- 4 months ago
- #mlcc
- #church
- #churchonline
Picture a young girl confronted by an angelic messenger with news that shatters her ordinary life, blending divine favor with inevitable hardship. How does she navigate the tension between heavenly calling and earthly pain, choosing surrender over security? Uncover the timeless lessons in her story that reveal how God's plans unfold through unexpected trials and unmerited grace.
✉️ Check In: https://medicallake.church/checkin
🙏 Pray With Us: https://medicallake.church/pray
🔗 Next Steps: https://medicallake.church/next-steps
#mlcc #church #churchonline
✉️ Check In: https://medicallake.church/checkin
🙏 Pray With Us: https://medicallake.church/pray
🔗 Next Steps: https://medicallake.church/next-steps
#mlcc #church #churchonline
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00James tells us something.
00:02He said it right away in the very first chapter of his book of James.
00:07He mentioned, he said, count it all joy, my brothers,
00:11when you meet trials of various kinds.
00:14And right there, he's kind of lost most of us, right?
00:17Count it all joy.
00:19Or you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
00:24There's something about a trial that produces within us the steadfastness,
00:27but it's the trial part that you and I don't particularly like.
00:32Sometimes they're very uncomfortable.
00:34Sometimes it brings anguish to us.
00:36But trials always have the end result in God's mind to purify us,
00:42to bring us to the place where he wants us to be.
00:45Jason Lowe Baxter was writing about this.
00:47He says, whenever God sends a trial with one hand,
00:51he gives grace with the other.
00:53Thus, trials become triumphs.
00:55Burdens become wings.
00:58Affliction, instead of being a bed of thorns and a pathway of nettles,
01:02becomes a quilt of roses.
01:04The very things which seem to break us are the things which really make us.
01:10The hurricane blows its tempest upon us.
01:12We shall be dashed in pieces on the rock-bound coast.
01:15We shall be mutilated in the hidden reef.
01:17But no, we are self-deceived.
01:21God is in the hurricane.
01:22And instead of driving us to destruction,
01:25it beats the sacred mariner into the safest of all harbors,
01:29the encircling arms of God's love.
01:33Trials, tribulations, adversity are frequently our biggest benedictions.
01:39They are blessings in disguise.
01:41Messengers from heaven come to bless us,
01:43to make us more like the captain of our salvation,
01:45who himself was made perfect through sufferings.
01:48The crown of thorns was in the plan for Jesus,
01:52but the thorns have given place to diadems.
01:55The cross was a step to the throne.
01:58Let us learn well that pain may be part of the plan.
02:02As we come to the text today,
02:03we're jumping back into Luke's previous writing,
02:06the Gospel of Luke,
02:07and taking a look at something that happens in the life of a very young girl.
02:11Well, Jason LoBaxter mentions that sometimes our choices,
02:17spiritual and riskments come to us on the road,
02:21the Via Dolorosa, which is called the road of suffering.
02:25This young lady is going to experience something
02:28that's going to alter her life completely,
02:31change everything, make all of her plans obsolete.
02:35Yet, through this all,
02:38she chooses to do what God asks.
02:40Here in Luke chapter 1,
02:42we see that God chose to bring his son into the world
02:45through the Virgin Mary,
02:47who yielded herself to the will of God,
02:49recognizing great anguish would accompany her dedication.
02:54She understood it from the very beginning.
02:56She grasped it.
02:58You know, we talk about trials,
03:00and, you know, we don't like them necessarily.
03:02We understand the end result is better for us.
03:04We get that.
03:04God doesn't ever tempt us to do evil.
03:07He tries us to purify us like gold is purified.
03:10Yet, sometimes we're not all right with doing the will of God
03:14when it incurs suffering.
03:17And I think about all of our brothers and sisters
03:18who can't even meet together without suffering.
03:21They will come and arrest them, throw them in jail,
03:23maybe kill them,
03:23because they're gathering together as a church
03:25in these foreign countries.
03:26The great detail in this passage,
03:31you may say,
03:31how did Luke get all this information?
03:34How did he come across all of this detail
03:36that's in the text today?
03:38Tradition tells us that he sat down
03:39and he discussed this with Mary.
03:42Mary gave him all this information.
03:44He sat down, interviewed Mary,
03:46probably wrote it down what she was saying.
03:47So Mary is the direct source of all this information.
03:50And since she was there,
03:52she's a good eyewitness of what's going on.
03:54Look with me in chapter 1, verse 26.
03:57Open up your Bible.
03:58We want to look at the Word of God together.
03:59This is what God says.
04:02Verse number 26.
04:03In the sixth month,
04:05the angel Gabriel was sent from God
04:07to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
04:09Now, the sixth month isn't the sixth month of the year.
04:11It's the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy.
04:13We'll find out later in the text.
04:17City of Galilee named Nazareth
04:19to a virgin betrothed to a man
04:22whose name was Joseph of the house of David.
04:25And the virgin's name was Mary.
04:27And he came to her and said,
04:29Greetings, O favored one.
04:31The Lord is with you.
04:33But she was greatly troubled at the saying
04:35and tried to discern
04:37what sort of greeting this might be.
04:38Why is this angel here?
04:40And why is he talking to me?
04:42And the angel said to her,
04:43Do not be afraid,
04:45which makes perfect sense.
04:46We would all be afraid
04:47if an angel appeared to us.
04:48Do not be afraid, Mary,
04:50for you have found favor with God.
04:51You have found grace with God.
04:54And behold,
04:55you will conceive in your womb
04:57and bear a son
04:58and you shall call his name Jesus.
05:00He will be great
05:01and will be called the son of the Most High.
05:04And the Lord God will give to him
05:06the throne of his father David
05:07and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
05:10And of his kingdom,
05:12there will be no end.
05:14This is the proclamation,
05:15the announcement that's made.
05:16That's this picture right here.
05:17It's called the announcement.
05:19In the opening scene,
05:20you kind of saw a light off to the side
05:21symbolizing the presence,
05:23the holy presence of the angel,
05:24which isn't depicted.
05:25But that is supposed to be Mary
05:26in the announcement.
05:27This young Jewish girl.
05:31Luke wanted us to clearly understand
05:33she was a virgin.
05:34He mentions it twice.
05:35A virgin betrothed.
05:36A virgin's name was Mary.
05:38He wants us to understand
05:39this is a virgin.
05:40This is one who has never had
05:41sexual intercourse with anyone.
05:43She is a virgin.
05:45And Joseph and Mary
05:46legally bound together
05:48in this betrothed.
05:48And you say,
05:49well, isn't that kind of like an engagement?
05:51No, it's actually much more than that.
05:52It's much more than our typical engagement.
05:54It was a binding legal document
05:57when two parties came together
05:58in a betrothal.
05:59And you have to remember
06:00this idea of choosing our own spouses
06:02is relatively young
06:04in the history of the world.
06:06Typically, families arranged marriages
06:08in those days
06:09and some countries of the world
06:10still they arranged marriages.
06:12So this marriage was arranged
06:14and this betrothal,
06:15this document was signed
06:16and it was agreed to
06:17and it was legally binding.
06:19And the only way to get out of it
06:21was to divorce her.
06:22That's how binding it was.
06:25In fact, in Matthew 1, verse 19,
06:26we read this.
06:27And her husband Joseph,
06:28being a just man
06:29and unwilling to put her to shame,
06:32resolved to divorce her quietly.
06:34That's the only way
06:34you get out of betrothal
06:35was divorce.
06:36It was that binding.
06:38That binding.
06:39And the wedding usually took place
06:41a year after the betrothal.
06:43So there was a year of betrothal,
06:44which is a binding agreement
06:46consummated at the end
06:48of the wedding feast.
06:50Joseph and Mary,
06:52the text tells us,
06:53which is a key,
06:54are both descendants.
06:55They were descendants
06:56of King David.
06:57Very important.
06:58And you say,
06:58well, why is that so important?
07:00It's important because
07:01God made a promise
07:02to King David.
07:03I'm going to take one
07:05from your descendants
07:06and I'm going to place them
07:06on the throne
07:07and his kingdom will be forever.
07:08It was a promise made to David
07:10and the Jewish people
07:11looked forward to this one
07:12who would sit on David's throne
07:13and rule in righteousness
07:14and justice.
07:172 Samuel shows us the promise.
07:18God fulfills it.
07:202 Samuel,
07:21when your days are fulfilled,
07:23he's talking to David,
07:24and you lie down
07:25with your fathers,
07:26I will raise up
07:27your offspring after you,
07:29God is speaking,
07:30who shall come from your body
07:32and I will establish
07:33his kingdom.
07:34He shall build a house
07:35for my name
07:36and I will establish
07:37the throne of his kingdom forever.
07:39This was a promise made.
07:40That's why it's so important
07:41that both Mary and Joseph
07:42are from the line
07:43of King David.
07:46Gabriel comes,
07:47the same one who announced
07:48to Zechariah and Elizabeth
07:50the birth of John the Baptist.
07:53Same Gabriel.
07:54In fact,
07:54there's only two holy angels
07:57in the Bible that's named.
07:59We have Michael and Gabriel.
08:01Now the Jews say
08:01that there are seven.
08:02I don't know.
08:03I mean,
08:03we only know two in the Bible.
08:05I'm not sure how many
08:05archangels there are,
08:07but two are listed
08:07by name in the Bible,
08:09Michael and Gabriel.
08:11And Gabriel says,
08:13greetings.
08:13Okay,
08:13that's okay.
08:14That's kind of like a comment.
08:15Hey,
08:16good to see you.
08:17Welcome.
08:17Greetings.
08:18But then when he says,
08:19oh,
08:19favored one,
08:21that meant something.
08:23Favored one.
08:25God had graced Mary.
08:26The root of that word favor
08:28means grace.
08:29You could say,
08:30oh,
08:30favored one.
08:31Oh,
08:31graced one.
08:33God has given his grace to you.
08:35His face is shining upon you.
08:37Oh,
08:37favored one.
08:39And God's grace,
08:40he got a grace Mary,
08:41not because of her piety,
08:43not because she was something special,
08:45but rather through his choice.
08:47He chose to grace her.
08:49Yes,
08:50she's from the descendant,
08:51the line of David.
08:51Very important.
08:53I'm sure in those days,
08:54there were other versions from the line of David that could have equally.
08:56God has chosen Mary for this purpose.
08:59He's graced her.
09:01She is the special instrument that God chose to be part of providing salvation to us human beings.
09:07She is a recipient of God's grace.
09:12She is not the dispenser of God's grace,
09:15as some people would say.
09:16She's a recipient of God's grace.
09:20Robert Stein wrote,
09:22she had not been chosen for this task because she possessed a particular piety or holiness of life that merited this privilege.
09:28The test suggests no special worthiness on Mary's part at all.
09:32That's what grace is all about.
09:34It wouldn't be grace if you merited it,
09:36if you work for it,
09:37if you earned it.
09:38It's not grace.
09:39It wasn't because Mary was some especially pious person.
09:42She was a pious person,
09:44but it wasn't because of that.
09:45It's because God chose at some point to place his grace upon Mary and say,
09:49I choose you to be the instrument to bring my son into the world.
09:55She was not perfect.
09:56And praise the Lord,
09:57God uses imperfect people.
10:00Praise the Lord.
10:01I mean,
10:01if it wasn't for that,
10:02none of us would be serving him.
10:05He uses imperfect people to accomplish his purposes in this world.
10:08And he calls people to carry out his plan in this world.
10:11He calls them.
10:12He's calling Mary.
10:13He's gracing Mary saying,
10:14I choose you for this very purpose to bring my son into the world through the instrument.
10:21He calls her the favored one.
10:24Okay.
10:25For all of you who don't like grammar,
10:26check out for a second.
10:29I love the grammar of the Greek New Testament.
10:32This is written in a form that at some point in the past,
10:35the time is not given,
10:37but some point in the past,
10:39it could be eternity past.
10:40It could be in the past.
10:42God chose to place his grace upon Mary.
10:45And that grace is still upon her when he's speaking to her,
10:48when the Gabriel is speaking,
10:49and that grace will be upon her in six millennia.
10:53He placed it upon her and it will remain upon her.
10:56God chose her.
10:57He graced her.
10:58He favored her.
10:59Those who are chosen and highly favored by God must be prepared for pain and suffering.
11:08Anguish,
11:09tribulation in this world.
11:12It's an interesting word.
11:13He favored her.
11:15Favored one.
11:16It's only used one other time in the New Testament.
11:18Kind of gives us an insight of what this idea is all about.
11:21Use only one other time in the New Testament.
11:22And it's used in Ephesians chapter one in the New Testament.
11:26Same word,
11:27only two times in the New Testament.
11:29Even as he's speaking to believers,
11:31even as he,
11:33which is God,
11:34chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
11:37That puts a timeframe on it.
11:38Before the world was created,
11:39he chose us in him.
11:41That we should be holy and blameless before him.
11:46In love,
11:47he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ,
11:50according to the purpose of his will,
11:53to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us.
11:58That's the word blessed.
11:59And I've highlighted it.
11:59It's not in the text.
12:00Bolded.
12:01I bolded it.
12:02That's the word.
12:03He blessed us in the beloved,
12:06which is in Christ.
12:08He has favored us.
12:09He has graced us.
12:10He has made his face shine on us in Christ.
12:13We are no longer under his wrath,
12:16but now embraced by his love.
12:21Those whom God chooses and places a favor upon are not chosen because of our piety,
12:26but by God's sovereign grace.
12:31God has graced believers before the foundation of the world.
12:34And we understand his choosing brings with it a sense of deep gratitude.
12:38I didn't deserve this.
12:39I didn't earn this.
12:41Thank you,
12:41God,
12:42for what you have done.
12:43A deep sense of gratitude.
12:45And we realize in our dedication to God that there's going to be tribulations.
12:50There's going to be problems,
12:51anguish in this world.
12:53We understand that.
12:55In fact,
12:55if you remember a few weeks back in Acts chapter 14,
12:58this is what Paul said to the new believers,
13:00strengthening the souls of the disciples,
13:02encouraging them to continue in the faith,
13:04and saying that through many tribulations,
13:07we must enter the kingdom of God.
13:11Angel said the same thing he told to Gideon is,
13:14the Lord is with you.
13:15And Gideon goes,
13:15how's the Lord with me?
13:16But he's saying the same thing to Gideon.
13:17The Lord is with you.
13:19Oh,
13:19favored one,
13:20the Lord is with you.
13:24I mean,
13:24it's uncommon for an angel to appear to anybody,
13:26but in those days for,
13:27to a woman that,
13:28I mean,
13:28that's not typical here to,
13:30to marry the graced one,
13:31the favored one,
13:32the angel comes.
13:34And in verse 32 and following,
13:36he listened,
13:37great detail what the Messiah is going to do.
13:39We're just going to,
13:39I mean,
13:40it's there.
13:40I'm just going to kind of mention it.
13:41He will be great.
13:43He will be son of the most high.
13:45That means the virgin conception brought the Messiah into the world who had a
13:48human and a divine nature in one,
13:52two natures,
13:52human and divine in one person.
13:55He was going to receive the throne of David.
13:57That's what the prophet said.
13:58That's what Isaiah said.
14:00Isaiah nine,
14:00for to us,
14:02a child is born to us.
14:03A son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name
14:07shall be called wonderful counselor,
14:09mighty God,
14:10everlasting father,
14:12prince of peace of the increase of his government and of peace.
14:17There will be no end on the throne of David.
14:20There's the promise and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it
14:24with justice and with righteousness from this time forth.
14:27And forevermore,
14:28the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this promise right out of the prophets.
14:33He will reign over Israel forever.
14:35He will obtain a never ending kingdom again out of the prophets.
14:38The prophet Daniel spoke about this.
14:41I saw in a night vision and behold with the clouds of heaven,
14:45there came one like the son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was
14:49presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all
14:54peoples nations and languages should serve him.
14:57His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away in his kingdom one that
15:02shall not be destroyed.
15:03The prophets spoke about the Messiah.
15:05These are the promises made fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.
15:09If you look at verse 31 to 32a,
15:15so the first half of verse 32 and then look at 32b and verse 33,
15:20you'll see two separate things.
15:21And verse 31a to 31 to 32a refers to the Messiah's first coming.
15:2932b and 33 refer to his second coming.
15:33So you see it right wrapped up right here is first coming and his second coming.
15:39Now,
15:41Zechariah doubted what Gabriel told him.
15:44And you remember what happened to him?
15:45He went mute till the birth of the baby.
15:48Mary doesn't doubt what the angel is saying here.
15:51She's just kind of going,
15:52I don't get it.
15:54I mean,
15:54how is this going to happen?
15:56I mean,
15:56I believe you.
15:57I know it's going to,
15:58but I don't understand how it's going to take place.
16:00That's what we look at in verses 34 to 38.
16:03How is this all going to take place?
16:06And Mary said to the angel,
16:08how will this be?
16:11And she mentions it again,
16:12since I'm a virgin.
16:13And the angel answered her,
16:16the Holy Spirit will come upon you.
16:18And the power of the most high will overshadow you.
16:22Therefore,
16:23because of this,
16:24the child to be born will be called holy,
16:28separated to God,
16:29the son of God.
16:31And behold,
16:32your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son.
16:36And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
16:40For nothing will be impossible with God.
16:42And Mary said,
16:44behold,
16:44I am the servant.
16:46I am the slave,
16:47the bond servant of the Lord.
16:49Let it be to me according to your word.
16:53And the angel departed from her.
16:55That is quite amazing.
16:59This young woman,
17:01the patrol usually took place between ages of 13 to 15.
17:05This is just a young woman.
17:10Now,
17:10probably about 30 years old,
17:12according to our maturity in our day and age,
17:14she was probably that mature,
17:16but this is a very young woman.
17:22How is this?
17:23I'm still a virgin.
17:25I've never known a man.
17:26I do not know a man.
17:27How can I possibly conceive?
17:29She's thinking that conception was going to come quickly.
17:32And she's thinking,
17:32but I'm still in the betrothal period.
17:34And we haven't consummated the marriage.
17:36And it's going to be a time before it,
17:38she recognizes the imminence of it,
17:40but doesn't understand.
17:41She doesn't understand the process.
17:43What's going to happen.
17:47Joseph and Mary have not consummated the marriage yet.
17:50As a matter of fact,
17:50they won't consummate the marriage.
17:52So after the birth of Jesus,
17:54Matthew tells us this.
17:56When Joseph woke from sleep,
17:58he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.
18:00He took his wife,
18:01but knew her not,
18:03which is a euphemism for sexual relationship,
18:05but knew her not until she had given birth to a son.
18:08And he called his name,
18:09Jesus.
18:10They didn't consummate the marriage.
18:11So after the birth of Jesus,
18:12the most important thing is not necessarily the how,
18:17but what of Christmas,
18:19what is it about?
18:19We see the how,
18:21but what comes out of this all.
18:23That's the most important thing.
18:25The most important thing that comes out of this is that God becomes man.
18:29And lives among us.
18:34The invisible,
18:35pure spirit that no eye can ever behold or anyone can see now visibly is among us in the person of Jesus Christ.
18:43He said,
18:44if you've seen me,
18:44you've seen the father.
18:50When Mary thought of the Holy Spirit,
18:52she probably understood him more as a creative force.
18:55When you think of creation,
18:56the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
18:59So you kind of think of him as a,
19:00as a force,
19:01but the readers of Luke's gospel and his book of acts know that the Holy Spirit is a person.
19:07He has a will.
19:08He directs.
19:08He chooses.
19:09He guides.
19:10He is a person.
19:13And through the virginal conception,
19:15God assures the child will be sinless.
19:18There's no human sin attached to the child.
19:21The issue was we needed someone to take our place to pay for the penalty of our sins.
19:28And if I paid for the penalty of my sin,
19:30I would die.
19:31I could never pay for the penalty of your sins.
19:33We needed a human being that had a pure blood that had never been tainted by sin,
19:39had never sinned in his entire life that he could take upon himself or guilt so that we could be set free.
19:47The problem in humanity is human sin.
19:54And God becomes a sinless human to deal with our problem of sin.
20:01When Matthew wrote his gospel,
20:02he takes it all the way back to Abraham.
20:04And when Luke writes his gospel in the genealogy,
20:06he takes it all the way back to Adam,
20:08the son of God.
20:08But when John writes his gospel,
20:11he takes us back before the beginning.
20:15John 1.
20:15In the beginning that we understand.
20:18In the beginning was the word.
20:20The word already existed in the beginning.
20:22And the word was with God.
20:23And the word was God.
20:26He was before all things.
20:28In fact, all things come into existence through him.
20:32And then verse 14,
20:33how do we know who this word is?
20:34John tells us,
20:35and the word became flesh,
20:38took on flesh,
20:40became a human,
20:42a likeness of man,
20:45a servant,
20:46and dwelt among us.
20:49And we have seen him.
20:51We saw Jesus.
20:52We walk with him.
20:53We touched him.
20:54We heard him.
20:55And we have seen his glory,
20:57glory as of the only son from the father,
20:59full of grace and truth.
21:03So when we think of it like this,
21:04Mary's conception was an incarnation
21:07of an already existing person.
21:11He didn't come to being through this.
21:14He was an already existing person.
21:16The second person of the Trinity
21:18comes now into the midst of humanity
21:20and shows us what the father is like
21:22and takes upon himself our sin.
21:27Pastor Adrian Rogers,
21:28he's a preacher and a writer.
21:29He actually witnessed to Muhammad Ali one time.
21:33And this is the discussion they had
21:34with Muhammad Ali.
21:35Rogers wrote it down.
21:37Muhammad Ali said,
21:39you say that Jesus Christ is the son of God
21:41because he was born of a virgin.
21:43He didn't have an earthly father.
21:44And then he said to me,
21:46Adam didn't have a father or a mother.
21:48Wouldn't that make Adam more a son of God than Jesus?
21:51And Adrian Rogers says,
21:52champ,
21:53I want you to understand this.
21:55Jesus was not the son of God
21:57because he was born of a virgin.
21:58He was born of a virgin
22:00because he was a son of God.
22:01An already existing person.
22:06He didn't come into being.
22:08He was already existing.
22:10It says that God,
22:11the infinitely pure spirit,
22:12has no material.
22:13He has no body.
22:14And in a sense,
22:16in a real sense,
22:17the infinite pure spirit
22:19has limited himself to a body
22:20in this sense in Jesus.
22:22And the body of Jesus
22:23is still in existence today.
22:24It sits on the right hand
22:25of the father in heaven
22:26and will come again one day again
22:28and sit on the throne of David.
22:29And the spirit,
22:34God is going to overshadow her.
22:37Same word used
22:39in the Mount of Transfiguration
22:40when the cloud came over the mountain
22:43and overshadowed Peter, James, and John
22:46when they're talking about making tabernacles
22:48for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.
22:51And you remember what the father says
22:53out of the cloud?
22:54This is my beloved son.
22:55Hear him.
22:57Hear him.
22:58That's the same word.
22:59He overshadowed Mary.
23:03Wasn't the normal action
23:05of a husband and wife relationship
23:06that brought Jesus into existence,
23:09into the earthly realm, I should say?
23:13It's like this.
23:14You remember back in Genesis
23:17when God creates humanity?
23:19He takes the dust of the ground,
23:22the clay, the red clay.
23:24He takes the dust of the ground
23:25and he forms it.
23:27And the text says
23:28that he breathed into the nostrils
23:31the breath of life.
23:34And Adam became a living soul.
23:37He breathed.
23:39Be alive.
23:40And he was alive.
23:43You could look at it like this.
23:44When the spirit overshadowed Mary,
23:47in a sense,
23:48probably a very real sense,
23:51God takes one of her eggs
23:53and breathes life into it
23:58and says,
24:00be alive.
24:01And it was alive.
24:04God makes it alive.
24:07What lengths he went to
24:14to come to us.
24:18Warren Wiersbe wrote,
24:19Mary's womb became a holy of holies
24:22for the Son of God.
24:23The holy of holies was a place
24:24where the presence of God was.
24:26Mary's womb now becomes
24:27a very presence of God.
24:30I'm sure Luke was very interested
24:31in this virginal conception.
24:32He's a doctor.
24:33He's a physician.
24:34He's interested in it, I'm sure.
24:35Imagine taking notes for Mary
24:38as he's listening to her talk about this.
24:41And again,
24:42the prophets talked about a virgin birth.
24:44Isaiah talked about it.
24:44Isaiah 7, 14.
24:46Therefore the Lord himself
24:47will give you a sign.
24:48Behold, the virgin shall conceive
24:49and bear a son
24:50and you shall call his name Emmanuel.
24:53And he came for a very specific person.
24:56He was holy.
24:58He was set aside.
24:59He had a mission to do,
25:00if you could say it like that.
25:01Look at this picture.
25:03We've seen it before.
25:04Remember the manger,
25:05the place where the baby
25:06was laid in the manger
25:07shadowed by a cross.
25:09That's this idea
25:10that he was holy.
25:11He was set apart
25:12for a specific purpose
25:13and mission of God
25:14from the very beginning.
25:15And what was that mission?
25:17To die for you and me.
25:23In fact,
25:24the writer of Hebrews
25:25talks this purpose
25:26of why the body of Jesus
25:27was given to him.
25:30Consequently,
25:30when Christ came into the world,
25:32he said,
25:32sacrifices and offerings
25:34you have not desired,
25:35but a body you have prepared for me.
25:37Why?
25:38For an offering.
25:41Animals could never do it.
25:43Number one,
25:43they weren't voluntary
25:44to begin with.
25:44And number two,
25:45they weren't human blood.
25:47We needed perfect human blood.
25:49We need the perfect son of God,
25:51the lamb of God
25:51who takes away
25:52the sin of the world.
25:53We needed a perfect one
25:54and he came
25:55and burnt offerings
25:57and sin offerings.
25:58You have taken no pleasure
25:59because they don't forgive us
26:01of our sins,
26:02but his blood forgives us.
26:05In his book,
26:06The Life of God
26:07and the Soul of Man,
26:08Henry Scogel,
26:08the 17th century
26:09Scottish minister said,
26:11God hath long continued
26:12with a stubborn world
26:14and thrown down
26:15many a blessing upon them.
26:18And when all his other gifts
26:19could not prevail,
26:21he at last made a gift
26:22of himself.
26:23He came to us
26:27the greatest of all gifts,
26:30the long-awaited Messiah,
26:33the longing of righteous Israel.
26:36The Son of God
26:37was to be set aside
26:38holy for unique divine purpose.
26:41He came to die.
26:43Oh, yes,
26:44he came to reveal
26:44the Father to us.
26:45Yes, he came to teach us
26:46the truth of the kingdom.
26:48Yes, he came to show us
26:48exactly the spirit
26:50of the Old Testament,
26:51how it was intended.
26:52And so misunderstood.
26:54Yes, that is all true.
26:55But that is not
26:56the reason why he came.
26:58He came to die
26:59so that you and I could live.
27:00That is why he came.
27:02He did all those things, yes.
27:04And yes,
27:04he revealed the Father to us.
27:06But the reason why he came
27:07was to die in our place.
27:11That's why we have
27:12the cradle and the cross.
27:15It's no big deal
27:16if God can take a woman
27:17who was past child-bearing age,
27:19Elizabeth,
27:20and make her become pregnant.
27:22There's no impossibility
27:23for God to make
27:25a virgin pregnant.
27:27Oh, and that's not impossible.
27:27If he can do it
27:28with an older woman
27:29that's past child-bearing age,
27:30why couldn't he do it
27:31with a young woman?
27:32Nothing is impossible
27:33with God.
27:37Mary immediately surrendered
27:39to God's will.
27:41I mean, think about that.
27:44You know,
27:45sometimes we,
27:46and I mean we,
27:47evangelicals,
27:48I don't necessarily like that term,
27:49but you know what I mean.
27:50We kind of degrade Mary
27:53a little bit
27:54because other people
27:54want to exalt her.
27:56I understand that.
27:58But we need to give Mary
28:00her proper place.
28:02We don't exalt her
28:03higher than the scriptures do,
28:05but we don't neglect her
28:06because other people
28:07do exalt her.
28:08We must give her
28:09her proper place.
28:12I mean, think about this.
28:13Here's a 13 to 15-year-old girl,
28:15probably closer to 14 at this time,
28:1713, 14-year-old little girl.
28:18Little girl, in my opinion.
28:21Can you imagine?
28:22She receives the word,
28:23the Holy Spirit's going to,
28:25you're going to become pregnant
28:26because the Holy Spirit's
28:26going to come upon you.
28:27You're not going to have
28:28a sexual relationship
28:28with anyone.
28:29You're going to become pregnant.
28:32She lived in a town
28:33called Nazareth,
28:34a little village.
28:35What happens in small towns?
28:39Gossip.
28:41How many times
28:42was she walking down the street
28:43and people turned away
28:45when she walked by
28:46or stopped their conversation
28:48when she walked up
28:49or from a distance
28:51heard the sound,
28:53what a whore.
29:00Mary was okay with that.
29:04I mean, I'm sure,
29:05I'm sure it touched her,
29:07but she was okay with that.
29:09She was okay
29:10because she realized
29:11being dedicated to God,
29:12sometimes there's anguish
29:13involved with that.
29:14Sometimes there's trials
29:14involved with that.
29:15Sometimes there's tribulations
29:17involved with being
29:17dedicated to God
29:19and doing His will
29:20and His word.
29:23She trusted God
29:24that He would work it all out.
29:27Some would understand later on,
29:29but most didn't.
29:30As a matter of fact,
29:31I was reminded this morning
29:32that even the Pharisees
29:34used to use this
29:35against Jesus.
29:36They said,
29:37we know who our Father is.
29:38She was okay with that.
29:47She leaves the future
29:48in God's hands.
29:52Through the woman
29:53now comes the promise
29:54that was given
29:55to Adam and Eve
29:56in the garden
29:56that through the woman,
29:58the seed of the woman,
29:59one would come
29:59to reverse all
30:00the devastation
30:01that the fall brought.
30:03Genesis 3.15,
30:03and I will put enmity
30:06between you and the woman
30:08and between your offspring
30:09and her offspring.
30:11He shall bruise your head
30:12and you shall bruise his heel.
30:14That was the beginning promise.
30:17And we see in her total submission
30:20to the word and will of God,
30:23what a model for us.
30:25What a model for us.
30:28God spoke.
30:29She believed it.
30:30She knew it was going to be.
30:31There's going to be anguish
30:32that's attached to this.
30:33There's going to be problems
30:34that's attached.
30:34There's going to be,
30:35I'm hearing the word whore
30:36way too many times
30:37I've ever heard in my life.
30:40People shunning me
30:41that were my friends
30:42in the past.
30:46Yeah, it hurts a little bit,
30:47but I'm okay with that.
30:49I'm okay with that.
30:52Christian Ditchfield,
30:53in a recent issue
30:54of Focus on the Family,
30:55she wrote about Mary.
30:58Mary, she didn't demand a sign.
31:01Some sort of proof
31:02for additional confirmation.
31:03She voiced no complaint
31:06of the total disruption
31:07of her life.
31:09She knew now
31:09that things would not turn out
31:11the way she had planned at all.
31:12No seven kids
31:13living on a farm,
31:15raising this.
31:15Everything's going to change.
31:18She concludes,
31:20but in her heart,
31:21there was no resistance,
31:23no rebellion,
31:24just a sweet,
31:25simple submission,
31:27surrender to the will of God.
31:29What a model for us.
31:32What a model for us.
31:35We see in this passage today
31:37that God calls people
31:39to carry out His will
31:40in this world.
31:41This is His plan.
31:43Imperfect people
31:44like you and me.
31:45So the question is,
31:46what is my role
31:48in His plan for this world?
31:50What is my role
31:51for His plan in this world?
31:53We all play a role.
31:54It's not just the pastors
31:55or the elders
31:56or the Sunday school teachers,
31:58those elites,
31:59as some would say.
32:00No, we're all part of His plan.
32:03We all play a role.
32:04I do my part,
32:05you do your part,
32:06and the body functions together
32:07as a whole,
32:08and we move forward together
32:09fulfilling His will
32:10in this world.
32:11We all have a role,
32:12and the question is,
32:13what is my role?
32:16Secondly, we see this.
32:17Those whom God chooses
32:18and places His favor on
32:20understand they are not chosen
32:22because of their piety,
32:23but by God's sovereign grace.
32:25And in that,
32:26do you sense a deep sense
32:28of gratitude for that?
32:31Thank you, God.
32:32I don't deserve this.
32:34I don't merit this.
32:37I'm one who had thrown
32:39insults at your face,
32:41and you would save me?
32:43May that produce
32:44a deep sense of gratitude
32:46in our souls.
32:47And lastly,
32:49those who are committed
32:50to the will of God
32:50understand that this dedication
32:52will bring with it suffering.
32:55Like Mary,
32:56we're all right with that.
32:59Let's pray.
33:00Father, thank you.
33:03Thank you that you chose Mary
33:05to be the instrument
33:07through which you bring
33:08salvation into the world.
33:11And she,
33:12this young woman,
33:14so wise beyond her age,
33:17yielded to this thing
33:19that was so unusual
33:20she had never heard
33:21of it before
33:22and it had never
33:22happened before
33:23and she yielded
33:25to your word
33:26and your will.
33:28Complete submission.
33:30Saying,
33:30I am your slave, God.
33:32I am your servant.
33:34I completely give myself
33:36to you.
33:38Father,
33:38she has set an example
33:39for us today.
33:42Those of us
33:43who desire to do,
33:44to obey your word
33:45and to do your will,
33:47she modeled for us
33:48something very important.
33:52Thank you for choosing Mary
33:53and thank you for recording it
33:55for us to know
33:55what exactly happened,
33:57how you brought the Savior
33:58into the world.
34:00We thank you.
34:00We pray in Jesus' name.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:02Amen.
34:03Amen.
34:03Amen.
34:03Amen.
34:03Amen.
34:03Amen.
34:04Amen.
Comments