Why Mary

This transcription discusses the misconceptions and misunderstandings about Mary, the mother of Jesus. It highlights that Mary was not sinless and not the mother of God. It emphasizes that Mary was just an ordinary woman who needed a savior, and that she did not have any special influence or recognition with Jesus. The transcription also explains that Jesus alone is our mediator and redeemer, and that salvation comes through him, not through Mary. It explores why Mary was chosen to be the mother of Jesus, stating that God surprises us in how he works and that Mary found favor with God. to be looking at why Mary we've been taking kind of a apologetic approach to Christmas this year and kind of answering some of these why questions that we have and a lot of things about holidays and I'm just as guilty as anybody else you know we get involved in things and sometimes we don't know why we do things or what we just kind of go with the crowd right and we have a lot of things about Christmas that we just do that has so much especially biblical significance that we just don't even think about and really we talked about in class this morning where the Morris was teaching and and we got to get back to this idea that Christmas is about Jesus Christ and about that atonement that he has made on the cross of Calvary when you think about Mary there are so many things that are misunderstood misinterpreted misjudged about Mary probably more so than anybody in the Bible as a matter of fact the Roman Catholics along with a lot of orthodox religions they don't have gone so far as to worship and even idolize Mary the mother of Jesus Christ and the rationale for this practice is not a biblical rationale but it is actually it shows us how that we can slip up and how that we can become very unbiblical very quickly when you add to or take away from the Word of God see when we put the Word of God into interpreting into our hands we end up with problems and the logical rationale of this thinking was and it kind of if you hear it it kind of makes a little bit of sense as a matter of fact we think that Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ right that is a true statement Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ another true statement is Christ is God right he said if you've seen the father you've seen me and so you've got these true statements that Mary is the mother of Jesus and that Christ is God but here's where the logic messes up here's where the thing does not compute because what you'll do is in logic when you understand this because Mary is the mother of Christ and Christ is God then all of a sudden you can drop Jesus Christ out of it and now you can say Mary is the mother of God right if Mary is the mother of Christ and Christ is the mother of God the problem with that is if we really want something when we find out what happens is is we look at Mary is not the mother of God when we see Mary is the mother of God if we really want something then we need to pray to Mary right she's the mother she's the one that is in control she is more capable than any other man to talk with her son Jesus Christ but the thinking makes Jesus Christ unapproachable because if Mary is the mother of God then Mary is greater than what Jesus Christ is and so what we need to understand and before we can really understand why Mary we need to look at a couple of things about Mary that we need to get understood at the very very beginning and the first one is is that Mary was not immaculate and what I mean by immaculate is she was not sinless Mary was a sinner just like you and I Mary was flesh she was of the seed of Adam and therefore she had sinned in her life Luke chapter 1 in verse 42 says and she spake out Mary with a loud voice and said or Elizabeth speaking spoke out said blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of the womb notice she was blessed among women not above women and so Mary was just a woman like any of you women are she was just an ordinary person and she needed a savior just like every single one of you ordinary women that are here this morning the matter of fact in Luke chapter 1 in verse 47 Mary said my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior she realized that she had to trust in God she needed a savior just like you and I and she didn't have any special recognition she did not have any special influence with Jesus Christ while he was here on earth as a matter of fact you read over in Matthew chapter 12 and you said why and it says while he yet talked to the people behold his mother and his brethren stood without desiring to speak with him now I guarantee you if my mother won't needs to tell me something she can walk right on up in here and while I'm preaching or whatever and I'm going to stop and I'm going to listen to what my mother but notice Mary she's standing without she's not speaking up and then one of them said unto him behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with thee in other words so now they tell Jesus hey your mom wants to talk to you uh he's sitting there making disciples but notice what Jesus said but he answered and said unto him that told him who is my mother and who are my brethren and he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said behold my mother and my brethren and then here's the key verse 50 for whosoever shall do the will of my father which is in heaven the same is my brother and sister and mother remember Jesus Christ in his very first miracle that we have recorded we don't know if it's his first miracle or not it's the first recorded miracle but we find that Mary in John chapter 2 verse 3 says they wanted wine the mother of Jesus said unto him they have no wine and Jesus saith unto her woman what have I to do with thee mine hour is not yet come Jesus reminds us that she was not above you or I those with influence with Jesus Christ if you want to have influence with Jesus Christ you don't go through Mary if you want to have influence with Jesus Christ you be obedient and obey and God says with you remember how many times did he say if you love me keep my commandments right and so God has influence with those that obey him that's why you see Elijah prayed and the sun stopped moved backwards you see that Elijah prayed and it didn't rain for 40 days you see all of these miracles throughout the Bible of men and women that trusted God that believed in God that obeyed God and when they asked God delivered it wasn't because they prayed to Mary it was because they were being obedient and Jesus Christ said if you obey me ask and it will be given unto you we also find that with this influence in Luke chapter 11 in verse 27 it came to pass as he spake these things a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps which thou hast sucked but he said yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it in other words man they're talking about Mary's look how blessed but notice what Jesus Christ said those that are blessed are those that hear the word of God and keep the word of God and so we need to understand that Mary was not immaculate she was not sinless the second thing that we need to make sure we understand today Mary was not the mother of God we've already proved this in former messages if you remember Jesus Christ has always existed he has always been God Mary has never spoken to in the word of God that says she was the mother of God she is always the mother of Jesus Christ God in the flesh it always speaks of the humanity of Jesus Christ it never refers to her deity the deity of Jesus Christ and so he tells us in Luke chapter 1 in verse 43 and winces this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me and scripture is very clear scripture is not even questionable or debatable that Jesus Christ alone is our mediator he is the one that mediates between I and the Father 1st Timothy 2 5 says there is one God and one mediator between God and man the woman Mary no it's not what it says it says the man Jesus Christ he is the one that mediates he is the one that is sitting on the right hand of the Father ever living to make intercession on our behalf it's Jesus Christ that is our mediator and him alone he also tells us in 1st John 2 1 that my little children these things write unto you that you sin not and if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Jesus Christ so Christ alone is our mediator not Mary she's a woman just like we are she is not perfect and she is not the mother of God Christ is our mediator but Christ alone is also our Redeemer it tells us Jesus Christ said in John 14 6 I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the Father but by me you don't go through Mary to get salvation you go through Jesus Christ he tells us in Acts chapter 4 in verse 12 there is neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name including Mary under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved and so Christ alone is our mediator Christ alone is our Redeemer and so now that we understand that about Mary and that's what makes Mary so extraordinary why Mary then if Mary is not the mother of God if Mary is not sinless then why was Mary given the opportunity and the blessing to be the mother of Jesus Christ it happens with all of us as we serve God the first thing I want us to notice in our passage this morning if you turn to Luke chapter 1 is when you're serving God God is full of surprises God is full of surprises every day is a new surprise and you notice what he says here in Luke chapter 1 we're going to begin in verse 26 and read down through verse 33 it says in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary and the angel came in unto her and said hail thou that are highly favored notice that word highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and when she saw him she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be and the angel said unto her fear not Mary for thou has found favor there it is again found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son not bring forth God bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end Mary when we look at the life of Mary and we answer the question why Mary first of all it shows us about the surprise of living for God the surprise that is there walking with Jesus Christ is always an adventure and he says what he says in Psalms it says thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path in other words as we follow Jesus Christ through the word of God he speaks to us he directs us he guides us every day is a new day and the word of God tells us that that as we live for him that he came to give us life and life more abundantly but what we don't see in the word of God is we don't see a lot of information about the future we don't see a lot of information about tomorrow even in the church at Thessalonica a couple of times Paul wanted to bust loose on the end times in the rapture and the second coming of Jesus Christ and he said man I'll tell you personally but it's too much for me to write and for you to understand because God doesn't want us looking to the future he told the disciples in Acts before he ascended what did he say he said quit worrying about now you go to Jerusalem and you will be witnesses and so man sometimes if we know what's happening tomorrow or we know what's happening next week we have a tendency as humans to do what to sit back and wait until what's going to happen happens right how many of you ever get kind of right before you know you're going on vacation right you start preparing and you slack off on some of the things you need to be doing in order to prepare to go on that vacation and so God doesn't always reveal everything to us right in the moment sometimes he don't give it a week in advance a month in advance or years he's given us a a brief glimpse at the future and he says i'm giving you some times and some seasons and some birth pains but you have no idea the details or when it's going to happen and so when we think about that with Jesus Christ you know wouldn't it be not good to know a little bit into the future wouldn't it be great to know that i mean it would i mean i sit and you don't realize the burden of a pastor that sits around and tries to figure out you've got 66 books in this bible you've got all of these chapters and all of these verses and all of it is profitable that's what the bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable which one am i going to be able to preach this year i can't preach this whole book do you realize that there are men that have been in the ministry longer than me that still never preach because the word of God is inexhaustible it's always new it's living it's going with us and so man you're trying to figure out and man it would be great if God just showed me into the future and would set me up so that exactly what's happening in current events let me know what's going on in your life three months from now so that i can have a sermon series all planned and ready to go that will deal with you but guess what it doesn't happen that way as a matter of fact sometimes i wake up on sunday morning and all of a sudden God changes the plan all of a sudden God says you know what this was what you decided but here's what i need from you it's always a surprise it's always an adventure and it would be great and it would be life would be a lot easier if God would work that way you know just a few weeks ahead you know if you know that doctor appointment's going to not be so good wouldn't it be great to know a few weeks in advance before you go see the doctor sometimes if we just had a little bit of a warning that knowing that you are related to the king of kings knowing that you are related to the lord of lords the creator of the universe that sent his son to live within your life that you have a direct communication to almighty God and that you can fellowship with him and that he will direct you he will guide you he will strengthen you he will be with you each and every day and each and every moment that is what makes the christian life and a great adventure i don't know what tomorrow holds but i know that his grace is sufficient his grace is sufficient isn't that the way it is though you know it's always full of surprises and that's the way it was with mary you think about mary for just a minute her whole relationship with Jesus Christ was a relationship of surprise i mean how in the world can you as michelle sangwell ago how in the world can you look at this baby this infant and anticipate everything that Jesus Christ is going to do or accomplish john said he did so many more miracles and taught so many more things that if he would have wrote everything down all the libraries in the world wouldn't have been able to hold it we've just got the abbreviated version we've got the clef notes to what Jesus Christ did but can you imagine because you watch mary and mary from the birth of Jesus Christ all the way to his death the one thing that was constant throughout his entire life was mary seemed to always be there with him and the adventure that she must have had can you imagine the message when the shepherds told mary and joseph that angels had appeared to them while they were watching their sheep out in the field and told them and shared with them that the messiah had been born jesus christ the savior was there in bethlehem can you just imagine this morning when we read the words in luke chapter 2 is about all this christmas story here's what it says at the end all that they heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds but mary but mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart in other words what it means is is that every one of these little coincidences the shepherd showing up later the wise men showing up the fact that they were in bethlehem when paying their taxes that here they were here she was pregnant with a baby that was needed to be born in bethlehem and how god just worked all of these little coincidences in life right things that we would just call luck of the draw or coincidences or whatever all of these things mary did what she collected all of these events all of these activities and she did what she paused and she pondered she thought about it she meditated on it she mulled it over what god had said and you know just like mary we often find ourselves surprised in our walk with god god doesn't always give us the details but just like mary we don't have a blueprint of our lives are those of our children's lives but listen to me this morning very carefully when we submit to the lord by faith when we submit to jesus christ by faith he is always there he's always there and he hears our prayers and he meets our needs because even though we may be surprised god is not surprised and mary was highly favored she found favor we're going to look at that word here in just a minute because notice the second thing not only is god full of surprises but mary is filled with surrender look at what we find out about mary as we continue on in verse 34 it says then said mary unto the angel how shall this be right that's a logical question here she is engaged to be mary she has never been in a physical relationship and all of a sudden she is about to have a child and notice what it says how in the world can this be seeing i know not a man and the angel answered and said unto her the holy ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of god and behold thy cousin elizabeth she has also conceived the son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was called baron for with god nothing is impossible but mary said behold the handmaid of the lord and notice this next phrase be it unto me according to what your word and the angel departed from her notice what we see about mary and her surrender to jesus christ and god first of all she believed god's word it says there then mary said unto the angel how shall this be see and i know not a man you say well she didn't really believe she's questioning god do you realize that this is a very legitimate question i mean mary is old enough and mature enough to understand biology and she knows that a virgin cannot conceive a child and so god says mary i am fixing to do with you what is inexplainable and that has never been done before ever and mary she didn't say you're not going to do it she didn't rebuke them she didn't do that but she said how is this going to be possible how are you going to make this happen you know there's been a lot of times in my ministry that i've looked at god and god said this is what's fixing to happen and i'd simply say god how are you going to make it happen right how are you going to make this happen and it's okay to question god sometimes you get the idea and sometimes we're taught that it's wrong to question god but mango tells mary what he immediately answers that you are going you are a virgin but you are going to be conceived with the holy spirit it's never wrong to question how god does something it is wrong to question why god does something you see the difference of why god does and how god does see she didn't question what god was going to do she questioned how are you going to do it how are you going to make this possible and the simple answer to her question is found in verse 37 for with god all things nothing shall be impossible all things are possible and so as we look at this notice she believed god but mary also obeyed god she obeyed the word look at what she says and mary said behold the handmaid of the lord be it unto me according to thy word don't miss that little phrase be it unto me because that word includes everything and everything includes some unpleasant things there's some things that are not nice there's some things that are not going to be fun there's some things that are not going to be very exciting in other words mary there's some hard things that are going to happen because of this it wasn't easy for mary to say yes you think about a young girl that has wed to a young joseph and they are betrothed and now all of a sudden she's going to be pregnant it was depicted in the film the other night and we talked about can you imagine what was on her mind what would her parents think what would her parents think when she comes home and says mom i'm pregnant i'm pregnant no no it wasn't joseph right i mean how many of you are going to believe your child right and just all of a sudden accepted it and we know that because of history and everything else that she was ridiculed she was she was cast out by the those that were within her community and she was kind of an outcast with this because she gave up all of her reputation she gave up everything that she had worked for and and all of a sudden everything that she had strived to achieve all of a sudden comes crashing down sometimes god's surprises are not always going to be easy they're not always going to work out in our favor but listen if you get serious about god's will in your life not only are you not going to always understand what god is doing but there are going to be people that's going to misunderstand there's going to be people that are going to misjudge you there are going to be people that are going to criticize you and your motives and everything else and we've come to a point in our life where we are determined that we care more about what god thinks than what anybody else thinks you know it took me a long time in the ministry to follow god and quit following people because i was worried about people you know i yeah i know god wrote my check and god took care of my family and god did all of that but god does it through people right and so man you've got to make sure the people are happy but what i found out is you know what it really doesn't matter what the people think it's what god thinks and so we have to serve him god's will for your life is not always going to be easy god has asked me to do things that were not always easy that were not always necessarily fun and typically as humans we always want to take the easy way out right we just want to slide through life we want to take the course of least resistance we we want to enjoy life we want to experience life but we don't want to get too far out of the norm or the craziness because why we don't want to be labeled a fanatic a weirdo odd so what we do we continue to learn of her faith and just like mary and we follow the life of christ here she has birthed the son of god the child god himself and notice she goes with him and she ponders it in her heart but she's still obeying and so she honored and obeyed the will of the father she provided his only son a home from which he could emerge to launch the work that he would define all of human history mary was obedient from the conception and mary was also obedient all the way to the death of the cross can you imagine as a mother we get excited about the birth of jesus christ right but can you imagine the mother g mary as she stood there at the cross of calvary watching her son watching god die for our sins and i believe it was the third thing that he said from the cross after he said father forgive them for they know not what they do and i forget what the second one but i believe it was the third one he looks down at the apostle john and he says john take care of my mother take care of my mother from the cross and here she is there watching him suffer watching him sacrifice his life for her sins and for our sins and for them soldiers sins that were mistreating him that was there but he still died for them you know if you've been fighting with something that god has been asking you to do in your life let me ask you to go back and to learn the submission learn to be godly from mary just simply when god is asking you to do something you may not understand it you may not know where it's going to take you but say what mary said be it unto me according to the word and then look at what happens mary believed god therefore she obeyed god and then look at what immediately happens she flatters the savior she flatters and i use that word it's a word of worship look down jump down with me it goes into elizabeth and that's a whole nother miracle that's a whole nother story that is there with her cousin elizabeth and the baby of john the baptist but jump with me down to verse 46 it says and mary said my soul does magnify the lord and my spirit has rejoiced in god my savior for he has regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty has done to me great things and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation he has showed strength with his arm he has stattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away he has helped his servant israel in remembrance of his mercy and he spake to our fathers to abraham and to his seed forever i want you to learn something this morning about worship you see when you believe god and you obey god worship comes out of that process worship is not something that you go and do you cannot come and worship god worship only happens after you believe god and obey god it is an outpouring of obedience it is an outpouring of service that's why every single day when you get up in the morning on monday morning and vipe is not going your way guess what you are going to make the decision when the alarm clock goes off am i going to worship god today or am i not going to worship him today because they worship is found in obedience and notice what mary does mary is here and she decided to believe god's word and she determined to do god's will and therefore now worship is now prioritized now worship becomes full and complete before you get too excited remember before worship there has to be obedience before praise there has to be obedience and i'm going to prove it to you this morning in john chapter 4 verse 24 notice god is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in what spirit and in truth do you know what that means you know what that means in truth we understand the spiritual we know through nicodemus you know that man that is born of the flesh is flesh man is born of the spirit of spirit we understand that but what about the truth the truth part of this is when you decide to believe the truth of god's word and you determine to do god's will in your spirit then and only then can you worship god so many people are false worshipers right and what did we look at in the sermon of the mount jesus said there will be many in that day that will say what did we not do mighty works did we not cast out devils did we not praise you did we not worship you and what does he say depart from me you workers of iniquity for i never knew you they were there one spiritually but they wasn't being obedient they wasn't doing and accepting jesus christ for what he had done in their life which is why we read in verse 46 and 47 notice that when mary begins to worship notice the first thing that mary does in her worship god was her focus it wasn't about her it wasn't about anything that was going on but notice what she said mary said my soul my spirit doth magnify the lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in god my savior god was her focused in other words because she was obedient she was focused on god sometimes when we are singing and we are worshiping we are focused on what other people think right amen we want to make sure people see us give an offering you know it's been amazing and that's what i've been so pleased with with kentucky and you guys is we've quit taking up a public offering but you know what our offerings have stayed good people are still giving because why it shows that you are giving out of love not out of requirement or duty yeah i could probably get more if we passed a plate but it's not about getting more it's about getting your heart right with jesus christ and the more will come and so god was her focus she said my soul does magnify the lord in other words the lord speaks about submission to him he is the ball see he's her baby i'm not the boss of my mama my mama is my boss right but mary said he's my lord he's my lord but then notice what he says he's also my savior see not only was god her focus in worship but god was also her savior mary you know and you if you're not very very careful you're going to miss this and so i want to point it out to you so you don't miss it and it's really the secret to mary's greatness what made mary so great if she was just an ordinary woman that i mentioned and showed you at the very first what is makes mary so great and the secret with her relationship with god in both verse 47 we're told that she was in god but the angel had just told her that god was in her right you were fixing to conceive god you were fixing to birth jesus christ you realize that's the real definition of christianity is not only christ in you but you also in christ you remember back when we studied ephesians where does salvation when we're saved where does that put us in christ but you can't get into christ until christ gets into you and notice what it says it says not only was jesus going to be in mary but mary was also in jesus of all of the billions of women who have ever inhabited our planet only mary carried and nourished the son of god only mary she is the only one the only human that had the face that resembled the face of jesus christ the face that resembled god no wonder she said in verse 48 for he had regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden wow he regarded the lowest state for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed but notice it was but not because of anything that she did it wasn't nothing that mary did that made her special or spectacular what made her spectacular was her obedience even so god be it done unto me that's what made her special and the reason we know about mary is because of what the angel said to her in verse 28 he said and the angel came in and said unto her hell thou that are what there's that word i told you to notice while i go highly favored the lord is with thee blessed art thou among women do you realize that word favored is the same root word that we get the word grace but it has just a little bit of a different twist to it in other words it's not just grace but favored means pursued with grace see if someone is favored it's not just a gift you know some people you just get gifts for right because all of a sudden you get a gift and so you feel obligated to give them a gift right and so that's just grace you know they may have not necessarily deserved it but you gave them a gift you gave them grace something that cost you something but those that are favored those that are favored are pursued with grace you know i call and i ask hey what mom what's what you needing right now what would you like to have for christmas you know because i want something that you're going to love something that you're going to enjoy something that i can gift you with it's going to be and so in other words it's not just about giving my mom a present it's about pursuing the gift and that's what jesus the word that he uses here with mary is that you are pursued with grace and the real reason why mary was chosen by god is simply grace but when grace was extended to her what did she do she obeyed she obeyed by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves it's what a gift of god not of works lest anyone should boast however the next verse says we are his workmanship created in christ jesus unto good works and so some people think mary was saved because she had the son of god she had jesus christ but she wasn't saved because she was the mother of jesus christ she was saved because she was trusted in jesus christ she recognized her sin she received grace and she was obedient she proved it through her obedience even all the way to you know all these people were wanting to be disciples of jesus christ what name how many times was jesus christ asked if i could come be your disciple but you know what mary was the one that stuck with them through everywhere while he was making disciples she was there by his side the angel said to mary you are favored you have received god's grace you have been pursued by the grace of god elizabeth said to mary you are blessed because you believe you are blessed because you believe that's what we see in mary god's grace in her faith see god was proclaimed notice what happens in this in the next verse notice what she said now now she's received god he is now god is now in her she is in god and then she says for he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation it goes from grace to mercy he said god will extend his mercy for you god's already given you grace you're going to accept it or not accept it for god so loved the world that he what he gave us his only begotten son that whosoever that's you that's me whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life grace has already been extended he said i didn't come to condemn you i came to give you grace but he says you're already condemned when you don't receive the grace go back and read john 3 17 and 18 we don't get the grace and we don't believe and accept jesus christ and he says there that you are mighty you have done to me great things notice the witness of what she has done but then notice what she goes into because this is kind of interesting now god all of a sudden reverses everything that is earthly everything that we think is great are wonderful are popular notice god flips it upon notice he didn't come to to a woman of royalty who did he come he come to a little peasant girl how do we know mary was a peasant girl because when she circumcised jesus christ on day eight she gave a gift of poverty for sacrifice she gave two pigeons the cheapest thing that you could possibly give if she was a favored woman if she was a blessed woman if she was a wealthy woman she would have sacrificed a lamb but she couldn't afford a lamb so she gave a pigeon you see and so but what made her so spectacular she said i was in low degree but what happened god lifted me up look at what she says there in verse 51 he showed strength with his arm and he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts every time i read that scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts i cannot think but go to romans chapter 1 where they when they said that there was no god they became wise in their what in their own imaginations and god did what he gave them over to a reprobate to a sinful life he scatters the pride with their imaginations of their heart he put down the mighty from their seats and then he did what he exhausted them of low degree and he has filled the hungry with good things you remember the sermon on the mount blessed are they that what hunger and thirst after righteousness for what they shall be filled he filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away see god everything that we think is great and wonderful god reversed see that's why i love the gospel because god said you know what i didn't have to come and be something spectacular something super educated or super wealthy for god to love me no god loved me while i was yet a sinner he died on the cross for me see he came and now what's made me great is not me but jesus christ and because of my commitment to jesus christ i know people all around the world and i've met people and talked with people i've had people that have i've got to lead to jesus christ all over and god just does great things but then look at what he also does he helps his people he helps his people he says he has helped his servant israel in remembrance of his mercy and he spake to our fathers to abraham and to his seed forever god will help you but god will speak to you can you imagine worshiping buddha just you know there's millions of people that worship buddha every single day but buddha never does speak back he never challenges them he never loves them he never does anything he just sits there with his big belly and his arms crossed and his legs crossed he just sits there and people just come and worship him but you know what jesus christ will speak to you jesus christ will help you he said he's seated on the right hand of the father ever living to make intercession but you know what we see in act chapter 7 when stephen was being stoned he didn't stay seated did he no he stood up he stood up he noticed what was going on he stepped in he stepped in and stephen said father forgive them but they know what they do they don't understand see stephen had the heart of jesus christ now you're not going to step in because i'm doing what you did i'm sacrificing myself for them they're not mad at me they're mad at the word they're mad at you and so you see this beautiful picture that is there of what jesus christ will do for us and so i want you to understand when you believe god and you obey god listen worship is going to happen god is going to become the focus of your life he is going to be your savior your redeemer your deliverer that's what christmas is all about the atonement the redemption of jesus christ therefore we are going to proclaim jesus christ and he's going to reverse everything on this earth and he's going to humble those that are prideful and he's going to take those humble and he's going to raise them up and make them mighty he took mary and he raised her up and listen he'll do the very same for you he'll do the very same for you he will help you he will speak to you and so the question with mary becomes if he will do this for an ordinary girl like mary what will he do for you if you invite him to come into your heart if you say yes he's already came he's already here the birth of christ has already happened the death of christ has already happened all you have to do is accept it he says if you will believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that jesus is god if he was born of a virgin and that he came and he lived a perfect sinless life because not only was he a man but he was also god and because he died he was placed in a tomb but he didn't stay in that tomb did he no sorry because he was also god and he was also perfect as a man and without sin and so he rose from the dead on the third day and he says if you believe that and you're willing to confess that and live that as mary confessed this baby that is in her womb that she is fixing to birth into humanity this this god that's coming to humanity if she was willing to accept him as her savior then how much more should it be for us to accept him as our savior will you let him in this morning will you let him he came but it's up to you to open the door he tells us in revelation after giving us a glimpse not a very detailed glimpse into the future in matter of fact less than one chapter to describe all of an eternity right there's less than one chapter to describe all of eternity after he wipes away this heaven this earth and this heaven and destroys sin and everything creates a new heaven and an earth we have less than a chapter of what it's going to be like and described but you know what he said he simply said after giving us what he did give us behold i stand at the door and knock i'm here i came are you going to shove me off in a low cave somewhere are you going to crown me and lift me up and invite me to come in and he said if you invite me to come in i will sup with you god i don't have any food i guess he's going to bring it bring food with him because he feels and takes care of the hungry right he's going to provide everything that we need but if you accepted him this morning as we stand for a verse of invitation now is the day of salvation it's appointed unto man once to die and after that's the judgment but now is the day of salvation christ has come christ has come will you accept him as we say