Principles for Marriage

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.319 Our heavenly father. We thank you that we can abide in you and that 2 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:07.830 we can dwell in your house forever. We thank you that you shepherd us 3 00:00:07.830 --> 00:00:13.509 through the trials and difficulties of this world, the many that they are, 4 00:00:14.589 --> 00:00:18.269 and we asked that you would continue to do so even now, as we 5 00:00:18.390 --> 00:00:21.660 come to the reading and preaching of your word. We asked that by it, 6 00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:26.699 you would direct our paths, that you would help us to know and 7 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:31.940 to better understand your will and your way, that we might follow after you, 8 00:00:33.179 --> 00:00:37.929 and not only in our specific actions, but in our hearts and in 9 00:00:38.009 --> 00:00:42.009 our minds. We asked that you would help us to do this by the 10 00:00:42.049 --> 00:00:45.729 strength that we have in Christ, who died for us and for has forgiven 11 00:00:45.770 --> 00:00:50.799 our sins. We pray this in his name. On men, please be 12 00:00:50.880 --> 00:01:03.159 seated. Let's turn in our bibles to First Corinthians Chapter Seven. First Corinthians 13 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:29.939 Chapter Seven. So in this passage Paul deals with a number of questions concerning 14 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:38.329 marriage. I'm going to read. I'm going to read from verse six, 15 00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:46.849 six through the end of the chapter. We considered the first first five verses 16 00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:52.319 in an earlier sermon and encourage you to ask me questions about that or listen 17 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:56.719 to that online if you're able, and I did want to mention that there 18 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.200 is a lot that is covered here in this chapter. I thought it would 19 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:02.390 be helpful to kind of get all at one time, because it does hold 20 00:02:02.469 --> 00:02:07.510 together. But because there's so much, I will be doing q and a 21 00:02:07.909 --> 00:02:12.629 after the service. So if anyone would like to stay after some snacks around 22 00:02:12.629 --> 00:02:15.500 one hundred and fifteen, will meet back in here and if there's any follow 23 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:20.060 up questions that you'd like to ask, we can do that. I'm looking 24 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:23.180 forward to that with you. For now, let's give our attention to God's 25 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:30.050 word. First, Corinthians seven, beginning at verse six. Now as a 26 00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:34.289 concession, not a command, I say this I wish that all were as 27 00:02:34.610 --> 00:02:38.250 I myself am, but each has his own gift from God, one of 28 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:44.129 one kind and one of another. To the unmarried in the widows, I 29 00:02:44.289 --> 00:02:46.319 say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am, 30 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:51.919 but if they cannot exercise self control, they should marry, for it is 31 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.000 better to marry them to burn with passion. To the married, I give 32 00:02:55.080 --> 00:03:00.830 this charge not I but the Lord. The wife should not separate from her 33 00:03:00.830 --> 00:03:05.150 husband, but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled 34 00:03:05.189 --> 00:03:08.389 to her husband, and the husband should not divorce his wife. To the 35 00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:12.979 rest, I say, I not the Lord, that if any brother has 36 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:16.180 a wife who is an unbeliever and she contents, consents to live with him, 37 00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:20.979 he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is 38 00:03:20.979 --> 00:03:23.900 an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him, 39 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:29.129 for the unbelieving husband is made wholly because of his wife, and the 40 00:03:29.210 --> 00:03:32.889 unbelieving wife is made wholly because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be 41 00:03:32.930 --> 00:03:38.849 unclean, but as it is they are wholly. But if the unbelieving partner 42 00:03:38.889 --> 00:03:42.680 separates, let it be so. In such cases, the brother or sister 43 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:46.080 is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you 44 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:50.240 know, wife, whether you will have saved your husband? How do you 45 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:53.479 know, husband, whether you will save your wife? Only let each person 46 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:58.069 lead the life that the Lord has a sign to him and to which God 47 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:01.229 has called him. This is my rule. In all the churches, was 48 00:04:01.310 --> 00:04:04.990 any one, at the time of his call, already circumcised? Let him 49 00:04:04.990 --> 00:04:09.469 not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was Any one, at the 50 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:15.180 time of his call uncircumcised. Let him not seek circumcision, for neither circumcision 51 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:18.819 counts for anything, nor UNCIRCUMCISION. But, keeping the commandments of God, 52 00:04:19.819 --> 00:04:24.730 each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you 53 00:04:24.810 --> 00:04:28.810 a bond servant when called to? Not Be concerned about it. But if 54 00:04:28.850 --> 00:04:31.649 you gain your freedom, avail yourself, or if you can gain your feedom, 55 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:36.089 avail yourself of the opportunity, for he who was called in the Lord 56 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:41.959 as a bond servant is a freedman and of the Lord. Likewise, he 57 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:45.920 who is free when he was called, when he when called, is a 58 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.360 Bond Servant of Christ. You were bought with a price. Do not become 59 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:56.550 bond servants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called 60 00:04:57.389 --> 00:05:01.069 there, let him remain with God. Now, concerning the betrothed, I 61 00:05:01.189 --> 00:05:04.589 have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who, 62 00:05:04.629 --> 00:05:08.980 by the Lord's mercy, is trustworthy. I think that, in view 63 00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:12.899 of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he 64 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:15.899 is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. 65 00:05:16.420 --> 00:05:19.740 Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife, but 66 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:24.529 if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman 67 00:05:24.649 --> 00:05:29.050 marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, 68 00:05:29.329 --> 00:05:31.490 and I would spare you that. This is what I mean. Brothers, 69 00:05:32.089 --> 00:05:36.360 the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those 70 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:40.920 who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as 71 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:44.079 though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not 72 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:47.040 rejoicing, and those who buy as those as though they had no goods, 73 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:50.670 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it, 74 00:05:51.269 --> 00:05:57.670 for the present form of this were world is passing away. I want 75 00:05:57.670 --> 00:06:01.110 you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things 76 00:06:01.189 --> 00:06:04.259 of the Lord, how to please the Lord, but the married man is 77 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:09.180 anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are 78 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:13.980 divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is is anxious about the things of 79 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:17.019 the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit, but the married 80 00:06:17.019 --> 00:06:21.529 woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say 81 00:06:21.569 --> 00:06:26.649 this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint on you, but 82 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:31.250 to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. If 83 00:06:31.329 --> 00:06:35.959 anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his beloved or betrothed. If 84 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:40.480 his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as 85 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:44.319 he wishes. Let them marry. It is no sin. But whoever is 86 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:48.509 firmly established in his heart, being undernown necessity but having his desire under control, 87 00:06:48.550 --> 00:06:53.069 he has determined this in his heart to keep her as as betrothed, 88 00:06:53.389 --> 00:06:57.269 he will do well. So then, he who marries his betrothed does well 89 00:06:57.750 --> 00:07:01.019 and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. A wife is bound 90 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:04.339 to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, 91 00:07:04.860 --> 00:07:09.259 she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 92 00:07:09.259 --> 00:07:12.860 Yet in my judgment, she is happier if she remains as he is, 93 00:07:13.019 --> 00:07:15.810 as she is, and I think that I too have the spirit of 94 00:07:15.970 --> 00:07:28.610 God. Hey, God bless his word to us. So here in our 95 00:07:28.649 --> 00:07:30.920 passage, as I mentioned in this is totally obvious from what I read. 96 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:34.160 Paul talks about marriage right, he talks about it a lot. He talks 97 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:41.160 about being married and being unmarried and how we think about each situation. And 98 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:46.430 what he does is he walks us through various scenarios various life situations in which 99 00:07:46.470 --> 00:07:50.110 you might find yourself in, and he helps us think each one in the 100 00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:57.589 various categories about who should get married and who shouldn't. So if you're looking 101 00:07:57.629 --> 00:08:01.459 for advice on this topic right now, it would do you well to pay 102 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:05.980 attention. But even if you're not, this passage has great value for you. 103 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:11.100 For One, knowing God's will in these matters can give you the tools 104 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:16.730 that you need to prepare for the future or perhaps fix something in the present, 105 00:08:16.850 --> 00:08:20.449 or perhaps help someone else in their situation. It's never a bad thing 106 00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:26.360 to know what God's will is on just about anything. Another reason it might 107 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:31.759 be a benefit to you is this. Paul's discussion on marriage here is a 108 00:08:31.960 --> 00:08:37.879 great example of how Christians ought to think through any of life's important choices. 109 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:41.549 Now, of course, some of what he says here is specifically tied to 110 00:08:41.669 --> 00:08:46.509 marriage and some of what he says is even more specifically tied to the church, 111 00:08:46.590 --> 00:08:50.590 as it is in Corinth. But nevertheless, the way he thinks, 112 00:08:50.710 --> 00:08:58.659 the way he argues and reasons morally about these life choices is a provides an 113 00:08:58.740 --> 00:09:01.379 example for us about how we can think through other things, even not related 114 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:05.500 to marriage. There's lots that we can learn from his example and his guidance 115 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:11.570 here. And the third thing I'll mentioned is that Paul takes marriage as much 116 00:09:11.570 --> 00:09:15.049 as it is here and he places it in a bigger context. He puts 117 00:09:15.090 --> 00:09:18.730 it in a bigger perspective. That helps us to know God better. So 118 00:09:20.889 --> 00:09:24.960 let's consider now the core of what he's saying about marriage, and it begins 119 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:30.399 with the question that I didn't read, but it is found in verse one 120 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:33.360 and I'll read that now. The question comes as kind of a thesis statement. 121 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.669 Right, if you remember in school, your teachers make you write, 122 00:09:37.750 --> 00:09:43.230 you know, your thesis statement and then you have to defend it. Paul 123 00:09:43.429 --> 00:09:46.110 is given a thesis and these asked what he thinks about it. And here's 124 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:50.909 the thesis in Verse One. It is good for a man not to have 125 00:09:52.190 --> 00:09:56.419 sexual relations with a woman. So that's the thesis. It is good for 126 00:09:56.539 --> 00:10:00.460 a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. True or false? 127 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:03.259 Right is it would be the question. And Paul doesn't answer that way. 128 00:10:03.340 --> 00:10:09.210 His answer is it depends, as most good moral reasoning does answer. So 129 00:10:09.889 --> 00:10:16.169 what Paul says is simply this. While in most cases this is true in 130 00:10:16.330 --> 00:10:22.799 the context of marriage. It's not not true. It's not good to refrain 131 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:28.320 from marital intimacy in marriage, and in verses two through five. To review 132 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:33.039 from what we covered previously, it's not only good, but it's it's necessary 133 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:37.389 that a husband and wife give themselves to each other and not deprive one another. 134 00:10:39.309 --> 00:10:43.070 You know that in life there are things that belong only in one place. 135 00:10:45.149 --> 00:10:50.019 Though you might be able to use them outside of that place, outside 136 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:54.700 of their intended context, you would perhaps ruin them or do damage to other 137 00:10:54.820 --> 00:11:01.139 things. Imagine you had a very expensive set of dishes that was only used 138 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:05.730 for a very specific purpose at a very specific time, and you tell your 139 00:11:05.769 --> 00:11:09.210 kid to set the table and you find them pulling all the expensive stuff and 140 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:13.169 throwing it out on the table. No, that's grandma special dishes. We 141 00:11:13.250 --> 00:11:18.639 don't use that here. Right. Sure, you could use them for that 142 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:24.080 purpose. They're capable of holding food, but that's not what they're for and 143 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:28.519 that's why they're capt in a special cabinet in a special place. Another example 144 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:33.830 might be a judge's gavel. Right, it's not a hammer. It's perhaps 145 00:11:33.990 --> 00:11:39.149 capable of hammering things, but it's not a hammer, it's a gavel. 146 00:11:39.269 --> 00:11:41.990 It even has a special name, it has a special form, it's put 147 00:11:43.070 --> 00:11:50.179 kept in a special place. Marital intimacy is like that. Sure, the 148 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:54.379 physical act of touching in these ways can be done outside of marriage, but 149 00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:58.980 when it does happen that way, it debases the thing and it causes all 150 00:11:58.059 --> 00:12:03.330 kinds of problems because, like the gavel, or like the set of China 151 00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:09.610 or or, marital intimacy has a special place and a special purpose, and 152 00:12:09.690 --> 00:12:15.169 when it's used for that, good things happen. We considered before how it 153 00:12:15.330 --> 00:12:20.480 creates a bond between a husband and wife, it renews and creates this covenant 154 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:26.360 of one flesh and which each is for the other, and it creates children 155 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:31.110 which are, in a way, the one flesh to becoming one. And 156 00:12:31.309 --> 00:12:39.789 for these reasons marital innacy is wonderful and good. But then we get to 157 00:12:39.830 --> 00:12:43.070 the end of verse five and we find out that Paul has more to say 158 00:12:43.070 --> 00:12:48.259 about the answer to this question. Is this thesis true? He affirms its 159 00:12:48.379 --> 00:12:52.460 goodness in a certain place, but then he has more to say, and 160 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:56.940 he says this in verse six. He says now, as a concession, 161 00:12:56.299 --> 00:13:00.769 not as a command, I say this, and this is what he says. 162 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:07.009 I wish that all were as myself am, and he clarifies what he 163 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:11.610 means by that in verse eight when he says it is good for them to 164 00:13:11.690 --> 00:13:16.960 remain single, as I am. In other words, Paul wants a to 165 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:22.720 know that though those sex within marriage is a good thing, that doesn't mean 166 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:28.029 that everybody should get married. In fact, he says singleness is preferable, 167 00:13:28.470 --> 00:13:33.870 it's the better option and he wishes it for everyone, but he's very careful 168 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:37.269 in the way that he says it. Notice the distinctions that he makes. 169 00:13:37.950 --> 00:13:41.899 He is careful, though he prefers it, and from an apostle that carries 170 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:45.700 a lot of weight, and he'll give reasons for that. Though he prefers 171 00:13:45.740 --> 00:13:50.340 it, he doesn't command it for everyone. Why? Well, he has 172 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:56.769 several reasons. One is that it would undermine what he just said about marriage 173 00:13:56.049 --> 00:14:01.769 if he were to now command everyone to be single. But the reason that 174 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:07.210 he gives that comes in verse six rather in verse seven, is this each 175 00:14:07.450 --> 00:14:13.000 has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. 176 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:16.799 So Paul can say, well, I wish that everyone were single. 177 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:22.519 I think there would be really great things about that. He says in another 178 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:26.669 way, I don't wish it, because everybody has their own gift from God 179 00:14:26.830 --> 00:14:35.070 and it is right that each acts according to that gift. So then that 180 00:14:35.230 --> 00:14:39.299 leads us into this long section about. Well, now what Paul? Who 181 00:14:39.460 --> 00:14:43.299 should marry and who shouldn't be married, who should stay single and and who 182 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:48.580 should seek marriage age? And he lists a whole bunch of different categories. 183 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:54.250 Let me, let me list some of those for you now. Paul addresses 184 00:14:54.690 --> 00:14:58.289 single people who have never been married. He address a single people struggling to 185 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:03.090 control sexual desire. He talks to married people. He talks to married People's 186 00:15:03.090 --> 00:15:07.559 whose spouses want to leave them because now they've become Christians. He talks to 187 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:13.799 married people whose spouses have died. He talks about to people who are about 188 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:16.879 to get married and also to people who are about to get married but are 189 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:22.190 not being chased in the period of their engagement. So, depending on how 190 00:15:22.230 --> 00:15:26.509 you divide these things up, there somewhere between six to seven, eight maybe 191 00:15:26.629 --> 00:15:31.389 different categories of people that he's mentions. So what's the right thing to do? 192 00:15:31.789 --> 00:15:35.299 Well, it depends. Right a lot of things in life are like 193 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:41.379 this. Our life choices, they depend on the situations we find ourselves in. 194 00:15:43.299 --> 00:15:46.940 Now, some of us are in, I'd say all of us are 195 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:50.330 in one or another of these situations. Some of us have been through a 196 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:54.690 few of them. Paul has something to say for everyone here, and let's 197 00:15:54.730 --> 00:15:58.809 go through these different categories and think just how does he answer the question? 198 00:16:00.049 --> 00:16:03.840 So what I'll do is I'll address each category and pull together the various verses 199 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:08.000 that we find throughout the chapter in what his answer to that question is. 200 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:14.639 All Right, here we go. So the first one. Are you unmarried 201 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:21.710 and able to remain unmarried? Are you able to control your desires? That 202 00:16:21.950 --> 00:16:25.909 that's a question. The answer is then you should. If you are unmarried 203 00:16:25.950 --> 00:16:30.190 and able to remain unmarried, then you should stay single. That's not because 204 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:33.820 marriage is bad, Paul says in verse Thirty Six. It is no sin, 205 00:16:34.940 --> 00:16:40.460 but because being free from the obligation of marriage allows you to give yourself 206 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:45.500 more freely to God and perhaps others as well. We also see in verse 207 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:48.970 seven that Paul, as we've read Paul, prefers singleness. In verse eight 208 00:16:49.129 --> 00:16:52.690 he says to the unmarried and the Widows, I say that is good for 209 00:16:52.769 --> 00:16:57.809 them to remain single, as I am. In Verse Thirty Eight he sums 210 00:16:57.850 --> 00:17:03.080 up and he says, he who marries his betrothed does well and he who 211 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:07.440 refrains from marriage will do even better. In Verse Twenty Six, Twenty Six, 212 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.079 he says. I think that, in view of the present distress, 213 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:15.000 it is good for a person to remain as he is now. This, 214 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:18.789 of course, applies to married people, but it applies to single people to 215 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:23.549 let me pause just here and talk about what this present distress is. There 216 00:17:23.630 --> 00:17:27.789 was a famine. There were multiple famines and food shortages during this time, 217 00:17:29.390 --> 00:17:32.460 and so there was a lot of stress in the world. You can read, 218 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:38.700 you can imagine what famine would do and you can read in both in 219 00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:42.059 the New Testament and outside of the New Testament. What happened is, when 220 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:48.410 there is food shortages, we experience something not too long ago where we didn't 221 00:17:48.450 --> 00:17:52.049 have a shortage but it was difficult to get right. We went into the 222 00:17:52.089 --> 00:17:57.049 grocery stores that there was no milk, there were aisles with empty things. 223 00:17:57.410 --> 00:18:02.480 And how did that had? How did that go, where people calm and 224 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:07.559 relaxed, the people just take what they needed and shared a lot, or 225 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:12.390 did it create a lot of stress and anxiety and frustration and confusion? Food 226 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:18.430 shortages can cause riots. Food shortages cause anarchy, great disruptions, all kinds 227 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:23.150 of things happen and during this time in Corinth and particular, there were food 228 00:18:23.269 --> 00:18:30.220 shortages and it was not good. We have records of one wealthy person basically 229 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:34.180 bailing everybody out, I believe. I for I think it was he. 230 00:18:34.420 --> 00:18:37.700 I forget whether he provided the grain or he sold it at a low cost, 231 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:42.329 but he had done this multiple times and we know this because their inscriptions 232 00:18:42.450 --> 00:18:45.490 to this man, I'm all over, that we find in the city of 233 00:18:45.609 --> 00:18:49.609 Corinth during this time, multiple times and in a way that wasn't received by 234 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:56.319 anyone else, for him being this benefactor and basically saving, saving the city. 235 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.400 It was a stressful, stressful time, and so people, in the 236 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:06.599 middle of this big, stressful time, are asking what about marriage, I 237 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.920 mean, is this a good time to get married? And Paul says better 238 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:15.990 to stay we're you are better to remain as you are, in a broader 239 00:19:15.069 --> 00:19:18.670 way, not tied to the particular present distress. In Verse Twenty eight he 240 00:19:18.750 --> 00:19:23.940 says those who marry have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that by 241 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:29.700 worldly troubles he doesn't mean sinful things, he means things of this present age 242 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:34.140 things that are passing away. And then finally, in verse forty, to 243 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:40.210 the widow who decides not to remain mayor or or not to remarry. He 244 00:19:40.329 --> 00:19:45.009 says, in my judgment, she is happier if she remains as she is. 245 00:19:45.289 --> 00:19:48.650 I think Paul adds in my judgment there is a way to qualify a 246 00:19:48.809 --> 00:19:53.880 statement just a little bit. He doesn't know every single widow that ever has 247 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:59.759 been or ever will be and their particular situations. He speaking in a broad 248 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:03.839 way, of to a broad category, and says it is my judgment that 249 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.269 this is typically how things are. She would be better to remain as she 250 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:12.150 is. Well, this is the longest of these sections and it reminds us 251 00:20:12.190 --> 00:20:17.230 how much, and perhaps a way that might surprise you, how much emphasis 252 00:20:17.309 --> 00:20:23.500 Paul puts on the preference for singleness. If you have ever doubt that this 253 00:20:23.619 --> 00:20:27.180 is the case, I'm just take a look at these verses and see what 254 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:33.140 he says. singleness is not a second class category for Paul. It's not 255 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:40.450 a problem or a thing to be avoided at all costs. Paul says it's 256 00:20:40.490 --> 00:20:42.569 great, you'll be happier, you'll be freer from will they troubles? Go 257 00:20:42.769 --> 00:20:45.289 for it, if you can do it, this is a good thing and 258 00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:51.240 a gift from God. So for this category of people, if you are 259 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:55.759 unmarried and able to remain unmarried, go for it, do it. It's 260 00:20:55.759 --> 00:21:00.240 a good thing. That's what the Scripture says. The next category deals with 261 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:06.309 unmarried people who are struggling, however, to control their sexual desires and to 262 00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:11.470 then Paul says you should get married. So in verse nine he says if 263 00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:15.710 they cannot exercise self control, they should marry, for it is better to 264 00:21:15.910 --> 00:21:19.619 marry than to burn with passion. In Verse Thirty Seven, he says those 265 00:21:19.660 --> 00:21:26.619 who remain unmarried are those who can keep their desire under control. In Verse 266 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:30.180 Thirty six, Paul, as will get to in a minute, speaks to 267 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:36.609 those who have who are engaged to be married, but are not being chased 268 00:21:36.769 --> 00:21:40.009 in it, and he says get married. It's not a sin. Not 269 00:21:40.170 --> 00:21:44.369 Their fornication. That's a sin, but getting married is not a sin and 270 00:21:44.490 --> 00:21:48.599 they should do it. And then again, in Verse Twenty Eightc he says 271 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:52.839 if you do marry, you have not sinned. So you notice the balance 272 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:56.359 here. Just as Paul emphasizes his preference for this state of singleness, he 273 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:02.029 doesn't make unmarried people feel like they've done something sinful. In fact, he 274 00:22:02.069 --> 00:22:06.990 says two times explicitly, you have not sinned. He tells us that it 275 00:22:07.109 --> 00:22:11.109 is a good thing and not something to feel bad about her guilty about. 276 00:22:11.269 --> 00:22:17.539 Marriage is God's ordinance and we do well, he says, to get married. 277 00:22:17.579 --> 00:22:21.740 All right. Next up, are you married? What do you do 278 00:22:21.859 --> 00:22:26.339 then? Stay married. That's what Paul says. A Verse Twenty Six. 279 00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:29.460 I think that, in view of the present distress, remain as you are, 280 00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:32.930 as we mentioned. In verse ten, he says to married. I 281 00:22:33.049 --> 00:22:36.369 give this charge, not I, but the Lord. The wife should not 282 00:22:36.450 --> 00:22:41.250 separate from her husband, and the husband should not divorce his wife. The 283 00:22:42.329 --> 00:22:45.599 in Verse Twenty Nine, he says a wife is bound to her husband as 284 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:52.039 long as he lives, and that applies to husband's as well. And when 285 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.680 we are to be married, we should not take a part of what God 286 00:22:55.759 --> 00:23:03.950 has put together. Next, what if someone leaves you or dies? He 287 00:23:03.109 --> 00:23:07.750 says, then you are free to remarry. The first part about being left 288 00:23:07.789 --> 00:23:14.339 specific. He applies to a specific question that they have, and that's this 289 00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:18.460 question of conversion. Right. So imagine that you are married, you're living 290 00:23:18.500 --> 00:23:22.740 with your spouse and neither of you trust or follow Christ. And then one 291 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:27.609 of you becomes a Christian. Does your identity and Christ is your now being 292 00:23:27.809 --> 00:23:33.890 owned by him, belonging to him, change your relationship with your spouse in 293 00:23:34.049 --> 00:23:40.049 such a way that you should divorce that person? Paul Says No, remain 294 00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:42.279 married, and he gives various reasons for that, which we won't go into 295 00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:48.240 now, but he says remain married. This is in versus twelve through sixteen. 296 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:55.000 Remain married. But if your spouse says I'm out, I don't want 297 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:57.630 anything to do with this, I'm not willing to remain, then you are 298 00:23:57.990 --> 00:24:03.950 free to remarry. Similarly, he says that in verse thirty nine and following 299 00:24:04.829 --> 00:24:14.500 that, if a spouse dies, person is free to remarry. Now, 300 00:24:14.579 --> 00:24:18.420 what if you are engaged to be married and you become a Christian or you're 301 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:25.250 under this present distress? Should you call it off right and Paul Says No, 302 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:29.130 remain as you are. Go ahead and get married. You have not 303 00:24:29.329 --> 00:24:32.970 sinned. So he says this in Verse Twenty Seven. If you're bound to 304 00:24:33.130 --> 00:24:37.329 a wife and he doesn't meet here, that you are already married but bound 305 00:24:37.490 --> 00:24:41.559 to marry this person. That's what he means if you're bound to a wife, 306 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.240 do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? 307 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:49.240 Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not 308 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:56.109 sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. But 309 00:24:56.190 --> 00:25:00.029 then he says, whoever in Verse Thirty Seven, whoever has a step who's 310 00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:06.190 firmly established in his own heart, being under no necessity the but having again 311 00:25:06.309 --> 00:25:10.940 his desire under control, he has determined this in his heart, to keep 312 00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:15.819 her as his betrothed, he will do well. Now, when Paul says 313 00:25:15.900 --> 00:25:19.859 keep her as his betrothed, he doesn't mean keep her in a perpetual state 314 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:23.490 of engagement. Right. That's not a good thing. Right, don't marry 315 00:25:23.490 --> 00:25:26.849 her just if you he's not saying if you have decided that you don't need 316 00:25:26.890 --> 00:25:30.569 to get married, just keep her constantly engaged. That's not what he's saying. 317 00:25:33.009 --> 00:25:37.400 That would be cruel. The word here for betrothed, or or it 318 00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:45.480 couldn't means means something like of marriable age, someone who is unmarried. Sometimes, 319 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:51.470 it is translated, is engaged, sometimes virgins, sometime as young woman. 320 00:25:52.309 --> 00:25:56.950 But basically he's saying let her remain in that state, keep her not 321 00:25:57.190 --> 00:26:02.750 as your own, but do not marry her. Essentially, if you've decided 322 00:26:03.589 --> 00:26:12.339 that, you can be single and would do well, you can remain as 323 00:26:12.339 --> 00:26:19.009 you are or or stay unmarried. Now, what if you are engaging in 324 00:26:19.690 --> 00:26:25.569 unchaste ways, if you are having sex while you are engaged, and Paul 325 00:26:25.650 --> 00:26:30.250 says get married? Sex outside of marriage is sin, but getting married is 326 00:26:30.410 --> 00:26:36.079 not. And again that goes back to this principle of dealing with our desires 327 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:40.960 in proper ways. All right, there we made it through. We went 328 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.559 through the different categories that Paul mentions and we talked about the the advice that 329 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:49.349 he gives under each now, that's a lot, right, and if this 330 00:26:49.470 --> 00:26:52.549 is the first time you've heard it, that can be a lot to take 331 00:26:52.630 --> 00:26:55.750 in. It can feel kind of overwhelming, kind of hard to hold in 332 00:26:55.829 --> 00:26:59.789 your head all at the same time. That's okay, it's there. You 333 00:26:59.869 --> 00:27:03.660 can go back to it, you can read it again, but take this 334 00:27:03.700 --> 00:27:07.779 away and I'll give you a summary as well. First of all, remember 335 00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:14.019 that various situations require very different responses. We ought to be sensitive to that. 336 00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:18.490 It's an important part of wisdom, and so take that away with you. 337 00:27:18.089 --> 00:27:22.250 Take away the sense of I it's important for me to be sensitive to 338 00:27:22.410 --> 00:27:27.690 my situation and then to think about that according to the principles of God's word. 339 00:27:27.690 --> 00:27:33.119 And if we were to summarize all the advice together, we might say 340 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:38.359 something like this. If sexual immorality is getting you into trouble, then you 341 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:42.680 should get married and put sex in its proper place. It's no sin to 342 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:48.390 get married. Indeed it's a good thing and you do well, but if 343 00:27:48.430 --> 00:27:52.750 it's not necessary, you do well to remain single, and in fact it's 344 00:27:52.750 --> 00:27:56.069 even better. So then he who marries his betrothed does well and he who 345 00:27:56.150 --> 00:28:06.299 refrains from marriage does even better. So this are the rules that Paul gives. 346 00:28:06.740 --> 00:28:10.980 This is the guidance that he gives. Now, all that we've had 347 00:28:11.140 --> 00:28:15.210 so far gives us a lot of help. But in addition to giving these 348 00:28:15.250 --> 00:28:21.569 specific guidances or rules, Paul gets underneath them and gives them, gives us 349 00:28:21.569 --> 00:28:26.400 the reasons why. He helps us understand the reasons behind them, and we 350 00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:34.160 do well to get them into our system. What is guiding these decisions? 351 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:37.920 ARE THEY RANDOM? Are they just Paul's you know, I think this and 352 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:41.670 I think that, and the seems like a good idea, and that doesn't 353 00:28:41.109 --> 00:28:47.470 or is there some kind of deeper moral logic that is leading him to each 354 00:28:47.670 --> 00:28:53.269 conclusion in each of these situations? Well, it's the latter. Paul has 355 00:28:53.670 --> 00:28:57.819 a way of viewing the world, a way that a Christian way of viewing 356 00:28:57.859 --> 00:29:03.700 the world that he wants us to adopt. There's a lot of different situations 357 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:07.579 here, right, but you know what, there's even more and more specific 358 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:10.529 things. You might say. Well, yeah, I see myself in this 359 00:29:10.849 --> 00:29:14.609 category, but what about this and this and this? How do I decide 360 00:29:14.609 --> 00:29:18.650 about those things? Paul doesn't give me explicit instructions. The scripture is certainly 361 00:29:18.809 --> 00:29:23.049 complete in everything that it tells us, but it's not exhaustive. If the 362 00:29:23.170 --> 00:29:29.680 Bible told us the exact rule for every situation, can you imagine how big 363 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:33.359 that book would be, how impossible it would be to read and to memorize 364 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:38.670 and know that? So God doesn't tell us every single thing that we ought 365 00:29:38.710 --> 00:29:45.589 to do in every single situation, infinite number of things. So instead what 366 00:29:45.670 --> 00:29:48.990 he does is he gives us a framework for how to think about life, 367 00:29:48.869 --> 00:29:56.140 so that then adopting that framework and adopting on these principles that accord with our 368 00:29:56.180 --> 00:30:00.019 situation, that accord with realiti is it is that accord with what God who 369 00:30:00.059 --> 00:30:03.779 God is, and what he's doing, we can then go and we can 370 00:30:03.859 --> 00:30:12.049 make wise decisions, even in situations that he doesn't explicitly addressed address. So 371 00:30:12.690 --> 00:30:21.130 what add what are those things? And will conclude with this. One of 372 00:30:21.170 --> 00:30:25.759 the big ones. The the the river which all of these streams and washes 373 00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:32.880 like are flowing down this watershed to, is expressed in the latter part of 374 00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:37.950 this chapter. He says in Verse Thirty Five, I say this for your 375 00:30:37.990 --> 00:30:41.150 own benefit, not to lay any astraint on you, but to promote good 376 00:30:41.190 --> 00:30:48.990 order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. To promote good order 377 00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:57.380 and secure undivided devotion to the Lord. This corresponds to what he says before 378 00:30:57.539 --> 00:31:02.980 about each one of US living wisely according to the own gift that we have. 379 00:31:03.410 --> 00:31:07.730 When this happens, this or this happens when a single person is not 380 00:31:07.890 --> 00:31:11.210 burdened by marriage and when the married person is not burdened by burning desire. 381 00:31:12.329 --> 00:31:18.799 In this both married people and single people find freedom and greater devotion to God. 382 00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:22.599 This is the big thing that he's after, that we together, as 383 00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:29.160 a Church of people under the name of Jesus Christ, are single minded, 384 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:34.430 undivided in our devotion to God and secure and promote among ourselves and in our 385 00:31:34.509 --> 00:31:42.549 lives good order. Paul says in coloring a Corinthians, Colossians to fifteen, 386 00:31:44.069 --> 00:31:48.220 that he rejoices at seeing this among them, Colossians two five, he says, 387 00:31:48.259 --> 00:31:51.859 for though I am absent in the body, I am with you in 388 00:31:51.980 --> 00:31:56.660 spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and your firmness of your faith. 389 00:31:59.180 --> 00:32:01.769 So we think about how we make this decision or that decision, ask yourself, 390 00:32:02.569 --> 00:32:07.250 am I rejoicing at these things? Am I aiming at these things? 391 00:32:07.569 --> 00:32:13.049 Am I looking to live my life according to good order and undivided devotion to 392 00:32:13.130 --> 00:32:16.720 the Lord? How important are those two things to you? Is there one 393 00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:22.039 or the other that you tend to ignore? Some of us, I think 394 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:25.640 some of us, are devoted to good order, but in a way that 395 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:30.750 misses the point of the order, like always keeping your house clean but never 396 00:32:30.910 --> 00:32:37.750 really enjoying it. Others say they are devoted to God but don't really show 397 00:32:37.869 --> 00:32:44.109 that in a consistent way because they don't devote or order their time in their 398 00:32:44.190 --> 00:32:47.619 space in ways that they need to in order to show that devotion to God. 399 00:32:49.900 --> 00:32:52.579 We're not really devoted to order, or where, I should say, 400 00:32:52.579 --> 00:32:58.140 we're not really devoted to God if we are live lives in good order, 401 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:00.849 if we don't put him first, are we devoted to good order? You 402 00:33:00.970 --> 00:33:06.730 see the way that these things go together. It's not one against the other, 403 00:33:06.849 --> 00:33:10.529 but like a good marriage, they go together. So this is Paul's 404 00:33:10.569 --> 00:33:15.720 goal here. Is applies to intimate relationships in the church and as we keep 405 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:21.400 that in mind, not our culture, not our feelings in the moment, 406 00:33:21.559 --> 00:33:27.589 not anything else, but God first and what he wants, and live our 407 00:33:27.670 --> 00:33:31.549 lives in an orderly and devoted way to him. That's what Paul's after. 408 00:33:34.269 --> 00:33:37.430 How do we do that, though? How do we achieve that big goal? 409 00:33:39.789 --> 00:33:43.740 And Paul gives us, if I could put it this way and summarize 410 00:33:43.779 --> 00:33:46.859 some of the things he says, he gives us four steps. The first 411 00:33:46.900 --> 00:33:51.779 is that we believe what God has given, each our own gift and in 412 00:33:51.859 --> 00:33:57.930 their own way. We take account for things as they really are in our 413 00:33:58.009 --> 00:34:04.170 lives. If you struggle controlling your passions and your desires, be honest about 414 00:34:04.250 --> 00:34:07.849 that. Don't act like that's not the case. Just be honest about it 415 00:34:08.489 --> 00:34:14.079 and if you don't, just be honest about it. Just be wise to 416 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:19.320 how things really are. Be Wise to your present circumstances, be wise to 417 00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:22.960 the situations that you find yourself in. If you're in the middle of a 418 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:29.389 present distress, notice it, pay attention to it and then live your lives 419 00:34:29.469 --> 00:34:36.550 accordingly. The second thing that we do is we remain open to change. 420 00:34:37.550 --> 00:34:40.900 Notice how Paul says this in relationship to bond servants. He says if you're 421 00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:45.420 a Christian and you're a servant, a slave or a bond servant, don't 422 00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:52.739 seek to you don't have to immediately change that because of your Christianity, but 423 00:34:52.289 --> 00:34:55.130 if you have the opportunity to get free, go ahead and do that, 424 00:34:55.530 --> 00:34:59.929 because that's a good thing. Freedom is a good thing, right. So 425 00:35:00.289 --> 00:35:04.050 notice how Paul says. Respect the situation that you're in, but be open 426 00:35:04.289 --> 00:35:08.920 to the fact of change, especially when change leads to better things. Our 427 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:14.199 lives are not static. Our lives are full of change. Things are constantly 428 00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:17.639 moving and shifting, relationships are changing. We need to be prepared for that. 429 00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:22.909 We need to be open to that and ready to move toward God in 430 00:35:22.110 --> 00:35:28.789 orderly ways, as he calls us to. And the final thing that we 431 00:35:28.829 --> 00:35:32.269 would remember relates to both of things that have come before, is that these 432 00:35:32.550 --> 00:35:38.099 present states, partly because they're changing so much, don't really count for too 433 00:35:38.179 --> 00:35:43.340 much, at least in the ultimate scheme of things, and because of that 434 00:35:43.619 --> 00:35:52.329 we ought to live our lives accordingly. Paul says some pretty controversial, is 435 00:35:52.449 --> 00:35:55.969 perhaps one way to put it, things when he says in Verse Twenty Nine, 436 00:35:57.010 --> 00:36:00.730 this is what I mean, brothers, the appointed time has grown very 437 00:36:00.809 --> 00:36:05.880 short. From now on, he's talking about the time between now and when 438 00:36:05.880 --> 00:36:09.559 Jesus returns. From now on, let those who have lives live as though 439 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:15.880 they had none. What is Paul saying? Right? He just told us 440 00:36:15.880 --> 00:36:19.550 that it's good to get married and stay married and devote yourself to them, 441 00:36:19.630 --> 00:36:22.030 and you owe these obligations to them, and now he's saying live as though 442 00:36:22.070 --> 00:36:29.150 you weren't married. It helps to read on, he says, and those 443 00:36:29.150 --> 00:36:32.059 who mourn is though they weren't mourning, and those who rejoices though they weren't 444 00:36:32.059 --> 00:36:36.340 rejoicing, and those who buys those they had no goods, and those who 445 00:36:36.460 --> 00:36:39.099 deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. So, 446 00:36:39.219 --> 00:36:44.980 as Paul saying out of two sides of his mouth, be aware of your 447 00:36:45.099 --> 00:36:50.329 reality and respect it, and then ignore your reality and disregard it. No, 448 00:36:51.809 --> 00:36:55.250 he's sang two different things, not opposing things. He's saying pay attention 449 00:36:55.530 --> 00:37:00.690 to the situation that you were in, but remember the keep it in the 450 00:37:00.730 --> 00:37:05.280 larger perspective. And we know that because of the way he concludes, the 451 00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:08.199 reason that he gives at the end of verse Thirty One, for the present 452 00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:14.400 form of this world is passing away. It's much like we find throughout the 453 00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:17.030 rest of the scriptures. It's not wrong to earn money, it's good to 454 00:37:17.150 --> 00:37:21.670 earn money, but don't store it up and store houses thinking that's going to 455 00:37:21.989 --> 00:37:27.829 save you from everything or or the trials and tribulations that we often want to 456 00:37:27.909 --> 00:37:31.539 be saved from. Don't think that those are going to last forever. Don't 457 00:37:31.579 --> 00:37:35.420 think that the thing that you're suffering under, are, the state that you're 458 00:37:35.460 --> 00:37:39.380 in, is is going to be the way it always is. Life change 459 00:37:39.539 --> 00:37:44.369 is, life moves. The present form of this world is passing away and 460 00:37:44.449 --> 00:37:49.210 God is going to bring something solid and stable and complete at the end, 461 00:37:49.250 --> 00:37:55.610 and so hold things lightly. Get married, be married, be a great 462 00:37:55.730 --> 00:38:00.960 spouse, do well, but don't treat your spouse as a god don't treat 463 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:06.079 your spouse as though that marriage and that relationship is going to save you from 464 00:38:06.119 --> 00:38:10.800 everything, because, you know what, it won't. Or don't think that. 465 00:38:12.119 --> 00:38:15.829 Okay, that's good, I'm not struggling with sexual desires, I can 466 00:38:15.909 --> 00:38:20.829 remain single, and in my singleness I will, repeat, really reach some 467 00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:25.110 sort of perfect a holy state in which I will be singlemindedly devoted to the 468 00:38:25.230 --> 00:38:30.780 Lord and all will be well, with no problems in my life. No, 469 00:38:31.179 --> 00:38:37.300 it's passing away. It's passing away. We need to respect the gifts 470 00:38:37.340 --> 00:38:42.329 that God has given us, enjoy the stations that we are in, but 471 00:38:42.530 --> 00:38:46.730 not cling to them as though they were God himself, as though there wasn't 472 00:38:46.769 --> 00:38:57.679 something greater coming. And with that framework, with that thing in mind, 473 00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:02.440 we can approach all kinds of life situations, whether it's should I marry or 474 00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:07.119 should I not? Should I get this job or should I not? On 475 00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:10.789 what's the next move in this situation? If we think about the end in 476 00:39:10.869 --> 00:39:15.030 mind, if we think about who god is and what he's after, if 477 00:39:15.110 --> 00:39:19.429 we think about the things that are coming in relation to the things that are, 478 00:39:19.789 --> 00:39:22.670 if we think about the things that are as they really are, we 479 00:39:22.789 --> 00:39:30.340 begin to get wisdom about the world. Wisdom is about operating from from principle, 480 00:39:31.500 --> 00:39:37.769 according to truth, according to reality as it really is, both physical 481 00:39:37.929 --> 00:39:49.289 reality, providential moral reality and moral reality. I'll give you a good example 482 00:39:49.369 --> 00:39:55.360 and then I'll close. A woodworker who tries to make a wood bench out 483 00:39:55.400 --> 00:40:00.719 of plastic is not operating according to reality. He is not a wise, 484 00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:06.599 skillful wood worker. He's not even working with wood. Right, you don't 485 00:40:06.719 --> 00:40:09.510 get to make a wood bench out of plastic. He's not wise, he's 486 00:40:09.510 --> 00:40:14.429 a fool. This is this is what we are talking about when we're talking 487 00:40:14.429 --> 00:40:21.539 about living life wisely according to reality. But there's also a moral reality that 488 00:40:21.659 --> 00:40:25.019 he has to respect. If he takes his woodworking skills and he creates a 489 00:40:25.699 --> 00:40:31.500 really excellent idol, he has not done well. He is not acted wisely. 490 00:40:31.539 --> 00:40:37.090 Sure he is made a beautiful object, but one that is abhorrent to 491 00:40:37.210 --> 00:40:40.769 God, and so he a good word would worker, one that is faithful 492 00:40:40.809 --> 00:40:44.690 to the Lord, takes account of both of these things. The world as 493 00:40:44.730 --> 00:40:50.000 it really is, the moral order as it really is. Our problem is 494 00:40:50.119 --> 00:40:52.920 that we're all fools. Our problem is that we're stuck in our sins. 495 00:40:53.119 --> 00:40:59.880 Our problem is that we're controlled by our desires and this present world holds us, 496 00:41:00.039 --> 00:41:02.840 it enslaves us, and the devil's always wishing us in our ear, 497 00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:07.469 saying this is all there is, this is all there is. Grasp cling, 498 00:41:07.869 --> 00:41:15.110 hold fast, don't let go. And so we need a savior to 499 00:41:15.389 --> 00:41:22.059 point US outside of the things in life under this sun, outside of just 500 00:41:22.380 --> 00:41:25.860 the law and a moral order, to a hope that's a beyond those things. 501 00:41:28.699 --> 00:41:30.739 If we are to truly live for God, we have to put all 502 00:41:30.860 --> 00:41:37.610 of this wisdom in the perspective of the Gospel, because otherwise we just get 503 00:41:37.690 --> 00:41:40.369 clobbered by it. We hear the law that we ought to do this and 504 00:41:40.489 --> 00:41:45.769 this and this and do it wisely, and we say I'm undone because I'm 505 00:41:45.769 --> 00:41:50.960 already a mess, I've already put myself in all kinds of bad situations. 506 00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:55.960 I see no clear way out. The forget. The guilt of my sins 507 00:41:57.000 --> 00:42:06.030 is piling up and we feel crushed. What God does for us in Christ 508 00:42:07.269 --> 00:42:13.710 is he removes that guilt from us, he takes it away and he puts 509 00:42:13.789 --> 00:42:17.219 it on his own son, who dies, though he was not guilty, 510 00:42:17.260 --> 00:42:22.380 on a cross to forgive us our sins, to release us to service. 511 00:42:23.940 --> 00:42:29.380 He creates a relationship through his sacrifice on the cross that allows us not to 512 00:42:29.500 --> 00:42:34.369 be battling and at war with God all the time, constantly going against the 513 00:42:34.530 --> 00:42:40.610 grain, but have new hearts that love him from inside. How does that 514 00:42:40.650 --> 00:42:47.159 happen? How does that happen? It happens when the spirit of God comes 515 00:42:47.199 --> 00:42:53.960 into our lives and changes our hearts through the message that Jesus has come to 516 00:42:54.119 --> 00:42:58.989 forgive us our sins and lead us into a life that is beyond the things 517 00:42:59.070 --> 00:43:02.710 that are passing away. The scriptures tell us that when we put our faith 518 00:43:02.789 --> 00:43:07.550 in Jesus, we put our faith in something that is beyond the Sun. 519 00:43:08.389 --> 00:43:13.139 We put our faith in the one who made the sun. We put our 520 00:43:13.179 --> 00:43:17.699 faith in the one who is from everlasting to everlasting, the one who's steadfast 521 00:43:17.900 --> 00:43:25.300 love endures forever. The Gospel removes our enmity with God so that we can 522 00:43:25.579 --> 00:43:31.289 respect his gifts instead of fighting against them, ignoring them, despising them or 523 00:43:31.329 --> 00:43:38.690 worshiping them, but just respecting them. When Jesus removes our fighting against God 524 00:43:38.809 --> 00:43:45.280 and he creates stability and peace with him, we can take food and marriage 525 00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:53.159 and singleness and and dancing and music and whole kinds of things and just enjoy 526 00:43:53.360 --> 00:44:01.909 them for what they are, not as God's but is from God. The 527 00:44:02.070 --> 00:44:07.869 Gospel allows us to be open to change. When we clamor after the things 528 00:44:07.949 --> 00:44:10.139 of this world, when we make them our only hope, when we fear 529 00:44:10.219 --> 00:44:15.739 of them above all things, we're not trusting the Gospel. But the good 530 00:44:15.820 --> 00:44:20.139 news is of Jesus that easy comes to save us from all that and establish 531 00:44:20.179 --> 00:44:27.769 US permanently in him. And when we're established permanently in him we can relax. 532 00:44:28.969 --> 00:44:34.050 We can say so there's a present distress, so there's a famine, 533 00:44:34.170 --> 00:44:38.159 so there are foods, sort of just so, there's whatever. And sometimes 534 00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:45.039 that's really hard, really really hard and really scary. And that's when we 535 00:44:45.159 --> 00:44:47.480 have to remind ourselves over and over and over of what God has done. 536 00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:52.909 We have to remind ourselves and we have to be reminded by him, that 537 00:44:52.110 --> 00:44:57.989 things are going to be okay, that the sufferings of this present time is 538 00:44:58.030 --> 00:45:04.630 Paaul says, are not even worth comparing to the eternal weight of glory that 539 00:45:04.710 --> 00:45:08.380 is to be revealed when our Lord returns. It's not even worth compared. 540 00:45:08.420 --> 00:45:12.699 It like to stop. In other words, right if you try to take 541 00:45:12.739 --> 00:45:16.780 your present sufferings and compare them to what's coming in heaven and in Christ. 542 00:45:17.460 --> 00:45:22.849 Well, just stop. It's not even worth spending the time because the difference 543 00:45:22.889 --> 00:45:28.409 is so vastly great. What an encouraging thought that is, and that comes 544 00:45:28.449 --> 00:45:34.730 to us because of what Jesus has done for us. Jesus, in being 545 00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:44.199 our husband and we the bride as his church, in loving us the way 546 00:45:44.239 --> 00:45:49.760 that he did, in becoming one flesh with us as he has and joining 547 00:45:49.840 --> 00:45:53.630 us into his one body, he allows us to live in this world, 548 00:45:55.030 --> 00:46:00.150 this temporary world, in a temporary way and know that we are going to 549 00:46:00.349 --> 00:46:07.460 have permanent things, happy things, pleasurable things, in the love of God, 550 00:46:07.900 --> 00:46:14.659 in Christ forever. So my encouragement, of my charge to your beloved 551 00:46:15.179 --> 00:46:19.289 is look at this world and be wise to it, but also look to 552 00:46:19.369 --> 00:46:22.849 the things to come. Look to God, who has entered in this into 553 00:46:22.929 --> 00:46:28.849 this world to rescue you from the passing things and know that when you put 554 00:46:28.889 --> 00:46:32.039 your trust in him, you will be saved from the things that are passing 555 00:46:32.599 --> 00:46:37.800 and you will know how to act wisely in them as well. May God 556 00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:40.920 give us the grace to do all this in our marriages, in our singleness 557 00:46:42.280 --> 00:46:46.190 and in other places. Let's pray, our heavenly father, we thank you 558 00:46:46.309 --> 00:46:49.949 for your wisdom to us and we ask, a Lord, that you would 559 00:46:50.349 --> 00:46:53.269 renew our hearts and renew our minds according to your word, that we might 560 00:46:53.309 --> 00:46:59.789 move forward according to wisdom, wisdom not only of this world, but the 561 00:46:59.909 --> 00:47:04.099 wisdom that is but from above, wisdom that takes into account not only the 562 00:47:04.179 --> 00:47:07.739 law but the Gospel to and let us trust you, Lord, for the 563 00:47:07.860 --> 00:47:14.500 forgiveness of our sins. Let us not be broken down and in slaved to 564 00:47:14.619 --> 00:47:17.849 the things of the past, but instead, let us repent of them and 565 00:47:19.090 --> 00:47:23.050 turn into new life in Jesus Christ, turning away from the things that once 566 00:47:23.329 --> 00:47:30.679 aid US alive and enslaved us, to enslaved us to death, in turn 567 00:47:30.800 --> 00:47:35.960 to Jesus and the living way that was is provided in him. We ask, 568 00:47:36.079 --> 00:47:38.760 a spirit, that you would renew our hearts, that we might love 569 00:47:38.840 --> 00:47:45.030 you as we ought, that we might honor and glorify you as the one 570 00:47:45.429 --> 00:47:50.070 true God, not chasing after the things of this world, not fearing the 571 00:47:50.190 --> 00:47:52.989 things of this world more than we ought, but instead, oh Lord, 572 00:47:53.150 --> 00:47:59.820 seeing you in all things, seeking to devote ourselves to you in every way 573 00:48:00.380 --> 00:48:07.820 and living in good order, as you grant Lord, there are many trials 574 00:48:07.900 --> 00:48:10.699 and struggles that we deal with. Many of us came in here this morning 575 00:48:10.820 --> 00:48:19.170 with great heartaches and Sadnesses, regrets and troubles in our minds. We asked, 576 00:48:19.250 --> 00:48:21.889 Lord, that you would speak to each and everyone here in their own 577 00:48:21.969 --> 00:48:25.929 particular situation, that they might be freed, through the Gospel, to the 578 00:48:27.050 --> 00:48:32.039 joys that have, that are found in in Christ, that we might that 579 00:48:32.159 --> 00:48:36.679 we might all live in this world as you have called us to do and 580 00:48:36.800 --> 00:48:39.280 look forward to that which is to come. We pray this in Jesus name 581 00:48:39.679 --> 00:48:40.039 on men,