Episode 294: 1 Corinthians Part II | +Quigg Lawrence

Introduction

Morning, friends. We are in 1 Corinthians 7, and I have to say about a month ago, I started studying for this passage. I thought, great. And I did my outline. I was so proud of myself for studying ahead. And then last week, darn if Tim didn't come and preach almost the whole chapter, and I'm left with the dregs. So I'm going to show you just a little video that might kind of sum up how I've been feeling this week. Wait for it. You know that feeling? It's terrible.

Anyway, so we're in 1 Corinthians 7, and I have the part about being married or not being married. And it's a tough passage. Sometimes I wonder, is it prescriptive or descriptive? Is it just Paul describing what was happening in the first century of the church? Or is it to apply to all of us? So we're going to try to dive into it.

The Word on Anxiety and Focus

If you have your Bible, 1 Corinthians 7, beginning at verse 32, it starts out really simple. And I love this first verse. It says, I want you to be free from anxiety. Now, I don't know about you, but I know my whole life, anxiety has been there. Anxiety has been there. I remember a few years ago, I really didn't know what was going on. Why do I do the things I do? Why do I talk so fast? Why do I eat so much? And a friend of mine, the counselor said, well, that's simple, dude. It's anxiety. And it was like, wow, a light went off. I never knew. You know, that's the way it works. Sometimes, I never knew. The good thing is that the Lord knows about our anxieties. He cares about it. He says cast. I'm inviting you guys to cast your cares and your anxieties on the Lord because he cares for you.

For God so loved the world... — John 3:16

First Peter 5 or in Philippians says, don't be anxious, says to all of us, don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request be known to God. And the very fact that the Lord talks about don't be anxious, casting your cares and anxieties on him, it's so many other verses. The very fact that he mentions that, it tells us that he knows that we struggle. Christians struggle with anxiety, and so if you do, you're not a freak. You're a human.

Now, Paul goes on. If you've just been there, we could preach a whole sermon on anxiety and trusting the Lord and how he can fill us. But he goes on, he talks about marriage. When he says, I want you to be free of anxieties. I find it ironic that he's saying, I want you all to be free of anxieties, and then he divides it into two camps, the married and the unmarried, and he says both of them are anxious. And I almost don't get it. It's like, dude, is that a is that a Hebrew literary device? Or like, why would you say I want you to all be free from anxiety? And then you talk about how the married man is anxious and the married woman for their family and for other things. But the unmarried are anxious about pleasing the Lord. So everybody seems to be anxious. I guess it covers everyone.

The bottom line is he wants us to be free from anxiety. He wants us to live for the kingdom.

The Context of the Passage

Now, what's the context in which Paul is writing 1 Corinthians 7? What's going on? What's going on? Well, clearly, they thought Jesus was returning soon. Jesus said, no one knows the day or the hour, but there are scriptures that would give us clear indication. They thought Jesus could come back at any moment, any moment. I guess that would change the way you walk through your day. And so we see these passages of Jesus returning soon.

Truly, I say to you, so the Son of Man is going to return. But then he says, the ones who are standing right here will not taste death until the Son of Man is coming in his glory. — Mark 13:26-27

It basically says, learn from the parable of the fig tree: when you see its branch, it's already become tender and it begins to put forth its leaves. You know that summer's near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the Lord is near, right at the door. And truly, this is Jesus speaking. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Doesn't that sound like he's going to come back really soon? This generation will not pass away. Now, the scholars, you know how they do and give me one degree of cool if you will. I love you if you do that. I love you if you don't do that, but I love you more if you do it. Okay. He said, Jesus said, don't be anxious, but this generation will not pass away until these things take place. Now, is God a liar? No. The scripture tells us why he is delayed. The reason the Lord has delayed his coming is because he wishes that none would perish. He has delayed. The scripture is very clear. He's delayed it on purpose.

But there was an expectation in his day that his second coming was going to be soon and very soon.

Philippians 4:5 — The Lord is near. Don't be anxious about anything.

And so, want to set our expectations. What was the church going through? What was the situation that Paul was writing to? They believed Jesus had been crucified, a terrible death, crucifixion, buried, raised from the dead, went up, ascended into heaven, was going to come back soon, and because of that, he's like, stay where you are. This is about the king and about the kingdom. It's the most important thing in the world.

This morning, I was in the shower waking up, and I was thinking about, hey, if we were in the national championship for, name your sport. If you're in the national championship for lacrosse, do you think you're going to be worried about this thing or that thing? Are you in the game, focused, working as a team to win the game? And so that their expectation was, guys, the most important thing we can be focused on right now is the Lord. Not to us, not to us, but to your name be the glory.

I know what it is to have a church where everyone's blocking, you know, where the whole line and everybody in the team is muscling up, going at it. We've also been in those seasons where 10% muscle up and come to the line and the rest are kind of like, what am I doing here? Jesus wants us to be engaged, and so he addresses both the unmarried man and the married man, the unmarried woman and the married woman.

Application

Let's see what he says. The next verse says, the unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord. Now, when we hear anxious, when you hear anxious, you think of Kramer, don't you? Kramer. I'm not sure here they're talking about that kind of anxiety. When it says the unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, I think what it really means is he's so focused on it. It it has his whole attention like a dog looking at a steak bone. That's your focus. That's what you're wrapped up in.

And I know this to be true personally. I met Christ right before I turned 21. I was in church before that, but didn't know the Lord, didn't read scripture, whatever, whatever. But I know what it is to taste of the Lord's mercy and have your life begin to change pretty radically, where your friends are going, woah, what happened to you? I don't know, man. I met Christ, and he's doing something in my life. I know what it is to be a 21-year-old man and not date for four or five years, thinking, Lord, am I ever going to find a wife? But to be honest with you, on the first part of that, I almost didn't care. When I met Christ, I wanted to read his word. Not so anybody would know. I didn't tell people. I loved spending time with the Lord. I loved reading his word. And it wasn't because I was good or a Boy Scout. It's because he did that. And so, when it says that unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord, I get it. And yes, true confession. I was dipping and I was listening to my music, country music, and all that. However, the Lord was a sinner of all that I did. I'd wake up in the morning. I want to read his word. I want to talk to Christian friends. I was so creepy. I'd go to Christian bookstore, and I actually thought that was a cathedral of the holiness of God. Now I know that's not true. But at the time, I was all about the Lord. And so, when Paul says the unmarried man is really hyper focused and anxious about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord, it's just true.

And so, if you're an unmarried man today, let me just speak to you with one little application point. Where's your attention? Unmarried men, where's your focus? What's your passion? I would almost—this isn't to browbeat you. It's just an honest question. It's a tell of the tape. Well, it's like in a cage fight or a boxing thing. They do the tell of the tape. What is your passion? How are you investing your time? Your heart? Your resources? Are you using the gifts that you have? Or you figure that's for another season of life? What I would hold to before you is that just like in the church in Corinth, if you're an unmarried man, you're going to be—if you love the Lord, and you know he loves you, you'll be focused on the things of the kingdom. And so if you're not there today, I would just tell you that what Tim Keller said. An idol is anything more important to you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than the Lord. Anything you seek to give—would only—anything you seek to give what only the Lord can give. Anything that is so central and essential to your life, that should you lose it, your life will hardly feel worth living.

Let's go on. How about the married men? Verse 33. But married men are anxious about worldly things. How to please his wife, and his interests are divided. So married men, what are married men in Christ? What are they anxious about? What does the scripture say? Worldly things. Now, when you hear that, you can hear it like an independent Baptist saying, worldly things. I don't think that's what it means. Like worldly things are things of this world, and not all the things of this world are of the devil, right? Some of those things are like, you get up and you go to work, and you fix breakfast, and you clean clothes, and you love your grandkids and dah, dah, dah, dah. But it’s true that once I got married, life began to change. Marriage is a gift, and I understand one of the ways God uses it to break you of selfishness. Right. And so, married men, we are—we love Jesus and we're about his kingdom. But it's just true. When you have a spouse, he's called you to love your wife as Christ loves the church, and that takes time, it takes energy, it takes passion. And oh, by the way, who's praying for your wife? Because men, if you're not praying for your wife, trust me, no one else is. I mean, really interceding for your wife. Even at my old age of almost 64, the Lord's been bopping me on the head, and you say, don't just pray for your children and grandchildren, ad nauseam, which I do. Pray for your wife first.

Married men, you listening? Marriage is a gift. It's awesome that we can at least understand that it's a gift. It's one of God's tools to break us of selfishness. When you're married, you're called by God to care for your wife. And so, the application point for married men is, what are you doing with your wife? What are you doing? Are you laying your life down for her as Christ did for his bride, the church? And in the midst of that, you're also trying to walk with Jesus and to lift his name up. But there is a reality. There's only so much of you to go around. You have the same number of hours per week that you did when you were single. And so, it's not sinful, and it's not bad, it's just reality. When you get married, and when you have a family, it's going to take time, effort, and energy that otherwise, like when I was shooting pool with dip in my mouth, that I was thinking of the Lord and serving the Lord and teaching Sunday school and doing all these things.

And so, he addresses the married and the unmarried men. Now, let's talk about the unmarried or betrothed women. First of all, as our staff talked about this passage, we are very aware. Most all of us have been in a season, a season where we did not date. We wanted to date, but somehow we couldn't buy a date. We didn't want to be single. I know at seminary from the age of 21 until I met my wife, age, I guess, 26. It was only five years, and some of you all would say, that's nothing. But it wasn't nothing to me. Five years. I mean, that's like five years of prison. Right? That's a long time. And so, I don't know what it is to be twenty or twenty-five years, but I know what it is to be five years and have this innate desire to be married. You guys, I promise you. I did a lot of things wrong, but one of the things the Lord taught me is if you have the desire to be married, start praying for your wife.

And so, let's see what the scripture says. It says, and to the unmarried women or the betrothed, those who are engaged, says these unmarried or betrothed women, they're anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. Just like for the men, those who are not married, who are hitched, or even hitched with lots of littles, you just have more time. You just have more focus and energy for the king and the kingdom.

And so, we want to be sensitive. We want to know that some of you guys today are saying, Quigg, I'm like you only. It's not been five years. It's been twenty-five years. It's not been five years. It's been thirty-five years. We had a lady, no names and tails. A lady that was in our church twenty years ago. She was an anchor at a certain news channel that she got hired to a bigger market. She's one of the most beautiful outside, the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Inside, just as pretty. She loves Jesus. I mean, she looks like a model, and she has the heart. Oh, my gosh, this woman. And I saw her a couple of times she would date somebody. One time she was engaged, and it just never happened. 50-some years old. And I kept saying, if the Lord wants you to be married, if you've not been given the gift of celibacy, the gift of celibacy, you serve the Lord, and he will bring you your husband. You know, about age 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50. I'm like, I probably shouldn't have said that. Do you know, I think it was about age 51. She met her husband, and she is in a beautiful relationship. At the time, she's like, where are you, God? Do you not care? I don't have the gift of celibacy. I want to be married. It wasn't quick. I believe the Lord in his mercy, the Lord in his kindness, saved her from marrying the wrong person. And he he he said, no, even though you're going to be mad at me and it's going to hurt. I'm going to say no because I love you.

And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord and how to be holy in body and spirit. I don't know if that's true about the world. I'm not even sure sometimes it's true about the church. But we have women in our church, beautiful women inside and out, who are single, who are unmarried. And I see them not hold up in a corner, but I see them serving the Lord. There are some this week that are going to Camp Booyah to give their vacation to serve God and high school kids. I see women in our church. I don't want to go smack all the guys in the room and go, what's the matter with you? Do you not see these amazing women? Seriously. But to see these young women that have a grasp of the Lord and his kingdom, and even though they don't, may not like the season they're in, they trust that God is good, and God has a plan for their life. And oh, by the way, in the meantime, they are going to serve the Lord, and they have joy.

Married Women and Final Encouragements

Now, what about married women? Because see, think a lot of times when you're single, think, oh, I want to go to the promised land. Right? The promised land. I got more people that live in the promised land coming to my office than anybody else. Okay? Now, we got a little video. I want to just give you a clip of what the promised land looks like for some young moms.

Andrew Fie would say, it ain't easy being me. It's not easy being a young parent, but I want to say particularly young mothers. I want to apologize to my wife. Honey, I had no idea. All those mornings I got up and go, honey, and I come home and go to sleep, and you did all the work and took care of the kids, then I got my doctorate. You were a stud. You were an absolute woman of God. Absolute woman of God. I wasn't smart enough to grasp it when I was going through, well, when she and I were going through it. But I watch my kids, and I'm just I marvel. Mary Winn, you're amazing, wherever you are, you're amazing. The patience you have, it clearly didn't come from your father.

You’re called to love your husband, to love him, to be an encourager for him. My wife, even on terrible sermons, said that was awesome. She speaks words of encouragement. She's my helpmate. I'm so thankful to the Lord. Tangibly thankful to the Lord. And so we know that married women also love Jesus. They also amazingly teach Sunday school. They do all these things. But it's true that those, once you're married, your interest is divided. The same number of hours a week get cut up, and you're pouring out and pouring out and pouring out. And so there's a gift to be single, and there's also a gift to be married. They're different. But Paul is saying, those who are single have more opportunity. Literally, truthfully, we may not like the passage, but he says, you actually have more time to be about the things of the Lord because your interests are not divided.

Final Encouragement and Call to Prayer

Verse 35, we're about to shut down. He says, I say this for your own benefit. I hate this. He says, Paul says, I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Can I just tell you the first time I read that, I want to throw up? I did not like Saint Paul at all. I'm like, dude, shut up. Excuse my French. Shut up. I'm single. I don't want to be single. You're giving me all this highfalutin'. It reminds me of the person that brought me the book, The Joy of Pain. And I'm like, I have chronic pain. It's a relentless foe. And you want to give me a book to talk about the joy of pain? I want to smack you. And so, when he's talking about this, I'm going to say, Pollock, this is for your benefit. It's like, Dude, have you lived where I'm living? Do you know? It sounds like we want good order. I don't care about good order. I just want to get married.

I'm telling you this so you could have undivided attention, a devotion to the Lord. You know, if we can get over being reactionary against Paul, maybe we could ask the question, what does our devotion to the Lord look like? Whether you're married or unmarried? See, there are different camps, but we're Christians under the same Lord. What's your devotion to the Lord look like? Is it maybe a time where the Holy Spirit's beginning to go, you know what? I'm going to rouse you. I'm going to rouse you from your sleep. I'm going to win back your heart. I'm going to be your first love. I love you too much to have you be a Christian like this. Lukewarm. You know, like the guy on the offensive line who's there. He's got his pads and hike, and he doesn't block. The Lord's like, no, no, no. I have better for you. Undivided devotion to the Lord.

Finally, in verse 36, he says, if anyone thinks that he's not behaving properly towards his betrothed, if his passions are strong, it has to be. Let him do as he wishes. Let them marry. It is no sin. The bottom line, are you called to celibacy? It's a gift. The Lord says it's a gift. Are you called by God to be married? It also is a gift. But here, I don't know if he's being prescriptive or descriptive. You can figure that out yourself. He's saying the one who is unmarried has more time, more energy, more focus for the things of the Lord, and they can use their time whether it's a season or forever, a gift to focus on those things of the Lord.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we thank you in the name of Jesus, that there was a little toothpaste in the tube left. And there's some things in this whole chapter I don't—I don't really like when I first read them. But I hear what you're saying, Lord: no matter what condition we're in, the Lord is coming back. His kingdom is breaking in. And Father, our eyes should be on you and your kingdom, serving you. Free us from anything else that would distract us from that undivided devotion to the Lord. We're weak. Fill us with your Spirit. And all God's people said, Amen.

Invitation for Prayer

Alright, so we're going to invite you guys for prayer. Here's the deal. I've been going to prayer for the last couple of weeks. Bad shoulder. Don't want to get a new one. It's awesome. It's awesome. Maybe y'all's lives are just like, y'all are just skating, and this is easy. It's really easy. But I don't think that's true. I think some of you have some needs for prayer. You're sick. You've got bad joints or a heart condition or you've got a broken heart condition or you got a child who doesn't love Jesus anymore. Or maybe you just realize like, Lord, I know you, but I haven't talked with you. I haven't been intimate with you for a while. We're going to open the rails up. You can come to the curved rails by yourself, and nobody will mess with you, but you can pray to the Lord. Or the straight rails, or for those who would like to pray, have somebody pray with them, and you could say a little bit or a little bit more. But really, it's a time for prayer. You can just come up and say, please pray for me, and if you want to say a little bit more than that, that's fine. So the rest of us will pray. Please come forward as the Holy Spirit would lead you.