and prayers night and day. And
she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord
and spake of him to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And when they had performed all
things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into
Galilee to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and waxed
strong in spirit, filled with wisdom. and the grace of God
was upon him. Our Heavenly Father, as we meet
together today, we thank you, Lord, and bless the name, that
name which is above every name, the Lord Jesus Christ, your son. How wonderful it is for God's
people to be able to meet together and to share with one another,
to share in their love and to share in the grace of God that's
been given to your people. Thank you, Lord, for this privilege
we have of gathering together in this place. And I pray, Father,
that you'll just keep us warm as possible. Keep our minds and
our hearts stayed upon Jesus Christ. We know, Lord, that you
give perfect peace to those whose minds are stayed on thee. And
we pray for that perfect peace. We pray, Father, that you'll
bless every aspect of this service. May it bring honor and glory
to the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We pray for our pastor
as he ministers the Word up in Kentucky. We pray, Father, that
you would bless him, give him liberty, give him clarity of
thought. May the Word of God go forth
in power. And Lord, we pray the same for
us here, and that you would give us hearing ears to hear what
you have to say. Those of our congregation who
have special needs, we pray, Father, that You, our God, who
is sufficient for all, would supply those needs. We pray for our loved ones. We
pray for those who are in attendance here, if they be any. Those who,
Lord, have not looked to You and lived. Father, we pray that
this morning that we may see Jesus high and lifted up, that
we may see our Lord who brought and wrought salvation to us. Bless your people in this place,
we pray in Jesus' name, amen. After the singing of the Him
in the bulletin, Him will be singing the song for us. In your
Bibles again, back to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. Obi, do I need to turn this on? Thank you. Luke chapter 2, let me invite
your attention down to verse 29. Luke chapter 2. Simeon is speaking and says,
Lord, now let us now thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. The only peace there is, is the
Prince of Peace. Isaiah let us know that for sure
in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6. He is called the Prince of Peace. Peace is a person. It's not a concept. In our lives,
it's a concept. We try to have peace with one
another. But there's a peace to be had with God that we cannot
achieve. We cannot find in ourselves.
We can't build up to it. It must come from God Himself. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse
14 he says, He is our peace. Peace is a person. And there
is no peace apart from the grace of God. Look with me, hold your
place there, mark your place there, and look with me in Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13 and let's
go down to verse 20. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
20. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of
the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make
you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you
that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. God working in you. that which
is well pleasing in his sight. This is the God of peace at work
and his work is the work of grace, not our work. There's nothing
we can do to bring the grace of God on us. However, our Lord
did say that he came into the world to save sinners. to seek and to save that which
was lost. God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And then the next verse down,
two verses down, He died for the ungodly. When an ungodly sinner hears
the call of God, He'll come to him. David said, you said for me to
call on you, so I called. This peace is the grace of God. God giving His grace to us. According to Philippians chapter
4, it's a peace that passes all understanding. Now if that's what God says about
it, that's what God said to Paul about it, then where's the understanding
in it? The understanding is in a person,
Jesus Christ. If you know the person, you have
peace. You have peace with God, you
have the peace of God, you have God's peace, if you know the
person. You see, on the other hand, Isaiah
says in Isaiah chapter 57, let's go there, Isaiah chapter 57.
Isaiah chapter 57, and let's begin in verse 15. Isaiah 57 verse 15, for thus
saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose
name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy
place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit
to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the
contrite ones. For I will not contend forever.
Neither will I always be always wroth, for the spirit should
fail before me and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity
of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him. I hid me and was
wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have
seen his ways and will heal him. I will lead him also and restore
comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit
of the lips, peace, peace to him that is afar off, and to
him that is near, saith the Lord. I will heal him, but the wicked
are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters
cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God,
to the wicked. There is a contrast here. In
Christ, there's peace because He is peace. Without Christ,
there is no peace to be had. Nowhere in this world. How the Lord gives peace is set
forth in this passage that I read to us this morning. How the Lord
gives peace. You see, what is my greatest
problem? What keeps me from having peace?
Well, sin does. And my inability to keep the
law. My inability to do what God wants
me to do. It's just not in me. It's not
in my flesh. James said it this way, Whosoever
shall keep the whole law and shall offend in one point is
guilty of all. Well, there's not much hope for
me. And there isn't in me, in my flesh. There is no good thing.
There's no hope with me for me in me. My flesh is weak. I need a perfect savior. I need a perfect
peace. Hosea said it like this, there's
no Savior besides me. That's what God said. There's
no Savior besides me. You'll not find a Savior anywhere
else. You'll not find this peace and
this perfect Savior anywhere else. He was tempted in all points,
Jesus Christ, was tempted in all points like as we are, yet
without sin. God sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins, the atonement, the mercy seat. It's the person,
Jesus Christ. And what I want us to see in
this passage, if I'm able to explain it well enough, what
I want us to see in this passage is number one, the law fulfilled. Number two, the Savior revealed. And then we'll look at another
little part as we bind it all together and close it up. Number
one, the law is fulfilled. Now, think with me back to the
birth of Jesus Christ. Eight days later, he's still
a baby, isn't he? Don't even have to say that.
He's still a little baby, eight-day-old child. If you're going to keep the law
and not offend, and yet offend in one point, you'd be guilty
of all, he's going to have to keep all the law. How's he going
to do that as an eight-day-old baby? God gave him godly parents,
didn't He? God gave him to Mary. God gave
him to Joseph. And God told him what to call
him. In Luke 1.31, he told Mary to call him Jesus. In Matthew
1.21, he told Joseph to call him Jesus. So when they get to
the temple, what do they do? They call him Jesus. But they kept the law for him. An eight-day-old child must be
brought to the Lord at the temple and there to be presented to
the Lord, and he would be called holy to the Lord. A little eight-day-old
baby can't do that. I am so glad that he kept the
law. He did not come to destroy it,
but he came to fulfill it. He kept all the law, even when
he was an eight day old baby. He kept all the law for us. And there was a reason he did
that. Because he knew I couldn't keep it. He knew that God demanded perfection. The only way to enter into heaven
is to be perfect. He knew that God demanded holiness. The only way to enter into heaven
is to be holy. Even God said, be you perfect
for I am perfect. And another place, be you holy
for I am holy. There's no way to get there in
me. But thank the Lord, He kept the
entire law. He showed His righteousness,
His obedience to the Father. And as He stands before God, every one of His people stands
with Him in righteousness and holiness. You don't wait to become
righteous. Work to become righteous. You
don't wait to become holy. You don't work to be holy. You
are righteous. You are holy in Him. He fulfilled all the law. He
was circumcised the eighth day. He was given the name of Jesus.
Jesus, Jehovah, is salvation. That's what Jesus means. Same
word in the Old Testament as Joshua. This is our Joshua, Jesus,
Jehovah, our salvation. No wonder Simeon said, now have
mine eyes seen thy salvation. And they sacrificed for him.
He couldn't make the sacrifice instead of an eight day old child.
They sacrificed for him. The Lord Jesus must be perfect. According to Hebrews chapter
five, he was made perfect. Made perfect. This little child
that he held in his arms, eight days old, was Simeon's salvation. But more than that, he was God's
salvation for his people. None other name under heaven,
whereby you must be saved, but by that name of Jesus Christ,
our Lord. He must fulfill the law. He fulfilled
it. The first Adam was disobedient.
The last Adam was obedient. He said, I do always those things
that please my father, even as an eight day old baby. He rendered the law, if you will,
He rendered the law inoperative to His people. He kept the law. He fulfilled the law. There is
no way you can keep it. There is no way you can fulfill
it. But in Him, it is done. And now there is no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. God will not condemn His people. He will not condemn them, because
Jesus Christ bore that condemnation upon Himself, having nailed it
to the cross. He abolished the handwriting
of ordinances against us, having nailed it to the cross. He must be the perfect sacrifice.
In order to be the perfect sacrifice, He had to be without fault, without
sin, without anything wrong with Him. He had to be like the Passover
lamb of Exodus chapter 12. They had to find a perfect lamb. Not just any lamb, but a perfect
lamb. And Jesus Christ, was that perfect
lamb. He had to be a perfect Savior,
a perfect Savior. He was made perfect for us as
a Savior. And those who would go to heaven
must be perfect. That's the gospel. Because He
purged our sins. He put away our sins. He pardoned
our sins. He's the ransom for our sins. He came to justify, to sanctify,
and to glorify His people. He came to, as our justification,
Paul says in I Corinthians chapter 1, our justification, our sanctification,
our redemption, our righteousness, He is our wisdom. The good news is, he accomplished
it all. There's not one thing left to
do. He accomplished every bit of
it. He never failed. He cried out, it is finished.
He spoke to his father, I've finished the work. It's done. Salvation has nothing to do with
what I do. Salvation is He, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He did it all. So in these first few verses
here in Luke chapter 2 that we read, When he was eight, days were
accomplished for the circumcising of the child. His name was called
Jesus, which was so named to the angel before he was consumed
in the womb. And when the days of a purifying
according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought
him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written
in the law of the Lord. Every male that openeth the womb
shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according
to that which is said, In the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle
doves or two young pigeons. The law was fulfilled in a person,
Jesus Christ. Next thing I want you to notice
with me, the Savior is revealed. Who hath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? He must be revealed. So the Lord reveals it to Simeon.
We look at it and we say, in a special way. But no, the Lord
reveals to His people Himself the same way He revealed Himself
to Simeon. Look at it with me. It says,
Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. Now we're
told to behold. Take stock. Stop and look. Study it out. Think about it.
Behold this Simeon, a man that lived in Jerusalem. He was a
just man. He was a devout man. He was waiting
for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for the fulfillment
of the preaching of Isaiah chapter 42. Turn there with me please.
Isaiah chapter 42. Excuse me, chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40, verses 1 and
2. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, that she hath received the Lord's hand double for all
her sins. He was waiting for this consolation.
The word consolation is comfort. Same word as used for the Spirit
of God. The comforter. Same word. Simeon was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. He was waiting for that comfort.
And that's what the good news gives us. That's what the gospel
gives us. Comfort. Real comfort. Not man-made
comfort. Not man-contrived comfort. But the comfort that only God
can give. You are saved by grace through
faith and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. He was waiting for that seed
to come. All Israel was waiting for from
the time that Moses wrote to them about the garden and the
seed of the woman. All of them were looking for
that seed, that seed that would come, that seed that would be
the comfort, that seed that would be the salvation of God's people. They were looking for the Messiah. They were looking for that seed
of Abraham that was going to be blessed and bless all nations. And in 2 Thessalonians, Chapter
2, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. They were looking for that seed
that was the root and offspring of David. And 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 and verse 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our Father, who hath loved us and given us everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and
establish you in every good word and work. That same word is used
here for comforter, for consolation. It's an everlasting consolation. It comes everlastingly from the
Lord. The Savior is revealed to Simeon
here. The Holy Ghost was upon him to
guide him, to teach him, to reprove him, convince him of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment. He's that Holy Spirit, he's that
other comforter. Jesus said, I will not leave
you comfortless, but I will give you another comforter. And He
will tell you of me. He will guide you into truth.
That other comforter, that another comforter. The Greeks had two words for
another. One meant, it was easy to decipher
because they spelled them so differently, but one meant another
of a different kind. One meant another of the same
kind, and that's the word that's used here. I'm going to leave
you another company, just like me. As a matter of fact, He is
God, just like me. I'm going to leave you another
comforter. The Holy Ghost was upon him and God's revelation
to Simeon by the Holy Ghost is given to us here in verse 26. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. That's effectual salvation. He, our Lord Jesus Christ, effectually
finished the work of salvation. He died once for sins, for sins
once. And there's no more offering
for sin. And it's made effectual to His
people. And we love these words when God says, I will, ye shall. It's done. This is effectual salvation.
He would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. He was kept from eternity. He
was preserved for this. That's eternal election. God purposed, God elected, God
chose in eternity that one day Simeon was going to look at God's
salvation in an eight day old baby. If you are one of His, may I
say it this way, if you are one of His, you will not die until
you have seen the Lord's Christ. It just won't happen. If you're one of His, you won't
die until you see who Jesus Christ really is. In due time, He came
for you. He came unto his own. He came
that they might have life. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. And in due time the Father will
bring you to the Son. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I'll know I's cast
out. The Father will bring you to
Him, and you'll come by the power and the presence of the Spirit
of God. You may not feel it, you may
not know it. By the way, did you know you're
not here by chance? It didn't just happen that you're
here. And it didn't just happen that we came in on a cold morning. You're not here by chance. God
the Holy Spirit is doing the leading. God is doing the controlling. It's God's purpose for you to
be here. Whether you understand that or
I understand that or not. The exact time that the parents
brought Jesus into the temple was the same time that Simeon
walked into the temple. And God said, there he is. How do you know God said, there
he is? Well, it says, according to thy word. I said, I'm going to show you.
You'll not taste death until you've seen the Lord's Christ.
I'm going to show you. And God did show him. In verse
29, the end of verse 29, he says, according to thy word. He took up that child in his
arms. He embraced him. And he said, now I've seen thy
salvation. Have you seen him? Have you seen
the salvation of the Lord? Have you seen that one that Moses
cried out there before the Red Sea and said, stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord? Have you seen the one that was
lifted up and if I be lifted up should draw all men unto me?
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
I be lifted up that whosoever believeth in me should have eternal
life. Have you seen him? Has he been
lifted up? He took that child in his arm
and he embraced him. And we take him in our arms by
faith and embrace him. Peter said it this way, whom
having not seen, you love. Whom having not seen, you believe. We take him up in our arms. Anna
spoke of his redemption when she came. She came in at the
exact same time, too. She walked out just as Simeon
was saying what he said. Now let thy servant depart in
peace, for I have seen thy salvation. She stepped out at the same time.
And after he had preached his little message, we'll see here
in just a moment, after he had preached his little message,
she said she came out and she blessed God and that God had
brought in his redemption. God's redemption. He just took
him at his word. It doesn't matter what I say.
As a matter of fact, most of the time I fog things up. It
doesn't matter what I say. What does the Lord say? Thus saith the Lord. What does He say? You see, the
Lord keeps His Word. His Word is like Samuel's. Remember
when Samuel first found the Lord had spoken to him and he said,
Lord, here am I. Right after that it tells us
that God did not let any of His words fall to the ground. God's words don't fall to the
ground. They are forever settled in heaven. All His promises are yea and
amen in Christ Jesus. He does not fail. Simeon came
by the Word of God. And that's a miracle in itself,
if you think about it. Turn with me to Romans chapter
10. Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Beginning in verse 13, for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then
shall they call on him of whom they have not believed? How shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
to be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they have not obeyed the
gospel, for Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed our report?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. That's a miracle in itself. That through the word of God,
through the preaching of the word of God, faith comes to the
heart. Now let us thy servant depart
in peace. The word let means set at liberty. Now set me at liberty. When a believer, when someone
is brought to the Savior, when salvation is seen by a person,
That person is ready to be with their Savior. There are a lot of things on
this earth that I love and you do too. But there's nothing greater than
the love of my Savior and being with Him for all eternity. No
wonder Paul said, I'm ready to depart. I'm ready to depart. Now, for
me to stay is far better for you, but for me to go, wow, what's
that going to be? To see our Savior, to see Him
with, instead of the eye of faith, the actual eye of flesh. to see our Savior, to see Him
standing there with His outstretched arms and see those nail prints
in His hands, that spear rib inside, those nail pierced feet,
what He did for you and me and for all eternity we are looking
at God's salvation. What a day! No wonder we sing
that song. What a day that will be when
my Jesus Shall see let thy servant depart in peace For when you
see his salvation You will have His peace I'm ready Paul said I'm ready
to die. He said in Acts 21 I He also
said, I'm ready to preach, but he said in 2 Timothy chapter
4 verse 6, I'm ready to be offered. I'm ready. You will not be ready unless you're perfect, unless
you are holy. The peace that man has, not as
the world give I unto thee, The peace that he has is the peace
that passes understanding. That's what he gives. It doesn't
come any other way than by the person of Jesus Christ. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared, that body, that eight-day-old body. Thou hast prepared in the presence
of all, before the face of all the people, when God cries out
in Isaiah 65, behold me in the face of all the people, in the
face of Jesus Christ, a light to lighten the Gentiles. Boy,
I'm glad of that. The glory of thy people Israel. When I used to do my spiritual thing, for 40 years
preaching another gospel, I used to, one of my first words
to people that I would meet is, are you ready to go to heaven?
I'm not asking you that. And please don't misunderstand
me when I say it this way. I don't care whether you go to
heaven or not. Have you seen my Savior, Jesus
Christ? That's what I ask you. Have you
seen Him? Because He is our only hope.
He is our only perfection. He is our only holiness. Now are you ready to depart in
peace, this place? Have you seen the Lord's salvation? Much more that I could say, but
I'm going to quit right there. O Lord, let me depart in peace,
for I have seen thy salvation. With the eye of faith you gave
me, that I may see thy redemption. I saw my Savior, the Lord's Christ,
the Prince of Peace, the Mighty King, who liberated from sin's
strife and made peace for me, atoning. When yet I did not know
thy grace, you kept me that I should not die. Till in due time you
showed your face that I should be with you on high. Now Lord,
let me depart in peace. I see you as my sovereign Lord. This peace from you will never
cease. This peace according to thy word. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're so thankful
that you've given us just a glimpse again of how wonderful, mighty,
majestic, powerful, great you are, even in a eight day old
baby, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, that you have
brought me to the place to see thy salvation. And now I can
depart in peace. And many of these, if not all, the same prayer can be said. We pray your blessings upon your
word. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.