Yeah… this even went a step further. Apparently this, whoever gave this message in the Corinthian church got so many people stirred up that some of the fathers were reluctant to give their daughters in marriage. And they may have been trying to hold their daughters back from marriage, which would have been a terrible frustration to their daughters. I think Paul refers to that in verse 36: “If a man think that he behaves in himself unseemly toward his virgin,” this is a father/daughter, “if she pass the flower of her age and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry.”
Here’s some guy and he’s got this beautiful daughter who wants to get married and he says ? No, you’re for the Lord… I’m going to keep you single for the Lord. And she’s saying ? But I don’t want to be single for the Lord, Daddy… I want Albert. And he’s giving her this spirituality trip and all she wants is the husband and kids.
And so, Paul says ? Look, let them marry. Somebody had given them some kind of deal, hadn’t they? On abstinence. Which was out of line with God’s truth. It’s great to be married, if that’s what God’s called you to. I mean, I wouldn’t trade it, I wouldn’t trade all the joys of a loving wife and blessed children and family, I mean, that’s life to me. But I also know there are some people who are single to the glory of God and they wouldn’t trade either. And Paul was one of them. He was one of them.
Look at 1 Corinthians 9, verse 5, just as a comparison. Paul her e sort of reaffirming his rights as an Apostle, I guess you could say. And he says: “We have some rights as Apostles and one of them is Have we no right to lead about a sister, a wife as well as the other Apostles? And as the brethren of the Lord and Peter?” He says ? Look, if I wanted to I have a right to get married. Now this ought to say something about the priesthood, too, folks … of the Roman Catholic Church. It isn’t more spiritual to be single. It isn’t more spiritual at all. Paul says ? I could be married like Peter. Peter was married, folks. I don’t know what kind of problems that poses for Catholic people, but he was married. We’ve already met his wife’s mother in the gospels and here we’re reminded that he’s got a wife. I…I…I would love to meet his kids and I will in heaven some day and I think it will be a very curious occasion. But nonetheless, here you have two great Apostles, Peter and Paul; Peter was married and Paul was not and maybe that illustrates the whole point. And God used Peter in a mighty way, although Peter apparently didn’t travel as much, it may have been because of the encumbering of that family. Paul had that freedom, that unique freedom but he says ? Look, I have a right to lead about a sister as a wife just like everybody else, that’s a right and a privilege that I have. Marriage is a wonderful and honorable and God?blessed thing and singleness is only for folks who can be single for the glory of God, not for just the sake of a lack of commitment or because they’ve set some worldly standard for who they’d marry and nobody comes up to that standard.
By the way, there’s a couple of footnotes in this verse I can’t resist. Two things Paul tells us about a wife. She needs to be led and she ought to be a sister. That’s a wonderful affirmation of what the Bible says about the male responsibility to be the head and lead his wife. And I don’t mean it’s a…put a ring in her nose and drag her around, I think what he’s saying there is to give her guidance and direction. That’s God’s intention. And not only is she to be one who would follow, one who would be led, one who understands that help?meet role, but she is to be a sister, that is in Christ. And he has a right to that.
The question then, I think, in the first few verses of I Corinthians is, is sex unspiritual? And the answer is … what? … no, it’s okay if you don’t get into that, it’s okay if you’re a virgin till you go to heaven, it’s okay, it’s honorable, it’s wonderful if God gifts you for that and calls you for that, sets you apart to the kingdom. If you’ve been formerly married and now you’re single again, maybe through death or divorce, or you’re either widowed or divorced, and you have every reason to be single because you’ve lost your partner, then you ought to think, first of all, ? Hey, maybe God does want me single. That’s honorable. That’s okay. That’s good. From here on out you could be celibate and glorify God. But marriage also glorifies God. It just depends on what your gift is. That’s the first question.
I’m going to give you the second question… now listen, “Should the formerly married remarry? Do they have that right?” Now, the answer to that’s going to come next week. Just wanted to put that in so you’d come. Let’s bow in prayer.
The Word of God is so practical, and, Father, we’re so thankful that it speaks to life, touches right where we live, the div ine genius of its truths. O how it penetrates our hearts, it knows us. We know it was written by God because it searches out the secret places of our hearts. Thank You for what You’ve taught us today and reminded us of, the sanctity, the wonder, the beauty of marriage; the sanctity, the wonder, and the beauty of singleness, for the glory of God, by the giftedness of the Spirit for the sake of the kingdom. Father, my prayer is that every one of us would understand what You’ve called us to, be it to be single that we might not be encumbered by the anxiety of the world but free to care for the things of the Lord, to be single for the sake of the advance of the Kingdom. We thank You for what we’ve learned about marriage, too, that it’s good, that everyone should have their own partner, to avoid sinning and that in that union there should be continual giving of one to the other because this closes out Satan’s ability to tempt us in that very vulnerable area. And if we can just be fulfilled in that area, we can sustain a lifelong, happy, thrilling, intimate love relationship. So, blessed the marriages, bless the single folks and we pray for those who are in the crossroads, asking the question ? Do I have a right to marry again? Should I marry again? Should I marry for the first time? Has God called me to singleness? We pray that You’ll answer the cry of their hearts as well. And for those, Father, who desire to marry but have not found the right partner, would You bring to them that…that right person, that one that You would have to share the values of the faith and the love of Christ with, a sister, a brother who may together become one in You? We thank You for all who are gathered today and we pray on this special day that there might be a great sharing of love and affection and that You might be the center of it all. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
