whole chapter, chapter 7 here,
1 Corinthians, is about marriage. They asked Paul, wrote him, asked
him some questions about marriage, and they start reading together
at verse 25. Now concerning virgins, I have
no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment as one that
hath obtained mercy of the Lord, to be faithful. I suppose, therefore,
that this is good for the present distress. I say that it is good
for a man so to be. Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek
not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife?
Seek not a wife. But if thou marry, thou hast
not sinned, and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless,
such shall have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you. But this
I say, brethren, the time is short. It remaineth that both
they that have wives be as though they had none, and they that
weep as though they wept not, and they that rejoice as though
they rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they bought not,
possess not, and they that use the world as not abusing it,
for the fashion of this world, passes away. But I would have
you without carefulness. He that is unmarried care for
the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord.
But he that is married careth for the things that are of the
world, how he may please his wife. There is a 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, and how she may please her husband.
And this I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a
snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that you
may tend upon the Lord without distraction. But if any man think
he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass
the fly of her age, and need not so require, let him do what
he will, he sinneth not, let them marry. Nevertheless, he
that standeth steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but
hath power of his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart,
that he will keep his virgin, doeth well. So then he that giveth
her in marriage doeth well, but he that giveth her not in marriage
doeth better. The wife is bound by the law
as long as her husband liveth, but if her husband be dead, she
is at liberty to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so
abide after my judgment, and I think also that I have the
Spirit of God." Marriage is an extremely, extremely important
subject. In fact, when God created a woman
and took her from the side of man, the Scripture says that,
Adam says, this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. And it says that the two shall
be made one, and that for this cause shall a man leave his father
and his mother. And there wasn't even a father
and a mother at the time, just nobody but Adam and Eve. And
for this cause shall man leave his father and his mother and
cleave unto his wife. Marriage is a serious and a sacred
institution. And I know it's been disregarded,
it's been impugned, it's been ridiculed. Divorce and living
together now, that's the norm. People have no regard for it
one way or another. Not embarrassed by it, not ashamed
of it, and have no trouble with it. But from the beginning it
was not so. From the beginning it was not
so. And here these Corinthians had asked the Apostle Paul about
marriage. And you know what he started
talking about? Marriage, the women having, you know, the husbands
and wives, benevolent one to another, good one to another.
Their bodies are one another's bodies. And then he started talking
about that whatever calling, you're called to abide in that
calling, whether you're married, abide in that calling, whether
you're a free man or not. Then he returns again, now resumes
the subject of marriage. He says here in verse 25, now,
now I am going to resume this subject of marriage. Now concerning
virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment
as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. And
what he's saying is here, he says, I have no commandment,
God concerning virgins, whether a boy, a male or a female virgin. He says, concerning them in marriage,
I have no commandment for the Lord what you to do with it.
I have no commandment about that. But I can give you my counsel.
He said, I give you my counsel. I give you my judgment, my advice. And it was much more than the
advice of a wise man. It was much more than the advice
of someone that has some counseling ability. But he says here, I
give my judgment as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord
to be faithful. And he says, that's why I can
give my advice. And as you ask for it, I'm going
to give it to you. And I'm going to give you my judgment. And
that's not commanded from God. I'm just telling you what my
judgment is. How I look at these things and what I think needs
to be done about it. And the reason I do this, and
he was so thankful for the mercy of God that God gave him. He
said, everything I did, I did it inignorantly and unbelief.
I persecuted the Church of God. I mistreated God's people. I
mistreated the Lord Jesus Christ. I was a boy, I was a self-righteous
Pharisee, but I'd done it ignorantly and unbelief, but I had taken
mercy of the Lord. So he was a man who was so enthralled
with the mercy of God, he saw himself in such a horrible state.
and such a blasphemer, such a wicked man, that God would give him
mercy, and then not only give him mercy, but cause him to be
faithful, and count him faithful. So he says that's the reason
why, because God's enabled me to be faithful. And then he says
down here in verse 26, I suppose, therefore, that this is good
for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so
to be. Now, he's talking about a man
to be like him. man to be unmarried. And the
reason he says it's good for a man to be as myself is because
of the present distress. And what the present distress
was, evidently, that was distress actually present or impending.
And let me give you an idea of what he's talking about. Look
over in Luke 21, 23 with me for a moment. You know, the believers
in those days, they were constantly, constantly under persecution,
constantly under distress, constantly impending danger. And that's
why Paul said it's better, and you go find out how he suffered.
If he'd had a wife and he'd had all the sufferings that he had,
what would his wife have dealt with? When this man's traveling
all over the world, he has perils of robbers, perils of false brethren,
shipwrecked, persecuted, put in prison, what would his wife
would have done while he's in prison for the gospel sake? So
this is why I said it's better, because of the present distress.
And his people, the Lord's people at this time, were in great distress. I mean, the Romans decreed, even
before Paul was still an apostle, every Jew had to leave her home.
You had to take your children, you had to take your wife, you
had to take your babies, and if you had babies, you had to
get up and get out of Rome. You had to leave your home, you
had to leave your house, you had to leave your job, and you
had to get out of Rome. And so you see, that's why he
feels this way about these things. But look here at Luke 21, 23,
talking about this distress. He said, But woe unto them that
are with child, and to them that give sucking those days! For
there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this
people. And, O beloved, that's why he
said, For the present distress, it's better for men to be like
me, because of the time of persecution, time of affliction. That's why
I said it'd be better if believers remained unmarried. You remember
when Peter, James, and John, I mean, that's the first time
they preached there. I mean, the first day right after Pentecost,
they started preaching, and they brought them in before the Sanhedrin
and beat them and made them swear not to, tried to get them to
swear not to mention his name again. So that was the situation
these people were in. And you know, you start thinking
about you having hard trouble. I mean, you're under persecution
all the time, and you've got to move and be on the run all
the time, hunt down like a dog, like a partridge on the hill.
Would you want to be married and have to worry about you?
That's what Paul said. That's why it's better for a
man to be like me in the present distress. And he continues his
advice here in verse 27. He said, Are you bound unto a
wife? And that's what it announced to you, you're bound under a
wife. You're married, you're legally married, and you've got
responsibilities to that wife. He said, don't seek to be loose
from her. Just because you're having trouble and there's persecution
and affliction, don't try to be loose from her. Or loose from
a wife, if you're not married to a wife, then don't you go
looking for a wife because of this present distress and all
the afflictions that's going on. And, oh beloved, don't seek,
because these people lived in terrible times. And then he goes
on to say here then in verse 28, but he said, But if, but and
if you marry, you have not sinned. Evidently, there were such things
going on, fornication and people just, and they said, Well, if
we get married, would we sin if we got married? With all this
trouble and all this distress, would we sin if we got married?
And Paul says this, he says, Listen, but if thou marry, thou
hast not sinned. Marriage is a good thing if God
is in it and God blesses you to have it. Nothing wrong with
being no sin in getting married. And he says here, and if the
virgin marries, she hath not sinned. And evidently, you know,
they're worried about those kind of things. And look what Paul
goes on to say here. Why would he have to say they
have not sinned? To get married to not sin? Now,
I'll tell you, and he's talking to believers now here. And he
said, if you marry, you've not sinned. You know you're not sinning
in marriage. You're not committing a sin in
marriage. You'd commit sin if you went into fornication. You'd
commit sin if you didn't live to the glory of God. But look
what he goes on to say. She hath not sinned, whether you marry
or virgin marry. She hath not sinned. Nevertheless,
this is what he said, nevertheless, so shall have trouble in the
flesh. Now what does he mean by that? When you take on marriage,
you take on a responsibility that you never had before. I
mean, you've got great responsibilities. And you know when you get married,
you've got to start making a living, you're going to start raising
a family. And if you've got a wife, or you've got a husband, and
you're in these persecution times, and these times that these saints
were afflicted in, and these times that these people were
going through at that time, and if you got married, you're talking
about physical troubles. spiritual troubles, earthly troubles,
having to watch out and protect. You know, just take out a Lord's
mother and her husband. Here they was, he was just a
tiny baby, and Herod sent word out, go find this, I want every
infant under two years old, I want every infant that you find male
infant, I want them killed, and I don't care who they are, who
their mom is, I don't care how they cry, how they beg, I want
them dead. So what does he do? Mary and
Joseph warned the Lord and they went down into Egypt. Now that's
what he's talking about here. And then also, you're going to
have trouble in your flesh. You're going to have vexation,
you're going to have arguments, you're going to have disagreements.
And I'll tell you, anybody that says that those people had good,
good marriages, but there ain't nobody ever had a marriage that
didn't have trouble with their flesh about it. Ain't that right? Sometimes one's a dog and the
other one's a cat. Sometimes they're both dogs and
sometimes they're both cats. But sometimes it's oil and water,
and there ain't no sense in denying it, but that's what he says.
And he goes on to say here in the last part of this, verse
28, "'But I spare you,' I spare you." What does he mean? He said,
"'I spare you.'" He was concerned that they'd be spared from these
troubles. You'd be scrapped from these troubles. If you don't
get married, you won't have these troubles. You won't have these
anxieties. You won't have these responsibilities. You won't have
these worries. You won't have these troubles that you'd have.
And I believe, and you know, and the thing is, is that why
over there in Genesis, when it says, you know, bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh, that's what our Lord said about us.
We're bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. And the only reason
marriage is on this earth, is to show and reveal the reunion
that God's people have with Christ. And it's a picture of our marriage
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why we're to be one
flesh, to have this union. And that's the whole reason behind
it. And then Paul's trying to tell folks that this is such
a serious business. Marriage is so serious, and it
troubles me. I've never had a marriage yet
that I haven't sat folks down and talked to them and stressed
to them how important. You'll never enter into one of
the most sacred, serious things that you could possibly enter
into. And won't you say, till death do us part, for rich or
for poor, for better or for worse, through sickness and health? And you say those vows before
God Himself? That means that what it says,
I'm going to stay with them. What if they get polio? What
if they get cancer and they start dying? Till death do us part.
And Paul's trying to spare them here. I'm trying to spare you
and show you that you don't have these troubles in the flesh.
If you have children, then you put children in the mix and they
start trying to raise children in a world like these people
lived in. It'd be a tough situation, wouldn't it? But he goes on to
say here now, he says, so I spare you, I was discerned to spare
you from these troubles. And he says in verse 29, he says
here's another reason he gives. Why people shouldn't get married,
and if they do, what's going to happen? But I say, brethren,
the time is short. It remaineth that both they that
have wise be as though they had none, and they that weep as though
they wept not, and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced
not, and they that buy as though they possessed not, and they
that use this world as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world
passeth away." What he's saying here, brethren, the time is short.
Our time, whatever time we have, is short. And whatever time we
have in this world, it's a short time. Our days on earth are so
short. Who would have ever dreamed,
when you were 20 years old, you thought, man, 40 is a long way
off. It wasn't near as far off as
you thought it was, was it? And when you got 40, 60, boy,
that's a long way from here. That was even closer than the
40. And the time is short. And that's what he's talking
about. Our days on earth are short and they're full of trouble.
Full of trouble. There's not a family in this
building right here tonight that hasn't had troubles. And your
time's been short, and your days have been short, you've buried
people, you've had people sick, you've had heartaches, you've
had sorrows, you've had grief, you've had troubles, you've had
sickness, you've had affliction. And that's another reason why
Paul says that we should not men. And he says in here, he
says, the time is short, and both they that have wives be
as though they had none. That means, beloved, time is
so short that you'll get to the time that you'll realize, well,
listen, This time is moving by so fast that it's almost like
my life didn't even exist, and it might be as though I didn't
even have a wife, when time is so short. So your affection's
not God to be just given wholly to the wife. Our affection ought
to be set on things above. And he goes on to say, and it'll
be the time will be as though they wept as though they wept
not. I'm telling you, hold loose to these things. We weep here
now, but the time's coming, it'll be as if we never wept. I mean,
this time is short. We're going to go be with the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why these wives we
have and our husbands and that, we hold loosely to them. We love
them as Christ loved the church. And we want to have a wonderful
relationship. But at the same time, every relationship we have
is temporary. Temporary. Some of you have done
lost husbands and wives. That's a temporary. Get married
again, you still don't leave another one. That's why it says,
so that we, as if they were not, and they that rejoice in the
Lord, we rejoice in all the things of God. But all this rejoicing
will be ended one of these days. It will be gone, because this
life will be done. And Lord, everything that we
buy, go and buy and get and all that, He said it will be as though
they have no possessions whatsoever. And what He said, hold this world
and hold it loosely. Everything we've got is so temporary
and so, and when it's all said and done, beloved, it's so shallow
and so empty and so vain when it comes to this relationship
with Christ. I love my wife and I love my
kids, but I know it's just God's on His throne that is temporary.
Me and Mary don't leave one another one of these days. I'm going
to leave my children behind one of these days, or they're going
to leave me behind one of these days. I know that. And that's why he's talking about
here. That's the reason why it'd be better not to marry, because
this time is so short. And oh, and always, whatever
time you've got, cherish that time and redeem that time and
reuse it wisely and use it to the glory of God. But hold loosely to it, because
I tell you, this relationship we have with Christ, that's the
most important. That's the most necessary. You
know, I'm telling you, Ben Bragg was talking about, when a man
gets converted by the grace of God, that's what, no, it was
done by this morning. We was talking about it. When
a man gets saved by the grace of, he loves his wife and he
loves, but when God saves him and opens his heart and gives
him the grace of God, it takes it to a whole nother level. A
whole nother level. But yet at the same time, we
understand how precious it is and how temporary it is. That's
why Paul said, we weep, but it'll be like we never wept. We rejoice,
but it's going to be a crisis if we rejoice not. All the things
that we possess, it'd be as if we didn't have a thing. It'd
be as if we had nothing. And then he goes on to say here,
nothing in this world is permanent. Nothing, nothing. And then he
goes over here, And that's why he meant such affection on things
above. And that verse 31 says, And they that use this world
is not abusing it. We're in this world. And we use
this world. You've got to make a living in
the world. This world, we have to use it. You have to go and
get things out of the world and all that. But what he says is,
Abusing it, don't overuse it over much. Why? Because the passion,
the elements of it will just pass away. The way it appears
right now, it won't be the way it will be in this time. And
let me just give you an illustration. Look at, you know, look at how
we view the world right now. Do you view the world different
than you did when you was young? Do you know, are you concerned
about the fashion of it? And what the world thinks and
what the world considers and the world's opinion? And oh, beloved, hold loosely
to everything. And I'm telling you, beloved,
I know this, and I'm serious about this. This world is so
fast and so quick and so temporary and so full of heartache and
sorrow, and we're rejoicing now, and we weep at times, and we
rejoice at times. And God's gave us some wonderful
things, but every one of them is just... What did he say? James said it
like this, what is your life? It's a vapor. It appears for a time and then
vanishes away. And oh, that's what he's talking
about. Then look in verse 32 and verse 33. But I would have
you without carefulness, without worry, without anxiety, without
full of care. And here's the reason being,
he that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the
Lord. how he may please the Lord. But he that is married careth
for the things that are of the world, that he may please his
wife." And I don't want you to be full of care. I'm not saying
this to cause you to have anxiety and worry and fretfulness telling
you about the things that's happening and how frail life is and how
temporary it is. And this is the third reason
Paul gives for these people to remain unmarried. The first was,
the increased sufferings that marriage would bring with it.
The second was how temporary, temporary the nature of all earthly
things are. And the third is freedom from
care connected with this life. He says a man that's unmarried,
he's interested in the things of Christ, the things of God.
Now he's talking of saved people here, and the world ain't concerned
about those things. But he's interested in the things of God,
the things of Christ. But he says to he that's married,
He has responsibilities. And it's right to be this way.
He that cares... You know, a man that does not
care for his own family and provide for his house, he's worse than
an infidel and denied the faith. And what he says here, he that
is married cares for the things of the world. And why does he
care for the things of the world? Got to get out there and get
it instead of fetch it. Because he wants to please his wife. Tell you a little story. True
story. Went to get a haircut last Monday. Sit down in the
chair. I said, Mary told me to get in
here and get a haircut. She said, I wouldn't be here
getting a haircut if Mary didn't tell me. She said, she was tired
of looking at it. She said, yeah, I've always heard
when mama's happy, everybody's happy. I said, that's the reason
I'm in here getting a haircut, because Mary said so. I care
for the things of the world. It's just, you know, you laugh
at that, but that's the truth. If my hair being cut makes her
happy, I'm going to keep it cut. And she knows what it takes to
keep neat. That's what I, that's exactly
what Paul, we care for the things, we care for the things and for
what? Care for the things. We care for, they won't close,
but we care for the clothes they're wearing. We care for the home. You know, a home for me is a
place, if men lived by themselves, we would live like, it'd be awful
how our houses would look. It'd be horrible. That's why
God gave us wives. You know, and because, you just
think about how we would live. And that's why, and just as we
care for the, we want our wives to have a nice home. We want
to have the dishes she wants, to buy the food that she likes
to cook. wear the clothes she likes to wear. And that's what
Paul's talking about. We care for those things. We
care for those things. And what kind of man wouldn't
care for it? A man, about that man that don't care for those
things, a man doesn't love his wife. And then he goes on to
say here now in verse 34, there is a difference also between
a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman care for
the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body
and in spirit. But she that is married cares
for the things of the world, how she may please her husband."
And all he goes to say here is there's a difference between
a virgin and a wife, and there is. The virgin's unmarried, she's
never married, she's a woman, she cares for the things of Christ,
she cares for the things of the world, she wants to be holy in
her body and in her spirit. She wants to commit herself to
Christ. But she that is married cares for the things of the world.
And I need not say anything else here but that she may please
her husband. I don't think they're as interested
in pleasing us as they are pleasing themselves. I'm not trying to
be funny. But I think they're more interested
in us Caring for the invasive human they are. That's what I
should have said. I should have gotten into that. Oh, boy. But, you know, you all know what
it is. You want to cook, you know, if
your husband likes a certain meal. I told Mary the other day
I wanted something, and yesterday she fixed a double batcher. I said, I like that's a good.
Don't just fix it like you did last time. Fix it two of them.
She fixed two of them. Why? Because she wants to please
me. Wants to please me. And just simple things like that. If I mention I need a pair of
shoes or a shirt or something, next thing you know I've got
a half a dozen. You know, that's just, that's
what we do. We want to please one another. We want to see that That the
wife wants the homes cleaned and that, so that the husband
comes home and wants food on the table for her, wants her
clothes cleaned. Those are the things that they're
interested in, and it should be that way. It should be that
way. And then he goes on to say here in verse 35, and he said,
And the reason I speak these things is for your own profit,
not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely,
that you may attend unto the Lord without distraction. He
said, I'm speaking these things for your benefit, to profit you.
I say these things for your own welfare and for your profit,
not to put restrictions on you, not to put burdens on you. I
want to promote your comfort. When he says that which is comely,
I want to promote your comfort. I want to promote your good,
that you may attend to the things of God without distraction, without
having any distractions. And that's what he talks about
in marriage. You know, you wouldn't have any distractions. Now he
comes down here, and from here on, from verse 36, he's talking
to fathers here, until we get down to verse 39. Talking to
fathers. And he says, But if any man,
verse 36, he's talking to a father now, But if any man that think
that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass
the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he
will, he sendeth not, let them marriage. And what he's saying
here, now he's addressing people, and here's another thing about
this situation. Back then, they arranged marriages.
And it was the tradition for a woman to be married at a certain
age, and if she wasn't married at a certain age, there was something
wrong with her. You know, that's the way it was.
And that's what he's saying, if a man thinks, you know, and
wants to give his daughter in marriage, and he's so recurrent,
let him do it. He's not sinning in doing that.
He's not sinning in doing that. And if she wants to be married,
desires to be married, and he gives her in marriage, and that's
what he says there, let him do what he will, he says, not let
them be married. Who's to be married? The virgin and the groom. The
father gives the virgin away and gives her in marriage, and
he's not sinned in doing that. But he goes on down here saying,
but now he goes, that's here, another side of it. Nevertheless, he that standeth
steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power
of his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart, that he
will keep his virgin, doeth well." And what he's talking about here
is, where there's no necessity for marriage. He doesn't feel
like it's necessary that he marries his daughter off. He doesn't
feel like it's necessary for her to get married. And if this
woman, this virgin, has the gift, has the ability to, the character
to contain herself, and this father has power of his own will,
and determined not to be married, he does well, he don't bring
reproach or shame, and she doesn't, and bring reproach and shame
on her, and her remaining single. And that's what he's talking
about here. If he's got it in his heart, and his daughter don't
need to be married, there's no necessity of it, And his daughter's
not saying, I want to be married and don't feel no necessity to
it. And he says, well, I'll keep her and she'll stay in my home.
And there's no shame in that by not giving her in marriage.
And there's no shame in giving her in marriage. No sin in either
one of them. So then, and you know, you fathers, I don't know
how many of y'all have done this, but when it's time for your daughters
to get married, you sure enough start thinking about it, don't
you? Who they're going to marry, what kind of life they're going to
have. what their son-in-law is going to be like. Is he going
to be in account? Is he going to work? Is he going
to deal with it? And that's what he's talking
about here. That's what he's talking about here. So then, in verse 38, so then
he that giveth her in marriage, he does good. He does a good
thing. He does well. But he that giveth her not in
marriage, don't feel the necessity to give her in marriage, don't
have to follow tradition or custom, And the things that people do
in their day and age, he said, he does even better. And then
he winds this thing up saying this. Now he says, if you're
married and you're a wife, and this goes for husbands too, the
wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth. I mean,
beloved, as long as your husband liveth, whether you're living
together or not. The wife is bound by the law as long as her
husband liveth, but if her husband be dead, She is at liberty, she's
free to marry whom she will, but here's the thing, only in
the Lord. Only in the Lord. Only in the
Lord. And I tell you, and I know, let's see how much time
I've got. Oh man, I've not took any time
at all. I've known people that, that taken off, left their husband,
left their wife, took up with somebody else. And this is, I'm going to tell
you the way it is. I'm going to tell you what Scripture says about
that. And I'm talking about people who profess to be believers.
Preachers, deacons, church members. It makes no difference. If a
husband or a wife leaves somebody and goes marry somebody else,
I'm going to tell they have committed adultery in their marriage, and
if that other one who's the one who's left, she gets married,
they've committed adultery. That's why if you can't live
together, and you don't intend to live together, you're bound until that husband
or wife dies, you're bound by the law of God to them until
they're dead. And then when they're dead, you
can get married again, and if you're a believer, only in the
Lord. And I don't have that much confidence that much confidence
in anybody, anybody that professes to be a believer and takes up
with another man or another woman. I don't have a, not an eye on
that. I don't care if they're a preacher and I don't care if
they're still preaching. I know, and there was a preacher friend
of mine, He just told his wife one time, said, I'm sick of you,
sick of this marriage, sick of everything about it. Next thing
you know, he is off with another woman. Went and told the church,
he says, me and my wife separated. Got up and getting ready to preach,
showed up on Sunday morning, me and my wife got separated
last week. And the church had sense enough to say, well, you
can't preach. You can't preach. You can't get
up here and preach. That's what the Lord said to
that woman at the well, said that, you know, it's right, you've
been married five times, but the person you're living with
now is not your husband. Evidently, she'd have had five
husbands, they all died. Or else she'd have more than
living than the ones she had now. And that's why He says it's,
I mean, when you're married and you profess to be a believer,
I mean, it's really till death do you part, or else you're going
to end up living in adultery. Is that not right? Our Lord is
just as clear on that as of them. And then when she does, when
the husband dies or the wife dies, they're only free to marry
unto whom she will in the Lord. And look what Paul goes on to
say, and I'll throw it. But she is happier if she's so obliged
about what? Unmarried. After my judgment. Now again, he says, just after
my judgment. And I think also that I have the Spirit of God.
Evidently, there were people who were trying to talk about
this, and they thought they had all the answers. And Paul said,
I think that I have the Spirit of God. I think the Spirit of
God in me. I think the Spirit of God in
me, and I have the mind of the Spirit in this matter. And I
think the Holy Spirit is the one who's taught me these things
and advised me to give this advice to you and give you this judgment.
I'm glad we're done with that chapter.