Ebrahim Gabriels – Honour Your Mother
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AI: Transcript ©
Music.
Good morning. Thanks for tuning in to Houston Baptist Church Online
and Happy Mother's Day. A couple of announcements this morning.
Men. Bible study is happening on Saturday mornings at 8am on Zoom.
If you want the link for that contact Lance or myself, if you
don't have our contact information, it's in the church
directory as well as on the church website. The ladies are having a
Bible study on zoom on Wednesday mornings at 11am and if you want
that information, you can contact bar Barden and youth, we are
meeting on zoom on Friday nights at 6:30pm
and the link and the information for that is going to be on the
youth Facebook page. So please go and look there, and I hope to see
you there on Friday nights. The scripture reading this morning is
Psalm, chapter, 119
verses, nine through 16.
How can a young person stay on the path of purity by living according
to your word? I seek you with all of my heart. Do not let me stray
from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might
not sin against you. Praise be to you. Lord. Teach me your decrees
with my lips. I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I
rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I
meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in
your decrees. I will not neglect your word.
Let's pray
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this morning. Thank You that
we have this technology and that even though we are a part
physically, we can be united in spirit, in truth. Thank you, Lord,
that we have this unity, that we have this technology, that we have
the ability to still put your word out, to stay in touch with one
another, and to have a semblance of fellowship. And God, I pray
that you would be with Lance this morning as he brings your word. I
pray that You would give him the words to speak, that you would
give him clarity of speech, that he would stay true to your word,
and that hearts would be prepared for the message that you've given
him, Lord, that your word would go out, that your spirit would work,
that encouragement and challenge,
conviction, hope, all of these things that come from your word
would be brought into the hearts and the lives of your people this
morning. Thank you for the work of your word and your spirit. I pray
you be with us the rest of today and bless this wonderful time as
we focus particularly on mothers. Thank you for them. Thank you for
their love and their diligence and their care. I pray that You would
bless the mothers today,
give them an extra measure of grace, of joy and of hope. We pray
this in the precious and holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Hello and thanks for joining us, joining us on Houston. Baptist
online, Happy Mother's Day to all mothers as we honor and celebrate
you today, I believe that at no time in recent history has the
role of a mother being more important. The covid 19 pandemic
that has caused global confusion, shutdown of schools, daycares and
large sectors of our economy has resulted in most children being at
home with one parent or both parents, for the most part, unable
to leave their homes.
Parents are filling in as part time teachers and helping their
kids complete their school year. Many parents are spending way more
time with their kids than they're used to.
I've seen from personal experience and on social media, a number of
different reactions from parents. Some parents are loving the extra
time with their kids, but hating to hating having to be the
teacher, they often feel under qualified and consequently
overwhelmed.
One mother I saw on social media said she was almost ready to kill
all of her children, and that was like a week after school shut
down.
Other parents I've seen are embracing the situation,
teaching the kids their school curriculum and then engaging in
their lives for play time, work time and real world learning time.
In light of this, I wanted to take some time on this Mother's Day to
look at what the Bible says about the role of mothers in their
families. But first, let.
Start with a word of prayer,
Father, we praise You. We praise you because of your unending love
for us, even when we disappoint you with our sin filled lives. We
praise you because your Son, Jesus gave up his heavenly dwelling to
come to earth as a baby, to grow up and live a sinless life, to go
to the cross, to die a horrific death, to take away our sins and
then to be resurrected and ascend to heaven, to sit at your right
hand as our intercessor. And today, Father, we specifically
praise you for mothers. Thank you for the precious gift of mothers
who love us, nurture us and teach us your ways. And Father, I just
ask for a special blessing on Mothers these today,
Father, let the words I speak today be your words. Remove from
me any sense of this message being from me, and use it for your glory
and your kingdom. Amen,
a preacher from Florida by the name of Davin Haas tells this
story some years ago, on a hot summer day in South Florida, a
young boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind
his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the
back door, leaving behind shoes, socks and shirt as he went,
he dived into the water, not realizing as he swam toward the
middle of the lake that an alligator was swimming toward the
shore.
His mother was in the house. As she looked out the window, she saw
the two getting closer and closer together.
In sheer panic, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as
loudly as she could,
hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U turn
to swim to his mother.
It was too late.
Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him
from the dock. The mother grabbed her little boy by the arms, just
as the alligator snatched his legs,
what followed next was an incredible tug of war between an
alligator that thought he had gotten a hold of an easy lunch,
and a desperate, terrified mother with an overflowing tank of love
spiked with adrenaline.
The alligator was way stronger than the mother, but the mother
was much too passionate to let go. There
was a farmer that happened to be driving by. He heard her screams,
grabbed his gun from the back window of his truck and raced to
the scene.
He took careful aim and shot the alligator and killed it.
Remarkably, after many weeks in the hospital, the little boy
survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of
the animal, and on his arms were deep scars left behind where his
mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to
the son she loved.
As we look through the Bible, we see that mothers, and I'm speaking
today specifically of the role of mothers have a number of important
roles to play in the upbringing of their children.
One thing we see is that mothers love their children. Seems pretty
obvious, doesn't it? This love is sacrificial. Though it's it's
unconditional, and this love is unending.
In isaiah 4915 we read,
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion
on the child she has born?
Let me take you to a story that illustrates this point. In First
Kings, chapter three, we read about two prostitutes from the
same house who gave birth within a few days of each other.
One of the women rolled over on her baby and killed it.
She then switched her baby's body for the other woman's child. The
other woman, as I think we would expect from a mother, recognized
the switch and sought justice before the king of that day.
As a matter of fact, this is the first ruling we see in the Bible
from King Solomon. We pick up the story in verse 23
the king said, This one says, My son is alive and your son is dead,
while that one says, No, your son is dead and mine is alive.
Then the king said, Bring me a sword.
So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order,
cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the
other.
The woman whose son was alive, was deeply moved out of love for her
son, and said to the king, Please, my lord, give her the living baby.
Don't kill him.
But the other said, Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in
two.
Then the king gave his ruling.
Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him. She is his
mother.
What we see from this story is a mother's love is sacrificial and
unconditional.
Her the first mother was prepared to give up her son in order to see
him live and perhaps get a chance to see him later.
There's another example of unconditional and unending love
I'd like to take a look at
in John 19 at the cross, where Jesus would die.
Who do we know of Jesus' disciples and family that were there, for
sure.
One of his family that we know was there was his mother, Mary
John 1925 reads
near the Cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary,
the wife of clopas and Mary Magdalene. I think
there's a lot of significance in Mary being at the cross. If we
look at Mark three, we find a story about Jesus' mother and
brothers coming to visit him
when told in verse 32 that they were outside looking for him,
Jesus asked the group with him, who are my brother, my mother and
my brothers?
How would that feel to you? Moms to be publicly disowned by your
son,
and yet here she is at the Cross showing unending and unconditional
love.
A second thing we see in the Bible is that mothers comfort and care
for their children.
In Isaiah, 66 verse 13, we read as a mother comforts her child, so
will I comfort you?
This verse of prophecy is comparing a mother's love for her
child to God's enduring love for His people.
We see an example of a caring mother in the book of Ruth,
the Cole's Notes version on this little book go like this. It
documents the life of Naomi as she and her husband and two sons flee
famine in Judah. Her two sons marrying the new country they
settle in. Then she loses her husband, then her two sons. When
she hears that life is back to normal in her hometown of
Bethlehem. She heads back with her daughter in law, Ruth in tow. When
they return home, Ruth works hard and impresses a rich guy by the
name of Boaz, who marries her, and they have a son together that
coincidentally is this king. Is the grandfather of King David.
As we go through this story, we see in Naomi a mother who loved
her sons and her daughter in laws, who cared for them throughout the
story, then right near the end of the book, in chapter four, verse
13, as she's introduced to her grandson, says, Then Naomi took
the child, laid him in her lap, and cared for him,
just a God given natural response to care for her grandson
in First Thessalonians two, Paul is talking about his time in
Thessalonica, where he's Thessalonica, where he says he and
the apostles with him could have been a burden to the
Thessalonians, but instead, he says in verse seven, but we were
gentle among you, like A mother caring for her children.
Mothers love their children. Mothers comfort and care for their
children.
A third thing we find in the Bible is that mothers protect their
children.
We saw this in the story I told at the beginning of this message and
in Exodus chapter two, we find another story of a mother
protecting her child.
Chapter One of Exodus tells of the Israelites who had immigrated to
Egypt on the invitation of the pharaoh at the time of Joseph,
becoming so numerous in their adopted country that another
Pharaoh became intimidated by them and took measures to control their
population by killing all the male children born to the Israelites,
we pick up the story in chapter two, verse one.
Now, a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she
became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a
fine child, she hid him for three months, but when she could find
him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with
tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the
reeds along the bank of the Nile.
And the rest of the story tells us this child was found by Pharaoh's
daughter, adopted into Pharaoh's household, and many years and much
trouble later, God would raise the man Moses up as the man to lead
the Israelites out of slavery and into their own land.
Interestingly enough, in a book written 1500 years or so later,
when you get to what is sometimes called the Bible Hall of Fame in
Hebrews 11, you find Moses listed as you would expect, but you also
find this in verse 23
by faith, Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born
because they saw he was no ordinary child and they were not
afraid of the king's edict.
Moses' mother was willing to defy the law of the land and the wrath
of Pharaoh to protect her son.
From being killed.
Mothers love their children, mothers comfort and care for their
children. Mothers protect their children.
And a fourth thing The Bible teaches us is that mothers, along
with fathers, educate their children. Jared read part of Psalm
119 earlier that tells us how a young man or a young woman can
keep their way pure. Mothers and fathers have an important role in
teaching their children the concepts The psalmist is talking
about,
Proverbs. One eight tells us, listen my son to your father's
instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
Proverbs. 31 one reads the sayings of King Lemuel, an Oracle. His
mother taught him
proverbs. 3126
talking about the wife of noble character, says she speaks with
wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
Last week, Pastor Jared spoke about his wife April, memorizing
Scripture and memorizing the children's catechism in
preparation for educating their twins. I love to hear that my
wife, Shirley and I got off to a late start, as we were not
believers until after we were parents, but even now, Shirley
continues to learn and memorize Scripture and how to apply it as
she speaks into the lives of our grown children our grandchildren.
It is great to see a young couple like Jared and April working
together, preparing to educate their children.
But
what if you're a single parent, or what if you're a believer and your
spouse is not.
Life isn't always cut and dried, and yet the Bible shows how one of
Paul's most trusted lieutenants was educated by his mother and
grandmother. In Paul's second lieutenant letter to this
lieutenant, Timothy, we read in chapter one, verse five, I have
been reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your
grandmother, Lois and in your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded
now lives in you also
jumping ahead to chapter three, verse 15, Paul tells Timothy how
from infa infancy, you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able
to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ, Jesus.
These verses teach us that in the absence of a father, mothers will
still do their best to educate their children. In today's
society, we drift further as we drift further and further into the
post Christian Era, I believe it is becoming ever more important
for parents to provide spiritual education to their children.
Proverbs 22 six tells us,
tells us to start children off on the way they should go, and even
when they are old, they will not turn from it. And I believe that
this is the desire of every godly mother's heart. This time of
staying at home,
of isolation with our families, has provided an opportunity to hit
pause in our busy lives, to spend large amounts of time with our
families, and I hope, to reflect on what is really important to not
only us, but the generation of kids who are currently in school,
an opportunity for them to see life, to see their parents, even
to see society in a different perspective. Mothers, have you
taken this opportunity to show your children how much you love
them?
Have you spent time comforting and caring for them? You are
protecting them by keeping them home, but are you also protecting
them from the ungodly influences that sneak in over the airwaves
and on cables that connect our homes to the world. And mothers
are you spending time educating your children, not just tutoring
them for assigned lessons from their schools, but educating them
in the knowledge of the Bible and how to really dig into it,
knowledge of God and their Savior?
So today, we're celebrating mothers. It's a special day, and
we'll give them flowers, candies and cards, take them out for
meals, or rather, this year, we'll order takeout in and give them
other gifts.
But what can children do to honor their mothers year round?
If you've been in church long, you'll be familiar with the 10
Commandments in Exodus. 20, verse 12 reads, Honor your father and
your mother so that you may live long in the promised in the land
the Lord, your God, is giving you the promised land.
Paul reinforces and expands this a little bit, as he writes in
Ephesians. Six, at verses one to three, children obey your parents
in the Lord, for this is right Honor your father and mother,
which is the first commandment, with a promise that it may go well
with you and that you may enjoy long life on the Earth.
John MacArthur writes on the difference between honor and obey.
He says that obey has.
To do with action, with action and honor has to do with attitude. The
word honor means to value highly, to hold in the highest regard and
respect.
Which leads to MacArthur's statement next that the right
attitude behind the right act of obedience is honor.
The Bible is pretty clear that children living under the roof of
their parents are to obey them because it is the right thing to
do, according to God Colossians 320 reads, children obey your
parents in everything for this pleases the Lord.
So children honor their mothers by obeying them. But in order to obey
their mothers, they must first listen to them. Proverbs, one,
eight reads, listen my son to your father's instruction and do not
forsake your mother's teaching.
This is repeated in Proverbs. 620,
my son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your
mother's teaching.
So the steps to honor our mothers are pretty simple, listen to them
and obey them. Did you get that kids listen and obey? If you can
get those two simple steps straight, you can truly honor your
mother year round, year in and year out. And
now something that mothers do for their children, and that all
children, and I think particularly grown children now, can do, and
that is mothers pray for their children, and children should be
praying for their mothers. We're instructed in Ephesians 618,
to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of
prayers and requests.
Moms, you are the intercessor between your child and God until
they're able to meet God themselves.
You know, several weeks after the alligator incident that I talked
about earlier, after the boy had been released from the hospital, a
television reporter was interviewing him and asked the boy
if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs and
showed the horrific scars left by the alligators teeth
and then holding up his arms, scarred by his mother's
fingernails and she clung to them while the alligator thrashed in
the water, the little boy, with obvious pride, said to the
reporter, but look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms too. I
have them because my mom wouldn't let go.
Most of us have scars too, don't we? Some of us have scars from a
battlefield, from a workplace injury, maybe from a recreational
event that went sideways, lots of other kinds of accidents that can
cause physical scars.
On the other hand, maybe we don't have physical scars, but we have
emotional or psychological scars that are even more debilitating
than the physical ones.
But just like the young boy in the alligator illustration, those
scars tell a story. They tell the world we survived
that young boy had an intercessor, a mother who would give, have
given her life to save her little boy. And we too have an
intercessor in the form of Jesus Christ, who came to earth to live
as a human and die a horrific death nailed by his hands and feet
to a cross, an intercessor who did give his life in order to save us.
We've survived because Jesus Christ would not let go of us. And
we can be sure, if we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Savior, that he will never let go of us.
The marks on our bodies, souls and minds are temporary in light of
eternity, as Paul put it in second, Corinthians, 417,
our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal
glory that far outweighs them all.
If you don't have that assurance in your life today, if you haven't
received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, as your intercessor
intercessor, then I would love to see you place your hand in the
nail scarred hand of Jesus. If you want to know more, any of our
pastors or elders would love to have a chat with you. You can find
our contact info at www dot, Houston baptist.ca/contacts.
So moms again. Happy Mother's Day and children, let's not just honor
moms today, the love they have, the things they do all year long.
Should want to make you honor your mom every day. Let's pray
heavenly father, just thank you again for this opportunity to come
to worship you. Thank you for the technology we have that allows us
to get this message out to our people. Father, we just pray for
mothers today. Pray that you would just bless mothers, that you would
encourage the hearts of children to honor their mothers well today,
but not just today. Father, that they would honor their mothers
every day. And And Father, we just pray that, yeah.
You would be involved in our lives every day, and we ask it in Jesus
name. Amen.
I want to leave you today with Paul's prayer to the Philippian
church in Philippians one, nine to 11.
And this is my prayer that your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern
what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Jesus
Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through
Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
Have a great Mother's Day and a really good week. You