With me to Luke chapter 1, I want to try to talk to you
this evening about a saved sinner and her song of praise. Luke
chapter 1 and verse 46. We have before us the song of
Mary, a sinner saved by the grace of our God. And Mary said, my
soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Savior for he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden
for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed
for he that is mighty hath done great things and holy is His
name. And His mercy is on them that
fear Him from generation to generation. He hath showed the 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 of low degree. He hath filled
the hungry with good things. and the rich he hath sent away
empty. He hath opened his servant Israel
in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to
Abraham and to his seed forever. And Mary abode with her about
three months and returned to her own house. After Mary heard the good news
of Christ's incarnation, She went to visit her older cousin,
Elizabeth, who was beloved to her. This woman, Elizabeth, in
her old age, was now six months pregnant with John the Baptist
by marvelous divine intervention. And when these two women came
together, they must obviously have spoken to one another about
the marvelous things God had done for them and things that
God had taught them. Their fellowship together was
fellowship in the grace of God. Their fellowship was mutually
edifying. Their fellowship was mutually
inspiring. They urged one another on in
the walk of faith. What a blessing good companions
are. How I wish I could make you hear
the urgency with which I make this next statement. You who are old as well as you
who are young and all in between. Choose your companions wisely. Choose them wisely. Choose for
your friends. Choose for those you spend your
time with, men and women who know and walk with God. You will
always find yourself profited by such companions. These companions
who walk together in the fellowship of the gospel help one another
along their way. Happy. Happy are those meetings
with men and women who are mutually walking as pilgrims through this
world. Happy are those family get-togethers
where the theme of thought and conversation is the Lord Jesus
Christ. When we meet with our friends,
when we meet with family, whenever we get together, just socially,
it ought to be our purpose and desire to help one another, to
encourage one another, to strengthen and to edify one another so that,
and I don't mean, this ought to go without saying, but it
doesn't. I don't mean get together and always get your Bible out
and read the Bible and talk religious stuff and talk pious stuff. That's
not what I mean at all. I am saying this. Use your time
together wisely and be a help, not a detriment to one another
in the walk of grace and faith. We ought always to try to be
spiritually helpful to those who come under our influence,
those who are our brethren as well as those who are not. Now,
in this passage before us, I want to first show you Mary's character,
and then I'll show you her song. As we have read these verses,
46 through 56, we see five things that are obvious about this woman,
Mary. First, understand this. Mary
was a woman of remarkable faith. She was a sinner saved by grace
just like you and I. But this woman saved by grace
demonstrates a remarkable faith. If you look back at verse 35
in this chapter, you'll see that this woman believed God's Word
concerning a totally unprecedented thing. Not only was the thing
promised in verse 35 unprecedented, it was a biological impossibility. It was something that could not
be done. It was something that could not
be brought to pass on the basis of any human understanding. It was something that was scientifically,
as men proudly say, impossible. But look what we read. In verse
35, Gabriel said to Mary, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. Now, that makes it possible.
When God steps in, all things are possible. When God speaks,
nothing is too hard for the Lord. The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore
also, look at it now, that holy thing which shall be born of
thee. Never been a holy thing born of a woman yet, except this
woman. Everything born of a woman was
sinful, except this man. That holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God. What a word. Now you try to imagine this.
You try to imagine this. Here's a woman. She's familiar
with the scriptures. She's familiar with the promises
given to Eve in Genesis 3, 15, where God promised the seed of
woman would come and crush the serpent's head. She's familiar
with the prophecies of the Old Testament. But still, here's
this woman who hears God speak and says, now Mary, you're about
to have a son, though you're a virgin, and that son, which
is going to be born of you, That man that's gonna come out of
your womb, that baby that's gonna nurse at your breast, that child
shall be holy and that child shall be God in human flesh. How does she do? She sat back
and debate and discuss. Now, well, I don't, look at verse
45. And Elizabeth said, blessed is she that believed. Rex, she
believed God. when everything was stacked against
it. She believed God when there was
no evidence for his word to be fulfilled. She believed God when
all things as far as sight was concerned, when all things as
far as mentality was concerned, when all things as far as history
was concerned, when all things as far as man's understanding
was concerned stood contrary to what God said. She believed
God. Now, that's faith. That's faith. Remarkable faith. She believed
God contrary to everything that spoke against Him. Blessed is
she that believed. Now I say to you, blessed are
you who believe God. Blessed are you who believe.
Blessed because you could not believe were you not blessed
with His grace. And blessed because, look at this, there shall be
a performance of those things which were told her from the
Lord. Oh, may God grant us this kind of faith. All right, secondly,
this woman, Mary, was a woman who had a tremendous familiarity
with Holy Scripture. One of the reasons I was a little
late getting over here, I wasn't oversleeping, I was going back,
cross-referencing some scriptures. In this passage, this song of
Mary that we have just read, You can't help noticing that
she had a ready grasp, just a grasp of Scripture at her fingertips,
as it were. She quotes from the Psalms. In
fact, I counted in these verses at least 14 references to the
Psalms, just in these few verses. She refers to the Psalms and
refers to God's works in the Old Testament. She speaks of
his goodness to Leah, that woman who was so despised. And she repeats many of the words
of Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2. As a matter of fact, I encourage
you to read that prayer when you go home. It's very much like
the song we just read. We ought, like Mary, to strive
to become more and more fully and more and more experimentally
acquainted with Holy Scripture. The Word of God says in Colossians
3 and verse 16, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly,
in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing with joy in your hearts to the
Lord. Now, Scripture memorization,
just for the sake of memorizing Scripture, is not something that
I encourage. But I do encourage you to read
and study the Word of God. This is God's Word given to us. What a privilege. What a privilege. God Almighty has revealed Himself
in the person of His Son and has written out everything we
need to know right here. Everything, everything, everything. Everything needful for our souls.
I encourage you to read and study and keep up with things, but
listen, listen. Read this book. Absorb this book. Seek to understand this book. Find the word of God to you in
this book, day by day. So that as you read the scriptures,
and you give yourself to understanding the mind, the will, and the Word
of God revealed in Holy Scripture, while it requires daily regular
study, while it requires daily regular discipline, the benefits
will prove priceless. You see, when Mary needed the
most, here's a woman, a virgin, a young lady in the midst of
a society where where promiscuity was kept in the closet, it was
pushed aside. Folks didn't just put up with
it. Here's this virgin who's pregnant by the work of God Almighty.
Can you imagine the trial? She believed God, and so she
has nothing to be ashamed of, but everybody around her thinks
she does. Everybody around her thinks,
why don't she go hide in a corner somewhere? What's she doing showing
her face in public? But this woman, while she stood in deepest
need of understanding the scriptures, had the word of God at her fingertips,
a ready grasp of God's promises. Those things given in the Bible
were her strength when she had no strength elsewhere. But seek
to understand the book. Absorb the book. Let the word
of Christ dwell in you. well in you, so that you find
your strength and your solace in the revelation of God. Now
then, look thirdly here, and you'll see something of Mary's
deep, deep humility. This woman, Mary, as she speaks
of herself in this song, displays what she knows concerning herself. Now let me emphasize this just
a little bit, because there are those who follow the decrees
of that old man in Rome and suggest that Mary somehow ought to be
adored and prayed to and, you know, folks have statues of her.
Even folks who are not papists have statues of her and pictures
of her with, you know, imaginary pictures, got these halos over
her head and all that nonsense. Listen, Mary was not a mediator
between men and God. She was a sinner in need of a
mediator. Mary was not one co-equal with God. Mary was not sinless. Mary was a sinner and is a sinner
saved by grace. Her sin now is over. But while
she walked on this earth, Gary, she walked with the same lust
and struggles you walk with. She was washed in the same blood
we're washed in. She was robed in the same righteousness
we're robed in, accepted on the same grounds we're accepted on,
on the footing of grace alone. Look how she speaks about herself. She says concerning herself,
the Lord has regarded the low estate of his handmaid. She says, I will glory, I'll
exalt, I'll magnify God my Savior. Those are not the words of one
who saves, those are the words of one who has been saved. I
can't think of a better way to express what I'm saying here
than J.C. Ryle. He wrote, she who was chosen
of God to the high honor of being Messiah's mother speaks of her
own low estate and acknowledges her need of a Savior. She does
not speak a word to indicate that she regarded herself as
sinless or immaculate, nothing of the kind. On the contrary,
she uses the language of one who has been taught by the grace
of God to feel her own sins. And so far from being able to
save others, she requires a Savior for her own soul. This woman
of remarkable faith, this woman familiar with the Scripture,
speaks as one who has been born of God, saved by His grace. And then fourthly, Mary was a
woman of great thankfulness. That which stands out in her
hymn, perhaps more than anything else, is the fact that Mary considered
herself a debtor to mercy. Oh, she speaks of God's mercy,
Merle. Now, again, I tell you, while she's going through a time
of great joy, this woman's going through one of those trials you
just read about. And as she does, she sings. While neighbors and friends,
can you imagine the yack-yack? Can you imagine the scuttlebutt?
Can you imagine the little gossiping women getting together? Did you
see? Did you hear? What do you reckon is going on?
I always thought better of Mary than that. She's going through
a trial. And in the midst of her trial,
she's full of joy because she was a debtor to God's And God's
goodness to you, now listen to me, God's goodness to you will
often bring you directly into conflict, trouble, and sorrow. If God's pleased to call you
by His grace, if God's pleased to reveal His Son in you, if
God's pleased to give you life and faith in Christ, the very
means by which God gives you His grace will sometimes be the
very great trial of your soul. Some of you know exactly what
I'm talking about, and some of you are about to find out. It'll
bring you into great sorrow, but we have reason to be thankful
because we live on mercy. We live on mercy, sheer mercy,
sheer mercy. If I live daily upon God's absolute
mercy, then I recognize, I understand that I have every reason constantly
to give thanks to Him. However He deals with me in mercy
is good. And Bobby, if God deals with
us at all in mercy, He always deals with us in mercy. in every
experience, in every high and in every low, in every sorrow
that crushes our hearts and in every joy that elates our souls. He deals with us in mercy. We
who daily live upon the sheer mercy of God have reason to give
thanks to God always. In everything, give thanks. Now then, notice this too. Mary
was a woman, being a woman of remarkable faith, being a woman
who drew her solace, her comfort, her instruction from the Word
of God, being a woman of deep humility, a woman of great thankfulness. It shouldn't surprise you to
see that Mary was a woman of tremendous contentment as well.
She was content because she had Christ. She was content because Christ
was hers. Mary, you see, was a poor woman.
We have no indication anywhere in the Word of God that she ever
ceased to live in abject poverty. When our Savior died, he committed
his poor mother to the care of one of his disciples whom he
loved. Here's this woman. This would
be a good It'd be a good knot for these health, wealth, prosperity
preachers, don't I? I suspect Mary might have been,
she might have been one of the Lord's loved ones. I suspect
she might have been the object of his grace. I suspect she might
have been one of those to whom the Lord God was constantly favorable
and gracious, but she lived in constant poverty. Even when our
Lord died, he left his mother in this world under the care
of someone else. Yet this woman Mary was perfectly
content. Having Christ to be her Savior,
she wanted no more. She says, my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Savior. In verse 56 we read, Mary returned
to her own house. Here's this woman, blessed, chosen of God to be the vehicle
through whom God would give His Son to the world. I'm overwhelmed. Once in a while
I get a letter or somebody comes to me, one of you maybe calls
and God speaks to you and conveys His grace to you through the
message preached. I'm just, I'm overwhelmed. Here's a woman,
here's a woman through whom God gave His Son to us all. Remarkable, remarkable instrumentality. And yet what Mary was content
to go back to her modest home and live in seclusion as the
wife of a simple, poor carpenter. Oh God, give me such a spirit
of contentment. The Apostle Paul, that man so
greatly, mightily used of God, when he was in prison about to
suffer his final, ultimate test, about to sacrifice his life for
the testimony of the gospel, made this statement. I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Well, how can
you be content? How can you be content? How can
you be content in adversity? How can you be content in heartache? How can you be content awaiting
execution? How can you be content sitting
in prison? This is where God put me. And I'm telling you wherever
you are, my brother, my sister, whatever you're experiencing,
whatever you're going through, Whatever it is that rings your
heart, whatever it is that crushes your soul, whatever it is that
causes you to soak your pillow at night, whatever it is that
brings down your heart with labor, the Lord God sent it. And in his time, he'll send relief
and deliverance. Mary was content because Christ
is hers. And if Christ is mine, Why shouldn't I be content? If
Christ is mine, what else do I want? What else do I need?
It is written, all things are yours for you, Christ, and Christ
is God's. All right, now then, let's look
at this psalm. I'll be very brief here, but
I want to give you some reasons to sing. Here are seven reasons
for you and me to lift up our hearts with praise to God. Seven reasons to sing his praise
always. Number one, Mary gives praise
to the Lord God because he was her savior. The God who was in
her womb was and is the savior of her soul. She says in verse
46, my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced
God my Savior if Christ is my Savior. I have reason to see
The word magnify here means to enlarge to make room for Mary
Mary as it were flung open the gates of her soul and said to
the king of glory come on in She magnifies the Lord. She rejoiced
in him. She danced before him. That's
what the word means and then secondly Mary's song of praise
was inspired by the wondrous mystery of the incarnation. God come in human flesh. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. The angel told Mary, the seed
of woman is now about to come into the world. Christ the Savior
is coming. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. My soul Why
shouldn't I rejoice and sing his praise? Ron, Jesus Christ
the Savior has come for me. He's come to redeem and save
his own. I'll rejoice in him. What's he
doing? He's saving his people from their
sins. That's what he's doing always
and in all things. All right, look at verse 48.
Mary particularly gives praise and thanksgiving to God for his
particular distinguishing grace. For he hath regarded the lowest
state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth,
all generations shall call me blessed. She said, look here,
look here. God chose me. God blessed me. God has put Christ in me by a
work of marvelous grace. What a picture. Here's this woman
in whose womb Jesus Christ lived by God's work. Here's this man,
this sinner, in whose very heart Jesus Christ lives by God's work,
by God's grace. We who are the objects of God's
special love and God's distinguishing grace have reason to sing his
praise. Fourthly, look in verse 49. Mary
gives praise to God because of His holiness. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Now, wait a
minute. When Manoah saw God's holiness, he said, Lord's gonna
kill us. When Moses saw God's holiness, buddy, he trembled.
When Daniel saw God and His holiness, his knees buckled beneath him. When Isaiah saw God's holiness,
he said, woe is me. But here's Mary. She sees God's
holiness and sings with joy. Why? Because Mary saw what they
only could look into. Mary saw here, and it appears
this is way throughout our Lord's earthly ministry, there were
a few women who seemed to perceive what the men didn't get. Mary
saw God's holiness manifest in a Savior. Now there's reason
to sing and rejoice. The holy Lord God has found a
way to ransom his people, to save them from their sins. Look
at verses 49 through 53 again. And see that Mary offers praise
to the Lord God because of the great things he has done. For
he that is mighty, look at this now, hath done to me, to me,
to me. That means, Oscar Bailey, if
you're his, If you're one of God's elect, if I'm one of God's
elect, everything God does, He does to you and for you specifically. The Lord has done to me great
things, and these things that He's done are great. and holy
is his name. His mercy is on them that fear
him from generation to generation. That is those who fear him in
every age, our constant representatives of his mercy. He has showed strength
with his arm. He's scattered the proud in the
imagination of their hearts. He always does. Proud men come
and will show me. I don't believe that. Well, go
on your way. He scatters the proud. You're too proud to trust
the Savior. You're too proud to be saved
by grace. You're too proud to bow to God's revelation. God'll
scatter you to destruction forever. Well, wait a minute. Mary says, he did that to me.
Even the judging of the wicked, God does for his people. He hath
put down the mighty from their seats. He raises up kings and
he puts them down. He's exalted them of low degree. He always does. If God brings
you down low before him, he'll bring you up high to heaven. He's filled the hungry with good
things. And those who are rich, those
who think they have something to offer God, those who are,
in their own estimation, spiritually rich and good, He sends them
away empty and they still think they're full. Everything God does, he does
for his own. Sixthly, in verse 54, Mary gives
praise to the Lord God for his unfailing help. He hath opened
his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. Now she's referring
to herself. But she refers to herself as
God's servant Israel. She refers to herself as the
whole nation. She refers to herself as the
whole object of grace. She refers to herself as the
whole nation of God's elect. How come? Because what God's
done for me, he's done for them all. And what he's done for them
all, he's done for me. He's hopin' Israel. The word hopin', that's a good
humility term. We don't use it much where we're
educated and refined these days, you know, but hoping. Boy, you
sure hoping me. I've heard folks say many times.
Well, this means to place one's hand under one who has fallen
and pick him up. Mary says, I was fallen and God
put his hand under me and picked me up. God helps his elect and
he does so in remembrance of his mercy. Oh, God never forgets
mercy. He never forgets mercy. I will
sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. With my mouth I will
make known thy faithfulness to all generations. And that's the
last thing. In verse 55, Mary gives praise
to the Lord her God because of his covenant faithfulness. She
says why he's hopin' his servant is real, in remembrance of his
mercy, just like he said he would, as he spake to our fathers, to
Abraham and his seed forever. Great is thy faithfulness. Let me tell you now, let me tell
you. This is something I've learned.
I know it better now than I've ever known it. I used to preach
good sermons on God's faithfulness academically and theologically
when I was just a kid. But I didn't know anything at
all about it. I'll tell you something. This sinner finds God faithful. Faithful, faithful, faithful
is our God. He will perform His oath and
His covenant for His people, for His glory. Amen.