INTRODUCTION: The New Jerusalem is said to be the mother of us all. That is, the New Jerusalem is compared to a mother. On this Mother’s Day, it will be good to see the ways in which the New Jerusalem is an example of a good mother.
- ALWAYS INCLUDING (Galatians 4:26); a good mother makes sure no one is left out.
- ALWAYS WELCOMING (Hebrews 12:22); a good mother makes sure her children have a home to come to.
- ALWAYS REMEMBERED (Revelation 3:12 written on us); a good mother and her deeds cannot be forgotten.
- ALWAYS SEEKING (Revelation 3:12); a good mother seeks out her children; if they do not come to her, then she will come to them.
- ALWAYS FEEDING (Revelation 19:7-9); a good mother makes sure her children have plenty to eat.
- ALWAYS LEADING (Revelation 21:2-3); a good mother introduces us to God.
- ALWAYS COMFORTING (Revelation 21:4); a good mother comforts our tears and fears.
- ALWAYS GLORIOUS (Revelation 21:9-11); a good mother is worthy of our praise (Proverbs 31:28-31).
CONCLUSION: Going Home Tomorrow – D. L. Moody worked with some of the greatest song directors and hymn writers of his time. Many have heard of Ira Sankey. Another music man was Phillip P. Bliss. He is the author of songs like “Look and Live,” “Hold the Fort,” and “Hallelujah, What a Saviour!” In the winter of 1876, Phillip Bliss, his wife, and two children “went to his widowed mother’s home in northern Pennsylvania for the Christmas holidays. A raging blizzard caused Bliss and his wife to leave their two children with a relative in Avon, New York. Because of their commitment to be in Chicago no later than New Year’s Eve, the couple sent…a telegram on December 28, ‘We’re going home tomorrow.’ On the 29th they took the train heading for Chicago. Late on Friday night, just outside Ashtabula, Ohio, an iron bridge gave way because of the weight of the snow and the train. The Pacific Express passenger train plunged seventy feet into an icy creek, where it was mangled and then burned. Nothing of their remains was ever identified.” –from A Passion for Souls: The Life of D. L. Moody (page 249).
