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Transcript

Good afternoon, Brethren.

Earlier in the week, I was walking to Headquarters, getting back from lunch, and in my path was the most beautiful spider that I’d ever seen. It had a very large abdomen, globe-shaped abdomen. It was, I believe, bright orange, and it had some black markings on it. I’d never seen a spider like that in my life, and I came to learn through someone’s research on Google Lens that it was the marbled orb-weaver spider. Marbled orb-weaver spider. Its abdomen definitely looked like a marble. It was beautiful. And what I was surprised to learn was that it’s actually very common in Ohio, yet I’d never seen it before.

So I did a little research and found, okay, A, it’s nocturnal, but, B, it’s different from most spiders in that rather than sitting on its web, it actually builds a nest out of silk and leaves and then suspends a line going all the way to its web to monitor prey that happened to fly into its web. Very unique. A different kind of spider. Now, some people will tell you that that evolved. We, of course, know otherwise. There’s a certain intelligence demonstrated in that marbled orb-weaver. It made me think back to videos I’ve seen of, has anyone heard of, Chaser the Border Collie? Maybe some of you have. This is a dog that a man has trained to identify over one thousand different toys, including verb forms related to these toys. Now, go get the jumping dog toy, and so on and so forth.

These animals have more intelligence than we previously understood. There’s also Bunny the Dog, a famous dog that can, with a board in front of it and various buttons, actually form sentences and communicate with its owners. I saw a clip where Bunny the Dog came out and said, “Play daddy.” In other words, she wanted to play with her owner, the man of the house, and the lady of the house said, “He’s at work. Do you want to play with mommy?” And the dog went and said, “Play tug.” And the mother, I say, of the dog went and got the tug toy, and the dog was willing to play tug with mom instead of dad.

Just yesterday, I saw a video of a cat bring a mouse inside of the house that it had killed and caught, climb up on the counter, and put it in its owner’s soup that was simmering on the stovetop. The cat obviously saw that that’s how the human cooked, wanted to bring its gift, and add it to the soup pot. Of course, the owner didn’t want that, or I don’t know if the owner did or not. They’re not in the Church. Perhaps they do eat mice, but remarkably, the cat was able to observe that humans cook on stoves, wanted to bring a gift to the human, and added it to the simmering soup.

These animals have an intelligence. They’ve been companions with humans for thousands of years, since the beginning of time, since that first week of creation outlined in Genesis. Whether for companionship, food, and that’s still the case today, or much more so in the past, work, they’ve always been there. Work was so integral to human life. The animal-human interaction, I should say, was so integral to work life that we still use the term horsepower to demonstrate the strength of an engine. It has this many horsepower. It’s related to the horse’s work ability of old to this degree. Inextricably tied from the human life is the animal life.

Turn to Revelation four. It shouldn’t be surprising that the God who created both humans and animals tells us this in Revelation chapter four. We see a picture of God’s throne room in heaven. We’ll start in one. “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show you the things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” So we’re getting a picture of the Father on His throne in heaven and what it looks like around His throne.

“And He that sat on the throne was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold,” a mystery we’ve come to understand relatively recently in God’s Church. “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

“And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.” So beasts in God’s presence, he could have anything He wants in His throne room, yet we see these four beasts present. “And the first beast was like a lion...” no mystery here. We’re talking about animal-like creatures. “The first beast was like a lion and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about Him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you hast created all things,” including animals, “and for your pleasure they are and were created.”

So God enjoys animals just like we do. There appear to be permanent animals in heaven. I don’t know the exact status of those four beasts. There’s certain mystery surrounding it, but clearly God values the animal kind. He gave it to us for a reason. And part of the reason He gave us animals was to teach us valuable lessons from creation. Men have drawn lessons from animals since the dawn of time. We’re going to be talking about lessons from animals today. I gave a sermon some years ago on it. This is a part two, as it were. We’ll get more into that in a few moments, but first, some lessons from animals that men have drawn, men cut off from God, down through history.

Powerful lessons because these animals were produced by the mind of an intelligent creator, there’s certain wisdom inherent to them. There’s certain character traits we can learn from them, and we’ll come to see we should learn those character traits from them. Sometimes it’s things to emulate, sometimes it’s things to avoid, but even men cut off from God have realized this. I found an article on the internet, forty animals that changed history from historycollection.com, and I handpicked two or three of them to share with you to show what a profound impact animals can have on the human existence.

First one I’ll read to you. Fighting roosters that inspired Greek soldiers to save their country from the Persians. A big deal. The Battle of Marathon, probably heard of a marathon race. Well, that term originated from a run that was between, I believe, Marathon, the city of Marathon in Athens, and was made famous by this battle, a run that occurred during this battle. The great Greek general, Themistocles, is most famous for being a commander in the Battle of Marathon, four-ninety BC. This battle saw the Greeks soundly defeat the Persians and marked a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars.

We understand that from a spiritual perspective, but amazing, these two mighty factions, the Greeks and the Persians, there was a lesson from an animal that helped shape that conflict. According to the historian, Aelian, however, Themistocles had some surprising assistance. Leading his men to Marathon, he spotted a pair of fighting cocks and made an impromptu speech to his troops. We’ve seen cockfighting. We know how vicious these birds can be. He said, “These undertake this danger, neither for their country nor for their country gods, but that they may not be worsted or yield to one another.” In other words, they’re not fighting for God. They’re not fighting for country. They just don’t want to lose.

And that’s how he rallied his men prior to this most consequential battle. Themistocles’ words certainly did the trick. Now, men still pit roosters against one another, dogs against one another. My wife actually has visited China in the past, prior to coming into the Church, and she was exposed to cricket fighting. It’s taken very seriously in China, so much so that the victors, the victorious crickets, are actually buried in handmade coffins, whereas the losers are eaten by their owners as a sign of the shame of losing. She’s seen little gyms crafted where the crickets actually have little barbells and machines to strengthen themselves for the battle.

We can learn from these brute beasts. I don’t know if a grasshopper or a cricket is a brute beast, but we can learn from these animals going to battle, just as this Greek general used cockfighting to inspire his troops. Here’s one we don’t necessarily think about. We understand there was great famine in the time of Mao under communist rule, but part of that had to do with his disruption of the ecosystem because God designed these animals to work very carefully, one with another and with us, to keep the order of things stable.

In nineteen fifty-eight, Chairman Mao waged war on an unlikely enemy. Noticing that tiny sparrows frequently stole a little bit of grain, he saw an opportunity to increase grain production. “Birds are public animals of capitalism,” roared Mao’s government, launching a campaign to exterminate them. Professional hunters and ordinary folk alike chased sparrows, leading many birds to die of exhaustion. People destroyed their nests and smashed their eggs. Unfortunately, Mao did not realize that sparrows also ate insects that did far more damage to agriculture. The resultant ecological imbalance exacerbated the Great Chinese Famine, which killed between fifteen and forty-five million people.

When things are working together correctly in nature, problems take care of themselves. I recently had a hole on my property, and I saw a few yellow jackets coming out. And I asked Mr. Denee about it, “Should I throw chemicals down there? Should I try to bury it with dirt? What should I do?” as he knows these things. He said, “Leave it alone. An animal will actually burrow in and completely demolish the nest.” And I began to notice very few yellow jackets were coming out. And sure enough, not ten to fifteen feet away from the hole, I found a completely destroyed nest that an animal had gone into the hole, pulled out, and destroyed. God’s creation at work.

So this is part two of lessons from animals. That sermon, I believe, was called Consider the Ant, and I never even went into the ant, so we will get into that today, but lessons from animals, things we can learn from the wisdom that God put in animals. And we’ll briefly go back to First Kings, which we went to in that first part, First Kings chapter four, and see just how valuable it is to understand the way of these animals, the way of these beasts, the lessons that they hold.

First Kings chapter four, verse twenty-nine. “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness,” meaning width of heart, mind, intellect, capacity, “even as the sand that is on the sea shore.” His thinking was as expansive as the sand on the sea shore, which can’t be numbered. There are estimates, but it can’t be numbered. Verse thirty, “And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.”

How was he wise? What was the manifestation of his wisdom? What made it plain to, let’s say, the Queen of Sheba that he had great understanding? What was some of the evidence of his wisdom? “And he spake three thousand,’ verse thirty-two, “proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springs out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.”

He talked a lot about animals. A lot of those parables, proverbs that he recorded about animals, proverbs rather, are recorded in the books that he penned, that God inspired him to pen. However, there was a lot that he spoke of, and I think there are only eight hundred proverbs recorded in the Book of Proverbs, yet he spoke, it said, three thousand proverbs. So there’s a lot of wisdom that Solomon had that was not even recorded in the Bible, and it surrounded trees, beasts, fowl, creeping things, and fishes. And it’s not surprising, given God put mankind on earth to build character, to grow, to learn lessons.

So He built certain features into the creation that mankind could learn from. Pretty plain, pretty easy to understand. And there came all of the people to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all the kings of the earth which had heard of his wisdom. Animals have wisdom. Period. It may sound strange to hear, but they have their own form of wisdom.

Turn to Job chapter thirty-nine. It’s actually called wisdom, and we’d do well to learn from the wisdom that they hold. Job thirty-nine, verse... let’s pick it up in verse nine. “Will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or abide by your crib?” I think that’s a bull, not a unicorn in the western folklore sense. “Can you bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after you? Will you trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt you leave labor to him?” God is asking Job these questions to show His preeminence over man. “‘Will you believe him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather it into your barn?

“Gave you the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?” the ostrich, “which leaves her eggs in the earth, and warms them in dust.” So here’s an ostrich that simply leaves her eggs in the dirt and doesn’t really build a nest for them, doesn’t protect them, “And forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.” Elsewhere in this chapter, I believe it says the hawk flies by wisdom, but here is the anti-example, “And forgets that a foot may crush them or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain without fear.”

Why is she fruitless as compared to other animals? Why does she make these poor decisions, these bad mistakes, as compared to other animals? Verse seventeen. “Because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has He imparted to her understanding.” Amazing. The implication is, there are certain other animals that do have wisdom, that do have understanding. We see that elsewhere in the chapter, I believe I covered that four years ago or for however long it was, but the ostrich has been deprived of wisdom. It doesn’t have understanding, so it makes poor decisions. “What time she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.”

So it’s no wonder that, we’ll go back to the famous animal account, where to learn from, we set it up, Proverbs six, six, it’s no wonder God says the following. If animals have wisdom, certain animals have wisdom, certain animals have a dearth of wisdom, and we’re to learn from them, it’s no wonder God says this. Proverbs six, six, the famous, “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise,” learn the wisdom of the ant, God says, “consider her ways and be wise.” Consider can be translated advise yourself, take heed, discern. You have to study something to discern the lessons in it. You have to know the mode of operation to advise yourself or to take heed.

Consider the ant. Consider her ways and be wise. Think on it. Go to school on it. People are inside most of the time these days. They don’t spend as much time in nature. Fishing has given way to video games for young people or TV or hunting the same or even camping, and so on and so forth. People have lost a great connection to nature, but I said in that first part, we’d come back to the ant. I didn’t at the time, but better late than never. The trait that we can learn from the ant is diligence. Diligence.

Now, what... the way I’ll approach the remainder of animals is to silhouette a lesson and then build to what animal it is, but in this particular case, in this first animal we’re going to look at, it’s inverted, I’m telling you it’s the ant, and we’re going to learn diligence from the ant. How important is diligence? How important is it? Proverbs twelve, just a few chapters forward, Proverbs chapter twelve. If we’re able to consider the ant’s ways and be wise, we can understand what it means to be diligent, and the reward of diligence is extraordinary. Proverbs twelve, twenty-four, “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.”

Now, there are a few of us who bear rule in this life. We could certainly be promoted. We can be given more responsibility, but ultimately, if we’re diligent in this life, we will bear rule in the kingdom, the kingdom to Israel first and the kingdom of God later. But only if we’re diligent, only if we consider the ant’s ways and are wise. And we’ll look at how resourceful ants are in a few moments here, but for now, let’s focus on the need to be diligent in order to bear rule in the kingdom. First Thessalonians chapter four. Ants just quietly work. They don’t trumpet their arrival. In fact, if they did, we’d call the exterminator or put out some borax or kill them with some kind of spray. They just quietly, diligently work in the background.

First Thessalonians four, verse nine, “But as touching brotherly love you need not that I write unto you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed you do it toward all the Brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, Brethren, that you increase more and more; And that you study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.” Just be diligent. Be effective humans in this life. Go to work. Be productive. “That you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing.” Don’t be a noisy person, be a productive citizen.

Second Thessalonians three, we heard a little bit about this in the latest part of the sermon series. Second Thessalonians three, and verse six. “Now we command you, Brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This must have been a theme or a problem in Thessalonica if Paul had to instruct them in the first book to do their own business and work with their own hands. But here we see in the second book to the Thessalonians, he revisits the theme, “We command you, Brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

“For yourselves know how you ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any man’s bread for naught; but wrought with labor and travail night and day,” just constant work, continuous work. I heard a question asked about ants, maybe a decade ago, and it fascinated me. I was planning on asking it at the conclusion of these scriptures, but it fits right here. How much does an ant gather? And you know you think about it, and you try to quantify, well, maybe this many times its body size or body weight. I’ve heard they can carry ten times their body weight, so maybe you go through calculations like that. But no, the answer is as much as it can.

How much does an ant gather? As much as it can. It just keeps working. As long as there’s opportunity to be productive, it’s productive. We have to be productive within balance. Can’t burn ourselves out. There’s the Sabbath rest, and there’s natural rest during the day too. But an amazing question, how much does an ant gather? As much as it can. I went to school on that. I meditated on it. I think about it whenever I see ants, if I have occasion. “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any man’s bread for naught; but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you.”

Paul was a tentmaker, supplemented his income that way. “Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.” He was willing, rather than collecting tithes and offerings as would have been most appropriate, he was willing to also labor at night, in addition to preaching to the Brethren, to be an example to them. Look, I’m willing to work with my hands, Brethren. You should, too. He wasn’t being a hypocrite. He was showing, okay, I’m telling you to work. I commanded you to work with your own hands the last time I was here or whenever it was. Look, I’m willing to do it, not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example to you to follow us.

“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” You just heard about how in the kingdom, there will be very minimal unemployment because anyone who doesn’t work won’t eat. Diligence is crucial, whether it be at our job, whether it be in our personal prayer life, Bible study life.

Second Timothy two. Second Timothy two. Consider the ant’s ways and be wise. Two, fifteen. “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” It takes effort. Just like anything important in life, it takes effort, prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread,” Christ said, when He taught us how to pray. It’s a daily pursuit. Paul said, be insistent in prayer. Pray without ceasing. It takes work. It takes effort. It takes constant movement forward, constant production, productivity like these ants that ceaselessly, that tirelessly, work.

And God in His love gave us the example of the ant, inspired the wisest man ever to live to tell us to consider the ant, you know, that gathers its food in season so that it has enough during the winter. There are countless lessons we can learn from them if we consider them.

Second Peter chapter three. Second Peter three. How important is diligence, which the ant teaches us? Second Peter three, and verse two, “Be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior; knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” He’s laying the day of the Lord on the table, saying, “Look, this is coming. Beware.” But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

“The Lord is not slack,” He’s a diligent being, “concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved...” knowing that this great destruction is coming, knowing that these new heavens and new earth are coming, knowing God’s plan.

“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.” We have to be diligent to make our calling and election sure. God isn’t slack, neither can we be slack.

Now, we started in Proverbs six, six, consider the ant-wise, but later in chapter thirty, Solomon also speaks of the ant. Proverbs chapter thirty and verse twenty-five. Proverbs thirty and verse twenty-five. “The ants are a people not strong,” pound for pound, they’re very strong but comparatively very weak. “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” They’re diligent with their business. They plan ahead. They don’t go without. They’re productive just as we are to be productive.

Now, there are many lessons from the ant, too many to get into, but here are some fascinating facts you may not have considered, and this is built into the ant’s nature. There are certain things we are to learn from and certain things we wouldn’t want to emulate, but these creatures have far more going on mentally, if I can put it that way, instinctually, they have a wisdom built into them that, unless studied, we can’t discern. And now, through the advent of modern science, I would argue we understand more about these creatures than anyone ever has. So we’re truly without excuse.

Now, ants are incredibly strong, touched on that. They’re highly communicative. You look at them, they’re almost in perfect military fashion, marching back and forth from their nest. They don’t get in traffic accidents like human beings. Everyone knows their role and fulfills their role. Did you know that ants are also farmers? This came from westernexterminator.com. The exterminators know a lot about these creatures, too, not just the scientists. And one of the lessons that they outlined is that ants are farmers. You may be thinking, “What?” The author says. But it’s true, besides humans, ants are the only creatures that will farm out other creatures. Amazing.

Just like we raise cows, sheep, pigs, chicken, and fish in order to obtain a food source, ants will do the same with other insects. The most common occurrence of this is with aphids. Insects will protect aphids from natural predators and shelter them in their nests from heavy rain showers in order to gain a constant supply of honeydew. Amazing. They’re willing to cooperate with another insect in order to barter. “We’ll give you shelter, you bring us honeycomb.” Amazing. A form of symbiosis that’s unique in the animal kingdom. They’re also slave makers, not something we’d want to learn from.

This may sound strange, but hear us out. Some species of ants, such as the polyergus lucidus, are known as slave-making ants. They invade neighboring colonies, capturing its inhabitants, and force them to work for them. This process is known as slave raiding. Slave-making ants are specialized to parasite a single species or a group of related species, which are often close relatives to them. The captured ants will work as if they were in their own colony, while the slave-making workers will only concentrate on replenishing their labor force.

So here you have ants that they decided... this is amazingly resourceful, but something we wouldn’t want to learn from the ant. Maybe there’s some management lessons we could learn from the ant in this respect. But here is a group of ants that decided, we don’t want to do our normal job. We’ll go out and capture other ants and make them work for us. And hey, it’s going so well that we’re not going to work alongside of them. We’re just going to make it our business to constantly capture more and more ants and expand the colony. Incredible. That didn’t evolve. Slave-making ants come in two formats, permanent social parasites and facultative slave-makers. Permanent social parasites rely on the enslaved ants throughout their lives, while facultative slave-makers don’t.

Next animal, and I’m not going to give you the animal. You’ll probably be able to figure out most of these, but next animal we’ll cover, Matthew chapter four and verse eighteen will build to the specific animal. See if you can guess, maybe, early on in some cases. Maybe I’ll retain mystery in others, but Matthew chapter four, verse eighteen, a lot to consider with ants, far beyond what I covered there. A lot we can learn from the nature of ants as discovered by science, far beyond what Solomon recorded.

Matthew chapter four and verse eighteen. “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” We are to follow God in every circumstance. We’re to be followers of Christ and ultimately followers of the Father. Christ told them, “Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him.”

Chapter eight. Matthew chapter eight. “And a certain scribe came,” verse nineteen, “and said to him, Master, I will follow you whithersoever you go.” I’m willing to follow you. Maybe he heard that conversation, and he wouldn’t have heard the one in chapter four, but I’m willing to follow you. Christ explains, well, the bar for following me is high. It’s a challenge to follow me. “Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has not where to lay His head. And another of his disciples said to him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”

To follow me, you have to put me first, He was explaining. Nothing can get in the way of that. The point is, Brethren, we have to follow God at all costs. Nothing can get in the way. Nothing can be more important than that chief pursuit, than seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And at its fundament is following. Following. Christians follow.

Chapter nine and verse nine. “And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He said unto him...” same thing He said to those other people, over and over and over again, “and He said unto him, Follow me,” because Christians are followers.

And there is an animal, you probably can guess what it is, that teaches that lesson in a powerful way. And he arose and he followed Him, same word over and over again. Matthew sixteen. We’re just in Matthew to underscore the point. Matthew sixteen, and verse twenty-four. “Then said Jesus to His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Leave whatever is going on in life, make it second, follow me. Take up your cross, take up your burden, whatever that may entail, and follow me. Christ, over and over again, told his audience. He, over and over again, tells us on behalf of the Father.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it,” who follows their own interests in life will ultimately lose it, “and whosoever will lose his life for my sake,” by following me, “shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew nineteen, chapter after chapter, follow me, follow me. Whether it’s the masses, whether it’s the apostles, the disciples, the message was the same no matter the audience.

Matthew nineteen, sixteen, “And, behold, one came and said to Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And He said to him, Why call you me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. He said unto him, Which? Jesus said, You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, love your neighbor as yourself,” explaining how to follow him.

“The young man said unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what do I lack?” I’m keeping the commandments, this good Jewish boy. I’m keeping the commandments. What do I lack? What more do I need to do? And here’s the discussion about common, but it’s far more than that. “And Jesus said unto him, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” A lot of prerequisites to following God, a lot of prerequisites to fully following Christ.

The Bible, over and over again, tells us to follow God because, Brethren, we are sheep. That’s the animal I was building to. You probably guessed it. Maybe you didn’t. We’re sheep, John chapter ten. God gave us sheep in part to learn extraordinary lessons. Christ is called the Lamb of God, but we’re sheep. We’re sheep. John chapter ten. “I’m the good shepherd,” verse eleven, Christ said, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep,” but He’s also a sheep, the Lamb of God, “gives his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep.

“The hireling flees because he’s a hireling and cares not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” Sheep follow shepherds. Sheep unquestionably follow shepherds. They can sometimes go off on their own. I told this story a long time ago. It was probably in a sermonette. I don’t know if I ever told it in a sermon, but I had the opportunity to herd sheep one day with, I think, a distant relative or a married-into-the-family type relative in Lebanon, and he had a very unique way of shepherding. It was actually amazing. He had German shepherds that helped as his sheepdog.

And the sheep would go out and graze, and he explained to me there are a few sheep that they just kind of wander off. They’re not paying attention. And what he would do was incredible. He didn’t have a shepherd’s crook or anything like that. He would pick up a rock, and it was amazing. I mean he... you look at the precision in the World Series the way they throw this ball, but this man was incredible. He would take the rock and the sheep could be some distance off, and he would throw it into the air and it would land not on the sheep, but it would just graze the outside edge of the sheep’s coat, and the sheep would just hop back in with the rest of the sheep and mingle back, and incredible. Incredible.

But they just need guidance. Sometimes they’ll wander off, eat poisonous things, have to be cared for, extremely high-maintenance animals that if they don’t follow their shepherd, they’re sure to wind up another animal’s meal or dead in a pit or freezing to death. Any number of things can befall them. Some lessons from sheep after we turn to Psalm twenty-three. Some scientific facts about sheep, I should say. First, we’ll turn to Psalm twenty-three. If we follow God, if we’re good sheep, if we do our best to come back to the fold when we do something wrong, we’ll be cared for.

Psalm twenty-three, maybe the most famous psalm. Psalm twenty-three, and verse one, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” If we follow God correctly, we won’t lack for anything. He might allow us to go through certain physical trials, but ultimately, we’ll lack for nothing. Ultimately, all things work together for the good of them that love God. Ultimately, He’ll provide our every need. “He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters.” If we’re good followers, if we’re mimicking sheep, if we’re recognizing that God tells us we are sheep and then gives us the lesson of sheep on earth, physical sheep, and the fact that if they don’t rely on their shepherds, they will perish.

It’s a powerful lesson He gives us through an animal. Sheep that fall over can’t get up. Amazing. Sometimes to the point of dying. A shepherd has to come and pick them up. Amazing lesson from the sheep. We can’t necessarily pick ourselves up at times. It requires God to pick us up. We have to ask Him for help, and then He grants us repentance, gives us strength, inspires us to pray the prayers we need to pray. He doesn’t want us to perish, just like a physical shepherd doesn’t want his sheep to perish. They need help. The just man falls seven times but rises up again because the Lord helps him up. God helps that just man up. He helps you and I up when we fall because we’re sheep. We follow.

Now, if we decide we don’t want to be picked up, then that’s a whole ‘nother problem. Or, if we persistently wander off and don’t want to be found, well, the physical lesson bears out what will happen. We’ll perish. Sheep get lost easily. They’re not like that cow I talked about years ago that has an amazing sense of direction. Cows can navigate back home from miles away. Sheep have terrible senses of direction. They get lost very easily. Hence, the need to follow the shepherd that is before them, just as we must follow God in order to avoid being lost.

Sheep are defenseless. They can’t ward off predators. They have to rely on the shepherd. In that instance that I mentioned, they have to rely on the shepherd, who probably had a shotgun. I can’t remember what he was carrying, but they have to rely on the shepherd with the German Shepherds, the weapon, the vehicle, the knowledge of the terrain, the knowledge of where good food is, the knowledge of where water is. They don’t know any of that. They’re fully dependent on the shepherd, just as we must be fully dependent on God. Now, He expects us to do certain things for ourselves. “Look to yourselves,” I think John said, “but look to yourselves within the realm of what I’ve taught you.”

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might based on what I’ve taught you, but draw on Him for strength,” Paul was saying. They’re defenseless. And sheep... Christ said, “My sheep hear my voice.” They really do recognize voices, an amazing faculty of the sheep’s mind, and they become emotionally attached to voices. Just as we become emotionally attached to God, a physical sheep becomes emotionally attached to its owner, and it can become emotionally attached to the wrong person if allowed to be so. Sheep need to be led. That’s the fundamental lesson here. Sheep follow, and they need to be led. Incredible.

Next animal here. Again, I’ll retain some mystery, see if you can perhaps figure it out as we move forward. First Peter five. First Peter five. The Bible, over and over again, tells us we must rely on God for our needs. I could have approached sheep from this perspective, but there’s a different animal, another animal that powerfully illustrates this point. The Bible, over and over again, tells us to rely on God for our needs. Just like David said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” there’s another animal that underscores this. First Peter five. We’ll go into the lesson again before revealing the animal and some scientific facts about the animal.

First Peter five, “To feed the flock of God which is among you,” coming right off of we’re sheep, “taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away. Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.”

Rely on God for your needs, he said. We must rely on God for every care that we have, physical, emotional, spiritual, whatever it is. All our care is to be cast upon Him because He cares for us and will provide our every need. And He doesn’t just care for us, He doesn’t just give us what we need, He anticipates our needs better than even we can. Back to Matthew chapter six. He not only gives us what we need, He anticipates our needs.

Matthew six, and verse five, “And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, do it privately, don’t seek the reward of approbation...” “Wow, that’s a spiritual man praying, doing these good works.” No, do it in private, he says.

“Enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to the Father which is in secret, and your Father which sees you in secret shall reward you openly. But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not you therefore like unto them, for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him.” He perfectly anticipates our needs. He probably inspires us to pray about our needs. Amazing. He’ll not only provide for us, He’ll not only give us everything we need, He’ll not only address our every care, but He knows about them before we even ask about them. How comforting is that? He knows what things you have need of before you ask Him.

Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter four. We have to rely on God for all our needs. And there’s an animal that powerfully illustrates that that we’ll come to. Philippians four and verse six, “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

An amazing promise hard to apply, hard not to worry and wonder, “Well, what about this need or what about that need?” Very difficult. It’s part of the growth and overcoming process to come to trust God, to rely on God to fulfill our every need. Maybe you can guess the animal I’m talking about. I think this is a more challenging one. Probably you have not, maybe you have. Maybe you can guess what animal it is. Probably not. This is a more challenging one, but you’ll find out. I’ll reveal it in a bit here.

The animal is... turn to Luke twelve, twenty-two, revealed in this scripture. Luke twelve, twenty-two, “And He said to His disciples, ‘Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, neither for your body, what you shall put on.’” Because I’m anticipating your needs. “For the life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens.”

This is the animal that teaches us to rely on God for our needs. “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap...” It’s not that they’re lazy, “...but they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn...” they don’t have a grocery store or a refrigerator, “...storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them.” He cares for these ravens. He makes sure their every need is met. “How much more are you better than the fowls?” If God is willing to care for birds, Christ said, specifically ravens here, how much more will He care for you, brethren? He’s saying. Christ is telling His audience.

Psalm one hundred and forty-seven. Again, we see the ravens are provided for. Psalm one hundred and forty-seven, amazing how ravens are cared for. We’ll read in a moment. Another verse explaining that God cares for the ravens and truly cares for all the animals. He created them. And it says in the Proverbs... I think it’s the Proverbs, “The righteous man regards the life of his beast.” Well, God regards the life of everything living in... He doesn’t like it when the ecosystem is abused.

Psalm one hundred and forty-seven, verse nine, “He gives to the beast his food...” God feeds the animals, “...and to the young ravens which cry.” They cry out for food, presumably to God, and He provides for them. Christ said, if God’s willing to provide for those birds, for those ravens, hear these young ravens which cry out, He’ll care for you. He’ll make sure you have your physical needs met.

“The young lions roar...” Psalm one hundred and four, excuse me, Psalm one hundred and four. Every animal. Since we’re here, look at one more instance of God simply providing for the animals. Psalm one hundred and four, and verse twenty-one. “The young lions roar after their prey and seek their meat from God.” They somehow know where their food comes from. I don’t think this is just poetry. There’s a certain wisdom built into the animal kingdom. I’m not saying they have the same cognitive functions we are or anything like that. Don’t misunderstand me, brethren. But there is a genius to creation that we can learn from.

This comes from Audubon’s Guide to North American Birds and speaks of the feeding behavior and the diet of the raven, which we’re to learn from. If God will provide for the raven, if God can provide for the raven, how much more can He provide for us? “Typically, they forage in pairs. The two birds sometimes cooperate to flush out prey. They search for nests to eat eggs or young birds and are opportunists, taking advantage of temporary food sources.” It’s written in shorthand because it’s from a birdwatching guide. “Does most feeding on the ground, often feeds as a scavenger, searching for carrion or visiting garbage dumps. In northern Alaska in winter, seen feeding at dump under artificial lights.”

So we’re starting to see this bird has the ultimate smorgasbord, can eat anything. “Omnivorous may feed on practically anything. But the majority of the diet is animal matter. Feeds on a wide variety of insects, including beetles, caterpillars, and others. Also rodents, lizards, frogs, and eggs, and young of other birds. Regularly eats carrion and garbage.” Now, I’m not inspiring us by saying God feeds this bird garbage. I hope you understand what I’m saying. The point here is that God provides for this animal and has made it so that it can eat anything. In other words, its needs are taken care of.

Christ said, “Look, God feeds the ravens. He’s more capable of feeding you than He is the ravens, and the ravens can eat anything on earth.” Amazing. Inspiring. God’s providing for them, we can be confident that He’ll provide for us and not just in food, but in shelter, in anything, any trial that we’re going through. Maybe you’ve suffered a job loss recently and are tight financially. There are great numbers in this country now whose benefits are running out. And I’m sure there are some of them who genuinely need those benefits and are wondering, “Where’s my next meal going to come from?”

There are a lot who take advantage of the system, but some use it correctly and are legitimately wondering, “Where is my next meal going to come from?” Well, we in God’s Church, however He does it, never need to worry about that. God will provide for us, whether it be through the Church, whether it be through giving us that job opportunity, whether it be through a miracle. I’ve literally heard stories of brethren who were hungry, and a sack of food would float down the river before them.

When we serve an all-powerful, all-capable God, He can do things however He wants. He can feed ravens however He wants, and He can feed us however He wants. Last animal we’ll cover today in earnest, at least we might spot through a few quick examples at the end, but the last animal, very similar to the last two, actually. And this lesson that we’ll learn from this animal is that we are to rely on God’s protection. The sheep taught us we had to follow God. The raven taught us to rely on God for our needs. Here’s a very specific need, we are to rely on God’s protection, no matter the circumstance.

Psalm sixty-two. Psalm sixty-two. If you guessed the last one, you’re good. If you can guess this one, you’re better than I. I would not have been able to get this one or the last one, frankly. Psalm sixty-two, and verse one, “Truly my soul waits on God, from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not be greatly moved. How long will you imagine mischief against a man? You shall be slain, all of you, as a bowing wall shall you be, and as a tottering fence.”

Look at a basement wall, and if hydrostatic pressure is pushing against that wall, you start to see those horizontal hairline cracks in it, and eventually, if that hydrostatic pressure has its way with it, the wall will bow and bow and bow, and if it’s not addressed, it’ll collapse. First, it’ll start to look a little bit convex, and then eventually it could look very convex, and then it could collapse. “You shall be slain, all of you, as a bowing wall shall you be, and as a tottering fence.” Collapse, because their rock is not God.

“They only consult to cast Him down from His excellency. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. My soul, wait you only upon God, for my expectation is from Him.” I look to Him for my protection. The psalmist said, “He only is my rock and my salvation. He’s my defense. I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory, the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God.” Over and over again, I look to God for my protection. He’s my rock. He’s my refuge. Trust in Him at all times.

There’s an animal that will illustrate this. You people, pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. He’s a shelter. “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie. To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. God has spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongs to God. Also unto you, O Lord, belongs mercy, for you rendered every man according to his work.”

Here was a man who looked to God as his rock, as his refuge, as his shelter, as his protection physically, but also spiritually. Psalm forty-six. We know how central this theme of being a rock is in the Bible. Here’s Psalm forty-six, verse one, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore, will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with swelling thereof.”

“There’s a river, and the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.” There’s a fixed habitation that we’re looking for, but right now we can rely on a being that shall not be moved, that can shelter us from anything. “God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved, He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge, our shelter. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He’s made in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in sunder.” There’s nothing He can’t handle.

“He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Is our shelter, is our help in time of distress or need. That’s why the Apostle Paul in Romans eight said this before revealing the animal. Romans chapter eight, one more scripture illustrating we must rely on God for protection, rely on Him for refuge and for shelter, whether it be physical or spiritual storms that come our way.

Romans chapter eight, verse thirty-one. Romans eight, thirty-one, “What shall we say, then, to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” In other words, what can come up against us that can shake us if God is protecting us? “If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also give us freely all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It’s God that justifies.” Nobody can charge us it’s God. God is in control.

“Who is he that condemns? It’s Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” No matter what we have to endure, and God sometimes does allow us to endure great hardship for His sake, to build His character in us. There’s that flip side of it. He’ll let us go without if it works to His benefit and in His plan.

“As it’s written, ‘For your sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We rely on God for protection through no matter what it is that we face. And there is an animal that perfectly illustrates this, a lesser-known animal. Turn back to Proverbs chapter thirty. We saw the ant addressed there earlier, but a different animal is explained two verses later. Proverbs chapter thirty. An animal that recognizes the benefit of having a strong shelter, a strong refuge, an animal that builds its home in the rocks, an animal that knows nothing can touch it if it properly seeks shelter, if its shelter is in the right place.

Proverbs thirty, verse twenty-four, “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceedingly wise.” Go back to that ostrich, it was deprived of understanding. It didn’t have wisdom. But there are some animals that are not just wise, they don’t just have intelligence, they’re exceedingly wise. “There be four things that are little upon the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” We saw that. “The conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks.” The conies.

The coney is the animal that recognizes the need for refuge, that recognizes the need to have its habitation in a rock, just as we must recognize the need to take ultimate refuge under God’s wings and in the ultimate rock that is God. They are a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks. Now, the coney is also called in modern English, the rock hyrax. A hyrax is a kind of rabbit, also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit. In the King James Bible, “coney” is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East, commonly referred to in South Africa as the dassie. Probably pronouncing that right or wrong, but the dassie or dassie.

It is one of the five living species of the order Hyracoidean, and is only one of the genus such and such. Rock hyraxes weigh between four and five kilograms, so nine and eleven pounds. They are a little folk, as Solomon explained, and have short ears and a tail. Rock hyraxes are found at elevations up to four thousand two hundred meters, so thirteen thousand eight hundred feet above sea level. We kept the Feast in Colorado, flew into Denver, the Mile High City. This is twice the height. And then some of the Mile High City that they can live and inhabit above sea level in habitats with rock crevices, allowing them to escape from predators.

They understand the need to dwell in rock, just as we must understand the need to dwell in Rock for protection. They are the only extant Terrestrial Afrotherians in the Middle East. Hyraxes typically live in groups of ten to eighty animals and forage as a group. They have been reported to use sentries to warn of the approach of predators, and then they scurry into the rocks. One will stand on lookout, when they see predators, they take refuge in the rock just as when we encounter something, we must take refuge in our Rock.

There are other animals that we could get into, brethren, but we don’t have time for them today. We’ll just close with the following. We’re here in Proverbs chapter thirty, go to verse twenty-seven. There are many, many, many animals that we can learn from, both recorded in the Scriptures but also outside of the Scriptures. Here’s Proverbs thirty and verse twenty-seven. “The locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands.” What are we to learn from that? Consider it. “The spider takes hold with her hands...” verse twenty-eight, “...and is in kings’ palaces.” What are we to learn from that? I’d say consider it. Let’s consider it. We don’t have time to explain it, let’s consider it. Let’s do our own thinking and studying.

“There be three things which go well, yes, four are comely in going. A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turns not away for anything, a greyhound, and a he-goat also, and a king, against whom there is no rising up.” But then, there are all kinds of animals outside of the Bible. For instance, I’m fascinated by the fact that sharks, if they don’t constantly keep swimming, they’ll die because water won’t pass through their gills. Why did God make this predator such that it can’t stop moving? Always active. Amazing.

Lessons. What lessons can you or I think of from something like the shark, or any of these other animals, or any animal? They all have wisdom, we saw that. What wisdom should you or I glean from these animals? Let’s consider the natural world, brethren, that God gave us, and learn the lessons from it.