🎵Piano Music🎵
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
If you could, go ahead and please turn with me to song number 143, Blessed Assurance.
Song number 143, Blessed Assurance.
Go ahead and please stand with me.
Song number 143 on the first verse, on the first verse.
🎵Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine🎵
🎵Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine🎵
🎵Hare of salvation, purchase of God🎵
🎵Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood🎵
🎵This is my story, this is my song🎵
🎵Praising my Savior, all the day long🎵
🎵This is my story, this is my song🎵
🎵Praising my Savior, all the day long🎵
🎵Perfect submission, perfect delight🎵
🎵Visions of rapture now burst on my sight🎵
🎵Angels descending, great form above🎵
🎵Echos of mercy, whispers of love🎵
🎵This is my story, this is my song🎵
🎵Praising my Savior, all the day long🎵
🎵This is my story, this is my song🎵
🎵Praising my Savior, all the day long🎵
🎵On that last perfect submission🎵
🎵Paul is at rest, I am my Savior🎵
🎵Paul is happy and blessed, watching and waiting🎵
🎵Looking above, filled with his goodness🎵
🎵Lost in his love🎵
🎵This is my story, this is my song🎵
🎵Praising my Savior, all the day long🎵
🎵This is my story, this is my song🎵
🎵Praising my Savior, all the day long🎵
All right, great singing. Let's go ahead and pray. We'll begin.
Father, we thank you so much for our salvation.
We're so thankful for the eternal security of the believer
and that once we have salvation, we have it forever, Lord.
And of course, we're thankful for the assurance that one day you will return
and redeem our physical bodies, Lord, and deliver us from this wretched body that we have.
I pray that you bless our service this evening, bless the singing,
and of course, most importantly, bless the preaching of your word
that all things may be done for your honor and for your glory.
We love you. We thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen. You may be seated. Song number 170. Is that it?
Oh, I'm sorry. The unclouded day, actually.
If you did not get a handout, go ahead and raise your hand.
The ushers will pass one out. We're going to be singing the unclouded day.
The handout, unclouded day. Amen.
Who needs a handout? Go ahead and raise your hand, please.
Thank you, ushers. Appreciate you.
On that first verse.
Oh, they tell me of a home far beyond the skies.
Oh, they tell me of a home far away.
Oh, they tell me of a home where those storm clouds rise.
Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.
Oh, the land of cloudless day.
Oh, the land of an unclouded day.
Oh, they tell me of a home where those storm clouds rise.
Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.
Oh, they tell me of a home where my friends have gone.
Oh, they tell me of that land far away.
Where the tree of life in eternal bloom
sheds its fragrance through an unclouded day.
Oh, the land of cloudless day.
Oh, the land of an unclouded day.
Oh, they tell me of a home where those storm clouds rise.
Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.
Oh, they tell me of a king and his beauty there.
And they tell me that mine eyes shall be mauled.
Where he sits on the throne that is wider than snow
in the city that is made of gold.
Oh, the land of cloudless day.
Oh, the land of an unclouded day.
Oh, they tell me of a home where those storm clouds rise.
Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.
Oh, they tell me that he smiles on his children there.
And his smile drives their sorrows all away.
And they tell me that no tears ever come again
in that land of a clouded day.
Oh, the land of cloudless day.
Oh, the land of an unclouded day.
Oh, they tell me of a home where those storm clouds rise.
Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.
All right, great singing.
Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song,
which will be song number 170, Hallelujah, What a Savior,
if you want to get that ready in your song books.
Song number 170.
Of course, our services are as follows.
Sunday morning is at 1030.
Sunday evening at 5 p.m.
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock.
You see the soul winning times in teams and the list of expecting mothers
if you can continue to pray for them.
And then the important reminders there at the bottom.
Upcoming church events.
We have the barstool soul winning resuming on Monday, May 1st.
We'll keep you posted as far as the locations are concerned.
And then the men's prayer night is on Friday, May 5th.
We will have dinner for all the men who come on that day.
And then, of course, Mother's Day service is Sunday, May 14th.
We will have a gift for all the moms that come on that day.
So I want to encourage you to bring your mom on that day.
Bring someone's mother.
And, of course, the service will be geared towards mothers.
And so hope to see you then.
End of school picnic is Tuesday, May 30th.
You can see my wife for more details.
And then, of course, the regular reminders there at the bottom.
Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching
so as to not be a distraction during the service.
Let's go ahead and take some soul winning numbers from this past week.
By the way, is Brother Glenn here?
Where's Brother Glenn?
Are you collecting them for Brother Ulysses?
Okay.
Salvations from Monday to Thursday.
Any salvations from Monday to Thursday?
Friday and Saturday?
One.
Anybody else?
How about this afternoon?
Salvations for this afternoon?
One for Brother Cody's team.
Two for Brother Hikes' team.
Three for Brother Maury's team.
Two for Brother Ulysses' team.
Two for Brother Marcus' team.
Did I miss anybody else?
Okay.
Keep up the great work on soul winning.
Let's go ahead and sing our next song.
170.
Hallelujah.
What a savior.
Song number 170.
Hallelujah.
What a Savior.
Song number 170 in your hymnal.
Song number 170 on that first verse.
Man of sorrows, what a name.
For the Son of God who came.
Who in sinners to reclaim, Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing ruin, In my place condemned He stood,
Sealed my pardon with His blood, Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Guilty, violent, helpless we, Spotless Lamb of God was He,
Full atonement can it be, Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die, Finished, finished was His cry,
Now with Heaven exalted high, Hallelujah, what a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King, All His webs are home to bring,
Then anew this song we'll sing, Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Good evening, tonight we're in Proverbs chapter 30.
Proverbs chapter 30 in the Bible reads,
The words of Agur the son of Jackah, even the prophecy,
The man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel a new call.
Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
I neither learn wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?
Who hath gathered the winds in his fists?
Who hath bound the waters in a garment?
Who hath established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
Every word of God is pure, he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Two things have I required of thee, deny me them not before I die.
Remove far from me vanity and lies.
Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me with food convenient for me.
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord?
Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Accuse not the servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.
There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up.
There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw-teeth as knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
The horse-leash hath two daughters, crying, Give, give.
There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough.
The grave and the barren womb, the earth that is not filled with water,
and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother,
the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagle shall eat it.
There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not.
The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock,
the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid.
Such is the way of an adulterous woman, she eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith,
I have done no wickedness.
For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which I cannot bear.
For a servant when he reigned, and a fool when he is filled with meat.
For an odious woman when she is married, and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.
The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.
The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth, all of them, by bands.
The spider taketh hold with her the hands, and is in kings' palaces.
There be three things which go well, yea, four are calmly in going.
A lion which is strongest among the beasts, and turneth not away for any.
A greyhound, as he goat also, and a king against whom there is no rising up.
If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil,
lay thine hand upon thy mouth. Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter,
and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood.
So the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.
Let's pray. Dear Lord God, thank you for everyone here, Lord, and thank you for pastors as well, Lord.
I just pray that you bless this service, you bless the preaching, Lord,
and I pray that us in the congregation were edified by the preaching, Lord,
and just bless this time. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. All right, we're in Proverbs chapter 30. Look down at your Bibles at verse number 24.
It says here, There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.
The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.
The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth, all of them by bands.
The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.
And the title of my sermon this evening is Lessons from the Little Things.
Lessons from the Little Things. You know, when you read chapter 30,
we see that many animals are being mentioned here. A lot of creatures are being talked about
and given a lot of application to just run-in-the-mill activities, relationships, and even sin.
But the main ones I want to focus on are the creatures that are found in verses 24 through 28.
And these are the creatures that the Bible says are feeble,
and the main lesson that this particular passage of Scripture is trying to teach us
is that these creatures are essentially resilient, they're creative, and they're hard-working despite their disadvantages.
So they obviously have some deficiencies. They have some disadvantages.
They're not necessarily strong. We see that they're weak and they're feeble,
but they compensate for that lack, that deficiency by being creative, resilient, and hard-working.
I think there's a lot of good lessons that we can learn from these particular creatures,
and I want to go over them this evening.
Before I go into them, let me read to you from 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 26
and make an immediate application to us as Christians when looking at these creatures that says,
For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise,
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty.
And base things of the world and things that are despised hath God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to not the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.
So when we look at these particular creatures, we might have an attitude of despising them because of their stature,
how little they are, how insignificant they may seem to us, but at the end of the day, they're basically like us
because of the fact that when we compare ourselves to these creatures, we see too that we are also insignificant.
We see that we're not as strong as maybe we may think we are.
We see that we don't necessarily possess all the talents and gifts and physical prowess that others may have,
but that's okay because we want God to use us.
And in order for God to use us, in order for us to be successful in the Christian life,
essentially we have to be spiritually small, or as the Bible would also put it, humble.
And so we need humility in our lives.
We need to be meek and humble in order for God to use us because you say, Well, why is that?
Well, in order for us not to glory in his presence, it requires for us to be humble and small in our own eyes
so that God can essentially extend to us grace to be used of us, so we can be used greatly of God.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, and he said it to me,
My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Now let's look at the first animal that's mentioned here, creature, should I say, that's mentioned,
and that is the ant.
Now I want you to pay close attention to each of these lessons that these animals give
because of the fact that they're really applicable to us today in 2023,
applicable to us as Christians, because there's no sin out there that's new.
Every single sin that people struggle with today,
every single mindset that people have today are things that people struggle with even in times past.
So when we look at the ant, we're going to see the lesson that they teach against laziness and for preparation.
It says there in verse 25, the ants are people not strong.
Now, you don't necessarily need to go very far to find this out.
I mean, you go outside, see some ants, and see how well they fight against your foot.
You just kind of step right on them.
I mean, as a kid, you used to pull out the magnifying glass.
I know I did.
And just put it at an angle and just toast those suckers just to see if they burn, and they burn.
They're not very resilient as far as physically speaking.
Obviously, we know that, I don't know, I think I heard ants are able to carry a certain amount of weight above its own body size.
Does anybody know how much that is?
Two times? That's not a lot.
Ten times sounds more like it.
Two times is pretty weak.
Ten times.
Even that doesn't matter because I can just step on it and it's like, well, this is like a thousand times.
Obviously, I'm not helping you much.
But still, obviously, that's very admirable regarding the ant.
But we obviously see that it's an insignificant insect.
It's small.
It's not strong.
And so you say, well, what's the deal with that?
Well, it says the ants are people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.
So in context, it's referring to the fact that it's not necessarily strong enough to just get its food like we would get it
and just kind of go to the grocery store or go to whatever source there is of food and get it.
They have to really work hard at getting their food.
Think about this.
Some ant that's traveling across the street or something like that, let's say they're coming to this building from across the street.
Because some of you leave your food out and stuff, so they're coming to get the food that you left out.
Actually, let's just say they're coming tomorrow because of the food that you leave out,
because your kids leave food and crumbs all over.
So the ant that's by the railroad tracks that's coming over here, it's going to take them a while to get here.
So they need some food for next Sunday.
So in order for them to do that, they need to start heading over here today.
They're prepared so they know that people at first work sometimes leave food out.
So they're like, oh man, this place is always a good source of food.
They always leave it out.
It just takes us a couple hours to get there.
What I'm saying is that these ants are prepared, even though they're not strong, even though they're small and insignificant,
they have the prudence of preparing ahead of time to overcompensate for their weaknesses.
So what the ant lacks in strength and size, he makes up for in prudence.
This is in stark contrast to what we see with the horse leech.
In verse 15, it says the horse leech has two daughters crying, give, give.
So the horse leech doesn't prepare.
It doesn't have prudence.
It's just like a welfare type of an insect.
It's a welfare type of a creature that's not preparing.
It's not prudent.
It just kind of latches on to something and just sucks the blood right out of it.
Whereas the ant understands the importance of preparing ahead of time,
preparing in the summer for the need that's going to come in the fall and in the winter.
So they go and they gather the food, they gather all the first works crumbs and all the stuff that you leave behind,
and then they bring it to their home, their underground little ant hill or whatever,
and they store it in there for the summer.
This is very prudent and it's very wise for the ant to do.
The reason the Bible is telling us this is because it's basically saying,
we as Christians should also be prepared and be prudent and have wisdom and not be lazy.
Now laziness is not just an attribute that is very detestable.
It's actually a sin in the Bible.
Let's define what it means to be lazy.
It means you don't want to work, you always sleep in, and you just don't have any type of work ethic.
That's what it means to be lazy.
It's the opposite of diligence.
It's the opposite of working hard.
It's to love sleep and love pleasure and love oil and wine and not necessarily have an attitude of just working.
Now look what it says there in verse number 7 because we want to have the proper attitude regarding preparation.
There are some folks that take preparation a little too extreme
and they prepare so much that they essentially don't even need the help of God.
They don't need the help of the Holy Spirit.
They really depend so much on their efforts and what they can do.
They don't pray. They don't seek the Lord's face.
They don't seek God's blessing and God's hand of blessing on their finances or on their home or whatever.
We don't want to be that person either.
But we don't want to be lazy either and not be prudent and not prepare either.
Look what the Bible says in verse number 7.
It says, two things have I required of thee, denying them not before I die, remove far from me vanity and lies,
give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say,
Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain.
So what is the Bible teaching us there? Just be content.
But in order for us to reach a state of contentment where we had that which is sufficient for us,
for our households, for our families and even to be a blessing to others,
it requires you not being lazy and it requires for you to prepare.
Now go to Proverbs chapter 6 if you would. Proverbs chapter number 6.
So in essence we can say that the ant is prudent enough to foresee evil and hide himself.
The Bible says, a prudent man foreseeeth evil and hideth himself, but the simple passed on and are punished.
It's important to look down the road and prepare accordingly to the knees that shall arise one day.
And that's what prudence is. Proverbs 18 verse 15 says, the heart of the prudent getteth knowledge and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.
Now one thing that the ant is really good at is just not being lazy and being diligent.
Look at Proverbs 6 and verse 1. My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou strict in thy hand with a stranger,
thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself.
When thou art coming to the hand of thy friend, go home of thyself and make sure thy friend.
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
In other words, he's saying, look, if you made some sort of vow and you owed some sort of money to an individual because you vowed this,
you know, your goal should be to deliver yourself from that situation as much as you possibly can.
Make payments or, you know, just pay that off as soon as you can.
Don't allow yourself to be under tribute.
He says in verse 6, go to the ant thou sluggard.
Now what is a sluggard? Well, you think of a slug, it's a snail, it's a creature that moves very slowly.
So who's he talking to? He's talking to lazy people.
Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise,
which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provided her meat in the summer and gathered her food in the harvest.
So what do we see here? We see that the ant is so diligent that it doesn't need someone watching over its back all the time to make sure it's getting the job done.
Doesn't need a supervisor, doesn't need a boss, doesn't need someone constantly checking up on them.
Why? Because of the fact that they're just going to get the job done no matter what.
They essentially rule themselves.
And a common attribute of a lazy person is that they constantly need someone telling them what to do.
They constantly need an overseer, a ruler to check up on them, to make sure they're getting up on time,
to go to work, go to school, do their job, get their work done, throw out the trash, you know, clean up their rooms.
This is what an attribute of a sluggard is.
We don't want to be this way.
We want to be the type of Christians that we are essentially ruling our own selves.
We tell ourselves what to do and when to do it.
We don't necessarily need some sort of person just micromanaging us at all times.
They don't have a guide, they don't have an overseer, they don't have a ruler,
yet in spite of no leadership present, they do what they're supposed to do.
Now we can apply this spiritually and say, you know, there comes a point in our Christian lives when we need someone,
you know, as a brand new Christian we need someone to hold us accountable to read our Bible sometimes.
There's something wrong with that.
I had someone like that in my life in times past where I had someone hold me accountable to that,
but you know there also comes a time when you just got to do it even when no one's watching.
Maybe you have a brother or sister in Christ in church that gives you a text or gives you a call and keeps you accountable.
That's wonderful and in fact you're taking considerable steps to spiritual success if you're doing that
because we all need accountability, right?
However, there comes a point where you got to remove the overseer, you got to remove the ruler,
and just read the Bible because you know that's what you're supposed to do.
Get up in the morning at a reasonable time, you know, not in the afternoon, not at 11 o'clock in the morning,
unless you're working like night shift or something like that.
I don't know, graveyard shift or something.
Not night shift, graveyard shift.
If you're getting home like at 6 o'clock in the morning it's obviously different.
But you know if you're getting home at a reasonable time and you're just like,
you're like I need to catch up on sleep so I'm going to sleep till like midday,
first of all there's no such thing as catching up on sleep.
Did you guys know that?
There's literally no such thing as catching up on sleep.
You can never catch up on sleep.
It's not like, you know what, I didn't get any sleep yesterday,
so I'm going to redeem those hours by sleeping those amount of hours that I miss today.
It doesn't even work like that.
Now I'm all for power naps. I think power naps are great.
If you take a good power nap, and when I mean a power nap I'm saying like a 15, 20 minute power nap.
Those are awesome.
And especially if you wake up right when you're coming out of that REM state,
you guys know what I'm talking about?
You go into that REM state and you wake up when you're coming out of it
and you're just like whoa I'm energized.
The worst part is actually when you wake up when you're in your REM state
and then you're just like what the...
You're just like whoa man I'm messed up.
That's the worst part obviously.
But what I'm saying is that the aunt doesn't need someone to wake it up.
The aunt doesn't need someone to tell it to read its Bible, to pray,
to go sowing, to go to church.
They can do it on their own because they're responsible creatures.
Don't tell me an aunt is more responsible than you.
That little insignificant aunt that can't withstand my foot,
can't withstand the magnifying glass.
That aunt is prepared.
That aunt is prudent.
Be more prudent than the aunt.
There comes a point in our Christian life where we're just not going to say,
you know what, I don't need anybody to watch over me to read my Bible.
I just do it on my own because that's my conviction.
This is no longer just a thing that I do.
This is who I am.
I'm a Bible, not just a Bible believing Christian.
Listen to this. I'm a Bible reading Christian.
I read the word of God.
Every day I open that thing up no matter what happens.
Obviously there might be exceptions to the rule.
An exception would be if you're really sick or something.
I know when I get really sick, I have a hard time reading the Bible.
If I'm having a fever or whatever, I have a very difficult time reading the Bible.
One of the reasons why is because I'm not getting anything out of it when I'm reading it.
I don't feel spiritual right now.
I'm just kind of reading this and I'm not really understanding much of it.
There's obviously exceptions to the rule.
Another exception would be if you died or something.
But other than that, there's not really other...
No, I'm just kidding.
Obviously there's times when maybe you might miss for whatever reason.
But in general, your life should be characterized by reading the Bible every single day.
If you're a grown man, you shouldn't have anybody breathing down your neck to make sure you do it.
Be a responsible little ant.
Wake up in the morning.
Crawl yourself to the Bible.
Open it up and read it.
You know why?
Because of the fact that there's some trials coming in the harvest.
There's some trials coming in the winter and you need to prepare your meat in the summer.
You need to prepare your knowledge in your life called the summer
so that when the trials come in the harvest and in the winter, you're ready for it.
You're already prepared. You've been prudent.
You foresaw the evil that was coming down the pipeline and you read the word of God.
You're communing with the Lord and you're not a slugger.
Don't be lazy reading the Bible.
Don't be lazy coming to church.
That's another thing.
It's just like, yeah, but I'm just so tired in Sunday morning.
You guys have church so early Sunday morning.
Ten thirty is not early.
I mean, we're not Catholics here.
Catholics have service at six o'clock in the morning.
Don't tell me heretics got more discipline than you.
I'm just like, but ten thirty is so early.
Then go to bed earlier if that's what you have to do.
We need to make sure that we are not sluggards.
It's a sinful attribute. It's a sinful characteristic.
And here's the thing.
You know, when you sleep in, let's say you're sleeping until eleven o'clock.
You know what's going to happen when you wake up?
You're going to be more tired than when you went to sleep.
Because sleep begets sleep.
You're even more tired.
And if you're just like, I just sleep because I'm just so tired.
Well, one, you've got to check your diet.
Because if you're just consuming a bunch of junk food, then that's why you're tired.
Let me say this.
No young man should ever be falling asleep in church either.
You're a young man.
You grow up.
Go get some protein in your system.
Go lift some weights.
Go run a lap if you have to.
You are a young man with the vitality of a twenty year old, a teenager.
There should be no reason why you fall asleep in church.
Leave that for the birds.
You should be alive, awake, and enthusiastic in church.
Now obviously, I know, you just went soul winning and all that, and you're tired,
and you just had Chinese food and all that.
But, you know, like on a Sunday morning though,
unless you're staying up late playing video games or something like that,
you know, get home at a reasonable time, go to sleep,
and make church a priority the day before.
You know, church is not just something we prepare for on Sunday morning.
It's something we prepare for on Saturday as well.
We prepare by getting our clothes ready.
We prepare by going to sleep on time.
We prepare because we know that this is important.
Be an ant.
Provide your meat in the summer to prepare for the harvest, to prepare for the winter.
Read your Bible.
Pray.
Come to church.
Don't be a sluggard.
Don't be the kind of Christian that asks if you're going to church on Sunday morning.
Let me just say that again.
Don't be the kind of Christian that asks, am I going to church this morning?
That's a stupid question.
That's a dumb question.
Because that essentially is saying church isn't a priority to you.
It's saying that you just, you know, at your whim, when you feel like it,
when you're on top side, that's when you come to church.
My friends.
Make church attendance a part of your life.
Be an ant to say, you know what?
I prepare in the summer by making sure that I go to church every Sunday morning.
And let me say this.
Make church important to your family too.
Your absence in church speaks volumes to your family and to your kids.
Let me say that, you know, our kids, they absorb a lot.
And they know when their parents are being hypocrites too.
You know, you guys remember that story I told you about Kyla calling me out
because I was like driving too fast or something like that?
Did I ever tell that story here?
You know, she was like, I think I was speeding or something in Arizona.
And she was like, but did you know better though, dad?
Because I got a ticket.
And he's like, but did you know better?
I'm like, how do I answer this?
Yes, of course, Kyla.
Can you silence please?
Okay.
You know.
He's like, but dad, did you know better?
Yes, I did.
You know what that shows me?
It shows me the kids, they see a lot.
So we need to make sure.
And look, obviously we don't need to be perfect.
But all we do need to do is prepare our meat in the summer though by going to church.
Communicate to your children.
Communicate to your children that church is important not by saying it,
but by actually doing it.
We go to church, but do you go to church though?
I know you said it, but do you go?
Oh, no, my hair hurts.
Or, you know, I was just like, oh, man, you know, I got,
I'm scheduled to get sick on Sunday though.
I got a 4 p.m. sickness coming in or something, you know.
It says in verse 8, providers their meat in the summer gathers their food in the harvest.
How long will thou sleep, O sluggard?
When will thou rise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,
so shall thy poverty come as one that travelth and thy want as an armed man.
He's basically saying if you are putting forth these bad habits of laziness,
you're sowing these seeds of laziness in your life,
the end result is that you're just going to be broke.
Because in order to be successful financially, it requires work.
Diligence and work, and let me say this, consistent diligence and work.
But in like manner, if you really want to be broke, it requires consistent laziness, consistent sluggardness.
And so wake up in the morning, go run a mile, go jog or walk around, get the blood flowing,
change your diet, stop being lazy.
And often laziness is very commonly associated with idleness as well.
And often when a person is very lazy and they're idle,
they're not very good at resisting sin, which is really bad
because we as Christians should be able to resist sin, right.
You know, this morning's sermon, The World, the Flesh, and the Devil.
Well, our flesh seeks to capitalize on tempting us to sin when we're idle,
when we're being lazy, when we have time on our hands,
and when we just kind of don't have the strength and don't have the resilience to resist sin, okay.
Go to Proverbs chapter, let me see here, go to chapter 15, if you would, go to chapter 15.
Let's be some ants today, man.
Man, I admire the ant. It doesn't need a supervisor. It doesn't need a boss.
And this is not saying that we don't need authority.
It's just saying that these ants are so responsible
that they don't really need someone micromanaging them,
making sure they take care of their responsibilities, okay.
The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 15, verse number 19,
it says, the way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns,
but the way of the righteous is made plain.
You see, a lazy person, it's hard for them to do anything.
It's hard for them to get up in the morning. It's hard for them to read their Bibles.
It's hard for them to get a job. It's hard for them to, when they have a job, to work.
It's hard for them to just overcome sin. It's just hard. It's just so difficult. Why?
Because a slothful person's disposition is that everything is a hedge of thorns.
And the Bible says that slothful people, one thing that they're really good at,
they're terrible at working, they're terrible at getting up,
but they're really, really good at making excuses though.
That's like one thing that they're, they just got down packed.
Because they say, you know, a lion is in the street, a lion is in the way, and then he shall be slain.
The reason he doesn't work is because he's saying, I can't work today, there's like a lion out there.
I can't work today, it's raining. I can't get a job, no one's hiring, everyone's hiring.
And in fact, you know, we were having a discussion with some of the guys a couple weeks ago,
or a month ago or so, it's really easy to get a job nowadays.
Not only is it very easy to get a job nowadays, it's very easy to move up in those jobs nowadays as well.
Because of the fact that there's so many lazy people out there that only want to work three to four hours a day,
they're just looking for someone to just, like an average worker nowadays.
Like the average worker is now the most valuable worker.
You know, when I used to work in the secular world, man, we wanted to work eight hours and above.
Because we wanted what's called time and a half.
And even if there's certain companies that I work for that didn't give time and a half,
you know, because maybe the guy was shady or something like that,
I'd still do it because it just means I work more hours, it makes me more money, even if it's not time and a half.
But you know, you have people today that's just like, oh man, I have to work a four-hour shift.
I have to work a three-hour shift, my life is ruined.
And they complain about their job, they complain about having to work.
And you know, there's places like this Starbucks right here where people can literally just not come into work.
And they won't get fired for it.
They just won't come into work, they won't get fired for it, they can just take time off.
There's times when that thing is closed because there's not enough workers to work.
They'll close early because there's just like no one's coming in.
So it's just like, that's foreign to me.
When I used to work in the second room, it was just like, if you do that, you're just fired.
But they don't do that now because, you know, there's just not enough laborers.
And so, you know, the excuse of, oh, there's not enough work to go around, there's enough work for you.
There's enough work not only for you to get, but also to move up and get paid more and get raises
because, you know, there's not necessarily a great pool of diligent people to choose from.
So you have an opportunity to succeed exceedingly nowadays, okay?
So it's a hedge of thorns, it says.
Go with me, if you would, to Proverbs chapter, or go to Ecclesiastes chapter 10.
Ecclesiastes chapter 10.
Now, I believe that, you know, if you're working, you should work hard, right?
I mean, that's a given.
You should be a hard worker, put in as much effort as you possibly can.
But obviously there's instances where you could actually work smarter instead of harder.
Where you can, instead of spinning your wheels, you can implement wisdom, right?
And be smarter so that you can make more money, okay?
Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 10 and verse number 10.
It says,
So it's basically saying, you know, if the iron is blunt, it's basically, it's not sharp,
it's not necessarily the best tool to use, or it hasn't been sharpened at all.
You have to wet the edge in order to sharpen it unless you just want to put more force to it
in order to break that wood, right?
So if you don't sharpen it, you can just hit that wood as hard as you want until you break it.
Or you can use wisdom that's profitable to direct the axe,
and you don't need to hit that wood so many times, okay?
Hit it at a certain angle and you can cut it.
So I think what this is saying here is that, you know, instead of working harder, which is still good,
you can implement wisdom in your personal life that allows you to make more,
allows you to get more done.
And let me say this, when you implement wisdom at your jobs, your boss is actually, they like that.
If you allow them to succeed because of your work, because you have wisdom,
you have intelligence, you have knowledge, that's a valuable thing in the eyes of your boss,
and of course you will be rewarded for that.
But you know what? At the end of the day, although wisdom is important,
I think the majority of the young men in our church just need to learn hard work.
Just need to learn how to work, period.
They need to learn how to sweat and be tired and be sore and have physical labor.
I think that's important.
Especially if that wasn't exemplified in your personal life by your father or whatever it may be,
I think it's important for you to learn how to travail and work hard and come home just exhausted.
You're like, but if I come home exhausted, I don't have time to what? To do what?
To play video games, you mean? Screw the video games.
Throw it out the window. You know why God makes you tired when you work hard so you can go to sleep?
Because when you go to sleep, you don't sin.
You can't do anything.
You're like, well that's not fun. Yeah, but you know what?
It'll save you a lot of heartache, a lot of consequences that come with sin.
And so it's better to just work super hard whether it's a mentally straining job or a physically straining job
so when you come home, you just have time to eat a good meal and go to sleep.
Go to sleep, wake up and do it over again.
And you keep doing it every single day until you have church and then you enjoy yourself at church.
You're like, yeah, but this anime thing is on and I want to watch this anime.
Hey, you Toys R Us kid, you just don't want to grow up.
You're a Toys R Us kid, you're living in this Peter Pan world, Neverland, where you never want to grow up.
Guys, it's time to grow up and be a man.
And let me say this, you know what? You can't demand respect in our church.
You have to live in such a way that people give it to you.
There's no such thing as demanding someone to respect you.
You know what? If people despise your youth, that's your fault.
When the Apostle Paul told Timothy, let no man despise that youth, it didn't mean he was going around saying,
hey, don't despise my youth because the Bible says it.
You know what that means? Don't be an idiot.
Don't be proud and arrogant. Don't be puffed up and give people to despise your youth.
And if people despise your youth, then change.
You know, hard work is important. Applying wisdom is important.
We need to be like the AMP that prepares and has prudence and is hard working.
Go back to Proverbs chapter 30, if you would, Proverbs chapter 30.
Proverbs chapter number 30.
You're like, well, I have a job and it only requires for me to work part time to get a second job.
And look, even if you don't get paid a whole lot, in all labor there is profit.
In all labor there is profit.
And here's the difference between us and the world, my friends, is that at the end of the day,
when we work, we do it as unto Christ.
So ultimately, God is our boss.
So whatever labor that we do when we work, God is the one who offers the promotion thereafter.
Understand?
So don't be jumping from job to job because your boss was mean at you or whatever
and yelled at you and called you a name or something like that.
You know, get some thick skin, say, you know, I won't do it again, I'm sorry, and fix it.
And you know what, sometimes I feel like some people need to be called some names sometimes at work
to kind of develop some thick skin.
Got too many softies in this generation.
This Generation Z is soft.
They can't take any kind of criticism.
They can't take any type of correction.
You need that, okay?
And so let's move on here.
Let's talk about the conies.
So it says in verse 26, the conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.
Now, what are conies?
Well, you know, there's a lot of debate of what this is referring to.
I personally believe it's referring to, like, a form of a rabbit, a hare,
because when you study the conies in the Bible, you know, they're often mentioned in tandem with some sort of rabbit or hare.
But in either case, it's some sort of rodent that lives in the rocks, okay?
And these conies, they make up for their weaknesses, because it says they're feeble.
They make up for it by living in a well-protected home, okay?
Because it says they make their houses in the rocks.
So obviously, they're not necessarily good fighters.
They can't protect themselves against predators and against those who would try to consume them and eat them.
So the next best thing is that they fortify themselves in the rocks.
They build their house upon a rock.
Now, go with me if you would to the book of Luke.
Go to Luke chapter 6, if you would.
Luke chapter number 6.
And it's interesting that it says that the conies are feeble, which means weak, right?
And because of that, they build their houses, they make their houses in the rocks.
And this also pictures a Christian.
Because the Bible says in Romans chapter 5, verse number 6,
from when we were without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
Because we don't have the strength to save ourselves, to get ourselves to heaven.
We don't have the capabilities to give ourselves eternal life or merit eternal life.
And so we needed Jesus Christ to die for the ungodly.
You know, God commanded his love toward us, and that while we were in sin, Christ died for us.
So in a sense, these conies represent Christians who are feeble and incapable of saving themselves,
so they go to the rock of their salvation to be saved, right?
But even thereafter, look at Luke chapter 6 and verse 47.
A feeble conie builds his house upon a rock because it protects him from the predators and the enemies of its surroundings.
Verse 47 says, Whosoever cometh to me and heareth my sayings and doeth them,
I will show you to whom he is like.
He is like a man which built an house and digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock.
And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock.
But he that heareth and doeth not is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth,
against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.
There's a great principle to learn here is that we need to build our house, our spiritual house upon the Bible.
And don't take this for granted, you know, obviously we're a Baptist church, we use the King James Bible,
but you know, I can't make these convictions your convictions.
I can't make these beliefs your beliefs.
You cannot become a great Christian by osmosis in our church.
You have to read the Bible, you have to make it your own, you have to build your house upon a rock.
Whether it's this tabernacle, this house, or it's your family house.
You know, your home with your wife and your children, it's your responsibility to build that house upon a rock.
Why? Because we're feeble.
We're human beings that have the propensity to sin.
We have the world, the flesh, and the devil constantly fighting against us.
Therefore, we need to make sure that we build ourselves upon the rock of Jesus Christ and his sayings,
and essentially live by those rules, live by those principles and those commandments.
The Bible says in Proverbs 27,
The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.
Though war shall rise against me, in this will I be confident.
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire at his temple.
Let me say this, it's important to build our house spiritually in our household upon the rock,
but it's also important to build it upon the church as well.
Making church a part of your life.
See, you keep talking about church attendance.
Yeah, every once in a while the pastor has to talk about church attendance.
People get a little lackadaisical when it comes to their church attendance,
and they stop emphasizing the importance of being in church.
Every once in a while the pastor just needs to come in and just kind of tell you,
hey, forsake not the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.
So much the more as they see that they approach it.
Make church a part of your life.
Build your house upon that rock.
Go back to Proverbs chapter 30.
You could also interpret this when it comes to the conies,
is the fact that it has its house in the rocks.
And a rock, of course, is representative of Jesus Christ.
But a way that we can interpret this is that it has authority,
because Jesus Christ is our rock.
He is our authority.
And it's important for us as Christians to keep biblical authority as what it is, right?
Like a wife needs an authority, which is her husband.
Why? Because she's feeble.
I mean, doesn't the Bible say that she is the what?
Weaker vessel.
And as the weaker vessel, she needs a man, her husband and or her father to protect her,
to be over her, to protect her.
Why? Because there's a lot of weirdos out there.
We try to these predators are trying to consume the conies and destroy them.
Therefore, they need their father, their husband to protect them from that.
Now, the Bible says in First Corinthians 11, verse three,
But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ,
and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.
You know, this world hates this.
But who cares what the world thinks?
You know, the boss of a woman in a household and everywhere else, if she's married, is her husband.
He's there to protect her, not only emotionally, spiritually, physically,
but now it's like the roles are reversed or something.
It's nonsense, my friends.
We need to take back what the Bible says regarding the biblical home
and recognize the man is the lord of the house.
He is the rock of his wife.
And in fact, the Bible says he is the savior of the body in Ephesians chapter five.
And wives, don't buck the authority of your husband.
Reverence your husband. Respect your husband. Love your husband.
Be under your husband's authority.
Oh, yeah, but I know more Bible than him, and?
So what? Now, husband, don't let her be that way, all right?
Learn some more Bible, okay?
Make sure you're reading the Bible. Make sure you're learning the Bible.
You know, don't let her run laps around you with the Bible.
But even if she is running laps around him, around the Bible,
which it shouldn't be that way,
and shame on you if it is,
because you should be learning the Bible better than your wife,
because you're the man of the house, and you're the savior of the body.
But even if that's the case,
nowhere in the Bible does it say, wives, submit to your husband
unless you know more Bible than him.
Nowhere does it say, preach to your husband.
Nowhere does it say, you know, oh, you know, my husband,
he's just, you know, not the spiritual leader that he needs to be,
so I need to take the reigns of the, no, nowhere does it say that.
It says to submit to your husband, to reverence your husband,
and let me say this, here's the kicker.
Here's the kicker, as unto Christ.
Let me say that again, as unto Christ.
So if you get out from the authority of your husband,
and you rebel against your husband, you rebel against his authority,
you criticize your husband, you know what you're doing?
You're criticizing Christ, because your husband is Christ's representative.
When you disrespect your husband, when you go out from your husband's authority,
when you rebel against him, when you mock him,
and whatever else it is you do against him,
you know what Jesus says? I took that personally.
He takes that personally.
You know why? Because it's as unto Christ.
That's what the instruction says, my friends.
So next time, think twice before you snap your fingers at your husband,
and tell him like it is, and cuss him out, or throw him under the bus,
or tell him that he's wrong.
Just remember this, you're doing it as unto Christ.
That's what the Bible says.
Well, yeah, but he's not right with God, so I'm not really unto Christ.
Book chapter and verse on that? Book chapter and verse?
It's not there. Not there.
And I'm not excusing the husbands if they're lame leaders,
if they're failing at being a good husband.
You know, they need to get right.
You need to get right if that's you.
You need to buckle down and become an aunt,
and stop being lazy regarding spiritual matters,
and take the reins again of your home.
Let me say this. Don't ask your wife, should we go to church today?
Don't ask your wife, are we going to church today?
Never ask your wife, hey, do you feel like going to church today?
What is that? What is that?
The only time I ask my wife, are you going today?
Is if she's throwing up, or maybe one of the kids have,
you know, they're sick or something like that.
It's just like, hey, are you going today?
Are you feeling well, you know, during the pregnancy or whatever?
But you know, it's not like, hey, I'm just wondering,
I don't want to interrupt what you got going on here,
but do you want to go to church with me?
What is that?
So what should I say? You ready?
We're leaving in 15 minutes.
Hurry up.
I ain't trying to be late.
Get to church all late.
I haven't done my makeup, do it in the car.
I'll see you in a little bit.
That's what you do.
It's not like, oh, you know, honey, all scared.
And look, I'm not saying be a jerk to your wife,
but you know what wives need?
They need strong leadership, though.
And they need a man who puts his foot down
and doesn't sway on these things and say, you know,
oh, you don't think we all should go to church today?
Well, we're going to go anyways.
And so you'll feel like it in a little bit.
Make yourself feel like it,
or you're going to feel like it in a little bit.
Obviously, you know, we need to dwell with them
according to knowledge.
So if your wife's not happy, you know, make her happy.
That's on you, man.
Stop making coming to church a miserable trip.
How about that?
Stop making church such a miserable trip
for you and your family, for your wife and your kids.
You know, it should be something
that you're creating memories with where they want to go.
But at the end of the day, you know, wives,
if your husbands don't do that, you need to obey them anyways.
And thank God for a husband that says, you know,
hey, we're leaving right now.
Get ready. Get the kids ready.
We're leaving. We're going to church.
There is no are we, can you, do you feel like.
It's like we're going to church.
And so that has something to do with the conies.
I don't know what exactly, but the conies are, you know.
The conies, oh yeah, that's what it was.
The conies are like the wives because they're feeble
because they're the weaker vessel.
So they need the authority of their husband
to protect them from the wiles of Satan.
You know, Eve was a conie and guess what?
Adam didn't protect her.
The reason Satan was able to infiltrate
is because he probably wasn't there.
I mean, the devil's literally having a conversation with Eve.
It's like, where are you at, Adam?
Not this Adam, you know.
It's like, where are you at?
Like, what's he doing?
He's just allowing Satan to enter into that institution of marriage
and just tempt Eve and just damn us all.
Right?
But we, as God's people, we need to make sure
we build our families upon the rock, upon convictions.
Hey, upon consistency.
You want to be successful in the Christian life?
You want to be successful in your family?
Have consistency about your life.
Don't live like a spiritual crackhead.
And look, that's not original.
That's not original.
My father-in-law used to say that all the time.
I got that from him.
Don't live like a spiritual crackhead
where it's just like, you're just up at this time,
go to sleep at this time, you do this and this.
It's like, there's no consistency.
Have consistency.
Be diligent.
Make sure that you're keeping your family consistent in church,
consistent in your Bible reading.
When you wake up in the morning, you know,
have some consistency with listening to the Bible.
I mean, in my family, we wake up, you know,
we do our morning thing, we get our breakfast in,
and then I go upstairs to go read my Bible,
and my wife stays downstairs,
and they all listen to the Word of God together.
They're going through the Old Testament right now,
and you know what?
They sit down, they listen to it,
and she talks to them about the Word of God.
She asks them questions.
This is what we consistently do.
Without question.
And you know what?
One of the greatest feelings is to come downstairs
knowing full well what to expect when I get there.
That's a great thing.
Have consistency in your household.
Build your house upon a rock.
All right, let's move on here.
So be like the aunt.
Don't be a sluggard.
Stop spending your money on stupid video games.
Use it for like, you know, rent.
Use it for like, you know, like food.
Like necessities.
Stop playing video games.
Stop staying up all hours of the night.
Get a job, and if you already have a job,
act like a grown man and take care of your family.
Don't be an infidel, okay?
Or should I say worse than an infidel?
Be a coney.
You're feeble.
Make up for it by building your house upon a rock.
Number three, look at verse 27.
The locusts have no king.
Yet go they forth all of them by bands.
Now this is awesome right here.
Because what it's implying is that the locusts,
there's no one in charge per se.
They don't have one specific locust just leading the charge
to go destroy all the crops, you know what I mean?
Although, you know, you do have a polygon I guess.
But that's a special group, you know, a locust in the end times.
But in general, the locusts that exist at this moment,
they don't have a king.
They don't have anybody telling what to do.
So their lack of leadership is compensated
by every locust doing their part.
And a good way to apply this is that, you know, as a church,
we're like a bunch of little locusts.
And the way we are going to get the work of God done
is by everyone doing their part.
The way we're going to saturate California with the gospel,
Southern California with the gospel, nations, cities, towns,
states with the gospel is by us doing our part.
And here's the thing.
Luckily, we have a king.
His name is Jesus.
King Jesus has already commissioned us to go forth to do that,
but the principle still stands that we need to go by,
we need to go, all of us, in bands doing our part.
And you know what?
This is the cheesiest line ever, but it's true, isn't it?
Teamwork makes the dream work.
It's true, my friends.
It's hard to raise a family without a church.
It's hard to be spiritually successful without a church.
It's hard to be a great soul owner without a church.
It's hard to make significant progress in your Christian life
without a congregation to deal with.
You need a church.
And so many people today despise the church.
They may not say it, but they despise it.
They don't like congregating, whether it's because they're introverts
or they got a barbecue going on or whatever it may be.
They don't see it's important.
I mean, Christ gave his life for the church.
He purchased it with his own blood.
That's what the Bible says.
But they don't recognize how important it is to have a church.
They don't realize, listen to this,
how important it is for their kids to survive spiritually.
They need that church.
They need it.
They don't realize how important it is to their marriage.
They don't realize how important it is to them as individuals,
how important it is to have the church.
Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 12.
1 Corinthians, chapter 12.
The most important aspect of our church is the preaching of God's word.
Right?
That's the most important thing.
We come to church because we want to hear the preaching of God's word.
But there's so many little things under that that are just as important.
I shouldn't say just as important.
That are important.
Obviously, the preaching is the preeminent aspect that's important.
But there's little things under that like fellowship.
Fellowship, developing relationships.
Don't make church something that you just check in and check out.
It's like, I'm coming to church, I sing the hymns, I hear the preaching,
and as soon as they're done praying, I'm out of here.
It's just not good.
Because you're missing the point of congregating together.
And look, I love the livestream and all that.
I think it's great to reach people.
We're reaching a lot of new people now, once again, thankfully.
And I think that's awesome to get people into church.
But it's weird. It's like the livestream, the YouTube, brings people out there in here,
and sometimes it causes people in here to stay out there.
You say, how does that work?
Well, because they're like, well, the livestream is going on.
They're just watching on YouTube and not even going to church.
Right?
The people out there, they're just like, whoa, that's a cool church.
I want to go there and see what's going on.
They come, they get saved, and they get baptized, and they get integrated.
But then sometimes people in here, they're just like, well, we've got the livestream,
so why even go to church?
But you're missing the point, though.
Because YouTube is not church.
You can hear the preaching, but you're not here to develop very important relationships
that's needful for the survival of your family, of you specifically as an individual.
And you think to yourself, well, I don't have a family.
I don't have a wife. I don't have a husband.
I don't have kids. I'm just here for me.
It's still vital to you because church keeps you accountable.
And the Bible talks about exhorting one another daily.
So you need people to say, hey, go get a job.
Or, hey, you're discouraged.
Stay in the fight. I'm with you. I'll be praying for you.
I'll pick you up tomorrow. We'll go out to eat.
We need people like that in our lives.
Hey, you know what? Your kids need good influences in the church.
They need people to disciple them and love them and care for them and befriend them.
And so let's be like a band of locusts where we recognize that everyone has to do their part.
And if you're going to get anything significantly done spiritually, you need a Bible-believing church.
Look at 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 14. It says,
For the body is not one member, but many.
If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?
And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?
If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?
If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
But now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it hath pleased him.
And if they were all one member, where were the body?
But now are they many members, yet but one body.
Skip down to verse number 22.
It says, Nay, much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble, like the conies, like the locusts, are necessary.
And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor, and our comely parts have more abundant comeliness.
In other words, don't despise the membership of our church.
Oh, why do these people have to be at that church?
Why do we have so many prophets in the church?
Why do we have so many teachers in the church?
What's the love of these mercies in the church?
Hey, they're all necessary.
Don't despise the members of our church.
Don't despise the, if we weigh a little heavier on the prophet side, amen?
Whoa, that went over like a screen door in a submarine.
Don't despise the mercies, the teachers, the givers.
They all serve a purpose in this church, even for you, specifically.
And so the locusts can picture a church that in order for us to get the work done, to get a lot of people saved, we need a band of people to go forth and preach the gospel.
And look, it's good when our band joins another band.
Joins another church in their endeavor to preach the gospel.
They go to a mission field, they go to a missions trip, they go to a soul-winning marathon.
You're like, yeah, but aren't we supposed to be competing?
No, we're not. We're competing against the devil.
But all the other churches, we're on the same team.
So we want to invest resources and manpower into those endeavors because when they win, we win.
And when we win, they win.
Go to Ecclesiastes, if you would, Ecclesiastes chapter number four, Ecclesiastes chapter four.
There's no such thing as a Ronan Christian, my friends.
Or should I say there is a such thing as a Ronan Christian, but it's not a successful Christian, though.
Any Christian who's a Ronan, they just do their own thing, they will fall flat on their face, spiritually speaking, every single time.
Because that's not God's order. It's not the way God designed it.
God designed Christians to succeed in the local New Testament church.
It's fact. And look, folks, there's people who might struggle with a particular sin in our church.
And you know what? There's other Christians who have struggled with that same sin that can help those individuals overcome those sins as well because they've overcome it.
So we need people who are further along spiritually to help us out.
Further along in their marriage, further along in their child-rearing, further along in whatever endeavor so they can help us along as well.
Look at Ecclesiastes four, verse nine.
Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow.
But woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up.
Let me say this. If you're in our church, get help if you need help.
You know, if you're in our church and you're going through a tough time, you're going through a really difficult time, come talk to one of us.
And if you feel, well, I can't come talk to you, then you probably have to go to a different church where you feel like you can approach the pastor.
And you know what? It's just like, yeah, but you're busy. Yeah, I'm busy doing people work.
Like this is my job is to counsel and help individuals.
That's what I do. I preach God's word and I'm here for you.
And you know what? It's not just me. We have leaders in our church who are here for you as well.
Don't ever think, well, you know, I don't like to bother anybody because this is what happens.
Let me explain what happens to these types of people.
The nuke goes off and they're like, you know, maybe I should get some help.
Like it's all blown up.
They're just everything is just completely destroyed, burned beyond recognition.
And then they're just like it's like this is their life. And they're like, hey, can you help me, pastor?
I need your help. And it's just like, yeah, I mean, I guess like what is this?
What are we working with here? You know, don't bring the problem to me or anyone else.
Look, let me rephrase this, OK? Bring the problems to us.
Bring it. Bring it on. But don't do it when everything's all destroyed already.
Now, I'll still help you, even if it is all destroyed.
But let me say this. Don't expect a miracle.
I will help you. I will pray for you. I'll invest whatever resources necessary to help you get back on track.
I'll do whatever I can, humanly speaking, as your pastor to restore you, your family, your kids, yourself as an individual.
No matter what, I'll do everything I can. But I'm not a miracle worker.
So let me give a word of advice to our church. Come to me sooner than later.
Go to your spiritual leaders sooner than later. Don't wait till it's like this.
I got to open this up because this is the order of service.
Just kidding. You know, don't wait till everything's destroyed.
And then you're just like, I'm here, you know, so you can fix this.
That's not the way to go about it, my friends. That's not prudent. You're not being an ant.
See, the ant foresees evil and says, you know what, this is going down a bad path.
I need to go get some help with this. And don't be so arrogant and prideful that you're not willing to come get help.
And you know what? And it may not even be that. It may just be advice or counsel that you just need in general.
Get advice and counsel for any major endeavor that you are pursuing.
And you know what? Let me just say this. Sometimes people don't do that because they don't want to hear the truth.
You know, but you're going to hear the truth.
Not because we just want to shove it in your face, because we want what's best for you and your family.
And so, you know, we all need someone to help us up.
Look at verse 11 again. If two lie together, then they have heat. How can one be warm alone?
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
You need the threefold cord of your family. You need the word of God.
You need church to keep you together. That's what you need.
Okay? It's not easily broken. You won't easily snap when it comes down to it.
Go back to your Proverbs chapter 30. We're almost done.
And so let's be like the locusts who are going forth as bands. Get the help that you need.
Look, don't put up this front that you got it all together. If you don't, hey, no one's going to hate on you.
You're not going to be shamed here if that's the case.
It's better to get help and then fix your issue than not get help and put this portrayal that everything is going great, but it's not going great.
And then you end up suffering the consequences of it later on.
Folks, the attribute of a Christian that's so necessary is just humility.
Sometimes you just need to humble ourselves to go before someone and say, I need help. I need prayer. I need help.
Can you can you advise me? And I know. Look, let me just say this.
I know that maybe some people in here might think, well, you're too young. What are you going to tell me?
You know, how do I know? How do I know you're going to give me any advice? You're too young.
You haven't lived life long enough. Well, and the answer I have is this. Either one.
How do you know until you ask? Or number two, you should go somewhere else then.
If you feel that my counsel and wisdom is insufficient for you, then here's my advice to you.
Go somewhere where you feel that the advice and the counsel is sufficient.
Because I'd rather you go somewhere else and not destroy your life than choose to stay here and not get counsel and destroy your life.
You know, but you know, if you feel that way, I can't change people's opinions.
But in my opinion, you should either come to me or go somewhere else because the most important thing is for you to just get help, period.
Alright, last one. The spider. Verse 28, the spider taketh hold with their hands and is in king's palaces.
Fun fact, not really fun. It's actually stupid. But the modern versions actually say lizard. Stupid Bibles.
Like a lot of them say lizard. And in fact, most of them say like you can get a hold of a lizard.
And yet it's in king's palaces. How does that even make sense?
Most of the modern versions will say you can get hold of a lizard, but hey, they're in king's palaces.
It makes no sense whatsoever. It's the stupidest thing ever. You can look it up.
I think even the vast majority of the modern versions of the Bible use the word lizard.
So it's not like they read it and they're just, you know, these people who are editing, they're just like, sounds stupid, let's put it in there, you know.
Spider is far more, it's correct, obviously, but it makes sense.
Because it says that the spider takes hold with its hands. In other words, it creates webbings, or webs, should I say.
And because of that, it's able to be in king's palaces because even the most luxurious, expensive mansions have spider webs in the corner somewhere in the ceiling.
Right? Not lizards. Every country has spiders. I'm not sure every country has.
Like when I went to Guatemala to go visit my family a long time ago, I mean they have lizards crawling up in the walls and stuff. There's countries that are like that.
We don't really have that here, but we definitely have spiders.
The spider compensates for its insignificance by working itself into a king's palace.
Since you're referring to its diligence to work and labor with its hands, it's essentially highlighting how industrious it is.
And if you think about it, it's pretty interesting. When you think of a spider, for example, it works really hard to create this elaborate web.
Right? It works really hard to create this really, I mean, if you ever take a walk early in the morning and there's dew, it'll fall on the webs and it just looks beautiful.
The sun kind of shines through it. It looks really very elaborate and beautiful.
Those really ugly spiders on there, it's just like, man, what is that thing?
But here's the thing. We can literally just destroy the web in a couple seconds.
And you know what that spider will do? It'll just rebuild it again.
So it's a really good principle for us as Christians that we should work as hard as we possibly can to labor with our hands,
but not become so attached to our work and the fruits of our labor to understand that money has wings and it can just fly away at any time.
Right? And if it goes away, we just go back at it again.
So it's a principle of determination as well.
You know, where it's like you destroy the web and it's just like, ah, you know, dominion, I got dominion.
You know, you just flex your dominion on the spiders.
It's like Genesis one sucker, you know, it'll come back and it'll just start making that web again.
And you know what? If the world, the flesh and the devil seeks to destroy the labor of your hands, just know this.
You can just build it back up again.
A just man falls seven times and rises up again, right?
Last verse, go to Luke chapter nine, if you would, Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine.
So it's a principle of just not being industrious, but also determination.
It labors with his hands. It creates these elaborate webs for a home.
And, you know, the Bible says, See, as thou man a diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings.
He shall not stand before mean men.
Now, despite what a lot of people think about that verse, it's not referring to like mean, like, you know, mean means average, right?
Not going to stand before average people.
And so if you're diligent in your business, you will stand before kings.
You will succeed and go forward and do great things by the labor of your hands.
But here's the ultimate spiritual application.
Look at Luke nine, verse 62.
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
So at the end of the day, we labor with our hands. Why? For the kingdom.
To be in a king's palace, to obtain kingdoms, to be able to be rewarded of God for the work that we do.
And as insignificant as the work may seem sometimes, you know, it's just like, oh, man, yeah, but where are all the salvations?
Well, we might have seasons where we have a ton of salvations.
Other seasons when it's dry.
Either way, we plow.
You plow and you plow and you plow because at the end of the day, all the webbings that we put together, it's all going to burn.
This building's not going to be here forever.
You know, the labor that we put is not going to be here forever.
But you know what? It's going to promote us into the king's palace one day, though, where we are at the judgment seat of Christ.
And we're given gold, silver, precious stones for the works that we do because we put our hands to the plow.
And you don't look back.
And so great principles here to learn from these creatures.
Don't be lazy. Be a diligent person. Build your house upon a rock.
You're like, well, I'm building my house upon a rock with my family. It just doesn't seem to work.
It works. You just need to keep working the plan.
Keep working it. Don't throw in the towel. There's no such thing as giving up in the Christian life.
Be like the locusts. Work together. Don't be a lone Christian.
And lastly, be like the spider, not like the lizard. Amen.
All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for these principles.
And obviously, we can spend so much time, more time talking about the different animals that the Bible talks about and the principles thereof.
But I think these are great. And I pray that you'd help us to apply what we learned tonight, Lord.
And use this, Lord, as diligent ants, as feeble conies, Lord, as the locusts that travel by bands and work together.
And ultimately, as the spider that labors with its hand, knowing full well that we're not going to take any of this with us.
But we're willing to labor knowing full well that it will place us in the king's palace and reward us for our works here.
We love you. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please turn with me to song number 115. Song number 115 in your hymnal.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus. Song number 115 in your hymnal.
Song number 115 on that first verse.
I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus. Since I found in him a friend so strong and true.
I would tell you how he changed my life completely. He did something that no other friend could do.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as he.
No one else could take the sin in darkness from me. Oh, how much he cared for me.
All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me. All my heart was full of misery and woe.
Jesus places strong in loving arms about me. And he led me in the way I ought to go.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as he.
No one else could take the sin in darkness from me. Oh, how much he cared for me on the last.
Every day he comes to me with new assurance. More and more I understand his words of love.
But I'll never know just why he came to save me. Till someday I see his blessed face above.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as he.
No one else could take the sin in darkness from me. Oh, how much he cared for me.