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Book of Proverbs chapter 6 and
reading from verse 6. We're looking this evening here
at the ant, the little creature. But this little creature has
something to teach us. Proverbs 6 verse 6. Go to the
ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise,
which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat
in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How
long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise 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 travelleth, and thy want as an
armed man. reading there at verse 11, we'll
ask for God's blessing to be upon our thoughts upon the Word
of God tonight. Father in heaven, thank you,
Lord, for thy truth and word. As we consider it, we pray that
thou wilt bless its message to our hearts. We thank thee already
for thy presence among us. We pray that this will continue.
And we pray, Lord, that The Word before us will speak, especially,
Lord, to any who are unconverted. We pray that Thou wilt speak
strongly by Thy Holy Spirit, win them for Thyself, reveal
to them the Lord Jesus, and may they consider their ways and
be wise and flee to the Lord Jesus. Fill with Thy Holy Spirit
now grant power to speak and declare the Lord Jesus and His
great truth. And we pray that our time now
spent around the Word of God, it'll be sweet, it'll be blessed
and used of thee to the building up of the saints, to the saving
of the lost, and to the strengthening of the Church of God. Remember
us now, we pray, and keep thy loving, tender hand upon us.
We ask all of these things In the name of Christ, the Lord,
our Saviour. Amen. It is not unusual in the
Word of God to find evidence of God's creation giving encouragement,
lessons for us as individuals. Way back, for instance, in the
book of Job, And in the 12th chapter, if you would like to
turn to that reference, and verse 7, we are reminded, Ask now the
beasts, and they shall teach thee. And the fowls of the air,
and they shall tell thee. Or speak to the earth, and it
shall teach thee. And the fishes of the sea shall
declare unto thee. When you look at creation, creation
tells you something. It tells you God hath done this. God hath made these creatures. Of course, the evolutionist will
tell you it all happened by chance, but the more you look at creation
and the more you examine creation and witness the complexity of
creation, you can only come to one conclusion. God hath wrought
this. And in verse 9, don't we read
those very words, who knoweth not in all these that the hand
of the Lord hath wrought this? How hard the heart of man is
against God when he can look and examine creation and still
believe that it simply came as a result of millions of changes
over millions of years. No, God hath wrought this. When you look at creation, You
are taught this. Also, in Job chapter 39, God
speaks there about members of creation. That is, creatures
themselves and the lessons that they have got to teach. In Job
chapter 39 and verses 13 to 17, we learn there of the ostrich. And what does this ostrich do?
Well, in verse 13, it asks the question here, The Word of God
gave us thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks, our wings
and feathers unto the ostrich, which leaveth her eggs in the
earth and warmeth them in dust, and forgetteth that the foot
may crush them, or the wild beast may break them. She is hardened
against her young ones as though they were not hers. Her labour
is in vain without fear because God hath deprived her of wisdom,
neither hath he imparted to her understanding. This creature
will take its eggs, lay them, cover them up and then leave
them, forsake them. Why? Because God hath deprived
her of wisdom. And there's a lesson in that.
How many people are so careless They're careless about what God
has given to them. They do not look after it. They
do not care for the good things that God has provided. Go down
the passage, you'll learn about the horse. The horse is a creature
that can go into battle. My, when we read the history
of warfare, you'll not read that history before you understand
that the horse is the creature, or was the creature, that was
greatly used in battle. But what an experience for the
horse! The horse charged in the midst of conflict, the roar of
the cannon, the sound of a gun, at least in a more modern era.
Well, in Bible times, the horse had to charge through the spears
and the swords and the noise of thunder, this passage says. And yet in verse 25, it's as
if the horse is speaking here, and it says, He saith among the
trumpets, Ha! Ha! He smelleth the battle afar
off, the thunder of the captains, and is shouting. The horse is
a fearless creature. Christian, if you want to learn
something about fearlessness, in your stand for the Lord Jesus
Christ. Consider the horse in the midst
of the battle. You see, right through the Word
of God, the creatures of the earth have lessons to teach to
us. And in chapter 6 of the book
of Proverbs, and in verse 6, we are told, go to the ant. Here
is a creature that has got something to teach us. And we are told
here that the sluggoat That is, the slothful person, the person
who is careless about things, is to go to the ant and learn
something. The school year is over so I'm
not going to say anything to the young persons about being
sluggish at education. I wasn't much good at it so I
wouldn't lecture you about it at all but I'm sure many a teacher
has had to lecture the student about being sluggish in their
studies and maybe they reminded them about the ant and how hard
working it was. Of course the lazy person with
regard to employment could go to the ant. The passage here
in reality has much to do with that. A person who refuses to
work, though they've got ability, refuses to engage in labour,
well they could learn from the ant and learn about industry
and learn about work. But this evening I want to apply
these words concerning the ant to those who are careless about
their souls, careless about coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ
as Saviour. And they do have a great application
there. We want tonight to consider the
ant, that which the Bible here has got to say about the ant.
We want to make an application of it, to show you that the ant,
though it has no guide, No overseer, no ruler, yet she makes preparation,
we're told there in verse 8. She provided her meat in the
summer and gathered her food in the harvest. And so in the
time whenever there's food and plenty, the aunt is industrious
and she is at work. And God tonight in this house
through the ministry of the Word of God in the bringing forth
again of the message of Christ and His redeeming grace comes
afresh to your soul. This is a time of plenty for
you. This is a time where you can
learn of the Lord Jesus. You have the opportunity to come
to know Him as your Lord and Saviour, as you hear once again
the Gospel message presented I wonder, will you be like the
ant? And will you now make preparation for eternity and come to know
the Lord Jesus? The ant is a creature you can
learn from. Or would you fold your hands,
as it were, and say, as a sluggish person, oh, a little slumber,
a little more sleep in my sin, a little folding of the hands,
oh, I warn you, your poverty will come, your poverty of soul
will be realised one day if you go on as you are. Let's learn
from the ant though. First of all, could we make some
comparisons between the ant and ourselves? You say, well that's
not going to be something you're going to do easily, but think
of it for a moment and I think we will be able to make some
comparison. First of all, we're told here,
go to the ant. So the sluggish person is told,
go to the ant, there's something for you to learn, so immediately
there's a comparison there, isn't there, that is being drawn. The
ant is a small creature of course. I'm sure if we keep to millimetres,
maybe some of the older folk are still like me, we work with
inches and then I work with millimetres and metres and so forth, and
I get myself all confused when I'm measuring a piece of wood,
for instance, for we've got the two systems in our head, but
if you stick to millimetres, about half a centimetre, five
mil perhaps the size of an ant. It's not a very large creature,
is it? A small, insignificant creature amongst all the other
creatures in the earth, and yet the Bible says, go to this creature,
Could I remind you that we do have a similar characteristic
with the ant, because the Bible says of us, what is man that
thou art mindful of him? We look at the ant and say, a
little creature, if it crawled onto our hand, we would flick
it off. It would be nothing, an irrelevance. But you know,
the Bible says about man, what is man? that thou art mindful
of him, or the Son of Man, that thou visitest him." The astronauts
tell us that their first visit into space is something that
almost overwhelms them. For as they would look out of
their craft or perhaps step out and do one of those space walks,
and they look down upon the blueness of the globe, they begin to realise
how small, how insignificant we really are in the whole scheme
of the universe. We are nothing. And the Bible
says that. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? You know, whenever you consider
ourselves before a holy, God before He who rules over all
the heavens and all the earth. Don't we realize that we are
nothing? Haven't you realized that you're but one sinful creature
upon the face of this earth? And that what are you before
a holy God? My God's people in Bible times
brought face to face, as it were, into the very presence of God.
were forced to realize that. Isaiah, he said, as he witnessed
the holiness and grandness of God, he said when he viewed and
heard those words, holy, holy, holy, woe is me, he said, I'm
a man, I'm undone, I'm a man of unclean lips. Haven't you
realized what you are before a thrice holy God? You are but
as nothing. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? You can think of the creature
called the ant and think of its lifespan. I don't know if you
know how long an ant lives for, but it's interesting looking
these things up. But roughly about, I suppose,
eight to ten weeks. You could almost say seventy
days. And when we think of what is
man, that God is mindful of him. What
is he? We spend our years, the Bible
says, as a teal that is told. If we have even our 70 years,
what are they? They are but a blink. Go to the
oldest person in this meeting, I'm sure there's somebody over
the age of 70, and ask them what have the 70 years previous been
like? They will tell you like a teal.
like a meditation, like a thought. Though the years ahead seem long,
the years behind have gone like a flash. What is man? See, the ant has some characteristics,
you can see right away, that are relevant to us. But then
there's a specific feature in this passage that we are to examine
and consider about the ant. We're told here in verse 6, consider
the ways of this creature. Consider her ways and be wise. Why is she wise? What does she
do that makes her wise? Well, if you look there at verse
7, you'll see the reason we are directed to this creature. We
are told, first of all, that she has no guide, overseer or
ruler. And yet she has the wisdom to
make preparation, especially in the summer and especially
as the harvest is gathered in. Though she has no guide, though
she has no ruler, yet she knows what she must do. Now, in this we are most unlike the
ant. If you take society, for instance,
society is not like the ant. That is, as a society of people
in this province, we are not left to our own devices. God has initiated government. God has put the sword into the
hand of government in order to rule over people. That's why
we have government. We're not each going along our
own way, as it were, in society. There is a government, there
is a rule. Now at times we may greatly criticise our government,
and rightly so, but the fact is there is a government in society. We're not like the ant then.
God has given a rule. God has given government to rule
over society. He has not left us like the ant.
Take for instance also our homes. We are not left like the ostrich. Remember we looked at her at
the beginning. The ostrich laid her eggs, she forgetteth about
them. They hatched out and whatever happened, happened to them. But
when we were born, we were born into a home. We had somebody
to care for us. We had somebody to nurture us.
Had that not been the case, we would not be here. But for many
months we had to be fed, we had to be nurtured, we had to be
looked after. The vast majority of people here in this house,
I'm sure, have grown up in a home. Young people, you're growing
up even now. Some starting out life's journey
almost. You've still many years to go
before you make out for life on your own. Older young people
here can look back across their teenage years, many years. You
see, we're somewhat different, aren't we, from the ant? We're
not the same. The ant, you see, has the wisdom
to get on with what she needs to do. But God has done something
in our lives. God has initiated a government,
a rule, We even have that in the house of God. We have elders. We have a session that looks
after the spiritual life of the church. God has a rule over us. Why is all that? Because we're
not like the ant. We're not wise. You know what
the Bible says? Foolishness is bound up in the
heart of the child. There's something wrong with
us. We are sinners. We're born in sin. We're shaping
iniquity. And God has put government into
our lives because of what we are. We're sinners. And we have
to be guided. And we have to be directed. And
especially when it comes to our soul. When it comes to the great
need that we have in our heart. We don't understand what's wrong
with us. We don't understand our nature. We go our own way. We live our
own life. Why do we do it? Because we're
sinners. Why do we reject the Word of
God? Because we're sinners. And we defy God. And God has
put barrier and barrier and barrier up against us to help us. But still we break through to
go our own way. Why? We are depraved. We're sinful
in ourselves. God still comes to you this evening
in His mercy through what He has accomplished through His
Son on the cross of Calvary. He who has gone to the cross
and died for us to save us and to redeem us. This evening, you
in your sin, God calls you to repentance, to turn to Him that
you might know salvation, that you might know Christ as your
Lord and as your Savior. That's what God does for you,
to guide you to himself because you're a sinner. We're not like
the ant. See, having no guide, no overseer
or ruler, she has wisdom. We don't have that wisdom. God,
therefore, commands all men He directs you through His Word
to repentance from sin and to the person of His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, would you not be wise this
evening? And would you not come to know
the Lord Jesus Christ? You will notice the aunt does
something that we are told here in verse 8. She provideth her
meat. in the summer and gathereth her
food in the harvest." Now draw your attention to the fact that
the ant gathers in good food. It's called meat here, food in
the harvest. She's not gathering trinkets
for herself or for the nest. She's not gathering rubbish,
but she is gathering food which she knows that she needs. Could
I suggest to you there's another element of the ant's wisdom in
that? I wonder, perhaps you do feel,
yes, my soul does need something. But I wonder, how are you providing
for your soul? Perhaps you're saying tonight,
but listen preacher, I'm doing the best that I can. I'm attending
a church. I'm living a good life. I'm following
a practice. And I believe that if I do this,
then I'll be alright with God. Listen, for your soul to be provided
for, it must have good food. And the only food that your soul
can rely on safely is that which is found in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ and in His redeeming works. That's why we
ask you, have you been born again? Are you saved? Are you washed
in the blood of Christ? Are you depending upon the Saviour
and what He has accomplished on the cross of Calvary? This
is the good food for your soul. Do you remember the Lord Jesus
often times, He used this analogy of His own self. He said, I am
the bread of life. When you come to Christ, That's
the food that your soul needs. That's what you need to prepare
for heaven. Do you have Christ as your Lord
and as your Saviour? Oh, there are many verses that
we could turn you to to sum up what the Lord Jesus Christ is
for the soul. What He does for the soul. But
let me give you just a few verses from 1 John chapter 4 and look
at verse 9 and 10. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us because that God sent His only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through Him. You're not
going to live before God with your good works. You're not going
to live before God with your own opinions and your own ideas. You're only going to live before
God if you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Saviour. This is the good food here in
His love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. Are you preparing for eternity? Based on good food, that which
is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, have you been redeemed? Are you saved? Are you born again? Are you relying only upon Christ
and His righteousness and the cleansing power of His blood? This alone will feed your soul. This alone will meet its great
need. Christ, Christ, Christ. Why does the aunt prepare? Because
she knows the future survival of both itself and the whole
colony depend upon such preparation. It says here She provideth her
meat in the summer and gatherth her food in the harvest. Because
the aunt knows the survival of itself and of the colony depends
upon this provision. May I remind you that the future
of your soul depends on how it is provided for now in this life. You might be making a lot of
preparation for family life. A lot of preparation for your
future. The Lord Jesus Christ had something to say about that
in Matthew's Gospel and in chapter 6. He said concerning what men
and women do regarding this life and their preparation for it.
He said these words, Matthew chapter 6. Let's read verse 19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also." Where are you laying up
treasure for? You can have the best provision
for this life. and absolutely no provision for
your soul. What are you doing to provide
for eternity? This is the question. Mark 8.36
says, What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul? Your soul friend is much more
valuable than the body that you possess. What provision are you
making for it? For unless you come to know Christ
as your Lord and Saviour, your soul will be ruined in hell for
all eternity. What a tragedy! How you prepare
in this life will decide for eternity. Oh, tonight would you
not come and be wise and flee to the Lord Jesus Christ? The
aunt makes this preparation as opportunity presents itself,
you will notice. Here in Proverbs chapter 6, notice
what she does. The aunt recognises the season
for gathering in the food. It says, Provideth her meat in
the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. Because
the aunt knows that the other seasons will not provide for
it. They'll not provide for the colony. And so when the season
of summer comes and harvest, it seizes the moment. When we
were living in Devon, we had great problems with ants. The
warmer climate seemed to breed them. And one of the things that
we had to learn very quickly not to do, especially on Sunday,
is to watch the children. They didn't drop bits of food
on the floor, and especially meat, for they seemed to love
the beef. And if there was a bit of beef lying on the floor, you
would come down the next morning and the ants would be in lines
all through the hallway where we ate. I didn't understand,
I couldn't I comprehend how it was that these aunts had found
this piece of meat, but I learned this, that they were adept at
seizing the opportunity. When they found the piece of
meat, they seized it. And many of them would come in
through the door and take hold of little bits and off they'd
go. Can I remind you tonight that
God gives you the season of opportunity, not tomorrow, But He gives you
that season of opportunity in the Gospel today. Today, not
tomorrow. Nor is it the case that the Word
of God is far away from you. Doesn't the book of Romans chapter
10 remind us of that? It speaks there of those who
will say that somehow, well, the Word is far away. It's not
near. And if you turn to the book of
Romans chapter 10 and verses 8 and 9, you will see what Paul
there does. He's actually taking Old Testament
prophecy from the book of Deuteronomy. And he says in verse 6, But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, who shall
ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down
from above. There are some people who want
Christ, as it were, to appear before them right now to show
Himself. But say not in thine heart, who
shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down
from above. Or who shall descend into the
deep? That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead. The Lord
Jesus is not going to appear before you physically. But rather,
this is what the Gospel is, verse 8, but what saith it? The word
is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the
word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised them from the dead, thou shalt be saved. This is the gospel. This is the
opportunity God gives to you this evening. Today, God says,
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
in thine heart that God has raised them from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. Will you not be wise like the
ant and seize the opportunity of God's grace that he gives
you and come to know him as your saviour? Lastly, you will notice that
the ant does this with great industry. The very fact that
she provides her meat in the summer and gathereth her food
in the harvest." That phraseology makes us think of the work the
aunt does. She is an industrious aunt. She works hard. That's why attention
is drawn to the aunt because the sluggard could learn something
about industry and work. We don't say to you that you
have to work your way to heaven. No. But we do say to you, you're
not to be careless and you're not to be heedless when the gospel
message comes to you. You're not to think of folding
your hands, as it were, and going to sleep again. There are many
people, that's what they do. When they hear the gospel, they
say, well, yes, I have a little concern. And then they go out
the door and they go through another week without Christ.
Learn from the ant. Seize the everlasting prize this
evening. Come to Christ. Lord Jesus said
that the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take
it by force. And what that verse means is
that you must seize the opportunity today. Don't say somehow, no,
not now. Or I'll think about it a little
bit longer. Or when I'm a little bit more
convinced. No, that's not the Gospel. That's
not the way to respond. You must come now. Come now. Let us reason together. Thank
God your sins today, though they are so sinful, thank God they
can be cleansed today. This is the Gospel. This is the
word. It is nigh thee. Consider the
ant. Go to the ant. Consider her ways. Be wise. If she seizes her meat
in the summer, if she gathers her food in the harvest, should
ye not learn from her tonight, ye are not saved. And come to
know Christ today, this very day. O God, today comes with
his word. He calls upon you. Repent. Turn
from your sin. Oh friend, without the Saviour
your soul is in danger. You need to make provision. Come
to Christ. Come to Him today. He will save
you. May God bless His Word to each
of our hearts.
Consider The Ant
| Sermon ID | 62605155151 |
| Duration | 34:57 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Proverbs 6 6:11 |
| Language | English |
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