In this Mother’s Day sermon, Pastor Babij teaches how the Christian woman or mother displays three evidences of the Spirit in her life:
- Her life exudes joyfulness
- She lives out a thankful heart in all situations
- She focuses on others’ needs before her own
Pastor Babij exhorts all believers to live and exhibit these attributes in their lives.
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okay this morning let’s take our Bibles and turn to Ephesians I know that your bulletin says Mark but I’m going to have to leave that last chapter the last section for next time Ephesians chapter five I I did forget it was Mother’s Day today and not that I always do a Mother’s Day message but I did forget and uh so um I kind of Switched so let’s just look at our Bibles in Ephesians chapter 5 verse see verse um 15- 21 it says therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise making the most of your time because the days are evil so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is do not get drunk with wine for this is dissipation but be filled with the spirit speak to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making Melody with your heart to the lord always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God even the father and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ let’s pray Lord this morning as I do break open the word of God I I pray Lord that you would just enable us to see the important evidences there are here in the scripture to recognize what it means to walk in the spirit and I pray this morning Lord that you would uh bless all our uh mothers and our future mothers and our mothers that have raised kids and they’re gone that you just bless them Lord and continue to put your hand upon them as they provide different levels of counsel as the years go by I pray you would give them wisdom and I pray Lord that you would enable them to not only know but enable them to share with others what it means to walk in the spirit and I pray this in Christ’s name amen so this morning as I think of uh Mother’s Day um I also think of a passage of scripture like this where it it’s really talking about what it means to be filled with the spirit I can use a message like this and refer to men also it’s really for every Christian not just for uh women but I’m calling it this morning the the women of the spirit and the woman of the spirit is a female who is controlled strengthened and empowered by the holy spirit for Christian Living and Christian service and that means that she puts her self at the disposal of the holy spirit of God and is constantly controlled by the spirit of God and that means she is not controlled by other things like the evil forces of our day by strong drinks or drugs or even the baser desires of the flesh but she is she’s come to a place where she is controlled by the spirit in which she is living out the passage of scripture that says if you walk by the spirit you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh so because she is controlled by the spirit that leads out of her uh really the nobler instincts and capacities of her own soul that has been transformed by God over the years and we we need people we need women we need men we need Christians who are actually giving evidence that they are indeed walking in the spirit now how would we know if somebody was there wasn’t well there are certain evidences to look for and I’m just going to bring out a few In this passage of scripture but there are really three and that we know that one of them would be that a somebody is walking in the spirit is someone who lives joyfully someone who is walking in the spirit is someone who lives thankfully and then someone who is walking in the spirit knows how to live selflessly and worshipfully those are the the evidences that we find In this passage of scripture that you can evaluate yourself with am I living like that am I a woman like that am I a mother like that I think that if a mother realizes these things and passes them on to her children she will do them great a great benefit in teaching them what it means to live uh by listening to and being controlled by God’s spirit and not by the world and not by the enemy of our soul Satan and not by our own flesh but by what what what God wants so the first thing is to know how to live joyfully in verse number 19 of our passage it says speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making Melody within your heart to the Lord now immediately once you see a passage of scripture like this you see that someone who is walking in the spirit is also someone who is it is coming from somewhere and it’s coming from their very heart inside of them remember Christianity is not being cleaned up from outside in Christianity you’re getting cleaned up from inside and it bears fruit outwardly so in this particular case we are to speak to one another in a certain way and this means that the the object and the focus of her life and someone who’s walking in the spirit is the Lord himself that is her Focus not her problems not even herself she has an occupation with spiritual things an enjoyment with spiritual things she has Joy inside that ex is really expressed outwardly in Fellowship of with her family in fellowship with her Brethren but also in fellowship with her husband and with her children so when the focus of a believer’s heart is the Lord then Christian Joy will definitely be present matter of fact when you don’t have joy you have to be asking yourself how you’re doing if you don’t have the peace of God and the sense of the peace of God in your heart and life no matter what’s going on in your your your little world you have to ask yourself how am I doing spiritually what’s going on that I I’ve lost in a sense my Joy or I I’ve lost my the peace of God so in really in spiritual Fellowship we address one another not in worldly chatter but in really Psalms hymns and spiritual songs the word uh speak here to speak one another another to one another in this way is it’s it’s really in a command uh to talk to to converse with but in a particular way it implies the Purity and the joyful Simplicity of conversation conversation that is not loaded up with wrong motives it’s not loaded up with intention it’s not loaded up with with ammunition against the person it’s it’s joyful conversation and of course Psalms uh speaks of the nature and the work of actually God the father now just take your Bibles for a minute and turn to Psalm 95 keep your hand there in Ephesians Psalm 95 I just want to want you to see that if a woman is filled with joy if a Christian is filled with joy if a husband is filled with joy if anyone who is a Believer is filled with joy there’s going to be a reason why they have a joy and if you notice in Psalm 95 in verse number one if you’re not turning there uh listen please it says in verse number one oh come and let us sing for Joy to the Lord let us shout joyfully to the rock of our Salvation let us come before his presence with Thanksgiving let us shout joyfully to him with Psalms so here we get an indication of what Psalms are talking about but why do we speak to the Lord uh and others in a joyful manner well if you notice in verse number three of Psalm 95 it says for the Lord is great he’s a great God a great king above all gods in whose hands are the depths of the Earth the peaks of the mountain are his also the sea is his for it was he who made it he has formed it the dry land come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our maker for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the Sheep of his hand today if you will hear his voice don’t Harden your heart but what instead let your heart be transformed by him so you are able to to speak to others and about the Lord in a joyful manner in other words the Lord is the subject here of why a person has Joy they know who God is they know what he requires they know what he wants him to do what what he wants them to do and so that’s the first thing a second thing it says in Ephesians chapter 5 is that that we’re to speak to one another with hymns now hymns are also O songs of praise but they’re directed really at the Redemptive work of Christ the son of God in other words that the person who has this kind of Joy also understands that they have been saved by Jesus Christ they understand and they know they have come to Jesus Christ in Repentance and Faith they have received him as their own Lord and Savior and now they are saved God has delivered them from the condemnation of sin Jesus Christ had satisfied the wrath of God and the justice of God and they are now free to live for the Lord and so therefore because of that they sing hymns of praise that’s what they do they understand what true salvation is and not only that they want to tell it to other people and mothers want to make sure that their children when they have children understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ so they can know they have a relationship with God so they don’t when they go out into that world and this world is really Godless we know that it’s become more and more Godless every day God has thrown out of everything from the top to the bottom he is not welcomed anywhere anymore well when your children walk out of the house and they go to school or wherever they’re go they go They’re not going to get any message about who the true and living God is they’re not going to get any of that stuff out there so it has to come from you it has to come from the home the home is the center of everything in scripture especially for the woman that’s her sphere of influence that’s where she can reverse the curse of Adam and give the gospel to their kids so they become real Believers in this world and that generation can begin to propagate another generation and another generation until the Lord carries and comes back but it’s this attitude of joy that is the evidence in a person’s heart every day that they are a Believer and so they’re speaking in Psalms they’re speaking in hymns and then also it says in Ephesians that they’re speaking in spiritual songs and spiritual songs have to do uh is directed at really the work of the Holy Spirit the sanctifying work of the holy spirit in someone’s life and the the word the the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit comes is done by the spirit of God by actually the word of God for it tells us in Colossians 3:16 let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with Thanksgiving uh or thankfulness to the Lord so again being word filled is all the same as being spirit filled in other words the spirit of God doesn’t make you joyful and unless he uses the word of God to transform your mind and heart so you understand what it means to be joyful and to walk in the spirit and to notice the evidences of being a genuine Christian so in other words a woman who is who joyfully Converses with others exhorting them to worship their lord and practice a god Christ centered Consciousness in their life all this music originates in the heart when a person is at peace with God when they understand their standing with God because of Christ and his sacrifice on their behalf as their substitute their heart indicates that by the joy that comes out of it so the heart indicates not so much the place as the manner and attitude in which a person filled with the spirit of God is singing all right so if we were speaking specifically about women she is also aware of the difference between world L joy and Christian joy that worldly Joy is joy that is really derived from Earthly pleasure whatever this world can give us that makes pleasure they can derive it from that but that worldly Joy it tells us in scripture is also a joy that is delusive it’s not the real thing it only lasts for a short period of time it’s also it is shortlived it tells us in Job that the triumphing triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the Godless is momentary it’s only for this life it’s not for anything else it doesn’t transcend this world it’s can’t be brought into the Eternal State also it can be taken away Isaiah the prophet tells us and gladness and Joy are taken away from the fruitful field in The Vineyards also there is also no cries of Joy or jubilant shouting no Treader Treads out wine in the presence in the presses for I have made the shouting to see something happens there where God removes the joy that is produced by having a crop that comes in every year having food on the table that makes you uh gives you this uh s the source of Joy or whatever else takes place when God is absent there really cannot be genuine Holy Spirit Joy also there is a Gods side of Joy a supernatural Joy the Bible tells us in Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit This Joy is a really a work of God in the inner man it’s what the Lord is producing in us you know everything could be going wrong in your life and you can you can you will have this kind of Joy This Joy is not the joy that is robbed by circumstances it’s not robbed by people sinning against you it’s not robbed in any other way it’s a joy that God gives you and it’s a joy that is unspeakable it’s hard to Define but you know you have it but you know you have it because of the source of where it comes from because the source is from God Psalms 4 in verse number seven says Thou H has put gladness in my heart more than when their their grain and new wine abound it’s the Lord himself that puts gladness in our heart and of course it’s given to us through Christ by the holy spirit of God where it tells us in John 17 in Christ’s High Priestly prayer but now I come to thee and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy Joy made full in themselves the full Joy Of God given to us by God and so God gives it to us but there is also a side of Joy that’s for us it’s for those who live on this Earth as Believers and of course it comes through the word of God where 1 John 1:4 tells us and these things we write so that your joy may be made complete and that Joy is also connected with when we go through troubles and trials where it tells us in James consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials how is it that we can go through trials and still have joy how is it that we can go through a time of sickness and still have joy how is it we can lose out financially maybe on something we’ve been banking on for a long time and lose it and still maintain our joy how is it that we can have joy well be and during trials is because the joy the source of the joy comes from God himself and of course that Joy also produces hope it produces a hope for the future so the definition of Christian Joy is an emotion springing from a deep deep deep deep deep confidence that God is in perfect control of everything that goes on in your life everything that you have a mind that you understand Providence you understand how God is working in your life now you may not have the answers and to exactly how to define everything that’s going on in your life but I tell you this that you have a confidence that God is definitely in control in your life as a Believer as a child of God in fact there’s no event or circumstance that can occur in a Christian’s life that should diminish a Christian’s Joy there’s none except one sin when you sin you’re going to lose your joy when you sin you are going to not be joyful you’re not going to be any of any of those things because sin Robbs you of the things that God wants to give you because now you’re looking your desires your passions are looking somewhere else to get fulfilled instead of God and so therefore you’re going to lose the joy that God gives you but remember Christians are to have a joyful heart and a joyful heart is beneficial not only to our physical being and our spiritual health it is beneficial it even tells us in Proverbs a joyful heart is good medicine it’s good medicine but a broken Spirit dries up the bones so don’t you want to be and have this kind of Joy these are the kind of characteristics that are very very impressionable upon children to know a child can say that my mom for the most of her life have been has been joyful you know and that’s going to teach them to be joyful to know what Joy looks like to know how to act in difficult situations and still have joy and to respond to people that are negative and derogatory with joy how do I do that in the flesh where do I get that from the world I don’t get it from anywhere except from the Lord himself from his spirit that he gives it to us now let’s go back to Ephesians chapter 5 and look very briefly at the other two evidences uh of women of the spirit or any Christian of the spirit and ask yourself this morning how are you doing do you exemplify that kind of Joy well the second thing is that women of the spirit know how to live thankfully Ephesians 5:21 always giving thanks for some things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God even father does it say that it doesn’t say that does it it says always giv thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God even the father and notice again the focus of of the thankfulness is Jesus Christ he is the one who is the focal point of the one who’s walking in the spirit and there are few times and few circumstances in which a person does not give thanks in fact there’s a constant character about this person always thanking the lord and father for all things it is true that a grateful person is a Godly person that godliness and gratitude in all things go hand in hand as our text communicates thankfulness is the preeminent sign of being filled with the spirit of God being thankful for trials being thankful for pain being thankful for adverse circumstances in your life that are not going the way you may hoped for intended and yet there comes out of you a thankfulness Lord even for those times in my life because I’ve as I said before we don’t really learn things when things are going our way all the time we don’t learn things when every things in order all the time our plans and agenda are taking place perfectly we learn nothing then we only learn when there’s a curveball thrown into all of it because then it really shows who we are it shows who we are in the way we respond to it and react to it and it shows who we are in our heart how are we doing with the Lord when those times come well you’re going to find out when the curve Wall comes you may have to repent of sin at that point because you may not respond the way you know you should Romans chap 1 verse 21 and 22 says even though they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened and professing to be wise they became fools so here is a person and here’s the here’s really the view of the whole world those who take their understanding of creation and twist it into something other than what God intended and so they worship the creature more than the Creator and when they do that they do not give thanks they are not thankful to God they are otherwise a good way I think to illustrate how thankfulness is linked to Godliness and ingratitude is typically linked really to infidelity and ungodliness and also could be traced back to the origination of our thanks living or our Thanksgiving Day when George Washington who was a godly man made the first presidential Proclamation for Thanksgiving he was a man of Faith who trusted in the merits of the blood of Jesus Christ his Savior and for his only hope of redemption just really a few years later the third president Thomas Jefferson dis discontinued thanks giving day Jefferson was the least religious of all the founding fathers in fact he cut out all of the miraculous elements in the New Testament and he depleted and pay scripture to his liking hopefully you don’t do that it ended up though the fact that Jesus died and was buried and the stone rolled over the door for him it was that was the end that was the period that was the end of the story and thanks to Jefferson 2third of uh a century passed until the holiday was reestablished by Abraham Lincoln and it’s interesting that the reestablished day of Thanksgiving by Abraham Lincoln was in the same month that he testified in a letter at Gettysburg that he had three he had there committed his heart to Jesus Christ and found that that peace which so long eluded him so we see that thankfulness is really s symbolic of being Spirit-filled and of course in gratitude not being thankful is typical of infidelity ungodliness unrighteousness unholiness and it’s it is it’s tragic but true that there is little thankfulness in the world but a woman of the spirit should be characterized by a constant thankfulness and why because she’s rooted in Jesus Christ and all her thankfulness abounds from that relationship Colossians chapter 2:7 says having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude how is it that the word of God is the very Source in which not only we maintain our joy but we maintain this attitude of being thankful for everything we practice thankfulness so the person is meticulous about being thankful for even the littlest things and to do it often I’ve mentioned before I actually had a chance to meet Johnny Erikson Tata who uh wonderful Christian lady uh paralyzed quadr pic uh from a diving accident in Virginia and she said this you do not realize there are times when I would give everything in the world simply to be able to scratch someplace that itches how many times have we thank God for the ability to scratch someplace that itches we don’t think of those little things see we take for granted things like this and other things like that practicing in gratitude instead of thankfulness so those who are walking in the spirit they are a blessing to those who are around them because they see the glass half full not half empty we need more people and more Christians and more mothers and women who will personified such gratitude and such joy that can spill out of their lives into the persons that they influence and there’s nothing really no one a person of of mother’s going to influence more than her children see we need more of that especially these days and why is that well 2 Timothy 3:1 tells us but realize this that in the last days difficult times will come for men will be lovers of self lovers of money boastful arrogant revilers disobedient into parents ungrateful and Unholy so see the the very attitudes that come out of our society I mean all you got to do is turn on the news do you see thankfulness on the news do you see Joy on the news anything that comes out of the the news it seems like it’s nothing but derogatory and negative and you know it’s there’s nothing encouraging about it at all so see we come to the word of God and we find these passages and we say well these are the ingredients the evidences of walking in the spirit and of course there’s one last thing in Ephesians 5:21 and it says this and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ well in that passage she she is a person who focuses on the needs of others Unity is of course is essential is essential result of dealing with people and she’s she is subject to others why in the sphere of Christ she’s in other words a god-fearer she fears God that is very important not only in wisdom in the wisdom literature we see that somebody who fears God comes to a knowledge of who God really is without the fear of God there is no knowledge that is actually beneficial for us to understand what it means to have a relationship with God but here she is someone who fears God and as I said before to fear God is to be afraid enough to care what he says and yes that’s part of it we think about the Holiness of God God is and and you know we we do have something going on in our mind when we think about how great and awesome God is we are amazed by him and at the same times we’re terrified by him we’re terrified by what he is able to do and what he will do see some people say well God would never send anybody to hell but if you read scripture if somebody doesn’t believe in Christ he has to because that’s his character cannot change his character so woman who is a God is spirit filled will be someone who fears God she will be afraid of God enough to care what he says but will be humble enough to submit to his authority in other words Lord whatever you want me to do I’m willing to do and so that always encompasses both Terror and reverence they they they mix together they go together it’s a submission and it’s an a before God and so where I started off in Galatians 5:116 it says but I say walk it by the spirit and walk means make sure the direction of your life is the Holy Spirit the quality of your life is the quality of the Holy Spirit if you do that you will not carry out the old desires of the flesh the your default won’t be the way you used to do things you won’t even go to the default because you your default is going to be erased you’re going to have new characteristics in your life and in your heart so in other words that women of the spirit behave with a joyful Spirit women of the spirit overflow with a thankful heart and women of the spirit submit with a reverent attitude to God so I pray that that the Lord would fill his church with women mothers wives who practice each day to be a woman who walks in the spirit which of course in turn will make the church and the world a more joyful thankful and wor worshipful place it will but it starts with God’s Church it starts with moms it starts with fathers it starts with Christians who actually practice these evidences every single day until it becomes a habit in your life until this is who you are this is what God made you to be and believe me that kind of person has incredible impact and influence not only on her children but everybody that he or she meets I pray you want to be that kind of person let’s pray Lord this morning I just ask you Lord that you would take these words in this passage Lord I pray that you would impress Upon Our Minds our souls that these things are important to you that these are the very things once we become Believers the spirit of God actually does in our life and I pray Lord that we ourselves and others would see the evidences of these characteristics coming out of our very demeanor the way we speak the way we act the way we respond and I pray Lord that it would be coming from our heart because we have a relationship with you father through Christ because we know we’re our sins are forgiven because we know that you have given us the promise when Christ left of the spirit of God to indwell us and Lord because you’ve given us the word of God that does the same thing that the spirit of God wants to do using the word of God to do it to make us Spirit-filled believers who speak to one one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs who are joyful who are thankful and who are worshipful who please Lord make us those kind of people do it for the sake of your great name for the Salvation of families and Country and I pray this in your name amen