The Magnificat

Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity you give us each and every day to praise your glorious name. We thank you that on this day, this Sunday, we will come together to worship you that we might be able to praise and honor your glorious name. And we ask that the things we learn today, through the scriptures, that you would teach us what it means to praise our God, that we might live a life pleasing to God. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Turn with me, if you would, in your Bible to Luke chapter 1.

Luke chapter 1. And we're going to talk to you today concerning what it means to praise the Lord. It is the practice of the Christian to praise the Lord. We need to understand how it is we actually go about doing that praise. The Bible says, in 2 Corinthians 5 and 9, that the Apostle Paul had an ambition in life, and that ambition was to please his God.

And if we want to know what it means to please God, we need to understand what it means to praise God, because to praise him is to please him. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 13, verse number 15. Through him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of the lips that give thanks to his name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. If we have in life our ambition to please God, then we will offer up continually a sacrifice of praise to God, because that is how or what pleases him.

The Bible also says, over in Psalm 69, verse number 30, I will praise the name of God with song, and shall magnify him with thanksgiving, and it will please the Lord. God is pleased when we praise his glorious name. Psalm 50, verse number 23, says that whoso offereth praise glorifies me. If we want to magnify the name of God, if we want to glorify God, then we will offer up praise to God. It was John Owen, that great Puritan writer, who said this about praise. He says, by this a Christian excels all the infernal spirits.

Do you talk of God? So can the devil. He brought Scripture to Christ. Do you profess religion? So can the devil. He transforms himself into an angel of light. Do you fast? The devil never eats. Do you believe? The devils have a faith of assent. They believe and tremble. But as Moses worked such a miracle, as none of the magicians could reproduce, so here is the work Christians may be doing, which none of the devils can do, and that is the work of thanksgiving, the work of praise. When we begin to praise our God, we do what an unbeliever cannot do.

We do what the demons cannot do. We bring pleasure to the throne of God. We lift his name up on high. It should be our daily practice, our continual practice, to praise and to honor our God. And in Luke chapter 1, what we have is a young girl who praises her God. And in so doing, we learn what it means for us to praise our God. Let me read it to you, and then we'll make some comments.

Luke chapter 1, verse number 46. And Mary said, my soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For he has had regard for the humble state of his bond slave. For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him. He has done mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel, his servant, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and his offspring forever. What you have in Luke chapter 1, verses 46 to 55, is Mary's exaltation of God. Mary's praise of God's working in her life. And by understanding what it is she does, we can begin to understand how we praise our God continually, and thus learn to please Him continually.

Mary, remember, is very young. She's not very old at all. She's somewhere between the age of 12 and 14. Having known that, it brings these scriptures into even a greater light as to where we should be. For what she knows at a very young age goes way beyond what most of us know in our 30s, 40s, and 50s, who have grown up in the church. Remember, young Jewish girls were betrothed to young Jewish men somewhere between the ages of 12 and 13. The great Master Theologian Jehoiachin Jeremiah says this. He says, The usual age for a girl's betrothal was between 12 and 12 and a half.

Not only was Mary the mother of our Lord, but a model of godliness. It is a reminder to the church to take the teaching of our children seriously. Teenagers must be intelligently challenged. We must invest deeply in the spiritual nurturing and discipling of young people. What he says is of utmost importance. Because when you read through what Mary states in Luke chapter 1, you realize that she has a vast knowledge of the Old Testament. She quotes from the Psalms. She quotes from the prophets. She quotes from the Pentateuch.

She knows her Bible. And most Jewish girls were illiterate. Most of them could not read. So what they learned, they learned by going to the synagogue and having it taught to them, or their parents would teach them. And so here is this young Jewish girl who bursts forth in praise and from her inner being you understand she has a working knowledge of the Old Testament. She also has the working knowledge of the history of Israel. She knows her Bible. She would put most of us to shame because she knows what God has done in the past because she has been well trained.

She has listened. She has believed and she's able to articulate to others the magnitude of her God. Her praise springs from what's on the inside of her. Now you think about that and you think about your children. If you were to ask your 12 year old daughter or your 11 year old daughter or your 13 year old daughter to write a song of praise, what would they say? How would they say it? Ask your young high schooler to give forth a song of praise. What would they write? Would they have a working knowledge of the Old Testament, a working knowledge of the New Testament to be able to articulate what Mary articulates in Luke chapter 1?

Do they know their God as Mary knew her God? You see it brings home to all of us the importance of the training and teaching our children in the ways of God. That somehow they must know their God more than anything else and they must be able to comprehend him in such a way that they can articulate his being. That they can burst forth in praise because of who he is. Mary being somewhere around maybe 12 years of age would be thinking one day, one day I might get married. One day I might have a man to take care of me and maybe one day I'll be able to give birth to children.

I mean after all think about it back in Mary's day what what did they do? I mean women got married, had babies, took care of those babies, and that was just about it. I mean there was there were no extracurricular activities. There were no places to go. I mean they couldn't save up money and go on vacation to Disneyland or or to Disney World. I mean, what are they gonna do? I mean, it's basically just stay home, take care of the farm, take care of what needs to be taken care of, get married, have some kids, grow your kids, they'll get married, they'll have some kids, and you reproduce yourself over and over again.

So here was Mary, she's thinking you know one day I'll get married and one day I'll have some kids. What a wonderful thing this is gonna be. I can't wait to that day. And then one day her mother comes to her and says Mary listen your father and I have decided to betroth you to a young man named Joseph. He's a carpenter here in Nazareth with his father and that's who you're gonna marry. And so now Mary finds out that she's going to be married to this young man named Joseph who's the carpenter. And she's gonna be thinking now, now I know that I'm gonna get married, I wonder how many boys I'll have or how many girls I'll have.

I wonder what my life will be like when all those kids are running around in my house. And then all of a sudden the angel Gabriel appears there in her little town of Nazareth, in her little house. He shows up and says, hey, oh favored one, you've been graced by God and you're going to conceive in your womb the Son of God. You are going to have the Messiah. Now this is overwhelming. I mean she's very young, not very old at all, and trying to comprehend the fact that not only has she been betrothed to this young man, but now she is going to have a child and now this child is going to be conceived supernaturally.

Not the normal way, but a supernatural way. The Holy Spirit will overshadow you and the power of the Most High will come upon you and you will conceive in your womb a child. He will be the Son of the Most High God. Can you imagine what must have been happening? And so what does she do? She begins to, she begins to communicate that truth to her relative Elizabeth. She goes some 80 miles away that she might come face to face with the woman that the angel told her was with child, barren Elizabeth. Maybe in her 80s.

She was up in years and the angel Gabriel said behold, your relative Elizabeth is six months pregnant. And she would go to that little town in Judea and she would knock on the door. Elizabeth would open up and there she'd be all six months pregnant, just bursting forth with baby and Mary would look at Elizabeth and Elizabeth would look at Mary and they would give this greeting and Mary would begin to recite to Elizabeth all that took place when the angel Gabriel came to her and told her what was going to happen.

And John the Baptist would skip in the womb of Elizabeth. It would be the first prophetic announcement that John the Baptist would give about the coming of the Messiah.

And Elizabeth being filled with the Spirit would burst forth in her, her blessed hymn of praise and blessing that would come upon Mary and all those who believed in the Word of God. And Mary while she was there for three months would burst forth in praise in verse number 46 to tell us what exactly was happening and what she was thankful for and how it is she would praise her God. Now listen, this praise that Mary gives is not only an intense praise but it springs from the inside of her soul. She says that my soul exalts the Lord.

It comes from the inside. It comes from what's inside of her already. And so praise must be internal before it's ever external. There are many people who honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. There are many people who will go to a church today and they'll offer praise to God, but their hearts are far from Him. But not with Mary. Because it was her soul that would exalt the Lord. It was something on the inside of her that caused her to burst forth in praise. And that praise was intense.

Because it gave us what was happening inside of her and she would want to be able to spell it out in such a way that others would be able to understand. What God had done, what God was doing, and what God will ultimately do. She was going to praise her God. She says this, my soul exalts or magnifies or makes large my God. How do you make large God? Well, you can't. You can't make Him any bigger than He already is, right? He's already great. He's already huge. He's already the best thing out there.

So how do you enlarge God? You can't enlarge Him, but your thoughts about Him can become enlarged. And the greater your thoughts of Him, the greater you're able to magnify Him. And the greater you are at magnifying the name of God, the better He is seen in your life and through your life. And that's what Mary does. Her soul begins to make God large through her life. So you can actually see God from a large perspective as you examine her praise. And our praise is to honor God in such a way that when people hear it and see it, they are able to see the vastness and the greatness of God.

And that's what we have with Mary in Luke chapter 1. She becomes a person of praise. She becomes the profile of one who believes in God and exalts her God and praises her God. This is the way we need to be. This is what needs to characterize our lives as people of the faith. Let me give you five elements of her praise that will help you understand how you and I are to praise our God.

Number one is this. Her praise was a confirmation of God's purposes. Her praise was a confirmation of God's purposes. She says, my soul exalts the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. She confirms the purposes of God. What she does is help us understand what God was going to do in her and what God was going to do through her. Because of who he is. First of all, she confirms the purposes of God by the fact that God was going to send a Savior.

And that God himself is a Savior. That's God's purposes to save the world, right? That's what he wants to do. That's how he wants to be remembered. Remember way back in Exodus chapter 3, that Tetragrammaton, those four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God, Yahweh? The name that's supposed to be remembered from generation to generation, his memorial name. It is his redemptive name. God is a Redeemer and God wants to be known as a Redeemer of mankind. He is a Deliverer of mankind, the one who delivers you from your bondage.

That's how he wants to be remembered. He is a Savior of the world. Verse 74-10 says that he is the Savior of the world, especially of those who believe. Read the book of Titus. Each in chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, it talks about God being the Savior. And when the angels came and made that pronouncement in Luke chapter 2 to the shepherds there in the shepherd fields in Bethlehem, they said what? Today in the city of David there has been born a Savior who is Christ, the Lord. It's all about the coming of a Savior.

Way back in Isaiah chapter 43, Isaiah chapter 45, God speaks of himself as a Savior. There was no other God besides me and I am a Savior. And he asked the world to turn to him and be saved in Isaiah 45, verse 12. He wants us to understand that he is a Savior and Mary is helping us to understand that God was fulfilling his purposes through her life by sending God the Savior. And not only sending God the Savior, but also for her salvation. It was not only the purpose of the fact that God would send the Savior, but that God would be the Savior of Mary.

I rejoice in God, my Savior. She recognizes the fact that she's a sinner and that she needs to be saved from her sin and that God is her personal Savior. That God will release her from her bondage, that God will save her from her sin. And that's why when Elizabeth said in verse number 45, and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord, she believed in what the Lord God said to her through the angel Gabriel. And because she believed and put her trust in the word of God, she understood the significance of the power of salvation.

You see, Mary was able to come to grips with the fact that there was a Savior that would be born in her. And that Savior would bring salvation to a world steeped in sin. She believed that. And the purposes of God were being confirmed in and through her life. And when Jesus Christ is born in you spiritually, the purposes of God are confirmed in your life as well. It should cause us to burst forth into praise and to exalt the name of our God, to magnify the name of our God. And not only a Savior and not only her salvation, but also her service to God.

She was saved for a purpose. She was saved to praise her God. She was saved to proclaim her God because she was saved to demonstrate the purposes of God. She began to proclaim God when she went first of all to Elizabeth and began to speak to her about what the angel Gabriel had told her and what was happening in her life.

And now she bursts forth in praise because she wants to articulate God to the world. She wants people to know her God. And that's what service is all about, right? Our main service is to praise and honor our God, to glorify his beautiful and glorious name. That's our responsibility. And that's what Mary did. So when you look at her praise, when you look at how she exalts the God, it begins with a confirmation of God's purposes.

When we praise God, we praise him because his purposes have been accomplished in our lives. He is a Savior. He wants to save your soul. And once he saves your soul, he wants you to serve him continually. And that causes us to burst forth in praise because of who he is. Number two, not only was there a confirmation of God's purposes, but there was an affirmation of God's preferences.

An affirmation of God's preferences. It says in verse 48, For he has had regard for the humble state of his bondslave. For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed. There was a affirmation of God's preferences. Two things I want you to notice.

Number one is her awareness. And number two is her amazement. First of all, her awareness states that God has regard for the humble state.

For the humble person. For the one who recognizes his lowliness. For the one who recognizes his unworthiness. For the one who recognizes his sinfulness. He has regard for the humble, not for the arrogant. You see, the number one thing that stands in the way of our praise of God is our pride.

See, our ego will erase any effort to exalt God. And we need to understand that. You see, the prideful are the ones who are not able to understand their God and come to God, but the humble realize their need for God. And so she affirms God's preferences. God has always had a special place for the humble, for the lowly. Listen to Isaiah chapter 57. Isaiah 57 states it this way. Isaiah 57 verse number 15. For thus says the high and exalted one who lives forever, whose name is holy. I dwell in a high and holy place and also with a contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Over in Psalm 34 verse number 18. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Remember in Matthew chapter 5 when Christ preached that very first sermon there on the Sermon of the Mount, that first recorded sermon of our Lord, he said, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

You see she affirmed God's preferences and that is the fact that God saves the lowly. God saves the humble. God saves those who are crushed in spirit. God saves the contrite. The arrogant can't get saved because they believe they are good enough. The humble believe they are no good and they are in need of a good God who can save them. Remember over in Luke chapter 4 when Christ would go back to Nazareth some 30 years from this point in Luke chapter 1 and it says that he came to Nazareth verse number 16 and he had where he had been brought up and as was his custom he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read and the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and he opened the book and found the place where it was written the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set free those who are downtrodden to proclaim the favorable year of our of our Lord. He would close the book. He would sit down and tell the people that this was being fulfilled that day in their eyes. He came to preach the gospel to the poor. As you read on in the story, they become more and more angry with him. They go from an amazement to astonishment to anger. So much so that they they take him outside and they they want to throw him off a cliff because they want nothing to do with him anymore.

Why? Because he didn't come to preach the gospel to the self-righteous but the ones who realized they weren't righteous and they needed a savior and they needed a God and that's why she can actually praise him Because she realizes her unworthiness she realizes her worthlessness and she stands up and says I know that my God has regard for the humble Because she herself is humble That's who God saves That's who God looks to That's what God wants. God resists the proud But he gives grace to the humble From her awareness, we see her amazement and she says what?

For behold from this time on all generations will count me blessed Stand amazed be be surprised at this That every generation from this time forward will call me blessed Why? Because she realized her unworthiness She realized that what God was doing in her she did not deserve She realized that what God was going to accomplish through her was an absolute miracle of the sovereign God of the universe And she was humble enough To believe it and to accept it, but it was a mind-boggling revelation to her You see you must understand that humility is that thread that that that runs through the the nativity scene in luke 1 luke 2 When our lord appeared he appeared to those lowly shepherds on the field, didn't he?

He gave the first announcement to them And when mary and joseph these two obscure people from a little village there in israel called nazareth Were to give birth to the messiah it was all about the lowliness of the christ child It was all about the one who would come in humble abode Because he came to dwell with the lowly with the broken with the downtrodden with those who realized they were in prison And needed to be set free from the bondage of sin and that's Who mary is and that's what causes her to praise because she confirms?

The purposes of god and she affirms the preferences of god You see what keeps us from from praising god is our arrogance and our pride not recognizing that we are we are worthless and that god Counted us Worthy in a sovereign plan to save us from our sin That's a great thing And that's where that's where mary was and so she would stand in amazement as to what god has done We don't stand in amazement as to what god has done because there's a part of us that thinks you know What i'm good for god's kingdom i'm good for god's plans.

I'm good for god's purposes I'm a good man that god can use i'm a good woman that god can use We don't stand in amazement that god would choose us that god would save us And we should Because it's a miracle of almighty god that he chose us From the foundation of the world and when he does guess what? Not only will you be blessed from generation to generation you'll be blessed for all eternity. Let's know what jesus says in matthew chapter 25 Matthew 25 verse number 34 Then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed of my father Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world When you recognize your lowliest state And when you recognize you need a savior and you throw yourself upon god and his mercy and he saves you You will be blessed forever you will be blessed by our father Who is in heaven?

Over in revelation 20 verse number six. It says blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection The first resurrection is the resurrection of all the saved dead The second resurrection is the resurrection of all the unsaved dead They're not blessed But the ones who are born again, they're a part of the first resurrection.

There was a blessing that comes to them It says Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection over these the second death has no power But they will be priests of god and of christ and will reign with him for a thousand years And then beyond that into eternity You see when god is born in you you are blessed for all eternity not only from generation to generation but throughout all of eternity And so her praise begins with a confirmation of god's purposes God has a plan And i'm a part of that plan And god has saved my soul because his purpose in my life was to save me from my sin And then there came an affirmation of god's preferences to understand that god affirms And god saves those who are broken and of a contrite heart The bible says in isaiah 66 that god will not despise that person instead God will save that person because that's who god looks to he looks to those who recognize they have a need He looks to those who are broken in spirit.

He looks to those who know they are sinners He looks to those who recognize they need him he saves them She affirms that And then thirdly her praise involves a declaration of god's perfections A declaration of god's perfections.

Listen to what she says verse 49 For the mighty one has done great things for me And holy is his name and his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him There's a declaration of god's Perfections that is he is mighty He is holy He is mercy He is perfectly mighty He is perfectly holy and he is perfectly merciful Because that's who he is You see mary understood her god She had a firm grasp of the attributes of god She knew about his being she knew about who he was Therefore she could praise him our praise so many times is superficial and shallow because we don't know god But mary knew her god She knew him as mighty She knew him as holy and she knew him as mercy She knew him as the mighty one Now think about this as as and we don't know what's going on in mary's mind But but she's beginning to recognize the fact that that what is born in her is the mighty god.

Isaiah chapter 9 verse number 6 And isaiah 7 14 says that a virgin shall conceive and and bear a child his name will call emmanuel meaning god with us This is the mighty one this is the great one This is the one who can do anything Because he is the mighty god of the universe He is the one Who causes the barren womb? to spring forth into life He is the one who takes that which Is a hard heart and breaks it and makes it a soft and supple heart He is the mighty one He is the one who is the all-powerful one He is the mighty god.

He is the great one and she recognized that She recognized that her god can do the impossible Because only god can do that when you when you burst forth into praise you can begin to declare the perfections of god When you recognize that he is all-powerful that he is the mighty one that he can do anything Now you be honest with yourself For the most part we have a hard time believing that don't we? There are things that we doubt god can accomplish. There are things that we doubt god can do But if he truly is the mighty one and with god all things are possible Then we need to be able to trust him to accomplish the impossible He is the god of the impossible later on luke 18 27 our lord would say that what is impossible with man Is made possible with god Maybe you're looking to to to see salvation come to a loved one in your family and it looks impossible Well folks that's where god makes things possible because he is the god of the impossible.

He is the mighty one He is the mighty god. He is the one that can accomplish what a human cannot accomplish Because he is the great god of the universe He was mighty in conception He was mighty in his revelation. He was mighty in his incarnation. He was mighty in his salvation He was mighty in his crucifixion. He was mighty in his resurrection. He is mighty in his exaltation He is mighty in everything that he does because he is god And see mary believed that the problem with us is that we don't really truly believe that god is all powerful to do the impossible And we need to look at the impossibilities of life and trust him to a mighty one That can do anything And so she would declare the perfections of his mightiness Not only that but of his holiness She says what?

holy Is his name Holy is his name the essence of god is wrapped up in that that that beautiful phrase. He is holy holy holy Our god is so perfect there is no impurity in him He is so pure and so fine and so true That that the the bible declares his holiness And if you read the book of revelation and you read the book of isaiah You realize that the seraphim the cherubim the four living creatures They begin to sing over and over over again of the perfection of god his holiness Because it's all-consuming It's amazing to understand the holiness of god And mary Began to grasp the fact that holy Is his name Remember way back in the book of isaiah Isaiah chapter 43 It says this about our god Thus says the lord your redeemer the holy one of israel Verse number five.

I am excuse me 15. I am the lord your holy one And over in acts chapter 3 verse number 14 peter's second sermon listen to what he says The god of abraham isaac and jacob the god of our fathers has glorified his servant Jesus the one whom you delivered up and disowned in the presence of pilate when he had decided to release him, but you disowned the holy and righteous one See there's only one who's holy And that's god And peter was affirming that jesus was the holy one that jesus was god in the flesh And she says mary in luke chapter 1 holy Is his name He is the sinless one.

He is the spotless one. You see she knew her old testament She knew what the prophet isaiah said about the holiness of god and the the psalm was said over in in psalm 30 verse number 4 and psalm 97 verse number 12 give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name And mary does that She gives thanks At the remembrance of his holy name. She obeys the word of the lord She praises god for who he is because of his mightiness because of his holiness And because of his mercy He is so merciful. She says And his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him she recognized The mercy of god mercy is is god's loving kindness to the miserable To those who have no hope to those who have no future.

He gives hope and a future And she says that mercy is dispersed from generation to generation to those who fear the name of god And so she would praise him for his mercy and that's why over in titus chapter 3 verse number 5 It says these words Or verse 4 but when the kindness of God our savior and his love for mankind appeared. He saved us not on the basis of deeds Which we have done in righteousness But according to his mercy By the washing of regeneration and renewing by the holy spirit whom he poured out upon us richly through jesus christ our savior You see jesus is a savior jesus is the one who bestows mercy upon us because he is the god of mercy And she recognizes him as such And so there's a declaration of god's perfections He is perfect in his in his in his power for he is the mighty god He is perfect in his holiness because holy is his name He is perfect in mercy because his mercy goes from generation to generation Without end because our god is in the process of saving those who are unworthy That's her praise There is a confirmation of god's purposes an affirmation of god's preferences a declaration of god's perfections and then fourthly There is a recitation of god's power A recitation of god's power and she recites for us the history of israel She says he has done Mighty deeds with his arm.

He has declared or scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed He has given help to israel his servant in remembrance Of his mercy He has done these things and she says them in such a way. It's called a prophetic past tense That is she says them as something that has been accomplished not only in the past But is assured of being accomplished in the future as well.

She states them as if they've already been accomplished She's able to look at god who never changes of what he's done in the past And is assured of what he's going to do in the future But she has an understanding of israel's history.

She begins to recite his marvelous works Why? because his works declare his greatness She recites the power of god and how he orchestrates the events of life and how he is sovereign ruler over all things Because she knows the one born in her is the sovereign god of the universe Listen to what she says He has done mighty deeds With his arm He has done mighty deeds with her arm She talks about that from the past as well as the future She knows what god has done if you're with us on wednesday night Or if you're with us in our study of the book of exodus You know about the mighty arm of god The mighty arm of god is used throughout the old testament to describe how god determines the destiny of his people How god delivers his people and how god disciplines his people.

That's the mighty arm of god That's why peter says in first peter five humble yourselves under the mighty hand of god For god resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

It's the it's the hand of god's destiny and she says that her god Has done mighty deeds Because he has a strong arm She remembers pharaoh And how god overcame that belligerent man And how god would humble and break that man You can go back to nebuchadnezzar How he was a proud and arrogant man and god brought him low and god broke him with a mighty arm And you read in the future you begin to realize how god through his mighty arm is going to bring about his sovereign purposes In the book of revelation to bring about his perfect will That's the way god is that's how god functions That's how god acts because he is the mighty god because he is the mighty one.

He does mighty deeds So she begins to recite his works He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart He has brought down rulers from the thrones and has exalted those who were humble She's thinking maybe of belshazzar in daniel chapter 5 Who was a ruler who was brought down because of his arrogance and because of his pride but he exalts the humble He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed Those who are hungry those who have thirst in their soul those who desire the things of god He fills But those who are rich in their own mind those who are self-sufficient He sends them away empty-handed.

Maybe she's thinking of psalm 107 Psalm 107 verse number 9 where it says for he has satisfied the thirsty soul and the hungry soul he has filled with what is Good That's what our god does And you see she begins to recite the works of god She begins to help you understand what he has done. He has done these things. He has scattered He has brought down. He has exalted. He has filled he has helped And that's what he will do when he comes Because he's the ever-changing god of the universe who always accomplishes his perfect plan So she recites his works but she stands in wonder go back to verse number 49 she says For the mighty one has done great things For me What great things has the lord god the mighty one of the universe done for you You see she believes That what god has done He has done for her and he has Ultimately for his glory, but he does in the life of mary He has done great things for me the great one By the way, it says over in verse number 32 that his name or he will be great And the great one who is great has done great things for me And when we begin to praise god we stand in wonder at the greatness He performs in our lives What great things has god done for you Now you might be sitting there thinking well, he hasn't done anything great for me really If he saved your soul He's done the greatest of all things Because he's made you join heirs with christ.

He's made you heirs of his kingdom He's made you a child of his he's adopted you into his family and made you one of his own you see He has done great things for me mary says And we need to be able to stand back and wonder in amazement and say god Thank you for the great things you have done for me. Thank you that you have saved my soul Thank you that you have cleansed me from my sin and not only cleansed me from my sin, but cleansed me from the guilt of my sin Thank you lord that you have provided a place for me in glory Thank you lord that you made me a child in your kingdom.

Thank you lord that you have taken up residence In my life Think about that god takes up residence in your life if you're born again, right? That's a great thing Because now god is able to work in and through you to fulfill his purposes for his glory and for his honor That's where mary is She understands that You see physically physically God is in her right She becomes the spiritual application of how god is in each and every one of us See we forget that god in a womb god in a heart God in a womb supernatural conception god in a heart a supernatural conversion You see god is that work in our life what great things has god done for me Well, god has taken up residence in my life.

That's what god's done for me And god has transformed my life He's delivered me from the from the domain of darkness and delivered me into the kingdom of his dear son That's the great thing that god has done for me And that should cause us to burst forth in praise And to recite the great and marvel marvelous works of a powerful god So mary's praise Is a confirmation of god's purposes Her praise is the affirmation of god's preferences Is the declaration of god's perfections? Is a recitation of god's power?

And lastly is a celebration Of god's promises She says in verse 54 and 55 He has given help to israel his servant in remembrance of his mercy As he spoke to our fathers to abraham and his offspring Forever There's a celebration of god's promises God made a promise to father abraham That in you All the nations of the earth will be blessed And she is able to go all the way back to genesis chapter 12 And remember about her father abraham and the promise that god gave to him that through him would come a seed That would provide a blessing Not only for the nation of israel but for all people And there's a celebration of god's promises promises that number one are universal two unconditional and three unfailing Promises that are universal For to you this day in the city of david has born been born a savior Who is christ?

the lord And that savior that was born it says in luke chapter 2 Verse number 10 Do not be afraid for behold. I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be For all people Not just some people Good news a great joy for everybody Why because for you unto you this day in the city of david has been born a savior It was a universal promise Given to her father abraham way back in genesis 12 as god made a promise that he would bless the nations of the world Through a seed that would come through abraham And that promise was not only universal.

It was unconditional It was unconditional because it comes by grace through faith in jesus christ our lord If there's nothing you have to do in order for you to gain acceptance with god There's no amount of works that you can accomplish that will cause god to say, you know what you are pretty good I think i'll make you a part of my kingdom because it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done It's by the washing of regeneration. It's by the renewing of the spirit of god. It's by grace that we have been saved through faith It's an unfailing promise It's an unfailing promise in remembrance of his mercy Our god is a god of mercy and it's because of his mercies that we are not consumed And mary recognized that And she celebrated the promises of god God made a promise God kept his word and all that is happening in me All that's going to happen through me And she would burst forth into great praise because of what god was going to accomplish in her life And folks that's the way it should be with us We need to burst forth into praise because of what god is accomplishing in us In us so that he can accomplish things through us And folks that should give us an attitude of exaltation That in our soul in our spirit, we should want to magnify the name of god.

Let's pray together Father we thank you for this day. We thank you for the truth of your word We thank you for the mercy that you bestow upon us and we praise Your glorious name and we ask that there not be one soul in this room today Who can't exalt you because they don't know you We pray that all in this room would have a saving knowledge of jesus christ our lord In jesus name. Amen