1 00:00:06,410 --> 00:00:10,500 Father, as we have had this opportunity to express this 2 00:00:10,510 --> 00:00:15,260 morning, we give you all the praise and the glory because You 3 00:00:15,270 --> 00:00:16,730 are the one that is worthy of it all. 4 00:00:19,030 --> 00:00:25,110 You're the one that has redeemed our lives from the pit and as we 5 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,850 come this morning and we make our small sacrifices back to you 6 00:00:28,860 --> 00:00:32,509 that sometimes feel heavy for us. 7 00:00:34,220 --> 00:00:37,310 And yet, Lords, it's all yours in the 1st place. 8 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,810 You are the one that has blessed us and entrusted us with our 9 00:00:40,820 --> 00:00:43,220 finances. You've entrusted us with our 10 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,820 skills and abilities, and Lord God, we just want to offer that 11 00:00:47,830 --> 00:00:52,550 back to you this morning. Would your name be glorified 12 00:00:53,060 --> 00:00:55,600 through the small sacrifices that we get to make? 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,090 Lord? Would those sacrifices that we 14 00:01:00,100 --> 00:01:06,770 make it to be a joy for each of us that although it does at 15 00:01:06,780 --> 00:01:09,140 times feel like a sacrifice, that it wouldn't remain that, 16 00:01:09,150 --> 00:01:12,380 but would joyfully hand back to you all that you've entrusted to 17 00:01:12,390 --> 00:01:15,680 us and that your name would be glorified because of it? 18 00:01:16,740 --> 00:01:19,820 Father God, we pray this morning for our children. 19 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:22,740 We thank you for the blessing that they are. 20 00:01:22,750 --> 00:01:27,210 We thank you for their open hearts and their willingness to 21 00:01:27,890 --> 00:01:32,480 to look at you with all simplicity and the amount that 22 00:01:32,490 --> 00:01:34,790 they can actually understand and absorb. 23 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,820 And so we pray for our Sunday School teachers this morning 24 00:01:37,910 --> 00:01:42,740 that you give them wisdom, discernment as they share truth 25 00:01:42,750 --> 00:01:44,500 from your word to our young kids. 26 00:01:45,690 --> 00:01:48,460 And Father God, this morning we pray for Billy. 27 00:01:48,570 --> 00:01:52,240 We commit him into your hands as he comes and opens your word. 28 00:01:52,730 --> 00:01:54,760 Would you speak powerfully through him? 29 00:01:54,830 --> 00:01:56,550 Would you use him for your honour and glory? 30 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,090 This morning we pray in Jesus name, Amen. 31 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,420 Good to see you this morning. Would you open with me to the 32 00:02:04,430 --> 00:02:08,729 Book of Luke Chapter 1 this morning? 33 00:02:08,740 --> 00:02:14,840 We are gonna be looking at versus 39 through 56 Mary Song 34 00:02:14,990 --> 00:02:17,720 of Praise, and we're just gonna read that together. 35 00:02:18,670 --> 00:02:21,910 So I'll read that for us before we jump into it this morning. 36 00:02:22,610 --> 00:02:25,890 Let's read the word of the Lord starting in verse 39. 37 00:02:27,330 --> 00:02:31,940 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the Hill 38 00:02:31,950 --> 00:02:36,540 Country to a town in Judah, and she entered the House of 39 00:02:36,550 --> 00:02:40,160 Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the 40 00:02:40,170 --> 00:02:44,080 greeting of Miri, the baby leaped in her womb, and 41 00:02:44,090 --> 00:02:47,130 Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed 42 00:02:47,140 --> 00:02:50,690 with a loud cry. Blessed are you among women, and 43 00:02:50,700 --> 00:02:52,740 blessed is the fruit of your womb. 44 00:02:53,670 --> 00:02:56,780 And why is this granted to me, that the Mother of my Lord 45 00:02:56,790 --> 00:03:00,080 should come to me? For behold, when the sound of 46 00:03:00,090 --> 00:03:03,800 your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for 47 00:03:03,810 --> 00:03:07,640 joy and bliss. It is she who believed that 48 00:03:07,650 --> 00:03:12,180 there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the 49 00:03:12,190 --> 00:03:15,500 Lord. And Murray said, My soul 50 00:03:15,510 --> 00:03:19,570 magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my 51 00:03:19,580 --> 00:03:22,280 Saviour. For he has looked on the humble 52 00:03:22,290 --> 00:03:25,900 estate of his servant. For behold, from now on, all 53 00:03:25,910 --> 00:03:28,120 generations will call me blessed. 54 00:03:28,550 --> 00:03:32,820 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and wholly 55 00:03:32,830 --> 00:03:37,750 is His name, and His mercy is for those who fear Him. 56 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,510 From generation to generation He has shown strength. 57 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,460 With His arm He scattered the proud and the thoughts of their 58 00:03:44,470 --> 00:03:46,460 hearts. He has brought down the mighty 59 00:03:46,510 --> 00:03:50,510 from their Thrones and exalted those of humble estate. 60 00:03:51,550 --> 00:03:54,040 He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich. 61 00:03:54,050 --> 00:03:58,630 He is sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel 62 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:03,490 in remembrance of His mercy as He spoke to our fathers, to 63 00:04:03,500 --> 00:04:06,460 Abraham, and to His offspring forever. 64 00:04:07,430 --> 00:04:12,330 And Mary remained with her about 3 months and returned to her 65 00:04:12,390 --> 00:04:16,070 home. I mean, well, we're continuing 66 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:19,410 in our series through the book of Luke, so we're still in 67 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,390 chapter 1. You'll remember Luke is the 68 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:26,310 longest gospel that has written to a man named Theophilus, 69 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,330 likely a Roman governor. And and it's written to give him 70 00:04:30,340 --> 00:04:33,710 certainty about the things he'd been taught about Christ. 71 00:04:34,140 --> 00:04:37,630 And all throughout Luke is trying to show him who Christ is 72 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,230 and how Theophilus, this Roman governor, this outsider to the 73 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,430 Christian faith can have certainty about who Christ is 74 00:04:44,540 --> 00:04:48,270 and have certainty about the Christian faith, certainty about 75 00:04:48,340 --> 00:04:52,280 the gospel. And so chapters one through 3 76 00:04:52,330 --> 00:04:56,400 really is showing the birth stories, the birth narratives of 77 00:04:56,410 --> 00:04:59,680 two people of John the Baptist and of Jesus Christ. 78 00:05:00,490 --> 00:05:03,040 And, and you'll see and you, you will have been seeing already as 79 00:05:03,050 --> 00:05:06,940 we go through these narratives are kind of shown side by side. 80 00:05:06,990 --> 00:05:09,830 So, so that the camera flips from John to Jesus. 81 00:05:10,490 --> 00:05:14,440 Jeff preached a few weeks ago of the four telling to Zechariah of 82 00:05:14,450 --> 00:05:18,100 the birth of John the Baptist. And then last week, Sam showed 83 00:05:18,110 --> 00:05:22,040 us the foretelling to Miri of the birth of Jesus Christ. 84 00:05:22,830 --> 00:05:24,860 And that theme is going to continue over the next few 85 00:05:24,870 --> 00:05:27,660 chapters where we see their births shown in parallel as 86 00:05:27,670 --> 00:05:29,330 well. And all of that is really trying 87 00:05:29,340 --> 00:05:30,880 to show us their different roles. 88 00:05:31,330 --> 00:05:37,410 John the Baptist came to be a forerunner to pave the way for 89 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,290 Jesus, and Jesus himself is the fulfilment. 90 00:05:41,310 --> 00:05:44,510 He is the one that Israel and the world has been waiting for. 91 00:05:45,220 --> 00:05:49,270 So we have the the stories of the 4 runner and the fulfilment. 92 00:05:50,410 --> 00:05:54,200 And when we come to this morning in these verses, for a moment, 93 00:05:54,210 --> 00:05:57,840 these two stories intertwine the two different storylines we've 94 00:05:57,850 --> 00:06:04,440 had come into one, and we're merely comes to see Elizabeth. 95 00:06:04,450 --> 00:06:08,740 We see that in verse 39 Mary comes to see Elizabeth because 96 00:06:08,750 --> 00:06:12,910 what was said in verse 36, we Mary's told as a part of this 97 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,310 promise from the Angel. Your relative Elizabeth in her 98 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,690 old age has also conceived a son, and this is the six month 99 00:06:20,700 --> 00:06:25,150 which with her, who was called Baron for nothing will be 100 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,500 impossible with God. And so Miri was told by this 101 00:06:29,510 --> 00:06:32,570 Angel as a part of this promise that she is pregnant, although 102 00:06:32,580 --> 00:06:34,990 she is a virgin with the Messiah. 103 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,170 Part of the basis of that promise is your relative 104 00:06:38,180 --> 00:06:41,350 Elizabeth, although she's old and although she's barren, she 105 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,230 is pregnant as well. Nothing is impossible with God. 106 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,850 And so Merry comes now and verse 39 to see Elizabeth, She's 107 00:06:49,860 --> 00:06:53,060 coming to see God's promise with her own eyes. 108 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,890 And this is part of the promise that Mary has been told. 109 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,250 And immediately she gets this confirmation. 110 00:07:00,260 --> 00:07:04,430 She gets it in a few ways. Firstly, verse 41, it says in 111 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,390 Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary the baby John, John the 112 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:12,000 Baptist leaped in her womb already. 113 00:07:12,010 --> 00:07:15,280 I mean we just mentioned before we're told John the Baptist has 114 00:07:15,290 --> 00:07:20,200 this role of going before Jesus Christ paving the way, showing 115 00:07:20,210 --> 00:07:23,160 people that that someone greater is coming here. 116 00:07:23,170 --> 00:07:26,980 We already have John the Baptist fulfilling his role even in the 117 00:07:26,990 --> 00:07:30,470 womb, attesting to the fact that Jesus is there. 118 00:07:31,150 --> 00:07:34,010 And that's really interesting. Even when we look back at Luke 119 00:07:34,020 --> 00:07:38,180 chapter one, verse 15, when Zechariah is as being foretold 120 00:07:38,190 --> 00:07:41,110 about the birth of John the Baptist, he's told that John the 121 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:45,170 Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his 122 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,230 mother's womb. And so here we have John the 123 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,650 Baptist, or really already fulfilling his role, that that's 124 00:07:51,660 --> 00:07:54,530 already one element of confirmation for Mary. 125 00:07:56,370 --> 00:08:00,220 But then what we see happen is Elizabeth was filled with the 126 00:08:00,230 --> 00:08:05,060 Holy Spirit and begins to speak. Saying that she's filled with 127 00:08:05,070 --> 00:08:09,030 the Holy Spirit is telling us that what she's about to say is 128 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,260 important and what she's about to say is true. 129 00:08:13,980 --> 00:08:19,290 And we see what she says to her. She says, Blessed are you among 130 00:08:19,340 --> 00:08:23,080 women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 131 00:08:24,090 --> 00:08:27,440 Why is it granted to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to 132 00:08:27,450 --> 00:08:29,850 me? For behold, when the sound of 133 00:08:29,860 --> 00:08:33,980 your greeting came to my ears, the baby and my womb leaped for 134 00:08:33,990 --> 00:08:37,010 joy. And blessed as she who believed 135 00:08:37,020 --> 00:08:42,049 that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from 136 00:08:42,059 --> 00:08:46,400 the Lord. These words from Elizabeth are 137 00:08:46,410 --> 00:08:50,570 really gonna act as an introduction to the setting. 138 00:08:50,580 --> 00:08:53,510 And also Miri song of praise. That's incredible. 139 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,110 Here Elizabeth seemed to divinely understand what had 140 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:57,670 happened to Mary. There's no record of a 141 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:00,190 conversation where Mary said what happened. 142 00:09:00,500 --> 00:09:04,850 Elizabeth understands and knows what has happened to Miri. 143 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,610 And then she declares twice that Miri is blissed. 144 00:09:08,660 --> 00:09:11,430 So you see in verse 42, blessed are U. 145 00:09:11,620 --> 00:09:14,670 And then verse 45, blessed as she. 146 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:16,770 Those are two different Greek words there. 147 00:09:16,980 --> 00:09:20,040 For blessed. The first one, verse 42, is 148 00:09:20,050 --> 00:09:22,180 saying that you have been shown favour. 149 00:09:22,230 --> 00:09:24,520 Blessed are you. You have been shown favour. 150 00:09:24,530 --> 00:09:30,360 You've been shown a gift from God and in verse 45, blessed as 151 00:09:30,370 --> 00:09:33,280 more connotation, a happy and joyful are you? 152 00:09:35,070 --> 00:09:39,140 And so it's clear that Elizabeth understands what we're gonna 153 00:09:39,150 --> 00:09:41,840 come back to these verses a little bit more throughout. 154 00:09:42,010 --> 00:09:44,620 But Elizabeth understands from the forefront here that what has 155 00:09:44,630 --> 00:09:48,280 happened to Miri as firstly, it's a gift from God. 156 00:09:48,470 --> 00:09:51,400 This is an act of of favour and grace from God. 157 00:09:51,530 --> 00:09:54,380 And secondly, this is something that would be making marriage so 158 00:09:54,390 --> 00:09:58,260 joyful. So we have this joyful 159 00:09:58,270 --> 00:10:02,280 exclamation from Elizabeth, and then as we just read Mary, she 160 00:10:02,290 --> 00:10:05,720 jumps and she leaps into this song of praise. 161 00:10:06,860 --> 00:10:09,830 And that's really the tone of this passage. 162 00:10:11,670 --> 00:10:15,330 I just want to put this for a minute in context of Mary's 163 00:10:15,340 --> 00:10:18,260 situation, especially her social situation. 164 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:23,550 Sam spoke last week about Miri's social status. 165 00:10:24,140 --> 00:10:29,330 She had no real notoriety. She was a young woman, maybe 13 166 00:10:29,340 --> 00:10:31,890 or 14 from what we can understand. 167 00:10:32,290 --> 00:10:37,320 No notoriety, no status. She was a female in a small town 168 00:10:38,010 --> 00:10:41,900 and Nazareth not a well known town. 169 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:48,060 Whatever her social status was already very lowly, it just took 170 00:10:48,070 --> 00:10:51,920 a big hit amongst the Jewish culture. 171 00:10:51,990 --> 00:10:56,260 She was pregnant before marriage and I'm sure she had a tough 172 00:10:56,270 --> 00:10:59,120 time explaining to her family that she is both a virgin and 173 00:10:59,210 --> 00:11:02,220 pregnant. Her social status would have 174 00:11:02,230 --> 00:11:05,020 just taken a big hit. Ostracised from her family, from 175 00:11:05,030 --> 00:11:08,120 her community. We know from Matthew, before 176 00:11:08,130 --> 00:11:11,640 Joseph himself was visited by an Angel, he had resolved to 177 00:11:11,650 --> 00:11:14,740 quietly divorce Mary because he assumed that there was some sort 178 00:11:14,750 --> 00:11:19,060 of adultery going on. Mary's life on the surface, it 179 00:11:19,070 --> 00:11:24,700 just got significantly harder. She is young, she is pregnant, 180 00:11:25,380 --> 00:11:28,070 she is ostracised from her community. 181 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,450 And yet we have here in this passage Elizabeth calling her 182 00:11:31,460 --> 00:11:38,570 Blist, joyful, blissed from God. And then Miri is going to cry 183 00:11:38,580 --> 00:11:41,670 out in this song of praise. And the question I want to ask 184 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,650 this morning as we come and unpack the song from Miri. 185 00:11:44,820 --> 00:11:51,230 Why did Miri praise God? Why did she praise God? 186 00:11:52,950 --> 00:11:55,620 And that question is going to be answered as we go through and 187 00:11:55,630 --> 00:11:58,840 unpack this song. Because let me tell you, on the 188 00:11:58,850 --> 00:12:02,840 surface it seems a confusing thing that Mary is singing out 189 00:12:02,850 --> 00:12:06,540 in this joyful phrase. I think there's a lot for us to 190 00:12:06,550 --> 00:12:09,720 learn and I wanna highlight three things as we go through. 191 00:12:09,730 --> 00:12:12,280 And I understand and ask the question, why was Miri praising 192 00:12:12,290 --> 00:12:16,370 God here? Firstly, Miri praises God 193 00:12:16,380 --> 00:12:21,080 because He has blessed her despite her low status. 194 00:12:22,870 --> 00:12:27,180 We'll start with verse 46 and 47 as they really set the theme, 195 00:12:27,230 --> 00:12:31,130 set the tone. Mary says My soul magnifies the 196 00:12:31,140 --> 00:12:40,220 Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour us since the the 197 00:12:40,230 --> 00:12:42,760 tone. This is a song of praise. 198 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,060 These are notice these are parallel sentences. 199 00:12:46,070 --> 00:12:51,530 Here my soul magnifies my spirit, rejoices her soul and 200 00:12:51,540 --> 00:12:53,610 her spirit. This is really Speaking of every 201 00:12:53,620 --> 00:12:58,800 element of her, of her inner being, and she is magnifying and 202 00:12:58,860 --> 00:13:04,380 rejoicing. To magnify this song would often 203 00:13:04,390 --> 00:13:07,540 be called the Magnificat. That's the Latin word for 204 00:13:07,550 --> 00:13:11,080 magnify. To magnify is to make great as 205 00:13:11,090 --> 00:13:14,950 to glorify the name of God and to rejoice. 206 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,990 We know what that means. It's to delight in God. 207 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,790 And we just saw that with what Elizabeth was saying, Mary's 208 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:25,030 confirming it straight away. This is a posture of joyful, 209 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:31,320 delighted praise. Miri is delighted to be praising 210 00:13:31,370 --> 00:13:34,010 God. This isn't begrudging. 211 00:13:34,020 --> 00:13:39,010 This isn't confused, I mean we've seen some psalms even when 212 00:13:39,020 --> 00:13:40,740 those are in suffering they're calling out. 213 00:13:40,750 --> 00:13:44,620 Where are you? Ohh, God or you'd say in and 214 00:13:44,630 --> 00:13:47,740 Job, Job, he's still praising God that you can tell and the 215 00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:50,380 way he's he's crying out, he's hurting and his situation. 216 00:13:50,470 --> 00:13:52,660 We don't get that tone from Miri in this. 217 00:13:53,380 --> 00:13:56,350 Miri is seeing a situation and she's saying this is joyful. 218 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,560 That says blessed. I am praising God here. 219 00:14:00,390 --> 00:14:04,760 She's genuinely joyful and her praise why think first? 220 00:14:04,770 --> 00:14:12,840 48 summarises it. 4 Because he has looked upon the humble 221 00:14:12,850 --> 00:14:18,000 estate of his servant. That is why. 222 00:14:19,070 --> 00:14:21,470 A humble estate. That word is literally Speaking 223 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:26,350 of her social status of of her standing before others in her 224 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,830 community, her standing socially, and the pecking order. 225 00:14:29,900 --> 00:14:36,160 God has looked upon her humble estate and at the core of Mary's 226 00:14:36,170 --> 00:14:41,540 praise as this Although the world views me as lowly, as 227 00:14:41,550 --> 00:14:46,230 insignificant, although those in my community view me as an 228 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,510 outcast, God has looked upon me with favour. 229 00:14:51,590 --> 00:14:54,280 God has looked upon me with love. 230 00:14:57,970 --> 00:15:01,080 Miri praises God because God does not view her through the 231 00:15:01,090 --> 00:15:06,430 world's categories. And that's going to be at the 232 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:12,280 heart of this song. She continues on second-half of 233 00:15:12,290 --> 00:15:18,030 this. 48 Full behold, From now on all generations will call me 234 00:15:18,090 --> 00:15:24,010 blessed, for He who is mighty has done great things for me and 235 00:15:24,020 --> 00:15:30,340 wholly is His name. Mary sees that God has done 236 00:15:30,390 --> 00:15:34,720 great things despite her her low social status. 237 00:15:34,730 --> 00:15:37,490 God has let her beer the the Messiah. 238 00:15:39,170 --> 00:15:44,580 Mary praises God because she plays a role in what God is 239 00:15:44,590 --> 00:15:48,230 doing in the world. God is using her as a vessel to 240 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,480 bring about great things and she views that as a gift. 241 00:15:54,070 --> 00:15:57,220 Notice in these verses, God is the one who's acting here. 242 00:15:57,300 --> 00:16:02,260 Everything here is God at work. He has looked, He has done great 243 00:16:02,270 --> 00:16:04,740 things. Holy is his name. 244 00:16:04,750 --> 00:16:07,830 And you notice that same tone even in what Elizabeth says in 245 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,220 the earlier verses. Elizabeth is always praising God 246 00:16:11,290 --> 00:16:14,340 for what he has done through Mary because she says when she 247 00:16:14,350 --> 00:16:17,000 says blessed are you among woman, she sees blessed is the 248 00:16:17,010 --> 00:16:20,660 fruit of your womb as she's honoured that Mary comes, but 249 00:16:20,670 --> 00:16:24,500 not because of Mary but because of the fruit of her womb, 250 00:16:24,510 --> 00:16:27,360 because the mother of my Lord should come to me. 251 00:16:27,370 --> 00:16:31,100 In fact, the only thing that Miri did, according to Elizabeth 252 00:16:31,170 --> 00:16:38,070 verse 45, is believe she believed she was willing, and 253 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:43,330 Sam closed with that last week. Mary's response to this Behold, 254 00:16:43,340 --> 00:16:46,040 I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me. 255 00:16:46,050 --> 00:16:53,140 According to your word, Miri is praising God because He has 256 00:16:53,220 --> 00:16:58,210 flipped the social status. She understands where she stood, 257 00:16:58,700 --> 00:17:01,760 but she sees now through the eyes of God how He is treating 258 00:17:01,770 --> 00:17:06,140 her. I'm the youngest of six kids. 259 00:17:06,210 --> 00:17:08,950 Any other youngest here? Yeah, we're going to stick 260 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,650 together. I mean, growing up and my 261 00:17:12,660 --> 00:17:14,770 siblings would probably say I was spoiled, but that was 262 00:17:14,780 --> 00:17:16,010 probably when they all left home. 263 00:17:16,069 --> 00:17:18,190 I got spoiled. But growing up, when you got six 264 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,510 kids in the home and you're the youngest, you're at the bottom 265 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,240 of the pecking order. Never sit in the front seat. 266 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:25,980 You know you're last in line to get any of the the leftovers at 267 00:17:25,990 --> 00:17:28,099 the dinner table. You don't get the TV remote. 268 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:30,910 All of these things, you kind of knew where you stood. 269 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,550 But when it was your birthday, all the things got flipped. 270 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,290 Dad makes you poached eggs on toast. 271 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:40,010 You get to pick what's on TV. You get to sit in front of the 272 00:17:40,020 --> 00:17:41,480 car. You kind of realise that the 273 00:17:41,490 --> 00:17:43,950 social status for one day has been flipped. 274 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,050 But it was sweeter because I knew I recognised I was at the 275 00:17:47,170 --> 00:17:51,670 the bottom of the pecking order. But on one day a year that would 276 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:53,530 be flipped. And then it got flipped when 277 00:17:53,540 --> 00:17:55,790 they all moved out and it was just me and mum and dad. 278 00:17:58,010 --> 00:17:59,750 A mirror here. She knows where she stands in 279 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,660 the eyes of the world and she sees this favour from God and it 280 00:18:03,670 --> 00:18:07,140 is sweet and the eyes of God. God doesn't view me like the 281 00:18:07,150 --> 00:18:12,350 world views me. Let's keep reading. 282 00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:15,920 We're gonna read verse 50 to 53. And as we read, I just want you 283 00:18:15,930 --> 00:18:19,870 to notice how the language changes from being individual, 284 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,690 from being personal to being a corporate. 285 00:18:25,410 --> 00:18:29,370 There's 50 And His mercy is for those who fear Him. 286 00:18:30,270 --> 00:18:34,250 From generation to generation He has shown strength. 287 00:18:34,260 --> 00:18:37,670 With His arm He scattered the proud and the thoughts of their 288 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:39,750 hearts. He has brought down the mighty 289 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:43,360 from their Thrones and exalted those of humble estate. 290 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,450 He's filled the hungry with good things and the rich. 291 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:53,620 He is sent away empty. I just want to note here. 292 00:18:53,630 --> 00:18:59,860 Secondly, Miri praises God because His blessing is not 293 00:18:59,870 --> 00:19:05,780 exclusive to her. Meri praises God because His 294 00:19:05,790 --> 00:19:08,560 blessing is not exclusive to her. 295 00:19:09,370 --> 00:19:13,200 Miri Here she turns from declaring what God has done to 296 00:19:13,210 --> 00:19:16,880 her and highlights how this is not only for her. 297 00:19:16,930 --> 00:19:20,780 Rather, what is going on here is a reflection of God's character, 298 00:19:20,850 --> 00:19:25,990 a reflection of how God works here. 299 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,940 He says. Here I am but one example of a 300 00:19:28,950 --> 00:19:32,460 lowly servant who has been blessed by God. 301 00:19:32,470 --> 00:19:34,990 And as I highlighted before, we see the language here has 302 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,980 changed from personal from her talking about herself to more 303 00:19:38,050 --> 00:19:42,240 corporate general language. Here she's talking about this is 304 00:19:42,330 --> 00:19:46,480 what God does. And God's economy, the the 305 00:19:46,490 --> 00:19:52,620 social status is flipped. The way the world views us is 306 00:19:52,630 --> 00:19:56,880 not the way God views us. Miri is an example of that, but 307 00:19:56,890 --> 00:20:00,590 she's not the only one. This is what this is saying. 308 00:20:01,860 --> 00:20:05,230 And this is going to be a key theme in Luke as we continue to 309 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,610 go through. We're going to see this theme ou 310 00:20:07,820 --> 00:20:09,710 because you'll remember, and I mentioned at the start, 311 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:14,600 Theophilus who who this book was written to, written for what was 312 00:20:14,610 --> 00:20:19,020 a Roman, likely an outsider and a largely Jewish faith. 313 00:20:19,190 --> 00:20:21,640 And it could be easy for him to wonder, do I fit in? 314 00:20:23,390 --> 00:20:26,440 I'm an outcast here. Well, Luke highlights the 315 00:20:26,450 --> 00:20:29,120 outcast. It highlights many social 316 00:20:29,130 --> 00:20:32,400 outcasts, especially in this time we see the prominent role 317 00:20:32,410 --> 00:20:35,960 that women play. Outsiders are welcomed, the way 318 00:20:35,970 --> 00:20:38,760 tax collectors, social outcasts are spoken of in the book of 319 00:20:38,770 --> 00:20:40,520 Luke. We're going to notice that as we 320 00:20:40,530 --> 00:20:44,970 go through. And so how does God view things? 321 00:20:46,590 --> 00:20:52,000 We see that the proud are scattered, the mighty are 322 00:20:52,010 --> 00:20:56,390 brought down, and the rich are sent away empty. 323 00:20:57,690 --> 00:21:01,470 Yet those who fear God are shown mercy. 324 00:21:02,300 --> 00:21:06,570 The humble are exalted, and the hungry are filled. 325 00:21:09,340 --> 00:21:13,630 And, and just take a moment to consider how countercultural 326 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:19,520 this is. We live in a culture, whether 327 00:21:19,530 --> 00:21:21,880 it's overt or whether it's under the surface. 328 00:21:21,890 --> 00:21:26,460 Exalts the mighty, Exalts the rich, exalts the proud. 329 00:21:29,050 --> 00:21:32,700 We live in a culture that loves to exalt the the American Dream 330 00:21:32,710 --> 00:21:36,660 or success stories of those who started from nothing and became 331 00:21:37,050 --> 00:21:40,690 billionaires. Whether it's overt, as I said, 332 00:21:40,700 --> 00:21:44,630 or whether it's subtle, at the core of this and in our culture 333 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,930 and, and, and in so many of our hearts is a desire to be 334 00:21:48,940 --> 00:21:56,390 elevated in the view of others, a desire to be approved by men. 335 00:21:59,350 --> 00:22:02,460 Many of us remember our days in high school where the social 336 00:22:02,470 --> 00:22:05,500 pecking order was very large. That's what drove a lot of 337 00:22:05,510 --> 00:22:07,410 things in high school. But it happens whether we're in 338 00:22:07,420 --> 00:22:10,140 the corporate world and we're consumed with the next promotion 339 00:22:10,150 --> 00:22:14,570 or status or raise, or whether we're a parent and we find 340 00:22:14,580 --> 00:22:16,950 ourselves looking to other parents and evaluating are we 341 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:21,710 better parents than them? This is something that philtres 342 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,250 into every relationship, constantly wanting the approval 343 00:22:25,260 --> 00:22:34,010 of others, our boss, our spouse, our friends and his incredible 344 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:37,410 book When People are big and God are Small. 345 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,430 Edward Welch, He defines this as the fear of man. 346 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,640 He says this The fear of man can be summarised in this way. 347 00:22:45,430 --> 00:22:50,820 We replace God with people. Instead of a biblically guided 348 00:22:50,830 --> 00:22:54,430 fear of the Lord, we fear others. 349 00:22:59,930 --> 00:23:06,010 Whether we realise it or or not, many of us desire to be mighty. 350 00:23:06,020 --> 00:23:10,030 We desire to be rich. We desire to be great in the 351 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,630 eyes of the world. And when we're desiring that, it 352 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,360 blinds us to our need to be humble before God. 353 00:23:17,450 --> 00:23:20,120 It blinds us of our need for God. 354 00:23:20,130 --> 00:23:23,720 John Piper puts it this way. God is not partial to the rich, 355 00:23:23,770 --> 00:23:27,670 the powerful, or the proud. How could God be partial to the 356 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,890 things which in our world are more often than not substitutes 357 00:23:30,900 --> 00:23:33,480 for God rather than pointers to God? 358 00:23:36,890 --> 00:23:42,640 Mary is saying here we we must be captured by a fear of God, 359 00:23:43,190 --> 00:23:50,430 not by a fear of others, because God does not care about wealth. 360 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:57,230 God does not care about status. He will scatter the proud. 361 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:04,430 He will bring down the mighty. He will send away the rich and 362 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,550 this is a theme that we see all through Scripture and I don't 363 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,040 have time to go everywhere, but even just highlighting a few 364 00:24:10,050 --> 00:24:15,240 verses David says and Sam 1827 for you save a humble people, 365 00:24:15,430 --> 00:24:21,270 but the haughty eyes you bring down Jesus himself. 366 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:25,000 Later in Luke and Luke chapter 18 is going to tell this parable 367 00:24:25,980 --> 00:24:29,410 about a Pharisee and a tax collector who both go into the 368 00:24:29,420 --> 00:24:32,930 temple to pray. You have a Pharisee who who's a 369 00:24:32,940 --> 00:24:36,790 religious elite and you have a tax collector who is a social 370 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,300 outcast. And the Pharisee comes in any 371 00:24:40,310 --> 00:24:43,680 any praise before God and he says thank you, God, thank you 372 00:24:43,690 --> 00:24:45,230 that I'm not like this tax collector. 373 00:24:46,630 --> 00:24:50,700 I come, I pray three times a day, I tithe a 10th of 374 00:24:50,710 --> 00:24:56,960 everything I get. And the tax collector comes and 375 00:24:56,970 --> 00:25:01,310 he kneels down on his knees, beats his chest and cries out to 376 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,590 God. God be merciful to me, a Sinner. 377 00:25:06,870 --> 00:25:10,100 And Jesus says only one of those men left that temple justified. 378 00:25:12,980 --> 00:25:18,130 And he sees this in Luke 1814. For everyone who exalts himself 379 00:25:18,180 --> 00:25:23,480 will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. 380 00:25:26,890 --> 00:25:30,600 And that's not saying that every humble person will be saved, and 381 00:25:30,610 --> 00:25:33,780 every rich person or every powerful person will not be 382 00:25:33,790 --> 00:25:35,300 saved. That's not what this is saying, 383 00:25:36,060 --> 00:25:39,910 but this is saying to be saved we need to humble ourselves 384 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,460 before God. And often the biggest barrier to 385 00:25:43,470 --> 00:25:46,780 that is that we don't see the need for that because we are so 386 00:25:46,790 --> 00:25:53,330 consumed by status or riches in the eyes of the world, we must 387 00:25:53,340 --> 00:25:57,650 humble ourselves before God. God does not value money or 388 00:25:57,660 --> 00:26:05,830 power or status, but rather the one who will humbly fear God in 389 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:12,710 belief. Thirdly, Miri praises God 390 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:20,960 because He has brought the Messiah, viz 4445. 391 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:27,010 He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy as 392 00:26:27,020 --> 00:26:31,130 He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to His offspring 393 00:26:31,180 --> 00:26:35,100 forever. Those can be some confusing 394 00:26:35,110 --> 00:26:37,540 verses, but what Miri is doing here is she's putting the 395 00:26:37,550 --> 00:26:40,600 situation that she has found herself in, pregnant with this 396 00:26:40,610 --> 00:26:43,640 man named Jesus Christ. And she's putting it on in the 397 00:26:43,650 --> 00:26:47,830 context of the whole Bible. She's putting it in the context 398 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,620 of the whole story of the Old Testament, as she's referring to 399 00:26:51,710 --> 00:26:55,810 Abraham, referring to God's promises to Israel. 400 00:26:56,540 --> 00:26:59,810 Throughout the Old Testament, God made promises to his people, 401 00:26:59,820 --> 00:27:02,450 Israel, that one day one would come. 402 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:09,740 One would come who would be their Messiah, their Saviour. 403 00:27:10,190 --> 00:27:13,200 One would come to provide salvation. 404 00:27:13,210 --> 00:27:17,060 And Daniel showed us earlier how the Old Testament continues to 405 00:27:17,070 --> 00:27:20,280 point forward to that. That One will come as a perfect 406 00:27:20,290 --> 00:27:27,360 sacrifice to take away sin, to pay the price for some. 407 00:27:29,810 --> 00:27:33,240 And so Muri actually understands here that what God is doing is a 408 00:27:33,250 --> 00:27:36,670 fulfilment of what He has promised Israel. 409 00:27:38,130 --> 00:27:39,640 Many of us are familiar with that song. 410 00:27:39,650 --> 00:27:43,280 Mary, Did You Know? I think we can say yes. 411 00:27:43,430 --> 00:27:48,150 Murray knew she's she's recognising here that God is 412 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,370 doing something great through this baby in her womb. 413 00:27:51,580 --> 00:27:54,510 And I want you to see the progression throughout the song 414 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:55,970 of Mary. She's saying God, you're doing 415 00:27:55,980 --> 00:28:00,280 something great for me. You have blessed me, you've 416 00:28:00,290 --> 00:28:02,580 shown me favour and this is how you work. 417 00:28:04,220 --> 00:28:06,990 And then she she brings it full picture here and she's going and 418 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,690 you were bringing this about through this baby that is in my 419 00:28:09,700 --> 00:28:13,730 womb that the promised Messiah of Israel, the Saviour of the 420 00:28:13,740 --> 00:28:19,300 world because really that that baby and and Mary's womb Jesus, 421 00:28:19,990 --> 00:28:24,220 he he is ultimately the reason why God can accept the lowly, 422 00:28:25,710 --> 00:28:30,100 the outcast. Many of us are familiar with 423 00:28:30,110 --> 00:28:33,000 Paul's words and Philippians chapter 2 where he talks about 424 00:28:33,010 --> 00:28:36,020 Jesus Christ. Although he was in the form of 425 00:28:36,030 --> 00:28:40,340 God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be, to be 426 00:28:40,350 --> 00:28:45,370 grasped, to be held onto. But he emptied himself, taking 427 00:28:45,380 --> 00:28:49,910 the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. 428 00:28:53,150 --> 00:28:56,440 Christ himself. Although he he was God, he 429 00:28:56,450 --> 00:29:03,030 became lowly. He was born and and lowly means, 430 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:04,230 as we'll see in a couple of weeks. 431 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,790 He was born to a lonely woman from a lonely town and his 432 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:11,390 ministry he associated with and he loved the lowly, the the 433 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:14,010 social outcast. He showed them love, he showed 434 00:29:14,020 --> 00:29:16,910 them grace. And ultimately he humbled 435 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,880 himself to the most lowly, humiliating form of execution on 436 00:29:20,890 --> 00:29:26,450 a Roman cross where he hung, He suffered, He bled, He died naked 437 00:29:26,460 --> 00:29:30,370 in front of all as a perceived criminal. 438 00:29:33,260 --> 00:29:37,060 And he hung there and he blared and he suffered so that all who 439 00:29:37,070 --> 00:29:40,100 are lowly, all who are humble, all who are outcast can kneel 440 00:29:40,110 --> 00:29:44,020 before him, believing in him for the forgiveness of sins. 441 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,140 That's the gospel. That's the Christian message. 442 00:29:51,870 --> 00:29:54,860 Pull says this and 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 9. 443 00:29:54,990 --> 00:29:59,220 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though 444 00:29:59,230 --> 00:30:05,150 he was rich, yet for your sake became poor, so that you by his 445 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:13,960 poverty might become rich. God can flip social status 446 00:30:13,970 --> 00:30:17,130 because it was flipped on His own Son in the most incredible 447 00:30:17,140 --> 00:30:22,280 way. God can look to this lowly 448 00:30:22,730 --> 00:30:27,640 outcast named Mary and shower grace on her because the very 449 00:30:27,650 --> 00:30:31,760 baby in her womb. Although he was God, he was 450 00:30:31,770 --> 00:30:37,060 treated as a criminal. His coming as a a fulfilment for 451 00:30:37,070 --> 00:30:40,030 Israel is coming as as hope for us. 452 00:30:43,170 --> 00:30:48,380 So as we close, come to the end of this song from Mary, I just 453 00:30:48,390 --> 00:30:52,340 want to close with a warning and a comfort. 454 00:30:54,420 --> 00:31:00,580 A warning and a comfort warning. The approval of man is 455 00:31:00,630 --> 00:31:04,710 dangerous. The approval of man is 456 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:08,660 dangerous. As we talk about what it means 457 00:31:08,670 --> 00:31:13,900 to find favour with God, we need to consider the danger of 458 00:31:13,910 --> 00:31:17,780 seeking favour, seeking approval from men. 459 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,780 And this is a warning fee. Every single one of us. 460 00:31:23,460 --> 00:31:27,450 I think for many of us, in some way we are either rich, wealthy, 461 00:31:27,540 --> 00:31:33,680 in a position of power, or we wish we were in some way. 462 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,190 And and at the core, as I see it, these are not bad things, 463 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,050 but they must come with a warning. 464 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:50,440 Whose approval do we pursue? Whose approval do we desire? 465 00:31:50,450 --> 00:31:55,690 Do we long for, and are we willing to lay aside the 466 00:31:55,700 --> 00:31:59,280 approval of man to humble ourselves before God? 467 00:32:02,420 --> 00:32:04,890 We have to believe this would have been a temptation for 468 00:32:05,020 --> 00:32:08,830 Theophilus. A Roman governor certainly had 469 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:17,450 access to wealth, power, status. It's the temptation for us, but 470 00:32:17,460 --> 00:32:19,940 I think we also need to recognise that that we often 471 00:32:19,950 --> 00:32:21,870 look at this and we say yes, that that's the world's culture, 472 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,430 that's how the world views it. It's inevitable that culture of 473 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:31,140 the world seeps into the church and and, and and the culture of 474 00:32:31,150 --> 00:32:34,310 the church. Success may not be money or a 475 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:38,150 job or a status. Success might be people we 476 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,380 disciple, the sermons we preach, the Bible knowledge we have. 477 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:46,740 And although those are are good things, we we can often want to 478 00:32:46,750 --> 00:32:50,130 exalt ourselves before others, even in the church. 479 00:32:50,140 --> 00:32:52,690 And that's when I'm speaking to myself right now. 480 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:55,580 This is a it's a dangerous. It's a warning for all of us. 481 00:32:56,430 --> 00:33:00,820 Do we desire to be approved by each other, or do we desire to 482 00:33:00,830 --> 00:33:05,120 be found humble before God? The approval of men is 483 00:33:05,130 --> 00:33:08,970 dangerous. God desires a humble heart. 484 00:33:09,060 --> 00:33:12,650 God desires people who will recognise their need for Him. 485 00:33:15,270 --> 00:33:18,520 And so my homework from this point, I will give homework this 486 00:33:18,530 --> 00:33:23,260 week. My challenge to you everyone is 487 00:33:23,270 --> 00:33:27,880 at some point this week, meditate and sit with Psalm 73. 488 00:33:29,890 --> 00:33:35,550 Psalm 73 This is where the psalmist at the first half of 489 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:39,250 the Psalm looks at the world. He looks at the wealthy, looks 490 00:33:39,260 --> 00:33:43,410 at the powerful, looks at the rich, and laments that the rich 491 00:33:43,420 --> 00:33:46,370 seem to be thriving and prosperous and it's so easy for 492 00:33:46,380 --> 00:33:48,470 them. And then there's a hinge in in 493 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,670 the middle of the Sam when the psalmist comes into the 494 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:53,820 sanctuary of the Lord and discerns therein. 495 00:33:56,830 --> 00:33:58,420 We're given 2 perspectives there. 496 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,070 Blessing of man, blessing of the world is not all that it seems. 497 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:08,239 And so this week spent some time considering Psalm 73. 498 00:34:10,020 --> 00:34:12,850 It's our warning, and we're finished with the comfort. 499 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,830 Our comfort is that God's blessing is open to the humble, 500 00:34:19,540 --> 00:34:24,060 and this is a comfort for all who like Merry, feel outcast, 501 00:34:24,780 --> 00:34:29,770 feel lonely, feel insignificant, feel and acceptable. 502 00:34:31,540 --> 00:34:36,800 God's blessing is open through the humble in the comfort is 503 00:34:36,810 --> 00:34:39,350 that the world standards are not God's standards. 504 00:34:40,830 --> 00:34:43,250 Blessing in the world does not equal blessing with God. 505 00:34:45,550 --> 00:34:48,600 In God's Kingdom, the low are brought high, the downtrodden 506 00:34:48,610 --> 00:34:52,560 are lifting up, the hungrier feared, the outcast are 507 00:34:52,570 --> 00:34:57,460 welcomed. For me, this has been my biggest 508 00:34:57,470 --> 00:35:03,060 comfort in the past six months. It's a comfort because we find 509 00:35:03,070 --> 00:35:06,800 ourselves looking to other people to give us approval, to 510 00:35:06,810 --> 00:35:10,360 give us this desire of what we need. 511 00:35:10,410 --> 00:35:11,920 This is telling us it's a comfort. 512 00:35:11,930 --> 00:35:15,860 It's saying stop. Stop looking to the world for 513 00:35:15,870 --> 00:35:20,320 affirmation. Stop looking to the world for 514 00:35:20,330 --> 00:35:22,130 approval. Look to God. 515 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:26,890 Humble yourself, wrist and His grace. 516 00:35:28,290 --> 00:35:31,750 Because of what His Son has done, we can be found acceptable 517 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:39,130 in the eyes of God. That is a a comfort so we can 518 00:35:39,140 --> 00:35:45,260 find comfort that through this lowly and significant woman in 519 00:35:45,270 --> 00:35:51,300 the eyes of the world, God brought about His Son season 520 00:35:51,310 --> 00:35:54,060 verse 52. He has brought down the mighty 521 00:35:54,070 --> 00:35:58,560 from their Thrones and exalted those of humble estate. 522 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:04,720 Let's pray, shall we? Lord God, we just want to come 523 00:36:04,730 --> 00:36:08,350 to you now and thank you for your goodness. 524 00:36:10,700 --> 00:36:14,840 I thank you for your Son. Because of what Christ did, 525 00:36:15,090 --> 00:36:17,160 because of how He humbled himself. 526 00:36:17,170 --> 00:36:21,270 Lord, we can be found or righteous before you. 527 00:36:23,510 --> 00:36:27,540 Thank you that you do not view success and the way the world 528 00:36:27,550 --> 00:36:30,640 views success. And so my prayer for all of us 529 00:36:30,650 --> 00:36:33,540 this morning is that we may just be able to reflect and consider 530 00:36:33,610 --> 00:36:37,200 how you use this woman, Mary, and how that shows, Lord, the 531 00:36:37,210 --> 00:36:43,100 way that you work for each person here, whether they need 532 00:36:43,110 --> 00:36:45,010 the warning or they need their comfort. 533 00:36:45,020 --> 00:36:48,300 Lord, I pray that you would just lay that on their heart to 534 00:36:48,310 --> 00:36:51,530 understand the way that you work and just be amazed by your 535 00:36:51,540 --> 00:36:54,550 grace. Lord, we thank you for these 536 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:56,430 things in Jesus name, Amen.