1 Corinthians 7:17,20 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. Regardless of your circumstances. We areeach of usto remain with God in that state in which we were called. Before we read it, let's orient ourselves from the preceding context. We are going to see three sections in our study of this text. Stated as a prayer, the main point today is: Father, grant to us all the grace to be conscious of your presence at our work and to obey your commands in all our vocational relationships. Our sermon ideas on 1 Corinthians will help you preach a powerful message on sound conduct and doctrine within the church. When we read this and we have to ask, okay I have this job opportunity in front of me. Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. We begin to pray about everything. Another example in verses 1216 is the question, What should we do if one marriage partner puts his or her faith in Christ but the other doesn't? Your job is to search the scriptures and ask how this speaks into the general principles as you are praying for illumination. Our responsibilities to our families, to our work, to our neighbors, to our churches. It will transform and transcend everything else you do. For holy Scripture causes a hard knot in this matter, in that the Apostle says, that, by commandment of the Lord, the wife ought not to depart from . What matters is not whether our job is high or low in man's eyes. Other times slavery provided opportunities for upward social mobility that poor people wouldnt normally have. Our sovereign God makes those of us who trust in Jesus into new creations on the inside; but He then calls us to remain in the place where He has called us on the outsideand to thus let Him show forth His work in us to others who are also in that place. So, what does Paul mean, dont worry about circumcision, just worry about keeping the commands of God. Then he looks to the noble free man and says, "Do not become proud, for in Christ you are a slave. 19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.1 Corinthians 7:17-19, ESV Respond to Gods effectual call through faith in Jesus. John 5:19-29 Study Guide: Jesus Gives Life, John 5:30-47 Study Guide: The Scriptures Point to Me, John 6:22-40 Study Guide: I am the Bread of Life, John 6:41-59 Study Guide: Jesus Addresses the Skeptics. 17-24). Devote yourself to that with all your heart, and take whatever job you want. I know what God has called me to be to my family and I know that this job will take time away from me which will cut into the way that I should be loving my family and the way that I should be serving in my church and my neighbors. Amen (1 Timothy 1:12-17). I think it is true in the final analysis that this is not an absolute prohibition of accepting freedom, anymore that verse 18 was an absolute prohibition of circumcision. 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? English Standard Version Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. In a word, the application of Paul's principle to cultural distinctives is this: Don't fret and don't boast about your present state of cultural distinctives; they are of little importance to God compared to whether you are devoting yourself, soul and mind and body, to obeying his commandments, which are all fulfilled in this: "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Romans 13:810; Galatians 5:14). It may be helpful to think of these as three pieces of bread in a double-decker sandwich (like a Big Mac). Now; Paul doesnt just merely state this principle to us. Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. If everything on the inside is new, should we then completely get rid of every aspect of the outside life and start over? *"This date is an approximation of when this sermon was delivered." THE text does not say that time is short. . Up to this point Paul has been talking about remaining in the situations that we find ourselves in in our marriages. This is clear from the fact that he had Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:3), and from his own statement that he becomes all things to all men that he might save some (1 Corinthians 9:22). Either waywhatever the cultural or social situation we are called in, we are to do as Paul says in verse 24. Gods Calling Transcends Vertical Assignments Even in there God made a way that he powerfully calls us out of ourselves and open our eyes to see Jesus and how good and glorious and radiant he is. We wonder if life would be greener somewhere else, but Christians have this additional element where we are thankful for the green pastures that our good shepherd has led us. Your Job as Ministry. Lets have enough confidence in Gods call upon us to trust Him in it, and to let Him use it, and to even thank Him for it. Ultimately your circumstances are of deeply secondary importance. . But otherwise, the believer is to remain in the place where God had called them to Himself; and they should continue walking faithfully with Him there, and allow Him to use them as His witnesses for the kingdom of Jesus. I have no doubt that, if all our young people are bending every effort to stay close to God and to obey the commands of Scripture, God will distribute them in the world exactly where he wants their influence for him. 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. They wrote to the apostle Paul; and they asked him many questions about such things. Follow Desiring God on Facebook . Specifically, the definition that we are going to get about what this calling is toward is in verse twenty-four. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.1 Corinthians 7:23, ESV The question this morning is do you hear Gods effectual call? The hope of glory when he returns. While on his third missionary journey, the apostle Paul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians to a fractioned church in the city of Corinth in Ancient Greece around A.D. 54. Paul is saying that change, as good as it is and as much as you should pursue it if you can, that change is unnecessary in light of what we are called to in Christ. You were bought with a price. God had providentially called them from within that particular relationship in order that He might use them as a witness to their unbelieving husband or unbelieving wife. Rather, we are to walk as a faithful Christian in the very place of life where God has called us to Himselfand to let Him use us there, in that place, as His witnesses for Christ. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Then and only then may circumcision (as Paul implies in Romans 2:25) and other cultural distinctives become beautiful, in a very secondary and derivative way as expressions of the obedience of faith. This is my rule in all the churches. But as you see, Zacchaeus didnt remain in that sinful lifestyle any longer. This calling is the Holy Spirit's pull into fellowship with Christ. And do you remember what Zacchaeus did? Am I in the will of God? Thats why slave of Christ, in verse twenty-two, could be an honorable designation suggested a position of some authority.. That has to do with our outward mode of lifethe place of life in this world that God has granted to us. He showed Zacchaeuas love and mercy; and He even went to Zacchaeus house for dinner. He had betrayed his own Jewish kinsmen; and he was collecting taxes from them for the Roman government. Its a fundamental principle for us here today, dear brothers and sisters. | Download (0.2KB), Worship Time Childcare provided for children ages 0-7, Revival Prayer Meeting, 6:00 pm at the church, Church Prayer Group, 7:00 pm at the church, Men's Breakfast, 7:30 am at the 185th Shari's. This is seen most clearly in 1 Corinthians 1:23, 24, where Paul says, "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." My life is to obey God and enjoy his presence.". To seek Godly counsel. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Study Guide: Such Were Some of You, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Study Guide: Bought With a Price, 1 Corinthians 7:1-9 Study Guide: The Beauty of Marriage, 1 Corinthians 7:8-16 Study Guide: Approaching Difficulties in Marriage, 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 Study Guide: Living the Life God has Given, 1 Corinthians 7:25-40 Study Guide: Christian Singleness, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Study Guide: When You're 100% Right and 100% Wrong, 1 Corinthians 9:1-23 Study Guide: Surrendering Your Rights, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Study Guide: Run to Win the Race, 1 Corinthians 10:1-14 Study Guide: A Way Out of Temptation, John 17 Study Guide 2: Sharing in Community, John 17 Study Guide 3: Sharing in Mission, John 17 Study Guide Part 4: Growing in Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1 Study Guide: Glory to God in All Things, 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 Study Guide: Because of the Angels, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Study Guide: The Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Study Guide: Spiritual Gifts for the Common Good, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Study Guide: One Body, Many Members, 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 Study Guide: Love Never Ceases, 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 Study Guide: When the Perfect Comes, 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 Study Guide: Pursuing Love and Desiring the Gifts, 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 Study Guide: Orderly Worship, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Study Guide: Gospel Centered Faith. The new legalism would say, "You can't be circumcised if you want to be saved. Let him not become uncircumcised. To be circumcised, of course, was to bear upon ones self the covenant sign of Israel. That's basically what uncircumcision and circumcision stood for. So the principle that the apostle follows is: stay in your God-ordained relationships; do not seek to abandon them or destroy them. The Bible tells you to love your neighbor as yourself and that looks different in different relationships. Sunday services at 10:30 am. . Gods Calling Transcends Vertical Assignments Charles Hodge describes it this way, This would mean to be near God. He says if you have an opportunity to gain your freedom, avail yourself of that opportunity. He applies it like this: if you were converted as a Gentile, don't try to become a Jew. 21 Were you a bondservant when called? He is radically God-oriented. And now, as we continue our study in 1 Corinthians 7, we find that this was not just a principle meant only for marriage. And note one more thing. 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 Live as You Are Called 17 Only let each person lead the life3 lthat the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 A Sermon By Scott Lindsay We are continuing this morning in our study of Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, picking up at verse 17 of chapter 7 and working through to verse 24 of that same chapter. When we are called into a relationship with Jesus, God calls us in a place where we still have our old friends and old relations. We pray that if there are some who do not know Jesus Christ that you would right now be working in their hearts. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. Theme: We are to walk as a faithful Christian in the place of life where God has called us to Himself. Now, notice that later on in verse twenty-one, God doesnt prohibit slaves from leaving their circumstances. Rather, the Jewish follower of the Jewish traditions who came to Christ was encouraged to remain in the cultural traditions in which he was called, and to live faithfully for Jesus in it. Rejoice in the Lord and hope in him and you will be freer than all the anxious nobles." (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. What Paul was doing was showing that obedience to the commands of God is so much more important than any cultural distinctives, that the mere changing of these distinctives should be of no importance whatever to the Christian. Father we ask that you will give us grace to seek you, to seek your will, to seek your favor, especially as we wrestle though a thousand difficult questions. The second is opportunity, I see this word in verse twenty-one. Not for an answer, but for the wisdom that other believers, who are further along in the faith perhaps, have gained through the Holy Spirits illumination in their lives as they have been faced with similar questions. Its taking the objective teaching of scriptures and applying it to the specifics of our lives. The circumstances you are in are relatively unimportant because of the glory that God is calling to you in Christ. Here begins our text in 1 Corinthians 7:17. Were you called while a slave? Is it a job that is not esteemed as highly as other professions? But if you translate it as a command to seek freedom, the true point of the passage is obscured. As Paul writes in verse 17, And so I ordain in all the churches. This is a foundational principle for every believer in Christ, in every Christian church, in any culture, in any nation of the world, at any time in history. Do you have to become a member of a different people group? As one commentator, Lenski, writes, Paul is taking the minor idea of these assignments that we have, and he is including them with the major blessing to the call to faith in Jesus Christ.. We are located at the top of the intersection of NW 185th Avenue and Germantown Road. Paul then learned of divisions . Paul intended this to be a fundamental principle for all people who have put their faith in Jesus Christ and have become new creations in Him. 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 Study Guide: Why Not Rather Be Cheated? Never mind. John 6:60-71 Study Guide: Where Else Would We Go? Let him not seek circumcision. This sermon (1 Corinthians 1: 10 - 17) was preached at West Ewell Evangelical Church, Surrey, on Sunday 15 March 2015. 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Someone was just as able to be called to God through Christand to live for Jesus just as faithfullyin a state of slavery as much as in a state of freedom. Why You Should Preach This Book. Prepare your messages on God's Word in 1 Corinthians with sermon outlines or an . (All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated). Instead what we need to do is to ask for illumination. There was a monk whose name was Brother Lawrence who wrote a booked called, Practicing the Presence of God. 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.1 John 2:28, ESV He may call us to Himself while we are in a place of sin; but He then leads us to live for Him outside that place of sin. Gods presence enables us to abide in whatever assignments we have. Now, in actual fact, the whole section - from verse 17 through to the end of the chapter, at vs40, really ought to be . This is my rule in all the churches. Paul is not pronouncing a blanket condemnation upon all those who adopt aspects of other cultures and give up aspects of their own. 17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. One time he uses the word "calling" in this vocational sense, namely, in verse 20. Most modern versions say, "Were you a slave when called? We say, white is beautiful, black is beautiful, red is beautiful, yellow is beautiful; therefore, don't try to switch cultures. An opportunity we are going to see is a lawful and properly available path where we might change our circumstances. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Where we are in our life is not by accident. But their husbands or wives had not done so. Gods Calling Teaches Us to Abide with God But if it is not sinful place of lifeif it is not a place that is in violation of Gods clear commandmentsthen we are to remain there and let God work through us. Theme: We are to walk as a faithful Christian in the place of life where God has called us to Himself. In other words, coming to faith in Christ does not make a person want to abandon relationships appointed by God, but to sanctify them. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him Learn more about Desiring God Ways to Follow. It was to be a follower of the traditions of the Jewish people. This idea of effectual calling when we are drawn out of our sin to Jesus Christ, that is included in the assignments in which the calling finds us. Apollos then went to Achaia (of which Corinth was the capitol) where he gave a powerful witness to the messiahship of Jesus (Acts 18:24-28). John 5:1-18 Study Guide: Do You Want to be Healed? But Paul was urging that this was not at all necessary for a believing Jewish person to do. He has sovereignly called us as He did for a purpose. I think that the greatest explanation of what Paul meant is found in Romans 2. Father make us steeped in the scriptures, not so we can just spit out the right answers without thinking to complicated questions, but so that you can frame the way that we are thinking and wrestling with you in prayer. They had clearly been transformed on the inside; and there were many changes that were happening on the outside too. "A man's mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). Never mind." Recent Sermons "Jesus Divides the Earth" - Matthew 10:34-42 Pastor Jacob Gerber, February 26, 2023 "No Comfort for the Lonely City" - Lamentations 1:1-22 Pastor Andrew Lightner, February 19, 2023 Facebook Phone Email . 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.1 Corinthians 7:17-24, ESV Please answer His call. 1 Corinthians. Some of them had become born again by faith in Jesus, and were now brand new creations in Christ. Their sins are completely forgivencast into the sea of Gods pardoning grace. (2) If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast aboutbut not before God. 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Romans 3:23 - 24: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If you have an opportunity to go and follow a different religion that rejects the Lord Jesus Christ, that in sin. They are different from circumstance to circumstance and person to person. ", John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. Do you notice how he was able to say how thankful he was for his calling? The Bible tells us that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:7). We need to think long and hard about whether what we communicate to our children about success is biblical or just American. 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 New American Standard Bible 17 Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this way let him walk. How do I bloom where Christ has put me? Imagine you had the opportunity to work for that person as a low-level staffer at the White House. What wonderful news that is! But Jesus came by one day and paid a call on Zacchaeus. 1. As theyve had to search the scriptures and see the various principles and how the light of Gods word shone into their lives by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. There is no new prophecy, no new words from the Lord, they are already given to us. If we are always trying to discern if we are getting what we need, we will never be content. Yet he realized that was the greatest joy that he had. Sermon . Let me give you an illustration of what this might look like. Only let everyone lead the life which the Lord has assigned to him, and in which God has called him. Sermon Trusting God to Work it Out by Brian Bill. Even here thats not quite what Paul is saying. Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Please place your trust in Him. Then verse 20, "Everyone should remain in the state in which he was called." Instead, wherever we are, we can be content. Luke 1:26-45 Study Guide: What did Mary Know? That place that we were in when He called us was no accident. The upshot of this is that whether a person is a slave or a freedman, it ought not be the cause of his despair or his pride. If instead we are looking to serve, theres always opportunity. If we translated this really literally, it would go like this, Only to each as God assigned, in the situation in which God has called each thus let him walk.. The calling of life has been provided by nothing less than the blood of Jesus Christ and the faith that he gives us by the Holy Spirit. Dont put yourself in slavery because you were brought with a price. To every person. We are to walk as faithful followers of Jesus in whatever place of life it is that God has called us to Himself. God left them to remain in that very situation so that they might also have a godly influence upon their children. 1 Corinthians 7:19, ESV 1 Corinthians 7:17 Sermons: Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, so let him walk. And in this vocation or station in life another calling comes from God. As a Jewish man, he would never have been indifferent to the covenant sign that God gave to his ancestor Abraham. So, these are the horizontal assignments, the boundaries, the people Gods. We wonder if the grass is greener or if our good shepherd might be leading us to greener pasture syndrome. Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Paul is not saying that a professional thief or a Corinthian cult prostitute should stay in the calling in which they were called. Likewise, he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. We can say in this situation, how can I serve? Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? We dont need to be so concerned with what we are getting out of life. Zacchaeus became a new creation by faith in Jesus. Never mind. The fact were urged to stay in the place we were when God called us does not mean that thats where God will always keep us. This is the same point he was making with cultural differences like circumcision: Were you uncircumcised? Use it to obey Christ and thus "adorn the doctrine of our great God and Savior" (Titus 2:10). Then we ask am I obeying? Preach on topics including unity among believers, immorality, spiritual gifts, the meaning of love, and the certainty of the resurrection. So I command in all the churches. 24 and are . For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. We often use the word "calling" to refer to our vocation: my calling is to be a homemaker; my calling is to be a salesman; etc. 18Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? The time may come when we may do something different, as long as it is lawful and properly available. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy (1 Corinthians 7:12-14). Thats because its a manifestation of Gods providential work in our lives. And so I ordain in all the churches. Let me suggest a few things. So, in verse nineteen Paul says, just to explain this a little further, Praise God for the total transformation that comes from being a new creation in Christ. Again, Gods calling intersects whatever people groups you were born into so that you dont have to join a new one.