Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to Galatians 4.26. Galatians 4.26. This is the verse that I quoted
a moment ago. which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. Now, today is a celebration in this
country called Mother's Day. And I pray that what is said is honoring
to our Lord who alone is worthy of all honor. I would only desire to say that
which our Lord has said through the inspiration of God's Spirit
concerning this title, Mother. All the sacred trust that has
been given to a mother. Mothers. They've been given this privilege. They bear children. And here
is the divine privilege to a mother. Take that child and teach that
child and equip that child that they might be furnished unto
every good work. Now I think sometimes we fail
to realize the significance the picture,
the type. We look and we see here's a man,
here's a woman. They together have a child. But oh, the miracle of God's
grace to behold the fruit of God's Spirit that is produced
in those that have been blessed through the means of a godly
mother. I want you to turn with me to
2 Timothy 1, verses 1-5. While you're turning there, it
is not insignificant that divine providence, God's
purpose, God's will has brought it about that there are mothers. That's not an insignificant thing. But listen to the blessing. Now, this is the calling of a
mother. 2 Timothy 1, 1, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God according to the promise
of life which is in Christ Jesus to Timothy, my dearly beloved
son. Grace, mercy, and peace from
God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I
serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without
ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and
day, greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears,
that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the
unfeigned, the sincere faith that is in thee, which dwelt
first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice. And I
am persuaded that in thee also." Look at 2 Timothy 3.14. Turn
over to 2 Timothy 3.14.15. But continue thou," he speaks
to Timothy, "...continue thou in the things which thou hast
learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast
learned them, and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures,
which is able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus." God forbid that we should think anything
other than being thankful, thankful for mothers who patiently bear
their lot and make the home a place of worship for the children that
the Lord has entrusted them with. I thank God for mothers that
teach. They'll take their children and
take the Holy Scriptures and read to them and tell them who
God is. You say they don't understand.
If the Lord's pleased, they will. That Almighty God would give
a mother a heart to tell their kids who God is. What a calling! A mother is in
a divine place of worship, doing that which the Master has called
her to do. Mothers, future mothers, aunts,
nieces, teach those that the Lord has
placed within your family. Those that the Lord has placed
you in the lodge. of having an influence over kids. Instruct those in your family. That is the first calling of
a mother. I've heard people say, you know,
somebody will ask somebody, what do you do? And I say that it's
the lot of a woman. I'm just a stay-at-home mom. No, you're not. Just. I'll stay at home, Mom. That's
the greatest calling that God ever called a mother to. Have
kids and teach them. Raise and instruct them. Bless
God. Thank God for mothers. My mother is here today. That's
a joy. Many of you, your moms have already
passed. But you've got the memory of
them. Aren't you thankful for your mom? Are you thankful for
moms that taught you, raised you, instructed you? Before our Lord cried the words,
it is finished. I want you to turn to John 19.
Before the Lord, from the cross, He cried these blessed words
when he finished the work. God Almighty had given him a
work as the servant of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ. God's
servant. God's elect. Almighty God, Father,
Son, and Spirit. To the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son, who took upon Himself the form of sinful flesh. He, in
absolute obedience, dying for His sheep, laying down His life
for His sheep, that's who He died for. He put away the guilt
of everyone that the Father had chosen Him in electing grace.
And He set His face as a flint And this was His meat. This was His food. This was His
call. This was His joy. To do the will
of Him that sent me. And He hung upon that cross,
laid down His life. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I lay it down. And He did it with joy. Purpose and will and hanging
upon that cross. Doing the will of Him that sent
Him. Just in that period, there was
one, we looked at that thief, there was one of God's elect,
hanging on that cross. And before that thief died and
left this world, Almighty God, hanging upon that cross, That's
right. Almighty God. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word, God Himself made
flesh. And hanging upon that cross,
the great mystery of godliness, God manifests in the flesh. Hanging upon that cross, and
God Almighty hanging on that cross, gave to that object of
His mercy, that thief, and gave that thief a new heart, and removed
that heart of stone, and gave him a new will, and a new love,
and new eyes, and new ears. And that thief, in absolute response
to what the Lord had done for him, had the Lord not done something
for him, Chuck, that man would have died in his sin. And the
Lord gave that man a new heart. And immediately after God wrought
a work of grace in his heart, that thief, formally railing
upon the Lord, said, Lord, when You enter into Your kingdom,
would You remember me? I'm getting ready to die. And
You're all my hope. The Lord said, Verily I say unto
you today, You'll be with me in paradise." And He, hanging
upon that cross, saved one of His elect, redeeming His sheep,
shedding His precious blood that the Father had everlastingly
saw. And there in time, the Lord Jesus
Christ, laying down His life, John 19, 25, saving His own, And the scripture says in John
19.25, Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and
his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw
his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto
his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple
took her into his own home. Let me tell you the significance,
the picture, the type. You say, well, I'm just a mother. Well, let me tell you what you
are a type of, a picture. Considering this precious passage
that we read, Galatians 4.26, but Jerusalem, which is above,
is free, which is the mother of us all. Here, the Apostle
Paul, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, describes, sets
forth the covenant of God's grace in the Lord Jesus Christ, He
who is our surety, Our Redeemer, our Federal Head, our Husband,
our Advocate, our Blessed Savior. The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom
of Christ of which we pray, Thy Kingdom come. This is what we
pray when the Lord taught His disciples to pray. He said, pray
in this manner. Not quoting that just through
vain repetition. I'm not saying that. I'm saying
you pray after this manner. Our Father, We're children. He's the Father.
Which art in heaven, we're earthly. Thy kingdom come. Father, I pray
those that You've everlastingly loved, those that You've given
to the Son, Your kingdom, Your people, Your elect, Your church,
Your bride, Thy kingdom come. I had someone send me an email
this past week and they said, do you pray for the lost at all? I said, yeah, I don't know who
God's sheep are. I don't know who they are. Here's
what I'm doing this morning. I'm proclaiming the gospel of
God's free grace. And I know this, the Word of
the Lord is not going to return bored. It's going to accomplish
that which He purposed it. God's going to call out His sheep
through the preaching of the gospel. I know He's going to
save His people. Thy kingdom come. The kingdom
of Christ. That kingdom which is from above. His kingdom. I know it's not
brought into existence, into visual existence. He's everlastingly
known them. I know that it's not brought
into existence through manipulation. through singing numerous, numerous,
numerous verses of Just As I Am and trying to work up something,
I know it's not through preaching obedience to the law. It's through
the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jerusalem,
the free city, the church of God, The people of God. Jerusalem, which is from above. God's church. That is the true
Jerusalem. It's God's church. And the scripture
sets forth, she is the mother of us all. In the church, in
God's bride, in God's beloved, is found the existence is found
the fruit of the eternal counsels of God's purpose and will and
pleasure. It is in and through the means
of this blessed mother. This blessed mother. God has
a purpose. An everlasting purpose. It is God's counsel. It is God's
will. It is God's good pleasure. And
it is through this blessed mother of His choosing, He chose to
have this true Jerusalem, the mother of us all. And through
her, through the power of His Holy Spirit, He is pleased to
rebirth, to be born from above. Through the means of the preaching
of His blessed Son, the gospel, the glorious message of grace
in Christ, the true Jerusalem, the mother of us all, is the
covenant of His everlasting love and purpose to show mercy to
a people that have always been His. This is the mother of us
all. We see her as this bride, this
church, but let me tell you the very heart of the mother of us
all. It's God's eternal purpose. It's God's will. God's choice. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. There's the mother of us all,
right there. That's her. That's her. It's God's will.
Visually, we see it brought into existence. But the mother of
us all is God's everlasting purpose, will, choice. David said, this
is all of my hope. This is all of my salvation.
Here's my mother. Here's how God rebirthed me. This is why God rebirthed me. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. If you want to know
what a mother pictures, here's what she pictures. God's will. God's purpose. God's choice. It is through His will Through
the means of the church, God births. We look at a woman, she
said she had a child. There's a visual of something.
That's a visual of God's will to bring His people into life,
into existence. He chose them. He loved them. He redeemed them. He regenerates. He nourishes and teaches them
and corrects them. through the means of His glorious
Scriptures, in the church, in the bride, their obedience, which
He demands. His righteousness is their obedience. He demands obedience. He supplies
obedience. Their birth is by His will, not
theirs. They're teaching. Mothers teach
children. They teach them. Lori just had this little baby,
and they teach that baby. That baby learns. He's instructed.
He watches. He sees. He learns by example.
He learns by correction. But I'm going to tell you something.
God teaches His children through the Holy Scriptures, blessed
by the Spirit of God. Their redemption is in His sacrifice,
in His satisfaction, not in their obedience to the ordinances of
the law. Their access to the throne of
God is through the blood of Christ who is their great high priest.
The mother of God's elect. The mother of God's elect is
God's eternal purpose and covenant of grace. That's her life. That's where it comes from. God
Almighty who is our life. Where does God's people find
their existence? In God's will. In God's choice. In God's purpose. And she's free. She's free from the curse of
the law because Christ was made a curse for her. And she will
never come into condemnation. She's never been under the condemnation
of God. Never been under the wrath of
God. God Almighty has always known her. He's always seen her. He's always looked upon her in
Christ. Oh, how we thank God for the
mother of His glorious mercy and grace to His people. Mothers, future mothers, you
consider the great calling and position that you hold in the
picture. and in the type of God's salvation
in an everlasting covenant of grace. Righteousness. Righteousness Himself, Pat, came
into this world through a mother. Almighty God
brought forth righteousness Himself through a mother. And that mother,
that woman, that is a type, it's a picture. She is the picture of the glorious
purpose of Almighty God. How does a child get into this
world? She comes in through a mother.
Where did she get her power? God wrought a woman with the
ability to have, to conceive a child, to bring it forth and
that child grow. Miracle of God's grace. That's
a picture of what Almighty God eternally purposed to do for
His people. The mother of us all is the eternal
purpose and counsel of God's mercy. Eternal mercy, grace. And it's brought forth and we
see it in this glorious church. I thank God for that which God
teaches us through mothers. Lord, bless these words in our
heart for Christ's sake. Amen.