"MOTHERS THAT INSTILLED FAITH!"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte
2 TIMOTHY 1:1-11
When Cyrus Hamlin was ten years old, his mother gave him seven cents.
Now seven cents was quite a bit in those days. He was planning on buying
some gingerbread with that money. His mother said, "Cyrus, you ought to
put a cent or two into the missionary box at Mrs. Farrar's." As he walked
along, he began to debate, "shall I put in one cent or two? I wish she
had not said 'one cent or two.'" his mother tried to bring him up in the
ways of the lord and wanted early on to train him to invest in the work
of missions. One could truly say she was a mother that honored God. In
the text we read about two other mothers: Lois and Eunice, Timothy's grandmother
and mother respectively. Note what Paul said about them in particular:
"for I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in
your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is
in you as well." 2 Timothy
1:5. What was
there about these mothers that honored God?
THEY INSTILLED A SINCERE FAITH:
Sincere:
Open, candid and genuine.
Not deceitful or phony.
Worthy of the name.
The opposite, of course, would be a pretentious, supercilious, sham, facade,
veneer, skin-deep faith.
Let's consider the hallmarks of a sincere faith:
A faith that is consistent: years ago there was a preacher who proclaimed
"too many come to church like angels and live like devils the rest of the
week!"
A faith that takes God and His Word seriously: it obeys what He commands,
we obey; it heeds His warnings; it claims what He promises and it walks
as He instructs!
A faith that resists opposition: let the world scoff, let peers reject,
let enemies threaten, let doubters sneer and faith will hold on!
A faith that puts Christ in the right place: right in the center of life,
first in worth and importance, and in the driver's seat!
A faith that is obvious, not for show or vainglory, but as a tesTimony
for Christ.
No greater accomplishment, mothers, than to instill that kind of faith
in your children! No greater gift than to give them the nurture that produces
genuine, died-in-the-wool, time tested, honest to goodness, sincere faith!
If Jesus were to evaluate your faith or that which you instill in your
children, on a scale of 1 - 10, what would be the number? Or if He evaluated
faith on a gauge of phony to sincere, where would yours fall? Hopefully
it would be high on either scale! A 10 and very sincere!
That's the kind of faith Cyrus' mother hoped to instill in the boy. As
part of that process, she taught him to give to missions. As Cyrus thought
about putting money into the mission box, he decided on putting in two
pennies. At first he felt pretty generous. But then his conscience said,
"what? Five pennies for your stomach and two for the heathen? Five for
gingerbread and two for souls?" He said, "four for gingerbread and three
for souls." As he walked he decided it must be three for gingerbread and
four for souls. What a tesTimony to his mother's training. She was truly
a mother who honored God. So were Lois and Eunice. They instilled a sincere
faith, and even more:
THEY INSTILLED AN EVANGELISTIC
FAITH:
Timothy received nurture that produced sincere faith; but more: he went
on to pass that faith along! He pastored the congregation in Ephesus. Paul
gave him this instruction as evangelist of that congregation:
"As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at ephesus,
in order that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines,
nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise
to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which
is by faith." 1 Timothy
1:3-4.
He further said, "you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence
of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach
others also." 2 Timothy
2:1-2.
And finally, Paul said, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and
of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing
and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction." 2
Timothy 4:1-2.
Just note the succession of faith: lois to eunice to Timothy to faithful
men to still others. That's evangelistic faith; as the Gaither song says,
that's "passin' the faith along, to my brother, passin' the faith along!"
Timothy became a man who had a faith to pass on because these mothers fulfilled
the following scriptural injunctions to parents:
"And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart;
and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them
when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie
down and when you rise up." Deuteronomy
6:6-7.
"And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up
in the discipline and instruction of the lord." Ephesians
6:4.
You may give your children an education, you may give them a social status,
you may teach them manners, you might enable them to excel in athletics,
you might engender in them the work ethic, you might enable them to be
responsible, reliable citizens. But you have given them nothing if you
have not somewhere along the line imparted a faith that's worth passin'
along!
Cyrus Hamlin's mother taught him well. She engendered in him a concern
for the lost. He was willing to share what he had with others. That's an
evangelistic faith. But when he reached the mission box, mother's training
would be put to the test: what would he actually do when push came to shove?
Well, when he got to the mission box he dumped in all seven cents! His
heart convinced him that it was the right thing to do. It was his own decision
based on his own faith. And for that, his mother deserves to be called
a mother who honored God. So it was with lois and eunice.
THEY INSTILLED A PERSONAL FAITH:
Timothy was nurtured in the cradle of Godly influences. He was surrounded
by the atmosphere of belief. He lived with it, saw it practice, was influenced
by it, and finally embraced it personally. See what paul says again: "I
am sure that it is in you as well."
Many make the mistake of believing that second-hand faith is okay.
"My wife takes care of the religion in the family." Well, that may do her
some good, but it has nothing to do with your salvation!
"Religion runs in my family!" Well, again what ever that means, it doesn't
equal personal faith.
"My grandfather was a pastor, so I'm okay with the lord." That's about
as personal a faith as "dear occupant" is a personal letter!
Grab this: there is no efficacy in borrowed faith! There is nobody put
right with God on the basis of somebody else's faith! Nobody can get into
heaven hanging onto somebody else's shirt-tail. Joshua's challenge still
stands: "choose for yourselves today whom you will serve!" Joshua
24:15.
Putting gasoline in my car won't run yours! My eating a big 'n' tasty won't
keep you from starving. Treating Alisha's broken elbow won't cure your
ailment. Nor will someone else's faith secure for you forgiveness and salvation.
Jesus Christ died for all. That's true! His death on the cross is adequate
for the sins of all the world of all generations. That is a fact! But His
salvation becomes reality only in the lives of those who possess sincere,
personal faith. You must personally recognize your sin and forsake it.
You must personally confess Christ before others. You must personally be
baptized into Him. You must personally seek to live the Christian life
as He enables you. You must possess personal faith. No matter what anyone
else does about Jesus today, what will you do? No matter how others choose,
how will you choose? No matter what others believe, what will you believe?
And no matter how others respond to his call, how will you respond? Make
that known as we stand together and sing our hymn of invitation. We invite
you to confess your faith, to surrender your will, to renew your commitment
and to walk in faith down this aisle and through all of life with Jesus.