Focus: Beware! (Pt.1)

Text: Phil.3:2

"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision."

Our world is full of things to beware of. A lot of things are worth watching out for. If we are discerning enough, we will find out that things we often regard as normal are indeed abnormal. We will find out the reality of Paul's words that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump." Potential dangers lie all around us. 

In the garden of Eden, it was a harmless snake that Satan used to get Eve to go against God. Indeed she was undiscerning or unsuspecting. In the book of Revelation, that snake of Eden is called, "The great dragon… that old serpent… the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…" (Rev.12:9). Paul wrote, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2Cor.11:3). You can see that Eve was seduced and deceived. She was unthinking. She was emotionally or sentimentally dazzled, charmed and carried away. The snake preyed on and devoured her. Before she knew what happened to her, everything had already gone radically awry in her life, in her man, and in her world - spiritually, morally, mentally, emotionally, physically, environmentally, and otherwise. Eve was not privy to the personality behind the snake, and she fell a victim to it.

Paul warns us to "abstain from all appearance of evil" (1Thes.5:22). 

Bear in mind that evil often disguise itself as good, and it is a true saying of ancient and modern times that appearances are often deceptive.

The Lord Jesus Christ tells us to be beware of false prophets, of the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Herod, of covetousness, and of the scribes, who "desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts" (Lk.20:46).

Paul tells us to purge ourselves of the old leaven of malice, wickedness, insincerity, and falsehood. He tells us to beware, "lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Col.2:8). Peter says, "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness" (2Pet.3:17).

You can see that there is a whole lot of things that we need to beware of.

Coming back to our text, the Greek word for 'beware' is blepō, which literally means 'to see,' that is, as opposed to not seeing or being blind. Paul is saying that we can't afford to be blind to things that have the potential or capacity of hurting or harming us. 

We need spiritual capacity to discern or see beyond appearances to things and practices that are detrimental to our souls and spiritual wellbeing.

We can't afford to tolerate spiritual blindness or lack of spiritual discernment. We must be on the look out for the dogs, for evil workers, and for agents of religious mutilation or moralistic legalism.

Child of God, be watchful, sensitive, and discerning. Like the blind man in John 9, say to yourself, 'Once I was blind; now I see.' Inhabitants of Zion can't afford to be blind. Let us beware and be fully aware.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter