Two ways that my heart was prepared
to bring this message tonight. First of all, yesterday one of the young men whom the
Lord has led out of this congregation to pastor in another part of
the country, called me and he said, I have my first funeral
this week, a member of our congregation. The father died and he wants
me to preach his funeral. And he said, as far as I can
determine, the man never had any interest in God, the Bible,
the gospel, or Christ in any way. Not even any interest. He said, it's going to be a very
difficult, difficult service. And he said, I told the member
of the church when he asked me to preach the funeral that I
did not know his father and that I had no no real confidence that
his father is with the Lord or was ready to die. And that all
I could do was preach the gospel. And the man said, well, that's
what I want you to do, just preach the gospel at the service. Well, we have to do so much of
that, don't we? So much of that. And then less
than an hour ago, I went through this this routine that we have
to go through on a regular basis of visitation at a funeral home. I don't know when we're going
to lay down some of these traditions and do things like they ought
to be done the way that they've been done for all the years that
we've known. Death. Death. So I'm going to
deal with the subject tonight When is a man really ready to
die? When is a man ready to die? These
folks over here in Isaiah thought they were. In Isaiah 28. You know, I hear these comments
all the time. Well, I'm ready to go. Would God we were as ready as
we thought we were. Go where? You sound like you're
going over to Arlington or somewhere. You're going to meet God. I'm
ready to go. When you hear somebody die and
say, well, he was ready to meet his maker. I'm sure hopeful that Christ
will meet him for me. Has and will. Has and will. But these folks here in Isaiah
28, Our Lord said in verse 14, now, hear the word of the Lord,
hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, that rule this
people which is in Jerusalem, you religious leaders, because
you have said, you have said, I didn't say it, you said it,
we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement.
When the overflowing scourge The scourge of God's judgment
and wrath shall pass through and destroy on every hand and
call men to account and deal with sinners. It shall not come
unto us." We're ready, ready to meet the scourge of God's
wrath. For we have a refuge. He calls it a refuge of lies.
And we have a place to hide ourselves, but it's under Paul's hood, the
Lord said. Now my friends, the great and
important things in life are done once. Just one time, the
great and important things are done once. We're born once. Every
year we celebrate what we call our birthday. The anniversary
of our birth date. But we have one birthday. birthday. We're born one time. And then
it's appointed unto men once to die. We're going to die one
time. And I know it hardly seems possible
that we're going to die, but we're going to die. That young
hockey player, 26 years old, on top of the world. Can you
think about it? On top of the world. top of the world most
valuable player of his team heralded acclaimed popular Left that club
for four thirty o'clock in the morning Sunday morning Dashed
his brains out in a few minutes. He's gone And he donated his
organs and that's Some memory left of him and some good deed,
but he's out to meet God organs and organs And in some way we have a way
of camouflaging the awfulness, the terrible situation of his
death by talking about his organs being used to let somebody see,
you know, that kind of camouflages what really is taking place.
This man has gone to meet God. He's gone to meet God. And then
we're born once, we die once, and we meet God and stand in
judgment one time. One time. Now we have nothing
to do with our birth. We're born once and we have nothing
to do with that. And the day of our death is set
by the Lord. I'm as confident of this as I
am that this book is God's Word. That the instrument of death
is already prepared. That the number of your months
are with the Lord. He has determined your bounds
and my bounds and we cannot pass. God has set the day of our death.
When it'll happen, where it'll happen, and how it'll happen,
that we'll leave this earth. That day is set. We have nothing
to do with that. But this matter of how we meet
God, this matter of how a man dies, now when he dies is God's
business, but how he dies is His business. Is it not? Of course it is. Of course it
is. He said, prepare to meet thy
God. Isn't that what he said? You
prepare to meet God. When I die, it's God's business,
but how I die depends a great amount on what I believe about
God. It depends to a great extent
on what my attitude is toward the living God and Jesus Christ
whom he had sent. So I can do something about that,
can't I, by his grace? By his grace? By his enabling
power? Well, let's turn in the Word
and find out an answer to this question. When is a man ready
to die? When is a man ready to die? Now,
church membership doesn't make you ready to die. A good moral life does not prepare
you to die. Because your good moral life
won't come up to the standard of God Almighty. All have sinned
and come short of His glory. And I tell you, an orthodox doctrinal
position won't prepare you to meet God. You might be a strong
Calvinist and believe very strongly in the five points and not be
ready to die. You know, people ask the question,
have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? I wonder
if you've received Christ since you believed. I run into a lot
of folks that haven't. They've believed a lot of things,
but they've never received Christ. Well, I want you to turn, first
of all, to the book of 2 Samuel. Now, here are three men. I'm
going to look at three men whom God clearly declares were ready
to die. They were ready to die. These
men were facing death. They were right on the verge
of eternity, as some of us are. I was reading about a basketball
owner, a fellow that used to own a professional basketball
team. And I think he was 80 years old.
And he said, I'm in the second overtime. He said, you know, you play a
basketball game, and if you come to the end of the game and you're
tired, you play an overtime, five minutes. And then he said,
if it's still tight, you play another overtime five minutes,
and you play till it's over. And he said, I've come to the
three-scoring ten, and the score was tied. He said, then I had
a five-year overtime, 75. He said, I'm in my second overtime.
There's some of us that are in our first overtime, or second. Some of us are approaching the
end of the game. And it ain't time, I can tell you that. It
ain't time. But here David was coming to
the end. Now watch this, 2 Samuel 23. It says here in 2 Samuel
23, Now these be the last words of David. You know, anytime I
see a man's last words, I get interested. These are his last
words. David, the son of Jesse, said,
the man who was raised up on high, 2 Samuel 23, got it? The man who was raised up on
high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist
of Israel, all these things God says about him, identifying who
this is, this man who's speaking. The Spirit of the Lord spake
by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said,
the rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men must
be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light
of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without
clouds, as the tender grass springing out of earth by clear shining
after rain. Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Now
David facing death, David coming to the end of life, David preparing
for that traumatic experience of breathing for the last time
and going out to meet a holy God, finds his confidence and
his comfort and his assurance resting not in the fact that
he was the sweet psalmist of Israel, not in the fact that
he was anointed by God to be king of Israel, not in the fact
that he won many victories in the name of the Lord, not like
those people who said, we did mighty works in thy name. But
David finds his comfort facing death, his assurance, in the
everlasting covenant which God made with Christ in David's name. And that's where he finds his
comfort and assurance. That's his hiding place. That's
his refuge. That's his confidence. The grace
of God in Christ. Look at it. Although, verse 5,
although my house, although my house, my children, even this
kingdom over which I reign, even my court And even some of the
people who are in my employ, be not so with God, yet He hath
made with me personally an everlasting covenant. And that covenant is
ordered in all things, and it's sure unchangeable. And this is
all my salvation and all my desire, although He make it not to go.
My God will keep His word. My God will keep His word. I was talking to Paul Edward
on the phone this afternoon. He was preparing a message that
he plans to bring up in Floyd, Virginia when he speaks next
Sunday. And he was asking me about an illustration that I
gave one time years ago. I'd almost forgotten it, but
he remembered hearing it. Old brother A.D. Mews, whom I
knew for just a short time before he died, was an evangelist for
many years. He died when he was 64 years
old, 1954. I helped with his funeral. But
I remember him telling this story before, when he was preaching,
before he got sick. He said that back in 1924, 25,
somewhere in there, he was, he had one son. His name was Ralph.
They lived down in Shaw, Mississippi. Little old town in Mississippi
had a railroad run right through the middle of town. That was
the only transportation was the railroad. That's where everything
came into town, where everything went out of town. And Ralph was
celebrating his birthday. He and his dad were awful close.
And before that, his dad had said to him, now, Ralph, when
your birthday comes, I'm going to buy you A carpenter set. They'd seen it. They'd been going
down the street one day and saw this carpenter set in the hardware
store. And it had a saw and a hammer
and a screwdrivers and pliers and a plane and a level and all
this. And Ralph wanted that carpenter set or one like it. His daddy
said, I'll get you one for your birthday. You have my word. I'll
get you one of those carpenter sets for your birthday. Well,
his birthday came and his dad was gone. The morning of his
birthday came, and his daddy was in a meeting somewhere. And
he didn't have any evidence of a carpenter's set. And he asked
his mother about it, and she said she didn't know anything
about it, because his heart just sank. But his mother said, on
your way to school, why don't you stop at the railroad station
and ask the man at the station there, called his name, If your
set has come in on the train. So he went by the railroad station
and he asked the clerk, they said, my dad told me on my birthday,
he's going to give me a carpenter set, said, I want it. The man
said, well, Ralph, he said, we don't have anything here for
you. He said, are you sure? He said, yeah, I'm, I'm sure.
He said, I came to work this morning, but I hadn't seen anything
come in. So he went on to school and it was a long day. And to
him, at school was over, he came back by the, Depot and he he
asked that man again. He said when the train came in
said did was there a box on there for me? He said son. I'm sorry. There's no box for you Well,
he walked home and he was pretty blue his daddy had never let
him down And he went in the house and went on up to his room. That's
why his mama called him down to supper And they were eating
supper around the table. He and his mom sitting around
the table eating supper, and there's a knock on the door.
And Ralph went to the door, and there stood that railroad man.
He had a package in his hand. And he said, Ralph, son, I apologize. He said, this package came in
yesterday from your daddy. And it was under a bunch of packages
there at the depot. I was off yesterday, and I didn't
see it, son. I'm sorry. But it was there when
you came by this morning. And he said, I didn't know it.
And you know what Ralph said? He turned to his mama and said,
I told you my daddy wouldn't let me down. I told you my daddy'd
keep his word. That's what David's saying right
here. My father will keep his word. And that's what I'm rested
in. That's how you can dine. It's
not what you've done, what you've given, how you've served and
labored, how many souls you've won. Think of the battles David
had fought. Think of the victories he'd won.
enemies he conquered. Think of the country built. Think
of the money it accumulated to build a temple. Think of the
sons that he had sired, and Solomon would reign in his stead. But
when he came to die, he said, this is my salvation, and this
is my hope. God made a covenant, and he will
keep his word. My father will do what he said.
Now, I believe a man ready to die when he can die on that footing
and foundation, taking no glory or credit for anything, but giving
God all the credit. You see that? All right, let's
turn to another man over here briefly, 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. Now, I know all this stuff about,
He shook the preacher's hand, and Rock Hudson, you know, he
accepted Jesus on his deathbed. And the nurse that won him to
Jesus said, if I'd known it'd been that easy, I'd have tried
it a long time ago. And I just don't know. I'm kind of tired of that stuff.
I'm kind of tired of owl-walking, hand-shaking, hand-raising, professions,
and all this foolishness. I want to hear somebody talk
about God's covenant. I want to hear somebody talk
about God's grace. Not their gift to God, but God's gift to
them. Not their work for God, but God's
work for them. I want to hear somebody talk
about not what they've accepted, but what God's accepted in the
Beloved. I wish I could hear some talk
like that. I'd have some hope for people. That's right. I'd
have some hope for people if I could hear somebody, somewhere,
somebody, somewhere talk about God. But everybody's made their peace,
and everybody's accepted Jesus, and everybody's served the church,
and everybody's been a preacher, and everybody's done all these
things. You wouldn't know there was,
that God had done anything, to hear folks talk about it. But
I tell you, when David, the sweet psalmist, the great king, the
mighty warrior, man after God's own heart, came to die, he talked
about what God had done for him. He didn't talk about us. Single
thing he'd ever done for God. Now listen to Paul in 2 Timothy. He knew he was going to die.
He said in 2 Timothy chapter 4, you got it? Verse 6, he said,
I'm now ready to be offered. The time of my departure is at
hand. The time of my departure is at
hand. Now let me help you a little bit here. I'm not overly smart,
but I've read what a lot of folks had to say and put some of this
together. And the first thing he says here
in verse 6, he says, I'm now ready to be offered. He's saying,
I'm ready to be poured out. I'm ready to be poured out as
a drink offering. As a drink offering. I'm ready
to be poured out. Now hold your finger there and turn to Philippians
2.17. Philippians 2.17. Turn over there now. This is
what he's talking about here. In Philippians 2, 17, Yea, and
if I be offered, or poured out, poured forth, you see that? As
a drink, or poured out upon the sacrifice. Now this is all very
significant. If I be poured out, poured forth
on the sacrifice. See where I'm going, Charlie?
Pour it out on the sacrifice. What are we talking about? Let's
go back to the sacrifice in Numbers 28. Now these Numbers 28, now
these Jews, many of them, knew what he was talking about. When
he said, I'm ready to be poured out, I'm ready to be poured out
as a drink offering, these Jews, most of these Jews, knew what
he was talking about. They knew over Numbers 28. that
the drink offering is referred to. He said, I'm ready to be
poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice, upon the
sacrifice. Now, Numbers 28, now here's what
we're talking about. Let me tell you this and then
we'll read it and you'll see it. When a lamb was sacrificed,
when a lamb was sacrificed as a sin offering before the Lord,
The lamb and its blood was the sacrifice. The lamb was slain
and it was roasted on the altar and its blood was put on the
mercy seat or on the altar. But sometimes, out of gratitude
and thanksgiving, wine and oil were poured on the altar with
the blood. You've read that before, haven't
you? Wine was poured and oil was poured on the altar. It made
no contribution to the cleansing, the cleansings in the blood.
I have given you the blood upon the altar to make atonement for
your soul. It's the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
The wine and the oil and the precious drink that's poured
upon it does not add to it at all. But it is an offering of
thanksgiving. It was not necessary to the offering. It wasn't necessary to the sacrifice. But it was added out of praise
and gratitude to God. Now watch this. In Numbers 28,
7. And he said, And the drink offering thereof shall be a fourth
part of a hen for one lamb. In the holy place shalt thou
cause the strong wine to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering. And the other lamb shalt thou
offer it even as the meat offering of the morning, And as the drink
offering thereof, thou shalt offer it a sacrifice made by
fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. You see, the two lambs
and their blood was the sin offering and was the sacrifice. But this
oil or wine that was poured on the sacrifice was a sweet savour
to God. It was thanksgiving and praise
and gratitude. Now here's what Paul said. He
doesn't liken himself to the sacrifice. For Christ is the
sacrifice. Christ is the lame. The blood
of Christ cleanses. But Paul likens himself to the
drink offering. He likens himself to the drink
offering, willing that his life and his blood shall be shed on
the altar where his Lord was the great sin offering out of
thanksgiving to God. and out of praise to God, and
out of identification with that sacrifice. Paul said, I'm willing
to follow my Lord in death out of gratitude to Him. He said,
I'm not blue. Turn back to our text. I'm not
sad. I'm not down in the mouth. I'm not depressed. He said, I
am ready to be poured out. My Lamb of God has come. and
has died and sacrificed his body and his blood on the altar for
my sin and as a substitute and sacrifice. And I'm ready to be
poured out on that altar in thanksgiving, in gratitude, in praise to God,
in identification with that sacrifice as the old Jews took the drink
offering and poured it on the blood. And on the burning carcass
of the lamb. I'm just a drink offering. But
he said, I'm with it. It's all right. It's all right. All right. All right. Verse 7.
He looked back with satisfaction. He said, I've fought a good fight.
I've not shunned the declaring to you the whole counsel, all
the counsel of God. I've kept back nothing profitable
for you. I've fought a good fight. I've
kept the faith. Finished my course my life my
ministry I've kept the faith and then he looked ahead with
assurance. He said henceforth there's laid up for me a Crown
of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give
me in that day The righteous judge is gonna give me his righteousness
All right. Here's a man, but what I want
to get to is this Here's a man who is facing death. He's facing
certain death. The Holy Ghost already told him
almost the time he would die. But when he comes to sum it all
up, he said, the time of my departure is at hand, and I'm ready to
be poured out as a drink offering upon that great sin offering
and sacrifice the Lamb of God who died for me. That's my hope. That's what Paul talks about.
When he comes to die, he's not talking about the churches he's
established. He's not talking about the sermons
he's preached. He's not talking about the miles he's traveled.
He's not talking about those things at all. He's talking about
a sacrifice on an altar where a lamb shed his blood for a sinner. That's what he's talking about.
Is that our language? We don't talk about a covenant
and the purpose and plan mercy of God and we did we don't talk
about a burning carcass a Sling lamb and shed blood do it All
right, let me show you another man here. Here's another man
ready to die. Here's another man read that
Luke chapter 2 Now between these two great saints, I've got reached
back in the Old Testament picked up one talking about a covenant
Covenant grace an everlasting covenant a covenant of mercy,
a covenant which God Almighty decreed and designed and brought
to pass. I took you over here in the New
Testament to another sure saint, a dying warrior who looks to
a cross and to a sin offering, to a sacrifice and to the shedding
of blood. Now I'm going to take you here
to A fellow right between these two great saints. Right between
the Old Testament and the New Testament. David died looking
to Christ in hope. Paul died resting in Christ and
the manifestation and revelation of his blood. And now Simeon.
Look at Luke 2. Let's begin reading with verse
25. And behold there was a man. There was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon. And the same man, now we don't
know a whole lot about Simeon, but we do know something. First
of all, he was in Jerusalem. Secondly, of course, his name
was Simeon. Thirdly, this man Simeon was
just and devout. He was just and devout. A man
whose mind was on spiritual matters. A man who was concerned to know
God. Who had an interest in God. And in the ways of God, in the
will of God. And he was waiting. Here's something
else about it. He was looking for the Messiah.
He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was looking for
a Redeemer. Evidently, he was a student of
the Scriptures. And he knew of the prophecies
and the promises. He knew of Isaiah's writings
and Abraham's talk about a Messiah. And Moses, about the prophet,
that prophet. He knew about it and he was waiting.
expectantly for that consolation of Israel for the Messiah. Here's
another thing about him. The Spirit of God was on him.
The Spirit of God was on him. And the Spirit of God, verse
26, had revealed to this man Simeon, the Holy Ghost, that
he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ, the Redeemer.
The Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not die until he
had seen the Lord's Christ. Now that we know about. Now verse
27, now by the Holy Spirit's leadership he came by the Spirit
into the temple. At the same time when the parents
brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of
the law. You say, what was the Lord Jesus
doing there in the temple? Well, let's turn to Leviticus
12 just a moment. Leviticus chapter 12. We know
that our Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew. He was the seed of Abraham,
seed of Isaac, tribe of Judah and the family of David. And
he was made of a woman, made under the law. And our Lord did
everything that the law required at that time. Everything that
the law requires at all times for his sheep his people But
he was born a Jew he was circumcised the eighth day because that was
required of every male child In other words God said if he's
not circumcised cut him off from Israel And our Lord was circumcised
the eighth day now look at verse 5 of Leviticus 12 Now if a woman
bear a male child Then she shall be unclean two weeks as in her
separation, and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying
three score and six days. And when the days of her purifying
are fulfilled for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a
lamb of the first year for a burnt
offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering.
She is to bring a lamb of the first year and a pigeon or a
turtledove for a sin offering Unto the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation, unto the priest, or unto the temple. You
see, she's to bring, at this certain time, she's to bring
that lamb and a turtle dove or a pigeon. Who shall offer it,
verse 7, before the Lord, and make an atonement for her? And
she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. Now this
is the law for her that hath borne a male or a female. Now
verse 8, if she be not able, financially able, If she's too
poor to afford a lamb or bring a lamb, then she'll bring two
turtle doves. Two turtles is two turtle doves.
Or two young pigeons. No lamb, but bring two turtle
doves or two young pigeons. Now that's what Mary and Joseph
were doing there at the temple at this particular day. It wasn't
that they were running up there every day or two. They came this
one day. This one time. They were going
to be there one time and gone. And God brought Simeon to cross
their path. Now look at Luke 2, Luke chapter
2, verse 23, verse 22. When the days of her purification,
according to the law of Moses, was accomplished, they brought
the Lord Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. And
as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth
the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, And Mary came to
offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law
of God, a pair of turtledoves and two pigeons. Mary was quite
poor. They couldn't bring a lamb. See
that? They couldn't bring a lamb. They're poor. So they brought
two turtledoves and two pigeons. All right, verse 27. He came
by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the law, won't you
listen to this testimony? He took up, took him up in his
arms and blessed God. And he said, now here's a fellow
that's ready to die. He said, Lord, I'm ready to die. Now let your servant, now let
thou, thy servant, let me depart in peace. According to your word
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation Now here's the third experience
and I'll close with this when is a man ready to die? All right,
this man was these other two men one Turned our eyes to God's
everlasting grace in Christ Jesus The other turned our eyes to
the sacrifice Which that grace in him to accomplish The other
turned our eyes right to him, to Christ. Now watch this. First he was led by the Spirit
of God to Christ. It was no accident that Simeon
came in that door and Mary came in that door. At that particular,
there's no accident. There's no accident with God.
It's the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.
It's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. We're born not of the will of
the flesh, not of the will of man, we're born of God. Born
of God. Alright, number two. He took
him up in his arms. He literally took Christ out
of the arms of his, of Mary. I just can't bring myself to
call her his mother. But that's who she was anyway.
But he took the Christ child out of the arms of Mary. Took
him up in his arms. What do you see here? I see this. I see the embrace of faith. He
knew who this child was. The Spirit of God had shown him
who Christ was. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. My confidence in faith is not in an experience. There's
been so much talk among people about when you would say, when
you were saved. I'm tired of that, too. I don't
care when God saved you, I want to know, did God save you? That's
what's important. Paul didn't say, I know when
I believe. He said, I know whom I have believed. And I know some
folks that are desperately, with all that's within them, trying
to defend an experience they had when they were 10 years old. And I'll tell you what most of
it is. Most of it is trying to get some
folks in the kingdom of heaven about whom they have a lot of
doubts. And if they admit they were not saved under that kind
of preaching, they'll have to admit the folks that did the
preaching wasn't saved. Isn't that right? And that's what's wrong with
them. Instead of shucking the whole
thing and saying, I come to Jesus as I am. And I rest in Him. We keep going back because we
want to include all these folks who were involved in that experience. Now if you just forget them and
determine that your salvation is not in whether they're going
to heaven or hell, it's whether or not Christ died for you. And
whether or not you know who He is. That's right, whether you
know who He is. It's got nothing to do with anybody
else. Between you and Christ. And the old old old Simeon with
the embrace of faith he took Christ up in his arm and with
the embrace of love He clutched him to his heart He held him fast he held him
fast To you that believe he's precious. Oh, can you just imagine
that man? probably old white-haired and
Stooped and wrinkled and he'd been reading all his life and
searching all his life and waiting all his life Anticipating expecting
all his life the promise of the Lord Messiah and here he is I
Bet his heart beat like a 21 year old Excited And that was
the embrace of hope he turned loose of everything if he turned
loose of his Sabbaths He turned loose of his sacrifices, he turned
loose of his solemn feasts, and laid hold on Christ. He laid
hold on Christ. I wonder if we can turn loose
of some of these things. I wonder if we can, our traditions
and our, all these things that seem to, seem to cause us so
much trouble, seem to be bigger than God to some of us. But here,
here's an old man standing there in the middle of the temple,
in all this auspicious and beautiful and elaborate and God-given decorations
and ornaments and buildings and sacrifices and altars. Here this
old man is holding a little tender infant of three months old. Excited. Excited. Yeah, but this is old. This Sabbath day is old. Yeah,
but this is Christ. Yeah, but this is old. This is
what they've always done. This is what they've always done.
Rather than because it's old don't mean it's so. Now you better
learn that. Because it's old don't mean it's
so. And it doesn't mean it's good either. Doesn't mean it's
good. A lot of old things that have
gotten truer the older they got. And when they were first said
they wasn't even so. And then he, watch what he did, he held
him in his arms, the arms of faith and love and hope and surrender
and submission, and then he blessed God. It says he took him up in
his arms and he blessed God. Boy, there's where the, there's
the fountain of all grace. Bless God for Christ. Bless God
for grace. Bless God. He knew who had been
merciful to him. He blessed God for the gift of
His Son. He blessed God for fulfilled
promises. He blessed God for not passing
Him by. Oh, I do, I do. Believe me, I
preach responsibility. I preach, seek the Lord while
He may be found. Call upon Him while He's near.
But I'm telling you this, if you seek Him because He sought
you, if you call on Him because He called you, if you love Him,
He loved you first, And old Simeon took the child Jesus up in his
arms, and he didn't say, look what I found. He said, look what
God gave. Bless God. Can a man preach responsibility
and still bless God? He better. Can a man take up
Christ with his heart and with his faith and still bless God?
He better, because salvation is of the Lord. He blessed God. And then he said he asked for
permission to die. He did. He said, Lord? Yes, sir. He knew who was sovereign in
life or death. Lord? Now, he said, now, let
thou, thy servant, depart. He didn't call it death at all.
He called it a departure. Paul did, remember? Time of my
death? Oh, no. It's not death to die,
if you know Christ. It's the beginning of life. Let
me depart. I'm not going to die. I'm going
to catch a train out of here. I'm going to catch a chariot
like Elijah caught. You're not going to see it, but
it will be there. It's going to swoop down and pick me up
and take me home. Let me catch that next stage
out of here. That's what Simeon said. Lord,
now let me catch the next stage out, the next fiery chariot.
Let me go and let me go in peace. Let me die the death of the righteous. When I go, I won't go in peace.
With whom? With Him. And I'll tell you who
made that peace, Christ did. And next time you hear a man
say he made his peace with God, just stop him right there. And
just say, now you blaspheme long enough, fella. If you want to,
just walk off then. But if you want to, tell him
when. You don't make peace with God. Christ is our peace. He purchased that peace through
the blood of his cross. Let me die in peace. Now watch
this, according to your word. Brethren, this is the saint's
foundation, the word of God. Abraham believed God that he
would do all that he promised. And this is where it is. This
is the foundation of faith. This old man Simeon had a song
in his heart because he had Christ in his arms. I'll tell you this, you want
to know when we'll get a song in our heart? When by faith and
hope and love we embrace Him. I'll give you a song.