Consider The Ant, Pt. 2
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
This morning, we began preaching a message concerning this warning given to the sluggard in Proverbs 6:6-11.
We looked at the body of the ant this morning. Specifically how that we can see faith in the antennae of the ant, we can see fellowship in the abdomen, and we can see fighting with the armor of the ant...
We learned that the sluggard is a slacker, a sluggard is a lazy or slothful person who hopes to sustain his life without actually working:
25 The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
The sluggard literally refuses to lift a hand:
24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
The sluggard makes excuses not to work:
13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
Unlike the oppressed, the sluggard has brought his poverty on himself and is not an object of pity…He is the opposite of a diligent person:
4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
Proverbs is written to help us be wise and a wise person learns from observation:
32 Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
Since a wise person learns from observation, it’s interesting that we are instructed to observe some things, some very odd things:
24 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.
So, let’s continue our message from this morning and continue our considering of the ant:
This morning we considered the body of the ant, so tonight, we will:
CONSIDER THE BUILDING OF THE ANT
CONSIDER THE BUILDING OF THE ANT
Our text says:
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
Ants have no guide, overseer, no ruler…They don’t have to be prodded and pushed, they just work…Thousands of ants may live in one colony together, yet every single one of them pull their own weight! As a matter and fact, the ants that refuse to work end up being killed by the soldier ants. Now that’s an incentive to work isn’t it?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
We’ve got guides today don’t we? Pastors like myself, evangelists, teachers, the Bible, the Holy Spirit…We’ve got everything that we need to get the job done for Jesus! The sad thing is, many professing Christians simply refuse to work!
The Ministry of the Ant -
The Ministry of the Ant -
They work with individual tasks:
They have jobs by size.
a. Large—soldiers,
b. Medium—Laborers,
c. Small—Tend the young.
Each job in the church is important! You are important to God’s work and to the work of this church. He will use you according to your ability, as you grow, your responsibility will grow.
God has especially gifted and equipped you for some type of work in the body of Christ..
Listen to me now:
Ants can’t build a cathedral, but they can build anthills! That is, after all, what the Lord designed them to do! - One of our problems in life is that we are trying to build things we weren’t created to build!
All God asks is that we use our abilities.
The greatest ability is availability!
10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
The Ministry of the Ant leads us to:
The Method of the Ant -
The Method of the Ant -
How do they accomplish what they do? They work together:
They work together in love:
They work together in love:
You don’t find any fights in an ant colony, they don’t step on each other to get to the food first, and it should be the same for us in the Church...I want to remind you that brothers and sisters in Christ should love each other:
1 Let brotherly love continue.
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
They are helpful to each other:
They are helpful to each other:
Ants will help one another carry burdens; injured neighbors; they will work together to rescue those buried or those who fall into a pit.
2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
They work together in harmony:
They work together in harmony:
1 ant is weak, as we read earlier in Proverbs, but many of them together are strong!
Each one has a job, but none are more important than the other!
We are all members of one body! This thing isn’t about you or me, but it’s all about Him! We need to remember that there is power in unity!
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
One type of ant, the driver ant, is very interesting! It exists in parts of Africa and is the largest ant known to man. The Queens can be as large as 2 inches long! And they can move up to 65 feet an hour!
When the driver ant is on the move, lions, elephants and poisonous snakes all flee! Entire villages of people move out of their path. Driver ant colonies can grow to as many as 20 million and are so large that they can form a front up to a mile wide, and they destroy everything in their path. Humans and animals stand not chance against these feared little ants!
The power of the early church arose out of their unity! If the church united, put away out petty differences and disagreements, stand together in the power of the Holy Ghost, Hell would tremble in our presence!
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
They work toward a common goal:
They work toward a common goal:
The goal of every ant is to provide for their colony; especially the queen...
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
We, as believers, should be working toward a common goal of pleasing and glorifying our Father which is in Heaven!
The Maturity of the Ant -
The Maturity of the Ant -
They take on more important jobs as they mature...
This is really interesting to me; I mentioned this morning about an ant’s two stomachs…The older workers are called living silos...
The article I found concerning this said "they could act as both testers for food toxicity and also as food storers." These "living silos" tended to be older ants, with younger brood workers kept more out of harm's way.
But those ants weren't the colonies' only defense. Although 95% of workers were fed at least once within 30 minutes of the famine's end, the system of food distribution meant that food was mixed and diluted, again reducing the threat of poisoning.
We see these older ants taking care of the colony!
One of the more interesting of the ants is the Honey Pot Ant. He eats himself full of nectar and then feeds the rest of the nest. He is a blessing to all!
I’m thankful for some old men of God that work to take care of us younger guys! I’m thankful that not everyone has the mentality of “my four and no more”! I’ve got quite a few mentors that I’ve learned from, read, and studied and I thank God for their wisdom and help! Not just men of God either, I’m thankful for believers that just want to help everyone else out! We need that ya’ll!
So many people even in the church are for themselves and themselves only and that shouldn’t be! I expect that behavior from people out in the world, but not professing Christians!
The Morale of the Ant -
The Morale of the Ant -
They are resilient:
Ants work all day with no pay, no promotion, no thanks, no pats on the back, no reward, yet they work!
Ants never get mad and quit; they never go on strike! They just work!
Believers ought to work no matter what too! Hey, you ever noticed, you can destroy an anthill with your foot, and the ants just go back to building it again!
That’s the way we ought to be!
Ants are persistent; they keep going in times of danger! They are motivated by hunger, and we ought to be motivated by a desire to please God! We ought to hunger for the things of God and let nothing stand in our way!
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
In closing, I want you to know one more thing about the ant...
There is a kind of ant known as The Shining Slavemaker.
These ants steal eggs from other colonies and bring them back to their own colony.
When these eggs hatch, they think the colony is their own and embark on a life of service to their new masters.
The slave makers themselves can fight well, but they have become accustomed to a life of ease. They don’t work because they just rely on these others ants to do all the work.
They have degenerated to a point where they cannot even feed themselves. If you put them in a jar with food, they will starve to death. But, if you put in a single black ant, he will feed them all!
We must beware that we too become accustomed to a life of leisure. After all, this is no game we are in, this is warfare!
6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Will you be wise tonight?