Sermon Tone Analysis

I CORINTHIANS 7:1-40

 

           I.

*THE MONOGAMY OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE*

*              *A.

The Sanctity Of The Marriage Relationship                      B.

The Purity Of The Marriage Relationship

 

          II.

*THE HARMONY OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE*

*              *A.

Physical Harmony

              B.

Psychological Harmony

              C.

Spiritual Harmony

                  1.

A Sanctifying Effect

                  2.

A Pacifying Effect

                  3.

A Unifying Effect

 

         III.

*THE PERMANENCY OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE*

*              *A.

Marriage Is For Life

              B.

Marriage Is In The Lord

 

              So what we have here is a series of questions that Paul is answering in response to the inquiries which these Corinthian believers have made.

There was a particular circumstance in the city of Corinth and a particular cultural atmosphere which must be understood if you’re going to really get what’s being said in this chapter.

This is not an easy chapter to understand.

When you read it there are many things there that sound strange to us and there are discussions here that seem to be foreign to the circumstances in which we find ourselves today.

So you have to be aware that there was a cultural atmosphere.

Now in the city of Corinth marriage was indeed a very severe problem, divorce was rampant in their society, and so when people came to know the Lord one of the things they were taught was the importance of the family structure and the imperative nature of having a Christian family.

So because of that there were some believers who tended to go to the other extreme and rather than being married and risk getting a divorce they were saying that you were super spiritual if you did not get married, so they were magnifying the celibate state, they were saying that the person who was not married was more spiritual and closer to the Lord than those who were married.

Now of course we know that the apostle Paul would not take that position at all.

It is Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who has given us that magnificent fifth chapter of Ephesians where he lays out in beautiful, beautiful language the importance of the family and the importance of the family being filled with the Spirit of God and being what God wants it to be.

In fact Paul compares the relationship between the husband and the wife to the relationship between Christ and His church, so he lifts marriage to a high level and he shows us the importance of marriage being everything that God wants it to be.

So you’ve got to keep in mind the atmosphere.

For instance, look on over in this chapter and I want you to notice what he says in verse 26.

And in verse 29 Now he is talking about the circumstances in which these Corinthian believers find themselves, so you have to keep that in mind.

Now another thing you have to keep in mind as you read through and study this chapter is that not every circumstance in the marriage state, nor in the single state, is handled in this particular chapter.

In fact there’s no chapter in the Bible where every problem related to marriage is handled.

In fact there’s no book in the Bible where every problem of marriage is handled.

In fact I’ve got news for you, there’s not a book big enough made to deal with all of the problems of marriage in the Bible.

So what you find here are not specific commandments but rather you find spiritual principles which the Spirit of God gave to the apostle Paul.

Now we know this because of certain statements.

Look down at verse 6 And then notice over in verse 25 similar language.

Now what he means by that, having no commandment, is that the Lord Jesus in His teaching did not give a specific directive to all of these subjects that he’s dealing with in relation to the marriage and in relation to the single state.

And then you will notice down in verse 40 at the end of the chapter, though he has said that he has no specific commandment from the Lord, he now says about the things he’s just shared.

So Paul is claiming inspiration for what he has just said but he is pointing out to us that he is not dealing with specific commandments of the Lord Jesus, but rather he is giving broad principles by which we can build a strong and a happy marriage.

Now there’s another thing that Paul makes very clear in these verses as we get ready to study the chapter.

Paul makes it very clear that the important matter is not whether or not you are married, the important matter is that you live for Jesus whether you are married or whether you are single.

Now look over at verse 17.

What he’s saying is, whether you’re married or whether you’re single, walk, live for Jesus.

Now look at verse 18.-19.

In other words he’s saying it doesn’t matter what your particular circumstances or state in life may be, but here’s what matters: but the keeping of the commandments of God.

Now verse 20.-24: if you’re married then live for Jesus, if you are single then live for Jesus.

It doesn’t matter which state you’re in, just be sure that you live for Jesus.

Now having said these things in the way of introduction I want to talk to you a little while about how to be happily married.

How To Be Happy Though Married.”

I want to talk about how to be happily married.

I do believe that it is the intention of God that people be happily married.

I believe that marriage is intended to be holy wedlock not unholy deadlock.

I don’t believe God ever intended for people to be as unhappy as many people are in the marriage relationship.

Now having said that I don’t want to paint an unreal picture, I don’t want us to look at marriage through rose-colored glasses, because the fact of the matter is there are degrees of happiness and there are times when you are happier than you are at other times, and marriage has its times of ebb and flow, and there are times when things go well, there are times when things don’t go well, there are times when you have a higher degree of happiness than at other times.

So don’t just, the first time something goes wrong, say “Oh, we’ve got an unhappy marriage", and make plans to bail out.

That’s not what I’m trying to get over to you tonight.

I’m just trying to say that there are some principles given to us here that, if you will follow them, obey them, and live according to them, you can experience a high degree of happiness in your marriage.

Miserible marriages, medicore marriages, and some maginifcant marriages.

Now, you see, God has given us an instruction manual and the reason a lot of people absolutely fail in marriage is that they do not understand that the only one who can really tell you how marriage is to work correctly is the One who designed the marriage relationship in the first place.

Now if you have a Toyato and you’re having some difficulties with it, and then you get a Chevrolet manual and you try to solve the problems of your Toyato by thumbing through and examining a Chevrolet manual chances are it’s not going to work out very well.

Well if you’re having problems in your marriage and you do not consult God’s manual and find out what God says about the matter then chances are you’re not going to be able to deal with the difficulties in your marriage.

You see, God, in His principles in the Bible, has put certain walls around the marriage relationship.

Now these walls are not intended to make marriage a miserable prison but rather they are intended to make marriage a safe haven.

So when you operate within the guidelines of God, when you follow the principles of the Originator of marriage himself, you can experience, I believe, under the Lord a large degree of happiness in your marriage.

So I want to share with you from these verses some of those principles of how to have a happy marriage, how to be happily married.

First of all, in these verses I think it is set before us very clearly the *MONOGAMY OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE.

*Now what I mean by that is is that the principle in the Bible is that there is to be one man for one woman, one woman for one man.

verse 2 That’s the principle of monogamy: one man for one woman, one woman for one man.

That’s the principle of the book of Genesis, God said two shall become one.

The Lord Jesus picked up that same principle and He said two become one.

The principle of monogamy in marriage.

Now there were some, as I have said to you earlier, who were saying that it was much more spiritual if you were not married, they had glorified the celibate state and they were teaching that a person was super spiritual if they were not married.

Well, the apostle Paul is coming back now and he is bringing to bear on this subject of the sanctity of the marriage relationship.

You see, folks, it is God who designed marriage.

You know, God created Adam and put him in the garden and, you know, Adam had never seen a woman in all of his life.

And then God put Adam to sleep, the first anesthesiology, and from the side of Adam God took a rib.

And, you know, I’ve always loved Matthew Henry’s quaint little comment about that.

He said, God took the woman from the side of the man, not out of his head to rule over him, nor under his feet to be trampled under by him, but near his heart to be loved by him, under his arm to be cared for by him.

Don’t you like that?

Isn’t that a beautiful saying?

So, you see, it is God who did that, God who created the first woman for the first man, and for the first time in his life Adam saw a woman and he said, “Wow, wow, wow, wowee!”

Now that’s in the original Hebrew, I dug that out in my study.

So God brought them together.

Marriage is a divine institution.

Marriage is of God.

So the Bible teaches the sanctity of the marriage relationship.

The Bible also teaches the *PURITY OF THE MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIP.

*That is, to avoid sexual immorality.

One of the reasons for marriage is to avoid sin.

Now that’s not the only reason, that’s not the only reason that people marry.

In fact there are several reasons given in the Bible for marriage.

One of the reasons is of course for the purpose of replenishing, for bringing children into the world.

God said to Adam and to Eve, He said, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth.