Hello, this is Brother Denny.
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Sometimes you feel like singing and other times
you don't.
And I just thought we should have said
Amen on that one.
We should have kept singing Amen, Lord, to
the whole song.
We greet you this morning in the name
of the Lord Jesus.
It's been a blessing to be here already.
I had to think while we were singing
this song, you know.
Some people fell at an altar in a
meeting somewhere some day at the singing of
that song and surrendered their life to go
to the mission field at the singing of
that song.
Some young man fell at an altar somewhere
and silently surrendered to God to take up
the torch of the gospel and preach the
gospel.
And there on his knees at an altar,
he said, Lord, I give you my life
and you let it be consecrated to you,
Lord.
You take every bit of it.
Take my lips and take my hands and
take my feet and take my very being
and my will and my heart.
I give it all to you for your
service.
And many different kinds of consecrations have been
made by the singing of that song.
But I wonder how many of you mothers
ever, ever sang that song on your knees
before God as you faced your responsibility as
a mother?
How many have ever done such a thing
as that?
But yet, what higher and higher calling could
there be than the calling that God has
upon mothers to raise their children in a
mighty and a powerful way?
How many times have we mothers been at
the altar singing that kind of a song?
Oh, it's easy to think about going to
the mission field and singing that song.
And it's easy to think about going out
on the streets of New York City and
to sing that song.
But it's just as real and it's just
as alive and it's just as powerful and
it's just as heart-searching for a mother
to sing that song and recognize that the
lips that God gave her, God gave them
to her for a mighty, powerful tool that
could be used to bless her children.
And the hands that God gave her are
hands that can be used to reach down
and pick up a little child or change
a baby's diaper or wash the clothes for
the family.
That the lips that God used can be
used to sing praises unto God and grace
her home with a sweet atmosphere day in
and day out.
Yes, take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to Thee that I might be
the mother You want me to be and
raise the children the way You want them
to be raised.
Yes, take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
And yes, Brother Levi, somebody's going to think
about the mothers today and just put our
mind upon them.
I'd like to speak this morning on the
subject of honorable motherhood.
I know that we've said some pretty strong
things to women around here in the past
and we've talked about hidden women and we've
had messages such that just broke the heart
of every woman in this room.
And I don't desire to do that this
morning.
I just feel like you mothers need to
be blessed today for all the things that
you do, for all the things that go
on in your lives that nobody else hears
about.
You're unsung heroes this morning.
It's true, it's true, it's true.
Many people, they know not what you go
through.
They know not the sufferings that you go
through.
They know not the struggles of your heart.
Nobody ever lifts you up and nobody ever
gives you any praise or very little for
many of the things that you do.
But I feel this morning that we need
to bless you and bless motherhood.
It's one of the greatest keys to a
solid and a sound church that there is,
is blessed motherhood.
And I feel it's right to lift it
up in an exalted place this morning, in
an honorable place this morning, in a place
that will make young girls in this room
covet after it and long for it, just
like the young men might long to go
to the mission field somewhere or stand on
a street corner and preach.
There ought to be young ladies all over
this room this morning who are longing after
and coveting the day when they can take
the honor of motherhood and do the will
of God that way.
And yes, I guarantee you, it will mean
giving everything to God if you're going to
do it right.
It's not a second place job and it
doesn't take a half-hearted consecration, but it
takes a consecration of body and soul and
spirit in every part of your being to
God if you're going to do it the
right way and in a way that's honoring
and in a way that will bring glory
to God.
It will take just as much commitment as
that young man who walked an aisle somewhere
and went over to the jungles of Africa
and died over there.
It will take that much commitment if you
do it right.
So I think we need to lift it
up this morning.
The brother already said, every one of us
in this room has a mother or had
a mother, so I don't think we could
have a message that has a more far
-reaching effect than this one since we've all
had a mother or we have a mother.
From the oldest to the youngest in this
room, some of our mothers are gone, but
I truly believe that we can still receive
blessings upon our life from God according to
the attitudes we have about our mothers even
if they're ten years gone.
I believe that we can still be adjusting
our attitudes about our mothers twenty years after
they're gone and receive blessings from God because
our attitudes are being adjusted, brought into line.
This story comes to my mind and it's
about a father, but I think it can
be applied to a mother about a son
who had a bitter attitude toward his father
and his father died and it was ten
years later before he finally came to grips
with the reality that his heart was filled
with bitterness and disrespect to his father.
And after God dealt with his hard attitude
about his bitterness and about his disrespect, and
I don't mean this in a wrong way,
but he went out to Father's grave and
there he knelt on Father's grave and said,
Father, will You forgive me?
And I don't see anything wrong with that.
Clearing his heart, even though Father was gone
for ten years.
So the message has a wide application this
morning.
I know it's a term that has been
used a lot, but it's such a powerful
expression of the power and the influence of
a mother.
And that expression is this, the hand that
rocks the cradle rules the world.
That's more true this morning than I think
we realize.
John Wesley had a mother.
Paul the Apostle had a mother.
The Lord Jesus had a mother.
Adolf Hitler also had a mother.
And Stalin had a mother.
Yes, the hand that rocks the cradle has
a great influence upon the world that we
live in.
I don't know how many mothers have a
vision for those little ones when they're rocking
them in the cradle, but nevertheless, they are
going to grow up and they are going
to take their place in society, and they
will have an influence one way or the
other on society.
The hand that rocks the cradle has a
very powerful influence at ruling the world.
Of course, that leaves an awesome responsibility, doesn't
it?
When we begin to think about that.
I wonder how many mothers change the destiny
of a child because when that child was
little, they had a sweet session with God
and they gave that child to God in
a special way.
I wonder how many mothers when that baby
was just a little baby, maybe a week
old, maybe two weeks old, a mother took
that baby before God and said, God, would
You take this little boy and make him
a preacher?
God, would You take this little girl and
make her a woman of God?
Would You take this little boy and send
him over to Africa or send him to
China?
God, would You take this little baby that
I have here and use this baby in
a way that will bring honor and glory
to Your name?
Oh God, would You do that?
I wonder how many mothers change the destiny
of a child because they're in those tender
moments shortly after a birth, maybe a week
or two, or one of those lonely nights
when they were up and the baby was
crying.
There they held that baby in their hands
and the Spirit of God and a burden
of prayer came upon them.
And there they laid that child before God
and said, God, do something with this child.
Do something special with this child.
God, pick this one up and use him
for Your honor and for Your glory.
Therefore, I wonder how many mothers change the
destiny of one of their children or many
of their children because in the beginning there
when they held that little baby, they had
a vision.
A vision that was motivated by the Spirit
of God.
A vision that came from God of what
God could do with one of their children
or all of their children for that matter.
John Wesley had a mother.
Aren't we glad?
John Wesley had a mother.
Paul the Apostle had one.
The Lord Jesus had one.
Timothy had one.
We could go down the list of men
that have been mightily used of God.
They had mothers.
But you know something else?
Lest we put too much emphasis on preachers
and missionaries this morning, don't forget Susanna Wesley
had a mother also.
She had a mother who put within her
the right goals, the right vision, the right
desires, the right purposes in life that when
Susanna Wesley became a mother, she guided her
children in a right way.
And as far as I'm concerned this morning,
if you're a mother and you're guiding your
children in the right way and you carry
them children upon your heart and you have
a burden of prayer...
Let me turn this thing on.
You have a burden of prayer in your
heart.
You are just as important as that man
that stands in a pulpit somewhere.
You are just as important as the one
that goes over to Africa.
There is no difference at all in the
mind of God.
My heart this morning is just to take
motherhood and lift it up and put it
up there where it belongs.
You do not have an insignificant job.
You do not have a second-rate job
because you stay home and guide a home
and raise those little children and go through
all those menial tasks that sometimes seem like
they don't have any effect or mean nothing
at all.
My mind goes back to an illustration that
I read about Amy Carmichael and how she
went over to India and she wanted to
be a missionary.
She went to India to be a missionary
and she had her dreams about being a
missionary and she longed after it and she
felt God calling her to go there and
finally she made her way into India and
out on the streets she would go and
she would win souls.
And for three or four years there, she
was winning souls on the mission field in
India.
Then God began to open a new door
of ministry for her life.
And God led her to start a little
children's home over there in India.
And when it started, she had no idea
what was going to happen.
She just started with one and one it
was okay.
But all of a sudden the one became
two and the two five and the five
ten.
And she found herself changing diapers, washing children,
feeding children from the beginning of the day
to the end of the day.
And something began to rise up inside of
her heart as if maybe she had taken
a second rate job.
Maybe God had given her a lower task
than before.
She wanted to be out there on the
streets again.
She wanted to be out there winning a
soul.
And the Spirit of God came down and
hovered over that lady's life and said, you
are winning souls.
You're doing a mighty work for me.
It's one of the most important things you
could do.
And she submitted her heart to God.
And God gave her hundreds and hundreds and
hundreds of children in her lifetime.
That she raised little Indian children for the
glory of God.
Never went home on furlough one time in
53 years.
She was a mother, though she never had
a husband.
She was a mother for hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of children.
Powerful influence you mothers have.
Powerful influence.
Those honorable women who raised honorable sons had
mothers who raised them.
Let's not forget that.
You have in your hands, you have under
your care, mothers, sons and daughters.
And God is just as concerned about the
blessing on your daughters as He is upon
your sons.
He's just as concerned that each one of
those daughters that you have within your care,
they get your heartbeat.
They get His heartbeat.
They get His vision and your vision of
what can be done, and their responsibilities, and
what God's goal is for them in life.
And I don't think it's wrong for every
girl in this room to long after being
a mother.
It's normal, you young girls, for you to
want to carry a little baby around.
It's normal for you to want to hold
a little baby doll.
It's normal for you to want to play
house.
And I would recommend to every one of
you little girls that you just lift motherhood
up there even higher than you have it
already.
And you long for the day when God
will let you be a mother.
But remember, when that day comes, you must
be a godly mother if your life is
going to glorify God.
You must be a God-fearing mother.
You must be a mother that's anointed with
the Spirit of God.
You must be a mother who knows how
to pray and how to prophesy in your
house to your children.
There's more than just changing those babies and
rocking them, although that's a very big part
of motherhood.
Now, what does the word mother mean?
That's a very interesting study.
The word mother in the Hebrew, it means
the beginning of a journey.
That's what mother means.
It means the point of departure.
Mother means beginning.
Turn to Genesis 3, I believe.
Genesis 3, verse 20 is the first time
in the Bible that the word mother is
used.
I think that's a good way to interpret
the meaning of words is to go back
to the first time that it's breathed out
in the Bible and read its context.
And just notice the context here.
And Adam called his wife's name Eve because
she was the mother of all living.
Or the beginning of all living.
The word mother means the beginning of a
journey.
Isn't that an interesting definition?
Through the eyes of a child, you mothers,
your children look at you as the beginning
of life's journey.
Did you ever ponder that before?
Think about the birth experience.
Think about what the child goes through.
Think about when you held those little babies
in your hands.
Think about the reality of coming into the
world.
Most of that is shared between the little
baby and the mother.
And I don't understand it all, but there's
a mysterious bonding that takes place there when
a mother brings forth a child and even
though that child has no comprehension yet, it
cannot talk, it cannot receive verbal messages, that
child and each one of those children, they
receive communication from mother to child and from
child to mother.
And the spirit of those very words is
put into that child from day one.
You are mother.
You are the beginning of their journey.
You are where it all started for them.
You are the first hands they felt, most
of them.
You are the first arms that comforted them.
You are the one who fed them.
You are the one who caressed them.
You are the one who spoke kind words
to them.
You are the one.
You are the beginning of their journey through
life.
And today, motherhood is being torn into pieces,
isn't it?
It's being torn into pieces and I don't
know who in this room could be struggling.
I know there are struggles in motherhood.
I don't know who in this room could
be struggling with worldly ideas about motherhood.
Maybe you think it doesn't work.
Maybe you don't think it's worth at all.
Maybe to you it seems like so much
work and no reward.
My sister, there is reward.
God is not forgetting your labor of love.
He is not forgetting it.
But today, motherhood has been torn to pieces.
Motherhood has been degraded.
Motherhood has been passed on to somebody else,
hasn't it?
Now, motherhood goes to the nursery school.
Motherhood goes to the babysitter.
Motherhood goes to somebody else.
Motherhood has been passed on.
American women have taken motherhood.
They have looked at it through the natural
eye, not a spiritual eye.
They've made their evaluations about motherhood and they've
said, this is a waste of time.
I get my hands dirty.
All work.
No play.
No reward.
Nobody understands.
No gratitude for what I do.
Here, you take this baby.
That's exactly what the mothers in America have
done.
Oh, God forbid that we give way to
any of those kind of thoughts among us.
Let us not give place to the devil
in the area of motherhood and hold that
baby and say, it's not worth it.
What is it going to mean?
What will be the benefit?
I don't get to see any of it
for years.
Here, you do it.
I've had enough of it.
You do it.
And give your baby away to somebody else.
Oh, we wouldn't do that in this room,
would we?
But oh, listen, in spirit, in spirit, God
would have us in spirit to rise up
to that honorable understanding of what motherhood is
all about.
I know nobody would give their baby away
in this room and praise God for that.
But there's such a thing as the letter
of the law and the spirit of the
law.
Motherhood is being torn to pieces.
And it's a trick of Satan.
He knows God's plan to mold mighty young
men and women through that hidden, quiet place
of the home by an unknown mother.
Let me say that again.
Satan knows motherhood is God's plan to mold
mighty young men and women in that hidden,
quiet place of the home by an unknown
mother.
And Satan knows that.
And he goes against our grain, doesn't he?
And tells us it's not worth it.
And he tells us it's just too much
labor.
And he tells us nobody knows what I'm
doing and nobody appreciates what I'm doing.
But someday, it will reap rewards that you'll
be grateful for for all eternity if you'll
do it God's way.
So this morning, we just want to sing
about the unsung heroes a little bit.
O thou honorable women, we bless you this
morning.
Thou honorable women, you who have chosen, you
who have submitted yourselves to God for the
awesome responsibility of bringing children into the world.
And not only bringing them into the world,
but then doing that which is necessary and
right to see them rise up and be
what God wants them to be.
O thou honorable women, we bless you this
morning.
Nobody knows, or many do not know, the
late hours that you go through.
I know there are many sleepless nights in
motherhood.
I know there are struggles that you face
in motherhood.
Many times you wish somebody knew.
Many times you wish the children knew.
Sometimes you even wish your husband knew.
But God bless each one of you today.
No one knows about that day off that
never comes.
That one you were going to take just
to do a little bit of your own
things, and you've been waiting to take it
for two years or three years.
Nobody knows the struggles you face.
The freedom that sometimes you wish you had.
And I know that you do.
I know you struggle with those things.
I know you look around some and you
see that some may have more freedom than
others, and you may struggle with that, and
sometimes you may look back and think, oh,
to not have any children again!
Or, oh, to just have one again!
But God bless each one of you.
God is not unforgettable of your labor of
love.
Nobody knows how the burden can be sometimes.
All the clothes, all the scraped knees, all
the work that needs to be done.
Brother Daniel mentioned how our mothers worked so
much and we don't want them to wear
out.
And we don't want you to wear out.
And I think it was a good admonition
to give to the children to rise up
and help your mothers.
We don't want our mothers to wear out.
But I assure you that though you sometimes
wonder if anybody knows how much labor of
love you're going through, you are watched.
And someone knows.
God knows the points of frustration that come
into your life.
God knows the prayers you pray in the
middle of the night.
God knows it all.
It will be worth it.
I promise you that.
I don't think I speak presumptuously this morning
when I say I promise you it will
be worth it.
It will be worth it.
It will pay you back.
No, you don't have the freedom to go
out and work.
Sometimes you may not get to buy what
you'd like to buy.
But I guarantee you, mothers, it will pay
itself back someday.
It may not pay itself back with a
refrigerator that you wanted or maybe some other
nice new dress.
But I guarantee you, your labors will pay
you back someday in dividends that cannot be
measured.
You hold this morning the son of a
king, the daughter of a king, prince and
princess rest in your arms.
It will be worth it all someday.
Someday, you'll be able to see it all
the way it really is.
And my prayer this morning is that God
could just pull the spiritual veil back and
let us see it for what it already
is this morning.
The honor of your position, the honor of
your work, the great need there is for
mothers to rise up and be all that
God wants them to be.
It's there.
It's all there.
And it will count someday.
Young girls, long to be mothers.
Dream about it.
Plan on it.
Train for it.
Study for it.
Lift it up high in your minds.
I want to be a mother.
Most of you young girls in this room
will be mothers.
A few may not be, but most of
you will be mothers.
Long for it.
Dream about it.
Look forward to the day and train and
prepare for it.
Now, it's a glorious high calling.
A glorious one.
Young men, when you go searching for a
wife, make sure that you also go looking
for a mother.
You will need one.
Not just a wife.
You will need a mother someday.
Make sure when you go looking for a
wife, you also look for a mother.
You will need one someday.
I wanted to read this text, but the
Lord just led differently, so we'll read it
now over in Samuel.
1 Samuel.
We have such a beautiful illustration of a
godly mother.
We know the story of Hannah.
In 1 Samuel 1, we know the story
of Hannah, how she longed after a child,
and we know that her adversary provoked her
sorely, and she fretted because the Lord had
shut up her womb, and she did not
realize in those days that God had a
special calling upon her life.
Hannah did not understand that.
To her, it seemed like God had cursed
her.
To her, it seemed like she was a
reproach.
To her, it seemed like God was not
blessing her.
But all the while, God was preparing her
for a special task.
She had a special task that God had
in mind for her.
Let's just start reading in verse 9.
So Hannah rose up after they had eaten
in Shiloh, and after they had drunk.
Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat
by a post of the temple of the
Lord.
And she, Hannah, was in bitterness of soul
and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore.
And she vowed a vow and said, O
Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look
on the affliction of Thine handmaid and remember
me, and not forget Thine handmaid, but will
give unto Thine handmaid a man-child, then
I will give him unto the Lord all
the days of his life, and there shall
no razor come upon his head.
You know, it's interesting to look at these
things.
Oh, sometimes we look at them through our
own eyes, but it's good to look at
them through God's eyes.
And I can just see God watching over
Hannah's life and waiting, waiting until Hannah got
to the place of desperation where she said
in her heart, I don't care if God
will just give me one.
I'll give him back to God.
And God said, that's what I've been waiting
for, Hannah.
I need a deliverer in Israel.
And I've been looking for a godly woman
who will give their son for that very
reason.
And then God granted her, Samuel the prophet.
And it came to pass as she continued
praying before the Lord that Eli marked her
mouth.
Now, Hannah, she spake in her heart.
Only her lips moved, but her voice was
not heard.
Therefore, Eli thought she had been drunken.
And Eli said unto her, How long wilt
thou be drunken?
Put away thy wine from thee.
And Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord,
I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink,
but have poured out my soul before the
Lord for a son.
Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of
Belial, for out of the abundance of my
complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace,
and the God of Israel grant thee thy
petition that thou hast asked of Him.
And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace
in thy sight.
So the woman went her way and did
eat, and her countenance was no more sad.
And they rose up in the morning early
and worshiped before the Lord and returned and
came to their house in Ramah.
And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the
Lord remembered her.
Hallelujah!
Wherefore it came to pass when the time
was come about after Hannah had conceived that
she bear a son and called his name
Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of
the Lord.
Samuel means asked of the Lord.
And the man Elkanah and all his house
went up to offer unto the Lord the
yearly sacrifices and his vow.
But Hannah went not up, for she said
unto her husband, I will not go up
until the child be weaned, and then I
will bring him, that he may appear before
the Lord and there abide forever.
And Elkanah, her husband, said unto her, Do
what seemeth thee good.
Tarry until thou have weaned him.
Only the Lord establishes word.
So the woman abode and gave her son's
sock until she weaned him.
And when she had weaned him, she took
him up with her and with three bullock
and one ephah flower and a bottle of
wine, and brought him unto the house of
the Lord in Shiloh, and the child was
young.
The Bible doesn't say how old Samuel was,
but it says the child was young.
And they slew a bullock and brought the
child to Eli, and she said, O my
Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I
am the woman that stood by thee here
praying unto the Lord.
For this child I prayed, and the Lord
hath given me my petition which I asked
Him.
Therefore also I have lent him to the
Lord.
As long as he liveth, he shall be
lent to the Lord.
And he worshiped the Lord there.
A beautiful example of a godly mother.
Here we see in Hannah some of the
attributes that every mother should have.
Number one, there was a longing in her
heart after motherhood.
She longed to be a mother.
And I think, my sisters, after you've had
one child, it's not time to quit longing
to be a mother.
If we truly see motherhood for what God
sees it to be, there ought to be
that longing inside of our heart that stays
there even after we've had one and two
and three and four.
We ought to long after God that He
may give us a child that that child
might be used of God into the honor
and glory, into the building of His kingdom.
Hannah, she longed after motherhood.
Number two, she gave her son to God.
That's what we need to do with every
single one of them, isn't it?
We need to give them to God.
Not just to pray a prayer, but to
give them to God.
One of the sweetest blessings that we've had
in our house each time we've had a
child is as soon as that child is
born, we pick it up and set it
before God and say, God, here it is.
This one You have given us.
We receive it and we thank You in
Jesus' name, but God, we give it back
to You.
Take this child.
Raise it.
Give us wisdom.
We want it to honor and glorify You.
We want it to be a powerful child.
We want this child to be mighty in
spirit.
And I think it's wise for every mother
and father for that matter to take those
children and lift them up before God and
say, Here, Lord, this is not mine but
Thine.
Give us the wisdom to raise them right.
Number three, we notice she also suffered the
heart pain of giving that child to God.
I don't know how old little Samuel was.
Maybe he was five.
They say that many times they weaned the
children at maybe the age of four in
the days of Israel.
I'm not sure how old he was, but
I don't think he was a 12-year
-old boy.
And the child was young, the Bible says,
and that's all the Bible says, and I
believe that's all God wanted us to know.
But I think there's enough we can know,
enough there to know that Hannah suffered the
heart pain of bringing that little boy and
leaving him there at Shiloh in the hand
in the house of Eli and going home.
She suffered the heart pain of it all.
And fourthly, she was a woman who prayed.
I don't believe.
The woman who walked with God to pray
those first prayers and the woman who prayed
the prayer and we didn't read it, it's
in chapter 2, as she consecrated that son
to the Lord, the woman who prayed that
prayer, I don't believe that woman stopped praying,
but I believe she continued to pray and
she had a powerful influence in Samuel's life.
I believe it was by Hannah's prayers that
her son delivered Israel.
I think it's good for us to meditate
on Hannah.
I thought also of Eunice, who was Timothy's
mother, and the Scripture was already read in
the children's class.
Paul speaking to Timothy and reminding him, you
remember, that from a child thou hast known
the Holy Scriptures.
We know by history, Timothy did not have
a godly father.
His father was a Greek.
His mother was a Jew, a God-fearing
Jew, who loved the Word of God.
And I believe that his mother, Eunice, filled
that little boy full of the Word of
God even though they lived in a house
where her father was a Greek and he
was not a Jew and he did not
go to the synagogue and he didn't believe
in God.
He was a Greek.
But there was a mother who watched over
that little son Timothy and from a child
made known unto him the Holy Scriptures of
God.
And oh mothers, let me encourage you this
morning to redeem the time.
Let me encourage you this morning to redeem
the time.
Death and life are in the power of
the tongue and it's also in the power
of your tongue.
Your tongue is just as powerful as the
tongues on this side of the room.
Your voice can be just as anointed as
the voices that are on this side of
the room.
Your heart can be filled with just as
much of wisdom from the Word of God
as the hearts that are over here on
this side of this room.
I would encourage each one of you mothers
to redeem the time with your children.
I would encourage each one of you mothers
to get alone with God and get an
anointing of His Spirit upon your lives that
His Word and His will might flow out
of your hearts and into the hearts of
those children that you have at your house.
I would encourage you to redeem the time
this morning.
Eunice did and she had a son named
Timothy.
By the way, Eunice had a mother named
Lois, didn't she?
Oh, may God give us the wisdom to
have a vision on both sides of the
room this morning.
God forbid that we would think, I have
two sons and four daughters.
No!
I have two sons and I have four
daughters.
And they're all very important.
And God has a special work and a
calling on every one of them.
He has something that He wants them to
do.
He has a purpose for each one of
them.
It's a divine purpose.
It's written in eternity.
And God has it all planned out.
And what is it and how can we
order the child?
Let that be our heart for every one
of our sons and every one of our
daughters.
No difference at all.
Because Eunice had a mother named Lois.
And then I also, as I was meditating
upon godly mothers, I had to think of
Mary.
And I'd like to turn there a little
this morning, Luke chapter 1.
Mary, the young handmaiden of the Lord whom
God ordained to bring forth the Christ child.
Mary, the handmaid of the Lord.
God knew that Mary had to be a
very special woman.
I believe this morning that Mary had a
mother also.
I don't think she was just a half
-hearted mother.
I don't think she was a kind of
do her job and not do her job.
I don't think she was a mother who
had no vision for her children.
I believe Mary had a mother this morning.
And that that mother had a profound effect
upon Mary.
The forming of her life.
The building of her character.
She had her help of bringing that Mary
to the place where she could say, I
rejoice in God my Savior.
Mary had a mother.
And God the Father in Heaven knew that
Christ would need a mother for some of
His earthly years.
And God chose Mary to be Christ's mother.
Amen?
Oh, I think it's a wonderful thing for
us this morning to meditate upon the virgin
birth and meditate upon the great honor that
fell upon Mary.
That in her womb, conceived by the Holy
Ghost, came forth the Christ child, the Messiah.
What an honor that was for Mary.
But did you ever consider the honor of
being allowed by God to raise that little
Christ child?
What an honor that God bestowed upon her.
I don't believe that God did that one
by election either, brothers and sisters.
But He called out a woman who first
of all had a mother, who was a
godly mother.
And He called out a young handmaiden who
was a godly young handmaiden.
And He knew what kind of a heart
was in that woman, Mary.
And He knew that He needed that kind
of a woman to have an influence on
His son as He was a little baby
growing up in that home.
And she's a good example of a mother.
Let's read in Luke 1, v.
46-55.
We get some insight into Mary's heart as
we read her salutation.
And Mary said, verse 46, chapter 1 of
Luke, and Mary said, my soul doth magnify
the Lord.
My heart is longing to make big the
Lord.
That's what she's saying.
I have a heart that wants the Lord
to be magnified.
I want Him to be big.
I want people to see how big He
is.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Savior.
She's saying my heart is overflowing with joy
in God who is my Savior.
Amen?
Mary needed a Savior too.
Let's not forget that.
Mary needed a Savior.
Mary had a Savior.
And she rejoiced in God her Savior.
For He hath regarded the low estate of
His handmaiden.
I think that's worthy of note, isn't it?
God chose this handmaiden because He regarded the
lowly estate of her character.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call
me blessed.
For He that is mighty hath done to
me great things, and holy is His name.
And His mercy is on them that fear
Him from generation to generation.
Notice her knowledge of God.
He hath showed strength with His arm.
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination
of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their
seats and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath opened His servant Israel in remembrance
of His mercy as He spake to our
fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.
Oh, what a blessed salutation we have here
as we read of Mary.
I had to think in verse 52.
He hath put down the mighty from their
seats and exalted them of low degree.
Do you know, mothers, this morning there are
millions of women in this America today who
look at your position and consider it substandard,
abnormal, not desired.
They're the mighty ones.
They want to be executives.
They want to be the bank president.
They want to be the congresswoman.
They want to be the president of the
United States.
But God sends them away empty, doesn't He?
Their arms are empty and their hearts are
empty, my sisters.
Though they be the president of the United
States, though they make a million dollars, though
they're heard and give speeches all over this
country, He has sent them away empty.
Their arms are empty and their hearts are
empty.
But, He's exalted those of low degree.
Your arms are not empty and your hearts
are full.
Hallelujah!
Oh, that we could see the honorable position
that God has given to mothers.
It's an honorable place.
It's an exalted place.
It shouldn't be looked down on, but it
should be looked up to.
It should be coveted after as a wonderful
thing, as a desire of the heart of
every girl.
Let's turn and read Hebrews 6, verse 10.
I know I quoted part of it here
a couple of times already in the sermon.
This is talking about going on in our
salvation experience, but I believe the verse is
very applicable to each one of you mothers
this morning.
We'll read verse 9 and 10.
But beloved, we are persuaded better things of
you and things that accompany salvation though we
thus speak.
And my sisters, we are persuaded better things
of you though we even exhort you this
morning, though we may challenge you some this
morning.
For God is not unrighteous to forget your
work and labor of love which ye have
showed toward His name, in that ye have
ministered to the saints and do minister.
And sisters, this morning, God is not unfaithful
to forget your labor of love that you've
showed unto your children in that you've ministered
to them and do plan to continue to
minister to them.
God is not unfaithful to forget that labor
of love.
He is marking it down.
Yes, your husband maybe went out on the
streets of Lancaster and won a soul last
week, but you were raising the children last
week and God does not forget that labor
of love.
It's marked down on the books just as
bright as the soul that your husband won.
He is not unfaithful to forget your labor
of love.
He knows.
Then I had to think, for the rest
of us here this morning, what are some
of our responsibilities as we look at mothers?
Every one of us have a mother or
had a mother.
What are our responsibilities?
Even if we're grown today, even if we've
been out of our homes for twenty years,
what is our responsibility to our mothers, to
the beginning of our journey?
Well, I think it calls for honor, don't
you?
Not just a kind word, not just a
Mother's Day card, but honor!
Honor!
A spirit of honor that mother can sense
coming out of every one of us.
The Scriptures teach us we're to obey our
mothers.
I realize when we're grown and we leave
the home, we don't obey our mothers, but
all you children, the Scriptures admonish you to
obey your mothers.
Number two, the Scriptures would tell us it's
our responsibility to bless our mothers.
To bless them, the Scripture says, they'll rise
up and call her blessed.
Well, that's true.
A virtuous mother, the children will rise up
and call her blessed.
But children, we're supposed to bless them whether
they're all what the virtuous woman is in
Proverbs 31 or not.
We're supposed to bless them.
That's one of our responsibilities to mothers, is
to bless them.
And of course, the Scripture says to honor
them, honor father and mother, says the Scriptures.
That means we're to hold them in an
exalted position.
That means that our mothers ought to sense
a spirit of honor from us.
And you know something?
That should just keep growing and growing and
growing and growing in maturity all the days
of our life.
I think if you're here this morning and
you have a mother that's 70 years old,
she ought to receive honor from you like
she never did before.
If you're a Christian, and years have gone
by, your honor toward your mother ought to
just be getting higher and higher and higher.
You say, my mother's an old order Amish
woman.
My mother's out in the streets.
My mother's a drunk.
It doesn't matter.
Your mother is still your mother.
Honor her.
Let her sense a spirit of honor coming
forth from you.
There's a blessing with that.
The Scripture would teach us that we are
also to fear our mothers, children.
You know, sometimes mothers, they get the disrespect
and father gets the fear.
But the Bible says, fear your mother also.
Fear her?
That means to hold her in reverence.
To fear her.
When mother speaks, we should listen.
When mother tells us to do something, we
should do it with reverence in our hearts.
Just like Father would have said it.
And the Scripture teaches us in the Old
Testament that we are to mourn for our
mothers when they pass on out of this
life.
Also, there's a few things it says we
shouldn't do.
The Scripture says we should never hit our
mother.
Have you ever hit your mother?
The Scripture says you should never hit your
mother.
Never.
The Scripture says you should never rob your
mother.
Have you ever taken a quarter out of
mama's purse?
The Bible says you should never rob your
mother.
Don't take money from your mother.
God will not let you forget that if
you ever did.
The Scripture says we should never chase away
our mother.
What do you mean by that?
How do you chase away your mother?
You could send her to a rest home.
That'd be a good way to chase her
away.
I don't have time for her.
I'm too busy.
Put her over there.
The Scripture says don't chase away your mother.
The Scripture says we should do everything we
can to keep shame from coming upon our
mother.
The Scripture teaches that.
Do you know what loyalty is?
Loyalty is in a right way wanting to
cover up some of the faults of your
mother.
Your mother's not perfect this morning.
She makes mistakes.
Sometimes she gets frustrated.
Sometimes she makes wrong decisions.
But we ought to desire to cover for
our mother, not expose.
And I don't mean that in a wrong
way.
It's right to want to cover sin.
It's wrong to want to let everybody know
about it.
It's right to want to cover up something
that someone has done.
It's wrong to want to go and tell
everybody, you know what my mother did?
You know what my mother said?
That's not right, children.
It's not right.
Loyalty protects the reputation of mother.
And I believe the Scripture teaches us to
do that.
What else?
The Scripture teaches that we should not ridicule
our mothers.
We shouldn't make fun of them.
Shouldn't make fun of them.
You're dumb.
You did that wrong.
And tease them.
And make jokes at them.
And make them feel bad.
And embarrass them because they did this or
that wrong.
The Scriptures teach it's wrong to ridicule mother.
You see, mother is a queen.
Children, mother is like a queen.
You wouldn't do that to a queen.
Would you?
And last of all, the Scripture says don't
forsake the law of your mother.
It says that in the book of Proverbs.
Do you know what that means?
It means when mother makes a rule in
the house, you follow it.
That's what it means.
When mother makes a rule, it becomes law
for you.
It becomes a law for you to keep
when mother makes a rule.
You say, now wait a minute.
Yes, when mother makes a rule, it becomes
a law.
Put your toothbrush away when you're done using
it.
That is a law.
And you should obey mother.
Amen?
Obey mother.
You know, in the Old Testament, in closing,
in the Old Testament, there's a Scripture that
says thou shalt rise up before the hoary
head.
And I believe that verse means that you
should stand up when the hoary head comes
into the room.
It means you should stand in honor of
a hoary head when it comes into the
room.
And then the Scripture also says in Proverbs
31 that the children will rise up and
call her blessed.
I don't know that we ought to stand
up every time mother comes into the room,
but I think the spirit of rising up
ought to be within our heart at all
times.
To rise up and bless that beginning of
my journey.
You see, mother is the beginning of the
journey.
That's what her name means.
She brought each one into the world.
She nurtured each one through many struggles.
She bathed many a sweated brow through the
night.
She nursed many a child back to health.
She sacrificed many an hour of no sleep
through the night.
She did many a task she didn't want
to do.
She cleaned up many a mess that she
didn't want to clean up.
She sacrificed many things so that you could
have something.
Mother did all those things and more.
She's the beginning of the journey.
And I believe it's right for us to
rise up and bless our mothers.
Rise up and honor them.
Rise up and give them respect and blessing
for all that they do.
You mothers, we want to encourage you this
morning.
We want to encourage you just to keep
right on doing what you're doing.
We want to encourage you if you've fainted
in your heart, if you've lost the vision
about what you're about, if you've lost the
glorious vision in the midst of the dishes
and the clothes and the diapers and the
noise and the crying and the toys and
all those things, if you've lost the vision
in the midst of all of that, may
God just lift your eyes up a little
higher this morning and readjust your vision.
It really is worth it all.
God really will bless you for every one
of those labors of love.
It will be an exaltation to your life
someday.
If not in this life, I know in
the one to come.
So I just want to encourage you to
keep on doing that which God holds as
the most honorable thing you could do with
your life.
May God bless each one of you mothers.
Let's kneel together for prayer.
Yes, Lord, this morning, a life of selflessness,
giving, giving, giving.
We know that's the life of a mother.
Self-denial, give it up, give it up
again.
Let your plans be changed.
Let them be changed again.
That is a mother.
Father, we pray, You'll bless each one of
the mothers that is in this room this
morning.
We pray, dear God, You'll encourage them.
I pray You'll lift up their heavy hands
if they're heavy this morning.
I pray that You'll clarify the vision in
their heart.
Father, we know they go through many things.
They suffer in many ways.
But, oh God, we also know the tremendous
reward that awaits them.
God, I commit each one of the mothers
into Your hands and I pray, oh Father,
let them be anointed mothers.
Let their hands be anointed hands and their
lips anointed lips and their lives anointed lives
as they minister to the children in each
one of the homes.
Father, I pray You'll lift up motherhood where
it belongs, in its exalted place, in each
one of our lives.
Father, whether we be man, woman, father, mother,
teenager, youth, child, lift it up where it
belongs, dear God.
Let it have its rightful place among us
that the next generation might be blessed.
God, we commit the further service into Your
hands and we pray in the name of
Jesus, Amen.