Church Order: Worship, Sacraments, and the Lord's Supper

The Necessity of Community

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Church Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-12-24

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver expounds Ecclesiastes 4:9-13 to demonstrate the biblical necessity of genuine community grounded in shared faith, practice, and authority. He outlines four benefits of community—mutual labor, mutual lifting, mutual love, and mutual liberation—and contrasts the teachable poor wise child with the unadmonishable old foolish king, urging believers to embrace reproof and unity for spiritual survival and strength.

[John Weaver] Let's open our Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Right after the book of Proverbs you have the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. And we're going to be reading verses 9 through 13. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verses 9 through 13. The title of the message is the necessity of community. The necessity Notice, if you would, Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 9, the word of God says two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, they have heat, but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

[John Weaver] Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished." I originally thought of entitling this message, The Necessity of Marriage and Community. Certainly these verses can very easily relate to marriage as well as community. We do understand that marriage is the normal and natural state of man. By that statement, I am not implying that those who are single are abnormal, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it was God Himself who said in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 18, and the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone, I will make and help meet for him. Although marriage is the normal and natural state of man, It does not necessarily follow that everyone or every individual will marry. Our Lord stated very clearly in Matthew chapter 19 in verse 12.

[John Weaver] He said, for there were some eunuchs which were so born from their mother's womb, and there are some eunuchs that were made eunuchs of men, and there are some eunuchs that have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. And then he said whoever is able to receive it let him receive it. When you study and look through 1st Corinthians chapter 7, the Apostle Paul there gives three reasons to marry and he gives three reasons not to marry. Then in 1st Corinthians 7 and verse 17 he says this, but as God hath distributed to every man as the Lord called everyone, so let him walk.

[John Weaver] So I ordain in all the churches. So the Apostle Paul is saying that there are some who have the gift of being single and others have the gift of being married. Each one has his own gift from the Lord. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7 verses 32 and 33, listen carefully, he's still talking about marriage, he said, but I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord, but he that is married cared for the things of the world, how he may please his wife. So the apostle Paul, then after having given you three reasons to marry and three reasons not to marry, he also now tells you that there are some advantages to being single as well as some disadvantages. And there are some advantages to being married. And there are also some disadvantages. Ed and I were talking about a mutual friend recently, and he's an older fellow. And I asked why he's never married. Why?

[John Weaver] And the answer was he just liked doing what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it without answering anybody. Well, that's pretty good reason. Well, I'm just simply saying some then have the gift of being single. Others do not personally. I certainly go like our Lord and I lean very heavily toward his message that marriage is indeed the proper state of man, understanding that some do have a particular gift and will not necessarily marry.

[John Weaver] Now, man is essentially a social creature and men essentially require and demand what you and I would call interaction. It's exceedingly difficult for most to live alone without a wife or without a husband or without family or without friends. We not only need social interaction, we need community. Community is a word which we in this generation know and understand relatively little. I want you to think with me just for a moment, biblically.

[John Weaver] Because I'm going to show you some things, some truths from Ecclesiastes chapter 4. But when we talk about community, do you realize that God's people have always dwelt in communities? We think about the nation of Israel. Yet that nation was broken down into tribes and families. And each tribe and each family lived in his own territory or in his own nation.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say. In our English language, there is a confusing tendency to use the two words nation and country interchangeably. They are not identical. A country may consist of more than one nation. I want you to stop and think. If we use the United States as an example, we could say that the United States is a country, but each of the states would be its own nation.

[John Weaver] You remember when Robert E. Lee was offered the leadership of the Union Army, he refused it because he said he could not draw his sword against his own nation. His nation was Virginia. We speak of the southern nation. We speak of Georgia as its own nation. We may even speak of a Yankee nation or a Western nation. But let me tell you what a nation is. A nation is a body of people associated with a particular territory that is bound by their faith, their family, their customs and their morals and their identity is sufficient in order that they wish to possess a government that is peculiarly and particularly their own. So we can speak of a southern nation that wants its own southern government. We could speak of a Yankee nation that wants its own Yankee government.

[John Weaver] But the same thing is true when it comes to community. A community A real, genuine community is made up of people with the same faith and practice, that have the same morals, and that live under the same standards. So it should be obvious, just talking about nation and community, should be obvious from the outset that multiculturalism is destructive of communities and nations as well. There is no unity in diversity. It's impossible. There is no unity in diversity. So there is no community, there is no nation where there are different faiths, standards, practices, habits, and ethics that can stand or can exist. It is only the unity of faiths, standards, practices, habits, and ethics that make a real community and that make a real nation. I just read briefly I looked over an article that was written where the Comanche chief had spoken to a number of people, a lot of white people, and he said, there is a Comanche nation. He said, and you white people will never be part of it. He said, because we have our own faith, we have our own practices, we have our own customs, We have our own race, so to speak, in the fact that they were birthed, born in the Comanche nation.

[John Weaver] And he said, and he said, I'll never be called a racist. And he was right. He said, but, but he said, you don't understand. He said, if you do not come back to your faith and your standard and your ethics and your morals, you will cease to exist as a nation. And that is true. Very true. So the truth of the matter is this. There is no unity in adversity. Amos asked the right question in Amos 3 in verse 3, when he asked, can two walk together except they be agreed? And obviously, no two people are going to walk together, at least not in real unity, unless they are agreed. And one of the most important questions, if we're going to walk together, is this.

[John Weaver] who or what is our authority or who and what is our source of authority. If we do not have the same authority, if we don't have the same source of authority, then we're not going to be walking together long. Obviously, if we are Christians, the sovereign God is our authority and his word is a source of our authority.

[John Weaver] Now stop and think, I'm still trying to show you how even our forefathers lived in communities. During the patriarchal period, families always lived together in community. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had large families and they constituted a community so much so that many of the heathen wanted to enter into leagues with them and make leagues with them for mutual protection. You have to remember that Abraham, just in his household alone, Abraham had 318 trained fighting men. The Bible says in Genesis 14 and verse 14, And when Abraham heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, 318, and pursued them unto Dan. Now, if Abraham had 318 trained fighting men, you know most of them had wives and children, And then there was Abraham's family and servants. Do you realize probably Abraham had several thousand people living in and around him? He was a community in and off himself. And here all these people, of course, followed Abraham. When the children of Israel reached the promised land, remember the promised land was divided by lots into the tribes.

[John Weaver] Each tribe, family, or clan had its own territory. It was these independent tribes, communities, families that made up the nation of Israel. There may have been 12 separate tribes, but it was those tribes independent of each other with their own territory with their own families, with their own clans, that made up the nation. Usually, marriage was within the same tribe. That did not necessarily prevent someone from marrying outside of his tribe. But if he married outside of his tribe, then there was a problem with inheritance. And so most of the time, they probably married within their tribe. So, when you look at the Old Testament, They all lived in communities.

[John Weaver] I want you to turn in your Bibles, hold Ecclesiastes chapter four, but turn to the book of Acts chapter two. And let me show you in Acts chapter two, how that there was a community in the new Testament. When these Christians were converted by the grace of God, look in Acts chapter two, beginning there with verse 41. Watch carefully, Acts 2 verse 41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. Now I want you to watch what these 3,000 people that were added to the already number of believers there.

[John Weaver] The Bible said, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things common. And so their possessions and goods imparted them to all men as every man had need. And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

[John Weaver] Now, contrary to the liberals, the unbelievers, and the agnostics, The first Christians were not Christian communists living under a communistic communal system. The fact that they shared things and had things in common did not mean that they were communists because their sharing was totally completely voluntary and it was not mandatory. For instance, look in Acts chapter 5. In Acts chapter 5, You read about Ananias and Sapphira.

[John Weaver] Notice the beginning there with verse 1. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold the possession and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost.

[John Weaver] And great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

[John Weaver] Now it was about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered her, tell me. whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, yea, for so much. Then Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet and yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by the husband. Notes verse 11, and great fear came upon all the church and upon as many has heard these things."

[John Weaver] Now, I want to make this exceedingly clear. If you look back in verse 4, look what Peter said to Ananias. While it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thy power? In other words, he said to Ananias, first of all, you did not have to sell that land. You could have kept it. Once you sold it, You did not have to give any of the money. You could have kept it. What was the sin of Ananias and Savirah?

[John Weaver] Well, you've got to understand what happened in Acts chapter 4. Look at verses 36 and 37. Now you'll understand it. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which being interpreted the son of Constellation the Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it down at the apostles' feet." So Barnabas evidently got some type of praise or recognition because he sold his land and he just simply gave it all to the apostles and said, distributed it to whomever has need. He didn't need the land, didn't want the land, preferred to give it to the believers. That's what he did.

[John Weaver] And so what Ananias and Sapphira did was this. They sold their land kept back part and pretended that they were giving it all like Barnabas did. They wanted the praise and the honor that Barnabas got, but they wanted the money as well. And Peter said, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? You haven't lied to men, you've lied to God. You didn't have to sell it, you didn't have to give any of it. So the sin of Ananias and Savirah And the voluntary giving do not negate the fact that the early Christians had community. They did have real community.

[John Weaver] They lived near each other, they worked with each other, they worshipped together, they had unity because they had the same faith and they had the same practice. It is impossible to have unity without the same faith and the same practice. Now listen very carefully. You may be civil and kind to someone with a different faith and with a different practice, but you cannot have unity with that individual. I don't have to blow up and get mad and angry just because someone doesn't believe the way I believe. I can still be kind to them. I can still be civil to them. But I cannot have unity with that individual because we do not think alike.

[John Weaver] This is one reason why God forbids believers entering into covenants and contracts with unbelievers. He said, what fellowship has a believer with an infidel? What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? And the answer is absolutely none. It is our faith that unifies us. That's why the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4, verses 5 and 6, One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

[John Weaver] Everything has to have real, genuine unity. Now, here's what happened. The Christian community that you had in Acts chapter 2 was shattered by the time you reach Acts chapter 8 and verse 1. Let me just read it. The Bible said in Saul, that is Saul of Tarsus, was consenting unto his, that is Stephen's death And at that time, there was great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. So here's what happened. The persecution broke up the community and drove a lot of those Christians out. But wherever they went, they built communities of faith. They still work together. They still worship together. They still help each other. It doesn't matter that that one community was broken up and they were driven away. Wherever they went, they built community again.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look back in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4 because what I want to do is this. I want to show you very quickly four benefits community. Four benefits of community. Look if you would please at verse 9. The first benefit is mutual labor. Mutual labor. Please ask these four in verse 9. God says two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.

[John Weaver] Have you ever noticed that it's easier to work when you have someone helping you? Of course this is one of the reasons that that God instituted marriage. That's why he said he made a help mate. That is one who was suitable for man, one who was able to help man to engage in the work of dominion. If one does not have a wife or a husband, or if the work is far greater than the husband and wife can manage, it certainly helps to have a family or friends or some family member, or at least a grandson around to help.

[John Weaver] I don't know about you, but the older I get, the more I realize there are some things that I can no longer do. I need help. I mean, it's just that simple. Mutual labor makes the time and the work go faster, and of course, you get twice as much done when you're working together. and working together is much easier. Do you realize, I remember when I was in college, I used to have friends come over and or we would meet at the library and we would study together.

[John Weaver] We would quiz each other on all the material. Not only did you learn more quickly, you had more minds working together and time went quickly as well. And so you had not only the pleasure of fellowship you also had the benefit of conversation and the benefit of someone helping you remember. So the good reward that he's talking about here in this instance not only is the pleasantness of the conversation but the consciousness of helping each other and laboring with each other and all this is grounded in faithful fellowship. I remember years ago reading a poem or hearing initially about a poem by Robert Frost. The poem was entitled Mending Walls. And there was one proverb in that poem that I heard, didn't know the whole poem at that time, but I heard the proverb and it was simply this, good fences make good neighbors. And when I first heard that, my interpretation of that proverb was this, Good fences make good neighbors.

[John Weaver] You stay on your side of the fence, I'll stay on my side of the fence and we'll get along just fine. That was what I thought that proverb meant. You keep me out of your yard, I'll keep you out of my yard. We won't get into arguments, we'll just avoid each other. But that's not what that poem or that proverb is about. It was only when I started traveling up north that I realized exactly what Robert Frost had in mind. Because unlike down south, there are an awful lot of rocks up in the north. Rocks and fields. In fact, there are some fields, I believe, that grow rocks. I mean, you can plow them and rocks just come up everywhere. And what the farmers would do, they would get together and take the rocks out of the field and make these fences. one on one side, one on the other side, and they're building the fence together. Which meant they had fellowship, they had mutual labor, mutual help, and sometimes after those fences were built, the rocks would fall off, and then once again they would come back and work together and rebuild the fence.

[John Weaver] Good fences make good neighbors. When I read the poem, I understood exactly what he was talking about. Mutual fellowship, mutual labor, mutual help. And that's exactly what God is talking about here. Good, good help. Good fellowship always makes time and work go easier and faster. There's a great comfort in good company. You have to remember that it's true, especially in the communion of the saints. That's why it's hard for me to get your attention to get started sometime. You're talking so hard and fast to each other. That's wonderful. We understand that. But do you remember that our Lord in Mark 6 and verse 7 sent His disciples out, someone tell me how? Two by two.

[John Weaver] He didn't send them out alone. He sent them out two by two. So they had their combined talents and combined fellowship to produce good benefit. So this verse when he says two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor would also teach us that we may labor together in counsels, in comforts, and mutual aids, and assistance in things spiritual such as in church attendance, public worship, praying for each other, counseling each other, serving each other in love, bearing each other's burdens, and produce a good reward. In other words, We may profit from mutual instruction, counsels, reproofs, as we seek to establish each other in divine truth and strengthen each other's hands and each other's hearts. So he said here is the very first reason why we should have real community, mutual labor. Notice verse 10 in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, there is mutual lifting. He said, for if they fall, One will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up.

[John Weaver] Obviously two are better than one when it comes to accidents, incidents, and encouragements. One may lift another physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and even materially. The verse teaches Absolutely the danger of being alone. I read recently of one man who lived alone and he died. It took them three weeks to discover that he was dead in his house. I do go hunting. And usually when I go hunting, I tell Alice where I'm going.

[John Weaver] Because if there's an accident, I don't want her to have to search for me. I want her to be able to get right to me so that I can get help. That's exactly what he's talking about. If they fall, one will lift up the other. But ward him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. Now, I want to show you how this is applied spiritually. I want you to hold Ecclesiastes 4.

[John Weaver] But turn over in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. And notice if you would please verses 1 and 2. Galatians chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. Here's what the scripture says. Watch carefully. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such in one in the spirit of meekness. Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

[John Weaver] Now this is how we lift each other up. Each of us are sinners. When we sin, and the brother sees it, we seek to restore. And we seek to restore in the spirit of meekness, considering ourselves. And then of course we try to help bear each other's burdens. Whatever that burden is. That's why we have a prayer list. Pray for me. I need help here. I need the Lord's grace here. That's what that is all about. Bearing one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

[John Weaver] Let me give you a good example of this. Elizabeth Cowper was a Christian woman who was going to be martyred along with one Simon Miller during the reign of Bloody Mary, Queen Mary. They were both condemned to be burned at the stake. They were tied to the stake almost back to back, and the fire was started. One time when the heat really arose fiercely, Elizabeth sighed and said, And Simon Miller, although his hands were behind him, reached back with his fingers to touch Elizabeth. And he said this. Be of good cheer, good sister, said he.

[John Weaver] We shall soon have a joyful and sweet supper. It is but a winking a little and you're in heaven. And with these words. She valiantly and courageously gave her life without uttering another word even in the torment of the flame. What was he doing? He was helping to bear her burden. I want you to turn over to the book of Hebrews chapter 10 and look at verse 24. Hebrews 10 and verse 24. Hebrews 10 verse 24. Look what the word of God says. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Wait a minute.

[John Weaver] Don't let me misread this. And let us consider one another to provoke each other. Is that what it says? No, we don't just provoke each other. We are to provoke each other unto love and good works. When's the last time you tried to encourage your brother or sister in Christ. When have you tried to provoke them to more holiness, to more godliness, to more obedience? When is the last time you tried to provoke them to study, to pray?

[John Weaver] This is what he's talking about. Let us consider one another. Let's see. I need to consider Henry. How can I make Henry more godly, more obedient? How can I make him more studious? How can I make Robert more studious? How can I help Ron? This is what he's saying. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. And then he says in verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a matter of some is, but exhorting one another Watch carefully and so much the more as you see the day approaching. And I got news for you, I believe that certain days are approaching very quickly and we certainly need to be exhorting one another and so much more as we see these days coming to pass. Can you imagine not only what this assembly would be like, but every other assembly wherein every Christian esteemed his brother or sister above himself, and did everything he could to provoke them unto love and to good works." So, the apostle is saying, very clearly, we need to consider each other, and provoke each other to love and good works.

[John Weaver] So there is mutual labor, benefit of community, There's mutual lifting. If you will look in verse 11, here's a third benefit that is mutual love. Look what he says. Again, if two lie together, they have heat. But how can one be warm alone?

[John Weaver] Now, every married couple understands what I'm about to say very clearly. For in all cases, one of the spouses has cold hands, cold feet, or just cold all over. And in my house, I know who has the gold feet. And it's not me. But notice what he said now. If two lie together, then they have heat. But how can one be warm alone? The truth is that in cold weather, two bodies are better than one. And that does not necessarily just simply refer to married couples. You do remember when David was old and needed bodily heat, they sought a young woman to keep him warm.

[John Weaver] There was nothing sexual about it. It was just the fact that he needed a body to keep him warm. In 1 Kings 1 verses 1 through 2, let me read it.

[John Weaver] Now King David was old and was stricken in years. and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat. Wherefore, his servant said unto him, Let there be salt for my lord the king, a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him. Let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat." Nothing sexual about it. He never knew her.

[John Weaver] It was just the fact that he needed someone to keep him warm. In emergency situations, Men and women have piled together just to keep from freezing to death. Heat transfer is real and it does help. It is true not only physically but it is also true spiritually.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to notice the question is asked, how can one be warm alone? We could put this air conditioning unit on 60 degrees in the middle of July or the middle of August. And we could let this room cool down to 60 degrees. And then you could get 50 people in this room. And guess what? Pretty soon, it's not going to be 60 in this room. That air conditioning system is not going to hold it at 60 because all these bodies have 98.6. I have been in buildings for meetings where you walk in and you say, it's chilly in here.

[John Weaver] By the time the building got filled, you were sweating. That's a reality. Do you understand this is true in a spiritual sense in Christian communion? You can have two Christians who are basically grown cold in their love, lukewarm in their affections, and backward and indifferent to spiritual exercises, yet by Christian conversation, Christian reproof, Christian admonition, each begins to be stirred up unto loving good works. Two cold flints will make a fire. Likewise, even two cold Christians, when they come together and they begin to talk about the Lord and the Word of God, and spiritual things, they begin to warm up.

[John Weaver] You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 27 and verse 17? Iron sharpeneth iron, so the face of man is friends. So it's kind of like burning coals. You can take coals that are warm, push them together, and they produce an awful lot of heat. But you can take those same coals And you can separate them, and guess what? They'll die out. Obviously. Let me just show you how this works.

[John Weaver] Do you remember the two men on the Emmaus road? Luke chapter 24. And they were joined by our Lord. And our Lord asked them, said, what in the world is wrong with you folks? Well, what's wrong? They said, are you a stranger here? Have you not heard about Jesus? We thought He was the Messiah. We thought He was the Deliverer. But yet He's been crucified. Besides all this, it's the third day. And our Lord said to them, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written.

[John Weaver] Ought not Christ to have suffered these things? And then He began at Moses and all the prophets and expounded unto them all things concerning Himself. And you remember, when they decided to stop for supper, he pretended like he would go on, and they compelled him to come in. And when he sat at the supper, and he began to bless, their eyes were opened, and they knew it was Christ, and he disappeared.

[John Weaver] And then they said this in verse 32, Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way? and while he opened us the Scriptures." Notice that. Did not our hearts burn within us? The Apostle Paul himself basically was on the way to Rome in Acts chapter 28 and verse 15. Listen to this verse. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as the Api Forum, and three taverns, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage." So Paul then was encouraged just simply by the presence of believers. In Philippians chapter 1 and verse 5, we read how Paul thanked God for the fellowship of the Philippians. Listen to this. He said,"...for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." Now just stop and think about that. He was thanking God for their fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. In other words, the very day they were saved, there was fellowship with the Apostle Paul.

[John Weaver] There was communion. And that fellowship and communion continued. The point is, if we desire the heat of love, and truth and stability and strength. We must have real, genuine community. And you can only have real, genuine community by having one source of authority and one faith and one standard And that standard is the Word of God, and the faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to look back in Ecclesiastes chapter 4 again at verse 12, because here is mutual liberation. Not only mutual labor, mutual lifting, mutual love, but now mutual liberation. He said in verse 12, If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

[John Weaver] So if an enemy, if a thief or a robber attack anyone in fellowship and friendship together, and if that attacker is more than a match for the individual that he has attacked, then the other can join in and help to resist him so that the attacker will not succeed in his enterprise. Two are better than one in a fight. So that means if Robert jumps on me to whip me, I sure want Ed and maybe Henry to come help me whip him. I mean, I don't have to fight him by myself. So, two are better than one. If one is overcome, the other may liberate him. He may free him from the oppressor. And then he goes on to say that three is even better than two.

[John Weaver] So if a family, if a church, if a community, if a city or kingdom are divided against themselves, they cannot stand. But if they are united in all probability, nothing can hurt them. So our Lord says they will be able to withstand the attack. A three-fold cord is not quickly broken. Now, a three-fold cord gives a great illustration. You can take one strand of cord and probably men, strong men, can take it in each hand and pop that cord. But you can take three strands and weave them together And usually the strongest man cannot break that cord. It takes more than a man.

[John Weaver] It's the same thing with a dry branch. You can take one little branch and snap it very easily. But you take a bundle of those branches, tie them together, and then one man can't snap them very easily. This is exactly what he's talking about. Christians, in close fellowship, However few they may be, it doesn't matter. If they keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, they're biblically speaking, as the Song of Solomon says, they're terrible as an army with banners, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against them. But the whole secret is keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Do you know what the Apostle Paul told the Roman Christians in Romans chapter 16 and verse 20?

[John Weaver] I want you to just listen. Here's what he said, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Would you not like to see him bruised very definitely? Would you not like to see his representatives bruised very definitely? It can only be through the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Let me give you, very quickly, just a couple of lessons when he says, If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

[John Weaver] The first lesson is this. Alone, we're an easy target. Alone, we are an easy target. That is true physically. That is true spiritually. May I ask you, when a wolf attacks the sheep, what sheep does he always go for? And the answer is, the straggler. the one away from the flock. Do you realize the safest place to be if you're a sheep is right smack dab in the middle of the flock? That's a fact. The safest place for all of us is in unity and fellowship and communion and community. Alone, we're an easy target. The second lesson is this, and it's equally clear.

[John Weaver] We must learn to stand and fight together or we will be destroyed individually. Do you remember what Benjamin Franklin said when the nation was seeking its independence from England? He said, we must all hang together or we will hang separately. What was he saying? If we don't stand together, then they'll pick us off one by one. It's not only important to learn to live together, it's important to learn to fight together.

[John Weaver] Do you realize if you have the same faith, if you have the same practice, if you have the same morals, If you have the same ethics, you're probably going to have the same enemies. So you not only have to learn to live together, you have to learn to fight together. I'm reading a very fascinating book. I just got it this past week. The title is Apache tactics and strategies. And the book is how a handful of Apache warriors consistently and constantly defeated entire cavalry units. Amazing! And some of these Indian warriors never had over 100 men.

[John Weaver] Most of the time, 50 or 60. And yet they would out-fight and out-fox several hundred well-armed soldiers every time. And the whole key was this, they not only lived together, they not only had the same practice and the same customs and basically the same faith, they learned to fight together. They were able to destroy much stronger enemies consistently and constantly.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you very quickly a closing word on verse 13. I want you to look at verse 13. Ecclesiastes 4 verse 13. Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished. A poor child is usually held in contempt. He has nothing. He knows nothing, he can do nothing. Age and poverty produce double contempt. But in this situation, verse 13, he may be a poor child, he may be a young child, yet the scripture says he is wise. Now look at verse 13 again. He says,"...better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished." Now I want you to compare and contrast this poor, young child who is wise with an old and foolish king. The king is one who has authority, he has stature. Along with a venerable age, he has royalty and dignity. Yet he's foolish. The child who is poor and young and wise may be held in contempt by most people.

[John Weaver] But in his wisdom, he is wise enough to govern himself, to receive counsel and instruction, and pretty soon he's able to extricate himself out of his poverty. And of course, with time, he gets aged.

[John Weaver] On the other hand, here's the king who will no more be admonished. He has neither wisdom to govern himself, nor wisdom to receive counsel and admonition from wiser men. He is foolish, willful, and incorrigible. Won't you listen? The child can be worked with. The king cannot be worked with under any circumstances. Could we not apply that today to our elected officials? I don't care if you're talking about state reps or federal reps, state senate or federal senate. The child can be worked with, the king cannot be worked with under any circumstances. So the point is clear, listen carefully, in a church and in a community where we're living, working, and striving, and fighting together, we must always be willing and ready to receive reproof, rebuke, admonition, and instruction. Listen carefully. and position do not negate the fact that we're all needful and from time to time we must be rebuked, reproved, and admonished. The king was foolish because he thought his age and position excluded him from rebuke and admonition. Now if you were to make a choice today between a poor and wise child, and an old and foolish king who will no longer receive instruction.

[John Weaver] If you had to be one or the other, which would you choose? I'm sure that everyone in here would say, I prefer to be the poor wise child. Which means this, if you have chosen to be the poor wise child, you've also chosen to be reproved, to be rebuked, to be admonished, to be instructed, to be worked with, to be taught. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 9 and verse 8? Listen carefully.

[John Weaver] Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Did you know the Bible says in Proverbs 27 verse 5, one of my favorite verses, Open rebuke is better than secret love. Open rebuke is better than secret love. And how about this one? Leviticus 19 and verse 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor and not suffer sin upon him. If we're going to be The poor wise child. In church.

[John Weaver] In community, we must be willing to be instructed, rebuked, reproved and admonished. I hope you see two things. Number one, the importance of real genuine community. For life. For help. For protection. for safety, for love, all these benefits. And secondly, I hope you see the need and necessity of this even more in the time of danger, devastation, and destruction. The truth of the matter is, folks, we need each other. No man is an island, and I'm afraid In the not too distant future, we will understand how much we really need each other. And we must have one faith and one source of authority. The Word of God.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We praise Thee and we give Thee honor and glory. And Lord, we pray that You would make us a real, genuine, community of faith, not just a church, Lord, but a community that lives and loves and lifts each other and liberates each other and considers each other to provoke and to love and to good works. For your honor and your glory, in Christ's name we pray, amen.

The Necessity of Community

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	PpfIcDgqwAU
Subject	Church Government
Course	Church Order: Worship, Sacraments, and the Lord's Supper
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-12-24
Dictation Name
Book	Book 039: Church Order and Worship - Volume 1 — Chapter 16
Source Timed Segments	69

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Necessity of Community

Weaver introduces the message from Ecclesiastes 4:9-13, noting the title and the dual application to marriage and community, and establishes that marriage is the normal state of man though singleness is a gift.

Let's open our Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Right after the book of Proverbs you have the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. And we're going to be reading verses 9 through 13. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verses 9 through 13. The title of the message is "The Necessity of Community." The necessity. Notice, if you would, Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 9, the word of God says:

Scripture Reading — Ecclesiastes 4:9-13

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

"Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished." I originally thought of entitling this message, "The Necessity of Marriage and Community." Certainly these verses can very easily relate to marriage as well as community. We do understand that marriage is the normal and natural state of man. By that statement, I am not implying that those who are single are abnormal, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it was God Himself who said in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 18,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 2:18

"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."

Although marriage is the normal and natural state of man, it does not necessarily follow that everyone or every individual will marry. Our Lord stated very clearly in Matthew chapter 19 in verse 12.

He said, "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake." And then he said, "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." When you study and look through 1st Corinthians chapter 7, the Apostle Paul there gives three reasons to marry and he gives three reasons not to marry. Then in 1st Corinthians 7 and verse 17 he says this,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 7:17

"But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk." "And so ordain I in all churches."

So the Apostle Paul is saying that there are some who have the gift of being single and others have the gift of being married. Each one has his own gift from the Lord. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7 verses 32 and 33, listen carefully, he's still talking about marriage, he said, "But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife." So the apostle Paul, then after having given you three reasons to marry and three reasons not to marry, he also now tells you that there are some advantages to being single as well as some disadvantages. And there are some advantages to being married. And there are also some disadvantages. Ed and I were talking about a mutual friend recently, and he's an older fellow. And I asked why he's never married. Why?

And the answer was he just liked doing what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it without answering anybody. Well, that's pretty good reason. Well, I'm just simply saying some then have the gift of being single. Others do not. Personally, I certainly go like our Lord and I lean very heavily toward his message that marriage is indeed the proper state of man, understanding that some do have a particular gift and will not necessarily marry.

Biblical Foundations of Community

Weaver explains that man is a social creature needing community, defines nation and community biblically, and argues that unity requires shared faith, standards, and authority, citing Amos 3:3.

Now, man is essentially a social creature and men essentially require and demand what you and I would call interaction. It's exceedingly difficult for most to live alone without a wife or without a husband or without family or without friends. We not only need social interaction, we need community. Community is a word which we in this generation know and understand relatively little. I want you to think with me just for a moment, biblically. Because I'm going to show you some things, some truths from Ecclesiastes chapter 4. But when we talk about community, do you realize that God's people have always dwelt in communities? We think about the nation of Israel. Yet that nation was broken down into tribes and families. And each tribe and each family lived in his own territory or in his own nation.

Now, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say. In our English language, there is a confusing tendency to use the two words nation and country interchangeably. They are not identical. A country may consist of more than one nation. I want you to stop and think. If we use the United States as an example, we could say that the United States is a country, but each of the states would be its own nation. You remember when Robert E. Lee was offered the leadership of the Union Army, he refused it because he said he could not draw his sword against his own nation. His nation was Virginia. We speak of the southern nation. We speak of Georgia as its own nation. We may even speak of a Yankee nation or a Western nation. But let me tell you what a nation is. A nation is a body of people associated with a particular territory that is bound by their faith, their family, their customs and their morals and their identity is sufficient in order that they wish to possess a government that is peculiarly and particularly their own. So we can speak of a southern nation that wants its own southern government. We could speak of a Yankee nation that wants its own Yankee government.

But the same thing is true when it comes to community. A community. A real, genuine community is made up of people with the same faith and practice, that have the same morals, and that live under the same standards. So it should be obvious, just talking about nation and community, should be obvious from the outset that multiculturalism is destructive of communities and nations as well. There is no unity in diversity. It's impossible. There is no unity in diversity. So there is no community, there is no nation where there are different faiths, standards, practices, habits, and ethics that can stand or can exist. It is only the unity of faiths, standards, practices, habits, and ethics that make a real community and that make a real nation. I just read briefly I looked over an article that was written where the Comanche chief had spoken to a number of people, a lot of white people, and he said, "There is a Comanche nation." He said, "And you white people will never be part of it." He said, "Because we have our own faith, we have our own practices, we have our own customs. We have our own race, so to speak, in the fact that they were birthed, born in the Comanche nation."

And he said, "And I'll never be called a racist." And he was right. He said, "But you don't understand." He said, "If you do not come back to your faith and your standard and your ethics and your morals, you will cease to exist as a nation." And that is true. Very true. So the truth of the matter is this. There is no unity in adversity. Amos asked the right question in Amos 3 in verse 3, when he asked,

Scripture Reading — Amos 3:3

"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

And obviously, no two people are going to walk together, at least not in real unity, unless they are agreed. And one of the most important questions, if we're going to walk together, is this.

Who or what is our authority or who and what is our source of authority. If we do not have the same authority, if we don't have the same source of authority, then we're not going to be walking together long. Obviously, if we are Christians, the sovereign God is our authority and his word is a source of our authority.

Historical Examples of Community

Weaver traces community from the patriarchal period (Abraham's household) through Israel's tribal structure to the early church in Acts 2, clarifying that their sharing was voluntary, not communistic.

Now stop and think, I'm still trying to show you how even our forefathers lived in communities. During the patriarchal period, families always lived together in community. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had large families and they constituted a community so much so that many of the heathen wanted to enter into leagues with them and make leagues with them for mutual protection. You have to remember that Abraham, just in his household alone, Abraham had 318 trained fighting men. The Bible says in Genesis 14 and verse 14,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 14:14

"And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan."

Now, if Abraham had 318 trained fighting men, you know most of them had wives and children, and then there was Abraham's family and servants. Do you realize probably Abraham had several thousand people living in and around him? He was a community in and of himself. And here all these people, of course, followed Abraham. When the children of Israel reached the promised land, remember the promised land was divided by lots into the tribes.

Each tribe, family, or clan had its own territory. It was these independent tribes, communities, families that made up the nation of Israel. There may have been 12 separate tribes, but it was those tribes independent of each other with their own territory with their own families, with their own clans, that made up the nation. Usually, marriage was within the same tribe. That did not necessarily prevent someone from marrying outside of his tribe. But if he married outside of his tribe, then there was a problem with inheritance. And so most of the time, they probably married within their tribe. So, when you look at the Old Testament, they all lived in communities.

I want you to turn in your Bibles, hold Ecclesiastes chapter four, but turn to the book of Acts chapter two. And let me show you in Acts chapter two, how that there was a community in the New Testament. When these Christians were converted by the grace of God, look in Acts chapter two, beginning there with verse 41. Watch carefully, Acts 2 verse 41.

Scripture Reading — Acts 2:41-47

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."

Now I want you to watch what these 3,000 people that were added to the already number of believers there. The Bible said,

Scripture Reading — Acts 2:41-47

"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

Now, contrary to the liberals, the unbelievers, and the agnostics, the first Christians were not Christian communists living under a communistic communal system. The fact that they shared things and had things in common did not mean that they were communists because their sharing was totally completely voluntary and it was not mandatory. For instance, look in Acts chapter 5. In Acts chapter 5, you read about Ananias and Sapphira. Notice the beginning there with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Acts 5:1-11

"But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost."

"And great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him." "And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things."

Now, I want to make this exceedingly clear. If you look back in verse 4, look what Peter said to Ananias. "Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?" In other words, he said to Ananias, first of all, you did not have to sell that land. You could have kept it. Once you sold it, you did not have to give any of the money. You could have kept it. What was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira?

Well, you've got to understand what happened in Acts chapter 4. Look at verses 36 and 37. Now you'll understand it.

Scripture Reading — Acts 4:36-37

"And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet."

So Barnabas evidently got some type of praise or recognition because he sold his land and he just simply gave it all to the apostles and said, distribute it to whomever has need. He didn't need the land, didn't want the land, preferred to give it to the believers. That's what he did. And so what Ananias and Sapphira did was this. They sold their land, kept back part, and pretended that they were giving it all like Barnabas did. They wanted the praise and the honor that Barnabas got, but they wanted the money as well. And Peter said, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?" You haven't lied to men, you've lied to God. You didn't have to sell it, you didn't have to give any of it. So the sin of Ananias and Sapphira and the voluntary giving do not negate the fact that the early Christians had community. They did have real community.

They lived near each other, they worked with each other, they worshipped together, they had unity because they had the same faith and they had the same practice. It is impossible to have unity without the same faith and the same practice. Now listen very carefully. You may be civil and kind to someone with a different faith and with a different practice, but you cannot have unity with that individual. I don't have to blow up and get mad and angry just because someone doesn't believe the way I believe. I can still be kind to them. I can still be civil to them. But I cannot have unity with that individual because we do not think alike.

The Shattering and Rebuilding of Community

Weaver notes that persecution in Acts 8 scattered the Jerusalem community, but believers rebuilt communities of faith wherever they went, emphasizing the resilience of true community.

Everything has to have real, genuine unity. Now, here's what happened. The Christian community that you had in Acts chapter 2 was shattered by the time you reach Acts chapter 8 and verse 1. Let me just read it. The Bible said,

Scripture Reading — Acts 8:1

"And Saul was consenting unto his death."

That is Saul of Tarsus, was consenting unto his, that is Stephen's death.

Scripture Reading — Acts 8:1

"And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem." "And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles."

So here's what happened. The persecution broke up the community and drove a lot of those Christians out. But wherever they went, they built communities of faith. They still work together. They still worship together. They still help each other. It doesn't matter that that one community was broken up and they were driven away. Wherever they went, they built community again.

Now, I want you to look back in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4 because what I want to do is this. I want to show you very quickly four benefits of community. Four benefits of community. Look if you would please at verse 9. The first benefit is mutual labor. Mutual labor. Please ask these four in verse 9. God says, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour."

Benefit 1: Mutual Labor (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

Weaver explains that two working together have a good reward, making labor easier and faster, and applies this to spiritual labors like worship, prayer, and bearing burdens.

Have you ever noticed that it's easier to work when you have someone helping you? Of course this is one of the reasons that God instituted marriage. That's why he said he made a help meet. That is one who was suitable for man, one who was able to help man to engage in the work of dominion. If one does not have a wife or a husband, or if the work is far greater than the husband and wife can manage, it certainly helps to have a family or friends or some family member, or at least a grandson around to help. I don't know about you, but the older I get, the more I realize there are some things that I can no longer do. I need help. I mean, it's just that simple. Mutual labor makes the time and the work go faster, and of course, you get twice as much done when you're working together. And working together is much easier. Do you realize, I remember when I was in college, I used to have friends come over and or we would meet at the library and we would study together.

We would quiz each other on all the material. Not only did you learn more quickly, you had more minds working together and time went quickly as well. And so you had not only the pleasure of fellowship you also had the benefit of conversation and the benefit of someone helping you remember. So the good reward that he's talking about here in this instance not only is the pleasantness of the conversation but the consciousness of helping each other and laboring with each other and all this is grounded in faithful fellowship. I remember years ago reading a poem or hearing initially about a poem by Robert Frost. The poem was entitled "Mending Wall." And there was one proverb in that poem that I heard, didn't know the whole poem at that time, but I heard the proverb and it was simply this, "Good fences make good neighbors." And when I first heard that, my interpretation of that proverb was this, "Good fences make good neighbors."

You stay on your side of the fence, I'll stay on my side of the fence and we'll get along just fine. That was what I thought that proverb meant. You keep me out of your yard, I'll keep you out of my yard. We won't get into arguments, we'll just avoid each other. But that's not what that poem or that proverb is about. It was only when I started traveling up north that I realized exactly what Robert Frost had in mind. Because unlike down south, there are an awful lot of rocks up in the north. Rocks in fields. In fact, there are some fields, I believe, that grow rocks. I mean, you can plow them and rocks just come up everywhere. And what the farmers would do, they would get together and take the rocks out of the field and make these fences. One on one side, one on the other side, and they're building the fence together. Which meant they had fellowship, they had mutual labor, mutual help, and sometimes after those fences were built, the rocks would fall off, and then once again they would come back and work together and rebuild the fence.

Good fences make good neighbors. When I read the poem, I understood exactly what he was talking about. Mutual fellowship, mutual labor, mutual help. And that's exactly what God is talking about here. Good help. Good fellowship always makes time and work go easier and faster. There's a great comfort in good company. You have to remember that it's true, especially in the communion of the saints. That's why it's hard for me to get your attention to get started sometime. You're talking so hard and fast to each other. That's wonderful. We understand that. But do you remember that our Lord in Mark 6 and verse 7 sent His disciples out, someone tell me how? Two by two.

He didn't send them out alone. He sent them out two by two. So they had their combined talents and combined fellowship to produce good benefit. So this verse when he says, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour" would also teach us that we may labour together in counsels, in comforts, and mutual aids, and assistance in things spiritual such as in church attendance, public worship, praying for each other, counseling each other, serving each other in love, bearing each other's burdens, and produce a good reward. In other words, we may profit from mutual instruction, counsels, reproofs, as we seek to establish each other in divine truth and strengthen each other's hands and each other's hearts. So he said here is the very first reason why we should have real community, mutual labor. Notice verse 10 in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, there is mutual lifting. He said, "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."

Benefit 2: Mutual Lifting (Ecclesiastes 4:10)

Weaver highlights the danger of being alone when falling, and applies this spiritually to restoring the fallen and bearing one another's burdens, citing Galatians 6:1-2 and Hebrews 10:24-25.

Obviously two are better than one when it comes to accidents, incidents, and encouragements. One may lift another physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and even materially. The verse teaches absolutely the danger of being alone. I read recently of one man who lived alone and he died. It took them three weeks to discover that he was dead in his house. I do go hunting. And usually when I go hunting, I tell Alice where I'm going.

Because if there's an accident, I don't want her to have to search for me. I want her to be able to get right to me so that I can get help. That's exactly what he's talking about. "If they fall, the one will lift up the other. But woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up." Now, I want to show you how this is applied spiritually. I want you to hold Ecclesiastes 4.

But turn over in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. And notice if you would please verses 1 and 2. Galatians chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. Here's what the scripture says. Watch carefully.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 6:1-2

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."

Now this is how we lift each other up. Each of us are sinners. When we sin, and the brother sees it, we seek to restore. And we seek to restore in the spirit of meekness, considering ourselves. And then of course we try to help bear each other's burdens. Whatever that burden is. That's why we have a prayer list. Pray for me. I need help here. I need the Lord's grace here. That's what that is all about. Bearing one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Let me give you a good example of this. Elizabeth Cowper was a Christian woman who was going to be martyred along with one Simon Miller during the reign of Bloody Mary, Queen Mary. They were both condemned to be burned at the stake. They were tied to the stake almost back to back, and the fire was started. One time when the heat really arose fiercely, Elizabeth sighed and said, And Simon Miller, although his hands were behind him, reached back with his fingers to touch Elizabeth. And he said this. "Be of good cheer, good sister," said he.

"We shall soon have a joyful and sweet supper. It is but a winking a little and you're in heaven." And with these words, she valiantly and courageously gave her life without uttering another word even in the torment of the flame. What was he doing? He was helping to bear her burden. I want you to turn over to the book of Hebrews chapter 10 and look at verse 24. Hebrews 10 and verse 24. Hebrews 10 verse 24. Look what the word of God says. "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." Wait a minute.

Don't let me misread this. "And let us consider one another to provoke each other." Is that what it says? No, we don't just provoke each other. We are to provoke each other unto love and good works. When's the last time you tried to encourage your brother or sister in Christ? When have you tried to provoke them to more holiness, to more godliness, to more obedience? When is the last time you tried to provoke them to study, to pray?

This is what he's talking about. Let us consider one another. Let's see. I need to consider Henry. How can I make Henry more godly, more obedient? How can I make him more studious? How can I make Robert more studious? How can I help Ron? This is what he's saying. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. And then he says in verse 25, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." And I got news for you, I believe that certain days are approaching very quickly and we certainly need to be exhorting one another and so much more as we see these days coming to pass. Can you imagine not only what this assembly would be like, but every other assembly wherein every Christian esteemed his brother or sister above himself, and did everything he could to provoke them unto love and to good works. So, the apostle is saying, very clearly, we need to consider each other, and provoke each other to love and good works.

So there is mutual labor, benefit of community. There's mutual lifting. If you will look in verse 11, here's a third benefit that is mutual love. Look what he says. "Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?"

Benefit 3: Mutual Love (Ecclesiastes 4:11)

Weaver uses the imagery of two lying together for warmth to illustrate spiritual warmth in Christian fellowship, where conversation and communion rekindle cold hearts, referencing the Emmaus road and Paul's encouragement.

Now, every married couple understands what I'm about to say very clearly. For in all cases, one of the spouses has cold hands, cold feet, or just cold all over. And in my house, I know who has the cold feet. And it's not me. But notice what he said now. "If two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?" The truth is that in cold weather, two bodies are better than one. And that does not necessarily just simply refer to married couples. You do remember when David was old and needed bodily heat, they sought a young woman to keep him warm.

There was nothing sexual about it. It was just the fact that he needed a body to keep him warm. In 1 Kings 1 verses 1 through 2, let me read it. "Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat." Nothing sexual about it. He never knew her. It was just the fact that he needed someone to keep him warm. In emergency situations, men and women have piled together just to keep from freezing to death. Heat transfer is real and it does help. It is true not only physically but it is also true spiritually.

Now I want you to notice the question is asked, "How can one be warm alone?" We could put this air conditioning unit on 60 degrees in the middle of July or the middle of August. And we could let this room cool down to 60 degrees. And then you could get 50 people in this room. And guess what? Pretty soon, it's not going to be 60 in this room. That air conditioning system is not going to hold it at 60 because all these bodies have 98.6. I have been in buildings for meetings where you walk in and you say, "It's chilly in here."

By the time the building got filled, you were sweating. That's a reality. Do you understand this is true in a spiritual sense in Christian communion? You can have two Christians who are basically grown cold in their love, lukewarm in their affections, and backward and indifferent to spiritual exercises, yet by Christian conversation, Christian reproof, Christian admonition, each begins to be stirred up unto loving good works. Two cold flints will make a fire. Likewise, even two cold Christians, when they come together and they begin to talk about the Lord and the Word of God, and spiritual things, they begin to warm up. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 27 and verse 17?

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 27:17

"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

So it's kind of like burning coals. You can take coals that are warm, push them together, and they produce an awful lot of heat. But you can take those same coals and you can separate them, and guess what? They'll die out. Obviously. Let me just show you how this works.

Do you remember the two men on the Emmaus road? Luke chapter 24. And they were joined by our Lord. And our Lord asked them, said, "What in the world is wrong with you folks?" Well, what's wrong? They said, "Are you a stranger here? Have you not heard about Jesus? We thought He was the Messiah. We thought He was the Deliverer. But yet He's been crucified. Besides all this, it's the third day." And our Lord said to them, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken."

"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?" And then He began at Moses and all the prophets and expounded unto them all things concerning Himself. And you remember, when they decided to stop for supper, he pretended like he would go on, and they compelled him to come in. And when he sat at the supper, and he began to bless, their eyes were opened, and they knew it was Christ, and he disappeared. And then they said this in verse 32, "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" Notice that. Did not our hearts burn within us? The Apostle Paul himself basically was on the way to Rome in Acts chapter 28 and verse 15. Listen to this verse. "And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage." So Paul then was encouraged just simply by the presence of believers. In Philippians chapter 1 and verse 5, we read how Paul thanked God for the fellowship of the Philippians. Listen to this. He said, "For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." Now just stop and think about that. He was thanking God for their fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. In other words, the very day they were saved, there was fellowship with the Apostle Paul.

There was communion. And that fellowship and communion continued. The point is, if we desire the heat of love, and truth and stability and strength, we must have real, genuine community. And you can only have real, genuine community by having one source of authority and one faith and one standard. And that standard is the Word of God, and the faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to look back in Ecclesiastes chapter 4 again at verse 12, because here is mutual liberation. Not only mutual labor, mutual lifting, mutual love, but now mutual liberation. He said in verse 12, "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Benefit 4: Mutual Liberation (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

Weaver teaches that two can withstand an attacker and a threefold cord is not quickly broken, applying this to spiritual warfare and the need to stand and fight together against common enemies.

So if an enemy, if a thief or a robber attack anyone in fellowship and friendship together, and if that attacker is more than a match for the individual that he has attacked, then the other can join in and help to resist him so that the attacker will not succeed in his enterprise. Two are better than one in a fight. So that means if Robert jumps on me to whip me, I sure want Ed and maybe Henry to come help me whip him. I mean, I don't have to fight him by myself. So, two are better than one. If one is overcome, the other may liberate him. He may free him from the oppressor. And then he goes on to say that three is even better than two.

So if a family, if a church, if a community, if a city or kingdom are divided against themselves, they cannot stand. But if they are united in all probability, nothing can hurt them. So our Lord says they will be able to withstand the attack. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. Now, a threefold cord gives a great illustration. You can take one strand of cord and probably men, strong men, can take it in each hand and pop that cord. But you can take three strands and weave them together and usually the strongest man cannot break that cord. It takes more than a man.

It's the same thing with a dry branch. You can take one little branch and snap it very easily. But you take a bundle of those branches, tie them together, and then one man can't snap them very easily. This is exactly what he's talking about. Christians, in close fellowship, however few they may be, it doesn't matter. If they keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, they're biblically speaking, as the Song of Solomon says, they're terrible as an army with banners, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against them. But the whole secret is keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Do you know what the Apostle Paul told the Roman Christians in Romans chapter 16 and verse 20?

I want you to just listen. Here's what he said, "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." Would you not like to see him bruised very definitely? Would you not like to see his representatives bruised very definitely? It can only be through the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Let me give you, very quickly, just a couple of lessons when he says, "If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

The first lesson is this. Alone, we're an easy target. Alone, we are an easy target. That is true physically. That is true spiritually. May I ask you, when a wolf attacks the sheep, what sheep does he always go for? And the answer is, the straggler. The one away from the flock. Do you realize the safest place to be if you're a sheep is right smack dab in the middle of the flock? That's a fact. The safest place for all of us is in unity and fellowship and communion and community. Alone, we're an easy target. The second lesson is this, and it's equally clear.

We must learn to stand and fight together or we will be destroyed individually. Do you remember what Benjamin Franklin said when the nation was seeking its independence from England? He said, "We must all hang together or we will hang separately." What was he saying? If we don't stand together, then they'll pick us off one by one. It's not only important to learn to live together, it's important to learn to fight together. Do you realize if you have the same faith, if you have the same practice, if you have the same morals, if you have the same ethics, you're probably going to have the same enemies. So you not only have to learn to live together, you have to learn to fight together. I'm reading a very fascinating book. I just got it this past week. The title is "Apache Tactics and Strategies." And the book is how a handful of Apache warriors consistently and constantly defeated entire cavalry units. Amazing! And some of these Indian warriors never had over 100 men.

Most of the time, 50 or 60. And yet they would out-fight and out-fox several hundred well-armed soldiers every time. And the whole key was this, they not only lived together, they not only had the same practice and the same customs and basically the same faith, they learned to fight together. They were able to destroy much stronger enemies consistently and constantly.

The Poor Wise Child vs. the Old Foolish King (Ecclesiastes 4:13)

Weaver contrasts the teachable poor wise child with the unadmonishable old foolish king, urging believers to remain open to reproof and instruction regardless of age or position.

Now, let me give you very quickly a closing word on verse 13. I want you to look at verse 13. Ecclesiastes 4 verse 13. "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished." A poor child is usually held in contempt. He has nothing. He knows nothing, he can do nothing. Age and poverty produce double contempt. But in this situation, verse 13, he may be a poor child, he may be a young child, yet the scripture says he is wise. Now look at verse 13 again. He says, "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished." Now I want you to compare and contrast this poor, young child who is wise with an old and foolish king. The king is one who has authority, he has stature. Along with a venerable age, he has royalty and dignity. Yet he's foolish. The child who is poor and young and wise may be held in contempt by most people.

But in his wisdom, he is wise enough to govern himself, to receive counsel and instruction, and pretty soon he's able to extricate himself out of his poverty. And of course, with time, he gets aged. On the other hand, here's the king who will no more be admonished. He has neither wisdom to govern himself, nor wisdom to receive counsel and admonition from wiser men. He is foolish, willful, and incorrigible. Won't you listen? The child can be worked with. The king cannot be worked with under any circumstances. Could we not apply that today to our elected officials? I don't care if you're talking about state reps or federal reps, state senate or federal senate. The child can be worked with, the king cannot be worked with under any circumstances. So the point is clear, listen carefully, in a church and in a community where we're living, working, and striving, and fighting together, we must always be willing and ready to receive reproof, rebuke, admonition, and instruction. Listen carefully. Age and position do not negate the fact that we're all needful and from time to time we must be rebuked, reproved, and admonished. The king was foolish because he thought his age and position excluded him from rebuke and admonition. Now if you were to make a choice today between a poor and wise child, and an old and foolish king who will no longer receive instruction.

If you had to be one or the other, which would you choose? I'm sure that everyone in here would say, "I prefer to be the poor wise child." Which means this, if you have chosen to be the poor wise child, you've also chosen to be reproved, to be rebuked, to be admonished, to be instructed, to be worked with, to be taught. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 9 and verse 8? Listen carefully. "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Did you know the Bible says in Proverbs 27 verse 5, one of my favorite verses, "Open rebuke is better than secret love." Open rebuke is better than secret love. And how about this one? Leviticus 19 and verse 17. "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." If we're going to be the poor wise child. In church.

Conclusion: The Urgency of Genuine Community

Weaver concludes by stressing the importance of real community for life, help, protection, and love, especially in times of danger, and prays for the church to be a community that provokes to love and good works.

In community, we must be willing to be instructed, rebuked, reproved and admonished. I hope you see two things. Number one, the importance of real genuine community. For life. For help. For protection. For safety, for love, all these benefits. And secondly, I hope you see the need and necessity of this even more in the time of danger, devastation, and destruction. The truth of the matter is, folks, we need each other. No man is an island, and I'm afraid in the not too distant future, we will understand how much we really need each other. And we must have one faith and one source of authority. The Word of God.

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We praise Thee and we give Thee honor and glory. And Lord, we pray that You would make us a real, genuine, community of faith, not just a church, Lord, but a community that lives and loves and lifts each other and liberates each other and considers each other to provoke unto love and to good works. For your honor and your glory, in Christ's name we pray, amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Necessity of Community

Summary: Weaver argues that community is essential for human flourishing, grounded in shared faith, practice, and authority, and is modeled throughout Scripture.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'man is essentially a social creature and men essentially require and demand what you and I would call interaction... We not only need social interaction, we need community.'

Unity Requires Shared Faith and Authority

Summary: True community and unity are impossible without agreement on faith, standards, and source of authority, as Amos 3:3 teaches.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'There is no unity in diversity... It is only the unity of faiths, standards, practices, habits, and ethics that make a real community and that make a real nation.'

Mutual Support in Community

Summary: The four benefits from Ecclesiastes 4—mutual labor, lifting, love, and liberation—demonstrate how community provides practical and spiritual support.

Evidence: Weaver outlines the four benefits: 'Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour... if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow... if two lie together, then they have heat... two shall withstand him.'

The Danger of Isolation

Summary: Being alone makes one vulnerable physically and spiritually, as illustrated by the wolf attacking the straggler and the dying ember separated from coals.

Evidence: Weaver warns, 'Alone, we're an easy target... The safest place for all of us is in unity and fellowship and communion and community.'

Teachability and Reproof

Summary: The contrast between the poor wise child and the old foolish king emphasizes the need for believers to remain open to rebuke and instruction.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'The child can be worked with. The king cannot be worked with under any circumstances... we must always be willing and ready to receive reproof, rebuke, admonition, and instruction.'

Key Arguments

Community is biblically mandated and historically practiced

Summary: Weaver argues that God's people have always lived in communities, from patriarchal families to Israel's tribes to the early church, demonstrating that community is God's design.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God's people have always dwelt in communities... During the patriarchal period, families always lived together in community... When you look at the Old Testament, they all lived in communities.'

Multiculturalism destroys community

Summary: Weaver contends that multiculturalism undermines community and nation because unity cannot exist without shared faith, morals, and standards.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'multiculturalism is destructive of communities and nations as well. There is no unity in diversity. It's impossible.'

Voluntary sharing in the early church was not communism

Summary: Weaver clarifies that the early Christians' sharing was voluntary, not mandatory, as seen in the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, who lied about their giving.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'the first Christians were not Christian communists living under a communistic communal system. The fact that they shared things and had things in common did not mean that they were communists because their sharing was totally completely voluntary.'

Community provides spiritual warmth and encouragement

Summary: Weaver uses the metaphor of two cold flints making a fire to illustrate how Christian fellowship rekindles spiritual fervor, as seen in the Emmaus road disciples.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Two cold flints will make a fire. Likewise, even two cold Christians, when they come together and they begin to talk about the Lord and the Word of God, and spiritual things, they begin to warm up.'

Unity enables spiritual victory

Summary: Weaver argues that Christians united in the Spirit can withstand Satan's attacks, citing Romans 16:20 and the illustration of a threefold cord.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Christians, in close fellowship, however few they may be... if they keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, they're biblically speaking... terrible as an army with banners, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against them.'

We must learn to fight together

Summary: Weaver emphasizes that shared faith leads to shared enemies, so believers must not only live together but also fight together, using the example of Apache warriors.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'if you have the same faith, if you have the same practice, if you have the same morals, if you have the same ethics, you're probably going to have the same enemies. So you not only have to learn to live together, you have to learn to fight together.'

Age and position do not exempt from reproof

Summary: Weaver uses Ecclesiastes 4:13 to argue that even those with authority and age must remain teachable and open to admonition.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Age and position do not negate the fact that we're all needful and from time to time we must be rebuked, reproved, and admonished.'

Scripture References

Ecclesiastes 4:9-13

Context: The primary text of the sermon, read at the beginning and expounded throughout.

Genesis 2:18

Context: Cited to show that marriage is the normal state of man, as God said it is not good for man to be alone.

Matthew 19:12

Context: Quoted to acknowledge that some are eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake, indicating singleness as a gift.

1 Corinthians 7:17

Context: Cited to show that each person should walk as God has called them, whether single or married.

1 Corinthians 7:32-33

Context: Quoted to illustrate the advantages of singleness in caring for the things of the Lord.

Amos 3:3

Context: Used to argue that two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, emphasizing the need for shared authority.

Genesis 14:14

Context: Cited to show Abraham's household as a community with 318 trained fighting men.

Acts 2:41-47

Context: Read to demonstrate the early Christian community's steadfastness in doctrine, fellowship, and sharing.

Acts 5:1-11

Context: Read to show that the sharing was voluntary, as Ananias and Sapphira were judged for lying, not for withholding.

Acts 4:36-37

Context: Cited to explain Barnabas's example of selling land and giving all, which Ananias and Sapphira falsely imitated.

Ephesians 4:5-6

Context: Quoted to emphasize the unity of faith: one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Acts 8:1

Context: Cited to show the persecution that scattered the Jerusalem church, breaking up the community.

Mark 6:7

Context: Referenced to show Jesus sent disciples out two by two, illustrating mutual labor.

Galatians 6:1-2

Context: Quoted to apply mutual lifting spiritually: restoring the fallen and bearing burdens.

Hebrews 10:24-25

Context: Quoted to exhort believers to provoke one another to love and good works and not forsake assembling.

1 Kings 1:1-2

Context: Cited to illustrate that two lying together for warmth is not necessarily sexual, as with David and the young virgin.

Proverbs 27:17

Context: Quoted to illustrate how iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens his friend, relating to spiritual warmth.

Luke 24:32

Context: Referenced to show the disciples' hearts burning within them as Jesus opened the Scriptures, illustrating spiritual warmth.

Acts 28:15

Context: Cited to show Paul took courage at the sight of brethren, illustrating mutual encouragement.

Philippians 1:5

Context: Quoted to show Paul's thankfulness for the Philippians' fellowship in the gospel from the first day.

Historical References

Robert E. Lee's refusal of Union Army leadership

Context: Weaver uses Lee's statement that he could not draw his sword against his own nation (Virginia) to illustrate the concept of nation as a distinct community.

Comanche chief's statement on nationhood

Context: Weaver references a Comanche chief who said white people would never be part of the Comanche nation due to different faith, practices, and customs, warning that without shared standards, a nation ceases to exist.

Abraham's household as a community

Context: Weaver notes that Abraham had 318 trained fighting men, implying a community of several thousand, illustrating patriarchal community.

Early church in Acts 2

Context: Weaver describes the early Christian community in Jerusalem, emphasizing their voluntary sharing and unity.

Ananias and Sapphira

Context: Weaver recounts the story to clarify that the early church's sharing was voluntary, not communistic.

Persecution under Saul (Acts 8)

Context: Weaver notes the scattering of the Jerusalem church due to persecution, which broke up the community but led to new communities elsewhere.

Robert Frost's poem 'Mending Wall'

Context: Weaver uses the poem to illustrate mutual labor and fellowship, correcting a common misinterpretation of 'Good fences make good neighbors.'

Martyrdom of Elizabeth Cowper and Simon Miller under Queen Mary

Context: Weaver tells the story of Simon Miller encouraging Elizabeth Cowper at the stake as an example of bearing one another's burdens.

Benjamin Franklin's quote on hanging together

Context: Weaver quotes Franklin's 'We must all hang together or we will hang separately' to emphasize the need to stand and fight together.

Apache tactics and strategies

Context: Weaver references a book on how a handful of Apache warriors defeated larger cavalry units by fighting together, illustrating the power of unity.

Important Quotes

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Significance: This is the foundational verse for the first benefit of community, mutual labor, which Weaver expounds as making work easier and more productive.

There is no unity in diversity. It's impossible.

Significance: Weaver's strong assertion that true community requires shared faith, standards, and ethics, rejecting multiculturalism as destructive.

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Significance: Weaver quotes Amos 3:3 to emphasize that unity requires agreement on authority and faith.

Good fences make good neighbors.

Significance: Weaver reinterprets this proverb from Robert Frost's poem to mean mutual labor and fellowship, not isolation.

Two cold flints will make a fire. Likewise, even two cold Christians, when they come together and they begin to talk about the Lord and the Word of God, and spiritual things, they begin to warm up.

Significance: A vivid metaphor for how Christian fellowship rekindles spiritual fervor, illustrating the benefit of mutual love.

Alone, we're an easy target.

Significance: Weaver's concise warning about the danger of isolation, both physically and spiritually, using the wolf and sheep analogy.

We must all hang together or we will hang separately.

Significance: Weaver quotes Benjamin Franklin to stress the necessity of standing and fighting together against common enemies.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

Significance: The key verse for the final point, contrasting teachability with stubbornness, and urging openness to reproof.

Discussion Questions

How does the biblical definition of community differ from modern individualistic or multicultural views?

Context: Weaver argues that true community requires shared faith, practice, and authority, and that multiculturalism destroys community.

In what practical ways can we experience the 'good reward' of mutual labor in our church or family?

Context: Weaver discusses how working together makes labor easier and faster, and applies it to spiritual activities like worship and bearing burdens.

What does it look like to 'lift up' a fellow believer who has fallen spiritually, and how can we do this with meekness?

Context: Weaver cites Galatians 6:1-2 and the example of Simon Miller encouraging Elizabeth Cowper at the stake.

How can we provoke one another to love and good works without becoming judgmental or discouraging?

Context: Weaver expounds Hebrews 10:24-25, urging believers to consider how to stir each other up to godliness.

What are some 'cold' areas in your spiritual life that could be warmed through deeper Christian fellowship?

Context: Weaver uses the metaphor of two cold flints making a fire and the Emmaus road disciples' burning hearts.

Why is it dangerous to be a 'straggler' spiritually, and what steps can we take to stay in the center of the flock?

Context: Weaver warns that alone we are an easy target, like a sheep away from the flock, and urges unity for protection.

How can we cultivate a teachable spirit like the 'poor wise child' rather than a defensive, unadmonishable attitude?

Context: Weaver contrasts the poor wise child with the old foolish king, emphasizing the need to receive reproof and instruction.

In what ways might our church need to 'learn to fight together' against spiritual enemies, and what would that look like practically?

Context: Weaver uses the example of Apache warriors and Benjamin Franklin's quote to stress the need for united spiritual warfare.

Applications

Pursue genuine community with shared faith and standards

Summary: Weaver urges believers to build real community based on one faith, one authority (Scripture), and shared morals, rejecting superficial or diverse associations.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'It is impossible to have unity without the same faith and the same practice... you cannot have unity with that individual because we do not think alike.'

Engage in mutual labor and support

Summary: Believers should actively work together in spiritual and practical tasks, helping one another to make labor lighter and more productive.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour... we may labour together in counsels, in comforts, and mutual aids.'

Restore and bear burdens with meekness

Summary: When a brother or sister falls into sin or difficulty, believers should seek to restore them gently and help carry their burdens.

Evidence: Weaver cites Galatians 6:1-2 and says, 'This is how we lift each other up. Each of us are sinners. When we sin, and the brother sees it, we seek to restore.'

Provoke one another to love and good works

Summary: Believers should intentionally consider how to stir each other up to greater holiness, obedience, and service, especially as the day of Christ approaches.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works... When's the last time you tried to encourage your brother or sister in Christ?'

Seek spiritual warmth through fellowship

Summary: When spiritually cold, believers should engage in Christian conversation and communion to rekindle their love for the Lord.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'even two cold Christians, when they come together and they begin to talk about the Lord and the Word of God, and spiritual things, they begin to warm up.'

Stand and fight together against spiritual enemies

Summary: Believers must unite to resist Satan and his attacks, recognizing that isolation makes them vulnerable.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We must learn to stand and fight together or we will be destroyed individually... if you have the same faith... you're probably going to have the same enemies.'

Remain teachable and open to reproof

Summary: Regardless of age or position, believers should welcome rebuke and instruction, choosing to be like the poor wise child rather than the unadmonishable king.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'we must always be willing and ready to receive reproof, rebuke, admonition, and instruction... Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T13:47:16Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T01:21:04Z

Clean Transcript

The Necessity of Community

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Let's open our Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Right after the book of Proverbs you have the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. And we're going to be reading verses 9 through 13. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verses 9 through 13. The title of the message is "The Necessity of Community." The necessity. Notice, if you would, Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 9, the word of God says: "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
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"Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished." I originally thought of entitling this message, "The Necessity of Marriage and Community." Certainly these verses can very easily relate to marriage as well as community. We do understand that marriage is the normal and natural state of man. By that statement, I am not implying that those who are single are abnormal, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it was God Himself who said in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 18, "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Although marriage is the normal and natural state of man, it does not necessarily follow that everyone or every individual will marry. Our Lord stated very clearly in Matthew chapter 19 in verse 12.
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He said, "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake." And then he said, "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." When you study and look through 1st Corinthians chapter 7, the Apostle Paul there gives three reasons to marry and he gives three reasons not to marry. Then in 1st Corinthians 7 and verse 17 he says this, "But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk."
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"And so ordain I in all churches." So the Apostle Paul is saying that there are some who have the gift of being single and others have the gift of being married. Each one has his own gift from the Lord. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7 verses 32 and 33, listen carefully, he's still talking about marriage, he said, "But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife." So the apostle Paul, then after having given you three reasons to marry and three reasons not to marry, he also now tells you that there are some advantages to being single as well as some disadvantages. And there are some advantages to being married. And there are also some disadvantages. Ed and I were talking about a mutual friend recently, and he's an older fellow. And I asked why he's never married. Why?
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And the answer was he just liked doing what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it without answering anybody. Well, that's pretty good reason. Well, I'm just simply saying some then have the gift of being single. Others do not. Personally, I certainly go like our Lord and I lean very heavily toward his message that marriage is indeed the proper state of man, understanding that some do have a particular gift and will not necessarily marry.
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Now, man is essentially a social creature and men essentially require and demand what you and I would call interaction. It's exceedingly difficult for most to live alone without a wife or without a husband or without family or without friends. We not only need social interaction, we need community. Community is a word which we in this generation know and understand relatively little. I want you to think with me just for a moment, biblically.
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Because I'm going to show you some things, some truths from Ecclesiastes chapter 4. But when we talk about community, do you realize that God's people have always dwelt in communities? We think about the nation of Israel. Yet that nation was broken down into tribes and families. And each tribe and each family lived in his own territory or in his own nation.
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Now, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say. In our English language, there is a confusing tendency to use the two words nation and country interchangeably. They are not identical. A country may consist of more than one nation. I want you to stop and think. If we use the United States as an example, we could say that the United States is a country, but each of the states would be its own nation.
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You remember when Robert E. Lee was offered the leadership of the Union Army, he refused it because he said he could not draw his sword against his own nation. His nation was Virginia. We speak of the southern nation. We speak of Georgia as its own nation. We may even speak of a Yankee nation or a Western nation. But let me tell you what a nation is. A nation is a body of people associated with a particular territory that is bound by their faith, their family, their customs and their morals and their identity is sufficient in order that they wish to possess a government that is peculiarly and particularly their own. So we can speak of a southern nation that wants its own southern government. We could speak of a Yankee nation that wants its own Yankee government.
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But the same thing is true when it comes to community. A community. A real, genuine community is made up of people with the same faith and practice, that have the same morals, and that live under the same standards. So it should be obvious, just talking about nation and community, should be obvious from the outset that multiculturalism is destructive of communities and nations as well. There is no unity in diversity. It's impossible. There is no unity in diversity. So there is no community, there is no nation where there are different faiths, standards, practices, habits, and ethics that can stand or can exist. It is only the unity of faiths, standards, practices, habits, and ethics that make a real community and that make a real nation. I just read briefly I looked over an article that was written where the Comanche chief had spoken to a number of people, a lot of white people, and he said, "There is a Comanche nation." He said, "And you white people will never be part of it." He said, "Because we have our own faith, we have our own practices, we have our own customs. We have our own race, so to speak, in the fact that they were birthed, born in the Comanche nation."
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And he said, "And I'll never be called a racist." And he was right. He said, "But you don't understand." He said, "If you do not come back to your faith and your standard and your ethics and your morals, you will cease to exist as a nation." And that is true. Very true. So the truth of the matter is this. There is no unity in adversity. Amos asked the right question in Amos 3 in verse 3, when he asked, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" And obviously, no two people are going to walk together, at least not in real unity, unless they are agreed. And one of the most important questions, if we're going to walk together, is this.
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Who or what is our authority or who and what is our source of authority. If we do not have the same authority, if we don't have the same source of authority, then we're not going to be walking together long. Obviously, if we are Christians, the sovereign God is our authority and his word is a source of our authority.
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Now stop and think, I'm still trying to show you how even our forefathers lived in communities. During the patriarchal period, families always lived together in community. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had large families and they constituted a community so much so that many of the heathen wanted to enter into leagues with them and make leagues with them for mutual protection. You have to remember that Abraham, just in his household alone, Abraham had 318 trained fighting men. The Bible says in Genesis 14 and verse 14, "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan." Now, if Abraham had 318 trained fighting men, you know most of them had wives and children, and then there was Abraham's family and servants. Do you realize probably Abraham had several thousand people living in and around him? He was a community in and of himself. And here all these people, of course, followed Abraham. When the children of Israel reached the promised land, remember the promised land was divided by lots into the tribes.
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Each tribe, family, or clan had its own territory. It was these independent tribes, communities, families that made up the nation of Israel. There may have been 12 separate tribes, but it was those tribes independent of each other with their own territory with their own families, with their own clans, that made up the nation. Usually, marriage was within the same tribe. That did not necessarily prevent someone from marrying outside of his tribe. But if he married outside of his tribe, then there was a problem with inheritance. And so most of the time, they probably married within their tribe. So, when you look at the Old Testament, they all lived in communities.
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I want you to turn in your Bibles, hold Ecclesiastes chapter four, but turn to the book of Acts chapter two. And let me show you in Acts chapter two, how that there was a community in the New Testament. When these Christians were converted by the grace of God, look in Acts chapter two, beginning there with verse 41. Watch carefully, Acts 2 verse 41. "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." Now I want you to watch what these 3,000 people that were added to the already number of believers there.
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The Bible said, "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
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Now, contrary to the liberals, the unbelievers, and the agnostics, the first Christians were not Christian communists living under a communistic communal system. The fact that they shared things and had things in common did not mean that they were communists because their sharing was totally completely voluntary and it was not mandatory. For instance, look in Acts chapter 5. In Acts chapter 5, you read about Ananias and Sapphira.
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Notice the beginning there with verse 1. "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost."
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"And great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him."
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"And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things."
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Now, I want to make this exceedingly clear. If you look back in verse 4, look what Peter said to Ananias. "Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?" In other words, he said to Ananias, first of all, you did not have to sell that land. You could have kept it. Once you sold it, you did not have to give any of the money. You could have kept it. What was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira?
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Well, you've got to understand what happened in Acts chapter 4. Look at verses 36 and 37. Now you'll understand it. "And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet." So Barnabas evidently got some type of praise or recognition because he sold his land and he just simply gave it all to the apostles and said, distribute it to whomever has need. He didn't need the land, didn't want the land, preferred to give it to the believers. That's what he did.
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And so what Ananias and Sapphira did was this. They sold their land, kept back part, and pretended that they were giving it all like Barnabas did. They wanted the praise and the honor that Barnabas got, but they wanted the money as well. And Peter said, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?" You haven't lied to men, you've lied to God. You didn't have to sell it, you didn't have to give any of it. So the sin of Ananias and Sapphira and the voluntary giving do not negate the fact that the early Christians had community. They did have real community.
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They lived near each other, they worked with each other, they worshipped together, they had unity because they had the same faith and they had the same practice. It is impossible to have unity without the same faith and the same practice. Now listen very carefully. You may be civil and kind to someone with a different faith and with a different practice, but you cannot have unity with that individual. I don't have to blow up and get mad and angry just because someone doesn't believe the way I believe. I can still be kind to them. I can still be civil to them. But I cannot have unity with that individual because we do not think alike.
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This is one reason why God forbids believers entering into covenants and contracts with unbelievers. He said, "What fellowship hath a believer with an infidel? What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" And the answer is absolutely none. It is our faith that unifies us. That's why the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4, verses 5 and 6, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
#25 | 19:36 to 20:07 | cleaned
Everything has to have real, genuine unity. Now, here's what happened. The Christian community that you had in Acts chapter 2 was shattered by the time you reach Acts chapter 8 and verse 1. Let me just read it. The Bible said, "And Saul was consenting unto his death." That is Saul of Tarsus, was consenting unto his, that is Stephen's death. "And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem."
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"And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles." So here's what happened. The persecution broke up the community and drove a lot of those Christians out. But wherever they went, they built communities of faith. They still work together. They still worship together. They still help each other. It doesn't matter that that one community was broken up and they were driven away. Wherever they went, they built community again.
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Now, I want you to look back in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4 because what I want to do is this. I want to show you very quickly four benefits of community. Four benefits of community. Look if you would please at verse 9. The first benefit is mutual labor. Mutual labor. Please ask these four in verse 9. God says, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour."
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Have you ever noticed that it's easier to work when you have someone helping you? Of course this is one of the reasons that God instituted marriage. That's why he said he made a help meet. That is one who was suitable for man, one who was able to help man to engage in the work of dominion. If one does not have a wife or a husband, or if the work is far greater than the husband and wife can manage, it certainly helps to have a family or friends or some family member, or at least a grandson around to help.
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I don't know about you, but the older I get, the more I realize there are some things that I can no longer do. I need help. I mean, it's just that simple. Mutual labor makes the time and the work go faster, and of course, you get twice as much done when you're working together. And working together is much easier. Do you realize, I remember when I was in college, I used to have friends come over and or we would meet at the library and we would study together.
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We would quiz each other on all the material. Not only did you learn more quickly, you had more minds working together and time went quickly as well. And so you had not only the pleasure of fellowship you also had the benefit of conversation and the benefit of someone helping you remember. So the good reward that he's talking about here in this instance not only is the pleasantness of the conversation but the consciousness of helping each other and laboring with each other and all this is grounded in faithful fellowship. I remember years ago reading a poem or hearing initially about a poem by Robert Frost. The poem was entitled "Mending Wall." And there was one proverb in that poem that I heard, didn't know the whole poem at that time, but I heard the proverb and it was simply this, "Good fences make good neighbors." And when I first heard that, my interpretation of that proverb was this, "Good fences make good neighbors."
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You stay on your side of the fence, I'll stay on my side of the fence and we'll get along just fine. That was what I thought that proverb meant. You keep me out of your yard, I'll keep you out of my yard. We won't get into arguments, we'll just avoid each other. But that's not what that poem or that proverb is about. It was only when I started traveling up north that I realized exactly what Robert Frost had in mind. Because unlike down south, there are an awful lot of rocks up in the north. Rocks in fields. In fact, there are some fields, I believe, that grow rocks. I mean, you can plow them and rocks just come up everywhere. And what the farmers would do, they would get together and take the rocks out of the field and make these fences. One on one side, one on the other side, and they're building the fence together. Which meant they had fellowship, they had mutual labor, mutual help, and sometimes after those fences were built, the rocks would fall off, and then once again they would come back and work together and rebuild the fence.
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Good fences make good neighbors. When I read the poem, I understood exactly what he was talking about. Mutual fellowship, mutual labor, mutual help. And that's exactly what God is talking about here. Good help. Good fellowship always makes time and work go easier and faster. There's a great comfort in good company. You have to remember that it's true, especially in the communion of the saints. That's why it's hard for me to get your attention to get started sometime. You're talking so hard and fast to each other. That's wonderful. We understand that. But do you remember that our Lord in Mark 6 and verse 7 sent His disciples out, someone tell me how? Two by two.
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He didn't send them out alone. He sent them out two by two. So they had their combined talents and combined fellowship to produce good benefit. So this verse when he says, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour" would also teach us that we may labour together in counsels, in comforts, and mutual aids, and assistance in things spiritual such as in church attendance, public worship, praying for each other, counseling each other, serving each other in love, bearing each other's burdens, and produce a good reward. In other words, we may profit from mutual instruction, counsels, reproofs, as we seek to establish each other in divine truth and strengthen each other's hands and each other's hearts. So he said here is the very first reason why we should have real community, mutual labor. Notice verse 10 in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, there is mutual lifting. He said, "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."
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Obviously two are better than one when it comes to accidents, incidents, and encouragements. One may lift another physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and even materially. The verse teaches absolutely the danger of being alone. I read recently of one man who lived alone and he died. It took them three weeks to discover that he was dead in his house. I do go hunting. And usually when I go hunting, I tell Alice where I'm going.
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Because if there's an accident, I don't want her to have to search for me. I want her to be able to get right to me so that I can get help. That's exactly what he's talking about. "If they fall, the one will lift up the other. But woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up." Now, I want to show you how this is applied spiritually. I want you to hold Ecclesiastes 4.
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But turn over in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. And notice if you would please verses 1 and 2. Galatians chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. Here's what the scripture says. Watch carefully. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
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Now this is how we lift each other up. Each of us are sinners. When we sin, and the brother sees it, we seek to restore. And we seek to restore in the spirit of meekness, considering ourselves. And then of course we try to help bear each other's burdens. Whatever that burden is. That's why we have a prayer list. Pray for me. I need help here. I need the Lord's grace here. That's what that is all about. Bearing one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.
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Let me give you a good example of this. Elizabeth Cowper was a Christian woman who was going to be martyred along with one Simon Miller during the reign of Bloody Mary, Queen Mary. They were both condemned to be burned at the stake. They were tied to the stake almost back to back, and the fire was started. One time when the heat really arose fiercely, Elizabeth sighed and said, And Simon Miller, although his hands were behind him, reached back with his fingers to touch Elizabeth. And he said this. "Be of good cheer, good sister," said he.
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"We shall soon have a joyful and sweet supper. It is but a winking a little and you're in heaven." And with these words, she valiantly and courageously gave her life without uttering another word even in the torment of the flame. What was he doing? He was helping to bear her burden. I want you to turn over to the book of Hebrews chapter 10 and look at verse 24. Hebrews 10 and verse 24. Hebrews 10 verse 24. Look what the word of God says. "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." Wait a minute.
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Don't let me misread this. "And let us consider one another to provoke each other." Is that what it says? No, we don't just provoke each other. We are to provoke each other unto love and good works. When's the last time you tried to encourage your brother or sister in Christ? When have you tried to provoke them to more holiness, to more godliness, to more obedience? When is the last time you tried to provoke them to study, to pray?
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This is what he's talking about. Let us consider one another. Let's see. I need to consider Henry. How can I make Henry more godly, more obedient? How can I make him more studious? How can I make Robert more studious? How can I help Ron? This is what he's saying. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. And then he says in verse 25, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." And I got news for you, I believe that certain days are approaching very quickly and we certainly need to be exhorting one another and so much more as we see these days coming to pass. Can you imagine not only what this assembly would be like, but every other assembly wherein every Christian esteemed his brother or sister above himself, and did everything he could to provoke them unto love and to good works. So, the apostle is saying, very clearly, we need to consider each other, and provoke each other to love and good works.
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So there is mutual labor, benefit of community. There's mutual lifting. If you will look in verse 11, here's a third benefit that is mutual love. Look what he says. "Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?"
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Now, every married couple understands what I'm about to say very clearly. For in all cases, one of the spouses has cold hands, cold feet, or just cold all over. And in my house, I know who has the cold feet. And it's not me. But notice what he said now. "If two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?" The truth is that in cold weather, two bodies are better than one. And that does not necessarily just simply refer to married couples. You do remember when David was old and needed bodily heat, they sought a young woman to keep him warm.
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There was nothing sexual about it. It was just the fact that he needed a body to keep him warm. In 1 Kings 1 verses 1 through 2, let me read it.
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"Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat." Nothing sexual about it. He never knew her.
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It was just the fact that he needed someone to keep him warm. In emergency situations, men and women have piled together just to keep from freezing to death. Heat transfer is real and it does help. It is true not only physically but it is also true spiritually.
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Now I want you to notice the question is asked, "How can one be warm alone?" We could put this air conditioning unit on 60 degrees in the middle of July or the middle of August. And we could let this room cool down to 60 degrees. And then you could get 50 people in this room. And guess what? Pretty soon, it's not going to be 60 in this room. That air conditioning system is not going to hold it at 60 because all these bodies have 98.6. I have been in buildings for meetings where you walk in and you say, "It's chilly in here."
#48 | 36:48 to 37:40 | cleaned
By the time the building got filled, you were sweating. That's a reality. Do you understand this is true in a spiritual sense in Christian communion? You can have two Christians who are basically grown cold in their love, lukewarm in their affections, and backward and indifferent to spiritual exercises, yet by Christian conversation, Christian reproof, Christian admonition, each begins to be stirred up unto loving good works. Two cold flints will make a fire. Likewise, even two cold Christians, when they come together and they begin to talk about the Lord and the Word of God, and spiritual things, they begin to warm up.
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You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 27 and verse 17? "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." So it's kind of like burning coals. You can take coals that are warm, push them together, and they produce an awful lot of heat. But you can take those same coals and you can separate them, and guess what? They'll die out. Obviously. Let me just show you how this works.
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Do you remember the two men on the Emmaus road? Luke chapter 24. And they were joined by our Lord. And our Lord asked them, said, "What in the world is wrong with you folks?" Well, what's wrong? They said, "Are you a stranger here? Have you not heard about Jesus? We thought He was the Messiah. We thought He was the Deliverer. But yet He's been crucified. Besides all this, it's the third day." And our Lord said to them, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken."
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"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?" And then He began at Moses and all the prophets and expounded unto them all things concerning Himself. And you remember, when they decided to stop for supper, he pretended like he would go on, and they compelled him to come in. And when he sat at the supper, and he began to bless, their eyes were opened, and they knew it was Christ, and he disappeared.
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And then they said this in verse 32, "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" Notice that. Did not our hearts burn within us? The Apostle Paul himself basically was on the way to Rome in Acts chapter 28 and verse 15. Listen to this verse. "And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage." So Paul then was encouraged just simply by the presence of believers. In Philippians chapter 1 and verse 5, we read how Paul thanked God for the fellowship of the Philippians. Listen to this. He said, "For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." Now just stop and think about that. He was thanking God for their fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. In other words, the very day they were saved, there was fellowship with the Apostle Paul.
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There was communion. And that fellowship and communion continued. The point is, if we desire the heat of love, and truth and stability and strength, we must have real, genuine community. And you can only have real, genuine community by having one source of authority and one faith and one standard. And that standard is the Word of God, and the faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to look back in Ecclesiastes chapter 4 again at verse 12, because here is mutual liberation. Not only mutual labor, mutual lifting, mutual love, but now mutual liberation. He said in verse 12, "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
#54 | 41:47 to 42:55 | cleaned
So if an enemy, if a thief or a robber attack anyone in fellowship and friendship together, and if that attacker is more than a match for the individual that he has attacked, then the other can join in and help to resist him so that the attacker will not succeed in his enterprise. Two are better than one in a fight. So that means if Robert jumps on me to whip me, I sure want Ed and maybe Henry to come help me whip him. I mean, I don't have to fight him by myself. So, two are better than one. If one is overcome, the other may liberate him. He may free him from the oppressor. And then he goes on to say that three is even better than two.
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So if a family, if a church, if a community, if a city or kingdom are divided against themselves, they cannot stand. But if they are united in all probability, nothing can hurt them. So our Lord says they will be able to withstand the attack. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. Now, a threefold cord gives a great illustration. You can take one strand of cord and probably men, strong men, can take it in each hand and pop that cord. But you can take three strands and weave them together and usually the strongest man cannot break that cord. It takes more than a man.
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It's the same thing with a dry branch. You can take one little branch and snap it very easily. But you take a bundle of those branches, tie them together, and then one man can't snap them very easily. This is exactly what he's talking about. Christians, in close fellowship, however few they may be, it doesn't matter. If they keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, they're biblically speaking, as the Song of Solomon says, they're terrible as an army with banners, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against them. But the whole secret is keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Do you know what the Apostle Paul told the Roman Christians in Romans chapter 16 and verse 20?
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I want you to just listen. Here's what he said, "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." Would you not like to see him bruised very definitely? Would you not like to see his representatives bruised very definitely? It can only be through the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Let me give you, very quickly, just a couple of lessons when he says, "If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
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The first lesson is this. Alone, we're an easy target. Alone, we are an easy target. That is true physically. That is true spiritually. May I ask you, when a wolf attacks the sheep, what sheep does he always go for? And the answer is, the straggler. The one away from the flock. Do you realize the safest place to be if you're a sheep is right smack dab in the middle of the flock? That's a fact. The safest place for all of us is in unity and fellowship and communion and community. Alone, we're an easy target. The second lesson is this, and it's equally clear.
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We must learn to stand and fight together or we will be destroyed individually. Do you remember what Benjamin Franklin said when the nation was seeking its independence from England? He said, "We must all hang together or we will hang separately." What was he saying? If we don't stand together, then they'll pick us off one by one. It's not only important to learn to live together, it's important to learn to fight together.
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Do you realize if you have the same faith, if you have the same practice, if you have the same morals, if you have the same ethics, you're probably going to have the same enemies. So you not only have to learn to live together, you have to learn to fight together. I'm reading a very fascinating book. I just got it this past week. The title is "Apache Tactics and Strategies." And the book is how a handful of Apache warriors consistently and constantly defeated entire cavalry units. Amazing! And some of these Indian warriors never had over 100 men.
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Most of the time, 50 or 60. And yet they would out-fight and out-fox several hundred well-armed soldiers every time. And the whole key was this, they not only lived together, they not only had the same practice and the same customs and basically the same faith, they learned to fight together. They were able to destroy much stronger enemies consistently and constantly.
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Now, let me give you very quickly a closing word on verse 13. I want you to look at verse 13. Ecclesiastes 4 verse 13. "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished." A poor child is usually held in contempt. He has nothing. He knows nothing, he can do nothing. Age and poverty produce double contempt. But in this situation, verse 13, he may be a poor child, he may be a young child, yet the scripture says he is wise. Now look at verse 13 again. He says, "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished." Now I want you to compare and contrast this poor, young child who is wise with an old and foolish king. The king is one who has authority, he has stature. Along with a venerable age, he has royalty and dignity. Yet he's foolish. The child who is poor and young and wise may be held in contempt by most people.
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But in his wisdom, he is wise enough to govern himself, to receive counsel and instruction, and pretty soon he's able to extricate himself out of his poverty. And of course, with time, he gets aged.
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On the other hand, here's the king who will no more be admonished. He has neither wisdom to govern himself, nor wisdom to receive counsel and admonition from wiser men. He is foolish, willful, and incorrigible. Won't you listen? The child can be worked with. The king cannot be worked with under any circumstances. Could we not apply that today to our elected officials? I don't care if you're talking about state reps or federal reps, state senate or federal senate. The child can be worked with, the king cannot be worked with under any circumstances. So the point is clear, listen carefully, in a church and in a community where we're living, working, and striving, and fighting together, we must always be willing and ready to receive reproof, rebuke, admonition, and instruction. Listen carefully. Age and position do not negate the fact that we're all needful and from time to time we must be rebuked, reproved, and admonished. The king was foolish because he thought his age and position excluded him from rebuke and admonition. Now if you were to make a choice today between a poor and wise child, and an old and foolish king who will no longer receive instruction.
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If you had to be one or the other, which would you choose? I'm sure that everyone in here would say, "I prefer to be the poor wise child." Which means this, if you have chosen to be the poor wise child, you've also chosen to be reproved, to be rebuked, to be admonished, to be instructed, to be worked with, to be taught. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 9 and verse 8? Listen carefully.
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"Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Did you know the Bible says in Proverbs 27 verse 5, one of my favorite verses, "Open rebuke is better than secret love." Open rebuke is better than secret love. And how about this one? Leviticus 19 and verse 17. "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." If we're going to be the poor wise child. In church.
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In community, we must be willing to be instructed, rebuked, reproved and admonished. I hope you see two things. Number one, the importance of real genuine community. For life. For help. For protection. For safety, for love, all these benefits. And secondly, I hope you see the need and necessity of this even more in the time of danger, devastation, and destruction. The truth of the matter is, folks, we need each other. No man is an island, and I'm afraid in the not too distant future, we will understand how much we really need each other. And we must have one faith and one source of authority. The Word of God.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We praise Thee and we give Thee honor and glory. And Lord, we pray that You would make us a real, genuine, community of faith, not just a church, Lord, but a community that lives and loves and lifts each other and liberates each other and considers each other to provoke unto love and to good works. For your honor and your glory, in Christ's name we pray, amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T13:47:16Z

The Necessity of Community

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver expounds Ecclesiastes 4:9-13 to demonstrate the biblical necessity of genuine community grounded in shared faith, practice, and authority. He outlines four benefits of community—mutual labor, mutual lifting, mutual love, and mutual liberation—and contrasts the teachable poor wise child with the unadmonishable old foolish king, urging believers to embrace reproof and unity for spiritual survival and strength.

Introduction: The Necessity of Community

Scripture Reading — Ecclesiastes 4:9-13

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Scripture Reading — Genesis 2:18

"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."

Although marriage is the normal and natural state of man, it does not necessarily follow that everyone or every individual will marry. Our Lord stated very clearly in Matthew chapter 19 in verse 12.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 7:17

"But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk." "And so ordain I in all churches."

Biblical Foundations of Community

Weaver explains that man is a social creature needing community, defines nation and community biblically, and argues that unity requires shared faith, standards, and authority, citing Amos 3:3.

Scripture Reading — Amos 3:3

"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

And obviously, no two people are going to walk together, at least not in real unity, unless they are agreed. And one of the most important questions, if we're going to walk together, is this.

Historical Examples of Community

Scripture Reading — Genesis 14:14

"And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan."

Scripture Reading — Acts 2:41-47

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."

Now I want you to watch what these 3,000 people that were added to the already number of believers there. The Bible said,

Scripture Reading — Acts 2:41-47

"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

Scripture Reading — Acts 5:1-11

"But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost."

Well, you've got to understand what happened in Acts chapter 4. Look at verses 36 and 37. Now you'll understand it.

Scripture Reading — Acts 4:36-37

"And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet."

The Shattering and Rebuilding of Community

Weaver notes that persecution in Acts 8 scattered the Jerusalem community, but believers rebuilt communities of faith wherever they went, emphasizing the resilience of true community.

Scripture Reading — Acts 8:1

"And Saul was consenting unto his death."

That is Saul of Tarsus, was consenting unto his, that is Stephen's death.

Scripture Reading — Acts 8:1

"And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem." "And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles."

Benefit 1: Mutual Labor (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

Weaver explains that two working together have a good reward, making labor easier and faster, and applies this to spiritual labors like worship, prayer, and bearing burdens.

Benefit 2: Mutual Lifting (Ecclesiastes 4:10)

Weaver highlights the danger of being alone when falling, and applies this spiritually to restoring the fallen and bearing one another's burdens, citing Galatians 6:1-2 and Hebrews 10:24-25.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 6:1-2

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."

Benefit 3: Mutual Love (Ecclesiastes 4:11)

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 27:17

"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

Benefit 4: Mutual Liberation (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

Weaver teaches that two can withstand an attacker and a threefold cord is not quickly broken, applying this to spiritual warfare and the need to stand and fight together against common enemies.

The Poor Wise Child vs. the Old Foolish King (Ecclesiastes 4:13)

Weaver contrasts the teachable poor wise child with the unadmonishable old foolish king, urging believers to remain open to reproof and instruction regardless of age or position.

Conclusion: The Urgency of Genuine Community

The Necessity of Community

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	PpfIcDgqwAU
Subject	Church Government
Course	Church Order: Worship, Sacraments, and the Lord's Supper
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-12-24
Dictation Name
Book	Book 039: Church Order and Worship - Volume 1 — Chapter 16
Source Timed Segments	69

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Necessity of Community: Weaver introduces the message from Ecclesiastes 4:9-13, noting the title and the dual application to marriage and community, and establishes that marriage is the normal state of man though singleness is a gift.
Biblical Foundations of Community: Weaver explains that man is a social creature needing community, defines nation and community biblically, and argues that unity requires shared faith, standards, and authority, citing Amos 3:3.
Historical Examples of Community: Weaver traces community from the patriarchal period (Abraham's household) through Israel's tribal structure to the early church in Acts 2, clarifying that their sharing was voluntary, not communistic.
The Shattering and Rebuilding of Community: Weaver notes that persecution in Acts 8 scattered the Jerusalem community, but believers rebuilt communities of faith wherever they went, emphasizing the resilience of true community.
Benefit 1: Mutual Labor (Ecclesiastes 4:9): Weaver explains that two working together have a good reward, making labor easier and faster, and applies this to spiritual labors like worship, prayer, and bearing burdens.
Benefit 2: Mutual Lifting (Ecclesiastes 4:10): Weaver highlights the danger of being alone when falling, and applies this spiritually to restoring the fallen and bearing one another's burdens, citing Galatians 6:1-2 and Hebrews 10:24-25.
Benefit 3: Mutual Love (Ecclesiastes 4:11): Weaver uses the imagery of two lying together for warmth to illustrate spiritual warmth in Christian fellowship, where conversation and communion rekindle cold hearts, referencing the Emmaus road and Paul's encouragement.
Benefit 4: Mutual Liberation (Ecclesiastes 4:12): Weaver teaches that two can withstand an attacker and a threefold cord is not quickly broken, applying this to spiritual warfare and the need to stand and fight together against common enemies.
The Poor Wise Child vs. the Old Foolish King (Ecclesiastes 4:13): Weaver contrasts the teachable poor wise child with the unadmonishable old foolish king, urging believers to remain open to reproof and instruction regardless of age or position.
Conclusion: The Urgency of Genuine Community: Weaver concludes by stressing the importance of real community for life, help, protection, and love, especially in times of danger, and prays for the church to be a community that provokes to love and good works.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Community is biblically mandated and historically practiced

Weaver argues that God's people have always lived in communities, from patriarchal families to Israel's tribes to the early church, demonstrating that community is God's design.

Weaver says, 'God's people have always dwelt in communities... During the patriarchal period, families always lived together in community... When you look at the Old Testament, they all lived in communities.'

Multiculturalism destroys community

Weaver contends that multiculturalism undermines community and nation because unity cannot exist without shared faith, morals, and standards.

Weaver states, 'multiculturalism is destructive of communities and nations as well. There is no unity in diversity. It's impossible.'

Voluntary sharing in the early church was not communism

Weaver clarifies that the early Christians' sharing was voluntary, not mandatory, as seen in the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, who lied about their giving.

Weaver says, 'the first Christians were not Christian communists living under a communistic communal system. The fact that they shared things and had things in common did not mean that they were communists because their sharing was totally completely voluntary.'

Community provides spiritual warmth and encouragement

Weaver uses the metaphor of two cold flints making a fire to illustrate how Christian fellowship rekindles spiritual fervor, as seen in the Emmaus road disciples.

Weaver says, 'Two cold flints will make a fire. Likewise, even two cold Christians, when they come together and they begin to talk about the Lord and the Word of God, and spiritual things, they begin to warm up.'

Unity enables spiritual victory

Weaver argues that Christians united in the Spirit can withstand Satan's attacks, citing Romans 16:20 and the illustration of a threefold cord.

Weaver says, 'Christians, in close fellowship, however few they may be... if they keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, they're biblically speaking... terrible as an army with banners, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against them.'

We must learn to fight together

Weaver emphasizes that shared faith leads to shared enemies, so believers must not only live together but also fight together, using the example of Apache warriors.

Weaver says, 'if you have the same faith, if you have the same practice, if you have the same morals, if you have the same ethics, you're probably going to have the same enemies. So you not only have to learn to live together, you have to learn to fight together.'

Age and position do not exempt from reproof

Weaver uses Ecclesiastes 4:13 to argue that even those with authority and age must remain teachable and open to admonition.

Weaver says, 'Age and position do not negate the fact that we're all needful and from time to time we must be rebuked, reproved, and admonished.'

Scripture References

Ecclesiastes 4:9-13: The primary text of the sermon, read at the beginning and expounded throughout.
Genesis 2:18: Cited to show that marriage is the normal state of man, as God said it is not good for man to be alone.
Matthew 19:12: Quoted to acknowledge that some are eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake, indicating singleness as a gift.
1 Corinthians 7:17: Cited to show that each person should walk as God has called them, whether single or married.
1 Corinthians 7:32-33: Quoted to illustrate the advantages of singleness in caring for the things of the Lord.
Amos 3:3: Used to argue that two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, emphasizing the need for shared authority.
Genesis 14:14: Cited to show Abraham's household as a community with 318 trained fighting men.
Acts 2:41-47: Read to demonstrate the early Christian community's steadfastness in doctrine, fellowship, and sharing.
Acts 5:1-11: Read to show that the sharing was voluntary, as Ananias and Sapphira were judged for lying, not for withholding.
Acts 4:36-37: Cited to explain Barnabas's example of selling land and giving all, which Ananias and Sapphira falsely imitated.
Ephesians 4:5-6: Quoted to emphasize the unity of faith: one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
Acts 8:1: Cited to show the persecution that scattered the Jerusalem church, breaking up the community.
Mark 6:7: Referenced to show Jesus sent disciples out two by two, illustrating mutual labor.
Galatians 6:1-2: Quoted to apply mutual lifting spiritually: restoring the fallen and bearing burdens.
Hebrews 10:24-25: Quoted to exhort believers to provoke one another to love and good works and not forsake assembling.
1 Kings 1:1-2: Cited to illustrate that two lying together for warmth is not necessarily sexual, as with David and the young virgin.
Proverbs 27:17: Quoted to illustrate how iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens his friend, relating to spiritual warmth.
Luke 24:32: Referenced to show the disciples' hearts burning within them as Jesus opened the Scriptures, illustrating spiritual warmth.
Acts 28:15: Cited to show Paul took courage at the sight of brethren, illustrating mutual encouragement.
Philippians 1:5: Quoted to show Paul's thankfulness for the Philippians' fellowship in the gospel from the first day.

Historical References

Robert E. Lee's refusal of Union Army leadership: Weaver uses Lee's statement that he could not draw his sword against his own nation (Virginia) to illustrate the concept of nation as a distinct community.
Comanche chief's statement on nationhood: Weaver references a Comanche chief who said white people would never be part of the Comanche nation due to different faith, practices, and customs, warning that without shared standards, a nation ceases to exist.
Abraham's household as a community: Weaver notes that Abraham had 318 trained fighting men, implying a community of several thousand, illustrating patriarchal community.
Early church in Acts 2: Weaver describes the early Christian community in Jerusalem, emphasizing their voluntary sharing and unity.
Ananias and Sapphira: Weaver recounts the story to clarify that the early church's sharing was voluntary, not communistic.
Persecution under Saul (Acts 8): Weaver notes the scattering of the Jerusalem church due to persecution, which broke up the community but led to new communities elsewhere.
Robert Frost's poem 'Mending Wall': Weaver uses the poem to illustrate mutual labor and fellowship, correcting a common misinterpretation of 'Good fences make good neighbors.'
Martyrdom of Elizabeth Cowper and Simon Miller under Queen Mary: Weaver tells the story of Simon Miller encouraging Elizabeth Cowper at the stake as an example of bearing one another's burdens.
Benjamin Franklin's quote on hanging together: Weaver quotes Franklin's 'We must all hang together or we will hang separately' to emphasize the need to stand and fight together.
Apache tactics and strategies: Weaver references a book on how a handful of Apache warriors defeated larger cavalry units by fighting together, illustrating the power of unity.

Important Quotes

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

This is the foundational verse for the first benefit of community, mutual labor, which Weaver expounds as making work easier and more productive.

There is no unity in diversity. It's impossible.

Weaver's strong assertion that true community requires shared faith, standards, and ethics, rejecting multiculturalism as destructive.

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Weaver quotes Amos 3:3 to emphasize that unity requires agreement on authority and faith.

Good fences make good neighbors.

Weaver reinterprets this proverb from Robert Frost's poem to mean mutual labor and fellowship, not isolation.

Two cold flints will make a fire. Likewise, even two cold Christians, when they come together and they begin to talk about the Lord and the Word of God, and spiritual things, they begin to warm up.

A vivid metaphor for how Christian fellowship rekindles spiritual fervor, illustrating the benefit of mutual love.

Alone, we're an easy target.

Weaver's concise warning about the danger of isolation, both physically and spiritually, using the wolf and sheep analogy.

We must all hang together or we will hang separately.

Weaver quotes Benjamin Franklin to stress the necessity of standing and fighting together against common enemies.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

The key verse for the final point, contrasting teachability with stubbornness, and urging openness to reproof.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the biblical definition of community differ from modern individualistic or multicultural views?

[Context]

Weaver argues that true community requires shared faith, practice, and authority, and that multiculturalism destroys community.

[Question]

In what practical ways can we experience the 'good reward' of mutual labor in our church or family?

[Context]

Weaver discusses how working together makes labor easier and faster, and applies it to spiritual activities like worship and bearing burdens.

[Question]

What does it look like to 'lift up' a fellow believer who has fallen spiritually, and how can we do this with meekness?

[Context]

Weaver cites Galatians 6:1-2 and the example of Simon Miller encouraging Elizabeth Cowper at the stake.

[Question]

How can we provoke one another to love and good works without becoming judgmental or discouraging?

[Context]

Weaver expounds Hebrews 10:24-25, urging believers to consider how to stir each other up to godliness.

[Question]

What are some 'cold' areas in your spiritual life that could be warmed through deeper Christian fellowship?

[Context]

Weaver uses the metaphor of two cold flints making a fire and the Emmaus road disciples' burning hearts.

[Question]

Why is it dangerous to be a 'straggler' spiritually, and what steps can we take to stay in the center of the flock?

[Context]

Weaver warns that alone we are an easy target, like a sheep away from the flock, and urges unity for protection.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a teachable spirit like the 'poor wise child' rather than a defensive, unadmonishable attitude?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts the poor wise child with the old foolish king, emphasizing the need to receive reproof and instruction.

[Question]

In what ways might our church need to 'learn to fight together' against spiritual enemies, and what would that look like practically?

[Context]

Weaver uses the example of Apache warriors and Benjamin Franklin's quote to stress the need for united spiritual warfare.

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