Sermons
December 10th, 2023 by Pastor Solley121023AM My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord.
Sub. Mary
Theme: How Mary magnified the Lord.
Text: Luke 1:46
“My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord” Luke 1:46
Introduction
I want to look this morning at one who magnified the Lord. To magnify is to enlarge, to make large. In reference to a person it is to make that one appear as great, to show their greatness to others. Spiritually speaking it is to walk with the Lord, walk in the will of God in a way that lifts God up, lifts the Lord Jesus Christ up to others.
I. Mary was one who magnified the Lord: Luke 1:46 Mary was the human vessel chose by God to bring the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. One must be careful not to ascribe to Mary more than she is due. Mary is not the mother of God. Mary was not born without sin, Mary needed salvation. Mary is not to be prayed to. Be careful not to ascribe to Mary more than what is due her.
A. But also be careful not to take away from Mary what the Bible ascribes to her: Luke 1:26-30 Don’t take away what is due Mary.
1. Mary found favor with God: Luke 1:30 Why? Because she was saved, because she had repented, because she was born again.
2. Mary was highly favored: Luke 1:28 Why? Because she walked in obedience to the her God. She obeyed God.
3. Mary had a good reputation: Luke 1:28 Mary was blessed among women, she had a good reputation. That is one of the reasons Joseph was not going to make a public example of her, it could not be imagined that Mary was pernicious. She had a good reputation.
4. Be careful not to take away from Mary what the Bible ascribes to her: Mary was a chosen vessel, a vessel of honor to God.
B. And Mary magnified the Lord: Luke 1:46 This was not something she acquired after the visit from the angel Gabriel. She was one who throughout her young life magnified the Lord. But what does that really mean?
1. The simple way to put it is that Mary had a desire to know and walk in the will of God: Some sixty years later another chosen vessel of God had this same desire. Phil 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. Paul wanted to walk in the will of God, wanted to magnify the Lord in his life.
2. The best way for any Christian to magnify the Lord is to be found walking in the will of God: Mary magnified the Lord. – Lu1:46
C. It has been said that every Jewish woman from the time the promise of the Messiah was given wanted to marry, then to have a son in the hopes of that son would be the Messiah: But it was Mary who was chosen. Why? Mary magnified the Lord.
II. I want to look this morning at what that involved for Mary, what it involved for her to walk in the will of God: Let me say there is no better place to be, no better thing to do than to walk in the will of God. But to walk in the will of God involves more than just saying we want that for our lives, it involves much more than that. Mary wanted to magnify the Lord, do we?
PROP: It should be the desire of every born again child of God here this morning to magnify the Lord in our lives, to be found walking in the will of God. TS. But is that our desire and are we willing to do what it takes to know and walk in will of God?
Body
I. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in the will of God begins with the basic things we see in Mary: Luke 1:28-30 These things mentioned just a moment ago and they do point to one who wants to know and walk in the will of God.
A. I can say on the authority of the Bible that this is the will of God for each man, woman, and child here this morning: The specific will of God in certain matters in your life are not found in these verses but the will of God for all of us is set before us.
1. It was the will of God that you found favor with God by repenting of sin and getting saved: Luke 1:30 The word favor there means one has been accepted by God, accepted in the beloved. – Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Same Greek word and it is translated as grace many times, it is pointing to salvation.
a. No one gets saved apart from the will of God and it is God’s will that all be born again.
b. When you were saved that moment you were fulfilling the will of God for your life.
2. It is the will of God that you walk in obedience to His Word: Luke 1:28 Mary was highly favored because she was walking in obedience to the Word of God.
a. It is also God’s will that we walk in obedience to His Word. Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
b. When we are found walking in obedience to the Word of God we are walking in the will of God and the reverse is true as well. When we do not obey what is revealed in the Bible we are not walking in the will of God.
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3. Mary had a good reputation: Luke 1:28 We are to keep a good testimony, have a good reputation.
a. We are to have an honest report or reputation. – Acts 6:3
b. A walk in obedience will lead us in that direction. – James 1:27
B. Those are the very basics in walking in the will of God: Other things can be added that are the will of God for all of us. Scripture can be cited for all of these things.
1. It is the will of God that we are assembled here and should be here when the doors are open:
2. It is the will of God that we be given to reading our Bibles and to prayer:
3. It is the will of God that we give of ourselves as well a portion of our earnings to Him:
4. It is the will of God that we sing praises to His name:
5. It is the will of God that we tell others of Jesus Christ and share the gospel message:
6. Those are the basics of the will of God for your life and mines as well: If I want to know what is the specific will of God for my life, if you want to know the specific will of God for your life, we need to be following in the basic things of the will of God.
C. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in the will of God begins with the basic things we see in Mary: Luke 1:28-30
II. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in the will of God may involve a change of plans on our part: Luke 1:28-34 When considering Mary we seldom think along these lines.
ILL. By the end of this month there will have been three weddings in our church family during this year. All of those couples have made and are making plans of what their lives are going to be together. I remember forty four years ago making plans with my bride to be. This is what are lives will be like, this is what we are going to do, we made plans and all couples do. It is good to make plans.
A. Mary and Joseph would have made plans for their lives as well: By the time the angel visits Mary and then Joseph they were already espoused and near the end of that engagement. – Luke 1:26-27 – I am sure that they had made plans.
1. This is where we will live, this is what I will do to provide for the family, this is how many children we want to have: We seldom think about this but they would have made plans.
2. In a moment of time all of those plans change: Luke 1:30-33 She is going to find out that all the plans they made will change.
a. They will not live where they planned to live because they will be ordered by government to go to Bethlehem.
b. They will have a child before they ever imagined.
c. As the child grows they will be forced to go to Egypt to live for a time.
d. When they return it will be to Nazareth.
3. Willing to magnify the Lord, willing to walk in the will of God their plans for their lives changed:
B. Seeking to magnify the Lord, seeking to walk in the will of God most always involves a change of plans on our part: The Bible is very clear on us making plans on our own. – James 4:13-16 – Here death is mentioned but the principal applies to plans that we make that can be changed in an instant if we are seeking the will of God and determined to magnify the Lord by walking in His will.
1. Plans have been made looking ahead: James 4:13
2. But we do not have the ability to see into the future: James 4:14 Here it is death but the principal applies.
3. We need to be seeking the will of God and be willing to follow the will of God: James 4:15 Even if it means a change of plans.
4. For Mary and Joseph there was a change of plans: Many more examples in the Bible as well.
a. David never planned to be king.
b. Peter, Andrew, James and John never planned to abandon their fishing business.
5. Are we willing to change our plans when they are not in line with the will of God? If we want to magnify the Lord we will.
C. Let me say those plans when they change are always for the better in the long run: It may not seem so at the time but down the road we see how much better God’s plans are for us.
1. Things were better for Mary and Joseph: The blessings of seeing the very Son of God grow up before their eyes.
2. Things were better for David: He became a king and a man after the heart of God.
3. Things were better for Peter, Andrew, James and John: Their names in the foundation of the New Jerusalem.
ILL. My wife and I know firsthand just how much better it is when you allow God to change your plans so you can walk in His will.
D. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in the will of God may involve a change of plans on our part: Luke 1:28-34
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III. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in His will may take us places we would rather not go: Luke 2:21-34 What a blessed and happy time for parents when a healthy child is born into a home. Mother and father, in this case step-father, filled with joy and wonder at that little one.
A. Jesus is now forty days old when brought to the temple to be dedicated: Luke 2:21-22 Eight days old when Jesus was circumcised and then forty days old when brought to the temple according to the Law of Moses.
1. First time to the temple with Jesus: It would be a blessed day, a happy day.
2. And Simeon was led by the Holy Spirit to know this was the Messiah before him: Luke 2:25-32 What a blessed prophecy and how it must have thrilled Mary to hear those words. – Luke 2:33
3. But the rest of the prophecy not so thrilling: Luke 2:34-35 Notice verse thirty five. – Luke 2:35 – Mary’s heart would be broken, her very soul pierced as if with a sword. There was going to be a great deal of sadness ahead for Mary.
a. Her husband would die at a young age so no dispute when Jesus proclaimed He is the Son of God. Joseph not there.
b. The natural children of Mary and Joseph resent Jesus.
c. Jesus is mocked and ridiculed as He begins His public ministry and throughout.
d. Then there is the cross.
4. Mary watched the one she brought into this world treated in such manner and then tortured to death: No mother here would want to see her child treated in such a way.
5. The will of God can take one to places they would rather not go:
B. Speaking of following Him and His will Jesus speaks of us taking up a cross: Luke 9:22-24 Crosses are not pleasant to bear. We would rather that the will of God always lead us to green pastures and still waters. Even in that precious Psalm there is the valley of the shadow of death. Crosses are not pleasant to bear.
1. Paul found that out with his thorn in the flesh: 2 Cor 12:7-10 It was the will of God for Paul to bear that cross.
2. The apostle James found that out as he gave his life for the cause of Christ: Acts 12:1-2
3. To bear our cross daily is a part of the will of God:
C. It is how we bear those crosses we are given that bring us reward and even joy in the Lord:
1. We deal with losses: But God is good.
2. We deal with health problems: But God is good.
3. We deal with many different things: But God is good.
4. There are crosses we all need to bear: But God is always and only good.
D. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in His will may take us places we would rather not go: Luke 2:21-34
IV. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in His will does bring great reward: Luke 2:8-20 The things the angel told the shepherds were repeated at the manger. – Luke 2:16-19 – What sayings did they make known? – Luke 2:17-18 – What the angel had told them. – Luke 2:10-12 – Mary held in her arms the very Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world.
A. To magnify the Lord would mean many things to Mary:
1. All her plans were going to change:
2. She would be taken to places she would rather not go:
3. But what a reward: Luke 2:10-12 She held in her arms the very Son of God.
B. And so will the will of God bring us great reward today: Those rewards are not often measured by worldly means.
1. We have rewards waiting for us in heaven: 2 Tim 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
2. There are blessings here as well: James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
3. And we can have a peace that goes beyond description: Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
4. To walk in His will does bring rewards:
ILL. I met with a pastor this week who is faced with a heard decision and needed to talk and some counsel. In the end I asked him if he had peace with the decision he was making, if he could rest, was his soul at ease. With a yes we knew God’s will.
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C. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in His will does bring great reward: Luke 2:8-20
Conclusion
Mary magnified the Lord. Is that what we want to be said of us?
I. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in the will of God begins with the basic things we see in Mary: Luke 1:28-30 These things mentioned just a moment ago and they do point to one who wants to know and walk in the will of God.
A. Mary knew the Lord, was born again:
B. Mary walked in obedience to the Word of God:
C. Mary was unspotted by the world, had a good reprutation:
D. Mary was walking int eh general will of God:
II. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in the will of God may involve a change of plans on our part: Luke 1:28-34 When considering Mary we seldom think along these lines.
III. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in His will may take us places we would rather not go: Luke 2:21-34 What a blessed and happy time for parents when a healthy child is born into a home. Mother and father, in this case step-father, filled with joy and wonder at that little one.
IV. To magnify the Lord, to know and walk in His will does bring great reward: Luke 2:8-20 The things the angel told the shepherds were repeated at the manger. – Luke 2:16-19 – What sayings did they make known? – Luke 2:17-18 – What the angel had told them. – Luke 2:10-12 – Mary held in her arms the very Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world.