For the help of the Lord, I direct
your prayerful attention to the second epistle of Peter, chapter
one, the chapter that we read, and reading for our text, verse
19, but there is just one portion of this verse that is upon my
spirit. Of course, we will look at the
whole verse. Verse 19, we have also a more
short word of prophecy, where unto ye do well that ye take
heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. And the word specifically
upon my spirit, those in the middle of the verse, ye do well,
that ye take heed. Ye do well that ye take heed. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 19. Importance of taking heed. Taking heed means to pay careful
attention or take notice of. Ye do well that ye take heed. Many troubles, trials, difficulties,
many times we don't receive the blessing because we do not take
heed. Of course there are some things
that we should not take heed to. Paul, when he writes to Timothy,
he warns that we are not to give heed to fables and to endless
genealogies. And the reason that there is
no profit in them, they do not profit those that are exercised
in those things. In 1 Timothy and chapter 1 verse
4, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which
minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith
so do. And we need to really think when
we start to get engrossed in various things, are they really
profitable? Are going through all of the
genealogies or trying to work out the line of things, are they
really profitable? No, the Lord is pleased to hedge
us about to what is profitable, but if there are things that
are bogging us down with really questions troubling our minds,
then those are things we should not take heed to. And Paul reinforces this when
he writes to Titus in the first chapter of the epistle, Paul
to Titus, he says to him, not giving heed to Jewish fables
and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. And our Lord reproved the scribes
and the Pharisees who taught for commandments the traditions
of men. They added many things, hundreds
of various things to the law of God, supposedly making men
religious by observing these things, but they had no foundation
in the word of God. So we are warned not to take
heed to that. In the Ecclesiastes, Solomon
warns that we are not to take heed, or masters especially,
to take heed to every word that is spoken, lest thou hear thy
servant curse thee. And he reminds that we also have
cursed others in the same way. So there are those things that
we are not to take heed to. We are to pass by without paying
careful attention to them or taking notice of them. We should
not leave them to clog up our minds and take up our time because
they're turning away from the truth. But there are those things
that we should give heed to. And here it is, the Word of God. Now, the Apostle really does
a comparison here. He speaks of the glory that they
heard from heaven on the Mount of Transfiguration. And one would
think, well, how easy it would be for the people of God to think,
well, that's what we must have. We must see the glory of God
in such a wonderful vision as on that Mount of Transfiguration,
we would be like Peter. But Peter would say, no. In the
words of our text, we have also a more sure word of prophecy,
and that is the word of God. We are not to be looking for
those visions and revelations in that way, but for the Lord
to shine upon the word, the Holy Spirit, to bless the word of
God to us. Heaven and earth said our Lord
shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. We have
a similar comparison with the Apostle Paul, where he tells
us that that vision he had on the Damascus road, caught up
into the third heavens, heard words unspeakable that cannot
be uttered. He said, lest he be exalted above
measure, the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan, to buffet him and When he thought that that would
be taken away, God didn't and he gave him instead grace. My grace is sufficient for thee. And so in a similar way, Paul
would point us away from those great visions and to the sufficiency
of the grace of God, the help of God, the real practical help
of God day by day whether in our minds or our bodies, it is
the grace of God that is so vital. By grace you are saved, that
not of yourselves, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. And so we have these two contrasts,
Peter speaking of the Mount of Transfiguration, and then pointing
us rather to the word of God, Paul speaking of his visions
and speaking rather, pointing rather to the grace of God. So here we have the apostle speaking
of something, speaking of what is absolutely vital, the word
of God, as to what we should pay heed to. Ye do well that ye take heed. So what with the Lord's help
then this morning, look just at two points. Firstly, why we
do well to take heed to the word of God, that which is told us
in the words of our text and what follows. And then secondly,
other things, other things in the scriptures, and I've just
selected out a few of them that we are expressly warned to take
heed to. But firstly, why? Why we do well to take heed to
the Word of God. In verse 16, the Apostle says,
for we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but
were eyewitnesses of his majesty. The word of God that we have
here and remember that the apostle has said that his desire was
that after he had died, after he is deceased, we might have
these things in remembrance. And those things then that he
had seen, and the apostles had seen, and they bore witness to
of the power and coming of the Lord, were not cunningly devised
fables. That is what there are those
that say they are. Many will despise the Word of
God, they'll ridicule it, they'll say that it's just something
that man has put together. Remember we said those things
that we are not to pay heed to, those that the Apostle Paul pointed
to as those Jewish fables, or those fables that were really
fables, they were not true, they were not real. There is such
a thing as those things that are just made up and devised
by man. But Peter says this is not. The Word of God is not something
like that. It is the record of those that
have truly witnessed the coming and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are records that have been
made and in the lifetime of other witnesses and other people who
lived at that time that could really question those things
that are put down. And that when there was the testimony
that the scriptures were being fulfilled at the cross, they
could easily have gone against that and said, no, this didn't
happen or that didn't happen, but those things did happen. and the testimony even of the
Roman soldiers, truly this was a righteous man. The effect of
those that witnessed the empty tomb, that witnessed the Lord
after he rose from the dead and then ascended up into heaven,
and the power when the Holy Spirit was sent down on the day of Pentecost. Remember with Peter, He witnessed
that at Pentecost. He witnessed that 10 years later
with Cornelius. And when he speaks of the power
and coming of the Lord, he saw the power in the gospel day. He saw those thousands converted
at Pentecost and those many converted of the Gentiles with Cornelius. So why we take why we do well
to take good heed of the Word of God. These are not fables,
it is the truth of God. It is the witness of witnesses,
a true witness. The second reason is that it
is the inspired Word of God. We have in verse 21, The prophecy
came not in old time by the will of God, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Principally what is referred
to here is the Old Testament prophecies that look forward
to Christ's coming. They're told like David did in
Psalm 22 in very vivid detail of the crucifixion of our Lord
Even the words that he uttered on the cross, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Those prophecies, they were not
written just devised by man, but holy men of God, like King
David, spake as they were moved. The Holy Spirit is the author
of the word of God. The very words, not just the
ideas, were breathed by the Holy Spirit, and we could extend that
further, the very things that happened, because much of the
Word of God is a history book. It records the history, and so
the thing must first happen, the account of the fall, and
with Noah, the flood, those things must have happened, and decree
that they should happen by God, and then how they should be recorded,
and that they should be recorded as being decreed by God, and
the very words that he used to record them are decreed by God. And we must remember that. You know, if we were to record
all of these events that happened in every minute detail, well,
John says that, in the Gospel according to John, that even
if all the things that were written that Jesus did, if they were
all written, the world itself would not contain the books that
could be written. And so we know we only have,
we only have a very small account of what our Lord actually did,
And in every detail of the Old Testament as well, we have what
is needed for salvation. Many times when I was in my studies
at school, we used to ask the teachers, could we know a bit
more information? And we wanted to delve a bit
deeper into the subjects that we were studying. But the teacher
rightly said that for the year that we are in, for what we needed
to know to get through those exams, that we only needed to
know what he was telling us. There would be a waste of time,
that it wouldn't be to the aim and view of passing that year's
exams to delve into those further subjects. And so it is with the
word of God We might think, well, how did that happen? Why haven't
we got that detail? And many give heed to trying
to work these things out, but God says, no, pay heed to what
is written and what is not written. Then the Lord is kindly saying
to us, you don't need to know that. That is not important for
your souls. That is not important for your
spiritual life and for the blessing of your souls. So it is absolutely
vital when we receive the word of God, we receive it as the
inspired word of God. It is God breathed, it is not
man's word, it's God's word to man through a human instrument
And that is why we need a faithful translation. What we have in
English, we read in English. The psalmist, he says, thy word
have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. We need
the word that we understand to hide in our hearts. And the original
languages, Hebrew and Greek, they needed to be translated. And in all the languages of the
world, go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. And the miracle at Pentecost
was that men who had not been trained in other languages were
able to speak other languages. And it's God's gift to the Church
of God to give those that understand Greek and Hebrew, that understand
also the language of their own tongue, and are able to translate
from one to the other that are gracious characters, characters
who love the word, characters who know the truth in their own
hearts. And that is a great blessing
to the Church of God. And we know the history of our
English Bible, and it is a history in much turmoil and trouble and
persecution, but the Lord gave to us the word and for over 400
years we have had the translation that we're using this morning,
the authorised version, and we bless God for a faithful translation
of the inspired word. But we have in the word of our
text that it is a sure word. It is a sure word and not only
a sure word, but in this verse 20, that it is God's message,
not by any private interpretation. God is giving his word to us. And by comparing scripture with
scripture, we come with what God's message is. We can easily
get a different message if we just pick and choose and select
out of context the words of scripture. You could put together a very,
very different message. We would not think of getting
someone else's letter and just select parts of it and deliberately
bring a different message to what their letter was. I believe many times in public
office there are those that feel very grieved because what they
have said has been taken out of context. Only parts of it
have been published or spoken, others have not, and is given
a false impression, or others have changed around what has
been said. years ago writing, and I forget
the subject of the occasion, but writing to one of the newspapers
in this land. And they published my letter
under my name, but they had changed it so much. They'd condensed
it, and they'd actually put things in it that were contrary to the
scriptures, wrong teaching. Anyone reading that letter, a
scribe to me, would have said, well, that's a very poor minister.
He doesn't even know his Bible. And when I protested to them
and asked them to correct it and to apologize, they refused
to do it. There's a great disincentive
really to write or to do anything on a public stage because whatever
is said, it can be changed. So we need to really remember
that if we hear something that is said, even if it is them speaking
of one of our brethren or those from the churches, or of those
of our politicians, be very, very careful that they're actually
being quoted in context and properly before we jump to and condemn
them, to actually look into what they've said. And so with the
word of God, We are to compare scripture with scripture, and
to be very clear, God has a message. What is God's message? What is
he saying to us? And if we have the word of God,
then we should not be fearful that we should be deceived. We have the word ourselves. We have in our text as well that
It is a light in a dark place. That is why we should give heed
to it. This world is a dark world. It is a godless world. It is
a world that is anti-God. And our hearts, they are dark. They do not have the truth. They
are deceitful, they are wicked. And yet this light of the world,
light of the word of God, it comes into this world. It comes
into our hearts as we read it, and it is as a light. It shines
and it shows the true state and true condition of the world and
true condition of our hearts. Light makes manifest. You've
only got to think of the illustration here. If there was a room that
was all in darkness, we wouldn't see anything that was in it.
And if light then was put into that room, we would see exactly
what is there. And so it is the Word of God
that shows the true state of this world. It shows the wickedness,
the godlessness, the lies, the deceits, it shows the danger,
it shows how far we are from God, how we are a a people that
is right for judgment. Just because God doesn't suddenly
destroy a people doesn't mean to say that he approves of what
is going on. For many hundreds of years, he
turned a blind eye to all that was going on in Canaan, where
Israel is today. And then at the appointed time,
he brought Israel out of Egypt to that land and he destroyed
all of those nations utterly. And he said to Israel that the
reason why he blessed them and delivered those nations into
their hand was not because they were more righteous than them,
but because of the wickedness of those nations. And God will
judge the wicked. And we read in the Word, because
sentence is not executed speedily against an evil work, then the
heart of man is fully set in him to do evil. And even a child,
if he gets away with something, then he'll do it again and do
it again. And man is like that. But the Word of God is a light
that shows us what is right What is wrong is a lamp unto our feet,
a light unto our path. And so that is why we should
pay heed to that. We should also pay heed to it
because there is a promise here, a promise that through the word
of God, that the day star would arise in our hearts. That is,
the Lord Jesus Christ would be blessed to us. Faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God. It is through the word
of God that men, women, children are blessed. As the word of God
is preached, as it was on the way to Emmaus by our Lord, as
it was by Philip to the eunuch, as it was by Peter to Cornelius
and his household. As many of us have known that
the blessing of the Lord has come to our souls as we've read
the word of God, as we've heard it preached, the Lord Jesus Christ
has been made precious to us We believed on him, we've seen
him through the word, we've seen the plan of salvation, we've
rejoiced at that plan of salvation. The Lord has blessed us with
eternal life and a good hope through his grace of being with
him forever. He's brought us to repentance,
he's brought us to hate our sin, to confess our sin, to turn from
it and to turn unto him. And we need that word constantly. We need that word to be as what
cleanses our lives from all that is wrong and all that is evil. There are many other reasons,
many things that we could say, the reason why we should take
heed. Our text says, ye do well that
ye take heed. We have also a more short word
of prophecy, where unto you do well that you take heed. And
so on this first point, may we be refreshed again with this
truth. Our readings in the morning and
evening, privately, as a family, in the house of God, how much
do we take heed? to the word that we read? How
much do we give careful attention to it? And when there's exhortations,
pay attention to those exhortations. When there is warnings, take
heed to those warnings. How much do we do so? You do
well that you take heed. Are we guilty of just going through
the word of God are never taking heed, never paying attention
to it, never comparing our lives with the Word, never thinking,
is this Word condemning us? Is this Word pointing us to what
we should be doing? Is this Word reproving us of
something that we are doing? How much heed do we pay to the
Word of God? I want to look then secondly
at other things that we are expressly warned to take heed to in the
Scriptures. I begin where our Lord warns
in the Gospel according to Luke chapter 12 and verse 15, and
he warns to take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's
life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And the context was that someone
had come to him and asked him to speak to his brother that
he divide the inheritance with him. I don't suppose there's
a greater occasion for there to be conflicts and for there
to be covetousness than in the case of an inheritance. Man likes to get rich quick. Man likes riches that he hasn't
had to work for. You've only got to look for that
in our land with the lotteries and the many that will just give
money in the vain hope that they'll suddenly get the jackpot and
have so much money. And when it comes to inheritance,
how easy that is as well, to think, if only I had that, if
only I had that windfall. And yet what is an inheritance?
Why is that money available? Because someone has died, because
they have left everything, and they could not take anything
with them. And yet those that are left,
The temptation is to want that money, to want those goods, and
yet never take heed and think, why have they left it? How is
their soul state? What profit has these riches
done to them? And it is in that context that
our Lord really warns us and says, take heed in this. Take heed and beware of covetousness. And if we're honest, we'll know
that that rises. You don't have to call it up.
You don't have to consciously have it brought up. It comes, it comes. It was so
with Gehazi when Naaman had been cured of his leprosy and offered
to Elisha. much riches and Elisha declined
it, he didn't want them. But Gehazi coveted and it led
to lies and deceit and going after Naaman for those riches. So this is one thing our Lord
says we are to take heed and beware of covetousness. The next thing is in Luke 21,
where in verse 34, our Lord warns and says, take heed to yourselves,
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with serviting,
drunkenness and cares of this life, feasting and drinking and
the cares of this life. And He is speaking here, the
context is at the end of the world and when the Lord shall
come. And of course we think of Noah and his day. Men were
buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage until
the flood came and took them all away. It was the same also
with the day of Lot. Men were doing lawful things,
right things, while in the days of Lot they were doing wickedness.
But in the days of Noah, it was wicked days as well. But what
is highlighted, that men were just going about their lives,
and it was the cares of this life that shut out the things
of God. How close it comes, when our
Lord was in the house with Martha and with Mary, And Mary was sitting
at the Lord's feet and hearing His word. But Martha was cumbered
about with much serving. The Lord was in the house, but
she couldn't hear His word. She was too worried about the
food that was to go on the table, and what was to be eaten, what
was to be done. And we can be like that, even
in the house of God and amongst the people of God. We could have,
The church, the brethren, come back to our home, but instead
of hearing the conversation and speaking one to another, we're
so burdened with what we're going to give for refreshments and
dealing with all the things that we've done. And we can be like
that, so easy. Not just unlawful cares, but
cares concerning the house of God. Many, many things we can
be burdened to with the ministry, with the streaming here, with
the Bibles offered, with the distribution of the Word of God. There's many, many things to
be attended to that can completely block out a real close walk with
the Lord ourselves. And all in ministry need this
Word to be warned, to take heed yourselves. Everyone that is
in ministry first is a private Christian. We need a personal
close walk with the Lord, not just an external ministry. Take
heed yourselves last. Any time those cares of this
life that they take over and You think with the pandemic,
with the virus that has come, in one sense, the Lord has been
very kind in this, and he has touched those things, those cares. He's touched men's health, men's
wealth. He's touched their freedoms,
their liberties, their pleasures. And we are told, men shall be
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God at the last. And
God has touched these things. But the question we need to ask,
has it made us then take heed to his word? Or has it brought
even more cares and in a different way? The third thing I bring
before you is the warning that we are to take care that we be
not deceived. It's in this same chapter, Luke
21 and verse eight. And again, it is the Lord being
asked of the sign of the times and the coming of Christ the
second time. But he says in verse eight, take
heed that ye be not deceived. Many shall come in my name saying
I am Christ and the time draweth near Go ye not therefore after
them. And we find it all the time.
You can find those with billboards in city centers that time is
drawing nigh. We get emails in our email boxes
from those that are professing to speak with authority from
God himself. In fact, they're written in the
very way as if God was speaking through there. saying that it's
but a few days and the Lord is coming again. In our day, there's
many that are saying these things. The Lord will come, the Lord
will come. But we are to take heed that
we are not deceived. If we know the word of God and
keep close to the word of God, then we won't be deceived. But
there are many, there are many cults, there are many different
religions, there are many different so-called faiths, And all of
them are deceiving men when they are turning away from the Word
of God and turning away from the teachings of the Lord. So,
very much to do with the very verse where our text is, that
we take heed, be very, very careful that we are not deceived, really,
but are quite on a natural level If anything, we should be very
familiar with this take heed, because the amount of scams that
there are, telephone scams, scams on emails, and today, if ever
there is a need to take heed, that we be not deceived, quite
in a natural way, we are very mindful, and we're mindful of
the implications of being deceived, financially, and to touching
our lives, But this speaks even more, this is speaking with our
souls. And whether we're saved or whether
we're lost, take heed that we be not deceived. But then we have the Apostle
Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter three
and verse 10. He is testifying that He has
laid a foundation, that is, as Christ is the foundation. He is the foundation stone. All true religion is based upon
Christ. But the apostle says, take heed,
but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. And again,
you only need to look at the many religions that will say
that The Lord Jesus, or the cross, is central, but they are all
building in a different way. They are not building upon the
true message of the gospel, upon Christ's sufficient sacrifice
to Calvary to put away the sins of his people, and that there
is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. that our foundation on Christ
is not only what Christ has done at Calvary, but what he does
in a sinner's life. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. He is our
advocate with the Father. It is Christ that works in his
people He is the great shepherd, the good shepherd that calls
his people out of this world, calls them and draws them to
himself. And then it is for the believer,
Christ's righteousness that is our standing for heaven. It is his blood that puts away
our sin. It is his righteousness that
clothes us. And it is vital that we understand
rightly that Christ is truly God and truly man and that there
is no other way of salvation and how we build on him. Some
will say, well, we just live our lives to the full and we
just cast in Christ's name into the scale and we are saved. But
Christ said, I've given them thy word and the world hath hated
them. I am not of the world, they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And it's how
we build on Christ. Some would build on him as if
Christ came, so that instead of us being strangers and pilgrims
and being prepared for a heavenly inheritance, the Lord confirms
us in all wickedness and sin and living only for this world.
The Apostle says later in this epistle, if in this life only
we have hope in Christ, we are all men most miserable. So we
do need to take heed how we are building on Christ. What is the
message that we are receiving? How our hope is placed on him? Is it only partial or is it fully? Is it a biblical? building upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we have when Paul writes
to the Colossians, and he is principally in this case writing
to a minister and warning him to take heed, to fulfil that
ministry. He says in verse 17, chapter
four, and say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which thou
hast received in the Lord that thou fulfill it. In the first
place, it is a warning to a minister. The Lord has given him a ministry,
a pastoring, a calling that he should take heed to fulfill that
ministry. And yet it is also a warning
to the hearers because if the minister's taking heed to the
ministry, much more so also for the hearers to take heed to the
ministry. In the letters to the churches
in the second and third chapter in the book of Revelation, after
each of those seven letters, we have the words, he that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And so we are to pay heed to
what actually is said in the ministry. Then we have in, again,
Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians and chapter 10. And he is speaking
of the children of Israel going through the wilderness. He rehearses
in the beginning part of that chapter how that although they
were blessed together and being brought through the Red Sea,
And they all drank of that same spiritual meat, had the same
spiritual meat and drank of the same spiritual drink. And yet many were overthrown. And he says that those were our
examples that we should not lust after evil things as they also
lusted. And those things that happened
to them were warnings to us. And so he says this that, we
also should take heed lest we also fall. In verse 12, wherefore
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. And we have a picture here of
one just going through this life saying, I think that I stand. I think I'm a Christian. I'm
all right for heaven. I'm going on all right. But the
apostle says, no. You take heed lest you fall. There were those that have gone
before you that thought the same, and they've so easily fallen.
And so we're not to be careless in this life. We are to be those
that really take heed. Then we have in Paul's epistle
to the Galatians, and I felt looking at this word, how needful
is it for us today? Galatians 5 and verse 15. He says, if ye bite and devour
one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. I thought with the pandemic,
the strains that have been in many places of worship, And the
conflict has been between brethren over what should be done, what
should not have been done. And not only that, but in many
other aspects as well. And we have a picture of the
church liable to pull itself apart from within, not without,
a civil war as it were. And so he says, here, take heed. that ye be not consumed one of
another. And it's just to stand back and
think, what is going on? What is the conflict and the
danger here? Not a standing, as it were, for
essential things, but those things that are being contended over
as just pulling. pulling the people of God apart,
the churches of God, contentions. And then there's one last I bring
before you in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter three and verse 12. Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief in departing from the living God. I think this is something
that runs right through the Word, and especially with the children
of Israel, how they easily departed to idolatry, how even the Lord
warned them that there would be those that gave signs and
wonders and they came to pass. But the Lord said, He sent these
things among them to prove them whether they would keep to the
Word of God or not. Those things might be many signs
and wonders, but if they turn us away from the true and living
God, if they bring us to disbelieve the word of God, then we are
not to take heed to them, and we are to take heed that there
is that spirit of unbelief that rises up, and the end result
is departing from the living God. May we really be warned
and be a people that really do take heed of those things that
we read, of how we walk, the way that we're going, the true
state of our soul. We do not just brush off the
word, the ministry, the warning this morning, that we take heed
to this word. You do well. that ye take heed. The word of our text, ye do well
that ye take heed. Well may the Lord bless the word
to us, amen.