When Your Soul Magnifies the Lord

Luke 1:39-56

It’s Christmastime and During Advent our Christmas Series is From Luke 1-2 and We Have Called it The Birth of Jesus: We love Christmas and everything about it. Christmas gifts. Christmas decoration. Christmas Music. Christmas Greetings. Christmas travels which led to Christmas VISITS! So Far Three Amazon Christmas Visits…

—Gabriel visits Zechariah with the news of John the Baptist. (1:5-

—Gabriel visits Mary with and even more amazing announcement… 

—Now Mary visits Elizabeth. Now Mary Elizabeth, John and Jesus meet! (Luke 1:39ff) Two sections: Meeting. Magnificat! Makes much of God.

Meeting of Mary, Elizabeth, John and the Lord Jesus. (39-45)

Elizabeth focuses on her LORD—Jesus! She is a model Christian friend. (Prayer Partner)

Elizabeth knows who Jesus is and when he is present. O, the inexplicable joy it is when in your deepest spirit you recognize who Jesus is and you know you are in the presence of the incarnate Christ! Does your heart leap for joy in the presence of Christ? 

Elizabeth referred to Jesus as her Lord, this only could have been revealed by the Holy Spirit to her 

Mary has a problem I think… a concern in her soul. Maybe that is why she visits Elizabeth. (To use my emotional context sensor and sanctified imagination). 

When Your Soul Magnifies the Lord. Magnifies—God is BIG all problems are small… When your problems are big, your god is small.

—She knows a friend who will magnify the Lord with her. 

Blessed is the Man, the Woman who has friends who have known heartache but have been touched by God and filled with his Spirit! They know that God is real and they affirm what God is doing in you and rejoice in it. 

—She doesn’t magnify her husband.

—She doesn’t magnify herself. 

—She doesn’t magnify her enemies (Rome)

—She doesn’t magnify her hurts or her problems. 

What does she do? This is the sweet spot. From deep within she magnified the Lord.

Mary’s Song (46-56)

[ill] Pastor Rob Stewart. Countryside Bible Church. 

A Dozen Powerful Things That Happen 

When Our Soul Magnifies the Lord: 

—When God is Big (46) Mary was a young, powerless, misunderstood, sinful, poor, powerless, oppressed, peasant girl but her soul magnified the Lord… she had a big God….

—When the deepest part of you is open to who God is and what he is doing:

1—Your Joy is Deep (47)

2—Your Sins and Shame and Guilt are Swept Away. (47) God MY SAVIOR… (50) Mercy is magnified. His mercy swallows our sins. 

3—You have God’s Full Attention.  (48) “…he has looked on…”

4—Your Blessing is Enduring.  (48) “…from now on all generations will call me blessed…”

5—Your Understand Sovereign Power, His Absolute Holiness and His Tender Care. (49) His is strong and he is good. “…he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name…”

6—We Have Confidence that His Mercy Will Be Available For the Generations to Follow Us. (50) Generational Blessing.

7—Our Enemies Are (Minimized) Reduced to a Manageable Size. (51-52)

8—Our Thinking is Right (51) “…he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts…” We are not vulnerable to the foolishness of the godless learned and elite. Our thinking is clear and true.

9—We Are Satisfied in Him. (53)

10—Everything is Put Right. (53) You have confidence that God is working a great and blessed reversal… end of personal section and beginning of National section. 

The Grace-Mercy Reversal: If God Blesses you…

Strong vs. Weak

Rich vs. Poor

Full vs. Hungry

Proud vs. Humble

Powerful vs. Common

Young vs. Old (Elizabeth) fertile infertility

Able to conceive vs. Virgin

11—You See His Hand In History and in Prophecy. (54-55) You See That He Keeps His Covenant Promises (to Israel). To Mary. To Israel. To Us! To YOU!

12—You Can Go About Your Daily Business With Mindful Ease and Simple Trust. (56)

When your God is big everything else is small. 

We don’t magnify our problems and sorrows. (Q) Piper and perching Isaiah) 

We don’t magnify ourselves

We don’t magnify our accomplishments

We don’t magnify our country

We don’t magnify our family/husband/wife/kids

We don’t magnify our college… (ill) Moody

We don’t magnify our church. (The idolatry of building a “great church”). Pride and foolishness. 

  We Magnify the LORD!

[ill] Sarah Pierpont… “…they say there is a young lady in New Haven, who is loved of that great being who made and rules the world, she will sometimes go about from place to place singing sweetly, and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure, and no one knows for what she loves to be alone walking in the fields and Groves, and seems to have someone invisible, always conversing with her…”

Her fiancé wrote about her a few years later they married… His name was Jonathan… Edwards. They had 12 children. 

When God moves in you to trust and obey blessing and praise will fill your life even in the face of weakness, poverty, hunger, humility, commonness, youth, infertility, oppression, guilt, gossip, abuse, etc. 

We can trust the promises of God. Even common, poor, humble, hungry, young, flawed, sinful people can…

Does your soul magnify the Lord? Will you magnify the Lord?