Such things to come to pass. Please turn with me to 2 Timothy for preaching of the Word this morning. 2 Timothy chapter 3. We'll be in 2 Timothy 3 again tonight, but dealing with another subject. But coming to 2 Timothy chapter 3 and The Apostle Paul writing to this younger man, Timothy, in the midst of his ministry, reminding him how he got to where he is by the grace of God and telling him to remember how the Lord dealt with him even from his earliest days. So 2 Timothy 3 and verse 14, we'll read there the Word of God. But 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 are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. Amen. We'll end the reading there. May the Lord bless this reading of His infallible, inspired, and errant Word. Let's come before Him and ask for His help briefly as we come to hear from Him. My Father in heaven, with Thy Word open, we seek You yet again for the blessing of the Spirit of God, for that blessed third person to come and fill me and enable me to preach the words of truth, not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Lord, we ask that you would enable me to preach Christ. We ask that you would enable me to preach in such a manner that there will be an impression left upon our minds and hearts today, that we will leave this place different than when we came in, further changed and conformed to the image of Christ. Lord, bless this word we ask for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Well, I've not made it my practice, typically, to take occasions like Mother's Day or Father's Day to preach messages that would be along those topics. But today, I must confess, over this week, the Lord impressed this message upon me as He always does. I trust I always have an impression for the right message from the right part of Scripture for our souls. But this one in particular greatly stirred my heart, and it will be particularly applicable to mothers, but it will be applicable to all of us in our own various ways. In verse 14 and 15, we'll read those again. But 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 are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." A godly mother is a mighty means in the hand of God. A godly mother is a mighty means in the hand of God. Eunice, Timothy's mother, is not mentioned in this text, but she's alluded to. Her influence is referenced here, as it is said that Timothy from a child knew the Holy Scriptures. Timothy had a mother named Eunice. He had a grandmother named Lois mentioned at the beginning of this letter. And I start out by saying a godly mother is a mighty means in the hand of God, Because we know there was no merit in Eunice to make Timothy the man that he became. But under God, her influence, her instruction, her hard work for him was used of God to make Timothy a man of God. A mother's influence upon her child should never be underestimated. We're told of really this diabolical influence of a mother in 2 Chronicles chapter 22. We read of one of the kings in the Old Testament, how wicked he was partly due to the influence of his mother. It says in 2 Chronicles 22, 240, and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah, the daughter of Amri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. It is something to note, the contrast, isn't it? Athaliah, it is said, he did very wickedly after the house of Ahab's practice because his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. And yet Timothy, here, as a man of God in the New Testament, a preacher of the gospel, is told from a child, under the influence of your godly mother, the Lord brought you to Christ. and indeed set you up for a life of serving the Lord. It is something to note for every mother here, indeed for every father here, from everyone who has any influence upon any child. It's not just about mothers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, anyone, anyone who has an influence upon a child can make a difference for eternity. And I want us to look at this today, really get into the life of Eunice and Timothy a little bit, and think about Eunice here as a mother who made a difference. A mother who made a difference. The first thing I want us to note is that she made a difference in Timothy's education. A difference in Timothy's education. You note from those verses we read, verse 14, the Apostle admonishes, exhorts Timothy to continue in the things that he had learned. And then notes in verse 15 his beginning of education where it all began that from a child He had known the Holy Scriptures. And again, I say this is referencing his mother's influence upon his education. So Eunice was a woman, a mother, who made a difference. And she made a difference in Timothy's education. Note here, he was educated by the Word. He was educated by the Word. That from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures. In other words, what we're being told here about these Holy Scriptures, the Holy Writings, primarily the Old Testament, but as we've noted before, this application refers to the New as well, but primarily the Old being referred to here. And what this is saying to us is that from His earliest days, Timothy was taken to the school of Moses and the prophets where Christ was the core curriculum. He was taken there and instructed from His earliest days. The word child here, as I've noted to you before, really has the idea of infancy. This word child here is translated babe in Luke chapter 1 and in Luke chapter 2, both times referring first to John the Baptist, and then secondly to our Lord Jesus Christ as the babe in the manger. And John the Baptist, when he was the babe in his mother's womb that leaped for joy, So here we have, brothers and sisters, we're being told that Timothy from his very earliest days, possibly even from the time when he was in his mother's womb, was being influenced, was being educated in some way, shape, or form with the Holy Scriptures. He was educated by the Word. His mother Eunice was of Jewish descent. She was of the nation of Israel even though she had married a Gentile. We have no reason to doubt that she would have taken to heart the exhortation from Moses in Deuteronomy 6 verse 4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. Verse 7, And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Do you note the continual language there? It's not simply there was this one time of the day where Timothy was drilled with the Scriptures as it were, but it was constantly, it was about as his mother went about her day, she would have followed the teaching here. You shall talk of them when you're sitting around in your house, when you're walking by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. In other words, they're constantly in your mouth, they're constantly coming from you in some way, shape or form. And this is the way that Eunice would have instructed Timothy. No doubt, we can say of her, she must have been a woman of the Word in order to instruct her son in the Word. What an application that is for all of us, isn't it? We have to know the Scriptures ourselves before we're able to teach them to others. If we want to be able to talk of the things of the Lord as we sit down, as we rise up, as we walk around and go about our daily lives, we have to know the Scriptures. We have to know the Word, and that comes from reading, it comes from memorizing, it comes from familiarity with the contents of the Scriptures. And Timothy's mother was able to do that. He was educated by the Word. He was, as I say, taken to the school of Moses and the prophets where Christ was the core curriculum. He was taken to those places where the sacrifices were pointing ahead to Messiah. Oh, they didn't know Christ in name, as it were. They didn't know that it would be Jesus of Nazareth, per se. But she knew Messiah was coming. She was a woman who was convinced of these things. and she educated her son Timothy by the Word. She made a difference in his education. No doubt we could say, knowing that the Jews were greatly fond of singing, that she would have sang to him. She would have sang to him about the Word of God. And you know, perhaps that's how she educated him even from the womb. We're not thinking that a baby can sit up in a desk and be attentive to some sort of lecture or anything like that. But a child hears music. A child hears words. And studies today show that children from their very earliest time period, they're absorbing everything around them in one way or another. And all we can conclude from what Paul has said here is that Timothy's mother Eunice, she created an environment where Timothy was surrounded with truth. And that's all any of us can do. We can't change the heart, we can't do anything to affect the soul, but we can create an environment to some degree. We can do our best to influence any child, anyone under our influence, a grandchild, a niece, a nephew, even a friend's children, whatever it may be. to give them an education by the Word as best as we can. You remember Paul and Silas when they were put in prison for preaching the gospel. It was said of them that at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them. You know, the Philippian jailer heard them. That may have been all the gospel he knew. That may have been all the Word of God he ever received. And it was through song. May the Lord give us help to sing the truth. And Timothy, no doubt, was saying to you, he was educated by the Word. And note, we must deduce from this that he was educated about the world from the Word. Not only was he educated by the Word in the way of salvation, and that's what explicitly is said in verse 15, which are able or of power to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. But the difference in Timothy's education that Eunice made must have included his knowledge of the world. How to view the world, Timothy. How to see things and interpret the things that are around you. How was he to be educated in that way? Well, no doubt it was with the aid of Holy Scripture. Sure, Timothy would have learned from other sources. No doubt his mother would not have deprived him of certain knowledge that was common in the day that was necessary to be in society and function well. But she helped him to understand everything through the lens of Scripture. Timothy and Eunice really give us a model of hands-on parenting. And today, there's so much talk about hands-off parenting. There's various theories. I'm sure you're familiar with some of them. One of the most dangerous that I have come across is the idea of gentle parenting. And it's different in terms of how people may apply it. So we're painting with a broad brush here. We don't want to misrepresent, but generally it refers to basically leaving a child to themselves, letting them make their decisions, letting them determine what they're going to wear, what they're going to eat, what they're going to do, let them determine how to think about things, let them develop their own opinions and assert them from an early age. This is generally the philosophy of gentle parenting. We find something very different in the Scriptures. Proverbs 29 verse 15 says, A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Now I want you to think about that in contrast with so much of what you hear today. A child left to himself brings his mother to shame. You leave children to themselves and what do they do? Well, because they're sinners, and this is the whole failure of the world to recognize the very depravity of man, the reason you don't leave a child to themselves is because They're corrupt just like you. They're going to go in their own way and it's not going to be good. Timothy's mother took a biblical, a hands-on approach. Not a perfect approach. She wasn't, as it were, a perfect mother, but she made a difference in Timothy's education by educating him by the Word and by educating him about the world through the Word. Timothy would have known well passages in the Old Testament that his mother would have helped him to memorize. Psalm 19, helping him to look out in the world and say, the heavens declare the glory of God. The sky shows his handiwork. Timothy was given a filter. That's what we're doing with a child. We're giving them a filter by which they can look out in the world and know what to make of it. Because they know the God who made it, as He's revealed in the Word. The Word shaped and sharpened Timothy's views of all things. She made a difference in his education. in those ways. And it's something to note here about Timothy that it seems he was educated primarily by a woman. Now I make special mention of that because at the beginning of this epistle, we are told about Lois and Eunice. He says, Notice that Timothy's father is not mentioned here. Even though his father is mentioned in Acts 16, it is said of his mother that she was a Jewish and that his father was a Greek. and Timothy wasn't circumcised because his father was a Greek, so it wasn't that he was a proselyte, that his mother had married someone who had conformed to Judaism. What she had done was married a Gentile, which was not common in that day and indicates something of her life before Christ, potentially. But Eunice and Lois are highlighted as being the ones who really primarily educated Timothy. The reason I point this out as an encouragement is because It really was not very well looked upon in those days to really have your primary upbringing by your mother and your grandmother. Timothy's father may have taught him very many things, but his father never seems to have come to Christ, never instructed him in the Word. And yet here we're told about the great privilege that a woman of God has in God's plan of redemption to instruct her children in the ways of salvation. And far from the Bible degrading the position of a woman, it exalts the position of a woman as a wife, as a mother, as an influencer upon the next generation. So today is about Mother's Day in some respects, in some places. Now it's the Lord's Day. We all know that. The Lord doesn't share His day with anyone. But it's Mother's Day and yet how many will celebrate something today that tomorrow they will really despise and shame? Mothers are very often not celebrated in our society today. We are told that motherhood is really going to hold you back from whatever pursuits you may want to pursue in life. We have abortions all throughout our nation. Children slaughtered from the womb, and yet so many will pay lip service to Mother's Day. I think that's why it's important to think upon this. A mother's role is of great importance to God, whether the world recognizes it or not. And Eunice made a difference in Timothy's education. I want us to go on here to something else. A difference in Timothy's effectiveness. Eunice made a difference in Timothy's effectiveness. He'd known from a child the holy scriptures. And you know what that did for Timothy? It prepared him for a lifelong time of serving Christ as an effective minister of the gospel. That's why I say, she made a difference under God by His grace. She made a difference in Timothy's effectiveness. And his effectiveness was evident. I want you to see that in Acts 16. If you care to turn there, Acts 16 verse 1, we'll note how Timothy's effectiveness was evident from the time where he was young in the faith. We read in Acts 16 and verse 1, Then came he to Derbe, or Derbe, that is Paul, and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple there was there named Timotheus, which is Timothy, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewish and believed, but his father was a Greek, which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him, and took him and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters, for they knew all that his father was a Greek. Now here, We are told that Timothy's effectiveness, that his, as it were, progress in the faith, his ability to effectively minister and serve Christ, was recognized by the brethren, and he was well reported of to Paul, and Paul decides to take him with him. He could have chosen any number of the men there, but he says he would have Timothy to go with him. Now stop and pause, just consider the magnitude of such a statement. Here's the Apostle Paul. He is planning to go all over the place into very dangerous situations. He's going to have to brave all kinds of enemies. He's going to have to preach in the midst of persecution. He's going to face all kinds of affliction. And yet, here the Apostle Paul says, this is the young man that I'm going to take with me. Timothy's effectiveness was evident. His gifts by the grace of God were recognized by the church, and he was a man that was ready to be used of the Lord. Now as I say, and I want us to remember that all throughout this type of a message, you and I can't save a soul. You and I can't make someone into what Timothy was, but under God, the means, the means that God uses that he used in Timothy's life was his mother. To make him an effective minister of the gospel, Timothy's preparation for the ministry was primarily upon his mother and his grandmother's knee. He had known the Holy Scriptures from a child and that education had carried him up to the point of readiness to be used. Paul doesn't have to say, well, I'd like to take Timothy with me. When he's got a little more under his belt or in a few years, he says he's ready. What a lofty goal for every mother, for every father, for every grandmother. Let's not forget about Lois who was involved in all of this. To make a difference in their education that will make a difference in their effectiveness. in their service for Christ. His effectiveness was evident. And we must note here, as I've already alluded to, he was effective because the Holy Spirit made his mother's work effectual. That is why Timothy was effective as a minister of the gospel. Because the Holy Spirit made his mother's work effectual. He took what Timothy's mother did and made it fruitful. You remember we are told very, very explicitly in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. If the Holy Spirit had never awakened Timothy, if the Holy Spirit had never given him the new birth, then though Timothy's mother would still be worthy of commendation because of the work she did, it would have never come to fruition in Timothy. The Spirit of God made her work effectual and therefore made Timothy effective. You think of Saint Augustine, an early church father and one that we have very many writings from and an extant witness of the influence of his mother upon his conversion. He among others. But he writes in his confessions of how his mother wept for him anytime she would pray for him. And how he remembers her weeping for his soul. How that impression was so near to him even in his later days where he went and pursued wickedness. He lived a very sinful life for quite some time. And yet, he said, I was always somewhat restrained because I'd remember my mother's prayers for me to come to know Christ. He tells us of the time when he was converted that he immediately knew, his mind was immediately drawn to the prayers of his mother for his salvation and how God had answered prayer. John Newton was another. John Newton, you may know, was a very able preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ under God, used very greatly, and yet John Newton was a very wicked man in his early days. Part of the slave trade, part of a lot of gross sailing iniquities. He was, in fact, one that the sailors couldn't stand to be around because his mouth was so vulgar. It was said that even the sailors couldn't stand to hear his conversation. It was so bad. And here, John Newton, I believe he was age 22, his mother had died when he was seven. She had died of tuberculosis. But all those years leading up to his seventh birthday, she died a week before he turned seven. All those years leading up, though his mother struggled with tuberculosis, she spent time praying with him, teaching him the scriptures, pointing him to Christ, showing him what it looked like to love the Lord Jesus Christ. And when John Newton was around 22, the Lord used that testimony of his mother to be an instrument in his conversion. And John Newton came to know Christ. I say all that to say, we don't know when Timothy was converted. It's said that he knew the Holy Scriptures from a child, but we're not given an explicit witness as to when he came to know Christ. We just know he came to know Christ. Whether it was under the influence of his mother and Lois, and then when he hears the Gospel from the Apostle Paul, he immediately latches on to it, and they know that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Christ. We read about that in Acts 14 where Paul and Barnabas, they're going there to Lystra and Durban. No doubt that's when Lois and Eunice came under the influence of the New Testament apostles and various things. So we don't know if Timothy was converted under the preaching of Paul or some other thing. He is called Paul's son in the faith. But regardless, do you think Eunice probably wondered some days Is he ever going to come to know the Lord? We can't say for sure. I'm not trying to imagine a history here. I'm just saying that it makes sense when you think upon your own heart and a mother's heart for her son, that she would have wondered. Timothy was a child like any other boy. He was a sinner. No doubt he would have done many things that would have grieved his mother. And perhaps she would have wondered, is he ever going to come? But one day he did. And her prayers were answered. He was brought to Christ. Now God is sovereign in all of these things. And I know many of us have lost family members. And we long for them to be saved. And we don't know We don't know who the Lord will save. We don't know when the Lord will save. But look at the patience and perseverance of this woman as she waited and plotted on patiently teaching Timothy the Scriptures and praying for him, never ceasing. All the times where he may have rejected what she wanted to say, he may have not wanted to engage in the activity that she set before him, and yet, all the while, she continued to make a difference in Timothy's future effectiveness. And we never know what the Spirit of God will do in any of our loved ones. Timothy's effectiveness led him to the front lines. Perhaps this was something that Eunice didn't expect. Perhaps this was something that she had not calculated, and no doubt if she's alive at this time, which it would seem that she is or potentially was, we're not sure. If she was alive at this time, no doubt her heart would have been very much burdened for her son. Because Timothy, under God, was so effective in the ministry that he was really Paul's right-hand man in many ways. He was his son in the faith. We're told of Timothy that there was no man so like-minded with Paul that he could send him anywhere. He sends him to the Philippians. In chapter 2, verse 20, he said that he was so like-minded. And Timothy's effectiveness led him to the front lines of the battle for Christ, led him to the front lines of warfare, so that the apostle Paul is here at the end of his life He has fought a good fight, he's kept the faith, and he's saying to Timothy to press on. Chapter 4 says that he charged him to preach the Word, to be instant, in season, out of season, to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Back in chapter 1, he told him to be prepared to face persecution. Don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. Timothy is at the front lines of ministry in seeking to wage war on darkness. It was a dangerous position to hold. Perhaps Timothy would go on like Paul to lose his life. In other words, what I'm saying to us is, can you imagine being Eunice and seeing the babe that was in your arms now at the front lines of the battle? Perhaps she never realized all that her work under God would accomplish. But just imagine the mother's heart for her son in that time. The babe that was once in her arms now at the front lines of the battle, waging war for Christ. May the Lord do that in any child that is under any of our influences. May He raise up a new generation to serve Him and wage war for Him in this world. Your grandchildren, your sons, daughters, cousins, aunts, uncles, whoever they may be, May we continue to persevere. The last thing to note is just to note how all this mother Eunice who made a difference. She made a difference in Timothy's education and his effectiveness and she made a difference for eternity. That's the thing, brothers and sisters, that we want to recognize. This was a difference for eternity. All the days that Eunice spent persevering. I mean, you think about her testimony not only as a mother, but as a wife. She was married to a man who was an unbeliever. She was married to a man who never seemed to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. And no doubt, as she practiced the faith in the home, Timothy saw the difference. Timothy could see the conversation in his mother. It wasn't just what she said in word, it was what she did in deed. that showed him the genuineness of her faith, and she made a difference for eternity. How hard it is to keep our eyes on that, when we're doing anything for the Lord. Because as much as she could look back and say it's all worth it, in the moment, as you all very well know, in the moment, whether it's church ministry, family ministry, whatever it may be, witnessing for Christ out on the streets. In the moment, it may be difficult. In the moment, you may feel like giving up. But we must keep our eyes on eternity. In all the times where little did Eunice know that every time she paused and took the time to educate her son in the Word of God, in the ways of God, to seek to win him to Christ, she was at the same time seeking to win others to Christ. She, under God, was enabled to win at least one soul, we know. And this one soul that, under God, she influenced for Christ and perhaps won to Christ, was then made an evangelist to multitudes for Christ. It reminds me of something Willie McCrae shared with me that he got from somebody else, so it's not original to him. And I'm probably going to butcher it, but if you'll bear with me. It basically goes along these lines, if everyone won one, and if everyone that was won by one, won one. And if everyone that was one by one that was one by one, won one. And on and on it goes, and that'd be a lot of ones, one for the Lord. And here, Eunice won one. And he went on to be an evangelist, 2 Timothy 4, 5, but watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. But little did she know, all those years leading up to it. The devil works very hard to get you and I so anxious about time that we forget about eternity. He works very hard to get you so anxious about time that we forget about eternity. And no doubt mothers and fathers and really all of us is applicable to all of us. It gets so caught up and I've got to get this done and that done and this thing and that thing The Word will just have to wait today. We've all been there. Let's not pretend that we haven't. At least the thought has crossed our mind. I have to get this over here done. Well, there's forgiveness with the Lord. We thank Him for the times we fail to do what we should do. But it's never wasted time. to take moments for eternity and teach a child about the things of God, to point out things in the book of nature that tell us things about the God of glory. Never a moment wasted. Let's keep these things in our hearts. Let's think upon them. Let's pray for the mothers of this nation, the fathers of this nation. Let's pray that the Lord will do a work in our days. He'll give us homes built firm upon the Savior, where Christ is head and counselor and guide. The Lord bless His Word to us and seek the Lord. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You so much for the Word of God. We thank You for the clarity it gives us on these practical things in life. Lord, we know we don't know all the details, Lord, of who You will save and how You will save, but we thank You, O God, that we know You will save. We know each one that is Yours will be brought to Christ, even if it is like a thief on the cross. who is at His very last moments. Yet, You said to that man, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Lord, we thank You that that is true, even for all of our lost loved ones, even for those in our families who have already gone out into eternity. Lord, we trust You. We believe Your promises. We trust in Your Word. that all that you have given to Christ will come to him, and none that come to him would ever be cast out. Lord, gather in your people today, bless this word to our souls, and help us to live in light of eternity. Keep us, Lord, from the attacks of the devil, who would seek to get our minds and hearts off of Christ. Help us rather, Lord, to set our affections on things above, to have an eye to our treasure in heaven where moth and rust doth not corrupt. Depart us today with your blessing, Lord. Be with us and help us to seek first the kingdom of God and your righteousness.