← Back to sermon library
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 leech has two daughters,
Give and Give. There are three things that are
never satisfied. Four never say enough. The grave,
the barren woman, 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 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
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 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 in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for
the wisdom of Solomon and for this man, Agur. 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 and 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 Proverbs, most of them are ascribed to Solomon. Chapter
30 is ascribed to a man named Agur, but Agur is consistent
with Solomon in what we would call philosophy. If you look
at 1 Kings chapter 4, I can just read it concerning Solomon and
his glory. It says he spoke 3,000 proverbs
and his songs were 1,005. Also he spoke of trees, from
the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out
of the wall. He also spoke of animals, of birds, of creeping
things, and of 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 oftentimes
illustrate with spiritual principle. Now, Agur, 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 gonna provide for them.
God provides for the birds, God provides for the lilies, therefore
God will provide for 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 Edgar 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 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
in 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 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
conys, 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 a cony, 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, Edgar 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
wintertime, all the lion has to do is go out and kill a gazelle. The ant can't do that. The ant
has to plan. The ant has to plot. The ant
has to express industry and diligence if the ant wants to sustain itself
during wintertime. 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 end, 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. Waltke 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 Heger'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 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 attend 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 the
price of a field. You shall have enough goat's
milk for your food, for the food of your household and the nourishment
of your maidservants. Lazy men didn'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 into gear. 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 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 1 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 the lesson of Edgar 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 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. J.C. Ryle 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 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?
wiling 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
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? 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 we'll marry, planning where
we'll 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 things
in verse 26. The old King James renders it
the Cones. The Cones are a feeble folk,
yet they make their homes in the crags. Now, these colonies
are probably rock badgers or rock hydraxes, and they're indicated
in 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 six to 50, and often sun themselves on the rocks. They
are 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. They're a similar type of a thing,
a high-pitched whistle. So they live in colonies of 6
to 50. 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 in. They have guards around their
perimeter watching for predators. And when Nekoni sees the predator,
he makes the high-pitched whistle. That signifies to his fellow
Cones, it's time to beat feet, it's time to find your safety,
it's time to find your refuge. So the point is, is that the
Cones, 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 rational engagement
of their resources to be able to guard themselves against intruding
predators. Now, with reference to the temporal
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 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 vigilante. I'm saying go out and take justice
in your own hand. you know, bring it on as you
walk down the street 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 Konies
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 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 entranceway. 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 seven. Look at how Solomon describes
it in verse six. 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 detection by persons watching. Verse 10, and 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
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 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 stocks. Till an arrow 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, for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were
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 they're a feeble folk, are smart
enough to overcome that feebleness by exercising caution. by looking
up, 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 six,
he upbraids 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 have fixed our washing, not
our washing machine, I think that'd be a little bit more,
but our dryer 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 beware 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 Konies, 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 breach 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 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. 2 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 conies, notice thirdly, the united
locusts. The united locusts, back in chapter
30, specifically at verse 27. It says, the locusts have no
king, yet they all advance in ranks. So their weakness, they
have no king. Now, while anarchy may be a bit
sort of attractive to some of us, especially in 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 his wisdom in Proverbs chapter 8, he says, by me kings
reign. Paul the Apostle in 1 Timothy
chapter 2 tells us to pray for kings and for all who are in
authority, that we may lead peaceable and quiet lives in all godliness.
So again, while 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
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 locusts, 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 to 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 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 king. 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 plague of locusts 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 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
locusts can do, let me just read this to you. A desert locust
swarm can be 460 square miles 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 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 locust 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 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 28. You see it in Ephesians 1. You see it in Revelation 1. Jesus
is the ruler over the kings of the earth. He defends us. He
protects us. He disciplines us. 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 Ephesians chapter 4. The idea being cooperation or
unity. In Ephesians chapter 4, the apostle
in verse 1 gives us this admonition. 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 gonna just happen. It's not just gonna be there.
It's not just gonna 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 four and five. 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. Waltke 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 of peers with the strictest
discipline. Great observation. J. 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're going against one another. J. Adams 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
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 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 hymn 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 and 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. 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 grasps
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 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 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 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 in
1305 and he was on the run. They weren't doing well. So Bruce
hid 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 gonna 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 gonna 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. Waltke 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's 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
ten virgins with their lamps. We see that in chapter 25 at
verses one to 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 people that have 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 plane. 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 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 Eger 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.
