Let me ask you this question. Is it possible for somebody to be single and satisfied? Is that possible? Can somebody be happy, fulfilled, content, and unmarried? And I say to you whether you're single or you're single again or whatever reason, God wants you to be a successful single. Single, sanctified for God's purpose and satisfied. We're in a series in the book of 1 Corinthians entitled Wise Up, Clarifying Confusion with God's Wisdom. And the church at Corinth had so many questions and they had so much confusion and God in his wisdom wrote this book to them to bring clarity in their confusion by bringing God's wisdom. And as you open your Bible again to 1 Corinthians chapter 7, God addresses the subject of people who are single. So turn with me again, 1 Corinthians chapter 7. And when you find chapter 7, We're gonna begin reading in verse 24, and I will read a few verses from there. We will eventually address all of this, the rest of this chapter. 1 Corinthians 7, would you stand with me please? As we begin reading, I'll read aloud, follow along as I read from the scriptures, verse 24. Brethren, let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God. now concerning virgins, that is unmarried people, single people. I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I suppose, therefore, that this is good for the present distress. I say that it is good for a man so to be. Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? So let's ask God to help us to learn how to be single, sanctified, that is set apart for God's purpose, and satisfied. So let's pray, all right. Now, Lord, in our congregation, we have numbers of people who are single, for whatever reason. We have a number of people who are married. And for our single people, I pray this would be so eye-opening and encouraging to them and helpful. For our married people, I pray it would be helpful for them to love and appreciate people who are single and sanctified for your purpose and satisfied as we share our lives together for your glory in this world. We need your spirit to help us, Lord, to open to us the understanding of the Bible. And as the preacher, Lord, I ask for your enabling power as well. So we pray all of this in faith in your work in us, for we pray it in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, you may be seated. In his book on the Christian family, Anthony Evans addresses this passage, and as he does so, he does it in a wonderful way, and I'm gonna borrow from him the four main truths, four premises that will help you, not just to get by if you're single, but to enjoy what you have. How you can be single, sanctified, and satisfied. Here's the first premise. The first is this, wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. And so you'll notice in verse 24, God says this, brethren, let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God. The word abide means to remain in a dependent relationship. Now, here's our problem. Our problem is that we all have a tendency to be independent. And God calls us to be dependent, to abide. Jesus said, John chapter 15, abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bring forth of itself, neither can ye except ye abide in me. And he taught us that the secret to sustained fruitfulness of waiting on God is abiding and learning to be dependent and choosing dependence on the Lord. And as God addresses the subject of singlehood, and addresses single people, God wants them to know first that the most important thing for you to be able to be single and sanctified and satisfied is to learn to be dependent on the Lord. He is the source of peace and he's the source of enabling power. He's the source of contentment. In this passage then God gives us five power principles for people who wait on the Lord. Here's the first one. Be satisfied in the significance of your calling. And isn't it interesting that God, as he addresses people, whether they're married or they're single people, whatever reason for which they're single, God tells us something about all of us. Brethren, let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God. What is a calling? A calling, when you think of a calling, think of a sense of purpose. And do you realize that whatever your status and however you are, if you're single, you need to realize that this is a calling that God has given me. God has given me this singleness as a gift. for which I'm a steward and for which I must be grateful. And when you consider the context of this passage, remember it all began back in chapter six and because of the Thanksgiving holiday and I was in Japan for a couple of weeks and Christmas holiday and getting the year started, we haven't been in first Corinthians in a while. But remember it all begins in chapter six and God is dealing with the subject of human sexuality and we learned there that you need to learn whatever in that area to be content and then we talked about how to have a good marriage and God said even in that learn to be content then what happens if you're in a bad marriage and even in that as God addressed it in these chapters in this section of scripture God says even in that you need to be content and now he's addressing single people and he knows that even as a single person you need to learn to be content And I think that is the challenge for anybody in any state of life and for single people as well, to be content with singleness. Well, there's another power principle, the second is this, be serious about your moral purity. So when God addresses single people, look how God describes them in verse 25, now concerning virgins. He addresses them as, using a term of purity. Now I'll keep reading verse 25, I have no commandment of the Lord yet I give my judgment as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. And remember earlier in the chapter when he was addressing the subject of marriage the Apostle Paul hearkened back to some words that were recorded that Jesus taught while he was on earth. And he built off of Jesus' teaching and expanded it by inspiration of the Spirit to help people learn about marriage. And now he says, he looks back and he says, now there aren't any specific teachings that are recorded that Jesus gave about singleness. But now, by inspiration of the Spirit, I'm going to give you some teaching to help you who are single to be true to the Lord in your singleness. But then again, I want you to see that when God is dealing with single people, He approaches them and identifies them with sexual purity. Let me ask you this question. Is moral purity God's standard of normal, yes or no? Yes, absolutely. In mind and in body, this is God's standard of normal. Now let me ask you another question. For single people, is this normal for the world around us today? No, not at all. In fact, the world around us, they think it's strange for people to be pure and for single people to be pure in mind and body, celibate. But this is God's normal. See, this is why you have to let God's word dictate your morality, not a culture. A culture will lead you astray. There was a time in America when general American culture did encourage this. But now what has happened is it has been turned upside down as people have walked away from what is right. And really our media and our entertainment industry has conspired to change the view of morality over time as well as other factors. But friends we all acknowledge that today God's standard of morality is not the common standard and expectation in our culture. But God's standard has never changed and God is still calling people to be people who are morally pure in mind and in body. Now be careful about this because our culture is going to keep trying to push and push and push it's false morality apart from God's morality. And you all have seen in the last probably decade, decade and a half, how the sin of homosexuality and same gender attraction has been foisted on us as though now that is normal. And if you don't accept it as normal, then you are the problem. You are unloving. And you watch this now, what's happening, and we are watching it even in the last few years, the whole idea of transgender, and same-sex attraction, and all of these things are being pushed upon us and tried to be made normal. And whatever the culture says though, God's view is always that he wants his people to be pure in mind and in body. So whether you're married or single, whether you're young or old, it doesn't matter, this is what God has for you. And as a single person, Just be aware that God has called you in a world that says, it's okay, do whatever you want. It doesn't matter anymore. All of those old constrictions are just these old cultural constructs of somebody throwing their morality on you. I say, this is always God's will. And my friends, there is wonderful power and liberty when you are pure in mind and body. And if you are cannot, I don't know, wherever you are, if you are casual about your purity, my friend, God is calling you to get serious about it. And oh, how wonderful it is, and you talk to anybody who knows what it is to be bound with a vile thinking thought life and vile morality and know the power that comes when you're liberated from that. It's wonderful. I can't explain to you how wonderful the liberty of it is. So that is God's calling for you. And then there's something else, the next power principle for people who wait on the Lord, and that is get married for the right reason. Now we're told in verse 27 about something that we don't really know what it is. When the believers at Corinth read it, they knew exactly what it was. We can only guess what it is. We read in verse 27, Excuse me, verse 26, I apologize. I suppose, therefore, that this is good for the present distress, that is to remain single. I say that it is good for a man so to be. Now here's what they understood that we don't understand. What is the present distress he's talking about? I'll tell you what it could be, though we do not know for sure. It could be that this book was written in the early 60s, 60 AD, maybe 61, 62. Something happened in the Roman Empire in AD 64. that changed the course of history. In AD 64, Nero began state-sponsored persecution of followers of Jesus Christ. And it could be that even though the persecution didn't officially begin as state-sponsored persecution until 64 AD, it could be that the years leading up, there were pressures and people realized something is coming. Something is going wrong and there's even some record of localized persecutions. It could be that there was just opposition to the gospel. In many places that the gospel is proclaimed there were Jewish people who were opposed to it. There were people who were polytheists, worshipers of other gods who were opposed to the gospel. It could be that in Corinth there was pressures and stresses because of the gospel and because of the truth for which these believers stand. But Whatever the reason was, the Apostle Paul said, Now look, when you look at the situation in which you're living, you need to think about this. It may be better for me to remain single. And that's a good principle to follow. because you may need to think before you marry and analyze your circumstances. And you might wanna ask, is this the best thing for me to do now? You know, there are a lot of wrong reasons to get married. Can I share with you some wrong reasons to get married? Here's one, I'm lonely. Oh, so lonely. Can I tell you single people something and you all that know what it is to be single again would understand this better than any of us probably. There are a lot of people that are married people that are lonely people. Don't think just getting married is going to solve your loneliness problem. In fact, you might even sometimes feel more lonely. Well, you know, I just have I just have such a desire to be close to somebody and it may be a sexual intimacy or it may be that I just want to be near somebody and if I just get married that'll solve my problem and I understand that but I do want you to know that there are many people who are married that really don't have intimacy. sometimes in their own marriage physically. That's a challenge, it's a reality. And even in their life, their thought when they got married they'd be really have somebody they could have a close intimacy with in every way and share their lives and really sometimes you find out it's not that way. Something you have to grow in as a married person. Another bad reason to get married is, I just got to escape. I'm in a situation, I got to get out of this. I got to get out of my situation. And there are times when sometimes people just use marriage as an escape. But when they get out of one situation, sometimes if that's the reason you're going to get married, what you'll find is, when you escape, you might have gotten into something worse than you escaped from. And you can't get out of this thing. Another reason is not a good reason to get married is desperation. Oh man, so many things come together. I'm so desperate. I'll do anything to be married. And I'll compromise the kind of person I marry. I'll compromise my beliefs. I'll compromise my morality. I'll compromise anything because I'm just so desperate. I've got to find somebody. Boy, you're not ready to be married if you're so desperate that you'll marry anybody. Another one you have to watch is getting married just for money. So you say, boy, are there any good reasons to get married? Hey, there are, I'm sure, a lot of good reasons, but I'm going to tell you the best reason to get married. And really, in my view, it's the only reason to be married. is one of God's people. Here's the best reason to be married. And that is this, that God has brought two people together to serve Him as a couple. God brought this one and this one together And now God's desire is that as single people, you are faithful and you're serving the Lord. But now as a couple, God is opening doors of ministry that he knows that you can fulfill together that as single people, you couldn't fulfill individually. And in my view, that's always the only reason and the best reason to be married. In fact, can I talk to our married people? If that's not the reason you're married and your life isn't invested as a couple in serving others, in serving the Lord, my friend, you need to reevaluate your whole life in your marriage. And for our people that are single, they're single again, for whatever reason, before you get married, you need to stop and think, do I wanna get married for the right reason rather than the wrong reason? Can I give you another power principle? Here we go. Here's the fourth of the five. Trust God to do the looking for you. Trust God to do the looking for you. Now, in verse 27, Paul asks a question, then he answers his own question. Aren't thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Aren't thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. Do you realize he says, you know what, if you're married, don't try to get out of it. If you're single, don't make your whole life about finding somebody. Rather, why don't you let God help you and take care of leading you to the right person? You say, yeah, but how do I find somebody? And the answer is, I don't know exactly, but I do know this. What you need is you need to know somebody who knows you and knows somebody who can bring the two of you together. And I happen to know somebody who knows you and knows somebody and who can bring you together. Christianmingle.com. Now I'm not opposed to it. I'm really not. I had people ask me, what do you think about these online dating sites? And I said, I've never used one. Aren't those wrong? Not necessarily. Probably some worse places you can go. You can go to the bar, the Christian bar. Oh no, and the new Christianity drink, man, why not? Well, I like the way Adam and Eve did it. Now, Adam and Eve, they've had an advantage. The way God did it with them, there's only two of them. So there's, I mean, you have only one choice. But there's something the way God does it and the way God describes what he did to bring Adam and Eve together that I think will be a help to our people that are single. God, of course, puts Adam to sleep, he makes Eve. And then, after God made Eve, Genesis 2, verse 22 says this, of how the Lord does this, that the Lord brought Eve to the man. He had never seen her before, she had never seen him, but God knew where Adam was and God knew where Eve was and God made sure that the woman that he had designed for that man, that these two come together. And however you do it, Whatever you do, I think what you really need to do is focus on walking with God and put your hand in the hand of the one who knows you and knows the person that's out there somewhere, wherever they are, whoever they are. Put your hand in His hand and focus on walking with Him and let Him lead you to the person that He has for you. And He may lead you through online dating. I will say this about online I, like I told you, I've never gone online to do anything like that. I'm thankful. But I'll tell you this, I would be very careful, because I've talked to a number of folks who have done this, and I found out that there's a whole lot of lying that goes on out there, from desperate people trying to tell you what you want to hear so they get what they want. I mean, all you have to do is go to Facebook, And how many of you know people that their online profile is not the reflection of the reality of their life? You know what I mean? In fact, we could call it fake book. So I would just say, I don't care. I say I don't care. That's right, wherever you go, here's what you need to know. You need to be cautious. Be very cautious. Make your focus walking with God and asking the Lord to lead you. Well, the Apostle Paul was not saying not to get married. He was saying you need to go into marriage with your eyes wide open. So verse 28 says this. But if thou marry, thou hast not sinned. And if a virgin, as an unmarried person, marry, if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless, Such shall have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you. I wanna tell you this. If you, as a single person, think that if I just marry that somebody, all my problems will be solved. I'm gonna tell you something. You may have married a whole lot more problems. Goodness gracious, you put two sinners in close proximity in anything, you're gonna have trouble. And you put two sinners in a marriage, it's gonna be a challenge. So marriage brings a whole new set of problems. And so Tony Evans said in his book, you're much better off waiting for the right person than being stuck to the wrong person. So I'd say wait on the Lord. And as you're waiting, be the person that he wants you to be. So wait on the Lord. That's the first guide for us. There's another premise, another guide that God tells us about for a single people in this passage of scripture. And it is this, watch for the Lord. Watch for the Lord and in verses 29 to 31 the Apostle Paul in talking with single people who are concerned about to marry or not to marry and who am I going to marry and all these questions. He raises their vision and he helps them to see that life is not just about here. Life here has an eternal perspective. And so he says to us, beginning in verse 29, God tells us, but this I say, brethren, the time is short. It remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none. They that weep as though they wept not, and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they possessed not, and they that use this world as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world passeth away. He says, you know, we have life and marriage is made for life, but there will come a time when this life is over. And in eternity, everything's gonna be different. Matthew chapter 22, verse 30, Jesus was asked a question about the resurrection. When you go into the next life, the afterlife, what about if somebody was married to one person and their spouse dies and they remarried, married another, and okay, whose wife are they gonna be? Hmm. And Jesus said in heaven it's not like it is here in heaven. People are like the angels. They will neither be married nor given in marriage. You'll know that person to whom you are married but it's just going to be different than life here. The Apostle Paul reminds all of us to watch for the Lord and in the time that we have, focus on what God has for you that has eternal value. And as you focus on what has eternal value, then you can let him guide you and make what's important to the Lord now and what has eternal value your focus now, and if you'll do that, then God will make sure you don't miss what he has for you now, and he will make sure you won't miss the blessings and the purpose he's dealing with you now that has an eternal value. See, if all your life as a single person gets so consumed on finding the right one, you wake up, and also you think about all day and all night and you're going through your online whatever's and you're, I mean, you're always, you're so consumed about it that you're missing what God has for you to become and to invest your life in here. My friend, you might miss the one that God has for you. So put your focus on the Lord and things that matter in eternity and let God take care of the one that he has for you, if that's what he has for you. So wait on the Lord and watch for the Lord and live beyond the temporal and live beyond the emotions you experience now and keep God's eternal perspective, watch for the Lord. So wait for the Lord, watch for the Lord. Hey, there's another wonderful guide for single people that God gives us and it is this, work for the Lord. Work for the Lord. And you'll notice your Bible beginning in verse 32, and we will consider through verse 35. But I would have you without carefulness, or a good word for that is worry, or maybe anxiety. I think worry is maybe more picturesque in our language. But he that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. The he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. And there is a difference between a wife and a single person, a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. In this I speak for your own profit. Not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is honorable or comely that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction. I absolutely love and appreciate single people. I do. For whatever reason, maybe you're, you've never been married or you're single again. Boy, my life has been so enriched, just my personal life has been so enriched by single people. I can't imagine what my life would have been without the influence of so many single people. I can't imagine what our family would have been like without the influence of single people. I love single people. I admire and respect single people. who are single and sanctified and satisfied. And God, God wants you to know that as a single person, that he has in this calling that he's given you, has given you some opportunity that married people may not have because of just the nature of the distraction of marriage. And boy, it can be distracting. And God wants to tell you and you need to know that this is not something for which to be ungrateful, to sulk about. This is something to embrace and rejoice in and say, God, I'm thankful because there are some distractions that are not part of my life that would have been otherwise. And you view this as a stewardship that God has given you this and to use your singleness for Him. See, whether you're married or single, life isn't about me and it's not about you. For our children, this might be hard for you to imagine, the world does not revolve around you either. It's about giving yourself to the things that matter in eternity and to the Lord. And God's word for single people is to focus on working for the Lord. You know, God may bring somebody into your life. So there's no hope. I'm 23 years old. There's no hope for me. It's funny at 23. It's not nearly as funny at 33, is it? At 53, it's downright unfunny. At 83, it may not be that funny either. But let's say that God has somebody in your life that he wants to bring into your life. Let's choose a number. Arbitrary. Let's say 10 years. 10 years down the road, God has somebody that he wants to bring into your life to be a life partner for you. All right. Between now and that 10 years, you don't know who that person is, you have no idea, you can't even imagine that. Do you wanna waste 10 years of your life and then wait until those 10 years come and then the Lord brings you together and then, oh, we're gonna serve the Lord, you've just wasted 10 years. And listen, in the time, you're not gonna make that 10 years pass any faster. Why not invest your life with things that matter now and the opportunity God has given you now? And everybody knows time passes a whole lot faster when you're busy. You know what I'm talking about? Man, that day that you've got packed full of this and that and this and that has to be done that day flies by. The day that isn't nearly as busy, it drags on. Life's that way. Hey, be busy for the Lord. Work for the Lord. And then there is one more wonderful truth for single people that this passage of scripture addresses, and it is this, wed in the Lord. Yes, wait for the Lord, and watch for the Lord, and work for the Lord, but then there is this truth, wed in the Lord. Now I told you before that I'm borrowing these main points from Anthony Evans and his work, and here's what he said, marriage is like a violin. after the music stops the strings are still attached. Some of you think that's more funny than others. So you want to be wise in getting into marriage because there are always going to be strings attached. So in verses 36 to 38 we read these words But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely or dishonorably toward his virgin, that is, he's talking about dads and daughters, toward his unmarried daughter, she pass the flower of her age. and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not, let them marry. Nevertheless, he that standeth steadfast in his heart, having no necessity that hath power or authority over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his unmarried daughter, his virgin, he doth well. So then, he that giveth her in marriage doth well, but he that giveth her not in marriage doth better. The wife, verse 39, is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth. But if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will only in the Lord. But she is happier if she abide after my judgment. Paul was a single person, so you can understand why he was understanding of this. And I think also that I have the Spirit of God. But I want you to notice for the one that is married, at the end of verse 39, there is this stipulation, if you're to be married, only in the Lord. If there's a person in your life and you're considering, Before you go very far and get your emotions caught up in this person, to where obedience to the Lord is just going to be like tearing your heart out, you need to stop and say, wait a minute, if they're not saved, I can't do this thing. You better make sure that person is a born again believer. You better make sure that there's evidence that they are headed the Lord's direction in their life. And they're not just gonna tell you, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, just to get you and to be married. And then you find out, wait a minute, what have I done? I wanted my life to follow the Lord and look what I've got. Wed in the Lord. Because once you're married, you are locked in and you've got all kinds of strings attached. So before you get married, be very wise. Well, are you single? For our single people of all ages. Let me ask our single people. You're single, are you sanctified? Have you set your life apart for God's purpose for your life? Not yours, no. As a single person, have you set yourself and say, Lord, my life isn't mine, my life is yours. Single and sanctified and single and satisfied. Are you content to wait on the Lord? Are you content to watch for the Lord and live your life with an eternal perspective? Are you content to work for the Lord? And if God brings that person into your life, are you gonna make a commitment, Lord, I'm going to make sure if that person is the one that I agree to marry, that I will make sure I wed in the Lord? Remember what the great secret, whether you're married, single, bad marriage, good marriage, you know what the great secret God tells us is? It's the secret of contentment. And whatever your status, if you haven't learned to be content in the Lord, your change of status won't change your heart. You have to learn to be content. Would you stand with me please? Our heads are bowed. Shall we pray? Our Lord, now we thank you that you have given such helpful insights for people who are married to appreciate and admire and be able to help people who are single and for people who are single to know your wisdom on this very significant issue of their lives. And so we thank you, Lord, that you're a God who's wise in everything. And because of this, it is not with animus in any way, it is with joy. that we are grateful, whatever our place in life, to wait, to work for you, to watch for you, and then, Lord, for those whom you would have to bring that person that you want into their lives to follow you, if that is what you would have. So, Lord, help us, we pray. Now, before I'm done, I, This is not the kind of a sermon that I necessarily am going to have an invitation, though I will give you that, but I will tell you this. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? If you've never come to the Lord and trusted him once and for all to save you, then, oh, this is the time for you. It may be though there are some decisions that you need to make before the Lord and God's dealing with your heart about some things. It may be related to this. It may be something that's outside of this, but it's very important and God is dealing with you. This altar is available for you as well. So you come on, there'll be men who are waiting, and if you want someone to pray with you, they'll direct you to a man, if you're a man, a lady, if you're a lady. If you just want to, you and the Lord have time together, and you and the Lord meet and have a conversation about things that are important to you, this is the time. You need to come to the Lord to be saved. There are men, just tell them, I want to know Christ, and they'll have somebody lead you to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so.