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SPEAKER: Pastor and teacher, Terry Allen.
SERIES: Walking in the Light of the Word.
TITLE: Take Heed: The Rudder of the Soul.

If you have your Bibles with you this morning, turn with me to the Gospel of Luke. Hold your finger there in the Scriptures while we open our hearts before the throne of God.

Let’s pray together, church.

Father in Heaven, the winds are blowing in our culture today. The sea of this modern world is restless, and Lord, so many of Your children are weary. Open our ears this morning. Speak through the noise of time. Give us eyes to see where our ship is heading and give us hearts willing to obey the voice of our Captain, Jesus Christ. In His Holy Name we pray. Amen.

Look up here at me for just a moment, saints.

When you read through the New Testament; whether you’re reading the words of Jesus in the Gospels or the epistles of Paul and Peter; you will repeatedly come across a simple, two-word phrase: “Take heed.”

“Take heed that no man deceive you.”
“Take heed how you hear.”
“Take heed unto yourselves.”

Now, when we read those words in our modern English; here in the late twentieth century; we tend to hear them like a mild, polite recommendation, don’t we? Like a mother telling her child on a cool autumn morning, “Take heed, sweetie, put on a sweater.” Or a sign on the highway that says, “Caution: Wet Paint.” We treat it as a passive suggestion. A gentle nudge.

But I want to tell you this morning, beloved: that is not what the Holy Spirit wrote!

In the original Greek language of the New Testament, that phrase “take heed” is translated from one single, powerful, dynamic word: προσέχετε; Prosechete!

(Pastor Allen leans forward over the pulpit, voice lowering with intensity)

Prosechete is not a passive suggestion! It is an active, violent, dynamic nautical term!

In ancient seafaring: in the days when wooden ships braved the dark waters of the Mediterranean; when a captain barked the command “Prosechete!” to his sailors, he was not telling them to sit back and observe the scenery. He was shouting: “Hold the ship toward the destination! Steer away from the hidden, jagged rocks!”

Jesus Christ is not sitting in the lounge of your life! He is standing at the helm of your life, screaming over the sound of the gale: “Grab hold of the rudder of your soul! Do not let your life drift aimlessly onto the jagged rocks of this world’s distractions!”

1. The Captain’s Call

I want you to close your eyes for a moment and picture this.

Imagine yourself standing on the deck of a mighty wooden vessel out in the middle of a midnight ocean. The wind is howling in your ears! The cold spray of the sea is biting at your face! Huge, thunderous waves are crashing against the hull, shaking the vessel to its very timbers! And hidden just beneath that frothing, churning surface lie razor-sharp rocks that could splinter your ship into a thousand floating pieces in the blink of an eye.

Now, look up at the helm. Look at Jesus!

He is not a passenger sleeping down in the cabin, unconcerned! He is not sitting in the hold with His hands folded! No! He is standing at the helm of your ship! His hands are gripping the wheel, His feet are planted firm on the deck, His eyes are fixed with laser intensity on the horizon; and then, church, He turns His head, looks right into your eyes, and shouts over the roar of the tempest:

“PROSECHETE! Grab hold of the rudder of your soul!”

(Pastor Allen slams his hand firmly on the wooden pulpit)

Tell me, church; how does it feel when you realize that Jesus Christ is not merely giving you a polite Sunday morning suggestion to pay attention? He is commanding you to actively, aggressively, and relentlessly steer your life!

How does that change the way you read those pages in your lap when you hear the words “Take heed”? It’s a battle command! It’s a life-or-death order from the Helmsman of the Cosmos!

2. The Danger of Drift

[08:10] [Soft rustling in pews; sound of a handkerchief being cleared]

PASTOR ALLEN:
Now listen to me carefully right here, because here is the tragic truth about the sea:

The sea does not ask a ship for permission to carry it off course.

A vessel can be seaworthy. It can have the finest canvas sails money can buy. It can be painted beautifully; it can be brand-new, fresh out of the shipyard! But if the captain falls asleep at the wheel, the current will gently, silently, and almost imperceptibly pull that ship straight toward the jagged rocks.

You won’t hear an alarm. You won’t hear a siren. You won’t even hear the danger coming! You’ll just be resting comfortably… until you wake up to the terrible, bone-chilling sound of timber cracking against stone!

I want to stop right here and ask you a real question today. I’m not asking the person sitting next to you; I’m asking you.

What are the “hidden rocks” in your life right now? What are those distractions, those subtle comforts, that sheer busyness of this time: working sixty hours a week, chasing the American dream, buying bigger houses, keeping up with the modern pace: things that look completely harmless on the surface, but could quietly, fatally shipwreck your soul if you simply drift?

Be honest with God this morning: Have you taken your hands off the rudder?

Are you standing on the deck with your arms crossed, letting the tide take you wherever it wants to go?

3. The Rudder of the Soul

Let me say it again: Prosechete is not passive. It does not mean “Take a seat and casually observe.”

It is the kind of word a seasoned sea captain screams at the top of his lungs when the pitch-black storm blinds the crew and the razor rocks are close enough to reach out and touch! It means to hold the ship toward its destination with white-knuckled determination! It means to steer away from destruction with every single fiber of your being!

If your soul has a rudder… what are you holding onto right now that keeps you pointed toward Jesus?

Is it daily, desperate prayer?
Is it getting on your knees with this Book, the holy, infallible Word of God?
Is it faithful fellowship with the body of believers?

And here is the sharper question; the question the Holy Spirit wants to pierce our hearts with today: What has quietly pried your fingers loose from that rudder?

What worldly compromise, what unspoken resentment, what unconfessed sin, what obsession with material things has slowly, inch by inch, loosened your grip? And what is it going to take for you today to reach back out and grab hold again with white knuckles?

4. The Aimless Life

There’s an old saying among deep-sea sailors, and it holds just as true in the spiritual realm:
“A ship without a destination will be tossed by every wave.”

It will go nowhere good. Or worse; it will go wherever the wind and the enemy of your soul want it to go!

The man or woman who does not practice prosechete; who does not actively, daily, hourly hold their course in Christ; is not standing still. Hear me, church: In the Kingdom of God, you are never standing still! If you are not steering, you are drifting!

And drifting is never neutral. Drifting always; 100% of the time; ends in absolute wreckage!

Where have you stopped steering?

• Is it in your thought life? Have you let the trash of modern television and secular culture drift into your mind unchallenged?
• Is it in your relationships? Have you allowed distance, bitterness, or worldly standards to creep into your marriage or your family?
• Is it in your devotion to Christ? Has your quiet time with God turned into a cold, dry memory from five years ago?

If Jesus is standing at the helm of your life right now, shouting over the storm for you to take hold… will you let go of those petty distractions and grip the wheel again?

5. The World’s Deceptive Current

You see, saints, the world doesn’t always attack you head-on. The devil doesn’t always come at you with a pitchfork and an explicit temptation to commit a terrible crime. He doesn’t need to!

He simply pulls you… slowly… gently… almost sweetly…

He pulls you with the current of mindless entertainment.
He pulls you with the undertow of people’s approval and worldly success.
He pulls you with the tide of constant, frantic busyness.
He pulls you with the waves of worry, anxiety, and fear over tomorrow.

And before you know it, brother; before you even realize what happened, sister; you are miles away from where you started in your walk with God! And you didn’t even feel yourself moving! You just drifted!

Look at your life today. What current is subtly pulling you away from the sweet presence of God? Is it your ambition?
Is it your finances?
Is it a relationship you know isn’t honoring to God?
Is it fear of the future?

What would it look like for you; right here, today; to dig your heels into the deck, grab the rudder of your soul with both hands, and say: “Not one inch further! I am steering back toward Jesus!”

6. The Helmsman’s Voice

Jesus does not whisper “take heed” from a miles-long distance. He doesn’t write a polite note and leave it on a table.

He stands at the helm of your life; the exact place where direction is set and destinies are decided! And He shouts with divine authority:
“Prosechete! Grab hold! Do not let your life drift aimlessly onto the jagged rocks of this world’s distractions!”

I want every head bowed and every eye closed across this sanctuary right now.

(Sound of church hushing; quiet organ music swells: “Just As I Am”)

If you closed your eyes right now… and imagined Jesus standing at the helm of your life… looking you square in the eyes with infinite love and divine urgency… what do you think He would say to you about the direction you are currently heading?

Is your ship pointed straight toward the safe harbor of His heart?
Or is it drifting, day by day, toward the jagged rocks of destruction?

If you’ve taken your hands off the wheel… if you’ve let the currents of this world carry you away… the Captain is calling you back to the helm today. He’s saying, “Grab hold again, my child. I am right here with you.”

Every head bowed, every eye closed… if that’s you today, I want you to step out of your seat right now and come down to this altar…