We turn together this evening
to God's word and let's turn to the chapter we read in the
gospel according to Luke and chapter 2. And we'll read together
the words of Simeon found in verses 29 to 32. Luke 2 verses
29 to 32. 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 tonight I really want to
consider this character Simeon and the words that he speaks
in these verses. Well, I'm sure all of us have
known occasions where we are looking forward to something,
be it a holiday, a birthday, or Christmas, or an outing of
some kind, something that we are looking forward to going
to or coming to. And sometimes when it may be
a long way ahead of us, it feels like an agony waiting for the
days to pass and the event to come. But when it comes, in a
sense, the waiting has been worth it. And in some ways, the waiting
has made it all the better. We appreciate the event or the
occasion more because we have been waiting. A different illustration, have
you ever been awake at night and unable to sleep? Maybe there's
something we've been worried about or something the next day
or the coming days which is playing on our mind and you have a fitful
sleep and then you wake up in the early hours and you just
can't get back to sleep. And I think it's right to say
that things always seem to be much worse at night. Things that
we can take in our stride and we can cope with in our minds
during the day seem to become all the much bigger at night
time. and we find ourselves longing
for the day, longing for the sun to rise and to get up and
into the day when hopefully things may seem that much better. Imagine
being a soldier at night time. We know what it's like when we
can't sleep or It seems dark and difficult at night time.
Imagine being a soldier at night time, particularly in the older
days when they were on guard duty on the walls of a city or
of a castle. I think a knight must have felt
a very long time when you're on guard duty on the walls of
a city. It would be dark and obviously
as a result you wouldn't be able to see much. Particularly in
older days, without the electricity and brighter bulbs, it would
have been candlelight. If anything at all, you wouldn't
have seen much. It would be darkness all around you. And of course,
naturally speaking, night time is a more dangerous time. A time
when you, in some ways, need to be on your guard because you
can't see an attacker coming. You can't see the danger coming
far off because it's dark. There are less people about to
help you and keep you alert. They're all sleeping, but there
you are on the walls of the city, and your job is to maintain the
defences and bring the alert should any attack come. It must
feel like a lonely time, a difficult time in the heart in the middle
of the night, and you would long for the morning. Long for the
time when you can see better. Long for the time when that danger
of darkness has passed. You would long for the morning. Well, having used a couple of
illustrations, waiting for a particular event, or awake at night worrying,
or a soldier on guard at night, all bring to the same point that
waiting is a hard thing. Being patient. It can be a hard
thing. And the psalmist in Psalm 130
describes this patience to describe waiting for the Lord. It says, I wait for the Lord. My
soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for
the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say
more than they that watch for the morning. So he takes this
picture of someone longing for the morning to come, be it at
home or unable to sleep, or be it on the walls of a city on
guard. But either way you are watching
and you are longing that the morning would come. And he says
it is like that, that he longs for God. A deep burning desire
that he would know God and his blessing. He longs for God as
they that watch for the morning. and he is longing for God because
he needs God, because he desires God, because he cannot do without
God. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord, he says. Lord, hear my voice. He has a longing and a need and
a desire for God, but there is a sense of hope that though he
is longing for God, he believes that God will answer and God
will come. Like as we may feel in the middle
of the night that things seem so much worse and so much more
difficult and we long for the day, but deep down we know, don't
we, that a day will come. As long as the earth remains,
the sun will rise. And so the psalmist here waits
and longs for God, but believes he will come. But at the moment,
as he longs, It is dark. Well, Simeon was a man who was
waiting. He was a man that was longing
for God, longing for fulfillment of a promise. And I believe Simeon
could have joined with Psalm 130 and said that he was waiting
and longing even as like them that watch for the morning. So what do we know about Simeon?
What do we learn about him? Well, firstly, we learn that
he is just and a devout man. So he believes in God. He is not someone who is uncaring
and unthoughtful for the things of God. He believes in God and
he is devout in his religion. He obeys God as much as he can. He desires to do as God commands
him to do and as a result he is described as someone who is
just. Clearly, obviously, he's not someone who is in of himself
pure and perfect and sinless, but on the outward, as people
looked on him, he was seen as one who walked uprightly and
walked rightly. His faith and his belief in God
was seen in his outward conduct, was seen in that he was described
as just and one who was devout in the things of God. Simeon's
religion was real to him. It wasn't something just on the
outside and something just on certain days. It was real to
him, something he loved, something he really believed. But we know
that Simeon was also waiting for something. He knew that there
was something to come, and we're told what it is. It's described
as the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. What does that mean? Consolation.
To console someone is to comfort someone, or to care for them
in their need, in their sadness. And he was waiting for someone
who was going to come and console, and someone who was going to
comfort. Clearly he was waiting for the promised Messiah. for
the one who was going to come to redeem his people, who was
going to come amongst his people Israel to save them and to console
and to comfort them and to usher in the redemption of God. He
was looking and waiting and longing for the consolation of Israel.
He was looking for Christ, even as others had done. Adam and Eve, had looked for
Christ, having received the promise of a coming Saviour. Abraham
looked for Christ, having received the promise that through his
seed all nations would be blessed. Moses looked for Christ. David
looked for Christ. The prophets looked for Christ. And Simeon joined these characters
in also longing and waiting for the consolation of Israel. And
there is this sense of longing, made all the more because at
that point he had not seen. He had not seen it as no one
else before had either. And that brought more deeper
longing. But he was also longing all the
more because Simeon, different from others, had a specific promise. It was revealed unto him by the
Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. So he is looking for the consolation
of Israel, but he is, as it were, looking all the more carefully
than others because he personally has a specific promise from God
that he is going to see Christ. He will literally see him, and
he will not die until he does. What a privilege Simeon had.
What a blessing he had that others had not had. That he knew he
would not die before he had seen Christ himself. And therefore
there must be, with his waiting and with his longing, a deep
sense of anticipation that one day he will, because God is faithful
to his promises, God will fulfill this and he will see Christ.
So having this promise and having this waiting for the consolation
and living a just, devout way in his religion and in his life,
Simeon lives out that life in Jerusalem. Because Simeon lived in Jerusalem,
he would have daily, at least seen, and perhaps daily entered
into the temple. It was not a strange place to
him. I'm sure he had been before. As a just and devout man, I'm
sure he had worshipped in the temple before. I'm sure he had
been many times and every time, though he had been blessed to
be in the house of God, though he had been blessed to see the
workings of the temple, in a sense every time he left the temple
with a sense of disappointment. Because once again he had gone
and the promise had not yet been fulfilled. It was good to see
the workings of the temple. It was good to see the types
of Christ which were prefigured there. But every time he left,
he had not seen the promise. He had not seen the Christ. And I wonder if, therefore, he
often left with a sense of disappointment that once again the promise was
left unfulfilled. But then this day came. Then
there was this day when he was led by the Spirit into the temple. We don't know exactly how that
was. We're told simply he was led by the Spirit, so we know
clearly that God led him into the temple, but we don't know
how he was led exactly by the Spirit. Maybe it was a specific
command. Maybe it was a voice or a word
he heard from the Lord. Maybe he was given just simply
an earnest desire. He was given that conviction
in his heart that he must go to worship and he must go to
the temple to spend time with the Lord. Maybe it was his circumstances
which dictated it. Maybe he wasn't particularly
aware that the Spirit was behind this work, but his circumstances
came together to drive him, as it were, to the temple at that
time of day. However it was, we know that
God led him and brought him to the temple. I wonder as he enters
into the temple this day, does he think, will it be today? Will I be disappointed like I've
been before? Or has the morning come? Those who long and wait for the
morning, has the morning come today? Has the day of the fulfilment
finally arrived? Well, can we this evening feel
some affinity with Simeon? Can we understand what it feels
like to wait and to long for the Lord like unto them that
wait for the morning? Have we been hoping? Have we
been longing to see the Lord Jesus Christ for ourselves? Perhaps
have we been hoping and longing that we would see the Lord Jesus
Christ today or this evening? Hoping that today would be the
day when we see him for ourselves. But I wonder, do you feel confused
about that? You want to believe. You want
to know Him. You want to see Him. You know
you're missing something in your life. You're missing something
in your soul, and other people around you have it. And you long
for it, but you feel confused. Well, what is it that you're
looking for? And what is it that you really
hope to find? And what can he do for you? I think often there's a sense
when we're seeking the Lord that we know we need him and we know
we're missing something without him, but we don't really fully
understand what it is that we will find and what it is that
God will bless us with. What will he do for us? What
should we expect? And maybe you've come in this
evening even praying on your way here tonight that God would
bless you and God would speak to you and you would see something
of Christ but you don't really know what to expect. Perhaps
you're thinking that if you're to be a Christian this evening
you need some dramatic event and some amazing conversion and
some drama in your life and in your soul for something really
big and impressive. you don't really know. Have you
spent time, spent time analysing yourself, analysing your heart,
analysing your life, analysing your spiritual situation, and
you've come in saying, I can't find anything there that I need,
that is good, I can't find anything there that answers my need. I
know I need to look out, I know I need to see something outside
of myself. I need to see a Saviour. I need
to know the Lord myself. But like Simon, you've come in
with this longing, but you don't quite know what you might find,
how the Lord might bless you. But this evening, is there that
desire? Is there that longing? that Simeon knew he waited for
the consolation of Israel. Are you waiting for consolation,
for comfort for your soul? Well, what did Simeon find when
he went into the temple that day? He was led 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 he took 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. It would appear that as soon
as he saw Jesus, he knew who he was. As soon as he saw him,
he took him up in his arms and he knew who he was. Now remember
what he was seeing. He was seeing a baby. He was
seeing an infant. Jesus didn't have any signs or
indications physically upon him that he was the fulfillment of
the promise. Simeon didn't know, probably
his Joseph and his mother. He probably didn't know the circumstances
regarding the birth of Bethlehem. We can't be sure, but it's quite
possible he was unaware. But yet, there was something
about the coming in of Mary and Joseph and Jesus that he knew
that this was him, and he immediately believed. He didn't spend time
interrogating them. He didn't spend time asking lots
and lots of questions. He didn't spend time seeing if
they knew complicated answers before he would believe. He knew
when he saw Jesus that he was the Christ. He saw a baby, but
his faith saw the Savior. He didn't just see a Savior. Simeon saw his Savior when he
lifted him up in his arms. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
And Simeon, for him, his religion which had always been real, now
took on that inner depth that he had personally seen and witnessed
the Lord's Christ. That he had actually, though
he may not have fully grasped this truth, nonetheless, he actually
held up in his hands the second person of the Trinity. What an amazing blessing for
Simeon. How many years he had waited,
we do not know. How many times he'd felt disappointed,
we do not know. And yet this day he held in his
arms his saviour. And God had been faithful to
his promise. What did he see? What did he
see in this child? Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He saw salvation in Jesus. He saw that all the promises
and prophecies of the Old Testament from the day of the fall of man
were fulfilled in this child. And he saw that here was the
Savior, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, the
only Savior of mankind. He saw that there was none other.
Here is thy salvation. And he saw, he would not have
grasped fully what was going to come. He would not have known
fully the life that Jesus would live or the death that he would
die. But he saw there that this was what was needed. This was
the saviour that he needed and that millions of others needed
also. He saw salvation. Simeon realized that he and all
mankind needed a savior. And that's why he is so thankful
and praises God because he has a privilege of seeing his salvation. And like Simeon, do we realize
that we need salvation? Because we all do. Whether we
believe it, whether we like it, or whether we accept it or not,
all of us need a saviour. Because we are all sinners. And
because sin has condemned each and every one of us. And because
God, because he is just, because he is holy, and because he is
right, is angry. is rightly angry with sin, because
sin is an affront to him. Sin is a rebellion against him
who is the rightful king of kings and creator and sustainer of
this world. And sin is a denial of the truth. Sin is usurping his throne and
saying, I will rule and I will decide and I know best. A God who is pure and just and
ever faithful to himself and to truth cannot let sin go undealt
with. We need to be saved because sin
has an end point. Many people may say, enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season. Enjoy what the world offers you.
Enjoy the sin which your flesh enjoys. And let's be honest,
flesh enjoys sin. And we enjoy sin. But we forget, if we think like
that, and the world at large forgets, that sin has an end
point. Sin is heading somewhere, and it's heading to hell. And everyone who stays on that
path will always and inevitably be there. And that is why the things of
salvation are so very important. The wonderful thing is that as
Simeon beheld, there is a way of salvation. He saw that this
was the salvation which was brought to mankind. And this evening we must come
to realize there is no other way to be saved. You cannot present anything that
you've done. You cannot present any promises. You cannot present
any good intentions. You cannot present any good works.
You cannot present other people, your spouses, your children,
your parents, and your heritage. You cannot present your knowledge
and your understanding and your abilities to receive doctrinal
truths. You cannot present anything to
the Lord which is acceptable, which can take away the devastating
effect of your sin. Because everything that you bring
falls short of a saviour. It may look good in itself, but
it doesn't counsel out sin. You need a saviour to do that.
You need someone else to do that. And there's only one man who
has ever declared, I am the way and the truth and the life. And that was the man whom Simeon
held up as a child, the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the way, the
truth and the life. I am the way to God. The only
way to God. I am the way of truth. The only
truth is to be found in Him. Everything else deceives us.
I am the way of life. Without me, you will physically
and spiritually die and be cast out of God's presence forever.
I am life, and this is life eternal, that we might know God and Jesus
Christ, whom He has sent. I am the way, the truth, the
life. Here is a Savior who is able
to bear, to carry, and to suffer for the sins of others. Here
is a Savior who is able to die in their place and to raise to
victorious glorious life on their behalf. Here is the Savior. And tonight let us have it ingrained
into our minds and hearts. He is the only, saviour and if
tonight you do not have Christ then you are not saved. He is able to do all for us,
to take the filth of our sin and to clothe us in the perfection
of his righteousness. So Simeon saw then salvation. But he also saw not only salvation,
but he saw God's salvation. Thine eyes have seen thou salvation
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. This
wasn't just salvation, if I can put
it like that. He saw that in Jesus Christ was God's providing,
that thou hast prepared. When we see the person of Jesus
Christ, what we see there is a manifestation of the love of
God. That God would be so gracious
as to send his son. We see in the coming of Jesus
Christ that God looked upon sinners in this world who were lost with
no hope, and he determined to save them. and was willing to
send his son to die for them. That God has intervened into
the situation of your and my soul. Isn't that a tremendous
thought? That God has intervened in the
situation of your soul. And in doing so, he has prepared
the salvation and sent his son. God has made the way to heaven.
It's not something we work out ourselves. God has made the way
to life, it's not something you can do yourself. God calls sinners,
God receives sinners, God forgives sinners. God. You may look on tonight
as the just and the holy and the angry one against sin. This God is also the gracious
and the loving one who forgives sin. So he didn't only see salvation,
he saw God's salvation, but also Simeon saw the scope of this
salvation. He says, which thou hast prepared
before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles
and the glory of thy people Israel. He saw the scope of this salvation
that God had brought. It wasn't just to the Jewish
nation. It was also a light to the Gentiles, to all people. It was to the Jews. It was to
the Jews, those who had trusted in the Lord and in the promises
of His coming. Oh, now it was fulfilled. Those
who were looking for the consolation of Israel, like Simeon and others,
thou they would see Him. and all those throughout the
history of the Jewish nation who had been looking for the
Saviour. Now finally it was fulfilled and for them the coming Messiah
was going to bring on a particular significance. You think of the
people who had been into the temple and seen the types and
then come to recognize that before them was the fulfillment of the
types. It brought on such a much deeper
significance for them. He was indeed the glory of thy
people Israel, but it wasn't only for them. Simeon sees that
it is also now a light to the Gentiles, that those who for
centuries and millennia have sat in darkness, generally speaking,
are going to be brought into light, are going to be brought
into God's family. Simeon saw the scope of this
salvation and Do we feel tonight that we are outside of the reach
of the grace of God, outside of the scope of salvation, outside
of any hope like the Gentiles would have felt for so many years
had they had been concerned about it? The wonderful, glorious truth
here is that as he speaks, the gospel is for all peoples, for
all nations, for all tongues, for all people. You say, but
I've lived many years in unbelief and now I'm reaching an older
age and I've many years of sin behind me. The gospel's for you.
You say, but I'm young and I'm ignorant and I don't understand
much and I'm only a child. I need to be older. No, the gospel
is for you. Say, but I have a busy life and
a hectic, busy schedule at work and at home, and I have a crowd
of people around me and a crowd of distractions around me. I
need to, as it were, get rid of all of that before anything
else. No, the gospel is for you. Say,
but I've done terrible things. I've committed terrible sins
that you don't know anything about. No one else knows how
bad I am. I'm like the Gentiles. I'm in
a deep darkness. The gospel is for you. I haven't got the skills. I haven't
got the grace. I haven't got the talents of
God's people. I haven't got what they have.
No, in yourself maybe you haven't, but the gospel is for you. You
see, the scope of the gospel that Simeon saw was to all peoples,
Jews, Gentiles. And today, tonight, don't allow
anything of our situation in life, whether young or old, or
whatever it may be, don't allow that to drive you away from the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't allow the devil to tell
you that it is simply because of who you are or what you've
done that precludes you from any blessing. It does not. The scope of the gospel was to
the Jews and to the Gentiles. It has gone to all nations. It
has gone to all peoples and is still going to all peoples. And
it's reached us this evening. Tell me why it's not for you. So he saw the scope of this salvation
and this wonderful savior who he beheld. who he saw with his
own eyes, now Simeon was made ready to die. He knew he wouldn't
die until he had seen the Lord's Christ, but now he was ready.
Now, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according
to thy word. He was ready to die. He didn't
see it as a fearful thing. It wasn't something to dread.
He was ready because the promise had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
was before his very eyes. Now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace. It made him ready to die. True faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ prepares us for death. Death is still fearful, just
on a natural level. It's something ahead of us, which
we we do not know we do not we cannot grasp It's something which
naturally we shrink from and I believe that's only a human
instinct But if we really think and we really consider what death
is for a believer is passing from death to life It's passing
from earth to glory. It's passing from faith to sight
and And Simeon knew that. He was ready to die because he
had seen salvation. And if we are a believer in the
Lord Jesus Christ today, we are ready to die. You see, it puts things in a
completely different perspective. We have our life to live. We
must labor and work and serve the Lord. We must live our lives.
We have a work to do, but may we do it with our eyes set on
glory, because our eyes have seen our salvation. But there's always the other
side, isn't there? Maybe we're not ready to die. Maybe we haven't seen, maybe
we do not know. Are we ready? Could we honestly
say, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace tonight,
this evening, because mine eyes have seen thy salvation, the
one who has come, the one whom thou hast sent, the one whose
grace can even reach the darkness of my heart? I'm ready. Oh, I hope we can. Jesus has
died so his people can live. He has paid the punishment so
his people can stand before God. He is the way. Oh, don't turn
away from it. Simeon saw by faith who this
was. He saw the baby and he knew it
was Christ. And he trusted him and believed
in him as his saviour. This evening I hope with God's
help we have seen something of who this Christ is. The saviour,
the only one. God's Saviour, that in His grace
He is sent to bear the sins of sinners. We have seen Him in
that sense as we read His Word. Do we see beyond the words, like
Simeon saw beyond the baby, and see Christ, and see the fulfilment
of the promises, and see what we need You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
was a real man who lived 2,000 years ago. He was a real man
who walked on this earth, a real man who suffered the death on
the cross, a real man who rose again. May we, by faith, see
that real man as our Saviour. Say, God has intervened in the
history of this world, and God has intervened in the state of
my soul, and through Christ, I know I can live. Will we this
evening in our lives confess to him our need of him, that
without him we know we are not ready to die? Without him, we are outside of
his blessing. Oh, may we all plead the name
of Jesus Christ and lay our need of salvation before him, for
he has most assuredly come. Or tonight, to someone here this evening
who is preparing to leave tonight and turn your back on everything
I've just said. Turn away from it. Reject it. Something you do not believe
and you do not want. Why? Why would you do that? What are
your reasons? What are your arguments? What
reasons can you give for turning away from this salvation? You
say, well, I don't believe this Jesus ever existed. I believe
it's all made up. I don't believe there ever was
a child who Simeon held up or there ever was a man on the cross.
You know, to do that, you are discounting the whole of the
scriptures. You're discounting the whole of the historical records.
You are discounting the whole of secular historical evidence. You are simply shutting your
eyes to reality and to fact, which very few people deny. You
cannot say there was no man called Jesus Christ. Perhaps you say,
well, he was just a man, he was just a historical figure, just
someone who said good things and did kind things. Are you
now going to reject his teaching? Are you going to reject his miracles? Are you going to reject the resurrection? Are you going to say that all
of that is wrong and made up and fairy tales? Are you really
going to turn your back on that? Are you going to say, well, I
don't believe he is the saviour? that there must be another way,
there must be some other religion, there must be some other direction
I can walk in, I don't want this way, I don't want this religion.
So the problem is that Jesus Christ has told you he is the
way and the only way. And therefore though you may
not like it, it doesn't change the fact and the reality, there
is no other way. You may seek a religion which
is more enjoyable and more fun, but it will not point you the
way to heaven. There's not a saviour anywhere
else. They say, but it's all very well you say all these things
about saviours and you say all these things that other people
need, but I simply don't think I need him. I simply don't think
it's for me. I don't think I need this saviour. I don't want to be too blunt
or alarmist this evening, but if you lose that reasoning, you
will die. You will die. in your sin. If you don't think you need him,
you are turning your eyes on the reality that you very much
do because you have sinned over no doubt and God is just and
God is holy. You will die. You do need him. Simeon could die in peace only
because he had seen Christ And if we do not know this Saviour,
we will not die in peace. You see, Simeon seeing Him divides
us. Christ and life, unbelief and
death. Do not turn away from this way.
Do not turn your back on this way. Wait no longer, for He has
come. And He still works today, and
He still receives sinners today. And those who look out of themselves,
and have given up any hope in themselves, and looks out to
a despised and a crucified yet loving and gracious Christ, they
find Him. And He is faithful to them to
His promise that those who come unto Him He will in no wise cast
out. How much longer? How much longer
will you turn a deaf ear to the gospel of Jesus Christ? The Lord speaks through Isaiah,
his prophet, a glorious invitation to his people, to those who need
him. Tell ye, Bring them near, yea,
let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from the time? Have not I, the Lord, there
is no God else beside me? A just God, and a Saviour, there
is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none
else. May it be this evening, today,
we see, perhaps finally, after a long night, the light of the
morning has come. And now, Lord, let thy servant
depart in peace, for thine eyes have seen thy salvation. Look unto me. Amen.