The Worship of Mary

If you would take your Bibles
and turn back once again to the gospel of Luke. I want to commend you this morning.
The worship of Mary. No, I haven’t flipped my lid.
I haven’t flipped on my position. Last Lord’s Day, I detailed the
Roman Catholic Church’s. Incorrect position on Mary, on
the worship of Mary, and in the past week, I have not adopted
that position. When I suggest this title in
your bulletin, the worship of Mary. I’m not for a second encouraging
God’s people to engage in the worship of Mary. Instead, what
I’m suggesting by that title is that Mary’s own worship. Here
in this passage before us this morning should be considered.
Mary’s own worship of God is exemplary. And the children of
God would do well to pause and consider her godly example. Mary
is not to be an object of our worship, but she is an example
to be emulated. This passage before us. Called
over the centuries, the Magnificat. Is just a remarkable response
In prayer. One said that it is so full of
Hebrew isms, Jewish sayings as to almost form a mosaic of quotations
from the Old Testament. We’ll see some of those in a
moment that very nearly resembles Hannah’s own prayer before God
for Samuel chapter two. It is a beautiful poem. And it’s Not exactly clear, even
upon reading and studying this passage, whether. This was said
audibly before Elizabeth, it certainly wasn’t said only to
God. Or whether this was a prayer
in itself or really a meditation before God on his many works. But it is Mary responding to
what God has done and is doing. In order to pick up the passage
in its fullness, go all the way back to verse 26 of chapter one. Where it is recorded now in the
sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in
Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was
Joseph of the descendants of David. That’s where we were last
week, and the angel announced to Mary that she was going to
give birth to a child, a special child. It would be the Messiah,
and Mary knew it. Well, Mary takes that news, meditates
upon it, and we pick up the the narrative in verse 38, where
Mary yields herself to the Lord to do with her as he will. Pick up with me, if you would,
in verse thirty nine now at this time, Mary arose and went with
haste to the hill country to a city of Judah. And entered
the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. Now, to our knowledge. Elizabeth doesn’t know anything
about Mary’s pregnancy, in fact, if You remember my point, Joseph
doesn’t even know about Mary’s pregnancy yet. And so Mary is
going to Elizabeth to the only one that essentially she can
let in on because the angel has just informed her of this. Verse
41, and it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the baby leaped in her womb, this baby being John the Baptist. And Elizabeth was filled with
the Holy Spirit, and she cried out with a loud voice and said,
Blessed among women are you and blessed is the fruit of your
womb. And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord
should come to me? So whether the angel immediately
impressed upon her, but Elizabeth knows that the Messiah
is coming into the world and he’s doing so by means of Mary. How has it happened to me that
the mother of my Lord should come to me for behold, when the
sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my
womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by
the Lord. And Mary said, My soul exalts the Lord and my spirit
has rejoiced in God, my Savior, for he has had regard for the
humble state of his bond slave. For behold, from this time on,
all generations will count me blessed for the mighty one has
done great things for me and holy is his name and his mercy
is upon generation after generation. toward those who fear him. He
has done mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who
are proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down
rulers from their thrones and exalted those who were humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the
rich empty handed. He has given help to Israel,
his servant in remembrance of his mercy. He spoke as he spoke
to our fathers, to Abraham, and his offspring forever. Mary exalts
before the Lord, she worships God. And as I said, this passage
does parallel the prayer that Hannah prayed at the news of
her own child. Turn with me, if you would, just
briefly this morning to first Samuel chapter two. I won’t read
the prayer in its entirety, but I just want to highlight how
many Echoes of this very prayer does Mary use. First Samuel chapter
two. And very similarly. At the news
of her own son, it just is recorded in verse one, then Hannah prayed. And said, my heart exults in
the Lord, almost the exact words that Mary uses. Verse 2, another
phrase that Mary uses. There is no one holy like the
Lord. Look at verse 4. The bows of
the mighty are shattered, but the feeble gird on strength.
She picks up that same theme that Hannah uses here, where
the Lord exalts the humble and puts down the proud. Verse 5,
those who were full hire themselves out for bread, but those who
were hungry cease to hunger. God meets their needs. Look at
verse 7. The Lord makes poor and rich.
He brings low. He also exalts. He raises the
poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from the ash
heap to make them sit with nobles and inherit a seat of honor.
God is sovereign. And both of these women highlight
that truth, and then finally look at verse nine, he keeps
the feet of his godly ones, but the wicked are silenced in dark
It’s a it’s very much an echo and intended to be so of Hannah’s
prayer, but it goes well beyond that, as we will see. And as
I’ve suggested to you this morning that we are not to engage in
the worship of Mary, but we absolutely can look at her example of worship
and learn from it. It becomes a model for us of
worship. What I would suggest to you this
morning, is that there are four lessons learned from this humble
worshiper. Mary was not a God. Mary was
not a deity. She was a child of God, and she
comes before God as such, as a worshiper, as she ought to
do. The first lesson learned from this humble worshiper is
that the worship of God is the immediate response of his children. It should be. Look back at verse
46. No sooner does Elizabeth communicate
this incredible news to her, the baby leaping and the joy
that both women have over what is transpiring. The only thing
that can really engage Mary’s mind is the Messiah. And Mary said, my soul exalts
the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God,
my Savior. She wasn’t the co-mediator. She
wasn’t the one to whom we should pray. She is worshiping the living
God. Mary said, my soul exalts the
Lord. The word literally means it has
this sense of enlarging. And in a very real sense, God
just got bigger in her heart. Word is used in Acts 1046, they
were hearing them speak with tongues and exalting God, they
were lifting up God, magnifying his name. God in his fullness
was magnified in the depths of Mary’s being. Look at the second
phrase, second sentence in verse 47. My spirit has rejoiced in
God, my Savior. Mary wasn’t thinking of of a
political redeemer. Mary wasn’t thinking of her own
exalted position, her standing and positioning before men to
set up as some object of worship. Remember, Mary has just been
informed that she will bear the Messiah, the long-awaited Savior
of the world. And she looks at God as such. God is a Savior. God has intervened. God has provided for our greatest
need. That is our sin. And Mary knows
it. And Mary, every bit as much,
wants in on that. As I said last Lord’s Day, can
we even for a moment conceive that God would have Mary carry
the Messiah, carry Jesus in her womb for those nine months and
not let her in on the grace of salvation? Mary knows that this
Messiah is her Messiah. This God is her God. And what
great news it is to her. What great news. Look at verse
48. Why? Why is this such great news? For he has had regard for the
humble state of his bond slave. Now, Hannah uses almost identical
language. In verse 11, as the prayer ends,
Hannah makes this vow to God. Listen. First Samuel, chapter
one, verse 11, she made a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if
you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant, And remember
me and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant
a son. I will then I will give him to
the Lord all the days of his life and a razor shall never
come on his head. Well. Hannah makes this prayer
and she refers to herself repeatedly as God’s maidservant. And in
a very real sense, Mary stands here and says he has had regard
for the humble state of his bond slave, his maidservant. But mind
you. Let’s be careful to think through
what Mary means by this. What does she mean by this humble
position? Some people were very quick to
point this out as Referring to the fact that she was just merely
a carpenter’s bride, well, that would truly be a low position
in society. And as such, because of the fact
that Mary had just been chosen to receive one of the highest
blessings that any human has ever been asked to receive. That indeed would be astounding. But I think there’s more to this,
this humble position, this bond slave position. Second King says
it this way, the Lord saw the affliction of Israel. It’s just
a common difficulty, the common trouble that we find in this
world because of sin. I think Mary knew, knew in her
heart that she was a sinner caught up in the same affliction that
all people are caught in. Not to mention the fact that
she was a Jew. the smallest of the nations, the most feeble
in many ways, the most having their sin exposed repeatedly. And she was a woman in that society,
you know, you talk about a humble position. But it was her sin. It was the
fact that she was a sinner. Philippians 321 says that God
will transform the body of our humble state into conformity
with the body of his glory. I think Mary grasped that immediately. That though she was a humble.
Sinner before God, she was preparing to receive the Messiah, not just
as a son, but as a savior. As one pastor said, humility
is the highest grace that can adorn Christian character. It
is the grace which of all is most becoming to human nature. It has ever been a mark of God’s
most distinguished saints in every age, and Mary had it. Mary was willing to stand before
God and speak of her humility. She acknowledged essentially
her own sinfulness and her need and longing for a savior. Look
at the remainder of the verse, verse 48, from behold, from this
time on, all generations will count me blessed. It doesn’t
mean that she’s going to occupy some regal position in the throne
room of God himself. It means that as sinners, we,
too, will look to Mary and acknowledge that she didn’t deserve this
blessing. She didn’t earn this blessing,
but that she, by God’s mercy, had been chosen to carry this
purely because of God’s favor, as we saw last week. J.C. Ryle, a great commentator
on the scriptures, especially the Gospels, said this, Mary
does not let a word not pardon me. Mary does not let fall a
word to show that she regarded herself as a sinless, immaculate
person. There isn’t anything in this
entire prayer that even comes close. On the contrary, he says,
she uses the language of one who has been taught by the grace
of God to feel her own sins and so far from being able to save
others, she requires a savior for her own soul. Mary had just
been told that she would carry bear the Messiah. The worship of God. If you think
back through the saints of God, worship is the immediate response
of his children. Worship as Moses came face to
face with God, God revealing his glory to Moses, Moses response
was worship. Job, when he came face to face
with the sovereignty of God, the natural response was worship. Habakkuk, when he saw God preparing
to move and strike even his own people by a sinful nation, his
only response was one of worship. Isaiah, as he entered into the
throne room, fell as a dead man. His only response was one of
worship. Thomas, standing face to face
with the Lord Jesus Christ. sticking his hands in the very
wounds. His only response was worship.
Mary Magdalene, a sinful woman. You get the picture. When a sinner
interacts with God on any level, whether we receive blessings
or whether we receive his chastening, the only response for a believer
is worship. It’s worship. Any sense of God. brings the believer in Christ
to immediate worship. Secondly, we’re looking at the
worship of Mary, not setting her up as an object of worship,
but acknowledging that as Mary stood before God, her worship
is an example to us. The second lesson learned from
this humble worshiper, not only that the worship of God is the
immediate response of his children, that the worship of God acknowledges
God’s glorious character. Watch what she does. Verse 49,
for the mighty one has done great things for me. And holy is his
name and his mercy is upon generation after generation to those who
fear him. You know what Mary does? She
does what we’re going to do in an hour. She has theology one. She says, let’s talk about theology,
let’s talk about God’s character, let’s review the nature of God,
shall we? She points out those three glorious
attributes of God, not the only ones she could have used any. But she zeroes in on these three
attributes, first of all, his power. The mighty one has done
great things for me. Remember, she had just heard
from the angel. And all she wanted to know is,
I’m not doubting, not doubting that somehow, miraculously, I’m
going to bear a child, but I’m not married yet. And you said,
you know that this is going to happen to me. How? That’s all she asks. The angel
said, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the
most high will overshadow. What else would Mary focus on?
But God’s power, his might. What a perfectly natural response
Mary makes. Mary had just been told of God’s
mighty power, but she goes beyond that. It isn’t just God’s power
that prompts her to worship his holiness. His holiness, holy
is his name. Mary knew that she didn’t deserve
this. Mary knew that as God began to move on her essentially as
a sinner. That this was this was a work
of God, this was a work of God that nobody could explain because
a holy God was coming to her. And of all people, he was favoring
her. She says, holy is His name. She’s
not just talking about just His name. It was a common way of
pointing to all that God is. That if God’s name is holy, everything
about Him is holy. Psalm 93. Let them praise your great and
awesome name. Holy is He. That’s essentially
the thought. Mary knew well that this perfection
of God is essentially His essence. He is completely apart from all
sin. He can’t embrace sin. He can’t
wink at sin. He can’t participate in sin.
He is completely apart from all sin. Mary didn’t perhaps understand
the whole unfolding of the gospel as Paul would lay it out in a
great book to the Romans. Justification by faith that Mary
knew that there had to be something in God that was going to get
a sinner to be able to stand before a holy God. It’s only
natural that Mary acknowledge His holiness. God’s holiness, said one, consists
of His perfect love of righteousness. His abhorrence of evil. His holy
nature. He is holy in His Word. He is
holy in His operations. He is the original pattern of
holiness. The cause of all that is holiness
of others. And if Mary knew that if there
was any hope for her to ever stand before a holy God, God
was going to have to do a miraculous work. And he’s doing it. God is holy because. It is part
of his being, and as such, he hates all sin, he can’t participate
in any of it. And so for somehow to bring sinful
people to himself, there must be there must be a mighty work. And all the scriptures, as they
point to the great work of God, was to draw sinners to himself. And Mary, Mary is beginning to
put things together, she knows that the Messiah is key to that.
But she couldn’t know how fantastic that statement is. Holy is His
name. Not only His power and His holiness,
but look at verse 50, His mercy. Now, why if Mary is to be adored
and worshiped and prayed to and exalted as the co-mediatrix,
why on earth would Mary of all people acknowledge God’s mercy? After all, if she is who some
people say she is, she doesn’t need any mercy. Mercy. Mercy is that character quality
of God where He withholds the punishment that is justly due
sinners. For Mary to acknowledge mercy,
and not just mercy towards her, but for generation after generation
For the unfolding years of history, we have bathed in God’s mercy
and it continues to flow. It’s likely at least a quote
or an allusion to Psalm 89. Loving kindness will be built
up forever in the heavens, you will establish your faithfulness. I have made a covenant with my
chosen. I have sworn to David, my servant. Mary knew. Mary knew firsthand the mercy
of God. Mary was standing before Him
as one who feared Him, one who revered God, loved God, and she
was loving Him more this day in her exemplary worship than
she ever had because she saw God’s mercy flowing in her direction. Now, Mary was prompted to worship,
and she only articulates those three attributes, but there are
many more God’s goodness, which one of us, if we just focused
on that one element, which one of us wouldn’t shouldn’t be led
to worship. The fact that God gives us life
and breath and all things, the fact that God pours out his blessings
on us every day, new every day. The fact that God is so patient
with us, the fact that God is so loving towards us. What about
his sovereignty? You know, only Christians can
love that attribute of God, but they do. They should. And the fact that God is sovereign
and that in his sovereign workings is their good, their blessing. We could be led to worship by
any one of God’s attributes, in fact, think of this. If all
you had to do, if the only blessing that ever came in your direction
was your payment of sin by the Lord Jesus Christ, which we will
acknowledge and celebrate here in a moment. If that’s all you
ever have, should you not be led to heartfelt worship every
day of your life? You should. One pastor said worship,
and I want you to check yourselves as I read this. Worship is all
that we are reacting rightly to all that He is. You hear my
brother up here from time to time plead with you to sing out.
Challenge you to check yourselves. Are you singing with your whole
heart? And it says that we are to love
the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Worship is all that we are reacting
rightly to all that he is and is only valid if it’s only valid
object is the true and living God as he has revealed himself
in his word. It must be perfectly balanced
between spirit and truth. The word of God in the heart
is the heart there. Is the heart there. See, the
second part where Mary is absolutely exemplary here is that the worship
of God acknowledges God’s glorious character. What does your worship
say about that? I love the way one Puritan said
it, God is clothed with unspeakable majesty. The glory of his face
shines brighter than the lights of heaven in their beauty. Before
him, the angels tremble, the heavens melt. We ought not, therefore,
come before him with a sacrifice of fools. Don’t come in here
half-heartedly. Don’t go before him. Don’t worship
him. In the coldness of your hearts. We ought not come before him
with the sacrifice of fools, nor tender a duty to him without
falling low on our faces and bowing the knees of our hearts
in tokens of reverence. Thirdly. The third lesson that
we learn from this humble worshiper. Not only that the worship of
God is the immediate response of His children and acknowledges
His glorious character, but thirdly, the worship of God recalls His
awesome deeds. Now, I’ll just tell you, you’re
a member of Providence Bible Church and you have walked with
us for any season and you can’t find cause to worship this week
looking at God’s awesome deeds. Hopeless. Look at verse 51. Mary just begins, you know what
she does? She thinks through the Old Testament. She just thinks
in her mind’s eye of all that God has done throughout the centuries,
he has done mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those
who are proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought
down rulers from their thrones. He has exalted those who were
humble, humble. He has filled the hungry with
good things and sent away the rich empty handed. That has been
the pattern of God’s doing. Over the centuries. He’s done
mighty deeds with his arm and notice they’re spoken of, all
these are spoken of as already having been accomplished. God
did it and God will continue to do it. God is God. These deeds, they’re so rooted.
in the character of God that given the context, what Mary
is saying is that the same God who accomplished such deeds in
the past is doing similar, even more profound work in Christ. He’s bringing Christ to people
who don’t deserve him, don’t need him, but those who have
humbled their hearts and acknowledge their own sinfulness and yet
the rich proud in their own hearts who don’t need a savior. Christ
is not for them. Sadly to say, Christ is not for
them. Mary’s talking about the far
reaching effects of God that ultimately will be conferred
upon sinners and only God’s sinners. I love the way one pastor outlined
this really incredible image About God’s mighty deeds being
done with his arm. Listen to this, he said, God’s
power is represented by his finger. His great power by his hand and
his greatest power by his arm. In Exodus 819, the production
of lice was by the finger of God. Other miracles in Egypt
were wrought by his hand, Exodus 320. I will stretch out my hand
and strike Egypt with my miracles. The destruction of Pharaoh and
his host by the Red Sea was by his mighty arm. And here, as
Mary articulates, the arm of the Lord has moved. When we looked
at Ephesians chapter one, we talked about maximum power. That’s
exactly what Paul lays out there. The sending of Christ, the sacrifice
of Christ on the cross and the exaltation of him to heaven.
That is God’s maximum power at work, this is his arm. The remainder of those are a
great echo of these incredible things he is at the end of verse
51, he has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of
their heart. It’s a testimony of history. He’s brought down
rulers from the thrones, exalted those who are humble, filled
the hungry, sent away the rich. Time and time again, we see rulers,
evil kings plucked up and set aside. Killed even in their own
throne. Mary is overseeing history, she’s
looking looking back at her Old Testament history, and she knew
it. As a child of God, she knew The Old Testament. God had struck
down Pharaoh, God had taken care of the Canaanites, hadn’t he?
And the Philistines and all the other heathen nations that tried
to thwart God’s plan. People like Haman. Belshazzar, all the others. And then he exalts such puny
people as Joseph. The guy named Moses with a speech
impediment, Samuel, little Samuel and David, just a shepherd. Daniel. You read the pages of
Scripture and things just happen one after the other quite unexpectedly,
don’t they? Because it’s God. It’s God that
exalts, it’s God that puts puts up and God that humbles, God
is absolutely opposed to the proud. It gives grace to the
humble. Men like Moses, Gideon and Joshua
and Ruth are just testimonies, and that’s what Mary’s saying.
And that she now stands in that same strain in having been privileged. To serve God as God serves humanity
and providing the Messiah. You almost can’t worship. Can
we? Until you begin to think on God,
think on his character. And as you begin to think on
his character, you can’t help but think of all his deeds, all
the things that he has done. But as you begin to do that.
You’re led, aren’t you, as a child of God who’s been blessed, you’re
led to worship him, aren’t you? There’s a fourth and final lesson
that we learn from Mary. Not the worship of Mary as a
person, but the worship of Mary as exemplary before God. Fourthly,
the worship of God proclaims his faithfulness. Did you know
that in a very real sense you’re advertising this morning? We
didn’t pay for anything, we didn’t Take out an ad in the paper,
although that may be in the weeks to come, that should be considered.
Just the fact that you walked into this church today, just
the fact that you partake in the Lord’s table here in a few
moments. You are testifying to the world. And Mary says, you
know. Worship. In her example before
us, she reminds us that worship proclaims God’s faithfulness.
We’re basically telling the watching world that, you know what? God
is true to his word. God does what he says. Look at
verse 54, he has given help to Israel, his servant, just as
he promised in remembrance of his mercy. God did what he said. He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham
and his offspring forever. You know, not only does Mary
acknowledge that God has helped in the past, but he was now helping
again. He was providing the Messiah
what he had promised for centuries. That he had promised even since
the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden that there would be a
redeemer, there was a plan of redemption, and now it is being
fulfilled in the Messiah that she carries. Mary points out That everything that she’s talked
about up to this point. This song, this. Prayer. Basically points to the fact
that God is true to his word, God is absolutely faithful, God
is trustworthy, and that’s what you say when you come in to worship,
you bow your head to pray. That’s what you’re telling the
watching world. God is true to his word and I trust him. The nature of worship, said one,
is to offer God worship from the depths of our inner beings
in praise and prayer and song and giving and living, always
based upon his revealed truth. A person who would worship God
must therefore have a faithful commitment to the word of God.
You know, essentially what you’re doing in worship. You’re acknowledging
that what God says is true. You’re testifying to the world
that it is true. That’s what Mary did. Prepare our hearts for the Lord’s
table in worship. Our merciful God. We humble ourselves before you. And not just because of the building,
but More so than ever before, because of what Christ has accomplished
on the cross as we focus upon him early, early, early in this
season. As we focus upon what Christ
did and accomplished. Lord, we are absolutely led to
worship, that’s our natural response, it’s all we can do as believers.
Lord, as we see who you are, that you are sovereign. Do you
are mighty and holy? Lord, we we are led to worship
you in humility. As we see what you’ve done on
our behalf. Individually, corporately, how
can we not worship you? Lord God. We do pray. We pray and plead with you that
the world is watching. We long for them to know the
God that we know. And we pray that in our commitment
to worship You, that others would see and be drawn in like manner
to worship our God. Lord, we thank You for Mary’s
example. We thank You for the lessons that we learn at the
example this one faithful woman. Thank you and praise you in Jesus
name. Amen.