I'm not being cruel, I'm not
being mean, I'm simply stating facts, that they have perverted
the role of Mary. Nowhere in the scriptures do
we hear or read of any voice heard saying, Hail Mary, mother
of God. Mary's not the mother of God. Full of grace and truth, pray
for us poor sinners. We don't read that anywhere in
the scriptures, but we do see in the scriptures that Mary,
though God did not ascribe to her a preeminence or a place
of worship, yet we recognize that Mary was highly favored
of God. Let's read that here in Luke
1. Now, because Catholicism has
perverted the role of Mary, let's don't ignore her. Let's don't
ignore this. This is the most marvelous thing.
Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. Our Lord came to this earth as
the seed of woman. He was born, just like I read
a moment ago, in Bethlehem. And it says here that the angel
said to her in Luke 1, verse 26, the angel said to her in
verse 28, Thou art highly favored. And in the margin it says, graciously
accepted, much graced, highly favored of God. Everyone here
who's been redeemed by his mercy is highly favored of God. We
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And she found grace in
the eyes of the Lord, highly favored. And it says, secondly,
the Lord is with me. The Lord is with me, Mary. God
is with me. And God, the Lord, is with us.
He dwells in us. He's with us. We're highly favored,
graciously accepted. The Lord is with us. And notice
this, it says, Blessed art thou among women, not above women. She's blessed among women. And
you ladies here this morning are blessed among women, blessed
of the Lord, highly favored, graciously accepted. The Lord's
with you, and you're blessed. among women. You see, no human
creature, no matter who it is, or how highly God does raise
them or use them or bless them, no human being is to be worshiped. Let's turn to Acts 10. Let me
read you that here in Acts chapter 10. Note, we respect our ministers and
pastors, and we respect our forefathers, we respect and how to hold them
in high esteem. But we don't worship them. Here
in Acts 10, verse 25, listen, Peter was an apostle, and Peter
was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet
and worshiped him. Peter took him up hurriedly,
took him by the hand and literally lifted him up and said, Stand
up! Don't do that! We're not to bow to or worship
any man. I myself also am a man. It always
is so distasteful to me to see our heads of state and prominent
people visit the Vatican and bow before the Pope and kiss
his ring or kiss his hand or show any kind of worship to a
creature. But even the angels refused to
be worshipped. Turn to Revelation 19. Revelation
19. Even the angels refused to be
worshipped. I know if an angel walked in
here this morning, it would be such an awesome sight and such
a frightening experience, I guess, that we'd be prone to do something,
I reckon. But whatever you do is wrong
if you hold him in any higher esteem than anyone else. Because
listen to what the angel said. Revelation 19, verse 9. And he
said unto me, Write this, Blessed, and this is John, this is John
to whom he is speaking, Write this, Blessed are they which
are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me,
These are the true savings of God, and I fell at his feet to
worship him. And I said, Well, if an angel
came in and you would be obliged to do something, don't you say
I wouldn't? John did. John was a pretty important
fellow, you know, he knew something about God. But he fell down and
worshiped this angel, and the angel said to him, Don't you
do that, see thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant, and
thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus worship God. Worship
God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Mary herself, here's how she
referred to herself. Look back at my text, Luke 1.
Twice, I called your attention to this when I was reading, twice
she called herself a female slave. Twice. In verse 38, when the
angel was speaking to her, Mary said, Behold a handmaid. And
that word in the Old Testament and the New Testament has the
same meaning, female slave. Behold, I am a female slave of
the Lord, be it unto me." Whatever your word is, God, be it unto
me. Whatever your will is, be it
unto me. Be it unto me according to thy
word. Verse 48, she said it again, God hath regarded the lowest
state of his female slave. And behold, from his forth all
generations shall call me blessed. That's exactly right. Our Lord himself showed Mary,
the woman who bore him, brought him into the world through her
womb. He held her in great respect,
great respect, even as he died on the cross. Our Lord, he prayed, he said,
Father, forgive all of them. They know not what to do. He
talked to the Father, said several things. But he pointed to Mary. This woman that bore him, this
female slave, highly favored to God. And he poured it to John. Those were the two people that
he paid attention to. And he said to John, behold your
mother. Now you take her, he didn't say
behold my mother, take care of my mother. He didn't say that.
He said behold your mother. You take her into your home and
you treat her as your mother. Then he looked at her, and he
pointed to John, and he said, Behold your son. There's your
son. He'll take care of you. Woman,
behold our son, son. Behold our mother. So you be
careful how you handle Mary. Just be careful. Be careful.
Because the Lord God showed her great respect, great courtesy,
and great love. But nowhere in the scriptures
is Mary said to have any special powers or special office. No office, no office, certainly
no mediator, and no influence over Christ. When she came to
him at the wedding feast, said, they're out of wine. Woman, what
have I to do with thee? What have I to do with thee?
Mine hour has not yet come. I do what I'm pleased to do,
not what you tell me to do, that's what he's saying. But now here's
a powerful scripture in Matthew 12. I read one time of a converted
priest, who was brought out of that bondage of Catholicism by
this very scripture here. He was reading this scripture,
and it brought him out of this maleolatry, idolatry. In Matthew 12, verse 46, let's
look at it. Our Lord was preaching in a place
like this, full of people. They were standing around the
walls. There wasn't even room to get in. And while he talked
to the people in verse 46, Matthew 12, behold, his mother and his
brothers, you see, Mary had other children. Our Lord Jesus Christ
was born of the virgin. She knew not a man, and she didn't
know Joseph. She was engaged to be married
to Joseph. And they were both of the house and lineage of David.
But before they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost, and she bore Christ, having not known a man, the Son
of God. And after that, they came together as husband and
wife, and she had Joseph and Judah and girls. She had, I don't
know how many children she had, but she had several children.
In fact, some of those people said, when he was telling them
who he is, They said, well, we know you, we know you, we know
your daddy, Joseph. That wasn't his daddy, but they
said that. They said, we know your mother, we know your brothers
and sisters. And the Bible says even his brothers didn't believe
on him. But here they were outside, in verse 46, his mother and brother
and stood outside, wanting to talk to him. Mary wants to talk
to the Jesus, her son. Your mother wants you. I said
that earlier, most of you don't know how. See, what Mom wants,
you know. And they said, Your mother wants
to speak to you. And then he said unto them, as he pointed
to the crowd, Behold, my mother. So they said, Behold, our mother
and brother stand without desire to speak to you. He answered
and said to them, Who is my mother? Who are my brethren? And then
he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, toward believers,
toward his disciples. And he said, There's my mother.
and my family, my brothers. There they are. Whosoever shall
do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my
brother and my sister and my mother. That's my family. And
I tell you this, if you want to see the last time Mary is
mentioned in the Bible, Acts chapter 1, she's never mentioned
in any of the letters to the churches, not one time. Not one
time. They didn't pray to her. This
is the last time she is mentioned in the Bible, Acts 1, verse 14. And they named the disciples
there in verse 13. Then he said in verse 14, These
all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with
the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. His brethren evidently came to
believe on him, because they were there with that group before
Pentecost. Our Lord ascended back to heaven,
and then these people met here together, all the disciples,
and maybe the mother was with them, not above them, not being
prayed unto, not being held in lofty esteem, but with them,
with them, praying to God, to the Lord, for guidance, for protection,
for provision, for grace, for mercy, praying to him. They weren't
praying to her, praying with her. That's the last time she's
mentioned in the Bible. You look, you won't find her
name ever again in the Bible. We leave her with these disciples,
worshiping God and praying. But now, Mary visited Elizabeth.
Let's go back to our text in Luke 1. I can say nowhere in
the scripture is she held up in preeminence or office or influence
with Christ. Here we find Mary herself as
a poor sinner praising her Lord. Here when she talked to Elizabeth,
then I want you to look beginning with verse 46. I call this Mary's
song of praise, Mary's song of rejoicing. But let's just look
at it carefully for a little while in Luke chapter 1, verse
46. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify
the Lord. What does the word magnify mean?
My soul, my innermost being, my spirit magnifies God. What
does it mean to magnify? Well, usually the word magnified
to us means to make great, to increase in size. We use a magnifying
glass. If something is too small, we
use a magnifying glass to make it greater, but that's not what
this word means. We don't magnify or make greater our God, but
we declare his greatness. My soul doth declare. My soul
doth declare. My soul doth show the greatness
of the Lord. That's what David said in Psalm
34. He said, Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let's exalt his
name together. Declare his greatness. Ascribe
to him greatness. Show his greatness. David is
saying here in Psalm 34, O magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt
his name together. Let's think great thoughts about
our God. Let's speak great words about
our God. Let us, as best we can, exalt
the name of our God. Like he did in Psalm 135. They said, where's your God?
He said, our God's in the heavens. I know that the Lord is great.
That our God is above all idol gods. Our God is in the heavens. And whatsoever the Lord pleased,
whatever he pleased, that did he. In the heavens, in the earth,
in the seas, and in all the depths. The deep places. What's the deep
places? Places you ain't never seen.
Mysterious places. principalities and powers, rulers
of the darkness, spiritual wicked, deep places. Our God does what
he pleases in heaven, in the earth, in the seas, and in the
deep places. And then in Daniel 4, I bless
the Most High God. This is what Mary is saying,
my soul magnifies God. How could you magnify her or
anybody but God? who is worthy of being exalted
but only God. And in Daniel he writes, I bless
the Most High God, I praise and honor him that is forever, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, whose kingdom is from generation
to generation, and the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing,
nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the armies of heaven, among the inhabitants of the
earth. And no one can stay his hand, or no one can question
what he does, no one can say, what are you doing? Because the
Lord thy God reigneth. Pretty good way to start a sermon,
isn't it? Pretty good way to start a psalm of praise. And
that's where she starts it. My soul, my innermost being,
the very bowels of my being. doth exalt and magnify my Lord."
That's the vision she could say, Lord, be it unto me according
to your will. You can trust a sovereign Lord. Look at the second thing she
said. Now, this is interesting. My spirit, my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Savior. Does Mary have an understanding
of what she's saying there? Do you think she does? This young
girl, some question how old she was, I don't know, 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, 20. They got married awfully young
back then. But here's a young Jewish maiden, and she's been
visited by an angel of God with this announcement, and she says,
My soul, my spirit, doth rejoice in God my Savior. Elohim is God in nature, God in essence,
God in holiness and power and mighty one, else shout out the
mighty one. What she's saying here is Jehovah,
God my Savior, God in grace, God in mercy. Does she know what
she's talking about? Well, I believe Joseph told her
what the angel told him. Don't you just imagine that Mary
and Joseph, you all But before you got married, you told each
other everything. And I'm just sure that Mary and
Joseph, the next time they were together, after the angel appeared
to her, she said, Joseph, I'm going to have a son. I'm going
to have a son. And he's going to be the Son
of God. And he's going to be the Savior of the world. And
Joseph said, well, Mary, the angel came to me, and he said,
don't be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. Because that
holy thing which is in her shall be called the Son of God. And
you call his name Jesus, he'll save his people from their sins. He is Savior, he'll save his
people from their sins. Mary, he's going to save us from
our sins. He's the Savior, he's Jehovah. He's going to save us from our
sins. And here this female slave, this woman who knows her nature,
who knows her sins, who knows her fault in Adam, she could
have called him, she could have said, my soul rejoices in God,
my creator. She could have said, my spirit
rejoices in God, my king, in God, my judge, in God, my provider. But she says, my soul rejoices
in God, my Savior, my Savior from sin, my Savior I tell you,
only a sinner needs a Savior. Do you know anybody who needs
a Savior? Only a sinner. The Scripture says, this is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Mary
is saying, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, my Redeemer. And you know, I thought about
Paul's letter to the Philippians. in Philippians 3, turn to this
just a moment, Philippians chapter 3. And he describes true Israel,
true circumcision. Now Mary was a national Israelite. Mary was a Jew, tribe of Judah,
brought up in Judaism. She knew all about the sacrifices,
knew all about these things. But in Paul, he was brought up
in that to the Lord brought him to Christ. And Paul wrote in
Philippians 3, verse 3, listen, We are the circumcision, we are
true Israel, which worship God in spirit. Mavis said, My spirit. We worship God in heart, not
in form, not in ceremony, not in feast days and sacrifices,
but in spirit. My spirit. And we rejoice in
Christ Jesus. Mavis said, My spirit. I'm not
going down to the temple. My spirit rejoices in my Savior,
God my Savior. And I have no confidence in this
flesh. I'm a sinner who needs a Savior. Amen. And then the third thing she
said, listen to verse 48. I can identify so much with Mary
here. exalt and magnify my Lord, my
spirit rejoices only in Christ, God my Savior, not in my deeds
or works, no confidence in this flesh. For he hath regarded the
low estate of his handmaiden. Others speak loftily of Mary,
she spoke truthfully of herself. She said a low estate There's
no true child of God in the scriptures who does not mourn over his lower
state and rejoice over God's grace and mercy for his lower
state. He hath regarded the lower state
of his handmaid. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Moses and Abraham talked frequently
of finding grace in the eyes of the Lord. Abraham said, Lord,
if I found grace, in your sight." Moses said the same thing over
and over, if I found grace in your sight. Job said, I hate
myself, I repent in sackcloth and ashes. I have heard of thee
by the hearing of the ear, now mine eyes see it thee, wherefore
I hate myself. David said, my sins are ever
before me. Paul said, he came to save sinners
of whom I am chief. And Mavis says, he hath regarded
the low estate of his female slaves. Let me show you a description
of all of us, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Here is where all believers
meet together, in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You see your calling,
brethren. Not many mighty men after the
flesh, not many wise men, not many noble are called. God had
chosen the foolish things of the world. What a low estate,
fruitish thing. God had chosen the weak things
to confound the things which are mighty and the base things
of the world, the things which are despised that God had chosen,
things which are not to bring to naught the things that are,
that no flesh should glow in his presence. God had regarded
our low estate in grace he had bested us. Then she says, For
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. I'm blessed. All generations call her blessed
for the same reason that David called us blessed. Turn to Romans
4 and listen to what David said about those who are blessed.
These are the ones who are blessed, Mary and all Marys, and all Pauls. They're all blessed
the same way. And every generation shall call
us blessed. Look at Romans 4, verse 6. As
David, even as David also describes the blessedness of the man unto
whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, who have a Savior.
Blessed are those whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man
to whom God will not impute sin. And all generations shall rise
up and call me blessed, blessed, because I have a Savior." That's
what she said, God my Savior. God has regarded the lowest state
of his female slave and shown mercy. Further to verse 49, "'For
he that is mighty hath done great things, hath done great things
to me, great things in me. The Son of God is in her womb.
And He's done great things in us. Paul said, He revealed His
Son in me. Christ in you. That's the hope
of glory. He's done great things in me.
He's done great things for me. He's done great things to me.
In Christ with new creatures. He that's mighty hath done great
things. And I tell you, it takes He that's mighty to do it. Only
a sovereign God can do these great things. Only a sovereign
God can create the heavens and the earth and a new creature
in Christ. Only a sovereign God can declare
the end from the beginning and from ancient times of things
that are not yet done and declare things that are not as though
they were. Only a sovereign God can make a covenant of mercy
from all eternity that cannot fail. Only a sovereign God can
give his Son a people, a kingdom, and eternal glory, and come to
earth in human flesh, made of a woman, made under the law,
die on a cross, raise himself from the dead, ascend to glory,
and call us to himself. He is mighty. He has done great things to me,
great things. Only he that is mighty is able
to do all that he promises. Only He, this Mighty, is able
to save to the uttermost. Only He, this Mighty, is able
to keep us from falling. Only He, this Mighty, is able
to present us faultless before His presence with exceeding glory.
Only He, this Mighty, is able to raise these vile bodies from
the dust one day and make them like unto His glorious body.
He, this Mighty. does magnify and exalt my Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my
Savior. For he has regarded my depraved,
wretched, helpless, wicked estate of this female slave. And all generations are going
to talk about God's mercies to me, God's blessings to me. He that's mighty, sovereign,
almighty. I tell you this, only before
the throne of a sovereign God will a person worship. That's
the only place you'll worship. And you'll argue with an equal,
and you'll debate with an equal, and you'll quarrel with an equal,
you'll dispute with an equal, but you'll worship the sovereign.
Only at the throne of a sovereign God will man find salvation.
Now he can find reformation and he can find all the other things
that religion supposes and takes credit for. But only before the mighty, almighty,
sovereign God will a man find life. grace, forgiveness, and
mercy, and righteousness, and holiness. That's right. Salvations
of the Lord. I tell you this, only before
a sovereign Lord, a sovereign throne, who does what he will,
when he will, with whom he will, will a person find comfort, real,
lasting comfort for the trials and troubles of this world. All things work together for
good to them who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Whatever the heartache and the sorrow, he does all things well
and right. And only before a sovereign God,
an Almighty, who answers to no one, who does what he will with
whom he will, who is able, who is able. Abraham's faith was
summed up in this word. He believed God was able to do
all that he promised. Only there will you find hope
of resurrection. That's right. This body is going
to die and go back to the dust. And only God can bring that spirit
and body together and raise it like Christ. That's just so. And that's what she said. He
is mighty. He hath done great things in
me. me and to me." And watch this,
and holy is his name. Why did she add that? Well, she's
speaking on the power of the Spirit of God, who's the Spirit
of truth. She's speaking on the power of the Holy Spirit, who's
the Spirit of revelation. That's the only way a man can
tell the truth, is for the Spirit of God to teach it to him. And
he teaches us things beyond our understanding and beyond our
comprehension. And she may not fully understand
what she's saying. Holy is his name. And here's
what she's saying, though. All that he's done and is doing
and will do has to be consistent with his holiness. Has to be
consistent with his holiness. She didn't say, and love is his
name. He's done great things for me because he loves me. That's
true. But that's not what she's saying. She says, holy is his
name. God is holy. And whatever God does, he justifies
us in a way that will be consistent with his holiness. How can God
be just and justify you and me? Only in a way consistent with
his holiness. That's how he does it. And that's
what she's saying. That's what she's saying. He
who is mighty has done great things for me, given me a perfect
holiness and righteousness and justification and sanctification.
And he did it because Christ gave himself for him by his blood,
by his obedience. And that way God can be holy
and still look on me with grace. And listen to verse 50, and let
me bring this to a close. Verse 50, he says, And his mercy
is on them that fear him from generation to generation. If
there's anybody here this morning that has not been brought to
an understanding of what His mercy is on anyone and everyone
who really fears him, who really believes God, who really believes
Christ, who can bow to his word, who can submit to his word, who
can believe in him and him alone as the Redeemer. That's right. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Can
you believe that? Well, his mercy is on all of
them that fear him from generation to generation. Now, he was saying
that the Lord's grace and mercy is not only to herself, but to
all who truly fear the Lord. Call upon the name of Jehovah.
Believe his word from generation to generation to the end of the
world. Look at verse 51. He hath showed
strength with his arm. What's his arm? Well, to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed? My arm is not short that I cannot
say. It's his mighty arm, it's Christ, the arm of his power,
his salvation. He showed strength with his arm.
Now watch this, though. He will scatter the prod in the
imagination of their hearts. The incarnation, the working
out of salvation for his people by his arm, which is mighty to
save, the world does not understand. The foolishness of their minds
and imaginations, what will they think? What do they say? Well, there's no room for this
poor couple in the inn. They say, is not this the carpenter,
whose father and mother we know? He's a wine-and-dipper. He's
a gluttonous man. That's what they say. Dost thou teach us? He's a friend of sinners. If
thou be the cross, come down from the cross, and we'll believe.
That's the imagination of their hearts, and he'll scatter the
proud in the imagination of their hearts. What's this? He'll put
down the mighty. from their seats, but he'll exalt
them of low degree. He'll fill the hungry with good
things, but the rich he'll send away empty, those who are sufficient
in themselves. He hath helped his servant Israel
in remembrance of his covenant, in remembrance of his mercy and
his covenant, as he spake to our fathers and to Abraham and
to his which is Christ forever. One of the old writers wrote
this hymn, My Father, our hearts we lift up to thy gracious throne,
And thank thee for thy precious gift, the incarnate Son, The
gift unspeakable we thankfully receive, And to this world thy
goodness tell, and for thy glory live. Christ the Lord, the Holy
Child, doth by his birth declare that God and sinners are reconciled,
and one in him we are. Father, thy peace to us Christ
brings, which nevermore shall end. The Lord of hosts, the King
of kings, Ecclesium South.