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The Well-Ordered Life

Psalms 37:23 — The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

  • ORDERED — to be erect; to stand straight; to set up, confirm, direct, faithfulness, fashion, fasten, firm, be fitted, be fixed, frame, be meet, ordain, order, perfect, (be, make) ready, right, set (aright, fast, forth), be stable, (e-)stablish, stand

Definition:

A Well-Ordered life is the Whole Man (body, mind, spirit) being rightly aligned with Whole Counsel (truth) of God.

  • For example, to judge God is "unfaithful" or "unfit" is out of alignment with Truth. Or. "I love God, and I hate my brother."

ILLUSTRATION: Packing for a successful camping trip. ["Heading in the wrong direction"]

  • Some Words to consider when thinking about the Ordering of One's Life:

    • Settings, Calibration, Tuning, Orientation, Alignment ("get headed in the right direction")

  • Well-Ordered: In harmony with God and self. (There is a victory in not being at war with yourself.)

  • Kicking against the pricks versus acting in submission to God.

  • Can a man be WHOLE without God?

I. The Whole Man

1. Body (mechanics - A LITERAL HEART)

  • Do I know what God has revealed in the Bible concerning this body?
  • Do I manage and consider my body in light of these truths?

Psalm 139:13-16 — For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

- "covered me": I'm more than just a body, but I am a body.
- "Marvelous are thy works" vs. Romans 9:20 "Why hast thou made me thus?"
- v.15 "my substance" -- skeleton
- v.15 "curiously wrought" -- needlework (like the intricate and complex network of veins, nerves, muscles, tendons, etc.)

> If you were to lay out the vast network of blood vessels from an average child end to end, they would stretch for over 60,000 miles! In an average adult, they would stretch for almost 100,000 miles! (circumferance of earth is 25,000 miles)
  • Adam was made in the image (phantom, shade, illusion, resemblance, copy) of God.

Genesis 1:27 — So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

  • Neither allow our body to dominate or do we neglect it.

Mt 6:25 ¶ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

  • This body is part of God's working and will for my life.

1 Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

  • Christ shall change our "vile"(low estate) body into a "glorious" one!

Philippians 3:20,21 — For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

  • Needful for the body.

James 2:16 — If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Romans 12:13 — Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. [present uour body living sacrifice]

2. Mind (intellect, will, understanding - A GUIDED HEART)

  • Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's dreams : "Genesis 41:32 - "is established":"prepared of God"
  • Exodus 8:26 "It is not meet":"not orderly"
  • Do I know what God has revealed in the Bible concerning this mind?
  • Do I manage and consider my mind in light of these truths?

Taking care of our physical health looks like: eating right, exercising regularly ("bodily excercise profiteth little" 1 Timothy 4:8) and getting plenty of sleep. But do you know how to take care of your mental health?

  • IMAGINATION: Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

    • God is creative, there was no world, this world existed first in the MIND of God
    • Adam was made in the "Image of God's Holiness" but also in a measure of "God's Intelligence"
    • the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses: -- VISION

  • The mind is a terrible thing to waste. [affection: phroneo - to excercise the mind]

    • Young and Rubicam AD agency, wrote slogan for "United Negro College Fund" in 1970s. "It was a plea to everybody to reject the prejudices of the past and consider the inner person,"
    • Pr 29:11 ¶ A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

Colossians 3:2 — Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

  • A Poor State of Mind, sours our experiences

Genesis 26:34-35 — And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: 35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah. [bitterness, "sour"]

Mr 5:15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

  • Our Mind is not a mystery to God.

Eze 11:5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

  • Be of a teachable mind.

Pr 15:32 ¶ He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Php 2:5 — Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

  • Do not trust our mind implicitly. JUDGMENT, DISCERNMENT

Proverbs 3:5 — Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

3. Soul/Spirit (LIFE) - The Hidden Man of the Heart

What is the Soul/Spirit? What is to be Ordered concerning the Soul?

a. The Value of a Soul

  • Even if our Body is "well-ordered" and our Mind "well-ordered", if our SOUL is lost, then ALL IS LOSS.

Matthew 16:26 — For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul{LIFE}? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

  • "lose your own soul" Or if receiving "spiritual damage" what could compensate?
  • "give in exchange" What ransom would be, could be paid?

Matthew 11:28 — Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

b. WHAT IS THE SOUL in RELATION TO THE BODY? There is the Life of the "Spirit" and the Life of the "Body"

  • God is a Spirit and ALL LIFE comes from Him. (John 1:4; Job 1:21; 12:10; Psalm 127:3)

John 4:24 — God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Mt 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

We are more than bodies. This body can die and the "life" pass from it, but my Soul will "live eternally".

  • The First Death: "separation of the soul and body"
  • Those who are in Chirst, will live in the eternal presence of God.
  • Those are condemned, will suffer not just "The First Death" but also the second death as the first will come to an end itself. NOT ANNIHILATION as the first is replaced by a "SECOND DEATH" - "cast into Lake of Fire" - Eternal Separation from God's mercy. (Matthew 10:28; Revelation 2:11; 20:6; 20:14 [1 Corinthians 15:26]; 21:8)

c. WHAT IS THE SOUL AND SPIRIT? "Soul and Spirit" - "Being Alive (Animated) & Being Alive Immortally"

1 Thessalonians 5:23 — And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:12 — For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [has living power; ]

Genesis 2:7 — And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. [living ... person, creature, being]

1 Corinians 15:45 — And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul [vitality; alive; having animation]; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit [a being having the power to IMPART LIFE].

d. What is to be Ordered concerning the Soul?

  • The primarily concern of the soul how does it stand in relation to the Holy God?

Ezekiel 18:4 — Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

- "All Souls are Mine" - I Can DEALL WITH ALL as ALL ARE MINE. All Souls under his Jurisdiction; All souls having their source in God; All Souls being subject to God's will.
- "The Soul that Sins" (sins of the body [gluttony], sins of the soul [deny God])

Ezekiel 18:20 — The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

  • Sin is condemns the soul to "death". Not just separation of the body and soul, but the second death , "eternal separation from the Mercy of God which is the LIGHT OF LIFE."

Romans 6:23 — For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

  • The Battle is not merely physical but Spiritual.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

  • Our spirit and Flesh can get out of sync. But our physical body can be strengthened through a healthy "Spirit". Just like with mental health effecting our body, so even the spirit has an effect on the mind and body.

Mark 14:38 — Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

  • An emphasis must be laid on the spiritual.

1 Peter 3:1-5 — Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

II. The Whole Counsel of God

Acts 20:27 — For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. [purpose, advise, will; "All that God has determined and revealed concerning the salvation of man."]

  • Man is not capable of knowing everything, but He is capable of submitting to what God has revealed.

  • Man is not capable of knowing everything, but He can purposefully orientate his life with with the truth He has. LIVE IN TRUTH

  • instruction, counsel, favor, will, command, precept, statute, conviction and conscience, law, principle, word, direction: plan, purpose

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