Paul continues the theme of rights. Last week we looked at the fact that our rights and freedoms need to be constrained by our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. This week Paul demonstrates through his example and his instruction that as Christians we ought to be willing to set aside our rights for the sake of the gospel. Out of love for Christ and love for the lost we, like Paul, must choose to put aside our rights, preferences, and comfort to reach and rescue as many people as possible with the gospel. Our rights and freedoms are not the ultimate prizes, the souls of people and the glory of God are.

Underlying all Paul’s writing in this chapter about marriage and singleness is this concern, that as God’s people we would live lives of undivided devotion to him. The issue for each one of us isn’t ultimately our marital status, the issue is that God our ultimate loyalty would be to God above anyone and anything else

Sermon Notes:

• You can live a life of purpose and contentment no matter your current circumstance.
• Satisfaction is ultimately found in living for the one who saved us not in our living situation.
• Satisfaction is found in knowing the Saviour who satisfied all of God’s requirements and living for Him.
• The key to contentment isn’t changing our circumstances, it’s understanding our calling.
• Satisfaction is found in serving Christ and you can serve Christ no matter your circumstances.
• Stop living “if only” lives, start living lives of undivided devotion to Jesus.

Both singleness and marriage are good gifts from God, they both come with their own benefits and their own responsibilities. Marriage brings with it the good gift of sex, but that gift also comes with restrictions and responsibilities. Singleness grants to the single person a level of freedom that those who are married do not have, but that freedom comes with the reality that sex is reserved for those who are married. We need to thank God for whatever gift he has given to us and trust that the restrictions each of those gifts come with are for our good and His glory.

Sermon Notes:

• Whether you are single or married God has given you a gift that comes with both blessings and requirements. (vs.7)
• Marriage is a gift.
• Marriage blesses us with the opportunity to model the love of Christ. (Ephesians 5:22-33)
• Singleness is a gift.
• Singleness blesses us with the freedom to serve the cause of Christ. (1 Corinthians 7:32-34)
• The requirement of Christian singleness is celibacy. (1 Corinthians 6:18)
• The requirement of Christian marriage is lifelong commitment. (1 Corinthians 7:10-16)
• Whether you are single or married satisfaction is ultimately found in the giver rather than the gift.

The popular view in culture is that sex is merely a physical act and that our sex lives are no bodies business but our own. Paul contradicts both these assumptions with his teaching in this section. First he makes it clear that not only is sex a physical act, it’s also a spiritual one. Second he makes it clear that our sex lives matter to God because, as Christian, our bodies are a part of His body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and were purchased by the blood of Christ.

As Christians we celebrate Easter because Easter changes everything. The belief that Jesus truly died, was buried, and then rose again on the first Easter Sunday is the cornerstone of our faith. As Paul says, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then we would be the most pitiable people of all. But because he did rise, we can have confidence that those who place their trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins will also be resurrected to new life. This truth makes Easter a celebration of unparalleled joy and significance.

One of the main reasons Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians was their apparent lack of concern for sexual immorality within the church. Paul emphasizes the importance of addressing this issue and administering church discipline out of love for Jesus and love for the brother or sister who is engaging in sin. This sermon provides an opportunity to explore the importance of holiness and the necessity of church discipline. It also offers a counterpoint both to those who argue that "Christians shouldn't judge others" and to those who tend to overlook the sins of those within the church while judging the sins of those outside of it.

In this chapter, Paul asks the Corinthians, "What do you have that you did not receive?" This question encapsulates Paul's theology of grace, which holds that everything we have is a gift from God. In order to encourage the Corinthians to live a life shaped by God's grace, and the sacrifice and surrender the cross calls us to, Paul employs a combination of irony, sarcasm, and tender love to guide them. However, he recognizes that mere teachings are not enough; the Corinthians need an embodied example to follow. As such, he sends them Timothy, a living embodiment of humility and grace, to model for them what it means to live a life in accordance with the gospel.

Sermon Notes:

• How we view influence matters.
• Who is influencing you?
• Is scripture your standard?
• Gospel centred influencers don’t reach for power.
• Instead gospel-centred influencers humbly serve.
• Gospel centred influencers don’t strike back.
• Instead, gospel centred influencers surrender.
• Gospel centred influencers doesn’t shame.
• Instead gospel centred influence care.
• Are we are following whose lives reflect the way of Jesus?

"Despite their self-perception as wise, mature, and sophisticated, Paul makes it clear to the Corinthians that they still have much growing to do. Their tendency towards quarrelling and jealousy is a sign of their immaturity. There is no place for such behavior in the body of Christ. When we allow ourselves to be divided by boasting, factions, or allegiance to specific leaders or teachers, it demonstrates that we have not fully understood the core principles of the gospel. When we view other churches as competition rather than as fellow laborers, we risk dividing the body of Christ and facing God's judgement and punishment in our own lives."

Sermon Notes:

• God is even more serious about the place He dwells in than you are about your home. (vs. 16-17)
• Division, rivalry, and conflict damage God’s dwelling place. (vs. 1-4)
• “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21)
• You will build God’s temple when you live like other Christians are coworkers in the same mission. (vs. 5-9)
• You will build God’s temple when Jesus is your life. You are hurting God’s temple when Jesus is secondary. (vs. 10-15)
• Self deception is the root problem we all need to be rescued from. (vs. 18-23)