Song of Simeon (Luke 2:21-40)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:06.240 s remain standing. In turn to Luke Chapter two. Luke two, I'm 2 00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:12.390 going to start at verse twenty two and read through verse forty. Luke twenty 3 00:00:12.470 --> 00:00:20.469 two through forty. This is God's word. Hear it and be blessed. 4 00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:26.660 And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, 5 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:31.339 they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As 6 00:00:31.460 --> 00:00:35.420 it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens 7 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:40.649 the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice, 8 00:00:40.729 --> 00:00:43.929 according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of 9 00:00:44.090 --> 00:00:49.530 turtle doves or two young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose 10 00:00:49.570 --> 00:00:55.640 name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation 11 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:00.039 of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him and it had been revealed 12 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.790 to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had 13 00:01:03.870 --> 00:01:10.670 seen the Lord's Christ and he came in the spirit into the temple and when 14 00:01:10.709 --> 00:01:15.430 the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom 15 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:19.420 of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and 16 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:25.459 said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, a 17 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:30.219 in your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared 18 00:01:30.459 --> 00:01:36.489 in the presence of all people's alight, for revelation to the gentiles and for 19 00:01:36.609 --> 00:01:42.290 glory to your people, Israel. And his father and his mother marveled at 20 00:01:42.370 --> 00:01:46.329 what was said about him, and Simeon blessed them and said to marry his 21 00:01:46.450 --> 00:01:52.599 mother. Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many 22 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:57.680 in Israel and for a sign that is opposed. And a sword will pierce 23 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:01.629 through your soul also so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. 24 00:02:02.629 --> 00:02:08.629 And there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of 25 00:02:08.750 --> 00:02:14.909 Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years 26 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:19.099 from when she was a virgin and then as a widow, until she was 27 00:02:19.300 --> 00:02:23.060 eighty four. She did not depart from the Temple, worshiping with fasting and 28 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:28.819 prayer, night and day, and coming up at that very hour, she 29 00:02:28.979 --> 00:02:32.610 began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to whom, to 30 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:38.050 who sorry, and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the 31 00:02:38.169 --> 00:02:43.889 redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had performed everything according to the law of 32 00:02:43.930 --> 00:02:47.240 the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth, 33 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:53.039 and the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom in the favor of 34 00:02:53.199 --> 00:03:15.259 God was upon him a man. You may be seated. Well, as 35 00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:20.219 you consider the end of this year and the year ahead, it's often a 36 00:03:20.300 --> 00:03:27.020 time to take and consider what has gone past and what perhaps lies ahead. 37 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:31.289 This is not a bad thing to do. The Lord tells us to number 38 00:03:31.330 --> 00:03:37.849 our days that we might be wise, I'm to reflect on our time here 39 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:44.479 in this world and to consider on the things he has spoken. As we 40 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:50.400 do that, I think it's helpful and encouraging to think about Simeon and Anna. 41 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:53.439 Let me pause there for a moment and ask are you hearing a buzzing 42 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:59.990 or is it just me? No, I think it might be better now. 43 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:08.069 I just adjusted that. Okay, Simeon and Anna. Anna is an 44 00:04:08.229 --> 00:04:13.219 old lady, a very old lady, advanced in years, it says. 45 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:20.379 We are told that she had lived with her husband seven years from her being 46 00:04:20.420 --> 00:04:26.170 a virgin, if she was married at a typical age of fourteen, Young 47 00:04:26.490 --> 00:04:33.810 of course then then, and then widowed for eighty four years after having lost 48 00:04:33.810 --> 00:04:41.120 her husband she might be a hundred and five. This is a very old 49 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:46.240 woman, advanced in years and having lived a long time as a widow. 50 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:53.870 No doubt this would have been a very difficult time. Widows are singled out 51 00:04:53.910 --> 00:04:59.870 along with the orphans constantly in Scriptures and in the ancient worlds, those most 52 00:04:59.910 --> 00:05:04.430 in need of protection, most in need of consolation, most in need of 53 00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:11.980 the help and safety of the Lord. We also have Simian. It doesn't 54 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:17.980 mention his age, but it does mention that he was looking forward to the 55 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:25.089 end of his life, that he was told by the Holy Spirit that he 56 00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:30.689 would not depart until he had seen this great hope of the Lord. We 57 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:33.009 read in Verse Twenty Six. And it had been revealed to him by the 58 00:05:33.089 --> 00:05:39.600 Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 59 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:47.759 Simeon was not hoping based on some kind of intuition, some sort of 60 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:55.230 vain hope. The Holy Spirit himself had told Simeon that he would not see 61 00:05:55.389 --> 00:06:00.430 or he would not die until seeing of the Lord's Christ and then having seen 62 00:06:00.509 --> 00:06:04.939 the Lord's Christ, the Messiah who had long been promised in the law and 63 00:06:05.300 --> 00:06:12.060 the prophets. He praises God, he blesses God, and Verse Twenty Nine 64 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:16.899 Through Thirty Two we have what has been called the song of Simeon. Lord, 65 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:23.769 now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word, 66 00:06:25.129 --> 00:06:28.850 for my eyes have seen your salvation that you've prepared in the presence of 67 00:06:28.930 --> 00:06:33.199 all people's alight, for revelation to the gentiles and for glory to your people, 68 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:38.759 Israel. And it's a little bit too difficult to tell, but it 69 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:43.639 seems that Anna, having seen this. Why? Because she is constantly, 70 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:48.550 the Scripture says, in the temple, fasting and praying. Having seen this 71 00:06:48.750 --> 00:06:55.350 event, having her herself been one who is devout and devoted to the Lord, 72 00:06:57.029 --> 00:07:00.819 she goes and then herself gives thanks to God and begins to speak of 73 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:04.579 him, of Jesus, to WHO, to all who are waiting for the 74 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:14.019 redemption of Jerusalem. The Lord comes into and this holy city, brought by 75 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:19.449 his parents. I'm just a baby and his were. The word of him 76 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:26.930 is already spreading, the Gospel is already going forth. An amazing thing. 77 00:07:27.290 --> 00:07:32.240 This continues throughout the rest of his life and indeed after his death and resurrection 78 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:38.839 as well. It's an amazing thing that Simmon says here in Jerusalem, in 79 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:44.350 the temple, that this Messiah is a light for the revelation of the gentiles. 80 00:07:45.110 --> 00:07:48.269 And here we are, many of us, most of US gentiles, 81 00:07:49.189 --> 00:07:55.110 saying the very same thing, singing the very same thing, praising God for 82 00:07:55.189 --> 00:08:00.939 the redemption that he has brought. And as we consider these two people, 83 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:05.220 Simeon and Anna, filled with the hope and joy of the Lord, one 84 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:11.180 at the end of his life, the other, unlikely, at the end 85 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:16.170 of her life, is good for us to reflect and know what it means 86 00:08:16.730 --> 00:08:20.850 to belong to him. This, in many ways, is a story about 87 00:08:22.009 --> 00:08:24.370 hope and faith, and it gives us courage and confidence in the year of 88 00:08:24.490 --> 00:08:31.360 Heay, year ahead. It gives us a godly perspective, a perspective centered 89 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:37.639 in Christ and his Gospel, concerning our days, our life our deaths as 90 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:45.629 well. The setting for this story begins with Jesus his parents bringing him to 91 00:08:45.789 --> 00:08:50.070 Jerusalem. This is made very clear at the beginning and throughout the story that 92 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:56.220 they came there at the time for purification according to the law of Moses. 93 00:08:56.500 --> 00:09:01.539 This is a reminder to us, as Paul says in Galatians, that Jesus 94 00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:07.460 was born under the law, born of a virgin under the law. Why 95 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:13.129 is this? Because he came to fulfill that law, because he came to 96 00:09:13.210 --> 00:09:16.929 fulfill all that the law and the Prophets had spoken of. And there are 97 00:09:18.009 --> 00:09:22.730 two things, it seems, that were required here of the law of Moses. 98 00:09:24.250 --> 00:09:26.960 Why are they there? What's going on? Well, the first thing 99 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:33.840 was there was a requirement in the law of giving of the firstborn child. 100 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:39.149 And if you turn to exodus thirteen, I'll turn there and read this with 101 00:09:39.309 --> 00:09:45.509 you. Exodus Thirteen, and we read of the we can read the particular 102 00:09:45.629 --> 00:09:58.019 law which God had spoken Exodus Thirteen, on verses eleven through fifteen, we 103 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:03.340 find this. When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaan I 104 00:10:03.539 --> 00:10:07.330 hates, as he swore to you and your father's and shall give it to 105 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:11.090 you. You shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. 106 00:10:11.169 --> 00:10:16.090 All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. 107 00:10:16.769 --> 00:10:22.399 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb or, if you 108 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.039 do not redeem it, you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man 109 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:31.720 among your sons you shall redeem. And when, in time to come, 110 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.190 your son asks you what does this mean, you shall say to him, 111 00:10:35.750 --> 00:10:41.070 by a strong hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the House 112 00:10:41.110 --> 00:10:45.990 of slavery, for when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord 113 00:10:46.149 --> 00:10:50.820 killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man 114 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:56.779 and the firstborn of animals. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all the 115 00:10:56.899 --> 00:11:01.299 males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my son's I 116 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:09.049 redeem. It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your 117 00:11:09.090 --> 00:11:13.450 eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt. 118 00:11:16.250 --> 00:11:22.480 So you see what we have here this ceremony, that God enacts a requirement 119 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:28.360 for sacrifices and institution in the law of Israel that is to be repeated constantly. 120 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:35.669 A particularly and as agrarian culture, people would be continually giving to the 121 00:11:35.909 --> 00:11:43.070 Lord on both the firstborn of their flocks and live at livestock and their animals, 122 00:11:43.110 --> 00:11:48.700 as well as the firstborn of their children. In the Lord's mercy, 123 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:54.940 he does not require the sacrificefice or the death of their firstborn sons. Buddy, 124 00:11:54.980 --> 00:12:01.259 instead allows them to, what it says, redeem them. There would 125 00:12:01.259 --> 00:12:03.889 be a price in other words, that would be paid to the Lord in 126 00:12:05.129 --> 00:12:09.490 lieu of a sacrifice. In the case of animals, however, at least 127 00:12:09.490 --> 00:12:13.450 some animals this, that sacrifice would be given. This, of course, 128 00:12:13.490 --> 00:12:18.159 would remind them of several things. There would be a constant reminder that they 129 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:22.600 belong to the Lord. Their things are not their things. There are things 130 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.639 are his things. But it was all. But it was more than that, 131 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:31.509 as the scriptures say, when the sun, who is redeemed, goes 132 00:12:31.590 --> 00:12:35.950 to the Lord later on and says, what does this mean, much as 133 00:12:37.070 --> 00:12:41.350 our children who are baptized come to us later in their age and say what 134 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:46.500 does this mean? And explanation is given. They are taught and they are 135 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:50.779 told of the things of the Lord and in this case, this particular ceremony, 136 00:12:50.220 --> 00:12:56.179 the children are taught. The Lord brought us out of Egypt by a 137 00:12:56.379 --> 00:13:01.450 strong hand. He rescued us out of bondage, out of sin, out 138 00:13:01.450 --> 00:13:05.250 of slavery, out of idolatry. And how did he do that? by 139 00:13:05.409 --> 00:13:11.809 striking down the firstborn of Egypt, but by saving us. You remember how 140 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:18.840 that happened. The Israelites were called to put the blood over an around the 141 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:22.720 door, and when the angel of the Lord saw that blood, they were 142 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:30.549 passed over and death did not visit that household. It was through the blood 143 00:13:30.590 --> 00:13:35.590 of Christ, this one who is being brought to the temple here in Luke 144 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:41.620 to, that we receive our paths over through his blood. We are not 145 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:48.019 claimed in the Lord's Justice, but we are saved and rescued. It's the 146 00:13:48.500 --> 00:13:54.059 remembrance of this and the foreshadowing of this thing to come that Mary and Joseph 147 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:58.690 bring their son, as the law requires, this firstborn son, who has 148 00:14:00.090 --> 00:14:05.090 opened the womb, to the temple that he might be given to the Lord 149 00:14:05.649 --> 00:14:11.039 and redeemed. The second thing that is going on is the purification of the 150 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:18.360 mother. We are reminded in Leviticus twelve one through five that after a woman 151 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:24.120 gives birth, she would be considered unclean for seven days and then for an 152 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:30.590 additional thirty three days for male children, double that for females. There she 153 00:14:30.710 --> 00:14:35.990 would not the mother would not be allowed to touch anything that was consecrated as 154 00:14:35.149 --> 00:14:41.379 holy. When this days of her purifying, as it was called, were 155 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:46.779 complete, she would then bring a sacrifice and be may be made clean. 156 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:54.649 Now this, these distinctions betweening cleanliness and uncleanliness, doesn't have to do with 157 00:14:54.970 --> 00:15:01.250 germs and it doesn't have to do in directly with a spiritual reality, although 158 00:15:01.250 --> 00:15:07.240 it connects with it and depicts that. It's a ceremonial cleanliness or uncleanliness. 159 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:13.279 It's a marker of a person who is able or not able to come into 160 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:18.639 contact with holy things. This is one of many laws throughout the Old Testament 161 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.429 that God gave to his people regarding cleanliness and and how it is they were 162 00:15:24.470 --> 00:15:28.870 to come in contact with holy things, like the temple, for example. 163 00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:33.870 This is not the time to give a long lesson on all of those things, 164 00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:39.460 but simply to remind you that God instituted these things also for a reason, 165 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:46.659 to mark out his people as distinct, to mark out himself and his 166 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:50.649 worship is something that was supposed to be holy, set apart and clean. 167 00:15:52.129 --> 00:15:56.090 These things were, of course, mark this way because of the problem on 168 00:15:56.210 --> 00:16:00.809 the inside, because of the spiritual problems that were in this world. There 169 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:06.320 was a constant reminder to God and his people that they needed to be made 170 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:11.600 right, over and over and over again. You can't just approach the Lord 171 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:17.679 because you are unclean, and so a system of ceremonies was put in place 172 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:22.590 to teach this lesson over and over and over again, and that's what's happening 173 00:16:22.629 --> 00:16:27.789 here as well. A Mary is coming to offer the sacrifice. In particular, 174 00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:33.820 we read of these birds, verse twenty four, a pair of turtle 175 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:38.659 doves or two young pigeons. She's going to offer this sacrifice so that she 176 00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:48.730 might be made clean again. It says, they're purification, probably because through 177 00:16:48.970 --> 00:16:55.730 her impurity, Joseph and perhaps Jesus as well, would have also become impure. 178 00:16:56.610 --> 00:16:59.649 This is one of the romantic and one of the ways in which God 179 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:04.759 shows that sin and pollution is just constantly spreading, as a difficult thing to 180 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:10.400 remain pure, a difficult thing to remain clean. It's not like you just 181 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:14.240 do a few nice things every now and then you run through a ceremony in 182 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:18.109 your had to go for it was a constant problem, a constant concern, 183 00:17:18.710 --> 00:17:22.430 and that's how it is with the holiness of the Lord, when we live 184 00:17:22.549 --> 00:17:27.750 in a world that is tainted by sin and corruption and pollution, and so 185 00:17:27.950 --> 00:17:32.940 it's an obedience to these laws. It's understanding these things in their minds and 186 00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:37.140 their hearts that Joseph and Mary come to the temple and they bring their son, 187 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:48.130 their firstborn son, and they come into contact with Simian Simeon, who 188 00:17:48.250 --> 00:17:52.369 also understands these things, simeon who feels the weight of the law, who 189 00:17:52.450 --> 00:17:57.839 feels the weight of Israel sins, who understands that the world is lost, 190 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.680 except for one thing, that God had promised an anointed one to come, 191 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:11.440 a Messiah, a Christ who would come and he would rescue this whole sorry 192 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:19.710 world from their sin and death and pollution and corruption and uncleanliness and unholiness. 193 00:18:22.150 --> 00:18:32.539 Simon was righteous and devout. This piety that simmion had was because the Lord, 194 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:36.859 God had worked in him, had changed his heart. So instead of 195 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:41.529 constantly fighting against the Lord, Simeon was waiting for the word, waiting for 196 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:45.930 the consolation of Israel, and it was on the basis of that promise, 197 00:18:45.410 --> 00:18:49.049 on the basis, as he said, of God's Word in Verse Twenty Nine, 198 00:18:49.890 --> 00:18:55.250 that he is hoping, that he is waiting. This is, of 199 00:18:55.329 --> 00:19:00.200 course, an wonderful example for all of us to follow. This is what 200 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:04.359 it means to be a Christian, what it means to hope in the Lord, 201 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:08.599 to wait on him, to trust him, to look to him for 202 00:19:10.309 --> 00:19:15.470 all things and, in particular, for the salvation that comes in the Messiah. 203 00:19:15.789 --> 00:19:22.750 The Holy Spirit Brings Simeon into the temple and when the parents are brought, 204 00:19:22.869 --> 00:19:26.140 when parents brought Jesus, to do all according to the custom of the 205 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:30.660 law, he sees them, he takes Jesus up in his arms and he 206 00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:37.569 blesses God. Can you imagine? Can you imagine waiting all your life, 207 00:19:38.369 --> 00:19:44.329 knowing that someday you are going to see this thing, and then seeing it 208 00:19:44.529 --> 00:19:48.849 and receiving it? And not only just a thing, but a child, 209 00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:53.160 and not just a child, but the hope of all the world, the 210 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:00.400 one that the ever since Adam and Eve first sin, we've all been waiting 211 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:07.750 for. And there he is, the Lord's Christ. Not only do we 212 00:20:07.910 --> 00:20:14.150 see this great example that following the piety of Simion, in his righteousness and 213 00:20:14.309 --> 00:20:18.230 his devoutness and is waiting on the Lord, but we see it all in 214 00:20:19.349 --> 00:20:26.539 his hope and everything was connected to this salvation. This was his happiness, 215 00:20:27.099 --> 00:20:32.660 this is what he was waiting for. Simeon was not chasing after other things. 216 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:37.890 Everything was here. This was his only comfort in life and in death. 217 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:42.490 Is the Heidelberg Catechism puts it. I'm so when he takes the Lord 218 00:20:42.529 --> 00:20:48.809 Jesus into his arms. He blesses God and says now, Lord, now 219 00:20:48.170 --> 00:20:56.799 you are letting your servant depart in peace. Simeon's peace is connected to Christ. 220 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:02.720 This happens according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation 221 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.269 described in verses thirty one and thirty two, that you have prepared in the 222 00:21:07.390 --> 00:21:14.069 presence of all people's much like in Psalm twenty three. This table that is 223 00:21:14.069 --> 00:21:18.940 spread before the enemy is the Lord spreads this, This News, this righteousness, 224 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:25.299 this victory, in before all, a light for the revelation to the 225 00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:33.130 gentiles and a glory to your people, Israel. He goes on to speak 226 00:21:33.410 --> 00:21:37.769 to marry and he says some hard words as well. Behold, this child 227 00:21:37.930 --> 00:21:45.130 is appointed for the fall and rising in Israel and for a sign that is 228 00:21:45.250 --> 00:21:48.720 opposed, and a sword will pierce through your soul, also so that, 229 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:57.799 so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. What we find here spoken 230 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:03.589 is that this salvation that the Lord promises and Jesus, this Christ to his 231 00:22:03.670 --> 00:22:07.990 prom promised and who is now here veiled in glory. He's just too baby, 232 00:22:08.230 --> 00:22:12.589 just a child from Isaiah tells us that he was not even anything special 233 00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:19.299 to look at. And yet Simon saw with the eyes of faith who this 234 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:26.500 really was, and who this was was the strong salvation for all the world. 235 00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:34.690 You might imagine a Jesus as a great UN a stronghold and city, 236 00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:41.089 a mighty fortress in which all of God's people would be protected. Well, 237 00:22:41.170 --> 00:22:48.720 what happens to those who come against such a fortress? They're ruin. Those 238 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:56.640 who come against the Lord will fall. This child is not optional. This 239 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:03.230 child changes the world. The those who stand in him stand strong and rise 240 00:23:03.430 --> 00:23:08.470 even up from death itself. Those who stand in Christ will be victorious over 241 00:23:08.670 --> 00:23:15.819 Satan, will be victorious over evil. Those who stand in Christ will have 242 00:23:15.259 --> 00:23:21.500 a resurrection of their own lives, but those who oppose Christ will fall like 243 00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:27.930 a ball of sand being thrown against the wall of this great fortress. Ruin 244 00:23:30.130 --> 00:23:33.890 will simply be destroyed. Psalm to talks about the Lord of his anointed one, 245 00:23:33.930 --> 00:23:37.650 and it says the the the righteous, will be strong, but the 246 00:23:37.730 --> 00:23:47.000 the wicked will be blown away like chaff, scatters into nothingness, waste. 247 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.960 This child, Simeon says, is appointed for the rising fall of Israel. 248 00:23:53.960 --> 00:24:02.950 Hearts will be revealed. Everything is changing, for the Lord is fulfilling all 249 00:24:03.069 --> 00:24:10.539 things. We see this in Anna as well. While all of these people 250 00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:15.619 around Simeon and Anna are in there at the temple, remember they're engaged in 251 00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:25.970 these outward exercises of religion and is too, fasting praying, but Anna head 252 00:24:26.009 --> 00:24:30.329 with a worship of God truly in her heart at like Simian did. She 253 00:24:30.569 --> 00:24:34.210 wasn't just going through the motions, as so many of the scribes and the 254 00:24:34.289 --> 00:24:40.640 Pharisees and the priests were. She was there truly to worship the Lord. 255 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:52.279 Anna had given her widowhood, eighty four years of widowhood for some multiple lifetimes 256 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:56.789 of widowhood. She had given it not over to sorrow, but she had 257 00:24:56.829 --> 00:25:02.789 given it over to the Lord, worshiping always, it says, in the 258 00:25:02.990 --> 00:25:10.660 temple. Here we see that these outward exercises of religion are not separate from 259 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:15.420 true spirituality, but that they can be separated by man, that there are 260 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:18.900 people who can go through the motions and come and to the temple and do 261 00:25:18.059 --> 00:25:22.569 these things and totally miss the salvation of the Lord, Walk Right by him. 262 00:25:23.410 --> 00:25:26.329 You can come to church, you can hear the Gospel, you can 263 00:25:26.369 --> 00:25:30.890 hear the good news of Jesus and leave just as empty headed as you came. 264 00:25:33.130 --> 00:25:37.640 Your hearts just as lacking as when you arrived. That is a possible 265 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:41.200 thing, and my prayer is that it doesn't happen for you, but that 266 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:48.319 you come, Anna and Simion, into the worship of God, hoping and 267 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:52.269 expecting and waiting and trusting in the promises. Is that he is made so 268 00:25:52.430 --> 00:25:56.430 that you not might not walk just in and out right past Jesus, but 269 00:25:56.549 --> 00:26:02.670 that you might hear him and receive him and know that you can die in 270 00:26:02.910 --> 00:26:07.299 peace. That's what it means to follow the Lord. That's what means to 271 00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:12.579 belong to the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. That's what it means 272 00:26:12.779 --> 00:26:19.890 to trust in the Lord and his anointed one. If you merely attend church 273 00:26:21.049 --> 00:26:25.369 and move your lips put on the right kind of smile, but are rotten 274 00:26:25.569 --> 00:26:32.880 in your hearts, you will fall. If you come in the Lord and 275 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.759 you worship him in his name, trusting in the salvation of Jesus, you 276 00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:44.920 have everything. You have everything, you have life itself, even victory over 277 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:51.029 death. That's what was true for Simeon and Anna. Their hearts were filled 278 00:26:51.069 --> 00:26:56.589 with the Holy Spirit. Praise be to God in His grace. And so 279 00:26:57.309 --> 00:27:02.579 then, what Simeon had long seen and what Anna had long seen by faith, 280 00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:07.019 he saw with his eyes. And that will be true for us as 281 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:11.700 well when we die in the Lord. What we now see, as the 282 00:27:11.740 --> 00:27:17.569 apostle says, through a glass, dimly or darkly, one day we will 283 00:27:17.569 --> 00:27:21.769 look upon on our Lord Jesus, not the eyes of faith, but with 284 00:27:21.970 --> 00:27:30.240 just our eyes, knowing him perfectly, seeing him as he is. This 285 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:38.119 is not a blind and irrational faith. I saw a Christmas movie this way 286 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:47.589 week that said faith is something like faith is believing against common sense. Maybe 287 00:27:47.670 --> 00:27:52.950 that's faith for Christmas movies. This is this is not the faith of Christianity. 288 00:27:55.230 --> 00:28:00.779 Faith is not irrational, believing against common saith sense. Faith is perfectly 289 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:07.420 and completely rational. Believing in the promises of God Almighty, who says this 290 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:11.420 is the Christ, believe and you'll be saved. Who Raises the Christ, 291 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:15.690 our Savior, Jesus, up from the dead for all to see in many 292 00:28:15.809 --> 00:28:21.769 to testify to? Faith doesn't go against common sense. May Not be common, 293 00:28:22.289 --> 00:28:26.130 but it is good sense. Faith is trusting, as Simian does, 294 00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:30.920 in the word. Faith is like with Ana, going and spreading that word, 295 00:28:32.359 --> 00:28:37.599 having heard it, having known it. Faith is lying on your deathbed 296 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:42.069 in peace, knowing that you, though you are about to die, you 297 00:28:42.190 --> 00:28:51.710 will soon live. And I've always been living through faith in Christ, because 298 00:28:51.829 --> 00:28:56.059 this light was not just this light, and of the glory of God was 299 00:28:56.140 --> 00:29:00.539 not just for Simeon and Anna, not just for the glory of Israel, 300 00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:06.740 but as for all the world. So how do we take this news? 301 00:29:06.819 --> 00:29:12.970 How do we react to it? Well, we have the example of Mary 302 00:29:14.049 --> 00:29:22.569 and Joseph to follow, who marveled at what was said about Jesus. We 303 00:29:22.730 --> 00:29:26.960 ought to treasure these things in our hearts, because there is no greater treasure 304 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:33.759 in the world. And when we believe them, we can know that both 305 00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:40.029 in life and in death, we can worship and praise God, we can 306 00:29:40.150 --> 00:29:45.589 have peace and spread his word, because God is good and the Lord and 307 00:29:45.950 --> 00:29:52.349 his anointed one. The bonds between them will not be broken apart by those 308 00:29:52.430 --> 00:29:57.619 who war against them, and they will not be broken apart in us either, 309 00:29:57.740 --> 00:30:02.980 because when we are justified through faith, we have peace with God and 310 00:30:03.579 --> 00:30:07.809 nothing can separate us from his love. Let's pray and thank the Lord