Brethren, let's turn again to
1 Corinthians 7. And as you're turning there,
I'll remind you there's a note in the bulletin. This coming
week, Lord willing, we'll have services Wednesday night instead
of Thursday night. Wednesday night instead of Thursday
night. I'm scheduled to preach in Rock
Valley, Iowa. for Pastor Joe Terrell scheduled
to preach Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. And so I will need
to leave here Thursday to get there. And so we move the service
to Wednesday night. Brother Scott, Brother Eric will
preach for you next Sunday. And I'll give you one other announcement
too. I hope this won't be a distraction
that you can focus on the message. But the sellers of that building
that we're looking at accepted our offer. So that's one More
door of the Lord's open now. We have to go to the bank and
see if we can get the financing. So that's where we are on that. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 now. I want to review just a minute
what we saw earlier. 1 Corinthians 7. Our message there focused on
the time is short. This time our subject is devotion
without distraction. Devotion without distraction.
Now, as the Apostle Paul was answering the questions the Corinthians
had concerning whether a man should give his young virgin
daughter to be married or he shouldn't, whether widows should
remarry or whether they shouldn't, whether someone lawfully separated
from their spouse should remarry or they shouldn't. When asked
those questions, Paul says this is a very distressing time. Persecuted,
we're persecuted, the church is suffering, and my judgment
on this, it's not a law of God, but my judgment is they would
be better off if they did not marry. He said, but that man
who gives his virgin to be married to another, he's not sinned.
She's not sinned. The man who married her is not
sinned. And if they don't marry, they've
not sinned. He said, it's just my judgment
on the matter. And that's inspired by God as
he wrote that. Now, he said in the midst of
that, the time is short. The time is short. So if you
have a wife, he said, be as though you didn't have one. He said,
if you weep, be as though you wept not. If you rejoice, be
as though you rejoiced not. If you buy, be as though you
possessed not. And then, having spoken of those
that buy, he makes a statement now. And this will be our focus
this hour. Verse 31. He says, and they that
use this world, That is, those that buy and possess, those that
sell in this world, those that are merchants in this world. He said, those that use this
world, see that you do not abuse it. See that you do not become
enamored with it. See that you do not become taken
up with it and it becomes your focus. And here's why. For the fashion of this world
passeth away. The fashion of this world passeth
away. Verse 32. But I would have you
without carefulness. I would have you to be without
this anxious care over worldly things. I'd have you to be without
carefulness. Verse 35. In this I speak for
your own profit. For your own profit. Not that
I may cast a snare upon you. not to burden you, not to trip
you up in any way, he says, but for that which is comely, for
that which is becoming a child of God, that which is best for
a child of God, for a saint of God. And here's what he's saying,
that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction. that you may attend upon the
Lord without distraction." That word, attend upon, means that
you may sit constantly by and be devoted unto the Lord without
distraction. That you may sit by the Lord
constantly and be devoted to Him constantly without distraction. Now the Apostle Paul was given
abundant grace by God. He was given grace so that he
He looked to Christ and to Christ only. He let go of everything
he once had any confidence in, in this world, in his works,
in his flesh. He let go of all of that and
he laid hold of Christ by God's grace and he said, I want to
be found in Him. He's by one desire. I want to be found in Him, not
having any righteousness of my own which is by the law, but
the righteousness which is of Christ. God gave him grace to
do that. Let nothing interfere, nothing
distract him from his Redeemer, Christ the Lord. And God gave
Paul grace so that there was nothing that could distract him
from the business that Christ had called him to do. And that
was to preach the gospel. Paul couldn't be turned from
preaching the gospel of Christ. He said, it's all by God's grace. He said, I labored more abundantly
than they all, but it's all by God's grace that I did it. But
he did labor more abundantly than they all. He could not be
turned from preaching the gospel. He could not be turned from it.
It was his focus. in life. It was his mission in
life. It was his purpose in life and
he could not be turned from that purpose. And God gave Paul grace
to desire the same thing for all God's saints. He wanted God's
saints to have the same focus on Christ and this same desire
to further this gospel and serve Christ for the glory of God and
the good of His people, He wanted that for all of God's saints,
just like God had given to Him. And here's the point He makes
to us in this passage now. So this is what He's saying to
us. He's saying, knowing that this world and everything in
it is passing away. He says, let us be devoted to
Christ without the cares and the distractions of this world.
Knowing that this world and everything in it is passing away, let us
be devoted to Christ without the cares and the distractions
of this world. Now, first of all, he says here,
remember the fashion of this world passes away. He says that
you can use this world, but don't abuse it. Because you've got
to remember that the fashion of this world passeth away. That word passeth means it's
always passing away. It is right now constantly passing
away. Right now. This world goes around
talking about how the world is... If we don't do something to save
it, the world... Global warming is going to... You know, we've
got to save the environment and all that. The fact of the matter
is, brethren, governments are passing away. Look at how messed
up the governments in this world are right now. Governments are
passing away. Everything's passing away. And
the world's passing away. It's all passing away. And it's
doing so constantly all the time. When he says fashion here, he's
not talking about You know, the latest trend in clothes that
you wear, the latest trend in shoes that you wear. But, just
look at that. And see how fast one passes away. You know, yesterday, those shoes
you just had to have, you know, that's a new shoe, everybody
wants. Tomorrow, nobody wants them anymore. That's passed away.
Well, it's the same way with everything in this world. It's
passing away. The other day I was driving on
Lawrenceville Road, that road that runs between Lawrenceville
and Princeton, over by Quaker Bridge Road. Some of you may
have seen this, but if you're going towards Princeton from
Lawrenceville on the left, up on a high hill up there, There's
an old stately mansion that sits up there. It sits on a big lot,
a beautiful lot. They've cleared that lot out
now. I don't know if they're going to put this place up for
sale or what, but it's this big, big old stately mansion, big
columns and everything, you know. But when you look at it, the
columns are all deteriorated. They're gray and the house is
white with black shutters, but it's all deteriorated and gray
looking and there's old rotten boards hanging down on the front
of the porch now and the windows are broken and some of the shutters
are broken and hanging off, you know. And I passed by there the
other day and I thought to myself, just think how hard somebody
worked to be able to have the money to build that house and
to keep it up and to have that beautiful lot. And I thought
about how it must have looked when it was all nice and pretty.
And I thought about the family. I thought, you know, you could
just look at this place and almost imagine a family, young and healthy,
sitting out on the front porch, you know, and the kids playing
in the front yard and just this beautiful mansion. And now people
are passing by it every day and nobody even cares about it. The
folks who lived there, who built it, the mother, the father, they
probably died and passed away. The children have probably either
moved off or maybe they've died and passed away. Whatever the
case, all that's left now is for this old mansion just to
pass away and just to rot back into the dust. That's all. And
if it's left like that, that's what'll happen. It'll just pass
away, slowly crumble to nothing. That's the case with everything
in this world and with this world. Everything in this world is passing
away just like that old mansion. The world and all humanity is
passing away. Do you look the same as you looked
five years ago? You're passing away. And I'm
passing away. This flesh is passing away. Let
me say it that way. The fashion of this world is
passing away. All the honors and the dignities
that men get in this world and that are conferred on men in
this world, all those honors and all those dignities are passing
away. They're passing away. Somebody
got the Pulitzer Prize. five years ago, and to him it
was a wonderful thing. People knew it, people knew who
it was, and I bet today nobody could tell you. All these honors
are just passing away. This world's governments, these
world's governments, everybody has tried a different government
in this world. Everybody's tried to mimic God's
government, and tried to create, tweak it a little and create
something a little more perfect. All of them have come to nothing.
They're just passing away. This world's business and all
the riches that are in it. Men devote their lives to building
up their business and heaping up their riches and all of these
things. It's all just passing away. That's what you spend your life
on and devote your life to. In the end, What do you have? What do you
have? It's all going to pass away. This world's superficial religions.
And there's a host of them. There's about as many religions
as there are kinds of people in this world. Because religions
all come from man's corrupt mind. So there's just tons of religions.
There's about that many that call themselves Christian. that
are just different forms of works is all they are. And all that
religion and all those wonderful works and everything that's been
done in vain religion just gonna all pass away. When the person
that made that God dies and the works and the man that did all
those works dies, the hand that did those works ceases to have
life, their God and their works will cease to have life. They'll
pass away. And eventually, brethren, this
heaven and this earth itself is going to be folded up like
clothing that's finished and put away. The word here, the fashion of
this world passeth away, they say it's like a... it refers
to like a stage and a play. You know, you can go into a theater
and you can sit down and you can watch a play And the costumes
are so alive and the people are so, it seems so real. It just seems like it's so real,
it evokes emotion in you. You cry, you laugh, you become
angry. It's like, and that's real. And
you're like, this is so real to you. But when it's over, they
take the costumes off, put on something else and go their way.
That stage is folded up, everything's put away, and the theater's just
empty. And that's what he's saying this
world is and all the forms in it, everything that's the fashion
of it, it's all just passing away like a stage, like a play. And so he's telling us here now,
don't be overly attached to this world. You're here to serve a
purpose and that purpose as believers is to worship Christ and serve
the cause of Christ through this gospel. That's what we're here
for. That's what we're here for. Now, as far as your earthly labors
are going and the things of this world serve that purpose of glorifying
Christ, worshiping Christ, serving Christ, as far as they serve
that purpose, he said, use them. Use them. But he says, but now,
don't abuse it. Don't make that to be your purpose.
And latch on to that, the fashion of this world. and forget why
it was you were using those things. Look over at 1 John chapter 2.
1 John chapter 2. Look at verse 15. Here's what he's teaching us.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and
the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever." Now he says to them there later, he
says, you have an unction in you and you know the Holy One.
The Word that you've heard has been planted in you, and you're
given life, and you have an unction, and you know all things. And
he says there in verse 1 John 2, 24, he says, Let that therefore
abide in you which you've heard from the beginning. That Word,
that truth by which you were begotten, that truth by which
you were created anew, that truth by which you found out Christ
is all your righteousness. Let that abide in you If that
which you've heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also
shall continue in the Son and in the Father." And this is the
promise that he's promised. This world may pass away, and
all the things in it may pass away, but you have eternal life. You'll never pass away. You see,
I started to say that we're passing away, but what I said is I changed
it. I said our flesh is passing away.
Because the truth of the matter, you and I who believe, we are
not passing away. Everything that's hindering our
fellowship with Christ and our worship of Christ, all that's
passing away. And soon it'll all be folded
up like a garment and put off, and you and I then won't have
any distraction from devotion to Christ. We'll be in His presence.
complete in Him, like we are now in spirit, but then it will
be in body and spirit. And we'll worship Him. Now see,
there's a difference. This world promises you some
pleasure for the season, but it's all passing away. Christ
promises you, you may suffer a little in this life. It's nothing
compared to how He suffered for us, and it's nothing compared
to the glory that shall be revealed. When all that's over, you're
not going to pass away, you'll have eternal life. Now, just
a carnal man knows which one sounds better. And those two. You want to just
enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season and suffer eternity,
cast out in the outer darkness from God? Or you want to suffer
a little now and live with God forever? Alright, now let's go
back to our text. Now, here's the second thing
I want to show you. But just as I said to you there,
though everything is passing away in the fashion of this world,
everything that Christ has created shall remain. In Hebrews 12,
He says there's going to be a shaking again. And so that the things
that can be shaken will be shaken. They'll be removed. But those
things that cannot be shaken, they will remain. And what is
it that cannot be shaken? What is it that will remain?
Everything Christ has created. Everything Christ has created.
We saw last week that new creation is all the work of Christ. And
that's what we're learning every day in this gospel. Is that that
new creation is created by Christ. And whatever He creates, it is
eternal. It is eternal. First of all,
righteousness. This is the number one thing
that we must talk about or we haven't even touch the gospel. Righteousness is the whole purpose
for which God created this world, to declare his righteousness.
That's the purpose for which he sent Christ into this world,
is to declare his righteousness. The whole purpose for which he
saves his chosen people is to declare his righteousness. Wouldn't
it be great, wouldn't it be great if you knew every judge was just
and right and would never oppress and could be dependent on and
do that which is right. They wouldn't need to be confirmed
because they're going to only do that which is right. Wouldn't
it be great if every politician only did that which is right?
Every ruler only did that which is right? So that you didn't
have to even worry about it or question it or give it a second
thought. That's what I'm saying to you when I say to you and
when God declares His righteousness. He's showing you and me that
He can be trusted and He only. And He will do that which is
right and honorable and just. That which is holy. This is His
preeminent His preeminent glory, this is His preeminent attribute,
is His holiness, brethren. His truth. His truth. There is no lie in our God. And
He sent Christ forth, Romans 3 tells us, He sent Him forth
to declare His righteousness. What does that mean? That God's
law might be upheld. That it might be honored. That
He might remain just. and that He Himself would be
the one who showed us mercy and justified us. And He does that
two-fold work in that one person of Christ our Lord on Calvary's
cross. He went to that cross and He
took the sin of His people. This is why we say He died for
an elect chosen people. He took the sin of His people.
And for that people, he answered God's holy justice. He gave it
what it demanded, death. The wages of sin is death. And
he gave that law death for his people. He suffered the death
penalty in the room instead of his people so that justice is
satisfied. And He did it in such a more
marvelous way than just stepping in and saying, I'll die in His
place. When we talk about Him being
made sin, essentially what we're saying is, it was much more than
Christ just a legal transaction that took place. was made to
know what our sin is like. He was touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. He was made to know the shame
of sin. He was made to know the weakness
of our flesh. He learned obedience by the things
which He suffered. He experienced it by what He
suffered, so that He might be a faithful and merciful high
priest to you and me, to be able to succor us in all of our troubles
and our sins and our infirmities and our troubles. And at the
same time, He was made sin so that He was literally made to
be the one chosen child of God representing all God's elect
on that cross. He's that one body, that one
head representing all His people. He became us on that cross. So
that when God poured out judgment on Him, He was just to pour out
judgment on Him. And when God poured out judgment
on Him, He poured out judgment on all His people in Him. And
when He died, we all died in Him. He put off the body of our
sin, brethren. When He put off His body, when
He laid down His body, when He gave up the ghost Himself and
His body was buried, our body of sin died and went into the
grave. It's so much more real than you
and I can ever even enter into. It's not as if anything, brethren,
you reckon yourself to be dead indeed unto sin and alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so now God's just. He accomplished that for everyone
for whom He died. And not only is He just, but
when He did that for us, He justified us. He is the justifier. He's
the one who justified us. He purged our sin. He made us
righteous. He reconciled us. He brought
in everlasting righteousness. He is our justifier. There is the righteousness of
God. That God says now that same justice demands you be saved.
It demands every child for whom He died must be called. They
must be kept. They must be resurrected. They
must enter into glory. They must receive the eternal
inheritance because Christ purchased them lock, stock and barrel.
And God's too just. Too just. If He was so just that
He spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for all His
people, then He's just so that now He'll spare all His people
and He will not deliver us up. So righteousness which Christ
established, righteousness which Christ is, that'll be forever.
That won't pass away. And the new man that's created
within us by the Holy Spirit, that was a necessary work too.
We had to be born again because we died in Adam and we're just
corrupt in our nature. A new man had to be put in us
and we couldn't get any credit for that. We couldn't get any
glory for that. We could have no part to do with that. Christ,
through the Holy Spirit, created us anew in righteousness and
true holiness. That's all He creates, is righteousness
and holiness. And He put a new spirit in us,
a Holy Spirit in us, a right spirit in you. And He made you
willing to come to God in Christ alone. That new Spirit will remain. That Holy Spirit will remain.
The moment we die and put off this body of flesh and it passes
away, our new Spirit will enter in. We'll enter right into God's
presence with Him. That's right. Nothing to be done
because that new Spirit is righteous and holy. But then one day, He's
going to raise these earthly bodies and make them incorruptible
and make them immortal and make them altogether new and we're
going to be with God forever. in body and spirit, created anew,
all by Christ. And that will remain forever.
That will remain forever. We know that if this earthly
tabernacle dissolves, we have a house in the heavens, eternal,
made without hands. And so right now, every one of
God's people, we're looking for a city. A city. Not an earthly city. Not a city
that's temporal. Not a city that's passing away.
We're looking for a city which has foundations. Whose builder
and maker is God. Christ himself made this city.
So it's going to last. It will never fade away. Can
you imagine? Look at our nation right now.
Every nation is going to face what we're facing right now sooner
or later. Our infrastructure is horrible. It's horrible. It's deteriorated and it's horrible.
We can't keep up with it. We can't keep up with it. I read
somewhere that that stretch of highway in Philadelphia, which
is just almost all a bridge from the time you enter Philadelphia
on this side till you get to the airport over there. I read
there's something like 30 places from here to there that ought
to be condemned on that stretch of highway. But this city we're talking about
here that Christ makes, it won't even anything in it crumble.
Not even a particle of crumble in it. It's perfect. And it will
always be perfect. And in that city, brethren, this
is what's amazing too. The Word of God shall abide forever.
The everlasting love of God in Christ shall abide forever. The fullness of God in Christ
shall abide forever. All the blessings of grace shall
abide forever. Except faith, we'll see Him by
sight. And except hope, we'll have that
for which we hope for now. When every other blessing of
grace will be ours with Him in glory. And it will get better
and better because we'll know and experience it without any
of the sin that now plagues us and distracts us. And any of
this world that distracts us. And I'll tell you something else
that will remain and this applies to the subject of giving ourselves
to Christ right now. And I want to spend just a minute
on this because this is so important. It applies to what we're talking
about in giving ourselves to Christ right now. And the furtherance
of his gospel. Everything good that a child
of God does in the name of Christ for one of Christ's people shall
remain. It will last forever. I know when we're younger in
the faith and we saved out of vain religion, will works religion,
we think the word works is a bad word and we think the word reward
is a bad word because of the way vain religion corrupts those
words and abuses those words. But you read those words in Scripture,
in God's Word, and they're not dirty words. They're not. Every good thing that a child
of God does in the name of Christ for one of Christ's brethren,
Christ will remember it. He'll remember it in glory. Now,
the self-made religious man, he's doing all his wonderful
works right now by his own strength from selfish motives. He's doing
everything by the strength of his flesh, the will of his flesh,
and all from fleshly motives. He wants to be seen of men. He
wants the church folks to see him. That's how he's going to
get promoted to be a deacon. That's how he's going to get
promoted to be something else in the church. He wants the church
to see him do these things. That's just so. That's what Scripture
says, what Christ says. He's doing it to make God indebted
to him. Because he doesn't understand
the Scriptures. What do the Scriptures mean when they speak of a reward?
He thinks this is going to make God indebted to him. And he's
doing it imagining he's going to gain a better inheritance
in glory over some other of his brethren. What could be a better inheritance
than Christ? Huh? What could be a better inheritance
than Christ? What could be a better reward
than Christ? But all those works will pass
away when Christ says, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.
I never knew you. I never knew you. But the child
born of God, all the fruit of that new man, the fruit of the
Spirit is of the Holy Spirit. All of it is fruits of righteousness
which is by Jesus Christ. Christ created that fruit. He
created that fruit. And what's not of Christ, He
said He's going to burn that up just like the wood, hay and
the stubble. The man's going to be saved by fire, but he's
going to burn up that other stuff. The only thing that's going to
remain for Christ's child is the things that were produced
by the fruit of the Spirit by Christ eating you. That's all
that's going to be remembered by Christ. So he gets the glory
for all this, because it's a fruit of his grace, it's a fruit of
his power and his strength. But he said this, he said that
if somebody gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of
his brethren in the name of Christ, simply constrained by Christ's
love for him, constrained by God's love for him, these works
will not be forgotten by Christ. What do I mean by that? Turn
to Revelation 14, 13. Revelation 14, 13. What I'm trying to convey
to you is we've got every reason, brethren,
to turn from the cares and distractions of this world and to be worshiping
and serving Christ in this life. Look here, Revelation 14, 13. I heard a voice from heaven saying
unto me. Now this voice is coming from
heaven. You know it's going to be true. I heard a voice from
heaven saying unto me, Right, blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. Their works do follow them. Now
their works are not going before them to make them righteous and
to try to gain them access into heaven. That's not happening.
Christ is all our righteousness. That's what He came for. Christ
is all our righteousness. He's all in all. And we won't
bring up our works to God. We're not going before our works
to bring up our works to God. We'll be astonished to hear Christ
bring them up. And our works won't give us a
better reward than Christ Himself. There's not going to be envy
and strife in heaven. We're not going to be trying
to get ahead of the neighbor. We're not going to be trying
to be like the Joneses in heaven. We're going to all be righteous
in Christ and have Christ. That's the reward, the inheritance. But a believer's works do follow
them, and Christ says He shall bring them up. Let me show you
in Matthew 25. Matthew 25, and look at verse 34. Let's look at Matthew 25, and
let's begin in verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory. And before Him shall be gathered
all nations, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on
His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King
say unto them on His right hand, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
That means if the kingdom was prepared for us from the foundation
of the world, it was prepared by God our Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. It was settled before the foundation
of the world that Christ would be our eternal righteousness,
our sanctification, our redemption, our wisdom, and He would all
be brought to us as we were created anew by the Holy Spirit. It was
prepared for us in glory. It was settled, the works were
finished from the foundation of the world. Now look at what Christ says.
My works don't contribute to that any. My works don't add
to that any. My works don't make that any
better than the perfection it is in Christ Jesus. Not at all.
Nothing I do will improve upon who Christ is and what Christ
is to a believer. Nothing. That calm, inherited
scheme was prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
But we have a purpose on this earth. He put us on this earth
for a purpose. And we're going to fulfill that
purpose. You are and I am. You are and I am. We're going
to fulfill the purpose which God ordained for us. And Christ
is going to say something about it. Look here, verse 35. The very next word is, For I
was hungered and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you
gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me in. I was naked, and you clothed
me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you
came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee hungered and fed thee? Could you right
now, believer, you and me right here in the year 2016, if Christ
said, I fed him and gave him a drink of water, Lord, I've
never laid eyes on you. When did I give you a drink of
water? Ever. When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in, or necked and clothed thee? When saw we thee
sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? Verse 40. And the
king shall answer and say unto them, Verily... You know what
verily means? Very important. Verily, I say
unto you, inasmuch as you've done it unto one of these, the
least of my brethren, you have done it unto me." You fed them. You clothed them. You gave them
meat. You took them in. You took them
out of the cold. You provided shelter for them.
You did all that for them, preeminently by spreading my gospel. through
which I saved them. That's the number one way you
did that for them. Spiritually speaking, He's our meat, He's
our water, He's our bread, He's our clothing, He's our shelter,
our refuge, He's everything. And you did it for them, literally.
You did it for them. You did this for my people. But
notice here now, notice the reason Christ takes notice of this is
because He glorifies Christ. It's not to glorify you and me.
It's to glorify Christ. Listen to this. The oneness He's
made between Him and each one He saves means that Christ and
His people are so one that if we give His brethren a cup of
cold water, we have given it to Christ. Do you see how that
glorifies Christ? That's because He made us that
one with Him that whatever you do to a brother or sister in
Christ, you've done it to Christ. It's not like you've done it
to Christ. You have done it to Christ. Listen to Mark 9.41. Christ said, For whosoever should
give you a cup of water to drink in My name because you belong
to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. And whosoever shall offend one
of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that
a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into
the sea." Why? Because that's how one we are
with Christ. Whatever we do to one of His
brethren, we do to Christ. Whatever this world does to one
of us, they've done it to Christ. That's oneness, brethren. That
glorifies Him. And so this is what He says to
you. Look at 1 Corinthians 15.58. This is what Paul says is over
and over and over in the Scriptures, and it relates to the passage
we're looking at to our subject this morning. 1 Corinthians 15.58,
look at this. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, be unmovable, be always abounding in the cares
of this world, In your business, in this world, in all these things
that we deem so important? No, in the work of the Lord.
For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord. What does that mean? Look at
Hebrews 6.10. Here's what it means. Hebrews
6.10. Here's what it means. Hebrews
6.10. God is not unrighteous. to forget your work and labor
of love which you've showed toward His name in that you've ministered
to the saints and do minister." You see that? God's not going
to forget it because it's done to Him, because it's done to
His people. That's what we're doing when
we're spreading this gospel to lost sheep and Christ calls them
out. We're doing that first and foremost
for Christ. That's His body. That's a member
of His body that's been called out. Would it be righteous then
for Christ to say, ah, you didn't do very well, my servant? No,
He says He's not unrighteous. He's going to say to His servant,
well done. And you know what, brethren?
If you're such a sinner that you know there's not one thing
you can do in and of yourself to ever please God, knowing that
by His Spirit, by His production of this fruit, by Him giving
you a new heart and a new willingness and the opportunity and the provision
and providing everything needed to give one of His saints a cup
of cold water, it all came from Him, to hear Him say, well done. What a reward! What a reward. Well done. He's going to be righteous to
remember his people. You know, we'd be very unrighteous
if somebody labors for us and does something for us that's
needful and helps us and we don't thank them. We don't say thank
you. That's a sorry rascal. You women
that cook and cook and labor and labor and work all day and
us men sit down and it'll take us five minutes to eat what it
took you all day to prepare. And we're going to get up from
the table and walk away and not say thank you? We'd be a pretty
sorry rascal if we did that. Our God's so righteous, He's
going to tell His people, thank you. Thank you. But Lord, when
did we do? It was all of you. Everything's
of you. We're just unprofitable servants. We just did what we should have
done. It's all the work of your grace. Thank you. You enter into this kingdom I've
prepared for you by my works. By my works. It's yours. Because I prepared it. You see
what I'm saying? See what I'm saying? So the fashion
of this world passes away, but everything that's created of
Christ is created in righteousness and holiness, and it will remain
forever. Everything, even some insignificant little thing that
we do for one of His people in His name. So, lastly, let me, and I'm not
going into a big point, I'm just going to read this because you'll
get it. It's just you don't need any explanation. Here you go.
Here's the point. Don't be overly careful for earthly
things, but focus on the Lord without distraction. Look here
in verse 32. He says, I would have you without
carefulness, And He gives us an example as it pertains to
a married person and an unmarried person, but you can take this
principle now and apply it to any area in your life. If there's
something that's dividing your time and attention between Christ
and it, then you can apply this same principle. Now watch this.
Verse 32, He that's unmarried careth for the things that belong
to the Lord, and how he may please the Lord. But he that's married
careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please
his wife. And he should. You see what I'm
saying? But now he's got to divide his time between caring for his
wife and the cares of our Lord. There is difference also between
a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for
the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body
and spirit. But she that is married careth for the things of the
world, as she may please her husband. You see that? And I
say this for your own profit, brethren. I'm not trying to put
a snare upon you. I'm not trying to put a burden
on you or put some law on you. These are matters of conscience,
he said. He said, I'm saying this to you for that which is
becoming a saint, for that which is good for you. And here's what's
good for you, that you may attend, that you may constantly sit by
the Lord and be devoted to Him without distraction. Without
distraction. Now you take that and you apply
that everywhere you can in this life and know that it's so. What's
more profitable for you as a saint of God is to sit by Christ constantly
and be devoted to Him without any distractions. Without any
distractions. The time is short. Everything
in this world is passing away. Let us see that we're devoted
to Christ without the distractions and cares of this world. All
right, Ruth.