We're in Luke's Gospel and glad to be in Luke's Gospel. And we're going to be there for some time. We've begun a study through the Gospel of Luke and Acts. So Luke, the writer, chronicled the ministry of Jesus as he tells us from the very beginning. And then we find out, as we read through, what he meant by the very beginning, right there in verse 2 of chapter 1. He says that he's going to compile an account, he says, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word. And then he begins to unfold the events and he starts at a place where no other gospel writer begins. So I thought it'd be fun just to contrast the introduction there in Luke with the introduction in Matthew, Mark, and John. So we can do that pretty quickly. Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus. So you start Matthew and he's just going through names, right? And he's tracing the lineage of Christ. And that's unique and that's really good and full of instruction for us. When you go to Mark, now Mark's a shorter, he's written the shortest gospel. You go to Mark and he begins with John the Baptist preaching. So he highlights the forerunner of the king, the king being Jesus and John the Baptist being the herald of the king. That one who would go before and prepare the way and announce the coming. That was the job of John the Baptist. And then you get over to John and you think, well, I wonder what John would do to introduce us to Jesus. Well, John takes us to eternity past. And he just begins with, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was from God, and the Word was with God. So John takes us all the way back to heaven and beyond for the existence of Jesus. Mark starts with John the Baptist, Matthew, a lineage of Christ, and Luke, totally different. I mean, you open Luke's account and you've got angels flying around. I mean, there, you know, you got Gabriel here, there and everywhere, seems like. You've got such a supernatural flavor to this account in Luke. Very practical and just comes across like a story. It's beautiful. And this morning we find ourselves in verse 26 of chapter 1 with the birth of Jesus foretold. Now this is interesting. That the prophecy, such as we read a while ago in Isaiah, given so many years before the actual birth of Jesus, that it begins to come to fruition here in Luke 1 with the announcement. concerning the birth of Jesus. And we got to keep in mind here that Luke has doubled down to ascertain the facts about not only the birth of Jesus and the announcement, all that, but the announcement birth of John the Baptist, and he's just writing it down. And it's just coming through and it's beautiful and there's overlap between the birth of John and the birth of Jesus, the announcement of John's birth and the announcement of the birth of Jesus. There's overlap there and it's just beautiful and it just comes across as a wonderful story. And Luke writes it as historical fact, every bit of it. And there have been folks, Forevermore, they come around and they say, well, that just can't happen. They can't have angels. That's too supernatural for them. Well, Luke intends it to be accepted as historical fact. Angel Gabriel announcing and all that takes place. Well, we'll get into that. Let's read the text here. Luke 1, beginning with verse 26. Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, greetings favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. Mary said to the angel, how can this be, since I am a virgin? The angel answered her, answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative, Elizabeth, has also conceived a son in her old age. And she who was called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, the bond slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. The word of the Lord. Father in heaven, we thank you for this birth announcement. We thank you for your work in rescuing sinful people like us. And we thank you for the opportunity to read about this announcement to Mary concerning this child and his ministry and his kingdom. And we, we just bow in worship of you. We love you. And we ask God that you draw us close this morning by your spirit. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. So first of all, let's look at the dispatch. So this angel's dispatched to this little town. The Bible says a city in Galilee called Nazareth. We think that Luke puts a city in Galilee because it's likely that a lot of people hadn't heard of Nazareth. Nazareth is just a... it's a... It's a place off the beaten path. You know, it was said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? So the people from Jerusalem and other larger towns, cities, they would kind of scoff, they would kind of look down on Nazareth as kind of a nothing place. Well, I'm glad God's not like People, aren't you? And God's ways are higher than our ways. And evidently, it was in the realm of God's high and holy ways to send an angel to a little insignificant town called Nazareth. It's a city in Galilee. It's probably 40-50 miles from Jerusalem. So I don't think Gabriel would have any trouble getting from Jerusalem to Nazareth. Well, when was Gabriel in Jerusalem? Well, when he announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah. By the way, there's a couple ways that we know Zechariah. There's a couple spellings. So we say some translations, Zacharias, other translations, Zechariah. We're talking about the same guy. Okay, talking about the same guy. Well, we find out here that in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel, there it is, was sent from God. So Gabriel stands in the presence of God. This isn't his first appearance in the Bible. He appeared to Zacharias in the temple. He also is in the book of Daniel chapter 8 and chapter 9. So Gabriel, he's a presence and he is doing God's bidding. The Bible says, Luke records it, he was sent from God, he sent to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. Verse 27, to a virgin, engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the descendants of David and the virgin's name was Mary. So we have virgin twice in that verse. So that tells us that this is significant. This is a characteristic of Mary. And evidently she lives in Nazareth and she is engaged right there. Verse 27, she's engaged to a man, and this man's name is Joseph. Now, Jewish weddings, marriages, they're not like ours in the West. So back then, there would have been a formal meeting and witnesses of a formal commitment and an exchange of money or a gift. That is the betrothal, and that's what we have here. She's engaged. About a year later, the husband would take the wife home with him. So this was about a year. This would take a year. And there's somewhere in the midst of that, she is engaged. That's a formal commitment. That's serious. There's a commitment there. There is the anticipation of the coming together within approximately a year. So this Virgin Mary is engaged to Joseph. And this Joseph is of the descendants of David. And this is important. If you go back to 1 Chronicles 17 or 2 Samuel 7, you're going to find God's covenant with King David. And God says, when King David dies, I'm going to put a descendant of yours on this throne, and he will reign forever and ever." That's the summation of that covenant that God gave to David there in 1 Chronicles 7, 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17, 2 Samuel 7. So there's that covenant. And this Joseph is of the descendants of David. And that's significant when the birth actually happens. Joseph, while he is not the father, you know that and I know that because Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary. Legally, Joseph is the father, okay? So, her name's Mary, Luke's given us some details here, and it's just fascinating that God is going to great lengths and Gabriel is dispatched to bring this news to this young lady. She could have been as young as 12. We don't know how old she was, but she's a young gal. She's living out her life in a nowhere town called Nazareth. God's right-hand angel shows up, Gabriel. You're coming in. I wonder what he's gonna say to her. Well, we read it a while ago, but let's let it sink in. He said to her, greetings favored one, the Lord is with you. Now imagine hearing that. You would wonder, where's this going? What is coming next? What's happening here? So let's look at this greeting. It's the first part there where it says greetings. This is very common. It would be equivalent to our hello. Mary's hearing this. Luke's recording this. I wonder where he got this information. Remember, he's a researcher. He carefully investigated to put it all down and to unfold this wonderful gospel story. Greetings favored one. That word there is only used by Luke in the gospels, in the synoptics. And that word is the word for grace. In the Greek, it's charis. I've heard of folks actually naming a daughter charis or charis with this word, grace, the Greek word, favored one. So we have this note of God's condescension, God's bringing grace or favor to this woman, to this Mary, and there's no word in here that she is deserving of this favor. She doesn't request it. And Luke doesn't indicate anywhere that she did anything to deserve it. This is the nature of grace. This is the nature of being favored by God. Greetings, favored one, and then the Lord is with you. And that sounds like you better be prepared for something. Something is up. Something is going on. Else, why would we go from hello to you're favored in the sight of God to the Lord is with you? Well, he's encouraging Mary and getting ready to detail what's about to happen. The Bible says that she was very perplexed at this statement. That's understandable. And she kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. What does this mean? Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you. And Mary is just, she's very perplexed. She's greatly perplexed at this. She doesn't understand. This is out of the blue. as far as she is concerned. So, we have the dispatch of the angel in these first few verses and his introduction to her. And then we have this monumental announcement. And I've put the division here at verse 30. because the angel is going to respond to her. And her response is typical of those who hear from an angel. She's perplexed. Most people that hear from angels in the Bible are very perplexed. They don't know what's taking place. And the typical response back of an angel is what we see here. The angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. So all of this, Mary, is a good thing, and there's no need to worry. There's no need to be afraid. God is in control. God is moving the course of history. So again, he says, you have found favor with God. We're finding out some things about Mary and we need to think about the fact that she is a recipient of God's grace. She's a recipient. Just like all people who have trusted Christ are recipients of grace. And all that to say she is not the source of grace. We don't want to make more of Mary than she really is, but we don't want to make less of Mary than she really is. But remember this forevermore. She is a recipient of grace. She is one who didn't deserve it. In fact, when she sings her song, down here, verse 47, she says, well, the last part of verse 46, she says, my soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God, what? My Savior. Mary needed a Savior. And God's using her. Mary is God's instrument to bring His Son into the world in a virgin birth. But she is a recipient of grace. She is not a source of grace. She is favored by God. And that favor that God put on her and in her life, is unmerited, meaning she didn't deserve it. She couldn't earn it. She's just a recipient. And so the angel doubles down on this. Verse 28, greetings favored one. Verse 30, for you have found favor with God. And then behold, anytime they say behold, you read that in the Bible, and behold, this is, see this, don't miss this. And I don't know about you, but we're reading along and sometimes we just read along and we just glide right over. It's like we're on a, you know, an ice skating rink and we just glide right over it or hydroplane over it. We just don't let it sink in, but we need to think about these words. When he says, and behold, okay, stop, gather yourself and take it in. This is what he says to Mary, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus. Now, this rocks her world. She doesn't know really what to do with this. The angel is just giving her the facts of what is about to take place. And she is still somewhat perplexed. She just knows she's not to be afraid. She's found favor with God. God's with her. And that's what she needs to know. But how she's going to put this together in her mind. The angel goes on in this announcement, he says, he will be great, that is her son, he will be great. Now it was said of John the Baptist that he was great as well, but he's great in the sight of the Lord. Anytime the Bible says God is great, it's an unqualified greatness, God is great, period. Anytime it says a person is great, it's always qualified. That's something to remember. God is great, period, end of sentence. If a man is great, there's a qualification there. So he says, he will be great. Jesus is great. and will be called the Son of the Most High. So He is supreme authority. He is God. He is the Son of the Most High. He is God, supreme, and high, and holy, and the Lord God, and that's the covenant name for God right there, and that's a wonderful thought of God and name of God, that He is reaching out to man. God is relational. God wants a relationship with you. That's what that means. He is the Lord God. We think of God high and holy and transcendent and unreachable. until we read this and we find out that He extends His hand to us. How is He doing that? Well, He has selected this woman, Mary, and she's going to give birth to Jesus, the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give Him. the throne of his father David. Now that goes back to that 2 Samuel passage and that 1 Chronicles passage, and the covenant that God made with David before David died, that there would be someone to sit on that throne forever, and God is bringing that to fruition in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he goes on with his description in this announcement. and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end." What security for you and I to know that by trusting Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, that we will dwell in his kingdom forever. And we don't have to worry about men's kingdoms, the kingdoms of men and the transitions that go on, one defeating another or things changing in time. But one day, listen, this kingdom is lasting forever and we're a part of it. And what we see on earth is not the final result or the last word, but God has the last word. And the last word is His Son rules. and we will serve him in his kingdom forever and ever. It's an eternal kingdom. So he's throwing all this at Mary. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I am a virgin? Now, you have to think, right? at this point that Mary in her mind is thinking about the immediate future. And this is present tense here. She says, I am a virgin. It's not future tense. The Bible does not teach the perpetual virginity of Mary. But when she had Jesus, she was a virgin. That's what the Bible teaches. This is a present tense there. And she's just wondering, how can this be? I mean, she's trying to take it all in. She's a virgin, yet how can she have a baby? Let's just say this, Mary knows her biology. And she's trying to put this together. This just doesn't happen. And the angel It's such a sweet conversation, the angel working with this young lady. The angel answered, and he said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God. Now folks, in the Old Testament, you had some that were beyond the years of childbearing have a child like Sarah, you know, Abraham and Sarah. This right here is unprecedented. Mary is not old and barren, she is a virgin. And our Lord Jesus came into this world Just like Luke reveals to us here, because what the angel tells Mary is going to be fulfilled in her life. So, the angel tells her, and he's working with her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. Now, that question in verse 34, I don't think that's a question of unbelief, that is a question that begs for an explanation. How can this be? Angel, what you're saying to Mary does not happen every day. It is an abnormal occurrence. What's going on? And then the angel explains it. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. So we talk about the virgin birth. It would also be true to say this is a virgin conception. It's powerful. Some have tried to explain this away, that this is all fairy tale. Luke presents it as historical fact, and I would encourage you and I would encourage myself to receive it as such. And then the response, and we'll close. So the Bible says there, and behold, Even your relative Elizabeth, so the overlapping and going back to what the angel spoke to Elizabeth, and by this time she's pregnant. I think he says she's now in her sixth month. Yeah. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age. And she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, behold, the bond slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. So we said a while ago, we didn't wanna make too much of Mary, but we don't wanna make too less of Mary. Mary here is a model saint. of receiving the word. Look here, behold the bond slave. She calls herself a bond slave of the Lord. She's not trying to pull rank. She, none of that. She is a humble servant of God, a bond slave of the Lord. And then notice her faith right here. She's been presented with grace. with the favor of God. And now she responds with faith. Behold, the bond slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. So we have the dispatch of the angel. We have the announcement concerning who this Jesus is. And the thrust of that announcement is that He is regal, He is royal, He is ruling, and He is reigning. That's this Son, Jesus. He is the King of kings, He's the Lord of lords. So, in conclusion, the Lord sent Gabriel to Nazareth, in order to announce the conception and birth of his regal son to a favored woman by the name of Mary." And then we're sitting here and thinking, well, what does that mean for me? How does this relate to me? Well, first of all, Luke writes it because he wants you to know the truth. I mean, that's really his purpose in writing so that not only Theophilus back then and there, but all God's people would know the truth concerning Jesus and his ministry. And you can tell from reading that we're into some real detail here that you don't get in any other gospel. But what does it mean for you and me? Since the living God exercises sovereign authority over his creation. Yeah, right here, God's operating outside of natural law. Natural law says it's going to take Mary and Joseph to have a child. But our God is beyond. He's the one who created natural law and he's beyond it. He does things that are supernatural. And that's what we read here. We serve the same living God. So since the living God exercises sovereign authority over his creation, which he does, he is sovereign over all. He chooses to work beyond the laws of nature in order to save man from sin. That's the purpose of all this. He works beyond the laws of nature in order to save man from sin, to see to their spiritual and physical needs, and to bring us to our heavenly home or our eternal home. So this is what I find so encouraging about this. If we didn't serve a supernatural God, we would have no hope of salvation. None. It takes a virgin birth. It takes the Son of God. It takes perfection. It takes God in the flesh. And it takes that God in the flesh Teaching as no one ever taught and performing miracle after miracle after miracle. And that same God in the flesh, that same Jesus, submitting himself to death on the cross. Well, you might be sitting there and you think, well, I don't see anything really supernatural about that. Well, there's a lot of supernatural about that. He's perfect and He's submitting Himself to death on the cross. And we find out that that means that He bore our sin in His body on the cross, that those who look to Him in faith would be forgiven of their sins. So this Jesus with outstretched arms, took the nails and died on that cross. And he was taken down and buried. So he's put in a tomb. Oh, here's another, here's another only something only God could do. It's called resurrection. And Jesus is in that tomb three days. The third day, Jesus rises from the dead or is raised from the dead. He's raised for our justification. Listen, you take the supernatural out of Christianity and what do you have? You have nothing. Our God is a great God and He has worked supernaturally to save His people. And not only does He work beyond the laws of nature in order to save us from sin, But he works beyond the laws of nature. And I'm not saying he doesn't work within. He does work within the laws of nature. But he also has gone beyond the laws of nature in order to save us from our sin. And he has gone beyond to see to our spiritual and physical needs. Here's the point. Where is it? I'm going to find it here. There it is, verse 37. If you have a highlighter, I'd highlight it. I would make sure that verse is just etched on my brain and burned into my heart. It's time for those who believe to live like they believe. We shouldn't have to qualify the fact that we believe with another word, believing. In other words, believing believers, meaning there's unbelieving believers. Look at that verse and let it be burned into your heart. This is what was said. For nothing will be impossible with God. That's why I say he is able to save us from our sin. Today, if you hear the word of the Lord, respond to him in faith. Trust Jesus as your savior. He'll forgive you of your sin. You say, well, I've sinned for a long time, or I did a bad sin one time. Whatever it is, nothing is impossible with the Lord. Jesus came for the purpose of forgiving, for loving, for leading, for guiding. So he saves us from our sin. That's pretty remarkable. That's why I would call this a Hallelujah Sunday. He also, since he's able to save us from our sins, so we're down in the pit and he lifts us up and he gives us a life. He breathes life in us and he gives us a life and direction and vitality. He puts his spirit within us, actually. He's able to see to our spiritual and physical needs. And as I look out on the congregation, I know there are many of you that have spiritual and physical needs. And some of these can be solved just like that, according to the Lord and His timing and other things are just ongoing and become burdens that we bear. But you can trust Him with those needs. You can. Nothing is impossible with God, meaning He can answer the need, He can remedy the need or He can just give you the mindset to endure it to His glory. Either way, nothing is impossible with Him. Oh, will God give me the strength to deal with what I have to deal with? Yeah, well, you don't know the pain. Well, God does, so trust Him. He gives you the strength and the wherewithal to shoulder those burdens or Or he can take them away. Because pardon me, I just read that nothing is impossible with the Lord. He's a supernatural God. Don't limit him. And then finally, I mean, think about this need. He's able to bring us to our eternal home. I mean, I mean, in case I miss, unless I miss something, most of us, you know, we're gonna die, you know, six feet under and a whole nine yards. Well, what's this Christianity all about? Well, one day the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will rise. Jesus rose from the dead and he'll raise his people from the dead. And one day we will be with him, but he will get us through this life You say, well, the fire's hot, and the floods are high, and it's rough. But He'll bring you through, and He is fully capable of bringing us on into that eternal rest where we'll be with Him forever and ever, and we'll praise Him. And I hope I have a chance to talk to Gabriel. I'd like to ask him a couple things. Do you like Jerusalem better or do you like Nazareth? I think Gabriel will just say, I like just being where God sent me. Just full of wonder in this passage. If you have a need, yield it to the Lord. Need strength, need wisdom, just yield to the Lord. Nothing's impossible with Him. You need salvation. Today, if you've never trusted Christ, trust Him. It's not a big to-do from a human perspective. It's a prayer. It's whispering, God, I trust you today. I believe in your son. I put my entire existence, I put the weight of my existence in the hands of Jesus, your son. Do with me what you will. Amen. Let's stand. Father in heaven, we thank you for the day, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you for the wonderful reminder of who you are, your big God, living and full of grace and desiring relationship with people, sinners like us. Now, Lord, it's difficult sometimes for us to wrap our minds around that, but you do love us and you are near us right now to help in time of need. We give you praise and thanks in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.