FAITH OF OUR MOTHERS
Hebrews 11:6
INTRO: One of the sweetest memories that anyone can have is the memory of a good mother. Some of you today are wearing a white flower because you have lost your mother. I wonder how you remember your mother? Some of you remember sitting by her in Church, while she tried to keep you quiet. Some of you remember her tucking you in bed and kissing you good-night. Some of you remember her as she prepared a meal and put it on the table. Some of you remember her as she knelt by the bed and prayed when a great crisis came to your home. Some of you remember her as she ministered to you through a night of sickness. Some of you remember her as she kissed you good-by and slipped away into the arms of Death.
I wonder how the children of today are going to remember their mothers? Some of them will remember them with a cocktail glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Some of them will remember them rushing away from home and giving all their time to some social organization. Some of them will remember them sitting at a table and playing cards for some silly prize. Some of them will remember them dropping them off for Sunday School, while they went home to catch up on the sleep they lost by being at a party the night before.
But thank God, even in these modern times, some mothers are living for Christ. They put God first, they are faithful to His Church. What is the greatest thing that one remembers about his or her mother? It is not her beauty, nor her cooking ability, nor her social success, but her faith — her faith in God.
I. IN THE FIRST PLACE MOTHER HAD A SAVING FAITH.
She had come to realize her need of Christ for this world and for the world to come, and she had come humbly trusting Christ for it all. Often you heard her speak of “an experience of grace.” She had had that experience. She had met Christ. Now He was her Savior and she was His child. After all, the most important thing in life for mother or an one else is to get right with God.
Everyone wants to be happy and Christ offers genuine and lasting happiness to everyone who comes unto Him. But the majority of people are seeking their happiness elsewhere. They think they can find it in the things of this world.
One man says, “I am going to make money and succeed in business. That will give me happiness.” But money has no power to give real peace of heart It promises much, but does little. There are many rich people today who are miserable.
Another man or woman says, “I am going to win position and honor and fame. I am going out into the world and receive the notice of people. I will get my name and picture in the papers, I will be somebody.” So Christ is relegated to the back ground or left out altogether.
Another man says, “I am going to seek pleasure. I am going to have a good time, I will not think about serious things.” So God is left out and pleasure is given first place.
So I come back to say that mother had a saving faith. It was a faith that helped her every day — a faith that pointed to a brighter hope in Heaven. You may leave your children wealth and worldly things, but the greatest thing you can leave them is the memory of a good life — a life consecrated to Christ.
II. AND THEN MOTHER HAD A FAITH IN THE BIBLE.
To her the Bible was not just another book — it was the Word of God. She read it often and turned to it for her guidance and comfort. A recent survey showed that 45% of Americans did not believe in the Bible. Now, of course, these people do not believe in Jesus Christ and when you don’t believe in Him, you get so far off the track that you don’t believe in His Word. But, I tell you, we have been greatly blessed by living in America.
The reason that this country has been so greatly blessed is because it is founded upon the principles of the Word of God.
ILLUS: There was a time when anyone who read the Bible in England did so at great risk. But a man by the name of Wycliffe saw in the Bible the remedy for the ills of his country. There was no English Bible in existence , so in the face of bitter opposition, he translated the Bible into English. People appreciated the Bible. Men would give a load of hay for the privilege of reading it an hour. But the people paid with their lives for reading the Word of God. Some were burned to death with copies of the Bible around their necks. In some places children were forced to light death fires under their parents, and possessors of the Bible were hunted down like wild beasts.
Thank God it is different today. Anyone can have a Bible and read it. But here is the question — do we love the Bible like the people of long ago? Do we love it like our mothers did? His Word blessed and strengthened and guided them and it will do the same for you.
III. THEN MOTHER HAD FAITH IN GOD’S PROMISES CONCERNING HER CHILDREN.
Yes, she read in the Bible that if she honored God in her life and brought up the children in the right way, they would not depart from that way. She believed in this promise and tried to do what God said, trusting Him for the results. Now, some mothers today seem to think that their children will come out all right without any help or training. But you must put something into your child’s life if you expect to get something out of it.
First, you must set an example before them. A child usually follows someone. Since a mother is closest to the child, she ought to set the right pattern of life so that the child will know how to act.
We teach our children to brush their teeth and to wash their face and to use the proper silver at the table. Why don’t we show them by our lives how to live for the Lord?
Second, you must put discipline in their lives. If you let a young colt run wild and never break him nor put the bridle on him, he will be wild all of his life. It is just as true with children. Now by discipline, I don’t mean cruelty. I mean that a firm hand should be put on their lives, guiding them in the right way. The undisciplined child of today is the criminal of tomorrow.
Next you must put love into their lives. There is nothing so sad in all the world as a child who feel that he is not loved at home. After all, they have no choice about coming into the world. Their parents are responsible for them and ought to cause them to know that they are really loved.
IV. THEN MOTHER HAD A FAITH IN THE FUTURE LIFE.
Many a mother has kissed her children good-by and said, “Meet me in Heaven.” She really believed in a future life. Heaven was a reality to her.
ILLUS: Sam Jones, the Methodist evangelist, said that when he arrived in Heaven and the angels came out to congratulate him for getting there, he was going to say to them, “Hunt up my precious mother, who took me by the hand and walked with me until I was 8 years old, then who said to me when she died, ‘Son, I cannot come back to you, but you can come to me.’”
If your mother has gone on to glory, you can’t bring her back, but if you live for her Christ, someday you will see her again in Heaven.
CONC: Oh, let us thank God for our mothers and for all good mothers. Let us thank God for their faith, and most of all, let us live our lives for our mother’s Savior and our Savior.
