Sermon outlines · Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Wedding sermon outline
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In Ecclesiastes 4:9, “reward” translates a Hebrew word: שָׂכָר. In Antioquia’s study mode, one tap shows what it means and where else it appears in the Bible — the kind of detail that gives a sermon depth. Try it in the preview.
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Ecclesiastes 4:9
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
✦ Understand this verseשָׂכָר
sâkâr · Hebrew · H7939
- In this verse
- reward
- What it means
- payment of contract
- How the King James translates it
- hire8reward7wages6
Appears in 25 verses · See them all in the app
Sermon outline
Sermon title
A threefold cord
Main idea
Marriage is the decision not to walk alone: two who lift each other up, keep each other warm and stand together — and who find in God the strength to stay together.
Text
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.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 · Read the chapter →
Introduction
Ecclesiastes looks at life honestly. Just before this passage, the Preacher describes someone alone, with neither child nor brother, whose labour has no end. Then he concludes that two are better than one. The passage was not written for a ceremony, but it describes very well what a marriage can be.
1. Two who lift each other up
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.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 · Read the chapter →
Two have a good reward for their labour, and if one falls, the other lifts him up. Marriage does not promise that no one will fall; it promises that no one will fall alone. Woe to the one who is alone when he falls.
Application: Agree now on how you will ask for help, and how you will help each other, on the hard days.
2. Two who keep each other warm
Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
Ecclesiastes 4:11 · Read the chapter →
If two lie together, they have heat; how can one be warm alone? On the cold nights of the ancient world, the picture was very concrete. In marriage, love also shows itself in everyday care: presence, tenderness and company when life turns cold.
Application: Cultivate small daily acts of care: they are what keep love warm.
3. A cord that is not quickly broken
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 · Read the chapter →
Someone may prevail against one; two can withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. The text speaks of the strength that comes from union. Many couples read the third strand as God’s presence between the two — and it is in him that a Christian marriage finds the strength to stand.
Application: Make praying together a habit, even if it is short, before you sleep.
Conclusion
From the beginning, God said it was not good for the man to be alone. No couple begins with a guarantee of easy days; they begin with a promise made before God and before the people who love them. May this home be a place where no one falls alone, no one is cold alone and no one fights alone.