Tonight our evening choir will meet for rehearsal at 6 o'clock. Last Sunday evening went very well, but a number of you came for a special choir rehearsal right at 6 o'clock. We practiced for the evening service and sang just an hour later. So if you'd like to have a part in this special choir, please come. This is not the official choir that meets in the fall. This is for anybody that delights to sing. So you're welcome to come and join us this evening at 6 here in the auditorium.
And Dick will be here to meet with you. And then your visitors who are looking around for an announcement built, and I should have announced to you in particular, that a built-in with all the announcements are given after the service here. So you'll receive one on the way out. Thank you. Now would you take your Bible, please, and turn with me to 1 Corinthians, chapter 7. We're going to read verses 1 through 9 of the seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians.
This is a continuation of our study of this epistle, penned by the apostle Paul and the inspiration of God's Spirit. Very practical epistle, as we have discovered. Now concerning the things about which you wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman, nevertheless to avoid fornication, that every man have his own wife and that every woman have her own husband, that the husband render unto the wife her due, and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband, and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud you not one another, accept it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and come together again that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency, and lack of self-control. But I speak this by permission, not by commandment.
For I would that all men were even as I myself, but every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner and another after that. I say therefore to them married and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I, but if they cannot have self-control, let them know, for it is better to know than to burn, as to burn with passion. According to verse one of this chapter, the apostle Paul had received a communication from the Corinthians.
Apparently the same ones who came reporting the earlier problems we have talked about, came to Paul carrying also an official document in which the leaders of the church of Cronk expressed a number of specific questions. The first problem earlier about which they expressed a question, or a series of questions actually, was the order of marriage.
So the apostle answers those questions in chapter seven, and we notice it begins with a phrase, now concerning, he says, the things about which you wrote to me, and it begins with marriage. It begins chapter eight the same way, now it's touching, now it's concerning things offered to idols. And so he deals with this in chapters eight, nine, and ten. In chapter eleven, he deals with the matter of women in the church.
In chapter twelve, you'll notice again that the phrase now concerning spiritual gifts. In chapters twelve through fourteen, deal with that. Chapter fifteen deals with a question concerning the resurrection of Christ, a doctrinal question. And then chapter sixteen, again you see the phrase now concerning, as the chapter begins, and it is regarding the collection, but Paul was encouraging them to receive for the poor saints who wrote Jerusalem.
And so the rest of this book, beginning with where we are today in chapter seven, seems to be based upon a communication from the Corinthians to Paul, asking certain questions about specific issues that they were confronting. A marriage is before us today, or it will be for a few weeks. Chapter seven is a marvelous chapter. It is a detailed chapter. Marriage is a very wonderful gift which is given by God for the blessing and the benefit of mankind.
How many people here today are married? Would you lift your hand? Well, that's a lot of us who've heard about blessing. There are some of us in heaven. How many of you are not married? Would you lift your hand? A lot of little hands, a lot of big hands too. Quite a few of you are not married. I have some things to say to you, especially in our text this morning. Some of you have said that love is blind, that marriage is an eye-opener.
And if that be the case, the Corinthians certainly had their eyes open, as they were asking some very pertinent questions. I came across a poem some time ago that expressed how it is with some of you who are still single perhaps. It says, The bloud white of hair stoops over her cane. Her footsteps, uncertain, need guiding. Now down the church aisle with a rain-toothless smile, the broom in a wheelchair comes riding. And who is this elderly couple that's wrong?
You'll find when you've closely explored it that here is that royal conservative pair who've waited till they could have feared it. And so perhaps some of the things we may say in the messages today and the following weeks will encourage some of you along that line to not wait quite that long, at least, when your marriage turns. God intends for marriage to be a wonderful relationship between one man and one woman. There is a monogamous relationship clearly in the teaching of the Word of God.
It is a beautiful picture, too, of Christ and his bride, the church, as we see in Ephesians chapter 5 especially. And God intends for marriage to be a permanent relationship in this world. It does not extend into the next life, into heaven. But God intends for the marriage relationship to be a permanent one for this life. Jesus talked a lot about marriage. Basically, Jesus covered the theology of marriage.
And he left it up to Paul and Peter and some of the other writers of the New Testament to give to us some of the application of the theology for everyday life. And that's what we have here in chapter 7. There's not a great deal of theology per se in this chapter, but there's an awful lot of practical application of theology to married life.
Now, to understand a little bit of what Paul was facing as he wrote the Corinthians, it's helpful for us to go back and to try to reconstruct a bit of a historical background. And that was the miracle situation there in the city of Corinth and throughout the Roman Empire as Paul wrote this letter. It's helpful to understand in the first place that the government in Rome had no specific laws relating to marriage.
There were four rather common ways that one could declare himself, with his mate, to be married. There was one kind of marriage that related primarily to slaves. Two slaves of a certain master would fall in love, and they had to get the permission of their owner for their marriage to live together. And the owner then would agree or disagree. They could live together or they would be separated at his pleasure. Now, you can imagine the kind of problems that this could create.
For an owner could say to a man in a room, you may live together, and the next week change his mind and say you must not be separated. Or the next week he might get a good bid on one slave or the other and sell out one. And so that newly established marriage could be broken up. Well, then what is the person supposed to do? That was one problem, and there were some slaves in the church at Corinth that this affected. This chapter talks to them.
And then there was another kind of marriage that involved basically what we call common law marriage. A man and a woman would decide to live together, and after doing so for a year, they were considered to be married in Roman custom. There was a third kind of marriage in that day that involved a father who would sell, essentially, his daughter to a man for the right price. The guy came along and saw a daughter that he especially appreciated.
He could offer the father a daughter or a price of some kind and could buy the permission to marry that girl. She would have no say in it. It was the father's decision. That was a third kind of marriage. And then there was a fourth kind that was basically practiced among the nobility of that day. It was so the Harris-Levill kind of marriage. It was a Roman and a pagan ceremony. What did it involve?
It involved a public setting apart of the marriage, involved the selling of vows to one another, which was usually followed by a dedicatory prayer. Often in connection with this pagan ceremony, there would be flowers strewn throughout the temple or the home. And the bride would have a wreath that was upon her. She would usually wear a veil which was lifted somewhere in the ceremony. And she would be embraced by her groom. Normally, rings were exchanged in the ceremony.
And guess which finger it went on? The finger right there. Now, there's a reason for that. Do you know why you wear your wedding finger? It's because it grew there. Do you know? Well, do you know how your ring is on that finger? Well, it's because the Romans discovered that there was a nerve that went through that finger, straight to the heart. And so they felt that that would be a good finger for that ring to belong, since the heart is involved in romance.
And then following out of this, there would be cake that was eaten by everybody who was present. Does that sound familiar to you? I can remember wondering when I was younger, just where in the Bible are all these wedding vows? Who would find those? Who would find a command regarding a married ceremony? Well, the fact is, there is none. Certainly, the wedding ceremony that is most commonly practiced today is not based upon Jewish custom. That's a different kind of ceremony altogether.
And a lovely one, in many aspects, by the way, but the ceremony that we practice today is based upon a Roman, pagan ceremony. And in accommodation, the Roman church early adopted the pagan ceremony and Christianized it. So that down through the years, we have received basically that kind of ceremony. Doesn't mean that the ceremony is wrong today, but that's the root of it.
Now, with these four kinds of marriages, those possibilities, you can see immediately the kind of complications that could develop in a society where people are married in different ways, that they live together around, that they're separated, slaves could be sold. And then, beyond all that, you have to understand the general conditions of that Roman society. In the first place, in that day, there was a very high divorce rate.
Couples would get married for a while, and they'd get tired of one another, and they'd split up, and then marry again. So there were a lot of divorces. And then homosexuality was very common, especially in connection with the pagan worship, but in Rome and the government and high society, that particular sin was flagrantly practiced. In addition to that, if a man was wealthy enough, who not only had a wife, but he had concubines who would meet his needs.
So there were some people who were wealthy, who had concubines, and then who became believers. Now, what were they to do? And then, to top it off, there was, and history records this as fact, a feminist rebellion in that day. There was a movement among the women of the Roman Empire, as Paul was writing these words, of a bargain against male domination. And it was very strong for a period of time.
And so you can see, with this kind of a background, what Paul was up against is he tried to apply, and did apply, theology to everyday life. Now, in the chapter just before, you're going to find some phrases like, well, look at verse 10, for example. But back up to verse 8, let's start there. He says, I say therefore to the unmerged and widows, it is good for them even if they abide even as I. If they cannot have self-control with the mow, it's better to mow than to burn.
And to the mow, I command, let not I but the Lord, let not the wife depart from her husband. And what does Paul mean when he says, not I but the Lord commands? Well, he means that he has gone back to something which the Lord had clearly stated in his earthly ministry. He's saying I'm going to apply something that Jesus served. But then down a couple of verses later in verse 12, he says, to the rest, I speak and not the Lord.
Well, as Paul's saying here, this is my opinion. This is not really inspired as I write this. These are not the Lord's words. No, he's not saying that at all. He's simply saying now that I'm going to write next is not based upon something that Jesus said. I'm going to give you new revelation as we apply theology. This is the word of God for you. It is not based upon what our Lord said in his ministry. This is what the Lord is saying through me.
One of the things that I don't particularly care for about red-letter editions of the Bible is that they suggest that the words of Jesus are somehow more inspired than the words of Paul or Peter or John or whoever may be writing. And that simply was not true. The words of Paul, the words of Peter, as they wrote these words before us in this book, are just as authoritative, just as inspired, just as meaningful as the words of the Lord Jesus himself.
And so as Paul says, the Lord says, and he applies it, that's great. And there he says, now the Lord didn't say this, but I'm saying it, that's just as great. It's the Lord's revelation to us, you see. And so we'll see that several times throughout this chapter. Don't be alarmed by it. That's simply what it means. Now perhaps the best way to approach this complicated chapter is to try to reconstruct the questions that were asked of the apostle Paul.
The apostle wrote the answers. He failed to include the questions for us. How much easier would it have been had he done that? But the Holy Spirit didn't lead him to do it. So what we're going to attempt to do is try to reconstruct the question that was asked, and then to see what Paul said in response to that. Question number one, is it wrong not to be made? Is it wrong to be celibate in other words?
There were those in Batmdel who said it was wrong to remain unmoved, and primarily they were the Jews. The Jews felt that it was the unqualified duty of a man to get mowed, period. And if he did not mow, he was living in sin. And so as some of these people were saved, they brought that idea into the church.
On the other hand, there were those who were saved, and these primarily were out of paganism, who said, you know, the marriage relationships are so corrupt in this world, there is so much degeneracy out there, people ought not to get mowed if they're going to be Christians. To maintain a high spiritual standard, they're out not to mow. And so they began to elevate celibacy. And once again, the Roman church picked up that concept.
And celibacy is still practiced today within its realm of theology. That's where it came from. Because in the early Roman Empire, there was a strong emphasis on not getting mowed in order to maintain what they considered to be a high spiritual state of living. Now, Paul does admit later in the chapter that if a man or woman is mowed, it does involve responsibilities. And it does take time from what might otherwise be given to ministry for the Lord.
No word has Paul uplift celibacy above marriage. How does he answer the question? Well, notice what he says in verses 1 and 2, primarily. He says concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it's good for me not to touch a woman. Does he mean that it's sin for you to hold hands with your mother? Or for that matter, that it's sin for a boy and girl who are dating to hold hands? No, he does not mean that.
This phrase, to touch a woman, is used in the Bible as a mechanism for the moral relationship, the sexual relationship. I could give you an example of that. I'm not going to take time to do that right now. All the way back into Genesis, you see this very phrase, to touch a woman refers to that specific relationship through act of marriage. So what Paul really was saying here is, not so you can't touch a woman literally, but of course that should always be done with proper courtesy and respect.
Nor should there be too friendly a touching if another man's wife itself. You understand that, don't you? So specifically what he's saying here is, no, it is not wrong to be unmarried. In fact, he says it's good not to marry. That's what he's saying. It is a good thing not to marry. But that was especially true because of the present distress, whatever that may have been. He talks about that later on in the chapter.
And he says because of the current conditions that we're living under, it might be better for you to remain unmarried right now. And so he does say that there is no sin in remaining single. There is nothing wrong with remaining single. Now in our society, as in the minds of some about both, there are those who think that there is something wrong with it, but you're not married. I personally did not get married until I was 25. I don't necessarily recommend that age, but it was good for me.
I didn't regret those early 20s when I was able to do some things that in the service of the world, one cannot do if he's married. I was glad that I married until I was 25. When my wife and I met within nine months, we were engaged and married. And she was older, not as old as I was, I better clarify that. Well, she too was older. She wasn't just out of high school, just a kid. And so when we sensed that this was God's will, we got married.
See? And we waited until we believed that this was what God wanted us to do. So it's fine to remain single. And there are some people who can remain single all their lives. Paul makes it clear that it's a gift that some people have. You notice in verse 7 he says, I will that all men were even as myself. But Paul was single at this point. Probably he was married earlier. He was a part of the Sanhedrin until he was a part of the group. And I normally had to be married.
And his wife apparently had died perhaps even before he was saved. So Paul was single now at least. He says, now I wish that all men were like myself. Why would Paul say that? Well, because he was so freedom minister. He didn't have to drag their life all over the Roman Empire and his missionary journeys. She might have complained a little bit about some of the places he stayed. That's right. And some of the transportation wasn't the most comfortable.
So he says, I wish that all men were like myself. Why would you do this? But he says, every man has his proper gift of God. That word gift is the word charisma. So some years later for spiritual gifts, chapters 12 through 14, he says, everybody has their own gift. Some are gifted to be single. Jesus talked about the same thing in Matthew chapter 19. Let's go back there just quickly to see his own words battle. Matthew chapter 19. Verse 11. The Lord Jesus says, But he said to them,
All men cannot receive this sowing except they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs who were so born from their mother's ruins. And there are some eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men. And there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. There are some people gifted to remain single. Now there are those who feel the person is single beyond the time he's 17 and a half. He's rude.
He must be prohibited or something. Isn't that right? And there are other people who think there is their God-chosen spiritual gift to try to be a matchmaker. And the minute they see an individual who's single, they think, wow, who can I tie that guy together with? They're saying to the girl, so they're going to lose their make. It's not always God's will that could be the case.
Not everybody is supposed to be married. God gives the gift of singleness to some. It is a gift though. There's nothing wrong with it. Celibacy is good, says God. He doesn't say it's better than marriage, but he says celibacy is good. And God gives the gift to some, but I'll tell you what, if he doesn't give you the gift, it can be very frustrating to be single. Each of us has to evaluate in light of his own calling before God that God is calling to do to be.
The apostle says there's no sin in remaining single. God is gifted in calling some of you to that. But he says in verse 2, nevertheless, to avoid fornication. And really the thought there is because there is so much immorality in your city. He says let every man have his own wife and every woman have her own husband. He says there is so much pressure around you that it is better if you're not called and gifted.
It is better for you to be married so that you can avoid the kind of immorality and the kind of pressures that are found in you in your society. And again I would have you notice just those words, that every man have his own wife, every woman her own husband, emphasizing again the monogamous relationship that God wants in marriage. So those that talk about polygamy as being normal. And some say well you may not experience it here but it's going to be so in heaven.
Baloney, the Bible doesn't talk about that. Baloney is our deep theological word by the way. It's a word that's got real meat to it. Why should people marry anyway? Why should people get married? Have you ever thought about that? Let me suggest to you six reasons. And here I'm going to quote a friend of ours, John McCarthy.
He says there are six reasons for marriage given to us in the Bible. Each one begins with the letter P. It's alliteration and I've been illiterate a long time so it's good to have those. First reason is procreation. So that life can be carried on. God told Armonies to be fifth to the multiply. He wasn't talking about apples and oranges. He was talking about them. Enjoying one another and the relationship of marriage for procreation.
Number two, pleasure. That's why God has given marriage and the love that goes with it. God intends for it to be pleasurable. The Bible says that the marriage bed is undefiled. You go to the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament. That's quite a book. And you understand what it's really saying here. It's describing a love relationship between a man and a woman. In the Song of Solomon. And it's a beautiful poetic thing inspired by the Spirit of God. Now it's also an allegory. You understand that.
But it was written as a love poem. And it's very, very beautiful. God intends for marriage to bring pleasure to both the man and the woman. And then the third reason for marriage is provision. God intends for the man to provide for the woman. And for the woman to provide for the man. Each provide for the other. When God saw Adam, he saw him lonely and he said, I will make you unhelpful. I will make you a friend for you. Someone who can provide for your needs.
And then the fourth reason for marriage is partnership. The best friend a person ought to have is a spouse. The best way to get started in a marriage relationship is not to get started by checking off that list. I see now he's over six feet. Yeah, that passes. He clumsily has nice hair. He brushes his teeth. Yeah, that's good. Well, God will say, well, he's split for a husband. What do you know?
That's no way to get started. The best way to get started in a relationship that might eventually lead to marriage is to establish a friendship. Just be friends. I hear a lot of singers talking about how difficult it is just to be friends because everybody's trying to put them together. And that's the truth. I went through a few years without myself. I tried to put a few together too, but it didn't work. God made something better for me.
You see, God wants it to be a partnership. We're best friends. And I know friendship becomes through dating and putting comes love. It puts the two together. And then a fifth reason for marriage, as we've suggested earlier, is that it's a picture of Christ in his church. A very beautiful picture of Christ as the bridegroom and the church as the bride. And how the two of them function together. They are one in God's sight. That's why we shall someday enjoy with our love a marriage supper.
A celebration. And some people think that the millennial period, the thousand year reign of Christ, is not only a fulfillment of a promise to Israel, but it's also the extension of the celebration of the marriage of the Lamb of God. A thousand year honeymoon. How do you like that? That's great. And then a sixth reason is for purity. Because there's a very practical reason for sexual purity. It keeps us from committing fornication. And that's what Paul gets to in the first part of verse two.
He says, to avoid fornication because of the pressures around you, it is good to be married. And so to some, God gives the gift of singleness to others because of marriage. And to each of us, we need to discover what God's gift and God's calling is in our lives. Now there is a second question. We have it in our outline, but our time is gone and we're going to cover that next week.
What is should Christian couples over supper eat? He talks about that. In fact, in this chapter he talks about divorce. And in the upcoming weeks we're going to look very practically to see what the Word of God says about divorce. In a day when nearly one out of two marriages in America ends in divorce, the Word of God has some specific guidelines for us. Let's see what it has to say. Let's try to get it now in poor.
Vs. Father, we thank you for your Word, which not only reveals yourself to us, but which applies your Word to everyday life. We thank you for the practicality of these verses we looked at this morning. And there may be fathers that are listening to my voice right now. There are some who have already fallen to sin in this area. And we need to have direction, counsel, as well as forgiveness. Oh, may they know today that there is forgiveness with God.
And may those who are searching for direction know that there is direction with God too. Whatever the spiritual need is in our lives, we thank you that through your Word you meet that need. With our heads bowed and with our eyes shut, we bring this service to its culmination. In just a moment we're going to have a closing hymn. It's going to express the surrender we ought to have to our Lord.
And it may be that we're living here today out of God's will. Maybe not in this way that we've talked about a lot. You've been involved in something and you're not what God would have you to be. As a believer, God is calling you back. Would you say to Him, Lord, I'm yours today? I'm dying, oh Lord, I've heard your voice. Draw me nearer. Let Him do that. Can we pray with you? And if you are not a child of God, you know nothing about this matter of salvation and forgiveness of sins.
Yet we've sensed the warmth and the grace that seems to pervade the life of a Christian. Would you today trust the Lord Jesus? Could we pray with you and open God's Word with you about that need? If today God is calling you into the fellowship of this church, you are first welcome to come for that. We just want to bring this service to a close and ask the Spirit of God to have His will do that, Father.
There have been decisions that have been made in past days and throughout this week and now need to be made public. For others who have been called right now to make a decision of dedication or surrender or salvation. Accomplish your will in our lives, we pray. 385 is our closing hymn. I am dying, oh Lord, I've heard your voice. The toll that I left to me.