Five Truths About Mothers

Proverbs 31, the first nine verses. The stains of King Lemuel, an oracle, his mother taught him.

! O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows, do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish. Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly. Defend the rights of the poor and needy. The kingdom of God has been our theme for our studies over the past couple of months now.

And we're breaking this morning for a lesson on mothers. In one sense, it's not a break at all because mothers are not unrelated to the kingdom of God.

Rather, they have a critical role in God bringing his kingdom to this earth. 300 times in the Bible, God speaks of mothers.

I'm not going to turn you to all 300. I'm going to give you five points about mothers. And the first one is this, that mothers are God's idea. Mothers are God's idea.

On the sixth day of creation, after God formed the man from the dust of the earth and breathed in him the breath of life, he took a rib out of Adam's side.

And he created a woman. And he brought her to the man and performed the first wedding. He gave them this command together.

Be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. You see, she has a critical role in God's kingdom, in God's plan for this world.

Now, the woman that he made was like the man in many ways. She, too, is a human being, just as Adam was. She, too, was made in the image of God, just as he was.

She, too, was perfect as he was. She fell as he fell. She needs the salvation in Christ as much as he does. So they received the same command, to be fruitful and increase in number.

There are many likenesses between them. But she was unlike him in many other ways. She was the female counterpart to Adam, with distinctive differences from the man.

Now, these differences in her makeup were intentional on the part of the creator. The differences are meant to equip her for her unique task of mothering.

For instance, it would be in her body, not the man's, that the new life would be conceived and would grow and be shaped and woven together by God over nine months before it would be brought into the world where the woman would be the one to nurse the child.

Her differences from Adam equipped her for her mothering role. Adam knew all about this so that when he named his wife, he named her Eve because she would become the mother of all the living.

The mother of all the living. So from the very beginning, her role as mother was acknowledged and praised. This was God's idea and plan for her.

But mothers are different from fathers in other ways besides physically. They're different in the way that they think, in the way that they emote, in the way that they respond to situations.

And these differences, too, are intentional on the part of the creator. Her. So four-year-old Jimmy is riding his bike with his training wheels out in the driveway.

And he hits a bump. And down he goes and skins up his knee. And he starts crying and goes over to Dad, who's mowing the yard. And Dad stops and examines it for a full five seconds and says, oh, it's just a flesh wound, a little skin.

No problem here. No bones broken. And you'll be just fine, he says. And he ruffles up his hair and gives him a playful punch in the shoulder. And Jimmy blinks and heads for the house.

And as he comes through the back door, he starts crying again. And he turns up the volume. And Mom hears him and comes running, drops what she's doing. And, oh, Johnny, Jimmy, Jimmy.

I better stick to my notes. She's only got one son. Jimmy, Jimmy. Whatever has happened, tell Mommy all about it.

And she carries him in her arms and into the bathroom and puts him on the counter. And he spills out his sad tale. And she says, oh, that bad concrete bump.

How dare it do that to my little boy? And she ever so gently puts on the salve and the Band-Aid and smothers him with kisses and hugs and assures him that it will be all right.

And takes him to the kitchen and gives him cookies and milk. And out the door he goes. And Jimmy's world is all put right again. Now the next time Jimmy takes a tumble, who's he going to run to?

Father or mother? You know, these kids are brilliant. And it doesn't take them long to figure out who will give them the most tender sympathy when they're hurting.

And so off they trot to Mommy. Now father and mother both love their child dearly. But they love him differently.

Now I have exaggerated those differences a bit in the illustration. But the point is this, that dad loves him with a man's love.

And mom loves him with a woman's love. And the two are not exactly the same. A mother's love is different from a father's love.

And God's plan was for the child to experience both. It's not that one is right, the other is wrong, one is better than the other. Not at all.

They're just different. And that difference is by design. The intentional plan of the all-wise creator God. Both are important to him.

Kids, aren't you glad you weren't raised by two fathers? Bless the Lord for mothers. They're God's great idea.

And he made them uniquely different for their appointed task of mothering. Did you know that in that mothering, they reflect the glory of God in their own unique way?

They reflect the image of God in their own unique way. That's different from a father's love. So that Almighty God can say to his people in Isaiah 66, 13.

Isaiah 63, 13. God says to his people, as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.

Mothers are God's idea. They reflect his image in their own unique way. Secondly, God highly values a mother's work of bringing up children. Some of these points have already been made in the service already in prayer and comments.

But God highly values a mother's work of bringing up children. Both mothers and fathers are to bring up their children in the discipline and teaching of the Lord. But especially during the early years, the lion's share of that work falls to the mother.

Fathers are off to work bearing the primary responsibility of providing for the family. And so the primary role of nurturing their young children rests upon the mother.

Indeed, Titus 2, 5 says younger women are to be busy at home. Why home? Because that's where the children are. 1 Timothy 5, 10 says that theirs is the task of bringing up children.

So children are not to be viewed as an interruption to her work, but rather as the greater part of her work. She is to bring up children.

That passage in 1 Timothy, if you want to turn there, 1 Timothy 5, it's setting out the church's responsibility to take care of older widows who have no families to look after them.

And these older widows were put on a list and were to receive church support and help. Now, it was not just any widow that would be put on the list.

Rather, she must be over 60 years of age. And yet it wasn't just any widow that was over 60 years of age. There were other qualifications.

And you see that in 1 Timothy 5, 9. The first qualification was that she had to have been one who had been faithful to her husband. You want on the list?

You must have been faithful to your husband. Because next to loving God, that's your number one priority is to be faithful to your husband. Number two, Now, that's quite a list of good deeds that befit all women who are professing godliness.

It ought to mark every one of you women. But notice, next to loving God and your husband, this is the first good deed mentioned, such as bringing up children.

It's a good deed. The word in the original can be translated, it's right, it's fitting, it's proper, it's precious, it's beautiful, it's a beautiful thing, it's a good thing.

So mothers, here's God's appraisal of your task. It's a good work. It's precious in the eyes of the Lord. Next to loving God and your husband, there's no work more important to God for you to do than bringing up your children.

Let that arm you. Let that garrison you against all the temptations of this world to pull you away from this task. Let it encourage you in the face of all of its sacrifices, all of its difficulties and discouragements that your God highly values, what you're doing as you bring up your children.

So Christian mother, on Monday morning, when you face your child's stubbornness, and that stack of laundry and a pile of dishes and a list of things to do that's growing rather than shrinking, remember what you're doing is important to the Lord Jesus.

It's a high priority item to him. You're doing a good work, a precious thing. Keep it up. Yours is a thankless job in so many ways.

Much of the world fails to applaud you for your efforts. You're a what? A stay-at-home what? Oh. They would rather wonder why you would waste your potential at home.

And even we husbands can fail to show proper appreciation for the work that you do. And your children themselves are often self-consumed and unthankful.

But the most important one in all the world says, I see what you're doing. And it's good. Keep it up. Until you hear his well-done, good, and faithful servant.

So the work that mothers are doing is highly valued by God. The third truth about mothers is that God commands us to honor them. You know the command in Exodus chapter 20.

Where at Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of God. God spoke in an audible way to them when he gave them the Ten Commandments.

And in that ten-point summary of man's moral duties, we find God speaking of mothers. He formed the word and spoke it on Mount Sinai.

And he tells us something that we all owe to our mothers. There's something we owe them. Children, you know what it is. It's honor. Honor your father and your mother.

It's esteem. It's value and respect them. So after the first four obligations that we owe to God in the Ten Commandments, he gives six obligations that we owe to our fellow creatures.

And the very first one is honor your father and your mother. It's important to God. He's given mothers a critical role in his plan for the world, and indeed in his plan for you, dear child.

And he wants you to honor them for it. Hold them in high regard. Because in mothering, they're doing God's work. They're on God's errand.

They're doing what he wants done. He gave them this task. So honor them. Let me seek to break down what honor means.

Children, it means that you honor them with your words. With your words. And that includes the way you speak to her. You speak to her with respect and honor.

Not the way you would speak to a kid sister. It's a different way of speaking. And then you honor her by the way that you speak about her to others.

You don't tear her down, but you speak well of her. You honor her with your words. And then you honor her with your obedience. You obey without arguing or complaining. You do it all.

You do it right away. And you do it with the right heart attitude. That's what mothers deserve from their children. That kind of honor in their obedience. And did you know, children, when you disobey mom, you disobey God, who commands you to obey her.

And when you disrespect and dishonor mom, you are disrespecting and dishonoring God. And that's serious business. Far more serious than most children realize.

So obey your mother as you would obey God. For what you do to your mother, you are doing to God, who commands you to obey her. And then you honor her not only with your words and your obedience, but you honor her with your life.

The whole of your life. That means living in a way that reflects well on her. Is your mom honored to be your mother, to have you as her son, her daughter?

Does your behavior speak well of her or speak ill of her? Does it make her proud or ashamed? Maybe you haven't thought about that.

But you must if you would honor your mother. And then you honor her with your care and finances. When she's old and in need, you see that her needs are met.

And in 1 Timothy 5, 4, we see that when you meet the needs of your needy mother, you are putting your religion into practice. That's what Paul says.

Well, religion isn't worth anything if it's not put into practice. So what you're doing is you're putting your religion into practice. And it goes on to say at the end of verse 4 that this is pleasing to God.

Yes, that hard work of caring for an aging mother. Maybe the other kids aren't helping as much. But God sees.

And he's pleased. He's pleased. So we honor our mothers. It's a lifelong practice. And even after they've died, we still go on honoring them with our lips and the things we say about them and with our lives the way we reflect upon her as her son, her daughter.

Ephesians 6 quotes this commandment and proves that it's not just something that was true for the Israelites, the Jews, but it's true for Gentiles in Ephesus as well that children are to honor and obey their parents.

And indeed, any nation where mothers are not honored and obeyed is a nation heading for destruction because this is the very foundation block of society. It's honor for authority.

It's honor for authority. Honor for authority. And if moms are not respected and obeyed, neither will the other authorities that God has established in his world, like husbands and government and laws and teachers and bosses.

And home is the first place, the earliest way that all children are to learn how to bow to God's authority in their lives.

It starts in the home in the earliest stages. It starts with a mother's command. It starts with a mother's no. And uncorrected failure here leads to certain disaster.

So fathers, you must insist that your children honor their mother in your home. First and only time I had my mouth washed out with soap was when I spoke disrespectfully to my mother.

It was a rather humorous, sassy thing that I said to her. And I paid for it when I got home. I still don't like the taste of ivory soap.

But God was teaching me through my father that you don't speak to your mother like that. Indeed, you honor those in authority because God has put them there.

That's a lesson that needs to be learned at the earliest ages. We're seeing in our nation what happens when children are not taught to respect their mothers. You'll find them on the streets disrespecting all authority.

You know, Jesus honored his mother, Dindy. We have a picture of it as a 12-year-old. It's the last thing that we hear about Jesus as a 12-year-old.

The next thing we hear about him, he's 30 years old. So here's the summary of Jesus' life from 12, right through those teen years. Luke 2, verse 51. Then he, Jesus, went down to Nazareth with them, that is his mother and father, and was obedient to them.

Okay? He was obedient to them. That's the summary of Jesus' teenage years. He was obedient to his father and mother.

Children, did you know that Jesus was tempted to disobey his mother and father? See, he was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin. He was once a five-year-old, like some of you.

He was once 10, 14, a teenager. And he was tempted to disobey his parents. But every time he refused the temptation, he rejected it, and he obeyed his parents.

Did it all with a right-heart attitude. First time, he was told. Amazing obedience of Jesus, the boy. Being the perfect God-man, he was the only teenager who was really wiser than his mother.

I know some of you might think you're wiser, but it's not true. Here's the one teenager who was wiser than his mother, and yet he submitted to her. And if he, the God-man, submits to an imperfect mother, then there's grace for you to submit to your parents, even though they do not know it all, and they're not perfect.

And then we see Jesus at the end of his life as a 33-year-old man, and we find he's still honoring his mother, as it was mentioned in the prayer. He's now nailed to a Roman cross, and he's looking down at his mother, poor mother, her heart's breaking to see her son.

A sword has now found her heart that old Simeon spoke about. A sword, too, will pierce your heart. And the sword is deep in her heart as she looks up at her dying son.

And Jesus has a few things on his mind at this point. He's got a whole multitude that no man can number that he is going to redeem. He's taking all their sins upon him.

He's thinking of the Father's wrath that is pouring out upon him. He's being forsaken by his God, and he's got all this on his mind, and yet he sees his mother, and he performs that last work of the firstborn in the family to take care of his mother.

And he says, Dear woman, behold your son, John, there. And John, behold your mother. And from that day on, she went home to John's house.

He honored his mother as a young boy right through life to the end of his life, to his dying breath. And you know what he was doing in that?

He was working out a salvation to give to children who don't obey their parents perfectly. Because for you to get into heaven, you must have a righteous record that's impeccable without one fault.

God is holy, and for sinners to dwell with him, they must be holy. But we've sinned and come short. God sent his son into the world to obey.

He was born under the law, and he obeyed every command of God perfectly. And now he has a righteousness to give to children who disobeyed their parents. And if you will turn to him in faith and repentance and come to him and ask him to have mercy on you, he will put his report card onto your account so that when you stand before God in judgment, you will be seen as righteous.

Why? Because Jesus never once disobeyed his parents, never once dishonored his mother. He did it to have a righteousness, a salvation for guilty sinners.

Anybody here never disobeyed their mother? No. If that's the only command that we've broken, we deserve to go to hell. For whoever breaks just one command, whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

The whole thing comes crashing down. You're a lawbreaker if you did not obey your mother perfectly. And here is Jesus. Christ died for sins.

The righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God. And he offers you that righteousness. Take him. Take him, children. Take him today. That's the third truth.

God wants us to honor our mothers. The fourth truth is that children contribute greatly to their mother's joy or grief. Listen to what Psalm 10 and verse 1 says.

A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother. I wonder how many of you have seen that video of the mother that's gone viral beating her teenage son for having gone out and vandalized on the streets of Baltimore.

I wouldn't recommend it for a form of discipline, the way that she's manhandling him, but one thing is clear. His life has brought her grief, not joy.

She's embarrassed by his behavior. Well, that's what the wise man is saying. A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

Children, do you know that you have the capacity to make your mom very glad or very sad? You have that capacity to do either one, to bring her joy or grief.

And let me tell you why. Because she has a lot invested in you, a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of effort. And often it's sacrificed to herself of time and money and worldly honor and other things that could be hers and all for you.

But it's far more than that, isn't it? She has her love, a lot of love invested in you, her very heart, her soul, herself, for you.

And it's hard to describe the grief of a mother who, after all of that exertion and sacrificial love, finds her child walking in the ways of folly rather than the ways of wisdom.

It's a heavy burden. It's a wounded heart that she silently carries through life. But it's equally hard to describe the joy and the happiness of a mother who sees her son or daughter walking in the ways of wisdom.

If your mother's a Christian, then she could say, I have no greater joy than to see that my children are walking in the truth. Her greatest desire for you children is that you might be made wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

That's the wisdom she wants you to have, to be wise for faith in Jesus Christ, to see your need of Him and to embrace Him as your Lord and Savior for life, for eternity.

You don't have to be the first to walk on Mars. You don't have to be the one that finds a cure for cancer. You don't have to be the next president to please her. Her heart would thrill just to see you walking God's way with God, faith in His Son, living life the way God meant it to be lived.

Indeed, that's the joy that heaven partakes in, shares with the mother when one sinner repents. So children, even after you're long gone from the house, you still carry the massive potential of bringing your mother joy or grief.

And knowing that you carry that potential, it is your duty to be sure that you are bringing her joy, not grief. Proverbs 23, 24, and 25 says, He who has a wise son delights in him.

May your father and your mother be glad. May she who gave you birth rejoice. Are you making your mother rejoice? be that wise son, that righteous daughter that is a continual source of happiness to your mother.

Yes, you, children, have a great capacity for the joy or grief of your mother.

And lastly, God has given mothers all that they need for her task. He's put in their hands everything that they need. He's called them to this task of mothering.

No small task, but He has equipped her and He's given her everything that she needs. Think what God has put in your hands, mothers, to impart wisdom to your young child which under His blessing will lead to your joy.

First thing He put in your hand is a rod of correction to correct their rebellion against authority. So lovingly and consistently apply that rod to that part of the anatomy that was built for that rod.

As the wise man said, the rod of correction imparts wisdom. But a child left to himself brings his mother shame, disgrace.

And the mother says, oh, it grieves me. It hurts me so much to spank my little one. He's just such a doll. An older mother said to us once, you're going to grieve.

You either grieve now or you grieve later. So take the little grief and take the rod and apply it to his backside in a loving way. Or you will grieve deeply for having left your child to itself without the rod of correction.

Wise words from that mother and indeed from Almighty God through the wise man Solomon. God's put something else in your hand, moms, besides a rod.

He's put a book in your hands, the book of God. And by this you may impart wisdom to your child which under the blessing of God will lead to your joy.

It was by hearing this book from infancy through his mother and grandmother that Timothy was made wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

It was a mother and a grandmother with a book in their hand. scroll or whatever they had but it was the word of God and they taught it faithfully and under God's blessing it enriched Timothy for eternity.

You know in this book you can teach them everything about God about themselves about their world about Jesus Christ the only way of salvation the final judgment heaven hell you have this book God's given you the very best way to live you can set it before your children.

It's a book that from beginning to end brings conviction of sin and points people to the Lord Jesus Christ and so because children are born with sinful hearts they go astray from the womb speaking lies and mothers you're most likely to be the one to catch them in their first lie first one to catch them in their first lie don't miss that teaching moment Jimmy do you know what God says about liars in Proverbs he says he hates a lying tongue and if you don't repent of your sin of lying and trust in Jesus it will take you to hell because the Bible says in Revelation 21 8 that all liars have their place in the lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death you get to be the first one to confront him with his lie you get that opportunity use the book use the rod and teach them that Jesus died for liars and confess to him that you once lied and Jesus' blood has cleansed you and forgiven you and God's put another thing in your hand you've got a rod you've got a book another thing that under his blessing will lead to your joy and that is influence a mother's influence it's a powerful thing especially in the first seven years you know during those early years they believe everything that you say that doesn't last forever does it moms you have a unique privilege they believe you they love you they want to follow you want to be like use that influence to urge them on to Christ and Christ likeness and so I had Proverbs 31 read as we began our sermon this morning because it quotes the sayings of a king a wise king that was dispensing wisdom

King Lemuel he's given nine verses in the Bible and they are all the words that his mother taught him I find that important of all the things that he had learned in his lifetime he goes back to some sticky words of a mother that are hard to forget moms use your influence to lay up truth in their hearts while they're young truths that will follow them through life God has given you a rod a book an influence and there's another thing God has given you for your task of mothering and it's a throne of grace throne of grace a throne where Christ reigns for you where you receive grace and help in its many forms that you need in mothering you can receive from this throne the wisdom of Solomon and you'll need that as a mother you can receive from this throne the patience of Job and you'll need that as a mother you can receive the compassion and self-denial of Jesus

Christ from this throne and you'll need that and you can receive an unrattled peace and faith and hope and a boldness and a courage and a consistency and a perseverance and forgiveness for all your failures as a mother you'll find it at this throne of grace strength to be a godly example to your children an encouragement not to quit but to confess your sins and get up and trust in the Lord again so we're encouraged to make use of the throne these things are yours Christ has them for you moms so let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need maybe your children are grown gone from the home but even when they're grown and gone you can follow them with your prayers you may not be able to reach them but you can reach the throne that reaches them what a privilege his ear is not deaf that he cannot hear and his arm is not too short that he cannot save and reach out there he knows where they live he knows what they're thinking he knows what they're doing he has the key to their hearts use the throne of grace and use it for all the things that God's put in your hand if you still have a rod with a young child use the throne of grace to plead blessing upon the use of the rod each time use the throne of grace to pray for blessing upon each scripture that you teach them each influence aspect of your influence over them a rod a book an influence and a throne mothers

God has not left you to yourself but he's equipped you with all that you need for this important work of mothering and he who assigns this important work gives you all you need and assists you himself happy the home that has the presence of a godly mother she's to be honored and praise her children they arise and call her blessed her husband also and he praises her and so as we honor mothers today let's trace let's trace this river of blessing back to its source back to its giver God and bless him and honor him for ever giving us such a gift as the mothers he's given us let's thank him as we pray together our blessed father in heaven we thank you for your idea of mothers and in your creating of mothers and making them and equipping them with everything they need for their task you have shown us your wisdom and in giving mothers to us you have shown us your kindness and your your mercy to us would you help us to honor them all the days of our lives and we pray that you would help them encourage them this morning help them to make use of all that you've given them and Lord we're asking you to give success to their labor that they might enjoy the fruit and reward of their labor even joy for eternity hear us as we give thanks and ask these things in

Jesus powerful name amen amen you