I want to bring out an article.
Kathy put together several articles under the faith and grace. And in the middle page of your
bulletin, if you'd like to look with me, on the bottom right-hand
side, you'll see there's an article by Maurice Montgomery. To those
who truly believe, writes Maurice, those who have this precious
faith, He is precious. Our Lord is so precious. 1 Peter
2, verse 7. This is one way I know, writes
Maurice, that God has given me this faith. The faith which I
have will not permit me to look to, to trust in, to rest upon,
to live upon, or have any hope in anyone but Christ and Christ
alone. Unto me, writes Maurice, he is
precious. Is he precious to you? If you'd
like to read along with me, we'll be reading verses one through
10, the whole psalm. And this is the word of the Lord. Psalms 146, verse one. Praise ye the Lord. Praise the
Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the
Lord. I will sing praises unto my God
while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes,
nor in the son of man in whom there is no help. His breath
goes forth, he returneth to his earth. In that very day his thoughts
perisheth. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. whose hope is in the Lord his
God, which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all therein is,
which keepeth truth forever, which executes judgment for the
oppressed, which giveth food to the hungry, the Lord looseth
the prisoners, the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind, the Lord
raiseth The Lord loveth the righteous. The Lord preserveth the strangers. He relieveth the fatherless and
widowed. But the way of the wicked he
turneth upside down. The Lord shall reign forever,
even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord. We're in the book of Luke. bringing a series of messages.
If you'd like to turn to the second chapter of Luke, you can
open your Bible, set it down on your lap. We're going to camp
here for a bit today. Tents, sleeping bags, lanterns,
heaters, because it's going to get cold tonight. We'll just
camp out here, right here in Luke chapter 2 if you would.
We've done some looking into this book of Luke so far. We
began back December looking at our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus
and the birth Unto us a child is born And we considered the
unto us who were the unto us And after going through a couple
of messages on our Lord and Savior and his birth We went on to see
the birth and the story of John the Baptist one of God's messengers. And we've spent the last three
Sundays considering this messenger of God, John the Baptist. Today
I want to look at another type of God's people. I've titled... Well, we'll get
to that in a minute. Look with me, if you would, at
the 25th verse of Luke. Luke chapter 2, 25. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem. I want you to notice something
here. There was a man in Jerusalem. He wasn't the only man. But notice
how our Lord points out that there's this one... I want to
bring your attention. I want you to stop what you're
thinking about for a minute and look at this. There's one man
that I want to tell you about here. There's one man in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was full of religious
people. There were so many gods brought
in by the Roman Empire into Jerusalem that they had a whole row of
statues and tribute to all the different gods that they had.
In fact, all the way down at the very end of the road, there
was one that said, to the unknown God. Paul preached about that
once. Who is the unknown God? That's
for another day, though. So we see here, behold. Consider,
if you will, this man who is in Jerusalem, who is around all
these other people. Consider this one man whose name
was Simeon, and the same man was just. He was just, and he
was devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost
was upon him. What a statement. What a statement. Do you know God could say that
very same thing about rescue? There's a woman. There's a man. There's another man. There's
a woman. There's a woman. There's some of my people in
a place called rescue in the woods of California where I have
a devout, devoted people who are just waiting for the consolation
of Israel. Some of us are waiting quite
desperately. Some of us are tired, tired of
being in this world of corruption, tired of being in this body of
sin. Some of us don't even know how
to keep going, other than the fact that it's not God's will
for us to leave yet. What a state, here in this world
full of religion, God had a man by the name of Simeon, who was
just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and
the Holy Ghost was upon him. You remember the story of Cornelius?
Peter was, he had been sent a vision of God, there was a sheet, and
the Lord had unrolled the sheet, and there was pictures of all
these unclean animals on it, you know, Israel was not allowed
to eat unclean animals. That was just against all of
the ordinance of God. You do not eat the wrong kind
of animal. And the Lord wanted to show Peter
that, now wait a minute, the truth of the matter is that all
things are mine. I've created everything. Don't
make what I say is clean, unclean. So he showed Peter this vision
and then Cornelius, The angel of the Lord came to Cornelius
and said, go after this guy who's down here on the roof. Pray and get him. Bring him back
to my house. Bring him back to your house.
He's got a message for you. He's got a message for the Roman
Cornelius, who was not a Jew. But listen to what the Lord says
about him. In Acts 10, verse 22, we read these words. Cornelius,
the centurion, a just man. What? He's not even of the promised
people of God and he's a just man? "...and one that feareth
God, and of good report among all the nation of Jews." Scriptures
also tell us about another one. His name is John the Baptist.
We've read about him much lately. Over in Mark chapter 6, 20, we
read these words, "...for her had feared John, Herod's wife
had told her husband, take the head of John the Baptist, put
him on a plate and send it to me. He spoke badly about you.
He told you you couldn't have me just because I was your brother's
wife. He spoke up against the king, so you need to take his
head off. Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man. A just man before God. And a
holy man. I understand John the Baptist
and the Simeon. But the Lord declares this about
Lot. Remember Lot? Remember the story
of Lot? Remember who he is? When God gave him... Actually,
God gave it to him through the words of Abraham. God said He
brought the two families together, Abraham and Lot. Lot had a big
old huge family, Abraham had a big old... And their workers
started to fight between each other. You know, our sheep were
here first. No, no. We're from Abraham. He's the older. We get to eat.
And they began to fight. So the Lord led Abraham to say,
you know what, I'll tell you what. Here's the high land. Here's
the low land. You pick which one you want.
You go there. What? Well, this is way better than
that down there. I'll go up here. I'll go up here
to the plains of Sodom and Gomorrah. You remember that story, so you
know the end of that. And then Lot, at another time, Lot was
told by the angel of God, you need to get out right now. We're
gonna destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. God's gonna send down fire and
brimstone and burn the whole place up. You and your daughters
and your wife need to get out of here right now. He's, no hurries. I think I'll play golf first,
then I'll go. He was all relaxed, just didn't
pay any attention. And God's angels had to actually
come and get him and take him out. Take him away. Take him away. Then he got drunk
one time. And you all know that story,
don't you? I can understand why John the
Baptist might be called just. I can understand why this man
Simeon might be called just. But Lot, the nephew of Abraham? It says in 2 Peter 2.7, And delivered
just Lot. God called Lot just. And he was
vexed with filthy conversation of the wicked. Now the word just
is not only talking about one's character, the word means this,
in the King James Dictionary, No, I'm sorry, Strong's Dictionary,
King James Concordance is what I got. In the Strong's Dictionary,
the word means this, it says, equitable, in character or apt,
or by implication, innocent, holy, absolutely and relatively
just, meet, meaning fit. And then the last thing it says,
righteous. God is calling these men righteous. Now, we looked,
You may recall that we looked at a message not too long ago
about the parents, Zacharias and his wife, who had the parents
of John the Baptist. Remember back in, what was it?
Back in Luke chapter one, it says they were righteous before
God. Over in Luke chapter one, verse five, verse six. And they
were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of God blameless. As we saw then, let me remind
you of this. There are none righteous, no,
not one. As it says in Romans 3, verse 10, there is none righteous,
no, not one. Man's only righteousness, his
only justification is if Christ be in him. Last night we heard
a message from Brother Dave Stoniker. It was titled, God Loves You. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be
a you? How can God love this you? This poor, wretched, sinful you? He says about us, there are none
righteous, no, not one. Verse 11 of Romans chapter 3
says this, there is none that understandeth. There is none
that seeketh after God. Well, that kind of goes in the
face of those who say, well, I went looking for God because
I just got tired of doing all the things that I did in my life.
I was on the wrong path of sin. I was drinking. I was cheating.
I was lying. And I had to do something different. It was driving me into hell. I had to do something different.
So I went looking for God. God's Word says, there are none
that seeketh after God. When God opens the eyes of one
of His people, we look back and we know we weren't looking for
Him, don't we? Some of us, it's more obvious than others. For
myself, I knew I wasn't looking for God. This man, James, who
sits right here in front of me, he wasn't looking for God. He
was looking to meet somebody here one day. Somebody else who
we just were reaching out, trying to be nice to. God spoke to his
heart that day he came. There are none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way. I ask you this morning,
does this describe you before God called you out of darkness?
They are all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of Asp is under their lips. whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. There is
no fear of God before their eyes." Does that describe you? I'm not
talking about just one. I'm talking about all of it.
Do you fit that? Has God shown you the total of
your depravity before Him? Have you come to see by God's
revelation you have nothing to offer Him? Not even your so-called
free will? Oh, I pray He did. I pray He
has. And though our Lord describes
each and every man and woman and child who's ever walked this
earth outside of Christ Jesus Himself, though He declares them
this, He says, there are some that are just. Some are declared
to be just by the Almighty Creator. Acts chapter 13, verse 39, and
by Him, all that believe are justified. Do you believe? Do you believe the truth of God? Do you believe everything there
is about God's Word? I don't understand it. I'm not
asking you if you understand it. I'm asking you, do you believe? And by Him, all that believe
are justified from all things from which he could not be justified
by the law of Moses. The law of Moses does one thing,
folks. God brought that law to show one thing. You can't keep
it, none of it, not even a drop of it, so that he could show
you the one who did, his son. Our Savior. He's the one who
kept that law perfectly for us. We're justified in Him. If He
went to that cross and paid the debt for our sins, then there
is not one sin we can ever commit that God will look at again.
It's all paid for. Every bit of it. In Romans 3,
verse 24, we read these words, being justified. You know what
that word, you take that word justified and you kind of break
it apart a little bit, just as if I'd never sinned. That's justified. We're justified in our Savior's
sight, in the Lord's sight, we are justified in our Savior,
Christ Jesus. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. To be
justified by God, to be just before God is to be made just.
It is to be justified by His Son's substitutionary death,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is the only place in the
Bible where Simeon's name is used. We don't know much about
him other than what God has given us right here in these few verses. But I can tell you that this
man is set before you and I in the words of our Savior, and
it identifies his character, the character of God's people.
His character as one who has been saved by the free and sovereign
grace of Christ Jesus, our Lord. He was a just man, upright and
honest in his dealings with all men. He was devout. You know what that means? It means devoting. He came to
the temple where God is worshiped. I mentioned earlier, I'm thankful,
I'm so thankful for us to have this convenience for some, of
cold Zoom. A necessity for others. I'm thankful
God has given us that. But it's not the same as coming
here, being with God's people. It says where two or three or
more are gathered in His name. That's where He will be. In the
midst of them. This is where God's people come
to get away from the world. When we're troubled with the
sin that is in the world around us and the sin that is in our
own flesh, where do we come? But to the only place you can,
to the Savior, Christ Jesus, where He's preached. He was devout. He was devoted to the worship
and to the service. And most importantly, He was
devoted to the will of God. Lord, what would You have me
do this day? What is Your will for me? What is your will for
me as I go out into the world tomorrow? As I may go and travel
here or travel there? What is your will for me as I
go to work on Monday morning and lay a nail to a wall? What
is your will for me as I get on the phone with customers from
whatever business I'm in and deal with that customer? What
is your will? This man was devoted to finding and seeking the will
of God. And even more importantly than
that, he was devoted, now think about this, think about this,
he was devoted to glorifying his savior and everything he
could do. We don't do that very well, do
we? But that's our heart's desire, isn't it? Lord, not my will,
but thine. Lord, help me to glorify you
in everything that I say and do this day. Don't let me, Don't
leave me to myself to stumble in the world around me. Don't
leave me to stumble and leave an impression with these dear
folks over here who don't know you that I don't trust you. Lord, don't leave me to myself.
This man, Simeon, was waiting for Christ and the consolation
of Israel, as it says. And the Holy Ghost was upon him. That does not mean that I am
filled with something that's full of joy and all I can do
is stand around and go, Praise Lord! Let me get down on the
floor and do this! You know how all the charismatic
people do? They think that because they have some kind of euphoric
feeling in themselves that they're filled with the Holy Spirit.
You know what the Holy Spirit's position in the world is? It's to reveal Christ to sinners. is to reveal the fact that you
are a sinner and need Jesus Christ the righteous. He never speaks
of Himself. He speaks of the Son of God as
the Holy One, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. That's the job of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
was upon this man. This man knew what he was before
God. And he knew the only salvation
he could have is in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And he was
looking for that Son of God. The angel of God had come to
him and said, there's going to be someone coming someday. You
won't die until you see the Son of God. Did you know the Lord
says that to each and every one of us? Come on. You guys know the quote. I'm
going to quote it. You know I've got to quote it because I quoted
it every message. All that the Father giveth me shall come to
me. This is my only hope for my children.
I brought this out in Bible study. I pray the Lord will take my
children and crush them with the world. That seems mean. That's not what we do. No, we
pray for our children to be great in everything that they do, don't
we? We want them to be successful in everything in the world. But
that's no good if they go to hell, is it? Crush them. Like you did me. Break our hearts. Give us a contrite heart that
they would come to you. My grandchildren." Boy, that
guy's crazy. He thinks he wants his grandchildren
to be crushed? He brings them to God absolutely. This man had the Holy Ghost upon
him. All believers are people who
live in and walk in the spirit of belief. Romans 8, 5, for they
that are of the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but
they that are after the spirit, the meat, the things of the spirit,
for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. Here's a revealed fact that we
see in these words. It says, and it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before
he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he believed God. So where
did he go? He went to the temple where you find Christ and continue
to go to the temple. Kevin and I use a phrase my pastor
introduced me to. He says, keep on keeping on.
Just keep on keeping on. Keep on preaching Christ. Keep
on seeking Christ. Keep on looking for him. Without
question, this is reference to the fact that the Lord God had
specifically and supernaturally revealed to Simeon that he would
not die until he had seen Christ with his own eyes. Here's another
revealed fact. Not one of God's elect shall
die until they have seen Christ with the eye of faith. Second
Peter, chapter three, verse nine. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promises. As some men might count slackness,
but he is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
that all should come to repentance." I was talking with a young lady
this morning who quoted another scripture that the world loves
to use. You see here, God loved everybody.
He desired that none should be lost. The God of this book, the
God of all creation, cannot and will not lose any of his own,
period. If he could lose anything, he
wouldn't be God, and we'd be wasting our time. What this is
saying to us, we're not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. Our Lord has inspired the writer
to speak of all of those that were given to God the Son by
God the Father before the world began. He's talking about all
of those that belong to him throughout time. The world of time. From the beginning of time till
the end of time, all men who walk this earth, those who were
given to Christ, shall come to Him. Next we see a blessed guide
for us to wait upon. It says in Luke 27 there, it
says, And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the
parents brought in the child, Jesus, to do for him after the
custom of the law. Now, when we come to the house
of God by the Spirit of God, we are sure to meet the Son of
God where God's people are. That's all there is to it. People
come into this church no matter when, just once. What are they
gonna do? They're gonna meet about Christ.
They're gonna meet who Christ is. They're gonna find out who
he is. They're going to find out that He's the sovereign ruler,
creator of all things. They're going to find out what
He did. He walked perfectly, establishing a righteousness
for His people. He went to the cross and laid
down His life and shed His blood for His people. That's what people
are going to find out, who God brings through that door. Doesn't
matter who. And we know that some have gotten up and walked
out, don't we? Some have left and never come back. I'm thankful
there are some who keep coming. We come into the house of God,
by the Spirit of God, we are sure to meet the Son of God there.
That's where He declares His presence to be. I quoted this
a moment ago, Matthew 18, 20, for where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. And then
we see our glorious salvation presented to us in the words
of this man, Simeon. Here is the glorious salvation.
He says, then took he him up in his arms. Oh, I've been coming
here all this time and the Lord's finally delivered what He promised
I would see. This is the child. This is the
one. This is the one. This is in verse
28 through 33 of your text. He took him up in his arms, in
other words, in personal faith, and blessed, or in other words,
praised God and said in confident hope, Lord, now let us now thy
servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face
of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of
thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled
at these things which were spoken of him. My title today is this. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. You who God has enlightened know
what I'm saying. You who do not, who have not
heard the word of God with a heart, a new heart, I ask you this morning,
have you seen God's salvation? Or are you looking at yours? salvation. What do you mean by
that, John? I mean is your salvation based
on anything other than being in Christ, in Christ the Lord? If you have, if you're seeking
your salvation in anything you have done, then Christ is not
revealing His salvation to you. Simeon was holy. the God-man
in his hands. He lifted him up. He lifted him
up into his arms. Praise the Lord, I see. Because
I know the world can't. And I know if it wasn't for your
grace, I would not see him at all. Two things we see right
off the bat. He took him up in his arms. When
God reveals himself to one for whom he laid down his life for,
when God calls one of his let We don't wait. When God called
his disciples, they came immediately. When God spoke to the heart of
John Reeves, he went home and he said, I'm going back again
next week. I'm going back again and I'm going back again. When
I was asked, why are you going? I don't know, but I'm going.
We don't wait. When God called His disciples,
they immediately got up and walked following Him. When the Word
of Power is exercised upon an all-dead heart, a heart that
was born spiritually dead, the Word accomplishes its purpose. What is the Word of God? What
is the purpose of it? To call His elect out of darkness. To shine the light of Christ
in the heart of His loved ones. It accomplishes its purpose.
For He is sovereign and nothing can turn His hand. When we first
heard with our new heart his sovereign word, we too began
to lift him up. In John 3.14, we read these words,
and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. Secondly, he held him up
in his arms, as in he embraced him in love. when one who has
had their true standing before God revealed, when we have seen
by God's revelation that we have nothing to offer Him, that we
only deserve His wrath, and we see the fact that Christ gave
Himself for us, how could you not love one who first loved
you? I'm telling you, you can't. When you see the love of God
shed in your heart by the blood of His Son, you will love Him. because he first loved you. When one has seen the love of
God in sending his only begotten son to be our substitute, to
pay our price for our sin, we will embrace him in love. When the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts, the hearts of his people, we cannot help
but love the one who first loved us and shed his own blood that
we might have eternal life through him. But not all will have these
truths revealed. Many will go through that door
marked death, denying the power of God. Look at verses 34-35
of our text. Here is a Savior and a gospel
despised by all men in every age, except for those that He
has revealed Himself to. It says, And Simeon blessed them,
his parents, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, This child,
the one He is holding up, the one He is exercising His love
to, is set for the fall. Imagine what was going through
her heart. What? What do you mean? What
are you saying about my son? He's going to go through the
fall? He's set. The purpose of Christ
coming to this world was to die for His people. To die for you
and I. He was set for the fall. and the rising. There's the hope of glory, folks.
Death couldn't hold our Lord. He's got the keys to everything.
God accepted His Son's sacrifice in our place and raised Him from
the dead to see the love of God for you and the rising again
of many in Israel. Not the whole world, but many. And for a sign which shall be
spoken against, speaking again of those who would turn against
Christ, those who had come into the world and they received him
not, for a sign which shall be spoken against, yea, a sword
shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts
of many hearts may be revealed. In the worst places and the darkest
of times, Our God still has His 7,000. We think that, oh, there's
only a couple people that show up here on Sunday morning. And
the group is getting smaller. Some have moved away. We have
a long list back there in the hallway of those who have gone
on to be with the Lord. The most recent, our dear brother
Bill. God, I miss him. And our Lord still has 10, 12
people here. 15 people with those who are
online. who can be nowhere else today because God wanted them
here. That's why you're here. That's
why all of us are here, because the Lord brought us here. He
has his 7,000 who shall not bow the knee to Baal. Most in every
age wear the mark of the beast, but God's elect will not and
cannot because our names are written in the Lamb Book of Life
by the pen of our immutable Savior. By His grace, He wrote it there
before the world began. You can read about that in the
13th chapter of Revelations at your own time if you'd like.
The church of God may be small in the midst of Babylon, but
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. God's little flock
may be driven into the wilderness. You talk about the wilderness,
we're up here in the woods, folks. Polly Mary, a little more than
others. She lives up in the woods. You need to get a four-wheel
drive to get into your place nowadays. We may be driven into the wilderness,
but the Good Shepherd still carries His lambs in His arms and He
feeds us with His grace. The woman is persecuted by the
dragon of hell, it says in Revelation 12, but God providentially causes
all the world to help her. Our God will never leave himself
without a witness. He always has a lot in the city
of Sodom. He always has an Obadiah in Ahab's
household. He always has a Daniel in the
city of Babylon. He always has a Jeremiah in Zedekiah's
court. And he's always got a Simeon,
an elect remnant. and apostate age is what that
is. If you are a child of the Most High, you cannot be lost.
To say that you can is to deny the power of God. Listen to these
words of 1 Peter 1, verse 3. I hope this brings a blessing
to you, and I'll bring this to a close in a moment. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. We also see
in this man Simeon had a clear knowledge of the person and the
work of Christ Jesus our Lord. It said in John 6.45, it is written
in the prophets that they shall all be taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh
unto me. In Romans 10, 17 it says, so
then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Faith in Christ is not a leap in the darkness. It is a confidence
that is based upon the revelation of God from his word to your
heart. It's the result of being taught
of God. It is obvious that Simeon knew
that God had an elect people in every race, Jew and Gentile,
who are the truth of Israel. He understood that all men and
women by nature were engulfed in great spiritual darkness,
but he also knew that the Lord Jesus Christ, the very baby that
he held in his arms, is the light of the world and the glory of
God. That's what he said in his word. That's what he said in
what we just read a moment ago. In Jeremiah 9, 23 through 24,
it says these words. Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let thy mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which
exercise lovingkindness. judgment and righteousness in
the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. In
1 Corinthians 1, verse 29-31, it says this, that no flesh should
glory in His presence, but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who
of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification. Let him glory, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Folks, salvation is not a system
of doctrine, There are those who want to say, oh, I'm a Calvinist.
I believe in the five points of Calvinist. I'm saved. It's
not a system of doctrines, of teachings. It's not a religious
creed. We meet on Saturday. That's not
salvation. It's not a reformation of your
life. I don't cheat anymore. I don't lie anymore. I don't
drink anymore. I don't beat up people anymore.
I don't cuss. You can put whatever you want
there. I don't do whatever you want. It's not that. That's not salvation. Salvation is a person. Simeon
held up the baby child of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he
said, my eyes have seen thy salvation. This is God's salvation, Christ
Jesus, our Savior. He knew that the Lord Christ
Himself was God's salvation. He knew that salvation is a person,
and that person is our Savior, Christ Jesus. He says, then he
took Him up in His arms. And he blessed God, and he said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word. For mine eyes have seen the salvation,
thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of the
earth. Let me close with, once again, pointing out his grace
in saving a people unto himself. We are told in Luke 24 through
35 that many will fall by him, and many will be resurrected
by him. To some, he is a stumbling stone, a rock of a fence, It's not a stumbling stone to
you, you understand it. What did I just read in Jeremiah
just a moment ago? Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory
in his might, let not the rich in the glory in his riches, but
let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and
knoweth me. He's a stumbling stone, a rock
of an offense. Isaiah 8, 14 through 15, and
he shall be a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and
for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a djinn
and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among
them shall fall and be broken and be snared. What is the grace
of God? That's not us. We understand who he is. Because
of his grace, because of his spirit, we know who he is. and I love everything I read
about it. Election is not a stumbling block
to me. No righteousness in me, that's not a stumbling block
to me. Righteousness only in my Savior, that's not a stumbling
block to me. His will over mine, that is not
a stumbling block to me. I love it. Some, he is a stumbling
stone and a rock of offense, but to others, he is the sure
foundation upon which we are built. Unto you, therefore, which
believe, he is precious. Is the Lord Jesus Christ precious
to you? If you knew God was coming here
to this building, wouldn't you try to come to the building and
be with him? Amen.