Theological Status: Theologically Sound
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Philadelphia
❓ What do these grades mean?
🔍 Biblical Discernment: The 7 Church Parallels
The Cold Orthodox Parallel
Ephesus
Teaching that upholds doctrinal precision yet parallels the loss of the "first love"—the vital, motivating power of the Gospel (Rev 2:4).
🧐 Overview
Sermon Summary: This sermon carefully navigates the sensitive topic of sexuality within marriage, correcting common historical and modern errors by grounding the discussion in God's original, good design from Genesis. It provides clear, biblical guidance for married couples, emphasizing that mutual joy and faithfulness are not only a gift but also a powerful witness to the world.
Big Idea: God's design for human sexuality is to be honored within marriage, and deviations from this design, whether through excessive indulgence or excessive denial, are harmful and unfaithful. [00:34:49 ▶️ 📄]
Pastoral Analysis: This is a strong example of expository preaching on a challenging passage. The pastor correctly identifies the dualistic philosophical errors (hedonism and asceticism) in Corinth and provides a biblically robust corrective rooted in the creation ordinance. The sermon exhibits excellent pastoral care through its thoughtful caveats to parents and non-married individuals. The public reading of Scripture is reverent and substantial, providing a solid foundation for the teaching. The theological framework is sound, with a clear connection made between marital faithfulness and its function as a picture of the gospel.
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Philadelphia — The sermon demonstrates faithful exegesis of a difficult text, grounding its application in God's creational design and the gospel, with a warm and pastoral tone.
🧭 Biblical Alignment Dashboard
Overall Verdict: Biblically Sound
| Category | Status | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Soteriology | ✅ PASS | The liturgical framework of the service, particularly the confession and assurance of pardon, grounds forgiveness in the person and work of Christ. The sermon itself operates within this sound soteriological context. |
| Bibliology | ✅ PASS | The pastor consistently appeals to the Bible as the final authority for faith and life, referring to it as 'God's Word' and 'God's design.' The sermon's structure is driven by the biblical text, demonstrating a high view of Scripture. |
| Hermeneutic | ✅ PASS | The hermeneutic is excellent. The pastor correctly interprets 1 Corinthians 7 within its historical-cultural context and skillfully connects the New Testament instruction back to its Old Testament foundation in Genesis 2, demonstrating a sound redemptive-historical understanding. |
| Theology Proper | ✅ PASS | God is presented as the wise and good Creator whose designs for humanity are perfect and lead to flourishing. His sovereignty and fatherly care are affirmed throughout the prayers and sermon. |
| Sacramentology | ⚪ N/A | Neither Communion nor Baptism was observed in the provided transcript. |
📖 How they Handle Scripture & Jesus
Primary Text: 1 Corinthians 7 (Expository)
Scripture Saturation: Verses Read: 7 | Referenced: 6 | Alluded: 3
Passages Read Aloud:
-
1 Corinthians 7:1-5
[00:34:49 ▶️ 📄]
"Now concerning the matters about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer, but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."
-
Genesis 2:23-24
[00:43:44 ▶️ 📄]
"This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they will become one flesh."
-
1 Corinthians 7:1
[00:40:10 ▶️ 📄]
"It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman."
-
1 Corinthians 7:2-4
[00:48:21 ▶️ 📄]
"Each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does."
-
1 Corinthians 7:5
[00:51:09 ▶️ 📄]
"Do not deprive one another except, except perhaps. You notice how he's couching this language, not as command, as concession, do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a limited time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, but then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."
Key References: Proverbs 5, Psalm 103, 1 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Corinthians 7:2-4, 1 Corinthians 7:5, Proverbs 5:18-19
Christological Connection: Thematic: The pastor connects the practice of marital faithfulness to the grander theme of marriage illustrating the self-giving love and unbreakable commitment between Christ and His bride, the Church.
🧱 Sermon Outline
- Introduction: The Corinthian Context [00:31:03 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor introduces the historical context of dualism in the Corinthian church, which led to two opposite errors: licentious hedonism and rigid asceticism.
- Point 1: God's Original Design for Marriage [00:42:11 ▶️ 📄] : The sermon grounds the discussion in Genesis 2, establishing that God's design for marriage, including sexuality, is a good gift intended for unity and joy.
- Point 2: The Mutual Obligation in Marriage [00:48:14 ▶️ 📄] : Explaining 1 Corinthians 7:2-4, the pastor teaches that husbands and wives have a mutual, equal obligation to be sexually available to one another as a safeguard against temptation.
- Point 3: The Sole Exception for Abstinence [00:51:07 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor details the only biblical exception for temporary abstinence: by mutual agreement for a limited time of dedicated prayer, followed by coming together again.
- Conclusion: Marriage as a Gospel Witness [00:55:07 ▶️ 📄] : The sermon concludes by calling the congregation to live out God's design in marriage as a way to demonstrate the transforming power and goodness of the gospel to a watching world.
🗝️ Key Topics & Themes
- Confession and Forgiveness [00:06:02 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor leads the congregation in confessing their sins and seeking forgiveness.
- Wisdom Literature [00:08:01 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor reads and discusses Proverbs chapter 5, emphasizing the importance of wisdom as a protection against destructive sins.
- Confession of Sin [00:12:40 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor discusses the importance of confessing sins and the forgiveness offered through Jesus.
- Forgiveness of Sins [00:13:14 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor explains that God forgives sins through Jesus' sacrifice.
- Correcting dualistic views in the Corinthian church [00:31:03 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor discusses how dualism led to both licentious behavior and ascetic lifestyles, emphasizing the importance of treating the body as a precious gift from God.
✅ Commendations
Pastoral Care | Thoughtful Application to the Whole Congregation
The caveats offered at [00:36:44 ▶️ 📄] to parents of young children and at [00:37:38 ▶️ 📄] to those who are not married were exceptionally wise and compassionate. This demonstrated a shepherd's heart, ensuring that a sensitive topic was handled in a way that included and honored everyone in the flock.
Hermeneutics | Excellent Grounding in Creational Theology
By grounding the entire argument in the creation account of Genesis 2 [00:42:11 ▶️ 📄], you avoided moralism and instead presented the commands of 1 Corinthians 7 as a restoration of God's perfect and good design. This is a hallmark of strong, redemptive-historical preaching.
Exegesis | Clear Explanation of Historical Context
Your explanation of dualism and its contradictory results (hedonism and asceticism) at [00:32:44 ▶️ 📄] was clear and provided the necessary framework for the congregation to understand why Paul was addressing this issue. This prevented the text from being heard in a vacuum.
📝 Other Corrections & Notes
- And there's really no statistical difference between Christian marriages and non-Christian marriages. Adultery is a common threat to each. The rates and the percentages are almost equal. [00:52:17 ▶️ 📄] → Correction: While adultery is a significant threat to all marriages, studies on this topic vary widely. Some research suggests that actively practicing Christians have lower rates of infidelity than the general population. Stating the rates are 'almost equal' is a sociological claim that may not be precise, though the pastoral point about the universal danger of temptation remains valid. (Sociological studies on religion and marital fidelity.)
🧠 Questions for Reflection
Use these questions for personal study or small group discussion:
- The pastor explained that God has a specific 'design' for marriage and sexuality. How does this idea of a purposeful design contrast with how the world typically views these topics?
- This sermon discussed how a healthy marriage can be a picture of the relationship between Jesus and his followers (the Church). What does this comparison tell you about the kind of love and commitment God offers?
📜 Full Sermon Transcript (Audit)
Use the 📄 icons next to quotes above to automatically jump to their location in this raw transcript.
[00:00:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:29] If able, please join me in standing as the Lord the Almighty calls us to worship Him this morning.
[00:00:39] Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His mighty deeds. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Indeed, let us praise God this morning
[00:00:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:54] as we join our voices together singing Hymn 53, Praise to the Lord the Almighty. Let's pray together.
[00:04:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:03] Almighty God, King of all creation, it is good and right to come before you in your sanctuary and to praise your name, to praise you as the heavens above declare your majesty, to praise you for your mighty deeds that you have made all things by the power of your word
[00:04:26] in the space of six days and that you give life to all things and sustain all things.
[00:04:34] And we're reminded of that this morning as we consider the rain that is falling outside.
[00:04:39] It reminds us that you are a providential God who is at work in his creation, taking care of your creation.
[00:04:50] And we're also reminded that your word, which goes forth from your mouth, achieves its purpose for which it ascends.
[00:04:58] And so we're thankful for the reminder of the rain this morning that reminds us of your mighty deeds and your care of your world.
[00:05:05] we praise you for your excellent greatness that you are high and lifted up that you are ruling and reigning over all things we find great comfort in that this morning and so we pray as you have
[00:05:18] gathered your people to yourself to worship you that you would guide us by your holy spirit so all that we say and do during this time would be pleasing in your sight and that you would
[00:05:30] greatly encourage your people of the truth of your word we pray these things in jesus name Amen. Please remain standing with me and turn to the inside of your bulletin to the second page inside for our confession of sin, which we will confess together corporately. Again, we'll read
[00:06:02] this together. Lord Jesus, forgive my sins. Forgive the sins that I remember and the sins I have forgotten. Forgive my many failures in the face of temptation and those times when I have been stubborn in the face of correction. Forgive the names I have been proud of my own achievements
[00:06:29] and those when I have failed to boast in your words. Forgive the harsh judgments I have made of others and the leniency I have shown myself. Forgive the lies I have told to others and the
[00:06:47] truths I have avoided. Forgive me the pain I have caused others and the indulgences I have shown myself. Jesus, have mercy on me and make me whole. Amen. Christian, you have confessed your sin. Let's
[00:07:07] hear now an assurance of pardon from God's word. Psalm 103. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our
[00:07:33] iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions
[00:07:49] from us. Friends, that is the good news of the gospel. May we live in its peace. Please be seated.
[00:08:01] Well, it is good and wise for us to confess our sins and to hear assurance of pardon. It is also good to consider the wisdom literature in God's Word. And before us for our Old Testament reading
[00:08:14] is Proverbs chapter 5. Proverbs chapter 5. You can turn there in your Bibles. I'll read that chapter for us. And just as a point of context for us, Proverbs is wisdom literature. And in Proverbs
[00:08:28] chapter 2, it tells us that wisdom from God is a gift that for those who hear it and follow it and put it into practice in their lives, is a protection for us and a treasure. A protection
[00:08:43] and a treasure. And in Proverbs chapter 5, we see how it is a protection against a life-destroying sin. So let's hear Proverbs chapter 5, our Old Testament reading.
[00:09:00] My son, be attentive to my wisdom. Incline your ear to my understanding that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a
[00:09:23] two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps follow the path to Sheol. She does not ponder the path of life. Her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me,
[00:09:38] and do not depart from the words of my mouth keep your way far from her do not go near the door of her house lest you give your honors to others and your years to the merciless lest strangers take
[00:09:55] their fill of your strength and your labors go to the house of a foreigner and at the end of your life you groan when your flesh and body are consumed and you say how I hated discipline
[00:10:07] and my heart despised reproof.
[00:10:10] I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
[00:10:17] I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.
[00:10:23] Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
[00:10:30] Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?
[00:10:35] Let them be for yourself alone and not for strangers with you.
[00:10:39] Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely dear, a graceful doe.
[00:10:48] Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight.
[00:10:52] Be intoxicated always in her love.
[00:10:55] Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a foreign woman, a forbidden woman, and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
[00:11:04] For man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord.
[00:11:07] and he ponders all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly,
[00:11:22] he is led astray. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Amen. Well, children, at this time, we want to invite you forward for our children's message. Good morning. I think, Pastor Andrew and I were talking about it this
[00:12:07] morning, I think this is the longest we've gone without a children's message in my time here.
[00:12:12] It's been over like a month and a half, if you can believe that, because of different things we've had in worship and not meeting together a couple of weeks. And so it's good to see all
[00:12:22] your faces this morning. And this morning, I wanted to talk a little bit about what we did earlier together as a church. You heard adults, and some of you hopefully were reading along together as we had a confession of sin, a confession of sin. And that's a serious thing,
[00:12:40] but we came before God together as his people, and we confessed our sins together in repentance.
[00:12:48] And what I want us to consider is that that's good and right, to say sorry to God, and to hate and forsake our sin and turn from it.
[00:12:57] And that's what we're doing together when we do that.
[00:12:59] And we can do that individually as well.
[00:13:02] But I want you to hear the best news.
[00:13:05] Here's the best news when we confess our sins is that through what Jesus has done for us as our savior, God forgives our sins.
[00:13:14] Isn't that amazing?
[00:13:16] All right, so I've got a visual to help us understand this.
[00:13:19] And we're gonna read from Psalm 103 in just a second.
[00:13:22] What is on this picture?
[00:13:24] Any guesses?
[00:13:27] All right.
[00:13:34] Okay, we have the United States, okay?
[00:13:36] And on one side over here is Boston, Massachusetts.
[00:13:40] You see this red pin?
[00:13:42] And then all the way over here is the next big city I think on the west coast.
[00:13:45] That's San Francisco, California.
[00:13:46] You see that?
[00:13:48] All right.
[00:13:48] So this would be like the farthest east city from the farthest west city in the United States.
[00:13:56] You got that?
[00:13:56] North, south, east, west.
[00:14:01] I'm upside down.
[00:14:02] All right, so you get that? So if you were going to travel from Boston to San Francisco, it would be 3,095 miles. It's a long way. In other words, if you were going to drive that, it would take
[00:14:16] 43 hours, and that's not counting stopping for the bathroom and all the snacks and stuff, right?
[00:14:22] Every time you pass a gas station, you want to stop. Okay, if you were going to ride your bike, guess how long that would take? My Google machine said two weeks. I don't know if that's true or not.
[00:14:37] And then if you walked, it would take four months, four months to walk that.
[00:14:44] And that's like straight travel time.
[00:14:46] So I'm sure it would take longer than that.
[00:14:48] So this is just in the United States as far as the east is from the west.
[00:14:52] So keep that picture in mind.
[00:14:54] And I'm going to read again Psalm 103 that we heard earlier.
[00:14:57] And this is what God does to our sins when we confess them to him and we belong to Jesus and he is our Savior.
[00:15:04] It says this, hear this, children.
[00:15:05] for as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him and hear this as far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our transgressions
[00:15:19] from us is that not amazing that because Jesus came and died for our sins and we confess our sins to God he forgives our sins he separates us from them I think that's really awesome don't you
[00:15:33] All right, let's pray and thank God for his mercy and his grace.
[00:15:37] Dear God, we thank you for your word that reminds us of your promises to us.
[00:15:47] Help us live out your truth in our lives.
[00:15:53] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:15:57] All right, you can go back to your seats.
[00:16:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:16:03] As our children make their way back to their seats, I invite you to turn again in your hymnals, This time to number 108, as we sing together, what e'er my God ordains is right.
[00:16:12] And let's stand together as we sing.
[00:16:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:16:15] Let's pray together.
[00:18:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:18:51] Lord, our God, we do thank you for your fatherly care for us, that no matter what may befall us in this life, you never leave us nor forsake us, but rather you are with us through it all.
[00:19:03] And we thank you that that is true even today as we have gathered together in worship, knowing that you are here with us.
[00:19:10] and so father we rejoice in this we thank you for this and we continue in worship now through the honoring of you with your tithes and our offerings asking that you will be pleased to receive these
[00:19:20] gifts and that you will use them to continue that good work of building your church here and
[00:19:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:19:25] throughout the world we ask in jesus name amen you may be seated please be seated as we turn to the
[00:22:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:22:03] lord in a few moments of prayer together this morning a couple of things i'll mention to you first and foremost, and continue to encourage you to be praying for the Goodrum family. Freddie, it's good to have you with us this morning in worship. It was last Sunday evening that the
[00:22:16] Lord called Miss Ruth to himself. Her services will be this coming Saturday. There'll be a visitation in our fellowship hall at 10 o'clock in the morning, and then a memorial service here in the sanctuary at 11 o'clock. So please continue to pray for Freddie and for Casey and the rest of
[00:22:33] the family as they prepare for that service this Saturday. Also last Sunday, we prayed for our missions conference speaker, Eric Meeberg, as he was in Tunisia and other parts of Africa ministering to missionaries. He made it safely home just a day or two ago and reports that he was able to
[00:22:49] minister to well over 30 different missionaries while he was there. Also able to hold a marriage retreat for several of the married couples while they were there. And you can imagine how important that was is that sort of ministry is stressful and taxing. And so we are thankful for a good
[00:23:07] report and look forward to hearing a more full report next Sunday. So with those two things in mind and others as well, let's turn to the Lord in a moment of prayer together. Oh Lord, our God,
[00:23:24] it is with thanks with our whole hearts that we come before you this morning, recounting all of your wonderful deeds. Indeed, O Lord, we are glad and we exult in you, and we sing praise to your
[00:23:39] name, you who are most high, because you are the one who sits enthroned forever and have established your throne for justice. With righteousness, O Lord, you judge the world. And we also thank you because you are a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold for us in times of trouble.
[00:24:01] those who know your name put their trust in you and you will not forsake those who seek you indeed oh lord these words of the psalmist are as true for him thousands of years ago as they are
[00:24:17] for us today we thank you that you are our stronghold in times of trouble that we can put our trust in you because as we just sang a few moments ago you never forsake us that everything
[00:24:33] that comes to pass in the course of our lives, whatever may befall us, has been ordained by You.
[00:24:41] And whatever You have ordained for us, O Lord, is right. This is a profound truth and one that can be difficult for us to grasp, particularly in times of grief and in times of trouble.
[00:24:55] But Lord, we thank You that Your truth is greater than our temporary troubles, and that you hold forth a glorious purpose and a glorious future for your people.
[00:25:08] And so, Father, we pray for those who need this encouragement today.
[00:25:11] We think particularly of the Goodrum family as they continue to grieve the death of Ruth last week.
[00:25:16] We think particularly of Freddie and for Casey, and we ask that you would continue to comfort them, minister to them with the everlasting hope of the gospel, that death indeed does not get the final word.
[00:25:28] and father we pray also for them as they prepare for the memorial service this coming weekend father we pray that you would give them strength that this would be a service that is honoring to
[00:25:39] you that it would provide closure for them and for this church family who knew and loved ruth so well father we pray for others as well who may find themselves in difficult circumstances perhaps fearing what comes in the near days or weeks father those who are struggling with illnesses
[00:25:56] or difficult diagnoses those who are dealing with loneliness or fear or anxiety father we thank you again that you are a stronghold for us and we pray that they would all avail themselves of your
[00:26:09] great love and mercy and grace and that you would prove yourself faithful over and over again we also thank you for answered prayers and we rejoice in the good report we're already hearing from eric
[00:26:22] Meberg of his trip last week, and we look forward to hearing more about that in the coming week.
[00:26:28] But Father, we do thank you that you equip your church for the whole ministry, not only sending people out to proclaim the good news of the gospel, but also raising up people to minister to those ministers, to pastor pastors. Father, we recognize in this your total care for your people,
[00:26:49] and so we thank you and rejoice in your provision and we thank you again for the provision even of this day with the rain that is falling on this dry and weary land indeed lord a land that has
[00:27:01] been in drought now for some months we thank you that you provide even the showers that fall today lord that reminds us that we can trust that in your time and in your provision you will always
[00:27:12] give to us exactly what we need so build us up father in faith and in confidence and trust in
[00:27:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:27:19] you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Beautiful. Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1
[00:31:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:03] Corinthians chapter 7. As we saw last week at the end of chapter 6, Paul was taking on the spirit of licentiousness that had infected the Corinthian church. The hedonists within that congregation were abusing their Christian liberty by combining it with the influence of dualism
[00:31:26] and seeing that as licensed to live without moral constraint.
[00:31:31] You remember that dualism is that philosophy that views the physical world as a realm of death and decay and our bodies are a part of that and they are these shells, these prisons from which our souls are trying to get out.
[00:31:49] And as a result of that pagan philosophy, these hedonists concluded, well, if these bodies aren't worth anything, if they're not eternal, we might as well have as much fun with them while we can. And so Paul had to correct that errant view by reminding the
[00:32:06] Corinthians that our bodies are actually a part of our eternal being. Our bodies are precious gifts given to us by God that will one day be glorified and even now serve as the temple of
[00:32:21] the Holy Spirit. And so we must treat them with that in mind and not give ourselves over to sexual immorality. Well, as is often the case, wherever there is an extreme view to one side of an issue,
[00:32:37] there can also be an opposite and equally extreme view on the other side of an issue.
[00:32:44] And that's what we're going to see in our passage today. You see, dualism not only resulted in licentious behavior with some, but it also led others to practice a rigid ascetic lifestyle.
[00:33:01] So instead of giving the body everything it craved whenever it wanted it, these people made it their mission to deny their body every impulse and every pleasure. And their thinking was, so if the physical world is evil and that includes our bodies, then we need to bring our bodies under
[00:33:21] control through strict discipline. So self-denial was the mission. It might be helpful for you to think of the monks during the medieval period, how they very often denied themselves worldly pleasures. They sold all their possessions. They wore threadbare clothes. They ate just the bare
[00:33:40] amount of calories to stay alive, all as an act of devotion to God through denial of the body.
[00:33:46] and while we might conclude well that seems like a at least a better approach than the hedonistic lifestyle both are actually errors of the same caliber just in different directions both were guilty of mixing pagan philosophy with biblical teaching and the result was unfaithful
[00:34:08] and unfruitful worldviews so while the hedonists were denying god's design for human sexuality by engaging in it anytime and with anyone they wanted, the ascetics were denying God's design for human sexuality by disparaging it and refusing to engage in it even within their own marriages.
[00:34:32] And that's the issue that Paul is addressing in our passage today. So buckle your seatbelts and let's hear what the Lord has to say to us from 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
[00:34:49] Now concerning the matters about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.
[00:34:57] But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
[00:35:05] The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise the wife to her husband.
[00:35:11] For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.
[00:35:17] Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
[00:35:23] Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer, but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
[00:35:37] Now, as a concession, not a command, I say this.
[00:35:40] For I wish that all were as I myself am, but each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another let's pray together well lord god we come to your word
[00:35:54] this morning and we realize that in your word you provide uh guidelines you provide uh rules and regulations for our lives and when we live according to your design father we find that we flourish that we are blessed that we are indeed happy but when we stray from that one way or the
[00:36:16] other. We miss the point of what you would have for us. And so we pray as we come to this text that you would give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand your good design
[00:36:29] for us in our marriages. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. So before we jump into chapter 7 this morning, I want to offer two quick caveats before we get into this. First of all, a word to parents
[00:36:44] this morning, and particularly parents of young children. I realize the subject matter of this text and this sermon is the sort that will lead to questions around the dinner table later today that you were hoping not to have to answer for a few years yet. And while I will do my best not
[00:37:00] to get unnecessarily detailed, I'm also convinced that the church shouldn't be afraid or timid about speaking out on these kinds of matters. We do our children and we do our youth a disservice when we avoid speaking publicly about issues that they are going to encounter and face in the course of their lives.
[00:37:21] And so we need to begin creating a paradigm in their minds for a right understanding of God's good design for us.
[00:37:31] And so that first caveat is for parents of children.
[00:37:35] The second caveat is this.
[00:37:38] I realize that not everyone here this morning is married.
[00:37:42] Some of you are yet old enough to be married.
[00:37:46] Others of you long to be married, but that hasn't been realized in your life yet.
[00:37:52] Some of you have been married and are no longer due to death or due to divorce.
[00:37:57] And I don't want to cause in you undue grief, and yet, and yet, this is God's Word for His people.
[00:38:06] And while this topic may not have immediate application to your current context, I think you also realize that it does have bearing in the lives of many of your brothers and sisters in this room here today, and God has given us this text for a very practical application
[00:38:23] within those lives. And if you're patient, you'll see that Paul turns his attention to the reality of singles and the reality of widows and widowers in the very next passage and following that we'll come to over the next couple of weeks. So that being said, let's think about what Paul is saying.
[00:38:45] And the first thing I want to point out as we come to chapter 7 is that there's actually a new literary clue that's important for our study of this letter of 1 Corinthians. Notice at the very
[00:38:56] beginning of verse 1, Paul says, now concerning the matters about which you wrote. Up till now in this letter, Paul has been addressing matters that had been reported to him by Chloe and her people. Remember, these are friends who are associated with the Corinthian church who saw
[00:39:14] these problems and came to Paul and said, there are some serious issues going on in the life of that church. But as we come to chapter 7, we find that not only had Chloe's people reported some
[00:39:25] issues, but the Corinthian church itself had written to Paul with some questions and some issues that they were wrestling with. And so Paul, in writing this letter, masterfully weaves together both Chloe's report and the letter they sent into one organic flowing argument or conversation to
[00:39:47] address all of these things. And we're going to find this clue now concerning the matters about which he wrote. We're going to find it in several other places as we go through this letter about
[00:39:58] other topics and other subjects that he will have to address. But what did they write about? What's the issue going on here? Well, we find it in the second part of verse 1 where it's in quotation
[00:40:10] marks. It says, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. Now, they are not quoting back something that Paul had once said to them. Rather, this is obviously a stance that
[00:40:26] some in that church had decided was good and right. This was a summary of a position that some of them had embraced, which once again signals to us, as if we haven't already seen it
[00:40:38] enough in this letter, that this church, this congregation, had a wide variety of views and beliefs and backgrounds. And they were just this hodgepodge congregation of all these different kinds of people. I can't imagine trying to minister to a church in which you had hedonists on one side
[00:40:58] and you had others who held this platonic view of marriage on the other side. By the way, that word platonic, you know, we often use that to describe relationships that do not have a romantic element to them. They're just friends. It's platonic. They're not interested in one
[00:41:16] another. Think about that word platonic. The root of platonic is Plato. Plato was the father of this dualism thinking. And dualism, of course, was the thing that said that the physical realm is bad, and so we deny ourselves physical pleasure. So a platonic relationship is one that very
[00:41:35] intentionally denies the physical pleasures that can come with a marriage relationship.
[00:41:40] Just a little bit of trivia for you that might be helpful. But back to this idea that you have these competing views within the life of the church. As I pointed out earlier, what's important
[00:41:51] for us to notice is there wasn't one that was right and one that was wrong. They were both wrong.
[00:41:55] They were both in error because both groups had completely misunderstood God's design for marriage and for human sexuality. The paradigm for which we find in Genesis chapter 2.
[00:42:11] And isn't it amazing that in a book, the Bible, that has thousands of chapters contained in it, it's in the second chapter that God clearly lays out for us His design for marriage, His design for human sexuality.
[00:42:27] Let me read those familiar words for us for a moment.
[00:42:31] This is Genesis chapter 2, picking up at verse 18.
[00:42:43] fit for him. Now out of the ground the Lord had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them and whatever the man
[00:42:54] called every living creature that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field but for Adam there was not found a helper
[00:43:05] fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man
[00:43:18] he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore
[00:43:33] a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they will become one flesh.
[00:43:44] Now, I imagine for most of you, those are very familiar words.
[00:43:47] You've heard those throughout the course of your Christian life.
[00:43:51] And the thing we're told, first of all, is that it was not good that the man was alone.
[00:43:56] It was not good that Adam did not have a partner, that he did not have a mate.
[00:44:02] And so God decided that he would make one uniquely fit for him.
[00:44:07] One who complimented him in every way.
[00:44:11] God made woman.
[00:44:13] for man. And you notice Adam's reaction when he saw her for the very first time? He rejoiced.
[00:44:22] I mentioned in our sermon series in Genesis several years ago that the first human words recorded in all of Scripture are Adam's wedding song. At last, flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone.
[00:44:37] Remember, God first paraded all the animals in front of Adam for him to name, but also to show him, what you need is not found here. You need someone uniquely made, uniquely designed, uniquely fit for you. And so Eve was. And so God brought them together and he declared the two will become
[00:44:57] one flesh. And that's not a metaphor. It's a holistic representation. There is a physical compatibility between a man and a woman that God has designed, and there is a joy and a binding of souls and hearts that occurs when that union is consummated. In other words, friends, sex is a
[00:45:20] good thing that is meant to be enjoyed in its proper context. And so in the Corinthian church, the hedonists were wrong because they took it out of context and they enjoyed it anywhere with anyone they wanted. But the ascetics were also wrong because they denied its goodness and refused
[00:45:41] to engage even within their marriages, essentially saying to God, what you have called good, we are calling evil. And that was a profound error as well. And so Paul responds with a corrective and he essentially tells them, sex is not the problem. Your sinful hearts are the problem.
[00:46:03] Look at verse 2, but because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. In other words, try as you might, you Corinthians, try as
[00:46:21] you might to stifle your God-given impulse for sexual relationships. The power of temptation and the weakness of your flesh are creating this incredibly dangerous scenario, one that will ultimately end up with you committing sexual immorality just like the hedonists do. If it's
[00:46:42] helpful for you, think about this in terms of going on a diet. Maybe you decide that you're going to cut sweets out of your life, or maybe it's carbs or whatever else you decide you need
[00:46:53] to cut out of your diet. And you start off well enough. You start off with all that kind of gusto.
[00:46:58] I'm not going to have any more candy. I'm not going to have any more mashed potatoes. And sure enough, you're able to pass up that little jar of M&Ms at your friend's house, or when you go out
[00:47:07] to eat, you say no to the bread that is passed around the table, and you feel pretty good about yourself. But you also know that after a while, those things that you are denying just take on
[00:47:20] this whole new appeal to you. Every time you see them, you want them, and you begin to justify things. Maybe you're at a birthday party. Will it be rude not to have a piece of cake? Or maybe
[00:47:33] you're at your mother-in-law's and she made that pot roast you love, but it's not the same if it's not served with potatoes and you give in. So it is, Paul says, with this ridiculous idea that a husband
[00:47:47] and wife ought not enjoy the very gift that God has reserved uniquely for them in marriage. Yeah, Paul says, you might be able to hold off for a few weeks. Maybe you could even hold off
[00:47:58] for a few months, but sooner or later, your urges and desires are going to overpower you and likely with someone other than your spouse. And the first sin gives way to a greater sin.
[00:48:14] And so in verses two through four, Paul offers a right view and approach to marriage and sex.
[00:48:21] Look at what he says there at the end of verse two going forward. Each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise
[00:48:32] the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. What's Paul
[00:48:45] saying? Let me see if I can summarize it. Husbands and wives have an obligation to be sexually available to their spouse. Neither has the right nor the authority to unilaterally decide to withhold themselves from the other. And this is what makes this text so astounding for us today.
[00:49:11] Paul is making it abundantly clear that husbands and wives are equals in this facet of marriage.
[00:49:19] Notice Paul doesn't elevate husbands over wives here.
[00:49:23] He doesn't give power to one spouse at the expense of the other.
[00:49:28] There is a mutual responsibility and also a mutual joy that is entrusted to each.
[00:49:36] Both have rights and neither has full authority over his or her own body.
[00:49:44] And that's the necessary implication, friends, of the idea of becoming one flesh.
[00:49:48] when you are joined together in marriage you are no longer two independent autonomous people god has now united you as one and the needs of one are to be met by the other and it's as simple
[00:50:02] as that but it's also as important as that because paul's argument in this passage is that regularly enjoying this union is a safeguard against adultery infidelity and all kinds of other sexual immorality. But let me also be very clear in that what he is saying here is not in any way,
[00:50:27] shape, or form license for abusive demands or control, nor is it permission to turn sex into a bargaining chip or to use as leverage within a marriage. God's purpose is for husbands and wives to willingly, joyfully, and frequently meet the needs and desires of the other.
[00:50:54] In fact, the only exception that Paul can fathom in his mind, the only exception to this regulative principle for marriage is found in what he says in verse 5.
[00:51:07] Notice he says, do not deprive one another.
[00:51:09] That's really his basic argument.
[00:51:11] Don't deprive one another except, except perhaps.
[00:51:15] You notice how he's couching this language, not as command, as concession, do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a limited time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, but then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you because of your
[00:51:35] lack of self-control.
[00:51:36] The only scenario that Paul can imagine a husband and a wife abstaining within their marriage is when by mutual agreement they devote themselves for a defined amount of time to the Lord in prayer. You might consider it a fast of sorts, but notice what he says, but then come
[00:51:56] together again. Break your fast and reunite as one flesh. And why? He goes back to his original argument because of temptation, because of Satan, because of the danger that lurks when you deny the very good thing that God has given to you. And friends, you and I know that it is no secret
[00:52:17] that adultery is one of the biggest threats to marriage. And there's really no statistical difference between Christian marriages and non-Christian marriages. Adultery is a common threat to each. The rates and the percentages are almost equal. And Paul is making the case
[00:52:37] that a marriage that enjoys a healthy frequency of sexual relations is one way to safeguard it against infidelity.
[00:52:48] He's not saying it's the only safeguard, nor is he saying it's flawless.
[00:52:53] But he's definitely saying that to deprive yourself of this essential element is to open yourself up to temptation and even sin.
[00:53:04] Whether that be actual adultery with another person, or giving yourself over to the use of things like pornography or fantasy or whatever else the case might be. There's danger that lurks when we deprive ourselves, deny ourselves what God
[00:53:19] has created as good. You see, he's given us marriage. He's given us sex. He's given you your spouse as gifts to be enjoyed. Really and truly, in some ways, Paul is echoing the words of solomon that we heard earlier from proverbs chapter 5 where solomon says rejoice in the wife
[00:53:44] of your youth a lovely dear a graceful doe let her breasts fill you at all times with delight be intoxicated always in her love we studied this actual passage this chapter just this past wednesday in our wednesday night bible study we're looking at wisdom through the book of proverbs and
[00:54:03] we came to this passage and i mentioned that that sort of language which we might consider sort of explicit language is the kind that might make us wiggle in our pew a little bit, might make us
[00:54:13] blush considering the fact that we are in mixed company. But my counter to that, friends, is it's biblical. It's biblical language. These aren't ultimately Solomon's words. These are God's words for his people. And for those of you who are married, your spouse is God's gift to you.
[00:54:33] and he wants you to be infatuated with your spouse.
[00:54:37] Always intoxicated, always smitten with him or with her.
[00:54:43] And a significant part of that infatuation is expressed and satisfied in marital relations.
[00:54:49] It provides that union and that connection that knits body and heart together.
[00:54:56] And God's word is this, enjoy it.
[00:55:00] He has given you this gift and he wants you to delight in it.
[00:55:07] And ultimately, friends, this is one of the ways that we demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel to the world around us.
[00:55:14] When we delight in our spouse, when we live according to God's good design, when our marriages are an illustration of the sort of commitment and love that Christ has for his bride, the church, we are pointing people to Jesus.
[00:55:31] and that's our call to reflect the transforming power of the gospel to those around us and we can do it in word and we ought to do it in word but we can also do it in the day in day out living
[00:55:44] of our lives in all the relationships and all the facets that god has given us and for those of us who are married this is another way that we can showcase god's goodness that he has built
[00:55:57] into his design so be encouraged today and let's pray together well lord our god we do thank you that you have given us your word we thank you that you have given us the institution of marriage and
[00:56:14] within that you have given us reason and opportunity to enjoy these marriages but lord we also know the effects of sin on this institution we have seen it all around us we've experienced it but father
[00:56:32] you also tell us that when we order our lives around your word and around your design and around your good purposes, that your people flourish, that your people are happy, but that we also are a reflection of what you intended from the beginning to those around us. So Lord, we
[00:56:51] would pray this morning that you would help us to see how the gospel informs every aspect of our lives. We do pray for marriages in this congregation. We pray for strong marriages. We pray for healthy
[00:57:03] relationships between husbands and wives. We pray this for the good of the families, for the good of the covenant family, but ultimately, Father, for the good of the gospel, that we might represent it well
[00:57:16] to the watching world around us. So help us, Lord. Strengthen us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[00:57:23] closing hymn this morning is number 719 let's stand together as we sing a christian home
[00:57:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:57:33] as you go today go with god's blessing may the grace of the lord jesus christ the love of god
[01:00:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:00:31] the father almighty and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you all both now and forevermore amen
[00:00:29] If able, please join me in standing as the Lord the Almighty calls us to worship Him this morning.
[00:00:39] Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His mighty deeds. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Indeed, let us praise God this morning
[00:00:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:54] as we join our voices together singing Hymn 53, Praise to the Lord the Almighty. Let's pray together.
[00:04:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:03] Almighty God, King of all creation, it is good and right to come before you in your sanctuary and to praise your name, to praise you as the heavens above declare your majesty, to praise you for your mighty deeds that you have made all things by the power of your word
[00:04:26] in the space of six days and that you give life to all things and sustain all things.
[00:04:34] And we're reminded of that this morning as we consider the rain that is falling outside.
[00:04:39] It reminds us that you are a providential God who is at work in his creation, taking care of your creation.
[00:04:50] And we're also reminded that your word, which goes forth from your mouth, achieves its purpose for which it ascends.
[00:04:58] And so we're thankful for the reminder of the rain this morning that reminds us of your mighty deeds and your care of your world.
[00:05:05] we praise you for your excellent greatness that you are high and lifted up that you are ruling and reigning over all things we find great comfort in that this morning and so we pray as you have
[00:05:18] gathered your people to yourself to worship you that you would guide us by your holy spirit so all that we say and do during this time would be pleasing in your sight and that you would
[00:05:30] greatly encourage your people of the truth of your word we pray these things in jesus name Amen. Please remain standing with me and turn to the inside of your bulletin to the second page inside for our confession of sin, which we will confess together corporately. Again, we'll read
[00:06:02] this together. Lord Jesus, forgive my sins. Forgive the sins that I remember and the sins I have forgotten. Forgive my many failures in the face of temptation and those times when I have been stubborn in the face of correction. Forgive the names I have been proud of my own achievements
[00:06:29] and those when I have failed to boast in your words. Forgive the harsh judgments I have made of others and the leniency I have shown myself. Forgive the lies I have told to others and the
[00:06:47] truths I have avoided. Forgive me the pain I have caused others and the indulgences I have shown myself. Jesus, have mercy on me and make me whole. Amen. Christian, you have confessed your sin. Let's
[00:07:07] hear now an assurance of pardon from God's word. Psalm 103. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our
[00:07:33] iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions
[00:07:49] from us. Friends, that is the good news of the gospel. May we live in its peace. Please be seated.
[00:08:01] Well, it is good and wise for us to confess our sins and to hear assurance of pardon. It is also good to consider the wisdom literature in God's Word. And before us for our Old Testament reading
[00:08:14] is Proverbs chapter 5. Proverbs chapter 5. You can turn there in your Bibles. I'll read that chapter for us. And just as a point of context for us, Proverbs is wisdom literature. And in Proverbs
[00:08:28] chapter 2, it tells us that wisdom from God is a gift that for those who hear it and follow it and put it into practice in their lives, is a protection for us and a treasure. A protection
[00:08:43] and a treasure. And in Proverbs chapter 5, we see how it is a protection against a life-destroying sin. So let's hear Proverbs chapter 5, our Old Testament reading.
[00:09:00] My son, be attentive to my wisdom. Incline your ear to my understanding that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a
[00:09:23] two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps follow the path to Sheol. She does not ponder the path of life. Her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me,
[00:09:38] and do not depart from the words of my mouth keep your way far from her do not go near the door of her house lest you give your honors to others and your years to the merciless lest strangers take
[00:09:55] their fill of your strength and your labors go to the house of a foreigner and at the end of your life you groan when your flesh and body are consumed and you say how I hated discipline
[00:10:07] and my heart despised reproof.
[00:10:10] I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
[00:10:17] I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.
[00:10:23] Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
[00:10:30] Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?
[00:10:35] Let them be for yourself alone and not for strangers with you.
[00:10:39] Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely dear, a graceful doe.
[00:10:48] Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight.
[00:10:52] Be intoxicated always in her love.
[00:10:55] Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a foreign woman, a forbidden woman, and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
[00:11:04] For man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord.
[00:11:07] and he ponders all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly,
[00:11:22] he is led astray. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Amen. Well, children, at this time, we want to invite you forward for our children's message. Good morning. I think, Pastor Andrew and I were talking about it this
[00:12:07] morning, I think this is the longest we've gone without a children's message in my time here.
[00:12:12] It's been over like a month and a half, if you can believe that, because of different things we've had in worship and not meeting together a couple of weeks. And so it's good to see all
[00:12:22] your faces this morning. And this morning, I wanted to talk a little bit about what we did earlier together as a church. You heard adults, and some of you hopefully were reading along together as we had a confession of sin, a confession of sin. And that's a serious thing,
[00:12:40] but we came before God together as his people, and we confessed our sins together in repentance.
[00:12:48] And what I want us to consider is that that's good and right, to say sorry to God, and to hate and forsake our sin and turn from it.
[00:12:57] And that's what we're doing together when we do that.
[00:12:59] And we can do that individually as well.
[00:13:02] But I want you to hear the best news.
[00:13:05] Here's the best news when we confess our sins is that through what Jesus has done for us as our savior, God forgives our sins.
[00:13:14] Isn't that amazing?
[00:13:16] All right, so I've got a visual to help us understand this.
[00:13:19] And we're gonna read from Psalm 103 in just a second.
[00:13:22] What is on this picture?
[00:13:24] Any guesses?
[00:13:27] All right.
[00:13:34] Okay, we have the United States, okay?
[00:13:36] And on one side over here is Boston, Massachusetts.
[00:13:40] You see this red pin?
[00:13:42] And then all the way over here is the next big city I think on the west coast.
[00:13:45] That's San Francisco, California.
[00:13:46] You see that?
[00:13:48] All right.
[00:13:48] So this would be like the farthest east city from the farthest west city in the United States.
[00:13:56] You got that?
[00:13:56] North, south, east, west.
[00:14:01] I'm upside down.
[00:14:02] All right, so you get that? So if you were going to travel from Boston to San Francisco, it would be 3,095 miles. It's a long way. In other words, if you were going to drive that, it would take
[00:14:16] 43 hours, and that's not counting stopping for the bathroom and all the snacks and stuff, right?
[00:14:22] Every time you pass a gas station, you want to stop. Okay, if you were going to ride your bike, guess how long that would take? My Google machine said two weeks. I don't know if that's true or not.
[00:14:37] And then if you walked, it would take four months, four months to walk that.
[00:14:44] And that's like straight travel time.
[00:14:46] So I'm sure it would take longer than that.
[00:14:48] So this is just in the United States as far as the east is from the west.
[00:14:52] So keep that picture in mind.
[00:14:54] And I'm going to read again Psalm 103 that we heard earlier.
[00:14:57] And this is what God does to our sins when we confess them to him and we belong to Jesus and he is our Savior.
[00:15:04] It says this, hear this, children.
[00:15:05] for as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him and hear this as far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our transgressions
[00:15:19] from us is that not amazing that because Jesus came and died for our sins and we confess our sins to God he forgives our sins he separates us from them I think that's really awesome don't you
[00:15:33] All right, let's pray and thank God for his mercy and his grace.
[00:15:37] Dear God, we thank you for your word that reminds us of your promises to us.
[00:15:47] Help us live out your truth in our lives.
[00:15:53] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:15:57] All right, you can go back to your seats.
[00:16:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:16:03] As our children make their way back to their seats, I invite you to turn again in your hymnals, This time to number 108, as we sing together, what e'er my God ordains is right.
[00:16:12] And let's stand together as we sing.
[00:16:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:16:15] Let's pray together.
[00:18:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:18:51] Lord, our God, we do thank you for your fatherly care for us, that no matter what may befall us in this life, you never leave us nor forsake us, but rather you are with us through it all.
[00:19:03] And we thank you that that is true even today as we have gathered together in worship, knowing that you are here with us.
[00:19:10] and so father we rejoice in this we thank you for this and we continue in worship now through the honoring of you with your tithes and our offerings asking that you will be pleased to receive these
[00:19:20] gifts and that you will use them to continue that good work of building your church here and
[00:19:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:19:25] throughout the world we ask in jesus name amen you may be seated please be seated as we turn to the
[00:22:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:22:03] lord in a few moments of prayer together this morning a couple of things i'll mention to you first and foremost, and continue to encourage you to be praying for the Goodrum family. Freddie, it's good to have you with us this morning in worship. It was last Sunday evening that the
[00:22:16] Lord called Miss Ruth to himself. Her services will be this coming Saturday. There'll be a visitation in our fellowship hall at 10 o'clock in the morning, and then a memorial service here in the sanctuary at 11 o'clock. So please continue to pray for Freddie and for Casey and the rest of
[00:22:33] the family as they prepare for that service this Saturday. Also last Sunday, we prayed for our missions conference speaker, Eric Meeberg, as he was in Tunisia and other parts of Africa ministering to missionaries. He made it safely home just a day or two ago and reports that he was able to
[00:22:49] minister to well over 30 different missionaries while he was there. Also able to hold a marriage retreat for several of the married couples while they were there. And you can imagine how important that was is that sort of ministry is stressful and taxing. And so we are thankful for a good
[00:23:07] report and look forward to hearing a more full report next Sunday. So with those two things in mind and others as well, let's turn to the Lord in a moment of prayer together. Oh Lord, our God,
[00:23:24] it is with thanks with our whole hearts that we come before you this morning, recounting all of your wonderful deeds. Indeed, O Lord, we are glad and we exult in you, and we sing praise to your
[00:23:39] name, you who are most high, because you are the one who sits enthroned forever and have established your throne for justice. With righteousness, O Lord, you judge the world. And we also thank you because you are a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold for us in times of trouble.
[00:24:01] those who know your name put their trust in you and you will not forsake those who seek you indeed oh lord these words of the psalmist are as true for him thousands of years ago as they are
[00:24:17] for us today we thank you that you are our stronghold in times of trouble that we can put our trust in you because as we just sang a few moments ago you never forsake us that everything
[00:24:33] that comes to pass in the course of our lives, whatever may befall us, has been ordained by You.
[00:24:41] And whatever You have ordained for us, O Lord, is right. This is a profound truth and one that can be difficult for us to grasp, particularly in times of grief and in times of trouble.
[00:24:55] But Lord, we thank You that Your truth is greater than our temporary troubles, and that you hold forth a glorious purpose and a glorious future for your people.
[00:25:08] And so, Father, we pray for those who need this encouragement today.
[00:25:11] We think particularly of the Goodrum family as they continue to grieve the death of Ruth last week.
[00:25:16] We think particularly of Freddie and for Casey, and we ask that you would continue to comfort them, minister to them with the everlasting hope of the gospel, that death indeed does not get the final word.
[00:25:28] and father we pray also for them as they prepare for the memorial service this coming weekend father we pray that you would give them strength that this would be a service that is honoring to
[00:25:39] you that it would provide closure for them and for this church family who knew and loved ruth so well father we pray for others as well who may find themselves in difficult circumstances perhaps fearing what comes in the near days or weeks father those who are struggling with illnesses
[00:25:56] or difficult diagnoses those who are dealing with loneliness or fear or anxiety father we thank you again that you are a stronghold for us and we pray that they would all avail themselves of your
[00:26:09] great love and mercy and grace and that you would prove yourself faithful over and over again we also thank you for answered prayers and we rejoice in the good report we're already hearing from eric
[00:26:22] Meberg of his trip last week, and we look forward to hearing more about that in the coming week.
[00:26:28] But Father, we do thank you that you equip your church for the whole ministry, not only sending people out to proclaim the good news of the gospel, but also raising up people to minister to those ministers, to pastor pastors. Father, we recognize in this your total care for your people,
[00:26:49] and so we thank you and rejoice in your provision and we thank you again for the provision even of this day with the rain that is falling on this dry and weary land indeed lord a land that has
[00:27:01] been in drought now for some months we thank you that you provide even the showers that fall today lord that reminds us that we can trust that in your time and in your provision you will always
[00:27:12] give to us exactly what we need so build us up father in faith and in confidence and trust in
[00:27:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:27:19] you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Beautiful. Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1
[00:31:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:03] Corinthians chapter 7. As we saw last week at the end of chapter 6, Paul was taking on the spirit of licentiousness that had infected the Corinthian church. The hedonists within that congregation were abusing their Christian liberty by combining it with the influence of dualism
[00:31:26] and seeing that as licensed to live without moral constraint.
[00:31:31] You remember that dualism is that philosophy that views the physical world as a realm of death and decay and our bodies are a part of that and they are these shells, these prisons from which our souls are trying to get out.
[00:31:49] And as a result of that pagan philosophy, these hedonists concluded, well, if these bodies aren't worth anything, if they're not eternal, we might as well have as much fun with them while we can. And so Paul had to correct that errant view by reminding the
[00:32:06] Corinthians that our bodies are actually a part of our eternal being. Our bodies are precious gifts given to us by God that will one day be glorified and even now serve as the temple of
[00:32:21] the Holy Spirit. And so we must treat them with that in mind and not give ourselves over to sexual immorality. Well, as is often the case, wherever there is an extreme view to one side of an issue,
[00:32:37] there can also be an opposite and equally extreme view on the other side of an issue.
[00:32:44] And that's what we're going to see in our passage today. You see, dualism not only resulted in licentious behavior with some, but it also led others to practice a rigid ascetic lifestyle.
[00:33:01] So instead of giving the body everything it craved whenever it wanted it, these people made it their mission to deny their body every impulse and every pleasure. And their thinking was, so if the physical world is evil and that includes our bodies, then we need to bring our bodies under
[00:33:21] control through strict discipline. So self-denial was the mission. It might be helpful for you to think of the monks during the medieval period, how they very often denied themselves worldly pleasures. They sold all their possessions. They wore threadbare clothes. They ate just the bare
[00:33:40] amount of calories to stay alive, all as an act of devotion to God through denial of the body.
[00:33:46] and while we might conclude well that seems like a at least a better approach than the hedonistic lifestyle both are actually errors of the same caliber just in different directions both were guilty of mixing pagan philosophy with biblical teaching and the result was unfaithful
[00:34:08] and unfruitful worldviews so while the hedonists were denying god's design for human sexuality by engaging in it anytime and with anyone they wanted, the ascetics were denying God's design for human sexuality by disparaging it and refusing to engage in it even within their own marriages.
[00:34:32] And that's the issue that Paul is addressing in our passage today. So buckle your seatbelts and let's hear what the Lord has to say to us from 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
[00:34:49] Now concerning the matters about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.
[00:34:57] But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
[00:35:05] The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise the wife to her husband.
[00:35:11] For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.
[00:35:17] Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
[00:35:23] Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer, but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
[00:35:37] Now, as a concession, not a command, I say this.
[00:35:40] For I wish that all were as I myself am, but each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another let's pray together well lord god we come to your word
[00:35:54] this morning and we realize that in your word you provide uh guidelines you provide uh rules and regulations for our lives and when we live according to your design father we find that we flourish that we are blessed that we are indeed happy but when we stray from that one way or the
[00:36:16] other. We miss the point of what you would have for us. And so we pray as we come to this text that you would give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand your good design
[00:36:29] for us in our marriages. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. So before we jump into chapter 7 this morning, I want to offer two quick caveats before we get into this. First of all, a word to parents
[00:36:44] this morning, and particularly parents of young children. I realize the subject matter of this text and this sermon is the sort that will lead to questions around the dinner table later today that you were hoping not to have to answer for a few years yet. And while I will do my best not
[00:37:00] to get unnecessarily detailed, I'm also convinced that the church shouldn't be afraid or timid about speaking out on these kinds of matters. We do our children and we do our youth a disservice when we avoid speaking publicly about issues that they are going to encounter and face in the course of their lives.
[00:37:21] And so we need to begin creating a paradigm in their minds for a right understanding of God's good design for us.
[00:37:31] And so that first caveat is for parents of children.
[00:37:35] The second caveat is this.
[00:37:38] I realize that not everyone here this morning is married.
[00:37:42] Some of you are yet old enough to be married.
[00:37:46] Others of you long to be married, but that hasn't been realized in your life yet.
[00:37:52] Some of you have been married and are no longer due to death or due to divorce.
[00:37:57] And I don't want to cause in you undue grief, and yet, and yet, this is God's Word for His people.
[00:38:06] And while this topic may not have immediate application to your current context, I think you also realize that it does have bearing in the lives of many of your brothers and sisters in this room here today, and God has given us this text for a very practical application
[00:38:23] within those lives. And if you're patient, you'll see that Paul turns his attention to the reality of singles and the reality of widows and widowers in the very next passage and following that we'll come to over the next couple of weeks. So that being said, let's think about what Paul is saying.
[00:38:45] And the first thing I want to point out as we come to chapter 7 is that there's actually a new literary clue that's important for our study of this letter of 1 Corinthians. Notice at the very
[00:38:56] beginning of verse 1, Paul says, now concerning the matters about which you wrote. Up till now in this letter, Paul has been addressing matters that had been reported to him by Chloe and her people. Remember, these are friends who are associated with the Corinthian church who saw
[00:39:14] these problems and came to Paul and said, there are some serious issues going on in the life of that church. But as we come to chapter 7, we find that not only had Chloe's people reported some
[00:39:25] issues, but the Corinthian church itself had written to Paul with some questions and some issues that they were wrestling with. And so Paul, in writing this letter, masterfully weaves together both Chloe's report and the letter they sent into one organic flowing argument or conversation to
[00:39:47] address all of these things. And we're going to find this clue now concerning the matters about which he wrote. We're going to find it in several other places as we go through this letter about
[00:39:58] other topics and other subjects that he will have to address. But what did they write about? What's the issue going on here? Well, we find it in the second part of verse 1 where it's in quotation
[00:40:10] marks. It says, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. Now, they are not quoting back something that Paul had once said to them. Rather, this is obviously a stance that
[00:40:26] some in that church had decided was good and right. This was a summary of a position that some of them had embraced, which once again signals to us, as if we haven't already seen it
[00:40:38] enough in this letter, that this church, this congregation, had a wide variety of views and beliefs and backgrounds. And they were just this hodgepodge congregation of all these different kinds of people. I can't imagine trying to minister to a church in which you had hedonists on one side
[00:40:58] and you had others who held this platonic view of marriage on the other side. By the way, that word platonic, you know, we often use that to describe relationships that do not have a romantic element to them. They're just friends. It's platonic. They're not interested in one
[00:41:16] another. Think about that word platonic. The root of platonic is Plato. Plato was the father of this dualism thinking. And dualism, of course, was the thing that said that the physical realm is bad, and so we deny ourselves physical pleasure. So a platonic relationship is one that very
[00:41:35] intentionally denies the physical pleasures that can come with a marriage relationship.
[00:41:40] Just a little bit of trivia for you that might be helpful. But back to this idea that you have these competing views within the life of the church. As I pointed out earlier, what's important
[00:41:51] for us to notice is there wasn't one that was right and one that was wrong. They were both wrong.
[00:41:55] They were both in error because both groups had completely misunderstood God's design for marriage and for human sexuality. The paradigm for which we find in Genesis chapter 2.
[00:42:11] And isn't it amazing that in a book, the Bible, that has thousands of chapters contained in it, it's in the second chapter that God clearly lays out for us His design for marriage, His design for human sexuality.
[00:42:27] Let me read those familiar words for us for a moment.
[00:42:31] This is Genesis chapter 2, picking up at verse 18.
[00:42:43] fit for him. Now out of the ground the Lord had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them and whatever the man
[00:42:54] called every living creature that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field but for Adam there was not found a helper
[00:43:05] fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man
[00:43:18] he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore
[00:43:33] a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they will become one flesh.
[00:43:44] Now, I imagine for most of you, those are very familiar words.
[00:43:47] You've heard those throughout the course of your Christian life.
[00:43:51] And the thing we're told, first of all, is that it was not good that the man was alone.
[00:43:56] It was not good that Adam did not have a partner, that he did not have a mate.
[00:44:02] And so God decided that he would make one uniquely fit for him.
[00:44:07] One who complimented him in every way.
[00:44:11] God made woman.
[00:44:13] for man. And you notice Adam's reaction when he saw her for the very first time? He rejoiced.
[00:44:22] I mentioned in our sermon series in Genesis several years ago that the first human words recorded in all of Scripture are Adam's wedding song. At last, flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone.
[00:44:37] Remember, God first paraded all the animals in front of Adam for him to name, but also to show him, what you need is not found here. You need someone uniquely made, uniquely designed, uniquely fit for you. And so Eve was. And so God brought them together and he declared the two will become
[00:44:57] one flesh. And that's not a metaphor. It's a holistic representation. There is a physical compatibility between a man and a woman that God has designed, and there is a joy and a binding of souls and hearts that occurs when that union is consummated. In other words, friends, sex is a
[00:45:20] good thing that is meant to be enjoyed in its proper context. And so in the Corinthian church, the hedonists were wrong because they took it out of context and they enjoyed it anywhere with anyone they wanted. But the ascetics were also wrong because they denied its goodness and refused
[00:45:41] to engage even within their marriages, essentially saying to God, what you have called good, we are calling evil. And that was a profound error as well. And so Paul responds with a corrective and he essentially tells them, sex is not the problem. Your sinful hearts are the problem.
[00:46:03] Look at verse 2, but because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. In other words, try as you might, you Corinthians, try as
[00:46:21] you might to stifle your God-given impulse for sexual relationships. The power of temptation and the weakness of your flesh are creating this incredibly dangerous scenario, one that will ultimately end up with you committing sexual immorality just like the hedonists do. If it's
[00:46:42] helpful for you, think about this in terms of going on a diet. Maybe you decide that you're going to cut sweets out of your life, or maybe it's carbs or whatever else you decide you need
[00:46:53] to cut out of your diet. And you start off well enough. You start off with all that kind of gusto.
[00:46:58] I'm not going to have any more candy. I'm not going to have any more mashed potatoes. And sure enough, you're able to pass up that little jar of M&Ms at your friend's house, or when you go out
[00:47:07] to eat, you say no to the bread that is passed around the table, and you feel pretty good about yourself. But you also know that after a while, those things that you are denying just take on
[00:47:20] this whole new appeal to you. Every time you see them, you want them, and you begin to justify things. Maybe you're at a birthday party. Will it be rude not to have a piece of cake? Or maybe
[00:47:33] you're at your mother-in-law's and she made that pot roast you love, but it's not the same if it's not served with potatoes and you give in. So it is, Paul says, with this ridiculous idea that a husband
[00:47:47] and wife ought not enjoy the very gift that God has reserved uniquely for them in marriage. Yeah, Paul says, you might be able to hold off for a few weeks. Maybe you could even hold off
[00:47:58] for a few months, but sooner or later, your urges and desires are going to overpower you and likely with someone other than your spouse. And the first sin gives way to a greater sin.
[00:48:14] And so in verses two through four, Paul offers a right view and approach to marriage and sex.
[00:48:21] Look at what he says there at the end of verse two going forward. Each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise
[00:48:32] the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. What's Paul
[00:48:45] saying? Let me see if I can summarize it. Husbands and wives have an obligation to be sexually available to their spouse. Neither has the right nor the authority to unilaterally decide to withhold themselves from the other. And this is what makes this text so astounding for us today.
[00:49:11] Paul is making it abundantly clear that husbands and wives are equals in this facet of marriage.
[00:49:19] Notice Paul doesn't elevate husbands over wives here.
[00:49:23] He doesn't give power to one spouse at the expense of the other.
[00:49:28] There is a mutual responsibility and also a mutual joy that is entrusted to each.
[00:49:36] Both have rights and neither has full authority over his or her own body.
[00:49:44] And that's the necessary implication, friends, of the idea of becoming one flesh.
[00:49:48] when you are joined together in marriage you are no longer two independent autonomous people god has now united you as one and the needs of one are to be met by the other and it's as simple
[00:50:02] as that but it's also as important as that because paul's argument in this passage is that regularly enjoying this union is a safeguard against adultery infidelity and all kinds of other sexual immorality. But let me also be very clear in that what he is saying here is not in any way,
[00:50:27] shape, or form license for abusive demands or control, nor is it permission to turn sex into a bargaining chip or to use as leverage within a marriage. God's purpose is for husbands and wives to willingly, joyfully, and frequently meet the needs and desires of the other.
[00:50:54] In fact, the only exception that Paul can fathom in his mind, the only exception to this regulative principle for marriage is found in what he says in verse 5.
[00:51:07] Notice he says, do not deprive one another.
[00:51:09] That's really his basic argument.
[00:51:11] Don't deprive one another except, except perhaps.
[00:51:15] You notice how he's couching this language, not as command, as concession, do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a limited time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, but then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you because of your
[00:51:35] lack of self-control.
[00:51:36] The only scenario that Paul can imagine a husband and a wife abstaining within their marriage is when by mutual agreement they devote themselves for a defined amount of time to the Lord in prayer. You might consider it a fast of sorts, but notice what he says, but then come
[00:51:56] together again. Break your fast and reunite as one flesh. And why? He goes back to his original argument because of temptation, because of Satan, because of the danger that lurks when you deny the very good thing that God has given to you. And friends, you and I know that it is no secret
[00:52:17] that adultery is one of the biggest threats to marriage. And there's really no statistical difference between Christian marriages and non-Christian marriages. Adultery is a common threat to each. The rates and the percentages are almost equal. And Paul is making the case
[00:52:37] that a marriage that enjoys a healthy frequency of sexual relations is one way to safeguard it against infidelity.
[00:52:48] He's not saying it's the only safeguard, nor is he saying it's flawless.
[00:52:53] But he's definitely saying that to deprive yourself of this essential element is to open yourself up to temptation and even sin.
[00:53:04] Whether that be actual adultery with another person, or giving yourself over to the use of things like pornography or fantasy or whatever else the case might be. There's danger that lurks when we deprive ourselves, deny ourselves what God
[00:53:19] has created as good. You see, he's given us marriage. He's given us sex. He's given you your spouse as gifts to be enjoyed. Really and truly, in some ways, Paul is echoing the words of solomon that we heard earlier from proverbs chapter 5 where solomon says rejoice in the wife
[00:53:44] of your youth a lovely dear a graceful doe let her breasts fill you at all times with delight be intoxicated always in her love we studied this actual passage this chapter just this past wednesday in our wednesday night bible study we're looking at wisdom through the book of proverbs and
[00:54:03] we came to this passage and i mentioned that that sort of language which we might consider sort of explicit language is the kind that might make us wiggle in our pew a little bit, might make us
[00:54:13] blush considering the fact that we are in mixed company. But my counter to that, friends, is it's biblical. It's biblical language. These aren't ultimately Solomon's words. These are God's words for his people. And for those of you who are married, your spouse is God's gift to you.
[00:54:33] and he wants you to be infatuated with your spouse.
[00:54:37] Always intoxicated, always smitten with him or with her.
[00:54:43] And a significant part of that infatuation is expressed and satisfied in marital relations.
[00:54:49] It provides that union and that connection that knits body and heart together.
[00:54:56] And God's word is this, enjoy it.
[00:55:00] He has given you this gift and he wants you to delight in it.
[00:55:07] And ultimately, friends, this is one of the ways that we demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel to the world around us.
[00:55:14] When we delight in our spouse, when we live according to God's good design, when our marriages are an illustration of the sort of commitment and love that Christ has for his bride, the church, we are pointing people to Jesus.
[00:55:31] and that's our call to reflect the transforming power of the gospel to those around us and we can do it in word and we ought to do it in word but we can also do it in the day in day out living
[00:55:44] of our lives in all the relationships and all the facets that god has given us and for those of us who are married this is another way that we can showcase god's goodness that he has built
[00:55:57] into his design so be encouraged today and let's pray together well lord our god we do thank you that you have given us your word we thank you that you have given us the institution of marriage and
[00:56:14] within that you have given us reason and opportunity to enjoy these marriages but lord we also know the effects of sin on this institution we have seen it all around us we've experienced it but father
[00:56:32] you also tell us that when we order our lives around your word and around your design and around your good purposes, that your people flourish, that your people are happy, but that we also are a reflection of what you intended from the beginning to those around us. So Lord, we
[00:56:51] would pray this morning that you would help us to see how the gospel informs every aspect of our lives. We do pray for marriages in this congregation. We pray for strong marriages. We pray for healthy
[00:57:03] relationships between husbands and wives. We pray this for the good of the families, for the good of the covenant family, but ultimately, Father, for the good of the gospel, that we might represent it well
[00:57:16] to the watching world around us. So help us, Lord. Strengthen us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[00:57:23] closing hymn this morning is number 719 let's stand together as we sing a christian home
[00:57:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:57:33] as you go today go with god's blessing may the grace of the lord jesus christ the love of god
[01:00:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:00:31] the father almighty and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you all both now and forevermore amen
