Staying Committed: God's Work in Our Circumstances
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Paul's encouragement is to stay in the marriage. Paul's encouragement is not to veer out of your lane. It is not to run. We'll find out why in just a moment, but let's just begin there. Paul very easily could have said, you're now a follower of Jesus. You're now dedicated to Jesus. They're not a follower of Jesus. They're not dedicated to him. Get out, run for the hills, find someone who does follow Jesus. Paul could have said that, and instead, respecting the tie of marriage, respecting God's design for husbands and wives, Paul says, stay." [00:12:08] (43 seconds)
"God is working to change people, to refine them. He's bringing the gospel to bear on people in every single marriage, whether it is a marriage of believers or a marriage of a believer to an unbeliever, God is at work in those marriages. So we can't say if one's a Christian and one isn't, then God is somehow absent from that marriage. No, he is intimately involved in the marriage. He is at work even in ways that you and I can't see." [00:14:35] (36 seconds)
"And so Paul begins by saying, if you come to faith in Christ, but your husband or your wife hasn't, stay together, stick it out, stay in this. And the reason is because God is at work. And he's going to work through you, Christian, in the life of this non-Christian husband or wife. He is going to use you. It says, look at verse 14. It says, for the unbelieving husband is made holy by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by the husband." [00:15:11] (36 seconds)
"He's saying, the fact that you are a Jesus follower married to someone who does not love the Lord is not a reason to divorce. It's not a reason to separate. It doesn't mean the marriage is over. It doesn't mean that you need to look for someone else. He places a high view on marriage and what God does in marriage by encouraging them to stay together. He wants believers to stay married to unbelievers, and the reason is because God is at work in every marriage." [00:14:26] (33 seconds)
"Paul moves on from just marriage. That's the bulk of the beginning of this. But he moves on from just marriage to remind us that it is not only in the marriage relationship where he wants to use you. It's not only there where he's saying, stay. In the lane. Keep going. Don't veer. It's really in any area of your life. He's using you where you are. He's using you to impact the people around you. He's using you to share the gospel with people if you're willing to share it." [00:28:17] (34 seconds)
"Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. Stay in your lane is what he's saying. He talks about the issue of circumcision, which was significant in the Jewish community. It was a sign that you were truly part of the Jewish people. Boys would be circumcised as a way of showing that they were truly Jews. Their parents would do this large religious ritual the whole community was involved." [00:29:06] (35 seconds)
"And Paul lets them know it doesn't matter to the Lord. He doesn't care. Don't get stuck on that stuff. Don't focus on the external. Focus on the internal. Focus on the heart. That's what God cares about. He says in verse 17, let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision." [00:30:00] (36 seconds)
"Paul's in prison. The way their prisons worked, a guard was literally chained to the apostle Paul. Okay. That guard probably initially had no idea what he was in for because now Paul's got a captive audience to share the gospel. You can't go anywhere. I'm going to talk at you about Jesus all day long and you can't do anything about it. And that's exactly what he did to each of these guards. They go on a cycle and Paul, oh, now I got another one. Let me tell you about Jesus." [00:42:42] (30 seconds)
"From the apostle Paul the glorious reminder from Paul is if we will allow ourselves to be a vessel for the gospel in people's lives if we won't push back and fight it and ignore if we will get before the lord and pray for these people who are creating these headaches in our lives if we will share the gospel with them the good news that we're sinners who need a savior but jesus in his life death and resurrection is our savior we're forgiven if we place our faith in him we're made brand new if we are only willing to share that message with them and sometimes they'll tell us just to shut up okay then shut up that's all right then there'll be these other times where they do allow us to share what god is doing if only we'll do that if only we'll dedicate ourselves to that begging the lord on their behalf and sharing the good news god will do that will use us as a vessel for his purposes in their lives he'll do it he's not ignoring you in these situations there's not for nothing he's at work if only we'll let him" [00:44:27] (76 seconds)
"Some of us are in work situations where there's tension. I mean, every day, I mean, you wake up and you go, do I have to go back there again? Isn't there some other way? Paul wouldn't say, you must stay in that job the rest of your life. That's not what he would say. He would say, I think like the slave. If you can be free, be free. If you can get another job, get another job. But while you're there in that difficult situation, realize Paul's comment here was, don't let it concern you." [00:37:13] (35 seconds)
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"God is working to change people, to refine them. He's bringing the gospel to bear on people in every single marriage, whether it is a marriage of believers or a marriage of a believer to an unbeliever, God is at work in those marriages. So we can't say if one's a Christian and one isn't, then God is somehow absent from that marriage. No, he is intimately involved in the marriage. He is at work even in ways that you and I can't see." [00:14:35] (36 seconds)
"And so Paul begins by saying, if you come to faith in Christ, but your husband or your wife hasn't, stay together, stick it out, stay in this. And the reason is because God is at work. And he's going to work through you, Christian, in the life of this non-Christian husband or wife. He is going to use you. It says, look at verse 14. It says, for the unbelieving husband is made holy by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by the husband." [00:15:11] (36 seconds)
"He's saying, the fact that you are a Jesus follower married to someone who does not love the Lord is not a reason to divorce. It's not a reason to separate. It doesn't mean the marriage is over. It doesn't mean that you need to look for someone else. He places a high view on marriage and what God does in marriage by encouraging them to stay together. He wants believers to stay married to unbelievers, and the reason is because God is at work in every marriage." [00:14:26] (33 seconds)
"Paul moves on from just marriage. That's the bulk of the beginning of this. But he moves on from just marriage to remind us that it is not only in the marriage relationship where he wants to use you. It's not only there where he's saying, stay. In the lane. Keep going. Don't veer. It's really in any area of your life. He's using you where you are. He's using you to impact the people around you. He's using you to share the gospel with people if you're willing to share it." [00:28:17] (34 seconds)
"Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. Stay in your lane is what he's saying. He talks about the issue of circumcision, which was significant in the Jewish community. It was a sign that you were truly part of the Jewish people. Boys would be circumcised as a way of showing that they were truly Jews. Their parents would do this large religious ritual the whole community was involved." [00:29:06] (35 seconds)
"And Paul lets them know it doesn't matter to the Lord. He doesn't care. Don't get stuck on that stuff. Don't focus on the external. Focus on the internal. Focus on the heart. That's what God cares about. He says in verse 17, let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision." [00:30:00] (36 seconds)
"Paul's in prison. The way their prisons worked, a guard was literally chained to the apostle Paul. Okay. That guard probably initially had no idea what he was in for because now Paul's got a captive audience to share the gospel. You can't go anywhere. I'm going to talk at you about Jesus all day long and you can't do anything about it. And that's exactly what he did to each of these guards. They go on a cycle and Paul, oh, now I got another one. Let me tell you about Jesus." [00:42:42] (30 seconds)
"From the apostle Paul the glorious reminder from Paul is if we will allow ourselves to be a vessel for the gospel in people's lives if we won't push back and fight it and ignore if we will get before the lord and pray for these people who are creating these headaches in our lives if we will share the gospel with them the good news that we're sinners who need a savior but jesus in his life death and resurrection is our savior we're forgiven if we place our faith in him we're made brand new if we are only willing to share that message with them and sometimes they'll tell us just to shut up okay then shut up that's all right then there'll be these other times where they do allow us to share what god is doing if only we'll do that if only we'll dedicate ourselves to that begging the lord on their behalf and sharing the good news god will do that will use us as a vessel for his purposes in their lives he'll do it he's not ignoring you in these situations there's not for nothing he's at work if only we'll let him" [00:44:27] (76 seconds)
"Some of us are in work situations where there's tension. I mean, every day, I mean, you wake up and you go, do I have to go back there again? Isn't there some other way? Paul wouldn't say, you must stay in that job the rest of your life. That's not what he would say. He would say, I think like the slave. If you can be free, be free. If you can get another job, get another job. But while you're there in that difficult situation, realize Paul's comment here was, don't let it concern you." [00:37:13] (35 seconds)
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