1 Corinthians 7:25-40

[0:00] Our New Testament lesson today is 1 Corinthians 7, verses 25 through 40. Again, 1 Corinthians 7, 25 through 40. Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who, by the Lord's mercy, is trustworthy.

[0:19] I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

[0:31] But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.

[0:42] This is what I mean, brothers. The appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it.

[1:02] For the present form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.

[1:14] But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit.

[1:27] But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

[1:41] If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong and it has to be, let him do as he wishes. Let them marry. It is no sin.

[1:51] But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined in his heart to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.

[2:06] So then, he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

[2:23] Yet in my judgment, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God. This is the Word of the Lord. Over the course of my lifetime anyway, the Christian message in the United States has flourished most readily in suburban contexts.

[2:50] Statistical data bears this out. While in the urban arena, where population densities are greater, we have a propensity to a lessened influence of the gospel and a multitude of religious traditions.

[3:15] There's not as much uniformity. One of the unintended consequences of the Christian message taking root most firmly in suburban contexts over the last 50 years has been that the Christian message has also, of some level, been embedded in a suburban value.

[3:39] Let me state what those would be, at least in part, the value of family, the value of marriage. Half the urban arena is single.

[3:53] Probably not so in suburban contexts. And so there is, over these last decades, an unspoken but working reality preference for family and marriage over singleness.

[4:11] And that is indeed informed through the working out of the church. I became a pastor ordained in 1988. And just at that moment, in a suburban context, churches were beginning to look to hire people who would have a particular role for singles.

[4:33] Singles ministry. The children's ministry had been in place for decades. The marriage ministry and young marriage had been operating throughout.

[4:44] But only at that moment, just a short moment ago, singleness came onto the scene in a suburban context. In our text today, Paul applies the Christian message to the subject of singleness, sex, and the bonds of sacred marriage.

[5:09] And it's going to be helpful and I hope encouraging for us to hear what he has to say on the matter. I don't want any divisions.

[5:22] Corinth was filled with divisions. It was filled with divisions, as we've already seen, on leadership, a preference for certain leaders.

[5:33] It was filled with divisions over money and how best to get that from one who owed it to you. They were divided, as we'll see beginning next week, on food and how one related to temple sacrifice.

[5:52] Later in the letter, a division over gifts and a preference for that. And even here, we can surmise that they weren't quite sure what the Christian message meant in regard to singleness in marriage.

[6:06] Was it advantageous or not? And Paul's goal throughout the letter has been to bring unity of mind and judgment. Don't you remember chapter 1, verse 10, that banner verse that articulates the aim for the whole letter?

[6:23] I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united, interestingly, in the same mind and in the same judgment.

[6:37] I want you to think about life and the implications of the gospel in the same way because right now you're all over the map. Now take a look at our reading today. Have it open before you.

[6:48] 1 Corinthians 7, 25 to 40. The bookends of that text, verses 25 and 40, bring that word of judgment that was articulated in chapter 1 and verse 10.

[7:04] Paul wants them to be of the same judgment. Verse 25, Now concerning the betrothed or literally just the virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

[7:17] Verse 40, Yet in my judgment, this one whose husband had died would be happier if she remained as she is and I think I too have the Spirit of God.

[7:29] So the bookends of our text tell us that Paul is seeking to bring the church back to a united front concerning this issue. It's concerning the issue of virgins or as it's translated here, the betrothed.

[7:48] Roman culture with all of their temples had a long-standing tradition back into the world of Greece that certain virgins would be set aside to a particular God.

[8:01] They would serve in the temple and give their life completely to them and that was advantageous in the early church. It's Ambrose who finally makes this declared commitment to try to cut off the funding for these kinds of temples.

[8:19] But there are those who are young, virgin, and according to Paul now Christian. Paul, what would you say if I am young, a virgin, and now a Christian?

[8:35] Am I to remain single? Am I to get married? What does the Christian message have to do with being single and the sacred bond of marriage?

[8:46] Well, here we have Paul's judgment. Notice, his judgment is not given by a command from the Lord. It isn't as if the Lord commanded one view or the other as he obviously had in chapter 7 and verse 10 where Paul wrote to the married, I give this charge, not I, but the Lord.

[9:07] The wife should not separate for indeed Jesus had said what God has joined together, let no man separate. But on this issue, there was no oral history or written record of particular words that Jesus had given.

[9:23] So he says, I do have a judgment on the matter and I think it's trustworthy. Indeed, I think, verse 40, that I am in accord with the Spirit of God.

[9:36] But nevertheless, he is not laying any restraint on them concerning his view. What is his view? This is what Paul would say to the Christian then and I believe today who is single, young, a virgin, and now Christian concerning marriage.

[9:59] It would be to remain as he is. Look at verse 26. I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is.

[10:12] Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. Or, verse 40, remain as she is.

[10:23] This is the principle he's been applying throughout the chapter. It doesn't mean that he's advocating that when one is single, they should throughout their life always be single.

[10:37] He's saying when you become a Christian, just keep moving. We saw that last week. Remain as you are. Don't seek things. Don't think that now you have a special calling that as a Christian you must be called to be married or called to be single.

[10:53] Keep walking in Christ. That is his view. Now that challenges the conventional wisdom of a culturally embedded conservative Christian gospel that would say there is a preference for Christians and marriage.

[11:18] Paul provides two reasons for his judgment. The first reason is there in verses 29 to 31. Why do I think this way? Because the present world is already passing away.

[11:31] This is his rationale. Now, this is what I mean, brothers. The appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none.

[11:43] And those who mourn as though they were not mourning. And those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing. And those who buy as though they had no goods. And those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. Here's the emphasis.

[11:54] For the present form of this world is passing away. There are the bookends. The appointed time has grown short. The present world is passing away.

[12:05] Why do I say that you shouldn't, after becoming a Christian, seek out to be married? Because this world is already going away. The kingdom of God is already broken in.

[12:18] Everything here is passing away. That's why. In other words, he begins to say, live your life in Christ under the gaze of eternity which is already in play.

[12:31] Now, he's not trying to create some hard-hearted person here with all of these words in verses 29 to 30. He's not saying that if you are married, pretend you're not.

[12:46] Take no care to them. No, but he is saying even those who are married need to be pursuing Christ in all things. And those who are mourning at the death of a friend or loved one don't stay in that state because eternity is broken in.

[13:06] You're all moving toward this eternal kingdom of God. If you think you have reason to rejoice now, well, don't make your rejoicing now of such a nature that you plant your feet in the here and now.

[13:18] Live as if you're not rejoicing at all. You've been given all things in Christ, even His kingdom. So in all these matters, in all of these things, one is to live as if the end has come, whether it be marriage or mourning or merriment or material gain.

[13:41] Don't set your life on this world. Paul's preference preference for singleness is rooted in some measure to his understanding that the present world is passing away.

[13:59] the second reason he gives is there in verses 32 and 35. It's so that you can please the Lord with undivided devotion.

[14:12] I want you to be free from anxiety, as he says. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about the worldly things, how to please his wife.

[14:24] His interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about the worldly things, how to please her husband.

[14:36] I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. Paul, on singleness, the advantage of undivided devotion to the Lord.

[14:52] It's not that marriage is bad, bad, according to Paul. He's basically listing the certain realities that come with marriage.

[15:04] That relationship requires particular attention. And it should, and it as it should. But because it requires particular attention, it will require particular concerns and commitments and anxieties that the single person would never encounter.

[15:27] The complexities of it are real. And for this reason, Paul says, a single state allows you to, in a sense, limit the complexities of life and give entire devotion to the Lord.

[15:44] So there are his two reasons. He prefers singleness because the present world is passing away. He prefers singleness because in that state one can please the Lord with undivided attention.

[16:02] That said, Paul qualifies his preference. Verses 36 to 38. If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes.

[16:21] Let them marry. It is no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity, but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.

[16:33] So then, he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. He qualifies his preference for singleness because Paul knows that the Corinthian church has a history of taking his words and because they are in a divisive state, hearing only what they want to hear.

[17:03] Think back to chapter 5 verses 9 and 10 where they misunderstood those with whom they were to associate. they had taken his words and run them through a grid that allowed for misinterpretation.

[17:21] Or, take what we saw in chapter 6 in verse 12, that phrase, all things are lawful for me. Paul has to now qualify that and say, look, when I say things like all things are lawful or I'm free in Christ, it doesn't mean that all things are useful or beneficial.

[17:37] They were taking certain words and pressing the point home without qualification. And people can do this on marriage. On either end of the platform.

[17:50] A preference toward marriage or a spiritual elevation of singleness. And so Paul wants to qualify himself. Given his personal preference, he wants you to know, first of all, that to marry does not put one in a state of sin.

[18:08] He mentions it twice there in verse 36. It's no sin to get married. In fact, he goes on to say, the one who does marry, verse 39, does well.

[18:19] The word there is something that meets a high standard. It's something that's fine or excellent. The one who is married is in an excellent state.

[18:32] he would go on to say, singleness itself is an excellent state. And when he speaks of them two together, singleness has certain advantages.

[18:49] That's certainly what the phrase means where it says the one who refrains from marriage will do even better. It means that the one who refrains from marriage will, of necessity then, or of consequence, have certain advantages over the one who isn't.

[19:06] He finishes with a little word on the woman whose husband would die, that here's not just a virgin, but one who finds herself again in a single state. And he wants you to know by way of qualification, she is free to marry in the Lord.

[19:25] Yet, in my judgment, he says, I think she's happier to remain as she is. What a word for the church today. In a church that holds the significance of family, as we do, indeed, it is a fine and established state, we need to remember, for all of the young people walking into our church today, that their single state in Christ has wonderful advantages for the gospel.

[20:05] I pray that they would be encouraged and that the gospel would grow in context where it has not flourished, and may we not be misunderstood on this important issue.

[20:19] Our Heavenly Father, Father, I pray for those who are single in our church, in our families. I pray that they would not be under the burden of some seeking and chasing and necessity that would tell them they're not complete until married, for indeed we are already the bride of Christ.

[20:52] And I do pray, Lord, for our church, that we would more and more utilize the great strengths of those who can serve in this way.

[21:04] In Jesus' name, Amen.