Let's go back to the Gospel of
Luke, chapter 2. Most of you know that we do not
place any significance upon this time of the year what is commonly referred to
as fact of the matter is, this is
just a fact of the matter, the Christ child was not born in
December. He was born around May or June. And nowhere in New Testament
scriptures are we told to commemorate or celebrate the birth of the
Christ child. Nowhere did the early church
celebrate the birth of that babe. December 25th was chosen by the
Romans as a celebration of the winter solstice. It was a pagan
holiday, and so it is now. So it is now. We do, however,
celebrate and rejoice in, commemorate the Lord's birth on this earth?
Yes, we do. We rejoice. It is glad tidings
that he came, that he was born upon this earth, made of a woman,
born of a woman, made under the law. And we do rejoice in that, that God became
a man. But we rejoice even more in and
remember mostly and commemorate mostly
and worship him mostly for what he did as a man. The life he
lived, the death he died. Christ said, I came to die. He
died. we truly celebrate and rejoice
in more than anything the death, the resurrection, the ascension, the exaltation,
the coronation up, and right now the reign and rule of a living
Lord, not a baby in a cow box. Folks get real sentimental over
babies and his mother. They love to talk about sweet
little Jesus, a baby in arms. Folks like, you know, babies
are so helpless. We can do with them as we please.
But we are told now, we are told, the church is told to consider, to worship A sovereign
Lord seated upon a throne. That's who we're told to celebrate,
if you will. Now, I'm not a Scrooge. I used to be. That's my wife.
Early on, you know, I took Jeremiah 10 and some other verses of Scripture
and didn't want a Christmas tree. I was a bad humbug. I kind of like it now, though.
I like it. It's a nice time of year. Everybody's just a lot nicer
than they are normally. I like that. It's good when people
are sweet at least one time a year. It's good when people give gifts
who don't normally give any. It's a good thing. It's good
when families are able to get together. It's good when people
get time off from work. It's good. It's a good thing.
It's all good. But while preachers are all across
the land right now telling us that Jesus is the reason for
the season, no, he's not. I mean, no. It's a pagan holiday. We don't give any significance
to it whatsoever. Scriptures doesn't. So we don't
either. God tells us to do one thing
when we meet together. Pray, read, sing, worship the
Lord in the hearing of the word preached. There are no special
days, no holy days. No sir. No sir. That's tradition
and all that. But however now, my pastor taught
me, taught us young preachers when we were under his tutelage. He taught us that whatever
people are thinking about at the time, whatever is on everybody's
mind, whatever is up, you need to deal with. It's just wise.
And since the name of Jesus is foremost all over the land, and
the story is on everyone's mind, it's wise for me to deal with
it. It's wise. And it is God's Word.
This is a wonderful, wonderful passage. But I'm not going to deal with
the birth, per se, of the Christ child, but with something here
in the middle. The story of a man and his beholding
the Christ. This is wonderful. All right,
verse 21. Let's look again at verse 21.
When the eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child. The law said that every male
child was to be circumcised the eighth day. Now, though Jesus
Christ, the Christ, was born the Son of God, well, not born
the Son, he was the Son from the beginning. Unto us a child
is born, a son is given. He was the eternal Son of God,
well, from eternity. But the babe that was born, a
man named Jesus, a child named Jesus, Christ said, it behooves
me to fulfill all righteousness. So he was brought under the law,
made under the law, to fulfill all righteousness. He must have
performed upon him, and he himself must perform everything the law
requires, you see. So he did. He did. The Lord had his parents do to
him exactly what the law said to be done. Because he is the
Lord our righteousness, he said. All right? And it says, verse
21, "...his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel
before he was conceived in the womb." You remember when the
angel came and appeared to Joseph and Mary and told them, this
is what you're to call him. This is his name. His name shall
be called Jesus. What does the name Jesus mean?
God that named this child, God's child. God's only begotten well-beloved
son. God named him. And he said this
is his name. Jesus. What does it mean? It
means Savior. The Old Testament word is Joshua. God our Savior. God our Savior. Yahshua. Jehovah our Savior. God shall save us. Joshua. That's
his name. God said, you call him Jesus,
for he, not him and somebody else, but he, shall, won't try
to, won't make an attempt at, won't if people let him, shall,
save, not making a down payment, not making an attempt at it,
Not hope or try or want to save his people, who, not everybody
who accepts him, his people from their sins. Call his name
Jesus. It means just that. That's who he is. That's what
he did. And we could go home right now.
You've heard the truth as it is in Jesus. That's what you
call Him. That's what the parrots were
to call Him. We are to call Him Lord Christ. Alright, read on. It says in
verse 22, when the days of her purification, verse 22 and 23,
they brought, according to the law of Moses, They brought him
to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Oh, John Davis, every word here
is significant. Present him to the Lord. Oh, yes. He is the one who is
before the Lord, who has presented himself to the, they didn't present
him, God had them bring him, but oh, he's the one who was
presented by God to himself, to the Lord. As it is written
in the law of the Lord, verse 23, every male that openeth a
womb shall be called holy to the Lord. I thought about this
just in passing. I thought about this. Presbyterianism
sprinkles, baptizes. They call it baptism. It's not.
Sprinkling. Baptism, the word means immerse.
The only baptism there is is to dunk under water. Anyway,
they get this thing called covenant They have covenant theology,
to where they bring a child at birth, and others, Catholicism
does, christening. In other words, they're dedicating
that child to the Lord. And now, the scriptures does
not teach us to do that, no sir. There is no such thing as covenant.
We cannot put our child into the covenant of God. That covenant
which God made before the foundation of the world. It's God's covenant.
We can't. I wish I could. No, no, I don't.
No, I don't. I'm glad I can't. But we can't
do it. We can't put our children into
that covenant. We don't baptize them into the
body of Christ. No, sir, we can't do that. God
alone does that. But now, right here, this child,
truly, this is He. This is the head of the covenant.
You get where I'm coming from, Jeanette? Now, this wasn't done as an example
of what we are to do to our children. Circumcision, yes, but not this
sacrifice and all, not baptism. But now, he was and he is the
head of the covenant. This child is the covenant. He
must be brought as a child to be presented unto the Lord as
the head of the covenant. The firstborn among many brethren,
that's him, the head. Every word is significant. The
surety of the everlasting covenant. Verse 24. Gather yourselves. I don't know what it is. You
had too much eggnog last night or something. Come on. Let's
behold His glory here like Simeon. Ask the Lord. Ask the Holy Spirit
who, like Simeon, must give you eyes to behold His glory this
morning. All right, verse 24. It says,
They came to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said
in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves and two young
pigeons. Every word is significant. These two poor people. The Old
Testament scripture says if any man is too poor to have a lamb,
they can't afford a lamb. And they were too poor. They
were traveling pilgrims. They couldn't afford a motel
room. And you're supposed to, if you
don't have a lamb, it says, you bring two turtle doves or two
pigeons. And over in Leviticus is the
story of the cleansing of a leper where the Lord brought these
two doves. Do you remember the story? Two
doves. One was, and I'm not careful,
I spend too much time. But for the very poor, these
two doves, and the leprous, these two doves were offered according
to that sacrifice. What a picture Christ is of those
doves. Pigeons. Solomon said eyes like
doves. He is like those doves in that
story. Those of you who know it, you
remember? Well, Christ is the sacrifice for the poorest of
the poor, yet they had a lamb. and didn't know it. They were
too poor for a lamb. Oh, no, no, no. You can't be
too poor for a lamb. They had a lamb, Brother Henry,
and didn't know it, as nor do all of God's people until God
shows them eventually. He's been the lamb slain for
you for the foundation of the world. There's always been a
lamb for God's people, the poorest of the poor. Now, you remember the word, behold.
Now, here, something to stop and think about. Behold, there
was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. Behold a man. Everywhere God sent his Son,
he sent him to save his people. even as a baby. There was not one idle move,
not one place he went, even seemingly in the hands of a mother and
a father, yet he was brought in the providence of God Almighty
to a place where somebody, one of God's sheep, would behold
his glory and see his salvation. Everywhere Christ went, from
a baby, was to save His people. He said, I am come to seek and
to save the lost. Even when He wasn't walking,
He was saving. When He wasn't talking, He was
saving. I love when Elizabeth, remember
when Elizabeth was pregnant with John? John the Baptist's mother
was pregnant with John, six months pregnant, and she came, and Mary
came, and what happened? Said that baby leaped, not just
kicked, leaped in the presence of the vessel to bring forth the Christ child. Behold a man, everywhere the
Lord, I love that thought, everywhere the Lord went, was to save his
people. It wasn't an idol, anything.
It wasn't an insignificant move or anything at any time in his
life, not one moment. It was all for the salvation
of all his people, from a baby. Behold, there was a man. There
was a man named Simeon. The word Simeon means hearing.
That's good, isn't it? It was a man who heard. As a man who heard, he heard
from God's Word. I believe, you know, back then
the Jews, they loved the book of Isaiah. Not all the books
of Moses, but the book of Isaiah. Isaiah was one of their favorite
prophets, as mine. All Jews love Isaiah. But I'm
sure Simeon read, loved to read the book of Isaiah. And he'd
read about the virgin conceiving and bearing a child, and called
his name Immanuel, God with us. He read Isaiah 9-6, "...unto
us a child is born, but the Son is given." He called His name
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Of the reign of His government,
there will be no end. The Christ's child, he heard
of Him. And he went on to read throughout
Isaiah's prophecy, who prophesied of Him who was to come and who
did come. God's servant. In Isaiah 42,
Isaiah 53, God's sacrifice. He read. God's substitute. He read. He heard. He heard it
read of the Christ from the Word of God. And he believed. He believed. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. He believed by the grace of God
upon hearing of the Christ. He believed. He believed. And He was looking for Him. He
was looking for Him to come. He believed that He was the Son
with the Father from the beginning, who is and was to come. He believed He was the Substitute.
He believed He was the Christ. He believed that He was coming
and was looking for Him to come. Waiting on Him. Now, how different
is it, Simeon, than us? No difference. No difference.
All who hear the gospel, hear the Word of God, Peter said,
the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you, which is
of the Christ. They see Him, they hear Him like
Simeon, and they believe by the grace of God. And they're looking
for Him. And they'll find Him. Look at
verse 25. His name was Simeon, and the
same man was just and devout. He was just. The same man who
heard of the Christ, who believed the Christ, who was waiting for
the Christ, whose all his hope was in the Christ, God said, Why was he just? Because he found
grace in the eyes of the Lord, like Noah. You remember the story
of Noah? It says, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,
and Noah was a just and perfect man. By him, all that believe are
justified from all things, the Scripture said, by which you
could not be justified by the works of the law. Yes, he was just and justified. and devout. Simeon was devoted to the Christ,
to the worship of the Christ, to waiting on the Christ. Yes,
he was devoted. Christ was his life. Simeon came to the temple. That's
where God told the people to come. Didn't he? Didn't he? That's where God told him to
come. That's what he did. Scripture
says to us, forsake not the assembly of yourselves together as the
matter of some is, but so much more as you see the day approaching.
Exhort one another. Worship. Come. Where two or three
are gathered. That's what justified people
do. They're devoted to the worship
of the Christ, to looking for it. He was devout. He came to
the temple. He took part in what was ordained
in the temple, the sacrifices, and the altar, the bread, the
candles, the veil, the blood, the mercy seat, the ark, and
all of that he took part in. That's what the Lord told him
to do. But you know he knew that his salvation wasn't in all these
things. It was in the Christ. He knew
it wasn't in the fact that he came to church, so to speak,
but it was in the Christ he was looking for and believing in. Well, he was just and devout.
He said, look at this, I like this. He said he was waiting
for the consolation of Israel. He's waiting. He's justified,
he's devoted, he's waiting. He's waiting for the consolation
of Israel. Waiting. Christ, his life, and waiting on him to come was
his occupation. That was his occupation. That was his occupation. Devoted to worship, seeking,
waiting on the Lord. Our Lord said that. You be like
unto them that wait for the Lord. Waiting for the consolation of
Israel. Now, send me in, it says several
things here. Come on now, come on. It says
several things about Christ here. several things, the consolation
of Israel, the Christ, the light, the genesis of salvation, and
on and on. This is glory. Samuel was waiting
for the consolation of Israel, Yisra'el, prince of God, people
of God, chosen of God, Israel. No one will argue the fact that
God chose Israel. out of the world, will it? No
one will argue that fact. It's a fact. The chosen people
of God. But now, Israel always has been
a type of God's true chosen people. His elect, yes, his chosen. Out
of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven, but
a chosen people. God's elect, God's spiritual
people. Now, he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, not outwardly. He was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. Simeon knew, as does all Israel
know, that that one who was to come,
the one who did come, that one born of a virgin, is the consolation
of God's people. The consolation. Turn back with
me to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah 40. Simeon heard this. Simeon read this. He heard it
read, read it himself. He believed that the Christ who
was to come is the consolation of his people, the comfort for
all those that mourn over their sin. The comfort. Read with me
Isaiah chapter 40 of the Consolation of Israel, God's people. Verse
1, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her. Here it is,
Israel. Simeon, warfare is accomplished. The battle is over. The victory
is won. It's won. Sin has been vanquished. Put
away. Justice has been satisfied. Righteousness
established. Your redemption has been secured. Their iniquity is pardoned. Put
away. Received of the Lord's hand double
for all our sin. Not only pardon, but adoption.
Not only mercy, but grace. Not only forgiveness, but complete
acceptance. Ah, that's the voice of him that
cries into Wilburton. Accomplished salvation. Look
at verses 9 and 10. The old Zion that brings good
tidings, get thee up in the high mountain, O Jerusalem, or he
that brings good tidings to Zion and Jerusalem, lift up your voice,
say to the cities of Judah, Tell the Jews, Behold your God. Behold him, your salvation. And look at chapter 42 of Isaiah. The consolation of Israel is
this. Verse 1, God says, Behold my
servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth.
I put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth justice,
judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not fail, verse 4, nor
be discouraged till he hath set judgment in the earth. He shall
not fail. This is our consolation. Back
to the text in Luke 2. He was waiting for the consolation
of Israel, the comfort of sinners, those that mourn in Israel. The
comfort is this. Sins are gone. Sins are gone. Verse 25, it says,
He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost
was upon Him. That's why He was waiting. That's
why He was just. That's why He was devout. That's
why He believed. That's why He's here. That's
why He was waiting. The Holy Ghost was upon Him,
as He is upon all of God's people. Not only Simeon, but Henry Soar. All of God's people. by the Holy
Spirit, who takes the things of Christ and shows them to us,
who shall not speak of himself. The whole world is taken up with
the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit. Christ said, God
said, that he won't speak of himself in John 16. The Holy
Spirit will not speak of himself. That he'll take the things of
mine, Christ said. He'll take what I've done, who
I am, what I have done, and show them unto the people. and bring
to remembrance everything Christ said, and have the people looking
to, believing in, waiting upon the Christ, taken up with, in
love with, worshiping the Christ, not the Holy Spirit. That's so important in our day,
isn't it, that that, blessed are you if you know this, So
much goes on under the name of the Holy Spirit that is another
spirit people. How do I know? Because Christ
is not the center of it all. Where the Holy Spirit is, a truly
spirit-filled people are those who are talking about, worshiping,
exalting, rejoicing in Jesus the Christ. Not in the acts of
the Spirit, not in this and that, but the works. of Jesus Christ.
I'm telling you the truth. So the Holy Spirit was upon him,
as he is all of God's people. And it says the Holy Spirit,
read on, and it was revealed unto him, verse 26, by the Holy
Spirit, as everything is. God hath revealed them unto us,
Paul said, by his Spirit. Everything is revealed by the
Spirit of God concerning Christ. Read on. It was revealed unto
him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death. Listen to me, Simeon. It says he would not see death.
The Holy Spirit told him you will not die before you see the
Lord's Christ. And this is what all to hear
the message by the Holy Spirit will hear. They'll hear the proclamation.
He that liveth and believeth shall never die. Later on, Simeon said in verse
29, now let me, he didn't say let me die. He said, he didn't say now I'm
ready to die. Oh no, God's people never die. Lazarus is not dead, Christ said. Believe it in me, he'll never
die. The cessation of This so-called life here on this planet is not
death, but rather passing into life everlasting, life more abundant. It's sleep. It's rebirth. It's not death at all. It's birth,
for God's people. Look, Christ said in John 8,
24, if you believe not that I am he, that I am, you'll die in
your sin. You will die if you believe not.
The Christ, you will die. But now it's revealed unto us,
Stephen, that by the Holy Ghost, that you'll not taste of death
or see death if you've seen the Lord's Christ. The Lord's Christ. He's not only
the consolation of Israel. He's the Lord's Christ. What
does Christ mean? The Lord's Christ. God's Christ. The Lord's Christ. I know what
Methodism says, offer them Christ. That's their slogan, isn't it?
Like a cheap commodity to be sold, to be given out. No, sir,
he's not in our hands to offer to anybody. He's the Lord's Christ. I can't emphasize that strong
enough. Not only in Methodism, but across
the land, people are trying to sell Jesus to people. He's not
ours to sell. He's not up for sale. He's the Lord's Christ. God sent
Him. He's offered up unto the Lord.
The Lord sent Him. The Lord offered Him up to Himself
for His people. He's the Lord's Christ. What does Christ mean? surety. He'll see to it. He's the surety,
the certainty of our salvation. The surety, the mediator, the
go-between, the daisemon, the umpire, the intercessor, the
great high priest, the only one. He's the Lord's Christ, the only
one. God's Christ. I know men have
all their Christ. Christ said Himself. He said,
many Christ's will come in my name. But they're not the Lord's
Christ's. Many Messiah's will come. Buddha,
Mohammed, so forth. They're men's Christ. They died,
they failed, they didn't save anybody. But this is the Lord's
Christ. He shall not fail. God's Christ can't fail. He will
accomplish what He sent. He's the Lord's Christ. The only one, the only mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Not a woman. Mary
wasn't it. But this is the one. He is it.
The Lord's Christ. The only one. The only one God
accepts. The only one God deals with.
The only one God speaks to and through. Not Mary. Not Peter. Not anyone.
This is the Lord's Christ. The Lord said to his disciples
one day, he asked, who do men say that I am? And well, they
said all kind of good things about him. Some say you're this,
you're that, you're a healer, you're a this and that and the
other, you're a prophet, you're a good man and so forth, a teacher.
But he said to Peter, he asked Peter and his disciples, but
who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am? You,
whom I have chosen. You whom I have chosen to behold
my glory. You whom the Holy Spirit has
revealed myself unto you. Who do you say that I am? What
do you call me? Peter said, The Christ! Thou
art me, Christ! Not just a Jesus, but the Christ. You know, when I was studying
this, You know, I prepared this for last Sunday. And I didn't
have a lot of, it just wasn't a lot of liberty in preparing
it. And I, all week long, I was thinking about it. And right
up to last night, I was miserable about it. I wasn't, it hadn't
really blessed me yet. Begging the Lord. Lord, maybe
this is not for me. Maybe you'll bless somebody through
it. I wasn't getting much out of
it. I knew it was the message there. I'm getting something
out of it. Maybe it's not for you. Maybe
it is for me. I've seen the Christ. What do
I call Him? Why do we call Him what we call Him? Because that's who He is to me.
That's what he is. That's what he did. That's where
he is now. Jesus was his manhood. Jesus
was his name of humiliation. We see Jesus made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death. A man that he should
die. A baby he had to be born. But
now, we see him higher than that. Not a baby, but a Lord on a throne. An ascended, an exalted, a risen,
sovereign king. I call him the Christ. That's what I call him. That's who I'm exalting and celebrating
this morning. I'm not going through some little
pitiful pageantry so everybody can see little Johnny look like
one of the wise men. Really, that's what it's all
about. But God's people, not only December
21st, but all year long, are beholding the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Every time. Every time, Samuel. Every time. That's where the Holy Spirit
is. That's the man upon whom the Holy Spirit dwells, and the
people God's Christ. God, blessed are your eyes. Blessed
are your eyes. God's Christ. Well, old Simeon,
one morning, he got up. It came a day. It came a day. He got up like
every morning. probably read Isaiah or something,
went down to the temple. His wife, no mention of his wife,
probably married, an old man, probably married. His wife doesn't
say she was there. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't.
If she wasn't, she may have said to him, Honey, where are you
going? Are you going back to that temple
again? Why do you keep going down there? He just went Wednesday night. Why are you going back? Simeon said, I'm going to see
the Christ. I'm waiting on Him. God told me to. That's where
God's people are, waiting. Don't go away with them. I'm
going to see the Christ. That's what I want to do. He
didn't have to decide. He didn't wake up and decide,
where will I go, where will I want? He's waiting on the Christ. You see? And I believe probably
his favorite verse was this, was in Job 19, is it? His favorite verse probably in
all the scriptures, other than Isaiah and all the books of Moses, I know my Redeemer liveth. And
he shall stand at the latter day upon this earth. And yet
no worms destroy my body, yet with mine eyes I shall see the
Lord. Yes, mine eyes, and not another.
I'm going to see him. Because the root of the matter
was in him, John. The root of the matter was in
him, like Job. He's waiting to see the crowd. Well, buddy, he's
going to. He's going to. He woke up, went
down today like any other day. Day of worship, time of work,
like any other? Like any other? No, sir. No. This is unlike any other. We're
going to see his glory. See what he's waiting for. Oh,
Nancy, there's going to be a day. There's going to be a day. We're
going to like any other. We're going to walk on in the
glory. We're not even going to know it. Twinkle in the eye, be changed. Walk on in the glory. Behold
his glory. Simeon was worshiping in the
temple that morning. Verse 27, He came by the Spirit
in the temple. We see everything is by the Spirit,
is it not? By the Spirit. Without Him, we
can do nothing. It wasn't of His free will He
did anything, was it? It made sure of that, to tell
us. Everything was by the Spirit. Read on. He came in by the Spirit
in the temple, and here came a man and a little young Jewish lady
with a baby in her arm. And Simeon looked up, and Isaiah 9, 6, shouted at him, unto us a child
is born. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a child. Unto us a child is born, the
Son is given, his name shall be called." Simeon saw that baby,
God said, this is him. Simeon, you've been waiting on
it? He's here. This is him. Verse 27, when the parish brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
Simeon ran over. I bet he ran. You reckon? Here's His salvation. Here's
the Christ. Here's the glory, the consolation
of Israel. You're going to meander over?
You're going to saunter over? You're going to, well, I'll wait
a little bit. I've got to do this little sacrifice.
I've got this little oblation to do. Ooh, when you seek God's
Christ. What have I to do any more with
that? I've seen Him, Hosea said. He ran over to... Ma'am. Ma'am.
Pardon me. Is this your baby? Well, yes. I see. Sure. He laid hold on salvation. He looked into the face of God. God. There's no mention here,
he didn't say anything about a baby. He said this child, he
wasn't looking at a baby and thinking, what a sweet little
baby. What a cute little baby. Oh, how precious. No, sir. Emmanuel. He's sitting there,
he's standing there with an absolute awe and amazement and wonder
thinking, I'm, right now, I'm looking at God right now. This one I'm looking at really,
really has me in his hands. And I can't understand this. Think about that. This is God. Call his name the mighty God,
the everlasting Father. I'm holding a baby, yet he's
holding me. He took him up. It says he took
him up in his arms and blessed God. I believe he lifted him
up. But Christ is to be lifted up,
not looked down upon, lifted up. Christ said, if I be lifted
up, he lifted him up. Bless God. Oh, thank you, Lord. Bless your
holy name. Not for health, not for wealth,
not for for the Christ. I've seen the Christ. Bless Your
Holy Name. Barbara, this is a blessing of
all blessings. This is a thing we're to bless God for. This
is the most unspeakable gift. We've seen the Christ. We've
beheld His glory. We've laid hold on salvation.
And we lift Him up. We exalt Him. He's to be lifted
up. Another reason why we don't... all this stuff. He's to be lifted
up. You understand that. So many
get mad at me this morning for tearing down their playhouse.
For tearing down their manger scenes. A lot of people get real
mad at me and think I'm hard. He said, now, now, now, behold
now, now let thy servant depart in peace. You will, people, you
will. When you depart, if you've beheld
the Christ, if you've heard the consolation of Israel, yes, sir,
if you've laid hold on salvation, if he's been lifted up before
you, you'll depart in peace. Yes, sir, you've seen God's peace,
Christ, the peace of God. You'll depart in peace. Why?
Who says so? According to thy word. According to thy word. Mine eyes,
verse 30, have seen thy salvation. Thine eyes have seen, mine eyes
have seen thy salvation. What was he looking at? Not a
what. He wasn't looking at the furniture
of the temple. He wasn't looking at the record of his circumcision
or his baptism as a child. He wasn't looking at anything.
He was looking at a person. He wasn't looking at all the
things of religion. He wasn't looking to himself. He wasn't
looking to his faith. He wasn't looking to his work.
He was looking at a person. And he said, this is God's salvation. Christ is God's salvation. This is my salvation. Then this
one is all my salvation, all my righteousness, all my hope
of heaven, all my acceptance, all my peace, all my salvation. I'm going to be saved. Why? This
one. Because of Him. Him. Him. Not me, not this, not that, not
them, not that, but Him! Salvation! Salvation is of the
Lord. Everyone whom the Spirit comes
upon knows that, as it revealed to them. He's a light. Verse
31, He prepared before the face of all people a light. To lighten the Gentile, the light,
the dispeller of darkness, ignorance, superstition, tradition, the light, the glory of thy people
Israel. Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord. All of us have. John said that
we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. Simeon did it. I have to beheld
his glory. The lights of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll
never hear a better message in your life than what you're hearing
this morning. Never. Not the man, it's the message
here. The glory of God, the glory of thy people, the one whom Israel
glories in, the one whom God's people glory in. Not a thing,
not a place, not a building, not the temple, but the one whom
Israel glories in. And it says, I love this, verse
33, Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken
of him, of the child. They marveled. at the things spoken of him.
Listen, in closing. They marveled at things spoken
of him. Scripture says, To him give all
the prophets witness. Don't you marvel when you go
through the Old Testament Scripture? When you hear somebody preach
or teach the Old Testament types of him? said they are they which testify
of me. All the prophets to him give
all the prophets witness. Don't you marvel? Barbara, you're
with me. Don't you marvel when you see
that brazen serpent on the pole as crying, as that smitten rock
as crying, as that Passover lamb as crying, as that manna which
is crying, as Isaac's substitute. Don't you marvel at the things
spoken of him? This is a hymn book. Don't you
marvel at the things, the marvelous things that are spoken of him? Don't you? I do. And Simeon blessed them, said
to Mary his mother, behold this child. The word child is in italic. See that? That's significant. That means it wasn't in the original.
That means the translators put it there. thinking it went with
the best, but in the original, they couldn't figure the word
or whatever it was that there. Simeon said, this, this. Simeon said, this. Child, no. No, baby, no. No,
this. Man, this, this. That's what the angels came when
they announced his birth. Thou shalt call that holy thing,
unlike any thing that's ever been on planet earth. He's not
a man, he's not, he's a God-man, he's not a human. Who is he?
This. It's him. This is set. Oh, have any of you become preachers? You see a word like that? Sound it out. This is set. God said, I have set my King
on my holy hill of Zion. That's what it says in Psalm
2. He's not leaning over the banisters of heaven. He's not
walking and pacing the floor over you. He's set. You like that, Stephen, that
word? I love it. He's set. God set him. God set him forth. God set him
before the foundation of the world. God set him as the only
one, as the sovereign, successful, sacred. It's all settled. This whole thing has been settled. settled in him, set for the fall
and rising again of many. It's all around him. You know,
this whole universe revolves around the sun. That sun is set. Is it not? The sun doesn't move.
We say things like, your sun came up this morning. No, it
didn't. You did. That sun hadn't moved. The earth is spinning. Everybody
on it's dizzy. The earth is spinning. It's spinning
around the sun. We're going in circles, aren't
we? Not the sun. We don't know if
we're coming or going, do we? Isn't that a good picture? Everybody
on planet Earth doesn't know if they're coming or going. We
don't know what I'm saying. I'm up, I'm down. It's darkest
light. No, you don't know where you're at. But the sun is set
right where he's always been. And everything in him lives and
moves and has its meaning. It's all set. That's a good word, isn't it?
Set. This child is set. Everything
revolves around Him. Fall, rising, everything revolves
around Him. Who He is, what He did, and what
that means to us and many. And a sign, verse 34, but it's
a sign that will be spoken against. There's a lot of people, most
people don't believe everything that's been said this morning
about Christ. How can anybody take issue? Ron, how can anybody
take issue with anything that's been spoken this morning? I've
been true to this book, haven't I? I haven't said it like I wanted
to, but I've been true to this book, true to what God said about
the Christ. How could anybody take issue
with it? Because many are against it. They don't believe this.
They're set against it. Well, you're set against God
if you are. Verse 35, and this is in parenthesis. That's interesting, isn't it?
As if it's something said to the side to someone in particular.
Oh, it is. Something said to the side to
you, Sherry. A sword going to pierce your
soul. Going to pierce your soul. The
sword of the Lord. Christ said, I am come not to bring peace,
but a sword. Scripture says in Hebrews 4,
Twelve, that the word of the Lord is sharper than a two-edged
sword. It will pierce the divided and
the sundered. This is what the Son has done
to you. Has He not? This is what has done to you.
It's pierced you. You sold a knife in your heart. But it not only wounds, Nancy,
it heals. It heals. It breaks your heart.
You've got to have a broken heart. Uh-huh. Transplant, really. Transplant. Take out the old,
hard one. Stoning. Hardening of the arteries. And a new heart given at Beats.
The love of Christ. Yeah. And your own soul. Let
the thoughts of many hearts be revealed. The thoughts of many
hearts will be revealed. Everything will be revealed.
The thoughts of the heart. The thoughts and the intents
of the heart. Concerning what? What do you believe about this?
What do you believe about that? It's all about the Christ. What think
ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Do you remember that story? The
Lord, they were asking him a bunch of questions. They all asked
him all their questions, you know. And finally he said, I'll
answer. Let me ask you a question. What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? Son of David? Then why did David call him Lord? Is he a son? Why did David call him Lord?
And that's the issue today. Well, he said, Jesus, why does God call him God? Under
the sun, Hebrews 1.8, he said, Thy throne, O God, is forever. That's the issue, is it not?
Who is he? Who is this? This. It's the Christ. It's the consolation of Israel.
It's the Christ, the light. of the world, it's our salvation. All right. I had a good time. Now let me depart in peace. I'm ready. I've seen His salvation.
All right. What number you got? 511. Let's stand and sing the first
and last verses, 511. Face to face with Christ my Savior,
face to face what will it be? When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me. Face to face I shall behold Him,
far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all His glory,
I shall lead Him by and by. Face to face, oh blissful moment. Face to face to see and know. Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so. Face to face I shall behold Him,
far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all His glory,
I shall speak Him by and by. And all I can do for you is thank
you. Thank you for all you do. I love you. I love you. I love
you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love
you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love
you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. I love