December 15, 2024 • 30 mins
Discover the profound joy that transcends life's challenges as we explore Mary's Magnificat in Luke, chapter 1. What if joy isn't just a fleeting emotion but a steadfast contentment rooted in the truth and beauty of Jesus Christ? This sermon unravels the layers of Advent joy, showing how it coexists with lament and finds its ultimate expression in worship and song. Through Mary's experience, we see how biblical joy persists even amid societal judgment and personal uncertainty, offering deep satisfaction that flows into our everyday lives.
Allow this sermon to guide you toward embracing the peace, grace, and hope that a relationship with Jesus brings, yielding to faith and witnessing the positive changes it can inspire.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Amen.
If you have your Bible, takethem and go to the book of Luke,
chapter 1.
Christi is going to read ourscripture for this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
So Luke, chapter 1, starting at verse 46.
And Mary said my soul magnifiesthe Lord and my spirit rejoices
in God, my Savior, for he haslooked on the humble estate of
his servant.
For behold, from now on allgenerations will call me blessed
(00:39):
, verse 1.
He has shown strength with hisarm.
He has scattered the proud inthe thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the mightyfrom their thrones and exalted
those of humble estate.
He has filled the hungry withgood things and the rich he has
sent away empty.
He has helped his servant,israel, to remember in
(01:01):
remembrance of his mercy, and hespoke to our fathers, to
Abraham and to his offspringforever.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Grace and peace be to you this morning.
Are you glad to be at church?
All right, there's a familiarChristmas song that says it's
the most wonderful time of theyear and for many people those
words ring very true.
But I'm also quite aware thatthis season of Advent seems to
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accentuate the pain of manypeople, loss and grief, and you
know.
You look around at wars andrumors of wars and natural
disasters and you know just allthe violence and hatred and
division and moral decay of ournation and political upheaval.
Add to that a litany ofdangerous toils and snares that
(02:06):
we all go through.
And you might ask where is theChristmas joy?
Well, the good news ofChristmas is this that, like
hope and peace, the other themesof Advent joy is available
regardless of our circumstances.
Joy in Christ is available.
(02:29):
What is it that the Bible meansby joy?
Joy is not a lack of lament.
Like people of joy, they stilllament, they're still sad, they
still grieve at times.
Joy, biblically speaking, isnot this chipperness all the
time or imbubbliness.
(02:50):
You know anybody that's chipperand bubbly all the time.
Do they drive you crazy?
All right, it's like man.
Yeah, never mind, I'll justleave that there, but that's not
what biblical joy is.
Biblical joy is this deepsatisfaction, regardless of
circumstances.
(03:11):
It's this contentment that isrooted in not what's going on in
our lives, but it's rooted inthe truth and the beauty and the
glory and the wonder of theLord Jesus Christ.
It's to be satisfied in God andif you've been saved a long
time and you are filled with theSpirit of God, you know what it
is to have things going wrongin your life.
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But on the inside there'ssomething deep within you that's
okay, and not even just okay,but joyful.
It's really unbelievable, butjoyful it's really unbelievable.
We need to be people of joy andI think the challenge is this
like we know this intellectually, but how many know?
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Even for the believer this ishard to live out.
Like some of you this morning,you look saved and mad about it.
So you know it's not going tohurt you to smile every now and
then.
Like I'm saying, we're notalways supposed to be bubbly,
but it wouldn't hurt you tosmile every once in a while.
Come on, point at your neighborand say he's talking to you.
(04:14):
All right, in Christ.
As I said earlier, listen.
The angel said to the shepherdsthey announced the birth of
Christ and they said this isgood news.
And what would they say?
Again, good news of great joyIn Christ.
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You don't just get a little joy, you get what Great joy.
So how is it we walk in thisChristian joy?
Very important?
Well, we can learn how to walkin joy some measure from the
story of Mary and the text,particularly that Christi just
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read for us.
It's called Mary's Magnificatand I'm struck by Mary's joy
here and you might argue well,of course she's joyful.
She just found out she's goingto have a baby.
Isn't that a reason tocelebrate?
And I would say, yes, thisisn't just any baby, and so she
should be happy and celebratoryand fair enough.
(05:20):
But this would have come asnews that was quite bittersweet.
Put yourself in her position fora moment.
Do you realize?
Mary wasn't 30 years old, marywas a teenager and she wasn't
married.
She was betrothed to Joseph,kind of like being engaged, a
little more serious than that,but she was betrothed to Joseph.
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Now you just imagine you're allof a sudden excited about I'm
going to have a baby and thenyou think, well, I've got to
tell my fiance and I've got tosit down with my parents and
it's like don't worry mom anddad, don't worry husband, to be
it's of the Holy Spirit.
It's like you're playing thisconversation out in your mind.
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You're like this is not goingto go well and what would the
town think?
You don't shack up with yourboyfriend or girlfriend.
You don't sleep with peopleoutside of marriage.
What are they going to think ofthis Jewish girl?
But yet, in the midst of allthis, mary has great joy, so
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much, in fact, that she begansinging.
This is called Mary'sMagnificat or the Song of Mary.
Listen, when you're reallyreally happy, you sing.
That's why we sing on Sundays.
It's an overflow of the joythat we have in God.
The music is really really animportant part of the worship
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experience and when we're happy,when we have joy, it overflows
in the song.
I've told you this before, butgrowing up I used to really
annoy my parents because at thedinner table I would hum as I
ate.
I couldn't sing because if Idid, the food would fly out of
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my mouth, but I'd have my mouthchewing my food and hum and my
mom would get mad and it waslike man, your cooking's just so
fantastic.
It fills me with joy, so that'sa good thing.
So if your children hum at thetable, leave them alone, take it
as a compliment.
But Mary has extreme joy and Isee three characteristics here
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about Mary that I thinkcontribute to her joy and I
think we can learn from thosecharacteristics today.
Number one Mary trusts God.
There is no joy without trust.
If you don't trust the Lord,you will be filled with anxiety.
In verse 38, if you go up justbefore our text here it is
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announced to Mary that she'sgoing to be with child and she
says simply these words let itbe to me according to your word.
And what if we just said thatmore often, whatever God leads
us to do, lord, let it be to meaccording to your word.
What if we just opened theBible and read a text and said
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let it be to me according toyour word?
There is joy and trust.
You know what's remarkable hereabout Mary's joy and her trust.
God did not give her all thedetails of how this was going to
work out.
It's kind of like the story ofAbraham.
Like, leave your father's tent,your comfort, your olden age,
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and just leave.
I'll direct you how many of youwant.
Like, if you're going to dosomething, you want to know all
the details, like you've got alittle journal and you want it
all planned out.
You go on vacation.
You want to know every stopyou're making.
You want to know everythingyou're going to do when you get
there.
Some of you are like that.
Some of you are go with theflow.
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But listen, it can befrustrating sometimes because
God will call us to do somethingand not give us all the details
, not tell us how he's going towork it out.
Mary has her own dreams andplans for her life and yet God
says you're going to be withchild and you're going to play
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an important role in God's planof redemption.
And she just says let it be tome, according to your word.
I think of one of my favoritescriptures Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.
Do you know this one?
Trust the Lord with all yourheart and I like this lean not
on your own understanding, andwhen you can't figure it out,
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just trust him in all your ways.
Acknowledge him and he willdirect your path.
Has god ever led you to dosomething?
And not given you details?
And it's hard, it's no easything to trust him.
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You know, if God has called youto missions and you have to
quit your job and raise support.
It's easy to make excuses andnot trust the Lord Because he
hasn't given you all the detailsof how it's going to work out,
or he's called you to start aministry in the church and you
think me, lord, how's this goingto work?
And he just says trust me.
The most powerful thing you cando is say let it be to me
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according to your word.
I'll just share with you quicklythat God's laid some big dreams
on my heart for this church.
And I look around and I look atthe offering and I look at all
these different things and Ithink, man in the flesh, I think
there's no way.
And some of the dreams are sobig I really hadn't told anybody
.
And about three weeks ago,brother Jack came up to me on a
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Wednesday night and said hey, Ifeel like I have a word from the
Lord for you.
Jack came up to me on aWednesday night and said hey, I
feel like I have a word from theLord for you, jack, I don't
remember verbatim what you said.
Do you remember?
Can you share?
So I don't get it wrong.
I'm sure, basically, that theLord has given you dreams so
great that you haven't evendared share them with the elders
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or the leadership of the churchbecause they thought you would
be out of your mind.
Yeah, and that was just becauseI was thinking what's so
interesting is this?
I mean, if you ask Nikki, shewould say I'm out of my mind,
but if she's got it right, she'sgot it right.
So that's the last time I askyou to talk.
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She's got it right.
So that's the last time I askyou to talk.
No, listen, I had these dreamsand I kept thinking that this
must not be God.
As I look around, maybe it'sjust me and the Lord just gives
me that word.
And what's interesting isbrother Jack didn't pray enough
to figure out how God was goingto do this, make all these
things happen, and so I've justgot to trust him.
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And I feel so underqualified.
But you know what?
Praise the Lord that it's notdependent upon me to bring these
things to pass.
The steps of a good man, thesteps are ordered of the Lord.
So, day by day, whatever he'sasked you to do, you just one
foot in front of the other.
Mary has joy because she trustsGod.
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Number two Mary has joy becauseshe maintains an accurate view
of God.
You can't trust the Lord if youdon't understand who he is.
If you think about Mary's song,if you really meditate on it,
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you'll see how God-centered itis.
And you know, as we think aboutthe music that we sing in
church, it doesn't really matterI don't think to God, and it
shouldn't matter that much to usif it's a hymn and kind of
traditional style or if it'smore modern.
We try to do a blend herebecause both have value.
What's most important to us inthis church is that the songs
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are theologically accurate,because there's a lot of music
today and, to be fair, a lot ofhymns that aren't real accurate,
that don't paint an accuratepicture of the Lord and he wants
to be fair.
A lot of hymns that aren't realaccurate, that don't paint an
accurate picture of the Lord andhe wants to be worshiped in
spirit and in truth.
And so we try to sing heretheologically rich songs that
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raise our affections for thetrue and living God.
And so Mary's song is veryGod-centered.
Number one she says that God is.
She sings about God'somnipotence, or in other words,
he is all-powerful.
She says what'd she say here?
He is mighty.
He is mighty.
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Verse 49, the first part.
He who is mighty has done greatthings for me.
You know what?
If you don't know and I talkedabout this in our series Behold
Our God so I'll just mention itbriefly here but if you don't
understand the unlimited powerof God, you'll never be able to
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trust him.
Because regardless of God'sgood intentions towards you, if
he's not all powerful, who's tosay he could bring him to pass?
But I'm pretty sure the Biblesays I'll quote it again that
he's able to do exceedingly,abundantly more than we could
ever ask or even think orimagine.
So when God lays that dream,brother Jack, on my heart and I
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go oh man, how in the world Ijust got to remember I can't
even dream the things that God'scapable of.
Amen, god is mighty, he'somnipotent.
Secondly, mary sees his name asholy.
The word holy means to be setapart.
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Name as holy the word holymeans to be set apart.
God is holy and, as the late RCSproul said, god is not set
apart from us like a chair isset apart from the table.
God is not like us, hetranscends us, he is above and
beyond us.
And so Mary knows, you knowwhat I've got my plans for my
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own life.
But God, god is holy and hisways, as Isaiah said, are above
our ways and thoughts above ourthoughts.
Thirdly, mary sees God asmerciful.
Now, this is important.
Look at verse.
What is it?
Verse 50 with me.
His mercy is for those who fearhim.
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Mercy is not for everybody,it's for those who fear the Lord
.
Now, that's interesting here,because if Mary just got the
news about this plan for herlife and she did not understand
the mercy of God, she could havethought something like this
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Well, man, I've really got tostraighten up in order for this
to happen.
And she would think of herselflike he must have not seen what
I did last week, he must nothave seen the brokenness in my
life.
You know this can't be, but youknow what Mary knows God's call
and God's salvation is notbased on merit, it's based on
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mercy.
Let me just shock you for asecond.
Did you know that God is notfair?
Shake your head at me if youagree with me.
God is not fair.
Shake your head at me if youagree with me.
God is not fair.
I know that's a big thing inour world today, in our culture,
that fairness and equity, thosearen't biblical concepts.
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You know, if God does somethingfor a hunter, particular
blessing doesn't mean he has todo that for me.
God's not fair and I would saythis thank the Lord.
He's not fair Because if Godwere fair, we would have no hope
, we'd have no breath, we'd allbe destined for hell, because we
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cannot earn salvation by beingquote-unquote a good person.
If that's the case, then Iwould just say to you good luck,
because you might be good inyour mind compared to your
neighbor.
But how are you measuring up toJesus Christ?
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You look at Jesus and yourealize.
You look at the Word of of Godand you think maybe I'm not so
good.
It's not about merit, it'sabout mercy.
And then, when we are saved,god changes our hearts and he
gives us that goodness as a gift.
I love Psalm 103.10.
He has not dealt with usaccording to our sins.
He's not fair.
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Nor has he punished usaccording to our iniquities, for
as the heavens are high abovethe earth, so great is his mercy
towards those who fear him.
Are you grateful today that Godis not fair, that he hasn't
dealt with you according to yoursins?
He is a God of mercy.
So if you're here today, let mejust take a little rabbit trail
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for just a moment and encouragesomebody.
If you're here today and youthink, man, I see all these
people worshiping and they canhave a relationship with God,
but you don't know where I wasyesterday.
You don't know where I was lastweek.
I don't want to make light ofsin.
It's a big deal.
It cost Jesus his life.
He died for our sin.
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But I want to tell you todaythere is mercy for you and as
you're looking at this preacherup here, I want you to know that
I didn't get to God by meritand then you've got to rely on
mercy.
This preacher needs mercy asmuch as you.
Mary sees God as merciful and ifthat doesn't make joy arise in
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your heart, I don't know whatwill.
Smile at me Again, you looksaved and mad about it.
All right, there you go.
Finally, mary sees God as arescuer.
Look at verses 52 through 54.
He has brought down the mightyfrom their thrones and he has
exalted those of humble estate.
He has filled the hungry Withgood things and the wrench he
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sent away empty.
He has helped his servantIsrael.
He redeemed Israel inremembrance of his mercy as he
spoke to our fathers, to Abrahamand to his offspring forever.
God is a rescuer.
He gave a promise to Abrahamand his descendants in the Old
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Testament and God is faithful.
He redeemed them out of Egypt.
He sustained them in thewilderness.
He rescued the northern tribesout of exile in Assyria and the
southern tribes out of Babylon.
God is a rescuer.
The angel said you shall callthis baby in a manger, you shall
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call him Jesus, for he came tosave his people from their sins.
God is a rescuer, and thatought to lead us to great joy.
And again, to quote the angels,in their proclamation they said
it's good news of great joy forall peoples.
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Now that doesn't mean thateverybody gets salvation.
It's only those who believeupon the Lord Jesus Christ, and
repent and turn to him in faith.
When it says all peoples there,what it means is it's not just
for the Jew, it's for theGentile, it's not just for the
religious, it's for the pagan.
Amen, god is a rescuer.
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So Mary has joy because she hasan accurate view of God.
And then she also finally hasan accurate view of self.
In verse 38, if you go backthere, she says Behold, I am a
servant of the Lord.
Verse 48, he has looked uponthe humble estate of his servant
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.
Now, I love this.
You know Mary doesn't seeherself as someone special Lord,
I'm just a humble servant.
Mary was not from anaristocratic family.
Mary was not well known as faras we know.
Just a humble servant of theLord, and that's who God tends
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to bless.
Just a humble servant.
And you may think today youknow what?
What could God use me for At myage or with my giftings?
You know what the Holy Spirithas gifted you with something
and God can use you.
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No matter what you think ofyourself, god can use you.
What you think of yourself, godcan use you, not because you're
so great, god uses us in thathumble state.
You know there are people whothink that they deserve the
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blessing of the Lord and oh,god's lucky to have me.
You know this is real common.
I've led music for about 25years or actually probably more.
It started when I was in youthgroup and it's real easy for
musicians who are reallytalented to become divas.
Have you seen this in thechurch?
And they think like God's luckyto have them on the praise team
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.
And I just have to gentlyremind people sometimes that
he's got angels and choirs ofangels singing holy, holy, holy.
I don't think he's tooimpressed.
I don't care what level ofsinger you are.
I don't think it impresses Godabout the quality of your voice.
What he's looking for is just aservant who says the quality of
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your voice.
What he's looking for is just aservant who says I'll worship
you in spirit and in truth.
Get up here humbly and play foryou or sing for you.
Mary has a high view of God, butshe's got an accurate view of
herself.
She knows again, I didn't earnthis, this position and this
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call.
It's all the Lord, and I haveto remind myself of this all the
time as I stand beside thispulpit.
Why me?
Because I'm better than anybody.
It's mercy and I betterremember day by day that I'm
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just a servant of the Lord.
Nobody special.
I'm not irreplaceable, andeither are you, amen.
So we've talked about over thelast few weeks.
We have talked about hope,peace and joy, and we've talked
about the fact that we canexperience all of these great
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attributes regardless of ourcircumstances.
So I want to illustrate thisfor you with an ancient.
This comes from illustration,it comes from kind of ancient
mythology and actually the RomanCatholic Church has used this.
You'll see what I'm about toshow you on some Catholic
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cathedrals, but it's reallyinteresting.
It's called the Wheel ofFortune and it's not the game
show, all right.
So here's the wheel of fortune,and so you imagine yourself on
the outside of this wheel andit's the wheel of life.
Okay, so there are times thatyou'll be at the top and things
will go well for you and you'llbe successful.
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But that wheel is alwaysturning.
So if you go clockwise, you'llhave success.
You're going to have a goodweek and you barely take a
breath and then you start.
Have you ever been here, man?
Come on, just to have a goodweek, and you barely take a
breath, and then you start.
Have you ever been here, man?
Come on, just give me a fullweek of blessing, right, and
then things go not so well, andthen that decline leads to
failure, but then that doesn'tlast forever.
You have a scent, and then backto success in.
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The wheel is always turning, andthe way that the world works is
this apart from Jesus, you areon the rim of the wheel and so
as the wheel spins, as youremotions, let's say, change with
the wheel.
So when you're at the top andyou're successful boy.
You have joy and you have peaceand you have hope.
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But as that will starts tochurn, moving towards what you
might call failure, you'llbecome despondent, you'll become
angry and frustrated and alljoy and hope and peace will
leave you.
You'll become full of anxiety.
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But here's the beauty of thisillustration.
If you go to the next slidehere, when we become a Christian
, here's what happens.
Christ is in the middle.
He is the center of our lives.
He's at the center of our livesand what he does is he invites
us through prayer and communionand worship and through his word
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, he invites us, by the power ofthe spirit, to yield ourselves
to him and to live and join himin the center of the wheel of
life.
And here's what happens whenyou are in the center of this
wheel.
The wheel's still turning.
As a Christian, you're going tohave ups and downs and good
days and bad days.
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But here's the beauty of thiswhen you're in Christ, you're in
the center and you're somewhatdetached from what's going on
the spinning of the wheel.
You're no longer on the rim,which means your peace and your
hope and joy are constant.
Hope and joy are constant.
Just meditate on that.
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That's why you can constantlyhave joy and peace and hope.
And so I want to close withsomething that I've used before,
because if you are in thecenter of this wheel, I want to
end by just showing you that youhave more reason for joy than
you could ever imagine if youare in Christ, regardless of
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what's in your life right now.
Okay, anybody having a hard week, all right, I'm going to help
you.
And so if you're not in Christ,today's the day of salvation,
mercy is for you today, and Iwould invite you to join the
Lord Jesus at the center of thewheel of fortune.
All right, here it.
Is you ready?
So this is a list.
I did not create this.
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I don't know who did or I wouldgive them credit.
I've had it for years.
These are biblical truths aboutthe people of God that are true
of every single believer.
I read this two Advent seasonsago and I want to share it with
you today.
Are you ready?
And I don't have time to readevery scripture because it's a
long list, but these all havescriptures to go with them, so
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trust me.
Number one if I'm in Christ, Iam redeemed.
Through his blood, I have beendelivered from the power of
darkness.
I have been delivered from thewrath of God to come.
I am a child of God.
I am a son of God.
I belong to the Lord JesusChrist.
I am an heir of God and jointheir with Christ.
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I possess all things.
I am a new creature, a newcreation in Christ.
I've been renewed by the HolySpirit.
I am accepted and highly favoredin the beloved.
I am light in the Lord.
I dwell in Christ.
Christ dwells in me.
My body is a temple of the HolySpirit.
I have an anointing, an unctionfrom the Holy One.
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I have been called with a holycalling.
I am chosen in Christ.
I am complete in Christ.
I am beloved in Christ.
I am a child of promise.
I am not my own.
I'm a child of promise.
I am not my own.
I'm a citizen of heaven.
Christ has made me free free,indeed, I am free from sin.
I have a sound mind.
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Christ has given me anunderstanding.
I have the righteousness ofChrist.
I have sufficiency in allthings.
I have all that pertains tolife and godliness.
I have all the armor and allthe weapons, spiritually
speaking, that I need.
I have God's all-sufficientgrace.
I have grace and help in a timeof need.
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I have God's power.
I have access to the Father.
I have a great high priest.
I have an unfailing intercessor.
I have a righteous advocatewith the Father for times when I
sin.
I have peace with God.
I have rest for my soul.
I am led by the Spirit of God.
I'm enabled during trials andtemptations.
I've been given eternalencouragement and good hope
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through grace.
I will sit with Christ in Histhrone and I will be with my God
forever.
Beloved.
We shouldn't look like upsetpeople all the time.
We ought to be people of joy,amen.
We have so much reason for joy.
So, no matter where you're aton the wheel of fortune today
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good week, bad week, high day,low day, doesn't matter I invite
you to come to the Lord JesusChrist by faith, Yield yourself
to him and just watch the wheelturn.
Remember that old song.
I might sing this in a moment.
Remember that old song, thisjoy that I have, this joy that I
have, this joy that I have.
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The world didn't give it andthe world can't take it away.
The devil didn't give it.
The devil can't take it away.
Pain didn't give it.
Pain can't take it away.
Loss didn't give you joy, andloss can't take it away.
You can have joy today.
Amen.
If you have your Bible, takethem and go to the book of Luke,
chapter 1.
Christi is going to read ourscripture for this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
So Luke, chapter 1, starting at verse 46.
And Mary said my soul magnifiesthe Lord and my spirit rejoices
in God, my Savior, for he haslooked on the humble estate of
his servant.
For behold, from now on allgenerations will call me blessed
(00:39):
, verse 1.
He has shown strength with hisarm.
He has scattered the proud inthe thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the mightyfrom their thrones and exalted
those of humble estate.
He has filled the hungry withgood things and the rich he has
sent away empty.
He has helped his servant,israel, to remember in
(01:01):
remembrance of his mercy, and hespoke to our fathers, to
Abraham and to his offspringforever.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Grace and peace be to you this morning.
Are you glad to be at church?
All right, there's a familiarChristmas song that says it's
the most wonderful time of theyear and for many people those
words ring very true.
But I'm also quite aware thatthis season of Advent seems to
(01:43):
accentuate the pain of manypeople, loss and grief, and you
know.
You look around at wars andrumors of wars and natural
disasters and you know just allthe violence and hatred and
division and moral decay of ournation and political upheaval.
Add to that a litany ofdangerous toils and snares that
(02:06):
we all go through.
And you might ask where is theChristmas joy?
Well, the good news ofChristmas is this that, like
hope and peace, the other themesof Advent joy is available
regardless of our circumstances.
Joy in Christ is available.
(02:29):
What is it that the Bible meansby joy?
Joy is not a lack of lament.
Like people of joy, they stilllament, they're still sad, they
still grieve at times.
Joy, biblically speaking, isnot this chipperness all the
time or imbubbliness.
(02:50):
You know anybody that's chipperand bubbly all the time.
Do they drive you crazy?
All right, it's like man.
Yeah, never mind, I'll justleave that there, but that's not
what biblical joy is.
Biblical joy is this deepsatisfaction, regardless of
circumstances.
(03:11):
It's this contentment that isrooted in not what's going on in
our lives, but it's rooted inthe truth and the beauty and the
glory and the wonder of theLord Jesus Christ.
It's to be satisfied in God andif you've been saved a long
time and you are filled with theSpirit of God, you know what it
is to have things going wrongin your life.
(03:33):
But on the inside there'ssomething deep within you that's
okay, and not even just okay,but joyful.
It's really unbelievable, butjoyful it's really unbelievable.
We need to be people of joy andI think the challenge is this
like we know this intellectually, but how many know?
(03:54):
Even for the believer this ishard to live out.
Like some of you this morning,you look saved and mad about it.
So you know it's not going tohurt you to smile every now and
then.
Like I'm saying, we're notalways supposed to be bubbly,
but it wouldn't hurt you tosmile every once in a while.
Come on, point at your neighborand say he's talking to you.
(04:14):
All right, in Christ.
As I said earlier, listen.
The angel said to the shepherdsthey announced the birth of
Christ and they said this isgood news.
And what would they say?
Again, good news of great joyIn Christ.
(04:34):
You don't just get a little joy, you get what Great joy.
So how is it we walk in thisChristian joy?
Very important?
Well, we can learn how to walkin joy some measure from the
story of Mary and the text,particularly that Christi just
(04:57):
read for us.
It's called Mary's Magnificatand I'm struck by Mary's joy
here and you might argue well,of course she's joyful.
She just found out she's goingto have a baby.
Isn't that a reason tocelebrate?
And I would say, yes, thisisn't just any baby, and so she
should be happy and celebratoryand fair enough.
(05:20):
But this would have come asnews that was quite bittersweet.
Put yourself in her position fora moment.
Do you realize?
Mary wasn't 30 years old, marywas a teenager and she wasn't
married.
She was betrothed to Joseph,kind of like being engaged, a
little more serious than that,but she was betrothed to Joseph.
(05:42):
Now you just imagine you're allof a sudden excited about I'm
going to have a baby and thenyou think, well, I've got to
tell my fiance and I've got tosit down with my parents and
it's like don't worry mom anddad, don't worry husband, to be
it's of the Holy Spirit.
It's like you're playing thisconversation out in your mind.
(06:02):
You're like this is not goingto go well and what would the
town think?
You don't shack up with yourboyfriend or girlfriend.
You don't sleep with peopleoutside of marriage.
What are they going to think ofthis Jewish girl?
But yet, in the midst of allthis, mary has great joy, so
(06:24):
much, in fact, that she begansinging.
This is called Mary'sMagnificat or the Song of Mary.
Listen, when you're reallyreally happy, you sing.
That's why we sing on Sundays.
It's an overflow of the joythat we have in God.
The music is really really animportant part of the worship
(06:45):
experience and when we're happy,when we have joy, it overflows
in the song.
I've told you this before, butgrowing up I used to really
annoy my parents because at thedinner table I would hum as I
ate.
I couldn't sing because if Idid, the food would fly out of
(07:06):
my mouth, but I'd have my mouthchewing my food and hum and my
mom would get mad and it waslike man, your cooking's just so
fantastic.
It fills me with joy, so that'sa good thing.
So if your children hum at thetable, leave them alone, take it
as a compliment.
But Mary has extreme joy and Isee three characteristics here
(07:28):
about Mary that I thinkcontribute to her joy and I
think we can learn from thosecharacteristics today.
Number one Mary trusts God.
There is no joy without trust.
If you don't trust the Lord,you will be filled with anxiety.
In verse 38, if you go up justbefore our text here it is
(07:54):
announced to Mary that she'sgoing to be with child and she
says simply these words let itbe to me according to your word.
And what if we just said thatmore often, whatever God leads
us to do, lord, let it be to meaccording to your word.
What if we just opened theBible and read a text and said
(08:15):
let it be to me according toyour word?
There is joy and trust.
You know what's remarkable hereabout Mary's joy and her trust.
God did not give her all thedetails of how this was going to
work out.
It's kind of like the story ofAbraham.
Like, leave your father's tent,your comfort, your olden age,
(08:36):
and just leave.
I'll direct you how many of youwant.
Like, if you're going to dosomething, you want to know all
the details, like you've got alittle journal and you want it
all planned out.
You go on vacation.
You want to know every stopyou're making.
You want to know everythingyou're going to do when you get
there.
Some of you are like that.
Some of you are go with theflow.
(08:57):
But listen, it can befrustrating sometimes because
God will call us to do somethingand not give us all the details
, not tell us how he's going towork it out.
Mary has her own dreams andplans for her life and yet God
says you're going to be withchild and you're going to play
(09:18):
an important role in God's planof redemption.
And she just says let it be tome, according to your word.
I think of one of my favoritescriptures Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.
Do you know this one?
Trust the Lord with all yourheart and I like this lean not
on your own understanding, andwhen you can't figure it out,
(09:41):
just trust him in all your ways.
Acknowledge him and he willdirect your path.
Has god ever led you to dosomething?
And not given you details?
And it's hard, it's no easything to trust him.
(10:01):
You know, if God has called youto missions and you have to
quit your job and raise support.
It's easy to make excuses andnot trust the Lord Because he
hasn't given you all the detailsof how it's going to work out,
or he's called you to start aministry in the church and you
think me, lord, how's this goingto work?
And he just says trust me.
The most powerful thing you cando is say let it be to me
(10:25):
according to your word.
I'll just share with you quicklythat God's laid some big dreams
on my heart for this church.
And I look around and I look atthe offering and I look at all
these different things and Ithink, man in the flesh, I think
there's no way.
And some of the dreams are sobig I really hadn't told anybody
.
And about three weeks ago,brother Jack came up to me on a
(10:50):
Wednesday night and said hey, Ifeel like I have a word from the
Lord for you.
Jack came up to me on aWednesday night and said hey, I
feel like I have a word from theLord for you, jack, I don't
remember verbatim what you said.
Do you remember?
Can you share?
So I don't get it wrong.
I'm sure, basically, that theLord has given you dreams so
great that you haven't evendared share them with the elders
(11:11):
or the leadership of the churchbecause they thought you would
be out of your mind.
Yeah, and that was just becauseI was thinking what's so
interesting is this?
I mean, if you ask Nikki, shewould say I'm out of my mind,
but if she's got it right, she'sgot it right.
So that's the last time I askyou to talk.
(11:34):
She's got it right.
So that's the last time I askyou to talk.
No, listen, I had these dreamsand I kept thinking that this
must not be God.
As I look around, maybe it'sjust me and the Lord just gives
me that word.
And what's interesting isbrother Jack didn't pray enough
to figure out how God was goingto do this, make all these
things happen, and so I've justgot to trust him.
(11:55):
And I feel so underqualified.
But you know what?
Praise the Lord that it's notdependent upon me to bring these
things to pass.
The steps of a good man, thesteps are ordered of the Lord.
So, day by day, whatever he'sasked you to do, you just one
foot in front of the other.
Mary has joy because she trustsGod.
(12:19):
Number two Mary has joy becauseshe maintains an accurate view
of God.
You can't trust the Lord if youdon't understand who he is.
If you think about Mary's song,if you really meditate on it,
(12:41):
you'll see how God-centered itis.
And you know, as we think aboutthe music that we sing in
church, it doesn't really matterI don't think to God, and it
shouldn't matter that much to usif it's a hymn and kind of
traditional style or if it'smore modern.
We try to do a blend herebecause both have value.
What's most important to us inthis church is that the songs
(13:06):
are theologically accurate,because there's a lot of music
today and, to be fair, a lot ofhymns that aren't real accurate,
that don't paint an accuratepicture of the Lord and he wants
to be fair.
A lot of hymns that aren't realaccurate, that don't paint an
accurate picture of the Lord andhe wants to be worshiped in
spirit and in truth.
And so we try to sing heretheologically rich songs that
(13:26):
raise our affections for thetrue and living God.
And so Mary's song is veryGod-centered.
Number one she says that God is.
She sings about God'somnipotence, or in other words,
he is all-powerful.
She says what'd she say here?
He is mighty.
He is mighty.
(13:48):
Verse 49, the first part.
He who is mighty has done greatthings for me.
You know what?
If you don't know and I talkedabout this in our series Behold
Our God so I'll just mention itbriefly here but if you don't
understand the unlimited powerof God, you'll never be able to
(14:10):
trust him.
Because regardless of God'sgood intentions towards you, if
he's not all powerful, who's tosay he could bring him to pass?
But I'm pretty sure the Biblesays I'll quote it again that
he's able to do exceedingly,abundantly more than we could
ever ask or even think orimagine.
So when God lays that dream,brother Jack, on my heart and I
(14:34):
go oh man, how in the world Ijust got to remember I can't
even dream the things that God'scapable of.
Amen, god is mighty, he'somnipotent.
Secondly, mary sees his name asholy.
The word holy means to be setapart.
(14:54):
Name as holy the word holymeans to be set apart.
God is holy and, as the late RCSproul said, god is not set
apart from us like a chair isset apart from the table.
God is not like us, hetranscends us, he is above and
beyond us.
And so Mary knows, you knowwhat I've got my plans for my
(15:17):
own life.
But God, god is holy and hisways, as Isaiah said, are above
our ways and thoughts above ourthoughts.
Thirdly, mary sees God asmerciful.
Now, this is important.
Look at verse.
What is it?
Verse 50 with me.
His mercy is for those who fearhim.
(15:42):
Mercy is not for everybody,it's for those who fear the Lord
.
Now, that's interesting here,because if Mary just got the
news about this plan for herlife and she did not understand
the mercy of God, she could havethought something like this
(16:02):
Well, man, I've really got tostraighten up in order for this
to happen.
And she would think of herselflike he must have not seen what
I did last week, he must nothave seen the brokenness in my
life.
You know this can't be, but youknow what Mary knows God's call
and God's salvation is notbased on merit, it's based on
(16:25):
mercy.
Let me just shock you for asecond.
Did you know that God is notfair?
Shake your head at me if youagree with me.
God is not fair.
Shake your head at me if youagree with me.
God is not fair.
I know that's a big thing inour world today, in our culture,
that fairness and equity, thosearen't biblical concepts.
(16:45):
You know, if God does somethingfor a hunter, particular
blessing doesn't mean he has todo that for me.
God's not fair and I would saythis thank the Lord.
He's not fair Because if Godwere fair, we would have no hope
, we'd have no breath, we'd allbe destined for hell, because we
(17:11):
cannot earn salvation by beingquote-unquote a good person.
If that's the case, then Iwould just say to you good luck,
because you might be good inyour mind compared to your
neighbor.
But how are you measuring up toJesus Christ?
(17:33):
You look at Jesus and yourealize.
You look at the Word of of Godand you think maybe I'm not so
good.
It's not about merit, it'sabout mercy.
And then, when we are saved,god changes our hearts and he
gives us that goodness as a gift.
I love Psalm 103.10.
He has not dealt with usaccording to our sins.
He's not fair.
(17:54):
Nor has he punished usaccording to our iniquities, for
as the heavens are high abovethe earth, so great is his mercy
towards those who fear him.
Are you grateful today that Godis not fair, that he hasn't
dealt with you according to yoursins?
He is a God of mercy.
So if you're here today, let mejust take a little rabbit trail
(18:16):
for just a moment and encouragesomebody.
If you're here today and youthink, man, I see all these
people worshiping and they canhave a relationship with God,
but you don't know where I wasyesterday.
You don't know where I was lastweek.
I don't want to make light ofsin.
It's a big deal.
It cost Jesus his life.
He died for our sin.
(18:36):
But I want to tell you todaythere is mercy for you and as
you're looking at this preacherup here, I want you to know that
I didn't get to God by meritand then you've got to rely on
mercy.
This preacher needs mercy asmuch as you.
Mary sees God as merciful and ifthat doesn't make joy arise in
(18:58):
your heart, I don't know whatwill.
Smile at me Again, you looksaved and mad about it.
All right, there you go.
Finally, mary sees God as arescuer.
Look at verses 52 through 54.
He has brought down the mightyfrom their thrones and he has
exalted those of humble estate.
He has filled the hungry Withgood things and the wrench he
(19:23):
sent away empty.
He has helped his servantIsrael.
He redeemed Israel inremembrance of his mercy as he
spoke to our fathers, to Abrahamand to his offspring forever.
God is a rescuer.
He gave a promise to Abrahamand his descendants in the Old
(19:44):
Testament and God is faithful.
He redeemed them out of Egypt.
He sustained them in thewilderness.
He rescued the northern tribesout of exile in Assyria and the
southern tribes out of Babylon.
God is a rescuer.
The angel said you shall callthis baby in a manger, you shall
(20:09):
call him Jesus, for he came tosave his people from their sins.
God is a rescuer, and thatought to lead us to great joy.
And again, to quote the angels,in their proclamation they said
it's good news of great joy forall peoples.
(20:32):
Now that doesn't mean thateverybody gets salvation.
It's only those who believeupon the Lord Jesus Christ, and
repent and turn to him in faith.
When it says all peoples there,what it means is it's not just
for the Jew, it's for theGentile, it's not just for the
religious, it's for the pagan.
Amen, god is a rescuer.
(20:54):
So Mary has joy because she hasan accurate view of God.
And then she also finally hasan accurate view of self.
In verse 38, if you go backthere, she says Behold, I am a
servant of the Lord.
Verse 48, he has looked uponthe humble estate of his servant
(21:15):
.
Now, I love this.
You know Mary doesn't seeherself as someone special Lord,
I'm just a humble servant.
Mary was not from anaristocratic family.
Mary was not well known as faras we know.
Just a humble servant of theLord, and that's who God tends
(21:37):
to bless.
Just a humble servant.
And you may think today youknow what?
What could God use me for At myage or with my giftings?
You know what the Holy Spirithas gifted you with something
and God can use you.
(21:58):
No matter what you think ofyourself, god can use you.
What you think of yourself, godcan use you, not because you're
so great, god uses us in thathumble state.
You know there are people whothink that they deserve the
(22:19):
blessing of the Lord and oh,god's lucky to have me.
You know this is real common.
I've led music for about 25years or actually probably more.
It started when I was in youthgroup and it's real easy for
musicians who are reallytalented to become divas.
Have you seen this in thechurch?
And they think like God's luckyto have them on the praise team
(22:44):
.
And I just have to gentlyremind people sometimes that
he's got angels and choirs ofangels singing holy, holy, holy.
I don't think he's tooimpressed.
I don't care what level ofsinger you are.
I don't think it impresses Godabout the quality of your voice.
What he's looking for is just aservant who says the quality of
(23:06):
your voice.
What he's looking for is just aservant who says I'll worship
you in spirit and in truth.
Get up here humbly and play foryou or sing for you.
Mary has a high view of God, butshe's got an accurate view of
herself.
She knows again, I didn't earnthis, this position and this
(23:26):
call.
It's all the Lord, and I haveto remind myself of this all the
time as I stand beside thispulpit.
Why me?
Because I'm better than anybody.
It's mercy and I betterremember day by day that I'm
(23:46):
just a servant of the Lord.
Nobody special.
I'm not irreplaceable, andeither are you, amen.
So we've talked about over thelast few weeks.
We have talked about hope,peace and joy, and we've talked
about the fact that we canexperience all of these great
(24:13):
attributes regardless of ourcircumstances.
So I want to illustrate thisfor you with an ancient.
This comes from illustration,it comes from kind of ancient
mythology and actually the RomanCatholic Church has used this.
You'll see what I'm about toshow you on some Catholic
(24:37):
cathedrals, but it's reallyinteresting.
It's called the Wheel ofFortune and it's not the game
show, all right.
So here's the wheel of fortune,and so you imagine yourself on
the outside of this wheel andit's the wheel of life.
Okay, so there are times thatyou'll be at the top and things
will go well for you and you'llbe successful.
(24:57):
But that wheel is alwaysturning.
So if you go clockwise, you'llhave success.
You're going to have a goodweek and you barely take a
breath and then you start.
Have you ever been here, man?
Come on, just to have a goodweek, and you barely take a
breath, and then you start.
Have you ever been here, man?
Come on, just give me a fullweek of blessing, right, and
then things go not so well, andthen that decline leads to
failure, but then that doesn'tlast forever.
You have a scent, and then backto success in.
(25:19):
The wheel is always turning, andthe way that the world works is
this apart from Jesus, you areon the rim of the wheel and so
as the wheel spins, as youremotions, let's say, change with
the wheel.
So when you're at the top andyou're successful boy.
You have joy and you have peaceand you have hope.
(25:42):
But as that will starts tochurn, moving towards what you
might call failure, you'llbecome despondent, you'll become
angry and frustrated and alljoy and hope and peace will
leave you.
You'll become full of anxiety.
(26:03):
But here's the beauty of thisillustration.
If you go to the next slidehere, when we become a Christian
, here's what happens.
Christ is in the middle.
He is the center of our lives.
He's at the center of our livesand what he does is he invites
us through prayer and communionand worship and through his word
(26:27):
, he invites us, by the power ofthe spirit, to yield ourselves
to him and to live and join himin the center of the wheel of
life.
And here's what happens whenyou are in the center of this
wheel.
The wheel's still turning.
As a Christian, you're going tohave ups and downs and good
days and bad days.
(26:47):
But here's the beauty of thiswhen you're in Christ, you're in
the center and you're somewhatdetached from what's going on
the spinning of the wheel.
You're no longer on the rim,which means your peace and your
hope and joy are constant.
Hope and joy are constant.
Just meditate on that.
(27:08):
That's why you can constantlyhave joy and peace and hope.
And so I want to close withsomething that I've used before,
because if you are in thecenter of this wheel, I want to
end by just showing you that youhave more reason for joy than
you could ever imagine if youare in Christ, regardless of
(27:30):
what's in your life right now.
Okay, anybody having a hard week, all right, I'm going to help
you.
And so if you're not in Christ,today's the day of salvation,
mercy is for you today, and Iwould invite you to join the
Lord Jesus at the center of thewheel of fortune.
All right, here it.
Is you ready?
So this is a list.
I did not create this.
(27:51):
I don't know who did or I wouldgive them credit.
I've had it for years.
These are biblical truths aboutthe people of God that are true
of every single believer.
I read this two Advent seasonsago and I want to share it with
you today.
Are you ready?
And I don't have time to readevery scripture because it's a
long list, but these all havescriptures to go with them, so
(28:13):
trust me.
Number one if I'm in Christ, Iam redeemed.
Through his blood, I have beendelivered from the power of
darkness.
I have been delivered from thewrath of God to come.
I am a child of God.
I am a son of God.
I belong to the Lord JesusChrist.
I am an heir of God and jointheir with Christ.
(28:34):
I possess all things.
I am a new creature, a newcreation in Christ.
I've been renewed by the HolySpirit.
I am accepted and highly favoredin the beloved.
I am light in the Lord.
I dwell in Christ.
Christ dwells in me.
My body is a temple of the HolySpirit.
I have an anointing, an unctionfrom the Holy One.
(28:55):
I have been called with a holycalling.
I am chosen in Christ.
I am complete in Christ.
I am beloved in Christ.
I am a child of promise.
I am not my own.
I'm a child of promise.
I am not my own.
I'm a citizen of heaven.
Christ has made me free free,indeed, I am free from sin.
I have a sound mind.
(29:16):
Christ has given me anunderstanding.
I have the righteousness ofChrist.
I have sufficiency in allthings.
I have all that pertains tolife and godliness.
I have all the armor and allthe weapons, spiritually
speaking, that I need.
I have God's all-sufficientgrace.
I have grace and help in a timeof need.
(29:36):
I have God's power.
I have access to the Father.
I have a great high priest.
I have an unfailing intercessor.
I have a righteous advocatewith the Father for times when I
sin.
I have peace with God.
I have rest for my soul.
I am led by the Spirit of God.
I'm enabled during trials andtemptations.
I've been given eternalencouragement and good hope
(29:58):
through grace.
I will sit with Christ in Histhrone and I will be with my God
forever.
Beloved.
We shouldn't look like upsetpeople all the time.
We ought to be people of joy,amen.
We have so much reason for joy.
So, no matter where you're aton the wheel of fortune today
(30:19):
good week, bad week, high day,low day, doesn't matter I invite
you to come to the Lord JesusChrist by faith, Yield yourself
to him and just watch the wheelturn.
Remember that old song.
I might sing this in a moment.
Remember that old song, thisjoy that I have, this joy that I
have, this joy that I have.
(30:39):
The world didn't give it andthe world can't take it away.
The devil didn't give it.
The devil can't take it away.
Pain didn't give it.
Pain can't take it away.
Loss didn't give you joy, andloss can't take it away.
You can have joy today.
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