God’s Good Design for Marriage and Singleness - Part 2

In this message from Genesis 2:18–25, David Platt explains God’s intention of using singleness for his glory. 

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
You're listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author,
and teacher David Platt.

SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
Let's dive into God's word, which by the way,
we're also glad to give you acopy of if you don't have a
Bible.
But we've looked over the lastfew months at just the first two
chapters of the Bible and seenso much of God's good design for
our lives, for creation, forhumanity, for sexuality, for
work, for rest, for marriage.

(00:30):
And today we're gonna look atGod's good design for
singleness.
And you might wonder, well, whatdoes Genesis 2 have to say about
singleness?
Because it seems like Adam andEve got married pretty quickly
once they saw each other.
And that question is gonna leadus on a journey from the start
of creation all throughoutScripture, including some things

(00:51):
we've seen before in places like1 Corinthians chapter 7.
So get ready to take notes as welive in a day where an
increasing number of people aresingle.
So about 75 years ago, you lookat the data, the percentage of
married couples in the UnitedStates peaked with almost 80% of
households headed by a husbandand a wife together.

(01:12):
Today, that 80% number is wellunder 50%.
Significantly less people aremarried, either through divorce
or never getting married orprolonging marriage until later
in life.
So what do we think about thisshift?
Is this a good thing?
Is this a bad thing?

(01:33):
How does God's word addresssingleness?
And hopefully the answer isbetter than how we, as the
church, have addressed it.
You compare Christian books onmarriage with Christian books on
singleness, and it'sinteresting.
Very few marriage books arguethat marriage is a good thing.
That's assumed.
Instead, they just talk abouthow to deal with all the

(01:55):
problems in marriage.
Books on singleness, though,seem to imply that singleness is
a problem.
They describe how to make themost of singleness until the
right person comes along.
In other words, the solution tothe problem of singleness is
marriage.
And once you get married, you'llhave all kinds of problems and
you can read all the marriagebooks.

(02:16):
There has to be a better answerthan this.
And the good news is there is abetter answer than this.
Much like what we talked aboutin marriage last week, I want to
show you four truths from God'sword about singleness.
And remember, we talked aboutthis last week.
If you're married, you need thisword from God for today.

(02:37):
So don't check out.
First, because no one who ismarried is guaranteed married
today is guaranteed to bemarried tomorrow.
And neither you or your spouseare guaranteed breath tomorrow.
And second, because married menand women are responsible for
encouraging our single brothersand sisters in Christ.

(02:57):
So a single sister recentlyshared with me a liturgy for a
single person going to church.
And you can search for it.
I don't have time to read thewhole prayer, but at one point
it says, and I'm going to putthis up here on the screen.
Some days, though surrounded bya gathering, I sit alone in
church and feel unseen.
You sit beside me there.

(03:19):
Let me rest in you.
And then it goes on to say, onother days I feel welcomed and
known.
But reading this whole liturgywas a good reminder to put
ourselves in others' shoes.
And these are the shoes ofaround half the people in this
gathering.
From children and students toyoung adults to older adults and

(03:41):
everywhere in between.
Now, some of you who are singlemight be thinking, well, David,
you're married, and I'm supposedto listen to you talk about
singleness.
And this is where I would offerjust a gentle reminder that my
ability or authority, or anypastor's ability or authority,
to preach on a topic does notrevolve around my or any other

(04:05):
pastor's experiences, but aroundGod's word.
If that was not the case, Iwouldn't need to be an expert on
everything, which I am not.
And surely you would not comejust to hear my expertise on
everything.
I have no desire to share withyou my thoughts on singleness
today.
I want to show you what Godsays, so please by all means

(04:27):
check everything I say to see ifit accurately represents God's
word.
And if it's coming from here,then you can trust it's from
Him, not from me.
And interestingly, if you werehere when we talked about
marriage last week, you're gonnasee striking similarities in the
truths we're about to seeregarding singleness, because
they reflect a beautifullyparallel picture to what God

(04:50):
says about marriage.
So let's listen to him.
Truth number one.
Because on multiple occasions inthe series, we've now read

(05:11):
Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 and27.
God said, Let us make man in ourimage after our likeness, let
them have dominion over the fishof the sea, over the birds of
the heavens, over the livestock,and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepson the earth.
So God created man in his ownimage.
In the image of God, he createdhim, male and female, he created
them.
And I want to point out herewhat I hope is plain.

(05:33):
Identity as a person made in theimage of God does not hinge on
your gender, your maritalstatus, or your parental status
for that matter.
You have intrinsic dignity fromGod, regardless of whether you
are a man or a woman, a wife ora husband, a mom or a dad.

(05:58):
Your marital status does notdetermine your identity or
dignity before God.
Now, what's interesting is rightafter this, we read in Genesis
1.28, God blessed them, and Godsaid to them, Be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth.
So immediately God startstalking about procreation,
making babies.

(06:18):
In Genesis 2, what we saw lastweek is God's design for how

that happens (06:22):
marriage.
Genesis 2.24.
A man shall leave his father andhis mother, hold fast to his
wife, there shall become oneflesh.
And as man and woman cometogether as one flesh in
marriage, they multiply.
That's the whole picture thatGenesis 1.28 is talking about.
And this is really important forus to see because as we keep

(06:44):
reading throughout the OldTestament, the blessing of God
is often tied to husbands andwives having children,
multiplying.
Look at this.
When God forms his people in theOld Testament, the Old Covenant,
look at what he promises them inGenesis 15.
God brought Abraham, the fatherof the people of Israel, outside

(07:08):
and said, Look toward heaven andnumber the stars if you're able
to number them.
Then he said to him, So shallyour offspring be.
God said, I'm gonna give youoffspring, innumerable children
and grandchildren, whichnecessitated marriage to
Abraham's wife, Sarah.

(07:29):
And God gives the same promiseof offspring through marriage to
Isaac in Genesis chapter 26,verse 3, to Jacob in Genesis
chapter 28, verse 14.
It's interesting, some of themost tense moments in the
initial stories of the Biblerevolve around barrenness.

(07:49):
It was a curse to be barren.
Sarah was initially barren,Rachel was initially barren, and
I say curse because your familylegacy stopped if you didn't
have children, which means youdidn't want to be barren in the
Old Testament.
Which means you didn't want tobe single.
Barrenness and singleness werelike a curse, which heightens

(08:14):
the honor we have for prophetslike Jeremiah or Elijah or
Elisha, whom God called tosingleness in the Old Testament
when that was so undesirable inthat day.
Why?
Think about it, excuse me,because God's blessing on the
multiplication of his peoplecame through marriage and
childbearing, which made sensebased on the way the old

(08:36):
covenant worked.
The people of God would fill theearth primarily through having
offspring, and you couldn't dothat if you were single.
You were out.
But then watch this.
Listen to Isaiah chapter 53,verse 7, which is a promise of
Jesus coming to die on a cross.
It says, He, talking aboutJesus, prophecy about Jesus, was

(09:00):
oppressed, he was afflicted, yethe opened not his mouth, like a
lamb that is led to theslaughter, and like a sheep that
before its shears is silent, sohe opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment hewas taken away, and as for his
generation, who consider that hewas cut off out of the land of
the living, stricken for thetransgression of my people?

(09:22):
And they made his grave with thewicked and with a rich man in
his death, although he had doneno violence, and there was no
deceit in his mouth, yet it wasthe will of the Lord to crush
him, he's put him to grief, whenhis soul makes an offering for
guilt, he shall see hisoffspring.
He shall prolong his days, thewill of the Lord shall prosper

(09:42):
in his hand.
Did you catch that?
Isaiah's talking about a singleman, Jesus, who would be cut off
from the land of the living, ashe died, with no physical
descendants.
Yet he shall see his offspring.
That's the exact same word thatwe read in Genesis chapter 15.

(10:06):
How is it possible for a singleperson to have offspring?
Well, his offspring are those hedied to save.
This is the gospel.
The panties are really close,particularly if you're exploring
Christianity.
The good news of the Bible isthat God sent Jesus to die on a
cross for sinners so that anyonewho trusts in him can become a

(10:30):
child of God.
Which means, so follow this,this is so important.
Christianity is not about beingborn into a Christian family.
It's about anybody fromanywhere, from any family or
nation being born again,receiving new life through faith
in Jesus.
Nobody is born Christian.

(10:54):
The only way, truly, biblically,to become a Christian is to be
born again, spiritually throughfaith in Jesus.
And so for all who trust inJesus and become children of
God, realize what's happeninghere.
God is foretelling in the OldTestament how his family will
multiply ultimately, not throughprocreation, but through

(11:17):
salvation.
Not through people gettingmarried and having babies, but
through people sharing thegospel and leading others to new
life in Jesus.
And that changes everything.
Don't miss how the coming ofJesus and the New Testament, the
new covenant, radically changesthe picture of God's blessing.

(11:38):
It's foretold in the very nextchapter of Isaiah, Isaiah 54,
verse 1 says, Sing, O barren onewho did not bear, break forth
into singing and cry aloud, youhave not been in labor.
For the children of the desolateone will be more than the
children of who is married, saysthe Lord.
There's actually more childrenpromised here to the barren one

(12:00):
who trusts in God and leadsothers to life in God, than the
one who is in labor, hasphysical children.
You get two chapters over,Isaiah 56, verse 3.
Let not the foreigner who hasjoined himself to the Lord said,
The Lord will surely separate mefrom his people, and let not the
eunuch say, Behold, I'm a drytree.

(12:21):
For thus says the Lord to theeunuchs who keep my Sabbath, who
choose the things that please meand hold fast my covenant, I
will give in my house, within mywalls, a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give them an everlastingname that shall not be cut off.
Did you hear that?
Eunuchs, don't worry.
You're single, but you're not adry tree.
Your name will not be cut off.

(12:44):
Your name will be better thanhaving sons and daughters,
because God's kingdom comesthrough spiritual offspring, not
ultimately dependent on yourphysical offspring.
Now, all this was promised inthe Old Testament, but it wasn't
a part of Old Testament culture,which is why people were
astonished when Jesus came onthe scene and he started talking

(13:06):
about marriage.
And in Matthew chapter 19, verse10, listen to this, the
disciples said to him, If suchis the case of a man with his
wife, it's better not to marry.
And Jesus stunned them with hisresponse.
He said, Not everybody canreceive that saying, but only
those to whom it is given.
For there are eunuchs who havebeen so from birth, there are

(13:26):
eunuchs who have been madeeunuchs by men, and there are
eunuchs who have made themselveseunuchs for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven.
Let the one who is able toreceive this receive it.
Like the whole picture here isnot just talking about physical
eunuchs, it's talking aboutsingleness.
And it's saying, Jesus issaying, it's good to be single
for the sake of the kingdom.

(13:49):
And the disciples were shocked.
This was revolutionary in theOld Testament.
God's people multiplied almostexclusively through marriage and
children.
But now in the New Testament,the kingdom of heaven is
expanding regardless of whetheryou're single or married.
All that leads to 1 Corinthians,where Paul opens chapter 7 and

(14:12):
look at what he writes.
Now, concerning the mattersabout which you wrote, it is
good for a man not to havesexual relations with a woman.
So follow this.
Because sexual relations aredesigned by God for marriage.
And Paul, who by the way wassingle, just said, it is good to

(14:35):
not have sexual relations.
In other words, it's good not tobe married.
And then he goes further thanthat as the chapter goes on.
He says in verse 7, I wish thatall were as I myself am.
But each has his own gift fromGod.
One of one kind and one ofanother.

(14:56):
Paul says, I wish everybody wassingle.
But we have different gifts.
One of one kind, one of another.
You see that word?
This is so significant.
And as you keep reading, Paulactually takes it to another
level.
Watch this, verse 38.
So then he who marries hisbetrothed does well, and he who

(15:18):
refrains from marriage will doeven better.
Then a couple verses later, hedescribes a single woman saying,
Yet in my judgment, she ishappier if she remains as she
is.
This is God's word using betterand happier to describe
singleness.
It's just fascinating,especially when you look at the
whole of Scripture.

(15:38):
And again, it doesn't meanmarriage is bad.
We saw that last week.
The point is, and this is whatPaul is continually emphasizing
in this whole chapter in 1Corinthians 7 on marriage and
singleness.
Look with me at verse 17.
It says, only let each personlead the life that the Lord has
assigned to him and to which Godhas called him.
Part of the problem in 1Corinthians 7 is addressing

(16:01):
people who thought, I'd ratherbe what I'm not.
People who are married thinking,marriage is not all I thought it
would be.
I'd rather be single.
People who were single thinking,I'd rather be married.
And the Bible is saying, stopand celebrate the good gift, the
assignment, the calling of Godin your life.

(16:26):
That doesn't mean that if you'resingle, it's wrong to desire a
husband or wife.
1 Corinthians 7 actuallyacknowledges that desire while
also saying, as long as you'resingle, trust that God, the good
Lord of your life, is assigningand calling you for your good.

(16:48):
Because God doesn't give badgifts.
Singleness, biblically, is not astate to be endured as you wait
for something better.
And as a side note, I'vementioned this before, but
parents, success for our kids isnot necessarily them getting
married.
We need to be really careful notto implicitly or explicitly

(17:11):
communicate to our children thatmarriage is the ideal and
singleness is second best whenthat is not true in God's word.
I pray every week for my kidsthat they would either marry a
godly wife or husband or thrivein singleness.
Because both are good gifts.

(17:36):
If the commanders beat theeagles or the cowboys, both are
good gifts.
If the cats beat the flyers orthe penguins, both are good
gifts.
If the wizards beat anybody,it's a good gift.
Which means that if someone issingle and gets married, then

(18:00):
they exchange one gift from God,one good gift from God for
another good gift from God.
Or if someone is married, andfor example, their staff passes
away, then even amidst deepgrief, they are exchanging one
good gift from God for anothergood gift from God.

(18:22):
God doesn't give bad gifts.
This is not like that gift ofChristmas that you want to
return as soon as you open it.
God is saying, I have gooddesigns in both singleness and
marriage, which means marriagereally isn't the goal.
And singleness really isn't thegoal.

(18:43):
God is the goal.
Which leads to truth number two.
God designs singleness as apowerful picture of the gospel.
So I need to pick up the pastehere.
But we we saw this last weekabout marriage, how God designs
a husband's love for his wife tobe a picture of Jesus' love for
the church, how God designs awife's love for her husband to

(19:04):
be a picture of the church'slove for Jesus, which might lead
you to think, well, I want toportray the gospel, so I want to
get married.
But God also designs singlenessto portray the gospel in ways
that marriage does it.
Think about it.
Singleness uniquely portrays ourultimate identity in Christ.
We live in a world that says youneed a spouse to complete you.

(19:28):
Or you need sexual activity tofulfill you.
But biblical singleness declaresto the world, neither of those
things is true.
Biblical singleness declares tothe world that we are complete
in Christ, regardless of maritalstatus or sexual activity.
Isaiah chapter 54, John chapter3, Revelation chapter 19, they

(19:48):
all describe the Lord as ahusband to his people who is
more satisfying and more eternalthan any husband or wife in this
earth could ever be.
Singleness says to the world, Ifind my ultimate joy in Jesus.
In him I have everything I need,in a way that marriage doesn't
portray the same.
Amy Carmichael and hersingleness once said, There is

(20:11):
joy, joy found in nowhere else,when we can look up into
Christ's face when he says tous, Am I not enough for thee,
mine own?
With a true yes, Lord, you aremore than enough.
Singleness uniquely portrays ourultimate identity in Christ.
And singleness uniquely portraysour eternal identification with

(20:34):
the church.
So yes, we value physical familyas we should biblically.
At the same time, don't forget,all physical family
relationships in this world, asgreat as they are, are
temporary, including marriage.
Jesus makes this clear when he'sasked about marriage in heaven,

(20:54):
Matthew 22, verse 30, he says,in the resurrection, they
neither marry nor are given inmarriage, but are like angels in
heaven.
In other words, marriage is aninstitution for this world that
will not be in the next world.
So married people are onlymarried in this life.
Then for billions and trillionsof years, we're all going to be

(21:16):
single.
Marriage is temporary, butrelationship to Jesus and his
church is timeless.
And singleness uniquely portraysthat reality, eternal
identification with the body ofChrist.
Which then leads to truth numberthree.
God designs singleness to dependon his grace.

(21:39):
And this is where I want to pullin Paul's warnings from 1
Corinthians regardingsingleness, 1 Corinthians 7, in
two ways in particular.
One, we need God's grace toguard against unholy sexual
desires.
Now, this is obviously true forall of us, whether we're single
or married.
But 1 Corinthians 7 emphasizesthis specifically for singles.

(22:04):
So watch this.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, orright before 1 Corinthians 7,
the Bible says to all people,flee from sexual immorality.
Every other sin a person commitsis outside the body.
The sexually immoral person sinsagainst his own body.
Do you not know that your bodyis a temple of the Holy Spirit
within you, whom you have fromGod.
You are not your own.
You were bought with a price.

(22:25):
So glorify God in your body.
Now that was totallycountercultural in Corinth, and
it's totally countercultural inthe United States.
In a culture that says it'sokay, it's good, it's even
necessary to indulge your sexualdesire outside of biblical
marriage.
God says, No, you flee.

(22:46):
Run from any and all sexualimmorality, which we've seen
before refers to any sexualthinking, desiring, or acting
outside of marriage.
And it's right after Paul writesthis, so remember the chapter
division wasn't in the originalletter, it's just there to help
us.
So right after Paul says, fleefrom sexual thinking, desiring,

(23:10):
acting outside of marriage, hesays in 1 Corinthians 7, verse
1, now concerning the mattersabout which you wrote, it's good
for a man not to have sexualrelations with a woman, but
because of the temptation tosexual immorality, each man
should have his own wife, andeach woman her own husband.
In other words, if you want toindulge in sexual activity,

(23:30):
thinking, desiring, acting, thenget married and do so with your
wife or your husband.
But as long as you're single,don't flee, which requires God's
grace, God's help that Godpromises to give by his Holy
Spirit who dwells in you.

(23:51):
And this world desperately needssingle followers of Christ who
will counter the cultural liethat sexual expression is okay
or even necessary for ultimatefulfillment in life.
So, singles, don't settle forcompromise in your life, in this

(24:13):
culture, whether it's withsomeone else or on a screen,
don't do it.
By the grace of God in you, fleesexual immorality.
Let God's grace and God's spiritin you guard you from all unholy
sexual desires.
And I should add at this point,some of you might be thinking

(24:36):
through all this, well, there'ssingle people and there's
married people, but what aboutdating people?
And the answer to thatbiblically is there's no third
category.
You're either married or you'resingle.
And it's not that dating iswrong, but if you're dating,
you're still in the singlecategory.
So don't act like you'remarried.

(24:58):
We don't have time to do a wholesection on dating here, but
particularly under this umbrellaof guarding against unholy
sexual desires, I did a wholevideo on this that you can find
at McLeanBible.org slashsexuality.
But if you are dating orengaged, if you are not married
to somebody else, then do not dowith that person what only

(25:20):
married couples do with eachother.
I'll put it this way Would it beright for me to kiss someone who
is not my spouse?
The answer is clearly no, thenwhy would it be right for you to
kiss someone who's not yourspouse?

(25:44):
And if that's the case, thenmake them your spouse and kiss
them a lot.
Because God has designedmarriage for that, but not
singleness.
Flee any sexual thinking,desire.
This is straight from God.
As we've read it in our Biblereading yesterday as a church,

(26:04):
this is the will of God.
You want to know the will of Godfor your life, your
sanctification, flee sexualimmorality.
That's 1 Thessalonians chapter4, verse 2.
And we need God's grace to helpus do that.
And we need God's grace to guardagainst unholy, selfish desires.
And again, we all need to guardagainst unholy, selfish desires,

(26:28):
whether we're single or married.
But I want to bring a quote inhere from John Stott, stalwart
preacher and author and leaderin the church over the last
century, who was single for his70 plus years of life.
He said, Apart from sexualtemptation, the greatest danger
which I think we face as singlesis self-centeredness.

(26:49):
We may live alone, may havetotal freedom to plan our own
schedule with nobody else tomodify it or even give us
advice.
And if we're not careful, we mayfind the whole world revolving
around ourselves.
And again, that's not sayingthat married people don't also
struggle with selfish desires.
But listen to this admonitionspecifically to singles in 1

(27:09):
Corinthians 7 35.
I say this for your benefit, notto lay any restraint on you, but
to promote good order and tosecure your undivided devotion
to the Lord.
Guard against unholy, selfishdesires that would pull you away
from undivided devotion to theLord.
Elizabeth Elliot, who became awidow early into her marriage

(27:31):
when her husband was martyred,said, My most earnest of all
pleas to singles is theabandonment of the self,
surrender to Christ of allunfulfilled longings, and
unequivocal willingness toreceive whatever God assigns.
Life becomes not only farsimpler, but surprisingly joyful

(27:54):
and free.
Which leads to this last truthabout singleness.
God designs singleness for thespread of his glory.
So last week we said thestarting point for marriage is
realizing marriage exists forGod more than it exists for us.
And singleness exists for Godmore than it exists for us.

(28:16):
Because everything ultimatelyrevolves around God.
Which we saw last week is goodnews because God desires our
good and knows better than we dowhat is best for our lives.
And 1 Corinthians 7 highlightsthis over and over again when it
comes specifically tosingleness.

(28:38):
Look at the specific reasons Godgives to delight in singleness
for his glory.
God says, delight in singlenessbecause of the times we're in
and the mission we're on.
And I should point out, theseare very different reasons than
the world gives for delightingin singleness.
So to be clear, I don't thinkthat the number of singles in
our country has risen because abunch of people have suddenly

(29:00):
adopted a biblical theology ofsingleness.
We live in a world that says,delight in singleness so that
you're not tied down to oneperson.
So that you can sleep aroundwith multiple people, so that
you can do whatever you want.
Whether that's prolongingadolescence in your 20s and 30s
or pursuing a career and doingall you want to do and earning

(29:22):
all you want to earn first.
That's what the world says.
That's not what God's word saysabout singleness.
Listen to 1 Corinthians 7, 26and 27.
I think that in view of thepresent distress, it's good for
a person to remain as he is.
So if you're bound to your wife,don't seek to be free.
Are you free from a wife?
Don't seek a wife.
Then he says in verse 29 this iswhat I mean, brothers.

(29:44):
The appointed time has grownvery short, for the present form
of this world is passing away.
The Bible's telling us here keepthings in perspective, because
this world, including marriagein this world, is not gonna
last.
Even a marriage that lasts.
50 years, praise God, in thislife, is passing away.
And there's coming a day, verysoon, our lives are all amist,

(30:08):
and there's coming a day reallysoon when everything in this
world will be gone.
So live with urgency on missionwhile you still have breath
here.
That's what Jesus meant when hetalked earlier in Matthew 19
about being eunuchs for the sakeof the kingdom.
Yes, the commission in Genesis1.28 was to be fruitful and
multiply.

(30:28):
But the commission in Matthew 28is to go and make disciples of
all the nations.
This is how the kingdom of Godexpands, not just by being
married and having babies inyour nation, but by going and
making disciples, leading peopleto Jesus in all the nations.
So let this be yoursingle-minded aim.
It's so interesting when youlook at the spread of the gospel

(30:51):
in history, starting inScripture, it is filled with
stories of single brothers andsisters.
Paul and Luke, who wrote most ofthe New Testament.
Silas, Titus, Apollos, Lydia,Phoebe, Philip's four unmarried
daughters, all the way tomissionaries like Amy Carmichael
are quoted from earlier, leaderslike Dietrich Bonhoeffer and

(31:12):
John Stodd, Rena Taylor, is asingle missionary in Africa.
She wrote, Being single hasmeant that I am free to take
risks that I might not take.
Were I a mother of a familydependent on me?
Being single has given mefreedom to move around the world
without having to pack up ahousehold first.
And this freedom has brought tome moments that I would not
trade for anything else thisside of eternity.
So I'm not saying, and scriptureis certainly not saying that

(31:34):
only those who are single shouldtake risks or be missionaries in
unreached parts of the world.
But Christian history is filledwith people who spread the
gospel in the world not in spiteof their singleness, but because
of their singleness.
Unquestionably, withoutquestion, God desires to use

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your gift of singleness at thismoment to lead sons and
daughters to know and love andworship Him.
And that is a goal worth livingfor today.
So I won't name them because Idon't want to embarrass them,
but I'm thinking right now aboutmultiple single brothers and
sisters in this church familywho are investing in my

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teenagers and my children'sspiritual lives through next gen
ministries.
And I am so thankful for the waythey're passing the gospel on to
the next generation throughtheir singleness, not in spite
of it.
And that's not to say onlysingles should serve in next-gen
ministries.
I praise God for married coupleswho are doing the same.
The point is, let's not losesight of the mission we're on.

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And let's steward whatever giftGod has given us toward that
end.
Which leads to other reasons todelight in singleness, because
we want to be undistracted inour affections and undivided in
our devotion.
So we've already seen thatlanguage of being undivided in
our devotion.
But listen to what the Biblesays right before that.
It says, 1 Corinthians chapter7, verse 32, I want you to be

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free from anxieties.
The unmarried man is anxiousabout the things of the Lord,
how to please the Lord.
But the married man is anxiousabout worldly things, how to
please his wife, and hisinterests are divided.
And the unmarried or betrothedwoman is anxious about the
things of the Lord, how to beholy in body and spirit.
But the married woman is anxiousabout worldly things, how to

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please her husband.
I say this for your own benefit,not to lay any restraint upon
you, to promote good order, andto secure your undivided
devotion to the Lord.
Again, Paul's aim here is not todisparage marriage and all that
married men have to do for theirwives or married women have to
do with their husbands, do notamen if you are married.
Instead, he's saying to singles,you are even less tied to this

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world than the married man orwoman.
So take advantage of that.
This is true for young singles.
I think of students, soteenagers, college students, and
young adults who haveopportunities, particularly
right before or during or aftercollege, to go and make the
gospel known in the world thatyou may never have again.

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Take advantage of thoseopportunities.
Don't let this time pass by.
Students plan to spend at leasta summer, if not a year or more,
somewhere in the world wherethere's urgent need for the
gospel.
And then singles of all ages andstages of life, how can you

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steward your lack of attachmentto family in this moment to lead
others around you and far fromyou to the family of God?
Make this your single desire touse God's gift of singleness as
long as he gives it to you forhis great glory in the world.
Right around you and far fromyou.

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All in anticipation.
So this is where we ended withmarriage last week, but it's
even more poignant when youthink about singleness this
week.
All in anticipation of anultimate wedding day to come,
Revelation 19.
I heard what seemed to be thevoice of a great multitude, like
the roar of many waters, likethe sound of mighty peals of

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thunder, crying out, Hallelujah!For the Lord our God, the
Almighty reigns.
Let's rejoice and exult and givehim the glory, for the marriage
of the Lamb has come.
And his bride has made herselfready.
It was granted her to clotheherself with fine linen, bright
and pure, for the fine linen isthe righteous deeds of the

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saints.
And the angel said to me, Writethis down.
Blessed are those who wereinvited to the marriage supper
of the Lamb.
That's where the Bible started,right?
Remember?
God blessed them, said to them,Be fruitful, multiply, fill the
earth.
We just walked through all thescripture from that first
chapter, all the scripture,seeing the portrait God has

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painted.
Yes, of the value of marriageand babies and multiplying and
filling the earth, but in a muchgreater way, in a way that will
last far beyond this world, away that will last millions and
trillions of years.
Give your life leading people toJesus, whether you're married or
you're single, and singles seethis the unique stewardship
you've been given in this, inanticipation of the day when

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people from every nation, tribe,and tongue will gather around
and experience the eternalblessing of God in marriage
covenant with Jesus.
That day is what we're allliving for.
So marriage here really is notthe goal.
This marriage is the goal.
So let's live today wherever Godhas called, assigned us, in

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anticipation of this day.
And let's live today to leaveothers to know Jesus on this
day.
So that all leads to a fewquestions I want to invite you
to reflect on today.
So one, if you are single, thenwhat specific steps can you take

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this week to more faithfullysteward your singleness for
God's glory?
Knowing that that's from hisword exactly what he's not just
calling, but inviting you to dofor his glory and for your good.
And then, if you are married,what specific steps can you take

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this week to serve or encourageto build up single brothers and
sisters in Christ for God'sglory?
What specific steps can you takethis week to be the body of
Christ to a much bigger pictureof family than what physical

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family represents?
And then finally, as a generalquestion, here at the close of
this entire series, how is Godcalling you specifically to
trust his good design for yourlife?
And for some of you, God iscalling you to make a decision
today.

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To trust him as the Savior andLord of your life, I want to
encourage you.
God loves you.
Don't go another day withouttrusting him with your life.

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And then for all who know Jesusis Lord, but you're struggling
to trust his good design in anyway in your life, I want to
encourage you during these nextcouple moments just to pause
before him and meditate on histrustworthiness as you lay down
every facet of your life beforehim.

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Trust in the Lord with all yourheart and stop leaning on your
own understanding.
Proverbs 3 5.

SPEAKER_00 (39:03):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radical.net.