May turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. I'll begin reading in verse one. We'll read to verse thirty-five.
I know it's a lengthy portion, but it's a very instructive portion of Scripture. But our focus this evening is specifically on this older man called Sinion that we find in verses twenty-five to thirty-five. But I'll pick up reading in Luke two at verse one. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
The census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria, so all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. But there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.
And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Now, when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Led by the Spirit to Worship
So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as I said, we're going to focus primarily on verses 25 to 35. I believe this account with Simeon who saw God's salvation is very instructive and I hope very encouraging for us as we consider the Lord Jesus Christ with specific reference to his coming into this world. And I believe that there are three things that Luke sets forth for us concerning Simeon in this passage. The first is his character.
Secondly, his conduct. And thirdly, his confession. I want to look at his character, his conduct and his confession. And then I want us to end by looking at our own character. our own conduct, and our own confession, and see whether we look like this man, Simeon, in the Scriptures.
But
Simeon's Character: Just and Devout
notice, first of all, his character. I don't know if you like to read biography, but biography simply is the written life of a particular person. It doesn't have to be a Christian person. Sometimes people read biographies of military leaders or of political figures.
Biography simply is a written life account. Some of them are very big. I've got two volumes on George Whitefield in my office by Arnold Dallimore. I mean, they're two thick, hardback books full of information concerning that man, George Whitefield.
Well, the biography concerning Simeon is quite brief. But it is quite instructive. Notice in verse twenty five. Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was just and devout.
He was just and devout, and I think this captures the essence of biblical religion. It captures the essence of what the prophet Micah instructed the people of God to whom he prophesied. He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?
So what we're dealing with in this man, Simeon, is a Christian. And we will see that as we move forward, we will see that he is saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ then produces good works or produces obedience to the scripture when it refers to him as being just. I believe this describes his conduct toward men. Now, obviously, it would be just before God.
But in that description given by Micah, and as we trace that language of Micah 6, it's also in Deuteronomy 12, it's in Proverbs 21, it's in Zechariah 7, and it's in Matthew 23, when Jesus upbraids the scribes and the Pharisees, he says, you tithe the mint and the anise and the cumin, but you neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. Those things describe or characterize a man rightly related to God by our Lord Jesus Christ. So this just mess that is given here refers to his status before man. He doesn't rent men off.
He doesn't cheat people. He is honest. He is faithful. He is kind.
He deals righteously with those around him. That has to be true of God's people. We ought not to be awkward. We might be a little awkward because we all are to some degree, but we ought not to be weird.
We ought not to be the person on the outcast that can't relate to people. Perhaps you've met Christians like that before. They don't relate, not only to Christians, but they don't relate to people in general. Well, that's not biblical Christianity.
I'm not saying they're unsafe, but it ought to be our desire to rightly relate to people. When we work, we work hard. When we have a wife or a husband, we're faithful to that. We are just in our outlook toward man.
And he's also devout. And I believe this has reference or it is his conduct toward God. He was given to the things of God. He was like that man in Psalm 92.
He was flourishing in his old age. This is an old man here waiting for the consolation of Israel. This is an old man who had aged well under the grace of God. He is devout.
He doesn't have to be. you know, harassed and harangued and told to go to the temple because it's good for him. He doesn't have to be told time in and time out that he should read his Bible, that he should pray. No, he naturally gravitates towards that because grace is in his heart. And when grace is in your heart, you naturally gravitate toward devotion to God.
John Gill said he was a holy, good man in his life and conversation. He was one that feared God and avoided evil. He was righteous before men and devout towards God and exercised a conscience void of offense toward both. And that last statement that Gilb says is from Paul's statement in Acts 24.
Paul says, I strive, I labor, I am diligent, I make it my aim to live in a manner that is clear with men and with God, to live without offense before God and with men. And that ought to be the way we live. Again, we ought not to be the odd ducks that no one can ever approach because we're going to just lay our weirdness on people. I mean, I don't know how much you all get out, but there is some of that out there and we want to guard against it.
If people come to our church to visit, let it not be they leave because we're all weird, not ducks. I mean, let it be because we preach the gospel. We preach Christ. The cross is an offense.
We believe that the law of God abides all those biblical realities and verities and truths. Let it be for that reason, not because they can't talk to us because we're weird. This was not seen here. Grace affects a man.
The Spirit affects a man. The Spirit affects you in every relationship, in every station, in every area of your life. We are seeing that working through Colossians. We are seeing how the gospel liberates a man and enables him to truly love his wife and not to be embittered against her.
Now, the gospel liberates a woman so that no longer is she this contentious, dripping on a rainy day, but she welcomes her husband. She's submissive to him. She loves him. She provides a haven for him, and he wants to be in her midst.
We have seen how the gospel liberates fatherhood, so that men don't reign like tyrants in their home, abusing or ruining their children, but rather lovingly bringing them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. We have seen how the gospel liberates a child. So that that that desire to be rebellious or dishonoring to his parents is quenched. It's gone.
It's extinguished, though some may remain. The reigning power of that sin is gone. And that child wants to be submissive to his parents. That's what we see here in Symeon.
That's what verse 25 gives us. He says, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Symeon. And this man was just and devout. We may never have two big books of biography written about us, but if people at the end of our days could say, you know, he was just toward men and he was devout toward God.
I dare say that's a great way to leave this world. That is a great way for people to remember you. And the only way people will remember that of you is if you are living that way now. The way we conduct ourselves now affects how it is when we leave later.
So in sum, with reference to his character, he was just, he was devout, ultimately he was obedient. This justness and devotedness was an expression of his obedience to the scriptures of the Old Testament. The Old Testament always envisioned true, genuine, biblical religion as being from the heart. It wasn't just engaging in those outward forms or ceremonies.
That's the whole thrust. That's the whole context of Micah's statement in Micah 6 and verse 8. If you're not there, you may turn there just so you can see the sharp contrast that is between the people and God here.
Micah 6 and True Religion
In Micah chapter 6, what we have is a covenant lawsuit. And by covenant lawsuit I mean the prophet comes in the name of God to sue Israel, or in this case Judah, and to call them to repentance and call them to faithfulness to their Lord. And then God, indicting them, the people answer. Micah six, verse six, with what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Now, I hope, I suspect, that this passage is familiar to those who have been in this church for any amount of time.
We did an exposition of the entirety of the prophet Micah, but it's a passage we refer to often because it shows the difference between an external approach and the internal disposition that God requires. You see, the people are saying, how can we get him off our backs, basically? How can we appease him? How can we make things right?
How can we set things in order between us and God? With what shall I come before the Lord? Do not suppose, brethren, that these people are genuinely asking. It's been written for them.
It's been told them by the prophets. They're not scratching their head in dismay and unbelief. Boy, I just don't know what it is to do. Be like your child.
You've given him an instruction about a thousand times. And on that thousand and first time you begin to instruct him again. He's like, well, I didn't know that. Whoa, wait, what do you mean you didn't know that?
I know I've told you a thousand times. These people are not speaking out of an innocent ignorance. They are speaking out of a high-handed rebellion. With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? You see what they're trying to do? They're trying to buy God off.
If we bring our thousands of rams, will he leave us alone? Will that get him off our back? Will that cause him to stop threatening us? Should we bring 10,000 rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression? They're treating God as if he's Moloch. Moloch was the big statue pagan idol that would stand, or they would stand him in the fire. He had arms outstretched, and the people would come and throw their babies into the arms of this idol.
Naturally, the idol couldn't catch, so the baby would drop out of the hands of the idol and into the fire. That's the reference. They're treating God as if he is Moloch. If I sacrifice my firstborn, will this make him happy?
Will this please him? People are in a complete, arrogant rebellion. Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? That's the context for Micah 6a.
He has shown you, O man. Your problem is not that you need information. Your problem is that you need obedience. And I dare say that's the case with many of us here.
We don't need new information. We don't need more information, though I'm always big on that. You should always get more information of the Bible. Our problem isn't in the acquisition of information.
Our problem is in the application of that information. You see, Simeon is a good example for us. He was just and he was devout. He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Deuteronomy 10, Proverbs 21, Hosea 12, Zechariah 7, and as I mentioned, Matthew 23, 23 says the very same thing. So, his character is one of justness and devotedness.
Simeon's Conduct: Waiting and Worshiping
Now, notice, secondly, his conduct. He was waiting. Do you love that? He was waiting.
This shows us that his justness and devotedness were not works conjured up by him in order to please God, but they were rather the result of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, salvation has always been by grace through faith in Christ. Notice, he is waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him. He had received information concerning the consolation or the hope of Israel.
Interestingly, Paul, in Acts 28, as he is in prison and some Jews come to speak to him, Paul uses a very similar construction. He says, Acts 28, 20, For this reason, therefore, I have called for you to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain. What was the hope of Israel? It was given first in Genesis 315.
Remember our covenants, our sermons on the covenants of grace, that first proto-gospel given in Genesis 315, and then developed and progressing along the way. All covenant saints look to the same Lord Jesus with the same gracious faith given to them by God. So His justness and devotedness flowed out of his rightly being related to God by grace alone, through faith alone. So you cannot take Simeon and say, well, if I'm just and I'm devout, then I'll be saved.
No, he was saved and therefore he was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. He had the promises of God, he believed the promises of God, and he lived consistently with those promises of God. Isn't that how we operate? Isn't that how we function?
Isn't that how we are to conduct ourselves? You know, when we talk about covenant theology versus what's called dispensational theology, sometimes it can be a bit confusing for people when we say that Abraham was saved by the same faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. People scratch their head and say, how could that be? Well, Simeon's a perfect, concrete example.
Right. He is before the cross, and yet he is waiting for the hope of Israel. He lives by faith. This is a concrete example of how men were saved prior to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith in the promised Messiah. We look back to Calvary. The Old Testament says look forward to Calvary. same Savior, same cross, same redemptive activity. We saw in our study on Wednesday night, Hebrews 9 15.
The death of Christ is that which cleansed those who are under the old covenant, because the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. They all pointed forward to the coming of the Lamb of God. So this man's conduct, he was waiting, but as well, he was worshiping. Initially, we find him in Jerusalem.
And then notice in verse twenty five, the Holy Spirit was upon him and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the spirit into the temple. What's he going to do there? Of course, he's going to do what the text says.
He's going to see Jesus and hold Jesus, which we're going to look at in just a moment. The spirit is upon him. Where does he go? He goes to the temple.
That's where the spirit drives man. He drives them to the place of worship. He's a worshipper. Ryle makes the observation that in this deep or in this dark period in Israel's history, there was a light.
You know, we often think we're it. I hope we don't think that, but sometimes Christians can get this idea that there's only so few of us. If I mentioned the one example in the scripture, Elijah, what happened to him? He was sitting under the broom tree and he was asking the Lord to take him.
What was God's encouragement to Elijah? I have 7,000 that have not bowed the knee to Baal. Did Elijah know that? Did his eye see that?
No, of course not. He felt like he was all alone. He had just done battle with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. He saw God do glorious and wondrous things, but it didn't stop the persecution.
It didn't stop Ahab. It didn't stop Jezebel. They were still chasing after him. And lo and behold, it overtook him.
He got depressed. He sat down by a tree. Now people wonder, was he depressed and all that? He was definitely tired and hungry and God took care of him.
And I love that. God says, rest and eat. We can often think that this is it. I'm sure in this particular instance, there was a lot of people convinced that biblical religion was extinguished.
Listen to Riley says, We see in the case of Simeon, how God has a believing people in the worst of places and in the darkest times. Religion was at a very low ebb in Israel when Christ was born. The faith of Abraham was spoiled by the doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The fine gold had become deplorably dim.
Yet even then, we find in the midst of Jerusalem a man just and devout, a man upon whom is the Holy Ghost. It's a great statement. God is never without his witness in this world. We need to keep that in mind and we need to be encouraged by that.
Simeon's Confession: Fourfold
And then we move thoroughly to consider his confession. Let's just see how he reacts here. This is one of the few places of scripture I actually picture. Let's try not to picture Jesus.
Let's have a second commandment thing about pictures of Jesus and trying to visualize the son of God. But I try to let my imagination go on this one because I see this old man very happy. I see a Psalm 92 man in the temple. The spirit comes upon him.
It is revealed to him that he will not depart until he sees the Lord's Christ. He sees Joseph and Mary. He sees the baby. What does he do?
He gets excited. He's happy. Notice in verse twenty seven, he came by the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him, according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said he didn't just go through the motions.
He wasn't an externalist. Oh, I have to do this because God has ordained it. So he grabs this baby. And he's praising the Lord.
I mean, did he make a deal with Mary? Did he give her a wink? I'm not a wacko. I'm not a fanatic.
I've got to hold this baby. I mean, how many of you ladies with a little baby are going to let some old man grab him and just start sort of praising God with him? That's what he did. He was happy.
Worship promotes joy. Sometimes I wonder if this is the case with us. When we come to church, reverence is fitting. Fear of God is righteous.
But brethren, you can be happy. You can be joyful. You can smile. You can delight in God.
You can weep. You can let go those holy and righteous responses to our gracious God. I'm sure some of you new people wonder, why do they always sing amen? Why do they always say amen?
You go to some reformed Baptist churches in America, you're going to hear a lot of amening. That Don Strachan that visits our church, you hear him amening. What's that all about? Amen means so be it or let God be true.
It is the response of God's people to say we're in this as well. We believe this. We are on board with this. It is good.
It is righteous. It is a confession to participate and to underscore that this man isn't nuts. He's not all alone. He's not just rambling his cultic thoughts, but we're with him and we praise God and we say God is true.
Brethren, there is a holy joy with reference to the worship of our triune God. And Simeon displays it. He took him up in his arms and he blessed God and he said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. He says, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.
You imagine me sitting there in the temple that day. You see this young couple come in. Typical, normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
He was born of a woman. He was born under the law. They wanted to have him circumcised in keeping with the law. They came to promote a gift sacrifice in keeping with the law.
Nothing out of the ordinary until this old guy comes and takes the baby and he starts confessing faith in the Lord Jesus. You'd have gone home from the temple that day and the mother would have said, hey, what was different today? Oh, there was this old man and he took this baby and he was just happy and joyful and he was blessing God and it was really awesome. It was good what he did.
It's worshiping, it's praising, he's delighting. He's a God most high.
The Word of God Is True
His confession is fourfold here. First is the word of God is true. It's another mark of a genuine saint. He doesn't play games with the Bible.
He doesn't play games with the Bible, he submits himself to it. He doesn't take the Bible and put it under his microscope and look for what it is he'll do and what he won't do. You know, I realize that is pretty much the way the Bible is dealt with today, but that's not the way of a true saint. We submit to the Bible.
What does God say in Isaiah 66? He says, Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. But he looks upon him who is contrite and of a lowly spirit, one who trembles at my word. Do you tremble at the word of God?
He confesses the truth of it. Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. Brethren, live according to God's word. It's the safest place for a Christian is to live according to God's word.
The Salvation of God Is Glorious
Notice, secondly, he confesses that the salvation of God is glorious. He says, for my eyes have seen your salvation to love that Jesus is in his arms and he says this is the Lord's salvation. You know, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the light. He really is.
He is the salvation of God. And Isaiah 52 at verse 10, which perhaps was in Simeon's mind. Isaiah 52, verse 10 says, The Lord has made bear his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the nations of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Don't make the mistake of missing the point.
What's the idea? He's made bare his holy arm. Why does a man show his arm? To show his strength.
He lifts up his shirt and he does one of these for his wife, for his girlfriend or for his kids. He throws down a little bit so they can see his power and strength. That's what it says. The Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Simeon is looking upon the salvation of our God. No wonder he's praising. No wonder he's delighting. This morning I mentioned jiggy pudding.
I don't think it's jiggy pudding. I think it's figgy pudding. I caught that on the way home, and what's a jiggy pudding? Probably figgy pudding is what I meant.
Jig is more like a dance. I gotta suppose, not that he was doing the break or whatever, but Simeon was praising God. His eyes saw the salvation of the Lord. I mean, you don't remain unmoved when that happens.
Remember when we read at the end of Leviticus 9 on Wednesday night, when God sends fire out of heaven to consume their sacrifice, what do they do? They fall on their face and they shout. You cannot come face to face with God and remain unmoved. He has shown, or he has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations.
And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Simeon says, my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples.
The Mission of Christ Is Comprehensive
The third portion of his confession says that the mission of Christ is comprehensive. We mentioned this briefly this morning. Jesus' role, or Jesus' rule rather, or His reign is comprehensive. He has all authority in heaven and on earth.
Every piece of geography or property, person, everything has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ. But we must also see that His redemptive purposes are grand. They're big. In other words, when you get to the book of Revelation, you don't see five people standing before the throne.
You see a multitude which no man can number from every tribe and every tongue and every people and every nation. The Simeon says he is a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. Go back to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 is a series in Isaiah of four servant songs, and they're all about Jesus Christ and his mission.
Isaiah 42, verse six. I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring up prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord.
That is my name and my glory. I will not give to another nor my praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass and new things I declare before they spring forth. I tell you of that.
Verse six seems to be in the mind of Simeon when he makes this portion of his confession, but also Isaiah forty nine and verse six. Isaiah 49 is the second servant song, which is about our Lord Jesus Christ. But just picking up in verse five of Isaiah 49, I want you to see that Jesus not only has all authority in heaven and on earth, but he's going to save a great multitude. He is going to have dominion from sea to sea.
There will be a time when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. So the Bible says, notice on Isaiah forty nine at verse five. And now Jehovah says, who formed me from the womb to be a servant, to bring back Jacob back to him so that Israel is gathered to him. For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength.
This is Jesus speaking. And now he says, verse six, speaking of God, the Father, speaking to him. Indeed, he says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth.
That should make you very happy. It's too small a thing, Jesus, for you to go and simply save the tribes of Jacob. Your mission is far more comprehensive. The scope is far more universal.
You're not just Judah's Redeemer, you're the world's Redeemer. You're not just Israel's God, you are the Gentiles' God as well. And the language used here is similar to what we find in Isaiah 52. The Lord has shown his holy arm.
The same thing here. It's too small a thing that you should be my servant. Let's just say you were a math whiz. You did math like nobody's business.
By the time you are in eighth grade, you are doing calculus and trigonometry and whatever comes beyond that. You go into university and you are just, I mean, you're the king of math geeks. Everybody's just impressed with you and you get an opportunity to show your skills. And somebody comes and says, what's 2 plus 2?
That really doesn't display your skills, does it? I mean, you eat 2 plus 2 for breakfast. That's like nothing. You can dream 2 plus 2.
You can think like a monkey and solve 2 plus 2. In order to really be impressive or to show your ability, some PhDs are going to come and give you a very detailed and difficult problem. So that when you work your way through that, and you are successful and you've accomplished it, everybody marvels. Everybody says, what a great math guy.
That's the thrust of Isaiah 40, 49. It's too small. Small potatoes. God loves Jacob.
God's going to redeem Jacob. That's for sure. But there's men in every tribe and every tongue and every people and every nation. All the nations of our God shall be blessed in him.
This is not universalism. I do not believe that every single man, boy, man, woman, boy and girl will be saved. But I am definitely convinced that there's more going to be saved than most of us ever even begin to imagine. The Bible envisions a glorious and comprehensive reign of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He would save Jew and Gentile through his atoning work at Calvary. And incidentally, very interesting in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, there is an instance where Paul and Barnabas are preaching to a Jewish synagogue and they are rejected flat out outright. You know what they do? They reach back to Isaiah's prophecy.
They take what's applied to Christ and apply it to themselves. We are a light to the Gentiles. What's the point? That as servants of Jesus, as missionaries for Jesus, Isaiah's prophecy is coming to fruition.
Through gospel missions throughout the earth, the promise of Isaiah is being fulfilled. Brethren, that's what Simeon's all about. He had a very optimistic eschatology, we might say.
A Prophetic Word to Mary
And then the fourth and final aspect of his confession was more of a personal word to Mary. Verse 38, Joseph and mother and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him as they would. I mean, that text shouldn't surprise you, should it? They're still kind of, you know, fumbling their way through all of this.
Yes, it was a miraculous thing, the virgin birth. Yes, the angel Gabriel and his instructions to Joseph. Yes, the fact that he would be called Jesus and he would save his people from their sins. These things have been happening.
Now they're in the temple. And this old man grabs Jesus and he's praising and blessing God. And so Joseph and his mother marveled. Wow, it's amazing.
This wasn't some odd little reading of the tea leaves. Yeah, your son, he's going to be a great, great guy. No, it's a very specific prophecies in accord with Isaiah that was going to be fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Then Simeon blessed them and said to marry his mother.
Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. As Protestants, we don't put Mary on a pedestal. She's a sister in Christ with us.
As the chosen vessel to bring forth Jesus, as the one who would rear him, as the one who would love him in a unique way, this was a very pertinent word for her. He said, yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also. It certainly couldn't have been easy for her to see her son hanging on a cross as a rebel. It could not have been easy for her to be standing at the foot of the cross and seeing her son scorned, rejected, battered, bruised and broken.
So, Simeon cautions, Simeon encourages, Simeon speaks a specific word to her. John Gill says, So the calumny and reproach of the tongues of men is compared to a sharp sword. And such the Virgin might meet with on account of her conception in an unmarried state, which might greatly wound her soul or else the sorrow she met with on account of her son, as he was a man of sorrows. So was she a woman of sorrows from his cradle to his cross.
And his sorrows, like so many darts or javelins, rebounded from him to her and pierced her soul through, as when Herod sought his life, when she had lost him for a whole day, and when he was frequently exposed to danger among the spiteful and malicious Jews. But never more that when she stood at his cross and saw him in his agonies extended on the tree, bleeding, yasping and dying. So, Simeon not only rejoices in having seen the Lord's salvation, but he imparts a specific word to Mary concerning the trouble that she would endure as a result of having been chosen to be the mother of our Lord Jesus.
Application: Our Character and Conduct
Well, brethren, I think in this passage we have a good mirror. We can look at a man like Simeon, who looked forward to Christ. We look to Christ as well. Are we just and devout?
Do these things flow out of our gracious relationship with God through faith? Do people who know you say, yeah, he's just, he doesn't rip me off, he doesn't speak ill, he's not dishonest. You know, Psalm 15 pictures the perfect man. I think it's only speaking of Jesus Christ.
One of the things that mentions in Psalm 15 and something that the sheep of Christ manifest and in Revelation 14 is that they swear to their own hurt and they do not change. You know, sometimes you might make a promise and it might be difficult and we say, well, I'm not going to carry through with it. No, you need to be just toward men. You need to be just.
You need to let your yes be yes. You need to let your no be no. If you are saved by grace, you need to follow the Lamb of God, who was just toward men. You need to be devout and devout.
We get this idea. You got to wear a robe and a big hat and a long belt and sort of sit in a hut and chant. So what devotedness means or looks like devotedness means serving God where he has you being faithful. Whether it's a husband, whether it's a wife, whether you're a worker, whether you're a student, whether you're a child, whether you're an adult, whether you're single, whether you're married, wherever your station is, you are devoted to God in that capacity.
That's what a new man in Christ looks like. He's devoted to God. He feeds that devotion with scripture, with good doctrine, with fellowship, with church, with brethren, with sermons, with prayer. All those things are means by which we can demonstrate a devotedness to God as well.
Our conduct.
Salvation by Grace Through Faith
He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus. Isn't that how we're supposed to live? Aren't we supposed to be like Simeon in that regard, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus?
Now, there's a sinful way to wait, quit our job and sit on our roof and just wait. That's what they were doing in Thessalonica. That's why Paul said, if a man won't work, neither let him eat. They thought the Lord was coming any time.
So they sold their stuff, they quit their jobs and they sat and waited. That's not what I'm talking about. Whatever you do, don't tell your boss Jesus is coming. So I'm going to quit.
He's going to laugh at you and then you're going to come here and we're going to laugh at you. Even if Jesus comes tomorrow, work hard. He came tomorrow afternoon. Work hard tomorrow morning.
Luther said, If I knew Jesus was coming, I'd plant it. If I knew it's coming tomorrow, I'd plant a tree today. You do what God has called you to do, but you're waiting for the consolation. You're waiting for the coming of Christ.
The Bible specifies that those who wait do it in a specific manner. John says that everyone who has this hope in him, the hope of his second coming, keeps himself pure. The second coming of Christ is a great encouragement to holiness and to righteousness and to watchfulness and to prayerfulness and hopefulness and to joy. Jesus is coming again.
He's going to write all the wrongs. You might have a particular thing that really bothers you in this world. You might look at something and wonder how in the world could that ever go away? Christ is coming.
He must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool. You find comfort in the reality that he will vindicate his righteous ones and that he will punish all iniquity.
Application: Our Confession
And then finally, our confession. We need to be like Simeon here. We need to live according to the word. We need to have seen the salvation of God in the face of the Lord Jesus.
We need to understand that Jesus is the savior of the world. Isn't this the lesson that the Samaritans learned? Isn't this what the woman at the well learned from Jesus? Jesus had saving dealings with this woman.
She goes back to the people of Samaria. She tells them, come see a man that told me all things that I ever did. They come and they believe and they say it's not only upon this woman's testimony, but because we have seen that he is the savior of the world. We need to understand that and we need to glorify our God.
And then riled again in his expository thoughts will end here is it kind of goes along with this text, but also Hebrews two hundred Hebrews two. It says he destroyed him who had the power of death. We commented about how a genuine Christian, though he may be afraid of the way he dies, he's not afraid to die. I mean, a genuine Christian doesn't have some sick fascination with getting hit by a bus or losing his, you know, his arm and farm machinery.
He's not like that, but he doesn't have a fear of death. Ryle said that he speaks Simeon like one for whom the grave had lost its terrors and the world its charms. He desires to be released from the miseries of this pilgrim state of existence and to be allowed to go home. He is willing to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.
He speaks as one who knows where he is going when he departs this life and cares not how soon he goes. The change with him will be change for the better, and he desires that his change may come. That's a Christian. He's not, you know, too thrilled about how he's going to die, but he's thrilled at the prospect of being with his savior, and the only way to be ready for that is to believe on the Lord Jesus now to look to Christ in faith now.
Then you'll be ready to die. It's interesting, one of the philosophers, either Socrates or Plato, said that philosophy was the art of preparing for death. The art of preparing for death. I think he's right, but it's not philosophy, it's theology.
It's the art of preparing for death. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be ready to depart in peace.
Closing Prayer
So let us pray. Father, I thank you for this man, Simeon, and for what you have told us concerning him. We thank you even more for Simeon's Lord and for this Jesus Christ, who is the salvation of our God. We thank you, Lord, that you have included us Gentiles into your blessed plan of redemption.
And we thank you that you have sent forth your gospel and that you are sending it forth and that Jesus is building his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. God, I pray that you would encourage our hearts with these truths and help us to pray with more faith in your promises to save a great multitude from their sins. We ask now that you would go with us. We pray that you'd watch over us.
Again, be with those who are traveling and those who are sick and just build your people up in their most holy faith. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.