(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So, I feel like I've already preached a sermon reading that whole chapter, so it's definitely a big chapter. But in chapter one here there's a lot, and we're not going to get into everything that's in chapter one, obviously, but the name of the sermon is Mary the Mother of Jesus. So we're getting close to Christmas, next weekend is Christmas Eve, and so I wanted to preach a sermon about Mary. Now this is not a hit piece against Mary. Now in Baptist churches we tend to really just nail Mary on the things that she's not. I do want to give that caveat here at the beginning, but really this sermon is more about who she was and what she did because she actually was a very godly woman and someone that we should look up to as far as a godly woman and a figure that we should look to. As far as our wives should be or as far as our daughters should be, Mary is a great example. But I first want to go through the misconceptions. So notice the name of the sermon is Mary the Mother of Jesus, not Mary the Mother of God. Now that's a big distinction because the Catholic church holds Mary up to be pretty much higher than Jesus. And so if you want to get to God, you've got to go through Mary and you've got to pray to Mary and do all this other stuff. And Jesus is kind of a side note there, but Mary is like the biggest thing that they're looking at. So the reasoning behind it is well Jesus is God, yes that's true that Jesus is God. But saying that Mary is the mother of God implies that God had a beginning. Does that make sense? And the Bible never says Mary the mother of God. So it's not in the Bible so we need to use Bible definitions, Bible phrases. But I do want to, this phrase Mary the mother of Jesus is in there, so she was the mother of Jesus. There's no doubt about that, but in Acts chapter 1 verse 14 it does say this, it says these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus with his brethren and with his brethren. So it does call Mary the mother of Jesus and there's nothing wrong with that, that's Bible. But go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. There is a distinction between Jesus the man and Jesus God as far as his deity. Because you've got to understand that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh and Mary gave him the flesh as far as being born of her, but Jesus was already there. Jesus is from the beginning. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God and it says the Word was made flesh. So it's very clear that the Word Jesus was from the beginning and this isn't a whole sermon about Jesus' deity so I don't want to take away from that, but he also was a man. He became like one of us. It behooved him to be made unto his brethren. But in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 it says for there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus. So there is a distinction as far as the man Christ Jesus compared to Jesus who is God. Now that's a whole sermon in itself talking about the man Christ Jesus who was tempted in all points like as we are and his deity. They were both there at the same time and Jesus is still the man Christ Jesus and God. But becoming a man came there at a certain point. Go to Galatians chapter 4. He was always God. In Micah 5 to 2 we think about the famous passage of the coming of the Christ it says his day is going toward from old from everlasting. So we know that Jesus is from everlasting but he wasn't always in the flesh. He wasn't always a man and so this is where this comes into place with the Virgin Mary why it's so important that when this happened that's when he became a man and became like one of us. And so in Galatians chapter 4 verse 4 it says but when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son. So is his son just coming into existence or is he sending him? He's sending him from heaven the Lord that came down from heaven. Made of a woman made under law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. So it is very important that he was made of a woman and made under the law and we're going to get into that after in a little bit in the sermon. So but you see that he's the mother of Jesus in the fact of his physical body not his deity. So there's a big distinction there. Also Mary they try to say that Mary was eternally a virgin. That once they had Jesus you know she never had any more children. She was a virgin forever and I'm not really sure why you know like this is something with them but go to Matthew chapter 1 Matthew chapter 1 I just want to disprove this really quick. Jesus had brothers and sisters okay and but this verse in Matthew chapter 1 really I mean it wouldn't make any sense if he was the only child she ever had. And I'd also feel really sorry for Joseph to you know he's just like well I married this woman but I you know can't you know do what married people do you know I can't fulfill like 1st Corinthians 7 I mean it's just it'd be a raw deal for him. But Matthew chapter 1 verse 24 it says then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel the Lord had bidden him and took unto him his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son and he called his name Jesus. Now there's a couple things in there. First of all if I said you know I didn't you know I didn't go to the store until you know I you know changed the oil in my car. Obviously you know that eventually I did go to the store right if I said that then I eventually went to the store but not until after I did this right. But it also says the firstborn. Now would it make sense if I said this is my firstborn if I only have one child? That'd be kind of redundant wouldn't it? I mean obviously it's your firstborn it's the only child you have. And so but go to Matthew chapter 13 verse 15 so this isn't really a part of this isn't the crux of the sermon I just want to get these misconceptions out there that she's not the mother of God because she didn't give him his deity and he always was but Mary had children after Jesus and so she wasn't eternally a virgin. Matthew 13 verse 55 Matthew 13 and there's other places this is mentioned this isn't the only place but Matthew 13 verse 55 it says is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary and his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters are they not all with us? Once then hath this man all these things? So clearly all these people are saying hey his brothers all here names them off and you know what it says that the James is the Lord's brother in Galatians chapter 1 so there's many places where it talks about this isn't just like in a corner right here and you know in Matthew 13 it's in a lot of places so he clearly had brothers and it says his brethren didn't believe on him and he says your time is always ready so I don't have time to go through all the places that he talks about his brethren. But Mary needed a savior Mary wasn't this sinless you know woman that didn't need any help from God and she's basically a deity herself and that's where it comes down to the veneration of Mary and all this stuff and so go to Luke chapter 1 again we've already read this but we're going to look at verse 46 but I want you to know Mary never claimed any of this Mary never claimed any of this she never claimed to be the mother of God she never claimed to be an eternal virgin she never claimed that she didn't need a savior so Mary gets a bad rap on things that people have attributed to her where Mary really I mean if you look at the story Mary there's definitely things that she did that she probably you know shouldn't have done later on you know but you know dealing with Jesus and like and what he was to do and not do and all that stuff but in general when we're reading this passage in Luke 1 and Luke 2 I mean she's a very godly woman and she never attributes this stuff to herself but in Luke 1 and verse 46 it says and Mary said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior now if she didn't need if she needed a savior if God was her savior that means she was damned that means there's no salvation without damnation and there's no need of a savior if you don't have a reason to be saved from something and obviously there's not a man on the earth on earth that doeth good and sineth not for all sin comes short of the glory of God and Mary is not an exception to that rule and so but Mary herself called herself you know what she called herself the handmaid of the Lord the handmaid of the Lord so what does she attribute to herself that she's God's servant and so she's very humble very you know within this whole story there's nothing in here where I think she's puffed up about what God is doing here about she's just basically you know behold the handmaid of the Lord you know and so there's a great story here with Mary because Mary was a very godly woman she didn't attribute all this stuff that a lot of people try to attribute to her nowadays it is true that we call her blessed it's sad though that we have to go through that first and kind of just tear down what she's not and it's almost like we're tearing down Mary but Mary had nothing to do with that false stuff that's been propped up about her and so you're in Luke 1 and look at verse 26 I know we've read all this but I just kind of want to go through it again here and I just want to talk about Mary first of all was a virgin and a very godly woman and so you think about just people in the Bible that God has said you know you're favored you're you know you found grace in the eyes of the Lord you think of Noah you think of Daniel you think of a lot of these people remember in Ezekiel it said only if Job, Noah and Daniel were in the city would I save that city and you know there's there's top people that God kind of regards as like this is the most just man upon the earth and notice what it says and so in verse 26 there it says in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto the city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary now it's getting across here that she's a virgin quite clearly she's a virgin and so and it says the angel came in unto her and said hail thou that are highly favored the Lord is with thee and blessed art thou among women there's some very high regards that God has for this woman thou art highly favored you know and the Lord is with her and you know she's blessed among women and so but the virgin part is the thing that I want you know she was a virgin she was a godly woman now she was married now they were a spouse but they hadn't come together yet okay so they were husband and wife but they haven't consummated the marriage yet and so she was a virgin still and this is a prophecy that's fulfilled if you go to Isaiah chapter seven Isaiah chapter seven so she plays a big part in the most important prophecy in my opinion as far as what the prophecies that foretell about Jesus and what he's supposed to do okay there's a lot of prophecies about end times there's a lot of prophecies about different things that are going to happen but to me the most important is salvation the most important is about Christ and him providing salvation for the whole world and she gets to be an integral part of that and so in Isaiah chapter seven and verse fourteen it says therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel now this is quoted in Matthew chapter one we won't go there for the sake of time the same thing about her being a virgin and all that but you know people say well you know in the Greek it says it says young woman first of all they don't speak Greek you know these people that talk about this stuff but it says young woman it's not necessarily a virgin and so but you notice that she says later on how how is this possible seeing I know not a man now you can go back to the Greek and try to tell me that virgin is a young woman all you want you know where they got that from is the Jewish rabbis that try to discredit Isaiah seven I've actually had a rabbi I don't know if he's a rabbi he's Jewish he's got his little yarmulke he he's a nice guy like he's at the gym and his name's Jan but anyway we're me and Mike we're kind of talking about Bible and and Mike was trying to talk to him you know about well what do you think of Isaiah you know like where it says a virgin shall conceive and all this stuff and he's like well that's actually a young woman and it's interesting to me that people try to bring this up even in Christian realms but how do you get around the fact that she says seeing I know not a man okay you can't get around that that that's what virgin means virgin means that you're pure you haven't you haven't been with anybody and so her purity is very clearly stated in in in Luke chapter one that she was in fact a virgin not just a young woman and also we don't know how young she was you know people try to say you know she was 16 or you know I who knows I'd say she's of age to have children so I mean that's that's for sure known she's not a child but she's a very godly woman obviously because God's putting his stamp of approval you think of Job he said he's the most he's the most just and upright in all the world and all the earth now can you imagine God saying that about you and all the world you're the most up just and upright man in the world or woman but to have an angel come and say you are highly favored of God I mean she has to be godly I mean by definition that God's giving her that that accolade there but this this promise of the virgin conceiving a child has been promised since the beginning of time I mean you know eternal life was promised before the world began right but when was it promised as far as this virgin birth at least in scripture anyway go to Genesis chapter three Genesis chapter three and so she gets to take part in a prophecy that was prophesied right after the fall of man and so the honor that she has here is amazing but I just want to talk about this prophecy for a minute and show you how do they know it was a virgin birth well it's only possible through a virgin birth as we'll see in the scripture but Genesis three we're not going to go through the whole thing but we obviously get down to the fact of you know Adam's blaming the woman the woman blames the serpent and then he curses the serpent then he curses the woman then he curses the man so but but in verse 14 there so Genesis three verse 14 says in the Lord God said unto the serpent because thou has done this thou art cursed above all cattle and above all every beast of the field upon thy belly thou shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life so we're talking about the serpent he's talking to the serpent who is who's the serpent the devil and we see that in Revelation where the the old serpent the devil which is Satan and in verse 15 and now we'll put enmity between thee and the woman so between the serpent and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel so we see this the seed okay the seed of Satan and the seed of the woman okay and the seed of the woman is Christ and you know we have a lot of scriptures to prove that the seed and this seed is talked about throughout the scriptures we're going to get into that when we're talking about the promise gave to Abraham and to his seed but but her seed now if you understand you know biology usually when you think of how you have a child the man has the seed it's the seed of man that a child is born but in this case it's her seed meaning that there's no man involved so here's virgin birth right here in Genesis chapter three and it says it shall bruise thy head so the seed that's going to come is going to bruise Satan's head and now shall bruise his heel so we also see that her seed is talking about a man that's going to come and so it shall bruise his heel and so go to Isaiah 53 and we'll see that Jesus was bruised you know his heel was bruised so to speak and you know that's how he saved us from our sins but obviously Satan's head's going to be taken out there's a difference between your your heel being bruised and your head being bruised okay one's fatal and one's not okay so there's a difference there but Isaiah 53 this is the famous chapter on what Jesus was going to come and do about the Messiah coming and Isaiah 53 verse five notice what it says it says but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed go down to verse 10 it says yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand so we see that Jesus was bruised when was this when he died on the cross and rose again the third day you know this is the the ultimate thing that we're pointing to from the very beginning remember all the prophets give witness of Christ but from the very beginning we're talking about this seed that was going to come of a woman and that Satan was going to bruise his heel but here's a here's a verse that came to mind because you say well where you know where does it say that he bruises his head you know later on or that Jesus bruises his head go to Habakkuk chapter three and this is something that I was reading I'm not saying the first person that saw this or anything like that but I do think this does line up with how Jesus bruised the head of the serpent so he destroyed the works of the devil it says in the bible and in the end the devil is going to be cast into the lake of fire and death the final enemy is going to be cast to the lake of fire so Habakkuk chapter three go down to verse thirteen so Habakkuk I know it's a little harder to find there but in the minor prophets you get Jonah, Micah, Nahum and then you get into Habakkuk Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi get all those those fun names Habakkuk chapter three in verse thirteen it says thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people even for salvation with thine anointed thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked by discovering the foundation unto the neck Sila so I believe this happened the moment that Jesus when he died on the cross and paid for all our sins and rose again a third day he bruised the head of the serpent and it says he went forth for salvation and notice it says for the salvation with thine anointed what's another name for anointed Christ Messiah those all three are interchangeable terms when you think of in Psalm chapter two that they went against him and his anointed and when it quotes that in the New Testament it says Christ so anointed Christ and you think of christening something what are you doing you're anointing it and so I think this verse very well lines up with the fact that of Jesus coming to bring salvation remember he's going to be called Jesus because he's going to save his people from their sins in Matthew chapter one and then Romans chapter sixteen go to Romans chapter sixteen now this is clearly a parallel to this but what's interesting is more talking about us you know and Satan's head being bruised I don't think anybody would argue with Romans sixteen but I thought that was interesting it doesn't say bruised but it does say he wounded his head wounded the head of the house of the wicked so I think that lines up with the fact of Jesus wounding the head of the serpent when he brought salvation and so and obviously salvation has been the same since the beginning of the world we've already discussed how salvation has always been by faith and he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world but he was manifesting these last times for you meaning that you know that's the time that he actually performed it but he does speak of those things which be not as though they were so Romans sixteen and verse twenty it says and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under her under your feet shortly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you be with you amen so we see here that the God of peace is going to bruise Satan under our feet so not just under under you know Christ but under us and so just interesting you know but this is something that Mary got to take part in this is Mary was the woman that brought forth this seed and so this is a very high honor and Mary got to do that and and to me she had to be a very godly woman for God to pick her and a woman that not only was godly but but I believe God knew that she would actually do it and so I don't you know obviously she could have chose not to she has free will but you know he talks about Abraham how he's like I know he'll teach his children so there's certain things God's just like I know they're going to do what I tell them to do and obviously he's proved him throughout time to do that and so to me Mary must have been proven to be an obedient you know handmaiden of the Lord in the past in order for this great task to be put upon her and for her to accept it so notice in Luke chapter one so go back to Luke chapter one I think we we see the end game right we see what really what all happens and it's kind of like when you already know what happens it's easier to go through it right but imagine you're in her feet and she's not there you know to see the end that everything's going to happen and would you have decided to go through with it would you have said yes I'll do this okay and so we think of the think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego right you'd be like oh man I'd love to be those three guys it's like yeah what if you didn't know whether you were going to live though you know what if you didn't know whether God was going to save you out of that that's the difference you know and so the case is in our and when we go through this type of stuff you don't know you don't know we know that God's able to deliver us but we don't know if he will and so that's where you know faith comes in that's where you know relying on the Lord so notice in Luke chapter one verse twenty nine it says and when she saw him she was troubled okay so she she was kind of afraid to see this angel and so she was she was troubled but it says in verse thirty and the angel said unto her fear not Mary for thou has found favor with God and so she's kind of afraid of this whole thing and Zacharias was the same way he saw this angel and he's you know fearing because of this but you got to understand through her eyes she doesn't know how this is going to happen notice in verse thirty four then said Mary unto the angel how shall this be seeing I know not a man so she's saying you know how in the world is it going to even happen like what's going to go what's going to happen here and so the angel explains to her what's going to happen it says and 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 so and he goes on even in verse thirty seven to say for with God nothing shall be impossible so now he explains to her okay this is how it's going to happen so you got to understand that she's coming into this like not knowing like what has to transpire you know what's she going to have to go through and then notice her response though it says in verse thirty eight and this really I think describes the humble spirit of Mary and her godliness her virtuous woman attributes here where it says and Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word and the angel departed from her so women you know this is something that you should take the heart as far as especially following God you know we should you should always just be thinking behold the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word and as men too we should be thinking about this when we when we think about stuff that's going on in our life you know be it unto me according to thy word and you know there's a lot of things that I don't necessarily I don't want to happen in my life I don't want you know certain things that you know tragedies or anything like that happen but if it's according to God's will let it be let it be done and so whether it's good or bad shall we receive good of the Lord not evil you know and so we got to think about you know I don't want to be a joke you know I don't want to be Ezekiel that you know certain people in the Bible but their end was so awesome that you're thinking man that'd be nice if I could go through that but you got to understand with all these people they didn't see the end you know they were going through it understanding just what they know at the moment and so she she I'm sure is thinking about this because the next thing to think about here is there's a there's a risk here with doing this she's a spouse to Joseph and they never come together and now she's going to be with child I guarantee this went through her mind that there's going to be some ramifications what what could happen to my marriage you know what what can go down could I get stoned for this you know because you think about the law of the land is that if you commit adultery you're to be put to death and so and it's a righteous law but you know you got to be thinking about this and obviously God can protect her and I'm sure that was going through her mind if God's going to do this I'm sure he's not gonna let me die you know and then it doesn't happen but that does take faith it does take faith to say you know what this is all going to work out and God you know let God's will be done go to Matthew chapter one because this was a reality this is a this is a reality that she could have went through because Joseph at the time didn't know you know she comes to the angel comes to marry first and then it then the angel comes to Joseph because Joseph doesn't know about this until after she's already with child so it doesn't exactly say when I don't know if it was when she started the show you know but I have a feeling it was probably pretty soon because I can't imagine being married and not coming together for that long a period of time so I don't imagine it being that big of a space you know it could have been though but I imagine after three months you'd be like yeah what's going on here you're not just gaining weight okay and so but Matthew chapter one in verse 18 it says now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost then Joseph her husband being a just man and not willing to make a make her a public example was minded to put her away privately so what's put away to divorce now this is one of the only cases in the Bible of a story where it was actually just to put away somebody or to to divorce somebody and that's a whole another server for another day but it says that he was a just man to do this but obviously didn't know all the facts so obviously if this was a case where it wasn't a virgin birth which is there's only one case of a virgin birth so if this ever happens again obviously it's not not that and so but in this case he would have been just to put her away to divorce her if it wasn't the case that he's going to be brought up to so obviously the angel comes to him and tells him hey you know this isn't what you think she didn't cheat on you and and you know this isn't an illegitimate child and so in verse 20 there it says for while he thought on these things behold the angel Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying Joseph thou son of David fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost so the angel explains to him hey you know this isn't illegitimate you know take unto your wife so and then it says and she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel which being interpreted is God with us then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and took unto him his wife and knew her not until she until she brought forth her firstborn son and he called his name Jesus so so we see here that it all worked out and God you know took care of that whole issue that could happen there and the fact that you know she would could lose her husband and be stoned or even exiled or excommunicated and and all the stuff that could have happened to her but God took care of her but she had faith to do that so I think sometimes we we we don't see you know we were saying you know you can't see the forest through the trees and stuff like that but when we look at the Bible we already know what's going to happen we we know the story and even sometimes it tells you the end before you get to the end of the book you know but we got to remember in our lives we are not going to see the ending we just have to have faith that God is going to whatever he does and whatever his will is is going to be for the better all things work together for good to them who are called you know and it goes on and it's not just those that are saved but then to that love him and so if you love him keep his commandments and you're doing what you should be doing then yes you'll go through hard times yes there'll be things that'll be really hard to get through and sorrows and tragedies but in the end it's all going to work together for good and so we had to have that faith now in Luke chapter one and this is kind of a where I want to get into because Mary it doesn't say she prophesied but it is kind of like a prophecy here so this is one of the you know you think of Mary talking and stuff like that this is the longest space of time that she talks in the entire Bible as far as just speaking about something you know throughout after this you know you think of like when at the marriage of a king of Galilee you know she pretty much just says they're out of wine and Jesus says woman what have I to do with thee another point too that you know he never really calls her mother he just says woman even when he was on the cross he says woman behold thy son so but not out of disrespect but just the fact that he is the Lord from heaven and obviously he loved her but the Luke one in verse forty six this is a pretty much a prophecy she's pretty much prophesying about the Lord and kind of giving her prayer it reminds me of Hannah praying in first Samuel how you know after she has her son she she has this kind of this praise that she's giving to the Lord so it's almost she's more so praising the Lord but it's in the Bible so the Luke chapter one verse forty six it says and Mary said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior so this first of all tells us that she's saved she's she believed on the Lord remember Elizabeth also said that you believe bless you because you believed and so in verse forty eight for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty had done to me great things and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation he hath showed strength with his arm he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree he hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away he hath hoping his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever now there's a lot of stuff in here but um but she wasn't ignorant of the scripture she I mean I don't I don't believe that God was just telling her what to say here although this is inspired word of God so obviously you know it was inspired through the Holy Ghost of what she's saying but what I'm saying is I believe this came from memory this came from what she knew and so but the the thing I want you to hone in on is the last two verses there of what she says because this is very similar to what Zacharias says and a lot of people we were kind of talking about this before the service started as far as like what did the Old Testament saints know because notice they're still in the Old Testament here the New Testament doesn't start until Jesus dies on the cross and so they're Old Testament saints you know Mary and Zacharias and John you know and John doesn't make it to the New Testament remember he dies so but in in the last few verses there it says he hath hoping his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever now we we've talked about this many times about Abraham and his seed and these promises that were made to them and his mercy right well go down to verse 67 I want to read Zacharias's prophecy because he prophesies and it's very similar but I want to get into what they're talking about here what exactly are they talking about with this are they just praising God for for you know helping them out physically you know as far as this goes I believe it goes a lot deeper than that but in verse 67 it says and his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up and horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began so this has been prophesized since the world began that salvation was going to come to Israel and to to all nations and we'll see that but verse 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant the oath which he sware to our father Abraham that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life so this is a prophecy and you see how it is very similar to what Mary says at the end of what her her little bit of prophecy there in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever it's very similar to what he's talking about which is the holy covenant the oath which he sware to our father Abraham and so I want to talk about this holy covenant this this promise that was made to Abraham and what is that is that the old testament did the old testament start with Abraham no the old testament started with Moses before Moses we were in the order of Melchizedek we were in you know they were sacrificing and doing stuff like that but they didn't have the old testament law until Moses this holy covenant is something different and so go to Genesis chapter 12 Genesis chapter 12 so I want to talk about what did what did God promise Abraham and notice remember in in that passage with what that Zechariah was talking about he said this is this has been spoken by the holy prophet since the world began so I don't believe that this holy covenant necessarily started with Abraham it's just that it you know as people went down Noah I remember he was going to be the heir of righteousness because he was the only one left right after the flood and then it goes down the line and there's this lineage obviously that you see of Jesus and the seed coming through that lineage but in Genesis chapter 12 this is where Abraham's coming out of his country and this is the first mention of this blessing that's going to be upon him so in Genesis chapter 12 verse 1 it says now the Lord had said unto Abram get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I shall that I will show thee and I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and now shall be a blessing I will bless them that bless thee and I will curse them that curse thee and in thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed now you may ask pastor Robinson why in the world are you emphasizing thee because thee is singular not plural and you know there's a lot of Zionists out there that want to say well we need to bless Israel and all the seed of Israel no that's not true through the old testament and it's not true in the new testament throughout the old testament you know if you were to love them that hate the Lord and help the ungodly like Jehoshaphat did with the children of Israel that the wrath of God was upon you from before the Lord so this isn't talking about just blessing a nation of people regardless of what they believe or do it says I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed now in the new testament and we'll get to that it explains what he's talking about here he calls this the gospel in the new testament in Galatians chapter 3 this is called the gospel and I'll explain go to Genesis chapter 22 because remember he said that the oath that he swore to Abraham and that Zechariah said the oath which he swore remember he confirmed it by an oath by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might flee unto the refuge you know and it goes on in Hebrew so it's very clear that he made a promise to Abraham then he confirmed it by an oath now Abraham was saved before he got circumcised it's very clear in Romans chapter 4 that Abraham believed God and it's kind of named righteousness but that righteousness was imputed on him before he was circumcised it's very clear about that so when we get into Genesis 10 22 this is way after circumcision because this is when Isaac's being offered upon the altar and so Abraham's been saved way before this because Abraham was circumcised the same time Isaac was circumcised so therefore Isaac had to be there okay so he was saved way before this so but he's confirming this by an oath because Abraham's being obedient to him and so he's going to use Abraham for this covenant to go through so in Genesis 22 and verse 15 it says an angel the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said by myself have I sworn set the Lord for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son thine only son that in blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of the of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice this seed remember go to go to Galatians chapter 3 and this really hones in what we're talking about throughout with with Genesis 12 and Genesis 22 this promise this covenant that was promised to Abraham and to his seed that all the nations of the earth would be blessed that that we'd be saved from our enemies remember isn't that what Zacharias said Zacharias talks about being saved from our enemies and be delivered from the gates of our enemies this is the gospel my friends this is the gospel that's from the beginning of the world to the end of the world the everlasting gospel and so Galatians chapter 3 really hones in what it's talking about in the old testament remember if you're going to try to understand the old testament the best place for your commentary is the new testament the new testament is pretty much a quotation of the old testament with explanation and so before you go to a commentary and they go back to Genesis 12 and Genesis 22 and say this is all Israel this is the Jews that are over there right now then use the bible to define this first before you go to any commentary or just don't go to a commentary at all that's my advice the holy ghost is the only commentary i need i need nothing any man teach me but as the same anointing you know teaches me at all things so you don't need anybody to teach you if you're saved and you have the holy ghost inside of you and so and you need the word of god obviously so but galatians chapter 3 verse 6 notice what it says here even as abraham believed god and it was accounted to him for righteousness know you therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of abraham so this is saying that whoever you are if you're of faith you're the children of abraham in the scripture foreseeing that god would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel unto abraham saying in thee shall all nations be blessed what's the gospel that in thee shall all the nations be blessed in his seed where all the nations be blessed remember it says that in genesis 22 that in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed so who's the seed and so galatians 3 15 or 3 16 really it explains this it nails it down there's no question of who this seed is that we're talking about is it is it all the descendants of of abraham isaac and jacob is it all the descendants of just jacob just all their physical descendants or who is this who's this seed go to galatians down to verse 15 it says brethren i speak after the manner of men though it be but a man's covenant yet if it be confirmed no man disanaleth or addeth thereto not abraham and his seed where the promise is made he saith not into seeds as of many but as of one into thy seed which is christ it's very clear that that seed that would be blessed all nations was who christ he said not seeds notice and that's why you need an every word bible that's why you need an inspired preserved king james bible because if he didn't have that you know that they changed this they changed this in genesis to say descendants or you know something else and but in galatians it's very clear that s is very important to not to be there he said he said seed not seeds because it's very important that the seed is christ and so obviously when you're reading through genesis you could think well then well it's just his descendants that's first thing that would come to your mind is that these are all his descendants these are all the people that are born after him and he's going to bless that nation now he did bless that nation if they were doing right but there was a caveat it wasn't just because they were of the physical nation of israel and obviously he destroyed that nation many a couple times and then at the end there he he took the kingdom of god away from them gave it to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof in the new testament but go down to galatians verse 29 galatians 3 verse 29 if you're ever confused about zionism as far as are the jews god's chosen people right now read galatians chapter 3 and galatians chapter 4 it really explains the difference between physical israel and the spiritual israel and the physical descendants compared to the spiritual descendants because we are all the children of god in christ jesus and it says that uh the children of the flesh these are not the children of god it says in romans chapter 9 but in galatians chapter 3 verse 29 this is how it ends the chapter there and it says and if you be christ then are you abraham seed and heirs according to the promise so how do you become that abraham seed that's blessed with faithful abraham by believing on the lord jesus christ you're all the children of god by faith in christ jesus says right before that so this is a promise that mary knew about mary i believe knew about this promise of salvation through the seed and it was promised to their father abraham and to his seed forever and so that's what she said so you know a lot of people are like this dispensational stuff or where people are saved differently throughout different ages and stuff like that well romans 4 would destroy that because abraham was believed and believed god and is imputed on them for righteousness david also spake of the blessedness of the man unto him god imputed with righteousness without works and so it's it before the old testament yet abraham right justified by what faith david in the old testament what is he justified by faith without works in the new testament well there's scores of verses okay on the fact that we're saved by faith without works it's eternal life eternal life from the world began it was promised before the world began it was prophesied in genesis 3 you know genesis 3 with with her seed and that it was going to bruise satan's head that was promised a virgin birth and mary got to be that woman to do this and she was a very righteous and virtuous woman and in for her to have that honor to be the woman that brought our lord and savior into this world that's a high honor and so mary gets a bad rap when it comes to uh you know we're always trying to tear her down because we we want to exalt christ right she must decrease that he can increase right but she is a very godly woman and she never put any of those those accolades that people put on her as far as the mother of god eternally a virgin without sin she never gave one of those accolades to herself she actually said quite the opposite she said i'm the handmaid of the lord i rejoice in god my savior so she was a very righteous woman that understood salvation and she understood that salvation was through christ and him alone for salvation and so i think this is you know an important point to bring up because there's a lot of dispensationalists out there that say well you know the gospel in the new testament is the death barrel resurrection in the old testament they didn't know about that first of all you don't know what they knew god who at sundry times in a diverse manner spake and time passed unto the fathers by the prophets hath hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son joe knew about the resurrection and never talked about it before that right and you know a lot of people knew a lot of things enoch prophesied behold the lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints that wasn't written until jude he was the seventh from adam so there's a lot of stuff that we don't know what they knew obviously someone had to be preaching this to them you know righteousness of god is revealed from faith to faith the only reason someone's going to get saved is if you a saved person preaches the gospel to somebody with the word of god will they understand it the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god so i believe that they knew you know from the beginning of the world it's always been the same the gospel hasn't changed now there's been more revealed to the gospel but just as much as when we go out soul winning i don't tell them that jesus went up into the into the you know the the holiest of hall and heaven and put his blood on the mercy seat although he did okay and i do believe that's a part of all the stuff that he did for our salvation but i don't explain every little detail i don't always explain you know well jesus you know was in hell for three days and three nights sometimes i do sometimes i don't i do believe the death barrel and resurrection should be meant should be you know key of what you're trying to get across here he died for our sins was buried and rose again the third day but they didn't necessarily have to know all the details on how he performed it as much as knowing that he's going to do it right because you know many scriptures talk about how he's going to be bruised and jesus abraded them saying you know must not christ you know suffer all these things and so it's like and he used the old testament just to prove everything that happened so all this is in the old testament but just as much as all of this is in the new testament even clearer people don't get it unless you explain it to them and so obviously the new testament is more clear it's more revealed and that's where we should be reading most of our you know most your bible reading should be in the new testament because the new testament is going to give you a flashlight to look at the old testament now i read you know i read obviously i try to get through the bible at least four times a year as a pastor i believe that you should be trying to do that um so i at least get through the old testament four times a year but new testament's more than that okay because the new testament first of all it's easier to read okay you're not you don't have all these genealogies necessarily in there um but it's a lot easier to pick up right because it's a lot more revealed it's not as cryptic and so when you go back to the old testament you got a lot of dark sayings and a lot of prophecies that are mixed in with things but when you're reading the new testament you're like all right i know what this means therefore that's what it means here in the old testament and so use your use your new testament as a as a guide to understanding the old testament don't go the other way around because that's going to lead you into some false doctrines a lot of times so and the bible can't contradict so these are they all have to mix the new testament is not a contradiction to the old testament it's just a revealing and really explaining it so mary she was favored of god she was blessed among women and the lord was with her and so wouldn't we want that to be said about us that when you want god to come down and say thou are highly favored among god that that you're blessed among women or you're blessed among men or the lord is with you don't you want that to be said about you and so mary had that said about her so she's a very godly woman someone to look up to and the humble spirit that she had the faith that she had to to go through with what god told her to do or wanted her to do uh you know it's it's unparalleled in a lot of places with women in the bible i mean there's definitely cases in the bible that women that had faith esther you know all these other people that had great faith where they can even be killed so she's a great example of that you know obviously we need to know how to dispute the whole catholic arguments about her right but don't hold that against mary in the bible okay mary never said these things about herself and so yes we have to know our bibles enough to say hey this isn't right you know what you're saying about her isn't right but she is blessed among women she was a very blessed woman very highly favored someone to look up to just as much as sarah in the bible's a woman to look up to and so i i you know it's this chapter is amazing to me in luke one because you see some things that okay here's what mary knew here's what she believed here's what zecharias knew here's what he believed and it lines up with everything in the new testament it lines up with everything did they say that they were saved by works here but they kept saying the mercy mercy savior mercy and so you know that uh not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his what mercy he saved us by the washington regeneration renewing of the holy ghost which he shed on us abundantly through jesus christ our savior that being heirs according to the hope of eternal life you know so it's it's very clear the gospel hasn't changed my friends and mary the mother of jesus is a crucial part in that puzzle that virgin birth is crucial you take out the virgin birth jesus isn't god and he's just another man and then he would have been a sinner and we're all our faith is vain because we our faith is in a man and not in god and so this is a crucial part why do we celebrate christmas because this is a this is the beginning of the gospel so to speak you think of like the gospel of jesus christ he was born of virgin mary he was a word made flesh what's the end of the gospel that he died for sins and rose again the third day so the virgin birth is very clear if someone doesn't believe in the virgin birth if someone doesn't believe that jesus is god they're not saved he that cometh to god must believe that he is and so it's very crucial most people that you run into that claim to be christians i've never had anybody reject the virgin birth it's usually like a false religion of some sort that you got to like prove that too so but this is a very good thing to to look at you know mary is a very godly woman in the bible so let's try not to give her a huge bad rap because of what's been given to her in this world um as far as accolades go because she's someone that that we can look up to as a godly woman in the bible a submissive humble godly wife to joseph and god blessed her blessed her with four sons and who knows how many daughters more than one because he had sisters and so god blessed her just as much as he blessed hannah when he gave her first son to be a servant of the lord blessed her with more children and so uh the end with her was greater than the beginning so to speak you think of uh you think of joe and all that stuff so you know i know you can't see the forest through the trees sometimes but these are good examples to say okay i can follow that i can follow lord just put my faith in him and that's where god's going to do great things with you so let's end with a word of prayer dear heavenly father we thank you for this morning and lord thank you for your word thank you lord that it just all lines up perfectly and lord that that we have a wonderful savior and lord we just thank you for using us uh just uh sinful men and women lord that you could use us for your for your glory and lord just pray that you would use our use of the people of this church use our church to spread the gospel but also to teach others to do likewise and lord we love you and pray else in jesus christ name amen