Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God. It is on the second page of your
hymn sheets. You'll find it in Matthew chapter
16. And we'll just read the first
17 verses. Matthew chapter 16 and from verse
1. The Pharisees also with the Sadducees
came, and tempting desired Him that He would show them a sign
from heaven. He answered and said unto them,
When it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather, for the
sky is red. And in the morning it will be
foul weather to-day, for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern
the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the
times? A wicked and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it
but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them and departed. And when his disciples were come
to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said
unto them, Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, It is because we have taken no bread. which, when Jesus
perceived, He said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason
ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do
ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the
five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? neither these seven
loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took
up? How is it that ye do not understand
that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood
they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread,
but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. When Jesus
came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they
said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias,
and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them,
But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Thus far the reading of God's
holy word. The word that I desire to speak
to you on is that found in verse 6, the first part of that verse,
Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed. Now he goes on and specifically
says, in this context, what they are to take heed of, and that
is, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And the disciples at first, they
thought that he was referring to the fact that they had forgotten
to take bread. How easy it is when a minister
starts to preach or to bring the word before you, if there's
something that is on your mind, perhaps a guilty conscience,
or perhaps there's something that you've omitted to do, and
especially if you think that that minister does know something
about your lives, to put a wrong construction upon what he is
actually saying and miss the whole teaching. And that's what
the disciples were going to do here. They were more thinking
about their lack and their forgetting to take bread than thinking the
Lord is bringing a teaching here regarding doctrine. Here are
the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, with their doctrines
contrary to the doctrines of the Gospel. It was a doctrine
of works, a doctrine of seeking the salvation and the favour
of God through their own deeds and works, and his warning the
disciples to take heed of their doctrine. and how we do need
to really take heed of the teaching of those that come. We think
of the Bereans who even tested what the Apostle Paul brought
before them by the Word of God. And the Lord's warning here to
take heed is never more necessary. And as we go on, we may have
been blessed many years ago, and many of you dear friends
have been, but a great blessing to endure unto the end. holding
fast to the doctrine that you have received at the first, and
being blessed with the doctrine of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, and the blessed gospel, the precious truth that had been
revealed to Simon. Flesh and blood have not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And what was that
which was revealed? Simon, he says, thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. And so our Lord here is
bidding them to take heed and may that warning be given to
us as well. Take heed regarding doctrine,
regarding teaching. What does heed mean? It means
to pay attention to a careful attention to take notice when
my mind was drawn to this word here of our lord i thought how
many times in the gospels is it recorded that the lord has
specifically said to his disciples to take heed and what are those
things that he has chosen to highlight that we should pay
careful attention to and take heed unto and I want to the Lord's
help bring some of these before you this morning and this that
would follow then Jesus said unto them take heed And all of
these points I'll bring before you is where the Lord added different
things that we are to take heed to. And it is a privilege if
we are a disciple, a follower of the Lord, that we listen to
what the Lord has to say and what areas he really highlights
us to pay attention to, especially as we draw near our journey's
end. We don't want to make shipwrecks,
as we enter into port, we want to be kept right until the end. Well, the first thing I'll bring
before you is a series of three texts where the Lord specifically
says, but take heed to yourselves. So instead of looking at adversaries,
enemies, scribes, Pharisees or whatever it is, He directs to
ourselves, take heed to ourselves. There's three things that he
specifically adds on to when he says take heed to yourselves. The first one is in Mark and
that is where he says to take heed to yourselves is verse 9
in chapter 13 for they shall deliver you up to councils and
to synagogues. You shall be beaten, you shall
be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony
against them." You might say, well how does that apply to us? But the Lord is warning the people
of God of things that are coming, things of persecution and of
trials, of difficult things, things of which some, and we're
thinking of the parable of the sower, because of those things
they were offended and they fell away. How often the Lord reminded
His people that in Him they had peace, in the world you shall
have tribulation. And so this take heed yourselves,
is having a right attitude, a right thought, that we are in the world
and as bearing a true witness we are liable to suffer for it. We are liable to, he says even
here, to be beaten and to be brought before rulers and kings.
It is a blessed thing if the Lord should choose us to be a
testimony of His grace. and that we are not to be ashamed
of those things that may come upon us. So that's the first
thing, take heed yourselves when we shall suffer for the word
of God and for the testimony that we bear. The second thing
is in Luke chapter 17 verses 3 and 4, he says, Now vital it
is that where there is a rebuking and where there is a repenting
especially, that he is forgiven. And he goes on, he says, If he trespass against thee seven
times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee,
saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. You know, for the
peace of our homes, our churches, your home there at Millward,
how needful to heed this warning. It is none of us that will not
trespass or do something against a brother in some way or other. A blessed thing to repent, but
also so needful that where that repentance is, where that sorrow
is expressed, that it be accepted, it be received. And it's so necessary
then for the peace of our gatherings. So that's the second one. 3.
Take heed yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged
with surfeiting, that is, over-eating, and drunkenness, and cares of
this life, so that day come upon you unawares. And again, you
might say, well, in our situation in the home, how does that really
concern us? Years ago, a dear friend, a sister
in a home in Australia that I She was a member with me at Melbourne. She had many times of affliction,
and I went into the home. We used to have lovely times
of fellowship, communion in the things of God. And then there
came a time that she took up with knitting, and whenever I
came in, instead of reading, instead of having fellowship,
she was so busy doing her hobbies. And I thought, now this is not
good spiritually. Then I thought, well, she does
need to be able to do something. And so I didn't say anything. And then she went ill again. And she came to me one time,
and I came in, and she said, Roland, she said, the Lord gave
me wonderful health. And she said, all I used it on
was all of these temporal things. And I neglected the Word, and
reading, and fellowship. and it went through as arrows
through me. I could see it, yet didn't speak
of it. And I bring it before you, not
that you shouldn't have those things to occupy your time in
the home, but when they take the place of fellowship, the
place of worship, the place of the Lord, then It is the cares
of this life, all of those things that we're doing, and then they
comes and takes us unawares. So whatever it is that may be
drawing your mind and affections away from the Lord, this word
applies in that way. Take heed to yourselves and that
you don't miss that communion and fellowship in that way. So there are those three things.
But then, the Lord is pleased to speak another seven things. I'm not sure whether I've got
time, but I'll just mention them before you. Seven other occasions. In Matthew, he says in chapter
6 and verse 1 to 4, take heed that ye do not your arms before
men. There were those that had a religion
that they wanted to be seen in men. The Lord warned on that. Your religion, your acceptance
before God, is not to be paraded before men, to receive the praise
of men, but to have that from the Lord only. It's a test of
where our real assurance and witness comes, and how much we're
looking to our works, and how much we're leaning upon the grace
of the Lord. The second is to not despise
the Lord's little ones. Matthew chapter 18 verses 10
to 11, take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones.
He'd been speaking of children, but there's the little ones in
Zion as well, the little faiths, those that believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, is to take heed that we don't despise, that we
don't look down upon those little faiths, those precious souls
that are the Lord's. The third thing is that no man
deceives us. The Lord was speaking of the
signs of His coming, when He should come at the end of the
world. And the Lord answered and said unto them, Take heed
that no man deceive you. Many shall come in My name, saying,
I am Christ, and shall deceive many. A warning from the Lord
that we be not deceived. May we be much in prayer much
in the word of God, that we be not deceived. The fourth thing
is, take heed what we hear. In Mark chapter 4 verses 23,
25 we read, And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear. With what measure ye meet, it
shall be measured to you, and unto you that hear shall more
be given. Each time we hear, when we hear
the Word this morning, we take heed to that, what we hear. And, you know, one that doesn't
take any attention to it at all will not receive any benefit
from it. Those that do take heed and do
hearken will receive a benefit in proportion to how much they
take heed to the Word that is spoken to them. It's a great
privilege to sit under the sound of the truth that many of you
have done for all many years of your life and have known the
preciousness of the Word. And may there be those times
now of reaping that which you've heard in years gone by, coming
back by the Spirit to your remembrance. The fifth is a take heed to watch
and pray. Again, it is in the context of
the end of the world and of the Lord coming. He says, take heed,
watch and pray, for you know not when the time is. How we need to take heed in that,
how easy it is to let prayer drop and to let watchfulness
drop, for this is the word from the lips of our Lord himself,
take heed and watch and pray. The sixth is to beware of covetousness. The context here in Luke chapter
12 verses 13 to 15 was when one spoke to the Lord to divide an
inheritance with him. Often thought over the years,
wherever there is an inheritance It is because someone has died,
someone has left all that they've had and that's being divided.
What a reminder and yet we find so many will fight over it or
be covetous over it. So it's natural that we should.
We need the things here below. But it's in this context that
the Lord says, Man, who made me a judge or divider over you? He said unto them, Take heed
and beware of covetousness. A man's life consisteth not in
the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Sometimes it can
be something small, but we still covet it. We still want it. We still go after it. as if we
were to live here all the time. And the Lord followed this take
heed with the parable of the rich man with his barns full
and that he'd take his ease and eat and have a good time. The Lord said, Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee. And so may we listen
to the Lord in this respect as well. Take heed. and beware of
covetousness. The last one is that the light
that is in us be not darkness. All that make a profession really
have a light and that which we trust the Lord has put in us
is an understanding of the Gospel and of the Lord Jesus Christ
that that is a light and the grace of God is an unctuous light
to all that is right, a bar to all that is wrong. And he says,
take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not
darkness. What a solemn thing to have a
profession that we have the light and yet actually walk in darkness. The Lord warns on this. He says, No man, when he hath
lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under
a bushel but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see
the light. The light of the body is the
eye. Therefore when thine eye is single,
thy whole body also is full of light. But when thine eye is
evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed. Therefore
that the light which is in thee be not darkness." Well, the word
from the Lord this morning is solemn word, really, but a needful
word, a word from the Lord that we should pay attention and take
heed in these instances that He has chosen to speak and to
have recorded in the inspired Word of God. Jesus said unto
them, Take heed. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.