The study is on social context. In this particular series we're taking up all that it means to have human relationships, our being together with other people, especially individuals. Number one, our need for social life. One, this is God-given. A, it is like himself. Proverbs eight thirty-one. The Lord says, My delights are with the sons of men. And B, God himself set us in families. Psalm sixty-eight and six. And C, the ideal eternal state will be a city, Revelation twenty-one. So it would seem from this that the norm is contact with other people and that hermits are somewhat abnormal. Number two, this was recognized by our Lord. A, with him, Mark three and fourteen. That is, he chose twelve that they should be with him, and then that they should go out and preach and so on. And B, we are called his fellows. Hebrews one, verse nine. He is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. And C, There is his bride. Revelation nineteen seven describes the married supper of the Lamb. When the Lord shall be united eternally with his own. And D. The home of Bethany. John twelve and one. You have one of the descriptions of this family. The Lord Jesus seemed to feel so much at home with. And when you referred to Bethany, incidentally, you referred to it as the city of Mary and Martha. I don't know what the mayor would have thought of that or some of the other important people, but so far as the Lord is concerned, the people who counted in that city were his people. And E, he attended a feast. Matthew nine and ten, Matthew the publican, when he got sad, made a feast for the Lord, and the Lord Jesus very graciously attended it. And F, he referred in Psalm forty-one nine to his familiar friend. This may surprise you that that familiar friend of the Lord Jesus turned out to be Judas Iscariot. I think this is maybe one of the reasons why the Lord prayed all night before he chose the twelve because he knew that this one to whom he showed such great friendship and to whom he seemed to give a special place would one of these days deny or betray him so this shows that the Lord Jesus recognized the need for social life now three is provided for in the church. A, in fellowship. Acts two, forty-two and forty-six refers to the fellowship that the believers had together, both in meetings of the church and in each other's homes. And B, Acts Four-twenty-three refers to their own company. It says being let go, that is when they were let out of jail, being let go, they went to their own company. And C, he tells us that we ought to have hospitality, use hospitality without grudging. First Peter, four and nine. And finally, the word together occurs many, many times in the New Testament. If you'll take a concordance and just run down that column, you'll be surprised at how many things are said that the early Christians did together. for God recognizes our need for social life. Now, number two, the God-ordained units of social life. These are three, one, the family, and two, friends, and three, neighbors in the community. Number one, the family. Now this is a unit of social life which the Lord Himself founded. In Genesis two, verse eighteen, he said, It is not good for man to be alone. The norm is not for a man to live alone. And in Leviticus twenty-five and verse ten, he said that in the year of Jubilee, which was every fifty years, Among other things, all of the people were to return to their own family. So there was a regulated family reunion, at least ever so often. Now under the family, A, this is the norm. First Corinthians nine and five, the Apostle Paul says, have we not power to lead above a sister, a wife, the same as the other apostles do? There's nothing unusual about marriage. And there is nothing super-spiritual about refraining from marriage. We must get this straight. There are good many people who seem to think that celibacy in some way is an indication of superior holiness. It just is not so. Now, B, there were exceptions. In First Corinthians seven, he tells that for the present distress, because of conditions, at that time and in that place, there were some who would refrain from marriage. The Apostle Paul himself did, although he may have been a widower rather than a bachelor. But the norm is married life. And see, children, First Timothy five, fourteen, I will therefore that the younger women marry their children, keep the house. It's also hard for younger women to marry if the younger men don't. So we all have a responsibility to see that God's order is carried out. And finally, Exodus ten and twenty-three said they had light in their dwellings. I know that this had to do with physical light when they the plague of darkness came over the land of Egypt. But I take it spiritually too, that the family that is based on the Bible, Christian family relationships, should result in a very happy home situation. Now, number two, friends. A Proverbs eighteen twenty four describes a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. I hardly need to tell you the Lord Jesus is the very epitome of this. But it may be true of other friends too. It's a wonderful thing to have a good friend. I don't think that you can count friends by the hundreds. You can count acquaintances, but I think that we are limited in the number of people in our lifetime who become such true friends to us that we can say he sticks closer than a brother. And D, David and Jonathan were ideal friends. First Samuel, eighteen, one to four describes a number of things which Jonathan did to prove his friendship for David. and Jonathan was the crown prince. David was just a shepherd boy, so of course it was up to Jonathan to make the first move. David could hardly go to the crown prince and say, I want to be good friends with you. Incidentally, there was no generation gap there, although David was probably about seventeen, and As near as I can figure, I would say Jonathan was in his forties anyway, perhaps forty-five years of age, because his father was long in years by that time. In fact, his father was long in years before he even became the king. And then there was a great disparity in their educational background and in their the money that they had, the clothes that they wore. There was a great difference in them, but they were very close friends. Now see, a friend may faithfully wound you. Proverbs twenty-seven six, faithful are the wounds of a friend. Don't judge friendship. by this false criteria. Don't say, if he's a friend, he'll never criticize me. If he's a friend, he'll be perfectly satisfied with me the way I am. That's not true. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. They used to advertise a certain mouthwash. Your best friend won't tell you that you have a bad breath. Well, this isn't true. Real friendship means that you should be able to say to your friend, here's something you need to correct him. He should be able to say it to you. And D, a friend may be counted on in need. Luke eleven describes a man who went to his friend at midnight, and I think the Lord used that term rather facetiously because his friend didn't want to get up and get him the bread that he needed but the implication from the story is that if he's really been a good friend that was the time for him to show us when it was needed and in we need to avoid two close friendships with the world because James four and four says the friendship of this world is enmity with God. Now this is not to say that we should not be friendly, and it's not to say that we should have nothing to do with it. It's simply to say that we should not be close friends, because close friends must do things together and see things pretty much alike. And the third subdivision, neighbors in the community. A, they are to share, Exodus twelve and four. In this particular case, thou and the neighbor next unto thyself shall take a lamb between thee. Neighbors should share with each other. If you're going to be a good neighbor, you've got to do things for your neighbor. And B, they should help. Isaiah forty-one six says They helped everyone, his neighbor. And you'll find some of them helping each other that you'd be surprised. They have nothing much in common except that they were neighbors. And see, we should love as we love ourselves. Mark twelve, thirty-three, quoting, of course, from the law, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now this is a principle, although we're not under law, this is a principle that we should care about our neighbors. And D, love works no evil or no ill to his neighbors. Romans thirteen and ten tells us. So we should not harm our neighbors. And finally, many times in the Old Testament, we're warned that the wrong kind of neighbors may lead you into sin. Psalm twelve in verse two is a good example of that. It says, they speak vanity every one with his neighbor. Now when neighbors get together to speak vanity, they aren't helping each other. Vanity in the scripture, of course, Now the third division of this, separation and concern. These are things that are sometimes thought to be in conflict with each other. Number one, God requires separation. A, from evil. Second Corinthians, six and seventeen says, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, come out from among them, be separate. So he should be separated from evil and be unto himself. Well, the very next verse says, And I will receive you and will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord. Now the reason I've given these two in conjunction with each other is that the Pharisees lived separated lives, but they were the wrong kind of people. It was the wrong kind of separation. It was hypocritical and it was not separation to God at all. It's merely that they just didn't associate with certain kinds of people. Now, C, it is taught in creation. Genesis one, three times in that chapter, the Lord says that he divided. He divided the light from the dark. He divided the land from the sea, Saul. And D, it is taught in the statutes. Leviticus nineteen nineteen is a sample of this. in that one verse he says that they were not to mix the breeds of animals they were not to mix the seed that they sowed in their field and they were not even to mix the material out of which they made their clothes that might seem strange to us but say well what difference does it make well god was teaching them by these by these statues and he said to them that you are a separated people unto myself and he taught Israel and through Israel he teaches us the truth of separation. Number two, yet we are responsible. We must have a concern. A for brothers. Genesis four and nine records what Cain said after he had killed his brother. The Lord asked him about him and he said, I don't know where he is. Am I my brother's keeper? Well, obviously the answer is yes. We are responsible. And B, we are responsible for neighbors. And the tenth of Luke is the story of the Good Samaritan. Now the man who asked the question of the Lord Jesus about what he should do after the Lord had that told him that he should be concerned about his neighbors. He said, who is my neighbor? Well, the Lord told him the story of the Good Samaritan and how that the priest and the Levite passed the man by when he needed help. And the Samaritan came by and helped him. Now, he said, which one of them was neighbor to him? It isn't which one should have been neighbor to him, but which one was neighbor to him. So to be a neighbor to a person is to do what you can to help them in whatever need they may have. And see, we are debtors to bring the gospel to all. In Romans one, fourteen to sixteen, Paul makes three statements about the gospel. First of all, he says, I am a debtor to all the people. Then he said, I am ready to preach. And then he said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Now, if you realize that you're a debtor, you'll soon get ready to do something about it. This is true financially. It's true spiritually. Unless you recognize that you have a debt, which you owe to the people around you, you're not likely to do much about it. And D, no one lives or dies to himself. Romans fourteen and seven makes this very plain statement. There's a great deal being said today about doing your own thing, and people will say, well, it really doesn't matter what you do as long as it doesn't hurt anybody. Now, this is asinine, because everything you do affects somebody. You couldn't do anything without affecting someone. No man lives to himself or dies to himself. Now number three, the believer's place in the world. I've taken three statements from the seventeenth of John. A, we are taken out of the world. The Lord Jesus said to his father, the men which thou gave us me out of the world. We are taken out of the world. And then B, we are sent into the world. The Lord Jesus said, As thou sent me, so have I also sent them into the world. And see, we are not of it. We are not of the world, even as I am not of the world, he said. Now, D, we are not to love the world. This doesn't mean the people. This means the world system. First John, two and fifteen. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. He, our citizenship, is in heaven. Philippians three twenty. Well, you read that in the King James Version. You'll read the word conversation. But the word is polituma, for which we get our English word politics. And it really means our citizenship is in heaven. And S. We are subject to taxes. Romans thirteen, one to seven. We're told to be subject to the powers. We're told to pay tribute to whom tribute is due. What to guard against going too far? G. When in conflict, obey God rather than man. Acts five twenty nine. Now this should be our attitudes, as I see it, from Scripture about the world. So we are separated from it. We're separated from the evil in it. But we're still living in it. We have a responsibility towards the people in it. We're not to make it our aim. That is, we're not here to get the world for ourselves. We're not to love it. But we're here to do all we can to be a blessing and a help to those who are here. Now, number four, Christian decorum between the sexes. Social contacts brings you into contact with those of the opposite sex. There are some real problems in this. One, conducts toward women of the world. Now this, of course, in speaking to women, I would say their conduct toward men of the world. A. Avoid familiarities. In Genesis thirty-nine you have the story of Joseph, who was tempted by Potiphar's wife. She was an ungodly woman. And she tempted Joseph. And Joseph did the only sensible thing that any man can do under such circumstances. He got out of there as fast as he could, even though it meant leaving his coat behind. He just got out of there. Now, be no mixed marriages. Deuteronomy chapter seven said, Neither shall thou make marriages with the people about you. He says they will turn away, turn you away from the Lord to their idols to serve other gods. And see, therefore, no close social alliances. Now you can be perfectly kind and gracious to those of the opposite sex, who are not believers, but who are not to keep company with them. See, all marriages begin with what we call in this country dating. And since that person is not a Christian, and it's wrong for it to marry that person, then it's foolish. and you're taking a big chance to begin to date such a person. I know all of the rationalizing. I know how people say, well, I'm really just going to get her to take her to meeting. But it hasn't been that long since I was young that I can't remember more than that. I know, and you know, that these close social alliances will lead you into problems. Now number two, conduct toward Christian women. First Timothy five and two. It says that we are to regard the elder women as mothers and the younger as sisters with all purity. I spoke to a young people's conference on this text one time, and when I read the verse, I said, the Lord asked you to treat every girl whom you take out on a date as your own sister. And a wave of laughter went over this group of young people. All professed Christians. Just a wave of laughter went over it. I was shocked that there was that little regard for morals. I knew exactly what they were laughing about. But this is what the word of God says. Most girls are somebody else's sister. And you feel like you want to protect your own sister if you have one. Now God says that your conduct toward a Christian girl should be to remember that she is a sister and to treat her with all purity. You're not a Pawnee Indian. Keep your hands where they belong. And let the girls remember their responsibility in this, too, and not encourage this kind of thing. Number three, the Western customs of dating and going steady. Please make us problem. If you read Matthew one, verses eighteen to twenty five, you will find out that Joseph, who was engaged to Mary, treated her with the utmost respect. And you will find also that in order to break his engagement, it was necessary under Jewish law to start divorce proceedings. He wasn't married to her and he wasn't living with her. But an engagement was such a sacred thing among the Jewish people that it took a legal divorce proceeding to break an engagement. But in this country, it's a girl or a fellow may be engaged to a different one every month. One girl said, well, of course I love you, but I can't go around getting engaged to all the people I'm in love with. That shows that we use very loosely the terms love, and we think very lightly of the term engagement. Now this is peculiar to our culture, A, and B, it results in a breakdown of morals. Dating among people of the Western culture is really an experimental kind of thing. See, it results in emotional traumas. A fellow says, well, I never was serious about her, but I broke her heart just the same. Or perhaps she says, I was never serious about him, but it broke his heart just the same. Trifling with another person's feelings and emotions is wicked. There's one more problem I'd like to mention, D, and that is places to go. Where do you go when you take a girl on a date? There isn't a meeting every time. It's nice if you can take a Christian girl to a meeting. Where do you take her? Or don't take her to some place that you wouldn't want to be if the Lord came. That's the first thing. And then don't take her to someplace that's going to drag you both down spiritually. They don't call drive-in movies passion pits for nothing. I hardly need to tell you that. What business does a Christian have taking another Christian, both of whom are the temples of the Holy Ghost? What business does he have taking... That Christian to some place is going to be a hindrance to them. Automobiles have made it easy to be familiar with a person. And this is a very serious business. I should say something about courtship. Number four. Prayerfulness before getting emotionally involved. Philippians four say. B. Read and pray together. C. Normal sex interest. Well, there's nothing wrong with sex. Sex is not wicked. Sex is not evil. God made it. But it's when you overstep the boundaries that God has made for it, that it's wrong. And D. Flee useful lusts. E, remember that the male is the aggressor. And you fellows have a big responsibility. S, the female responsibility to avoid enticement. A girl who wears skirts that expose herself is being absolutely unfair to a Christian young man. If she does anything to arouse him, she is being absolutely unfair, and it is wicked. And last of all, I'd like to point out the danger of prolonged engagements and over-familiarity, even among those who are engaged to each other. Let's remember that the Lord is present all the time. Our marriage is a physical thing. and physical contacts among those who are engaged. They're perfectly right, but they must be kept on a high level if we're to have clear consciences and if we're to honor Christ.