Many people think the Christmas story begins with the miraculous birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but did you know that Abraham knew the gospel? Today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg traces the line from Abraham's Old Testament story straight to the Nativity. and explains why this connection is significant for us to day. we're continuing our study of Mary's song in Luke chapter one. Mm.
What we have in this song. is a song of overflowing thankfulness. That emerges. From the overflowing generosity Of God Himself. There's a tremendous amount in this short song, and our time is.
Constrained, and so we're going to look at the song with three words in mind. I'll tell you what they are so you know where we're going. First of all, then God is mindful.
Now, the significance in this is as follows: that God is mindful of Mary as an individual because he is mindful of his people. As a company. Her significance In the scheme of God's plan of redemption. is entirely related to the purpose of God to choose out for himself A people that are his very own. And that people is the focus of his love and of his concern They are, if you like.
the very apple of his eye. And the wonder of what it means to be in the remembrance of God. Is directly tied to being part of the people of God. Secondly, God is mighty. God is mighty.
The picture in verse 51. of his arm being bared. Obviously, an anthropomorphism. Which is a good word if you are having a real run at Scrabble. Actually, if you can ever come up with the word anthropomorphism, then you've had a really, really bad run at Scrabble.
And you've got almost all of the tablets at your place. But anyway, Uh you know that that is just the ascribing. Add to God Of a human form, ascribing a human form to God who is spirit.
So that it is an accommodation to us as human beings, so that we can get some kind of an indication of what this means. God who is spirit obviously has no arm to bear. Therefore, when it says that he has bared his holy harm, as in Exodus 6, in bringing his people out of Israel, it is a picture to help us understand that this mighty God has stepped forward. And you find that again and again. For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear, I will help you.
and God Himself extends His arm. And so in her song, she mentions this. As she reflects on what God has done throughout history, She realizes that he is mindful of his promises and he is mighty in his deeds. He is a merciful Savior, but he is also a mighty warrior. And as a mighty warrior, He turns human attitudes upside down.
Notice this. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm. What has he done?
Well, he has taken what society, what culture, what men and women. lay greater store by And he has demolished it. Look carefully. One, he has scattered Those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. One day When God's records are opened up, Some of the things that we have lived through in our lives.
Which we try to explain socially, or economically, or politically. will be explained to us In terms of the terms. of his mighty deeds. Luke 1:51. He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
Oh. That's what happened to that financial institution. Oh. That's the explanation for what happened to that guy who thought he had the ball at his feet and ruled the world. Oh, that's what's happened.
He has scattered those who are proud in their innermost thoughts. He has reduced them to nothing right in the core of their being. Secondly, he has brought down the rulers from their thrones. You can go through the whole of the Old Testament and you can see that happening again and again. You can go through social history and you can see it happening again and again.
The proud empires of the world have eventually crumbled to nothing. All of them eventually will. There is only one kingdom that will last forever and ever. There is only one king, one majesty before whom we ought to bow. And thirdly, he sends the rich away empty.
Fills up the hungry with good things, says, Here, have some more of this. But the rich, Sends them away empty. You see the paradox in this, rich, empty? Empty rich? Is it possible to be rich and empty?
I think so. Because the more the rich have of the wealth we may prize The emptier? and more hollow. Things will be seen to be. Unless we are to discover true riches.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for our sakes, he became poor.
So that we through his poverty might become rich. You see, no man or woman can ever really handle material wealth until they have discovered that their genuine and truest riches. Are found in Jesus. When that matter is settled, Then, all the benefits that he may give to you, all the privileges that you may enjoy, may then be used in a way that recognizes the fact. That God is mighty.
And he sets down The proud and the arrogant. He doesn't do it vindictively, he does it purposefully. He sets people down, he scatters the proud, he removes people, so that once they have been brought down, they might be delivered from their vain schemes and from their proud assertions. That's why. That's the story of Saul of Tarsus, isn't it?
Going with the papers to Damascus. I'm going to Deal with this Jesus thing once and for all? He's a fairly arrogant person. Proud of what he knows, proud of his place in the great scheme of things. And able to have the acquiescence of the religious authorities and civil authorities of his day.
He obviously had some significant influence, and he was on his way to deal with Jesus once and for all. And then he met Jesus, the Jesus that he denied, the Jesus that he said wasn't alive. And he ends up Graveling on the ground as a result of a light shining brighter than the noonday sun that blinds him. and suddenly in his blindness on the dust of the road, He hears a voice from heaven saying, Saul, So Why do you persecute me? Why do you kick against me?
And eventually when His sight is restored. and his life is transformed. He writes his letters and in one of the letters he writes, You know all the things that I really prized. I regard them as dung, he said. For the sake of of knowing Jesus Christ.
In other words, he says. I've experienced a revolution. I once could have explained my life in terms of being powerful, being intellectual, and being significant with the money that went with it. And now I'm here to tell you that none of those things make sense to me anymore, apart from the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ. This loved ones is conversion.
You see, that's not the story of somebody who says, Oh, I think I might try and turn over a new leaf or whatever it might be. I might go along and try and read the Bible. All of those things you may do. And you can do all of these things, but the one thing you can do is the one thing that both of us need, and that is that we need the invasion of God in our lives to show us that all of the things that we regard as making significance for us are actually totally insignificant. And that is why.
In his might, He scatters the proud. He reduces the rulers to nothing. And he sends the rich away empty. Why is it that the rich young ruler goes away sad, especially when he comes to Jesus with all those wonderful questions? Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
It actually says that he fell on his knees and he asked Jesus, What must I do to inherit eternal life? And you go and read that story for yourself, and you find that at the end of it, he went away sad. And he went away sad. Why? Because he had great wealth.
Ah, there you go.
Well, I don't have great wealth, therefore I don't have to go away sad. No. In his case, it was money. In your case, it might be sex. In your case, it might be a relationship.
In your case, it might be your PhD. In your case it could be a whole ton of things. Oh, you're prepared to tolerate a Jesus as long as it fits in with all of your performa. But you don't want to know a Jesus. That humbles you.
Cash you down on the ground. It shows you you're a blind man or woman. Before he opens your eyes. Hey. Is mighty.
Finally, he is merciful. He's merciful. Because not only has he done these things in the display of his mighty arm, but you will notice verse 52: he has lifted up the humble and he has filled the hungry with good things. Here are two prerequisites for becoming a Christian. You need to be humble.
And you need to be hungry. Humble and hungry. I see. I go home now for my lunch. I can eat my lunch right now.
I'm so hungry. But if I eat Snickers bars all through the three morning services. Which is a pretty good idea, but I don't do that. But if I if I eat Snickers all the way through the morning service and go home, and Sue can have my most fav my most favorite Sunday lunch for me and I won't give it any any thought. Because I'm not hungry.
But when I'm hungry. She may give me a boiled egg and an English muffin. Or scarf it down. 'Cause I'm hungry.
So, if you can come and listen to the sermons at Parkside and say, well, they're very interesting, I suppose, yes, yes. and go away. You're not hungry enough to become a Christian yet. Or if you can go away and say, Well, I don't like that stuff about having to accept Jesus as the only sacrifice for my sin, about somehow or another Him coming to invade my life and make me a new person. I mean, I want to have a more sort of intellectual approach to things whereby we meet one another as, you know, sort of on a par.
Well, you're not humble enough to become a Christian yet. No. Humility and hunger. are prerequisites. And God in His mercy is the one.
Who makes that possible? You will notice. that he in verse fifty Extends his mercy to those who fear him from generation to generation. To fear God is to trust God, to love God, to obey God. And this verse 50 here is fantastic.
It's the story of God's people, the account of his absolute commitment. His persistent refusal to wash his hands of his wayward people, that the remnant of his people has continued all the way through until eventually Jew and Gentile and bond and slave and male and female are standing together around the throne of God and are declaring the same thing of one another, standing with Abram and saying, Abram, why are you here? Because his mercy was extended to me. And why are you here as an Arab Christian from the West Bank? Because his mercy was extended to me.
And I see that you are here from Romania. Yes, his mercy was extended to me. And as some Scots here, one or two Scots, why? Mercy extended to me. The same story.
We will stand before the throne of God and we will say, Our God is mighty to save. And his mercy has been extended to us, his humble servants, and from one generation to another. That's why, in the midst of all of the darkness in Lamentations 3, with all of the bad things happening, Jeremiah says, all of a sudden he bursts into the middle of it and he says, it is because of his mercies that we're not consumed. It's because of his mercies that were not consumed. They're new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness. I got up this morning. I find myself, just because these things are on my mind, they're not on your mind, so I can't hold this to you. But I had that old song, we used to sing it here years ago: I will sing of the mercy of the Lord forever. I am son in a hundred years.
You know? Do you know do you know do you know the song? I will sing of the mercy. Of the Lord forever. I thought you said you knew it.
I will sing. Come on, let's sing it. We might as well. I will sing. I will sing of the mercy of the Lord forever.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. Here we go. With my mouth Well, I make known Thy faithfulness. Thy faithfulness With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness through all generations. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.
Forever I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. That's it. That is Mary's song. Oh, you applauding yourselves now?
Well it is. But that's the song. That's the song we want our children to sing. That's the song we want our grandchildren to sing. Not songs of arrogant little children.
Focused on themselves. with no awareness of their need. No awareness of the majesty and might of God, the fact that it is on account of his mindfulness that he has restored and kept a remnant of his people throughout all the generations. And Mary fits in the middle of all of this. And because he is mighty, we need to bow down before him.
And because he is merciful, we ought to trust him. And if you're getting confused about all this Abraham stuff, just remember the last time you had your grandchildren or children come home from a Sunday school spectacle, and they were singing, Father Abraham, and so on. And right there, you're on track. You say, Well, I don't know why you're doing these songs. Have you no notes left or whatever it is?
No, I just feel like singing, it's Christmas. And um Galatians. Chapter 3, we just figure this out. Because somebody reads this and says, Well, I'm tracking so far might, mindful, merciful, but where do Abram and his descendants fit in?
Well, you see, this is how we must speak to all of our Jewish friends. And say to them, Look, this is your story. If it's anyone's story, it's your story. This is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abram. This is why Joseph was in Egypt.
Because God was mindful and God was mighty and God was merciful, because He didn't want His people to be cut off and extinguished in the famine, and so Joseph was put in place. This is why, out of the tragedy of Naomi's triple bereavement, the loss of her husband Elimelech, the loss of her husband and the loss of her two sons. We have the bloodline through which we get from not only to David, but also eventually to Jesus. Why? Because God is mindful and God is mighty.
What's he doing? He's fulfilling his promise to Abraham. And every Gentile that is converted is converted because God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham. There's not two separate deals. It's one deal.
And so Paul, when the people in Galatia have got this all confused, he tells them straightforwardly, Galatians 3:6, consider Abraham, he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then, notice here we go, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. And announced the gospel in advance to Abraham. Announce the gospel to Abraham.
Did you know that Abraham knew the gospel? What was the gospel that was announced? Answer, Genesis 12. All nations will be blessed through you.
So, says Paul, those who have faith, are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Go to verse 26. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There's neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.
Does that mean there are no boys or girls left? There are no people from a Jewish background or a Gentile background. There are no people that are employers and employees. No, it means that the gospel transforms all of those relationships. That those who were near on account of the promises, who are the true children of Abraham in terms of their faith.
have the privilege of seeing Gentiles who were far away and removed from the promises being commingled with them, intermingled with them in that great company that will eventually be there that no one can count. Verse 29, if you belong to Christ. Then you are Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise. What promise?
The promise to Abraham.
Well, that's Mary's song. That's song number one. We need to stop. For those of you who have been tempted at this point, say, well, nice little song, you know, a little feminine song. Ladies off playing their music on their own.
No, we can't do that. This this is revolutionary, this song. If we miss this, we've missed it all.
Some years ago, I remember way back early on, I went down with some friends to the King Kennedy Project here in Cleveland. And we were down there doing something, I can't remember the details of it all. I only remember one thing, and I wrote it down. And that was some graffiti on the side of a house. And the graffiti read as follows: Revolution.
is the only hope of the hopeless. Revolution is the only hope of the hopeless. You know, I think they're right. The question is what kind of revolution? Marx's revolution was frankly a disaster.
Lannon Is long gone. We toppled him. Mao and his little red book. has not been selling very well lately. And all the way down the line.
There is no external political economic revolution. that can bring about the change that is necessary. The only revolution. That is hope for the hopeless. Is the revolution brought about In the hearts of of those Who?
in our riches, in our self-assuredness, And in our authority. are brought down. Humbled made hungry. and made to eat. of he who is the bread of life.
This is then an invitation. to those who do not believe. to bow down before the mindfulness, the might, and the mercy of God. as revealed in Jesus. And it is a reminder to those of us who do believe.
That our God is mighty. That he is mindful. and that He is merciful. In the words of one of my old songs from Glasgow, God is still on the throne. And he will remember his own.
Though trials may press us, and burdens distress us. He never will leave us alone. God is still on the throne. And he will remember his own. And his promise is true.
He will not forget you. For God. is still on the throne. Because he is mindful. of us.
He's mighty enough. to subdue our rebellions. And he's merciful. in all his dealings. Uh You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life with an urgent reminder.
and an invitation for each of us to consider. If you'd like to learn more about the gospel, about Jesus, or about the Bible, Visit our website truthforlife.org slash learn more I hope you are enjoying our current series called Songs for a Savior. If you'd like to hear more Christmas messages, we're offering a special collection on a USB. It's called The Miracle of Christmas. It contains eight series, including the one that's currently airing.
In this series of messages, Alistair examines different aspects of the Christmas story, who Jesus is, why he came, and what his life, death, and Deaths resurrection and ascension mean for us to day. As Alastair unpacks the details of Scripture, you'll be reminded that the birth of Jesus isn't just the reason for a festive season. it is the turning point of all human history. You can purchase the Christmas USB for just $5 when you visit truthforlife.org/slash store and search for the miracle of Christmas. or call us at eight eight eight five eight eight seven eight eight four.
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