Let's turn in our Bibles tonight to Luke's Gospel, and if you're visiting with us, we greet you. We're thankful that you're here tonight, and we get to hear a message tonight from Luke's Gospel, Chapter 1. And in your pew Bible, that will be found on page 1088, Mary's Song of Praise, the Magnificat. We're going to read together verses 46 through 56. Let's hear the word of the Lord tonight. And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me. And holy is his name. and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation he has shown strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty he has helped his servant israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. May the Lord bless tonight the hearing of his words. Well, truly there should be no person more joyful than the Christian. It's sad that that's not always true, but that should be what it is for the Christian. The life of the Christian should be a life of peace and a life of joy because what we celebrate every day is the truth that God has been faithful, that God has been faithful to his promise to send his son to deliver us from all of our sins. We confess that tonight. The greatest news given to a lost and a dying human world and race is emmanuel god with us the announcement that god so loved this world that he gave his son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting light and those who have received the son of god have been brought into marvelous light i've often wondered at this time of year what does the lord when he looks down and sees the celebration of what we call christmas what does he really think have you ever thought about that what does he really think when he looks down have you ever thought about the things that happen at this time of year and and the strange things that that happen at this year i don't know if you have followed uh this happens every single year but if you follow the recent culture wars and what's happening in our country every year the debates over christmas seem to intensify last year uh the big clash was if you remember whether we could run around and say merry christmas remember should we say happy holidays and the secularists rage against merry christmas and they we fight for the right to say or against Merry Christmas. We fight for the right to say Merry Christmas. And Bill O'Reilly loves this time of year, by the way. He makes a lot of money at this time of year. This is his fight. A school teacher in California, I think it was last year, might have been the year before, I can't remember, had a made-it-her-life battle to get a ballot initiative passed that allows for people to sing christmas carols in the public school that was her fight i saw a civil group make an apology for the outrage of so many who wanted to hang christmas ornaments on a tree in public and i don't know if you saw the commercial but in california if you're going to do that should be on a palm tree fighting for ornaments and christmas greetings and spending as christians this time of year this is what we have made our fight i mean do you see this you see this transpire every single year. This has become the fight. In the midst of this, I read another article in USA Today that says this author, you can't really buy the gift of Christmas. And then he said he laments what this day has become. He writes, what does an Xbox 360 have to do with the arrival of a Messiah who modeled selflessness and taught us that a materially rich person faces, who loves his riches faces the longest odds of getting to heaven. How better, he says, to honor the Savior's birth than by cleaning out your wallet. This is an interesting time of year. I sit back from this and I consider these things. What do you see? What would you say in all of this? For Christians at this time of year and for the world at this time of year, what is completely lacking? joy. You ever thought about the very thing that we're supposed to be celebrating? The thing that is most lacking when I hear all of these things going on is joy. I don't see joy. I see the misery amplified more than ever at this time of year. And it's important to say that tonight because we can so easily forget, we can so easily forget what we are celebrating and what we're really communicating to this world. Is it the right to run around and say Merry Christmas? is that our message this is where it's important to see tonight the kind of celebration when we do these kind of things that pleases him that that concerns me i have a lot of interest in that what pleases the lord what kind of celebration pleases him and what does it look like and what does it sound like it's it's a really important question for us to consider tonight because it is a remarkable thing that the lord delights to receive our praise that should be something that we never forget it is an astonishing thing that the lord delights to receive our praise but the kind of praise that he delights is where we're challenged tonight the kind of praise and mary helps us with this she is filled with awe did you notice this her song tonight she's filled with awe. She is filled with wonder. And this single prayer, in this single prayer, we have one of the most beautiful examples in scripture of what it is and what it means to glorify the Lord. We all say this, what is the reason that you exist? Westminster one, what is the reason that you exist? What's the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. And we struggle with that in this life we struggle with what that looks like in this life well i i believe that this song is such a help to remember what it is to glorify the lord and truly enjoy him do you enjoy him the prayer could be broken down i'm going to break it down very simply tonight there's other ways it's broken down but to be very simple the first thing i want to do with this prayer is to demonstrate from the text that how mary describes for us the wonderful things that the lord has done for her. And then it's as if in the middle of that, of the middle of the prayer, she breaks into saying, but this is not just about me. The very truths, the very mercy, the very wonderful things that the Lord has done for me, it can be for you too. This is for all who fear the Lord. This is for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. This is for all of those who walk in his fear. And so that's what I want to do tonight. I want to look at it in that way let me start this way can you imagine can you imagine writing the single song that would describe what thousands of years anticipated can you imagine if you were the one in fulfillment after all of these all of these women who long to see the messiah and long to give birth to the messiah she's the one appointed to give birth to the messiah all of these years that the law and the prophets talked about, all of the anticipation for Jesus, all of the anticipation for the Messiah, what would you say? Where would you begin? If you were given that privilege, do you think you would ask God for something else? This is a beautiful song. Every cry in the Old Testament, every song, every cry of the saint anticipated this. looked for this. It's an amazing moment. Of all things that she could have begun with, where did she begin in verse 46? Look at it. And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. This prayer describes everything that the sincere Christian, the genuine Christian feels and believes who truly knows the Christian gospel. my soul magnifies you'll notice in the in your bibles it said the word magnificat from that latin word from where the song has been given that title magnificat which means that my soul is is greatly declaring my soul is magnifying or esteeming highly the lord it's a beautiful word what moves me about the prayer tonight and the song is how it's bursting out of her heart it's filled with wonder the word affection is probably right it's complete affection and love for the savior and we see this all throughout we see this all throughout the psalms the calls to come let us praise the lord together let us magnify there's something about that word to make large or to exalt the psalms used it oh magnify the lord together with me said the psalms let us exalt his name together if you know further in the use of that word you'll remember that the apostle paul would use this very word when he would say according to the earnest expectation of hope that in nothing shall i be ashamed but with all boldness as always so now also christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death. I have made it the goal that in everything whether I live or I die the magnification of Christ will happen in me. Wow what a beautiful thought to consider. Think of the soul as a kind of microscope if you will that is exalting and the life now exalts as it bursts out of there everything to expose the glory and the goodness of the lord why is she saying this why is she magnifying the lord well remember the angel gabriel had come to her and in verse 28 we read rejoice if you look back um to verse 28 you'll see this and he came to her and said greetings oh favored one the lord is with you but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be and the angel said to her do not be afraid mary for you have found favor with god and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name jesus he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the lord will give to him the throne of his father david and he will reign over the house of jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end i love that mary is pondering remember mary pondered all these things in her heart and she's thinking about these things and she's recognizing how blessed she is that no higher honor could be given that she the eternal son of god who always was would take to himself a human nature he would take on us and that she would be blessed she would be blessed that he would come from the flesh and the blood of mary the marvel of that the mother of the human nature think about this i love the song because in a sense she's representing every cry that ever went up she's blessed to testify for the womb of the church remember this morning after years of affliction and sorrow the joyful response is that god opened up her womb and there was the savior my spirit rejoices in god my savior isn't it remarkable how she says it she didn't say god the savior but notice what she says this is god my savior it's a a possessive kind of pronoun this personal pronoun and notice how she speaks this is this is key to understanding the beauty of this song you really can't begin to know this kind of joy you really can't begin to have this kind of magnification happen until you've known your God to be your Savior. Your Savior. Yours. And here we're beginning to see where true worship comes and where it comes from and where it originates. It's not just that God, we say as we confess in the Apostles' Creed, that God sent forth His Son and that God sent Him, that God sent a Savior into the world. That's a faithful Savior. Christianity is much more than that it's not just saying that it's not just a mere agreement that this Jesus came to die notice what he's saying that this savior has to be taken as my savior and I love that we should never become too stoic as reformed people and we should never become too nervous about speaking this way. It is personal. It is for you. And we shouldn't be afraid to think that way. Calvin says this, until we know him like this, as our savior, you'll never have true joy. We will always be filled with anxiety. I've often thought that is so true. that we go through and how many have real true joy you never truly properly praise god with the kind of affection and sincerity until there is the rejoicing of the soul and the question that we should have here is how do you arrive at this how do you become overwhelmed to the point where this kind of of joyful overflow is bursting out of the heart the life that praises him in the kind way that he delights in that is in sincere and that is in reverence and that is in awe over him well here's where you get to the heart of christianity tonight look at what he she says in verse 48 again think about where would you begin she magnifies him and then what does she do with herself for he's looked on the humble estate of his servant for behold from now on all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. She's telling a story. She's telling a story. You have a story tonight. Rome tells us that God looked upon Mary's greatness and blessed the Virgin Mary to be the mother of God. That's what everyone celebrates in the Roman tradition. Is that what she's saying? Is that what she's saying? To bear the Messiah was one of the greatest privileges that every woman in the Old Testament longed for. Eve looked for it in Genesis 3.15. Remember, I've acquired a man from the Lord. I've got him. And that long history of anticipating this and looking for this, what makes this exaltation so meaningful to her, what overjoyed her is not that god looked upon her as great and then made this decision but the exact opposite notice what she says of him in verse 49 he is holy holy awesome god who is holy gave this privilege to a nobody that's what she's saying to a nobody and not just that what particularly overwhelmed her was that he regarded the lowly estate where would you expect the king of heaven and earth what would you expect from the king of heaven and earth and sending his son what would you expect from an earthly king think about it for a moment here was a woman with absolutely no social status um betrothed here a man betrothed to a wife of a lily uh a lowly little village carpenter poor in the ancient world they had absolutely nothing she was an absolute nobody and this is the one whom god chose that's the whole story that's the whole story of the christian message the christian gospel that she saw herself for who she is and she saw god for who he is holy and i am nothing and the basis of rejoicing is that this god is my savior you understand what we're saying about the son of god that this eternal son of god begotten eternally begotten not made of the same substance this god who is righteous. Think about it. Send his eternally begotten son who is and remains true and eternal God. And he came. Emmanuel, he's my savior. That drove the joy. That is the joy. That's what we celebrate at this time of year. That God didn't respond to her in a way that she deserved but knew she knew that as he looked upon her she was the nobody the sinner who was given everything and you see then in mary we're seeing what salvation looks like that's why i love to study these songs a song that first this beautiful song that is given by mary tells us consider what salvation looks like consider what it really is consider your gospel she becomes representative of the type of humble soul the lowly soul that the lord loves to save she shows us gospel reception in its most beautiful simple form childlike thing and now we're beginning to understand what it is to magnify the lord it's an understanding of joy that so overflows the born again heart that it understands that god would have been perfectly just to condemn us and he didn't do it that we fully agreed with his assessment of us and instead in his sovereign grace and in his sovereign love what did he do we've received love in the place of his wrath that's what you've received is anyone cheerful let him sing songs says James that's not just a theoretical kind of thing that's not just an abstract kind of thing it was Spurgeon who used to say God is magnified in us when our conceptions of him are always growing I've always loved that when our conceptions of him, in what way? What have you seen in Genesis? How patient, how caring, how kind, how giving, how beneficent. By the way, it wasn't a hundred pieces this morning, it was a thousand. Did you catch that? That means that Abraham got back from the Lord the price of what? How many brides is that? 20. I hope my math is right. And what had Abraham been like to him, boys and girls? Abraham was not nice to the Lord, was he? Abraham constantly did his own thing. And Abraham provoked. And all we've seen in Genesis, all we continue to see is not. And what's our mindset with the Lord? Our mindset with the Lord is, I screw up. He's ready to toast. and that's not it i screw up and he's ready to bless and the more you begin to understand this i i don't think that's quickly grasped there's a reason there's story after story after story in the old testament demonstrating this to us when you just begin to taste this and you see and then you begin to know it and now i'm focusing on you when you begin to know it a magnification of the lord and the overflow of praise naturally happens i'm not going to stand up here and say you should just start praising the lord more because i know our hearts it's when you're taken by that kind of love that you've been studying it's psalm 103 have you ever just read psalm 103 and really pondered it the lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love he does not always chide nor will he keep his anger forever he does not deal with us according to our sins boy have we learned that in genesis nor repay us according to our iniquities for as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his steadfast love towards those who what fear him i'll come back to that as far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our transgressions from us as a father shows compassion to his children so the lord shows compassion to those who fear him for he knows our frame and he remembers that we are dust he knows he looks at you he knows what's going on he considers it and instead of pouring out wrath he pours out love. So then there's this giant contrast that comes out in the scriptures showing us two very different types of people. There's the regenerate born again Christian and then there's the person who's dead. And how do you know? The question that this kind of song should provoke us to ask tonight is this. What do you think of yourself? And what do you think of the Lord? If you can answer that in the way the scripture answers that, that's every evidence of a born again life. How did Mary think of herself? What did Mary think of herself? She didn't run around saying how good she was. Those who, what is the one thing that those at this time of year, when you have concern for people who are running from the Lord and who have not loved Him and who have turned? What is the one thing that they cannot hear about themselves? That they're a mess. That they're sinners. And they refuse to accept that anything's really wrong with their life. And they view God as intruding upon their life. That God would actually punish sin. They think that's a terrible kind of thing. Look at the hardness of heart that develops in those who don't have joy. Here's the greatest, saddest, tragic irony of the whole thing. There's no happiness in them. They're not happy people. And yet they think their lives are fine. Or at least they've convinced them that this is so. And they scoff at the idea that this God will judge. What's Mary saying tonight in the song? Let me tell you what he has done for me. He has regarded this lowly village carpenter's betrothed wife, a lowly woman, and he's my Savior. What a beautiful song, isn't it? God considered me a nobody and has raised me up to bear the Messiah, and I will be called blessed. Let me tell you tonight, says Mary, the wonderful things that God has done for me. That's her song. That's her testimony. Now, why is this so beautiful? Well, she says, my life proves it. But this song is not written just for her. What I love about this song is that she is telling this story for all the saints. And notice what she does then in verse 50. Look at verse 50. And this mercy that I've just described to you, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation he has shown strength with his arm he's scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts he's brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate he's filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty can you imagine if somebody walked up to mary and said wow you're a co-redemptive with jesus can you imagine what she would say that's what rome said she would say you haven't read my song you've read my song all wrong i'm the chief of sinners this is the key point of sanctification is that when you're going forward in life the one thing that's happening to you is you see you agree you know what you're capable of and you say with paul i am the chief of sinners paul didn't say i was the chief of sinners paul said i am the chief of sinners and mary's saying i'm blessed to exemplify what is true of everyone who fears the lord because if you think differently of me you've missed the whole gospel story god always demonstrated this mercy you realize that all the saints that ever existed throughout history from generation to un from generation a generation a generation all of his saints knew an unbreakable chain of his mercy no one ever got it neglected not one remember the genealogy who sits in that genealogy isn't this encouraging tonight to those whose hearts and minds are open to understand and enlightened to see who they are and enlightened to see who the lord is in sincerity of heart the testimony of your life is he has always proved faithful he has always been merciful this is what I've known and it's not just over there for them it's not just for them it's for me I've known it and he demonstrated it from the beginning when little Hannah cried out that little Hannah cried out and for a baby the Lord opened her womb he considered little Hannah and he considered Ruth the Moabites he remembered Jacob who was a thug he has shown strength with his arm he scattered the proud in the imagination every israelite would have known when arms see this is a string of old testament quotes everyone would have known exactly what he uh mary was talking about that very strong arm picked up a little nation in the earth that was nothing and was in bondage and completely plundered the most powerful nation of the earth and he yanked them out of there in mercy and gave them the land and fed them and loved them and nurtured them and cared for them and fulfilled his word as i look at the song tonight listen to the parallel of psalm 91 it may not be immediately evident to you but just listen to this he who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and a buckler. You will not fear the terror of night nor the arrow that flies by day nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness nor the destruction that wastes noonday. Did you catch the pronoun shift? I have made the Lord my refuge. He's my rock. He's my God. And guess what? He'll do that for you too. This becomes a grand sort of song to join in on the joy, to join in on the praise. But this is only for those who fear him. I've always struggled with that. Have you ever asked the question, what does it mean to fear God? And I've struggled because everyone comes back, well, it doesn't mean to be scared of him. It means to have some kind of holy reverence and awe. And I think that's absolutely right. It's to have holy awe over him. It is to have reverence of him. But that's not apprehended by a mere definition. You see, the fear of the Lord is an understanding and a maturity and a gift that God has given and blessed you with to see as Mary sees. To see things from God's perspective. To see that I am a sinner and that He is a glorious Savior, but that He is holy. And that my life, being delivered out of the bondage that I chose, has been set apart to Him. And that I belong to Him. And that now the life that I live, I am living to magnify Him in my being, whether by life or by death. That's the kind of awe, the kind of amazement, the kind of joy that bursts out in the life that we can equate with the fear of the Lord. Because I know the wonderful things that He has done for me. She concludes in verse 54. Who's mentioned at the end of her song? abraham in remembrance of his mercy that he spoke to his fathers to abraham and his seed forever remember when god cut that covenant and abraham was sleeping and god said i'll fulfill it and this is going to be for you and all of your children abraham a multitude that no man can number and tonight we sit in fulfillment that's what we celebrate he fulfilled his word he did what he said and tonight we're full i know many of you are visiting for the christmas program but i hope ultimately you're here for this because it's the message tonight and now we're going to hear our little ones burst out in the heart little ones you should sing bursting out in the heart of praise to your god think about what he has done and remember that in mary's song two types of people are set before us the proud who go on in the imagination of their own hearts and they don't really need the lord they're fine with their own model lives and they will go on in life and they'll never really listen to what the lord is saying but then there's the humble kind of soul who will hear it and be converted and be saved from the wrath to come and i pray that's everyone here tonight her song is your song because god is your savior too and tonight you should be filled with joy now you can hear the psalm who says in psalm 34 i will bless the lord at all times his praise shall be continually in my mouth my soul makes its boast in the lord let the humble hear and be glad Oh, magnify the Lord together with me and let us exalt His name together. Let's pray. Oh, Lord, our God, we magnify You. You have blessed us and done wonderful things, filling our hearts with joy for this Jesus who came forth in the fullness of time is God, our Savior. And I pray tonight, Lord, for everyone here that that would be so, that they would be able to say this and that it would ever be enlarging in their life as they understand your wondrous ways and that praise would fill our hearts and burst out as we acknowledge you and sing psalms to you and praise you in the depths of our being. May we all fear you with the kind of holy awe and reverence that is deserved by your glorious name. We praise you tonight and receive our thanksgiving. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.