We turn back to Luke chapter
two. There was a man by the name of
Simeon. And I've always imagined him
to be a very old man, but the scripture does not tell us he
was an old man. He may have been a young man. I don't know. We
don't know about his occupation. We don't know what he did for
a living. But. He said he was ready to
die. Now, I want you to think about
that. I want you to put yourself in
that place. He said, I'm ready to die. Now, let us thou thy servant
depart in peace. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Can I say the same thing? Can
I say, let me die tonight? Let me go. I'm ready. I have peace. Mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. And look up in verse 21 of Luke
chapter 2. And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcision of the child, Speaking of the Lord Jesus, his
name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before
he was conceived in the womb. You'll remember that the angel
said to Joseph, thou shalt call his name Jesus, Savior, for he
shall save his people from their sins. Verse 22, 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. This is what the
Old Testament commanded. 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 in
the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. Now, that was the sacrifice of
the poor. They were too poverty stricken to be able to buy a
lamb for the sacrifice. And he said, if you're unable
to do that, which they were unable to do, he said, bring two turtledoves. Now, a lot of people saw this
peasant woman and her husband and the child going to the temple.
And they'd seen this happen many times and they saw nothing very
special about it. I mean, they had seen this duplicated
over and over and over again. But there was somebody in the
temple who saw something completely different. His name was Simeon. Verse 25, And behold, there was
a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man
was just You know, I used to read these
descriptions of Old Testament saints, and I just thought they
were more holy back then. They were more righteous back
then. You know, they walked in the law of the Lord, and they
were just, and so on. But what this is a reference
to is the fact that this man, now he was just as sinful as
you or I are. He really was. There wasn't anything to him
special as far as that goes. He was just a weak, sinful man,
but he was justified. He was justified. Every believer
is justified before God. stand perfect before God's holy
law. And the scripture also says he
was devout. That word means cautious, reverent. It has something to do with the
fear of the Lord that makes you cautious and reverent. You're very careful. Look what
it says next. It says he was waiting for the
consolation for the comfort, for the encouragement of Israel. He was waiting. Now how often
do we read in the scriptures, wait on the Lord? Wait on the
Lord. We read it over and over again,
wait on the Lord. Now what does it mean to wait
on the Lord? I believe the best way I can
illustrate that is by giving you an example of someone who
failed to wait on the Lord. His name was King Saul, and you
can read about this story in 1 Samuel, chapter 12, where he
thought he was in trouble and he was waiting for Samuel to
come. And Samuel didn't show up on time. Now, remember, according
to the Old Testament, only a priest could offer up the sacrifice.
Only a priest, a king couldn't do it, a prophet couldn't do
it. only a priest, and Samuel was God's priest. He was the
only one who was authorized to offer up this sacrifice. Now,
Samuel started getting, I mean, Saul started getting afraid,
because Samuel didn't show up. And so he went and offered the
sacrifice himself. He didn't wait on Samuel. He
offered the sacrifice himself, and God told him, because you
did that, the kingdom is going to be rent from you. Very much
like Uzziah, who decided he could offer up a sacrifice himself.
He didn't wait on the priest. And the priest said, don't do
this. It appertained not to be Uzziah. He did it anyway. And
God turned him into a leper. Now, when I wait on the Lord,
that means I'm waiting on the Lord to answer for me. Now, if you have a key to get
into the building and I don't have any way to get into the
building myself, I don't have a key. You know what I'm going
to do? I'm going to wait on you to let me in. We wait on the
Lord. We wait for Him to represent
us. I'm not going to come into God's
presence on my own. I'm not going to come apart from
Christ. I wait on the Lord. Now, Simeon was waiting on the
Lord. He was waiting on the consolation
of Israel. Turn to Isaiah chapter 40. Let
me show you what the consolation of Israel is. He was waiting on the consolation
of Israel. Chapter 40, verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished. Battle's over. It's already been
done. The warfare that you have going
on in your heart and mind, Christ has already won the victory.
And your warfare is accomplished. It's settled. He's won. You cry unto her that her iniquity,
that sin that is ever before me, is pardoned. It's put away. Now, is that a
consolation? The battle's over. There is no
battle. When Christ said it is finished,
it was accomplished. And all your iniquity is pardoned. It's put away. It's been washed
away by the blood of Christ. That's the consolation. That's
the comfort of Israel. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. And here's old Simeon waiting
for the consolation of Israel. When my name is called, and it
will be, and yours will be too, you know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to wait for Christ to answer for me. That's what
I'm going to do. Waiting for the consolation of
Israel. I'm going to wait for Him to
acknowledge me. I'm going to wait for Him to
confess my name before the Father. I'm keeping my mouth shut, and
I'm waiting on Him. I don't dare want to approach
God in any way apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, His blessed
Son. He's waiting on the consolation
of Israel. And the scripture says in verse
twenty five, the Holy Ghost. Was upon him. God, the Holy Spirit,
the third person of the blessed Trinity, and understand this,
all we're ever going to know of God, of Christ, everything
in our experience comes through the work of the Holy Ghost in
us, the third person of the Trinity. Now, what happens when the Holy
Ghost is upon a man? Verse twenty six. And it was
revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see
death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. You're not going to die until
you have seen the Lord's Christ. Now, what does that mean, the
Lord's Christ? Christ isn't the Lord's last
name. The word means the anointed, the Lord's anointed. It has to do with his offices.
In the Old Testament, there were three offices that God anointed. There was the office of the prophet,
The man who spake for God, there was the office of the priest,
the man who represented men to God, who offered the sacrifices,
and the king was anointed. Those three offices. Christ Jesus
is the Lord's Christ. He's God's prophet. He's God's
priest, the priest of God's appointing. He's God's king. He's the king
of kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He's
the Lord's Christ. I love the way that sounds, the
Lord's Christ. Now what good would a man's anointed, a man
anointed prophet, what good would he do you? None. What good would
a man anointed priest do you? Absolutely none. What good would
a man anointed king do you? None. But the Lord's Christ,
the Lord's prophet, the Lord's priest, the Lord's king, the Lord's Christ is the same
one he would later call thy salvation. Now, he tells him, you're not
going to die until you see the Lord's Christ. Verse 27. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus, he was only eight days old, an infant, so
weak, so helpless, seemingly. And when his parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
Simeon comes up. Then he took him in his arms,
this eight-day-old infant, and he blessed God. He thanked God
from the depths of his heart and said, Lord, now let us, thy
servant, depart in peace. Notice the death of the believer
is called the departure. Don't you love that? He said,
let me depart. The believers departing unto
life. Best day of my life is going
to be the day of my death. And I'm going to depart and I'm
going to see him face to face with no unbelief, no sin. I'm going to behold his face
in righteousness. That's a departure, isn't it?
What a departure that is. Let me depart. in peace, no turmoil,
no fear. And here's why I could depart
in peace. He says in verse 30, for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. Now, when he saw this eight year
old or eight day old child, he knew somehow that he would one
day be crucified and suffer and die, because look what he says
to Mary down in verse. Thirty five, he says to Mary,
yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also that the
thoughts of many hearts be revealed. He told her that that was going
to take place, that sword is going to pierce through. And
can you imagine what a horrible thing it would be to see your
son nailed to a cross and bleed and suffer and die? He knew that
this one that he calls God's salvation would one day die.
He said that to Mary, but still, what did he say when he looked
at this human being who is God, who is man? The Lord Jesus Christ,
he said, I've seen thy salvation. That Jesus Christ, the Lord,
is God's salvation. Now, when you want to understand
something about salvation, you want to know what salvation really
is? He is God's salvation. Salvation is a person, the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way. He didn't say, I'll show you
the way. He said, I am the way. He said, I am the truth. He didn't say, I'll teach you
the truth, or I'll guide you the truth, or I'll reveal the
truth to you. He said, I'm it. I myself am
the truth. He said, I am the life. He didn't say, I'll give you
life. He said, I'm it. I am the life. No man cometh
to the Father but by me. He is God's salvation. Let me show you a passage of
scripture in John chapter 11. I think that this speaks so powerfully
of this. John chapter 11. And this is after Lazarus had
died and he's speaking to Martha, the sister of Lazarus. Jesus
saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto
him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection the
last day. I already know about the resurrection. You've taught
us well. I know that in the last day there
will be a resurrection, and on that day my brother will rise
again. I know that. I understand the
doctrine of the resurrection. I don't understand it, but I'm
aware of it. I already know that. Verse 25, Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection. The resurrection is not an event. I'm it. I am the resurrection. And I am the life. When I was raised, all of the
elect were raised. When I lived before God, being
raised from the dead, all of God's elect lived before God,
because I am the life. My life is the life before God. Now, I get such joy and assurance
and peace from this. My life before God. The reason
I'm going to be saved is because the life of the Lord Jesus Christ
is my life before God. His perfect life, the way He
pleased His Father. I pleased His Father. The way
he obeyed his father perfectly. I obeyed my father perfectly
because his life is my life. He said, I am the life. No man
comes to the Father but by me. His life is my life before God. And that's why I have assurance.
If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't have any assurance. Somehow something's
going to go wrong. But if his life is my life before
God, He is salvation. And I have assurance. He is God's salvation. Now, how
far can you take that? Well, you can't take it far enough.
You really can't. The first part of salvation is
election. God choosing who would be saved
before time began. That's what the Bible teaches.
God chose who would be saved before time began. But understand
this. God didn't choose me and didn't give me to his son. All
of God's elect have always been viewed in the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, and God has never viewed any
of His people independently of the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't
choose me and give me to Christ. He chose Christ, and I'm in Him.
He's all in election. When we talk about salvation,
we've got to talk about His work on the cross. His precious blood
redeemed me. There's one reason why I stand
before God without sin, and there's only one reason, because He died
for me. No other reason is needed. He
put away my sin. I'm justified before God because
His life, His righteousness, is my righteousness before God.
He is my life. He is my righteousness. I'm born
again. I've been birthed from above.
It's because He, by His Spirit, gave me life. He's the one who
preserves me. He's the shepherd of my soul.
Even right now, He's the shepherd of my soul. He is my life. He is God's salvation. Now, however saved He is, that's
how saved I am. However complete He is, that's
how complete I am. However holy he is, that's how
holy I am. As he is, so are we in the world
right now. He is God's salvation. I wish I could say that the way
it ought to be said. It's mysterious. It's glorious. Here it is. He
is God's salvation. Salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, But
of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. Now, this is how much he is God's
salvation. He's made unto us wisdom. He's made unto us righteousness. He's made unto us sanctification. And he's made unto us redemption. He is God's salvation. He's my salvation. He's God's
salvation. And He is my salvation. That's
why Simeon was ready to depart in peace. Have lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace? You know, the only reason you're
afraid to die is sin. Isn't that so? The only reason
you'd be afraid to die is because you'd be afraid to face God in
your sin. I can't even stand the thought
of that, to face God in my sin. He'd have to send me to hell.
But in Christ, I have no sin. Therefore, let me depart in peace. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Now turn back to Luke chapter
2. Let's go on reading. Verse 29, Lord, now let us thou
thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared. Remember when the Lord said he's
going to say on Judgment Day to all of his people, Come ye
blessed of my father. the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. Now, what he prepared before
the foundation of the world, he came in time and prepared. Remember that scripture in John
14? Behold, I go and prepare a place for you. Now, I used to always read that
and kind of imagine, for some reason in my mind, him going
up into heaven and preparing a place for me to be up there.
But that's not what he was saying. No, he's saying, I'm going to
the cross to prepare a place for you. This is a prepared salvation. He's the one who did the preparation.
He did it all, which now is prepared before the face of all people.
You see the gospel. The gospel. I got I got a letter
from a gentleman today and he was asking me. Why is it? That you seem to narrow
the gospel and in the gospel for everybody. And his complaint
was predestination election. So it was a very sincere letter.
I really liked his spirit the way he wrote the letter. But
he thought we were closing things up by preaching election and
predestination and Christ's effectual atonement for the elect. It doesn't
close anything up. Anybody who will come, he'll
save. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Listen
to me. If you call upon the name of the Lord, he'll save you.
He said, Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Now, the gospel is for anybody.
No, it's not for everybody. If it was for everybody, everybody
would be saved. But it is for anybody. It's for anybody who
will come. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and He'll have mercy on you. I promise you that. There's never
been a sinner who came to Him for mercy that He turned away.
This is for anybody. This is every man's gospel in
that sense. It's for everybody. But it's not for all men without
exception, but it is for all men without distinction. You
come, you'll be received. It's before the face of all people. Verse 32, God's salvation, the
Lord Jesus Christ, is a light to lighten the Gentiles. Now,
he is the light. We're Gentiles. I reckon everybody
in here is a Gentile. He's the light as to how a Gentile
like me or you could be saved. You want to know how God can
love you? You want to know how God can accept you? You want
to know how God can justify you and embrace you and see you as
holy and perfect in his sight? It's because the Lord Jesus Christ
is God's salvation. You're in him. That's you. He's
the light to lighten the Gentiles. And it also says in verse 32
that he himself is the glory of thy people, Israel. As He is, so are we in the world. That's what 1 John 4, 17 says.
Now, the question, is He glorious? Is He glorious? As He is, so
are we. You know, people seek their own
glory, and that's a very dumb, stupid thing to do, to seek your
own glory. It's just a stupid and a dumb
and an evil thing to do, to seek your own glory. But if you're
a believer, listen to the glory you have. In John chapter 17,
verse 22, the Lord says, The glory which thou gavest me, I
have given them. Now, did you hear that? The glory. which thou gavest
me, I have given them that they may be one, even as we are one. What's your glory? The Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. He is my glory. I'm a glorious
person because He is my glory, and that's true of every single
believer. Oh, that's why it says, He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And Joseph and his mother marveled
at those things which were spoken of him. Now, they'd heard great
things before from the angel. They'd heard these great things
from the shepherds. They'd heard these things, great things from
the wise men and Zacharias and Elizabeth. But they're still
amazed regarding what is said concerning this child. I mean,
here's this eight day old baby is and Simeon comes in and makes
this announcement about him. Verse 34. And Simeon blessed
them, and said unto Mary, his mother, Behold this." Notice
child is in italics. It was supplied there by the
translators. But it's as if Simeon didn't
have a word to describe the Lord Jesus Christ. This he said. He's ordained. That's what the word means. He's
set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign
which shall be spoken against. Now, he's set for the fall, for
the fall of many. Many are going to trip and fall
and stumble over him. They're not going to have any
love for him. They're not going to have any
love for the gospel. They're going to fall over him. They're
going to be offended by him. And God's going to judge him.
He's set for the fall of many. Turn to Romans chapter nine for
a moment, hold your finger there in Luke two and turn to Romans
nine. Verse 30. Now, what should we say then?
Now, in the context, in chapter nine, he was talking about election. Look in verse 11, to the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election might stand not of works,
but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it's written, Jacob have I loved,
but he shall have I hated. Now, in the context, he's talking
about the sovereignty of grace, isn't he? Now, what should we
say? What are we going to draw from
this? What are we going to conclude from this? Verse 30, what should
we say to all this? That the Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, they weren't concerned about God.
They were just happy the way they were. They were on the road
to hell with no concern for God. They weren't seeking God. They
didn't have any desire to know God. They were lost as they could
be. They didn't follow after righteousness. But they've attained to righteousness.
Even the righteousness, which is a faith. They weren't seeking
the Lord, but the Lord sought them and he found them and he
gave them his righteousness. Boy, sure, I'm glad, aren't you?
What if the Lord didn't do this? I mean, you wouldn't be saved,
would we? But these Gentiles who were not
seeking the Lord, The Lord saved them. Salvation is by grace. But Israel, verse 31, which followed
after the law of righteousness, they sought to obey God's law,
so they thought, so they could be saved. They followed after
the law of righteousness. If I can keep the Ten Commandments,
at least partially, I'll be saved and the Lord will forgive me
for the rest. But they sought The Law of Righteousness
hath not attained to the Law of Righteousness. Now, they were
seeking this, but they didn't have it. The Gentiles weren't
seeking it, and they did. The Jews were seeking it, and
they didn't attain to it. Verse 32. Why? Wherefore, because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of
the law. Now, there's faith and there's
works. Those are the only two ways.
And they didn't seek it by faith. They sought it by the works of
the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone, the Lord
Jesus Christ, salvation by him. As it's written, Behold, I lay
in Zion, a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. You know,
the natural man is offended by the gospel. He finds the Lord
Jesus Christ to be offensive. Men were offended at him during
the days of his flesh. You know, what is it that men
become offended by? When it comes right down to it,
this is the bottom line. Here's what men become offended
by. Men are not offended by a God they have some control over.
As long as I have some control over the matter, as long as I
can be saved, If I decide to accept God's salvation, if I
accept his offer of salvation, but salvation somehow in my hand,
I've got some control in this. If I can start doing this and
stop doing that and become a better person, I can be saved. I've
got some control in this. As long as men think that, they're
not going to be offended. But the God they can't control, there's
the difference. The God who doeth according to
his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? I'm in his hand and it's up to him as to whether
or not I'll be saved. It's not up to me. The issue
is not, will you accept Jesus as your personal savior? You
don't find language like that in scripture. The issue is, will
he accept you? Will he have mercy on you? That's
the issue. Now, men are offended. by that, and he's set for the
fall of many. Many are going to stumble at
this stumbling stone. He's set for the fall of many,
but also he's set for the rising again of many in Israel. He's set, he's ordained for the
rising again of many. Now, what is the one qualification
to be raised? You have to be fallen. You're not going to be raised
if you're not fallen. That's the one qualification.
And he's the one who does the raising. Now, I fell in my father
Adam. When he fell, I fell in him. And I went all the way down with
him. And the proof that I've fallen in my father's Adam in
my father Adam is by how much I fall. I fall, I fall, I fall. I fall, I fall, I fall. Do you know what? Fallen people,
he raises. Always. You see, when Christ
was raised from the dead, you know who else was raised? Everybody
he died for. Every believer. Every fallen
sinner. He raises the fallen. He's set
for the raising, the rising of many in Israel and for a sign
which will be spoken against. You know, regarding the gospel. It's spoken against. It's spoken against. And if you're
not preaching, the natural man is pleased with what I say. If
the religious person is pleased by what I said, I mean, I didn't
preach the gospel. That's just so. The gospel will
always be spoken against. That's OK, though, isn't it?
That's OK. This is still the saving gospel. It's God's gospel. I don't care
if anybody does it. People do speak against it. It doesn't
take away from the truthfulness of it. And I want to preach in such
a way that I'm spoken against. I want to be spoken against in
that sense, and if I'm not, I'm not preaching the gospel. He
says, Is it a sign that you will be spoken against? Yea, a sword
shall pierce through thine own soul also. And that's talking
about the crucifixion of the Lord. He's saying that prophetically,
that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Now, the thoughts
of your hearts The thoughts of my heart, the thoughts of your
heart, is revealed in our thoughts concerning the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, I can tell what you think
about God by the thoughts of your heart regarding the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to close with this scripture.
Turn to Galatians 6. Galatians chapter 6. Verse 12, as many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh. Isn't that a pretty accurate
description of man's religion? A fair show in the flesh. And that's all it is. And it
won't amount to anything more than that. As many as desire
to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. They try to put a law on you
only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. You see. Preaching works, you
won't be persecuted. You won't be. But look what he
says about these fellows, verse 13, for neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law. They don't keep it. They're
hypocrites. But they desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh. Look at the positive influence
I've been on this person. I can feel better about myself.
Look how I've influenced them for good. I can glory in their
flesh. I've won them to Christ. I've
done this. I've done that. Look what it
says in verse 14. But God forbid that I should
glory. save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm not going to glory. I'm not
going to have confidence in anything. God forbid that I should glory.
And this is Paul speaking. This is the man who God used
to write most of the New Testament. This is the wise master builder.
This is the man God used more than any other man. He said,
God forbid that I should glory in any of that. All I glory is
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom? I love the way he says,
not by what, but by whom. You can't separate the person
of Christ and his work. By whom the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world. Now, what are your thoughts regarding
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, I can say honestly, honestly,
I glory only in the cross. I do. And by the grace of God,
I do. And our state before God is seen
in our attitude and our thoughts regarding the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation. Let's pray.