Untitled Sermon (4)

1 Corinthians: The Grime and Glory of the Church  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 views
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →

Scriptural Text: 1 Corinthians 7:10-16

1 Corinthians 7:10–16 ESV
10 To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife. 12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Introduction

Types of people in the rooms
Folks that have been impacted by divorce
Those who you love have experienced a divorce
You yourself have experienced a dirov

Exposition of 1 Corinthians 7:10-16

Last week we turned our attention to issues that it seems the Corinthians actually wrote Paul about in an earlier letter because in this chapter, he turns his attention to those issues beginning with the words, “NOW CONCERNING THE MATTERS ABOUT WHICH YOU WROTE”
Right out of the gate Paul starts with marriage…Not sure why he started there in this moment in history with this church. If they were anything like us, then he would have started there because the institution of marriage was under such FIERCE ATTACK from EVERY SINGLE SIDE!
Paul begins his response to their letter by responding to their statement we find in verse 1: “It is not good for man to touch a woman.”
Last Sunday, we discussed a few possible ways this kind of thinking could have been showing up in the Corinthian church
One way was in an over-exaggerated preference to sexual celibacy and abstinence.
Single people resisting marriage not because they didn’t long for those relationships but because they had began to view sexual relationships even in marriage as a burden to be avoided.
Also, married people who were withholding sexual intimacy from one another even though it was given to them by God as a gift to be enjoyed for their satisfaction, union, and even their sanctification.
In verse 7 Paul gives his response to this way of thinking:
1 Corinthians 7:7 ESV
7 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.
Paul in his own way is arguing that...
If God has gifted you in lifelong singleness then embrace singleness...
If God has gifted you in such a way where you treasure a spouse and family, then you don’t have to apologize for that.
But whether it’s a life of singleness or a married life you desire, remember that Christ is ULTIMATE not your marital status and He is sufficient no matter where you may find yourself.
In other words, the GIFT has a GIVER and that is where our ultimate HOPE must rest.
However, this was not the only dangerous misunderstanding threatening marriage in Corinth.
The threat of DIVORCE appears to have also been significant.
Christians divorcing Christians and Christians divorcing unbelievers.
Quick Side Note: Notice that in a society captive to sexual immorality, divorce is also going to be an issue to confront.
Now, of course, hypersexuality isn’t the ONLY ISSUE driving divorce. The misunderstandings around success, the struggles with emotional healthiness, and the unhealthy esteeming of my own personal happiness as the ultimate value above everything else are a few other factors driving our struggles to maintain good marriages
However, make no mistake about it, a society so overwhelmed with sexual immorality that it unknowingly influences and shapes our ideas, philosophies, preferences, and imagery is most certainly going to also NATURALLY struggle with divorce
Because with the increase of sexual immorality and sexual misunderstanding in a culture comes without failure, the devaluing of marriage and the objectifying of the sexes as things to be mishandled rather than gifts to be cherished for the glory of God.
A over-sexualized culture will ALWAYS, ALWAYS be a divorcing culture and a non-marrying culture because when sex is taken out of its context of God-glorifying, Christ-centered, Self-Sacrificing marriage, the whole experience is diminished and devalued, and attitudes like if I’m not happy then we shouldn’t be together or if I’m not satisfied we can’t be together began to run wild!
Just think about how much influence social media, TV sitcoms, movies, talk shows, and just celebrities in regular life seem to have over our sexual ideas and philosophies!
So much so to the point we totally reshape our marriage beds BEFORE WE EVER GET IN THEM by bringing all those experiences into the marriage bed with us!
[ILLUSTRATION] Even committed Christians are out here professing their love for Christ while declaring that it’s OK to experience sex with a person you’re dating so you can determine whether it’s good and you’re compatible.
But Saints of God that is not influenced by the bible…that’s influenced by this world...
HONESTLY SPEAKING, if we weren’t so inundated with so many ungodly expectations of sex by our culture and our own unhealthy and sinful experiences, whether those experiences came through our own sin or even more tragically whether they came through someone else’s sin upon us in some form of abuse, our ability to experience intimacy together with our spouse wouldn’t be nearly as challenging and difficult.
SEX in marriage is in part war because of our war with the flesh, the world, and the devil outside of marriage before and sometimes even during our marriage.
You see, God-GLORIFYING, Christ-CENTERED, Self-SACRIFICING Marital sex was intended to be a unique experience with few impressions from the outside world! It was intended to be a fresh and vibrant discovery between two God-fearing people, an experience constantly evolving as the spouses invest in one another, learning to give up their own will for the will of the other even in marriage bed. It was created as an experience for two spouses to enjoy ALONE with their own experiences together being the primary means they used to grow and deepen that intimacy.
Obviously, that is not our culture and as a result this is at least one problem we face in our fight to keep marriages good and healthy.
A sexualized culture will always be a non-marrying and divorcing culture. Corinth was a sexualized culture/predominant American culture is a sexualized culture. So, no surprise that divorce is running rampant in both settings, and this is where our text picks up…
Paul offers instruction about divorce to two separate groups of people. I want to start by identifying these two groups.

Identifying the two audiences

Paul says in V10 “To the married”...
So, there’s our 1st group: married people. Easy enough...
However, in verse 12, Paul gives us a SUBGROUP as the 2nd group:
He says “To the rest I say (I, not the Lord)…” who’s the rest? It continues “That if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever,” V13 says “if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever”.
So, we have two groups now. MARRIED FOLKS and then a subgroup of MARRIED FOLKS, The Rest” - MARRIED believers who have spouses who are not believers.
Here’s a quick question: Why does Paul feel the need to distinguish? In verse 10 he addresses the “married couple” both husband and wife because they are both Christians, but in verse 12, he directs his attention to the believing spouses who are married to unbelievers. WHY?
Because Paul doesn’t spend his time addressing UNBELIEVERS about the CONDUCT BELIEVERS ARE CALLED TO.
He’s not giving guidance to NON-CHRISTIANS on how to live out the CHRISTIAN LIFE.
Here’s another question: Does he believe unbelievers are incapable of honoring their spouses and treating them faithfully? OF COURSE NOT! So what is going on here...
This is not about Paul being an elitist. Rather, it gets at one of the things I talked about last week. When you talk about marriage, when you talk about giving yourself away in the most vulnerable ways possible, when you talk about fighting tooth and nail to stay together.
Paul is saying there is something that is separating you from the unbeliever: YOUR MOTIVATION and YOUR POWER.
The deepest motivation to stay in our marriages should be to serve and honor the one who died for me. UNBELIEVERS don’t have that.
The deepest source of power to stay in our marriages, should be the Holy Spirit who lives on the inside of you to comfort you and give you power to stand. UNBELIEVERS don’t have that source of power to pull from in the hardest moments of their marriage.
When Paul calls us to stay, the Gospel and Spirit are at the forefront of his mind as the two primary means by which the staying is going to happen.
This is what should distinguish the Christian in marriage from any other being in marriage. A REAL GOSPEL that changes how WE SEE EVERYTHING in LIFE including our MARRIAGES and A REAL SPIRIT at work in us to change our ability to endure in ANY of LIFE including our MARRIAGES.
Is this Gospel shaping you in this way? Is the Spirit shaping you in this way?
Paul assumes that it is which is why he is addressing only those who have this Gospel and who have this Spirit.
So, we have our two audiences. “The Married” are the Christian couples and “the rest” are the Christian spouses in marital unions with unbelievers.
Now, let’s deal with each group...

To the married (v10 - 11)

1 Corinthians 7:10–11 ESV
10 To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.
Let’s deal with a couple of quick statements in this text:
1) “The wife should not separate from her husband.”
What does Paul mean by SEPARATE?
He does not mean what we mean? For Paul, Separation and Divorce are the same thing.
Matthew 19:6 ESV
6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Separation in 1 Corinthians 7 is a termination of the marriage.
Not just a decision to spend some time apart in order to sort things out. In fact the Bible doesn’t have much to say on that topic, and it is one that should not be hastily made and should probably have good, godly, and emotionally healthy counsel involved in it
2) “if she does she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband” What should we take from Paul’s encouragement towards RECONCILIATION?
Most marriages in our culture that end in divorce are typically considered final and irreparable, but Paul says in a case of no-reason/no-fault divorce amongst committed Christians. Another marriage shouldn’t even be on the mind of the divorcing party unless it is a desire to reconcile and remarry.
Unlike the culture, Paul sees RECONCILIATION as a REAL Option post divorce.
3) Paul makes this statement that deserves our attention: “Not I, but the Lord” What does he mean by it?
Paul is saying that when talking about marriage among believers. The Lord has gave us particular instruction before he departed. Matt 5:32; 19:3-9; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18
The Flow of Matthew 19:3-9 – The way Jesus answers the question presented to him by the Pharisees in such a way that Sexual Immorality is the last out!
3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Question (v3): Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause
Answer (v4-6): Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate!
So that’s a really long way to say…not really
Hints that this observation is correct is found in the response of the Pharisees in V7 “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send here away?”
Sexual Immorality doesn’t come into the picture into the last sentence in the passage
TRANSITION: Alright so that’s Paul’s message to the believing married. Now Paul turns his attention to the believing spouse married to an unbelieving spouse...

To the rest (v12 - 16)

1 Corinthians 7:12–16 ESV
12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Counseling not condoning

To be sure, Paul offering instructions to a Christian married to an unbeliever is not his way of approving of believers marrying unbelievers. Rather, Paul is dealing with what is a very real reality of the Gospel hitting an area/city/country for the 1st time…many married people end up being converted while their spouses end up not being converted.
So, just to be clear, Paul is giving instruction on how to handle an existing marriage. He is not giving you licenses to marry an unbeliever.
1 Corinthians 7:39 ESV
39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
2 Corinthians 6:14–16 ESV
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
So, verses 12-16 is for believers married to unbelievers and is not meant to condone believers marrying unbelievers...
Some of you may ask why not? And it is the same reason that Paul is not addressing the unbelieving spouse…In marriage, our surest foundation is that the triune God has established it, our deepest motivation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our most potent power is the Spirit of the Living God. None of that is found in the unbeliever which means only one person is looking to the most vital places for a Christian marriage to thrive.

I, Not The Lord

Paul continues in verse 12 saying, (I, not the Lord say)…
This statement has been severely taken out of context over the years to mean that Paul is saying that everything he’s about to say should just be considered his opinion and nothing more, but of course we know that’s just simply not the case.
All scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and according TO THE SCRIPTURES, Paul’s writings are scripture. (2 Peter 3:15-16)
1 Peter 3:15–16 ESV
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
So, “not the Lord, but I” doesn’t mean that it is not inspired, but rather, it means that Christ did not speak on this particular issue when he was here on earth.
Christ in all of his talks on marriage is speaking to a Jewish audience whose God was the God of Israel. For Paul, the Apostle called to the Gentiles, that was obviously not the case.
So, Paul is simply saying that what I am about to give you did not come from Christ’s teachings while he was here on earth, but rather they were divinely delivered by the Holy Spirit to me to give to you that you might obey them as the very voice of God!

Instructions

Paul gives the Corinthians fairly straightforward discussion as to how to one should conduct himself in the midst of mixed faith marriage
Don’t leave! (v12-13)
Live Holy (v14)
If all else fails, let go (v15-16)
1. Don’t leave
12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.
Spiritual maturity is not defined on your own terms. Spiritual Maturity is defined on God’s terms.
“I’m just not on His level”
“I can’t grow while I’m with him”
“He’s keeping me from going up another level in God!”
If you haven’t learned yet, God uses the tension, the frustrations, the struggle to shape us and mold us! which means that it could possibly be a marriage with a unbelieving spouse that God uses to kill your flesh and mature in the things of the Spirit!
We’ll continue to flesh this out over the last part of this message so you can see that your ability to stay speaks more to your spiritual maturity then your ability to leave.
But is there any circumstances in which you are permitted to leave? Yes…we’ll get there as well...
2. Live Holy
14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
This is not implying that everyone in the house is saved because of the presence of the believing spouse, but rather the house still has the presence of God there because a child of God is in the house.
The family in which a believer belongs to has a greater opportunity to be a believing household because of the presence of that one believer!
One of my best friends lived in a house with a believing grandmother. His father was in the world…His mother was in the world…but he was called by God at a early age through the testimony of His grandmother. The believing spouse sanctifies the entire house!
Their presence provides opportunities for God’s grace to be demonstrated and his blessings to be showered upon a family
[ILLUSTRATION ]The proposed sparing of Sodom and Gomorrah based on the presence of 10 righteous men!
Application: Live Holy!!! 1 Peter 3:1,2, 7
Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct…Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you [1] of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
3. Let Go
15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Here’s where a little controversy normally ensues. What does it mean to “not be enslaved?” I think it means to be able to remarry. Why? The entire flow of the text is speaking to the binds of marriage.
Reasoning: You don’t know if you will be able to save your husband/wife?
Singles: Let that sink in…HOW DO YOU KNOW!
So we know that in the case that a spouse leaves we are no longer bound...
And we know in the case of infidelity we are no longer bound...
Is there anything else????
Possibly…We have to take this text within the context that Paul is dealing with…Paul is dealing with NO-FAULT divorces...
Jesus even was dealing with NO-FAULT divorces with men abandoning their wives for basically being tired of them...
That context is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! In fact here is what one theologian says...
The First Letter to the Corinthians (c. For Christian Married Couples: Do Not Divorce, 7:10–11)
David Instone-Brewer... In the context, Paul is clearly dealing with people who are asking about whether they should divorce their spouses on grounds that Paul considers unacceptable, and thus he tells them that they should not do so. Paul stands with Jesus in holding that divorce may be justified only where one partner clearly manifests a radical refusal to respect one’s marital commitments and maintain the fundamental integrity of the marriage.
Presbyterian church’s abandonment position...
BE CAREFUL WITH THIS POSITION!!!! Or we will create another version of NO FAULT DIVORCE...

Why is marriage so serious?

Malachi 2:13–16 ESV
13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
Marriage is not two-way covenant but rather a three way covenant between the man, the woman, and God! (v14)
Marriage is not simply a physical teaming up of two people. It is a union joined by the Spirit himself (v15a). Matthew 19:5-9
The destruction of Godly marriages leads to the destruction of Godly legacies (v15b). Genesis 1:28
So, the people have run into a problem. Their worship has been diminished!
“You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand”
Why has their worship been diminished? Verse 14 Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by your covenant
So, spiritual well being is directly tied the well being of a marriage. 1 Timothy hints at this making a requirement of Eldership, a man who governs his own home well and the following text is littered with references to guard yourselves in your Spirit
What are the implications of the marriage being the model of Christ loving the church? It is the closest relationship in all of human existence next to Christ and the Church
I think the ultimate demonstration of Christ-modeling love in marriage is the decision to remain married in the face of difficulties!
We’ve been reconciled to God! , therefore, we are to be people of reconciliation...
Romans 5:10–11 ESV
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
We must as God’s people activate the word of God to our lives and apply biblical principles to our marriages. Spouses should make every attempt possible to forgive one another and restore the relationship.
We are supposed to model the ministry of reconciliation even in the concept of marriage (marriage is the perfect place to model the Gospel)
The amount of times Christians are referred to as the adulterer and God the one seeking reconciliation wooing his bride back to him. Over and over and over again!
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more