Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week we looked at the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry.

John the Baptist was coming out of the wilderness at the Jordan river preparing the way for the Messiah to come onto the world scene.

He was born to be the Herald for the Messiah.

We now are called to be the Herald for the Messiah, we are called to prepare a road for people to come to Christ.

We asked the question, how are you daily not only preparing your own heart to meet Jesus, but, how are you preparing the way for Christ in other peoples life?

Today we are looking at Gabriel’s proclamation to Mary that she is going to carry for 9 months and give birth to the son of God.

Now, Gabriel, first went to Zachariah and announced that Mary’s cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy that ties the two very closely together and means the five-month seclusion was meant to prepare Elizabeth for her encounter with Mary and the baby.

When Mary arrived the time of hiddenness ended.

Note: notice that Gabriel was specifically sent “from” God, stressing the heavenly origin of the message.

Heaven directly involves itself in the affairs of earth, and the birth that all of history has been awaiting is about the be announced.

Gabriel is sent to deliver the most significant message that has ever been sent to mankind.

The place that he is to bring this announcement is a small backwater town of no consequence, as seen in Nathanael’s response in John 1:46, “Nazareth!

can anything good come from there?”

The angel is sent to a young virgin girl, Mary, from that village.

I think many times we forget how young Mary was when she received this good news.

Notice that in verse 27 it is mentioned twice before naming her that she is a virgin.

Why?

I think the miracle of God is the most significant thing that the angel wants to draw our attention to, it is the fact that He did for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Why is the message that the angel brought Mary such Great Joy?

Joy: Great happiness or pleasure, joy is a person or thing that causes happiness.

The only one who has the ability to bring us true joy and happiness is Jesus Christ.

We chase after so many things in this life that will never bring us true joy and happiness.

The phrase I use in my message at weddings as I have the bride and groom look each other in the eyes, I say something to the effect, If you are not most satisfied and find your greatest joy in your relationship with Christ you will never be satisfied with each other or this marriage.

It’s not like the Jerry Mcguire move where Tom crews uses the iconic line, “you complete me.”

No, you do not complete me, you do not complete my joy and happiness, God does.

Don’t buy into Satan’s lie that you need something or someone else to fill that void in your life.

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BIG IDEA: Don’t follow the worlds Decoy experience the Lords Greatest Joy.

How can we truly experience the kind of Joy that comes with the incarnation of Jesus Christ?

The kind of Joy that made Mary proclaim in verse 47 “and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

So, many people at this time of year buy into the lie of the worlds definition of joy at Christmas.

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1.

We Experience the Joy of God’s Favor

vs. 28 “Greetings to you of favored one.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A FAVORED ONE OF GOD

Many have either mis-represented, or mis-interpreted what the angel was referring to when he called Mary “the favored one.”

I do not want to downplay that mission that she was given, however, we must come to an understanding of what it means to be favored by God.

Favor: is tangible evidence that a person has the approval of the Lord

Note: Consider those in scripture that God used in incredible ways, there was tangible evidence, or fruit in their lives that they had received the favor of God.

WE SEE GOD’S FAVOR EXPRESSED IN TWO WAYS IN SCRIPTURE

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*God’s favor is Shown Through His Grace Alone

Favor is closely related to the word Grace in the Greek.

Therefore, Mary is the recipient of God’s grace.

Some have tried to claim that Mary was chosen because she some how had earned this great honor by being found of greater character or more worthy than anyone else in History.

However we know that grace comes through faith and is not a result of anything we deserve or have done to deserve such an honor.

I was in Chochabomba in Bolivia some years ago and one evening saw a procession moving down the road towards the Catholic Church.

I noticed that some men were carrying a glass case on their shoulders.

I moved closer to get a better look at what they were carrying and found out to my amazement it was a statue of Mary sitting on a throne.

People throughout the centuries have tried to elevate Mary to a place that is frankly unbiblical.

The Catholic church makes a practice of praying to Mary.

However, any good professing Catholic would vigorously deny that they are worshiping Mary.

They would profess that they are taking James 5:16 which say’s “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and greatly effects.”

Therefore, they confess why would we not go to the most righteous saint of them all; namely, our blessed Mother - sinless virgin - who will love and care for us and pray for us.

They see praying to Mary is a way of being drawn to Jesus.

Just as protestants might go to a pastor and say, “pray for me” with the assumption that the pastor will point you to Jesus.

All believers have access to the throne of God through our favored status as His children. 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, once you were not a people now you are God’s people.”

Yes Marry was favored by God just as you and I are favored to receive the grace of God.

In the aspect of praying to the departed.

There is nowhere in scripture do we find anyone praying to those who have passed on into the kingdom of heaven.

There is no indication in scripture of asking intercession from those who have departed.

Paul’s argument in Philippians contradicts this idea by trying to decide whether it is better for him to “depart and be with Christ” or to continue and labor with them.

Paul states that it is better for him to go be with the Lord but better on their account that he stay here on earth.

If he could intercede for them from a heavenly position would that not be better.

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*God’s Favor is Shown to Those Who Love and Obey Him.

God seeks out those who love His commands so that He can bless, guide, and protect them. 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose hear is blameless toward Him.”

This does not mean that everyone who is prosperous or healthy has found favor in God, nor does it mean that those whom the Lord favors will never suffer difficulties.

Many people in the Bible had the Lords favor and suffered greatly.

Heroes of the faith such as Noah, Moses, Daniel, and also Mary who were favored by the Lord also struggled with difficulties like no one else.

Note: it is interesting that Mary does not appear to be shocked by the coming of Gabriel but rather at what he implicates in his greeting.

It is the meaning that vexes her not necessarily that an angel is speaking with her.

Nothing like this has happened for centuries and now Mary is placed in a long line of biblical heroes of the faith in the Old Testament.

Anyone would have been perplexed about this visit from heaven.

THE LORD IS WITH YOU!

Why do you think that the angel 1st wanted Mary to know that she was favored by God, i.e. shown the Grace of God, and 2nd Gabriel wants her to know that the Lord is with her.

You can imagine how heavy and great a burden this responsibility must have been for Mary.

Look at Mary’s initial response, first, she was “greatly troubled,” and second, she was trying to discern what kind of greeting this must have been.

The angel responded to Mary telling her not to be afraid and again told her that she had found favor in God’s eyes.

Why do you think he had to tell her twice about her favored status?

Consider for us the first part of coming to faith in Christ is that we realize and understand that we are sinners in need of God’s grace.

Perhaps the angel understood that this announcement would be difficult to fathom or even receive.

Who was Mary, a young girl of little if no financial status or upbringing, uneducated, not from a royal family who is now being called to carry and give birth to the son of God.

How often do we feel unqualified or unworthy of God’s calling on our lives?

Following this announcement Mary went with hast to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

Listen to the beginning of Mary’s worship when the full weight of what God is doing has set in on her heart.

Luke 1:46-49

Mary’s great humility in realizing that God has looked on her not because she deserved this great honor but because he is a mighty God who does great things through ordinary people.

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2. We Experience the Joy of God’s Greatness

How Great is Our God?

Christ's Birth Was at Perfect Time

In a debate with the atheist (and now deceased) Christopher Hitchens, William Lane Craig noted how Christ's arrival on earth occurred at the perfect time.

Craig said:

Human beings have existed for thousands of years on this planet before Christ's coming.

But what's really crucial here is not the time involved; rather, it's the population of the world.

The Population Reference Bureau estimates that the number of people who have ever lived on this planet is about 105 billion people.

Only two percent of them were born prior to the advent of Christ.

Erik Kreps of the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research says, "God's timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Christ showed up just before the exponential explosion in the world's population."

The Bible says in the fullness of time God sent forth his Son, and when Christ came, the nation of Israel had been prepared.

The Roman peace dominated the Mediterranean world; it was an age of literacy and learning.

The stage was set for the advent of God's Son into the world.

And I think in God's providential plan for human history, we see the wisdom of God in orchestrating the development of human life and then in bringing Christ into the world in the fullness of time

“And He will be Great”