Now, let's look at this man just
a moment. I've talked about Simon so many
times over the years as he saw the Lord Jesus Christ be in his
salvation. But look down in verse 25. Let's
look at this man. And he has a wonderful biography.
It's a short biography. I don't have much to say, but
it's a wonderful one. Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem,
and he gave us his name. His name was Simon. And then
look what it says about him. The same man, Simon. was just
and devout. Oh my, what a description of
a man. A just man. A just man. What does this mean? That means
that he treated everybody well. He treated them good. He treated
them justly. He was honest with people in his life. He understood
that God was watching everything he did. Whatever his station
in life was, whether he was a master, Whether he was a servant, whether
he was a businessman, whether he taught religion, I don't know
what he done. But I do know this, that he was
a just man. If he had been among us, we would have said, that
fellow right there would treat you right. That's a just man. And second, he said he was devout.
Devout comes from that word devoted. And here's a man that was devoted,
devout. And watch what it says. He was
about towards God because he was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. Oh, his life was given over to
the one true God. His heart and soul was dedicated,
committed to God Almighty, to worship God, to own God. And
this is true Christianity. This is what the Bible tells
us that we are, should be, and by God's grace will be. Just. Just in our dealings. We ought
not never ever question. whether a Christian would ever
treat you right or not. It ought not to never enter your
vocabulary. Just always does what's right towards his fellow
man, always does what's right towards others. And they're devout. I mean, they're committed to
God from the top of their head to the sole of their foot. Now,
I know, beloved, that there are some men who are just in their
dealings. I mean, they're meticulous in their dealings. They would
not beat you out of a penny. They'd go a long ways to make
everything right with you if they thought they'd done you
wrong. But yet they're not devout. They're not devout. They're not
committed. They're not devout toward God. And some profess
to be devout. Oh, they're committed to God,
but they're not just. You can't trust them as far as you can
spit. But God helped us, by His grace, to have a biography like
this. A just man and a devout man.
Huh? And then notice what else it
says about his biography. It says he was waiting for the
consolation of Israel. I preached on Christ our consolation
here a while back. And that's what he was waiting
for, the consolation of Israel. Consoled for your sins. Consoled
while you were waiting for the promise. Consoled about your
reconciliation with God. What a blessed position to be
waiting, oh God, to be waiting for the consolation of Israel.
waiting for Christ, waiting for the one who would come and console
your heart, console your soul, console you about your sins,
console you about your relationship with God, console you all the
days of your life as troubles came. You know, Eve waited. The Scriptures tell us that Eve
waited to get a man from the Lord. She thought Cain would
be that one, and Cain wasn't. He killed his own brother. He
wasn't that man. Abraham waited. God promised
him a seed. He waited year after year after
year after year. But he came. Isaac came. Moses
waited. He waited 40 years before he
went down to Egypt to bring God's people out. He waited. And he
waited at the Red Sea. He said, stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. David waited. I mean, he waited
for years and years and years for God to kill Saul or for Saul
to die before he ascended the throne. But yet he waited, and
he says, My Lord, sit under my Lord, sit at thy right hand,
till thy enemies are made you put to school. He understood
that he was waiting on God. And so you see, beloved, these
all died in faith, having not received the promise. And then
look what else it says about him. The Holy Ghost was upon
him. That's why he knew he was devout.
The Holy Ghost was upon him. Oh, bless God with love for the
Holy Ghost to come upon us. Holy Ghost come upon you. Holy
Ghost come upon us. You see, he had the communion
of the Holy Ghost. He had the presence of the Holy
Ghost. And that's how he knew a Savior was coming 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
how he knew that the Savior was coming. That's why he was waiting
for the consolation of Israel. How did he know when he saw him?
How did he know? In verse 27, he came by the Spirit
into the temple. That's how he knew him. The Holy Spirit led him to the
temple, brought him to the temple. How was he at the right place
at the right time? He was led by the Spirit into
the temple. There was no accident that he
was here. He wouldn't just happen to go
into there. He just didn't get lucky that particular day. He
just didn't happen to be wandering around the temple on this particular
day, not having any idea what was going on. The Holy Ghost
had done made him know. Huh? But what a short, short,
sweet... You know the... It said in Malachi
3, you know that the Lord would come suddenly to his temple.
Suddenly. And oh, what a short, sweet biography. A man in Jerusalem. Would they
say that about us? There's a man in Crossfield,
Tennessee. There's a man in Cumberland County. There's a man in Kentucky.
There's a man. There's a man. Carl, put your name in there.
Just man. A devout man. Waiting for the
consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost on you. And I know this much. No man
will find the Lord Jesus Christ, or no man will know anything
about Him, or when He is present, but by the Holy Spirit. You will
never know. You know, Christ, much is mentioned
about Jesus. Lots of things are said about
Him. But beloved, most folks will never know where He was
at, whether He was there or whether He was not there, because the
Holy Spirit is not in most services. And if the Holy Spirit is not
present, nobody will ever know that the Lord Jesus Christ is
present. How many other old men, you suppose, were in the temple
this day, going to and fro? They didn't see anything like
Simon saw. Huh? All they saw was a poor
peasant woman, and not only her, but no telling how many others
were in there that day. And all they saw was this poor
peasant woman and her husband bringing an offering to redeem
their firstborn. But old Simon saw something else.
He saw everything something that others didn't. And look how his
eyes lit up with joy there in verse 28. Then he took him up
in his arms after they brought him to do that to the cousins
of his own. And blessed God, lifted his voice up and began
to praise God. Huh? His eyes lit up with joy
and his heart was filled thanksgiving. And he blessed God, gave thanks
unto God. And he said, Lord, now, Now let us thy servant depart
in peace, peace of heart, peace of conscience, peace with God. Why? According to your words,
you told me that after I've seen your salvation, I could go. And oh, to be able to die in
peace, to be able to die. People say, have you made your
peace with God? You can't make, Christ has already made peace
with God. He brought made peace by the
blood of His cross. You cannot make peace with God.
But to be able to die in peace, die with a peaceful heart, die
with a peaceful conscience, die with a peaceful mind, die with
peace between you and God, and be able to look forward to facing
Him. You know why He saw it? Because
His eyes seen the salvation of the Lord. He saw just an infant. He saw
just an infant. He saw an eight-day-old baby
is what he saw. But oh, what did he see in that
infant? He saw he was like more than
a little Jesus boy. What did he see? Well, I'll tell
you what he saw. He saw the Lord Jesus is salvation. He saw the Lord Jesus, his salvation. Ain't that what he says? For
mine eyes, let your servant depart in peace according to your word.
For mine eyes, in verse 30, has seen thy salvation. Oh, it's
not just religious rhetoric when he says we say the Lord Jesus
is our salvation. Look what it says over here in
verse 11 of chapter 2. You see, he's more than just
a Savior, he is salvation itself. Look what he says there in verse
11, For unto you is born, the angels stopped talking about
this now, it was the separate world. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And our beloved in this suddenly,
in verse 13, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and
on earth, peace and goodwill toward men. That's why Christ,
to bring peace between sinners and God, to bring goodwill, show
God's goodwill towards poor sinners. You see, but he says, my eyes
have seen your salvation. Moses saying, He is my salvation
when He stood, come out of Egypt. David said, The Lord is my light
and my salvation. Isaiah said, Behold, God is my
salvation. Now, beloved, it's wonderful.
It's wonderful to see salvation in the life of our Lord Jesus.
To see salvation in the work of our Lord Jesus, in the death
of our Lord Jesus. But salvation is in His person. The very essence of it is in
his person. Then he took him, ain't that why it says, then
he took him up in verse 28, in his arms, and blessed God, huh? Then he took him up in his arms,
and that's when he says, mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
Now listen to what I'm going to tell you here. This was before
our Lord ever began to teach, before he ever began to preach.
before he ever began to suffer for sins. As an infant, he was
God's salvation right here. When he took a baby up, an eight-day-old
infant in his arms, he said, I see your salvation. Christ
hadn't done nothing yet but whine and cry and lean on his mother's
breast and derive his own nourishment from her. And everything about
our Lord Jesus is saving. Everything about Him is. But
He Himself is salvation. His teaching is saving. His example is saving. His love
is saving. And tenderness and sufferings
and glory. But all these help us. But it's His own glorious
self which puts efficacy into Him. Huh? Gives effectualness to Him. Now
listen, it's who He is, and this is what folks don't understand.
It's who He is that gives virtue to what He done. That's why people
can say, I'm trusting the finished work of Christ and never know
who He is. How are you going to trust in
somebody and what He did if you don't know who He is? That's
why Simon could look at an eight-day-old baby and take him up in his arms
and say, my eyes have seen your salvation. Christ hadn't been
to the cross yet. Christ hadn't performed a miracle
yet. Christ hadn't done any preaching yet. He hadn't walked on any
water yet. He hadn't raised the dead yet,
but yet he took him up in his arms and, beloved, he says, my
eyes. And there had been no death yet. And our Lord Jesus doesn't
say, come to my work. But He says, come unto Me. If you get Him, you get everything
that goes with Him. But you can have everything that
goes with Him and not have Him because people are trusting in
what He did and don't know who He is. Oh, no wonder He said, He is
only my rock and my salvation. And let me tell you something,
He's the only salvation. You look at Simon's biography
here. He's the only salvation. Simon
didn't find another. Now here's a man who was just
and devout. And if anyone could have found
salvation by the law, he would have seen it. Here's a just man,
devout man, he could have looked at the law and said, oh boy,
I see salvation there, and I'm going to trust Jesus here just
in case. No, no. Oh, he had the true balance
of character, just and devout. And if a man is going to be saved
by his character, he can look at himself and say, here, I'm
a fine fellow. He could have said like that Pharisee, I thank
you that I'm not like others. But oh no, no, he didn't look
to his own character. He didn't look because I'm a
just man, so God's going to save me. He didn't look to his devoutness
and say, God must save me because I've lived a good life, a holy
life, a dedicated life. No, he didn't look to his own
character for salvation. Where did he look? Mine eyes
have seen your salvation. He looked at him. Oh, see, Simon,
he didn't find his salvation or his life in how he dealt with
other men. He didn't find his salvation
in his communion with God. He didn't find his life and salvation
in his secret prayers. If he had, he wouldn't have been
looking for salvation. He wouldn't have been in the
temple waiting for the consolation of Israel. He wouldn't be looking
for something he had already found. Huh? He would not have
took up the Lord Jesus Christ and said, my eyes have seen your
salvation. He would have looked to himself
and said, now I see salvation. But he didn't. He took that infant
and said, now my eyes see salvation. Oh, he says, not here in this
old body do I find my salvation. No, no, I find salvation in the
Lord, not in me. Now listen, Simon was familiar
with the temple. He was familiar with the courts
of the Lord's house. Being a just man, being a devout
man, he saw the sacrifices every day. He saw the morning sacrifice
and the evening sacrifice. They had a lamb every morning
and a lamb every evening. He saw all the feasts, the three
feasts that they had in Jerusalem every year. He saw the high days,
the holy days. But in these he never saw salvation.
He never saw salvation there. No, no. He saw the shadow, but
he didn't see the system. Never. You know, he probably
no telling how many Passover's this man went to and had himself. No telling how many Passover's
he had went through in his life. But he never looked at that lamb
that was offered in the evening, and he's eight, standing with
his clothes on, and the blood over the lintel in the Passover.
He never said, my salvation's in that. No, no, when he took
up the Lord Jesus Christ, that's when he says, my eyes have seen
my salvation. Huh? Oh my. That's when he saw that in him. Look with me in Isaiah 12. God
teach us every one, this right here. When he saw that infant,
when he saw that infant, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw
his whole salvation. He saw the completeness of it,
the fullness of it, the freeness of it. He said in Isaiah 12 and
verse 2, Oh, God teach us this. Behold, God is my salvation. God is my salvation. Not God
plus me, not God plus my prayers, not God plus my tears, not God
plus my justice, not God plus my devotedness. No, God is my salvation. I will
trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength. My strength. I cannot save myself. I could not save myself. I can't
keep myself safe. So I have to have strength to
say, Christ Jehovah is my strength. And He is my song. I'm only going
to sing what He did. And He has also become my salvation. Back over in our text. Old Simon
declared the Lord Jesus is God's salvation. Look what he says.
Now he talked about God. He blessed God. And he said,
Lord, now let us now, thou servant, depart in peace according to
your word from my eyes. Now watch what he says. I've
seen God's salvation. He saw God's salvation. What
salvation? The salvation of God. What did
he say in the next verse? Which thou hast prepared. He prepared it before the face
of all people. Oh, my soul. This is the salvation that God
covenanted to give to His people before the world ever began.
He says in verse 31, "...which thou hast prepared before the
face of all people, and a light to lighten the Gentiles,
and the glory of thy people Israel." He came here to do something
for a people. Whose people? God's people. Gentile
and Jew, bond and free, male and female. He was the promised
one, the predestinated one, the prepared salvation of God is
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, this is what I find
so wonderful, and I know you do too, is that before there
was ever a sinner, God had a Savior. God made Adam. a man with his
own righteousness, made him the wisest man there ever was, because
he named all the animals, gave him a helpmate, walked with him
in the cool of the day in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
made him upright, but what did he do? He sought out many inventions. But before he ever done that,
Christ stood as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
A fellow asked a preacher if he believed in eternal justification. He said, is God eternal? He said, well, of course He is.
He said, do you think He does anything besides an eternal work?
Huh? You know, we don't find out about
it. We were saved from the foundation of the world, chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world, given grace in Christ
before the foundation of the world. Simon was one of God's
elect and predestinated and purposed to be here this day to see the
salvation of God. But, beloved, he still had to
see God's salvation. And though we were chosen, though
we were justified, though we were saved in Christ before the
foundation of the world, still you've got to hear the gospel,
still you've got to see Christ's salvation. And that's why we're
preaching the gospel. Old Miles told me he was going
out to an evangelism conference out in Las Vegas on New Year's. He said, I'm going to preach
on It Is Finished. He said, there ain't no sense going out preaching
unless you know the Word's nothing. You don't know what to tell anybody.
You can't tell them to do the work. You can't tell them to
get up and do something for Jesus. You've got to tell them what's
been done so a man can find some rest, find some comfort, find
some peace, find some assurance. The only true evangelistic message
is, behold your God. Huh? Oh, this is the salvation
that the prophet spoke about, that Todd pointed to. Oh, my
soul, this is the salvation that glorifies God, gives Him all
the glory. He's a just God and a gracious
God, and Christ is the wisdom and power of God. And beloved,
value, value, value the Lord Jesus Christ. Value Him. Why? For God so loved the world. Every
character, every tribe, every kindred, every nation, every
type, every character, man and woman, poor and rich, learned
and unlearned. Value the Lord Jesus Christ.
He sent the Spirit to reveal Him to you. He sent the Holy
Spirit to teach you of Him. To know Him, to trust Him, to
love Him, follow Him. And oh, do you do it? He's God's
own salvation. That's why He says, my eyes have
seen your salvation. You're looking for salvation,
but here it is! You're looking for how God saves
sinners, here He is! You're looking at how God can
be just and put away sin by the sacrifice of somebody else, here
He is! You're looking at how God can
show His love toward poor sinners before the world began, here
He is! You want to see how God can justify
a sinner? Here He is! The Lord Jesus Christ. Value Him. He's God's own salvation. God provided Him. And I'll tell
you something else, God will have nothing else. He won't have
nothing else. Oh, this is who He provided.
That's what Simon knew. He said, my lives are seen, you
are salvated. God ain't going to have nothing else. He's only
going to have what He provided. When Abraham went up on that
mountain, and Isaac said to him, he said, Father, here we are.
We've got the wood, we've got the fire, we've got the mouth,
but where in the world is the lamb? Abraham said, my son, God
will provide Himself a lamb. And oh, my soul, when he had
his son strapped down, and oh, beloved, that's where we're at.
We're strapped down to God's judgment. The sword of His justice
is being pulled back to plunge into our souls and justly so. And Abraham, when he's getting
ready, he already had the wood up under the altar where he had
his son laying there. And he looked around and there
was a ram caught in the thicket. And he took his son up, put the
ram in his place. And that's what God done to us.
He took us up off the altar and put his son, the Lamb of God,
in our place. And the father and son went up
there and worshiped and they came back. Came back. That's where we go. We go up
to Calvary and we worship. We worship what God did in Christ
there. And we come back. And every time we go, we go to
worship. Huh? Bless His Holy Name. Oh my! God smelled a sweet, sweet savor
in Christ's sacrifice. Did you smell it? Oh my! Have your eyes seen the salvation
of the Lord? And oh beloved, see Mary there
with the Lord Jesus Christ as a baby in her arms? Some of you all got babies. You
got little babies. You carry them in your arms.
And oh my! But you see Mary. If you've been
in there and you see Mary with Christ as a baby in her arms,
put yourself in Simon's place. Put yourself. And he sees. And
then he walks over. Takes his up out of her arms.
And he's looking at an infant. He's just looking at an infant
in the mother's arms. And he took up that infant and
says, I mean, he held him. And beloved, can you by faith
hold Christ? Held him and says, my eyes, mine. My eyes, not another's. My eyes,
my soul, my heart, my will, my affections, my understanding,
my faith. Your salvation? Huh? This infant salvation? How in
the world can it be? How can it be? Well, by the Scriptures
and by the Holy Ghost, that's the only way we can understand
such a mystery. Oh, how can we understand? God
in human flesh? Here this infant is salvation? Only God can save? Isaiah says,
Behold, Jehovah is my salvation. Well, is this Jehovah here? Huh?
The divine nature? The holy nature? God Himself
in union with human nature? This infinite here being the
infinite God? Here he is feeble as to his humanity,
what can he do? What can he do? Feeble as to his humanity, but
omnipotent in his deity. He is at the same time son of
man, born of a woman, at the same time son of God. God must mean us nothing but
good to assume our nature, to take our nature. I don't even
like my own nature. But Christ became one with us
and assumed our nature, identified with us, was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh. Why? That He could be condemned
as sin. That He could be judged as sin.
That He could die as sin. so that we could be made the
very righteousness of God in Him. No wonder Simon said, my
eyes have seen my salvation. Our Lord Jesus Christ was not
only a child here, but He was a poor child. He was a poor child. There's none of us poor now.
I know when we were young, when we were being raised, times were
really tough. I know for a lot of you. But our Lord was not only a child,
but he was a poor child. So poor that his mother and father
couldn't afford a lamb to redeem him. You know, according to the
law, the firstborn had to be redeemed. He's holy under the
Lord. He's sanctified to the Lord. He belongs to the Lord.
The first one that opens the womb, God says, this is mine. This is mine. So he had to be
redeemed. Blood had to be shed. And they
could not afford a lamb to redeem him. They got the cheapest sacrifices
that could be had. A pair of turtle doves or a pair
of pigeons. And here she came in, she came
as a poor woman. And he was presented to the Lord
as a poor woman's child. Are you poor in spirit? Do you feel,
I'm poverty, I'm poor, I ain't got nothing to bring, nothing
to give? The lowest, the vilest? Mine eyes have seen your salvation.
The all-glorious Lord of glory to become incarnate, to be born
an infant, to be born of a poor woman, to be publicly acknowledged
as a poor woman's son. I'm sure that He'll receive you
if you're poor. And why has Mary brought him
to the temple? Let's look at this just a minute. Why has Mary
brought him and Joseph brought him to the temple? It says back
up there in verse 21, And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child Jesus, his name was called, for
the child, his name was called Jesus. That word Jesus means
Jehovah Savior. which was so named to the angel
before he was conceived in the womb. They told him what his
name was before he was ever born. And with the days of her purification,
which is of course 40 days, I said 8 days, but it's 40 days, she's
40 days old. And when the days of her purification, 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 they came to present him,
and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the
law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." They brought
him to redeem him. To redeem him. See, the firstborn
must be redeemed. So that tells us this much. Our
Lord Jesus Christ was under the law. Yes, sir, He was. And He was under the law for
our sakes. He was baptized, He says, that
it might becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. He so identified
with us that He was redeemed. He so identified with us that
He was baptized. He said, it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. And it was for our sakes. He
who redeems us Himself, must himself be redeemed. A prize
must be paid for him who redeemed us under God by his own precious
blood. And oh my, he came under that
law to fulfill it, obey its precept. And beloved, we see salvation
in him. And oh beloved, and I'll tell
you something else old Simon saw here. He saw salvation guaranteed. Guaranteed by our Lord's appearing.
That's why he was waiting. That's why he was waiting. That's
why God had done shown him. By his coming, by his becoming
incarnate, that means, beloved, salvation is guaranteed because
God sent him and he's going to save all that he's sent him to
do. By becoming incarnate, that's the beginning of substitution.
He can't take our place unless He comes into this world, and
He can't come into this world unless He comes through the womb
of a virgin, and He can't die as a man unless He becomes a
man. So it's the beginning. That shows you the beginning
of our substitution. And by His becoming one with
us, shall we not complete what He started? Huh? Shall we not
complete it? Shall we not complete it? And
when he took up this infant here, he saw the whole of his salvation
in this child. The whole of it. Every bit of
it. Complete in him. He saw light
and he saw glory. And he saw a star right here
in Bethlehem. And Bethlehem led to Gethsemane. And Gethsemane led to Calvary.
And Calvary led to the cry from the cross, it is finished. Which
led from Him being taken from the cross and being put in a
grave. Which led to His resurrection. Which led to His ascension. Which
led to Him sitting at the right hand of the throne of glory with
all power and salvation vested in Him. Actually, he by himself
purged our sins, he said out of the right hand of the majesty
on high. And beloved, I've said it and
I'll keep on saying it until the Lord takes me home. Jesus
Christ is the whole, the whole of salvation. The whole of it. The whole of it. Simon didn't
say, my eyes have seen part of your salvation. No. Huh? He's the head of salvation. As
He is salvation, He's the one who gives it to whom He will.
How many other peoples in the temple that day? But they did
see this salvation. And how did He see it? By the
Holy Ghost. Huh? If you don't see it now,
say, God let me see it. Do me like you did Simon. Give
me the Holy Ghost that I can see. Open my eyes that I can
see. Open my eyes that I can see this
salvation. Open my eyes that I can see Christ.
Huh? Oh, God says you're complete
in Him who's the head of all principalities and power. And
if our salvation is complete in Christ, where else are we
going to get anything else? Huh? He said, Lord Jesus said,
because I live, you shall live. And the Scriptures tells us.
And let's look at it. Look over in 1 John. Look over
in 1 John. I want you to see that. If I
was going to talk to a man about his salvation, going to talk
to a man about his need of Christ, this is where I'd go. This is where I'd go, right here.
This is what I'd do. This is the scriptures I'd use.
1 John chapter 5 and verse 10.
This is where I'd go. You see, he
that hath the Son has life. He that has Christ has no sin.
He that has Christ has the very righteousness of God. He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He knows
whether he's a believer. He knows whether God's done so.
And he that believeth not hath made him a liar, because he believeth
not the record that God gave of his son. Now I've read the
record of how God saved Simeon today, and how He always saves
Simeon. I just read that record. Now watch, and this is what I
tell them. This is the record. This is recorded in God's Word. This is what God testified to.
This is the record that God gave us. that God hath given to us
eternal life. And this life, this eternal life,
this blessed life, this life in the Son, this life is in His
Son. And if you have the Son, you
have life. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Do you believe on the Son of
God? If you do, you've got life. God gave testimony. This is God's
record. This is what God said. I give
eternal life, and this life is in my Son. If you have the Son,
you've got me in life. And, oh beloved, it's salvation.
The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And this salvation
is from every conceivable thing. That's against us, that's contrary
to us, it's took out of the way. My eyes have seen your salvation. And let me ask you, I'm trying
to close. Let me ask you some questions. In what point is the
Lord Jesus Christ deficient? What point is He deficient? What
more do you need? Do you need penances? Getting
on your knees? Crying so much? No. Hasn't he already suffered all
that justice requires? You don't need to cause yourself
to suffer any. He's already suffered all that justice requires. Would
you work? Would you work to be accepted?
He finished the work that the Father gave him to do. What other
work can be required? You say, well, I need washing.
I need to clean myself up. Well, there's a fountain filled
with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath
that flood lose all their guilty stains. We're clothed, and I've
got to clean, I've got to get my clothes, you know, I've got
to get all cleaned up, I've got to make myself presentable. Well,
listen, He's our spotless righteousness. We don't need, we're just magic
before Him. Medicine? If I could just find the right
thing that would work to cure my soul, oh beloved, with His
stripes, with His stripes we are healed. Think of what it
would take, think of what it would take to make a man perfect
in the sight of God Almighty. Perfect. Right now. Not tomorrow. Right now, and if you're perfect
today, you'll be perfect tomorrow, you'll be perfect in eternity.
What would make a man perfect? Well, it's found in Him. You
are complete. That word complete means perfect. You are complete in Him. No wonder
the Apostle says, Christ is all and in all. If our Lord Jesus
Christ was not perfect as a Savior, Could any of us make up the deficiencies? What do we have that we could
bring to Him that would make Christ any more than what He
is, or make His work any more than what it was? If His robe
of righteousness isn't finished, would our filthy rags be fit
to be added to? If the fountain is not full and
effectual, what would we pour in it to make it better? Shall a worm be needed to complete
the work of him who made the world and upholds it by the word
of his power? If the Lord Jesus isn't able
to save you from the first to the last, You'll be lost in that
forever. Because there's no priest, there's
no pope, there's not anything you can bring to the Lord but
done. And who would dare add anything
to his perfection? Simon says, he took the Lord
Jesus up in his arms and he blessed God. And he says, mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. And he says, Lord, now, now,
now, now, let thy servant depart in peace. And until you take the Lord Jesus
Christ up by faith and you see him to be your salvation, you're
not fit to die. You're not fit to die. But if
you do, if you take him up and you see him, As your salvation,
you can go face God with some comfort in your soul, some peace
in your heart. Our Father, in the blessed name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for Your goodness,
Your grace, Your mercy. Thank You for this great, glorious,
full, free salvation given to us in Christ. Thank You for His
righteousness. Thank you for his stripes that
healed us from all our sin and iniquity and rebellion and enmity. Thank you for those stripes that
healed us, O Lord, from trusting in ourselves and trusting in
our ability and trusting in our power, trusting in our righteousness. Those stripes healed us of everything
that was against you. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for bearing
those stripes, pouring out that blood that cleansed us from all
sin. God bless the Gospel to the heart today. God bless it
to the heart. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.