Open your Bibles, please, to Luke chapter 1. It's been 43 years this past Friday since A. W. Tozer passed away. Some of you are not familiar with A. W. Tozer, T-O-Z-E-R. If you're not familiar with Tozer's writings, I recommend them highly to you, especially his book, The Pursuit of God. It's a book every Christian should read. Tozer's tombstone is engraved with this simple epitaph, a man of God. Now, we speak quite often about this man of God or that man of God. It's a common phrase on our lips. We use that phrase to speak of a man who's walked with God, a man who has been used in some extraordinary way by God. But this Mother's Day, I think it's appropriate that we spend some time talking about a woman of God. Today, I want to challenge every lady here from teenager to grandmother to be a woman of God. To be a woman used by God in her home, in her church, in her community, in her nation. When we speak of a woman of God, it seems to me that there is one woman who is more central to the plan of God than any other in Scripture. Her name was Mary. She was handpicked by God to be the mother of Jesus. Of all the maidens of the tribe of Judah, God chose her to be the physical vessel by which the Son of God would take flesh. Now, while I acknowledge that Mary was a woman of God, while I acknowledge the place that she played in the plan of God, I do not mean to give any credence to several of the doctrines that the Roman Catholic Church teaches about Mary. I feel like I need to make that clear up front. I don't want anyone to misunderstand me this morning. For centuries, there have been those in the Roman Catholic Church that have taught that Mary was sinless. that she was conceived without sin, a doctrine called the Immaculate Conception. Others have taught that she was bodily assumed into heaven, that she did not die. Within the last century, several of the popes have made these doctrines part of the official dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. But these doctrines have no support anywhere in Scripture. And I want to be very clear as we begin to talk about Mary this morning, that while I call her a woman of God, I don't want you to think that I'm supporting or teaching any of those unscriptural doctrines. Rather, Mary's life speaks to us on two different levels than the worship that is often brought to her in the Roman Catholic Church. First of all, Mary gives us a picture of what a woman of God looks like. what the traits are in her life that mark her as a woman of God. And in the second place, Mary's example teaches how to develop those traits, how to become a person that God uses. So, first of all, for most of the time that we have together this morning, we want to examine what the Scriptures say about Mary in order to discern what a woman of God looks like. Or, to put it a little bit differently, The life that God uses is marked by certain characteristics. And ladies, if you wish to be used by God in your home, in your church, in your community, then these traits are something that you need to concern yourself with, something that you need to be focused upon. These are the traits that God looks for, I believe, in those that He uses. In Mary's life, we see seven of them. And because there are seven, I'm going to be making my way through them rather quickly. So please stick with me. I encourage you to take notes. The first and most obvious trait, at least as far as I'm concerned, in Mary's life is submission. Submission. Read with me here in Luke chapter 1, verses 35 through 38, verses that many of us are very familiar with. Luke one beginning in verse thirty five. And the angel answered and said to her the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that holy one who is to be born will be called the son of God. Now indeed Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren for with God nothing will be impossible. Then Mary said, Behold, the maidservant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. Now the English version softened the word that Mary used in verse 38. That word simply is the female form of the word slave. Mary said, Behold, the slave of the Lord. Let me ask you ladies to put yourself in Mary's sandals for a moment. An angel comes to you and says, this is the Gerard paraphrase now, God wants to use you in a big way, but your life will never be the same again. What would you say? What would your response be? Mary responded, I'm the Lord's slave. And that word slave in Mary's mouth here means I have no will of my own. I'm completely submitted to Your will, O Lord. To use the words of Romans 12, 1 and 2, Mary was saying, I present my body a living sacrifice. That is the attitude that God uses. Let me ask you, ladies, have you prayed the prayer of Mary we find here in verse 38? If you wish to be used of God in your home, in your church, in your community, then I commend that prayer to you. And we've heard a lot in the last few years about the prayer of Jabez. A lot of people have been encouraged to pray the prayer of Jabez. Well, ladies, this morning I encourage you to pray the prayer of Mary. To pray, Behold the slave of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. I'll do whatever you ask, O Lord. Years back, when Jeannie and I were In Mississippi, we had a missionary family to our home. I will never forget this family. They had six children, six very well-behaved children, stair steps. And they traveled all over the country in a tiny, and I mean tiny, travel trailer. Two parents, six kids in this little travel trailer. And as we talked with that missionary wife and mother, she shared with us her struggle to pray Mary's prayer. She told us that she could never yield to God all the way because she thought that if she prayed, God, I'll do whatever you ask. I yield fully to you. She thought that it would cost her her children. Sitting there in our living room, she gave testimony that when she finally yielded, when she finally prayed this prayer, that God's blessing flowed in her life as never before. The woman that God uses is a woman who has submitted in this way. The second trait of a woman of God is faith. Faith. You know, often when we read the verses that we read just a few moments ago here in Luke 1 as part of the Christmas story, you know, we think they're beautiful and they're wonderful, but I don't think we take their full measure. I don't think we often let the full significance of those words weigh on our hearts. I think Mary understood immediately and completely what the angel was telling her, that she was going to be pregnant without a husband. Now in our day, that would be no big deal. The stigma attached to unwed mothers has long since passed from our culture. When we lived in Greenville, Mississippi, illegitimate births actually outnumbered legitimate births in that community. It was that common. We have Hollywood actresses today that are making it glamorous to be an unwed mother. I can tell you there was nothing glamorous about this in New Testament times. Mary's pregnancy at the very least would have been misunderstood. More likely, she would have been suspect of the darkest sins. You remember, the Jewish leaders brought a person just like Mary to Jesus to be stoned. She had to see that her very life was in danger as this angel spoke to her. Remember that she nearly lost her betrothed. When Joseph learned of her condition, he took steps to break off their relationship. And yet Mary faced this dangerous and doubtful situation with joyful faith. Look down in verses 46 through 49 at what she says to her Aunt Elizabeth. When you put these remarks in context, they're remarkable. And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. Mary was not focused on the dangers. She wasn't focused on the doubts. She was focused on the promises of God. She was focused on the mighty power of God. She was a woman of faith. And I can tell you, God never uses someone lest they be a person of faith. I move quickly on. A third characteristic marked Mary's life, and that is service. Service. According to verse 36, Elizabeth was already six months pregnant when Mary came to visit her. That's what verse 36 means when it says, this is now the sixth month. At that point, Mary came. And according to verse 56, a little bit later on in the chapter, we learn that Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months. Now, what does that tell you? Was this a three-month social call? I don't think so. Elizabeth was well up in years. She was past the age of conceiving. If you read Luke chapter 1, it was a miracle that she should conceive at this point. And so no doubt the last three months of her pregnancy were very difficult. And Mary was there to help her through those last three months. And yet she was in the first three months of her pregnancy. And many of you ladies know that oftentimes the first three months especially for a new mother a mother pregnant for the first time those first three months are the most difficult months. And yet Mary was there to help and support Elizabeth. This is the third trait that I believe God seeks in those that he would use selfless service to others. You know, when I read through Proverbs 31 and its description of the virtuous woman, again and again, this element rings through. Selfless service for others. I emphasize this trait to you Christian ladies this morning because it seems to me that this whole concept of service is under attack today in our culture by the feminist movement. Women are being told today that they have a right to self-fulfillment, whatever it may cost their families. The media teach women in a hundred different ways that it's the woman's role no longer to serve. The servant's heart that we see in Mary is a subject of ridicule. That's why so many of the feminist organizations out there are so vehement with regard to abortion. Abortion is the ultimate expression of this attitude. It is a woman saying, I have a right to my self-fulfillment, even if it costs the life of my child. And I urge you, ladies, in the face of everything that you're being told today, you need to understand that God seeks this trait in a woman of God. in a woman that he would use in her home, in her church, in her community. I also see in Mary a fourth characteristic. I'll call it devotion. Mary had a spiritual walk with God that I stand in awe of. It's revealed in verses 46 through 55 here in Luke chapter 1. We're not going to take time to read through that. We call this the Magnificat. This is Mary's prayer of worship and adoration as she came to Elizabeth's home. And it displays for all to see the depth of her devotion to God. If you study that prayer carefully, you'll find that more than a dozen times she quotes or alludes to Scripture in that short prayer, to the book of Psalms in particular. And you need to remember, at this time she was probably no older than 20, probably younger than that, may very well have been in her mid-teens. It's obvious in the words of Joshua 1.8 that she meditated in God's Word day and night. It was constantly in her mouth. You can see the godliness of her heart, the kind of walk daily that she had with God reflected in this prayer. And Mary's devotion is also revealed in the repeated saying of Scripture that she kept all these things in her heart and pondered them. Mary apparently was a thoughtful person. She spent time in quiet reflecting on what God was doing in her life. Listen, ladies, this is the foundation of successful Christian womanhood. You can try all the formulas that the magazines have to offer. You can listen to the tapes and you can go to the seminars. But if you do not walk daily with God. They will be of little help. I like the prayer that Sharon quoted before. Her song this morning. That morning prayer, that prayer for grace, that prayer of confession, that's what makes a woman great is that walk with God. It's only as you keep your heart fired with God's Word that you'll be able to warm the heart of a child or a grandchild. It's only as you keep a healthy devotional life that you're going to have the wisdom to deal with a spouse that disagrees with you, a spouse that frustrates you, a co-worker who gives difficulty to you. The fourth characteristic of a person that God uses is they have this kind of daily faithful walk with God. And now turn over to chapter 2 here in the book of Luke, probably just over a page, and we'll find the next element that marked Mary's character in verses 41 and 42. Luke 2 verses 41 and 42. And in fact, the passage actually goes beyond that. His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he, that is Jesus, was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. And you know the rest of the story, how they forgot Jesus there at the temple. You've never done that, have you? Left the child. I won't tell you about the times I have. Let my daughters do that for you." I think this is the nightmare of all parents, but Mary did that, Joseph did that, and of course they came back to discover Jesus conversing with the rabbis and confounding them. And in these verses we see a demonstration of Mary's discipleship. Her discipleship. She was a discipler. She was a mentor. And in Mary's case, as it is with many Christian ladies, her discipling was primarily directed toward her own children. And this story that we just read demonstrates Mary's success in mentoring Jesus. Jesus dumbfounded the rabbis with his knowledge of the Scriptures. Now, I have no doubt that Jesus had some supernatural insight into God's Word, even as a 12-year-old. But I think we are mistaken if we do not see an indication here of Mary's faithfulness in instructing her firstborn child. She was a mentor. She was a disciple in her own home. And I encourage you, Christian mother, Christian grandmother, often you have the greatest ministry that God could possibly give you right in your own home. You are there at the teachable moments with that child. You're there in those early formative years. You are the one that has the greatest chance to read the Bible stories and to shepherd that child's heart to point him to the grace of God. You're there to give him the right kind of music. Listen, you give children the right kind of music day and night through their first 4, 5, 6, 7 years, that music will be theirs for the rest of their lives. You're the ones that will sing the hymns with them that they will never forget. You are the one that will form that life. Give your child that framework in which the Holy Spirit can work. No parent can force the gospel on a child, but every parent, and I think particularly a mother, can put the sword in the Spirit's hand so that he can pierce the heart of that child and bring him to Jesus Christ. G. Campbell Morgan was perhaps the greatest Bible expositor of the 20th century. He has been called the Prince of Expositors. Though he has been dead now for many decades, his sermons and his books are still in demand because of how keen his analysis of scripture is. Morgan had four sons and all of them were ministers. And at a family reunion, one of the friends asked one of his sons, he said, which Morgan is the greatest preacher? And you've got the four sons, you've got the father. And that son looked directly at his father, at the great prince of expositors, and he answered, mother. You have the opportunity. No one else does. to be a woman of God in your home. And by the way, you know, most Bible scholars believe that Joseph passed away not long after this incident, sometime during the youth of the Lord Jesus, before his brothers reached their teens. But even alone, without her husband, Mary was successful in training the rest of those children for God. We know that her training was successful because she was instrumental in leading those sons. Now, think about this. Leading those sons to trust their brother after the flesh, Jesus, for their eternal salvation. They were numbered among the disciples. They came to trust the Messiah. Two of them wrote books of the New Testament. Did you know that? Mary was successful even on her own. An inspiration to any mother who has to raise children without a father. God can give grace to do even that. Well, there's two further characteristics. And the next one, again, it seems to me without this trait, God never really uses anyone. Because if you don't have this trait, it short circuits God doing great things in a life. Mary exemplifies in the sixth place perseverance or endurance. God gave Mary the grace to endure. Look with me here in chapter two and verses thirty four and thirty five. This records an incident that took place when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus at the age of eight days to the temple for his dedication. So then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. A sword will pierce through your own soul. None of us will ever know this side of eternity, the pain that that sword inflicted on Mary's heart. But consider, Christ was totally misunderstood by his own townspeople. They tried to stone him. The religious leaders accused him of being demon possessed. Ultimately, his own nation condemned him to one of the cruelest deaths ever invented. And Mary saw all of this with her own eyes. She watched that boy that she had once held, that she had once nursed. She saw him broken and bleeding and defaced upon the cross. Now, it's unusual if a mother does not endure some kind of pain and suffering in some way because of her children. I wonder myself, as I said earlier, how many gray hairs I added to my mother's head. But the point that I want to make this morning is that the person that God uses bears up under that kind of pain. and bears up under that kind of suffering and sticks with it. Mary bore all of this and yet stuck with it. God doesn't use quitters. God uses those who endure. It seems to me so often we want God to work on our time schedule. And when he doesn't, we quit. Folks, we've got to work on God's time schedule. And with the Lord a day is as a thousand years. And therefore, we must endure. We must be patient. We must bear up under whatever comes our way if we expect to be a man of God or a woman of God, someone that God uses. And then I have left for last a point that you would think logically comes first, actually. But in Mary's life, it actually occurred chronologically after all the others. And that is her regeneration. Her regeneration through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God does not use you if you have not been regenerated. If you have not trusted Christ and he has not given you a new heart, you're not the kind of person that God can use. And in Mary's case, it's rather unusual. Turn over with me to Acts chapter 1. I've got to tell you, if these verses weren't in Scripture, I'm not sure that I could bring myself to believe that Mary came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever thought about how difficult it must have been for Mary to put her faith, the weight of her eternal soul on that little baby boy that she bore, that she nursed, that she changed? Can you imagine the difficulty there must have been for her to come to the place where she said, yes, I will put the weight of my eternal soul on what He has done on the cross? I think Mary's struggle is often forgotten because the gospel speaks so much about the disciples, about their struggle. to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ after his death and his resurrection. But I believe Mary had all of those struggles and more. And yet we read this in Acts chapter 1 beginning in verse 12. Then they returned, speaking of the disciples, to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, where they had seen the Lord ascend into heaven, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day journey. And when they had entered, They went up into the upper room where they were staying. Peter, James, John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. She was numbered with the disciples. Through all of that struggle, she came to the place to where she trusted her Son after the flesh, Jesus Christ, for the salvation of her soul. Now, there may be someone here this morning who's going through that same kind of struggle. Jesus died for you He was a man. He was Mary's son, but he was God as well and he died in your place To bear all of your sin past present and future and all you need do is put your faith in him He will forgive your sin he will give you a new heart oh I urge you to come to him today and If you would be a woman of God, this is the very first step that you must take. Well, I've left perhaps the most important point for the end. During my career in the business world, I have been involved in strategic planning on several occasions. The first thing you do in strategic planning is to decide where you want to go. What do you want your company to look like? What do you want your department to look like? So the first thing you do in strategic planning is you define the what. You know, you put things on paper, you really do, you put things on paper like you say, our company will be number one in market share when you currently have 3%. Or you say things like this, our company will develop the greatest product since sliced bread. You know, this is what strategic planning is all about. You set this wonderful vision out there and you say, this is where we're going. This is what we want to be. That's the first step in strategic planning. That's the easy step. Because then you have to come behind and answer the question, how are we going to do that? How are we going to get to number one in market share? How are we going to create the greatest product since sliced bread? The how is always more difficult than the what. And it's no different in spiritual matters. It's easy to find good examples in scripture, folks. Examples like Mary. It's easy to say, a woman of God looks like this. A woman of God has these seven traits. That's the what. We've been talking about the what up to this point. This is what a woman of God should be. That's the easy part. You know, quite often we read biographies or we study scripture, we study the lives of great men and women, and we are actually discouraged by what we read. Because we cannot figure out how we could be like that. We can't fathom how we could ever be a woman of God or a man of God. And so this second point, I think, is the most important point. And so if you have tuned out up to this point, please tune back in. You've got to get this. How to become the kind of woman of God we've talked about. The secret to Mary's character is actually found back at the beginning of her story, back in chapter 1, Luke 1, verses 28 through 30. So turn back with me to Luke chapter 1, verses 28 through 30. and having come in the angel said to her to Mary rejoice highly favored one the Lord is with you blessed are you among women. But when she saw him she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was then the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God. Now it's unfortunate that uniformly I mean, I looked at like 10 different versions yesterday. Uniformly, our English versions mask the very first usage of the word grace in the New Testament. In verse 28, here's what the angel actually said to her. Rejoice, one who has been highly endued with grace. And then in verse 30, the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. How did Mary become such a woman of God? By grace. Grace is God's supernatural enabling. You know, it's easy to look at Mary's life and say, it's impossible that I should ever be that kind of person, until you realize that it was humanly impossible for Mary to be that kind of person. What she was, she was because of God's supernatural enabling. Because she was highly endued with grace. Well, you say, well, that's great for Mary, but I don't have supernatural enabling. Oh, wait a minute. But you do if you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. That grace begins to flow the very moment you come to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him. The very moment He makes you new within, that grace begins to flow. John 1.16 says, we have all received of Christ's fullness and grace upon grace. I have this picture in my head. That when I come to Christ for the first time and I ask Him to cleanse me and save me and change me, when I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, He just dumps this grace into me. But soon that grace is gone. But He dumps more and more and more. It never ends. He sang that song this morning. His love has no limit. His grace has no measure. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again. See, ladies, you can live lives like Mary's. You can be used of God in your home, in your church, in your community, in your nation, but only by trusting God day by day, moment by moment for the grace that He can give you. So I conclude this morning with a three part challenge. First of all, some of you ladies need to pray the prayer of Mary. You need to pray, I am the Lord's slave, be it unto me according to his will. Whatever God has for me, I submit. Some of you, before we close the service this morning, need to pray that prayer. Others of you today need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to be saved. Jesus has died for you. He bore your sins past, present, and future. And you need to trust Him to forgive all of your sin once and for all and to make you new inside. He'll do that if you'll just trust Him. There's someone here who needs to trust the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. And then finally, some of you. Need to begin to develop some trait that I've talked about this morning. You need to develop that trait by depending on the grace that Christ offers some of you here, just like me, you have tried and tried and tried to develop this. Trait or that characteristic or this fruit of the spirit, and you have failed again and again because in the final analysis, it has been in your own strength. I urge you afresh to commit yourself to forming these character traits, but only with the grace that the Lord Jesus Christ gives moment by moment. Can I have every head bowed, please, and every eye closed? What part of that three-part challenge do you need to respond to this morning? We're going to take about 60 seconds of silence. You respond as the Holy Spirit has spoken to you, as He has applied His Word this morning. You respond, and then we'll close the service.