We are only all for Thee. Gospel of Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. Our story, I'm
going to say, repeat some things, but that's okay to write the
same, to say the same things, not grievous to me. Maybe someone
didn't hear some of these things, but this is my story. I mean, you never get tired of
telling your own story. This is the story of two women
who received life. Sun in them. And that's salvation. Christ in you. New birth. New creature in Christ. And we
sing that song all the time. This is my story. This is my
song. Praising my Savior. Mary, this
is called her song, Song of Mary. It's my song. My song. Praising
my Savior all the day long. Two cousins. Cousins in Christ. Not a play on words, not an attempt
to be clever, but it's just the way it is. Two cousins. I asked
myself, they really mulled this over this morning. Why cousins? Why does he bring this up? They
were cousins. Why did he choose two cousins?
Why do you think? Well, I had to really think about
this. Number one, because he did. That's because he did. But I thought about every, you
know, Jacob had 12 sons, didn't he? Called the sons of Jacob. All right. called God's people,
sons of Jacob. I'm the God of Jacob, therefore
you sons of Jacob. What were their children to each
other? Cousins. You can take that at least. But
there were two cousins, okay? Real story of two women, two
cousins, poor, insignificant, just typical poor women, yet
they were chosen of God. Nothing special about these ladies
in themselves. Mary, because she was a virgin,
didn't make her special. There were lots of virgins back
then. Now, Scripture teaches our young ladies and young men
to be virgins. To save yourselves from Mary.
That's what God said. That's what God says today. That's
a good thing. But it doesn't make you great.
It doesn't give you favor with God, because you're a virgin.
And it doesn't recommend you to God. But these two women were
chosen of God, called of God, and they both heard similar news. Good news. Something was created
in them. Something. This is a story. This is a story. Look at verse
24. It says, After these days, Zachariah's
wife Elizabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
The Lord hath dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on
me, and has taken away my reproach. A new life that wasn't there
before. She was called barren. Who did
this? How did this happen? Well, Zachariah.
No, he's dead too. His body is dead like Abraham
and Sarah. Who did it? The Lord did it. This was a miracle. A miracle. Miraculously, this
life was conceived in her with no help from herself or Zechariah,
but the Lord did this. Paul once said this statement.
He said, I travail, my little children, I travail in birth
until Christ be formed in you. What he was saying is, I preach
the gospel. It's the incorruptible seed.
It's the life of God. I preach this gospel, declare
it like a sower going forth to sow, scattering the seed, throwing
the seed out, hoping, praying that God the Holy Spirit will
take a word and put it in the heart of a dead sinner, and life
began. Christ entered. That's what happens
every time. It's not the preacher. It's not
of the will of the flesh, not of man, but it's of God. Born
of God. So she hid herself. Elizabeth
hid herself. When she found out she was pregnant,
she hid herself. She didn't run around, look,
look at me, look at me. She hid herself. Isn't that a
good picture? Like Zachariah, when he heard
the news, the Lord shut his mouth. Elizabeth, when she found out
what the Lord had done to her, she hid herself. She went to
be alone, didn't she? She humbled herself. This humbled
her. You know what she's thinking.
She's an old woman. I can't believe it. I can't believe this. I can't believe this has happened
to me. This is so wonderful. Isn't that the way you felt when
the Lord first revealed Himself to you? I can't believe this
is happening. Me! She got away to herself and got
fed along with the Lord is what she did. And when the Lord reveals
Himself to a sinner, that person will deny themselves, will hide
themselves, will not show themselves. I accepted Jesus. Oh, the Lord has looked on favor
with me. She said, the Lord has taken
away my reproach. And this is exactly the confession
of faith of every sinner saved by grace. I believe the Lord
has put away my sin. That's what they rejoice in.
He's put away my sin, my reproach. How did this happen? How did
she hear this? How did this take place? The
Lord sent an angel. with the pronouncement, said
an angel. His name was Gabriel. His name
wasn't important. That's his name. And this angel
said, this is the Lord, and this is what he's going to do to you.
He didn't ask for anything, did he, Paul? Now, will you accept
this? Elizabeth, I'm offering you this, child. Will you accept?
No, sir. He said, this is what's going
to happen to you. And then he left. And it happened. And it's the same way in salvation.
The Lord sends an angel, a preacher of the gospel, and all he does
is stand up and declare who the Lord is and what the Lord hath
done and what the Lord will do for sinners. And lo and behold,
here and there, it's an Elizabeth. He does it to them. And they
hate themselves. They loathe themselves. They
hide themselves. They humble themselves. They thank the Lord
for taking away their reproach. And that's what she said. The
Lord hath dealt with me. The Lord hath had mercy on me.
The Lord hath revealed himself to me. The Lord did this. The
Lord did this to me. I did nothing. I wouldn't look.
I wouldn't ask it. The Lord did this. This is how
you know the Lord did it, because they'll say the Lord did it.
The Lord hath. The Lord hath. The Lord hath.
He hath. He hath. He hath. You've heard of the
Hivites and the Hittites and the Jebusites? Well, there's
another race of people. They're the he hath-ites. All
of God's people, that's what they say. He hath, he hath. Under
him that hath loved, chosen, called, redeemed, revealed himself
to earth, died for earth. He hath. What'd you do? Nothing. Nothing but sin. And what happened? He hath done a great thing. That's
Mary's son. It's the same. It's the same. I've taken away my reproach.
Now, I said these are two lowly women, and they are, aren't they?
Very lowly. Very poor. Very insignificant. They really are insignificant.
Joseph and Mary so poor. Just another carpenter. Just
another young maiden. But this is what the Scripture
said. And do you see your calling, brethren? Oh, not many wise men after flesh,
not many mightier are called, but God hath chosen. the foolish things of the world,
to confound the wise, the weak things of the world, to confound
the things which are mighty, base things, lowly things, things
which are despised, yea, hath God chosen, yea, things which
are not, nobodies from nowhere, to bring to naught things that
are, that know flesh and glory in his presence, but of him You've
got to quote the rest of it, don't you? "...of him are you
in Christ, and he in you, who of God is made unto us." In a
sense, the Mary didn't have anything to do with that. God did this
in them. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption, that according as it is written, he
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And that's exactly
what Elizabeth did, and that's exactly what Mary did, and that's
exactly what every single one who's ever truly been born of
God will do. Give all glory to the Lord. What
happened to you? What did you do? I didn't do
anything. Well, what happened? God sent His angel and spoke
to me. God sent His angel and spoke
to me. I heard it. It's all for His glory. Well,
she trembled, didn't she? She was fearful, as are all of
God's people. They fear. And then the Lord
sent His same angel with a similar message to her cousin Mary. In the same way, That God sends
the gospel to every one of his people, and nobody is saved apart
from hearing the gospel prayer. You know that? There are some
people that argue that, and I tell them, show me. Show me an example
in the Bible. You won't find one. You won't
find one. Did any of these people hear
the message apart from the angel coming and telling them? No. It was the same angel and a similar
message, a son, a son, a son. Well, it says he was sent to
this virgin, a spouse, and said, Hail, highly favored. And we've
already looked at this. The angel is not praying to Mary. He's telling her what he tells
every single child of God. who has found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Every single child of God hears this hail. You're highly favored. You're highly favored to be hearing
this message, Mark. You know that? Some people are
not hearing it. They won't hear it. They don't like it. You're
highly favored. The Lord is with you. The Lord is with you. Romans
8. That's what it says, doesn't it? For whom he did foreknow,
he did predestinate. Whom he predestinated, he what?
Called. Called. What's he say? God is
gracious to you. God is with you. God before you,
who can be against you. He's for you. He's with you.
Blessed art thou among women. He did not say, you're blessed
above women. Did he? He said, you're blessed
among women. Well, she's no more blessed.
Then Elizabeth, was she? Mary says in her song, she says,
from henceforth shall all people call me blessed. Well, me too. Anybody that's been saved, he's
been blessed. This Mary is no more blessed
than, we've got two or three Marys in here, no more blessed
than our Mary. The Mary that knows the Lord.
Is she? No. Read on. It says, Fear not,
Mary, thou hast done favour with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb. Now, did she conceive it? Did she do this? Meaning, she
received to conceive. A woman doesn't. The seed of
woman. Remember this in Genesis 3.15?
The Lord gave that pronouncement, the seed of woman, speaking of
Christ who come, not the seed of man. A woman cannot bear a
child without the seed of man. Man impregnates the woman. She
is a receiver, right? She cannot bear life unless she
receives seed. She doesn't do that, create life. The seed is what gives life,
right? All right, when he says that,
Mary, you're just going to be a receiver. And you'll bring forth a son
and shall call his name Jesus, verse 32, he shall be great. He doesn't say, Mary, you'll
be great. Says he shall be great. He goes on to say, and he shall
be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father, David. And he shall reign over the house. It's him. It's him. It's him. It's not Mary. It's him. What
she said. Blessed be the Lord. And of his kingdom. What a pronouncement. And brethren, this is exactly
what the Lord says to every single child of God who receives this
word, this seed, this gospel, who believes. You know, we're
begotten by the Word of Truth. Of His own will beget he us with
the Word of Truth. It's called the seed. Not the
words of man, but the Word of God. The seed, the incorruptible
seed. Which is? What was in Mary? The seed of
God. What's His name? The Word. It's
the same with me. It's the same with you. That's
how we were begotten. Of His own will begat He us with
the Word. That's the seed. What is it?
Out of what? To who? Christ. And here's what the Lord, through
an angel, through a preacher, says. He shall be great. The Son of
the Highest has not given her anything to do, but He's telling
her what He shall do and be for her. See that? He shall be called
the Son. The Lord will give him the throne.
He's going to reign, Mary. He's going to reign. And in this
kingdom there will be no end. Isn't that the gospel? When you
really hear who God is, who Christ is, that's the first thing you're
going to hear. He reigns. He rules. And He's come to let
you know it. Not to ask you anything, but
you're a receiver of this good news of a reigning, living Lord,
and He's now reigning, living in you. How can this be? Here's her reaction. And this is the reaction of every
child of God. How can this be? I know not a man. She says, I
know not a man. People call this the immaculate
conception. Not the word they give it, immaculate
conception. Every sinner saved by grace,
born of God, is an immaculate conception. You're looking at
an immaculate conception. It's just so. It's just so. How can this be? I've seen people
saved that I thought, how can this be? I can't believe it. That's the last person I thought
the Lord would deal with. When He did that to me, that
was my wrath. How can this be? Like Elizabeth,
what manner of sin, what pavity, me? She said, I know not of man. That's true. It's not of man.
It's not of blood, not the will of the flesh, not of the will
of man. It's of God. It's not of man. Didn't our Lord
say with man it's impossible? He said it's easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle. That's impossible. You can't
get a camel through the eye of a needle. And you can't get a man into
heaven either. But God can and does. He's the
only one that does. All born of God. And if you'll
ask them all how the Lord revealed Himself to them, and that's salvation. They'll say this. They'll say
this. Here's what they all say. Now, Elizabeth and Mary heard
this. They both heard this. The state
cometh out. Hearing. Life begins with the
hearing. The hearing. Every single child
of God, we ask them, do you know the Lord? What do you think He's
saying? Here's what they'll say. Everyone. They'll say, well,
one day, I was sitting in church, sitting in a pew, and I heard. I heard the gospel. I heard the
truth. I heard what the preacher was
saying. It's like the Lord was speaking
to me. I heard of God on the throne. I heard of my sin and
my shame. And it broke my heart, convicted
me of sin. I heard of Christ, the sinner's
substitute, Christ. I saw, like the woman, I saw
my need of Him. I really can't explain it, but
I just know I heard. And I believed, and I needed Christ. Didn't you do anything? No, I
just happened to be there that day, and I heard. I pray that God will cause the
same to happen to some, maybe now. Verse 37, he said, with God,
nothing shall be impossible. Nothing and no one. Brethren,
this ought to give us... You know, when you think about
someone that's... I've got a brother, you have
a brother, a preacher brother who has two children, neither
one of them know the Lord. And they're so far apart, poles apart. The son is at the pinnacle of
success in his career, in his business. He's a millionaire,
multi-millionaire. He's got it all. He's got every
finest car, got two fine children, just a fine wife and the finest
house known, a gorgeous location. He's a nice man. You would really
like him. He's moral, he's upstanding.
And he grew up hearing the gospel, and he believes it in his head,
but he doesn't know Jesus Christ. He doesn't go and worship Him.
He has no need for the gospel. He'll make an appearance when
he goes to see his dad. Right now, his sister is a meth
addict. All her teeth are gone. This is one of our brethren.
Teeth are gone. She's bailed marriages. She has
no relationship with her children. Steals from her parents. Which one is harder to save? This man is so fine. He's so
moral. He's so blessed. Surely the Lord
knows. He doesn't know the Lord. It's
going to take the same gospel, the same power, the same Spirit
of God to bring this fellow out of his... This fellow, in fact,
it's going to be easier in the judgment for her than for him. It's going to take the same gospel. With God, nothing's impossible. In fact, that fellow seems more
difficult to save than this poor down-and-out woman, doesn't he?
You can't tell him anything. What does he need? He has nothing.
He has no need of anything. He's rich, increased with goods,
seen it all. Nothing can beat what he's got. Oh, take the power of God for
him to see, I've got all this. And I've got nothing. I'm a success,
but yet I'm a total failure. It takes the power of God to
convince her of that. And her, to bring her out of
that captivity to drugs. Same power. With man, it's impossible. But here he said, with God, nothing
and no one is impossible. Does that give you hope? Well,
what about someone that came and left? And they're gone. Are they gone
forever? Maybe not. There's a few in here
who come back. You ask them. They'll tell you. Good God, nothing's impossible. Don't you love that verse? Want
me to preach on it again Wednesday? Mary said, Behold, the handmaid
of the Lord unto me, let it be according to thy word, the angel
of the power from her. She believed more fully than
Zechariah did. Zechariah's a priest. You've
got to show me a sign. Mary said, I believe every word
you say. Let it be according to your word.
And it was. Well, where am I? OK, where am
I? I've got to turn over here. All
right, look at verse. Mary, verse 39, so Mary arose in those days
and went into the hill country with Hathor into the city of
Judah. You know where she went? This is where Abraham and Sarah
and Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob and Rachel ended up. All of them! They got there as quick as they
could. Mary heard this gospel, and it's
just like everyone else, when you hear this gospel, you've
got to go where God's people are. Hurry! Before that time,
you don't want to go there. And if you do go, you can't wait
to get out. You can't get out fast enough. She couldn't get
to her fast enough. Did she meet anybody on the way? Sure she did. They all walked
in those days. Did she meet anybody on the way?
What did they talk about? What did she want to talk about?
Did she want to stop and, you know, small talk? Did she? Oh no, she had to get to somebody
that knows how she's feeling. She had to get there quickly.
I don't have time to talk. I'm looking for somebody like
me that knows what I'm feeling. She couldn't get there fast enough.
Read on. Verse 40, she entered into the
house of Zechariah and saluted Elizabeth. It came to pass when
Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her
womb. Don't you love this? The babe
leaped in her womb. A couple of things to see here.
John is unborn. He's three months old. A three
month old baby. And then when Mary showed up,
Came in the house there. John, scripture says, had the
spirit of Christ from the womb. Now what does the spirit of Christ
do? Primarily he does this. First
thing he does. Our Lord said this in John 14,
John 16. He takes the things of mine and
shows them to his people. He won't speak of himself. He'll
glorify me, Christ said. He'll take the things of mine
and show them unto you. In other words, he reveals Jesus
Christ to God's people. He's the great witness. The Holy
Spirit is the great witness of Jesus Christ, okay? Mary comes
in and in her womb is this tiny seed. You talk about a miracle. God's in her. Christ is in her. And John, even unborn, When she
comes in, John leaps. What's he doing? He's kicking
his mama in the belly. Here he comes. This is what we've
been waiting for. May I say this? I can't wait
to get out and tell everybody. I've got something to say. It's
why I'm born. It's why I'm going to live. It's not Mary. It's Christ. John had the Spirit. Anybody
that has the Spirit of God, their heart will leap when Christ is
present. And yes, yes, you leap to see
your brethren in whom Christ is. When Christ is in one of
your brethren, when you see them, you leap, don't you? Can't run. You run to greet them. I stand out there on the porch
often before. I'm pacing the floor, if you
hadn't noticed. See how the concrete's worn out? That's me pacing that
floor. It's carpet down there. I'm pacing. I can't wait to get
to tell this message. All right? I'm standing out there
a lot before. And up the poles, there's a white Saturn. Anybody
drive a white Saturn car? Pulls into the parking lot, and
my heart leaps. There's a red Jeep Cherokee pulls
in that parking lot. My heart leaps. And you'll notice I come running
to you. That's the way God's people are. Look who's coming. I'm so glad to see you. That's
love. You see, it's the same love for
Christ that you have. He that loveth him that begat
loveth them that are begotten. Paul and Paul and Emily walked
in. What's he doing here? I couldn't run to greet you because
I've got a priest. We'll hug later, okay? Isn't
that right? I'm so glad to see you. And some, even love has not,
no it has not got. Well, and here's what Mary Elizabeth
said to Mary. She spake for the Holy Ghost
and said, Blessed art thou among women. Same thing the angels
said, didn't they? Blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
And I say that to every single child of God in here. You're
so blessed. Sister Helen, you're so blessed. Blessed art thou. And your mother,
how blessed. Roberta, Sister Roberta, you're
so blessed. Aren't you? This is the blessing
of all blessings. You're highly favored among women. Lots of women in Franklin County
that never heard this message and don't want to hear it. Do
you want to hear it? Do you like it? You love it? How many times
have you heard this? I can't say anything you haven't
already heard. Here you are. You're still sitting there. She's so blessed. Among women. Among women. Among many women.
The king's daughters are all glorious with him. They've received
this glorious message. They've had Christ created in
them. And she said, you're blessed,
verse 45, you're blessed to believe. Blessed is she that believeth.
If you believe this truth, you're so blessed. You know that. Alright, I don't have much time
left, but let's hear what Mary said. Here's Mary's answer. Mary said, My soul doth magnify
the Lord. This is Mary's song. I hope everybody
is listening to this carefully. Here's Mary's song. My soul doth
magnify the Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Savior. What is Mary saying? She's saying
she's a sinner that needed a Savior. She's saying that there's nothing
at all great about her, in her, worthy in her, that should make
God have favor upon her. But God, who's rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved her, Quickened her by
His grace. Yes, it's by grace, you say.
And she found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord. Not
because of what she had done, but because God purposed to do
it. Because of His mercy and His
grace. God chose her. She's saying, God chose me. And I need a Savior. Let me read something to you,
I hope you're listening to this, okay? Especially, there's some
former Catholics in here. I got this off of a Catholic
website, okay? These are prayers, Catholic prayers,
which they commonly pray today. I want you to listen very carefully.
Alright? You've heard this one. Hail Mary,
full of grace. It doesn't say that anywhere
in the Bible. In fact, it says the opposite. It says Christ
is full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus,
Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners, now and
at the hour of our death. Mother of God. That's your blessing
for me. Listen to this. It gets worse.
Hail Holy Queen. Mother of mercy, our life, our
sweetness, our hope. To Thee do we cry, us poor banished
children of Eve. To Thee, Mary, do we send up
our sighs, our mourning, our weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and in our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of Thy womb,
Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, It gets worse. Remember, O most
gracious Virgin Mary, never was it known that any who had pled
to thy protection, who implored thy help or sought thy intercession,
was left unaided. We fly unto thee, O Virgin of
Burgess, my mother. To thee do we come, before thee
we stand. Sinful and sorrowful, O Mother
of the Word incarnate, despise not our petition. But in thy
mercy hear and answer us. There are millions upon millions
of people praying this prayer. Did you hear that? How does that
make you feel? Mary was a sinner. We don't pray
to Mary. with prayer to Jesus Christ.
As one Savior, as one Redeemer, as one Lord. Mary had to pray
to Him. Oh, I wish the whole world could
hear this. But they are not. But you are. And if you see anything,
if you're praying to Mary, thinking about Mary, that's idolatry. You need to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. She said, he hath regarded, he hath, he hath, he
hath regarded, verse 48, the lowest state of his handmaiden.
I'm his handmaiden. She's his servant. Behold, from
henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed. Yes, no more
than Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene is sitting right
beside Mary, the former virgin. The thief on the cross is sitting
right beside her. None more favorite than another.
Mary is not the queen of heaven. No, no, no, no. She's just like
the rest of those sinners saved by grace. Read and keep on. She says, He
that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his
name. And his mercy, she's singing
of his mercy like a sinner. His mercies on them that fear
Him from generation to generation. He hath showed great strength
with His eyes. He hath scattered the proud in
the imagination of the heart. He hath put down the mighty from
their seat and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the
hungry with good things and the rich. He hath sent an empty way. He hath." What have you done,
Mary? Nothing. And she's not doing anything
now. She's not praying for us, but
Christ is. He ever liveth to make intercession. Because there's one mediator
between God and man, it's the man, Christ Jesus. He hath, he
hath. This all sounds like Hannah's
prayer, doesn't it? Does it sound like Hannah's prayer?
Why? It's the same. It's the same message of the
prayer of every single child of God that the Lord has revealed
himself to. Mary is no more special an object
of God's grace than I am. He hath opened his servant in
remembrance, verse 54, of his mercy as he spake to our fathers,
to Abraham his seed forever, and Mary abode with her for three
months. She didn't want to leave. She'd
found a kindred spirit. She'd found someone who'd heard
the same message she'd heard. And she said, can I just stay
here a while? What was their conversation?
What were they talking about? When they were sitting in that
house, Mary and Elizabeth, Zachariah, Joseph, what were they talking
about? God's mercy. God's grace. The coming Messiah, the coming
Christ. He's their salvation. All right, let's sing in closing
number... I lost it. What number, John?
333. That's it. 333. 333. Stand as we say. 333.