All right, welcome to our church away from church. And we're praying for everybody and thank God for you. And I guess this is gonna be the new normal. And I just have to ask God, give us grace to be a part and trust him to give us the wisdom that we need as we seek as well during these times. And we love you all and we miss you and absence makes a heart grow fonder. And just praying that God would soon allow this virus to pass so that we could get back together and have fellowship and see each other face to face. But for now, we thank God that we have the opportunity to use technology and look at the Word of God together. And by God's grace, this is what we're going to do. And we're asking to help us to be faithful, to present the Word of God online, and to also just be in the Word of God ourselves and use this time, you know, as a special time to draw close to God. What a great time for us to say, you know what, I'm going to honor the Lord on the Lord's Day. and even though I'm at home and make that a special day to give to God as it ought to be and God help us to do that. Happy Mother's Day and it is Mother's Day today and so we rightly stop and thank God for giving us our mothers and And aren't you thankful that God in his wisdom did that as he structured the family that he gave us mothers and of course fathers. But without a mother imagine what life would be like. No one to feed you and care for you. No one to read and sing to you. No one to love teach and encourage you. No one to build you up and strengthen you. No one to patiently help you. as you grow up. And dads can try to do those things and we do our best, but there's nobody like mom to do those things. Mothers excel at these things. And today we're going to look at a very special mother. Her name is Mary, the mother of Christ. And we probably diminish Mary in our preaching because the Catholic Church has put her equal with God and they've venerated and exalted Mary. Of course, Jesus, even in his life, he didn't venerate or exalt Mary. In fact, he did quite the opposite and really diminished Mary in the opportunities where he could have exalted her. And when he was 12 years old, as his mom and dad saw him sorrowing because he had disappeared from their company on the way back from Jerusalem, and they go back to Jerusalem and find him there in the temple, as he responds to his parents, he says to them in Luke 2 49, he said it to them, how is it that you sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business? Jesus could have said, oh, it's Mary, and of course Joseph, but Mary, and so I'll venerate her, honor her, but he did not. He diminished her. In Matthew 12, verse 46, well, yet talk to the people. Behold, his mother and his brethren stood without desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him who is my mother and who are my brethren. And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said, behold, my mother and my brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of my father, which is in heaven, the same as my brother and sister and mother. And again, he could have venerated Mary, exalted Mary, but he diminished her and honored his disciples. And Luke 11, 27, it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that beareth thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. And he said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. Again, he could have venerated Mary, but he diminished Mary. But having said that, Jesus did honor his mother and his father. Luke 2.51, in that story, as a 12-year-old, as they found him in the temple, the Bible does say he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart, so he did honor his parents, but he didn't exalt Mary. John 19.26, out on the cross, says Jesus is being crucified. He said unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to his disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home. And so the Lord did honor Mary and Joseph and cared very much for his mom, but he did not venerate her. But that being said, consider the reality that Mary would be a godly mother to the Lord Jesus Christ. Wow, God would entrust his son to the care of Mary and Joseph. She's not a perfect example because she's human, but she's a premier example of motherhood. And so Mary's going to be our example today as we think about godly motherhood. And my challenge to us this morning is God help us to thank you, God, for godly mothers. Help us be truly thankful for godly mothers. And to be godly mothers, if the shoe fits, if we're woman and God's blessings with children help us to be godly mothers and raise godly mothers and so do we value godly motherhood and several points this morning it's quite a long text the text is Luke chapter 1 if you want to turn there in your Bibles Luke chapter 1 and And let's pray and ask God to bless this service to his glory. Father, we thank you for the grace that you give. Father, we do miss one another. We do long to be together in a place of worship. And Father, we also long for this to pass. And yet, Father, we acknowledge that it's the hand of God in judgment upon a wicked nation and wicked nations that are living as if there is no God. And Father, as long as it's necessary, may it continue. And Father, we pray that you break the heart of the Scottish people, that they'd awaken to their need of Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, that they'd see with soberness the reality of breaking God's law. That's not something to mess about with, even as we see this illness coming. And Father, man is helpless, and without you, we can in no way conquer this. And Father, we pray for godly leaders that would humbly ask for people to pray and to seek the face of God. Oh, Father, as godly people, by the grace of God, we do lift our voice to you and ask for your mercy at this time of need. And Father, pray that the Spirit of God give the mothers that hear this message encouragement and strength from the Word of God. And Father, as all believers, as we listen to the Word of God, may the Spirit of God strengthen us. Father, I can't preach without your enablement. Father, whether it's to nobody, as far as in this room with me, or Father, whether it be whatever size crowd, I have no ability except as you see fit to give. And so I pray that the Spirit of God would anoint me. I pray the Spirit of God to guide me as I speak. I pray that my heart would be tender to you. Father, we can't go through these days without your help. And so we commit ourselves to your good care. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, godly motherhood. And as we look at that this morning, we'll start with godly motherhood is pure, with Mary again as our example. And so it says in our text, in verse 27, just three words as we get started. Verse 27, Luke chapter one, it says, Virgin. Mary was a virgin. She was a maiden who was unmarried and had kept herself morally pure. By Mary's own testimony, she says to the angel, how can I have a child? How shall this thing be seeing I know not a man? I've not had a physical relationship with a man. How can I possibly conceive a child? I was shocked this week as I googled statistics on premarital sex to see that the statistics are alarmingly high, shockingly high, and I hesitate to reveal them and I won't reveal them this morning lest any young person justify their sin by the disobedience of others and say the vast majority have violated their purity and therefore I will too. Our society is not for purity. Our society is promoting impurity. And it's sad, again, to speak about it. It's even sadder still as we see the contagion taking place to realize that wickedness is still prevalent in our society. You'd think these things would shrink into the corner as the wrath of God comes. But we've got Hollywood promoting sensuality and wickedness and immorality. We've got rap, rock, and pop music. We've got gross immodesty and nakedness in our society. We've got wicked teaching, sex education, and promoting the idea of safe sex, as if sex fine is just outside of marriage, but just make sure that you don't get a sexual disease transmitted, or have an unwanted child. But you know, as we think about godly motherhood, godly motherhood begins with purity, begins with purity. Let me say this as well, though, a woman that gets saved having lost her virginity before marriage and having lived in sin, praise God, she can be as pure as a virgin by the grace of God and the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to that person. But that person, as a new believer, would warn every young person to guard their purity. And so we begin with that this morning. Godly motherhood is pure. And that purity for the mother of Christ was guarded from her youth. Praise God that Mary guarded her virginity. And then Mary was to be married. It says that she was a spouse or engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the Virgin's name was Mary. You know, engagement is an exciting time of life. My wife and I got engaged back in 1999. And I think probably our church is probably well familiar with the story. But I was praying and asking God for a nice night that I could asked my girlfriend to marry me as I planned to take her up above a waterfall at a county park near her home at sunset and pop the question. And God allowed that to take place. She said yes. We got back to the house and my mom handed me a phone. Back in that day, we didn't have mobiles and we didn't have easy access to to call, and so we had to have a landline actually connected to the wall that got handed to us, and we were told, call the relatives. Let everybody know. And I remember kind of thinking, why? I mean, let's just kind of enjoy the moment, but it's a moment to be shared. Why? Because marriage is a strong building block of society. And so when two young people commit to one another with purity, to be married. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing. And so Hebrews 13 verse 4 says, marriage is honorable and all in the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Our young people ought to be looking for a pure mate that has guarded themselves and their purity before marriage. Marriage ought to be highly respected by them. And so as we look at Mary in a premier example of godly motherhood, we find that she was pure. Godly motherhood is pure. And then secondly, godly motherhood is prosperous. We all want to prosper in the things that we do. My boys and I, and sometimes my daughter, like to go agate hunting and get out and look for those semi-precious stones. And praise God in Scotland, we've got some areas that have these stones. And one particular time as we're praying about where to go, God led us to an area where a man had made an earthen dam to have some water for his crops and for irrigation and things. And the stone that he had used had numerous agates in it. It was just incredible. And God led us there. And we walked away with buckets of semi-precious stones. And we rejoiced because we succeeded. Prosperity is a success. You know, finding agates is exciting, but it's not essential. Prosperous motherhood is vital to the strength of our families. It's vital that our women succeed in being godly mothers. But godly motherhood is prosperous. Prosperous because of the presence of God. In verse 28, it says, the angel came in unto her and said, Hail thou that are highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Mary was prepared as a godly mother to prosper because she had the presence of God with her. The Lord was with her. I haven't done much shopping since the stores have been ransacked, but I would imagine that it would be much easier for me as a man to walk into a shop and actually find something right now because, I mean, if it's there, you can see it. But a lot of times I go to a shop and I don't like to shop if I don't have a kid with me or my wife or a sales clerk. Because I'm not going to succeed if they're not there. I have to go find them so I can succeed by having them with me. Our success in motherhood or in everything in life comes when the Lord is with us. Praise God for godly mothers that walk very closely with the Lord. My grandmother comes to mind, Grandma Schor. Both my grandmas are godly ladies, but Grandma Schor, I remember hearing my dad and my aunt talk about grandma's prayer life and her close walk with God and the time that she'd spend in prayer out in the woods, just being with God. And she prospered. God allowed her to raise, with her husband, four children that went into full-time ministry, even though they were dairy farmers. And God blessed, you know, how careful we are to guard a close walk with God. Are we truly Godly? Would the angel come to us and say, you know what? The Lord is with thee. The Lord is with thee. Prosperous because of the presence of God. Prosperous because of God's favor. Verse 29. says when she saw him she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be and the angel said unto her fear not Mary for thou hast found favor with God. Mary was blessed of God as the angel comes this is not going to be natural prosperity this is going to be supernatural prosperity because of God's favor. Do you remember the story of Queen Esther? Haman has obtained an extermination order from the king to kill the Jews. And Esther is a new queen and her uncle, Mordecai, a Jew, and Esther, a Jew, Mordecai says, you know what, you need to go into the king's presence and ask for his mercy. And Esther is scared because if she didn't get favor from the king, she would be killed. And so it says in Esther 4.11, all the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces do know that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king and to the inner court who is not called, there's one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter that he may live. But I have not been called to come in unto the king these 30 days. Now it came to pass on the third day that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house over against the king's house. And the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house over against the gate of the house. And it was so when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court that she obtained favor in his sight. And the king held out to Esther, the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter. And we see a beautiful picture of favorite and she's scared to come before the king. And then as she enters in, the king just goes, it's okay. I want to bless you. You know, praise God for that, that access into God's presence and that design of God by his mercy with godly motherhood to be willing to bless. And so Mary is gonna prosper as a godly mother because she has the presence of God and because she has God's favor. Oh, how we need that. Praise God, we can have that too. God is a gracious God that we could walk with God and a woman in motherhood could have that close walk with God that has a presence of God in the favor of God. And so we see that godly motherhood is prosperous. Godly motherhood is pure. And then godly motherhood is privileged. It says, and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. You know, Mary's name is common. It's shared with six other women in the New Testament. And yet, though her name is common, her privilege was incredible. She's going to conceive in her womb the Son of God. She's chosen for very, very sacred service. In the Bible, the high priest was the man who would enter into the most sacred place in the tabernacle or the temple, and he was the only one. He'd have to deal with his sin first, then he would deal with the sins of the people, and he'd have access into that place of intimate presence of God. There's a website I like to use and some of my research is called gotquestions.org. And they say about a tradition. There is a tradition that the high priest of Israel would enter the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle or temple with a rope tied to his foot and or with bells around his waist. Tradition says that when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur during the last couple of centuries of the temple, A scarlet rope was tied to his foot. A priest in the holy place tended the other end of this rope which had a purpose. If the high priest's sins were not atoned for properly, he would die in the presence of the Shekinah, the glory of God, that filled the Holy of Holies. Since nobody else could enter that part of the temple without also dying, the priests felt they needed a way to retrieve the body of the high priest, if necessary. That was the purpose of the rope, to pull the body out. The bell's jingling would be the sign that the priest had fallen to the ground dead. You know, as that high priest went into that place, I mean, can you imagine the soberness in his heart to go in there realizing that if he was not rightly prepared for that sacred duty, that it would be his life. You know, Mary wasn't without sin. but Mary was set apart by God for very sacred service. How clean must one be that would carry in her womb, I mean, incredibly, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ in its inception and conception and growth and development as a baby in her womb. A pregnant woman is very aware that she protects not only her health, but the health of her baby. How careful Mary would be to protect this most precious one in her spiritually and physically. This point, I guess, is gender neutral this morning. but all of us who are saved have the privilege of having Jesus in us. If I am born again, I have Christ in my heart. If I have understood that I'm a sinner, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin, that he didn't stay in the grave, but that he rose from the dead, that the price has been paid completely for my transgression. and that I have exercised faith in that. And I've asked God, God, would you forgive me of my sin? Would you save me because of what Jesus Christ did when he died on the cross? Having done that, the Bible says that I receive into myself Jesus Christ. Colossians 1.27 says, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Romans 8.9, It says, but ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any men have not the spirit of Christ, he has none of his. Spirit of God, spirit of Christ. You know, this morning you look at your life and you think, you know, I want to be a godly mother. Godly motherhood begins with receiving the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart. But that being the case, having received Christ, what an enormous privilege, what a sacred honor that we have as believers to carry about in ourselves Christ. How careful must we be with the privilege that God has given to us? Again, if you don't have Jesus Christ in your heart, Romans 10, 13 says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Praise God that God has offered us such a wonderful gift. And so godly motherhood is privileged. What an honor. I can't imagine Mary finding out that she's gonna be the one that is gonna be the mother of the Messiah. But I can't believe the honor that God's given to myself and to yourself as a believer that we have Christ in us. And so godly motherhood is privileged, is prosperous, is pure. And then godly motherhood is powerful. is powerful. Our world doesn't like to acknowledge that a woman is a weaker vessel than a man. We've got our world clamoring for equality, women can do all things equally, and yet the reality is that men have strength that is greater than a woman's strength. 1 Peter 3, 7 says, likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. and as being heirs together, the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. And it's not speaking about a lesser vessel, it's just the natural strength of a woman is not as great as that of a man. But just because their sex is weaker, there is great power in godly motherhood. And so let's consider Mary again. Godly motherhood is powerful, power to raise a godly seed. Mary would help raise Jesus Christ who is the most powerful man ever. She would help raise that son from birth. Verse 32 tells us he shall be great. and shall be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." God's gonna bless Mary and Joseph to raise Jesus to godly, as a son of God, obviously, godly from his infancy, amazingly, but raise him to maturity. Luke 2.52 says, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. You know, a godly mother has arguably greater influence over her children than her husband. That mother is going to have a great impact with that child. Why? Because she typically spends more time with that child. She's typically more focused in her efforts upon her children. It's just the way God has set up the family and the way God has orchestrated that. It's not that a father should be distant or a father should not be concerned. It's just that a mother is gonna have incredible influence on her children. She has a power to raise a godly seed. And so child training is a power of godly motherhood. Proverbs 22 verse six says, train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. When you train a rosebush in the way that it should go, you clip it and trim it so that it's gonna grow a certain way, a way in which that you desire it to go. In the same way, a godly mother and father train a child in the way he should go, and the way he should go is God's way, and so they're involved in that and helping to raise this child for God. Praise God, God has given that power to godly parents. Child training is a power of godly motherhood. And then child aiming is a power of godly motherhood. There's a saying that says, if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time. It's the idea that you gotta have goals. You gotta have something that you are seeking to accomplish. A godly mother isn't going to let chance happen to her children. She's gonna help her children focus on the target that God wants them to hit. The Bible says in Psalm 127 verse four, as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. It's that a mighty man is gonna have the power, he's gonna have the strength, he's gonna have the accuracy to pull back and to let that arrow fly and to hit the target that he is aiming at. In the same way, godly parents can focus a child and aim a child by the grace of God to hit the target that God wants them to hit. Susanna Wesley was well experienced in motherhood, having raised 19 children. And not because of that, she's called the mother of Methodism, but she's called the mother of Methodism, not because she ever preached or published a book, but because she raised two great preachers, her sons, John and Charles Wesley. Praise God for godly motherhood and the impact that a mother can have in the power to raise a godly seed. And then empowered by God to do that which is impossible. Then said Mary in verse 34 unto the angel, how shall this be seeing I know not a man? How can I conceive a child in my womb when I have had no relationship that would naturally bring forth a child? The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who is called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. Oh, the impossible nature of the motherhood of these two women. As you think about Mary and Elizabeth, they had different problems biologically with childbearing. Mary's a virgin. She's going to conceive by the power of God alone. Elizabeth is past age and she's barren. And yet by the grace of God, she's going to conceive a child in her old age. Again, what a testimony to the power of God for motherhood for these two women. And as they got into their mothering and raising John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ and the burdens of motherhood, even though, again, these are godly men, the Lord Jesus Christ, sinless, John the Baptist is filled with the Spirit of God from the womb. And yet these mothers would have difficult questions in their hearts and minds in their mothering. but they'd be able to look back and say, you know what, I saw the power of God incredibly in my motherhood. And they could trust God. The disciples got to see the power of God in providing food supernaturally, feeding the 5,000 and feeding the 4,000. You think for the rest of their lives that they're going to trust God to always provide the food that they would need. And yet the Bible says in Mark 8 and verse 13, And he left them, and entering into a ship, again departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It's because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? Having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When I break the five loaves among 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They said unto him, 12. And when the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, seven. And he said unto them, how is it that ye do not understand? Why are they burdened about God providing food for them when they have seen God feed 5,000, they've seen him feed 4,000, and yet they struggle with the idea that God could provide for their temporal needs? Again, as Mary and Elizabeth went through the complex problems of motherhood, they'd be able to look back in faith and say, God did the impossible, and so God could do the simplistic. And so as we look at godly motherhood today, there might be much about that a mother would be troubled about, look at and say, how can I do this? And yet the God that allowed you to become a mother is a God that has done the impossible in motherhood, a virgin conceiving, somebody that has passed childbearing years conceiving. And the God of the impossible is the God that can do as well the simplistic in comparison problems of motherhood. And so godly motherhood is powerful, it's privileged, it's prosperous, and pure. And then godly motherhood is purposeful. And we're gonna put our eyes back on Mary off of the idea of the seed that a mother is raising and back into the reality of who Mary was. Godly motherhood is purposeful. Purpose is the reason for which something is done or created and for which something exists. Places where they make cars and lorries and fire trucks all sorts of things but as as you tour those those machine shops where they're putting all this different bits into the car or the lorry or the fire truck. You've got some amazing technology taking place and robotics and robotic welding and things. And these machines are designed to do something. They do it very well with great precision, better than man can do it. They have a purpose and they do it well. Mary demonstrates for a godly mother, a great purpose. And really for all of us, a great purpose, but a great purpose in motherhood. Her purpose was to serve the Lord. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Mary has just received something that is completely life-changing, is revolutional, and it's going to change her life completely. Can you imagine? She's going to be the mother of Christ, and here she's engaged to Joseph and there to be married, and now she's going to be pregnant, and Joseph's going to wonder how this happened, and the angel has to come and say, don't worry, Joseph, that Mary was faithful. That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And God's gonna have to work through that. She's gonna have to have her family suspect that something happened outside of marriage. She's gonna have to raise the son of God. And yet Mary, as she receives this revelation from the Lord, she just says, you know what? I'm gonna serve God. I'm the servant of the Lord. How much do you like change? How well have you responded to COVID-19 in isolation? Have you said to God regarding these changes, behold, the servant of the Lord, whatever God you see fit to do, I submit to you. Again, what a great purpose of our life, just to submit to God. How ready are we to submit ourselves to the Lord? She was going to serve the Lord, but she was purposed to obey as well. It says, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. She's saying, God's will be done in my life. Jesus, whom Mary could rightly call my son. And that's amazing to stop and think about that. She could call the son of God, her son biologically, that that was her child. But Jesus, of course, his will was always to do the will of God. John 4, 34, Jesus said unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. You know, success rightly defined is finding the will of God and doing, God, what would you have me to do? Do you want to succeed in godly motherhood? Get the purpose of Mary. Her purpose was servanthood. God, I submit to you and God, I will do what you'd have me. to do. And so godly motherhood is purposeful, it's powerful, it's privileged, it's prosperous, and pure. And then godly motherhood is personable. There's two mothers in our story now, as the story continues. One is young and one is old, but both are carrying their first child in their womb and they show another wonderful truth about godly motherhood and that is that godly motherhood is personable. Women tend to want to meet and chat and have a long social engagement. Men with the isolation that's taking place are probably embracing it, like, this is great, I've always wanted to do this, just stay in my house and stay in my room and stay in my cave, and it's great. Women are probably struggling more with that because there is something about Women that just love that social interaction. And so we see that in godly motherhood. Godly motherhood is personable. And so we see the personability of Mary and Elizabeth making much of others and little of self. Verse 39, and Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah and entered into the house of Zacharias. and saluted Elizabeth. Mary had exciting news, but I suspect that as she went to Elizabeth that it was because she had found out exciting news about Elizabeth. She'd find out that incredibly she's pregnant and so it's kind of a both and type thing about rejoicing together. It's a joy to hear of a new baby on its way. We're rejoicing with the Baines and the baby that is coming to their family. And it's just a great thing when you hear that a child is coming. My mom recently, I sent her the link to our presentation to watch it. And I said, there's a surprise ending. And my mom actually messaged me back. She said, I watched that whole thing just thinking that number seven was coming. No announcement there, all right? But praise God for baby announcements. Mary and Elizabeth are personable. They're making much of other little of self and rejoicing at what God is doing in each other's lives. Philippians 2, verse four says, look not every man on his own things. but every man also on the things of others. And again, I suspect that Mary had gone to rejoice with Elizabeth and what God had done in Elizabeth's life, but then they rejoiced together, making much of others and little of self. And then seeking to be a blessing and in turn being blessed. It says in verse 41, it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. And she spake out with a loud voice and said, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Again, I suspect Mary had come to be a blessing, but in turn, Elizabeth begins to speak in the blessing of God in her speech to Mary. And she tells her in verse 45, Blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And God gives sweet assurance to Mary through the grace that he gives and understanding that he gives to Elizabeth of the promised blessing that's gonna take place in her life. Praise God for these sweet ladies coming together and rejoicing together. Godly motherhood is personable, purposeful, powerful, privileged, prosperous and pure. Godly Mother and His Prayerful. Praise God for praying mothers. Often as you read a biography, you come across a story about a godly mother that was burdened for her child and had such an impact on a man that would become a great man of God. There's two biographies that stand out to me in that way. I'll refer to one as we start this point. That is Hudson Taylor. the great English missionary that went to China, started the China Inland Mission, but was unsaved in his youth and his mom got burdened to see him get saved. And she's away on holiday and she just became so burdened for her son that she just left and got into a closet and sought the Lord in prayer and didn't leave that place until God gave her assurance in her heart that her son had been saved. Hudson, not knowing his mom's praying for him, picked up a track and started to read it. thinking he'd read the fun story at the beginning and leave off the religious things at the end. But through that track, he bowed his head and accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. He had a sister that was also praying for him and that he let her know that he got saved and found out later that she had been praying daily for his salvation. But he said, don't tell mom. I want to tell mom when she comes home. And so his mom came home and he met her at the door and said, mom, you'll never believe what happened. And she said, I know you got saved. And he said, did my sister tell? And she said, no, the spirit of God revealed it to me. Praise God for godly mothers that know how to touch the throne of grace for their family. I'm just gonna highlight the prayer of praise of Mary as we conclude here. But verse 46, she starts by praising God. And Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord. like that baby just in the other belly of Elizabeth. When he grows up, he will say, he must increase, but I must decrease. Mary was living that. She gave God all the praise and magnified the Lord. She rejoiced in God. Verse 47, my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my savior. God, her savior, was in her womb. and she rejoiced in him. She was humbled before God. It says in verse 48, for he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden, for behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed. And Mary didn't say, I was worthy, or I was a good choice, or I was prepared for God to bless me in this way. She just goes, I was so unworthy. I was just low, of low estate. What a testimony. of her preparedness for her sacred duty that Mary had humility and she expresses it to God. She's in awe of God. Verse 49, for he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He has showed strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree. And Mary rejoiced in the might and the holiness and the mercy and the providence of God. Mary was very aware of who God was in her walk with God. And then she was trusting God with gratitude. He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath hope in his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. And he spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. God has done what he said he would do. And Mary rejoiced with gratitude. You know, again, this world has much to thank women of prayer, godly mothers that have interceded for their families. The second biography that I think of is that of James Stewart, the biography that God used to bring our family to Scotland in the story of this man. And in his autobiography entitled, I Must Tell, He says he was brought home by an enthusiastic group of friends and he was very popular. He, as a, as a youth football player, 13, 14 years of age, he's playing in front of crowds of thousands. And in the book, it says, what's wrong, mother? I asked the people are thrilled. Why can't you be too? Her eyes spent mine. I offered you to God for his service. When you were born, she replied, it was never for this that he gave you to me. There's only one thing that matters, being 100% for Jesus Christ. Now began the great battle for my soul. My mother said, it's now or never, Jim. You must surrender all to the claims of Jesus Christ now. The Spirit of God now seemed to put strong pressure on my mother in agonizing intercession. For many nights she would kneel quietly by my bedside and claim me for Christ. She resisted Satan in the all-conquering name of the risen triumphant Lord. Sometimes she would awaken me out of my sleep and plead with me with tears rolling down her cheeks to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. It was surely God's time to answer prayer for my soul and life. And it's a marvelous testimony as on the football pitch, he comes under deep conviction and he feels every time he's running towards the goal, like he's running to hell. And he tells the Lord, as soon as the whistle blows, I give my life to you. And he did. And James Stewart became a child preacher in Scotland and then used of God for revival in Europe before Hitler invaded. You know, Mary, as we look at her and her godliness, she's a young woman, but she's a mature woman of prayer. And you see that in her expression of praise to God, of her relationship with God. Godly motherhood is prayerful. The Bible says in verse 56, and Mary abode with her about three months and returned to her own house. And what a premier example God has given us in his word of godly motherhood. A mother that was worthy in God's estimation of carrying in her womb the son of God. May God help us to thank him for godly mothers. Be godly mothers and raise godly mothers. Mothers like Mary, God give us mothers like that. Mothers that are pure, guarding their purity, entering marriage with purity. Prosperous. Prosperous because they're with God. Prosperous because they're favored by God. They got the blessing of God upon their motherhood. Privileged. As a carrier of Christ, Mary was incredibly privileged, but all of us that are saved in a godly mother would have that Christ in her. What a privilege. Powerful. Because with God, all things are possible. God is able to give our mothers power to be godly mothers in the working and raising of children. And then purposeful, submitted to God and obeying God. What a great purpose for motherhood. God, I'm gonna serve you. God, I'm gonna obey you. And Mary did. And then personable, fellowshipping, encouraging others, and then prayerful. knowing how to go to God in prayer. And so mothers, on this Mother's Day, we thank God for you and pray, God, give us godly mothers. And God, help us to raise godly mothers. And if we are a mother today, God, help us to be godly mothers. And so we just praise God for you and rejoice in what God's able to do in motherhood. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the word of God. Thank you for the privilege of preaching it. And Father, thank you for Mary, a premier example of godly motherhood. And Father, I pray for the mothers that hear this, that by the grace of God, they'd be the very best mother that they can be. And Father, we don't have to be the best at anything. We just, we do need godly mothers. And Father, we're not saying this morning at all that somebody needs to be the best at mothering. But Father, they ought to be the godliest at it. And Father, as a father, that's what I want to be as well, and our fathers in our churches as well. And Father, as children, we need godly children as well. So all these things apply that we've looked at this morning. And Father, may the spirit of God apply this to our hearts. We thank you, God, that we can have church online. And Father, we commit this to you for as long as you deem it fit for us to do this. And God be glorified. Thank you for your help this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray.