Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. Our lesson this morning is about
a man which God the Holy Spirit has seen fit to preserve in His
inspired writings. And He did so, according to the
Scriptures, for our learning and also for our comfort. in the scriptures. Believers
find comfort in the word of God. You can't find comfort in religion
and you can't find comfort in the world. Comfort comes from
the word of God. That's where it comes from. These
great and precious promises whereby we're partakers. And this man's
name is Simeon. Old Simeon. So let's read together
these verses here in Luke chapter 2, beginning with verse 25. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Ghost. was upon him. And it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before
he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. When the parents brought in the
child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took
he him up in his arms and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest
thou 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 those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them
and said unto Mary his mother, behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign
which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through
thine own soul also. that the thoughts of many hearts
may be revealed. Now here's an old Jewish man. Scripture said he was a devout
man. One who believes in the promised Redeemer. One who has
patiently waited for the coming of that promised Redeemer. And
to some degree, his waiting is the same as ours. Except he waited for him who
was coming to accomplish redemption, and we're waiting for him who
accomplished redemption and ascended into glory. And there he's distributing
that which he accomplished. He's distributing that promised inheritance to
all his own. And when that's finished, he's
coming back again. He's coming again. And so we
wait for him just the same as him, and I've never seen him.
Simeon's never seen him. But we wait for him. We patiently
wait because we believe God. But let me ask you something.
Why would God, the Holy Ghost, preserve this man's experience
of grace? Why would the living God preserve his name in Holy Writ. Why? Why we gotta do that? Why
we gotta single out this man Simeon? You never heard anything
about Simeon before, anything he ever did. You don't hear much
about Simeon afterward. But he just takes this little
piece and time of this man Simeon and he preserves it for all future
believers to look at and find comfort, find comfort, to learn
some things. And I believe he's preserved
these things because he'll use this man Simeon to set forth
a pattern, or at the very least one typical of all who shall
be called. Now how is this old Jewish saint
in any way a pattern or a type of God's future saints? and their
calling. That's what I want us to look
at this morning. And I wanna give you four or five things
here in these verses that I've just read to you to think about
on this subject. First of all, let's look at the
man himself. This is a man who was providentially
situated in Jerusalem. That's the first thing he tells
them. There was a man in Jerusalem. Well, there was all kinds of
men in Jerusalem. Yeah, but there was a man in
Jerusalem. And he's gonna show us something
here. In Acts chapter 17 verse 26, Paul told those men, those
philosophers on Mars Hill, that God hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and
hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their
habitation. Now listen, that, in order that,
they should seek the Lord. That's why he determines where
you live. That's why he's determined where
this man was. This man was in Jerusalem, exactly
where God put him. Why? That he might seek the Lord. You can't seek the Lord where
the Lord's not. You have to seek the Lord where
He's at. And at this particular time,
worship was in Jerusalem. It was in Jerusalem. Isn't that
what that Samaritan woman told Christ? She said, you worship
God in Jerusalem. Y'all believe if you gotta worship
God, you have to go to Jerusalem. She said, we worship in the mountains.
He said, you worship you know not what. All worship was in Jerusalem.
That's where you went. That's where the temple was. There's nothing incidental in
the life of a believer. We need to learn that. We need
to think on that. We need to live every day of
our life thinking about that. There's nothing incidental in
your life. If you be of God, if you're one
of his saints, one of his children, there's nothing in your life
that's incidental. God has set this whole thing
up, where you live, what you hear, where you go, all of these
things arranged, arranged of God for your good and His glory. Nothing incidental in the life
of God's Son. The first thing God tells us
about Simeon is that he was in Jerusalem, and he was there because
that's where God put him. The second thing I know about
this man is that he was just. Now wait a minute, Preacher.
He's the son of Adam. Exactly. Exactly. He sure was. So how can that be? He's a fallen,
depraved sinner. There's none righteous. No, not
one. Christ hadn't obeyed the law
yet. He hadn't established righteousness yet. He had not yet died as our
substitute. How could this son of Adam be
called a just man? And this ain't some fluke of
words. This ain't some depraved sinner
just writing down his thoughts. This is inspired by the Holy
Ghost. And if the Holy Ghost calls him
a just man, he was just. But how was he just? I'll tell you how he was just.
because the lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. Oh, we don't believe in eternal
justification. You don't believe in an eternal
God. That's what your problem is. God's eternal. In the mind and purpose of God,
we were justified when Christ was slain in the mind and purpose
of God before the foundation of the world. That's why this
world wasn't dissolved when Adam sinned. That's exactly why. In Revelation 5-6, the Bible
declares that Jesus of Nazareth was the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. The reason for the preservation
and maintenance of this world is the glory of God which he's
purposed to show in Christ in the salvation of his elect. That's
the only reason this world still exists. Simeon was a just man, one for
whom God had made provision before the world began. And then thirdly,
God says this about him. He was a devout man. He was a
devout man. What's that mean? Well, devout
means sincere, earnest. devoted, one who displays reverence
concerning the things of God. And he revered the things of
God, and especially those promises of God in Christ. He waited for
the consolation. You can find consolation in a
lot of things. A good friend can console you.
A dear mother can console you. But you're not going to find
the consolation until you find Christ. This is what Simeon waited
for. And he revered those promises. The consolation of Israel is
the promised Redeemer, the Messiah, the Christ. And there can be
no consolation apart from Him. He was waiting on a person. That's
what he was looking for. He wasn't looking for signs and
evidences. He was looking for a person.
And I'll tell you, it makes a difference. You think I labor this point
too much. I assure you, I don't. Salvation's
in a person. All those promises, all the promises
of God in him are yea and amen. And there can be no consolation
apart from him. And this person was described
in great detail by the prophets. And then Philip Simeon was one
under the influence of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost, he said,
was upon him. No man can know anything apart
from the presence and power of the Holy Ghost. Listen to the
scripture in 1 Corinthians 2. He said, I hath not seen nor
ear heard Neither have entered into the heart of man, natural
man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him,
but he hath revealed them unto us by the Holy Spirit. By the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was upon this
man. Why did this man live there? Why did this man decide this
day to go to the temple? You see what I'm saying? The
Holy Ghost was upon him. So this is a man set before us,
a man not very different from any one of God's saints. You
could say this about every saint that God calls. All of these
things that was said about him. All right, here's the second
thing that makes him typical of every believer. A blessed
revelation. God convinced this man that he
should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, verse
26 of our text. You're not gonna see death, not
gonna close your eyes, you're not gonna quit breathing until you've seen this promise
of God fulfilled in this person. In John chapter six, verse 40,
our Lord says this concerning all his elect. This is the will
of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on him may have everlasting life and I'll raise him up at the
last day. And the Jews murmured at that.
And he said, don't murmur. No man can come unto me except
my Father draw him. As it is written, they shall
all be taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. He cometh unto me. It's the revelation
of the Holy Ghost that all of God's elect shall see the Son
before they die. Do you think on that? I'm telling
you that's a blessed promise. All his elect, every one of them,
all for whom Christ died, they're all gonna see the sun. How they
gonna see him? God's gonna send him a preacher.
He's gonna preach to them, he's gonna tell them the truth. And
while others are going out the door and stomping the floor and
all that kind of Tommy rot, they see the sun. And they rejoice
in him. And now they're ready to depart,
just like old Simeon. It's the revelation of the Holy
Ghost that all his elect shall see the Son and believe on him
before they die. And I don't know who they are.
Actually, I don't even know if I'm one of them, except as I
apply what I know about them to myself. That's the only way
you can know your election, isn't it? The only way you can know
your election, have I come to Christ? Have I heard? Has the
gospel I heard shut me up to Him? You have to compare yourself
to them. That's the only way you can know. And the first thing I know about
them is that God will give them the revelation of Christ by the
Holy Ghost. He said, our gospel came not
unto you in word only, but it came in power and it came in
the Holy Ghost. And old Simeon was led, the scripture
said, of the Holy Ghost to the temple. Why'd he do that? Well, he led him there because
this is where he purposed to reveal his son, in the temple. And God's purpose of grace is
to reveal his son to his elect by way of a local church. Now,
it was at Jerusalem then, and through the preaching of the
gospel. Paul said, God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto he called you by our gospel. And he called you to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we know that Simeon
was a man chosen of God, a just man, devout, waiting for the
coming Redeemer. And we see that he did these
things by the blessed presence and power of the Holy Ghost and
received that revelation from him. And then the third thing
I see typically about this man is the blessed experience of
grace. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians
1-7 that God's elect become examples to all that believe. They submit
themselves to the pastors, to the preachers, they submit themselves
to Him and Christ. They see these two, they see their connection. He
that our Lord sent out to 70, He said, he that heareth you,
heareth me. The believer hears that gospel
and he connects that. He knows that this is Christ's
ambassador. And he becomes subject to him.
He'll submit to him. He becomes submissive. He wants
to hear what this man has to say. God has convinced him this
is God's messenger. This ain't just another man up
here trying to build something or show something or make a name
for himself. This is God's ambassador speaking
to me and I need to hear. And they listen to Him. They
submit to Him. And then they become examples.
Everything in their life all of a sudden is the same. It's
the same. They become examples to all that
believe. There may have been others that day
being dedicated to the Lord. But sin men didn't pick any of
them up. Through what he had heard, now
listen to me, through what he had heard and read, and by influence
of God the Holy Ghost, this man saw God's Christ. And he saw
him in that tiny infant in his mama's arms. And he went over
and picked him up. He didn't pick her up, he picked
him up. He didn't embrace her, he embraced
him. And he held him up and he blessed
God. And I tell you, you will too. You will too if you ever
see the Christ. If God shuts you up to him, you
won't see anything else around, you won't see the temple, the
priest, you ain't gonna see anything. Only thing you're gonna see is
Christ. That's him. That's him. And you're gonna
embrace him immediately. Soon as you see him. All right, the fourth thing.
Old Simeon's typical of all God's elect, as they are brought to
Christ and they find in him a full sufficiency of salvation. Try
to imagine, if you can, this old man. He'd been waiting for
years and years and years, patiently waiting for the coming redeemer.
And just try to imagine, if you can, this old man holding this
helpless little infant up in his arms. And everybody's looking
at him. He just goes over and takes this baby right out of
the arms of its mother. And everybody in that temple
is just standing there looking. They know what this is. This
is a dedication. They brought him there to dedicate
him to the Lord. And they're just looking, this
old man. And this old man holds him up and blesses God. And he
said, now, Lord, he said, let thy servant depart. I've seen
thy salvation. Isn't that baby? No, he didn't
just see it in that baby. He knew what happened before
the baby come. He knew something about the eternal
Christ. He knew something about those
appointments God made because he told him about them all through
the Old Testament. He just recognized this baby
in a little slip in time. Here it is. This is the Christ.
He's come into the world. Why? To be made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that are under the law, that
we all might receive our inheritance. That's why he's there. That's
why he's there. Through what he'd heard, he knew
these things. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. How could this old saint find
full sufficiency in this infant? Because he knew the God who declares
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, and I'll
do all my pleasure. The vision given to Simeon was
more than just an infant. That revelation of Christ is
a vision of God's eternal savior. And he knew that's who this was.
Christ himself said, I'm Alpha and Omega. I'm the beginning
and the end. And to see the babe was to view
the Christ just in a moment of time, but his confidence didn't
come from that. It came from a knowledge, a true
knowledge of who this man is, who this baby is. This is the
God man. This is God and man in one person.
You don't just take up a little infant. I mean, I'm scared to
death I'm gonna break it or something when I hold one. They're so tiny
and so helpless. And here this man holding this,
this is my salvation. What? Yeah, this is my salvation
right here. This is the God man. God come into the flesh. And
Simeon found such a sufficiency in Christ that he was ready to
depart. I'm going to tell you something. I'm 71. This man down here is
close to 90, ain't you? Or are you 90? Just 90. 90. Just
90. So he's just getting started.
But I'm going to tell you something. Closer to the end you get, more
particular you are about what you say and what you believe.
I have learned that. This man said, I'm ready to depart. Whatever he saw in that baby
was enough to convince him that he's ready to go to glory. Now
you think about that. He didn't need anything else.
He didn't have to go back and reexamine his life and his past.
He didn't have to hope for something that was gonna happen in the
future. He had embraced in his arms all that was needed to carry
his soul into glory. Now that's what faith is. Faith
sees the Son of God. He sees in that baby, in that
eternal Christ, in that Christ who died on the cross, in that
12-year-old boy that put them priests to shame. No matter where
you see him, you see him as he is over all eternity. This is
the son of God come to redeem his elect. And you embrace him,
and when you embrace him, you're ready. You're ready. Oh, believe
he got to do this? No, he don't. All his sufficiency
is right there in his arms. That's all he needed. And now
what he said, let me depart, I'll sing your salvation. And this is that blessed assurance
spoken of over in 1 Thessalonians 1, 5. An assurance based on our knowledge
of who he is and why he came, what he's doing, where he is.
And then fifthly and finally, He's typical of the believer
in that his testimony is marveled at by those who truly hear it. In verse 33 it says, and Joseph
and his mother, that is Mary, marveled at these things which
were spoken of him, which were spoken of Simeon. They marveled.
Well, she had received word as to who he was from an angel from
glory. But she still didn't fully understand
who he was. And boy, when Simeon spoke those
words he spoke in the Holy Ghost, she saw that, and her and her
husband marveled. They just stood and, don't you,
when you hear the truth, when something comes out that you've
never heard before, something comes out that you just hadn't
put together, and boom, there it is, don't you just sit there
and you pew and just marvel? Well, I tell you, I do when I
hear it. It goes home to my heart. I just sit there and just, I
can't believe what I'm hearing. We see it. What a blessed thing it is to
be able to speak the truth about Christ and see others enlightened
by it. Salvation, verse 31. Listen to
this. Prepared by God before the face
of all people. He didn't do this thing in a
corner. It was all public. Everything about it was public.
And he's gonna be a light to lighten the Gentiles. Boy, there's
something to marvel at. Gentiles are hardly mentioned
in the Old Testament. They are mentioned, but just
barely. And now, this salvation of God, this God man, he's a
light to lighten the Gentiles. Verse 32, and he's the glory,
or object of the glory, of thy people Israel. The result of hearing these things
with spiritual ears and seeing these things with spiritual eyes
is always the same. You marvel at it. You just marvel
at it. Man, oh man. God gonna save me. Why me? Why me? My soul, there's thousands, hundreds
of thousands of men out there smarter than I am. Why me? Why me? Why is God mentally? Because
he did. That's his sovereign will. That's
his sovereign love. And you marvel at it. And I pray
the Lord to use these things today and leave us all marveling
in his blessed word and in his son. Thank you.