Well, good morning to you. I'm glad that you're here. Appreciate you coming to this breakout session. And I've got a whole chapter to cover this morning. I've only got about 45 minutes to do it, so we're going to do our best to make our way through it.

So if you have your Bible, Would you open to 1 Corinthians chapter number 7 this morning? 1 Corinthians chapter number 7 will be our text. We'll do our best to work our way through this chapter. While you're turning, let me just remind you, as we've been listening to the conference messages, I'm so thankful for all of the other men who have come to preach. Perhaps you'll remember on the first night as we were here, Brother Paul Washer spoke a message to us about human depravity and about the fall.

That's really how I want to start my message out today by just pointing out to you that as Christians, if we're going to understand things properly from a Christian biblical worldview, then we have to come to see that an examination of any subject that we look at has to be in our mind that We have to live with the presupposition that we live in a fallen world. The world is messed up and the fall influences and really stands at the back of every single thing that we do. And so because of that, there's tremendous dysfunction. There's so many frustrations that are just a very normal part of life. But thank God that he has given us his Word.

And the Word of God is a redemptive book. Now I know you know that, and perhaps when we think about the Bible being a redemptive book, we should think about it really from two vantage points. Certainly the Word of God is redemptive in that it gives us the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there's redemption for our soul. There's redemption from eternal misery and hell and all of that.

But also the Word of God is a redemptive book, practically speaking. In other words, when we come to the Word of God and we see the practical elements of Scripture, we find that it has a way of settling all of the chaos and the dysfunction in our life if we will take its principles and apply those things to our life. That's why you're here. That's why you're at this conference to learn these truths and these wonderful things that will help us in our families. And so I want us today to think about that, about applying the Word of God to the issue of a family, the issue of marriage in particular.

And I want to talk about how to navigate marriage really in a messy, fallen world, because it is messy in a fallen world, isn't it? Well, the first thing that I want to point out to you here, we see from the Apostle Paul, the first thing we learn from our text is that God's people have pressing questions that they need answered. If you'll notice in verse number one, Paul begins by saying, concerning the matters about which you wrote. And so Paul is responding actually to these people about some particular questions that they had. You have these Corinthian believers, new believers redeemed out of paganism.

And so naturally they're going to begin to ask me many questions. Now understand this as a pastor, it's amazing when someone is translated into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ from the kingdom of darkness that they have so many questions because they're trying to understand this new life that they've been given in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so questions abound. And so these Corinthian believers, they had certain questions that pertained to marriage. And so let me say to you that when the apostle Paul answers these questions, these are specific things that they wanted to know about.

So Paul's not trying to give us a full discourse on every element that pertains to marriage and family, but rather think of it from the standpoint that he's giving us certain pieces of the puzzle that really make up the whole of the picture of marriage and family. So we glean a few things here and then from other portions of the Bible, and the picture of God's intention for marriage and family begins to emerge. So just take note of that, that this isn't comprehensive. This is just particular issues that these people had issues about, questions that they had. Now again, these are pagan people.

They had been pagans. They were, he's writing to the church at Corinth. And so these people are redeemed out of all of that. And really one of the first things that they wanted to know and that Paul was addressing here is how to deal with a couple of really pressing issues. One, being sexual temptation, and secondly, how to think about sexual activity within the context of marriage.

Would you notice verses one and two again, Paul writes to these people, he says, it's good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman, but because of temptation, he says, to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. So think about the situation for these Corinthian believers. I mean, we know if we study pagan cultures that sexual immorality is a huge hallmark of lostness. It's a huge hallmark of paganism. And so imagine these people, here they are, they're thinking, you know, now that I'm a Christian, I'm having some problems that I didn't used to have, because now I have a new relationship with God and I have a new relationship with sin.

And as a Christian, you can't sin and get by. And so the question is, well, what do I do now with all of these sexual passions that I've had? And so Paul's answer is given to us here. And so think of it this way on the one hand, it's certainly true that it's okay for a person not to marry if they can remain sexually pure. But Paul says to these people, look, if you are a single person and you can't stay pure in that particular situation, then you need to marry so that your sexual activity will be carried out within the proper God-ordained bounds, which of course would be marriage.

And it's sad today that we even have to define what that means, but biblically speaking, it's one man and one woman in a monogamous relationship, not a polygamous situation. We're in a culture today where everybody's mind in the nation, it seems, is just debased. We're in that Romans 1 cycle, that devolution, so to speak. And so we have to outline these things. We don't need to take it for granted today that people understand.

And so we really have to start with the ABCs. But Paul's point here is that the Christian cannot stay married to a pornographic culture. And we have a pornographic culture, don't we? And the Christian is called to come out of those things and we're to divorce that culture and we're to be married as it were to the ways of God. And as we marry ourselves, so to speak, to the ways of God, we come to find out that when it comes to sexual activity, that God's design is that that would take place within the context and within the beauty of the marital relationship.

And so that's one of the issues that Paul is dealing with. Another issue here is how to think about sexual activity within the context of marriage. Again, imagine the Corinthian situation. As a pagan, I used to engage in sexual immorality, and so maybe I should even abstain from sex in the marriage. And so Paul responding to that says, no, no, no, that would be absolutely the wrong response.

In marriage, sexual activity is necessary, and it's not sinful, and there's no guilt involved with that. And so Paul's message to these people is to say, don't withhold from one another, with the exception of perhaps spiritual purposes for a limited time. Perhaps you need to have a season of prayer and fasting and seeking the will of God in certain things in your life, and maybe you need to separate in that sense for a little while. But then Paul says, you've got to come back together after that. You don't need to stay apart lest you be tempted to sin.

You see this in the text. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And then so Paul goes on and he says, don't deprive one another within the context of marriage. And so what's Paul saying here in summary, in verses six through nine, Paul wants to say to these believers that marriage certainly is normal, but it's not necessary for everyone.

And if you have the gift of purity and singleness, if you can stay single and be purer than Paul says, that's fine and that's good. But if you don't, and if you're going to burn with sexual passion, then the call of scripture is that you would get married and engage in that activity within the context of marriage. By the way, just as a side note, let me say this to you today, that again, to engage in this privilege, in this pleasure, means that a person must take responsibility. And of course, that means marriage. And so, if you engage in the pleasure without taking the responsibility, then you need to understand that God calls that sin and he hates it.

As a matter of fact, if you even go back to chapter number six, as the apostle Paul talks about these things, he says the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. And then he begins to define what that looks like and he talks about those persons who live in sexual immorality as a lifestyle. And so we need to understand that a person who professes to be a Christian and professes the name of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot live a pornographic lifestyle because that betrays the profession of faith. So we're talking about serious things here from the Apostle Paul and about the way that we conduct our lives in terms of sexual relationships. Well as we move on, again trying to go quickly through this chapter, in verses 10 and 11, the Apostle Paul here, he wants to go on to give some more instruction concerning another situation, believers who are struggling in their marriage and perhaps are contemplating divorce.

Would you notice verse 10 and 11, To the married I give this charge, not I but the Lord. The wife should not separate from her husband, but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband, and the husband should not divorce his wife. Now when Paul is writing this here, obviously I believe in these verses he's writing to believers who are married and obviously there's a whole host of things that can go wrong. Again we live in a fallen world. And it's not just pagan people who struggle in their marriage, but believers certainly can struggle in their marriage.

And sad to say, all of us have seen true believers who have gone through divorce, and it's a tragic thing. We see that so many times in the church. Again, a very, very sad thing. So we need to talk about that and we need to deal with that and we need to understand what the word of God says. So what do you do perhaps?

Maybe there was perhaps some things on the minds of these people. Maybe on the one hand, these Corinthian believers were thinking, you know, now that I'm a Christian, I want to give myself in service to the Lord. And so maybe I should divorce my spouse so that I can really serve the Lord from that position. And Paul would say, no, that's not the way to go. We understand that the gospel, it can disrupt certain relationships, can it?

I mean, if the gospel goes off in a family and maybe a son gets saved and the father is not saved, then there can be some animosity in the home. But when it comes to two believers, two Christians, service to the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't necessitate that you be divorced. So maybe that's on the mind of these people, but perhaps maybe more the common thing would be that some of these believers are just struggling in their marriage. They're having a hard time and we just can't get along and so what do we do? Why can't we just divorce?" And so Paul says, no, you can't.

That's not the way that it would work. And so why can't believers get divorced? Why is that not the way to go? We'll not turn to these texts. We don't have time, but think of Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Think of Malachi chapter 2. Think of Psalm chapter 78. The Bible is very clear that God has designed a multi-generational gospel through the family plan. God intends that the gospel would be passed through the family. And so also you can think of Ephesians chapter number five, where marriage is designed to be a demonstration to the culture of the power of the gospel.

And so when it comes to two believers, Divorce would be something that would distort, as it were, the intentions of God. And so the Apostle Paul is telling these people, no, no, no, you can't get divorced. Maybe you need to separate for a little while so that you can work things out, but then you be reconciled to yourself and come back together. And listen, beloved, let me just say to you today that there's no reason why two genuine believers, even if they're having massive problems in their marriage, there's no reason that two genuine believers can't work any issue out through the principles of the gospel. You use the principles of the gospel and you work those things out.

And let me just say today that if you're struggling in your marriage, I want to encourage you. I know I'm not your pastor, but let me just pastorally say to you and encourage you that God has means of grace by which can be employed to help you and save your marriage. There's leaders in the church, there's pastors, there's faithful, godly people in the church that you can get counsel from. There's so many things that you can do to save the marriage, and I just want to say to you today to implement the principles of the gospel and by the grace of God, any difficulty that you're having can be overcome by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel. Well, again, moving on here to verses 12 to 24, I want you to see that Paul moves on, again giving us more pieces of the puzzle concerning marriage and family.

And here he gives some instruction as it concerns marriage where only one person in the marriage is a believer. And of course, that person in most cases are going to be struggling in that particular situation. Look in verses 12 here. He says, To the rest I say, I, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.

For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.

For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?" Let me give you some things from the Apostle Paul here in these verses. In the first place, Paul's counsel to this believer in this relationship with an unconverted spouse, he would say to that person, do your very best to Stay in the marriage because your relationship with God causes certain blessings to flow into the lives of other people in your family. In other words, because that believer in that household is a child of God, God as Father pours out blessings to his child in that family, and the blessings that fall on that particular believer spread out and flow out into the family, into the lives of other family members who are unconverted. So if there's an unconverted spouse, they receive certain blessings that come through the life of that believer.

The children as well, there's a gospel influence, there's a godly influence, there's a pietistic influence in the home, a holiness type of influence that takes place in the home. And so Paul says, you don't want to rob them of that particular blessing. Furthermore, here in verse 15 that we read, Paul wants believers to keep in mind the peace principle in the Christian life and apply it to their present marital situation. What do we mean by the peace principle? Well, here in the text he says, look, if you have an unconverted spouse and they want to stay with you, in the name of peace, stay in that relationship.

God has called us to peace, hasn't he? Everything about the life of the believer should be for the purpose of cultivating peaceful conditions all around us. And so Paul says, stay in the relationship if they want to stay with you. But then on the flip side of that, again, in the name of peace, the peace principle allows for another course of action depending upon the attitude of the lost partner. Paul says if they want to leave, if they want to go, you're not bound to them.

Let them go in the name of peace. Another principle that Paul gives us here to the believer in a marriage where their spouse is unconverted, he says, do your best to stay in the marriage because your home is an evangelistic mission field. We've kind of already talked about that a little bit, but you see in verse 16, how do you know wife, whether you'll save your husband and vice versa? Peter talks about this in 1 Peter chapter number three, Verses one through seven, as he's giving instruction to wives and also to husbands. What does he say to the wife?

Perhaps you'll win your husband by your godly example, the way you carry about your life. He'll be one without a word, as it were. And so Paul says, do your best to stay. Your home is your evangelistic mission field. You're a believer and God has placed you in that particular situation so that you can be an influence for the kingdom and be a lover of these people's souls that are in your family.

Another principle from Paul, he says in verses 17 to 24, I didn't read it and I'll just read selections of it, but the principle is do your best to stay where you're at because God has sanctifying lessons that he intends to teach you in that particular difficult situation. Look there in verse number 17. Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him. Do you see that? And to which God has called him.

He says, this is the rule in all the churches. And then look in verse 20. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Look in verse 24, so brothers in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. And I like that statement, let him remain there with God.

What's Paul getting at in these statements? Why is he telling this person to stay there? You know, if you look through the Bible, especially in the book of Ecclesiastes, just a wonderful book, really a philosophical book in many respects. In Ecclesiastes, chapter number nine, we get the teaching there that every person is given a particular portion or a particular lot in life. You know, if we went around the room and began to talk about all of our individual circumstances, there would be a tremendous variety even in this room.

Different jobs that we all hold, different positions, different things, different family scenarios. And how do you chalk that up? Well, my friend, that's the providence of God to give you a particular lot in life. And so Paul is imagining these people who were saved in this particular situation. They'd been given a lot in life and they're saved in that particular place.

And so Paul is saying to them, listen, you need to do your best to stay where you're at. Hold fast to your lot in life. God's going to teach you some things. Wait upon the Lord. Allow Him to determine your circumstances.

Allow Him to determine the circumstantial alterations as you wait, as you grow in patience, as you grow in character, as you grow in virtue. Let Him remain there with God." You know, it's been amazing to me, pastorally. We have some people in our church even, where there's a converted woman, for example, with an unconverted husband. And it has been amazing to watch the sanctification that God has worked out in the life of that believer through the difficulty of that marriage. In that particular situation, in that particular lot in life, something wonderful can happen concerning your relationship with God.

Sweet communion can take place. You grow in character, you grow in virtue, you learn how to trust God, you learn how to be dependent upon God. You're not trying to work by the strength of your own arm to change your circumstances and to change your lot. You're learning how to desperately depend upon God in those circumstances. And you see, many, many times when we feel pain and difficulty from circumstances, our happiness is bothered and we try to get out of that situation.

But my friend, God is more interested in producing joy in your life rather than circumstantial happiness. And you know what I mean by that? You can be in one of the most difficult situations in life and have tremendous amounts of joy because of your communion and your dependence upon God in that particular relationship. And sometimes these hard situations, God is working out amazing, sanctifying purposes. And so in other words, Paul is saying, look, believer, stay where you're at.

Allow God to work in your life deep levels of joy. Don't be thinking in terms of just circumstantial happiness but think about satisfying joy. Stay in that difficult place and let God work in your life. It's a wonderful instruction, isn't it? It's about communion and fellowship with God.

Well, quickly, as we move on, another long section here in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 25-38. Paul wants the believers to consider marriage from a different vantage point than perhaps what is normal. And it's a vantage point that needs to be considered and weighed out before someone enters into the marriage covenant. Now Paul would certainly agree with the rest of the biblical testimony. So we think of Solomon.

Solomon would say, it's good if a man finds a wife. He's found a wonderful thing. He's found a gift from God. Peter calls marriage the grace of life. Paul would certainly agree with that.

Paul would certainly agree with the blessings of marriage and all of those things, but Paul, he wants us to consider another side of marriage, perhaps a side that we don't talk about very much. Let me give you a few contextual points here to set the stage for us. You'll see in verse number 25, Paul says, now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. Paul talks about this present distress.

Evidently, for these Corinthian believers, there was something that was upon them, perhaps, as a local church, something that was particular to their time, something that was pressing in upon them that was going to make their cultural scenario maybe difficult. I don't know what that was. Many commentators are divided on that, but obviously there was some present distress or some localized situation that was going to make life a little bit difficult. There were troubles that were out there. And so he has a word to the unmarried person, and he used the word betrothed.

Some translations use the word virgins. And we're talking about those who perhaps are of marriageable age, those who are maybe even spoken for in marriage or if we had to put it in modern-day lingo, Paul's really giving a message to those persons who are yet to be married but perhaps are even engaged. We understand that context. And so there's a present crisis, there's these unmarried people, and so Paul has a word to say to these people. And his word to them is in light of that present distress.

It's his advice that they would stay where they are at. Stay where you're at. That's my advice. But, Paul says, if you're dead set on getting married, then there's some things that you need to understand and think about before you jump in. Quickly, three things that Paul talks about before a person gets married.

What do you need to think about? Number one, you need to think about the fact that marriage will mean additional earthly cares and responsibilities. There in verse 28, I think that in view, or excuse me, verse 28, but if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet, " look at what he says there, "...those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that." So Paul is just putting before these people the idea that there's going to be some difficulties.

In marriage, there's some particular temptations that you're going to have to deal with. And that would be to pay more attention, perhaps, to temporal and earthly things rather than eternal things, to look more to the seen realm than that of the unseen realm, To be so preoccupied with earthly circumstances and worldly cares that perhaps the thought of the kingdom isn't so much upon your mind. Listen, some of you young people in here that are thinking about marriage and maybe that's on the horizon for you, You need to understand that marriage is going to mean responsibility. It's going to mean duty. It's going to mean certain costs.

It's going to mean that there are demands that are thrust upon you. And it could mean, it's not a foregone conclusion, but it could mean a certain amount of broken spiritual focus if you're not careful. So Paul gives a little bit of a warning. He says, you need to think about that before you get married. Another thing that he says, you need to think about the fact that marriage is an earthly institution that will pass away in time.

Again, here to our text, this is what I mean, brothers. The appointed time has grown very short. And then skipping down to the bottom of verse 31, the present form of this world is passing away. You know, we've heard this at the conference, talking about the reality that the family is a temporary situation, isn't it? It's a temporary institution.

It's an earthly institution. It's something that's going to pass away in time. The world is passing away, the text says, in its present form. And when we think of marriage, we need to understand that it's temporary and transitory, will be abolished in time. And so it's almost as if Paul is telling the believer, he's so spiritually minded here in his thinking, and he's wanting us to think about the eschatological reality of things.

You know, believers, we talk about the blessed hope. We talk about the consummation. We talk about the fullness and the end goal of our salvation, the full consummation of it all. We've been talking about that at the conference, biblical theology, the storyline, the whole thread that runs all the way through the Bible. And that's what Paul is pointing us to here.

The unfolding storyline, the consummation of all things, the blessed hope, the big picture of things are being brought back to our remembrance. And Paul is saying, If you get married, it's very possible you could be tempted to lose sight of some of that and not think about the fullness of all of that. Marriage may cause you to lose sight of that. And Scripture warns us, doesn't it, over and over? 1 John 2, don't love the world.

Hebrews 13, verse 14, we have no lasting city here, but we seek one that is to come. It's always the call of the believer, certainly to pay attention to your duties in this life, but also to be looking forward to the completion and the consummation of all that God is accomplishing. So Paul says you need to think about that. The third thing that Paul says, you need to think about the fact that marriage will mean extra anxieties and a potential lack of devotion to the Lord. Now that may sound repetitive from what I said a moment ago, but from the previous points, Paul is thinking about the believer potentially being distracted in their thinking.

But here in verses 32 to 35, Paul is thinking perhaps about the person being distracted in their service to the Lord. Look at what he says. I want you to be free, verse 32, from anxieties. Verse 34 talks about the one whose interests are divided. 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 devotion to the Lord.

What's the aim? What's the goal in the life of the Christian? It's to be one who's in the Lord's army. It's to be devoted to the Lord. It's to give service.

It's to step up to the battle line and to engage in the warfare and to serve the Lord. And Paul says, look, there's greater anxieties in marriage than in singleness. There's the potential for divided interests that may lead to a certain measure of disorder or a lack of devotion to the Lord. Again, not a foregone conclusion, but it's something certainly that we should give thought to and pay attention to. We want to make sure that we're serving the Lord in all of the ways that he has called us to do that.

And so he's telling these unmarried people, yes, marriage is beautiful and it's wonderful. It's the grace of life. If a man finds a wife, he's found a good thing. But look, if you're going into marriage, you also need to see the other side of that and you need to think about it. And so in summary fashion, the Apostle Paul is saying, look, either way you go, whether married or you stay single, good order and devotion to the Lord is the goal.

Paul is telling these people, look, do what you will. You're not doing wrong in either case, but this is my suggestion. In light of the present time, in light of the present crisis, in light of the present distress that's upon you, stay single. Listen, there's nothing wrong. Let me just say to you, I know there's already been a singles conference here.

Let me just reiterate the point once again that there's nothing wrong with singleness. And according to the Apostle Paul, it certainly has many, many advantages. There's nothing wrong with being single. Marriage, though, is a grace of life, but you must make sure that before you jump into marriage that you understand with full light the other side. Not just the blessings, not just the beauty, not just the privileges, but also the hardships and the difficulties.

So we put them on both sides. The blessings on the one hand and the difficulties on the other. So I say to you today, is God opening up marriage for your life? That's good. Wonderful.

Just make sure that you understand what you're getting into before you jump into that particular situation. Has God given you the gift of singleness and purity? Good, and well, and fine. You know, pastorally, again, if you were to come to me and say, you know, what do I do, pastor? What do I do?

How should I get married? Should I stay single? My advice to you would be do as the Lord dictates to your conscience. Live according to your conscience. But once again, I'll remind you that if you stay single, do not presume to engage in those privileges and blessings that only belong to the covenant relationship of Marriage.

Well, notice in verse 39 and 40, Paul gives us a final little bit of advice. Again, another piece of the puzzle, sort of a capstone instruction as it concerns marriage. Look at verse 39. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives, But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes only in the Lord. Yet in my judgment, she is happier if she remains as she is." And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

You know, death, the context here is death. Death certainly severs the marriage covenant between two people. And for the spouse who's left behind, what is it that Paul is saying to them? Well, they're free to marry again, but he gives a condition. And what's the condition?

The lesson from the apostle Paul is that believers are only to marry in the Lord. And what does he mean by that? The believer is only to marry another believer. Now brethren, put on your sanctified thinking a little bit this morning and ask the question, why should I only marry a believer? Well, just think about it.

Give thought to that. Believers live in a different realm than unbelievers live in. Again, you've been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we have different outlooks. We have a different worldview.

We have different values. What does light have to do with darkness as it were? We've been called into Liberty, the Bible tells us, and peace. And so the question would be, why would you want to marry someone that would end up jeopardizing that life of peace and harmony and freedom. Why would you want to marry someone who knows nothing of the graces that you've experienced from the Lord?

Why would you willingly bring that kind of disruption into your life? Paul says if you're gonna marry, you need to marry another believer. And so if your spouse has passed on again, back to the context, he says, I think it's best if you stay single, but if you want to marry again, that's fine, but only marry in the Lord. And listen, that's good instruction, not just for the widow. That's good instruction for all of us.

We need to know that. We need to see what the Word of God says about these. If you're considering marriage, keep peace in your life by only marrying in the Lord. Perhaps you're here today and you say, but I want to marry so bad, and there's just no available believers. What do you do?

How do you deal with that? I understand that. I get that. You think, well, there's this really wonderful person. I know that they're not a converted person, but they really seem to be a wonderful person.

And how about I enter into the courtship with that person and I'll do some missionary courtship or some missionary dating so-called. Oh my friend, no, no, no, no. A thousand times no. You see that's trying to take on the role of the providence of God for yourself. And so the message from God's word is to wait upon the Lord.

Hold fast, wait upon him. Don't be discouraged in the wait. Be patient as God works out his purposes in your life. Again, don't manipulate the situation. Learn to trust Him.

Learn to be dependent upon Him. Submit to His providential working in your life and don't take those matters into your own hands. Well, as we conclude today, I know that we've only looked at a few pieces of the whole puzzle as it concerns marriage and the family, but I do hope that there's been something here for you that's been an encouragement, something that's been helpful to you here. But let me just end how I began when we started a few moments ago and just say one more time that we certainly lived in a fallen, messed up world, don't we? And beloved, the only way that you're going to navigate that world is if you learn to make use of the Holy Word of God.

How do you navigate marriage in a messy world? You hold fast to God's redemptive revelation. Again, not just redemptive revelation for your eternal soul, but also revelation that is redemptive now, presently. You know, I love the story in Mark chapter number five of the demoniac. Do you remember that story?

After the Lord Jesus dealt with him, that statement in that verse, it says, he set him down and put him in his right mind. Immediately, he did that right then and right there. And the word of God will do that for all of us. It will continue. The apostle Paul would say in Romans, be about the business of renewing your mind.

Learn to think the thoughts of God, learn to use his word in all of the practical areas of your life. Now, as I leave our text for today, I do have one final point that's not really here in our particular passage, but it really is a contextual point that comes from the book of 1 Corinthians. Now listen, everything that I've said to you has been important because it's God's holy word, but I have something to say to you that is more important than everything that I've said so far. And we get this again from the context of 1st Corinthians. And here's the deal.

Troubles concerning marriage or any other issue in life, for that matter, anything else, anything else that you're going to deal with, they are all secondary to the ultimate problem that we face as human beings before a holy God, and that is the fact that in our natural condition we are dead in our trespasses and sins. If you'll go back in 1 Corinthians at the opening section, you'll see that the Apostle Paul, before he deals with all of these practical issues in the book of 1 Corinthians, he has something else to say to these people. By the way, these Corinthian believers were a mess. You know, I'm amazed I drive down the road from time to time and see churches, the church at Corinth. Who would want to name their church that?

I mean, these people were messed up people. They had some massive problems, didn't they? I mean, you notice in chapter number one, Right there, if you're like my Bible, it says divisions in the church, the heading there above verse number 10. Paul's dealing with problems in the church. That's his theme.

There's all kinds of stuff that's going on. But you'll notice that before the apostle Paul starts dealing with all of these practical, specific problems in the Corinthian church, he first begins with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as a matter of first importance. All in chapter number one, he talks about the wisdom of God in the gospel as contrasted with the foolishness of the world. Then in chapter number two, what did he say? I decided to know nothing among you except Christ Jesus and him crucified.

Then in chapter number two, this beautiful passage that culminates in verses 14 through 16. The natural person doesn't accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they're folly to him. He's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ." Do you see the progression?

Paul first, he says, look, here's the gospel first. Let's talk about that as first importance. And then let me remind you believers that because you are indwelt by the spirit of God, you have the mind of Christ, you can think the thoughts of God, you can understand the ways of God. And then notice in chapter number three, what does it begin to deal with? Divisions in the church.

Do you see the flow of thought from the apostle Paul? Listen, what is he saying? What am I saying to you? It's the gospel that brings peace to disorder. It's the gospel first that brings peace to disorder.

And before you can ever experience any real practical peace in the various areas of your life, you first need, listen to me, the positional peace that's only found in and through God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith. We have what class? Peace with God. It's the gospel first.

You know, you hear that and you say, I know, I know this preacher, but I've got so many problems. You just don't understand. You don't under, I need this practical stuff right now in my life." I'm reminded of the story of the man who got in a fight. And there he was on the street scuffling with this man, and the man pulled out a gun and he shot him in the chest. This man was alive and some people were there close by and they grabbed this man and they took him to the hospital and he's there in the emergency room and his chest is open, he's been shot.

The doctors, they put him up on the table and begin to work on him and in the midst of all of the scuffling that took place out on the street, The man also cut his thumb really bad and he's laying on the table with his chest opened up and he's holding out his thumb and he's saying, Doctor, my thumb hurts, my thumb hurts, my thumb hurts. And the doctor is pushing away the thumb, pushing away the thumb because the man's chest is wide open. The doctor is first working on the real problem. Forget the thumb. We'll deal with that later.

Your chest is open, man. This is what I'm trying to convey in the message. This is the most important thing I say to you today. The problem isn't the hurt thumb of your marriage relationship. That's not the ultimate issue.

The ultimate issue, if you don't know the Lord, is that your chest is open and you need a heart transplant. You need to come to know the Lord. How do you navigate marriage in a messy world? Well, first, you need the gospel for your broken life. And I come to you today as a messenger of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and I would say to you today, search yourself at this conference.

Use this as an opportunity. I know the main focus is on these practical issues of the family and the home, and it's so important. It's a glorious institution and a wonderful thing. But don't miss the ultimate thing. Don't miss that these gospel preachers come to you as a matter of first importance of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

I wonder today, do you know Him? Do you really know the Lord Jesus? You know, this is a day of salvific opportunity, isn't it? God hasn't shut the whole thing down yet. There's still preachers of the gospel being called.

There's still conferences like this. There's still Lord's Day meetings where men of God stand and preach the gospel. And so we see the kindness and the patience of God that's meant to lead people to repentance. And let me just say to you today, my friend, all of these other things are important, but make sure as a matter of first importance that you know the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you haven't already looked at him, look to him, cast yourself upon him, thrown yourself upon the mercy of an almighty God through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that today is the day of salvation. Do not harden your hearts. Cast yourself upon him and you will find a willing Savior indeed. Let's pray. Father, I want to thank you today for the power of sacred Scripture.

Lord, thank you for these beautiful truths that are here in your word that give us so much instruction concerning practical issues of life. Lord, there's so much practical redemption here for us. If we would just follow, if we would just listen, if we would learn that overarching principle that your word is a redemptive book, that it's sufficient for everything that we need in our life, that it's authoritative, that you are the maker of heaven and earth. You have given us the instruction manual, Lord, and you've called us to obedience and to follow it. And so, Lord, I pray for these precious people here today, Lord, that they would grab hold of something that has been spoken from your word and that they would apply it to their lives and put it into practice and reap the tremendous benefits and blessings and joy that come from living an obedient life.

But Father, above all of that, Lord, above all of those practical issues, it's my heart's desire today, Lord, that all of us in this room would come to an understanding and a sweet assurance that we do, in fact, have a saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that every family, I pray that every person that's at this conference this weekend would in fact end that final and great day all together with no one left out, Father, that every single person would be gathered around the throne, worshipping the Lamb who was slain. Father, I pray that you would grant that. I pray that you would grant salvation to all of the precious and beautiful children that are here at this conference, Lord. That they would in fact hear the gospel from preachers of the gospel, but even perhaps more importantly, from their own parents, and that they would observe godly lives.

Lord, like you privileged me to observe in my own home with my own father and mother, thank you, Father, for my earthly parents that you've been so gracious to give me. I pray that that's the same experience that so many of these young people are having here. Lord, for that person that's struggling concerning whether to marry or not to marry or for that family where there's marital problems within the relationship, Oh Father, I pray for grace. I pray that you would grant repentance if necessary. Lord, I pray that pride would be humbled.

Lord, that a heart of service and selflessness would penetrate into the homes where those troubles abound. And Father that you would give grace and healing in those moments. Father you're so kind and you're so gracious and so wonderful. Thank you for the gift of your Son. We pray all these things in Christ's name.

Amen. God bless you.