of God together to the book of 1 Corinthians, the seventh chapter today. We're going to finish that chapter, God willing, as we deal with these questions related to marriage. What a day to talk about marriage, huh? 1 Corinthians chapter seven. Some young, tech savvy, computer literate bride wrote to Silicon Valley's version of Dear Abby regarding her marriage.
She wrote, Dear tech support, last year I upgraded from boyfriend 5.0 to husband 1.0 and notice that the new program began making unexpected changes to my accounting modules, limiting access to flower and jewelry applications that had operated flawlessly under boyfriend 5.0. In addition, husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs such as romance 9.9, but installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0 and NBA 3.0.
Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and house cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. Signed desperate. And so tech support wrote desperate and said, Dear desperate, keep in mind boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package. While husband 1.0 is an operating system. Try to enter the command C colon slash, I thought you loved me and install tiers 6.2. Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications guilty 3.0 and flowers 7.0.
But remember overuse can cause husband 1.0 to default to grumpy silence 2.5. Happy hour 7.0 and beer 6.1. That's a very bad program that causes snoring loudly wave files. Do not install mother-in-law 1.0 or reinstall another boyfriend program. These are not supported applications and will crash husband 1.0. In summary, husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. Consider buying additional software to improve performance.
I personally recommend hot food 3.0 and lingerie 5.3 tech support. Married has problems with it, doesn't it? We all start out with this ideal of marriage that everything's gonna be perfect. Before very long we find out that two fallen people have married with the same idealistic version of marriage. And the result is that that marriage goes through periods of question and doubt and struggle and conflict and ultimately through that we pray growth and happiness.
How many of you have ever said to yourselves, I'm glad I'm not rearing children in a day like this? Have you ever said that? Yeah, right. Well, I think it may be that same spirit, the same spirit that Paul had in mind when he argues as he will in our text today for the advantages of remaining single. Now he's already introduced the subject to us in the earlier part of the chapter, but now he is going to elaborate on singleness. And I want you to notice how he does it.
Earlier in the chapter Paul quoted the Lord, but then he acknowledged that there are some things Jesus didn't talk about and he goes on to address them. Keep in mind that when Paul does that, he is writing with the full authority of Jesus. His words are every bit as much the word of God as what Jesus spoke because he's writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
And yet he writes this not as a command, not as a legalistic duty, but he's writing in terms of grace and suggestion and counsel, giving his opinion. The basic biblical principle we're going to see underscored in our study today is this, that whatever your circumstance in life, use God's calling and gifts to serve him in your world. Whatever circumstance you're in, use the calling of God, use the gifts of God in your life to serve him in your world. We can't serve the last generation.
We can only indirectly serve the future generation. But we can serve this generation and this is when God has caused us to live, now. And he's put you in the middle of some context and you have relationships, you have a neighborhood, you have a community, you have a family that you touch personally. God wants you to use all that he's given you to serve him in the midst of that world today. And that includes, if it is the case, your being single.
Now let me read the text and you follow along in your Bible. We begin in verse 25 where Paul says, "'Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, "'but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy "'is trustworthy. "'Because of the present crisis, "'I think it is good for you to remain as you are. "'Are you married? "'Do not seek a divorce. "'Are you unmarried? "'Do not look for a wife. "'But if you do marry, you have not sinned "'and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned.
"'But those who marry will face many troubles in this life "'and I want to spare you this.'" What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as if they had none. Those who mourn as if they did not. Those who are happy as if they were not. Those who buy something as if it were not theirs to keep. Those who use the things of the world as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs. How he can please the Lord, but a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world. How he can please his wife. And his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs. Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband.
I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. If anyone thinks he's acting improperly toward the virgin he's engaged to, and if she's getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He's not sinning. They should get married.
But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion, but has control over his will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin, this man also does the right thing. So then he who marries the virgin does right, and he who does not marry her does even better. A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.
In my judgment, she's happier if she stays as she is. And I think I too have the spirit of God, that is the mind of God about these things. So there are at least two questions that seem to come out of our text today. The first question is this. Should a single man or woman become married? Now keep in mind the cultural situation. By the way, you can follow along in your outline rather, this is in your bulletin. It's the yellow outline, as you will quickly note. The cultural situation was this.
Most marriages were arranged by the fathers. Now I don't know what you think about that. Being a father, I kinda like the idea. Before I was married, I didn't like the idea very much. My perspective has changed. The reality was in those days, that's how it was done. The fathers did the arranging of the marriages. And so some translations, which are more literal, give that flavor to the text I've just read. It talks about a man giving his daughter in marriage.
Translations that are more dynamic, like the NIV that I'm using, make it more understandable in today's culture. It's a man who's engaged to a woman. But Paul gives the counsel this way. He says, it's better not to marry. That's the counsel. Now that makes good sense, if you think, as Paul was thinking, and he gives three reasons why he says it's better not to marry, for a single man or woman to remain single. First of all, because of what he calls the present crisis.
Verse 26. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we don't know what that present crisis was. Was there a growing hostility in the part of the Corinthian pagan culture? Toward believers? Likely. Was there some government persecution gearing up? Possible. We don't know of any at that moment that was broadly put into place, but about 10 years after this, Nero came into power and there was persecution against Christians empire-wide.
In cases where there is that kind of pressure, to have a family multiplies the sense of responsibility and of suffering that one goes through. Now, persecution ebbs and flows with each generation, but Jesus reminded us with these words that we should expect it. He says, here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows, but take heart because I've overcome the world. We can expect, as Pastor Dave said earlier, that we're going to face difficult times.
Now, Paul says because of the present crisis, whatever it was, it's better not to marry. Secondly, he says because of the shortened time, it's better not to marry. Literally, he says because of the time, the time is having been shortened. Now, we don't, again, exactly know what Paul had in mind when he wrote this. Was he thinking about the Lord's coming? Possibly. He wrote that way in other places, for example, in Romans 13.
He says, this is all the more urgent for you, for you know how late it is. Time is running out, and you're going to have to wait until the end of the day for the Lord to come. Time is running out, wake up for the salvation. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone, the day of salvation will soon be here. Not because marriage is limited to a lifetime, it's not an eternal relationship. Paul is saying, well, the time is so short, maybe you shouldn't.
And he may have had in mind by the shortened time the arrival of some great, intense persecution that was very near. Either way, what Paul is saying in this part of the chapter is this. Every Christian needs to be detached from this world in a certain sense. Now, I know we have to live in the world. We have to do business here. We're to try to influence the world.
But Paul is saying in a certain sense, we as the citizens of God's kingdom, as the children of God, should be detached from the world. We should hold loosely to the affairs and the experiences of this life. We should remember that the world as it now appears, the present form of the world is passing away right in front of our eyes. And so he says, yes, there's marriage and weeping and rejoicing and there's buying and there's enjoying.
And there's nothing wrong really with any of these experiences that are part of this world. Paul is saying you need to keep all of these things in perspective. So we have to ask ourselves the question, do we spend more time, more energy and money on the things that are part of the current world than we do on those things that are not passing away? I have to say in our culture, there's a huge temptation to do that. A huge temptation.
I'm not gonna get into the pluses and minuses or the politics of it, but the fact is that nearly all of us are gonna get checks in the mail from the government. Right? Have you seen yours yet? Me either. But some of you shook your head yes and that encourages me a great deal. That's gonna be a few hundred dollars we had never counted on. It's just gonna be ours and the hope of the president is that we'll all go out and spend it on things that will boost our economy. No, we can do that.
And I hate to talk against the president, you know what else we could do? We could take that money that we had not expected and invested in the work of the Lord. We can do that. We have such a tendency to focus ourselves on the things of this world and its forms and its appearances and all of these things are just temporary. They're just blips on the radar screen of eternity. So Paul is saying consider the time, the short time you're going to be in this world and the present crisis.
In light of these things, maybe better not to marry, he says. There's a third reason he points out and that is because of the concerns of marriage. Literally the word is the distractions of marriage. It means to be pulled in different directions. Now those of us who are married have no idea what Paul is talking about here. We recognize, don't we, that marriage carries responsibilities and we do get pulled in different directions. We have many demands upon our time and our energy.
And because of that, it restricts us. Marriage restricts us. It creates encumbrance upon us. A good marriage requires attention and you don't want a bad marriage. A good marriage takes work. A lot has to go into it. Somebody has said a good marriage is a lot like a casserole. Only those responsible knows what goes into it. It's the truth, isn't it? So Paul is saying here, because of the encumbrance of marriage, because the time is short, because of the present crisis, maybe better not to marry.
But he makes a concession. He says, I do want you to understand this. Marriage is not sinful. If a man or a woman marries, that's fine. They're not sinning against God. Just be sure it's God's will. Be sure it's God's will that you're not succumbing to some social pressure to get married. After all, God ordained marriage and it's necessary for the propagation of the race. And I'm gonna talk more about that later. But he says, I do want you to recognize that it brings trouble in this life.
And again, who knows what he's talking about here, right? Oh yeah. Now, every married person knows what trouble's about. We all experience it at time. There's pressure with marriage. There's difficulty with marriage, because we're fallen people. And we give birth to little sinners somehow. It happens, doesn't it? Marriage doesn't solve problems, by the way. It only magnifies problems. Have you found that out? The only thing worse than waiting to get married is wishing you had.
Paul says it's better to live in single blessedness than to live in married cussedness. That's what he's saying here. But the bottom line is this. Each one is free to decide for himself regarding marriage. It's a personal decision. If you get married, you're not sinning. If you don't get married, you're not sinning. Make the choice under the cross of the cross, meaning make the choice under the Lordship of Christ, keeping in mind the things that he's talking about.
But there's a second question that arises as Paul writes about singleness, and that's what about people who are single again? And so the question, I've put it this way. Should a widowed spouse marry again? Should a widowed spouse marry again? I can almost hear some widows here saying, you gotta be kidding. I've heard some say that, by the way. Well, it's possible that for them it would not be good to be married again. But God's ideal is for a man and woman to be married.
And through that, to enjoy the company of the Lord, through that, to enjoy the companionship and the completion of marriage, and to propagate the race. Paul's short answer to the question is, yes. A widowed spouse can marry again, but he has some things he wants to say about this. First of all, he wants to remind us, he wants us to recognize something. It's a recognition, it's this, that death frees the survivor to remarry.
Now can I tell you that that's a hard reality for some people who lose their spouse? When you've lived with someone happily for decades of your life, and suddenly they're gone, it's hard to face the fact that the marriage, as you've known it, is done. Some even feel guilty about the idea of marrying again. They think somehow it's gonna denigrate the memory of their spouse. Now we need to recognize what Paul says here, what the Bible teaches, that death ends that marriage.
Now the one who's passed away you trust is with the Lord. If they're believers, they are, right? So you'll see them again, but not in a married relationship. Whatever relationship there will be in heaven, it will be even better than marriage. It'll be deeper, more fulfilling and meaningful than marriage. And the one who remains is free to remarry. My brother-in-law was married to my sister for over 30 years. When she died April 1st, 2007, went to be with the Lord, that marriage ended.
And over the last year, he's gone through the grieving process. God brought into his life a wonderful Christian lady, and yesterday they married. I'm not unhappy about that. I gave him my blessing. In fact, I did months ago when I could see what was gonna be happening on the horizon. I said, Lou, that's wonderful, God bless you. And all of our family feels that way. He's still my brother-in-law, and he feels the same way. But he's married somebody else now. It's a good thing.
That's a choice that they made together. He was free to make that choice. He was free to make that choice, but there's a stipulation. Paul says, and that is, it must be in the Lord. Only somebody else who belongs to the Lord. And again, we'll talk more about that in a moment. Considering the light of the present crisis, though Paul says this, greater happiness may be found in following his earlier advice to remain single.
And so a widowed spouse is free to remarry and enjoy a married relationship. But in light of the circumstances, whatever they were at that time, in Corinth, Paul says, maybe you ought to think about what I've just said. That wasn't always what Paul said. For example, in Timothy, in the city of Ephesus, to Timothy, Paul wrote, I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes, and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.
And so we've been through this little bit of a marriage and singleness seminar with Paul, trying to reconstruct the questions that Paul was answering for the Corinthian church in light of what they were passing through at that time. In light of the chapter we've looked at, I'd like for us just to back up a little bit from it. And as I bring the message to a close, to see marriage from a biblical perspective, okay? There are several statements I want to make.
Number one, marriage is God's good gift intended to bless and to perpetuate the human race. It is God's good gift by design to bring blessing and to perpetuate humans. That's what God wants in marriage. Dave earlier called the decision by the California Supreme Court this week evil. And I want you to know, I think that is a perfectly appropriate word. The decision that was handed down by the majority of this court is an evil decision.
Not only is it wrong in the eyes of God, but it is wrong for the blessing of the human race. It is wrong for the blessing of the human race. I don't know about you, but I asked myself this week, how did we get here? By the way, the decision was no surprise. That's why we've been out in front getting signatures to get the amendment to the Constitution on the ballot for this fall, because we feared that this is exactly what was going to happen.
It was not a surprise, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing. I frankly am angry about it. I am angry that we have judges in this land that think they have the right to create law. This is a democracy, a democratic republic. And the people in 2000 spoke, by more than a 60% vote in California, that marriage was between a man and a woman. I hope all of us voted on that. We helped make that decision.
And now by one vote, with a majority of four, the California Supreme Court, at least that part of the court, is going to be the Supreme Court. The California Supreme Court, at least that part of the court, has declared, we don't know what we're talking about, and they know better than we do. This is not the America. This is not the United States that my forefathers and yours came to found and shed their blood for. I'm angry about this decision.
Who do they think they are to rip the last piece of fabric out of this society, holding it together? And you and I cannot be silent about this. There are some things we can do, and we must do. And we must do. You received, I hope, one of those little booklets coming in this morning, talking about the slippery slope of gay marriage. I hope that you will read that booklet and get yourself acquainted with the facts.
It's not just Bible verses, it's facts that you can argue with somebody who doesn't even believe the Bible to show that it's wrong for society. It's the wrong decision. I hope that you will plan to vote this fall, and that in the meantime, you will persuade every person you can to see your point of view, that is your right and your duty as an American citizen. Have we been asleep at the switch? I think some churches have. We all share some blame there, I'm sure.
But I know that many of us have been involved deeply in some of these battles. And that's why we were so engaged in the year 2000. And now by this decision, this court has said that what we think is invalid. The majority does not rule. The justices on the Supreme Court need to understand. The California Supreme Court answers to a higher judge. I'm going to use a strong term regarding those four. They are fools. That is exactly what the Bible calls people who forget God.
You go and read Romans chapter one, and you find people who know about God, but deliberately forget God. And that's because they're not the same people that you would think. They're not the same people that you would think. They're not the same people that you would think. And you find people who know about God, but deliberately refuse to acknowledge God. God calls them fools. And because of their foolishness, God gives them over to what they want.
I want to say to you that what we're experiencing in California, by the way, Gavin Newsom is right, as California goes, so goes the nation. We have a job to do not only for California, but for the United States of America. And I was going to say something, and it went right out of my mind when I started talking about Gavin Newsom. He's a very distracting person to me. What was I going to? Judicial activist. I'm sorry? Judicial activist. I was going to talk about judicial activists.
Oh, we might say that the decision of these judges this week will bring the judgment of God. I don't think that's right. I think it is the judgment of God. We are already under the judgment of God, and you and I may, by God's mercy, have an opportunity yet to hold off the full blow of His judgment. But you read Romans chapter one and three times, God says, okay, if that's how you feel, I'll just give you over to what you want. And we are getting what some people want.
And the scary thing about this is that public opinion continues to be persuaded by the words, the neatly packaged words of the opposition, the opposition to us, putting us under discrimination and so forth. If I were a descendant of an American slave, I would be so offended that the idea of discrimination in civil rights has been kidnapped, all of that under point number one. Because marriage is God's good gift, friends.
It was not created by the California Supreme Court or by the state of California or by the Constitution of the United States. It was created by God, and God has the final word on what marriage is, and God has spoken. Let's go on to number two. Only you can decide whether marriage will help or hinder your mission, your life mission. That is God's design for you. Now for Jesus, He chose not to be married. That was best for Him. Paul, He chose to remain single. That was best for Him.
Now you have to decide for you. You have to understand what God's mission for you is, how He's designed you, and whatever choice you make, God will bless. Number three, believers are to marry only another who shares their faith. This is the principle of spiritual compatibility. Paul expands on this in his next letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 6, verses 14 to 16. And he says there, do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial, that's Satan? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with Christ with the temple of God with idols? We are the temple of the living God, he says. That's why I think it's a mistake for a Christian young person to begin dating a non-believer. Be friends. Socialize with them, that's how you win them.
But you get into a dating relationship, you're getting out there where it can become very difficult later to turn it around if that unbeliever doesn't come to Christ. God is serious about this, friends. You and I are to marry only one who is a believer. Now I recognize that people can lie to us, people can turn after they're married, they can show their true colors and all of that, and you can't be held responsible, as best as you know, marry only another believer.
Somebody has said if you're a child of God and you marry a child of the devil, you will be sure to have trouble with your father-in-law. Number four, marriage brings both joys and cares. We've talked about this, greater responsibility. A married person has divided concerns, Paul says. Husbands are to focus on their wives to love them, and wives are to focus on their husbands to respect them. So we need to enter marriage with realistic expectations to know that we will have conflict.
There are no perfect marriages. One commentator, John MacArthur, writes, marriage involves conflicts, demands, hardships, sacrifices, and adjustments. That singleness does not. Marriage is ordained of God, good, holy, and fulfilling, but it does not solve all problems. It brings more. I thought I'd hear an amen on that. Marriage never should be used as a way of escape, even from loneliness. Many people carry loneliness right into marriage. Is that true? Sure is.
And end up making another person lonely. Marriage does not end the temptation to lust and immorality. There are troubles unique to singleness, but they may be exceeded by those in marriage. He's right. In marriage, your focus is on serving the other person. And by the way, don't expect your spouse to meet all your needs. Only the Lord can do that. Would you say amen to that? We're to serve one another, but only your spouse can meet all your needs. Only the Lord can meet all your needs.
Not your spouse, there we go. Freudian slip. Maybe worse than a Freudian slip, who knows? Finally, number five, whatever your marital state, use life for its highest purpose. Oh folks, this is so important. Just as we read in that book that some of us bought and passed out to others a while back, it's not what? It's not about you. Life is not about getting wealthy, it's not about buying toys or spoiling our kids or our grandkids. It's not about just having fun or retiring to play golf.
Life is about serving God's purpose. And to put it simply, it's just this, love God and love others. We're to be involved in the Lord's affairs, says Paul. That should be a focus of our lives, whatever our marital state. Now, remember, the opportunities you have are not forever. So make the most of them. As Paul says to the Ephesians, redeem the time. Work while you can. As Wesley said, do all the good you can by all the means you can and all the ways you can.
In all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can as long as ever you can. Soon and very soon, people are gone who need our help. Life is short. The people in our world don't linger forever. Therefore, we must redeem the time. Whatever your circumstances, this is where we started this morning, whatever your circumstances of life, use God's calling and gifts to serve Him in your world. One man who did that, he was a man of faith.
One man who did that was a guy named Sam Shoemaker. Sam Shoemaker was one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous and was a faithful layman in his church in New York City. He wrote a poem called I Stand at the Door. It's a long poem, I'm just going to read part of it for you. The words of Sam Shoemaker. I stand by the door. I neither go too far in or stay too far out. The door is the most important door in the world. It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There's no use of my going way inside and staying there when so many are still outside and they, as much as I, crave to know where the door is. And all that so many ever find is only the wall where the door ought to be. They creep along the wall like blind men with outstretched groping hands, feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door. Yet they never find it. So I stand by the door. So I stand by the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world is for men to find that door, the door to God. The most important thing that any man can do is to take hold of one of those blind groping hands and put it on the latch, the latch that only clicks and opens to the man's own touch. Men die outside the door. As starving beggars die on cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter. They die for want of what is within their grasp. They live on the other side of it, live because they have not found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it and open it and walk in and find him. So I stand by the door. My friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, family of God, you and I have a world that we relate to. It's this generation. God has called us to stand by the door. I know, it's a lot more fun to go way inside and just enjoy one another and the fellowship and all those things, but God wants us to stand at the door.
So that others finding their way along can find that latch and come in and find Jesus. We stand at the door of our culture. I know we can get very discouraged because of decisions like this week. We should never be discouraged, folks. God is still on the throne. God is bigger than the Supreme Court and God's purposes are going to be done, but he calls you and me to stand, to stand for the truth. That is not popular.
And what has happened over the last six years, eight years since our vote last time, is that there are fewer of us willing to stand for the truth and I am so sad to say this, even in the evangelical church. It's going to be costly to stand, I think. But that's what God's called us to do. And so I say to you and I say to me, let's stand at the door.
The only way we can do that is by giving ourselves a way to Jesus and trusting him for the strength and the courage and the wisdom and all that we'll need to stand. We can't do it in ourself. We need to be men and women of prayer, men and women of great devotion, men and women of great conviction and courage, and stand by the door. Would you pray with me, please? Would you bow your head? We're going to sing a chorus that talks about giving it to Jesus. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Giving it to Jesus, inviting Jesus to be the Lord of all, the kingdoms of our heart. I think you know the chorus. Just a couple of verses, very simple. I invite you to stand with me with your head bowed or if you don't know the words, I think they'll be on the screen. If not, the words are easy to pick up. Jesus be the Lord of all, the kingdoms, my heart. Let's give ourselves to Him this morning so that we may be able to stand in the day of evil. Let's sing together. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"]