The sermon, titled 'Unmasking the Vanity of Earthly-Mindedness,' delivered by Mike Davenport, uses Ecclesiastes 5:8-17 as its foundational scripture. The speaker explores the futility of earthly pursuits and material wealth, drawing on Solomon's wisdom as well as historical examples like Howard Hughes. Hughes, despite immense wealth, experienced a life of isolation and mental decline, illustrating that wealth does not equate to fulfillment. The sermon delves into the systemic oppression and perversion of justice resulting from an earthly mindset, which prioritizes material gain over eternal values. It challenges listeners to examine their hearts, urging them to pursue heavenly-mindedness and prioritize spiritual over material wealth. The sermon references Jeremiah Burroughs' work on earthly-mindedness, offering strategies to combat material obsession, such as focusing on spiritual thoughts, humbling oneself for sin, and emulating saints who lived as pilgrims on earth. Ultimately, it stresses the importance of living with eternity in view and recognizing the temporary nature of worldly gains.

The scripture for the sermon today is Ecclesiastes 5, 8 through 17. If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter, for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them. Moreover, the profit of the land is for all even the king is served from the field. He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanity.

When goods increase they increase who eat them. So what profit have the owners except to see them with their eyes? The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much. But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun, riches kept for their owner to his hurt.

But those riches perish through misfortune. When he begets his son, there is nothing in his hand, and as he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return. To go as he came and he shall take nothing from his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a severe evil. Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.

And what profit has he who has labored for the wind? All his days he also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger Let's pray Dear Lord God, thank you so much for the truth of scripture Lord. It's sharper than any two-edged sword your God We just pray that you will Pierce our hearts today dear God. Thank you so much for your grace, Lord, and your mercy that we are so undeserving, dear God. We just stand before you with no excuse but the blood of Christ, dear God.

And we just thank you for Mike Davenport. We pray that he will again bless us as he always does, dear God. Just strengthen and encourage Him and His family, dear God. Just meet with us today, Lord, and help us to be changed, be more like Christ. From Christ, we pray.

Amen. Amen. Picture in your mind the lifestyle of the richest man in America. The richest man in America. Do you have that picture?

Is it a clear picture? Hollywood is good at providing a picture of that lifestyle. And many people, even with the smallest amount of financial gain, give themselves to a pursuit of that American dream set before their eyes. The pursuit is an all-out blitz on taking the world by the tail at all costs. Pleasures advertising agency has made that American dream so realistic.

The problem is that the manufacturing department can come up with nothing that matches the dream, thereby providing that what was promised was nothing more than a momentary mirage. It seems so real until you get up close. It seems so real until you until you feel that true thirst of your soul actually growing rather than being satisfied. Time magazine in its December 3rd 1976 issue pulled back the curtain on the lifestyle of a man who was one of, if not the richest man in America around that time, Howard Hughes. In his commentary on Ecclesiastes, Richard Belcher describes the magazine's report of Mr.

Hughes. Howard Hughes died alone on an airplane en route from Mexico to Houston. He had become a recluse, addicted to drugs so that at the time of his death He was unrecognizable. His hair, beard, fingernails, and toenails had grown grossly long. His once strapping six foot four inch frame weighed a mere 90 pounds.

The FBI had to resort to fingerprints to identify the body he had developed in his life obsessive compulsive behaviors. He stored his urine in jars, once wore Kleenex boxes as shoes, and picked up objects with paper towels to insulate himself from germs. He was obsessed with avoiding taxes so he would live in a hotel penthouse for a period of time before moving to another. He was full of worry and distress. He did not trust anyone.

He was paranoid, and he was all alone. His money did not bring him any semblance of happiness as his life came to an end. Mr. Belcher goes on to say, obviously not everyone who is wealthy dies this way, But the point is that money does not live up to its expectations. It brings much more trouble and worry than anyone can ever imagine.

As those who are on that road to the celestial city, as those who must needs pass through the city of Vanity Fair, we must learn what it is to be in the world but not of the world, to be not bogged down with that which is passing away. The following quote is from the forward to Jeremiah Burroughs book, A Treatise on Earthly Mindedness. We see upon what weak shoulders the fair neck of all worldly pomp and glory now stands and how the Lord is winding up and putting an end to the glories of the kingdoms of men who have not contributed their strength and power to the advancing, but rather to the pulling down and eclipsing of the glory of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Besides what the world tells us, never has an age had more examples laid before them of the world's vanity than in our days. Vanity than in our days.

Therefore, our hearts should sit loose to all things that cannot stretch themselves into eternity." My dear friend, is your heart sitting loose to all things that cannot stretch themselves to eternity? Solomon wants you to answer that question. And he wants you to do it with a well-informed mind and conscience. You see, we are too easily deceived. We know the world is wrong when it says, the one who dies with the most toys wins.

But yet we can be so captivated by that worldview that we actually live as if we believed it. Well, may we draw near this morning to hear what Christ has to say to us about living for eternity. We will look at the passage under two headings. First, a consideration of the earthly-mindedness found in the world, a consideration of the earthly-mindedness found in the world, and then a consideration of the earthly mindedness found in our own flesh, in our own flesh. So first, a consideration of the earthly-mindedness found in the world.

Look with me at verses 8 and 9. If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province do not marvel at the matter for high official watches over high official and higher officials are over them moreover the profit of the land is for all. Even the king is served from the field." Your worldview matters. What you have determined to believe about eternity matters. What you understand about God or fail to understand about God matters.

Here, in a particular province, Solomon pictures a political and economic system that is rotten from top to bottom. There is oppression of the poor. There is violent perversion found in the places where justice and righteousness should be found. And this is not some wild hypothetical instance. Solomon told us back in chapter 3 verse 16 moreover I saw under the Sun in the place of judgment Wickedness was there and in the place of righteousness Iniquity was there He had seen this oppression and this violent perversion with his own eyes.

He was forced to grapple with it. Such oppression and perversion permeates a godless society. You find the man working in the field. What he is doing there in his daily labor has a bearing on all society. The fields where he labors are the source of produce for the entire kingdom.

Even the king, even the king, profits from the produce of this poor man's labor. But this poor man has to put up with a very demanding and oppressive boss, and he is often mistreated. But this boss of his feels the very same way he does. He receives the same treatment from his boss, and guess what? That boss also from the man whom he reports to.

And on and on the oppression and the perversion of justice and righteousness go all the way up to the king's palace because even the king has a vested interest in the labors of that poor man in the fields, for even the king is served from the field." The problem that lies at the root of all this oppression and perversion is a worldview fixated upon the here and now, upon this earth, an earthly mindedness that fails to consider the bigger picture set before us by Solomon back in chapter 3 verse 17, that God is in heaven and He is on His throne and He shall in time judge the righteous and the wicked. And so we should not marvel, as Solomon tells us, we should not marvel at the byproduct of the earthly mindedness consuming the world. God is testing the sons of Adam to reveal to them their own worldly hearts, that they are no different than the beasts, who having no soul are simply consumed with bettering themselves and their lot in this world. Marvel not. But having considered the earthly-mindedness found in the world, Solomon turns next in his text to a consideration of the earthly mindedness found in our own flesh.

The earthly mindedness found in our own flesh. We are not to marvel at what we find in the world. There is little we can do to change that. What we find, what we may experience, is a byproduct of the hearts that only can be changed by God. The testing of God proves the sons of Adam to be what they really are at heart.

But brothers and sisters, we as strangers and pilgrims in this world as the blood-bought redeemed who now have a true interest in heavenly things, we should marvel, we should marvel at the remaining earthly mindedness that still is in our flesh. As we look at the world, we respond par for the course, but as we look at ourselves, we should be responding, oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death. In regard to our own remaining earthly mindedness, consider with me first a self-absorbing cycle. A self-absorbing cycle. Verses 10 and 12.

He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them. So what profit have the owners except to see them with their eyes. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.

The many a poor person will jump up and say, see? There you have it. Silver and abundance is evil. He says it right there. Well, the fact of the matter is that the focus of Solomon is actually upon the heart.

It's upon the heart. It is a love of silver. It is a love of abundance that will leave a man dissatisfied. Because no matter how much he has or how much more he acquires, it is never enough. It is that very same love that keeps him awake at night, a love that is scared of losing what he already has, but a love also that schemes how he can have more.

Such heart preoccupations will not allow him to sleep. And so a cycle forms in this man's heart. He is self-absorbed with this earth, and he constantly seeks how he can better position himself among his peers. And as his wealth grows, so grow the consumers of that wealth. In our day and time, the consumers are vast and many.

And if you don't believe Solomon, simply look at the mailbox of the average American. The greater the wealth a man has, the more bills, and the greater the increase of those bills he receives in his mailbox by the consumers of that increasing wealth. And so often you find the man making $240, 000 per year struggling to make ends meet just as much as the man who is making $55, 000 per year. The only difference between the two is what each is able to actually see when they receive their pay stubs. The profit is only seeing that particular dollar amount with their eyes before it is all designated to the increase of those who are sending the bills.

That is what Solomon is saying here. A man's life, the real comforts of his life, they do not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Luke 12.15. As Matthew Henry says, nature is content with a little. Grace is content with a little less, but lust is content with nothing.

It's content with nothing. Can I ask you a question? Are you caught up in this self-absorbing cycle? What has a hold of your heart? What has a hold of it?

I am not asking you how many square feet are in your house. I'm not asking you what kind of automobile you have parked in your garage. I'm not asking you how large your bank account is. Some of the godliest saints in the scriptures amassed great wealth. So it is not about what you have, it is about what has your heart.

Let me say that again, it is not about what you have, It is about what has your heart. You see, this is the commentary of Scripture on the lives of these Old Testament saints, many who were very rich, Hebrews 11, 13 to 16. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced these promises, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out they would have had opportunity to return but now They desire a better country that is a heavenly country.

What did faith do in the lives of the saints mentioned in Hebrews 11? It rerouted their desires. It rerouted their desires. It set their minds, their hearts, and their affections on heaven. Rather than being earthly minded, these saints of old were heavenly minded.

You see, where your treasure is, there is where your heart will be. You You cannot love this world and love God. You cannot love this world and love God. Whoever loves the world makes himself an enemy, an enemy of God. Charles Bridges wisely notes, a portion in this life, a portion in this life is therefore far more to be dreaded Than to be envied Success is enough to frighten a sober intelligent mind See, this is the evil of covetousness, an easily besetting sin.

Multitudes condemn it in others who little suspect its influence in their own hearts. It is a fleshly desire, something that has gotten into the place of God, a deep, desperate, plausible, but damning sin. Men are accustomed to give it a softer name such as prudence, but there is no sin more hardening and stupefying to the conscience. We may err from the faith under this deadly principle without changing one atom of our evangelical creed. We may slumber in the delusion of our varying religious feelings While the cankering habit is fixed in the world hidden within Oh, what need of deep searchings of heart, of watchfulness unto prayer!

Well does an old commentator remark, He is rich, not who possesses much, but who desires little. We may add, whose treasure is in his God and Savior. For where but in him can the vast desires of our souls be satisfied? If he loves us, he will not lose us. Yet he will use his rod to the end rather than suffer that to abide in us which his soul abhors.

God will go to war after our earthly mindedness if we are his, and if not, he may turn us over to that earthly-mindedness, and we will see that it's to our own hurt. Because not only do we see here a self-absorbing cycle. Second in this consideration of earthly mindedness, we find Solomon drawing our attention to a self-inflicted wound, a self-inflicted wound. Verses 13 and 14. Wound.

Verses 13 and 14. There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun. Riches kept for their owner to his hurt. But those riches perish through misfortune. When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand." It was the Apostle Paul who rightly said, no man hates his own flesh.

You see, the things that a man desires has set its sights on. What his desires have set his sights on and regarding the flesh, he pursues those things with great expending of effort and money. What do you like? What do you love? What do you pursue?

Whatever it is, you will do all you can to have it. But oh, the neglect of the soul, the neglect of the soul. If only men, women, and children would pursue the greatest care for their most precious possession But man's affections you see are set on the things of the earth He desires only to pamper the flesh and cares not for the soul. He cares only for those things that his senses can experience. And like the ignorant savage who traded wealth and sustenance for the explorers' shiny beads and trinkets.

So man willingly gives up his eternal well-being for the immediate gratifications of the flesh for a moment. Oh, how much greater that ignorance. My friend, answer this question put forth by Jesus Christ. Don't ignore it. Answer it with judgment day honesty.

For what Will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his soul? Answer that question What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his own soul? Why are you willing to lose your soul? First Timothy 6, 9 through 10 speaks of the reality of this self-inflicted wound. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money, where the heart is, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness. Get that my Christian friend. They have strayed from the faith like Ademus, who having loved this world, turned his back on the things of God. Some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But alas, this self-inflicted wound can also come by way of grief, by way of grief, because not only are these riches able to pierce us through with many sorrows as we hold them, they are also able to wound us in their own perishing.

Matthew Poole states, those riches perish. If they be kept, it is to the owners hurt. And if not, they are lost to his grief through misfortune by some wicked practices, either his own or of the other men, or by some secret hand of God cursing all his enterprises. And so we see a self-inflicted wound. And this thought carries over into the third and final point of this consideration of earthly mindedness, a self-robbing prophet, a self-robbing prophet.

Yes, there's a prophet, but in that prophet it actually robs us. Verses 15 to 17, as he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came. And he shall take nothing from his labor which he may carry away in his hand and This also is a severe evil Just exactly as he came so shall he go and What prophet has he who has labored for the wind? All his days he also eats in darkness and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger Upon the tombstone of every man woman boy and girl who lived in this world without any consideration of eternity, upon that tombstone could be written, Here lies one who labored for the wind. Here lies one who labored for the wind.

Be honest with yourself. Is that what could be written on your tombstone should you die today? As others have so rightly pointed out, there are no trailer hitches on the back of funeral cars. You don't take it when you go. We leave this world just as we came into it with nothing.

The Apostle Paul says in 1st Timothy 6, 6 through 7, now godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we carry nothing out. You young people, listen to me, you young people. There you stand in many ways at the starting line of a life spread out before you. In many ways you're standing there on that starting line today. Will you labor for the bread that perishes?

Will you give your life to an accumulation of things which will be all left behind when you reach your dying day? Maybe you were telling yourself this morning, I will worry about that later. I will prepare for dying when the time draws Each day that passes, each day that passes, your heart gets more and more entrenched and entangled with this world. And each day that passes, your heart becomes harder and harder to the things of God. God.

We tend to go about life as though everything is going to continue as it always has. How foolish. How foolish. The days of our lives are 70 years and if by reason of strength they are 80 years Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off and we fly away so we should pray that we might learn to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom These words bring us back to that theme again, living life backwards. Ecclesiastes teaches us to live life backward.

It encourages us to take the one thing in the future that is certain, our death, and work backward from that point into all the details and decisions and heartaches of our lives and to think about them from the perspective of the end. It is the destination that makes sense of the journey. If we know for sure where we are heading, then we can know for sure what we need to do before we get there. Ecclesiastes invites us to let the end sculpt our priorities and goals, our greatest ambitions, and our strongest desires. I Want to persuade you that only if you prepare to die Can you really?

Learn how to live And Solomon would have you understand that the self-emptying reality of earthly profit is not simply something that occurs at the end of this life. Yes, Death will send you into eternity with nothing in hand. But Solomon also points to the reality of your days here in this world, those days that world, those days that lie between now and the end, days of eating in darkness with much sorrow and with much sickness and with much anger. Matthew Poole says, when the worldling falls sick and fears his death, he is filled with rage because he is cut off before he has accomplished his designs, and because he must leave that wealth and that world in which all his hopes and happiness lie, and must go to give up doleful account to his judge of all his actions and acquaintances. Is the end, your death, is your death right here and right now today sculpting and forming your priorities is it sculpting your goals your ambitions and your desires You see the first thing that living life backwards addresses is our wrong thinking.

It's our wrong thinking. We're not living with eternities values clearly in view. Rather than seeking a heavenly country, we far too often pitch our temps toward Sodom towards Sodom and we keep moving them until we find ourselves right in the middle of the city walls. Ralph Erskine, writing back in the 18th century, reveals the vanity of a mind fixated on this present age. He says first, See the folly of mankind in placing their happiness where it never was.

See the folly of mankind placing their happiness where it never was. Men would have happiness, but the general error is they imagine the creature can give it, and therefore they pursue pleasure, and they court honors, and they hoard up riches, thinking their happiness lies there. Secondly, see what a great change sin has made in the world. See what a great change sin has made in the world. It does, as it were, blast the virtue and beauty of the creature.

The time was before sin entered when God saw all the creatures to be very good. Now, after sin has blown upon them, God looks upon them again, and lo, all is vanity. Such a change will sin make in us and in our counsels and courses if it is not removed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Third, see what little reason the godly have to envy the wicked of their portion. See what little reason the godly have to envy the wicked of their portion.

They have all their portion in this world. What a portion must it be when it is but a sowing of vanity and a reaping of lies? All is vanity and vexation of spirit. Why should a godly man grudge when he sees the prosperity of the wicked, seeing it is all their portion. A godly man may have a portion in the world, but he never has this world for a portion.

No, The lines are fallen to him in more pleasant places. He has a goodly heritage. The Lord is the portion of his soul. And fourthly, see that the godly are no losers, though they should lose all things in the world for Christ's sake. See that the godly are no losers, even though they should lose all things in the world for Christ's sake.

What makes them venture the loss of all for the cause and interest of Christ? Why? They know Christ to be all, and the world nothing but vanity. They may easily forsake all things and follow Christ, for they lose but vanity, and they reap solid comfort and solid happiness." The beloved Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs wrote a book addressing earthly mindedness. It is called a treatise on earthly mindedness.

Tony Renke summarizes the book by saying that in the first part of the book, Burroughs uncovers the serious and dangerous thinking of worldliness, of worldly thinking, how dangerous it is. His goal in the first section is to call this earthly mindedness what it really is adultery, idolatry, and enmity. Burroughs goes on to describe what earthly mindedness does to the heart of him who has it. It suffocates the work of grace. It opens the soul to further temptations.

It stifles the hearing of preaching. It breeds foolish lusts in the soul. It spreads roots for future apostasy. It deadens the heart for prayer. It dishonors God.

It hinders our preparations for death, and it ultimately drowns the soul into perdition. By way of application, I give you Burroughs' directives for how to mortify, how to put to death the sin of earthly mindedness. Number one, Be watchful over your thoughts. Do not take liberty to let your hearts run too far in the things of the earth. What time you have for meditation, let it be as much as can be reserved for spiritual things.

Most men and women think they may take liberty in their thoughts. Why the thing in itself is not unlawful." Aye, but your thoughts will steal upon you and affect your heart very much. Therefore, watch narrowly over your thoughts. Keep them within Scripture bounds. Secondly, he says, be humbled much for sin.

Be humbled much for sin, for that will take off the heart from earthly mindedness. Earthly minded men who have earthly and drossy hearts have not known what the weight and burden of sin means. Just let God lay the weight and burden of sin upon the soul, for that will take off the soul from earthly things quickly. All those men that have gone on in the world in a secure condition and never knew what trouble of conscience meant for sin, have grown seared in those earthly contentments. But those men that have had the weight of sin lie upon them know what It is to have to deal with an infinite God.

In bearing the burden of the wrath of an incensed deity, such men know that they have other things to look after than the things of the earth. If God would just humble your hearts, the humiliation of your spirits would quicken you, take off the dullness and deadness of your spirits, and stir you up to look after things other than the things of this life. Number three, set the example of the saints before you who have been the most precious servants of God in former times. Set the example of the saints before you who have been the most precious servants of God in former times." Note how they counted themselves as pilgrims and strangers here on the earth. Not only that, but they were stoned.

They were saw in a sunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted and tormented who were these people they were those of whom the world was not worthy not worthy now when we set before us how joyfully these servants of the Most High went through all their wilderness conditions, this should make us ashamed, should make us ashamed of our earthly mindedness, and it would be a mighty help to us. Fourth, Consider the great account that we are to give for all earthly things. Consider the great account that we are to give for all earthly things. You will note that you only look upon the comfort that these things bring, but consider the account you must give for them.

This would be a means to take off the heart from earthly mindedness and consider what if you were now to die and go the way of all flesh? What good would it be to me to remember what contentments and pleasures I had in the earth? And number five, above all, and please note those words, above all, set Jesus Christ before you and be meditating on the death of Christ. Above all, set Jesus Christ before you and be meditating on the death of Jesus Christ. That, that is the great thing that will take the heart from the things of the earth.

Be looking upon Christ crucified, how he who was the Lord of heaven and earth put himself into such a low condition merely to redeem us. Redeem us." Conversing much with the death of Jesus Christ deadens the heart much to this world. In Philippians 3, we have a notable text for this in the example of the apostle Paul. He counted all things as dung, as dross for Jesus Christ. All things, all things.

But what things were gained to me, These I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. That I may gain Christ. Time is of the essence. Time is of the essence.

Consider Esau, who early on in his life traded an inheritance for one bowl, one measly bowl of lentil stew simply because his belly was growling. It was all about instant It was all about instant gratification. He wanted something now. He had to fulfill those urgent desires. And the writer to Hebrews warns you of the repercussions of making such a terrible deal.

Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau or profane person like Esau who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know, you know, that afterward the day came when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, For he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears." Remember what I said, each passing day entangles your soul with the affairs of this life but it also hardens your heart and you may wind up like Esau who saw how stupid he was to sell a birthright, an inheritance for a bowl of stew. But it was too late. It was too late. Too late.

Late, too late. But a greater fool will he be considered who is willing to trade an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away for the lentil stew this world has to offer. May God grant us grace that our hearts should sit loose to all things that cannot stretch themselves to eternity. God help us. Let us pray.

Oh Lord, we know so well how entangled our flesh is with the things of this world. Oh, weenus, weenus, dear Savior, May we come to see that you are the bread of life. You alone will be the satisfaction of our starving souls. Lord, help us to flee to Christ. Give us legs to run to him.

Give us hearts that want him. Give us arms to embrace Him, to love Him for who He is. Oh, break sinners from their chains that bind them. Free them from this worldliness, this earthly mindedness. And oh Lord those of us who do know you, wean us, wean our flesh.

It continues to seek things from this world. May the Spirit rule in our hearts. May we continue to grow in the love of Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.