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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you well good evening everyone welcome back to uh free grace baptist uh for our call to oxy story one announcement uh quickly is that this week tuesday morning 10 30 10 30 tuesday morning there's a women's brunch here at the church and that is uh 10 10 30 they're asking to please bring a brunch food item along and if you have any questions you can see rebecca for further clarification on that so for our call to worship and we are we are in psalm 125. you can turn to psalm 125 for our call psalm 125 a song of ascents those who trust in the lord are like mount zion which cannot be moved but abides forever as the mountains surround jerusalem so the lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forever for the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity do good o lord to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts as for such as turn aside to their crooked ways the lord shall lead them away with the workers of iniquity peace be upon israel amen we can turn in your in your hymnals to number 103 d 103 d as in delta we're saying to a different tune 103 you can stand and sing together please oh [Music] is is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] you may be seated let us go to god in prayer our gracious our loving our our good heavenly father we come to you now lord and we give you praise lord we praise you that for creation we we thank you for such a beautiful day and where we give you we give you praise that as we look around this creation it speaks of a god of a of a creator a but a good creator and a and a personal creator and and lord we we do we do praise you for that and and and lord we do thank you for for the the for redemption as well not only for creation but for redemption that we as as creatures when we see ourselves in light of the of a holy creator and we realize that we have separated ourselves from from you lord we have sinned against you all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god but lord we do thank you for the reconciliation that is that is available through your son the lord jesus through redemption that that that that he was that that we are justified freely by your grace through the through the the the redemption and the the the the propitiation that that was made by the lord jesus on our behalf and lord we do we do praise you for that lord how how it humbles us to think that that uh such undeserving sinners have been given grace lord and and we praise you for grace for for the fact that it is just that it is it is given it is undeserved it is unmerited favor from the from the king of kings from the from the lord of lords from the creator of this universe and lord we do praise you for that and i pray that today as we gather together in in worship that our hearts would be filled with love for you with a love for for for all that for for you for your son our savior lord that our hearts would be filled up and that are that are that we would we would respond in praise to you today that is that we would sing your praises and that our hearts would be would be filled with praise for you that you would receive our praises lord for for we we come before you bringing them through in the power of the holy spirit through our mediator the lord jesus and that you would that you would receive them lord i i pray that you bless our time together here this evening as we worship you that that it would be a means for the for you for your glory for your honor and lord but that it would also be a means for our ratification and our growth in in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ lord that is why we desire to come here week in and week out so to praise you to worship you and to learn more of our savior to grow as we have been commanded to in in your word and lord we do thank you that we have this opportunity that we can still come together freely to worship you and to be and to be fed as uh spiritually fed and and and nourished as we come here and and and listen to the faithful preaching of your word so lord we do thank you for our pastor we thank you for his faithful service here and for his for his commitment to the truth as it is in jesus the truth that is found in your word and lord we do thank you for for him and we ask your blessing on him we ask your blessing this evening as he preaches that you would fill him with your holy spirit that he would that he would rightly divide the word of truth that he would would would proclaim the truth that is in your word and that it would be a means for our growth in grace and lord we do pray that that if there are any here tonight who are not saved who have not repented and and turned in faith to the lord jesus as as the only way of salvation that that through the through the proclamation of the gospel this evening that that that today would be the day of salvation for for any and all who are here who are who have not who have not received the the the gift of of of salvation through the lord jesus christ lord we do pray for for our pastor not only for this evening but just just in in general lord that you continue to bless him and uphold him and and in light of of all the the circumstances of the last few years and the stress that has come with that and the the burdens we just pray your blessing on him that you continue to gird him up and strengthen him in and that he would continue to look to you in all things to looking ahead to to christ the the author and finisher of our faith and and that he will continue to run this race that that you have set before him lord we do pray for your blessing on on the our other churches that we uh associate with as well we think of of pastor mike in surrey lord we do ask that you would bless him these same same things we pray for him as well or that you would encourage him that you would strengthen him that you would gird him up and that he would be able to continue to proclaim the truth of of the lord jesus christ and the truth of your word to the to the saints in surrey and that through his his his faithful preaching there that the that the saints would be edified that sinners would be saved and that you would be glorified lord we do also pray for the group and vernon we just thank you for for that group there and we asked that you would continue to to guide our paths as we continue to move forward with uh with planting a church there hopefully in the in the not too distant future lord we just thank you for for the saints there we thank you for their desire to see a a biblically ordered church there and we just pray that you would bless all involved and and all the processes that need to take place for this to happen or that you would you would guide that you would bless and that you would that you would see if it is your will or a church planted there hopefully this year sometime lord we do we do ask your blessing also for the the group in dryden ontario we just thank you that that they have that they have decided to to to formally plant a church underneath the the leadership of our of our church here lord we just thank you and we praise you for that and and how we ask you that you you would bless that work as well there lord that you would bless all involved there we pray for josh we pray for dan we pray for our pastor and in the decisions that all need to be made with with going forward in that in the planting of that church there we just pray for for this man dan as he seeks to to uh formal education for the ministry we just ask that you would bless him and and and and and enable him to to be able to to learn to study and to and and that you would equip him to potentially in the future lord if is your will to lead the church there we just thank you that you that you already have supplied a a man potentially for this for this position we just praise you for that lord and we do ask that you would continue to raise up laborers and lord we know that the the as you have said the the harvest is great the laborers are few lord how we how we need men that you equip that you call and that you put into positions to to lead your church that that we we hear we find in your word that you have you have that you that the the christ has ascended on high he's led captivity captive and he has given gifts to men and those gifts being leaders and teachers in in the church to to edify your people to for the work of the ministry and that's until we all come to a unity of the of the faith and knowledge of the truth and lord we just we just pray that you would continue to bless us with these gifts godly men to to lead and to shepherd your people here on this earth lord we do we do pray for the advancement of your kingdom we thank you that that for the truth that we find in your word that you that you will that you have promised to build your church and that the gates of of hades cannot prevail against it and lord how we how we rejoice in that truth lord that we are we are on the on the the the attack lord we are advancing we are that as your people as your church your kingdom we are we are conquering and and taking and through the proclamation of the gospel that that you are conquering sinners from out of darkness out of the kingdom of darkness and and transferring them into the kingdom of of light the kingdom of the son of your love and lord how we how we praise you for this and how we rejoice and how our hearts are encouraged by that fact lord that we are that we are marching on the the church is marching on and that we are headed for for glory we are headed for emmanuel's land and that you know we don't need to worry that that we can be lost to the powers of darkness to that that we can we can be taken back by the kingdom of darkness but that we are secure in uh in the arms of our savior the lord jesus and and lord we we we thank you and we praise you for that lord it encourages our hearts as we go through this this life a life of of chaos a life of society all around us the world as a whole it seems lord is just so much so much turmoil right now so much tension and and we just we just see such a evil being propagated throughout the lands and lord we just we are encouraged that we that we look forward to this inheritance that we have the inheritance that is uncorrupted undefiled and will not fade away and lord however that stills our hearts and how that encourages us and lord we do pray for our land we pray for our country the country of canada now lord we just you know the situation lord you know the tensions the the the the all the various things that we struggle with now lord and we just pray that you would would bless these these protests we do pray that they would that they would remain peaceful and that they would be there would be no um no no violence from either side taken up lord we just ask that that it would be a means that you that a means that you have ordained to bring about bring about the restore the the freedom in our land again lord to freedom to worship you as we as we please freedom to to use our bodies as as as living sacrifices for you and to do and to be the ones responsible for for how we present our bodies as living sacrifices to you lord we just ask that you would be pleased to to restore that those freedoms to to us in our land and we do pray for our leaders we pray that you'll give them wisdom and in a time now when there's so much turmoil we just pray that you would bless them with wisdom we pray for their repentance that they would turn from their wicked ways and in repentance and and to and to come to the savior to to kiss the son as your word says and that they would they would seek to rule according to to to your law lord we do we do pray this for for our for not only for our nation but just the world as a whole lord we know there is just so much turmoil now we do pray for for uh peace to be restored and and and lord we ask that we we also pray that there would be there would be revival of of of the among the among the landlord there would be a mass repentance turning turning to you in in repentance repentance for the for the horrible sins that we as as nations have committed that we have we we murder babies in the wombs we we murder old people and and and people who just so desire to to be to to be taken out of this life lord with through assisted suicide and these things that are just horrible horrible acts lord and we just we confess our sin we pray that there would be there that that you would grant repentance lord we we see in the in in your word that you that that the the the disciples praise you that you granted repentance even to the gentiles and lord we do pray for that same thing in our land lord that you would grant that repentance lord we ask that that you would would also be with your your church that the the church around this this this world lord so many who suffer we pray for the persecuted church we pray that you would would comfort and strengthen your people that you would protect them that you would that that you would would strengthen their faith lord that they would trust more and more in you as as the only the only the only way of salvation the only the only the only hope in life and in death and and lord we just pray that you would strengthen your people we do pray for for the country of myanmar as well and we think of the of the the group there that we so come so often pray for and we just pray for for for strength for all those involved there for this man peter and for for all the leaders there we just ask that you would continue to strengthen them lord it is just unimaginable what they are going through and we ask that you would use this as a means to advance your kingdom we pray that that they would proclaim the gospel to those whom they come in contact with and and and and especially lord to these these children only in these orphans that that they are they are have been uh given into their care so we just ask that you would that you would save these these little children lord and we just hear the reports that that quite a few more are going to be brought there again today or yesterday and we just asked that that um these children too would hear the gospel lord and that the gospel that can heal that can heal them from from such the such from from that can provide the the the hope of that that can help them to get through these just the trauma that they have undergone so lord we just pray that you would bless them we pray that you would advance your kingdom in the midst of such evil and such wickedness that is that is going on there that your kingdom would would would ride would would uh go forth conquering and lord we just pray that you would be pleased to to bless us now as we continue in worship we pray for your though the presence of your holy spirit to to be here as we to that we would as we sing your praises as we as we hear your word being preached that you would and that help us to apply these things to our to our hearts and that our lives would be continually being conformed by but through the preaching of your word unto the image of your son the lord jesus lord we we do pray all these things in the name of our savior the lord jesus amen our next hymn is number 424 424 and you can stand and we sing as we sing that together is is foreign is foreign is [Music] all right you may be seated our old testament scripture reading for this evening is from leviticus chapter 17 leviticus 17 we'll read the entire chapter leviticus chapter 17 and the lord spoke to moses saying speak to aaron to his sons and to all the children of israel and say to them this is a thing which the lord has commanded saying whatever man of the house of israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp or who kills it outside the camp and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the lord before the tabernacle of the lord the guilt of bloodshed shall be imputed to that man he has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people to the end that the children of israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field that they that they may bring them to the lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting to the priest and offer them as peace offerings to the lord and the priests shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting and burn the fat for a sweet for a sweet aroma to the lord they shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons after whom they have played the harlot this shall be a statute forever for for them throughout their generations also you shall say to them whatever man of the house of israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer it to the lord that man shall be cut off from among his people and whatever man of the house of israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who eats any blood i will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people for the life of the flesh is in the blood and i have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul therefore i said to the children of israel no one among you shall eat blood nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood whatever man of the children of israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust for it is the life of all flesh its blood sustains its life therefore i said to the children of israel you shall not eat the blood of any flesh for the life of all flesh is its blood whoever eats it shall be cut off and every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger he shall both wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening then he shall be clean but if he does not wash them or bathe his body then he shall bear his guilt thus far well this this chapter begins with the various commandments here regarding the the killing of animals but this is not just killing any animal this was specific to sacrificial animals it's not that if you lived in in in beersheba and you wanted to have lamb for dinner that you had to bring your animal to the temple to have it killed by a priest so that you could eat it it's talking specifically here about sacrificial animals and and the the um and that it was to be done within in the temple as as god had commanded and they and the very the important thing to understand is that the the worship of of the lord is regulated and and the the purpose for this is that god did not want god did not want sacrifice to be happening all through the land because there there would have been the the you know the all sorts of different um you know people would could have done not not the right not proper the proper way of sacrificing and and god has regulated saying this is how it needs to be done and this is it needs to be done by the priests and and they had to to bring it and the blood had to be brought to the altar in the in the in the temple and um or the tabernacle in this case now now the reason for that is that um is that we as we see later that if they if they killed the an animal when they were out hunting and it was for food they could allow you know they could drain the blood and cover it with dust and that was fine but the the blood of the of the sacrifice had to be brought into the temple and because the temple was signified the presence of the lord and blood it was the means by which man could approach unto a holy god and we see that because in that and that goes right back all the way to the garden in the garden god said you know in the day that you that you eat of this fruit you will you will surely die and but what happened the day that they ate of that fruit yes we know they died spiritually but they didn't they were not physically they did not physically die that day but rather what happened was god god killed an animal and that the shed the blood of an of an innocent animal instead of adam and eve he provided an atonement for adam and eve and we and we come we come we come to this and again it's it's that same thing that atonement is is being made through the through the blood the blood blood obviously signifying the life that's what it that's what it says here that that the the blood is the blood sustains life and so that's what he's speaking of so when the bible says the wages of sin is death or in the day that you eat you will surely die therefore that means blood had to be shed as the payment that was the payment for the sin and so here we have we have the the blood being brought to to the temple to the to the tabernacle here and provide an and offered as an atonement for sin now we know this is not as the writer of hebrews says this is not something that um that it was it simply pointed forward it was not the blood of of goats and the bulls could never take away sin it was something that had to be done repeatedly it was never sufficient because it was simply pointing forward to our lord jesus christ and and again we have we see that that blood makes atonement for the soul that is why our savior had to suffer and had to die as that way of salvation and the writer of hebrews says without the shedding of blood there's no remission that's what that's what it's talking about here as well there's no forgiveness there's no atonement provided without bloodshed without life being taken without without death and that is again as we as we have um heard this morning just so so clearly of the of the death of christ as that as that once for all atonement made for sin the means by which we can approach unto a holy god we can come through the blood of our savior the lord jesus christ and and and be and and approach our the approach the lord that way so so that is uh this is one of the most one of the most um probably the most important statements here of the whole levitical law that we that we find here is that the blood it is blood that makes atonement for the soul that that um to understand why we know we think of the old testament and we think of you know it was just bloody there was so much sacrifice and so much going on but the whole it was that exact reasons why it was through through blood that atonement could be made and one other one other note there is just in verse 11 god says i have i have given it to you the the blood to make atonement god has provided that that atonement and that is one that is the beauty of the christian gospel we see that david understood that in psalm 63 65 i believe he says as for our sins you will provide an atonement for that in in ezekiel again as well god says that that i will provide an atonement for your sin and that is what we have in the lord jesus christ is god providing an atonement a payment a propitiation that payment to satisfy wrath god provides that for us as a in in in his grace and his mercy that we that that all who believe in christ all who trust in him as as savior as we saw again this morning so clearly that that that whoever believes in him will will not perish will have everlasting life that because god has provided that atonement we all stand in need of that we all stand we all stand in need of of a of a righteousness that we do that that we um we have all fallen short the bible tells us we've fallen short of the glory of god and and but so we need a righteousness but yet we also need something to deal with our sin we have all incurred a massive debt of of sin against against god as the judge as a law giver as judge and but god provides that atonement provides the payment for that sin in in his son the lord jesus christ through his death on the cross through through his shedding of blood the blood that that that was a once for all sacrifice for sin so so again it's it's as as as pastor butler said this morning to you know anyone who's not who has not come to christ who has not repented you know that that is the way the way of salvation your only hope is the atonement of christ as i've said it before but there's there's there's your sin has incurred a massive debt an infinite debt when you sin against an infinitely holy god you deserve an infinite punishment and there's two ways by which that that punishment can be can be fulfilled either it's you in an eternity in hell or it's through the blood of the lord jesus christ and his his payment so so so believe on the lord jesus then that payment is credited to your account imputed to your account where whereby you have payment in full made for your sin so so believe on the lord jesus and you you will be saved let us let us pray oh father we do thank you for for your word lord what a what a blessing it is to have your word now the word that tells us so clearly of the way of salvation that that we have sinned against you lord we des we are deserving of death eternal death and and lord you have provided an atonement for us lord how we praise you how we we we we just we stand back and all we can say is amazing grace lord that that you would do that for us you would provide an atonement for for our sins and and provide a way of reconciliation back to you so lord i pray that that that this this would encourage us this would would would just fill us with a with wonder with love for you and that lord if there are any here who have not come to christ who have not have not re uh just resisted or stopped resisting the you know christ and and trying to to somehow earn your favor in some way lord somehow trying to to merit something whether it be through church attendance or through or through good works or through whatever it may be lord we we i just pray that that you would would would today would be the day that you shine the light of the of the savior into their hearts that they would see that there is there's the only hope is christ christ is the only one who's lived perfectly in perfect obedience to your law and christ is the one who has provided an atonement for sin so lord i do pray that that today would be the day of salvation lord and that that you would be glorified lord i pray you bless us now as we continue in worship we pray this in christ's name amen our final hymn then before the preaching is number 446 446 and again you can stand and sing please audrey [Music] my [Music] me [Music] me [Music] is is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh oh [Music] oh [Music] you can turn with me in your bibles to proverbs chapter 30. i've looked at before one that i think does hold great practical benefit for the church of jesus christ our focus will be on verses 24 to 28 but i did want to read beginning in verse 15 to the end of the chapter so proverbs chapter 30 beginning in verse 15. the leach has two daughters give and give there are three things that are never satisfied four never say enough the grave the barren woman the the earth that is not satisfied with water and the fire never says enough the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother the ravens of the valley will pick it out and the young eagles will eat it there are three things which are too wonderful for me yes four which i do not understand the way of an eagle in the air the way of a serpent on a rock the way of a ship in the midst of the sea and the way of a man with a virgin this is the way of an adulterous woman she eats and wipes her mouth and says i have done no wickedness for three things the earth is perturbed yes for four it cannot bear up for a servant when he reigns a fool when he is filled with food a hateful woman when she is married and a maid servant who succeeds her mistress there are four things which are little on the earth but they are exceedingly wise the ants are people not strong yet they prepare their food in the summer the rock badgers are a feeble folk yet they make their homes in the crags the locusts have no king yet they all advance in ranks the spider skillfully grasps with its hands and it is in king's palaces there are three things which are majestic in pace yes four which are stately and walk a lion which is mighty among beasts and does not turn away from any a greyhound a male goat also and a king whose troops are with him if you've been foolish in exalting yourself or if you have devised evil put your hand on your mouth for as the churning of milk produces butter and ringing the nose produces blood so the forcing of wrath produces strife amen well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the wisdom of solomon and for this man egger we pray now that you would give us wisdom to receive with thanksgiving your blessed word forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness we ask for the ministry in the presence of the holy spirit and god may these things affect and impact our lives and may you grant us grace to live in a manner consistent with the written revelation of god most high and we ask this in the name of the lord jesus christ amen well as we consider the book of solomons we know uh solomon uh proverbs rather most of them are ascribed to solomon well this la chapter 30 is ascribed to a man named edgar but edgar is consistent with solomon in what we would call philosophy if you look at first kings chapter 4 i can just read it concerning solomon and his glory it says he spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs were one thousand and five also he spoke of trees from the cedar tree of lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall he also spoke or spoke also of animals of birds of creeping things in a fish and men of all nations from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom came to hear the wisdom of solomon so solomon would point to things that persons understood in everyday life and he would often times illustrate with spiritual uh principle now agar as i said follows in the same train the greater than solomon does the exact same thing in the sermon on the mount when jesus wants to call his or caution his disciples against carnal anxiety he tells them to look at the birds of the air and he tells them to look at the lilies of the field he tells them not to worry not to fret not to be afraid that god isn't going to provide for them the god provides for the birds god provides for the lilies therefore god will provide for his his redeemed image bearers now when we look specifically at proverbs chapter 30 verses 24 to 28 you see something similar in structure if you look at verses 15 and 16 the leech has two daughters give and give and then it says there are three things that are never satisfied look at verse 18 there are three things which are too wonderful for me yes four which i do not understand again in verses 21 to 23 for three things the earth is perturbed yes for four it cannot bear up and then again following our passage in verses 29 to 31 there are three things which are majestic in pace so it's a common theme that aeger is employing to use the created order to teach lessons to the people of god so we're going to move through each of these four little things and we're going to see in terms of their weakness and then their wisdom and then make apple application to our own situation so when it says that there are four little things if you look at verse 24 it sort of functions as a title line there are four things which are little on the earth but they are exceedingly wise and then the next few verses follow that structure follow that pattern their weakness is given and then their compensatory wisdom in other words they have a challenge in their lives so they have to overcome that by wisdom they have something that holds them back so instead of being held back they figure out how to deal they figure out how to navigate when it says that they are little it highlights their insignificance their weakness and the severe limitation that each of them face there is an obvious contrast between the little things of verses 24 to 28 and the majestic things in verses 29 to 31. notice in 29 there are three things which are majestic in pace yes four which are stately and walk that's not true of the little things they have intrinsic inherent weakness therefore they have to overcome that weakness by wisdom so this word little again it simply means something that is insignificant so the unifying feature of these four creatures they are insignificant they have uh sort of built-in challenges because of their physical stature or their insignificance but they have a wisdom that helps them to overcome the various challenges that they have in their lives so we'll look first of all at the industrious ants so you've got ants you've got coneys you've got locusts and you've got spider slash lizard the translation is a bit difficult if it's a spider or a lizard it doesn't change the meaning of the text but these four little creatures that we observe in the natural world these four little creatures that we see not perhaps on a day-to-day basis i can't remember the last time i saw oconee but with reference to the wise men appealing to the natural order to underscore spiritual truth first look at the industrious ant verse 25 the ants are a people not strong now egger knows that ants are not people but he shows that he wants the natural order to function as a pattern he wants the natural order to function in such a way that image bearers will be able to see the industry of the ant and rightly conclude we should do likewise in other words if the ant has an intrinsic weakness but is able to overcome it the idea ought to be that the image bearer has a little bit more on the ball and should be able to do likewise so the ant is limited by virtue of the fact that he is insignificant but as well he is limited by the fact that he's tiny he's not like the stately lion if the lion wants to eat in the winter time all the lion has to do is go out and kill a gazelle the ant can't do that the ant has to plant the ant has to plot the ant has to express industry and diligence if the ant wants to sustain itself during winter time turn back to proverbs chapter 6 where solomon does point to the ant in terms of its industry to encourage the people of god not to be sluggards not to be lazy not to be the sort of person that just sort of lays around all day hoping for handouts and hoping that everybody else is going to look after them notice in proverbs 6 at verse 6 it says go to the ant you sluggard consider her ways and be wise which having no captain overseer or ruler provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest the same thing back in chapter 30 at verse 25 the weakness is given in the first part the ants are a people not strong the wisdom is seen in the latter part of verse 25 yet they prepare their food in the summer walking says their exceptional achievement which is out of proportion to their seemingly inadequate size and power provides a model for god's people to exercise prudent foresight discipline and industry in a timely manner so edgar's saying if you've got challenges in your life you can lie down and whine and cry and complain about it you can grumble and have that kind of a tenor or an attitude or you can learn from the ant and get out there and get busy now the obvious temporal application of this is get out there and get busy the fourth commandment demands or prohibits rather cessation of labor on the sabbath day but it calls us to industry on the other six days of the week now we don't want to overwork in order to become rich if we have to work overtime certainly that's the the thing we ought to do we don't want to overwork to the point where we don't come to church we neglect our family and all that sort of thing but nevertheless we must be industrious people we must be earnest people you see that emphasis again in the book of proverbs turn back to chapter 27 chapter 27 industry on the part of the people of god similar to what we find with reference to the ants proverbs 27 at verse 23 it says be diligent to know the state of your flocks and to tend to your herds for riches are not forever nor does a crown endure to all generations when the hay is removed and the tender grass shows itself and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in the lambs will provide your clothing and the goats will the goats the price of a field you shall have enough goats milk for your food for the food of your household and the nourishment of your maidservants lazy men didn't don't don't survive in an agrarian society lazy men don't prosper in an agrarian society as solomon appeals to his readership specifically and primarily his sons he wants them to be hard workers he wants them to be faithful he wants them to be able to see down the road that there are potential challenges in my life therefore i need by god's grace to overcome those challenges through industry i need to imitate this little thing and get my yeah and get in and get into gear second timothy 2 thessalonians chapter 3. what does the apostle paul say there he says if a man doesn't work neither shall he eat and most likely in the context in the thessalonian situation was eschatology they thought jesus was going to return any time well they thought because jesus is going to return any time i'll quit my job i'll sit on my roof and i'll i'll chant or sing hymns until he comes again the apostle says if a man does not work neither let him eat the apostle paul in 1st timothy chapter 5 says if a man does not provide for his family he's worse than an infidel he's worse than an unbeliever so this the lesson of anger here is very important the ant has a built-in inherent weakness but the ant doesn't whine grumble or complain about it the ant uses compensatory wisdom and gets its gets its act together by storing up its food for the winter now in terms of spiritual the diligent preparation involved in readying oneself for the day of judgment a j.c rile has a series of sermons addressed to young people and he makes this observation he says dear children the best time for seeking pardon grace and the friendship of god is the time of youth remember your creator in your youth that's what solomon writes in ecclesiastes in chapter 12 at verse 1. so ryle says youth and childhood are your summer now you are strong and well now you have plenty of time now you have few cares and troubles to distract you now is the best time for laying up food for your souls that's a great spiritual application that flows from the observation that the ants are not a p a a are people that are not strong yet they prepare their food in the summer preparation industry charles bridges in his commentary says a quickening sermon do these little insects preach to us they make preparation for the coming winter what must be the thoughtlessness of making no provision for the coming eternity brethren you see that all around you you see people that have no time no interest whatsoever in spiritual things this is a materialistic hedonistic godless age and it reflects in the reality that people just don't care what happens beyond the grave they conclude that there's going to be a dreamless sleep they conclude that once they go into that box everything is over but that's not what the bible teaches it's appointed unto men once to die and then comes judgment so he goes on to say he says they make preparation for the coming winter what must be the thoughtlessness of making no provision for the coming eternity whiling away life and inactivity as if there was no work for god for the soul or for eternity shall not we learn to be wise but times to improve the present moment of salvation not to wait for the winter the verge of life when that grace offered now shall be offered no more sinner if all be lost by your indolence will you not be the great loser what else have you to do but to prepare for eternity that's a great point what else do we have to do but to prepare for eternity it is amazing we get caught up in planning our weeks carefully planning next month carefully planning where we'll go to school planning who will marry planning will will where will work but we take no thought to a coming eternity planning for that particular situation by coming to the lord jesus christ he says what hope can you have of heaven at the last if you have never seriously thought of heaven before oh before it be too late throw yourself at his feet whose heart overflows with love so the industrious ants they overcome their lack of strength in the preparation of their food in the summer so take heed brethren and be industrious and prepare secondly you have these these things in verse 26 the old king james renders it the coneys the coneys are a feeble folk yet they make their homes in the crags now these coneys are probably rock badgers or rock hydraxes and they're they're indicated in the the list of unclean foods leviticus chapter 11 and then again in deuteronomy chapter 14. so likely the syrian rock hyrax i put a d in there sorry they live together in colonies from 6 to 50 and often sun themselves on the rocks they're difficult to catch because they post guards that make a high pitch while a high-pitched whistle at the approach of any enemies they have those in idaho they're called whistle pigs there similar type of a thing a high-pitched whistle so they live in colonies of six to fifty they're prey animals this is wise they hang out together they sun themselves on the rocks but they're available or they have the crags of the rocks to be able to hide it they have guards around their perimeter watching four predators and when the coney sees the predator he makes the high-pitched whistle that signifies to his fellow coneys it's time to beat feet it's time to find your uh your safety it's time to find your refuge so the point is is that the konys though they are a feeble folk nevertheless they exercise caution they don't live in a world as a prey animal as if there were no predators around them they take heed to their serious limitation they take heed to their littleness and as a result they realize if they're going to function well in this present world they're going to have to function with a great big dose of caution again when you look at verse 30 a lion which is mighty among beasts and does not turn away from any he doesn't have the same weakness he's not a feeble folk the lion is stately the lion is majestic the lion is the king of the forest so the lion doesn't fear anything whereas the coney fears everything and takes a a rational engagement of their resources to be able to guard themselves against intruding predators now with reference to the temporal lim imitation we need to defend ourselves we need to defend others self-defense that is a basic thing that god has wired into us the bible deals with it in exodus chapter 22 2 and 3 we learn that a man is able to defend his house and if in the exchange the thief is killed then the man defending his house provided it was nighttime is not held liable for that man's death it's an instance of justifiable homicide jesus teaches that if the straw of the the man who owned the house knew at what hour the thief would come he'd be ready for him and he would defend his family against him it's amazing to me how much of this sort of anabaptist or pacifistic mindset has crept into the church today god's not against us defending ourselves or defending our families i'm not saying go out and be a vigil auntie i'm not going i'm saying go out you know go out and take justice in your own hand you know bring it on as you walk down the street like like john rambo that's not what i'm suggesting but there needs to be on the part of all of us this defense of self the bible sees it the konys exhibit it and we ought to learn from them but as well in terms of the spiritual imitation how many times are we told in the scripture that there are a multitude of dangers facing the people of god in the spiritual realm turn to proverbs chapter 5 for one illustration proverbs chapter 5 the wise man is enjoining upon his sons sexual fidelity and in proverbs chapter 5 at verse 7 he says therefore hear me now my children do not depart from the words of my mouth remove your way far from her and do not go near the door of your of her house lest you give your honor to others and your years to the cruel one avoid her remove your way far from her be on guard be a cautious coney don't wander near the door to her house because eventually you'll be in her bed don't even get near that that entrance way notice he doesn't say don't go lie with her no it starts way before that don't go anywhere near her you see the folly of a man that does not heed in proverbs chapter 7. look at how solomon describes it in verse 6 for at the window of my house i looked through my lattice and saw among the simple i perceived among the youths a man devoid of understanding passing along the street near her corner and he took the path to her house in the twilight in the evening in the black and dark night why doesn't he go during the daytime because he's a knucklehead and he knows it because he's a rebel sinner and he knows it he goes there at night so that he can pass the tax shed by persons watching verse 10 and there there a woman met him with the attire of a harlot and a crafty heart she was loud and rebellious her feet would not stay at home at times she was outside at times in the open square lurking at every corner so she caught him and kissed him with an impudent face she said to him i have peace offerings with me today i paid my vows so i came out to meet you diligently to seek your face and i have found you isn't she righteous isn't she godly isn't she wonderful i have done my duty to yahweh now it's time to engage in illicit conjugal relations notice verse 15 so i came out to meet you diligently to seek your face and i have found you i have spread my bed with tapestry colored coverings of egyptian linen i have perfumed my bed uh perfumed my bed with myrrh aloes and cinnamon come let us take our fill of love until morning let us delight ourselves with love for my husband is not at home he has gone on a long journey he has taken a bag of money with him and will come home on the appointed day do you see what solomon is saying be cautious guard your heart don't go near her verse 21 with her enticing speech she caused him to yield she doesn't even have to be that attractive as long as she says the right things as long as she gives him the right sort of overture it says with flattering with her flattering lips she seduced him immediately he went after her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stalks tylenero struck his liver as a bird hastens to the snare he did not know it would cost his life now therefore listen to me my children pay attention to the words of my mouth do not let your heart turn aside to her ways do not stray into her paths free is for she is cast down many wounded and all who are slain by her were strong men her house is the way to hell descending to the chambers of death be cautious this is a world filled with temptation our lord teaches us to pray lead us not into temptation why do you think jesus teaches us to pray that because he wants us to function like the coney who even though there are feeble folk are smart enough to overcome that feebleness by exercising caution by looking up uh looking toward the danger ahead and hiding oneself you see that in the proverbs 22 3. look at proverbs chapter 22 at verse 3. it says a prudent man foresees evil and hides himself but the simple pass on and are punished back in proverbs chapter 6 he upgrades the man who thinks that he can take fire into his bosom and not get burned it's amazing and young people listen the internet is a good thing it's a blessing you can learn about what's going on in ottawa right now not right now please don't do that you can watch cat videos you can see all kinds of things we we have fixed our washing our washing machine i think that'd be a little bit more but our dryer and our and our oven at youtube university i mean there's a lot of good things there's a lot of helpful things on there but oh there's a lot of things on there to be aware of and to guard your hearts against and the fact that it is so easily accessible the fact that probably most of us have a phone in our pocket at any given time that gives us access to just about anything we need to function like the cones brethren we need to exercise caution we need to watch our hearts we need to foresee evil and instead of walking on and being punished we need to hide ourselves jesus teaches the lesson in the sermon on the mount he tells them the multitude that drew near to hear him along with his disciples as he's expounding the law he gets to the seventh commandment and he says the seventh commandment isn't simply breached when you actually enter in to your neighbor's wife the seventh commandment is breached when you have lustful thoughts about her in your heart or when you have lustful thoughts about him in your heart when there is that there is sin now jesus says the way to deal with that is to cut off your hand and to gouge out your eye now he is speaking metaphorically that is not actually what he wants you to do if you got a problem with internet porn cut your hand off no the emphasis is upon deal radically with it you could get rid of your phone you could get rid of your computer you could get rid of whatever it is that you utilize to engage in that particular function the idea is is that you need to be cautious you need to exercise caution relative to the various sins that we find ourselves confronted with romans 13 14 the apostle says but put on the lord jesus christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts second corinthians 7 1. paul says we're supposed to perfect holiness in the fear of god having these promises it's not just law keeping it's not just the application of you know sort of a pull up your bootstraps kind of a thing but it's based on the promises that god has afforded in terms of him being our god and we being his people having those promises we perfect holiness in the fear of god so we've got the industrious ants we've got the cautious cones notice thirdly the united locusts the united locust back in chapter 30 specifically at verse 27 it says the locusts have no king yet they all advance in ranks so they're weakness they have no king now while anarchy may be a bit sort of attractive to some of us especially in the light of the last two years anarchy is not god's way the way of god is to appoint civil government romans 13 let every soul be subject to the governing authority for there is no authority except from god and those which exist are established by god jesus speaking is wisdom in proverbs chapter 8 he says buy me king's reign reign paul the apostle in first timothy chapter 2 tells us to pray for kings and for all who are in authority that we may lead peaceable and quiet lives and all godliness so again while an anarchy may be attractive in some sense it is god's way to have some sort of civil government and that provides leadership look back at the text verse 20 27 the locusts have no king they have no unifying influence they have no leader they have no alpha male they have no alpha dog they have no one to lead them that is a weakness brethren god has designed it in such a way that you have leaders and then you have followers whatever your particular lot in life do it unto the glory of god most high so leadership in a society of people is a blessing and a good thing but with reference to the locus they don't have that that is a weakness that does face them if you want to see something symptomatic of anarchy look at judges 17-21 it shows us life in israel when there was no king in israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes it's not given as an idealized vision of civil society it is seen as a bane it is seen as a curse it is seen as something that is not good so we've got these locusts who have no king but notice their strength how do they com compensate for that weakness yet they all advance in ranks they cooperate they are unified they understand that if we want to eat we're going to have to band together with or without a cane if we want to feed our little locust belly then we need to get a camaraderie one with another now the bible speaks of locusts in a whole host of ways probably the most obvious is the the plague of locus in exodus chapter 10 but you have in joel you have this plague of locusts that affected the children of israel in such a way that it sure sort of demonstrates or serves in the hand of the prophet to illustrate the coming day of god's wrath and judgment now if you've never known what locust can do let me just read this to you a desert locust swarm can be 460 miles uh 460 square miles in size and packed between 40 and 80 million locusts into less than half a square mile each locust can eat its weight in plants each day so a swarm of such size would eat 423 million pounds of plants every day like the individual animals within them locust swarms are typically in motion and can cover vast distances in 1954 a swarm flew from northwest africa to great britain in 1988 another made the lengthy trek from west africa to the caribbean so they have no king but they compensate they all advance in ranks they cooperate with one another they are unified with one another as i said one locus cannot descend upon a farmer's field and ravage it but millions upon millions upon millions of locusts gathered together in swarming can put a lot of farmers out of business irreparably not that that's a good thing i'm just simply saying that is their cooperative power when they form one with another now in terms of the temporal imitation we ought to praise god for the structure that he institutes in the family there is a commandment that speaks specifically to that honor your father and your mother there is a king in your home there is a queen in your home and that's a blessed provision from our great god we ought to praise god for for ecclesiastical leadership that there are elders and deacons to function in that capacity to lead the church of the lord jesus christ in our mission to preach the word to give the sacraments and to exercise discipline and we ought to be thankful in principle for civil government now that does not justify or exonerate vileness on their part but the institution in and of itself is given by god for the good of his people for the good of not just his people but of people in general now in terms of the spiritual imitation the church of jesus christ does have a king the church of jesus christ does have a head the church of jesus christ does have a commander a champion one who governs us one who rules us one who commands us and one who calls us to a specific function we see that kingship conferred upon him as mediator in matthew chapter 28. you see it in ephesians chapter one you see it revelation chapter 1 jesus is the ruler over the kings of the earth he defends us he protects us he he disciplines us he he commands us and so we have a king our task is to be unified our task is to be cooperative one with another as we march with reference to our king's commands you see that emphasis in scripture turn to roman er rather ephesians chapter four the idea being cooperation or unity in ephesians chapter four the apostle in verse one gives us this admonition i therefore the prisoner of the lord beseech you notice the language why is he doing this because a church that is not unified a church that is not cooperating one with another is betraying her fidelity to the king but as well it just makes for a miserable situation so i therefore the prisoner of the lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called with all lowliness and gentleness with long-suffering bearing with one another in love and then notice endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace that language of endeavoring argues for some action on our part it's not going to just happen it's not just going to be there it's not just going to occur we have to pursue it we have to endeavor in this case to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace that needs to be crucial among god's people and then the rationale for that are the several ones that he gives in verses 4 and 5. notice there is one body one spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling one lord one faith one baptism one god and father of all who is above all and through all and in you all so we are to endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace walt again says how much more should god's people under god's king advance god's kingdom by fighting in unison against the enemy not themselves each one doing his part within his own rank appears with the strictest discipline great observation jay adams in his helpful little book christian living in the home makes the observation that husbands and wives typically not typically sometimes have this tendency to fight with each other and i don't think he means you know fists and all that verbal altercations they that they're going against one another j adam says no you need to harmonize you need to unify you need to cooperate you need to deal with each other the way paul says to in ephesians 5. husbands love your wives just as christ loved the church and gave himself for her wives submit to your own husbands as to the lord do that and then instead of doing this you work together to deal with the issue you work to get together to deal with the problem you work together to bring a solution to whatever it is you were originally fighting over well the church finds herself in that place as well we oftentimes fight each other instead of our common enemy we oftentimes get so caught up in all of our preferences and in all of the little details and in all of the jots and the tittles that that that make us just a little bit different we hone in on that we focus in on that and we fight with each other about that i mean take the christian church and just think in your own experience they can fight about just about anything i mean over the color of hymn books they can actually fight over the color of him books they can fight over you know what kind of piano what kind of carpet what kind of pews why would we do that why in the world would we waste all that time doing this when the focus is there so we learn from the locusts that unifying and cooperation and endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace is absolutely crucial and then notice lastly the fourth animal the persistent spider or lizard it's persistence it's endurance it's going forward that's the emphasis here so the translation is difficult it's either spider or lizard i think it's the king james tradition that has spider and the non-king james has lizard it's also difficult to know whether it's the spider skillfully grasping with its hands or the ease with which a spider or lizard can be grasped by the hands of another i think that's probably the emphasis the esv captures it well the lizard you can take in your hands yet it is in king's palaces okay so whether you're a lizard or a spider you're pretty small you're a tiny thing anybody and everybody can come along and pick you up that has to be a severe limitation in one's existence right you're just minding your own business chomping on a leaf and somebody picks you up and puts you in a jar maybe pokes holes in it so you don't die but that's probably no way to live how do you plan how do you deal how do you sort of make any arrangements for life in a world where you can be so easily picked up and disposed of by just about anyone or anything so the spider skillfully grasped with its hands or can be easily grasped by the hand and it is in king's palaces so despite its limitation the spider or the lizard is in a place where you and i aren't despite its limitation it is overcome by that wisdom of persistence endurance faithfulness i don't have it so much now where we live but before we lived out in the country on armstrong road and you all know that have lived in this land for any amount of time you can actually blast a spider's web with a hose and come out the next day and it's still there right that happens they're persistent little creatures you can cut the tail off of a lizard what happens does it die no the tail keeps wiggling while the lizard runs off why because it's persistent it is a small thing it has insignificance it has a multitude of limitations and many many challenges very easy for anybody to pick it up and yet it is in king's palaces there is not only persistence sam waldron says that the identifi identifying trait here is ambition it's ambition you blast that spider with the hose it's going to be back the next day you pick that spider up and throw it outside of the door it's going to be back in the king's palace the next day so persistence john gill says yet such is her constancy and assiduity acid duty and her unwearied application to business that as fast as they are destroyed the webs she attempts to restore them right you destroy the web it doesn't just say oh that's too bad it starts building again we are so not like that we'd have to have a period of you know crying and whining and grumbling and facebooking what happened the the spider just gets back to it the spider just does what it's supposed to do now in terms of the temporal imitation we all ought to have that kind of persistence you've probably heard the story of robert the bruce he was the king of scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. he was in a battle uh in 1305 and he was on the run they weren't doing well so bruce hit in a cave where he observed a spider spinning a web trying to make a connection from one area of the cave's roof to another it tried and failed twice but began again and succeeded on the third attempt inspired by this bruce returned to inflict a series of defeats on the english thus winning him more supporters and eventual victory what happened he looked at the spider and he thought i'm going back to the battlefield and i'm going to win so he goes back to the battlefield and he wins do you know that wd-40 is called wd-40 not because the man who invented it had as his favorite number 40 it means that there were 39 previous attempts that failed so what does he do he gets to 18 and says you know i don't think i'm ever going to get this worked out i'm done thankfully he got to 40 because we all have profited from that man's persistence to provide the world with wd-40 now in terms of the spiritual it ought to be obvious perseverance endurance faithfulness persistence walk you again this conclusion points to wisdom's reward of living in a luxurious royal palace if the son whom wicked men and women want to capture exercises caution though as vulnerable as a lizard or a spider he too will live in the chief residence of the realm paradoxically the people of god who are foolish by the world standards live in heavenly places we see that in ephesians chapter 2. so persistence endurance faithfulness turn to matthew 24 we looked at the context of matthew 25 when we looked at matthew 25 a couple of weeks ago but at the end of the olivet discourse the lord jesus tells his people in light of judgment to come there is a particular way you're supposed to live and it's not laying on the couch and just waiting until god decimates all things no you're to exercise watchfulness you're to exercise faithfulness so watchfulness at the end of chapter 24 in verses 36 to 44. faithfulness chapter 24 verses 45 to 51 and then preparedness those uh uh 10 virgins with their lamps we see that in chapter 25 at verses 1-13 and then diligence in the parable of the talents you see the lord jesus tells us the very same lesson that the lizard or the spider displays for us he's easily grasped he's easily placed in a jar he's easily neutralized but he doesn't stop he's persistent he'll continue to build his webs he'll continue to scurry about he'll continue to be in king's palaces and enjoy the benefits there in so in conclusion you can turn back to proverbs chapter 30. not only do those obvious lessons present themselves industry caution unity and persistence but i would suggest as well in terms of practical application first of all the need for self-awareness the need for self-awareness i think that this is a symptomatic problem of a narcissistic age there are a lot of people out there that have absolute zero self-awareness learn from these little things they're self-aware the ant knows it cannot go out and kill an animal and eat in the winter the ant is aware enough that if i don't go busy myself now and prepare my food for the winter i'm going to be a dead ant self-awareness is another lesson that these four little things communicate to us we need to recognize our own limitations if the ant thinks it is a lion it won't eat in the wintertime if the coney thinks it is a predator rather than a prey animal it will always be bested it will not hide in the crags it will not post its guards it will not hear the whistle and then run off when the predator comes if the locust thinks that kings are necessary for a unified expedition then they will starve to death if they wait around until such time as there is a king they're not going to eat so you see each of these creatures have this awareness of their own limitations as a result of identifying that particular limitation they don't whine they don't grumble they don't complain but rather they overcome it they seek by god's grace to do what they can to navigate in this world with the various challenges that present themselves to them and if the spider or the lizard thinks it's a lion or a greyhound if the lizard or the spider thinks that it's something far more majestic than it is it's gonna end up in a jar in the king's palace versus running freely around there we need to capitalize on our wisdom we need to be informed by the word of god we need to take these lessons from these little things and put them into practice such that we don't engage in the sort of foolishness and folly that we see conducted all around us the realization of one's limitations ought not to lead to laziness or retreat i mean face it brethren we've all got our challenges we all have our limitations we all have the difficult issues in our lives what is the answer lay on the couch and wait till jesus comes no get up off the couch figure out what your issue is and deal with it in a way that honors god most high he's not called us to indolence he's not called us to laziness and he has certainly not called us to murmuring and whining and complaining we need to get about the business of life we need to cultivate those things by which one can compensate for their limitations you see it brethren in the created order not just with these things you see you see people that have you know serious physical handicap serious challenges and what do they do they overcome that they have those limitations that are inherent in their own lives and they don't just sit around and whine but they compensate bridges says weakness then is no excuse for indolence no occasion of despondency and then in terms of the imitation of these things definitely and when i say temporally i mean on the physical plan i mean with reference to you know you as an individual you as a person in a family you as a person in a church you as a person in civil society just good horse horse sense on how to navigate through life but with reference to spiritual each of these things translate over into that particular arena into that particular realm and we need to exercise the sorts of things we find in the passage spiritual industry we need to exercise caution we need to exercise unity and cooperation and we need to exercise persistence and endurance and that mindset of hebrews chapter 12 to run with endurance the race that is set before us looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith that's the emphasis that these little things bring to the people of god in our day and age may god help us to apply these things such that we're not obnoxious to one another but such that we're actually helpful and loving and faithful in terms of our relationships to one another and in terms of our relationship to god and of course all of these animals would preach to us the blessed gospel of salvation believe on the lord jesus christ why does anger take pen to paper and highlight the wisdom of these little things because he wants ultimately men women and boys and girls to believe the gospel of the son of god such that they pass from death into life and that they exercise these qualities these characteristics these things in their daily lives as god's blood bought children well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for these lessons that these little things set before us give us wisdom god to appropriate this give us wisdom to be right in our assessment of our own limitations and god help us with wisdom to seek to overcome these things and to function in a way that is consistent with your holy word i do pray for our children i pray they would take heed to these things that they would understand the necessity of preparation for that day of judgment and the only way being fleeing to the lord jesus christ believing on him and looking to him alone we ask that you would go with us now watch over us in this coming week bless all of our brothers and sisters in our local church and we pray in the name of the lord jesus christ amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation you you