I’m never safe, but I’m always careful.”
              –David W. Bailey  (Jericho James)

    “For false christs and false prophets will arise, and will provide signs and wonders, in order to mislead, if possible, the elect. But beware; I have told you everything in advance.”
              –Mark 13:22-23(NASB)
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         “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
                   –Matthew 7:15(NASB)

         “And He was giving orders to them, saying, ‘Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.'”
                   –Mark 8:15 (NASB)

Note that this is a parenthesis or a side-bar to How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World.  There are so many things I could say regarding this term, “beware.”  A book could be written.  
    I have been pondering, some, of the killing of the knife-wielding teenage girl who was shot and killed by authorities as she was threatening the lives of two other individuals.  I wonder what the cry would have been if the officer had stood by and let her stab the two others?  People aren’t interested in justice, of that I am certain.  They are only interested in their own self-serving, self-centered means and wants.  Friends–beware.
    I recall the lessons I learned, some from individuals whom I trusted, some from experience about how to behave in the wilderness.  It is vital that one beware of the weather and possible changes.  One should take care of selecting a campsite, of where to place the fire, of preparing and storing food.
    When driving there are yellow warning signs that tell us to “beware.”  Beware, slow down.  Beware, the bridge is out.  Beware, construction ahead.  Beware, falling rock, and on I could go.  All Scripture is profitable to us, but the one above from Mark tells us to beware.  Notice to whom he is referring, the religious leaders of the law, and the governmental leaders of the day.  There is a study in both of these positions, but right now concentrate on your awareness regarding those in these positions.  Beware, if any church official strays from the Word of God and urges you to follow him.  Beware, when government officials move away from the morality of God’s Word and encourage you to “woke up.”
    We should beware of doing things in which the world would say is inconsistent with our faith.  I remember in the military that we were taught to keep our equipment clean and our uniforms spotless and to wear them correctly.  Again many reasons, but one is to properly represent the unit your were attached to.  I remember my cousin and I walking down the streets of Boulder, CO in our dress uniforms back in the early 1970s after burying our Grandpa.  We were certainly aware of those around us.  F.B. Meyer states, “Estimate every action, not only as it is in itself, but as it is likely to be in its influence on others, lest you break down wholesome barriers and place them in scenes of temptation that, however harmless to you, are perilous in the extreme to them.”  Beware of those around you–do the right thing; do your proper duty.
    It is imperative that we beware of scenes and companionships that dull our spiritual life.  This can come from the subtle words of the “wolf” that speak partial truths (lies) from the pulpit, to the fellowship with bad companions.  Beware of where you find yourself; it may not be wholesome, in fact, it may be downright dangerous.  Some places are just bad testimonies, while others are out-and-out dangerous, not only to life, but also to soul.  Maybe you have found yourself in such a place and it nauseates the stomach.  If you continue to dwell in such a place you may find that your soul is being poisoned, therefore, beware of things that can poison the spiritual life.  Stay away from such places, stay away from such people!
    Even watching the news can begin to poison your soul.  When the scenes of depravity, hatred, bitterness, lies, and violence are played over and over a person can become numb, or they can even react to such things with anger, hate, or depression.  Beware!  Beware also of those who bend the truth and those who tell outright lies seeking to promote their agenda.  

         “Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods, and worship them.”
                   –Deuteronomy 11:16(NASB)

Guard the truth, beware that you are not deceived.  The devil is out there with his lies and deceptions–beware as you live in this evil world.

He was the soul of honor in all the ways of his calling.  The very blue of the sky, bending evenly over all men alike, seemed to symbolize his instinct for justice.  Faithfulness and manliness were his chief traits; his standard—to be a ‘square man.’”
              –Emerson Hough

    “May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.”
              –1 Samuel 26:23 (NKJV)
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We had an interesting missionary speaker in church last Sunday.  He and his wife are missionaries to seafarers.  In all my years I have never heard of missionaries to seafarers, but why not?  Everyone needs Jesus.  In the message he referred to the grandmother and mother of Timothy and what they passed down to Timothy, but two words caught my eye–“genuine faith.”

         “When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.”
                   –2 Timothy 1:5 (NKJV)

Some versions translate it “sincere faith.”  The Amplified translates it this way, “sincere and unqualified faith [the surrendering of your entire self to God in Christ with confident trust in His power, wisdom and goodness.”  But what I thought about was that if there was “genuine faith,” there must also be ungenuine, fake, hypocritical faith.  
    In the Old Testament there is not a word for “faith” as it is rendered “faithfulness.”  True faith always results in the person being faithful.  Paul and Silas sang in prison and they would have done so whether they were delivered or not–that is genuine faith, being faithful in dire circumstances.  Daniel was found faithful and went into the pit with the lions.  The Hebrew children were faithful whether or not they were delivered from the fiery furnace.
    Many have tried to define “faith.”  They give definitions of the familiar verse of Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (NKJV)  The “substance,” hmmmm.  The NASB translates it “the certainty,” while the HCSB, “the reality, the ESV, “the assurance.”

         “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].”
                   –Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified)

    One thing for sure, faith is not wishful thinking or trying to conjure up the Spirit.  Faith is assurance.  I remember many years ago I spoke at a church (notice I used the term “spoke” not “preached for I am not up to that level) and I announced that my topic for the Sunday evening service was faith.  Now that was the time of “hyper-faith” and the “blab-it-grab-it” mentality.  My message was simply this:  get up in the morning, brush your teeth, get ready for work, do all the normal things of life and no matter what happens to you that day–God is in charge.  That is faith.  Needless to say it didn’t go over so well.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there is the “gift of faith” found in 1 Corinthians 12, but I was speaking of regular ordinary faith, the kind where you sing in prison, the kind where you praise in difficulties, the kind you live your life by.
    As God is faithful so are we to be found faithful.  We are to live our lives in faithful service to Him.  We are to obey His commandments as His faithful children.  In the hard times we are to be found faithful.  In the duties of life, the great and small, we are to be found faithful.  We are longing for those words from Jesus, “well done, good and faithful.”  Faith then is living your life knowing that God is there with you.
    Paul saw “genuine faith” in Timothy.  A faith that was passed down from his mother and grandmother.  And since “grandmother” is mentioned I remember the times in which I saw my Grandma’s faith.  I remember her sitting in her rocking chair, her legs paining her so badly, where she would cry out, “Oh, my legs hurt, but my heavenly Father promised me that He would not give me more than I could bear, so I know that I can bear this.”  Faith!  Faithfulness!
    I could give more illustrations, and I’m sure you can add your own.  Be a person of faith, a person of faithfulness where when someone looks at you they see a faithful person unto the Lord.  A person steadfast in the Word–faithful.  A person that when the storms of life come, and even disasters, they are steady, always knowing that the Lord is with them–always living in faith, being faithful!

Without duty, life don’t make any kind of sense.  If folks are going to live together they have to abide by some kind of rules, and the law is those rules.  The law doesn’t work against a man, it works for him.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Catlow)

    “Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be”
              –1 Thessalonians 5:22 (Amplified)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:   “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NASB)

    To start with I want to look again at the verse I finished with on Monday.  

         “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
                   –1 John 2:1-2 (NASB)

There is so much involved in these two verses but I want to deal with a few things to help us along the way.  To help us when we are faced with the issues of the day.  Right here, John sees the danger and knows the frailty of human nature.  He sees man in his complacency, he sees him in his hopelessness, he sees him when he compromises and when he is depressed.  He doesn’t want us to sin, but if we do, “children,” we can go to the Advocate–Jesus Christ.
    John wants to give us a message in these troublesome times.  When the world is topsy-turvy and terror abounds.  He gives a command, yet at the same time he gives comfort.  He exhorts us, and also gives us consolation.  There are two parts here:  what we have to do; and what God is always ready to do for us.
    Here is the answer!  Never forget it!  Never lose sight of it!  The answer is the Word.  The Word defines sin for us:  disobedience to God’s revealed law; anything that is condemned in the Bible; disobeying conscience; and governing our lives by desires and not by truth.

         “To live a life of sin means that we are not governed by God, that thoughts of God are not at the center of our lives, that we do not ask ourselves, ‘What would God have me to do, what does God prohibit?”
                   –D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Do not sin, but do the will of God.  What is it that we are to do?  I always like the Shorter Westminster Catechism, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
    Sin breaks our fellowship, our relationship with God.  People clamor for relationship, but sin breaks that relationship.  God tells us not to sin, for it is abhorrent to Him.  Sin is what caused the death and suffering of Jesus; it was sin that brought God down from heaven.  Sin is dishonoring to the gospel, to its claims, and its power.  Sin is inconsistent with our profession as a Christian–if people continue to sin they deny what they profess to believe; they are inconsistent and self-contradictory.  Sin will lead to doubts; it will make you feel uncertain of your relationship to God; it will make you feel that you have no right to pray.  Sin will lead to a sense of utter hopelessness.
    Ahh, but now go back to the verse above.  We have an “Advocate.”  Someone to stand in our place in front of the Father.  Someone who came to bear our sins.  Someone who paid the price–the propitiation.  That Person is Jesus Christ.  Little children, do not sin.