John K. Jenkins Sr - Family Under Siege: Spouses

In part one of the series that we started, we looked at the fact that the first family that God created was actually a single man, Adam. We examined the fact that God placed Adam in a garden; God created the garden and placed Adam in that environment . We recognize that as single people, you are in the environment that God has placed you in for a reason . In fact , God has placed you where He has because , first, we talked in part one about an assignment . I told the ladies last week not to date, be interested in, or court a man who doesn 't know what his assignment in life is. If he doesn 't know what to do with himself, he surely doesn 't know what to do with you. Amen? Oh, I see you all going to be quiet on me here today ! All right, that's okay. God gave Adam an assignment ; He told him to tend the garden and keep it. I emphasized in part one to ensure that he had a job and was gainfully employed. We also looked at the fact that God gave this single man boundaries; He gave him restrictions. We serve a God who gives us boundaries. It is not to do whatever you feel like doing or go wherever you want to go, whatever seems right-do it. The Scripture warns us that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that path ends in death. So, God gives us boundaries; everyone should have boundaries in their life. Adam had boundaries.

Thirdly, God gave him a companion , which we discussed in part one as well . I wanted to clarify last week that when God said it is not good for man to be alone , it does not mean that he had to be married . Companionship comes in many forms. The text states, "It is not good for man to be alone," and the word "alone" means it is not good for a man to rule a city by himself . We learned that what God wants us to have, whether you are single or married, is for you to have people in your life who can speak into your life. He wants you to have people who can challenge you and from whom you can get counsel . It is unwise for you to be making decisions in your life without input from someone who is wiser than you, smarter than you, and who has traveled down the road in front of you. You need to have people in your life that can give you counsel and suggestions .

Go on and teach, Pastor Jenkin. Okay, I think I will. God gave companions. In this particular case, God raised up for Adam a woman. Yes, I know it 's tough for some of you to believe that a woman could actually bring benefit to a man's life, but in fact, she was called to be his helpmate. Here 's one of the things I believe: when I look at this, we don't know how long-there is no indication in Scripture- how long Adam and Eve were in the garden before they sinned. It could have been thousands of years; we have no record and no way of knowing the duration before they disobeyed and sinned. It could have been millions of years ; there is no scriptural indication. So, at least for a day , they coexisted and lived together with no drama. But when we got to chapter three, drama arrived. Come on, brothers, how many of you can boldly say you didn't have any drama until your wife showed up in your life? I know you are scared to say anything because she's sitting right next to you right now. I know, I know, you're scared , but she isn 't going to hit you while you're here in church . It is in chapter three that the fall of man is unveiled before us. As a matter of fact , the components of what goes on in this event highlight what I believe to be some of the main issues that challenge marriages today. I hope you all will give me just a few moments to walk through chapter three and take a look at what occurred. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of the issues that destroy marriages, but I believe there are some key lessons we can learn from the first eight verses that brought mankind to a place of failure , sin , and disobedience with God. Do you all want to know what they were? Come on, say "Tell me!"

Here 's the first thing: I'm going to try to cover two main points with several sub-points under each one. Let me start with this first main point that created the problem. It starts off by stating in chapter 3 , verse 1, that the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said to the woman. He made a suggestion to her. Here 's the first problem in this demise : listen when you listen to unauthorized voices. Listening to unauthorized voices-here's where the drama begins when you start listening to people who have no right .