Mary's Song - Luke 1:49-56

It's good as a reminder every once in a while

to think about worship, to think about expository

preaching, to think about church, why we gather,

why we come together, what the purpose of it

is. Some weeks are more difficult than others

to get to the Lord's Day. Aren't they, brothers

and sisters? Some weeks it's more difficult to

get to the house of God and to praise His holy

name. Especially, it seems like Saturday evenings.

And Saturdays, in general, it's hard to get to

Sunday to worship the Lord. But brothers and

sisters, when the Lord's day arrives, when the

worship of God comes upon us, It is good for

us. It is good for your soul. It is good for

your heart to worship God. God does more in your

heart, in your mind, in your soul, during this

day, during this time, than any other day of

the week, brothers and sisters. More than any

other hour that you enjoy. He uses this time

for your good as a believer in Jesus Christ.

He uses this time for the edification, the strengthening,

the encouragement, the sanctification of his

people. Always remind yourself, never get in

a rut. Always remind yourself it is good for

you to worship. with the people of God. I realized

that today. I was thinking and praying and thanking

God. How blessed I am to be a part of this body.

How blessed I am to have fellow pastors who are

godly and humble and love one another. How blessed

I am to bring the Word of God to a congregation

and a membership. who eagerly seeks after God.

Brothers and sisters, that's of grace. All of

this is of God. It's good for us to be here at

this time. Don't forget that, brothers and sisters.

Today we're going to pick up in Mary's song of

praise to God. We're going to consider three

different things. We're going to consider Mary's

praise to God for his mercy towards her personally.

We're going to consider Mary's praise to God

for his character and the nature of his works

in the world and among his people. And we're

going to see Mary's praise to God for his faithfulness.

to fulfill all his promises to his people. So

in considering Mary's praise to God first, for

the mercy of God toward her personally, we read

in verse 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. Notice

in this that Mary's making this very personal,

brothers and sisters. It's my Savior, my soul,

my God. He has done great things for me. me.

Mary is making this very, very personal, this

praise, this magnifying of God. Consider the

nature of her praise and her rejoicing. When

she says, My soul exalts the Lord, and her spirit

rejoices in God my Savior. She's saying that

her heart is magnifying Her heart is enlarged

to God. Now we know that God can't get bigger.

And we know that God can't get smaller. God is

immutable. He's unchanging. He doesn't change,

brothers and sisters. He is infinite and sovereign

and powerful. He needs nothing from anyone. He

is perfect in and of himself. He doesn't change.

But we as his people do change. Our hearts have

ebbs and flows. They have ups and they have downs.

They are warm sometimes and they're cold other

times. They're warmer sometimes and they're colder

other times. We're dry at times in our spirituality,

in our longing for Christ, and other times we

feel as though there's a deep longing and thirst

for the things of God within us. Why is that?

It's because of the defilement of our flesh and

the corruption that is within us. It's that which

is in us that makes us change. It is not God

that changes or fluctuates. It is our hearts

as they're influenced by our corruption as sinful

men and women, brothers and sisters. That's why

we view God as big sometimes, and that's why

we view God as little sometimes. Because of the

sinfulness of our own hearts. Mary is not. changing

or manipulating God in some way. Her heart is

enlarged and her heart is magnifying God in Christ

for the work that He has done. It involves her

affections, her heart, her longings, her feelings,

her emotions, brothers and sisters. This is whole...

Binged worship and praise on Mary's behalf. What

is she responding to and why is she worshiping

in this situation? Well, notice in verse 56 of

this text, and Mary stayed with her about three

months and then returned to her home. So this

is still taking place at Elizabeth's home. If

you remember last week, we considered and we

saw Elizabeth. praise in her prophetic speech

to Mary to confirm and encourage her in the Lord.

If you remember some of the things that Elizabeth

said to Mary, they're very, very incredible.

They're very, very wonderful things that she

said. She said, blessed are you among women and

blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how has

it happened to me that the mother of my Lord

would come to me. That's a remarkable statement.

The mother of my Lord. The reality that Mary

was bearing in her womb. The son of God that

took on flesh and dwelt among us. That's an incredible

truth that is given and experienced by Mary,

brothers and sisters. And it's being confirmed

prophetically by the Spirit of God through Elizabeth.

This praise that Mary is giving, this praise

to God, is her response to these grand realities

of the gospel and redemption that God has faithfully

brought about in her own life. It's a response

to the reality that the child in her womb Is

the son of God. It's a response to the reality.

That the child in her womb. Is God incarnate.

That's taken on. A human nature. She's responding.

To the works of God. And to the revelation that

comes through. Elizabeth. And what does it do?

These truths. Affect. Her heart and her mind

and her will and her mouth. These truths stir

up her affections. These truths stir up her longings

for grace. They stir up her longings to worship

and praise God. It's as though it's bubbling

up within her and she can't hold it in. Because

of... the realities of grace and the gospel that

God has accomplished in her life. She has to

worship God as a result of this. The Spirit of

God and His movements and His influence and His

motions and her soul are compelling her to praise

the living God. Everything we see about Mary

here is the complete opposite. of obligation

and duty -bound worship that's completely devoid

of emotions, of affections, of longings, and

of feelings. There's nothing here about duty

with regards to Mary. She can't help but praise

God. She wants to worship God. Yes, she is obligated

as a creature, as a redeemed sinner, doubly to

worship and praise God. But brothers and sisters,

this is something purer and more sincere than

worship out of duty and worship out of obligation.

This is worship from the heart as it is moved

by truth. As it is moved. By the work of God

in the gospel. What is the object, the center,

and the focal point of Mary's praise, of Mary's

worship in this, brothers and sisters? What does

she say? My soul exalts the Lord. Rejoiced in

God my Savior. The Lord. is the object, the focus,

and the center of her worship, of her praise.

It's in him and who he is. And as we'll see,

what he has done and what he is going to do.

I don't think it's a coincidence that we see

that her soul is exalting in the Lord. And we

just saw Elizabeth say, And how has it happened

to me that the mother of my Lord would come to

me? In some way, the reference that Mary is making

has to do with the child in her womb. In some

way, she is referring to Christ in the flesh

that she is bearing as a mother. She's referring

to God, her Savior, as he's seen and known throughout

the nation of Israel and redemptive history.

But brothers and sisters, she must be referring

to God in the womb as we see it in this text

as well. She's coming. And she's worshiping God.

But listen, brothers and sisters. She's worshiping

God in her womb. That's taken on flesh. That's

dwelt among men. She's worshiping Christ, who

is the strength, the refuge, the shield, the

arm of the Lord that comes to rescue his people.

She's worshiping God, her Savior. that she will

bear in the flesh as the Son of God. So the object

is God and not herself. When we think about this

whole song of praise, it's very, very much like

a psalm. It's basically a New Testament psalm,

just like the Old Testament psalms and many other

songs throughout redemptive history. We could

think of Miriam. After the Exodus, if you recall,

Moses sings a song and all the sons of Israel

come and sing a song. It's very similar to this.

And then directly after that, Miriam, Aaron's

sister, takes up her instrument. I don't quite

remember which one. She takes up her instrument

and she goes out dancing, leading other women.

And they're asking her and she responds. And

her response is almost identical. to what we

see here in Mary. We could think of Hannah's

song in 1 Samuel chapter 1. Do you remember the

1 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

gracious work of God in Hannah's life and giving

her a child and opening her womb? This great

and mighty deed that God had done for Hannah

and to bring Samuel into the world. Do you remember

what Hannah does? She sings a beautiful, wonderful

song just like the one we have. Mary is rejoicing

in God who has worked a great thing on her behalf

and on behalf of all God's people. She's praising

God for the fulfillment and the realization and

the reality that the Messiah has actually taken

on flesh and dwelt among us. That God has broken

into history and come among men to deliver them

from their sins, brothers and sisters. This is

a song of praise for the victory that God has

accomplished in and through Jesus Christ, the

Messiah that is sent for God's people. That's

what Mary's doing, brothers and sisters. She's

praising God for his work in her life. So what

is the cause of this? What is the cause? That

invokes her to worship in such a way. Well, it's

her lowly estate. And God's regard for her in

that lowly estate. But it's also the fact that

she is reckoned or she's counted as blessed because

of God's grace in her life. Because God has regarded

her in such a way. She will be called blessed

for many, many generations. The reality that

we're talking about Mary, that we read about

Mary in the scriptures. Brothers and sisters,

we are counting her. We are calling her. We are

reckoning her as blessed of God for how he used

her in the story of redemption. But it's also

the fact that the mighty one has done great things

for us. God has exerted his divine, sovereign,

and miraculous power in the life of Mary to bring

about the birth of the Messiah, the virgin birth.

He's done great and mighty things for her. She

has great reason to rejoice in the Lord. and

to sing praises to him. Mary is doing this herself.

She's experiencing this. She's wrestling through

these things by herself in her own person. It's

a personal thing. It's something she deals with

in her heart, in her mind. It's not something

that other people can take on and deal with for

her. She is praising God. She is magnifying the

Lord. She is rejoicing in God, her Savior. Nobody

can rejoice for her. Nobody can magnify the Lord

on her behalf. It's something that she individually

and personally is doing as one who with faith,

who believes in the God who redeems. Brothers

and sisters, Christianity will always have a

corporate nature to it. Always. And we'll see

that a bit later. Christianity is not purely

an individual, personal, and privatized religion.

It is corporate. That is why we are here, corporately,

as the people of God. That is why we are gathered

as a group. That's why we have multiple songs

and multiple voices that sing those songs as

a people, as a congregation, as a fellowship,

as a local manifestation of the church. It's

corporate, but listen, brothers and sisters.

Christianity will always be a personal religion

as well. Christianity has to do with your soul.

The gospel has to do with your sin. The gospel

has to do with Christ redeeming you by his blood.

The gospel has to do with your never dying, immortal

soul that God created. The gospel has to do with

your faith. And your destiny, whether it's heaven

or hell, whether it's enjoyment of God for all

eternity, or whether it be damnation and suffering

and humiliation after judgment, that has to do

with you as an individual. But brothers and sisters,

worship and praise to God is personal as well.

If we are a part of the Christian religion and

if we claim to be professing believers in Jesus

Christ, we do have an obligation and a duty.

But listen, a great privilege to worship the

one true living God. That means that it requires

your voice be lifted to heaven in praise. That

means it requires your participation in the means

of grace. That means that it requires your ears

to hear the word of God. Not everybody else's,

yours. So when we gather, we gather as a group.

But listen, when we gather, it must be you coming

and worshiping the living God, not everybody

else. Christianity is always corporate. But listen,

brothers and sisters, it is always personal.

It's always intimate. It always has to do with

your heart and your soul and your mind and your

longings and your relationship and your fellowship

and your communion with the living God. It always

has to do with the fact that you walk before

the sight of God. It always has to do with the

fact that you live before your maker. That he

knows you personally. Christ said in John chapter

John 10 · chapter mention

10 that he calls his sheep by their name. He

knows them individually. He knows us personally.

And it is our duty and our obligation and our

great privilege to walk with him personally in

this world, in this life, before his face. We

also see Mary's praise to God for his character

and the nature of his dealings with men. When

we think about this, I think it's important to

recognize that Mary's, the basis for Mary's joy,

the basis for her praise, and the basis for her

magnification of God is not simply rooted in

God's work in her life alone. We also see that

it's rooted and God's treatment of others, and

God's character, and the way that God works.

It's not purely based on her own life. It's based,

it's rooted, it's grounded, it's connected to

the very character of God and how God works in

the world, in the lives of men in providence,

but also, brothers and sisters, in the life.

Of his people. Throughout history. And in the

ages to come. So we see. That Mary. Finds cause

to rejoice. In the character of God. Who he is.

And what. He has done. We read in verse 49. And

holy. Is his name. We read in verse 50, His mercy

is upon generation after generation. We read

again in verse 55, His mercy. We read of His

power and His sovereignty when Mary speaks of

His arm. She says in verse 51, He has done mighty

deeds with His arm. We look at the very first

part of verse 49. The mighty one. She looks to

the character of God. She knows the character

of God. And the character of God is a source

of joy and praise for her. She looks at who he

is. And she knows that his treatment of her.

is not rooted and anchored to who she is, but

God's treatment of Mary is rooted and grounded

and anchored to who the Lord is, who God is,

the fact that he is merciful, the fact that he

is faithful, mercy and compassion and love for

his people from age to age. Faithful mercy, which

transcends generation to generation. That means

that even after we die, brothers and sisters,

the faithful love of God endures. It continues

in our lives as those who fear him, but also,

brothers and sisters, in the life of all those

who will come in the... future generations that

fear him and that know him by faith, that walk

and live a holy life before his sight, those

who have experienced and known and enjoyed his

grace. She knows that God is holy, that he's

righteous, which essentially is telling us that

God is perfectly just in everything he does and

all that he is. That he's completely separate,

distinct, and transcendent of sin and transgression

and wickedness. So everything he does, he does

in holiness. Everything he does, he does in righteousness.

That means that all his ways, all his deeds,

all his works. are carried out with perfect justice.

They are carried out with perfect righteousness

in this world. Does it stir you up to praise

and joy in your heart knowing that God's treatment

of you in Christ Is not based on your character.

Based on your life. But it is based wholly and

completely. On his mercy. His grace. His holiness.

And the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Does that

stir you up brothers and sisters? How does that

affect the way you live? Knowing. That you don't

walk in a performance -based righteousness, but

that you walk on the foundation of grace in your

life. How does that affect your affections? Or

have you fallen into erroneous thinking and given

in to the misconception that God treats you in

accordance with how you, That God treats you

in accordance with your character, with your

obedience or your disobedience, with your righteousness

or your unrighteousness. That's false thinking,

brothers and sisters. And listen, there is absolutely

no joy and there is no praise that will come

as a result of that. Works based righteousness.

Self righteousness. Obedience to the law. Listen.

Does not lead to joy. Hope. And thanksgiving.

It leads to despair. And hopelessness. And depression.

But listen. His. Treatment of you in Christ is

based wholly and completely on the life, the

person, and the work of Jesus Christ and who

he is and what he has accomplished. That is cause.

That is reason for rejoicing and praise. Amen?

That is cause for praise to God. That should

stir our hearts. That should warm our souls.

We should be able to hear and meditate and dwell

on those truths, and like we're standing by a

fire, it should slowly and gradually de -thaw

our hearts, our minds, and affections. It should

warm us to worship. It should invoke praise to

the living God who has accomplished these grand

realities on behalf of undeserving sinners who

could do nothing to obtain these things. There

is joy in knowing the character of God, brothers

and sisters. There is joy in knowing who He is

and what He is like. There is joy in understanding

His separation from sin. There is joy in knowing

the righteousness of Christ. There is joy in

knowing the nature of the Gospel and what God

has accomplished in His grace and His mercy.

That is the source of hope and happiness and

joy and contentment and peace in the life of

God's people. Mary knows this, brothers and sisters.

And she's teaching us. To look to the free and

sovereign grace of God for our joy. To look to

God himself and his character and who he is and

what he's done. She finds cause to rejoice in

the character of God himself. But she also finds

cause to rejoice and praise in the nature of

God's dealings. With men. We read in verses 51

through 53. He has done mighty deeds with his

arm. He has scattered those who are proud in

the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down

rulers from their thrones. And he has exalted

those who are humble. He has filled the hungry

with good things. and sent away the rich empty

-handed. We see in this text that she finds joy

and praise in how God works in the world, generally

speaking, but also in how God works in the life

of his people, in particular with regards to

the gospel. In providence, when we consider the

nature of God and how he works in the world,

we have to conclude, and the Bible is clear,

that God has contempt for the proud, the arrogant,

and the self -righteous. That he lowers them,

That he disciplines them. That he sends judgments

upon them in this world. And normally speaking,

and in this text, the proud and the haughty and

the arrogant would be the enemies of God and

unbelieving men. Those who don't know God. And

the humble and those in need. And those that

would be exalted would be the people of God,

those who fear the Lord and have tasted of His

mercy. But we must come to the conclusion. It's

clear throughout Scripture that the living God,

who is holy and merciful, has contempt for righteous

men, for unrighteous men. And that he honors

and exalts humble people. Therefore, the arrogant

and the prideful and the haughty are brought

low by the sovereign God. And the humble and

the meek and the lowly are brought high by the

sovereign God. We see this. play itself out throughout

the scriptures, don't we, brothers and sisters?

Think about the Bible. And think about many of

the examples we see. What's one of the first

ones that comes to your mind, thinking early

in the first 10 or 11 chapters of Genesis? The

Tower of Babel. Men exalted themselves, and they

sought out heaven for themselves. They sought

out deity for themselves. And what does God do?

He humbles them and He scatters them abroad.

He disperses them among the nations. Think about

the history of the nation of Israel and the kings

and the rulers. Think about the nations that

Israel interacted with throughout the Old Covenant.

Think about Egypt and Assyria and Babylon, the

Ammonites. Think about all these different nations.

What do we see time after time after time with

the kings? When they exalt themselves and their

pride and the arrogance of their heart, what

does God do? He humbles them, either by the word

of the prophet or by his difficult and hard providences

in their lives. And what happens when those kings

humble themselves and lower themselves? What

does God do? He honors them. He blesses them.

He exalts them in the eyes of the nations. He

blesses the nation on behalf of those men on

behalf of that king. He exalts them, brothers

and sisters. What happened to Nebuchadnezzar.

He thought he was a big deal. It was getting

to his head. His head was puffing up. He thought

he was somebody. And what does the sovereign

God of heaven do? He makes him to be a wild beast.

To crawl around on the grass like an animal eating

herbs. Until what? Until Nebuchadnezzar humbles

himself. And then God raises him up. We see this

pattern throughout the history of the world.

We see this pattern in providence, and it still

happens in our world today, brothers and sisters.

We live for a very short time span. Which means

we only see so much. We are finite. We only see

and understand and grasp so many things. We only

recognize so many things taking place in the

world or around the world. But listen. God is

eternal. Age to age. Generation to generation.

And what is God doing in his holiness and in

his mercy with perfect justice and righteousness?

He's raising men up. And he's bringing men down.

Mary recognizes that this is the character of

God and this is how this God works throughout

history. That his hand is favorably disposed

toward the humble. His hand is favorably disposed

towards the lowly, the meek, those who are humble

and gentle. She recognizes this. in the nature

of the world and providence and how God works

in the world. But brothers and sisters, the same

thing is true. In particular, with regards to

the gospel and redemption, is it not? Let's read

a couple different texts just to consider this.

The gospel operates in the same exact manner.

The same exact way. That God lowers the prideful.

And he exalts the humble. We read in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

Chapter 1. Verse 18. For the word of the cross

is foolishness to those who are perishing. But

to us who are being saved, it is the power of

God. You see this paradigm that's already starting

in this text. Foolishness and power of God. Opposite

ends of the spectrum. Two very different things.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom

of the wise and the cleverness of the clever.

I will set aside. Where is the wise man? Where

is the scribe? Where is the debater of the sage?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since the wisdom of God, for since in the

wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did

not come to know God, God was well pleased to

the foolishness of the message preached to save

those who believe. For indeed, Jews ask for signs

and Greeks search for wisdom. But we preach Christ

crucified. To Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles

foolishness. But to those who are called, both

Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and

the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of

God is wiser than men and the weakness of God

is stronger than men. For consider your calling,

brethren. That there were not many wise according

to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

But God has chosen the foolish things of the

world to shame the wise. And God has chosen the

weak things of the world to shame the things

which are strong. And the base things of the

world and the despised, God has chosen the things

that are not. so that he may nullify the things

that are, so that no man may boast before God,

but by his doing you are in Christ Jesus, who

became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness

and sanctification and redemption, so that, just

as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in

the Lord. Brothers and sisters, the gospel does

not operate according... to the convention, the

structure, and the design of the world. When

we consider honor and humiliation, lowliness

and exaltedness, when we consider power and wisdom,

the world will say it is a certain thing. The

world will say this is what power looks like.

This is what wisdom looks like. But that is not.

how God defines and determines those realities

to be. In the Gospel, the power of God was a

man that bled and died and was humiliated on

the cross. The wisdom of God was to send His

Son into the world to humiliate Himself, to humble

Himself, to take on the form of a servant, a

slave, and to suffer and die on the cross, brothers

and sisters. The wisdom of God sent Christ into

the humiliation of his earthly ministry. But

the wisdom of God also leads to the exaltation

and the glory of Christ and his resurrection

and his ascension and fully and finally in his

return. When we consider how God works in the

gospel, we must conclude, brothers and sisters,

that he exalts the humble and provides for those

who have nothing. And that he lowers the arrogant

and the prideful and the haughty. And he sends

the rich away empty -handed. Sinners who humble

themselves in repentance. are those in possession

of faith and those that lay hold of the righteousness

of Christ. Sinners who refuse to humble themselves

and to repent of their sins are those who will

not taste of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus

Christ. Because in their minds they already possess

righteousness. In their minds they already have

what they need. But those who repent and mourn

and grieve over their sin and look to God alone

for righteousness in Christ are the ones that

will be exalted and blessed and accepted by God

because of the faith. Because they humbled themselves.

We see this pattern over and over and over. It's

true in the lives of God's people now. We could

read Matthew chapter 5. Blessed are the meek,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

for they shall inherit the earth. Over and over.

But it's also true, brothers and sisters, that

there's this divine and redemptive reversal that

takes place not just in the life of believers,

but also in the life of unbelievers. When we

consider the believer and the church today, we

follow the same pattern. As our Lord. The church

today is in the humiliation. We have a theology

of the cross. Not a theology of glory in this

life. But what happens fully and finally one

day? What is reversed? What is changed? What

comes about? What is accomplished at the return

of Jesus Christ? There's vindication. for those

who are lowly and humble and suffering, those

who are in possession of a theology of the cross

in this life. In that day, there will be full

knowledge that God's people are exalted and take

part in his glory, and they are past humiliation.

They are past the lowly phase in this world in

redemption. But... The same is true for unbelievers,

brothers and sisters. For unbelieving men, now

is your time of exaltation. For unbelieving men

here, in our presence, listening to this message,

this is the high time in your existence. This

is the time where you run with unfettered liberty

and enjoy the lust of the flesh. This is the

time where you walk in arrogance and self -righteousness

and pride in your heart, exalting yourself. But

hear me well. If you are here today and you don't

know Jesus Christ, the day of your humiliation

will arrive. The day... where you are humbled

and brought low, it will arrive when the Lord

Jesus Christ appears in the sky with a sound

of a trumpet. The same time the saints are exalted,

brothers and sisters, on that great day will

be the same day that unbelieving men who have

walked in the pride of their heart for all their

days will be lowered and humbled and brought

low to suffer for all eternity because of their

sin and transgression against the sovereign and

holy and merciful God of heaven. So if you're

here today and you don't know Jesus Christ and

you're enjoying pride in your heart and you're

refusing to repent of your sins, I tell you now,

Turn from your sins and trust in Christ that

you might be exalted on that day. Look to Him

by faith. Give up whatever it is in your heart

that you're so clinging to that you don't want

to let go of and submit your life to Jesus Christ

who died for sinners, who humbled Himself that

you Might enjoy exaltation and glory. The forgiveness

of sins. With him brothers and sisters. Bring

yourself low. Or Christ will. But the promise

saints. Is that if you walk in lowliness. And

meekness. And mutual submission and love towards

one another. if you faithfully walk in this life,

seeking to fear the Lord in holiness and reverence

of life, then take heart. Take heart. Because

humiliation only lasts for a time. Suffering

and hardship, trials, In difficulties, it's only

for a little while. The day is coming when you

will see Jesus Christ face to face and you will

be like Him. And we will glory in His glory.

And we will revel in His righteousness and our

own righteousness that He has provided. The sinless

perfection that He possesses and the sinless

perfection that we will enjoy when we are glorified

with Him. Take heart, believer. Repent, unbeliever.

So we see that Mary recognizes how the Lord works.

She sees the nature of His dealings. Brothers

and sisters, where does she get this knowledge?

How does she understand these things? How does

she know that this is how God works? How does

she know that this is the character of God? How

does she understand and grasp these things? It's

from the scriptures. It's from the Old Testament

scriptures that she loved. And she sought out

the character of God. We can have praise and

joy, peace and contentment to greater measures

and greater degrees now in this life, brothers

and sisters, by growing more certain of who God

is and how He works. And we can have that joy

and that peace and that contentment in our lives.

Moving forward. Because with that certain knowledge

of who he is and how he works, we can look to

the future with confidence knowing how he will

work and who he will remain to be. Who he is.

But we must search those things out in the scriptures.

There's only one place. That we can go to learn

about the mighty deeds of God. There's only one

place, brethren, where we can go. And we can

learn about who our sovereign, great, mighty,

holy, and merciful God is. There's only one book.

There's only one revelation. And we've been given

it. It's ours to search out. It's ours. To seek

His face in it. To grow in the grace and knowledge

of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the last thing

that we have to consider is Mary's praise to

God for His faithfulness to fulfill all the redemptive

promises He's made to His people. We read in

the last section of this, He has given help to

Israel, His servants. In remembrance of his mercy.

As he spoke to our fathers. To Abraham and his

descendants forever. The last reason that Mary

rejoices and praises God. Is because she recognizes.

That he has faithfully. Fulfilled and brought

about the realization. And the fulfillment. Of

his gospel promises. that he's declared throughout

the history of the world. Ever since the garden,

ever since Abraham, ever since David, ever since

Moses, all of these promises we have in the Old

Covenant, in the Old Testament Scriptures, brothers

and sisters, she recognizes their fulfillment.

And how does she do that? How does she know that

these are being realized? Because of the child.

That's in her womb. Because of the Lord Jesus

Christ who has taken on flesh and dwelt among

us. She knows that God has faithfully fulfilled

his promises. It's not just the Messiah for Israel.

But brothers and sisters, it's Mary's Messiah

that has been brought about. It's Mary's Messiah

that is in the womb that she's carrying. So she

knows. That God is faithful. She can look to

the circumstances. The word of God. And Christ.

But brothers and sisters. We can look back. And

we can view the virgin birth. We can see Christ's

life unto the law of God. And perfect righteousness.

We can see his death. We can see his resurrection.

We can see his ascension. We can see His mediation

in heaven now. And by faith, brothers and sisters,

we can look forward to the day when He returns

to exalt and bring His people into His glory

in a joy that we know nothing about now. So we

can praise God along with Mary that God is always

faithful and He always will be faithful to fulfill

and bring about Every single redemptive promise

is ever made to his covenant people.