"And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:" Mark 13:5
When we think at these words “take heed” we want to look at the true meaning, but also heeding the true warning that Jesus is talking about here. It is so important that Christians, church members, and churches as a whole pay close attention to what the Lord is warning us of. If we give it a little thought we see the world as it truly is, evil and deceptive. It is so easy for real believing Christians to find themselves leaning toward allurements, and these allurements are designed by Satan to draw you away from the truth and the local churches. God has designed each and every church in a special way, and with a pacific goal. God saves every sinner and selects them to a pacific church. The Lord refers to the church as a body, in fact He calls it the “Body of Christ”. With this being said it should tell us how important we all are to the “Body of Christ” which is each independent body of believers, called out and assembled together by him. I cannot answer to why God selects to do as He does, but He does as He chooses. With this all being said it is important that we all understand how needed we are in the Lords church. God demanded that we study to show ourselves approved to God. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 because we are “workman” (either teachers or labors) in the Lords churches. We cannot be good workers if we are not studding the scriptures as a unified body of believers. You have Pastors and teachers to teach you, it is up to you to learn and that is only done by paying attention and learning. Never be ashamed to ask someone for help, teachers and pastors are there to further your biblical education and helping you to “show yourself approved to God”. We are to get to the point in our studies to where we can “… rightly dividing the word of truth.” God will never lead you astray from the truth, man can and will but God never will. The Bible is God’s word, while man may have pinned it God authored it. Therefore, always believe the scriptures, because they are truth as God is Truth. John 5:39 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” No matter what man says (even your own pastors or teachers) always believe the scriptures until your thinking is absolutely proven wrong by scriptures. I said all of this to reach this point. The only way one can “take heed” is if they know some scriptural truth. Beloved, only God is true and right, man will lead you astray if you are not taking heed. Remember God uses the weak things in this world to accomplish His glory, therefore His men are not perfect. God chooses men to be pastors, teachers, and leaders that may not have the best of education, they may not have large educations, they may not be the best looking fellows, and they may mispronounce biblical words, but in truth they may be the very best. As Christians we follow truth and not men, for following men will only hurt you. The more truth you understand, the more you can properly serve God, and less likely you are to be deceived. The words “take heed” means to beware, to beware that you are not deceived by Satan or his teachers of deception. Making the scriptures or doctrine of it watered down does not improve it, it simply weakens it. We live in a time when deception is everywhere and they are deceiving many. We must all beware that we are not deceived. Let us remember Satan and his deception is not always easily spotted because it appears as truth, and in beauty. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14 Sometimes it is hard to decipher truth from error but this is why we study the word. Take heed beloved, sometimes things are not as they seem, sometimes it is not God, but a deceiver of Satan appearing as light. Truth is the bible because it is God. John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
