WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.879 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:06.160 For more information on our church, please visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:25.839 Well, as you know, uh we have been uh going through this is the Advent season, uh, and so we are in week three of Advent, which is traditionally known as kind of the Joy Sunday, uh, which is why we we read about joy, we uh we are we are singing about joy uh and it kind of just encapsulates all the whole service, much less our lives. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:34.960 Uh and so uh uh this is kind of that third week, like I said, and and if you're anything like me, uh we kind of get about halfway through Advent and we kind of get to the point where we go, you know what, I get it. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:49.439 I get it, we're waiting, we're hoping, it's dark, uh, you know, the lights are gonna do crazy things, and and we kind of you know might start to lose sight of the fact that this is a really significant time, not just in the year, but in the in the season of our soul. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:01:00.799 Uh because over the next couple of weeks, uh your scale, your schedule and your calendar is gonna start filling up and ramping up uh with things that are much less significant than drawing near to God. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:19.920 And so uh as we get pressurized over the next couple of weeks, the call will be even more important for us to slow down, for us to just be, for us to just be drawn near into the gentleness but yet strength of our God and our King. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.920 And so that is uh is the call for all of us today. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:31.599 And certainly uh we're about to read about a woman who exemplified this and the way that she lived her life. 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:38.480 Uh you may know her as Mary, Mother of God, you may know her as the Virgin Mary, you may know her as Madonna. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:48.400 She probably has a uh a thousand different names throughout the ages, uh, but we'll just know her as Mary, the woman who gave birth to Jesus. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:54.159 Uh and we're gonna start in Luke chapter one, and we'll be in verse 46 as we do that today. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:02:08.800 I don't know if you know uh my background, but uh I grew up Catholic, and uh one of the reasons why I wanted to preach on Mary today because when we were uh planning out Advent, we started to talk about, well, we've done kind of the themes of Advent for several weeks in a row. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:12.000 How can we tie in those themes with some characters of Advent? 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:21.120 And so uh Neil preached on Anna a couple weeks ago, and then last week he talked about the the Jesus that's coming again, not just the one who's come, but he's coming again. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:36.080 And then today uh I get to preach on Mary, and the reason why I was just jumped at the chance to preach on Mary was because uh I don't know if you know this, but within our midst, we have a lot of ex-Catholics in the room, uh, of which I'm one, and so I grew up Catholic until I was 20. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:37.680 I don't know what that meant really back then. 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:45.759 I know that it meant I had to do a lot of things I didn't want to do, uh, and little weird things like, you know, sit in a room and confess all my sin to a stranger, uh, which I did. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:03:02.240 And when I came around the curtain, so to speak, apparently all the kids that went before me uh when my first communion, my only my only confession, uh uh when I came around the curtain and I and I confessed my sins uh to the priest, he was shocked to see someone face to face and not behind the veil. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:03.280 Uh oh, hello. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:05.199 I was like, well, hello, I might as well do this thing. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.039 If we're gonna do this, let's just get on it. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:16.000 Uh and so uh so that's the kind of stuff that I grew up with, and many of us in this room uh either are we we are we came from that background or we definitely know someone from that background. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:22.719 And here's what I know from that background, and even reading and studying, is that is that Catholics, and this is I'm please hear my heart in this. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:26.080 I come from the background, I'm not saying Catholics are bad and Baptists are good. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:30.560 That's what any good Catholic probably will hear, but that's not what I'm saying. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:38.879 Instead, what I'm saying is growing up in that particular tradition, uh, and you almost worship, you do worship Mary. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:50.479 Uh I did, uh, even unknowingly, and then you come out of that and you almost, and all of a sudden you get you have a conversion experience, and you go to Baptists and Bible call uh Bible uh churches, and there's no talk of Mary at all. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:54.639 Uh she's like non-existent, she's the taboo person you can't talk about, apparently. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:04:01.039 And so there was like this whiplash uh from talking about Mary and she's everywhere to where is Mary? 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:02.560 I don't know where Mary is. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:08.240 Uh and so uh so that's so let's just bring it back into focus because it is important, right? 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:10.400 It is important that Mary's in the Bible. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:10.800 Why? 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:17.920 Because she's in the Bible, and this is the inspired word of God, and so we're gonna read about a woman named Mary. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:22.879 But before we read about her, we've got to uh kind of understand her situation a little bit. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:29.680 And today's title of the sermon, which uh you know is great, I guess, it's three enduring things about Mary's Savior. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.399 What's great about it is that Mary had a savior. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.920 Now that escaped my attention for years and years and years. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:47.680 That this Mary, whom we'll read about, will start to give joy and give praise to God, her Savior. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:51.439 She needed rescuing, just like you and just like me. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:59.519 And so no wonder we have this beautiful song, what many people will call the magnificat, which I looked up. 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:00.800 I don't know what it means still. 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:02.319 Uh, but it's the Mary song. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:04.319 It's easier if we just say Mary's song. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:06.959 Uh and so basically, let's get a little context here. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:09.600 Uh Mary was possibly illiterate. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:11.759 She was definitely poor. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:17.040 She grew up in a small town named Nazareth up near the Sea of Galilee. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:25.519 And at this point in the story, we know, almost with certainty, we know that she was around 12 or 13 years of age. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:38.319 We know that because uh uh of Jewish uh history and Jewish tradition would have said that a young woman would need to be betrothed or committed to a man by about 12 and a half or 13 years of age. 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:41.680 Do we have any 12 and a half or 13 years of age people in here? 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:42.399 Anyone? 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:42.879 No? 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:44.160 They're all out at the warehouse. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:45.360 Beautiful, that's where they should be. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:46.319 I was about to kick you out. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:48.160 I don't know if you knew that, but I was about to kick you out. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.279 Uh uh but 12 and a half, 13 years of age. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:58.319 We know that based on custom, and so you might think to yourself, number one, Lance is going to start screaming because of the rain, and that's true. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:11.920 Uh, but you also might start to think to yourself, okay, what is the deal with such a young woman, a young girl, in their custom on a normal basis being committed to another man? 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.319 Uh basically the there was two benefits. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:16.079 One was to the father. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:28.639 The father got gr much benefit in this whole situation because at some point at the betrothal, the quote unquote, the engagement, uh, the father and the husband would have come up with a bride price. 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:35.279 Okay, now that sounds very bad in our culture, but back then it was absolutely normal, and in many cultures today, it's absolutely normal. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:40.160 Meaning that the groom to be would pay the father a price for the bride. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:49.600 Uh, and that would make up for all the lost wages kind of of the agrarian soci of the agrarian society, of the farm or of the property for the rest of her life. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:54.480 Because she was going to leave and now go basically work on somebody else's property for the rest of her life. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:55.920 Very practical. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:07.680 So they would agree upon this bride price, and at this point in the betrothal, when when uh Joseph and Mary are betrothed, Joseph has already paid the bride price to Mary's dad. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:22.399 And then part of the process is Mary would stay in the home of her father for around 12 months, about a year, while Joseph would go and make a home and build a home and make ready for the day of their consummation. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:25.279 And the rain is gone, and I will quit yelling at you. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:28.000 But when it comes back, be prepared, people. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:29.199 Uh uh. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:36.639 But nonetheless, so during that, it's during those 12 months of waiting, okay, that the price has been paid to the Father by Joseph. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:37.680 So they're committed. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:40.480 They're absolutely committed to this thing. 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:45.360 Uh, and all of a sudden, in the midst of this 12-month waiting period, Gabriel shows up. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:53.040 Gabriel shows up and says to Mary, Hey, love that you have plans, love that you're excited about your wedding. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.439 Uh, here's more things to be excited about. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:57.839 Um, you're gonna become pregnant. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.160 I know you're a virgin, but blessed are you. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.319 You have found favor with God. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:06.879 And we don't know why many people will say, well, she found favor with God because of all these different things. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:09.279 She found favor with God, the same reason why you and I did. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:11.600 Because God just saw her as favorable. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:15.680 That's just the reality of it. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:20.879 And so she finds favor with God, and Gabriel continues to announce things to her. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:24.480 What I was uh growing up is this is the annunciation, right? 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:28.480 Uh and so uh and so he announces many things to her that she would become pregnant. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:31.199 She's deeply perplexed, she asks some questions. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:32.399 How are you gonna do this? 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:38.399 Well, the Holy Spirit's gonna do it, we don't really know how, it's gonna be a miracle, it's gonna be a mystery, but just count on it, it's gonna happen. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:42.159 Mary's response, be it to me as you so will. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:43.279 Okay, this is great. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:45.200 Nothing's impossible, Gabriel would say. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:55.759 And to prove that nothing is impossible, you who are 12-year-old, you're a virgin, you've you've never even dabbled in any of that, certainly pure to prove that God can do anything. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:01.519 Here is another example on the other end of the spectrum is your relative Elizabeth, who's old and barren. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.080 She also is pregnant, Mary. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:05.840 And who's she pregnant with? 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:16.080 She's pregnant with John the Baptist, the forerunner, he whose basic message was repentance to make way for baby Jesus. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:32.720 And so Mary makes with haste down about 80 miles, maybe a hundred miles, through the uh through the through the wilderness of Israel, finds her relative Elizabeth, and they just jump for joy and have so much fun together, as two pregnant women probably only can. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:36.480 And they enjoy each other. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:39.919 And Mary just responds and said, Oh my gosh, what? 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:45.360 What do I owe that the mother of my Lord would come come near to me and visit me? 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:48.399 Because when you spoke, Mary, oh, I felt it in my womb. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:53.200 John the Baptist leapt for joy that you would come near with Jesus in you. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:57.279 Blessed are you, Mary. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:00.480 You've believed that all this would happen. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:02.639 And we pick up on the story. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:17.600 We pick up on the story of this poor, probably illiterate, 12-year-old who's somehow pregnant, and yet somehow utterly joyful. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:29.600 In the midst of whatever circumstance she found herself in, she certainly had plans for the future, and God messed them all up with his beautiful, bigger plans for her future and ours. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:31.840 You know God is willing to do that, right? 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.120 He's willing to mess up your plans to make sure his will gets done. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:38.000 Okay, I just want to make sure we're on the same page. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:42.480 Let me just read Luke 1, 46 to 56. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:53.919 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:00.879 For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant, for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:09.679 For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name, and his mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:27.759 And he has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts, and he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate, and he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:45.440 He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to all to his offspring forever, and Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and returned to her home. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:12:01.840 In the midst of certainly all the reasons in the world, she would have had every excuse in the world to fret, to be anxious, to worry, to crumble underneath the pressure of carrying Jesus in her womb. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.360 Could you imagine that? 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:17.440 Instead, we read this response, and she says, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.120 What an unbelievable response. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:25.039 She calls God her Savior, but it's not just any Savior. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:35.600 If we're going to see three beautiful attributes and three enduring qualities or things about Mary's Savior, the first one is this is that Mary's Savior is personal. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:45.519 If we're going to know anything about the first thing that she makes known to us, that God makes known to us is that Mary's Savior is absolutely personal. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:13:00.720 We just read the first part, verse 47, and my soul, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant, for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:19.600 Five times in four verses does Mary use the personal pronoun me or my it's a personal faith that you and I share with this sister in Christ named Mary, not someone to be worshipped, but someone to certainly understand that we can relate with her absolutely. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:33.120 The first thing that basically shows that God's personality and Mary's Savior is personal, she looks upon uh he looks upon her with great humility. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:39.440 You know there's a direct correlation between finding joy in Christ and His looking upon you with favor. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:44.399 And that's how we started this whole thing was with Gabriel announcing, you have found favor with God. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:54.240 And just a few short verses, no matter the circumstances, all of a sudden Mary bursts out in song and says, Oh, my soul, the very core of who I am. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:59.840 Oh, I just there's nothing I can do but rejoice that he's mine and I am his. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:13.120 Mary was seen as humble, uh, so much so that in verse 48 it says that for he, for God has looked on the humble estate of his servant. 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:18.000 Mary just didn't have like a humble day, she had an estate of humility. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:23.120 I mean, it's like the realm in which she lived was was just humility. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:29.759 Uh, we were talking about this last night, my wife and I, and we were talking about, well, okay, the difference between pride and humility, kind of difficult to see. 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:31.360 Uh, some the humble people. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.000 Uh, I asked, hey, who's the most humble person you know? 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.879 She didn't answer me, oddly enough. 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:40.159 Uh and she was like, I don't know, I can't even think of one. 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:42.080 I was like, I'm right with you. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:52.720 Uh but I was like, maybe you could name two, three, at the most, maybe for us, like four people that are like it just really characterizes their life as humility. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:58.960 But go to the other side of the spectrum and you go, all right, well, name about, you know, however many you can name on on pride. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:00.799 And the list never ends. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:05.360 I mean, look at all the athletes that that run the world, basically, it seems like. 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:11.919 Uh look at look at all the people that actually literally do run the world, like across uh the ocean, Ahmadinejad. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.080 I mean, that dude's not humble. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:22.799 And whatever else is going on in the Mideast, jockeying and clamoring for position. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:25.039 It's easy to find pride. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:26.960 It's easy to point out pride. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.360 Many of you are pointing it out right now. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:34.399 But it's very difficult to find humility. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:41.200 But God, the thing that got God's attention somehow was Mary's humility. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:50.000 I remember being at AM when I was first a believer, and uh uh you couldn't like, you couldn't back me down from any religious fight. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.399 You probably still can't, but I really you really couldn't then. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:16:02.320 And so there was these demonstrators in the middle of campus, and they were had these very graphic signs, and I just remember thinking, you know, I know what it's like to be on this campus thinking I'm a Christian. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:07.440 They think they're Christians and that this is gonna do some good, this is gonna do a lot of harm. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:10.320 I know it's my job to confront this. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:23.039 And so uh I did, and I walked up to this young woman who had this, you know, ginormous sign of very graphic images, and uh I just said, Hey, you know, you're doing a lot of harm here. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:24.559 Like, it's why don't you just leave? 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:25.600 Just pack your stuff up. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:29.039 I know you got a big sign here and it's good, uh, but why don't you go ahead and leave? 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:34.320 And the venom that poured out of this girl was oh, it was remarkable. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:40.879 And all I can remember her saying was, you're not humble, and all I can remember me saying is, yes, I am, I'm humble. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:42.879 You can't say that if you're humble. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.320 You can't say I'm humble, like you're fighting and you're humble. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:47.840 That doesn't work, right? 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:49.519 But I know what it means. 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:53.279 I mean, you're uh it's just somehow you can't seek it. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:55.840 But somehow you just live it. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:15.759 Uh when we were taking these beautiful arches that no one has missed down, uh we got, I don't know, the person that started it, his name is Gary, and uh the person that started it, he did it without us, which was great, was on time, and he got it down, and all of a sudden I looked up and I go, oh man, those walls need to be painted today. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.440 Because the Star of Bethlehem is tomorrow. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:21.279 And um that needs to get done. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:27.200 And I looked at Gary and I said, So uh, by the way, Gary is an entrepreneur, he's a business owner, he's a very busy schedule. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:32.640 If you're ever around him, his phone will go off and he will answer it, as any good business owner should. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:34.880 And so I just said, Gary, what's your day look like? 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.519 I'm pretty sure the phone was ringing like right at that moment. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:40.000 Uh and I said, I just want to know how depressed I am right now. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.480 Am I like super depressed with no help or a little bit depressed that we have to do more work? 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:47.599 And he just said, Man, whatever you need, I'll be here. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:57.200 And as the day went on, more and more things just popped up and showed up that needed to get done that Gary, in our lull times during the day, we're waiting for paint, we're waiting for this, we put the wrong paint up on the wall. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.599 I mean, just whatever went wrong probably could have gone wrong. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:00.160 It did. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:04.799 And so uh we're just sitting around and he just starts jumping into other projects, jumping into other projects. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:15.119 Well, I felt bad uh because I don't know what that looks like to be humble, and he is clearly, and we go to dinner, uh, treat him to dinner, and I just said, dude, okay, why do you want to do this? 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:26.880 Like, why are you setting apart a Tuesday out of a very busy schedule, out of your workday, entrepreneur, business owner, I know you're busy, he goes, man, I just love God, I love this church, and I just want to do something for y'all. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:28.480 Okay, yeah. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:30.160 I think he had a humble estate. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:33.359 I mean, he's building humility, he's just living it. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.640 It's easier for me to find prideful people. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:48.960 It's easier for me to point out things uh that are certainly prideful, and and uh there's a guy named Paul David Tripp who uh who writes, uh he's definitely an author, but he also writes blogs and emails and stuff. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:56.799 But he's been sending out, and it's in one of his books, Paul David Tripp's basically a bunch of different ways, ten ways uh that that you glorify yourself. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:06.240 See, these are things that Mary didn't do, but that some of us, because we have an easier time identifying pride, might identify with, attack, and then pursue humility. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:08.319 So that's why I'm sharing all this with you. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:15.519 Uh is because uh Paul David Tripp does a great job of encouraging uh weary pastors and correcting wayward pastors. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:19.359 But this isn't just for pastors, it's for you and for me. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:23.920 Uh but he talks about these, uh he has ten or even more probably ways to glorify yourself. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:25.119 I'll just share with you a few. 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:37.119 Uh he says this uh this is ways that you glorify yourself, this is ways that you basically uh pretend to be humble or pretend to be religious, but in actuality, uh your words and your actions prove otherwise. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:39.119 He says, Well, this is one way to do it. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:42.000 Parade in public what should be kept in private. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:46.480 So maybe it's giving, maybe it's something you did. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:53.200 Gary would never tell you that he spent nine to nine up here on a weekday and night helping. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:56.400 Be way too self-referencing. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:19:59.759 Talk when you should be quiet. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:02.559 And here's one that you probably didn't expect. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:04.640 Be quiet when you should speak. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:11.680 Prideful people sometimes are just quiet when they should speak up and into a situation. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:19.200 You care too much about what people think about you, or you care too little about what people think about you. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:24.960 You resist facing and admitting your sins, weaknesses, and failures. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:34.240 Uh, we were talking in um the staff meeting this morning, and somebody in the band just basically said, you know, the the the dropout rate, so to speak, of pastors is absolutely alarming. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:40.480 And the things that those pastors are citing are lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and no spiritual discipline. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:44.000 In other words, they think they can do it all on their own. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:51.839 Resist fail uh that you resist facing and admitting your weaknesses, even, even if it's not sin. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:57.359 And then finally, uh, you are more position-oriented than submission-oriented. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:03.680 In other words, uh, I might relate to you out of a position I hold at church or in society or whatever, or my kids. 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:09.359 I relate to my my in my position as their dad instead of in submission to God. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:16.480 In obedience to God, may I serve uh uh Reese and Ellie and Melissa. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:20.160 Instead, I may relate to them out of my position. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:31.839 Ten ways in which, or certainly uh several ways in which we glorify ourselves, but that's not the heart of Mary, and that's not the thing that caught God's affection or attention and Mary. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:33.839 In fact, it was quite the opposite. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.960 So it begs the question: what when God looks at you, what does he see? 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:42.319 Does he see pride? 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:45.039 Does he so see self glory? 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:52.240 Does he see uh a man or or a woman who refuses to sleep because they they can do it? 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.160 They won't ask for help? 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.279 Does he see anxiety, worry? 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.200 Does he see humility? 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:06.880 When he sees Mary, he sees the humble estate, the realm in which she lived. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:12.000 What was normal to her was lowliness and humility. 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:19.119 The second thing that God sees in a personal manner and that Mary rejoices over is basically that she's blessed. 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:25.039 And she has a point where she says, From now on, they will call me blessed from generations to come. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:32.960 She says it right here at the end of verse 48 for behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:40.640 And this personal nature of who God is and Mary's Savior, there's a point in life where everything changes. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:53.759 And the thing that sustains us no matter what comes after everything changes is this eternal perspective that Mary has and looks forward and says, for generations and generations, I'm going to be called blessed. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:55.680 It never ends. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:07.200 They will pursue evil. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.480 They will set out to hurt us and to harm us. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:15.279 Mary knew that. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:23.039 And that's why this eternal perspective, this looking forward to eternity that was preached upon last week is of such importance. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:25.279 Because here's what we know about Mary. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:32.240 Her life and her claim to virginity wasn't, it wasn't vindicated on the day that Jesus was born. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:35.599 Instead, it was when he was resurrected. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:39.920 So all of a sudden, baby Jesus doesn't get born, and everybody goes, Oh, you were a virgin. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:40.559 No. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:42.160 They didn't say that at all. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:48.319 They said, Oh, my goodness, this is the king for those that believed, and for others, they thought, okay, she had a kid, he's illegitimate. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:49.759 Why are we talking about this? 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:56.000 All this again begs the questions have you experienced God personally? 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:15.119 And if you have, if you're in that relationship with him and he has come near you in a personal matter, when's the last time, especially during this season, that you've set aside some time just to sit and be still and be reminded of the character and the nature of God. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:20.160 Because it's exactly what Mary starts to shout out next. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:22.640 Brings us to our second point. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:26.960 Not only is Mary's Savior personal, Mary's Savior is perfect. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:29.359 He is absolutely perfect. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:46.640 And so over the next four or five verses, 49 to 53, she just begins to explain to all of us and exclaim to all the world this is the heart and the nature of our God, of my Savior, the one who is coming and who is now being formed within my womb. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:49.119 This is the nature of God. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:25:00.640 She says these certain things, verses 49 to 53, as she continues on, is why her Savior is such worthy of such praise. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:06.480 She says, For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:10.799 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:15.839 He has shown strength with his arm, and he has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.000 He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:25.039 He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:26.000 Wow. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:33.200 And all this from a probably illiterate, most likely twelve-year-old. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:46.960 Now we don't know probably many illiterate twelve-year-olds, much less ones that would be able to just all of a sudden know God so well that all this just starts to pour out of her. 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:51.359 Starts to beg the question for me, what am I teaching my kids? 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:53.759 What am I teaching those that are around me? 00:25:54.000 --> 00:26:00.400 Because it's quite possible and quite uh probable that she didn't have a Bible, she didn't have a Torah, she could just take home and read. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:10.559 Instead, she relied upon the teachings and the oral teachings of her mother and her father and her grandparents and whatever anybody else learned at the temple, and she listened. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:17.039 And she was around it so much that it filled her up to where she could just say, Oh man, you are perfect. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:18.960 Why do I say perfect? 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:23.920 There was a scholar that once said that the attributes of God are perfect. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:27.119 And so he just preferred to call them perfections. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:28.960 These are attributes of God. 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:31.200 There's four of them that she makes mention of. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:33.519 Some pastors have said there are seventeen. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:35.200 I won't do that to you. 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:37.200 Instead, there are four. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:53.279 And so he said Mary says this that in the midst of her circumstances of being poor and probably illiterate, 12 years old, and now pregnant with Jesus, God's own son, she worships God for who he is. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:57.440 And the first thing she says about who God is is that he is mighty. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:26:59.839 He's mighty. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:01.039 He is the mighty one. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:02.160 He is strong. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:06.799 Whatever we think is strong, whatever we think is powerful, he is stronger. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:14.640 Sometimes he reminds us of that through the chaos of things like Sandy and any earthquakes like near Fort Worth. 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:15.839 What is that about? 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:18.799 You know there's an earthquake near Fort Worth, right? 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:19.519 No? 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:19.839 All right. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:20.880 Good talking to you. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:29.039 The second thing he talks about is uh that Mary exclaims is that his name is holy. 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:36.240 Verse 40 at the end of 49, and his name, his holy is his name. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:40.240 It is the very thing by which God wants to be known. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:42.640 So my name is Lance, that's what you know me by. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:49.039 If you say Lance, I'll turn around, most likely, unless I know you and I'm ignoring you, but don't take it personal. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:52.160 If you say Lance, I'll turn around because that's my name. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:53.440 That's what I'm known by. 00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:54.960 That's my identification. 00:27:55.200 --> 00:28:02.319 And instead of any personal name, although we know that, he will be called Emmanuel, he will be called Jesus. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:06.079 Mary says, holiness is his name. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:09.759 It's the same thing as saying, hey, holy, and God goes, Yeah. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:17.680 Holiness is the thing and the attribute of which that's what God wants to be known for. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.039 That is his name. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:36.720 If you were introducing, if God was so wise and he is, and if he's introducing something about himself to a woman who is going to be accused of being dirty, she's going to be accused of sexual immorality, she's going to be accused of being crazy. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:44.880 If there was anything that that young woman could cling to in her times of need, would be the holiness that the name of God is. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:46.319 It is holiness. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:56.880 God is unique, perfect, pure, spotless, all really, really important. 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:00.000 When they're going to call her immoral. 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:04.720 And this wouldn't end for her life until, well, probably ever. 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:07.680 Maybe until Jesus rose from the dead. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:19.039 Because we see it all, these allusions to it, even through the gospels, like in John 8, uh, gentle Jesus is telling the Pharisees, hey, y'all do your father's work, and your father is the devil. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:22.240 I mean, I'm just saying. 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:27.119 And they, the Pharisees respond to him, hey, don't talk to us like that. 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:30.559 We didn't come from a sexual and moral relationship. 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:33.440 As if to say, you did. 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:37.039 You don't have any claim over us. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:38.240 I we know where you came from. 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:39.359 Mary's your mother. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:44.559 The one that keeps saying on the street corner, I'm a virgin, I'm a virgin, I'm a virgin. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:46.079 Sure, sure she is. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:51.279 Probably could have been one of the reasons why she left to be with Elizabeth. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:54.160 How could she be pregnant if she's not there? 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:57.119 How could Joseph have done it if she's not there? 00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:02.799 Instead, she goes and visits Elizabeth for three months and waits for John the Baptist to get born. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:04.160 And she goes back. 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:16.880 Certainly his name is holy, and she realizes that this holy God, uh, some say would inflict this circumstance upon her so that one day she'd be vindicated. 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:35.039 And no matter what the circumstance before her, she could cling to the reality that one day she would go to heaven in the holiness of God, that when we sit around the throne and we say, holy, holy, holy, and we're doing that with Mary and all these other people that are around us. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:37.200 Holiness is his name. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:40.880 And she could think to that and remember that. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:50.160 This would be the thing that would sustain her, this attribute, this perfection, this thing that God is revealing about himself, and now she is so thankful for. 00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:54.559 The third thing that she sees in God is that he's merciful. 00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:56.720 He is merciful. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:03.200 In verse 50, it says this and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:07.759 Again, there's this eternal theme of God's mercy never ending. 00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:18.319 And so no matter how crazy our world gets, God's mercy is still being dispensed according to his will and his ways. 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:22.400 We kind of get sometimes confused with grace and mercy. 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:26.559 They're words that certainly are found in the Bible, but we get a little bit confused. 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:27.519 Grace is this. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:33.440 Grace is God doing for us that which we do not deserve and we cannot earn. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:39.839 So it's no wonder that salvation is by grace, because it's something that we don't deserve and we can't earn, right? 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:43.599 On the other side of things is mercy. 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:50.880 Mercy is God withholding something from us that we do deserve and that we have earned. 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:54.960 So, in other words, God's wrath, we deserve that. 00:31:55.359 --> 00:32:02.000 But in God's mercy, he satisfied his wrath with his son, with his death on the cross. 00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:08.960 And so God now is merciful to those who call upon the name of Jesus for salvation and life. 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:12.000 He is merciful. 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:21.680 Well, yesterday I was making uh gingerbread houses with my daughters, which was great, uh, and they realized a couple different things, and I realized a couple different things. 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:24.880 Uh my wife asked me afterwards, she goes, How was that for you? 00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:27.759 I was gumdrops and gingerbread houses and icing. 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:28.079 I don't know. 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:28.640 I mean, it was great. 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:30.400 She's like, I just thought it was so sweet for you to do that. 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:33.200 You thought of it, you went and bought them, you brought them home, and you just spent your. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:37.440 I was like, What's I mean, I don't know why this is so different, but apparently it is. 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:41.119 Uh, and so I just spent time with them and I just thought, what am I teaching my kids? 00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:47.759 Like when we lay down at night and we read the Bible and we pray with them and do the things that we do, what are we teaching about them? 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:54.960 That's easier for me to kind of discern, but what am I teaching about them and the level of consistency when I parent them? 00:32:55.759 --> 00:33:07.519 And the level of consistency of when I parent Reese and Ellie, and I say, basically, hey, I'm gonna, I have your best interest in mind, and that means I'm gonna say no to you. 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:14.640 I mean, Reese was on the swing a couple days ago, and she's swinging as high as she can, and the only thing that she could think of was, I can do whatever I want. 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:16.559 No. 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:19.759 I kept saying, no, daddy, daddy, I can do whatever I want. 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:20.799 No, no, you can't. 00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:22.799 Matter of fact, why don't you get off the swing? 00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:24.720 Just, you know, to prove a point. 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:25.599 No, I didn't say that. 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:26.720 I wanted to. 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:30.640 I'm not that harsh. 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:31.599 Come on. 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:33.920 I were like, oh my gosh. 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:38.319 But she has this unbelievable thought process that she can do whatever she wants. 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:42.559 But am I communicating that there's a relationship between reverence? 00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:44.160 That's what the Bible says. 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:51.519 Am I communicating there's a relationship between reverence and submission and obedience and how I give mercy to them? 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:57.359 That I will withhold punishment that you so deserve. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:07.440 If there's reverence and submission and obedience, am I communicating that attribute of God to my kids and just how I parent? 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:14.320 Not much less reading the Bible to them and praying with them, but just the everyday, I mean, okay, you got to quit crying here, please. 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:21.280 God's patience and his patience endures for generations. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:25.199 His mercy, that which we deserve, is being withheld. 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.079 It endures for generation upon generation. 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:36.800 That is unbelievable patience, which made me start to think who are some people that you need to extend mercy towards over the next couple weeks? 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:39.360 Because they're going to try you. 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:47.760 Those people that need your mercy and need God's mercy to flow through you, they're going to demand it somehow. 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:51.440 They may show up on Christmas Eve and demand certain things. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:55.039 It may be just your neighbor next door. 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:58.480 And their yappy chihuahuas won't won't be quiet. 00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:00.639 Not that I know anything about that. 00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:04.000 It may be that. 00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:12.719 Maybe that my mer that God's mercy so flows through me that instead of wanting to do something to those chihuahuas, that I go over there and just maybe lend a hand somehow. 00:35:12.880 --> 00:35:16.000 That I clean up some of the stuff that they leave out in the front yard. 00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:21.679 Maybe it's not just family members, maybe it's our neighbors. 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:28.719 The last thing that she says that God is, his attributes are being made known, and he is perfect, is that he's just. 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:32.800 Our God is a just God. 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:43.679 And after a weekend that we had in this nation, uh, and over this year that we've had, uh, with all the crazy things that have gone wrong in our nation, uh, God's just. 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:56.400 That's probably one of the main things that people start to question in the midst of chaos, in the midst of their circumstances, just totally just being thrown up in the air. 00:35:56.639 --> 00:36:00.719 And all the things that were secure are all of a sudden not secure anymore. 00:36:01.519 --> 00:36:07.119 I mean, this town in Connecticut, you know it was voted one of the five safest towns in America? 00:36:12.079 --> 00:36:13.039 God is just. 00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:25.360