May I please almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 and we'll read verse
19. The Gospel of Luke chapter 2
and reading verse 19. But Mary kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart. Mary was a very blessed character
and it's good to realize how the Lord did indeed favor her. I'm sure as most of you were
aware of course the angel Gabriel had come to her some while previously
and told her that she would indeed be the mother of the child that
would be called the Son of God. And she was therefore privileged,
wonderfully privileged, to be that one who would be the mother
of the Lord. Jesus Christ and then of course
she had the evidence of that when she went to see her cousin
Elizabeth and John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth leapt
because of the good news when Mary came and spoke to Elizabeth
and we also have of course the the prayer of or the praise and
the prayer song of thanksgiving of Mary and it's wonderful to
think that she obviously clearly believed this great truth that
she had been given by the angel and we read towards the end or
perhaps in the middle of the first chapter of Luke what Mary
said she said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Savior this was faith given wasn't it because she was
rejoicing in God, her Saviour, as the babe that she would bear. And she says, 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 hath put down the mighty from
their seats and exalted them with no degree. He hath filled
the hungry with good things and the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath holpen His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy.
as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. And so we have there the wonderful
evidence indeed of God's blessing and the wonderful words that
Mary was able to speak at Song of Thanksgiving in a true anticipation
of that which God would do. And it surely is good for us
to recognize the faith given to Mary and to realize that you
and I today need the same faith to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. What a wonderful blessing it
is if the Lord comes and is gracious to us and he was gracious indeed
to them and we're thankful for the again the position with John
the Baptist because his father Zacharias again was given that
faith to be able to testify and to tell them what his name would
be. You may remember that when John
the Baptist was born he wanted to call him Zacharias after his
father but his father said no he wasn't to be that name and
he he called for a writing table and wrote saying his name is
John And he marveled all, and his mouth was opened immediately,
and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And again, there was a concern
then about what this person would be. And in verse 66 we read,
And all that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying,
What manner of charge shall this be? And the hand of the Lord
was with him. Again the concern was what manner
of child they should be and they laid it up in their hearts. Well that's just the same as
we have here with Mary. She kept all these things and
pondered them in her heart. Now then as we move on through
this chapter in Luke and we see how the Lord indeed appeared
for her and the shepherds came and spoke what a mercy it was
that she then was able to keep these things in her heart and
again as we come down towards the end of this second chapter
we have another evidence that she kept these things in her
heart and we're told And he went down with them and came to Nazareth. And this was when, of course,
Jesus was in the temple and was shown to be a child of great
wisdom. And he said to his mother and
father when they went to find him and they found him and they
told him, my father and I have sought the sorrow. And he said,
how is it? that she sought me. Wished ye
not that I must be about my father's business? And they understood
not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with
them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. But his
mother kept all these sayings in her heart. So we have two
very clear references with regard to Mary. The first, of course,
was when the shepherds came just after the Lord was born. and
spoke to him, to her, of those things which the angels said
to them. And then also in this latter
position when Jesus was in Jerusalem speaking to the learned people
and after this she kept these things in her heart. Now in both
occasions, in the first occasion She had to wait really some 30
years to see the fulfillment of those things which the shepherds
had seen. And then, with regard to that
time in Jerusalem when Jesus was revealed, as someone very
learned, she had to wait yet another 18 years for that which
had been evidence to her came to pass. So we should not be
surprised in our lives today that perhaps the Lord has spoken
and does speak still to his people of things which are to come to
pass. And it may be we have to wait
many years for the fulfilment of them. And yet you see in both
those cases in Mary's life they came to pass she didn't forget
them we're told that she pondered them in her heart and it was
of course what the shepherds first of all had come and spoken
to them because we're told they came with haste and found Mary
and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger when they had seen
it they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning
this child. We might say well what had been
told them? Well what had been told them
was in the earlier verses by the angel of the lord came upon
them and the glory of the lord shone round about them and they
were sore afraid and the angel said unto them fear not behold
I bring you good tidings of great joy which are be to all people
for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior
which is Christ the Lord. Well it was a word spoken to
the shepherds and surely it is a word spoken to the whole church
of God because on that occasion there was born a Savior, a glorious
Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Well, it was many years, really,
until he was revealed as the Savior. And it wasn't until he was 30
years of age that he was revealed, really, as the Son of God. And
of course, many people disbelieved the great truth. when the Holy
Spirit descended upon him like a dove and said, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. Many people disbelieve, some
believe. Well, it will be a blessing for
all of us today if the Lord grants us faith to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, as he was born in Bethlehem so many years ago
and as he was indeed born like that as a Saviour which is Christ
the Lord. We all need a Saviour. What a
mercy if God has shown to us our need of a Saviour and the
only way that that is shown to us is when the Holy Spirit tells
us what we are in the sight of a holy God and gives us some
view of the holiness of God and this is not something which you
and I just receive naturally, something which the Holy Spirit
graciously grants to us. You know we read together in
that fourth chapter in the proverbs we read it really there was well
there's much instruction in that chapter but really because of
the fourth verse this is what the fourth verse tells us he
taught me also and said unto me let thy heart retain my words
keep my commandments and live now this was the work of the
Holy Spirit. My friends, it is the work of
the Holy Spirit. And as the Holy Spirit gives
us the Word of God, the great truth of Scripture, may it be
that our heart retains the Word of God. You know, it's a great
blessing to have the Word of God I'm sure that for the most
part, we don't really appreciate the blessing that it is, because
what does it do? From Genesis to Revelation, it
declares unto us the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
Christ the Lord. And you and I, by the grace of
God, are able to ponder these things, And as we ponder them,
so may they be enlarged in our heart. They would clearly have
been enlarged in the heart of Mary as she pondered these things,
which the shepherds were able to speak to her of that wonderful
revelation. Wasn't it a glorious scene when
there was an appearance unto the shepherds What a wonderful
mercy it was. As we read, they were in their
same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. We might say we're very poor
people. Shepherds were usually quite
poor people. And yet the Lord graciously came
to them. And therefore, whatever our condition,
however poor we may be, in natural things, what a great blessing
If the Lord comes and appears to us as our Saviour, that's
the great need we have. The angel of the Lord came upon
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they
were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not. Behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people. And it is. good tidings of great joy which
we have revealed to us in the Word of God. And for unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord. And so may it be true in each
of our lives that this great truth is true. A Saviour is born
to us. a saviour. We all need a saviour. And I wonder today whether we
can come and say, well, the Lord has revealed to me that I need
a saviour because of my sinful condition. Now, it's not until The Holy
Spirit descends and comes into our heart and reveals to us this
need that we understand we need a Savior. And then of course
to ponder and think, well, who will that Savior be? How can
I be saved? How can I be saved? Well, what
a mercy. when Jesus is revealed to us,
when the Word of God reveals to us the Lord Jesus Christ. And there previously, we'd never
understood, we never understood, but perhaps it had been. Like
it was on the glorious day of Pentecost, when that wind passed
through and it had an effect the Holy Spirit
came and had a great and a blessed
effect upon all those people on that Pentecostal day and what
a favour it is for us today if the Holy Spirit descends comes
upon us well Mary had clearly had reveals to her on that occasion
and no doubt it was a fulfillment of that which had been spoken
to her by Gabriel those nine months previously that that which
was conceived in her was indeed the Son of God And now she'd
had it wonderfully confirmed. She'd had it confirmed, of course,
when she met Elizabeth, but yet again, she'd had it confirmed
in this way. And so the shepherds had came
and clearly told her what had been revealed to them. It was
no doubt, was it? But she pondered those truths
in her heart. She pondered them because It
was good news. It was the gospel. It was the
glorious news of the gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ was the
Saviour. He was the Son of God. And it is very relevant, the
actual wording which is used. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour, which shall be to all people. Yes, a Saviour, which is Christ
the Lord. She needed a Saviour just as
much as we do. Although she was a very favoured
person, she needed a Saviour and so do we, all of us, because
without a Saviour we shall never be found in glory. How we need
to know the Lord Jesus Christ as that one who has indeed died
upon that cross at Calvary. Well we know that Mary of course
was favoured to be at Calvary and so after all those years,
those 33 years had passed since the time when the Lord was born
unto her and yet you see that had come to pass The Saviour
had died, had died to redeem her soul and to redeem all those
who were blessed with that humble belief in the Lord Jesus Christ
on that occasion. And it was, of course, a great
test of faith because it appeared the Lord Jesus Christ had died
and that was the end. Well, it wasn't the end. We might
say it was the beginning because then the Lord Jesus Christ indeed
rose again a conqueror because he died because he had conquered
the devil. My friends, he'd taken away the
sins of his people. So what a wonderful view it is
if God gives us that view. by faith to believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ did indeed die to atone for our sins. Perhaps we come back to a day
in our lives when the Lord spoke to us. The Lord does speak today. The Lord does address his people. He does address them individually. The word comes with power from
on high. It came with power from on high
in deeds to Mary on this occasion. That's why she pondered these
things in her heart. And if you read further, and
she kept all these things in her heart. They were there within
her. The Holy Spirit had laid them
there. a good thing in our lives. Perhaps
we don't understand the fulfillment of them and yet there is that
word of the Lord placed in our heart, that word upon which he
has caused us to hope. Have we a hope today in the mercy
of God? Have we a hope today in the salvation
of God. Have we a hope today in that
which the Lord Jesus Christ did upon the cross at Calvary to
take away our sin? That's a good hope. It's not
a false hope. It's not a hope the devil can
produce. It's the hope which the Holy Spirit brings into our
heart. It's the work of God. This was
the work of God, where Mary pondered these things in her heart. You
see, the devil would have us cast these things away. And you
know, there are many people who hear the truth of God, perhaps
have heard it all their lives, and it never enters in. It never,
in actual fact, gives them cause to really ponder them. They just
ignore it. They cast it aside. They go on
their way, having their fill of this poor old sinful world
and just hoping that somehow things will work out all right
when they come to die. Well, that's a false hope. That's not a good hope. A good
hope is based upon what Christ has done. A false hope is hoping
things will work out all right in the end. Well, what a mercy
it is, if therefore God blesses us with these things, these truths
of the Word of God, this truth with regard to the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is Christ the Lord. This is the vital thing. He is Christ the Lord and the
truth of Scripture enters into our heart and we come and say,
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Nothing less than this will do.
Anything less than this will not be adequate. My friends,
you and I need the faith, faith to believe in the sin atoning
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. faith to believe he shed his
precious blood to atone for us on the cross at Calvary. And so, as we read in Proverbs,
let's reiterate those words. Let thine heart retain my words,
the words of God, the words which the Lord perhaps in his sovereign
grace and mercy, in his wonderful love toward us, has applied the
Word of God with power. You see, when the Word of God
is applied with power, it lodges in our heart. It may perhaps
appear to disappear sometimes, it may appear to become dim sometimes,
but the reality is it does not go because it's been placed there
by the work of the Holy Spirit and it's something which will
not pass away. The Lord will not let it go.
What a blessing it is then that we are able to ponder these things
and to ponder them in this way so that we find they are the
teaching of God and they are the instruction of God And what
do the words do? They lead us to Christ, the Saviour. On Christ, the solid rock, I
stand. All other ground is sinking sand. There is only one foundation,
and that is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Well, Mary had
to wait all those years for the fulfilment of the outworking
of that word which God had indeed applied to her and that she pondered
upon and that she thought upon and that she kept in her heart. It was the truth of God and the
evidence of God. You see she'd been wonderfully
blessed. You see the whole church of God
is wonderfully blessed. If the Lord does come and touch
our heart, we're on the same ground. We're on the ground of
grace. We're on the ground of his unmerited
favor toward us. Mary wasn't any better person
than we might say anyone else. She was a sinner who needed forgiveness. She was a sinner who needed the
blood of Christ. So we can think that although
she was a favoured person as she was, yet she needed a saviour
like we do. What a mercy it is therefore
if the Lord, the Holy Spirit, blesses us with these great and
glorious truths. Mary kept all these things and
pondered them in her heart. Well I wonder today, if the Holy
Spirit enables us to consider our spiritual condition, do we
ponder the things of God in our heart? Now there is a difference
between that which you and I have a natural knowledge of and that
which the Holy Spirit has placed in our heart. You see, a natural
knowledge, a historical knowledge, we might say, of the things of
God, in our head is good, but it will not bring us to heaven.
What you and I need is the blessed spiritual work of the Holy Ghost
in our heart, which has convinced us of our need of a savior. And if that is so, it has made
us cry out for mercy. It's made us cry out for forgiveness.
It's made us seek that Jesus might be revealed to us as our
savior. This comes about by the work
of the Holy Spirit. And as we ponder these things
in our heart and the Holy Spirit then reveals to us what a need
we have. And what a blessing then, when
this becomes reality to us, and we realize, yes, it's not of
works, it's not of the flesh, it's because of the blessed work
of the Holy Spirit, which has come and aroused me out of the
slumber of nature's darkness into the glorious light of the
everlasting gospel, which of course, shines forth in the face
of Jesus Christ. Well, isn't there much to think
upon? Isn't there much to ponder? Isn't there much to have these
things retained in our heart? Well, it's a blessing, you know,
when it is so. You know, those things which God
lays upon us They are retained. They are there. They are blessed. We read about Daniel. He was a man of God, wasn't he?
And he came into some difficult scenes and we're told what the
Spirit of God told him in the seventh chapter of Daniel. 28th
verse he says hitherto is the end of the matter as for me Daniel
my cogitations much troubled me and my countenance changed
in me but I kept the matter in my heart and you know it may
be that as the Spirit of God works in our heart our cogitations
our thoughts regard to our eternal state may indeed trouble us. It's not a bad thing if the Holy
Spirit troubles us and makes us concerned about
where we shall spend eternity. And if this is the work of the
Holy Spirit, you and I won't be able to shake it off. We might try to, because we might
not want to think about the days of our death we may not want
to think about our soul in hell we may not want to think about
the effect of sin upon us and yet you see when it's the work
of the Holy Spirit you and I will not be able to shake it off it
may come stronger some days than others and it may perhaps almost
fade away but You will find it's a bit like Daniel when he says,
but I kept the matter in my heart. And what a blessing it is when
the Spirit of God does this, so that you think upon it. Perhaps you often think upon
it, and perhaps you're more and more concerned about the condition
of your soul, more and more concerned about whether you are born again
of the Spirit of God. or whether you are lacking this
great favor of life in your soul? Well, it is a great question. And what a great blessing it
is when that question, I think it was Herbert Dawson used to
often say it, when this great question is put out of question. That means when you don't have
a question about it, because you know by the grace of God,
that it is well with your soul. Those things which you ponder,
rightly so, have been blessed to you, they've been revealed
to you. The Lord Jesus Christ has come
and delivered you from the wrath to come, delivered your soul,
set your feet upon a rock, established your goings, Put a new song in
your heart, even praise unto your God. All of these things
are all of grace. It's all because of God's unmerited
love toward us. It's that which you and I can
truly rejoice in. Well, Mary kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart and then And Mary kept all these
sayings in her heart. Those things which the Holy Spirit
has spoken to us, let us not cast them away. You see, the
Lord brings things into our pathway, into our lives, to cause us to
consider. And what a mercy, if it is, As
the Apostle said when he wrote to the Hebrews, consider him. The blessing is therefore when
you and I ponder these things and consider him, the great and
glorious Savior. I often think those words which
the Apostle wrote to the Hebrews in that 12th chapter, and he
tells us that He said, wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a crowd of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us. Well, that's
clearly the position of the Church of God, and clearly the devil
wants you and me to have plenty of weights to weigh us down,
so we don't run with patience the race that is set before us,
and that we don't give up the sins which easily beset us. Well,
says the Apostle, let us run with patience the race that is
set before us, looking unto Jesus. There is an alternative, there's
not a void, there never is, with the true work of God in our hearts.
There is this situation. If we therefore lay aside these
things and on the other hand we now are found looking unto
Jesus, We won't look in vain, looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and he sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God. And then he says,
for consider him. And there's much to consider
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle gives us a little
clue. when he says, For consider him
that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not resisted unto
death, striving against sin, and ye have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not
thou the chasting of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every
one whom he receiveth, if he endure chastening. God dealeth
with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father chasteneth
not. Well, there's some good words
of instruction and encouragement to us today. If perhaps We are
pondering the things that God has given to us, God has spoken
to us, and things appear to be working out in a wrong way. Everything
seems to be against us. Well, it's not. If God before
us, who can be against us? These things come into our lives.
They turn us to the Lord. They turn us to consider him.
And as we consider him, You know, the effect is to bring peace
into our hearts, because we realize that we are not now strangers in this world, but we are strangers
to the world. And we are fellow pilgrims with
the Church of God, and we are journeying to our eternal home. Let us be found pondering the
things that God has done for us and spoken to us, the things
that we've heard. You may have heard something
in the preaching of the word. It may have entered into your
hearts and you're pondering it. You're thinking upon it. Well,
pray on and bless God for it and praise God for it. Because
if it has had the effect of considering him, It's been and had a good effect. It's had a blessed effect. You
might say it's had an eternal effect. We do need to know the Lord is
dealing with us as sons and daughters of the Most High God, not leaving
us and not forsaking us. Well, Here we have these words
spoken to Mary. They're good words and what a
blessing it is if you and I find that there are words which have
been spoken to us and we're pondering them. Carry on. Ponder them. Pray that the Lord will reveal
as he did to Mary. You see, she didn't know what
the end was going to be. She didn't know how they were
going to be worked out. But you see in the end, there
she was at Calvary. And what a blessing it will be
when the Lord leads us, directs us, brings us to Calvary. We'll know then the reason for
it, won't we? We know then the reason for the word. We know
why the Lord enabled us to ponder it for perhaps many years. And yet the Lord came and revealed
himself to us as our Saviour in that finished work at Calvary. It is finished, completed. And then, of course, he rose
again and Mary was blessed to be able to be found at the tomb
and to see there the empty tomb, the Saviour, the Conqueror, and
to know that Jesus rose from the dead. conqueror and then
of course reveals to her and all those disciples and the many
that he was shown to before he ascended into glory in that great
and wonderful day when he went out to Bethany and was ascended
up to his father now today in glory there to intercede for
us. It's a whole and wonderful plan
of salvation. Well we have much surely to ponder. May we ponder glory of the gospel,
may we ponder the work of God in our own soul, and may it produce
a wonderful time of deliverance, a wonderful time of peace and
joy, and may it bring in our heart times of praise and joy
to our God for all that he's done for such an unworthy sinner. But Mary kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart. Amen.