Spoken Word no. 248
“A virtuous Mother”
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
May 8th, 2011
Proverbs
31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is
far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband doth
safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. 12 She
will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. 13 She
seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. 14 She
is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. 15 She
riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a
portion to her maidens. 16 She considereth a
field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 17 She girdeth her loins with
strength, and strengtheneth her arms. 18 She
perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. 19 She
layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. 20 She
stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 21 She
is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed
with scarlet. 22 She
maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the
elders of the land. 24 She maketh fine linen, and
selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 25 Strength
and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the
law of kindness. 27 She looketh well to the ways
of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. 28 Her
children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. 29 Many daughters have done virtuously,
but thou excellest them all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman
that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. 31 Give
her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
This morning since it is Mothers Day we are going to
look at the role of the godly “mother” this morning as we find it in the
Scriptures. And remember, you children, there is actually one of the Ten Commandments
that commands you to respect your mothers, and so we find that the word of God
has a little something for everyone of us. The Fifth
Commandment which is the first commandment with a promise, tells us
that if you do this you will live a long life upon earth. " Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father
and thy mother: that thy days may be
long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.)
There is a saying among the world that
says, "For every great man, there is a great woman behind him”. And
the women's lib movement wants you to think the great woman in the man's life
is his wife. Now, that may be true in part, but where you have had great men,
it is because there stood behind him a great mother who raised him up to be
what he becomes. And the Bible and History is full of these unsung heroes who
took their role as mother to be a very important accomplishment. I think today
we have had the world try to dictate to us what is considered an accomplished
person and what is not. But let me say that I can give you some women in
history that by today's standards would not be considered accomplished and much
more likely would be considered nobodies, but in the eyes of God they were
some-bodies, and what they accomplished was lasting.
But I want you to understand this, the Bible and
history is replete with stories of the great women behind the great men and
those great women have been their mothers.
4 Look at Moses, and how his mother
raised him up and taught him that he had been chosen by God to deliver God's
people. Faith
Cometh by Hearing 54-0320 53 How Moses... How could he, after being indoctrinated
down there, and all that stuff poked into him, by those Egyptian scholars (how
to embalm the body, and how to do this, and eat garlic, and everything else
they had down there, and all the cures, and put-ons they had down there in
Egypt), how could he ever get that, all of that out of him? You know why?
Because he had a godly, little mother that set him on her knee, down there off
from one side, from all them scholars, and said, "Moses, you are chose of
the Lord. God gave you to me, and your promise. We see God on you. And someday,
you will deliver your brothers." Hallelujah. Faith cometh by hearing,
hearing from the Word of God. And he did it?
5
And what about John Wesley? Philaelphia Church Age
60-1210 John Wesley was born on June the 17th, 1703, in Epworth
rectory,
Jehovah Jireh 61-0209
52 A woman said, "Well,
I just can't find time to read my Bible to my children."
Why, Susanna Wesley, she had seventeen children and she spent
three hours a day, with no modern convenience... She didn't press a button,
wash her dishes. She didn't turn on a tap and get a little water out, like
that. She packed it from a spring in an old wooden bucket and a gourd dipper,
packed it from the spring. And raised
seventeen children and could spend three hours a day in prayer. What did
she raise up out of it? A John and a
Charles (Hallelujah. Yes, sir.
Certainly, men that shook the world in their days.
6
Unchangeable God 62-0120 16
You notice most of the women today has
wash machines, and electric ironers, and push button dishwashers, and
everything like that; and yet they got less time to pray than they ever had.
You know, Susanna Wesley had seventeen
children. And she, with them
seventeen children, packing the water from a spring, and washing on her hands,
and yet she could find two or three hours a day to pray with her children, with
seventeen little fellows. And out of there come a John and a Charles.
That's what's the matter today, reason our schools are letting down, no
ministers coming in, young men interested. We need some more praying fathers
and mothers is what we need to make our schools fill up. Young men's hearts
burning with zeal to take the Gospel is what we need. But things are changing.
And Abraham Lincoln, after his own mother
died when he was young, he was raised up by his step mother Sarah Bush Johnston
who taught him to reed and guided his early life through home schooling him and
seeing to it he had the right kinds of books to influence his life. She
selected such books as The BIBLE,
Pilgrim's Progress, and the Biography of George Washington,
and William Grimshaw's History of the
United States, for his reading material. Abraham Lincoln called her his
“angel
Mother” and had great affection for what she did in setting him in the
right direction in life.
7
Now, the role of a mother is a very important one, and we know that brother
Branham taught that the mother is the first teacher to her children. She has
the first influence on what that child is going to be when it is raised up. And
the Bible tells us the way we raise them up is the way they will be. That's Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in
the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Therefore, we can see the importance of the role that
mothers have in the fashioning the minds, intellect and the condition of their
children's hearts. And this works in both directions. A mother can nurture up a
child to become a great man who lives a godly life, or she can create a monster
that affects society in a very devastating way.
8
Let's take a look at Sadaam Hussein for example. Soon after he was conceived,
his father was killed and his brother died, and so his mother blamed him while
he was yet in her womb, saying, "he already wants to be the ruler of the house",
and so she tried to abort him by running her belly into the walls and doors,
and she hated him and never nurtured him. Therefore without love, and without a
nurturing mother to guide him, he became a renegade at a very early age,
learning to steal and because there was no love and guidance from his mother,
he killed his first victim at the age of ten. Now, contrast that mother with
the mother of Moses, who nurtured him up in the ways of the Lord, and he went
forth with great character in bringing forth the children of
The Bible also speaks of the mother as
the first to train the child in the right ways of God.
9
Proverbs 6:20 My son, keep thy
father's commandment, and forsake not
the law of thy mother: 21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie
them about thy neck. 22 When thou goest,
it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou
awakest, it shall talk with thee. 23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law
is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
10
A mother can truly do much to shape the future of not only her children, but
even a nation. What a contrast between the mother of Abraham Lincoln, and
William Jefferson Clinton. The first, Abraham Lincoln, a godly man who was
truly a great leader and yet remained very humble and obedient to the Word of
God. And the other, mr. Clinton, a scoundrel that was more concerned with
having illicit affairs than governing the nation. Abraham Lincoln's step mother
who raised him was a godly woman who placed before his little mind words in
books that would shape his mind, his intellect and his heart to always honor
and fear God. On the other hand, Mr. Clinton's mother was an ungodly woman who
had several live-in boy friends, and who was of such a shallow character that
she painted her fingernails with the image of Elvis Presley on each finger
nail. And thus the lack of character of little William Jefferson Clinton was
shaped by the lack of character of his mother.
Let’s look at another woman in American History,
Abigail Smith who married John Adams who became the Second President of the
His mother Abigail wrote “A patriot without religion in my estimation is
as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God. Is it possible
that he whom no moral obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards
Men?... Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining
the very bonds of Society, corrupting the Morals of Youth, and by his bad
example injuring the very Country he professes to patronize more than he can
possibly compensate by intrepidity, generosity and honour?... Scriptures tell
us ‘righteousness
exalteth a Nation. She believed
that “neglecting
religion was at the heart of most social and political problems.”
Abigail Adams's theology was clearly stated in her
correspondences. Writing to her son, John Quincy Adams, on May 5, 1816, she
said, "I
acknowledge myself a unitarian -- Believing that the Father alone, is the
supreme God, and that Jesus Christ derived his Being, and all his powers and
honors from the Father." "There is not any reasoning which can convince
me, contrary to my senses, that three is one, and one three."
On January 3, 1818, writing to her daughter-in-law, Louisa, Abigail wondered
"when will
Mankind be convinced that true Religion is from the Heart, between Man and his
creator, and not the imposition of Man or creeds and tests?".
So you can see she had strong personal convictions of her own which went very
contrary to the mainstream Trinitarian thoughts of her day. And she raised up a
godly son to do the same.
In His inaugural address to
the nation he closed with these words: Knowing
that “‘except
the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain,’ with fervent
supplications for His favor, to His overruling providence I commit, with
humble, but fearless confidence, my own fate, and the future destinies of my
country.”
John Quincy Adams wrote a
series of letters to his son on “The Bible and its
Teachings” in which he stated: “I have myself for many years made it a
practice to read through the Bible once
every year. I have always endeavored to read it with the same spirit and
temper of mind which I now recommend to you; that is, with the intention and desire that it contribute to my advancement in
wisdom and virtue … My custom is, to read four or five chapters every
morning, immediately after rising form my bed. It employs about an hour of my
time, and seems to me the most suitable
manner of beginning the day.”
11
In the
Invisible
Invisible
12
Invasion of the
251 And now let me just tell you another mother, right quick, in
the Bible, before we close. There was a
mother called Herodias. She taught
her daughter to tap dance. She
wanted her to be popular. And she danced before the king, and required the
head of John the Baptist. We have record of seventy of her offspring, this
damsel that danced before... Herodias' daughter danced before Herod; seventy of her offspring, they either died
prostitutes or on gallows. One
mother taught hers the things of the world; the other mother taught hers the
things of God. One became a great leader and a conqueror, immortal among
men today; and the other is botched and in hell, and taken thousands times
thousands with her. See what I mean? "Bring up a child in the way it should go."
14
253 Your mother,
if you want to do anything for her, do it three hundred and sixty-five days a
year. Go to her house and offer prayer, and live for God. That's the thing to
do. And bring up your children. And when your children come up, they'll call
you "blessed," after you have passed on beyond the veil. That's the
real spirit of motherhood, and the real spirit of mother's day. Mother's day is three hundred and
sixty-five days a year.
15
Notice that even in Scripture we find the two covenants represented by two
mothers.
Galatians 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two
sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born
after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24 Which things are an allegory: for these
are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which genders to bondage,
which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
16
And the two covenants are represented throughout Scripture as the church and
the false church. One is the Mother of Free Born while the other is the mother
of those born into bondage. One is called a Lady, and in fact to be more
precise she is called the elect Lady, Precious, while the other is called the
great whore that is the mother of harlots as seen in revelations chapter 17.
and the scripture tells us…
EZEKIEL 16:44 Behold, every one that uses proverbs shall
use this proverb, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
Now, in closing I would just like to name
some other mothers in the scripture that we have not yet mentioned an I would
like to point your attention to the attributes that the Scriptures hold up to
us as those qualifying characteristics that God has placed on display for all
to see
and to keep before us ion our memories as to what a
true mother really is.
17
First of all let me mention those that we are all so familiar with. We all know
the story of Ruth and how she was taken in by her mother in law Naomi. And we
are well aware of the great sacrifice Naomi made for her daughter in law. And
we also familiar with the story of Rachel who was loved dearly by Jacob and
truly we are drawn to this story because it is one of the classic love stories
in the Bible. As was the story of Isaac and Rebekah. But even in these stories
we are more familiar with the love story between the Bride and Groom than we
are about the roles these women played as mothers. We are also familiar with
the story of Abraham and Sarah but in these beautiful stories of Love between
Groom and hiss bride, there are also less talked of stories of women who also
were married and mothers and who suffered greatly because they did not have the
love from their husbands that these other stories possess.
18
We talk about Sarah but what about Hagar? In many ways the character of Hagar Far
out-shown that of Sarah. Sarah at times was controlling, doubtful and
manipulative, and yet we find Hagar obedient, longsuffering, and faithful. In
Genesis 16 we find the story is that Sarah, doubting the promise of God gave
her handmaid to Abraham to be his wife so that they could have a family through
her. But when she conceived, she looked down on Sarah and this got her very mad
and so she went to Abraham and asked what to do, and He basically told her that
Hagar was hers to deal with as she pleased. I think basically he told her
that's your problem, take care of it yourself. And so Sarah began to treat
Hagar very badly to where Hagar just fled. But going away from the family, out
in the desert where she had fled, she met with God and He assured her that all
would be well. You know, It's one thing to be a mother with a loving husband,
but here is a mother who knew not the love of her husband. And yet she remained
so faithful to her child that she had brought forth by her husband who did not
even love her. She was the mother of Ishmael, and when Abraham and Sarah
brought forth Isaac, she who had been part of the family, and loved so much by
Sarah, at one point that Sarah had offered her to Abraham to begin the family
God had promised, and yet after bringing forth the child, she was cast out
along with her child that she had by Abraham as his first born child. NO wonder
the Arabs to this day hate the Jews.
19
Then the grandson of Abraham comes along and we see the same seen unfold itself
all over again. This time it is Jacob who wishes to marry a beautiful young
girl Rachel. But the father sends Leah to the tent at night and Jacob in the
dark does not know that he is making love to Rachel's sister and when he finds
out the next morning he is very, very angry with Laban.
Now the story of Leah is full of mixed
emotions. It is tragic in the sense that we see this woman who is rejected,
unloved and unwanted, and yet she is predestined by God to bring forth more
than half of the tribes of
20
We find out a little about her in Genesis 19:16 describes Leah as simply being
"tender-eyed", which
probably meant that she was weak in her eyes with some sort of eye condition that
perhaps caused her to squint or perhaps she was cross eyed, or had an
"lazy" eye. She had plain features in comparison to her younger
sister's beauty, as the Bible tells us Rachel was well favored, which means she
was no doubt very beautiful. Leah had no probable suitors and no doubt was past
the age in which women normally married, and so Laban thought he could get rid
of his responsibility to support his "old maid" daughter and get
seven more years of free labor from Jacob as well. It must have been a very
difficult burden to bear for Leah being constantly overlooked, but character is
molded in the furnace of trials.
To make matters worse, Leah was stuck in
a marriage in which her husband loved her younger, prettier sister. Leah, like
most women, it would have only been natural for her to dream of marrying the
love of her life. How sad it must have been for her to be forced to marry
someone who had no love for her. And although this is a message about
motherhood I want you young men who hear this and those of you who read this on
the net to get this one point. If you plan to marry some young lady in this
message, someone who has been brought up right, to live a descent life, then
you had better do the same, and you had better tell her that you love her, and
tell her that she means the world to you. Notice after each of her sons were
born, Leah hoped this would earn Jacob's love and the names she gave her sons
reflected this craving to be loved.
21
Leah, was unwanted and unloved. But God loved Leah, and He loved her so much
that He purposed in her to bring forth Reuben and when this happened we hear
her say, "Surely
my husband will love me now" in Gen.
29:32. Next she brought forth Simeon and at that time we hear her say,
"Because the
Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too" in Gen. 29:33. and next came Levi and we hear Leah say,
"Now at last
my husband will become attached to me" Gen.
29:34), showing that she still felt left out from the love of Jacob. And
then she bore Judah at which time we hear her say to God, "This time I will
praise the Lord" Gen. 29:35, and
it is apparent by this time she is learning to live with this lack of love from
Jacob, because she truly knows that although she does not have his love, she is
loved by God and is truly being blessed by Him. And then as she is getting
older, and cannot have any more children herself, she offers up her maid
servant to Jacob to continue having children, and when Issachar is born, we
hear her thanking God for this child, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband"
Gen. 30:18. Now the character of Leah is quite a
bit different from the jealous character of Sarah. Now, a miracle takes place
with Leah and she again bares a son to Jacob, and his name is called Zebulon
and we hear her prayer to God saying, " God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my
husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his
name Zebulon Gen. 30:20. 21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah."
22
Here is a woman who was faithful, loving and never complained, and yet was
despised and rejected, and never did seem to gain the love of her husband, and
yet how faithful she was always patiently looking for the promise of a Husband
that would love her. This story is so often overlooked, because its not the
love story that we so love to hear. But rather it is the story of a faithful
woman who despite having a husband that apparently did not love her, yet she
remained a true wife and mother of her children. . She was predestined to bring
forth half of the twelve tribe of
23
If we look at other genuine mothers in the scriptures we find women like
Elisabeth that her only claim to fame was that she was a humble woman and the
wife of a minister. She made no pretenses to be somebody, but must have trained
John to see through the politics that had evolved within the church circles.
Elisabeth, never sought out attention or fame, yet her son was the forerunner
of the Messiah. All the scriptures speak of her is that she was righteous, LUKE 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and
they both were [now] well stricken in years.
Another attribute that we see in her is
obedience as when it came time to name the child, Cultural expectations led
people to assume she would name the child after a relative. But the Lord had
directed her to name him John, and she obeyed. She was intent on pleasing God
rather than man.
24
Luke 1:57 Now
Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth
a son. 58 And her neighbor's and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed
great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it came to pass, that
on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him
Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60 And his mother answered and said,
Not [so]; but he shall be called John. 61 And they said unto her, There is none
of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62 And they made signs to his
father, how he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing table, and
wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all. 64 And his mouth was
opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
She was humble, and thankful, and had an
attitude of praise and was obedience to God. All these attributes which are
nothing extraordinary, and yet these are the traits that God ordained to raise
up the child that would grow up to become what Jesus would describe in the
following way.
25 Matthew11:9 But what went ye
out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say
unto you, and m5re than a prophet. 10 For this is [he], of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before
thee. 11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist:
If God had a purpose and a plan for
such an ordinary woman as Elisabeth, then certainly he has a purpose and plan
for you in your life. But to find that way takes the greatest gift of all, and
that is to get your self out of the way.
James
4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift
you up.
Let us pray.