What Really Matters

Speaker 1: 0:08

Well, good morning. My name is Steve Glark. I'm a retired pastor. I love being here with you. I have to short my introduction because, as you can see, I have a rather long sermon this morning. Just kidding, seriously, this past week I went online to hear last Sunday's sermon, because last Sunday's sermon and this Sunday's text the two texts are joined at the hip. No, that doesn't mean I'm going to do the Christian in section three, don't worry. But gosh, I couldn't believe that the visiting pastor didn't come with his oldies but goodies. The first time I came here I sure went into my oldies but goodies file. It didn't work, but I did.

Speaker 1: 0:57

Gosh, he did a wonderful job on a very difficult text. He explained it well, he applied it naturally and well, and I was actually deeply moved by the whole sermon. When I was driving over here this morning, I think, I saw a sign down the road that said blessings ahead. We pray so, lord. As we come and read this difficult text again this morning, we ask that your Holy Spirit would help us to understand it. Apply it to our hearts, lord, and strengthen us so that we may do your will in Christ's name, amen.

Speaker 1: 1:31

I'm going to read a good part of the text for you this morning, and here it is Now, concerning the betrothed. Actually, the word betrothed isn't in the Greek. The word is virgins. As we'll see when we talk about it, it's a little of an interpretation of the text. I think it's a right text, but that's not what it says. Now, concerning the virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who, by the Lord's mercy, is trustworthy.

Speaker 1: 2:02

I think that in light of the present distress what Present distress, paul? I think in light of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free, fair enough. But if you marry, you have not sinned. Wow, that's good you know. And if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. I hope not, paul, because the word betrothed comes from the old English troth. I pledge you my troth, my troth, but if she does, she has not, she's not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles. Wow, I can't believe you're saying that, paul. I'm glad you're saying it, not me, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean. Brothers, the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they have none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Speaker 1: 3:20

Well, first of all, the word virgins there. What does it mean? It might be obvious, it means unmarried, but it's rightly translated as a betrothed. You see, in the ancient world, when you were 13, 14 years old, you could be betrothed by your parents to marry somebody else. Believe it or not, that's the case. It's still the case in many parts of the world.

Speaker 1: 3:46

One of my three best friends in high school, his family, was originally from India, and then they sent him to India to marry a girl they had picked out for him. And when I expressed surprise, he looked at me and said by the way, it's not a bad thing to listen to your parents occasionally, you know, because we have a much lower divorce rate than you do. Well, we're still glad that our parents aren't going to choose for us, okay, but so you could be betrothed since you were 12, 13, 14 years old and, of course, over the passage of time and this would be true of the boy and it would be true of the girl you know you are going to get married, you are with each other all of the time and, of course, with the passage of time, sexual temptation is going to get stronger, and indeed it is going to get stronger. That's not so much the case in that we don't get betrothed anymore, but you know the pressures of sexual temptation if you're young. The Roman culture you were allowed to. Well, the guys, what's nothing as much change. The guys were allowed to do anything that they want and people say, yeah, that's typical of guys. Well, presumably they were doing it with girls, but you could do anything you want, especially in cars. You know the pressure you're under as young people anything goes. What do you mean? You're not living that kind of lifestyle, and so there's this enormous pressure that's going on.

Speaker 1: 5:21

And so the first thing that Paul tells us is I want you young people, to live your lives with wisdom and also with freedom. Here's what he says. If anyone thinks that he's not behaving properly towards his betrothed, if his sexual passions are strong and it has to be. Let him do as he wishes. Let him marry, it's no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. Listen to this. So then, he who marries his betrothed does well, but he who refrains from marriage will do even better. So that's what I want you to know. You're free to marry or not to marry, says Paul. That's a matter of wisdom.

Speaker 1: 6:17

But the shocking thing is, he said it's actually a better idea not to marry, believe it or not, and he applies this to those who have been widowed. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is free to be married whom she wishes only, of course, in the Lord. Yet in my judgment, she is happier if she remains as she is, and I think that I too have the Spirit of God. Marriage is good, it's right, it's okay, says Paul, but if you're single, you may want to seriously think about remaining single. He's going to tell us why, in a minute. You might want to think about remaining single, because it's actually better for you. I'm going to tell you the truth.

Speaker 1: 7:07

I struggle with this text, but then I realize this is the Word of God and I'm not over the text as the speaker. I'm under the text, but I'm just going to have to admit to you that when our kids got married, my wife and I did a high five and we parted for a month. We're still doing the high five. The other part is getting harder and harder. But, paul, this is what you're saying and this is what I want to say to you who are teenagers, because that's who the betrothed would have been. You're free to marry or not to marry. Okay, don't let yourself be put under the pressure of your classmates who are saying you mean, you don't have a boyfriend, you don't have a girlfriend. Paul would say you can or you can't. But if I were you, I wouldn't. Don't let yourself be defined by the expectations of your culture and of your classmates. If you do, it will take you captive and destroy you, and if you don't, you'll be free and you'll be wise and you'll know how to live your life for the Lord. So there's his provocative statements, and now he's going to tell us why. And the first thing he says in light of the present crisis. I think that, in view of the present crisis, it is good for a person to remain as he is.

Speaker 1: 8:42

If you go into the Acts of the Apostles, there's a Christian prophet called Agabus who had predicted that there was going to be a famine. And sure enough, there was a famine in the Roman Empire in the time of Claudius, and so there was real distress going on. And secondly, claudius had made an edict. He said all Jews out of Rome. And so Priscilla and Aquila, who helped Paul plant the church in Corinth, were actually Jews originally from Rome who had been thrown out. That was real, serious racial prejudice going on there. You understand, and more than that. It is now AD 55. And in AD 54, claudius had died. And you know who comes after Claudius, who's in his first year of the reign right now Nero. And he's such a psychopath that within years from this, he'll be burning Christians in his gardens and hanging over the Christian church.

Speaker 1: 9:50

Was this realization that Jesus predicted that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed? And you go back and read your history books. It's not the greatest amount of people who have ever been killed, but it is one of the greatest acts of genocide in the history of the church, in the history of civilization, everyone in Jerusalem was slaughtered and killed, and so this is a time of distress. And Paul is saying you know what Light of the present distress, you might think it's good not to get married. This is what he says in verse 26.

Speaker 1: 10:29

I think that, in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. By the way I get it, this is a pretty tough time too. I know it. I mean, you see what's going on in our culture, and I'm ready to throw away my cell phone because when I read the news, I'm overcome by the present distress. And, thank God we don't have a psychopathic M over us, but one half of the country thinks one president is a psychopath and the other half of the country thinks the other guy is a psychopath. And no, there's not war raging outside the door, thank God and I mean that thank God. And no, we're not in the depths of a deep depression, don't take it for granted. Thank God for that.

Speaker 1: 11:21

But times are tough. I love it when people say to me our parents didn't have it like this. You know, times are tough. No, my mom and dad, they didn't go through this. Now, my mom and dad went through World War II. That wasn't much, was it? Especially when your siblings got killed in war and my mom and dad went through the Great Depression, what do you mean? It wasn't tough back then. It's always tough, folks. It's always tough because Paul is going to tell us that the present form of the world is passing away, it's falling apart. That's the nature of the time in which we live.

Speaker 1: 12:04

So, in light of the nature of the times in which we live, you are free to use your wisdom as to when you want to get married or if you want to get married. My daughter wanted to go to graduate school and so she wisely, you know, when all of her friends from my school when college were getting married, she kind of felt out of it. Don't go there. Don't allow yourself to be put under that pressure, even from your fellow boys and girls who were in the Christian Youth Group at Westtown with you. You are to use wisdom, says Paul. Maybe you don't want to get married yet because you're 30 years old and not married doesn't mean you're running out of time and all that stuff.

Speaker 1: 12:54

Paul says there's a lot of wisdom to not getting married. In fact I even say it's better. Well, I'm still shocked, I must admit it to you. But then he gives us a third example and he says I would advise you to think about not getting married so that you can be devoted to the Lord. Here's what he said. This is what I mean, brothers. The appointed time has grown very short. A lot of skeptics say oh, you see, paul thought that Christ was going to come back next week, and of course he hasn't. Oh, but I didn't think anything like that. If you read Thessalonians, he'll tell you I don't think the time is short. What he says is here is I think the time has grown very short, and the word short means compressed, intense. And so here's my example.

Speaker 1: 13:51

You've been reading this book for some time now and you've come now to the last chapter. And the last chapter is incredibly intense because, you see, this whole long first part is now wrapped up and coming to its conclusion in the last chapter. And this last chapter is called the last days. The last days are not the months before Christ returned, the last days are the last chapter.

Speaker 1: 14:25

In Acts, on the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came down, peter said this is what is fulfilled of the prophet Joel in the last days 2000 years ago. The Holy Spirit will be given In this last chapter. It's very intense. On the one hand you can see things falling apart. On the other hand you can see the Spirit of God and the Kingdom of God breaking in. And this last chapter is so intense that it's like I'm no honey, I can't put out the garbage. Right now. I can't finish this. Or it's like I should have said that was to the husband. Or it's like the ninth inning of the World Series. You've been through eight innings, you're in the final inning. It's intense, it is compressed. The whole game comes down to this. And so if someone calls you on your cell phone, you know you pick it up and you sigh and you silence it and say who would call you on your cell phone in the ninth inning for crying out loud? This is too intense. That's what Paul is saying. The time in which we live is very intense. On the one hand it's falling apart, but on the other hand the gospel is being proclaimed and the Spirit is being poured out.

Speaker 1: 15:49

And if you want to be devoted to the Lord, if you want to get in on the action. You'll have to be single to get into it with the kind of freedom that we are talking about. And so he says in verse 32, I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord. But the married man, of course, he's anxious about worldly things and how to please his wife and his interests, you see, are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord I'm going to be holy in body and spirit but the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. Of course I say this for your benefit, not to lay any restriction on you. Listen, paul's not being legalistic here. I'm not laying any restriction on you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. I'll give you an example.

Speaker 1: 16:54

When I was a teenager and you'll soon be able to tell, of course, that that was a long time ago when I was in high school, we had something called interschool Christian fellowship. It was like your young life clubs. Do you have young life clubs? Well, it was like that. And the guy who ran it for the whole island of Jamaica was an Englishman called Hoppy Bell and we guys loved Hoppy Bell. He had been an ace World War II fighter pilot. I mean the real thirst of, and when he had retired, when the war was over, he thought what should I do? And he thought about racing cars and, you know, dabbled in it and he was even offered a contract to drive Formula One. And Hoppy Bell, a bachelor, said you know what? No, I'm going to go to Jamaica and I'm going to work with kids. And so he comes down to Jamaica and he works with kids and all of a sudden you're in class and a plane is flying over. It's called a gypsy mob, it's a biplane, and he flies over our school and I'm not lying, he does loops and loops and loops over the school until the entire school is cracked up and everybody, every teacher, says all right, go on outside and watch him. And that was his signal. Fortunately, the headmaster was a Christian, so he didn't mind. That was his signal. Guys, I'm coming next week.

Speaker 1: 18:27

And the thing about Hoppy Bell was he also drove Jaguar motorcars. He bought one in an auction and then he'd fixed it up and then he had souped it up. And I can tell you some stories. This was way back when people didn't care and we didn't even have seatbelts. I can tell you some stories about driving with Hoppy Bell. When he spun that thing around in the middle of the road, guys loved it, adored him.

Speaker 1: 18:54

And then suddenly sometimes we'd hear him go over a way to look out and he had what's called a talk box. When you're in boarding school, the food is awful and you have what you hoped. You had something called a talk box with some goodies in there, you know, to help you get through. And he'd throw out of the plain a talk box with a parachute made of sheets and he would come down and he would bang onto the ground and crack up. And we all knew it was for a kid called Sutton and Sutton had lost his daddy. And Hoppy Bell was saying Sutton, you're not forgotten, this is for you. And of course Sutton was here because we were all crowding around wanting to get a piece of the talk box.

Speaker 1: 19:37

Can you imagine if Oppie Bell was married and his wife said to him hey, how about we go on a night date? And he said, no, actually I can't, flying down to that school in the gypsy moth to do loops, to tell them. You know that I'm coming soon. And so she says how about this weekend? And he says, no, honey, I can't do this weekend. That's when I'm fly, that's when I'm going to be driving down to the school to spend it with those kids down there. Well, how about between now and then? Are you kidding me? I got to make sure the job is working so that I can get down there.

Speaker 1: 20:21

That's, that's what Paul say, that it's it's possible to be so passionate about your devotion to the Lord that you decide, hey, remaining single might be a good thing. And so this is about being radical and about being devoted to the Lord and wanting to be in a place where we can serve him like nowhere else. And so he says to us in verse 35, I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided attention to the Lord. So now you're saying that doesn't apply to me, pastor. I'm already married and I'm single. Or I'm already married and you know, I have kids and all this kind of thing. The only part of that that applies to me was in there when he said yet those who marry will have worldly troubles and I would spare you that. All right, whether you are married or not.

Speaker 1: 21:27

Now he's coming down to it and this is what really matters, and nobody in the room gets off. Now here's what he says from now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none Are you kidding me? And those who mourn as though they're not mourning I don't know how to do that. And those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing what are you a killjoy? And those who buy us though they had no goods I'll be bankrupt. And those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of the world is passing away.

Speaker 1: 22:09

Now we're getting back into the last chapter scenario, okay, the intense scenario. You're in the last chapter and the present form of the world out there is passing away. And he's saying look, whether you're married or not, this is how I want you to live. Don't let your identity so be wrapped up in being married or not, that, if you are married, you don't have any time left for the Lord. And yes, you may have lost your beloved husband on your mourning, but it's not the end of the world. I promise you mourn, yes, but don't mourn in such a way that you are no further good to the Lord or anyone else. And, yes, you are rejoicing, your business is suddenly taking off and it is awesome. I can't believe it's finally happening. And you're so busy rejoicing and you know, spending money and all that you're forgetting about the Lord. I'm glad your business is doing well is what Paul is saying.

Speaker 1: 23:18

But don't let it overcome you, because the world out there is passing away and this is the intense last chapter of history and you want to live in such a way that, even if your business is doing incredibly well, your identity and your time and who you are is not so tied up in it as if it is that you have no further purpose at all. And so here is what he really wants us to think about. Quote for the present form of this world is passing away. Don't ever forget that. Okay, this is not all there is. And if you put, you know, all of your eggs in the basket, that's of the world out there, you're going to get really upset because you're going to have a lot of rotten eggs on your hand. It's just the way it is out there.

Speaker 1: 24:15

So so he says for the present form of the world is passing away, and so instead, now, here we live, live as though who's to deal with the world, as though they had no dealings with it. Don't let it overcome you, don't let it be your identity. And I promise you, I promise you and promise you when you live with the kind of wisdom teenagers, single people, moms, dad, widows, widowers, when you live with a kind of wisdom that understands the nature of the world out there and you refuse to be defined by it or to become enslaved by it, for the first time you'll be only person on the block who can live with freedom, because holding it lightly is what sets you free to live in it, but to serve the Lord in such a way that you understand that that is what really matters. I can't believe it. I got four minutes and 43 seconds left. Where's the music team? Would somebody tell them please? Seriously, I love this verse in the Acts of the Apostles.

Speaker 1: 25:37

These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also saying there is another king, jesus.

Speaker 1: 25:46

You see how they turned the world upside down. They said my business is not my king, my rejoicing is not my king, my mourning is not my king. My being married is not my king. Jesus is my king. And then he becomes my freedom, and then we can become those who are a part of turning the world upside down. But never if you're enslaved to anyone or anything else here this morning and you really can't say Jesus is my king and you're not too sure what I'm talking about. Can I just tell you this is the most precious thing in the world To come to the king Jesus and know that all your sins are forgiven, to know that he gives us his Holy Spirit, who gives us new life to live in the midst of the world. And I beg you this morning to come and kneel before him and say Lord, take away all my sins, give me the new life of the Holy Spirit and set me free to live for you now and for your glory, both now and forevermore. Amen.