"And when the days for
their cleansing according to the Law of Moses were fulfilled, they
brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
We
welcome you to worship in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. I’m thrilled that you
are here with us today.
Father, thank You for Your clear Word, the profound Truth that the exalted Lord Jesus Christ, is the Head of the Church, and only those who willingly submit to His authority, obeying Your Word and will, will enter into Your glorious Kingdom. Father, thank You for sending Your Son, God incarnate, Whom we love and gladly obey. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, Who in regenerating our dead hearts, made us to believe Your Word, the Truth that saves, that justifies and sanctifies us. Lord, I pray that You will accomplish Your will in every heart receiving this message, convict them, and grant them the precious gift of genuine repentance leading unto salvation. How grateful those of us who are in Christ are for everything that You’ve done for us. May we go from here, taking with us what we’ve learned, and boldly proclaim it to a lost and dying world for Your glory and the glory of Christ, in Whose name we ask and pray, while we eagerly wait for His glorious return.
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the comfort 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. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms and blessed God, and said,
"Now Master, You are releasing Your slave in peace,
According to Your word.
For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
Which You prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A Light for revelation to the Gentiles,
And for the glory of Your people Israel."
And His father and mother were marveling at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce through your own soul as well—that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."
Good Morning my beloved,
Call me old-fashioned, but I believe it is fair to raise the question of whether or not someone is genuinely saved who regularly engages in a habitual pattern of sin, that is clearly an indication of their sinful lifestyle, characteristic of unregenerate people. While it is certainly true, we cannot and should not judge the condition of a man's heart, according to Scripture, we can and must judge the behavior of those within the church. (c.f. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13) Quite frankly, I believe repeated sinful behavior can only be seen as a pathetic example of an unprincipled professing believer, with a seared conscience or a horribly skewed perception of our Lord's grace, stemming from compromised teaching, which has created utter chaos among more than a few people in the church today, which is the most compelling reason why I teach the Word of God the way I teach it. Pastors have one clear responsibility and that is to preach the Word of God, as it is revealed in Scripture and to clearly expound its meaning. In fact, I have found nowhere in Scripture where we are commanded to do anything else but preach the Word, both in and out of season. (c.f. 2 Timothy 4:2) That said, we often get sidetracked, like any faithful servant of the Lord, becoming caught up in all kinds of things, like praying with and for others, counseling et cetera but preaching is what pastors are called to do. God will hold His under shepherds accountable for the spiritual progress and development of His flock. (c.f. James 3:1) It's important that you to understand, that God is the authority over your life, and my responsibility is proclaim His Word, with the authority of Scripture. I want to establish the fact, that all I am doing is telling you what God says in His Word, it's not my own personal insights or opinions, and these are the implications of the truth that I have explained to you. In other words, I don't make the rules, I'm just His messenger. What you decide to submit to that authority or reject it is up to you, but I want you to understand that you will be held accountable for your decision. However, it's better to have never heard the Truth, than to hear it and reject it. (c.f. 2 Peter 2:21; Hebrews 6:4-8) That's why I often cite Scripture references so that you recognize that what I'm saying comes comes from the Word of God, and it’s totally verifiable, in hopes that it will have a much stronger the impact on your heart and in your mind. In contrast, any pastor that fails to preach the Word of God, in Truth as it is written, is effectively saying that he is head of the church, not Christ, usurping Christ's Lordship over His church. Part of the heresy of the Roman Catholic Church is, the Pope claims that he is the head of the church. Quoting from their own documents, "The pope possesses full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole church. Not merely in matters of faith and morals, but also in church discipline and in the government of the church." By the way, anyone who is true to the Word of God, must stand against heresy, as did those who rebelled against the medieval cult of the Roman Catholic Church, saying the pope is not the head of the church like John Huss, Martin Luther, John Knox, Georg Nigrinus, John Calvin, and John Wesley, in speaking of the tyranny of the papacy, said "The man of sin, the son of perdition, the one who exalted himself above the true head of the church and even above God Himself."
The Westminster Confession, which is still used by the Presbyterian Church explicitly said, "There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition that exalted himself in the church against Christ and all that is called God." Scripture teaches Christ is the head of the church, anyone who seeks to replace Christ's authority over His church with his own authority stands between God and His church and therefore, puts himself in a very serious dangerous position. (c.f. Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18) To deny Christ His rightful place of the head of the Church, is to deny His sovereign authority and to deny His atonement, thus, rejecting His gracious offer of salvation.
The problem is, we live in a fallen world, don't we? A world that not only dislikes authority, in fact, it hates it. Because mankind thinks himself to be his own authority, he therefore, feels that he possesses the liberty to act in any way he deems fit without recourse for his actions, and will protest loudly against anyone who insists that his behavior is inappropriate or unacceptable. The liberal modern church, so impressed with itself, has tampered with the Word of God, replacing it with their own self-styled, man-centered doctrine, denying the inspiration, inerrancy and authority of Scripture. In fact, many liberal idolatrous pastors today, will even claim that anyone challenges their false interpretation of the doctrine, convenient to their corrupt theological views, is merely being intolerant and divisive. Throughout church history, those who have clearly understood the doctrine know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church, and have strongly protested against those deviating from the true Word of God, and the glorious Truth that Jesus Christ came to bring salvation and purify our hearts, and all that flows from out of that, even to the point of death, as long as God allows, I will faithfully and boldly continue that protest against heresy, be it the dogma of Roman Catholicism, Islam, or any other false religion.
God will not judge your sinfulness and suitability for heaven based on your theology, He will judge you by His own righteous standard, as revealed in His Word.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Amen
Today's Message: Waiting For God
Waiting on God is indicative to the Christian life, for millennia, faithful Christians have been anticipating the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will one day come in all His glory to enact His final judgment, bringing human history to its end, in fact, all of Scripture leads up to that one glorious event with absolute accurate precision. Scripture teaches in Luke 12, "Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find awake when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves." Anyone diminishes or deviates from the Truth concerning Christ, tampering with the Word of God, has not only departed from biblical Truth, but denies the Christian faith, and will ultimately face the perilous warning at the end of Revelation 22, which says "I bear witness to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book."
Yet, as clear as that severe warning is, because of the deadness of their hearts, many false teachers today continue to teach an erroneous doctrine, preterist view of Scripture, that does not align with the clear biblical perspective, that Jesus' return was a spiritual one, having already been fulfilled in A.D. 70, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, rather than a physical, literal return, still awaiting future fulfillment, that Scripture affirms. In other words, Christ is not coming, He's already come. Therefore, there will be no coming in the clouds with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, there will be no Tribulation or future trumpet judgments, no Armageddon, and there will be no resurrection. Quite frankly, I fail to understand how anyone who has fastidiously studied the Bible could arrive at such a bizarre conclusion, that we are already living in the new heaven and the new earth, when all anybody with open eyes has to do it look at the world and see it's getting worse and worse, as we move toward the culmination of the end of man's age.
Scripture is clear, Satan, who wants to be like God, counterfeits everything God does, and brings confusion doesn’t he? I’m afraid he’s still doing the same today. Many Charismatics, needing to have some sort of sense of attention-getting significance, having fallen prey to the god of this age, have become engulfed in counterfeiting the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit for authentication, edification and exhortation and encouragement, and have confused them with the unorthodox practices very common to pagan religion, which have no relationship with the authentic gifts of Holy Spirit, which God has designed. In Africa, one such false prophet, Dr David Edward Owour, claiming to be a mix of Moses and Elijah, has fabricated stories of being taken to the throne of God and handed a bottle of olive oil to anoint the seat of the Messiah, vehemently claims to cure diseases, raise the dead via text messages and bring fire down from heaven to curse individuals and making it rain on command. I won't belabor the point, I'll just summarize in saying there are many, many counterfeits, embracing the filth of the ungodly culture, who claim to speak for God, and their profession is false. That's why 1 John 4 says "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
Open your Bibles with me, if you would and turn them to Luke chapter 2. Luke 2:22-35. I'm not sure we'll be able to get through all of these verses, I'll let the Holy Spirit decide that, trusting His guidance and following His lead. I'd like to encourage you to follow along with me read the text to you, to set it in our minds, as we open our hearts and listen for the voice of our Lord. Luke 2:22-35.
"And when the days for
their cleansing according to the Law of Moses were fulfilled, they
brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the comfort 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. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms and blessed God, and said,
"Now Master, You are releasing Your slave in peace,
According to Your word.
For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
Which You prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A Light for revelation to the Gentiles,
And for the glory of Your people Israel."
And His father and mother were marveling at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce through your own soul as well—that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."
When we think about the various characters of Christmas, we often think about Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus lying in a manger, or the shepherds and the angels and the magi from Persia and brought gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh, Luke doesn't mention the magi, in fact, Matthew is the only one of the four Gospel writers who mentions the familiar story of the magi. Deuteronomy 19:15 says a matter shall be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. We've already looked at the testimony of Joseph and Mary, the angels and the shepherds, so we won't go into them again.
In Luke's account, which we are going to study, are the less far familiar characters of Simeon and Anna, who play no less of a critical part in the testimony of Who this Child is, to affirm the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world. Let's look at verses 22-23, "And when the days for
their cleansing according to the Law of Moses were fulfilled, they
brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") It would seem that Joseph and Mary, being devout Jews, combined the dedication of Jesus, Who would have been approximately six weeks old and the purification of Mary into one visit at the
Temple, to carry out what the Law of God required, a mother who had born a child had to go through a purification ceremony and a firstborn child had to be given to the Lord. A woman who has given birth shall be ceremonially unclean for seven days, which cuts you off from God. This was another reminder to emphasize that people were sinful, and in need of purification, as was the circumcision ceremony. The fact that Mary understood that she needed to be cleansed is indicative of the fact that she was humbly aware she was not sinless, as the Roman Catholic Church claims. It's interesting that Joseph and Mary would have done this, knowing this was not just another child, this is is the Son of the Most High God, they didn't have to do this, He was already set apart by God, but this was to fulfill every letter of the Law, as was His baptism by John the Baptist, that His righteousness might be credited to your account.
Verse 24, "And to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." The only way to remove your alienation from God is with a sacrifice, all of this is leading to the final sacrifice that was going to be offered on the cross, as did all the sacrifices that were made by the priests, that needed to be repeated over and over again, until the final sacrifice which was never needed to be repeated again. Now, according to Leviticus 12 you had options to bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent, a one year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean. Ceremonially clean, it doesn't mean that her sins cleansed by the sacrifice and the atonement made by the priest, only Christ alone can actually take away sin. Again, this indicates that Mary realized she was a sinner, and did not lead a sinless life
Notice that she brought the pair of birds, evidently, she couldn't afford a lamb, which tells us that they hadn't seen the magi yet, or they would have had enough resources to bring the lamb or buy one at the temple, a question that always arises in Luke's account, because he doesn't mention the magi. Luke was consistent historically in his account, which explains why he passed over some very familiar elements of the story, they hadn't happened yet. So, she brings a pair of birds, probably pigeons because turtledoves weren't always around since they're were migrating birds, typically only seen between spring and fall.
Verse 25, "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the comfort of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him." It's interesting that we know nothing more about Simeon than what we find here in Luke's account. There's nothing about his family, if he was married or not. But we do know that whenever the Bible says somebody is declared righteous, it means that they trusted God and have been justified before God. Most of Israel paid very little attention to the prophecy of Malachi of the coming of Messiah, but Simeon, being a righteous man and devout Jew, was one of the few who believed God's promises, he trusted God to bring salvation and he was anxiously waiting for the comfort of Israel, the Messiah, the deliverer, and Savior prophesied by Malachi, four hundred years before the birth of Christ. By the way, the name Simeon means "God has heard," which indicates that Simeon, now an old man, has cried out all his life for God to bring the Messiah. And the Holy Spirit was upon him, any student of the Old Testament understands, this is a special anointing beyond the normal work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of true believers. This man was a true Jew, very careful to obey and honor God. Certainly, something that cannot be said of all of Israel, who had a hope for the coming of Messiah and the kingdom that had been promised to David but they were only looking for the national deliverance, not personal salvation. Simeon wasn't looking just for national deliverance from oppression of their enemies, and the promised kingdom, he was looking particularly for deliverance from sin and iniquity, not just for himself, but for the nation of Israel. In other words, he believed everything that God had promised would actually happen.
Verse 26, "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." Simeon, a faithful man was waiting for God, to see the fulfillment, his heart literally ached for it, because it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ, probably near death, he was ready to leave this earth behind and go to heaven. Listen, not everybody gets that kind of information, even though he didn't know Who the Messiah was yet, he knew He was going to come in his lifetime, because it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, he was literally hanging on to that with anticipation, trusting that God would make it known to him at the appropriate time.
Verses 27-28, "And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms and blessed God. Let's stop there. He came into the temple in the Spirit, meaning he came anticipating that something's going to happen. We live in that same kind of anticipation today, don't we? As true believers, we're waiting for the fulfillment of John 14:3, where Jesus promised, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." When Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the temple to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, Simeon knew this child is the One and he took Him into his arms and blessed God. I'm often asked how he knew, we can only assume it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, because there's no record of a conversation taking place between him and Joseph and Mary. All I can tell you is he knew and his heart was so filled with joy, that he blessed God! How do I know that? Because I can identify with Simeon's excitement, I've seen things he could have only anticipated, and I know I won't be able to contain the joy that will fill my own heart when the One Who saved me appears and I'm caught up to meet Him in the air. I encourage you to stop and think about that in terms of your own salvation, are you ready? Because it could happen at any time without a moments notice. Beyond that, just look at Elizabeth, who sang praises to the Lord, and Mary's experience when she burst forth in Magnificat song, then there's Zachariah after naming his son, his Benedictus, and then there's the multitude of angels singing praise unto the Lord.
And now, here's the song of Simeon, beginning in verse 29 through 32, called Nunc Dimittis, "nunc" which simply means Now and the word "despótēs" meaning Master. "Now Master, You are releasing Your slave in peace, according to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You prepared in the presence of all peoples, a Light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory of Your people Israel." He's saying "Now, Master, this is the precise moment I've lived for, I have seen the Christ, I've held Him in my arms, Your promise of salvation, a Light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory of Your people Israel, has come, let me go die in peace, according to Your promise." Notice he's praising God for the saving work of Messiah, which hasn't happened yet, because he knows it's going to happen, and he knows that salvation is for the whole world. What an awesome testimony. This man who knew that God held him in His hands, but now he's holding God in his arms! Is there any question that Simeon was so secure in God’s promises, he believed this Child was the Messiah, Who would be the Savior of all peoples of the world? Folks, salvation isn't something Jesus does, it is the embodiment of Who He is.
Psalm 98 says, "Yahweh has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the eyes of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a loud shout to Yahweh, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy and sing praises." Isn't this true? When you have God and you know that He has you, everything else in this life pales in comparison. We have a tremendous reason to sing for joy and sing praises to the Lord.
Verse 33, "And His father and mother were marveling at the things which were being said about Him." Joseph and Mary already knew He was the virgin-born Son of God, they knew He was Israel's Savior, but the Savior of the world? This was something new, it extends beyond their understanding, no wonder they were amazed about the things that Simeon was saying about Him, they've never heard anything like that before. Their feeling of euphoria wouldn't last long, it would rapidly turn to shock.
That brings us to verses 34-35, "And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce through your own soul as well—that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Can you imagine the impact that Simeon's words must have had on them? This little baby they're holding in their arms will not only bring salvation to the world, He is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed. He would not just be rejected, He would be opposed. Why? John 3:20, gives us the answer, "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed."
Peter would later say it this way in 1 Peter 2, "For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes upon Him will not be put to shame. This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." That's the way it's always been will Christ, Who reveals the hearts of men, and there will be people on both sides. You either follow Him and obey, or you reject Him and oppose Him, there is no middle ground! And, then he tells Mary that this will be a sword that will pierce through your soul. I believe this was because he understood that Joseph wouldn't be around to experience the suffering that Mary would come to know, as she watched Her Son being rejected by the people He came to save, and later being opposed violently, dying on the cross. The verb used, "dierchomai" implies that it would not only pierce through her soul, but that it would keep on piercing. This is unimaginable, her heart must've sank. And that's exactly what happened, just as Isaiah 53 says it would. And then, just like that, Simeon was gone from the pages of Scripture, we never hear about him again.
Jesus is still exposing sin today, except this time, He isn't on trial, you are. Some of you will humbly fall to your knees, in repentance, believing and be saved. While others of you will curse Him and put Him on a cross. I pray that you will make the right decision.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2024 All Rights Reserved