Considerations for Remaining Single

Transcript

GR 1321
04-02-06
Considerations for Remaining Single
1 Corinthians 7:25-31
Gil Rugh

We're studying 1 Corinthians together on Sunday morning and we are in chapter 7, so turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 7. The subject of marriage was one of great concern to the Corinthian church and they wrote Paul a letter to ask for his instructions and input on matters relating to marriage. And 1 Corinthians 7:1 Paul began by saying, now concerning the things about which you wrote. And the first area he addresses is the area of marriage, and all of chapter 7 as we have it, all 40 verses, are devoted to matters related in one way or another to the subject of marriage. He talked about sexual responsibility within the marriage relationship. Talked about, addressed just briefly, the single life. Talked about marriage and divorce. And the last part of the chapter will really be devoted to matters related to the single life and the pros and cons of should I get married, should I not get married. Now even though he is addressing the subject of marriage, he also brings in principles that are important as a foundation for our decisions regarding marriage, and these principles are also the principles that are to guide us in other areas of our lives as well. For example, in verses 17-24 Paul emphasized the fact that you should remain in the condition you were in when God called you to His salvation. In other words, if you were a Jew you don't have to change your nationality and become a Gentile. Or if you're a Gentile you don't have to convert to Judaism, become a Jew. Or if you're a slave you don't have to worry about becoming a free man. And the point he was making is you remain in the condition you were called. He stressed that three times—verse 17, verse 20, verse 24. It doesn't mean you can never change your condition, it means becoming a believer in Jesus Christ does not require a change in your nationality, in your cultural setting, in your political situation. There may be occasions that those changes will occur, but they are not required by your becoming a believer in Jesus Christ. And Christians should keep that in mind. Sometimes they get confused and get involved in social matters and political matters because they think being a believer requires this. Being a believer requires living a holy and godly life, but it does not require a change in these physical, external matters.

Now in verses 25-40 where we're going to pick up, we're not going to cover the entire section, but Paul is going to begin to focus on matters relating to particularly the single life and the advantages of remaining single if you are not presently married. This applies what he has said about remain as you are when Christ called you. And he'll repeat that at the end of verse 26, it is good for a man to remain as he is. So that emphasis that was found in verses 17-24 is now applied to being single in verses 25-40. Again, Paul is not going to say God wants you to remain single, or you should or must remain single. But you should seriously consider the advantages of the single life. And we do need to hear what Paul has to say on this today and have a proper understanding of the single life and a proper appreciation of its advantages over the married life.

The key word in verses 25-40 is the word virgin. It appears six times. Verse 25 begins, now concerning virgins. And then it's used for the last of the six times down in verse 38, so then both he who gives his virgin, and he who does not. So that emphasis on the virgin and the identity of the virgin becomes a matter of discussion. We won't develop it with any fullness until we get down into verses 36-38, but I'll say something more about that in just a moment.

Paul establishes a principle in this section as well, and we're going to be focusing on verses 25-31. And he establishes a principle here that governs all areas of our lives. Just like what he said about remain as you are is directly applicable to marriage, it is also applicable to other areas. Paul demonstrates that because he uses other areas as examples. Paul establishes another principle here that is applicable to the single life and the married life as well as all other areas of our lives as believers as well. We know that because he uses examples encompassing other areas of our lives to illustrate the point. And the point he is going to be making is those who are believers in Jesus Christ have their lives governed by an eschatological focus rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as those who have experienced the power of God's redemption through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as God's provision to pay the penalty for our sin. We now have a perspective on God's plan--that is what governs and controls and shapes our lives. We are molded by this. And everything in life including being single, being married and everything else is governed by our understanding of the time in which we live and the culmination of this particular time.

He'll talk about remaining as we are in verse 26 in light of the present distress. He'll talk in verse 29, the time has been shortened. He'll talk at the end of very 31, the form of this world is passing away. And each of these statements—the present distress, the time has been shortened, the form of this world is passing away—bring a perspective, what we call an eschatological perspective. Eschatology, the study of last things, the believer's understanding of God's plan for us and the culmination of this world's events. We think of the impact of culture on our lives, but Paul's perspective is, there is something more foundational than our culture. It is our belief system, and we are not to be shaped by the world around us, but we are to be controlled by our beliefs. The world is, and we are not to allow ourselves to be shaped by the world. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. And we live on the basis of our faith in the work of Christ—past, present and future.

Let's begin and walk through some of the details of what Paul says here. Verse 25,
concerning virgins, put the context in, we're talking about virgins. We'll talk more as I said at a future study on the identity of these virgins. But to just give you a glimpse, I think they were probably talking about those who are betrothed in a marriage context, that we talk about engagement. As I said, we'll talk more about this in connection with verses 36-38. They are unmarried people. In this context it seems that they be those committed or possibly committed to a marriage relationship. For sure they are the unmarried. Later it will become clear that they are tied into a binding agreement, which seems best to see as a betrothal, what we would call an engagement. Although in biblical times for the Romans and the Jews it was more binding than our engagement, but a similar character. We see engagement as a binding promise. Now engagements are broken, sometimes great grief is caused by breaking an engagement. And we would think that someone had acted callously and without feeling if they were engaged to someone and while they were engaged to one person they walked out and married another person. We'd say, what a terrible thing to do. They had committed themselves, at least they should have had the decency to break their prior engagement before they got involved in another relationship. So we still see engagement as some kind of binding and obligatory commitment. It was even more so in biblical times. We'll say more about that in connection with our future study, but to give you an idea of where my thinking is and where we'll be going, I think the virgins in view are primarily those that are involved in a betrothal arrangement. The consideration is, should they proceed with marriage or not, and he'll deal with men and women because a betrothal would obviously involve both a man and a woman, even though he'll emphasize the man's role in it. But he'll mention the virgins a number of times.

Concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord. And we've talked about this kind of expression earlier. He didn't have anything that Christ had already said on this subject. On the matter of marriage and divorce he could quote Christ. Verse 12, but to the rest I say, not the Lord. In contrast to the fact that Christ had addressed divorce, he didn't address those who were married to unbelievers. But he still is inspired when he says it and when he says, I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy, he is indicating, I speak as an apostle. Jesus Christ did not address this during His earthly ministry, but what I am saying comes from my position as an apostle. It is my advice, that word translated opinion shouldn't be taken in the context, well we all have our opinions and Paul's opinions are no better than anyone else's. Here he is giving specific advice as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. That refers to the fact that by the mercy of the Lord he has been appointed an apostle and so his advice is trustworthy advice.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians 4. In chapter 3 he was talking about his role as an apostle who has been entrusted with the ministry of the New Covenant, in contrast to the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law. Paul had been entrusted with the responsibility to preach the message of the New Covenant, Christ's finished work and the salvation blessings that He has brought. Then in chapter 4 verse 1, therefore since we have this ministry, our ministry as apostles, those who preach the New Covenant, as we have received mercy we do not lose heart. So he has received mercy and been entrusted with this special gift of God as God's apostle.

Go back to 1 Timothy 1:12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. And God has, through Christ, placed Paul into the ministry of an apostle. Verse 14, the grace of our Lord was more abundant with the faith and love which are founded in Christ. So Paul's ministry was a result of God's grace being put into service, his particular realm of service as he emphasizes often is that of an apostle. Verse 16, for this reason I found mercy, the mercy of God that saved him and put him into the ministry.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 15:9, for I am the least of all the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am. So I am an apostle by God's grace. I didn't earn it, I didn't deserve it, but by God's grace I have been appointed an apostle. I am an apostle by grace, by mercy—two words with distinction and yet similarity, something unmerited, undeserved. It was God's grace, God's mercy.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 7. I emphasize this so that we understand when Paul says I give an opinion, I have no command of the Lord, he is giving his opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. And what he's going to say here is not a requirement that everyone must submit to, in other words, stay single. But it is instructions from the Lord, and these matters must seriously be considered. Not everyone can or should stay single, but before one is married one should consider carefully what God has said through the Apostle Paul on the benefits of a single life, over against all the trials and troubles and afflictions that come with being married. We'll say more about that in a moment. Down at the end of verse 40 he'll say in my opinion, and I think I also have the Spirit of God. So I'm giving you my advice and I think my advice is coming because the Spirit of God is speaking through me to you. We know that is true because it's inspired scripture.

All right, and that advice is what he has already said, it is good for a man to remain as he is. He begins verse 26, I think that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. You'll notice somewhat of an awkward sentence and he repeats himself. I think that this is good, it is good for a man to remain, and he qualifies it, in light of the present distress.

Verse 27, are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. I think in the context here, he probably most simply is talking about the general situation that he has already addressed, but it's important to be summarized here in the context of what he is going to say about virgins. Are you bound to a wife? And verse 39 will say, a wife is bound as long as her husband lives. Same thing he said in Romans 7:2, that wife is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, and the husband is bound to his wife. And he's addressed this earlier in the chapter.

So are you bound to a wife, verse 27, do not seek to be released. He's already instructed that. Just because you've become a believer doesn't mean now there should be a change. You may even be married to one who is still an unbeliever, and that's all right. You don't seek to be released from that relationship. It also could be taken in the context here, if you will, of the man and the woman who are betrothed. So are you bound to a wife in the sense, have you entered into an engagement, a betrothal. Well you don't have to seek to break that off, to be set free from that obligation, just because you've become a believer. Both would be true. Some take that because in the context we're talking about virgins and he started in verse 25 addressing matters relating to virgins, so it may be better to take that all the way through. Are you released from a wife, do not seek a wife. In other words, are you free from any of that kind of obligation, then you are not obligated to seek for a wife just because you've become a believer. That word released is never used of divorce in the Bible or outside the Bible as far as we've been able to learn. So he's not talking about divorced people here. He could be talking about widows and widowers because down in verse 39, a wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if her husband is dead she is free to be married. And that word free is a related word down in verse 39, it's a noun up here, we're talking about the verb, but it's a related word to released, set free. So in every situation, whether you're talking about a betrothal kind of period or you're talking about those that are married, those who have been widowed, the point is the same. You can remain as you are. Because you become a believer, you don't have to change your situation.

And verse 28, you don't have to seek a wife, at the end of verse 27. At the end of verse 26, it's good to remain as you are. But, verse 28, if you marry you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. And so if you're going to keep it in the betrothal line, you have two people who are engaged or betrothed decide to continue on even after considering the advice I give, it's not a matter of sin. So this is a personal matter involving those who are making the decision. And I say that because sometimes we think we have the best insight and should be the one making the decision for someone else. Even Paul doesn't do that here. He gives them advice to be considered, and it won't be for everyone. He's already covered that earlier. But it is advice to be taken into consideration by everyone.

If you married you have not sinned, if a virgin marries she has not sinned. So there is freedom to marry. However, yet such will have trouble in this life and I would spare you. No other way to get around it, you get married, you're going to have trouble. You know we usually don't want to say to a young couple that are engaged, why would you want to get married? It's only going to cause you grief and trouble. We say, well that's a terrible thing to say. But remember Paul is saying this, the end of verse 40, I also have the Spirit of God when I say this. And it's a reality. Some of you have been married, some of you have been married for a while. Marriage brings its own set of pressures, doesn't it? Some of you have teenagers, and if you're honest you've put your head on the pillow some nights and thought, why did I ever get into this, why does anyone have kids that grow to be teenagers. I mean, there are tribulations, and the word here, flipsis, means tribulations, trials. There are going to be difficulties. You are going to put two sinners together, even redeemed sinners. I couldn't believe how much sin was still left in Marilyn after I married her. You know some things aren't revealed until after you're husband and wife, right? I mean, how could someone so thoughtful, so understanding, so kind, so everything change so quickly? Well, you are all laughing because you know there is tribulation in marriage. Such will have tribulation in this life. I am trying to spare you. That doesn't mean, I've been married for some time now, but you know if I had it to do all over again, I would, and I know Marilyn would, because it was the right thing for me to be married. Tribulations, yes. Some doubts along the way, yes. Do I believe it was the right thing, would I do it again? Yes. So Paul is not saying this ought to discourage you in the sense, but if you were in the position to make a choice, you don't feel it is a necessity for you to be married in light of what he has already instructed, then you ought to take into consideration, do you want to add this trouble to your life. Because we already have the present distress in verse 26, and that word present indicates it's already going on. I'll tie that in, in a moment. So you already have the troubles that are going on in life at this time. Now you're going to add to that the added responsibility of the marriage. That will bring added trials and difficulties. Paul says, I just want to spare you more difficulty, more pressure.

But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened. And the end of verse 31, the form of this world is passing away. What he is going to do in verses 29-31 is give five examples that put life in perspective. And really what he says in verse 26, the present distress, that could be a particular trial going on in Corinth at this time. Some secular writers write about a famine that occurred during this time that brought great difficulty to the city of Corinth, but the emphasis on the present distress tied to the troubles in this life at the end of verse 28, and the fact that the time has been shortened, and the end of verse 31, the form of this world is passing away, it seems what he has in view is life put into perspective of God's plan. And the coming of Christ to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and to be raised in victory, the giving of the Spirit has put into perspective that we are living in the last days. And now we see more clearly God's plan for the culmination of all things. So when he says the time has been shortened, word means to be shortened, to be compressed. And we realize we live at the end of history. Different examples used by different writers. One writer used the example of you stand on one mountain peak and you look to the other mountain peak, you have a perspective on that distance and that time that you don't have when you're down in the valleys. Some of you go to Colorado and you can be on a mountain and you can be looking over quite a distance to another mountain, but you see it there and it's not that far away. Now when you're trying to hike and walk over there, it seems like you'll never get there, because you have all kinds of obstacles and difficulties. But when you're looking at it from the perspective of that one mountaintop and see to the other, you say it's not really that great a distance.

A program this past week on an apartment for sale in Chicago, it was on the 90th floor. Why anybody would want to live up there, I don't know. But they're showing you the perspective out the window and you could see all across the city to the water's edge. And you look at that and say, that's not that great a distance. I mean you jump in a helicopter you'd be there in just a few minutes. But you have to go down and walk through all that it's just like a maze. Well that's what God has done for us in Christ, and when He brought us to Christ. Now from the perspective of the finished work of Christ on the cross we see clearly to the culmination of all things. And it's not very far. The time has been compressed for us. It’s been shortened.

The form of this world is passing away. I see things differently than I did. Now everything down here in life is to be put in the perspective of that view. That's reality, that's my foundational belief system which governs my perspective on everything in this life and puts it all in perspective. We don't live like the world. What is important in the world, to the world and in the world is not what is important to us. There is something that supersedes everything else, and that is Jesus Christ and my relationship to Him. That will be true of family, that will be true of a job, that will be true of possessions, that will be true of what I do in the world, as Paul will make clear in these examples.

Let's walk through some of these, there are five of them and we'll just highlight them. This I say, brethren, the time has been shortened. First example, marriage. So that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none. Now again, if you've been here through the study of 1 Corinthians 7 you know Paul is not saying it's all right to leave your wife, it's not all right to live as though you didn't have a wife. That's how he started out the chapter. You have obligations that have to be fulfilled. The point is we live in this brief time that is passing away, we see what a compressed period of time it is. Shortly it won't matter whether you were married or not. So don't make your life all about getting married. That's the advice. He doesn't say you can't get married, but he does say, don't make your life about marriage, because soon marriage for us will be over.

Verse 39 says, a wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband is dead she is free. You understand that the most precious and intimate of human relationships, our marriage relationship, is a time-bound relationship. It will not transcend the return of the Lord. At the return of the Lord marriage relationships for us will be over. My wife and I will not be husband and wife in eternity, we will not have a closer relationship with one another than we have with the other believers in glory. I realize it is difficult for us because the closest of human relationships is the husband/wife relationship, and with that then are children. But those relationships will be over with the return of Christ to earth.

Turn to Mark 12:18, key here in understanding, some Sadducees who say there is no resurrection came to Jesus and began questioning Him. Sadducees and the Pharisees, two major Jewish parties. The Pharisees were the religious conservatives, theologically, the Sadducees were the liberals in Judaism. They didn't believe in the supernatural. They didn't believe in the resurrection. Remember how we remember it? The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection so they were sad, you see (sad-u-see). That's how I've remembered it for the last umpteen years and you'll remember it, too. So they are going to try to stump Jesus, have a question. Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children—the Leverite marriage, the marriage of a brother to a sister-in-law. And the Mosaic Law said that if two brothers are married and the one brother dies and they have no children, the surviving brother takes his sister-in-law as a wife and the children that he has with that woman are considered his dead brother's children, and that kept the line of inheritance and the land and so on in view. Well there is a problem here. There were seven brothers (the wife was a little hard on husbands, I guess), each of them marries the same woman, one after another and each one dies. Now, verse 23, in the resurrection, when they rise again, which one's wife will she be? All seven married her. Jesus said to them, is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the scriptures. Here's your problem, and the reason for your question. You don't understand what the scripture says. Most of our problems come to that. Nor do you understand the power of God.

What pertains to our particular discussion, verse 25, for when they rise from the dead, when our bodies are raised, glorified, transformed, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven? The answer to your question is that woman will not be married to any of the seven, because in the resurrection there is no marriage. These physical relationships as we know them will be over. That does not mean that marriage is not important now that we don't have obligations, and responsibilities and so on. Of course. But you understand, don't make your life about marriage. Don't think, I'm serving the Lord, I'm pouring my life into my marriage. Well I have responsibilities to do what is biblical in my marriage, be a godly husband, woman to be a godly wife. But our life shouldn't be about marriage, because marriage is transitory, it is passing, it is part of this passing phase of time which soon will be over, and there will be no marriage for us. So our family relationships, I take it, that will include our children, won't be our children because the most intimate and close relationship that supersedes any relationship with our children is the relationship of the husband and the wife. And that ceases at death for all eternity.

Now I realize again, we think, I can't imagine, and I can't either. Because everything relates to this life. Now it seems what will happen is that in glory in our resurrected bodies our relationship with one another as God's people, as God's family will have a depth that will supersede anything we've experienced here. And we will have a family relationship, but it will be with the family of God and all joined together with that depth of love bound together in Jesus Christ with one another.

So marriage. There is coming a time when it won't matter whether you were married or not. We think, too bad they didn't get married, they died young, they didn't get a chance to get married and have children. So what? Do you know what that's an indication of? That our thinking has been shaped by the world and if you don't have a chance to get married and have children and enjoy life, you just didn't have life. In a hundred billion trillion years, what's this little speck of time? Marriage will not be going on, will not be there. So again, I'm not playing down marriage in the wrong sense, and it is part of what God brings for our fulfillment and enjoyment and so on. But life is not about marriage. It's a tragedy that so much emphasis today, where the focus is on the family. The family is not eternal, my physical family, as precious as my wife is, as precious as my children and grandchildren are, those relationships are not eternal. That's why our focus must be on Jesus Christ and anything we do with our families is done with that perspective in mind. And that enables us to handle some of the trials that come and the loss of loved ones. People lose a spouse, lose a child, think they can't go on, I couldn't go on, I can't face life anymore. Well that's a tragedy because if that has become our life, how do we go on? Not saying there won't be great pain, don't want to trivialize the sufferings of this present time, but I want to remember that these are the sufferings of this present now time. And so the enjoyment.

So marriage, don't get all wrapped up in it. The most important thing in life is not to find the person to marry. If God desires you to be married, then I want to be married to the person He would provide for me. But that doesn't mean that--that's what life is for me. If it's not what. He provides, that's all right, because in a very short time it just won't matter.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 7. We'll take the next two together. Weeping is the second example and rejoicing the third example. We can take them together. And Paul doesn't mean you should never weep or you should never rejoice. In fact, in Romans 12:15 Paul says, rejoices with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Now he says, and those who weep will be as those who did not weep. And those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice. Doesn't mean we don't weep in this life, we don't rejoice in this life? But you know our laughter and our tears are not the last word. There is coming a time when all those things will be gone. We say, won't there be laughter and joy in heaven? Yes, I assume there will be, but you know you get a promotion at work and you get a great raise and they want to give you a car as a bonus and want to send you and your whole family to the Caribbean for the month of January, all expenses paid. And you come home and the whole family is laughing and happy. But you know, those things won't matter. Won't matter whether you spent your vacation in your backyard or in the Caribbean when eternity begins, will it? It's nothing. So the things that cause our laughter and our tears in this life, they are transitory, because everything you can touch and feel and handle in this life is passing away. It's going to be gone. Oh, we got a new house and a great neighborhood with a new car and I'm so happy. We understand this is a time of happiness, but understand, put that in perspective—in the ultimate end it doesn't matter if I never own my own home, I never have my own garage, and I'm never privileged to have my own car. You know the time is short, soon it won't matter. Those who have elaborate mansions will be like those who never owned a home. Those who rode a bicycle won't be any different from those who drove a Rolls Royce. That is just going to be part of the passing transitory things of this life.

So believers can face the things of this life. We are not looking for joy in this life. We’re not looking for fulfillment. The world has the sense that laughter and tears, well I have to do all I can to avoid any tragedy or sorrow and have as much joy. I have to go for the gusto, I mean, we have to get our arms around life and enjoy it. We live in an area near casinos and sometimes on television they have advertisements for the casino and you know they never show anybody at the table crying because they just lost all their money. What's everybody doing around the table? Oh they have a big grin, they're laughing, they're putting their arm around their neighbor, everybody is having fun. Because here is where you have to come to get fulfillment, to get enjoyment, to have fun. And it's what life is about and people aren't enjoying their marriage, they want out. They have trials, they want to change, I don't want to go through life miserable, I don't want to go through life unhappy, I don't want to go through life doing what I didn't really enjoy doing. We've allowed the world to shape our perspective. Paul could be in prison and write a letter about joy and then say he has learned the secret of being content in whatever his circumstance, he wrote to the Philippians. Because what? Well, I'm sure Paul liked being free better than being in prison, liked being able to have some privacy rather than being chained to a Roman guard 24 hours a day. But really it didn't matter to him because it is all passing away. In a short time it won't make any difference, because we're going to glory. So then it won't matter whether life was a bowl of cherries or the pits, as the comedian said, it just won't matter. So that puts it in perspective for us.

The fourth, buying and not possessing. The time has been shortened, at the end of verse 30, those who buy as though they did not possess. Doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to do business. Paul is assuming these things are going to go on—we're going to marry, we're going to be single, we're going to laugh, we're going to cry, we're going to buy, we're going to sell, we're going to have things. But buying but not possessing. That word translated possess means to hold onto firmly. It doesn't mean I can't buy a house because . . . . No, he's just saying, keep it in perspective. And while you may have things, your life is not about those things. Don't fall in love with those things, don't make your life about those things. Hold them lightly, don't grasp onto them, because in a short time they are going to be gone. It won't matter. Doesn't mean you can't have them, but it does mean you can't love them and you think well, if the Lord would see fit to take them away tomorrow, Lord, your will be done. Not going to throw my life into a tailspin, I'm not going to be sitting in a grief puddle looking for people to come counsel me because I don't know how to handle these losses. I mean, Paul lost everything he had when he became a believer and he said I just count it as dung, rubbish. Again, writing to the Philippians, that's why he could sit in jail and not be moaning the blues. He says I count it a privilege to lose everything for Christ. Why? Because life is about Christ, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. It's not, for me to live is having a good marriage and a great family, for me to live is being successful in my job and having some respect, for me to live . . . . For me to live is Christ. That's not just, Paul was a strange breed, that is to be our perspective. That's why rooted and founded in the fact of the cross and the work of Christ in salvation now has brought the culmination of events, Christ into proper perspective. So buying, but not possessing, not grasping.

And the time has been shortened, verse 31, so that those who use the world will be as those who did not make full use of it. We use the world, all of us do, I mean we live in the world. We have to use the world. We go to the grocery store, we get to work in one form of transportation or another. We do a variety of things, we use the world. But we're not going to make full use of the world. In other words, we don't live like the unbeliever does, he has to get everything he can while he can. It's so important that you live life to the fullest, it's so important that you experience everything you can while you can. I mean, things are put in proper perspective. I mean, there is nothing wrong with enjoying life, enjoying the good things that God has provided that we can enjoy, but I don't want to immerse myself in the world. And we know the pressure. It gets harder and harder for us to find time for the things of the Lord in our life because the world presses in and I want my children to be successful, and I want them to do well, and I want them to excel in sports, and I want them to excel in music, and I want them to excel in the job they are going to get, and I want them to do well, and I don't want them to suffer and struggle, and I want them to . . . And pretty soon we're all about the world. And I'm not only making use of the world, but I'm making full use of it and then the frustrations come and the trials and it's overwhelming. And the conflict comes. You know pretty soon it won't matter because everything in this world is passing and will be done away.

So we conclude in verse 31, for the form of this world is passing away. The word form is a Greek word, schema, scheme. It's the outward arrangement, the fashion of the world. One person put it this way, nothing in this physical world seen and experienced by our physical senses has any enduring character, including marriages, weeping, rejoicing, possession, business opportunities. The fabric of life is just that, a fabric frayed and flimsy, nothing eternal. We say, that's depressing. I feel sorry for you if that's depressing. That is exciting. We are strangers and pilgrims here. We're using the world, but we're not concerned to take full advantage of it and get everything we can in the world because that's not what we're looking for. We're here serving the Lord, anticipating His coming.

Turn over to 1 John 2, and note who John is writing to. Verse 12, I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for. His name's sake. Think of that, their sins have been forgiven. They have looked back at the cross of Christ and placed their faith in Him, and they've experienced cleansing. I am writing to you father, because you know Him who is from the beginning. Young men, you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. Verse 15, do not love the world, nor the things in the world. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away. That's what Paul has been writing in 1 Corinthians 7. Let's put this whole issue of being single and being married in proper perspective. And while we're at it, let's put everything else in your life, your possessions, your sorrow, your happiness, everything that you do in this world, put it into perspective—the world is passing away. All these things that entangle us, ensnare us, tie us in knots, cause us to lose sleep at night, put us on tranquilizers and drugs, it doesn't matter. Ten seconds after Christ comes it will all be nothing, and I just pulled the ten seconds out of the air. Don't come ask me, where did you get ten seconds? Two seconds, one second, I don't care. The return of Christ will put an end to it all, will put it in perspective. Why should I stay awake tonight worrying about it? Why should I make my goal in life . . . . I want to be a good husband, a godly husband, a godly parent, but marriage is not my life. My spouse, my children, that's not life for me. One of the blessings God has blessed me with in life, but for me to live is Christ.

And so Paul could say to die is gain. Oh to die is the loss of everything, I won't get to see my grandchildren grow up, wouldn't it be wonderful if I could . . . . If that's life for me, yeah. But won't it be wonderful to see Christ? Won't it be wonderful to be brought into the glory of His presence? Won't that be more wonderful than anything this life has to offer, anything found in this world? The one who loved me and died for me, the one who will never leave me nor forsake me, the one who has been preparing a place for me in glory, is coming, that where He is, there I will be also. You know, I'm not minimizing the pain of losing a loved one, nor the pain that we feel when we are going through the process of death, which is the last enemy. But keep it in perspective. The time has been shortened. Soon none of those things will matter.

Turn to II Peter 3. Peter is writing to remind them of the coming of the Lord. Verse 8, do not let this one fact escape our notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. I put that in the perspective of my thinking and say, it's just like a couple of days since Christ was here on earth and He's coming back very soon. Time is compressed for us. The Lord is not slow about His promises, some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. You know, what is really going on that matters? The message of the cross is being presented today so that men, women and young people have the opportunity to turn from their sin and believe in the Savior. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. According to His promise we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless and so on. You see, time has been compressed for us. We live in a time of present distress, difficulties. Jesus said to His followers, in the world you will have tribulation, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. The relationships in this transitory time can bring added pressure, marriage being one of those. But don't get all caught up in these matters. Doesn't mean you can't enter into them, doesn't mean you can't be married, doesn't mean you have to be single. These are not the matters of ultimate importance.

Is that how our kids look at us as parents, modeling godliness? You know in our home it's all about Christ. It's not even all about our family, much as Mom and Dad love the family. It's not all about the family. It’s all about Christ. Oh we may have a nice home, we may not have a nice home, you know those things just don't matter to my folks. To them it's all about Christ. You know they may have done very well but it doesn't seem to matter, it's all about Christ. They don't have much, but it never bothers them because it's all about Christ. What a privilege to live life in that way. We live in a time of present distress, but the time has been compressed. Through the perspective of the cross we see the culmination of all things and the plan of God. The things of this world are passing away. Only one life, will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. Even my relationships here are part of this passing physical time and in eternity we will have been established in new relationships.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the power of the gospel which is a power for salvation to everyone who believes. Lord, I pray for those who are here who do love the world and the things in the world and do not have love for you, the Father, in them. Lord, it's not enough that we profess to love you, that we claim to believe. Lord, it's necessary that the power of the Spirit who indwells each and everyone who has placed their faith in Christ be manifesting His transforming power in each of our lives. But all of us, even as your children, struggle with the pressure to be conformed to this world. Lord, may we rather be transformed by the making new of our minds. How we rejoice that we are only strangers and pilgrims here, that the things of this life are not the things of ultimate importance to us because we are living with eternity's values in view. The time for us is going by quickly, the things of this world are passing away. And Lord for us to live as Christ, to experience the joy of His presence

[The Tape Ended Before He Finished Praying.]