The Gospel of Luke (4) 10/09/2022

First Baptist Church Leominster

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book in the New Testament. This is Titus, Epistle of Titus, one of the pastoral epistles.

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And so if you'll turn to Titus chapter 1, and Pastor Jason, after reading, will pray for us.

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Titus chapter 1. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which

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God, who never lies, promised before the ages began, and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which

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I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior, to Titus, my true child in a common faith, grace and peace from God the

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Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.

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If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

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For an overseer as God's steward must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick -tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self -controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

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He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

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They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

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One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.

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This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

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To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

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They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

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Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank

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You for this time where we could gather together and worship You. For You, God, are worthy of our worship.

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You're worthy of our praise. You're worthy of exaltation. And we pray,

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Lord, that sincerely we would do this, that in authenticity we would lift up our voices and proclaim

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Your truth. We pray, Lord, that as Lars preaches, that Your word would go out and that it would change each one of us.

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We pray that the Spirit would take this truth from our ears to our hearts, that the Spirit would implant it deep within us, that we would be convicted and that we would change.

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Conform us, Lord, to the image of Your Son. We thank You for Your grace. We thank You for Your mercy.

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We thank You for Your patience. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles to the first chapter of Luke's gospel. And today is the fourth

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Lord's Day that we are giving attention to this book. And today we'll consider

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Mary's visit with Elizabeth. And so here is

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Luke chapter 1, verse 39 through 56. Now, Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste to the city of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted

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Elizabeth. And it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the

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Holy Spirit. And then she spoke out with a loud voice and said,

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Blessed are you among women. Blessed is the fruit of your womb. But why is this granted to me that the mother of my

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Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

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Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the

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Lord. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the

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Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God, my Savior. For he has regarded the lowly state of his maid servant.

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And for behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.

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And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm.

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He scattered the proud and the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

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He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty.

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He has held his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.

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And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her house. The angel

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Gabriel had given Mary a sign. We saw that last week, that Elizabeth in her old age was with child due to the grace of God.

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The sign would show Mary that if God could do this for Elizabeth, then certainly he could and would do for Mary what he had promised.

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That though she was a virgin, she would conceive and bear a child who would be the promised

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Messiah of Israel. And so very shortly after Mary had spoken with Gabriel, the angel, she traveled with haste from Nazareth and Galilee to a city in the hill country of Judah.

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Not identified specifically, but it may have been Hebron. Perhaps a distance of some 80 to 100 miles, a four or five day journey, a trip that Mary would duplicate some nine months later with Joseph coming to Bethlehem, where she would give birth to Jesus.

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So let's consider first Mary greeting Elizabeth upon arriving to her home.

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Here again are verses 39 and 41 through 41. Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste to a city of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted

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Elizabeth. Their meeting with one another would be a special time for both ladies.

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Although they were relatives, which was certainly a basis for friendship, they had more in common with one another that would have knit their hearts together.

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They had a common heritage as Jews, of course. They had a common belief in the hope of Israel for the coming

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Messiah. And both as pious Jews longed for the day when the reproach of Israel, the transgression of Israel would be removed.

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They had a kinship of like experience. Both were pregnant with children. And yet there was much that was distinctive between these two women.

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It would suggest they did not have much in common with one another at all. One had been married for many years.

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The other was not. She was but betrothed to Joseph. One was much older.

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The other was not. Mary was quite young. One was the wife of a priest, a position of social status.

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The other was betrothed to a carpenter, a lowly occupation. One lived in the midst of the religious life of Judah, her husband serving in the temple in Jerusalem.

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And the other lived in far off secular Galilee of the Gentiles, as it was commonly called.

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And so, yes, they had some things in common, but there were many things about these two women which were quite distinguishable from one another.

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They moved in different worlds. And yet we see them coming together and expressing this great joy together.

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Their hearts knit together, for above all else, they both had been the recipients of God's gracious dealings.

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They both anticipated the soon birth of the Messiah in whom they both had shared an interest.

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And this was the true basis of their fellowship. And so, in some ways, they were like we are.

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We enjoy a kinship of experience in having received the grace of God in Christ, making us brothers and sisters in Christ.

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And we too, although representing a variety of cultures, languages, backgrounds, and interests, we have a mutually shared love for Christ and an interest in him.

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And so we come together as did these two and express our mutual praise to God and express our joy in our fellowship with him.

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And as the scriptures say, truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

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And that ought to be the foundation and the nature of our fellowship with one another. I might interject that we reject often the modern ministry models for building churches, that you go into a community and find a common niche, the people of the same age or the same relationship within a community, the same work environment, you build a church appealing to this common denominator among them.

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We do not do that. Our fellowship is in Jesus Christ and him alone, regardless of what kind of background, experience, age, sex, gender, whatever.

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It's in Jesus Christ, we who have repented of sin and believe on him, we have this in common and this is what links our hearts together, or at least it should.

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And so these two met and the two rejoiced together and they each magnified the Lord with their words, first Elizabeth in verses 42 through 45, and then

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Mary, verses 46 through 55. And the record of these women's words, we might receive instruction and encouragement to magnify the

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Lord in a similar manner. But first, let us examine the details of their meeting just prior to their songs.

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And so here again is Luke 139 through 41. Now, Mary arose in those days, went into the hill country with haste to a city of Judah, entered a house of Zacharias and greeted

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Elizabeth. And it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the

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Holy Spirit. So here we see Mary receiving the confirmation of the angel's words.

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She would indeed have a child, although she had not known a man, a virgin birth.

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At their first coming together for the confirmation of the faith of both of them, something occurred that was very extraordinary.

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Although Mary had known that Elizabeth was pregnant, Gabriel had told her so, there's no indication that Elizabeth knew that Mary was pregnant.

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And therefore her knowledge of Mary's expected condition was by a direct revelation to her by the

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Holy Spirit. This itself must have been a great encouragement to Mary.

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Think about it. One can easily envision the quandary that Mary must have had in her traveling from Galilee.

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How am I going to tell, how am I going to inform Elizabeth of my condition, pregnant and yet not having known a man?

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Is she going to believe that? What am I going to say? How do

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I break this news to her? But the Lord took care of this and that he himself informed

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Elizabeth of Mary's condition. Elizabeth was now six months pregnant.

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It had been six months since Gabriel had appeared to Zacharias, Elizabeth's husband, telling him that they would have a child in their old age.

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And the child within the womb of Elizabeth, this elderly woman, leaps within her, a sign of joy being expressed even by this unborn child.

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And then we read that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. These words suggest to us several things.

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First, it signals the fulfillment of prophecy concerning John, the baby, that he'll be filled with the

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Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. Although here it is said it was Elizabeth filled with the

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Holy Spirit, it's implied that her baby was also filled with the Spirit. Secondly, it foreshadows the ministry of John as pointing out

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Christ. John was the Messiah's forerunner. And here, even in his mother's womb, he signals the presence of Christ in the womb of Mary.

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He points to Christ, as it were. Thirdly, it suggests the greatness of this child in Mary's womb, that the mere presence of the expectant mother would produce this kind of response surely must suggest this child will be great, which is an understatement, really.

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And fourth, it was a sign to Elizabeth that Mary was with a child who was the Messiah.

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And fifth, it certainly was a confirming word to Mary. And so, with the awareness of these things,

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Elizabeth herself filled with the Spirit speaks in a prophetic manner. Let's consider

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Elizabeth's inspired reaction to Mary's visit. Verses 42 through 45.

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Upon hearing Mary's greeting, Elizabeth immediately responds with a loud voice. You know it.

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So here are verses 41 through 45. And it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the

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Holy Spirit. And then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

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Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

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Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the

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Lord. And so, upon Elizabeth hearing the greeting of Mary, the baby in the womb of Elizabeth leaped in her womb.

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And at the same time, Elizabeth was inspired by the Holy Spirit to recognize and speak forth her words of praise to Mary.

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There seemed to be an immediacy of this experience of Elizabeth upon the initial greeting of Mary.

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There was no lengthy introduction, no communication of family greetings or family news.

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They were relatives. They probably saw one another, maybe when they'd come up to Jerusalem for an annual feast.

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But the baby immediately leaped. And that the baby leaped in her womb shows that this unborn child, who was to go before and prepare the way for the

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Messiah, was in fact already announcing his arrival. The leaping of this child in his mother's womb betrays the recognition, the excitement, and the joy of this child in the presence of the

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Messiah, who had very recently been conceived in Mary, we should assume, when the

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Holy Spirit had overshadowed her, as we read last week, or two weeks ago.

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And now Elizabeth was six months into her pregnancy, and movement of the baby would not have been unusual in itself, but the timing of it.

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Elizabeth knew instinctively, and no doubt affirmed in her soul by the Holy Spirit, that her unborn son had reacted to the presence of the baby now in the womb of Mary.

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Well, first we read of Elizabeth's pronouncement of blessing. It was with a loud voice,

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Elizabeth exclaimed, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. As one wrote, so as that all in the house might hear, she spake with great vehemency of soul and strength bestowed on Mary the very powerful impression of the

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Spirit of God. God had graciously bestowed on Mary the glorious privilege that was the dream of all

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Jewish women, to be the mother of the Messiah. And Elizabeth rejoiced with her in her blessing.

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Elizabeth congratulated both Mary and her child, blessed are you and blessed is your child.

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And of course Mary's blessedness was due to the blessed nature and person of this child to be born to her.

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The form of Elizabeth's words appears to have a metric cadence to them in the

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Greek. It suggests a Hebrew poem or perhaps even a song. William Hendrickson, the reformed commentator of Luke's gospel wrote, indeed it can be truthfully regarded as a

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Greek reproduction of a Semitic piece of poetry. It was written in Greek, but it reflects

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Hebrew culture and language and thought. The parallelistic structure of the line so characteristic of Hebrew and Aramaic poetry, the balanced form and contents of the neatly arranged clauses.

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Note, for example, blessed are and blessed are and blessed is. Mark them as being indeed a poem or if one prefers a song,

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Elizabeth's song and song here means metrical composition.

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And if this is indeed a poem or a song, it's the first of five poetic pieces in Luke's infancy narrative of Luke one and two.

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They include the song of Elizabeth here, the song of Mary, which is known as the

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Magnificat, which is also in our passage. The prophecy of Zacharias, the father of John the

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Baptist, when his ability to speak was restored to him, the declaration of angels at the birth of Jesus, and then the song of Simeon, speaking about the expansion of the good news to the

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Gentile world as well. Five songs, as it were, in Luke's infancy narrative.

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The state of blessedness is more than just the feeling or a state of happiness.

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Happiness often conveys how a person feels when certain happenings take place.

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But blessedness conveys more than just happy feelings. Blessedness describes the state of a person, one who is in glorious, blessed standing with God.

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Blessed is, blessed is, blessed are. But in addition, there is a heightened idea suggested by these words of Elizabeth depicting

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Mary and her child. Blessed are you among women. It's an Aramaic or Hebrew manner of expressing the superlative.

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In other words, you couldn't express it in a higher or greater degree. The meaning, therefore, is

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Mary among all women on earth. You are the most blessed one. That's conveyed in the language.

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Take note of the humility that Elizabeth exhibits and that her joy was centered in her

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Lord. She said to Mary, but why is this granted to me that the mother of my

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Lord should come to me? Now, Elizabeth herself had been the object of great grace.

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Her reproach among women had been removed, being an older, barren woman now pregnant with a child.

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But her greatest source of joy was in the coming Lord. The coming of Christ is a supreme blessing of all true believers, and it should be the supreme object of our desire.

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Not with the mere good things that may come our way in this life, and there are many of them. We are blessed people.

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Yes, we rejoice greatly in what God is doing and what he freely gives us. But we rejoice supremely in him and who he is.

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As Peter wrote, though you have not seen him, you love him. And though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory.

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And if we were thinking rightly and feeling rightly, that would characterize us daily. Not just on a

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Sunday morning, but throughout the week. This attitude displayed by Elizabeth toward Mary might serve as a good lesson for us.

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Elizabeth rejoiced greatly for the blessing that Mary received from the Lord. So it should be in the church that we should rejoice together when someone other than ourselves receives blessing from God.

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The flesh tends to be jealous of others and envious of one another's greater blessing.

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This should not be. We should be content and rejoice in what God has given us and be content with what he hasn't given us.

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But further, we should rejoice with others when they're blessed of God, whether their person is blessed, their position is enhanced or their possessions are increased.

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We ought to rejoice with them. We should greatly rejoice when

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God manifests his grace to one in our midst. There's no place for jealousy in the church.

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If God blesses one greatly in our midst, then let us rejoice together with him or her. And if God should bless you in what appears to be a less significant manner, then rejoice in that, for it's come from him.

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And it is clear that none of us are deserving of any good thing that comes from his hand. Amen.

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When the last day arrives and the

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Lord comes for us, we're glorified in his presence. There will no longer be within any of the

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Lord's people a spirit of envy or jealousy. This is not because we will all be of the same stature or standing for the

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Lord will reward his disciples in different degrees, depending on their stewardship before him in this world, in this life.

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The Lord Jesus made this quite clear in his teaching. But regardless of the standing and stature the

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Lord conveys on each of us as Christians, when we stand before him, each of us will be wholly satisfied and delighted in what he's bestowed upon us.

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Not feeling worthy of the least of his blessings. And each of us will be fully happy and congratulatory of what others about us receive from the

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Lord, though they may receive from him much higher regard than shown to us. Their degrees of glory in eternity.

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For when we're glorified and each of us receive from the Lord his reward for our stewardship, there'll be no envy or jealousy and we'll rejoice when we see our brother or sister blessed of the

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Lord, even if and when that one is highly exalted above us. Matthew Henry wrote, while we cannot but own that we are more favored of God than we deserve, let us by no means envy that others are more highly favored than we are.

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By the way, I wanted to cite at length the selection from Jonathan Edwards book, classic book, which is a commentary on First Corinthians 13, entitled

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Charity and its Fruits. And the last chapter of his book talks about heaven being an arena of love.

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I forget the exact title, but he recounted how each one of us will be free from envy and jealousy and that when somebody is greatly exalted, we're going to rejoice with that one and that will be free from envy or jealousy.

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And I took a portion of that and put it in the notes on the last page for your reading at a later time.

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I found it quite, quite amazing. Well, Luke concludes the speech of Elizabeth and that she affirmed to Mary that God will fulfill all that he had previously promised her.

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Verse 45 reads, blessed is she who believed for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the

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Lord. Perhaps Elizabeth was speaking favorably of Mary's faith in contrast to her own husband,

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Zacharias. For Zacharias had displayed unbelief with regard to God's promise through Gabriel that his wife would have a child in her old age.

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And of course, as a consequence, Zacharias was struck dumb. He couldn't speak until John was born.

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But here, Elizabeth declares that God would grant blessing to Mary for her unwavering faith, perhaps in contrast to Zacharias' wavering faith.

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John Calvin wrote regarding Elizabeth's word of assurance to Mary, blessed is she who believed for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the

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Lord. These are his words, meaning Mary, a woman, a very young woman, and who had things very incredible to nature and reason told her.

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And yet she believed without objecting thereto or requiring a sign tacitly referring to the unbelief of Zacharias, who was a man, a man in years, a priest by office.

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And yet had been very incredulous in a thing that was much more possible because there had been instances of it before in Sarah, an old woman having a child,

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Hannah, Manoah's wife. Then what was related to the virgin of which there had been none never had been a virgin birth, which to reason in with men was impossible.

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And happy indeed is everyone that has true faith in any degree, for faith is the faith of God's elect.

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We read about that in Titus one and is a fruit and evidence of electing grace, which is the source of all blessings.

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It is the gift of God and the operation of his spirit and can never be lost. And many are the blessings such as believers are the possession of and openly entitled to as a justification of their persons, the remission of their sins, their adoption into the household of God, liberty at the throne of grace and a right to the eternal inheritance.

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They enjoy much solid peace, joy and comfort in their own souls, bring much glory to God and shall be saved in the

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Lord with an everlasting salvation. That is, those people who have faith. Whatever God has spoken to any of his people, whether it be with respect to things temporal, spiritual or eternal, shall be performed as may be strongly concluded from the veracity of God who cannot lie and from his power, who's able to do all things and from his faithfulness, which he will never suffer to fail.

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And from instances and matters of fact, from the experience of the saints in all ages who know and are conscious to themselves that not one of the good things the

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Lord God has spoken to them has ever failed, but that all have come to pass.

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And Elizabeth affirms to Mary that blessed is she who believed for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the

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Lord. That must have been very affirming and reassuring. Well, then we read of Mary's reaction to God's mercy and of God's kindness to her.

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It's a song that Mary expressed when her faith was confirmed to her by the manner that Elizabeth had received her into her home.

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And so Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior, for he's regarded the lowly state of his maidservant.

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For behold, henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed for he was mighty and done great things for me.

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Holy is his name and his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.

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He has shown strength with his arm. He scattered the proud and the imagination of their hearts. He's put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

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He's filled the hungry with good things and the rich. He sent away empty. He helped. He has helped his servant

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Israel and remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.

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And so with this reception and word of confirmation from Elizabeth, which

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Gabriel had foretold to her, Mary is overcome with gratitude. And she expresses this joyful response, which has become known as the

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Magnificat. There is an Old Testament flavor to Mary's song.

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Some have compared it to the song of Miriam after God had brought Israel out of Egypt in the

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Exodus. Miriam gave forth a song. Others prefer to compare

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Mary's song with that of Hannah, who sang to the Lord when God promised her the birth of Samuel.

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Hannah's song began this way. My heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation.

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No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none beside you, nor is there any rock like our

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God. And Mary expressed, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God, my

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Savior. When your heart is comforted, your spirit is elevated, your confidence has been confirmed.

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When the promises of God are made sure to your heart, be sure that praise is returned to God, who's granted you these things.

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As one said, when your own heart is lifted up, then lift up the name of the Lord. Exalt him whenever he exalts you.

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Now, some blessings of the Lord, of course, are intimate and personal, and praise might be best offered before God when alone.

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On other occasions, the blessing of God may be of such a personal nature that only one who's experienced a similar happening can truly relate.

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Mary and Elizabeth certainly had something in common here. Praise to God is offered by the two of them, between the two of them.

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But many of God's blessings are to be expressed openly in the congregation of the redeemed. And so we're encouraged in Scripture, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

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In all wisdom, teaching, admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing grace within your heart to the

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Lord, and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the

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Father through him. That's a corporate activity being described by Paul to the church at Colossae.

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And similarly, public praise is intimated in Ephesians. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the

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Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the

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Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

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Again, that's a corporate activity that's being described there. And here in Luke one, we see

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Mary, who, after hearing the words of Elizabeth, praising God, would not remain silent.

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Mary, too, takes part in offering praise to God. May we be a praise filled and praise offering people before one another.

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Now notice that it was her own personal interest in God's salvation, however, that caused her to have great joy.

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Verse 47. May our Catholic friends take this to heart.

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My spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior. Mary, though blessed of God herself, needed a savior.

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And she rejoiced in that God was her savior from sin. She was not born without sin.

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The doctrine of immaculate conception is false doctrine. She was a sinner and she was rejoicing that her child was going to save her from sin.

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And moreover, I would suggest to her that she knew that this was God incarnate within her womb.

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She rejoiced in God, her savior. She's referring to this child in her womb. She knew of the incarnation.

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This was the son of God that was going to be born to her. Matthew Henry wrote of her statement.

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My spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior. This seems to have reference to the Messiah. In other words, reference to the baby in her womb, whom she was to be the mother of.

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She calls him God, her savior, for the angel had told her he should be the son of the highest.

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And that his name should be Jesus, his savior. This she fastened upon with the application to herself.

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He is God, my savior. Even the mother of our Lord had need of an interest in him as her savior.

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And would have been undone without it. And she glories more in that happiness, which she had in common with all believers, than in being his mother.

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Take note of that. What caused her most joy was not being the mother of this baby, but being saved by this baby.

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Being saved from her sin. And which, of course, being the mother was an honor peculiar to herself.

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And this agrees with the preference Christ had to obedient believers above his mother and brethren. And the

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Lord Jesus himself, we'll see in Luke's gospel, attributes that. You have the first Mary worshiper in a crowd one day.

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Blessed is your mother who gave you her breasts to suckle when you were a baby.

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Jesus said, no, rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and do it. You're more blessed than Mary, the mother of Jesus, if you hear the word of God and you do it.

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And Jesus recognizes that and corrected people when they wanted to worship his mother.

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And so it was her own personal interest in God's salvation that caused her to have great joy. And so Mary was aware that the son she would give birth to is

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God incarnate. Her son was her savior. Only those who have a personal interest in Christ can make this claim openly.

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He's my savior. I have turned from sin by his grace.

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I do trust him alone for the forgiveness of my sin. He's granted me pardon according to his promise. And now

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I, too, rejoice in God, my savior, personal savior.

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We affirm the truth of the words of the hymn. Come, we that love the Lord, let our joys be known. Join in a song of sweet accord and thus surround the throne.

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Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God, but children of the heavenly king may speak their joys abroad.

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And that's what we do. But after having offered an initial word of praise,

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Mary begins to recount specific reasons which were a cause of her giving glory to God.

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And so through these words, it is clear to see that the promises of God of the Old Testament were to see their fulfillment in this child of Mary.

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Again, the whole context is Hebrew in nature, and we see the

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Old Testament being fulfilled. The Jewish hope existing in that day was being realized by the

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Holy Spirit through her words, which gives us instruction and encouragement on how and why and on what basis to magnify our

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God. And so as we work through this magnificat quickly, we see, first of all, that God would deal kindly with her was a marvelous thing.

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And she saw it as a cause for expression of praise. Mary herself was a humble, perhaps poverty -stricken

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Israelite on whose behalf God was working. And she was amazed that God would even do such a thing on her behalf.

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He's regarded the lowly state of his maidservant. For behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed.

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For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And in the same way, if you're a

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Christian, you may know a certainty that God dealt kindly with you to bring you salvation.

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This is a marvelous thing, and it ought to be a cause of your great expression of praise to him.

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Of him and to him. He could have left you alone in your sin. Abandoned to a fate that you had chosen for yourself.

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But he chose to do a great work in you, just as he singled out Mary. So if you know him, he chose you.

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He singled you out and determined that his power would work in you to the salvation of your soul.

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You're saved by grace. And that not of yourselves. He put it in your heart to fear him.

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He put it in your mind and heart to seek him and to know him. Wasn't there before. He poured his grace upon you in an exceeding manner.

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Even when you were dead in trespasses and sins. Bringing his power to bear upon you in order to turn you from sin and to believe on him.

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The same power that God created in Genesis 1. He put to effect in saving you from your sin because you were dead in sins and trespasses.

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The same power that God the Father used to raise Jesus from the dead to life. He used in saving you from your sin.

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Bringing you to salvation in him. That he would do this for you should be a cause of great personal humility.

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For he has regard for your humble state. And surely from this time to eternity if you know him in a saving way.

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You too will be counted as blessed. Well after Mary extolled

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God who is mighty for having been so gracious toward her. Doing great things for her. She said and holy is his name.

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It's like an appendage put onto her statement. It's almost like you've done this in spite of the fact that you're a holy

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God. God is a holy God. He is one who cannot be approached or even seen by anyone who's not holy himself.

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All of mankind is condemned for this reason. God's holy nature judges sin whenever the two come together.

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God himself is described as a consuming fire which consumes his adversaries. And therefore that God would act on behalf of his lowly people.

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Is a manifestation of his great mercy. And his condescension to us. That he's done so consistent with his holy being.

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Is marvelous and awe -inspiring which should elicit from us praise to him.

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That God would do such a thing. That ought to humble us and fill us with a sense of wonder.

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And gratefulness. But secondly we see in verse 50 that God could do something on behalf of his people.

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Is equally marvelous and equally a cause of expression for praise.

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Not just that he would but that he could. Mary identified herself as but one among God's people of all ages.

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Who needed a great and mighty deliverer to do great things on her behalf. His mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.

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That God would save is amazing. That God could save is equally amazing. To save an unholy people.

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Who are quite content to remain in their fallen condition. To put it into their hearts of this unholy people.

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The desire delight to long after holiness. And then to enable them to become regarded as holy.

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And made actually holy as he is holy. Is truly a tremendous feat. Surely the mighty one has done great things for us.

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To repeat what Mary declared in showing us mercy. He's done mighty things in sending his son to be a substitute for sinners.

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The savior himself suffered the wrath and judgment of God. In the place of those justly condemned sinners.

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So that they could be pardoned for their iniquity. And then God raised this same Jesus. From the dead causing him to ascend into heaven.

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And there be coronated to sit on the father's throne. From where he not only pardoned his people but he imparts his life to them.

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Making them holy in fact as well as in position. It's an amazing work of salvation.

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That's been performed on our behalf. And is a basis for great praise to be offered by us.

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Look what God has done with you. As a Christian. Stand back and look at it.

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The other day I was driving somewhere thinking. And I remember the sin of my youth.

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I broke out in a sweat. When I thought about horrors. God you know.

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And he showed mercy. It's amazing what he does.

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It's all of grace. Mercy. And thirdly. God would bring his salvation only on behalf of his people.

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Is also a basis of praise. Mary expresses truth in verses 51 and 52.

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He's shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the imagination of their hearts.

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He's put down the mighty from their thrones. And exalted the lowly. Contrary to much popular theology.

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God is not trying to save every human being that resides on this planet. You'd have to consider him a failure if that were his effort.

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But that's nowhere taught in the Bible. He has set himself against the proud. Mary declared that.

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The self -confident. And he scatters them. He discards them who disregard him.

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And some he removes his enemies. Those who set their rule as independent of his own. He regards them as enemies.

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And he fights against them. Defeating them. This is what God did in the Old Testament times.

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And this is what he's doing today. He's in the process of defeating all of his enemies.

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As well as bringing salvation to his people. God wasn't trying to save Pharaoh of Egypt.

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He raised Pharaoh up. To show forth his power in all the world. By destroying

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Pharaoh. Some are troubled at the thought that God is only saving his people.

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Even as he had purpose to damn justly all others in their sin. They may grudgingly acknowledge this is the teaching of Scripture.

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But they inwardly wish it were not so. But Mary prays this work of God.

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In both saving his people. And in damning his enemies. And later her son

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Jesus Christ. In prayer would express the same joy. In his father's sovereign will.

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In dispensing salvation and damnation. We'll get to it in Luke 10. Someday.

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Then the 70 returned with joy. Saying Lord even the demons are subject to us in your name. He said to them

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I saw Satan. Fall like lightning from heaven. Talking about Satan's inability.

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Being deposed of power. He's no longer able to thwart the furtherance of the kingdom.

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And behold I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions. And over all the power of the enemy.

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And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless don't rejoice in this. That the spirits are subject to you.

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But rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. That should be the basis of our praise.

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But then we read in that hour Jesus rejoiced in the spirit. And said I thank you father.

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Lord of heaven and earth. That you've hidden these things. From the wise and prudent. And you revealed them to babes.

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Even so father. For so it seemed good in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my father.

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No one knows who the son is except the father. And who the father is except the son. And the one to whom the son wills or chooses to reveal him.

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And then he turned to his disciples and said privately. Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see.

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For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see. And have not seen it. To hear what you hear.

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And have not heard it. We ought to rejoice in the fact that God saves.

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According to his mercy sinners. But we all also ought to rejoice in that God justly condemns the rebellious.

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The unbelieving. They're getting what they deserve. We're getting what we don't deserve.

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Mercy and grace from God through Christ. Well back in Luke 1

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Mary declared. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he sent away empty. He's helped his servant

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Israel in remembrance of his mercy. And so God fills the hungry with good things.

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Which is a quotation from Psalm 107 verse 9. He satisfies the longing soul.

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And fills the hungry with goodness. But at the same time he sends away the rich empty handed.

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The idea is that he brings salvation to the humble. The ones who need his salvation and long for it.

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But the proud, the powerful, the rich. Who are quite content with themselves. And live in disregard of him.

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He judges them and removes them from their places of prominence and security.

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He's setting up for the big fall. He's doing this now in history. And he'll do it fully at the coming of Christ.

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We won't read it because of the time. But Paul said the same thing basically to the church at Thessalonica.

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That God saves the humble. But he fights against his enemies. There will be a day when

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God will show himself powerful before all the earth. And on that day the small and great will stand before God.

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And be judged for the deeds done in the body. Whether good or bad. And the result will be a removal of all the defiles and corrupts and oppresses.

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The removal of all who would withstand God and his will. And the fact that God does this and will do it.

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Should be a cause of great praise. Voiced by us his people. This is

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God's world. And not one sin ever committed in history escapes his righteous judgment.

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It's either going to be paid for at the day of judgment and eternity in hell. Or paid for thankfully by us on the cross by Jesus Christ.

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Lastly, that God can be trusted to be true to his word is also a basis of great praise.

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Verses 54 and 55 speaks of God's faithfulness to his promises. Doing so consistent with his holy nature.

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He's helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. As he spoke to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever.

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Yes, God passes by them who do not need him or seek him. But he's faithful to his word which he promised to his people.

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And thankfully God is faithful to his promises of mercy. And what he was now doing through Mary brought confirmation to his faithfulness.

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How we ought to praise him for his faithfulness to his word. And just as he gave help to Israel his servant in sending the deliverer.

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So he'll bless you with his saving delivering power as you put your trust in him. Do so just as Abraham did the father of all those who have saving faith.

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And if you're not currently a believer in him. I pray that he would help you to become so. I hope as well that you would identify yourself with the lowly the helpless.

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And the needy who must receive from him freely salvation which he gives to his people who believe on him.

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And so in conclusion let me urge us to put into practice magnifying the Lord. As Mary did and as Elizabeth did.

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Help us Lord to seek to exalt your name among ourselves lifting you up for all your goodness that you have shown to us.

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For his mercy having shown favor to us. His grace bringing power to bear upon us.

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For his choice of us and for not having passed us by which he could have justly done.

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For his power and judgment for bringing to an end of all that opposes him. And for his faithfulness and he's true to himself.

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All of those aspects of the nature and work of God are conveyed to Mary's magnificat.

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Let us go forth and speak well of his name. Let's point others to him so that they too will see him in his glory.

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Tell others of the great God who has shown to you his kindness. A kindness every bit as good as he showed to Mary even more so.

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She rejoiced in God her savior. We too rejoice in the same savior in the same way in the same degree or at least we should.

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This episode concludes with a simple statement that Mary returned to her home in Nazareth. She stayed with Elizabeth three months perhaps going home after the birth of John.

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Maybe before we don't know. It's not clear. We read simply the words in verse 56.

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Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her house. But she returned to her house of course confirmed in the promises of God.

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In anticipation of her savior whom she was buried.

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Let's pray. Thank you father for your word. And we thank you God for the record of the heart and thoughts of these women.

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We pray that you would help us our God to be filled with great grace and joy. Be filled with the

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Holy Spirit our God. That we would be invigorated with true spiritual life from you.

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And that we would have Lord great desire to tell others of your kindness and mercy that you've shown to us in Christ.

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And we pray again Lord for that one who may be farthest from Christ at this time. That you would not give that soul rest.

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Cause them to look at themselves and their need for a great savior. Jesus Christ alone.

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Don't allow them to rest until they rest in Jesus Christ. In repentance and faith. For we pray these things our father in Jesus name.