Latest / HBCWestminster / 12.1.19 Luke 1:26-38 Pastor Danny Gardner

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12.1.19 Luke 1:26-38 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, Gabriel's announcement to Mary, and imagine that evening so many years ago that a young lady visited by an angel to receive news that she would bear a son, the Messiah. This announcement marked the beginning of the event that changed the course of human history probably more than any other event. And you may say, well, what about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ? Aren't those the two most significant events in human history? And you could say, yes, certainly. But if the incarnation happened,
• 0:31
  If it is true that Christ really was the God-man, if deity became flesh and full humanity, if what we just sang about fully God, fully man, in that song we just sang, if that happened, then wouldn't you expect the miraculous? If God were to walk the earth, you wouldn't expect a normal life. Miracles become much less impossible. You know, storms should be calmed.
• 1:02
  He's the boss. If He tells the wind and the waves to stop, they are going to stop. Demons should step aside. Get out of the way. The Son of the Most High is here. Diseases should be rebuked. If the incarnation happened, if God really became a man, then the resurrection should almost become expected. J.C. Ryle says it this way. We should always, and in regard to this text that we're going to read,
• 1:35
  We should always read this passage with mingled love, wonder, and praise. Our text this morning is Luke 1, verses 26 to 38. And if you're able to stand in honor of God's Word, I would ask you to do so now. Stand, we'll read it together. We'll pray and begin. Beginning in verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
• 2:06
  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying. She 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, will be called the Son of the Most High.
• 2:36
  The Lord God 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. Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, Son of God. Behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age.
• 3:04
  has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who is called barren, for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. Would you pray with me? Lord, we would ask that you increase our faith. God, be praised in the preaching and hearing of your word. Be exalted, Lord Jesus, in the singing of your name.
• 3:38
  Be enthroned in our hearts as we seek to live more and more like you. God, draw near to us by your Holy Spirit. Be glorified as we seek your face. Lord, may it be your will, your way, always. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. You can be seated. Well, we began about a month ago what I anticipate to be about a two-year or so study of the gospel of Luke. We've said that Luke's gospel was written to all people.
• 4:11
  Where Matthew may be focused on the Jews and Mark may be to the Romans, Luke was written to everybody, regardless of ethnicity, of gender or station in life. No matter the frequency and severity of your sin, Luke's Savior is for you. But you must also understand who that Savior truly is. You must believe in Jesus, and not in the Jesus of your own making or design, but rather the Jesus as revealed in God's holy word.
• 4:43
  You must believe that He is the Son of God, that He died in order to take your place, that the punishment due to you because of your sin, He actually endured. We've said the last couple of weeks that the American church is in crisis, and there seems to have taken place a wholesale rejection of Christ, all the while continuing to embrace religious things. The church across the country is posting record numbers. Christian trinkets and jewelry and t-shirts are still selling out of stores.
• 5:15
  I still see those little fish bumper stickers on our neighbor's cars. But on the whole, the notion of truly believing in a crucified and risen Lord is probably on par with many Americans' minds as believing in Santa Claus. Your neighbors may even say necessity is the mother of invention. Ignorance is the mother of devotion. But may it not be so of this body.
• 5:46
  May we, Highlanders, become informed. May we be ready at a moment's notice to give a reason for the hope that we have, a faith that is founded on reason, but not always in compliance with it. Let me say that again, just so we make sure we understand what I just said, a faith.
• 6:02
  that is founded on reason. We have a reasonable faith, a faith that is founded on reason, but is not always in compliance with it. In other words, God reserves the right to go outside of the scientific method. Right?
• 6:19
  What we can observe scientifically, what we would see over and over and over and over, and all of our biology and chemistry professors said, if you observe it the same way enough times, we'll call it a law. It's not just a theory. We'll call it a law. God reserves the right to break the law, as we will see in our passage this morning. Every single email you've received, text message you've received, little post on Instagram, phone call you've received that somebody has become pregnant, you rejoice over. Never, ever did you assume that it was an immaculate conception.
• 6:50
  Right? Because it never is. It never is. Except for one time. This morning's passage. God says, you know what? I'm going to do it a different way. Scripture says plainly that a virgin conceived and gave birth to the Son of God. You know, most of us have calendars hanging somewhere in our house. Right? Either on the wall or in a desk drawer. Most of those calendars are probably overseen by the mom of the house. Mom's calendar rules all.
• 7:25
  Isn't that true? If it doesn't get onto mom's calendar, normally it doesn't exist, right? That is the calendar that runs the house. And we make plans as if our lives are completely predictable, as if we know what's going to come two months from now, three months from now, as if we can prepare and plan for that, as if it is gospel truth. But how often does it happen that the Lord changes our plans? And when He does,
• 7:53
  How often is our response like Mary's response in verse 38 and from where we get our title this morning? Verse 38, behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. The Lord changes our plans. And typically my response is, but God, you can't. But wait, no. Come on, Lord, no. That's not what I wanted. That's not what I expected. That's not how I pictured it in my head. Very often our lives.
• 8:25
  turn out very differently than we pictured it in our heads. Well, as you know, my family is from, originally from Southern California. That's where I was born and raised. I've got a younger sister, two years younger, whose name is Jenny. Her name is Jenny. She's sitting right over here, right? Oh, there she is. You know, Jenny and I were raised in Southern California, but she went to college in Ohio and then moved to Iowa and then ended up in West Virginia. And so for about 20 years or so, we were separated by 3,000 miles.
• 8:57
  We were both having kids, but because of that distance, that great distance, we rarely saw each other. Once every couple of years, maybe. I had eight nephews and nieces who I didn't really know, to be honest, with the outside of the occasional picture and greeting card and whatever, right? I didn't really know them.
• 9:13
  And so a couple of years ago, when their family moved here, I mean, we were just rejoicing. I got to know these nephews and nieces that I had only ever really just seen pictures of before. Now I'm getting to know them and their personalities and their gifts and their strengths and their talents. It's been so fun to raise our kids together. It's been so fun for our sons to have cousins. They never had that before. And we rejoice in it. A couple of years ago, their first Sunday in town.
• 9:40
  I was sitting next door in our connect group, right? And I was sitting up toward the front. And for the first time in my life, I had a little girl connected to my family. I've got three sons, you guys. I've never had little girls. I have no idea what to do with little girls. I have no clue. I only found out recently that Legos actually come in pink.
• 10:02
  They make pink Legos. I didn't know. I thought they were all Star Wars themed, okay? And so I had no idea, but now I've got this little, she was probably at the time two and a half, three years old when they moved. And so I've got this tiny little cutie blondie.
• 10:16
  You know, following me around, holding my hand, calling me Uncle Danny. I'd never had that before. My heart was just melting. The first Sunday they were here, you know, little tiny comes over and she says, can I sit in your lap? Like, absolutely you can. I pull her up on my lap. We're sitting there. We're listening to whoever it is that's teaching. And you guys, honestly, she's just looking up at me with these little eyes, you know, and I'm like, please don't ask me for a puppy because I will totally buy you one. You know, like anything you want. I love you. Like, I mean, honestly, I was just melting. She still melts me.
• 10:45
  And I'm sitting there, and she's on my lap, and we're just listening. And I thought, man, this is so cool. Thank you, Lord, for doing this. A few minutes went by, and I thought, man, she is really warm. I think she might have just wet my pants. I picked her up, and I handed her back to her mom. Take this. And you guys, I don't like, I feel, this feels like a handcuff.
• 11:18
  I don't like standing back here. I don't like the separation that it causes between me and the congregation. Honestly, if I'm perfectly honest, I don't even like being on the stage. You guys have seen how I preach. Like I'm always trying to get down here, always. You know, I even come halfway down the aisle sometimes when I'm talking out here. I just, it feels like this weird separation. That day, I stood behind the pulpit. I stood, nobody questioned, nobody caught it. Like, why'd you stand behind the pulpit? Normally you're like out walking around. It was because she wet my pants.
• 11:48
  You guys, I was caught completely off guard. It's just not how I pictured it in my head. You know, I was having a moment. My little niece, you know, and man, did she ever throw me a curve ball. Has the Lord ever done that with you? Where he'd come along and say, you know what? I know this is how you pictured it in your head. It's going to be completely different than that. I'm going to change your life. It's going to be a drastic change. You know, when Mary is told by Gabriel that she was highly favored,
• 12:21
  Greetings, oh favored one, highly favored. You know, she must have wondered, like what announcement follows that? And then when she was told that she would conceive out of wedlock, and she didn't know in the moment that the angel would also visit Joseph, her betrothed, right? She didn't know. She's running through all these things in her head, like what are you talking about? Junior high age girl shows up pregnant at church? I've got to explain that to my parents?
• 12:53
  to my friends, to my neighbors, to my fiance? He knows it wasn't him. You don't understand, right? I don't know, you guys, when he shows up and says, greetings, highly favored one, that moment that we all look back at now with 2,000 years of history and perspective, we look back at that now and we say, oh, what a great day. We sing about it. The angelic announcement, the angels, the choruses, we sing about all of that. I don't know that she felt highly favored. I think she was probably terrified. I think that she was wondering how,
• 13:23
  in the world am I going to do this? How in the world? And you guys, the Lord changes little things in my life. And my response is often, how dare you? How dare you, Lord, change my plans? How dare you? You can't do that. I've prepared for something different. The Virgin Mary, you can imagine, has a dramatic change in her life, and her answer is, let it be. Let it be to me according to your word. Yeah, all right, Lord.
• 13:57
  Let it be. What a young lady of faith that we're going to look at for the next couple of weeks. Verses 26 and 27 are really where we're going to put a lot of our time this morning. They set the context for this angelic announcement, the second of Gabriel's angelic announcements. You guys remember from last week, the first was to Zechariah. The second now announcement, we're very familiar with that announcement, Mary's response. And so we're going to focus really on the context of this announcement in verses 26 and 27.
• 14:29
  And Scripture says, in the sixth month, the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God. That sixth month doesn't mean June. In our calendars, it would mean June, right? Okay, yeah, it's June, but that's not how he's counting. He's counting from Elizabeth's pregnancy. If you back up a couple of verses, verse 24, it says, after these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months, she kept herself hidden. And so now this is one month later after Elizabeth
• 14:59
  has conceived. One month later, the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Gabriel shows up to Mary. And that is actually very difficult to date. Scripture never says what month it was that Elizabeth conceived. Nevertheless, we can deduce from that little phrase that John the Baptist, Jesus' I think second cousin, John the Baptist would have been six months older than Jesus.
• 15:25
  That's what that means. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. Now, to call that a city, to use the word city there is maybe a little bit of a misnomer. Nazareth, I don't think was a city. A town? Maybe. A hamlet? Yes. Nazareth was about 10 miles.
• 15:53
  from the nearest major city. The next nearest major city was Tiberias, about a 10-mile walk. So imagine a four or five-hour walk into Tiberias. Now we know that Jesus' dad, Joseph, was a carpenter. On a carpenter's wage, Tiberias is probably where he worked, but Nazareth is where they could afford to live. Nazareth is only ever talked about one time in the Old Testament.
• 16:21
  And it's on Isaiah chapter 9, where it says, unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given. And it actually says he will come from Galilee of the Gentiles, Nazareth. Nazareth, Galilee of the Gentiles, it says. So that's the only other time that Nazareth is ever even talked about. It is an obscure, off-the-beaten-path kind of town. We have plenty of these in Colorado, right? You ever get on I-70 going east?
• 16:53
  Like who in the world lives out here? Bennett? Strasburg? Listen, the only reason I know these towns is because we have to play those schools in baseball. That's it. They got a baseball team. We got to drive out there and play them. But you guys, you get further and further and further east. Like who lives in Strasburg? Why would you live there? It is a junction. There's a gas station and a Wendy's connected to the gas station. You know what I'm saying? Like it's that kind of town. Like what in the world? Nazareth?
• 17:25
  Nazareth was one of those towns. In fact, when Jesus began calling his first disciples, you guys can recall, he calls Philip. Philip goes and calls Nathanael. Nathanael's sitting under the tree. Do you remember this? Philip goes to Nathanael and he says, listen, Nathanael, we found him of whom was said in Moses and the prophets. We found the one who would come. This is the Messiah. This is the prophet who was to come. Nathanael looks up at Philip and says, can anything good come from Nazareth?
• 17:56
  He can't be from Nazareth. The Messiah, the one that we've been waiting for all of this time, is coming from Bennett? No. Broomfield? Yeah. Not Bennett. Certainly not. You say, well, why does any of this matter? Remember Luke's theme. Luke's theme is that Jesus is the Savior.
• 18:22
  For everyone. He's not above anybody. You're not so low on the pole that you don't have a savior, an advocate. You say, well, I'm from an obscure town. I'm from an obscure family and religious lineage. None of my parents believe. None of my grandparents. I'm the first one in my family to believe. I didn't come from generations of believers. You know what? Jesus is from a pretty obscure town too. Jesus.
• 18:51
  was from a lineage that you would not expect the king of kings to be born. Mary and Joseph, this kid, there's no way Jesus is the Savior for anybody. He can raise us up even out of the gutter, clothe us in righteousness, and make us children of God. Listen to 1 Corinthians 1.
• 19:18
  The Apostle Paul says, I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in Him in all speech and knowledge so that you are not lacking any gift. Maybe you came in and you were saying, you know, I oftentimes feel like a failure. I'm less intelligent than anybody else. I'm less gifted. I'm less wealthy. I'm less worthy. Take hope.
• 19:51
  Your Savior comes from Nazareth. That's first, a city of Galilee and Nazareth. I love that. Notice he continues in verse 27. It says, to a virgin, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. Mary and Joseph were betrothed. This would be like us saying engaged. Only engagements can be broken. Betrothals were actually legally binding contracts. And betrothals typically lasted about one year.
• 20:22
  This young man and woman were chosen for each other by their parents. Most of the time, vast majority of the time, these were arranged marriages. I remember in my youth thinking how ridiculous an arranged marriage would be.
• 20:37
  Now that I'm older and I have my own sons, I think they sound pretty good, honestly. I'm like, you know, buddy, just trust me. Daddy will find you a wife. You don't have to worry about it. I'll choose one. And I know it does sound ridiculous. Our culture doesn't do it that way. I'm not advocating for that. But imagine the amount of devastation that could be averted if parents were more involved.
• 21:03
  in the dating and engagement processes of their sons and daughters. Parents, can I just encourage you? Be involved. You don't have to choose, unless you want to, right? You don't have to choose, but man, make sure you approve. Make sure you approve. These parents were heavily involved in the selection of this bride and groom, and typically it lasted, like I said, about one year. Now, that one year did two things. First,
• 21:32
  That one year gave this little future groom enough time to prepare a house for he and his wife to live in. He gave him one year. He begins construction on his house. After that year, they get married. He moves her in, okay? What's cool about that idea, you guys, all throughout the New Testament, we are called the bride of Christ, right? We are the bride of Christ. He is our bridegroom. In John chapter 14,
• 22:01
  The disciples, the apostles find out that Jesus is going to leave. And they're not even aware at that point, although he's told them pretty specifically, they were pretty dense. And so they didn't pick up that this meant crucifixion, okay? But he says, I'm leaving. Don't let your hearts be troubled. I'm leaving and I go to prepare a place for you. Do you remember? He said that. I go to prepare a place and when it's finished, I'll come back and get you and then you will be with me. He was talking about his wedding.
• 22:30
  That's what he was looking forward to. He was crucified. He went to heaven. That's where he is now. Do you know what he's doing? He's doing all kinds of work on earth. We know that. But you know what else he's doing? He is preparing a place for his bride. We are betrothed to Christ. The marriage ceremony hasn't happened yet. I believe that's a future event. I believe that he will come back and get his bride. Everybody following? He'll come back. And I believe that he will. And this is why I believe in the rapture. I believe that is the rapture.
• 23:01
  He's going to collect us. We meet him in the air. He's going to take us to heaven with him. And for seven years, we will enjoy what is called the marriage supper of the lamb. That's Revelation 19, the marriage supper of the lamb. You know, it's really cool. Ancient Jewish ceremonies, and even some still today, traditional Jewish ceremonies, typically last seven days. Your wedding would be seven days. That ceremony lasts about 30 minutes, just like all of ours were.
• 23:29
  about a 30-minute ceremony, but then the reception, instead of just being two, three hours with some cake and mixed nuts, that would actually last for seven days. There would be a seven-day celebration and party. I think it makes sense that those seven days correspond to seven years. While there is great tribulation here on earth,
• 23:54
  What would the church be doing? I believe the wedding, the marriage supper of the Lamb. If you disagree with me on that, that's okay. Men and women who are much smarter in me and much better published than I am disagree with me on that, okay? But I think, man, it sure does line up. It's really cool that that marriage is still to come, that we await that marriage supper of the Lamb, that we will rejoice. And so that's what that one-year period was for, this betrothal period. The husband goes and gets a place ready.
• 24:21
  The second thing that it was for, why a year? That one year betrothal also showed whether the bride would remain faithful. One year is long enough, right? To know if this was a wedding by mistake, one year was long enough. It would also show this bridegroom as he's preparing a place, it would show whether this young lady would remain faithful to him. Worst...
• 24:51
  Case scenario. What's the worst thing that could possibly happen during that one year? She shows up pregnant. Worst thing that could possibly happen to her. Oh, favored one, right? Joseph would have known, this ain't mine. Whose is it? Notice his announcement. We'll begin in verse 28. He came to her and said, greetings, oh, favored one. The Lord is with you. Now, the last time.
• 25:23
  Gabriel showed up and met with a guy, Zechariah. He terrified him to his very core. Do you remember that? Zechariah would have been hands shaking, trembling, now in the presence of an angel, absolutely terrified, so scared, in fact, that he actually disbelieved Zechariah's announcement and became mute for almost a year, okay? And so I think Gabriel probably learned something from the last time. When I show up in front of people, I got to start with some good news.
• 25:50
  Greetings, favored one. You know, this is good news. You're favored. The Lord has noticed you. The Lord has seen you. The Lord is with you. Notice in verse 29, it didn't work. She was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. So it doesn't necessarily work. Greetings, oh favored one, I'm about to change your life.
• 26:11
  Verse 30, he describes who the son would be. 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. Jesus literally means Yahweh saves, the salvation of God. That's what his name means. We sing a song on occasion. The bridge has a phrase in it that we all sing together.
• 26:38
  that says simply to speak his name is praise. Just saying the name of Jesus is worship because his name means the salvation of God. Yahweh saves. You'll call his name Jesus. Verse 32 says, and he will be great. Notice it doesn't say he will do great things. Lots of people do great things. We can praise God for indoor plumbing and electric light bulbs.
• 27:09
  and antibiotics. Those are all great things, right? But that doesn't mean they were necessarily great men and women who invented them. Does it mean Jesus is going to have all kinds of inventions? Just wait till you see how many patents Jesus has because he's going to be great. That's not what it says. It doesn't say he's going to do great things. It says he will be great. The Greek word for great is mega. Mega. It's where we get all the bad guys from Transformers. Mega.
• 27:41
  right? He will be great. He will be the definition of greatness. Can you imagine that? If you want to know if somebody lived a great life, I'm a pastor, right? So I do a lot of funerals. If you're a member of Highland Baptist Church, chances are I'm either going to do your funeral or you will attend my funeral, right? One of those two things will probably happen. I do a lot of funerals. And it's funny how
• 28:09
  Most of the time at funerals, we would never rebuke, we would never counter or contradict or stand up and try to correct this, obviously, because it would be dishonoring to the family. But it's funny how often we define great men and women based on the great things they accomplished. If they did great things, then they must have been great people. That's not how it defines Jesus's life. He would obviously do great things, but it actually says he would be great. If you want to aspire to greatness,
• 28:39
  Don't fall for the world's definition of it, which means do great things. Rather, be great like Jesus was great. You want to know if somebody was a great man or woman? How closely did they live like the one who was great? How Christ-like were they? Their accomplishments are secondary to the character that they exhibit over the course of their lives, to the fruit of the Spirit that they manifest. He will be.
• 29:05
  Great, the definition of greatness, and it continues, will be called the Son of the Most High. Two times in our text this morning, it calls God the Most High. This is the Hebrew name El Elyon. El Elyon means sovereign, in control, omnipotent of all circumstances. It says He will be His Son. He'll be equal to, the same status, the same power as the Most High God.
• 29:33
  The Lord God, Gabriel says, will give to him the throne of his father, David. He will sit on David's throne. So he says, Mary, think back a thousand years. Do you remember King David? Yes, I remember King David. He will sit on David's throne. You know, like two days ago, I'm not kidding. I have the most unique nine-year-old on the planet, okay? And I know that I talk about Chase a lot because he's just, it's crazy to me the things that he comes up with. Two, three days ago, this week, he comes to me, he says, Dad.
• 30:03
  do you know anything about the Davidic covenant? I said, yeah, I've heard of it. Do you? Yeah, yeah. Do you know about it? And I said, you know what? Why don't you share with me what you know about it? Let me just check to make sure I understand it right. You know, I want to hear this definition. Dad, the Davidic covenant was when David was so good that God promised that one of David's son would sit on David's throne forever, that he would always have a son on the throne.
• 30:36
  I said, you know, Chase, that's actually pretty close. That's pretty close. But I said, it wasn't David who was so good. It was God who was so good. Do you remember David's response to God? When God said, you will have a son on your throne forever. Do you remember? David, in his response, did not talk about his own goodness. Rather, he says, are you always this good? Are you always this good to men? Or is it just me?
• 31:07
  How can you be this good to me? I said, Chase, it wasn't that David was so good. It was that God was so good that he gave this promise. And so Gabriel says, Mary, listen, do you remember a thousand years? Do you remember the Davidic covenant? Mary, yeah, this is him. Then he says, he will rule over the house of Jacob. It's next in your text. He will rule over, reign over the house of Jacob forever. Gabriel says, okay, do you remember David a thousand years ago? Go another thousand years back.
• 31:36
  Remember Jacob, the patriarchs? Yeah. The beginning, inception of the Jewish nation. Yeah. This is the son that Jacob waited for too. Gabriel's like, listen, go back as far as you want. Think back, eternity past. It's this son. He concludes, he says, and his kingdom will endure forever. Forever his kingdom. There will be no end.
• 32:01
  Mary, think back thousands of years. It's Jesus. And now think forward as far as you want. Eternity future. It's him. It's him. Look back, Jesus. Look forward, Jesus. And church, if you are in a time where you're just struggling, like, I don't know, Danny, I don't know what the Lord is doing in my life. I don't know what he wants from me. I feel like big changes are coming, but honestly, what do I know?
• 32:29
  I had a guy come up to me after the service, after first service, and he says, I got a joke for you. And I said, all right. You want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans. I don't know. What does God want from me? What is he going to do with me? I feel like changes are coming. You know what Gabriel would say? Look backward. Look backward. Every time, look at the faithfulness of God for thousands of years. Now look forward. The faithfulness of God for eternity future. There will be no end. He will always rule and reign.
• 33:02
  Notice her response in verse 34. I love this response. So simple. Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I am a virgin? How will this be? Now, what did Mary mean when she described herself as a virgin? You wouldn't think we'd have to talk about that. We'd think this would be relatively brainless, easy. And yet there is a lot of criticism over this point because the virgin birth is a theological issue that we must insist upon. We have to.
• 33:31
  What did she mean when she described herself as a virgin? I remember my former senior pastor calling and saying, Danny, we have our Christmas Eve service upcoming. Okay. I'm wondering if your mom and your son, Zach, who was about kindergarten at the time, just learning how to read, you know, if your mom, Nana, and Zach would read the Christmas story in front of the church. Yeah, he says, I think it'd be cool to have this kind of multi-generational thing, you know. Yeah, that sounds good.
• 33:59
  So we're practicing with five-year-old Zach the Christmas story. He's reading all of these words. He comes to one he doesn't understand. Daddy, what's a virgin? Call Pastor Chris. He'll explain it to you. Call Pastor Chris. Like, thanks for that, Chris. I appreciate that. It's funny that we have to define this word, but we do. What's a virgin? A lot of attempts have been made actually to explain away the miraculous nature of Christ's birth.
• 34:30
  The most common, the most frequent is to say that when Mary described herself as a virgin, she actually just meant she was a young lady and could have actually lived a promiscuous life. Just meant she was young. She wasn't at the age yet where you'd expect young ladies to have kids. And that's what she meant. However, Mary's statement leaves no room for disagreement. The literal rendering of this statement would be, how can this be?
• 35:02
  since I have never been with a man. It wasn't just saying, I'm a young lady. And oh, well, yeah, I mean, there was one time. And oh, yeah, maybe this time. That's not what she says. I've never been with a man. This is impossible. It doesn't say that she disbelieved like Zechariah. She didn't become a mute. She believed. But she says, how is this going to happen? And so why is that such a big deal? Why does the virgin birth matter? The Bible says when Adam and Eve sinned,
• 35:31
  It affected humanity in a number of ways, and we know about this. It brought death and disease and a curse, pain, toil, broken relationship between ourselves and God. But for the sake of our study this morning, we'll focus on one particular aspect that is most commonly referred to as original or inherited sin. The Bible says when Adam sinned, he actually passed down to every generation that would follow sin, a sin nature.
• 36:02
  We're not just sinners because we sin. We were actually born in sin. You could live a perfect life and never rebel and still have sin to pay for. This original inherited sin. And it was passed down specifically from your dad. Your dad.
• 36:22
  passed it down. Adam passed it to his sons who passed it to their sons who passed it to their sons. I eventually inherited it from my father and I passed it to my sons. When they are tempted and struggle against sin, I mean, they can thank me. Sin, at least one aspect of sin, and I don't know how this totally works, the Lord knows, is actually genetic. It is passed on to us by our fathers. And so when Mary looks at Gabriel and says, how can this be since I've never been with a man? Gabriel's response is simple.
• 36:54
  That's why it's going to work. The inherited original sin that you and I all have and have to have forgiveness for, Jesus did not have. He didn't have that original sin. He had no sin to pay for on his own behalf before he could start paying for all of ours. This is why the virgin will conceive and give birth. This is why in that moment, scientific process, scientific method, I got to break that. He doesn't have a dad.
• 37:24
  He can have an adopted dad named Joseph, right? But he does not have the same sin nature that you and I all have. Notice Gabriel's explanation. How will this work? He says in verse 35, the angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. He's explaining this to a 12, 13-year-old girl, right? Seventh grade girl. You can imagine her eyes glossing over. What are you talking about?
• 37:54
  The Holy Spirit will come upon me and the power of the Most High will overshadow me. That doesn't exactly explain everything, which is why he just ends with this. Behold, your relative Elizabeth, you know, the old one. Yeah, the old one who could never have kids. Yeah, she will have a son. She's actually six months along. She was barren before. Nothing will be impossible with God. And here is Mary's response. Behold, I am the servant.
• 38:27
  Some old school translations that you may be familiar with from your youth, use the word handmaiden there. And I cannot think of a worse translation. I'm the handmaiden of the Lord. You're like, no, that's not the word. Servant is a little bit better. The Greek word there is doulos. It means slave. When I think of handmaidens, I don't think of slaves, right?
• 38:52
  She says, I am the slave of God. I don't get any say in this. I'm not going to make demands. I'm the slave of the Lord. He's my master. So let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed. I love that song we began with. It would be my joy to say your will, your way, always. Your will, your way, always. And that's exactly what Mary says. God, your will, your way, always.
• 39:23
  J.C. Ryle has said this, let us seek in our daily practical Christianity to exercise the same blessed spirit of faith which we see here in the Virgin Mary. Let us be willing to go anywhere, to do anything, to be anything, whatever be the present and immediate inconvenience. So no matter if it's inconvenient to us, so long as God's will is clear and the path of duty is plain, whatever the Lord reveals for us to do, even if it changes our plans, may our response be, let it be to me.
• 39:54
  according to your word. And God, I pray that we would follow the example of Mary, this young lady, Lord, this young lady of faith. God, that we would just believe and not doubt that your plan is better than our plan, that the way we saw our lives and our own heads, God, may not actually bring you the most glory and may not bring us the most joy. And so, Lord, I pray that you would reveal your will and your way to us and that we would just simply respond with, let it be.
• 40:25
  to me according to your word. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.