Now we want to continue with our studies in connection with some of the features surrounding the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in his first Advent. But before we read from the Scriptures, shall we bow for a moment of prayer? Blessed God, our Father, we turn again to thee in this attitude of prayer, expressing our utter dependence upon thee. We praise thee, O God, that thou hast never forsaken any of thy children at any time. And now here we come again to Wisdom's Gate, and we believe that they who wait at Wisdom's Gate are never empty sent away. So we do pray now that as we turn to the sacred page, And read thy word. Thou shalt speak to all our souls. These things we ask in the Savior's name, giving thanks. Amen. And now I want to read to you today what might be quite a familiar scripture to many of my listeners, and yet not so familiar to others. It's found in the Gospel according to Luke chapter one. Now commence to read at verse forty-six. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 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 has showed strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he had sent empty away. He had opened his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever. And Mary abode with her about three months and returned unto her own house. I am sure the Lord will bless to us the reading of these verses. Now in this long and wonderful chapter we have three outstanding songs. We have the song of Elizabeth, we have the song of Mary, and the song of Zechariah. But we are especially interested now for a short time with the song of Mary, because Isn't it pleasant to think of Mary as a singer? You know, if you were to study a little concerning Mary, you would discover this, that in the Bible we have here what we have read, we have the record of her song. She was a singer. And then, in case you don't know, we have the record of at least one sermon that she preached. Oh, I'll admit, it was a very short one. And I'll tell you what it was just in a moment or two. And then you could study Mary in connection with her sorrow. Of course, for all the ladies who are listening to my voice now, I might say this, that Mary was a woman and just the same as other women. Mary lived in a little home in Nazareth. The day came when she was married to a carpenter. And up in the town of Nazareth, she raised her family. Because there was a number of boys and a number of girls in that home. There were brothers and sisters. And Mary, of course, was a mother. And so you can think of her, ladies, as you listen to me today, you can think of Mary as... a young woman, young virgin in her purity, then you can think of her as a mother and you can think of her as a wife. And so therefore you notice that she travelled through life as it were, having to attend to the normal duties that other women folks have to attend to. But then there are these other aspects to her life, as I have indicated, here in Luke chapter one. we discover that her heart could bubble over with joy and she could burst out into a song of praise. And then you can think of her in connection with the sermon that she preached. Now, if you've never thought of Mary as a preacher, I want to tell you something. She preached on one occasion at a wedding. Oh, no, she didn't take the pulpit. She knew that wasn't her place. She wouldn't have been allowed to do that in a Jewish synagogue at any rate. But I think she knew her place. But she was at a wedding one day, and she preached a beautiful sermon at the wedding. It was a very short thing, but there was a lot of truth in it. She said to those who were the guests at the wedding, and those who were responsible for the feast at the wedding, she said this. Whatever he says unto you, do it. Now there is a wonderful sermon. She didn't say bow down to me. She didn't say worship me. But she directed them to the Lord Jesus Christ. And she said, whatsoever he says unto you, do it. There's a sermon that any mother could preach to her children. And mothers, may I suggest you couldn't preach a better sermon to your children. If from the first day that they're able to understand what you're saying to them as they're growing up and being educated, you could continually keep reminding your children of this great truth. whatsoever the Lord Jesus says, whatsoever he says unto you, do it. That was Mary's sermon. In fact, I think it's the only sermon that we have any record that she ever preached. And if she continued to preach it day by day to her neighbors and their friends and kept saying to them, whatsoever he says unto you, do it, she preached a good sermon. Now there's another aspect of Mary's life, and that is the sorrow of her life. While here at the beginning we have her expressing herself in a song of joy. When you come later on, thirty-three years after this, you find a woman standing in sorrow. She's standing at the cross. The sword, as it were, the sword of sorrow is piercing her heart. As she stands under the shadow of the cross, And she sees her firstborn, nailed to a Roman cross, and he looks down, and he says, Woman, behold thy son. And turning to John, he says, Behold thy mother. And from then on, John took Mary to his own home and cared for her. Now I mention that for this reason. There must have been another time of sorrow in the life of Mary. There is no reference to Joseph when it comes to the cross. Joseph seems to pass out of the historical record altogether, except for some people making reference to him, which would suggest this, that sometime along the line Joseph had died. So therefore Mary knew something of the sorrow of widowhood. And then she knew something of the sorrow of seeing her son rejected and nailed to the Roman cross, bearing our sorrows. So therefore, in the life of Mary, you can think of her now and her song, Mary the singer. You can think of her sermon and you can think of her sorrow. But we at the present time are interested now in the song of Mary. Now, we're living in a day when music and singing is given a great place. Of course, it seems it always has. Way back in the Old Testament, in connection with Jewish tradition, there there were the temple singers were set up, and they had their particular order of songsters, which is very good. And right down through the ages, all kinds of religious groups have engaged in singing. Of course, there are different kinds of singing. I might say this, that while I love good singing, I think we'll have to be very, very careful. There's a great amount passing off today as music, which you could not possibly speak of as being sacred music. Some of the good old hymns are worth singing. Some of them express things that go deep. For instance, now think of that good old hymn written by Toplady when he wrote, Rock of Ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in these. You see, these men wrote their hymns through experience. Some of these old hymn writers lived very near to the Lord. And then, of course, as we've come down through the different generations, the type of music has changed. And today we have what they call music that to me, of course you may think me old-fashioned, that much of it is just a conglomeration of noise, that's all. And when they're finished, they leave you with a headache. and you don't know what it is they've been singing. But now when we go back to the Psalms of David, there we have expressions of truth. Now where is there the Christian today who doesn't feel their heart touched when they sing the twenty-third Psalm, the Lord's my shepherd. It's beautiful. And so many of these old Psalms, I to the hills will lift mine eyes, from whence doth come my need, and so on. The singing of the Psalms, they seem to be set with tunes that are reverent. I mention this because as we come now to examine this song of Mary, you'll discover that lying deep in this song are things pertaining to the Lord Jesus Christ and to God. She says, my spirit hath rejoiced. I like that. My spirit hath rejoiced. You see, she's saying, my soul does magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced. See, this song that she's singing is a song of joy. Well, now, I'll tell you this, sometimes at this time of the year, It's a delightful thing to listen to some of the little children in Sunday school as they sing some of the old hymns pertaining to the birth of Christ. Heart the herald angels sing, glory to our newborn king, and so on. And when you hear the little ones sing these good old time hymns about the Savior, there's something genuine about them. There's something real. It's coming from the soul. My soul does magnify the Lord. See, she's singing here a song of joy. And she's bursting out into praise. And she says, My spirit has rejoiced and rejoiced in God, my Savior. I wish that all those who make much of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And those who speak much of the virgin, I wish they could learn this. that Mary doesn't take any praise to herself at all. She simply says that her soul does magnify the Lord. And after all, in all our singing, in all our songs of praise, if we cannot magnify the Lord, there's something wrong with it. Far too many things that we're singing today are simply expressions of our own kind of flippant experience. And we sing those things as if They were praising the Lord. Now, if a hymn is to be a hymn of praise, it should be occupied with the Lord. It should be telling us something of what the Lord has done. How many folks will take time to sing, Done is the work that saves once and forever done. Finished the righteousness that closed the unrighteous one. And so on. See, these were hymns that spoke concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. and the work that he had accomplished. And Mary here is so gripped in her soul that she's bursting out into song, into a song of praise, a song of joy. And she's saying this, that it's a spiritual joy. My spirit has rejoiced. See, the tidings of the grace of God. in the gift of his son, filled her soul with joy, and it made her spirit sing. She wasn't simply making a noise. Oh, no, she's singing in the spirit. Now, the gospel of God is intended to reach the very spirit of man, to touch and revive the innermost spring of his being. Oh, the lip, perhaps... can utter the words, but it's got to come not from some sentimental things, but it's got to come from the Spirit. And then she says this, that she's going to joy in God. I like that. My Spirit has rejoiced in God, my Savior. You see, it's God, her Savior. God revealed himself. He was known to Mary in the gift of his Son. and so known and believed that our spirit rejoiced in God. You know, it's strange. There used to be an old time hymn. How often I've heard it sung. At times at the end of meetings when people profess to trust the Savior, when people get saved, they love to sing, Oh, happy day that picks my choice, on thee my Savior and my God. Well, may this glowing heart rejoice and tell its raptures all abroad. Bursting out, into song. And you see, it's a joy of salvation. My spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Savior. How near the heart of the virgin mother comes to her God in these words. She says, my Savior. You see, Mary needed a Savior. Mary wasn't sinless. Oh no, she was a virgin, that's true. But she came of Adam's ruined race. There was nothing immaculate about Mary. She was a sinner. Mary needed a savior, and she found him in the Son of the highest, begotten in her by the power of the Holy Spirit. Where and how else can we find him? My Lord and my God, said Thomas, when he saw him in the upper room. But Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. My soul does magnify the Lord. Even the joy of salvation may appear to be a kind of selfish joy, but the joy of adoration is God glorifying. My soul does magnify the Lord. It seems to remind us of Hannah in the Old Testament. She was joying in the Lord and in the salvation of the Lord too. But now it's a kind of grateful joy here for what God has done for her. For he has regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. I drew attention to this, but did not develop it in a previous study, that when the angel appeared to Mary, the last kind of look we have over there is in all her humility. How Mary humbled herself and says, Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord. Mary took the lowest possible place. And here again in her song, that's what she's saying. For he has regarded the low estate. He has looked upon the low estate of his bond slave, his handmaiden. See, Mary took the lowest possible place she could take. She humbled herself. She wants the Lord Jesus Christ to have all the glory, all the exultation. So my soul does magnify the Lord. And God must have all the glory. It's a grateful joy, for he has regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. She is deeply conscious that she could never merit the exceptional honour conferred upon her. Neither could we. Everyone who knows God and lives in the light of his presence cannot but be conscious of his or her utter unworthiness of such love and favor. It is when, like Mary, we are in the lowly state, the Lord will lift us up. That's a biblical principle. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Humble thyself, and he will honor these, says the Sabbath. And so she takes this low place And she's expressing herself in this joyous, grateful song, giving all the glory to the God of her salvation. And then it was a hopeful joy. She's looking forward to the day when other folks would call her blessed. Now then, it's a reasonable joy. For he that is mighty had done to me great things. That's what she says in verse He has done great things and holy is His name. You see, here is something reasonable. Where we are so really conscious that the Lord has done great things for us and in us, by the mighty operation of His Holy Spirit, the joy becomes, as it were, A natural thing. You can't hold it back. This is the fruit of the Spirit. It's joy. That's one of the things that the Spirit of God develops in us. The Lord has done great things for us. Whereof we are glad. Now that seemed to be the condition of Mary on this occasion. When she has burst out into song. And she's giving all the glory to him. And he has done great things. For her, I'm sure we could join with Mary in this. If there was a chorus to it, when she came to the chorus we would join in. For he that is mighty had done to me great things and holy is his name. And so she's praising God for the great things he has done for her. And she's thinking now of the holiness of God. Not only has she expressed something about the grace of God and the greatness of God, she's thinking of the glory of God and also of the holiness of God. We should think on these things. He that is mighty is still able to do for us great things. Then there's joy that constrain to testimony, for in verses She speaks of the power of God, and she speaks of the grace of God. Notice what she's saying. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. She's telling now of his mercy, and she's going to tell of his great power. He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. You know, here she was, she was just a woman of low station in life, living in that little town of Nazareth, just what you would say a nobody, an unknown quantity that God puts his hand on her and raises her up to be the channel in whom there would be produced that human body that would be indwelt by the eternal Son of God. Now the arm that is strong to save is also strong to smite down everything that exalts itself against God. Those who know the joy of the Lord know this also. You see, it's one thing for us to rejoice today in the God of our salvation. But we should remember this. The world rejected him that was born. They put him on a cross. And the day will come. when they'll have to see him and they'll have to bow to him and they'll have to acknowledge him as king of kings and lord of lords then she said something about the grace of god remember this his mercy is on them that fear him he has exalted them of low degree he has filled the hungry with good things you know the bible tells us by grace are you saved that not of yourselves it is the gift of god it is the hungry and the thirsty that are filled and surely Our testimony will be blessed if it is given as Mary gave hers. She burst out into song. She's willing to bless God with her soul and with her spirit. Here is a woman who realized that he that was to be born would be the eternal one, the one that would bring his nation out of bondage. In this hymn of praise, Mary sings gloriously. of the all-excelling perfections of God, His divine power, His holiness, His mercy, and His faithfulness. May it be that the same theme shall occupy our hearts and our spirit at this time that will be able to praise the God of our salvation.