While you're turning to Ecclesiastes, I forgot to mention that it's good to have baby Natalie and Haley with us today. This message is from Ecclesiastes 4, 7 through 12. The Law of Synergism. Then I returned and I saw vanity under the sun. There is one alone and there is not a second. Yea, he hath neither child nor brother. Yet there is no end of all his labor. Neither is this I satisfy with riches. Neither saith he, for whom do I labor and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. 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, 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 easily, or is not quickly broken. Lord, I pray that you would bless your word, and Lord, I pray that you would bless in the time to come afterwards as we have our business meeting. I pray that you bless in that. But Lord, as we look at your word, I pray that you would guide our hearts and our minds. In Christ's name, amen. Looking at it now, I realize there is kind of a theme here of labor. We got to talking about that a lot in Sunday school. And you know, it could be that the Lord, that I saw these scriptures because I was studying some of those other things and this impressed upon me, but I think there's some thoughts here that will be a blessing. It's a short message, and then we'll have, Lord willing, a short business meeting. What is synergism? What is synergism? Oxford says, the extra energy, power, success, et cetera, that is achieved by two or more people, companies, or elements working together instead of on their own. You know, I don't know what I would do without my wife. We are a team. We don't co-pastor, but we certainly work as a team in life. Not only do we help each other in the daily chores of life, but we encourage each other. A family that works together can be very productive. This isn't to minimize the productiveness of those who are single. Many single people are very productive. God even says that single people will care for the things of God and the married will have their focus on their spouse. This doesn't nullify the law of synergy as taught in our text, Married people and single people just have different responsibilities to fulfill. I'm reminded of what Brother Igor said in one of his Sunday school lessons, I believe. He said he could, maybe it was on a Wednesday night. I think maybe it was on a Wednesday night. He said he could accomplish a lot as long as his wife was supporting him. I just need you to know how valuable my wife is to me and to the church. You know, if I can't give her any attention for an entire day because of my responsibilities, she still greets me with a smile when I get home. She loves this church, and she wants to support me as I serve this church. Another definition of synergy is this one I found. It's the same definition as Oxford, but hits what I'm pointing out a little better. It says the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements or contributions. There is a law of synergism. God tells us about these laws so that we can benefit. Think about the laws of physics. Sometimes they don't even know why a certain element acts or reacts in a certain way, but they have noticed that there is a law that governs these things. There is no use heating up water and expecting it to freeze. Likewise, God gives us laws of life. This is the way life works. One of those laws is found in Ecclesiastes 4. Trying to do things and ignoring how God says things work in this world, in this life, is gonna be frustrating. He's given us clear revelation. In short, it's in vain to expect God's word to not operate according to his laws. So Ecclesiastes 4, starting in verse 7, it says, then I returned and I saw vanity under the sun. And so, he says, then I returned and I saw vanity under the sun. So now, what appears to me is he will now describe the vanity that he's seen under the sun. There is one alone and there is not a second. Yea, he hath neither child nor brother. Yet is there no end of all his labor. Neither is his eye satisfied with riches. Neither saith he for whom do I labor and bereave my soul of good. This is also vanity. It's a sore travail. He doesn't stop to think. Why do I labor and bereave my soul of good? Why am I doing this? I don't want to quote movies, but there was a line in a movie one time I watched. It was about a famous person who got all the way to the top but was all alone. And they, I don't think I can quote it exactly, but basically they said, they turned to someone and they said, everything's nothing unless you have someone to share it with. And that is true. Vanity, sore travail. And before we go on, let me say that even those who are single serving the Lord are benefiting from the law of synergy. Paul explains how synergy works in their lives, despite the fact that we are individuals. In 1 Corinthians 3, verses eight and nine, it says, now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God. You are God's husbandry, you are God's building. One may plant in another waters, but they're working together. And we are also laborers together with God. So continuing on back in Ecclesiastes, 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, then they have heat, but how can one be warm alone? Two can encourage one another. Two can pick each other up. But also, when we are in battle, two are stronger than one. We continue on to verse 12, it says, and if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. So that's the law of synergy. I wanna firmly establish, though, before we get any further, that when it comes to our salvation, comes to being born again. We absolutely do not work with God. It's monergistic. It's not synergistic. I think sometimes we labor so much to point that out. This That when God, when we are born again, it is God and God alone that does that. There is no synergism going on there. And sometimes we may forget that there is a law of synergism in life. Jesus died for us and lived a righteous life for us. He did not work with us to accomplish that. After a person is saved, he will have life and fight against the desires of the flesh, being indwelled with God's Holy Spirit. But justification before God in this new life is Christ alone. But there are the matters of our lives and our service to the Lord. We can benefit from the law of synergy. It seems to me that the reason God said it wasn't good for man to be alone without any other human beings is because of the law of synergy. Man needed a help that was meet for him, a helper that was meet or appropriate for him. When the Lord sent out the disciples, he sent them by twos. Mission work back then operated according to the law of synergism. Even if mission work isn't done that way today, missionaries have their precious wives. But it seems to me that even those who were married were sent out with another preacher. I don't know much about the 70 that were sent out in two, but we know that more than one apostle was married. Peter had a wife, and Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 9, 1 Corinthians 9.5, have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, plural, and as the brethren of the Lord in Cephas? I'm not sure when all these got married, but obviously some were. So going back to Ecclesiastes, there is a truth here that we need to see. Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. There is one alone, and there is not a second. Yea, he hath neither child nor brother, yet is there no end of all his labor. Neither is his eye satisfied with riches. Neither saith he, for whom do I labor, and bereave my soul of good. This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. Those who labor, but have nobody to share the fruits with. It's vanity. The Lord said it is more blessed to give than to receive. God's work compounds the blessings because not only is it a blessing to work with others, but it's a blessing to work together for others. You know, the law of synergy is why we have teams. You know, there are individual sports, but the ones that people will pay a lot to see are teams. Even in individual events at the Olympics, they will form teams. That's the law of synergy at work. There's a certain joy that comes from doing something as a team. You know, it's unifying for the ladies to work together on the blankets and a blessing to give them out together. For whom do I labor and bereave my soul of good? It's for the people I love, it's for others. It's a joy in it. We recognize that. There's some that live in vanity and they never recognize that. God has designed us to find joy in giving to others. And it's compounded when we work together to bless others. And we're here as a church, we labor together to take the gospel forth. We want to see souls saved. We want to take the gospel to people. As a church, we're a lighthouse. We have a greater purpose than just serving ourselves. Paul told the Philippians that he wanted to hear that they were working together to serve God and others. Our vision is to be like what Paul says. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Striving together for the faith of the gospel, laboring together for the faith of the gospel, fighting together for the faith of the gospel. And we will have a good reward for our labors. You think about pictures that just mean something to people. And you have to ask, why do they mean something to them? Why did the picture of the six Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi together touched the hearts of so many. Did it take six guys to raise a flag? It's how we are made. It's how we're made. It's how we find joy. And by the way, in the same battle, three of those six were killed. I wanna go back to an earlier point about synergism. When it comes to being born again, a precious truth to us is that this is monergistic, only God and God alone. We don't give ourselves new life. We don't raise ourselves from death and being dead in trespasses and sins. God alone births us into spiritual life. We don't birth ourselves. However, in our zeal to defend against the misapplication of synergism, let's not deny that there is a right application. It's a good law. In our praise of rugged individualism, let's not forget that God loves the church. Let's recognize and apply this law as God has throughout the Bible. Lord, I pray that you