(audio cuts out) But the husband does. And likewise also, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time so that you may devote yourself to prayer and to come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

But this I say by way of concession, not a command. Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.

But if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. But to the married I give instructions, not I but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband. If she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband, and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away, for the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband.

For otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving ones leave, let him leave. The brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband?

Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? Okay, let's take a moment to pray, and then we'll jump into the study. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your grace. God, we thank you for your love to us. We thank you for your care.

But we thank you, Lord God, that you care for us as our Heavenly Father. We thank you, God, that you love us according to your holiness, according to your discretion. So God, I thank you that you instruct us. I thank you, God, that you cause us to be holy.

And I thank you, Lord, that you discipline us at times. And Father, I pray that in every way we would desire to receive your word with gratefulness and to receive it with an eagerness to apply it into our lives. We thank you in Christ's name, amen. Okay. Now, by way of introducing this passage to us, you gotta imagine, you just noticed there, Apostle Paul did one of these things where he essentially addresses many different people.

He addresses the single people. He addresses the married people. He addresses the divorced people, the widowed people, the married people with unbelieving husbands, the married wives with unbelieving, you know, I'm sorry, married husbands with unbelieving wives. He addresses all different types of scenarios, you know? And I find that really interesting because you can then imagine, just like it is a very confusing climate in our generation to begin a romantic relationship and ultimately get married, likewise, you can see that perhaps there was a lot of confusion in that time as well, okay?

Now, talking about dating a little bit, a lot of people assume that I had an incredibly conservative perspective on dating, which I guess in many sense I do, but there was a huge movement where people wanted dating to look different than what it does now, so they started calling it courtship.

Have you guys heard that? We shouldn't date, we should do courtship, you know? And the idea there was like, because we were so intent on marriage, the way you date is like, go talk to the father before you even talk to the girl, you know, basically apply, get permission, and then you're able to court this girl for the purpose intentionally for marriage.

And I always clarify to people, I actually don't believe in courtship. And they're like, really? But you know, you believe that dating should be for the purpose of marriage, absolutely. You believe that you should remain pure and you shouldn't like date around and all this stuff, and I'm like, sure, sure, sure.

But I love the fact that there is good analogy in life, which is fishing, okay? (audience laughing) You're fishing. And the thing about it is, sometimes you cast nets that are wide, sometimes you use little lures, sometimes you use little poppers, and sometimes you use huge, like, oceanic, huge, real, you know, so the idea there is, I think there is some wisdom in the idea that there isn't just one absolute way that you can big brush and say, everybody needs to date like this.

Now, there are wrong things to do, okay? You shouldn't be fishing in the Santa Ana River, you shouldn't be fishing for poisonous fish. You should only be fishing for keepers. There are fish that are only good for throwing back, but you should be fishing for keepers. That's the kind of way that I like to advise people to fish.

I mean, sorry, date. (audience laughing) Sometimes it's more highly important who you're searching for than how I do it. Now, obviously, there are clear things you shouldn't do, and we learned about that last week. Fornification is wrong in any circumstance. Joining yourself to an individual, no matter how much you say you love that person outside of marriage, is absolutely wrong, right?

And joining yourself in even, like, emotional ties and physical ties, obviously, should be very, very much, you should approach that with caution. You should be honorable in everything you do, right? But in my personal perspective, depending on who you are, what your strengths are, and how you think, and where you are on your faith level, even, the things that you do, even in dating, is gonna be a little different.

And depending on who you're trying to pursue, that'll also look a little different, and you have to leave room for that. So what's interesting is, I think about this scenario, and just as complicated as the dating environment in modern day is, you can imagine the dating environment, perhaps the relational environment back then was really complicated as well.

And you had people of different persuasions. Some people would be like, okay, so like the good Asian parent, if you guys have ever suffered under that, you turn 25, before 25, it was just like, I want you to focus on school, I want you to focus on your career, and then you turn 25, it's like, why aren't you married, or what are you doing with your life, you know?

You know what's really funny is the Jewish people thought the exact same way. I really think Jewish people and Asian people would have a lot in common. But because the Jewish culture was so much bound up in, God wants you to multiply. God has intended for you to be married.

If you didn't get married, it almost was like, why are you being so rebellious, you know? Like, do you want to offend our family? What's going on with you? So there was this pressure. And isn't there pressure in our day? Yeah, there is. And then obviously there's other cultures that say, no, I don't wanna get married that early.

I want to go find myself, find my freedoms, make something of myself, you know? And then there's other cultures, and you can imagine it's like, relationships. Who needs 'em? Or other cultures that might think, not only who needs 'em, but that's very sinful of you. Is that all you think about?

You passionate, lustful, female, very base and fleshly person. You can imagine that, but there might be people who would say, it's holier for you to remain single, right? So very interesting mix, very interesting mix of different cultures that have joined together to make what is the culture of the Corinthian church.

We're taking a look at this now, and we're only looking at verse one through seven, but again, if you look at the whole chapter, he's going to hit different scenarios, different circumstances, different people, okay? Let's take a look together at verses one through two. And in verses one through two, it says, now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. Okay, starting there, I wanna ask the easy question, what is Apostle Paul advocating in verse one? Just easy observation. Someone please raise their hand and tell me, what do you think Apostle Paul is advocating here?

I'm sorry? - Get married. - Get married, okay. Verse one. - Get married. - Get married. (laughing) - So verse one, definitely not get married, but it's good for a man not to what? Touch a woman. So what is he really advocating in verse one? Someone, what did he say?

- Intimacy, marriage. Intimacy, marriage. - Intimacy in marriage? But he's saying it is good. He's not advocating that. His questioners are. - Okay, okay, okay. - He's asking about a question. Hey, is it, in light of all the fornication in chapter six, should we then go to the other extreme?

- Right. - Not even, the extreme of the husband can't even be with his wife? - Right. - That's the question they asked him. - Right, right. - And he says about what you wrote, so he's not saying married couple can't be together. - Good, good, okay. Just jumping so far ahead of me right now.

(laughing) - That's all in verse one. - That's all, okay, it's true. All right, so did you guys hear what he said? Okay, what he said is this, is, remember here in chapter seven, you gotta think, this whole discussion is coming in the context of interaction with the church already asking questions, right?

And so what Matthew is saying is, you can imagine that these people are saying stuff like, man, with all the stuff that's around us in our culture, the promiscuity and the sexual indulgences, we should not even, should we not even touch a woman at all? Okay, now he's saying that Apostle Paul is not advocating singleness, okay?

Now, that will be the conclusion of all of chapter seven. So, there we go, we've just finished Bible study. (laughing) The conclusion is, so let me give it to you now because it is a good point. If you were to ask, what is Apostle Paul advocating in this chapter, is he advocating celibacy over marriage at all?

No, but actually, as a matter of fact, is he even advocating marriage over celibacy? No, okay? Apostle Paul is not advocating and saying the condition of your life in terms of your relation, this is what needs to happen in every single person's life. That is not what he's doing.

So, I guess I should have rephrased this question. What does it appear to be that Apostle Paul is advocating in verse one? In verse one, it appears as though Apostle Paul is saying, oh yeah, to not touch a woman is good. That is at least an evaluation question. What's good?

It's good for a man not to touch a woman, right? And to say a man not to touch a woman is to say, I declare celibacy. I'm not gonna have a relationship with a woman, right? So that's verse one. But the harder question is, why is Apostle Paul writing this?

And we've just talked about it in a moment here. There is great confusion, okay? The church is having a, really, an incredibly difficult time applying what Apostle Paul has been teaching them. It's like, you know? So you can just imagine. This happens to people all the time. We do extremes.

It's like, hey, we should have, oh, please stand that way. We should have freedom because what we do, you know, in the flesh doesn't really matter. You go out this way. Apostle Paul tries to correct that and say, no, you don't have freedom. How dare you join yourself with, you know, promiscuous individuals, prostitutes, just for your gratification.

It matters absolutely, incredibly a lot what you do in the flesh. Because you are, you are gonna have immortal bodies, okay? Now, the pendulum swing then is to go the other way and be like, okay, then with all these immoralities, then we're not gonna touch any woman. You know, and you can imagine in the vision, 'cause is that how we apply?

Is that what we're supposed to do? And we sometimes do that, you know? We sometimes exaggerate or pendulum swing, and you can imagine people doing that and perhaps even saying stuff like that. So, there is this great confusion. Now, I have a question for you guys that's a little bit more personal, and it's there underneath verse two.

How do you make sense of this seemingly and incredibly practical reason for marriage? Does it sit well with you? Okay, Kim, because you shake your head and you're like, no. (laughs) So, tell me, I know part of it's a little bit obvious as to why, yeah, it might not sit well with us, but just kind of verbalize, how does it first sound to you, and why does it not sit well with you?

Right. - That it's because of that, that's why we shake our head. - Okay. - That's why it doesn't sit well with me. I don't think God's in favor of just that. - Yeah, good, good, okay. Anybody wanna add anything else? Yes. - It's totally not spiritual enough. (laughs) - It's just not spiritual enough, okay?

So good. Yeah, I mean, when you read this, it should initially kind of hit you as like, but that's odd, you know? Just like what Karen said, the purpose of marriage as, you know, ideally we would wanna practice it, it wouldn't be like, wow, I'm just burning with passion right now.

And definitely I would never approach a woman, you know, when you're single and be like, I chose you because I just can't control myself. You know, like. (laughs) Do you wanna go out with me? (laughs) And also, obviously, it's just on a level of talking spiritually and fleshly, which just sounds too fleshly, you know?

But as we think about this, as we think about this, I guess let's keep that there for a moment, 'cause the more that we tackle this passage, we're gonna realize, yes, this is practical, but there is more, obviously, than meets the eye. Okay? All right, good. Any questions about section one, verses one and two?

The introduction of the issue at hand in the church of confusion, celibacy, marriage, what do we do? Okay? All right. Moving forward. Verse three to five. Can I have somebody read this for me nice and loud? Yes. Yes, oh, okay, okay. You know, to tell you honestly, I think I placed that question poorly, too.

This is a question that will arise as we study, so let's come back to it as we wrap up the study at the end, okay? All right. Verse three to five. At this table over here, can I have, Titus, can you read that for us? - Oh, yes, sir.

The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband, she does. And likewise, also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop defiling one another, except by agreement before a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and coming together again, so that saints will have mercy on you because of your lack of self.

- Okay, good. So, let's do an exercise right now. We've got four questions underneath the observations. Remember, observations is like such an integral part. You know, all the steps that we've already rehearsed many times is an integral part of good Bible study. I ask you four questions. Can you guys just take time now to answer it on your own?

How does it describe the responsibility of a man and woman? What is the reason why they have this responsibility? Under what circumstances can a couple refrain? And why does Paul give this exhortation not to deprive each other? Okay? Okay, so it looks like just about everybody is in. Let's go over the questions quickly and then speak about what this passage, how this passage connects with all that Apostle Paul is saying in relation to celibacy and marriage, okay?

So, first question, how does it describe the responsibility of a man and woman towards their spouse? That table over there. About, Eric, you wanna try it? Okay, they should give it to each other. Now, in your estimation, is it just they should? Or how does the passage describe that responsibility?

They must. If you look at your Bibles, the NIV translation would classify that as this is the conjugal right of the married individual. In the NASB translation, it'll say this is the duty of the man and the woman. A man must fulfill his duty, right? Okay? And then, so then thinking about that, the, I guess, the responsibility towards our spouse, even to something like physical intimacy, which we would perhaps oftentimes classify as something that should only happen when there is true love and romance, right?

The Bible calls it duty. To the degree where, look, you don't have a choice, right? This is what you need to do. You don't have authority or say in this. Your spouse does. Okay, but number two, what is the reason why they have this responsibility? Someone from that table?

(audience member speaking faintly) Good. So that's one of them is the repercussions of not obeying this responsibility or caring and fulfilling this responsibility is the negative consequence. You're gonna be very susceptible to sin. You're, the spouse is going to be lacking, longing and wanting, being wanting, right? And then what's another reason why they have this responsibility?

(audience member speaking faintly) Yeah, so this is the thing that I was kinda saying, you know, maybe I put the order a little bit wrong. I asked a question about does this really practical way of approaching the marriage relationship that Apostle Paul is, you know, seemingly saying, does this not sit well with us?

And to some degree, it doesn't sit well. But we realize in Apostle Paul's mind, there's more that meets the eye than just, you know what, if you guys are just lusting, then just get married, you know what I mean? What he's seeing is he sees the nature of the relationship in a unique way, perhaps very different than his culture.

Okay? He is seeing the unity that exists between a husband and wife as an incredibly unique unity, a harmony to the degree that the individual does not have authority even over his own body, but rather as one, they essentially share authority over their body because they're one. You're not your own, right?

And so what he's seeing is in that context of that special relationship, that is where that physical intimacy, right? That is where that sexual drive should exist. Now, in my mind, if you think about that, there's a sense in which, yes, perhaps for us, if we were to think about duty, if we were to think about necessity and rights, it's just not romantic.

It doesn't fit our culture. But if you think about their culture and how Apostle Paul is actually teaching these individuals, this is incredibly in contrast to what they used to think. For example, there's a sense in which there are some commentators that translated this passage. Again, so you can tell there's a little bit of a nuance in translating this verse.

I mentioned that the A&SB says, hey, man, fulfill your duty. Another person says this woman has conjugal rights. And another guy who was translating this kind of on his own and writing his commentary said, the man should render to the woman the affection that is due to her. That's the way he translated it.

Because in terms of fulfilling the duty, that's kind of how the Greek actually literally means. It's just rendering. And that duty is not just a sense of like, well, that was what was commanded me, bam, here it is. It's a responsibility. It's a privilege. And the thing about it is, I think, if you were to then look at this as that sexual intimacy should only take place in an exclusive relationship under these limited parameters, what we have there is something precious.

It's something not common. It's something not to be practiced just outside. It's something that's not supposed to be just an everyday thing in the sense that, back then, it wasn't so uncommon for husbands to marry, divorce, and do that, let's say, 20 times. Back then, it wasn't so uncommon where individuals would have relationships with many different women or many different men.

And so to have now a teaching that says, no, we wanna have that sexual intimacy be a precious thing under the specific requirements in an exclusive relationship, that's so much more than what they would experience back then. You see what I'm saying? So, number one, yes, it does sound highly practical.

And the thing about it is this one passage does not give us the exhaustive teaching on marriage and why we get married. So, truthfully, this is a practical reason why you should get married, because you want to, you long to, have that kind of relationship and intimacy, right? But the fact of the matter is, this doesn't in any way diminish the preciousness, the kind of, the way that we, perhaps, view a marriage in our day, okay?

Now, he talks a little bit about here under what circumstances can a couple refrain from sexual intimacy? Over there on that table with Mel, Michelle, Frannie? - Times of prayer. - Times of prayer. Especially trying to specifically focus on a spiritual aspect of growth or maybe in a unique circumstance.

But he says, what's really interesting about that, he says, I'm gonna go back to my Bible. What's really interesting about that is he says, "Make sure you come back together again "so that Satan will not tempt you "because of your lack of self-control," right? Now, what's really interesting about this whole thing, this scenario, again, is, right now, I just tried to make a case for you, saying, like, hey, the practicality of Apostle Paul's reasoning to get married, it doesn't diminish, perhaps, the intimacy and romance of marriage.

But there's a sense in which, realistically, there is a high practicality to this. And that highly practical reason is what? The reason why he would give this exhortation not to deprive each other is, table over there, with Andrea, Diane, and? (papers rustling) Okay, so that Satan will not have an opportunity to tempt.

So, if you were to think about this, there's almost a sense that you gotta ask the question, you know, what does Apostle Paul care more about as he is addressing this issue? (coughing) Right, think about that as you look at this passage. He's trying to teach you that celibacy can be good, marriage is very good in the design of God, and that sexual intimacy should happen, this is the design of God, that sexual intimacy actually, exclusively, would happen in this marriage relationship.

But what is he more concerned about as he's teaching on this topic of celibacy and marriage? (papers rustling) Anyone? Yes, that's okay. - The first five. - Five. - Stop depriving one another. - Yeah. - Instead of placing them separately, so that they can be part of each other.

- Yeah, I think that's a great question. He's giving a command saying, stop depriving each other. And that's an excellent thing to do, is ask the question, what does that say about the people of the time? I think their word, it's funny because chapter six, he's rebuking these individuals for being sexually permissive, but then obviously there's other people, other people in the church who perhaps, maybe it was because they had a transition from their pagan ritualistic and highly sexualized worship services, to now how they were trying to apply purity in their lives, and they almost feel like, I can't physically touch my wife either.

You can imagine people perhaps in that day and age, depriving each other that way, in a confused and misinformed thinking of, to be celibate is holier than marriage. To go above God's standards and essentially say, to do this, to have this restriction, is to be holier. Yeah, I think there are people like that.

Good question. Over there, yeah. - I think he answered your question. - Mm-hmm. - He called me a poet. Whether you're celibate or married, the ultimate goal is to be a greater ministry. - Okay. - So if you're talking to marriage, let's say it has to do with why God is gentler than marriage, but perhaps in a sense that we turn the first book to the point on ministry, what are we doing?

Things aren't good at home, it affects you, or it affects you to whoever it is. So I think perhaps maybe that's what he was doing, but I'm not sure that that's what he was doing. - Good, thank you. Absolutely. Yes, other points. - Just to add to that, Paul's really concerned about the integrity of their covenant, because the two are one.

- Yeah. - This chapter was, we're one with Christ, therefore we can't have sex outside of marriage, because that defiles Christ in a sense, spiritually. - Mm-hmm. - So he transitions here to talk about men and women in the same respect, because in Paul's mind, the gospel is, marriage is a reflection of the gospel.

That's why it's so important for marriage to the integrity of that covenant to stay strong. And one way, the chief way the enemy is gonna tear it apart is through unmarriage. Or when one or two in a couple, or if it's a couple are depriving each other of intimacy, that enables the enemy to rip them apart.

There goes the reflection of the gospel. - Right, good, thank you. Great points, okay. So here now, absolutely, to go off of what Matthew is saying, there's a sense in which the Paul's Apostle Paul begins with to not touch a woman is good, and it can be very good.

But celibacy is not good in the context of marriage, because that's not how God designed it. In marriage, you're supposed to have intimacy. In marriage, you're supposed to have an attitude of being willing to give the other person. In marriage, you're supposed to have the attitude of love in which you're really satisfying and rendering that affection that is due to the other spouse.

And that all's supposed to happen because what Apostle Paul's really concerned about is a spiritual focus of every individual that he's talking to. Spiritual focus. If you're not functioning as you ought, if you're not functioning as God designed, if you're not also fulfilling what God has allotted you in your life, you're not gonna be able to focus.

And so what Apostle Paul is saying is, look, I'm giving you these various precepts. I'm not giving you an incase statement, everybody needs to do this, but I'm giving you various precepts because according to your lot in life, you need to be faithful in order that you stay spiritually focused, okay?

And so that's why in moving to verse, the next section, Paul's permissive command, try to do a little play on words here, I asked you the question, what is the difference between a concession and a command earlier? Do you guys have any comments about that? Anybody from the rest of the table that I can call on?

I asked the question in your warm-up discussion, what's the difference between a concession and a command? And another important question to think about as you think about that one is, he said a lot already in the first six verses of chapter seven, what do you think he is specifically referring to?

Everything, is celibacy a concession, not a command? Is marriage the concession or not a command? Don't deprive each other, is that the concession and the command? Okay, so think about that. Verse six, he kinda introduces what he's gonna say, he says, "I say by way of confession, not a command." And he says, "Yet, I wish that all men "were even as I myself am.

"Each man has his own gift from God, "one in this manner, and another in that." Okay, so I read this verse because right now I feel like, if you just were to read that, there's a sense in which, gosh, it is a little confusing. What is Apostle Paul referring to when he says, "This is a concession and not a command?" And what is Apostle Paul referring to when he says, "I wish that all were as I am." Okay, yes.

Okay. Yeah. Okay. Good. Okay. Right, okay. So, she's saying that the concession is not everything he's been talking about, it's just the immediate reference before, which is, if you decide by mutual agreement to deprive each other for a little bit, abstain so that you can focus, that is the concession.

That's what I think. There are commentaries that'll say he's talking about something broader. I don't think so. I think Apostle Paul, he would be the first one, if you look at his other letters, and I'm gonna ask you in your discussion time to draw up other passages that teach the purpose and the environment of what godly marriage should look like.

And so, knowing what Apostle Paul says about marriage, he is not going to say that marriage is the concession. Okay? Because it is by God's ordained plan that the union of marriage be something that is reflective of his character, of his gospel, and it speaks so much, volumes. And so, that being the case, Apostle Paul expects that the marriage relationship be characterized by intimacy.

And he says, so that time away from each other, that's the concession. It is not a command. Okay? Now, he then contrasts that and says, yet, I wish that all men were even as I myself am. So, we're kind of drawing things to a little bit of a close here.

And in thinking about this, I ask this question about what is the advice really in verse seven, and must all men follow his advice? Okay? In thinking about this, I wanna, well, actually, let me give you guys an opportunity to just answer the question. In verse seven, when he says, I wish that all men were even as I myself am, what do you think he's referring to?

And what then would he desire that all men would be like? Yes? >> Is it the ability to be fully devoted to God? >> Well put. >> Whether in the context of celibacy or inheritance. >> Good. I actually really like the way you said that. Okay? She said, it's the ability to be fully devoted to God in either context.

Yeah? Well, let me say this, yeah. >> I'd say we can go back to verse 32. >> Mm-hmm. Later on, he's gonna say a couple things that, and likewise, verse 32, but I want you to be free from concern. Yeah. So, excellent. So let's tie a couple things in together, 'cause this is important, okay?

There's a sense in which Apostle Paul, practically speaking, is gonna say practical wisdom, okay? So do you know what? For those of us who are completely engrossed in the relationship atmosphere, and perhaps we've bought into certain ways of thinking where it's like, everybody has to get married and I have to get married, or if you're already married, you're like, all my friends have to get married.

And so there's some of us who are like, I am the matchmaker that God sent to you, so listen to me when I say this, you should go for her. Or when he asks you, just say yes. You feel like you need to get everybody married, okay? And I know some of us have good intentions in that, so don't feel like I'm just dogging you or whatever, but there are people who think like that.

They look at somebody and it's always like, why aren't you married? Now, if you think about these scenarios, dang it, I totally lost my train of thought, all right? If you think about these scenarios, Apostle Paul gives practical wisdom in that. If you think about what he's gonna say in the next couple of verses, he's gonna give practical wisdom in that.

There are those of you who will function better if you're married, okay? But then he also gives practical wisdom in other verses later on, where he says, look, if you stay single like I did, then you're going to relieve yourself of some of the concerns that exist. And it is absolutely harder for a married man to do what I do.

I mean, can you just jump on a boat? Can you be beaten? Can you be persecuted? Can you be chased out of towns? Can you just go for days hungry? Can you be shipwrecked with a family? So, Apostle Paul actually gives a lot of practical wisdom through these verses.

And we actually have to heed that and we have to think about it. But I like the way that Grace put it is, but Apostle Paul, his intent, later on if you read verse 32, I'm gonna read the whole section for us, verse 32 to 35, this is something really important and something that I preached on before and it's good for us to review.

Verse 32 says, "But I want you to be free from concern. "One who is unmarried is concerned "about the things of the Lord, "how he may please the Lord. "But the one who is married is concerned "about the things of the world, "how he may please his wife. "And his interests are divided.

"The woman who is unmarried and the virgin "is concerned about the things of the Lord, "that she may be holy both in body and spirit. "But the one who is married is concerned "about the things of the world, "how she may please her husband. "This I say for your own benefit, "not to put a restraint upon you, "but to promote what is appropriate "and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord." So in all honesty, in other passages of the Bible, he's gonna say, what is marriage?

What is singleness? In the end, those are just two circumstances of your life. What is Apostle Paul really pursuing after is the ability to have committed, undivided attention to God, right? And that is what he desires. You know what's really interesting to me is I always believed, not always, but up until a little, maybe about a year or two ago, I just always assumed that Apostle Paul was a single man all his life.

But after some thinking about it, I think actually Apostle Paul was probably a married man, but either his wife passed away or she left him. And you can imagine why. Because Apostle Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin. Apostle Paul was an up-and-coming leader in the Jewish environment of the whole religion, okay?

He was a leader amongst leaders. And earlier I mentioned to you that there is a culture where if you're not married, then you're just not obeying the will of God. And like perhaps a lot of different religious environments in our day and age, if you're not married, then they don't see you as like, I don't know if you're qualified to be our leader.

I'm pretty sure that Apostle Paul had that criteria checked off, you know what I mean? And what's more, later on when he speaks in verse eight, when he says, "To the unmarried and to the widows, "he say I say it is good for them "if they remain even as I," he associates with who?

The widows and the widowers. He associates with them. And I think there's a sense in which Apostle Paul knows what it means then to be married, and he knows what it means to be single. And in all this, he's not saying, I wish everybody was just like me, going through all sorts of hardship, going through all sorts of the various different struggles of individual who's been married and done that.

But again, I think he's really focusing on this idea of, in the lot that God has given you, if you are single, there is an emphasis on being devoted to the Lord in that singleness. And if you are married, then fulfilling every responsibility of that marriage that's still in your marriage, you are faithful to the Lord.

Does that make sense? And so either where you're single, you don't give room for the devil. When you are married, you don't give room for the devil. And spiritually, you're devoted. I think that's the intent of Apostle Paul, okay? So, by way of conclusion, the principles in this passage are important, and he makes very clear, look, there's nothing wrong with celibacy.

As a matter of fact, it's a gift. There's absolutely nothing wrong with marriage, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with sex in the marriage, because that too is a gift. So earlier, going back all the way around to Grace's question, I think it was Grace who asked, I asked the question, how do you harmonize the idea that celibacy is good with the following verses?

Genesis 2, 18, it is not good for a man to be alone. Genesis 1, 28, be fruitful and multiply. Proverbs, he who finds a wife, a good wife, finds a good thing. How do we reconcile the two? Anybody wanna take a shot at just, someone asks you the question, I'm a little confused.

Apostle Paul is giving us some wise wisdom, but he says this is good in multiple occasions. Is it good to be celibate? What's best? How would you respond? You know? Brother, sister, I'm really confused. What's best? Try to stay single and fight my desire? Get married and fight the distraction?

I mean, what's best here? Yes. - Pursue and enjoy the gift God gave you. - Nice, he says, pursue and enjoy the gift God gave you. Anything else you guys wanna add to that? You know, I asked the question at the end, you know, the advice that Apostle Paul gives, does every man have to try to obey every single advice in this chapter?

And I think the great answer to that is what Matthew said. You need to be thankful and pursue the gift that God has given you, and be faithful with that gift. If God has given you the gift of celibacy, and that definitely is a gift, okay? Not everybody has a gift, but it's a gift.

And if God has given that to you, thank the Lord and be found faithful with that gift. But if God enables you to find a woman, a husband, be thankful for that gift and be faithful with that gift. That's how you can reconcile this idea. There's passages in the Bible that says, get married.

Other passages, stay single. What's best? What's best is the allotment that God has given you, rejoice and give thanks to the Lord. Okay? All right. Any questions about this passage? Yes. - One last thing is that Paul's encouragement to stay single or, you know, it's good to stay single, that's more of an actual advice, more than what I read.

Genesis 2.18, that's what was commanded from God. God said it was not good for man to be alone, therefore I'll make a single helper. That seems to be like, we're not good alone. I need a helper to back us to become one. - Yeah. - Max is born. - Okay, okay.

- It seems like without my helper, I'm not able to. So it's like God's command in Genesis 2 versus Paul's practical advice, verse 57. - Yeah. - So when I go forth, don't start a girl's marriage. Five verses, okay? One, not good for man to be alone, right? Which leads to, if you find a wife, find a good thing.

Which leads to three, children are good. You know, we multiply, which leads to four, children are a gift, which leads to five. You're on your sixth, tells us to raise our kids. So maybe all five verses, plus it's God's command, I would rather encourage everyone to get married. - All right.

It's a great question, you guys heard his question, right? Okay, sure. So just so you guys know the question, which is a great question. Here in 1 Corinthians, it sounds like a practical advice, but then the stuff of the verses seems more like the framework of mankind, more a general principle.

Okay. - You're absolutely right. Paul's practical advice is very contextually limited to this period of history, short term. Because, verse 29. Verse 29 reads, "But this I say, brethren, "the time has been shortened." The time has been shortened, so there's something going on in his day and age, which gives him this urgency about practical advice.

"The time has been shortened, so that from now on, "those who have lives should be as though they had none. "And those who weep as though they did not, "and those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, "and those who buy as though they did not possess, "very interesting, and those who use the world "as though they did not make a whole reason for it, "for the form of this world is passing away." Paul's practical advice is, after all, because of a quickening that's happening in the culture, and I think it's because of the announcement of persecution, and that's why he's saying, don't have to rejoice, and don't have to, you're gonna just possess everything, because you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow.

There is a quickening of the pace of global events at the time, which is going to make it so much harder to be married, stay married, raise children. There's a lot at stake. If you're married, can you imagine your wife being tortured in front of you? What would you do?

How would you handle it? That's what Paul's sitting on, rising, so his practical advice is just a concern in light of what's coming. You're absolutely right, in general, that is God's concern. He's thinking about that. >> Yeah, good. Good, good. So the answer on the level of, contextually, in understanding the environment, understanding their times is good, but also, again, comes back to the idea that, if you look at those principles that we see from Genesis and the Book of Proverbs and whatnot, so you see what it is, is I can say something like this.

It seems that, for just about everybody, just about, the general principle and the general lifestyle that a Christian is going to live is going to be in the context of family. It seems that God, for the most part, wants people to have marriages and marriages that are godly, right?

But it's very clear, too, that, not just through this passage, but in other examples in the Bible, God has used people who were by themselves, were not married, but were incredibly fruitful and used by God, right? And in no way were they disobeying. the general principles of God, but that's because that was specifically God's gifting to them.

So, other examples, like there's so many examples of that. There's a lady by the name of Anna, you know, who essentially devoted her life to praying and serving in the temple. And she had lost her husband, but she remained single and served in that way. But that was her lot, and she was found very faithful.

So there's a difference between, let's say, teaching in the Bible that is a direct command and application to all, obviously, as opposed to this, perhaps, in redemptive and collective human history, is a general projection of every man, but obviously you have giftings that, obviously, God has expected various things from their lives, you know?

So we have to have a category for that, too. General principle, specific gifting, you know? Well, thank you for that explanation, Matt. That was really good. Okay, any other questions? Sorry, Matthew. Any other questions? (murmurs) Okay, great. So I hope you guys have a good time of discussion. I do think we should talk about, like, you know, some of these passages, especially, just take a look at verse eight and nine.

Sometimes you will hear these passages, and then sometimes maybe you heard good advice from it, and sometimes maybe you heard bad advice from it, you know? Talk about that and thinking about, this is wisdom, you know? What I mentioned on Sunday, I feel like 1 Corinthians teaches you such great wisdom about life.

Yeah, it's wisdom. And so, when you think about giving advice to people, how should we do it? What are our limitations in that? I think we should talk about that, okay? All right, let's bow in prayer, and then you guys can jump into your discussion time. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, God.

We thank you, Lord, that in thinking about this whole topic, we realize, Lord, you have gifted us. God, you have constantly given to us, and we thank you. Father God, we also pray that we would be found faithful. Lord, that we would not become so self-centered, self-seeking, and God, that our ambitions would not get the best of the scenario, where we want things outside of your blessing.

We want things outside of what you've ordained. And dare not be, Father God, that we would, you know, put ourselves above your scripture, above your standards, and go overboard. I pray, Father God, that rather, we would continue to walk in a way where our greatest desire is to be most pleasing and faithful to you.

That regardless of the circumstance, we would desire to abide in your will, and God, truly, do things according to your way. Father, I do pray that as we've been talking a lot about, perhaps, physical purity, we've been talking about marriage, and all that stuff. And Lord, we all confess, actually, this is a huge facet of our lives, and for many of us, this is probably one of the more distracting elements of our lives, as well.

I pray, Father God, that you'd both grant us clarity of the issue, but also strength, Lord God, that we might persevere through various circumstances of our lives. We thank you in Christ's name, amen. Alright.