Faithfulness.

Steve Gentry

[0:11] We’ll go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. This is your first time here. [0:15] My name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church. And as always, I’m thankful [0:18] and grateful to see each and every one of you. If you have a Bible, go ahead and open [0:22] it to Luke chapter one. We’re going to be starting in verse forty six there this morning. [0:26] And then we’ll be in other passages as well, but that will be our main text. But we are [0:31] now, I guess, in the thick of Christmas season. This is a season, of course, where we celebrate

[0:37] the birth of Jesus Christ as followers of Christ. And because of that, I believe that [0:43] every Christmas should be the best Christmas ever. I believe that if you’re a follower [0:48] of Jesus, you should be able to kind of trace your growth in faith, your growth as a Christian [0:55] through every year. And so every year, your relationship with Christ should be a little [1:00] bit sweeter. It should be a little bit better. Your affections for him should grow a little [1:05] bit more. And because of that, every time we get to the season where we reflect on

[1:10] the birth of Jesus Christ, the miracle of the incarnation, we should look at it with [1:15] a little more worship. We should look at it with a little more gratitude. But I know that [1:20] saying that every Christmas should be the best Christmas ever is kind of a dangerous [1:25] statement. I don’t mean that you need to try to one up yourself every year. I know that’s [1:30] the temptation of some of you. You try to make the experience of your family or your [1:35] personal experience a little bit more. So usually when we talk about something being

[1:39] the best something ever every year, we typically think about sentiment. We typically think [1:44] about feelings. We typically think about I’ve got to outdo myself in making other [1:50] people have a better experience this year than they did last year, whether that be [1:54] through gifts, whether that be through some kind of an event that you’re trying to put [1:58] on. You think that something being better than it was last year necessitates more effort. [2:04] It necessitates you looking at some material way to make the season better. And that’s

[2:10] not what I’m actually talking about at all. I really think that the focus of Christmas [2:16] is focus of joy because I know that God wants you to have joy through his son, Jesus Christ. [2:22] That’s especially true this time of year. But the problem with most of us is that the [2:27] idea that something can be better than it was last year, that kind of dissipates as [2:31] you get older. You think about Christmas, kids love Christmas. Children love Christmas [2:36] more than older people. And older people think that they understand because it’s more

[2:41] effort kids just get, get, get. And that’s good. Kids love Christmas. Kids love everything. [2:47] If you do it the right way. But we think that they are going to have more joy than we have. [2:53] And I think that that’s a very calloused way to look at life. If life year in and year [3:00] out robs you of joy, I’ll just be frank with you. You’re not living right. You have changes [3:07] that you need to make. You need to change your attitude. You need to change your perspective [3:12] because the problem that most of us have is that oftentimes we are overwhelmed by the

[3:19] seasons more than we are engaging the realities behind the seasons. And so it is with Christmas, [3:27] the joy of this season needs to be anchored in the faithfulness of God. And if you are [3:33] not year in and year out realizing how faithful God is, then quite frankly, again, you’ve [3:40] got some changes that need to be made. When you consider the things that get in the way [3:44] of your joy, whether it’s circumstances or whether it’s people, you need to consider [3:49] the people that were involved in the Christmas narrative. The choices that they could have

[3:54] made that could have expressed misery, that could have expressed doubt, that could have [3:59] expressed hard times. But instead you see in every Christmas narrative, the very people [4:04] involved respond with joy and you might say, well, that’s easy. And I would say, well, [4:10] then you haven’t considered the circumstances behind the story. And today I want to focus [4:14] on Mary, the mother of Jesus and her response to the fact that she was pregnant with Jesus [4:22] when she’d never been with a man that she was betrothed with. Because if you find yourself

[4:26] with child in the betrothal process, then the experience is going to happen the next [4:31] nine months to five years of your life is not going to be a pleasant experience. Rather, [4:36] it’s going to be more than just an inconvenient experience. Your reputation is probably going [4:41] to be ruined. Your family’s probably going to disown you. Your fiance is most necessarily [4:47] going to rid himself of you and necessarily the public is going to ruin your reputation [4:53] and possibly charge you with a crime. And so Mary had nothing from a human perspective

[5:00] to gain from the birth of Jesus, but she had everything to lose. Mary experienced difficult [5:08] circumstances because of the birth of Jesus. Yet we are tempted to look at this and say, [5:14] oh, it must have just been a blessing the entire time. I don’t think that you would [5:19] have responded that way. I think you would have responded with fear. I think you would [5:23] have responded with trepidation. I mean, I know how anxious some of you are. You would [5:27] have freaked out. You would have had a panic attack immediately. You would have been saying

[5:31] the old adage of why me over and over and over because without the right perspective [5:38] and posture in every season of life, Mary could have easily walked through the birth [5:45] and life of Jesus Christ without joy. But here’s the key. She chose joy. You have to [5:53] choose joy. It’s not just going to happen. You’re not going to drift into joy. You have [6:00] to choose every single day of your life to trust God with every circumstance of your [6:05] life. And when you trust God, joy is going to be the thing that you choose over and

[6:11] over and over, regardless of what you are walking through in your life. And even because [6:17] of what you are walking through, you can be certain that God will not only deliver you [6:22] from pain, but he will also use the pain of your life, use the inconveniences of your [6:29] life to his glory. And so ultimately I think that’s why it’s vital for us to understand [6:34] that Christmas gives us an anchor to trust in the absolute faithfulness of God for our [6:41] lives every single time. Look in Luke 40, excuse me, Luke chapter one, start reading

[6:46] in verse 46. This is Mary’s response to being told that she was pregnant with God the Son. [6:53] And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord. That was her response. Her response wasn’t [7:01] my life is ruined. Could have been. That’s your response, isn’t it? I mean, you get [7:07] in traffic. You think your life is ruined. I was on 95 this past week in a different [7:13] state. There was a little traffic back up and I said, we’re not going to make it when [7:16] I thought we were going to make it. Well, this trip’s ruined. We find ruins so quickly

[7:22] in our lives. We’re just the smallest of circumstances. Everything is ruined. Mary has a life altering [7:28] event happen that was going to be extremely inconvenient for her. And she looks at it [7:34] and she says, my soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my savior, for [7:40] he has looked at the humble estate of his servant for behold, from now on all generations [7:46] will call me blessed for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is [7:51] his name and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He’s shown

[7:57] strength with his arm. He’s scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts. He’s [8:01] brought down the mighty from their thrones, exalted those of humble estate. He’s filled [8:06] the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant [8:11] Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring [8:18] forever. Number one, this morning, I want you to understand that God is faithful to [8:22] everyone who trusts him. God is faithful to everyone who trusts him. Now, I know that

[8:28] I could have just stopped with those first three words. God is faithful. That’s true. [8:33] God’s faithful to everyone. God is faithful in every circumstance. God is faithful. It’s [8:37] part of who he is. It’s an attribute of God. If you look at the history of God in scripture, [8:42] you’re going to see an overarching theme of God’s faithfulness. But from a human perspective, [8:50] I want you to understand that your experience of his faithfulness must lead to trust in [8:57] every circumstance for you to get the benefit of his faithfulness. Because even though

[9:02] God is faithful, every single day I hear from people and I see people live as though God [9:11] is unfaithful, live as though God isn’t going to come through, live as though there is no [9:17] God, live as though their lives are just a chaotic series of events in a world that [9:23] there is no creator of, in a world that there is not God who is over, in a world who is [9:29] not in control of every single circumstance. And when you live with that perspective, you [9:34] are not going to experience the faithfulness of God. You are going to live in resentment

[9:42] towards God. You are going to live a miserable life. I can tell you I’ve been a follower [9:48] of Jesus Christ for over three decades now. I’ve known the name of Jesus my whole life. [9:56] And so because of that, I’ve also known a lot of people who have questioned whether [10:01] or not my faith was reasonable, questioned whether or not my faith was real, questioned [10:06] whether or not there is a God that I give my faith to, questioned the validity of the [10:10] gospel. And I’ve had so many people, Jesus tells us, if they persecuted me, they’re

[10:15] going to persecute you. And I can tell you I’ve lived an entire life as a follower of [10:18] Jesus Christ. And I can tell you people have come at me about my faith and then I signed [10:22] up to be a pastor. And while it didn’t limit that, it kind of opened the floodgates of [10:26] that. People blame me for things I didn’t even know were happening. But I can tell you [10:31] in each and every circumstance, people that attack faith in Christ are miserable people. [10:36] And they’re attacking out of a place of misery. It’s been the one commonality that I’ve seen

[10:43] of unbelievers is that they are so miserable in their lives, they look at a follower of [10:49] Jesus as if to say, how dare you have joy? To which I say, and I’m going to keep having [10:55] it too, brother. You’re not going to knock me off of my joy. There is a God, there is [11:01] a faithful God. He’s had a son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus has saved me from my sin. And I [11:05] will spend eternity with him, with or without you. Your perspective on God’s faithfulness [11:14] changes your life. It is a sin for a Christian to be miserable. You say, well, you don’t

[11:19] know my life. I don’t care about your life. Has Jesus saved you? Did Jesus come into this [11:27] world to redeem sinners from their sin? Was he successful? If he was, then there is nothing [11:34] that should come into my life that should rob me of my joy. It’s going to be difficult. [11:40] I didn’t say it was going to be easy to have joy, but God is faithful to those who trust [11:48] in him because it changes the way that you look at yourself. God was the center of Mary’s [11:57] attention and affection in this passage. Life altered forever by nothing that she did,

[12:07] by something that God brought into her life. She wasn’t asking for this to happen. She [12:14] wasn’t expecting this to happen. She didn’t necessarily even want this to happen. I bet [12:20] if you had asked Mary the day before, what do you want your life to be like? She’s like, [12:23] well, I want to marry Joseph and I want to have a great life with Joseph. But what did [12:27] she get? She got Jesus Christ. God overwhelmed her conception of the Holy Spirit. She’s with [12:33] child and God said he’s going to save this God’s people from their sins. If I had been

[12:40] Mary because I like to complain, I probably would have sat down and said, well, ruin. [12:49] My favorite song is a child from he haul gloom, despair and agony on me. Deep dark [12:57] depression, excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, [13:03] despair and agony on me. I know I’m dating myself there, but the fact of the matter [13:10] is that’s how so many of us walk through life, but not Mary. Mary immediately says my soul [13:15] magnifies the Lord. Now she had a question before she said that in Luke one thirty four,

[13:20] she looks to the angel and says, how she wanted to understand the biology. She said, how [13:28] am I going to give birth to this child? I am a virgin. She said, the Holy Spirit’s [13:35] going to come upon you. The Holy Spirit will overwhelm you. This is going to be a miracle [13:38] of God. And then she looks at it and says, this is going to be God’s work in my life. [13:44] How do you know the most inconvenient part of your life right now isn’t a work of God [13:48] for your good? The gospel demands that it is Romans eight twenty eight. All things,

[13:54] if you love God, if you called according to his purpose, all things are going to work [13:57] to your good, his glory. It’s going to be for his good. Her soul magnifies the Lord. [14:03] She wasn’t just wondering, well, what about my vision for my life? Why am I going to be [14:10] inconvenienced? What about this other girl down the street? Can’t you use her and just leave me [14:15] alone? Because there were a whole lot of girls her age in Israel that did get to go through [14:21] with their marriage with no inconveniences. With no interruptions. But Mary didn’t do what we do.

[14:29] She didn’t say, why me? My life is ruined. No, she worshiped. We must consider how unusual [14:37] her circumstances were and understand that she proves a point to every one of us. That attitude [14:43] is everything. Your attitude about your life is going to determine the joy in your life. [14:50] That phrase, my soul magnifies the Lord, can be summed up in another word. [14:56] She’s saying, I want to glorify the Lord. The word for magnifies literally means glory. [15:02] The definition of the term in the original language is to cause something to be held

[15:08] in greater esteem by oneself or others. So this tells us that Mary’s great concern in this moment [15:16] wasn’t herself. Most of your problem is, is you’re too worried about yourself to care about God. [15:25] You’re too stuck on yourself to care about what God wants for your life. [15:29] You’re too stuck on your needs and your wants and what you thought was going to happen. [15:34] And now you think everything’s ruined for you. Not Mary. Mary’s immediate response was glory to God. [15:42] Glory to God. Glory to God. Every situation, glory to God. God can and will use every circumstance

[15:51] for his glory. That’s what the history of scripture tells us. It’s up to you whether you will enjoy it [15:56] or not. It’s up to you whether you will worship through it or not. That is your choice. [16:03] So many people bring me problems and I always talk about choices and you never want to hear it. [16:10] You never want to hear it. I mean, I rarely, does anybody come to me with a problem and I, [16:14] and I started rooting it down. I said, well, you made a choice here and you made a choice there. [16:17] You made a choice everywhere. And this is how you got there. Well, it’s more difficult than that.

[16:24] No, it really isn’t. Make, you got to choose. Your life is a series of choices that you are [16:33] making. And the moment you wise up to the responsibility that you have for those choices [16:37] is the moment things are going to get better. Mary made a choice to worship God. In the book [16:43] of Habakkuk, the prophet is in a bad situation. God says, I’m sending, I mean, think about getting [16:49] this message from God. God has chosen you to be a prophet and the prophecy that God downloads into [16:54] you is a nation more wicked than Israel is going to be used by God to judge Israel and take Israel

[17:03] into captivity. As a whole back expense, three chapters looking at God and saying, I don’t think [17:08] you thought this through, Lord, shouldn’t you be using us to judge them since they’re more wicked [17:14] than us? And God basically looks at Habakkuk and says, sit down and shut up and write this book.

[17:21] And Habakkuk repents. But look at what he says in Habakkuk three, starting in verse 17. [17:27] He says, though the fig tree should not blossom nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive [17:32] fail yields no food. The flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls. [17:38] Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk says, [17:46] we could lose everything materially speaking. Yet we will rejoice in God. We will have joy [17:54] because God will save us. Think about Psalm 34, two through three, David writes that the boast

[18:02] from the core of who he is points to God. He says, magnify the Lord with me. He says, my soul [18:08] makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me. [18:15] Let us exalt his name together. David knew what hard times were. Yet he said, I want my life [18:24] to be about magnifying the Lord and is only through humility and submitting to the will of God [18:31] that I’m going to be able to worship him with my everything. Note the attitude behind those two [18:37] passages. They flow from lives that were focused on what God deserves more than what I deserve.

[18:49] So many times our perspective is ruined because we think to ourselves immediately, [18:53] I deserve better than this. Who told you that?

[18:59] Who told you that? Who told you you deserve better than this? Because I’ll tell you right now, [19:03] they were lying. God deserves glory. I don’t. God deserves me to submit to him. God never said he [19:13] was going to submit to my plan. God did promise though that he will bring his plan into my life [19:19] and through that give me good and him glory. And I must submit to that over and over and over again. [19:25] This perspective though can only come through radical faith in God. It is a trust that he is [19:33] working every circumstance to show his worth and his value in my life. And I must choose to find

[19:41] joy in that. It’s the only faithful perspective. It’s the only way that I can say I have faith in [19:50] God. Therefore, the perspective of faith cannot be because I see so many people act this way. [19:57] You cannot live a life in which you say, if my life were better, I could give God glory. [20:06] You gotta kill that. You’ll never follow Jesus Christ if that’s your attitude.

[20:12] The perspective must be, God, you are with me in this. I will show how great you are in every [20:20] moment of it. God, you are with me in this and I will show how great you are in every moment. [20:30] That was Mary’s perspective. That is the perspective of faith that gives birth to a season [20:37] of real joy in your life. Everything that Mary wanted was threatened by this pregnancy. [20:46] But the root of her joy was in God and that is what she magnified with her life. [20:54] Number two, this morning understand your posture towards God determines your experience with God.

[21:00] Your posture towards God determines your experience with God. Mary’s praise flows in part [21:07] from an understanding of who she is in light of who God is. Look at verse 49. He says, [21:14] Mary writes and says, for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name. [21:21] His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength [21:28] with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down [21:34] the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. So who is her focus on?

[21:41] God, not on herself. Mary also connects God’s holiness to his power on her behalf. [21:51] As here’s what Mary does, she postures herself as someone who is in need of God’s work. [22:00] And because of the posture that she took, she received a move of God in her life with great [22:08] joy. Therefore the might and power and holiness of God in light of her absence of any of those [22:17] things. Mary says, I don’t have these things. I need them. And since she submitted her life [22:24] completely to the one who did have those things, she was able to have joy. She was able to find

[22:31] mercy that she needed. She was able to find the perspective that she needed to walk every day [22:38] of faith in her life. I love the Christmas carol, the most wonderful time of the year.

[22:46] But not for the reasons that the song even says. It’s the most wonderful time of year because it’s [22:52] a reminder of the grace, the mercy, the hope that we have in a God who is able to do things [23:01] that we are completely incapable of. You are incapable of saving yourself. God is capable. [23:09] You are incapable of knowing where to go, but God is capable to direct you. [23:14] You are incapable of changing really anything that matters in eternity, but God is capable to do that. [23:25] God is completely capable to act on our behalf. And when you submit to him in faith, you know

[23:32] what God does? He promises he will act on your behalf. Maybe not the way that you envision it, [23:39] maybe not the way that you think it’s going to happen, but that’s why God says, [23:43] I’m the wise one here. Trust him. He wants you to trust him with everything. And when you do that, [23:52] every moment of happiness, every moment of joy in your life will be seen as a moment of grace that [24:01] you didn’t even deserve. You’ll have this beautiful thing in life called gratitude. [24:07] Most people are very ungrateful, but when you see who God is in comparison to who you are,

[24:16] gratitude defines the posture of your life. Mary understood that she deserved even the wrath [24:24] of such a God, but because of who he is, what does he do? He gives mercy. He gives grace. [24:31] Mary was chosen by God to give birth to Jesus. And she understood how great that was. No, [24:38] she even responds and she says, people will remember me. She’s like, not because of anything [24:42] that I’ve done, but because of what God has done to me. Some people believe that Mary was chosen [24:50] because of her perfection and holiness. This passage, I think, completely blows that case apart.

[24:57] Mary writes as someone who needs a work of God in her life. Note that she says God has mercy on [25:04] who? Those who fear him. And Mary postures herself in that perspective. And she says, [25:12] I am in need of God’s mercy. I fear him. Therefore, Mary wasn’t saying, look how great I am.

[25:20] Rather, Mary said, look how great God is. And this shows that it is not about Mary’s perfection. [25:25] It’s about God’s perfection. She has faith in God, not in herself. The text reveals that God [25:32] is not looking for people of great might and great stature. Instead, God responds to those who [25:40] understand who they are in comparison to who he is. I mean, friends, to be honest, when you have [25:46] that posture in your life, you will receive God’s work in your life differently. You will not look [25:54] at everything and say, why me? You will not look at things and say, oh, that’s going to be

[25:59] inconvenient. That’s going to be hard. You will look at things and say, how is God growing me? [26:05] You will look at things and say, how is God working in my life? You will look at things and say, [26:10] man, God is bringing this into my life. Whether you’re comfortable with it or whether you are [26:14] uncomfortable with it, that’s not the ultimate thing. The ultimate thing is how will God use [26:19] this in my life to grow my faith in Jesus Christ? That must be your perspective in absolutely [26:27] everything. You must look at everything that God brings in your life, everything that God

[26:33] takes out of your life and say, God, how are you going to use it? Psalm 138, six echoes that [26:38] reality says that for though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty or the prideful, [26:47] he knows them from afar. When you live your life in resentment towards the things that God has [26:55] brought into your life and the things that God takes out of your life, that’s pride.

[27:00] That’s a humility. That’s a prideful way to look at God. It’s as if God is supposed to come to us [27:06] and say, hey, is it okay with you if I bring this difficult season into your life? I mean, [27:11] who do you think you are? God’s not going to ask your permission. It’s just going to come. [27:18] And God wants you to have the posture of faith in that moment to trust that it’s all part of his [27:26] plan. It is a frame of mind that God is going after in your life. He regards the humble or the [27:34] lowly. This is not a statement of your worthlessness. Instead is a statement of our reality.

[27:41] God is above us. It just goes with being God. We are lower than him. So what posture are you [27:48] supposed to take? You’re supposed to take a posture where you say, you know what? God’s [27:52] a little smarter than I am. You know, God’s a little stronger than I am. God’s a little more [27:57] knowledgeable than I am. You know, it really helps when you know the future, the past and the [28:02] present the same. When I barely know what I had for breakfast yesterday, God might have a different [28:08] perspective than I have. And since he has a different perspective than I have, maybe I should

[28:13] take a posture of submission towards him. And that is the beauty of Mary’s humility before God. [28:21] She has no idea what the future holds. I mean, some people who are just so smart about theology, [28:27] they hate the song, Mary, did you know? And they’re like, oh, she knew she, no, she didn’t. [28:33] When you tell me you don’t like the song, Mary, did you know? I know that you’re not that brilliant [28:37] of a theologian. I know immediately you’re an idiot. And I’m probably going to convince you of [28:44] it in about 30 seconds. You mean to tell me, Mary, the moment the angel told her about Jesus Christ

[28:52] being in her womb, she knew how it would be to raise God the son as a mother. You mean to tell [28:58] me she knew what it was going to be like for people to come to her and be like, do you know [29:02] your son was walking on water? You know, your son is making blasphemous claims, claiming that [29:08] before Abraham was, he was. You think Mary was prepared when Jesus was wrongfully arrested [29:15] and taken before pilot with the crowd saying, crucify him, crucify him. You mean to tell me [29:21] Mary knew what that was going to feel like, but that’s the path that God put her on. She had no

[29:26] idea what it was going to look like to see her son dying on a cross. She had no idea what it was [29:32] going to look like to see him stabbed in the heart with a spear. She had no idea what it was [29:38] going to look like to have her son mocked and ridiculed the crown of forms driven into her head. [29:44] So no, Mary didn’t know. So when you hear that song sing along, she didn’t know any of that.

[29:53] Mary just knew that God was doing an incredible miracle in her life and she needed to buckle up [30:00] because it was going to be a wild ride. She didn’t know where this thing was going, [30:06] but she trusted the God who did know. She submitted herself fully to the will of God in her life. [30:17] And that’s the perspective that you must have. Submit yourself. I have no idea what my life is [30:23] going to look like in the future. No clue. Just this past week, I was a youth pastor before I [30:29] started this church. Just this past week, one of my teenagers wasn’t a teenager anymore. He was

[30:34] a grown man. Now one of my teenagers was walking down the road, hit by a car, died. Just this last [30:39] week, you think you saw it coming? I didn’t see it coming. His parents didn’t see it coming. [30:45] His loved ones didn’t see it coming. His family didn’t see it coming. But it happened. But you [30:50] did see it coming. God, nothing will ever come into your life or leave your life that the father [31:02] is not in control of and that the father is not orchestrating out of a heart of love for you. [31:13] It’s going to be difficult. It might be the hardest thing you’ve ever gone through in

[31:18] your life. 2023, I don’t know what it’s going to look like. Could be a hard year. Could be the [31:23] best year. Could be a banner year. Could be the most difficult year. I don’t know. But I know the [31:29] God who does. And that gives me great joy. But you know what that requires? That requires me to take [31:38] a posture of submission. The inconvenient gift of Jesus into Mary’s life was received with great [31:48] joy and worship because she trusted in God’s great power that he had a perfect plan for her life [31:56] and that he was going to bring great joy and great glory through her life. Number three, this

[32:05] morning, understand God’s faithfulness brings joy in every circumstance. God’s faithfulness brings [32:13] joy in every circumstance. You know, God keeps his word. That’s the most fascinating thing about [32:19] all the years of studying scripture that I’ve ever found is that in every moment when God makes a [32:25] promise, he follows through. God is not a liar. God has never lied. Is God incapable of anything? [32:33] Yep. He’s incapable of lying. That’s an amazing thing. Can’t say that about human beings. You [32:42] know, there’s lie detectors and then people are just lie machines. People lie. People lie about

[32:47] things that don’t even make sense. But God never does. God has never told a lie. Every promise [32:54] he’s ever made, he’s followed through on everything that he’s ever said he was going to do. He’s done. [33:00] And verses 52 through 55, it’s almost as if Mary purposefully transitions to prove a case that she’s [33:10] been building. She has claimed that God is worthy of glory in her life and that every move he has [33:18] made in her life has come from his holiness, his might, his mercy for her. But now she transitions [33:26] and recounts God’s activity through the centuries to show that he can be trusted with this move in

[33:33] her life. So why does Mary trust God for the present? Because she looks to the past. [33:40] And she says, since he has worked, I trust that he will work. Friend, in every moment of your life, [33:49] you must seek to remember God’s faithfulness to his promises. God’s promises, though, are very [33:56] personal. It’s not that God has made these promises to the detriment of his people. That’s [34:01] the personal nature of what Mary is saying in this passage. It isn’t just that God has been faithful. [34:08] It’s beyond that. She’s saying God has been faithful to me. God’s faithfulness to his people

[34:15] in Israel, God’s faithfulness to his people in Jesus, God’s faithfulness to his church. [34:21] We must apply that to our lives. And we must take the perspective and say, through all of that [34:27] faithfulness, I can trust that God will even in this moment be faithful to me in every element [34:35] of this. It’s about God’s faithfulness to Mary, because what she’s saying there, if you go all [34:41] the way to verse 55, she even said, if God was faithful to Abraham, and he was, I can trust him [34:48] to be faithful to me. Many people, many of you struggle to trust God and find joy in that trust

[34:59] because simply you don’t know the history of God. All that you have is your life. [35:07] And so your trust in God is like a roller coaster ride. It ebbs and flows with your mood. It ebbs [35:14] and flows with how much you enjoyed your last meal. It ebbs and flows with whether you stubbed [35:19] your toe last night or not. It ebbs and flows with how you feel about yourself today, whether [35:24] you liked what you looked at in the mirror this morning or not. Your trust in God is transient [35:30] like your emotions. And if that is the case, I want you to understand you’re never going to make it.

[35:37] You’re never going to have real joy in this life. Your trust in God must transcend your experience [35:45] and go to the history of God. You may be vaguely familiar with the names and locations of Scripture, [35:54] but do you know the people of Scripture? Have you memorized the journey of the people of Israel? [36:01] Do you know the faith that they had when they made moves of obedience? See, one of the reasons [36:08] Mary responded with faith and joy and hope in the faithfulness of God is because Mary had spent her [36:16] life knowing this is how God has worked in the past, so I can trust that he will work in the

[36:23] present. She understood that the promises that had been made to Abraham had built through the years [36:30] of God being faithful to his word that what God was going to do through her was directly [36:37] connected to God’s promises to bless all of the families of the earth through the seed of Abraham. [36:46] See friends, God is faithful to bless those who trust him. God is faithful to work in the lives [36:52] of those who trust him. In Micah chapter 7, the prophet in a very hard time in Israel, [37:00] his book signifies the journey of the nation of Israel and in Micah 7, 7 through 8 it states that

[37:06] the current circumstance does not make the entire statement of God’s faithfulness. Look what he [37:10] says, he says, but as for me, he’s responding, he’s saying times are tough and people are giving up, [37:18] but he said, as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. [37:26] My God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, my enemy. When I fall, I shall rise. When I sit in darkness, [37:37] the Lord will be a light to me. I mean, it’s amazing the way that Micah writes, he says, [37:42] the enemy may even proclaim victory over you. Don’t worry about that because it’s not ultimate.

[37:49] The day does not determine your destiny. The day does not determine your outcome. [37:58] The day does not determine your eternity. Micah knew that he would ultimately rejoice in God [38:08] because God would bring a salvation that would last for an eternity and he did it through Mary. [38:17] He brought his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, was the salvation [38:24] of the people of God. Friend, every moment of your life, both the good and the bad, [38:33] stand as an opportunity for you to exhibit the faith that Mary exhibited when God turned her

[38:42] life upside down to bring salvation to his people. You should not have joy in spite [38:53] of your circumstances. You should have joy through every one of your circumstances.

[39:00] My soul magnifies the Lord. Friends, I hope that you can say that in truth with your life, [39:09] but for that to be true, you must build the kind of trust that it takes to say that you have joy [39:16] in every moment. Enjoy God, trust God, follow Jesus, and if you do those things, [39:26] you will live a life of joy. A few application points this morning. First, [39:32] trust God’s faithfulness in every circumstance. Trust God’s faithfulness in every circumstance. [39:40] I don’t know what each and every one of you are going through this morning,

[39:43] but I know who does. God knows. Not only does he know he’s with you in it, not only is he with [39:50] you in it, but he is sovereign over it. Secondly, repentance involves changing your perspective.

[39:59] Repentance is going to modify your behavior, but I see a whole lot of people modifying their [40:05] actions while they carry around crummy attitudes. God wants you to change your attitude. You know, [40:14] he didn’t send his son to the cross so you could walk around with him, oh, me, oh, my attitude. [40:21] No, God sent his son to the cross so that you could walk in faithfulness and joy, [40:26] regardless of what you’re experiencing and enduring. Walk with your head high. [40:31] Do not let any person or any circumstance rob you of joy. Thirdly, read scripture to be reminded of

[40:38] God’s faithfulness. You want the faith that is required to go through hard times? You better [40:45] know the scriptures. You better know the word of God. Don’t just know what some fifth century [40:52] theologian thought about the hypostatic union. Know what the Bible says because this is the word [40:57] of God. Know the word. Fourthly, believe that God will use every inconvenience for your good and his [41:06] glory. Every inconvenience. And there’s a whole lot of those, aren’t there?