 We're in chapter 7. We're going to look at verses 17 through 31 today and what we'll do is I'll begin at verse 17 and I'll read to verse 24, give you some background and then we'll get into our study. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 beginning at verse 17. Paul writes, But as God is distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches. Was anyone called well circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called well uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it, but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord, while a slave is the Lord's freed man. Likewise, he who is called while free is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men. Rather, and let each one remain with God in the calling in which he was called. Now as we've seen, the Apostle Paul has been answering questions. I mentioned to you that in chapter 7, beginning at verse 1, he actually begins to answer questions that the Corinthians had asked. And they began by asking questions concerning marriage. Now as he's been sharing things related to marriage, he made the statement, and I want you to see it in verse 20. He makes the statement in verse 20, let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. And so in the Corinthian church, opinions concerning marriage have been forming, and the opinions included whether it was better or worse to be married. Now Paul's going to deal with that in a little while, but now he encourages them simply to be satisfied. Be satisfied where you are. You see in verse 17 he says, but as God has distributed to each one as the Lord has called each one, so he's speaking concerning how they have a certain place in the body of Christ and things that God is doing in their life. When it says distributed, that speaks of whatever God has chosen to impart. So whatever your lot may be, whatever your special circumstances may be, whether you're single or married, whether you've been deserted on account of your belief in Christ, what he's saying is continue to grow without seeking a change. I was mentioning to you that sometimes when people are finding themselves single through whatever circumstances that occurs, one of the first things they want to do is remarry. They just, they can't stand being alone. Paul said it's better to be single because you're free to do things for the Lord. So when you find yourself in whatever circumstances they may be, he's simply saying you need to use those circumstances to serve Jesus Christ in. And what he really is pointing to, and we'll see that for just a moment here, is he's really leading to the fact that we need to be content in the Lord. We need to learn what satisfaction really is. So he's talking about being contented in your station in life. Now, when Paul was writing to the Philippians in chapter 4, verses 11 and verse 13, Paul said to the church there, not that I speak in respect to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. He went on to say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So I have learned in whatever circumstances of my life, whether I'm abounding or whether I'm abased or whatever the condition may be, whether I'm free or whether I'm in jail, I've learned to be content in that estate, knowing that God is at work. It's been said real contentment must come from within. You and I cannot change or control the world around us, but we can change and control the world within us. And so what are you speaking about is learning to live in a contented way, whether you're married, whether you're single, whatever it may be. The presence of God in our lives is intended to make us satisfied. Someone once said, you say if I had a little more, I should be very satisfied. You make a mistake. If you're not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. And that's absolutely true. We know that. I was a young man. Let me date myself, because nobody else will date me. Let me date myself. And I'll say that in my early marriage, I wanted to make $5 an hour, because if I could make $5 an hour, I would be rolling. I would have so much money. Do you realize that's $200 a week? And for me, oh, man, can you believe that? If I could only make $5 an hour. See, I was making $3.25. So $1.75 was a lot of money. And so I really wanted to one day make $5 an hour. Now I was paying $175 a month rent. Car payment was $74. Things were a bit different at that time. Gasoline was around 50 cents or so. You know, so for me $5 an hour, that's making a lot of money. And you begin to look at that over the course of a year, and you are making a ton of money. You're making over $10,000 a year. Well, guess what happened? Obama. No, guess what happened? I shouldn't have said that. Oh, well. But guess what happened? Man, the bar keeps moving. The bar keeps moving. And it's like a carrot in front of you. You know, one more step and I almost have it. One more step and I almost have it. I finally made the $5 an hour. But guess what? The bar moved. And it always will. And when you finally get hold of it, and you finally have it, whatever it may be, you may have said to yourself, if I could only have a car like this, I want to have this car. It's not that it's wrong to have that car. It's what you want. It's when your life goes no problem with that. But you finally got it. And now you roll into your driveway, and you're thinking, man, this is the coolest car. And then here comes the new version. The brand new one comes putting by and your neighbor pulls up and says, hey, you got the old one. I got the new one. What happens? What happens when you get that iPad? And you say, you know, I really like iPads. So you pick up the iPad, and now you're learning oh, it's so cool. And then what did they do? Announce the new one that just came out. That's just the way it is. And so no matter what it is you get, it will never satisfy you. And if you want $5 an hour, $10 an hour would never satisfy you. Because contentment is never based on the material things that you possess. Jesus Christ said that. He said, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. What we need is contentment in the Lord. And that's what Paul is speaking about. So somebody is married. Don't be desiring to be not married. Somebody is unmarried. Don't be desiring to be married. What you need to do is enjoy yourself where you're at in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when he says in verse 17, God is distributed to each one as the Lord has called each one and let him walk in that way. Whatever assignment or calling you have, use it to glorify the Lord. Since you don't know if you can influence the unbeliever to be saved, do not be quick to divorce them. The key will be learning to serve Jesus in whatever circumstances you find yourself to be in. And so in verse 18, he goes on to give us some practical things. Was anyone called while circumcised? Well, let them not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let them not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. Now when he speaks about being called while circumcised, if you're a Jewish believer, because that's who he'd be referring to, those who are circumcised, if you're a Jewish believer, don't try to become like a Gentile, the uncircumcised. But if you're a Gentile believer, don't try to become like a Jewish believer. Jewish believers need not violate their consciences and Gentiles don't need to be circumcised. Don't go in that direction. You see, neither desire circumcision nor be embarrassed by it, because what really matters ultimately is your relationship to God through Jesus Christ. In Galatians 6 verse 15, Paul said, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. Philippians 3 verse 3, we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoicing Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. You see, circumcision is a matter of the heart. It's a heart that really is circumcised. It's not an external right at all. It's speaking, concerning a matter of the heart. And so what matters, according to verse 19, is the keeping of the commandments of God. In other words, this is a way of saying what matters is your relationship to God through Jesus Christ. When he says he's keeping the commandments of God, we simply need to ask, what commandment would he be referring to? Is he speaking of the law? Well, remember what Jesus said in John 14 verse 1, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. What is the commandment of God? To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that we might be saved. And so he says, What really matters is your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What really matters is not the external, whether or not you've been circumcised, or whether as a Gentile you are in uncircumcision. What matters is your relationship to God in faith through Jesus Christ. And so, verse 20, let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. Now, that's what we're to do individually. As a Christian, I'm to remain firmly committed to Jesus Christ. Learn to serve Jesus exactly where you are and do not go where you are not called. Learn to serve him exactly where you are is a very important lesson to learn. In 1977, I went to a pastor's class at Calvary Chapel of Downey. Marie and I were going there for a while. Jeff Johnson was teaching a pastor's class and I wanted to be a pastor. As a matter of fact, Jeff Johnson dedicated my daughter Corrine to the Lord. And so I blame him for all the problems she's caused in my life since then. It's Jeff's fault. He didn't do it right. I was going to this pastor's class because I knew that I was called into the ministry. And because he had allowed me to go to it, I thought that was a confirmation that God had called me. When in essence it really was but in a different place at a different time, right? So I can still remember going through the several weeks. I think it was like six to eight weeks, I forget now. And he had said, listen, if you guys ever want to talk about ministry, just give me a call at the church and I'll talk to you about it. So we graduated on Monday and Tuesday I called him up. And I said, Jeff, I just finished your pastor's class and he goes, yeah, how are you doing? I said, great. I said, I want to go into the ministry. Now I really thought what he was going to do was to say, you know, Dave, I've got some keys. I've got an office. I got a library. Come on down. I'm giving them to you. I really did. I thought, see, I thought if I would sit in the front row, he'd see the halo. He'd see the holy glow and he'd know that this is an anointed man of God. I need him on staff, right? What he said to me is he said, really? I said, yeah. He said, you know what? He said, when I planted this church, he goes, we had 500 members and because they're young people, he said they didn't support. So I had to continue working. He said, and I work construction. He said, I made a determination to become the best construction worker on the job site. He said, because I couldn't go full time. He said, I could only, you know, I was ministering full time, but they couldn't supply my needs. So I had to provide for myself. He said, I continued to work for a year full time as a construction worker, as this church was growing till it got to the point that I could be released from construction work so that I could begin the construction in human lives as a pastor at full time. He says, my recommendation to you is to keep doing what you're doing and wait for the Lord to open the doors. I was not happy with Jeff. God did not speak to that man. He was a false prophet. He was right. He was right. Of course he was right. The Lord has a way of opening doors that no man can close. And the best thing you can do is remain faithful where you are serving God and having fruit right there until he moves you to where he wants you to be. The steps of a godly man are ordered of the Lord. And God leads you by his Holy Spirit. And as God leads you by his Holy Spirit, he begins to move you to places where your gifts and talents are more obvious and you have opportunity to be used. And the Lord has a way of doing that. And so from, from Downey, Marie and I began to go to a church at Calvary in Claremont. And in 78 I began teaching a Bible study for them in Claremont. And 79 got ordained and 81 planted this church. But all along I thought that the Lord was going to open a door for me to be an assistant to Jeff Johnson in Downey when in reality he said, no, I have a place that has, well, it has an air you can smell. It's called Chino. It has a mascot called a fly and you're going to learn to love the place. And that's how it works. And so what we're to do is be content in the estate that we find ourselves in. Now he goes on in verse 21 and he starts asking some very serious questions. Verse 21, were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can be made free, rather use it for he was called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freed man. Likewise, he was called while free is Christ's slave. Were you called while a slave? In other words, are you presently a slave? Were you saved while being a slave? You were a slave you got saved? Well, this is interesting. He's saying serve God in that situation. This is heavy because during the time of the writing up to half of the population in the Roman Empire were slaves. And when you look at some of the ancient history related to the conditions they lived under, they lived under sorrowful conditions and they were actually called verbal living tools. That's what human beings were looked at. Tools that could talk. And so the condition that they found themselves in was terrible. And yet Paul is saying were you called as a slave serve the Lord in that condition. It's been said Paul taught revolution through regeneration. Christianity destroyed slavery in the empire. But how did it do that? How did Christianity destroy slavery in the Roman Empire? Because it did. The Christian faith undermined the whole Roman slave situation. But how did that happen? Well, one, Christianity taught that masters and slaves were actually related in Jesus Christ. Philemon verse 16, speaking to Onesimus, said he's no longer a slave but better than a slave. He says a dear brother. He's very dear to me but even dear to you both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. One of the things that happened in Christianity is a slave and the slave owner became brothers in the Lord. And can you imagine that situation that this person that I have ownership of is one with me in Jesus Christ. And when the ramifications that began to dawn on the individuals who owned these human beings, it changed slavery. Secondly, Christianity taught slave owners to have a proper attitude towards their slaves. You see, it was taught during that time, as a matter of fact, there are Roman philosophers who point this out, that if I was displeased with my slave, I had the power of life and death. If they came and brought me something that I didn't like, if they brought me a food and I think that it's too cold, I could actually have had them killed or killed them myself. And nothing would have been done to me because they were my property. And I had the right to do whatever I wanted to do with them. In terms of compensation, I didn't owe them anything. I didn't have to give them anything. They belong to me. And yet, under Christianity, they were to be treated with respect and even given proper compensation. That's what Paul says in Colossians 4 verse 1, when he says, masters provide your slaves with what is right and fair because you know that you also have a master in heaven. Compensate them. Wander your brother to treat them fairly and even give them compensation. And then third, faith in Jesus Christ gave slaves personal dignity. They saw them sounds as more than simply human tools. They knew they were more than simply animals. And they understood that their service was not to man, but their services in reality to God. Colossians 3 22 through 24, slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything and do it not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. They had a sense of personal dignity and value before God. And when slavery being what it was began to be invaded by the Christian faith, it crumbled because I no longer could treat that person as just a verbal tool. That person is one with me in Jesus Christ. And I owe that person compensation. And that slave understands himself or herself to be made in the image of Jesus Christ. As harsh as that was, that's how it was undermined in the early Roman empire. So Paul is making it clear, even under those kinds of conditions, you are in a place that God can move and God can bless. So you're on the job site. And you hate that job. I've had people approach me saying, Pastor, I'm out of work. Can you pray that I'll find a job. And I say, of course, of course, let's pray. In Jesus' name, Father provide job. And then they come the next week or the week after that or shortly after. And, you know, Pastor, I got a job. Oh, praise the Lord. Oh, yeah, I'm bringing in some income. Praise the Lord. Then two months later, Pastor can you pray for me? Yeah. I hate my job. I hate it. I want a better job. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Isn't that the job you prayed for? Isn't that the job you asked me specifically? Let's pray that you get a job. And didn't you say that you're going to serve God there? But you don't understand how hard it is. No, I don't. See, I didn't pray that prayer. You did. But anyway, isn't that the job you asked for? Yeah, is it providing income? Yes. Is it what you wanted when you prayed for it? Yes. Serve the Lord where you're at. Because God may be opening up an avenue of expression of His word in a very dark place. And rather than moving from place to place, seeking God's perfect will, why don't you abide in the place that you were called and see what God does on that work site? You may be the only light in a very, very dark place. And if you're being persecuted, well, bless it, are you? Because Jesus made it very clear that that's going to happen if we love and serve Him. So rather than wanting to run from place to place to find the perfect job, which incidentally the only one that I know of that exists is what I do, everything else, I don't know, because I love what I do. The perfect job is a place that you're supposed to be where Jesus places you. That's your perfect job. And that's a perfect opportunity to be used by God exactly where you're at. And that's how it works. And the Lord is good because He puts you in strategic locations to be used by God right there. And you'll be so blessed to know that so often people that you may be influencing, you're not even aware that you're influencing until later on. So I'm in the army. I didn't want to go in the army. You know, I am a veteran. And I thank God for it. And I'm very pleased. But if you said, Dave, did you want to go into the army? I'd say, no. And as a matter of fact, I signed up for the Navy. I signed up for the Navy. I just didn't show up on the day that I was supposed to go in because I just didn't feel like going in that day. And so I eventually got drafted. When I got drafted, it was with the army. So when I went to the army to get my induction, August 25, in 1970, when I went in, it just so happened that I had a small felony on my record that hadn't been eradicated. I knew that it had been erased, but they didn't. And so when I went in, they said, we can't take you today because you have a burglary of a jewelry store on your record. Now we can bring you in and we can work it through or we can let you go and send another draft notice. Which do you want? So obviously I went home. I said, you can write me. And they started writing me draft notices. I got a draft notice in September. I got a draft notice in October. I got another draft notice in November. I got another draft notice in December. You are hereby ordered for induction, active duty on such and so date. And I began writing letters back to the guy who was writing me. And I said to them, sorry, I can't come. I have to go to the doctor. And I would send it back. So they would send me another induction notice. You are hereby ordered for active duty. And I'd say, sorry, I can't come in. I'm going to court. And I did that because I had heard that if you keep writing them, they'll keep writing you and you don't have to go in. And so that's what I did for months. So see, I don't stand up here as Mr. Joe Patriot because frankly, you know, I was running. I didn't want to go in. It was the height of the Vietnam War. I didn't want to go in. And then God saves me. And when God saves me, I make a choice. I'm going to go in. So I did what they call volunteering for the draft. So I volunteered for the draft and went into the army. When I went into the army, I was going through basic training. When I went through basic training, in a place I didn't want to be, doing what I didn't want to do, getting my hair cut when I don't want to cut it, wearing green, which I don't like, and all of those things. When I'm doing all of that, there's a guy named Larry Schwarm who's there. And Bill, my friend and I, speak, start Schwarm, start speaking to Larry Schwarm. And as we're speaking to Larry, you know, we lead him to Christ. And then we end up leaving and going off into our permanent party. For me, I went to the south and Bill went off into Germany. And I didn't run across Larry again until many years ago. My mom goes to the doctor and while she's at the doctor's, she's talking to the doctor, a young woman. And the doctor has a scripture on her desk and my mom sees it and reads it and says to the woman, oh, are you a Christian? And the woman says, this is my office and I can have scripture on my desk if I want it. And my mom said, hold on, baby, you know, I'm a believer too, you know. Put the claws away, you know. The woman had been harassed for being a believer and was getting real uptight about that. And my mom says to her, so you're a believer, so am I. And the woman says, oh, wonderful. They begin to fellowship. The woman looks at my mom's paperwork, sees her last name and says to my mom, Rosalis? And she says yes. You don't happen to have a son named David, do you? And my mom says, well, of course, I hate to admit it, but yes, I do. She says, would you please tell him that I'm Mrs. Schwarm and Larry is serving the Lord and doing well. Would you please tell him that Larry is serving Jesus Christ after all of these years and your son led Larry to faith in Christ in basic training in Fort Ord back in March of 1971. I didn't want to be there. For me, that was not God's perfect place for my life, but God had something different. And where you're at right now, you may not like where you're at, but the Lord can use you exactly where you're at. So don't be so quick to try and get out of that situation. Start looking around for what God has for you there and watch what he'll do. He'll begin to use you in a wonderful way. Now, as far as it was concerning the slaves, if you have opportunity to receive your freedom, well, of course, receive it because it's been given to you. Now in verse 22, he says he was called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman. You see, ultimately, one's place in the world's eye is not what matters. Freedom is more than liberty. Freedom is a condition of the heart and you have freedom in Jesus Christ. He says in verse 23, you were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men. You were bought at a price. What was the price? The blood of Jesus Christ. You're a slave of man. If you think your social condition is what is valuable for your slave, you are a slave of man if you value men over Jesus Christ. But you're a slave of Jesus when you recognize that you belong to him. So he says in verse 24, brethren, let each one remain with God in the calling in which he was called. Don't be looking to constantly change your situation, hoping to improve it. It's the place of stability that you normally hear the voice of the Lord most clearly. Now he goes on and gives some very practical advice, if you will, verse 25. Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord yet. I give judgment as one whom the Lord in his mercy has made trustworthy. I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you. And so concerning virgins, when he says I have no commandment from the Lord, Jesus gave no specific teaching concerning unmarried Christians. So Paul is beginning here to address singleness's value. Now notice in verse 26, he says, I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress, the present distress. That word distress speaks of calamity or difficulty. What's he speak about when he speaks of the present distress? Well, one, it could be the general distress created by the world system that makes life difficult. It's hard enough for one to live a devoted life for Christ, but it's much more difficult for two to do the same. And under the conditions of the world, under the stresses that we go through, under the distresses, under the things that can go on, sometimes it just makes it difficult. But he may be speaking of persecution. It's bad enough if one person gets hurt, but it hurts much worse when you see your loved one being hurt. Christianity often leads to suffering and pain in the lives of its followers. We've been looking at that recently in first Peter. I don't have to go over that with you right now. But some of you have heard this story before. I haven't told in a long time, but I'll share it really quickly with you. Persecution. Many years ago, I went to India, and while I was in India, I met an individual. His name is Moses Palos. Moses Palos. Moses is an itinerant Indian evangelist pastor. And he lives under intense persecution. The conditions of his life, very intense. He's an unbelievable man and he has an unbelievable wife and he has great children, by the way. I remember he came and spoke here at the church once and he was saying that it was his wife's birthday and he asked his wife, honey, what do you want for your birthday? And she said, I want a bullhorn. And he said, a bullhorn? Why would you want that? She said, so I could stand on the street corner and I could preach the gospel to people who passed by. He has an unbelievable wife and Moses has great children. Love the Lord. Moses got an invitation to go into a certain village. They had said, could you come and give us the gospel? Because he was preaching in his area where he lives. And so Moses was given an invitation. So he and his son went into this village and they were looking for their contact who had asked them to come and preach the gospel. Well, it turns out they had not been invited by believers. In reality, a very fanatic Hindu cult had invited him there because they intended to kill him. So when he arrived, they took him. When he made contact, they beat him and they beat his son so badly and they tied him to a tree in the center of the village. They sent for the village skinner. Now, the skinner was actually an individual who skinned animals, but he also would skin human beings. And so they sent for this man to come and to skin Moses and his son to skin him alive. But through the providence of God, they couldn't find this guy. So they beat him more and he finally was able to make it back to his home. When he got home, he was hospitalized with terrible internal injuries. His son was hospitalized for some time, beaten, till they almost died. And so when he's finally up and able, the first thing he did is he returned to the village, the village that they had almost taken his life because he had determined that God has called me to go to this village. And he went back. And when he went back to the village, the people who were there recognized him and some ran up to him and said, you're back. You're back. We're so glad that you're back. We know we have offended your God. How do you know that? Because the tree that he had been tied to was the tree that's the center of the village's pagan worship. It's the oldest tree in the village. And it's where they would do their sacrifices and all to their false gods. And this tree that had been there for so long withered up and died. And they knew that they had offended the God of Moses, Paulus. And when Moses went back, he was able to preach the gospel and called the village together. They received Christ. He built a church and began passering there many years ago. Persecution is something that occurs in this present distress. And it isn't just something that happened 2,000 years ago. There's more persecution going on now than in the history of the church. There were more people now being killed, churches being bombed, people being martyred, almost on a daily basis throughout the world. And so Paul is saying, because of the conditions that we find ourselves in, it is difficult to be married because it would be one thing for someone to come and to take me and say to me, I'm going to take your life. No, it's not as if I'm going to cheerfully say, OK, please do. But it's one thing for them to do that with me. But if I saw them taking my child or if I saw them taking my wife or somebody that I loved, can you imagine that? And in marriage, when they come and they want to take the life of the one you love so much, so Paul is speaking concerning that, it's bad enough to hurt one, but it hurts so much worse when it's your loved one that's hurt. Charles Spurgeon said it like this, look at old Ignatius. He is brought into the Roman circus. And after facing the taunts of the emperor and the jeers of the multitude, the lions are let loose on him. He thrusts his arm into the lion's mouth, poor and aged as he is. And when the bones are cracking, he says, now I begin to be a Christian. It's been said, never did the church so much prosper and so truly thrive as when she was baptized in blood. The ship of the church never sails so gloriously along as when the bloody spray of her martyrs falls on her deck. We must suffer and we must die if we are ever to conquer this world for Christ. He says in verse 29, but this I say, brethren, the time is short so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none. Those who weep as though they did not weep. Those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice. Those who buy as though they did not possess. And those who use this world as not misusing it for the form of this world is passing away. Under all circumstances, he's saying, live sold out lives for Jesus Christ. Why the time is short? Ephesians 5.16 says, making the most of every opportunity, the days are evil. 1 Peter 4.7, the end of all things is near, therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. So he gives four commands concerning these last days. He says first, he's writing to those who are married, and he's saying, keep seeking the kingdom of God first, not self-satisfaction. If you will live a blessed life under difficult circumstances, seek the kingdom of God first and do so together. Keep Jesus Christ your first love and all other relationships second. That is practical information. When Marie and I were dating and just before we were about to get married, and she could say this is true for her as it was for me, we had a conversation and I still remember some of it. As I said to her, before there was Marie, there was Jesus. And should Marie decide not to be with me, there will still be Jesus. Jesus will always be the first in my life. And that's what Paul is speaking about. You love the Lord with all of your heart and you say, no, wait a minute, if I love the Lord with all of my heart, how can I love somebody else with all of my heart? You'll be surprised how when you dedicate yourself 100% to somebody, how that the Lord actually increases your ability to love. And you will be blown away by the fact that when you actually love somebody with all of your heart that you can actually love God first who gives you the love that you can give to somebody that is even greater than anything you naturally could have ever given to them. And the love that you have in Jesus Christ is the most pure and most powerful love that a person can possibly have. And your relationship with the Lord goes beyond any other relationship and it fuels the relationships that you have. So keep seeking the kingdom of God first. Secondly, he speaks to those who weep. And he says to those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as if they didn't. What are you saying? Weep and rejoice. He's saying live a balanced sober life. Live moderately. Third, he says those who buy as though they didn't possess. It's proper to make purchases. If you remember that what you're buying isn't a lasting possession. Don't be, well, I'll say it here. Those who use this world is not misusing it. Don't be pursuing pleasure. We shouldn't live as if we're going to miss the world when we're in heaven. I think there are some who really do. One of my friends at one point was saying to me that he believes that Jesus Christ, when he was in that garden and he didn't want to die, you know, if there'd be another way, and he was praying to the Father, remove this cup from me. He said, you know, I have a belief that Jesus enjoyed living here so much that he just didn't want to leave. That's not true at all. That was wrong then and it's wrong now. No, I have a baptism to be baptized with and how I am straightened until it be accomplished, Jesus said. I have come to do thy will. It's written in the volume of the book concerning me. I have come to do thy will, oh God. Jesus knew that he was the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world. And he embraced the cross because that was the tool God used to draw men to himself. You can have things, but don't let the things have you. You can use things, but don't let them use you. It's one thing to have a car, but it's different when the car has you. And there are people who are actually so in love with the material things that it leaves no room for the Spirit of God. And so we can have things, but we don't abuse those things. They don't become the most important thing in our lives. You see he says the form of this world is passing away. The word form, there's the word schema. It speaks of a fashion. It speaks of manner of life, the way of doing things. He's simply saying this world is impermanent. None of these things are necessarily bad. But if I give myself over to these things, it can derail my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. When I got saved at the age of 20, I began to say to the Lord, would you do something in my life? I wanna stay on fire for you. And I've had my ups and I've had my downs. God knows that. I haven't been the most solid believer. There are so many things that the Lord has had to take from me over the years and talk about being broken. There have been so many times that the Lord has broken my fingers one at a time as I was holding on to something. I can tell you from experience that at this point in my walk with the Lord, there's nothing more important than a clean conscience before the Lord and walking with Him in faith. There's nothing more important. There's nothing more important I can possess nothing greater than what He's already given to me. And yet He has so much more waiting for me. And the joy of serving Jesus Christ is increasing daily. The joy of serving Him. In spite of the things that go on, in spite of the various things that you have to deal with, there's one thing that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt and that is I'm going to heaven. I'm just passing through Jesus Christ's Lord and He's holding on to my hand. I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death but I will fear no evil because He doesn't leave me. He is with me. His rod and His staff, they comfort me. He takes me to the place where there's living water that I can gorge myself on that and gorge myself because that is where God wants me to be. And He plants me like a tree there in order that my leaf will not wither. That I can produce fruit because that's how it is to walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. So there's nothing greater guys. This world and the form of this world is passed in a way but the one who does the will of God continues forever. Remember that. Make Jesus your number one love in your life and everything else flows behind that. Make Jesus number one every day and watch how God will bless your life every day as you pursue Him.