Good evening. Let's turn back
to Luke chapter two. And I do for the third time pray
that the Lord would send his spirit. Luke chapter two. My text is going to be from verses
twenty five to thirty two. And I was writing some things
today to. Talk about versus one to 24,
it almost became a whole nother message, and I thought this was
too much, so I wadded it up and threw it away. But it was amazing
to me how the Lord works in mysterious ways. And the thing right off
the bat that was A blessing and a conviction to me was in verse
one. It says it came to pass in those days that there went
out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
taxed. And you know, the whole world
said taxes. We don't need taxes. I bet Joseph
said, I don't need any more taxes. In verse three says. And all
went to be taxed, everyone who was on the city. And Joseph said,
it's my own city. That's 80 miles from here on
foot. But he had to go to Bethlehem, didn't he? The word said that
Christ would be born in Bethlehem. And then on and on, there were
so many things to go. I thought about saying three dollars a
gallon. The Lord does all things, doesn't
he? He does all things well. Well, in verse 25, it says, and
behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. I remember
the first time that I heard this story preached, it was by Brother
Dale Simpson. And I believe it was his first
message ever, and it blessed my soul so much. I've never forgotten
it. This is one of my favorite stories
in all of the world. As far as I can tell, this is
the only mention of him in. Nothing before this, nothing
after this. And it appears that. He's just a regular man in Jerusalem.
It doesn't say that he was nobility. It doesn't say he was a doctor
or a lawyer. Doesn't say he held any kind
of office, just a regular guy. And when I seen things like this,
and I know we all when we see things like this in the word.
We ought to all say along with the Lord. Thank you, Father.
For keeping these things from the wise and the proof. In revealing
them to people like us. Well, the same man, it says in
verse 25. Was just. He was a just man. If a man is just, it means he's
been justified. And that's something that's done
to you, not of you. If a person is charged with a
crime and he has a court date set, he can't say, I'm not going. I've decided to justify myself. He has to go. You have to appear
before the judge. The judge has to weigh all the
evidence. The judge looks at all the facts. And if the judge
declares you're justified. Then you're cleared of all guilt.
Clear conscience. Well, it says this man was just.
And it says that he was devout. And that means that he reverenced
the word. Loved the word. Carefully read
and studied the word. Came to worship the Lord on a
regular basis, devout. That's what that means. And I
pray that we would all be more devout. He goes on to say that
he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Oh, Lord, come console us. He knew it would happen. Because
he was devout to read the word. And I'm sure he loved to read
Isaiah 40, just like the rest of us. Turn over there, Isaiah
chapter 40. Waiting for the consolation,
Isaiah 40, verse one says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth
your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. and cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The middle of verse
three says, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Verse five says,
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall
see it together. Verse 10 says, Behold, the Lord
God will come. With strong hand verse eleven
says he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. And Simeon was
waiting for this consolation. Back in our text. It says at
the end of verse twenty five. And the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And that means he believed. He read the word he attended
worship and the Holy Ghost Revealed the truth to this man, he believed.
And when the Holy Spirit of God begins to move to reveal the
truth to a person. He convinces certain things. Number one, he convinces of sin. A person says, I didn't think
I did much sinning at all before. Now I'm convinced I'm a total
sinner. And then the second thing he
convinces is the Lord Jesus Christ Savior. And the person says,
I'm convinced he's able. He is able. The spirit convinces
men of things individually, they can't always explain it, but
they're convinced of it. Verse 26 says, and it was revealed
unto him, unto Simeon, by the Holy Ghost, that he should not
see death. before he had seen the Lord Christ.
He believed it. He was convinced of it. He knew
in his heart, if I'm going to see the Christ. I've got to go
where he said he'd be. The temple. The house of worship,
where his people meet, where two or three are gathered in
his name. Verse 27 says, and he came by the spirit into the
temple. Simeon got up that morning and
he got ready to go worship like he had every other week. And
he had no idea today's the day. Today is the day of salvation. Verse 27 goes on to say, And
when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after
the custom of the law, Or so it seemed to everyone else. Just
another set of parents bringing in just another child. Simeon looked. He was standing
in the temple. And here comes a mother with
a child. And Simeon looks and he sees a child. And he looks again. And he says, Ma'am, may I see
your child? And he held this child in his
hands. And he knew, this is the Christ.
This is the Christ. Verse 28 said, Then took he him
up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord. He knew this is the Lord. Our
Lord has always been Lord. He was the Lord when he created
this earth. He was the Lord when he came to this earth. He was
the Lord when he left this earth. And one day as the Lord, he's
coming again to destroy this earth. And Simeon knew exactly
who this was. He was holding in his hands the
almighty God. The almighty God who has the
world in his hands. He was holding the one who holds
the world. The Lord said, My sheep know me. Scripture says
he entered the world and the world knew him not. But Simeon
knew him. Why? Verse 26 says it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost. And when Simeon saw his king,
he said in verse 29, Lord, now let us, thou thy servant, depart
in peace. According to that word. Now,
I can die in peace. All I've ever wanted has been
fulfilled today. You've kept your word to me.
That's what it says at the end of 29, according to that word.
Verse 30 says, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. That's
the title of this, seeing salvation. My eyes have seen that. I've seen the Christ. Verse thirty
one says which now has prepared before the face of all people.
Here he is right here for all to see. All my desire all my hope all
my need is found right here. All of the goodness and mercy
of God is found right here. I have it right here. I can die
in peace. Verse 32 says, A light to lighten
the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. He's a light
to open blind eyes. And once those eyes are open,
he's the glory of all who see. Well, that's what happened to
Simeon. That's what the Lord did for Simeon. The question
is, how does that apply directly to us? We know that whatever was written
to the Lord's people applies to all the Lord's people. So
we could go back up to verse 25 and start over. And you could just as easily
read like this. And behold, there was a man in Sontag whose name was Sammy or Steve
or Mac or John. I don't think I'm missing anybody
from Sontag. And the same man was just. But don't worry, you've got nothing
to worry about. That's not something done of
you. It's something done to you. The same man was just and about
waiting. Someone could ask John, what
are you doing, John? Waiting. Isn't that what we're
doing? We're waiting. Waiting for what? The consolation of Israel. That's what we do. Well, don't
you have a job? Yeah. And as I go to work, doing
whatever my hand finds to do with all my might as under the
Lord, I'm waiting. Well, don't you have a wife?
Yeah. And thank the Lord that she doesn't, too. We're waiting together for the
consolation of Israel. We're waiting for the return
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we're waiting on.
Verse 26 says it was revealed unto Simeon by the Holy Ghost
that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's
Christ. But you know, not one of the
Lord's people Not one of the chosen elect of
God will physically leave this earth before they, with the eyes
of faith, see the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the thief on the cross,
minutes, maybe seconds before he died, railing on Him, all
of a sudden, you're the King. You are the Christ. All of the
Lord's people, before they die, are going to see the Lord Jesus
Christ. And unless we see the Christ, there's no hope of salvation. It's all found in Him. Some may
ask, how can I see the Christ? And the answer is, the eyes of
faith cometh by hearing. And hearing cometh by the Word
of God. through the word of God and it
comes by the word of God. This is what he uses. And in
other words, it's a gift. The word has to give the gift.
Faith is not of yourself. It's a gift. And just like verse
27 says. If the spirit will bring us to
the temple. Because if any of us are here
tonight, it's because the spirit brought us here, it's not of
us. If the spirit will bring us to the house of worship and
we do truly see the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just routine. In his word is truly blessed,
the Lord will bless his word. And if our hearts will burn with
us. And as verse 28 says, if we take it up in our arms and
we embrace the word and we love it. then we can breathe a sigh of
relief. Because the Gospel not only cures
the root of the problem, sin, it also cures the symptoms of
the problem. We think, I know that the debt
of my sin has been paid, but I still feel the symptoms of
it. It's still weighing me down. And the truth cures what ails
you. You can come here and, as Psalm 37 says, delight yourself
in peace from whatever troubles you. And you can say, thank you,
Lord. I came into this place worried
and burdened about everything in this world. But now, as I've
heard, according to thy word, I can depart this place today. I pray tonight in peace. Verse 30 says, for mine eyes
have seen thy salvation. Which thou has prepared before
the face of all people. Turn over to Isaiah, 52. Isaiah,
Chapter 52. Here's a illustration for seeing
salvation. When I was a young child, I used
to ask my dad something all the time. And I would believe that
most everybody asked their dad this. I used to, I couldn't wait
for him to get home. I really did ask him all the
time. I just had clear visions of it
in my mind. He'd come home and I'd say, Dad,
show me your muscle. And he'd do it every time. He'd
pull his sleeve up real high so I could see real clear. And
he'd hold his arm up and I'd lay my little hands on that muscle
and think, that's the biggest muscle in the world. That's the
biggest muscle I've ever seen. I don't have to worry about anything.
My dad can beat up anybody. I love to see that muscle. Isaiah
52 10 says the Lord hath made bare his holy arm. In the eyes
of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God. And we can come into this place
and respectfully say, Lord, show us your muscle. Because when we see it, when
we see the right arm of God in all his strength. All the burdens we have just
roll away, don't they? The salvation of God is a light
to open blind eyes. But he's also a strong arm to
carry a sinner's heavy load. And whatever our problem, whatever
our worry, we can look to the Lamb of God. We come in worried
about finances. I know we do. I do. I know we
do. And then we hear Jehovah Jireh. That means the Lord will provide. I got a bill due tomorrow. The
Lord will provide. We come in worried about utterly
falling away. I do. And then we hear Jehovah
Nissi. The Lord is our banner. That's
not going to happen. We come in worried about our
unworthiness to enter the kingdom of heaven. I'm not worthy. And
then we hear Jehovah Sidkenu. The Lord is our righteousness. You mean I don't have to get
there on my own? So it's true. Jehovah Shalom. The Lord's our peace. Because when we hear these things,
and we're reminded of Him, it lightens our load. Like verse
32 says in our text, a light to lighten the Gentiles. So let
us ask each time we come to this house of worship, Lord, let us,
as you let Simeon see that salvation. See the one who is our peace,
the one who is our strong arm, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen,
I'm done. Let's stand together. Okay.