0:04 [Music]
0:06 now let's take time to pray
0:08 gracious father thank you for the word
0:10 of god thank you that we have the
0:12 privilege of reading it and studying it
0:15 and sharing it with others now open our
0:16 hearts to the word
0:19 deliver us from merely having a mental
0:22 understanding give to us a spiritual
0:23 understanding that goes deep within our hearts
0:25 hearts
0:27 i pray in jesus name amen
0:30 amen
0:32 somebody has defined a secret as
0:36 something you tell one person at a time
0:38 well that may be so but i think that the
0:41 most precious secret a woman holds in
0:44 her heart is that she is with child
0:46 god told mary that she would experience
0:47 a miracle
0:49 and that she would give birth to the
0:51 promised messiah
0:54 and that happened she conceived in her
0:57 womb and she had to share this wonderful
0:58 secret with somebody
1:00 well she decided to go to tell her
1:04 kinswoman elizabeth who also was with
1:07 child the story is found in luke chapter
1:11 1 beginning at verse 39 and mary arose
1:12 in those days
1:14 and went into the hill country with
1:17 haste into a city of judah and entered
1:20 into the house of zacharias and greeted elizabeth
1:21 elizabeth
1:23 and it came to pass that when elizabeth
1:26 heard the greeting of mary the babe
1:30 leaped in her womb and elizabeth was
1:32 filled with the holy spirit
1:35 and she spoke out with a loud voice and
1:38 said blessed art thou among women and
1:41 blessed is the fruit of thy womb
1:44 and why is this granted to me that the
1:47 mother of my lord should come to me
1:50 for lo as soon as the voice of thy
1:53 greeting sounded in my ears the babe
1:57 leaped in my womb for joy
2:00 and blessed is she that believed for
2:02 there shall be a performance of those
2:05 things which were told her
2:07 from the lord
2:10 well the emphasis in this event is on
2:13 joy in fact there is a threefold joy
2:17 seen here there's mary's joy as she went
2:19 to share the message with elizabeth
2:22 there's the joy of the unborn john the
2:26 baptist as he leaped in the womb for joy
2:29 and then there's the joy of elizabeth
2:32 as she shouted out and gave blessing to
2:35 god for what he had done
2:36 you know joy is an important thing in
2:39 the christian life the joy of the lord
2:41 is our strength
2:44 when you are rejoicing in the lord it
2:46 makes no difference what circumstances
2:49 or people may do
2:52 when our joy is in circumstances then
2:54 the minute the circumstances change
2:56 we're unhappy
2:58 when our joy is in people when people
3:00 fail us
3:03 we are unhappy but when our joy is in
3:05 the lord who never fails us
3:07 then that joy becomes a strength down
3:11 inside the joy of the lord
3:12 and of course the entire message of the
3:15 birth of jesus is a message of joy the
3:18 angel said to the shepherds we bring you
3:21 good tidings of great joy
3:24 which shall be to all people
3:27 let's consider first of all mary's joy
3:30 mary arose in those days it's rather
3:32 interesting that 60 times in the gospel
3:35 of luke you find luke using this phrase
3:37 somebody arose
3:39 it's a book that focuses on activity
3:41 something is going on
3:44 mary arose in those days and went into
3:46 the hill country with haste this is the
3:48 first christmas rush isn't it it's
3:50 interesting that the shepherds came with
3:54 haste over in chapter 2 and
3:56 found out that the baby had been born
3:58 just as the message had been given to them
3:59 them
4:01 well she came with hay she probably had
4:04 to travel about a hundred miles from
4:07 nazareth to hebron we don't know exactly
4:10 where zacharias and elizabeth lived but
4:12 probably at hebron which was one of the
4:15 priestly cities and she made that long
4:17 journey now she knew
4:20 that elizabeth was with child elizabeth
4:22 didn't know that mary knew
4:24 but when mary walks into the room
4:27 elizabeth automatically knows that mary
4:28 has a secret
4:31 and it seems that these two women just
4:33 fall into each other's joy
4:35 and rejoice together at what the lord
4:37 has done
4:40 now mary had to rush and share this good news
4:41 news
4:44 with her kinswoman elizabeth what was it
4:47 that gave mary her joy she was a poor
4:50 girl from every indication mary and
4:53 joseph were not rich people
4:55 they were poor people
4:58 mary was a probably a teenager girls
5:01 were engaged to be married quite early
5:03 in life in those days and so here is
5:06 this young precious teenage girl with
5:09 this very special secret that she is the
5:11 fulfillment of isaiah chapter 7 and
5:13 verse 14.
5:16 why was she so joyful well she'd been
5:18 chosen by god's grace
5:21 verse 28 hail thou who art highly
5:23 favored the lord is with thee blessed
5:26 art thou among women not above women but
5:30 among women god had favored her verse
5:33 30. thou hast found favor or grace with
5:36 god now grace means we don't deserve it
5:38 there was nothing about mary that
5:40 deserved any of this it was purely the
5:41 grace of god
5:43 when you stopped to realize the shame
5:45 that she went through and the pain that
5:48 she went through it's amazing that she
5:50 had any joy at all
5:52 you see people would misunderstand
5:55 she visited elizabeth then she went back
5:58 uh to her own home in nazareth three
6:00 months later and then joseph discovered
6:02 she was with child and then everybody
6:05 discovered she was with child and it was
6:08 not a very easy situation what would
6:10 joseph say what would her friends say
6:13 what would the family member say
6:16 and mary is rejoicing in spite of the
6:19 fact that she knows she's going to have
6:20 to suffer
6:24 mary suffered because of the shame
6:26 of being misunderstood
6:29 later on when our lord had grown up and
6:31 had begun his ministry mary suffered as
6:33 she saw what he went through and of
6:35 course there she was at the cross we'll
6:38 talk more about that in a later study
6:40 well she rejoiced in the lord because
6:43 she had experienced the grace of god
6:45 have you experienced the grace of god
6:47 you say oh i would certainly like to be
6:50 highly favored as mary was
6:53 well ephesians chapter 1 verse 6 you
6:55 find the very same word that is found in
6:57 luke 1 28
7:00 hail thou who art highly favored
7:03 to the praise of the glory of his grace
7:06 says ephesians 1 6 through which he hath
7:09 made us accepted in the beloved highly
7:12 favored in the beloved graced in the
7:15 beloved through god's grace we are
7:18 accepted in the lord jesus christ so we
7:19 have every reason to rejoice she had
7:21 experienced the grace of god she
7:24 believed the word of god
7:27 verse 38 mary said behold the handmaid
7:29 the slave of the lord be it unto me
7:31 according to thy word she believed the
7:33 word of god and when you believe the
7:35 word of god that gives you joy
7:37 she was filled with the spirit of god
7:38 that gives you joy
7:41 don't be drunk with wine paul wrote to
7:43 the ephesians be filled with the spirit
7:46 and this brings joy into your heart not
7:47 the artificial
7:50 happiness of this world that is external
7:54 but the real joy of the lord which is
7:57 internal well mary's joy had to be
7:59 shared with others and so she made that
8:01 long trip
8:04 to visit her kinswoman elizabeth now we
8:07 have john's joy it came to pass says
8:10 verse 41 of luke 1 that when elizabeth
8:13 heard the greeting of mary it wasn't
8:15 elizabeth who leaped it was the babe who
8:18 leaped in her womb and elizabeth was
8:22 filled with the holy spirit in verse 44
8:25 elizabeth tells us what happened
8:27 for lo as soon as the voice of thy
8:30 greeting sounded in my ears the babe
8:33 leaped in my womb for joy this was a
8:36 fulfillment of course of what had been
8:40 promised back in verse 15
8:43 gabriel said to zacharias for he john
8:45 the baptist shall be great in the sight
8:46 of the lord
8:49 and shall drink neither wine nor strong
8:51 drink and he shall be filled with the
8:56 holy spirit even from his mother's womb
8:58 this is an interesting experience
9:02 here is the yet unborn babe
9:05 rejoicing at the message of the lord
9:08 jesus christ by the way john the baptist
9:10 always rejoiced
9:12 at the lord jesus christ
9:15 in john chapter 3
9:17 people came to john and asked him about
9:20 the lord jesus and in verse 27 of john
9:23 chapter 3 he answered and said a man can
9:25 receive nothing except it be given him
9:27 from heaven
9:29 ye yourselves bear me witness that i
9:32 said i am not the christ but that i am
9:34 sent before him
9:36 he that hath the bride is the bridegroom
9:38 but the friend of the bridegroom which
9:40 standeth and heareth him
9:43 rejoiceth greatly because of the
9:46 bridegroom's voice this my joy therefore
9:48 is fulfilled
9:51 he must increase but i must decrease
9:53 what was the joy of john the baptist
9:56 hearing the voice of the lord jesus
9:58 standing by and doing the work of the
10:02 lord jesus and rejoicing that jesus was
10:05 being magnified you see
10:08 john's joy was the joy of the lord even
10:11 as an unborn babe
10:14 john the baptist rejoiced in the lord
10:16 jesus christ
10:17 i think that you and i need to rejoice
10:19 in the lord more
10:22 in what he is in who he is
10:25 in what he has done for us in his
10:28 relationship to us rejoice in the lord
10:31 always and again i say rejoice
10:34 is paul's word to the philippians
10:37 now in verses 42 through 45 we have
10:39 elizabeth's joy
10:41 it's interesting that elizabeth is not
10:44 envious of mary elizabeth rejoices at
10:47 the privilege and the honor given to mary
10:48 mary
10:50 you know how it is sometimes when
10:52 mothers like to discuss compare and
10:54 contrast babies
10:57 and experiences of birth well not so
11:00 here when elizabeth heard mary's greeting
11:01 greeting
11:04 the holy spirit said to elizabeth this
11:08 is the mother of your lord
11:11 and she spoke out with a loud voice and
11:14 said blessed art thou among women again
11:17 not above women but among women now why
11:19 was she blessed among women because god
11:22 had chosen her for this very wonderful privilege
11:24 privilege
11:28 and blessed is the fruit of thy womb the
11:30 lord jesus christ
11:33 why is this granted to me
11:35 here's a wonderful privilege that the
11:37 mother of my lord
11:39 should come to me notice the language
11:42 there that the mother of my lord
11:44 should come to me and
11:45 and
11:48 lo as soon as the voice of thy greeting
11:51 sounded in my ears the babe leaped in my womb
11:52 womb
11:53 for joy
11:55 and here's one more blessing now and
11:57 blessed is she that believe you see
11:59 that's why mary is so blessed
12:03 in verse 28 blessed art thou among women
12:05 verse 42 blessed art thou among women
12:08 why verse 45 blessed is she that
12:10 believed you see mary
12:12 had believed the word of god and
12:14 therefore she had experienced the power
12:16 of god in her life
12:18 mary is going to give birth to the
12:20 messiah elizabeth is going to give birth
12:23 to the forerunner of this messiah and
12:25 elizabeth is not the least bit envious
12:28 she's joyful that she's able to share in
12:31 this wonderful experience
12:33 jesus christ is the word but john the
12:35 baptist was just a voice
12:37 crying in the wilderness
12:39 jesus christ is the light but john the
12:41 baptist was the lamp that brought the
12:43 light to others
12:45 jesus christ is the bridegroom john the
12:48 baptist was the best man pointing to the
12:52 bridegroom and rejoicing at his blessing
12:55 well she blesses the lord
12:58 and she blesses mary elizabeth is just
13:01 filled with blessing she rejoices at the
13:05 favor shown to mary she rejoices at the
13:08 child being given to mary she rejoices
13:12 at the faith that mary had verse 45
13:15 blessed is she that believed and so
13:17 there's a word of blessing here isn't
13:20 there and there's a word of wonder why
13:22 is this granted to me
13:25 that the mother of my lord should come
13:27 to me the wonder of it all
13:30 and then there's that word of assurance
13:33 for there shall be a performance of
13:34 those things
13:37 which were told her from the lord
13:40 she's saying mary god is going to do
13:44 exactly what he promised he would do
13:46 and you don't have to worry at all about it
13:46 it
13:48 they're two different words used for
13:51 blessed in this paragraph up in verse 42
13:53 it's the word that gives us our word eulogy
13:55 eulogy
13:56 you'll get o
13:59 blessed art thou among women blessed is
14:00 the fruit of thy womb but the word
14:03 translated blessed in verse 45 is the
14:06 same word used in the beatitudes it
14:07 means all the blessedness all the happiness
14:09 happiness
14:11 oh the the wonderful
14:13 spiritual favor
14:15 uh shown
14:17 blessed is she that believe this is the
14:20 first beatitude
14:22 in gospel history now it's not the first
14:24 beatitude found in the new testament you
14:27 find those in matthew chapter 5. but as
14:29 far as the history is concerned this is
14:32 the very first beatitude blessed is she
14:34 that believe it's interesting that the
14:38 last beatitude also has to do with faith
14:40 it's found in john
14:41 john
14:43 chapter 20
14:46 and in john chapter 20 verse 29 jesus
14:49 says to thomas because thou hast seen me
14:52 thou hast believed blessed are they that
14:56 have not seen and yet have believed
14:59 well you and i can be blessed blessed of
15:02 god because we believe the word of god
15:05 and we obey the word of god blessed are
15:07 those that hear the word of god and obey
15:09 it said the lord jesus in luke chapter
15:13 11 verse 28 i trust that your joy is
15:15 full today because your heart is
15:17 focusing on the lord
15:26 thank you for listening to back to the bible
15:27 bible
15:29 join us again tomorrow
15:32 god bless you [Music]
