Don't Do It By Yourself!

Don’t Do It! 4. There is greater strength to resist attacks. Ecclesiastes 4 October 10, 2021 PROPER RESPONSES TO GOD’S WORD: The Big Idea: God created us for relationship. Ecclesiastes 4 is a lament about the meaninglessness and loneliness of life lived in isolation from others. It is a warning against living life alone. Then, Solomon sings a song of the glory of living and working with meaningful relationships with other people. His argument seems to be, “The more people you have in your life, the better it is.” Remember This as You Read Ecclesiastes: ü ü Don’t read Ecclesiastes in isolation from the rest of the Bible. It raises endless questions and other parts of the Bible offer answers. Remember that is a journal of one man’s search and not a roadmap of how to get to purpose for your life. Ecclesiastes 3 (ESV) 4 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 9 1. Commit to the fellowship of God’s people. You need them. They need you. God’s design and His gift to us is the Church. [Acts 2:42-47] 2. Build balance into your relationships: both serve and be willing to be served. [Tim Challies – “servers need to service and servicers need to serve”] – note the balance of the Church in Acts 2! 3. Instead of viewing asking for help as a sign of weakness, think of receiving help as a sign of the strength of God coming to you through your friends. [Acts 6:1-7] 4. Ask the Lord for friends who will love you and whom you can love completely. [Proverbs 27:6; Hebrews 3:13] 5. The greatest, most important, and most faithful friend you can have is Jesus. [John 1; John 15:12-15; Ephesians 2:12-13] 4 BENEFITS OF KEEPING PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE: 1. More will be accomplished than if you work by yourself. 2. When one of you falls, the other is there to help. [Galatians 6:1; Hebrews 3:12; Proverbs 16:18] 3. You’re there to give comfort to one another. There is no greater isolation than being separated from the Lord. The greatest loneliness is the loneliness that is the result of living your life without Jesus as your Savior and Friend.