Take Heed Lest You Fall

Jesus Christ had just had the “Last Supper” with his disciples. Satan had entered the heart of Judas Iscariot, and Judas was set to betray Jesus Christ to the death. Then Jesus set out to wash his disciples feet, teaching them to be servants of the Lord and to share his gospel message with others and that they all must be clean spiritually and have their walks of faith cleansed of the Spirit of God daily that they may walk in holiness and not in sin. And now Jesus was about to be put to death by his enemies and so he told his disciples that he would soon no longer be with them.

John 13:36-38 ESV

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”

And, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12 ESV).

So, what is the lesson here for us? It is that we must be careful in what things we declare that we are not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, and that we have this false sense of security that we cannot fail or that we will not fail ever. For we still live in flesh bodies, and we still have a propensity to sin against the Lord. And not one of us is absolutely perfect, not in this life. So this is one reason we need to be those who test everything and everyone against the truths of the Scriptures, in their context, and even test ourselves, for we are still human.

For when we have this idea about ourselves that we won’t ever sin again or that we will never commit “such and such,” we need to be very careful, because that can just open that door to falling into sin when we think we are so spiritual that we have arrived and that sin can never touch us again. It can! And that is why we have so many warnings to the church in the Scriptures about guarding our hearts and minds against the temptations of the flesh, and against thinking too highly of ourselves. For that is when Satan will trip us up and we will fall.

The other thing here is this, which is more related to the 1 Corinthians passage, and that is that we cannot just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ with our lips and then assume that we now have heaven secured us when we die. We have to walk the walk and not just talk it. We have to follow our Lord in obedience, in practice, and live holy and godly lives in the power of God, in practice. And we have to no longer walk in sin, in practice. This is not saying we will never fail, but that we must no longer walk in sin but in holiness, righteousness, and in obedience to our Lord.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/Vu6SsuV5HyU

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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