7 Times Paul Says “Take Heed”

To take heed is to take hold upon something, to seize something with great attention, or it’s to pay close attention to something.

In Paul’s epistles, there are 7 aspects of the grace life we are to take heed with great attention. These aren’t simply 7 instructions we’re to embrace intellectually. We are to seize these instructions with great passion. We are to live by these truths, and we are to be guided by these truths!

Here they are!

1 – Take Heed, Lest He also Spare Not Thee

First, some quick context. Romans 11 does not teach that the church replaced Israel, that we are now somehow “Spiritual Israel,” and that we’ve received all of God’s promises given to Israel. Do you see how problematic that is? If God had taken Israel’s promises and gave them to us, that would make God a liar! People who try to spiritualize Israel like this, reminds me of something O’Hair used to say, “Those who spiritualize tell spiritual lies because they do not have spiritual eyes.”

Instead, Paul explains in Romans 11 that we’re living in an interruption of the prophetic program, that God “casting away” the nation of Israel was only for a reason and for a season.

Paul wrote in Romans 11:15, “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” He’d later write in verses 25-27, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

Even a cursory reading of these verses should be clear to anyone that the casting away of Israel is only temporary. Paul makes the point that if the casting away of Israel brought about the offer of reconciliation to the world through Christ’s all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross, then just imagine what the receiving of them later shall be! This will be nothing less than life from the dead! This is the long-awaited resurrection of the OT saints at the Second Coming of Christ! This brings to mind Ezekiel 37:12 when God told Israel, “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.”

Notice, also, that the blindness of Israel is only temporary “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in…” I suspect that the fulness of the Gentiles be come in is different than the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled that the Lord mentioned in the Olivet Discourse in Luke 21:24. The fulness of the Gentiles is an expression that basically means that God’s grace has been exhausted among the Gentiles. The Gentiles no longer accept His grace, and those who do believe abuse His grace, refuse to live by His grace by putting themselves under religious legalistic systems, and they are so carnal they refuse to continue in His goodness. The fulness of the Gentiles has come to an end when the world has broadly rejected His Son and His offer of peace, and that is when God will stop offering His grace and bring this age to an end.

Now let us consider the illustration of the olive tree in Romans 11.

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

The olive tree represented Israel’s spiritual life. The root was always Christ. Now, in this age of grace, the natural branches of unbelieving Israel have been broken off, which meant that the unbelieving Jews have been set aside (Rom. 11:11-15). Now God is grafting into His olive tree wild branches, which represents all of us believing Gentiles.

However, we must take heed. Our grafting into His olive tree came with warnings, and we must take heed those warnings or God will cut off our branches as well. This doesn’t mean He’ll take away our salvation. This means He’ll make a quick end to the age of grace. When God cut off the natural branches and grafted in us wild branches, that marked a dispensational change. So when God cuts off the wild branches and grafts back in the natural branches, that will be another dispensational change, a return to the prophetic program.

Thus, I see three warnings in these passages:

• Unbelief

• Abusing His grace with the Example of Boasting Against the Branches

• Continuing in His Goodness

The first of those warnings had to do with unbelief. It was because of unbelief the Jews were broken off. Thus, the continuation of this entire age of grace has always been contingent upon the global Gentile response to His grace. The next warning was about boasting against the branches, which is ultimately about us abusing His grace, thinking too highly of ourselves being in His grace. Then the third warning was how we must continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. So the third criteria that God measures to determine how long He’ll continue this age of grace has to do with the Body of Christ as a whole continuing in His goodness. A broad global rejection of God, the rampant abuse of His grace by believers, and/or a rampant apostasy in the church will end this age of grace. The duration of this age of grace was always contingent upon the broad Gentile response to His grace, as well as the abuse of His grace, and how we must also continue in His goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

2 – Take Heed about Pride

1 Cor. 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

He’s not talking about people with back problems. He’s talking about pride.

As Solomon would write in Pro. 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Paul would write in 1 Cor. 8:2, “And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.” If you’re all puffed-up because you think you know a lot of stuff or because you understand the word rightly divided, then you know very little because His grace teaches you that you shouldn’t be puffed-up!

We must take heed to our attitudes, especially high-minded pride. We will fall on our faces when we place our confidence in our own strength apart from Christ. Allowing the words of Christ to dwell in us richly, getting His grace fortified in our souls, reckoning what God made us in His Son, casting off those works of darkness, giving no forethought to the flesh, putting ourselves wholly upon our dependence on God, is our best security against our downfall due to pride.

3 – Take Heed How He Buildeth Thereupon

1 Cor. 3:10 “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”

I’m reminded of when the Lord said in Mat 16:18 “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Some say that the rock upon which the Lord would build His church was Peter because His name meant “rock.” I’d suggest that this was a play on words by the Lord. Impetuous Peter was not exactly the most stable foundation upon which one should build a church. I think the Lord was telling the man whose name meant rock that His kingdom church would be built upon the eternal, immutable truth Peter had just declared, that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Lord would build His church upon Himself.

On the other hand, Paul said in 1 Cor. 3:10, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon...”

The distinction is that the kingdom church would be built by Christ upon a rock whereas Paul laid a foundation for the church today, the Body of Christ, according to the detailed specifications of the Great Architect of Grace.

Christ said He would build His church upon an unshakeable foundation that already existed, which was the eternal truth of who He was to His people, but Paul LAID a new foundation for the church today made up largely of Gentiles who had before been alienated from God. The rock for the kingdom church was according to the truth of Christ as the prophesied Messiah to the nation of Israel. The foundation laid by Paul was according to the secret truth revealed to him of a Christ who has been crucified and risen again as the savior of the whole world by grace through faith, Jew and Gentiles alike.

The Kingdom church was according to prophecy. Today’s church, the Body of Christ, was according to Mystery. The plans and specifications for the Kingdom Church are found in the OT. The plans and specifications for the Church today had been “kept secret since the world began” (Rom. 16:25-26) until it was revealed to and through Paul.

Paul warns believers, “let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon” lest his life’s work as a Christian go up in smoke at the Bema Seat. That Lord gives no such warning to His disciples.

Why is that?

Because today, every believer personally builds his life upon the foundation laid by Paul through his careful workmanlike study by rightly dividing the Word of God. The Lord and no one else will build upon His own Kingdom church. Paul did not say he had been building upon the rock of foundation for a kingdom church already established at Pentecost by Christ as the Messiah and King of Israel. No. He said, “I have laid the foundation,” “and another buildeth thereon.”

A new dispensation of Grace was ushered in with the raising up of Saul who became Paul, in which Christ was presented, not as King of Israel, but as the savior of the world offering a free gift of eternal life by His grace to us and our faith in Him. Every man is to take heed how he lives his life, how he is to carry out his ministry, because how we live should be built upon the foundation laid by Paul and the grace doctrines he revealed to us. We are to take heed to that foundation laid by Paul because, although you may be saved, what’s at stake are your eternal rewards.

Some men compromise doctrines for the sake of gain, but what is temporary gain compared to the profit of eternal rewards? Your whole life’s work will be tested by fire. Do you want to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and see your life’s work go up in smoke because you refused to build your life upon the foundation laid by the Apostle Paul?

Taking heed upon the foundation he laid isn’t just acknowledging Paul’s distinctive apostleship but completely living your life according to all the doctrines he revealed in his epistles.

4 – Take Heed About Abuse of Liberty

1 Cor. 8:9 isn’t about taking heed to the liberties we have in Christ. 1 Cor. 8:9 is about taking heed to weak believers so that you taking advantage of your liberties won’t cause them to trip up.

Paul writes, “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.”

Paul argues that we must be cautious how we use our liberty, so it won’t be a stumbling-block to the weak. If a weaker brother might leave your church because he doesn’t know enough about our liberties in Christ and he’s offended by you eating meats offered unto idols (or some modern equivalent), then is it not better to refrain from those meats until that brother comes into the knowledge of the truth? Should we not deny ourselves even what is lawful rather than causing a brother to stumble?

Interesting to me that in Gal. 5:1, we’re to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” but we’re to take heed unto ourselves when it comes to abusing that liberty.

5 – Take Heed to not Bite and Devour One Another

Gal. 5:15 says, “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”

We take heed to how we treat one another, because constant in-fighting will bring a church to ruin. We’ve all observed in the world how some people can become so easily consumed by fighting. Not just a few people but a whole nation, too. Including believers. Even grace believers. Given the right circumstances and the wrong spiritual condition, a believer is capable of anything.

If we are to strive, it’s not to strive against one another, but we all strive together for the mastery of holiness in our walks, we strive together in keeping the unity of the faith, we strive together in the edifying of the saints, we strive together in our prayers, and we strive together to comfort one another, being knit together in love, unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.

6 – Take Heed to the Ministry

Col 4:16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. Col 4:17 And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.

Colosse is part of a tri-city region that includes Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. Less than 10 miles apart. Laodicea was the wealthiest and the greatest of those 3 cities.

Notice what we read. Paul wants these men to go to Laodicea. In vs. 16, he says he wants them to go to THE church of the Laodiceans. There is only ONE church in Laodicea. He wants them to go to that one church. He wants the Colossian epistle to be read in that one church. And he wants those men to read the epistle to the Laodiceans.

Then what does he say? In vs. 17, he says, “AND say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.”

Where is Archippus located? He has to be in Laodicea, right?

Paul’s saying “Go to Laodicea. Share this Colossian epistle. Read their epistle. AND while you’re there, give this message to Archippus.” Vs. 17 starts with the word “And.” It’s a continuation of his thought in vs. 16. Archippus had to be in Laodicea.

Do you remember Archippus? The “fellowsoldier” referenced in the letter to Philemon (1:2), and most likely, he was the pastor of the church in Philemon’s house.

So if Archippus lived in Laodicea, then so must Philemon, Apphia, and the church that’s in Philemon’s house. If there’s only ONE church in Laodicea, then that church can ONLY be the one that’s in Philemon’s house. Which means that this reference to the “epistle from Laodicea” had to be, nothing less than, Paul’s letter to Philemon.

Why would Paul call his letter to Philemon the “epistle from Laodicea”? Because that letter wasn’t only addressed to Philemon. That letter was addressed to his family and the entire church that’s in his house! A lot of people write that Philemon was “a personal letter.” It was never personal because it was addressed to everyone in that church (Phi. 1:1-2)!

Why did Paul send that message to Archippus? Why did Paul tell Archippus to “Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it”? What happened to Archippus?

Many books would say, “Well, we can’t know what happened to Archippus.” I’d suggest that you can totally figure out what happened to Archippus.

Some guys, like Bullinger, speculate that Colossians was written around 61-62 A.D. Do you know what happened before that in 60 A.D.? Laodicea had a massive earthquake that leveled the entire city. This mega-disaster had the entire Roman Empire talking. Rome itself sent word to the Loadiceans that they’d be willing to send men, money, and resources to help rebuild their city. And do you what they said? They told Rome, “No. You can keep your men. We’re going to rebuild our city, thank you very much.”

Even Tacitus, considered to be a Roman Senator, wrote in his book called “Annals,” that “One of the most famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was in the same year overthrown by an earthquake and without any relief from us recovered itself by its own resources.” Isn’t that amazing?

Now you can piece it together. Colossians was written after that massive earthquake in Laodicea. Archippus was in Laodicea. And now we can understand why Archippus was struggling in the ministry.

He was devastated by that earthquake. In fact, he was so devastated he couldn’t function. He lost people he loved. Archippus! Archippus, who in Philemon was called a “fellowsoldier” was now a broken man. And what does Paul tell him? By inspiration of the Spirit, I think he told Archippus exactly what he needed to hear. He said, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. He talks to him like a soldier. You get back on your feet! You go out there and win that war! That was tough love, but I think those were the very words he needed to hear. Ministry is never so important as it is in the wake of a giant disaster.

7 – Take Heed unto Thyself AND unto the Doctrine

1 Tim. 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Timothy was to take heed unto himself. He was to take hold upon himself, to pay attention to himself and to the doctrines he was taught by Paul. He was to take care of himself in every conceivable way, but especially in spiritual matters through study, prayer, and meditation of His Word through which he’d stir up the gift of the empowering grace that was inside him, and he may be strong in His grace while he’s on the battlefield.

It’s interesting to me the order of the instructions that’s given here. He was to take care of himself first and then unto the doctrine.

Why is that?

You’d think the attention should be to the doctrine first and then himself.

This was not a letter written to a babe in Christ who still needed to learn the doctrines of grace. This was a letter written to a young man who has already been nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine. Once you have the doctrines down cold, the order becomes reversed. You are then to take heed to yourself first, to make sure your mind and your heart and your walk is in perfect alignment with your identity in Christ, and then you continue to stay focused on the doctrine, to never lose sight of the true doctrines of grace, which is God’s will for your life today, and to never lose sight of the value of those doctrines, which is always worth fighting for in the midst of a spiritual warfare and in the midst of a great apostasy.

Timothy had to make sure that he was always focused on those doctrines and continued to teach those doctrines of grace and that his life was a living embodiment of everything he taught, an example in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Not that he would always be perfect but that there would be no egregious errors of judgment that would mar his testimony or hinder their acceptance of the doctrines he taught.

Earlier in the chapter, Paul told Timothy of the apostasy that was coming (1 Tim. 4:1). Now it’s here. Now that great apostasy abounds around us even today (2 Tim. 3). If we have any hope of not shipwrecking our faith, we must do like Timothy. We must all take great care of ourselves, to lay hold upon ourselves, to pay attention to ourselves, to ensure that our walk is in alignment with our calling so the truth we share from His Word will work effectually in everyone around us.

Timothy taking heed unto himself and the doctrines of grace wouldn’t simply protect the people in his church from the coming apostasy but this would also protect Timothy, too. The same is true for us. The means by which Timothy was to protect himself through the apostasy is also the means by which we can protect ourselves today.