Let us Magnify the Lord
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Announcements- Mark Devotions, Cookie giveaways- 113 bags given out, take one, or two for your neighbors, your extended family, etc! Lottie Moon- 100% of offerings with Lottie Moon go direct to IMB missionaries around the world, like the Garner’s who we got to know a bit last week.
Main Point: When we see God moving, we need to PRAISE GOD!
Main Point: When we see God moving, we need to PRAISE GOD!
Body
Body
As we pick up today in Luke 1:39, Luke is going to once again give us a clear time and setting. Remember, Luke 1:3.
3 So it also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus,
Luke is writing an ORDERLY SEQUENCE, or ORDERLY ACCOUNT, of what takes place and that includes giving us details about the setting of events that he’s recording.
39 In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah 40 where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.
So the setting for everything today? It happens RIGHT AFTER GABRIEL APPEARS TO MARY!
Mary has been given Elizabeth’s pregnancy as a sign that what God says is really true.
God consistently gives ways to confirm that HIS PROMISES are true throughout scripture.
For instance, here, Mary is given the sign of Elizabeth and Elizabeth and Zechariah are given the sign that Zechariah can’t speak.
In the Old Testament, Gideon is given the Fleece by God where it’s wet one day- ground is dry and dry the next day and the ground is wet.
Even in Genesis 3, as God gives righteous JUDGMENT about sin, God gives signs to Adam and Eve that remind them of the promise of the SAVIOR!
(Not to get distracted from Luke 1, but, the next time you have a hard work week- remember, it’s a sign pointing you to the savior! It’s part of the judgment in Genesis 3, but that means it also reminds us of the SAVIOR who will crush the serpents head!)
So after seeing the angel and hearing what will happen, Mary hurries to Judah from Nazareth.
This was a journey of about 90 miles. It was a few days of walking for Mary- somewhere between 3-5 days depending on how fast she walked.
Mary goes into Zechariah’s house and she greets Elizabeth. Now, let’s see what happens in Luke 1:41-45
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! 43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”
As soon as Mary greets Elizabeth, JOHN LEAPS INSIDE OF HER AND ELIZABETH IS FILLED IWTH THE HOLY SPIRIT!
How does this happen? How does a baby leap at the sound of Mary’s voice? It’s simple- John is already filled with the Holy Spirit jus as Gabriel promised in Luke 1:15
15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.
This is YET ANOTHER FULFILLMENT OF WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED!
One of my favorite parts about Luke 1-2 is the constant fulfillment of these promises! It’s so encouraging to see!
Look at the greeting Elizabeth gives to Mary- BLESSED ARE YOU!
It’s similar to the greeting Gabriel gave that we saw last week- “GREETINGS FAVORED WOMAN!”
And then, Elizabeth says, “YOUR CHILD WILL BE BLESSED!”
Another way to translate that is- YOUR CHILD WILL BE PRAISED!
Here we are this morning over 2000 years later, in Savoy, Illinois and we are gathered together PRAISING JESUS! WE ARE GATHERED HERE TO PRAISE THIS CHILD!
So these words not only came true while Jesus was on earth, they are also fulfilled every single day all around the world as Christians everywhere PRAISE JESUS!
Elizabeth also says that Mary is the “MOTHER OF MY LORD!”
Elizabeth is confessing in another way that JESUS IS THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH- THE SON OF GOD!
She has no way to know that Gabriel has told Mary that Jesus is quite literally GOD IN THE FLESH, so what can we inference? We can inference that this is from the HOLY SPIRIT!
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS CAUSING ELIZABETH TO RESPOND LIKE THIS!
Understand, God is at work as Mary enters Elizabeth’s house!
And Elizabeth tells Mary what happened with John- how John jumped for joy!
John is essentially worshipping from within the womb! His entire life is built around worshiping God and obeying God!
Like we saw in Malachi 4:5-6, John is coming to PREPARE THE WAY FOR JESUS!
Elizabeth then talks about how Mary is blessed. And why is she blessed? BECAUSE SHE HAS BELIEVED THAT GOD WOULD BE FAITHFUL TO FULFILL WHAT HE HAD SAID! NOTICE THAT BELIEF- it’s like the framework we talked about last week- KNOW GOD, TRUST GOD- BELIEVE GOD, OBEY GOD!
Although this is a specific statement to Mary, I want to broaden it out a little because there is an application from this statement to us actually.
See, we are BLESSED because God fulfilled a promise. WE ARE BLESSED BECAUSE GOD FULFILLS THIS PROMISE ADN SENT OUR SAVIOR!
BRIEF GOSPEL!
Mary then responds to Elizabeth’s greeting with a beautiful declaration of praise. Her response to being favored by God is simple- it isn’t pride, it’s WORSHIP!
Mary doesn’t say, “Yes, I AM BLESSED BECAUSE I AM SO GOOD.”
Instead, she GLORIFIES GOD!
And in turn, when God blesses us, when God answers our prayers, what do we do?
Do we GLORIFY GOD?
Or do we kind of check out and say, “Hey, thanks for getting me through that God, I’ve got it from here!”
One of the practical challenges from Luke 1-2 for us is how we see people FAITHFULLY PRAISING GOD FOR EVERYTHING GOD DOES!
Luke 1:46-56
Luke 1:46-56
As we look at Mary’s declaration of praise, there are three sections we are going to look at.
Each of these three sections has a specific takeaway that I want to challenge us with. Let’s start in verses 46-50.
Luke 1:46-50- Praise God for His Holiness and Mercy
Luke 1:46-50- Praise God for His Holiness and Mercy
46 And Mary said:
My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 because he has looked with favor
on the humble condition of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations
will call me blessed,
49 because the Mighty One
has done great things for me,
and his name is holy.
50 His mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear him.
I I was going to summarize this set of verses I’d says this- PRAISE GOD FOR HIS HOLINESS AND HIS GRACE!
Mary starts by saying that her soul MAGNIFIES THE LORD! This is a quote actually from Psalm 34! Psalm 34:2 says, “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!”
Psalm 34 is a psalm that focuses on rejoicing in God during a hard time. It talks heavily about God’s provision and protection and Mary quotes it as she begins her time of thanksgiving.
Throughout her song of praise, Mary pulls out themes of God’s TRIUMPH that we find in Psalm 34, 35, 89, 99, 100, 103, 107, and 118! There’s this framework Mary’s testimony shows us- KNOW GOD, TRUST GOD, OBEY GOD! A great example of how Mary KNOWS GOD is her usage of God’s Word!
If you want a great study to do this week in your time with God beyond our Mark devotions, I’d check out those 8 psalms!
Once again- she pulls from Psalm 34, 35, 89, 99, 100, 103, 107 and 118!
Mary magnifies the LORD, or PRAISES GOD AND LIFTS PRAISE TO GOD! She REJOICES IN GOD HER SAVIOR!
And let me invite you this morning- LET’S MAGNIFY THE LORD TOGETHER THIS MORNING!
Notice the way she says this- IT’S HER SAVIOR! HER SAVIOR, OUR SAVIOR, IS NOT FAR AWAY FROM YOU!
GOD- OUR SAVIOR- IS CLOSE TO US! GOD IS PERSONAL! WE WORSHIP GOD, WE PRAISE GOD, AND WE KNOW THAT GOD IS PERSONAL!
And why does Mary REJOICE?
BECAUSE GOD HAS SEEN HER IN HER HUMILITY and has looked on her with favor- or as this word can be translated- with GRACE!
And GOD HAS BLESSED MARY!
Even though she is from humble backgrounds- from the town of Nazareth- and remember- “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”- despite all of this, GOD HAS BLESSED HER!
And notice- she isn’t blessed because of anything that SHE HAS DONE, but instead, she is blessed because of WHAT THE MIGHTY ONE, that’s God- WHAT THE MIGHTY ONE HAS DONE!
GOD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS AND GOD IS WORTHY OF PRAISE! Therefore, she feels blessed!
Further, she brings to light that GOD’S VERY NAME IS HOLY AND THAT GOD IS MERCIFUL!
These two attributes are what I want us to focus on from these verses.
We praise God because God is HOLY and GOD IS MERCIFUL!
God’s HOLINESS is probably best seen in the fact that GOD IS WITHOUT SIN! GOD IS PERFECT IN EVERY WAY! GOD IS ALWAYS RIGHTEOUS; GOD IS ALWAYS HOLY WITH NO BLEMISH!
Guys, this is a POWERFUL STATEMENT! MARY PRAISES GOD BECAUSE OF WHO GOD IS!
She praises GOD’S HOLINESS AND HIS GRACE! AND WE SHOULD ALSO PRAISE GOD FOR HIS HOLINESS AND HIS GRACE!
Luke 1:51-52- Praise God for HIS Sovereignty
Luke 1:51-52- Praise God for HIS Sovereignty
51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm;
he has scattered the proud
because of the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones
and exalted the lowly.
Next, Mary praises God for HIS SOVEREINGTY!
Notice what she says- God has done a MIGHTY DEED!
To say this differently- GOD’S SOVEREINGTY AND POWER IS EVIDENT IN THE EVENTS OF LUKE 1!
she doesn’t stop there though!
Instead, she praises God for scattering the proud and the mighty- these are people who STAND AGAINST GOD, not just physically strong and proud people!
God has powerfully worked and has OVERLOOKED MAN’S EARHTLY QUALIFICATIONS AND APPEARANCES AND HAS INSTEAD SOVEREIGNLY JUDGED AND TAKEN CARE OF THE RIGHTEOUS!
To say this differently- GOD JUDGES DIFFERENTLY THAN WE DO! RATHER THAN JUDGING THE OUTSIDE, GOD JUDGES THE INSIDE!
God toppled the mighty that oppress people and God has exalted- or LIFTED- the lowly!
And this is really spiritual!
It’s like the Beatitudes in Matthew 5! Matthew 5:3-6
We praise GOD BECAUSE OF HIS SOVEREIGNTY AND HIS JUSTICE THAT LOOKS PAST OUR OUTER APPEARANCES AND IS INSTEAD FOCUSED ON OUR HEARTS!
WE PRAISE GOD AND REJOICE BECAUSE GOD LIFTS THE LOWLY! Mary is a powerful example of this!
Luke 1:53-56- Praise God for HIS MERCY
Luke 1:53-56- Praise God for HIS MERCY
53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he spoke to our ancestors.
56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.
In this final section of Mary’s praise, we see her PRAISE GOD FOR HIS MERCY!
Mary praises God for HIS continued provision in verse 53 and at the same time, Mary continues to talk about God’s righteous judgement on the wicked.
She’s less focused on judgment than she is on God’s Mercy though!
Verses 54-55 are really ALL ABOUT MERCY!
GOD HAS MERCY TOWARDS THE ISRAELITES EVEN AS THEY WALK AWAY FROM GOD!
EVEN AS THE ISRAELITES BACKSLIDE AWAY FROM GOD, GOD HAS MERCY JUST AS GOD PROMISED!
Cornerstone Family, today, I want to encourage you- if you are here and you feel like you’re backsliding; if you feel like you aren’t following God the way that you want to be, then be encouraged!
GOD’S MERCY WILL LIFT YOU UP AND WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU!
God’s MERCY is promised throughout scripture and it is always evident in the OT! Let me encourage you that this passage is a GREAT REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROMISES OF GOD!
J.C. Ryle once said that the promises of God are “the manna we should eat daily and the water we should drink daily as we travel through the wilderness of this world.”
In other words- the promises of God are what GETS US THROUGH THIS WORLD! THEY FIX OUR EYES BACK ON GOD AND OFF OF OURSELVES!
So let’s look at the promises of MERCY that Mary is referencing!
God’s mercy is shown to Abraham by providing Abraham with a son- THIS IS A REFERENCE BACK TO THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT! And then just a few generations later we see God’s mercy YET AGAIN as God mercifully provides for Jacob and his sons.
Then 400 years later, God MERCIFULLY PROVIDES for the Israelites by leading them out of EGYPT!
God then MERCIFULLY GOES BEFORE ISRAEL TO PROVIDE THE PROMISED LAND AND DAY AFTER DAY GIVES MERCY!
RUTH, ESTHER, EZRA AND NEHEMIAH! (Examples of mercy!)
AND LET ME TELL YOU THE BEST EXAMPLE OF GOD’S MERCY! (GOSPEL AND CALL TO REPENT!)
Application
Application
REJOICE WITH OTHERS!(Elizabeth- rejoices with Mary! Mary- rejoices with Elizabeth! John- Rejoices at Jesus! The crowd next week- rejoices at John’s birth)
REJOICE WITH OTHERS!(Elizabeth- rejoices with Mary! Mary- rejoices with Elizabeth! John- Rejoices at Jesus! The crowd next week- rejoices at John’s birth)
Our first application point today is to REJOICE WITH OTHERS!
Can I just encourage you this morning with the example of Elizabeth?
Elizabeth is a great example of rejoicing with someone else! Elizabeth REJOICES WITH MARY!
She follows the HOLY SPIRIT’S LEADING AND SHE REJOICES WITH MARY!
And can I tell you what makes that so special? As soon as Mary left Elizabeth and people found out that she was pregnant, people would have rejected her.
People would have made all sorts of accusations- her and Joseph were not faithful, she cheated on Joseph, etc.
She would have become an outcast and Joseph would have inevitably been confused and angered!
But look at what Elizabeth does- I really think that God ordained this.
Elizabeth REJOICES WITH MARY!
She doesn’t say, “Mary, just know what is going to happen over the next 9 months will be hard, but trust God.”
Instead, she rejoices! “BLESSED ARE YOU! YOUR BABY WILL BE OUR SAVIOR!”
She REJOICES!
She points Mary to God and she is obedient to God.
And we see that obedience here through her rejoicing.
I want to challenge us today that we need to REJOICE WITH ONE ANOTHER!
And to be clear- I’m not saying that we hsould ignore hard parts of life and pretend that they don’t exist.
Instead, I’m saying that we shoudl INTENTIONALLY REJOICE AND POINT PEOPLE BACK TO GOD EVEN IN THE HARDEST OF TIMES!
I’m not saying that we should violate Romans 12:15
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
But, what I am saying is that we have a RESPONSIBILITY to walk alongside one another and to point each other back to God at all times!
And when something good happens in someone’s life, we need to REJOICE!
If I’m honest, it is easier to weep with someone who is weeping at times than it is to rejoice with those who are rejoicing!
It can be tempting to think to ourselves- “I wish God would have done that for ME!”
But instead, we need to be like Elizabeth! We need to GIVE THANKS TO GOD AND REJOICE WITH THE PEOPLE AROUND US!
PRACTICAL:
BUILD A PERSONAL CULTURE OF REJOICING AND SEEING GOD AT WORK!
GOD IS AT WORK, so TAKE THE TIME TO SEE GOD AT WORK!
Practical: 2 things we see from Elizabeth- she is ALWAYS GIVING GOD GLORY- Luke 1:24-25, She let’s the HOLY SPIRIT LEAD HER! (GIVE GOD GLORY THIS WEEK, LET GOD LEAD YOU!)
PRAISE GOD IN EVERYTHING (Include a challenge relating to Christ Our Hope in Life and Death- PRAISE GOD FOR THE HOPE WE HAVE NO MATTER WHAT SEASON YOU ARE IN!)
PRAISE GOD IN EVERYTHING (Include a challenge relating to Christ Our Hope in Life and Death- PRAISE GOD FOR THE HOPE WE HAVE NO MATTER WHAT SEASON YOU ARE IN!)
Now I want to speak to us. No matter what we are going through, let’s PRAISE GOD!
Mary- every reason to be scared, still praised God! We need to do the same!
There is NEVER A TIME WHERE WE SHOULD NOT BE PRAISING GOD!
Our first response song is one of my favorite songs- Christ our Hope in Life and Death.
It’s based off of a catechism, which is like a series of questions and answers about God. Listen to this set of couplets:
What truth can calm the troubled soul?
God is good, God is good
Where is His grace and goodness known?
In our great Redeemer's blood
Who holds our faith when fears arise?
Who stands above the stormy trial?
Who sends the waves that bring us nigh
Unto the shore? The rock of Christ
Let me tell you what I see- when I look at this, I see how we always can rejoice because of what JESUS DID FOR US!
Does that mean everything is easy?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! But, rejoicing doesn’t need to come from the same place as happiness. Instead, it comes from JOY- which is not dependent on HAPPINESS!
Practical- PRAISE GOD IN EVERYTHING NOT BECAUSE IT’S ALWAYS FUN BUT BECAUSE EVEN IN THE HARDEST TIME GOD IS WITH US!
Lottie Moon quote from last week- Please say to the new missionaries that they are coming to a life of hardship, responsibility and constant self denial. They must live, the greater part of the time, in Chinese houses, in close contact with the people. They will be alone in the interior and will need to be strong and courageous. If the joy of the Lord be their strength, the blessedness of the work will more than compensate for its hardships. Let them come ‘rejoicing to suffer’ for the sake of that Lord and Master who freely gave his life for them. - January 9, 1889, P’ingtu, China
Christmas is the Greatest Gift of All Time
Christmas is the Greatest Gift of All Time
BECAUSE IT REFOCUSES US ON PRAISING GOD!
What we just saw today is a POWERFUL example of what it looks like to PRAISE GOD!
AND CHRISTMAS IS THE GREATEST GIFT BECAUSE IT LEADS US TO PRAISE GOD!
(We can learn from Elizabeth and Mary’s example)
Practical: Give thanks; God is calling you to do PRAISE GOD in it! OUR PRAISE SPEAKS TO THE WORLD AROUND US!
This Christmas season, let me challenge you- look back over your last year and take some time to give thanks!
WRITE DOWN A FEW THINGS YOU ARE THANKFUL FOR AND THEN, DON’T KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF, SHARE THEM WITH SOMEONE!
(Praise and THANKSGIVING ARE CLOSELY LINKED!)
