TABLE TALK. -1 Corinthians 7:17-24

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1 TABLE TALK 17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. 20 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21 Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. -1 Corinthians 7:17-24

2 Psalm 37:1-4 1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! 2 For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Day 1 Consider the ways you find yourself becoming jealous or envious. 6 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. - James 3:16 Recently I had a friend accept a pastoral position in Myrtle Beach, SC. My immediate thought was, how can I get one of those? I ve had the same gut reactions when other friends have felt God s call to take positions and move to Hawaii, Paris (France, not Texas), and New York City. Why has God given them such cushy calls. Who couldn t do ministry on the beach? Now, let s get this straight I love Ridgecrest and Greenville. It s filled with wonderful people and Tex-Mex. But it is so easy to compare our call to the call of others and think we re getting the short straw. Not all Godordained paths look exactly the same. He has called some to Greenville, Texas and some to Greenville, South Carolina. Some to Paris, France and some to Paris, Texas. Paul has been giving this same message to the Corinthians about marriage. Paul is single and loving it. In fact, he wishes that everyone else was single too. But he knows that God calls people to different walks of life. There are some that he calls to be married and some he calls to be single. In this section he s now expanding that call to the various other aspects of our life: our race, culture, profession, position. He s saying that each of us has been individually placed and called to fulfill a unique role in God s Church. We must recognize the same balance as Paul when we compare our callings to those of others. How can we safeguard ourselves against looking at the callings of others with envy? You have called me higher You have called me deeper And I'll go where You will lead me Lord - Called Me Higher All Sons and Daughters Keep all my hopes in you. Let me not fall victim to the disease of comparison.

3 Day 2 Psalm 10:3-4 3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. 4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, There is no God. Reflect on the things that cause pride to well up inside you. 16 For all that is in the world the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the Father but is from the world. - 1 John 2:16 Yesterday the lesson was on not comparing your calling to the callings of others. Envy is a dangerous game. However, just as equally dangerous, if not more so, is pride. Many of us feel that our callings or our priorities must be the callings and priorities of others. Maybe you ask yourself, Why doesn t everyone care as passionately about the church library as I do? or They really need to adopt. God has called us all to care for orphans. That s the only right way to do it! We are very quick to assume that our ways are the only right ones. Paul s message to the Corinthians about marriage easily sounded like this. He wished they were single like he was, but he had the maturity to recognize that each person has their own call. We see that here in vv Paul recognizes that we cannot place our preconceived notions of what one should feel called to upon others. I am unbelievably thankful that other people have a passion for middle-schoolers. Without people serving in middle school ministry I would have had a very difficult and confusing 3 year stretch in my own life. However, that is not my calling. In fact, I am absolutely terrible with middle-schoolers (I guess my nose is too sensitive). But I also have to recognize that it is not everyone s calling to sing or teach. I cannot force my own call or gifts onto others. So help lead worship, serve in the nursery, go build a wheelchair ramp but don t necessarily assume that is God s call for everyone else. He has given each of us individual gifts and calls to make the body function appropriately. How can you serve the body to your fullest capacity? So I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours and You are mine - Oceans Hillsong You are my Lord and my Savior. I will serve you and you alone. Let me not serve the ways and desires of men.

4 Day 3 Psalm 106:7-8 7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. 8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power. Pause to consider how God s actions are intended to make his glory known. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. - Isaiah 43:6-7 Many Christians are ashamed of their past. They think of the life before they knew Jesus as worthless. They are a new creation, the old life has passed away and the new has come. Why even think about your life before Christ? While I fully understand the sentiment behind such attitudes (many people need the disconnect so that they don t fall into past sins) I do find it sad sometimes. Was God not in control of those times? Did he not place you where he wanted you, even then? Of course he did! He has always been in control of all things. So if this is true then we are able to have a paradigm shift on that past life. What if you went through those things for a purpose? What if there was a reason you had those struggles? What if there s some redemption for even the darkest times of your life? Paul s answer to the Corinthians this week is that there is! Use your past, leverage it. If you were a Jew use that. If you re a Gentile use that. If you were a bondservant use it. If you were a freedman use it. Many believers today have done the same thing. They take their life before Christ sports, drugs, business and leverage it for the Kingdom. So they are now athletes proclaiming the name of Christ, Celebrate Recovery mentors, or CEO s practicing ethical business. God has planned and prepared your life to be uniquely yours. Don t miss out on a special opportunity to be used by God. How has God created/wired you for his glory? Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee! Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee; Ponder anew what the Almighty can do If with His love He befriend thee. - Praise to the Lord the Almighty Joachim Neander There is no God like our God! Let that be the refrain of my heart and the song of my lips from this day forevermore.

5 Psalm 51:1-2 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! Day 4 Reflect on the cleansing that is found in the salvation in Christ. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. - Acts 3:19-21 The Gospel message of Jesus provides a way out of the long and weary path of disobedience: repentance. Through this, we see the foolishness of our old sinful ways and turn into the righteousness of Jesus, towards sanctification. When a person genuinely repents and believes in Christ, the Bible says that he is given new spiritual life. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses (Eph. 2:1, 4-5). When that happens, our life changes not immediately, not quickly, not even necessarily steadily. But it does change. We begin to bear fruit. The Bible says that Christians are to be marked by the same kind of love, compassion, and goodness that characterized Jesus himself. True Christians will perform deeds in keeping with their repentance (Acts 26:20). For each tree is known by its own fruit, Jesus said,. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush (Luke 6:44). In other words, when people are given new spiritual life, they begin to do the kinds of things that Jesus did. They begin to live like Jesus lived and bear good fruit. This is the keeping of the commandments that Paul speaks of here in 1 Corinthians 7. Our sanctification produces fruit through the keeping of commandments. Thus, Paul is able to confidently say, It doesn t matter where you came from. What matters now is that you are Christ s and because you are his you will produce his kind of fruit: obedience. How does repentance lead into obedience? You are my vision My reason for living Your kindness leads me to repentance - Hidden United Pursuit Your ways are perfect. Your righteousness is unmatched. Let me walk in your ways all the days of my life. Resource: What is the Gospel Greg Gilbet p. 82

6 Psalm 81: Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. 16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. - Isaiah 9:7 Day 5 Praise God for how he satisfies the weary soul. Read 1 Corinthians 7:22 again. I would have expected Paul to switch the phrases Lord, which means Master, and Christ, which means Messiah. He correlates our liberation with Jesus being our Master ( a freedman of the Lord ). And he correlates our new slavery with Jesus being our Messiah ( a slave of Christ ). It seems strange because the Messiah came to liberate his people from their captors; and masters take control of their slaves lives. Why does he say it this way? Why correlate slavery (rather than liberation) with Messiah, and liberation (rather than slavery) with Master? The switch has two effects on our new liberty and two effects on our new slavery. On the one hand, in calling us the liberated of the Lord, he secures and limits our new liberty: 1. His lordship is over all other lords; so our liberation is uncontested absolutely secure. 2. But, free from all other lords, we are not free from him. Our freedom is mercifully limited. Jesus is our Master. On the other hand, in calling us the slaves of Christ, he loosens and sweetens our slavery: 1. The Messiah lays claim on his own in order to bring them from the confines of captivity into the open spaces of peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end (Isaiah 9:7). 2. And he makes them his own to give them the sweetest joy. With honey from the rock I would satisfy you (Psalm 81:16). And that Rock is Christ, the Messiah. So, Christian, be glad in this: He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord the Master. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ the loosening, sweetening Messiah. How does understanding Jesus as both Lord (Master) and Christ (Messiah) impact your walk? I m no longer a slave to fear I am a child of God - No Longer Slaves Bethel You have freed me from the bondage of sins, now I am bound for eternity. Hallelujah! Resource: