Luke chapter 1 verses 46 through 56. This is our third sermon in a short series of Advent-themed texts leading us up to Christmas. And the watchword for this third Sunday in Advent is rejoice, which is connected with Mary's song that we're going to read. This song is known as the Magnificat because that is the first word of this passage in Latin. As one author writes, it is one of the most famous songs in Christianity, talking about the Magnificat. It's been whispered in monasteries, chanted in cathedrals, recited in small remote churches by Evening Candlelight, and set to music with trumpets and kettledrums by Bach. It is a fierce, bright shout of triumph, 30 weeks before Bethlehem and 30 years before Calvary and Easter. Love that quote. And I would also add that this song is dripping with scriptural language that echoes much of the song of Hannah found in 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel 2, I believe, which celebrates the birth of Samuel and all that God was going to do with him. We see Mary here taking up that language right here in her song and expressing her joy. So let us give our attention now to the public reading of God's holy word, which is sharper than any double-edged sword, able to discern even the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home." Thus far the reading of God's holy word. May He bless also the preaching of it. Let us go to Him in prayer to ask His blessing. Dear God, we do thank you for your Word. We thank you that you've given it to us. We thank you, Father, for this passage in particular. And we pray that your Spirit would illumine it to our heads and hearts. We confess that apart from your Spirit's work in our lives, we cannot understand it rightly. So we pray, Father, that you would do your work in us and that we might give thanks. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, gathered saints, Many times, perhaps oftentimes, we come thinking about the second coming of Jesus and we can consider it simply in terms of its cosmic ramifications. That is, we can think about the coming of our Lord and how at that last day the scriptures teach that there will be a new heavens and a new earth and that how those things will come into being. We can think about how our Lord Jesus will judge the entire world and all who have lived in it. We can think of the last day and consider the masses of uncountable people that will be raised from the dead. And while the last day, the coming of the Lord, will have those cosmic dimensions to it and those worldwide ramifications, the scriptures, through this most wonderful song of the Virgin Mary, remind us of the ways in which the Lord's presence and coming is also very personal and intimate. We must remember this about our Lord's first coming. Our Lord's first coming also had cosmic dimensions to it. Our Lord's first coming also had worldwide ramifications. Yet it came in the most lowly of ways. We must remember that God came to earth, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and that Jesus was born in the outskirts. He was born in a barn. No innkeepers would make exceptions for Mary and Joseph, even though Mary was carrying God in her womb. No exceptions. Jesus' first advent consisted of His coming into the world as an infant in this lowly way. Jesus cried like a baby. He needed care. He needed consolation. He needed bathing. All of it. And so while the first coming of Christ is that most central and important event in human history, it was not an event that was over the heads of ordinary folks. It was not an event that was detached from ordinary life. It was not an event that was removed from the low estate of human beings. And so as we are those who anticipate Christ's second advent, it's good for us to consider this. It's good for us to consider that our holy God is not aloof from us and that his second coming is not over our heads or somehow greater than his work in our lives personally. And the first thing that we want to consider this morning from the Magnificat is that our holy God is involved with the lowliest of people. Our holy God is involved with the lowliest of people. Pastor John Piper once said this, he said, quote, Right when the three most important decades of human history are about to begin, where is God? He's occupying himself with two obscure, humble women, one old and barren, one young and virginal, end quote. Friends, we're here to rejoice this morning because God is occupied with us all the time, 24-7. God is not just occupied with us on Sundays. He's not just occupied with us when we do church activities or devotions. God's always occupied with us because He's involved with the lowly. God is occupied with us when we have those hard conversations with family members or friends. God's with us when we run our daily errands. God is occupied with us when we sleep. He associates with the lowly. The first coming of Christ teaches us this. And this reality is what is so shocking to Mary, who in verse 48 says, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. And the Greek word translated humble estate in the ESV here is quite a strong word. The Greek word as a verb can mean to cause someone to lose prestige and status. As a noun, it means a humiliating state or an entirely unpretentious state. Mary is shocked that God is involved in her humble estate. And this causes her rejoicing. And we should note that it is an anticipatory rejoicing. Remember, Mary's rejoicing here at what is to come, not what currently is. Just think about it. Mary knows that 30 weeks of pregnancy await her. Mary knows that labor pains and delivery await her. And remember, this is before epidurals or pain meds or any of those options. Much pain awaits her. Pain of the hardest kind. And yet Mary rejoices. For she knows the pain ahead and what it means. She knows what the drama is going to usher in. She knows that a day is coming when she is going to be in great pain and she's going to push and Shalom will enter the world. Now, you might think to yourself this morning that, well, I would rejoice exactly like Mary is if I was used by God in the way that she was. After all, she gets to play this extraordinary role, and perhaps I would rejoice like we see here. But I want you to consider something marvelous this morning. And that is that when you surrender to God and give yourself over to Him, the scriptures actually teach us that God is inside each and every one of us. Now, He's not inside of us in the same exact way as Jesus was inside Mary's womb. But I would submit to you this morning that God is inside of us in just as an amazing and miraculous way. Consider the words of the Apostle Paul in the book of Colossians Colossians 1 26 27 Paul's talking about the gospel and he says that it is the mystery hidden for ages and generations But now revealed to his saints to them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory. I hope you caught that. The greatness of this mystery, Christ in you. Not Mary. Christ in you. How does Christ dwell in you? He dwells in you through the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Trinity, who raised Jesus from the dead, who transforms us more and more to reflect our Lord Jesus. So Christ, friends, if you believe upon Him this morning, is in you. And in this sense, you are in the same miraculous position as the Virgin Mary. You have God in you, and He is with you wherever you are and wherever you go. The same way that Jesus was with Mary. So, saints, in this miraculous way, God is involved with you. It's not that he's involved with the lowly at some aloof place, at some high place that cannot be reached. He's involved with you and with me, the lowly, because he is inside of us as well. All the things you might think are insignificant in your life are significant to God. And they're all pointers to what God is up to in your life. Because this is God's world. This is God's creation. This is His story that He's telling. He's sovereign. And His presence is with the lowly. And you can be sure this Advent season that your life matters to Him. Your relationships matter to Him. Your work situation matters to Him. So we can rejoice because God is working in us. He is in us and He is occupied with us and so may our hearts be open to Increasing joy for God Associates with us and this is related to a second point to bring out this morning and the second point is is that God is not only associated with the lowly, but God uses His people in His plans. God uses His people in His plans. This too is what is shocking to Mary. Who is she to be with child as a virgin and to have the privilege of having the Savior inside of her womb? Of feeling the Savior kick for the first time? Who is she to have that privilege? That's why she's so amazed. But you see, God uses his people to carry out his plans, and we should marvel at this. And this should actually energize us in our lives. Not paralyze us, but energize us. The fact that God is sovereign and that he uses us should energize us. We see right in this passage, God sent Jesus to save, yet Mary must give birth to the Savior. Jesus atones for sin Mary sings of salvation Here and the Savior here So Jesus does the work but Mary must sing of this and testify to it Jesus in John 14 says he's the only way truth and life yet. Mary must wrap him in swaddling clothes lest he die as an infant in the cold God uses His people in necessary ways. And we should marvel at this. God uses you, friends, to carry out His purposes. You may think you're on this earth to find your way and to find your path and where you fit in, but ultimately, the Bible teaches us that we're on this earth to find God's way for us, to be used by God in His plan, to follow Him along His path, and to be faithful wherever He has fit us in. The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins by telling us that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. And thus, we're called to rejoice, knowing that God uses us, for that is our chief end, to glorify and enjoy Him. And so, Saints, His coming on the last day, as we look forward to His second advent, That doesn't mean idleness for us for each passing day. Instead, it should be motivation to walk in His paths anew each morning because each new day is a day to pray for and discern God's path. Each new day is a day to seek out the light that is in the darkness. For God uses us. He's pleased to use us. And we're not to balk at that, but we're to embrace that the way Mary does here in her lowliest state. God is going to use her in necessary ways to bring salvation to sinners. Now in this life, as we await Christ's second coming, The shape and form of God's using us in His plans takes an unusual path. And this is the third point we want to consider. It takes an unusual path that's entirely counter-cultural. And that path is that God exalts the humble. This is the path. God exalts the humble. This is the way that He uses us. Look at verse 51. Mary says, he has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. How true this was for Mary in so many ways. I mentioned earlier the whole humbling and painful ordeal of childbirth. But consider the other ways that Mary was to be humbled through this. Mary had to truly surrender herself to God because what she faced from a cultural perspective was also quite severe. Remember, she was a virgin. And that meant that no matter what, she was going to face very intense scrutiny from those who were closest with her and from society at large. Either she slept with Joseph before marriage, people would think, or she cheated on her fiancé. Those are the two options that most people would believe about her. None of which were true, of course. But that is indeed the scrutiny that she would face if she truly surrendered herself to God's plan. If she truly humbled herself to follow through with this. You know, sometimes we can think that, wow, Mary got this really special thing. Indeed, it was special. But when you look at it from this perspective, you realize just how hard it was. you realize the difficult thing that God was calling Mary to do. Not only just with her own body, but from what she faced from society and even her closest family and friends. But you know what? Mary surrendered to God. And if you look up at verse 38, we didn't read it, but if you look at verse 38 earlier in the chapter, the angels come bring their announcement to her, and she says, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. That's how she responds to this difficult calling in her life. Mary prizes serving God above all. She has truly surrendered, not because it's going to make her life easier, but because she realizes that God is her life. And thus, whatever surrendering to Him means, that's what it means. For He has promised to exalt the humble as she sings. Those who have given everything for Him, He will raise up. And of course, we see this fully in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. I did come across a fable this week that kind of illustrates this idea a little in terms of our surrender to God. And maybe some of you have heard it. But the fable goes like this. There was once a rich king who came down from his castle and went into a village, into the village that he was over, to greet the subjects of his kingdom. And there was a beggar in the street who was really excited to meet the king. And not only meet the king, but he was excited to hand out his alms bowl to receive some monetary gain from the king as well. And so this beggar was very excited to meet the king. And as the king approached him, he handed out his alms bowl. But in a shocking turn of events, this king actually asked the beggar to give him something. And this completely took the beggar by surprise. And so the beggar did go into his stash of stuff. He had a little bag of goods, and he found a little bag of rice. And he opened the bag of rice, and he took out three grains of rice, three really small grains of rice, and he gave it to the king. And then the king moved on. Well, late in the day, the beggar emptied out his bag, and to his astonishment, he found three tiny grains of pure gold at the bottom of his bowl. And he cried out, Oh, I wish I would have given the king everything in my bag, if that was the case. And what that fable illustrates well, I think, is that the more that we are caused to surrender by the Lord, the more of the Lord's love and mercy we will personally experience. And of course, this falls into the realm of our sanctification. For God sent Jesus not because we surrendered to Him, but because we could not surrender to Him. The Bible is clear about that. Jesus came to die for sinners and for the ungodly, and to rescue sinners and not the righteous. Yet as we are then united to Christ by faith, we're called to a full surrender to God. And this entails doing things that we're not accustomed to doing. It usually entails thinking of things in different ways than we have been accustomed to thinking. It usually entails loving those whom we're not inclined to love. You see, Mary and Joseph could have done perhaps what many would have considered the rational thing here. They could have perhaps divorced and tried to save some face with family, with friends, in light of what went on. I'm sure there was pressure there to secure relationships with their family, with society, with synagogue, in light of what was going on. Mary could have even pursued something like adoption. As she was very young, no more than 15, likely the subject of a lot of shaming in her day, there were other choices available, you see, to them than full surrender here. Yet, what did they do? They surrendered fully to God and His plan, and God truly exalts them and blesses them. And saints, this is the call that God has on all of our lives. We are to give our entire selves to the King. Sometimes we can simply think of the King as giving to us. Yet then, when He asks us to give to Him, Right? We struggle with that surrender aspect. But we are to give ourselves fully to our King because that's what He has done for us. God has given Himself fully to us. God has actually surrendered Himself fully to us in the person and work of Christ. God surrendered his only begotten Son for you and for me. Jesus went all the way to the cross to die for your sins, to die for my sins. God has given all of himself to us. He has not withheld any of His love, any of His life for us. And so it's entirely fitting then for Him to ask us to surrender in such a way. We shouldn't be shocked like the beggar of the fable when the King asks us for something. Indeed, if the King calls upon us, we should give Him our all, our very lives, because that is what He has given to us. So saints a few concluding words this morning. This should be the cause of great rejoicing When we consider what God has done for us as we surrender We are to be led into more and more joy and we will be led into more and more joy because God sees us and he uses us as we are and he blesses us and We are to be those then that rejoice in God because He's merciful and strong, as our passage says. We're to rejoice in God because He's helped His servant Israel. He's exalted those of humble estate and done great things. And so my prayer, saints, is that as we approach Christmas this year, we might approach it with joy for what God has done for us at the cross, given us Himself, Christ humbled himself even to the point of death. He poured out his entire self for our sake so that we could be filled up with his life. And so let us rejoice this morning. Because God has given us everything. He has not withheld anything. And so now we can pray and ask Him to stir in us that same kind of surrender and yield our lives back to Him wherever we sense Him calling us and leading us. And indeed, in Christ, as we are led to greater levels of surrender, you can be sure that you will personally experience more of God's personal and intimate blessing and free grace. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for the magnificat. We thank you for The fact that you associate with the lowly. You're pleased to use us in your plans. And you're pleased to exalt those who humble themselves before you. Father, we pray that you would be at work in our hearts, working this grace in us. And Lord, we pray that we would be a people who rejoice for what we know is coming. And what we know will be ours at the last day. We pray and ask this in Christ's name. Amen.