Children Loved By Grace-Energized Mothers

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Titus Two Women-10 Children Loved by Grace-Energized Mothers .doc

Children Loved By Grace-Energized Mothers

Titus 2:4

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God is love, the greatest of all Christian virtues is love, and love energized by God lasts forever.

What can be the most powerful aspect of a wife and mother’s life on earth as she obeys God’s calling for her life? God wants it to be her grace-energized love.

What does God say will last forever from all the endless and mostly unseen hours of work that being a wife and mother entail? All the deeds offered in obedience to the Lord produced by grace-energized-love.

In Titus 2:4 we find the key that produces eternal reward from every day of a grace-energized wife’s marriage and a grace-energized mother’s family. Paul explains that the key is love. The first calling of a wife and mother in God’s Word is to be LOVE.

[Our] gifts, [and our] ministries, all one day will cease to exist because they will cease to have purpose or meaning. But our showing love [to our husbands and children], practicing [that] love, [and] living [ that] love now–are of utmost importance, more important than having any of the other virtues or gifts, because love is the link God gives us with His eternal Self[1][1].

God is love (I John 4:8), and everyone who is born of God loves (I John 4:7)—so the greatest of all the virtues, the one that will last forever, is love (I Corinthians 13:13).

The key to grace-energized lives, marriages, and families is love.

Just as love that is prompted by the Spirit and energized by God’s grace as Peter said, “covers a multitude of sins” (I Peter 4:8), so the absence of that love causes a multitude of sins. Love is eternal, love is supreme, and love is most like God for God is love!

As we study Titus two we are looking back into a world where so few had ever known or felt real, Biblical love. The culture of Rome was driven by mighty armies, over-powering architecture and engineering, and Emperors known for their power.

To Romans and Cretans, those who were loving, sensitive, and caring were viewed as being weak. Only the tough could endure all the hardness of the day. So the entrance of love as the top-two qualities that wives and mothers were to possess must have been shocking to these early church believers in Crete.

Love was rarely seen in everyday life and culture in the Roman world. So this gentle, sensitive, grace-energized love was to become a powerful witness in the culture of century one. Jesus had already said that by this shall all know that you are My disciples, by your love. So that is why Paul says Grace-energized mothers love their children. That is the second phrase of Titus 2:4

“To Love Their Children” (v. 4c)

This characteristic is one word in the Greek text, philoteknos; and it means to be a lover of children, so grace-energized mothers love their children. That is what God says through Paul. And this love is phileo love that can be felt. That is a grace-energized-mother’s special ministry in Christ’s church[2][2]!

Just the fact that these words were inspired by God to come to His saints means that this was not common, this was not easy, and this was not normal. This type of love just doesn’t “happen” because God wants it. It is a choice, it is a lesson to be learned[3][3], and it is a factor that determines a believer’s eternal reward in Heaven.

The Bible clearly explains and illustrates this love that was modeled by Christ. This special phileolove is demonstrated by Jesus Himself. This type of close, companionship and friendship, emotional love is how Christ’s relationship is described with Lazarus (John 11:3) and with “the disciple He loved” named John (John 20:2). This is also the word used in Revelation 3:19 for Christ’s love for true saints in His church.

Jesus demonstrated His love to Lazarus and all who saw that friendship knew how close they were. The same was seen in Christ’s closeness to the Apostle John. That is how Jesus loves us, and wants us to know He loves us, feeling His closeness, and enjoying His friendship.

And that phileo love that is emotional, close, and visible is what the Lord asks from grace-energized mothers towards their children.

Give the Priceless Gift of Love

Do your loved ones in your family feel your love?

Many husbands think that their wives admire other men more than them as they relate how, “So-and-so’s husband does this and that with his children or for his wife.” Those men do not feel the loving respect and admiration of their wives.

Likewise, many wives feel that their husbands think other women are either better at caring for their husbands, prettier, or better at caring for their families than they are. Those women do not feel the love of their husbands.

But most importantly for Titus two mothers energized by grace, we need to consider that many kids hurt because they sense that their parents don’t even like them.

We already saw how Paul cultivated this type of love with a needy young man named Timothy. The mighty pastor of the church at Ephesus was also a young man with many physical and emotional needs. Paul loved Timothy with a love that could be seen and felt.

Paul loved Timothy with love he could feel. Paul “affirmed” Timothy and used tender and encouraging words to help him as his son in the faith Timothy. These exhortations were tenderly given to a struggling man.

Without attending the actual classes Paul helped Titus begin, where would we start for a way to understand, in a practical way, this love that was to be characteristic of those energized by God to live by His grace in the homes and marriages of Crete? I believe that–

Jesus Showed Us How to Love

Who would be the best example of a person who modeled this love that was considered humanly impossible? The answer would be the only One who ever perfectly lived out God’s will. You see, Titus two living is God’s will for every one of us today and all the yesterday’s back to when Paul wrote these words.

But only One ever lived out God’s grace-energized love, and that was Jesus[4][5].

Christ’s life reveals a perfect example of love. That is why Peter, writing just after Paul wrote to Titus, tells us that Jesus Christ’s life is an example and that we should follow ‘in His steps’ (I Peter 2:21). As we consider how grace-energized mothers love their children, we can learn so much from the ways that our Lord Jesus Christ loved those He came to serve during His earthly ministry.

Jesus communicated His love to the disciples and others in several ways. He told them that He loved them. He showed them that He loved them (like serving them and touching them). Jesus is the perfect model of showing love that could be felt. One of the clearest ways Jesus showed His love was when He spoke and blessed His disciples.

What was the last memory all the disciples had of Jesus? As we turn to Luke 24 lets remember some details about when Jesus ascended into Heaven. What was He doing as He left? Have you ever noticed that little insight Luke gives us?

We already know from Acts 1:8-12 that Jesus took the disciples to the Mt. of Olives and then ascended up into the clouds and out of their sight. That is the picture of Christ’s final moments with the disciples we remember most, but there is a second account that gives some precious details we have often missed. Turn back to Luke 24:50-53, and stand with me as we read this precious event:

Luke 24:50-53 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalemwith great joy,53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. (NKJV)

Those men would never forget walking with Jesus for 3 ½ year, they would never forget Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection; but what would be riveted in their minds? It would be that incredible moment of the last time they saw Him here on Earth.

Their friend, their Savior, their most precious Lord of all left them in a most touching way.

Jesus lifted up His hands and gave them the most unforgettable expression of His personal love as He touched each of them with His blessing!

Think about that. Jesus was very careful what He did as He left His disciples, and the picture they would have deeply etched in their minds is Christ’s loving, prayerful blessing raining down upon them as He was lifted upward and out of sight.

Christ’s Words Powerfully Expressed His Love

Those words of blessing raining down upon them must have been remembered over and over in the days ahead. Words have such power for good or evil. What kind of words do you “rain down” upon those you are speaking to in life? And what are those who listen to your words remembering? Are they “blessed” by what you said?

Turn back with me to what Peter told us in I Peter 3. After talking about the basic building blocks of society and the church (marriage and family), he concludes with an incredible postscript:

1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling (spoken curses), but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

In the New Testament a “blessing” we offer to a loved one is basically a prayer of encouragement for them. So, energized by grace–

Loving Mothers Bless Their Children

Blessing is a verb used 44 times in the New Testament that means: “to praise [your loved one], to celebrate [them] with praises [that] invoke [God’s] blessings and consecrate [your loved one] with solemn prayers [that] ask God’s blessing on [your loved one] to cause [them] to prosper, to make [them] happy, to bestow blessings [that they be] favored by God.”[5][6]

That is why Peter says to the church so strongly, watch out for how you “rain down” your words upon others.

1 Peter 3:9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

So Peter basically says those who love with Christ’s power, “sow words of blessing and you will reap a harvest of blessing.” What a powerful motivation to primarily use our words, mouths, and voices to bless others in Christ’s Name!

And that is what we get from nearly every one of the 44 times the word “bless” is used in the New Testament (14 x in Luke). Here are some of the key verses:

[blessing often involves touching] Mark 10:16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.

[blessing often points to the future] Luke 2:34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against

[blessing is usually hard but always very rewarding] Luke 6:28 “bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

[lest we miss it Paul repeats the habit of blessing as part of Christ’s church’s mandate]Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

[there was a Spirit-prompted work of blessing in the early church services] 1 Corinthians 14:16Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?

[heroes of the faith made it their last act like Christ’s to stretch out their hands and bless those they loved] Hebrews 11:20-21 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

Why should we learn to share a blessing with our families? Because a blessing shared and the whole expression of love that it gives helps those we love know in a visible way that we love them. Blessing those we love is a memorable way they can remember feeling and hearing our love.

Do you ever remember your mother or father telling you out loud, in a clear and loving voice, that they loved you and admired some qualities they had seen in your life?

Those words just stay in our hearts for a lifetime. My own mom and dad often told me how much they saw the Lord’s Hand in my life and what great things they believed God would do in my life! This type of love expressed is actually a reflection of what God taught as–

Old Testament Blessings

One of the key descriptions of how God wanted His people blessed comes from the instructions to the priests. In the Jewish community the priests were the public servants, they inspected for disease, they protected the food supply, housing, dealt with domestic issues, and of course represented the people to God. In the New Testament we are to all be priests, and, in a real sense, we are called like them to bless those around us.

Numbers 6:23-27 (NKJV) “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

This idea of the blessing of the people was so woven into the fabric of the life of God’s chosen people of promise, the Jews, that they began to make a specific verbal blessing time to be part of the private family Sabbath meal.

One of the most moving Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath) traditions is the blessing over the children given on Friday night. There are many variations on how the blessing is made. The most common custom is the father walks around the table, puts his hands on each family members’ head, and blesses them.

Go back in your mind to where we started.

Those men would never forget walking with Jesus for 3 ½ years, they would never forget Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection; but what would be riveted in their minds? It would be that incredible moment of the last time they saw Him here on earth.

Their friend, their Savior, their most precious Lord of all left them in a most touching way.

Jesus lifted up His hands and gave them the most unforgettable expression of His personal love as He touched each of them with His blessing!

They felt His love. Those words of blessing raining down upon them must have been remembered over and over in the days ahead.

Words have such power for good or evil. What kind of words do you “rain down” upon those you are speaking to? And what are those who listen to your words remembering?

Do they feel your love?

[1]MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: I Corinthians 13:13, (Chicago: Moody Press) 1983.

[2] Christ’s church has a mission that Paul summarized as pleasing God (I Thessalonians 4:1). This mission is accomplished by the proclamation of a message Paul summarized as the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24). The message of gr+ace—that God did everything possible to be done and anyone can come to Him merely by faith seems impossible. But the most amazing part of all that the Lord is doing is His plan to do all this by a method is spelled out in Titus 2:11-14—Paul summarized as energized by God’s grace to live in a way that is otherwise impossible.

[3] From time to time it becomes so very hard to take care of children that a mom of any century in history no longer “feels” positive feelings towards her children. So how did God instruct Paul to prepare Christ’s church for these great social challenges and family pressures? Again, Titus 2 has the solution. God says that the way that tired, burned out, and depressed mothers get relief is from the faithful army of Titus 2 grace-energized role models.

[4]Jesus and phileo love are seen in the New Testament as: the love God has for Christ (John 5:20); the love Jesus had for Lazarus (John 11:3, 36); the love God has for us, and that we have for Jesus (John 16:27); the love Jesus had for John (John 20:2); and the love Jesus has for believers (Revelation 3:19).

[5]Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995.

Transcript

Open to Titus chapter two. We’re looking at the characteristics of grace energized women, of which there are 12.

Titus chapter two. There’s just one word in verse four I want you to look at, because it’s repeated twice in the fourth verse as describing what a woman energized by God’s grace, what a wife energized by God’s grace and what a mother who is empowered by the spirit of God, who is energized by God’s grace.

What she’s like that one word. It is probably the most important in these aspects of what God is looking for, what he desires from us, and that word is love. It says that they learn to love their husbands, that they learn to love their children. God is love. The greatest of all Christian virtues is love and love.

Energized by God lasts forever. Think about love with me this morning. What can the most powerful aspect of a wife and mother’s life on earth obeying God’s calling for her? Be What can matter most for eternity in the life of a wife and the life of a mother? Paul tells us God wants it to be her grace, energized love.

What does God say will last forever from all the endless and mostly unseen hours of work. That being a wife and mother entail most of what a woman does in the marriage and in the home is rarely seen what can become of all those endless hours, all the deeds that are offered in obedience to the Lord, produced by grace, energized love last forever, every moment of them.

Remember how Jesus in his ministry said, you can’t even give away a cup of cold water in my name, that you won’t gain an eternal reward. You’ll never lose those deeds, those acts, those desires that are prompted by God’s grace, that are expressions of our God who is love. He said, you will never lose any of those.

Think about that as you think through your life. In Titus two four, we find the key that produces eternal reward from every single day of a grace energized wife’s marriage and a grace energized mother’s family. Paul explains that key is love, and Paul tells us the first calling of a wife and a mother in God’s word is to be love.

In fact, our gifts and our ministries all one day will cease to exist because they will cease to have purpose or meaning. Now, think about that. All your gifts, all of your ministries, all my gifts, all my ministries will someday cease to exist because they will cease to have purpose and meaning because we’re no longer in this context where we need those gifts and that ministry.

But our showing love in the context of Titus two four to our husbands and children, practicing that love and living that love now are of utmost importance. More important than having any of the other virtues or gifts because love is the link God gives us with his eternal self. Remember one, one John four says, God is love.

That is part of his eternal nature. His eternal character, who he is. He is love. When we energized by his spirit and the power of his grace are expressing his love, we are most connected. To him and his purposes, and especially with his linking us to his eternal self. God is love, 1 John 4:8.

Everyone who is born of God loves one John four, seven, and so the greatest of all the virtues, the one that will last forever is love for Corinthians 13, 13. So the key to grace, energized lives, marriages, and families is love and just as love that is prompted by the spirit and energized by God’s grace.

As Peter says, covers a multitude of sins. Do you remember that one Peter four, eight? One John 4, 8, 1 Peter four, eight. Both have the same concept of the overwhelming power of love, and Peter said, love covers. It throws a blanket over it. It covers up a, an awful pile of a multitude of sins. So, if love covers a multitude of sins then love that is neglected, causes a multitude of sins. The absence of love causes a multitude of sins in the marriage, in the home, in the family, in life, and in ministry. Love is eternal. Love is supreme, and love is most like God. For God is love.

And as we study Titus two this morning, we’re looking back into a world where so few ever knew or felt real biblical love. The culture of Rome was driven by those mighty armies, those overpowering architectural and engineering projects, which still exists to this day. I mean, Rome had an ability to defy nature and the impossible aspects of engineering and architecture in some of those buildings, and some of those structures still exist today.

And of course, the emperors who were known for their amazing. Amazing power to Romans and Cretins, the little island that Paul is writing to part of the Roman Empire. To those people, those who were loving and sensitive and caring were viewed as being weak in the Roman empire. Love as expressed. The way the Bible describes it was considered a weakness, something that needed to be dealt with and gotten rid of.

Only the tough could endure all the hardness of the day that Paul lived. And so, the entrance of love is that one of the top two qualities that wives and mothers were to possess must have been shocking for those early believers to be told. I mean, they came in ready to hear this letter. Imagine how this happened.

Paul wrote a letter. It was courier to Titus. Titus. Got it. As the. As the teaching pastor and also the missionary church planter of the island of Crete, overseeing many churches. And he would come to each church, and he would unroll this scroll that he had gotten written at the hand of Paul. And as he read it, everyone sat there eagerly leaning forward, listening to God’s truth.

And when he got to chapter two, he started addressing the older women and they listened. And then he got to the younger women. And as Paul said, and Titus read. Verse four, they must have been shocked because this went counter to their whole culture, their whole society, and the way they were wired on the inside.

Love was rarely seen in everyday life, in the culture of the Roman world. So, this gentle, sensitive grace, energized love was to become a powerful witness in the culture of Century one. Jesus had already said that By this, shall all know that you’re my disciples by your love. And so that is why Paul says, grace.

Energized mothers are to love their children. That’s the second phrase of the fourth verse of Titus two. This characteristic is one word in the Greek text. Fellow technos. It means a lover of children. So, grace energized mothers, love their children. That’s what God says through Paul. And this love is phileo love, which is a form of love, which is not only expressed, but it can be felt, and it’s intentionally directed towards someone that they may feel it. That’s a grace, energized mother special ministry in Christ Church that will last forever, and that’s the emphasis that Paul gives them. The Bible clearly explains and illustrates this love as it was modeled by Christ.

This love is demonstrated by Jesus himself. This close companionship and friendship. This emotional love is how Christ relationship was described with Lazarus John 11, three with John, the writer of the Gospel of John, the disciple that Jesus loved. I. And so called in John 20 in verse two, and this is also the word, when Jesus wrote the little epistles to the churches of Revelation.

This is what he described believers in the church. His relationship with us today is characterized by this philo love, this longing for us to accompany through life alongside of him, to have him accompany us and to have us follow him in a closeness Jesus. Said Philo love that is emotional, close and visible is what he asked from grace, energized mothers toward their children.

Now, whether you’re a mother or a wife, or a father or a husband, or just a young person, or a not so young person, the same spirit of God, the same grace from God desires the same response from all of us. But this morning we’re looking specifically at grace, energized mothers. The question I ask you is, do your loved ones and your family feel your love this morning?

If we did an interview, if we said, do you really feel the love of your mother toward you as a child? Do you really feel the love of your wife toward you as a husband? And vice versa? What would be the responses? Many husbands think their wives admire other men more than them, as they relate how husband always does this and that with their children and for his wife.

And when she says that those men do not feel the loving, respect and admiration of their wife. That’s not a positive way to help your husband. And likewise, many wives feel their husbands think other women are either better at caring for their husbands or prettier or better at caring for their families than they are.

And those women also do not feel the love of their husbands and husbands. That’s not a positive way to reinforce your wife by always saying, why don’t you be like, why don’t you be like, you should see, because that’s. Very counterproductive. But most importantly, for Titus two mothers, energized by grace, we need to consider that many children hurt because they do not sense, not only love, they don’t even sense their parents like them.

And that’s what the younger women were to be trained in. How to express that love by the older spirit, energized women. We’ve already seen how Paul cultivated this type of love with a need young man named Timothy, that mighty pastor of the church at Ephesus, probably the largest church of the ancient world, the mighty city of Ephesus with this thriving congregation pastored by Paul’s own son in the faith Timothy.

But that pastor was a very needy man. He had many physical and emotional needs, and Paul loved Timothy with a love that could be seen and a love that could be felt. Paul loved Timothy with a love he could feel because he affirmed Timothy. He used tender and encouraging words to help Timothy as his son, and these exhortations were given to a very struggling man who wept often, who was very weak and who needed that encouragement, but without attending the actual classes.

I mean, Paul must have had something in mind and there’s always more than this in the scripture because we know that Paul had personally talked to Titus, and we know that Paul had spent time and Titus had seen him. But without attending the classes that Titus had with the older women to teach them how to teach the younger women, how exactly would we understand the practical way, this love that is to be characteristic of those energized by God, how they lived out his grace in their homes and marriages.

I mean, without going to his classes, how do we know? Not the principle lovers of husbands, lovers of children, but the actual practical expression of that training. I thought a long time about wouldn’t it be nice if there’s a little training manual attached to the Bible. I mean, five how-tos and some study questions and a couple of assignments, but there aren’t.

But what’s wonderful is, and I believe that we can see that Jesus. Has already showed us how to love in this way, that can be felt. because there’s one thing for certain, the people that sat through listened to and experienced Christ’s ministry, those people felt his love. Maybe they rejected it, maybe they turned away from it, but they felt it.

And for just a moment, I’d like to just show you who would be the best example of a person. Who modeled the love that was considered humanly impossible, that Paul called Titus to train the women in. Who best modeled that? Who perfectly modeled that? And who is the example? Do you remember how Peter said in one Peter and chapter two, verse 21, that Jesus left us an example that we should follow in his steps?

You see, Christ’s life was not only the perfect life lived, but it’s also a marvelous example of how a human being can express God’s love on this planet. I want to just run through some of those truths with you because Titus two living. Is God’s will for every one of us today and for all the yesterdays, back to when Paul wrote these words, but only one ever lived out grace energized love perfectly, and that was Jesus. All the rest of us live it out imperfectly. We have to start over again. We have to every day have a new beginning every day, confess how far we’ve fallen, short of God’s expectations of us, and ask for His cleansing and receive by faith, the marvelous restoring of our relationship and fellowship with Him as He cleanses us. But one lived perfectly. Christ’s life reveals a perfect example of love.

That’s why Peter writing just after Paul wrote to Titus, tells us that Jesus’ life is an example that we should follow. And as we consider how grace energized mothers should love their children, we can learn so much from the ways that our Lord Jesus Christ love those who came to Him. And as He served them, Jesus communicated His love to the disciples and to many others. In several clear, biblically defined ways, we can remember that Jesus told them that He loved them. I mean there’s many you all know that verses for Jesus told them that He loved them, but he not merely told them that He loved them, He showed them that he loved them.

One way was He served them. Another way was Jesus was constantly touching people that He served. Jesus could have done everything. Kind of from a lectern or maybe on top of the mountain, but He went out among the people, and especially those who were most in need or were weakest. Jesus reached out to them and touched them. Jesus is the perfect model of showing love That could be felt. One of the clearest ways Jesus showed His love was when he spoke and blessed His disciple.

Let’s turn for just a moment to Luke 24. It’s a great introduction of this concept of Christ’s love. Luke 24. We’re got to be reading in verse 50 in just a moment. But when Luke 24, lets us remember the details about Christ’s ascension into Heaven, most of us know that Jesus ascended into Heaven. We know Acts chapter one, and that’s right before that Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the other most parts of the Earth, and you’ll be My witnesses. And most of us know about His ascension. And the basic thing we all know from our reading in Sunday School is that Jesus, after 40 days took the disciples to the Mount of Olives and He told them that He was ascending into Heaven. And all of a sudden there He went up into the clouds and that’s what we think about in the Ascension.

But the neat thing is that the Acts 1:3- 12 account has in Luke 24 a supplement. Something that’s not at all mentioned in the Acts one Ascension back to Heaven is mentioned in Luke 24, and I think it gives us one amazing insight into how Jesus expressed His love in a way that the disciples could never forget. So, for just a moment, as we already know from Acts one, Jesus took the disciples and ascended. Let’s look at Luke 24 starting in verse 50 and read the precious details of how Jesus showed love that His disciples could feel and that so move them, that they just went from there so excited and blessed by His love.

Luke 24, verse 50. This is the Ascension. He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Interesting. Lifted up His hands. Hands are involved. Mouth involved. Content of what He said was a blessing. Verse 51, now it came to pass while He blessed them that He was parted from them and carried up into Heaven. Do you see the little details that aren’t in Acts 1:8-12? We have the Mount of Olive’s Bethany Ascent. But notice, He lifted up His hands. He blessed them. Verse 51, while He blessed them, He’s continuing. It wasn’t just a one-time thing. He’s continuing to say these words that were coming out of His mouth that were a blessing to them. That He was parted from them and carried up into Heaven, in verse 52, and they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Verse 53, and were continually in the Temple, praising, and blessing God. Wow.

Let’s bow for word of prayer. Father in Heaven, I pray that we would realize how important love is. How so much that we spend so much of our time on and are so concerned about our gifts and ministries and characteristics of our life, that those things are really very temporary. And the only part of our gifting and ministry for You that will remain forever is that part that’s connected with Your love. And Father, I pray that we would consider how your grace can energize us to love. To love as you love. To love in Your power, to love for Your glory, to love energized by Your grace, but to love in a way as You did that can be felt by those we love. In the name of Jesus, we ask this and for His glory, we pray this. Amen.

I bet those disciples would never forget walking with Jesus for three and a half years. I must have been an incredible thing to have accompanied Him during that training time. They would never forget His death. They would never forget their sorrow at His burial. They would never forget the wonder of His Resurrection. But what would be riveted in their minds? It would probably be that incredible moment the last time they saw Him here on Earth. The last time all of them saw Him, except for John who got to see Him again and wrote the book of the Revelation, but the last time that the 11, apart from John, saw Jesus was at that riveting moment and it was so much like other moments is He began to speak to them and speak His blessing to them. And as He raised His hands over them and as they began to feel this wonderful offering of His blessing upon them. He is slowly lifted up from the ground and as they looked up at Him, the last sight they had of Jesus Christ descending into Heaven was Him looking down at them and with His gracious words of blessing, reigning down upon them. What a memory, what a gift that was for them. Their friend, their Savior, their most precious Lord of all left them in a most touching way. Jesus lifted up His hands and gave them the most unforgettable expression of his personal love as He touched each of them with His blessing.

Think about that, Jesus was very careful. What He did is He left His disciples and the picture that it would’ve been deeply etched in their minds is of Christ’s loving, prayerful, blessings, raining down upon them as He was lifted up and out of their sights. That memory must have never left their minds in the hard times. That as His children in this world that didn’t love their Master, they experienced the struggles of ministry. Christ’s words powerfully expressed His love. Those words of blessing, that rain down upon them must have been remembered over and over in the days of head. Words have such a power for good or evil.

I wonder, what kind of words do we reign down on those we’re speaking to in life, and what are those who listen to your words and minds remembering? Are they blessed by what we say the last time they see us? Do they think of a rainfall, a gentle words of love, or something else? That’s something that we have to make a choice about. If you turn back with me to 1 Peter chapter three that goes to the right, you’re in Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1, 2 Thessalonians, 1, 2 Timothy, Hebrews, James, there it is, 1 Peter chapter three. Okay. In other words, turn to the right and get to chapter three of 1 Peter because I want you to see something. In 1 Peter chapter three, after talking about the basing building blocks of society in the Church, Peter talks about marriage and the family.

He concluded with an incredible postscript. 1 Peter 3:8-9, and I really think that Peter also totally remembered that Ascension event because he uses the same wording when he gives this postscript. It says in 1 Peter 3:8, finally, he says, all of you be of one mind having compassion for one another. Remember Jesus “splanchnon” moved with compassion. He says, be like Jesus, have this compassion that can be felt. Remember, Jesus was moved. That meant an internal feeling. He had compassion on the loss, and so the loss didn’t disgust Him. They drew Him to compassion and all of the terrible things that they were doing out there. And then he said, love his brothers, Philadelphia. Be tender hearted, be courteous, verse nine, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, which are spoken curses. A reviling is when someone does something to you and you speak a curse on them and say, same to you and don’t do that. He says don’t whack him back with an equally reviling curse back. But on the contrary blessing, he said, this is what should come out of your mouth, whether positive things are happening or reviling and cutting and horrible things are happening.

What should come out is, on the contrary, blessing knowing that you were called to this. Called to what? Well, called to stand for the Lord, even if they revile called to being all these courteous and kind and all that. But also the most nearest context is knowing that you were called to be a blessing to people. You and I should be a blessing. I have a little custom. I get phone calls now and then from businesses and there’s one that calls me and this high powered manager rattles off everything he needs financially done and all this. And when he gets all done, I say, thank you so much. God bless you. And I remember the first time I did that, he’s in Boston and he paused and there’s kind of a little fumble and he went oh, thank you. Thank you. And now there’s a little pause. I think he waits for me to say it every time he says. Bye-bye. And there’s this little pause. I say, God bless you. He says, thank you. And here’s this person. I don’t even, I don’t even see personally. It’s such a rare thing. We are called, look at this, that you are called to this: to be a blessing, to have compassion, to live as brothers and to be tenderhearted and courteous and don’t volley back in the great tennis court of life. Don’t volley back at people. They’re reviling, and give them a spoken curse. But on the contrary, go through life blessing people.

You are called to this, that you may, look at the end of verse nine, inherit a blessing. In the New Testament, a blessing was offered to a loved one was a prayer of encouragement to them. That’s what Jesus was doing. Jesus was blessing them. He’s saying, I can just imagine what He was saying, it’s just the content of His whole ministry. He’s saying that the Spirit of God is going to energize you and you’re got to do My work and I’m got to be with you the whole time. And I loved you to the end and I love you now and I’m got to ever live to make intercession for you. And just out of sight.

And the New Testament church picked that up. And specifically, that’s an expression of love. Peter basically says that those who love with Christ’s power sow words of blessing and reap a harvest of blessing. What a powerful motivation to primarily use our position as a mother to be a blessing. That’s what Titus 2 verse four says.

What are blessings like? Well, remember I said Jesus used His hands. If you want an interesting study, just look blessing up, eulogeō, the Greek word, and look at the context of every blessing. I’ll read them to you. I don’t want you to get lost. I’ll just read them to you.

Mark 10:16, Jesus took children up in His arms and put His hands on them and blessed them. Whenever we see Jesus relating to children, think of Sunday school pictures. When you see Jesus and children, what do you see? You see, children close to Jesus sitting on His lap with His arms around them, His hands on them, blessing them. So, mothers, if you want to know what a Christ-like ministry relationship to have to your children, it’s to be like Jesus and to bless them and to touch them with your life in a way that’s a blessing.

Blessing often not only involves touching, it points the future. In the book of Luke, chapter two, verse 34, when Simon blessed Joseph and Mary, he said, this child is destined for many things, and he goes through about Christ’s ministry. Blessing in the Bible often spoke of future great things that were ahead for a believer. Jesus was blessing him and saying, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in Me. I’m going to prepare a house for you and in My house, and I’m got to come back and get you. That was part of his blessing, but it pointed to a future and a hope. That’s what blessing does. Blessing, usually, is hard, but very rewarding. Jesus said in Luke 6:28, bless those who curse you. Pray for those who spitefully use you. So, He never said blessing is easy. And you know what? If you are in a relationship where your children do not particularly think that you are even worthy of their time or attention, or they don’t even like to be around, you know it’s the proverbial drop me off a block away, so nobody sees me with you kind of mentality.

If God says you’re supposed to bless those that curse you and spitefully use you. There’s a great opportunity as they get out of the car and don’t even want to be seen by you. Give them God’s blessing. Man, if I can give it to people I don’t know in Boston, you can certainly give it to people you do know in Tulsa or wherever you are that are related to you. And if you’re married to someone who doesn’t particularly love you, wives, you can get an eternal reward every time you bless that person that is blessed than Christlike to you.

It says in Romans 12:14, bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Paul says that we should have a habit of blessing as Christ Church. A blessing is an expression of God’s love in our hearts, and it’s involved with compassion and love and giving, and a love that can be felt. It doesn’t mean it’s received. It can be felt, even if it’s rejected and said, that’s foolish. We can still do it. It’s interesting.

1 Corinthians 14 and verse 16 tells us that there was a Spirit prompted work of blessing in the early Church services. Have you ever noticed that 1 Corinthians 14:16 says, and this is right in the middle of Paul regulating spiritual gifts, he says, otherwise, if you bless with the Spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say amen at the giving of thanks? He’s saying, if you are blessing with the Spirit in an unknown language, how can the person that doesn’t know what you said be blessed by it?

So, the context is that people were blessing and the people that they were blessing didn’t understand what they were saying. So, you can strip away all the controversy over the spiritual gifts. There is a Spirit prompted ministry we have in the Church of blessing those around us of speaking in the power of the Spirit. Words that encourage and show our love. Why should we learn to share a blessing with our families? Because a blessing shared and the whole expression of love that gives helps to those we love and know in invisible way helps them know we love them. Blessing those we love is a memorable way they can remember and feel and hear our love.

This morning, do you ever remember your mother or father telling you out loud in a clear and loving voice that they loved you and that they admired some quality they had seen in your life? Do you ever remember that? If they did it, you remember it? If they didn’t, you remember it. That’s the challenge we have before us. Are we got to let the Spirit of God energize us? His grace teach us. To love with love that can be felt. Those words, if given to us, just stay in our hearts for a lifetime.

I think about my own mom and dad. My mom, as long as she lived, just thought I was the greatest thing. I mean, she gave me a Bible when I went off to school. She had a Bible in her bottom drawer that she had bought before I was born. In fact, she bought it in 1948, and I was born in ’56. She bought it eight years before I was born. She said, I knew I was got to have a pastor in this family, and I bought a Bible to give to him when he became a pastor. She never told me that until I left in August of 1975. And out came when I went off to Bible school. Out came this plastic bag wrapped Thompson chain reference Bible in pristine condition, and she said, I bought this in 1948 for you because I always believed I would have a pastor. Whew, boy, my dad still calls me every Sunday night. I mean, wherever I am, my dad calls and he isn’t even here. He said that was the best sermon. I can’t wait to get it on CD. It’s the best one I’ll ever hear. Today’s, he hasn’t heard it yet. He tells me in advance, I prayed for you, I love you, and just like that. Do you know how powerful that is? I mean, if my battery is going down on my phone, I save just enough juice to talk to my dad. Because I know the power of parents, you have that power, especially mothers that love expressed, is actually a reflection of what God taught us in the Scriptures.

The idea of blessing, expressing love through blessing is so clear in the Old Testament. It says in Numbers 6:23, speak to Aaron and son saying, this is the way you should bless the children of Israel. And that idea of blessing and love expressed through words was woven into the fabric of the life of God’s chosen people. And so that specific verbal blessing became a part of their lives. They would come to the tabernacle in the wandering years and in the period of the Judges and the priests would be a fountain of blessing to them expressing God’s love to them verbally.

Then when the Temple came, the legions of the priests would come out and they would have constant gatherings of the children of Israel, and they would bless them. Did you know this got so much in the fabric that it became a custom and is to this day in every Jewish home around the world, if they follow the Orthodox prescription for how they’re to celebrate their Sabbath day meal, last Friday night, the Shabbat meal involves if they follow the instructions that are passed down to them through the synagogue, it involves the verbal blessing of every member of the family and not just words, the physical standing. And I’ve told you this many times, the father gets up in the meal and instead of chastising someone for some misbehavior, the father, quietly by candlelight around this best meal of the week, stands, puts his hands either on top of the head or on the shoulders of each person around the table, and expresses his blessing upon them, his admiration, his hope for the future. And that’s done by and large unregenerated people, unsaved people. But it’s a habit, it’s a custom. And therefore, one of the most moving elements and common customs is that father walking around the table and putting his hands on the family member’s head and blessing them.

But then go back to chapter 24 of Luke. In your minds, that’s just part of what they saw in Christ. Those disciples never forgot walking with Jesus. They never forgot the wonders of His ministry. But when their friend, their Savior, and their most precious Lord of all, left them, and lifted up His hands and gave them that unforgettable expression of His personal love as He touched every one of them, and the last thing they remember as He disappeared from sight is that He loved them. And that He not only told them that before, He not only showed them that all the way through His ministry right up to the Cross and after, but the last thing they saw Him do was reign down that love upon them as He ascended into Heaven. Wonderful. The matchless grace of Jesus loving us to the uttermost.

Paul said, young mothers give your children love that can be felt. One way to do that is reign down upon them with your words. Even if they revile you, even if they don’t accept or appreciate, bless them. And God says, you’ll never lose your reward. For anything that’s done in love, for My Name, for My glory, lasts forever.

Let’s bow together for word of prayer and prepare our hearts to bless God. Father in Heaven, I pray that this morning that we would be energized by Your grace as mothers to love our children as wives, to love our husbands. As husbands, to love our wives just like Jesus. As fathers to love our children, just as you loved children and gathered them in Your arms and embrace them tenderly and showered them with words of blessing. And as believers to live a life prompted by Your love. I pray this would be a communion of love. That we would all want to be energized by Your grace to live like God. Beloved, let us love for love is of God and everyone that loves shows that they’re born of God and know God. For you, oh God are love. We love You and we pray that we would express that in a way that You can receive and be glorified by. And then as an extension of You into our homes and marriages and families and lives and work and life, that we would express love that can be felt, and that will glorify Your name. In the precious name of Jesus, we ask this, amen.