Luke chapter 2. The title of our message is The
Consolation is Come. The Consolation is Come. Luke
chapter 2, we begin reading in 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, and 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
thy own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. That's reading down through verse
25. Let's pause for a moment for
prayer. Our father, we're thankful again this morning for your great
mercy and your abundant love to your children. We're thankful
for this time to assemble together. Help us Lord to know that it's
not our business. to look around, to find fault,
to hang our head over all the problems, cares, troubles, sins,
disappointments, and awful messes in this world. And the things
that invade our families and our homes and our lives and our
communities and churches, help us, Lord, to realize that it's
our business this morning as your children To just sit at
your feet and ask you, Lord, to minister to our hearts through
your word as only you can. How we need you today, dear Lord.
And we do thank you again for this time. We thank you for each
one you brought this way today. We thank you for that precious
word and the reading of it. We ask you would help our hearts
through it now. And we'll praise you for that
you do. In the name of our blessed Lord and Redeemer, we pray. Amen. In these verses, the consolation
has come. Verse 25 says, concerning this
man Simeon, that he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Now what does that mean? Well,
the Israel referred to here is the Israel of God, not national
Israel. It is those who by nature, being
Old Testament Jacobs, and having been engaged in an
all-night wrestling match with the Lord, and having been conquered, and
having had our names changed from Jacob to Israel, it is those and those only who
look for consolation. Consolation in the awful desperation
of our sin and our shame and our sorrows and troubles in life.
That's true Israel. Quicken sinners. Clinging to
Christ. That's true Israel. We could
refer to these verses, though it's talking about those who
have changed hearts from Jacob to Israel, from a supplanter,
from a deceiver, to being called a prince with God. That's the
Israel referred to here. Paul makes it clear in Romans
2, 28 and 29, he said, for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not
of men, but of God. Paul said further in Galatians
three in verse seven, know ye therefore that they which are
of faith, The same are the children of Abraham. That's who true Jews
are, are those who have God-given faith in the Lord Jesus. So I'm looking at a bunch of
Jews this morning, Israelites sitting out here. And you remember
when our Lord walked this earth, that crowd said to him, said,
well, we're Abraham's seed. That's who we are. And our Lord
said to them, and they were after the flesh, But he said to him,
Oh, no, he said, if you as Abraham's children, you'd believe me because
he believed me. And he went on to tell him whose
children they were. So that's what Paul is saying here. Further
in that same chapter, Galatians 3, 28 and 29, he said that in
Christ, there is neither June or Gentile. There's neither bond
nor free. There is neither male nor female. for you're all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you be Christ, if you
belong to him, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. So it's spiritual Israel here
that's referred to. And so Simeon is waiting for
the consolation of Israel, the consolation needed and desired
by God's children. So now he's a man, we read here,
Simeon, a very godly man, just and devout, the text says, and
the Holy Ghost was upon him and revealed something to him. He
was given assurance in his heart that he should not see death,
before he had seen the Lord's Christ, before the Lord Jesus
was born into the world. And really, this is the heart
yearning of all God's children, all God's elect, whether quickened
or not, whether regenerated or not. It's the deep down heart
longing that we'd not see death. before we've truly seen Christ. On down in verse 34, Simeon blessed
Joseph and Mary and the newborn babe. And then he said two things
to Mary. We'll not get into this this
morning, but first he said concerning Christ, verse 34, behold, This child is set for the fall
and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be
spoken against. This man Simeon knew some things.
He had been revealed some things about the Lord. And then on in
verse 35, he said a word to Mary personally. Yea, a sword shall
pierce through thy own soul also. that the thoughts of many hearts
may be revealed. Now, Simeon here was obviously
an elderly man, old man. We do not know just how old,
we do not know just how many years he had waited. And the words of verse 25 are
very clear, very explicit that he was waiting for one thing. Only it wasn't a theme. It was
a person. The person of Christ. Given the
title here, the Consolation of Israel. I don't think it would
be wrong if that C were capitalized. That's a title. That's who He
is. He's the Consolation. This is who Simeon was waiting
for. That was his one reason for remaining
in this world. That ought to be our only reason
for remaining in this world, is waiting for, to see, to see
afresh, to see clearer, the Lord Jesus. Finally, the day came. His waiting is over. And his
testimony now is, the consolation is come. The consolation has
come. He came in the person of Jesus
Christ. Now looking back to chapter one,
he's already been called by the angel Gabriel, Jesus in verse
31. He's already been called son
of the highest in verse 32. He's already been called the
son of God, verse 35. He's been called already by Elizabeth
in verse 43, my Lord. He's called by Zacharias in verse
69 and horn of salvation. He's called in verse 72, the
mercy promised to our fathers. He's called in verse 78, the
day spring. from on high. And already in
chapter 2, he's introduced in verse 11 as a Savior, which is
Christ the Lord. And now Simeon adds yet another
title. Christ is the consolation of
Israel. The consolation is come. Second
Thessalonians 2.16, Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God,
even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts. That's what consolation is, is
comfort. Comfort your hearts and establish
you in every good word and work. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 3, Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies and the God of all comfort. He's the God of all
comfort. This world or nothing in it has
any lasting comfort. In Isaiah chapter 40, the prophet
Isaiah, his message was to be this to the Lord's people, comfort
ye, comfort ye, my people. Don't cuss them, don't complain
about them, don't criticize them, but comfort ye, comfort ye, my
people, saith your God. God's children need comfort for
a fact. I realize there's a whole lot
of folk, religious folk, with a spirit of Laodicea and they
say, oh, we're rich and we have need of nothing and just leave
us alone. We'll leave you alone. But I
want to say this morning, I can speak. I know I can speak honestly
for every single one of God's little ones, every one of God's
little sheep and say we need comfort. We need consolation.
We need the Lord to be near. And Simeon says here, the consolation
has come. The consolation has come. So
I want to just comment on three things concerning Simeon's waiting
here, his waiting. Now, when we say we're waiting
for something, waiting for this or that, It often implies a drudgery
or a dread, something we'd rather not be doing. I've been accused
of not having patience and not wanting to wait. Yeah, I think
so. Waiting, if you think about it,
is often a boring, tiring, unpleasant experience to have to wait. But it's not the case with Simeon's
waiting. He is waiting with a purpose.
He is waiting with a certain anticipation. He is not waiting
to see if this would happen. He's waiting until it happens. Certain. That's a certain thing. So he waits with a patient anticipation. So the first thing, and we'll
be brief this morning, he waited to escape. He's waiting for an
escape from something. What is it? He's waiting to escape
the dark shadows of Judaism and the old covenant, that Old Testament
order. That's what he lived under. But
you see this man, Simeon, knew in his heart that all the animal
sacrifices, all the animal blood through the centuries had never
washed away one single sin. He knew the high priest, great
as that office was under that old covenant system, that That
high priest had never really secured lasting and full peace
with God for anyone. It was all a type. It was all
figurative. It was all pointing to the Lord
Jesus as we know. And so by faith, Simeon was awaiting
the escape from that old covenant. knowing that it had no true consolation
for a sinner's heart. Knowing that had it been sufficient,
there would have been no need for a new covenant. That's what
the book of Hebrew says. But Simeon knew that the old
wasn't sufficient. Hebrews chapter 9, excuse me,
Hebrews 10 verse 9, Christ speaking says, Lo, I come to do thy will,
O God. That's why He came into this
world. Now, if you listen to that statement, Christ said,
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. God's will had not fully been
done by any and all under that old covenant. With all its participants,
all its priests, all its sacrifices, all its ceremonies. But Christ
says, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. To do it fully and to
do it finally. He's saying, I'll get the job
done. Hebrews verse said, He taketh
away the first, that is the first covenant, the old covenant. He
taketh away the first that he may establish the second. Talking
about the new covenant, Hebrews 10 and 9. Oh, how blessed it
is this morning when we are quickened by God to understand that we
have escaped That old covenant of works. So many people today,
I mean, good people, I mean, in churches like this, so-called
Baptist churches, so-called Bible believing churches have not escaped
that old covenant of works. But understand this morning,
we're not working to get to heaven. Oh, no. We're included in the
new covenant of grace. We understand that it's not our
doing that gives us acceptance with God, but it's the doing
of his son. Our Lord came into this world,
went to the cross, paid for our sin. And the scripture says,
Ephesians 1, 6, that we are accepted in the blood, accepted with God.
Not just made acceptable, but made accepted. It's a done deal,
a done deal. How blessed that is, how blessed
that is. And he's not only, Simeon is
not only waiting to escape, but a second thought Simeon is waiting
to embrace. He is waiting to embrace the
Lamb of God, the one sent from heaven to shed his blood and
wash our sins away. And Simeon does so in verse 28,
we read it. Then took he him, that is Simeon
took up the baby Jesus in his arms and blessed God said, praise
God. He was holding, embracing in
his own arms. Him who created the world. And Simeon knew that's who he
was holding. How do you think that made him
feel? Oh Lord, embracing the Son of
God as a babe. Simeon did it physically. But
I want to say this morning that's what every true child of God
lives to do and longs to do, is to embrace the Lord Jesus.
And we do so in our hearts. That's what worship is, embracing
Him. Worship is not some mumbo-jumbo
going on on the outside, look at us, oh no. Worship is a love
affair. in the secrecy of the heart between
a wretched sinner like you and the sinless, spotless Lamb of
God. Oh, my. To think that He had to have
anything to do with the likes of you. To think that He would
love and receive and warm your heart and cheer your heart. Oh,
blessed, blessed, blessed. Lamb of God, with a childlike faith, we come
to Him, we bow to Him, we strive to trust Him, we long to worship Him. Jesus said one place, verily
I say unto you, and that word verily means surely, Surely,
a lot of people say, as certain
as I'm breathing, this is the truth. As sure as I'm standing, this
is the truth. That's what verily means, surely.
Verily I say unto you, except you become as little children, you shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Now he's not talking about becoming
childish. Plenty of that. But he's talking
about becoming childlike in spirit. Childlike. You see, human reason, which
we're all quite good at, does not mix with faith. The devil always comes around
saying you're not worthy. There may even be some good people
tell you you're not fit. There will always be somebody
to disqualify you. Even the Lord's disciples were
pretty good at this. You remember one time The big crowd is getting on up
in the evening and they were hungry. And even the disciples
said to Jesus, send them away. Send them away. Time to call
it a day. Get rid of them. Imagine anybody with the audacity
to tell the Lord Jesus, send them away. Oh no, a woman of Canaan, Matthew 15,
a Gentile, came crying to Jesus for her daughter and said, have
mercy on me, oh Lord. And his own disciples said to
him, send her away, get rid of her. Blind Bartimaeus, as he sat by
the highway side begging, crying out, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And you know what they said? I told the guy, shut up. He don't have time for you. He's
got places to go, things to do. But he did have time. He heard
and he stopped and he called for him. Another place in Matthew
19. Verse 13, Then were there brought
unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them,
and pray, and not a blessed thing. Now listen to the next statement.
And the disciples rebuked them. They said, He don't have time
for this. Going around blessing children
is not his business. Oh yes. Jesus said, here's what he said,
suffer the little children, forbid them not to come unto me for
of such is the kingdom of heaven. These guys are the reason I'm
here and people with a childlike faith like them. So I would say to you this morning,
don't let anyone, the devil or anybody else tell you that you're
too bad, you're too sinful, you're too far gone, you've messed up
too much. Oh no, to embrace the Lord Jesus. You see, the very message of
the gospel addresses this directly. Isaiah said, he was wounded for
our transgressions. He suffered for wrongs. He suffered not for our obedience,
but for our disobedience, our transgressions. He was bruised,
beaten for our iniquities. He didn't suffer because you
didn't have any iniquities. You do. But he suffered for our
iniquities. See? He never died for people better
off than you. He died for people bad off as
you. And Simeon was waiting to embrace
Him. What is waiting for? Have you
embraced Him? Have you embraced the Lord Jesus
Christ? Just a few days ago, I embraced brother Bill Keys. Last time I visited him, just before the Lord came for
him. I can't do that anymore in this life. We can embrace each other this
morning. But this time next week, we may
not be able to. I may be gone. You may be gone. But if you can embrace the Lord
Jesus this morning. It'll be simply because he's
embraced you. And he'll never let go. And you'll
never let go. And you'll never want to. And then the third thing, Simeon
was waiting to exit. Exit this life. Verse 26 where
we read, says it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death
before he had seen the Lord's Christ. All the generations before him,
believers had waited and waited and died waiting. Hebrews 11
says they all, talking about all true believers, died in faith,
not having received the promises. They died before Christ came.
And it looks like this old man, Simeon, is going to die too.
But it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost. Nobody could
make such a promise as this except the Holy Ghost. Revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost, you will not die until he is born. You will see him. You will see him. This is all Simeon was waiting
for. to be able to leave this world was to see the Christ Child. That's all any of God's children
are waiting for. To see Him by faith one more
time. To see Him clearly before we exit. I've already
seen Him this morning. I want to see Him again today and every day. June loves to go to the beach.
Most of y'all know that. She loves that ocean. Well, I
do too. Preachers don't go to the beach.
Preachers go to the coast. See, there's a difference. But
every time we're there, on the day we're leaving and we're
packed to come home, here's what she'll say. Every
time. I want to drive down to the water.
I want to take one more walk on the beach. I want to look
out to that ocean one last time before we go. And we always do. And then when we do, she'll say,
I'm ready to go now. That's what Simeon did. right
here in verse 29. He says, Lord, now lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace. I'm ready to go now. Why? Verse 30. For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Christ himself is salvation. He says, I've waited And I've
waited, and I've waited, and I finally escaped, seeking after
God in my own righteousness. And I finally embraced Him who
is righteousness incarnate, the very righteousness of God. He
is God. And Simeon says, as I held him
and as I embraced him and rested his infant body in
my arms. At the same time, I rested my
own heart in who he is. And I'll live forever in him. I'm ready to exit now. Lord,
now lettest thy servant I'm ready to go home, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Can I say to us this morning, whatever you're waiting for in
this life, in this world, it'll never be enough. But if you're ever brought by
the Lord forsake all else and embrace
him. He'll be enough. He'll be enough. The longer I live, the more I
learn that so much, so very much of the sorrows of this life is
in the heartache of losing what we cannot keep. in order to be brought to embrace
him whom we cannot lose. That's God's purpose. That's
God's purpose. Fannie Crosby, the great hymn
writer, the blind hymn writer, you know, she said in so many words, there's
nothing in this world I need to see. Even if I could see. But with the eye of faith, she
said, I do see Him who is worth seeing. She said in one of the songs,
watching and waiting, looking above. How can a blind person watch
with the eyes of faith? And so do we. Perfect submission. All is at rest. I and my Savior
am happy and blessed, watching and waiting, looking above, filled
with His goodness, lost in His love. The consolation has come,
and I'm resting in Him. Let's stand together and sing
this way.