Ministry of Love

The intention of this blog is to share Biblical messages at least on a weekly basis. Any response is appreciated. I do not expect everyone to agree with my interpretation of Biblical passages. I will try to respond with love and thoughtfulness.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Mothers' Day 2006 by John

Mothers' Day, 2006

1. Are you old enough to have noticed holidays come around a lot faster than they used to when you were a little kid?
2. Whether she is living or dead, how many of you here today have good reason to honor your mother?
3. It is a wonderful thing to have a godly mother, and I think it is a wonderful god-given privilege for you to be given the opportunity to be a godly mother.
4. History has recorded many mothers who deserve our praise and some who were infamous!
(1) I like the stories of Samuel, Jacob, Moses and Jesus, don't you?
(2) But how do you feel about Lot's two daughters who slept with their father because they had no husbands?
(3) How do you feel about Athaliah in II Kings 11 and II Chronicles 22? She ordered all of her grandchildren put to death so she could be the undisputed queen of Judah.
5. Mothers, like all people, come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Some are good. Some are bad. And the great majority comes somewhere in between good and bad.
6. Let's think about mothers and their relationship to children, husbands and God.

I. Children, Your Primary Order from God Is Obedience.

1. Paul said, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise) that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth." (Ephesians 6:1-3)
2. I discovered very early in life that my mother and I did not agree on many things.
(1) Our disagreements caused both of us much suffering.
(2) I suffered when she spanked me.
(3) And she suffered when she had to!
3. I soon found my mother was molding me.
(1) She wanted me to be a worthwhile individual.
(2) I wasn't quite sure I wanted to be one!
4. She constantly envisioned for me how proud she was going to be when I was an upstanding young man. (I wasn't at all sure that would ever happen!)
5. It took me a lot of years to discover my mother was trying to give me, not only a happy life, but a long life as well!
(1) She knew the Scripture.
(2) She also had experienced the joy of living in and for Jesus!
(3) She believed every word the Bible said about Jesus, and so do I! Do you? Amen??
6. If you believe the Bible, you believe God has given you your parents to mold your life into something useful to God, something that will last a long, long time!
7. Where would Moses have been if Miriam had disobeyed her mother?
(1) She might have in good conscience. Everyone knew then like they do now that the Nile River is full of crocodiles, and Moses would scarcely have made a meal for one of them!)
(2) Through Miriam's obedience Moses' life was prepared to bless his people!
(3) God saw to it that Jochebed, Moses' mother, became his wet-nurse!
(4) It was no accident that Moses identified with his own Israelite people! His mother prepared him!
8. Being obedient to your mother and father is just good sense, kids!
9. That obedience stops when you establish and pay for your own home, but love and respect never end! Ill. Jesus on the cross said to John, "Son, behold your mother..."

II. God Gave More Than One Primary Command to Husbands.

1. The famous Scripture nearly all preachers use in weddings is Matthew 19:4-6: "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh'? Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
(1) God's first order to husbands concerning their wives is to "cleave" to them.
(2) That means, mom, dad, brothers, sisters and business people all come in a poor second!
(3) A man doesn't just add a wife to his home like he was buying a car! His whole life is supposed to change to include her in everything!
a. Some people, from a shallow understanding of homes in the Old Testament, think wives are the property of their husbands.
b. As far as I can tell, that was never God's intention!
c. I think the New Testament gives a totally
different picture.
aa. I believe things on earth are patterned after heaven, don't you?
bb. In heaven there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, Jesus said. (Luke 20:34,35)
cc. To me that shows equality of the sexes in heaven!
2. The next command I think we should mention right now is in Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy..."
(1) I don't know of any place that specifically tells a wife to love her husband, but this Scripture definitely says a husband is to love his wife.
(2) That same Scripture says a wife should "respect" her husband.
(3) That love and respect is to be patterned after the love of Christ for His Church!
(3) That means we should give our lives for our wives, husbands!
(4) Now, let me remind you part of love is not just sacrifice, but care. I Timothy 5: 8 says, "If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (KJ uses "Infidel" here. "Unbeliever" is the more accurate ts, but infidel is fitting considering the promises of marriage).
3. God has given husbands the role of leadership in the family.
(1) A lot men throw their weight and strength around, but don't give any real leadership to the family.
(2) Our wives may treat us like kings, but we ought to have the Christian grace to treat them like Queens!
4. Now, let's spend a little more time on mothers.
III. Mothers Have a Tremendous Responsibility to God!

1. Mother, have you really realized the trust God puts in you?
(1) God knew just what husbands would be like. There has never been one trick a husband could teach Him!
(2) Considering the normal husbands, God bound your children to you mothers.
a. You carry them before they are born.
b. You nourish them after they are born.
c. It may be you teach them the only graces they will ever know. (Too many are single parents)
d. More often than not, you are responsible for their spiritual destination as well as orientation.
aa. They'll do their own sinning.
bb. But when the convicting power of the Holy Spirit hits them, it will probably be mother's teachings that will lead them to Jesus!
e. God trust you will all these things. He's counting on you!
2. It is a wonderful thing when a Christian father will take his place as the head of the family, but I'm so thankful God can trust most mothers to lead their children to Him! Even when we husbands fail!

Conclusion:
1. Children, do you show your mother the respect she should receive? The best way you can, is to obey her.
2. Husband, are you giving your wife and your children the leadership they have a right to expect?
3. Mother, can God trust you with His children?
4. It has been said, "The father is the head of the home. Children are the hope of the home. The mother is the heart of the home," but there is usually a blending of the roles.
(1) What good is a head if there is no heartbeat?
(2) What good is a heartbeat without a head?
(3) What good are head and heart if they are hopeless?
5. Each of us has a responsibility to God for our position in our family, and it is a sin not to fulfill it.
(1) We can be like Athaliah.
(2) Or we can be like Hanah and Jochebed.
6. The choice is ours, but God determines the cost!
7. Jesus has the wisdom to make life worth living. Do you have Him? Is He your Lord and Savior?

Emmanuel 5/8/1988
Emmanuel Community Church 5/14/2006

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