Today we are continuing in our on going study of Luke, and
we find ourselves still in chapter one.
So far, two women have had a visit from the angel Gabriel, announcing
prophetically that they would be with child. Elizabeth was an older woman, probably past 60 years of age and
had never had a child. And Mary,
is of course, a young virgin, not yet married. Elizabeth’s child would be called John the Baptist, the greatest
prophet in the eyes of the Lord, and Mary’s child would be Jesus Christ, the
promised Messiah, the very Son of God, called great because he was the Lord.
By the time we reach verse 39, Mary has just been told that
she would be with child by the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon her, and
also Gabriel says that her cousin Elizabeth was with child as well, which was a
miraculous thing, that a barren woman well past child bearing age would be with
child.
Now it’s not clear from the passage, but it would seem that
when Mary becomes pregnant she doesn’t tell her future husband, Joseph yet, but
instead leaves to visit Elizabeth. Perhaps she needs to see for herself that
Elizabeth is with child as confirmation of what the angel told her. Perhaps Elizabeth would be the only
person that Mary feels that she can talk to about what has happened.
And so God providentially provides through her visit with
Elizabeth three confirmations of His prophetic word to Mary. And I would just insert right here the
importance of confirmation in spiritual matters. As we have often said, you can prove just about anything you
want to prove or assert by one verse of scripture. It is important that we follow the Biblical counsel that
everything is to be confirmed by two or three witnesses. And especially in regards to what
so many people today regard as prophecy.
Many have denigrated the true intention of prophecy from speaking forth
God’s Word to nothing less that a cheap version of fortune telling. And so many people act on what they
believe to be some word from God, some divine revelation directly to them, and resist
the need for confirmation.
So God confirms His Word to Mary through this visit to
Elizabeth in three ways. First of all, personal confirmation. She personally
witnessed the miracle of conception that had occurred in Elizabeth when she saw
that Elizabeth was six months pregnant. There was personal confirmation that
God performed a miracle in Elizabeth even as He said he would.
And then there was physical confirmation that came when the
baby in the womb of Elizabeth, who was John the Baptist, leaped for joy when he
heard the greeting from Mary who was with child conceived of the Holy Spirit.
God literally was using the physical response of John the Baptist to confirm
that in fact that this was a true word from God. John wasn’t able yet to speak, but the Holy Spirit in him
while yet in his mother’s womb recognized the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ who
was in Mary’s womb.
Then there was prophetic confirmation. Personal confirmation
came from Elizabeth. The physical confirmation came from the unborn John the
Baptist. The prophetic confirmation came from God Himself who filled Elizabeth
with His Holy Spirit and she spoke the Word of God in verses 42 to 45. So we see that God confirms this great
prophecy concerning the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ three times, or with
three witnesses. Even God keeps
His own rule concerning verification.
Then starting in verse 46, we have the response of
Mary. Some have called it the song
of Mary. It has been called the
Magnificat. It is Mary’s song of praise
to God for His salvation. In some
respects, you can call this the first worship song of the church. There have been praise songs and
worship songs in the Bible before this, of course; Psalms is full of them. But
this would be the first one of the church age, which was not possible until the
cornerstone of the church was made flesh.
And so I would like during the time we have left to look at
what Mary’s song teaches us about worship. There are a lot of misconceptions today in the church about
worship, what constitutes worship.
In fact, what is happening today in the church in the name of worship is
a relatively new phenomenon. It’s
a religious phenomenon that is less than 50 years old. Today we have turned the church upside
down in response to this desire to pursue a worship experience that is called
contemporary. It seems to be
primarily limited to music. It’s
leaders are often chosen by their youthfulness and hipness and musical ability
rather than the spiritual qualifications for a leader that are laid out for us
in the Scripture, especially in 1 Timothy. This religious phenomenon has separated church congregations
that God had designed to be one body, working together, unified in spirit and service. But instead it is often divisive, separating
this body according to musical tastes, fashion styles, lighting preferences,
and according to age differences.
It has made old fashioned, God ordained preaching almost a thing of the
past, and elevated music from a peripheral component of worship to the main
course, and in the process de-emphasizing the Word of God.
While I am not saying that everything about this new religious
phenomenon we call worship should be considered suspect, I am very concerned
that the enemy has induced many churches to offer up what amounts to strange
fire to God and many naïve, uninformed church goers have been sold a bill of
goods that will not, and cannot deliver on it’s promise of spirituality or even
a committed Christian life. In the
modern church’s attempt to redefine worship for this generation, we are in
danger of the sin of Cain, offering up to God an unacceptable sacrifice of our
own choosing rather than what is pleasing to God.
So I think it would behoove us a church to consider what the
Bible teaches us concerning what true worship is supposed to be like which I
think we can learn from Mary’s song of praise. I want you to see from this passage that worship is first of
all spiritual, 2, worship is intelligent, 3, worship is scriptural, and 4, worship
is humble. This list is not
exhaustive by any means, there are many other things that I could add to that
list as well, but we haven’t the time to fully investigate all of them. So I am limiting the list for the sake
of time. But I believe you could
add that worship is joyful, worship is reverent, and worship is thankful.
But first let’s look at worship is spiritual. Note verses 46 and 47: “And Mary said:
"My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” If
you have been with us for very long then you may have heard me teach that God
created man in His own image. God
is a triune being; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And so man also was made a triune being in the likeness of
God. God made man spirit, soul and
flesh. Man’s spirit is that
element of man that was intended for communion with God, fellowship with
God. But man’s spirit died in the
fall according to the judgment against our sin. Therefore, Jesus tells Nicodemus that for man to receive
eternal life, then he must be born not only of water, that is in the physical
womb, but also of the Spirit. For
it is the Spirit that gives life to that which was dead. You must be born again, Jesus said. So
Mary is singing to God out of the joy of a reborn spirit. And she is singing out of her
soul. She’s not singing soul
music, necessarily, but what it means is she is singing and praising God out of
a transformed heart and mind.
Being reborn of the Spirit results in a transformed mind, and that is
what soul, or the Greek word, psyche, means. It’s the seat of our emotions, mind and will. It’s a heart tuned to God by a
regenerated spirit.
But what I am getting at here is not just an intellectual
knowledge of the difference between soul and spirit, but it’s an emphasis on
spiritual as opposed to physical. John 6:63 says, "It is the Spirit who
gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are
spirit and are life.” True worship
then will emphasize the spiritual and minimize the physical. That which stimulates the physical
above the spiritual has the whole order of salvation upside down. When we were dead in our sins our
spirit was dead. Therefore our
fleshly passions enslaved our minds to do their will. But when we are born again, the spirit is to be in
control. We are to walk in the
spirit, so we do not do the works of the flesh. The flesh profits nothing. It’s still corrupt.
It hasn’t been made new yet.
One day we will receive a new body, but now we are still in the old
flesh. However, we are supposed to
have a new nature. So worshipping
in the spirit is not going to happen through stirring up the flesh will
it? Throughout scripture we see
that the spirit and the flesh are opposed to one another. Therefore we are told to crucify the
flesh that we might walk in the spirit.
That isn’t talking about goose bumps or emotional feelings, it’s talking
about being tuned to the mind of God through the Spirit of God who has revealed
God’s will to us through his Word.
Folks, there is such a misunderstanding of this basic
principle today in churches, and it is really being misapplied in the realm of
what is called worship. I’ve been
in churches where the congregation was berated for not clapping their hands in
a worship song, actually insinuating that if you didn’t clap your hands or wave
your arms around or dance in the aisles, then you weren’t being spiritual. I’m sorry, but that’s just flat out
wrong, and it’s not taught in scripture.
Oh, you can find verses that talk about clapping your hands or lifting
your arms, but to somehow say that is a means to spirituality is bogus. In fact, many times I think it is
detrimental to worship. I’m not
saying that it’s wrong to clap or raise your hands, but it’s never going to be the
means of spiritual worship. The emphasis is on lifting up holy hands, that is
clean hands as a result of a clean heart, holy, consecrated to God.
Which leads us to our next point, which I’ve already alluded
to, and that is that not only is true worship spiritual, but it is
intelligent. Mary said my soul, my
psyche, exalts the Lord. Mary’s
worship was an intelligible, intelligent offering to God. She’s happy, she’s rejoicing, but it is
expressed by quoting Scripture, recounting God’s deliverances, telling about
God’s faithfulness. It’s not just some
mindless, physical exuberance that no one could understand.
Recently a woman admonished my daughter about worship
music. She overheard her talking
to some friends at school one day about a rap song that was supposed to be
Christian, and Melissa commented to her friends that she didn’t find the song
to be particularly exalting to God.
It could have been exalting anything, a girlfriend or something and
sound just the same. And this lady
ended up urging Melissa that in the future she needed to go to a Christian rock
or rap concert and just let herself go in the music. She told her to just give in to whatever came over her there
and she would find herself worshipping God. This lady comes from the camp that espouses such physical
manifestations of so called spiritual activity such as being drunk in the
spirit, or being slain in the spirit.
I got news for this lady. She doesn’t know which spirit she is of. The Bible says we are to test the
spirits to see if they are of God.
It says there are many spirits that have gone out into the world, and
not all of them are of God. Just
letting yourself go in an environment that is exalting the flesh is putting
yourself at the mercy of any sort of spirit that wants to come in and deceive
you. And let me assure you that the enemy is right here among us in church
today. Just because you are at
church doesn’t mean Satan isn’t here as well, trying to deceive and snatch away
the seed of the word of God as soon as it is sown. The devil tried to tempt Jesus by quoting scripture to Him
in the wilderness. So don’t be
surprised to find him working in the church. The Bible says God isn’t the author of confusion. God is a God of order and intelligent
design and we are to respond intelligently.
Thirdly, true worship is not only spiritual, and
intelligent, but it is scriptural.
Throughout this song, Mary is either directly alluding to a specific
scripture, or she is directly quoting from it. True worship must have as it’s basis an emphasis on the Word
of God. You show me a worship
service without Biblical preaching and I will show you a church that is
bordering on apostasy. John
1 says Jesus is the Word. And the
Word became flesh. You cannot
emphasize God’s Word more than the Bible emphasizes God’s Word. I already read you John 6:63 “It is the
Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken
to you are spirit and are life.”
Another place Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” He went on to say, “Thy Word is truth.”
Mary isn’t speaking out of her imagination some religious
mumbo jumbo, she is extolling the virtues of God as revealed in OT scripture. For
example, she starts out in verse 46 by saying. "My soul exalts the
Lord," which is an echo of Psalm 34:2, "My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord." In verse 47 she says, "And my spirit has rejoiced in
God my Savior," which echoes Isaiah 45:21, "There is no God else
beside Me, a just God and a Savior." And in verse 48 she says, "He
has regarded the lowest state of His handmaid," which echoes 1 Samuel
1:11, "If You will indeed look on the infliction of your handmaid and
remember me and not forget your handmaid," the words of Hannah. It also is
reminiscent of Psalm 136:23, "Who remembered us in our low estate, for His
mercy endures forever." Again in verse 48 she says, "Behold from
henceforth all generations shall call me blessed," which echoes the words
of Leah in Genesis 30 verse 13, "Happy am I for the daughters will call me
blessed." In verse 49 she says, "He that is mighty has done to me
great things," which echoes Psalm 126:3, "The Lord has done great
things for us whereof we are glad." And then in verse 49 she says,
"Holy is His name," directly quoting Psalm 111:9, "Holy and
reverent is His name." And so she reveals that she is very well versed in
the Old Testament as she unfolds her familiarity with Scripture and applies it
to her own situation.
She also understands the history of Israel. She understands
how God has exercised His mighty arm in verse 51 and how in the past He has
scattered the proud. He has brought down rulers. He exalts the humble. He has
filled the hungry with good things, sent the rich empty handed. She understands
how through the history of Israel God has helped Israel, verse 54, and done so
in remembrance of His mercy promised, in verse 55, by the Abrahamic covenant.
She is not just familiar with Scripture, she knows covenant theology. She
understands the theology of the Abrahamic covenant. She understands that it was
an eternal pledge made to Abraham by which generations to come would be
blessed. She is knowledgeable of Scripture and she is familiar with theology. So true worship will always be based on
the Bible and sound Bible teaching and preaching. Sound doctrine.
Lastly, true worship is humble. Mary never takes center stage here, but she puts the Lord on
the pedestal, and she refers to herself as His bondslave, or as His handmaiden. Folks, true worship is not about how
the music makes me feel, or expressing my individuality, or showing off my musical
ability. It’s not about me,
period. It’s about magnifying
Jesus. John the Baptist had it
right when he would later say in his ministry, “He must increase, but I must
decrease.”
Listen to Mary’s worship starting in vs. 48 and you hear
humility stressed over and over again.
48 "For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. "For
the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. "AND
HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. He has
done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts
of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted
those who were humble. HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS; And sent away
the rich empty-handed.”
Mary calls herself a bondslave, a bondservant of the
Lord. You can’t get more humble
than being a servant. And that is
where true worship must start.
David said in the Psalms, “a broken and contrite heart, O Lord, you will
not despise.” Humility starts with
a contrite heart broken over your sinfulness. And then such a heart receives God’s mercy. That mercy causes the penitent
sinner to respond in service to the King of Kings who has spared his life, who
has given us so much, even to the point of sharing in the holiness of Jesus
Christ, and sharing in His inheritance in glory. That cognizance should cause you to want to serve God.
That’s what the word worship really means, by the way. It means service to God. It was used to
describe sacrifices by the priests, services rendered to God in the temple as
we saw Zacharias doing in the beginning of the chapter. In Matthew 4:10 the
Lord says, "For it is written, you shall worship the Lord, your God, and
Him only shall you serve.” The word service is from the Greek word latreuo
which is sometimes rendered worship and sometimes interpreted service.
1 Peter 2:5 describes worshippers as priests conducting
services to God. “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual
house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ.” And what are these sacrifices we are called to render to
God? The answer is in Romans
12:1,2 “"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service [lit., spiritual worship]".
Mary was humble.
She was probably a sweet young girl of 13 or 14 years old. She knew the Lord. She knew her Scripture. She knew the promises of Scripture
concerning the coming Messiah. And
I believe her song is evidence of the fact that she did not consider herself
worthy. Rather her song reflects
Isaiah 57:15 which says, “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives
forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with
the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And
to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Mary understands that she has been blessed by the mercy of
God, but she never considers herself the dispenser of blessing. And contrary to the Catholic church’s
teaching venerating Mary, Jesus himself teaches God’s perspective in Luke 11:27
“While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her
voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at
which You nursed. But He said, “On
the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
And that brings us right back to the preeminence of the Word
of God again, doesn’t it? God’s
Word has been given to us as a foundation for our faith and to order our
days. The Holy Spirit speaks to us
through His Word. And we serve God
and worship God by being obedient to His Word. The Bible says, “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams.” God
isn’t interested in empty praise, ladies and gentlemen. He is not interested in lip service
from hearts that are proud and haughty and self serving. God wants humble contrite hearts that
will obey His Word and put His Word above our interests and our fleshly
desires.
God speaking through Isaiah in chapter one vs. 11 says,
"What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I
have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I
take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear
before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your
worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and
sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn
assembly. I hate your new moon
festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am
weary of bearing them.”
I can’t help but think that God is tired of our solemn
assemblies, our rock concerts, our worship festivals, our lent season
ceremonies, our Easter ceremonies, our Christmas mass, when our hearts are far
from being obedient to His will.
In Matt. 15: 7-9, Jesus
says, "You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This
people draws near unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but
their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men."
Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by saying that God
does want us to worship Him. But
He demands that we must worship him in spirit and in truth. Not with the worship of Cain. Not with the pagan influenced worship
of the Israelites. Not with the
traditions of men. But we are to
worship as Mary exemplified in her song: worship in spirit, worship
intelligently, worship scripturally, and worship humbly, serving the Lord with
our entire being, in a manner pleasing to God, as God requires.
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