Sister Brenda Sunday School 12/6/15

Sister Brenda Sunday School 12/6/15

We can know and do the will of God in our lives. 

Luk 1:26  And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

Luk 1:27  To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Luk 1:28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

Luk 1:29  And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

Luk 1:30  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Luk 1:31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Luk 1:32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luk 1:33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luk 1:34  Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Luk 1:35  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Luk 1:36  And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

Luk 1:37  For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Luk 1:38  And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Verse 26: Think of what made Mary worthy of this honor.  What kind of a person do you think that Mary was? 

Verse 28: She was a young virgin that was espoused to Joseph.  She was bound to him and for the espousal to be broken, you had to go before the magistrate and so to speak be divorced. 

Favored:  to grace, to endue with special honor, to make accepted.

There were some criteria for Mary to meet to be the one chosen by God to bring His Son into the world.  I think of her as meek, sweet, and humble.  In the home with her parents and with her siblings, she was kind.  She was disciplined.  This was to be a big task. 

She was probably helpful in the home and to other people and looked for opportunities to be kind and helpful.  We all have to work at being these things.  We must be saved and have a nature change, a pure heart, to be like this. 

For God to use us and have his hand upon us, we must know that we are saved and have our sins forgiven.  Then we must go on to sanctification.  The song, “Thou shalt be first.”  Has been really good to me.

Mary was one that pondered things in her heart.  She was exceptional.  We think of youth as being impulsive.  She could have been 13 or 14 years of age at this time.  She was of the royal linage of David, yet she was poor and low in the world.

She was a virgin, pure and unspotted, engaged to a man of the lineage of David.  She was dignified, full of grace, and highly favored. 

We have to live close to God and be humble to be dignified and full of grace.  It doesn’t just fall upon us.

She had the presence of God with her.  The Lord was with her.  “The Lord is with thee.”  We want that to be said of us.  We want people to be able to tell by our atmosphere that we have been with Jesus.

She had the blessing of God upon her.  God was pleased with her.  “Thou art blessed among women.”

She was troubled at this saying when she saw Him.  This was a sign that she was humble.  She was troubled.  She didn’t feel that she merited the kind words.  She was not conscious that she was worthy of or merited the honor of the great things said.

She cast in her mind the manner of the salutation.  She was not impulsive and was humble.  She was cautious and even a bit on her guard about this. 

We don’t want to just jump at things but be cautious and on guard.  Let us not be impulsive but cautious and pray about things.  We want to know and do God’s will in our life.

If we are impulsive and just jump at whatever falls in our path we will make mistakes and have troubles.  Not everything that presents itself to us is of God.  We need to meditate and pray about things.  A lot of times we have time to consider things before we make a decision. 

Her desire was to do right and to make good decisions.  She wanted to serve God. 

Fear not.  When things come to us that can stir us and scare us, God knows how to, when He is in it, to say, “Fear not, I will help you with this.”

Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”  She was willing.  This was an honor but there were risks with it because of Joseph.  She was willing to say “Amen” to God’s will for her life.

When we do our best and follow God’s will and His way there is safety in that.  His will was her will.  “I am at your service.”  She submitted her entire life and will to God’s will.

This was not a moment’s action.  It happened because of her lifestyle.  She put her amen on it.  “Be it unto me according to thy will.

Mary was obedient.  She had victorious faith.  She was astute according to the things of life and was not afraid to ask a question when she needed clarification.  We are to ask God for clarification.  Obedience is not blind.  We can talk to God.

She was a precious young lady and a mother.  It was not an easy life that the Spirit of God lined her up for.  She was the vessel for the Holy Spirit to work through and has no power to answer prayer or above the power that anyone has today that is truly consecrated to God. 

All of us should be like Mary and have the same attributes.  It was never God’s will for her to be treated as Catholicism has treated her.  It was not her desire and was not what God wanted.  Mary was humble.  It was not all roses and easy.  In the first place, they had to go to Egypt and leave her family and home for quite a while. 

When Jesus went to the cross and went through all he went through it was hard for His mother.  She saw His suffering and all He went through.  She had to be consecrated and trust Him in God’s hands.

I wonder if there was a preparation that God had put her though before she got to this day.  Even with us, there are things that we go through that there has been a preparation for before we enter it.  God created the world in a proper order.  He did not make man before he made food for man to eat. 

May it be a challenge to us to let God prepare us.  We don’t know what God is preparing us for.  We wonder sometimes why we go through some things when we have done our best to do right. 

Let us believe God and continue to do well.  Let us keep the right attitude.  We know that God is faithful and just and everything He allows in our life is for a purpose.  It may be for something that is down the road.  One thing we know is that He is preparing us for heaven.

Luk 1:46  And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

Luk 1:47  And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Luk 1:48  For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Luk 1:49  For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

Luk 1:50  And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

Luk 1:51  He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

Luk 1:52  He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

Luk 1:53  He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

Luk 1:54  He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;

Luk 1:55  As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Luk 1:56  And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

This is a beautiful song that Mary gave here.  Verse 48: all generations shall call be blessed.  Her intention and God’s intention was not for her to be exalted in a wrong way.

Back to Joseph:  What kind of person was he that God was able to use him?

Mat 1:18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Mat 1:19  Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

Mat 1:20  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Mat 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Mat 1:22  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Mat 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Mat 1:24  Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

Mat 1:25  And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

What kind of a man was this?  How would you explain to someone who he was?  We know that he was espoused to Mary.  This was binding like marriage.  You didn’t just break it.  It was a binding commitment. 

This angel came to him in his sleep and spoke to him.  He was just, honest, honorable, merciful, and kind.  He must have had doubts because the angel told him, “Fear not to take unto you Mary.”  He considered the situation.  He was not impulsive. 

He had respect to what God said was right and what God said was wrong.  There were consequences that God’s law had set in order to deal with what appeared to be wrong. 

Because he was compassionate, he didn’t want to handle it in a way that would be hurtful to Mary.  He realized that there were consequences and a result that needed to follow but wanted to do it with compassion.

They were chosen vessels.  Designed from the beginning. 

We all have choices.  Both of them were willing and obedient.  When he was told to marry Mary, he did it immediately and cheerfully.  It may have been a shame for him too, but he did it willingly.  He was willing to suffer the consequences on him too. 

He is a perfect example of a gallant and gentle man.  He had the height of valor.  He was continually listening for the voice of God.  When they warned him to flee to Egypt he was immediately on it. 

We don’t hear about Joseph later in Jesus’ mission, perhaps he had died, but he was a perfect example of a good father and obedience to God.

He was accustomed to knowing what the voice of God sounded like.  He was familiar with the voice of God.  We have all kinds of voices come to us, but he knew the voice of God.  He listened and obeyed.  When he knew what God wanted him to do he did it. 

I wouldn’t doubt that within the next few days they got married after the angel told him to.  You can imagine Joseph’s mind battle but he purposed to do what God told him was right.  He purposed in his heart to do what is right.

The consequences of being caught in adultery: in Egypt they cut off her nose, in Persia they cut off her nose and her ears.  Joseph knew this.  He didn’t want her to go before the magistrate.  In Judea the consequence was death by stoning. 

Joseph had great compassion.  He was merciful, and kind, and just in time God came through.  God always comes through.  Joseph’s heart was pierced by these thoughts.  The angel came just in time and told him to fear not to take Mary for his wife.