?

What does the poor man have who knows how to walk before the living. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. Whatever one is he has been named already, for it is known that he is man, and he cannot contend with him who is mightier than he. Since there are many things that increase vanity, how is man the better?

For who knows what is good for man in life all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow who could tell a man what will happen after him under the Sun Let's pray together. Thank you for your words, Lord. Thank you for your truth. Thank you, Lord, for working through Solomon in a way that we hopefully will learn from his vanity and the lessons that you taught him. Please speak through Mike now as he preaches through this passage.

Holy Spirit, we trust you to open our eyes. Revelation of your Word, revelation of your Son, Jesus, to us. Amen. If you are a parent, you've seen it before. In fact, you've seen it far too many times.

Bobby and Sally are in the living room playing with toys there. Bobby has something occupying his attention. Sally has something occupying her attention. All is peaceful bliss for the moment. Then it happens.

Bobby looks over and sees what Sally is playing with, and he makes a beeline in her direction. Holding the toy he previously had, he reaches out to take hold of what Sally has. With both hands now full, There's no way he can even play anymore all he can do is but hold So he simply clings tightly to what things he has in hand Well Sally turns to the toy box again and reaches in and pulls out a new toy. Well, she now has Bobby's full attention And now he sees that she has something else that he doesn't have but now wants. Still clinging to one of those toys in the one hand, he takes what was in the other and shoves it up under the arms and he goes over to take that toy away as well.

Capturing the newest toy that Sally has pulled from the toy box. Well sadly not much changes in life. Many adults clinging to as many grown-up toys as they can hold in their grasp have no capacity for being able to enjoy the many things that they hold. There is no satisfaction in what they have already attained. They busy themselves with setting their affections on some new thing with the anticipation that this new thing will certainly bring satisfaction.

That new car, that new house, that new job, that new spouse, that new gadget. It will certainly bring that satisfaction that seems so elusive. Well, so many in this life fail to read the large print found on the packaging of every physical blessing in this world. Satisfaction sold separately. Satisfaction sold separately.

My friend, have you ignored the bold print? Are you seeking for something that is not included with the gifts we are given? Satisfaction can be enjoyed, but only if we learn what it is we really, really want and really need, and those should be the same. And also, if we go about getting that satisfaction the right way. And so, this morning, we're going to look at Ecclesiastes 5, 18 through the end of chapter 6 under the heading, Satisfaction sold separately.

Satisfaction sold separately. Consider with me this text before us under the following headings. First, the life of satisfaction, the life of satisfaction. Secondly, the loss of satisfaction, the loss. Third, the longing for satisfaction the longing and then lastly the limitations of satisfaction the limitations so first of all the life of satisfaction.

Chapter 5 verses 18 through 20. Solomon says, here is what I have seen. It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him. For it is his heritage, it's his portion. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him the power to eat of it, To receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor, this is the gift of God, for he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

Well, once again in this book, Solomon declares that the good and fitting thing for a man to do is to eat and drink and enjoy the good things that come through his labor. He already dealt with the same idea back in chapter 2 verse 24 and again in chapter 3 verses 12 through 13. Can I ask you a few questions? Does that sound a bit too unspiritual to you? Does that sound a bit too unspiritual?

Just eat and drink and enjoy the good of your labor. Does Solomon's conclusion cause you a bit of spiritual heartburn? Well think with me a few minutes about creation. What did God do for six days? He created.

He worked. He labored. What did he do at the end of each day of labor? He declared all very good. I say it with reverence, God enjoyed the good of all His labor.

He enjoyed the good of all his labor. We were created in his image, and we were commanded to take dominion over creation. The law of God declares that we are to labor six days. So if we, like our God, are to labor for six days, is it really far-fetched to say that we should enjoy the good of all our labors? I think not.

I think it is rather God-like. Well, Solomon goes on to state the source of all these things. First, we see that God is the Giver of all of the days of our life. He's the giver of all the days of our life Second we see that God is the giver of all riches and wealth they come from him and third we read God is the giver of the blessings of partaking of and enjoying that wealth. God's the giver of that as well.

The ability to enjoy these is actually a gift of God. And I believe the text declares that it is our duty, our duty, to rejoice in and enjoy these gifts. Note the wording, it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the gift of God. We are not to spurn any of the gifts of God. Listen to the simple satisfactions of life that come to the man who fears God.

Psalm 128. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants around the table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel." And so we see the blessings that God gives the man who fears Him enjoying the good of His hands, enjoying his family, enjoying peace and prosperity. But it's not enough to simply enjoy the gifts. We need to ask and answer this question, How are we to enjoy these gifts?

Philip Riken speaks to this very point in his commentary on this passage. He says, both having things and enjoying things are gifts from God. When the God of joy is with us, even money can prove to be a blessing. On the other hand, if God is absent, then nothing can satisfy us, least of all money. The world that God created is full of many rich gifts, But the power to enjoy them does not lie in the gifts themselves That is why it is always useless to worship the gifts instead of the giver The ability to enjoy wealth or food or friendship or work or sex or any other good gift comes only from God.

Satisfaction, so to speak, is sold separately. Thus, the person who finds the greatest enjoyment in life is the one who has a close personal relationship with the Giver. I want to repeat that last line again especially for so many of you young folks. The person who finds the greatest, The greatest enjoyment in life is the one who has a close personal relationship with God the Giver. You see, it is only when God is the one with whom our heart is kept busy, that we will know true and lasting joy.

This enjoyment of God keeps us from dwelling on the discouragements, the disappointments, and the difficulties of the days of our life. Do you recall the seasons of life that Solomon referred to back in chapter 3? These are the days of life that he's referring to. That was quite a list. But when it is God with whom the joy of our hearts is focused we can weather the seasons of dying the plucking up the killing the Breaking down the weeping the mourning, the losing, the throwing away, the tearing, the hatred, and the war.

Do we simply ignore these events? Pretend that they're not happening? No. We just don't dwell on them unduly. Our heart is captured by one who is making these very things beautiful in its time.

David exposes the propensity of these gifts to capture our affections in Psalm 62 10. See, we have a tendency to go too far. And David says, if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. He doesn't say get rid of them. He doesn't say refuse them.

He says don't let your heart be set on them. Lest we get carried away too much by the enjoyment we experience in these gifts, Charles Bridges provides us a warning. This is the gift of God every day of our life, a new gift, specially to be employed for his glory and in his service. We must be careful not to give unworthy views of the real happiness to be found in the world. Not primary indeed, yet valuable, though subordinate." So see how he says that.

He gives the concern, then he wants to buffer that concern, and then he wants to buffer the buffer. Not primary indeed, but valuable, though subordinate. And he goes on to say, "'Let there be no cloud upon the glory of the divine beneficence. Let godliness throw a sunbeam upon all temporal enjoyments. Let us carefully adjust the balance." So it is God who grants the gift as well as the ability to enjoy the gift.

But not all are blessed with a life of satisfaction. Solomon tells us of a problem that is more common. Look with me secondly at the loss of satisfaction, the loss of satisfaction. Chapter 6, verses 1 and 2. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is common among men.

A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity and it is an evil affliction Well having just declared what is good and fitting for us to do with God's good gifts in this life Solomon declares that such good and righteous enjoyment is rare. Under the Sun, something evil, that is, something that is not how it should be, Some other thing is found to be common among the sons of Adam. What is it? It's common to find a man who, though blessed by God with riches, wealth, and honor, does not enjoy the benefits of that wealth and that honor.

If we take what we just learned from the previous verses and apply it here, we would better be able to understand the picture. You have here a man who has no pleasure in God, who has no close personal relationship with the giver of all the gifts that he holds in his hands. Rather than worship God and make God the preoccupation of his heart and affections, this man sets his heart and affections on what he has and what he wants. He wrongly assumes that satisfaction has been included in the package that he has been given. We see the focus of his attention.

We are told that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires. Those pronouns just all pointing back to self. He lacks nothing for himself of all he desires. And because his heart is not in the right place, God does not grant him the privilege of simply enjoying the fruits of his labors. Instead, God sees to it that these gifts are consumed by others or by other things.

And I would say that maybe even just the satisfaction is consumed by others or other things. My friend, if you are here this morning and without Christ, if you are seeking for satisfaction from the things of this world, Please take note that your very enjoyment of all these things lies within the sovereign choice of our God. Should he see fit, he can make it so that you enjoy none of these things. And even if he were to grant you the ability to enjoy these things just for the here and now. Yet your future would be like the future of the rich man in Luke 16.

You, like him, will have had all will have had all your good things in this life and no good things for the life to come." In verses 3 through 6, Solomon continues, "'If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he, for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness and its name is covered with darkness. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man even if he lives a thousand years twice but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place. Prosperity in Solomon's time was measured by the number of offspring one had and how many years one lived. The economical impact upon the life of a man with a hundred children, children who would have been producers and not consumers only, coupled with a length of days on top of that, the economical impact would have been tremendous.

Yet in spite of the economic profit and advancement that would be had in such a scenario, this man is destitute of two things. The first, soul satisfaction, and secondly, an honoring burial. The first, a lack of satisfaction with goodness is experienced while he is living. Everything may look well and prosperous from the outside, but inwardly The lack of peace and joy and contentment is eating at his soul. The second, the lack of an honorable burial is not experienced by the man directly, but the lack of love and honor for the man is evidenced by those who should have been closest to him.

And so the man lived selfishly for his own good, all the while enjoying nothing. And coming to the end of his life, having spent his wealth for no one but for himself, he finds that none care that he is passing from the scene. Solomon says such is the vanity of this scenario that a stillborn child is in a better position than this man. Such a statement merely considers life in this world and not eternity that is to follow, but that is exactly what Solomon wants us to focus on. He wants us, his readers, to understand how insignificant this life is in the grand scheme of things.

Without the aid, without the aid of bringing eternity to bear in his argument, which would do nothing but further it, but without the aid of bringing eternity into his argument, Solomon is declaring that this life, apart from a satisfaction in the giver of life and of all its pleasures, such a prosperous life, even if it could be led for 2, 000 years, such a life is no better than that which is experienced by a by a stillborn child. For in the end, their inheritance is the same, death in the grave. It's the same. It's the same. Matthew Henry says, better is the fruit that drops from the tree before it is ripe than that which is left to hang on till it's rotten.

Job in his passion thinks that condition of an untimely birth better than his condition when he was in adversity. But Solomon here pronounces it better than the condition of the worldling in his greatest prosperity when the world smiles upon him. And so the vanity of the sons of Adam shines clearly. How foolish the pursuit of a life that at the end of the day is worse than that of a child that never knew life outside of his mother's womb. What are you pursuing, my friend?

What are you pursuing? What are you setting your affections upon? What are you looking to for satisfaction? Is God your portion and your delight? If not, you will not find any satisfaction at all even in that which you already have in your hand.

You see, we are hardwired for satisfaction. We're hardwired for satisfaction. Living is not enough. The problem is that we look in all the wrong places for satisfaction. We learn from the world how to put on a facade, but deep down inside there is gnawing at our heart.

Solomon speaks thirdly of the longing for satisfaction, the longing for satisfaction. Verses 7 through 9. All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied. For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have who knows how to walk before the living?

Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desires. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. Once again in this book, Solomon points to man's failure to understand that he is a creature with body and soul. Man will pursue that which will satisfy his flesh, his mouth, and his belly. But man chooses to ignore his greatest need, the satisfaction of his own soul, a satisfaction only known by a soul made right with God and in communion once again with its creator.

Those are sad words, and yet. And yet. And yet the soul is not satisfied in spite of all that he has acquired and attained. Well three categories of persons are mentioned here. The wise, the fool, and the poor.

What is Solomon saying here? He is saying that so basic to man's depraved heart is the desire for more that it can be found at work in the heart of all three. They all have this in common. Their station in life does not differentiate them when it comes to the longing for satisfaction. I found the comments of Kyle and Delich the most helpful.

Here's what they say, the matter treated of is the insatiable nature of sensual desire. The wise seeks to control his desire, And he who is more closely designated poor knows how to conceal it, for he lays upon himself restraints that he may be able to appear and make something of himself. But desire is present in both. And they have in this nothing above the fool who follows the bent of his desire and lives for the day. Solomon drives home this reality by declaring the right response that should issue forth from our hearts a satisfaction, a contentedness that is not susceptible to the wandering eye that longs for something that it does not have.

Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. But alas, the hearts of men, women, boys, and girls are restless. The heart is restless. There is a constant longing for satisfaction, and we look in all the wrong places for it. Thou hast made us for thyself, said Pius Augustine, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee.

Who shall give me to rest in thee that thou mayst come into my heart and inebriate it? That I may forget my own evils and embrace Thee, my only good. Behold, the ears of my heart are before Thee. O Lord, open them and say unto my soul I am thy salvation. As we saw last week we are far too often captivated with the things of this earth.

We are earthly minded as we go about our daily lives. Our heart and our eye do not walk in accord. They do not pursue the one thing needful. But alas, there is another danger, a danger of having a heart that is too easily satisfied with our portion here below, as if we had reached the end of our journey already. We can become contented to linger in vanity fare when our footsteps should be carrying us closer to the celestial city.

Our lives then no longer resemble a people who are simply on pilgrimage, on a journey to some other final destination. We can begin to live as if this were our only portion. A portion indeed, from the hand of God indeed, to be enjoyed by God indeed. But this is not the Christians' great portion. Brothers and sisters, let's stop living as if it is.

Charles Bridge is rightly stated that everything is unreal when placed beside this glorious treasure of Jesus Christ. Our position is not so much looking up to heaven from earth, but is looking down from heaven to earth. And it is when thus we thus realize our rightful standing in heaven that we rise above the dying vanities of earth. When the pilgrims passed through Vanity Fair, it was only the earnest cry, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity that could maintain their singleness of purpose and repress the constant wandering of the desire. And this must be our prayer.

Every day, all the day, we cannot, We must not forget it. How often is our wise and loving Father constrained to make the creature a grief because we are so disposed to make it a God? Well having seen the life of satisfaction, the loss of satisfaction, and the longing for satisfaction, Look with me fourthly and finally at the limitations of satisfaction, the limitations of this satisfaction. Verses 10 and 12, or 10 through 12. Whatever one is, he has been named already, for it is known that he is man, and he cannot contend with him who is mightier than he.

Since there are many things that increase vanity, how is man the better? For who knows what is good for man in life all the days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun? Verse 10 focuses on the limitations that we face as mere men and women. If we all long for satisfaction, why is it that there are so many in this world who have no satisfaction?

If that's what we really long for, Why are so many without? Well, the first area of focus before us is that God alone determines everything in this life. He alone determines everything in this life. We saw this back in chapter 3. All the seasons of life fall out according to His divine will, His divine purpose.

What He does, it told us, is eternal. Nothing can be added to it and nothing be taken from it. What one is, what one has, and whatever one experiences has been declared by God. The second focus is upon what man is by his very nature. You could rightly say that these two ideas, the naming and the defining of man point back to the Garden of Eden.

What is man as we consider him in the light of the Garden of Eden? He is a creature of the dust, fashioned by the hand of another, needing the breath of life to be breathed into his very nostrils in order to have being. Man is a dependent creature, dependent upon God, yes, even for the satisfaction he so longs for. And then out of These two realities flows the logical third demonstration of our limitation as humans. We are thus unable to contend with the sovereign Creator who made us.

He is mightier. God himself stressed these very limitations when he challenged Job in Job 38 and said, now prepare yourself like a man. I will question you and you will answer me." Listen to the wisdom of Charles Bridges again. Verily, Man at his best state, his best state is altogether vanity, Psalm 39.5. His original dignity only serves to set out more vividly his present degradation.

Let him be ever so high in his own eyes or in worldly estimation. The stamp of vanity is indelible. It is known that he is man, at best, but man. Remember, speaks Bishop Taylor, remember what thou wert before thou wert begotten. Nothing.

What wert thou in the first regions of thy dwelling before thy birth? Uncleanness. What wert thou for many years after? Weakness. What in all after, weakness.

What in all thy life a great sinner. What in all thy excellence, a mere debtor to God, to thy parents, to the earth, to all the creatures." Well, the last portion of our text closes with several soul-searching questions. These questions set the stage for much of what is to come in the second part of Ecclesiastes. As you sit here this morning, What answer can you give to Solomon's questions? Do you have an answer?

First, you have been given by God a portion in this life. You've been given by God a portion in this life. Are you the better for it? Or are you the worse for it? How can you be made the better while holding in your hands things that in and of themselves do nothing but increase vanity?

Answer that question. How can you be made the better? When what you have in your hands? Does nothing but increase vanity number two Seeing this life is so full of vanity and is passing like a shadow, what is really good for you to do? Seeing that it's so full of vanity and passing like a shadow, what Is it that is good for you to do?

Is what you are doing with your life being shaped by the realities of what has been declared by God's Word as true vanity and shaped by the fact that your life in this world is so short. Is it? Is it being shaped? What is it that is good for you to do in this short, vanity-infested life. Third, what can be said about what will happen under the sun after you have departed this world?

What can be said about what will happen under the sun after you have departed this world? What can be said about what will happen under the sun after you have departed this world? How will the world be any different? Often when people pass from this life, the impact that they leave is no different than the impact that you may have as you place your hand in the water and then draw it out again, where is the impact of where your hand had been in that water? That water fills it back up.

It back fills the place where your hand was. Will that be you? Will that be you? But I believe a fourth question is also necessary, a question that Solomon does not ask here but a question that is Necessitated by everything that he reveals here it is When this vain short life is over when all the wealth and honor you have acquired is gone or is left to another, what will be the state of your never-dying soul? When it's all said and done and the curtains fall on the scenes of your life, and what happens under the sun, other actors come upon the scene of life to take their place.

When those curtains fall, what will be the state of your never dying soul? The portion that you have been given here in this world, is that the only portion that you have? Is that it? Is that it? Are you laying up treasure for yourself and failing to be rich in God?

Professor and commentator Richard Belcher sums up the text this way, It is appropriate for believers to enjoy the blessings of this life which come from the hand of God, for everything created by God is good and is to be received with thanksgiving. Things in this life are made holy by the Word of God and prayer 1st Timothy 4, 4 through 5. The enjoyment of God's good gifts should come from a heart of thanksgiving. We are not looking for an escape from the troubles of life, but we look to use what good gifts God has given us for our benefit and His glory. We understand that there is more to life than what we experience in this life, which dramatically affects our attitude and perspective of the good things of this world.

Our above-the-sun view puts into proper perspective the riches of this world, we know that one day we will be rich so we are free to use the wealth of this world for the glory of God. We are not concerned about taking it with us because we realize that what we will receive in the next life is far greater than anything we can receive in this life without this above-the-sun view. People are stuck in seeking to find fulfillment in the things of this life. Satisfaction is not found in the abundance of things. Satisfaction is sold separately.

It is found only in the presence of the giver as we enjoy his good gifts. Are you here today without Christ? If you are, you are without real satisfaction. I know you have no satisfaction And if you're honest with yourself, you'll admit it too. You have no lasting satisfaction.

You come to the well of this life like that Samaritan woman day after day after day. And you may come for that satisfaction when others are not present, but you come, and you need the satisfaction that only comes from drink that he can give. He alone has what will satisfy. If you are thirsty for real satisfaction, Christ invites you. If you are weary and heavy-laden with the burden of all of these things that are upon you.

You're like Bobby. You've got a toy in this hand and in this hand and one under each arm. If you're heavy-laden, come to Christ. Why will you linger? Why?

Why will you go on searching for that which he offers you in his extended hands. May the prayer of David in Psalm 16 be the cry of each and every heart here. Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, You are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from You.

As for the saints who are on earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. Their sorrow shall be multiplied who hasten after another God. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. Oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You maintain my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest and hope, for you will not leave my soul in shell, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Amen. Oh Lord, give us grace. Give us grace to find our satisfaction in Jesus Christ and Him alone. For Lord, when our souls are satisfied with Him, we will be satisfied with whatever portion is ours in this world.

For we know that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ for us. So that even if our portion should be peril, nakedness, or should be peril, nakedness, or even the sword. Christ is still our portion, For He will not let us go. O Lord, for every soul here, may they flee to Christ and find satisfaction in Him. And for us who have known what it is to drink from this well, oh Father forgive us for the many times that we've gone off and carved out for ourselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Help us afresh to come to this bubbling fountain of life and joy and peace and satisfaction and drink again and be satisfied. Amen.