Luke chapter one, verse 39 to 56, for a sermon I've entitled, A God Worth Praising. So Luke one, 39 to 56. A little bit longer passage, but it all goes together, so let's read it together. Here's what it says. Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country in the city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 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, saying, 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 was spoken to her by the Lord. And Mary said, My soul exalts in the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has regard for the humble state of his bondslave. And behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name, and his mercy is upon generation after generation towards those who fear him. He has done mighty deeds with his arm. He's scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their heart. He's brought down rulers from their thrones and he's exalted those who are humble. He's filled the hungry with good things and he sent away the rich empty-handed. He's given help to Israel, his servant, and remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our father, to Abraham and his descendants. And Mary stayed with her about three months and then returned to her home. On November 23, 1963, newspapers across the world announced the death of President John F. Kennedy, who died just the day before. Noted only in a few papers, though, was another death, that of C.S. Lewis, who died on the same day as Kennedy. Lewis was a professor at Cambridge who was known best probably for the Chronicles of Narnia. A couple of those books have actually even been made into movies. But one of Lewis's lesser-known books was Reflection on the Psalms. And in it, in a chapter, he entitles the problem of praise in Psalms. He spoke of the time before he became a Christian and how it used to bother him when he would read calls from the authors of the Psalms to praise the Lord. When Lewis read things like this, he thought that God was commanding people to praise himself, and it seemed to him it was like he was an old lady wanting praise from people. And he said, that's as ridiculous as me wanting my dog to bark approval for my manuscripts. He thought of God as just a big egotist running around saying, praise me, praise me, praise me some more. But then Lewis said he had a kind of a duh, aha moment. He writes this, but the most obvious fact about praise, whether of God or anything, strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or giving honor. I never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise, unless shyness or fear or boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise. Lovers praising their mistresses, Romeo praising Juliet, and vice versa. Readers their favorite poets, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game. Praise of weather, wine, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars. except for where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be the inner health made audible. I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge others to join in praising it. Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that was magnificent? The psalmist in telling everyone to praise God is doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us as regards the supreme valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing about everything else that we value. Everybody praises what they enjoy and see as valuable. And people naturally want others to share the experience of joy with them. In fact, our joy isn't complete until others do come to value what we enjoy. There's a Swedish proverb that says that a joy shared is double the joy, and a sorrow shared is half the sorrow. Well, that's true, and I think it is. That explains why Mary went to visit Elizabeth after hearing the message from the angel that though she was still a virgin, she would give birth to God's Son. She wanted to share this great news with the one person she was sure would believe her and rejoice with her, thus doubling her joy. Well, in this section, we have the record of their meeting. Here, two women, one young, the other old, both miraculously pregnant, rejoicing together as they speak and thrill in the goodness of God. They exalt not only in the goodness of God towards them personally, but in all the blessings that God will bring eventually to His people as a result of the birth of Mary's child. Now centuries have gone and they are long since dead, but I'm sure that these women are still rejoicing in heaven with what God did for them in that time. And they would want us to rejoice as we understand why this God is still a God worth praising. So why don't we have our minds enlightened by praying and asking God to speak to us through his text this morning. Our Father God, you pray for grace and mercy. Help us as we look at this to be thrilled again with what thrilled those women on that day. So bless us now, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, there's two sections in this part of the chapter. The first section you can call the Thrill of Elizabeth, that's verses 39 to 45. And the second is the Praise of Mary, and that's 46 to 56. So the thrill of Elizabeth. Now if you recall where I was a couple weeks ago, there was an old woman named Elizabeth who was married to a priest named Zacharias, and she and her husband were true believers trying to faithfully serve God. And God had no doubt blessed them in many ways, but one of the blessings he had not given them was children. And you know, you know that, don't you, that ultimately it's God who decides whether you have children or not. And there are no children who come into this world, whatever their circumstances, of the conception of their birth outside of God's plan. And in the big picture, white swans and black rhinos don't matter as much as white children and black children and every other color because they're created in the image of God. Children are a gift from God, not an inconvenience that we can dispose of as we see fit. Zechariah and Elizabeth had not been blessed with children by the Lord yet, but they soon would be, because though they were both old and beyond childbearing years, God had miraculously enabled Elizabeth to conceive, just as the angel had promised. Indeed, she was six months pregnant at this time, at the same time that Mary was visited by that angel to tell her that she was pregnant, even though she was still a virgin. The angel had also hinted to Mary that she should visit Elizabeth, which she evidently did immediately after the angel left. Here we see, starting in verse 39, Now at that time Mary rose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to the city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 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, 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 should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ear, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that what would be fulfilled had been spoken to her by the Lord." Now, did Mary run there? How old was she at the time? Probably 16, 17, 18 years old. Did she hop on her donkey? I don't think she called a cab or an Uber, but she went as fast as she could because she wanted to share the good news the angel had told her concerning the fact that she would give birth to the long-awaited Messiah who would be God's own son. You know, I can almost imagine her running up and knocking on the door and then pushing it open all out of breath, Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Elizabeth, the angel just visited me and told me that I'm gonna have a baby and he's gonna be the Messiah. And she's saying this to Elizabeth, the baby inside of Elizabeth starts to kick. and leap for joy, she would later say. And then with her eyes open in amazement, like a five-year-old child, Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and she gushes forth with this pronouncement of a blessing upon Mary. Better yet, she acknowledges God's blessing on Mary and the child that she will bear. She said, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Now notice what she doesn't say. She doesn't say, well, You know, I'm gonna have a child as well, and your son might be great, but my son's gonna be great also. You know, I see that sometimes when moms are sitting around talking. It's, you know, my son did this, well, my son did this. Oh, my daughter, well, my daughter did this. Almost as if they can one-up each other. But you know, when your heart is right, any blessing of God to anyone is a thrill to you. And thrilled she was, for she knew that Mary had not only had a mere child or an important child, but the most important child that would ever come into the world. For this child was none other than the long-promised Messiah, the Son of David, but even more, the very Son of God. And that's why she asked, and how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me? Now, her husband didn't believe the angel's message when it came to him, but evidently she did when it was communicated to her. You recall the angel said of this son, John the Baptist, who would be born of Zechariah and Elizabeth, he said, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. and he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous so that he might make ready a people prepared for the Lord," which Pastor Chris spoke on last week. Now, Elizabeth knew and believed that this child of Mary's would be her Lord. Well, the angel was said to be filled, the Holy Spirit would be in John from the time of his birth. And upon hearing Mary's voice, it caused this pre-born baby of John to leap for joy. It was not just for Mary, but for the child that she carried that John leaps. And some of you women thought you had weird pregnancies. You know, when God's blessings come, even God's smallest people are filled with joy. God makes his people happy. Really, really happy. You know, a grumpy, grumbling Christian is a contradiction in terms. But notice the second blessing that Elizabeth pronounces on Mary. She said, blessed is the one who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord. Now, some churches make so much of Mary. Sadly, it borders on worship and often crosses into it, which the Bible forbids to anyone but God himself. You know, one occasion when Jesus was calling, someone had called out to him, blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast at which you nursed. But he responded by saying this, on the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it. Luke 11, 27 to 28. Nothing pleases God more than when you hear his word, listen to it, and respond in faith to it. This is why it matters whether you come to church and Sunday school and Bible studies, because that's where you hear God's word. Mary was blessed because she believed the message of God that came to her from the angel, and Elizabeth did as well, and that's why she was so thrilled when she thought about the goodness of God and what he was yet to do. But as I said, a joy shared is twice the joy, and now Mary's going to call on Elizabeth with us to ponder new what the Almighty may do if with his love. He befriends you, and that brings us to our second point, the praise of Mary. What does Mary praise God for? First of all, for His tender mercies. She starts her hymn of praise with the words, my soul exalts or magnifies in the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Psalm 147, one says this, praise the Lord, for it is good to sing praises to our God, for it is a pleasant and praises fitting. Now, C.S. Lewis was right, that people exalt in whatever they value. I mean, if you like a certain restaurant, you tell all your friends. My son, Jason, a number of years ago, went to Florida, and when he was there, he stopped at a restaurant called Five Guys Restaurant. And he came back, he said, Dad, I ate at this restaurant, Five Guys Restaurant, oh, you gotta eat at this restaurant, it's so good, it's so delicious, it's so wonderful. Wow, I ate it. It was good. So I was telling people in my Bible study, I said, hey, stop by. And when you go down out that way at Five Guys Restaurant, they looked and looked all over the place. They said, we never could find four-men restaurant. It wasn't listed anywhere. Well, I mean, if you like the Packers, that's great. You wear cheese on your head. If you like the Vikings, you keep your mouth shut and wait for a better year, like this year. All people praise and glorify and thrill in the things that they love. Well, this song is called The Magnificent because it comes from the first word in the Latin version. You might have caught the root magnify, and that's what the people do when they glorify God. They make him bigger. Now, it's not like a microscope where you take something small and make it look bigger. Rather, it's more like a telescope where you take something that's massive and bring it close so that people can see it. I mean, think of the Hubble telescope they put up a few years ago. They put up a new one just recently, didn't they? Can you see even farther? Well, it can see farther than any telescope on Earth. What do they see? They saw even more galaxies, billions and billions. You know, it's estimated that there's some 200 billion galaxies and between 100 to 200 billion stars in each galaxy. The Bible says in Genesis, and he made the stars also. Almost as if God had a British sense of humor with understatement, huh? Well, But the idea of God glorifying himself also has to do with lifting up, us glorifying him has to do with lifting up and spreading his fame. That's why the New English Bible translated, tell forth his glory. Like the church bells in Europe when they rang out the victory over the Nazis, God's people are supposed to sound forth God's praise and display in their lives the greatness of God throughout the world. It was in the Lord as her savior that Mary rejoiced. And of all the things that God's people should exalt and glorify him for, it's the fact that Christ has provided salvation for us and reconciled us to God through his work on the cross. I mean, stars are awesome. Sunsets are beautiful. But is there anything that melts the heart of a Christian more than when he sings words like this? And when I think that God's own son not sparing. sent him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross, my burden bearing, he bled and died to take away my sins. And far from being immaculately conceived without sin, as some churches teach, Mary, like every other person, was a sinner and she knew it. And that's why she rejoiced in a promised Savior. But here was a wonder of wonders. This promised Savior was now finally to come, and she was going to be the mother. God's tender mercy was about to be shown to her, and that set her heart to dancing. She gives her first reason for her praise in verse 48. It says, And for behold, from this time on, for all generations, will count me blessed. For the mighty one has done great things for me, and holy is his name. I like the line from that little drummer boy song. Little baby, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum. I am a poor boy too, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum. I have no gift to bring that is fit for a king, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum, rum-pa-pum-pum, rum-pa-pum-pum. Shall I play for you? a rump-a-pump-pump on my drum. Now part of what amazes Mary is the fact that he had chosen her, a poor girl, to bear this child. God loves to use nobodies through which he can accomplish his will. David, a mere shepherd boy, becomes king over his people. Fishermen and tax collectors to bring the good news of Christ to the world. Now, sometimes he does use men and women of great ability. Think of Moses, who was a prince in Egypt, or Saul of Tarsus, one of the shining stars of Judaism. But even in those cases, he had to humble them first before he could use them. For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed, for the mighty one has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Listen, nobody is too small for God to use them. No one is insignificant. Any work of God is significant. Every part, no matter how small, matters. In witnessing, in praying, in teaching and helping, we're all actors in this drama of salvation. Some parts are bigger than others, but there are no big parts. I think it's important to note that while Mary will go on to speak of other great things that God has done and what he will accomplish through this promised child, she begins not with the cosmic, but with the personal. Now listen carefully, in your prayers and in your praise, that should be true for you as well. Your prayers and praise should include abundant thanks to God for all he's done for all of his children, but it shall also and probably start with what he's done for you personally. Has God answered some prayer for you recently? Did you give him thanks? Has he brought some blessing into your life? Did you tell others about it? Are you thankful and do you give thanks for even the hard things that come in your life? Did you know that down in Georgia there's a monument to the boll weevil? That's a beetle that wiped out the cotton crop a number of years ago. Why would they put up a monument to that? Well, it's because of the blight in Georgia that the farmers turned to planting peanuts, which became a boon cash crop for them. What they thought was a disaster turned out to be a blessing. Well, God's tender mercies were not only upon Mary, she recognized that they are there for every age. Look what she quotes from the Old Testament saying this, and His mercies are upon generation after generation towards those who fear Him. In all ages, those who looked at God, giving Him the proper place in their life, find mercy upon mercy showered on them. Now, sometimes they're greater showers, other times it's a light drizzle, but always He waters the gardens of our soul, of His people, so that we might bring forth the fruit of praise and exalt and magnify His name. Well, the second thing Mary praises him for is his sovereign power. It was found in verse 51 and 53. By sovereign power, I mean God's control and power over all the events of history and every person who walks across its pages, both great and small. And of course, the contrast is between the great and small here, between the proud and the humble. God's dealing with them is the second thing that Mary praises God for. Look what she says. He has done mighty things with his arm. He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He's brought down rulers from the throne and He's exalted those who are humble. He's filled those who are hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed. Now Mary might have been reflecting on stories from the Old Testament. Think about when God delivered the people from Egypt and destroyed that nation, bringing down the pride of Pharaoh, or how about the time 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were destroyed by the angel when they were besieging the city of Jerusalem? Or what about the proud and thoughts that he scattered of those? In the book of Esther, remember Haman? He's the guy who wanted to destroy the Jews. And it was just so bugged because there was one guy, Mordecai, who wouldn't bow to him. It didn't matter that everybody else, that it was that one person that bothered him, and so he set up his death. And of course, you know how it was all done. I mean, because he said he wanted to be exalted and lifted up. Well, when it was all done, he was exalted and lifted up. He was hanging down the gallows. And the proud were taken down. That happens even in modern times. What happened to Hitler? Bullet in his head. Stalin, he was poisoned. Mussolini, hanging upside down with his latest lover, beaten to a pulp. Do you know who Nicolae Ceaușescu was? He was the leader of the communist Romania. He had a national opera produce a song in honor of him for his birthday. In part, it contained these words, Ceaușescu is good and righteous and holy. He wanted it sung on his 72nd birthday on January 26th. Instead, on Christmas Day, a month earlier, He and his wife were shot to death when the government was overthrown. He's brought down rulers from their thrones. He's scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their heart. I think John Piper makes a good point when he reminds us that the book of Luke was written to Theophilus, who's most likely a sort of Roman official. And so one of the reasons Luke probably put this hymn in there of praise was to warn people like Theophilus of the danger inherent in his position. Now folks, I have to tell you, pride is very subtle, it's very deep, and it's very dangerous. I heard one priest say that in 30 years of hearing confession, he had heard people confess all kinds of sins. He had never once heard anyone confess the sin of pride. Few people who are wealthy will ever bow their hearts to Christ. Don't envy those who have power and wealth. Would you envy a man who had to swim across a river with an anchor tied to his foot? Don't pray for wealth and worldly success for your children. Pray for them to be humble and to hope in God. God hates the proud, And anything that leads to pride is a great danger and a temptation. So don't be impressed with power and don't make a distinction and evaluation of people based on their wealth. James reminds us that he says, listen, my beloved brethren, did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he's promised to those who love him? But you dishonor the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Now, I have to tell you, I gotta stop there. You know, as a good conservative, I always, I don't wanna say bristled, but that, you know, it's always bashing the rich, bashing the rich, bashing the rich, and I think there's a point to that. But you look at the last couple years. What has been done by big tech moguls with billions of dollars? A narrative that's cost the life of hundreds of thousands of people. with lie after lie after lie so that they could consolidate their power and make more money. This is do not they blaspheme the fair name by which we were called. But it's not just that God has humbled the proud and exalted the humble in the past. He's gonna do it in a decisive way in the end. Isaiah chapter two speaks of a time when Christ returns. In verse 17 it says this, the pride of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of man will be abased, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, Isaiah 2, 17. That day hasn't come yet, but it will, and it will be accomplished by the son of a humble bondservant who will bring in a great reversal so that the proud will be humbled and the humble will be exalted by an all-sovereign, powerful God. Finally, we see in Mary's praise A praise of his covenant faithfulness, and this is 54 to 56. Now that's a big term, it just means God's faithfulness in keeping his promises. Here Mary mentions specifically the promise that God made to Abraham. She says this, he has given help to Israel, his servant, in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah, the one who's fulfilled many of the Old Testament promises, and those he hasn't, he will do so when he returns. For in Christ, all the promises of God are yes and amen. Promises made to the patriarchs, promises made to the nation of Israel, promises made to his church. All and every one will come to pass because Christ is the guarantor. Now notice that the promise is to Abraham and his descendants forever. Who are the descendants of Abraham? Who are his children? Jewish people say that they are, as Abraham's biological descendants. They're the heirs of the promise. But the New Testament makes clear that the real children of Abraham are not those who carry his genes, but those who exercise and share his faith. Those Jews and Gentiles who trust in Jesus as the Messiah and their Savior. And it's for them that God will remember and keep all of his promises forever. Isn't that good to know? Isn't that something you can bank on in this unstable world? I mean, how many things are in flux right now? How many things are up in the air, unknown? I mean, with so much uncertainty in this world, in our country, in your life, don't you want something that you can count on? Know the promises of God, memorize them, bank on them. Let them be the foundation of your hope and dreams and actions. Fill your minds so full of the thoughts of what God has in store for us when Christ returns that it informs and shapes all your decisions today. As Peter put it, therefore prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You see, for the Christian, even though we already experience great joy in God, we know even greater joy is coming for us when Jesus returns. I'm sure there's breathtaking promises given to us, new bodies, reigning with Christ over this world, being reunited with family members who died trusting Jesus, but the greatest thrill, without a doubt, will be when we see the Son of Mary, this Messiah, the Son of God. It's in Him that we've placed our hope and trust, in Him, We find our joy and our happiness. We long for him because he is the pinnacle of our joy and the greatest depth of our pleasure, because it's through his death on the cross that he's reconciled us to God. You know, Lewis understood that God calls us to delight in and worship him, not for what he gets out of it, but for what we get out of it. If you love someone, you desire their highest good, and if God loves us, he desires our highest good, and our highest good is to enjoy him forever as we glorify him. Now, I've read some about John F. Kennedy, and he was always looking for joy and happiness and pleasure, seeking sex and power, yet he never found it. C.S. Lewis did. And you can as well if you find it in God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. And for that reason above all others, we have a God who's worth praising. May his people find their joy in him and satisfaction in his son forevermore. Let's pray. Our Father in God, everybody seeks joy and happiness and pleasure. They seek it in money and wealth and sex. They seek it in collecting things and experiences and thrills. And yet, none of them last. They're all like a soft drink where the fizz has gone out in the end. It's only in you that we can find lasting joy, because we were created by you, for you, to find our joy in you. And Father, you've provided a way for us to do that through Jesus Christ, your Son, and our Savior, and we pray that we would find greater and greater joy, and then spread this joy to others as people come to know Jesus as their Savior. So bless us now, we ask in Jesus' name, amen.