0:05 [Music]
0:07 when mary and joseph came into the
0:09 temple in jerusalem to fulfill the
0:11 commandments of the law
0:14 they were met by a stranger a man named
0:17 simeon you'll find the record in luke
0:20 chapter 2 beginning at verse 25.
0:22 and behold there was a man in jerusalem
0:24 whose name was simeon
0:26 and the same man was righteous and devout
0:27 devout
0:30 waiting for the consolation of israel
0:33 and the holy spirit was upon him
0:35 and it was revealed unto him by the holy
0:37 spirit that he should not see death
0:41 before he had seen the lord's christ
0:43 and he came by the spirit into the
0:45 temple and when the parents brought in
0:48 the child jesus to do for him after the
0:50 custom of the law
0:53 then took he him up in his arms and
0:57 blessed god and said lord
0:59 now let us thou thy servant depart in
1:01 peace according to thy word
1:05 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
1:08 which thou has prepared before the face
1:09 of all people
1:12 a light to lighten the gentiles and the
1:15 glory of thy people israel
1:18 and joseph and his mother marveled at
1:21 those things which were spoken of him
1:24 and simeon blessed them and said unto
1:26 mary his mother behold
1:28 this child is set for the fall and
1:32 rising again of many in israel and for a
1:35 sign which shall be spoken against
1:38 yea a sword shall pierce through thy own
1:42 soul also that the thoughts of many hearts
1:43 hearts
1:45 may be revealed
1:48 now we don't know how old simeon was
1:51 one tradition claims he was 113 years
1:54 old but it's only a tradition in fact we
1:56 aren't sure he was old at all except for
1:59 one thing it seems like he was waiting
2:01 for god to call him home
2:04 lord now let us thou thy servant depart
2:06 in peace
2:08 we have a feeling that simeon was an
2:10 older man i like to think that he was an
2:13 elderly man because he is such a good
2:15 example of what elderly believers ought
2:16 to be
2:19 and a good example of i hope what i will
2:22 be when i am like simeon
2:25 well let's notice three different scenes
2:27 in simeon's experience here they're
2:29 really quite simple but they're very
2:31 important to you and me today
2:33 simeon makes some statements here that
2:36 we desperately need to understand and
2:39 apply in our lives today
2:43 in verses 25 and 26 you find simeon
2:45 watching and waiting
2:49 and then in verses 27 through 33 you
2:52 find simeon worshipping
2:55 and then in verses 34 and 35 you find
2:58 simeon witnessing that's easy to
3:00 remember isn't it first we find him
3:02 watching and waiting
3:05 and then he's worshiping and then he is witnessing
3:08 witnessing
3:10 simeon was watching and waiting the word
3:13 of god tells us in verse 25 he was
3:16 waiting for the consolation of israel
3:18 and that word consolation is the very
3:21 same word that has translated comforter
3:23 in the gospel of john waiting for the
3:26 comforter of israel this is the
3:28 messianic hope
3:30 simeon was a man who understood the old
3:33 testament truth he knew that the messiah
3:35 was going to come
3:38 and the holy spirit had told simeon that
3:40 he would not die until he had seen the
3:43 lord's messiah that's an amazing thing
3:44 isn't it by the way
3:46 i certainly hope you don't die before
3:49 you have seen god's salvation
3:51 i'm not talking about physically seeing
3:53 the lord jesus i'm talking about seeing
3:56 him spiritually being born again would
3:58 be a terrible thing for a person young
4:00 or old to die
4:04 having never seen god's salvation
4:06 well simeon was part of a faithful remnant
4:07 remnant
4:09 there were several people there in
4:12 jerusalem who were ministering in the
4:15 temple and waiting for god to fulfill
4:18 his prophecies in the old testament anna
4:21 was another one verse 36 we'll be
4:24 talking about her in a future study
4:27 joseph of arimathea who helped to bury
4:29 the body of our lord jesus belong to
4:31 this remnant
4:34 luke tells us in luke 23 verse 50 and
4:37 behold there was a man named joseph a
4:40 counselor and he was a good man and just
4:42 the same had not consented to the
4:45 council indeed of them that is the
4:47 sanhedrin when they indicted the lord jesus
4:48 jesus
4:51 he was of arimathea a city of the jews
4:54 who also himself waited for the kingdom
4:57 of god and so there was that godly
5:00 remnant waiting for the prophecies to be
5:02 fulfilled you know god has always had
5:04 his remnant
5:06 back in elijah's day the prophet thought
5:09 he was the only one and god said elijah
5:12 don't get proud i've got seven thousand
5:14 people who have not yet bowed the knee
5:17 to baal there was that godly remnant in
5:19 fact at the end of the old testament
5:21 when everything looks so bleak
5:24 we read in malachi chapter 3 and verse 16.
5:26 16.
5:28 then they that feared the lord spake
5:30 often one to another and the lord
5:32 hearkened and heard it and a book of
5:35 remembrance was written before him for
5:38 them that feared the lord and it thought
5:40 upon his name
5:42 even during those bleak days
5:45 of malachi when the priests were corrupt
5:47 and the people were unbelieving there
5:50 was a godly remnant that got together
5:53 they prayed and god noticed it you may
5:55 feel like you're the only one in your
5:57 home or your neighborhood or your office
5:59 or your school
6:01 remember now there are others just be
6:03 like simeon now keep watching and
6:05 waiting now we aren't waiting for the
6:06 first coming of our lord we're waiting
6:08 for the second coming of our lord aren't
6:10 we he was looking for the promised
6:12 messiah to come the first time well
6:14 we're looking for him to come the second
6:16 time and he's going to come and the
6:19 interesting thing is this simeon's life
6:22 was controlled by this hope
6:24 now so should our lives be controlled by
6:27 the blessed hope and every man that hath
6:31 this hope in him purifyeth himself even
6:33 as he is pure
6:35 because he was looking for the messiah
6:38 he was a righteous man that is a just
6:41 man who obeyed the law a devout man who
6:44 walked with god he believed the word of
6:47 god he was led by the spirit of god he
6:50 was taught by the spirit of god
6:51 it's a beautiful picture of what we
6:53 ought to be today
6:56 we like simeon should be watching and
6:58 waiting but while we're watching and
7:00 waiting we should be walking with the lord
7:01 lord
7:04 and living according to the leading of
7:06 the holy spirit of god
7:09 it was a common jewish prayer in that day
7:10 day
7:14 may i see the consolation of israel well
7:16 simeon had that privilege
7:18 he was waiting for the consolation of
7:22 israel he was watching for it and then
7:25 the child came into the temple brought
7:28 by his parents simeon watching and waiting
7:29 waiting
7:31 once again we don't know how old simeon
7:34 was but i've noticed this about elderly
7:36 people sometimes their eyes get a little
7:38 dim and sometimes they get a little
7:41 impatient but here is a godly old man
7:44 whose eyes are clear watching for god to
7:47 work and who's patiently waiting for the
7:49 consolation of israel
7:51 simeon watching and waiting
7:54 luke 2 25-26
7:58 now in 27-33 we have simeon worshipping
8:00 the spirit of god told simeon to go into
8:03 the temple and there he encountered mary
8:04 and joseph and the baby and the minute
8:07 he saw that baby he knew
8:08 this is the messiah that took a great
8:10 deal of faith
8:12 many jews were waiting for the messiah
8:14 to show up in the temple as a judging
8:18 priest or as a judging conqueror but
8:21 here comes jesus into the temple as a
8:22 little baby
8:25 and then took he up in his arms that's
8:27 what older folks like to do don't they
8:29 i've watched it in church so often when
8:31 there's a baby around
8:33 an old grandmother or grandfather will
8:35 just reach out and take that baby up in
8:37 his arms that's where babies belong in
8:39 the arms of those who love them and he
8:42 blessed god he worshipped god that's interesting
8:43 interesting
8:46 john wrote in his first letter that our
8:50 hands have handled of the word of life
8:52 now here is simeon reaching out and
8:56 taking in his arms the very word of life
8:59 what a tremendous thing this was and he
9:01 worshipped god
9:04 he blessed god this hymn that he
9:07 recited this praise that he lifted to
9:09 god is rather interesting it's a worship
9:12 hymn verse 28 says he blessed god he
9:13 didn't think about himself he didn't
9:15 think about israel he just lifted up his
9:18 heart and he blessed god for what well
9:20 for salvation
9:21 lord and that word lord is an
9:23 interesting word it gives us our english
9:25 word despot
9:28 it means sovereign lord the lord who is
9:31 completely in control of everything
9:35 lord now let us thou thy servant depart
9:37 in peace
9:40 according to thy word for mine eyes have
9:43 seen thy salvation some important words
9:46 here this word depart is an interesting
9:49 word it means to release a slave or to
9:52 release a prisoner a servant
9:55 it means to loosen a ship and set sail
9:57 it means to take down a tent like a
10:00 soldier and move on to a other ground it
10:04 means to unyoke a beast of burden at the
10:06 end of the day and let that beast have
10:10 some rest and some food now here comes
10:13 simeon and he says lord i am your
10:15 servant i am your slave i've been
10:19 serving you now you can set me free
10:22 i am on the ship that's taking off now
10:24 i'm going to set sail on the sea of
10:27 eternity i'm coming to glory father
10:29 i'm taking down this tent this whole
10:32 body of mine i'm going to move to higher ground
10:33 ground
10:35 you're going to take the yoke off of this
10:36 this
10:38 servant off of this beast of burden and
10:40 you're going to set me free it's a
10:42 beautiful picture isn't it it's similar
10:44 to the word that paul used when he wrote
10:47 to timothy the time of my departure is
10:48 at hand
10:52 departure to set sail to take down the
10:55 tent to release the prisoner to unyoke
10:57 the beast of burden what a beautiful
10:58 picture of death
11:00 you see death for the christian is not
11:02 something to fear
11:04 when we come to that time when we're
11:06 going to die
11:08 it's just like the releasing of a
11:11 prisoner into the freedom of god's
11:14 presence well it's a salvation him i
11:16 have seen your salvation
11:19 thou shalt call his name jesus for he
11:22 shall save his people from their sins
11:25 one translator translates verse 30 for
11:28 my eyes have seen thy saving gift we
11:30 think a great deal about gifts don't we
11:32 well the greatest gift of all is the
11:35 lord jesus but notice in verses 31 and
11:37 32 it's a missionary hymn
11:39 simeon really is the first missionary
11:41 preacher in the gospels next to the
11:43 angels i suppose
11:46 this salvation which thou has prepared
11:47 before the face of all people what a
11:50 strange thing for a jew to say all people
11:51 people
11:53 a light to lighten the gentiles because
11:56 they were in the darkness and the glory
11:59 of thy people israel you see the glory
12:01 of israel was pretty much faded by then
12:04 there was no glory in the temple
12:06 they had no king they really had no
12:09 spiritual priesthood there was not much
12:12 glory in israel in fact the glory had
12:14 departed hadn't it
12:16 back in the book of ezekiel in the first
12:18 nine or ten chapters the prophet
12:21 describes how the glory of god left the temple
12:22 temple
12:24 before the temple was destroyed
12:26 and so there was no glory and then the
12:29 angels showed up and they said glory to
12:31 god in the highest and on earth peace
12:34 good will toward men the glory of the
12:37 lord shone round about the angel and the
12:40 shepherds there out in those bethlehem
12:42 fields so god's glory came back
12:46 and the word was made flesh wrote john
12:49 and dwelt among us tabernacled among us
12:53 and we beheld his glory
12:55 the glory as of the only begotten of the
12:57 father full of grace and truth it's a
12:58 missionary hymn
13:01 simeon is saying this little baby is not
13:04 just for the glory of israel
13:06 this baby is going to bring light to the
13:10 gentiles and of course you recall when
13:12 paul went out on his missionary journeys
13:14 this is exactly what happened god told
13:16 him he was going to be a light to the
13:19 gentiles and that he was to carry the light
13:20 light
13:23 of the gospel to the darkened corners of
13:25 the world
13:26 now let's look at this hymn
13:29 there's a great deal of music written
13:31 about the birth of our lord jesus
13:33 but let's remember number one we need to worship
13:35 worship
13:38 today we need to worship just bless god
13:40 for the gift that he has given
13:42 worship is something that's missing in
13:44 our churches today we have a good deal
13:46 of entertainment a good deal of activity
13:50 but oh just to pause and worship god
13:53 simeon did simeon stood there in the
13:56 temple with this baby in his arms and he
13:58 lifted his heart to god
14:01 in praise and adoration it is a worship
14:04 hymn the birth of jesus means worship
14:07 it's also a salvation hymn the birth of
14:10 jesus means salvation
14:12 again let me say this i trust you can
14:17 say my eyes have seen thy salvation
14:20 by faith you have seen the lord jesus
14:21 christ in his word
14:23 and you have trusted him
14:27 yes the birth of jesus means salvation
14:29 there is no other name under heaven
14:33 given among men whereby we must be saved
14:35 and the birth of jesus means carrying
14:38 the good news to the whole world
14:41 thou has prepared before the face of all
14:44 people i cannot conceive of a christian
14:47 i cannot conceive of a church not having
14:50 a burden to reach the whole world oh i
14:52 hear about them and i preached in some
14:55 but i can't understand how a church
14:58 could hold the gospel to itself oh may
15:00 the lord help us to have the same kind
15:03 of faith and joy that simeon had
15:05 when he met the lord jesus christ
15:07 gracious father thank you for the
15:10 meaning of the birth of our savior that
15:12 there is salvation for all who will
15:15 believe help us to share this good
15:18 message this good news with the whole world
15:19 world
15:21 i pray in jesus name amen
15:26 thank you for listening to back to the bible
15:28 bible
15:30 join us again tomorrow
15:33 god bless you [Music]
