Finding Favor with God

Introduction

Do you ever wish that you were on God’s most blessed list? It would seem that Mary was. I mean, she is the most famous mother in all history, and she gave birth to the savior of the world.

Now, it can get to the place in our lives where it seems like everyone else has it together but us…

It can seem like God is giving favor to everyone else but us.

Luke 1:30 NKJV

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Now, what does it mean exactly, to find favor with God?

Well, in the Greek language, the language of the New Testament, it could be better read like this, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found yourself in the middle of God’s grace.”

I want to share three principles with you about finding yourself in the middle of God’s grace.

I. The Principle of the Least of These

The Christian faith doesn’t have room for big shots. At least, not for people with that kind of attitude. There are many wonderful, wealthy, and influential Christian people. And though God does provide for us materially and financially, and though some may be wealthy in the faith, His primary concern is not of the material and the financial. His primary concern is of the heart.

And the reason that we hold true to the principle of the “least of these” is because God, often times, almost always, uses people that have nothing to offer but their obedience.

1 Corinthians 1:26–27 NKJV

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

In Luke 1, we have Mary.

She is a young girl that lives in Nazareth. In the city of Nazareth is where all the outcasts lived.

When the ministry of Jesus became public, and He began to call His disciples, Nathaniel wasn’t so sure.

John 1:46 NKJV

And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

They were downcast, they were unimpressive, and they were looked down upon. Yet, this is the exact place that God chose to send the savior of the world.

Luke 1:26–28 NKJV

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

Luke describes Nazareth as , “A city of Galilee called Nazareth.” This means that it was insignificant and needed some type of geographical description.

This book is a historical account written by the physician Luke to the a man named Theophilus. The truth is that we don’t know who Theophilus is, we only know that he was a person of high social standing that was entrusted with preserving the details of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. In both New Testament books, Luke addresses his historical account to Theophilus.

I also want you to know that Luke was a medical doctor. The fact that he was acquainted with high profile figures or had the skills to carefully document historical events is easy for us to comprehend. Therefore, Luke is writing this story, and opens this story to give Theophilus, and the entire world, a systematic description of the history surrounding the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, when we read this 26th verse, we can easily see why Luke writes it the way that he does, “A city of Galilee named Nazareth.” For us, this would be like writing to a United States Senator or some other kind og high ranking dignitary and saying, “There in a city of Alabama called Town Creek, a pastor preached to church called Providence.”

Relation

I am in class at New Orleans Seminary, and we are going around the room and telling the other pastors and missionaries our name and where we are from…and when it came to my turn I said, “My name is Dylan Westbrook, and I pastor Providence Baptist Church in a place you’ve never heard of…the big city of Town Creek, Alabama.” Everyone laughed until another man in the room spoke up, he is the Vice President of the North American Mission Board, and he said, “I know where Town Creek is at, and if any you ever go there you better not drive too fast.” I knew then that he really had been through Town Creek, and probably got a speeding ticket.

Application

Now, people typically fall into two camps…one, someone says, “Why wouldn’t God love me?” The other says, “How could God possibly think of me?”

“Why Wouldn’t God love me?”

Well, for the first camp, I’d say, humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up” (James 4:10). The Bible also says that God will resist the proud. There is no way that you can ever find yourself in the middle of God’s grace if your life is marked by pride.

Now, what exactly is pride?

Well, literally it means to be high and exalted in attitude. Well, that place of being highly exalted is reserved for the Lord Jesus.

Philippians 2:9 NKJV

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

To be filled with pride means to, in your heart, exalt yourself to the place of Jesus Christ. That’s why Jesus Christ cannot use a person filled with pride, because they are actively trying to take His place as the One Who was highly exalted.

How does a person display pride?

Well, the primary way that people display pride is they consider their ways and their thoughts more morally righteous than the thoughts and the ways of God.

1. They develop their own system for getting into heaven.

They’ll say, “I don’t think I need to confess Jesus as my Lord. I think if I just do good works then I’ll make it. I don’t need to confess Jesus as my Lord, I just need to go to church. I just need to give to the poor, I just need to do anything besides make Jesus my Lord.”

2. They develop their own sense of moral goodness.

One issue that keeps arising, in my life, and in the life of many other Christian leaders is the idea that someone can be a “gay-Christian” a “homosexual Christian.”

People have asked me, “Can someone be a homosexual and be a Christian?”

Well, obviously not. Let’s try that with any other sin and you tell me…

Can I be a thieving Christian? “I know I steal from people, but God loves me. He created me this way. I love stealing. Who are you to tell me that I cannot be a thieving Christian?…By the way, thanks for the wallet.”

How about this one…

Can I be an adulterous Christian? “I know that I am cheating on my wife…but I’m not sorry. This is who I am. I am attracted to many women, not just one. God made me this way, why shouldn’t I be happy? And besides, if my wife is ok with it, what business do you have in my bedroom anyway? I’m not hurting anybody else, everything that I am doing is consensual.”

Friend, I don’t care how you justify it, sin is sin. It always has been and it always will be. I am not a lusting Christian, a hating Christian, or a arson Christian, I am a blood-bought, redeemed, child of God, Christian. I wouldn’t be so prideful to go around and blaspheme the name of Almighty God.

3. They develop their own thinking and theology.

This is called heresy. They’ll take the Bible and make it say all kinds of things it doesn’t say. And, instead of simply doing what God has told us to do, they want to be the exception…or they want to add to it.

We see this with other false cults that always want to hitch their wagon to Christianity.

“What are these religions?”

Well, I’m not going to give a list here, but you can always recognize them if they deny that Jesus Christ is the One and only Son of God, virgin-born, and that there is no other way to heaven but to trust in Him.

These types of prideful people think, “I deserve to be loved by God.”

“How could God possibly think of me?”

For those that believe that God could never love them or that God isn’t concerned with them, I’d say to that person that God not only has His mind set on you, but that He willingly died for you.

The same God that sent His beloved Son to an obscure city named Nazareth, to a young virgin named Mary, to save a world that has betrayed Him more times than we could count, desires you.

Some might call that a self-centered gospel…but that is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that is the heart of God. That while He is a God that considers the entire universe, He is a God that is so deeply personal that He wants fellowship with you. That He desires that you are made right with Him. And this is not just for the lost person, this is for the Christian as well. That God doesn’t just want to save you, but He wants to make you a “beloved Son or daughter in whom He is well pleased.”

There is Jesus, and He has been born, and He is grown, and He is going to begin His earthly ministry, and He gets baptized there in the Jordan river. In Luke 3:21-22, Luke records this event. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:29, that those who trust in the name of Jesus are predestined to become like Jesus Christ. That those who asked for forgiveness will be saved, and that those who are saved will be secure in that salvation, and that those that are secure will always be secure, and that they will go on to glory and they will be just as precious to God as Jesus was.

The Bible says that Jesus is the firstborn among many sons and daughters, that Jesus is the original, but that all of God’s children will be like Jesus and there’s nothing you can do to stop it…there is no amount of sin, no amount of bad decisions, no amount of past guilt that can keep you from glory.

However, there is something in life that can keep you from glory. It’s not sin, it’s not suicide, the only thing that can keep you from Heaven to refuse to accept Christ.

Every service I give what is called an invitation.

Do you know what I’m doing?

Well, for those that are already saved I am inviting them to fulfill their destiny and to become more like Jesus Christ. For those that are lost, I am inviting them to trust in Jesus as their salvation from sin and judgement.

To deny that invitation to follow Christ is the only thing that will keep you on the path to Hell. But, accepting that invitation means to accept the invitation to life. It means to trust in that God-given, virgin born, gift that was given in the obscure town of Nazareth to the virgin Mary. For the Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Not maybe, not sometimes, but that you will. It’s a fact. It is something that God has promised.

And what do the prophets say about what God has promised?

Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son on man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

1 Samuel 15:29, “the Strength of Israel will not lie or relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”

Malachi 3:6, “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

1 Kings 8:56, “There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.”

And it’s not just Scripture that will testify to this. I will testify to this, that God is faithful.

And it’s not just a preacher that will testify to this. These other saints who have lived through trials and the pains of life that will testify that the salvation of God is always sure. That there is no situation, no sin, no guilt, no shame, that God will not erase if you will simply trust in His promises.

The heart of the least of these…the one that says, “How could God possibly think of me?” is exactly the kind of heart that finds itself in middle of God’s grace.

II. The Principle of Unexplainable Grace

Luke 1:29–33 NKJV

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

When v. 29 says that Mary was “troubled”, it literally means that she was confused or perplexed.

Now, Luke the doctor and historian is writing this account to a man named Theophilus. When Theophilus reads this…he can see Mary’s mind racing, heart pounding, and nothing can come to her lips because she is now speechless.

Then the Bible says that Mary will call His name Jesus. The name Jesus means “Jehova Saves”. The word Christ means Messiah. So, unfortunately, Christ isn’t His last name, it’s His title…Messiah.

It says that He will be great and that His kingdom will be a kingdom to which there is no end.

Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

When it says that the government will be upon His shoulders, it means that He will rule…when it says that His name is “Mighty God and Everlasting Father” that means that His reign will be supreme and His reign will be eternal.

Relation

Now, the name “Wonderful” found in Isaiah 9 means “full of wonder.” That means that there is no explanation for His miraculous existence, salvation, or rule. There is no explanation of His grace.

Here’s what Charles Spurgeon said about the grace and might of God.

“As a gnat might seek to drink in the ocean, so a finite creature might seek to comprehend the eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp him, he could not be infinite; if we could understand him, then he would not be divine.”

Some want to have all the answers, some want to explain the grace of God, but the problem is that God’s grace is simply unexplainable.

But while God’s grace is unexplainable, it’s not unattainable.

Application

Think of the text here…the angel has come to Mary and announced that she will bear a Son, and that His name will be “Jehova Saves.” That means that she is going to conceive and give birth to God’s Son, the Messiah and the payment for all sin for all of time.

Well, that Son of the Most High God had to have some place to grow…it was in the womb of the virgin Mary.

In your life, the womb of faith is the starting ground of all salvation. In the same way, for the Christian, if you want more faith, if you want more trust, there has to be somewhere inside of you that gives room for that trust and dependency on God to grow.

The Issue of Tithing

Do you think God wants you to tithe because He needs your money? No, friend, He wants you to tithe and to give generously so that you can learn to depend on Him. Much like the woman who gave her last two cents in obedience to God.

Luke 21:3 NKJV

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all;

The Issue of Prayer

Do you think that God wants you to pray because He doesn’t know what you’re going through? No…He wants you to pray to have fellowship with you.

He knows that if He can get you to fellowship with Him in prayer then He can apply that unexplainable grace to your life.

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Cor 12:9-10

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NKJV

And He (Jesus) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

That grace of God is applied to the heart of the Apostle Paul through the ministry of prayer!

The Issue of Fellowship

Now, some get the idea that a church can’t function without them. But friend, you are not nearly the blessing to the church as the church is a blessing to you.

This church was here before you got here, and, if the Lord wills, it will be here when you’re gone. You are not the foundation, you are not the cornerstone…Christ is. And if you are the foundation or the cornerstone, then we don’t have a church, we have a cult.

However, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t value you, that doesn’t mean membership and service in the local church isn’t important…it’s actually necessary.

When Satan wants to pick off the sheep of God, the first thing he is going to do is try and isolate you from the church. If he can get you to believe that you don’t need the church then he can get you to believe almost anything.

Before you know it, you’re far from God. And what does that devil start to say next… “Ha ha man, you can’t go back! They’ll never accept you. They’ll be asking where you’ve been and then they’ll know you’ve just been lazy. You don’t have an excuse, they’re going to see right through anything you tell them!”

I just want to say to that person, maybe even someone watching this live stream, Come on back, we’re here, and we’re ready for you. Any other thing that you can be told is a lie from Hell. We love you, and we want you to fellowship with us here in our church where you belong.

So, there is the principle of the Least of These, The principle of God’s unexplainable grace…

III. The Principle of Unconditional Surrender

Luke 1:34–37 NKJV

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Do you know what God is telling Mary in v. 36-37?

If I can open the womb of a woman past child bearing years, I can form a child in the womb of a virgin.

Look at Mary’s response…

Luke 1:38 NKJV

Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

No stipulations, no requirements, no what if’s…just unconditional surrender.

You didn’t know that young Mary was a theologian did you?

In Luke 1:46-55, Mary sings a song…not of pride or arrogance, but of unconditional surrender and sheer wonder concerning the unexplainable grace of God.

Luke 1:46–55 NKJV

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

v. 47 shows us that Mary was already a believe before she ever recieved that promise.

v. 48 shows us that God considers the least of these.

and v. 50 shows us that the mercy and the grace of God is unexplainable but so very attainable.

Mary sang this song of surrender and wonder to a God that she loved.

Conclusion

1. Are you the “least of these” this morning?

Let me ask you a question.

If you were to stand before God in heaven today, and He were to ask you why He should let you in, what would you say?

If you say anything other than, “I have confessed Jesus as my Lord”, then you will not be accepted.

If you need to Surrender to Jesus as Lord today, then pray this right where you are.

“Dear God,

I know that Jesus came to save the world. I know that He died on the cross. I know that you love me. Your word says that if I trust in Jesus as Lord, I can be saved. I renounce all sin in my life. I don’t have my own definition of getting into heaven…I don’t have my own definition good and evil…I don’t have my own definition of truth…I am accepting yours. Will you save me, Lord?”

If you prayed that, and if you will pray that, the Bible says that God is faithful and just to forgive those who confess their sins.

2. Do you need God’s grace in your life? Surrender to Him.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Come to the feet of Jesus.

You, if you’re already a Christian, pray in your heart like this,

“Father,

I come to kneel before Your throne. I am sorry for my disobedience, my pride, and my apathy. I am boldly approaching you for help today. Help me Lord, I need you.”

Whatever your situation is today, whatever thing in your life needs to be surrendered, I pray that you will surrender it today.