1 Corinthians 7 Singleness
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Some things you may not know about me. I have been single longer than I have been married. This November Amy and I will celebrate 14 years of marriage.
The only relationship I tried before the age of 14 was in the 3rd grade and I would raise my eye brows at the girl. yeah that didn’t go well for me and I never got to date that girl.
My mom bought my clothes up until the 9th grade. Most of my stylish clothes to that point came from van heusen. I was the youngest old looking dude in the junior high.
In 9th grade, my older sister started helping my mom pick out my clothes. I looked so much better and even started dating at that point.
I had a total of 4 girlfriends and that includes Amy.
1 Corinthians 7
17 However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.
18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised.
19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter, but keeping God’s commands does.
20 Each person should remain in the life situation in which he was called.
21 Were you called while a slave? It should not be a concern to you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.
22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave.
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
24 Brothers, each person should remain with God in whatever situation he was called.
25 About virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
26 Therefore I consider this to be good because of the present distress: It is fine for a man to remain as he is.
27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28 However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
29 And I say this, brothers: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none,
30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,
31 and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.
32 I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord.
33 But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—
34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.
35 Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
36 But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.
37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will ) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well.
38 So then he who marries his virgin does well, but he who does not marry will do better.
39 A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord.
40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
Prayer
1 Corinthians 7:17-
17 However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches.
18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised.
19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter, but keeping God’s commands does.
20 Each person should remain in the life situation in which he was called.
21 Were you called while a slave? It should not be a concern to you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.
22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave.
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
24 Brothers, each person should remain with God in whatever situation he was called.
v.17
The word called here reminds us of the divine call in Salvation. We do not choose God in salvation; God chooses us!
When God gives us certain gifts and calls us in a certain life situation, we should live the life God sets before us and using the gifts that God has given us.
This is for all churches
v.18
To the Jews, circumcision was everything. If you were not circumcised, then you were considered to be outside of the blessings of God that God established for his own.
Paul says this does not matter. Both circumcision and uncircumcision are nothing; they do not matter at all.
What does matter is keeping God’s commands.
Jesus said the all the of the law can be summed up in two things.
37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the greatest and most important command.
39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
Matthew 22:
v.20
Speaks again of the divine call of God and the word remain is a thought of continuance.
Cell phone numbers change less frequently then they once did. Phone numbers would change all the time. Every week people were getting a new number. Paul says to remain or continuance in where God has called you. Stay consistent, be constant and don’t change like people would change cell numbers.
v.21
Don’t let it trouble you that when you were called you are a slave. If God called you while a slave, then he will give you the grace to live as a slave.
1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary F. Lead the Life God Assigns (7:17–24)
If you are a slave do not worry. If you can be made free, then make use of your new status. It is your relationship to the Lord that matters most.
v.22
It does not matter what state you are called in. When you are called you are the Lord’s, the outward condition you are in does not matter.
1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary F. Lead the Life God Assigns (7:17–24)
The important thing for the free man is his relationship to Christ; his whole life is to be lived in lowly service to his Master. Nothing matters alongside this.
v.23,24
Believers have been bought by Christ’s blood. They belong to the Lord. Because believers are bought with the blood of Jesus then they should not become slaves of men.
We are free in Jesus. This should be our mentality and how we live. This freedom is a special mindset and spirit. We must constantly be reminded that we are free.
It is easy to let the enemy tell us that we are slaves. We become slaves as jealousy sets in, lack of peace, ungratefulness and we forget that we are called and purchased through the bloodshed of Jesus.
In Jesus, you are free! Live as free men and women.
Remain and bloom where God has planted you when he called you.
The unmarried and widows
The unmarried and widows
1 Corinthians 7:25-
25 About virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
26 Therefore I consider this to be good because of the present distress: It is fine for a man to remain as he is.
27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
v.25,26
Paul is writing under the conviction of the Holy Spirit so this is still inspired by God.
It is fine for a man to remain as he is and Paul gives reason for this. He says because of the present distress. This distress likely relates to to a pressing constraint that the Corinthians were facing at the time.
Under these difficult circumstances Paul felt it best for them to stay as they were.
1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary G. Virgins (7:25–38)
When high seas are raging it is no time for changing ships.
1 Corinthians 7:27-
27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28 However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
v.27
Married or loosed both verbs are in perfect tense and indicate settled states.
This is contentment in where you are. If you are married remain there if you are single remain there. Be content in the state that God has called you in.
v.28
Paul has said it is good for some not to marry, here he says that marriage is a normal state. There is nothing wrong or sinful about marriage.
Those who are married will have more responsibility. A husband with a wife and kids has more responsibility as does a married wife. When those who are married face persecution, it will be harder if they are married and have kids.
If you are married and you have children you have responsibilities and it is important as a follower of Jesus that you do not be passive in these responsibilities but that you continue to live in them.
1 corinthians 7:29-
29 And I say this, brothers: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none,
30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,
31 and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.
v.29-31
Do not focus on the temporal things of this world. the world in its current form is passing away. The trouble that is going to be faced is limited.
The goal of the Christian husband to to focus on the eternal and prepare the wife for the eternal and not the temporal. Same for the wife that she should live preparing the husband for the eternal and not the temporal.
The purchaser is focused on his purchase. This world is passing away focus on the eternal.
1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary G. Virgins (7:25–38)
It is folly for believers to act as though its values were permanent.
32 I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord.
33 But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—
34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.
-24
v.32
Paul wants people to be given to the service of God without distraction.
As I described earlier, a married man or married woman have more responsibility to care for the family. Especially in times of distress or trouble they care for the family.
v.34
an unmarried woman or virgin in concerned about the things of the Lord. That is if you are thinking about the Lord. If you are single and all your thoughts revolve only about the pity of your current state or dreaming of being married then likewise you are not thinking about how to please the Lord.
Being in a state of singleness the opportunity is there to think solely about how to please the Lord.
35 Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
I am not saying this to “put a lasso over you” but this is what is good and right. This is proper and my goal is so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
36 But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.
37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will ) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well.
38 So then he who marries his virgin does well, but he who does not marry will do better.
39 A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:36-
36 But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.
1 Corinthians 7:36-39
36 But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.
37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will ) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well.
38 So then he who marries his virgin does well, but he who does not marry will do better.
1 Corinthians 7:36
1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary G. Virgins (7:25–38)
(a) Anyone means the parent or guardian of a girl, and acting improperly means not providing for her marriage. The parent has acted on the view that celibacy is to be preferred to marriage and has kept her unmarried (whether with or against her will is not clear). He now wonders whether he is doing the right thing. To withhold marriage from a girl of marriageable age and anxious to marry would have been to court disaster in first-century Corinth and bring dishonour on both father and daughter. Getting on in years renders a very unusual term (hyperakmos). It seems to mean ‘past the stage of being fully developed’ (akmē = ‘highest point’, ‘prime’; Plato speaks of a woman as at her akmē at the age of twenty, Rep. V. 460.E); she is, then, at or past the age when marriage would be expected. Paul adds a further point, if ‘it has to be’ (RSV), which probably means that she does not have the gift of continence (cf. v. 7). If the parent sees all this, he may do what he wants. There is no sin. Let them marry. The principal objections are two. ‘His virgin’ is not common for ‘his daughter’ (but it does occur; LSJ cites Sophocles as saying ‘my virgins’ for ‘my daughters’). It would be a quick way of including guardians as well as fathers. The other is that ‘let them marry’ is most naturally taken as referring to the man and the virgin spoken of earlier in the verse. This is so, but the grammarian, A. T. Robertson, sees the subject of the verb here as ‘drawn from the context (the two young people)’ (Grammar, p. 1204). AV and JB take this view.
Widows
Widows
39 A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord.
40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
v.39
If the husband dies, then the wife is free to remarry only in the Lord. Only in the Lord means the Christian must remember they must act as a member of the Christ’s body when they consider who they will marry.
v.40
We read this in light as to why the widow is more happy. This is inspired writings.