All right, the doors are shutting. I guess we can get started. I trust that everyone had a Merry Christmas last week. We had a great time. It's good to be with you guys again and to be able to teach this morning. Let's open with a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, we are so thankful that we can gather together in your name among your people, Lord, to worship you and to learn of you, to come humbly into your presence, Lord. and offer unto you, Lord, our praises and thanksgivings, our love, Lord. But you're the one that fills us. You're the one that gives us what we need. We're so thankful, Lord, for the church. I pray, Lord, now that you would open our ears and our hearts, Lord, to receive your word. And I pray that you would speak to us this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so today we have the opportunity to look at another passage concerning our Lord's birth. And we've looked at three others, so this will be the last one. I'm assuming, Jimmy, is that right? This will be the last one. And today we're going to consider Simeon in Luke chapter 2, verses 29 through 32. But before we get into reading the text, it'll be helpful if we kind of set the stage a little bit before we dive in to the passage itself. So Simeon's life likely began during the period when Judea had some political independence after the Maccabees' revolt against the Greek Seleucid Empire. The Jewish Hasmonean dynasty had been established as a result, and they ruled more or less until the Romans made Judea a vassal state, and they elevated Antipater the Edomite, or the Edomian, however you say that. And he was the founder of the Herodian dynasty, and we know of Herod the Great and the other Herods that ruled. Simeon grew up under this Herodian dynasty, and by the time he appears in our text, he is an old man, having lived most of his life under the Roman influence. Now, living through uncertain and tumultuous political times served to heighten the anticipation of the Jews for the promised Messiah, whom they believed would deliver their geopolitical state from their enemies and bring Israel back to the heights of glory under the Son of David, under the Messiah. Even the disciples at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry had their sights set on political independence and political glory. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, Luke records, and they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? So they were still thinking along those lines. That's in Acts chapter 1, verse 6. Now Jesus didn't directly answer their question, but instead gave them a global vision of being his witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth. Even at that time, I don't think the disciples fully grasped the spiritual nature of God's kingdom and its worldwide dimensions. They were thinking too provincially. But even though at the time of Christ's birth the people of Israel didn't understand the true nature of the kingdom of God, they were expectantly waiting this promised child whom they sometimes called, as it's called in our text, as he's called in our text, the consolation of Israel. It's a wonderful title. They knew that he was soon coming because of the prophecy of Daniel, which put the Messiah's appearance in their generation, and they knew that much. Simeon, being of the previous generation really, yearned to catch a glimpse of the Messiah before he died. And like Moses, who was granted a sight of Canaan before his death, Simeon was promised by the Holy Ghost that he would see the Lord's Christ before he died. This communication from God was, in itself, a sign that things were changing. You see, since the prophet Malachi roughly 400 years earlier, God had been silent, if you will. And there were no prophets to bring his word. Malachi had told God's people that God would send his messenger to prepare the way of the Lord, and that the Lord himself, the messenger of the covenant, would suddenly appear in his temple. And then silence, long silence. The prophets had ceased, and there were no further words from the Lord through his prophets. But this all changed when the angel appeared to Zacharias in the temple and foretold the birth of John the Baptist. Later, the word of the Lord came to Mary and to Joseph, to Elizabeth, and now it came to Simeon and to Anna. And so Simeon had a palpable expectation that at any moment Christ would be discovered and he would at long last see the sun promised since the Garden of Eden. Can you imagine Simeon's excitement, God having told him that he would see the Lord's Christ before he died? This one person, this one man who had been anticipated for all ages was to appear in his lifetime. Every night when he went to bed, he must have thought, maybe, maybe it'll be tomorrow. And when he got up in the morning, he must have thought, maybe this is the day. He had great anticipation of seeing the Lord's Christ. We sing a few hymns which capture the longing and expectation of the people of God for Christ's coming. Charles Wesley's Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus seems to be anticipating Christ's second coming, but the thoughts are the same, and he draws from the scriptures concerning Christ's first coming. He says, come thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free. From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel's strength and consolation, he uses that same terminology that's in our text today. Hope of all the earth thou art, dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. And by Charles Wesley's time, obviously in the Christian era, we understand the spiritual nature of God's kingdom and we see that in his words. But even the 12th century Latin hymn translated by John Neal, O Come O Come Emmanuel, is another song that we sing and it speaks of the people of God in terms of captivity and exile, mourning and waiting for the Messiah to appear, encouraging them towards joy as they had faith that Emmanuel would soon come. It says, O come O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. we can sense that expectation that they had. As we think about the people of God, or the people of Israel in the first century BC, do you feel the same longing that they had for the coming of Christ? Are you expectant and full of faith for the return of Christ? Simeon is a good example of one of God's people who was waiting patiently and expectantly for Israel's consolation. Like Simeon, have we ordered our lives to welcome Christ's appearance? Are we ready for his coming? Sometimes in the busyness of life, we can become so preoccupied as to become sidetracked as to our purpose and forget that Christ is coming again. We are again in a period where we're expectantly waiting for Christ to appear. With this backdrop, let's enter into this atmosphere of expectation as we turn to Luke chapter 21 and follow along as I read down to verse 35, starting in verse 21, Luke 2, 21 through 35. And when the eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, His name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem. So Jesus would roughly be 40 days old at this point. To present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel." That's Christ. And the Holy Ghost was upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them and sent unto Mary his mother. Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. And for a sign which shall be spoken against, yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. So the day finally comes when the Holy Spirit leads Simeon into the temple to see the baby Jesus. The law of God required that firstborn sons must be redeemed with an offering. So after the 40 days of Mary's purification, after the birth of a son, they took Jesus to the temple so that that offering could be made. It is here that Simeon sees them, and God's promise to him is fulfilled. But being moved by the Spirit, Simeon has more to do than the mere seeing of Christ, for he is to take him into his arms and prophesy concerning him. Look at verse 28. Then took he up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles. and the glory of thy people Israel. Think about how strange the birth of Christ was. If Christ had been an earthly infant king, he would have been brought into the temple with great fanfare. There would have been music and cheering of all the people as he made his entrance into the temple. All the leaders of Israel would have been present. and all other activities around the temple complex would cease until the king's sacrifice had been completed. The high priest would most likely perform the sacrifice himself. Only important people would be allowed close to one so great as a king. Also, a great number of soldiers would likely be nearby to guard this great child king. But Christ is brought into the temple with none of this. He's only recognized by Simeon and Anna, two complete strangers, at least two complete strangers to Mary and Joseph. And Simeon takes Christ up in his arms. There's no guards keeping him away. He was able to walk right up to Mary and hold the baby Jesus. No one great in the eyes of the world were present, no fanfare, no soldiers, only two elderly servants of the Lord who were able to perceive who it was that had been brought into the temple. Think about this great privilege. The longing of his soul for God's salvation was finally seen. He is allowed to hold the baby Jesus in his arms. God honored this holy man, small in the eyes of the world, to have a special moment to hold in his arms the hope of all mankind. What a different scene we have here than the one that Isaiah witnessed when he saw the Lord on his throne in his holy temple. The seraphims covered their faces as they cried out, holy, holy, holy, holy. If Simeon had attempted to touch the Lord in that scene, he would likely have been immediately incinerated. But here, the Lord comes to his temple. His glory veiled with human flesh. Yet in this child dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. But he came as one of us. He laid aside that glory. And he came as one of us to be approachable, to represent us, to intercede for us. He came humbly, poor, weak. That's astonishing. Christ came into his temple humble. He's an infant. He came to save the poor in spirit. the heavy laden soul, those that need rest. He came to save sinners. And because of this mission, Christ's sword was sheathed. His power and glory were hidden, as it were, from our eyes. He came as a helpless baby. Maybe you have come into this place today burdened with sin. The Lord Jesus is still approachable. Think about that. They were able to walk right up to the baby Jesus. They were not struck down. He has an open invitation. He said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. This is the approachable Lord Jesus Christ who came into his temple. He came to save. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. This is who the baby Jesus is, the Savior. Now let's turn our attention to what Simeon had to say when he held the baby Jesus. First, he speaks to God. Afterward, he blesses Mary and Joseph, and then he speaks a prophecy to Mary. We're not going to get into that, but we want to focus on what he said to God when he held Christ in his arms. The first word Simeon utters reveals the relationship that he had with the Lord. It is apparent that Simeon was one who walked with God, and as his prayers to God flow from him like his very breath, he seems oblivious of Mary and Joseph as he speaks directly to the Lord when he takes up Christ in his arms. Think about the strange scene. He takes up the Lord Jesus in his arms, and he begins speaking to God the Father as if he was oblivious of Mary and Joseph. And we've read it a couple of times already, but we'll read it again. He said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel." Simeon's first words were an acknowledgment of God's fulfillment of His word to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. And Simeon, who had long toiled on this earth, was now ready to die. His life mission was accomplished, which was to see and to bear witness of the Savior. See how comfortable Simeon is with his own death. To him, death was peaceful and a departure from this realm to another. He said, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace. In other words, he said, now I can die in peace. He was comfortable with his death. As God's saints, we may know that our death is not an afterthought or an event not overseen with great care by the Lord. To die is to be with the Lord, which is far better than this present life. The psalmist said, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Oh, what peace and joy there is at the prospect of leaving the world of sin and misery to enter the world of righteousness and rest. As we get older, we probably think about that a little bit more than we did when we were 18 to 20 years old. We know that we're going to die unless Christ returns first. How comfortable are we with that? Do we with faith understand that that is a preferable state? Paul said that he preferred to be with the Lord than to be on the earth. And Simeon was also at peace with his own death. Earlier in our passage, we saw that the Messiah was called the consolation of Israel. And now he is referred to in Simeon's prayer as thy salvation. He said, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou has prepared before the face of all people. All the way back in Genesis, Jacob, when he prophesied over his sons, said to the Lord, I have waited for thy salvation, O God. Think about all the prophets, the priests, and the kings, all the saints in the Old Testament who waited for the Christ and did not see him. David said, my soul fainteth for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. They were longing for the Messiah. Jacob longed for Christ. David longed for Christ. All the saints of the Old Testament longed to see the Holy One of Israel. Even the angels wondered about the time and manner of his coming. But blessed are Simon's eyes because he sees and holds the great desire of all ages in his own arms. In a sense, he represents them all as he beholds salvation itself and will soon die with that age of expectation as a new age is born, the age of salvation. In the former age, salvation had largely been confined to a remnant of the Jewish nation. But Simeon, by the Holy Spirit, reiterates the prophecy of Isaiah 42.6 when he said that Christ was a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. Matthew Henry commenting on this verse said, for Christ came to be the light of the world not a candle in the Jewish candlestick, but the sun of righteousness. Let me say that again. For Christ came to be the light of the world, not a candle in the Jewish candlestick, but the sun of righteousness. I love that. In Simeon's prayer, Before he speaks of Christ as the light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Israel, he speaks of Christ, the Lord's salvation, as being prepared before the face of all people. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. What does it mean that Christ was prepared before the face of all people? To prepare is to make ready, to provide. God was soon to send John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord for the Jewish nation, but something more expansive is being said here. The all people in this verse is defined in the next phrase, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. He's speaking in terms of all people, Jews and Gentiles, not just the Jewish nation. All people here is referring to both Jews and Gentiles. And so this preparation is in the presence of them all. We certainly have Gentile representatives who witnessed the Christ child as the wise men from the east, which came to worship him. And he was brought up under the Roman occupation of Judea and Galilee. And so it was that God's salvation was prepared in the face of all people. They were present in those ways, a representative of the Gentiles and in the Jewish nation. But this also may be an allusion to Isaiah chapter 25, verse six, where the Lord promised to make a feast for all people. It says, and in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined. The salvation of the Lord is indeed a feast of fat things and the best wine, and the most glorious part of it is that there is a feast prepared for both Jews and Gentiles together. Simeon is saying that Christ isn't only for the Jews, but for all people, and that they were all invited to God's feast, God's salvation. You see, God's intention for salvation was never that it be confined only to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All men fell in Adam. And Christ the second Adam represents people from all nations. This banquet of salvation is for all of us. God has prepared his feast and you and I are invited. If you've never tasted of the Lord's good things, he is calling you now with these very words. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. The Lord is a feast. His salvation is nourishing. It's life. Now returning to the last part of Simeon's prayer, he says that Christ is a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. The word Translated lighten in the King James Version means to illuminate, to enlighten. Christ is the light that shines in a dark place. He is revealed unto the Gentiles who long sat in darkness. Isaiah said, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. The light being referred to here is Christ himself. Jesus said in John 8, 12, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Christ literally fulfilled this prophecy of Isaiah 9, 2. In Matthew 4, 12 through 17, which quotes this text explicitly, You see, Christ had his childhood in Nazareth, but when he began his ministry, he traveled to Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, which is the region of Galilee known as Galilee of the Gentiles. This was a region where many Gentiles resorted, a place where both Jews and Gentiles were present. So even in the beginning of Christ's ministry, there was this tip of the hat, if you will, this foreshadowing of the calling of the Gentiles. But Jesus, beginning his ministry in Capernaum, was only the beginning of the fulfillment of Isaiah 9-2, as the gospel was not yet fully preached to the Gentiles. Remember, Jesus said he came not but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The way hadn't yet been opened. And so there was a greater fulfillment. And that waited until after the death and resurrection of Christ himself. But it's very significant that Jesus began his ministry here in Galilee of the Gentiles. In the last part of Simeon's prayer, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he calls Christ the glory of thy people Israel. And so he is. Whether the Jews recognized it or not, which most of them did not, Christ is the glory of Israel. If we were to inspect the life of any Christian, We might look pretty good from a distance. If you looked at me from a mile away, I look pretty good. Can't see anything wrong with him. But as we zoom in to see more clearly, we'll notice the failings and imperfections that are there in abundance. How many of us have been disappointed in our heroes of the past and present when upon scrutiny, we see breaches of character and many weaknesses? Psalm 118.8 says, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Man will let you down. Some of my heroes of the past would never even tolerate a Baptist to fellowship in their church. Jeff and I were talking about this last night. They're still my heroes, but they didn't understand some things. Some might have gone so far as to persecute us, given the right scenario. Even many times when Christians join a new church, after a few years they become disappointed when they begin to see some of the weaknesses of the pastors. But this is always the case with mere men. Upon close scrutiny we see faults. So don't put your trust in man. You will always be let down. But the same is not true about the glory of Israel. From a distance, he looks very much like us. But when we zoom in to inspect his life, his glory begins to shine brighter and brighter. The glory of Israel shines brightly regardless of his own nation who rejected him. In fact, he shines because of their rejection of him. As he was lifted up between heaven and earth on the cross, he looked upon his persecutors and said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. When he was reviled, he didn't retaliate. He even forgave one of the thieves on the cross who moments earlier was cursing him. Now, who does such a thing? That's glory. When you inspect Christ, when we zoom in on his life, we stand in awe. There's no man ever that's like Christ. He is the glory of Israel. Oh, but the glory of Israel shines from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the earth. Our calendars pivot upon Anno Domini AD, the year of our Lord. Even the heathen take note and celebrate the glory of Israel. They celebrate what we celebrated last week, Christmas. Our whole nation shuts down on Christmas Day. It was a Monday. Why? Was nobody at work. It's because of Christ, the glory of Israel. He is truly a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. So I want to encourage us as we enter the new year, let us not be negligent to honor God's salvation, to thank the consolation of Israel, to rejoice in the light who lightens the Gentiles, that's us, and to bless the glory of Israel. Amen.