Matt McDowell - July 26, 2026
/Transcript
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...brings us back and we can remember those songs in some difficult places. Remember when we, when we sing the song and it says, I'm prone to wander, prone to leave the one I love. We say, Oh, Hey, you know, they're talking to me, they're talking to me and I'm prone to do those things. I have to remember, Hey, I gotta, I have to stay in that way.
I have to stay. We're all the same. We all have the same makeup. Even Elijah says, I'm a man just like you.
Even though he brought fire from heaven and, and, and killed all the, the prophets of Baal, he said it was just a man, just like all of us. So we know they're just telling us that we can get back to him. So we have these hymns as a way finding them back in the ants are also working in those ways. Number four, ants are super organized.
They're putting everything in this place. There's a time and a place for everything. There's a time for peace. There's a time for war.
There's a time to live. There's a time to die. Everything is in this place. They're super organized.
We know in our own minds and our own Christian hearts that we have, everything is in this place. We know there's going to be the good times. It's going to be the bad times. We know there's going to be the times of plenty and the times of little, there's going to be a time to gather and there's going to be a time to store up.
So we know that we also keep these things in our minds and in our hearts to stay organized because we just know that it's down the road that you know something's going to happen and we're prepared. We're prepared for that. We're not shocked anytime something happens to our life. We're not blown away.
Number five, ants are super disciplined without discipline, without discipline, without a Christian discipline in our lives. You know, we just, uh, our lives just start to, you know, fall apart. They start to, you know, um, you know, it's like not changing the oil in your car sooner or later, it's just going to burn. You're going to be driving on a road and things just going to lock up and you're going to be done on the side of the road.
You got to change your tires. Otherwise, you know, your tires are going to, you know, wear out and go, go bad. So just like, you know, we, uh, I think about it and you know, I tell my family, it's a, you know, you don't leave the house without brushing your teeth in the morning. Neither do we leave the house without hearing from the Lord, without reading the Bible.
We have to take time and discipline ourselves. If we have to get to work at five o'clock, then we have to get to work. We have to get up, you know, ahead of time so that we can get nourished by his word. I was, uh, uh, me and my daughter were a few weeks ago, we're watching, um, the hiding place and, uh, Corey 10 boom.
And, and, uh, they had to, uh, get roll call, I think at maybe, um, five o'clock in the morning, they had to go out. It was the whole group that they were in this prison camp and, uh, they were out there and, um, um, they were, you know, walking around and, and so, but Corey 10 boom and her, and her sister, they would get up. If they had to be there at five o'clock, they would be out there at four o'clock walking around in the cold, on the cold, in the hard place, just praying to God, just spending time with Jesus, spending time in his presence, even, even though they were worked so hard, they said it was like heaven on earth, that one hour, they may have been in hell on earth, but for that one hour, they were in the presence of God. They were in his presence and it meant everything to them.
We have to have a discipline life. You have to have hunger. You have to have thirst for righteousness and those that have hunger and thirst will be filled. You have to make a point.
You have to make an effort to be in God's presence. Amen. Amen. So, um, we have to stay disciplined.
Number six, everyone has a job to do. No one is a bystander, just like everyone has a part to play in the body of Christ. Everybody, there's nobody, there's no, you're not too old. You're not too young.
You're not too big. You're not too small. Let's read first Corinthians chapter 12, please. Verse 20.
First Corinthians chapter 12, 12, I think 12, 12. For as the body is one and has many members and all the members of that body being many are one body. So also is Christ for by one spirit, are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.
And if the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ears shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not the body, is there therefore not of the body? If the whole body were in I, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
But now have God set the members, every one of them in the body as it has pleased them. Amen. So we're all, we all have a part to play. There's nobody in the kingdom of God.
God doesn't esteem one man above another. If one has some talents and some has a little talent, it doesn't matter about the talents. We're all in the body of Christ, working together. It doesn't matter if you're just, um, um, just a little old lady or just a little child, you know, there's just those, you know, we need those old ladies.
We need those women who are praying and prophesying for their children's children and standing in the gap and doing warfare for their, for their children and interceding on their behalf. Everybody has a place to play. Everybody. The mouth isn't above the ear.
Everybody, somebody's looking out. Somebody has a part to play. Even the, even our, our own body, our muscles, one body contract, one part of our muscle contracts. The other is, uh, whatever retracks, but we, uh, we, uh, but we're all moving together.
We're all, every muscle, every place. If you cut one muscle, you almost lose everything. If you cut your Achilles tendon, your whole body will just fall down. You won't be able to stand.
I know a guy who was taking out the garbage and the something sharp came down and cut his Achilles tendon and man, he just collapsed. He was, he was without it. So every place in the body of Christ has a important position. No man, God doesn't esteem any man above another.
God, everybody has a role to play. Everybody has a position to play in the ant kingdom. There's some that are in the nest. There's some that are out of the nest.
There's some that are watching. There's some that are observing. There's some that are ready to fight. There's some that are carrying, uh, uh, the food.
Some are building. Everybody has a position in the ant kingdom. Everybody has a position in God's kingdom. And we all have to allow God to, uh, let us know what his position is for us.
And all we have to do is ask him, all we have to do is ask God, what do you want me to do? Lord, I'm ready to work for you. Lord, I want a position in your kingdom. I want to be where you want me to be.
And that's the best place to be. That's the only place to be is where God wants us. You know, when I used to play ball, we had a saying that when we were, we were up to bat, you know, sometimes somebody would hit a home run and you know, all of a sudden you're addicted to the home run. So you're swinging hard all the time.
But all of a sudden, you're swinging so hard that your batting average goes down because your swing is so hard. Your look, your, your head spinning off your head. You can't fit, uh, focus on the ball. But when we had the same, the same was stay within yourself, stay within yourself.
And when you stay within yourself, you can make contact with the ball. And when you make contact with the ball, then good things happen. So we want to, we want to, we want to stay within ourselves. We want to be right where God wants us not to be some place.
There's a lot of people who want to be someplace other than where God wants us, but we have to be right where, right where he chose for us. Uh, number seven, they look out for one another. They create and bridges, they, they, they work all together. They're, they're keeping each other.
Galatians chapter six, verse two says, um, Galatians chapter six, verse two, bear ye one another's burdens and so, and so fulfill the law of Christ, bear each other's burdens. We're all here. We all have one desire that we're all on this pathway together. And we know that sometimes things can get difficult, but we're here to encourage each other, keep us together, look out for one another.
If you see somebody drop off, if you see somebody not there, you know, the Christian thing to do is to give that person a call. Look at each other. We all have our, you know, the people that we see on a regular basis where they're to look up for each other, uphold each other. Number eight, ants are militarized.
They are ready for battle at all times. They will drop work, sleep, eating, drinking, and attack. Anything that can be a possible threat to the colony. They come together in unity fighting with their very lives.
Um, second Corinthians chapter 10. I'm trying to hurry because the time is flying by. Second Corinthians chapter 10, verse four says for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. And first Peter chapter five, turn there real quick.
First Peter chapter five, verse eight says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. You know, the ants don't leave themselves, you know, too exposed. They, you know, stay in their lane. They stay busy doing what they're doing.
They keep their mind on what they have to do. You know, they don't find themselves, you know, they, you know, you don't find any ants over here off of the beaten path, playing some volleyball or, or doing anything else. They're busy, busy, busy doing what they're going to do all the time. They're ready to go.
I mean, they don't, they don't get distracted. You know, they're ready. They got their eyes on what they're doing and they have one eye on, Hey, you know what, what's, what's going on? So we had to have, we have to have a lot of eyes in this life.
We had to keep our eyes on what we're doing. Um, number nine, they don't faint in the face of adversity. Proverbs 24 verse 10 says, if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Don't faint in the face of adversity.
Don't faint just because somebody says you're crazy. Don't faint just because somebody says you don't know what you're talking about. Know what you're talking about. Believe in what you're talking about.
Believe in the word of God. Stand on the word of God. Stand on his promises. God, uh, you know, waiting sometimes is hard, but God is so good.
He will be there to deliver us through every situation. Um, can you imagine living in a world full of giants? Can you imagine when you're just an ant and everything around you is a giant? And you know what?
Ants don't tremble. They don't get shaken. They're not afraid of anything. You know, if any, uh, you know, anybody in Florida at one time or another has come across some fire ants, you know, and man, you step on there, you step on those fire ants and man, they don't waste any time.
They just start attacking. They start, you know, getting your feet and, and, and biting them. And next thing you know, somebody's just running. Somebody's running for the, you know, to get out of there.
And you got, you know, I was thinking, I said, man, what was that ant? What was that ant thinking that night? You know, he was probably walking around, like, you know, you know, man, I just, I just bit that foot of that giant and that ant, that giant was just fleeing from, he was probably sitting down at the dinner table. He said, he's thinking, you know, his mom's like, Hey, how was your day?
How was your day at work today? Oh, mom, man, I made a giant flee from me today. I bet this, I bet this giant so hard it was running. I mean, how would you feel going to work the next day?
All your, all your friends and everything say, man, this guy is, he doesn't faint in the face of adversity. He doesn't faint at the face of giants. He makes giants flee. The Bible says that we're more than conquerors.
I said, well, you know, look at these ants are more than conquerors. These ants make giants flee as, as Christians. We're the same. We're the same.
We're more than conquerors, fear, lust, anger, the giants in life. God has given us the strength to make all of them flee, all of those to run, all of those overcome, all the addiction. God can take away every addiction. He can overcome every situation.
Every giant in our life. You can bite that giant and make it run the other way. Isn't that wonderful? Amen.
Number 10, they endure through impossible situations. If there's a fire, they dig down deep. If there's a flood, they make an ant boat. One time I, there was a hurricane that came through and it was, you know, it was a, it was all these floods and everything.
And I was looking and I seen something floating on this water. And then low and behold as a, as a pile of ants floating on the water. I mean, they just don't quit. They just don't stop.
They just don't nothing. They just work with whatever's happened wherever they've landed up. I'm sure as soon as they landed, they just got back to work, start digging a new hole, start getting busy, start, you know, doing what they do. They just keep going.
No matter what happens, they just keep going. No matter what happens, we have to just keep going because we know the spirit of the Lord, his grace is sufficient for us. And he'll get us through there. If there's cold, they hunker down.
Second Timothy chapter two, let's read that really quick here. Second Timothy chapter two, verse three, it says thou therefore in doer hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We undo our hardness. I, you know, my brother, both of my brothers were in the military.
One of my brother, he was a, uh, he's a retired Apache helicopter pilot, but he was over in Iraq and you know, he just, you know, I said, well, how was it out there? He said, Oh, just, we're just in these tents out in the middle of the desert. They're just dust and dirt everywhere. It's 140 degrees all the time.
There's flies all over the place. And, uh, and he said, the dust just gets everywhere. It's in your bed. It's in your clothes.
It's, you know, it's in your underwear. It's everywhere. You know, he says you just look in the mirror. You look at your teeth in the mirror and there's dirt inside of your teeth.
You know, he said you brush your teeth. It doesn't take long because you're just breathing dust. So the dust is just going through your lungs, through your teeth, everywhere. It's just dust everywhere.
But as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, we endure hardness. We go through the tough times gladly knowing that it's all for our own benefit. We know that it's, it's, it's shaping us. It's growing us.
It's making us into what God wants us to be. Number 11, they are excellent communicators. They communicate through touch and smell without saying a word. Um, they communicate.
They're not going around. They don't have to go around beating people over the head. We don't have to go around beating people over the head. It's by the, by our actions is by our love is by how we treat one another that draws men unto Christ.
Let's, let's turn to first Peter chapter three. Um, just a few pages forward there. First Peter chapter three, and I love this verse. It says, it says likewise you wise be in subjection to your own husbands that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives or without saying a word just by their behavior leads their husband.
They can change their husband just by their behavior. Number 12, they live in a kingdom. They practice obedience without wavering. First Samuel chapter 15 verse 22 says obedience is better than sacrifice.
We, we know from the very beginning of the Bible that it gave Adam and Eve just one, just one rule. Just don't eat of that fruit. Don't eat of that tree. It's just by obedience.
We have to know and know and know that God, uh, wants us to obey. It's not that he wants us to burn up, uh, um, you know, a whole bunch of animals or, uh, give all your money to the poor or build a hospital, but you know, and people do that, you know, people, you know, do and spend and they feel like they have to, you know, make some kind of, um, uh, sacrifice to God. But God said, he said, Jesus says, if you love me, why don't you do what I say? If you love me, why don't you obey my commandments?
If you love me, we show God that we love him by obeying his word. That's how we show him that we love him. Um, number 13, they are constantly being productive. Each one has a talent and is expected to use that talent to produce for the kingdom.
And we know that God has given us talents. We have to use those talents. They said number 14, they set up borders as Christian. There has to be a difference between holy and unholy righteous and unrighteous.
We have to have borders in our own lives. What, what fellowship does light have with darkness? What fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness? We have borders.
We have a, uh, a divide between, uh, between us and the world. There has to be a difference. There has to be a difference between the body of Christ and the world. There has to be a difference.
Number 15, they are always building, no matter how many times you knock their nest down, they're always build it back up. They're always build it back up. And I just want to close with, I just want to close with one thing I was, I was thinking, you know, I was, actually I was thinking of a brother Aaron that, you know, if he, imagine him sitting there one day at the, at the table and he looks down and, and this aunt, you know, looks up and says, Hey, brother Aaron, you know, it's, it's a hot day. It's so hot today.
And I'm carrying this one grain of rice. I'm carrying and it's, it's, it's so heavy. It's so heavy. I, you know, maybe you, maybe brother Aaron, maybe you can help me carry this grain of rice for me.
You know, maybe you can pick it up and take it home. And brother Aaron says one green of rice. I throw a whole bunch of sacks on my back and I'll carry it three miles for you. Don't worry about it.
And I was thinking that, you know, that's the Bible says to cast all our cares unto the Lord for he cares for you. And you know, it's God, when you, you know, even much more, even as big as brother Aaron is God, if you, if you ask God for help, if your burden is too heavy, you just have to ask God and he'll carry much more than the little burden that we can carry in life. He'll carry it way, way more than we could ever imagine for our own selves. So we just give it all to Jesus and he's all that matters.
Amen. Dear heavenly father, Lord, I thank you today for your goodness, your grace, your mercy, your love and compassion, Lord, help us to consider the aunt today and his ways, Lord, and apply this wisdom to our life, Lord, and endure through every situation and every trial and every tribulation, Lord, that we go through. Lord, we thank you Lord for the strength that you give us, Lord. Lord, indeed our strength is small, Lord, but Lord you are more than enough for us.
We bless you. We praise you. We thank you again in Jesus name. Amen.
