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This morning, we return again to our verse-by-verse study of the Gospel of Luke. If you will take your Bibles and turn there, Luke, chapter one, we will be looking at verses 26 through 33 under the heading "The Birth of Jesus Foretold." Here we will discover some astounding truths that will help us see Christ more clearly and also help us see ourselves more clearly in light of who he is. And certainly, what you will hear today, and frankly, from every faithful pulpit around the world will be a stark contrast to the Christless Christmas that we are accustomed to in our godless pagan culture. And I must say that as I've immersed myself yet again this last week, and just examining these great texts exegetically, I just find myself longing for the Lord to return, longing for his return.

Well, the last time we were together in Luke we looked at the announcement of the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist, and in verse 14 of chapter one, we are told that "...many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord." And though most of Israel was apostate when John the Baptist was born, they were longing for their promised Messiah. And there were really two groups that were longing for him. One group was longing for him to come and to save them from their unhappiness, and the other group was longing for him to come to save them from their sin. And only the godly saints understood the difference. We have the same dynamic today, and certainly two of those godly saints were mentioned in Luke one, Zacharias and Elizabeth. And you will recall in verse six, it says "they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord."

Now to be sure, John the Baptist, was great in the sight of the Lord, but he was not great in the sight of the world. In fact, in Matthew 11:11, Jesus testified that "among those born of women, there was not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!" But again, he was not great to most people, he wasn't great then, and he wouldn't be great today. In fact, godly men and women never are. They're not going to be great beyond their own sphere of influence. In fact, most churches today would never hire Jesus or the apostles to be their pastor.

Now, a little more commentary on John the Baptist before we look at this text. I smile whenever I think about him. I try to get a picture of him in my mind. We read in Luke one and verse 80 that "he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel."  I've been in those deserts over there. It's a remarkable place to live. It would take quite a man to live there. We're also told that he wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt (Matthew 3:4). This, of course, was the garment of the very poor, also the customary dress of a prophet. For example, if we were to go to Second Kings chapter one, there's a story there of messengers that came to King Ahaziah, and they described this guy that spoke to to them, and the king knew at once that it was Elijah, the prophet of God. And the reason he knew that is when they described him, they said he was, quote, "...a hairy man with a girdle bound about his loins." And then King Ahaziah says, "'It is Elijah the Tishbite.'" By the way, there is a similarity here of dress between Elijah and John the Baptist, and that is not accidental, because Elijah prefigured John the Baptist and boldly preached repentance. Moreover, it's interesting, when you think about it, Elijah made his last appearance in the very wilderness where John the Baptist lived.

Now, his appearance made a statement. Everyone's appearance makes a statement. It can be a good one or it can be a bad one. I have talked about this before. I call it a godly presence. I refer to that as a man with a noticeable aura of godliness about him, a man like Jesus. I have written elsewhere and said the following,

"This is a man who possesses a palpable sense of humility and love that draws you into his presence. A man who exudes a spiritual strength, confidence, boldness, wisdom and a noticeable fervency that marks him as a man of God and a man on a mission; a man so lost in the wonder of the majesty of God, so filled by the Divine Presence, that nothing in this world causes him to despair or tempts him to distraction. This is that rare man whose authority enters a room with him and commands respect without ever asking for it. That exceptional man who has such a great likeness to Jesus that he actually emanates his power in ways that are mysteriously transcendent and profoundly influential."

Well, this would have described John the Baptist, powerful yet a humble man, a man that pointed others away from himself and pointed them to Jesus. In fact, in Matthew 3:11 he says, "'As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals. He will baptize you with Holy Spirit and fire.'" And in John one and verse 30, we read, "'This is He on behalf of whom I said, "After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me."'"

Now I also find it interesting to read about John the Baptist's diet, something that I certainly cannot brag about in my own life, especially after the last few days. He had a diet of locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4). Just for the sake of understanding this, there were four kinds of of locusts that were allowed by the Mosaic law to be eaten as food. You read about this, for example, in Leviticus 11, beginning in verse 22, "These of them you may eat, the locust in its kinds, and the devastating locust in its kinds, and the cricket in its kinds, and the grasshopper in its kinds. But all other winged insects, which are four footed, are detestable to you." Now you might need to know that poor people in various parts of the world still eat these little critters, especially in the spring season, when they swarm by the billions; and they have very little food, they will remove their wings and their legs and they will typically dry them, or they roast them. And sometimes they even grind them up into a fine flour and bake with them, and they season them with salt to preserve them, and so forth. I even tried some in Africa, along with termites, which they find is a real delicacy. And I have to tell you; I prefer hamburger any day.

So indeed, John the Baptist was just totally unimpressed with the things of the world, the religious elite. He was not impressed with them - the political elite that hated him. He wasn't impressed with them, and he exposed their hypocrisy and their corruption, especially of the scribes and the Pharisees. You will recall that he even exposed Herod Antipas the Tetrarch for his immoral relationship with his brother's wife, and as a result, the king imprisoned him and eventually had him decapitated.

Now this brings us to the next historical account in Luke's narrative, and this is the second angelic announcement, the second time Gabriel comes now and makes an announcement. The first time was to Zacharias and now to Mary. This leads us to our text here in Luke one, beginning in verse 26. One other footnote, very quickly, remember there has been 400 years of revelatory silence. They have not heard from God in 400 years. Moreover, it's been 500 years since the last angelic appearance that came to the Prophet Zechariah. So look what happens beginning in verse 26,

"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, and the virgin's name was Mary.

"And coming in, he said to her, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.'

"She was very perplexed at this statement, and kept wondering what kind of salutation this was.

"The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, For you have found favor with God.

"'And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call Him Jesus.

"'He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

"'and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.'"

Now I wish to examine this under two real basic headings. We will first look at the lowly recipient of God's grace, and then secondly, the long-awaited revelation of God's glory. Now it's fascinating that the coming of the Son of Man, the Son of God, was prophesied all through the Old Testament. Many people don't realize this. It began with the promised seed of the woman that would crush the serpent's head, sometimes called the "Protoevangelium," the first gospel in Genesis 3:15. And indeed, we read in First John three and verse eight, that, "The Son of God appeared for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil." And you will remember Jacob's prophecy concerning his sons in Genesis 49:10. There we read, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples." "Shiloh" is a messianic title; in the original it carries the idea of "He who it is" or "The one of whom it belongs." And so it's speaking of the Messiah, the true Ling, the Lion of the tribe of Judah," as we read, for example, in Revelation five and verse five.

Moreover, we can go to Deuteronomy, chapter 18, beginning of verse 15. There we read,

"'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

"T'his is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, "Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die."

"'The LORD said to me, "They have spoken well.

"'"I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him."'"

We're also familiar with that great psalm, Psalm two, and in verses six through nine, there is the revelation of the promise that God the Father made to the Son, the Messiah, who would come to rule the world. There we read beginning in verse six,

"'But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.'

"'I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:

"'He said to Me, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You."'"

Next, we will see that how the Son, in verse eight, recounts what the Father said to him, "'"Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as Your possession."'" So this is what the Father told the Son to request from him, the "nations" and the "ends of the earth." And he finally says, "'"You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware."'"

We're also very familiar with Isaiah chapter seven and verse 14, "'Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.'"

Isaiah, chapter nine, beginning in verse six,

"For a child will be born to us; a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

"There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

So first we look at this under the heading, the lowly recipient of God's grace. Notice verse 26, "Now, in the sixth month," which, by the way, this is referring to the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist, okay? "In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city," - "polis” in Greek, it could be translated a village or a small town an urban area, and this city is, "in Galilee, called Nazareth...." Now Nazareth is about 15 miles west of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. It's about 22 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. It's about 100 miles north of Jerusalem. So you get a picture of where it is. And it's really situated in the junction of the ancient territories of Naphtali and Zebulun and Issachar. And it was a region that was known as the "Galilee of the Gentiles," because it was surrounded by many Gentiles in that day. In fact, we read in Isaiah nine, beginning in verse one, "But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun in the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles." That's where it is. That's where Nazareth is at.

"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them."

"to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore."

We can go to Isaiah chapter 52 beginning in verse 13 through chapter 53 and verse 12, the details regarding the atoning work of the Messiah that would come. That would be the substitute for our sins. Go to Daniel 9:25 and 26 you have a record of the precise dates of his actual arrival. Go to Micah chapter five and verse two, and there we read from the prophet that he will be born in Bethlehem and numerous other Old Testament prophecies that record events related to his person and his work during his ministry on earth. In fact, the Old Testament record is so full of these prophetic truths that you will recall Jesus actually reprimanded his followers on the road to Emmaus for not recognizing the significance and the literal fulfillment of the very one to whom they were speaking. Remember in Luke 24 beginning in verse 25 he said to them, "'O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?'" Then here's what we read, "Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.'" Folks, can there be any greater proof of the inspiration of Scripture and the sovereignty of God than fulfilled prophecy?

So for hundreds of years, the believing remnant of Israel awaited the arrival of their Messiah as promised in Scripture and Luke first records the angelic announcements of the Messianic forerunner, John the Baptist, to his father, Zacharias. And now you have the announcement of his imminent birth to his mother, the Virgin Mary. So the long-awaited Messiah is about to appear.

I might also add that Nazareth today is the largest Arab city in all of Israel. The majority of people that live there are Muslim and there's a significant Christian minority. The last census recorded a population of 77,000 in 2022; and in Jesus’ day, archeology indicates that it was just an obscure hamlet, probably no more than 100 or 200 people lived there. And it's interesting, it's never mentioned in the Old Testament. It's never mentioned in the Jewish Talmud or the writings of Josephus, but there are irrefutable pieces of evidence of its existence in the archeological record. I've seen some of it. I've been there and seen it with my own eyes. And I also find it interesting that in this record there's discoveries like first century Jewish dwellings that would include a courtyard house within intact original features. There's evidence of farming and industry, such as quarries, wine presses, agricultural terrace. Religious artifacts like tombs and possibly even priestly items. And these findings confirm the existence, therefore, of a Jewish village in the time of Jesus with a local Jewish identity distinct from the Roman provincial culture found in nearby areas. And I've even been on the cliff where from which his Jewish brethren tried to throw Jesus off. You remember that story when he claimed to be the Messiah in Luke four and he disappeared from among them? It's called Mount Precipice. I've been there. It's so sad as you make your journey up there - those of you that have been there - it's like driving through a landfill to get up to the top of that place. You see old mattresses and old refrigerators, and it's just junk everywhere. And the houses, they're all like three stories apartments, and they just throw junk out the windows. And so there is like a siege ramp of junk all the way up to a window. So it's just, it's sad to see all of that. But all of this to say, Nazareth was just not a very impressive place that the Lord chose to send his son, which is significant in and of itself, as we will see. In fact, in John one, beginning in verse 45 remember,

"Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found Him of whom Moses and the Law and also the Prophets wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'

"Nathanael, said to him, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' And Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'"

Again, I find it interesting that God chose to send his Son, the Creator of all that exists -  the King of kings, the Lord of Glory, the Promised Messiah - he chose to send him to a young woman that nobody knew, who was married to a lowly carpenter, that no one knew, in a little obscure village, that nobody cared anything about. In fact, it was a region of ill repute. He didn't choose a regal princess engaged to a crown prince. Jesus didn't come to Rome. He didn't come to Jerusalem. Eventually the incarnate Christ would be born in a stable, probably a cave. It's hard to imagine a more obscure, humble beginning, right? This underscores that Jesus is no respecter of persons. He is the Savior of all people, regardless of status. He is the God of the down and out, as well as the up and out. He is the God that came to save the poor and the lowly, as well as the rich and the famous. In fact, as we read in First Corinthians 1:24 he came, and he says that, "...all those who are the called both Jews and Greeks." So he's coming to all. Luke 2:32, "He is a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel." I'm glad Gentile is included there otherwise I wouldn't be here. Most of you wouldn't be here.

So back to the text. The sixth month, Gabriel comes now, and in verse 27 we read that he comes, "...to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary." Now most Jewish young ladies would be legally engaged in the sight of witnesses at the age of 12 or 13 years of age, and then they would be married a year later after the betrothal period. So Mary would have been around 13 years old, and this engagement was a legally binding contract that could not be broken apart from other than for death or a divorce. And this is why Joseph is called her, quote, "husband" in Matthew one and verse 19. And in fact, if Joseph would have died, Mary would have been called a widow, all right?

Now, during the betrothal period of one year, the couple were not allowed to have sexual relations, and this would prove their fidelity and also prove her purity. And it was a time for the husband to go away and to prepare a place for his bride, even as Jesus has done for his bridal church - and we await his return - and then at the end of the year, the groom would come unexpectedly for his bride, typically with an entourage and the bride would be ready and always waiting for the arrival of her husband. I witnessed this one time early in the morning in Old Jerusalem. The window was open in the little hotel that I was at, and I hear all of this singing and these instruments, and I look out and there's this parade, and it's a young man going to get his bride. It was an amazing thing to see, going to claim his bride. Well, then what would happen is, when the groom would come to receive his bride, there would be a seven-day feast that would be that would ensue. You can read about this, by the way, in Matthew 25, as well as John two. And at the end of those that seven-day festivities, the bride and the groom would eventually come together sexually, and the marriage would be consummated. So this is what Mary is expecting, right? This is the culture. Until Gabriel shows up.

Can you imagine what would have gone through her mind? I mean, it'd be something else just to see an angel. And we don't know what his appearance was like, but we notice again in verse 27 that was "a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David and the virgin's name was Mary." This certainly is consistent with the Davidic Covenant that we read in Second Samuel seven, verses 12 through 13, and verse 16. Let me read that to you,

"When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers [talking about David] I will raise up for you, a descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.

"He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."

He goes on to say, in verse 16, "Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever. Your throne shall be established forever."

We also read in Peter's sermon in Acts chapter two, beginning in verse 29 the same type of concept. He says,

"Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

"And so because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on His throne,

"he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ."

Now it's interesting that Joseph was, by lineage, one of the descendants of David. In the first 17 verses of Matthew one we have genealogical record that Matthew gives us, detailing the genealogy of Christ and tracing his ancestry all the way through Joseph. And since Joseph was a descendant of David, even though Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, by legal adoption of Jesus he was part of David's lineage, and Jesus was therefore, thus we read that "Jesus is the Son of David" (Matthew 1:1). And we will see later on, when we get to Luke three, that Luke also traces Mary's genealogy. Mary traced her ancestry through Nathan, while Joseph traced his through Solomon. Matthew's desire, bear this in mind, Matthew's desire in his genealogy was to prove Jesus' legal claim to the throne of David, whereas Luke addressed a broader, largely Gentile audience by tracing his actual physical descent through Mary, thus proving Jesus physical claim to the throne of David. So Jesus' royal ancestry is confirmed by both of his parents' genealogies; and this proved his messianic credentials.

And I might add something here, you never see the Pharisees and the scribes ever questioning any of this, even though they were fastidious in keeping these records. Remember, they had JDS, "Jesus Derangement Syndrome." They hated Jesus, so they're going to find anything they possibly can to say "He can't be the Messiah." But they never did, because all of this was absolutely accurate.

So return to the text. Verse 28, Gabriel now says, "And coming in," this, in the original, carries the idea that he's entering to the room, and entering into the home as kind of like an unexpected guest would do. He enters in and he said to her, "'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.'" Now, although Gabriel is God's angelic messenger, bear in mind that he loves Mary. He does not want to scare her. He wants to comfort her. So he's establishing here kind of a serene, kind, warm atmosphere, so she will feel safe with him. And you know, we don't want to miss something here. As we look at this, think about this as the story progresses, Gabriel is obedient to God's will in delivering the message. And Mary is obedient to God's will by demonstrating her unqualified submission to what God has asked of her. We have much to learn from this young lady. So, "'Greetings, favored one!'" or "You highly favored one." Now, something a bit technical here that will give you some understanding of some of the heresies, of which there are many, of the Roman Catholic Church. Jerome's Latin version, called the Vulgate, reads "gratia" - "gratia plena" - gratia, and is pronounced that way in Latin. In English, it's pronounced gratiae, and it means "full of grace," okay? And ultimately, the Roman Catholics add their own spin to this translation and wrongly interpret it to mean, "Mary, you are filled with grace, which is at your disposal to bestow on to others." Pure heresy. But it is simply saying, "you are full of grace which you have received." In other words, you are, in a unique sense, a divinely favored person. That's all it's saying.

And then Luke immediately adds, "The Lord is with you," referring to his enabling grace, right? Not her ability to dispose grace to others. It's interesting, unlike his earlier detailed description - remember of Elizabeth, including his statement concerning her character; he said that they were both "righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord" in verse six - all he says about Mary is that she was a virgin betrothed to Joseph. That's it. And that she was favored by God; in other words, a recipient of divine grace, and that the Lord was with her. Now, does this mean that she wasn't a godly young lady? No. And her testimony and praise later on in verses 46 through 55 in the Magnificat, you're going to read how she loved God, she exalted Him, obeyed Him, and she was obviously a very well-educated theologian as a young lady. But there's nothing about her that would justify worship like the Roman Catholic Mary cult does; the veneration of Mary or Mariolatry, as it's sometimes called, that's a blasphemous form of idolatry. Mary was born a sinner, like every one of us. She was saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; God reconciled her unto himself. She was not sinless from her conception until her bodily assumption into heaven, as Roman Catholic dogma asserts. In fact, we read in Luke 18 and verse 19, Jesus said, "'No one is good except God alone.'" Pretty well settles that. Romans three, beginning in verse 10, "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God, all have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, there is not even one." "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," verse 23.

This also means that she cannot be a co-redeemer of sinners, as Roman Catholics claim, since sinners are according to Romans 3:24, quote, "...justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." And I could give you a whole host of other verses. Pope Pius the 10th said, quote, "There is no surer or more direct road than by Mary for uniting all mankind in Christ and obtaining through Him the perfect adoption of sons, that we may be holy and immaculate in the sight of God." End quote. Again, pure heresy. We are never told to pray to Mary, because somehow, she answers prayer; somehow, she intercedes on our behalf. You don't see that anywhere in Scripture. First Timothy two, five, we read just the opposite. Paul said, "For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

Regarding Gabriel's salutation to Mary and this distorted Roman Catholic interpretation, John MacArthur said this quote, "The salutation has been confiscated to form the basis of the familiar Roman Catholic prayer known as the "Ave Maria," which means "Hail Mary." The erroneous premise of that prayer, based on the Latin Vulgate's rendering of "favored one" as "gratia plena - full of grace," is that Mary has been granted and possesses fullness of grace, which she then bestows on others." Then I would add this, Pope Pius the 10th, in a bizarre distortion of truth, has called Mary not recipient of grace, but "...the dispensatrix, or the dispensed disperser, of all the gifts that our Savior purchased for us by His death and by His blood. The supreme minister of the distribution of graces; the distributor of the treasures of his merits." End quote. So sad. Pope Leo the 13th agreed declaring, quote, "Mary is the intermediary through whom is distributed unto us this immense treasure of the Catholic Church's belief that Mary is, quote, 'the seat of all divine graces, adorned with all gifts of the Holy Spirit and almost infinite treasury and inexhaustible abyss of these gifts.'" End quote.

Now just summing up the Catholic view that Mary is the mediator of all graces. One of their theologians, Ludwig Ott, writes, quote, "Since Mary's assumption into heaven, no grace is conferred on man without her actual intercessory cooperation." End, quote, so sad, so blasphemous. What a damning distortion of the truth. In Galatians, one nine, you remember the Apostle Paul says, "If any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed."

So back to the text, "'Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you. But she was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was." And obviously Gabriel recognized that she was confused, and he wanted her to kind of relax, take a deep breath. So he says to her in verse 30, "Don't be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.'" In other words, there's no judgment here. You're not in trouble. You know, I was thinking about this. If an angel appeared to me, the first thing I would think is, "I'm done, I'm guilty, I'm in big trouble." She probably felt the same thing somehow. But what we see is God just simply chose her as recipient of his grace to be the human mother of the Incarnate Son.

Verse 31, "'And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.'" Say what? Say that again. Come again. I mean, she would have been flabbergasted, and she's thinking in her mind, you know, how can this happen? I've not been with a man. I'm a virgin. In fact, later on in verses 34 and five, "Mary said to the angel, 'How could this be since I am a virgin?' The angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason, the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.'" But before she can even answer that question, Gabriel says, "'You shall name Him Jesus.'" That precious name. It means "Yahweh saves." Jesus. And perhaps she remembered some of those prophecies I read to you earlier, like Isaiah, seven, verse 14, "Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." God with us, Jesus saves. Yahweh saves. Aren't you thankful that Jesus came to seek and to save sinners like you and me? Do you remember when the Holy Spirit first convicted you of your sins and you saw who Jesus really was, and by his grace, he overwhelmed you with conviction, gave you the gift of faith, caused you to be born again? My, my, my, I think about that every day, and we all should.

So we've seen, first of all, the lowly recipient of God's grace, and then we close with the long-awaited revelation of God's glory. Notice verse 32, "'He will be great..'" Beloved, please understand, Jesus is the absolute definition of great. The greatness of his intrinsic glory begs language. It exceeds the limits of our imagination. The weight of his greatness breaks the back of every word that is used to describe him. And for this reason, God declared in Isaiah 42:8, "I will not give my glory to another." Psalm 145 beginning in verse three,

"Great is the LORD and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.

"One generation shall praise your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.

"On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

"Men will speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness."

Beloved that needs to be the testimony of our heart.

Gabriel, goes on to say, "...and he will be called the Son of the Most High..." Most High - "hypsistos" - the Greek equivalent of the Old Testament title for God "El Elyon," which denotes the absolute supremacy of his sovereign rule over all of his creation, over the entirety of the universe. And would that every ruler understand this who he really is. My mind goes to Nebuchadnezzar, who had to learn the hard way. Remember Daniel 5:21 we read about Nebuchadnezzar quote, who "...was driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes." So he says he, "...will be called the Son of the Most High" and he goes on to say, "...the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David." Indeed, Jesus, is the rightful, legal and physical heir of the throne of his father David, which I might add, denotes the Jewish character of Christ's coming earthly kingdom. We read in Scripture that a repentant and restored Israel will play a central role in God's kingdom program as he just unfolds his plan to establish his global kingdom and restore all things.

I might remind you, because I reject how a lot of other well-meaning and faithful and godly men see these things, but Israel, as I look at scripture and the land, are not types and shadows transcended by the church. Israel is a model, or a template, you might say; a microcosm of what God will do for all of the nations. And this is consistent with what we read in the Abrahamic, the Davidic and the new covenants. Jesus will return to Earth; he's going to establish his kingdom. We read about that in Zechariah. We've studied that when we went through Zechariah - Zechariah 14 - and he's going to judge Jews living at that same time when he returns. Ezekiel 20 goes into great detail about that. In verse 38 it says, "I will purge out the rebels from among you." And in Joel three, beginning in verse one, "For behold, in those days, and at that time when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them, there on behalf of My people and My inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and they have divided up My land."

Now back to Luke one, verse 33, "'and He (Jesus) will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.'" His promised kingdom, beloved, is not restricted to a spiritual kingdom where Christ is present in the hearts of his people, although that is true and will be forever, if we are living in the kingdom now, as some would argue - the amillennial position - then, why is Satan not bound during this kingdom, as we're told that he's going to be in Revelation 20 verses one and three?  Instead, we know, according to First Peter five, eight, "he prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour." Nor will the church finally usher in the kingdom, in my humble opinion, and hand it over to Christ, as our post millennial brethren would claim. Jesus asked in Luke 18, verse eight, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" It's like, not much. In fact, you will recall that it will be like the days of Noah. The biblical evidence is that the world is going to get worse and worse before the return of Christ, but the kingdom in view here, in this text, will include an earthly kingdom consistent with the literal fulfillment of promises throughout Scripture; a future, literal millennial kingdom when Jesus Christ, according to Revelation 22:16, "the root and the descendant of David," also, "the lion of the tribe of Judah" (Revelation 5:5), "will sit upon his glorious throne and judge the nations with a rod of iron," as we read earlier in Psalm two and verse nine, "for 1000 years," as we read in Revelation 20. And it is for this reason remember that Simeon would later say to Mary in Luke two, verse 34, "'Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel..." as well as the rest of the world.

Beloved, remember that the millennial kingdom is really going to be the consummating bridge between human history and the eternal state. And at the end of the millennium, we read how he's going to uncreate the universe, it will pass away with a roar. Remember Second Peter 3:10, "The heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up." He's then going to recreate a new heaven and a new earth that will exist for eternity. I find it interesting, when you think about it, God made us body and soul, physical and spiritual, that we might live in a physical environment, and that will be our destiny, even on the new earth. But then, after Jesus successfully rules on the earth for 1000 years, he's going to hand the kingdom over to God the Father, so that the eternal kingdom can commence. We read about that in First Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 24,

 "...then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power.

"For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

"That last enemy that will be abolished is death.

"For he has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, 'All things are put in subjection,' it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.

"When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all."

Well, all of this beloved, and so much more is included in Gabriel's announcement to young Mary. And then finally, he says in verse 32,

"'He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

"and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.'"

Here is the long-awaited revelation of God's glory. Now I want to challenge you in closing this morning, in light of all this, how shall we live? What type of people should we be, knowing that Christ is coming again in all of his glory? Well, Peter answered this in Second Peter three, beginning in verse 11, he said, "Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness," there's the answer,

"....looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

"But according to His promise we are looking for the new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

"Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,

"and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation."

As much as I long for the Lord to return, I am very content to say the least, with him waiting so that more can be saved. Eventually, when the last one of his elect is saved, he will return as he has promised. So you want to ask yourself, "Do I believe these things?" And if so, "How should I live?" Well, I need to live with a profound sense of holiness, animating my desires to be a godly Christ-honoring person. To be, as he says here, one that's "looking for" and "hastening that coming day"; yearning for it; and also, to "be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless." Which, by the way, can only happen when you have come to faith in Christ and been reconciled to him by his grace and received the imputed righteousness of Christ and your justification. So I trust that your conduct is holy and godly, and that you're yearning for the Lord to return. Amen. Let's pray together,

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word that can speak so directly to our hearts. Thank you for this amazing story, for revealing it to us. There's so much that we can learn here, but certainly as we think about it, as we just apprehend the glory of the Christmas story, we find ourselves just having a sense of breathless adoration. And we thank you for all that you have done in giving us your Son and how we long for his return. And Father, finally, I would just pray that if there be one here today that knows nothing of what it really means to be reconciled to you as a holy God through faith in Christ, Lord, won't you overwhelm them with conviction, so that they will finally humble themselves and bow before you and cry out for undeserved mercy that they might be saved? Lord, won’t you do this? We beg you to do this, especially for our children in this world that seeks to devour them with all of the deceptions and wickedness that abound. So Lord, we commit these things to you. We give you praise, and as always, Lord Jesus come quickly. Amen.