For thou hast found favor with
God." Now, she was troubled, wasn't she? When you're troubled,
you're kind of fearful, aren't you? All right? To those who fear Him, God appears to all those who
fear Him. And to all who fear Him, He casts
out fear. He speaks peace to their hearts.
where there was no peace. Do you understand? To all who
fear Him, to all who trouble over their sin, to all those
who fear Him, God speaks peace to their heart in the gospel
and casts out fear through the gospel. All right? To all those
who do not fear Him, those who think there is peace when there
is no peace, He is going to someday strike fear in their heart. You
hear that? Is fear important? We better
do it right now, as we hear these words. We never stop fearing
it. You remember the article in last
week's bulletin? We never stop fearing it. When
we come to this place to hear the gospel, if we don't come
with fear, we won't hear the gospel. That's right. God speaks peace
to those who fear Him. We come in here, the gospel won't
mean a thing except to those that fear him. He'll speak peace
to their heart. To all those who do not fear
him, God will someday strike fear in their hearts, but everlastingly
too late. To all those who fear him, find
grace. That's what she found there.
Thou hast found favor. Same word as grace. Thou hast
found favor with God. Grace, unmerited favors what
grace is. You've found grace. While you've
been married, you've been found in the Beloved, and the Beloved's
found in you. You've been found in Him first.
You see, before He was found in her, she was found in Him.
You know that? And before Christ was formed
in us, before we were formed in the
belly, He knew us. We were in Him. You see that? Look at verse 31. He says, Behold,
thou shalt conceive him by womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus. Thou shalt conceive. Now, is
this something that Mary did? Something that Mary accepted?
Something that Mary went and got? Something that Mary decided
to do? Something that Mary had to let
happen? No, the word conceive means. Now listen to what the
word conceive means. It said, Thou shalt conceive. The word conceive means to lay
hold. In other words, have something
lay hold of you. Ladies, every one of you that
conceived, you had nothing to do with it. The seed came in
and laid hold on the egg. The egg doesn't grasp the seed.
The seed goes in and lays hold on the egg. The seed does. The egg is passive. The woman
is passive, a receptacle of the seed. You see the picture here? Mary, thou shalt conceive. He doesn't ask her, will you
let this happen? No, he said, thou shalt. Behold, thou shalt conceive. You shall receive, see, it will
lay hold on you in your womb. And, O, you bring forth a son,
and call his name Jesus." Do you see the picture there? Are
you with me? Every child of God, every child
of God is a receiver of God's grace, a vessel fitted for Christ,
to be filled, passive. Every child of God is passive
in salvation. It's not something we do. What
did Mary have that she had not received? Now, would she boast,
would Mary boast today of having given birth to the Christ child? No, a thousand times no. Why? She was just a receiver. She had nothing to do with it,
Joe. Why, she was going about her business, and the angel came
to her. God had predetermined it. Sent
the angel to her. Sent the Holy Spirit to her.
Conceived the child in her. She had nothing to do with it. Right. And so it is with everyone
who is born of God. Everyone. John 1 says this, to
as many as received him. to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, which were born, not of blood, not of the will
of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God." We don't
accept him, we don't even receive him of ourselves. No, he's conceived
in it. God said concerning the child
of God, thou shalt believe, thou shalt receive. sent the Holy
Spirit and planted the incorruptible seed of God's Word and brought
forth a new creature. And it says, Thou shalt call
his name Jesus. See that? I knew a son shall
call his name Jesus. Mary didn't think up the name,
did she? Huh? God gave the name. What's the
name mean? Well, when the angel said this,
he said it in Hebrew. He said, Joshua. That's what
he said. He said, Joshua, Yoshua, Yehoshua,
Yehoshua means Jehovah shall say. That's what it means. God,
our Savior. And that's exactly what Mary
said in verse 47. My spirit hath rejoiced, my inner
person rejoices in God, my Savior. And every believer knows this
name. They know what the name Jesus means. And if they call
him that, and they're very careful to do so, but if they call him
that, they know it means what it means. It says what it says. And means what it means. God
our Savior. God shall save. He does all to
save. And he shall save. He does save.
Doesn't try to. Verse 32. He shall be great. This is what the messenger said
to Mary. He shall be great. He revealed to Mary just how
great he was. How great? Well, the greatest.
How high? Verse 32. He shall be called
the Son of the Highest. Son of the High. And the Lord
God shall give unto him the throne. How high? Well, he's on the throne.
Can't go any higher than that. What throne is that? Well, the
throne of his father David. OK, they're going to build a
temple over there and they're going to put a throne in it and Jesus is going to come
sit on it. Oh, no, this throne is much higher than that. And
it has a footstool, and that's the earth and the thrones in
the heavens. Son of the highest, the king
is what he's saying. And verse 33 says, And he shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there
shall be no end. 2 Samuel 7. Turn over there quickly. I'm going to quit in just a little
bit. 2 Samuel 7. 2 Samuel chapter
7. It says he shall reign forever. And of his kingdom there shall
be no end. The throne of David he's talking
about. He said there He shall reign over the house of Jacob
forever. Does that mean Israel over there?
Does that mean Jerusalem over there? No. Uh-uh. But let me
tell you this. There's only going to be Jews
in heaven. Everybody that's in heaven will be a Jew. And Christ
from the house of David is going to reign over the house of Jacob.
You know that? Only Jews in heaven. Well, then you need to find out
what a Jew is. It's not they which are of the
flesh, but inward. 2 Samuel 7, verses 12
through 17, and this is where this prophecy is found. When
thy days be fulfilled, now this is God's promise to David, a
prophecy concerning Christ. When thy days shall be fulfilled,
and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed
after thee. which shall proceed out of thy
bowels, I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house
for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for
ever." Verse 16, "...thine house and thy kingdom shall be established
for ever before thee. Thy throne shall be established
for ever." Now, there's the prophecy. And the angel comes to Mary here
and says, He shall reign forever, and in his kingdom there shall
be no end. Speaking of Christ, the seed,
the seed of woman, the seed of David, he shall reign forever. He reigns right now, he always
has reigned, and he always will reign. He shall reign forever. The reign shall be forever. Of his kingdom there shall be
no end either. This also means How far reaching
the kingdom is back in the days of David. The kingdom of David
didn't reach all over the whole world. No, it just went so far
and stopped there. Then you had the Medes and the
Persians or whoever was reigning that time. But the scripture
says Christ reigns over all flesh. There's no end to his kingdom.
Everybody is under his reign. Everybody. All right, verse thirty
four. And then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be? See, and I know not a man. Mary, haven't you heard a word
I just said? Does that sound a little bit
like Zachariah Wednesday night? Zachariah, you know, Mary's an
unbeliever. Well, she's a believer, yet she's
full of unbelief. There's a marriage. Mary, let
me ask you, do you believe perfectly? When God first came to you with
the gospel from that day forward, have you believed perfectly?
Have you had perfect faith? No. Neither did this Mary. Neither do any of God's people
have perfect faith. She's a sinner and she's filled
with unbelief. But it's not, the promise wasn't
based on her believing it, John. The promise was based on the
promise given. And the fact of the matter is,
the promise giver said it shall happen. Whether you believe it
or not, she said, well, how? I don't know a man. Well, that's
exactly how. You can't get it from a man.
You can't get this from a man. You'll not know a man. In order
to experience this new birth, it's not of man. It's of God. You see that? Mary, still a little
confused, still a bit Arminian, wasn't she? I don't know a man. Well, the angel in patience and
mercy and grace went on to further reveal to her. The angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, Mary. The
Holy Spirit shall come upon thee. And the power of the highest
shall overshadow thee. Therefore, since he's the one
who comes, since his power is what takes hold of you, therefore,
that holy thing which shall be born of thee, it's going to be
called the Son of God. You're going to know God did
this. Man had nothing to do with it.
God did this work. You had nothing to do with it.
If God came to you. And that isn't that what you know
what you heard, Mary? Mary Parks, the same, same, very
same message. And you know, this was a mystery.
Wasn't this a mystery? Wasn't this a miracle? This this. Some like to call it the immaculate
conception. Wasn't this a miracle that this
virgin received this spiritual seed that the Holy Spirit came
upon her, and the angels didn't know what to call it, and all
they said was, thing, a holy thing. That holy thing, that new thing,
the reason they called it that there was because it was something
new that had never been seen before. Thing, what are we going to call
it? To whom will you liken this thing? It's like, it's a thing. But it's going to be called the
Son of God. And the birth of a believer, the new birth of
a child of God, is a miracle. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh, seen of angels, justified in
the Spirit, believed on in this world. That the Holy Spirit comes
to some sinner like her, the Holy Spirit, and overshadows
with the power of the gospel. I mean the Word, speaking it,
speaking it, the Word. And that seed goes in, not the
womb, but the heart, and lays hold on the heart, conceives
and conceives a new creature. What you going to call it? What
is this new thing? Well, it's man. Oh, yeah, yeah,
but it is. It's the Son of God. It's the child of God. It's a
new creature. That's what the Holy Spirit called
a new creature. creature created in Christ Jesus. And it's a mystery. A believer's a paradox. Like
Christ, he was man, yet he's God. A new creature in Christ, a believer,
is man. I mean, sinful flesh, yet son
of God, without blame, without spot, without sin. What you gonna
call it? People don't hardly know what
to call us. Call believers, too. It's a mystery. It's a miracle.
Well, and it happened the same way as it did to Mary. The Holy
Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel, the power of the
highest, overshadowed, and a new creature is formed. Oh, boy. The gospel of blood and righteousness. Verse 36. I'm going to quit.
I promise you. Verse 36, the last verse. And it says, Behold, thy cousin
Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age. This is
the sixth month with her, which we call barren. Let's read the
next two verses. With God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid
of the Lord, the servant of the Lord, the receptacle of God's
grace, the one who receives. everything
from the giver. Be it unto me. Lord, do it. Be it unto me according to thy
word. And the angel departed from her.
When did this happen now? When did she conceive? Nobody knows. Do? Don't know. Our Lord said over
in John chapter 3, And verse eight, the wind bloweth where
it listeth. That is, it blows on. Sovereign
Holy Spirit of God moves on whoever he decides, whoever he sent,
whoever God sends him to, whoever God chose, he moves on them. When? Do you think Mary knew
when this happened? any more than you ladies knew
when you conceived, exactly. You might make a guess at it,
but you don't know. Listen to it. You cannot tell
whence it cometh or whither it goeth, the sound thereof. So
is everyone that is born there of the Holy Spirit. You don't
know. God sometimes plants the seed.
That's what's wrong with people, you know, trying to search a
date when they were Save, so to speak. That's dangerous. That's
bad. Because you'll be looking to
that day. When you're searching for assurance,
you'll go back to that experience. God doesn't give you a saving
experience, he gives you a saving person. Person. How did Mary, well then how did
Mary know Christ in her? When did she know? When she felt
the first Kickings. Hard to kick against the bricks.
She knew it happened when she felt that baby. You may have
thought so, ladies, didn't you? But you weren't sure until what?
Now they do an ultrasound. Well, that worked too. You hear
the sound there. But when Christ is formed in
you, one day you just say, I believe. I do believe. I do believe. Incorruptible see this is a mystery
and she said be it under the be it under me. As you say it. I'm your handmaid. Can you say
that is every. With somebody new say that some
young maiden would say that Lord be it under me. Be it under me. You know, it doesn't come to
just virgins now, it comes to sinners. That would exclude a lot, wouldn't
it? It comes to sinners. Can you say, Lord, be it unto
me? Create this new creature in me,
just like you said. Be it unto me. Be it unto me. All right. Joe, what's that number? 143. Is that it? One hundred forty three come
up with saying that I think what first and second verse.