Christmas season is upon us and I would just like to read some well known verses that we consider to be the Christmas story and bring forth some truths that I believe need to be brought forth and
I believe it will be instrumental in giving insight to many things that we might have overlooked.
Luke 1:26-28
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Hail thou that art highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women.
Here is a statement that has been proclaimed by the word of God spoken to Mary by the archangel and yet this tremendous statement is not to Mary alone but it refers to every child of God who has been born again.
What God said to Mary through the archangel God is saying the same thing to you through Christ Jesus your Savior.
You are highly favored.
Now let me say straight up so that no one misunderstands
I am not anti Catholic; anti Lutheran, anti Baptist or anti Methodist or anti any other denomination or organization,
I am anti religion and I am against the error that religion brings and deceives the child of God from learning the truth that will make them free.
So let’s deal with truth
The Catholic Church has rose up and exalted Mary to a place of prominence that is in error and it is literally hindering and impeding multitudes of people who are sincere and genuine in nature,
Many Catholics believe that Mary is free from sin, that she is the mother of God, the Immaculate Conception.
She has been raised up to a place where multitudes of Catholics pray to her, they seek her blessings and she has been raised to a place of sinlessness the same as the Lord Jesus Christ.
This place of being highly favored has deceived many people.
Listen to Mary in
Luke 1:46
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
The word of God proclaims the testimony of Mary and states that her soul does magnify the Lord and her spirit rejoices in God her Savior and as we all need a Savior so Mary needed a savior as well,
I will say again, the same thing that God said about Mary is the same thing that God says about you.
Eph 1:6
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
That word accepted in the Greek is khareetoo and it is the same exact word that is used in Luke 1:28— highly favored, accepted in Ephesians and highly favored in Luke are both the exact words and there meaning means endued with a special honor.
The exact same thing that God said about Mary is the same exact thing that God says about you if you are born again,
You are highly favored in Christ Jesus
The only two times that this Greek word khareetoo is used in the entire New Testament is in Luke 1:28 and Ephesians 1:6 and it proclaims Gods assessment and His feelings towards you.
Luke 11:27-28
And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
Now take notice,
While Jesus is speaking this woman begins to shout blessed is the womb that has borne thee and the paps which thou hast sucked and this woman becomes overwhelmed by His presence, by his words, by his power and she begins to praise and magnify the mother of Jesus
Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
Look at what Jesus says to her,
VERSE 28
But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Jesus turning around to this woman said if you hear the word of God and keep it you are more blessed than my mother, to anyone who believes the word of God this should put to rest all of this nonsense about the exaltation and prayers that are being offered up to Mary,
So the same place of exaltation and acceptance that God gave to Mary He has given to you and I as well.
Luke 1:30-32
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Now have understanding,
An angel appears unto Mary and begins to tell her of the Son that is going to be born to her; her first impression might have been that this announcement was about a son that was going to be born out of her union with her soon to be husband Joseph
But then the angel says in VERSE 32
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
As the angel Gabriel is speaking to Mary all of a sudden she begins to understand that the angel is speaking prophecy to her concerning the Messiah and she is going to be the virgin through whom the Messiah was going to be born
The Son of the living God
Emmanuel—-God with us.
The Savior of the world was going to be conceived within her and what is so awesome about this besides the miracle of birth as a virgin is how the truth of that conversation was received by Mary
How was Mary able to receive that which was being spoken to her?
She received it as truth through the scriptures
It was spoken in truth by Gabriel, it was received in truth by Mary and the truth brought freedom.
It brought freedom from confusion, from prejudice, from the thinking of others, from condemnation and freedom from religion.
Yes and even religion.
The Jewish religion stated that any one who became pregnant out of wedlock would be put away and even stoned to death and they would be made a public spectacle.
Mary received the truth and the truth brought freedom which brought joy.
Luke 1:34
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
VERSE:35
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.
These are powerful statements, these versus of scripture leave no doubt as to how the Son of God is going to be born, and the child would not come through the normal union of a man and a woman but would be brought forth from a virgin birth, a supernatural overcoming of the Holy Spirit upon this young girl.
The Holy Ghost would overshadow her and the power of God would bring to pass the Son of God that would be conceived inside the womb of Gods creation.
God himself is going to cause Mary to conceive.
This is powerful
I have thought on this a great deal and it is amazing to me how this young teenage girl of about 17 had a heart to receive that which was being given to her,
Zacharias a priest of the temple of God did not have the same heart to receive
Luke 1:5-6
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
VERSE:11-20
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
This is amazing
A man in ministry did not have the same heart to receive as a woman in intimacy, and I make no distinctions according to gender the distinctions I make are to the condition of the heart
Mary was a powerful woman of faith and what was being revealed unto her could only be received by faith
Luke 1:36-37
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
Here is confirmation that which the angel is speaking, this is the confirmation of reality that speaks to her faith,
Elizabeth has been barren all of her life and she now is in the sixth month of her pregnancy.
Here is the confirmation to that which she has heard
VERSE 37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Do you understand what that means?
It means that no word of God is without power of fulfillment
This is so tremendous
No word of God is without power of fulfillment
VERSE:38
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
The Lord will use a multitude of things to get our attention
He may use prophecy, the gifts of the spirit; He may use physical manifestations, dreams, visions and even angelic beings.
But look what Mary said,
be it unto me according to thy word.
Look what scripture teaches us in
2 Pet 1:19
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
The word of God is a more sure word of prophecy than an audible voice, than a dream, a vision, more audible than a physical manifestation, the word of God is a more sure word of prophecy and when the angel was done speaking Mary said
Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.
And when she had heard and received the word of the Lord the angel departed
Allow me to give you something that is so awesome.
When she had received the word of the Lord, when she was holding unto the word of God it was then that the angel departed.
Here is a tremendous application for our lives
When you come to the place when the word of God is a more sure word of prophecy to you and you do not need a physical manifestation to build your faith, you do not need a sign, a wonder, you do not need those things that require you to use your five senses to bring you to the truth of Gods word,
When you have come to the place where the word of God is your sure word of prophecy,
Then the word of God is your proof that you have come to the place of truth.
The word of God is the highest form of faith.
Matt 8:5-8
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant loath at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
LISTEN TO JESUS
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Jesus said I have not found so great faith in all of Israel in other words faith that relies simply on my word
The centurion said
Lord you do not need to come and heal him
You do not need to send a prayer cloth
Just speak the word and my servant shall be healed
His trust was in the words spoken by Christ instead of the physical manifestation of the body of Christ praying to his servant in his home
Here it is
When Mary said be it unto me according to thy word
What Mary was saying was that the word was more important than the physical manifestation of the archangel.
WHAT A POWERFUL TRUTH.