Would you turn back to Luke chapter
21, verse 34. The Lord says to every one of
his people, take heed to yourselves. Take heed to yourselves. This word take heed is found
24 times in the New Testament and most often it's translated
beware. Beware of yourself. What kind of needful exhortation
is that? Beware not of them out there,
beware of yourself. Take heed to yourselves lest
at any time your hearts be overburdened with surfeiting. That's not a
word we hear much, but it means literally overeating, party,
banqueting, surfeiting. or drunkenness, alcoholic intoxication,
or being intoxicated with anything. There's so many things that the
heart can become intoxicated by. And the cares of this life, everyday living, so that that
day comes upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come
on all of them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. I've entitled this message, Take
Heed to Yourselves. Take heed to yourselves. And
let me say some things by way of introduction. Paul said in
Philippians chapter 3, verse 3, we are the circumcision. We
are the true believers. We are of the number of God's
elect. We are those who believe the gospel. And then he gives
three marks. First, we worship God. in the Spirit. It takes the Holy Spirit to worship
God. You and I cannot be worshiping unless we've been born of the
Spirit. A natural man cannot worship
God. And then the second mark he gives
is we rejoice. Literally, we glory in Christ
Jesus. The only place I glory or take
credit or boast or have confidence is in Him. Not myself, not my
faith, not my preaching, not my intentions. In Him. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. All
I have confidence in is what he did. That's it. And the third mark he gives in
Philippians 3.3, we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus. And listen to this, we have,
know the rest of the verse, no confidence in No confidence in the flesh. I don't have any confidence in
anything that comes from my fallen human nature. I distrust myself. I distrust my natural thoughts.
I distrust anything that comes from my nature. I have no confidence
in the flesh. I don't have any confidence in
my flesh. I don't have any confidence in your flesh. I know what the
flesh is. It's enmity against God. And I have no confidence
in anything that comes from my natural thinking. The wise man
said, he that trusts in his own heart is a fool. A fool. Somebody says, trust
your heart. You better not. You better not. It'll lead you wrong every single
time. Now we've all seen beware of
dogs signs, particularly if you've ever been a runner. You've gone
out, you know places where there's dogs that they're going to come
out and bite you and you're looking out for them. And anytime I even
go by where there's a fence that says beware of the dog, I stiffen
up. I don't want to get bit by the dog. I've been bitten a few
times and I would like to avoid that. Beware. Beware of the dog. Now, if you go into a place where
it's posted beware, you're opening up yourself to a vicious attack
by that dog, aren't you? Now, aren't you thankful that
the Lord has given us these bewares? You see, I can't trust myself.
I can't trust my own natural thoughts. And I need to hear
these bewares and these take heed from the scripture. Now,
these are from the scripture that I'm giving you. And I'm
only staying in the New Testament because we don't have time to
look at all the bewares of the Old Testament. But these are
things because of our depravity. Do you believe that about yourself? Do you believe that you personally
are, in and of yourself, totally depraved? Now, if you believe that about
yourself, you want these bewares from the scripture because you
don't trust your own thoughts, the things that you would naturally
think. So how we need these bewares from the scripture. Now, I'm
going to go through them rapidly and chronologically. So let's
turn to Matthew chapter 6. Not one is more important than
the other, but I'm just giving them in the order in which they
appear in the New Testament. Verse 1, Matthew chapter 6. Take
heed that you do not your alms, and my marginal reading says
your righteousnesses, before men, to be seen of them, otherwise you
have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore,
when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. Take heed that you do not your
alms. That's any kind of work done for the glory of Christ.
That's any kind of good deed by the grace of God. Every believer
ought to be rich in good works, but you make sure You don't ever
do this to be seen of men. Once that enters in, it's over. Men will praise you. You've got
your reward. And a miserable reward is that. Now we ought to hold ourselves
suspect at all times. At all times. Take heed. that
you're not doing what you're doing in order to impress the
flesh. Let's say you do impress somebody. What good is it? What reward
is that? What a miserable reward. Matthew
chapter 7, verse 15, beware, same word, beware of
false prophets. Well, I know the gospel well
enough to where I don't need to beware of false prophets.
You're the one that does. You're the one that's going to
most easily be led astray, if that's your attitude. Beware
of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly, they're nothing but wolves wanting to eat you up. They look like sheep. They come
in sheep's clothing. Remember what Paul said regarding
false prophets. He said in 2 Corinthians 11,
verses 13-15, such are false prophets, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the angels of light. And it's
no wonder, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel
of light. Therefore, it's no wonder if his ministers transformed
themselves into ministers of righteousness. Beware. John said many false
prophets are gone out into the world. Beware of false prophets. Don't become presumptuous about
this. Don't think, well, I know the gospel enough that I don't
even need this warning. Yeah, you do. Yeah, you do. If the Lord leaves me or you
to ourselves, we can be tripped up so quickly and led by the
nose of the devil himself. You believe that about yourself?
Beware of false prophets. Matthew chapter 10, verse 16, Behold, I send you
forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise
as serpents and harmless of doves, but beware of men. Beware of men. Now I want to be kind. I want to be gracious.
I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. But when it comes
to a man, a man that doesn't know the gospel, I know that
man has no love for God. And I'm going to watch out. Beware
of men. Now the Lord gives us that instruction.
We're not talking about just let it go. No. Beware of men. Anybody that does not love the
God of the Bible, watch out. Watch out. Is this paranoia?
No. The Lord said, beware of men. Matthew chapter 16. Verse five, and when the disciples
were coming to the other side, they'd forgotten to take bread. They forgot their lunch. Then
Jesus said unto them, take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Now there's something I'm called
upon to beware of. Matter of fact, he says, take
heed and beware of the leaven. of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, well, it's because we've taken no bread. We forgot our
lunch, and therefore the Lord is rebuking us about that. And
he's telling us we need to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisee.
You know, the disciples were so dumb. They really were. They were dumb, weren't they?
A lot like me and you. A lot like me and you. I think
it's interesting as you go on into Luke I've been reading that
when we get to there in Luke chapter 22, but right before
the Lord, right before the Lord's table, they were having an argument
over which of them would be the greatest. We forgot our lunch. He's getting
on us about that. Verse 8, which when Jesus perceived,
he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves?
Because you brought no bread. Do you not understand, neither
remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets
you took up? Neither the seven loaves of the
four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? How is it that you
don't understand that I spake not to you concerning bread,
that you should beware of the leaven of the fair season of
the Sadducees? Then understood they have that
he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine
of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Now, there's a whole lot we could
say about the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
but if you look in Luke's account with regard to this, one word
is used to summarize it all. Luke chapter 12, verse 1, beware
of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees, which is hypocrisy. Now what's a hypocrite? A hypocrite
is an actor. And I can bring this all down
to one common denominator regarding this thing regarding hypocrisy. When the Lord says, beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the doctrine which
is hypocrisy. Any belief that doesn't have
under it complete, total depravity of man, everything that comes out of
that is nothing but an act. You can just write that down.
Somebody that doesn't believe in the absolute, complete, total
depravity of man, all their religion, is an act. It's play acting. It's put on. It's pretense and
nothing more. Now you find me a real sinner
and I'll show you somebody who really does look to Christ only
as everything in their salvation. You show me a real sinner, I'll
show you someone who needs God's electing mercy. who needs Christ's
effectual death, who needs the invincible and irresistible grace
of God the Holy Spirit. It's not an act, it's real. But
wherever you have someone that is not totally convinced that
they themselves really are completely sinful before God in and of themselves,
all their religion is an act. It's pretense. It's hypocrisy. It's not real. Matthew 18, verse
10. Verse 10, Take heed, beware of
this, that you despise not one of these little ones. Who are
these little ones? Look back in verse 6. But whoso
shall offend one of these little ones, which believe in me, that's
who they are, every believer. It were better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he was drowned
in the depth of the sea. Verse 10, take heed that you
despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that
in heaven there are angels who always behold the face of my
Father, which is in heaven. Now, these little ones are the
ones who are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're the apple
of his eye. If you're a believer, you are
one of these little ones. What did the Lord say? Inasmuch
as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, You've done
it to me. And inasmuch as you did it not
to the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me. Now take
heed, lest you despise, lest you set it not, one of these
little ones who are precious to the Lord Jesus Christ. I want
to be very careful how I treat every believer. because that
believer is the apple of his eye, every single one of them. So you take heed, lest you despise
one of these little ones. In Mark chapter 4, verse 24,
the Lord gives this very simple statement, take heed what you
hear. Take heed, be very careful with
regard to what you hear. You better make sure it's the
gospel. You better make sure it's the
truth of Christ, because you will be what you hear. I remember
when I was in junior high, they were on this big, I guess, health
kick, and to get you to eat healthy, they'd say, you are what you
eat. And I reckon you are, but you are what you hear. You are
what you hear. You take heed what you hear. And then in Luke 8, verse 18,
when it's talking about the same thing, the wording is changed
a little bit. The Lord says, take heed how you hear. Take heed what your attitude
is. Come in with an empty cup, asking the Lord to fill it. Don't
come in with a full cup already. Don't come in with a negative
attitude. You come in, Lord, Speak, give
me a word from you. You take heed how you hear. May God deliver us from having
a bad attitude toward the hearing of the gospel. Turn to Luke chapter
12, verse 13. And one of the company said unto
him, Master, Speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance
with me. Now, I don't know what was going
on here. Maybe they were twins. Because
the firstborn is supposed to get most of the inheritance under
the Jewish law. But maybe these fellows were
twins and somehow he didn't get his share. And he was upset.
He wasn't being treated right. And he was mad. And he said,
Tell my brother to give me my share. And look at the way the
Lord answered him. Verse 14, and he said unto him,
Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And then he said unto
them, Take heed and beware of covetousness. Take heed and beware of covetousness. Now what is covetousness? It
is desiring that which God has not given you. It really is that simple. It's
desiring, it's craving that which God has not given you. Now does that mean that we ought
to be completely satisfied with our lot in life materially? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But that's really not what the
Lord's talking about. Oh, I ought to be satisfied with
what I have materially because look at all the people that are
poor and the miserable circumstances they're in and here I am like
this and I'm desiring this. Well, that's wrong. Yeah, you're
right. It is. It is. But that's not what the Lord's
talking about. Now, what is it that's going to prevent somebody
from covetousness? The writer to the Hebrews said
in Hebrews chapter 13, 5, Be content with such things as you
have. Let your conversation be without
covetousness. Now how in the world can my conversation
be without covetousness? Now I know this. The only way
I can be without covetousness in my own personal experience
is there's nothing for me to covet. When he said be content with
such things as you have, well what do you have? I've Christ. Scripture says Christ is all. I have justification. I have a
perfect righteousness before God. I'm complete in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I've got the love of God. I've
got His promise, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. What could I want? The only way you won't covet
is if you've got nothing to covet. And a believer has nothing to
covet. It can't get any better for you
than it is right now. Even in the providence, if it
seems difficult, it's for your good. And it's for his glory.
Everything God brings your way is for your good. Let your conversation
be without covetousness. Let me ask you a question. I put this in a Bulletin article
a few weeks ago. If all you have is Christ, is
that enough to make you happy? And if you have everything but
Christ, will that make you happy? No. No. Let your conversation
be. without covetousness. Luke 17, verse 3, take heed, beware, take heed
to yourselves, here's when you can really get in trouble, if
thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent,
forgiving. When you're wronged by your brother, and you will be. You can write that down. It's
going to happen. You're going to be judged. You're
going to be misrepresented. You're going to be abused. You're
going to be wronged. And that by your brother. You see, your brother is just
like you are. That's why. He's just like you are. Now take heed when you're wronged. Take heed. And here's where you
can really get in trouble. How could they treat me like
that? And you can get a bitter spirit. You can get an unforgiving
spirit and it can consume you like a cancer. You're so righteously
indignant that you've been treated this way. The person who's in
trouble is not your brother, it's you. Your brother's already
forgotten about it. He doesn't even remember what he did. He's
moved on. But here you are steaming and
upset and angry and bitter that you've been so horribly wrong.
Oh, what a blessing it is to just forgive people by the grace
of God. You and I are much better off when we just forgive. Completely
forgive. Watch out. If you get this spirit
of bitterness and an unforgiving spirit, you're the one that's
going to hurt from it, not your brother. Watch out. I never will forget
hearing Bruce Crabtree bring a message to Donny Bales many
years ago. And I remember this hit me like a ton of bricks.
He was preaching from this passage of scripture. He said, you're
the one in trouble when you're wronged. And I thought, what? Yes, you're the one in trouble
when you're wronged. Take heed and beware of an unforgiving
spirit. And let me remind you and let
me remind myself, the most God-like thing me and you can do is to
forgive somebody. And remember, however your brother
has wronged you, What you've done to Christ is much worse,
infinitely more worse than what your brother's ever done to you. We're taught to pray, forgive
us as we forgive our debtors. And the Lord said, if you forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive
you your trespasses. Now be by the grace of God. May we be quick to forgive. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12,
I love this passage of scripture. Let him that thinketh he stand.
You can write these down. I'm going to go through them
rapidly. I've got a few more. Let him that thinketh he stand. You
think you stand? Let him take heed, lest he fall. Do you realize, do I realize,
how close we are to falling? That person who thinks he stands,
take heed. Take heed. Beware. In Galatians
chapter 5 verse 15, Paul said, If you bite and devour one another,
take heed that you be not consumed one of another. Not a lot to
say about that. It's pretty self-explanatory,
isn't it? If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you
be not consumed one of another. 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 13. This has a two-fold application,
so I would like you to turn with me there. 1 Timothy chapter 4. Till I come, verse 13, Till I come, give attendance.
Now that word give attendance is the same word as take heed
or beware. You make sure you do this. Don't
let this fall to the ground. Take heed and give attendance
to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. Now the first application
of that is to the preacher. He's talking to Timothy. And
he says, you make sure you give yourself to reading. And that's
not really so much talking about reading the Bible as reading
the Bible publicly well. That's so important. When you
read the scripture, read it well. Give the right sense. Give the
right meaning. Don't read it in some monotonous
way. You put your whole self into the reading of the Scripture.
Give attendance to reading. Give attendance to exhortation.
You exhort from the Scripture. Give attendance to doctrine.
You make sure you understand the doctrine of the Scripture,
but that's to preachers, but also read the Bible. Read the Bible. This is God's
Word. Somebody says, well, I'd like
to hear it read at church. I do too, but read it for yourself.
Give attendance to reading. Be exhorted by what God's Word
says. Make sure you understand the
doctrine of Scripture. Give attendance to these things. Titus chapter 1. Now there are four or five scriptures
that says this same thing, so I just selected this one. Titus
chapter 1 verse 14, Not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments
of men that turn from the truth. Now what's a fable? It's a lie.
It's a lie. It's a made-up story that has
no basis of fact. And that would illustrate most
preaching. It's nothing more than a fable,
a lie. Don't give heed to that. And
particularly, don't give heed to the commandments of men. Man-made
religious rules, man-made religious traditions, man-made customs. Forget them. Don't give heed
to them, because if you do, they'll turn you from the truth. Turn
with me to Colossians 2. Colossians chapter 2, verse 20. Wherefore, if ye be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world, why is there living
in the world? Are you subject to ordinances,
man-made rules, summarized by this, touch not, taste not, and
handle not? Which all are to perish with
the using. If that's my religion, Touch
not, taste not, and handle not. You know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to perish with the using of that kind of religion.
Which things, after the commandments and doctrines of men, which things
have indeed a show of wisdom and worship and humility and
neglecting of the body, but not in any honor to the satisfying
of the flesh. Turn to Hebrews 2. I hope, I'm I'm giving you a
lot of scriptures, I realize that, and I hope you'll go back
and think about these things because they're necessary warnings. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore we ought to give the
more earnest heed, that's the word, Therefore, we
ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we've
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip, lest we should
let them leak out like water leaking out of a vessel with
holes in it. Now, whoever wrote the Hebrews, don't you know that
God's people can never fall away? Of course I know that. Of course
I know that. Then why are you giving an exhortation
like that? Because it's exactly what's needed.
You can let this leak out. Now, what are the things he's
speaking of? Well, let's just stay in the
context. Look in chapter 1 of Hebrews. God who at sundry times and in
diverse manners, spaking times past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds." Who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. Don't let that slip
through. The excellency and glory of Jesus Christ, who he is, The
brightness of God's glory, what he did, he by himself, that means
with no help from me or you, he purged our sins. You know
what that means? It means they're purged. If you're
a believer, you know what that means? You don't have any sin.
It's all been washed away by the blood of Christ and he did
that without your help. Don't let that slip away. Verse 4, he's better than the
angels, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son? This day
have I begot thee, and again I'll be to him a father, and
he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth the
first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels
of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who
maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire?
But unto the Son he saith, God the Father says, Thy throne,
O God, is for ever and ever a sceptre of righteousness, as the sceptre
of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness,
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
And thy Lord in the beginning hath laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall
perish, but thou remainest. And they shall wax old as doth
a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall
be changed, but thou art the same. and thy years shall not
fail. Don't let that leak out. He never
changes. But to which of the angels said
he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? Therefore we ought to give them
more earnest heed to the things which we've heard, lest at any
time we should let them slip. For the word spoken by angels
was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great a salvation? Look in Hebrews chapter 3 verse
12. Take heed, brethren. Now he calls them brethren. That's
important. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God. Take heed. Take heed. Second Peter 1, almost finished. Peter is talking about the man
of transfiguration when they saw the Lord transfigured before
them. And he said, this was my experience.
Verse 19, we also have a more sure word of prophecy, better
than I experienced when I saw the Lord transfigured, his face
shine like the sun, and his garments were glistering in white. I've
got something better than this. We also have a more sure word
of prophecy wherein to you do well, that you take heed as into
a light that shineth in a dark place into the day dawn and the
day star arrives in your heart knowing this first that no prophecy
the scriptures of any private interpretation for the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost take heed to this word
2nd Peter chapter 3 Verse 15, In account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul,
also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
these things, in which are some things hard to be understood. which they that are unlearned
and unstable twist, rest, as they do also the other scriptures
under their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, seeing
that you know these things before, beware, lest you also, being
led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness."
Now, how am I going to do that? but grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The only way that
I will not be led away with the error of the wicked and fall
from my own steadfastness is if I grow in grace. And what's
that? It's growing in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Turn back to our text
in Luke chapter 21. Verse 34, take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts
be overcharged, burdened down. Has that ever happened to you?
Your hearts become burdened down with something so that you're
not able to think right. Take heed. lest at any time your
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, drunkenness, and the cares of
this life, so that that day, the day of my return, come upon
you unawares. For as a snare shall come on
all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." Luke chapter
10. This is the last scripture we'll
read. Verse 38, Now it came to pass, as they
went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman
named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister
called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. Now while she was sitting there,
hearing his feet, sitting at his feet, and hearing his word,
Martha was cumbered about with much serving. She was cooking,
she was cleaning, she was doing whatever needed to be done in
order to be a good hostess to the Lord. And while she was going
through this process, she kept looking at Mary. Mary, that lazy,
naval staring, philosophical, do nothing. I'm doing everything,
Mary's doing nothing. She was upset. And she came to him and said,
Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me alone
to serve? Bid her therefore that she help
me. Now let me give myself and yourself
some good advice. Never tell the Lord what to do. Never, ever tell the Lord what
to do. You and I are in no position
to do anything like that. We can pour out our hearts before
him, but we're not to tell him what to do. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things. Her heart had become overcharged
over many things. But one thing is needful. I love to be reminded that. How
many things are needful? One thing is needful. And Mary even hath chosen that
good part, sitting at his feet and hearing his word. That's
the one thing needful. to sit at his feet and hear his
word, which shall not be taken away from her. The songwriter
said, Oh, make me thine forever. And should I fainting be, Lord,
let me never, never outlive my love to thee. Let's pray. Lord, we confess that without
your Spirit and without your grace, these take heeds and bewares
will not affect us. Lord, we ask that you would cause
us to take heed to all these things. And Lord, we ask that
you would have mercy on us and extend your favor toward us for
Christ's sake. Lord, as we face this coming
week, we ask that we might be enabled to, by faith, walk with
our blessed son. We pray for opportunities to
preach your gospel to others. Bless us for Christ's sake, and
Lord, how we thank you for the freeness of your grace and the
forgiveness of sins. In Christ's blessed name we pray.