A Biblical Tribute to Motherhood

Introduction: A Biblical Tribute to Godly Motherhood

0:00 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, May 11, 1997, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. This day, the 11th of May in 1997, is, in the good providence of God, another Lord's Day Sabbath. And it is such a day by divine prerogative and by divine designation. God has marked out this day for Himself and for the good of mankind.

0:40 No individual, no collective action of any of God's creature can alter the fact that this day is the Lord's Day Sabbath. However, in the administration of the affairs of our life as a nation, our elected officials have designated, for some years, that the second Sunday in the month of May each year should be called Mother's Day. And it is a day in which we are encouraged, as inhabitants of this country, to give special honor and recognition to the mothers among us.

1:23 Now, during my three and a half decades of ministry in this assembly, I have regarded such special nationality, such national days, along with the special religious days in the church calendar, as matters of Christian liberty. On the one hand, I have never felt my conscience bound to preach a Mother's Day sermon because our national life designates any given Lord's Day as Mother's Day. I have felt no constraints to preach a sermon on environmentalism because a certain day is called Earth Day. The scripture says in 1 Corinthians 7.23,

2:05 you were bought with a price, be not the slaves of men. Christ alone is Lord of the conscience of the individual believer and of the church collectively. And while I have disappointed dozens of peoples over the years who came to church expecting on these nationally designated days a sermon appropriate to the day, and on the days in the religious calendar, Christmas and Easter and Epiphany, etc., I have never had anyone bring the word of God to bear upon my conscience

2:41 and convict me of sin by ignoring days designated special Sundays by the state or by the church. For the Lord Jesus Christ has marked out every Lord's Day Sabbath as His own. On the other hand, as our good friend Tevye would say, when I have judged that the twin goals of evangelism and edification could better be served by using a national day or a church in the calendar, the church calendar that is a special day, I have felt the liberty to preach the word of God

3:25 taking a springboard from that particular occasion in order to lead our thoughts into the Scriptures. And this is precisely what I propose to do this morning because when I have done that in the past, just as no one has been able to persuade my conscience that I have sinned by ignoring the national or the ecclesiastical calendar days, no one has persuaded my conscience that I am sinning should I take such days, as the springboard to dig into the word of God with an appropriate text or theme. And that's precisely what I propose to do this morning.

4:09 I want to set before you what I am calling a biblical tribute to the noble task of godly motherhood. A biblical tribute to the noble task of godly motherhood. Now this title was not thrown together in a hasty, haphazard fashion. Rather, I have concocted it to act like one of those pegged coat hangers that some of you have in your hallway.

4:44 It hangs there with these very prominent pegs. You don't have to worry if the coat will remain once you put the loop over the peg. And each of these words, particularly as I've grouped them in pairs or three couplets, I trust will be pegs upon which to hang the substance of the ministry of the word of God. A biblical tribute to the noble task of godly motherhood.

Defining the Terms: Biblical, Noble Task, Godly Motherhood

5:15 And I want to spend a few minutes by way of introduction zeroing in on the precise meaning of those words. We begin with a biblical tribute. A tribute is formally defined in the dictionary as something given, done or said as a gift, testimony, etc. that shows gratitude, respect, honor, and praise.

5:44 A tribute is a testimony that shows gratitude, respect, honor, or praise. And what I desire to do this morning is to pay a tribute to godly motherhood. That is to give testimony in a way of gratitude, respect, honor, and praise to that noble calling. But it is to be a biblical tribute.

6:15 That is a tribute comprised of the stuff of Holy Scripture. And this will be in direct contrast to 99 and 44 100% of what will go on today even in churches. There will be much cultural or traditional tribute paid to motherhood. There will be sentimental and emotional tributes paid to motherhood.

6:44 There will no doubt be some biographical and personal tributes. And surely I could spend the morning, were it appropriate, engaging in that. Having had the unspeakable privilege to this very day of the nurture of a godly mother who in a sense is with me every day of my life as she gave herself to the molding of my character. But my desire is that you will leave with fundamental biblical perspectives etched upon your memory.

7:20 And I trust in the days to come dispilled into the very pool of that which constitutes your heart. And so I wish to give a biblical tribute. The second pair of words are these. The noble task of godly motherhood.

7:41 Now the word noble doesn't fit in this generation. You might live for months and never hear anyone say of another person he is marked by nobility. In the grunge grunt screaming how discourteous image bear degrading generation nobility is well nigh gone the way of the goonie bird. But I want to resurrect it this morning in conjunction with godly motherhood.

8:17 Noble is defined as that which is grand, stately and magnificent. And the word of God sets forth godly motherhood as something grand, as something stately, something magnificent. All of the screeching feminists notwithstanding. And I want to set forth a biblical tribute to the noble, now hear me carefully women, task, not the noble ideal, but the noble task of godly motherhood.

8:59 And the word task is defined as an undertaking involving labor or difficulty. And I'm prepared to say that there are few if any callings in life including the work of the ministry that are more arduous and demanding of sanctified labor than the task of motherhood. And so by bringing those two words together we underscore that though it is arduous it is not demeaning, it is noble. And though it is noble, it is not noble with the nobility of lords and ladies

9:42 in the 19th century in a Parisian court who spent all of their time primping their hair and cutting the lace on their dresses and left to their servants the quote menial tasks of motherhood. It is a noble task. Do you women feel the thrill of the words? I hope you do.

10:03 I've got the goose bumps as I say them. And I want to set before you a biblical tribute concerning the noble task and my last couplet or pair of words is godly motherhood. Now by motherhood I mean the bearing, the nurturing, the training and even the prayerful tracking till you die or they die of every one of your children. That's my definition of motherhood.

10:36 The bearing, the nurturing, the training and the prayerful concern tracking of every child of your womb until you are taken to a better place for the Lord takes them from you. Godly motherhood. That's what I mean by motherhood. Not merely conceiving and birthing kids and feeling the fulfillment of nursing them at your breast and making sure that their bodies are fed and clothed all that that demands of you.

11:09 That is not motherhood in the biblical concept. It is the tireless, continuous, self-withering ministry of giving yourself to the nurture and training and then godly tracking of the fruit of your womb till death do you part. But it's godly motherhood. Not just motherhood.

11:36 You see all across the land today people will be giving sainthood by means of a fruitful womb. And motherhood will be extolled as though it is virtuous in itself. We don't learn that from the Bible. The Bible records some pretty wicked mothers.

11:52 Athaliah is the prototype of a wicked mother in the Old Testament. Read about her this afternoon in 2 Kings 11. She was a murderous, scheming, heartless, bloodthirsty woman. But a very prolific mother.

12:07 But not a godly mother. The prototype in the New Testament is that wicked woman Herodias. She schemes with her daughter Salome. Think of it.

12:20 A girl and a mother asking not that someone be killed and buried out of sight but to have his blood-soaked head brought on a platter. You see the Bible contains a doctrine of wicked motherhood. And we're not going to extol someone simply because they've had a fruitful womb. The Bible doesn't.

12:40 But the Bible does pay tribute to godly motherhood. Motherhood fashioned by the fear of God according to Proverbs 31.30. The seedbed out of which all the virtues of that woman whose virtues are celebrated in Proverbs 31 is she that is she that fears the Lord shall be praised.

13:07 The fear of God is that which fastens the godly mother. And as she is fashioned by the fear of God she fulfills her tasks in the power of the Spirit of God. Ephesians 5.18 Be not drunk with wine but be being filled with the Spirit is the entrance into the specific directions concerning husbands and wives and parents.

13:33 Indicating that it is only in the power of the Spirit of God that these domestic duties can be fulfilled. Well I've taken some twelve minutes to define the words of what I'm attempting to do not to fill up time dear people but that you might have some clear pegs on which to hang the essence of what we consider this morning. I desire God helping me to set before you a biblical tribute concerning the noble task of godly motherhood. Now I had planned and my notes were about a full page

The Necessity for a Biblical Tribute (Briefly Noted)

14:16 to take as our first segment of biblical truth the necessity for such a tribute. But as I've calculated it would take me fifteen to twenty minutes to open up the text and then I'd be stinting if I'm going to seek to stay within the hour of the allocated time and those of you who attend upon this ministry I believe will be satisfied when I say I'm convinced that in terms of certain explicit precepts and in terms of certain specific mandates of scripture that there is solid warrant for addressing such a subject. I had purposed to rest my case down on Exodus 20.12 which is the Old Testament record of the fifth commandment.

15:01 It's New Testament covenant which is the counterpart Ephesians 6.1 and 2 as an ancillary text Romans 13.7 and then from Proverbs 31.28 to 31 to establish that children and husbands rendering praise to the godly mother has solid biblical warrant.

15:24 And then I intended to open up Romans 12.2 and Ephesians 4.18 in which we are commanded not to be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of the mind. Ephesians 4.17

15:37 we are not to walk as the Gentiles with their darkened understanding demonstrate how society oozes with a thousand influences to denigrate the nobility of motherhood. I was speaking to one of our members who is just finishing up a course of study in a local college and she said to me Wednesday night day after day classroom after classroom I'm pummeled with the propaganda of feminism and one of the major tenets of radical feminism is a frontal attack upon the biblical doctrine

Focus on Godly Motherhood, Not Broader Womanhood

16:20 of the dignity and nobility of motherhood. But that exposition may have to wait for another day because I want to come in the second place to the substance of this tribute to godly motherhood. And here I cannot stint and maintain a good conscience. And there are three major components that will focus upon five major passages in the New Testament that set forth the substance of the noble task of godly motherhood.

16:54 Now will you listen carefully. I know no matter how carefully I qualify it somebody is going to go out and say why didn't...

17:03 I am not attempting to address the broader concern of godly womanhood. If I were intending to do that it would be irresponsible not to say something about single women something about widows something about those who are in circumstances that don't fit these texts but this morning I have a very limited focus I want to set before you a biblical tribute to the noble task of godly motherhood not a comprehensive systematic theology of the Bible's teaching on the nobility of womanhood

17:46 or the peculiar pressures of singleness or the peculiar burdens of a married woman who is childless through no choice of her own. I realize those are all categories but I can't do everything at once. If I tried to I'd preach so long you'd be angry and if I don't some get upset because well didn't you think yes I'm conscious of all of that I've had to rein in the desire but since the Bible addresses these things in isolation and we'll see it in the five texts we look at I'm not embarrassed to do the same. Alright?

Godly Motherhood: The Appointed Path of Persevering Faith (1 Timothy 2:15)

18:25 What then is the substance of this tribute to godly motherhood? Well the first strand of its substance is this according to the scriptures godly motherhood is the appointed path of persevering faith. Godly motherhood is the appointed path of persevering faith. Now I've quoted a number of texts but now I want you to turn in your Bibles with me so that the word of God comes through the ear gate as well as the eye gate.

18:57 Or the eye gate as well as the ear gate. Here in first Timothy as many of you know from previous acquaintance with the epistle Paul is setting forth at least in chapters two and three if not referring to the whole epistle his concerns relative to behavior in the house of God. He makes this very clear in chapter three in verse fifteen If I tarry long that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God which is the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth. Well in that larger category of concern behavior in the house of God

19:42 in chapter two in verse nine the specific focus of his instruction is the behavior of women look at verse nine in like manner that women adorn themselves verse ten but which becometh women professing godliness verse eleven let a woman learn in quietness verse twelve I permit not a woman verse fourteen but the woman being now do you see that the subject is the behavior of women in the house of God now that's the general overall context of the passage and what the apostle has done as we come to look more

20:27 particularly at verse fifteen is beautifully summarized by Lenski the Lutheran commentator in these words how the woman is to be outwardly and inwardly adorned when attending church look at verse nine and ten in like manner that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel that's their outward appearance with the old word shamefastness means nothing to us modesty and sobriety not with the emphasis upon braided hair or gold or pearls or costly raiment but which becomes women professing godliness if you're going to be gaudy in your dress be gaudy in good works

21:11 let your adornment be good works that sparkle and shine and make you beautiful a beauty that you cannot get from Estee Lauder that's the emphasis of the first verses I think that's clear to all of us then he goes on to say how the woman is to learn and not to teach or exert authority over men notice verse twelve but I permit not a woman to teach he deals with the woman in her external and her internal appearance demeanor now he deals with her proper place he starts with the negative oh Paul don't you know you're not supposed to be negative

21:55 you be careful how you correct the Holy Ghost in scripture and from this pulpit I permit not that's negative yes it is I permit not I permit not a woman to teach nor to have dominion over a man but to be in quietness then he gives the two-fold rationale rooted in creation and the circumstances of the fall but now he comes to the positive and here's our text as I seek to set before you a biblical tribute to the noble task of godly motherhood I'm affirming that the substance of this tribute begins with this what may seem

22:40 a radical assertion godly motherhood is the appointed path of persevering faith and on what grounds do I assert that look at verse fifteen but she shall be saved through her child bearing if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety now what in the world is the apostle saying is he saying that women will have their sins forgiven be justified in the court of heaven

23:22 made ready for the day of judgment if they will only have a fruitful womb the bible says she shall be saved through her child that's what the bible says I believe the bible and the bible says it now wait a minute nobody questions that's what the bible says but what does the bible mean now if it were teaching that by the process of conception gestation parturation someone would have the gates of eternal life thrown open what would it do to the teaching of the bible from genesis to revelation that we are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves that our only righteousness is to be found

24:07 in the person and work of Jesus Christ conferred upon sinners whom God quickens to life and brings into the way of repentance and faith we'd have to throw out the whole teaching of the bible on one of its most fundamental affirmations of faith in order to say it says save through childbearing I stand on the word of God it's like Luther remember this is my body and he insists that and he insisted it was the body of Christ not this stands for my body and Luther said this is what my bible says and he stood now you say I can't buy that well I'm glad you can because you don't want to throw over the whole of the bible by an apparent simplistic approach to a passage

24:52 no read the text with me this way she shall be saved drop out the next phrase through her childbearing read it this way she shall be saved if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety now does that fit the rest of the teaching of scripture that we come to the consummate you theologians eschatological realization of salvation in the way of persevering faith we don't come to ultimate salvation because our persevering faith merits that salvation but when God lays hold of us in grace and puts us in the way

25:37 he who begins the good work in us perfects it up until the day of Christ so that our persevering faith is not the ground of our salvation but it is the way of our salvation Colossians 1.23 we will be presented perfect in Christ if we continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel Hebrews 3 we are made partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end Hebrews 5.8 we are saved according to that text we are brought into the full possession of salvation

26:22 he became the author of eternal salvation unto all that are obeying him so you see the teaching of this passage is in perfect harmony with the analogy of faith that we are saved in the way of persevering faith and those dimensions of that highlighted here are faith love sanctification same word is used in Hebrews 12.14 follow after the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord and this is done with sobriety that is with holy decorum the same word in the original that's used up in verse 9

27:06 with respect to the woman's outward demeanor with modesty and sobriety now where does the through the child bearing fit well where it fits is precisely here you see the Bible doesn't often deal in detached abstractions it's very concrete and rather than say look at verse 15 again she shall be saved if she embraces from the heart in loving submission to God and to Christ her God appointed place in life as they continue in faith and love there is a concretizing

27:47 of the ordinary woman's place in life as a wife and a bearer of children in the same way when Paul goes on in the next chapter to give the requirement for an elder he assumes that anyone old enough mature enough having the consciences of the people of God to be regarded as blameless he would ordinarily be a married man with children so when he gives the requirements what does he say the bishop verse 2 must be husband of one wife ruling well his own house now does that mean a man can't be an elder if he's not married and doesn't have kids some have tried to teach that you would disqualify our Lord Jesus

28:31 and the Apostle Paul no record Timothy had a wife or any kids you see don't take a position on the word of God that makes the word of God fight itself its truth is one you see in the same way Paul assumes when he writes to the women in the church behavior in the church he assumes that the majority of those women would be married and would have children and therefore he says though as women the teaching and ruling office is not your place as you embrace your place you will realize

29:16 the outworking of persevering faith as you embrace from the heart your God-assigned role as mother and nurturer of your children thereby setting before us this truth that godly motherhood is the appointed path of persevering faith the same way for a godly pastor the path of persevering faith is set forth in verse 16 of chapter 4 look at it take heed to yourself he's writing to Timothy and to your teaching writing to Timothy

29:58 continue in these things for in doing this look what he says you will save both yourself and those who hear you you mean Timothy's faithfulness in watching his soul and watching his teaching is going to earn eternal life nonsense but for Timothy persevering faith meant fidelity to his God-given calling you can't have persevering faith and be indifferent to your God-given calling so he's doing the same thing with the women he's saying look don't be chomping at the bit for a role and a function for which God never created you

30:42 see the freedom

30:50 action of a bird is not in being envious of a fish but in splitting the air with its wings and nesting in the trees of the field and so God is graciously coming to the women there at Ephesus and saying through his servant Paul don't be chomping at the bit to damn yourself by rejecting your God-given role for you will damn yourself in the way of persevering faith embrace your God-given role with nobility and with dignity as you can guess

31:34 this is in my gut because you dear women are pummeled from every side from the wretched mindless sitcoms with Bundy's bimbo the model of quote motherhood primping her dyed red hair and trussing up her body and that cynical foul-mouthed Roseanne and with the aggressive Dr. Quinn as a wretched feminist these are the models being pressed upon this generation and after a while some of you

32:18 who've given your body to be forever etched with stretch marks and crow's feet to make their way at an early age at the sides of your eyes as you've labored to be a godly mother you begin to wonder have I really missed it when you read the pop literature on self-fulfillment and self-actualization and self-realization and self-esteem getting out from under the shadow of your husband and your kids being your own person hear the word of God dear women you will be saved if you continue in faith and love and sanctification

33:02 with sobriety and what is the framework of that persevering faith it is the child bearing that stands the part for the whole the common figure of speech it means all that is connected with godly motherhood do you feel something of the thrill of that the next time your hair's all frumpy because you had a sick kid and you didn't have time to take your curlers out or use your curling iron to blow dry your hair and it's got the greases you couldn't even wash it and you've got the extra ten pounds because you're nursing a kid and you just nursed the kid and burped it and put it down

33:45 and another one's hollering because it's got a belly ache and another one says mommy help me with this lesson and all the rest and you wonder what in the world I'm doing dear women stop in the middle of it and say my seeds are planted in the way of persevering faith I shall be saved in my child bearing as I continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety hold your head high and when that sharp looking twit comes down the street in her two piece business suit ripped because she spends her five hours a week at the spa lady and has gone and got nothing to do

34:29 but print her body and her face don't you envy her for a minute there'll be children to rise up and call you blessed and I trust you have a husband who continually calls you blessed let the world pity you let the smart alecks who make their mark and hit the talk shows let the Marsha Clarks of this world become old wrinkled ladies and have nothing but bitter memories and the bills from their cosmetic surgeons to try to push away the marks of advancing years and if the Lord tarries you'll have your children and your grandchildren around you

35:13 reflecting the fruit of your labors and then they'll all meet you in the last day please turn this cassette over to continue the message in the last day what a blessed privilege to be a godly mother yes I know I've not addressed sanctified singleness Paul doesn't address it here he does that in 1 Corinthians 7 I've not addressed the pain of providential barrenness I know something of that my wife was barren for almost the first five years of our marriage and I don't speak indifferently

35:58 but you see I can't say everything in one sermon and what I want to do is to set forth a biblical tribute to the noble task of godly motherhood when you're tempted dear mothers to believe this nonsense listen, listen, listen this is what the articulate feminists are saying Vivian Gornack in 1982 wrote the choice to serve and be protected and planned toward being a family maker is a choice that should not be the heart of radical feminism is to change that they want to take from you even the choice to be a mother Gloria Steinem said

Godly Motherhood: Secures the Credible Witness of the Church (Titus 2:3-5, 1 Timothy 5:14)

36:43 it's a myth that women somehow need to be mothers they no more need to be mothers than every person with vocal cords needs to be an opera singer God help you to recognize this very fundamental truth that godly motherhood is the appointed path of persevering faith secondly, and we must move on godly motherhood secures the credible witness of the church and its message in paying any tribute to godly motherhood this is where god puts it godly motherhood secures the credible witness of the church and its message now we're going to look at two more of the five passages we looked at one

37:26 here are passages two and three Titus chapter two and isn't it interesting that the watershed passages on this subject are in the pastoral epistles the kinds of things that are to be taught and enforced in the church of Christ Titus chapter two verse one here's the basic subject he's going to address speak the things that befit the sound or the healthy teaching Titus I want you not only to maintain the objective truth that god has revealed that's healthy teaching but I want you to speak the things that are befitting that are commensurate with that are the natural outgrowth of and notice he doesn't say and you can trust the holy ghost

38:11 to do this just preach the truth and let the holy ghost apply it that is sheer nonsense he says I want you to speak the specific things that are commensurate with and befitting healthy teaching and then he gets specific that the aged men and this is what they are to be now verse three that the aged and if that's offensive let's say the women of riper years I said that to an older woman the other day and she smiled she said that sounds so much better than old women I said I shall henceforth refer to you it wasn't my wife as someone of riper years alright that the women of riper years okay what are they to be they are to be reverent in demeanor not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine teachers

38:56 of that which is good and what is the teaching they are to do primarily by example and as occasion arises by personal influence but no statement of what they are to do but no standard Greek word for formal instruction is used the verb used in verse four is that they may return to soberness or that they may communicate sobriety with respect to these issues that the aged women be reverent in demeanor not slanderers not enslaved teachers of that which is good that they may train the younger women that they may train

39:41 the younger women train in self control would be a good rendering the younger women to do what to love their husbands to love their children to be sober minded chaste and here is an interesting Greek word workers at home it is a compound word only one word in the Greek three words in English the word for house that vocabulary word I always had mental crutches I said oikos of the house and I never forgot oikos a lot of Greek words I have forgotten from my hundreds of vocabulary words but oikos of the house if I knew I was going

40:25 to end up in New Jersey it would have stuck even deeper but oikos and then there is a Greek verb ergeo to work the noun ergos work it is a compound of oikos house and the word is that these older women are to train the women to be good wives references to the husband but to be workers at home their fundamental sphere of orientation is this wretched prison according to the feminist from which you never find your identity till you break out of it God says your glory and your identity is within it workers

41:09 at home kind being in subjection to their own husbands now as he emphasizes motherhood and wifehood there is the twin emphasis what is the big deal suppose the younger women are indifferent or sloppy or careless with respect to truly loving their children you say I love my kids this is not natural love whatever natural love is there if you are going to love them then you have to put all of your own conveniences your own native desires and give yourself to Godly motherhood the nurturing the praying the forming

41:54 of character the wretched interruptions times without number and everyday when you are teaching the words please thank you I sinned will you forgive me patterns of neatness patterns of decorum of work perspectives on life it's an ever never ending giving of yourself that's what love is you got to be trained to love with that kind of love done come naturally the older women are to help the younger women to train them in this kind of sober understanding of their responsibility to

42:38 love their children to love their husband to be workers at home and what's the big deal suppose there's some sloppiness look at the text in order to act because he said it enough in recent days I i'll stand on his back a passion Lamar has reminded you again and again you have a hina clothes of purpose in order that this is the great ending you look at your Bibles what's at stake whether a protesting Christian woman is a Godly mother Father or not, listen to the word of God in order that the word of God be not blasphemed.

43:23 What's at stake? The credible witness of the church and its message. Rest on the shoulders of you mothers. Now that's not the only place it rests.

43:35 It rests upon us who are in places of leadership. That no one be able to raise a just question about our moral integrity. Our financial integrity. Our domestic integrity.

43:50 And I thank God with all the sins I've had to confess from this very pulpit and other places. There's not a one of you who can justly point a finger at me in those areas.

44:05 Or I wouldn't be standing in this pulpit.

44:09 Yes, a burden is on us. To pay the price. To walk with blameless integrity. That the word of God be not blasphemed.

44:18 But now our text says. The burden is on the back of every one of you mothers. I didn't put it there. Oh, pastor preaches these heavy sermons.

44:30 God help you, my friend. This isn't Pastor Martin.

44:36 Almighty God has placed that burden on your back. Not me.

44:41 Not me.

44:46 Where are you, mom?

44:48 Does your conduct as a mother.

44:52 In framing your days from morning till night. Or does it give occasion for those. Who know the patterns of your life. To blaspheme the word and say.

45:07 You people say that the gospel comes. And subdues rebel sinners. And makes them the loving bond slaves. And bond maidens of Jesus Christ.

45:15 The Bible says. In Proverbs 31. This is the mark of the godly woman. She is not lazy.

45:23 She is not a spendthrift. She is industrious. She is frugal. She is supportive of her husband.

45:31 She is conscious. She is constantly pouring out. All of her God given faculties and capacities. For the sake of those entrusted to her care.

45:42 Look at you. Look at that person. Look at this one. Hours on the telephone.

45:47 Yak, yak, yak. Gossiping. Wasting time. Hours in front of the television.

45:54 Reading banal literature. No time given. To that child who manifests. An unusually sensitive.

46:06 Spirit. Insecure. Fearful. To see how we can push the buttons.

46:12 To strengthen the sense in that child. That under God. He or she can do. What they are required to do.

46:21 They need not be diffident and retiring. Taking enough time to perceive the patterns in character. And laboring to strengthen them. I think of my godly mother.

46:33 With no automatic washer. No dryer. No easy care. Clothes.

46:38 They had to be sprinkled the night before. Rolled up. Ironed the next day. Second oldest of ten children had she had time.

46:46 To be on her knees with me. When I was scrubbing a floor. Saying son the scrub brush doesn't get into the corner. You take the rag and wrap it around your finger.

46:57 And you scrub out the corner. For the job worth doing is worth doing well. And God sees the corner. As well as the center of the floor.

47:07 That's why there are white outs. In the first paragraph of my introduction. Where certain words have been changed. Two and three times.

47:16 To be precise. My mother was in my ear. Son a job worth doing is worth doing well. A sermon worth introducing is worth introducing as well as you can.

47:28 Where were fundamental manners taught. When you brusquely ran in the door. And you didn't open it for your sister. You were made to go out again.

47:40 And open it. And you were taught what it was to be a gentleman. Where was self-control taught. When as a bouncing boundless ball of energy as a teenager.

47:52 You'd bust through the door. Forgetting there was a little kid asleep. And you woke up a child from its nap through carelessness. You weren't whipped to death.

48:00 But you were severely reprimanded. And threatened with severe forms of punishment. You were taught to think of others. Training folks.

48:12 You moms at stake. If you do not by the strength of God and the power of the spirit. Give yourself to the task to which God has called you. Godly motherhood secures the credible witness of the church.

48:36 And its message. Titus two three to five. An ancillary text. First Timothy five fourteen.

48:42 Turn to it quickly with me please. First Timothy five fourteen. In the context again. Beginning in chapter five and verse three.

48:53 Paul is dealing with the broad subject. Of how Timothy is to regard and treat. The widows in the church. Honor widows that are widows indeed.

49:04 But if any widow. Verse five. Now she that is a widow. Verse nine.

49:11 Let none be enrolled as a widow. So the subject is the care of widows. Now he deals with. Now he deals with younger widows.

49:19 And he says they are not to be taken on the role. Of those fully subsidized. And he gives the reasons. And we will not have time to go into that.

49:27 It would not be germane to our subject. But now look at verse fourteen. I desire therefore. That the younger widows marry.

49:36 The word widows is not in the original. It could be women. But in the context. It cannot be women in generically.

49:44 But it is these particular women. The younger widows. I desire. I will.

49:49 By apostolic authority. I will. That the younger widows marry. Bare children rule the household.

49:59 Why? Why? Look at the next phrase. Give no occasion to the adversary for reviling.

50:09 Who is the adversary? Well the next verse identifies him. For already some are turned aside. After Satan.

50:19 You mean the devil is interested. In the whole issue of whether younger women embrace from the heart. Their God appointed sphere. Of child bearing in the language of first Timothy two.

50:34 That it is in that sphere. That they are to give themselves to the end. That the adversary will have no occasion for reviling. Precisely.

50:46 The devil is interested. He is very interested in whether or not. You. Exercise.

50:53 A godly motherhood. And this passage. Underscores it. The attempts to demean.

51:03 To vilify. To slander motherhood. Is nothing but. The seed of the serpent.

51:12 Going after the seed of the woman. Seeking to dismantle. The integrity and testimony of the people of God. And give the devil occasion.

Godly Motherhood: A Major Means of Molding Future Servants of God (2 Timothy 1:3-5, 3:14-15)

51:22 To oppose. But now very quickly. The third strand of evidence. Or the third strand of this.

51:28 Tribute to godly motherhood. We have seen that godly motherhood. Is the path. Of persevering faith.

51:36 Godly motherhood secures the credible witness of the church. Godly motherhood is a major means. Of molding future servants of God. Godly motherhood is a major means.

51:50 Of molding future servants of God. Turn please to second Timothy. And we'll look at two passages there. Second Timothy.

51:58 Chapter one verse three. I thank God whom I served from my forefathers. In a pure conscience. How unceasing is my remembrance of you in my supplications.

52:12 Night and day longing to see you. Remembering your tears that I may be filled with joy. Having been reminded of the unfeigned. The Greek word is unfeigned.

52:23 The Greek word is unhypocritical. Having been reminded of the sincere. The real. The genuine.

52:31 The non-hypocritical faith. Which is in you. Which dwelt first. In your mother.

52:41 And in the Greek it's Loidi. And Unique. And the best English transliteration is Lois and Eunice. But Loidi.

52:52 We get our Loidi from it. And our Eunice from Unique. And he says this dwelt in your grandmother Lois. And your mother Eunice.

53:01 And I am persuaded in you also. Now what does this text reveal? It reveals that Paul when thinking of Timothy. Praying fervently and continuously for him.

53:13 Is peculiarly filled with gratitude. When he thinks of the way in which Timothy. Was both brought to faith. And nurtured in those character traits.

53:25 Listen carefully now. Which made him as a relatively young man. Fit for an unusual scope of responsibility. Remember how Paul says.

53:36 Let no man despise your youth. He said I have no man like minded. Who will naturally care for your state. Paul had invested more of his time.

53:45 In the church at Ephesus. And in those environments. Than in any other of his missionary endeavors. There's only one man.

53:51 To whom he will trust. The ongoing discipline. And direction of those churches. He says for this cause Timothy.

53:55 I've left you at Ephesus. I trust you Timothy. I believe you have the strength of character. And it wasn't native.

53:59 He was physically. Naturally. Suffering from a lot of afflictions. Take a little wine for thy stomach sakes.

54:03 And thy oft infirmities. He was naturally timid. He says. Be not ashamed of me.

54:07 Nor of the testimony of our Lord. But by grace. Through the instrumentality. Of the Lord Jesus Christ.

54:11 He was naturally timid. He says. Be not ashamed of me. Nor of the testimony of our Lord.

54:15 But by grace. Through the instrumentality. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was naturally timid.

54:20 But by grace. Through the instrumentality. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was naturally timid.

54:24 Also by grace. Through the instrumentality. Of godly motherhood. He was made the man that he was.

54:28 You say. Aren't you taking a pretty big leap? No. For if you turn over to chapter 3.

54:32 How did this unfeigned faith. And these disciplines of character and life. How were they implanted in Timothy? Paul says in verse 14.

54:37 Paul says in verse 14. But abide in the things which you have learned . And have been assured of thy strength. Far from the judgment on the Son.

54:41 And providence of the Holy Ghost. Far too great. Far too ugly. Far too single.

54:45 Far too strong. Far too long . You must only know the strength of our Lord.

54:51 knowing of whom you learn them he doesn't say just abide in the truth of the gospel that christ is the only savior of sinners no abide in the things all of the things that you have learned all of the things you've been assured of remembering especially the ones who taught them to you and who were they grandmama lois and mother eunice from a babe a breathos a nursing babe this idea my child's not old enough to teach him hymns to sing hymns to make him mumble scripture and learn the catechism they don't understand yet you think timothy was some precocious kid who from

55:31 a nursing child understood of course not but with the first dawning of consciousness biblical categories were already implanted in his young mind and when he saw a precept he saw living embodiment in grandmama and then mama not his papa act sixteen says that his mother was a jewish who believed but his father was a greek as much as saying he was an unconverted pagan had he been a convert to judaism he would have been circumcised and had timothy circumcised but timothy was not here was a divided home but a dedicated grandma

56:15 and a passionately dedicated mama and what did they give him from a babe you have known the holy scriptures yes that have been able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in christ but grandma loss and mama eunice didn't stop with teaching you jesus loves me they didn't stop with teaching you you're a sinner christ is the only savior paul can go on to say all scripture even the scripture you've known from an earthling child is god breathed and profitable look for teaching reproof correction instruction not that the People of God, though by inference that's true, that's not what the text says.

56:58 That the man of God, that's a peculiar title for Timothy. That Timothy, you may be complete, furnished completely to every good work. And hear me carefully. God doesn't deposit well-developed character in the act of regeneration.

57:18 You hear me? A man may be a foul-mouthed, wretched, unbelieving, lecherous, murderous, you name it. And when God is pleased to arrest him, he blots out all of his sin. He unites him to Christ.

57:33 He's seated in the heavenlies. He's ready to go to heaven and stand as pure in the sight of God as the Apostle Paul. But if he hasn't learned courtesy, proper grammar, how to relate to people, patterns of diligence, and thoroughness in his labor, the Holy Ghost does not deposit that when he regenerates them.

57:56 And he's got to do a lot of catch-up. And when you read the biographies of men of God, almost invariably God was forming their character long before he regenerated them and put them in the ministry.

58:10 I'm reading through the Old Testament right now. Think of Moses. Forming his character for 40 years in Egypt. 40 years in a wilderness.

58:20 Then and only then is there the burning bush. Spent two-thirds of his life for the one-third of ministry. Our blessed Lord, nothing said of him from age 12 to age 30. The last words that ring in our ear, he went down to Nazareth and was subject to them.

58:39 Oh, when I get to heaven, I want to talk to Mary and Joseph.

58:44 How did you teach your son? But remember, his human understanding and his human character, though sinless, had to be formed in the disciplines of responsible manhood. Joseph, how did you teach your son? Joseph, how did you teach your son?

58:57 Joseph, how did you teach your son? Joseph, how did you teach your son? Joseph, how did you teach your son? Mary, how did you teach him those disciplines in the carpenter's shop?

59:00 Mary, how did you teach him the sensitivity to his younger siblings? What principles did you use when teaching him to be responsive to the peculiar sensitivities and emotional cycles of women? For our Lord was the consummate relator to women.

59:20 I say it reverently, those things were not plopped in the character of the Son of God when he was anointed with the Spirit at Jordan. They were inwrought to the texture of his soul in the nurture at Nazareth.

59:39 Ashakia, he went down to... And in that framework, he grew in wisdom, stature, in favor with God and with men.

60:01 And what was true of our Lord was true of Timothy.

60:05 And that man of God, the great principles that are here in these passages, he was molded by godly motherhood and by extension. A godly grandmother. You've heard the saying, haven't you, kids? The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

60:22 That didn't come out of nowhere. People have recognized that, generally speaking, behind any man that makes a significant mark in his generation was a godly mother.

60:35 And if I've been able to strike even a few blows for the kingdom of God, I owe so much to that precious little woman that gave herself to me. To nurture and to travel in prayer to see a man given to this generation.

Conclusion and Prayer

61:00 Will your sons rise up and make that tribute in the presence of God that I can make to my dear mother? Did some of you read Cal Thomas' editorial in the Star-Ledger last Monday? I only get his paper on the Monday. I'm not that holy.

61:15 I just am that unholy that the rest of the week would be a distraction. But Cal Thomas' editorial was such a precious tribute to his mother. I copied it and sent it to my mom and said, Mom, I can amen every word he says of his mother.

61:34 There's a man who is touching this entire nation, 250 papers in the syndicate, with an unashamed, right-angled Christian testimony, but formed from a breathos from his mother's breast by a woman who turned away from all of the baubles and the enticements of this world and gave herself to me. And gave herself to me. And gave herself to be a godly mother. Well, I've exceeded my hour by three minutes.

62:05 I haven't even come to my applications to the singles, to the single men, to the women amongst us, the mothers. But I trust you will take to heart what has been said before you and perhaps at a future time I'll be able to flesh out the applications. But I trust that this day, when the world around us is indulging in sentiment and, slush, that every woman among us will see something of the dignity and the nobility of the calling that God has given to you and that by the grace of God, the word of God will be validated in this place

62:46 by an overarching and undeniably God-wrought manifestation of godly motherhood. It may sound sentimental, but when you get my age, you can be indulged that a little. If I could,

63:05 I would kneel before the feet of every one of you mothers, kiss your feet and say, God help you to press on in faith, in love and sanctification with sobriety, carrying your head high in the noble task of godly motherhood. Let us pray.

63:34 Our Father, we thank you for your word. Oh, how we praise you that among the shifting sands of men's foolishness, we have the impregnable, immovable, non-erodible rock of your holy word. Lord, I thank you for the privilege of standing in a pulpit and saying, Thus saith the Lord. Oh, Father, will you not take your word and encourage every godly mother in this place, rebuke every ungodly mother, and rebuke every ungodly mother, put a longing in the heart of every unconverted mother, that she may flee to Christ, that she might begin to be what she ought to be.

64:19 Help the husbands in this place and the children to rise up this day and every day and call our godly mothers and wives blessed, for you have said her husband praises her, her children rise up and bless her. Oh, Lord, help us to be supportive in all of the ways, we can be. And for those who yearn to be godly mothers who are presently single, God, give them men formed, worthy to lead them, to love them, to be the father of their children. For those who bear the burden of barrenness, oh, God, will you not give them the desire of their hearts and make their wombs fruitful?

65:02 Be with the precious girls and young ladies and little girls among us. Oh, God, protect them and immunize them against the wretched, vile, anti-mother spirit that throbs through our society. May they not be conformed to this age, but protect them and preserve them and make them light and salt to their generation. Thank you, Lord, for your presence.

65:29 Dismiss us with your blessing and help us by your grace to bring glory to your name in the sphere of our calling. Amen.