Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Springcrest Baptist Church. My name is Brother Matthew.
I'll be reading the morning announcements. Our pastor, Pastor Enrique Reyes, is in Arizona right
now. He's in Tucson, Arizona, at Straight Paths Baptist Church preaching for Brother Corbin
Our service times are Sunday morning at 10.30 a.m. and Sunday evening at 4.30 p.m.
Our Wednesday evening service starts at 5.30 p.m.
Our soul winning time is today Sunday at 2 p.m.
And our memory chapter is Philippians chapter 1.
verse six or our memory verse I should say is Philippians 1 verse 6 we're a
family integrated church so children and infants are welcome in church services
if your child gets out of hand just go ahead and take them to the mother baby
room which is straight to the back and to the left we have a mother baby room
for moms with young children that need extra attention
So far, in 2025, our total number of souls saved is 214.
birthdays and anniversaries for the month of October.
On October 8th, we have brother Roy Perez
and then October 15th.
We have yours truly, Matthew Wickliffe.
My birthday is October 15th and on October 23rd,
we have sister Jayce Lynn Dematos and October 29th.
We have Pastor Reyes' anniversary
Malutik's birthday, Malutich, sorry, excuse me.
Haley Malutich on October 30th.
And then if your birthday or anniversary
is not on the bulletin, just let me
or one of the other brothers know
and we'll add it to next week's bulletin.
Coming activities.
are a church fellowship on October 31st.
So October 31st, we're gonna be having a church fellowship.
And then a Thanksgiving fellowship will be to be announced.
So we're gonna get started by singing Nothing But The Blood,
Nothing But The Blood on page 259 of your hymnal,
Nothing But The Blood, Nothing But The Blood.
Page 259 in your hymnal. Nothing but the blood.
Good singing everyone. There's one more thing that I wanted to announce. Brother Mike will be
preaching for us this morning. Brother Mike will be preaching this morning and then in our evening
service brother Jared Ali will be preaching for us. So next please turn in your hymnal to page 391.
Page 391 we're going to be singing at Calvary page 391
391 at Calvary
Next we're going to turn in our hymnals to page 319, 319, page 319 in our hymnals. Jesus says page 319.
Jesus saves.
Bear the news to every land.
Climb the steams and cross the waves.
Onward, tents, our Lord's command.
Jesus saves, Jesus saves.
Lock it on the rolling tide.
Jesus saves, Jesus saves.
Tell two singers far and wide.
Jesus says, sing the island of the sea, echo back the ocean caves, earth shall keep, earth
Jesus saves, sing it softly through the gloom, when the heart for mercy prays, sing it triumphant for the tomb.
Jesus saves, Jesus saves, give the winds a mighty voice.
Jesus saves, Jesus saves, let the nations sound.
All right, brother Mike, he's gonna come up and preach, brother Mike.
Oh, yes
Good morning.
First of all, I just want to express my gratitude
for the opportunity to share God's word this morning.
So thank you, Pastor Cobb and Pastor Reyes
for giving me this privilege.
Today I'll be speaking on the topic titled,
Life Lessons Learned From Living Creatures.
If you would, please open your Bibles to Proverbs.
chapter 30, and we'll be reading the entire chapter starting at verse 1.
Proverbs 30 starting in verse 1.
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?
Who hath gathered the wind and his fist?
Who hath bound the waters in a garment?
Who hath established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
Every word of God is pure.
He's a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reproof thee,
and thou be found a liar.
Two things have I required of thee deny me them not before I die
Remove far from me vanity and lies give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food
convenient for me
Lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steel and
Take the name of my God in vain
Accused not a servant unto his master lest he curse thee and now be found guilty
There is a generation that cursed their father and does not bless their mother
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness
There is a generation. Oh, how lofty are their eyes and their eyelids are lifted up
There is a generation whose teeth are as swords in their jaw teeth as knives to devour the poor from off the earth and
The needy from among men the horse leech had two daughters crying give give
There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, it is enough.
The grave and the barren womb, the earth that is not filled with water, and the fire that
sayeth not, it is enough.
The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley
shall pick it out, and the young eagle shall eat it.
There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four, which I know not.
the way of a serpent upon a rock and the way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
and the way of a man with a maid, such as the way of an adulterous woman she
eateth and wipeeth her mouth and sayeth I have done no wickedness.
For three things the earth is disquieted and for four which it cannot bear,
for a servant when he reigneth and a foal when he is filled with meat,
for an odious woman when she is married and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
There will be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.
The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.
The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.
There will be three things which go well, yea, four are comely and going,
a lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any,
a greyhound, an he-goat also, and a king against whom there is no rising up.
If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay
thine hand upon thine mouth, surely the turning of milk bringeth forth brother, and the ringing
of the nose bringeth forth blood, so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.
All right, now to lay a little groundwork first, we probably need to understand what a proverb is.
The dictionary defines a proverb as a short, well-known saying that gives a piece of advice or tells a simple truth about life.
In other words, a proverb is a wise saying.
And this should make sense because the book of Proverbs, most of it, is credited to King Solomon, who was considered the wisest man to ever walk the earth besides our Lord Jesus Christ.
So Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs and these Proverbs are wise sayings now. What's interesting to me about this chapter is
It's supposed to be teaching us about wisdom and advice and yet it mentions
Many different animals throughout the chapter. In fact God mentions all of the following animals at least once in this chapter horse leech
Ravens
eagles
serpent ants
Coneys now how many of you know what a cone is anybody that's right. It's similar to a rabbit or a hare
Locusts now locusts this one's interesting to the difference between a locusts and a grasshopper
All locusts are grasshoppers, but not all grasshoppers are locusts
And locusts are typically bigger and they they come in swarms
spider, lion, greyhound, and goat, 11 different animals mentioned in just 33
verses. That's an average of one animal for every three verses. This tells me that
when it comes to wisdom, God has something for us to learn from the animals.
It's an amazing how many different and unique animals God has created and the Bible says he has given us wisdom in our
Inward parts and God put wisdom in the inward parts of animals
These animals are uniquely created and they know what to do instinctively
to survive
My kids and I, we've watched a lot of nature programs. My kids love, you know, bugs and
insects and snakes and birds and
just about any animal you can imagine. They just love it and
you know, we always find it fascinating to
go out and look for bugs and animals, whether it's bullfrogs and
But it's just amazing to me when you watch these animals to see how they just know what
to do.
I mean, when you think about birds, how do they know to fly south for the winter?
How do they know to fly in a v-formation that that is more aerodynamic and then one takes
the lead and the other goes to the back when they're tired?
How do they know that?
Who tells whales to migrate long distances in the ocean or turtles to hide their eggs
How do bears know before winter to pack on body fat in preparation for hibernation?
I mean, do they have some teacher or guy that's telling them you need to do this or do they just have that knowledge?
I mean when you stop and really think about all the specialized things animals do, it's truly amazing.
How many of you seen how Japanese honeybees defend themselves against the giant hornet?
Has anybody ever seen that?
We got one, okay?
So one giant hornet, one giant hornet can enter a honeybee nest and destroy every single bee.
the colony. One hornet. That's how strong a giant hornet is. That's how
overpowering. It's a huge bee and can go into a honeybee nest and just destroy
every every bee in the colony. But God has given in his wisdom a defense
mechanism to the honeybees. They will actually when a giant hornet enters the
nest they will envelop that hornet in a giant ball and they'll all begin to
vibrate at the same time.
And that vibration will raise the heat inside that ball to about 116 degrees, which will
kill the hornet.
Now if they go just two degrees higher to 118 degrees, it will kill all the honeybees.
But somehow God in His wisdom has given the bees this defense mechanism.
It's not as if they knew this, somebody taught them to gather in a ball and go just to 116
degrees no further.
It's amazing the things God has put in the nature and I think he has lessons for us to learn and so this morning
I'd like to look at what advice or what lessons from the Bible we can learn
From these amazing creatures and I have five lessons and lesson number one is advice from the ant
Work hard work hard
Proverbs 6 says go to the ant thou sluggard consider her ways and be wise
which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provided her meat in the summer, and gathered her food
in the harvest. 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 traveleth, and thy want as an armed man.
God calls a man who doesn't want to work a
Sluggard in verse 6 and a man who just wants to sleep a lot a sluggard in verse 9
Now listen to how that word sounds sluggard. I mean it comes from the word slug obviously, right this slow
Slimy gross preacher that just kind of oozes its way along
Imagine how terrible it would be for our creator to look down at one of us and say thou sluggard
mean that's an insult. I mean imagine if your boss at work said, you're a sluggered. That's
fighting words, right? I mean that would offend me if somebody were to call me a sluggered,
but this is what God calls those who don't want to work. A sluggered. And he says in
Which having no guide
Overseer a ruler provided for meat in the summer and gather through food in the harvest
What this mean is the ant works without someone telling it what to do
Without supervision to make sure it's right and without a boss to answer to
The aunt is the employee you can assign a task to and when you come back
You know it will be done and it will be done well
The aunt is the kind of employee every company every boss every manager is looking for the ant works hard
It doesn't make excuses the ant always gets the job done
In contrast, the slugger, the person who always needs help, can't seem to do anything on
their own, isn't dependable, and often causes so much frustration that you end up doing
the work yourself or handing it off to someone else.
I'm sure everyone here can think of someone that they've worked with in their lifetime that fits that description someone that
Unreliable that whenever you give the job you just shake your head and you know
I'm gonna end up having to step in or somebody else is gonna have to take over because this person is a slugger
They're unreliable. They're not a hard worker
You know, I had an employee like that once myself
Several years ago every time I would come to this this guy this individual
And I would say, hey, you know, the reports do this week, you know, we owe it to our customer.
Do you have it ready? And he would say no.
I say, hey, you know, we've got to have that ready. It's a requirement. This is not optional.
We have to have that ready. It's due today.
And he would look at me and say, Mike, I agree with you.
We do need that report done.
And he would talk in the third person
as if it was somebody else's job to do it.
He'd say, you know what?
They are gonna be bad.
Somebody should get that report done.
And it would just drive me nuts
because it's like, it's your report.
This is your job and you're failing to do it
week after week.
Well, eventually that person no longer had a job himself.
You know, he was removed.
And isn't that the case often with the sluggered?
You know, if you're going to be lazy at work and unwilling to work hard, you will soon
find yourself unable to work and without a job.
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?
When wilt thou rise out of thy sleep, yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little
folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and I want
think about these verses all the time. There have been countless mornings when
I'm exhausted and tired waking up for work and I just want to sleep in hit the
snooze and just you know take it easy for five more minutes and without fail
these verses will flood into my brain yet a little sleep a little slumber a
little folding of the hands and so shall I poverty coming
Now for the kids in the church poverty means poor
So it means if you want to be poor
Go ahead and sleep in
If you want to live in poverty go ahead and hit the snooze button. I
Don't know about you, but I don't want to be in poverty
I don't want to be living under a bridge someday or on the side of the road begging for money
That extra sleep is not worth it. It's not worth losing your job losing your family losing your home
And it doesn't take much either. The Bible doesn't say a lot of sleep. It says,
yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands.
Just a little, that's all it takes.
And to find yourself in complete poverty. Now, what's interesting about Mesey's
verses is that if a person can't do their job when they do have a boss,
or an overseer, or a supervisor, how much worse when they don't?
The Bible says the ant has no overseer, no guide, no ruler, and yet gets the job done.
A lot of the people that fit the definition of sluggard, even when they have a boss, somebody
watching over saying, this is do this wheat, get this done, get up for work on time, do
this, do that, they still don't do it.
How much worse when you leave the sluggard to their own devices like the ant?
The Bible says, consider the aunt, O sluggard, and be wise.
I think of my children, right now, they have a guide, they have an overseer, but there's
gonna come a day when children have to leave the house, when they're not gonna have somebody
ruling over them to tell them, do this, do that, don't do this, will they be like the
Or will they be like a slug that sleeps in and find themselves in poverty?
Lesson number one, advice from the ant, work hard.
Lesson number two, advice from the sparrow, do not be afraid.
If you would turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10, Matthew chapter 10, and we're
starting in verse 28.
Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."
Jesus tells us here that not one sparrow falls to the ground without our Heavenly Father
allowing it.
God is watching.
God is in control.
There's actually a great hymn, you know, I love this passage of scripture and I love
the song as well.
I'll just read a short section out of that song.
It says, let not your heart be troubled,
his tender word I hear, and resting on his goodness,
I lose my doubt and fear.
Though by the path he leadeth, but one step I may see,
his eyes on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.
His eyes on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.
I love that song.
love the thought that God cares enough about me that he's watching. Jesus is
teaching us here that we do not need to be afraid. He cares even for the smallest
creatures of the lowest value, are not too sparrows sold for a farthing. He says
of how much more value are you and I? He cares about us.
The Bible in general teaches this principle as well.
We are not to fear anything except God.
That's right.
It says to fear God and keep His commandments,
but it never tells us to fear man.
Let me share a few passages quickly if I could.
Genesis 15-1, after these things,
the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying,
Fear not Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Now that phrase fear not actually appears more than 60 times throughout the Bible that God tells us fear not
Fear not fear not fear not
Second Timothy 1 7 for God hath not given us the spirit of fear but a power and of love and of a sound mind
Now you parents have probably experienced the times when your children go through stages when you know, they're afraid to go anywhere without you
Um, you ask them to go grab something upstairs and they say, you know, I'll go if you come
with me.
You know, we have that going on right now at our house.
You know, you say, hey, go grab, uh, go grab, you know, some socks and they say, hey, if
you come with me, I'll do it.
And um, you know, they're afraid to go along with their children and they'll say, daddy
is, but if daddy comes with them, you know, that fear just, just disappears as long as
they're not afraid. Isn't it just like this in the Christian life though?
Sometimes the places and challenges we face are very frightening.
Whether it's health issues, work problems,
the loss of a loved one, or even death itself,
life can be pretty scary at times.
But just like with my children, if I know my Heavenly Father is with me,
I'm not afraid.
And make no mistake, God is watching, and He cares, His eyes on the sparrow, and I know
He cares for me.
David wrote in one of the most famous Psalms in the Bible,
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
He's unafraid, for thou art with me.
There's no need to be afraid.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
What a great comfort it is to know
that our Heavenly Father is with us every step of the way.
He doesn't ask us to go upstairs alone,
but is willing to come with us no matter how far.
In Matthew 5, verse 4,
Jesus said,
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile,
go with him twain.
So Jesus is teaching us that if if someone comes to you and says I want you to go a mile with me
He says go two miles twain means to
The way I like to think about this though is that if we ask God to go a
mile with us
He'll also come all the way back with us if we need to go upstairs. He doesn't stop once we get there
He comes all the way back.
He goes twice the distance we ask.
When my kids ask me to go upstairs with them,
I also come downstairs with them.
God doesn't leave us at any point of the journey.
He goes twice as far as we ask.
Let's look at another passage if you would.
Turn to Mark chapter five.
Mark chapter five.
Starting in verse 22.
Mark chapter 5 verse 22 and behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue,
gyrus by name, and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, and they sawed him greatly, saying,
My little daughter, lyeth at the point of death, I pray thee, come and lay thy hands
on her, that she may be healed, and she shall live.
And Jesus went with him, and much people followed him, and thronged him.
Verse 35, while he yet spake there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said
Thy daughter is dead
Why treblest thou the master any further as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue
Be not afraid only believe be not afraid only believe
Now Jesus goes on when he actually comes to this young man's daughter
this man's young daughter, he ends up raising her back from the dead. He says
she's sleepeth and they laugh at him. But he tells the father, don't be afraid.
All is going to be well. He ends up raising this girl back from the dead.
She was about 12 years of age, the Bible records. When God is with you, all things
are possible. That man had nothing to fear with Jesus by his side.
While others were laughing and said she's dead
Nothing can be done
God says all things are possible. I want to encourage you today
Maybe you're going through a difficult time in your life and find yourself afraid or worried about something
Whether it's work health family relationships
Whatever it might be
Be of good cheer. Don't be afraid God's eyes on the sparrow and he cares for you and me
Advice number two advice from the sparrow do not be afraid do not be afraid lesson number three advice from the serpent
Sin will trick you sin will trick you and I can't do a sermon on animals without mentioning snakes my kids
They love
You know all types of creatures, but especially snakes like any young kids would it seems like the more dangerous the animal kids are
fascinated with it whether they're spider snakes scorpions and
We just recently even and we caught a copperhead a couple weeks ago
Out doing a walk at night. You know saw it right on the trail
We had a giant
Grasshopper that we let go last night. I mean it was probably about that big
But they're fascinated with snakes and let's take a look at the very first story in the
Bible involving an animal really, specifically involving a snake, very familiar story if
Now the serpent that's another word for a snake was more subtle than any beast of the field
Which the Lord God had made and he said unto the woman yay hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the
Garden and the woman said unto the serpent we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden
But of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden
God has said ye shall not eat of it neither shall you touch it lest ye die
And the serpent said unto the woman ye shall not surely die
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eye shall be open, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
Now in the Bible, the serpent represents sin.
Remember in the book of Numbers, when God sent fiery serpents among the people,
and Moses lifted up the brazen serpent on the pole,
and all those who were bitten by the fiery serpents, if they were to look
On the top of it they would live that's where we get that song. I love the song look and live
Look and live my brother live. That's where that song comes from
They would look to the the serpent on the pole and live and that serpent was meant to represent our sin on
The cross that Jesus Christ when he was nailed across took our sin with him the Bible says he was made to be sin for us
Who knew no sin
That serpent on the pole represents our sin, so serpents in the Bible many times represent sin.
We also know that the serpent deceived Eve and lied to her on the day
She ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil evil. She died
Spiritually and later she would die physically. So a serpent is a trickster. He's cunning the Bible says he's more subtle than any beast
Of the field the serpent was so sin is subtle. It will deceive you. It will trick you
It will tell you a lie. You say why won't believe it will Eve believe the lie
There's normally a little truth mixed in with a lie when they're trying to trick you
The serpent tells her
Two things in this story first the serpent tells her that God's punishment won't come true and second that she will enjoy
What she gains from eating the fruit so he says you shall not surely die and
This fruit will make you wise basically this fruit is good for you
And I'll say that this same lie has been told every day since the Garden of Eden sense
Then when we're faced with the temptation of sin that we are lied to and told that you will not be punished by God and
That this sin will be rewarding to you that it's going to be something that you're really glad you did
It's true that sin is pleasurable for a season, but the end of sin is death
Let's just look at two common sins this morning for sake of time that Satan the old serpent uses to deceive us
We're gonna look at drugs
And fornication drugs and fornication
Proverbs 23 if you would Proverbs 23 starting in verse 29
Who hath woe
Who hath sorrow who hath contentions who hath babbling
who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes,
they that tarry long at the wine,
they that go to seek mixed wine,
look not down upon the wine when it is red,
when it giveth his color in the cup,
when it moveth itself aright,
at the last it biteeth like a serpent,
and stingeth like an adder,
thine eyes shall behold strange women,
and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Ye thou shalt be as he that lieeth down in the midst of the sea,
or as he that lieeth upon the top of a mast.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick.
They have beaten me, and I felt it not.
When shall I awake?
I will seek it yet again."
What does it mean when it says it biteeth like a serpent
and stingeth like an adder?
It means alcohol will kill you, either directly or indirectly.
It talks about beholding strange women.
Alcohol will wreck your marriage.
It will make you do things that you otherwise
would not have done.
It speaks of uttering perverse things.
Alcohol will ruin your reputation.
It will cost you your job.
It will cause you to lose your friends.
It mentions being beaten and injured.
Alcohol will lead you into fights and trouble
that otherwise you wouldn't have faced.
I remember back in college when I was younger,
seeing a guy on the street outside of a bar
that had been beaten nearly to death
and they tossed him onto the street like garbage.
I mean, just beaten to a pulp.
He'd been drunk inside the bar
and they just beat him to a pulp
and threw him out like garbage on the street.
It happened all the time.
I'm especially speaking to the children here today, at some point you're going to grow
up and face the decision of whether or not to drink.
That old serpent will put you in a situation where it's hard to say no.
Maybe you're with your co-workers or your school friends or someone you're interested
in and they're going to offer you a drink and you're going to have to choose fit in
with the world and take a bite of that forbidden fruit or say no and risk being laughed at,
But remember there's someone else watching someone whose eyes on the sparrow who won't laugh at you
But will be pleased and is willing to reward you for your decision
Proverbs 21 says wine as a mocker strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise
Children choose to be wise
Do not be deceived by alcohol
I'll take this a step farther. I don't believe the Bible is just speaking of alcohol here
It's anything that would take away your sobriety, which would include drugs
It says for us to be sober in the Bible grave sober
In today's world, it seems like almost everyone is using some kind of mind-altering substance. I mean, it's it's an epidemic
I mean, I
Remember working
When I was I went to med school briefly if those didn't know it
I remember being in the delivery section and everybody had the mask on you know the full face shields and I
Said why and I said listen 90 percent 90 percent of the mothers that come on come in here
Are on drugs and have some sort of hepatitis a hepatitis, you know some sort of contagion that we have to shield up
90% I never forgot that 90%
Almost everyone's taking something whether it's alcohol marijuana pain killers
Fentanyl, you know, you see that running rampant today the list goes on
Sometimes I watch these videos online of interviews with people that are homeless in the streets
and they're almost always on drugs and they'll ask them, you know, how did you, how did you
get here?
You know, was it your family life?
Was it your childhood?
And a lot of them, it's like, no, my parents are great.
I had a great childhood, you know, you know, I started taking the little blue pills, the
You know, they're living on the streets, their faces have marks all over them.
They look filthy.
They're living in filth.
They're doing unspeakable things to get money just to buy more drugs.
And you ask them, what's on their mind?
Just getting more drugs.
You know, even though you look at them, you go, man, you look nothing like you did a year
ago before you came to the street, but that's all they can think about is getting that next
That next hit that next drink
Drugs are what put them on the streaks drugs are destroying their lives their bodies and ultimately will kill them
But they can't control
The urge to use more
Just as we read in Proverbs 23
They have stricken me shout thou say and I was not sick they have beat me and I felt it not when shall I awake I
Will seek it yet again
You know they just
As badly as they're being beat up. They just can't wait to get it again now. No one whoever starts taking drugs
Pictures themselves winding up homeless or on the streets or living in squalor. I mean, I don't think anybody who says hey
Would you like to take a drink of alcohol?
Says yes, I'd like to be an alcoholic. I'd like to lose my family and job. Nobody thinks it's gonna happen to them, right?
No, I'm stronger than that. I it won't be me
But it does. They don't realize that by taking that first bite, just like Eve, it can lead to a lifetime of problems.
How many problems resulted from one bite of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
Just one bite resulted in all of humanity being cursed with sin.
I had a friend, a co-worker I worked with about 10 years ago, really great guy, a lot
of integrity.
We would often go grab lunch together and even talk about the Bible.
I'd given him the Bible on audio.
Unfortunately, even after witnessing to him, he had not become a Christian, he was Catholic,
but still a good friend and a very nice person.
And very funny, he would sometimes, I would walk by where his desk was and there was a
And there would be like a quarter or a 50 cent piece laying on the windowsill as you walk close to his death.
I said, hey Jeff, why is there a quarter up there?
He says, oh, I like to watch and see who works with me that's a thief.
So he would put that there and just to see who takes it.
He said, I'd like to know who I'm working with.
Just a funny sort of guy.
And, well, he used to be a smoker at his last company.
He had been a smoker for many years.
And every year they had a...
a health screening, and if you were a smoker,
your health premiums would go up,
your insurance premiums.
And so they said, if you're a smoker
and don't want your health premiums to go up,
then you need to be in counseling.
So they assigned a counselor to every person in the company
that was a smoker that they would meet with periodically,
once a week or so forth.
And so he was meeting with a lady once a week
to talk about his smoking.
And he told her upfront, I do not have a smoking problem.
I am not addicted.
I am in control, not the other way around.
And so she challenged him on that and figured out that's kind of what made this guy tick is that he wanted to fuel in control
And so they met week after week and and finally she she came up with the idea. Okay, if you're in control
then only smoke during the weekdays when you're at work.
And I want you to leave your cigarettes in the office before you leave.
Don't have any cigarettes in the house. Can you do that?
He said, yes, I can.
And so weeks went by, no problem.
And then one weekend, he accidentally left his cigarettes in his coat pocket,
drove home, and realized when he got home, I still had my cigarettes.
Well, he didn't want to break his word because he was a guy of integrity.
He said, I don't want to lie.
So he said, you know what?
He got home. He went in his garage and he threw that pack of cigarettes up in the rafters of his garage because he had a garage
That was tall. He threw it up in the rafters and said that way I
Can say I don't really have cigarettes on me at the house
and so he went to sleep that night and
He said it was about probably 1 1 30 in the morning that he was up climbing in the rafters and his whitey tighties
Trying to find those cigarettes
And he got him and he looked down 20 feet, you know
And he looked at himself and he said, you know what?
Maybe I do have a problem.
You know, I'm up here 130 in my whitey tighties.
Maybe I got a problem and I'm wrong.
And he never smoked a day after that.
That was last day he ever smoked a cigarette.
But let me tell you friend, that is the exception,
not the rule.
Most people who start on drugs never quit.
They want to quit. They try to quit. They cannot.
That's why the Bible says,
I will seek it yet again.
It controls your life from the very first time you take that first bite.
But the serpent just doesn't deal on drugs.
He offers up other temptations in life as well.
Let's look at a second one.
Proverbs chapter 5, if you would.
Proverbs chapter 5.
Starting in verse one, the Bible says,
My son, attend unto my wisdom,
and bow thine ear to my understanding,
that thou mayest regard discretion,
and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
For the lips of a strange woman,
drop as in honeycomb,
and her mouth is smoother than oil.
But her end is bitter as warm wood,
sharp as a two-edged sword,
her feet go down to death,
her steps take hold on hell.
lest thou should just ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them.
Hear me now, therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth,
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house,
Lest thou give thine honor unto others, and thy years unto the cruel,
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labors be in the house of a stranger,
And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
And say, how have I hated instruction, and my heart despised to reprove,
nor inclined my ear to them that instructed me."
God warns us in the book of Proverbs not to be deceived by the lips of a strange woman.
It's referring to a woman who is not your wife.
She may appear attractive, but her end is bitter.
Her feet go down to death. Her steps take hold on hell.
God is giving us some pretty strong language and warning here
It is to commit fornication or adultery with a woman.
Not just to commit the act though,
but how dangerous those people are
who would tempt us into committing the act.
It's describing how dangerous this person is.
So it's not just the act itself he's warning us of,
he's warning of the person.
I think of the story of Joseph
And we'll go ahead and read it.
I think more scripture is better than less.
So Genesis 39 starting in verse seven.
And it came to pass after these things
that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph.
And she said, lie with me.
But he refused and said unto his master's wife,
Behold, my master, what hath not, what is with me in the house?
And he hath committed all that he hath to my hand.
There is none greater in this house than I.
Neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee,
because thou art his wife.
How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
And it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day
that he harken not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
And it came to pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business and there
was none of the men of the house there within and she caught him by his garment saying,
lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand and fled and got him out.
The Bible doesn't just put details into a story that don't matter. I want you to notice that Joseph,
it says, found himself alone in the house with Potter first wife. That is put there as a critical
If you don't want to be deceived by the serpent, and committing adultery or fornication, then first, don't put yourself in a situation where you can fail.
You know, I've said this before, but I think it's worth repeating. I think that most famous, rich, powerful people probably aren't very different from you and I in a lot of ways, but end up committing some of the worst sins, especially to their marriages.
Okay, because they put themselves in a lot of situations. They have it available people throwing themselves at them and
That temptation is readily available
And they end up failing
If you don't want to fail the Bible says Joseph fled he won't didn't want to be in the room with this woman alone
And that's married men and married women. We should take that advice
We should not be hanging out with men or women alone outside of our spouse
You say, I'm strong enough.
Well, Joseph wasn't, and he was one of the greatest men in the Bible.
It says, Joseph fled.
You don't go out with a woman who isn't your wife.
Just like if you're drinking, if you don't want to drink, you don't go to a bar after
work to hang out.
Well, I'm just hanging out for the music, okay?
You're going to fail.
If you don't want to commit adultery, you don't go out with a woman that isn't your wife.
don't think so. In a moment of weakness you can ruin your life, your family's
life, and the lives of others. Joseph fled. 1 Corinthians 6 says in verse 18,
flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that
commended fornication sineth against his own body. Now the Bible says flee
He says to flee that tells me that those who stick around who say I'm strong enough are the ones that fail
If God wanted you to stand your ground. He would have said stand and fight
Resist the devil. No, he says flee Joseph fled and God tells us to flee just like Joseph
We're not strong enough. You're playing with fire. You will fail
Hebrews 13.4, marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge.
That woman may seem like she's offering you something special, but the reality is that that serpent is tricking you just like Eve
into doing something that will ruin your life.
Lesson number three, advice from the serpent, sin will trick you.
Turn around before it's too late.
Turn with me in your Bible as to Numbers chapter 22, sorry.
Numbers chapter 22, if you would.
And let me give some background here.
We're gonna pick up the story in verse 20.
But to share some background,
the children of Israel have just defeated
several kings in battle.
And the king of Moab, Balak,
is concerned that the children of Israel
are gonna attack him next
and they're just gonna wipe him off the face of the earth.
So, he has this plan. He wants to go to this soothsayer, this prophet, called Balaam.
Now, he is not a good prophet in the Bible. Later, it says a lot of terrible things about Balaam.
But this prophet has a reputation for anybody he curses is cursed and anybody he blesses is left.
So, Balaak sends princes...
to Balaam asking him to curse Israel for him.
But God comes to Balaam and says,
you're not gonna curse Israel.
Israel is blessed by me, you have to tell them no.
So he tells them no.
Then Balaac sends princes more honorable than the first
and offers him even greater reward.
He's offering to pay Balaam to curse Israel.
And he says, not only will I pay you, but I'll promote you
and I'll give you anything that you wish.
Just tell me what you want, I'm gonna give it to you.
And God comes to Balaam once again and says,
no, you're not to go, you're not to curse Israel.
So let's pick it up in verse 20.
So he's refused twice.
And God came unto Balaam at night and said unto him,
if the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them,
be yet the word which I shall say unto thee,
thou that thou shalt do, that shalt thou do.
and Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass
and went with the princes of Moab
and God's anger was kindled because he went.
So keep in mind here, God says,
if they ask you to go, you can go,
but they never came and asked.
Balaam just took it upon himself to get up in the morning
and head out because he was excited about being paid.
He wanted the money.
And God's anger was kindled because he went
and the angel of the Lord stood in the way
for an adversary against him.
Now, he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him, and the ass saw the
angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand, and his ass turned
aside out of the way, and went into the field, and Balaam smote the ass to turn her into
the way.
So picture it.
and his ass somehow is able to see the angel of the Lord standing in a way with this great
sword drawn, ready to slay both Balaam and the ass. And so it turns out of the way
and Balaam beats it.
the angel of the Lord stood on a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side and a wall
on that side and when the ass saw the angel of the Lord she thrust herself under the wall and
crushed Balaam's foot against the wall and he smote her again and the angel of the Lord went
farther and stood in the narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand
or to the left and when the ass saw the angel of the Lord she fell down under Balaam and Balaam's
anger was kindled and he smote the ass with a staff and the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and she
that thou hast smitten me these three times."
Now that's pretty amazing. We could probably preach a sermon on that.
Animals talking in the Bible. That's the second animal
besides the serpent. This is now two animals that God allowed to talk at some
point, which is I think interesting. And Valem said under the
ask, because thou hast mocked me, I would there were a sword in my hand, for now
would I kill thee.
And he asked, said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day?
Was I ever want to do so unto thee?
And he said, Nay.
Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand,
and he bowed down his head and fell flat on his face.
And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten, I asked these three times?
Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me.
And he asked, saw me and turned from me these three times,
unless she had turned from me.
Shortly now also, I had slain thee and saved her alive.
And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord,
I have sinned, for I knew not,
that thou stoodest in the way against me.
Now therefore, if it displeased thee,
I will get me back again."
So we see that Balaam, in exchange for money,
was willing to go against the word of the Lord.
He was willing to sin.
Isn't that what a lot of preachers in America do today?
You know, if they're offered promotion, a bigger church, more money, that they're willing
to preach or say whatever they need to say to get the job done, you know, it's a very
common thing.
They say there's nothing new under the sun.
In ancient times, you know, thousands of years ago, it still exists today that many preachers are a preacher for hire
They'll say what you want to say the people have itching ears and they're willing to be paid
Even if it means going against the word of the Lord
Balaam's greed had him headed straight for destruction. He was taking a wrong path
Now thankfully his ass could see the angel of the Lord and turn from the path three times
Each time Balaam rewarded it by beating it and turning aside, but in the end the angel Lord showed himself
How often in our lives do we find ourselves going down the wrong path?
We know we're doing wrong
You know, we know we've made a bad choice
But we don't want to turn back
I know I have, you know, I'm not a perfect Christian.
There's things in my life that I've done that, you know, I knew I'm making a mistake here,
but sometimes it's hard to turn back once you start going down that path.
You kind of, you're committed.
And God in His mercy and graciousness will oftentimes put something in our path to block
it, to say, turn back.
Sin is taking you down a path towards destruction and God will often times try to get our attention
He did this three times with Balaam. They asked to turn aside three times trying to spare Balaam's life
Maybe there's something in your life that's blocking the way as you slide deeper into sin
Maybe God is trying to get your attention
Maybe a health issue financial problems something else
The first thing we should ask when we start facing problems as a Christian is am I on the right path?
Am I on the right path? Or do I need to turn around before it's too late?
Now sometimes we can have problems in our life that have nothing to do with us sitting.
We see the story of Job.
But the first question I always ask when I have a problem in my life is,
is there something in my life that isn't right?
Because God could be chasing me. The Bible promises that if we're the children of God, he will chase us
God will put things in our path to get our attention just like he did for Balaam.
I think of the Apostle Paul as great as he was.
He was still a man like you and I and he still had issues in the flesh.
I believe Paul's issue that he dealt with was pride.
We see Paul mention in 2 Corinthians 12 that he won't glory in himself as a fool, but then
just a few verses later Paul says, I am become a fool in glory, but ye have compelled me.
So Paul says, Hey, I'm not going to boast and say how great I am and become a fool by
doing so.
And just a few verses later he says, I'm become a fool.
I've done it.
I think Paul had an issue with pride, and that God, in his wisdom, put a thorn in Paul's flesh,
he says, that he wouldn't be lifted up without measure.
You know, I believe it was his vision.
The Bible talks about him writing so large a letter and so forth.
So I think Paul had vision problems to keep him humble.
And, you know, oftentimes God will put things in our lives as well to keep us humble, to keep us on the right path.
and we ought to be thinking about that when we encounter these problems. We ought to be wise enough
to think, just like Balaam's ass said, was I ever want to do so before? Has this ever come
up before? Have you ever faced this problem? Why is this happening now? God's saying,
stop and think about where you're headed and turn back. We serve a merciful and gracious God. I
I think of the story of Jonah and the city of Nineveh, you know, God says he's going
to destroy the city, but when Nineveh gets right with God, God shows mercy and spares
him.
And Jonah makes this statement, for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness, and repent us of the evil.
We serve a God of many chances, but make no mistake, there is a time when God's patience
Heed the warnings when you find yourself drifting in the sands, turn around before it's too late.
Lesson number four, advice from the donkey, turn around before it's too late.
Lesson number five, this is the last lesson, advice from Leviathan, fear God and keep his commandments.
Turn with me if you would to Job chapter 41, Job chapter 41.
We're going to read starting in verse one.
This is a pretty...
How many people here know what Leviathan is in the Bible?
Kind of a neat creature that's mentioned.
So the chapter 41 is going to tell us a lot about it.
It's not a creature that's mentioned many times in the Bible.
But, starting in verse 1,
Can't thou draw out Leviathan with an hook,
Or his tongue with a cord which thou let us down?
Can't thou put an hook into his nose,
Or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
Will he make many supplications unto thee?
Will he speak soft words unto thee?
Will he make a covenant with thee?
Will thou take him for a servant forever?
Will thou play with him as with a bird,
or will thou bind him for thy maidens?
Shall the companions make a banquet of him?
Shall they part him among the merchants?
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed iron,
or his head with fishbeers?
Lay thine hand upon him.
Remember the battle. Do no more.
Behold, the hope of him is in vain, shall not one be cast down, even at the sight of
him.
No, none is so fierce that dare stir him up.
Who then is able to stand before me?
Who hath prevented me that I should repay him?
Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
Who can discover the face of his garment, or who can come to him with his double bridle?
His teeth are terrible round about. His scales are as pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
One is so near to another that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another,
they stick together that they cannot be sundered. By his kneesings, a light does shine.
Sounds like he can breathe fire, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
out of his mouth go burning lamps and sparks a fire leap out out of his
nostrils go with smoke as out of a seething pot or cauldron his breath
kindleth coals in a flame go with out of his mouth and his neck remain a
strength and sorrow has turned into joy before him the flakes of his flesh are
joined together
They're firm in themselves, they cannot be moved.
His heart is as firm as a stone,
yet his heart is a piece of the nether millstone.
When he raises up himself, the mighty are afraid.
By reason of breaking, they purify themselves.
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold,
the spear, the dart, nor the heart.
Habergen.
He esteemeth iron as straw and brass as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make him flee.
Sling stones are turned with him into stubble.
Darts are counted as stubble.
He laugheth at the shaking of a spear.
Sharp stones are under him.
He spread his sharp pointed things upon the mire.
He maketh the deep to boil like a pot.
He maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
He maketh a path to shine after him.
One would think the deep to be hoary.
Upon earth there is not his like
who is made without fear.
he beholdeth all high things, he is a king over all the children of pride."
Wow, what a terrible creature to consider.
Leviathan sounds like some sort of fire-breathing dragon or dinosaur that lives in the sea.
Extremely large, very strong, almost invincible to fight.
This creature is so scary, the Bible says that no one even dares stir it up.
to try to stir up this creature.
Now let's read verse 10 again.
None is so fierce that dare stir him up.
Who then is able to stand before me?
Let that sink in.
God didn't just spend an entire chapter painting a picture
of this great and terrible creature called Leviathan for nothing.
He doesn't waste words in the Bible.
He spent an entire chapter telling us how dreadful this beast is.
And then he says,
Who then is able to stand before me?
If you think fighting Leviathan is scary, imagine fighting with God.
To fall into the hands of the living God
Yes, we serve a God of mercy and love and compassion
But let's not forget that the Bible also says our God is a consuming fire
terrible
dreadful mighty strong and omnipotent
Let me focus on that last word omnipotent
Children that that means
Limitless power
The Bible says in Revelation 19 and I heard as it were the voice of great multitude and as the voice of many waters
And as the voice of mighty thundering saying alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth
Unlimited power. There's nothing that God cannot do
Genesis 18 14 says is anything too hard for the Lord?
We ought to take heed to the advice of the story of Leviathan in the Bible fear God
Who then is able to stand before me God says
Psalm 111 says in verse 10,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
A good understanding have all day that do his commandments,
his praise and earth forever.
And again, in Ecclesiastes, it says in chapter 12 verse 13,
let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter,
fear God and keep his commandments
for this is the whole duty of man.
As children of God,
we ought to have a healthy fear of what God can do to us
if we choose to fight with him.
Yes, he loves us, but he also chastens us and the Bible says there is a sin unto death
You can resist the Lord to the point where he says no more and he takes you home to heaven early
Now I've heard it preached when I was a young person. I was just a young boy and I remember somebody preaching on the fear of the Lord and
Telling us not to be afraid of God that what that really means is respect God
Let me clearly state that is a lie
The very first time I read through the Bible was just a young teenager. I realized that is not the case
The Bible makes it crystal clear. We are to fear God
Okay, we ought to be afraid
Because God is all powerful when you read that story of Leviathan and how afraid people are of Leviathan
Who then is able to stand before me? God is not being subtle here. He wants us to understand if you think he's scary
It is a lie that it just means to reverence God or respect God.
We are to have a healthy fear of God.
Fearing God will keep you out of a lot of trouble.
Had Eve feared God, she might not have eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Instead, she thought she could sin and get away with it.
The very first sin ever committed, the Bible started with a woman and a man who didn't fear
God enough to obey his commandments.
God clearly said in the day that Thou ye is there of Thou shalt surely die and
They didn't believe it. They didn't fear God and keep his commandments
You say how do you know they didn't fear him? It says fear God and keep his commandments if you fear them you would have kept his commandment
This is why the beginning of wisdom starts with fearing the Lord
It says, fear God and keep His commandments.
The motivation for keeping the commandments should start with fear.
What happens if you don't keep the commandments?
We ought to be afraid of what God will do to us.
We ought to be afraid of the punishments that we can receive in our life.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be sick.
I don't want to have a loved one taken from me.
I don't want to lose my job.
I don't want to have God have to wake me up to get my attention to say, hey, what you're
And I'm gonna punish you I don't want that
Even as a child when you're growing up in your parents home if you don't want to get in trouble
You obey your parents. Why do you obey him when you're a young child?
You're afraid of the punishment you fear your parents when you're growing up as a child in their house. I
Learned to obey my parents because of fear that's how it started
It started as a young child that if you do this here's the punishment and I was afraid of the punishment
So I don't do that
Now, fear of a punishment keeps you out of a lot of trouble, but I think as we grow in
the Lord, you know, and I've preached on this before, but Jesus said in John 14, 15,
if you love me, keep my commandments.
So it says, fear God and keep his commandments.
And then Jesus also said, if you love me, keep my commandments.
If the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, then I believe the end of wisdom
both to leave a life of obedience but
Both lead to a life of obedience to God, but every one of us needs to start at the beginning
So loving God
Will have you keep his commandments fearing God will have you keep them
But we all have to start at the beginning fearing God comes first. That's the beginning of wisdom
So we must all first learn to fear, then obey, then love.
You know, as an adult, you know, when you're out of your parents' home,
if my mom or someone was to ask me, hey, do you mind doing this?
I don't do it because I'm afraid of getting spanked or punished.
You know, I'm an adult now. I don't have to, right?
I do it because I love my mom.
And God wants the same thing for us.
He wants us to fear Him and obey
because He wants to keep us out of trouble.
But ultimately, He wants that fear
to transition into love for Him.
That we understand that, hey, He's doing
what's best for us. He's putting
this fear into us so that we can learn
to do what's right and what's best for us.
And He wants us to ultimately love
Him and keep His commandments.
In closing today, we explored five lessons from God's living creatures, yet if we truly
pause to reflect, we would find countless more teachings woven throughout His creation.
Each of these amazing animals offers us unique wisdom and advice for our daily lives.
Number two, from the sparrow, fear not.
Number three, from the serpent, sin deceives.
Number four, from the donkey,
turn back before it's too late.
And number five, from Leviathan, fear God
and keep his commandments.
God's creation is truly remarkable.
Even the smallest creatures carry lessons
meant to guide us and shape us.
If we could, can we close in a word of pastor Tom?
Thank you very much for your presence with us.
Thank you for your word and for the mic and for the words.
Thank you for the best of life.
Thank you for coming this morning.
Thank you.