Many live emptiness because there are chasing things. We have God and so will use this world to the right degree. We set our eyes what is more — the living God who saved us. (1 Corinthians 7:29-33; Psalm 90)

Speaker: Thomas Schaller
Date: 2026-09-16
Time: Wed 7:00 pm
Sermon #13206

 

P. Schaller –

Amen. Amen. Amen. Wow. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. What overcame you there? Okay. Yes. Thank you, Lord. Great. Wow. Let’s pray. (Prayer) Amen. Amen. Great. 

 

As I was praying I had a lot of different thoughts go through my mind to share tonight. And there’s this one part. It’s 1 Corinthians 7. I’d like for you to look at. We’ll go through a few parts here in our teaching. And sometimes in the message you might say, Are you not talking about P. Scibelli? And you could be correct. I might be. I might not be. But he’s in my mind and his life and friendship. So, I help you with that. Maybe I am. It’s constantly part of my everyday life with a lot of joy.

 

I’m actually surprised. I didn’t think he was finished. I thought he was going on and on, you know, like maybe many of us. What did God say? What did God do? He took him. He was done. And we praise God. He did a great job, and that’s awesome. So, I’m very thankful.  All right.

 

So, 1 Corinthians 7, and this is hard hitting, so I asked you to put your seat belt on. Put on your helmet. Check your air bag if that’s going to work. This is hard hitting, but in fact, it’s where you want to live. And to break it down in simple terms, 1 John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” 

 

Idols are not mentioned in 1 John at all. We don’t read anything about idols in 1 John until you come to the last verse of the book. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” So, that raises a question in my mind. Why does he say that but because the whole book is about knowing God. The whole book of 1 John is about fellowship with God, the living God. God. God. Like to believe in God and to have faith in God and to know God and to have the Spirit of God. That’s what you have in your life. The Spirit of God is in you.

 

Therefore, you and God are one. You are one spirit. He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. So, we are one. And the analogy, the parallel metaphor for it is a man and a woman being one. And then it moves to us and God being one. That’s John 15, John 17, and 1 John. 

 

But then we are idolaters. And that means that we have, we have other gods. That’s what it means. We have other gods and they are the created things. We could say there’s two realities. We have the created world, the material things. Also, ideas from man. Man’s heart, man’s relationships. All of these things are part of the created world. 

 

But before creation, there was God inhabiting eternity in Isaiah 57. God dwells in eternity with those of a contrite heart, a broken and contrite heart. That you and I have fellowship with God in a very real way and that’s amazing. 

 

So, human beings are drawn to the created world. We are drawn to this because of our sin. Because of our sin, we’ve been brought to a lower place in our design. We are more to be like God, but actually in fact we can be more like animals. We can murder, destroy, have vengeance, no mercy, violence. You know all those words. 

 

So, this is very common. But when Christ came into the world, he showed us God. So, it’s not that far away from us. You might say, God, I mean, come on. That’s so far away from me. My soul cleaves to the dust. But Christ is saying, no. You are from below but I am from above. And you must be born from above. And if you are born from above, you will know my Father. And my Father will give you the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will teach you all things. And the Holy Spirit will edify you and give you understanding of God. 

 

So, then we have, then we have these verses in the Gospel of John, the “I AM’s” of Christ. He’s the transcendent one. We pointed out in Gospel’s class the other night, there’s no genealogy in the Gospel of John cuz in a way, Christ didn’t leave heaven. John 3:13. You can put that up if you like. I ask you to. John 3:13, nobody has gone up to heaven but the Son of man who is in heaven. Look at that verse. Where is the Son of man when he’s talking in Israel? Where is he? He is on the earth but where is he? He is in heaven.

 

There is no genealogy and there is no ascension in the Gospel of John. He doesn’t go up into heaven. In a way, he hasn’t come down and in a way, he hasn’t gone up because he is there. He is the transcendent God, the living God.

 

I say this to say you are hungry in your heart for him, the I AM. You are hungry. Every revival, every spiritual revival is pointing to him. And when we find him, we love him. And when we love him, we have no other gods before us. No other gods are before us when we have God, the living God, the true God.

 

So, all that is to prepare you for 1 Corinthians 7:29-33. So, let’s put that up on the screen. Vs. 29. What? I’m to live like I don’t have a wife? That’s not biblical. I am to love my wife the way Christ loved the Church. I am to serve my wife. By the way, marriage is a place where you learn to serve the other. And we are selfish and many times marriages run into trouble because neither one is a servant. They are give me, give me, give me. Help me, help me, help me. 

 

But the maturing in a relationship has a lot to do with God cuz when we learn God and know God, we become servants. And when you are a servant, then actually you are above creation. You actually become like Christ. We do. We become like Christ. We are beyond the creation and we’ve been sent into the world with authority. That’s why it’s so important to learn to forgive, because when you forgive, you serve.

 

Okay. Now, go to vs. 30. So, let’s put down a list here. Marriage. Weeping. I am weeping. A great loss. Great loss happened in my life. A great loss. I am weeping. But then I am to live like I weep not. That’s called, that’s detachment. I’m emotionally involved and I am weeping and brokenhearted and then because of God, I am able to weep not.

 

Actually, it did happen to Ezekiel. God said to Ezekiel, tomorrow your wife will die and don’t weep. It says there that she died and Ezekiel did not weep. What is the meaning of all of this? This is important because you’re going to have a different life when you know Christ. You’re life is going to be different. You’re going to be a different kind of person. You’re going to be an overcomer. 

 

It’s going to be hard. There’s going to be suffering, but if you know Christ, that means in the suffering, I’m able to rejoice. And it means when somebody steals from me and it hurts me and it ruins my life, now I have to say God I need to know you cuz you are the only answer for that pain. You are the answer for my confusion. You are the answer for my lust, my need for things. You are the answer for my passions and my appetites. You are God and I’m learning here there’s something that’s bigger than my marriage. 

 

He said like be, you are married but actually you can live like you’re not. That needs to be explained. I know. I’m trying to say something about it. I love my wife deeply but marriage is momentary. It’s not eternal. And my wife is not my God. And my husband is not my God and my children are not my God and my house is not my God and my health is not my God and my reputation is not my God. What happened to you and I? We found God. And when you find God, you don’t have idols. You have God and God filling you and satisfying you, the person.

 

Okay. Look at vs. 30. Let’s put down that word here. Rejoicing. Having a great time. Party time. Rejoicing. Rejoicing. There are people who say that was the best time. This has to be repeated. We have to do this again. Then they go and do it again and it’s not as good. And then they’re chasing it. They try to do it again. They need to have another good. They need a vacation. Will they ever get that back again? Will they ever have that feeling again? And the answer is I think we know in life maybe. 

 

But there’s something bigger than having a great time. It’s the personal relationship with a living God who gives you peace and truth in the inner man and is able to build you up and say I am here. You can be in the presence of God and say you are enough.

 

I love my wife. I love my family. I love this and that and I appreciate it and so on but I don’t love it so much that it is consuming my life. I have a cross. And the cross means that I bring the good, the bad, the ugly, the awesome, the incredible things of creation and I can bring them before you God and you fill me.

 

I think there’s a lot of emptiness in life because people are chasing these things. They are saying, What do you want in life? I want a great family. I want a great career. I want to have all the money I need, and I want to live peaceably and comfortably in my life. And many people say, I tried it. It didn’t work. I’m in trouble. What do I do? Try harder. Do it again. Work harder at it. You’ll succeed at it. Really? Maybe God is saying something to me. 

 

If I don’t happen to have my life the way I want to have it, maybe I should shift and put my eyes on something else. On the person. And I know you know this, but it’s in my heart today. I don’t know. Actually, there’s other things too, but I want to finish with this. 

 

Look at chapter 7:30. They buy and they buy Amazon Prime and they buy Walmart and they buy golf membership. And they buy and they buy and they buy and they possess. But what does it say? They buy as though they possess not. 

 

Somehow I have it, but it’s not mine. It’s there but I’m a steward. It’s not controlling me. It’s not the end game. That’s not what we’re on the earth for. It is vs. 31. They use the world but they don’t abuse it. I wonder how I could illustrate that. I don’t know. 

 

Let’s say, you know, I’m using the world. I got the world this weekend. I’m using the world and then that’s fine and I just have it there. It’s part of my life. We pay our bills. We have our responsibilities. We are using the world. The world is allowing us to live here in the sense of our work and our jobs and medicine and many other services. The world is filled. 

 

We are thankful in many ways but not abusing it cuz we have the new birth. And the new birth is what we’re doing here tonight. We are looking beyond. We are setting our eyes on something beyond. 

 

And while we are here, we are good citizens and good husbands and good dads by the grace of God. Not that great but we’re doing what we can by worshipping the living God who is able to help us be here and do what we are doing. 

 

Now, Psalm 90 is – I wanted to do the whole psalm tonight but I did what I did. So, that was good and I hope but this does relate in a way. I just want to point a few things out to you on Psalm 90. It is a psalm about the hard things about this part here. This world. Okay. This is hard. The world is, can be cruel and ultimately because we die. Death. The world. Psalm 90, Moses is the author of the psalm and he says this in the psalm. 

 

Vs. 1. That’s what I want to say. God is our dwelling place. Not our house, you know. Not in that city or that city. God is our dwelling place. Not in the desert or the wilderness or in Egypt as a slave. God is our dwelling place. Not in the 21st century. Not in the 2nd or the 3rd century. God is our dwelling place. Not in our natural life, our married life, our family life, our mountains or our rivers. God is our dwelling place. The transcendent God. The I AM. He is our dwelling place.

 

Have you felt it? Are you aware of that? That you are living in God? That you are walking in God? That you have the Spirit of God and he is your dwelling place. That’s where you are living. But where is Moses living when he writes Psalm 90? He’s in the wilderness, but he’s saying my dwelling place is in God. There is the tabernacle, the Shekinah glory, when they come through the Red Sea. There is God. Manna in the morning. There’s everything. God is our dwelling place. That’s the meaning there. 

 

Vs. 2-3. I’ll add there, Return to the ashes. Return to dust you children of men. Man is formed for he made originally to be more like an angel, but now he ends up buried in the cemetery, in the dirt, in the dust. Return. This is the violence of the world. 

 

This is the nature of created things. I mean in this context. That you don’t set your heart on the things that are going to disappear. You don’t set your heart on relationships when they are unstable. You don’t set your heart on the things that are going to pass away.

 

Vs. 4-6. This is very depressing if you really read this. It really is. It’s cut down. The man of God is gone. The woman of God is gone. The brother or sister in Christ, they are gone. I never thought it would be that dark. I never thought it would come to this. But these are the things. This is all leading us to something here. I want you to see. 

 

Vs. 7-8. Be sure to bring all of your sins in your heart before God. You don’t have to be introspective about it. But if there’s anything there, bring it to the table and bring it to God to the cross. God knows about it anyway, Psalm 139.

 

Vs. 9-10. What happens? We fly away. You leave your body. You fly away. Vs. 11-12. So, Moses is old. How many people did he see die in the wilderness? How many men? 600,000 men came out of Egypt. Moses lives up to the end. How many did he see die in the wilderness? How much death? He saw all those men except two die in the wilderness. What is he saying? It’s real. It’s powerful. It’s bad. It’s the wrath. It’s the judgment on our sin. It’s death.

 

And in this world, he is so patient with us, but he’s given us this period of time to discover him, seek him, know him, relate to him, hear from him, trust him, embrace him. And then like C. S. Lewis said, when you have God, then you have both, heaven and earth. If you go only for the earth, you end up with dust. But if you go for God, then we have everything we need. We seek first the kingdom and all of these things will be added. And many of us can say that we are satisfied. 

 

Here comes the good part. Vs. 13-14. How often? All our days. Mercy. That’s New Testament. That’s Old Testament. That’s the plan of God. That’s the nature of God. His mercy. His patience. His love. His finished work. He gave us his Son, the Messiah, that comes into our hearts and we are satisfied. But we can’t have many gods before us. We have to deal with that in our heart. 

 

Lord, I love my wife but you are my God. Fill me so I can bless my wife. I love my children but you are my God. I’m going to follow you, and I’m going to lead my children in the faith. And I want them to know you in a personal way. Help me understand that, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ and have blessing, power, peace, words, joy, a song, attitude, serving, giving, loving. Cuz that’s God.

 

Vs. 15. And there were 40 of them, 40 years. Vs. 16. Lord, show it to us. Caleb and then Caleb’s nephew, Othniel. Caleb said the man that takes that area, Debir, that Canaanite stronghold, I will give him my daughter. And Caleb is saying I want my daughter to marry someone who has the courage to take that territory. 

 

I want my daughter to be connected with somebody that has faith. I want my friends to know that we have something going on that is beyond the creation. It’s from the Creator. And the Creator far surpasses the creation. We have a relationship with the Creator. 

 

Therefore, when we get hurt, we can be healed. Therefore, when we are disappointed, we can be edified. Therefore, when we are confused, we are not perplexed. Wow. And when we are persecution, we are not in despair.

 

And then it says, vs. 17. Do you see that? Notice this. Here it is. This part of the picture. It’s sad. It’s sad. But then he says but the beauty of God is on us. And that’s what our prayer is that in our life we would trust him and know him. Vs. 17. 

 

I talked with P. Alfred in Liberia today. He said tell the whole church that P. Scibelli is our spiritual father and I just called P. Renaldo and I told him that we are connected with Greater Grace and we are affiliated. And P. Scibelli taught us and he told us if anything happens to me, P. Renaldo is the man. I want you to say to the whole church in Baltimore that we’re together as a Body, and God has a plan. And P. Renaldo will help us and be there for us and we are connected. 

 

I said, That’s a very mature attitude, because the beauty of God and the relationship with God is to be upon us and the work is to be established, the work of our hands. The work of God’s work is to be established, not pass away. Not be in vain. But it is to be edifying. A church is to have government. 

 

Somebody might say, I want to be in a church where there is no government. We say, Good luck. God bless you. I want to have government from God. I want to have order from God. I want to have the people that worship God and know God be helping me in my faith. 

 

And if I’m a Bible college student, I want to be serious about it. I want to be established. I want to take it seriously. I want the leadership to take it seriously and I want to be discipled. I want to learn how to think with God and make decisions and be like God in my life by the grace of God. Lord, establish this, in your name. Amen. Would you pray with me, please? (Prayer) 

 

All right. We have a little left in the service tonight. Would you stand with me and turn to your neighbor and just say, I like the message. Would you stand with me and turn to your neighbor. Change your position, and just say I like the message. 

*****

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