Of Marriage (part 1)

Good morning and welcome to Grace Church. Am I on?

Okay. If we have any first-time visitors with us today, if you'd please raise your hand, one of the ushers will be happy to provide you with some information, a packet of information actually, regarding life here at Grace. Turning now to the announcements. This evening, Larry Old, Pastor Larry Olden, will be preaching. From Joshua 1, verses 1 to 11.

And come join us on Wednesday night if you can. I'll be teaching a class on the topic of knowing God. And this week we're going to be looking at the holiness of God. And on Tuesday evening, the Women's Bible Study will be meeting. That's March the 8th at 7 p.m.

here in the Fellowship Hall. Are there any other announcements that needs to be brought forward this morning? Seeing none, I would ask you to please join me now as we prepare our hearts and our minds for worship. Please rise now and join me in. our call of worship.

Our call of worship today comes from Psalms 5. Verses 11 and 12.

Now, Psalm 5 tells us that God does, in fact, hear our prayers. Specifically, in verses 11 and 12, which we're going to be looking at this morning, David prays that God. would give us and give his people joy. and they would keep them safe. Hear now the word of God.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them ever sing for joy. and spread your protection over them. that those who love your name may exalt in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord.

You cover him with grace, with favor, as with a shield. Please join me now as we go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father. Almighty and gracious God, The one who was, who is, and who shall be forever. Your majesty and glory surround you.

and all that you have created. You are holy and righteous. Infinite in power, wisdom, and being. There is none like you. There's none beside you.

You alone are king of kings and lord of lords. Father, you are a good and loving God, and have spared not even the life of your only begotten Son. to rescue us, your adopted children. From the hold of Satan. In Christ, you have saved us.

And in the Holy Spirit, you perfect us. Your love for us is unconditional. and extends far beyond the scope of our human understanding. You have gone to extraordinary lengths and depths to pursue and to win us, and for that. We give you the praise, the honor, and the glory.

Father, we ask that you guard us from sin. And that your commandments be burned into our minds and into our hearts. And whenever we do sin, Be quick to bring us to repentance and cleanse us from our sinfulness. For Father the old self in us still rebels. But the new self in us desires to be holy and pleasing to you.

We ask that you strengthen us in the gospel, that we would hold fast to our union with Christ. Our justification by faith and our sanctification by the inward working of the Holy Spirit. Father, this morning we pray for those suffering from the war in Ukraine. Especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. Give them strength.

protection. and comfort during this time of devastation and destruction to their life. their liberty and their freedom. Deliver these people from the terrible evil that is upon them. That they might see you in all your power and glory.

Father, you shower us with your love each and every day. And your love. Mm-hmm. Excuse me. And your love, your rebukes, and your encouragement brings us.

To a more righteous state and into a more holy fellowship with you. Praise be to you, Father. Sun and Holy Spirit. And it is in the name and for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen.

Our first hymn this morning is a meditation on the market. Really, our pathetic state in sin outside of Christ. Sin rules and reigns over us. And we have no hope of deliverance except for the fact that God has put on human flesh, become one of us. to keep the law perfectly in our place.

to take our punishment, to give us His righteousness. And so this first hymn is also a meditation on the salvation that's ours in Christ. He has conquered the flesh. He has conquered the world. He has even conquered the devil and death itself.

And so, church, we have reason to rejoice in the gospel this morning. Let's think about these things as we sing. Outside of Snake by nature is our sin have he displayed And Satan bright our Catholic might display this shame But never the voice of power and grace thou't run the sacred word O ye despairing spirits come and trust upon the Lord Why soul obey the Almighty law and God to this I would believe thy promise for my unbelief unto the fountain of thy blood, in garden God I cry. If let me watch my spotted soul from pride of deepest die, stretch out thy arm victorious feet, my rage of new, and drive the dragon from his seat with all his hellish hue. But guilty we can countless.

On thy arms I draw Be thou my strength and righteousness by Jesus and my own Thy feet O the great love will run through this fair land I am thee and thou art mighty hold me with thy powerful hand bread of heaven bread of heaven feed me till I want no more Lead me till I want no more Open thou the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow. Let the fire and cloudy fiver lead me all my journey through. Strong deliver, strong eliver, be thou still my strength and shield. Be thou still my strength. And she when I tread the virtual Jordan bid by ancient missile side Death on death and fell destruction Let me save on Canon's side Song of praises, song of praises I will ever give to thee I will ever give to thee Man, you can be seated.

Our Old Testament reading this morning is from Deuteronomy chapter 26, verses 1 through 11. Mm-hmm. It's a passage that rehearses God's deliverance of of his people, his covenant people. and then commands them out What is the right response, and the right response is gratitude. The right response is to give back to the Lord.

evidence of his blessing on them. We worship God. We respond in His deliverance by worshiping Him, by giving Him thanks and praise. Deuteronomy 26, verses 1 through 11. When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it.

You shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land, that the Lord your God is giving you. and you shall put it in a basket. And ye shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose to make his name to dwell there. And ye shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, I declare today to the Lord your God, that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us. Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

And you shall make response before the Lord your God. A wandering Aramian was my father, and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number. And there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers.

And the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, our oppression. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground which you, O Lord, have given me. And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice.

In all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you and the Levite and the sojourner. Who is among you? This is the word of the Lord. We have been blessed by God. We have been saved through Christ.

And we are his bride. We are his church, his people. And we are united to Christ by faith. And it is our great and awesome privilege this morning, Church, to confess our faith. to join the the saints from years gone by.

And affirm our confidence in Christ. I'm going to ask you to stand with me as we use this morning the Apostles' Creed. Church, what do you believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty. the maker of heaven and earth.

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. who was conceived by the Holy Ghost. Born of the Virgin Mary. suffered under Pontius Pilate. was crucified, dead, and buried.

He descended into hell. The third day he arose from the dead. He ascended into heaven. and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost. the Holy Catholic Church. The communion of saints. The forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body. and the life everlasting.

Amen. Let's sing the doxology together. Uh Praise our God with all blessings for praise Him, all creatures here, praise Him, our body heavens, praise God, the Son and holy. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this beautiful day and the opportunity to come here to hear your word rightly divided.

Lord. You are sovereign over all. All that we have is yours. Please accept these offerings and tithes to further your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Lord I will land I should have killed Holy Hell is calling from you Holy is you give me it's I will storm You are the source of my strength, you are the strength of my life. I live my hands in total praise to you. I will lift my eyes to the hell is coming from you. Live me in time of the store.

You are the source of my strength, you are the strength of my life. I live my hands in total praise to you. You are the source of my strength, you are the strength of my life, I live by land in total praise. Will you all be in prayer for Pastor Doug this morning? He has a stomach bug.

After spending a week out, a month out. fighting COVID. He came back for one Sunday and now he's He's in ill health again. I'm sure frustrated to no end with this. He wants to be here.

But be in prayer for him. I was already scheduled to preach tonight, so I'm just going to preach in his place this morning, and then my dad will. Have opportunity to share the word tonight from Joshua. But let's be in prayer for Doug as he recuperates from this. This uh Miserable stomach bug.

Well, if you would turn with me to 1 Corinthians 7, we've been. Journeying through this letter of Paul to the church at Corinth, and we come today to chapter 7.

Now, I think the whole of chapter 7 is a unit. Topically, it goes together. But there's no way we can Do justice to the text and cover 40 verses today, I don't feel like.

So, we're gonna split this up into several sermons, and I'll just have to leave you hanging at the end of this morning's service. But we're gonna look at the first nine verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 7.

So, let's read that together. 1 Corinthians 7. Beginning at verse one. Hear the word of the Lord.

Now, concerning the matters about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, Each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights. And likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.

Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a limited time. that you may devote yourselves to prayer, but then come together again.

so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am, but each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. to the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, They should marry. For it is better to marry.

than to burn with passion. Let's pray together. Holy Spirit, we come once again to your word, and we are in need of wisdom and faith. Wisdom to understand what we read, and faith to believe it and obey it. I pray that you would grant us these things now, and may our marriages, our relationships, our lives.

and our witness all benefit from what we see and hear from you to day. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. In the first six chapters of Paul's letter to Corinth, Paul has been addressing various issues that he had heard about from Corinth by word of mouth. But here in chapter 7, Paul begins addressing very specific questions that the Corinthians themselves had asked in evidently a letter that they had previously sent to Paul.

Verse 1 says, now concerning the matters about which you wrote. And then Paul proceeds to answer whatever it is they wrote, whatever those questions were. In fact, six times throughout the rest of the letter, Paul will use the same sort of formula.

Now concerning this question, now concerning that question. We don't know the specific questions that Corinth asked, but we can kind of deduce what they were based on the answers that Paul gives. It's sort of like playing Jeopardy, I guess. We hear the answer, then we have to infer what the question was that triggered that particular answer.

Well, the first topic Paul takes up is the topic of marriage. He's going to correct a Corinthian misunderstanding about marriage, and then he's going to give extensive counsel to several different groups within the church. He's going to give counsel to widows, and to singles, and to divorcees, and to married couples, and to engaged couples, and so on.

Now, you'll remember that in the previous two chapters, Paul has had to deal with some pretty scandalous sins, sins that were sexual in nature. And in addressing these matters, we've begun to get the sense that the church in 1st. Century Corinth was a pretty morally loose place. To say the least. Apparently uh sexual promiscuity was no big deal there.

I was thinking, you know, if the the book Respectable Sins had been written in Corinth, no doubt their list would have been quite different from ours. Even among the Corinthians, their sensuality and Carnal living was normal. And it was to some degree socially acceptable even within the church at Corinth. But as is often the case where there is licentiousness in the church, there is oftentimes legalism trying its hardest to right the ship. And this was apparently the case at Corinth.

There were those who, in response to the all things are lawful for me crowd that we met in our last chapter, were wanting to set the bar of holiness and purity way too high. Maybe we could call them the it's good for a man not to touch a woman crowd. You see, they were going too far in the opposite direction. And insisting that celibacy, full sexual abstinence, even in marriage, was the moral high ground. And so Paul begins with another.

Correction. He begins with another correction. And I say another correction because if you weren't with us last time, we saw in chapter 6 that Paul was dealing with several false truth claims that the church at Corinth was believing.

Now, I need to acknowledge an ambiguity before we jump into chapter 7 here. It is unclear. Whether that beginning sentence, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman, it's unclear if that is something that the Corinthians wrote in their letter to Paul. Or if it's actually the beginning of Paul's response to whatever the Corinthians wrote. The ESV, by the way, treats this sentence as if it originated with Corinth by putting quotation marks around it.

Other translations don't do that. Both are valid options.

So, depending on which path you take with verse 1, you'll find a handful of subtle differences of emphasis in what Paul is saying here in chapter 7. But the point I want us to understand is that, regardless of which route you follow in verse 1, the main thrust of chapter 7 is the same. And this is what we need to keep in front of our minds. Paul's point here is that since God is the one who assigns our marital status, whatever that is. And calls us to enjoy the blessings and fulfill the duties of that status.

Whatever it is. We ought to follow his instruction concerning marriage with joy and with contentment. I think verse 17 is really the key to the whole discussion on marriage and singleness and sexual union and all the rest. Verse 17, if you're a highlighter, that would be the verse to highlight. Verse 17 says, Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him.

So God is sovereign over our relationships. God has given us instruction concerning those relationships. Therefore, If we're followers of God, we need to trust and heed those instructions.

Now it's kind of amusing. I heard a preacher once say that marriage is a lot like flies on a screen door. Those on the outside, one in, and those on the inside, one out.

Now that's not always the case, but It is true that a person's singleness or a person's marriage is often the cause of great angst and often of great discontentment, isn't it?

So we need God's instruction. We need To trust and heed that instruction. And that's what we find here in 1 Corinthians 7.

Well, as I read verse 1, I'm inclined to think that the most natural reading is to see this as a quotation from Corinth's letter to Paul. And then in verse 2, Paul begins his correction. Of the Corinthians' misunderstanding of sexual relations. I tried to make the point in my last sermon that the best way to make sense of chapter 6 is to see it as Paul addressing several unorthodox slogans that had become, I guess, normative in the Corinthian community. And so it seems that 1 Corinthians 7:1 continues this.

It contains yet another one of these unorthodox slogans.

Now it's easy, isn't it, to see how a strict Legalistic view of sexual activity could have developed in a place as morally loose as Corinth. I mean, here you've got a bunch of professing Christians spending their Friday nights at the Temple of Aphrodite doing who knows what with cult prostitutes. It's not that hard then to imagine the backlash that would have come from perhaps some of the believers at Corinth who had been saved. Out of that very lifestyle of promiscuity, reacting against the heinousness. Of their sin and overcompensating in their zeal to uphold God's law and Christian ethics.

Or maybe you can imagine some of the wives whose husbands were being immoral without any consequence of discipline from the church. I can imagine them easily. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater and saying, You, husband, you have misused and abused your desire for sexual gratification, so all sexual gratification is forbidden you. It'd be like a mom saying to her child, you clearly can't exercise self-control with a chocolate chip cookie, so you don't even get to eat the broccoli. Not that any mother would say that.

But it makes the point. In our zeal for holiness and our zeal for purity. We sometimes put fences around our fences. And as a result, we begin denying ourselves and others things that God never forbids. Or even things that God intends for our own spiritual health and well-being.

It's an overreaction to blatant immorality. Legalism does not correct licentiousness, even though it oftentimes feels like the moral high ground. Years ago, I read a biography on an English missionary by the name of C.T. Studd. C.T.

Studd is lauded for his incredible commitment to evangelism and his eagerness to sacrifice fame and fortune. He was a famous cricket player, willingness to give that up for the sake of the gospel. But I remember that in that biography, reading about how C.T. Studd decided to go evangelize Africa, so he went, but he went without his wife. Presumably because it it would be too dangerous for her.

And so for the last 16 years of their marriage, he labored for the kingdom in Africa while she kept house in England. And the book praised C.T. Studd for his self-sacrifice, and it called his life a rebuke against easy-going Christianity. But as I read that biography, I couldn't help but think to myself. How negligent, how unfaithful, how arrogant of him to marry a wife and then abandon his God-given responsibilities to her in the name of serving the Lord.

God said, It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. If we in turn respond to that gracious gift of marriage to a woman by saying, no, thanks, God, I got this. Church, that is not noble or admirable or self-sacrificial. It's actually arrogance.

to call something unclean that God himself calls Clean. And so Paul corrects Corinth by first telling them that marriage is good. Verse 2. That because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

Now, we need to understand that Paul here is not giving an exhaustive explanation of the purpose for marriage. Rather, he's merely correcting the specific misunderstanding at Corinth. The misunderstanding that says all sexual intercourse is bad, and by implication that marriage must therefore be bad. Paul is showing that this false notion will actually increase sexual sin, not diminish it. Asceticism Which is a life of extreme self-denial, doesn't fix promiscuity.

Whipping my back like a monk doesn't make me sin less. It just makes my back hurt while I continue to sin.

So, Corinth's self-denial when it came to physical intimacy and marriage wasn't a noble thing. To be admired. It was actually harmful, and Paul makes it clear that marriage is good, and the physical intimacy that's a part of marriage is good.

Well, Paul continues. Not only is marriage good. but also marital intercourse. Is pure. Verse 3.

The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.

So, not only should we not designate as evil something which God designates as good, we also have a moral obligation. A duty, Paul says, to use and enjoy God's blessing of physical intimacy. in marriage.

So, if you're denying your spouse their legitimate sexual needs, that's not commendable. That's not ultra-spiritual of you. You're actually neglecting God's Word at this point, you're doing harm. to your marriage. Finally, Paul concedes in verses five and six that while there might be a situation in which abstinence in marriage is helpful, that situation should be limited and conditional.

I don't know what Paul has in mind here.

Some situation may arise that makes the physical union of man and wife undesirable or incredibly difficult, maybe a time of intense grief or loss or stress that occupies every ounce of emotional and physical energy a couple may have to give. During such times, if both husband and wife are agreed, it may be prudent to abstain, to fast. From physical intimacy, in order to get your heart and mind back in the right place through prayer. But Paul's emphasis is clear. Those times should be the exception, not the rule.

I believe that verse 6 points back to verse 5. Not forward to verse 7. If that's the case, then Paul is saying this time of abstinence in marriage is not something he's encouraging couples to do. He's simply acknowledging that it may be necessary for some.

So enter into it cautiously and temporarily if needed. Why? Cautiously and temporarily.

So that verse 5, Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

So marriage is good. Sexual intimacy within marriage is good. Sexual abstinence might be necessary on occasion and with a proper sense of caution and awareness of personal weaknesses, but Corinth abstinence will not cure your sin problem. is what Paul's saying. Grace Church, devotion to God doesn't increase by neglecting the good things God gives us to enjoy.

And marriage is one of those things. Before we move on, let me just point out That the principle here, I think, has a much broader application than just to the physical relationship between spouses in a marriage. There are any number. Of joys and delights that God graciously gives to His children. And those delights are intended to draw our hearts closer and closer to God.

The delight of food and drink. the enjoyment of a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed. the pleasure of time with friends and time enjoying nature and time spent with family, just being together. These are some of the legitimate enjoyments God gives to us and expects us to use and appreciate.

So when we deny ourselves these delights, Maybe out of fear of enjoying them too much or out of some sense of austere spirituality, we're posturing ourselves for a major fall. Let me encourage you to go home this afternoon and meditate on Acts 14:17. Which says that God gives us rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying our hearts with food and gladness. God does that. God gives us satisfying blessings like rain and seasons and food and sexual intimacy with our spouse so that we will be made glad.

And so that gladness will produce deep, profound gratitude in us for God's excellent gifts. Or go home and meditate on Psalm 16, 11. Which almost Scandalously says that at God's right hand are pleasures forevermore. Yes, we need to Learn To enjoy God's blessings rightly, not idolatrously, but we need to enjoy them. and we need to enjoy them fully.

Well then Paul moves into counseling mode. And verse 7 all the way to the end of the chapter is in essence an inspired marital counseling session with the Apostle Paul. And he structures his words of counsel to suit various categories of people. We're only going to get to one of them today, and we'll have to leave the other three for some other time. Notice first how he begins.

He says in verse 7. I wish that all were as I myself am.

So the question then is, how was Paul himself?

Well, with regard to his marital status, since that's what we're discussing here, he was single. Many scholars believe that Paul had probably been married at one time. The Pharisaical tradition of which Paul had been a part prior to his conversion to Christianity actually required marriage for ordination.

So we can maybe assume that Paul was married. What we do know for sure is that he was not currently married when he wrote to the Corinthian church. We know this from verse 8 explicitly.

Now, we could speculate about why Paul is no longer married. Maybe he was never married. Maybe he was an exception in this Pharisaical tradition. Maybe his wife died, and so he was a widower. Maybe his wife divorced him when he converted to Christianity.

We don't know. And so, since we don't know, since the text doesn't tell us, it's not pertinent to our text. What is pertinent? Is understanding why Paul in his singleness said, I wish that all were as I myself am. Is Paul saying that singleness is the moral high ground after all, contradicting what he had just finished asserting in verses 2 through 6?

Is he implying that marriage is really just a necessary evil in a fallen world? Is he denying what God said about marriage in Genesis? That it is not good for man to be alone? Is Paul contradicting his own words that he said in 1 Timothy 4:3, speaks disparagingly of those who forbid marriage? Or is he contradicting what he says in Ephesians 5, where he holds marriage up as a beautiful picture of Christ in the church?

Well, no, Paul is not contradicting himself. He's not belittling marriage. The key to understanding verse 7, I think, is the word wish. That word is not a morally charged term, even though it's coming from an apostle. It simply is expressing Paul's appreciation for God's gift to him.

and his desire that others with that gift equally enjoy it. I might say to my sons, I wish y'all were ball headed like me. It is so convenient and freeing. If I said that, I wouldn't be claiming some moral high ground because of my baldness. I would simply be expressing my contentment with my lot in life.

In this case, with God giving me the blessing of baldness. But that would not preclude or downplay the blessing of hairiness that so many other people have. They have their own delights. I just happen to enjoy the delight that God has given me. And I want others to share in that delight.

That's all Paul's doing here in verse 7. He's merely expressing a preference for the gift that he has been given by God. And that gift being an ability to be content in celibacy without frustration. and without repressing or indulging any natural sexual appetites. It's a wonderful gift, and Paul enjoys it.

He's happy to be celibate because it affords him more time and energy to fulfill his vocation as an apostle. That happiness is a gift, and Paul enjoys that gift, rightly so. Therefore, it's only natural that he would wish that happiness on others. But we need to recognize that Paul is not claiming the moral higher ground. He's not saying I'm more spiritual than you because I'm single.

He acknowledges that both celibacy and marriage are gifts. Verse 7, each person has his own gift from God. One theologian put it this way. He said, To some folks, God gives the gift of an ability to make the most of the freedoms of celibacy without frustration. To others, God gives the gift of an ability to fulfill the responsibilities, intimacies, and duties of marriage while equally living out the gospel.

Both States of singleness or marriage have their pros and cons. Both have their rewards and frustrations, but both are gifts from God to be enjoyed and used for His glory. Paul just really enjoys the gift he's been given, and that's why he's acknowledging in verse 7. Let me just stop and say, you know, this ought to be an encouragement for those of you who are single. and perhaps would like to be married.

To know that there is godly potential in singleness and that. Contentment in that state of celibacy is achievable, and even in some instances, preferable. This is a glorious gospel truth. We don't have to be married for our lives to count in the kingdom. We don't have to be married for genuine Christian joy to be a real thing in our lives.

And I think Paul's attitude and contentment with his own singleness is an example for all of us to follow. Whatever your marital status is, learn to see that circumstance as from the Lord. And if it's from the Lord, it's good. It's purposeful. and it can produce a deep, sincere joy.

Well, Paul has just acknowledged that with regard to sex and marriage. Giftings or needs or we might say preferences differ. From person to person. And so he begins giving counsel to four different groups, different categories of people. In verses 8 and 9, he addresses the unmarried and the widows.

In verses 10 and 11, he addresses the married. In verses 12 through 16, he addresses everybody else. And he calls them the rest. We'll talk about who that group includes, because it would seem that married and unmarried covers everyone, but it doesn't. We'll see why at a later time.

And then finally, in verses 25 through 38, he addresses the betrothed, the engaged.

Now, we're not going to try to get through all these categories this morning. In fact, we're only just going to get through the first category, but I do need to point out an important thing to keep in mind as we hear Paul's words of counsel. Again, we need to remember that Paul is addressing a specific congregation who has specific questions and needs regarding their marriages. In other words, he's not intending in this chapter to give a comprehensive overview of everything marriage-related. He's not saying all that could be said about marriage and divorce or about singleness and widowhood.

We will find some very helpful and relevant principles here, but we need to remember that the Bible has more to say about the topic than what Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 7.

Now I say all that because I think it is often a temptation, especially when it comes to heated questions about things like, for example, divorce and remarriage, to want the specifics of my situation addressed. Or we want to read between the lines of scripture so that we can have a clear-cut answer for our personal circumstance. There may be times when we are tempted to try and force an interpretation on the text that frankly isn't there because it's not the question that Paul is answering. And so since these dangers are present, At the outset, we just need to commit ourselves to sticking with what the Bible actually addresses and to live insofar as we can according to those instructions. That can be hard to do.

And we don't have to pretend that it isn't sometimes hard, but we need to be committed enough to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture that we read and apply it always with a spirit of submission to it. All right, Paul begins by addressing the unmarried and the widows.

So we need to discover who this group includes.

Now it's a bit confusing, isn't it? Because it seems redundant to say the unmarried and the widows. Wouldn't the widows just be a subset of the unmarried? And then also, why would he later then address the betrothed or the engaged? Verses 25 and following.

Wouldn't they also just be a subset of unmarried?

Well, we need to remember again that Paul is answering specific questions that we don't have, but specific questions that the Corinthians had brought up. And so it stands to reason that his categories reflect the Corinthians' specific concerns. If the widows at Corinth had special concern about their marital status, then Paul. In addressing the unmarried group, he wants to make it clear that he's including the widows. That the principles he lays down for the broad category of unmarried people apply to the subset as well.

He's essentially saying to the unmarried, including the widows.

So broadly, this includes singles who have never been married. Singles who were previously married. Those who have been divorced. And those who have been widowed, both male and female. and female.

In fact, anyone who is not married for whatever reason. This is his first category.

So here's the principle he sets forth for the unmarried. It is good for them to remain single.

Now once again, the word good Just like the word wish in verse 7 is not a morally loaded term. It simply means okay, it's acceptable, it's all right. for single people to remain single. In Roman culture, there was a certain stigma attached to singleness, as there sometimes is even today in certain circles. A stigma that put pressure on singles to get married.

And so Paul alleviates that pressure by saying, you don't have to be married. I'm not married, and it's not limiting my usefulness in the kingdom. It's not diminishing my happiness in the Lord.

So ignore the stigma. Ignore the cultural pressure. It's okay to be single. Singleness is good.

However, Verse nine. If the unmarried person cannot exercise self-control, They should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn. With passion. And there's Sexual innuendo in all of that.

He's being very discreet in how he conveys this. There's no glory in singleness for singleness' sake. And in fact, if your singleness is heightening your temptation to sin sexually, then you clearly don't have the gift of singleness. Remember, it is a gift that some people have, others don't. Verse 7.

And so, if you don't have the gift of contentment with celibacy, don't think that fighting illicit passion somehow makes you extra-noble. Get married. Once again, we need to recognize that this advice from Paul addresses a specific situation at Corinth. It doesn't cover every situation. And so we can acknowledge there are Christians who don't have the gift of celibacy, but who have also never had the opportunity to marry.

They would love to if they could, but God hasn't opened that door for them yet. Paul doesn't address that scenario here. But our overarching principle in verse 17 certainly applies even to that situation. If you are married, unmarried, and long to be married, but the opportunity for marriage has simply not presented itself, it's important. That you first acknowledge God's sovereignty over your marital status.

I don't mean for that to sound trite or like some sort of cliched pat answer for singles struggling with contentment. But it really is the starting point for learning to be content with where God has you. Listen, single Christian who would like to be married, if God can take a handful of dirt and make a man, And then take a rib from that man and make a woman, and then take these two and make children. God is more than capable of bringing you a spouse. He is sovereign.

and able and we need to acknowledge his sovereign ability. But secondly, you also need to trust God with that sovereign control. You need to rest in His plan and purposes and timing. By the way, everything I'm saying right now applies to the married as well. We'll get to you.

We're talking about trusting the sovereignty of God and resting in that. Rather than making marriage an all-consuming life purpose, I would encourage you to view your singleness as a gift. Not as a hardship. And learn to use that gift with its freedoms and undistracted focus in ways that you could not if you were married. Paul will address this matter of undistracted service to the Lord a little later in the chapter, so we'll get back to it.

But singles, divorcees, widows, widowers, your unmarried state is not a curse. It's not a punishment. It doesn't make you a second-rate citizen in God's kingdom work. It is a gift from the Lord to be used for his glory. And you, like Paul, can learn to delight in that gift.

even if that maybe is a struggle for you at the moment.

Well, we're going to stop there for now. This has only been half a sermon, I know, but we'll pick up where we left off next time we're here. Church marriage is important. Because of Jesus Christ. Marriage is important because of Jesus Christ.

Marriage is only significant because it is a shadow of. The heavenly marriage that exists between Christ, the bridegroom, and his bride, the church. But singleness also has purpose because of Jesus Christ. The fact that there even is an eternal marriage of the church to the Son of God means that as beautiful and fulfilling as earthly marriage is, it is not the most important thing. Our eternal marriage to Christ.

is what ultimately matters.

So do you want to have a great marriage? Of course we do, we all do. then learn to love Christ more. Do you want to be content and joy-filled and full of purpose in your singleness? Of course you do.

Then learn to love Christ more than anything else. That's the message of 1 Corinthians 7. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for giving us opportunities to see Christ better. in the experiences and relationships that you provide.

Lord, for those whom you have Called to be joined in marriage to another descendant of Adam. Our marriages. Though imperfect, are incredible blessings. By which we learn more of Christ.

So help us to avail ourselves fully of everything you intend those marriages to be. For those whom you've called to a life of celibacy. or a a season of celibacy. And single-minded devotion. Lord, grant them the ability to see that singleness as a means of.

growing in their knowledge. and love of Christ. And Lord, grant them an unparalleled depth of satisfaction. In Jesus Christ. You, Lord, are our preeminent joy.

So we pray that every Subordinate joy that you give us. would be effectively used to draw our hearts closer and closer to you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, this is a very special time in the life of our church.

As we commune with the Lord through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, we invite all of our elders to come as we prepare for this special time. Dan and Scott, would you remove the You may be seated. It's a privilege for me this morning to lead us to the table of the Lord. Especially coming off the ending of that sermon that we are to love the Lord more. I would like to institute this morning by looking at Luke 22.

Verses 14 through 20. And in the Gospel of Luke it says this. And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him, and he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you. before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

You know, when we come to the table And Lord's Supper Sundays, either in the morning or the evening, we We open with saying, This is not the table of Grace Church, but it is the table of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there are many reasons that we say it. We're saying it, one, to start the fencing of the table, who should participate. But there is a truth far deeper in that, because it is that it is this table that he is established. Verse 14 tells us that the Lord tells his disciples that he was looking forward, he longed to have that meal with them because in that meal he was going to share the gospel of what was to come.

in the next few hours. You know We see that Jesus establishes the table in 14. But then he also consecrates this table. He takes the bread and he takes the wine and he raises it before the Lord and he gives thanks. and he talks of them now as his body and his blood.

by taking common elements that stayed bread and wine but by consecr consecrating them to God in thanksgiving. We now today can refer the same way as we participate. We are taking the body and blood of Christ to us. Not in some magical, mystical way of transformation of elements to something different. But by a consecrating of God, honouring the work of Christ in what He did for us.

Finally, this is the Lord's Table. because he uses it to commune with you and I. And we talk about it being a memorial looking to the past, a gospel presentation to us right now, and a future look till he comes again. But Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 says this. The cup of blessing that we bless.

Is it not participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break. Is it not participation in the body of Christ? We participate. In the work, Christ is accomplished by the Holy Spirit bringing us into Christ.

What does that mean? that this bread that is his body, that he became us. just like us, real, human, physical. But live perfectly under the law, what we couldn't do, we partake in that body. His righteousness is given to us that we are right before a holy, right, and just God.

The blood that sheds, that covers our sin, does more than just cover sin. It seals the new covenant that God remembers our sin no more. This is just not an external thing to us and good news in a sense that God's pleased. We are partakers, sharing in it with Christ. When God looks upon us, He sees Christ in His work.

This table proclaims. the gospel by which we are being saved. Right now.

So as we think on those things, If you are here this morning and you are in right relationship with Jesus Christ. and with your brothers. then this table is open to you to feast at. to join Christ in communion. and to share spiritually his righteousness, and his sealing of us.

But if you are here this morning and an unbeliever, or if you're a believer with unrepentant sin that you do not want to let go, we must warn you. Paul warns the Corinthians not to partake of the elements unworthily. That doesn't mean in merit of themselves, but outside relationship with Christ at that moment. Whether that's by sheer unbelief. or by being unrepentant of your sin.

So this morning our table is open. and what ready for the willing Who are ready to ask for repentance and flee to the foot of the cross? This morning we will join together I'll ask you to start out praying silently a prayer of confession, and then I will conclude us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning.

With no merit, no justification, no righteousness of our own. Only that we have received through the work of Christ Jesus. And we come to you in his name. For his sake. We ask that the Holy Spirit be moving in us.

Examining our hearts, our thoughts. And Lord God, lifting before you. Anything That is outside your will and changing our hearts. moving us away, turning us from our sin and turning us more to Christ. Lord, we pray this morning that you forgive us.

Not for our sake, but for Christ's sake. Whether corporately Things that we have have not done to honor and glorify your name. Lord God, forgive us for things that we may have done as a church. To dishonor your name, we ask you to forgive us. And Lord, individually, you know our sin.

Lord God, I pray that you convict us and drive us away from sin and only towards you. Lord God, create in us a clean heart. A mind that is receptive to your word. and a desire and a love for the things that are of you. Father, we thank you.

That you are a merciful and gracious God. And then through Christ, you do forgive. We ask for that forgiveness now through Christ's name. Amen. As we receive the bread this morning, let me read from Ephesians 5.

Paul says, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.

so that he might present to the church So that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. That she might be holy. and without blemish. my brother Scott to offer a prayer of thanks for the breath. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to. Come and worship you through the Lord's Supper. As we remember Christ. As we remember him coming on this earth as a man. Yet still God A man that was uh beaten.

Chest as and openly rebuke Father. Lord um He proclaimed to be God, and he was. Lord, we just ask now that you would help us each day to remember what Christ did for us, that He offered. the sacrifice of himself that through that sacrifice we might come before you. And we praise you and thank you for the sacrifice made.

Amen. The body of Christ, take an eat. We received the cut this morning when we read from John 15: Greater love has no one than this, that someone laid down his life for his friends. For Brother Dave, to offer prayer of thanks to the night. Father, we come humbly before you.

before your table this morning. And we are able to do that because of what Christ did for us. His um Body was bruised. Uh for our iniquities. He was wounded.

He shed his blood for us. that we are healed. And we rejoice in that good news today, Father. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The blood of Christ. Yeah. Take a drink. Would you stand with me as we conclude our worship this morning, acknowledging that in Christ and Him alone, that we find rest and peace with God. Let's sing.

She So I am resting. Right. Yeah. In the joy of One. thou art i am finding a The greatness of I love me hard.

Thou hast been He gazes upon thee, and thy beauty fills my soul for by thy transformed. Thou hast made. Say me ho Jesus resting. Last sea is the joy. Of what thou art, I am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart.

Oh, how great thy loving kindness faster grows. Water than the sea. Oh, how marvelous thy go. Goodness lies. Yes, I rest in thee.

Beloved, no one wealth of grace is thine, know the servant. Certainty Of promise and have made it mine, Jesus. I am resting in the joy of what thou art, I am finding out the greatness of. Thy love in heart simply trusting. Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold thee as thou art, and thy love so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart, satisfies its deepest long needs, needs supplies its every need.

Compasseth me round with blessings, thine is loving me, Jesus. I am resting in the joy of what thou art. I am finding out the greatness of. Of thy loveing heart. Amen.

Well, thank you for being here this morning, and I want to. I encourage you to come back. tonight at 6 o'clock as we work worship again. My dad will be preaching from Joshua chapter 1 on Fear. and faith.

Or something like that. Can't remember the title, and it didn't make the bulletin because all this was planned yesterday. Keep praying for Doug as he recovers from this stomach bug. Pray that it'll be short-lived. and he'll be able to take you back up on the saddle real quick.

And also, just a reminder that our midweek service is still happening, 7 o'clock on Wednesday nights. Jim is closing in on the ending of this study on knowing God, so I hope you can come and be a part of that. As we close, would you receive now the Lord's benediction? The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. and the love of God.

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Be with you all. And all God's people said. Yeah.