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A MOTHER’S INFLUENCE
INTRODUCTION:
When Robert Ingersoll, the notorious skeptic, was in his heyday, two
college students went to hear him lecture. As they walked down the
street after the lecture, one said to the other, “Well, I guess he
knocked the props out from under Christianity, didn’t he?” The other
said, “No, I don’t think he did. Ingersoll did not explain my
mother’s life, and until he can explain my mother’s life I will
stand by my mother’s God.”
A
Godly mother’s example is a powerful thing
-Her life leaves a lasting impression
-Her life will lived steels one’s mind against the
so-called wisdom of the world
-Her loving watch care teaches a child God’s
love
-As God tells of Israel’s future glory in
ISAIAH 66:13, look at His example – As
one whom his mother comforteth, so will I
comfort you; and ye shall be
comforted in Jerusalem
-We thus see God’s high
opinion of a mother’s love in the family
Today we celebrate mothers
-Their love, care, affection and desire to please others
-Often showing a proper Christian attitude
as they put other’s needs in front of their own
-We often take mothers for granted as they do so much to
make our lives better
-Our own mothers or the mothers of our
children!
-Much of their blessings to us are in the
background
-A clean home, a good dinner,
bills paid, clean clothes, school schedules kept, a loving smile
when we come home
-All easy to
overlook in a hectic world
-Until she doesn’t
do one of her many tasks!
For
how mothers of our children and mothers at home make our lives so
much better
-We should celebrate and praise them every day
-Showing appreciation for all they do
-Thanking them daily for all they have
taught us
-Seeing to their needs as they get older
God
has made fathers the heads of their families
-But often mothers do the heavy lifting of teaching
children God’s ways
-And often provide a better example of
Christian living!
-PROVERBS 1:8 and 6:20 both have Solomon
saying My son, hear the instruction of thy
father, and forsake not the law of thy mother
-It was King Lemuel’s mother who taught him in
Proverbs 31
-As a child, no matter how much you want to be happy and
successful
-Your mother wants it more for you
-She wants you to grow up righteous so you
can be saved and serve Him, ready for your rewards in Heaven
-Grow up a wise child,
PROVERBS 23:25 says your mother will rejoice
-But PROVERBS 10:1 says
A foolish son is the heaviness of his
mother
-She will stand by you
regardless of your errors
-Weeping
rivers of tears as you fail God
-Rejoicing for you and accepting you when you repent
-How much easier would it have been for all of us if we
had listened to the Godly instruction of our mothers?
As
the head of our house, I rely on Mary heavily
-Gone ½ the month, she provided my children’s training
-She answered their myriad questions
-She patiently gave impatient girls the
wisdom they needed to succeed
-I had the privilege of leading most of my girls to
Christ
-But it was based on hearts prepared by
their mother’s loving, patient instruction in God’s ways beforehand
-Without it, they may have
turned out differently
-Thank you Mary for your
dedicated, hard work in raising our daughters to be Godly women
-Every father here should say
the same thing to their wives
Today we continue our study on 1 and 2 Timothy
-Focusing on 2 remarkable women that prepared Timothy in
his call
-His mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois
-Let us look at their great instruction and
Godly example to prepare Paul’s chosen replacement
2
TIMOTHY 1:1-8
PRAYER
Timothy as we see was training from a child in the Scriptures
-Teaching the OT Scriptures in spirit and in truth
-Teaching in a difficult situation as Eunice’s husband
was a non- believing Greek
-Yet ensuring Timothy know of their God and
preparing his heart for conversion to Christ –
ACTS 16:1-5
Prepared by his mother and grandmother, Timothy took to the Gospel
completely
-Heart prepared, his word found purchase
-He allowed Paul to circumcise him to avoid being a
stumbling block to the Jews
-Being the son of a Greek, his mother did
not force him to be circumcised, but Timothy was of a better spirit
-He didn’t get circumcised out of necessity,
but out of love for the Jews who know of his situation
-Wanting to live for Christ, Timothy left his family and
is often seen in the Epistles as a constant companion to Paul
-Weeping as we saw when he had to be
separated to continue the work at Ephesus
Paul starts his Epistle as the proud father of a spiritual son
-Glorying in the God that chose him to be a minister
-Glorying in the fact God gave him Timothy to mentor as
a son
-Glorying that God allowed him to serve with a pure
conscience after persecuting the Christians he now sought to save
-Glorying in the God that reminded him to pray for
Timothy
-Glorying in the love shown by his tears at the
separation
-Glorying in his faith as grounded by the Godly
instruction from his mother and grandmother
Timothy as we see had a great call
-He would take over the work of his spiritual father
after Paul was martyred
-But this was only possible because of the
Godly instruction of a faithful mother and grandmother
We
look at these remarkable women and see
1.
Their Perseverance
2.
Their Humility
3.
Their Fruit
I. THE PERSEVERENCE
Eunice
was likely a Hellenistic Jew
-A Jew who had been heavily influenced by Greek culture
-Against Jewish law, she marries a Greek man
who apparently stayed in his Heathenism
-From Acts, we know this fact was well known
among the Jews
But we
find a woman who ended up taking the Scriptures very seriously
-Bolstered by her mother, Eunice chose to train up
Timothy in the ways of the Lord, regardless of the circumstances
she found herself in
-It would be difficult for her
-The Jews knew she had a Greek
husband
-The husband would see no value
in the training
-And yet she decided
to honor God, for as Paul would tell Timothy in 2 TIMOTHY 1:12,
for I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto
him against that day
-She knew who God was and
was like Spurgeon’s mother
-
I cannot tell how much I owe to the prayers of my good mother. I
remember her once praying, "Now Lord, if my children go on in sin it
will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear
swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not
hold on Christ and claim Him as their personal Savior."
Timothy’s mother loved him enough to teach him of God regardless of
her situation
-She knew Scripture and relied on PROVERBS 22:6 –
Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old; he will not depart from it
-No matter what their
own sin or error, Eunice and Lois wanted Timothy to grow up serving
and honoring God
-So much so that Paul praises Timothy’s
instruction again in 2 TIMOTHY 3:15, saying that from a child
he knew the scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus
-The greatest desire of his
mother and grandmother!
Did
their perseverance in a difficult situation matter?
-Paul met Timothy when he was about 12, saw his training
and gift, ensured his conversion and brought him into full time
service for the Lord
-He praised the training from his mother
-He saw the training was serious and
effective in the boy
-He found a heart ready to serve God
-He praised the dedication of him mother for
teaching the Scriptures so thoroughly
We
are all sinners ashamed of our past actions
-Praise God for mothers who rise up from their
circumstances to bring up their children in the care and
admonition of the Lord
II. THEIR HUMILITY
In
these verses, Eunice and Lois receive high praise
-They raised Timothy correctly
-They were the 1st converts listed at Lystra
-They honored God with their lives and it was noticed
-They took seriously their command to train up their
young in the way they should go!
-Make no mistake, Paul’s praise is likely
the only praise these women received!
-Likely laughed at by her
husband
-Hated by her Jewish neighbors
-Shunned by her Greek friends
-She was alone, save
Lois, Timothy and God!
It
would have been easy for Eunice and Lois to just shut out the Jews,
go to the Greeks and live their lives as Pagans
-Not bringing up Jehovah would have improved their lot
in life
-The Jews would hate them regardless for the
mixed marriage
-The Greeks viewed Christianity as some
strange cult
-Like Fundamentalism today!
-Her family would likely have told her to
just get along with her husband
-Praise God she did not follow
the world’s advice!
Just like Hannah in 1 Samuel
-Laughed at by Elkanah’s other wife
-Scorned by Eli at the Temple
-She went to God to pray for a child that
show would give back to God
-That child was Samuel, born out
of a humble spirit
-She put her faith in God and
God alone!
-And she was
rewarded!
-Eunice went to God in her strife, determined to honor
God regardless of the situation, and trained Timothy for however God
would use him
-Eunice or Lois had no expectation of
greatness
-They had no expectation of praise
-They merely humbled themselves in front of
God to train Timothy
-By their humble service, doing
the work of Godly women giving God all the praise, honor and glory
-Timothy’s call was
prepared
-God took them from
their low estate and by name praised them for all eternity!
-We do
not know their influential neighbors
-But we
know Eunice and Lois!
Think you can’t do much as a woman in a small town
-Neither did Lois nor Eunice
-Yet by their humble service where they were
in Lystra
-Timothy straightened out the
church in Ephesus, took over Paul’s work, and their names are
writing down for all to see as a testimony to Godly service
III. THEIR FRUIT
All
calls truly come from God
-As Jesus said in JOHN 15:15 –
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and
ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your
fruit should remain
-But God uses other people in their calls
-In Timothy’s case, a faithful mother and
grandmother prepared him with their diligent teaching
-Foundation laid, he was ready
for Paul to fully disciple him
-Their fruit shows up in verses
6-8
Paul recognized Timothy’s gift and told him to stir it up as he
himself was involved in Timothy’s ordination
-Stirring up in the Greek has the meaning of stirring up
embers in a fireplace to increase heat
-Just as in my fireplace, leave embers to
themselves, the fire turns cold
-Stir them up, they heat the
room well
-Exactly what Paul is saying,
keep in motion with your call that you will remain for God, telling
Timothy:
-Do not let you fire
die out
-Your mother set the
match, I put on the wood, and you need to keep it going
Timothy is reminded now that he does not have a spirit of fear, but
of power and love and a sound mind
-A sound mind established by his mother’s training and
finished by Paul’s discipleship
-Love by a mother showing God’s love to a young Timothy
-Power by the Word of God and Paul’s example
-If God be for us, who can be against us?
Timothy is also told not to be ashamed of his testimony or Paul’s
bonds
-He had suffered affliction as a son of a mixed marriage
-God used his humble beginnings to serve Him in
greatness
-Suffering for the afflictions would glorify
God all the more!
Timothy could easily have become bitter at his situation
-Yet his mother and grandmother would not allow this
-They put his focus on Scripture and God’s
love instead of man’s insensitivity
-Women who will not tolerate bad behavior in
their home will establish their attitude in their sons
-By their example, they teach
the power of love and character as they prepare their sons in their
calls
-By their steadfastness, they
teach their sons to hold their ground
-By their diligence, they teach
their sons how to stir their gifts
-Timothy was well
prepared by his mother to become Paul’s closest companion and
successor
CONCLUSION
1
JOHN 3:13
says Marvel not, my
brothers, if the world hate you
-The world is a hateful place, full of sin and
ugliness
-A mother’s love shows the child he is
accepted, regardless what the world thinks
-It provides the foundation in a
child’s heart to understand the love of Christ
-Although imperfect, just like
His love, a mother’s love is unconditional
-No matter what the
world thinks of you, she and Jesus loves you!
All
calls come from God
-But He uses others to prepare that call
-Mothers, He calls you in your love and
diligence to provide a foundation for future service
-Your work may be unsung, unnoticed, and
unappreciated
-But your work is often
absolutely critical
Hilary
Rosen says mothers staying home never worked a day in their lives
-Yet here, the only people praised were lazy Eunice and
Lois!
-Their love showed Timothy a Christian’s
love
-Their teaching focused him on God instead
of the scorn of their neighbors, grounding him squarely in the
Scriptures
-Paul saw his good training and
call and used him for God!
Women
of Berea
-Your service is often unnoticed
-Mary, you make my life complete, you have given my
daughters love and instruction leading to their character and
salvation, and given us all unconditional love in a hating world
-Women of Berea, please stand up
-You mothers often work in anonymity,
toiling in an unjust world ensuring your children are raised in love
and the knowledge of Christ
-We fathers do not always
appreciate your hard work
-Today, we’d like to
show you just how much we appreciate you
-Even if
we do not say it enough!
-Please
accept these small gifts as a token of our appreciation
-To all you Eunices and Loises, keep up your good,
faithful, loving and diligent work
-You may be providing the foundation for the
next Timothy! |
