Turn with me to Luke chapter 1. During our time in Luke's gospel, he has introduced us to two women, Elizabeth and Mary. Two women who are really very different when you compare them to one another. Elizabeth is a woman advanced in years, a descendant of Aaron, and she's married to a priest named Zacharias. And Mary is a young woman, probably between 13 and 15 years old. She's a virgin who's engaged to Joseph, a descendant of David. The two women are carrying two different children, John and Jesus. John, we're told you'll remember, will be great in the sight of the Lord there in verse 15, and that he will be prophet of the Most High. That comes in verse 76. We are told of Jesus that He'll be great in verse 32, and as we considered last week, it's really an unqualified greatness. And He's called, verse 32, the Son of the Most High. Two mothers and two sons intertwined in one story of God's redeeming love and saving grace. And this morning, those two mothers carrying their two sons come together here in Luke chapter 1 verse 39. If you'd read with me. 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 Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt 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 leapt 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." Those verses, 39 through 45, are describing the moment when Mary came to Elizabeth to confirm the sign that the angel had given there in verse 36, and they describe for us Elizabeth's Holy Spirit-inspired blessing. And both what we see Mary doing and both what we see coming here from Elizabeth show us what's commendable about Mary, and both relate to Mary's son. As we get started, there's something I want to consider from this text that I think I'll be able to show you in a moment how it's related. I know there's a large Roman Catholic church presence in our area, and I know that that is a group that venerates Mary, and I know some of you were saved out of that background, and I know that many of you continue to share the gospel with those who are Roman Catholics in our community, and I thought it might be helpful to briefly look at some of their beliefs about Mary here. And we have different people that visit our church from time to time, and if you're coming from a Roman Catholic background, I hope this will be helpful as you look at this and you've heard different views and perspectives and doctrines about Mary. And I just want you to know that there are people in our church who have been exactly where you're at. And if you want to talk to somebody in our church about that background that you come from, that tradition that you've been in, if you want to talk to them, if you'd find me afterwards, I know there are those in our church who would love to talk to you. These are beliefs that I want to highlight here that are held by the church, Roman Catholic Church, about Mary, and they're derived from tradition and popes and councils and really faulty translations, as we'll see in a moment, and various interpretations. And there's two reasons I want to consider them this morning. The first is this, they would attach some of those doctrines of Mary, their Mariology, to the verses that we looked at last week and the verses that I just read to you a moment ago. And the second reason I want to share that with you is because what Mary, or what Elizabeth says this morning, is corrective to all of those things. What she tells us is what's truly excellent about Mary. What are some of those errors that are taught about Mary that the Roman Catholic Church believes? Well, number one, that she is a conduit of grace. That she is a conduit of grace, that she is the, quote, mediatrix of all graces, as several popes have called her. That the graces that come to us through Jesus Christ are said to come through Mary in a particular way, in a secondary way. Where do they get that? Well, look there in verse 28, what we looked at last week with Gabriel calling her by that name, favored one, and we considered the translation of that verb that's written down there is to be one who is to be shown favor. In verse 30 saying, you have found favor with God. Here's where translations get that wrong. The Latin Vulgate translates verse 28, and you can look this up, is the angel saying to her, hail, full of grace. Instead of favored one, she is filled with grace. She is a storehouse of grace. And then Roman Catholic doctrine leads to Roman Catholic practice where you have things such as the Rosary and Pope Leo XIII in 1894 wrote this, the recourse we have to Mary in prayer follows upon the office she continuously fills by the side of the throne of God as mediatrix of divine grace. Being by worthiness and by merit most acceptable to Him and therefore surpassing in power all the angels and saints in heaven, talking about Mary. Now this merciful office of hers, he says, perhaps appears in no other form of prayer so manifestly as it does in the rosary, for in the rosary all the parts that Mary took as our co-redemptress come to us. that they would see her as a dispenser of grace, as one who sort of opens the floodgates of grace to send grace to you that comes from Christ. The point is, for the Roman Catholic, is that you ought to pray to Mary, who being full of grace herself, has access to these stockpiles and storehouses of grace, and she can open the door so that grace might come to you and meet your great need that you have for grace. And you might think, well, that's 1894 when Pope Leo XIII wrote that. Roman Catholic doctrine from long ago shows up again and again. Just this year, earlier, January 2024, Pope Francis said this, Mary knows our needs. She intercedes to make grace overflow in our lives and to guide them to authentic fulfillment. He said, all of us have shortcomings, our time of loneliness, our inner emptiness that cries out to be filled. And then he asked, who can fill our emptiness? if not Mary, the mother of fullness. Let us entrust this coming year, he said, to the mother of God. Let us consecrate our lives to her. With tender love, she will open our eyes to their fullness, for she will lead us to Jesus." Brent, the first thing that needs to be said here is that there is a joyful truth that you find in Scripture, that you don't need Mary to get to Jesus. You don't need Mary to get to God. If that's what you've been taught your whole life, Would you go home and would you consider reading Hebrews chapter 7 through Hebrews chapter 10? But it also has to be noted that that teaching is the very opposite of what you find in Luke chapter one. The angel wasn't sent to Mary because she was full of grace. The angel is sent to Mary because God is gracious. And he chose Mary by no merit of her own to demonstrate his grace, his favor upon her. Mary is a beneficiary of grace. She's not the mediatrix of grace. Now closely related to that is the second Roman Catholic doctrine that I want you to consider this morning is that Mary was without sin. Mary was without sin. The Roman Catholic catechism, you can look this up, says Mary was, quote, free of every personal sin her whole life long. She didn't really need a Savior. She was sinless. Pope Pius IX in his encyclical from December 1854 wrote this, the most blessed Virgin Mary was from the first moment of her conception by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Christ, savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. He goes on to say, Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long. That's quoted again in the Roman Catholic catechism. And this is completely contrary to what we found last week in the text in Luke 1 and what's before us this week. The Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary is clear. She's conceived without a sin nature. She's born without original sin. She's preserved free from sin, enabling her then to be the most worthiest person on the planet in all time that could bear the child that she's carrying in Luke 1, the Savior Jesus. But would you remember that when the angel calls her favored one, what's her response? She's perplexed. She's sort of going, me? Why would you be calling me favored one? The response that you see here from Luke is he's documented all that. It's not like she's standing there going, well, it's about time. You finally found me and it's time for me to fulfill my mission. Mary can't figure out why God would show her grace. There's nothing extraordinary about Mary who herself, in verse 47 that we'll look at in the weeks to come, has reason to rejoice in God my Savior. Mary needs a Savior like all men need Savior. A third doctrine of Mary derived from this section is that, number three, Mary remained a perpetual virgin. Mary remained a perpetual virgin. They get that from verse 27 and from verse 34, and from that the error began to be taught and propagated that Mary was not only a virgin when she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, but that she remained a virgin her whole life through. The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 sanctioned the title for Mary, ever virgin, meaning that Mary gave birth to no other children, and that she never had sexual relations with her husband Joseph, so that she remained a perpetual virgin. Sadly, several church fathers who'd been helpful in other areas held to this error. It's expressed in a three-part confession of Mary, that Mary was virginitas, antepartum, impartum, and postpartum, virgin before birth, in birth, and after birth. But there's nothing in the text of Scripture that presents that as true. In fact, it's quite the opposite when you look at Mark 3.31 that reads, then His mother and His brothers arrived. Who in the world is that? Or 1 Corinthians 9.5, Paul mentions the brothers of the Lord Jesus. Or Galatians 1.19, Paul says James is the Lord's brother. Uh-oh, you've got a problem, right? We're Roman Catholic. Doctrine interprets those as being the children of another Mary, or maybe that, you know, Joseph brought some children into the marriage whenever they actually were married. But when you look at this, the simplest, clearest reading of the text of Scripture tells us after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had other children. And guess what? That's perfectly fine that they did. The Roman Catholic Church constructed that doctrine of Mary to express that she's excellent. So excellent that you should pray to her, venerate her, honor her, worship her, and even refer to her by that idolatrous title, Queen of Heaven. When constructing that doctrine of Mary compromises the gospel. puts another mediator in the place of Jesus that you must go to first. Friend, what this text of Scripture that I read to you a moment ago shows us this morning is that you don't have to create a doctrine of Mary, attributing divine qualities to her to show that there's something excellent and commendable about Mary. You only need to see what she's doing in verse 39 through 45, and you only need to listen to the words that are coming from Elizabeth's mouth. So like Luke has done in all these previous things that we looked at, the first thing he gives us here is a bit of an introduction where we see the faith of Mary displayed there in verse 39 and 40. The faith of Mary displayed. Look at verse 39. Those words, at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry. It would seem to express here that having just been told about Elizabeth there in verse 36 that we looked at last week, Mary's response is to do what? Quickly go and quickly find Elizabeth. And that opens this scene. And that opens this scene with Mary demonstrating faith in the Word of God that the angel has just brought to her, that her relative Elizabeth, who she knows as well past childbearing years, that this Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age. Mary believing the angels' words from heaven here is the very reason that she arises and she goes in a hurry to Elizabeth's house. That's faith in action. That's her being all in in regards to what God has said that has been brought to her. Faith is going here in a hurry. And where is she going? To the hill country, to a city of Judah. That would seem to be a reference to a city in the districts around Jerusalem. There's evidence to believe it may be south of Jerusalem. What does that mean? That means that this young teenage girl, 13 to 15 years old, is embarking on a journey here some 80 to 100 miles away from her home to see her relative, Elizabeth. I'll ask you this, would you go on an 80 to 100 mile journey on foot to see your relative as a young teenage girl if you didn't believe what Gabriel had just told you? And consider this wasn't by car, this wasn't by bus, this wasn't by train. Mary didn't have a cell phone handy to call if she needed help from someone along the way. This would have been a few days by foot, which when you think about it would have provided her ample opportunity to think about all that the angel Gabriel had just told her about the child that should be caring and the reasons we considered last week that that child is most precious from verse 26 through 38. And if she's walking 80 to 100 miles, that would have provided countless hours for a multitude of questions to enter her mind. Most likely, she hasn't talked to Joseph about this yet. How am I going to explain this to Joseph? Well, my parents believe me when I tell them what's just happened. I've lived in this small village of maybe a hundred people my entire life. Everybody knows me. They've seen me my entire life. What's going to be their response when they find out I'm pregnant and then that I tell them I'm still a virgin? She's going on this long journey. What happens if I get to Elizabeth's house and she turns me away? And yet Mary is going in a hurry. And the text says there, and she entered the house of Zacharias and she greeted Elizabeth. Can you imagine then that greeting after that long journey? When Mary sees her relative who has advanced in years here, she's going to be, according to the text, at least six months pregnant. She doesn't have to go in and say, you know, I heard that you were pregnant. Is that true? All she has to do is look at her. There she is, six months pregnant. Without speaking a word, Mary would have confirmation of what the angel said when she sees Elizabeth. And think about Elizabeth's side. She's concealed herself for five months, that's verse 24. And here Mary shows up going, I've heard you've conceived a child. Mary, how did you find that out?" So Mary's side, that's Elizabeth's side, you have Zacharias over there and he's just going, right? He can't say anything because that's sort of his punishment for not believing from verse 20. What a scene this is. Can you imagine the joy? Can you imagine the joy that Mary's faith had brought her from embarking on this journey to see Elizabeth? The journey was long, but immediately when she arrives, the Word of God is confirmed. Everything was as the angel had said, which must have been awful reassuring to a young girl. who surely pondered the words of Gabriel in her whole situation as she walked step by step over those 80 to 100 miles on the way to Elizabeth's house. Her conviction had to have surely been strengthened that verse 37 was true. Verse 37, nothing will be impossible with God. That's the introduction where Mary's faith was displayed. Followed by number two, Elizabeth's blessing, where Mary's faith is commended in verse 41 through 45. Elizabeth's blessing, Mary's faith is commended. Luke doesn't tell you to what extent Mary shared with Elizabeth her story of Gabriel's visit. And we know that, of course, Elizabeth had a story of her own that she could have shared here with Mary. It only says in verse 41, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Leapt is the word skirton. to leap, it even means to skip. It's used to describe the skipping of sheep in a pasture. That's what is written here about John's response. Now, if you remember back in verse 15, you were told that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. When Mary arrives here at Elizabeth's front door and speaks, this causes John here, filled with the Holy Spirit, to delight and to express joy even in utero. That the prophet John is doing, when you think about it, the only possible thing he can do to express joy and delight at this point in his life, to announce the coming of Jesus into the world while he's still in his mother's womb, this is it. And then not only was Elizabeth's child filled with the Holy Spirit already and responding in this way, but the text tells us she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit, that enables her at this moment to discern the significance of her baby's movements that she's going to tell us and she's going to describe that there in verse 44. Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit helps her to understand all that's taking place with Mary and helps her to believe this is true. What would otherwise seem to be impossible is absolutely true, that a virgin is with child and that this is not only This is no ordinary child, this is the Son of the Most High, this is the Son of God. Elizabeth being filled here with the Holy Spirit is what is going to give voice to her child's recognition of Mary and her unborn baby, and that voice will be one of faith and joy and blessing upon Mary, and we get to hear that voice in 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.'" Luke chooses those words intentionally, and she cried out with a loud voice. They're used in other places to describe when a prophet is speaking. when it's a divine utterance coming from one's mouth. They're used to describe when Elizabeth's son will one day speak, John 1.15. John testified about Jesus and cried out saying, this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me has a higher rank than I for he existed before me. John cried out. John is the one who'll be crying out in the wilderness, crying out here with a loud voice. Those are words that often accompany inspired utterances, and they do the very same thing here with what Elizabeth says. Utterances that will one day come from Elizabeth's son, who's crying out in the wilderness, first come from his mother when she's in the presence of Mary and her child. And here's the heart of this section there in what she says in verse 42 through 45. How does Elizabeth view Mary? What's excellent about Mary? If it's not those things that we talked about a moment ago, what is it that's commendable about Mary? It comes here in the Holy Spirit-inspired blessing of Elizabeth. She makes four observations about Mary that show us what's commendable. Four observations about Mary showing us what is commendable. Number one, Mary is blessed. There in verse 42, and she cried out with a loud voice and said, "'Blessed are you among women.'" Blessed is the word eulogeo. It's to receive special favor from God. It shows up in the Septuagint in Genesis 1.22 where we read, God blessed the creatures of the water and sky, that they would one day multiply and that they would fill the earth. It shows up in Hebrews 11 verse 20 where Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau saying he wanted God's favor to be shown upon them one day. It shows up in Hebrews 11.21 where Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, that God would show favor to them one day as he blessed them. Bless, then, is usually used in the sense in which the blessing is given. Someone is giving someone else a blessing, and then it's anticipated that God would show you special favor, sort of like the Aaronic blessing there in Numbers 6 24, the Lord bless you and keep you, that He would show His favor upon you, shine His face upon you. But would you note here, Elizabeth uses it in a different sense. She recognizes that Mary has already been blessed. Mary has already been shown special favor by God. She's not anticipating that God is going to bless her, but she's saying, God has already blessed you, Mary, but what's going on? And that favor is related to one person, the child she's carrying. This isn't a blessing then that's expressing Mary's superior to other women, that her rank is higher than other women. It's a blessing that what God has done in Mary is a great honor that Mary could never earn or Mary could never merit. She's honored among women because she is the woman among women who will carry the Messiah. Would you notice here that Elizabeth gets it? Would you consider for a moment who is speaking that inspired blessing? Elizabeth must have been a woman who considered herself blessed because God had shown His favor upon her, miraculously causing her to conceive a child in her old age. She's already experienced a miracle related to conception. And yet, she's saying here, what God has done to Mary outshines what He's done in her. Mary, blessed are you among women." That's coming from a woman who knows God's favor. That's coming from Elizabeth. God's favor upon her is this, Mary, you're a chosen instrument by God by which the Son of the Most High will enter the world to deliver His people from their sins. What an honor has been shown to you, Mary, that has been shown to no one else. So Elizabeth is saying, Mary, you're more blessed than me. The miracle of a virgin with child is greater than the miracle of a woman advanced in years being with a child. The favor I have been shown by God, Mary, it's great, but the favor you've been shown by God is infinitely greater." In this blessing, we see that this favor that Mary has been shown by God is again directly related to the miracle in the child himself, Jesus. So, number two, not only is Mary blessed, but number two, Mary's child is blessed. And you see that there in verse 42, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Elizabeth is keeping in all of this Mary's motherhood in focus right here. Fruit of your womb, that's a Hebrewism, a Jewish thought, coming from something like Deuteronomy 7 or Deuteronomy 28, a fruitful womb was considered a blessing of God and related to faithful obedience. But again, when you look at this here, there's more to Elizabeth's blessing than simply that Mary's womb is blessed because she's carrying a child. Mary's womb is blessed because of the nature and the work of this child. And again, we see that Elizabeth gets it. Think of who's saying all this. Remember these words of blessing are coming from a woman whose child has already been described by an angel in verse 15 as, he will be great in the sight of the Lord. Just think for a moment how mothers and fathers compare children. That happens all the time. You hear it. My child was reading at four years old. Well, that's good for you. Mine was reading at three. My child made the honor roll in third grade. My child made varsity his freshman year. My child learned how to tie his shoes his senior year. This is just all hypothetical. Parents are prone to hold their children in higher regard when compared to other children. And Elizabeth's child has already been proclaimed by an angel to be great in the sight of the Lord. I bet that hasn't happened with your kid. Don't throw anything, right? I bet an angel didn't make that announcement about your child. Oh, your child's going to be great in the sight of the Lord. But it did. He did for Elizabeth's. And yet, with Elizabeth, there's no reservation here. The child Mary is carrying, she says, great, superior. He's of the highest order, even in comparison to a child who's great in the sight of the Lord. Why? because of who Mary's son is. This is the Messiah, John 4.25. This is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact representation of His nature. He is Him who upholds all things by the word of His power, Hebrews 1.3. He is the Creator of all things, Colossians 115. He is the one who is before all things, Colossians 117. He's the one who is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens, Hebrews 7.26. He's the Alpha and Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty of Revelation 1.8. He's the Lord of glory, 1 Corinthians 2.8, and Mary's son. Oh, Elizabeth's son is going to have this great role that Mary's son is coming, but it's going to be Mary's son who's going to rescue His people from the domain of darkness. Mary's son will redeem them. He'll forgive them of their sins. He'll make them a people of His kingdom, Colossians 1, 13 and 14. So the favor that Mary has been shown by God is related once again to who? The child she carries. He's the son of God, and He is God's saving grace. The third blessing, Mary's relative is blessed. Mary's relative is blessed. Elizabeth speaks about herself now for a moment in verse 43. She says this, "'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 leapt in my womb for joy. How does Elizabeth view Mary showing up? It's this, the mother of my Lord is coming to me. Again, all of this is in relation to the child who Elizabeth refers to here as my Lord. That's the word, kurios. Sprinkled all throughout Luke's gospel, Luke 3, 4, John will be preparing the way for the Lord. Luke 11, 1, the disciples call Jesus Lord when asking, Him to teach them how to pray in Luke 24, 34, it is the Lord Jesus who was risen. Luke himself, as he's writing this account, just begins referring to Jesus as Lord. Jesus affirms all this is right in John 13, 13, you call me teacher and Lord and you are right for so I am. It's appropriate. It's appropriate that Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit in this moment, is referring to Him as Lord. Why? Because Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, 3 that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is a curse, and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit filled Elizabeth, and Elizabeth is calling Him Lord in this moment. It means master, it means one who has full and total control. And in the Old Testament, at times it refers to the Messiah who is God. Psalm 110 verse 1, the Lord says to my Lord, set at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The psalm is speaking about Mary's child. Jesus is Lord, and that title, Lord, coming from Elizabeth's inspired blessing here reveals once again the greatness of this child even before this child is born. And the sense from Elizabeth is this, that she is even blessed because his mother Mary is here in her presence and in her home with her Lord. It's an honor and it's a privilege, the very favor of God is upon her that her Lord has come into her home even while he's still yet in his mother's womb. Christian, would you see here that the Spirit in Elizabeth is doing what the Spirit will do in Jesus' people, glorifying Jesus. She is glorifying Jesus through her blessing. And the Spirit that filled Elizabeth helped her to understand why it was that upon Mary's greeting, her child left. It's the Spirit filling Elizabeth that helps her understand what's going on with her child, why her child leapt at that moment. Verse 44, the baby leapt in my womb for joy. She's interpreting what's going on. Now, just a side note for those of you who are still not sure if a child in the womb is a person. Scripture is telling you that the child in the womb expressed the emotion of joy. A person made in the image of God possesses reason, intellect, will, and emotion, and this child in the womb leaps for joy expressing emotion. And as with point one and two, the blessing that Mary's relative expresses here is related to Mary's child. Jesus is the reason she's honored that Mary is in her house. Jesus is the reason that John is expressing joy even in his mother's womb. Now, Elizabeth's inspired utterance and blessing concludes by noting Mary's faith, and we have number four, Mary's faith is blessed. Mary's faith is blessed. Or we could say Mary is blessed because of her faith. It's there in verse 45. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord." Again, would you note there, Mary is described as blessed. This time it's a different Greek word than before, but it's conveying the same truth. This time it's related to Mary's faith. This is saying Mary believes. Elizabeth uses one Greek word here to refer to Mary that we translate into three words. She who believed." That's one word and it's the word for faith. This is describing her as having faith. What does Mary believe? The text tells you that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord. Fulfillment is the same word that's used for completion. It's the end of something. She believed that God would complete everything He told her He would complete. He would bring it to its full and total end. That was everything that the Lord had said it was as good as done in Mary's mind. So Mary's blessedness here is related to her taking God at His word. Even in the days that are going to bring challenges that are ahead of her related to her being unmarried and pregnant, she can endure all of that with great joy. Why? Because she believed. She believed everything that the Lord had said. And because she believed, she's blessed. Her son would one day say this in John 20, 29, blessed are they who did not see and yet believed. Mary's expressing that here. And Luke 1, in this moment, Mary had not witnessed one miracle of Jesus. She'd never heard one word of his teaching that was unlike the teaching of any other person. She'd never heard him forgive any sin. She'd never heard him preach one single sermon. And yet, she believed. And because she believed, we're told here she was blessed. This final blessing that Elizabeth expresses is again related to the child Mary carries in her womb. Mary believes what she's been told about Him and His greatness and His glory. and what God is going to do. And this faith that Elizabeth recognizes in Mary, friend, it's going to show up again and again as you read the account of Jesus' life. Mary will be faithful throughout Jesus' ministry. There'll be hiccups along the way, there'll be concerns along the way, she'll waver along the way, but she'll remain faithful. She's going to be there when He's nailed to the cross. And she'll be there when he rises from the dead. And before she completely fades from the story, Luke is going to tell us in Acts 1 that she's there as the book of Acts opens and the gospel goes forth and forever changes the world. Mary's there. Mary's faith that shows up again and again throughout her life is commended here at the beginning of Luke. And that's what's excellent about Mary. Would you note here as Elizabeth's blessing concludes. that this must have been an incredible comfort and consolation for Mary to hear this blessing coming from Elizabeth. Can you imagine how Elizabeth's pregnancy that the angel just announced and Elizabeth's blessing that Mary may have never anticipated was going to come when she's walking there to meet Elizabeth, how all of that would strengthen the faith of a young teenage girl named Mary that God was fulfilling His promises through? These two women finally coming together in this one story is a reminder that sometimes the Lord is merciful and gracious to strengthen our faith by the faith of other believers. Sometimes you need your faith strengthened. Sometimes the Lord does that through the faith of other believers. Sometimes encouragement comes and faith is strengthened from seeing others trust God. Sometimes it's strengthened by hearing others bear witness that God is faithful and good. Sometimes it's like it is here, receiving from others what they say that they see in you when you might not see it within yourself that you are acting faithful in those moments. Elizabeth says to a teenage girl who had been divinely appointed to play a part in God's plan of salvation that she's blessed, that the child she is carrying is blessed, that the relative she came to see is blessed by her being in the presence of her Lord, and that Mary is blessed by believing all the words God delivered to her through the angel Gabriel. I wonder if Mary had any idea, as she took each of those steps across that 80-mile journey to Elizabeth's house, that her arrival would be providentially part of God's plan to put steel in the spine of her faith and to encourage her faith by commending the faith that she was already displaying. Church, I hope, and I think it hopefully goes without saying, that you see in all this that Elizabeth is not worshiping Mary. Only God's to be worshiped, and Mary's not God. She's not divine. She's not sinless. She's not a mediator of grace. She doesn't have to be a perpetual virgin, but she does have to have faith. And Elizabeth says that she sees the faith of Mary in its most excellent, and it's a reason that she's blessed. What we find in Mary that's beautiful and that's profound is not that she's a conduit of grace, the queen of heaven, or a sinless perpetual virgin. What we see is that she's faithful, that she believes the Word of God. Here's a woman who shows Elizabeth and all of us what it looks like to trust God's Word. She believes what had been spoken to her by the Lord. And His Word was enough for her. It was enough to direct the steps of the godly woman. It's enough to lead you to salvation. And the encouragement that you get from all this, the conviction that comes our way is for us to believe. This is what's excellent about Mary, and all that is excellent about Mary is, again, directly related to Mary's son. Mary doesn't have to be perfect. Mary doesn't have to be sinless. Mary doesn't have to be a mediator. Mary doesn't have to be God. She couldn't be, but she doesn't have to be because the child she was carrying was all of those. Perfect, sinless, our mediator, our Savior, God's Son. Mary didn't have to be any of those things. She just needed to believe. And her example of faith is excellent and commendable. J.C. Ryle said this, do we know anything of this precious faith? We know anything of this precious faith. This, after all, is the question that concerns us. Do we know anything of the faith of God's elect, the faith which is of the operation of God? He said, let us never rest till we know it by experience. Once knowing it, let us never cease to pray that our faith may grow exceedingly. Better a thousand times to be rich in faith than rich in gold." He said, better a thousand times to be rich in faith than rich in gold. Gold will be worthless in the unseen world to which we are all traveling. Faith will be owned in that world before God the Father and the holy angels. When the great white throne is set and the books are opened, when the dead are called from the grave and receiving their final sentence, the value of faith will at length be fully known. Men will learn then, if they never learned before, how true are the words. And he references Luke 1.45, blessed are they that believed. So the question is, do you believe? Do you see the example of faith and do you have faith in your life? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe the words that are spoken by the Lord in this text about who Mary's caring Mary's faith is convicting. Three takeaways, and we'll close. Number one, the essence of faith is strengthened by fellow believers. The essence of faith is strengthened by fellow believers, and I hope you see that here. As Mary shows up, her faith is strengthened by Elizabeth, who's a believer who commends her faith and who strengthens her faith in this difficult moment. The essence of faith is strengthened by fellow believers. Number two, the blessing of believers is related to Jesus. The blessing of believers is related to Jesus. Every way in which Mary is blessed here by Elizabeth is related to Jesus. The way that you'll find joy and happiness and rejoicing in your life is going to be related to Jesus. If Jesus is absent, joy is absent, blessing is absent. Number three, the excellence of Mary is found in her faith. The excellence of Mary is found in her faith. I don't need to think about Mary the way a Pope thinks about Mary, whether or not he's speaking ex cathedra. Who cares? I need to think about Mary the way a blameless, faithful Elizabeth thinks about Mary. And the way she thinks about Mary is when she looks at her, she sees her faith is excellent. That's the way I pray that we would think about Mary and let that be convicting as it regards our faith. Would you pray with me? Merciful Father, you are a loving and gracious God. We are reminded from the text that we have before us this morning that you genuinely care for your people. You give them faith and you strengthen the faith that you give them. Thank you for the beautiful and profound faith that is displayed and commended here in Mary. May the faith that's found in her be found in believers that are part of our church. May it be a Spirit-given faith and a Spirit-directed faith, a Spirit-informed faith, and a Spirit-fueled faith that glorifies our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for our Redeemer, a true Savior who is perfectly sinless. whose grace is abundant, who is our mediator and our master and our Lord. Everything we need, let us be reminded from this morning, is found in Christ alone. In Him we're blessed, and in Him you've shown us your favor. And eternally, forever, we are grateful. So till He returns, or until we draw our last breath, May our faith in Christ be an excellent faith, a commendable faith, and may it be a blessing to us as people. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen.