WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.740 Okay, so we've been thinking through gospel-shaped families, husbands, wives, parents, and children. 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:17.660 And this morning, as Rob's already told us, we're thinking about what it means to be gospel-shaped when not married. 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:23.539 So that means that here this morning, perhaps you're a teenager. 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:30.699 And as a teenager, you just assume that marriage is the next phase of life for you. 00:00:32.519 --> 00:00:43.259 Perhaps you're a bit older and have yet to find that soulmate you long for and are struggling in that circumstance. 00:00:45.239 --> 00:00:53.519 Perhaps you've been married, but you're currently living alone because your marriage has ended in the pain and hurt of divorce. 00:00:53.939 --> 00:00:59.479 Or your spouse died and you're just left with that overwhelming grief and loneliness. 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:05.299 So how does God's Word speak into those sort of situations? 00:01:05.819 --> 00:01:09.319 How does God's Word help us be gospel-shaped? 00:01:09.319 --> 00:01:13.900 Whether on the one side of the equation, you are the one living alone. 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:26.440 Or on the other side, you're part of this church family, which together has the responsibility to engage and support those who are living alone. 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:32.920 I want to just very briefly lift out three points. 00:01:33.039 --> 00:01:34.859 The first one I want to say is this. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:39.819 Marriage is God's normal pattern, but not essential. 00:01:39.819 --> 00:01:48.099 So I'm going to give you a very, very quick summary of the first 16 verses of chapter 7 of 1 Corinthians because it sets the context. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.879 Verse 1, concerning the matters about which he wrote. 00:01:51.879 --> 00:02:00.939 There was issues in the church and the Christians at Corinth had written to Paul for guidance, particularly in this section, we believe. 00:02:01.039 --> 00:02:08.879 It was guidance on the place of sex and marriage for a Christian, for one who claimed to be spiritual. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:10.579 And it was causing deep division. 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:23.519 Some Christians apparently, still wrestling with the Greek philosophy they grew up with, took the line that to be spiritual, a Christian had to refrain from sex. 00:02:23.799 --> 00:02:28.740 Because sex was a physical expression and therefore it polluted the mind and the body. 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:40.960 And so if you follow through, and I don't have time to do it, but if you read in your own time, verses 2 through to 7, it seems like married couples were being pressured to give up sex. 00:02:42.580 --> 00:02:48.560 And verses 8 to 11, it seems like widows and widowers were being pressured to remain single. 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:55.939 And even worse, if they had already remarried, it appears they might have been pressured even to abandon their new marriage. 00:02:55.939 --> 00:03:10.180 And verses 12 through to 16, spouses in marriages where one of the spouses had become converted, had been converted, were being pressured into separating from the marriage, leaving the marriage. 00:03:12.419 --> 00:03:14.780 Divorcing their non-Christian partners. 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:20.539 So that's the context in which Paul writes these words. 00:03:20.539 --> 00:03:27.060 And his point in response to all that is very, very simple and very, very clear. 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:35.039 Paul teaches that being married or single is an issue of purposeful Christian freedom. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:39.239 If you look at verses 6 through to 8. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.500 Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:45.560 I wish that all were as I myself am. 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:51.960 But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. 00:03:52.740 --> 00:03:56.800 To the unmarried and widows, I say, that it's good for them to remain single as I am. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:00.080 But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:10.640 Paul knew that God's normal pattern right from the beginning of the world was marriage. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:17.339 Yet, he encourages the Corinthians to remain unmarried like himself. 00:04:18.719 --> 00:04:23.379 He encourages those whose spouses had died to choose to remain unmarried. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:28.219 Because we'll see when we get to verse 35, it's been read to us. 00:04:28.479 --> 00:04:35.539 Because that circumstance allows for a greater undivided devotion to the Lord. 00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:43.040 And if you look at verse 26, 27, and 28 that's been read to us, Paul's point comes out again. 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:48.300 He's really saying, look, being single, being married, it's entirely optional. 00:04:50.200 --> 00:04:51.400 It's a freedom. 00:04:52.200 --> 00:04:53.120 It's a choice. 00:04:53.780 --> 00:04:57.879 But what is not optional, as Gareth said, verse 35, 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:05.800 is obedience and faithful service of Christ in whatever marital status you're in. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.779 And Paul goes on to say, again, the first 16 verses, 00:05:13.300 --> 00:05:16.319 if you read them and think through them, you'll see all this clearly, I think. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:23.219 Either state, each state, has demanding responsibilities and wonderful opportunities. 00:05:23.220 --> 00:05:28.580 So Paul's actually getting us to think about being married or being single, 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:30.560 in a sense, in the same way. 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:33.660 Each has demanding responsibilities. 00:05:34.320 --> 00:05:35.640 Each has wonderful opportunities. 00:05:36.060 --> 00:05:37.500 The early verses of chapter 7, 00:05:37.820 --> 00:05:43.940 if you're married, then, says Paul, you must strive to be fully engaged in serving your spouse. 00:05:44.280 --> 00:05:46.640 And that's a demanding responsibility, 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:52.900 including, says Paul, sexually engaged for the sake of your spouse. 00:05:54.200 --> 00:05:55.960 It's a demanding responsibility. 00:05:56.660 --> 00:05:59.620 Verse 16, even if one spouse is an unbeliever, says Paul, 00:06:00.140 --> 00:06:04.660 there's a wonderful opportunity to model the love of Christ 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:08.060 and perhaps see the unbelieving spouse saved. 00:06:08.280 --> 00:06:09.420 Have a look at verse 16. 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:12.780 Wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? 00:06:12.880 --> 00:06:14.940 Husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife? 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:20.880 There's a demanding responsibility in a marriage 00:06:20.880 --> 00:06:22.820 where one spouse is converted and the other isn't. 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:25.500 But there's a wonderful opportunity at the same time. 00:06:30.139 --> 00:06:33.040 And likewise, he speaks to the widows and the widowers. 00:06:33.699 --> 00:06:35.219 If you're single, he says, 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:37.980 your demanding responsibility is to strive 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:42.120 to resist temptation particular to your circumstance. 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:47.620 Not necessarily more temptation or worse temptation, 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:50.800 just different temptation particular to your circumstance. 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:55.420 And the opportunity is to use your freedom to serve the Lord 00:06:55.420 --> 00:06:59.120 in a way which your married counterparts cannot. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:04.280 Friends, the point is this. 00:07:04.280 --> 00:07:09.740 Building gospel shape into this issue of marriage and singleness 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:14.579 begins as we respect both circumstances. 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:24.500 We will not make God's normal pattern into something that's essential. 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:30.959 We will not resent or dismiss each other's circumstances, 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:32.879 as Christians so often do. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:42.219 We will not believe that one state is harder or better than the other, 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:46.779 but that they're just different, quite different. 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:48.879 Each has its unique advantages. 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:51.100 Each has its unique disadvantage. 00:07:51.860 --> 00:07:53.420 Each has its unique challenge. 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:55.340 Each has its unique struggles. 00:07:58.740 --> 00:08:00.460 And so here, practically, you see, 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:03.699 so often married people tend to think 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:06.240 those who are single just have it easy. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:08.080 And so we sort of mop our brain and think, 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.319 well, us marrieds, we have such demanding responsibilities 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:13.319 and demands on our times, 00:08:13.460 --> 00:08:14.879 and boy, I wish I was single. 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:17.800 They only have themselves to get dressed. 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:20.040 They only have themselves to spend their money on. 00:08:20.259 --> 00:08:22.500 They only have themselves, and so the list goes on. 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:25.580 Do you hear the attitude behind that? 00:08:28.520 --> 00:08:29.520 They've got it easy. 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:33.159 And flip the coin. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:37.580 So often, single people think married folk have it made. 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:42.220 Oh, if I was married, I would be happy. 00:08:42.300 --> 00:08:44.800 I wouldn't be whinging about my husband like so-and-so over there. 00:08:45.060 --> 00:08:46.340 I would just think it was wonderful. 00:08:46.700 --> 00:08:48.200 I would never complain about my spouse. 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:49.500 I would never complain about my children. 00:08:49.580 --> 00:08:52.100 I would never complain about the mess or lack of time. 00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:55.700 It is just, what is your problem when you're married? 00:08:56.700 --> 00:08:59.279 Do you see what attitude underlies that? 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:07.379 Marriage is God's normal pattern, but not essential. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:10.500 Second thing is, you're validated by being in Christ, 00:09:11.300 --> 00:09:13.139 not your marital status. 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:18.659 If you look now at verses 17 through to 24, the part that was read to us. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:26.159 See, if you look at verse 17, 18, 19, it appears the pressure that I mentioned earlier on 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:29.699 was continuing at different levels, and it was quite intense pressure. 00:09:29.700 --> 00:09:36.879 It appears that the pressure to demonstrate true spirituality in the church in Corinth 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:45.080 was pushing some converted Jews to actually seek a surgical process to remove the evidence of circumcision. 00:09:46.800 --> 00:09:50.620 Now, that's a pretty intense pressure when you think what that might mean. 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:56.220 Verses 23 to 24. 00:09:56.980 --> 00:10:02.799 It seems like converted slaves were being pressured to believe that they couldn't be truly spiritual 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:04.899 while ever they remained a slave. 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:07.860 And so they became obsessed about getting their freedom. 00:10:10.340 --> 00:10:11.159 Verse 23. 00:10:11.259 --> 00:10:12.340 Have a look at verse 23. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:12.879 Paul says, 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:27.960 Paul's point? 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:31.679 Our value, our worth as a being, as a person, 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:36.960 is in the fact that we've been redeemed or bought by Christ 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:38.659 and adopted as his beloved children. 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:40.720 So, here's the practical application. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:46.800 Physical circumstances are irrelevant to your worth, to your value. 00:10:48.940 --> 00:10:55.820 Slaves, freed, circumcised, uncircumcised, married, single. 00:10:58.779 --> 00:11:02.259 Those categories are irrelevant when you're in Christ. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.060 Irrelevant to your value or your worth, that is, when you're in Christ. 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:10.939 Because you're equally valuable to Christ. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:13.539 You've been validated by his death on your behalf. 00:11:13.819 --> 00:11:17.139 You're equally loved by Christ and equally spiritual. 00:11:20.239 --> 00:11:22.199 So, my friends, we need to hear this. 00:11:23.439 --> 00:11:25.079 Everyone here needs to hear this. 00:11:25.939 --> 00:11:31.599 Being single is not second rate or second class as a Christian. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:37.860 Let's start with society. 00:11:38.500 --> 00:11:44.279 Don't be fooled by the nonsense, the lie that our society peddles, 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:49.940 which says a person needs to have sex to be fulfilled. 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:51.620 That's what our society teaches. 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:57.360 Because sex validates. 00:11:57.879 --> 00:12:02.259 Sex is what turns boys into men and girls into women. 00:12:04.139 --> 00:12:06.060 And it's just a pernicious lie. 00:12:06.059 --> 00:12:15.439 Now, come a bit closer, because, you see, I think some Christians give traction to this lie. 00:12:16.939 --> 00:12:25.439 And we do so by talking about our marriages in such unrealistic, smulchy, even dishonest ways, 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:32.740 that we leave those who are single feeling inadequate or second rate. 00:12:39.640 --> 00:12:44.840 And that, in turn, and I've seen this so many times over my ministry years, 00:12:44.920 --> 00:12:48.600 this, in turn, leads young singles to rush into marriage. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:52.120 Why? 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:55.120 Well, listen up, young people, here for a minute. 00:12:55.539 --> 00:13:03.899 Because so many young people get the notion that getting married is the pathway to validate you having legitimate sex. 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:14.299 Because that's what's going to make you complete as a person. 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:17.580 You know what that results in? 00:13:17.580 --> 00:13:24.060 It results in the next generation of unhappy, failing marriages. 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:29.620 Because sex and marriage will never truly and sustainably validate anybody. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:35.000 Now, let me pause. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.200 In case you don't think I've been negative already, let me pause and be negative now. 00:13:38.400 --> 00:13:40.860 Let me give a word to the matchmakers among us. 00:13:43.220 --> 00:13:46.580 Put bluntly, you need to stop matchmaking. 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:59.660 Because the message communicated as you matchmake is that being single is second rate. 00:14:01.660 --> 00:14:03.520 Or less than desirable. 00:14:03.920 --> 00:14:05.160 Or less than wholesome. 00:14:09.280 --> 00:14:10.720 Take it another step further. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:18.300 Matchmaking actually destroys gospel shape between brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:14:19.899 --> 00:14:28.460 Because inadvertently it suggests that being married is more important than being faithful in the circumstance the Lord has put you in. 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:43.660 In Paul's terms here, it suggests that we think our provision for singles among us is better than God's provision. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.100 It says, well, God has put you in a particular circumstance. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:49.960 Just be content in God's circumstance. 00:14:50.560 --> 00:14:53.180 We say as matchmaking, well, actually, no, God's got it wrong. 00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:55.259 And I'll offer you a better provision. 00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:56.919 I'll push you to a better place. 00:14:58.620 --> 00:14:58.980 Whew. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:00.519 That's a big call, isn't it? 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:07.679 And I'll tell you, matchmaking can actually destroy genuine friendships. 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:13.559 Because it just makes two single people, one who happens to be male, one who happens to be female. 00:15:13.779 --> 00:15:15.379 It makes them really awkward. 00:15:15.500 --> 00:15:18.539 Because everybody's going, ooh, so-and-so, talk to so-and-so. 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:31.500 And it destroys, potentially, the possibility of special relationships actually developing. 00:15:32.819 --> 00:15:34.939 Because it puts everybody under pressure. 00:15:36.839 --> 00:15:38.019 My friends, it's cruel. 00:15:38.439 --> 00:15:39.059 It's unloving. 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:50.619 And I so often get so upset when I hear Christians making cheap comments such as, so-and-so, you know, they're just too fussy. 00:15:56.619 --> 00:15:59.639 I have urges to grab people by the throat at that stage. 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:02.059 So far I've resisted. 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:04.059 Don't push me. 00:16:04.059 --> 00:16:08.219 They're playing too, they're playing hard to get. 00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:11.599 Comments like that are just insensitive and patronizing. 00:16:12.539 --> 00:16:14.739 Because you don't know the context of the person. 00:16:17.179 --> 00:16:24.939 In fact, the reality I've seen, and there was half a dozen ladies in the church in Tarmouth where I worked for many years. 00:16:24.940 --> 00:16:27.460 Pretty much my own age. 00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:31.120 They could have been married multiple times over. 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:34.560 In terms of suitors asking them to get married. 00:16:35.340 --> 00:16:43.480 But they actually very courageously refused to accept anybody. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:49.540 That is, a person who just come along and said, I'm a Christian man, therefore we're entitled to be married. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.600 No, they were actually not prepared to go down that pathway. 00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:56.600 And it wasn't about playing hard to get. 00:16:56.660 --> 00:17:01.500 It was about looking for a partner who was going to be Christ-centered. 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:10.019 Now that sort of stuff requires our admiration, our respect, our support. 00:17:10.660 --> 00:17:11.500 Not cheap comments. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:17.759 Because a Christian, you see, a Christian is called to be spiritually faithful. 00:17:18.360 --> 00:17:21.160 I can't find anywhere in the Bible that says a Christian is called to be married. 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:24.779 Verse 17. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:28.880 Verse 22. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:33.000 Verse 22. 00:17:35.600 --> 00:17:40.440 For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. 00:17:44.600 --> 00:17:48.820 God's challenge to his people is to struggle for faithfulness. 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:55.600 To be a slave of righteousness, whether you're single or married, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:18:03.899 Now, of course, it's always easy to say God is sovereign when life is happening as we think it should. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:13.099 But Paul is very clear here that every circumstance, including being married or being single, is assigned by God 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:21.059 and to be embraced wholeheartedly as the context in which God calls for faithful service. 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:27.519 My friends, there is no second best with God. 00:18:32.459 --> 00:18:34.719 Married or single, each is from God. 00:18:35.379 --> 00:18:36.139 Each is good. 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:41.700 Now, if you're single then, you may look to the future with some degree of hope. 00:18:41.800 --> 00:18:47.340 The Lord may well, in his wisdom and provision for you, bring some person into your life in the future. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:50.400 And you may well legitimately long for that. 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:57.980 But in the meanwhile, God's challenge to you is to set your heart to delight in him. 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:02.440 And your current provision from the Lord. 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:09.980 So the third and final point then is, to be gospel-shaped is to bloom where God has planted you. 00:19:12.220 --> 00:19:15.460 So the secret of thriving as a single person? 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:18.420 Well, I've already moved into it. 00:19:19.059 --> 00:19:22.980 It's embracing God's provision for you where you are now. 00:19:22.980 --> 00:19:32.660 Rather than trying to change your circumstance and asking him to enable you to live alone for his glory. 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:40.400 So I'd say to you who are single this morning, dare to see your singleness as a gift. 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:44.559 Dare to see your singleness as a gift. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:45.460 Look at verse 7. 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:50.100 I wish that all were as I myself am. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.539 But each one has his own gift from God. 00:19:53.600 --> 00:19:55.440 One of one kind, one of another. 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:57.559 The Greek word there is charisma. 00:19:58.539 --> 00:20:02.340 Meaning a grace-based gift. 00:20:02.980 --> 00:20:09.220 Which becomes a reality in the life of a believer by the energizing power of God's Holy Spirit. 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:23.579 In other words, God, by the power of the Holy Spirit working within you, enables you to live well and thrive to bloom in the place that he has put you. 00:20:24.900 --> 00:20:32.180 He puts you here and he enables you, he gives you the tools you need, which is the Holy Spirit, to actually thrive in that position. 00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:33.960 Whether it's married or single. 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:44.079 And notice in that context, Paul is actually describing also being married as a gift. 00:20:46.840 --> 00:20:48.579 Being unmarried as a gift. 00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:52.559 Being a widow or widower as a gift. 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:59.039 Even living with an unbelieving spouse as a gift. 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:09.259 Embrace the reality that God has planted you as a single. 00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:20.360 Rile and lament your circumstance and allow bitterness, resentment, and things like that to grow towards God and towards others around you. 00:21:21.819 --> 00:21:29.519 View your singleness as an opportunity to demonstrate that you actually realize you have 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:35.119 the most important one-fledged relationship that any person can have. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:36.839 The relationship with Christ. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:46.660 And that nothing else is desirable or necessary for intimacy, for security, and for satisfaction in life. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:55.940 Delight that God's goodness gives you opportunity to engage wholeheartedly in a range of ministry options. 00:21:55.940 --> 00:22:01.420 Options that perhaps aren't as easily accessible to your married counterparts. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:09.640 And Paul certainly picks that up in verses 26 and verse 28 through 32 through to 35. 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:17.420 He's not saying that unmarrieds have this endless amount of free time. 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:23.000 He's not saying that at all because there will be particular challenges that those who are single will have. 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:24.539 Those who are married don't have them. 00:22:24.539 --> 00:22:27.220 We'll hear a little bit more of those from Judy and Ruth in a minute. 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:36.599 But there are certain things that you can do when you're a single person that married people won't easily have access to. 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:39.099 Paul says, delight in that. 00:22:40.339 --> 00:22:45.460 And the final thing then is dare to live in the fullness of the future now. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:49.039 Look at verse 29 through to 31. 00:22:50.059 --> 00:22:51.299 This is what I mean, brothers. 00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:53.899 The appointed time has grown very short. 00:22:54.019 --> 00:22:57.960 From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none. 00:22:58.399 --> 00:23:00.500 And those who mourn as though they were not mourning. 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:03.259 And those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing. 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:05.839 And those who buy as though they had no goods. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.980 And those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. 00:23:09.980 --> 00:23:13.740 For the present form of this world is passing away. 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:21.559 Paul's putting marriage and singleness in its proper context. 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:25.599 The present form of this world is passing away. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:29.919 And Paul's anticipating the very thing that Jesus taught. 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:35.240 That a time is coming when there will be neither marrying nor giving in marriage. 00:23:36.679 --> 00:23:43.059 Because our focus will be entirely consumed around our true husband, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:23:43.719 --> 00:23:47.959 And an expression of that true and primary one flesh relationship. 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:54.440 My friends, hear this very, very carefully. 00:23:55.799 --> 00:24:06.860 This means that singleness is not an inadequacy or deficiency of the present as we look to the future. 00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:10.879 Quite the opposite. 00:24:13.219 --> 00:24:19.619 Singleness in the context of total dependence on Christ for security, satisfaction and validation. 00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:26.719 Is a glimpse of the fullness of the future in expression now. 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:36.980 Man, we're so short-sighted, aren't we as Christians? 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:45.460 When we think that marriage is the solution to our longing for intimacy and deep, stable relationship. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:52.000 Our restless loneliness which craves deep connection, satisfaction and love. 00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:55.660 Our desire to have an extended family and descendants to remember us. 00:24:55.660 --> 00:25:00.580 Because no husband or wife can do this for us, for our spouse. 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:06.420 That's what we look to Christ to do for us. 00:25:09.380 --> 00:25:13.759 That ultimate reality is only found in a growing relationship with Christ. 00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:18.060 So, where do we look to? 00:25:18.080 --> 00:25:18.920 We look for Christ. 00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:22.920 And then we look, my friends, to one another. 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:29.000 Because at a practical level, our church family is the solution. 00:25:30.220 --> 00:25:34.700 So, we as a family here are to support those who are single. 00:25:35.779 --> 00:25:44.860 And in the short term, offer that source of deep connection, love, support, understanding. 00:25:44.859 --> 00:25:48.159 That's the picture of the future. 00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:50.199 Under Christ. 00:25:51.459 --> 00:25:53.019 We ought to care for one another. 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:54.259 Whether married or single. 00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:56.859 In a way that reflects our family character. 00:25:57.959 --> 00:26:00.079 Having been so deeply loved. 00:26:01.159 --> 00:26:03.719 We ought to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:05.619 As the reality of heaven now. 00:26:05.619 --> 00:26:12.399 And those of us who are married, we also are to live in the fullness of the future now. 00:26:13.859 --> 00:26:16.419 Not obsessed with our marital status. 00:26:16.579 --> 00:26:18.879 That is the end point for us as Christians. 00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:20.719 Far from it. 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:21.720 Far from it. 00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:31.519 And if anything less than that is true for either us as married or us as singles, 00:26:31.900 --> 00:26:36.000 then we won't have the gospel shape that the Lord intends us to have. 00:26:38.059 --> 00:26:38.960 Let me pray. 00:26:40.259 --> 00:26:42.640 Lord, help us to hear this teaching. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:44.480 It may well be challenging. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:52.839 It may well come across as being ridiculous in terms of what's claimed and stated. 00:26:53.339 --> 00:26:57.380 But Lord, help us to hear your spirit speak to us through your word in this matter. 00:26:58.460 --> 00:26:59.620 In Jesus' name I pray. 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:00.019 Amen.