He Confounds The World Part 1

Reason for us to Jesus longer remember for worried. Neither understood Jesus things he said caused the Corinthians. Among those opposed to changing their way today an amazing revelation given to his mother Mary church in Chicago. This is running with Sir sauce. Estimates are that you will be taking us to Luke 146 with the song of Mary song set to music again and again as the modern day when I think about this time to sit and smile. Mary had no idea that the words that she was going to speak would have such impact thousands of years later, at least 2000 years later.

Did you know that there were countries in the world that for bad the Magnificat because it talks about God toppling kings from their thrones, dear woman. God bless her as she stood there and said those words, the implications were far greater than she could've ever imagined. And that's the way our lives are to we have more impact and influence than we ever know about. I want to thank the many of you who continue to support the ministry of running to win. By the way, thousands upon thousands of people listen to this broadcast because of people like you and our impact is greater than we realize, would you consider becoming an endurance partner that somebody who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Let me give you the contact information, go to RTW offer.com.

Click on the endurance partner button that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 and now let us open our Bibles and think about Mary who would eventually give birth to the baby Jesus God in the flesh because were so familiar with the Christmas story, we forget the fact that it was an explosive event. Just imagine God coming to earth in this great rescue effort that was successful. The fact that we find in Scripture and the word became flesh philosophically, religiously and in every way this came as an explosion upon the world and we celebrated today is a small slice of that particular story I want to remind you of America. Mary, the root of the word Mary comes from Maryland, which means better.

She is the woman in the New Testament who said yes to both. Shame and took glory to shame, because after all she was single and pregnant, but she also said yes to glory because she said all generation will call me blessed. And so it is you can take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 1 Luke chapter 1 and if you didn't bring your Bible and the seat in front of you. There is a Bible there should be a Bible or if you wish, you can indeed look upon your cell phone as we have determined previously and so it is that in Luke chapter 1, you have the angel coming to her and the angel tells her that she's going to bear the Christ child. She's going to bear the king and then the angel says that in confirmation go check with your cousin Elizabeth because she's an old woman and she is pregnant as well, so Mary goes to Elizabeth and they have that encounter, and now what I'd like to do is to pick up the story in Luke chapter 1 at verse 46 in your Bible very probably. It says the Magnificat. The reason it says that is that in the Latin translation of the New Testament that is the opening word to because in Latin. That means I magnify so because that's the opening word. The Latin is Magnificat will simply call it varies preys. This poem of praise is remarkable.

First of all remarkable because it contains at least 12 illusions or quotations from the Old Testament. I don't have time today to show you all of those but they are there.

I mean here is a young woman steeped in Old Testament prophecies and steeped in the Old Testament text. Imagine the care and the thought. She gave to the word of God as it was read in the synagogue and it's also revolutionary because it affected confounds the world. It turns everything upside down.

We shall see how revolutionary it really is as she begins. What I'd like to do is to point out to particular truths to particular truths that are found in the Magnificat. Let me read you. First of all, the opening verses, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humblest state of his servant for the old. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. Just that far for a moment's notice. First of all that God exalts the humble peace she says in verse 48 he has looked upon my humble estate what estate what situation is she speaking about. While there she is.

She's growing up in Nazareth, she is an ordinary young woman. In fact, in our day we might actually just call her a girl because she might be 15 or 16 years old, but will call her a young woman and who was she. Nazareth was a despised town was not highly regarded. She was not that she was from the tribe of David, but then a lot of people were from the tribe of no one would have ever known. This young woman living there in obscurity, but what she does is she exalts God she magnifies his name because she says he has done wondrous things for me. First of all, of course, he chose her to be the bearer of the Messiah, the bearer of the God man, but also he saved her from sin. You'll notice he says I rejoice in God my Savior that is in verse 46 and 47, of course, she was a sinner like everyone else, and she needed redemption in Old Testament times before Jesus came. People were saved from their sin by looking forward to the Messiah after Jesus comes. We are now saved by looking back upon what Messiah has done in the work he accomplished in our behalf, but there she is. She is giving thanks to God.

Her Savior, and furthermore all generations.

She said will call me blessed. And isn't that true and today we call her blessed. The very fact that I'm preaching this message is a further fulfillment of her prediction known around the world today is Mary the most popular name given to women in the world. Mary now I need to tell you that throughout history after the time of Jesus. After the time of Jesus at a couple of hundred years, various traditions developed about Mary. For example, it was believed that she could actually hear the prayers offered to her.

There is no evidence in the Bible that she is able to hear anyone's prayer and furthermore it was believed that she could somehow be in mediator a mediator to those who would call on her because she could get to Jesus all of those of course are traditions found nowhere in Scripture hear what you find is Mary is giving glory to God. She is blessed. There is nothing in the text to suggest that she is going to become the means for the benefactor of blessing for others.

Furthermore, throughout the New Testament when anyone wanted to exalt Mary Jesus intervened to make sure that she would not be exalted above what she rightfully should be how she rightfully should be exalted. Let me give you a passage of Scripture don't turn to it now but you can write down the reference and look at it later. Luke chapter 11 verses 27 and 28 Jesus is teaching and there's a woman in the crowd that shouts and says blessed are you, and blessed is the woman who bore you, and blessed is your mother who nursed you know what that woman said was true. She was blessed because she was the mother of the Christ child. But Jesus replied instantly and said rather being blessed, blessed is the person who hears the word of God and does it. Jesus wanted to make sure that his mother would not be highly exalted.

Yes, she was blessed. But as we shall see in a moment. Others were blessed as well. But the bottom line is Mary says I exalted God because he has given me this great blessing and I have a lowly state. God loves to bless the lowly.

He loves to bless those who are marginalized. Those who do not even feel worthy of a blessing.

God always seeks out the most needy and as you are listening here today.

If you say today Pastor Luther my needs are great. You are a candidate for this special blessing of God. There's a second point, that is made here and that is that God humbles the proud God humbles the proud want you to see if there in the text where Jesus continues as he speaks. I should say is Mary continues as he speaks.

I am for example, in verse 51.

He has shown strength with his arm and he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their arts.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humblest state. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. While there are three categories of people whom God does not accept hen that is listed here. She says that he scatters the proud, not sure exactly what Mary was thinking that maybe she was thinking of the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament were they said were going to build a tower to heaven and were going to end up worshiping the stars in God scattered them but furthermore maybe she speaking about the fact that God scatters the proud in their own hearts and what they had built their lives upon falls apart and dissipates even in their lifetime and not offend their lifetime in the lifetime to come. We we know that God, the Bible says is at war with the proud but gives grace to the humble. So Mary says he scatters the proud. He makes everything that they have lived for come to not all of the attention that they wanted all of the things that they valued so highly is Brockton.

Nothing because God honors the lowly. Secondly, you'll notice that she says and the mighty, he is cast down from their throne. This is in verse 52. By the way this was used during the revolution. Some of the revolutions in South America as a justification for revolution well whether or not there is justification for revolution. It's really not.

Based on this text because the Bible is talking about what God does and not our responsibility to topple those who are.

Upon thrones though that might be part of the project. At some point. My point is simply this, that Mary is saying that God is the one who and he is the one that takes even kings and he dethroned them in Germany. There is a church with a sarcophagus sarcophagus is actually an above ground tomb, usually human of rock above the sarcophagus is the is the image of the king ruling so he's up there reminding us that he was a ruler. He was a king but now here is the sarcophagus here's the coffin and honored our various reptiles to represent the fact that the body decays hen the idea that is being conveyed is simply this, that no matter how high you are in this life. Eventually death will come and in death. Whether it is king or popper, whether it is rich or poor. We all end up alike. Finally, when we die. Jesus Christ is the one ultimately who topples king. In fact, even in this context is Mary is speaking it is true that none other than Herod is going to be topple the very man who was so threatened by the birth of Jesus as given in the book of Matthew. So he topples them and and the rich the rich he has sent away empty.

That is, those who depend upon their riches. Now, if you're rich, you know that you can go anywhere you want, you can get any tickets for whatever it is that you want to go to any event, you will be honored, especially if your contributor to that particular organization will be looked at as special because in your riches. There will also be a huge temptation and that is to depend upon riches because remember, money makes all of the same promises that God does money says I'll be with you in sickness and in health. I'll be with you when healthcare works when healthcare doesn't work okay with you. You'll be able to buy anything that you want, you'll be able to go wherever you want to go and as a result of that, it is very difficult not impossible but very difficult for true worshipers to be developed in a society that is affluent. If you want to find those who oftentimes worship God with a sense of purity. What you do is you go to underdeveloped countries and there you see people already longing for heaven and among them there are those who come to know Christ and they are God lovers when the text says that he sends the rich away empty. It doesn't mean that he takes away their money. It is just that there riches reveal their own emptiness and the fact that at the end of the day, their money does not satisfy them spiritually.

They leave empty-handed. They are like a frog in a well without water. There they are in this dry well trying to find out what life is all about trying to find it significant their confidences in their wealth, and so they leave empty-handed.

What a wonderful illustration of the fact that God God takes those who are proud and conceited those who are so concerned about what others think about them and look at the values of this world and they are inverted. Those values are topsy-turvy in the presence of Jesus and the presence of eternity and Mary sees that and she gives God praise now. She also at the end of her poem gives thanks to God for the fact that in his goodness he has visited the nation because of his promise to Abraham and in the last message we talked about the Abraham a covenant how God indicated that it would be fulfilled and now here we see the fulfillment of God's ultimate promise no other child has ever been born with these many predictions made about him long before he was born as you see the storyline of the Bible develop in the Old Testament now what I'd like to do is to step back and ask ourselves why should our lives be changed forever.

Why should our lives be changed forever because we've gathered together today and we have read this: we have meditated upon it. How does this changes I want to give you several statements that will help us. I believe in the first statement is simply this, that Mary's blessing and listen to this very carefully. Mary's spiritual blessings are our spiritual blessings Mary's spiritual blessings are our spiritual blessings. Yes. And the reason that God gives us those spiritual blessings is so that we can pass them along to others and to tell you that a number of years ago I flew to Arizona to speak in a church and in that church, I met a woman who said that she herds cows out in the pasture and she listens to the ministry of running to win and she does so, if I remember correctly it was on a transistor radio or some kind of a gadget like that, but I thought to myself, the ministry of radio goes way beyond what we ever realize or know about. Would you consider helping us here at running to win. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner somebody was stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Here is what you do you go to RTW offer.com RTW offer.com. Click on the endurance partner button and there you will receive the information that you need or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337. Let me give you that phone number again 1-888-218-9337 time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor lutes or a question about the Bible or the Christian life where should believers buy the necessities of life in Chicago. She hears us on W MBI and likes seafood. She asks our fish suppliers are part of a cult.

Should we still purchase from them. Where should we draw the line on boycotting different industries or people you best. An excellent question, and I think I have an answer for you directly from the Bible in first Corinthians chapter 8, the apostle Paul was discussing with the Corinthian church. The question of whether or not they should eat meat that had been offered to idols, so this meet. In effect, was consecrated over to the devil. And this is what he says now I'm in chapter 8 and nine beginning at verse four of first Corinthians therefore as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence and there is no God but one. And he goes on and you can read this passage for yourself.

So let me simply summarize it.

What he says is it you can eat this in faith. Understanding that even though it was given to idols. Ultimately, it belongs to God and you have that knowledge and you have that confidence. Go ahead and eat it however he says among you there may be those who have a weak conscience the kind of people who if they eat this meat may actually end up once again worshiping the idol out of which they were converted. They were converted out of that lifestyle. So the apostle Paul ends by saying therefore, if food makes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother to stumble. Bottom line, if you can eat this fish in faith, knowing that you folks have given it over to God.

I would certainly say go ahead and eat the meat.

You know the fact that your suppliers might be part of a cult is not going to affect that meat if you can eat it in faith, and I believe that you can know an answer to your question.

What should we boycott will we have no idea we could be eating in a restaurant when the people who are serving our food they could belong to a cult or they could be part of some demonic organization. There's just no way is we live in the world that we can sort all this out. So what we have to do is to eat in faith, asking God to bless our food, committing it to him and believing that it is going to do is good and not harm some wise words from Dr. Erwin lutes or thank you Dr. lutes or if you'd like to hear your question answered. Go to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask Pastor lutes or or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us at running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago 60614 running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life, the words of Jesus confounded the people of his day.

His mother Mary had insight into the effect her son would have spoke about this in her magnificent next time I'm running to win more from her song is found in Luke chapter 1 for Dr. Erwin lutes or this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored. The church