Dedicated To The Men of God Who Preach the Word of God As It Is To Men As They Are

"Preach The Word"

Text: 2 Tim. 1:1-5—esp.v.5

In our text the mother of Timothy is mentioned–Eunice. Not a great deal is said about her in the Bible but we do know some things about her. Her name means "good victory."

1- Her husband was a Gentile (Acts 16:1)

2- She was Jewess .

3- She spent time teaching Timothy the Holy Scriptures.

Her home was like a miniature seminary for Timothy.

4- Probably converted to Christianity during Paul’s first missionary journey at Lystra, where Paul was stoned and left for dead.

5- When Timothy spoke of Eunice in public, I believe he held his head high and with great pride and satisfaction said, "That’s my mother."

Mother it should be your desire that your children do the same thing and when they introduce you to others, they should be able to do so with a great sense of pride and admiration in regard to the kind of person you are.

I believe when the old Methodist preacher, John Wesley, was in the presence of Susanna Wesley, he held his head up high and would gladly say, "She’s my mother."

It has been said that Susanna Wesley, when her son John was going to go as a missionary to Georgia, he asked his mother her opinion about the matter. Her response was, "Had I a hundred sons, I should be glad to see them all engaged in such a blessed work, although I might see them no more in this world." I believe John Wesley was thankful and had a sense of pride in the fact his mother was a dedicated, sold out Christian.

What is it about a mother that makes a son or daughter hold out their chest, life up their heads high, and say, "That’s my Mother?"

It is a blessing to have a saved Mother. Not all of us have had that privilege this morning, but most of you have. It means so much to have a mother who can go back to a time and a place where she met the Lord Jesus in the free pardon and forgiveness of sins.

Note:
Even the Virgin Mary, the mother of all mothers, had to be saved. You might asked, "Preacher, how do you know that?" Mary said, "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior" (Luke 1:47). Mary realized the need of having a Savior and had been saved by God’s marvelous grace.

Eunice was a saved mother, for the Bible spoke of the "unfeigned" faith that was in her. The word "unfeigned" has the idea of genuineness or sincerity. It has the idea of being without hypocrisy or pretense. It means to be free from insincerity. Eunice was not a "put on" Christian, she was genuine, the "real thing." She had accepted Christ; then He made all the difference in her life.

A. Realization of Sinfulness

Rom.3:23- "All have sinned and come short...."

B. Repentance from Sinfulness

Jesus said, "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. "(Lk. 13:3)

C. Reception of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"...As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).

Mother, your children need to know you have a Lord in this life and especially when it comes time for you to die, they need to know you have Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Illustration:
Just this past year, I found out what it was like to see the one who gave me life, lie lifeless, cold and still. I was a part of Betty Walker and she is a part of me. I do not know what I would have done had I not had some assurance that mother had gone to be with the Lord Jesus.

I remember rolling and tossing in bed the night mother died and asking the Lord, "God, if Mother was ready to meet you, I have to have something special from you." I had awakened time and time again that night and would weep. When I told God what I did about needing something special from Him, peace flooded my soul like a river. That was God’s way of telling me, "Son, everything is all right. Just go to sleep, I am taking care of your mother.

Mother, so live your life as to where their will not be a ray of doubt or the slightest question in your children’s minds, about where you are going when you die. They need the peace of heart that comes from knowing you will be with the Lord Jesus in a better place, where all sorrows, sighing and heartache is turned into singing and rejoicing.

Her Lord
II. Her Love

Our of the love of a godly woman comes the following testimony. Thomas Benton said of his mother: "My mother asked me to never use tobacco and I have never touched it from that time until today. She asked me not to gamble and I have never gambled. She admonished me against hard drinking and whatever capacity for endurance I have at present, and whatever usefulness I have attained in life, I owe to having complied with her correct wishes. When I was seven years of age, she asked me not to drink, and I have lived in total abstinence from alcohol. I owe that also to my mother."

It is the love inside of the mother that causes her to expect much out of her children.

How blessed to have a mother in which you can see the love of God in her life. If your mother is an unsaved or an ungodly mother, pray for your mother and seek to bring her to Christ, but at the same time, in a sense adopt you a spiritual mother, who can set the proper example for you.

Proverbs 13:24, " He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."

Young folks often do not understand that a mother corrects them when they are wrong because she cares about that child. It is not to be mean and ugly, but to do so for the child’s own welfare.

B. Love Will Console

How many times, when you failed at some task you sought out to accomplish, did your mother take you aside, give you a hug, and try to lift your spirit by saying something like, "It will be alright. God will work it all out." She may have said to you, "You may have failed but don’t give up, keep on trying."

Sometimes maybe all you needed was a hug of reassurance from your mother and that would say what 10,000 orators could not say as well.

A good mother is always willing to listen to your problems because she cares about you. She gives no charge for her service when she acts as a should for you to lean upon.

Note:

You can pay an earthly psychologist or psychiatrist a hundred dollars an hour to listen to your problems and throw in a few comments, but you can draw from mother’s experience and wisdom free of charge and she really cares about you.

The Bible says we can cast all of our cares upon the Lord because He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7). It is much the same way with our mother. She not only will let us lean upon her wisdom and advice, she wants us to do so. A good mother is not to busy to listen to her children. When her child hurts, she hurts. When her child is happy, that makes her happy.

Her Lord
Her Love
C. Her Longings

What does the godly mother long for? Does she necessarily want her child to become rich or famous or does she have other things in mind for her children?

A. She Wants Her Children Saved

No mother in her right mind would want her children to go to hell. No, not a one of them! She should take every opportunity to influence them with the Gospel and point her children to Christ!

Sin and this world can destroy the lives of a mother’s children!

A spiritual mother does not want her children going with the ways of the world, but she wants that child "set apart" for the service of the Lord. If her children would only realize, if they are saved, they belong to God, they are not their own (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

Think again of what Susanna Wesley said about her children and the service of the Lord:

It has been said that Susanna Wesley, when her son John was going to go as a missionary to Georgia, he asked his mother her opinion about the matter. Her response was, "Had I a hundred sons, I should be glad to see them all engaged in such a blessed work, although I might see them no more in this world."

That is the way the right kind of mother feels. She is to have raised her children and for them to do the will of the Lord, not matter what that might involve.

D. She Wants Her Children Spirit-Filled

If they will just walk in the Spirit, they will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 sates, " This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

Her Lord
Her Love
Her Longings
IV. Her Life

Notice again that the life of Eunice, Timothy’s mother, was a life. Her faith again was–"unfeigned." In James 3:17 it is translated–"without hypocrisy." Her day by day walk was but the constant expression of a true, indwelling faith.

She did not live the live of a hypocritical person. The word for "hypocrite" in the New Testament is used of an actor. The actor pretends to be someone else and often that becomes so real the true person is hidden. The one who is a "hypocrite" pretends to be someone they really are not in life. It is the opposite of "genuineness and sincerity."

His mother lived what he taught her. That is one reason why the Word of God had such a profound impact on his life; he had seen the Word of God lived out through His mother’s life. He knew the Word of God was genuine, because of the genuine spiritual life it had produced in Eunice.

Don’t just read the Word, let it soak down into your heart and affect your behavior and attitudes.

So many say they have faith and yet do not have enough to get them to church. If it won’t get them to church, it probably will not get them into heaven.  You are wise to go to the church the Lord chooses for you.

Let your children remember you as a "church going" "church backing" mother.

Wise is that mother, who will look beyond herself and help others.

One of the great preachers of the past is Clarence McCartney, who was a Presbyterian minister. On a Sunday night he preached a sermon on the text which read, "Do thy diligence to come before winter." In the message he said this:

"Before winter or never! There are some things which will never be done unless they are done "before winter." The winter will come and the winter will pass. The flowers of the springtime will deck the breast of the earth and the graves of some of our opportunities, perhaps the grave of a dearest friend. There are golden gates wide open on this autumn day, and next October they will be forever shut.:

There was a student present in the service from Jefferson Medical College. When he went back to his room, the text, "Come before winter" repeated itself over and over. He thought, I had better write a letter to my mother. He sat down and wrote such a letter as a mother would delight in and want to receive from a son. He immediately mailed it!

The next day, in the midst of his studies, he received a telegram which said, "Come at once, your mother is dying."

That evening he headed for the country home. He found his mother still living and she gave him a smile he never forgot. Under her pillow was the letter he had written her after the Sunday night service.

Before the winter of death comes to our friends and loved ones, lets speak to them the words of love and encouragement. When their ears are dulled by death, our words will mean nothing."

Be a godly mother and have her Lord, her love, her longings and her life.

A Sermon By Dr. Tom Walker

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