Best Of- Luke Chapter 1 Part#2

This is Andy Thomas from the Masculine Journey Podcast where we discover what it means to be a wholehearted man. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds.

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For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and Finding Purpose, you can visit us online at findingpurpose.net or connect with us on Facebook. Now let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious. Do you know what God wants to see? He wants to see two qualities.

And I want you to remember these two words and let them just sink in deep. He wants to see humility. That is, He wants to see a man who is lowly in spirit, not depressed, but that you have a humble heart. And He wants to see faith in your heart. This is all God wants to see in us. First, God wants to see that we have a sense of our unworthiness. Someone told me that Billy Graham once said that before you can teach a man that he has to be saved, you have to teach him that he's lost. And so we need to get to the place where we realize that we are totally dependent upon God. And secondly, all God wants from anyone in the entire world is to be believed. That's all God is saying from heaven.

Believe me. Man, He's looking for a man who's willing to trust Him with everything you have. Your mind, your heart, your eyes, your hands, your feet, your very soul, your bank account, your health, your family. You come in and say, Lord, here I am, all of me.

I got news for you. You can't out-give God. You give Him all of you and you see what He will give you. I'll tell you what He will give you.

He will overshadow you with His favor. So let me ask you, are you that man? Are you willing to trust God with your entire being? The woman we meet tonight is the type of person God is looking for. See, Mary had to be a man and the type of person God is looking for. See, Mary had two incredible qualities that God was drawn to. He was attracted to this woman. When He looked down from the earth, He looked at this little town that we're going to talk about in just a minute and He saw this humble woman who believed in Him. See, God was attracted to Mary because she was lowly and humble in her spirit and she believed in God with her whole heart, not part of it but all of it.

So I want us to take Mary. I want us first to look at where she was from and then I want us to see who she really was as a person. So where was she from? Well, let me tell you where she was not from.

She was not from Jerusalem or Rome or Alexandria, through the greatest cities in the history of the world, but she was from the insignificant and nothing of a place, town, that it shouldn't be called a town. It was like the armpit of Israel known as what? Nazareth. See, Nazareth was located in Galilee, a territory that was despised by the religious Jews because the people there were half-breeds.

They were a people that had been formed from mixed races. Nazareth was not even mentioned in the Old Testament. Did you know that? And do you remember when Jesus was calling His disciples and somebody said, to Nathaniel, come meet Jesus who is from Nazareth? And He said, you've got to be kidding me.

That's not exactly what He said. He said, Nazareth, can anything good come out of Nazareth? You know, I would name a few towns around here. Might even throw in my own town. There ain't much left of some of our towns. Some of our towns.

I feel sad every time I drive. I'm not going to name my town. Well, I will. It's Bethel. I love Bethel, but I mean Bethel.

It's just sad what's happened to Eastern North Carolina towns. You see, everybody looked down on Nazareth. And listen, in the eyes of the world, Mary herself was of little account. Not only was she from a despised town, but she was engaged to a lowly carpenter named Joseph. See, both Mary and Joseph came from very poor families. We know this because if you look at the Gospels, when it came time to take Jesus to Bethlehem as a young boy and they were taking their sacrifice to the temple, most people brought a lamb.

But they were so poor, they can only bring two pigeons. So we know they were poor. Mary also was very young. She was probably 13 or 14.

That was not unusual back then. The girls by then got married at a very early age. But because she was so young, she was not looked upon as a wise person in the eyes of the world, and she was probably illiterate. And so, men, in the eyes of the world, Mary was from a no place, and she'd accomplished nothing. And yet, with all this working against her, God still chose her to be the woman in the entire history of the world to whom He would give the greatest news the world has ever heard. Martin Luther said he might have gone to Jerusalem and picked out Caiaphas's daughter who was fair and rich and clad in gold embroidered raiment.

That's close in case you guys didn't know what that word means. And she was attended by, she would have been attended by an entourage of maids in waiting, but God preferred a lily maid from a shabby low downtown. So He chose Mary. So what spiritual truth do we learn from this?

Well, here's what we learn. When God chooses a person, He comes to those who are needy, who are humble, and who are broken and contrite in spirit, who consider themselves insignificant. The rich young rulers of the world, usually are not interested in the things of God.

So you know what God does with them? He lets them go their own way. We've had rich young rulers come through here, and they come and they hear. But the only rich young rulers who remain here usually are rich young rulers. And God says, bless some of you with wealth.

That's wonderful. But the ones who are here still, it's usually because they've got, they recognize their need. And God says, thank you. And they've learned that money cannot make you happy. And see, the problem with most men is we can't handle money. And so God tends to, I heard one person say, money only says one thing to me, goodbye.

And that was probably a good thing. See, not only does God seek those who are humble, but also the Lord Jesus comes to those who possess genuine faith. Now listen, before I move on, let me remind you that our faith we've been learning is a reasonable faith because it's based on what?

What's some evidence? Fulfilled prophecy. When Joseph asked Mary for her hand in marriage, I don't think he realized that he was getting ready to fulfill one of the greatest prophecies found in the Old Testament. And I want to have you turn to that prophecy. Take your Bible and turn back to 2 Samuel, chapter 7.

I know y'all had to look at that for tonight's lecture, but just go back. It's right after 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel and then 2 Samuel.

And let me just tell you what's going on here. David, King David in his heart, this was before the temple had been built. He had this wonderful desire. He wanted to build a house for God.

But you know what's getting ready to happen? God's going to build a house for David. And so the prophet Nathan comes to David and he speaks a prophetic word regarding his kingdom, David's kingdom, and also about an heir that would come from his own body who would one day rule over this kingdom forever. And by the way, 2 Samuel was written almost a thousand years before the birth of Christ. And here's what Samuel writes.

Listen carefully. The Lord declares to you, David, when your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you who will come from your own body. And I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he will be my son. Remember Jesus' baptism?

This is my son. With him I am well pleased. And then he says your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me and your throne will be established forever. What kingdom was he talking about? He was talking about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of light, the kingdom of heaven. And so guys, listen, if you sit here tonight and you're in Christ, do you know why you're sitting here in Christ? Because God has because God has rescued you from one kingdom, the kingdom of man, the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of Satan. And he's transferred you over by faith into his kingdom. Listen to Colossians 1 13.

It says, for he, talking about God, has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. So that prophecy, guys, that Samuel recorded for us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was written a thousand years before Jesus was even born. And then you've got the prophets of Isaiah that were written 700 years before Jesus was born about this one who would be coming, who would be called a mighty king, everlasting father, prince of peace. And then we have Malachi who gave us the incredible prophecy that he would be born in the town of Bethlehem and that there would be a forerunner who would announce his coming.

And then we had 400 years of silence where the people of Israel did not hear a word from God. And then all of a sudden out of heaven comes a messenger from God whose name is what? Gabriel. Gabriel. And Gabriel announces, he's got the, he's going to announce the good news to Mary, the good news that she is going to give birth to a son. And by the way, both Mary and Joseph came from whose line?

David's. Listen, guys, if there's no, if for no other reason, people should believe the Bible because it has fulfilled prophecy in it. It's the only book in the world that can claim that truth. And when Mary heard the words from Gabriel that she was highly favored and that the Lord was with her, the text says that she was greatly troubled and wondered about what he said. And by the way, this word wonder, you know what it means? It means to consider, to reason.

And that's what I'm trying to get all of us to do. This is a reasonable faith. God has given us a mind and we need to use it to understand God's truth.

In other words, we can make a reasonable decision. We don't have to have blind faith. Mary was afraid of the angel's presence as I would have been. So Gabriel said, Mary, don't be afraid. You have found the favor of God. How'd you like for God to say that to you? See, this is what we should pray for.

Lord, listen, pray for this. Lord, I really want your favor. I don't really want your favor. Listen, I don't want the world's favors. There's nothing wrong with asking God to give you his favor.

That may not be a check. It's not talking about money. It's talking about, listen, you can't buy peace.

You can't buy contentment. You go read a book called The Last Words of Saints and Sinners where they've recorded the testimonies of saints who have died and their last words and what some of the most well-known atheists and how they died and what they said. One's like light and one is darkness. Their words of those who died without hope are haunting.

Their words of desperation. And so God, man, He'll give you His favor. You're going through something difficult? God will give you His favor. He'll shine His grace upon you. He'll give you His peace. Gabriel announced the good news.

Here's what he said. He said, You will be with child, Mary, and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.

Now listen, I have to be honest with you. I don't think that Mary fully comprehended the total impact of Gabriel's announcement. Mary was to name her son Jesus.

By the way, Jesus was a very common name back then that means savior, but I don't think that Mary understood the full scope of the salvation that her son was going to offer to the world. She did not really realize that we would be sitting here 2,000 years later listening to this good news that Gabriel is now telling her about. Gabriel said that her son would be great and be called the Son of God of the Most High. Listen, Mary knew about the coming Messiah. She had been in the sanctuary, I'm sure, religiously listening to the rabbis read the ancient scrolls of Samuel, but in this moment, I don't think it dawned on her that her son was going to be God's son, and so Gabriel continued to try to explain to her. He said, listen, the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

His kingdom will never end. Mary was certainly familiar with the Messianic promise in 2 Samuel. She'd heard this talk to her, but did she really grasp the full implication of Gabriel's pronouncement?

I doubt it. Kent Hughes writes, she understood the gist of the angel's announcement. You're going to become pregnant. You're going to call your son's name salvation. That's what Jesus' names mean, salvation. He's going to be the Son of God, and he'll be the Messiah. What an earful.

What an incredible heartful. I believe Mary got the gist of what he was saying, and then she pondered these truths in her mind, and then she asked a very reasonable question, a question that any of us would ask. Hey, Gabriel, tell me now how this is going to happen. I'm a virgin, which means she had never slept with a man, but let me ask you this. Do you see her faith in that question? She actually believed what Gabriel was saying.

She just wondered how it's going to happen. So why does she believe? Do you believe that her faith was blind faith?

No. She believed because her faith rested upon the evidence. She was familiar with all the stories in the Old Testament. She had heard about the miracles God had performed in the past, and deep in her heart she knew that nothing was impossible for her God, so she was curious. Gabriel, how's this going to happen? So Gabriel told her again.

I'm going to read it again. He said the Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible with God. What was Gabriel describing here? It was certainly not sexual union with a divine being.

It was nothing remotely close to that. The important word to focus on here is the Greek word for overshadow, which the word literally means to throw a shadow over, to throw a shadow upon. According to Hughes, it is a picture of God's presence in the sanctuary. You know, in the sanctuary when His Spirit hovered over the ark of the covenant, you know, the Shekinah glory, and it referred to the bright cloud that overshadowed the Lord and the apostles at the transfiguration. It's the same word used there in Matthew when Jesus is transfigured, that the Holy Spirit, the cloud, overshadowed them. It's also a reference pointing to the virgin birth, which fulfilled the prophetic son that was given by Isaiah 700 years earlier, when he said, the virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a son, and will call him what?

Let me ask you a question. When Christmas arrives this year, do you think these verses are going to have a little more meaning than they normally do? For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is born, unto us a son is given, and his name will be mighty Father, I got it all backwards, Prince of Peace, wonderful counselor.

I messed up some of that, but anyway, you got the gist of it. What was Mary's response? This is like the highlight of this whole sermon. May it be to me, as you have said, may it be done to me according to the Word of God is what she was saying.

Do you feel that way? Let me ask you this. Would you rather it be done to you according to your will or God's will? Who do you think knows what's best for your life? We should all say, Lord, may it be to me according to your will, no matter what it is, because what?

He has, he wants the best of you to unfold. If only we had the faith of Mary. Why didn't Mary believe the Word of God?

I'm going to pound it in because her faith was based upon reasonable evidence. Mary knew all about Sarah and Abraham. They were old and she was barren, and yet God gave life to what was in essence dead bodies, such that Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to who?

Isaac. You know, Isaac gave birth to Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the 12 tribes. So was born the nation of Israel because God pronounced life over the dead body of Sarah.

It was a miracle, and guess what, man, it really happened. And I know one person who believed it, Mary. Mary also knew of God's amazing deliverance of her people who had been enslaved in Egypt for 430 years. She knew of Joshua's victories as he led the Israelites into the Promised Land. She knew her Lord stood in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, one who looked like the Son of God.

She knew of God's protection of Daniel in the lion's den. She knew God's Word, man, and she took God at His Word. Do you believe God's Word? Do you believe God's Word?

I do. I can remember when I was 13, 14, and I'm not bragging about this. I'm just telling you that I came to God with the faith of a child, and when I read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I believed it. And I think that's why I'm standing here today, because I don't deserve to be here. I'm just evidence that God is so full of grace that it's ridiculous. I've made so many bad choices with my life. I've committed so many egregious sins, and yet God in His grace and mercy rescued me from the kingdom of darkness and has set me firmly in the kingdom of light. And guess what? This is for a friend of mine I was talking to today. Once you're in the kingdom of light, it's impossible to go back to the kingdom of darkness.

How good is that? Like my dear friend Joyce, God has a way. What He means to be will be. What He purposes to be will come to pass.

What He starts, rest assured, He will finish. If you don't believe it, just ask the little shoebox girl. Her name is Joyce McFarland, and she lives right here in Raleigh, and she is a saint. She is poor in the eyes of this world, but she is rich in faith, and she will have great reward in heaven.

Mary believed because she knew that nothing is impossible for God. Do you believe that? I think that some of you come in tonight and you've been in a very dark place. You have struggled with alcohol and drugs and pornography and bankruptcy, and you're thinking, there's no way I can get out of this.

Really? Well, that's not faith. Well, that's not faith. We do have to pay the consequences that are due to our sins, but listen, the moment that you ask Jesus to forgive you, and the moment you say, Jesus, I'm all in, that's when you will begin to experience His favor.

It will just begin to overshadow you. When Mary went to Elizabeth in verse 38, Elizabeth confirmed her genuine belief when she said, blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished, and that's one of the greatest statements of faith, and what it really means to believe in the Bible. Blessed are you men when you believe that what the Lord has said to you will be accomplished.

So let me ask you this basic question. This basic question, do you believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be? Do you believe that Jesus died, that He was buried, that He was in the tomb for three days, and then by the power of God, that He was resurrected, and that He walked around Israel for, I think, was it 40 days or 50 days?

40 days. And how many people saw Him? 500.

500 eyewitnesses. And yet the world wants to tell you that you're a fool if you believe all that. Well, guess what? Count me as a fool for Jesus, because that's what I believe. And if you're not in Christ tonight, and you want to make sure that you're in, I want you to bow your heads right now.

Just bow your heads and close your eyes. You've heard the gospel. John 3 16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Listen, I remember when I read that as a teenager, I said, well, I don't know what perishes, but I know I don't want that. I believe I'll take this thing eternal life. And just with the faith of a child, I said, Jesus, please save me.

Forgive me, Lord. I want to walk with you the rest of my life. And so my journey began, men.

And you can have a journey that begins right now. And so, guys, right now, eyes closed. If you're not sure that you've transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, and you want to make sure tonight, raise your hand right now. Just raise your hand. There's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight hands. And some of you raised your hand before.

Not many. It's nothing wrong with raising it many times. I got news for the first time you raised your hand, if you really meant it, you were saved. But for those who raised their hand for the first time, pray this prayer with me silently to yourself. Dear Heavenly Father, I confess to you that I'm a sinner. I want to repent, to turn away from my sins, and to turn to you by faith.

And that's what I do now. I want to know that I've crossed over from the kingdom of darkness, and that I now walk in the kingdom of light. And, Lord, I want your favor in my life. And say, Lord, I give my life to you. I give my heart to you right now. Lord, do to me according to your word. And may I live for you from this day forward. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. Okay, guys, if you prayed to receive Christ, here's what Satan's going to do. He's going to tell you, well, you didn't really mean it.

Well, don't believe that. You don't give by feelings, you give by what? You give by the evidence.

And you give by what God's word says. If you have a train, you've got the, if I remember this right, you've got the engine, that's fact. The next car is faith. And the caboose is feelings. Which one's driving the train? The engine, which is followed by faith. You got that?

It's not the feelings. It's your faith is based upon the fact that Jesus arose from the grave. And let me tell you something, guys, this is my second sermon. One day, Jesus is going to return to this earth. We're going to see the holy city come down from heaven.

It's a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And he's going to establish his kingdom on this earth. And he is going to reign forever. And he's going to reign forever upon the throne of David. And he's going to restore this earth.

And guess what? If you're in Christ, you're going to reign with him for how long? So you have to decide if you believe that.

I do. I'm just looking for the day when the clouds part, the trumpet sounds, and those who are dead in Christ will rise first. And then we who are still alive would be called air to meet him.

And we will live with him forever. Being a Christian is not about being religious, but about having a dynamic alive relationship with Jesus Christ. You've been listening to finding purpose with Pastor Russ Andrews, a local triangle ministry glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. You can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources at findingpurpose.net or connect to finding purpose on Facebook. Pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local triangle men to study God's word together every Tuesday night at 7pm in downtown Raleigh. Find out more at findingpurpose.net. This is the Truth Network.