Take Heed

I Cor.10:12 - Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall.
Gal.6:3 - For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Lk.17:10 - So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

And so the legions of Scriptures exhort us to be humble before our God. The very first sin recorded in God's Holy Word was the sin of pride in the heart of Lucifer, son of the morning. No one could stand before the Risen Christ, the Lamb of Glory, and be prideful. And the oxymoron is that while we obey the Lord's command to teach, reprove, rebuke, correct, and instruct in righteousness, we must remain fully humble. And while we see the church world herding after fables, we must also think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, and praiseworthy.

This, brothers and sisters, is not an easy thing to accomplish. I have found in my own journey that when I allow a critical spirit to energize my walk I can pick a fly off the moon (metaphorically speaking). Conversely when I allow a blanket of tolerance for everything to be primary in my walk I can easily compromise. Therefore the balance is ever precarious. How do I accomplish seeing a doctrinal slide and speaking out against the worldly church while at the same time walk with an ever present sense of my own weaknesses?

I must keep "looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith". Paul makes it clear that we are not supposed to "compare ourselves with ourselves". So I can take no boast that I am not following the emergent pathway, and I should not even boast in rebuking certain departures from God's Word. I can only boast in Jesus and His work (Gal.6:14). Over and over God's Word tells us how repugnant pride is to our Father, it is an abomination to Him. The only reason there is a salvation opportunity is because of Him; the only reason we became a follower is because of Him; the only reason we have been kept is because of Him; the only reason we understand truth is because of Him; and the only reason we see the church's departure is because of Him. It is all Him and He deserves all the glory, and the absolute most faithful follower of Christ in history (I speak as a fool) is nothing more than an unprofitable servant.

Pride is the sin of Lucifer, it is demonic at its core and all of us have it lurking in our carnal hearts, and sometimes it swims to the surface, takes its beacon light, and shines it pridefully on us while claiming "all glory for Jesus". But God is not fooled, He is well aware that our pride camouflages itself with praise for the Savior. And those of us who feel led of the Spirit to "earnestly contend for the faith" have a uniquely difficult task to "take heed" and remember we are nothing. For us to verbally admit we are nothing is one thing, but to live it and truly experience it in our inner man is quite another. We must often, and by that I mean at least daily, ask the Lord, with the words of the Patriarch David, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting".

I have never asked the Lord those words and had Him reply, "No, your fine". John the Beloved wrote these inspired Words, "If we say we are having no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us", and those Words were to believers. That is why I believe any blog, any website, any magazine, any radio spot, any television time, and any ministry that is used to reprove other ministries and teachings, must have A STEADY DIET of articles and admonitions that deal with OUR SIN. Without a chronic inspection of our own sin, exposing the pride and self righteousness that so easily sets up house inside us, we have become lighthouses built upon the carnal dictates of our own haughty flesh, and it is so easy to do. It is so easy to speak the truth with the background music of self-righteousness, we have all done it.

So this article is about me. This article is about you. When was the last time, or any time, that we have fallen prostrate before the Lord and wept over men like Warren, MacLaren, Bell, and others that have fallen prey to the deception of the evil One, so that as we are led by the Spirit to warn and reprove them, we are equally led by the Spirit to intercede for them? And the rhetorical question is, "Is the time we spend in broken intercession comparative with the time we spend researching and rebuking?". Do we relish the role of John the Baptist and neglect the important role of Jeremiah? In II Timothy 2:25 and 26 God talks about having meekness so that perhaps those that have been ensnared by the devil might allow God to help them escape captivity, and that has gloriously happened to some believers.

And when was the last time, or any time, that we have fallen prostrate before the Lord and wept over our own sin? Yes, our own disgusting, miserable, and reproachful sin before our Holy Savior and Master. We who have been rescued from the wrath to come, have we no remorse and repentance over our "little foxes"? Is it because we have been so busy with the sin of others that we fail to see the disgrace we bring upon the name of our Precious Lord with our own sin? Is it because we are so busy feeling offended by the falling away that we cannot feel the Holy Spirit's grief over our own sin? I am not talking about an obsession about our own sin that immobilizes us from doing the work of the ministry, but I am referring to a consistent journey to the Brazen Laver to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God". And pride must be the first dirt that needs cleansing, most other sins are connected to it.

Well, you might not have expected the flavor of this article when you saw the title, "Take Heed". You might have geared up for an exciting take heed for Rick Warren. Or maybe you couldn't wait for a take heed for Rob Bell. Or a "listen up, Joel Osteen, and take heed!". Or maybe you thought about lining them all up, all the usual suspects, and stretching our literary fingers in all of their faces and with boldness and Spiritual effervescence shout, "TAKE HEED!".

Sometimes the Lord graciously commands us to do that, but today, this "take heed",

is for us.