In this world of troubles…
In chapter 7 of 1st Corinthians, Paul teaches extensively on how we honor God in our marriages, to include how we handle the unfortunate situation of divorce when it arises. He also teaches about the single life for those God has called to such a life. Both of these life situations are significant aspects of a person’s way of life, and our freedom in Christ comes through heeding the Lord’s direction for our way of life as Paul teaches. “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him” (1st Corinthians 7:17). And if the Lord has assigned a way of life for each of us, then “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called” (1st Corinthians 7:20), yet this is not a call to permanence in every case but as God leads, especially in the decision to marry. Marriage is a very good thing in God’s great plan for humanity and for those whom God has not called to be single, Paul essentially directs people to marry. Yet there are times when even the decision to marry or the decision to make any major life change ought to be carefully considered. In a very well-known verse, Jesus teaches “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33, NIV). Trouble is a fact of life in this world and sometimes troubles rise to the level of being more troubling than run of the mill troubles. This was evidently the case in Corinth at the time Paul wrote 1st Corinthians as evidenced when he writes “I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is” (1st Corinthians 7:26). Several English translations use “crisis” here instead of “distress,” giving us a better sense of what Paul is describing and whatever the present distress was, it clearly affected all of the Corinthians and it was a troubling enough situation for Paul to step in and offer the advice in these times to the Corinthians that it is good for a person to remain as he is, even if it means holding off on major life changes to include plans to marry. Should we also consider Paul’s advice for living in troubled times?
We invite you to come join us this Sunday morning for our in-person worship service at Leptondale Bible Church in Newburgh, starting at 10:55 AM. For those unable to attend, our service can be viewed live on the church’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/leptondalebiblechurch. This Sunday, we’ll continue a sermon series from 1st Corinthians titled “Written for Our Instruction” with a message from 1st Corinthians 7:25-40 titled “In this world of troubles…”
God bless!
Pastor Mike