Our passage this morning will
be found in the gospel of Luke chapter 1, and we'll begin our
reading at verse 26. We're blessed to have Luke's
account of the incarnation in chapter 1 and chapter 2 are very
informative and very important in that light. I want to speak
this morning on the subject, the incarnation of the Word,
or of Christ, or of the Son, the incarnation. And we will
be looking at the work of God in two vessels, in Joseph and
in Mary, as preparation for the coming of the Lord in the flesh. Luke chapter 1 and verse 26,
Let's read through verse 38. I'd like to read further, but
for time's sake, we'll make reference to it later. Luke chapter 1,
and beginning at verse 26, and reading through verse 38 for
our reading of the morning. And here we have it. And in the
sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city
of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin, a spouse to a man whose
name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name
was Mary. And the angel came in unto her
and said, Hail, highly favored, the Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw, she was troubled
at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be great, 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
of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, the power
of the highest shall overshadow thee, and therefore also that
holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth,
She hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the
sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing
shall be impossible. Mary said, Behold the handmaid
of the Lord," watch this, Be it unto me according to thy word,
and the angel departed from her. Now, this is one of the most
outstanding passages in the word of God. And altogether, it tells
us of two women who became mothers, of two special sons, and that
in an extraordinary manner or fashion. One woman was older
and the other was young. One of them was a longtime wife,
married a long time, and the other, the younger, was betrothed
unto a man whom she intended to marry. Now, the wife The wife
of the older man was both barren and, the scripture said, stricken
with age or in years. And the younger one, betrothed
unto a man, was a maid and a virgin, but was to bear a special son
in a unique and an extraordinary way. Now, in both cases of the
two women, the situation of them might be a reproach unto them
as to their particular situation. Number one, consider. To be barren
is mentioned as a reproach in Israel in the Old Testament. Genesis chapter 30 and verse
23 of Rachel. 1 Samuel chapter 1. Hannah who
cried and prayed that the Lord might grant her a child. Isaiah
chapter 4 and verse 1 also makes mention of it and it is the case
with Elizabeth here in Luke chapter 1 and verse 25. This was the
thought of Elizabeth and that is that her barrenness was a
reproach upon her and among people and among Israel. But, on the
other hand, and secondly, for a young woman, a young maid,
unmarried, to be with child out of wedlock might bring a reproach
upon a maid in Israel. You might remember that under
the law and the old economy, such were often stoned to death. Deuteronomy chapter 23 and verse
24. And to confirm that, that this might be a reproach,
consider with me the action of Joseph, her betrothed and intended
husband, in Matthew chapter one and verse 19. Now Joseph, finding
her with child, was of mind. It entered into his mind how
he might put her away privately or secretly and not put her to
an open shame But then the angel of the Lord intervened in the
life of Joseph and gave him a revelation that she had been given conception
by the Holy Spirit of God. that that which was conceived
in her was of the Holy Spirit. And it was in accordance with
the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child. And what's more, the sons of
these two women now that we have been talking about. The sons
of them were given names, both of them, by the angel of the
Lord before they were born, and one case before they were ever
conceived. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21. thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sin. And in Luke chapter
1 and verse 13, thou shalt call his name John. Now, Jesus means, of course,
Savior, and signifies one that is to save. John, so said John
Gill, in the Hebrew is the word God is gracious. God is gracious
unto Elizabeth to give her such a son who was to be the forerunner
of the Messiah, of the Lord, and to prepare the way before
the Messiah. Now, coming to our text of the
subject, the Lucan account that we have here of the incarnation
of the Son of God, there's another account in Matthew chapter 1
verse 18 unto the end. But we begin here at Luke 1 and
verse 26, which tells us the time of this particular extraordinary
work of God in Mary, to set the incarnation in motion. Notice we read, in the sixth
month. In the sixth month, the angel
appeared unto her. But then we might ask ourselves
the question, six months dated from what? Six months from what? What is the reference point here
of the sixth month? Now, I think we read it. The
obvious answer is six months after Elizabeth had conceived
John the Baptist. Or in verse 24, we read of Elizabeth
being five months into her pregnancy, having lived in seclusion since
becoming with child. And then in the sixth month,
in verse 36, the same angel Gabriel that foretold the birth and the
mission of John, was then sent by God to a young woman in Nazareth
in the country of Galilee. And the young maid's name was
Mary, which some say is the equal of the Old Testament name that
we meet with, Miriam. who, as Matthew also tells us,
was a spouse or was betrothed unto a man by the name of Joseph. That is, Mary was under the promise
of marriage at this particular time, to marry him. And she did
so and became his wife and moved in with him after the birth of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, before we get into the meat
and the depth of this greatest of all subject that we might
deal with in the Bible, let's take note of the lowly manner
and the circumstances of the incarnation of the eternal son
of the eternal God. such as the vessel chosen by
God to bear the holy child, Jesus, who would be called the Son of
God. Who was it that was to be the
mother of this great one? and to bear him and to give him
birth. It was a lowly peasant maid,
just a lowly peasant maid in Israel. Not a woman of fame,
not a socialite, not a queen in a palace. We might expect
in our vain imagination that such a one would be a queen,
that be the chosen vessel to bear the son of God, that he
be born bred in royalty of some manner or degree. And her lineage
of them was lowly. It was the house of David. and it was the house of David
in its low end. Isaiah 53 likens him to a root
out of a dry ground, this special person in, this Messiah, this
Lord Jesus Christ. Next of all, we notice the place
of her residence. That was in the city called Nazareth. She did not dwell in Jerusalem,
which was regarded as the holy city and the very heart of Judaism,
but in Nazareth, a city of no good reputation in history. You remember the question was
asked by Nathanael in John chapter one, verse 46, Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth? For in addition to its ill reputation,
we notice that the city had no place in the Old Testament prophecies,
none at all. But add to that her intended
husband. Who would this young woman marry? A carpenter. Matthew chapter
13 and verse 55. Mark 6 and verse 3. And the word carpenter, as it
appears here in the King James Version, used only these two
times, I think, in the New Testament, means a craftsman or an artificer,
one who works with wood, and not just a builder of a house,
as we might think, to raise them up. which could mean that from
a youth he had learned this trade from Joseph and the Lord had
learned and followed it and they said is not this the Joseph the
carpenter's son. Now all of these All of these
things meeting together illustrate what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
1, verse 27 and verse 28. And that is that God has chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And that
he has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the
things that are mighty and that are noble. And he has taken the
base things of the world and things that are and were despised
has God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to nothing
the things that are. And so we say the incarnation
is contrary to every imagination of the thought of the natural
man. And some have thought that it
came down in the likeness of men, this one that has been made
in our flesh. And some have thought that their
gods have come down in the likeness of men also, as we see in Acts
14 and verse 11. And yet, I say unto you for your
consideration that no human mind could begin to fathom or to form
the doctrine of a member of the divine eternal Godhead becoming
incarnate and assuming human nature in a hypostatic union
with the divine nature and giving life unto sinners by the manner
of his death and sacrifice. So that the very nature of the
incarnation, I think, puts it beyond being any kind of a dogma
of man. Who should have ever conceived
in their mind this incarnation of the God person? So, let's
consider the appearance and the words of the angel Gabriel unto
Mary. In verse 26 we read, he was sent
from God. A.T. Robertson, in his word pictures
in the New Testament, said that the words here sent are from
a word that reflect or refer to the word apostle. In other
words, it is one that is sent by God, and not only sent by
God, but sent directly from God and from the presence of God
and therefore Gabriel speaks with and in the authority of
God. Here is a message directly from
the presence of God as we see in verse 19 of this chapter. But also noted, he was sent to
a particular person or a particular woman. Now, not just any woman,
and not just some woman, verse 27, to a virgin, to a virgin
already espoused, a virgin of the house of David, a virgin
by the name of Mary, our Miriam. Now, we must pause here, I think.
It would do us good to reflect upon this as an act of divine
sovereignty. The pitching upon Mary to be
that vessel to bear the Holy One of God into the world is
an act of divine sovereignty. That nothing but God's divine
sovereignty and good pleasure did carry the matter to fix upon
Mary as the chosen vessel. It was not that she was sinless,
as some say. It was not that she too was immaculately
conceived, as some say. It is not that she was free from
original sin. She was an ordinary woman both
before and after she gave birth to the one who would be called
the Son of God. And no, she did not continue
a virgin all the days of her life. She married Joseph. No,
they did not live as brother and sister all the days of their
life. And no, she has not ascended
into heaven in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear what
Gabriel tells her. Verse 28. Hail, favored one. The Lord is with you. Blessed
are you among women. Some say that the last part of
verse 28, blessed are you among women, is not in some of the
manuscript. But in verse 30, Fear not Mary,
you have found favor with God. And in verse 41 and 42, which
we did not read, Elizabeth, speaking under the feeling of the Spirit
of God, said to her cousin Mary, quote, blessed are you among
women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, unquote. And when
Mary saluted Elizabeth as she came into the house, one blessed
thing that we are told, John leaped in his mother's womb as
he stood in the presence of God. See verse 41 and verse 44. A preacher I once knew said,
John is saying even now, that's him, that's him, that's him.
He leaped in the womb. Now a testimony, as a testimony
that that one conceived in Mary was indeed the Messiah by the
action of John. And then too, we want to hear
Mary's personal confession. Let's flip over to verse 46 to
verse 49 of Luke chapter 1 and hear these words. They are the
words of Mary. Mary said, 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." There's another
passage somewhat along this line in Luke chapter 11 and verse
27. when an unnamed woman in the crowd, in the multitude,
seeing and hearing the wonderful works and words of the Lord,
cried out loud to say to the Lord, above the voice of all,
blessed is the womb that bear you and the breast which you
have sucked, unquote. that the one who gave birth to
such a great person is blessed and chosen of God. God has bestowed
a special and a particular favor and blessing upon her. to choose
her and ordain her from all the women in the world, all the women
that were then living or had lived before that time, and yet
to bear the Messiah, He chose, He chooseth a lowly maid of Nazareth
in Galilee. That in addition to being a saint,
to be additionally blessed, to be the vessel to bear the Son
of God, humanity. and to bear that predicted seed
that we read about in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, and to
be that virgin foretold in Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14 that would
bear one whose name would be Emmanuel, that is, God with us. He would be made of a woman,
Galatians 4 and verse 4. He would be sent forth, God would
send forth his son made of a woman and made under the law as we
read there in Galatians chapter 4. Now, having said all of that,
while we happily give to Mary all that is ascribed unto her
in the scripture, a chosen vessel of God, at the same time we abhor
and reject the blasphemous mereolatry of the harlot church. that has,
in essence, made Mary the fourth member of the Godhead. They have elevated her as if
she were the fourth member of the Godhead, and they blasphemously
call her the mother of God, and they even say prayers unto her,
and they have established her to be the intercessor between
us and our Lord Jesus Christ. That because she's closer, Jesus
will listen unto her more than unto us. They call her, and I
found this quote, most gracious advocate, unquote. That is described
under Mary by the Catholic Church. And praying under her, Hail Holy
Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour
of our death. That's one part of their liturgy. Now coming to Luke chapter 1
and verse 31, which is the essence of the angelic announcement to
the young Jewish maid Mary. Gabriel has expressed the good
will of God toward her. Highly favored we see the margin
and then look at Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 6 blessed among women
Favor with God and in verse 31 through 34 it expresses especially
in verse 31 the gist of the special favor that God had bestowed upon
the maid and And it consisted in this, in verse 31, she would
conceive a child in her womb and would give birth to a son
whose name would be Jesus, that is, Savior. Having mentioned
Ephesians 1 and verse 6, where we read that God has made us
accepted in the beloved. Now the word Accepted is our
key word here. Made us accepted in the beloved,
which of course is Christ. And the only other place in the
New Testament where this word is used is here in Luke chapter
1 and verse 28. Thou art highly favored. The same thing that is said in
Ephesians 1 and verse 6. Because as Thomas Goodwin wrote,
God who made us accepted to him in Christ Jesus made Mary acceptable
unto him to give birth unto the Messiah. And in doing so, so
wrote Brother Goodwin, quote, And for emphasis add, it was
not that she had any grace of her own or in her own self, but
that God gave her grace and made her to be pleasing and acceptable
to bear the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to conceive
in her womb that holy thing that will be called the Son of God. Now as you might imagine, this
announcement, such a thing, such a greeting, overwhelmed the young
virgin. And it gives rise to her question
in verse 34. If you look at it, how shall
this be? And then we see the relation
of the two words in verse 34, how, since. How, since. How shall this be since? How shall this be in light of
the fact that I know not a man? Now, this question amounts to
this. How can or how will this be in
view of the unbroken law of creation that has stood since the beginning
of the world? I don't think her question is
doubt, and I don't think that it is impudence. I don't think
that it's curiosity, and I don't think that it's unbelief, as
seen in the fact Unlike Nicodemus and unlike Zacharias, she is
not rebuked for her question, but she is given a necessary
detail which she received and which sharpened her submission
to the will of God in this matter, in this great work. And we read,
she yielded herself up to the Lord, she rejoiced in the work
of God, chapter 1, verse 46 through verse 56. But in verse 35, hear
the question of verse 34, how shall this be, since I know not
a man is answered? How shall this come to pass?
in verse 31, to conceive in her womb and to bring forth a son,
seeing I am a virgin. It shall be on this wise, says
the angel of God, the Holy Spirit shall come upon you. And the
power of the highest shall overshadow you. How shall it be? This shall
it be, the Holy Spirit coming, the power of the highest overshadowing
you. The coming of the Spirit upon
her does not, as John Gill wrote, and I heartily concur, does not
design any local motion, unquote. It is not the design of any local
motion, nor should it be thought of in any way or in any degree
as anything conjugal. And then it is added, and the
power of the highest shall overshadow her or you, so that none might
see and none might know this holy mystery. so that it is an
impenetrable mystery, we take it upon the authority of the
Word of God. But it was done in such a way
that it could not be known, nor could any understanding or explain
it. Partly, I believe, to deter any
unholy prying on the part of people and be forever, forever
beyond the vain speculation of the natural mind. Well, this
happened or that, or it could have been this. We have two accounts
of this in the gospel, confirming that Mary's conception was a
work of the Holy Spirit, or the Virgin Birth, if you will read
it and study. is very carefully preserved in
these two passages of the scripture, Luke 1 and Matthew 1. In Luke
1, 26-35. In Matthew 1, 18-25. It preserves
the virgin birth as being not an act of man but an act of God or the Holy
Spirit. For example, Matthew 1 and verse
18. And Matthew adds, by the Holy
Spirit. Before they came together, conjugally,
she was found to be a child of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1.20
is repeated again. The angel of the Lord tells Joseph
in a dream, that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Add to this the mind of the couple,
both Joseph and Mary. Mary knew herself to be a virgin. Mary knew herself as having never
known man. And the cause of Joseph's plan
to put Mary away is that he knew that he had not been intimate
with her, yet was she with child. So let's spend a little time
on this, this last point from Matthew chapter 1. and verse
19 concerning the thought and the plan of Joseph to put her
away and to put her away secretly, privately, quietly, and with
as little fanfare as possible. Spurgeon said, quote, what he
thought to be a sin of his spouse's wife, unquote. What if you will
consider two things here. Number one, the law of Moses
provided for the putting away of one like this who was found
to be unclean. You'll find that in Deuteronomy
22, 23 and 24, Deuteronomy chapter 24 and verse 1. Only Joseph would
do it with the least amount of shame and disgrace unto Mary
that was possible, whom he loved and secretly and quietly without
any fanfare He would perhaps give her a writing of separation
and put her away. For he is greatly saddened by
this. And remember, he is not as yet,
he is not as yet privy to the secret purpose of God in this
matter. As yet, he knows it not when
he forms this plan in his mind until He has it revealed unto
him by a dream and by an angel of the Lord that he knows the
matter to be of God and of his purpose. Secondly, I wondered
about this. We have to wonder Had Mary never
told Joseph about her blessed experience? Could it be that
Mary has not mentioned this under her intended and betrothed? Well, think about this. We are
told in Luke 1 and verse 56, in that chapter, that Mary left
and spent three months with Elizabeth after the visit from the angel
Gabriel. Then she returned home, at which
time it was evident that she was with child. Three months.
You see that also in Genesis chapter 38, verse 24. she was
found to be with child. Linsky points out, this is Eroist
intense, that is, it is a fact, and by outward appearances and
natural reason, it might cast both of them, Joseph and Mary,
under the shadow of suspicion. But Matthew quickly adds, that
her being with child was from an act of the Holy Spirit of
God. And then he assured Joseph of
one and the same thing. Now, for the remainder of our
study this morning, we focus on the incarnation of the Eternal
Son. When the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory is of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John
1 and verse 14. When God was manifest, the flesh
1st Timothy 3 and verse 16 God Manifests in the flesh and the
way that it was done. He was made of a woman Galatians
4 4 which particular is woman was Mary. Concerning this doctrine
of the scripture, I should like to call Dr. John Gill to bear
witness of its importance unto the church and the people of
God. This is taken from his body of
divinity and from the chapter on the incarnation. He wrote,
I'm quoting, this is the basis of the Christian religion, a
fundamental article of it, and without the belief of it no man
can be a Christian and This doctrine of the incarnation of the Son
of God is the basic heart and core of Christianity. And I agree
with him, those who deny it and reject it should not be counted
as a Christian. For the doctrine of the incarnation
consists in this, that by the will of God and an eternal purpose
and arrangement, the eternal son of the eternal God would
become incarnate, assuming true yet unfallen, undepraved nature,
including a true human body and human soul. And assuming that
humanity or that human nature in hypostatic union with the
divine nature, so that he is not two persons, but one person
with two nature, that he is the God-man, so that Number one,
he remained true God even in the incarnation. Number two,
he became or assumed true human nature and he partook of flesh
and blood as described in Hebrews chapter 2, 14 through 17. And then thirdly, he was both
God and man, that he might be the mediator between God and
man. He must have the nature of both,
and he did, hypothetically united. Not two persons but in one. Now the Christ did not bring
his human nature from heaven as some have taught. There are
those who have taught that he brought his humanity or his body
with him from heaven and only passed through Mary like water
passes through a pipe. No, he was conceived in the womb
of Mary by the Holy Spirit Matthew 1. 18 and 20 Luke 1 and verse
35 Then after a while it became evident that she was with child
Matthew 1 18 then she was great with child Luke chapter 2 and
verse 5 and Luke chapter 2 and verse 6 the time arrived for
her to give birth and Luke chapter 2 and verse 7 she delivered her
firstborn son Thus the human body of the Lord Jesus was conceived
in Mary by the Holy Spirit, nourished by the body of Mary, carried
to term, and delivered in the common way. Again, the body and
the humanity of Jesus was not as claimed by that docetic cult
of long ago. That it was only a phantom body,
not a real one at all. And that his suffering were only
imagined and not real at all. Not real, just seemingly to be
so. And then there's the Nestorians
of old who so separated the two natures of Christ that they actually
made him to be two persons rather than one, and one indwelt than
by the other according to their doctrine. But in the incarnation,
the Son, there was constituted a theanthropic person, the God-man,
the Christ, meaning that there was formed a union of the divine
person and the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was not
only God, or only man, but he was the God-man, God and man,
in one person. William G. T. Shedd put it this
way, by the incarnation, not a God, not a man, but a God-man
is constituted, unquote. The Word was made flesh, but
it did not turn into flesh so as to cease being the Word, nor
did the Son lay aside His divine nature or exchange that one temporarily
for a human nature. nor did he put in trust his divine
attributes while he walked among people upon the earth to retrieve
them again when he ascended into heaven again. Though he veiled
his glory behind a veil of flesh, yet Let it loose on the Mount
of Transfiguration to see the mighty glory of the Son of God. And this one we're talking about
this morning claimed absolute equality with God. All during
his ministry, he claimed an equality with God, that he came from God,
that God was his Father. Now we'll close by saying the
Incarnation, according to God's purpose, was necessary unto redemption,
to provide a perfect and a sinless sacrifice to prepare that body
for Christ which he would give in death and in which he would
bear our sin upon the cross as he hanged there. Now the conception,
I'll just throw this in, the conception of the humanity of
Christ is in a way, in a small way, a picture of regeneration. For it is the Holy Spirit of
God begatting life in one that was not before. Begatting life
that was not before or did not exist prior. and the Spirit of
God by a mighty act upon the Virgin Mary did give her conception,
give her conception, and the humanity of our Lord was conceived
in this marvelous way in the Virgin, chosen by God, and brought
forth into the world. The God-man, this is the truth,
and this is the foundation the heart, the core, the essence
of the Christian faith. The incarnate son who took upon
flesh and blood and suffered and gave himself a sacrifice
for our sin. Thank God for that great work.