A Eulogy for Eunice
2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14-17
by Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey
INTRODUCTION
Everyone has a biological mother with the exception of Adam and Eve. We read in the book of Genesis, “Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20). So in a sense, Eve is the mother of us all.
Motherhood encompasses step-mothers, single mothers and spiritual mothers, as well as biological mothers.
Do you remember the story written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm called Cinderella, about a young lady who had an evil step-mother? Thankfully, not all step-mothers are evil. In fact, many step-mothers are good and godly in the fulfillment of their motherly role.
We should also note that single mothers are quite often in that position by no choice of their own, due to death, divorce or desertion. Some single mothers do a wonderful job of raising children to know and to serve the Lord. For example, “John M. Webb was born to Dr. Alfred Pellar Webb and Ida Stewart Webb on October 21, 1919 in Atmore, Alabama. He grew up in Atmore where his father was a local physician. From his earliest recollection John attended the First Baptist Church of Atmore. Receiving Christ as his Savior as a young lad, he was baptized and became a member of the First Baptist Church of Atmore. When John was twelve his father died leaving the responsibility of his upbringing to his mother, Ida and his grandmother, Elizabeth. His ‘Little Mama,’ Ida and ‘Big Mama,’ Elizabeth, taught him to love the Bible. John received a Bible with the following inscription: ‘To John Webb, Christmas 1930, Mama’.” ¹
From time to time we hear someone referred to as a “spiritual mother.” A “spiritual mother” is a person who leads you to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Sometimes your “spiritual mother” is the same as your biological mother, as in my case.
We can write a eulogy for Eunice, the mother of Timothy, from the epistles of Paul to Timothy and the book of Acts penned by Luke.
According to the Merriam Webster’s Deluxe Dictionary a “eulogy” is “a commendatory formal statement or set oration. High praise.” To “eulogize” is “to speak or write in high praise of” or to “extol”.
The prefix “eu” means “good” and the root “logy” comes from the Greek word “logos” which means “word”. We have some “good words” for Eunice the mother of Timothy.
I. Eunice’s Extraordinary Responsibility
First, we see the extraordinary responsibility Eunice accepted. In Acts 16:1 we read, “Then [Paul] came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.”
Deuteronomy 6:7 commands parents to teach the law of God to their children when it says, ““You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
The divine wisdom of Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Dr. W. A. Criswell explains in The Believer’s Study Bible the word “train” comes from a word that means ‘to put something into the mouth’. Dr. Criswell also shares that “a kindred Arabic word was used to describe the process of putting date syrup into the mouth of a newborn to encourage sucking.”
At this point the words of David come to mind, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)
Eunice taught her son Timothy to acquire a taste for the Word of God.
Joshua boldly declares, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).
The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 makes the following statement about the husband’s responsibility: “He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family.”²
Eunice fulfilled the extraordinary responsibility of training her son, Timothy, in the Scriptures. According to the Scripture a husband and father is to fulfill this responsibility. We read in Ephesians 6:4: “fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
Woodrow M. Kroll with Back to the Bible in Lincoln, Nebraska, explains in a message titled, “The Legacy of a Mother”: “Eunice had the responsibility of raising Timothy without the aid of a saved husband. Eunice was faithful to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 7:13-14. [“And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.”] The life [Eunice] lived made her an example of the Lord Jesus Christ before her husband, and that example was later reflected in the life of her son.”
II. Eunice’s Earthly Record
Eunice’s earthly record is found in 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14-15: "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14-15). In the next two verses Paul continues to explain, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Eunice did what she could and God brought Paul into Timothy’s life to be his father in the ministry as we read in Acts 16:1-5. Please remember that God does not expect men to be mothers or women to be fathers.
Paul wrote to Timothy his son in the ministry, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:6-8). He also wrote to Timothy, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed” (1 Timothy 4:6).
III. Eunice’s Eternal Reward
Finally, we consider Eunice’s eternal reward. Paul the apostle explains, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: ‘As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:7-12).
Paul also writes, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Not only will there be rewards in heaven for believers and there will be retribution in hell for unbelievers. We read in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).
CONCLUSION
May each one of us hear Jesus say what is found in Matthew 25:23, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23) Therefore, the most important thing is your personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr. Adrian Rogers tells, "Before the late and great Dr. R.G. Lee died I was in his home with Billy Graham, Cliff Barrows, and Tommy Lane, our minister of music at Bellevue Church. Dr. Lee was one of my predecessors at Bellevue, considered perhaps the best preacher of the twentieth century and one of the greatest in the history of Christianity. His adopted daughter came out and gravely announced, ’I believe Dr. Lee is dying.’ We were shocked. An elderly doctor rushed over and found that Dr. Lee was alive but unconscious.
Because we thought he was close to being with Jesus, Tommy suggested, ’Let’s sing him into heaven.’ So we sang as best we could ’Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned,’ Dr. Lee’s favorite hymn. Then Cliff Barrows led us in ’Come Thou Angel Band.’ I was ready to enter heaven myself.
Then Dr. Lee revived and opened his piercing blue eyes, and his daughter said, ’Papa, Billy Graham is here.’ Dr. Lee pulled Billy’s head down and kissed him. Later, Dr. Lee testified, ’I saw heaven. I saw Jesus. I saw my mother. I never did justice to heaven in my sermons.’ You say he was hallucinating? Oh, how I hope God gives me an hallucination like that!” ³
Several years before Dr. R.G. Lee wrote, "Heaven is the most beautiful place the wisdom of God could conceive and the power of God could provide."
Endnotes:
¹“A Baptist and His Bible” by Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey Available from: http://www.pastorlife.com/members/article.asp?articleID=244&fm=authorbio&authorid=3307 Accessed: 05/06/07
²Available from: http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp Accessed: 05/08/07
³Adrian P. Rogers, Mastering Your Emotions (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1988), pp. 20-21.
By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor
First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort
30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527
Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice http://www.webspawner.com/users/franklinlkirksey
Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com
fkirksey@bellsouth.net (251) 626-6210
©May 8, 2007 All Rights Reserved
