(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

all right so like I was saying that's a very long chapter Luke chapter 1 and there's a lot of things we could look at you know for today being Mother's Day happy Mother's Day to everyone who is a mother has a mother we all have a mother so therefore if you haven't already wish your mother's happy Mother's Day and sisters anyone that has children let's go ahead and make sure we don't forget to give our mothers honor and glory because you know the job of a mother is could be seen by the world and others as an insignificant job or a job that doesn't get a lot of limelight okay so the world wants to extol women in a certain way the world wants to extol women in and going out and starting a job going on starting career going out and becoming a CEO or an actress or a musician but you know not too much nowadays do you see women who are mothers being praised and honored for their glory and I believe you know the Bible being a very big book and a lot to be read and taught doesn't necessarily emphasize motherhood a lot but we do understand that the Bible has all the answers to all the questions in life so in life we have mothers and mothers need instruction on how to raise children and obviously you David you can't speak on motherhood you're not a mother you how can you speak on motherhood you know the apostle Paul wrote epistles to churches about not only to husbands he wasn't a husband not only to wives on how to be wives but also to fathers and mothers and children he didn't have kids but we have the Word of God to direct us in all our ways to be able to fill fulfill our roles in life and Luke chapter 1 is one of those chapters that we see two mothers and the title of this message is mothers to look to because like I said the Bible is not necessarily emphasizing a lot of mothers you know we have a lot of the prophets being praised we have a lot of the Apostles being praised Jesus Christ the Son of God and we have all these men in the Bible that are getting a lot of chapters and writings but you know what there are women in the Bible that are getting praised for their motherhood and this is a chapter that we see the Gospel of Luke the very first chapter starting us into it it explains to us two ladies who one was known as barren and was able to have a son and the other was the mother of our Savior Jesus Christ and let's first point out the good attributes of these ladies so number one look down at your Bible and notice what it says in chapter 1 verse 27 this is in reference to Mary it says to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the Virgin name was Mary and the angel came in under her and said hail thou that art highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women's the angels clearly starting off with speaking with Mary that you have favor with God God is pleased with you and married we don't know a lot of her personal life about like how she composed herself up into this point how she was raised or even a lot of like her rearing of Jesus Christ we do see an example of that we are gonna go into that but we don't see a lot of like Mary actually doing the mothering but nevertheless we start off by the angel Gabriel telling the world that she was favored in the sight of God so the first thing I want us to understand was that she was favored before she was a mother every mother first needs to be a good wife that's the first thing I want to get into because some ladies may think that they get married enemy in the famous nursery rhyme right first comes love then comes marriage then comes the baby with the baby carriage but you know it's simply this you know the Bible teaches very clearly and whatsoever state we are therein to be content because we all have different walks of life whether we're you know you're a young lady whether you're married woman whether your mom a grandmother you know we all have different stages that we are in life and for you ladies you need to find contentment with where you currently are and do the best in your current position you know because let's say there's a lady who's married and doesn't have kids you know we see Elizabeth was a lady who was well stricken in age she was in her later years what some would say is not the time for a lady to have a mother and we see example more examples of that in the Bible but Elizabeth is our New Testament example and Mary was well favored why I believe it because she was a very good wife first because we all know the famous story right she was a virgin that was with child now let's turn if we were to Matthew chapter 1 the Gospel of Matthew we start this is the first thought in the New Testament but the Lord wants us to know notice what it says in Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 now the birth of Jesus Christ is on this wise when as his mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost so this is just emphasizing her virginity that her purity she was a lady in the open the in the Bible when a marriage was consummated not only did you you know propose to a woman or proposed to them but then you had a marriage and the consummation of that was the coming together aspect of a man and wife the attributes that God said are what is our purpose here on earth the very first commandment given to mankind be fruitful and multiply like I said the famous nursery rhyme first comes love then comes marriage then comes a baby in the baby's carriage but you could see if you keep reading you know Joseph was I mean can we really argue that Joseph was not necessarily too stoked to hear that information you know that his spouse wife was with a child you know that's not there is a way that the law tells us that there's only one exception to put away your wife and that is if it be for the fornication if a woman was found with child and you married her you know there's a vow made between husband and wife saying basically that I'm gonna be to you and you're gonna be to me and nothing in between so the Bible taught that they give them a bill of divorce meant why if the woman was found not to be faithful so basically Joseph was trying to do the right thing and follow the dude the law and Deuteronomy and was going to put her away privately notice what it says being a just man so the Bible saying right here that he was doing the right thing being a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately look down at verse 24 then Joseph being raised from his sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and took unto him his wife and then it says in you are not till he had brought forth her firstborn son and he called his name Jesus so the Bibles is clearly emphasizing that Mary was a good wife she was not unfaithful she was faithful to Joseph a miraculous event of God fighting favor on Mary was the reason before the world was ever created the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the land slain from the foundation of the world the very first prophetic promise of the Messiah of Jesus Christ to come is found in Genesis chapter 3 and it says the woman will bring forth a son and that son will bruise the head of the serpent and the serpent will bruise his heel that's a prophecy of Mary having Jesus Christ bringing in Jesus Christ into the world the miracle of Jesus Christ coming into the world so turn if you would to Proverbs 31 you've gone to church a lot in your life if you've heard a lot of preaching we've all occurred of the Proverbs 31 woman this is a woman that the Bible emphasizes for ladies to look to in their life to have as an example of what it means to be a good wife and potentially a good mother and notice the first words in the prophecy because a lot of people may know I'm sorry the teaching of Proverbs 31 a lot of people know the virtuous woman a lot of people know the attributes she curbs her arms and strength she you know keeps her house warm and all this different things but a lot of people don't know that this is actually a letter from a mother to her son notice what it says in Proverbs 31 verse 1 the words of King Alemuel the prophecy that his mother taught him 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 destroy a king it is not for Kings o Alemuel it is not for Kings to drink wine nor for Prince's strong drink lest thou drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted give strong drink of the hand that is ready to perish and wine into those that be of heavy heart let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more open my mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction open my mouth judge righteously there's the famous you know a lot of people always tell us as Christians judge not lest you be judged we can't judge with another the prophecy of Alemuel's mother to the king is saying judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rupees the heart of her husband does safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil spoil there is like excess of income you know he doesn't need a he doesn't need to try to make more money because she is a good steward the income that he brings in he doesn't need extra you know you think of spoils of war the extras that you get after the war she will do him good and not evil all the days of her life she seeketh wool and flax and worked it willingly with her hands she is like the merchants yes she bringeth her food from afar she rises also while it is yet night and giveth me to her household and a portion to her maidens I'm not gonna go into the rest of the attributes of the Proverbs 31 what I'm trying to point out what the Bible is emphasizing has that in the sight of God Mary was well favored before she was ever a mother she was well favored because she was a good wife to Joseph she was faithful to him she was I believe this Proverbs 31 woman she was a woman that is highly to be praised as it says at the very end in verse 30 he says favor is deceitful and beauty is gain for the woman that fearth the Lord I mean that's not to say that you know we don't look to women for their beauty but the attributes of beauty a wife understands is of second nature what's most important that she fears the Lord and if men are looking for a wife in their life they should be looking for the Proverbs 31 woman now understand this she is rarer than Rudy she is a very hard thing to find it's not necessarily like there's a Proverbs 31 woman walking around everywhere so for men you want to look for a woman that follows these attributes but matter that you think when I married my wife she just was a Proverbs 31 woman right off the bat this is things that you can grow into as wives but we're not necessarily just talking about wives today I'm just pausing us there to move into the thought of first comes love and comes marriage then comes the baby and the baby carriage go back to Luke chapter 1 because I'm just trying to point out this thing first that these women were in the sight of God seen as good godly women I'm going to briefly explain how we know that of Elizabeth because like I said it's a very long chapter but it says of Elizabeth in verse 6 and they were both righteous before God walking in the commandment and ordinances of the Lord blameless that doesn't mean they were without sin they were walking in the ordinances of the Lord as considered blameless meaning that a normal person couldn't look at them and see a glaring problem over their life you know the Bible talks about that if you want to be a pastor or a deacon or an evangelist you need to be considered blameless meaning you don't have a glaring sin over your life or you are able to be looked at as someone who follows the commandment you're trying in all those ways to strive for the commandments of God as we see both Elizabeth and Zacharias the parents of John the Baptist so that's the first thing I want to emphasize these women the title of this message women to look to in the Bible let's look to Mary she was a great godly woman favored over the Lord she was I believe a Proverbs 31 woman and Elizabeth was as well they were in the sight of God blameless that means they're sinless there is none righteous no not one as it is written for all of sin to come short of the glory of God if you say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us nevertheless you can still be seen favorable in the sight of God I believe Mary was saved before the angel came I mean why would God use an unsaved woman to bring the Messiah into the world I believe she was a saved believer in the Lord obviously the name Jesus had not been dished out yet but they believed in Jehovah they believed in the Lord and because of that God looked down and chose what I believe to be the virtuous woman Mary but understand this like I said they are sinners they weren't perfect and I could show you an example of that and turn if you would to Luke 11 just a couple of chapters over to Luke 11 and while you go to Luke 11 I'm just going to show you an example even Mary the great godly wife mother that she was was not without fault or problem an example is found in John 2 3 through 4 you don't need to turn to go to Luke 11 it says and when they wanted wine the mother of Jesus saith unto him they have no wine Jesus saith unto her woman what do I have to do with thee mine hour is not yet come so some may say like whoa Jesus you just called your mother woman like woman what do I have to do with thee obviously this is the very first miracle we see in the Bible that Jesus Christ performed and understand this wine here does not mean alcoholic beverage because back in the day when they're a wedding feast you would bring out juice juice was a commodity not a commodity it was a there was a rarity back in the ancient world to squeeze fruits together into for a wedding give everyone a juice was not necessarily always possible to do so they looked around and saw that the juice was gone and basically Mary goes to Jesus and said hey they need more wine he goes women what do I have to do with thee mine hour is not yet come see once again he's just emphasizing that like you don't tell me what to do I'm going to go ahead and do what I see fit best and not only that do the things that the father tells me to do but another example that we see of Mary not being perfect is found in Luke 2 you stay in Luke 11 I'm going to read the story of Mary rearing Jesus Christ the son of God because you know I meant this that if you ask any mother that you're going to make mistakes and raising your kids there's no way you're going to always do that which is perfect and the funny joke I always hear is you make your mistakes with your first one and the rest get the better treatment because you know it's just like you got to make sure you understand the principles of what is right and wrong and so on and so forth so Mary we see right here loses the son of God okay like you have one job Mary protect this child raise this child bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and she lost Jesus Christ it says that right here in Luke 2 chapter 2 verse 40 sorry 43 it reads when they had fulfilled the days and they returned the child tarried behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew not of it but they supposed him to have been in the company went a day's journey and they sought him among his their kin folks and acquaintances and when they found him not they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him and it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking them questions and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers and when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him son why has thou thus dealt with us behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing so this is the second mistake not only does she lose Jesus Christ but now she's going to Jesus Christ and saying your father in reference to Joseph and I sought you sorrowing is Joseph Jesus Christ's father no God the father is Jesus Christ the father she was actually making a wrong claim she made a second mistake and what was Jesus respond teenage Jesus Christ said this and he said unto them how is it that you sought me with she not that I must be about my father's business he was in the temple expounding on the things of the kingdom the doctors and the people of the temple are looking at him like whoa this kid knows a lot about the bible why because he is the word of God manifested in the flesh and when Mary said my your father and I sought you sorrowing he says wait was she not that I must be about my father's business obviously she made a mistake and he corrected her now children that does not give you blatant carte blanche to go and correct your parents your mother says something to you you need to respect and honor that but we're just seeing you know teenagers they all think they know this but listen to what it goes on to say and they understood not to say which he spake unto them and he went down with them Jesus Christ and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them but his mother never made a mistake but nevertheless mothers you can understand that though we make mistakes though you you can be perfect in everything there is directions on how you can raise good godly children but before I go into that basically I want to point out this that unfortunately and actually you're in uh Luke 11 let's take a look at that Luke 11 chapter 27 it reads and it came to pass as he spake these things a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him blessed is the womb that bear thee in the path which thou has sucked but he said this is Jesus Christ if you have read letters this is the words of Jesus Christ yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it so basically this woman comes up to Mary and says you're blessed of women hear this really great you know blessed is the path which she has sucked and Jesus Christ says yea rather blessed is the man that heareth the word of God and doeth it because that was what Mary's intent was if you look back at the story Luke chapter one it actually shows her making that claim it says in Luke chapter one in verse 38 Mary said behold the handmaid of the lord beat unto me according to thy word and the angels departed from her and Mary rose in those days and went into the hill country into a city and entered into the house of Zechariah and saluted Elizabeth and it came to pass that when Elizabeth birthed the salutation of Mary the babe leaves in her womb and Elizabeth's filled with the holy ghost now this is Elizabeth filled with the holy ghost this third member of the goddess filled Elizabeth to say these things and this is what we mean when someone is full of the holy ghost it's not necessarily the actions in which they do but it'll be the words that come out of their mouth because Jesus Christ says these words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life the words of God holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy ghost and let's see the words of Elizabeth she says and entered into the house of Zechariah and saluted Elizabeth and it came to pass and when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary the babe leaves in the room and Elizabeth 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 mine ears the babe leaped in my womb for joy and blessed is she that but deliver thee for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the lord so in luke 11 we see another lady saying the exact same thing what was mary's response and mary said my soul that magnified the lord so just like jesus christ say yea rather blessed is the man that heareth the word of god and doeth it mary acknowledged that and understood that though she is the mother of jesus christ she was the chosen vessel to bring jesus christ in the world she understood she must decrease and he must increase mothers you know sometimes in your life you're not getting the accolades you want you're not getting the praises that you deserve as mothers you deserve to be given breakfast in bed you deserve to be you know taking away the dishes from time to time you deserve to be you know taken out to eat and things like that but nevertheless we need to deny ourselves pick up our cross and follow him and love one another as we love ourselves so basically mary being this great woman elizabeth being this great woman great wives became great mothers they were not perfect they've done wrong and unfortunately this is where some people will take good doctrine and take it too far and it becomes bad doctrine like the catholic church the catholic church will worship mary the catholic church now i'm not saying like exonerates her and respects her they actually bow down to a statue of the virgin mary they call her the mediate tricks the bible says that there's one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus that we as born-again believers don't need to go to a priest we don't need to go to someone to speak on our behalf to god we can come boldly into the throne of grace because we are children of god and just like a child i mean think of it like this jamie if you were in your office in the room that you know we were sleeping in the guest room at one time and serena doesn't ask doesn't do anything but just barges in says hey how you doing how's it going she could get away with that because she's your daughter but if some random person getting kicking in the door like hey what's up jamie it's like whoa knock ask as children of god we are able to come boldly into the throne of god so basically just like serena could come into your office at any time we as children of god can come to the father at any time you don't need mary you women don't need mary to ask god of a favor you ladies can come boldly she is not the mediate tricks for the catholic church thinks that as a woman you need to address mary to address god on your behalf that's not what the bible taught at all jesus christ said clearly woman what do i have to do with this nevertheless he loves his mother and he and he did great and this is like i mean where a good doctrine goes bad they call mary the mother of god incorrect not right she is the mother of jesus christ that is a fact that is the truth but he she is not the mother of god there is no mother of god the bible clearly teaches that there's one god and that one god is composed of three people the father son and holy ghost and the bible clearly emphasized that this one god is a male in the beginning god created he them created he him after his own image jesus christ is under the image of god was he a girl he was a man so obviously god is a masculine man jesus christ was the son of god god the father there is no female entity has the jewish or so jewish faith teaches of what's known as a shekinah glory the feminine attributes of god there is no feminine attributes of god but this is what i'm saying this isn't unique a lot of people take a good doctrine like mary being the mother of jesus and taking it too far like oh he's the mother of jesus she must be the mother of god wrong and actually they teach not only that i mean i don't have enough time to get into it but if you look into jeremiah 47 it talks about how there were in the time of israel chill uh the children of israel were worshiping the queen of heaven and god saying because of this i'm going to destroy you because there is no queen of heaven and then it goes on and you know the catholic church not only believes her to be this mediatrix this this deity figure but they also believe that she was continually a virgin all the way to her death now that's not what the bible teaches very clearly just like we saw a moment ago in luke 2 it says your father and i have sought you sorrowing or uh look for you sorrowing right but notice what else it said it says and it came to pass after three days that they found him it says actually a couple verses back but they supposed him to have been in the company when a day's journey they sought him amongst their kinsfolk and acquaintances the bible also teaches in matthew i'm going to go ahead and read it because i don't have enough time but it says in matthew 13 in reference to jesus christ's half siblings jesus christ was not a single child mary had other kids remember what it said in matthew he knew not his wife till she brought forth her firstborn son that means they did come together and sanctify that marriage and they were fruitful and they multiplied and they had other kids it says that in matthew 13 verse 54 it reads and when he was come into his own country he taught them in their synagogues in so much that they were astonished and said whence has this man this wisdom and these mighty works is not just the carpenter's son in his is not his mother called mary and his brethren james and joseph and simon and judas and his sisters or at least two are they not all with us winston have this man all these things so the bible is saying that mary had other kids she was not always a virgin for the rest of her life and this is what i'm saying that like we need to make sure that the bible is our final authority for all faith and practice so i'm not going to sit here and rip on the catholic church i'm here to exonerate and extol new mothers because number one we understand that we have mothers that we can look to in the bible elizabeth mary you know being a good wife first and then because of that have children but here's the thing the bible teaches that having a lot of children is actually a blessing from god for some weird odd reason there's this new philosophy in our world today that says us four no more one boy one girl that's it i'm not gonna have any more kids i just want enough to be able to live in a comfortable middle middle high wage uh uh lifestyle but rather the bible saying that having a lot of children is actually a blessing from god turn if you listen genesis chapter one the very first commandment given to mankind is found in genesis chapter one verse 28 it reads and god blessed them and god said unto them be fruitful and multiply punish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish and over the sea and over the fowls of the air and over every creeping for every living thing that moveth upon the earth so the first thing it says that god blessed them and said be fruitful and multiply you don't need to go there i'm going to read them for sake of time and it says in genesis nine one it says in genesis nine one can god bless noah and his sons and send them to them be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth it says in genesis 29 i do want to kind of point this one out really quickly because this is a an interesting one it says genesis 24 verse 59 it reads and they sent away rebecca their sister and her nurse and abraham's servant and his men and they blessed rebecca and said unto her thou art our sister be thou the mother of thousands of millions and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate me how would that sound to you young ladies to be the mother of thousands of millions doesn't that sound like a pleasing life doesn't that sound like a life of fun and joy no lady in here in their natural state is thinking i want to have thousands and millions of kids you know some of us men are looking at that as a horror story but honestly the bible is teaching us that having multiple children is a blessing from god you know not every person has children now some people as we see in the bible were barren though the bible does teach that every barren woman was able to have a kid because they trusted in god but not only that if you don't end up with kids you know you got to see women who do have kids that these are blessings from god whether he provides you with one two seven twenty whatever the number is these are god's blessings onto you women as a token of being a faithful wife to your husband and being fruitful and multiplying but after you you know lived this good life as a as a young lady as a married lady started having kids and you have multiple kids now you got to start rearing those children the bible teaches the foolishness is found in the heart of a child and the rod of correction will drive it far from him you know mothers unfortunately this is not a subject which every mom likes to hear but we need to discipline our kids and i mean like physically discipline our kids the bible teaches it says turn if you enter proverbs 29 proverbs 29 a lot of what i'm going to mention right now is found in proverbs why because proverbs is the book of wisdom how to live wisely and how we can apply a lot of this to our lives it says in proverbs 29 verse 15 the rod and reproof give wisdom but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame a child left to himself bringeth his mother not his father his mother to shame the rod of reproof gives wisdom so women this is your job to not just put it on your husband to beat your kids it's not like oh you you deal with the kids you do the discipline no if you choose not to discipline them it says the water of reproof gives wisdom but a child left to himself bringeth his mother's shame if a child is left to his own devices you know we i've always heard it said before that an idle mind is the devil's workshop you as mothers need to keep your kids busy you need to you know give them chores educate them school them give them hobbies make them busy and then when they do wrong correct them in their wrongdoing because you love them and the bible actually teaches that it says train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it the bible also says withhold not correction from the child for if thou beatest him with the rod you shall not die thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell it says thou shalt beat him with the rod this is a this is a commandment this is not a suggestion it says beat him with the rod and you will spare his soul from hell because if he's left to himself he will bring you shame children because foolishness is bound in their hearts will do all sorts of stupid things and it is your responsibility women and honor to raise children it's not just you know the bible teaches very clearly unto whom much is given like one child like two child like six children like however many children you have unto whom much is given of him should much be required you know you are held to a higher standard if you are responsible for six souls eight souls one soul no i mean either way we need to make sure that we are following god's teaching on child rearing and i'm not saying you ladies don't do that i'm just saying don't forsake the old past wearing is the good way i don't care what the world is teaching about discipline i don't care if they say take away the television take away the snacks take away this make sure you still on top of that you can add that to your plethora of discipline but don't forsake forsake capital punishment basically children it is your responsibility to honor your mother it when the bible commands that you honor your father and mother in the lord which is one of the ten commandments kids this is your responsibility it's their responsibility to rear you and to guide you into the nurture and admonition of the lord but it is your responsibility to honor and respect your parents your parents have sacrificed more than you could probably ever imagine you know i mean for crying out loud some women die in childbirth you know some women get all sorts of physical complications and there's so much stress to the body and there's so much even stress to the mind you don't think mothers stay up hours and weeks and years and months just worrying about what their kids are doing because you know obviously you could sit there and think to yourself like oh i'm fine i'm in a place like hawaii there's no gun violence and gang violence look anything can happen to you can slip on a rock bunk your head and be down and you know i'm just telling you kids to honor your father and mother does not mean just do what they say but being a cheerful giver loving them and doing what it is they command of you not ask not suggest your parents say do the dishes yes mom and dad of course i mean the bible clearly teaches and i'm going to have you uh turn there really quick to proverbs uh one and this is for you kids who think you know better you know jesus christ the 12 year old listened to his mother remember what it says that he grew in stature and wisdom and in favor with god and men he respected and listened not only to mary but also to joseph even though joseph was not his biological father he looked to joseph as a spiritual leader to guide him that was his responsibility that god gave to joseph god said joseph keep your wife raise this child and here's the thing kids if you think you know better here's something i really want you to understand found in proverbs 1 verse 7 fear the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction my son hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother not the suggestion her commandment and it's it could be an extra commandment that's not in this book there's only so many things that god tells us to do right your mom may have a rule in her house that has nothing to do with the bible but guess what that's the law of your mother if your mom says put on socks when it's cold outside because she doesn't want you to get a cold then you put on socks because that's what she commanded of you if your mom says to take your vitamins in the morning because she wants you to stay healthy then you take your vitamins the word of the bible that said women make sure your kids take their vitamins or women make sure their kids wear their socks when it's wet outside but that's the law of your mother your mother is trying to guide you in a way that is going to help you and benefit you and it goes on to read and it 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 into thy head and chains about thy neck my son of sinners entice thee consent thou not if they say come with us let us lay wait for blood let us let us lurk privately for the innocent without cause let us swallow them up alive as the grave and the whole as they as those that go down into the pit we shall find all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil cast in thy lot among us let us all have our purse my son walk not thou in the way with them refrain thy foot from their path for their feet run to evil and they taste to shed blood i'm not going to go into the rest of the cursings that will fall on you for not listening to your father or your mother because you know there is a pit trap for friends and and acquaintances to lead you astray your father and your mother are people in your lives that are trying to guide you in a good path and you need to honor and respect them so we get it david be good ladies be good wives be good mothers discipline our kids kids listen to your parents but here's the last thing i want you to understand is that mothers no matter how hard you try no matter how much you do no matter how much you sacrifice no matter how much you encourage influence we all have free will and god knows your children even better than you see the bible teaches that when people are born again or they believe on the lord jesus christ they become brothers and sisters in christ so when a woman has a child understand this and i'm sure all you ladies would nod your head in approval you're not a kid forever you live the majority of your life as an adult than you do as a child if a man lives the average lifespan of 70 years you know 60 years of that or 55 years 59 years of that is you as an adult but this first 19 years are you as a child in the sight of god in the sight of your parents so when you invest in your kids you bring them up in the nurtured admonition you beat them with the rods and you spare their soul from hell no matter what you do in the end that you i mean the famous saying you could lead the horse to water but it is up to them to drink you need to find yourself in your life praying for your kids understanding that if you bring up them in the way they should go when they're old they won't depart from it this is why influence on a child's life in their adolescent years is most important and i'm sure there are mothers in here that could look into some of their kids lives or one child's life and say oh man i failed here i messed up here or whatever no matter how many times you try to beat yourself up and try to say like i failed here look mary messed up the mother of jesus christ yet jesus never did the wrong thing obviously he's the son of god that's a you know he's perfect he's without sin but john the baptist jesus christ said there's no greater man on the earth than john the baptist who is filled with the holy ghost from his birth and this is a sub point that i wanted to make before this think of it like this uh if you've heard the story of samuel's mother it's very similar to the story of elizabeth samuel's mother was not able to have a kid she was barren and she goes to the temple and prays to god that she's able to have a kid and samuel and then she says before samuel prays with her if you give me a man child i will dedicate him to the lord you know ladies before you even have kids have it in your mind that whatever the lord decides to bless you with you're going to dedicate that child to god not to you not to your husband but to god because here's the thing that child will grow up get married and move on and do their own things in their life your closest relationship to be you ladies is to your husbands you need to love your kids and i you know once again understand that you guys have a bond that is unique to you ladies with your children but nevertheless they have their own walk with god and when hannah samuel's mother prayed to god and says if you give me a man child i'll dedicate him to the lord he then provided her with a kid and not only that the samuel became one of the greatest prophets in the old testament he led a whole entire nation from wicked idolatry back to serving the god and anointed two kings saul and david so obviously if you pray for your kids and you raise them in the nurtured admonition they will be in going and serving the lord but jeremiah one i'm just going to go ahead and read these for you because you know i don't want to take too much time but basically it says in jeremiah one four through five the word of the lord came unto me this is in reference to jeremiah saying before i formed thee in the belly i knew thee and before thou came his fourth out of the womb i sanctify thee and i are daily a prophet into the nations god knows the beginning from the end god knows who you are who you're going to be god knows that he's outside of time so before jeremiah was even born he says i know you i know who you are what you're going to do you're going to be a prophet into the nations he told john the baptist you're going to be the voice crying aloud in the wilderness making straight the way of the lord i know who you are god knows your children better than you ladies and it can and it also says that in ecclesiastes 11 5 has thou knowest not what is in the way of the spirit nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is a child even so thou knowest not the works of god who maketh all you can do everything right and still the kids do something bad and horrible and and live a bad life and and all this stuff but your responsibility and your honor is to try to teach them and grow them into that and when you do so the bible says you get honor and glory because remember the very beginning of the sermon i said mothers don't necessarily get a lot of honor and glory on this earth it's not like time magazine or people magazine or just saying the mother of the year you know this lady who mothered five kids 20 kids you know it's it's usually like jennifer lopez or someone stupid that is not doing anything of real value but if you don't get accolades in your daily life if no one's walking up to you and saying what a great mother you are look at your children they're so obedient and so wise so smart and all this stuff know this god will reward you for your good works in heaven and if your works are being seen of men you know you may not get a great reward in heaven you think i mean the bible teaches very clearly mary is the mother of jesus christ the same mary is honored in heaven mary is probably a very highly esteemed person in heaven very respected and honored and gloried but she didn't get a lot of praise on this earth as a matter of fact she got called out a lot for doing a lot of wrong things to help educate other mothers how to do the right thing and with that being said i want to leave you on one last thought it's found in psalms 127 psalms 127 127 psalms verse 3 says lo children are inherited to the lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man so are children of thy youth happy as the man or the woman that hath his quiver full of them they shall not be ashamed they but they shall speak with the enemies in the game and i brought this up to my mother a couple months like a month ago and it's kind of fascinating to her because and i thought i always thought this from a brother in christ how you know we've all heard of the armor of god there's the sword of the spirit or the sword the word of god we have the shield of faith we have the helmet of salvation the breastplate of righteousness our feet shine with the preparation of the gospel we're given the spiritual armor to be able to fight the lord's battle and things like that but here's the thing arrows are a long distance weapon arrows are something that you're trying to shoot at a far away place so this is what the bible is saying that happy is the man or woman whose quiver is full of them because if you sharpen that blade that arrowhead you aim that thing in the right direction and you let that thing go the works that your children the works that your grandchildren the works of your great great grandchildren that they will do in the future you will get a reward for because of your upbringing of that child that child or children because we only have a short period of time on this earth like we mentioned last week you know the concept of you know time management what are we investing in our time is is is your career more important or is your child's future more important them becoming great spiritual filled children to then have them have spiritual children and a grandparent and i'm sure grandmothers can look at a grandchild who is reading his bible preaching the gospel and doing these things is only going to bring them joy they're not going to be sitting there like man i shouldn't have i should have done less investing in that my son to raise a good child or my daughter to raise a good child you know once again because i don't have grandkids doesn't mean i can't speak on this matter the bible gives us all the answers and basically i want you to know this mother is that you may not get your rewards here on this earth you have one day a year where you get honored and praised mother's day hopefully they also do it on your birthday too and hopefully just because they love you and they want you to know how happy they are that you raised them but nevertheless if you invest in your kids you will have future glories and future honor and and the lord knows your words and what you've done and he'll look down and have favor on you as you did with mary and we can rest assured women that if you don't ever get praised by your son your daughter husband and grandchildren god sees what you are doing and understands that your investment in the lord will never be in vain some mothers i just want you to know that bring up a child and the way you should go when he's old he's not departed children honor your parents in the lord and if not don't be surprised if your life gets destroyed because your mother's trying to guide you into the paths of righteousness and i'm super happy to know that we all you know and some people and i'll leave it you on this spot some people like and i'm just gonna be blunt my siblings i have demonized my mother my siblings are always like my problems in my life are because my mother my mother failed here my mother failed there and blah blah blah and all this stuff but here's the thing your mother must have done something right there's something kids you can look to through your mother and say well thank god she told me this taught me this explained to me this even just giving birth to you for crying out loud should be enough that you exist because your mother and it's just that like i you need to know kids that your mother loves you more than you could probably ever imagine and you need to honor and respect them let's give them let's extol them on this day of all days let's give our parents honor you know make them breakfast do something that they want to do and uh with that being said mothers just understand that the lord sees your works there's gonna reward for our heads and uh have a word of prayer the heavenly father thank you so much for this uh day thank you so much that you gave us mothers that cared and loved us and helping mothers to know how much you care and love them and you know help them to understand that um you're always with them and that they if don't think they're being seen for their good works you see what they're doing and you know from time to time help the kids to you know make sure they remind their mothers how thankful they are for everything they've done in Jesus name christ name we pray amen