May I turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 30. Begin reading in verse 24. There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. the answer of 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 in 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 have 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 wringing the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife." Amen. Well, let us pray.
Our Father, we thank you for the word. We pray for the ministry of your spirit now. I pray that you would forgive us of all of our sins and our transgressions, help us to learn the lessons of wisdom as set forth here in the Proverbs. Grant us grace, Lord God, to take these things to heart, and may you watch over us and protect us, and may you cause us to be diligent, cause us to be prudent, and cause us truly, as Jesus said, to be cunning and wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction: Four Wise Creatures
Well, as the Lord Jesus Christ used those two particular animals in our message this morning to teach us about a strategy about being cunning as serpents and being harmless as doves, so tonight we're going to look at four particular animals and the lessons that they have for us. That is found in verses 24 to 28. There are four little things that are listed in this particular passage and each of them indeed teaches us something big concerning wisdom and the necessity of certain traits that the children of God must manifest and must imbibe. This is something that we find or something that should be helpful in studying the Bible.
The Bible uses concrete illustration. It uses real life things. It points us to animals. It points us to the created order so that we may be instructed for good by our gracious God and Father.
So the four animals, they're ants, conies, locusts, and spiders. We might ask the question, what do these little things have to teach People like us, well, they actually have a lot to teach us. And the first is the ants. If we had to reduce their lesson to one word, it would be preparation.
The Ant: Preparation
Notice, there are four things which are little on the earth, verse 24, but they are exceedingly wise. We would be exceedingly wise, we would imbibe these traits that are displayed here by these little things. Notice, the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer. If you drop down to verse 29, it says there are three things which are majestic in pace.
Yes, four which are stately in walk. A lion which is mighty among beasts and does not turn away from any. The lion doesn't have to prepare. The lion doesn't have to busy itself.
The lion doesn't have to store food away for the winter time. When the lion is hungry, he kills and eats. Actually, he sends the female lions out to do his bidding and to bring back the meat. What an arrangement.
These lionesses go out, they kill the animals, and they bring daddy his meat. That's just an amazing way to live. And the lion has that benefit. He is the king of the beast.
No one's going to come and mess with him. Nobody tries to take his food away. And because he has that liberty of always being able to kill and eat, he doesn't have to prepare. He doesn't have to busy himself.
Yet these little ants, who do not have that benefit, who do not have that liberty, have to be industrious. They have to prepare. They have to be hard workers. They have to have diligence.
Proverbs chapter 6, they are set forth as an example there. Proverbs chapter 6, 6 to 11. 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. How long will you slumber, oh sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler and your need like an armed man. What a reproof for a slugger. Solomon says, look at the ant.
They don't have the luxury of laying around. They don't have the luxury of laying in their bed. They don't have the luxury of just sleeping and slumbering life away. They have to be about it.
They have to be diligent. They have to prepare. And the same thing is held out here in Proverbs 30. The ants are people, they're not strong.
They don't have that resource. They don't have that ability. They don't have that power. They don't have that strength.
So what they do have, they prepare their food in the summer. We need to understand preparation in the Christian life is absolutely crucial, both temporally in matters concerning this earth and eternally. with reference to matters concerning this earth. Jesus cautions us against worry in Matthew 6, 25-34. But he doesn't caution us against industry.
We need to be workers, we need to be diligent, we need to labor. The structure of creation itself bespeaks this. Six days the Lord created the heavens and the earth. The seventh is a Sabbath day of rest.
You shall work hard on those six days. If the Sabbath principle teaches us something concerning rest, which we most desperately need as well, it also teaches us the need for hard, industrious work. Go to the end, you slugger. If you struggle with laziness, if you struggle with lack of preparation, then learn the lesson from this little thing, which is exceedingly wise.
Preparation for Eternity
But as well, preparation with reference to the things of eternity. You know, I think sometimes people have the industry of ants down when it comes to houses, or when it comes to education, or when it comes to jobs. I think people master that at times and neglect the eternal aspect. There is a day coming.
We will all die. Hebrews 9.27 says it is appointed unto man to die and then comes the judgment. We need to prepare. We need to be ready.
We need to listen to the prophet Amos. Prepare to meet thy God. J.C. Ryle makes this admonition to little children.
He says, Dear children, the best time for seeking pardon, grace, and the friendship of God is the time of youth. He 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. Prepare. Come to church.
Use the means. Read the Bible. Pray to God. Seek the Lord while He may be found.
Call upon Him while He is near. There is a day coming when that mercy and that grace will be no more. Charles Bridges makes this comment. 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? Wiling away life in inactivity, as if there was no work for God, for the soul, or for eternity. Shall not we learn to be wise betimes, 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? I mean, what is so pressing in your life right now that you don't prepare for eternity, that you don't come to the Lord Jesus, that you don't listen to the Gospel, that you don't believe? What is more important than your never-dying soul?
Remember that parable that the Lord Jesus taught, the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. He yielded so much that he had a dilemma. His barns could not contain the amount of vegetables, the amount of grain that he had. So he's sitting and he's speaking thus with himself and he says, I know what I'll do.
I'll pull down the old barns and I'll construct new barns and I'll put all my stuff in those barns. It's exactly what people are doing today, isn't it? They're putting all their stuff in their barns. They're putting all their stuff in their garage.
They're putting all their stuff in their storage facility. They're laying up all these things for their lives. And then they say with that man, So take thine ease. Eat, drink, and be merry, essentially.
And what does Jesus say? God the Lord says to that man, thou fool, your soul is required of you tonight. What will become of all this stuff then? You cannot take it with you.
You busy yourself preparing for temporal things, and the Bible says to do so, but do not neglect preparation for eternal things. Bridges says, what else have you to do but to prepare for eternity? 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.
Learn the lesson from this exceedingly wise little ant. Prepare. Prepare to meet thy God. Prepare for the day of death.
Prepare to enter into eternity.
The Rock Badger: Caution
Notice the second animal. Verse 26. The rock badgers. The King James Version calls them conies.
The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags. Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14, and Psalm 104 refer to these animals. They are probably Assyrian rock hydrax. They live in colonies of about six to 50, and they're quite the interesting little animal.
They burrow their way into the crags of the rocks, and then there's guards posted. I think the Idaho whistle pig is similar to these animals. They're called whistle pigs because they whistle. They make this high screeching whistle sound.
I mean, they're all over the place. Go to Mountain Home. Daniel was just through there. I wonder if he saw any whistle pigs.
He probably ran some over with his big truck because they're all over the place there. So the whistle pig makes this high sound. That's what the coney does. So the coney colony goes into the crags.
They come out to sun themselves on the rock. But they have these guards posted. So if these prey animals see a predator, they make this high-pitched whistling sound. When the coney colony hears that, the coneys run and take cover.
So the one word that best describes these conies is that they're cautious. They're cautious. That's why I refer to them as conies. It helps with the alliteration.
Cautious conies. Now, if I could figure out how to do that with these other animals, you might be able to remember the sermon. But they're cautious. They're exceedingly small.
They're not stately and powerful. They don't have big ripping paws. They don't have big teeth. They're not able to resist predators, so they have to be cautious.
When they want to go out in the sun, they have to post these guards so that they don't end up getting killed and eaten. They have to exercise this degree of caution, and that is precisely what these exceedingly wise cones highlight in Proverbs chapter 30. And if you don't see the spiritual lesson, if you don't see the spiritual benefit of being a cautious man or woman, then please listen.
Caution Against Sin's Approach
We are told several times in the book of Proverbs, especially young men, Solomon tells his sons to guard their hearts, to exercise caution. In Proverbs chapter 5, when he is cautioning his sons about the strange woman, or the harlot, or the ungodly woman, he says, do not go near the door of her house. That's caution. He doesn't say, don't get into her bed.
He says, don't go near her door. You are not that strong. If you go near her door, it won't be long before you're in her bed. You need to be You need to guard, you need to resist temptation, you need to stay away from those things that would trip you up.
Caution is what the Kones exercise and caution is what the Christian ought to imbibe. Notice in Proverbs chapter 4, Proverbs 4, 14 and 15. Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it.
Do not travel on it. Turn away from it and pass on. I doubt Solomon's son said, Dad, what are you talking about? What do you mean?
We don't understand. Read the verses. Solomon tells his sons, be cautious. Do not enter the path of wicked or the wicked.
Do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it. Do not travel on it. Turn away from it and pass on.
The prudent foresees evil. And what does he do? He hides himself. He doesn't just wander into the midst of it saying, well, I'm so godly, and I'm so righteous, and I'm so holy, I will never be tainted by this sinful conduct.
No, he sees the evil, he sees the wickedness, and he hides himself. If you see a piano hanging out of a window, and the temptation is there to walk underneath it, somebody ought to give you a good shake. The same thing is true for Christians. We cannot get close to sin.
What does James say? Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and the Father is this. To visit widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted, unstained from this world. You see, Christians have this idea that we can go out and affect good, and we can to a degree.
But more often than not, it is the bad that affects us. And so we need to exercise this caution that the Konies display. Proverbs 5.8, already referred to this. Remove your way far from her.
Do not go near the door of her house. Proverbs 22 and verse 3. Proverbs 22 and verse 3, a prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. Stop.
Be cautious. Don't go there. There's predators. There's problems, there's difficulties, there's trials, there's all these things.
We need to take the Word of God seriously. We need to hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. We need to exercise caution with the Koni. Though being a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags.
The Locust: Cooperation
The third animal, the third little thing is the locust. Notice, verse 27, the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks. Now, locust plagues are terrible. Let me just read a little bit I took off the internet about locusts.
A desert locust swarm can be 460 square miles, or 1,200 square kilometers. in size and pack 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 typical 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. Now, what is it that we ought to learn from the locusts? Notice what Solomon says, or Edgar says.
The locusts have no king. They're not like bees. to take their marching orders from the Queen. It's not a monarchy in a locust swarm. You would think that would mean mayhem.
You would think that would mean locusts flying all over the place. That's not it. Notice what it says. Yet, they all advance in ranks.
There's cooperation in the locust realm. cooperation to work together for the good of the whole. Now the good of the whole for the locust is the bad for the poor guy that owns the field. But you see, in order for them to fill those bellies, in order for them to satiate their hunger, in order for them to carry out their mission and their task, they have to cooperate. There's no monarch, there's no leader, there's no ruler, and yet they advance in ranks.
They cooperate with one another. They jive with one another. And certainly, this is a principle that the Christian church most assuredly needs to imbibe. Families need to cooperate.
Societies need to cooperate. The principle I really want to bring out is with reference to the church. Now, we do have a king. His name is the Lord Christ.
He governs us by his word and he governs us by his spirit. And one of the means by which or one of the things he calls for with reference to his blood-bought church is that they cooperate together. They cooperate with one another.
Unity of the Spirit in the Church
In Ephesians chapter 4, we see the emphasis by the Apostle Paul in this area. He says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, verse 1, 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, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. You endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That means if disunity comes, if division comes, you seek to correct it.
If one of the locusts starts to stray, they bring him back into the mix. We have a goal. We have a task. We have a field to conquer.
You cannot stray. You cannot deviate. You cannot go your own way. You must join the rest of us.
You see, for the Apostle Paul, the unity of the Church, for the Lord Christ Almighty, the unity of the Church is something worth fighting for. Notice what he says. Not fighting, we're going to fight people. to get unity that seems to be counterproductive and paradoxical but notice what he says with all lowliness and gentleness with long-suffering bearing with one another in love those are the ingredients Those are the means, those are the traits, the characteristics, or the descriptions of those who endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. In other words, how do we do this?
How do we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in the Church of Jesus Christ? Well, here's what you do. You are to be lowly. You are to be humble.
You are to value and prize others above yourself. You are to engage in gentleness. Remember, Jesus spoke to this this morning. Well, not this morning.
He spoke to it several years ago, but we read it and learned of it this morning. We need to be harmless as doves. If in the midst of pagans and unbelievers, if on a missionary enterprise, if while going from town to town in Israel to preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand, if we need to be harmless and gentle and innocent, loving and kind to those people, Shall we not be in the church toward one another? You see, this is crucial, churchmanship.
With all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering. Brethren, we must be patient with one another. We must suffer long with one another, right? You will be wronged in the church.
I know, it's hard to believe. You will be wronged by people that love you. You will be wronged by people that are closest to you. We need to suffer long.
We need to bear with one another in love. You see, this is what Paul says concerning the church of Jesus Christ. This is something displayed by those locusts while having no king, yet They advance in ranks. Again, Bridges says this.
Many professors, instead of going by bands, prefer an individual course. This is bad, too. You know, this maverick sort of Christianity. I don't need the church.
I don't need anybody. All I need is my Bible and the Holy Spirit. Yeah, but your Bible and the Holy Spirit tell you you need the church. Doesn't it?
You cannot go it alone. I don't care how much of a rugged individualist you are, how much of an American you may be, how much of a Canadian you think you are, you cannot do the Christian life on your own. Many professors, instead of going by bands, prefer an individual course. They belong to no cohort.
They are under no discipline. This unsettled principle can never issue in a Christian steadfastness. Unity, not diversity, brings the good thing of the heart established with grace. The strength of the church is, not as an army of irregular soldiers, a regiment of loose disorder, unconnected with each other, but when she goeth forth by bands, united, concentrated, well disciplined, every officer at his post, every soldier in his ranks, each under rule, helpful to each other and to their great cause.
Beautiful statement of what these locusts display when they come to eat a field. Certainly, as the Church of Jesus Christ, we ought to pursue cooperation. And we do have a king, we do have a head, we do have a Lord. It is all the more necessitated that we advance in ranks.
The Spider: Godly Ambition
And then fourthly, the fourth animal. Notice verse 28. The spider skillfully grasps with its hands And it is in king's palaces. I understand that your version may say the lizard.
It's difficult to know which animal is in view, but I think the point is this. This spider, we'll call him a spider. He's a lizard. It works for him too.
They're exceedingly small. They're not powerful. They're not stately. They don't have the ability that the lion has.
And yet, where do you find them? You find them in king's palaces. You find them in a place of prestige. This little tiny thing that is as insignificant as the ant, as the coney, as the locust, nevertheless is in king's palaces.
I think the principle or a principle that we can take from this is ambition or vision. Church today likes to talk about vision. There is a biblical concept of vision or a godly ambition. Now if this little spider ends up in king's palaces, it shows us something about his character.
Say what you will, he may be nasty, he may be icky, whatever we might want to call him, he is in king's palaces and we're not. Ambition. And by ambition, I don't mean a godless ambition.
Ambition Defined and Applied
I mean pressing on with steadfast determination to pursue the things enjoined upon us in the Holy Scripture and to be those who, by the grace of God, are good examples for others, are faithful men and women, are faithful churchmen, are faithful husbands, and faithful fathers, and faithful wives, and faithful mothers. We want to create an environment where children today would look at godly mothers and godly fathers as examples before they'd look at the latest hockey star, or the latest basketball star, or worse, the latest rap music guy. We don't want them to be role models for our youth. We want them to be able to look around and see an ambitious people.
Not ambitious again, we have this context of ambition means I gotta have all this stuff. No, I want to be faithful to my Lord. I want to run with endurance the race that is set before us. I want to do so looking unto Jesus and I want to press on.
I want to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. I've heard a lot of sermons. I have access to a lot of good materials. I want to use those things.
I want to traffic in those things. I want to hide that truth in my heart so that I don't sin against God, so that I may be a faithful churchman in my context. That's good. That's what this spider demonstrates.
He grasps with its hands and yet he is in King's palaces. We must have the determination. We must have the vision to go forward that we are heading to the palace of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and that he gives great grace to us. These are great traits, characteristics in our pursuit of wisdom.
We ought to learn the lessons of each of these ones that are exceedingly wise, little on the earth, and nevertheless set forth to us these invaluable lessons.
Application: All Four Traits
Let us, by God's grace, prepare for eternity. Let us, by God's grace, exercise caution. Caution. Elsewhere in the Proverbs, Solomon says, can a man take fire to his bosom and not get burned?
No, of course not. In fact, let's just read this as we conclude our study and as we summarize each of these traits. Notice in Proverbs 7, I'm sorry, Proverbs 6, beginning in verse 20, So much of Proverbs are cautions given by Solomon to his sons. My son, keep your father's command.
Verse 20. Do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart. Tie them around your neck.
When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you. When you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light, reproofs of instruction of the way of life to keep you from the evil woman. from the flattering tongue of a seductress.
Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread, and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burnt? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared?
So is he who goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall not be innocent. People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold.
He may have to give up all the substance of his house. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away.
Wounds and dishonor from who? From her husband. He's going to punch you in the nose for violating his wife and breaking that covenant. Wounds and dishonor he will get and his reproach will not be wiped away for jealousy is a husband's fury.
Therefore, he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will accept no recompense, nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts. Notice in chapter 7 verse 1, my son, keep your words. He then gives that illustration.
I watched. I saw this crafty harlot. I saw her wearing the attire of a harlot. And I saw this young man devoid of sense, a fool, an idiot.
He went to her. Exercise caution. We need as the church to exercise cooperation. We need to pursue, we need to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
It is worth it. We need to be lowly, we need to be gentle, we need to be long-suffering, we need to bear with one another in love. All of those traits, all of those things are not just thrown out there as sort of a, you know, if you do this, it's a recipe for success. This is what the Christian Church must be about.
These are the sorts of things that must characterize us. These are the sorts of things we must pursue. And then a godly ambition we are to run with endurance the race that is set before us. We are to look unto Jesus.
We are to press on knowing that we are heading to the king of kings palace. We are heading to a place where there are no spiders, where there is no insect, where there is only the redeemed of Jesus Christ our Lord. and he will be in their midst. So brethren, let us learn the lessons from these four animals like we learned lessons from the snakes and from the doves in Matthew chapter 10. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the wisdom of these feeble folk. Yet, as Solomon or as the Proverbs say, they are exceedingly wise. God, help us to pursue these things.
Help us, Father, to know your grace and your provision and your kindness to us and grant us help as we enter into a new week. God, I pray that you would be glorified in our lives as individuals and that you would be glorified in this local church, and that you would be pleased to save sinners here through the preaching of the gospel. That when people come in among us and they hear the truth, the spirit would be at work, and the spirit would apply that word, and more and more people would come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. God, be gracious to the young people, be gracious to the children, be gracious to these recent grads.
I pray they would take these four lessons and put them into practice in their lives. And we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.