“The Characteristics of Motherhood”
Isaiah 66:10-14
I. Introduction
Origin of Mother’s Day –
In a small Methodist church in Grafton, WV, a Sunday school teacher named Anna Reeves Jarvis, decided to honor mothers. Her daughter actually is credited with getting the town of Grafton to celebrate the first Mother’s Day in 1907. In 1909 the city of Philadelphia decided to pick up on the idea and celebrate a day honoring mothers. Finally, on May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson designated the second Sunday in May as the official celebration of Mother’s Day in the United States.
A. Illustration –
Someone said – “Computers must be females:”
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2. Even the smallest mistakes are immediately committed to memory for future reference.
3. The native language used to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
4. The message “Bad Command” or “Filename” is about as informative as “If you don’t know why I’m mad at you, then I’m certainly NOT going to tell you!”
5. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck buying accessories for it.
B. Illustration –
A father and son were talking one day, and the father asked the son what he wanted for his birthday…..the boy said he wanted a baby brother. His birthday wish came true! Just before his actual birthday, his mom had a second child, a boy.
The next year, just before his birthday, his father asked his son again, “Son, what would you like for your birthday?” This time, the little boy was hesitant……Finally, the boy very honestly replied, “Dad, what I would really like is a pony, but I’m afraid that would be too hard on Mom!”
C. Read – Isaiah 66:10-14
D. God wants us to KNOW Him, and many time in Scripture He uses different pictures and examples to reveal Himself to us.
E. As we honor our “Mothers” today, I would like to focus my message on both the “Characteristics of Motherhood” and how God uses motherhood to describe Himself.
F. In doing so, let us consider the wonderful gift that God has given when He gave us mothers, but more importantly, let us realize the Greatest Gift of All – His Son, Jesus Christ!
II. There Is No Care Like a Mother’s Care (Matt. 23:37)
A. Read – Matt. 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.”
B. The Lord used a “mother hen” to describe His love for Israel.
C. Illustration – The story is told of a farmer whose farm was burned by wild fire. As he surveyed his losses, he noticed a lump of charred moving remains in the barnyard. He kicked it over with his foot, and out scurried a tiny chick. The mother hen had sacrificed herself for her young.
D. Consider the Animal Kingdom
1. Dogs are protective of pups
2. Cows are protective of calves
3. Birds are protective of young
E. Consider the Scriptures
1. Jochebed bore Moses (Exod. 2:2-10) – She defied the king’s command to kill all Hebrew sons born in Egypt; She hid him away 3 months, and then placed him in an ark and floated him down the river, placing her daughter, Miriam, as an overseer; The daughter of pharaoh found the child, and she took him as her own; God divinely directed in such a way that Jochebed became Moses’ nursemaid – All because of her desire to protect her child.
2. The Harlot Mother (1 Kings 3:16-28) – Read – Even a mother of questionable character becomes a great protector of her child – Solomon, in his wisdom, knew that the real mother would rather give up her child instead of see it killed! (vs. 26)
F. Consider God’s Care of His Own (Ps. 91:1-4)
1. There is no safer place to dwell than “under His shadow”
2. Where are YOU dwelling today? Are YOU under His wings?
3. Think of the Lord as One who desires to see YOU saved; as a mother who seeks to PROTECT her own, so the Lord desires that ALL men come to repentance.
III. There Is No Concern Like a Mother’s Concern
A. Consider the Mother’s Touch – In the family, it is usually the mother who is desired by the child who is hurt or sick to kiss the pain away; It is the mother who is first willing to stay up all night to comfort the fevered child; My girls will be the first to tell you that when they got hurt or sick – it is Mom’s touch they look for to provide them consolation!
B. Consider the Touch of Christ – When you have time, you ought to do an analysis of how many times Jesus “touched” people in order to heal them! His touch brought healing to the sick, the lame, the blind, and the deaf. Is there any wonder that parents, especially mothers, brought their children to the Lord to be touched and blessed? Even in the Old Testament we read of the touch of the Lord – Jacob wrestled with God, and the Word says that the Lord touched his thigh and forever changed his life! My friend, IF YOU have not experienced His Touch, why not allow Christ to Touch YOU today?
IV. There Is No Compassion Like a Mother’s Compassion
A. Consider the Forgiveness of a Mother - A wayward son need only ask his mother for forgiveness and he shall have it! Mothers are notorious for believing their children before anyone else; Mothers are much more forgiving than fathers; Though the son do wrong a thousand times, mothers will almost always see the good and forgive.
B. Consider the Forgiveness of Our Lord (Read Jeremiah 31:34)
“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
1. When those who have been born-again stand before Him face to face, it will not be as sinners, but as His children, with every sin stain washed away, every transgression forgiven and blotted out forever!
2. Will YOU stand Before the Lord Forgiven? Or Guilty?
3. There is only one way to obtain Forgiveness from God – The Blood of Christ Cleanses from ALL Sin!
V. Conclusion
A. Illustration – Mother in London who posted her own pictures everywhere with the message, “Come Home!” When the daughter saw it one night in a bar, she knew what it meant. She immediately went home, broken, and sobbing. When she arrived at her home, her mother met her there with outstretched arms and said, “The door has never been locked; I have been longing for you, looking for you, and praying for you! I LOVE YOU!”
B. God has uses “Motherhood” many times in Scripture to describe Himself – no wonder!
C. I thank God for my mother, who gave me life, and the mother of my children who gave them life.
D. But most of all, I thank God for providing us all the Giver of Eternal Life!
E. John 20:31 – “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
F. 1 John 5:11 – “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
