The Magnificat 1 - A Sermon on Luke 1:46-55

now I would like to call your attention this morning to what we have already read together in the first chapter of the Gospel according to st. Luke from verse 46 to verse 55 which we refer to familiarly as the Magnificat because of the words which Mary uttered at the very beginning of her expression of Thanksgiving and of praise my soul doth magnify the Lord and so on until we come to the end in verse 55 now this statement this bursting forth of Mary into worship and praise and adoration which as I say we call the

Magnificat is something which is worthy of our most careful consideration there is perhaps no better way of approaching this whole season of the year and the coming of Christmas then to do so in terms of a consideration of this particular message indeed I think we can say that there is no better test of our understanding of the meaning of the Incarnation everything we think of in celebrate during these years then our reaction to this song of Mary's because as I want to try to show you here in this short compass in a very extraordinary manner

she brings us face to face with some of the very central metals in connection with our salvation well there are many things which are of great interest with which we cannot stay this morning I merely note them in passing it's very interesting for instance to notice the stages through which Mary herself passed in connection with this momentous event which was to take place you noticed how when first of all the Archangel Gabriel went to her and made his announcement Mary was incredulous she was skeptical she stumbled the thing of course was staggering so unusual so

amazing that she couldn't receive it and she makes her protestation indeed she virtually suggests to the angel that what he is saying is quite impossible but the angel reminds her that with God nothing shall be impossible but you mustn't think in those terms and in those categories that she must realize here that she's in a different realm that he is no ordinary human emissary nor the bearer of a message from any earthly or human power but that he is the Messenger of God and then we noticed that as the result of that Mary goes to

this second stage in which he says behold the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word most interesting process this so typical and characteristic of the way in which the gospel tends to come to all of us at first it seems impossible but then we feel rebuked for that and we say well I don't understand it but I will submit that's what Mary she still doesn't understand alright she seems to say I hear what you've said to me and I know that what you say is right concerning God that with God

nothing is impossible I therefore leave myself in God's hands still not understanding but ready to wait and to listen and to follow the most important step but then you remember she went and visited her cousin Elizabeth and as the result of what happened to Elizabeth and especially as the result of what Elizabeth said to her Mary bursts forth into this great song this great hymn of praise Mary Elizabeth turn to Mary and said blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb and whence is this to me that the mother of

my lord should come to me follow as soon as the mice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears the babe leaped in my womb for joy and blessed is she that believed for there shall be a performance of those things which are told that we have told her from the law and that seems to have been the thing used by the holy spirit to bring Mary to her real understanding because the moment Elizabeth said that to her we read and Mary said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my

Savior well now it is thus we see that God used the very words of Elizabeth to confirm to Mary the announcement that had already been made by the Archangel and as the result of this she pours forth her heart in this extraordinary praise and adoration to God and it's to that that I want to call your attention now let us look at some of the characteristics of these words uttered by Mary first let us obviously notice the depth of feeling the depth of feeling with which she spoke which is conveyed of course in these words

she says my soul that magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior now she chooses to refer to her soul and her spirit this is a very interesting point a very interesting theological point she draws a distinction between her soul and her spirit again we mustn't stay with this this morning and we mustn't build too much upon it but at any rate I think we are reminded here as elsewhere in scripture that whether the soul in spirit are essentially won or not there is a distinction between the soul in general passes

for the rational powers when the expression soul is used in this way encounter distinction to spirit it is meant to refer to the intellect and to the feelings the way in which we correspond with one another and the fellowship and relationship with one another the soul is essentially the rational part of men what is the spirit and well the spirit rather represents the perception there is a difference between ability and understanding there is a difference between knowledge and perception the spirit is a higher faculty a higher aspect of this position which we all have it

includes the capacity for worship the soul in other words is that which links us to all that is round and about us to men and to animals to history and to the world and all we can see that's the soul but the spirit is that thought if you like even loved the soul if you want to argue that there are only two parts in men and not three parts nevertheless you must say that there is this compartment as it were of the soul which enables one to appreciate the unseen and the spiritual the higher everything

that is greatest and uppermost in men well never marry uses the two expressions my soul and my spirit by which he means yes that she has moved in the very depth and center of her being she is not merely pleased in a general sense and on the surface it's not merely something of general interest to her she's got a realization of something that she says touched her in the very center than the most vital part of her personality now this is why all this is so important that is the effect you see of the good

news of salvation upon the soul this is the effect of which it has always let when people have rarely understood what it's all about in other words we come back to a theme we were dealing with recently in the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians there is all the difference between mere singing and making melody in our hearts the heart you see includes as it were the same thing the soul and spirit the very center of men's whole personality and the et's of their that this response to the gospel rarely comes for that's

very remanence in origin and thus we find Mary obviously stir to the very depths of her soul and the result is that she speaks with a sense of dignity and of greatness as she is aware of something profound and you can't read through what she said without sensing her sense of all and a wonder of worship and of amazement my soul my spirit this she seems to be saying is the most amazing thing I've ever known I am beyond and beside myself my soul and my spirit very well there then I say is the first

thing that emerges and the first thing therefore by which we test ourselves you better read the New Testament to see that all men who truly have understood the gospel have said something similar you read even the son is looking forward to it he says bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name I could quote him Steve I could quote statements to you of the Saints throughout the centuries they're all saying the same thing and of course it must be true if we do rarely understand what happened when

the Son of God left the courts of heaven and came into this world in this way and Miller if we do grasp something of its eternal significance of its profundity its amazing character how can it fail to move us especially in our souls and in our spirits that's the test and here you see we are again reminded of how this season can be so B we even in the church while men talk about themselves and one another and about Christmas spirit no no this is the dimension this is it it's not just a good feeling

of goodwill the friendly innocent of happiness it is something if we rarely get hold of it that moves us in the soul and in the spirit well let me go to a second point there is the depth of the feeling but look for a moment at the manifestation of this feeling and two words come out the first is the element of adoration my soul doth magnify the law now this is an extraordinary expression it means to make great and to make glorious but says someone what a foolish term how can one magnify God how can

a human being a creature one who is but creator created being how can one son a magnified make great multiplied as it were the Lord God Almighty well of course in an ultimate sense it can't be done and Mary realized that as the oldest arm is to use the term realized it and yet there is a sense in which it's very true because while we cannot do anything as such to God in his greatness and in his majesty we can help other people to see it we can as it were act as a kind of

lens that makes greater in the eyes and in the estimate and in the sight of people and that is what Mary was trying to express it is as if she was saying how can I make known what I have seen of the greatness and of the glory of God that's what she's expressing hi I want everybody to know this I want everybody to see it my soul doth magnify the Lord I'm thinking I'm clutching at every expression that I can get held up in order to express something of his greatness and something of his glory

that's what she's expressing it is then I say a very profound way of giving expression to this depth of desire that God might be known and might be seen that what he is might be brought in a large way and painted on an enormous canvas that the whole world may see it and look at it and bow before him in adoration and in praise my soul doth magnify the Lord well here we are again I'm simply taking these words this morning and holding them before you in order that we may examine ourselves in the light

of them do ourselves magnify the Lord is this our innermost desire the psalmist has expressed it you know the psalmist said oh come me says and magnify the Lord with me let's do it together he says let everybody join in let us make his name great let us hold it before the nations and the people the other expression is rejoice my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior now the word rejoice isn't quite good enough it isn't quite strong enough the word really means to exult it if you

like it means to make your burst this is the thing in which i exalt the world is always exulting in various things and men in exalting themselves they make their proud boast of themselves they praise themselves all Shaz marry my spirit exalts in God here is the theme of my rejoicing in God my Savior well let's go on to the next step to see the full significance of this what is the cause of this feeling with infant and here we come to what I want to emphasize particularly this morning why is Mary magnifying the Lord

why does a spirit exult in God her Savior and she really supplies us with the answer it is not primarily because of what had happened to her she does mention that it comes in but that's a mere incident in our hymn of praise what is the cause of an exultation and of a rhetorician of our prayers well it is because God Himself is who and what he is and because of what he is doing with respect to the world Mary's I in other words is not upon herself you see how certain parts of the church

of so abused and made another travesty of this Marys full of humility she refers to herself as what she was the lowest state of thine handmaiden there's nothing here about the mother of God and about the Queen of Heaven Mary isn't thinking about herself mary has seen something that makes her forget herself and this is the ultimate test of a true understanding of what happened when God in the fullness of the times sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law Mary is rejoicing not in the fact so much that she's to

be given this great privilege she's been reminded by Elizabeth of what it is and that people are going to call her blessed and she repeats that that all generations henceforth shall call me blessed but that isn't the thing that really moves her what is the thing that makes her magnify the Lord and a spirit to exult in God her Savior well it is I say what God is doing this historic event this climactic action of God himself she is humbled and grateful at the thought of the fact that she is to be given a part

and the place in this but it's the thing itself that moves her and makes us sing and worship she's filled with a sense of amazement of worship adoration and utter astonishment why will she sees the inner meaning of the action she's got a glimpse and a glimmering of understanding of the whole purpose of salvation of what God is doing in bringing forth a son of his in the world even out of her boo now that's you see the whole secret of this song as I say also it is the whole secret of the whole Christian

position what is it in other words that leads to worship and to praise to exultation to adoration and the answer is it is always understanding you see the only singing that's of any value in the sight of God is that which is based upon the understanding the understanding of the truth that is why we must take this occasion to remind ourselves therefore that we must never go for the emotions directly we must never go for the will directly the emotions and the will have the result of something seen by the understanding that is what Elizabeth

showed she was filled with the Holy Ghost we're told and she spoke forth with understanding enlightenment of the Spirit and exactly the same thing is true here of Mary and what Mary sees is not that she's to be made great because she has this privilege but the greatness of the God who's acting and the greatness of action which he is taking so let us follow her in the expression of her feeling that's my fourth point the expression of her feeling what does she say well the main thing here of course is that Mary is telling

a certain things about God as he is she is adoring God for being hot heels and this is the very essence of Christian worship and of Christian praise unless in our weakness and Prentiss we are so concerned with benefits that we forget the giver but here is adoration and worship at its very best now there are two dangers confronting us there's the danger to which I've already referred the monstrosity of the false teaching and the exaggeration of the Roman Catholic Church but let us be careful also that in a violent reaction against that we do

not underestimate what merely saw and what she expressed in the magnificant let us keep to the balance of the scripture and not be governed by prejudices and here she is you see expressing the very heart and soul and center of Christian praise and worship and adoration God Himself what well first and foremost his greatness and his glory my soul that magnify the law there's nothing about this will never rise above that to magnify the Lord the Lord is Jehovah and he has to be magnified and praised and worshiped because of that who is he he

says I am that I am there is the element in it also I am what I shall become but the great central thing is this that he is from eternity to eternity I am that I am the law grave is the Lord says this August and greatly to be praised you see my dear friends we haven't understood the meaning of Christmas unless we come there we don't stop in the stable and with the menu of course we must go there but you see what we see there is this great God the Lord and the moment

you do that you get your right perspective you get your right way of looking at things haven't we reached a terrible best when it is essential to remind Christian people that they must not allow their thinking to be governed by the world at a time like this but by the slipshod and it's teaching and this is the scriptural way you start with this Lord you magnify the Lord why well he is responsible for everything that has happened it is his action he is the one who is ultimately to be prayed well then take the second

turn Savior my soul she says that magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior what does the term Savior mean well it's a great term used by by Bible everywhere concerning God it's the one who delivers it's the one who keeps this is a wonderful summary of Old Testament history that we have in this magnificant you see what Mary's saying is this Oh God my soul doth magnify thee why well I can see now that you are doing what you've always done you are always the same you've been doing it throughout

the centuries but now here's the climax and it is the climax of all that have gone before the Savior that was God's character with respect to Israel wasn't it read your Old Testament what is it it's a history of God ever delivering these people look how he delivered them out of the captivity and the bondage of Egypt they de perish there it would have been the end well how did they ever come out of did they ever go to the land of Canaan the land of possession it was God the Savior who brought them out

with his strong arm the Saviour of course and so he continued to be how often did he deliver them from their cruel enemies how often did he vanquish mighty armies when they were comparatively defenseless read the historical books and you'll see God the Savior mayor he sees all this and then go on and see how even from the captivity of Babylon he brought back a remnant to carry on his purpose it is always God the Savior and thus the son is says very rightly he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep even when they

were rebellious and sinful he kept his eye upon them he allows things to go so far but never further he allows enemies to arise and conquer them but never to destroy them he is the savior of his people he is the Shepherd of the flock my Savior Mary sees it and now she suddenly sees that God is doing this on an infinitely bigger scale God my Savior what is this action what is he doing to me she seems to say ah this is a part of his salvation for the world God my Savior and then

she comes and pays a special attention to his power she is very impressed by this listen to her he that is mighty in verse 49 he that is mighty have done to me great things and again in verse 51 he has showed strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their house he that is mighty oh it's not surprising that she emphasizing bus it is this if I may so put it that enables God to be the Saviour if this were not true of God he couldn't be the savior and

this is the thing that is especially needed by the world this thing that is especially needed by all of us why does he magnify God for his greatness for his power and for his strength well she contrasts it with her own weakness and with the utter weakness and helplessness and hopelessness of the world the hope for the world is learning is the power of God the strength of his arm he that is mighty he is almighty the angel had fortunately reminded her of that she'd stumble she said how can this be seeing that I know

not a man you are telling me the time to bring forth a son but I'm a virgin I've never known a man how can this be the thing is impossible and the answer is with God nothing shall be impossible and God here's the essence of salvation it is the might and strength of God I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ as Paul why it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth the power and merely soul magnifies the Lord because of this and so shiraz look at it like this the

world is as it is because it is in the griffon done to the power of the devil and of hell the devil is the god of this world he's the Prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience and his power is a mighty power you go back and read your Old Testament look at him as he tempts the greatest Patriot and Saint they fall before him in utter weakness and helplessness we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the

darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places is there any hope for the world this morning does it lie in conferences in Paris or somewhere else does it lie in the future no it doesn't the world goes round and round in circles it lacks the to deal with a situation but thank God we are reminded this morning of one that is mighty he has showed strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he is the Almighty one he is God now that's the first and primary name

that is used with respect to God in the Bible it is the word L and it means the strong one when God was revealing himself to the people that's the name he used I am the strong the Almighty and so you see the Archangel Gabriel is reminding Mary of something that is crucial and vital in this whole situation there would be no salvation for this world where it not that God is the mighty one the Almighty and what he's doing there in Bethlehem is manifesting his power the power of God unto salvation an extraordinary thing

a still more extraordinary way of doing it but that is what he's doing God is putting into motion his plan it is working out according to his power then we hurry to the next point which he makes it and that is His Holiness did you notice this he that his mighty have done to me great things and then and holy is his name I wonder what he have ever stopped at that and asked the question why does she say that there what did she bring that in at all and you notice especially that she connects

it with the power by means of the word and I magnify the Lord she says not only for his power but also for his holiness why are the holiness well this again is one of the keys to the understanding of the whole purpose of salvation why is there a salvation why did God ever send His only Son into this world why was there ever a cross on Calvary's Hill and you know in the last analysis this is the answer because God is holy because his name is holy what does it mean well the Bible puts

it in many ways God is light itself and in him is no darkness at all he's a burning fire that's an expression of God's holiness what has it got to do with salvation since I'm animal it has this to do with it God is not only the eternal opposite to sin God is eternally opposed to sin God hates sin and it is because God hates sin that there is a salvation look at it like this God made the world made it perfect there was nothing wrong there was no blemish he looked at it and saw

that it was good ah but sin came in the devil introduced evil sin has become rampant evil is widespread and God in His Holiness cannot tolerate it it is because God hates sin with all the intensity of his holy nature that there is a salvation I do not hesitate to make a statement like this I say that it is because his name is hurry that he must deal with sin that he must bring in Redemption God being God cannot leave the world as it is in sin under the power of the devil ruled by the

god of this world no no that's utterly a purslane and he hates it and he will get rid of it his name is holy and because it is he has done what he has done and everything God does is holy it is merely powerful it is holy did you notice indeed how the Archangel Gabriel put it to marry herself he said the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and then did you notice that amazing expression that whole thing that shall be born of thee everything about this salvation is holy Jesus Christ was perfect there was

no sin in him he didn't inherit Adams nature the sin that was in Adam's nature he was pure he was holy that holy thing that shall be born of thee and right through the hole of his teaching and in everything that he did this element of holiness always comes out there he is born as a baby yes but he's not an ordinary babe he is separate from sin separate from sinners no sin in him holy jump right to the cross what's happening there it's the same element of holiness that I see it is God's hatred

of sin God punishing sin God getting rid of sin holy is his name everything in connection with this great movement of salvation from beginning to end is characterized by holiness but there's one other term listen to it it is this wonderful term mercy and his mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation once more I ask you to notice the word end at the beginning of their 50th verse and his mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation thank God for this end why well for this good reason if

God were only Almighty and holy there would be no hope for us at all if it were only true to say of God that he is the mighty one the Almighty one that he is holy and of such a pure countenance that he cannot even look upon sin we would not be meeting together like this this morning we would not be singing these hymns of praise in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ why well because if God would only almighty and early we should all be blotted out the whole world would be destroyed there

would be no salvation but thank God for this little end and His mercy great in power glorious in holiness and in majesty but thank God full of mercy and full of compassion this is the thing that saves us what does mercy mean well perhaps the best way to answer that question is to consider it in the light of the word grace grace and mercy go together and grace comes before mercy what is Grace well grace is love and favor toward those who do not deserve it because of their guilt grace is kindness and goodness reveal

to those who don't deserve it because they are guilty that's what grace means what is mercy well mazi means love toward those who are not merely guilty but who are miserable in their guilt and were miserable because they are guilty that's the difference between grace and mercy grace is more general mercy is particular His mercy which means this that God looks down and sees mankind in its misery in its agony in its pain now of course as I've already reminded you Mary summarizing the whole history of the Old Testament do you remember what God said

to Moses when he called him to deliver the children of Israel this is how he put it I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters for I know their song if that doesn't melt us and break us what can that's mercy this great self-existent God who is from eternity to Eternity everlasting in His Holiness and in his glory the God who could exist apart from men and who doesn't need men he created men and men in his folly fell into sin

and there he is in his misery and unhappiness and wretchedness and this August eternal God says I have surely seen the affliction of my people I've looked upon it I've seen it I have heard their cry by reason of their task us for I know their shot that's why Jesus was born in Bethlehem that's why he came so willingly that is why he laid aside the signs of his glory and humbled himself and made himself of no reputation God had seen our misery not only our guilt but our misery our unhappiness our and wretchedness the

state of the world as the result of sin as John Milton puts it in his him he hath with a pity as I looked upon our misery for His mercies a and your ever faithful ever sure merry praises God for his mercy his compassion for his pity as I and then I merely mentioned it I'm not going to stay with it his faithfulness he hath hope in his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our fathers to Abram and to his seed forever God never forgets his promise God had promised that

he would visit and redeem his people and Mary sees of a sudden that what is happening to her is a part of this fulfillment of the promises of God all the Old Testament prophets have been waiting longing and crying out as it were o come o come Emmanuel when will he come God's promised him when will he appear she realizes that at last he is about to appear that the holy thing that is to be born out of her womb is God's yay and I'm in to all the promises that he had made beginning in

the Garden of Eden itself in continuing through prophets and seers and sages and kings and psalmist's even unto this very hour God yet visited and death redeemed his people for His mercies a and B are ever faithful ever sure that's why Mary speaks as she does that's why she says my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior the Almighty the Holy One the one who hath mercy and compassion who for his great love wherewith he loved us that sent His only Son not only into the world but even

to the death of the cross great in might great in mercy all the riches of His grace the unsearchable riches of His grace toward us in his son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ have you seen it Mary saw it enough she'd stumbled she couldn't at last she sees the movement of God in salvation and that's the response my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior does it come to you like that will meditate upon it meditate upon it in terms of Scripture see that it ever leads you

to God who in his glory in His Majesty that looked upon us in the world with such a pity as I as to send His only Son into it for our Redemption we do hope that you've been helped by the preaching of dr. Martin lloyd-jones all of the sermons contained within the MLJ trust audio library are now available for free download you may share the sermons or broadcast them however because of international copyright please be advised that we are asking first that these sermons never be offered for sale by a third party and second that

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