Just Like Mom!
Text: Isaiah 66:10-14
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: 11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. 12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
Introduction:
God wants us to know Him, and many times in Scripture He uses different pictures and examples to reveal Himself and His character to us. Today we have gathered together to worship our God and to honor the mothers among us. God considers the role of motherhood to be a very high calling. Mothers are the ones who provides the nurturing in a family, her love is unconditional, she is always there for her children no matter what, and finally when the world seems to be against you your mother is there to comfort and support you. No wonder that God has elected to describe Himself in the terms of a “mother” all of the above characteristics are the same characteristics that God uses to describe himself.
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!
When danger is present a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings to shelter and protect them. God wants to do that same thing for us. But we reject His offer and scatter about and not seek the safety and comfort that He wants to provide for us.
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. That is how our Lord described Himself. "How often would I have gathered thy children..." That is exactly what Jesus did for us when He bore our sin on the cross and gave up His life to pay for our sin debt.
This morning I want you to see the great gift that God gave when He gave us mothers, but more importantly I want you to see and receive the greatest gift, His Son, Jesus Christ!
I. There Is No Protector Like a Mother
A. Consider the animal kingdom.
1. A Dog and her pups. A mother dog will guard her puppies with her very life. Those puppies are the most important thing in her existence at that moment.
2. Gentle cows will turn on you if they perceive that you are going to harm their calves.
3. Have you ever gathered eggs? It takes some special skills.
4. This is true throughout the realm of the animal kingdom. A mother will protect her young even to the point of giving up her own life.
B. Now Consider What the Scriptures Has To Say About Mothers.
1. Lets examine the mother of Moses.
a. Here is a mother who was willing to defy the order of the Pharoah to preserve the life of her son
b. For three months, She hid him and then took him to the river to hide him.
c. It was there that the Pharoah daughter found the baby among the reeds and took him and raised him as her son.
d. God directed the events so that the Pharoah’s daughter would discover Moses and that Moses real mother would be chosen to be his nurse..
e. All of this occurred because of a Mother’s desire to protect her child.
2. The Harlot Mother. cf. 1 Kings 3:16-28
1 Kings 3:16-28 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19 And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
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. Verse 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
A mother will become fierce when her child is threatened. She will fight tooth and nail to preserve the safety of her child. Nothing is more dangerous than a mother who thinks he child is in danger.
C. But There Is One Whose Protection is Greater. God’s Protection Is A Thousand Times More Than A Mothers.
Psalms 91:1-4 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
1. This Psalm points out that there is no safer place to dwell than "under the shadow of the almighty". Why don’t we elect to dwell there? So often we live out from under God’s shadow. But He wants to gather us under His wing and shelter us. v4 "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust..."
2. We think of Him as our Good Shepherd, and as a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
3. But this morning, think of Him in His tenderness with a heart that beats for a lost world, and as a true and loving mother who seeks to protect her own.
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. Who does the child want when they are hurt. They cry for mommy and raise their arms into the air with tears rolling down their checks. And mommy picks them up hugs them in her arms, kisses them, and makes the pain go away. How often is Gods arms raised to give us the same affection and we reject it?
2. She is the one who is up through the night comforting the fevered child. All night she sits and watches, there to provide whatever is needed.
3. Fathers we know when our children get hurt they looked to their mother for consolation. Just as we who are children of God should look to Him for consolation whenever we are in physical and emotional pain.
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.
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 child needs only to say “I am through, mother, and I want to come home and the mother will clean the house, prepare their favorite meal and welcome them home.
2. She is ready to forgive and believe that they are going to do right. Even though they may do the same thing a thousand times, she will have the same faith and forgiveness for her child. In her eyes they are always that same little boy or girl with those big eyes and adorable smile.
B. God’s forgiveness is supernatural.
Jeremiah 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, 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. No one can forgive like a mother, and yet God goes ten thousand times beyond a mothers’.
3. He is wonderful in His forgiveness!
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? I am so thankful for a loving God who provided for my salvation, and who keeps me in His love each moment of every day. Do you know Christ as your personal Savior this morning? Come to Him now. Are you a wayward child of God today? Come home!
