Ordered Steps
Our opening text here tonight is twofold. It is both a testimony and a promise that the Psalmist was proclaiming. We want to echo the words of the Psalmist to you tonight and teach what we believe is the most pivotal aspect of being successful in life. The secret to the universe and life and everything, if you will. This principle is the one that we fall back on every single day to live by faith and not by sight. This is the principle that brings peace that passes all understanding and allows us to live boldly and unashamedly for the Kingdom. This principle is found in the few words of verse 23: good men (and women) are directed by God and this causes Him to delight in their faithfulness to Him.
We will unpack this further as we go throughout class tonight but complete and total devotion to God will always keep you walking in the right way, even if you fall.
Life’s journey is one that is filled with all kinds of development, seasons, and happenings. The path of our lives may not always make sense to us but this is the promise of our opening verse. For all of those who are committed to serving God then all the steps we take will be ordered by the Lord. That means that as we journey through life, open doors, opportunities, and choices will be governed by God, by His word, and by the leading of His Spirit.
See the promise of God is that He would order our steps however; I would submit to you, if you are being led by someone you would have to be following them. In other words if I let go of His hand, look toward another guide, or get distracted from His purpose and pleasure I am no longer being ordered. The Lord guides us into the perfection that He has called us to. He aligns us with His purpose and pleasure and makes us into His image this is the erasing of ourselves and the development of the life, mind, and Spirit of Christ Jesus through us. This is the pressing that Paul speaks of as we work toward the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Our devotion and dedication to the Lord is the only thing that keeps us going.
Tonight I want to talk about just three points that allow us to remain in this unity with God and walking in ordered steps. These are the keys to ensuring that we can maintain this relationship with God and walking in His intended purpose for our lives.
The summation of what I pray the Lord helps me do tonight is stress the importance of making Jesus the very source for everything. The writer says “and whatsoever ye do, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Everything must be done by Him, from Him, and for Him.
Knowing Him
We’ve talked often about seeking first the Kingdom of God and God adding the necessities and things to our lives. This is the fulfillment of God’s promise from the beginning. We are going to quickly read Isaiah 55 to see that God was not introducing something new when He preached the sermon on the mount but rather solidifying that He was the fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose for our lives.
Read Isaiah 55
The promise of the new covenant is provision for all who are in need. A hope of a fruitful and sustained life that promises fulfillment and simply material gain but a wellspring of peace and joy and fruitfulness. God’s promise then is the same as His sermon on the mount.
If you will turn your investment to me and focus on what I have for you the reward that you receive will be far greater than any materialism that you can find because in me you find contentment and peace.
Jesus' words here are difficult because it speaks of a separation from things that are not inherently sinful but bring no benefit in our pursuit of the Kingdom of God. Trading personal pleasures for Kingdom Purposes. This is what Paul is talking about in Corinthians when he says:
I can do just about anything I want to do and not sin but it does not mean that it will help me to grow or accomplish anything that God wants or even still that I want. When we prioritize knowing Jesus over everything else our life’s story is painted by the master of the universe.
Simply put when we give Jesus our everything Jesus gives us everything.
This is the true pleasure of knowing Him. Not just coming to church or knowing about Him but truly walking together with Him and knowing His voice. Following after His commands and the leading of the Spirit. The greatest privilege on Earth is to know God and He has promised us that when we know Him in this way He will take care of everything else.
My appeal to you tonight is to purposefully know only Christ and Him Crucified, as Paul said. Your goals and desires and passions are all wonderful but have you asked Jesus if they are what He wants for your life. Have you asked if God really wants you to be an influencer promoting brands and products or if He wants you to have influence over those who would build His brand and bear fruit for the Kingdom. See God’s giftings are uniquely crafted to work perfectly in the Kingdom of God but it does not mean that they will not work in our own endeavors. We have the responsibility to ensure that they are seeking first His Kingdom and not our own.
Obeying Him
Obedience is quite often the expression of submission. This idea is one that is a little trickier to understand. We as Christians have a hard enough time submitting to God’s rule in our lives let alone the leading and discipling of others in our lives.
Submission is a Biblical principle that stretches us into a servant's heart faster than any other principle that God has entrusted to us.
The Bible declares to us that we are first and foremost to be submitted to God, then His order of Spiritual authority, and finally, the hardest one of all, to one another.
Submission has less to do with blind obedience to men and women who would abuse their authority to harm others but more to do with our hearts being serving and honorable the way that God intended. This is why the local church is so important in our lives. It gives us opportunity to practice Biblical principles and as the body grow in unity and strength to keep growing God’s Kingdom. The misconception about submission is something that has plagued our churches into denying the power that God has ordained for us through submission.
Submission has to begin with God otherwise we cannot submit to authority and others. If we have not gotten over ourselves enough to serve God’s purpose whole heartedly without regard to our own personal agendas and motives being the forefront of our devotion, we cannot submit to our Pastor and Spiritual Authority or others because our pride will not allow it.
Submission feels less like an opportunity to live a life like Jesus and more like a prison sentence that should not have any real merit and only to be exercised when convenient.
This death of self that God requires of us to be able to serve God and those around us is a radical ideology in todays church. It is widely understood and even rehearsed in the words of modern Christians but little is lived by way of lifestyle. This death of self removes all of me and leaves only Jesus. It allows submission to become easy because it is less about the people your submitting to and more about the opportunity to show Jesus to those around me through my life. These are hard sayings as hard, if not harder, than when Jesus taught them. His instruction about submission is just as plain. The Centurion had “great faith” that caught the attention of Jesus because he was a man under authority to know he had authority. This is the promise that God has given to us. As we obey Him and submit to His ruling in our lives we have authority and power because God’s authority and power is the chiefest of all. Who we are submitted to defines the authority and power we have.
It is imperative, to ensure that our steps are ordered like God has promised, to practice this principle of Biblical submission and obedience.
In whatever season we are in in life to ensure we find a local church that preaches the Apostolic Doctrine and get committed, submitted, and have the protective covering that comes from the fellowship of the body of Christ and Spiritual authority.
Loving Him
This last section is the expression of the first two principles lived out in action. When we Know God intimately through our relationship with Him and have aligned with the Biblical principles of Submission we will serve or do stuff for the Kingdom. The Bible writers would have said we are “keeping His commandments.”
Service is part of the great commission. Service is the very heartbeat of God. God came to this earth to serve. This is the lesson He taught the disciples as he bent down to wash their feet that night. He was trying to show that a life lived for the Kingdom of God is a life lived in working to fulfill and promote other people’s growth, health, happiness, and development.
This is the promise and hope of the Kingdom of God how else are people to believe the promise of the Gospel unless they see the body of Christ living as it was intended to serve and take care of each other and those less fortunate.
God’s heart is to bless those around us and to minister the Gospel not only through preaching but through the actions of our lifestyle to take care of and support the people around us.
Serving is the doing of the word that James is proclaiming of believers in his letter. This is the expression of the hearing of the word. To live according to God’s commandments and show forth our love toward Him by doing them.
This doing is possible because we know Him so closely and because we are submitted to His purpose and our local church. Wherever that may be. As we mentioned last week many of you are entering different seasons of life and although Anacoco and APC are your home, as you go to college or enter other seasons that may pull you away from here at times, it is imperative that wherever you find yourself you are connected to and serving in your local assembly.
Service goes beyond the four walls of the church of course as you invest in the discipleship of those that you are friends with and trying to lead to a relationship with God and into the full revelation of the truth of God’s word but serving at the local church is essential as well.
It keeps you grounded, it grows you in your spirituality and intimate knowledge of God as likeminded believers encourage you in the Lord, and it carries you through times when life is giving you a beating and you need the support of the body to make it through. See God has created all of these things for our best interest and the health of our souls but they can only be received when we stop worrying about our best interest and worry solely about His.
This alignment with God’s purpose and lifestyle as opposed to our own is what orders our steps. This is what fulfills the requirements of a good man who is delighted in His way. God is also proud of us when we live this way. Many scholars and translators believe that this verse is speaking of God’s delight in those who are remaining faithful to Him and walking in the path that God sets for them to walk in. I believe it is both. I believe that those who walk in the Lord’s way quickly fall in love with it and delight therein and I believe God is delighted in all who choose to walk closely with Him because that is what He is working so desperately to restore and prepare for us.
I submit to you tonight, and my prayer for all of you since we have been here and long after you all are grown is this, that the passion and hunger that yields such a burden to fulfill God’s call and purpose in your lives would overwhelm you everyday and you would live to see a life fulfilled in the perfection and greatness of the image of God. You are disciple makers; you are apostolic; you are God’s chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation; and you are going to do great things in the Kingdom of God as long as that is what you desire.
I have often prayed that God would allow me to impart passion and desire to all of those around me and even the bumps and bruises from past mistakes that have given me the wisdom today to live the way I do but I know that each persons development is a journey that God has ordained just for them. So, my prayer tonight is that zeal for the Lord and His house would eat all of you up and your chiefest of joys and passions would be to love the Lord.
Let's build together.