February 12, 2006 Sermon Notes

Paul deals with five issues:

1. Paul’s personal preference
   “Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.” –1 Corinthians 7:1 & 7
2. Commitment
   “But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.” –1 Corinthians 7:2
3. Duty and pleasure
   “The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” –1 Corinthians 7:3 & 5
4. Mutual ownership
   “The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.” –1 Corinthians 7:4
5. Responsibility and communication
   “Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” –1 Corinthians 7:5

The Morning Meditation …

"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son cleanses us from all sin" [1 John 1:7]. What does it mean to walk in the light? If God is light, this means God shines—for me to walk in the light means for me to walk in the shining of God. The best way I know to think about that is God shines in Jesus, and when I am walking in the light, I am walking with the roof of my life open to the shining of God.

I understand that kind of mental image—to walk in the light means to take the roof off, open up the ceiling, and let the Son shine in. Now that is the opposite of defining, hiding, and pretending. Those are the covers. To walk in the light is to take the covers off. It means exposing my life to the verdict of God.

–from We Really Do Need Each Other by Reuben Welch