Turn back with me this morning
to where Joe read there in Luke
chapter 1. I'll call this message this morning, The Savior of Christ's Mother. You might have to think about
that one a little bit. The Savior of Christ's mother. The Bible shows very clearly that womanhood was significantly
involved in the fall of our race. As a matter of fact, it says
that the serpent beguiled Eve and she ate of the tree. Paul writes and he says, Adam
was not deceived. In other words, he did what he
did knowingly, willingly. And he did so because he's a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ who did what he did willingly,
knowingly to save his bride. But the glory of God's grace
and mercy is that even immediately after the fall, there was a promise
from God a promise of God of salvation, and that salvation
would come through woman in motherhood. As a matter of fact, turn back
to Genesis 3 for just a moment. In Genesis chapter 3, when our
Lord is talking to Eve as well as Adam and the serpent after
the fall. Look at what it says in verses
15 and 16 of Genesis 3. He says, And I will put enmity
against thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed
It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman, he said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou
shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband
and he shall rule over thee." He gives a promise of salvation
in one he describes here as the woman's seed. And that is very
unique in itself because woman does not have a seed. So the one that is spoken of
here, which is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
is one who would come, who would be the Savior, not by an ordinary
means or way, but in a supernatural way. And He stands alone. And he stands as the one promised
of God called the woman's seed. Turn back over in the New Testament
also to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy and the second chapter,
and listen to what Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2 beginning in verse
9. He says in like manner also that
women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and
sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array,
but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to
usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then
Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived
was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be
saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity
and holiness with sobriety." What does that last verse there
mean? Notwithstanding, she shall be
saved in childbearing. Well, we have to know in light
of what we read in all the Scriptures that neither a woman or anybody
else has ever simply been saved through the fact that they bore
children. I like what an old writer had
to say on this verse. He said, however, though Eve
was first in the transgression, and brought death on herself,
her husband, and all her posterity, the female sex shall be saved
equally with the male through childbearing." That is, through
bringing forth the Savior. Women are not saved. through
childbearing in the general sense, but in the fact that God blessed
womanhood through this particular motherhood, that through this
woman, the Savior is born. Through bringing forth the Savior,
if they live in faith, all who live in faith of this
Savior, this child that was born, each and every one of them will
be saved. And this being true, I suppose
the most famous mother of all times is the one we read about
there in Luke chapter 1. Her name is Mary. And not only did God bless her
greatly, but He also honored all motherhood in what He did
through her. He honored her, but He did not
deify her. He did not make her equal to
Himself in any way. And He certainly did not make
her what many have made her or tried to make her throughout
the ages. You see, nowhere is she ever
called the mother of God. Not only that, But she is never,
ever exalted in any way as a mediator between God and men. And she is never shown at any
point to have any special power or ability or able to grant anything
other than what every other saved sinner is to do, and that is
to appoint men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. And most of all, she is never,
ever said to be, nor is it implied that she was sinless. No way. And the word that we
can take on that fact is Mary's word herself because she confesses
her own sinnerhood in the fact that she is in need herself of
a Savior. Only a sinner. who has been brought
by the Spirit of God to know what they are and to know who
Christ is and what He is, can rejoice as Mary did. Look down with me in that 47th
verse of Luke chapter 1. Mary says, not only as a woman
or as a mother, but as a sinner who is at that very time led
by the Spirit of God, Mary says, and my spirit hath rejoiced in
God my Savior. She rejoiced in Spirit And that
certainly, by the aid of the Spirit, she rejoiced in God her
Savior. And the reason why she can rejoice
in the One that she will give birth to and rejoice in Him even
though she herself is a sinner is because her conception is
an amazing and supernatural conception, and the Father is not a sinful
man. When you look back in Matthew
chapter 1, we read something very instructive. In Matthew 1 and verse 16, it
says, And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, Mary of whom was born Jesus,
who is called Christ. Now you read in that first chapter
of Matthew all this long genealogy of this one begetting this one
and that one all the way down to Joseph. But it does not speak
of Joseph begetting the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because she had never known a
man. She had never entered into a
relationship with any man, including Joseph. And that child that was
conceived in her womb was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. But though the fact is that she
was blessed in this way, She is spoken of to this very day
in Scripture as the one through whom Christ came. Though her
giving birth to Him, that simple fact of bearing Him and giving
Him birth would not save her from her sins any more than it
would save us from ours. You see, if you remember, Eve,
the first woman, she thought that she was the one who was
to give birth to this promised Messiah, but she gave birth,
first of all, to Cain, who was none other than a God-hating
rebel. He was just like every one of
us by nature. He was just like Mary in herself
would be by nature. And that is a works monger, one
who would always seek to stand before God and please God by
virtue of something that He was or something that He did. Surely, if ever there was a work,
humanly speaking, if there was ever a deed that would make an
individual commendable in the sight of God, it would be to
be used of God to give birth to the Lord Jesus Christ. No. It's not. by any works of righteousness
which we have done. It is not at any time in anything
that we are in ourselves, not in anything we abstain from doing. But Mary shows And so is everyone
born of a woman from Eve to Mary, with the exclusion of Mary's
son, that everyone is a sinner, even Mary. A sinner, though honored
of God, and blessed of God, and used of God, but still in need of a Savior. And Mary, just like all of God's elect,
was given faith by God to believe what He had said concerning the
very child that would come from her womb. Now you think about
this. If she has any true sense of
what she is, if she knows anything about what the Bible has said
all through the ages that everyone born of woman is, as those that
are shut out from God, if she is any sense of this sinnerhood,
how in the world could she ever believe that a child that came
from her would be her Savior? You see, in the natural realm,
like can only beget like. And here is a child that would
come from her womb, and yet not only her, but all of the people
of God in every age will believe on Him to the saving of their
souls. What did Mary believe? I can
tell you this. She believed none of the drivel
of stuff that has been attributed to her throughout all the ages
since. Let me tell you a few things
this morning that she believed. And the first thing that she
believed was that the child that she was favored to give birth
to was conceived in her by the Spirit of God. Look back up at verse 35. When the angel spoke to her,
and gave to her nothing less or more than the Word of God."
The word angel means messenger. And God sent a messenger to her
to give her His Word concerning what was happening to her and
His Word concerning the child she would bear. Look there at
that thirty-fifth verse. And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. Now, how is she going to bear
a child? Here she is a virgin, which does
not simply mean, as some have tried to make it mean in Scripture,
that she was a young woman. Here is one who had never known
a man, who had never conceived in her womb before, ever, ever,
and she is to bear a child. What is that going to bring about? He said, the Holy Spirit shall
come upon you. Somebody says, well now, I'll
tell you, I don't really understand all of that. Neither do I. And so marvelous and so miraculous
is this, and so essential and necessary is it to our salvation
Because salvation is of God, that if we could understand every
detail of it, there wouldn't be much to it. No work that you and I could
understand of ourselves, comprehend in our finite minds, which involved
the infinite God, no work such as that would save us. He said, God is going to overshadow you. God,
the Holy Spirit, is going to come upon you and indwell you,
and that body that is created in your womb is by the Spirit of God Himself. So essential. is this to our
salvation, as well as Mary's salvation. This is what God tells
us, and He enables all His people to believe it. You say, how can
God? How can God bring about the birth
of a child in a woman's womb who is also God? I don't know. All I know is the same thing
married you." And that is what God says happened. Absolutely. He didn't say He made her a god. He didn't say He made her a goddess. He just simply said, the child
that will be in your womb is by the Spirit of God. And I wonder just how many writers
and programs and reports, they're constantly on the news, constantly
being books, written again and again, generation after generation,
trying to do away with the miraculous aspect of Mary's conception. Why? Because if that child in
her womb If that child that she gives birth to, if he is not
that one who is born of the Spirit of God, then he's just another child.
He's just another sinner. But not only that, secondly,
she believed that this child was none other than the Son of
God. I remember hearing of an old
preacher who said many years ago, he said, the child that
Mary gives birth to is the Son of God. He said only a fool or
a Christian would believe that. Look back up at verse 32. He shall be great and shall be
called The Son of the Highest. Now, who is that? That's the
Son of God. The Son of the Highest. And the
Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David. Look back in verse 35 again. And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God." We're not talking about just
a man who was born and became a great man. I wouldn't waste
my time to stand up here before you and utilize this time to
take a historical perspective on everything and glorify some
man who was just nothing but man, though even maybe a greater
man than others, even somebody such as an apostle or a prophet. He is the Son of God. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. He is the one that Isaiah the
prophet wrote of when he said this. He said, For unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given. You see, that child born of this
virgin Mary, This child that came from this mother's womb,
he is not the son that's born, he's the son that's given. He's
the son of God. Well, how do you know that? Well,
he follows with this, "...and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful." Counselor,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Do you believe that? That that
child, he's the Son of God. He's not just a martyr that died. He's not just a man who lived
a reputable life. He's not a man that just came
to teach, or he's not simply a prophet. He's the prophet. He's the Son of God. Isaiah again,
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. What does that mean? God with
us. He's Immanuel. And she believed
also that though she was a sinner in need of a Savior, the child
himself was sinless. Look back in that 35th verse
again. How is He described? This child that would be in her
womb, that she would give birth to, who is the Son of God, He
is described as that holy thing. That holy thing. I remember reading Something
that a doctor wrote years ago. And we certainly have only the warrant
of God's Word to believe that He is the holy, sinless One. But since He is born and comes
forth from the womb of a woman who is a sinner, how can that
be? Well, this doctor described how
a child, how an infant or an embryo is there in the womb of
the mother, and it receives through her body nutrients and food and
things such as that, but not her blood. But where does she get her blood
from? She gets her blood, he gets her blood, his blood, whatever
the child is, from the Father. And I thought, what a miraculous,
marvelous bit of divine wisdom and creative work so as to in
the very first child that was born, established the way that
His sinless Son would come. He's that holy thing. And He's
the One who in His life, all His days, the One who though
He was made sin for us, it says, He knew no sin. He was tempted in all points,
like as we are yet without sin. You see, a man must die for men. But a sinful man cannot die before
divine justice, before the eyes of a holy God. A sinful man cannot
die for sinful men. He is described as holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, even in her womb. Before He is ever brought forth
into this world, manifested to walk among men, even then He
is described as that holy thing. But not only these things, but
she believed that this child, the Son of God, the Savior that
God has sent, that he would actually accomplish all that God said
that he would. What did God say that the woman's
seed would do? He said, even though the serpent
or the devil would bruise his heel, the woman's seed would bruise
his head. Now, which do you think is the death
blow? The woman's seed by himself. Though he bears that name, the
woman see, he will bruise or crush the head of the devil." Did he or did he not? You've seen this verse so many
times, but in conjunction with this, I want you to turn back
to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1. And look back at verse 20, first
of all. Joseph received the word that
Mary was pregnant. He knew that he was not the father
of the child. And he was an honorable man,
and he was just going to put her away. I mean, he wasn't going
to marry her. He wasn't going to cause her
a lot of problems or anything like that. But, verse 20 says, "...but while
he fought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, Fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost." Now, the angel is also going
to say something about that child. He says in verse 21, "...and
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus." What does that mean? Savior, or Jehovah the Savior. For He shall save His people from
their sins. That's what Mary believed. Mary
did not believe, as some do, that He was come to save everybody. She did not believe that He was
coming into this world to be the Savior of every individual
person of the world. Well, you say He's called the
Savior of the world. He's the Savior of the world
in this sense. that He is not only the Savior
of the Jews, He's a Savior of the Gentiles. He's the Savior
not only of men, but also of women. He's the Savior of all
His people. And if He did not, in His coming,
in His death, Save all His people from their sins. All their sins. Save them entirely, completely,
fully, freely. If He's not the One who saved
all His people from their sins, you can't call Him Jesus. She believed that He would do
just exactly that. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
2. Hebrews 2, and look down in verse
14. The apostle says in verse 14,
"...for as much then as the children Who's that? The children the
Father had given him. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death, through his death, he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them,
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage, for verily he took not on him the nature of angels,
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things
it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." What did a priest do? He offered
up a sacrifice to God on behalf of the people. And that's what
Christ came into this world to do, not only to save Mary, but
to save every one of His people, to represent them before God,
before His justice in the matter of their sins, and to bear the
penalty, to pay the price, to endure the suffering, to satisfy
the justice of God on their behalf. and thereby save them. Save them. Verse 32 of Luke 1 says, And
he shall be great. I tell you, I hear people talking
about and preaching about Jesus in our day, but not much greatness
about Him. He's kind of pushed around by
everybody. He's up for grabs if you want
Him. He's there for your decision. No, it says, He shall be great. Now, as God the Son, He was already
great. He's the great God. But what
He's talking about here is He'll be great in what He accomplishes
and does. He'll save all His people from
their sins. He'll magnify the character of
God in every one of His attributes. He'll fulfill the purpose of
God in all things. He'll satisfy God's justice in
the matter of their sins. He'll do it all. He'll bring
in that everlasting righteousness. And the Lord shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. Now, Christ had a question for
the Pharisees. He said, what does the Bible
say concerning the Messiah? Well, he said he'd be David's
son. Is that right? Absolutely. But Christ said, You're right,
if he says that the Messiah will be David's son, why did David
then call him Lord? In other words, how can he be
David's son in the lineage of David, and David's Lord? I can tell you this, there's
only one who will fit that bill, and that's Him who is God manifest
in the flesh. The Word, John says, that was
in the beginning. The Word that was with God. The
Word that was God was made flesh and dwelt among us. And he shall reign over the house
of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. not going to be any end of His
kingdom. Paul says, when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. Made of a woman. And Mary's confidence and her
rejoicing was not in His coming from her body, but it was of God by His grace
making her part of His body, that body over which He is the
head. And she does not glory in herself,
she does not glory in her body, she does not glory in her will
or her works, but in God, in what God had done. Look down at verse 48. For he
hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. For behold,
from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he
that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his
name, and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation
to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm. He hath
scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He put down
the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He filled the hungry with good
things, and the rich He sent empty away. He opened His servant
Israel in remembrance of His mercy, and He spake to our fathers,
to Abraham, and to his seed forever." You know, when you read that, That's not just the testimony
of Mary, is it? That's the testimony of every
sinner saved by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of them. We're low. He exalted us. We're poor. He made us rich in
Christ. Because every bit of salvation
is what God has done in him. Look back at that 55th verse. She says, as he spake to our
fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. Now what's she
doing here? She's acknowledging that this one Jesus who is a baby that is born into this world
to die. I've tried to use that a number
of times with mothers who've lost children prematurely in
our minds. What's the purpose in it? What
was the purpose in this? The wisdom of God. A child born
to die. But she doesn't rejoice as a
Jew in the flesh, as an Israelite, because she goes all the way
back to the promise made to Abraham. She rejoices as one who is one
of the seed of Abraham spiritually, which is a believer in Christ
the seed. Paul says, Know ye therefore
that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. He continues. Now to Abraham
and his seed where the promise is made, he saith not, and to
seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. And if you be Christ, then are
you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. No doubt, many in Mary's own
family, of her own flesh and blood as a Jew, many, most of
them, they laughed at any notion that
this child is the Messiah. They were filled with unbelief
all their days concerning Him. They were not Abraham's spiritual
seed. But she was, and so is everyone
who's brought to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
what God-given faith does, rejoices in Christ as God our Savior,
who alone has saved us from all our sin. There would come a day when she
would be there at the foot of the cross and watch her son die. Will she do like so many have
done in the death of their child and just grieve the rest of her
days? Now, she's a mother, and I don't
have any doubt that she did grieve as a mother. But in Acts it says, Then they
returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which
is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. And when they were come
in, they went up into an upper room where abode both Peter and
James and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,
James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes and Judas the brother
of James. These all continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the
mother of Jesus, and with his brother. All hope wasn't gone because Mary's son Mary's child is also Mary's Savior. And if He's not our Savior, we
don't have a Savior. And we're yet in our sin. If we don't look by faith to Him, He's not a babe anymore, but He was. He doesn't live in a carpenter
shop, though He did. He doesn't walk the seashores
of Galilee, though He did. He's not on a cross, though He
was. The Scripture says that because
of His obedience unto death, that death which Divine justice
requires for our sin. Because of that, God has highly
exalted Him. He shall be great. He is great. The great Savior of sinners who
looked to Him and Him alone. Father, this day we give you
thanks and praise and honor and glory. We thank you that you have so
blessed motherhood. We thank you for our mothers. We cannot in any way speak words to thank you just
for that single blessing alone. But we thank you most of all
that you use motherhood, that you use this wand as the means
by which our Savior would come, and that you show us in her in some measure, the things that
we are to believe concerning him. We thank you that he is great,
that he has done great and marvelous things, that there is no sin in him,
but that he put away the sins of his people by the sacrifice
of himself. Cause us to look to Him and what
He has done and not in any part to ourselves and what we've done
or plan to do. We pray that you'd watch over
us as we depart. Receive our thanks for your goodness
to us. For we pray in Christ's name,
Amen.