1. The Dangers You Face

• Three Primary Forms: You are in a constant, inescapable battle against spiritual degeneracy in the following three primary forms: Unbelief of God Word, unforgiveness of others, and unhumbled pride in what we are and have done.
• Rich in things, Poor in soul. “Luxury causes great care and produces great carelessness as to virtue. Those who are much occupied with the care of the body usually give little care to the soul.” – John Calvin
• Afflictions: “Our souls are likely to become agitated by griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, and many other types of distracting emotions. Our souls cannot have peace until we are fully assured that we are pleasing to the Lord (Romans 5:5,8).”
• A Wounded Soul. “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” (Proverbs 18:14) “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.” (Prov. 15:13)

2. Valuing Your Soul

• Mark 8:35-36 – ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
• Luke 12:18-21 – ¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

3. Saving Your Soul

• 1 Peter 2:24-25 – ²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵ For you were straying like sheep but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
• Proverbs 11:30 – The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.

4. Caring for Your Soul

• Proverbs 4:23 – Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:9 – “…how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
• The Apostle John prays for his church:
• “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul” (3 John 2). John Trapp, an old Anglican pastor in the 1600s, explains what it means for our souls to prosper:

“The soul prospers when it has close communion with God;

enjoys the light of his loving countenance (smiling face);

preferring his favor before the world’s warm sun.”

• Don’t let a day pass in 2022 without asking the Lord to kindle a renewed zeal and fervor for Him in your heart as you contemplate His infinite mercies and sacrificial love in Jesus for you!
• Our souls are alive. Just as our brains, muscles and organs need proper care and provision of nutrients, our souls also need nourishment. A soul is healthy to the extent that it maintains a strong connection and receptivity to the Lord.
• George Mueller – “My first and primary business to which I ought to attend daily is to make my soul happy in the Lord.”

5. Rest for Your Soul

• Matthew 11:28-29 – ²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
• Jeremiah 6:16 – The prophet Jeremiah calls these “the ancient paths… where we find rest for our souls.”

6. The Old Paths: A Seven-Fold Tapestry: How to practically care for your soul!

• Fed by the Word
• Nourished by the Psalter
• Recovery of the Lord’s Day
• Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
• Sacralizing the Ordinary
• Mystery of Divine Providence
• An Evangelistic, Missionary Spirit