By: Evangelist Carolyn Malaika Foster- Brooks
THE MINISTRY OF S.A.R.A.H. in Lyons, Georgia
PRAYER:
Oh Heavenly Father, my God above, thank You for Your undying love. You granted mercy upon my life during times that I was a wretch undone, a sinner who knew nothing about the true meaning of being saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost. Yet You brought me out of darkness and have constantly held me up to be a living testimony of Your goodness. Lord, I thank You for the opportunity to be before Your people and to deliver Your message to men. God, I ask right now that you remove my gender from the minds of those who read and hear Your Word and allow them to receive You who dwells inside of me.
In the name of Jesus, I pray......Amen!
SCRIPTURE READING:
Genesis 2:24 ...THEREFORE SHALL A MAN LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND SHALL CLEAVE UNTO HIS WIFE; AND THEY SHALL BE ONE FLESH.
TEXT:
If you must have a subject text, I am going to talk to you about THE CHALLENGE OF CLEAVING TO YOUR WIFE!. (and for men who don’t have a wife- this is for you too if you have ever "known" a woman before.)
First of all, this is not a sermon for the purpose of criticizing or attacking the self-esteem of our brothers. I am sure that during your life time you have had enough of being cast down, castrated and your spiritual lives (the sincerity of your spiritual lives) being questioned by people who are not right with God themselves!!!
You see, the bible clearly tells us in Galatians 6:1 and Romans 12:1 through 2 that, BRETHEREN (that’s you and me) IF A MAN BE OVERTAKEN IN A FAULT, YE WHICH ARE SPIRITUAL, RESTORE SUCH AN ONE IN THE SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS; CONSIDERING THYSELF, LEST THOU ALSO BE TEMPTED!
I BESEECH YOU THEREFORE, BRETHERN, BY THE MERCIES OF GOD, THAT YE PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY, ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD, WHICH IS YOUR REASONABLE SERVICE.
AND BE YE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD; BUT BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, THAT YE MAY PROVE WHAT IS GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE AND PERFECT WILL OF GOD.
......therefore, by the will of God and not my own, my duty is to encourage you from a perspective that you will never forget...you may not like it and that’s alright, as long as the gospel truth prevails in His house!
The challenge of cleaving to your wife!
Out of the dust of Africa, God created a man who was created in His own image and that man was wonderfully blessed! He was perfect, he didn’t have an evil thought in his mind and because he was created, God put into him all the potential he would ever need to live a perfect life. God also gave Adam the ability to have free will and a mind of his own!
We all know the story of the Garden of Eden. God put Adam where He wanted man to be and the only thing He told Adam to do can be found in Gen. 2:15 where Adam was told to tend and care for his homeland. Adam had the free will to eat of any fruit, but God warned him not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He was told, if you eat of this tree, you will surely die!
God was so kind and merciful and considerate of Adam’s well being that in Gen. 2:18-25 we know that the Lord provided Adam with a companion to help him.
How many of you realize that God, in doing this, was also creating romance?
When Adam woke up from the sleep God put him under- he felt his side, looked up, saw Eve standing there and said, WO MAN!! And that is how he named her woman-for when he saw that perfect, beautiful creation, it was love at first sight!!!
God created a perfect match for each other and never again in the history of civilization has that been done! She was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. And through this couple, Adam and his wife, Eve (our first parents)- God created marriage, human communication, relationship and spiritual authority.
In Eden, life was easy and God set up the foundations of emotional and intimate relations which we call romance today ( or courting!).
They were not created in the same way and man had the responsibility as head of the homeland to not only take care of his wife’s physical needs, he had to take care of her training and provide for her safety! She was not complete without him, nor was he without her!
It is obvious that at some point Adam was overcome with a fault or he forgot to take care of his woman- somehow there was a communication gap, a pause in their relationship, because while her man was not around, Eve fell for a trap of another created one, called the Serpent.
(How many of you know that the Devil will use a snake in the grass to trick you if you’re not careful and not taking care of your business?)
I’m still talking about the challenge of cleaving to your wife!
Adam and Eve lost their innocence and from that point on they had to work on everything, including their marriage because when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, their eyes were opened to shortcomings. Adam blamed the woman God gave him for their problems!!
And isn’t it sad to say , that is how we are today? Blaming other people for our wrong doings.
But scripture clearly shows us that, it wasn’t all Eve’s fault!
....God holds man accountable for the welfare of the wife. He came looking for Adam, not because God didn’t know where he was, but for Adam, man, to admit that he was not where he should have been- spiritually and physically! In Gen. 3:9 , The Lord God called to Adam, where are you?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself.
" God, I heard what you told me.
But I was scared because I didn’t cleave to my wife.
I sinned and I saw how dirty I was.
So, I hid myself, from myself, because I was overtaken with a fault.
I disobeyed You!"
God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Relationships between men and women would never be perfect again. The family became the #1 target of Satan. But God NEVER stopped loving men and He eventually sent His son, Jesus to save the world through His blood that was shed on Calvary!
Men, there is a Word from God that should be remembered- Psalm 121:3, 7-8 let’s you know, HE WILL NOT LET YOU BE DEFEATED. HE WHO GUARDS YOU NEVER SLEEPS. THE LORD WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ALL DANGERS; HE WILL GUARD YOU AS YOU COME AND GO, BOTH NOW AND FOREVER!
Men, protect your wives and keep Satan out. In Matt.12:29 Jesus says, LET ME ILLUSTRATE THIS...YOU CAN’T ENTER A STRONG MAN’S HOUSE AND ROB HIM WITHOUT FIRST TYING HIM UP, ONLY THEN CAN HIS HOUSE BE ROBBED! THAT STRONG MAN IS THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE, THE ONE WHO HAS ULTIMATE AUTHORITY OVER HIS FAMILY MEMBERS.
Satan is out to rob you of your wives and your children. Men, don’t be weak spiritually because Satan will attack you first and tye you up! Satan will bind you in drinking, lying, cussing, spouse abuse, child abuse and your jobs.
Not to mention intimate relationships! As a matter of fact, too often we preach and teach about everything else, but we avoid talking about unacceptable intimate relationships!!!
Most men think that the way to cleave to their wives is through intimacy- but what women want and need is honest communication.
Unless you get a clear understanding, this can cause a lot of confusion and divorces!!!
To my brethern who are spiritual, saved, called and filled with the Holy Ghost- if you see a man who is overtaken by a fault- restore him! Help your brother, not by condoning his wrong doing or talking about him as if he were not a child of God. Pray for him and with him- don’t be afraid of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Consider yourself and your own weakness and your strengths- or else you might be tempted!
Men, your reasonable service is to protect your wife and your family. Give up the old you and present yourself as a man acceptable unto God!!
Definitely if you are acceptable to God, you will be desirable to your wife!
Brothers, if you want to be treated with the ultimate respect, you’ve got to walk that spiritual walk and talk that spiritual talk! You have got to be like Jesus. (Sensitive, compassionate, understanding, loving and forgiving.)
Be willing to give your life for your wife!
Learn to praise God.
Learn to praise your wife.
God made man to seek after Him. God made woman to seek after her man. God is sovereign, we are to pursue Him, to woo Him, to come into His presence.
( I am still talking about the challenge to cleave to your wife!!! )
And men, if you do a good job, He will cause your wives to pursue after you! If you can humble down and praise Him, then God will cause your wives to praise you and tell you how wonderful you are!!
But because you have shut up and can’t tell Him how wonderful He is- now she has shut up and can’t tell you how wonderful you are.
God is telling you today that if you are going to hold back your praise of how good He’s been to you- He will show you what it feels like to live with somebody who won’t praise you for how good you think you are taking care of care!
If you would learn to praise Him, then He will swell up in your life- David says, "Oh magnify the Lord!"
Men....you know what it feels like when somebody you love praise you:
"Oh, you are so attractive, so wonderful, I’ve never met a man like you before in my life! Nobody’s ever held me like you before, nobody’s ever made me feel so safe, nobody can do me like you do! I love you!"
The more she praises you and you believe it, the more you will do for her! Am I right about it?
Well, God says, I am just like you! You are a Son of God, made in My image, wonderfully blessed and I love you! If you will praise Me, I’ll open up the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing.
.....men, your challenge to cleave to your wife is no challenge at all when you learn to hold on to God’s unchanging hands and praise the Lord!!! Praise your wife! Praise your family! Praise your church!
PRAISE THE LORD!
Surely, when praises go up-what??? Blessings come down.
ALTAR CALL:
God is looking for you and he’s looking at you.
Come as you are. Men. Sons of Adam. Sons of God.
Jesus has already died on Calvary for all of our sins.
Repent and reclaim your rightful place as the spiritual head of your house!
We women love you.
We thank God for you and we appreciate you!
