verses 1 through 17. That's on page 858 if you're using a pew Bible. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor over Judea, and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip Tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trichonitis, And Lysanias, the tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. He said, therefore, to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And the crowds asked him, what then shall we do? And he answered them, whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, teacher, what must we do? And he said to them, collect no more than you are authorized to do. Soldiers also asked him, and we, what shall we do? And he said to them, do not exhort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages. As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." As the ushers come forward, please join me in prayer. I invite you to open your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. If you're using one of those few Bibles there, it's page 955. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. This morning we're going to study verses 17 through 24, 1 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, we'll be studying 17 through 24. Please follow along if you would, as I read from God's word, 1 Corinthians 7, 17 through 24. Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. For another circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a free man of the Lord. Likewise, he who is free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. So brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. May God give us ears to hear his word. One of the most powerful lies the devil uses against us is, if only things were different. If only things were different. You ever fallen for that one? If only I had more money, then I'd be content. If only I had a different job, then I'd work hard. If only I had a boyfriend or a girlfriend, then I'd be happy. If only my parents weren't so strict, then maybe I'd be a good son or daughter. If only things were different, Satan has used that lie thousands of times to blind and enslave and even to damn people. Unfortunately, this is a lie I have frequently fallen for throughout my life, and I imagine I will fall for it again. In high school, I thought if only I were a little bit taller, then life would be great. In college, I thought if only I had a girlfriend, then I'd be happy. Then in seminary, if only I was pastoring a church, then my life would really mean something. Satan, he used that same lie over and over and over again to keep me discontent in my circumstances and to prevent me from using my present circumstances for the glory of God. It's interesting, the world knows this idea. They call it something different though. They call it the grass is always greener on the other side principle. Have you ever fallen for that? The grass is all, and we know that the grass is not actually always greener on the other side, but what? We all fall for it time and time again. We see Satan use this lie in the Bible constantly with Adam and Eve in the garden. If only you'll eat from this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then you'll be like God. He used this with David. If only you'll commit adultery with Bathsheba and cover it all up, nobody will ever know and you can just enjoy yourself. And Satan tried, but he failed to use this against Jesus. Remember he said, if only you'll bow down and worship me, then all the kingdoms of the earth will be yours. I'd venture to bet that Satan's used this lie against you several times. Maybe you're buying into it right now, even this morning. Perhaps you're thinking, if only my kids weren't so wild and disobedient, then my life would be calm and collected. If only we had a different president, then maybe I'd be a happy citizen. Perhaps you're thinking, if only God didn't give me this disease, or if God gave me a different spouse, or if God gave me no spouse or whatever, then my life would be rich and full. Are any of you thinking that this morning? If only things were different, then I'd be happy. Now, as we're gonna see from our passage this morning, all of these satanic lies are really nothing other than satanic lies. It's exactly what they are. As we're gonna see from our study in 1 Corinthians 7, 17 through 24, it really doesn't matter what your circumstances are. Get that, that's the big point. Your circumstances are almost completely irrelevant to you living a godly life. You can thrive as a Christian regardless of the circumstances. Therefore, your priority should not be to be thinking all the time, if only things were different, if only things were different, but instead get to work thriving in the situation in which you find yourself. Well, looking now at our passage, the first thing I want you to notice with me is how God has assigned you your situation in life. Whatever your particular circumstances, whatever you are, son, daughter, husband, wife, father, mother, banker, butcher, baker, whatever the case, God sovereignly ordained that for you, designed that for you from before the creation of the world. Look at verse 17. What's the Spirit say there? Only let each person lead the life the Lord has assigned to him into which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Now, a few observations I'd like to make. First, you'll notice the way Paul's talking to everybody here. He says, only let each person lead the life the Lord has assigned to him. Paul's not talking only about the pastors, only about the elders, and he's not talking about the powerful, the big people, the rich, the famous. He's talking about each of you. Now, we know from previous scripture that most of the Corinthians were pretty ordinary folk. You remember this from chapter one? In chapter 1, 26, he says, consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak to shame the strong, and so forth. The Corinthians were ordinary, normal people. Not rich, not powerful. In fact, most of them were probably slaves. And yet, nonetheless, what is he saying? Live the life God has assigned to you. And look at the end of verse 17, this is interesting. This is my rule in all the churches. This is not something limited to this congregation. It's not something unique to Corinth, but this is what Paul's teaching every Christian congregation. The church in Ephesus, the church in Philippi, the church in Colossae, he's teaching it to the church here in Muncie. God has assigned you your situation in life, whatever it is. And you think about that phrase there, what the Lord has assigned to him. That's a very active idea. You know, he's not saying just make the best of the circumstances that have befallen you. You know, do the best with what you got. No, you thrive in the life God has appointed unto you. Commenting on this passage, David Jackman has a helpful meditation. He says this, verse 17 is a statement based on the conviction that God's sovereignty extends over all the detailed circumstances of every individual life. God assigns everybody a place in life and calls each one to his particular function. The fact that a new believer is in a particular position at the time of his conversion is not, therefore, an accident. God's sovereignty does not come into play when an individual's spiritual life begins. It has governed everything from the beginning of creation. Now, oddly enough, this idea that God has designed, He's tailored your situation in life, this is taught several times in the Bible. This is not something unique here to 1 Corinthians. For example, Psalm 139.16. Listen carefully. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. You remember what Paul says to the Athenian pagans in Acts 17, 24? The God who made the world and everything in it, made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of all the earth. Listen carefully. Having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him, though he is not far from each of us. One more passage, Matthew 10, 29, this is Jesus speaking. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father? But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, for you are of more value than many sparrows. Ask yourself, what is your situation in life? What circumstances do you currently find yourself in? You know, are you a butcher, baker, candlestick maker? Are you a policeman, a doctor, a lawyer, a dentist? Are you a mother, father, son, daughter? Whatsoever the case may be, God tailored that for you from before the creation of the world, and the point, therefore, is for you to thrive in the circumstances God's given you. Now, believing this, this is huge for several reasons, and I'd encourage you to meditate on these together in your small groups. But let me give you two reasons why it's so important to believe that God tailored your life for you. First, believing that God assigned you your situation in life, it gives your life profound meaning and purpose. I mean, if you really get this in your bloodstream, it will give whatever you're doing profound meaning and purpose. You know, again, sometimes we think it's only the big powerful people who are doing anything that matters. And if I'm just changing diapers or sweeping the streets or digging ditches, you know, my life really doesn't matter. Might as well just go watch Dancing with the Stars all night and not do anything else. That's tempting, isn't it? But if you really believe that, no, my life was designed for me from before the creation of the world, and I'm doing exactly what God's called me to do, then all of a sudden everything I do has amazing significance, amazing purpose. Even if I'm changing diapers all day, I can learn to do that for the glory of God because this is the calling God's called me to. That's how we're freed to obey 1 Corinthians 10.31, which says, whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. How do you learn how to dig a ditch to the glory of God, assemble a widget to the glory of God, sell a vacuum cleaner to the glory of God? Part of that is realizing that God ordained this for me before he even made the world. I know that's a mystery, but that's what scripture teaches. Let me give you a second application from this idea. Second, believing that God assigned you your situation in life, it helps kill that lie that the grass is always greener on the other side. Helps put to death that lie that if things were different, then I'd be happier. Again, ask yourself, how often have you fallen for this lie? This is something we're all liable to. You know, the devil's only got about a couple dozen lies and he keeps using them because we keep falling for them. This is one of them. Grass is always greener. And you know where this often comes into play? It often comes into play in marriage. If only I had a different spouse, I'd be a whole lot happier. Don't raise your hand, but any of you ever thought that? You laugh because you know what I'm saying. If only I had a spouse or didn't have a spouse. If only I got married to that high school sweetheart. If only I got married to that woman that was flirting with me on Facebook. You know, we get thinking that way and we imagine that if things were different, I'd be happier. But believing this lie puts that to death because, no, I've got the wife I've got because God wanted me to marry this person from before the creation of the world. And therefore, I shouldn't be wasting my time thinking how would things be different if I married somebody else. Believe, brothers and sisters, that everything, your health, your career, your spouse, or lack thereof, they've all been assigned to you by God. Therefore, your role is to flourish in what you got, not to worry about things being different. Let me give you a second truth from this passage. Not only has God assigned you your situation in life, but notice how you can thrive as a Christian regardless of your situation in life. You can thrive as a Christian regardless of your situation in life. Now, Paul makes this point two different ways. First comes in verse 18. Look at verse 18. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. For another circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision but keeping the commandments of God. Now, if you're familiar with the Bible, circumcision, what that is, that goes back to Genesis 17. That was a special covenant sign of the people of God. The people of Israel were to circumcise their male children, and that was to indicate that they were God's special covenant people. Uncircumcision, on the other hand, that was an indication that you were not a Jew. You were some kind of pagan, maybe a Roman or a Celt or something like that, but you were not part of the special covenant people of God. That's what circumcision was all about. But look at verse 19. Neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. In this age, it doesn't really matter whether you're a Jew or not. Your ethnicity, all of that has passed away with the coming of the new covenant. And all that matters now is are you flourishing in your walk with God? Well, that's the first illustration. Paul gives us a second illustration of the same idea in verse 21. Look at verse 21. Were you a slave when called? Don't be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a free man of the Lord. Likewise, he was free when he was called as a slave of Christ. Now it's the same point, but a different illustration. Here he's talking about slaves. Are you a slave? Don't worry about it. Flourish as a slave. Use your slavery as the context where you glorify God. Now you can see he says, if you can get your freedom, great, take advantage of that. But that's not essential to you flourishing as a Christian. Now before we go further, a couple of clarifying comments I should make here. First, even though I'm telling you that God has assigned you your situation in life, that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't do things to improve your situation in life. And I'm gonna try and show you that from this passage. Just because God's assigned you your particular station in life, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do things to advance or improve your situation in life. I get this from that little phrase there in verse 21. Look at verse 21. If you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. What does that mean? If you can somehow become free, say you're a slave, do that. That would be to your advantage. But realize that's not essential to you flourishing as a Christian. Charles Hodge wrote about this passage. He's talking about this verse here. This, of course, is not intended to prohibit a man's endeavoring to better his condition. If he be a laborer when converted, he is not required to always remain a laborer. The meaning of the apostle evidently is that no man should desire to change his status in life simply because he had become a Christian, as though he could not be a Christian and yet remain as he was. The gospel is just as well suited to men in one vocation as in another, and its blessings can be enjoyed in all their fullness equally in any condition of life. So also in our context, in your context, don't feel like it's wrong to do things to improve your station in life. So get an education, get out of debt, lose 10 pounds if you need to, get married, have kids. None of that's wrong. Those can be very good, wise things. And yet realize they are not essential to you being a happy, healthy Christian. Another clarifying thought I want to make here is that there are indeed some situations in life which are completely incompatible with being a godly Christian. We need to emphasize that here. There are certain situations in life which are completely incompatible with being a godly Christian. Now what do I mean by that? Well, for example, if you're a drug dealer. If you're a mafia hitman, if you're a prostitute, if you're a pirate, something like that, you cannot be a happy pirate and a godly Christian simultaneously. My kids love pirates, but I tell them, you know, if you want to be a godly Christian, you can't grow up and be a pirate. So also, there are certain, I guess you would call them occupations, that are incompatible with Christianity. And if you happen to be in one of those, you need to repent immediately and turn from that behavior. And yet, truth be told, most of us aren't pirates, and most of us aren't mafia hitmen, and our circumstances are such that we can flourish in godliness. Well, thinking about this idea, this idea that you can flourish as a Christian regardless of your situation in life, this again means many important things, and meditate on these together in your small groups. But let me give you a couple applications. First, this means you can be saved and become a Christian regardless of your station in life. You can be saved immediately, become a Christian immediately, regardless of your situation in life. Never think, and this is a common error, never think that if I wanna become a Christian, I gotta do things to clean myself up. I gotta quit this or that habit first, I gotta put on a new pair of clothes first. That's total opposite way of thinking. You come to Christ now. You come to him now as you are, turning from your sins, trusting in Jesus, and he will save you now, regardless of what you've done. Even if you are here this morning and you are a drug dealer by vocation, if you turn from your sins and trust in Jesus, you will be saved today. You might just think of all of the people in the Bible who were converted under the just huge variety of circumstances. You got Abraham, a wealthy nomad. Jacob, on the run from his bloodthirsty murdering brother. David, a shepherd boy. Peter, an uneducated fisherman. Zacchaeus, a crooked tax collector. There's a sick woman known only as the woman with the issue of blood. You've got Lydia, the wealthy businessman. Paul, the strict Jewish legalist. And then maybe most famously, the thief on the cross. You coming to Christ for salvation, your present circumstances really have nothing to do with that. You come to him now. Come to him exactly as you are. Turn from your sins, put your hope in Jesus' death and resurrection. Be saved now. It's just like old Martin Luther wrote. Faith and the Christian life are so free in essence that they are bound in no particular order or a state of society, but they are there to be found in and throughout all orders and estates. Therefore, you need not accept or give up any particular estate in order to be saved. On the contrary, the estate in which faith and the gospel find you, there you may stay and find your salvation. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, you're not a follower of Christ, we're honored you're here. You're always welcome and encouraged to be here. But you might be wondering, why is this? Why is it that God can save somebody regardless of their situation in life? Well, it all comes back to something we call the gospel. The gospel tells us that you were made to know God. Think about that. You were made intelligently to have a relationship with God, to know Him as your heavenly Father. And yet the gospel tells us the sad truth that we've all disobeyed this God. Really, it's worse than that. We've rebelled against Him. We've tried to live as if there is no God, when in reality, He is loving and caring. And by trying to live without God, what are we doing? We're basically saying, God, I know better than you. I can live life better on my own, thank you very much. And under those circumstances, God would have been holy and righteous to have obliterated us. But what else does the gospel tell us? The gospel tells us that God loved us even though we were sinners. And he sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus takes on a human body. So he's God and man in one person. He lives a perfect life of obedience. He's tempted just like we are, but never sins, never falls for that, if only things were different lie. And then what does he do? He dies on the cross, and on the cross he's bearing our judgment and our place. Our punishment we deserve. That's how we can save people regardless of their situation, because he judged Jesus for our sins. It's just like 1 Peter 3.18 says, Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. Three days after his death, God raised Jesus from the dead to tell you that what I'm preaching to you is true. And now He invites you, turn from your sins and trust in Jesus. Turn from your sins, trust in Jesus' death, trust in His resurrection, be saved right now. And that's why, no matter what your current situation in life, you can be saved this morning if you will but turn from your sins and trust in Jesus. And as always, if any of you would like to discuss this further, would like clarification on anything, would like help trusting in Jesus, please come see me this morning, right after the service. I'll be here down front. But put your hope in Christ today. Now there's another application of this idea that you can thrive as a Christian regardless of your situation in life. And this one's a little bit harder, a little bit tougher to handle. What this means is that you can never use your situation in life as an excuse for sin. And I say that, being a sinner, just as bad as anybody is. But you can never use your circumstances as an excuse to sin. And we do this, don't we? We say, if only I had more money, I wouldn't complain so much. If only it weren't so hot, which thankfully hasn't been that hot, but if it weren't so hot, I wouldn't complain so much. If only I had a more beautiful wife, I'd love her more. If only I had a better job, I'd work harder. If only my kids weren't so crazy, I wouldn't be anxious all the time. What are we doing? We're blaming and excusing our sin on our circumstances, which really we can't do. The only reason I sin, the only reason you sin is because of the sinful desires of our hearts, not our circumstances. Think in this regard of 1 Corinthians 10, 13, Paul said this, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he'll provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. I know that this is hard to ponder, but you need to realize that your circumstances are basically irrelevant to you living a godly Christian life. You might think, how can that be the case? It is the case. Your circumstances are basically irrelevant to you living a robust, healthy, godly, Christian life. Just think in the Bible of all the people who lived godly lives under a variety of circumstances, most of which were not very pleasant. You could think of Noah, the last righteous man on earth. Abraham, elderly and barren. Joseph, a slave. Moses, wandering around in the desert. King David, in a high position of leadership. Daniel, in a foreign nation. Peter, an uneducated fisherman. The Apostle Paul, stuck in prison half the time. Did those circumstances prevent them from living godly lives? Not at all. Those were simply the contexts in which they lived godly lives. Think about Philippians 4.11, I have learned in whatever situation I am in to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. I know in every and any circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. You need to ask yourself, are there ways that you have been using your circumstances to excuse your sin, honestly? Examine your life. And one of the biggest ones I've noticed is stress. Oh, I'm under so much stress, therefore it's okay to do a little bit of sin here and there. You know, we don't necessarily word it that way, but I'm under so much stress so I can, you know, fly off the handle with my wife or fly off the handle with my kids or maybe look at something I shouldn't look at on the internet because I'm under so much stress. You're falling again for the lie of the devil. Your circumstances are really irrelevant to your godliness. And therefore, what you need to do, you need to repent, repent, run to the cross for cleansing, and pray for grace that I might not fall for this lie again, but that I would live a godly life regardless of my circumstances. Here's one more application of this for you to think about. You can thrive as a Christian under any kind of government. Okay? You can thrive as a Christian under any kind of government. Now, I know that many Christians, many of you, chafe under our current government. You know, as your pastor, you hear certain things. People are saying, you know, if only we got prayer back in the public school, if only we got the Ten Commandments back in public places, if only we had Christian laws and a Christian president, then I'd be a happy American. No. No. Now, would it be better if we had Christian laws and so forth? Yes. But just think in the Bible of all the Christians who flourished under governments that were a whole lot worse than ours. Think of Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, Paul in ancient Rome, John exiled to the Isle of Patmos. Governments a lot more tyrannical and harsh than ours, and yet they flourished as Christians. It's the same case today in communist China, or impoverished Zimbabwe, or Muslim states like Iran or Saudi Arabia. You got tyrannical governments like North Korea, Uzbekistan, where Christians meet in barns in secret. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not saying it's comfortable, but they can flourish as fulfilled godly Christians under those circumstances. So ask yourself, have I been justifying discontent, justifying slander, justifying complaining all the time because I don't like our present government? That's not an excuse ever for any kind of sin. Quickly, third point. Point number three, your identity in Christ is far more important than your situation in life. This is gonna come out from verses 21 through 23. Your identity in Christ is far more important than your situation in life. Look at verse 21, this is really amazing. Were you a slave when called? Don't be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a free man of the Lord. Likewise, he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price, do not become slaves of men. Now, clearly in context, Paul is talking about slaves. I know that some of your translations, including the newer ESV, use bond servants, but the word basically means slave. And being a slave is not something that any of us would probably desire. I mean, you were somebody's property and you did what the person told you to do. And what does he say? Were you a slave when called? Don't be concerned about it. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter too terribly much. If you can get your freedom, good, but you can still be a godly Christian as a slave. Instead, what is supremely important? What's really what they should be concerned about? Look at verse 22. Likewise, he who is free when called is a slave of Christ. Now, what does that mean? That does not mean that when slaves became Christians, all of a sudden they were freed, you know, freed in an earthly sense. Some have thought that, but that's wrong. No, Paul is pointing to their identity in Christ. Even though you're a slave, you're free in Christ, free from the law, free from the curse of the law, free to obey God. And that's a thousand times more important than whether you're an earthly slave or not. Likewise, if you're a free man, Again, your identity in Christ is far more important. You are Jesus' slave, even if you are a free man and you march to his drum. And do you see why this is the case? Why is our identity in Christ more important? Look at verse 23. You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. Now, what is that talking about? You were bought with a price. That's pointing back to Jesus' blood. When Jesus shed his precious blood on the cross, he purchased men for God from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. We belong to Him. We are His special purchased possession. And that standing as Jesus' possession means a million times more than what your situation in life currently is. It's interesting, Paul made this point several times. For example, Colossians 3.11, this is the verse on your bulletin this morning. Here, talking about in Christ, here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Again, Galatians 2.28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you're all one in Christ Jesus. Who you are in Christ is a thousand times, a million times more important than who you are in this world. The possessions you have in Christ are a million times more valuable than your earthly possessions. What God the Father thinks of you is a million times more important than what any human walking this planet thinks of you. And you've got to train yourself to think of yourself that way. What this means practically is that you do need to learn about your identity in Christ. You need to make this a goal. I've got to learn about what I have in the gospel, what Jesus has purchased for me. You've got to learn about that. The best way I'd encourage you to do this is to prayerfully meditate on Romans 8 and Ephesians 1. Maybe do that in your devotions this week. Prayerfully meditate on Romans 8 and Ephesians 1. Those chapters will give you much rich material to meditate on pertaining to what Jesus has bought for us, what he's won for us, who we are in Christ. Do that in your devotions this week. Romans 8, Ephesians 1. And here's what happens, and by the grace of God, I've experienced just a little tiny bit of this. I'm hoping that over the years I'll experience a lot more of it. But what happens is that as you prayerfully meditate on who you are in Christ, that becomes more and more important, and who you are in this world becomes less and less important. And I'm talking over years, but over years of prayerful Bible meditation, you get more excited about, concerned about, appreciative of what you have in Jesus, that what's going on in this life, it just kind of diminishes in value. So that you don't get all that worked up that your station in life isn't what you want it to be because you're so thrilled with what you have in Christ. It's exactly what's happened in a little bit in my life and hopefully in yours as well. Believe, my brothers and sisters, that your identity in Christ is far more important than your station in life. Whether you're a slave or free, it doesn't matter. You're Christ's slave, you're Christ's free man, and that's what matters. Well, quickly, one fourth and final point. And this is kind of the bringing together of all that we've seen up to this point. Therefore, instead of being obsessed with changing your station in life, view your station in life as the context where you follow Jesus. That's how you gotta look at it. Again, this is kind of the culmination. If God has assigned us our situation in life, if it's true that we can thrive as a Christian regardless of your station in life, if it's true that my identity in Christ is more important than my station in life, then what's the big conclusion drawing it all together? Therefore, instead of being obsessed with changing my situation, always thinking, what if things were different? View your situation in life as your context to follow Jesus. Now, did you notice in this passage, Paul basically says the same thing three different times. This is interesting. Look at verse 17. Only let each person lead the life the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. Same idea, verse 20. Jump down to verse 20. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. And again, verse 24. So my brothers, whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. And what in the world is Paul saying? Again, he's not saying that it's wrong to do things to advance your situation in life, to have children, get an education, so forth. No, what he's saying is that you view your situation in life as the context where you live out your Christianity. Whether you're a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker, whether you're a mother, a father, a child, a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer, whether you're blue collar, white collar, or no collar, realize that your situation in life is the context where you're to live out your Christianity. And why is this look again at verse 19? Neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Now that verse 19 is very interesting to think about. Just, you know, if I could take a little rabbit trail there in verse 19. That verse is very helpful for many reasons. Just try and imagine that verse in the Old Testament. Would that verse fit in the Old Testament at all? Neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. In the Old Testament, that verse is incoherent. because the Jews were commanded to obey and circumcise their kids. But now when we come to the New Testament, everything has changed and those Old Testament shadows and types have passed away. And now what matters is keeping the commandments of God, namely loving your neighbor as yourself and loving God wholeheartedly. David Jackman writes this. With the advent of Christ and the gospel, the external sign, he's talking about circumcision, the external sign had given away to the internal reality, which is not now a physical right, but heart obedience. After all, that is what the external sign was originally intended to indicate. Circumcision was the mark in the flesh of covenant obedience to the law. And so when the inner reality of the law written on the heart becomes a reality through the gospel of Christ, the outer sign is redundant. How foolish then for a Christian to devote his energies to worrying about his physical state and seeking to change it rather than devoting his life to obeying the Lord and so changing his whole character. There's another reason why verse 19 is helpful and it's because it helps us understand what it means that we're not under law but under grace. Helps us understand what it means that we're not under law, but under grace. Now, several times the New Testament teaches that we're not under law, but under grace. I'm sure you've heard this before. For example, Romans 6.14, God's spirit says, you are not under law, but under grace. Now that is true. In my experience, however, Christians have oftentimes gotten confused here and misunderstood this. And they've thought that that phrase, I'm not under law, but under grace, meant that I'm free to do whatever I please, that I'm not under any commands whatsoever. I'm not under law in any sense, I'm under grace, and therefore I can pretty much live as I please. I've run into Christians who think that. And that's totally not what it means that I'm not under law, but under grace. You look at verse 19 there. Circumcision counts for nothing, nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Whatever it means to not be under law but under grace, whatever that means, it can't be that I'm free to do whatever I please. No, in reality, what this means is that we're not under law but under grace. It means that we're no longer bound by the Mosaic Law. Okay, New Testament Christians are no longer bound by the Mosaic Law. That Mosaic Law, with the 613 commandments, it was a good thing, wise thing, but it was for a particular people group at a particular period in time, Old Testament Israel. And with the coming of Jesus, that law code passes away. But that does not mean at all that we're free to do whatever we please. I think, you know, Jesus gave us Several commands in his teaching. And then the apostles gave us several more. Collectively, that's known as the law of Christ. So while, yes, we're not under law, Mosaic law, we are under grace, obeying the law of Christ out of gratitude and love. Well, anyway, that's my little rabbit trail in verse 19. Coming back to the big point, what this means for us is that instead of being obsessed with always wanting to change things, imagining if things were different I'd be happier, get to work thriving in your situation in life. Get to work thriving. This is what God has given you. He wants you to thrive in your situation in life. Another way to say this is that growing as a Christian will help you become a better fill-in-the-blank. Growing as a Christian will help you become a better fill in the blank, and whatever it is, better mother, better father, better son, better student, better employee. You think about it, this is the Christian contribution to society. I don't need to quit my job, but in my job I work harder, I work with integrity, I love my coworkers and people with whom I work, and therefore I help society by just being a godly Christian. This is the case whatever your vocation. If you sell furnaces, if you're a doctor, if you're a dentist, if you're a police officer, growing as a Christian will make you a better doctor, furnace salesman, and so forth. You become more loving, work harder, work with integrity, because you're thriving in that particular situation in life. And why is this? It's because your situation in life is simply the context in which you live out your Christianity. Well, to wrap up our time this morning, I know we've covered a lot of ground here. We've said, for example, that God assigned you your situation in life. Whoever you are, whatever you have or don't have, God sovereignly chose that for you. Yes, that's a mystery, but that's what the Bible teaches, so we take it by faith. We've said that you can thrive as a Christian regardless of your situation in life. If you're a slave, if you're in prison, if you've got a disease, if you're in a persecuted country, you can nonetheless walk faithfully with the Lord, commune faithfully with the Lord. We've said that your identity in Christ is far more important than your situation in life. What we have in the gospel is a million times more precious than anything the world has to offer. And therefore, what's the big conclusion? Therefore, instead of being obsessed with changing your situation in life, view your situation in life as your context to follow Jesus. Get to work applying your Christianity to your different roles and responsibilities. And to close our time, I wanna come back to what I said at the beginning. I wanna come back to that old what if lie. And I want you to do a little bit of heart searching now. Do a soul check. Ask yourself, are there ways in which I have been using that what if lie to justify disobedience? Seriously, I mean, again, I know I'm guilty of this pretty often. In what ways are you using that what if? If only things were different. then I'd love my wife, or then I'd work harder, then I'd be content, or then I wouldn't complain so much. I hope you realize this morning those are nothing more than satanic lies. They're smoke and mirrors leading you to justify sin. And if that's the case, I exhort you again to repent. Repent. Flee to the cross for cleansing. Repent and pray for grace, that God would give you the grace that you need to fully do the will of God, whatever the case may be. Repent and believe that your circumstances really are irrelevant to you living a godly Christian life. I know I don't usually do this, but I'd invite you, if you're a Christian, I know I always invite non-Christians, but if you're a Christian and you want to pray with somebody, talk to somebody about this, come see me after. Seriously, we'll pray together, talk together about this. But realize that your situation in life is the context where you live out your Christianity, and the circumstances God has given you are really irrelevant to how godly you are. Pray with me. Oh Lord, we do praise you for your word. And we do pray for grace, Lord, to live godly lives in the situations in which we find ourselves. Help us, Lord, to walk with you, to commune with you, to be so excited by the riches we have in Christ that the things of this world just diminish in value. As we do that, make us more godly, better workers, and mothers, and fathers, and children, and so forth, and use us, we pray, in our simple roles, different roles, to change the world. We pray this through Christ our Lord, amen.