Thoughts on the Lord's Table (Part 4 of 5)

Caring for the Soul

It is very important for us to care for our souls. There are many people attentive to their bodies, but not their souls. The soul is that inner part that is subject to certain thoughts and feelings. These thoughts and feelings may be good or they may be evil and therefore harmful to the soul. Our souls need to be healthy, just like our bodies, and we need to be aware of the condition or the state of our souls just as we are aware of our bodies. The soul and spirit of man should be recognized as two separate entities. The spirit is the innermost part of man. The soul could also be equated with the mind. Only the Word of God can distinguish between soul and spirit (Heb. 4.12). The heart could also refer to the soul or the heart could be used to refer holistically to all of man’s inner, invisible life – including the soul and the spirit. However, we do not want to go beyond what is written in the Scriptures or be dogmatic about things that may not be clear. Suffice to say, the soul is part of the unseen, inner life of man.

David sometimes found it necessary to speak to his own soul: "Why so downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God" (Psalm 42)! Each of us has certain tendencies and weaknesses in our own souls, such as anger or depression, and many unhealthy, wicked thoughts and feelings. Know yourself and your soul! What are your weaknesses and the vulnerable tendencies in your own soul? You must act as the guardian of your soul. If you do not know your soul, you must start by knowing the Maker of your soul first. When we become believers in Christ, the Lord becomes the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Peter 2.25). The Lord watches out for our souls and cares for us. No doubt He uses the Holy Spirit, who indwells us and has been joined to our spirit, to do this work of caring for our souls. So we are not alone and the care of our souls is not left up to us only. The soul of man is a weakness, making us vulnerable. The soul must be guarded.

Your soul could be compared to a ship on the sea. Like a ship your soul can be blown and tossed about by the wind and the waves. Paul the Apostle said that the purpose of the Church is to bring believers to maturity so they would not continually be blown and tossed by every wind and wave, which are the false teachings of men (Eph. 4.11-14). If we do not mature, our souls will constantly be tossed about by the messages of the World – messages which seem to be coming at our souls in waves these days! This ship that is your soul must be anchored firmly to something – something greater and stronger than itself – or it will be tempest-tossed and unable to navigate to its intended harbor. So it is with our souls as long as we are in these stormy seas of this present, evil World. The soul can be rather unstable, being buffeted by both thoughts and feelings. Doubts can assault the soul causing us to sink into despair, just as Peter sank beneath the waves when he was walking to Jesus on the water (Matt. 14.30). The soul is a liability that can cause the downfall of the believer.

Your soul needs an anchor. Our faith and hope in Christ are anchors for the soul. Our souls are kept and held by looking constantly unto Jesus. We must think continually upon Christ, particularly upon His death and resurrection. This provides us with stability in rough waters. Our faith in Christ and our hope for the future, which springs from faith, is based on certain facts. These facts are like anchors for the soul:

• Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God
• Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures
• Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven
• Jesus will come again

We anchor ourselves to Jesus: who He is, what He said, what He did, and what He will do in the future. We can and we should constantly come back to these facts, allowing them to grow in our minds, the implications of the truth settling our souls. This is what our gathering around the Lord’s Table is designed to do for us. Speaking of Christ and His redemptive work, the writer of Hebrews says that “we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf ” (Hebrews 6:19-20). Our anchor is cast upwards, into heaven, where Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest and Intercessor.

I take it from the teaching of the Scriptures that our souls are not yet redeemed. There is a part of us that has been saved. Our spirits have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. But the body has yet to be redeemed, along with the soul. We are waiting for the salvation of our souls. Until that time our souls must be kept, guarded, and anchored firmly so that we are not blown off-course in this world. The Lord’s Table is an anchoring time! Until the time that the Lord comes for His Bride, or we leave the body and go to be with the Lord, our souls are in a weak and fallen state being vulnerable to the Devil, the enemy of our souls, and the lusts of the Flesh, which wage war against our souls (1 Peter 2.11).

This is an opportunity at the Lord’s Table to guide your soul, to speak to your soul like David did to his: "Why so downcast O my soul? Put your hope in God!" The souls of the wicked are like the troubled sea, casting up mire and dirt (Isaiah 57.20-21), but not the souls of the righteous. "We have an anchor that keeps the soul – steadfast and sure while the billows roll!" This anchor holds our souls until that time when there will be no more Sea (Rev. 21.1).