[0:00] Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Luke chapter 1 and verse 26. Luke chapter 1 and verse 26. And I want to read to you the story of Mary and the Virgin Mary and what God's doing in her life.
[0:13] We're just going to wander our way through this passage of Scripture for a few minutes. I am so excited that you get to hear all those languages. I travel all over the world. I get to hear people singing in those languages, people getting saved, and God is doing a great work all around the world.
[0:29] Well, Christmas was about him sending Jesus to be born here, to die for us, and then for us to take that message around the world. And if you're a part of Vision, you have had a lot to do with that.
[0:43] Look if you would in Luke chapter 1 and verse 26. And just keep your Bible open. If you can't see your Bibles, they'll up the lights a little bit maybe. Luke chapter 1 and verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
[0:58] To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. God, I want this to bless your people.
[1:12] And I want them to be so grateful to you. And I want them to see the greatness of what you did. And I want them to see who the focus is on. And God, I just pray you'd make these Scriptures come alive in our hearts tonight.
[1:22] And God, we thank you for Jesus. Jesus, we thank you for giving your life. Holy Spirit, we thank you that you have dealt with us and sought us out. And we just give you praise and honor and glory for all that you do.
[1:34] In Jesus' precious name, amen. So if you notice in Luke 1, 26 and 27 so far, we have an angel named Gabriel in verse 26. And he is sent by God.
[1:44] He's not on a mission on his own. He's sent by God. And he's sent to a virgin, a lady who's never had any sexual intercourse. That's going to be important because this baby that will be born will not be born normally.
[1:56] This baby is the child of God. It is a miraculous thing. It's an unheard of thing that this would happen. But that's exactly what God is going to do. And so he comes to this virgin.
[2:07] That's not hard for people to understand why you give a lot of special attention to her. Because, buddy, I mean, she is like the star of the story if you don't understand the whole story. But if you were to ask Mary, hey, Mary, tell me how you felt and tell me what's going on, you'd find it written in these pages right here.
[2:24] In Luke 1 and verse 28, look what it says. We're going to say this one passage. Take your ink pen and be ready to underline some things. The angel came unto her and said, hell, hey, you are highly favored.
[2:36] You need to underline that in your Bible. So underline this. She has no idea this is about to happen. This is just a young girl that's on her way to getting married. As far as she knows, her marriage is just around the corner.
[2:48] And all of a sudden, an angel shows up to her. And when the angel came to her, he said, hey, you have big blessings. Big stuff's happening to you. You are highly favored.
[2:59] You need to underline that. That doesn't mean she was good. That means she was getting something good given to her. That doesn't mean she earned it. It's like grace. We don't earn that. God gives it to us.
[3:09] So it says, hail thou that are highly favored. Then underline this. The Lord is with you. God is about to do something. Then it says, blessed art thou among women. That phrase is often used.
[3:21] But you do know what that means, don't you? Of all the women on all the planet, they've all been waiting for this very special day. Because all the way back in the book of Genesis, when man first sinned, God said, I am going to send this Messiah.
[3:35] It's not stated exactly that way the first time. It's the seed. But I'm going to give you a man child. This man will be God in human flesh. And he will stomp the head of Satan. And so even in the very beginning in the book of Genesis, they were waiting for that man.
[3:49] And when Eve has her first child, she's like, I got a man from the Lord hoping that would be the one. And now 4,000 years have gone by. And any Jewish girl that knew and believed the scriptures would have thought, I wish that could happen.
[4:01] And all of a sudden, Mary is the girl. She is blessed. She has got the blessings of God on her above all. Verse 29. She's been chosen. She's been picked.
[4:12] She's been allowed. She's been favored. She's received grace. Verse 29. And when she saw him, the angel, she was troubled at the saying. And cast in her mind, what manner of salutation should this be?
[4:23] She didn't go, well, I guess you got that one right. I mean, I expected that. I am the best woman on the planet. I knew you was coming my way. There's no everybody like me. I'm the only one that could be the virgin. That's not what she thought.
[4:34] What she thought, if you read your Bible is, she said, now how in the world could this be? What in the world is going on here? Why is an angel talking to me? How is this about to happen? That's what she's saying.
[4:45] In verse 30, the angel said unto her, fear not, Mary. For you have found favor with God. Mary, don't be afraid.
[4:55] God has chosen to do something big with you. You have been picked, selected, chosen, favored, graced by God to do something big.
[5:07] Verse 31. You shall conceive. Behold, you shall conceive in thy womb, in your womb, and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
[5:17] He shall be great. Now, I want you to underline and put a circle around verse 32. He shall be great.
[5:28] He shall be great. Who? This baby. Who? This person that is being born. This person who will grow up. This person who will die on a cross.
[5:39] This person. He shall be great. I think if you were to ask Mary, Mary, I guess you consider yourself famous and you consider yourself, no, no, no, I'm not great.
[5:50] I was allowed to be the doorway through which this great one entered. Verse 32. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest.
[6:00] Underline that. The son of the highest. He is the son of God. Mary is not the mother of God. That's not a Bible term. He is the son of the highest.
[6:12] And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David. This very special baby that's about to be born. It's about to come into the world. He is going to get the throne of David.
[6:23] That's something that's been being talked about all the way back from the days of King David. David's the great king. David's the first king after God's heart. And David's the king that's got in charge of the nation of Israel, God's people.
[6:35] And God's got big plans. Then Solomon messes up and all the others mess up and the kingdom messes up. And God has made promises. And it will be Jesus who sits on that throne. Verse 33.
[6:46] And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel. Huh. How could this happen? How could I be the mother of a baby?
[6:58] How could this happen? Because you look at verse 34. She said how shall this be? Seeing I know not a man. Well I've never had relations with a man. I've not done anything to get a baby here.
[7:09] I don't think that's possible. How in the world could that happen? Verse 35. And the angel answered and said unto her. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.
[7:20] And the power of the highest shall oversathe thee. Therefore shall that thing, holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. If you have your Bible open in verse 35 you need to underline this.
[7:32] It's the Holy Ghost. It's not Mary. It's the Holy Ghost of God. Now who's the Holy Ghost? The Holy Spirit. Who is that? He's the third person of the Trinity. The third person of the Godhead.
[7:42] You got God the Father. God the Son. And God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Ghost. And here's what God's doing. God has a plan. God's plan is to rescue man from sin. Man, God's plan is to give man new life.
[7:53] And to do that, the Holy Ghost is going to come upon her. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. And underline this. And the power of the highest.
[8:04] God's power will be over you. That's how you're going to have this baby. Now what more do we know? Not a thing. But that's what the Bible said. The Holy Ghost came on her. The power of the holiest.
[8:15] God worked a miracle. And so this baby that would be born was the Son of God. And he was to be called the Son of God. Now you know from this morning.
[8:27] And you know because you've studied the Bible. And you know because you are Bible students and you love Jesus. You know that that wasn't his beginning. You know that he had begun never. He didn't begin.
[8:38] And he doesn't end. He has no beginning. And he has no ending. He is from eternity past into eternity future. His name is I Am. He claims that very clearly in the New Testament as we saw today.
[8:51] Verse 36. She said behold Mary your cousin Elizabeth. She's got a child in her old age. And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. Now you're not going to believe this Mary.
[9:03] Not only are you going to get pregnant. But look at it. Your cousin. She has conceived a child in her old age. And she's six months pregnant now. And remember everyone knew that she was barren.
[9:14] And this is the important thing to underline in verse 37. For with God nothing shall be impossible. You know why nothing is impossible with God? Because he does everything.
[9:25] Because he is all powerful. All knowing. All present. He is God. And so the angel says to her. I know you're probably wondering how you're going to get pregnant. Well I'll give you another story. At the same time your aunt who couldn't have babies.
[9:37] Or your cousin who couldn't have babies. She's having a baby. So let me just give you a hint. God can do anything God wants to do. For with God nothing shall be impossible. Verse 38. Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord.
[9:51] Be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. I really wish you to underline in verse 38. This is our attitude. Or should be our attitude. Underline in verse 38.
[10:01] It says behold the handmaid of the Lord. And this write. If you want to write beside handmaid. Write servant. Handmaid. That's the maid. That's at the hand of the girl. That's the person.
[10:12] It's like the servant. The slave in the room. And the master only has to move his hand. And that servant comes running. It's like the waiter in those really high price expensive restaurants. Where you know you breathe and they come running.
[10:23] That's the handmaid of the Lord. In other words she said. Whatever God wants to do to me. God can do to me. I'm just his servant. I'm just his servant.
[10:34] And he said let it be done. Whatever he wants. Verse 38. Whatever he wants. Let that be done. You know that ought to be my attitude. It ought to be my attitude that whatever God wants. That's what I want.
[10:45] I want to trust God. This may be the year he takes me home. This may be the year something bad happens in your family. This may be the year that things don't work out the way you were expecting them. This may be the year of great shocks that are going to come upon you.
[10:57] Well nobody ever had a greater shock than Mary. Mary's just a girl over getting all of her stuff ready because she's soon going to be moving in with her husband. She's looking forward to it. That's going to be an exciting deal. And all of a sudden an angel walks in the room and says you're about to have a baby.
[11:08] And Mary goes do what? I have not been with a guy. Well don't worry. This is something you ain't never heard of. And tells her the story. And when she hears all that the angel says her only answer is not my will but yours. Whatever you want God that's what I want to happen.
[11:21] Verse 39. And Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste in the city of Judah. And entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted as she greets Elizabeth.
[11:33] And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. That's a wild and crazy thing.
[11:44] Mary walks in. Mary's carrying Jesus. John the Baptist is now six months old in the womb of his mother. She walks in. John the Baptist jumps. The woman is filled with the Holy Ghost.
[11:54] Now the Holy Ghost is about to speak through her. That's what's happening with this filling of the Holy Ghost. What she's about to say. These aren't her words. This is God speaking. Verse 42. Luke's a New Testament historian.
[12:05] And he writes down in verse 42. And she spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women. And blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Wow. You are blessed.
[12:18] And God blessed the fruit of your womb. God, I want something to happen there. And then she says in verse 43. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
[12:30] How in the world could you be so blessed in your coming to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.
[12:43] Verse 45. And blessed is she that believed. For there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. You're going to be blessed. She believed.
[12:55] Would you underline in verse 45, blessed and believed? She is going to be blessed. She believed. Now that the Holy Spirit has quit speaking, Mary begins to speak in verse 46, if you would.
[13:07] In verse 46. And Mary said, Wow. My soul doth magnify the Lord. She didn't even think to herself. You ought to underline that in verse 46.
[13:18] She never even crosses her mind to say, Wow. Am I not lucky? She's like, Man. Can you believe God's doing this? Let's worship God. Let's lift up the name of God.
[13:29] My soul doth magnify the Lord. Verse 47. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Would you underline God my Savior?
[13:40] Mary needed saving. Could I get an amen there? For there is none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And Mary's like, I can't believe this is happening to me.
[13:53] Glory to God. And then she rejoiced in God her Savior. And this is what she says about herself in verse 48. He hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden.
[14:05] She said, Well, I didn't deserve it. But God saw me in my low condition. God saw me as a servant. God saw me as somebody low down on the social structure. I'm a nobody, but God noticed me.
[14:18] That's your testimony if you're born again. If you're born again, your testimony is that you were in sin. Your testimony is that you were living wrong. Your testimony is that you were a long way from God. And when you were a long way off, he noticed you.
[14:29] And he sent you the gospel. He's letting you hear it so you can be saved. Verse 48. He regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
[14:41] People are going to say, Boy, she was blessed. Boy, God was good to her. God was good to Mary. And we still say that today. In verse 49. Look at what she says. For he that is mighty, God, in other words, has done to me great things.
[14:58] Would you underline that? I say all this because sometimes you elevate Mary and you don't see Jesus. And you got this Madonna in your head. And you got this wrong worship here.
[15:09] She knew who was doing it. It was God doing it. She said, hath done to me great things. I didn't do them. He did them. But with some Christians, some people that I think are born again and maybe just mistaken, they tend to act like they did something great in their salvation.
[15:27] They tend to get the attitude. Can you check me out? I sure changed my life. I turned over a new leaf. Am I not something? But Mary knew that wasn't what happened. Mary knew that all was what God did. And if you're truly born again, you ought to catch on.
[15:39] You didn't change you. You didn't make you. You didn't lift yourself up. It's what he did when he saw you in your lost condition. Look at verse 50. If you don't get it, she just keeps saying it.
[15:50] For his mercy is on them that fear him. God reaches out and shows his mercy. Verse 51. He hath showed strength with his arm. He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
[16:03] There were other people that would have probably said, I deserve that privilege. I should be the one that gets lifted up. I should be the one that's magnified. Mary said, not me. I'm a low-down person. She said, but God in his strength gave a chance to the guy who was nothing.
[16:17] Verse 52. He hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree. You know, if you're really good, you can't go to heaven. Did you know that? Did you know good people can't go to heaven?
[16:28] And in our part of the world, we tend to believe I'm a good guy. I pay my bills and I do good things and everybody knows me. And most of us tend to think I'm a lot better than most people. That puts you up here in that mighty group.
[16:40] But Mary was down here in the lowly group. The mighty group would say, I deserve it. We would say, I don't deserve it. They would say, I'm in good shape. And we would say, I was in bad shape when you found me.
[16:51] And he came to get me. Verse 53. He hath filled the hungry with good things. You should be hungry today. You should know you need him.
[17:02] You should know that without God, you can't do things. It is the God of the universe and we need him. And look here. And he sent the rich away empty. Look at it. And the rich he has sent empty away.
[17:15] In other words, God looks at him and says, you hungry? I'll feed you. You needy? I'll give to you. You sick? I'll heal you. You're high and mighty. You don't need anything.
[17:25] You've already had a lot to eat. You don't need God. No help for you. But Mary wasn't that way. I hope you're not that way. Verse 54. He hath helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy.
[17:39] Would you want to lie? In remembrance of his mercy. If there's a story among all true believers, it is this. I don't deserve it. But he saved me by his grace.
[17:50] He offered that grace to you, by the way. Every person in his room, he wants every person everywhere in the world to be saved. And he offers that to you. But you're going to have to come to him knowing you need mercy. Some of us says, I don't need mercy.
[18:02] I haven't done anything wrong. I don't need any help. I'm not sick. I don't need any money. I'm not poor. I'm in good shape. And you don't need mercy like that. But if you're a lost person or if you're a Christian, you ought to realize, boy, I needed God.
[18:16] It was God who did a work in my life. So I think you have had several big lessons here from Mary. She gives you big lessons.
[18:27] And here's some lessons just to remember before you go home. He blessed her. He blesses you. You know why we sing praises? Because we don't deserve it.
[18:37] We're like, we know you did it all. We lift you up. We magnify you. We brag on you because you did it all. We know he did great things to us. We know he did great things to us.
[18:50] And if you're here and you're like, I'm not sure I'd go to heaven if I died. I'm not sure I'm saved. You say, I don't even know if I could fix my own life. He'd say, well, you can't, but I can. If you'd let me, I'd change your life and I'd give you that.
[19:01] You say, I think maybe I'm too far gone. I think maybe my life is too far separated from God. I think I've gone off and sinned too far. And the angel would say, no, with God, nothing shall be impossible.
[19:13] With God, nothing shall be impossible. And so it comes down to this. Will you believe? Will you trust him in what he's done on the cross of Calvary? You're going to go celebrate Christmas. I mean, you're going to be in tomorrow and Tuesday and soon it'll all be over.
[19:29] But you know, it's really not about the gifts. It's really not about this. Do you know Jesus? Do you know him? Have you trusted him? Have you put your faith in him? And if you haven't, you can tonight. Do you know him?