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The First Noel Mary Did Say (Luke 1:46-56)
28 Plays1 year ago
Sunday Message recorded 10 December 2023
by Paster Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church -- Columbus TX
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
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Transcript
The True Meaning of Christmas
00:00:06
Speaker
Wow, praise the Lord. I feel like we've just been honoring Him and adoring Him. That's what Christmas is all about. You know, when you think about it, Jesus left the glories of heaven, the comforts of heaven. Philippians 2 tells us He didn't hold on to God saying, no, I'm going to stay here. He came to this dark and broken world.
00:00:27
Speaker
And I'm so glad he did. Maybe you're wondering, why do you sing so much? We sing out of an overflow of what the Lord has done. So I've enjoyed so much today, worshiping with you. Thank you so much for being here.
Reflections from Psalms
00:00:41
Speaker
I have enjoyed tremendously the children and then Sherri song. Thank you so much. What a blessing. I love the fact that, you know, the Lord is Emmanuel. That name means he's with us.
00:00:52
Speaker
I was looking at Psalm 142 and 143 recently, just the last couple of days actually, and I was praying for you. I was praying for others who will hear this message, maybe live stream, but it says in Psalm 142,
00:01:07
Speaker
says there's none who takes notice of me. There's no refuge remains to me. No one cares for my soul. If that's how you feel when you walked in today, I pray that before you leave today, you'll know there is someone who cares for your soul.
00:01:24
Speaker
You know, there is someone who notices you. There is someone that is like a refuge where you can feel safe. We know him and that's why we sing. It goes on in Psalm 143 to say that there was one man who said, you know, the enemies pursued my soul. He's crushed my life to the ground. He's made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore, my spirit faints within me. My heart within me is appalled.
00:01:51
Speaker
Is that how you feel today? Maybe that's reality for you, but I want you to know that Emmanuel, the God who's with us, he wants to make an incredible difference in your life, even this day. I would like to invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one, verses 46 down through 56.
Mary's Song of Adoration
00:02:13
Speaker
You know, we've enjoyed some beautiful music today, but I got to thinking, how many Christmas songs are there? So I started looking it up, and I mean, the most recent statistic I could find was based on 2019. So there's even more Christmas songs than these, but the number I read was 9,274 songs. Don't worry, we're not gonna sing all of them this morning. So we're gonna let you go.
00:02:40
Speaker
But, you know, the Bible, it also says that, you know, there's someone that we can adore and sing, someone worthy of our praise. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone's counted. There are 200 songs that are found in the Bible. You know, there's 150 songs, but in addition to those, there are 50 more.
00:03:02
Speaker
And out of all of those 200 Psalms, you know there were three women in scripture who sang a solo, just like Sherry sang for us just a few moments ago.
00:03:13
Speaker
Deborah and Hannah and Mary. We're gonna look today at Mary's song of adoration. You know, the Lord had blessed her with the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a miraculous birth. When she gave birth to Jesus, you know, the Holy Spirit placed the Son of God within Mary. And so it's incredible all that she would have to sing about. But she begins this song, you'll hear it in a moment, by saying, my soul magnifies the Lord.
00:03:43
Speaker
You know, she wanted to magnify the Lord. What do you want to magnify this Christmas? I pray that it's Christ. You know, someone has called this song we're about to read the singing gospel. You're going to hear Mary say, Jesus is my savior. And so I thought that was so incredible that she's already adoring Christ even before he was born.
00:04:06
Speaker
Now, typically, we enjoy singing the first Noel, and that song is based on the multitude of angels who sang to the shepherds. And it's okay with me if you want to sing that song and enjoy that song. I love it myself. But Luke actually, sequentially, chronologically placed Mary's Noel slightly before the powerful announcement of the angels.
00:04:31
Speaker
So I thought it was interesting. It's also interesting where that song, The First Noel, began. Of course it began with the multitude of angels singing to those shepherds, but also the words that we sing together originated in Cornwall County, England in the 13th and 14th centuries. They had something called miracle plays, sort of like little mini nativity scenes that would be all up and down the streets of that county in England.
The First Noel and Prophecies
00:05:00
Speaker
But one of those miracle plays was on the birth of Christ. And they say that's where the first Noel originated. But you see, the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, man, it was incredible how many times it was promised in the Old Testament before He was actually born. As a matter of fact, scholars have counted over 300 Old Testament prophecies saying someday
00:05:28
Speaker
Someday, Jesus is going to come. In the Old Testament, his role, his title was called Messiah. In the New Testament, his title was called Christ. Some of you may have thought that's his last name, Jesus Christ, but Christ is actually a title. It means the anointed one, the chosen one. This is who all the Jews have been waiting on for such a long time.
00:05:50
Speaker
You know, Isaiah 7, 14, for example, written 700 years before Jesus was born, said he's gonna be born of a virgin. That's exactly what happened in Matthew 1, 22 and 23. Micah said in Micah 5, verse 2, that when the Messiah comes, he's gonna be born in Bethlehem. That's exactly what happened according to Luke 2. If you were to go way back before their time, even to Numbers 24, 17,
00:06:19
Speaker
The Lord moved upon the heart of a man named Balaam and said someday a star is going to rise out of Jacob and it's going to symbolize the birth of a king. That was in Numbers 2417.
00:06:33
Speaker
But I think to myself, why did the Holy Spirit have these words that Mary spoke in adoration and praise of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why did he have those recorded? You know what I think? I think she did it so well. I think the Lord says, I want you to adore my son just like this.
00:06:52
Speaker
And so that's what we're gonna do today. We're gonna read through this passage, and then I'm gonna give you five different things that I think you can do as you adore Jesus Christ this Christmas. Would you stand in honor of God's infallible, inerrant word? It begins in Luke chapter one, verse 46, this way. And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
00:07:21
Speaker
For He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
00:07:38
Speaker
And his mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things. In the rich, he has sent away empty.
00:08:03
Speaker
He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers to Abraham and to his offspring forever. And Mary remained with her, that is with Elizabeth, her relative, about three months in return to her home. Let's go to the father in prayer. Would you pray? Oh Lord, show us how to celebrate Christmas. Show us how to adore Christ. Lord, he's what it's all about.
00:08:29
Speaker
So help us to learn from this praise song. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Thank you, you may be seated. Excuse me.
00:08:40
Speaker
You know, pregnancy cravings are normal. I don't know if when some of you ladies were about to give birth, if you had a pregnancy craving, but I remember my mom saying that she craved pickle sandwiches. They're also hot Cheetos dipped in strawberry yogurt that some ladies say they crave, sauerkraut on peanut butter toast, or my personal favorite being from Tennessee, pulled pork barbecue over vanilla ice cream.
00:09:07
Speaker
That's just not something wrong with that. But here's the thing. What did Mary crave whenever she was pregnant with the Lord Jesus Christ? She craved exalting the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine her relative Elizabeth and Mary were both pregnant. So you have two pregnant ladies under the same roof for three months.
00:09:31
Speaker
But there was joy in their house. There wasn't stress in their house because they both adored Jesus in their hearts. I believe that's how we can have joy this Christmas Eve, tomorrow, Christmas Day. So let me give you five things from this passage that I feel are very practical that we could learn together from Mary's example.
Personalizing Faith and Adoration
00:09:51
Speaker
I believe first her adoration for Christ was biblical. It was very biblical.
00:09:58
Speaker
You know, Mary's song, you may not realize it, but it's so filled with Old Testament, either quotations, fragments of verses, or allusions, like she's referring to something that was written. But what's amazing is when you think about it, oh, I bet Mary had a Bible. Did she have the ESV? Did she have the CSB? Did she have the King James Version? What kind of Bible did Mary have in her hand that would inspire these words? She didn't have a Bible.
00:10:26
Speaker
So what's amazing is she would have really listened when she went to the synagogue and heard them reading from the parchments and reading from Isaiah, the scroll of Isaiah or the scroll of, let's say Habakkuk or something like that. I just think it's incredible that she paid that close of attention. If you'll pay close attention today, the Lord's gonna help you. The Lord's gonna fine tune your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ this Christmas.
00:10:56
Speaker
Do you know that there are over 15 Old Testament references that scholars, when they studied this, slowing it down in very slow motion, looking at all the different phrases. There were all these different verses from, let's say, Genesis, let's say, Psalms, or Job, or Micah, or 1 Samuel, or Habakkuk.
00:11:17
Speaker
Some have said, if you were to look really closely at Hannah's song, whenever she was expecting and carrying Samuel, Hannah and Mary's songs, they really connect. They're not identical by any means, but it makes a lot of Bible scholars wonder, did she hear 1 Samuel read whenever she was at the synagogue?
00:11:40
Speaker
But I believe that Mary listened closely to the reading of the Word of God. Do you listen closely when someone's reading the Word of God? Do you read the Word of God? Every morning, I read whatever amount of scripture that I can. Whenever God speaks, I have my journal there, and I write down what he's saying. But are you listening closely when scripture is being read? But also, I think Mary followed carefully in application of this scripture.
00:12:09
Speaker
You know, if you were to keep going in Luke and go down through Luke chapter two, you'd be amazed how often it says that Joseph and Mary did exactly what the law said they were supposed to do with their baby Jesus. What about us? Are we carefully following, applying the scripture that we're hearing? But then I believe that also she reviewed continuously in memorization the scriptures that she heard.
00:12:37
Speaker
That's the only way to hang on to them. You know, for years I've had scripture memory verses that I would review. And the only way to hang on to verses over a long period of time is you have to review them. And so I have memory cards that I would have, you know, special verses that God would speak to me. Perhaps that could be a part of your new year's revolution or revolution.
00:12:58
Speaker
It could be either one. But your resolution, if you say, Lord, please help me to memorize some verses, that'll be exactly what I need. Or maybe you'd say, Lord, help me just spend time reading your word every single morning as I wake up.
00:13:14
Speaker
Do you know if you were to start in Psalm, in Luke 146, you would see that when she says, my soul magnifies the Lord, there's a reference there to Psalm 34, verses 2 and 3. Verse 2 of Psalm 34 says, oh, my soul makes its boast in the Lord. The very next verse says, oh, magnify the Lord with me.
00:13:37
Speaker
You'll just have to trust me that if you were to slow this down and keep going back and forth with the Old Testament, you would know this lady was incredibly saturated with the Word of God.
00:13:50
Speaker
What about you? What about men and women? What about students and boys and girls? Are you saturating your life, your heart, your mind with God's word? This mother definitely did that. Her life overflowed with adoration because her life was filled, saturated with the word of God. So I would say this Christmas, why don't you make some time? Perhaps you're off work and you've got a little extra time.
00:14:16
Speaker
Take some time to sit by your tree and open up the word of God, to get a notebook and write down what God is gonna say to you biblically.
Theological Insights of Mary's Song
00:14:25
Speaker
So definitely I would say her adoration was biblical, but there was something else, something that's very clear. If I point it out, you won't be able to unsee it anymore. So I wanna point it out because I think it's important for each one of us. I believe that her adoration of Christ was also personal. It was personal. Did you pick up on how often she refers to Mike?
00:14:46
Speaker
My? She said, my soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Wow. You'll see, this was a very personalized thing whenever she's saying, my Savior. I think it's great that we have so many Christian families in our church. But it's very important, children, it's very important, students, that you not depend on your parents' faith, that you say, he's my Savior.
00:15:14
Speaker
He's my Lord. I think it's amazing that we have two college students who would stand up here and want to sing adoration to the Lord. And I know these two, those two live it. They definitely would say, He is my Savior. He is my Lord. I'm trying to follow Him. Have you personalized it? But notice also Mary did something else. She internalized it.
00:15:39
Speaker
She internalized—it wasn't just something on her mouth, her lips. You know, it's fun for us to gather and sing these great Christmas carols, these great songs that adore Christ. But what if that was it? What if that was it and there's no more? I'll tell you when you know that it's real.
00:15:57
Speaker
You know it's real, I knew it was real when I was a high school senior. I was just about to graduate, it was December before I would graduate the following May. And my parents were gone, and my little brother was gone, and I think maybe the dog was in the house, but he doesn't count. But anyway, I was thinking, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna go in there, and I'm gonna play Old Holy Night. Because when I was a high school senior, I heard Old Holy Night, and somehow it touched me.
00:16:24
Speaker
And I played O Holy Night and when it said, fall on your knees, I promise you it's like the presence of God was in the room. And even as a high school senior, I fell on my knees and I raised my hands to God and I said, you are God.
00:16:40
Speaker
And that was the beginning. Do you know it was just my first year in college that I finally surrendered and gave my life to the Lord. But those are key moments. So this Christmas, if God is speaking to you, he's trying to convince you that he's real. He's trying to draw you closer to himself to let you know he has a plan for you. And so I just encourage you, please, you know, don't put it off.
00:17:05
Speaker
You know, I personalized all of this so much that, you know, it also, I noticed down here later, she's going to vocalize. There's something about adoring Christ and personalizing it where you got to vocalize it. And so after I trusted Christ, I was playing basketball one winter break with some guys in Milan, Tennessee. And we were just out there out back at the school on the school's basketball court, playing basketball.
00:17:33
Speaker
And one of those guys just kept on using God's name in vain. And finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I mean, it was personal to me. And so I stopped and I went over to him and I said, look, I'm not trying to act like I'm any better. I'm just a sinner saved by grace.
00:17:49
Speaker
But I said, if I talked really ugly about your mama, what would you do? And he said, I'd probably punch you. And I said, yeah, that's what I figured. I said, you're saying a lot of really bad things about my Heavenly Father. And I just want you to know, I don't like it. And I want to ask you, don't do it in my presence. What do you do when I'm not around? You can do. That'll be between you and him. But what do you do when you're around me?
00:18:12
Speaker
I said, I want you to know that grieves my heart every time you use God's name in vain because He's my Heavenly Father. And you know what He said? I thought He was going to get bowed up. You know, we'd have a fight right there on the court.
00:18:25
Speaker
But he didn't. You know what he said? He said, I didn't know that that meant that much to you. He said, thank you for telling me. And so anyway, it was so personal to me that I had to vocalize it. I believe that Mary vocalized what was important to her. She also had no problems whatsoever maximizing someone and minimizing someone.
00:18:47
Speaker
You know, whenever I was being trained in how to bring the word of God, how to preach the word of God, I heard them say, you need to maximize the message and you need to minimize the messenger. Look at Mary when it comes to verse 48.
00:19:02
Speaker
For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. He has looked on the humble estate. I believe she was minimizing herself, but who was she maximizing? Well, at the beginning, remember in verse 46, my soul
00:19:18
Speaker
magnifies. You know what magnifies meant in the Hebrew language? It meant to make it large, to make it great. The word means, the word in their language is megaluno, but it means to make something really big. So I'm just encouraging you to say, Lord, this Christmas I want to make Christ big.
00:19:39
Speaker
I want to take a lesser seat. I want to step into the shadows and the background, and I want to be able to vocalize to others how much you mean to me. You know, I got to thinking about Mary saying that Jesus was her Savior. He's my Savior is exactly what she says in verse 47.
Hope in Christ's Return
00:20:00
Speaker
And because he was her Savior, you know what she was experiencing? Joy.
00:20:05
Speaker
You know who I think are the most miserable people? When they're really close to making Jesus their personal Savior and yet they haven't done it yet. And they're miserable because they're right there in between wanting to let go of self and wanting to embrace Christ as Lord and Savior. But Mary said he's my Savior.
00:20:25
Speaker
Now, do you think that Mary had sinned? Do you think that Mary had made mistakes? I do. I believe she had made mistakes. I believe that's why she needed a savior. I don't believe that Mary would have made it into God's family all by herself.
00:20:40
Speaker
But here's the thing. I don't believe that God picked Mary because of all of the brokenness and all of the sin. I believe that Mary was trying to follow God. She was trying. She said, let it be done to me according to your word whenever the angel came to talk to her.
00:20:58
Speaker
If someone like Mary, if someone as good as Mary, let's say, someone like her morally has that much going for her, even though she's a sinner, but still knowing that she's a good person. If even she needs a savior, why do we think we don't need a savior? Even Nicodemus was a religious man and a moral man, but he said, you know what? I need to be born again. That's what Jesus told him.
00:21:26
Speaker
I think it's very important at Christmas time for us to realize, why did Jesus come? He came for us personally. Romans 3, verses 9 through 12, verse 20, 23 and 27 tells us there's no one good, no, not one. And so none of us seek after God.
00:21:46
Speaker
The Lord came seeking us. That's why He came. He came for us. We didn't go to Him. He came to us. And so He wants you to know that by works of the law, by trying to do the very best you can, you'll never make it. And neither would I. All of us need grace. We all need the perfect finished work that Jesus did for us on the cross. That's why it becomes so personal.
God's Mercy to Nations
00:22:12
Speaker
You know what one scholar called this song that we're studying here in Luke 1? He called it Mary's version, her personal version of Amazing Grace.
00:22:23
Speaker
I like that whenever she's saying, you're my savior. Will you be singing this Christmas and saying, you know what, Lord, it's real for me. I'm really surrendering my life to you. Well, it was personal and it was biblical, but there was something else about her song that I want you to notice and not overlook. Look with me at verse 49 and verse 50. I believe that her adoration of Christ was also theological.
00:22:52
Speaker
Now Bible scholars tell us that Mary don't have this idea that she's like, I don't know, late 20s, mid 20s, whatever. No, most Bible scholars say she was probably like 14, 15, 16 years of age, very young. So here's the thing with me. I'm impressed with the depth, with the clarity of how much at that age Mary understood spiritually
00:23:19
Speaker
She was spiritually walking with the Lord and she understood who God was. And we can see it from verse 49 and verse 50. I want to celebrate with you. You see, whenever we're coming to Christmas, Christmas is about Him. And so what we ought to do is say, Lord, I want to exalt who you are, what you're like.
00:23:41
Speaker
What if at Christmas, in your Christmas celebrations, someone just abruptly asks you, what is God like? I don't even know what he's like. You know, most people have the wrong concept of God in their mind, not their true concept. So we're going to have to help them understand what is our God like? If you were to ask Mary that, I think she would say these things. Look with me at verse 49.
Joy in Surrendering to God's Plan
00:24:05
Speaker
For he who is mighty has done great things for me." I believe one thing Mary was convinced about was, you know what? He's powerful. She knew he was powerful because the angels said, Holy Spirit's going to come upon you and you're going to have a son. And you know what? That's the way it happened. There was no dad involved. There was no husband involved. It was just a miracle. And so she was convinced, yep, he's mighty. And you know what? This mighty God has done something for me.
00:24:35
Speaker
Now, I know that for you, maybe it's not like that. It's not some kind of miraculous birth or something like that, but there's something that God's done for you. And that something is your testimony that you can say, you know, he has powerfully worked in my life. She also knew that God was holy. She said, holy is his name. Do you know that God is holy? Sometimes we want to excuse everything under the book and yet we need to revisit the scriptures.
00:25:03
Speaker
Because the Scriptures clearly tell us, wait a minute, God's holy. He's righteous. He's perfect. So don't try to downplay Him where He's just like you. He's just like me. No, no. Keep the standard up there of who God is. She also was convinced that God was merciful, but merciful for those who fear Him.
00:25:24
Speaker
not only merciful, where He would forgive us of our sins, but also eternal. You know, those words from generation to generation. I couldn't help but think, you know, she's still caught up on that, because she says it in verse 48, from generation to generation. But then she says in verse 50, and His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation.
00:25:50
Speaker
You know that God's not dead. He's still living. He's never died. And so here's the thing. We call that eternal. The eternality of God is real. So the more we can get that down in our minds, our hearts, get into your spiritual DNA. God's with me. He's not removed. He's here. He's Emmanuel.
00:26:14
Speaker
I think this is why Paul prayed for the Colossians, help them to keep increasing in the knowledge of God. Are you looking for something fresh that you could pray in 2024? Why not pray, Lord, help all of our church family to increase in knowing who God is, increase in the knowledge of God.
00:26:35
Speaker
You know, Philippians 3, 10 says that I may know him.
Invitation to Personal Faith
00:26:40
Speaker
That's like a purpose statement. Would you say that one of the purposes of your life is to get to know God? 1 John 2 13, he's talking about spiritual fathers. How does he describe the spiritual fathers? Those who are seasoned and mature. He said, I'll tell you what they're like. He said, you're a spiritual father because you know him. 1 John 2 13.
00:27:06
Speaker
And then 2 Peter 3 18 says, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Are you growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? You know, it's interesting, Joseph and Mary must have also passed down that desire to Jesus as he was growing up. Because when he was 12, they went into Jerusalem for a Passover feast.
00:27:31
Speaker
They had a great time, but then they all started back. Three days into the journey, they realized, wait a minute, where's Jesus? Have you ever lost a 12-year-old? There's a lot of 12-year-olds could do. So where could he be? What was he doing? But this 12-year-old, they found him eventually. He was in the temple. You know what it says he was doing? He was listening to the scholars, and he was asking them questions. Are you listening and asking questions?
00:27:59
Speaker
even as the son of God, he was the son of God and the son of man, but he had both, but even as the son of God, he still wanted to listen. He still wanted to ask questions. And whenever he gave an answer, it says that those guys in that temple were going, wow, we didn't, we've never even considered that.
00:28:18
Speaker
I want to encourage you to say, Lord, help me to instill within my children a desire to know who God is. That's what theology is all about, knowing who God is. Well, let me move to a fourth thing. I believe our adoration of Christ also from verse 51, 52, 53 was historical.
00:28:40
Speaker
You see, the Bible is not a collection of fables. The Bible is not a collection of fairy tales. This is real. These people actually live, these places that are mentioned, they're actually real life places.
00:28:55
Speaker
But she mentions here this transition once again from generation to generation. And you know what I think she's doing? She's taking that magnifying glass of her soul and she's been looking at the attributes of God. And then she says, I'm going to move from the attributes of God. And now I'm going to look at the actions of God. What has he done? What has he done across the years and across the centuries?
00:29:23
Speaker
If you look at verse 51 and 52 and 53, carefully, you'll see the frequency of a word he, and then has. He has shown strength. He has scattered the proud. He has brought down the mighty. He has exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things. And the rich, he has sent away empty. Wow, it's incredible.
00:29:52
Speaker
Are you focused on what you've done? Are you focused on what someone else has done? Are you wanting to look up social media and say, what's so-and-so doing right now? Or would you say, my focus this Christmas is going to be on what God has done? What God has done through Christ? You know, it's amazing in that cluster of verbs there. They're all in the heiress tense. They're all in the heiress tense, which means,
00:30:20
Speaker
It happened in the past, but it's like it was so powerful, it's still happening in the present. It's still happening not only in the present, but it's going to continue to happen in the future. And that's why some Bible scholars call this, this verb form here, the prophetic heirist past. Because some say he's talking about, she's talking about what Jesus is going to do.
00:30:44
Speaker
Others are saying, well, she's talking about what he's already done in history. And then she's also referring to, this is what my son, this is what the son, the son of God is going to do. But I got to thinking about showing his strength. What about creation when he just spoke all that there is into being? What about the miracles that are all through the Bible, especially in the Old Testament? What about when he scattered the proud?
00:31:12
Speaker
You know, there was a man named Pharaoh who was a king in Egypt, and he wasn't going to let the people go, but God, he overcame Pharaoh's resistance. What about another king named Nebuchadnezzar? What about when Joshua led him into the Promised Land? They defeated, they brought down the mighty of 31 different kingdoms.
00:31:34
Speaker
What about exalting the humble, like Joseph, who got to be the second in command in Egypt, or Esther, who married the prince, you know, the king. What about those who he's filled with hungry, he filled the hungry. You know, the Exodus story is incredible when you think about, maybe Bible scholars are saying there might have been 2.5 million people that suddenly go out of Egypt. How are you gonna feed them?
00:32:03
Speaker
God fed them. It's incredible how that God took care of them out there in that desert. He sent away the rich, empty. You think about Ahab and Jezebel and different ones through the years. But prophetically, it's incredible. Some of you are wondering, why should I even sing? Look at how dark things are. I watched the news. Look at how messed up things are every single night.
00:32:29
Speaker
I'll tell you where the hope is. The hope is found in Christ's return. When He comes back, He is going to right all the wrongs. He's going to balance all the scales. Wonderful things are going to happen whenever He comes back. Let me close with one last thing.
00:32:46
Speaker
I believe that last of all, her adoration of Christ was also national. You know, in verse 48, she says, his servant, and she's referring to herself in verse 48. But who is she referring to in verse 54? He has helped his servant, Israel, in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. I think that Mary realized God's been good to me
00:33:16
Speaker
But God's also been good to us. God's been good to our people, to our nation. I got to thinking about how good that God has been to us as well as a nation. You know that in 1 Timothy 2, 1 and 2, we are commanded to pray for those who are in leadership in our nation.
00:33:36
Speaker
As a matter of fact, our first president, Washington, George Washington, said, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey Israel, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor. If there was ever a time that we should be praying for our nation, if there was ever a time we should remember how God has been good and gracious to us as a nation, I'd say it's right now. We really need to pray for our nation.
00:34:06
Speaker
But how did Mary, what did she do? What was the three different things she gave thanks for? Well, it says, he has helped his servant, Israel. I believe that Mary expressed her gratitude for God's help to Israel. Has God helped your family? Would you say that God has helped the state of Texas? Would you say that God has ever helped the United States? Wouldn't it be nice to go back to him and say, I thank you, Lord, for just helping us?
00:34:34
Speaker
Another thing she expressed gratitude for was God's mercy. Look at that. I mean, it's right there. He has helped his servant, Israel, and what was he doing? Well, in remembrance of his mercy. That's why God helped Israel. They didn't deserve it, but God remembered his own mercy. You know, God has been merciful to each one of us in this room.
00:34:56
Speaker
Perhaps there's someone here and you're thinking, you know what, I've done too many bad things in my life. I really messed up. You've not messed up too much for God to forgive you and to have mercy on your life and to cleanse you. But also she expressed gratitude for God's word that he had spoken to the nation.
00:35:15
Speaker
You know that over and over again, every single Sunday, every single Sunday night and Wednesday night, I stand here and I proclaim the word. I teach the word. I try my best to live the word in front of our community. And I encourage you to do the same with me as we go into the new year.
00:35:35
Speaker
Look for the places and the ways that you can speak God's word, because it's not just from pulpits. It's not just from Sunday school classes only. It's from those conversations that we have in coffee shops that we have whenever we're working together with others. I think it's inspiring to see Mary's heart just overflow with adoration. Boy, I think that's an amazing thing.
00:36:01
Speaker
But I wanted to close by just reminding you how all of this is rooted in reality. There really was a Mary. There really was a Jesus. There really is a Jesus. There really was a Elizabeth. See, Mary's relative Elizabeth rejoiced greatly, not just over her cousin's unexpected visit. But you know what I think really made Elizabeth get excited? Jesus, the baby that was in the womb. That's what caused her to have incredible joy
00:36:30
Speaker
You know, it says that Elizabeth was filled with the spirit, and that's when that joy began to overflow. As a Christian, the Holy Spirit came to dwell within each one of you on the day of salvation.
00:36:45
Speaker
But the thing is, have we taken the throne of our life, the operating center of our life? Are we back in charge, self in charge again? Or are we saying, no, I want Jesus to be on the throne in my life. I want him to be the commander. I want him to be making the decisions.
00:37:03
Speaker
Whenever we allow Jesus to be on that throne, the Spirit of God empowers us. He fills us. He will give us all the fruit of the Spirit that only He can give. But whenever itself is on the throne, do you expect to see the fruit of the Spirit in your life?
00:37:21
Speaker
It's a false expectation. Exalting Christ always leads to greater joy. So I want you and your family to have great joy as you go through this Christmas season. But it all starts with any person who yields to Christ and trusts Him for salvation.
00:37:40
Speaker
I thought it was interesting how in Luke 145, we didn't read this verse, but it was the verse right before we started. It says, and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. You hear the word and you believe what you were told. Would you say that describes your life? You know, Elizabeth was barren.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yet the angel tells Mary, this is the sixth month with her who was called barren, barren for nothing will be impossible with God.
00:38:16
Speaker
You know, Elizabeth and Mary both experienced joy whenever they decided, you know what? I'm going to surrender my life to the Lord. I want what He wants for me. That's why we always end our service with an invitation, the opportunity for someone to come forward and say, you know what? He's spoken to me. I need to surrender to Him. So why don't we bow our heads and close our eyes
00:38:41
Speaker
And let me lead us in a prayer. Our musicians are gonna come and prepare to lead us in this last song. But I want to ask you, have you ever had a time in your life where you personalized it all? When you said, you know what, I want to adore Christ. I want to surrender to Him. I want my life to be focused on Him. I need Him on that throne, in that command center, making decisions for me. Let's all stand together. Let me pray and then we'll sing this closing song.
00:39:11
Speaker
Lord, we want to invite others to respond to you, to whatever you've said to them in your word. But we realize that only the Holy Spirit can convince someone of this. We know that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin and righteousness and judgment. And so help any that sense the conviction today not to resist it. It doesn't mean that you do not love them. It means that you do love them.
00:39:39
Speaker
And so I pray that more than anything, they could know the Christ of Christmas.
Conclusion and Closing Remarks
00:39:43
Speaker
They can know the joy that only Jesus can bring. So bless our time. If there's any that need to trust Christ, I pray they could do it now so they can really enjoy Christmas to the max. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.