WEBVTT 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:13.919 Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.440 You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.280 Thank you for listening. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:23.120 Thank you, Phelps family. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:36.799 Great to have that time, and I pray you'll take some time during the week to pray over those scriptures and kind of follow that theme as we are preparing for Christmas and worshiping Jesus for coming as our Savior. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.759 That's what we're going to talk about today as we continue our theme, the joy of Christmas. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:49.920 There is something unique about this Christmas time because we really think about Jesus coming as our Savior. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.119 We talk about that. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:53.600 But there is something that should happen in us. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:58.079 That joy should produce a response in all of us. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:13.760 In every one of the Christmas stories, including the one we'll look at in just a moment, you see people respond because of the joy of discovering that the Savior had come, and they can't help but express that joy to other people. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:28.079 And so, as we've seen in our Advent preparation this morning, and as we'll talk about in this next passage of Scripture, the joy of Christmas, that joy of salvation in us, should motivate us to tell others about Jesus. 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:36.560 If we are excited about the fact that Jesus came to be the Savior, then it should drive us to share that with others. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:38.079 It should motivate us. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:45.680 That joy in us should explode out of us and just slosh out on other people all during this Christmas season. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:49.040 I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 2. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:57.760 And we're going to look at an interesting character in the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:03.040 And this particular guy is a really interesting guy. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:07.760 And most of what we know about him is really just in these few verses. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:19.199 But it speaks to us a lot about the joy of salvation that came because Jesus came for that purpose to provide salvation. 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:23.120 Here's what the Bible says, Luke chapter 2, beginning in verse 21. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:31.919 When the days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:39.840 You'll remember that when they met with his parents, they gave them clear instructions about who Jesus would be and how to name him. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:03:03.919 It says in verse 22, when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were finished, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male will be dedicated to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:09.840 There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:17.840 This man was righteous and devout, and looking forward to Israel's consolation, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:29.120 Now that phrase Israel's consolation is a term that comes out of Isaiah, and it is a prophecy of the salvation that God would send through the Messiah. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:34.080 So very clearly, this man is looking for the Messiah. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:38.159 Then you receive that even more clearly in verse 26. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:47.439 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Lord's Messiah. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:58.319 So he had gotten in his quiet time, in his time with the Lord, the Holy Spirit impressed on him, you will see the Messiah before you die. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:03.039 I mean, that's pretty profound revelation to someone right there. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:16.720 And if you think about the context of this, as Matt talked a little bit about last week, it had been over 400 years since God had officially spoken through the prophet in Malachi. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:33.759 And so here, all of this time, generation after generation after generation, they're going to the temple, they're doing Passover, they're doing sacrifices, they're trying to follow the law, they're training their children all the time looking for the Messiah, and yet he has not come. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:42.639 And yet here is a man named Simeon who gets a clear word from God, now it's time. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:44.560 He is going to come. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:05:04.879 And so he is waiting, and you can imagine what that does to someone when you get a word like that from the Lord, and you are focused and pursuing, and you are waiting, and you can imagine how it stirs his heart and his vision throughout the course of his life and what he's doing as he is looking for that Messiah. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:18.639 The Bible tells us in this moment, when they have brought Jesus as the baby to the temple, guided by the Holy Spirit, in other words, the Holy Spirit comes to Simeon and says, Son, it's time. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:20.720 Let's go to the temple. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:24.800 Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple complex. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:37.040 When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him up in his arms, praised God, and said, Now get this picture here. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:39.439 Simeon is not a priest. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:41.839 He's just a dude, right? 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.439 So he's just a man who loves the Lord, following the Lord. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:53.839 They come in, they have a very clear expectation about why they're there, what they're going to do, and some old guy comes running up and grabs their baby. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.279 Now you get this moment? 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:57.920 This is a this is a powerful moment, right? 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:09.839 I mean, you think about like you walk into Walmart with your brand new baby or your grand new grandchild, and these people come running up, want to talk to your baby, and they're reaching over and they're trying to touch them and all that, and you're like, what are you doing? 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.959 I mean, you know, this is that moment right here, okay? 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:21.680 And Simeon takes Jesus up in his arms, praises God, and says, Now, Master, you can dismiss your slave in peace as you promised. 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:25.199 For my eyes have seen your salvation. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:32.879 You have prepared it in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory to your people Israel. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:37.600 His mother and father were amazed at what was being said about him. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:39.600 Now, I mean, you can imagine that, right? 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:41.199 This incredible moment. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:56.160 Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:02.720 And then he speaks to Mary, and he says, A sword will pierce your own soul. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:11.600 And then he goes back to his thought, and to be a sign that will be opposed, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:13.439 Now you just got to get this moment. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:22.800 This is mind-boggling to me that here we are, we're walking in in the temple, and this guy just comes running up in this exuberance and this excitement. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:27.120 Now you have to understand that excitement and what is driving Simeon. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:33.519 He has received a clear word from the Lord that he will not die until he sees the Messiah. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:46.800 And then he is waiting and he is waiting and he is praying and he is asking and he is watching for all this, and he's going back and exploring the scriptures, I'm sure, about the prophecies of the Messiah and all of that. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:50.160 And here, all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit impresses him. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:51.920 Get up, we're going to the temple. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:52.959 It is time. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:55.120 He walks into the temple. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:03.680 He is looking, he is excited, he is anxious, and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit draws his attention to this young family. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:06.319 And they are bringing in this baby. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:09.279 And he rushes over in excitement. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:13.040 I'm sure there was no excuse me or pardon me or anything else. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:14.399 I mean, can you imagine? 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.920 He is this is the Messiah that God has promised and sent. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:25.040 And he rushes over and takes up this baby in his arms and pronounces this blessing over the baby. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:30.240 Now, listen, this is more than just excitement about babies, right? 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:32.639 Now, babies are exciting, right? 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:36.960 I mean, I have a new appreciation of how exciting babies are. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:44.399 Like, let me show you the greatest baby child that you've ever seen in your life, right here, okay? 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.960 And you see his little t-shirt says, Don't make me use my lawyer voice. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:53.279 I heard his lawyer voice yesterday. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:57.120 The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as they say, right? 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:58.080 It's good to know. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:02.720 I mean, you want your kids to get your best traits, and what he got from me was my lawyer voice. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:04.879 So we are having fun. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:06.000 It is so much fun. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:07.120 Is it not fun? 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:16.000 What's been really fun is we've shown this picture, and I've had people this morning show me their brand new grandbabies, their brand new great-grandbabies, and all of that stuff. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:16.879 It's exciting. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:18.960 Everybody loves babies, right? 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:21.039 And we're excited about babies. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:30.399 And it's especially wonderful when he does whatever he does in his diaper, and you can hand him back to his father, and he has to deal with it. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:31.600 It's awesome. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:33.519 Babies are awesome, right? 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:35.120 And it is so much fun. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:36.879 We are having such a great time. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:38.240 Everyone loves babies. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.360 And even Christmas is involved with babies. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:46.320 You see angels, and half the time they make them look like a baby or whatever, which we know that's not true. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:47.360 That's ridiculous. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:49.039 But everybody loves babies. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:50.240 Everybody loves that. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:56.559 And you see these major scenes and they major, they major on the baby Jesus and all of that. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:06.159 And of course, the nativity scenes never show him crying or making a dirty diaper or any of that kind of stuff, right? 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:09.440 There's never the things that are difficult about babies. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:13.279 We have this pristine, wonderful child because babies are wonderful. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:22.639 But listen, here's what's important Simeon was not moved and excited because he loved babies. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:29.519 It was not the fact that Jesus was a baby that got him excited. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:38.960 He didn't grab him and hug him so that he could feel his little fingers and toes and all of that sort of stuff. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:43.919 This wasn't about a baby, it was about a savior. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:51.840 You see, Simeon was joyful because he recognized the truth that Jesus was the Messiah. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:03.039 He recognized that in this moment, the process of accomplishing the promised salvation had begun. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.399 God had been faithful to his promise. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:14.159 And that is what stirred this incredible joy and exuberance in this man's life and his heart. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:30.240 That he would break all convention, he would risk offending these parents and everything else, that he would not be bothered with what spectacle he created in the courtyard of the temple as some strange man grabs a baby and parents react and everything else. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:38.080 He grabs this baby and out of his heart expresses this incredibly powerful pronouncement of joy. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:51.679 And he speaks these truths over Jesus, and these truths that he reveals that we'll look at in a moment, they should stir us to have the same joy that Simeon had when he saw Jesus. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:12:00.879 And in the same way he was excited to speak in front of everyone and to make this prophetic pronouncement over the life of Jesus. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:16.399 We should have an exuberance and a joy that drives us to speak of the person of Jesus with freedom and with passion and with joy and with a clear truth of who Jesus is as our Savior. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:21.919 This morning I want to just highlight three truths that Simeon speaks of. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:29.200 And as we think about these three truths, I want you to see that they are flowing out of the joy in his life. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:37.759 Seeing God accomplish his promised salvation just explodes out of his heart and out of his life. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:44.799 First, I want you to see that Simeon was joyful because Jesus came as the Savior for all people. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:46.720 Look at what he says. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:50.879 Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple complex. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:56.879 What the Holy Spirit has told him is, I am about to reveal to you the Messiah that I have promised. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:10.720 He understands and recognizes as a man who loves the Lord, as a Jewish man who understands the prophecies and has studied the scripture that the Messiah means this is the one who has come to accomplish salvation. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:17.519 This is the promised Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world that God has promised. 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:23.679 And he sees the baby and explodes with joy, and he praises God, it says in verse 28, and says this. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:29.840 Now you can dismiss your slave in peace as you have promised, for my eyes have seen your salvation. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:42.159 You have prepared in the presence of all people a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory to your people, Israel. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:52.159 He is very clear, and he is so impassioned that God has now provided a way of salvation for everyone. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:14:01.759 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him will never perish but have everlasting life. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:17.840 When you go to the book of Revelation and you see that moment where we are reunited with our Savior in heaven, the Bible says that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be there praising Jesus as the Savior. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:36.159 We are given this incredible understanding that God has create has provided a way of salvation for everyone to be forgiven of their sins, to be placed in the path that God has created for them from their birth. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:46.320 A opportunity to know the person of Jesus and walk with him because the barrier of sin has been removed from between them and God. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:59.919 They are now reunited in a relationship with him, and they can walk with him here, and they have the promise and hope of heaven for all of eternity, and that has happened because God made a way of salvation. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:17.360 There is no other means of forgiveness of sin, of healing all that sin has broken, or knowing that you understand what happens to you when you die. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:27.039 You have a testimony that when this body dies, I will be present with the Lord because of the salvation that only Jesus provides. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:28.799 Now you think about this. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.120 This man has been looking forward to this. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:33.360 He's been asking this question. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:42.000 We don't know at what time in his life the Holy Spirit spoke to him and told him this would come, but we do know he is a Jewish man living in that area. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:48.399 And so he has been raised as a Jewish man, being taught the things that Jewish boys and children are taught. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:57.600 He has been taught about the stories of creation and Adam and Eve and sin and we are separated from God in the Garden of Eden. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:03.279 He has been taught that from that first moment God promised to provide a means of salvation. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:14.639 He has been taught the heritage of his people as they were established under the covenant promises with Abraham, and included in that promise is the promise of salvation. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:33.919 They have learned and he has understood from a child as he has learned the story of when Abraham was led to take his son Isaac, who is a miraculously born child, as a foreshadowing of the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:41.440 And he knows the story of how Isaac would say, Father, what are we going to sacrifice? 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.639 And Abraham would say, Son, God will provide a way. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:53.200 And he heard the story and he understood the story of how Abraham and Isaac went up into the mountain, and Isaac was laid there on the altar. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:17:09.279 And as Adam raised that knife to sacrifice him to the Lord according to the instructions of the Lord, just as Adam's faith had told Isaac, God provided a ram in the woods, its horns caught in the thicket right there where they were. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:21.680 And they took that ram together and they sacrificed that as a picture of Jesus, who would be the miraculous provision as the God, as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:29.039 He understood the story of the Passover, and he had been to Passover meals with his parents and with his family. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:36.720 And he had learned how God had built the picture of the provision of salvation into the Passover. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:50.000 And all throughout those experiences, every time his family would go and they would bring their sacrifices, every time they would understand that the Lamb was sacrificed by the high priest for the sins of the nation of Israel. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:52.319 He had always been taught that is a picture. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:54.720 One day God will provide a means of salvation. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:18:01.279 One day, our God Jehovah will do as he promised and provided this means of salvation. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:08.799 And at some point in his life, the Holy Spirit speaks and says, It's now time. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:11.279 It'll be in your lifetime. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:17.359 And Simeon, you will see the salvation of the Lord provided. 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:32.319 We as a people should always be moved by just the fact that God has created salvation. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:38.799 Most everyone in this room is old enough. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:43.680 Most people watching on television today, you're old enough to know what sin is. 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:48.160 You're old enough to have a conscience that has told you when you've done wrong. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:55.440 All of us have in our lives, if you've lived any amount of time at all, a regret and a guilt. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:58.960 And I wish I had done that, and I wish I hadn't done that. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:04.400 Everyone understands what that means at an existential human experience. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:15.680 And then to understand that God has provided a means of salvation to forgive us of those sins and to bury them in the bottom of the ocean, the Bible says. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:24.319 It says that when He saves us, it washes all of that stuff away from us and we become white as snow. 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:30.960 The salvation of God, the forgiveness of our sins. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:48.319 Every people, every tongue, every tribe, every epoch of time, every people group everywhere on this planet has always lived with the existential question of what happens to us when we die. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:20:03.599 If you ever study anything in history, you understand that every people and culture that you study throughout all of time, all of them have rituals that were developed trying to answer the question of what happens to us when we die. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.400 It is a fundamental issue in life. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:16.160 And we walk through life in our modern culture and we try to avoid that and walk through it as much as we can, but on occasion, we have to deal with it with a friend or a family member. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:28.640 And in those moments, it should always remind us to be incredibly joyful of the fact that Jesus provided an answer to the question. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:42.160 He came to take away our sin and to give us eternal life so that in those moments we can approach them through faith in Jesus with an understanding that we will never be separated from God. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:51.119 It does not matter what happens to us, that we will always be in his presence because of the salvation that Jesus provides. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:56.319 Man, we should walk around with a never-ending joy regardless of whatever goes on. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:58.720 And here's the truth of it. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:22.400 If we know that those questions can be answered, the forgiveness of sin, the healing of what's broken, the answer to the question of eternity, how can we not exuberantly and joyfully share that message with everyone with whom we come in contact? 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:30.880 It should drive us out of just an excitement to tell people about Jesus. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:33.440 We should be thrilled. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:35.279 We have the answer. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:42.960 We have the answer that God has revealed to us in the person of Jesus. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:45.519 I want to remind you of a couple of things. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:52.640 One thing that we are trying to build into our church life as a church family is that understanding of your love list. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.720 And that is a list of three people that you know that are lost. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.599 Just as this morning in our little advent time that we had. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:07.359 Where you were challenged to think of that name, allow the Holy Spirit to put a person's name on your heart that you know needs Jesus. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.839 Man, most of us, a name on your love list should have popped up. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:16.559 All of us should have three people that we know are lost and need Jesus. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:18.880 And we should be praying three things for them. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:21.519 We should be praying that they will be saved. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:27.599 We should be praying for an opportunity to share our testimony with them so we can share with them how to be saved. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:31.839 And we should be praying for an opportunity to invite them to church and they come to church. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:41.839 To make that easy during the Christmas season, we have provided these little business-sized cards that you can use to invite someone to church. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:55.920 And on the back side and the front side, it talks about the joy of Christmas and the theme that we have, and on the back side it gives the details of our Christmas Eve candlelight service that we'll be having that morning during the morning worship time. 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:59.920 It is an opportunity for you to invite someone to come to church with you. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:04.880 People are looking for an opportunity to come to church, you invite them to church. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:08.720 Pray over those three names and invite them to church. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:10.480 Why should I do that, Pastor? 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:15.680 Because you are excited that you know that God has provided salvation. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.720 The second truth that Simeon is excited about. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:27.440 He is joyful, not just because Jesus came to be the Savior, but he is joyful for the personal way that God revealed Jesus to him. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:28.559 Look at what this says. 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:41.279 This is such an incredible story when you understand that here he is at some point in his life, as we've just described, God tells him, the Holy Spirit impresses on him, you will see Jesus before you die. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:43.599 I mean, you're gonna you will see Jesus. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:45.839 I mean, imagine what that does to you. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.240 All of that prophecy all comes together. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:50.480 All of that you've been taught your whole life. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:24:05.200 And after that moment, every time he goes to the temple, every time he prays, every time he goes and takes a sacrifice, every time those moments happen, those worship services happen, he knows I can't wait. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:09.279 I'm gonna see the culmination of all that we're worshiping. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:12.000 I'm gonna see it come to life. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:17.599 I'm gonna see those stories in Scripture fulfilled in real time. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:23.279 I'm going to see the Messiah because God has promised me that. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:29.200 And then you see how the Holy Spirit tells him to go to the temple and where to go. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:33.759 The Holy Spirit points out to him who Jesus is, who the Messiah is. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:52.319 Now I don't know what he thought he was looking for, but I'm telling you, when he saw that baby Jesus, and the Holy Spirit pointed out to him, then he knew not because there was anything remarkable or wonderful about that baby, but because the Holy Spirit told him what was remarkable about the person of Jesus. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:07.039 And then he expresses the joy over all that, and all of that comes from this heart of worship where he is praising God because God has shown him. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:14.240 Almighty God, creator of the universe, has intervened in his life. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:24.240 Now listen, if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, this is a beautiful picture of what happened to you and me when we got saved. 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:45.680 I don't know anybody who was smart enough and spiritual enough on their own that they just decided one day, you know, I have these existential questions in my life, and I'm just smart enough to figure out, well, there must be a God out there, and there must be a means of salvation, and this is sin, and this must be wrong, and I don't like that, and this is that, so I'm gonna go find it. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:48.400 And I'm gonna go out and explore all this, and I'm gonna find it. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:50.319 That is not how it happens. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:55.680 It happens when the Holy Spirit intervenes in your life and speaks to you and says, You need a Savior. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:01.200 You are a sinner, but Jesus died on the cross to forgive you of your sin. 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:10.319 You are separated from me, but I love you, and I don't want to be in this condition of us separated, and I want you to meet Jesus, the means of salvation. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:12.559 It is an incredible picture here to see. 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:31.359 If you are watching on television or you're here and you've never given your life to Christ, you've never made that decision to follow Him as your Savior, God has orchestrated the moments in your life and put you right here so that you can hear the Holy Spirit and you can hear the word of God and the description of Jesus as Savior. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:37.680 He has done that in your life because he loves you and he is calling to you to be saved. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:45.920 For those of us who've accepted Christ as our Savior, take a moment and remember when you were saved. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:49.039 Remember what happened in your salvation. 00:26:49.279 --> 00:27:22.400 Take some time this week and share your salvation testimony with someone and let it remind you of the miracle of what God did when he worked in your life and he told you that he loved you and he called you to himself, and you trusted him as your Savior, and you had that sense of salvation and peace and completeness and forgiveness, and you recognized that the person of God had intervened into your life. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:33.279 And I remember I've shared my testimony before, and I want to do it again just to keep reminding you and stir you to share yours and to think about yours. 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:49.839 When I was raised in our home, mom and dad were Christians, and not everybody's home or testimony is the same, and whatever your testimony is, it is special and it is unique, and it explains how Jesus intervened in your life as an individual. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:28:04.000 And in my life, growing up, my parents, and make it short, would tell us all the time, son, you lied to your mom, you disrespected your mom, you didn't clean your room, you didn't do what we asked you to do, you beat upon your little brother, he deserved it. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:08.480 It doesn't matter, it was still wrong. 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:13.759 And you don't understand this yet, but that's called sin. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:18.880 And I have to punish you to help you understand what sin is. 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:20.960 Because God will punish sin. 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:31.039 But son, one day I want you to understand in the way that you're receiving punishment now, Jesus loved you so much that he stepped out of heaven and he died on the cross to take God's punishment for your sin. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:33.119 And one day you'll be old enough to understand that. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:37.119 When I was a nine and a half-year-old boy in church on a Sunday morning, I was sitting in the balcony. 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:38.319 There's my people. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:40.400 I was sitting in the balcony. 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:41.599 I can't tell you what Dr. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:42.559 Rogers preached about. 00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:44.240 I can't tell you what the music was. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:45.759 I can't tell you any of that. 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:54.480 But man, I can tell you when it got to the invitation time, and my pastor said, no one's ever loved you as much as Jesus. 00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:58.160 Jesus took your punishment on the cross. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:05.359 The Holy Spirit showed up and he made all that make sense, and he made all those tumblers fall into place. 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:15.680 And in my heart, I understood that Jesus loved me and that he died for me, and he took my punishment for my sin on himself on the cross. 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:18.559 And I walked down that aisle and I found Mr. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:23.039 Dewey Burton, who was one of the deacons in our church, one of my dad's friends, and I said, Mr. 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:26.240 Dewey, nobody ever loved me as much as Jesus. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:30.400 I want to trust Jesus as my Savior because he paid the price for my sin. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:35.920 I want my story to stir your story a little bit for a moment. 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:43.440 Right there, you you just think about and attach to when Jesus talked to you. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:49.920 Now I want you to take this story of Simeon right here. 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:52.400 God spoke to him. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:55.519 God guided him. 00:29:57.119 --> 00:30:02.720 God showed him Jesus and stirred his faith. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:09.759 If that doesn't stir some joy in you, you need to spend some time in that moment. 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:28.640 When you attach to that joy and God loved me this much, the personal love of God, what it means that he cares about you, that he intervenes in your life, what it means when all of those tumblers fall in place, and you think back to Scripture when it says that you were fearfully and wonderfully made before you were formed in your mother's womb. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:30.319 God knew you and had a plan for you. 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:44.240 And in all of that, he had designed the moment and designed the ways and designed the people who would bring the message of Jesus into your life, all the ways that he would share with you the gospel, all the ways that he would intervene and show you that he loved you, not the world, you. 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:45.759 He loved you. 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:47.759 Jesus died for you. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:51.039 And this morning, he loves you. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:56.079 If you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, in a moment, we're going to have an invitation. 00:30:56.160 --> 00:30:58.160 I want you to give your life to Jesus. 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:09.920 But if you are saved, I want you to understand those people that you are grateful for that brought Jesus into your life, you are that person in someone else's life that needs Jesus. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:14.319 And the joy of what it means is that he loves you so personally. 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:25.039 The people that you know, the people that you care about, you should share Jesus with them because you care about them and the joy that you have that Jesus loves you. 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:29.440 You want them to know that he loves them too. 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:30.720 That person. 00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:37.039 Finally, he was joyous that God had provided salvation. 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:39.920 He was joyful in how he had been introduced to Jesus. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:42.000 But man, I love this last statement. 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:47.200 He was joyful because Jesus came to deal with the heart needs in people. 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:48.000 I love it. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:48.400 Dr. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:54.160 Rogers, my pastor where I grew up, used to say all the time when there's something in Scripture, you have to think, why is it there? 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:56.079 Because God put it there on purpose. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:58.480 And it's kind of interesting in this moment. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:09.920 He expresses all this joy and he gives this pronouncement that Jesus is a revelation to the Gentiles and a glory to the people of Israel, and he's the salvation for all those people. 00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:18.720 Mary and Joseph were amazed, it says in verse 33, and then it says he blessed them, and then this doesn't really sound much like a blessing. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:27.920 He blessed them, and then he told his Mother Mary, indeed, this child is destined to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed. 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:29.680 Well, how's that a blessing? 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:31.279 That's a little bit of a shock. 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:36.240 Your baby's gonna grow up and people are gonna be against him, and there's gonna be all kinds of chaos that goes around him. 00:32:36.319 --> 00:32:41.039 And then he says, and oh, by the way, a sword will pierce your own soul. 00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:45.680 Man, that gets you excited about being a mom, doesn't it? 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:50.880 And then he says this, and the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:58.559 That's another way in this moment that we understand that Simeon knew exactly who Jesus would be, the Messiah. 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:21.440 He understood, based on his study of Scripture and his understanding of Isaiah and the prophecies about the Messiah, he had already quoted with the consolation of Israel phrase from Isaiah, and he understood that Isaiah also pronounced not just the birth of Jesus, but the death of Jesus and the sacrifice of Jesus as the Lamb of God. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:27.440 He remembered where Isaiah said he will be beaten beyond recognition. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:31.599 The government will be upon his shoulders and all of that. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:38.160 He'll be oppressed, he'll be beaten, he'll be sacrificed, he is the Lamb of God, he will take away the sins of the world. 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:41.759 And he understood the magnitude of the ministry that Jesus would have. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:50.640 He didn't necessarily know he'd end up on a cross or whatever, but he may have because of all the crucifixions that he had seen throughout the course of his life. 00:33:50.799 --> 00:34:04.079 And the prophecy in Psalm 22, where David wrote an incredibly precise and specific song that described the medical death of a person on a cross. 00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:11.920 Whatever he knew, he understood that Jesus would be someone who separated people because of the truth of who he is. 00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:20.639 And because he came to deal with sin, he would reflect the sin in men's hearts. 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:31.840 He knew that sin is why there must be a sacrifice, why salvation was, this picture of salvation was built on sacrifices to pay the price for sin. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:33.119 He understood all of that. 00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:35.360 He understood that Jesus came to deal with that. 00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:56.719 And so, in an incredible moment of spiritual wisdom, he understands and he warns them listen, when Jesus starts going out in holiness and righteousness and truth, and he starts explaining salvation to deal with the sin in men and women's lives, there's going to be opposition to that. 00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:58.800 There will be rejection. 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:05.119 In order to be the Lamb of God, he must die to pay the price for our sin. 00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:22.880 And he will separate, and there will be reactions and there will be responses, some of them good as they see him as the Savior, and some of them negative as they reject who Jesus is. 00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:30.079 In every call to the gospel, what happens is this people react. 00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:37.360 When you share Jesus, you understand that people immediately begin to recoil. 00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:49.840 Because everyone who knows anything about the gospel or this story understands that now they're going to have a mirror applied to their heart and their sin is going to be pointed out. 00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:55.599 In love, because Jesus came to deal with that sin. 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:57.679 He came to forgive that sin. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:00.320 He came to heal that broken heart. 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:04.159 But yet that sin must be dealt with. 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:14.400 Simeon was joyful because in confronting that sin, he knew that Jesus was the salvation to that sin. 00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:21.840 This is a powerful prophecy that connects Christmas and Easter. 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:27.440 When he tells Mary, a sword will pierce your own soul. 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:38.400 Somehow, in that spiritual wisdom, the word of the Lord speaks through him, and he recognizes as a mother, you will watch this. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:49.280 And in hindsight, we can now look back at Mary at the foot of the cross, watching Jesus be sacrificed for her sin and ours. 00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:55.360 On the way to church this morning, I listened to the song Mary, did you know? 00:36:56.159 --> 00:37:11.760 And it's an incredible description of working through the truth that she would have to understand that her son came to save us and what he would go through. 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:19.280 As we close this morning, I want you to know that Jesus died on the cross to deal with your sin. 00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:25.280 And if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, here's the truth of Jesus on the cross. 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:29.519 He came to die because we all are sinners. 00:37:30.800 --> 00:37:35.920 And someone is going to pay the price for your sin, and someone is going to have to deal with your sin. 00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:45.840 You and I will pay the price for our sins if we do not trust Jesus as our Savior to do that for us. 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:48.320 Again, my testimony. 00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:56.320 So many people in the room who know Jesus were reviewing their testimony as I was sharing mine, and all of us have the same testimony. 00:37:56.559 --> 00:38:05.199 We recognize that we were sinners and we recognize that Jesus stepped out of heaven just as Simeon acknowledged God had promised him to do. 00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:11.199 And he went to the cross and he took your sin and he died there on the cross to pay the price for your sin. 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:16.639 No one can heal your broken heart and no one can forgive your sin but Jesus. 00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:27.840 And if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior and being confronted with that sin, know that Jesus does that so that he can call you to himself so that you can trust him as your Savior. 00:38:28.239 --> 00:38:33.039 And if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, I want to invite you to come in just a moment. 00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:39.199 I want you to bow your heads, and as we prepare for this moment, in a moment, I'm going to pray. 00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:42.880 God's people are going to stand and sing an invitation, and we're going to invite you to come to Jesus. 00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:48.639 If you're watching online or by television, we want to invite you right there in your home. 00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:51.440 Give your life to Jesus. 00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:54.480 Just talk to him about forgiving your sin. 00:38:54.639 --> 00:38:57.760 Tell him you believe that he paid the price for your sin. 00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:07.840 There's no magic in this, it is the spiritual reality and truth of what we've read in Scripture and how God speaks to your heart. 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:10.079 Respond to Him this morning. 00:39:10.480 --> 00:39:15.119 We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus. 00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:18.079 Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you. 00:39:18.239 --> 00:39:25.760 Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can. 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:32.079 Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.