Amen.
All right.
Well, for Mother's Day this morning, I'd like us to take a look in Scripture at a great
mom, and that is Elizabeth.
And Elizabeth, of course, is the mother of John the Baptist, who Jesus actually said
was the greatest man that was born among women.
And we're in Luke chapter number one this morning.
Stay there, but I just want to read for you Matthew 11, 11.
The Bible says, "Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not
risen a greater than John the Baptist, notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven."
"Is greater than he."
That's quite an honor for his mother, for Jesus to say of her son that he's the greatest
born among women.
John the Baptist was an absolutely powerhouse of a man of God.
And what's interesting about Elizabeth is that the Bible doesn't even really focus a
whole lot on her relationship with her son, John.
It doesn't really give us a bunch of insights to how she raised him and their relationship.
And it doesn't record all of her different parenting methods and stuff like that.
But what it does record and what the Bible does focus on is the character of Elizabeth.
And so the title of my sermon this morning is "Elizabeth, a Godly Mother."
"Elizabeth, a Godly Mother."
I'd like to give you several thoughts this morning about Elizabeth.
Number one, Elizabeth was a righteous woman.
Look at verse number five of Luke chapter one.
The Bible says, "There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest
named Zacharias of the course of Abiah, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and
her name was Elizabeth."
So we're introduced here to Elizabeth, and she's married to a priest, and it says that
she comes from a godly lineage because it says there that his wife was of the daughters
of Aaron.
So she's got a very godly pedigree, and you know, to me that kind of goes to show that
if you are a lady that's been blessed with parents who were saved or grandparents who
were saved and if you were brought up in the independent fundamental Baptist world and you
know the word of God, you know the truth, you should strive to keep that tradition alive
in your family.
And that's what Elizabeth did, you know, she had a really godly pedigree and thank the
Lord it didn't stop with her, in fact she just made the next generation even better.
She ended up producing John the Baptist, you know, the greatest man born among women, and
you know, if you don't have that type of pedigree, if your parents weren't saved, your family
doesn't really, you know, have a church background or anything like that, you know, you should
strive to start that tradition to where you are the beginning of a line of godly people.
You do everything you can in your power to serve the Lord and to produce the next generation
of Christians.
But notice also what it says in verse six, it says, and they were both righteous before
God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
And of course, sometimes in the Bible, the word righteous can just be referring to the
fact that someone's saved.
You know, once we believe in Jesus Christ, our new man is 100% righteous and we are going
to heaven because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed on us.
But there's also an additional meaning to this that has to do with someone's sanctification,
someone purifying themselves, turning away from sin, following God's commandments.
And that's what this is talking about right here, because it says they were both righteous
before God.
It finds that walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
How would you like your description of being a mother in the word of God to where the narrator
of the Bible describes you this way, as being righteous and walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless?
That is the generation of mothers that we need so desperately today in America.
We don't need the moms that are just focusing on themselves and how much pleasure they can
get out of life and, you know, be these like white suburban wino moms or it's all about
their wine clubs or something like that.
We need some ladies that care about being righteous, that care about following the commandments.
And, you know, of course, being righteous does not guarantee that your children will
be righteous, but it sure does give them the highest chance of turning out righteous.
You being saved doesn't guarantee your kids will be saved, but it absolutely gives you
the greatest chance.
And if you want to raise a godly generation, and, you know, that's my goal, that's my
wife's goal, our kids are pretty young, we have not attained to that yet, but here's
what I know.
I know that if my wife and I are following God's commandments, being righteous, trying
to serve the Lord to the best of our ability, that's going to give our children the best
chance of turning out to be godly Christians themselves.
And, you know, John the Baptist wasn't just a product of a vacuum, no, he had a great
mother and a great father to follow the example of, and he ended up being the greatest man
that was born among women.
Why?
Partly because his parents were super, super godly.
Go to Psalm chapter number one, Psalm chapter one, Psalm one verse one, notice what the
Bible says, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."
So the blessed man, or we could even apply this, the blessed woman, there's some attributes
about this person.
One of the things, they're not walking in the counsel of the ungodly.
So a godly person who's going to be blessed, they're not going to the world for their advice.
They're not really caring what the wicked have to say.
They're caring about what the Bible says, what the word of God says.
And you know, especially when it comes to parenting, there are so many voices in this
world that want to teach you how to do it.
There's so many self-help books when it comes to parenting.
But you know, we shouldn't really care about what the counsel of the ungodly is.
We should care about what the Bible says.
And you know, Elizabeth and her husband were people that just cared about God, that followed
His commandments, that walked blamelessly in the ordinances of God, and that's why they
were blessed.
It says they don't stand in the way of sinners, so they're living a separated life.
They're around God's people, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
So they're going to, you know, shun wicked people, the scornful mouth, people that would
speak against God's word, or be foward, or be railers, or something like that, people
that they would separate from.
Then it says in verse 2, "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law
doth he meditate day and night."
See, a godly person esteems God's word, God's commandments, as the highest thing possible.
And in fact, a godly person delights in the word of God.
It's not even like a super big chore to always read your Bible.
You know, of course, everyone's going to feel that way from time to time.
But you know, your heart, as a godly person in general, should be that you delight in
reading the Bible, that it's fun, that it's something you look forward to, and it's something
that you meditate in day and night.
And I think what the Bible is illustrating by the fact that the Bible doesn't really
focus a whole lot on her relationship with John or her parenting methods, it just tells
us she was a super godly person.
It goes to show this, that if you want to be a great mom, and of course this would apply
to dads too, or really any position, but if you want to be a great mom, you should focus
first on being a great Christian.
Be focusing on being a great Christian.
The best moms, the best dads, they are that way because they're great Christians.
And they're people who delight in the law of the Lord and meditate there in day and
night.
See, you'd be better off, rather than reading all the self-help books and all the world's
philosophies when it comes to child rearing, you'd be way better off focusing on what the
Bible says and meditating there in day and night.
That's the recipe to become a godly parent, not necessarily all the books that this world
has to offer.
Look at verse 3.
It says, "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
Notice that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
That's a pretty awesome promise in God's word.
That when you are not taking the counsel of the ungodly, when you're not standing in the
way of sinners, when you're not with the scornful, instead you're actually focusing on the Bible,
his commandments, meditating in the law of God, you're going to bring forth your fruit
in your season and whatsoever you do will prosper.
And I think there's a lot of people out there, a lot of moms especially, who are coming from
a really good place in the sense that they just want to constantly consume as much material
about child rearing as possible and about being a good mom, but I think that we just
need to remind ourselves as Christians that this is the ultimate source of truth.
This is the ultimate guide, is the word of God.
And again, I think some of these people are well-meaning.
You think about the movement a few decades ago of the Bill Gothard movement, and this
guy is a complete weirdo, he's a false prophet, but I think that a lot of people who were
following him were coming from a good heart of just wanting to be a godly parent, wanting
to raise a good family.
But you know, here's a pro tip, don't go listen to a pastor that's never been married and
never had kids.
Dedicate your whole ministry to teach you how to be a good mom and how to be a good
dad.
That's just not a good idea.
But a lot of these families, you know, they come out of this, and I even heard a story
yesterday about a guy who came out of this movement, and he has like 12 brothers or sisters
or something like that, and he just doesn't even care about the things of God anymore.
He's kind of been turned away because of the fact that this guy ended up getting busted
being a predator.
And, you know, he had all these young girls that he was hiring as secretaries, and he
was doing inappropriate stuff.
But it's like, look, Christians, instead of going to some weird, you know, ministry, some
parachurch ministry, not even led by a pastor, not even led by someone who's qualified, taking
all this weird advice from someone that doesn't have kids, has never been married, wouldn't
be a lot better to just look to the Bible, because God's Word is going to instruct you
on how to be a good mom, how to be a good dad.
And Elizabeth, she wasn't going to the self-help aisle of Barnes and Noble or anything like
that.
She was just walking in the commandments of God.
She was just following the ordinance of the God, of the Lord blamelessly.
And I think that character is what allowed her to be a great mother.
Now go to Titus chapter 2, because, you know, this begs the question, well, what does that
look like?
She's a godly mom, okay?
She's following God's commandments, but what does it actually look like to be a godly mother?
And there's a couple places in scripture that really defines that for us.
One is Proverbs 31.
Another one is Titus chapter 2, where it's kind of going to give us an ideal look of
what a woman should look like.
And so we could, of course, assume that this is how Elizabeth was.
Titus 2.3, the Bible says, the aged women likewise.
So first of all, I just want to highlight this is talking about ladies that are older.
Now Elizabeth was definitely that.
The Bible says that she was well-stricken in age.
And so this is definitely applying to her.
The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not
given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be
sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers
at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
So here we get just a great list, just makes it super clear what does a godly mom look
like.
And what's funny is at this time when Elizabeth is described as being very righteous, someone
following all the commandments of the Lord, she was not even a mother yet.
But what I believe is that because she had such a great Christian character, because
of intrinsically who she was as a godly person, that is what enabled her to be a great mom.
And it's like I said, godly Christians, great mothers.
Godly Christians, great fathers.
What you should be focusing on, whether you're a parent or not, if you want to be a great
parent, is on being a good Christian.
Now let's look at what some of these things say.
The age of women likewise, that they be in behavior as becomeeth holiness.
So what is that referring to?
It's referring to the process of sanctification, because it says, "becomeeth holiness."
Like I already said, there's a level of holiness that we get at salvation.
We get God's righteousness on us, and our new man doesn't sin.
Our new man is 100% holy, and that's why we're able to go to heaven, is because it's our
soul going to heaven, not our flesh.
But also, God wants us to live a separated life, to separate ourselves from sin as much
as we can, to constantly be cleaning up our lives, looking inward at ourselves, fixing
issues that we have, and that's what this godly woman does.
She's in behavior as becometh holiness.
So she's working on it.
She's putting effort into her Christian life.
She's not just taking God's grace and saying, "I'm saved, and I'm not going to do anything
else."
This is a person who actually cares about pleasing the Lord.
Man, it's so rare today to find people that appreciate Jesus Christ enough to actually
serve Him.
I mean, just yesterday I went soul winning, I got this guy saved, he was super excited,
he even brought up church transportation to me.
I didn't even ask him, he's just like, "Do you guys have a bus?
Do you guys have a way I can get to church?"
I'm like, "Hey, we don't have a bus, but let me introduce you to my friend Theo here.
He's going to pick you up at 9.45, you're going to bring a change of clothes for baptism.
You're coming to church, you're getting baptized."
He's like, "Yeah, let's do it."
Then he texts Brother Theo last night saying, "Oh, I'm not coming."
It's just like so frustrating, right?
How should so few people today want to actually do anything beyond just getting saved?
You know, that's why this preaching that's just like downplaying sanctification, downplaying
hard preaching is so dangerous because everybody, 99% of people, it seems, already don't care
about serving God.
The last thing we need is the preaching to also just enable people in that laziness, right?
We want to encourage mothers today to be living a life that becomes holiness, that you should
be constantly sanctifying yourself and working towards becoming a better Christian tomorrow
than you are today.
Why?
Because the better Christian you are, the better mother you'll be.
The greatest mothers are the greatest Christians.
Then it says this, not false accusers.
That is a great attribute of ladies to not be going around being a loud mouth, falsely
accusing people of things.
That is a stain on your reputation.
You could stay there.
Verse 31, verse 26, the Bible says, "She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her
tongue is the law of kindness."
That is the speech that should be characterizing mothers today, is that she's opening her mouth
with wisdom.
She's teaching her children the truth.
She's teaching her children the word of God.
She's a wise woman because she's walking in the commandments of God and reading the Bible,
and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
When I think of the word mom, I just think of kindness, right?
Because when kids get hurt, dad is saying, "Hey, toughen up.
Stop being such a baby.
Come on.
It's not that big of a deal.
It's a tiny little scratch."
But mom, it's, "Oh, it's okay.
I got you."
And we need that.
I'm not even making fun of that.
I'm saying like kids need both of these things.
Kids need some dads to toughen them up, but you know what?
Kids also need the tender love of their mom.
Everyone needs that.
That is an absolute gift of God.
You know a godly woman is characterized by gentleness, kindness, wisdom.
Not this harsh, sharp, brash, loud, contentious.
You know that's an ungodly attribute of a wife, of a mom.
The godly woman is quiet, meek, kind.
Then it says here, not given too much wine.
And of course we could apply this to alcohol.
You know alcohol is extremely sinful for anyone, mom or not, but you know I think about there's
this culture of moms today in America, kind of like I mentioned, this like suburban wine
culture.
It's like all the ladies go out to their wine tastings.
You know that's wrong.
That's not a recipe for raising godly children.
Them seeing you being a drunk, doing nothing with your life but drinking alcohol, being
a part of these wine clubs, that's not what you should be striving for.
But honestly, when I think it's saying not given too much wine, I don't even think alcohol
is the primary thing in view in this verse.
It's talking about extravagance, luxury, and you know, godly moms, their life is a life
of service to their family, of sacrifice to others.
A woman that is just obsessed with feeding herself only and taking care of herself and
how many vacations can she go on and how many nice things can she enjoy, you know, that's
not what the godly woman looks like in Titus chapter 2.
She's one that's not given too much wine.
You know, she's not covetous.
She's not constantly obsessed with getting the next big house and the next big car and
the next, you know, clothing that's fancy and in vogue today or whatever that is.
She's just a woman that's content.
She's a woman that's just genuinely happy and pleased to be serving her family, to be
serving her children, to be serving God.
You know, God looks at a woman that is content and he's pleased with that.
You know, if you're a father or a mother in this room and you provide something to your
children, you give something to them and they're ungrateful, how does that make you feel?
Makes you angry, right?
It's like, what are you, what are you doing?
I'm here giving you this gift.
You weren't even deserving of this.
I'm blessing you with this and you want to complain about it.
You know, it's annoying and it's like we need women and moms today to be thankful for the
lives that they have, to not be envying their neighbor and thinking, well, I wish I lived
in that house.
I wish I had what she had.
You just need to be thankful for the husband you have, for the children that you have,
for the life that you have.
Be truly content with that.
That is an attribute of a godly mom.
It says this, teachers of good things.
So to me that would go to show that you're a good example to the younger ladies.
That we would all look at the ladies, the mothers that are elder and we would say, hey,
she's a good example of what you should be young ladies.
This is how, this is, you know, you should follow in this person's footsteps.
You should act the way this person acts.
It's very important that moms are showing that example to the upcoming generation, that
you're teaching good things.
Then it says that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands,
to love their children.
So notice she is teaching the other ladies by setting a good example to love their husbands.
And to me, it kind of goes to show like, hey, she's not given too much wine.
She's not obsessed with luxury and wealth and pleasure for herself.
She's leading a life that is showing an example of loving her husband, sacrificing for her
husband, and loving her children, right?
Actually putting the care necessary into raising your kids, it says to be discrete, right?
So you're going to be a good example to the younger ladies by knowing what is appropriate
to say, what's not appropriate to be speaking about, to be chased, right?
So you're not going to be a bad example by dressing inappropriately or acting inappropriately
towards men.
You're chased.
How about this?
Keepers at home.
You know, we need more of that today in our society where so many children are just being
raised by the government.
Their mom has forsaken them, not raising them in the home, just being raised by some stranger.
You know, we need some ladies.
They're going to keep their children at home, good, obedient to their own husbands.
Notice this, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Moms that are good Christians, moms that are following the commandments of the Bible, they
make God look good.
They make Jesus look good.
They make the Bible look good.
And when I read Luke chapter one, I look at Elizabeth, I'm just saying like, this woman
makes Christianity look good.
And when I think of my wife, I think this woman makes Christianity look good.
When I think about the godly moms in this church, I'm like, this makes our church look
good.
This makes Christianity look good.
And all, it's just interesting to me how the culture is kind of changing in America, how
the left has just gone so far and they've way overplayed their hand, just shoving their
debauchery and communism and socialism down people's throats that people are just tired
of it.
And people are ready to embrace fundamentalism right now.
People are ready to embrace the gospel and Christianity.
And I am not kidding.
I can't go anywhere with my family without someone stopping me like, "Wow, you guys
have such a beautiful family.
Wow, this is so great."
And look, I don't think I'm special.
I don't think our family is anything crazy special or anything like that.
I just think people see a man that looks like a man and a woman that looks like a woman
and a bunch of girls wearing skirts and dresses and they're just like, "Oh, that looks so
great.
Man, I want that."
I mean, people just want Christianity today.
They're dying for it.
They're thirsting for fundamentalism.
It's like us by just existing, mothers, you just existing, being a good example, it actually
is helping the cause of Christianity.
People are just by your mere existence of being a good example can help someone even
get saved someday because they see that godly conversation coupled with fear and they think,
"Man, I want that."
So many people today were brainwashed and instead of finding a godly wife, they just
married the girl for the looks or whatever like that and they found out the hard way.
Wow, getting married to the loud and stubborn woman really sucks.
And their lives get destroyed through divorce or on the other side, many ladies today have
been lied to and told, "Hey, put off having kids until you're in your mid-30s, focus on
your career first, take birth control for 20 years, make sure you're doing all these
things."
And then they realized like, "Hey, that was a mistake."
And what we want now is to capitalize on this opportunity in our culture to not turn down
the preaching, not turn down what the Bible says.
No, we need to show this to the world.
We need to be a lighted city on a hill because people want the Bible right now.
And you ladies have a very unique ministry and opportunity right now to be great ambassadors
of Jesus Christ and not to make the word of God be blasphemed, but contrary-wise to make
it look super good.
And so you should take that ministry that you have very seriously.
Go to Proverbs 31, Proverbs chapter 31.
So you know when the Bible is saying that Elizabeth is walking in all the commandments
of the Lord, Titus too gives us a very clear picture of what that looks like.
That's how Elizabeth was living her life.
Proverbs 31 verse 28, the Bible says this, "Her children arise up and call her blessed,
her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelest them all.
Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be
praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.
You know what's interesting is the Bible doesn't tell us anything about what Elizabeth looks
like.
It didn't say like Elizabeth was a blonde with blue eyes or she's a brunette with Greek.
It doesn't say anything like that.
It doesn't describe her appearance, but you know what it describes?
It describes her godliness.
So I don't know what she looked like.
It doesn't matter because what guy would not want to be married to a godly wife like Elizabeth?
So where even in her old age the Holy Spirit is saying this is a godly woman who's righteous,
who's keeping the commandments of God, who's walking in all the ordinance thereof, blameless.
That is a great testimony and you know if you want to be praised more by your children
and by your husband then have some good works.
Be that godly wife because it says her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband
also and he praised with her.
Look at verse 30, "A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised."
It's just a fact that if you are a godly wife, you're going to be getting praised because
it's a rare thing to find a woman like Elizabeth, it's a rare thing to find a mom that's just
sold out 100% for her children in this society that we're living in.
Most people, men and women included, are just living for self.
Most people, men and women included, we go knock on their door and they get saved and
then they never want to do anything for God ever again.
But you know, both of us here, men and women, need to be the exception to that and serve
God with all of our heart.
Go to Luke chapter number one, Luke chapter one.
So number one, Elizabeth was righteous.
Number two, Elizabeth was steadfast in the faith.
Look at verse six, it says, and they were both righteous before God walking in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Verse seven says, and they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren and they were both
and they both were now well stricken in years.
So at this point of the story again, the reason I think this is kind of an interesting person
to focus in on is because at this point of the story, Elizabeth is not even a mom yet,
but yet she is such a godly woman.
She's such a great example.
And when I look at this verse, I think about how, how much of a steadfast Christian she
is.
Why?
Well, because she's well stricken in years and she's been barren her whole life, yet
she's still serving God, yet she's still walking in all the commandments of the Lord, yet she's
still following the ordinance of the Lord blamelessly.
See she did not allow her struggles and her pain to stop her from serving God.
Because here is just the brutal reality of life is that whether you are a mom of 10 children,
whether you are a woman that is barren, whether you are a man, whatever your situation in
life is, you are going to have serious troubles, hardships, pain, heartache, all these different
issues in your life, you are going to have those things, but you know what?
You should never allow those things to cause you to stop serving God.
See the character that Elizabeth had to be steadfast her whole life, following the commandments
of God her whole life, yet with this pain of not having a child, it just goes to show
what a great person she was and that character that she had is what enabled her to be a great
mom afterwards.
See if you just threw John the Baptist to some mom that never read the Bible, that didn't
follow the commandments of God, that didn't care about the Lord, that didn't have a heart
towards the things of God, it's very likely that that child would have not turned out
to be John the Baptist.
But yet you give John the Baptist to an extremely old, well stricken in years, Elizabeth, who
feared God her whole life, who loved him, kept God's commandments, then you get John
the Baptist.
Isn't that interesting?
What a steadfast woman, because look, that's extremely painful, and my heart goes out to
people that are in that situation.
I pray for people that are in that situation.
But you know what?
No matter what your situation in life is, you should never allow that to make you stop
serving God.
Whatever your situation is, and we all have different cross to bear, we all have different
seasons of life where things are going to be harder than at other times.
But you know what God wants anyways is He wants you to be steadfast.
Wants you to still love Him.
He wants you to still serve Him.
Go to James chapter 1, just a really commendable woman here.
James chapter number 1, this is super challenging scripture that we're about to read.
This is hard preaching right here.
James chapter 1 verse 2, notice this, "My brethren, count it all what?
Joy?
Huh?
Is that a misprint in your Bible?
Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations?"
You know that's not our human nature's first reaction to pain and problems.
You know it's kind of like Jesus says, "Hey, you're blessed when men persecute you and
revile you and speak all evil against you falsely for my name's sake."
He's like, "Hey, rejoice and leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven."
On the surface, that doesn't really make sense, and you know I've gone through some light
persecution in my life, and I have to be honest, the first second that it happens, my natural
heart's desire is not just to jump up and down, but I have to remind myself, "Oh, okay,
I'm not having the right attitude right now."
Oh, everyone's emotions are valid.
Nope, not true.
My emotions at times are not valid.
But sometimes I have to remind myself, "Oh, wait, Jesus said to be happy.
Jesus said to rejoice.
Jesus said leap for joy."
What does this say?
"My brethren, count it all."
What?
Joy.
When you fall into diverse temptations.
And it's like the unsaved mind could never understand this because they don't have the
Holy Spirit of God.
They don't have, you know, that love of God that'll never depart from them.
But we do.
And because we're Christians, because we have Jesus Christ, because we have the Holy Spirit,
we can count any temptation we go through as joy, and I believe that's what she did.
That doesn't mean you're not going to experience sadness and pain, but it means that you still
are just living a life that's categorized in general of being happy, being content,
being thankful for God.
Notice also what it says, it says, "Count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations."
It does not say if, you know, it's not the prosperity gospel here.
It's not the Joel Osteen Church here, where it's like everything in your life is always
going to be great and wonderful, and as long as you're just giving thousands of dollars
to church, then just everything's going to be great.
No, here's the just reality of life.
You could go soul-winning, tithe, go to church, serve, love other people, go soul-winning,
and you could still have serious problems in your life.
You could still have very heavy crosses to bear.
You could still have serious pain in your life, like Elizabeth did, where she was barren
her whole life until she was well-stricken in age.
It wasn't a punishment of God on her.
Now, of course, the Bible does teach that at times that can be, but not every time.
And, you know, anyone going through any situation of life where you're saying, "I'm going through
some sort of hardship, some sort of issue," you should look internally to judge in yourself,
"Could this be God's chastening on my life?"
But, you know, you should always assume the best for your brothers and sisters in Christ.
And when your brothers and sisters in Christ have their car break down, your first thought
shouldn't be like, "Oh, what wicked sin were you into this week?"
You know?
And I don't think we have that culture here.
I'm just saying that's not something we should ever get to.
Right?
If our brothers and sisters are going through pain, trials, hardship, you know what we should
do?
We should pray for them, support them, love them.
Yeah, there's a sin unto death that we shouldn't be praying for, but even if someone is going
through some chastening for something in their life, you still should pray for them.
You still should love them and be on their side.
And it's like Elizabeth, the Bible explicitly says she was godly, righteous, yea, blameless.
She's a very godly woman, yet she was barren.
And so you can't say, oh, it's just automatically a punishment of god or something like that.
Look at verse 3.
It says, "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
See, the reason you could have joy is because we can actually have the faith that the trials
and pains and issues that we're going through are not vain and meaningless.
See, for the world that are unsaved, their pains, trials and tribulations, it means nothing.
They're not saved.
They die, they go to hell.
It means nothing.
But you know us, God's going to prune us, God's going to allow us to go through trials
so that we can learn to lean on Him, trust Him, walk with Him through our trials and
pain.
Why?
So that patience could have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing.
But hardships and trials, when you go through it, trusting in the Lord, when you go through
it, walking with Him, it actually makes you a better person.
And this is just the reality.
People that go through hardships, people that have experienced pain, and they didn't get
bitter at God, they didn't quit serving God, they kept being steadfast through those things.
Those people are stronger, better people than people who have not gone through any pain.
Even sometimes you can see this generationally, where it's like you look at the World War
II generation, and that generation was just tougher.
Let's just be, I mean, is it really that crazy to say, am I going out on a limb here to say
like the World War II generation was tougher than Gen Z?
Am I crazy or something?
World War II generation was tougher than Generation Alpha?
No, they absolutely weren't, folks.
But why?
Maybe because they went through a war where 60 million people died on Earth.
Maybe because they were going through the most brutal, bloody, horrific war that the
world has ever seen in human history.
That'll make you pretty tough, won't it?
That'll make you strong.
Well, it's like the same thing is true spiritually.
When you go through problems spiritually and issues in your life, but you keep relying
on God, you keep serving him, regardless of how you feel, regardless of your emotions,
regardless of the pain, that strengthens you and you become a much better Christian for
it.
And let's talk about the moms for a minute because moms have their cross to bear too.
And moms have a lot of problems and hardships and pains and struggles in their day to day
life as mothers.
And sometimes you know I think people could take this for granted because it's one of
those jobs that's just 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
But you know moms are going through a lot of hardships and struggles every single day
that we would take for granted.
You know things just like sleep deprivation.
You know often times moms are just not getting any sleep, they're up all night with the baby.
Baby's sick, who's taking care of it?
Mom's usually taking care of it.
Baby's throwing up, who's cleaning up?
Mom's usually cleaning up.
Mom's usually the one sacrificing of her time, her and yay, her body.
I mean moms are getting pregnant and going through birth extremely hard and taxing on
your body often changes a woman's body for the rest of her life.
Look, that should be praised and thanked that a woman is willing to do that and not sit
here and look down on women for their bodies changing or something like that.
No, thank God that they're willing to be so selfless to give even of their own bodies.
You know us as men, we go through something kind of similar at work depending on the type
of job that you have, but let's be honest, it's nowhere near as hard as giving birth.
I mean I've worked some really physical jobs and if I had to choose between doing that
every single day for the rest of my life or giving birth, I'll choose this any day.
That, I mean, I've heard the screams.
I've never been at work and just been like, "Ahhhh!"
Never.
Not a single time.
Any guys been at work and been like that?
But yet, every time my wife has ever given birth, that's how it's been for her.
Why?
Because she's going through a lot of pain.
And you know, thank God that she's willing to do that.
Thank God that she's so strong, willing to do that.
Thank God for my mother that was willing to do that and allow me to come into this world
and my brothers.
You know, thank God for moms today.
They go through a lot.
You're going to have your cross to bear moms.
You're going to have your trials and temptations.
But you know what the Bible says?
"Count it all joy."
Regardless of your situation, you should just thank God, even for the troubles that you
go through.
Why?
Because God is using those troubles to make your faith perfect.
That you'd be in tire, wanting nothing.
I mean, just the chores that goes on.
Serving, cleaning, sick kids, running errands, grocery shopping, planning, laundry.
It is more than a full-time job, being a mother.
And you know how I know this?
Because you could literally hire professionals to do all the work that moms do inside your
house.
And it's so funny, people are like, "Oh, you know, she doesn't work, she's a state
home mom."
It's like, I guarantee you, she works more than you do at your nine-to-five corporate
job.
Works super, super hard.
My wife is always busy doing a ton of things, these ladies do work hard.
You know, if your mom is still around, if your mom is alive, you should thank her and
appreciate her for all the work that she did for you.
And you know what?
We should honor our parents.
Don't even sit here and think like, "Well, my mom's not safe."
Doesn't even matter.
Thank your mother.
Be grateful for your mother.
Be grateful for all the good that she did for you.
Even if she's not safe, even if she doesn't like our church, even if she doesn't even
have a great relationship with you, I guarantee you there's so many things that she did for
you in life that you take for granted.
How to tie your shoe.
How to read a book.
How to brush your teeth.
How to comb your hair.
Like just everything in life, your mother taught you.
Your mom taught you so much and you should be thankful of that no matter whether she
saved or not.
Love your moms.
You know us as husbands, we ought to love and respect our wives for the great work that
they do.
You know we should make sure that we empower our wives to serve God as much as possible
because again, what did I say, focus on being a godly Christian, that's going to help you
be a good mother.
Well, us as men, we need to enable our wives to do that.
We need to make sure that she can read the Bible, that she can go to church, that she
can go soul winning and do all these things, that she can be walking in her Christian life
and improving in her Christian life, that's going to help her.
Go back to Luke chapter number one, Luke chapter number one.
So again, I just, I really like this story of Elizabeth because it's just focusing on
who she is as a person rather than like her motherhood tactics.
Even before she was a mom, she's been barren, yet she has all these great characteristics
which enabled her to be a great mother.
But of course, God does end up blessing her with a child.
That's what we'll read in verse seven, says, and they had no child because that Elizabeth
was barren and they were both now well stricken in years.
And it came to pass that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order
of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense.
He went into the temple of the Lord and the whole multitude of the people were praying
without at the time of incense and there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on
the right side of the altar of incense.
And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said unto him, fear not, Zacharias.
Notice this phrase, for thy prayer is heard and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son
and thou shalt call his name John.
What am I talking about?
I'm talking about how Elizabeth and her husband were both steadfast Christians.
Because notice, the Bible says that they were well stricken in years.
I mean, they're very old.
They have to be at least 70 or older, I'm thinking.
And yet the Bible says, this angel said to them, hey, your prayer is heard.
They were steadfast.
They just kept praying.
They kept asking God.
They continued to have faith in God.
They didn't allow their trials to make them bitter at God and angry at God and say, God,
why aren't you listening to me?
Why aren't you answering my prayers?
You know, we're done serving you.
Some people have that attitude in this world.
Some people, the moment they go through any trials or persecution, they fall away.
That wasn't this couple here.
It says their prayer is heard.
Verse 14, and thou shalt have joy and gladness and many shall rejoice at his birth.
See, everyone's happy and excited when they have a child, especially, you know, your first
kid.
You're like super, super excited, but this is special because not only is Elizabeth and
Zacharias going to be joyful, saying, "Hey, many people are going to be joyful at this
birth."
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong
drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb.
So they're getting a special blessing here.
This is a special circumstance where they're not just having a baby, they're going to have
a baby that's great in the sight of the Lord, who's going to be filled with the Holy Ghost
from his mother's womb.
This is a man that's going to be born that has a destiny to do great things for God,
and this angel's giving him that news, and it says in verse 16, "And many of the children
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God."
Of course, this is going to give them extreme joy, not only in the fact that they've been
barren for so long, and now they have a child, but not just a child, a child that's great
in the sight of the Lord, that's not going to be drinking wine or strong drink, and is
going to turn many people to the Lord their God.
By the way, if you want to make mom happy, one of the best ways you can make mom happy
is by being a good Christian yourself.
You know, a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
A child that sins, does wickedly, is lazy, is a loser, doesn't live a godly life, that's
going to bring pain to your mother, sorrow to your mother, but you know what's going
to bless your mom, like what John the Baptist is, not drinking wine or strong drink, turning
many people to the Lord your God, being a soul winner, you know that's a good way to
appreciate mom this Mother's Day is be a godly Christian yourself, be a child that brings
honor and joy to your mother, not one that brings dishonor and shame.
Go to Isaiah chapter number 40, Isaiah 40, but again you just have to realize that whatever
your trials are, whether you are a busy mother, not getting much sleep, constantly sacrificing
yourself for others, constantly just tired and going through all this pain, whether you're
someone that's barren, whether you're going through a completely different trial that
no one knows about, here's what I know, is that God will bless you when you continue
serving Him through your trials.
And you need to get this attitude that you're going to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord, as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
It's not worthless.
Go to Isaiah 40 verse 29, it says, "He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have
no might, he in strength, in creasive strength."
See, there is an inner strength and power that can only come from God.
You know, there's all these different ways with your carnal body to get more energy,
get more sleep, eat healthy food, exercise, drink copious amounts of caffeine, right brother
John?
All these great things you can do, right?
But here's the truth, is that there's also an inner strength and an inner energy that
is supernatural that comes from God alone.
And God can give people who are faint or who have no might, he can give those people strength.
Look at verse 30, "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
fall.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not be faint."
When it's saying wait upon the Lord there, I don't think it's saying, you know, sit
around and do nothing.
I think it's saying wait as in serve, like a waiter.
Serve the Lord and He shall renew their strength.
You know, I'm sure there's times in Elizabeth's life that she felt like she had no strength,
that she was in despair, that she was sad.
But you know what she did her whole life?
She walked in the commandments of the Lord blamelessly.
She kept serving Him.
She kept waiting on the Lord.
And you know what the Lord did?
The Lord renewed her strength.
You know the same thing for you moms, where sometimes you can just feel like, "I can't
do it anymore.
I have no more strength to give.
I'm exhausted.
I'm done."
You know, the advice I could give to you is wait on the Lord.
Continue serving God.
Continue putting Him first, because that's where you're going to get supernatural strength
that you're not going to get anywhere else.
God can renew that strength by serving Him.
Go back to Luke chapter number one, Luke chapter number one.
So she was a righteous woman.
She was a steadfast Christian.
Number three, Elizabeth got her son around Jesus early.
She got her son around Jesus early.
Look at verse 26.
The Bible says, "And in the sixth month," the sixth month of her pregnancy, that is,
"the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin
espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name
was Mary. And the angel came in unto her and said, 'Hail, thou that are highly favored,
the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women.' When she saw him, she was troubled
at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. The angel said
unto her, 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God; and, behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus, and he shall be great,
and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom
there shall be no end.' Then said Mary unto the angel, 'How shall this thing be, seeing
I know not a man?' The angel answered and said unto her, 'The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.'" So I just want to
read that because it's going to be important to the story we're about to read connecting
Elizabeth and Mary. Let's keep reading. It says in verse 36, "And behold, thy cousin
Elizabeth, she have also conceived a son in her old age. And this is the sixth month with
her who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible." So two very special
births here, you know. We usually focus on the birth of Jesus Christ, rightly so, because
I mean he was born of a virgin. That's an extreme miracle. But we also have to pay attention
that Elizabeth's pregnancy was very special as well because she was well stricken in age.
And the angel is saying, "Hey, even with her she was barren, but with God nothing is impossible."
So we have two very special births here, special pregnancies. Both the children, the Bible
says, are going to be great. Both are going to be filled with the Spirit of the Lord.
Both are going to do great things. And it says in verse 38, "And Mary said, 'Behold,
the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word.' And the angel departed from
her. And Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city
of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth." So Mary now is going
to see her cousin Elizabeth. Verse 41 says, "And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard
the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Ghost. And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, 'Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my
Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine
ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed, for there
shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." Now I know that's
a lot of scripture, but it's just such a beautiful and amazing story. And of course, I understand
that this is a very special instance. Why? Because you have Elizabeth, who's pregnant
with John and Mary enters in and just being around Mary and of course, Jesus Christ in
her womb, all of a sudden the babe in Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy and she's filled with the
Holy Spirit. And while that's a very special, you know, situation that's going on there,
I think it could be a great symbolism and picture of the fact of how Elizabeth was laying
the spiritual foundation for her son as early as possible. Even from the womb, she's inviting
Mary into her house. Why? So that her son can get around Jesus. And I think it's a good
symbolism of the fact that ladies, moms, you should try to lay the foundation and give
your children the greatest spiritual instruction and education as you possibly can as early
as you possibly can. You know, you ought not to wait until your kids are 10 years old,
11 years old, to start teaching them the Bible, to start getting them in church, to start
doing spiritual things. No, as young and as early as possible as you can get them around
Jesus, as you can get them around the things of God, that's going to give them the best
chance to grow up to serve the Lord. And you know, one thing that my wife and I did with
Bethany, our firstborn, and I wish I had the discipline to do it with all of my kids, I'm
just being honest with you that I did not, but one thing that we did with Bethany's pregnancy
is that when she was in the womb, we read the entire New Testament out loud.
Why?
Kind of because of this story.
You know, I believe that we can make an influence on our children even from the very womb, and
as soon as they're born and as young as possible, start making godly influences on them.
You know, we read the whole New Testament out loud when Bethany was in the womb, we kind
of dropped the ball with the rest, so if the rest turned out weird, we know what mistake
we made, but you know, I just believe that you should try to get your kids around spiritual
things as young as possible.
Even if you start in the womb, you know, praise the Lord, it's good to start as early as you
possibly can.
What are some ways that we can do that?
Go to Matthew chapter 19, Matthew 19, while you're turning there, Proverbs 22, 6 says
train up a child in the way he should go.
When he is old, he will not depart from it.
And like I said, here's the truth, you can't force your kids to turn out right.
You can't force your kids to be safe.
You can't force your kids to serve God once they're adults.
But you know what, you can control the way that you raise them, you can control the training
that you provide for them, the instruction that you give to them, the discipline that
you give to them, and your children are going to have the best chance possible of growing
up to serve God when you do those things at an early age, right?
Chasing thy son while there is hope, because they can get to a point where it just seems
like there's no more hope for that kid, they're an adult, they're making their own decisions.
But here, I want to show you this story in Matthew 19 verse 13, the Bible says, "Then
were there brought unto him," that's Jesus, "little children, that he should put his hands
on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them.
But Jesus said, 'Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me, for if such
is the kingdom of heaven.'
And he laid his hands on them and departed thence."
So here we have a story where children are physically, literally being brought to Jesus
and his disciples for some reason rebuked them and didn't want them doing that.
But Jesus is saying, "No, no, no, let them come unto me, for if such is the kingdom of
heaven."
And I think one of the things we can learn from this is that it's very important for
us to preach the gospel to our children at a young age.
You know, there's no reason to sit here and wait until they're 10, 11, 12, 13 years old.
You should start preaching them the gospel as soon as you can.
And you know, I only have one daughter that's saved right now, but I'll tell you what, my
daughter that is saved right now went soul winning with me like a hundred times before
she got saved.
And what is she hearing?
She's constantly hearing the gospel over and over and over and over and over again to where
honestly before I even sat down and systematically went through everything with her, she already
knew a ton.
Just from listening to me preach the gospel over and over.
So you know moms, preach your kids the gospel.
Here's another thing you can do, go to Proverbs 31, Proverbs 31, because of course you know
you can't physically bring your kid to Jesus today.
You're not going to be around Mary and Jesus in the womb, you're not going to physically
bring your kids to Jesus today, but there's a lot of ways that you can do so spiritually.
Proverbs 31, verse 1, the Bible says the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother
taught him.
Here's another great thing you moms can do for your kids is to teach them the word of
God.
You know hey, I am for women teachers of the Bible, which is not behind the pulpit, but
I am for moms teaching their kids the Bible at home.
In fact, you should be doing this.
You need to be teaching your kids the Bible.
We need some moms that are going to prophesy, preach, give their children some spiritual
instruction.
And of course we know Jesus is the word of God.
How are you going to get your kids around Jesus?
You get them around the Bible.
You get them around the preaching of God's word.
You teach them the Bible.
Notice what she taught her son, verse 2, "What my son, and what the son of my womb, and what
the son of my vows, give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth
kings."
Hey, wouldn't it be great if we had some moms training up their young boys to not give
their strength unto women, to not be around the Proverbs 7 woman, to not be a whoremongerer.
We need some moms to lay down some hard preaching today and say, "Hey, stay away from those
type of women.
Stay away from those bad influences."
Look what else she said, verse 4, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to
drink wine, nor for princes, strong drink."
That's another great lesson to tell your kids.
Don't drink alcohol, tell them that it's poison, tell them that it's wicked.
You know, my kids already understand that alcohol is bad and I don't even think they
know fully what it is, but if they hear the word alcohol, they're like, "That's bad."
Yeah, you're right.
It's bad.
Don't ever drink it.
That's what the wicked drink.
That's what the wicked do, is they go out and drink alcohol and get drunk.
It's not for kings to drink wine, it's not for princes to drink strong drink.
Less five, less they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the
afflicted.
So notice she's warning her kids the effects of alcohol that's going to cause you to forget
the Bible, forget the law, to be a pervert in your judgment, to not have righteous judgment.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy
hearts.
Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more.
She's saying, "Hey son, alcohol is for losers, not for kings, not for princes, why don't
you go give it to that guy who is of a heavy heart and that doesn't want to remember his
misery anymore?"
Let that type of guy drink, not princes, not kings, not Christians, not God's people.
Notice, open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
You know, it's important for moms to teach their kids to open their mouth and preach
the gospel. To speak for those that are appointed to destruction. Of course, the destruction
waiting the unsaved is eternal fire in hell. You know, we need some moms that have a zeal
for soul winning that are going to instruct their kids, "Hey, you need to open your mouth
for these people. You need to go save those that are appointed to destruction." You know,
we need some moms that are raising some young boys to teach their young boys to be strong,
to be strong men of character that are going to stand up for what's right, that are going
to speak for those that are dumb, that are going to preach against the abortion, preach
against the slaughtering of babies that can't speak for themselves, preach against all the
wicked sins of our society, and stand up for what the Bible says. You know, that can often
come from mom's instruction. Early in life, we need that. Verse 9, "Open thy mouth, judge
righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy." That's some really good sound
doctrine coming from mom. We need some moms doing that today. Go to Proverbs 13, a few
pages back, Proverbs 13. Here's another great way you can get your children around Jesus
as mothers. Get them around godly people. Look at what Proverbs 13, verse 20 says, "He
that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
Man, you've got to get your kids around good people. And of course, I just immediately
think of taking your kids to church. Jesus said that when two or three are gathered together
in my name, there I am in the midst. You know, I believe that Jesus Christ is with us this
morning at Anchor Baptist Church. Word of God is being preached. You know, this is where
you want to bring your kids. And this is how you get your kids around Jesus, is you get
them in a good church. You get them around the good preaching of God's Word, because
Jesus is the Word of God. Go to, keep your place in Proverbs, and go to 2 Timothy chapter
number one, 2 Timothy one. But you know, again, this is why we believe so strongly in the
family integrated church model. We don't want to just separate the kids where they're not
hearing real preaching, where they're not getting the strong King James Bible read to
them. They're just getting a TV show and some candy and calling that church. No, we want
them to get around the preaching of God's Word. Why? Because then they'll grow up and
be wise. If we let them hang out with a bunch of fools, let them be companions of fools,
they're gonna grow up and be destroyed. You often are the people you are around. 2 Timothy
chapter 1 verse 3 the Bible says, "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with
pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and
day, greatly desiring to see thee being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy,
when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy
grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also." So notice
Timothy had an unfeigned faith. He actually truly believed in serving God. He loved God
with all of his heart. You know, one of the worries that I have for second, third, fourth
generation Christians is that they would just kind of take the Christian life for granted.
That it's just like, well, they grew up in church, so it's not a big deal. We've always
been King James only, so who cares? I mean, are the modern versions really that bad? What's
really the difference between Anchor Baptist Church and Joel Osteen anyways? Is it really
that big of a deal? It's kind of what I worry about, second-generation Christians, because
oftentimes they didn't come to these things on their own. They didn't really make Christianity
their own, and sometimes you see second-generation Christians being a lot less zealous than their
parents. That sucks. I hate to see that, but here we see an example of that not being the
case because Timothy has real, unfeigned faith, and Paul said that he was in his mother, Eunice,
and it dwelt first in my grandmother Lois. So Lois was kind of the first-generation Christian,
and she started the godly lineage, and she passed that down to Eunice. Eunice made it
her own. Eunice really believed. Eunice trained a godly child, Timothy, who also himself had
unfeigned faith. So look, I'm not saying that if you're a second, third, fourth, whatever
generation Christian that you're just going to be stuck to being apathetic and not zealous,
but what I am saying is make sure that Christianity is really your own. Make sure, moms, that
you're not just going through the motions, that you're not just like, "Well, I'm just
a body in church." No, care about the things of God because your children can see when
it's real in you. Your children can see if, you know, you drive home and you're just talking
crap about the pastor or the church and just not really liking it, or if you're actually
sold out, if you actually love serving God, if you actually love soul-winning, if you
actually love reading the Bible, where it's like your kids, they don't only see you open
the Bible when you're here on Sunday morning.
They actually see you open it throughout the week.
They actually see that you have a walk with God.
That's going to be real to them because it's real to you.
Make sure you're getting them around godly influences.
Again, keep your place in Proverbs, but go to 2 Chronicles 22, 2 Chronicles chapter
22.
Moms don't want to underestimate the spiritual influence that you could have on your children.
A lot of times in the Bible you see someone's mother's faith being mentioned, and here's
the thing.
She's not going to be mentioned for good or for bad.
You know, moms, you're not neutral.
You're going to have an influence on your children.
Is it going to be a godly influence, like Lois?
Or is it going to be a bad influence, like this, 2 Chronicles 22, verse 2, says, "Forty
and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem.
His mother's name also was Athaliah, the daughter of Omriah.
He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, knows this, for his mother was his counselor
to do wickedly.
Boy, that's a bad testimony.
I mean, you have Elizabeth here where she's walking in all the commandments blamelessly.
She's steadfast.
She's not getting bitter at God.
She's going through her trials.
She's carrying her cross, still loving God, still trusting him.
And then you got this mother, the mother of Ahaziah, who is literally counseling him to
do wickedly, telling him to break God's commandments, leading his children down the wrong path.
And look, I hate to say it, there's a lot of mothers today in our country that are
leading their children down the wrong path, that are not telling their kids to read the
Bible, go to church, go soul winning, serve God, get married.
There's a lot of moms out there that are being bad influences, and you know what?
You don't want to be one of those people.
You want to look to Elizabeth and be that example for your children, Lois, Eunice, one
of these ladies, not this woman here.
Go back to Proverbs 23, Proverbs chapter 23.
We'll look at two more places in Proverbs, and we'll close, Proverbs 23 verse 24, the
Bible says, "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth
a wise child shall have joy of him.
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bear thee shall rejoice."
You know, we talked a lot this morning about attributes of a godly mother, but again, I
just want to emphasize to those of us that our moms are still around, or kids, your moms
in this church, husbands, appreciating your wife who is a mother, make sure one way that
you appreciate mom is by being a righteous person yourself, by serving God, by loving
his word, by loving soul winning, because then it says "thy father and thy mother shall
be glad, and she that bear thee shall rejoice."
You know, I'm sure Elizabeth was thrilled when she found out that she was having a baby,
right?
Because she's been barren her whole life, she's gotten to her old age, she's having
a baby, but man, I wonder the joy she experienced when she found out that he's going out into
the desert to make a straight path for the Lord, to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus
Christ.
I bet you she's very proud at his hard preaching, at him ripping face and calling out, "Herod,"
saying it's not lawful for you to have thy brother's wife.
And you know, I'm sure that if she was around during the time of his death, of his martyr's
death, of course that's terrible and painful, but I guarantee you in heaven right now, John
is extremely exalted.
John has a lot of rewards and I'm sure that his mother loves that.
His mother is pleased.
And you know what?
To make your mom happy, be a godly Christian.
That's going to make your mom very happy.
Let's close in Proverbs 1 verse 8, turn to Proverbs chapter 1.
Proverbs 1 verse 8, the Bible says, "My son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake
not the law of thy mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace under thy head and
chains about thy neck."
You know, just in the last closing thought, I want to talk to all the children in this
church who are in Anchor Baptist Church.
You don't even have this excuse that some people make of like, "Well, my mom's unsaved
or my mom's not godly."
If your mom is taking you to Anchor Baptist Church, you have a great mom.
You don't even understand how great of a childhood you have.
There's so many things in your life that one day I hope you will understand what an amazing
blessing that you have being raised by the parents you have and in the church that you're
in.
And you know what?
Do not forsake the law of your mother.
You're on Anchor Baptist Church.
Your mom is giving you good doctrine.
She's telling you to go the right way.
She loves you and is giving you good doctrine.
Don't forsake the law of your mother.
Why?
It says they should be ornament of grace around the head and chains about thy neck.
Promise you, you listen to mom that goes to Anchor Baptist Church, you're going to look
better for it.
You're going to end up just fine.
Don't forsake mom's instruction.
You know why some kids who will go to Anchor Baptist Church will grow up and turn out bad?
It's because they'll forsake the law of their mother.
It's not going to be because they're following their mom's instructions.
It's not going to be because they're listening to the hard preaching, because they're obeying
the Bible and walking with God.
Here's why some children who go to Anchor Baptist Church will turn out bad someday.
It's because they're going to forsake the law of their mother.
You children, don't be that person.
Don't forsake the law of your mother.
Love her, appreciate her, thank her, and obey her commandments.
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you for all the mothers in this room.
Thank you for my wife and my mom and all the great sacrifices that they have made.
I pray that you would just give strength to all the mothers in this room that work so
hard on a daily basis.
I pray that you give them grace, and I pray that you would always help our church to be
a church that exalts and supports, cares for mothers, Lord.
And I pray also for anyone who would desire to have a child someday, who at this time
cannot, that you would please bless them and give them children.
We love you in Jesus name we pray, amen.