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Mary’s Magnifying Song of Praise (luke 1:46-55)

12/4/2018

Mary, the mother of Jesus, received some news one day that would change her life. The angel Gabriel said to her, “The Lord is with thee” (Luke 1:28), and she would definitely need this assurance for the news he was sent to give her. The angel told her that she would conceive and give birth to a son. She was a young, pure teenager who had never had physical relations with a man. “How shall this be seeing I know not a man?” she asked (Luke 1:34). Though she did not fully understand, she believed the message and wanted God to be glorified through her life. In her “Song of Praise” that we read in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel account, we see seven things that she magnified. Please refer to this chapter as you read below for greater understanding.
First, Mary magnified the Lord (46). The word translated “magnify” is the Greek word megalunei, which means “to make great.” This is done like a telescope, which brings something large and distant into clear view. It is not magnified like a microscope, which enlarges something small. Mary wanted her life and her response to the news to bring God closer for others to see. She said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” This means she wanted her affections and personality (all the impulses that control the body) to glorify God. Jesus prayed in John 17:5 that God would glorify Him. Mary never prayed that God would glorify her. She wanted God to be glorified, and Jesus is God. One name attributed to Jesus is Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” May He be magnified!
Mary magnified her joy (47). She said “my spirit hath rejoiced in God.” We cannot magnify the Lord for what He is doing until we rejoice over it. She referred to God in this verse as her Savior because Mary needed to be saved from sin, too. No one can sing, rejoice, and magnify God until God is his Savior.
Mary magnified her humility (48). Her reference to her “low estate” showed her proper self-esteem. Mary did not consider herself as a “mediator” between God and man. Jesus is the only Mediator between God and man. At the first miracle Jesus performed, Mary said to the disciples, “Whatsoever he says, do.” When she said all generations would call her blessed, it was not because of her own worth but because of God’s grace. Blessedness comes after “believing” (1:45). The phrase “He hath regarded” (48) reflects her humility as what was pleasing to God and what was outstanding in His sight. God hates pride! The word “I” does not appear in Mary’s “Song of Praise.” She refers to herself as a “handmaid.” Charles Spurgeon said, “The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem.” Mary was high in grace.
She magnified God’s blessings to her (49). She was confessing that God had made her into something special. Bill Gaither’s song “Something Beautiful” comes to mind. “He made something beautiful of my life,” the song says. God’s greatness can do great things in you, for you, and through you. She didn’t tell what she was doing for the world, but what God was doing for her. She stated, “Holy is his name” and not “holy am I.” What the angel had told her in 1:35, she now experiences personally.
She magnified God’s goodness to all (50). Beginning in verse 50, her praise switches to what God has done for others not just for herself. His mercy sweetens the attributes of might and holiness. It is the Lord’s mercy, not Mary’s. His mercy is available to all, but it is only upon all that fear Him. Only one woman could be the mother of Jesus, but everyone ever born can receive His mercy!
She magnified the Lord’s power (51-52). With His extended arm, He gathers or scatters. Pride and humility - one brings destruction, and one brings honor. Pride is wrong even if it is only in the “imagination of their hearts.” Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 16:5). The Lord will destroy the house of the proud. (Proverbs 15:25). God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble (James 4:6). Humility puts you in a place where God can use you, for He cannot use the proud.
She magnified the Lord’s provision (53). This was prophetic. He fed the poor physically and spiritually. Are you hungry? The measure of your hunger is the measure of God’s supply. Are you rich (feel self-sufficient)? You will miss all of God’s supply and go away empty.
She magnified God’s faithfulness (54-55). He is the same today as He was for Mary, Jacob, and Abraham. God chose Mary, Israel (Jacob), and Abraham not because any of them deserved it but because He is a God of mercy and compassion.
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together (Psalm 34:3).

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cHRISTIAN EDUCATION PREPARES CHILDREN FOR LIFE

11/10/2018

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Christian education is a strong conviction for some parents and merely a convenience for others. Sometimes people think that "isolating" children from the "real world" is not good for them and, therefore, decide to subject their children to the evils of the "real world" in order to let them learn how to deal with the problems they will eventually face anyhow. This way of thinking is not consistent with other areas and certainly does not give proper preparation to the student. We would never allow a student to fly an airplane without adequate preparation first. We would never place a child into college without first giving him the necessary preparation, or he would be doomed to failure. Why would we think that we could turn a child loose into an environment for which he is not prepared?
     Having a child in a Christian school does shelter the child from a lot of evil, but certainly not from all of it. It is the duty and responsibility of Christian parents to protect and shelter their children from any and all evils of Satan for as long as they can possibly shield them. Notice what God says we should do to those who teach things opposite of what He teaches in the Scripture.
     "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good works and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil" (Romans 16:17-19).
     What are these teachings that are "contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned" that we are to "avoid"? A few of these contrary teachings are as follows: that abortion (murder) is right under certain circumstances, that homosexuality is an acceptable, alternate lifestyle, that religion (especially Christianity) has no right to be mixed with government, that evolution is fact, that education is the answer to society's problems with drugs, sex, and crime. The Bible clearly says Christians are to avoid these teachings. That is one reason why Sumter Christian School exists. We want to help Christian parents avoid these teachings (doctrines) that are contrary to God's Word.
     What is the result of allowing children to sit under the influence of these ungodly teachings? These teachings "deceive the hearts of the simple." Satan is very deceptive and can transform himself into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). The verse above says that "good words and fair speeches" deceive the simple. Satan knows that if he used methods that were obviously evil, then no one would be deceived. Satan is a master deceiver. He works overtime in making sin look "not so bad." Revelation 20:10 says, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." John 8:44 says that there is NO truth in him and that he is a liar and the father of lies. One of his goals is to deceive and seduce our children, and we as Christian parents must protect our children by using every available means. Ephesians 6:11 says, "Put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
      The "contrary teachings" listed above are only a few of the false teachings that have their source in hell. We must shield, protect, isolate, and shelter our children from as much sin and deception as possible for as long as possible, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor. 2:11). His devices are deceit and trickery.
     In the passage from Romans quoted in the third paragraph of this article we are told to be "simple concerning evil." The word translated simple is the Greek word akeraios, which means "without any mixture of deceit." If Christians are to avoid subjecting their children to the deceitful teachings of Satan, there must be consistency with the teachings of the home, church, and school. That is why Christian education to many parents is not merely one choice in a smorgasbord of selections, but it is a Scriptural conviction, whether carried out in the confines of a traditional Christian school or a home school. Subjecting our children to the deceitful teachings of Satan should not be an option.
     David said in Psalm 101:3, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me." The principle found in Romans of marking them which teach "contrary doctrine" and avoiding them is not new. It was practiced long before fundamentalists of today and even before the Apostle Paul.
     Christian education continues to help parents identify false teachings so we can avoid them, keep our children from being deceived by "good words and fair speeches," and teach our children to be "wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil."

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Weapons of Our Warfare: the Strategy of Education

9/27/2014

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Training children is a battle, but it is worth every fight. The joys we receive from watching children grow up far outweigh the battle scars, especially when we see the children mature to love and serve the Lord. There are many battles we face in our personal lives, our families, our country, etc., but battles are not nearly as bad when we are totally prepared for them. Going into a battle without proper preparation can be discouraging and defeating. There are at least three weapons that we can use as parents and educators to guarantee victory. The following passage refers to “the weapons of our warfare.” There are three underlined words that have to do with the mind, thus allowing us to tie this passage to education.

“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:4-5).

If we are going to see our children be victorious, we must engage in the battle for them, for they are unable to fight by themselves. We want them to be victorious in the behavior battle, in the academic battle, and, of course, in the spiritual battle. There are three “weapons of our warfare” that are essential for winning these battles. These weapons are the Word of God, prayer, and faith. We must be constantly in the Word of God and “meditate therein day and night.” Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (in battle).”

The word translated warfare in verse 4 is the Greek word strateia, from which we get our English word strategy. If we have no strategy for training our children, we will probably lose them to the enemy, who takes them as the spoil of the battle. The enemy we face is Satan. He throws many obstacles in the way of our children to make them fall. These obstacles can be friends, music, movies, activities, or a variety of other things. Satan transforms himself into an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14) so his weapons do not always look dangerously harmful, though they certainly are regardless of their form.

As we see from the three underlined words (imaginations, knowledge, and thought) in the passage of Scripture, the battle is for the minds of our children. Satan knows that if he can control the mind, he can control the actions, for actions are responses to thoughts in the mind.

One of Satan’s weapons is to attack “the knowledge of God” (verse 5). An education without the knowledge of God is not only a useless education, it is an education that is against God. Education is not neutral. A secular education is against the knowledge of God. Jesus taught this principle in Luke 11:23 when He said, “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.” In this battle for the minds of our children, there is no neutrality in the eyes of God. If we as parents and educators find ourselves fighting against God, then we are also fighting against our children. We cannot fight against God at the same time that we are using the weapons of the Word of God, prayer, and faith. When we lay aside or ignore these weapons, we have surrendered to the enemy and have deserted our post.

The end of verse 5 says, “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” The negative side of secular education as we saw in the previous paragraph is that it is against the knowledge of God. The positive side of Christian education is that it attempts to bring the thoughts of the mind into the obedience of Christ. Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

In Christian education, whether at the elementary, high school, or college level, students are not taught against the knowledge of God. In Christian education, students are taught to develop their minds in such a way that their thoughts and actions are in obedience to Christ. A secular education (one without Christ) trains the mind for a secular world, but a Christian education trains the mind for the world to come. In this battle for the minds of our children, be sure to have the right strategy with the weapons of the Bible, prayer, and faith. To educate the mind in an educational system without these three weapons is to lose the battle for our children.

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Duck Dynasty

12/21/2013

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Freedom of Speech - not the issue

A lot of people have vowed to "Stand with Phil." He was fired by A&E for stating his Biblical view of sin. He is not in jail and has not received any penalty from the government. He has freedom of speech. The government has not prohibited him from believing the Bible or practicing his beliefs. He has freedom of religion. He has suffered persecution from his employer for publicly taking a Biblical stand against sin. Jesus promised this would happen. The same thing would likely happen if a teacher in a government school quoted the Bible and took a Biblical stand publicly for Christ. So in some cases we see our religious liberty slipping away, and we see that a Biblical stand against sin is not politically correct and may bring persecution. Some rights we have as Americans are not promised to us in the Bible. It is good to see nearly 2 million people "Stand with Phil." As Christians we need to stand together and speak the truth in love. People need to hear the truth about sin, not a feel-good message that God accepts everyone as they are. He does not. He loves all and proved it by sending His Son to die for sinners (Romans 5:8). He only accepts us in Christ, "the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6). All have sinned and the consequence is eternity in hell. The good news is that Jesus forgives, saves, and delivers from sin. When He saves us, He makes everything new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus promised that things would get worse before His return to earth. We shouldn't be surprised when we are called haters and all kinds of other derogatory names when we take a stand for Christ and a stand against sin as the Bible does.

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Mary’s Magnifying Song of Praise (luke 1:46-55)

cHRISTIAN EDUCATION PREPARES CHILDREN FOR LIFE

Weapons of Our Warfare: the Strategy of Education

Duck Dynasty

Freedom of Speech - not the issue

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