Castaway from the Perfect Environment (pt.2) by Dr. Rod Mattoon

About this sermon

Wilmer McLean was a small farmer in the Shenandoah Valley in 1861. In the spring of that year, two powerful armies met on his property—the Union army under General McDowell and the Confederate army under General Beauregard. The bloodiest war in American history began at Bull Run, a creek that ran through McLean's property. McLean was not at all sure why the armies were fighting, but he was quite sure he did not want them fighting on his property. If he could not change the course of the war, he at least did not have to be part of it. McLean decided to sell out and go where the war would never find him. That is what he expected to happen. He chose the most obscure place in the whole country—or so he thought. It was an old house in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Four years later General Grant was pursuing General Lee through Virginia. In Appomattox County, Grant sent a message to Lee asking him to meet and sign a truce. The place where they met to sign the truce that ended the Civil War was in Wilmer McLean's living room! Wilmer expected to be from the war by moving to Appomattox village, but those expectations were reversed. Like Mr. McLean, no matter where we run, we can't run from God, from problems, or the consequences of our sin. The Lord will always catch up with us and so will our sin. This is what happened to Adam and Eve. From Genesis 3, we find another result of the rebellion of Adam and Eve. It was the reversal of what they expected. When people sin, they trade that which is good for that which is destructive and harmful. They get what they wanted, but lose what they had. * Jacob—Jacob got the blessing he desperately wanted but lost the fellowship of his mother and father as he had to flee for his life. He never saw his mother again. * Lot—Lot got the wealth and prestige in Sodom, but ruined and lost his family to the sinful practices of the people. * Achan—Achan hoarded the forbidden treasures of Jericho, but lost his life and family by execution. Here, we find that Adam and Eve had been created perfect like God, they sought to be like God (Gen. 3:5-7), but after they sinned, they found themselves no longer with God in Eden. Fellowship was broken. Being in fellowship with God is what really matters. * Psalm 16:11- Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. The happiness of men does not consist of being like God. It stems from being with God and walking with God. Being banished from Eden, Adam was free to be what he thought he wanted to be but, like many a man since, he discovered that when he got what he wanted he did not want it any more. The taste of getting his own way was not sweet, but bitter. Solomon warned, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). The banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden is a sober reminder that we are responsible for the choices that we make in our lives. Adam blamed Eve for the choice he made. He said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12). Eve tried to blame the serpent for her sin, but that excuse did not work with God either (Genesis 3:13). God held them accountable and responsible for the choices they made. They reaped the consequences of what they had sown. In this message, we look at the fact that we are responsible for the choices we make. We reap the consequences of our decisions. We examine the lessons from the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. This 33-minute message was preached at Lincoln Land Baptist Church on Wednesday, August 31, 2022.