Line Upon Line

In the fifth study of 1 Corinthians 7, Pastor Miles concludes Paul's teaching on marriage and singleness, examining the preoccupations of marriage, the passions that must be controlled, and the permanence of marriage. He argues that while marriage is a blessing, singleness is also a blessing and a strategic opportunity for undistracted service to the Lord.

Paul addresses the division at Corinth over marriage versus singleness, affirming that both are good, and exhorts believers—because the time is short and the form of this world is passing away—to hold loosely to the pleasures, possessions, emotions, and even marriage of this fleeting world while seeking first the kingdom of God.

Drawing from Isaiah 62, Pastor Miles teaches that God's design for His people—first Israel, now the church—was to shine the light of His righteousness to the nations, and that despite Israel's failure, God promises a future restoration in which they will be glorified, renamed, protected, and called His delight. He then moves into Isaiah 63's coming day of vengeance, showing that before that glorious restoration Christ will return as the warrior who treads the winepress of God's wrath, urging believers to shine the gospel into a dark world before that day comes.

A verse-by-verse teaching on Isaiah 60–61 showing that Jesus is the Light of the world who calls His people out of darkness to arise and shine, and that this prophecy looks ahead to the millennial reign of Christ when Israel is glorified, the nations gather to Jerusalem, and God's people are clothed in His righteousness.

In 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, Paul gives a paradigm-shifting principle: accept the situation God placed you in and continue to serve Him there, because the gospel is not about social revolution but personal and spiritual transformation. Using the examples of circumcision and slavery, Pastor Miles shows that Christianity transcends race, class, and status, transforming individuals from the inside out and, through them, society.

Pastor Miles teaches Isaiah 58–59, where God commands Isaiah to cry aloud and expose Judah's sins. Though the people kept fasts, feasts, and sacrifices, their hearts were wicked and their religious observance an empty external sham; God shows that true religion is rooted in a transformed heart that produces justice and mercy, and that sin—not divine weakness—separates a people from God.

A verse-by-verse teaching on 1 Corinthians 7:8-16 covering Paul's instruction to the unmarried, widows, married believers, and believers married to unbelievers. Pastor Miles argues that marriage is a lifelong, God-created institution, identifies the biblical exceptions for divorce, and calls believers to be transformed by God's word rather than conformed to the culture's confused view of marriage.

A verse-by-verse study of Isaiah 56–57 showing that God calls His people to maintain justice and righteousness in light of His soon-coming salvation, extends His covenant blessings to foreigners and outcasts, indicts the blind, indulgent watchmen of Judah, and promises mercy and revival to the contrite while declaring there is no peace for the wicked.

Paul shifts from confronting carnality to answering the Corinthians' questions about marriage and intimacy, teaching that celibacy is good but tempting, that married couples should not withhold themselves from one another, and that both marriage and singleness are gifts to be offered to God.

A verse-by-verse teaching through Isaiah 54 (and into Isaiah 55) showing how God turns the shame of Israel's barrenness, widowhood, and rejection into joy, restoration, and everlasting kindness — a picture of the gospel and the believer's secure inheritance in Christ. The message presses every Christian to find this same testimony of revived barrenness and to receive freely the living water and word of God.