# Leave and Cleave

Category: Salvation & Gospel
Key Passage: Genesis 2:24
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: September 6, 2023

It’s true. Turn your Bible to Genesis chapter number two. You’re right there, brother. Genesis chapter number two and verse number 24. It will start there, Genesis 2 and verse number 24 of God’s word this morning. I’m sold.

I’m trying to be wise. I understand some can’t make it in, and I understand that on an icy morning like this. But on the other hand, I’m so proud of many of you being in church on a Sunday morning. My hat’s off to you. I thank God for you. Glad you hear every person knows online also. We’re glad to have everybody with us today.

Genesis chapter number two, we’re going to start in verse number 24. This is the first words of advice from God really directly about marriage you’ll find in the Bible. It’s often called the leave and cleave principle. We’ll just kind of start off there with this passage. Would you please stand as we read the Word of God together? Genesis 2 and verse number 24.

If you’re there, would you say amen? Good deal, good deal. That’s great. Verse number 24, the Bible says, “Therefore shall a man leave”—there’s the first part—his father and his mother, and shall cleave"—that’s the second part—unto his wife. And they shall be one flesh. They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Now, we’re going to talk a lot about marriage today, but it will apply to other relationships also. We’re going to continue on in chapter number three, all right? By the way, man put the chapters and verses in. I’m glad they did, but man put those in there so we can find it a lot easier and whatnot. But let’s keep reading. Chapter number three, verse number one: Now the serpent—we know from Revelation that was Satan working through him.

Now the serpent was more subtle that he beats to the field, which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, “Yea, hath God said, ye shall eat of every tree of the garden?” And the woman said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die.”

And the serpent said unto the woman, “Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat their eyes should be open and you should be as God’s knowing good and evil.” And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to make one wise. And she took the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

Would you go to the Lord in a word of prayer and ask God just to work in our hearts and in our relationships—marriage, children, otherwise our relationship—would you ask God to grow us this morning? Lord, we come. Father, I believe, and sincerely believe this is what you want to preach, the subject. But, Father, you know, I don’t know that I have all the specifics right. And so, Lord, would you guide, please, Lord.

Help me to say the little phrase, maybe you won’t say it, to help someone. And Lord, would you make your word and your truth just alive? Father, it is, but would you make it live to the individual, everyone listening this morning? And, Father, would you apply the truth from your word to the people listening and grow us thereby? And Father, we’ll thank you and praise you, brag on you for what you do.

Lord, we again claim the victory, Lord, that your Son won for us on the cross for today. And claim those by faith in Jesus. And we pray and believe. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. The first instructions to marriage God gives there, you’ve heard it already: leave and cleave. But then I want you to notice this. He won’t do the leave.

I want them to cleave. But then I want you to notice this. Notice who Satan begins to talk to. Verse number one, chapter number three. Now the serpent was more subtle that he beats to the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said unto thee, what’s the next word? Woman. Now God had just said, “I want you to leave and cleave.” And now the serpent is talking to the woman.

All right. Now look in verse number two there, verse number two. And the—what’s the next word?—Woman. Look in verse number four. And the serpent said unto the—what’s the next word?—Woman. Yeah. Now, just a thought: this serpent is talking directly to the woman, and the woman’s talking back to the serpent. All right. Y’all got that?

Now, what was first saying we learned? God said, “I want you to leave and what?” Cleave, right? Good, good, good. Then the next thing we noticed is that the serpent is talking to who? To the woman. The woman’s talking back forward. All right. Let’s get another thing here. Just some thoughts we’re gathering here at the beginning. Look at verse number six, verse number six. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to make one wise, and she took the fruit thereof and did eat.

She gave also unto her husband—what’s the next two words?—With her. And he did eat. So now I’m understanding while there’s things going on, Adam was there. The Bible says with her. You’re starting to form a little bit in your mind: What’s something wrong with this picture? Help me up. God said leave and what?

All right? Serpent comes along, Satan, and who is he talking to? Didn’t say he was talking to them; he says he was talking to the woman. By the way, he’s pretty subtle, wasn’t he? Who did is do it? The woman’s talking back to him. Then we learn in verse number six that Adam was with…

Just think with me for a second. What if—of course, that’s where the fall and death and the curse came to this whole universe—what if they would have faced Satan together?

What would it have been like? We don’t know. Can I venture just to say a couple things? Maybe this would have happened. I don’t know. But maybe if Eve would have said, “Hey, hey, serpent, really, I’m one with my husband.” And actually, he’d be the head of the wife anyway according to what the Bible says. Of course, they didn’t have that part at that time. I’m sure the Lord had told him the principles of it. He’d walked with him and told them. When she said, “Hey, let me—I don’t want to answer on my own. I don’t want to just face this problem on my own. I want to face it with my husband. Let’s talk about it. Let me talk with my husband and, hey, Adam, step over here. You know, you’re the leader anyway. What do you think about this thing, Adam?”

Anybody got that? What if? What if? What if Adam, since he was there, right? He was with her? Was he there or not? God had already told Adam, “I want you to dress it and keep it.” I’m talking about the garden. Dress it in the kind of way—you’d make it beautiful, to keep it, to guard it. What if old Adam would have said, “Hey, bud, what are you doing? I’m talking to my wife here. Why are you just singling out the woman here, bud?” What if Adam would have kind of stepped up and said, “Hey, Eve, I love you too much to face this one on your own. You know, let me get involved here.” By the way, that’s so often the sin of a man: not getting involved.

Not always, but often. What if Adam would say, “Hey, I’ve already been given a mandate from the Lord to dress it and keep it, and what are you doing talking to my wife?” Just think about it. What if they would have faced it together? The first thing God told them was to leave and do what? Right? Yeah.

It seemed like if they were following God’s instructions, they’d have faced it together. Y’all with me out there or not? Not trying to twist Scripture.

Look over, if you will, kind of keep your finger there. Look over in Ecclesiastes chapter number four. You’ll notice these verses when we get to them. Ecclesiastes four and look in verse number nine. God gives us some more principles here. We can kind of add to the pot real quickly here. Ecclesiastes chapter four, verse number nine of God’s word. When you get there, would you say, amen?

Please read Ecclesiastes four and verse number nine of God’s word. By the way, I knew how you felt the other night—I believe it was the other night when Brother Jacob preached and he said, “Turn to the book of Jonah.” Man, I said, “I know Jonah’s in my Bible somewhere.” I got the books of the Bible memorized. I still couldn’t find that crazy thing. So I understand how you feel sometimes, all right, you know.

But Ecclesiastes chapter four, look at verse number nine. Ecclesiastes 4:9. Two are better than what? Two better than one. It would seem likely it would have been better if they faced two of them against the devil. Two better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat, but how can one be warm alone? If one prevail against him, two shall withstand him. Pretty interesting, isn’t it? And a three-fold—what if they got God involved in that conversation? What if old Eve would say, “Hey, Adam, how about let’s talk to God?” Or Adam would say, “Hey, Eve, let’s get God involved in this conversation.” That’s a good marriage. You’ve got a man and a woman and God. That’s that three-fold cord that is not quickly broken. Here’s what I’m trying to get at. I think the Lord just a little while wants us to focus on this morning: Satan, he tries what the military does—divide and conquer.

Satan’s been about that from day one, and he does the same thing today: divide and conquer. Can I just say something here? When you got married, you gave up some of your independence. You can say amen right there. It’s not about you being the maverick; it’s about your marriage. Yeah.

Oh, I wonder what our world would have been like if they had faced it as one. By the way, Satan, if he can get to the man and the woman, the husband and wife separated a little bit—he already said it, “It’s not good for a man to be alone.” The guy’s pretty vulnerable then. Actually, he made Eve for Adam, woman for the man, and she’s out of place if it gets divided. That’s Bible.

And oh, when it gets divided, you know, Satan attacks several relationships and tries to divide and conquer. Many, many—three that I think of a lot: husband and wife. He’s always trying to separate husband and wife, Satan is.

He tries to separate, divide, and conquer: parents and children. Specifically, specifically in the last generation now, the dad and the children are often—you’ll see that often. You’ll see that in some different sects of society, and in his very sad situation often. And often he’ll try to divide a pastor and his people. If you can get that, he’s got that church pretty much defeated. They’re on two opposite sides, opposing, and you’re going to have problems.

But Satan, he loves to divide. His ultimate goal is to divide us from God for all eternity. It was ultimate. Satan’s just been, from day one, he’s been busy in the business of dividing and conquering. He went after Eve on purpose, and he’s trying to get them—well, they were not answering together. They were not talking together. I mean, their decision was made, and then he went to Eve, and went to Adam, and, hey, he was already there with her.

Friend, there’s a problem. Do you think they made the wrong decision? Sure. And there’s dividing and conquering. You know, it’s amazing, but typically a relationship stops—oh, clicking—and stops just really working as of all. And it begins to go downhill when they stop pleading.

Satan is able to get something between those two, and they get separated a little bit. Oh, he’s so subtle at that. And he’s just trying to get them divided a little bit. And he’ll start his conquering a little bit later on. He’s just right off the bat trying to divide them. He’ll put a little thorn in between the husband and wife.

How many have heard stories about people that had a thorn that they couldn’t get rid of in there a week or so, and they had to go to the doctor, the ER, to get rid of it? Yeah, I’ve heard of them too, seen them. And you get a husband and wife, and they get a little thorn in there that Satan just—he loves—and that thorn festers in them, and they’re dividing. They’re still living together, well, they’re not close.

They don’t talk real in depth and deep. They don’t enjoy deep things together. Oh, they’ll say, “Who’s going to take the kids to school tomorrow? Who’s going to be at the game? Who’s going to take them to practice?” They’ll do all that. They’ll pay that bill. They’ll do all that to function, but they’re not cleaving. And Satan’s good at just getting a little thorn.

By the way, I’m applying it to marriage, but it can be in other relationships of your life. So many things Satan tries to do to just divide and conquer. Sometimes if he can just get you so busy, just caught up in the rat race of life, you don’t have time to have a good relationship.

That happens. And just slowly you’re so busy in your world, and they’re so busy in their world, there’s not time for your two worlds to come together. That’s why couples’ retreats are a great, great thing—just getting away for a couple days. And, hey, if you’ve got kids at home, get a babysitter; everyone will be all right. Well, Brother Anthony says amen for that.

Hey, yes, a date night. And sometimes it may take hours for you to get that thorn out of there and get back close. It may take hurts and tears, but it’s so important that you get the thorn out of there so you’re not divided anymore. Thank you, brother. I appreciate that. I appreciate it very much.

I don’t know what it is. I don’t think—you know, my daughter’s home, and that secondhand smoke sometimes gets to me, you know. I’m teasing, of course. I had to get her a little bit while she’s home. She’s about to leave and go back to Florida tomorrow, you know. She says, “That’s right, Florida’s going to be…” Look, if you will, look over in Ephesians chapter number four. Ephesians chapter number four. Sometimes Satan can divide us.

Because we don’t handle thorns and problems properly. A year or so ago, I think we dealt with this, but we want to just go back there a little bit. Ephesians chapter four, look at verse number 26, if you would please. Ephesians 4:26.

He says over there, he says, “Be angry and sin not.” By the way, you can be angry without sinning. It’s not a sin to be angry. How you handle it—that is it. Be angry and sin not. Then he says to let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

We’ve talked about it many times, but wrath is that inner smoldering. Anger is that initial—boom, you lash out. That initial response, that’s anger. Wrath is that inner smoldering. It just kind of always there sometimes won’t leave. Sometimes because people have issues with wrath, they have anger problems. They work hand in hand.

This terminology is used a lot in our day and time when facing problems. People have a fight or flight response. Either when a problem comes, they want to fight about it. Now, let’s just fight it out. That’s the one that’s a little bit more tempted to be angry. Okay? Be careful, and sin not.

And then some, they just—they flee; they take flight. Any problem, they run. They take flight, they get out of there. Now the problem with that is they have this inner smoldering. They never deal with things going on inside. They never get the problems out. They never learn to get the thorn out of there. And they get divided by Satan, and divide and conquer is his goal. Can I just, just for a little bit here, maybe you’re the fighter one.

Fighter one. You just have a temptation when there’s a problem: “Let’s just throw down over that.” Maybe you grew up fighting. Maybe that’s why your home handled problems—you fought it out. Can I say, you may have grown up that way, but that’s not the right way.

You can sit down and lovingly—yes, it can be anger, but sin not. You can sit down and handle and discuss problems without fighting. Sometimes I just get in a fight mode because of pride. Proverbs 13:10: “Only by pride cometh contention. But with the well-advised is wisdom.” I think that well-advised is wisdom.

Hey, why am I getting so mad at them and all this contention? We all got problems. You get a little wisdom when you better realize, “Hey, I got problems myself.” But you can handle problems. Sometimes, “Well, I’m just too strong-willed. I can’t control my temper.” That’s not strong-willed; that’s too weak-willed. You’re weak—so weak you can’t control that temper you got. Don’t act like you’re strong-willed; you’re weak-willed.

But I’ve got to learn to handle the anger. It’s not a wrong thing to have anger, but being angry and sinning—can I say this: fighting doesn’t solve problems. Often, once you fight, all right, when you’ve got a right, sane mind, now you need to talk about it, if you can.

But fighting—be ye angry and sin not. By the way, sometimes those that are more tempted to be on the fighter side, and often opposites attract, and your spouse is on the flight syndrome—you say, “Well, why won’t they talk with me?” Well, why do you think? You want to fight every time they talk with you.

You’re only hindering. You want to help them. Now let’s go to the other side, the flight. You just never want to deal with something. By the way, I say this often: if it won’t leave you alone, you need to deal with it. It was there day after day, and you just can’t get past it.

And you’re sincerely trying. You’ve asked the Lord, you’ve prayed about it, and you need to deal with it. Sometimes this can be very prideful. “Well, I can handle it.” Well, you’re very cold, and you’re not close. And you’re like a cactus, and your spouse doesn’t want to hug you because you’re keeping it all inside. And you say, “Well, I can handle it,” but your marriage can’t handle it very good.

And you need to deal with those things. And you need to go ahead and open up. Nobody’s Superman. Everybody has things that bother them. All of us do. And I must deal with this because Satan is trying to divide us. And you may say, “Well, I’m all right. I didn’t blow up at them.” No, maybe you didn’t.

But your body is cold, and it’s quiet, and it’s closed up from the world. You don’t have a lot of close relationships because you’re closed up. And you’ve got to learn, “Hey, hey, Satan’s—I need to get this thorn out here.” Satan’s trying to divide. Love your spouse and your marriage enough to talk with them.

Okay, it may start a fight, and nobody likes to fight, but be willing to fight because you love your marriage enough to be close. The end of the path of you just keeping it all in is very lonely. A lot of lonely people—not just lonely married people—in our world. That’s a sad thing.

And I must learn—by the way, by the way, don’t expect your spouse or don’t expect those people that you have relationships with—don’t expect them to read your mind. You might think they understand what’s going on in your mind, but they might not have the foggiest idea.

I often say this: meet with people, whatnot. If someone cries, whatnot, and says, “Hey, all right,” nothing wrong with that. That’s a natural pressure relief valve God built. But now let’s talk. Why did you have those tears? What’s going on deep down inside? That’s a good sign something’s going on, but now we need to talk about it, find out why it’s going on.

But I must learn: I don’t want Satan to be able to divide us and get us on separate sides. It’s not good for a man to be alone, and she’s out of place, and nobody’s happy, and nobody’s getting security and joy. Here’s the thing, especially those that are in the flight syndrome: when you get hurt, you’re tempted to just go off on your own.

And our independence comes out, and we say, “Well, I can go off on my own.” Yes, you can, and you might be able to make it, but you’re divided. You’re not close, and you’re not cleaving. So the Bible says in 1 Peter 3:7, talking to them, “Hey, dwell with them”—talking about your wife—“dwell with them according to knowledge.” The Bible says in Colossians, he was talking to husbands. He says, “Hey, husband, love your wives and be not bitter against them.”

A lot of men just have a hard time talking. And if you don’t, often you get that bitterness built up because you’ve never dealt with things you need to deal with. And God said, “I don’t want you to be bitter against things.” By the way, in every relationship you ever get involved in, there’s nobody perfect; you’re both sides of things. And you’re going to put thorns in each other from time to time. It’s just part of it.

And you must learn to deal with those. Satan’s always trying to divide and conquer. Always. You’re going to get thorns, and you’re going to give thorns. There never has been a perfect husband, never been a perfect wife. And if you think you’re there, friend, whoa, boy, you’re in for a rough road. And your spouse, too, unfortunately.

So yes, you’re going to get thorns. But a wise husband and a wise wife say, “Look, man, we don’t want Satan.” Satan’s always going to be trying to come in and trying to divide you. You got Eve over here, and Adam didn’t get involved in the thing. But Adam was there, and he was able to separate them somewhat, just talking to the one. And boy, that’s hell—no, no, you want to stay together. You want to face life together, by the way. With kids, you better face your kids together.

It may take a lot of late-hour talks for hours on how you’re going to handle a situation with little Johnny or little Susie. Don’t do it in front of them, but you face those kids as one. By the way, they know they can play you. They’ll play you, man. They’ll try to play you even if they can’t try you—can’t be successful. It’s just kids. Every kid in the world does those things.

And you must commit, “Hey, we’re going to face it as one, we’re going to be one.” And we don’t want Satan to be able to divide us. You know, use any angle he can—dividing. Use your relationship. It’s divided. And the first thing, they’re just not cleaving. You know that cleaving over there, just in Genesis 2:24? That cleaving has to do with adhesive. They’re just glued together; that became one.

How many have ever gotten super glue on maybe your fingers glued together or something like that? Don’t—don’t use your mouth to get it off. Okay, let me just say that. And you have to get it apart, and man, it’s like you’ve got to rip skin. Look, that’s the term. He said, you’re just glued together. Satan cannot get anything in between you. Sometimes Satan will try this: try to just get you where you’re not cleaving together. He’ll use passwords.

And you’re just not willing to deal with those. And you go off over here and say, “I’m going to deal with them all.” No, no, no, no. You won’t be together on this same issue. That’s why God gave you a wife. That’s why God gave you a husband—for you to face problems together.

And we are just a culmination of—what’s the word for—how do you say, culmination? Thank you, Brother Anthony. We’re a culmination of past events that happen. They make you. Now, yes, you have a choice how you handle it, but they’ve made you what you are for him. And yes, you can handle it by the grace of God and the mercy of God, and that’s right to do, but they’ve affected you in your life. And no doubt about it, they affect you.

And friend, look, if I’m going to go over here and deal with all my past problems by myself, I’m limiting—I’m not letting my spouse help in that. Satan’s getting me divided, and that’s what he’s all trying to get you divided. And that’s just gold, and then divide and conquer.

I might have a major trauma in my life that happened when I was 12 or 11 or whatever, and I’m just making up something here. Friend, if I don’t deal with that often—maybe it’s an emotional scar—often I’m kind of stuck in a 12-year-old emotion, and I can’t grow beyond that because I don’t deal with that.

I mean, in different areas of your life, but you don’t want Satan to be able to divide you. Let me just stop and ask you: How is Satan dividing you in your relationship? Marriage? It may be friendships, it may be relatives, it may be coworkers. How is Satan dividing? He wants to divide and conquer.

How about with your children? And my children? And my parents? How about Satan’s always trying to divide and conquer? He goes after those things. Here’s the amazing thing. Just going back to marriage, we often—we just—we lack in that cleaving. And then stage two: mentally and emotionally we leave. Oh, we’re still married, but we’re kind of…

Emotionally, we’re not dwelling together. We become roommates. By the way, all of us do that from time to time when something is between you, and you just kind of endure marriage. You’re not enjoying marriage; you’re roommates, and you’re functioning together, but emotionally you’re not tied in like you used to be. And mentally, in an interest in God said, “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

By the way, that’s a very dangerous place to be. You get a marriage where they’re roommates, they’re functioning, and yet they’re not close emotionally and mentally, and you’re in a dangerous spot. Very vulnerable. Before any affair happens, you just mark it down: mentally and emotionally, they’re divided first, usually for a good while.

Now, I’m not justifying an affair. I’m not justifying that. That’s wrong and out of hell, and Satan’s all about that. But almost always they’ve left, at least temporarily, mentally and emotionally. And that’s what Satan wants. I’m trying to get you there. Very dangerous. Can I say this? Don’t get used to living apart.

Don’t just—yes, you may be there temporarily; probably all of us are there temporarily because we’re all human—but don’t get used to it. Don’t go days and weeks where you’re not close, emotionally and mentally. Very vulnerable. And learn, by the grace of God and prayer, how to get back close. We want to be cleaving together.

You mark it down. It seems like the majority of marriages nowadays out in the world are not close emotionally.

You can have a better relationship than that. God wants you to have better than that. He wants you to have better than that. You know the Bible says, “Rejoice with the wife of thy youth”? Can I say something about that word rejoice? It doesn’t just say joy; it says rejoice. It means you’re going to go through the valley somewhat. You don’t have to rejoice.

And you go through different stages; you’re going to have to rejoice. Problems are going to come, and children are going to come, and bills are going to come, and you’re going to have to rejoice. You work at that, you get the thorns out, and you get back cleaving to one another, fold and over again.

Satan, his goal is just to divide you. Then it gets you mentally and emotionally to be really apart. You’ve left mentally and emotionally. And then his ultimate goal is to get you physically to leave. Sad things happen all over the place. By the way, I’ve even quoted this statistic years ago. They used to say that Christians…

Have the divorce rate the same as the world, and sometimes some have even said above that. If you study that out, that’s not true for the Christians that go to church faithfully. It is much less a divorce rate. So don’t fall for the devil’s little tactic there. You study that out a little bit, you find that it’s true: those who go to church faithfully have a much less divorce rate. Amen? Yeah. By the way, Satan’s always—he’s a liar and the father of it.

You’ve got to watch it. Oh, what a sad thing when you see a married couple that were one, one flesh, get torn apart. That’s what divorce is. A body—you take a body, you just see it get torn apart. The blood, the tears, and the longevity of those.

By the way, what happened when Adam and Eve—Satan wisely got them divided—it affected the universe. Boy, Satan’s trying to divide us and attack us separately. Two better than one.

Three-fold cord, you got something there. He’s always trying to divide us. Here’s the wonderful thing: the wonderful thing is God Almighty. He says, “You know what? I love that human race.” Sin has divided us. Satan came down and brought sin to Adam and Eve, and they accepted it. And it divided us from God. And God said, “I love that human race so much. I’m going to give my Son to bring us back together.”

By the grace of God, the shed blood of Jesus Christ, you can be close to God for all eternity because there’s mercy and His grace. Oh, my goodness, if you’re not a born-again Christian, He loves you. He’s made a way for you to come back to Him through the shed blood. Back to Him—He comes and gets you. You don’t get there yourself; nobody does. He comes and saves you, rescues you, delivers you.

All you have to do is receive Him. And then, as born-again Christians, little Christs, little followers of Christ in our relationships, by the grace of God, that husband and the wife, they continually—they pattern their marriage after that. Every marriage in the world, there’s going to be divisions, some more than others, but it always happens.

And yet you have the grace of God, you continually—in His love, and by His love—you’re reaching out trying to say, “Hey, let’s get back close.” There may be some “I’m sorrys,” there may be some tears, or maybe there may be some hard times in the process, but you’re continually bringing it back close. That’s a good marriage. A good marriage is not one that doesn’t have problems—there’s no such thing, friends. It’s one that’s learned to work past the problems.

Continually drawing, getting back close, always rejoicing, cleaving. Satan sure was an old subtle fellow. He knew what he was doing. Scripture records it. And let’s look back over there, and we’ll be done, back over there in Genesis 3.

Genesis 3: Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman… Oh, wouldn’t it have been good if Adam said, “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, we’re one here! You’re talking to her, you’re talking to me, bud!”

“I’ve already been commissioned. I mean, I’m to keep this thing, and this is in the garden, by the way, where it happened, in His realm, yeah.” Or maybe Eve said, “Hey, oh, rat or snake, fella, let me get my husband. Let me talk to my husband.” Yeah.

Verse number two: And the woman—the woman—said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.” Wouldn’t a good woman say, “Wait, wait, wait, wait, hang on here, hang on. We got—I got to get my husband involved, got to get God involved.”

Verse number four: And the serpent said unto the woman. He didn’t want to deal with them both; two are better than one, he knew that. Man, “I can just deal with one of them,” and he did.

Then verse number six: And the woman saw that the tree was good for food. By the way, let me just say a word here: She was deceived. Adam wasn’t. She’s involved in the transgression, the New Testament tells us. She’s deceived. And Adam just willfully said.

But when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof and did eat, gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. Friend, what if they just stayed together?

Satan always, always is trying to divide you. You just mark it down. Classic play from the beginning till now: divide. Would you bow your heads, close your eyes please?

Heads bowed, eyes closed. You say, “Hey, Preacher, I can see that Satan’s trying to divide me.” Maybe your marriage, maybe your relationships, maybe coworker, maybe neighbor, maybe family. And Preacher, I can see that. Satan’s trying to divide me and others. God spoke to my heart about that. I can see that. I can see it clearly.

To you this morning, you slip your hand up—I can say that, I can say that. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. He’s so subtle at that. He’s so subtle at that. Thank you so very much. Let the Lord work in your heart. Maybe you hear this morning, you say, “Now the Holy Spirit’s given me some tools. He’s already speaking in my heart how to handle this, how to work at this.” By the grace of God, I’m going to follow…

The Holy Spirit’s leading, and I’m going to work some specific things on how to not let this dividing happen. God’s already spoken to my heart about it and given some specific things where and how I need to work at these things. “Preacher, God spoke to my heart about some specific things, how to work with this.” God spoke to me about it already. That’s you this morning. You slip your hand up: “Preacher, God spoke to my heart specifically about it.” God bless you. God bless you. Wonderful. He’s so good at that. God bless you. Thank you so very, very much.

You can put your hands down. Maybe you say, “Preacher, I know I was separated from God by my sin. And I’ve been to Jesus Christ, have been saved—no, I’m going to heaven. And I’ve been unified, been brought back together with God, and I am a child of God. I have been saved, Preacher. I know that I’ve been born-again Christian. I know that.” That’s you with heads bowed and eyes closed. “Preacher, I know I’m not saved.” “I know I’m saved. I’m a born-again Christian.” Oh, I’m saved, going to heaven. God bless you. God bless you. Many, many, many hands. I know.

God bless you. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Put your hands down. Maybe you’re there, maybe here in service or maybe online, and you say, “Honestly, I don’t know that I’m a born-again Christian. I don’t know that I’m a child of God. I don’t know that I’m saved.” I understand my sin has separated me from God. I want to make sure I have the cross, the shed blood of Jesus, bringing us together, bridging that gap. “I’m not sure that I’m saved. I don’t know that I’m a child of God.” If that’s you here in the auditorium, maybe online, if that’s you hearing the service, would you just lift your hand if anybody is like that? Anybody like that?

Maybe you’re online listening, and I’m going to take an opportunity this morning. If you’re online listening, you don’t know Christ as your Savior—can I say He loves you? Jesus has shed His blood. He longs to bring you back to your Creator God. He longs for you to be with Him for all eternity. The alternative is hell, not a good thing for Him. Wherever you may be, you’re there, and you say, “I’ve never trusted Christ alone to pay my sin debt.” You can do that right wherever you’re at. In your heart, would you call on Jesus? “Jesus, I admit it: I’m a sinner. And I understand there’s a sin debt that’s separated me and God. But Jesus, I’m asking you to pay my sin debt. I’d like to be your child. Would you save me? Thank you, Jesus, for bridging the gap, paying my debt, being my mediator. Thank you for making me your child.”

You just ask Christ to be your Savior. Would you just look below there? Would you click? There’s a little button there. You can click. Let us know. If you say so, we’ll send some information. Let us know more about your new life in Christ. We’re so happy for you. If you’re here in the auditorium, let’s do this: Let’s just take some time and get close to God, get close to one another. Would you please stand wherever you are? Would you please stand here in the auditorium? We’ll have a word of prayer. We’ll have an invitation. Don’t let the minute, the moment, slip by you.

Maybe you just want to come pray with your spouse. Maybe come pray with a loved one. Say, “Lord, I want to be close. I don’t want Satan to divide me.” Would you spend some time and say, “Lord, I want to be close to you”? Let Him know that. Let’s get back close to Him. Father, thank you so much for your love. Thank you that you showed us how Satan works. Help us be wiser. And Lord, I pray that we not be divided from those we love.

And Lord, I do pray that we’d be stronger together, too—better than one. And then, Lord, I pray that you’ll be right in the middle of our relationships, that three-fold cord that is not quickly broken. Bless our people during this time. We’ll thank you for what you do, Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Would you come as we sing? Don’t wait for anybody else. Would you come as you come as we sing?

You know, Jesus was amazing. All men forsook Him. All this—everyone who forsook Him, men fled—and Jesus stood. Now, here’s the thing: He didn’t do that so you can be alone. He did that so you can stand with Him. He did that so you can be one with Him. And then, as Christians, we seek to be one with our spouses, one flesh. But God has joined together, like that man put asunder.

We’re not Christ. He is Christ. He’s the one who handles it alone. We don’t have to handle it alone. He didn’t want us to. Two better than one. Just don’t let Satan divide us. Would you come if you need to come? Would you come? Would you come?

Original File: Valentines Sunday Pastor Chisgar