Go with me to Luke chapter one again. Luke one, we just looked at and listened to the gospel according to Elizabeth. And as I mentioned to you in the Bible study, now we're gonna listen to the gospel according to Gabriel. I got very excited when I realized we were gonna have a Christmas message for Easter. We're just going through the book of Luke. But do you know that the message is always the same? I don't care what day it is or holiday it is, it's Jesus Christ crucified.

Why was he born in this world? To die. What did he rise from? His death. What does all this mean? Salvation for his people. Gabriel, this angel that God sent to declare these things, to announce these things, God sent him with the message of the gospel. And I'm going to go ahead and tell you that he brought a wonderful gospel. He truly brought a wonderful gospel. The Lord gave him quite a message. We're going to pick up where we left off in Luke 1.

Look with me at verse 26. It says, and in the sixth month, the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. If you look at verse 23, it says, And it came to pass that as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, Zacharias departed to his own house. And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my reproach among men. Verse 26 says, and in the sixth month of her pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused 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 thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Hail thou that art highly favored. You know what the word hail means? It means rejoice. Be glad. It means rejoice exceedingly. This angel came in and that's how the gospel needs to be delivered to God's people. Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice exceedingly thou that are highly favored. Highly favored means graciously accepted. It means much graced.

That's what the gospel declaration declares to sinful men and women. In Christ, by Christ, through Christ, you have been much graced. With Christ, you have been graciously accepted. The gospel is an announcement to undeserving recipients. And that's a shocking thing to hear, but that's what we must hear. Recipients are undeserving. People think they deserve salvation. People think they deserve salvation. People think the whole, you know, you're born perfect. A new baby's born and everybody says, oh, look at him or her. Isn't she just perfect? Isn't he just perfect? And the whole goal of life is don't mess it up. Well, that's not how it is. The scripture says we are conceived in sin. It says we come forth from our mother's womb speaking lies. By nature, we're not accepted. We're not accepted.

And the only hope we have is to be much graced. Salvation is by grace. And the gospel announcement is in Christ, you've been much graced. The gospel announcement is to undeserving recipients. And it is speaking of an unearned reward. If it's by grace, it's not by works. Otherwise, grace is not grace. That's what Romans 11 said. So it's an announcement to undeserving recipients of an unearned reward. That has been freely given to them. By the only person who could do it.

That's what the gospel is. Verse 26 in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth. to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in under her and said, hail thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. Now that's an announcement. That angel came in and said, this is what God says.

Hear the word of the Lord. You have received favor and grace from him. Why? Because that's what it pleased him to do. That's what it pleased him to do. It pleased the Lord to make you his people. It pleased the Lord to be for you. It pleased the Lord to be with you.

Verse 28, the angel came in unto her and said, Hail thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. He didn't say, Mary, you've earned this. He said, Mary, you've been blessed. You've been blessed for Christ's sake. You know, that's for Christ's sake. Why was she highly favored and blessed? For Christ's sake. Verse 28, the angel came in unto her and said, Hail thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.

And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying. When the truth comes and the gospel comes, do you see how everybody it comes to? They're troubled at the saying. That's the first response when the gospel of Christ comes, they're troubled at the saying. When she saw him, 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 shall call his name Jesus." He said, life has come to you. Life has come to you. And that's what the announcement of the gospel declares to a dead sinner. Life has come to you. If you can hear this, if you can see this, if you can believe this, it means life has come to you.

Let me just break for a minute, okay? Do you know that there are men and women in this world who can listen to this, but they can't hear it. You know what I'm talking about? There are men and women in this world who can look at this, but they can't see it. There are men and women who can understand this, but they can't believe it. How does all that come?

Salvation is not in our hands. Eyes to see, that's not in our hands. Ears to hear, that's not in our hands. A heart to believe, that's not in our hands. It's not in our hands. When God is pleased to quicken a dead sinner, you know why his name is God? Because he's God. Even little children sing, he's got the whole world in his hands. He's got me and you and baby in his hands. God is not in our hands. Okay, this doesn't sound like an Easter message, I know. God's not in our hands. I'm telling you, eternal life depends on the fact that we bow to God Almighty. It depends on it.

And when God is pleased to quicken a dead sinner, the first thing he does is he favors that sinner. Why would he favor that sinner? Is it something in the center? No. Every person on this earth is cut from the same lump. But he favors a sinner in election. in for knowledge, in for love. First thing, that sinner is beloved, chosen to be loved.

And because of that chosen favor in love, life is given. That life comes through declaring Christ. Why do you all only declare Christ? Because that's how life is given. He said, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. That means anything other than Christ is not the way, it's not the truth, and it's not the life. Nobody can come to the Father but by Him.

Life comes through declaring Christ, and through that life-giving declaration, the sinner will all of the sudden You know, Saul of Tarsus, he said, it was like scales fell from my eyes. What were his scales? His own religion. That was about the most religious man that ever walked this earth. What did he see when the scales fell?

Christ. Christ. Through the life-giving declaration, the sinner will hear, I mean truly hear the message of Christ. And that's exactly what happened to Mary right here. Verse 30 says, 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. The name Jesus means Savior. This angel said, Mary, Christ in you is going to be the hope of glory. The gospel comes to a sinful man or woman when he or she has Christ revealed to him or her. Salvation comes when Christ is revealed. And Christ is revealed when a sinner sees who he is.

Let me just ask a question. Please don't answer out loud. Is he God's offspring? People think you have you got God and then God had a son. Like my father did, you got my father. And then my father had a son. I'm telling you, I'm not my father. I can I'm similar to him in some ways, but. That's not who Christ is. Philip said, show us the father, and he said, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?

We're about to read Isaiah nine in just a moment, and it says unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Government's gonna be on his shoulders. His name is gonna be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. Who the baby is. Who is that? The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Christ is revealed when a sinner sees all of a sudden who He is. He is not a good humanitarian. He is not the one who can get us to God. He's God.

Did you know the scripture says we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ? He's the judge. Christ said in Matthew 25, in the last day, everybody's gonna be gathered. I'm gonna be the one who divides my sheep from the goats. I'm gonna say to you, going in to you, Christ is gonna do that. The scripture says the Lord, Jesus Christ, is a man of war. He himself said, I didn't come to send peace on this earth. I came to bring a sword.

I can't apologize for it being so shocking. I know it's shocking. I understand that. But what if I die today? And this is my last time to tell you who Jesus Christ is. Christ is all of a sudden revealed when a person gets him out of their back pocket. And sees him on his throne. And a person sees what he did.

He didn't come to make salvation possible. He came to make salvation finished. He didn't come to show us the way. He said, I'm the way. He came to call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from his sin. Did he or didn't he? Is he a failure or not? Now he died, but you're going to have to put your stamp of approval on it.

Oh man, we're going to meet God. We're going to meet God. You know the Passover? God told Moses, you tell them to go get a lamb. Do you know that in order to have a Passover, you had to have somebody die? It's either going to be the firstborn in the house, or that substitute lamb. But God is demanding judgment and justice for sin against him. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Hebrews 10. Lord, reveal this to us. Reveal it to us. Christ becomes revealed when a sinner finally sees who he really is.

How do you know all these things? He put it in His Word. He wrote it down. He wrote it down. We see who He really is. We see what He really did. We see who He really did it for. We see why He did it. Who did He do it for? All that the Father gave to Him. Every soul the Father selected and gave to Him. Why did He do it? His own glory. His own glory. Where is He right now? He's in the heavens. David said, Psalm 115, our God is in the heavens doing as He pleases. Whatever He wants to do, that's what He's doing. Nobody has to let God do anything. Won't you let God Now, that's what. This angel is about to tell Mary everything I just said to you. In other words, that is literally what he's about to tell Mary. All right, Gabriel gave Mary a five point outline.

And it's a good one. Look at verse 32. He said, you're going to call his name Jesus, verse 32, and he shall be great. and shall be called the Son of the Highest." Wait a minute, there it is. He is God's Son. No, no, no. He is God of the Highest. Father, Son, Spirit, God. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. That means he's a man. God, man, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Now let me just say this. The gospel has nothing to do with us. The gospel has nothing to do with us and it has everything to do with Christ. The gospel has nothing to do with what we are going to do with him, or how we're gonna respond to him. You know, this is the work, how you're gonna respond. The gospel has nothing to do with us at all. The gospel is concerning Christ. It's concerning Christ. All right, now, just listen to this announcement. I'm gonna emphasize all five of these points with this first announcement. Verse 32, it says, he shall be great. Why shall he be great? It's because he already is great. And he doesn't change. He already is great and he doesn't change.

He was great before the foundation of the world. Jesus Christ was. In the glory which he had with the Father and the Spirit. He was great when he laid the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who made the world and made Adam and formed Adam with his hands. John 1, all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. Jesus Christ made the world. He was great when he laid the foundations of this world. He was great when he entered this world. Oh, that child was great.

Yes, a child was born, yes, a son was given, but literally all the government was on his shoulder. He was great as he lived before God in this world, he was the only one who lived greatly before God in this world. The father cried out loud from heaven rejoicing over his greatness and his perfection. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He was great as he lived before God in this world. He was great as he died before God in this world. bearing all the sins of his people, all of his people throughout all the world and all the generations of this world of time. That's great. He sovereignly cried, Father, it is finished. It is salvation is finished. Salvation is finished.

Well, then what are we doing here? glorifying him for it, thanking him for it. He sovereignly bowed his head. He sovereignly gave up the ghost. He was great as he laid in that tomb, bearing the separation from God and the condemnation of God that all of us, all of his people must bear. Either we bear it ourselves or he bore it for us, one of the two. Outcast, cut off. On the third day, he was gray when he arose.

Victorious over sin and death and hell, leading captivity captive and conquering all. And he was great as he ascended back up into the clouds. far above all heavens, the scripture says, to glory itself. When the announcement rang forth, I love that announcement in Psalm 24, they cried, open ye the gates for the king of glory is coming in. The king of glory is coming back in. He is great right now, seated on his throne, reigning and ruling forever.

That's the gospel that was told to Mary. That's the gospel that is told to all of God's people. The gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified. The gospel of God coming down in the body of Christ and living for his people and dying for his people and raising again for his people to forever deliver them from the condemnation that's coming.

Verse 32 says, He shall be great, and 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. He shall reign over the house of the sinner forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

And I'm not going to have you turn. I was going to have you go to Isaiah nine, but I quoted Isaiah nine, six for you. And I wanted to show you Isaiah nine, seven. It says of the increase. Well, let me, let me, you just listen. I'll turn. This is Isaiah nine, seven of the increase of his government and peace. There shall be no end. It doesn't say his government and peace will not end. It says of the increase, it won't end. upon the throne of David, upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." Glory to God in the highest. Glory to God in the highest.

Verse 34, I'm done. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this thing be, seeing I know not a man? She said, How can this be, seeing that the works of man are not involved? How can this be, seeing that the works of man's flesh are not involved? Verse 35, And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee.

Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. He said, Don't you worry about it one bit. God will take care of it. God will take care of it, God will do it all. Start to finish, God will do it all. Verse 36, and behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she has 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.

That was the end of the message. That's the last word, those were the last words of the message he gave. Verse 37, for with God nothing shall be impossible. This messenger said he, he, he, he, he. God shall, God shall, for with God nothing shall be impossible, period. That was the message. He didn't say, now Mary, Do you accept the terms that I have laid out? Mary, will you let God do this to you? He didn't say that at all. That wasn't the message at all. He said, Mary, he shall and you will. He shall, and you will.

Verse 38 says, And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. After hearing all that, Mary said, Amen and Amen. She said, Behold the handmaid, not the mother, the handmaid. Behold the servant, behold the subject, behold the believer, behold the follower of the Lord, the Lord. And that's what all of God's people say when God sends the message of Christ to them. All of a sudden they say, I believe. What? God. Well, this man says this, I don't believe him. That man says that, I don't believe him either. I believe God. I believe God. I believe the word of the Lord and I bow to it. I bow to it. Amen.