Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning, May 14, 2000, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia. 

GUIDELINES FOR MOTHERS IN PERILOUS TIMES

By Michael D. O’Neal                 Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church                 Albany, Georgia

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Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 4:8-20

Text: 2 Kings 4:20

2 Kings 4:20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

Introduction: It is a wonderful thing to be a mother, but mothers do go through some very tough times.

The Images of Mother:

  4 YEARS OF AGE My mommie can do anything!
  8 YEARS OF AGE My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
  12 YEARS OF Age My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
  14 YEARS OF AGE Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
  16 YEARS OF AGE Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
  18 YEARS OF AGE That old woman? She's way out of date!
  25 YEARS OF AGE Well, she might know a little bit about it.
  35 YEARS OF AGE Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
  45 YEARS OF AGE Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
  65 YEARS OF AGE Wish I could talk it over with Mom
  -- Authors Unknown

I thank God for every lady whose main earthly goal is not a career, but to be a wife and mother. Amen! However, being a mother, a real mother is not easy. The woman in our scripture reading today was a godly woman. She had the perception to recognize a man of God out of all the people who passed their house. She persuaded her husband to prepare a special guestroom just for the man of God. Yet, she had trouble.

In times of distress, what is a mother to do?

In times of debt, what is a mother to do?

In times of disease, what is a mother to do?

In times of divorce, what is a mother to do?

In times of disobedient children, what is a mother to do?

I’m going to give several guidelines for mothers in these perilous times. If you are not a mother, may the sermon give you an appreciation for your mother and for every mother. May you be a blessing to those mothers who are trying to live for God in an ungodly age!

I. SHE SHOULD BELIEVE ON CHRIST

Acts 16:14-15 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

A. Mothers, get God in your soul!

B. Mothers, get God on your side!

C. Mothers, get God at the scene!

II. SHE SHOULD BEG GOD FOR NEEDS

Someone sent me a list of:

  "Top 10 List of what Mothers REALLY want for Mother's Day"
  
  10. To be able to eat a whole candy bar (alone) and drink a coke, without having to share it.
  
  9.  To have my 14 year-old daughter answer a question without rolling her eyes in that "Why is this person my mother?" way.
  
  8.  Five pounds of chocolate that won't add twenty on me.

  7.  A shower without a child peeking through the curtain with a  "Hi Ya Mother!" just as I put
       a razor to my ankle.
  
  6.  A full time cook, a manservant who looks like Shirley Temple's butler in the old movies &
       a tiny little fellow in purple satin breeches & a tall turban, who sits at my feet and sleeps on the floor outside my door.
  
  5.  For my teenager to announce, "Hey, Mother! I got a full scholarship and a job all in the same day!"
  
  4. A grocery store that doesn't have candy/gum/cheap toys displayed at the checkout line.
  
  3. To have a family meal without a discussion about bodily secretions.
  
  2. To be able to step on a plane with my toddlers and NOT have someone moan, "Oh no!  Why me...!"
  
  And the #1 thing that moms REALLY want for Mother's Day is.....
  
  Four words: Fisher Price Play Prison

1 Samuel 1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

1 Timothy 5:5 Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.

A. Pray privately

B. Pray powerfully

C. Pray persistently

III. SHE SHOULD BRING HER CHILD TO GOD’S MAN

2 Kings 4:21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.

A. Bring your child to the preacher for conversion

• It is a wonderful thing to lead your own child to Christ.
• However, it may make an impression you will want on your child, to have him led to Christ by his preacher.
• Certainly, if you have any doubts about your own ability to present the gospel, you should ask the pastor to do it.

B. Bring your child to the preacher for correction

• I believe that parents should correct their own children. However, it certainly might be helpful to bring a sinning child to the preacher that he might help show what the Bible says about the child’s behavior.

C. Bring your child to the preacher for counsel

• NEVER make a major decision for your child without consulting the pastor God has given you!
• For college
• For career
• For a companion

IV. SHE SHOULD BUILD HER HOUSE

Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

A. By supporting her husband

B. By shielding her children from bad influences

• Christian education is a MUST!
• Don’t let your child play with unsaved or ungodly kids, whether they are from the neighborhood or whether they are your relatives!

C. By sweetening the atmosphere

• Candles do it some.
• Cologne does it some.
• Conversation and conduct that are godly do it even better

Ladies, you can have a great influence on your home. Solomon’s mother taught him. Timothy’s mother and grandmother taught him.

 

THINGS ONLY A MOM CAN TEACH 1. My Mother taught me about ANTICIPATION… Just wait until your father gets home. 2. My Mother taught me about RECEIVING…. You are going to get it when we get home! 3. My Mother taught me to MEET A CHALLENGE… “What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you! Don’t talk back to me!” 4. My Mother taught me LOGIC… “If you fall out off that swing and break your neck, your not going to the store with me.” 5. My Mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE… If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way. 6. My Mother taught me to THINK AHEAD… If you don’t pass your spelling test, you’ll never get a good job. 7. My Mother taught me ESP… Put your sweater on; don’t you think I know when you’re cold? 8. My Mother taught me HUMOR… When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me. 9. My Mother taught me how to BECOME AN ADULT… If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up. 10. My Mother taught me about SEX…. How do you think you got here? 11. My Mother taught me about GENETICS… You’re just like your father. 12. My Mother taught me about my ROOTS… Do you think you were born in a barn? 13. My Mother taught me about WISDOM OF AGE… When you get to be my age, you will understand. 14. And my all time favorite… JUSTICE… “One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you….Then you’ll see what it’s like.”

V. SHE SHOULD BE A WITNESS FOR CHRIST

John 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

2 Timothy 1:5 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.

A. Go soul-winning as well as shopping

B. Give the gospel instead of gossip

C. Groan over sinners instead of grumbling over your situation

MOTHER – THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday School presentation. His mother, sitting in the front row to prompt him, gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it didn’t help. Her son’s memory was blank.

Finally she leaned forward and whispered the cue, “I am the light of the world.”

The child beamed and with great feeling and a loud, clear voice said, “My mother is the light of the world.”