When I’m preparing a message I usually have a Bible concordance within easy reach. A little while ago, as I was turning to a word I wanted to follow up, my eyes fell on the phrase "take heed" and I was surprised to see how many references there were - over 50 ! This was clearly of some importance so I made a note to return to it later for a closer look. My concordance is for the Authorised Version so the words "take heed" are often given in modern translations as "be careful". In fact the Good News Version is even stronger. When the apostle Paul wrote to his converts at Corinth concerning "Warnings from Israel’s History", he put it like this: "Whoever thinks he is standing firm had better be careful that he does not fall" (1 Cor 10:12). Wait a moment, someone might challenge, “we’re living under grace, not law!” That’s true, but we must distinguish between becoming a Christian and living the life of a believer.
I’ve been in accountancy for 50 years as student and professional member and I remember back to when I was studying for the exams. The president of the Institute came to Guernsey to talk to the students. He told a cautionary tale of a student who cheated in an exam and was thrown out of the profession. The fear of being hauled up before the disciplinary committee has been in my mind ever since! Just to reinforce the warning, the monthly magazine reports the disciplinary judgements of those who’ve committed some misdemeanour. Fortunately I’ve escaped their attention but I must still be careful as a retired member not to break the code of ethics.
It’s a wonderful thing to a Christian. How we rejoiced when we first trusted in Jesus as our Saviour; that we were no longer estranged from God, enslaved by sin and Satan, but now forgiven and made alive in Christ. That’s one side of the coin; the other side is we must be aware of God’s purpose for us. It is, as Paul put it, "We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph 2:10). God has brought into being a new race of people who are being transformed, recreated in Christ, so that one day we will reflect His image perfectly. Clearly, we’re in our new relationship for the long haul. The Christian life isn’t so much a sprint but a marathon. Or to change the metaphor, it’s like the Grand National, with many a fence to jump but with potential to fall.
That’s why the Scriptures contain so many references to "take heed; be careful". When the “Titanic” was built it was hailed as "unsinkable" and to believe otherwise was "unthinkable". But it was the victim of some terrible mistakes and complacency. The owners rashly went for the Atlantic crossing record and set a course too far north in the area of icebergs to reduce the mileage. She sailed without sufficient lifeboats as they’d been deleted from the specification to cut costs. But these factors didn’t matter because the ship was "unsinkable"! That wasn’t all. Disaster struck with tragic consequences. SOS messages weren’t sent to a passing ship because the radio officer was busy sending messages for the first class passengers. Lifeboats were launched half empty and didn’t return because the officers were afraid of being swamped when the ship went down. Arrogance and neglect brought about this tragedy on a grand scale. We would do well to reflect if it could happen in our lives - in our careers and vocations, temporal and spiritual. If we trust ourselves to be "unsinkable", it’s then that the "unthinkable" will happen!
When I was leaving a previous employment to go to a more senior position a colleague told me with a twinkle in his eye, "Don’t forget that the higher you climb, the further there’s to fall!" There’s nothing the media like to report than a Christian who’s fallen from grace. It’s invariably a lay preacher who’s put his hand in the till or a minister who run off with the organist! But it’s not always the big mistakes in life that can bring us down. The USA thought it was secure behind its nuclear shield. But what was the first step in the crashing of aircraft into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? Half a dozen penknives that the terrorists had smuggled into the aircraft! They were the only weapons they had to overcome the pilots!
If God’s Word contains so many warnings to "take heed; be careful" it must be for a good reason. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers there’s no suggestion that they were going to lose their salvation or be disinherited from the family of God. But there’s a strong warning against falling away from God. Let’s face it - we are fallible, and the more secure we think we are, the greater is our danger. What perils are there to be avoided? There’s:
THE DANGER OF PRESUMPTUOUSNESS
Paul used the nation of Israel as his example to warn his readers that the privileges they enjoyed were no guarantee of God’s future blessing. After their liberation from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites had experienced God’s intervention on their behalf in a series of remarkable incidents. He had demonstrated his protection, guidance, provision and forgiveness and they had begun to take it for granted. Moses, too, overstepped the mark when he was exasperated by the stubbornness of his charges, and for this he was refused admission to the Promised Land. Yes, the Danger of Presumptuousness is real, but so is:
THE DANGER OF COMPLACENCY
Even the great apostle knew it was a danger for himself. He confessed to the Corinthians that he had to take himself in hand, to be self-disciplined, lest he fail to receive all God has for him. Why? He tells them: "so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (9:27). Imagine that! Paul had met the risen Lord on the way to Damascus and received a commission directly from Him. He had laboured tirelessly in the gospel and suffered greatly for it. But in Paul’s mind, all of this was no guarantee that he would be a winner. He could still fall by the wayside, somehow trip up, and be disqualified. In another letter, he writes: "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6:14). Experience must always be balanced with caution, for we never come to the place in our Christian walk where we are free from temptation and potential failure. Good beginnings don’t guarantee good endings.
Paul likened the Christian life to a race. He’s writing about the course we run in living our lives, about fulfilling our ministry, about accomplishing God’s purpose for us. It’s not a question of each of us competing against another but rather of each completing the course. Starting the race at conversion and taking part in it isn’t the same as winning. It’s how we finish that matters. The race is for a lifetime. We won’t cross the finishing line until we meet the Lord. As someone once said: "It isn’t over ’til it’s over!" "Take heed; be careful" - it’s like a warning shot across the bows of anyone who thinks they’re super-spiritual. There’s the Danger of Presumptuousness and the Danger of Complacency, but not only that, there’s:
THE DANGER OF COMPROMISE
Paul was writing to people from a mixture of backgrounds. Some had emerged from Judaism where the keeping of the Law of Moses, including all its rituals, was paramount. Others from had been brought to Christ from paganism. It was difficult for both groups to shake off the baggage of their previous religious culture. There was the recurrent danger of compromising the purity of the gospel of Christ with some element of their past beliefs, to the extent that they were "turning to a different gospel" which Paul clearly said "which is really no gospel at all" (Gal 1:6,7).
We’re fortunate to have a long Christian heritage, but the danger still exists, although perhaps in a different form. We, in the 21st century have the complete canon of Scripture in the Bible, in the form settled by the church councils 1,600 or so years ago. But how do we regard it? Do we hold it as the Word of God as fully inspired? Is it our uniquely authoritative guide in all matters of faith and conduct? It’s vital that we know where we stand on this fundamental point of our faith.
The apostle Jude wrote to his Christian friends: "I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (3). The Danger of Compromise is that we subtract from the gospel by denying some basic truth, perhaps the resurrection of Jesus or His literal ascension or return. Or it could be to dilute it because the patterns of behaviour it teaches are regarded as irrelevant in the post-Christian era. An equal but opposite danger to subtracting from the gospel is to supplement it by non-biblical additions.
The great 20th century theologian Karl Barth once commented on the main reason why he couldn’t agree with some sections of the Christian church. He said it was all because of the small word ’and’ which they added to key aspects of doctrine. When it came to speaking of the source of our salvation, some would say ’it’s Jesus’ but would add ’and Mary’ or one’s ’own merits’. When it was a matter of authority, some would add to the Scriptures ’and tradition’. But what about ourselves? Are there any hallowed extra-biblical traditions that we hang on to that are getting between the Lord and us?
We’ve looked at the Dangers of Presumptuousness, of Complacency and of Compromise. Yes, living the Christian life and serving our Lord is a serious business. When Scripture urges us to "take heed; be careful", it’s sounding a warning bell that it’s dangerous to treat God lightly. The assurance of our salvation reminds us of God’s faithfulness, but it’s never intended as a licence for backsliding. When a manufacturer gives a guarantee of the product, it doesn’t cover deliberate sabotage by the purchaser! Paul had already sounded a cautionary note to the believers at Corinth when he urged: "Each one should be careful how he builds" (1 Cor 3:10). In the language
of today, he’s saying: "Jerry-builders, beware! You won’t get away with it!" Paul has told his readers that we are God’s fellow workers. The work is God’s work and not ours. This leads us to the important truth that God’s work must be done in God’s way. He sees it in terms of:
THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH
The Scriptures have revealed the Lord Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, perfect in His obedience to His Father, offering the one, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of mankind on the cross, raised from the dead and exalted in glory in heaven from where He will return one day to be the judge of all the earth. We have no choice in the foundation of our faith. Any deviation from that is to rewrite the gospel and it becomes a false gospel: "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ" (11). If our faith is grounded on Christ the solid rock, we can go on to think of:
THE MATERIALS USED FOR BUILDING
We’re all in the construction business. We can look at our life story as a kind of construction project. All our labours, all our relationships, the stewardship of our resources, how we spend our time, are the blocks of our building. Think of your life as laying a block each day.Here again the apostle Paul urges his readers to "take heed; be careful". The reason for taking care is made quite clear. Paul knows that a day of reckoning is coming when the true nature of our building will be revealed: "because the Day will bring it to light" (13). There are essentially two kinds of building materials. Every one of us is making use of one kind or another. On the one hand are: "gold, silver, costly stones". On the other, we have: "wood, hay or straw" (12).
What a contrast of materials! Some are strikingly beautiful, others quite drab. Some are valuable and others of little worth. Some are rock-solid; others are flimsy. Some are permanent; others are temporary and won’t last. What is meant by these two categories of materials? We can think of them in terms of the content of the gospel that’s revealed by our words and actions. Does it ring true? Does it measure up to the standard of God’s Word? Are we an influence for good in our community? If the answers are positive, that’s the kind of building that counts for something.
We also have to ask ourselves if our life and work makes a difference. Are our motives sound? Is our service being done for the praise of men rather than for the praise of God? Whatever we do for appearances, to win for ourselves a reputation; whatever springs from pride or panders to the gallery; that kind of building has no beauty in it. I heard Jonathan Aitken, the former British Cabinet Minister but disgraced through perjuring himself in Court, tell how his conversion experience completely changed his life and his ambitions. He made the point that whatever we do in Christian service "is ultimately for an audience of One". Of course it will be seen by those around us but on the Day of our final appraisal by God, the One who alone counts, it won’t matter what they thought of it. Why is this?
Most people in employment will have experienced an appraisal by their employer, perhaps annually. It’s not something I welcomed but it was a condition of the job. It’s also written into the Christian service specification and we have advance notice that it will take place. Paul talks about a test that will be applied to everyone’s life work: "It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work" (13). In business or professional life, an appraisal is a private matter between the manager and the subordinate, but I have to tell you that the result of the final test of the Materials used for Building in our Christian experience will be public knowledge. It’s a sobering thought!
But not only that. Our life’s work will go through a kind of trial by fire. It’s here we see the significance of the two kinds of building materials. What happens to "wood, hay or straw" in a fire? When it’s all over, there’s nothing left but ashes! What about "the gold, silver and costly stones"? The impurities in them will be burned away, their form will be changed and improved. Then we’ll all know what mattered and what didn’t, what had abiding value and what was there only for show. Whatever is done alone for Jesus’ sake will stand the test at what the apostle describes elsewhere as "the Judgement Seat of Christ". Those whose work survives will receive a reward; those whose work is burnt will suffer loss. Paul reassures the believers that they won’t lose their salvation but, as it were, "as one escaping through the flames" (14). How sad that would be! Let’s go for gold! Let’s aim to be like Paul who, at the end of his life, could say, "I have kept the faith" (2 Tim 4:7).
We’ve been thinking about the warnings in Scripture to "take heed; be careful". Christians down the years have found it so easy to slip up and somehow to betray our Lord in thought, word or deed but to no gain at all. In the well known story of Sir Thomas More, portrayed in the film, "A Man For All Seasons", the man who betrays him becomes Secretary of State for Wales. As the trial ends, Sir Thomas turns to his false accuser, "Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world - but for Wales!" We’ve got a lot more to gain or lose than that. "Take heed; be careful".
The theme of this the last of the series on Living the Life is our continued daily spiritual walk with the Lord.
I’m going to read 2 short passages from 1 Corinthians which give us some practical advice. In chapter 10, just one verse from the section "Warnings From Israel’s History" - v.12 : "So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!", and now from chapter 3, verses 10-15. In both passages, Paul is urging his readers to "be careful" or as the Authorised Version puts it "take heed". Other versions are even stronger: "you had better be careful".
