December 21, 2014 Providence MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME Luke 1:46-55 INTRODUCTION: When our kids were young, someone taught us the expression, You win or lose by the way you choose. That really holds true. One way that we found to be particularly applicable was in who you choose to spend time with, and what you tend to do when you are together. Let s face it; some people bring out the worst in you, while others bring out the most noble version of yourself! ILLUS. I have had both kinds of people in my life. I once had a friend who made it very easy to fall into bad habits of sarcastic, cynical conversations. Very little uplifting happened when we got together and we each contributed to each other s weaknesses. We found that we did not often win when we chose to get together but instigated losts of characteristics in each other that we were not proud of! Many of you could name those people you have known who could always find ways to get into trouble, or steer things in an unhealthy direction perhaps a brother or sister, even, who would come up with the ideas and leave you to face the consequences! But once in a while, you would find that individual who built up rather than tore down who inspired rather than instigated, who raised the level of godliness and invited you by their character and demeanor to noble and lofty endeavors. As I was reading the gospel of Luke in his description of what happened when Mary learned that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God, it became clear that if you are going to win or lose by the way you choose, you would always want to choose to be around someone like her! You get the impression from reading about how she handled this entire situation that she could have written Psa. 34:3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! She makes you want to say, That sounds like a great idea! Let s get started! That is the model we want to follow in the way we choose who to spend time, who to imitate and who we want to spur us on. THESIS: The soul who receives much from the Lord will always rejoice much in the Lord. What is there about Mary s responses in this passage that give that impression? I. MARY S PRESENCE BROUGHT JOY --The expectant mother went to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who was expecting a son, John. --The powerful presence of Jesus, even in the womb, gave great joy and an actual physical response from John. Luke 1:43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ILLUS. Before our first son was born, Cathy and I attended a church service (not really a worship service since Jesus was obviously not welcomed and the Scriptures testifying to Him were read and denied). The lecture (not a sermon) rejected everything we know to be true about Him. As the heresy kept coming, Cathy and I both were sorting out what we should do. At nearly 8 months pregnant, she was frequently uncomfortable anyway, but the tension of hearing Jesus denigrated was contracting her stomach muscles. The bulletin was resting on her baby bump and pretty soon, I noticed that the bulletin was moving as the baby started moving, trying to stretch out and get some more room!
Here with Elizabeth, the baby in her womb jumped for joy when Jesus showed up. How much joy we should feel and express when we find ourselves in the real presence of our Savior? --Without making too much of this, it does appear throughout the Bible that whenever Jesus shows up, reactions are seldom indifferent people either rejoiced at His appearance, or they chafed at His interference. APPLIC. There should be enough of the presence in each of us who know, love and follow Him that those we meet should either leap for joy at His nearness or push Him away out of unbelief, rejecting and denying Him. If there is no response, we have to ask why is Jesus filling us and shining through us? We are to rejoice in His presence and allow His joy to shine through as His glory radiates from the transformation He has worked in our hearts and lives! --None of this escaped Mary s notice and the Lord gave her special insights during this season of her life, preparing her for a lifetime in the presence of her Son, watching the immediate responses of everyone He encountered! II. MARY S FAITH BROUGHT INSIGHT --God wants to share His insights and confide His innermost wisdom and truths to those who are available to those who fear Him and believe Him. Psa. 25:14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. --Something happens when we dare to step out in faith and in the fear of the Lord trusting what He says and doing what He bids. --For Mary, her faith was rewarded with special insights into the glorious character of God and the grand scope of His mercies toward a fallen and desperate world. A. SHE BELIEVED THE LORD Luke 1:45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. --How amazing that Elizabeth was in awe of the simple fact that Mary believed that there would be a fulfillment of God s Word! --Is it so rare? Do we have so little regard for the declarations of God that when someone dares to believe what He says, they stand out as particularly blessed and unusually set apart? Note: I want to be that person! I want to be around those kinds of people! People who simply believe God and take Him at His Word stand out as such a rarity that people are either blessed and inspired by them or offended and put off by them. Two points to consider: 1) if you know someone who has blessed you because they just believe the Lord in how they live, then do what Elizabeth did tell them so! And 2) if you are not that kind of person yet, pick someplace to start, something that may seem out of your league, outside your understanding, something that God has said that you just need to believe! B. SHE WAS OPEN TO UNDERSTAND --Frankly, Mary believed but did not yet understand and so she just asked for more information so that she could comprehend as much as humanly possible about God s plans and intentions. Luke 1:34 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin?
--Unlike many who tend to be embarrassed if they do not understand something God has said or commanded or expected, Mary just asked, openly admitting that this was something entirely foreign to her, something that went against everything she thought she knew. --Yet she did not close herself off to something new the Lord wanted her to understand, something that had many layers of theological complexity and biological impossibility, but she chose not to pretend she got it! ILLUS. Would we not all be better off if we felt free to admit it when we don t understand something instead of pretending we do? In an effort to give the impression we are smarter than we are, we lose many opportunities to learn and understand if we refuse to close ourselves off and never ask when we don t get it! One of my life-long heroes was Dr. Howard Hendricks. Down at Dallas Theological Seminary where he taught, he would go down to the dorms sometimes and spend the evening just talking with the guys. In the classroom, all the walls were up and egos were fully guarded. But somehow, he said, usually approaching midnight, walls would come down, guards would drop and guys would ask questions about things they simply did not understand and always they got around to predestination and to girls! But they were open to understand! Too many shut the door to new insights and levels of understanding from the riches of God s Word and miss what God wants them to know. --Mary made to bones about it she just asked and was genuinely ready to learn how this was going to happen! C. SHE WAS WILLING AND AVAILABLE --After the angel answered, I don t know about you, but I don t think really understood all that he said, but she got enough of it to be satisfied with moving forward with what she did understand. Luke 1:38 And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. --Mary boldly embraced the plan, even with only the least understanding of what it would mean, or why it was so important. ILLUS. It is not a new saying but certainly appropriate in the case of Mary, but God is look for FAT people Faithful, Available, Teachable and Mary was all of that! In an information saturated culture, there is lot more Bible knowledge than there is Bible living. So one thing we must all learn from Mary is how to be more willing than we are with whatever insight and understanding God may have given us. D. SHE FEARED THE LORD Luke 1:29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. --The fact that an angel from God Most High spoke to her in this highly unusual manner, praising her as one favored by and blessed with the abiding presence of the Lord well, it disturbed her, upset, even frightened her. --The angel reassured her by saying, Mary, do not be afraid! You need not be troubled by this announcement but take heart that the Lord looks on you as one He can confide in and make known the secrets of his heart! III. MARY S UNDERSTANDING BROUGHT PRAISE
--Instead of being frustrated by all the she did not understand and know, the limited understanding she did have brought forth a response not just of willingness, but a flood of praise poured out of her! A. HER RESPONSE --Worship, not worry, was her response rather than be paralyzed by all that she did not know; Mary was energized by what she did know! 1. Proclamation from her very soul Luke 1:46 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, [ proclaims the greatness of the Lord ] --Her words were not just a mindless intellectual assent to some sterile doctrine or irrelevant information praise erupted from her soul! --What she said came from what she felt the inner recesses of her being (h Jyuchv), her truest self crying out what that she had to magnify the Lord, proclaim the greatness of the Lord, exalt the Lord, glorify the Lord. --Granted, her words could not make God any greater, any larger, than He is eternally, but she had to make known through her praise what she had found Him to be. --The more she realized the vastness of her blessing, the more she cried out from the depth of her being the greatness of her God! 2. Exultation from her spirit Luke 1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, --As a further expression of joyful praise, Mary declares that her spirit, one who has been made alive to God, now rejoices! --Why? She rejoices in three things: a. As a sinner, God has come to be her Savior God my Savior b. As the least of all, God has blessed her with the most glorious privilege the humble state of His bondslave c. As one unknown, God will make all generations know of her great blessing all generations will count me as blessed --Is there any wonder that she finds her voice in adoration and praise when she ponder(s) anew what the Almighty can do, if with His love He befriend thee? [Joachim Neander, 1650-1680, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty ] 3. Meditations from the heart --In Luke, we have this hymn of praise, the Magnificat, in chapter one, but as you can imagine, as the story unfolds, she continues to respond to the Lord s grace. Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. --Sitting in the dark, a holy light shining from the star above her in Bethlehem, Mary tried to take it all in as she considered the announcement by Gabriel, the time she spent with Elizabeth, the visit by the shepherds, and now the healthy birth of this baby boy!
--Rather than allow them to fade from memory, she saw each part of this journey as something to be treasured to ponder them as she considered all that had happened, turning them over and over in her mind, treasuring them in her heart. --All the hopes and dreams any mother has for her baby were certainly there, but to compare those normal feelings with the element of the divine, the presence before her of the Word become flesh filled her with awe and flooded her heart with joy! B. HER WORSHIP --As Mary begins to worship Him, she recounts seven different reasons God deserves her highest praise none of them specifically related to her present blessing, but attributes of the Lord she has come to know and adore! Note. Sometimes when we begin to praise the Lord for one thing, our hearts and minds begin to think of Him, consider who He is and what He has done. We cannot contain ourselves at that point and like Mary break out into jubilant adoration for the Lord. --An entire sermon series could be built on these seven elements of praise in Mary s song, but for now it will be necessary just to name them as a boost to the songs and meditations in our own worship! 1. He looks on with blessing Luke 1:48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 2. He has done great things Luke 1:49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 3. His name is holy Luke 1:49 and holy is his name. 4. His mercy is from generation to generation Luke 1:50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 5. He humbles the exalted and exalts the humble Luke 1:51-52 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 6. He satisfies and brings soul contentment Luke 1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. Psa. 65:4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple! 7. He gives help to His covenant people Luke 1:54-55 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. CONCLUSION: The soul who receives much from the Lord will always rejoice much in the Lord. Mary was clear in her own mind God has been more than gracious and more than generous in His dealings with me therefore I will magnify His name and rejoice in God my Savior! Do you have that kind of clarity? If not, why not, since the same God offers you His Son to be the Savior and Sustainer of your life?
Three takeaways: 1. Find the Mary s in your life whose joy in life invites you to go with them into every endeavor in a way that is worthy of your calling to follow Jesus Christ. --There will always be people who drain you, deceive you and drag you down so look out for the Mary s who can build you up in the fullness of the joy of Jesus Christ. 2. Make yourself available to God, believing His ways are best and be willing to serve Him by following Him wherever He leads. --When we aren t sure about something, we can hold back and be reluctant to go where God says we are supposed to go, do what we are supposed to do and believe what we are supposed to believer so give Him a blank check for your life! 3. Ponder anew what the Almighty can do who He is, then rejoice, give thanks and exalt His name together with others who live to worship Him. --Make time to go beyond the basics of what is right before you and spend time reflecting, meditating, considering, pondering the things of God think on those things and your worship will overflow with a sense of His presence! December 21, 2014 Providence Baptist Church David Horner, 2014 Sermon outlines are copyrighted in the event of future publication. They may be used for preaching and teaching purposes but may not be published or sold.