“JUST LIKE MOM!”
TEXT: Isaiah 66:13
“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
INTRODUCTION:
God wants us to know Him, and many times in Scripture He uses different pictures and examples to reveal Himself to us.
The Tree of Life in Genesis and Revelation…
The Passover LAMB that was slaughtered and whose blood…
Thunders and lightening on Mt. Sinai…
The ROCK that was struck by Moses in the wilderness…
The bronze serpent that was lifted up by Moses…
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” John 3:14
“Wonderful, Counselor,
Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
First and Last, Alpha and Omega, Rose of Sharon, I AM,
Lily of the Valley, Fairest of Ten Thousands,
the Lamb of God…”
But in Isaiah 66 He is pictured to us as a MOTHER!
“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.”
Matthew 23:37
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
It is the mother hen that gathers the chicks under her wings.
Illustration:
The story is told of a man who was looking over the charred remains of his farm after a terrible fire. He noticed a lump of something in the barnyard that was still moving. He kicked it and from underneath came a little chick. That mother hen had faced the fire and gave her life to protect the chick.
The Characteristics of Motherhood
I. THERE IS NO PROTECTOR LIKE A MOTHER!
A. Consider the animal kingdom.
1. A Dog and her first pups.
2. Gentle cows will turn on you if they perceive that you are going to harm their calves.
3. Gathering eggs takes some special skills.
B. Consider the Scriptures.
1. Moses’s mother.
a. Moses’ mother defied the king’s command to kill all Hebrew sons born in Egypt.
b. She hid him away for three months, and then took him to the river as a hiding place.
c. There the Pharaoh’s daughter found him and took him as her own son.
d. Then God directed in such a way that He enabled his mother to become his nurse.
All because of a MOTHER’S DESIRE to protect her child.
2. The Harlot Mother. 1 Kings 3:16-28
1 Kings 3:25
And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other."
a. Even a woman of questionable character becomes a great protector of her own.
b. Solomon in his wisdom knew that the real mother would rather give her child up, than to see it killed.
C. Consider God’s Protection.
Psalms 91:1-4
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”
There is no safer place to dwell than
“under the shadow of the Almighty.”
II. THERE IS NO TOUCH LIKE A MOTHER’S!
A. In the family.
1. It is the mother who moves to kiss the hurt and make it go away.
2. She is the one who is up through the night comforting the fevered child.
B. The touch of God.
1. His touch healed the sick and the lame.
2. His touch brought sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf.
3. No wonder mothers brought their children for His touch and His blessing.
Genesis 32:24-30
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
4. Jacob wrestled with God and the Word says that God touched his thigh and changed Jacob’s walk from then on.
5. When God touches your life, it will affect your walk with Him!
III. THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS LIKE A MOTHER’S FORGIVENESS!
A. It is nearly supernatural.
1. A wayward son needs only to say, "I am through, mom,I want to come home."
2. She is ready to forgive and believe that he is going to do right.
3. Though he do it a thousand times, she has the same faith and forgiveness.
B. God’s forgiveness is supernatural.
1. When those who have been born again stand before Him face to face; it will not be as sinners, but as His children who have had their transgression forgiven and blotted out forever.
2. No one can forgive like a mother, and yet God goes ten thousand times beyond mother.
3. He is wonderful in His forgiveness!
Psalms 103:12
“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
Illustration:
The story is told of a godly mother in London whose daughter had ran off into sin.
She went to her preacher with a burdened heart not knowing what to do. He asked her to go home and get as many photographs of herself that she could find and bring them to him.
She returned with them and at the bottom of each one he wrote this simple message, "Come Home" He placed them all around the city in the places of sin where he thought the girl might come.
One night the wayward girl entered a bar only to find a picture of her mother and the message "Come Home". When she read the message, she knew her mother meant it and would forgive her.
She made her way back home and as she opened the door, she found her mother’s arms outstretched. The girl’s mother cried out,
"The door has never been locked, I have been looking for you, watching for you, and praying for you."
CONCLUSION:
No wonder God chose to picture Himself to us today as a mother.
Why not see the picture of God’s love as that wayward girl saw her mother’s picture?
Why not hear His words to us calling for us to come home?
