Mother's Day

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. The telephones throughout the land will ring, as sons and daughters call their mothers to express their appreciation for the one who gave them life. Or you might be like one of our granddaughters. I'm Granny. I wish I could be there with you right now and celebrate you on Mother's Day. But like every day, I'm thinking of you. And I hope you have a great Mother's Day and I love you very much. So, you can do a card like that.

Washington the Urban wrote, Your mother is your truest friend, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon you, when adversity takes a place of prosperity, when friends who rejoice with you in their sunshine desert you, when trouble thickens around you, she will still cling to you and endeavor by kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness and cause peace to return to your hearts. An anonymous author writes, No painter's brush nor poet's pen injustice to her fame is ever reached half high enough to write a mother's name. So what do the words M-O-T-H-E-R represent?

M is for the mercy she extends in the darkest times. O is for the ointment of love that soothes the soul. T is for the tears she sheds to save us. H is for the heart of purest gold. E is for her eyes of kindness and understanding. R is for right, steering us. E is for the right path of life. Mother's love, her love is like an island in life's ocean, vast and wide, a peaceful quiet shelter from the wind to rain to tide.

T is bound on the north by hope, by patience on the west, by tender counsel on the south and on the east by rest. By tender counsel, above all she is like a beacon light, shine faith in truth and prayer, and through the changing scenes of life I find a haven there. The importance of the role of our mothers in our lives is beyond our ability to describe and appreciate, though we have those who've taken to pin and tried to describe what a mother's love, care, and concern really means, they all fall short. There is a father's love, there is a mother's love.

The love of both parents is vital and necessary, but the importance of the mother's love in the first few years of life will, to a large degree, determine the future of the child. Fathers can be close to their children, but in some ways they will never be as close to their children as mothers are. A mother carries the infant in her body for the first nine months after conception. Even though the child inherits the genes and chromosomes of father and mother, and in that sense comes out of the loins of both parents, because both parents contribute genetic material, the mother is the one who actually nourishes us in her body and through her body.

The mother is the one who provides us with love and a sense of psychological well-being. Back around the turn of the century, by this I mean the turn of the century of between 19th and 20th century, going back 109 years or so, it was a disgrace for an unwed mother to give birth. So many unwed mothers went to what was called foundling homes to give birth. They would give birth, never see or touch the baby. Many of these babies died in an unexplainable way, an unexplainable death in the first few weeks of life.

They eventually discovered that these babies, who were not provided with human contact and shown love and affection, during the first few hours of life, were the ones that were dying. It is the mother who provides the first cues from another human being that gives us the sense of wanting to live and how to love. Child growth and development experts know that the first thing that should happen as soon as a child is born is to provide the newborn with human contact. So now, after a child is born, usually that baby is placed immediately on the mother's belly, the umbilical cord is cut, and as soon as possible, the baby is nursing at the mother's breast.

No one can take the place of mother. Not only do mothers give us life and teach us how to love, they are first and foremost our teachers. They are the ones who begin to teach us about life and how to love. When the kings of the Bible are listed, the names of the mothers are also given. Let's notice now 1 Kings 14, 1 Kings 14 and verse 31.

1 Kings 14 verse 31. Rehoboam slept with his fathers. Remember Rehoboam was Solomon's son who became king of Judah and Benjamin after the kingdom was divided after the death of Solomon. Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother's name was Nehemah and Ammonitis. Remember that Solomon married many strange wives. And his mother's name was Nehemah and Ammonitis. And Abigam, his son, reigned in his stead. Also in Kings 15 verse 2.

1 Kings 15 verse 2. Three years reigned he in Jerusalem and his mother's name was Makah, the daughter of Abishalom. So mothers are named in the Bible and we'll find that in the Bible very often, like mother, like son. For example, the son of Jezebel. Let's go to 2 Kings 19 and verse 20. In 2 Kings, I said 19 but I want 9. 2 Kings 9, Chapter 9. 2 Kings 9 and verse 20.

The king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu and met him in the portion of Naboth, the Jezreelite. It came to pass when Jehoram saw Jehu that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace? So long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many.

And Jehoram turned his hands and fled and said, E Huziah, There is treachery, O E Huziah. And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to Bidkar, his captain, Take up and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth, the Jezreelite. For remember how that when I and you rode together after Ahab his father, remember that Ahab was the king and Jezebel was his wife, that when I and you rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him.

And surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his son, says the Lord, and I will requite you in this plait, says the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plait of ground according to the word of the Lord. So we see here one of the kings of Israel turning out like his mother. The mother's name and reputation in Israel was reflected by the lives of their children.

There is no greater responsibility than to be the first teacher of potential sons of God. Let's quickly now look at Proverbs, chapter 1. We will chronicle here quickly through Proverbs about mother's role in teaching before we get to some very specifics in our day and what we need to be doing ourselves. In Proverbs, chapter 1, verse 8, My son, hear the instruction of your father, and forsake not the law of your mother. Now this is to all the young people here, those of you who handed out roses and those who didn't.

Hear the instruction of your father and the law of your mother. In chapter 4, verse 3, he taught also, me also, and said unto me, Let your heart retain my words, keep my commandments, and live. Verse 3, For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved, in the sight of my mother.

Mother's instruction is so very precious. In chapter 6, Proverbs 6, verse 20, My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother. In Proverbs 10, verse 1, Proverbs 10, verse 1, Proverbs of Solomon, A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. In Proverbs 15, verse 20, a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

How many tears are shed by mothers? If we should bottle up all the tears that have been shed through the years, yea, even the eons, I would venture to say that there have been more tears shed by mothers over their children than for any other thing that a tear has ever been shed for.

Mothers love their children. But sometimes they think they are loving when actually they are not. More about that later in Proverbs 15, verse 20, A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. And the last one in Proverbs, Proverbs 19, verse 26, Proverbs 19, verse 26, He that wastes his father and chases away his mother is a son that causes shame and brings reproach.

Yes, women are to be teachers of the family. Let's look first of all in a broader, generic sense of women and older women teaching the younger women. We'll go first of all to 1 Timothy 5, verse 1. One of the main things we want to note at this point is we are laying a foundation that mothers are the first teachers. The mothers are the ones that helped impart to a child a desire to live and how to love.

In 1 Timothy 5, in verse 1, Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters with all purity, honor widows or widows indeed. Then it talks about what is a true widow in the eyes of God and the responsibility of a family to take care of a widow if at all possible.

We pick it up again in verse 11. But the younger widows refuse, for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry, having judgment because they have cast off their first faith. And with all they learn to be idle, wondering about from house to house, and not speaking things which they ought not. So, of course, here's a powerful warning against gossiping. And one of the things that people tend to do is they go and tell their girlfriend, their friend, about things that are wrong before they maybe tell their husband or someone else they should tell. So, powerful warning about that. I will therefore that the younger women marry.

This is the Word of God. The Word of God is applicable in all days and all ages and at all times. The Church of God does not believe that the Word of God must be compromised to fit the social milieu of the day, but that it is applicable for all times. Therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, for some are already turned aside after Satan. Any man or woman that believes have widows, let them relieve them. Let not the Church be charged that it may relieve them that are widows indeed, which are defined earlier in the chapter. Now we go to 1 Timothy chapter 2.

So, we see from this that the older women are to teach the younger women. The younger women are to be sober-minded, to take care of their household, to do the things that are pleasing in the sight of God. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 9, "...in like manner also that the woman adorned themselves in modest apparel." We're going to come back to this.

We're going to read through verse 15. "...they adorned themselves in modest apparel." What does that mean? "...with shame-facetedness." What does shame-facetedness mean? "...and sobriety, not with broidered hair, or gold, or perils, or costly array, but which becomes women professing godliness with good works." "...let the woman learn in silence with all subjection, but I suffer or permit not a woman to teach, or usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." "...or Adam was first formed, then Eve." "...and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." "...notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." Now, in today's world, obviously, these words are so far out of touch with what is being practiced.

And I know that there has to be some, what would we say, moderation in the sense of how they are applied, obviously. And the Church of God has gone through that from time to time. Please hold your place there. We want to look back at Ezekiel 16 for just a moment. Ezekiel 16 is an account of the condition that Israel was in when God selected them to be his bride and to enter into a covenant relationship with them. Some people ask, well, you know, why did God start with Israel? Israel surely was not the best of nations nor the largest, the strongest. They were virtually a nomadic tribe that surely wasn't mentioned among the great civilizations in ancient history.

But God started with them because he had made the promises to the patriarchs, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Let's read the first three verses. Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and say, thus says the Lord God unto Jerusalem, Your birth and your nativity is of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, your mother a Hittite. Then he goes on to describe how they were when he first passed by them. Verse 6, When I passed by you and saw you polluted in your own blood, and he uses the analogy of a newborn and what a newborn looks like when they first come out of their mother's womb, I said unto you, when you were in your blood, live, yes, I said unto you, when you were in your blood, live. Then he talks about, he passed by, he cleaned them up. Verse 9, I washed you with water. Verse 10, I clothed you. Verse 11, I decked you with ornaments, a bracelet upon your hands, a chain on your neck, a jewel in your forehead, earrings in your ears, a beautiful crown upon your head, your deck with gold and silver, and so on. I show this to show that it is not wrong to wear jewelry, but it is not to be the thing that sets you apart with regard to holiness and that which is acceptable to God. Now back to 1 Timothy 2 and verse 9. Verse 9, and like men are also the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. The word modest, this particular Greek word is kosmios, and it's a derivation of the word cosmos, which means the order of things. It means well arranged, seemingly that which is modest. It's not out of place. And then the word shame-facetedness means a sense of shame, modesty, bashfulness, reverence, regard for others, respect. Adorn yourselves modestly and with shame-facetedness.

So a mother should teach their daughters, and they themselves should dress modestly and help them understand respect and regard for others. Is that what we're doing in the Church of God today?

The Spirit of the times is directed toward appealing to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That's what the Spirit of the times is about.

We notice a warning in James. Go there, James chapter 3. James chapter 3.

With regard to whether or not you care for the Spirit of the times, it's chapter 4. Verse 1, Now this is talking about the... I know that a lot of ministers apply this to actual military warfare, but this is about warfare that's going on within a human being, like described in Romans chapter 7, of the things I would do, I don't do. And you have this war that is going on internally between what you know to do and what you actually do. That's what this is about. This is not about war among nations, as some have wrongly applied it. I guess you could use that in a principles... as a principle, P-R-I-N-C-I-B-L-E, not P-A-L. You lust and have not, kill and desire to have, and cannot obtain. You fight and more, yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask and receive not, because you ask and miss, that you may consume it upon your lust. You adulterers and adulterers say, no you not, that the friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God. I didn't write it. So you can say it's the spirit of the times. You can say whatever you want to say. But God has called us, hopefully if we claim to be ministers of God, to preach the whole counsel of God. That means everything in this Bible, and everything in this Bible according to what the Bible says is inspired of God as profitable for instruction, reproof, and doctrine, and instruction in all righteousness. So the spirit of the times is directed toward appealing to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Satan knows how to deceive and seduce humans into doing his bidding. He's a master from the time that Satan deceived at least a third of the angels, and they followed him in rebellion, and tried to overthrow the throne of God to Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden. To the present day, he is a master of seduction and deceit. He is the father of lies and a murderer. Now, our culture is in the midst of a revolution that started in the sixties, about the time that John F. Kennedy became president, not blaming him necessarily. The Vietnam War, the Vietnam War came, and Lyndon Johnson, the hippie drug movement that started in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, in which the drugs from the Orient, from Afghanistan, from Vietnam, from Cambodia, began to pour into this nation on the West Coast. You had the flower children, the hippie movement. You had several liberal psychologists in the United States that spread to the college campuses. The University of California, Berkeley, Stanford, and places like that became havens for the movement, and it eventually spread across the whole nation. And since the 1960s, especially, our culture has been in revolution. And you hear the term today, the culture wars. And there is a great warfare that is being waged. Basically, those who have advocated lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life have won. Those who stand for righteousness in the right way, or few and far between, they are made fun of. They are called hard-hearted. They are called neanderthals. They are called stone age. They are called all kinds of names, not in touch with reality. When you destroy the family, you destroy the very fabric of society that which holds society together. We're living in a sex-saturated society in which the advertising world, the world of entertainment, including movies, television, music, the print media, they pitch their plots. Really, there's not much of a plot. The plot is, let's get in bed. There's sick humor, the lyrics of the songs, the pictures, the commercials. It's all centered by innuendo or by very explicit kind of language to sexual seduction. This is described by the Apostle Peter, 2 Peter, chapter 2.

2 Peter, chapter 2.

Beginning in verse 9. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations or trials and to reserve the unjust and the day of judgment to be punished.

But chiefly them that walk after the flesh and the lust of uncleanness despise government. Of course, they despise the law of God. The law of God is under attack. The Bible is under attack. Christianity is under attack. Christians are now lumped in with fanatics of any kind of religious movement you want to name, including fanatical Islam.

Presumptious are they, self-willed, are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these as natural, brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness. As they count it pleasure to riot in the daytime, spots they are, blemishes sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you. And the key verse that you see on the newsstands as you check out at the grocery stores, the convenience stores, and wherever else, magazines are displayed. And of course, you see this movies, television, billboards, the whole advertising media world, having eyes full of an adult of adultery. And the literal translation is having the eyes of an adulterous. And you see the eyes, the hard seductive looks that are on the faces of those men and women who are on the covers of the magazines. Mainly they have women that cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls, and hardly of exercise with covetous practices having children of curse. Yes, the Bible is up to date. The men used to be the aggressors in society. A false notion of masculinity was taught in the United States of America. It was somewhat analogous to the Wild West in which the great gunslinger, the more notches he had on his gun, the more he was to be feared. He was top gun. And to a large degree, and they make fun of it today and boast about, well, you know, how many women have you had? That's like the Hallmark of masculinity. Or it's been reversed today almost like, well, how many men have you had?

You see, the men were given the God-ordained position, as we read from 1 Timothy 2, that they should be the teachers. And if anyone's going to say no, it should be the man. But today, the burden is placed upon the woman. But Satan has gone another step now, and he has been able to turn it around to the point where, beginning with the little girls all the way up through society, that the women now are taught to be the seducers. A good friend of ours taught elementary school for years in East Texas. Some of you in this audience know her very well. She was one of the most gifted teachers and one teacher of the year award several times. She said one of the main problems, and this was in the late 80s and early 90s, main problems, even with first graders, was to get them off, that is, boys and girls' minds off of each other enough to get their attention. And of course, the parents went along with a lot of this, by the way that they dressed their children, by the way that they talked to their children, and it just made it very difficult.

Just about all the cell phone texting, talking that youngsters do, is directed toward boy-girl stuff. Parents seem to be oblivious to what their children are doing. Are they oblivious or are they naive? Or are they oblivious and naive, or is it something else? Well, what does the word oblivious mean? The word oblivious means not aware. I'm just sort of not aware. I just don't have a clue as to what they're doing. The word naive means too willing to believe that someone is telling the truth that people's intentions in general are good or that life is simple and fair. The Bible says foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. All of us are born morally illiterate. It is up to the mothers and to the fathers to teach right from wrong. I guarantee you that's one thing that my mother and my father were not negligent in. Neither the community in which I grew up, and of course that sense of community and neighborhood to a large degree, has been lost today. Here's an example of a naive sentence. She was very naive to believe that he'd stay with her. Oh, she thought he really loved her, but that was naive. She was taken in. Or, another example, they make the naive assumptions that because it's popular, it must be alright. Of course, the Bible says that because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Everybody else is doing it, so it must be alright, including people in the church.

No, it's not alright if it's not according to the Word of God. You know, I believe that with many of our parents, they are aware, and they're not naive. But, they just don't want to fulfill, or seem like they just can't quite bring themselves to fulfill the responsibility and exercise, the conviction, the commitment, the courage necessary to fulfill their office as parents. And it is a high calling. It is one of the highest callings of all, as I read in the introduction.

By so doing, that is, not fulfilling their responsibility in this God-ordained office, they place pleasing their children above pleasing God. I see youngsters sitting with parents, talking, passing notes, eating food, fiddling around with their cell phones, to name a few behaviors. A lot of parents never even look at their children. They sit there as if they're unaware, oblivious to them being beside them. They ignore them. They act as if they are in a different universe. Parents need to engage their children during services. See if they have turned to the Scriptures. Help them take notes. Help them learn how to listen, to be involved almost every week. I have someone complain about how some of the teenagers and women are dressing in our congregation.

They say, oh, you know, I can't say anything. I can't offend them. And some people would be offended, and you'd make you a lifelong enemy, maybe. Hopefully not.

You can, of course, you can be offended and blame those who are concerned, or you can obey God. Psalm 119 verse 172 says, Great peace have they who love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.

We've come to the point that ministers are intimidated by the people and afraid of being labeled as harsh, uncaring, unloving, self-righteous prudes. It's sort of like the feud between the so-called liberal Democrats and the conservative Republicans.

You know, I surely don't want to offend anyone, but I'm charged with declaring the whole counsel of God, and what I'm saying is supported by the Word of God. And one of the trends that I've noticed in recent years is that we're drifting into a type of churchianity as opposed to Christianity.

What do I mean by that? Well, church is where our friends are. This is the basis of our social interaction, and that's what's important to us. In other words, we become more fearful of offending someone by pointing out the way of righteousness than we are fearful of offending God. Which one is more important? Notice Revelation 21. Revelation 21, verse 6, we'll start. And He said unto me, It is done, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is the thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son. But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So I'm pleading with you, parents, I'm pleading with you, children, tomorrow is Mother's Day. You know how vital mothers are.

What a high calling to be called mother, to be called father, to be called grandmother, grandfather. And what a responsibility that God places upon all of us in fulfilling whatever our God-ordained role is at this present time in this life. It is a matter of life and death.

Notice Proverbs chapter 7. Proverbs chapter 7. I said it's a matter of life and death. Let's see if the Bible agrees with what I said. Proverbs 7. Verse 1, My son, keep my words, lay up my commandments with you, keep my commandments and live, and my law is the apple of your eye. So now we make an appeal to you who are sons and daughters. Those of you who haven't yet experienced fatherhood or motherhood, a word to you. Bind them upon your fingers, right upon the table of your heart. Say unto wisdom, You are my sister. Call understanding your kinswoman, that they may keep you from the strange woman, from the stranger which flatters with her words. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, and beheld among the simple ones I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding. See, men have been placed in the responsibility of leadership. They should be the ones who carry out this responsibility. They should be the ones who lead, the ones who are paragons, the models, the examples of righteousness, of love, caring and concern. But instead, they've been taught something else, and then sadly, as I said, the women of the day have been taught something else as well. And Satan is having such a field day as it were. I'm sure he and his hosts are rejoicing as they see what is happening in our land, sadly. And this could have been written yesterday, but it was written hundreds of years ago, verse 6. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, and behold, among the simple ones I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner. And he went the way of her house, and the twilight in the evening, in the black and dark night. And behold, there met him a woman with a attire of an harlot, and subtle of heart. She is loud and stubborn, her feet a by-knight in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lies in wait at every corner. So she caught him and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me this day, have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet you diligently to seek your face, and I have found you. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with loves, for the good man is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. Taking a bag of money with him, he will come home at the day appointed. With her much fairer speech she caused him to yield. With the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goes after her straightway as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till a dart strikes through his liver as a bird haste to his snare, and knows not that it is for his life.

Harken to me now therefore, O you children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths, for she has cast down many wounded. Yes, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is a way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

So the Word of God is quite clear. It is quite plain. So an admonition to our youngsters. Let's go to Ephesians 6. Of course, all this goes hand in glove. We cannot blame just the men. We cannot blame just the women. We cannot blame just the children. We cannot blame just anyone or anything particular. It is a whole package. Christianity in God's way is a way of life, as you've heard so often. It is the whole package. It is putting everything together in its proper perspective.

Now, one of the Ten Commandments, children obey your parents. That your days may be long upon the earth. That's in Exodus 20. It's repeated in Ephesians 6, verse 1. Children obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That word nurture literally means discipline. Of course, a part of loving is to discipline. Notice in Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12, verse 5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children. Hebrews 12, 5. My son despises not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with son, for what son is he whom the father chastens not? But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, all have deserved and need discipline, when children are not paid attention to, when they are not engaged, when you don't let them know you care, when you are oblivious, when you're naive, or when you just simply don't have the conviction, commitment, courage to fulfill your office, then their cue is, you don't care, you don't love them.

And of course, they could get the same cue from their spiritual mother, the church. You know, to praise that which is not praiseworthy is to do a great disservice. In fact, it is flattery. The Bible condemns flattery up one side and down the other.

Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? For they, verily, for a few days chastens us after their own pleasure, but he, for our prophet, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Now, no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Just as we come out of the loins of our earthly father and mother, we come out of the loins of our spiritual father and mother. That is, the Father God who is spirit. Let's go to Romans 8 now. So, just another thought with regard to Mother's Day. Not only tomorrow, let's think about honoring our physical mothers, the ones who gave us physical life, but also the Father of lights, the Father of love and truth, God the Father, and the fact that he raised up the church. And by analogy, where we are nourished spiritually in the womb of the church, Romans 8 and verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. You have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, join heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Now to Galatians chapter 4, Galatians chapter 4 and verse 26. Paul in Galatians 4 uses the allegory of the old and new covenants of Hagar and Sarah. Sarah the free woman, Hagar the bond woman. Galatians 4, 24, which things are an allegory. For these are the two covenants. The one from the Mount Sinai was gendered to bondage, which is Hagar. And this Hagar is Mount Sinai, an Arabian, answers to Jerusalem, which now is physical Jerusalem and is in bondage with their children. But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoge you barren, that bear not, break forth and cry, you that travail not, for the desolate has many more children than she which has and husband. So that day is coming. Let's go to Psalm 87 now, in which we're not only having experienced a physical birth from our physical mother, but there will come the time in which we shall be resurrected and we shall be born of the Spirit as radiant, glorious spirit beings in the kingdom of God.

This Psalm, of course, has been set to music. Glorious Things of the Earth Spoken is the title of the hymn. In Psalm 87, His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion. Remember Hebrews 12, 22 says that you have come to the Mount Zion, the city of the living God. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Jacob represents the physical. Glorious things of the Earth Spoken, O City of God, I will make mention of Rahab, Babylon, to them that know me, behold, Philistea, Tyre with Ethiopia. This man was born there. Where? And of Zion it shall be said. This and that man was born in her. And the highest himself shall establish her. And the Lord shall count when he writes up the people that this man was born there. Of course, Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead. He now sits at the right hand of the Father. The church is supposed to provide nourishment and spiritual direction for the little ones that find sanctuary in her womb. And each of us has a grave responsibility for serving the little ones in the church of God. Of course, there are some significant differences between physical fetus and a little one in God's church. The physical fetus is totally dependent on the mother for its nourishment and sense of well-being. But spiritually speaking, we all have a direct link to the Father. We can all feast on the Word of God at any time through prayer, fasting, Bible study, fellowship. Regardless of what our physical mother does, our Heavenly Father will never leave us nor forsake us. One of the great hallmarks of great mothers is their undying, loving devotion to their children. One of my most vivid childhood memories centers on visits to the dentist's office. Back in the days when you didn't have water being spewed out of the drill, it was just this old hard grinding, if you've never experienced it, if you've never lived, this sound, this grinding of teeth. And my mother would refuse the $2 novocaine shot to deaden it to save that $2. Man, I would have given them everything that I had.

But she would save that $2 because of how she cared for us. I recall my mother's work in the field up at 5 a.m. breakfast by 6. Bed swept. Bed's made up. The floor swept. In the fields by 7 or 7.30. Leave at 11. Cook dinner. Go back to the field. Come and prepare supper. All the dishes washed and all of that. And in bed by 8.30. And all of us can probably tell stories of what our mothers did for us. You know, I thank God for my mother. All of us should thank God for our mothers. But at the same time, do not pass over lightly what I've said here today about the responsibility of older women, teaching younger women, and you mothers teaching your daughters. And not to be taken in by this present evil society. And not to love this world. Not to be caught up in the spirit of the times. But rather to stand where God wants us to stand.

A Mother's Prayer A mother's prayer to finally share with you. Lord, govern their lives as you have mine. Touch them with your sweet divine. Make them happy. Guide their paths. Pickle their funny bones. Let me hear their laughs. Dry the tears sliding down their faces. Hold their hands when the love heart races. Make them stand tall when the burdens are great. Prepare them to carry the loads of faith. Heal the hurts and sufferings of the spirit. Make them listen until they hear it. The sweet song of yours that will touch their soul and carry them forward until they are old. Lord, let them see the meaning of life. Protect them from the evils of strife. Gently guide them in the paths of your ways. I pray, Lord, I pray for them every day. I know, Lord, that I fell short many times. In my guidance as mom there were crimes. And times that I failed to help them see the beauty that you have bestowed around me. Take their hands and lead them forward. Give them strength to avoid the coward. And evil ones that lurk about, waiting to swallow them up and shout the conquests of their gentle soul. Provide them the coin to pass the toll. Please make things right, Lord, once again. To help them to see the meaning of friend and loved ones that hold them close to the heart. Were the mother that loves them never apart. This great love that mothers have for children. The desire to be a mother is one of the greatest and most noble desires in all of history. There can be no greater joy than for a parent to know that their child serves in the sanctuary of God. In the sanctuary of our loving Heavenly Father. So just as earthly mothers brought us to birth, God the Father is going to bring us to birth in the kingdom of God as we read in Psalm 87. So let's focus on physical mothers and our spiritual mother tomorrow and give them the honor that is due them. And I hope all of you have a wonderful Mother's Day.