this morning to Exodus chapter 20 verse 12. You probably won't even need to turn because hopefully you already know this verse without having to turn and read it. Exodus 20 is the recording of the Ten Commandments. But when we get down to verse 12, he says, which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Now, obviously, we'll say Father's for a few weeks, and we'll look at Father's Day in, I don't know, a few weeks, months, whenever it comes up. But I want you to notice, honor thy mother. There are many examples in the Bible and in real life of mothers who were terrible. There were some mothers that were just absolutely terrible and we see them in real life even today. Some of us may have grown up in a home where our mother was far, far from desirable. I know every kid thinks their parents are the worst. My parents are the worst parents in the whole wide world. Hopefully they grow out of that, but there are some really horrible parents, mothers, that are a shame and disgrace. When I read of mothers abandoning their children, I shake my head in unbelief. You don't have to watch the news every day, but there are very, very frequently you'll read a story about a mother who locked the kids in the closet, who locked them in, you know, the outside, who did some horrible thing. Sometimes I've read of moms who just couldn't take it anymore, walked out, left the kids at home, some underage, to take care of themselves because she just can't stand it anymore. When I read of a mother neglecting her children and letting them starve to death, I almost can't believe my eyes when I read those things. When I read of a mother drowning her children or shooting them and killing them, I marvel at the lack of concern that any mother would have for her children. Fortunately, those type of mothers are the minority. I didn't find statistics, but based on my observation, most mothers do love their children. most of the time. Most mothers do care for their children. Most mothers are loving, caring, and giving, hardworking ladies. So I want to focus on the mothers who deserve all the credit that we can possibly give them. I was reading last week the beginning of Mother's Day and when it started and how one lady pushed and pushed and pushed to have a national holiday to honor all mothers in the country. It wasn't easy. There was a lot of opposition. There were a lot of people that did not want to give one day a year to honoring mothers. I believe most ladies deserve honor and respect and praise. Now, there's no such thing as a perfect mom. If you had to put up with two or three, four bratty kids all day long, you probably would lose your patience sometimes. If you had to listen to the whining and crying and temper tantrums and everything else, the best of moms are going to lose their patience sometimes. But I still like to think that most moms are loving, caring, hard-working ladies. I'm gonna look at just a very, very few not-so-good moms because they are out there. I don't want to bury my head in the sand and pretend that every mother is a five-star mom. But then I want to spend most of our time on the moms that have raised us to be what we are. First of all, the not-so-good moms. We see them every day all over the place. There are moms who are alcoholics or drug addicts, and they will let their kids starve. They will let their kids die. They will do whatever because they are not responsible. Some mothers are promiscuous. If you don't know what that means, I'll let you use my dictionary and back to look it up. They are very promiscuous. Some mothers are just plain mean and abusive. And as I look around, I don't see anyone like that here. So I think we're in good shape for the most part. In the Bible, there were some not so good mothers. How would you like to have Jezebel for your mother? I mean, y'all do know who Jezebel is. How would you like to have Jezebel as your mother? Lying, cheating, stealing, killing, evil. She is considered one of the most evil women in the Bible. They do exist. But I like to focus on the good mothers. In real life, there are mothers who walk the floor all night long with a sick kid. I don't know if you all did that or not, I know we did. We had one child that just screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed all night long. No, it wasn't your dad. There were times when my wife would walk the floor until she couldn't walk any more than I would walk, until I couldn't walk and we would switch off and switch off. Most mothers that I know will sit up all night with a sick child, checking their fever, checking different things, you know, making sure that their child is okay. There are mothers who risk their own life to try and save a child of theirs. Mothers will dart out in front of a speeding car. to get their child out of the way, even if it means they get hit, they get killed, they will risk it all in order to see that their child is protected. Mothers who manage to spend time with every child. Now, if you only have one child, that's not bad. But I was reading about the story of John and Charles Wesley. If you don't know who they are, they were the founders of the Methodist church that we have today. I forget, I read it, but their mom had like five million kids. but she managed to spend time one on one with every one of her kids every day. Wow, look at all she had to give up. Look at how her children turned out. Look at every, even though they were the founder of the Methodist church, They were very religious, they were very separated, very dedicated, and much of it goes to their mother. Charles Spurgeon, one of my great heroes, his mother made certain that she spent time every day teaching, admonishing, and working with Charles. who later became the greatest preacher in the 1800s. There are some good mothers who managed to spend time with each of their children. I was reading the other day, and I don't remember where I read this one, but it said, kids will not remember all the things you give them. but they will remember the time you spent with them. Oh, I bought them a new bicycle. Ten years down the road, they probably won't even remember it. I bought them a new Apple Watch. Ten years down the road, they probably won't remember it. but they will remember the time that you spent with them, talking, listening. There are mothers who will do without so that their children are fed and cared for. Mom, why aren't you eating? Oh, I'm not hungry. See, there really wasn't enough for Mom to eat, and so she, did not eat so that her kids could have food to eat. My mom was very much like that. There are mothers who are very active in the lives of their children. Mothers, let me assure you, your labor is not in vain. The time you spend is more important than all the money you can make in the world. The time you spend is more important than all the rewards, all the accolades, all the promotions. The time you spend will have an eternal effect on the lives of your children. In the Bible, I found two mothers that were exceptional. One of them was a lady named Hannah. How many of y'all remember who Hannah was? Wow, okay. Hannah was the mother of Samuel. We all know who Samuel was. Hannah could not have children. And it caused a lot of distress in her life, especially when her husband's other wife made fun of her and ridiculed her. But she could not have children. I remember we had been married several years, and we could not have children. And I remember one preacher passing through our town, stopped off to visit with us and go to church with us, and he chewed me out. He ripped me apart because we had been married, I don't know, six, eight years, and did not have children. He tore me into shreds. Finally, I looked at him and said, you have no idea what you're talking about. There's a lot of people who, like Hannah, cannot have children, not from lack of desire, it's not from lack of effort. It's the fact that God shut their womb, and for whatever reason, God withheld from them the ability to have children. Finally, she went to the temple, and there she prayed. And she prayed, Lord, if you will give me a son, I will give him back to you. Eli the priest thought she was drunk. He got on her for being drunk. She had to tell him, I'm not drunk. It's from a burdened heart that I pray to God. She had a son, Samuel. After Samuel was weaned, she took him to the temple and gave him into the service of God. Every year, she made him a coat. Now, I'm like you in that. I like to look at things a little differently, maybe not condense them as much as you do, but why did she make him a coat every year? Well, it could get cold sometimes, but also he's a growing boy. Have you ever had children that went through three sizes in one year? Ah, I wish y'all could see all the faces that I'm seeing. So every year she made him a coat. And she took it to him. And spent time with him. But she had given him to God. The other lady I came up with was Elizabeth. This is the mother of John the Baptist. She too was quite old. And like Hannah, Elizabeth had not had any children. And I can tell you firsthand, I can tell you from personal experience, when you want a child so bad that you can almost taste it, And God, for whatever reason, doesn't give them to you. Do not ask, what's the matter? Don't y'all like kids? If you only knew. She could not have children. One day an angel appeared unto her and said, You are going to have a son. And from an early age, he was taught the Scriptures. How do you know that? Well, because when he began his ministry, he quoted Scripture after Scripture after Scripture. You don't quote scripture unless you have stored it in your mind. Lord, help me to remember scripture. How many scriptures have you hid in your heart? God's not going to help you remember something that was never there. And so she trained him, raised him, taught him scripture, and taught him how that he would be the forerunner of Jesus Christ, so that when he came on the scene, He came preaching repentance for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Where did he learn all of that scripture? He learned it under his mother who taught him so that when he began ministering he could quote scripture without having to stop and look it up. There's another kind of moms that We often don't think about, when we think of Mother's Day, this group of moms often is neglected. That's called single moms. They're often forgotten because they're not your typical family situation. They may be a single mom because of the death of a spouse. They may be a single mom because the husband deserted them. And no offense, guys, but I would say 90% or more of the single moms I know were because the husband found another lady he thought would be better. Me and, I told a young lady, it's been a few weeks ago, she said, oh, I can trust him. And I looked at her, she was young, real young. And I said, honey, don't trust any man. But anyway, back to the single mom. There are many reasons for a single mom. But that doesn't mean you can't still raise your children to serve God. I thought of Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1, Paul wrote, When I called to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, I am persuaded that in thee also. Chapter 3, verse 15, And that from a child Thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Now somebody will probably say, but Timothy had a dad. Yeah, he did. Book of Acts tells us that Paul found young Timothy, his mother was a Jew, and his father was a Greek. Being a Greek is the same as being a heathen, an infidel, a non-believer. And when the Bible talks about Timothy, every bit of his earthly training came from his mother and his grandmother. Being a Greek, his father probably was not involved, certainly not in the religion side. But his mom and his grandmother were responsible for teaching him, from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures. Somebody taught him. Paul says it was his mother and his grandmother. Now, I know grandparents, we often joke, you know, you love them, you spoil them, you get them high on sugar, and you send them back home. But grandparents, you may have more influence than you think. Moms whose husband did not care about the Jewish religion. He was a Greek, a heathen, an unbeliever. He offered no support at all to training them in the way they should go. But his mother and grandmother made certain that he was taught the things of God. Single moms have an extra heavy burden trying to raise children on their own. I'm sure we all could think of some single parents, single moms. The father helped in conception, but after that, he wanted nothing to do with them. If he's around, the mom gets no help from him. A single mom has to be both a mom and a dad to their child. And so when we think of single moms, and I know they're not your typical mom that we think of, but when you see or know of a single mom, stop and consider she's probably doing the best she can do under the circumstances. Pray for her. Encourage her. Offer to help her. In a typical family, mom can go to the store somewhere and dad can stay home and watch the kids. In a single mom, she doesn't have that privilege. She doesn't have, Dad, hey, can you watch the kids? I need to go so-and-so. Offered to help, never criticized. She is a mom. But often she doesn't have the help of anyone else. She's trying to do it on her own. Let's help her. Encourage her. Offer to watch the kids. Offer to take the kids somewhere so she can rest. Be a shoulder that she can cry on. Be an ear that she can talk to. To every mom, thank you. for what you've done. Thank you that you have raised your children hopefully in church. Thank you for being a shining example of the cause of Christ. And for those of us whose moms are still living, we can't call mom up and say, hey mom, I love you. But we can be thankful that God gave us a mom that raised us strict. Boy, you bet, strict. I often tell people, your parents wouldn't let you do anything. You're right. We couldn't do, if we went with somebody, they'd check them out before we were allowed to go. If we were going to someone's home, they'd check them out before they would let us go to their home. They were strict. And it's mom's fault, and dad too, but mom's fault that I turned out the way I did. I'm thankful she was strict. Mom did most of the discipline. When Dad disciplined, boy, you were in trouble. So most of our discipline came from Mom. But you know what? They kept me out of a lot of trouble. I've never been drunk, never robbed a bank, never stole. almost stole her, and it's all mom's fault because she was so strict. Thank your mom if she's still living. Call her up and say, mom, I didn't tell you this when I was young, but I want you to know I thank you for being the kind of mom that you were. Father, we come this morning.