Yielding to the Impossible
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Luke 1:26-38
We have spent the previous two weeks emphasizing our hope based upon the second coming of Christ.
As we come closer to Christmas Day, I want to shift gears and see how the hope of those before Christ’s first coming applies to our hope today.
The first arrival of Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of hope.
God’s people had spent millennia waiting for the fulfillment of a promise that started in the Garden of Eden when God promised to bruise the head of Satan.
God’s people looked for their Messiah throughout
the days of the Patriarchs
the days of their enslavement
The days of their exodus
the days of living in their promised land
the days of both Judges and Kings
even in the days of rebellion
the days of their exile
The days of their return
and then the days of God’s silence
They waited for so long for their hope to realized.
Now here in Luke chapter 1, God sends an angel to Mary, a faithful young lady, and tells her how her hope will be realized through her yielding to the impossible.
As we look at these aspects of this passage, I want to apply the same truths to our lives, and let us see our hope in these same lights.
Let’s see how Our Hope Comes from:
I. The Impossible
I. The Impossible
Hope stems from the impossible, that which is possible requires no hope.
At least for the unattained.
We do not have something, or something is not available to us, so therefore we hope for it.
In Mary’s case the hope that all of Israel had hoped for seemed impossible.
A. Mary’s Pregnancy
A. Mary’s Pregnancy
The angel came to Mary and told her:
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Verse 27 tells us that Mary was espoused to a man named Joseph, but she was not married yet.
So it is understandable that Mary may ask How!
I do not believe this is a lack of faith on Mary’s part, she just didn’t understand how this could happen with the information she had at this point.
So she asked a sensible question, How shall this be?
She was unmarried, how could she become a mother?
Unfortunately, this is not assumed any longer.
So she is told something very difficult to understand…He will be God’s Son!
A birth without a father
A peasant girl becoming the mother of God
God becoming a person
What seems impossible, is never impossible with God!
This is where the Hope of Christmas comes in.
Mary did not limit God.
God came and worked in Mary’s Impossibilities, and Salvation was the result for all man kind.
We too have an impossible situation
B. Our Righteousness
B. Our Righteousness
Just as he came and worked in Mary’s impossibilities, He sent Jesus to earth to take care of our impossible situation.
On our own, we cannot be righteous.
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
We try to do right hoping that maybe the good will out way the bad.
But it doesn’t matter.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
If we fail in even just one area, the Bible tells us we are guilty of all.
The standard is not “more good than bad”, it’s “Zero bad.”
And that is not possible.
But God knew this, He tells us…if we give Him our impossible requirement He will make a way.
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
This is why Jesus is our hope!
Paul calls him that as well!
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him…should not perish.
For with God nothing shall be impossible!
This extends to so much more than our salvation, however!
We glibly quote Phil 4.13
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
But rarely do we really apply it to our lives!
That word all, means all!
Now the Bible warns us we should not tempt God!
I don’t recommend walking to a cliff edge, quoting Phil. 4.13 and jumping off!
At least if you do, don’t expect to float there!
Deut. 6:16 contains another command that isn’t part of the Big 10 Commandments…It says, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Just because you are not supposed to tempt God, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try God!
When you come to an impossible situation, try God out!
Yield your will to His, then pray asking God to help you, then step out in faith!
People tend to just say, “that’s not possible.”
Then walk away and quit!
Charles F. Kettering said, “When I was research head of General Motors and wanted a problem solved, I'd place a table outside the meeting room with a sign: “Leave slide rules here.” If I didn't do that, I'd find someone reaching for his slide rule. Then he'd be on his feet saying, “Boss, you can't do it.”
He also said, “A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.”
I would add to that, “A problem well stated in prayer is a problem solved.”
Our hope comes from the Impossible!
Secondly, Our Hope Comes from
II. The Chosen
II. The Chosen
Not our choice, but God’s choice!
Mary didn’t choose to be pregnant.
A. God Chose Mary
A. God Chose Mary
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to Mary
God chose her.
God could have picked anyone throughout the course of time to be the mother of Jesus.
Yet God chose Mary, in that town, in that year.
Why?
No one but God can tell you, other than what the Bible says
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
God had a time, and woman picked out…and the when the fulness of that time was come, it was accomplished.
God is sovereign.
It is not chance, God is in control.
Even casting of lots before the Lord, is not chance...
33 The lot is cast into the lap; But the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
How much more would His plan for redemption not be left up to chance.
God Chose Mary
Look again at verse 28
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
The words thou that art highly favoured, literally translated means you who have been graced.
The idea is that it was not based upon Mary’s merit.
the favor of God was on her because God chose her.
Our Hope Comes from the Choosing of Mary
Our Hope also comes from the fact that ...
B. God Chose You
B. God Chose You
It is not based upon our merit
It is not based upon our righteousness
we saw a moment ago that we have no worth there.
The fact that This impossible thing has happened, we have been declared righteous, is not because of us…It is because God chose us.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
In fact we were chosen before the World was even created:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Wait a minute, what about free will?
If God has chosen me, does that mean I had no choice?
No of course not, God’s Word still says whosoever will, may come.
The language is one of free will.
How does that work then, We are chosen, but we chose to Accept Him?
Some will say it is irresistible grace, If you are chosen, then you will accept Him, you really have no choice.
But that removes free will.
I believe the answer is in Romans 8:29
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Whom He did foreknow - Literally to know before hand
He did predestinate - to determine or decree
He knew us before the foundation of the world.
And who God knew would accept Him, he predestinated them to be saved.
I believe this is the only balance that lines up with all of Scripture.
But the fact that we yielded to His grace, does not negate or do away with the fact that God chose us to be adopted as sons!
I had a friend in high school that was adopted. When she came to the realization that she was adopted she began to feel like she was not as special because her birth mother had put her up for adoption. Her dad took her aside and told her, “You don’t understand your worth! I chose you out of all the children that I could have adopted…I chose you!” from that day forward her self-esteem was not wrapped up in her perceived weakness (a mother who rejected her), but in the fact that she was chosen.
Our identity is not based upon our failures…our identity is based upon the work of Jesus Christ, which made us:
chosen
forgiven
righteous
adopted
Our Hope is not only found in the impossible, us being righteous...
Our Hope is not only found in the Choosing, we are chosen by God Himself...
But thirdly, Our Hope Comes from ...
III. The Yielding
III. The Yielding
We see this in Mary’s life as well.
Mary had free will as well!
She could have said, “No thank you, do you know what this will cost me? No thanks!”
But when she heard that God was wanting to do the impossible through her because God had chosen her out of all the girls throughout time…we see that...
A. Mary Yielded
A. Mary Yielded
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
She declared a couple of things in this one simple statement, unless you pay attention you might not see it.
First she declared that she was God’s bondservant.
She was yielding herself, not to just do one thing, but to be His bondservant.
The word handmaid is translated from the Greek word doule, which is the feminine version of doulos.
This word means a bondservant.
The bondservant was not just a slave.
The bondservant was one who willingly chose to serve another person.
This comes from Exodus 21:1-2
1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
The servant was marked as a servant who had made a bond with his master.
Mary declared herself, she was plainly saying…I love my master…I will serve you, Lord!
Then she said, “be it unto me according to thy word.”
Whatever you say… I will do!
Mary yielded to God’s Will, and the next we see of Mary she is arriving at her cousin, Elisabeth’s house.
Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake out with a loud voice a blessing from God upon Mary.
When Elisabeth finishes her blessing, Mary begins to rejoice and Praise God for what he has done in her.
In that praise she speaks of the hope that they have all had in their coming Messiah,
54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, In remembrance of his mercy;
55 As he spake to our fathers, To Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
The promised Messiah from the beginning, as was reiterated to Abraham and his seed after him, this Messiah has now come.
Not only has Mary’s Yielding brought forth this Hope...
But we see in our lives as well that our Hope comes from...
B. Your Yielding
B. Your Yielding
God’s promise, the Hope of our salvation, is freely given to all.
But there is one, what some might call, stipulation.
The gift must be received.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
GIFT
I have a gift for the first person who takes it.
What makes that gift theirs?
They had to come to me
They had to believe that I would give it to them
They had to receive the gift.
You need to yield to what I said.
This is not just limited to salvation.
Do you want God’s help with decisions?
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
You need to come to God
You need to believe enough to ask Him for wisdom
You need to use the wisdom God gives you.
Often through biblical principles found in God’s Word.
You need to yield to His promise.
Do you want God’s help in difficult times?
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
God will give you the grace you need to do what He has called you to do…you just need to yield to that Grace.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
We just need to walk in that Grace.
The hope we have for eternity is based upon our yielding to His plan of salvation
The Hope that we have in this life is based upon your yielding to His grace, which is sufficient.
The Hope that we have while we wait for the future coming of Jesus Christ, is based upon our yielding to His Word and His grace...
4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you want real Joy and Peace this holiday season?
It is going to be based upon yielding to the hope we have in believing what God has said:
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Oh how important it is that we pay attention and learn what God says in His Word, and yield to that.
How much happier our lives would be if we would just yield to God in every area.
Our Hope comes when all seems impossible.
But we have this hope because we know that we are chosen by God Himself.
We can see this hope fulfilled in our lives if we will just Yield to His will.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Mary was faced with an impossible situation.
God sent an angel to her to tell her she would have a child, even though she was not married.
She marvelled at the idea that God could have chosen her.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
The Bible says she cast in her mind…this is translated from a Greek word dialogizomai (dee-a-log id’ zomi)… our word dialog comes from the root of this word…it means to consider or reason with yourself.
To dialog within yourself.
She couldn’t believe that God had chosen her.
She continued the wonder when she wondered how could this be?
But she had to come to the place where she just said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”
She had to yield to God’s Will.
There may be a day... that the Lord comes to you and requires of you what seems impossible, but if He has chosen you, you only need to yield in order to see the impossible become true.
The early years of the 19th century were troubled times in the German confederation. Rumors of revolution and rioting had the federated government in panic. Klemens von Metternich, the chief statesman of the confederation, ordered thousands of young men drafted into the army to guard the borders and put down internal revolts. Across the countryside, young men in uniform tramped off to an unknown destiny.
In one German village stood a grand old stone-walled church with and ornately carved facade, beautiful stained glass, and a stately pipe-organ. The organ was famous throughout the region for its beautiful, rich tone. One day the aged caretaker of the church was interrupted during his chores by a knock on the great oak door of the sanctuary. He opened the door to find a young man in uniform on the steps.
"Sir, I have a favor to ask," the young soldier began. "Would you please permit me to play the organ for one hour?"
"I'm sorry, young man," the caretaker replied. "No one but our own organist is permitted to play the organ."
"But sir, I've heard so much about the organ of this church, and I've walked so many miles just to see it, just to play it for a single hour!"
The aged man paused, then shook his head sadly.
"Please," the soldier pleaded. "My commander gave me a 24-hour leave. In a few more days we move to another province where the fighting is expected to be heavy. This may be the last chance in my life to play the organ."
The caretaker reluctantly nodded. He swung the door open and beckoned the soldier inside. Then he took a key from his pocket and held it out to the soldier. "The organ is locked," he said. "Here is the key."
The soldier took the key and unlocked the ornate cabinet of the organ. Then he began to play. A billow of majestic chords rolled from the great golden pipes of the organ. The caretaker stood transfixed as the glorious music washed over him, bringing tears to his eyes. He moved to one of the pews and sat down, as if entranced.
Within minutes, people from the village gathered at the church doorway and peered in. Removing their hats, the villagers stepped into the sanctuary and sat down to listen. Streams of beautiful music filled the sanctuary for one hour. Then the gifted fingers of the organist struck a final chord and lifted from the keyboard.
The young man closed and locked the keyboard cabinet. As he stood and turned, he was surprised to see that the church had nearly filled with villagers who had laid aside their chores to listen to his music. Humbly he received their compliments and the young soldier walked down the center aisle to return the key to the caretaker. "Thank you," the young man whispered.
The old man rose to his feet and took the key. "Thank you," he answered, grasping the young soldier's gifted hands. "Young man, that was the most beautiful music these old ears have ever heard. What is your name?"
"My name is Felix," replied the solder. "Felix Mendelssohn."
The old caretaker's eyes widened as he realize whose hands he grasped, the hands of the young man who, before he was 20 years old, had become one of the most celebrated composers on the European continent. The old man's gaze followed the young soldier as he left the church and disappeared into the village street.
"To think," the old man wondered aloud, "the master was here and I almost failed to give him the key!"
So it is with us.
The Master is here.
God is with us.
His grace envelops us.
If you give him the key to your heart, he can make such beautiful music in your life.
Music that can make the world stop, listen, and wonder.
The Master is here and he is ready to do the impossible by His grace.
It is not only our duty but our joy to give him the key to our lives.
The Hope that we have in Christ comes in the most impossible circumstances.
The Hope comes with the realization that we have been chosen.
But the Hope will only be realized in our lives, if we are willing to yield our lives to God and give him the key.