Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to the Gospel according to Luke
chapter 2, and we'll read verse 25 and 26 as our text. 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, 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. Luke chapter 2 verses 25 and
26. Dear Simeon here, there is something
that had to happen before he fell ready and able to die. It had been shown him by the
Holy Ghost that he should see the Lord's Christ And this is
what He was waiting for. And when He had that, then He
could die. And you know, dear friends, with
each one of us, that is what we need before we die. To see the Lord's Christ by precious
faith. To view Him, to believe in Him,
to rest in Him. You know, this is what dying
Stephen had such a view of. He had traced through the history
of Israel and then he had charged those that were accusing him
with the crucifixion of our Lord. And then he testified and said,
and we reread this in Acts chapter 7, and he liked Simeon was full
of the Holy Ghost and he looked up steadfastly into heaven and
saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God and he told what he saw. Behold I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. What a
wonderful thing. Now when the Lord ascended it
was said that he sat on the right hand of God but now he has one
of his children to be brought home and he is standing to receive
him. And we read that those that were
round about, how they cried out, stopped their ears, ran upon
him, cast him out of the city and stoned him. But there is
Stephen calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit. And we read that he kneeled down
and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleep. Both Simeon and Stephen, they
saw the Lord. and that took away their fear
of death. With Simeon, he says, Lord, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. And with Stephen, he
looks up, he sees the Lord. Lord, receive my spirit. How
we need such a blessing to see he who went through death, or
in Simeon's case, was to go through death and was to make a way into
the holiest of all, the great antitype of the veil, the veil
that was between the outer court and inner court, the veil really
between every part in the tabernacle, the Lord Jesus Christ. What a
difference that that will make. when we have death before us,
to have Christ before us, and really in the Church of God.
And may we not be hardened, but may we think of this when we
come, when we gather together. We hope in the ministry we preach
Christ, but not just Christ. Is Christ and Him crucified? He is lifted up as crucified. The Apostle says, I determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. In the preaching it is so. And
in the ordinances it is so. Buried with him in baptism and
risen again in newness of life. And in that ordinance, it is
death and is life. and his life after death, and
it is following the Lord Jesus Christ. In the ordinance of the
Lord's Supper, you do show forth the Lord's death until he come. It's showing forth that which
the Lord went through. He is lifted up. He is honoured
in the house of God for that very act, his broken body, his
shed blood. Christ is to be seen, to be seen
by faith, to be seen in the ministry, in the word, in the ordinances,
to be seen by poor sinners. And that sight, not with natural
eyes like dear Simeon saw, but that sight takes away the fear
of death. May we ever desire that we might
have Christ in view. The Lord says, right from the
very start of the pilgrimage of his children, when he puts
forth his sheep, he goeth before them. And the apostle says, let
us run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. We spoke some time ago of Enoch,
who walked with God and was not, for God took him. And that is
the comfort, assurance of the people of God that the Lord Jesus
Christ is with them. And so when he says, I will come
again and receive you unto myself, it is not with fear. We know
him and we look for his coming. Even so come, Lord Jesus. So we have the view, a revealed
Christ set before us as vital in the face of death, to take
away the fear of death. Seeing Christ before death is
a blessing, a blessing to take away the fear of death and a
blessing to enable us to pass through that dark valley and
to then see him as he is. The Holy Ghost as seen fit to
leave on record the witnesses that God chose to give witness
to the birth of his beloved Son, the coming into this world. And we read in this chapter the
testimony of the shepherds, what they saw, what they heard from
the angels, what they saw fulfilled in the manger, and what they
then told to all of those that would listen. They spread abroad
the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all
that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by
the shepherds. Now what had been told them was
that I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be
to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The sign was given. It did come to pass. And they
made known these sayings. And then there was this Simeon,
who was chosen of God, prepared for it, waiting for this time
with the Holy Spirit to be upon him. And then we have Anna as
well, who also spake of him to all them that look for redemption
in Jerusalem. Those that were chosen by God,
to clearly show forth and set forth that this babe was indeed
the Christ, the Saviour, the one that had been waited for
and looked for. What faith! What faith! And what a witness! And we have
the complete record. We read that Mary, she heard
all these things and she pondered them in her heart. She laid them
up no doubt had to wait those 30 or 33 years before fully realising
all of those blessings and what they meant. Well, if Simeon here was one
that needed a view of the Lord before he died, I believe there
is that that we may look at him and look at his life and see
that which may be a help to us as well, who desire the same
sight and same faith as what he had. You know that long cloud
of witnesses in Hebrews 11. They walked by faith, they died
in faith, they believed that Christ would come, and he did. Simeon, he lived right at the
end, you might say, of that time. He lived to look forward to that
time and to see it and to behold him. So I want to look with the
Lord's help firstly of what is said of Simeon himself and then
secondly what he saw and then thirdly how he reacted to what
he saw. but firstly of Simeon himself,
what is said of him. Our text says, 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
and the Holy Ghost was upon him. First thing that is said that
he was just and devout. When the Lord is pleased to work
in his people, then he brings those that are waiting on him
and seeking for him and wanting that revealed view of the Lord
Jesus Christ to walk in ways that are upright and to devoutly,
sincerely wait upon the means of grace and be seeking the things
of God. Some will say, well, until I'm
blessed, until I'm favoured, then I cannot be what I'm not
by nature, And they will, as it were, say, well, the Lord
has got to make me to be just and devout. He's got to make
me to be a Christian, and then I'll be so. But you see, the
first signs of the Lord's working is not when he is revealed, but
when there is a soul waiting for him. We read of those in
Hebrews 11, those that had faith. They saw the promises afar off
and they embraced them. Simeon was such a one. And in
his waiting, in his seeking, he is described as this way,
just and devout. Those that looked upon him would
say, here is a godly man. Here is one that serves the Lord. Here is one that waits upon him. Here is one that truly does fear
the Lord. And dear friends, if you're one
that really seeks the Lord Jesus Christ, and you desire that blessing
in your soul, then may this character be yours. You might have some
say, well, you're irregular at the means of grace, you keep
the Lord's name, you fear God, You love the Word of God, you
attend unto the preaching of the Word, but it may be your
soul will answer, yes, these things I do and I walk in, but
oh, that Christ might be revealed to me, that he might be shown
to me, that I might be blessed in my soul. And those things
that you may be described by, They're not your rest for eternity,
they're not your hope, they're not what you're bringing before
God and saying, look at my chapel going, look at my life, look
at everything about me. No, the very fact that you're
seeking the Lord has a profound effect upon the rest of your
life. The hymn writer says that all
my prayer and praise suggest come and dwell within my breast. I say this to encouragement of
those of you that really desire this richest blessing and to
reveal Christ. That if the Lord already has
put that seriousness upon you and to seek the things of God
and to choose his people and to walk in his ways, then this
is walking in a way that dear saints that have had this expectation
and waiting on have walked in before the Lord has shown it
to them. If we think of the case of Ruth,
her first signs of the grace and working and blessing of God
in her soul is her cleaving to Naomi. She loved her, even in
her affliction, in her trial, she walked with them, with her
in it. We spoke this morning of the
two, on the way to Emmaus and how they, in their sadness, walked
and they were sad. And you think of those two widows
going back to Bethlehem, Naomi and Ruth. Call me not Naomi or
pleasant, call me Mara, bitter. The Lord hath dealt bitterly
with me. And you're desiring to be found
with the Lord's people and returning. and Ruth Cleaving to her. And
that was the steps that were leading up to the blessings that
she had in being joined with Boaz, and all the helps, the
encouragements that she had. And I would say, as looking at
this character of Simeon, we look at the characters in the
Word before they were blessed, before the Lord revealed himself
to them, before the work was sealed, before they had what
their soul longed after. Many times in the Psalms, you'll
see the Psalmist in his exercises and he's not in a pleasant place.
He's cast down. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? But look at the characters before they are favoured and
blessed, and already the stamp, already the mark of God's people,
the fear of God is there. And may that be an encouragement
to you as well, that where the Lord has put that mark, you might
not see it in yourself, but you see it with Simeon, you see it
with those that there's been a blessing in store. We know
because we see the end of it. You hope, you long, you pray
that there's a blessing in store for you. But we see those that
have gone before and the blessing that they then waited upon and
did receive. And so that's the second thing
with Simeon. Not only was he just in devout,
but he is waiting for the consolation of Israel. One of the beautiful
titles of Emmanuel, the Comforter, is the consolation of Israel,
the consoler of the people of God, that which the Church of
God waited for, longed for, from the first promises in the Garden
of Eden. Now what a beautiful description
of such a person, and does that describe you? Does it describe
me, to be waiting? for the consolation of Israel,
waiting for Christ, waiting for that great best of gifts, of
comforts, of blessings that ever a poor sinner can have. This
is what was a description of Simeon, waiting. Are you waiting? Waiting upon
the Lord, looking for a specific thing. You desire Christ. You desire Christ to be revealed
with power to your soul, so that you see him, rejoice in him,
trust in him, embrace him. You will act like Simeon later. We come out acted, but at this
time, waiting. You know, when we think of the
Beatitudes and the blessings that are pronounced on those
Not that of feeding as it were, but blessed are those that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Not blessed are those that have
righteousness, but hunger and thirst after it. And we may say
with this, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Christ,
whose language is, as the hymn writer says, give me Christ or
else I die. The third thing that is said
is that the Holy Ghost was upon him. Already the Holy Ghost was
upon him. And this is very evident, especially
put in the context here, that he came into the temple by the
Holy Ghost. He came by the Spirit into the
temple. Christ was to be revealed to
him. The Holy Spirit brought him at
that time. So the timing of the revealing
of Christ to him was of the Holy Spirit. And it's a blessed thing
to know the teacher and instructor of the people of God. The disciples
had to tarry at Jerusalem till they were endued with power from
on high, The Holy Spirit, our Lord says, shall receive it mine
and shall show it unto you. And it is the blessing for the
people of God that the Holy Spirit is their teacher and their leader
and their mover. And here it is with Simeon that
the Holy Ghost was upon him. And I believe, you know, with
each seekers of people of God, they'll know those times that
they can't help admiring the providence of God. They can't
help but see what the Lord has put in store for them, some tokens
for good, some helps by the way. Those things like Mary, they
lay up in their hearts, they ponder over, until the Lord is
pleased to fully show what he intends to reveal to them. The
Holy Spirit moves like it was said of Samson. With Samson it
was said that the Spirit began to move him at times in the camp
of Dan, at times. And I believe I found this in
my seeking and my experience. There's those ebbings. and flowings. There's those times that there
seems such an urgency, such a longing and such a desire. And you come
into the Lord's house and you so long for His blessing and
you're here, your ears are bored to the doorposts and you want
to hear. And then it seems to go away.
It seems as if it all falls flat and it falls to the ground. You
wonder, was it really the Lord's work? What's happened? And I haven't been blessed and
favoured, and it causes exercise, causes concern. Why is this? But, you know, we cannot keep
alive our own soul. And the blessing is when those
times of refreshing come from the Lord, when we know, as the
hymn writer says, my heart will move at His command. And when the Holy Spirit is upon
a person, then it will be that they will say, even so come Lord
Jesus, the Spirit and the Bride say come, but you take away the
Spirit. And where is the life? And the
Lord's dear people feel that lifelessness and coldness. The
Lord will teach us the value of His Spirit, of His quickening
breath. Well may the Apostle warn Grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. If we realise the benefits and
the blessings that we've had for the Spirit and what we are
without the Spirit, then truly we will know what
a blessing it is to have the Spirit upon us and with us. It
may be so a concern this week, Preach the Word, as we hear the
Word preached, that we be in this way like Simeon, that the
Holy Ghost to be upon us. And to know those sweet timings
of the Lord, when he brings us to hear the Word, brings preacher
and hearer together, brings text and the experience together,
brings the need of his people to be answered, by the Lord himself. The other thing that was said
of Simeon was his expectation. It was the Holy Spirit that had
revealed to him that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. We read in the Proverbs, thy
expectation shall not be cut off. Now many times, some make
some most solemn mistakes in the things that they expect the
Lord will do for them, especially in Providence. But I may say
that the Lord will never tempt or try or deceive his dear children
when he gives them to have an expectation of a revealed Christ. It is absolutely vital. There
are many things that we might think are necessary in the way
of providence, but nothing comes near to this to have the Lord
Jesus Christ revealed. And if we have that expectation
and that desire, and I believe it is a right expectation of
everyone and taught of the Spirit, that that is the end in view. That is the way that the Lord
is leading His people to. Like we had with the two on the
way to Emmaus, it all ended in the Lord showing Himself to them
in the breaking of bread. Do we have an expectation? Do
we have an expectation as we hear the Word of God that the
Lord will bless it to us? an expectation that He would
meet us in that Word, an expectation that ere we depart this life,
that the Lord will reveal His Christ to us, that He will show
us our sins pardoned, forgiven, and blotted out through the precious
blood of Christ. The blessings of the Lord begin
with that seeing afar off the goodness of the Lord's chosen,
the blessings that they have, coveting earnestly the best gifts,
and saying like the Greeks did, sirs, we would see Jesus, those
that were longing after him, those that desiring to see him. And you know they did. Well, this is then said of Simeon,
How would we be described? Are we of those that walk in
the Spirit, seeking to call upon the name of the Lord, asking
of him these blessings that he has promised to give in the gospel
day and reveal his beloved son to his children and to those
that are brought will enable them to die, enable
them to leave all below. Well, what did Simeon see? When
the expectation was realised, what
did he see? And look at this in our second
point. what he saw. The first thing
we would say, what he saw, was what he had waited for. And you
know he knew that. When he came into the temple
by the Spirit, he knew that that which was before
his eyes, that babe, was that which he had been waiting for. and you know each one of the
people of God. When the Lord blesses them, they
will know that this is what they have waited for. They will know
when their cup runs over. They will know when they see
the pearl of great price. They will know when they've seen
Him that is altogether lovely. They will know when they have
seen Him and then say, He whom I have waited for, this
is what my soul has longed for. And Simeon, he knew that. He saw what he had waited for,
though it was told him by the Spirit, though he'd never seen
this babe before, though he'd never seen these things that
were revealed, yet when they were revealed, then he knew this,
this was it, this was the blessing. This was what he had waited for. The second thing that he saw
was the salvation of God. He says, mine eyes have seen
thy salvation. What faith to see in a little
babe the salvation of God. to see how God, through this
child, was going to save his people. What a message to us. What a message to us. We might
have, if someone asked us, what is the salvation of God? How
would you describe it to them? Could it be described in one
name, Jesus? There's one name given among
men, whereby we must be saved. There is none other name given
unto heaven. You have given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. You know you could write books
on all of the doctrines of grace and all of how a person is saved, But you come to Simeon, and he
says, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And he's seen this
babe. He's seen the person, God, manifest
in the flesh. He is seeing him that Solomon
had said, heaven of heavens cannot contain him. How much less this
building that I have built, the temple, the first temple, He saw him, of which Job says
that he knew that his Redeemer liveth and that he should stand
at the latter day upon the earth. Dear babe wasn't even standing
at this point, but he was on the earth. What a summary of
salvation, centering in the person of our Lord. And we may say this,
With our Lord, when we think of the righteousness that he
wrought out in his life, when did that begin? Did it begin when he was one,
or two, or three, four? Did it begin when he began to
talk? Or was it not a righteousness
right from birth? That's what we need. for every
part of our life. I have seen thy salvation. And
we might say even right from birth, there was that work of
salvation. To see one who was to be Simeon's
righteousness, to work out his righteousness, to see he that
was to save him from his sins and to take away the sting of
death. Not only did he see the salvation
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, even as a babe, but he saw a
salvation that was prepared before the face of all people. It's
interesting the way that this is set before us by the Holy
Spirit. which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people. One way in which this is so,
and we think of us as the Gentile churches, and we have before
us the scriptures of truth, we can read the first promise and
all of the prophecies and all of the providences right through
the history of Israel, how the Lord Jesus Christ was prepared. We can read of his life, we can
read of his death, his resurrection, his ascension, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people. In many ways, it was done in
open view in the history of the world, but especially for us,
as set before us in the Word of God, thou hast prepared before
the face of all people. It is not a thing that is hidden. The preparations of salvation,
the goings forth from of old, the prophecies, the times, the
shadows, what was needful, for the Lord to endure, to go through,
to bring about salvation was done and is done before all
people. The children of Israel knew what
it was when they were to have the paschal lamb, the Passover
slain. That lamb had to be laid up for
some 10 days before. It had to be pure, it had to
be spotless. And they knew what it was to
be prepared for it. Whenever they came for worship,
there was a preparing for worship. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
prepared. Bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh, made of the seed of Abraham, whose goings forth are of old. A prepared salvation. and unfolded
and opened before all people. But not only that, it is in a personal and a special way. We think of how the Lord said
to the apostles, tarry at Jerusalem until ye be endued with power
from on high. There was to be a preparing,
a time that he was to go forth before the Jews and then ten
years later before the Gentiles with Cornelius and his house
when the Holy Spirit fell upon them. The Scriptures teach us
that there is a set time to favour Zion, a set time for his ministry to begin, there's
a set time for him to die, and a set time for him to rise again,
and a set time 40 days later for him to send up into heaven,
and a set time 10 days later than that for Pentecost for the
Holy Spirit to descend, and a set time 10 years later for the Spirit
to descend on the Gentiles. There is a set time. And for
each one of the people of God, with Simeon here, there was a
prepared time and prepared place where he would see the Lord's
Christ, where that which he'd waited for and expected would
be shown him. And he saw this. He saw that
this is a salvation prepared before the face of all people. I believe this with all of the
people of God. The Lord is a prepared saviour
for a prepared people. It was said of John the Baptist,
to make ready a people prepared of the Lord. Is that so with you and I? The
Lord has made room for himself, prepared the ground, opened the
heart to receive him, Dear Simeon, he sees this. He
sees it for Jew and Gentile, the light to lighten the Gentiles
and the glory of thy people Israel. What of you to see the extent
that which even years later the apostles struggled with as they
held Peter to account because he'd gone into the Gentiles. wonderful, blessed plan of salvation,
the glory of Israel. You think of how God used ancient
Israel. Paul says, to them become the
covenants, the promises, the word of God. They had much advantage
as it were the Jew. Yet with all those advantages,
it was those that were called and chosen that were blessed.
But as a nation, they were a chosen nation, a nation so peculiarly
blessed that through them was to come the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is and will ever be.
No one can have the Word of God and trace it through the history
of Israel and not see how the Lord has used that nation and
blessed that nation. And he came through that nation. So dear Simeon, he saw this,
but what was the reaction when he saw the Lord's Christ, when
he saw what he'd waited for, what he'd longed for, how did
he react to that? Now we read so beautifully here
that when the parents came in, they brought in the child Jesus
to do for him after the law, we read about that, earlier on
there to offer a sacrifice, verse 24, according to that which is
said in the law of the Lord, pair of turtledoves or two young
pigeons, and when they bring him in, then took he him up in
his arms and blessed God. He embraced him, embraced him,
took him up in his arms, Don't maybe lose sight of the actual
action there, but see a poor sinner embracing Christ. Embracing Him in the arms of
faith. This is He, to hold Him fast. Now there's such love, such wonder
here with the dear man embracing Him in this way. And we read
that he blessed God. He blessed God that he'd seen
him, blessed God for him, blessed God that that which he'd waited
for, that he now saw him. What an effect of a revealed
Christ will have upon a soul. And then, now he has a desire. And what is his desire? He says,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word. He now had that which he was
able to die. He was able to depart. Him, Reuter says, all is settled,
and my soul approves it well. What a blessing to have that.
May we covet earnestly that best of gifts, that we also might
have that which we are now able to let go, able to die, able
to depart this life. And it's all because the Lord
Jesus Christ has been seen. The expectation has been realised. and he's blessed God for that
which he has seen. Then he blesses Joseph and Mary,
those that are brought in, the parents, those that God has chosen
to use. He blesses them. He speaks in a way of prophecy. He spoke of the blessing that
Christ would be To many, he says, behold, this child is said for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, for a sign which
shall be spoken against. You know, many, many did not
believe at first, like the Apostle Paul, soulless he was. Many were
brought like him, the commandment came, sin revived and I died. But then as Christ was revealed,
then he rose again. Many stumbled at that stone. They stumbled at his parentage. They stumbled at his visage. No form nor comeliness that we
should desire him. But those that saw him, those
that believed him, they rose, they were blessed, and that was
to be. speaks specifically concerning
Mary. You know, however much might
be said about how God will bless others, what comfort will that
give unless the Lord says that he'll bless us? And he says of
Mary, yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also,
that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. You know, Mary
was not sinless as taught by some. She was a sinner. She,
when it was revealed of her son, she rejoiced in God, her saviour. And that same work of grace,
that same conviction, that same revelation of Christ as a saviour
must be hers as well as others. Everyone of the people of God
will view the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour and as their
Redeemer. Each one of them, they'll know
clearly what He is to them and where their hope is and what
He means to them. And they'll have that expectation
of the blessing in Him that shall triumph over death and give joys
like those above, a blessed thing over the grave and to sing it
with this dear babe in one's arms and to point at such time
others to this same saviour. One mark will be the people of
God that viewing Christ what he is and to enjoy him and to
be blessed by him will say come and hear all ye that fear God
and I'll tell what he had done for my soul when the Lord blessed
many in his time upon earth, how they were charged, go home,
tell to thy friends how God has had mercy upon thee. Many, even
though the Lord would restrain them, they couldn't but speak
of the things that they had seen and heard. They desire to tell
to sinners round what a dear saviour I have found. Point to
thy redeeming blood and say, behold the way to God. How lovely
it is to see an account like this, an account of one of the
Lord's dear people that has longed for, had an expectation of Christ
being revealed, and then he has been revealed, and to see their
love and joy and the effect to take away the fear of death.
What a blessing that that is, and what a blessing when we have
it ourselves, and when we see others blessed with this same
blessing, that then brings a peace, a quietness, a resting in the
face of death. And may we be blessed with that. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world give I unto you. My peace I leave with you. What
a blessed peace to have as we come to a journey's end. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace according to thy word, will mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Well, may this dear man here
be one that we desire that we have his blessing and see what
he saw and react as he reacted, and it may be at the moment We
have an expectation and long to see what he saw and to believe
what he believed and to rejoice in what he rejoiced in.