Oh say friend, it’s good to have you join us for our Bible study, In Search of the Lord's Way to live life to the very fullest. And, the Lord’s way is the best way to live that has ever been introduced to the family of man. Stay tuned and you’ll see.
It’s a real joy to welcome you to our Bible study program In Search of the Lord's Way to become a Christian and to live the Christian life. One of the surest ways to live a happy, productive life is to be a Christian, friend. “Oh,” you may be thinking, “Oh, I don’t know about that. I have a friend that became a Christian. And oh! He was enthusiastic about it and he talked to everybody in the plant about it, and he tried to convert us all! And after a few months he had given up on it himself. He had gone back to his old way of life.” Well, yes! I’m sorry; I knew that fellow, too. Jesus told us about him in his parable of the soils in Matthew chapter 13. But neither the Lord nor I are talking about being like him. We’re talking about you being like the one in verse 23, the faithful one.
Well, all of this month we are studying about the Christian Family. The four messages this month will be in this little booklet, printed, and we will call it “The Christian Family.” You may have a copy of it free, of course, by writing us at In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or, you may use our toll-free telephone number-- 1-800-321-8633. If you prefer to have them on a CD or audio cassette tape, you may. They are free, too. Just ask for it that way. Ok?
What does the Christian wife and mother have to contribute to the spirituality of the family? Oh, that’s where there is a lot of controversy in our present society. But the Bible is quite clear and it is very helpful on this question. Sure, we can do it the world’s way, which is quite different from the Lord’s way; and the results won’t be spiritual either-- of course not. That’s the trade-off, you see. This is a thing that puzzles me-- Christian women crusading for the world’s way to be wives and mothers. Is it that they don’t recognize the source of worldly ideas and ideals, and the end to which that course leads? Well, the worldly wise are marching to a different drumbeat and in the opposite direction to the Lord’s way. Well, that’s our study today. Ken Helterbrand is going to lead us now as we sing a hymn; and then I’ll be back.
Our reading today is taken from the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, the very first chapter and verse 3. “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” Now let us go to God in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we are so thankful to You for grandmothers and mothers such as these two women that are mentioned here. And we are thankful for men like Timothy who profited by the things that they were taught by these good ladies. And we pray Your blessings on our study of this subject today. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
You have probably heard the story of the expectant mother who asked her minister when she should begin the spiritual training of her child. To which he replied with something like, “With his grandmother.” Well, that seems to have been the case with Timothy of whom we read in the New Testament awhile ago. And it holds true with all of us; the most formative influence in our lives is that of family, with a strong emphasis on our mothers and our grandmothers. So in the second letter the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, Paul made reference to Timothy’s sincere faith, which existed first in his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice.
Timothy had been reared, as I was-- perhaps you were too-- in a religiously divided family. His mother was a Jewess and his father was a Greek. According to Paul in 2 Timothy 3:15, from a child his mother and grandmother had taught him the Scriptures, which the apostle Paul says “are able to make you wise to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” So when Paul came to their city on his first missionary tour preaching the gospel (Acts chapter 14, verse 6), they were all converted to Christ. With this good Bible background, by the time Paul returned on his second missionary tour (Acts chapter 16, verse 1) Timothy had a good name or a good report in Lystra. When Paul was ready to continue on his journey, he took Timothy with him as a co-worker. What a blessing it was for Timothy to get to work with this great man of God, the apostle Paul!
However, right now, I’d have you see the powerful influence of these godly women-- the one on her son, and the other on her grandson! Don’t you know that they were proud of Timothy! Oh my! They were so very abundantly rewarded for all the time and the care they had put into the spiritual teaching and training that they had given to Timothy! We don’t know anymore about them than we have already said, but we know enough about Timothy and his life for Christ to know of their unfeigned faith. You see, to the Jewish women, a child was a blessed gift of God.
The Bible is just chuck full of stories like that. There was Jochebed. Well, you may be saying, “Jochebed? Who was Jochebed? Never heard of her.” No! You probably never would have heard of her either, except that she was the mother of Moses. In a time when all of the male children of the Hebrews, were by law, edict of the king, required to be killed at birth, Jochebed saw her baby was an unusual one and she hid him where he would be found by the king’s daughter. Jochebed not only saved his life, but by the providence of God, she was chosen to be the woman to bring him up in the teachings and the values of the Hebrews. Read about her in Exodus chapter 2. Her son with proper rearing by his mother is esteemed by the Jewish people till this day as the greatest leader they ever had.
Then there’s the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter 1, who being unable to bear children, prayed for a son, whom she promised to devote to the service of God. She was given Samuel who lived and served God in a very turbulent period of Hebrew history-- the period of transition from the judges to the kings. Hannah probably influenced the course of world history as much as any other person in ancient times. Feminists would scoff at it, but it’s still true and always has been that “the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.” It isn’t the corporate executive or politician or career woman, but the one who devotes her life to molding the lives of her children the Lord’s way. Women, the birth and rearing of children is the highest and noblest work to which you can commit yourself.
The changing attitude toward the female role in the family that says these religiously based child-rearing concepts are dangerously outmoded and irrelevant is truly lamentable. It’s a downward course for womanhood in particular and in society in general. Awhile back I was viewing a television debate on whether women have achieved equality with men in the workplace. And it was brought out with regret and even with scorn I must say that while fifty-two percent of the population is female, women have achieved only about half that-- something like twenty-four percent, if my memory serves me correctly, on the job positions. That percentage may have changed, too. But it was never considered in that debate that a large segment of the female population may not even want to be in the “job market.” They want to be mothers and devote their lives to rearing their children to live the Lord’s way.
I had a secretary some eight or ten years ago (well, I don’t remember just how long, but about that time) and as the time for the birth of her baby drew near, she left us to be a “stay-at-home-mom.” We didn’t want to lose her. She was an excellent secretary, and she loved this ministry. But she made the right choice. I see them in church now. That little fellow (well, he’s not so “little” any more, he’s growing and he) has a sister now. They sometimes sit across the aisle from Lois and me. Those children are oh so blessed by having a mother with her attitude. But, don’t count that woman as demeaned, discriminated against by a male-dominated church that prevents her and others like her from equal opportunity in the job market. She isn’t interested in a secretarial position or even an executive position. She knows she is in the highest position of womanhood right now. She’s a “mother” of two children. And there are millions of others just like her. They don’t need your pity. They are not ignorant or backward or dominated. They are not of an inferior mentality or anything like that; they are sane and sensible and doing what they want to do more than anything else in the world. They’re making a spiritual contribution to their families-- and to the society.
The Bible says-- oh, I read awhile back that the preacher should never say, “The Bible says.” That’s dogmatism! Pardon my dogmatism, then, but the Bible says in Titus chapter 2, verses 1 to 5, “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine; that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
Compare-- perhaps “contrast” would be a better word. Contrast that to the way women today are educated and you have discovered the major factor in the breakdown of the family and the collapse of morality in the American society. The older women, well, that doesn’t mean octogenarians essentially, but mothers of teenaged youth and young married daughters are neglecting the education of their daughters in those noble qualities. The daycare people don’t and they won’t and they can’t train the tots in those activities and those qualities. And churches are not teaching today those things anymore. And when they do, they don’t address the “sound doctrine” mentioned there in Titus. They come up with some standard, sometimes some, well, what I call bandaid strips that cover up the visible “rash” that’s only a symptom of the real problem. The Bible class teacher wouldn’t dare touch “sound doctrine.” The youth minister would be considered “out of place” to say the least, if he were to say anything about these matters that we are talking about today. And even if all these did teach those fundamentals, it is still mother’s role to teach them in the training of their own children. No one can take her place to do what only she can do effectively.
Some of the fondest memories I have of my dear mother are of her in my early childhood years. I remember so well her going about the house cooking on her wood-burning cook stove, and cleaning, laundering, ironing and all the work that women do-- singing as she worked. We were poor, furthermore we lived before the days of sophisticated stereos and CDs and the like. And my mother’s singing was our music. I can tell you even now some of the songs she sang. No, it wasn’t “You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Hound Dog” or any thing like that, the trashy songs that youth are hearing nowadays. It was “The great Physician now is near, The sympathizing Jesus; He speaks the drooping heart to cheer, O hear the voice of Jesus.” Another was, “I’m pressing on the upward way, New heights I’m gaining every day; Still praying as I’m onward bound, Lord plant my feet on higher ground. Lord, life me up and let me stand, By faith, on heaven’s table land, A higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
But I think her favorite was Fannie J. Crosby’s “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross.” And in the afternoons before she put us down for our naps, she would stop her work, sit down in her rocking chair and read us a Bible story. And it was a Bible story too; no it was not an animal or bird story. I think I still have one of those Bible story books. Well, that made an indelible impression on me. And I’m so indebted to my godly mother! My memories of her are without price! And I’m convinced that your children will be just as indelibly impressed with you-- Christian mother. There’s just no substitute for those values, and only mothers can teach their children effectively. Let’s pray. Holy Father, thank You, thank You, thank You for the godly mothers in the world that are bringing up their children and teaching them in the admonition of the Lord. And we are thankful, Lord, for them and their children, and for the homes in which they reside. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen!
This very unspiritual world, in which we’re trying to build and maintain spiritual families, is not just neutral to the values we cherish; it’s hostile to them. Our society is dominated by two philosophies: materialism and hedonism. Materialism says everything is matter and there is no God. Ordinary materialism, striving for material things, is perhaps a stronger hostility to spiritual living than the outright rejection of God. Hedonism is just another name for the ancient Greek philosophy that says pleasure is the chief aim of life. Those are the influences that we’re up against, friend.
If we consider them to be only neutral-- not hostile, we are likely to be overcome by them. You may have noticed that in your garden, you have to water and nurture and feed your vegetables or your flowers, as the case may be, and you have to keep at it or they’ll die. If you don’t just stay at it everyday, the weeds and the grass will take over and kill your plants. The weeds and grass are not neutral; they’re aggressive and will take over without your help. Well, the same is true with the spiritual or the Christian family in an unspiritual world. You have to work at it. You can’t enjoy a spiritual family in this society without planting it and working it and watering it and tilling it until it is finished. Pray; say something to God everyday. Read the Bible and let God say something to you everyday.
My friend, your children deserve a Christian mother, and I hope that if you are not a Christian, you’ll become one today. You do believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, don’t you? And you surely believe He died on the cross to redeem you from the ways of the world. Surely, then you want, with His help, to get your life turned around and live your life His way, don’t you? That’s what Jesus calls “repentance.” You need to read Matthew chapter 21, verses 28-29. In it you will find the definition of repentance is turning and doing the will of the Father. In total surrender, you’ll have no trouble with being baptized because Jesus commanded it. Read also Mark chapter 16, verses 15 and 16.
If you would like a copy of the little book “The Christian Family,” containing all the programs this month, please write us today-- In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or you may call us. Our toll-free telephone number is 1-800-321-8633. If you prefer it on CD or audio cassette tape, you may have it that way. They are free. Everything’s free, due to the generosity of your friends and ours, some of whom are members of the churches of Christ and some of the churches in this area. And we are so thankful for them. They would just simply love to have you come and be with them in Bible study and in their worship meetings whenever you have the opportunity. And we hope you will do that. It would please us so very much if you would do that. It’s been a pleasure to have you with us today; and we pray that both of us have been blessed by this study. We mean to do only good, no harm at all, just good. And so be with us again next week. Will you? God bless you. We love you.
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