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Proverbs 31 verse 28, the Bible reads, her children arise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. So what do her children, this mother, this Proverbs 31 woman, what do they call her? They call her blessed. That's the title of the sermon this morning. Call her blessed, okay? So we're skipping 1 Corinthians 16. For this Sunday, I'll be preaching on that this coming Thursday, but I just thought it was important being Mother's Day today that we stop and honor our mothers, right? To me, Mother's Day and Father's Day are probably one of the most two important days that we sort of stop and celebrate the family. And if you guys have been paying attention, especially last year, to Father's Day last year, there was a push to change Father's Day to special person's day. Did you guys hear about that? I mean, just crazy, just how society's trying to change the mother and the father. Now, I don't think that there's been a call to change Mother's Day, potentially how much it failed to change Father's Day to special person's day, but probably also because people still respect the fact that it's a mother that gives birth to a child, right? But the more we see this transgender society, this whole transgender agenda, transgender agenda, it is an agenda, getting pushed, the more you're gonna hear stories of men giving birth. They're really women, but they wanna think of themselves as men. They wanna be called as men. And so it wouldn't surprise me if in the near future, people are pushing to change it to, you know, Mother and Father's Day or something like this, who knows? Who knows what they wanna change it to? But still, thank God, still in our nation, we do celebrate mothers. We stop one day in the year to think of our mothers, to give them gifts, to honor them, to respect them. And that is a godly thing to do, okay? We see in Proverbs 31, they called her blessed. And that's what we do when we celebrate Mother's Day. We call our mothers blessed, okay? We celebrate their motherhood. Now we're gonna come back to Proverbs 31 later on, but please turn to Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three, and verse 16. Genesis chapter three, verse 16. Now this picks up the story after Adam and Eve have sinned against the Lord. They partook of that fruit, they listened to the devil, they didn't listen to the word of God, and you know what happens? God curses Adam and Eve, right? Now how did he curse Eve? Look at verse 16. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. So the curse on the woman is that as she gives birth, now we don't know because Eve didn't give birth prior to this curse, but it seems like she still would have given birth with sorrow, okay? There still would have been difficulty, but it says here that he will greatly multiply the sorrow and thy conception. He says in sorrow, thou shall bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Now just that first part, the multiplication of sorrow, the conception, the bringing forth of children, the Bible says that is a curse that was put upon women, especially mothers, right? Now that is a reality. Everyone that's here today, you know, the truth is, the reason you're here is because your mother went through great sorrow. Your mother went through a difficult period of giving birth. You know, this is why we call it labor. Now please listen to Genesis 35. You know, in the book of Genesis, please listen to the 35th chapter. Genesis 35, verse 16. Genesis 35, verse 16. Genesis 35, verse 16. Genesis 35, verse 16. Now this is the story of Rachel. Okay, the story of Rachel when she gives birth, it says here, and they journeyed from Bethel, and there was but a little way to come to Ephra, and Rachel travailed, and she had what? Hard labor. So giving birth is not just described in the Bible as sorrow, but it's called travail, and what? And hard labor. We still use that term today, don't we? We say that a woman is going through labor. Hard labor, hard labor. Why do we use this word labor? Like when you think of the word labor, what does it mean? It means work, right? And it is hard work. It is hard work to deliver a child, okay? So it's not just work, it's hard labor. It's something that's very difficult, something your mother went through to give birth to you. So if you're gonna stop and honor your mother, regardless if she's a great woman or a poor woman, you at least need to respect the fact that she went through great difficulty to give birth to you, and that is something worthy of respect. That is something worthy of honor, okay? And I remember the first time, I never did this again, but the first time Christina gave birth was to obviously Isabel, so 12 years ago, almost 13 years ago, and I remember as she was going through the labor, as she started to push Isabel out, I gave her my hand. I gave her my arm to support her, big mistake. I wish I never did that, right? I mean, I thought Christina wasn't that strong. I didn't realize just how much strength she could have, but as she was pushing the baby, she was grabbing onto my arm, and I felt like I was losing blood. Like I couldn't feel my arm. It was so painful, it hurt so much. I didn't realize she could squeeze that hard, and I'm trying to prevent myself from screaming like she's yelling, trying to give birth, and she's squeezing my arm. I'm trying to calm down, but my arm is hurting me. So I never made that mistake again with the other children, right? I tried to control the pain, and it did hurt because it's hard labor, okay? It requires a lot of focus. It requires a lot of concentration. It requires a lot of strength, which is why they're exhausted after, and just don't make that same mistake, guys, that I went through, okay? I've learned my lesson. But look at verse 17 there, Genesis 35, verse 17. And it came to pass when she was in hard labor that the midwife said unto her, fear not, thou shall have this son also. Okay, so that is the hope of a woman that's going through travail. That's the hope of a woman who's struggling to give birth is that she's hopeful that that baby will be born. That's what's driving her to get through this, right? That's what's pushing her to get through is that the son, that she would have her son. But unfortunately for Rachel, look at verse 18. And it came to pass as her soul was in departing, for she died, that she called his name Benonai, but his father called him Benjamin. His father called him Benjamin. Verse 19, and Rachel died, and was buried in the way of Ephra, which is Bethlehem. So you know, a reality, a reality of childbirth is that there is a risk of the mother passing away. There's a risk that the mother will die in childbirth, okay? We see that in the Bible, and that still happens today. You know, women still unfortunately pass away or die through childbirth, that's how hard it is. That's how much stress it has on the body. And you know, some women, primarily the way a lot of women die from childbirth is the hemorrhaging afterwards, the hemorrhaging of blood. Okay, because it is a forceful thing on the body. And I've just looked at some rates in Australia of deaths in childbirth, and sorry to scare you Yasmin, I'm not trying to scare you, but you know, still, you know, and Australia has one of the lowest, like is the lowest risk of dying, one of the lowest risks in the whole world, but still there are seven deaths in 100,000 women. Even in the hospitals, with the midwives, with the medical system that we have in place, with the cleanliness that there is in Australia, and the good hygiene, there's still seven deaths of women per 100 women that give birth. So this was a reality, not only is it hard labor, but there's a risk of death giving birth. I mean, if we're gonna stop and honour mothers about something, is this not something worth honouring them about? Right, that they're putting their life on the line to give you life, you know, to give me life? You know, and that's a risk of becoming a mother. Now if you can turn, please turn to John chapter 16. John chapter 16, we're gonna go through a few verses here. I'm not teaching on how to be a good mother, we're just celebrating mothers today, we're just honouring mothers today, right? We wanna make sure that we give them the due honour and the things that we learn from the Bible that a woman or a mother goes through in order to be that mother. John 16 verse 21, John 16 verse 21, this is Jesus speaking in John 16 verse 21. This is what Jesus says about a woman. He says, a woman, when she's in travail, has sorrow. Okay, because it's hard, right? It's hard, it's painful. Why is she in sorrow? Because her hour is come, but as soon as she's delivered of the child, she remember no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. So, this is a true statement from Jesus. It's difficult, there's sorrow, there's travail, there's hard labour. It's something that you could risk your life over. But when that baby is born, what happens to that lady, to that mother? She rejoices, there's joy, she forgets the labour, she forgets what she just went through, right? Because she's so happy that that child has come into the world. And again, this is something I've experienced, right? Being there, I think I only missed one delivery because I went to park the car and it was too late, I got back and baby was born. But every time, Christina's going through difficulty, I'm praying, God help her, I have tears in my eyes, I'm trying to hold back because seeing your wife in pain isn't the most enjoyable thing for a husband. And at the same time, you're not trying to put the focus on yourself that you're struggling watching this. You're trying to make sure that your wife, the mother is focused on delivering that baby. But again, a reality of what I've seen, Christina struggled through, as soon as that baby is born, as soon as it's on her breast, she's rejoicing. She said, it's like the switch, she just totally forgotten what she went through. I'm still in trauma, I'm still traumatised, but she's like rejoicing, right? She's rejoicing over the birth of the baby. So this is a absolutely true statement that there's joy in the newborn, okay? And doesn't it just put in perspective abortion, just how wicked it is, right? It's almost like there's this fear of giving birth, there's this fear of being a mother, but going through that, Jesus says, you're going to rejoice. If you just let that baby grow and be born, you're going to rejoice over that child. And your mother rejoiced over you when you were born. Even if you were given away, there was a time, this is a reality of the Bible, where she rejoiced over you, she rejoiced over your birth. This is worth honouring your mother about, okay? Now, one advice that I'll give new mothers, especially Yasmin, you'll be a new mother, one of the questions that I hear mothers ask, well, soon to be mothers ask other mothers, and this is a question you should avoid, is just how hard is labour? How difficult is, how painful is it? Don't ask that question, okay? Because you've got many, many months left to deliver a baby, and then you're going to be worried about it, you're going to be stressed about going through all that. Look, Jesus says, once it happens, it's over, you rejoice. Focus on the joy of the child. Focus on the time you're going to hold that baby in your arms and rejoice and thank the Lord for the child that you have. If you keep that in mind, you're going to be less stressed when you go through that time. And again, your body tells you, when it's time to push, your body tells you what you need to do, and just keep focused on the things that God has given you. You know, the warning signs and the stop signs and the push signs that the body's given you, and you know, you'll be fine. You'll be fine and you'll be rejoicing once that new baby is born, okay? Now, if you can, please turn to the book of Isaiah. Turn to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54, verse one. Isaiah 54, verse one. Now, while you're turning there, there is a percentage of women that are unable to give birth. There is a percentage of women that are unable to fall pregnant, and they're going to live their life barren, okay? Now, even in the Bible times, we see women that were barren, that had difficulty falling pregnant, okay? But every time we see a barren woman in the Bible, they eventually fall pregnant. They actually do eventually fall pregnant, okay? But still, and sometimes women get discouraged, and even one new couple that I met when I was in the United States, she had gone through about eight months and she was stressed about not having fallen pregnant. They asked me, how long did it take for you guys to fall pregnant? And I said, oh, about nine months until she fell pregnant, and then guess what happened next month? She fell pregnant. She was worried about her being barren and all this stuff. But you know what? This is difficult for a woman if she's told medically that she's unable to have children, okay? When I met Christina, when we got married, or even before we got married, the medical world, whoever it was, I can't remember, the doctors told her she wouldn't be able to fall pregnant. They told her she would never be able to have children, okay? So we proved them wrong, right? Well, God proved them wrong. But you know, when Christina heard those words, it was very painful for her. It was very hurtful for her. I was fine with her. I was thinking, oh, kid, it's cool, you know? I wasn't very mature-minded. I wasn't very godly-minded at that time. I was just thinking, oh, okay, no children. All right, we get to enjoy ourselves, you know? But you know, it was painful for her. You know, it was very painful for her to hear about that. But look at Isaiah 54 verse one. It says, "'Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear.'" So even a barren woman can rejoice. Over what? "'Break forth into singing and cry aloud, "'thou didst not travail with child.'" So cry aloud and rejoice that you've not gone through the travail, that you've not gone through that hard labor. I mean, you might say, well, that's a bit weird. But you know, God is just encouraging here the barren woman. Hey, look, rejoice over the fact that you've just at least not gone through that difficulty, because that's how hard it is for a woman to give birth, okay? If you're barren, hey, rejoice over the fact that you didn't go through that. But look at this. "'For more are the children of the desolate "'than the children of the married wife, sayeth the Lord.'" So God says, hey, the barren woman can have more children than the woman that is married, that has, you know, obviously given birth. It's saying, well, hold on, isn't she barren? Well, what do you think he's just talking about? Okay, what is the encouragement here that God has given to the barren woman? Well, you don't need to turn there. I'll just read to you from Galatians chapter four. You don't need to turn there, because Galatians chapter four just references Isaiah here. Galatians four verse 26 says this, "'But Jerusalem, which is above, is free.'" What's the Jerusalem above? Heaven, right, heavenly Jerusalem. That's free, which is the mother of us all. So who's going to participate of that heavenly Jerusalem? The believers, the saved, right? And then verse 27, it says this, "'For it is written,'" this is what we just read in Isaiah, "'For it is written, "'Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not, "'break forth and cry, thou that's travailest not, "'for the desolate have many more children "'than she which hath an husband.'" Again, think about it. Who's going to reside in that new heaven? Believers. So how can the barren woman rejoice and have more children? She can have spent more time preaching the gospel. She can have more time winning souls to the Lord. And you know, when you win a soul, the Bible says you've given birth. Okay, you've given birth. So look, you can be out there week in, week out, preaching the gospel as a barren woman, seeing someone saved every couple of weeks or every, let's say once a month, that's all you see. You see someone getting saved once a month, that's 12 kids that you've given birth to. That's 12 kids that there is new life that's going to participate of that new heaven, right? And generally speaking, the wife of a husband, the mother would have had one child at that point in time. So the Lord encourages even the barren woman, hey, you can be a mother also. If you're a barren woman, but you've led someone to the Lord, you're a mother. We celebrate Mother's Day, not just physical birth, but God celebrates the mother that gives spiritual birth to spiritual children through salvation that's going to participate of that new heaven above. So I say that because again, when we celebrate Mother's Day, there's always that small percentage of women who can't give birth, they get discouraged, they get upset, they wish they could be a mother. Hey, they can be mothers. They can be mothers. They don't have the distractions. Because mothers, you know what it's like having little children. It's a 24-7 job, isn't it? I mean, you don't get a break because the kid's always there. You don't get a break. Okay, it's hard work. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, it doesn't matter. It's like last night, Lily woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to sleep with Christina. This is the time Christina ought to be sleeping, but still, she's a mother. And there's a little child that needed her attention. So, you know, the one that doesn't have children, you don't have those distractions, and you should use that time to be out there winning souls for the Lord. Now turn back to Proverbs, please, because the book of Proverbs teaches a lot about motherhood. The book of Proverbs celebrates mothers. Now, the world will tell you that the Bible degrades women. The world will tell you that the Bible puts women on a lower pedestal than man. That's not true. If you read the Bible, you know, there are a few things that women can't do. We already talked about that, right? They can't get up here and teach in the church, okay? They can't be a pastor, okay? And when you're married, guess what? Your husband's the ruler of you. He's the authority of you, okay? But is that really that bad? I mean, women can do a lot for the Lord, and we'll see this here. Look at Proverbs chapter one, verse eight. Proverbs chapter one, verse eight. Is it just the men that get the attention in the Bible? Is it just the men that have wisdom in the Bible? Look at Proverbs chapter one, verse eight. "'My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.'" Okay? "'For they shall be, for they, the instructions of the father, the law of the mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck.'" So the Bible says it's like spiritual jewelry. It makes you rich. It makes you attractive, I suppose, you know? It makes you look wise. If you take on the instruction your father gave you, you take on the wisdom of your mother, you'll be in good stead spiritually, okay? Now turn to Proverbs chapter six. Proverbs chapter six, verse 20. Proverbs chapter six, verse 20. Proverbs six, verse 20. "'My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother.'" Okay? So kids, children, don't forsake the law of your mother. You know, if your mother says something, go with it. You don't go to your dad and check if that's okay. You listen to what your mother says, and you hold that as the authority. You hold onto it. You don't forsake that law. And just a quick lesson on fathers and mothers here. You know, there are times the kids ask Christina something, and Christina tells them what to do, or gives them a rule in the house, whatever. And there might be even a time when she does that, and I don't even necessarily agree with her opinion. But you know what? I'll never override that. I will never tell the kids, well, no, mom's wrong, you know, do it this way, because she's got wisdom. And when kids see the inconsistency in the parents, then they're gonna grow up not knowing what to do. They're gonna grow up trying to, you know, challenge what mom said with what dad said, or vice versa. You know, parents need to be consistent in what they teach their kids. Even if I partly disagree with what Christina said, I'm gonna uphold that law in front of my kids, okay? And sometimes I fail, you know, but as a general rule, hey, that's what we should be doing, right? Because the mother has wisdom. The mother has instruction. The mother has laws for their children to grow in. Give us 21. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. So the instructions of your father, and especially tonight, today we're talking about your mother, the law of your mother, the wisdom, the instructions of your mother, are going to be in your mind as you grow up. You know, mothers, don't be afraid to instruct your children. They need to know what it is to live in this life, and how to have wisdom. Look at verse 23. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Your instruction to your kids is a lamp and light to their path, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. How do you want your kids to learn about life, the way of life? Who's to instruct them? The parents, right? The mother. It is not the government's job to tell your kids the way of life. It is not the school's job. It's not the teacher's job to instruct them in the way of life. It's not the pastor's job to instruct them in the way of life. It is mom. You're the one that spends most time with them. Dad's usually at work, for a good eight hours or more at work. You know, you have more time with your kids. You have the greater influence to teach your children how to live life. Okay, it's not the daycare's responsibility. It's mom, you've got an important role. This is something that the Bible honors with mothers, okay? It's my mom, okay? It's my mom that taught me how to treat a woman. It's my mom that taught me how to date a woman, okay? It's my mom that taught me how to walk with a woman, right? And how to give them respect and honor and treat them right. It's my mom that taught me, Kevin, you gotta marry a Christian. You gotta make sure you marry someone that's saved, okay? And I didn't quite follow that instruction, but you know what? I knew Christina needed to be saved. Christina's my first convert, you know? I got her saved, I married her, right? It's the best thing you can do, right? But if not for the instruction of my mother, if not that being on my mind, I may just have totally gone the way of the world. It's my mom that taught me to stay away from alcohol. You know, my mom used to tell me about an auntie she had that was an alcoholic. And she had a fear that her children would become alcoholics, right? These are instructions. You know, my dad taught me many things. But here's the thing, men generally teach their sons, especially, you know, just how to be a man. You know, the importance of going to work and making sure you can provide and making sure you have a good job. You know, that kind of stuff. That's usually what men teach, fathers teach, but it's the mother that has that kindness, you know, and wants to make sure that the children, it's not so much about how much they make and what kind of jobs they earn. Mothers are more concerned about the kind of character their child will become, right? The kind of husband they will be, the kind of father they'll be. And, you know, I've got a lot to owe my mother for the person that I am, you know. And mothers, you have a great influence on your children's life. Look at Proverbs 17, turn to chapter 17 in Proverbs. Proverbs 17, Proverbs 17, verse 25. Proverbs 17, 25, I'm talking to the kids right now. What do you call your mother? What's the title of this sermon? You call her blessed. Can you honor her? You respect her. You don't wanna be this one in verse 25. Proverbs 17, verse 25. It says, a foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her that bear him. So which one do you wanna be? The one that listens to the mother's instruction, that honors her, that calls her blessed, or the one that is bitterness to your mother, okay? So we need to be careful. Kids, I'm talking to kids, right? Because you're honoring your mother, right? That you do not wanna be that bitter child, right? You don't want your mother to grieve over you. You know, she gave birth to you. She went through those difficulties. She wants you to be successful. She wants you to be of great character. She wants you to listen to the instruction she's given you. You know, even an ungodly, unsaved mother cares about her children and wants to give them direction in life, okay? The only time you should not obviously follow what your parents say is when you know what the Bible says. Okay, if they're telling you to do some sort of sin or anything like that, you know, you put the laws of God first, okay? Now turn to Psalms. Turn to Psalms, Psalms 22, verse nine. Psalm 22, verse nine. Psalm 22, verse nine. This is a psalm of David. So most of the psalms are the psalms of David. Well, a lot of them are, anyway. But this is a psalm of David, Psalm 22, verse nine. Look what he says here. Talking to God, he says this about God. But thou art he that took me out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. So when David was a little baby in his mother's womb, he says, God, you took me out of my mother's womb, you know? And he hoped in the Lord when he was still a sucked in baby, you know? Still being breastfed by the mother. King David was hoping in the Lord even as a little infant. How do you think that's possible? You think a little infant knows about God? Innocent, a little baby's innocent. They don't know, they don't even know what's right and wrong when they're out of the womb, right? They don't know what's going on. All they know is cry, suck, you know, that's it. That's pretty much all they know when they're born, right? But he says, look, I had a hope in you, God, at that point, why? Because his mother taught him. Even at that young age, right? His mother, well, they didn't have churches as we do back then, but his mother brought him to church. His mother sang songs about the Lord. You know, his mother read the Bible. He knew who his God was even at a little age, at the age of an infant. He's saying, Kevin, no, that's impossible. We see in the Bible that this is a truth that even a little infant can understand the things of God. They can understand God. This is why I encourage mothers to bring their little babies here. They're not a distraction, okay? It's important for them to hear preaching of the word of God, because even they can start understanding and start learning who their God is, okay? They can at least get used to hearing a man preach behind a pulpit, you know? So they have to get adjusted to that later in life, okay? They can understand, you know, and I'm saying mothers, if you have little infants, use that time and teach them about God. You know, sing songs of praises around the house. They'll listen, they'll know who their God is. Look at verse number 10. He says, I was cast upon thee from the womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly, okay? So David is not boasting that he came to know God in his own time and in his own way. He knew that his mother is the one, right, straight from his mother's belly, that that was his God. His mother taught him these things at a very young age. It is never too young to be taught the word of God. It is never too young to be taught the word of God. And a great example of this is Moses. Turn to the book of Exodus, please. A great example of this is Moses. You guys know the story of Moses. But Exodus chapter two, turn to Exodus chapter two. And you guys know the story here. You know, the Israelites, they went into Egypt. They migrated into Egypt. They were there for, was it 400 years? They were there for 400 years. And they were outbreeding the Egyptians, right? They were grown in numbers, and then the Egyptians put them to work. They enslaved them and put them to work. And because they were having so many kids, the pharaoh said, hey, they passed the law that the male children that were born would be put to death. They'd be thrown into the river, okay? And you know, Moses' mother, she couldn't do that, right? She'd given birth to a baby. She's rejoicing over the child, right? As we saw what Jesus said, she's rejoicing. She couldn't bear to put Moses, to throw Moses into a lake and kill him. She couldn't abort the baby, right? She couldn't do that. Look at verse one, Exodus two, verse one. And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bare a son. And when she saw him, that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. So she risked her life for her child. She knew the law of the king was to kill the male child. But she said, no, I'm not going to do that. Even if it's at the risk of my own life, she went and hid her child for three months, okay? Because usually the first three months, a child's, you know, is pretty quiet. They sleep a lot. And if they cry, you know, you can deal with it pretty quickly. You know, they're on the breast or whatever. They're being taken care of. But it gets to a point where the child's no longer quiet, right? You can't keep it a secret. And look at verse number three. And when she could no longer hide him, she took him an ark of bull rushes and dubbed it with slime and with pitch and put the child therein, and she'd laid it in the flags by the river's brink. So she makes this basket, puts baby Moses in there and into the river. Now that might seem to, like, if that's all we knew, that might seem really irresponsible, right? Well, what, you're just getting rid of that baby now? Three months old, you're just going to put it in the river and just hope for the best? No, it's not like that at all, okay? Because look at the next verse. And his sister stood afar off to wit, or to witness what would be done to him. So the mother sends his sister, go and see what's going to happen to the baby. She didn't just let the baby go and whatever happens. She has to send the sister and just see what happens. She had faith that the Lord will take care of Moses, right? And verse number five. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along by the riverside, and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept, and she had compassion on him, and said, this is one of the Hebrew's children. Then she said, sorry, then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter. So the sister of Moses went to Pharaoh's daughter. Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? Because obviously that little baby needs to be nursed. It needs mother's milk. And Pharaoh, even though she would like to have that child for herself, she's not able to nurse that child, right? So the sister says, hey, there's a woman that I can fetch for you. Would you like me to do that for you? You know? And verse number nine. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child and nursed it. Oh, sorry, I didn't read verse eight. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, go, and the maid went and called the child's mother. So the child, Moses gets returned back to the child's mother, gets returned back to his mom. She's able to nurse him, you know, without fear of being put to death, without fear of the child being put to death, because it's Pharaoh's daughter, right? It's the law that's made judgment there. And she's getting paid for it. Like, even better, even better. You know, the Lord made sure, you know, she was looked after. Even when the law said, kill your child. But look, she did the right thing, and the Lord rewards her. The Lord looks after her, okay? Look at verse 10. And the child grew. So the mother's responsibility was just to have that child so she could nurse it. How long does a woman normally nurse a child for? Just think about that. We'll just look at verse number, sorry, verse number 10. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and she became her son. And she called his name Moses, and she said, because I drew him out of the water. So I had a look at some stats here. Now, not every woman is able to win for this long. I know some women struggle in this area. But I had a look at the average age that a child is nursed, and it says till about two years old, okay? Even if after, around that age there, it's solid and still being nursed, or some sort of mixture of that. But, you know, till about two years old, two and a half years old, that's where, on average, a child is no longer being nursed from the mother's breasts, okay? So this is how long Moses' mother had with Moses. Not very long at all, just a couple of years, right? Maybe two years, okay? That Moses' mother could influence Moses. Then he was given back to Pharaoh's daughter to raise him as her son, okay? And she named him. His name Moses comes from Pharaoh's daughter. Verse 11, and it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown, that he went unto his brethren and looked on their burdens, because they were being enslaved by the Egyptians, and he spied an Egyptian, smiting in Hebrew, one of his brethren. So even though Moses was raised in luxury as the king's grandson, if you will, even though he had the riches of Egypt, and Egypt was a prosperous nation at this point in time, was one of the world powers at this point in time, when he looked at his brethren, when he looked at his fellow Hebrews being enslaved by the Egyptians, he had a burden for them. Say, why? The two and a half years, the two years that he was with his mother, she taught him. She taught him, hey, don't identify with the Egyptians. Don't identify with the world. Identify yourself with God's people, okay? Identify those that worship the Lord. Verse 12, and he looked this way and that way. He made sure there was nobody there, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He committed murder here. Verse 13, and when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together, and he said to him that did the wrong, wherefore smittest thou thy fellow? So he cares for the Hebrews. You know, there's two Hebrews fighting. Why are you guys fighting? And he said, so they responded in verse 14, who made thee a prince and a judge over us, intendest thou to kill me, as thou killest the Egyptian? And Moses feared and said, surely this thing is known. So people knew that he had committed murder. Verse 15, now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses, but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. So if we just had this Old Testament story to read, we would assume that the reason why Moses fled out of Egypt was because he was fearing for his life, because Pharaoh was trying to kill him, slay him for committing murder, right? We would think that, but we have the New Testament to give us a little bit more what was going on in Pharaoh, in Moses' life. And I'll just read to you Hebrews chapter 11, verse 23. Hebrews 11, 23, it says, by faith, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents. So it was his mother's faith that protected him for those three months, right? Because they saw that he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandments, okay? So a mother loved their child so much that they wouldn't be afraid of the law if they tell them to kill your child, right? They would stand up for their children. Verse 24, by faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. It was his faith that caused him to say, hey, I'm not an Egyptian, I'm not of this world. He said, it's verse 25, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. He says, I'd rather be poor and afflicted if I can just be counted as one of God's people, okay? Than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteem in the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. So being for Christ, I mean, he didn't know of Jesus Christ, but obviously he did. His mother taught him about a redeemer coming. He would rather suffer affliction with Christ, with the people of God, the reproach of Christ, than to have the great riches of heaven, sorry, the great riches of Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense for the reward. So he'd rather be known as a child of God. He'd rather be associated with Jesus Christ than have the pleasures and the treasures of this world to have the sin that he can live in and have everything that he could want in his flesh. How? How if he was raised in Egypt? Well, his mother spent time with him, a few small years, two years with him. You know, how much influence mothers can you have in your children in these early years? You know, don't neglect your newborns. Bring them to church, read them the Bible, sing them godly songs so that they may know that they ought to be desiring to be a child of God as they grow up, okay? So we see, in verse 27, sorry, verse 27, I'll just read one more to you. By faith he forsook Egypt. So when we read the autism, we think he fled Egypt for his life, but it says by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. He wasn't afraid that the king was gonna kill him or trying to kill him. For he endured as seeing him who is invisible. You know, Moses had his sights set on God. He says, I've gotta get out of Egypt. This place is the world. This place is not going to teach me about God. He had to get out of there because he wanted to know more about the God of his mother. He wanted to know more about the God of his people, of the Hebrews, okay? That's why he fled Egypt, to get out of the world, to stop being tempted by sin so that he could know God more, okay? And that all comes back to his mother. Pharaoh's daughter didn't teach him about the God of the Hebrews, no way. She would've taught him about the gods of Egypt, but he chose to go with the God of the Bible. He chose rather to stand with Jesus Christ. Now turn to 2 Timothy, please, 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter one. So we're just going through some great men in the Bible and the influence their mothers had on their lives, right? The influence their mothers had on their lives. 2 Timothy chapter one verse one. Who was Timothy? He was a pastor. He was a bishop, right? He was someone that Paul had trained, and Paul, being the apostle of God, had great confidence in Timothy. This is what he says of Timothy when he writes this letter. 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter one verse one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord, 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. So you can see that Paul has a great respect for Timothy. He's trained him, but he rejoices in Timothy. He prays for Timothy. Look at verse number five. When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also. So he says, look, I bring to remembrance the great faith that's in you. It's an unfeigned faith. It's true, it's honest, it's stable, it's strong. You have a great faith in the Lord, but I know where that comes from, Timothy. That's come from your grandmother, and it's come from your mother. Who taught Timothy about the Bible? His mother, right? His mother had a great influence. Her son became a pastor. Now, do you think she thought that when she raised him with the nurturing admission of the Lord, when she raised him to know the scriptures, when she raised him and taught him to have faith in God? Probably not. You know, and mothers, you don't know what your children may become. You know, teach them godly things. You don't know what God may have in store for them. You don't know how great they can be for the Lord. We see how great David was. We see how great Moses was. We see Timothy now in the New Testament become a pastor because of the faith that was instilled to him through his mother and through his grandmother. And it was my mother that led me to the Lord when I was four years old. It was my mother that gave me the gospel. It was my mother that got me saved, and I owe her that for the rest of my life, right? I owe her that for the rest of eternity, you know? Mothers, you know, it's my mom that read the Bible to me before bed. You know, she'd tuck me into bed, read the Bible to me. I always wanted to hear about Samson. You know, I don't know why I just, he was strong. You know, he won a lot of battles. He's like a superhero or something. You know, my mom would read me a lot about Samson. I remember these things, you know? And it's Christina that most days, pretty much every day, she has a family devotions with the children, right? They read a chapter together. They go through that chapter. You know, they talk, discuss it, you know, before they do school. And I would recommend mothers, especially if you're struggling with homeschooling, if you're struggling with having, you know, a lot of children, you know, spend time in the morning reading through the Bible, get God on your side, make sure God's involved there, because he'll help you through the day. Otherwise you're trying to do things for your own strength. Hey, no, we need the Lord. But we also see here that it's the grandmother lowest, right? Grandmothers, you have a responsibility to teach your grandchildren the things of the Lord, okay? Grandmothers, you know, you're not past the due date. You still have a great influence on your grandkids. Okay, we see that here with his grandmother lowest and his mother Eunice, who raised him to be a godly man. Now go back to Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31, we're almost done now. Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31, verse one, it says the words of King Lemuel. So these are the words of Solomon. These are Solomon's teachings, okay, that's been recorded in the Bible, that the Holy Spirit moved him to write. This is the king's, the words of Samuel, but the prophecy that his mother taught him. So it was his mother, what was his mother's name? That's Sheba, right? Who was she? She committed a great sin, right? Remember she committed adultery with King David, right? And then she fell pregnant, and then her husband was basically put to death by King David and she eventually became King David and another one of King David's wife. I mean, she committed a great sin, okay? Great sin against her husband. And I don't know how much control she had over that situation when the king is calling for her, but still she should have stood her ground and said, no, I'm married, my husband's at war and I'm gonna keep myself to him, right? And mothers, you may have done great sins in the past. You may have done some horrible things in your past, but still, what does God do? He records these words of wisdom, this prophecy that Bathsheba taught her son Solomon. Even though she had done great wickedness, she was still used by God to have some things he taught in the Bible from her, even though she was a wicked woman. And notice that it says the prophecy that his mother taught him. What did we learn about what prophecy is? It can be preaching. Say, well, Kevin, women aren't allowed to preach. Well, yeah, I said you can. You can preach door to door, preach the gospel, but guess who else you can preach to? Your children. You can preach the words of God knowledge to your children. God wants to use mothers. Let's drop down to verse 26. These are the teachings of Bathsheba to Solomon. Verse 26. Teaching about the Proverbs 31 woman, or the, what's the other name they give this woman? The virtuous woman, yeah. The virtuous woman or the Proverbs 31 woman. Verse 26, it says she opened her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. Women, mothers, are able to teach their kids with wisdom, but also with kindness. Sometimes fathers are a little bit more rough, right? A little bit more pushing their sons, especially their sons a lot more, whereas their mothers are a little bit more kinder, right? A little bit more compassionate. But still, even in that compassion, they can teach great wisdom. Verse 27. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. What's a mother? She looks to the way well to the ways of her household. She wants the best for her family, okay? That's what God has put into a mother. I want to do the best for my husband. I want to do the best for my kids. I want to make sure that they're well provided for, that they eat well, okay? And it says, and eateth not the bread of idleness. And you know, again, if you're a mother, you're not idle. You don't even have time to be idle, right? Because you're so busy with life. And that can be a struggle. And you know, I would recommend, you know, husbands give your wives a bit of a break sometimes. Let them have a bit of a rest, okay? That's not idleness. Let them go out and have a bit of fun. You look after the kids for a little while. You know, honor your wives as well. You know, give them that time, not because they're going to get into idleness and get into trouble, but just so they can recharge their batteries to come back and be even more effective for the family, right? Because it's not like they want to get away from the family. They want to do the best for the family. And when they're struggling with all the things, you know, all the kids and all the homeschooling, whatever it is, they're not struggling because they don't want to do that. It's because they're not doing as well as they want to. And sometimes they just need a break, recharge their batteries and come back and do it even better, okay? But she looks well to the ways of her household. Verse 28, her children arise up and call her blessed. Kids, call your mother blessed. Honor, respect, listen to them. Don't roll your eyes at your mother. Don't talk back to your mother when she gives you instructions and commands. Okay, she's looking out for the best for you, okay? Her husband also, he praises her. Husbands praise, praise your wives. Praise the mother of your children. Okay, they want to hear that. They want to hear the praise. That encourages them. Verse 29, look how her husband praises her. He says this, many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelest them all. Okay, so he's saying, look, there's a lot of godly women, there's a lot of great mothers, but thou excelest them all. You're the best, is what he's saying, right? You know, there's a lot of good women out there, but you're the best. You're the best one that's out there. That's how he praises her, you know? So husbands, think about this. Think about, you know, do you say that to your wife? You know? Verse 30, favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that fearth the Lord, she shall be praised. Okay, this is a definite. If the woman fears the Lord, she shall be praised. And you might say, Kevin, you know, I'm not being praised as a mother much. Well, that probably means you're not fearing the Lord. Okay, this is a reality. These two things go together. You fear the Lord, you know, you keep his commands, you teach your children the things of God, then they're going to praise you. Your husband's going to praise you. It's going to come naturally out of the abundance of their heart, okay? These two things go together. Verse 31, give her the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates. Just that first part, give her the fruit of her hands. A mother should not be seen as this slave in the house that works, you know, from morning to night and gets no reward, you know? No, she deserves the fruit of her hands. You know, we should give our mothers gifts. We should give our wives rewards for the hard work that they do. You know, husbands, you go work, you earn a paycheck, but you know, mothers, generally speaking, they're not going to earn a paycheck being a stay-at-home mom. They're not going to earn a paycheck raising their kids, but they're worthy of their reward, right? There's a fruit of their, you know, praise them, give them gifts, bring them flowers, whatever it is, not just husbands, but children as well. You know, honor and respect your mother, you know? And, you know, financially, you know, I let Christina, for example, buy whatever she wants. I mean, first of all, I know she's not going to go crazy and spend it all, but she often asks me, can I buy this, can I buy, I'm like, yeah, whatever, just do it, whatever you need to do. Just go in it, because I know how much she works. I know she's there up early, I know she's there late. I know once the kid's in bed, she's ironing the clothes, and I'm in bed, and I know she's working. I'm like, honey, come to bed. And I know she's working, and she deserves a reward. She deserves praise, because if you're not rewarding her, if you're not praising her, she's going to get discouraged, and she's not going to enjoy motherhood, right? All these things need to go together, but mothers, you've got to fear the Lord as well, okay? You fearing the Lord will cause your children and your husband to praise you. Almost done, almost done. Turn to Psalms, Psalms 127. Psalm 127, verse three. Psalm 127, verse three. Because motherhood is supposed to be enjoyable, okay? Motherhood is supposed to satisfy the woman, okay? But again, we live in a world, we live in a society that degrades mothers, you know? They look down on stay-at-home moms, they look down if you homeschool your kids, they look down if you spend your time with your family rather than out in the workforce like a man, they look down at these things, right? And it just happens naturally, even in a church, that mothers are going to feel like, hey, I should be doing more. I'm not contributing to society, right? I'm worth more than this than being just a mother. But hold on, what is motherhood? You know, you can raise godly men that can do great things. We've already seen that in the Bible, right? Solomon, David, you know, Moses, Timothy. We saw these great men because of their mothers, right? But look at Psalm 127, verse three. Psalm 127, verse three, it says, lo, children are an heritage of the Lord. What's a heritage? Something that's passed down, an inheritance of the Lord. And the fruit of the womb is his reward. Having children is the reward of God. If I said to you, hey, would you like the inheritance of God, would you like to be rewarded by God? You know, it's a stupid person who would say no. You know, of course you'd say, yeah, of course I want to be rewarded. Of course I want to inherit, you know, the things that God wants to give me. Well, guess what that is? Children, the fruit of the womb. You know, if you've got a mindset where, man, you think of children as a curse, as a burden, it is hard work, okay? It is labor, okay? It is hard labor to bring them in and it's labor to keep raising them, okay? But it's God's inheritance and it's his reward for you, okay? We need to change our mindsets around children. Go to the next Psalm, Psalm 128. Psalm 128, verse one. Psalm 128, verse one. Blessed is everyone that fearth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shall eat the labor of thine hands. Happy shalt thou be. Blessed and happy thou shalt be, and it shall be well with thee. What's this blessing? What's this happiness that God's telling you about? Look at verse three. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house. Thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold that thus shall a man be blessed that feareth the Lord. So not only is it the inheritance of the Lord, not only is it a reward of the Lord, but it's a blessing from the Lord. God says this is what's gonna make you happy. Having a fruitful wife, a wife that has many children, right? Children like olive, I don't like olives, but anyway, children like olive plants. I guess maybe I don't have a problem with olive plants, right? But children like olive plants, like this vine that's growing. Where? In thine house, right? We ought to be people that have joy and are blessed and are happy in our house. We shouldn't be people that think, man, I can't wait to get out of my house so I can get away from my family, to get away from my kids. No, God says there's blessing and happiness and joy and reward in your house because that's where you're gonna spend most of your time with your family, right? I mean, I don't work a full-time job now, but there was never a time when I was working full-time, I'm like, man, I'm so happy to be out of the house. I'd have people, my work colleagues saying, man, you must be so happy to be out of your house with all those kids, out of all that noise. And I'm like, no, that's where I wanna be, right? I wanna be with my family, I wanna be with my children. But this is a mindset, this is a mentality. This is contrary to the world. The world tells you it's a burden. The world tells you it's a curse. The world tells you have as little children as possible because you need to look after yourself, after all. But what does God say? You wanna be happy in life? You know, have as many kids as you can. As many as I give you, it's a reward, it's a blessing. It's hard work, yes. But when it's, you know, hard work, that's the joy of getting the reward. Think of soul winning. You know, if you're getting just someone saved every 10 minutes, you know, eventually it would, you know, it'd be like nothing, right? But when you're out there and you're out there knocking doors for an hour, you haven't seen someone saved for a week or two, and then you get someone saved, don't you rejoice? Aren't you glad about it? You know, you labored hard, though maybe even you got discouraged because you're like, man, nobody's here in the gospel. But when that person gets saved, you rejoice. You're glad, right? And that's how we ought to think of our children. It's hard work, yes, but the labor's worth it, okay? There's a reward, it's a blessing, and this is gonna make me happy, all right? But you know what's gonna make you happy is raising your kids for the Lord, okay? Raising them in the nurturing and admission of the Lord. We're not gonna go through that today. It's just mainly about praising mothers today. In conclusion, I just wanna say this. If your mother is still living today, then please wish them a happy Mother's Day, okay? Even if you've not contacted your mother for months or years, and I don't know where everybody is with their mothers or if they're still alive, make sure you honor them, make sure you contact them. Tell them that you love them. Thank them for what they've done in your life. And you might say, yeah, look, my mother, she's not a godly woman, she's not a Christian, she's worldly, she hates me. But you know what? Even if that's the case, she still carried you for nine months. She still put on 14 kilograms of extra weight for those nine months carrying you. She still has the marks in her body, the stretch marks and whatever other marks she's got from carrying you and giving birth to you. She still went through that hard labor to have you. When you were born, she still rejoiced at that moment in time. And if that's all you have of your mother, still, that's worthy of respect and honor. It's still worthy of telling her, thank you, Mom, for giving me life. Thank you for going through that difficulty, thank you for going through that hard labor and giving me life, okay? So let's pray.