"Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord."
Good Morning my beloved,
If Satan is the prince of this world, and I firmly believe what Scripture reveals, it would be utter foolishness to overlook his influence in all aspects of life, from the subtle temptations that lead us astray to the more overt displays of evil we are witnessing in the world, with the rise of moral relativism and the decline of traditional values, the prevalence of corruption in government, lawlessness and violence in society, are all significant evidence that Satan controls the whole world system. The manifestations of Satan's deceptive tactics are often be masked in seemingly harmless and even appealing, and can be seen and felt in the church, which I believe should be obvious to any Christian, faithful to the study and discernment of God's Word.
I believe that as the church begins to grow, Satan diligently moves in and begins to work to destroy it. The increase of false teachers in the church, who have replaced the Word of God with their damning heresy, manipulating the Scripture to suit their own agenda, and draw unsuspecting believers away from God's will, and toward worldly lusts and desires of self-fulfillment, are misleading countless millions of people down a dangerous and destructive path toward judgment and condemnation. And, I believe it's only going to become worse in the coming days, as we move closer to Christ's return, in fact, Scripture promises it.
In 2 Peter 2, Peter warns "There will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words, their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep."
And, in 2 Timothy 3, Paul warns "But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, without love for good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Keep away from such men as these."
Then, in Jude, he says "For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
And, if you go to the Book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, there are the seven letters to the churches, you don't need to actually turn there, we find that our Lord Jesus Christ is moving among the churches, and issues strong warnings of judgment, severe crushing blows to five of the seven churches, only two out of the seven were in no need of warning! I am compelled to point this out because there’s caring going on here and I do not believe that we cannot afford to be ignorant of Satan's destructive and damning devices to destroy the church, especially as we’re seeing staggering numbers of people coming to Christ, as we have aggressively extended our efforts to reach the lost in various parts of the world. In fact, we are receiving an overwhelming number of requests to partner with new believers, committed to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and bringing the lost within their areas to salvation by faith in Christ. Quite frankly, I'm not interested in partnering with anyone who is not committed to that. I mention this because as rapidly as the ministry is beginning to grow, we must be mindful of Satan's counterattacks to attempt destroy what we’re trying to do, and what God is building, His Church.
I speak from personal experience when I say that there are churches all across America, that profess to belong to Jesus Christ, and they do not, they belong to Satan. Many of them started out with a strong commitment to sound doctrine, following the teachings of Jesus Christ and possessed a vibrant, thriving congregation dedicated to supporting each other and the community as a whole, until some where along the way, those who gained control over the pulpit ultimately faltered in upholding the same crucial commitment to doctrinal integrity. As a result, many of those churches have since closed or are near closing today, all because the enemy crept in and the foundation of the church was compromised, with the erosion of doctrinal purity, which has far-reaching, damning implications. It is therefore crucial to recognize the importance of maintaining a steadfast commitment to sound doctrine within the church, adhering to the teachings of Jesus Christ and upholding the principles of the faith built on a solid theological foundation. From the beginning, Satan has continued to attempt to destroy the church, he knows it's a losing battle, but don’t kid yourself, he has been successful in deceiving particular believers! The need to warn believers is a burden that is continuously on my heart, that's why I consistently preach against sin and the dangers of false doctrine.
Contrary to popular belief, it's no joy for me to have to keep firing off sermon after sermon addressing the same reoccurring issue believers struggle with. I believe this is because the church has absorbed so much of the culture, the people of God have become so inundated with false doctrine, they simply they cannot deal with them all. I accepted long ago that people who hate the Truth, will attack the preacher who preaches a pure gospel message. In fact, that's why the self-righteous religious elitists called Jesus demonic, a blasphemer and ultimately killed Him for it. They despised His message. I've lost count of how many times I've heard someone say "You've really got to ease up on these people, they're getting offended." I've lost count of how many times I've heard someone say to me, "You've really got to ease up on these people, they're getting offended." It happens all the time, even as recently as while I'm writing this message. While that's never my intention to offend anybody, the only thing I care about is making sure I get the gospel right to please my Lord, because I know we're going to meet face-to-face someday.
The Gospel message to sinners has never been Jesus loves you just the way you are, it's always and forever been about judgment, repentance, forgiveness, and salvation. Jesus strongest words were to the religious leaders because they didn't like his message of judgment and repentance, they rejected the idea that they needed to repent. In Matthew 12, He said "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart." Sadly, not much has changed in over two thousand years. Self-righteous religious hypocrites fail to see their need to be concerned about sin and repentance, rejecting the diagnosis of their true condition. What troubles me more than all the twisted, perverted stuff going on in the world is how willing the church seems to embrace it, and every other satanic cultural trend that comes along. Listen, I know exactly what the Bible teaches, I know exactly what I believe and I'm willing to compromise that one wit in order to make some sinner happy. I refuse to allow a corrupt culture to dictate what I teach, I won't preach anything does not hold up the authority of the Word of God. It's shocking how many pastors and churches have fallen prey to homosexuality, transgenderism and gender identity to accommodate the culture. I believe it's important to understand, this is not simply a battle over the nature of the truth about sexuality, it's a full scale war on the Truth itself. We cannot afford to simply avoid this fight; we must be faithful to take up the cross set before us and follow Christ.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Amen
Today's Message: Bigger Than Us
Open your Bibles with me, if you would and turn to the Gospel of Luke,
Luke chapter 1, verses thirty nine through forty-five. I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set
our text for today in our minds, I pray that we will hear it with open ears and a hearing heart. Luke 1:39-45.
"Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And
it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped
in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord."
We have seen two miraculous conceptions, one who was advanced in years, well past the capability of child-bearing miraculously conceiving John the Baptist, the greatest prophet who ever lived up until his time, the forerunner of Messiah, and the second, a young virgin, having never been with a man, miraculously conceiving Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior of the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly enough, these two women chosen by God to be the human instruments of these two miraculous conception miracles, miracles that would launch an entire series of messianic miracles, were relatives. And, both received the promise of a son through the announcement from the angel Gabriel. These two women, separated by many miles, could not have known about the others personal visitation from Gabriel, now we have Mary and Elizabeth coming together in our text today.
Let's look at verse 39, "Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah." Now at this time, meaning after the angel Gabriel departed from her, Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah." Why was she in a hurry if she believed the angel's words? Mary wanted confirmation, she couldn't wait for the evidence to be confirmed in her own body that would take some time and there was only one person on the face of the entire planet who could confirm that God was able to do a conception miracle, and that person was Elizabeth, who had been barren all her life and was now old and could not have become pregnant by any other means than by God, which would be evident now that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy. So, Mary wasted no time in eagerly making the eighty or ninety mile journey from Nazareth to the village of Ein Karem, in the southern region of Judah, a journey that would take her about three or four days, wasn’t a walk in the park, she would have traveled uphill through the mountainous region nearly 1,336 feet in elevation. Which is why it's called the hill country. Taking such a journey alone would have been very unusual for a young girl of her age to do, but we're not given any details as to whether or not anyone went with her. By the way, notice there's nothing more mentioned about Mary's conception after verse 35, so we can assume that miracle had already taken place.
Verse 40, "And entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth." When Mary entered the house and greeted Elizabeth, this wouldn't have been a casual greeting like we have today, an ancient traditional greeting would have customarily included a physical embrace and more than likely a kiss as an expression her affection. We can only imagine the hours of conversation that would have followed that greeting, they certainly would have had a lot to talk about, things that there wasn't any other explanation than God had done a miracle. If you stop and think about it, Mary's going to see Elizabeth make perfect sense, first, just seeing Elizabeth would have provided confirmation, second, who else but Elizabeth would believe her that an angel told she would conceive miraculously, remember there had not been a miracle or an angel appearance for hundreds of years, Elizabeth could be support for her when she told everybody else. And third, Mary would have been able support Elizabeth, helping with tasks difficult for an old woman, much less a pregnant one. Verse 56 tells us Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home. Since Elizabeth was already six months pregnant, that would mean she stayed with her until right around the time that John the Baptist was born.
Verse 41, "And it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." It's not abnormal for a baby in a womb to move around and kick, in fact, it's one of the pleasures of child bearing that we who are fathers get to experience. But I don't believe that its coincidental that the baby leaped in Elizabeth's womb when she heard Mary’s greeting, if you remember, the angel Gabriel told Zechariah back in verse 15 that John would " be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb." I believe this is a silent prophecy announcing the coming of the Messiah from the forerunner! Obviously, still in his mother's womb, he couldn't speak, so announced the Messiah in a physical way, he leaped. What other reason would there be for God to fill him with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb?
Verse 42, "And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" Folks, this is not coincidental and I don't want to speculate but there's nothing to indicate that Mary said anything to Elizabeth that the angel told her the Holy Spirit was supernaturally going to put the Messiah in her womb. Who else but God could have motivated Elizabeth to say that? Only He can send a prophetic message through the Holy Spirit that something physical was occurring in Mary's womb. Mary seeing Elizabeth, already had physical confirmation that God can produce a child supernaturally, now she has prophetic confirmation of the child in her womb, through the movement of John when he was in the womb, interpreted by Elizabeth, having been filled with the Holy Spirit. She literally shouted this glorious, prophetic revelation at the top of her voice. In the Greek the word "megas," great, this is enthusiasm in the wildest sense. It's a magnificent shout of praise, I don't believe that Elizabeth could control herself, it just came out! She certainly wouldn't have had any other reason to shout loudly, her husband Zechariah had been made deaf for not believing Gabriel's message. God's in control and when He wants to make His praises heard, He will. Jesus later says in Luke 19, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones will cry out!" I believe there's an element of humility here as well, I believe we'll see that in the next verse.
Verse 43, "And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?" In saying
"the mother of my Lord," Elizabeth is acknowledging the superiority of the child Mary will bear, that's what fruit of your womb means. The child Mary will bear, is going to have an even greater calling than her own unborn child. That's humility! Elizabeth is in awe that the mother of her Lord should come to her.
It's one thing to bear a prophet, it's something else to bear the Lord, the Savior of the world! She's saying Jesus is Lord, and He is also God, the God-Man, not that Mary is the mother of God, she's not the queen of heaven. That's a blasphemous error propagated by the Catholic church, God has always eternally existed, He was not conceived, He was never born. God has no mother. Mary is blessed because she was chosen to bear the Messiah, the Son of God but also for the way she responded in submission and obedience, "may it be done to me according to your word." I believe that Mary sets a profound example for all of us how we should respond when God speaks.
Verse 44, "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy." This is Elizabeth's confirmation of what we mentioned earlier, that God, through the Holy Spirit revealed to her that God had supernaturally worked in the womb of Mary, and that Mary's child was not just any child, this is the Son of God. Elizabeth wasn’t skeptical of Mary’s miraculous pregnancy, in fact, she confirmed that what Mary had had been told was true! In a real sense, Elizabeth prepared the way for Mary, based on own example of maturity and faithfulness that Mary needed to sustain her, for the enormous task ahead, just as John would prepare the way for Jesus!
That brings us to verse 45, "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord." After blessing Mary and her child, Elizabeth pronounces a blessing on herself because she believed "that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord." These two women were certainly blessed for believing that God would fulfill His promises to them.
Anybody who listens, believes, and obeys God in submission is blessed, aren't they? That's the way true believers live their lives, trusting God more than our own eyes, regardless of the circumstances, casting our cares on Him.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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