Sermon — October 4, 2026

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord. And Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior for he has regard for the humble state of his bond servant. For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the mighty one has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him. He has done mighty deeds with his own. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. And he has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble. He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel, the servant, in remembrance of his mercy. And he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever." And Mary stayed with her about three months, then returned to her home.

The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth

In our passage this morning, we look back in Luke 1:36. Remember what the angel told Mary: "Behold, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month." Mary did not know that Elizabeth was with child. So when the angel told Mary, that was the first time she heard that.

When we look at verse 39, at this time, Mary arose and went to the hill country, to a city of Judah. This is about 80 to 100 miles from Nazareth, south of Jerusalem. Mary makes that trip. It would be about a three to five day journey from Nazareth to go down to Elizabeth and meet with her. She arrives in verse 40 and enters the house of Zechariah and greets Elizabeth.

We do not know if at this time Mary had spoken to Joseph. You recall she has been told this incredible news that she is going to be with child, that this child is going to be a king, that this child is going to be the son of God. The Bible does not tell us that she went and quickly told Joseph. If she did, Joseph did not believe her. We know that from Matthew chapter 1. It is quite probable, though, that she may have heard this greeting and then went directly, right from the angel speaking to her, right down. It says she went in a hurry to the hill country.

She comes and sees Elizabeth and greets Elizabeth. Then something happens.

The Baby Leaps in Elizabeth's Womb

Looking at verse 41, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaps in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Some have called this John's silent prophecy. John acknowledged in the womb the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You may ask, how could a fetus, how could a baby do that? Well, back in chapter 1 verse 15, the angel told Zechariah that this baby in the womb is going to be filled with the Holy Spirit, under the control of the Holy Spirit from the time the baby was in the womb. That is a miracle that God could do.

When the baby hears Mary's voice, the greeting, all of a sudden this is going to be an unusual leap and womb that you moms may have felt with six months of pregnancy. There was something different about this, and Elizabeth knew that this was significant. The Holy Spirit in this unborn baby proclaimed the significance of the baby who was in Mary's womb.

Look at verse 42 and Elizabeth's reaction. The Bible says she cried out with a loud voice. That means she yelled. She was so excited that Mary was there with this baby that she yells and cries out, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

You are the most blessed of all women. Why was Mary more blessed than any woman? Because, think about it, she had the honor and privilege of carrying the Messiah. She would have the son of the living God within her womb. And then she says, "And blessed is the fruit of your womb." Blessed is that child.

When we think of that word blessed, sometimes we think it means happy or fortunate, but it means so much more than that in the scriptures. Spiritually, blessed means favored of God. You, Mary, you are favored of God. This child has the favor of Almighty God upon his life.

How Did Elizabeth Know?

We have to ask a question: How did Elizabeth know about Mary's pregnancy and who that baby was?

There are really two options. One is that when Elizabeth met Mary, a greeting in that time was not like our greeting today where we say, "Hi, how are you doing? Come on in." A greeting would be when they would get together and speak and spend time. Perhaps Elizabeth was surprised to see Mary and said, "What brings you here?" And Mary said, "An angel told me about your pregnancy." Then Elizabeth would have been all excited and said, "Well, that same angel appeared to my husband," and they would have shared their stories of God's work miraculously in each of their lives and their pregnancies.

Or it could be that God providentially, in his mighty hand, opened Elizabeth's eyes and her heart to believe that, to understand that. The Bible really does not tell us, so we really cannot speculate any more than that.

Elizabeth's Recognition

In verse 43, Elizabeth says, "How has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me?"

Notice with Elizabeth there is no jealousy, no envy. She knows that Mary is more blessed than she is, and she is just so thrilled and excited that Mary would come. She is filled with the Spirit. Look at how she refers to the baby. She calls Mary "the mother of my Lord."

Think about this: When we think of the first one to acknowledge who Jesus is, we think of maybe John the Baptist in John chapter 1 verse 29, where John sees Jesus and tells his disciples, "Behold the lamb of God, the Messiah who takes away the sins of the world." Or we think of the apostles. You remember in Caesarea Philippi? In Matthew chapter 16 verse 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" You remember all the different answers? Some say you are Elijah, you are Jeremiah, one of the prophets. And Peter made that pronouncement to you: "Jesus, you are the son of the living God, the Christ."

But really, Elizabeth is the first one here to call him Lord. "The mother of my Lord." How did she know he was the Lord? Well, she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Verse 41. And Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 12:3, "No one could say Jesus is Lord apart from the Holy Spirit." So it was the Spirit of God that worked in her to bring that about.

She must have been so encouraging to Mary. If Mary did speak to Joseph and he told her, "I don't believe you," though he was a righteous man. If she did not speak to him yet, she knew when she got back to Nazareth, who was going to believe her? She knew her family would scorn her. She knew that her community would view her as an unwed mother, and she was only about anywhere between 13 and 16 years old at this time.

I want to read this quote. It is very important regarding this saying, "the mother of my Lord." Listen to what MacArthur says: "The New Testament nowhere gives Mary the title 'mother of God.' God being eternal was never conceived or born. He always existed. Mary was the mother of the human Jesus, not the eternal divine nature."

Mary's Faith and Blessing

Look at verse 45. Elizabeth says, "Blessed, blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

So she blesses Mary one more time, and she says, because of her faith. What a contrast from her husband who lacked faith! Zechariah said, "How are we going to have a baby?" But Mary said, "You are blessed because you believe."

Mary was a model of faith. Mary was a woman who said, even before any of it happened, "I believe that God would fulfill what he said he was going to do in me." She is a model for us.

You know, we look back in our faith. We believe in Christ's coming, his life, his death, his resurrection. We look back at faith. But we should also look ahead to the promises that God has for us, though we do not see them at this point. You will discover when you trust God, as Mary did, and you surrender your life to his will, here is what is going to happen: Your heart is going to praise God.

You come to that point when you need to trust Almighty God, regardless of the consequences, regardless of his will for your life. When you do surrender and say, like Mary, "I am your bond servant. Here I am, Lord. Do with me as you will," you know what is going to happen? It is going to bubble up, praise to Almighty God.

Mary's Song of Praise

Look at how Mary responds. Look at verse 46. And Mary said, "After hearing all these things, Mary, look at what it says: 'My soul exalts the Lord.'" She breaks into spontaneous praise.

This is very reminiscent of what Hannah does in 1 Samuel chapter 2 verses 1 through 10. Commentators call this Mary's hymn or Mary's song because it has structure and so on. But I do not think Mary sat down with a pen and parchment and thought about writing a song. This came right from within her. She was so grateful to God for what he had done in her life that all of a sudden she just burst out with praise.

Think about this: Jesus said in John chapter 4 that the Lord Jesus Christ talked about what true worship is. What we see here—what we are going to see with Mary—is a true worshipper of God. You remember what Jesus said? Those who worship God must worship in spirit and what? And truth. That is right: Spirit and truth.

We see that with Mary here. She is a model of one who worships in spirit and truth. Look at what it says in verse 46: "My soul exalts the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior."

So she begins by exalting the Lord. What does that mean to exalt the Lord? Well, the word means to magnify. In fact, some of your Bibles will have above this the word "Magnificat," and that comes from the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. Exalt means to magnify, to highly esteem, to glory, to celebrate. This is inner worship that Mary offered.

We are going to see that Mary also worships God in truth because what she is going to set forth in her praise is rich. It is filled with Old Testament theology that she is going to put forth. And what we are going to learn this morning, the rest of our time here, Mary is going to give us all a lesson on the reasons why you and I should praise Almighty God.

Reason One: Praise God for His Salvation

The first reason is praise God for his salvation. Look at what she says in verse 47: "My spirit has rejoiced in God my savior."

You see, only those who are saved can truly worship God. Only those who are born again. Listen, it makes no difference how many times people go to church, how many prayers you pray. The issue is, are you saved? Are you born again?

She says here, "God is my savior." Mary, she was a sinner just like everyone of us. Just like everyone of us.

Now let me say, by the way, have you ever heard of the term "the immaculate conception"? Okay. What most people do not know—most people think, well, that just means the virgin birth, that Mary conceived. That is not what it means. The immaculate conception is the teaching of the Church of Rome that Mary was born sinless, that Mary never sinned throughout her whole life. And what is interesting, listen to this: This became the official doctrine of Rome. Listen to this year: 1854. One thousand eight hundred years after the Bible. What was that? Absolutely made up. Totally unscriptural.

Mary acknowledges her sin. She is a sinner. Who needs a savior but a sinner?

So we see here that Mary knew she was humble. Look at what she says in verse 48: "He, God, has regard for the humble state of his bond slave." She was a humble woman, a lowly woman, who knew her own sinful state. For behold, from this time on all generations will count me as blessed.

Mary recognized her spiritual bankruptcy. She knew she deserved nothing from God. She wanted her sin, and yet she was astonished that God remembered her. God looked down at her lowly state. Listen, she was from Nazareth, and we know that was a place that had no significance, not even mentioned in the Old Testament. Not only that, she was a teenage girl. She was a woman. She was looked down upon in that society. Not only that, but think about this: Here she is. She had been considered someone who was a nobody. And God looked down at her. God had mercy upon her.

You see, she had a fine view of God. When you have a high view of God, you have a low view of self. That is why we must always lift up who God is in all of his glory.

Ask yourself a question this morning: When was the last time you praised Almighty God just for saving me? And not just for saving you, but for saving you! When was the last time you thought this thing? Wait a minute. I was lost. I was dead in my sins. I was living for the world, the flesh, and the devil. And God had mercy upon me. God had mercy upon you in Christ. Listen, we were hell-bound and God swooped down and rescued us by his grace. Is that not a reason to praise Almighty God? To praise God for his salvation!

Reason Two: Praise God for His Power

But also praise God. The second reason: praise God for his power. Look at verse 49: "For the mighty one has done great things for me, and holy is his name."

She speaks of God as the mighty one. And when she says he has done great things, look at verse 55. Remember what the angel said. The angel 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." The power of God is going to come upon you, Mary.

So Mary praises God as the mighty one for what he did for her in her conception, but also what he is going to do through the birth of this child. And you see, what she mentions in verse 49: she praises God when she speaks of his power and his holy name. "Holy is his name." This refers to the perfection of God's character, his holiness, his justice, and his salvation that he brought through his son.

Why did Jesus Christ have to come to earth and pay for your sins and pay for my sins? Why could not God just forget sin? You hear people say that. "I don't believe in God who just forgives me of sin without anything being done about it." Well, that means you do not believe in the God of the Bible. That means you do not believe in a God who is holy. Because, listen, he had to pay for our sins because God is holy. Sin has to be paid for. But God sent his son to endure that for us.

Praise and exalt God for his power working in your life.

Praise God for His Power

Not only in opening your eyes for salvation, but I love the way First Peter chapter one verse five Peter says this: we are kept by the power of God. The mighty one, God's power. Think about it. How did you make it to this day? We could go testimony after testimony through this room. You could talk about times in our lives where we wondered, we were going through a season and we wondered, "How am I even gonna make it through this? How am I gonna move forward through this?" I'll tell you how you made it. The power of God. Amen. You were kept by the power of Almighty God. And that's the power of God that is still keeping you and keeping me.

Praise God for His Mercy

And then she says, praise God for his mercy. Look at the praise in verse 50. "His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him." God is not just powerful in life. God is merciful. Aren't you thankful for that? What is mercy? Well, mercy is when God doesn't give us what we deserve. That's what mercy is.

And who are the ones who receive mercy? Well, she's very specific. In verse 50, his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him. That is speaking of believers. Those of us who are informed who he is and what he has done—those are the ones whom God has shown mercy to. God's common grace is to all his people. Love goes out to all people, but his saving mercy is upon those who fear him.

Now God poured out his mercy upon us in Christ. It was through the Lord Jesus Christ that we are recipients of God's mercy. We don't get what we deserve; Jesus got what we deserve.

And you see, grace builds upon mercy. You say, "Well, what's the difference between mercy and grace?" Mercy: God doesn't give us what we deserve. Grace: God gives us what we don't deserve. Think about that. There's a big difference.

You leave here and you start driving down the parkway or up here on Jericho Turnpike and there's an officer behind you. You're changing lanes. You're speeding. You're going 30 miles over the speed limit. You run a red light and smash into the car in front of you. The cop pulls you over. You got a ticket for speeding. You got a ticket for reckless driving. You got a ticket for running a red light. You got about seven or eight tickets. But what do you deserve? You deserve to lose your life. You'll probably lose your license. You deserve to have your car taken away. All of that.

Can you imagine if that officer just tore up those tickets? That would be mercy. I deserve all of that. I'm not gonna get that? Wow. We deserve God's judgment as our health. And in Christ, we get mercy.

And then we get grace. Now imagine that same scenario. You would be so excited that you're getting all these tickets torn up. And then the officer says, "Well, not only that, but we're getting you a 2027 brand new car." Now you're given something you really don't deserve. We don't deserve eternal life. We don't deserve forgiveness of sins. We don't deserve an intimate relationship with the living God, but that's grace.

And Mary, listen, her soul was just glorifying him. She was taken aback by his mercy for what he had done for her. Your soul taken aback by the mercy God has had upon me? We need to think upon these things.

Praise God for His Sovereignty

Well, the fourth reason you see here in the craze doubt is simply this: praise God for his sovereignty. That is, he governs the affairs of men and women.

And God will bring about a great reversal of what the world says is greatness. Look what she says in verse 51. "He has done mighty deeds with his arm." Now, what the Bible speaks about that phrase, God's arm, God's righteous right hand, you'll see that in the Old Testament. That speaks of God's strength.

So she said God has done mighty deeds with his arm. "Thoughts of their heart, and he has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who belong." God sovereignly brings down the crowd. He scatters the crowd in the thoughts of their heart. Mary tells us, those who have no awareness of God, those who exalt themselves above God—God humbles them. God brings them down.

Not only that, but leaders, political leaders. Look at this. Look what she says in verse 52. "He has brought down rulers from their thrones." God is the one who brings rulers down.

Now look in the scriptures. Think of Pharaoh. Think about him opposing God, saying, "Let my people go." Moses said that, and what happened? At first, everyone said, "Okay." And then he recanted each time. Well, how did that work out for him? God humbled him. Think about King Nebuchadnezzar, who was this powerful ruler—perhaps the most powerful ruler in all the earth at that time. God humbled that man to the dust. He was on his hands and knees eating grass, out of his mind. God takes rulers down.

And listen, we have a world full of rulers in our country, all across this globe—men who exalt themselves, think they're higher than God. Good days come. She says here God is sovereign. God will bring down brutalism.

Not only that, look who he exalts. At the end of verse 52, "He has exalted those who are humble." God raises up those who are humble. His people who are humble in spirit, who are scorned by the unbelief of this world, he raises them up. Those whom the world sees as lowly, God will make first. Think about that. About us as believers in this place this morning, or God's people all over the globe. What did Paul say in First Corinthians chapter one? Did God choose us because we were so smart? Listen, the Bible says God chose the foolish things of the world. That's you and me. We're the foolish things. God chose the humble. God had to humble us and then give us grace. God chooses those who are lowly.

Look what she says in this text. She says in verse 53, "He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty handed." She's talking about God's concern for the poor. We're gonna see that all throughout Luke's gospel. Of all the gospels, we see in Luke a real concern God has for those who are poor and downtrodden. Jesus has concern for them. But the rich who are proud and powerful, who think they own the world, God is going to take them down.

The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, riches are worthless in the day of wrath. When God's wrath comes, it makes no difference how many millions or billions someone had. It will stand in judgment before Almighty God. We need to think about this. God is the one who brings people down from their thrones, no matter who that leader is, and we need to keep that in mind.

Whether it's a man or a woman, a republican or a democrat—it makes no difference. Anyone who exalts themselves, God's bringing them down. Listen to what he says in the book of Proverbs chapter 16 verse 5. "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to God." God is opposed to the proud. So who are we to be promoting?

I love what Paul says in First Corinthians chapter two. He says, "I knew nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified." Listen, we are to promote Christ. Speak of Christ. Tell others of Christ. Believe on Jesus Christ.

Praise God for His Faithfulness

Praise God, send his son, and be well over Father. Fifth reason: praise God for his faithfulness. Look at verse 54. Mary says, "He has helped Israel his servant, in remembrance of his mercy." God has been faithful to his people, the nation of Israel. With the coming of Jesus Christ, that faithfulness is now upon us, the new covenant people of God, that we are children of Abraham. That's what Paul says in Galatians—by faith. Those who belong to Abraham, his children are those of faith, Jew and Gentile. Those who believe, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we can praise God for his faithfulness to us. Praise God for his faithfulness in your life. Think of how he has been with you all these years. Even if you're a new believer, God has been watching over you and engineering the circumstances of your life to bring you to faith. If you've been walking with the Lord for any period of time, you know God is faithful. You have experienced it in your life. You have seen it.

And she praises God. Think of the promises God has made to us—that we're eternally secure in Christ. Jesus said, "No one can snatch you out of my hand." What a promise he's made to us. God is faithful. Is that not the reason to praise him? To proclaim his glory? That's what Mary does. Her heart is filled with praise.

Praise God for His Word

Now the last reason we see to praise Almighty God is to praise God for his word. Look what she says in verse 55. "As it has been spoken to our fathers, to Abraham, and his descendants forever." God has spoken to his people through the ages. How has God spoken to us? Through his word. We have the living and the enduring word of Almighty God that he has given to us.

And I want you to notice something. We have this precious gift which reveals the character of God, the person of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the promises of God. He reveals all that. And you can tell from her prayer, her praise—this was a woman who knew the word of God. She knew the truth. When we talk about worship making truth, what a model for us as believers. In her prayer and her worship, she's reciting the great themes of scripture.

How did Mary know these scriptures? Mary didn't walk around with one of these. Mary didn't have the Bible. They didn't have bibles in those days. She didn't carry that around. It wasn't like today; she couldn't call up Amazon and have it on her doorstep the next day. They didn't have bibles.

How did Mary know the word of God so richly? Well, first of all, she was in the synagogue listening to the word of God. Not only that, but she was pondering and thinking upon the word of God. Meditating upon the word of God. Sitting under the teaching of the word of God. She was a woman who knew scripture.

Isn't it ironic that so many things have been attributed to her that are totally unbiblical? She knew the word. Let me show you how much Mary knew the word of God and how much this praise comes from the scriptures.

She praises God for salvation, right? Listen to what David says in Psalm 24 verse 5. He calls him "the God of my salvation." In Psalm 138 verse 6, "God regards the lowly." Sound familiar? What about his power and might? Psalm 24 verse 8. David says, "Who is the king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty." Mary declares him to be the mighty one.

What about his mercy? Second Samuel 24 verse 14. "The Lord is merciful and great." What about God's sovereignty raising up those who are low? Listen to Job 5 verse 11. "He sets on high those who are lowly." Sound familiar?

About praising God for his faithfulness? Psalm 41 verse 10. "I'll strengthen you, surely I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Psalm 98 verse 3. "God is faithful to Israel." It's all through the scriptures. Mary's praying the word of God.

Now verse 56, she stayed with Elizabeth three months and returned home. Mary, yes, she was a sinner. But Mary loved the word of God. More importantly than that, Mary loved the God about whom the word speaks. Yeah. Because that's where the word of God points us.

We learn from Mary how important it is for us to know the word of God. Very shallow? Think on scripture. Think what God has done. Mary teaches us that we have no excuse. We all have bibles. But Mary also teaches us that we are to praise God not only in truth but in spirit. Because with her soul, with the spirit within—that which is eternal—she lets out this beautiful praise to Almighty God. Inward praise.

Correcting False Teachings About Mary

Now, there are some things we must address. Mary is not the queen of heaven. That's a pagan baby. Mary is not ever virgin. Matthew chapter one verse 25 says she remained a virgin until the birth of the child Jesus. Her brothers and sisters are in the Bible.

Mary is not sinless. She sat here saying, "God is my savior." She's not an intercessor. She's not the mother of God. And all of these unbiblical designations were designed by sin. And here's why: to get your eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that's where Mary's eyes would be. That's where they are. And even now it's all about the perfect public that child.

Who's the real Mary of scripture? She is a humble, godly follower of the son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

What We Learn from Mary

And here's what we learn from her. First of all, we learn from her that God's promise is fulfilled. Believe in him. We learn faith from Mary.

We also learn from Mary: say yes to God's word. Whatever that will is for your life, say yes.

But we also learn from her that you and I are to praise God in spirit and truth. Praise him for his salvation. Praise him for his power. Praise him for his mercy. Praise him for his sovereignty, his faithfulness, his word of God that he's given us.

So let me ask you a question. I got one question to ask you this morning, and then we're done. Is not our God worthy of praise? Amen.

I have a lot to be. Lord, we are so great that this humble woman of God disturbs us. What a woman. What an example, Lord. How grievous that she has been distorted. But, Lord, we are people of the word. We accept none of that nonsense. And yet, Lord, we must look at her life as a model for us to follow. Stir our hearts to praise you, Lord. You're gonna give us that opportunity in the next few moments as we enter into the worship service.

Oh, how we pray you would be glorified in this place. Stir our hearts and our minds to focus upon Christ. To listen to your word and to praise you. Oh, Lord, you are so worthy. And we lift all of this up in Jesus' name.