Sunday, December 23rd, 2018 - AM - Our Magnified Messiah (Lk. 1:46-56)

Pre-Introduction:

At this time, we invite any children who desire to join my dear wife for a children’s service to follow her where you can hear a wonderful bible lesson and sing some uplifting songs about Jesus.

For those joining us online, you’re listening to the Services of the Broomfield Baptist Church. This is the Pastor bringing the Sunday Morning message entitled __________. We invite you to follow along with us in your Bible in the Gospel of Luke, chapter one, and verses forty-six through fifty-six.

For our guests and church family present here today, In about 35mins or so, I’m going to ask you to do something. I’ll be asking you to make a decision based on the information in today’s sermon. At the end of the service, I’ll invite you to come and kneel front as a sign of God working in your life.

Introduction:

[Start Low]

Luke 1:50 KJV 1900

And his mercy is on them that fear him From generation to generation.

Illustration: Taking Up the Cause of the Underdog...

Quote - “BIRDS sing at dawn and sunrise. It was fitting that the last strains of Old Testament psalmody should prelude the birth of Jesus.” ~ Alexander MacLaren

This doxology is a hymn of praise unto the Lord. It reminds us today that the birth of Jesus is about far more than gifts, trees, myths like Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty, and my personal favorite, the Grinch. The Christmas season is about our relationship with the Lord and about learning to celebrate His glory and His goodness. [Alan Carr, “Celebrate the Lord (Luke 1:46–55),” in The Sermon Notebook: New Testament (Lenoir, NC: Alan Carr, 2015), 1222.]

Main Thought: God is the Savior of any who humbly trust Him, realizing that there is no help without His divine intervention.

Sub-introduction:

“The Magnificat,” as the song is called, consists almost entirely of Old Testament allusions and quotations. The same is true of the songs of Zechariah and Simeon (vv. 1:68–79; 2:29–32). Mary’s song has similarities to Hannah’s song (1 Sam. 2:1–10). [BKC]

In particular there are several resemblances to the song of Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1–10). But there is a difference in tone. Hannah’s song is a shout of triumph in the face of her enemies; Mary’s a humble contemplation of the mercies of God. [Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 92.]

The relation of Mary’s Song to its scriptural precedents has long been observed. Of particular interest are other hymns of praise sung in response to God’s gracious and powerful intervention on behalf of his people—including those of Moses (Exod 15:1–18), Miriam (Exod 15:19–21), Deborah (Judg 5:1–31), Asaph (1 Chr 16:8–36), Judith (Jdt 16:1–17), and especially Hannah (1 Sam 2:1–10). [Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 101.]

Wonder and praise, humility and exultation, adoration and congratulation—these colors chase one another in the heart of this jewel. [F. B. Meyer, Through the Bible Day by Day: A Devotional Commentary, vol. 5 (Philadelphia: American Sunday-School Union, 1914–1918), 113.]

Body:

I. Praise to MY Personal Savior (Lk. 1:46-50)

A. Getting Personal with God (Lk. 1:46-47)

Luke 1:46 KJV 1900

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

1. The Praise of Her Mouth - “Mary Said” (v. 46a)

Note- Mary's whole being is involved in her praise: Body, Soul & Spirit; physically, mentally & emotionally she engages in adoration of her Savior.

2. Praise from Her Soul - Magnifies the Lord (v. 46b)

Luke 1:46 KJV 1900

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

"To magnify means to make great, and then to extol, to praise, to celebrate. It does not mean here strictly to make great, but to increase in our estimation—that is, to praise or extol. See Ps. 34:3; 2 Sa. 7:26." [Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Luke & John, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 9–10.]

Note - Magnify - Cf. Lk. Lk. 1:46; Acts 5:13; 10:46; 19:17; Php. 1:20; Enlarge - Mt. 23:5; Shewed...great - Lk. 1:58; Be enlarged - 2 Cor. 10:15

As Jehovah had promised to make Abraham’s name great (Gen. 12:1-3, esp. v. 2), so now Mary makes the name of the Lord greatSee also Ps. 33:4; Ps. 34:1-3; Ps. 40:16- 17 (w/Ps. 69:5); Ps. 68:31; 103:1; 137:2; Mic. 5:4; Joel 2:20-21; Mal. 1:5; Eze. 38:23; Jer. 38:14

3. Praise in Her Spirit - Rejoices in Her Savior (v. 47)

Luke 1:47 KJV 1900

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

~ Redeemed by God - “my Savior”

Romanists may declare that she was born without inbred sin and therefore did not need a Redeemer, but she herself says, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” Notice those last three words, God my Saviour! Mary, then, lovely as she was; beautiful in character, perhaps beyond any other young woman of her day, yet realized that in herself she was a sinner who needed a Saviour, and she found that Saviour in God Himself. [H. A. Ironside, Addresses on the Gospel of Luke. (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1947), 43.]

B. God Gets Personal with Us (Lk. 1:48)

Luke 1:48 KJV 1900

For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

1. Regarded by God - “Thou God Seest Me” (v. 48a)

Note - As poor Hagar had found Him to be “El Roy” “Thou God seest me...” (Gen. 16:13)

2. Rewarded by God - Call Me Blessed (v. 48b)

Luke 1:48 KJV 1900

For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

She would not be one who conferred blessings but one who would be blessed. [William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1372.]

As an Old Testament believer, Mary’s hope of salvation rested in God and His promises. Her hope was not in her own ability to make herself acceptable to God. [Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Lk 1:46.]

1 Corinthians 1:26–28 KJV 1900

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

C. Who Is This Lord of Glory? (Lk. 1:49-50)

Luke 1:49 KJV 1900

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; And holy is his name.

1. He Is Omnipotent - Mighty hath done...great (v. 49a)

2. He Is Holy - His Name (v. 49b)

3. He Is Everlastingly Merciful - to them that fear Him (v. 50)

Luke 1:50 KJV 1900

And his mercy is on them that fear him From generation to generation.

Note - The everlasting mercy of the Lord is central to her praise.

Note - Dt. 7:9 reminds us that God is faithful to keep His covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.

Application:

The fullness of the Spirit should lead to joyful praise in our lives (Eph. 5:18–20), and so should the fullness of the Word (Col. 3:16–17). [Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 173.]

Transition: Mary’s Lord was a personal Savior to her, now consider:

II. Praise to Our MERCIFUL God (Lk. 1:51-56)

A. The Practice of God’s Mercy in a Fallen, Sinful World (Lk. 1:51-53)

The corporate implications of God’s activity now come into full view—as if the camera, previously focused more narrowly on Mary, has suddenly been pulled back to reveal the company of all Israel of which she is a part. Similarly, there are small hints that Israel is itself part of the larger company of all humanity who is the object of God’s mercy. [Green, 104.]

1. God’s Mercy to the Helpless (Lk. 1:51)

Luke 1:51 KJV 1900

He hath shewed strength with his arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

Note - For the “Arm of the LORD” remember Is. 53:1ff

A remark of Whitby on this expression is worth notice. “God’s great power is represented by His finger,—His greater by His hand,—His greatest by His arm. The production of lice was by the finger of God. Exod. 8:19;—His other miracles in Egypt were wrought by His hand: Exod. 3:20;—the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, by His arm. Exod. 15:6.” [J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke, vol. 1 (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1879), 39.]

God scatters the proud who are self-sufficient. Brown writes, “The proud look down on others because they do not look up to God, and so, in the Bible, the proud are constantly presented as God’s enemies (Isa 13:11).”19 Spicq avers, “Their understanding and their will are oriented against God; they usurp the divine prerogatives.”20 They do not have any sense of divine transcendence and scorn both God’s divine sovereignty and the needs of other humans because of their exaggerated opinions of themselves. [19 Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, 337.] [20 Ceslas Spicq, “ὑπερηφανία, ὑπερήφανος,” TLNT, 3:394.] [David E. Garland, Luke, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 95.]

2. God’s Mercy to the Humble (Lk. 1:52)

Luke 1:52 KJV 1900

He hath put down the mighty from their seats, And exalted them of low degree.

Note - For the Lord’s Mercy, consider Lam. 3:22-23; Mic. 7:18

Note - Is. 57:15 assures us that our transcendent God, who inhabits eternity, and whose name is Holy, dwelling in the high and holy place, also dwells with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and the heart of the contrite ones.

Mary could speak from experience. God had not chosen one of the upper-class or elite women of the day. He had chosen her, a humble, though pure, young woman from the back country of Galilee. [David H. Sorenson, Understanding the Bible, An Independent Baptist Commentary - Matthew through Luke, vol. 8, Understanding the Bible, An Independent Baptist Commentary (Northstar Ministries, 2007), 557.]

Kodell comments: To be “mighty” here means to be self-sufficient, in no need of salvation. God raises the lowly, but the mighty do not recognize their lowliness; they desire to raise themselves up. This spirit of self-exaltation is the key to sinfulness for Luke. [23] The same verb “put down” (καθεῖλεν) appears in 23:53 (see also Acts 13:29) when Joseph of Arimathea takes Jesus down from the cross. The contrast between the mighty being taken down from their thrones is striking. Jesus is taken down as “King of the Jews” from a throne of degradation only to be exalted to an eternal throne because of his obedience. [23 Jerome Kodell, “Luke’s Theology of the Death of Jesus,” in Sin, Salvation, and the Spirit (ed. D. Durkin; Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1979), 226.] [Garland, 96.]

Andrew Murray gave a near-perfect definition of humility: Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble. The humble person is not one who thinks meanly of himself, he simply does not think of himself at all [Michael P. Green, ed., Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).]

3. God’s Mercy to the Hungry (Lk. 1:53)

Luke 1:53 KJV 1900

He hath filled the hungry with good things; And the rich he hath sent empty away.

Illustration: Three Glasses- Full, Empty, Empty & Broken

Full = No Room for God

Empty = Room for God, but a Dead-end as nothing is shared

Empty & Broken = Reliant on God for what is received, but constantly leaking His blessings out on others

Scripture speaks of His riches in four different ways: we read of the riches of His mercy, the riches of His grace, the riches of His love, and the riches of His glory. All these are for those who come to Him acknowledging their poverty and need, and who are ready to receive at His hand the bounty which He delights to bestow. [Ironside, 45.]

Application:

Karl Marx considered religion the opiate of the people, but it is clear that he had not paid proper attention to Mary’s speech, which is not just personal but deals with theology, social ethics, politics and economics [Tokunboh Adeyemo, Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya; Grand Rapids, MI: WordAlive Publishers; Zondervan, 2006), 1233.]

Illustration:

The Most With The Least

I saw him sitting in his door,

trembling as old men do;

His house was old, his barn was old,

and yet his eyes seemed new.

His eyes had seen three times

my years, and kept a twinkle still,

Though they had looked at birth and

death and three graves up a hill.

“I will sit with you,” I said, “and

you will make me wise;

Tell me how you have kept the joy

still burning in your eyes.”

Then, like an old-time orator,

impressively he arose.

“I make the most of all that comes,

and the least of all that goes.”

The jingling rhythm of his words

echoed as old songs do;

Yet this had kept his eyes alight

till he was ninety-two.

—Sunshine Magazine

[Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 947.]

B. The Prophecy of God’s Mercy to Israel (Lk. 1:54-56)

1. God’s Mercy Means Help (Lk. 1:54)

Luke 1:54 KJV 1900

He hath holpen his servant Israel, In remembrance of his mercy;

Note - “In remembrance” is an infinitive (used Hebraistically), that is, “remembering” [See Weymouth NT]. Hence:

“He has helped His slave Israel, remembering His mercy (as He spake to our fathers) to Abraham, and to his seed into the ages.” [Rough Personal Translation, CJW]

2. God’s Mercy Is According to His Past Promises (v. 55a)

Luke 1:55 KJV 1900

As he spake to our fathers, To Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Note - Mary had verified the Prophecy of Gabriel to be true through the Prophesying of Elizabeth, and trusted wholeheartedly that God was bringing to pass the precious promises of ages gone by. Through her would come the Seed of Abraham to bless all the families of the earth with Redemption!

May I remind you that the Lord still keeps His promises? He will never allow anything He has promised to do go undone, Rom. 4:21! That is why He can be trusted in every situation in life. Whether it be for salvation, 2 Tim. 1:12, or for daily provision, Phil. 4:19. God will do what He has said He will do. Therefore, learn to trust Him and learn to praise Him for His goodness, even if the answer has not yet been seen! If there is one thing we can be sure of this morning, it is that we can depend on the Lord, He will never let one of His promises fall to the ground—2 Pet. 3:9. [Carr, 1224.]

3. God’s Mercy Is For Ever (v. 55b)

Luke 1:55 KJV 1900

As he spake to our fathers, To Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Coleridge asserts, “Mary finds her way to faith because she reads the signs of the past aright.”24 The same will be true of Zechariah, who also interprets the birth of his son in terms of the promises to David (1:69) and Abraham (1:72–73). The covenant with Abraham is a reminder that God’s mercy will extend not only to every generation but to all people. [24 Coleridge, The Birth of the Lukan Narrative, 93.] [Garland, 96.]

Application:

Mary saw in her experience the earnest of the fulfilment of God’s promises also to His own whose land was in the occupation of alien overlords and who groaned as well under the burdens laid on them by religious leaders with their weight of tradition. Black as things might look, the great Light was about to appear bringing deliverance to Abraham and his descendants forever (55). [F. F. Bruce, New International Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), 1189.]

Conclusion:

A. Call to Act/Summary of Message/Application:

Let us mark, lastly, the firm grasp which the Virgin Mary had of Bible promises. ...These words show clearly that she remembered the old promise made to Abraham, “In thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” And it is evident that in the approaching birth of her Son she regarded this promise as about to be fulfilled. Let us learn from this holy woman’s example, to lay firm hold on Bible promises. It is of the deepest importance to our peace to do so. Promises are, in fact, the manna that we should daily eat, and the water that we should daily drink, as we travel through the wilderness of this world. We see not yet all things put under us. We see not Christ, and heaven, and the book of life and the mansions prepared for us. We walk by faith, and this faith leans on promises. But on those promises we may lean confidently. They will bear all the weight we can lay on them. We shall find one day, like the Virgin Mary, that God keeps His word, and that what He has spoken, so He will always in due time perform. [Ryle, 38.]

B. Gospel Invitation:

In just a moment, we are going to have an invitation for you to respond to what you've heard about the Lord today. Friend, God loves you, but it's not okay for you to leave here today without realizing how much trouble you might be in with God because of your sins if you have never believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Why don't you change your mind toward Him? His love sent Jesus Christ, God's only Son, to die on the cross for all your sins. Won't you come and ask Jesus to come into your life and save you?

Friend, if God’s Word has shown you something about yourself, an area where you might be weak in faith, or something that He is wanting you to obey Him in, or just simply if the Lord is working in your life right now, your greatest need is to be right with Him. While the piano plays, don’t wait another moment. Now is the time to acknowledge that God is moving toward you, and you are moving toward Him. Step out, and come and kneel at the front somewhere, pray to God, and tell Him what’s on your heart. If you need to be saved, come and we’ll have someone, men with men and ladies with ladies, show you from the Bible how you can be saved today. If you would step out and decide to follow Jesus today, then why not come and tell Him so?