WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Let me pray for us then, if we're all in possession of a pen and a handout. 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:12.000 Let's pray. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:18.000 Heavenly Father, we do want to ask now for your help and your blessing as we look together at your words. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:24.000 We pray, please, that you would help us to listen, to concentrate, to learn together from your word. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.000 And we pray that you might teach us. 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:33.000 We long, Lord, not just to grow in our knowledge, but also in our love of you and our eagerness to follow you. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:40.000 So we pray that you'd be at work by your spirit, moving our hearts to love and trust you even more deeply than we do already. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 In Jesus name. Amen. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:49.000 Now, my plan is over these next at least three Sunday evenings, I think it will just be three Sunday evenings, 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:55.000 to take a closer look at 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and a little bit of chapter 6 as well, 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:03.000 in a bit more detail to see how it applies to marriage, sex and singleness or sex, marriage and singleness. 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:05.000 And we'll do it in that in that order. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:07.000 And I want to read the whole chapter to you this evening. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:09.000 And so we're going to get a little bit of an overview. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:21.000 And I have printed out the whole chapter on your handout, which is why it's so long, so that you can scribble along on it and make some notes and questions in the margins. 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.000 And hopefully we'll cover some of those in the weeks to come. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:29.000 But really, my purpose here is, I mean, there are a few things. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:34.000 I want us to deal with these things because I think these are really important topics for us. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:38.000 A number of people at church have asked that we would talk more about these things. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:53.000 But also, I want to show you that actually, it doesn't really take a huge amount of effort to see how what is written here in 1 Corinthians 7 is really highly applicable to the situations and circumstances that we find ourselves in today. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:57.000 God's word, we don't have to work that hard to make God's word relevant. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:03.000 Actually, we read and open God's word and find that it is itself relevant to us. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Now, that doesn't mean that there's a straight line between our situation and the situation in Corinth. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:14.000 And so before I read it, let me try and give you a little bit of background detail for you. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:22.000 If you look down at the opening words of chapter 7, you see that Paul says, now about the matters you wrote about. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:29.000 And in a way that sort of works as a headline to chapter 7 and some of the chapters to follow and kind of hints at the background. 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:37.000 So the setting of 1 Corinthians is that the church in Corinth was planted by Paul, who was there for about 18 months preaching and teaching. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:40.000 And then he left and he wrote them a letter. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.000 So in chapter 5, verse 9, he refers to a letter that he wrote to them. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:55.000 It seems then in response to his letter to them, they write a report back to him, which comes from Chloe's people, as it's referred to in chapter 1. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:00.000 And by all accounts, the report that he gets back from Corinth is a really bad one, right? 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.000 The situation in the church is really bad. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.000 There's lots of terrible things going on in the church. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:15.000 And Paul spends sort of the opening six chapters of his letter sort of restating his authority and trying to reset some of the misunderstandings that the church has. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:22.000 And then in chapter 7, he starts what essentially is a new section by responding to the questions that they've raised in their letter to him. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.000 So really, in your Bible, like 1 Corinthians is really, I suppose, 2 Corinthians. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:32.000 We don't really have 1 Corinthians because we don't have Paul's original letter and we don't have their response to it. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:37.000 But what we have in 1 Corinthians really is sort of like one side of a phone call. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:44.000 So you are hearing Paul's response to their questions, but we don't have their questions except when Paul states them to us, 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:51.000 which means that we do have to do a little bit of work and we need to be cautious in some ways as we interpret the chapter. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:04:01.000 But it also means that means that you will meet in 1 Corinthians 7 several different groups of people who have their own questions and their own comments and their own situations. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:04.000 So you meet, let me just run through them really quickly. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:12.000 You will meet some married people in verses 2 to 6, but married people who are seemingly in sexless marriages and Paul addresses them. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:18.000 Then you meet some single people, both those who've never married and those whose partners have died. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.000 You then meet the unhappily married. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:26.000 Then you meet those in marriages where one partner is a believer and the other isn't. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:34.000 You will then meet some people who are perpetually discontent with their status, whether that's their marriage status or their single status. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:41.000 Then you meet those who've never married or those who are thinking about marriage, some engaged to be married. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:55.000 And what's really fascinating, I think, for our purposes this evening and really the thinking behind tonight is that Paul thinks the best way of dealing with all of those groups of people is to address them together, not separating them out. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:02.000 You see, I think you or I might suggest that we say, let's run a married person's seminar, right? 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:11.000 And then let's run a young person's seminar and let's run another one for single people and let's run another one for widows or widowers. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:18.000 Now that's not necessarily a bad idea, but Paul's assumption here is that all these people in the church should be addressed together. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:29.000 Why is that? I think that is because the assumption that Paul is making in this chapter, and it's the assumption of the New Testament, is that you and I need one another's help to live the Christian life. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:37.000 And you need the help not just from people who are like you and in your situation, but you need help from others who are not like you and are not in your situation. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:42.000 So the church is intended to be a community of faith where people help one another. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:48.000 And it doesn't matter what your marriage status is. It doesn't matter what your situation is at home. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.000 You will need one another's help to live the Christian life. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:06:03.000 And so you know, don't you, that you need to understand how the Bible applies not only to you, but to others around you, so that you may speak with wisdom and grace into different people's situations. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:13.000 I think probably one of the most unhelpful things in church is the stupid things that married people say to single people, or the stupid assumptions that single people make of married people. 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:23.000 You know, so it is easy, isn't it, to assume that your situation is more difficult than anybody else's, or for you to assume that there are simple solutions to the challenges that people face. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:32.000 And knowing 1 Corinthians 7 and knowing how that applies to people who are not in your situation is really helpful at stopping us saying stupid things to people. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.000 Instead, we will be able to say Bible things and be able to encourage one another. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:50.000 And so each of us, whatever our situation, whatever our age, need a thoughtful, biblical view of sex, marriage and singleness, if our church is going to flourish, because we're going to need one another's help in that, as we were thinking this morning. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:57.000 So with that in mind, let me read 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 12, down to chapter 7, verse 40. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:03.000 And I'm not going to read it terribly slowly, but also hopefully not so fast that you can't track along, but do scribble on it. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:15.000 Because what I'm going to ask you at the end, with the person sat next to you, is you to identify things that you found surprising or shocking, and things that immediately jump out as you are things you don't understand. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:21.000 Okay, we used to call it in our Bible study group shockers and blockers right stuff at all. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:24.000 That's surprising and I don't understand that. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.000 So maybe you want to want to scribble in the margin at things that jump out at you in that way. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.000 And then we'll talk about them at the end. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:31.000 Okay. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:34.000 So 2 Corinthians 6 verse 12. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.000 I have the right to do anything you say, but not everything is beneficial. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:44.000 I have the right to do anything but I will not be mastered by anything. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:50.000 You say food for the stomach and stomach for the food, and God will destroy them both. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:56.000 The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:01.000 By his power, God raised the Lord from the dead and he will raise us also. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:06.000 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.000 Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:10.000 Never. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:16.000 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in his body? 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.000 For it is said the two will become one flesh. 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:23.000 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:25.000 Flee from sexual immorality. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:28.000 All other sins a person commits are outside the body. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:32.000 But whoever sins sexually sins against their own body. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:38.000 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:39.000 You are not your own. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:42.000 You were bought at a price. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.000 Therefore, honor God with your bodies. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.000 Now for the matters you wrote about. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:51.000 It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:09:00.000 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife and each woman with her own husband. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:07.000 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife and likewise the wife to her husband. 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:12.000 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but yields it to her husband. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:18.000 In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but yields it to his wife. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:26.000 Do not deprive each other, perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:31.000 Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.000 I say this is a concession, not as a command. 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:40.000 I wish that all of you were as I am, but each of you has your own gift from God. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.000 One has this gift. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:43.000 Another has that. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:49.000 Now to the unmarried and the widows, I say it is good for them to stay unmarried as I do. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:54.000 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:58.000 To the married, I give this command, not I, but the Lord. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:02.000 A wife must not separate from her husband. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:07.000 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:10.000 And a husband must not divorce his wife. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.000 To the rest, I say this, I, not the Lord. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:21.000 If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:27.000 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:31.000 But the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.000 And the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:37.000 Otherwise your children would be unclean. 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.000 But as it is, they are holy. 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:45.000 But if the, if no one's writing down a blocker by that words, I don't know whether you're really listening. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.000 But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:53.000 The brother or sister is not bound in such circumstances. 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.000 God has called us to live in peace. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:59.000 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:02.000 Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:09.000 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them. 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.000 Just as God has called them. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.000 This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.000 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.000 He should not become uncircumcised. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:22.000 Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.000 He should not be circumcised. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.000 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.000 Keeping God's commands is what counts. 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:34.000 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.000 Were you a slave when you were called? 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:39.000 Don't let it trouble you. 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:41.000 Although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:46.000 For the one who is a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord's freed person. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:51.000 Similarly, the one who is free when called is Christ's slave. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:52.000 You are bought at a price. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.000 Do not become slaves of human beings. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:12:03.000 Brothers and sisters, each person as responsible to God should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.000 Now about virgins. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:10.000 Without virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:15.000 Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:17.000 Are you pledged to a woman? 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:18.000 Do not seek to be released. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.000 Are you free from such a commitment? 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.000 Do not look for a wife. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.000 Do not want a wife. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:25.000 But if you do marry, you have not sinned. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:28.000 And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:31.000 But those who marry will face many troubles in this life. 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:32.000 And I want to spare you this. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:38.179 you this. What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on, those who 00:12:38.179 --> 00:12:43.740 have wives should live as if they do not, those who mourn as if they did not, those who are happy 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:49.700 as if they were not, those who buy something as if it were not theirs to keep, those who use the 00:12:49.700 --> 00:12:56.299 things of the world as if not engrossed in them, but this world in its present form is passing away. 00:12:56.299 --> 00:13:05.219 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's 00:13:05.219 --> 00:13:11.099 affairs, how he can please the Lord, but a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:18.179 how he can please his wife, and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned 00:13:18.179 --> 00:13:24.319 about the Lord's affairs, her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit, but a married 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:29.480 woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband. I'm saying this for 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:34.640 your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the 00:13:34.640 --> 00:13:41.660 Lord. If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably towards the virgin he is engaged to, 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:47.420 and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not 00:13:47.420 --> 00:13:53.300 sinning, he should get married. But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no 00:13:53.299 --> 00:13:57.979 compulsion, but has control over his will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin, 00:13:58.419 --> 00:14:04.699 this man also does the right thing. So then he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not 00:14:04.699 --> 00:14:11.759 marry her does better. A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, 00:14:11.859 --> 00:14:18.699 she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. In my judgment, she is happier 00:14:18.700 --> 00:14:24.480 if she stays as she is, and I think that I too have the Spirit of God. 00:14:26.300 --> 00:14:33.200 Okay, with the person next to you, just go for things that are surprising and things that are 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:37.540 confusing. And if you can't find anything, you can sit there and talk about something completely 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:39.539 different. Go for it. 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:48.719 So I'm going to write these down. We're not going to necessarily talk about all of them tonight. 00:14:49.659 --> 00:14:54.039 See, this is not me promising to answer every question that you've got from 1 Corinthians 6 and 7, 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:01.799 but we might deal with some of them tonight, and we'll deal with some of them in weeks to come, 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:06.839 and others of them we might just never deal with, so prepare yourself for disappointment. But anyway, 00:15:07.959 --> 00:15:13.079 shockers and blockers, things that we found surprising, things that we found confusing. 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:14.699 Anyone want to start us off? 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:23.959 The idea of undivided devotion belongs just to the single person. 00:15:24.359 --> 00:15:30.919 Right, okay, yes, yes. So the undivided devotion of the single person. 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:38.919 And is that possible as a married person? Is that the question? Yeah. 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:39.399 Yeah. 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:40.919 Yeah. 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:43.079 Great. Anybody else? 00:15:43.079 --> 00:15:50.919 I can't remember where exactly it is in the past, but I did remember someone mentioning me 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:56.519 a long time, but basically if, say like a married couple sadly do end up for the water, 00:15:57.159 --> 00:16:08.679 that either one of them should not remarry, but if they ever do remarry, they go back to the same person. 00:16:08.839 --> 00:16:09.099 Okay. 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.039 I might have that wrong, but that's the interpretation someone gave me. 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:19.159 Great. So there's a question. So it does mention divorce, and it does seem to mention marriage again for people who've been married before, 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:25.959 who are widows or widowers. Yeah. So there's a question there, isn't there, about what about divorce and remarriage? 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:33.000 Yeah. Good question. Yeah. I'm not going to answer it. Not tonight, but yes. Yeah. 00:16:34.680 --> 00:16:39.000 In verse 14, when it talks about the unbelieving person who's sanctified through his wife, 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.000 Yeah. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:43.000 Yeah. 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:47.559 What does it mean to be sanctified through your husband or wife? Yeah. 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:56.200 I mean, just so that we don't end up wandering away thinking heresy, it does say verse 16 as well, 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:59.399 how do you know wife whether you will save your husband or how do you know husband whether you'll save your wife? 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:07.400 So it's not, he is not thinking of another route of salvation, either trust in Jesus or get married to a Christian. 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:16.680 Those are your two options. No, so it's not that book. So then the question is, what does it mean to be made holy or sanctified by marriage? 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.800 And then what does it mean for your children to be holy as well? Yeah. Good question. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:33.480 Okay. And the question is, is that like surprising? Or we are going to talk a bit about that tonight. 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:39.960 Self-control in verses eight and nine. Okay. Yeah. 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:41.960 Yeah. 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:45.960 Yeah. 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:49.960 Yeah. 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:55.160 Yeah. 00:17:55.160 --> 00:18:03.640 Yeah. 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:04.759 Yeah. 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:04.840 Yeah. 00:18:04.840 --> 00:18:06.840 Yeah. 00:18:06.840 --> 00:18:06.840 00:18:06.840 --> 00:18:08.840 Yeah. 00:18:08.840 --> 00:18:13.400 So the marriage of a believer and a non-believer, it seems to be, doesn't it, from the end of the chapter, 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:19.000 that he is very clear that if you are looking to get marriage, you should marry another Christian, right? 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:28.920 So that seems to be really clear, doesn't it? So verse 39, if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. 00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:38.039 Right. But then there seems to be in the chapter, at least the experience of the Corinthian church is that there are believers married to unbelievers. 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:44.119 So presumably that is because they were both unbelievers when they got married and one of them has become a Christian, the other hasn't. 00:18:45.639 --> 00:18:50.119 But yes. But then there are questions about that and how that works out. Yeah. Great. 00:18:51.879 --> 00:18:52.599 Other questions? 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:04.039 Yeah. So what does it mean to live as if you're not? Yes. As if you're not married, as if you're not mourning, as if you're not got anything. Yeah. 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:06.680 Yeah. In verses 29 to 31. Yeah. 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:22.839 One of the things that we will come against in this chapter is that actually our, our view of the present is shaped massively by what we believe will happen in the future with the return of the Lord Jesus. 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:30.459 Right. If so. Yeah, no, I will say this. Right. So I was just trying to work out what we're going to say in weeks to come. 00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:41.559 But it's interesting that our doctrine and understanding of marriage, sex and singleness is shaped not just by creation, but is shaped also by redemption. 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:52.079 Yeah. So if we just had creation and no full sin and redemption, then everyone should get married and everyone should have as many children as possible. 00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:54.700 Right. Because that's fill the world and subdue it. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:20:02.759 But redemption and God's plan of redemption, that all people everywhere will hear the gospel. 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:08.259 that actually sort of trumps over the creation mandate. 00:20:08.379 --> 00:20:17.279 And so there is a, a new priority in marriage, sex and singleness that is given by the story of redemption that isn't just there in the story of creation. 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:18.559 More of that to come. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:25.559 Yes. Yeah. 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:25.559 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:25.559 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:34.359 So Jesus echoes that kind of you as well. Yeah. And we will come to that in. 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.179 Please come. Any others just briefly? Yeah. 00:20:37.179 --> 00:20:37.599 Go on. 00:20:42.179 --> 00:20:44.099 Can I quickly explain verse 24? 00:20:44.099 --> 00:20:49.519 Remaining in the situation is there when God called them. Yeah. 00:20:51.099 --> 00:20:53.240 No, I don't know. Explain it, but we will look at it. 00:20:53.379 --> 00:20:55.359 If we come. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:57.599 And there seems to be in that whole section, doesn't there? 00:20:57.639 --> 00:21:04.039 Not just about marriage and singleness, but also about circumcision and uncircumcision, slave or free, 00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:10.679 about not trying to change our circumstance, but a confidence that God has been sovereign over all of that. 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:15.340 It does mention about, what you call gain, statuses of freedom. 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:17.779 Yes. Availing yourself of your freedom. Yes. 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:18.960 Is that an absolute in each case? 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:24.519 No. And it's definitely not a commendation of slavery as well. 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:26.880 And we will, and we will talk about that. Yeah. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:30.860 Okay. Go on. 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:32.379 What is the present crisis in verse 26? 00:21:32.779 --> 00:21:35.199 What is the present crisis in verse 26? 00:21:35.419 --> 00:21:35.699 Yes. 00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:36.839 Yes. 00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:45.639 So, is the present crisis in verse 26, is that just because we're living in the light of the Lord's return? 00:21:45.639 --> 00:21:51.679 Or is there something going on in Corinth in the present crisis? 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:52.479 What is that? 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.500 And how should that shape our understanding? 00:21:55.659 --> 00:21:56.259 Yeah. Good question. 00:21:56.259 --> 00:22:03.460 Also, I guess, like, are there other reasons you should get married other than just, you know, passion? 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:06.559 Are there other reasons to get married other than just passion? 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:08.160 Yes. That's a good question. 00:22:08.660 --> 00:22:09.960 And we will come to that too. 00:22:10.660 --> 00:22:10.960 Okay. 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:16.379 Let me try and work through really quickly some of the passages teaching on sex. 00:22:16.379 --> 00:22:20.019 And then we'll pick up some of these other things in weeks to come. 00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:27.740 Now, I want to say, basically, I think that you've got two errors and three truths about sex. 00:22:27.819 --> 00:22:30.779 So, let's try and deal with them reasonably quickly. 00:22:30.940 --> 00:22:32.900 You can ask me more questions at the end. 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:34.079 We've got about eight minutes. 00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:41.759 It seems, doesn't it, that the false view about sex is that sex doesn't matter. 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:43.799 That's the first one in chapter six. 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:50.619 So, this idea of food for the stomach and the stomach for food and God will destroy them both, they're not really talking about food. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:52.700 They're talking about sex, right? 00:22:52.779 --> 00:22:56.700 So, it's as if their bodies are totally separate from their spirituality. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:02.960 So, that it doesn't really matter to them what they do with their bodies because that's not really who they are. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:07.460 And so, they can, you know, if they desire sex, they can have sex. 00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:09.480 It's as if it's no big deal. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:11.500 And Paul tells them that they are wrong. 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:18.839 He says to them that their body is not meant for sexual immorality, but is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body. 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:22.619 In other words, it does matter, says Paul, what you do with your bodies. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:31.539 We believe in a risen savior who is not just about saving your spiritual soul or whatever that might be, but is saving your body. 00:23:32.420 --> 00:23:33.839 He will resurrect you. 00:23:34.380 --> 00:23:40.039 You will meet the Lord Jesus in your body as you meet him in his resurrection body. 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:46.159 And in fact, he says, sex is very significant because it is the uniting of your body with another. 00:23:46.659 --> 00:23:48.019 And that shouldn't be taken lightly. 00:23:49.639 --> 00:23:57.240 Interestingly, in chapter 6, Paul is super clear that Jesus is saving our bodies and we belong to him because we are bought with a price. 00:23:57.240 --> 00:24:01.880 And so, we are, verse 18, to flee all sexual immorality. 00:24:02.779 --> 00:24:13.839 Sexual immorality in verse 18 is the Greek word porneia, which is a catch-all word in the Bible for all sexual activity outside of the marriage of one man to one woman. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:21.279 And so, we are to flee all sexual activity outside of the marriage of one man to one woman. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:23.119 That's Paul in verse 18. 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:29.459 Yes, yeah, tying into some of the stuff we're looking at in reading. 00:24:30.679 --> 00:24:34.500 False view number two is then that sex is always wrong. 00:24:34.500 --> 00:24:37.400 Now, it seems to me there's another view, doesn't there? 00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:44.180 Beginning of chapter 7, where Paul says that they wrote in their letter, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:50.500 And the point here is they're saying it's not that they're talking about any man and any woman, but they're talking about a husband and a wife. 00:24:51.299 --> 00:24:57.720 It seems here that this same kind of thinking in chapter 6 has taken root in the church, but in a slightly different way. 00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:02.860 So, the idea here is not just that you're separate from your body, so it doesn't matter what your body does. 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:08.519 It's the idea that you're separate from your body because your body is dirty, and so it is always bad. 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:09.059 Right? 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:13.579 And so, they're not saying it doesn't matter what you do with it. 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:17.680 They're saying it matters really a lot, and so therefore sex is bad because it's a bodily thing. 00:25:18.600 --> 00:25:22.700 And so, they say that sex shouldn't be indulged in any circumstances, even in marriage. 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:26.460 So, they are teaching married people not to have sex. 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:28.900 And Paul tells them that they are wrong too. 00:25:29.700 --> 00:25:35.519 In fact, says Paul, sex in marriage is a good thing, a right thing, and to teach otherwise is to contradict the Bible. 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.200 So, chapter 7, verse 2. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:45.579 Since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 00:25:46.620 --> 00:25:51.100 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:55.900 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but yields it to her husband. 00:25:56.460 --> 00:26:00.960 In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but yields it to his wife. 00:26:01.600 --> 00:26:08.420 Do not deprive each other, except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. 00:26:08.860 --> 00:26:13.700 Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 00:26:13.700 --> 00:26:21.019 It seems, doesn't it, that sex in marriage is a good thing, and it is not to be rejected. 00:26:21.600 --> 00:26:25.140 And so, those are the two false views of sex, which are rejected by Paul. 00:26:25.740 --> 00:26:27.319 Now, let's look at the right views. 00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:32.080 Number one, sex is made for marriage. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:33.799 Really important, right? 00:26:33.919 --> 00:26:35.039 The way around that is. 00:26:35.299 --> 00:26:35.460 Okay? 00:26:35.559 --> 00:26:38.980 Sex is made for marriage, not marriage made for sex. 00:26:39.220 --> 00:26:39.439 Okay? 00:26:40.139 --> 00:26:46.299 I think if you were to ask people outside of the church what they thought the Bible said about sex, they would probably tell you that, oh, it's got a very negative view. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:47.599 God is very anti-sex. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:48.139 Right? 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.960 God probably just tolerates it for the purposes of reproduction only. 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:58.059 And God designs marriage in some way to frustrate people's sexual desire and to kind of police it. 00:26:58.940 --> 00:27:09.700 Almost as if when, you know, God made man and woman, he was surprised by how strong their sexual desire was and sort of designed marriage subsequently to try and keep it under control. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:12.120 But that's not the way around it is, is it? 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:13.759 Paul says it's the opposite way around. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:23.819 In God's view, the intimacy of sex and the desire for sex was designed by him for the purposes of solidifying marriage promises. 00:27:25.140 --> 00:27:30.819 Sex in marriage is not just for the purpose of having children, but for the purpose of building the marriage covenant. 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:33.279 Perhaps you could put it this way. 00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:40.319 Sexual desire is designed by God to be strong because he designed marriage promises to be strong. 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:49.200 The problem, therefore, in the world is not the strength of sexual desire, but the uncoupling of sexual desire from marriage faithfulness. 00:27:50.339 --> 00:27:59.539 It is sinful people like us who misdirect our sexual desires and damage marriages and those around us. 00:28:00.419 --> 00:28:05.539 I don't think I need to spell out all the applications of that this evening and you can go and work it out yourself. 00:28:05.539 --> 00:28:12.079 But needless to say, that Paul says that while married couples might choose for a time and for the purpose of prayer to refrain from sex, 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:22.920 still that should not be the pattern of married life because sex is given to marriage for the purpose of building, solidifying and cementing marriage promises. 00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:25.920 Sex is made for marriage. 00:28:27.139 --> 00:28:30.200 Right view number two, sex is self-giving. 00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:36.539 Here I want you just to notice Paul's radical point is that sex in marriage is focused on the other person. 00:28:36.980 --> 00:28:39.400 This would have been astonishing to the church in Corinth. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:45.620 In a city that is focused on its own pleasure and in a culture obsessed with sex and its own satisfaction, 00:28:46.180 --> 00:28:47.640 Paul turns the tables, doesn't he? 00:28:48.080 --> 00:28:53.080 Telling them that it's not about the husband or wife demanding sex, but about the giving of oneself to another. 00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:56.039 Sex in marriage is serving the other. 00:28:56.039 --> 00:28:57.900 The husband is to give himself. 00:28:58.019 --> 00:28:59.360 The wife is to give herself. 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:03.519 The NIV translates it as marital duty in verse three. 00:29:03.600 --> 00:29:04.360 I don't think that's great. 00:29:05.019 --> 00:29:09.519 The older translations translate it as conjugal rights, which I don't think is even much better. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:11.720 I'm probably not really sure what it means. 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:18.420 Here, really the idea is debt, that the husband's body is indebted to his wife and vice versa. 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:23.440 And the emphasis then is not on demands and rights, but on giving and serving. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:27.920 So that sex is to be other person-centered. 00:29:29.100 --> 00:29:33.000 Now, if that was counter-cultural in Corinth, it certainly is today, isn't it? 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:41.000 The idea of sex being the way that husband and wife serve one another and are generous to one another is very odd. 00:29:41.500 --> 00:29:43.200 But it's captured in the marriage vows, isn't it? 00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:47.019 A husband and a wife, they say to one another, with my body, I honor you. 00:29:47.019 --> 00:29:50.160 All that I am, I give to you. 00:29:52.019 --> 00:30:00.160 Thirdly and finally, right view number three, disordered sexual desire is experienced by everyone and should be controlled. 00:30:01.220 --> 00:30:04.259 I want you to notice this as we finish off. 00:30:04.259 --> 00:30:15.740 Paul makes a massive assumption here that since the fall, all of our sexual desires, whether you are married or whether you are single, are disordered. 00:30:16.420 --> 00:30:24.839 That we cannot be trusted to only ever have right and godly sexual desires. 00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:31.980 The husband and wife in marriage will experience inappropriate sexual desire that they will find difficult to control. 00:30:31.980 --> 00:30:36.019 Sex in marriage is designed to help them with that, but it will not eliminate that. 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:41.640 The unmarried and the widows in verses eight and nine will experience strong sexual desire that will be hard to control. 00:30:42.099 --> 00:30:44.059 And that comes up again later on in the chapter. 00:30:45.160 --> 00:30:47.900 Here it seems, we're going to talk more about this in weeks to come. 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:54.680 It's that the unmarried couple who are ashamed of what they're doing are supposed to get married as well, I think. 00:30:55.099 --> 00:30:59.440 That seems to be, I think, what burning with passion is, is that they are ashamed. 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:05.220 Because they are indulging in sexual behavior that really is reserved for marriage. 00:31:06.279 --> 00:31:08.580 And so Paul recommends marriage for them in that situation. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:10.600 And here's the point then. 00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:16.519 Disordered sexual desire is not just the struggle of one small group of people in the life of the church. 00:31:17.160 --> 00:31:18.920 It's the struggle of all of us. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:22.240 And in fact, that is really to be expected, isn't it? 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:33.900 If sexual desire is one of the strongest human emotions that we experience, then we would expect as sinful, fallen, broken people for sexual temptations to be one of the most powerful temptations that we face. 00:31:34.599 --> 00:31:35.720 And that just stands to reason. 00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:42.279 And in that case, in a world like that, two things come out of 1 Corinthians 7. 00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:44.480 One is a really high view of marriage. 00:31:45.259 --> 00:31:53.639 That seems to be what the chapter is recommending consistently in a world of disordered sexual desire, is to have a high view of marriage. 00:31:54.460 --> 00:32:02.279 How does Paul, in this church plant, in a situation like Corinth, how does he go about sorting it out and helping people through that? 00:32:02.700 --> 00:32:04.680 He has a really high view of marriage. 00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:06.039 Get married. 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:10.180 Marriage is given by God for our good. 00:32:10.740 --> 00:32:11.259 Get married. 00:32:11.259 --> 00:32:11.460 Right. 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:14.859 Sex is designed for marriage. 00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:20.039 And so the antidote, if you like, to disordered sexual desire is rightly ordered sexual desire. 00:32:20.879 --> 00:32:26.559 But the second thing that comes through is not just a high view of marriage, but also a really high view of self-control. 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:30.759 Paul is not suggesting that sexual desire cannot be controlled. 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:32.900 He's realistic about its strength. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:38.740 But still, and we'll see more of this in weeks to come, he still is able to recommend singleness, isn't he? 00:32:38.740 --> 00:32:45.880 And he thinks that in the light of the gospel and in the light of the return of the Lord Jesus, singleness has a lot to commend it. 00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:50.340 It seems to be almost in verse 20. 00:32:50.340 --> 00:32:51.860 Is it 28 or 29? 00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:54.400 28. 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:56.400 It's many troubles in this life. 00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:11.400 It seems almost as if he is suggesting that the desire for self-control with our sexual desires in singleness is that that suffering is less than the suffering of marriage. 00:33:11.400 --> 00:33:11.840 Right. 00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:18.800 Because he suggests that actually the trouble of singleness is less than the trouble of marriage. 00:33:19.180 --> 00:33:20.300 Maybe you disagree with him. 00:33:20.860 --> 00:33:23.980 But actually, that's, I think, what he is suggesting in verse 28. 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:29.519 He does that because he thinks it is possible for Christians to control sexual desire. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:49.680 We do not have to be victims of our sexual desire or passengers to our sexual desires because the Christian, in the strength of the spirit, can exercise self-control and can also have their desires reshaped and reordered by the God who loves them and is working in them. 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:54.980 That is a really, really whistle-stop tour of what is said about sex. 00:33:55.080 --> 00:33:57.519 And we're going to return to some of it in weeks to come. 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:01.320 But any questions or comments as I finish? 00:34:06.120 --> 00:34:09.340 Would you encourage young Christian men to desire marriage? 00:34:09.800 --> 00:34:11.960 Because it seems like there's a lot of different use there. 00:34:12.220 --> 00:34:12.619 Yes. 00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:14.380 That's a really good question, Seth. 00:34:14.460 --> 00:34:18.440 Would you encourage Christian men or Christian women to seek marriage? 00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:21.780 Yes, I think that the chapter says that it is not wrong. 00:34:22.300 --> 00:34:25.800 We need to keep the balance of the passage, don't we? 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:28.760 We don't need to just read some of the verses and not all of the verses. 00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:32.039 It is right to want to be married. 00:34:32.740 --> 00:34:35.420 It is not wrong to desire marriage. 00:34:36.740 --> 00:34:42.340 But you also need to recognize that you're not actually suffering over that, are you? 00:34:42.760 --> 00:34:46.900 So he talks about one people having one gift and one having another gift in verse 7. 00:34:46.900 --> 00:34:51.320 And it may seem to you that your singleness, if you're single, is not a gift. 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:55.000 It may seem to you that your marriage, if it's difficult, is not a gift. 00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:01.400 But actually, the Lord is sovereign over the situation that we're in and we're to use it for his glory. 00:35:01.400 --> 00:35:10.440 So it's not wrong to want to be married, but you need to marry a believer. 00:35:12.440 --> 00:35:18.780 Which I think means that you need to ask the Lord to train your heart to be attracted to godliness. 00:35:18.780 --> 00:35:19.080 Yes. 00:35:22.080 --> 00:35:22.400 Yeah. 00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:24.780 It is a good thing. 00:35:25.220 --> 00:35:29.240 People who make dows of celibacy, this can cause some problems later on. 00:35:30.080 --> 00:35:33.940 I mean, it's very difficult to anticipate how you will be in the future. 00:35:33.940 --> 00:35:34.040 Yeah. 00:35:34.500 --> 00:35:34.740 Yeah. 00:35:34.740 --> 00:35:39.400 I remember there was an Anglican, a vicar that came to have a meal with my wife and myself. 00:35:39.540 --> 00:35:40.100 I remember that. 00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:45.200 And he said that we didn't sort down this and this is what we wish. 00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:46.080 Right. 00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:46.799 Yeah. 00:35:46.799 --> 00:35:46.880 Yeah. 00:35:47.239 --> 00:35:48.599 There's a sense of wisdom. 00:35:49.319 --> 00:35:49.719 Yes. 00:35:50.219 --> 00:35:51.360 So vows of celibacy. 00:35:51.539 --> 00:35:55.039 I think, yes, it's difficult to anticipate how you will feel later on. 00:35:55.480 --> 00:35:58.840 I think that's really helpful, Mike, because I think the passage is quite clear. 00:35:58.840 --> 00:36:06.099 And I think Paul talks about this in other places as well, about just being very cautious about making those kind of promises. 00:36:07.219 --> 00:36:12.179 You might be single today, but don't necessarily promise that that's going to be the situation forever. 00:36:12.940 --> 00:36:13.039 Yeah. 00:36:14.019 --> 00:36:14.380 Yeah. 00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:17.239 I think I have one more. 00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:18.239 I'll wait for someone else. 00:36:18.779 --> 00:36:19.360 It's fine. 00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:21.039 You wait for someone else then, Seth, and then me. 00:36:21.759 --> 00:36:22.440 Anybody else? 00:36:24.840 --> 00:36:25.539 Go on, Seth. 00:36:25.539 --> 00:36:26.539 All right. 00:36:26.539 --> 00:36:28.019 So, this is my last one. 00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:46.779 What would you say to a young man that's a long-term, 20-year Christian to be around witnessing tons of different marriages in the church that have been, got robbed, divorces, and a bit of evangelist and a warrior that marriage, for what you see, will still exist? 00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:47.620 Okay. 00:36:47.620 --> 00:36:47.680 Okay. 00:36:50.180 --> 00:36:51.720 So, gosh. 00:36:52.160 --> 00:36:53.620 I mean, this is like a kind of... 00:36:54.500 --> 00:36:57.300 Casey, I feel like you're asking me a trick question, Seth, as well. 00:36:57.300 --> 00:36:58.180 No, I'm not sure. 00:36:58.180 --> 00:36:58.200 I'm not sure. 00:36:58.340 --> 00:36:58.240 I'm not sure. 00:36:58.240 --> 00:36:58.840 I'm not sure. 00:36:58.840 --> 00:36:59.160 I'm not sure. 00:36:59.159 --> 00:36:59.599 Yeah. 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:03.119 So, I think it's right, isn't it? 00:37:03.179 --> 00:37:12.379 As a single person, to look around churches and see that actually marriage is difficult and not all marriages are great, it's not a bad thing to be honest about and to see, is it? 00:37:12.380 --> 00:37:18.960 I think that's one of the lies of the church, is that you can look at people think that marriage is the solution to everybody's problems. 00:37:19.140 --> 00:37:20.480 And it's really not. 00:37:20.660 --> 00:37:21.940 Marriage is really difficult. 00:37:22.220 --> 00:37:27.960 And it can be, you know, the pain of being in a difficult marriage is really, really hard, isn't it? 00:37:28.380 --> 00:37:31.460 And it is really awful for those in that situation. 00:37:31.700 --> 00:37:39.619 And actually, I think lots of our single people will probably be helped by saying that actually marriage isn't the solution to all of the problems and struggles that they face. 00:37:39.680 --> 00:37:40.980 And Paul is really honest about that. 00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:41.680 Yeah. 00:37:41.679 --> 00:37:53.419 And yet still, it is not wrong also as a single person to want to be married, to pray that the Lord would provide you with somebody, to seek out somebody. 00:37:53.859 --> 00:37:55.859 Those are not wrong things to do. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:57.980 In fact, it's right to marry us. 00:37:58.839 --> 00:38:00.759 And it's also right to remain single. 00:38:01.379 --> 00:38:07.879 It's very spiritually healthy because you're actually in proximity with somebody in a way that you haven't been otherwise. 00:38:07.879 --> 00:38:08.319 Yeah. 00:38:08.319 --> 00:38:09.199 You affect yourself. 00:38:09.379 --> 00:38:09.539 Yeah. 00:38:09.539 --> 00:38:09.679 Yeah. 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:17.880 And so it's quite the actual, some people have problems precisely because of the fear of that. 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:18.219 Yeah. 00:38:18.219 --> 00:38:25.259 And some people, as you say, they think that it's going to be, once they get past the winning ceremony, it's going to be sorted. 00:38:25.559 --> 00:38:25.739 Yeah. 00:38:25.739 --> 00:38:33.239 And in actual fact, living closely with something like that is, you've got to work out how to deal with differences of opinion and all sorts of things. 00:38:33.239 --> 00:38:33.439 Yeah. 00:38:33.759 --> 00:38:33.959 Yeah. 00:38:33.959 --> 00:38:34.039 Yeah. 00:38:34.039 --> 00:38:34.239 Yeah. 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:34.239 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:34.239 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:34.239 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:34.239 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:34.239 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:36.859 So it's kind of. 00:38:36.859 --> 00:38:37.339 Yeah. 00:38:37.339 --> 00:38:37.739 Yeah. 00:38:37.739 --> 00:38:39.299 It is a challenge. 00:38:39.299 --> 00:38:39.299 00:38:39.299 --> 00:38:40.839 What was your answer on the peace? 00:38:40.840 --> 00:38:43.400 On the, the answer on the peace. 00:38:43.500 --> 00:38:44.800 What, how would he keep his peace? 00:38:47.800 --> 00:38:53.240 Well, I would say, I would suggest that at the very best, they're just reflecting verse 28, aren't they? 00:38:53.239 --> 00:38:55.779 And, and so they're right. 00:38:55.779 --> 00:38:55.859 Right. 00:38:59.579 --> 00:39:04.299 But that doesn't necessarily mean that marriage is always necessarily wrong. 00:39:04.300 --> 00:39:18.580 And I, I think if the Lord, yeah, I don't want to be too sort of, sort of fatalistic about it, but if the Lord wants you to be married, he will provide you with someone to be married to. 00:39:20.260 --> 00:39:24.860 So don't be kind of tied up in a knot about a hypothetical situation, which you're not in. 00:39:25.240 --> 00:39:25.340 Yeah. 00:39:27.060 --> 00:39:27.420 Yeah. 00:39:28.560 --> 00:39:28.920 Great. 00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:30.940 We need to end. 00:39:30.940 --> 00:39:37.460 It would seem to me that Biblically God intended man, it's not good for man to be by himself. 00:39:38.200 --> 00:39:39.200 He created the woman. 00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:46.460 It is a sense in which our fullness has been attracted to what God intended man. 00:39:46.720 --> 00:39:50.440 So it's not good for man to be alone in Genesis 2. 00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:51.400 Yes. 00:39:52.099 --> 00:39:56.920 I agree, but that's not the whole story because of redemption. 00:39:56.920 --> 00:40:04.139 And so I think what Paul is doing here is he's overshadowing just that creation story with the redemption story as well. 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:05.000 Okay. 00:40:06.260 --> 00:40:06.700 Thanks. 00:40:07.139 --> 00:40:08.539 Let's pray as we finish. 00:40:08.780 --> 00:40:09.139 Let's pray. 00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:16.940 Heavenly Father, we, we know that we find it really, really difficult. 00:40:16.940 --> 00:40:26.539 It's difficult to trust and live out what you say about marriage and sex and singleness. 00:40:26.539 --> 00:40:33.900 These things relate to and connect with some of our deepest desires, our deepest wounds. 00:40:35.639 --> 00:40:37.179 And our greatest struggles. 00:40:38.460 --> 00:40:49.380 And Lord, we, we want to pray that the fruit of looking at this chapter would not be discontentment or lack of peace or trouble, 00:40:49.380 --> 00:40:54.940 but might be a deeper trust in you and your goodness and your mercy to us. 00:40:55.700 --> 00:41:03.000 We thank you, Lord, that one day, everything that's really good about marriage will belong to all of us in our relationship with Jesus. 00:41:03.880 --> 00:41:06.640 That the great wedding day is a day still to come. 00:41:07.300 --> 00:41:12.140 A day when we will be with you and see the Lord Jesus. 00:41:12.139 --> 00:41:22.000 And relate to you in such a way that all the closeness and intimacy of marriage is ours forever, eternally in our relationship with you. 00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:24.099 And Lord, we long for that day. 00:41:24.659 --> 00:41:29.119 And in the midst of our struggles, maybe in difficult marriages or maybe in unwanted singleness, 00:41:30.139 --> 00:41:38.199 we pray, please, that you would keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who loves us perfectly and who one day we will be with. 00:41:38.199 --> 00:41:40.739 And so we pray in joy in his name. 00:41:41.279 --> 00:41:41.679 Amen. 00:41:41.679 --> 00:41:42.299 Amen. 00:41:43.699 --> 00:41:44.599 Thanks, everybody.