back to indexSunday Sermon 2015-04-05 "Single-Minded"
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I'm going to cover a majority of the passage and I'm going to start in verse 8. 00:00:11.240 |
As a matter of fact, I'm only going to read verse 8 and 9 first and then we'll study the 00:00:17.600 |
It says, "But I say to the unmarried and to widow that it is good for them if they remain 00:00:25.140 |
But if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than 00:00:33.500 |
Father God, as we open up your word, would you give us insight? 00:00:42.700 |
We know that your words are light to our feet. 00:00:45.580 |
God, we know that your words feed us and nourish us. 00:00:51.580 |
And Lord, help us to have humble hearts that we might apply into our lives. 00:00:59.980 |
So, an interesting scenario that happens really frequently amongst guys and girls, 00:01:05.660 |
especially let's say married couples who've been together for some time. 00:01:11.660 |
There are lots of differences and we understand that. 00:01:14.400 |
Sometimes these differences clash and they fight. 00:01:18.140 |
One of the things that happens a lot, and it's the way that men and women approach things 00:01:22.340 |
generally, men typically are task-oriented and are results-oriented. 00:01:34.340 |
They might want to be more proper in what they do, or let's say if they have a task 00:01:39.020 |
or a project together, a guy might just want to get the thing done. 00:01:44.500 |
Or the experience of doing it, they want to make sure it's full and done properly. 00:01:48.620 |
What I mean by that is, for example, if a guy and a girl, a couple are working on a 00:01:53.380 |
project to put it together, an album or build a little scrapbook together, a guy might be 00:01:59.780 |
sitting here thinking, "My gosh, it's taking us like three hours, which is two and a half 00:02:06.940 |
And then the woman might be thinking, "Well, we need to do it right." 00:02:10.620 |
And not only that, the woman might be thinking, "The experience of working on something together 00:02:17.860 |
And then the guy might be thinking, "Because we've got to get it done. 00:02:22.260 |
Now, most stereotypically, if it's not just a project like a scrapbook, but they're putting 00:02:27.860 |
together furniture, the scene is, the woman is sitting here like, "We have to do it right. 00:02:34.180 |
And the guy goes, "Some nerd on a computer wrote those instructions. 00:02:54.100 |
Two different perspectives on a single matter. 00:03:03.060 |
If you're sitting next to your wife, don't speak up right now. 00:03:05.300 |
Just hold on to that thought for a moment of thinking about what matters. 00:03:09.780 |
And in trying to get anything done, you realize every individual has a purpose. 00:03:14.080 |
Every individual has a system of evaluating what is important as I do this. 00:03:20.240 |
Apostle Paul, in this letter, he's talking to a church that he loves, he spent a lot 00:03:25.840 |
of time, and he's talking to a church where although we oftentimes really elevate the 00:03:31.120 |
early church, the reality is they had a lot of problems. 00:03:36.440 |
Not only in the area of relationships like marriage, but in all other places as well. 00:03:42.060 |
To that church, Apostle Paul is teaching, and he gives wisdom and guidance, and he gives 00:03:47.280 |
a perspective where there are opposing and competing perspectives within the church. 00:03:53.520 |
And to me, it's perplexing because the kind of advice and guideline, the truth that Apostle 00:03:58.360 |
Paul is giving to the church might be something that we do not expect. 00:04:03.640 |
As a matter of fact, to me, the kind of advice and truth that Apostle Paul gives, it's profound, 00:04:09.120 |
it's shocking, it's countercultural, and it's a little unsettling. 00:04:16.940 |
Going back to verse eight and nine, Apostle Paul says this, "But I say to the unmarried 00:04:23.480 |
So even in our context, we have a lot of unmarrieds, and we have people, I've talked to people 00:04:29.840 |
where people are concerned about, let's say they have their father passed away, and the 00:04:36.440 |
Or they have other scenarios, where there's somebody who's a widow or a widower, what 00:04:41.360 |
The advice that Apostle Paul gives is he says, "It is good for them if they remain even as 00:04:48.720 |
But if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than 00:04:55.080 |
This verse, young guys might, in a preliminary gloss, look at this and be like, "That's right. 00:05:04.840 |
But if you're thinking through the verse more carefully, you come out with a lot of questions. 00:05:09.840 |
Whoa, he just told unmarried people to remain as they are. 00:05:13.600 |
He just told widows, who typically their friends probably say, "Dude, you just need to get 00:05:24.160 |
Apostle Paul gave a counter-cultural advice and said, "You need to remain and stay put." 00:05:31.440 |
And I want you to highlight or if you're taking notes, write that word down, remain. 00:05:36.680 |
And then he says, "But if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better," 00:05:41.760 |
and the next word I want to focus on is better. 00:05:48.600 |
Apostle Paul is giving us insight and biblical truth as to what's best, what's better for 00:05:58.760 |
Apostle Paul is giving us that kind of truth, but it is perplexing. 00:06:02.680 |
It is counter-cultural and it's really sensitive. 00:06:06.440 |
I mean, wouldn't it be a sensitive topic if I were to start talking and I preached and 00:06:11.880 |
said, "As a pastor of young adults, stay single. 00:06:20.320 |
Obviously, that would be like, "What in the world is he saying?" 00:06:32.040 |
Right now, it's a perplexing thing for Apostle Paul to say. 00:06:35.960 |
So in order to make sense of it, we're going to work through the passage and now we're 00:06:45.880 |
This is an important theme and verse for the entirety of the chapter and he says this, 00:06:50.160 |
"Only as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each in this manner, let 00:07:06.240 |
And then in verse 17, he said, "God has assigned us to different circumstances in life, different 00:07:13.380 |
And what he requires of each Christian is that you walk faithfully." 00:07:20.120 |
"That you walk faithfully to what God has called you in the condition that you are." 00:07:26.160 |
And so this is a theme for the rest of the chapter. 00:07:29.160 |
For him to say, "Walk in the manner that you've been assigned," is to simply say, "Stay put." 00:07:36.640 |
And so first things we realize, we realize everybody is in different scenarios. 00:07:41.560 |
We really can't do blanket statement like, "Okay, everybody needs to date like this. 00:07:51.640 |
And if people don't do that, it's like, "What's wrong with you? 00:07:57.360 |
Paul, so Paul actually says, "First of all, stay put and learn to do that. 00:08:05.280 |
To accept God's appointed position for you in your life." 00:08:10.120 |
Now although that statement is clear, "Learn to accept God's position for you," that still 00:08:16.000 |
Because some of you guys are like, "Well, I'm fun employed and don't have no job. 00:08:26.640 |
Some of you guys are in positions where you're not happy at work. 00:08:30.920 |
Some of you guys are in positions where you're not happy in your homes, in your marriages. 00:08:37.080 |
And a lot of times, we are always looking for the next step. 00:08:40.320 |
We're always either looking to advance or progress. 00:08:44.080 |
So how do I apply this when an apostle Paul says, "Live out your walk as God has placed 00:08:55.200 |
Well, I think one of the questions I need to ask is not only how to apply this, what 00:09:03.560 |
does it look like, when should I change, but why? 00:09:08.680 |
Why would apostle Paul say this command to the church? 00:09:12.240 |
Well, let's look at the examples that he gives first about the application of this verse 00:09:16.560 |
or this principle of remaining where you are. 00:09:22.760 |
He says, "Was any man called when he was already circumcised? 00:09:35.480 |
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing. 00:09:39.000 |
But what matters is the keeping of the commands of God. 00:09:42.120 |
Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called." 00:09:48.080 |
As we focus our attention on verse 18, simply put, why should you remain? 00:09:57.360 |
Verse 18 is really clear, because you cannot change certain things in your life. 00:10:02.840 |
If you read this in cursor, it's like, okay, a person who is circumcised shouldn't be uncircumcised, 00:10:08.040 |
and a person who is uncircumcised shouldn't be circumcised, because they live in a culture 00:10:12.480 |
where the Jews, they look at circumcision like a rite of passage. 00:10:17.160 |
This is, you're right into the community of God, this is almost your rite as a man. 00:10:24.160 |
But then you start thinking, what is circumcision? 00:10:31.400 |
No matter how much you're pissed off at your dad, like, "How dare you do this to me?" 00:10:38.640 |
The fact of the matter is, there are many people in this day and age where we love to 00:10:43.640 |
change things about ourselves, our circumstance, our situation in life, but we cannot. 00:10:54.280 |
So Apostle Paul is sparing us from a whole lot of heartache and grief by teaching us 00:10:59.560 |
there's a sense in which you can't change so much. 00:11:03.000 |
I mean, how many of us can really even change our nature? 00:11:10.600 |
We have a hard time controlling our kids, we have a hard time influencing our family. 00:11:14.160 |
How are we gonna change our life circumstances? 00:11:20.920 |
We obviously need to learn to accept the things that you cannot change. 00:11:28.320 |
The second thing he says is verse 19, which is the more emphatic point I wanna make. 00:11:42.560 |
I mentioned a moment ago that to the Jewish culture, circumcision was huge. 00:11:47.840 |
I mean, circumcision in Genesis chapter 17 was the sign of the covenant of Abraham to 00:11:57.280 |
God's promise to Abraham to bless him and to take care of him and to grow him and make 00:12:03.960 |
God's promise to Abraham to make descendants and all of that was wrapped up in a symbol 00:12:11.560 |
And so you would expect circumcision to be huge in the nation of Israel. 00:12:16.840 |
So huge that to call somebody like you uncircumcised, man, that was a derogatory term. 00:12:25.280 |
In Ephesians chapter 2, Apostle Paul says to the Gentiles, you were not of the commonwealth 00:12:30.160 |
You had no hope, you had no God, and he said you were called uncircumcision. 00:12:35.000 |
For Apostle Paul to say circumcision is nothing, that is profound. 00:12:47.720 |
There are certain things that we think matter so much, but in the perspective of the scriptures 00:12:53.300 |
and perspective of God and the spiritual reality that Apostle Paul sees, they are nothing. 00:13:02.640 |
We have frustrating moments when we care so much to have certain things, to do certain 00:13:08.480 |
things, and the thing about it is it's frustrating because those things really sometimes amount 00:13:15.840 |
As an example, I feel like Jewish culture is a lot like Korean culture or just Asian 00:13:23.880 |
culture, you know, where they're like strict, honor-based, shame, and they shame you if 00:13:32.960 |
So I just sometimes picture my mom and then I see like, okay, olden days is probably like 00:13:37.480 |
Lately, though, I've been hearing a lot about people having difficulty with their parents 00:13:45.360 |
And some of the scenarios, and you guys probably heard this story a thousand times, it's like, 00:13:49.320 |
you know, a guy and a girl get together and the guy's like, look, Mom, I found somebody 00:13:53.400 |
And then they're like, oh, no, no, no, did that girl come from a bad family? 00:14:00.880 |
They're like, what the heck is that all about? 00:14:04.920 |
Or the guy is like, does he at least have a graduate degree? 00:14:18.840 |
And then I counsel people and they're like so frustrated. 00:14:29.080 |
And I almost sense Apostle Paul's frustration. 00:14:32.760 |
Why are you telling our church people to get circumcised? 00:14:36.040 |
And why are you telling all the church people to be uncircumcised? 00:14:39.080 |
And why are you telling our church people to eat this and eat that and do this and do 00:14:46.440 |
What matters is the keeping of God's command. 00:14:49.960 |
What matters is the heart of obedience and submission to the Lord. 00:14:57.920 |
Why does Apostle Paul teach his people, maybe you should just stay? 00:15:03.760 |
Because whatever they thought mattered so much, like no, we need to do this! 00:15:10.600 |
Apostle Paul's sitting there thinking, you don't see the big picture, do you? 00:15:14.800 |
Whatever you thought was so important, it's not that important. 00:15:19.280 |
Now to make this point even more emphatic, even more crazy, more counter-cultural, shocking, 00:15:27.040 |
he brings this next point up as another example of the principle that he has. 00:15:41.920 |
But if you are able also to become free, rather do that. 00:15:46.080 |
For he who was called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freed man. 00:15:50.520 |
Likewise he who was called while free is Christ's slave. 00:15:55.080 |
You were bought with a price, do not become slaves of men. 00:15:58.360 |
Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called. 00:16:04.780 |
So Apostle Paul now actually repeats this theme, you must remain, multiple times. 00:16:12.680 |
And as he's doing it, he brings up the craziest thing in my mind, it's like, how do you even 00:16:25.800 |
Back at that time, people who were slaves were treated like property. 00:16:29.760 |
We know in American culture that slavery was horrific. 00:16:34.920 |
People treated like objects, bought and sold on a stage and block. 00:16:42.520 |
So how does Apostle Paul say something like, do not worry about it? 00:16:49.880 |
Do you guys sometimes read the Bible in a different voice? 00:16:53.640 |
I was just reading, how do you, were you called to slavery? 00:17:09.080 |
You know a lot of slaves, they get their families torn apart. 00:17:11.920 |
A lot of slaves are forced to do things that completely compromises their morals. 00:17:17.480 |
How do you say something like, don't even worry about it? 00:17:21.480 |
The thing is, although just jokingly, the first time I read it, I kind of read it in 00:17:26.160 |
that voice because I was like, that's just mind boggling. 00:17:30.640 |
But I don't think Apostle Paul is purposely trying to diminish what slavery is. 00:17:35.880 |
He's not trying to say, slavery is nothing, stop whining. 00:17:42.240 |
Because you notice it says, if you can, get free. 00:17:44.920 |
But what he's saying is the same point I just made a moment ago. 00:17:50.400 |
To you, you think your slavery is the worst, most horrific thing in your life, but that 00:17:59.160 |
Because for the Christian who understands the truth of God and the spiritual reality, 00:18:02.320 |
your slavery on earth is nothing compared to the bondage of sin that exists. 00:18:07.840 |
The eternity of hell and prison that awaits you. 00:18:12.080 |
Your slavery isn't the biggest problem, is it? 00:18:17.880 |
Your freedom, though you think it's the greatest prize, your freedom, though you think it's 00:18:21.160 |
something worth going to war over, your freedom, though you think it's the biggest thing in 00:18:27.880 |
For the Christian, what is freedom on earth when you are a slave to Christ for all eternity? 00:18:37.200 |
What is freedom on earth for but a short period of time when you have Christ and all the benefits 00:18:42.400 |
of Christ and his authority and you're subjected underneath that and you have to learn a submission 00:18:47.520 |
that goes even deeper than earthly submission? 00:18:53.600 |
Apostle Paul is not diminishing what slavery is, he's placing it in the right perspective 00:19:01.720 |
And when you do that, the things that you think are so important and matter so much 00:19:05.160 |
and the things that you would die for all of a sudden don't seem so big. 00:19:19.280 |
Apostle Paul sees spiritual reality, he's focusing on God's objectives, he's focusing 00:19:23.600 |
on spiritual goals and as he does that he realizes circumcision is nothing and so is 00:19:33.040 |
He's saying that their pursuit of their freedom is much like the circumcision, right? 00:19:41.440 |
So that is why he's able to say brethren, each one is to remain with God in the presence 00:19:45.760 |
of God, to say with God is to walk with God in his presence, in the condition in which 00:19:53.480 |
Did you guys know that this, you know, for me, this thematic command and exhortation 00:19:59.760 |
to remain, because I kind of glossed over this before and I didn't study it in depth, 00:20:04.560 |
I didn't realize how many times he repeated that or even that that's there. 00:20:08.560 |
But do you realize that that could very well be God's call for you? 00:20:18.200 |
How counterculture it is in a generation when all of our parents, their hard work and our 00:20:23.160 |
efforts are going towards you advancing in life. 00:20:26.520 |
And any time you stall or any time you hesitate or any time you can't, everyone's like, what 00:20:36.040 |
Why don't you have this and why don't you have that? 00:20:39.880 |
And I hope your mind is kind of racing because I don't also want to diminish what our parents 00:20:50.440 |
It's not as though nothing matters, everything is, it's as though those things need to be 00:20:58.000 |
And if we think about that, this is highly, highly counter to how we think generally. 00:21:05.440 |
And I hope your minds are racing, how do I apply this? 00:21:07.960 |
What if I am like so unhappy at work and I just want to leave? 00:21:15.120 |
What if I, you know, when I got saved, I was in a job that really was like base, base and 00:21:22.760 |
What's really interesting about this is the part of you wrestling with this is necessary 00:21:29.520 |
and it should be hard because what Apostle Paul does, he does not give us a blanket statement. 00:21:34.560 |
Not every single person in this room is required to stay in the exact same way. 00:21:40.280 |
But rather you need to be thinking as Apostle Paul does in a broader spiritual perspective 00:21:44.680 |
to see the issue that's at hand, how much does it matter in the spiritual realm? 00:21:51.080 |
The issue that's at hand, how much weight does it carry in light of eternity? 00:21:55.800 |
The issue that's at hand, how important is it to me and my faith? 00:22:01.400 |
Well let's continue on because he's going to apply this even more. 00:22:05.240 |
Verse 25, he says this, I'm going to read verse 25 to 27. 00:22:11.280 |
He says, "Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion 00:22:16.440 |
as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. 00:22:19.520 |
I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for 00:22:39.320 |
He says in the beginning of this, and I want to make a side note here. 00:22:42.880 |
He says, "I have no command from the Lord, so I give you my opinion. 00:22:48.280 |
Now just so that you know, it's not like his opinion like it's your opinion, okay? 00:22:54.520 |
He's not saying like, "Well Jesus never said anything, so I don't know, I guess we can 00:23:00.600 |
You don't have to really try that hard again." 00:23:05.480 |
Basically Jesus Christ and his earthly ministry didn't say something verbatim that he can 00:23:11.280 |
But Apostle Paul says, "I have my opinion," which in the Greek sometimes is translated 00:23:21.160 |
And he says, "By his mercies, God's mercies, I'm trustworthy." 00:23:25.600 |
So what he's saying, it belongs in the Bible, okay? 00:23:30.360 |
But as he says that, he says some really interesting things, again, that I think is kind of confusing 00:23:40.040 |
Those are the two words I keep thinking about. 00:23:43.400 |
In view of the present distress, right, that it's good for a man to remain as he is. 00:23:56.320 |
People have different spectrums of how they view marriage. 00:24:05.400 |
There's going to be, you know, harmony, companionship. 00:24:09.960 |
There's obviously going to be physical intimacy. 00:24:25.440 |
But there's a spectrum of perspective on what, how marriage is, right? 00:24:30.200 |
And so I'm like, "What, Apostle Paul, what are you saying?" 00:24:46.720 |
Someone could look at this passage and come out feeling like, "Wait a minute. 00:24:53.400 |
Apostle Paul almost sounds like he's diminishing marriage. 00:24:55.720 |
But here at Berean, we hold the marriage in high honor because Hebrews chapter 13 tells 00:25:06.760 |
Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians chapter five where it's like, "Husbands, love your wives 00:25:11.640 |
And wives, submit to your husbands and respect them and love them." 00:25:22.640 |
So let's look at this passage even more, okay? 00:25:28.440 |
He says, "Well, but if you marry, you have not sinned. 00:25:54.320 |
If you want to get married, you're not doing anything bad. 00:25:58.280 |
God's the author of marriage and he blesses marriage. 00:26:02.080 |
But he says something here which is really interesting. 00:26:05.280 |
Practically, practically speaking, for people who think marriage is the holy land and singleness 00:26:11.920 |
is not, he makes the arguments like which one's actually really better practically? 00:26:17.640 |
He says something interesting, which is, "In this current distress, it is good for you 00:26:24.200 |
Well, I'm just going to say that there are lots of views. 00:26:28.120 |
I was like, "Man, there's six views on one verse?" 00:26:31.080 |
Some of the commentaries say, "Look, the distress, you think of it like the conflict of the world 00:26:41.280 |
They're saying, "Basically, when you become Christian, you are automatically at odds with 00:26:51.240 |
The worldly system is get married, have a baby, raise a family, and die. 00:26:58.760 |
Their interpretation was, "You are against the worldly system, so it's better for you 00:27:06.200 |
Then other people have said, "Well, current distress, he's talking to the church. 00:27:09.080 |
There's a lot of distress, unsettling, there is strife, there's pride, there's bickering." 00:27:15.200 |
An interpretation that I think is more profound is, Apostle Paul wrote this. 00:27:22.040 |
In verse eight, when he started the thought, he said, "Be like me." 00:27:26.240 |
Apostle Paul is in current distress, meaning there is violence done to him. 00:27:39.040 |
Can you imagine if he had a wife and little kids to drive along with that? 00:27:42.840 |
He says, "Practically speaking, for the Lord's work, what's actually better? 00:27:50.880 |
He says, "To have a family would be much harder. 00:27:52.920 |
I don't want to spare you from all that trouble." 00:28:03.800 |
But sometimes the deepest pain is if our family suffers. 00:28:08.360 |
If I see my kids sick and if they're hurting, if I see my parents hurting, if I see my brother 00:28:13.440 |
and sister hurting, if I see other people hurting, I want to help but I can't do that 00:28:17.960 |
much because I'm so limited and the pain they feel causes me anguish greater than if I were 00:28:30.280 |
So Apostle Paul says, "Practically speaking, I want to spare you the trouble. 00:28:39.920 |
Could be what he's saying, but let's continue. 00:28:41.960 |
Verse 29, "But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened so that from now on those 00:28:48.440 |
who have wives should be as though they had none." 00:28:52.520 |
"And those who weep as though they did not weep, and those who rejoice as though they 00:28:57.320 |
did not rejoice, and those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use the 00:29:01.440 |
world as though they did not make full use of it, for the form of this world is passing 00:29:11.480 |
Because not only did he say, "Hey, for those of you guys who are single, perhaps it's better 00:29:15.920 |
just to remain that way because initially I thought Apostle Paul is giving you practical 00:29:24.480 |
And he's negatively trying to prevent you from experiencing things that you don't have 00:29:30.640 |
But all of a sudden he brings in another angle and says, "But for all of you guys who are 00:29:33.920 |
married, you should live as though you weren't married." 00:29:41.280 |
And I come back full circle to this point that I've been making the whole time. 00:29:46.120 |
Why and how is he making this command for you to remain in the situation that you are? 00:30:04.920 |
The point is that in the various life circumstances that we have, we sometimes so often think 00:30:13.400 |
that the solution to all the major problems is to change those circumstances. 00:30:22.560 |
This is a truth that probably isn't new to you, but I want us to be reminded of this 00:30:27.920 |
So many times we believe the various problems and the things that we want are going to be 00:30:36.000 |
And essentially what he's saying, Apostle Paul is saying by teaching us that one who 00:30:41.640 |
is married is like one who is not, and the one who is not married is like one who is, 00:30:45.880 |
and going back and forth with that, is truly because of that point. 00:30:51.560 |
What you think matters and provides and satisfies so much is actually not so much. 00:31:03.080 |
If you're alone and you look to marriage for companionship, guess what? 00:31:06.760 |
If you're a loner, you're going to be a loner in marriage and you're going to make your 00:31:14.080 |
If you've known me long enough, yes, I love fellowship and I love being with people, but 00:31:27.600 |
The marriage situation is not changing the man. 00:31:31.000 |
If you're struggling physically, let's say two people are dating, God forbid, but sometimes 00:31:35.640 |
it happens, they start crossing boundaries, they start breaking their promises and faithfulness, 00:31:41.640 |
and they start taking advantage of the situation, committing sins of sexual immorality. 00:31:46.840 |
And sometimes what happens is a young man will come to me and ask counsel and they'll 00:31:50.320 |
say, "Pastor Mark, I kind of don't know what to do." 00:31:52.800 |
And they're like, "Man, you know, in the end I just need to get married." 00:32:02.200 |
How do you think your marriage is going to solve your lust? 00:32:07.080 |
Many a man will testify to the fact that marriage does not solve lust. 00:32:11.680 |
As a matter of fact, lust becomes all the more sinful in marriage. 00:32:14.400 |
As a matter of fact, if you had a pattern of using situations and people to satisfy 00:32:19.760 |
your cravings, you will do that all the more in your marriage. 00:32:28.240 |
Pastor Paul is taking marriage and taking singleness and he's saying, "You see the 00:32:35.080 |
You see your worldview where you weigh this like so heavy and so great and you weigh this 00:32:39.280 |
so low or you weigh this so high and so this? 00:32:42.320 |
What true spiritual benefit is there in either of these?" 00:32:47.320 |
And we come back to the point, what matters is the keeping of the commandments of our 00:32:54.400 |
Because he says it emphatically at this next point that I want to go over. 00:33:01.680 |
I'm going to read from verse 32 down to verse 35. 00:33:08.760 |
One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the 00:33:13.360 |
But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please 00:33:20.440 |
The woman who is unmarried and the virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord 00:33:23.720 |
that she may be holy both in body and spirit. 00:33:26.200 |
But the one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please 00:33:32.920 |
And then this is the emphatic point I would like you to either highlight or bold or jot 00:33:40.440 |
All of this that he's been teaching, all the commands that have been both confusing and 00:33:48.520 |
This I say for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is 00:34:14.040 |
People who perhaps they're not active at church, people who are not doing certain things like, 00:34:21.640 |
When you get married, you have to do this and you have to do that." 00:34:28.440 |
But what that points to is not the problem in the marriage. 00:34:30.640 |
What that points to is the problem of devotion. 00:34:33.360 |
The problem of devotion in the man who enters the marriage. 00:34:43.360 |
In your perspective, have you been blaming your life circumstances for why you're bitter, 00:34:47.200 |
why you're mad, why you're not being fruitful enough? 00:34:50.040 |
Maybe, rather than asking God, "Just change this for me. 00:34:58.040 |
Help me to learn how to be both content, striving, fruitful, loving, devoted to you in this." 00:35:05.320 |
Because the circumstances change all the time. 00:35:07.000 |
When he is talking earlier about how the time is short and for marriage relationships, relationships 00:35:20.160 |
If your spiritual perspective is nasty going in, if you have a lot and your spiritual perspective 00:35:25.880 |
If you have little and your spiritual perspective is nasty, you're sinning. 00:35:38.920 |
And so I'm humbled by this truth and I'm humbled by Apostle Paul who says, "What I'm trying 00:35:42.560 |
to secure in you, I'm not trying to restrict you. 00:35:48.400 |
That was the fault of Catholicism thinking, "Put those guys in the monastery. 00:35:55.440 |
The monks can't marry and then they're going to be holy." 00:36:02.960 |
The ascetics who deny themselves, that doesn't make you holy. 00:36:08.160 |
Apostle Paul reveals his heart to us and says, "What I'm trying to do is not to restrain 00:36:13.040 |
What I'm trying to do is secure undivided devotion to God." 00:36:19.920 |
Guys, from a personal point of view for me too, isn't this the struggle? 00:36:24.920 |
And I am struggling, like I feel like day by day with this. 00:36:29.520 |
I remember putting on Facebook like, "I'm going to be a man of God and love my wife 00:36:33.680 |
and love my kids and I'm going to set the tone spiritually and I'm going to do this." 00:36:37.480 |
I am ramped up to be the best husband and father that I can be. 00:36:43.520 |
But is it not our struggle that although that's a good and godly goal, we turn even those 00:36:47.520 |
blessings into things that are hugely out of proportion in the spiritual realm? 00:36:54.000 |
And just to make my family happy, just to make my kids good, and right now I'm researching 00:36:57.860 |
their educational program, right now I'm researching like maybe we should move and all those things 00:37:03.020 |
are motivated by I want to provide for my family, right? 00:37:07.200 |
But isn't the struggle, how do I prioritize that? 00:37:11.160 |
How do I prioritize that where I'm managing my time so that God is still priority, God 00:37:15.080 |
is still number one and I'm able to say with Apostle Paul, "I want to have a single 00:37:22.080 |
And that single minded devotion is not just on paper, it's not just in my head, it's 00:37:32.760 |
And so I'm not going to go into detail about it like right now, but really that's why 00:37:36.680 |
sometimes I feel like, you know, it makes sense to me why at the end of every letter 00:37:39.760 |
of Apostle Paul, after describing a heart for God, he'll say, "So therefore be sober, 00:37:45.720 |
be diligent, examine your heart, test the spirit, you know, keep accountable." 00:37:50.640 |
And he's saying, "Do everything so that you can have a singular devotion to God." 00:37:57.320 |
You know, by way of wrapping up, go back to verse eight where we started. 00:38:03.240 |
And Apostle Paul, you know, he says, "But I say to the unmarried and to the widows that 00:38:12.160 |
it is good, it's good, he says, for them if they remain even as I." 00:38:18.160 |
I'm thankful that Apostle Paul is a forerunner in many ways, an example. 00:38:24.840 |
And he's able to say this, not with like, you know, come on, if you're like a 23 year 00:38:29.320 |
old who got married at like 23 right out of college, he's looking at like a four year 00:38:33.480 |
old man who's single and, you know, just learning day by day to be content. 00:38:36.680 |
He's like, "Dude, you're so better off for being single, man." 00:38:39.120 |
It's like, shut up, you know, you don't know nothing about it. 00:38:49.880 |
He didn't carry, you know, a family with him when he could and he says that, he says, "Do 00:38:53.280 |
I not have a right to have a family like you guys? 00:38:56.800 |
Do I not have a right to bring along a wife, a believing wife?" 00:39:00.240 |
But for Apostle Paul, he's not asking us just to follow, "Even as I," in his singleness. 00:39:06.400 |
Because not everybody in here is meant for singleness. 00:39:08.560 |
Jesus Christ made that very clear, celibacy is a gift. 00:39:11.760 |
And if you don't have a gift and you try to force yourself to have a gift, you're not 00:39:16.400 |
But what he is doing when he says, "Be like this, remain even as I," Apostle Paul is single 00:39:23.680 |
minded and we need to be singularly minded for Christ. 00:39:28.440 |
That Apostle Paul, for him and his application, because I have been set apart for the gospel, 00:39:32.960 |
although I have the right, I'm not going to exercise my right. 00:39:35.440 |
Because I've been set apart for the gospel ministry and I have a purpose and I have a 00:39:38.720 |
goal and I'm being driven for that one goal to glorify God, anything that is going to 00:39:51.480 |
So many times in our lives, sometimes we ask this question, why can't we just have it all? 00:39:55.480 |
Our generation wants the benefits of being single, the benefits of being married, we 00:40:00.400 |
We want all the opportunities and all the benefits. 00:40:06.720 |
Because sometimes we let go of what matters, we let go of the eternal, we let go of the 00:40:15.040 |
Learn to remain, learn to focus, learn to be single minded. 00:40:28.280 |
Father Lord, we pray that you would forgive us. 00:40:30.680 |
God, many times our perspective is just too small. 00:40:36.000 |
And God, the things that sometimes matter so much in our lives, we realize it only matters 00:40:44.760 |
I pray Lord that you would continue to teach us that we would know the truth. 00:40:49.360 |
And Lord that by knowing the truth, we would truly be set free from the bondage of carrying 00:40:54.120 |
and being invested so heavily into the things on earth. 00:40:57.600 |
But God, that we would learn to care about the weighty matters of God. 00:41:01.680 |
I pray Father God that you would continue to lead us and sanctify us, that you would 00:41:05.280 |
give us the wisdom to willingly lay aside the things that prevent us from coming to 00:41:10.680 |
you, to willingly lay aside the things that are hindering us from offering up ourselves 00:41:17.200 |
But God, that continually as you sanctify us, we would take steps day by day, examining 00:41:22.320 |
our walk, examining ourselves and the times, that God we might live a life honoring and