Form of This World is Passing Away 1977

I'd like to read some verses from 1 Corinthians 7, starting at verse 25. Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the impending distress, it is well for a person to remain as he is.

Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. But if you marry, you do not sin.

And if a girl marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short.

From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none. And those who mourn, as though they were not mourning. And those who rejoice, as though they were not rejoicing.

And those who buy, as though they had no goods. And those who deal with the world, as though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing away.

A couple of weeks ago, the Hollywood gossip columnist for the Detroit Free Press was having lunch with Paul Newman in New York in honor of a film that is soon to be released. Amid the chitchat, Shirley Eder, or Eder, or whatever, however you pronounce it, received an answer to one of her questions that had her still baffled when she wrote her column. She said to Paul Newman, Do you think that President Carter will live up to his pre-election promises? To which Newman answered, When history is out of control, it doesn't make any difference what you promise.

And in that sentence, I believe that Paul Newman said more, blue-eyed Paul, that all the converted movie stars on the celebrity circuit, I don't know where he stands with the Lord. I dare say that if he does know the Lord, or comes to know the Lord, he won't be making mileage out of it for himself. But one thing is clear to me, that Paul Newman has a better sense of what's going on in the world right now than most people, or a good number of people, who think or claim to know the Lord.

You can't get Noah all upset about the price of coffee, because Noah knows that when it starts to rain, that's not going to make any difference. And what a difference it makes in our living, our outlook on everything, when the Lord opens our eyes and we begin to see the precariousness of the hour in which we now live. How many of the things that we still consider to be solid in this land are very shortly going to melt like butter and be no more? If we only could see how fragile and how near to the end is the present order of things that we still take for granted.

Now, the church of Jesus Christ was created for such an hour as this. And, you know, it's strange. Most of us grew up being taught, if we were taught anything at all, that the church is a stabilizing influence in the community, the bulwark of society.

And all you have to do is drive through Detroit and then on out into the suburbs and see how much of a stabilizing influence in society the churches have been when they have thought of themselves in this way. Listen to Jesus. I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword.

I came to set a man against his father and a daughter against their mother and a daughter-in-law against their mother-in-law. On this rock, this confession that I am the Christ, I will build my church and the gates of death will not hold out against it. Here we have a description of the church from Jesus' lips, which depicts it as something aggressive, active, moving.

Something that smashes through the gates of the region of the dead. People gathered around the cross of the Lord, anointed with the Spirit, and then enabled to live in a world to the glory of God and the service of their fellow men that is falling apart. Noah didn't build his ark for sunny weather and dry land.

He built it for a storm. And Jesus is not building his church for sunny days. The church of Jesus Christ is even at this moment being hammered together, made out of people like you and me.

So that we can go out into a world with the word of God, even while history is out of control. Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out the buildings of the temple, something permanent. But he answered them, you see all these, do you not? Truly I say to you, there will not be left one here, not one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will this be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age? And Jesus answered them, take heed that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

See that you are not alarmed for this must take place. But the end is not yet for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All this is but the beginning of sufferings. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death and you'll be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

And many false prophets will rise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. Notice in the midst of famine, earthquake, war, catastrophe.

The word of God goes right on. Being proclaimed by whom? By you and me. By you and I. Wait a minute.

We're going to be raptured. And the gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole earth by the tribulation saints. My friend, you and I are the tribulation saints.

History is even now out of control. The form of this world is even now falling away. And we now need to learn to function in a world where everything shakable is going to be shakable until only the unshakable is left.

Now, this does not mean that we have to arrive at a new lifestyle where we learn to live on sea rations and dehydrated vegetables. You know, there's some Christian opportunists who are even selling dehydrated vegetables, you know, for the tribulation. You can buy them.

Don't get caught up in that. What is needed is a new state of the heart. In which our heart rests in God.

Like a child rests in its father. Where the heart hangs on to God by faith and holds very loosely to everything else. And this is precisely what our Lord is talking about in the Sermon on the Mount, which can truly only be understood against the background of a world that's falling apart.

Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body. What you shall put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air.

They neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add one second to his span of life? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin.

Yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. And there will be birds flying around and lilies still growing in the midst of all the things that will be happening. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothed you, O men of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? What should we drink? What should we wear? For the Gentiles seek all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. So now we have to learn. Learn to be so caught up in God and in the doing of his mercy that every other attachment, every other love, even every other pain, every other delight is seen for what it really is, a temporary thing.

The one solid, vital thing in our lives is the fact that Jesus has called us out of our self-centeredness, washed us in his blood, filled us with his spirit, and sent us into that world with good news of his kingdom, even while that world is falling apart. I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none.

If we're going to live as sons and daughters of the kingdom in the midst of a world that is crumbling, we have to be sure that our mate, if we have a mate, is not our primary comfort. Let those who have wives or husbands live as though they had none. Live in such a way that you draw your strength and your comfort from your Lord, so that even if your mate is taken from you, amid all the heartache of that, you go right on doing the one needful thing, proclaiming the kingdom of God in the midst of this crumbling world.

How many times we see believers just burning with the zeal of God, really getting things done, and then they get married. And then they settle down in their little nest with their mate. And that's the last you hear of them.

What happens is they permit their relationship with their loved one that God gave them as a gift to become the thorns that choke out the very life from them. Husbands, love your wives, says Paul. But he also says, let those who have wives or husbands live as though they had none.

And if anybody's confused about that, let the Lord show you what that means. And those who mourn as though they were not mourning. And there are people among us right now who are mourning.

Because of loneliness. Because a loved one has been taken. Or because some tragedy has broken in upon your life.

And the Lord says, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. And yet, even while your heart is breaking. You are to live in such a way that you are not mourning as far as the world is concerned.

You wash your face, anoint your head with oil and go forth into the world and get on with the job that God gave you to do. Of bringing comfort to those who know no comfort at all. They don't have your gospel.

To allow mourning, any kind of mourning, to be an excuse for sitting around under your private cloud of gloom. While the harvest is waiting for laborers. Is out of God's will.

Let the dead bury their dead. You go and preach the kingdom of God that applies to every one of us. And those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing.

You know, when we're having a good time, when we're rejoicing. The tendency for us is to try to grab hold of that. Build a shield around it so it can't be taken from us.

Freeze it. You know, make time stop like they do in the movies. And keep that wonderful moment forever.

And just when you get to the last brick in your little house of joy and you got all built. And you're going to sit down in front of the fireplace and be joyful forever. There's an earthquake and the whole thing falls on your head.

Better that we should rejoice as though we were not rejoicing. So that we can get on with the job of proclaiming good tidings of great joy. To those who've never heard about this yet.

Very popular teaching these days. Is that we are to experience the joy of the Lord. And indeed we are.

We're coming to rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice, says Paul. We could do that.

The joy of the Lord is our strength. But. When believers and this happens all over the place.

And no doubt touches our lives too. Get together. Stand around and rejoice in the Lord.

And never get around. To bringing the good news of his kingdom to those who have no joy. Never allow their lives to get anywhere near.

Those whose hearts are breaking with despair. I say. The joy of the Christians.

Has to be. False. And those who buy as though they had no good.

So what do we have? Have the things that we can hold in our hands. Our clothing. Our house.

Car. Some money in the bank. Our records.

Tapes. Books. Paintings.

But how do we have these things? The more our consciousness of having them. Gets to the place. In our actual living.

Where we're worried about keeping them. Pretty soon. These things that we have.

Have us. And we are in bondage to them. Better that we should have nothing.

Better that we should learn to live. As if we had nothing. Even if that means having nothing.

So that when what we have. Is taken from us. We can go right on and get the job done.

And those who deal with the world. As though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world.

Is passing away. Don't think that you can get away. With having no dealings with the world.

Oh, I don't touch the world. It's sinful. For 2,000 years.

Believers have tried to escape the world. Into one kind or another. Of a monastic life.

And the world comes in there. With a vengeance. We have to deal with the world.

We have to buy. And sell. Every time you go to work.

You're selling your labor. We have to drive our cars. Take buses.

Go to the dentist. Pay our taxes. Stop at red lights.

Like everybody else. But if we fail. To keep our hearts.

At a distance from the world. If we fail to keep reminding ourselves. That we are citizens of another kingdom.

After a while. We sink right down. Into this anti-God atmosphere.

Of the world. That's what we mean by the world. And we lose our vision of God.

There is something in us. Which is forever tempted. To settle down.

And get cozy. With something. Other than God.

So you get cozy. With your mate. Or you get cozy.

With your sorrow. Or you get cozy. With your joy.

Or you get cozy. With your possessions. Or you get cozy.

With your place in the world. Or your place in the church. Or your status as a heavy saint.

And you lose your vision of God. We have to every hour. Of every day.

As long as we are in these bodies of flesh and blood. Continuously remind ourselves. That anything in this world.

That offers to make us cozy. Anything. Is an illusion.

And a trap. God help us. To wake up.

And pull ourselves away. From any of these little comfortable nests. That we make for ourselves.

And find our rest. Our comfort. Our security.

In Jesus Christ. Him crucified. And in the word of our heavenly father.

As we take that word out. Every one of us. To those who will have to hear it.

And will indeed hear it. With or without our help. Before the end.

Comes. Let's pray. I just ask Lord God that you would help us to see.

The ways in which we. Never mind our brothers and sisters. But we ourselves.

Have allowed ourselves to be sidetracked. How many of us Lord you know. Have become sidetracked in something religious.

And so we think it's okay. And help us to get back. On the road.

Of trust and faith. In Jesus himself. And teach us.

How to do that. And what to do about it. This very hour.

Let us give in Jesus name. Amen.