Dr. Luke we saw last time and good things doctors are detailed and they know what's going on.
And Luke is filled with some cool details about heaven and hell and life and death that some of the other gospels don't have.
And it was written to a guy by the name of Theopolis and I don't think I'm meant.
mentioned this last time, but theophilus actually means a friend of God. And some don't know for sure
if this was a real person or this was a time when the persecution against the Christian believers
was getting pretty serious. And people were losing their lives because of their faith in Christ Jesus.
And so some think that it may have been an incognito writing to believers in the world.
back then. And so, um, but some believe it could have been, uh, someone in, in the, in the Roman Empire
with influence. And so that's why, uh, Luke gives this detailed account. And we, uh, we see last
time where, uh, the angel Gabriel shows up as Zachariah, an old man who was, uh, of, of the line of
Aaron, uh, in the tribe of Levi to, uh, present the prayer.
there in the temple at the altar of incense. It's interesting that as we, as, as I shared on Wednesday night
at our night of thanks, that the altar of incense was the closest to the Holy of Holies. And so,
the altar of sacrifice was the first thing that you saw when you walked in the temple. And so you,
that's where you would offer sacrifice. And that's a lot of place, that's where a lot of people stay.
They'll accept the sacrifice of Christ.
But then you go on and there's the table of showbread, speaking of communion with God and his sustenance.
And then you see the menorah, which is the light, right?
Thy word is a light unto my path and a lamp into my feet.
And the further you go into the temple, the closer you get to God.
And so it is now that our body can be the temple of the Holy Spirit,
the place where the Lord resides.
But a lot of people just want to keep his sacrifice.
And that's all they focus on.
Well, Jesus died for me and saved me.
I'm good.
And they don't, their spiritual life is not sustained by him.
Right.
The light of the word of God does not direct them.
And then the closest place to the Holy of Holies was prayer.
You want to get close to the Lord.
You talk to him.
Right?
It's prayer.
That's what Zacharias, this son of Aaron, was there, and offering up incense that was set on fire by the sacrifice.
We should be set on fire because of what Jesus did for us.
Right?
And so because of that fire in the altar of sacrifice,
then that same fire was used to offer up incense to the Lord.
Very, very powerful thing.
And so this is where he's at when God speaks to him.
You want the Lord to speak to you?
Then talk to him.
Draw close to him.
The Bible says, draw near to God and he'll draw near to you.
I hear people say, well, I've never heard God speak.
audibly. Like, they have to hear that to have faith.
Well, I heard a guy on the radio the other day. He says, if you want to hear God speak to you audibly,
read the Bible out loud. Right? Because God primarily speaks to us from his word. And he really does.
But yet here, we see a very special occasion where,
where Gabriel shows up and he speaks to Zechariah and tells him that his wife in her old age is going to have a baby.
And Gabriel tells him some specifics.
It's interesting to me.
And I'm getting ahead of myself, but still it's just on my heart right now.
So I'm going to share it.
But it's interesting to me that when there is a prophecy,
the closer you get to that prophecy being fulfilled, the more clear it becomes.
I know that's elementary, right?
But even the prophecies that we're seeing right now, right, with the nation of Israel.
And they're back in the land, back in 1948, and the skirmishes and the things that are going on in Syria,
even as we speak, are just, it's wild.
And it seems like we're getting closer and closer.
or those things seem to be coming clearer and clearer that are going to happen in the very near
future. And so it was here with Sacrius. Because the prophets had spoke about John the Baptist,
Malachi had spoken about him, Isaiah had spoken about him, Micah had spoken about him. Micah had spoken about him.
And then Gabriel confirmed some of these prophecies of John the Baptist in verse 15, where he said,
says, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. And shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.
He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn away many of the
children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will also go before him in spirit in the power of
Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the
just to make ready the people prepared for the Lord. He said he's going to be good. He said he's going to be
great. Jesus confirmed this when he said there was no greater prophet than John the Baptist.
He was the greatest of the prophets. And he was the one that was kind of the go-between, if you
will, between the old and the new covenant. John, we saw last time, was a double bread.
Those are Stockman terms. Right. Was a double bread. Right. Was a double bread.
read Levite or a more specific son of Aaron. His mother was of the daughters of Aaron. His father was of the
sons of Aaron. Angie, why did you send me that text? I got a text after church last Sunday,
talking about the erotic priesthood and how it was fulfilled in Christ and there's no need for an
erroneous priesthood.
And can I just tell you on your iPhone?
Try to speak that and do the auto-correct thing on it.
It's, it's, I can't even say it from up here.
But anyway.
And I just look at it as I'm talking, I look and see Angie and she sent me this text.
And it was stinking hilarious.
But inappropriate from a pulpit, okay?
But he was that go between, right?
He's a representative of the law, but he's going to point everybody not to the law, not to the old covenant
that kills, right?
The law kills, the Bible says.
Why?
Because we're all guilty.
That's why the law kills.
Well, you say, well, if the law kills, then the law's not good.
No, the law's good.
We're not good.
See, that's the problem.
That's the issue with the law.
The law of God is good.
But it will kill you because you fall short.
I fall short.
We fall short of the law.
But so John the Baptist, this double-bred son of Aaron,
actually is going to point people not to the law,
but to the one who kept the law perfectly.
And then sacrificed himself as their propitiation,
the payment for your sin and mind.
That's what he's going to do.
He's going to point people to the new covenant,
coming from the old covenant.
It's just bizarre how God works all these things out.
And you're just like, wow, that is.
That's heavy.
Right?
Because the lie is heavy.
It ain't your brother.
Wasn't that a song?
But Jesus is your brother.
Right?
And his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
I don't even know I got off on this tangent, but here we are.
Right?
It's good stuff.
because praise God for John the Baptist, who had the wherewithal and the anointing of the Holy Spirit
to point people to Jesus, right?
Isaiah chapter 40 tells us in verse 3, he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert, the highway of our God.
If you're going to be right with God, you can't keep the old covenant, you need to embrace the new one.
with all your heart embrace this new covenant that that God gave us.
So this son of Zachariah and Elizabeth is the one who mediates those two covenants
from the priestly line of Aaron, a very powerful thought there.
And he will bring all the attention to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
We see there in the gospel of John Jesus, or excuse me, John the Bible.
baptist says that to his disciples. When he sees Jesus baptizing there in the Jordan, he says,
behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And that was going to be his mission in life.
And we're going to see that as we go through through this book. Now, Gabriel is a busy messenger.
He's the announcing known. He's known as the announcing angel of God. His name means man of God.
Some would say strong man of God is Gabriel.
We seem when we went through the book of Daniel,
Daniel chapter 8 and chapter 9,
Gabriel gives Daniel the interpretation of the end-time scenario that we see in Daniel
chapter 9 when the anti-Christ comes and when he breaks covenant, right?
Makes a seven-year deal with the nation of Israel that we've yet to see.
But it seems to be coming shortly.
And so he's the one that gives explanation to some of these things that people are seeing in the prophets.
And now very literally speaking, these truths about these two babies that are going to be born.
So he's now giving another birth announcement, right?
The first was a miraculous conception of Elizabeth in her old age.
This one is the immaculate conception, right?
Immaculate meaning sinless, right?
That Jesus was specific in his conception from anyone else.
Because of his sinlessness.
The one that was prophesied, clear back in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15,
the seed of the woman.
Here it is.
Right here.
In the book of Luke.
So, let's read. We'll read about 12 verses. We'll start in verse 26. I think we made it through verse 25 last time.
It says, now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, the virgin's name was Mary.
And having come in, the angel said to her rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord.
is with you. Blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered
what manner of greeting this was. And then the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you,
for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth
the son and shall call his name Jesus. And he will be great and will be called the son of the highest.
And the Lord God will give 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.
And then Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I do not know? Amen. And the angel answered and said to her,
the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore,
also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now, indeed, Elizabeth,
your relative has also conceived a son in her old age. And,
is now, and is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God, nothing will be impossible.
Then Mary said, behold, the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word and the angel
departed from her. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this word and this incredible truth of who you are and how you've
dealt with us as your people. And Lord, how God, how you've dealt with us as your people. And Lord, how
how the way, the way of salvation that you have made. Lord, that you've made it very clear our need.
You have made it very clear our condition apart from you. And I pray that you would speak to all of our
hearts today. Lord, that in this time, in this, this Thanksgiving and Christmas season, Lord,
that we would remember you and that we would remember the greatness of who you are and what you've come to
do. And what you've called us to be.
as your people. Lord, that we've all sinned and fall in short of your glory. And yet you choose to
invade our lives and to use us and to direct us and to set us free from the bondages of
of sin. Lord, maybe those vices that we've had, you've come to set us free from that. Lord,
and you've also come to give us a pathway to heaven. Lord, so we praise you for that. Speak to us
from your word in Jesus' name. Amen. So here we go. It's, uh,
It's quite a message that this angel comes and gives this young girl.
Just know this.
When God has a message for you, he's going to get it to you.
Right?
He's going to get it to you.
And so it's interesting that he was making sure this was going to happen.
This was his messenger, the angel Gabriel.
And he shows up. And he speaks to her. He reveals himself to her. And, you know, at least this guy,
this Gabriel, his assignments had variety. Right. And his assignments was first an old man and then a young
woman, a priest, a descendant, and then a descendant of David the king. He got sent to the temple in Jerusalem
and took common home in Nazareth. In one case, he was met with.
with unbelief in the next case he was met with faith. And that's the difference that we're going to see
today between Zachariah and Mary, as they both have this encounter with the angel Gabriel. Now,
Nazareth wasn't very popular, right? It was six miles from the closest thoroughfare or closest
highway, so to speak, there in Nazareth. And the people in Judah disdain the Jews,
of the Galilee, though quite a ways away from the sea of Galilee, and claimed that these people
were not kosher because of their contact with the Gentiles. But it isn't an interesting that Jesus,
he spoke to the Gentiles. He hung out with sinners. He was a friend of sinners. Aren't you glad?
I'm so glad he was a friend of sinners because he became my friend right in the in the depth of my sin.
And then he started dusting me off and cleaning me up.
And he'll do that for you if he hasn't started already.
Please invite him to do so.
But God in his grace chose this girl from Nazareth in Galilee.
And right off the bat, we see prophecy being fulfilled.
in verse 27 there where it says to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph in the house of David.
And the virgin's name was Mary, the virgin, the virgin, the virgin, it says in the Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah,
chapter 7, very specific. And her name, we know her name now. It's Mary. Mary, this, this, this
virgin in Isaiah 7.14, it says, therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin, shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Emmanuel. Right? Oh, come, oh come. Emmanuel. Right? God with us.
that God is in the process of becoming a man.
Some people got that backwards.
They think that a man can progress to Godhood.
Not.
Right?
But it was the opposite.
God became man through this virgin, Mary.
And so,
Mary is the equivalent of the Old Testament named Miriam. It means beloved of Yahweh. Be loved of Yahweh is what Mary means. Now,
the Jews married fairly young. They think that Mary could be between 13 and 17 years old.
Could you imagine? Well, actually, when we were in Costa Rica, we saw some mothers that was 13 to 17 years old. And it was freaking them out. Right?
they wasn't so sure they wanted to do this.
But one thing about having a baby, once that baby's mourn, you're committed now.
Ain't no turning back, right?
Even when you want to.
And oh, there's times when you want to.
Give him to Salvation Army or something.
This kid's driving me crazy.
But she was engaged, right?
So in the Jewish culture, there was a formal engagement made by the fathers, right?
And then there was what they called a betrothal.
And the betrothal was a ceremony where the parties came together, the bride and the groom,
and there was a mutual promises were made.
And the only way you could get on to the betrothal was via divorce.
And then the end of the marriage, approximately one year later,
when the bridegroom came for his bride at an unexpected time.
Ring a bell?
Right?
We got a king that's coming for us.
Right?
We are the bride of Christ at an unexpected time.
The Jewish ceremony is powerful and it's an ex-picture of Jesus coming and getting us.
And so they were under this obligation of faithfulness, right?
And the only way they could get out of it was divorce and she was betrothed to Joseph.
There in verse 28, right?
It says that, and having come in, the angel said to her, rejoice, highly favored one,
the Lord is with you and blessed are you among women.
Highly favored.
This phrase, some believe, is, is, um, this phrase, some believe is, is,
sets Mary apart, right, that it maybe elevates her to a high place.
But not actually the word, the phrase, highly favored.
What it means is one that is greatly graced, greatly graced.
That would apply to everyone in this room.
Right?
Anyone who has tasted the grace of God in their life is highly graced.
right. And so, and God was willing to, first he tells her to rejoice, right, because of this grace.
And the Lord is with you. And blessed are you among women. And so this greeting at first glance kind of puts Mary on a pedestal.
and therefore causes an extreme thought of Mary, that Mother Mary full of grace.
Mary wasn't full of grace, Mary experienced grace.
She wasn't the source of grace. God was. Right? And some of our Roman Catholic friends
believe that Mary is equal to Jesus. Mary's not equal to Jesus.
Mary didn't die for you. Yes, she birthed the savior. Yes, she is blessed among women. Oh, my goodness. God
allowed her to be the mother of the savior of the world. But she's not above anyone.
And so this is something that wasn't earned by Mary. It was God just displaying his grace.
But you can see why people would elevate her to the status of Jesus, obviously.
But Jesus settles this in Luke 11 later down the road when he says this.
And it says in Luke 1127, he says it happened as he spoke Jesus these things that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him,
Blessed is the wound that bore you and the breasts which nursed you.
But he said, more than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.
Right?
More than that are you and I who hear the word of God and walk by faith.
And we actually put it into practice and we believe it.
We incorporate it into our lives.
So all these things that are said to Mary are also true to the believer in Jesus, right?
That we're blessed, that the Lord is with this.
Matthew chapter 28 verse 20, right?
Lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age.
That we're blessed with every spiritual blessing from above.
You and I.
So is Mary's special? Yes. But every believer is special.
So, verse 29. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying.
The fact that Mary was troubled, it also shows her humility.
Mary was surprised to hear such extravagant words. Mary was a real.
A realist. She knew what she was. Right? She knew what was in her. Any person that encounters God and has a
relationship with God, you have a good understanding of what you are. Right? You're a fallen creature.
I'm convinced that we sin every day. And we miss the mark. So she had a good understanding.
She knew that if anything good came out of her, it was all him. Do you know that about yourself?
Anything good comes from us, right? All goodness. We've established that over going through some of these Bible studies, right,
that all goodness originates with God. It's God who is good and not we ourselves.
Warren Weirschby has an interesting comment on this. He said there was nothing. You know,
about her that such things should happen. If she had been different from other Jewish girls,
as some theologians claim she was, right, then she might have said, well, it's about time.
I've been expecting you. Well, really, all of this was a surprise to her. Right. She was taken back by it all.
It really fascinates me when some people think that God gets a really good deal when you get converted.
God is so lucky to have somebody like me.
You know, it's just like, oh, Lord, spare us the fiery bolts of lightning that should fry any crispy critter that would think that way.
No, it is abundance.
Grace upon grace it tells us in John chapter one, right? So, so Gabriel comes and he tells her, listen, you're going to conceive, you're going to have a baby. And he, he just unloads on her what this, what this boy is going to be, what this child is going to be. Number one, there's eight things here that he brings to her attention. You're going to conceive. Really? I'm going to be pregnant. Yeah. And then the gender reveal, right?
it's going to be a boy. Right? You're going to have a son. Thirdly, his name will be Jesus.
Jesus means Jehovah is salvation. Jehovah is salvation. It was a fairly common name in the whole
Jewish culture, this name Jesus. Right? Who wouldn't want to be the mother of a boy named Jehovah?
is salvation.
And fourthly, he will, he'll be great.
He's going to be great.
The word for great there in the Greek is megas.
He's going to be a mega dude.
Right?
It means large, great in the widest sense.
He's going to be great in the widest sense.
In other words, there's no one like him.
Fifthly, he's the son of the highest.
Jesus would be the son of Mary, but also not only her son, he would be known as the son of God.
Sixth, he will sit on the throne of David.
It's been a while since anyone sat on the throne of David.
Quite a while, actually.
But he's going to.
And you and I are going to see it.
Not only are you and I going to see it, but.
we may even be there. I'm thinking we're going to be there. Now, if we make it through the tribulation,
we will have to make a pilgrimage there once a year. If you live through the tribulation, still in your carcass,
I don't know about you, I don't want to be here in this carcass during the millennial rain.
But if you live through the tribulation and you go into the millennial rain, you will make a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem once a year and pay homage to the king. If you don't, the Bible says that
God will dry you up. Your grass won't grow. Your sheep, your cows, your horses won't eat.
He'll dry you up. That's a whole other study. Sorry. It's known as the millennial reign of Christ.
And so he'll set on the throne of day.
literally, this was prophesied clear back in 1st Samuel to David. Number seven, he'll reign over the
house of Jacob forever. The word house there means to indwell. He'll indwell Jacob forever.
That's a.k.a. Israel. That's why we watch Israel, folks. Some people think,
I think I talk too much about Israel. Listen, Israel is Zion. God is a Zionist. Right? And that's his.
That's his ground. It's not theirs. Though he has them have dominion over it. And that's not going to
change. But it's his ground. The ground there in Israel. So he's going to do that forever. And then notice,
The eighth thing, it's never going to end.
For ever and ever and ever, this kingdom.
When Jesus takes up his rightful place,
and he reigns forever and ever.
It's like Gabriel unloads this spiritual clip on Mary.
Just unloads on her.
But he's not done yet.
There's still a couple left.
but Mary goes, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Son of God, the most highest, he's going to be great.
I've never even done it.
How can this be?
Okay, that's a loose prayer phrase, but she does say.
She does say, how can this be?
Since I do not know a man.
I haven't had, you know.
Now, Mary's question was logical, right?
She asked the same question as Zacharias,
but his question was asked in skeptical unbelief.
Her question was asking wonder-filled faith.
She's going, wow, how's this going to happen?
Have you ever noticed that?
You ever just wondered to yourself, how's all this going to happen?
right? I'm sure people who lived prior to 1948, how in the world. That's why the whole replacement theology thing got going.
It's just people couldn't see it in their mind. They can't see the wonderful works of God that he's, he's a miraculous God.
He does things big and things that you and I don't think can happen. And yet it did happen in a day. In a day.
So there may be things in your life right now that you're just wondering, God, what are you going to do?
How are you going to work this out?
So Gabriel explains.
How can this be? I've never known a man.
So there in verse 35, and the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit, will,
come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore, also the holy one who is to be born
will be called the son of God. Now, indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her
old age and is now in the six months for her who was called barren. And so Gabriel says,
listen, the Holy Spirit's going to come, he's going to overshadow you. And it means,
that literally to cover with the cloud.
Just like in the Old Testament, when Solomon built a temple and it was filled with the
shakina, the presence of the Lord.
And, and, that's what's going to happen at the conception.
The chikina of God that filled the holy of holies.
Some commentators believe that at that moment when Mary conceives that her womb is the
holy of holies.
Because that's where Jesus is going to be.
And it wasn't perverse,
like some religions say that a God came down
and had physical relations with Mary.
That would disqualify her as a virgin, right?
And so, um,
she is going to be a pregnant virgin.
A pregnant virgin.
She is going to be a virgin who gives birth.
Both those are just, those are powerful thoughts when you think about it.
And we embrace that in our Christian doctrine with all of our hearts.
It's, it points to the sinlessness of the Christ child.
It could be as simple as the Chicana glory of God showing up wherever Mary is.
And at a word, Mary, you're pregnant.
And she'd have a baby in her.
And he's going to be called. Notice, it's, it's holy. He's holy. He's the holy son of God.
And Mary's probably thinking, wow, I've got to talk to somebody. And no sooner has she has that thought. And Gabriel goes,
You're relative Elizabeth.
Still, and I didn't have time to go into the study.
I'd like to study that out.
Elizabeth, wait a minute, she's a daughter of Aaron.
There's some kind of a connection between Elizabeth and Mary,
Mary, who is a descendant of David from the tribe of Judah,
which the Bible tells us the Savior would come from.
But her relative is the mother of John the Baptist, that John and Jesus are cousins.
somehow those two covenants come together there.
But like Corey Tinboom said years ago, no doubt,
is she's thinking she needs to talk to somebody.
And immediately Gabriel talks to her about her, her relative, Elizabeth, like Corey
Timbom said, God does not give you dying grace until you're dying.
Right?
A lot of times you're not going to get what you need till right at the right moment.
God doesn't give you dying grace until you're dying.
And so, verse 37, so what he says, for with God, nothing will be impossible.
Amen.
With God, nothing will be impossible.
Think about that.
This is like, boom.
It just blows my mind.
And Lord, how small my faith is.
Lord, increase my faith.
Right?
And I just get all hung up on the little stuff in my life.
Like a house payment and a car payment,
and a sick cow and a mean goat.
I get all hung up on those things.
What about the big things, right?
That makes your faith.
grow. When God puts you in those places, when all you can do is trust him and just stand in awe of
his working things out. And this has to be, you know, it just parallels with God. Nothing is
impossible, right? There, verse 37. But you remember, clear back in Genesis when we were going
through Genesis. Oh, we just went through Genesis, didn't we? It took a long time, sorry.
But Genesis 18, verse 14, is anything too hard? Is anything too hard? Is anything too hard?
for the Lord. At the appointed time, I will return to you in about this time next year. And Sarah shall have a son.
Is anything too a barren womb? Not too hard for the Lord? Right? Old age is not too hard for the Lord.
Thank you, Lord, because I'm getting older. Right? He can do with us. He can complete any tasks that he needs to
complete. We just have to believe him to do it. Jeremiah 32. Oh, Lord God. God.
It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm.
Nothing is too hard for you.
Do you believe that?
Right?
I think sometimes we have psychosis.
Sometimes we're just filled with faith in love.
Yeah, God can do anything.
And other times we're wannies and we're crying and we're we're weeping and just how can this be?
Right?
It's like, this whole faith walk is a juggling act.
But when we're drawing close to the Lord, when we're seeking the Lord in prayer,
when we're walking by faith as it appears that Mary is totally walking by faith.
Are you walking by faith today?
Yeah?
Verse 38. We'll close here. Then Mary said,
Behold, the maid servant of the Lord. Let it be to me, according to your word.
And the angel departed from her. From her. Let it be. Sounds like a song, don't it?
Let it be according to your word.
This is part two of according to your word.
I was so encouraged this morning at the reading.
I got here a little bit early,
and so I snuck over here in the office and did my Bible reading.
And just in 2nd Peter there, chapter 3,
where the Lord's talking about growing in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord.
Lord. I've been walking with Jesus since 1986 and, um, and I'm still growing, right? I'm growing in the grace and
the not. In fact, I feel more inadequate now in my faith than I did then after I first believed.
Because I was all hoity tooty and cocksure, you know, that I knew it all. Just ask my wife.
She'll tell you what a jerk I was.
but that never stops, folks.
We never stop walking by faith.
We never stop taking advantage of what God has given us in his word.
To hide it and write it on the pages of our heart that we might not sin against him.
That our faith would grow.
That we would have the brass spiritually speaking to say what Mary said here.
let it be unto me this is. Behold by hand made. The servant. Slave. Lord, I'm your slave.
Whatever you say, I do. Her witness is absolutely incredible. I'll just close with this little blurb from a commentator. You know, from Idaho. I'll call. I'll call.
commentators are from Idaho, get it, commentator.
Sorry.
Comedy is not my strong point.
Mary's believing response was to surrender herself to God as his willing servant.
She experienced the grace of God. Have you?
If you experienced the grace of God, and believe the word of God,
and therefore she could be used by the spirit to accomplish the will of God.
The handmaid, the servant, the bond servant for the man.
Was the lolliest kind a handmaid, was the lolliest kind of female servant,
which shows how much Mary trusted God.
She wasn't scared of him.
She feared who he was, but she knew that he loved her.
She belonged totally to the Lord, body, soul, and spirit.
What an example for us to follow.
Amen?
Let's pray.
Lord, thank you.
The truth of your word over and over again, Lord, just encourages us.
Lord, to walk by faith and not by sight.
Lord, and there may be some here today that they've yet to come to that place.
Oh, maybe they're at the altar of sacrifice.
Lord, but they haven't come to that altar of incense, Lord, where they draw near to you
and draw close to the Holy of Holies.
Lord, would you speak to their hearts even now?
And if that's you and you just feel like, man, I need to draw closer to the Lord.
In the times that lie ahead in the position that God has given me, whether it's
in your family or at your workplace, that witness that you can be, that you can truly be
that salt in light that God has called us all to be in this world. And if you've never received
Christ, I just want to give you that opportunity now as we're in an attitude of prayer. And you just say,
Lord Jesus, I need you. I believe that you died on the cross for me. I believe that you rose again
and that you offer me life everlasting.
I receive that life, and I receive your Holy Spirit.
Give me a passion for you.
Help me to walk with you all the days of my life.
That truly we would all dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Lord, we thank you for this incredible faith that is displayed by this incredible woman.
And yet, Lord, in her very essence, she's just like us.
a person of like passion.
So, Lord, may we find ourselves in a place of walking out all that you have for us in this life,
and that we would do it by faith, not leaning on our own understanding, but acknowledging you
in all of our ways.
We worship you and we praise you in Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Prayer.
This afternoon, come over here.
The prayer team's going to be over here.
Be encouraged.
If you ask Jesus into your heart, tell somebody, right?
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
Let's worship.
Thank you.