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Now Proverbs chapter 30, there's a lot of great passages, a lot of great depth in this chapter, but the area that I want us to look at tonight is verse number 24. It says, there be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise. Total for the sermon tonight is four little yet wise creatures. Four little yet wise creatures. Now these four, let's keep reading there, verse number 25. What are these little creatures that God says are very wise? It says in verse number 25, 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 take of hold with her hands and is in the king's palaces. Sister Trisha, spiders that you saw before service. The Lord says they're very wise, wise creatures. There's something that we can learn from these little tiny creatures, these little animals, and we start there with the ants. Okay, we start there with the ants. What is it specifically that God wants to teach us about these animals? In what way can these little creatures, these little nothings really, I mean, when you walk, how many times do we potentially just step on ants? You know, how many times are we, do we just walk past where ants are busy preparing themselves and looking after their nests and we don't even notice them. They are so insignificant and yet they are a creation of God and God says there is something you can learn from these creatures. So we start there with the ants, probably 30 versus 25. The ants are a people not strong. Now apparently ants can carry 50 times their weight. I would say they're pretty strong, but in comparison to a human being, right, like I said, how many ants do we trample on by complete accident? You don't even notice them as you squish them under your foot. Okay, in that sense they're feeble, in that sense they're fragile, but then they're so wise, God says, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. Now you guys, I'm sure you've all observed this. As the years have gone by, usually during winter, you don't really notice ants. Okay, they kind of, they kind of disappear. It's like where did all the ants go and many insects are very similar in this regard, but then comes spring and then comes the warmer weather and then comes summer, all of a sudden there's activity. There's ants and they enter into your house and they're grabbing every little morsel, every little opportunity. You see the ants getting busy, right, in the summer. So they're not busy in the winter, but they're definitely busy in the summer and so why is it that they get busy in the summer? The Bible tells us, God tells us they're preparing for the winter. They get busy in the summer. They prepare. In fact, all of this, all of these verses that we're looking at, all these creatures is about preparation, okay, and brethren, we need to learn how to prepare, okay. Hey, they get busy. They say, hey, it's summertime. We can be active, all right. There's going to be other dead creatures that we can nibble on. There's going to be crumbs on the floor that we can take. Hey, there's going to be houses that we can come in and get something for our nest and prepare ourselves for the winter. They're not just focused on the here and now. They're saying there's going to be a season where we can't be active. There's going to be a season that there's going to be a lack in and so let's prepare now while we can in the summer and brethren, the lesson that we can learn from the ants here is that we need to prepare for the future. We need to prepare for the future, okay. Now come with me to another passage. Keep your finger there and come with me to Matthew chapter 6. Come with me to Matthew chapter 6. Come with me to Matthew chapter 6. I mean, I want to be wise. I want to be a wise man. I want to get to heaven and God say to me, hey, you are wise upon the earth and I want to be a little wiser than an ant, don't you? I mean, if we don't learn what the ant does, then the ant ends up being wiser than us. Let's be wiser than the ants and the ants are teaching us, hey, prepare. Prepare in the times of Plentius for there are going to be days in the future that are going to be difficult. Prepare for the rainy days. Think of the future. Now the reason I'm going to turn to Matthew chapter 6 is because there's many things in the Bible that you need to learn how to balance, okay. One thing I've learned in the Bible when there are certain doctrines, you can sometimes go excessively in one direction or excessively in the other direction, okay. Yes, God wants us to prepare for the future, but he also says, these are the words of Christ in Matthew 6, 33. You guys all know this, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you, but the next verse is what I wanted to point you to. Christ says, take therefore no thought for the morrow. Oh, Christ is telling me, don't worry about tomorrow, but then pastor Kevin's coming here and says the ants are wise because they're preparing for tomorrow. They're preparing for the future, but Christ says, take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. What do we learn here? Christ is saying, look, there's enough to keep you busy today, okay. Christ is telling us, focus on today. Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow's got other evils. Tomorrow's got other issues. Tomorrow's got other problems that you need to take care of. So you say, pastor, so which one is it? Do I think of the future or do I just think of the here and now? Well, the answer is both. The answer is both, okay. Now the way I would describe this is less. Yes, you need to prepare for the future, but not at the expense of the present, okay. That's the teaching. Prepare for the future. That is true, but not at the expense of the present and I'm sure I've given this illustration before. I've heard this from a good friend of mine who, and if I said it to this church, I'm sorry, I feel like I taught it to bless it up at this church, so I'm getting confused. I'm getting confused. I preach too many times between two churches. I forget what I say sometimes, okay, but a friend of mine told me of an uncle of his who was an immigrant to Australia and there were great opportunities, okay, and this immigrant was just, you know, I think he was like a laborer, you know, very just an entry level, blue collar kind of job, but he was so happy to be in Australia because there are opportunities. You can actually make something of yourself, okay, in Australia and truly it is a blessed country that we live in and there are opportunities that God presents us and so he started working hard. He started to save up hard. He would work six days a week, 12 days a week, okay. He would hardly see his children, but he was making good money. He put his children through good education, the private schools and all of that, okay. Then he bought his investment property, his house, he bought his investment property, after investment property, after investment property, working hard, working hard, working hard for the future, looking down the track. One day me and my family were all going to be able to enjoy all of these great things and as he got himself into the millions and millions and millions of dollars, he was worth, I don't know how many millions of dollars. They found cancer, stage four, passes away. Now he was preparing for the future and brethren, his kids did not like him. His kids, they were like, well, dad's never here. They could not understand that he's working for them. They can't understand because dad was never home. We could never spend time with dad, you know. Dad was thinking of the future but he was never thinking about us. He never spent time with us. He never spoke with us. He never gave us direction. He never gave us affection. He did not think of us and so the children grew up spoiled. The children looking, wow, dad was worth millions and amongst themselves, now they're arguing and fighting. The whole family's destroyed for the pursuit of the future and never thinking of the present and brethren, we need to have this balance. We need to learn how do I prepare for the future but not lose sight of today, not lose sight of the present and we need to have this balance but brethren, we need to prepare. You want to do something great in the future? You need to start now, okay. You need to prepare for the winter. Hey, use the summer. Use the time when God's given you the opportunities to make something of yourself when the wintertime rolls around. Do you ever, do you want to win a soul? Do you want to be able to get one day where you can just go out, speak to someone, tell them how to be saved and for them to call upon the Lord and receive Christ as Savior and I'm sure we all want to do that. I'm sure many of us have already done that but you know what, you're not going to do it unless you prepare, okay. You're not going to do it unless you get a plan of salvation organized. You know, you start memorizing scriptures. If you want to do the Romans road, that's fine. You start preparing your plan. You know, you start thinking, hey, what are the days that I'm going to be available to knock a door? You start thinking. You start praying. You start preparing. You start memorizing, right. You do some role play. You look in the mirror. You speak to yourself and you just grab an individual and then you say, look, another way that I can prepare. I can be a silent partner. I can just sit there or not sit there but I can walk. I can watch and I can look and all of this is preparation for one day that I can go out and win a soul. It requires preparation, doesn't it? It requires preparation. Have you ever read your Bible cover to cover? There are Christians that have never read the Bible. I was going to say, there are Christians that have never read the Bible cover to cover. There are some Christians that have never even read the Bible. Probably haven't gone through one book of the Bible. You say, pastor, the Bible is beautiful. It's the words of God. But how are you going to read it cover to cover unless you prepare? I highly recommend how you get yourself a Bible reading schedule and stick to it. There are a lot of good things online where you can read through the Bible once a year if you like. All it takes is 15 minutes. Who doesn't have 15 minutes to spare? Who doesn't have 15 minutes? Everyone's got 15 minutes. If you say, pastor, I don't. And I'm just so busy and I need to get my eight hours of sleep. All right, get seven hours and 45 minutes of sleep. Give 15 minutes to the word of God and you'll finish that Bible cover to cover in a year. But hey, get yourself a schedule. Develop habits. Remind yourself to read it. Remind yourself when you wake up, this is the time. I don't care what distractions. I'm going to open God's word and read it. I'm going to get to the end of God's word but requires preparation. There are a lot of things as Christians that we want to accomplish one day. Accomplish one day, one day, one day. Get busy now. Prepare now because in winter you're not going to get the opportunity. In summer when the opportunity presents itself is the time to get busy. That is the teaching of the ant. Maybe one day you want to, you know, you're tired of working for others. I don't know. Maybe one day you want to start your own business. You know, you want to work for yourself. You know, you've got these grandiose plans. I'm going to do it. I'm not going to, you know, always be an employee. I'm going to one day run my own. Well, you've got to prepare. You've got to get yourself under another employer. You've got to learn the ropes. Maybe you've got to go and get an education, learn how to run a business. You've got to do these things and then when the opportunity presents itself, you take it but everything in life requires preparation. Can you, I don't know where are you now, Matthew 6? Come back with me to Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 30 is where the reading is from but come with me also to Proverbs 14. Proverbs 14 verse number 23. Proverbs 14, 23 please. Is it just me or is it really humid today? I think it's humid, eh? Humid and hot. Okay, Proverbs 14 please. Proverbs 14, 23. Now, I want you to really pay attention to these words. There's a lot of people like this. What we're about to read, there are a lot of people like this, even within churches. Okay, what does it say in Proverbs 14, 23? In all labour there is profit but it's the second part that I want you to pay attention to but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. Penury is like poverty, okay? Being poor, the talk of the lips. I know plenty of people that know how to talk. One day, one day I'm going to whatever, one day I'm going to knuckle down, I'm going to study hard, one day I'm going to get that job, one day I'm going to start this business, one day I'm going to start a church, one day I'm going to be a pastor. Reverend, it's just hot air. It's talk. Talk is cheap. Anybody can open these lips and utter foolishness. Anybody can do it. Anybody can dream of the future and say that one day this and one day that and one day this but you don't get busy. Look, that's not going to happen unless you get busy like an ant, okay? The one that speaks of the future but does not prepare themselves for that time is, what's the word, more foolish than the ant and I've got friends like and I, you know, I love my friends. My friends say to me, Kevin, one day I talk to them two years later, so what are you doing about the one day vision that you've got? I haven't done it yet. So I now actually change my mind on this and I talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, big visions, amazing things that you want to accomplish but nothing happens. Nothing moves. Nothing changes and God says, look, pay attention to the ant. The ant's going to tell you. The ant gives you wisdom. Get busy. Prepare yourselves. What is it that you want to do one day in your life? And I just want to say to the young people in this church, get busy. Life gets complicated down the track, okay? You've got a lot of free time in your hands, young people. Start thinking of the future. Start thinking, hey, what kind of man, what kind of woman does God want me to be in five years' time, in 10 years' time, in 20 years' time and how can I prepare myself today to be the person God wants me to be? Can you learn that from the ants, okay? You don't need to learn that from Pastor Kevin. Just observe the ants. God says, watch the ant. The ant will tell you this great preaching. The ant will tell you this great message that you can learn from. Next one I want you to look at, go back to Proverbs 30. Let's look at the next animal. Proverbs chapter 30, verse number 26. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse number 26. The conies are but a feeble folk. What are conies? Like rabbits. I was looking this up, actually. I was wondering, my immediate thought was a rabbit, but because of the, obviously this has been the Middle East or what have you, it's probably not really a rabbit, but a rabbit-like creature, you know, and it doesn't really matter to me. It's a little rabbit or rabbit-like creature, okay? And what about this feeble folk? It says, yet make they their houses in the rocks. So they bury themselves deep in a place of protection, a hard place like rocks. What can we learn from the conie? What can we learn from the rabbit? Well, we can see that, hey, they are feeble folk, okay? Hey, if there's a predator, some type of hawk, some type of eagle, hey, they can be attacked if they're out in the open. And so these creatures make sure they've got a house in the rock. They've got to make sure they've got somewhere stable, somewhere secure, a place that they can be protected from the predator. What can we learn in terms of this? Well, of course, the houses, the rocks, the holes that they live in, provides these creatures stability, right? Provides them security, stability. And brethren, you need security and stability in your life. And look, we know all of that stability comes from the Lord God, but I want us to take some of the thoughts around this passage because it says, yet they make their houses in the rocks. So let's apply that to just our houses, as far as the physical building, you know, the roof that you've got over your head. You know, it is important, right, that we, especially as men, that we go to work and we ensure that our wives and our children have a place to stay. And, you know, I truly believe, men, we may not realise this. I mean, if you're like me, I don't mind. I don't mind being on the go. I don't mind moving here and there. But really, for the sake of my wife, she needs stability. And I think for a lot of husbands, you probably say something similar, man, I'd love to do this and that and go here and there. But really, you know, we're made differently to our wives. And our wives are looking for stability, especially when there are children in the midst, okay. And the children need a place where they feel secure. The children need a place to go, hey, you know what, dad's always going to make sure that we're looked after and provided for. That gives children a lot of assurance in their fathers. You know, as I keep going through this, I'm going to give you examples again of my life. And as I often say, I'm not using my life because I think I'm this great man and I've got these great stories. It's just that if I'm going to pull an illustration, it's going to come from my life. Because I remember things like as I'm preparing sermons, I'm like, oh, yeah, that's when I learned that principle. Or that's when I did this well. Or that's when I did this poorly. And the results that I've learned from God's Word, you know, truly, they play out in real life. But I remember, you know, buying a house, the house that I've got there in Sydney with, for Christina. And I mean, we didn't know this at the time, but just a few houses down, they were dealing with drugs. And then, you know, obviously, when they deal drugs, it brings all kinds of nasty people along the scene as well. And, but I was just happy. All right, we got a house and Christina was like, oh, look, I don't like, you can actually see through the living room for these for the front door. And so I was like, all right, you know what, let's change those doors. Let's secure this place. Let's put block out, let's put shutters on the windows, right? Let's just, you know, I went to work, and I worked overtime, and I tried to save up as hard as I could. And I just wanted to make that house secure for my wife. And I think we had four kids at that time. You know what, and there was something about doing that once we accomplished it, and my wife felt secure and safe. All right, and I felt like, you know what, my kids are safe here, where it gave me great satisfaction. You know, it just as a man, just as a hard working man, just said, you know what, I'm so happy that I can do something for my family. You know, and at some point in life, you'll realize, you know, life is not really about you, but it's about the others that God has given you. And it gives you such joy when you're able to protect your family, you're able to put a roof over their heads, provide for their needs. You know, there's such joy in the heart of a man when he's able to do this. And obviously, not just the physical house, keep your finger there. Come with me to Acts chapter 16. You guys know this passage, the soul winners, you all know this one. Acts chapter 16, verse number 30. When God speaks of our house in the Bible, you all know that it can apply to many different parts of life. Yeah, it can apply to the physical building that we live in, but also within that physical building, our people, our real people, human beings. I gave you the illustration of my friend and his uncle. He had plenty of physical houses, but he did not look after his family. And the Bible says here in Acts 16, verse 30, and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. So the physical building is going to get saved? No, house here, of course, is speaking about the family. You know what, if your wife, if your children, if your servants, if they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they too will be saved. And so I just want to show you here that house can also, and many times in the Bible, can just refer to your family. And Brevin, it's so important, you know, family is so precious, so precious. And we need to make sure that we provide stability and security, okay, within our own families, okay, that we learn to develop relationships, that we learn how to speak one to another, that we learn how to trust one another. And none of us are perfect, alright. You know, the more kids you have, the more personalities, the more challenges that there are, you know, with a larger, with a growing, I mean, it's really challenging enough with just having a couple of kids on the side. Even marriage is tough, right, just a relationship between husband and wife can be tough. But the lesson that we can learn from the rabbits here is they look for a secure, solid, protective place. So husbands and wives, how is your marriage? You know, if you want your house to be strong and secure, you need to work on your marriage. You know, please, husbands, love your wives. Wives, please submit yourselves to your husbands. You know, do what God asks of you. And, you know, God's promise is you're going to have a strong and happy and successful marriage in your life. You know, we're to train our children in the way that they should go. We should teach them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We need to tell our kids what God expects from them according to the Bible. All these things are important in building our house, to give us security, stability in our lives. Not only does the Bible speak of family, I'll just quickly read to you from 1 Timothy 3.15. But if I tarry along, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. What's the house of God? It says, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Brethren, our church, New Life Baptist Church needs to be a place of stability and security. Okay, this is a place where we're not just wondering, hey, I wonder if Pastor Kevin's going to be preaching on heresy today. I wonder if he's going to say some lies and heresies. I don't know. There's a 50-50% chance that it's good, that it's horrible. Will that give you security? Will that give you comfort? You know, we want to make sure that this house of the Lord is a place that's well established. Okay, that we say, look, you know what, Lord, use me in whatever capacity I can be used in this church to give strength, security, stability in the house of the Lord. Lord, how can you use me? Once again, we're not talking about the building. We're talking about the congregation, the coming together, what we call the church, where we come to praise and worship the Lord. Hey, we don't have to be unstable. We know what Bible we're using. King James Bible. You all have a copy in your hands. We all read. Hey, as the Bible's being read, was anyone confused? I've been in churches where someone's reading from the Bible and I've got another version. Someone else has another version and they're like, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't see it in my Bible. Where are you up to? That's confusing. That's uncertainty. Reverend, we want to make sure that the house of the Lord is a place that is secure. It said it's the pillar and ground of the truth. Reverend, what's going to keep this church secure is the truth. The truth that only comes by preaching God's word. So church is a place, the house of the Lord, that we want to ensure that it's a place of stability, strength, a place that like the rabbits can run to away from the predator. Hey, church ought to be a place that we can run to away from the wicked world, away from the influences of the devil. We're going to say, hey, we're just going to be with God's people. We're going to hear great Christian music. We're going to praise the Lord. We're going to hear great teachings from the word. Hey, we can even learn from the animals that God has listed in the Bible. Hey, and it's a place of stability, security, and truth. Come with me to Hebrews chapter three. Hebrews chapter three, please. Hebrews chapter three. Hebrews chapter three. And verse number five. Hebrews chapter three. Verse number five. I thought this was interesting. What else is a house that we can read about in the Bible? It says here, Hebrews three, five, and Moses verily was faithful in all his house. Okay, so Moses was faithful in his house. What is this? What house? He goes, as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. In what way was Moses faithful in all his house? Well, his house in this reference is the children of Israel. He's the physical nation that he was part of. He was faithful. Hey, he was secure in his house. And look what he did. As a servant for a testimony, okay, his life and the things that he spoke were a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. He was a testimony that one day Christ would come to this earth and pay for the sins of mankind. Moses was faithful in his service, in his nation. So that's another house that we want to make sure we've got in order. How can I be used, Lord, in my nation? My nation's Australia. I know Australia doesn't have a covenant with God like the Old Testament Israelites had with the Lord, but God's put us in this house. God's put us in this nation. Hey, are you a testimony to fellow Australians about what Christ has done for us? Are you testifying? Are you being a witness of what Jesus Christ has done, his salvation? Are you going out there and secure in this house? Brethren, Australia's fallen apart. You know, the nations are falling apart. The only place that's, the only thing that's going to give it security is for people to come to Christ, to trust him, to be righteous, not in their own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ. And that's going to give security to our nation if people can one day once again be brought back to the fear of the Lord. Now we're going to spend a little bit of time in Hebrews 3. Look at verse number 6. Hebrews 3, verse number 6. What else is a house? As I was reading this passage ago, that's interesting. It says in verse number 6, but Christ, as a son over his own house, say what is Christ's house? Look at the next phrase. Whose house are we? Us, individually. Huh? Well, of course, you know, when you got saved, the Holy Spirit came to indwell each one of us. The Bible also says that we're the temple of the living God. Okay? And so, hey, our own lives are a house. Hey, we want our lives to be stable. We want to be mentally stable, don't we? We want to be stable in our lives. You know, we want to grow and mature and get stronger, and so we're not affected by the ways of this world. He says, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end? Reverend, let's hold on to the hope of our salvation, the hope of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the hope of eternity with God forever and ever. If we hold on to that, brethren, then we can ensure that our house, our bodies, our life are stable and secure. You know, that we're not so easily over, you know, overwhelmed, you know, overly emotional, you know, bad days, good days. I don't know where we stand. Hey, we need to learn and grow and mature. The Bible says in Hebrews 4.14 that we hands forth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Reverend, we need to make sure we take care of our house. Hey, let's secure ourselves in our doctrines. Hey, let's not believe doctrines just because it's the Baptist teaching. Oh, because that's what Pastor Kevin preached. Now, secure yourself. Look at God's Word. Why do we believe this? Why did Pastor Kevin preach that? Why did Baptist stand in that position? I need to open up God's Word myself. I don't want to be tossed to and fro when people give this argument and that argument and that argument. What does God's Word say? And I'm going to stand true with what God says. God, I'm going to stand on your Word no matter what. No matter if anybody else doesn't stand with me, I will stand true with you where your Word says so, Lord. I'll be there. I don't want to be tossed to and fro. I want to be secure in my house, in my body that you've given me. You're still there in Hebrews 3. Look at verse number 4. Now, all these hazards that we looked at, brethren, you've got to put the effort in. You've got to make sure that you give the opportunities that are presented there to secure it, to make it protective, strong. But at the same time, what I love about verse number 4, you know, we're not relying on our own flesh, are we? The Bible says, for every house is builded by some man. So yeah, we do play a part. We do, of course. Lord, how can I be used? But more importantly, it says, but he that built all things is God. Brethren, you can't do it on your own. You want a strong marriage? It can't just be you and your wife. You both have to draw close to God and say, God, strengthen our marriage. You want to build closer relationships with your children. It's not going to happen just on your own. You need to get on your knees before God and say, God, help me. God, build our relationship. Lord, strengthen our family. Lord, please protect us. You're not building this church. Yeah, Lord, use me where you can, but Jesus Christ is building this church. Jesus Christ is adding to this church. It has to be God. He builds all things. So please, you know, while I am putting a bit of pressure on you guys, look after the houses. Don't put so much pressure on yourself, okay, that you wear yourself down, remind yourself, hold on, I've got the master builder here and where I don't know what to do, I'm going to run to him and he'll take care of it. Okay, God's always there watching us, helping us to build our lives, you know, to grow and do great things for him in our lives. Back to Proverbs 30, please. Proverbs 30 and verse number 27. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse number 27. What's the next creature? Proverbs chapter 30 and verse number 27. The locusts have no king. Do you guys know what locusts are? It's like, I don't know, I think of them as big grasshoppers, right, and you've heard of locust plagues where you can just wipe out entire farms, things like that. Well, it says the locusts have no king, kind of different to the ants because we know the ants have a queen and generally the ants are making sure that the queen has everything it needs to continue its colony and the growth of that colony, but the locusts have no king, yet go they forth, all of them, by bands. Somehow the locusts are organized. They don't receive direction from a king and yet they know what they need to do. They know how to go and create some type of, be some type of menace. They know how to take out farms and they know how to reproduce, they know how to sustain themselves, but they're not being directed by this single voice, by this single king. What can we learn from this? Now, I'll talk to the children, talk to young people here. You know, you grow up, and rightfully so, receiving direction from mum and dad, all right. Maybe if you've gone to school, direction from teachers, maybe direction from your grandparents, maybe directions from your pastor, directions from people that you look up to. You know what, there comes a day where you're going to have to stand on your own two feet. There comes a day where you need to be self-motivated. We need to learn how to say, you know what, I just need to do what is right instead of just being told what to do. You know, we teach our kids lots of things. We teach them, hey, read your Bibles and do your chores and, you know, get educated, do your studies, do your homework, whatever it is. But at some point, kids, I know you get sick of us, but at some point you're going to have to do it on your own. And if you're not doing it, if you're not self-motivated, the locust is wiser than you. Okay, now don't you want to be wiser than locusts? I want to be wiser than a locust. Then you've got to be self-motivated. You've got to start doing what is right. You can't receive direction forever. One day you're going to have to say to yourself, you know what, I just need to do what is right in God's eyes. I need to step out and I'm growing up, I'm becoming a man, I'm becoming a mature woman and I need to do what is right. I just, I can't keep relying on people telling me what to do. And that's part of maturity. That's part of growth. Can you turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter three. Deuteronomy chapter three verse number 27. Deuteronomy chapter three verse number 27. Now we're going to be reading about Moses and we obviously know that Moses was not used by God to take the nation into the promised land. God used Joshua, right? But Joshua was a follower of Moses. You know, Joshua was always there and Moses aside. Moses was the leader. Moses was the clear leader. Okay, but Joshua was there taking direction from Moses, you know, for many years. Right, for decades even. All right, but I want you to notice what it says here in Deuteronomy chapter three verse number 27. God gives these words to Moses. God says to Moses, get thee up into the top of Pisgah and lift up thine eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward and behold it with thine eyes. For thou shalt not go over this Jordan. So Moses, you're not going to do it. Okay, but then he says this verse number 28. But charge Joshua, look at this, and encourage him and strengthen him. For he shall go over before this people and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. You see, there came a time when Moses had to step out on his own. There came a time when Moses had to let Joshua go. All right, I've told you everything I can, Joshua, there's nothing more that I can teach you. There's not, I can't guide you anymore, Joshua. Now it's your turn to step out. You need to become the leader over the nation of Israel. You're going into the promised land and you're going to war with your people. You're going to be defeating the Canaanites and God's going to be by your side. But God tells Moses, hey, encourage him. Give him courage. And young people, one day you have to step out. You're going to step out under the shadow of your parents. But do it God's way. Do it God's way. And be encouraged. Encourage yourself in the Lord. Take the lessons that you've learned from your parents and go, you know what, I'm going to build from here. I'm going to do more. Come with me to our first Chronicles chapter 28, please. First Chronicles 28. And we know, we know Joshua stepped out. We know he accomplished great things. He wasn't. You think it was easy going to the promised land, going to war, taking out the Canaanites. I remember that they thought they were grasshoppers in the sight of the Canaanites. But he stepped out there, didn't he? He no longer needed direction from Moses. He was ready. And like I said, all these animals just teach us to be prepared, to be ready. Don't waste your time. All right. If you're a Joshua, you know, get yourself under good leadership. Children, learn what you can from your parents. Your parents have experiences. Your parents have made mistakes in life. Your parents don't want you making the same mistakes or even worse. Do better. You know, my dad migrated from Chile. And, you know, he came to Australia, worked hard. All right. I mean, you know, provided for the family. And my dad was always saying to me, you know what, all I want for you guys, you know, I've gone from Chile, working on a farm with very little, you know, I've been able to get you guys to Australia. I came to Australia for my children. All I want is my children to just take one step further than me. Not backwards. But one step further. I want you to do more. And, brethren, same with my kids. I want my kids to do more. I want my kids to win more souls. I want my kids to have more love for Jesus, to have greater knowledge than me, greater wisdom, greater successes in life. That's what I want. And, you know, as church members, I want you guys to do great works for God. I don't care if Jesus rewards you more in eternity than me. I'll be rejoicing. You did more than pastor Kevin. Praise God. I'm going to be over the moon. All right. But listen, we need to learn how to stand on our own two feet. We can't always be pushed. Did you do your chores? Did you make your bed? Did you do your studies? Young people, you need to one day step up and say, you know what, I'm going to take responsibility for this myself. I'm going to step out of my parents' shadows and I'm going to make sure that I do things right in the eyes of God. Look at 1 Chronicles 28 verse 20. 1 Chronicles 28 verse 20. This is when Solomon took over the kingdom. And it says here, And David said to Solomon his son, be strong and of good courage and do it. Kids, do it. I don't know what it is with this generation. It's a lazy generation. It's the video game generation. And not that I think video games are sin. I'm just saying, like, it's okay to play a game, but man, people spend hours and their entire life and all night long and their entire community is my video game. Laziness. What's going on? Well, parents, we need to obviously guide them. We need to instruct them. That's a lazy generation, the social media generation. And look, what does David say to his son? Be strong and of good courage and do it. Look, Solomon had doubts. All right, Solomon wasn't sure that he could lead the nation. You know, he prayed to God that he saw himself as just a child. Me, lead an entire nation. Me, step in the foots of my dad. He defeated Goliath, defeated the Philistines, gave us peace and I'm stepping into those shoes. Lord, I can't do it. What does he pray? He prays to God for wisdom. Hey, God's given you wisdom. God's given these four little creatures to give you wisdom. Tonight. I guess I'm targeting this to young people, but it's not just for young people, but it's just that obviously they've got a big future ahead of them. Some of us, we don't know how futures aren't going to be that long potentially. I don't know. Okay. It doesn't mean we can't still work toward those things and prepare ourselves today and how God can use us. But, oh yeah, sorry, I didn't finish the verse. Did I? I get distracted sometimes. He said, be strong and of good courage and do it. Fear not nor be dismayed for the Lord God, even my God will be with thee and he will not fail thee nor forsake thee until thou has finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. Let's talk about the building of the temple, but it's in context of Solomon taking the entire kingdom. He says, look, you can do it Solomon, but make sure you get your strength from God. God's going to be there by your side. Young people, one day you will step out of the shadow of your parents and I tell you, God will never leave you. God will never forsake you. Okay. Seek the blessings of the Lord. Say, Lord, how do I do it according to your will? How do I do it according to your word? Lord, it's just you and me now. It's not mom and dad between us. It's you and me, Lord, and I want to step out and please you. Not my will, but thy will be done. You see, the locusts don't need a king. The locusts know what to do and we need to be self-motivated. Okay. And keep your eyes on the Lord. Keep your eyes on the Lord as you step out. Okay. In life, you prepare for the future. Say, Lord, I don't know the future, but you know my future. You know what I can accomplish. Lord, you even know what mistakes I'm going to make on that journey. Can you help me, Lord? Can you help minimize my mistakes? Can you please teach me? Lord, help me to learn from your word. Help me not to learn from mistakes because they hurt. Help me just to learn from the mistakes of people in the Bible and I don't want to repeat those same things, Lord. Let's be self-motivated. Come with me to another passage. Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, verse number 99. 119, verse number 99. 119, verse number 99. The reason I just want my kids to be better than me. I want my kids to be wiser than me. I want my kids to love the Lord more. I want my kids to know the Bible more than me because I want my kids to be like, and I want all the kids in this church to be like this. Where the psalmist is able to say in verse number 99, I have more understanding than all my teachers. For thy testimonies, speaking to God, are my meditation. What's going to make you wiser than your parents when you seek the wisdom of God and His word? I can be wiser than my teachers. Hey, teachers are good. Parents are good. Adult guidance is good. But we want to one day for you to step out and do better, to know more than us, to be wiser than us. And you can do it by meditating on God's word. It continues in verse number 100. I understand more than the ancients. Why? Because I keep thy precepts. Not only do I know your wisdom, Lord, but I keep them. I do them. I think about them, Lord. I think about how I can apply it to my life. Lord, I'm not a hearer only, but I'm a doer of your word. And you can know more than the ancients. And we talk about the ancients. People talk about how, you know, nobody knows how to build a pyramid, right, today. But how do they do it? How do they have the technology? They're the ancients. Listen, the wisdom that God can give you in His word is more than that. It's got eternal value. I mean, pyramids fancy, but it's only going to be on the earth for a little while. And then it's all going to burn down anyway. But you've got mansions in heaven. You've got rewards in heaven. You can build something great for yourself in heaven. That's where true wisdom lies. When you think about things that will last for eternity, last forever. So the locusts teach us to be self-motivating, right? Lord, what is it that you want? I'll just do what you want. I don't need to be pushed. I don't need to be forced. Lord, I'm just going to take it upon myself to do what is right. Back to Proverbs chapter 30, verse number 28. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse number 28. What do we learn about the spider? The spider. Now, I don't mind spiders. Some people don't like spiders. But it says here in verse number 28, the spider take of hold with her hands and is in king's palaces. Interesting. So you know how it works, right? The spider will spin a web and then the flies or whatever, whatever insects will get themselves in that web. Then comes along the spider with its hands, with its legs and starts to prepare its meal patiently for a later time. And so what we learn here is that the spider is busy. Okay, the spider stays busy. But it's also a very patient creature. It prepares patiently. And once the spider has prepared its web, you know what it does? It takes hold of any opportunity that hits its web. I was thinking about what does this mean? You know, like, I mean, I think about how the spiders work and literally anything that flies into that web, the spider is going to get busy and start to wrap it up. I'll save that for tomorrow. I'll save that one for next week. It's got its breakfast, lunch and dinner organised throughout the next fortnight or so for everything that's caught on the web. All right. And so again, it's that idea of preparation. The spider prepares its web and then takes hold of whatever opportunities presents itself in that web. But not only that, it says and is in the king's palaces. I was thinking that. Actually, yeah, spiders are everywhere, aren't they? I mean, this spider in particular, I guess you'll find spiders in a rusty old shed. But this spider in particular said, you know what, I want something better than that. Now, most people won't walk into a king's palace. Like you've got to be invited, you've got to be a summon of a certain stature, right? I mean, if a human being forces themselves to be soldiers, bodyguards, stopping that from happening, you can potentially lose your head if you force yourself. But somehow the spider force itself inside. Somehow the spider found a crack, got in there, found a little corner in the palace, nice clean palace and set itself up right there. What I'm looking at here is that the spider is just a creature that takes whatever opportunities, not only on the web, but even if it's its desired location, it takes whatever opportunities presents itself. So what I'm trying to say to you guys is take hold of the opportunities that open up in your life. Brother, you had an opportunity to come to Queensland and you said, I'll take it. You know, I believe the Lord will bless you. You know, there are opportunities that pop up and you know what, I've got to take that when it presents itself. And you know, one thing with life, I don't know about you, but I'm always just asking, Lord, can you just lead me? Can you guide me? Can you make it clear to me what way to go? And sometimes something just presents itself. Something just opens up and I'll be like, all right, Lord, I don't know if I want to do it. It's an opportunity. I'll just, I'll just do it. I'll do it, Lord. You know, I mean, a good example in my recent life is Blessed Hope Baptist Church. You think I really wanted to pass two churches? You think I really wanted to travel across state borders every single week? But the opportunity presented itself down in Sydney. And I said, you know, Lord, we're just going to take it. You know, I don't really want to, Lord, but I'm going to take it. And that church is still going. That church hasn't had a full-time pastor for five years and it's still going. It's still growing. It's still soul winning. It's still hearing great preaching. People are still pumped up and they're happy and they're just pleased to be in the house of the Lord. And that opportunity would not exist if I didn't go, you know what, Lord? Oh, yeah, okay, I'll do it. Even when the options you may not necessarily want to do. But when we see the spider, it makes sure that it's the right opportunities, right? It's the king's palace. Something better. You know, there's something that we can look forward. I'm not trying to take opportunities of sinful opportunities, but something that will help you progress, something that can help you be more productive, something great for the kingdom of God. Hey, when it opens itself, just take it. I'll give you an example, another one. Just get my life, I'm sorry. But, you know, before I become a pastor, I was offered an opportunity, a job, and I just, I looked at the job and I said, there's no way that I can do it. There's no way, right? Like a spider. Can a spider really be in the king's palace? What do we see? These are four little yet wise creatures, God says. And sometimes we feel so little. Lord, I can't do this job. That's like four departments here in Sydney. That's one department in Auckland, New Zealand. I don't want to go to New Zealand, Lord. And Lord, you still need me in my other job to go here and to go here and to go there. And I mean, the money's good. The money's going to help lower the mortgage. It's going to help us do what we need to do and pay the bills and all these kind of things. And I went to my wife and my wife said, well, I'm just behind you, whatever you want to do. I'm behind you, but maybe you should take it. I went to my parents. My parents said, well, you want to be a pastor one day. Maybe God's given you this opportunity to learn something. Okay. I went to my brother. My brother's like, you can't mess it up, Kevin. Just take it. Just do it. Just do it. I don't really want to do it. But I took it and it was a headache. It was long hours. It was stress. It was complaints, problem after problem after problem. All right. I mean, again, the money was good. Right. But man, it's a job that I just did not enjoy. And that's where you got to start applying these things that, you know, the self motivation, the eyes on the Lord. Lord, help me to be secure. Lord, things are falling apart at work outside of my control. But Lord, can you use me to stabilize this place? Can you just, Lord, I'm just, I don't really want this job, Lord, but can I just have a good testimony because I want to be a pastor. The Bible says I need to have a good report with them that are without. I want to be blameless. I don't want to be whining. Lord, help me be a leader. Help me just to do what is right. And by the end of the year, you know, again, I'm not trying to talk myself up, but everyone said to me, man, you did it. We were certain you're going to fail. We were certain you're going to give up, crash and burn. All right. Now, eventually I did quit that job, but it made me realize not then, but later. Well, Lord, you were preparing me and I didn't know. I just took the opportunity. Lord, you gave me an opportunity. I thought it'd be good. I sought some advice. I went for it, Lord, you know, and you've taught me how to run multiple things in multiple places, multiple states, a church in Sunshine Coast, a church in Sydney, soloing events in different places of Australia, going preaching in the US. Now I understand because if I didn't take that opportunity and learn, right, I don't think God could have used me in the capacity that has used me so far. So I encourage you to take whatever opportunity. Man, King's Palace. Oh, go there. Oh, this fell in my web. All right. Let's grab hold of that. All right. Because God opens the doors. If you're preparing yourself, God will open the doors. Let's go back to what we said. If you're preparing yourself to preach the gospel, you're memorizing the scriptures, you're getting yourself ready to speak, you're working up the courage. You know what's going to happen? God's going to open the doors and you're going to meet people. And you grab that opportunity and you give them the gospel. But it only happens when you prepare yourself. That is the wisdom of the animals. That's the wisdom of these little creatures. Look, let us not people that just dream of the future. I want to do this. I want to do that. Young people, don't be people that just, who cares, I'll deal with that later. Think of the future, not at the expense of the present. Prepare yourself. Grab opportunities that God opens the door for you. And look, set your eyes upon Him and you'll be wiser than these creatures. You want to go to heaven. You want to go to heaven where God says, man, you're wiser than the locust, you're wiser than the ants, you're wiser than the bunny, and you're wiser than the spider. You go, can I, I can do that. I think you can do that. Okay, but you can only do it if you apply the lessons that God has given us here in Proverbs chapter 30. All right, brethren, let's pray.