John K. Jenkins Sr - Overcoming the Enemies of the Family

Alright, open your Bibles to Psalm 127, the 127th Psalm. I’m going to read all five verses of this Psalm. It reads like this: «Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so He gives His beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.»

Man, that’s so powerful! What 's powerful about it is that it begins by declaring that a house cannot be built unless God builds it. If you try to build it without the Lord’s involvement, His power, and His might, you’re building in vain. One of the big challenges is that many people are seeking to build their homes without the presence of God, and He says unless the Lord is involved, you’re laboring in vain. Unless the Lord gives you protection, the police guarding and staying awake is in vain. It takes God to guard and watch. What I really like about this Psalm is the last part: «Happy is the man who has his quiver full of children.» Equivalently, «They shall not be ashamed, » but then it says, «shall speak with their enemies in the gate.»

Let me talk about that for just a moment. The gate is the place where decisions are made; it’s the place where the wisest people gather to make choices. He says that God wants to raise up a generation in our families. Happy is the man who has his quiver full, but these children, these blessings, won’t be ashamed. They will speak with the enemies in the gate. In other words, God wants to raise up a generation of young people who will have the authority and power to speak with the enemy. And how many know we have enemies here? How many of y’all know you have some enemies in your life? How many know that the enemy is after destroying your family?

And that’s what I want to talk аbout: the enemies of the family. Somebody say, «Overcoming the enemies of the family.» That’s what I’m talking аbout: overcoming the enemies of the family. Say that one more time. We’re in a war; we’re in a battle for our families. We are in a battle for our families, but God is going to raise up a generation. Where are the young people at? When we see the young people, stand up! If you are a young person, I’m so proud of you. God wants to raise you up to be able to speak and rebuke the enemies that seek to destroy your family. Y’all can be seated. I’m so proud of you; thank you. God bless you. Now, this is Family Life Ministries Day, and so what I want to spend time talking about today are the five enemies. There are more, but I’ve highlighted five significant challenges to our families. The devil wants to destroy our homes, our families, our marriages. He’s aiming his guns at your family, your children, your marriage. He’s aiming his guns to destroy, and if he can destroy your family, he will have succeeded. Based on the statistics, he’s succeeding because a lot of families are falling apart. One of the reasons we have a Family Life Department is we are seeking to combat and defeat the enemy that’s messing up our families.

Look at your neighbor and say, «We’re going to learn how to defeat and conquer our families.» Tell the person on the other side, «We’re going to defeat it.» It 's the foundation of society; the family is it. It is within the family where we learn respect. A lot of children don’t respect their teachers at school because they haven’t learned to respect their parents at home. I would never dream of talking back to my mama or my daddy. Oh no, no, no! There was no talking back. My mother didn’t ask me what I wanted for dinner; she made what she decided to make for dinner, put it in front of me. If I didn’t eat it, she wrapped it up, put it in the refrigerator, and when I got hungry again, she pulled it right back out of the refrigerator. What I refused! Oh, y’all didn’t have parents like that. This generation doesn’t know anything about that; they think life revolves around what they want for dinner. True, you know she had eight kids. She tried to tell me to help her. I’m trying! You learn how to respect; you learn in the family. You’re supposed to learn responsibilities.

Y’all notice how the claps are getting lower and lower? Yeah, we learned; we had chores. You learn responsibility. People have jobs today and can’t do their jobs and won’t do their jobs because they didn’t learn that they have responsibilities. By the way, you get paid to work-not just to show up. Why do I feel so much tension in the room? This is the 11:30 crowd, and I feel tension in the room.