SPEAKER_00: You've got your Bibles, and I hope you do.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't, grab one.
SPEAKER_00: It was very generous of Adam to mention I'm paying for the Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: That was really good.
SPEAKER_00: We do want you to have a Bible, though.
SPEAKER_00: So if you don't, please grab one in the peew back.
SPEAKER_00: If you grab the Bible that's sitting next to someone who's here already, that's really not ours to give away.
SPEAKER_00: They probably they'd probably be a little upset about that.
SPEAKER_00: You never know, but just be careful about that.
SPEAKER_00: We are in the Gospel of Luke.
SPEAKER_00: We've been going through from the beginning, and now we are in chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: When we were reading the passage this morning, did you, or just a few moments ago when when Pastor Adam was reading the passage, there aren't any there there aren't any Christmas trees, there aren't any lights, there's no Christmas uh choruses and hymns and carols.
SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of weird to look at this passage without the context of December.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to I want to encourage you, just for a few moments this morning, to focus on the reason that this is written.
SPEAKER_00: Why, why Luke wrote this.
SPEAKER_00: We talked about it numerous times at the beginning of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Luke wrote Luke and Acts.
SPEAKER_00: He wrote it so that we would we would have that firm collection and foundation of the faith in which we believe in.
SPEAKER_00: And he is very scientific.
SPEAKER_00: He is very matter-of-fact.
SPEAKER_00: He gets through the details and he shows them how they are.
SPEAKER_00: We looked in the first part of chapter two, um, as it was read earlier.
SPEAKER_00: We understand uh this is the passage we read at Christmas on Christmas morning, around the around the fire, around the the Christmas tree.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is the the birth of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And it's actually the passage that we go to because it's the one that actually talks about his birth, God's timing, all the pieces coming together.
SPEAKER_00: But look at how Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Luke, and I hope you're with me in Luke chapter 2, look at how Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Luke references, talks about the amazing incarnation of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Just with me right here in verse chapter 2, verse 6 and 7.
SPEAKER_00: He says, While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: Two whole verses, and very much this is this reminds me of at the end of the day, and I'm I'm I'm I'm gonna apologize, but I don't really mean it, that you're gonna get irritated at this, maybe, but at the end of the day, when the husband and wife have a very full day, both of them, and the wife spends a lot of detail telling you how things went all day, and then she turns to the husband and says, I'm stereotyping, I so apologize if this is not you.
SPEAKER_00: She turns to the husband and says, How was your day?
SPEAKER_00: And the husband says, It was fine.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 2, verse 6 and 7.
SPEAKER_00: Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Luke, please give us more.
SPEAKER_00: But we don't need more because he spent the last chapter and a half chapter going into why this is such a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want us to focus primarily on the miracle of the birth.
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to focus on the grace of God in the miracle of the conception, the miracle of how it all came about.
SPEAKER_00: And it looks like, it looks like a birth.
SPEAKER_00: Because it is.
SPEAKER_00: It looks like just normal, it's not, but it is.
SPEAKER_00: It's different, but it's the same.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's God working, all the pieces, all the parts coming together, and here is Jesus being born while they were there.
SPEAKER_00: Mary, she was from Nazareth.
SPEAKER_00: What's she doing in Bethlehem?
SPEAKER_00: God ordained that.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Joseph, a carpenter, but the line of David, God ordained that.
SPEAKER_00: The taxes and the season and all the pieces coming together, all the parts that God alone can bring together.
SPEAKER_00: Here he is.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the birth comes, verse six and verse seven.
SPEAKER_00: You continue in verse eight, and we see, just like a normal birth, where people tell people that there was a baby born.
SPEAKER_00: We don't keep it a secret.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the announcement, but this is not a normal announcement.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 2, verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
SPEAKER_00: And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.
SPEAKER_00: If you ever are watching TV or reading an article or a book, and they talk about how angels spoke to them and they encountered angels, being very critical, leery, suspicious.
SPEAKER_00: When God makes himself known, you don't just call them buddy, hey, good to see you.
SPEAKER_00: They were frightened.
SPEAKER_00: The glory of God overwhelmed them.
SPEAKER_00: And here are the shepherds, which, by the way, we're supposed to be thinking, wait a minute, shepherds?
SPEAKER_00: What are we doing here?
SPEAKER_00: This this is this is Jesus, this is God, this is Emmanuel, God with us, and and he's coming, the announcement, the birth announcement, it's a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: And he's talking to shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: They weren't, they weren't, don't romanticize this.
SPEAKER_00: They weren't they weren't the top of the societal ladder.
SPEAKER_00: They they weren't considered clean.
SPEAKER_00: They they kind of smelled kind of funny.
SPEAKER_00: And they didn't hang out in the temple because they were busy on the weekends.
SPEAKER_00: They had to work while everybody else went to church.
SPEAKER_00: They they weren't around, they weren't considered clean.
SPEAKER_00: They're they're kind of unclean, and some were considered robbers and and dishonest and shepherds, but here they are.
SPEAKER_00: The angels, the glory of God coming all around, and and it shone around them.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherds were terrified.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 10, the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people.
SPEAKER_00: For deck today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: It looked like just a normal birth, it's not.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone else may have said it's no big deal.
SPEAKER_00: And don't misunderstand the word end just a few verses before.
SPEAKER_00: It's not talking we usually put the word holiday in front of that.
SPEAKER_00: It's not talking about a hotel, it's it's about it's about a place, a guest room, and a house, and it was already full because the line of David, so there was no room for them.
SPEAKER_00: But here, here they are.
SPEAKER_00: The baby is born.
SPEAKER_00: The angel says this is good news, great joy, all the people, a savior, Christ the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the focus should be on.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we're looking at.
SPEAKER_00: Here is our Savior, he's right here.
SPEAKER_00: Those who live in his presence from eternity past, they come and they tell those in the fields, in the flocks at the nighttime, they tell them all that's about to happen.
SPEAKER_00: The passage continues in verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly there appeared with the one angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.
SPEAKER_00: When we see that, we hear that, we understand.
SPEAKER_00: You you've you've read this before.
SPEAKER_00: If not, you're you just did, good for you.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is the glory of God coming to us and saying, This is what's happening.
SPEAKER_00: He is to be praised before he because he has come.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as we continue in the passage, verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, Let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.
SPEAKER_00: So in obedience, the the the uh the theophany, the appearance of God, the angels, all of this is happening in obedience.
SPEAKER_00: They leave, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: They come in a hurry, found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger.
SPEAKER_00: When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about the child.
SPEAKER_00: They testified to what they had been told.
SPEAKER_00: They were witnesses of the very birth of Jesus as a baby.
SPEAKER_00: They got to see it.
SPEAKER_00: They were told by the angels, they responded in obedience, and in verse 18, all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherds went back, and notice what happens.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherds went back, and nothing was ever the same again, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told.
SPEAKER_00: Just as had been told them.
SPEAKER_00: So the angels were glorifying God, and now the shepherds are glorifying God.
SPEAKER_00: They're taking over the responsibility, and here they are telling everybody what has happened.
SPEAKER_00: Now we're gonna we're gonna fast forward a little bit in the in the encounter and what's happening as Jesus is is as a baby in these these few days that are recorded in Luke chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're still there, and if you're not, where'd you go?
SPEAKER_00: Which you we've been right here this whole time, but here we are, Luke chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: Let's keep going, verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: Eight days.
SPEAKER_00: When eight days had passed before his circumcision, his name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
SPEAKER_00: And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, and they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: As is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So he's being he's been consecrated, he's being set apart.
SPEAKER_00: This is the law, this is what has been told, what they are obeying.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 24, to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons, and we so we know they're poor because of this.
SPEAKER_00: This is before the Magi get there.
SPEAKER_00: And there was a man in Jerusalem, and there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
SPEAKER_00: So if you you see what they did in 39, and at the end of the passage of as after everything happens in the temple, when they had performed according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth.
SPEAKER_00: The child continued to grow, became strong, increasing, become strong, increasing in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
SPEAKER_00: So they've got the law, they're following the law, they're doing what the law has told them to do.
SPEAKER_00: It reminds me of Galatians chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: It says, But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
SPEAKER_00: So he's doing everything the way that they're supposed to do it.
SPEAKER_00: They're following the law, and he is a Jew.
SPEAKER_00: He's he's following the traditions and the rules, the regulations, principles, and commands, everything that's supposed to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Circumcision, and then some 33 days later, 40 days later, here we are in the temple.
SPEAKER_00: They've come back, they're still in Bethlehem, they've come back, and here is Simeon as he he comes into the story.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25 again.
SPEAKER_00: There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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 in his arms and blessed God and said, Now, Lord, you are releasing your bond servant to depart in peace according to your word.
SPEAKER_00: For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people, Israel.
SPEAKER_00: All that has been prophesied, hundreds of years, centuries of God's promising that he would come, the Messiah would arrive, Christ Jesus the Lord, all of that has come to fruition.
SPEAKER_00: Simeon has been promised that he would see it, would see the beginning of it, and he's holding the baby right now, and he sees that this has come about.
SPEAKER_00: This is the assurance, this is what he has, because God promised, God said he would do it, and God did it.
SPEAKER_00: This is the assurance of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And this is why we celebrate Christmas, this is why we celebrate Easter, and this is why we celebrate everything else in reference to who God is, because he said he would do it, and he did it.
SPEAKER_00: This assurance of salvation, you notice how he said it in the verses.
SPEAKER_00: Coming back to verse 29.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Now, Lord, you're releasing your bondservant at peace to depart in peace.
SPEAKER_00: According to your word, my eyes have seen your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen it.
SPEAKER_00: You you were ready, you brought the him here.
SPEAKER_00: Now we can begin what only you can do: a new day, a new light, a new revelation.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as he's come and he's presented, this assurance, this confidence is something that we celebrate, that we're excited about, that we see that this is why we we worship him, this is why we turn to him, this is why we we trust him, is because of what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians chapter 8.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
SPEAKER_00: Now let me remind you as we're reading Luke chapter 2, they had already heard this.
SPEAKER_00: They had the theology, they had the stories, they had all of it.
SPEAKER_00: They hadn't seen it exactly put together like this.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason was they needed to have that confidence, that assurance of the truth about Jesus that was given to them orally.
SPEAKER_00: Now they get to see it on the on the page, and they said, okay, this all this is all coming together.
SPEAKER_00: This is starting to make sense.
SPEAKER_00: It's starting to create a firmness, a foundation for what they believe and why they believe it.
SPEAKER_00: The same is true for us.
SPEAKER_00: As we read passages about Jesus being taken to the temple and about how he obeyed every law and he was perfect without sin.
SPEAKER_00: We start to say, wait a minute, that that all clicks, that all, that all that all forms together in a way that it starts to make sense.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're supposed to be doing when we come to these passages, and we're studying them and praying over them and trying to understand what is it he's trying to tell us.
SPEAKER_00: But as he does this, he's wanting to be sure that we understand the witnesses of the shepherds and the witnesses of Simeon and one other witness.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just refer to her real quick, but down in verse 36.
SPEAKER_00: There was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanul of the tribe of Asher.
SPEAKER_00: She was advanced in years, had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow in the age to the age of eighty-four, she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.
SPEAKER_00: And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God and continued to speak of him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: The scripture says two or three witnesses.
SPEAKER_00: Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Luke, we got our two or three witnesses.
SPEAKER_00: The scripture says you need to fulfill the law.
SPEAKER_00: Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Luke showed us how he fulfilled the law.
SPEAKER_00: All of those pieces coming together.
SPEAKER_00: This assurance of salvation, why we rejoice, why we celebrate, celebrate, why we're excited, because of the grace of God and what he has done for us.
SPEAKER_00: I want to show you what Simeon says to Mary and to Joseph.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever they heard what Simeon said, uh, verse 33, the the the blessing at verse 33, his father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about him.
SPEAKER_00: 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 even your own soul, to the end that thoughts up from many hearts may be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: See, I thought I thought this was all good news.
SPEAKER_00: I thought we were celebrating the salvation, the life of the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: John has been prophesied, and that's been fulfilled.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has been prophesied, that's been fulfilled.
SPEAKER_00: John was great, Jesus was greater.
SPEAKER_00: We've got all those pieces coming together to get to this point.
SPEAKER_00: And now you have this curious little piece from one of the witnesses giving a prophecy of how the blessing's going to come about.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read it again, verse 36.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Fall and rise.
SPEAKER_00: So some are going to go down and some are going to come up, and regardless, there are going to be many who are going to be against him.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: And a sword will pierce even your own soul, to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: Your soul is going to get pierced.
SPEAKER_00: Speaking to Mary, and then it says in the verse, to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: So we've got the assurance of salvation, but we also have the assurance of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to see what he's doing here.
SPEAKER_00: To have the good news, we've got to appreciate the bad news.
SPEAKER_00: To understand what he is telling us and what he is showing us, there has to be a point where you and I come to grips with our need for salvation before we can celebrate the salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Let's put it this way.
SPEAKER_00: Let's say it's your birthday.
SPEAKER_00: And let's say that you have your close friends and family gather around and they get you presents for your birthday.
SPEAKER_00: And the first present that you open, you you open it, unwrap it, everything, you open it up, and there is a book on how to have a diet for obese people.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Well maybe that's a one and done.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe, maybe that's not so bad.
SPEAKER_00: But then you you get another gift, another box, and you you unwrap it, and and they're all celebrating, they've sung to you, happy birthday, candles and everything, and and you get a a pass, a free pass to the local gym.
SPEAKER_00: And then you open another, you say, I don't like where this is going.
SPEAKER_00: Then you open another box and you get you get a series of books on how to make friends and influence people.
SPEAKER_00: And you realize that your best friends and family think you're an overweight jerk.
SPEAKER_00: And they're giving you gifts to try to help you, but in the sense they're also incredibly insulting.
SPEAKER_00: God in his love for you, he's gonna shoot straight.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna tell you the truth.
SPEAKER_00: You need this.
SPEAKER_00: And what's gonna happen, Mary, whenever you grow, whenever these things happen, there's debate over whether or not this is Mary standing at the cross and that piercing her soul very likely.
SPEAKER_00: Or it could be there are other points where she realizes that she needs to repent of her sin and trust in her son as savior as well.
SPEAKER_00: That could be it, it could be both.
SPEAKER_00: But regardless, it's the assurance that in the midst of all of the pain and all of the struggle that we need a salvation, we need a savior, and we have that judgment that's coming our way.
SPEAKER_00: Tim Keller used to talk about when you have surgery and you're taking out a tumor, blood has to be spilled, flesh has to be broken.
SPEAKER_00: There has to be a point where something has to be cut open so that you can be put back to health.
SPEAKER_00: I've got to tell you, if your agenda or your idea or your focus this morning is I want to get through this life with as few bumps as possible and make my way without as many wrecks or detours, and I just want to be comfortable and at peace and nobody bother me and I won't bother anybody else, this isn't gonna work for you.
SPEAKER_00: Because part of what we do as followers of Jesus Christ is we realize that it's because of our sin and our sinful nature and our rebellion against a holy God or cosmic treason, as R.C.
SPEAKER_00: Sproul used to say, is that understanding that we can't do it our way and still be his.
SPEAKER_00: We can't follow him with our agenda.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to trust him both to be our Savior, because he didn't come just to redeem man, he came to reveal God.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't come just to save us, he came to show himself the glory to God in the highest because of what he has done, because of what he is doing.
SPEAKER_00: When we understand that, when we get that both assurance and warning, good news and bad news, then things start to shift a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: And instead of trying to get to the end of the day with as few bruises as possible, we get to the end of the day with a God who is faithful, who has provided for us, who's taken care of us, and continues to take care of us.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got your Bibles, I want you to go over one more gospel to the Gospel of John.
SPEAKER_00: I want to show you the nativity from the perspective of John and show you what I mean by assurance and warning.
SPEAKER_00: John chapter one.
SPEAKER_00: Luke was the scientist, he was the doctor.
SPEAKER_00: John was the one who spoke on so many levels.
SPEAKER_00: You could read it and see it on one, and then go deeper and deeper and deeper.
SPEAKER_00: But here it is, John chapter one, verse one.
SPEAKER_00: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
SPEAKER_00: He was in the beginning with God.
SPEAKER_00: All things came into being through him, and apart from him, and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being.
SPEAKER_00: In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
SPEAKER_00: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it, could not overcome it.
SPEAKER_00: There was a man sent from John, whose name from God, whose name was John.
SPEAKER_00: He came as a witness to testify about the light so that all might believe through him.
SPEAKER_00: He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
SPEAKER_00: There there was the true light which coming into the world enlightens every man.
SPEAKER_00: He was in the world, and the world was made through him.
SPEAKER_00: But check this, and the world did not know him.
SPEAKER_00: He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him.
SPEAKER_00: But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now when you think about what he's saying, that what he's revealing to us is that Jesus, in all of his glory and all of his purpose, and as Emmanuel God with you in verse 14 and following, how he tabernacled among us, how he was with us, here with us.
SPEAKER_00: And in his coming to us, he reveals that we, all of us, did not like that.
SPEAKER_00: All of us did not receive the light.
SPEAKER_00: All of us did not respond to him the way we're supposed to.
SPEAKER_00: And actually, that's true today too.
SPEAKER_00: People don't respond to Jesus by Jesus' way.
SPEAKER_00: People don't come to Jesus Jesus' way.
SPEAKER_00: What they'll say is, I want Jesus and some other religions kind of dabbled together.
SPEAKER_00: We'll put it all together, make it all work together, but I don't want to have anyone tell me exactly how I have to live or what I have to do or have to repent of my sin or call me a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to have to follow his rules or listen to his word or trust in him.
SPEAKER_00: And so what we do is we say, yes, Jesus, you're God, you've done everything, and I'll trust you, I'll believe you.
SPEAKER_00: As long as it doesn't make me uncomfortable or make me want to do something or have to do something I don't want to do.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus comes as the light.
SPEAKER_00: He comes in and he calls us to be counter-cultural, to go against the flow, to be about his business.
SPEAKER_00: And people reject Jesus, people reject the gospel, people reject us because they love the darkness, because they don't want what God gives us.
SPEAKER_00: And so you have Simeon praying over this little baby, saying, You see, it's going to be an assurance of salvation, but there's also going to be judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Let me come back to the passage.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you as we wrap this up.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 2, verse 34 to 35.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And a sword will pierce even your own soul, to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: This is perhaps the most terrifying part of this passage.
SPEAKER_00: You and I, from day one, Jesus in the temple, today till he returns, every one of our hearts will be exposed.
SPEAKER_00: Truth be told, if you really knew me, you wouldn't let me pastor here.
SPEAKER_00: Truth be told, if you if I really knew you, I wouldn't want to preach here either.
SPEAKER_00: There is so much that we hide and we hold, and God is working on us to make us more like Him, to change us.
SPEAKER_00: And that according to this word, not one of us are going to get away with it, with hiding, with towering, to trying to do things our way.
SPEAKER_00: Because of this assurance of judgment, it means that whether you think you're getting away with it today or not, that there will be a day where we'll all stand before him, where he will reveal the hearts of all, that there won't be there won't be a point where we can hide anymore, where we can claim that we were ignorant or oblivious or innocent, because he knows.
SPEAKER_00: And the amazing thing about the love of God is that it's because he knows you and me, that he comes.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't come to a fantasy or a fiction or an alternate reality.
SPEAKER_00: He knows you so well, he knows your heart better than you know it yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And because of the love of God, he comes in and he says, I get that.
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, that's the reason I had to come.
SPEAKER_00: I had to give you this salvation, I had to be this light, because you already stand condemned, you already stand in face of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: And you may think that you're getting away with it, you may think that you're gonna be okay, you're not.
SPEAKER_00: Your friends and your family, your culture, your country, your world may think that as long as they they succeed in some other category, some sort, some other power, prestige, or popularity, then they're gonna be fine.
SPEAKER_00: They're not.
SPEAKER_00: Because according to the scripture, according to the truth of the gospel, Jesus Christ has come to seek and save the lost.
SPEAKER_00: And because of our pride, and because of our rebellion, and because of our selfishness and self-centeredness, many times we're not willing to admit we're lost.
SPEAKER_00: But if you do, if you're willing to humble yourself before a holy God, let the glory of the God come around you and over you, you start to see the light comes on.
SPEAKER_00: You see the word, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
SPEAKER_00: And you realize that to those who receive him, he gave the right to become children of God.
SPEAKER_00: Not by human will, not by act of providence or coincidence or fate, not by blood, but not by genetics, but by the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the love of God is all about.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he means when he says that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.
SPEAKER_00: Because he's going to reveal it, whether you acknowledge it or admit it or not.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to show us the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'd like to finish.
SPEAKER_00: I'd like to finish with this.
SPEAKER_00: Simeon.
SPEAKER_00: He comes in.
SPEAKER_00: He's an older man.
SPEAKER_00: And he comes in.
SPEAKER_00: He has been worshiping God all his life.
SPEAKER_00: And he has been waiting for what God has promised him in reference to a savior, to the Redeemer, to the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: As he's coming in, he sees this mother bringing in her little baby.
SPEAKER_00: Mary, I can't imagine what Mary was thinking.
SPEAKER_00: What would it be like to carry God incarnate into his own temple?
SPEAKER_00: What would it be like to have someone that has been prophesied over and promised and conceived as a virgin and here, bringing him in to fulfill the law?
SPEAKER_00: But Simeon, he sees, and when he sees, he comes over to Mary and he grabs the baby.
SPEAKER_00: And I okay, that's that's a little graphic.
SPEAKER_00: I don't mean he grabs it.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't like rip it out of her hand or whatever, but he takes gently he takes the baby.
SPEAKER_00: And God, the first person, has been the object of his devotion all his life.
SPEAKER_00: And God, the third person, is upon him, so he knows who he's holding.
SPEAKER_00: God the second person.
SPEAKER_00: And he's holding this little baby.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in that moment of time, innocent, he'll always be.
SPEAKER_00: Fragile?
SPEAKER_00: Probably, but still God.
SPEAKER_00: And he's holding that little baby, and that little baby is going to grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
SPEAKER_00: And that little baby, God's second person, the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord, he is going to heal the sick.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to raise the dead.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to walk on water.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to calm the storms.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to speak in a way that no other teacher ever spoke.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to explain things that no one ever really understood.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to walk among us in perfection and in love and in mercy and in grace.
SPEAKER_00: This little baby is going to do all that and so much more.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to be the one that is the perfect sacrifice because of that assurance of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to be the one that is going to willingly volunteer himself on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to read about it in a few chapters.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one who's going to stay on the cross of his own volition, of his own willingness, of his own sacrifice, because he could call the angels at any time and come down.
SPEAKER_00: But he's going to die for Simeon and for Mary and for Joseph and for every other human being in that temple and for every every other human being that has lived since then and now.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone.
SPEAKER_00: For God so loved the world.
SPEAKER_00: And then he will hang there, innocent but fully guilty.
SPEAKER_00: Just and justifier.
SPEAKER_00: Sin who never sinned.
SPEAKER_00: And he will die.
SPEAKER_00: And he will be buried.
SPEAKER_00: And he will rise again.
SPEAKER_00: Simeon holding Jesus is holding more than just a little baby in a temple, purification, consecration, law-abiding practice.
SPEAKER_00: He's holding the one who's going to show everyone the truth.
SPEAKER_00: And whether you realize it or not, he just showed you as well.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: And he died for you.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't die for you just for you to have an easier, better life.
SPEAKER_00: He died for you because you're lost.
SPEAKER_00: And because of the assurance of that judgment, he wants to give you the assurance of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: You may think that you're hiding, you're not.
SPEAKER_00: You may think you're getting away with it, you're not.
SPEAKER_00: Simeon and Anna, they got it.
SPEAKER_00: Mary, eventually, she got it.
SPEAKER_00: You and I, we need to get it too.
SPEAKER_00: We can't do this without him.
SPEAKER_00: We won't do this without him.
SPEAKER_00: I'll take the pulpit, Mike.
SPEAKER_00: I want to bring you to the song we sang right before the sermon.
SPEAKER_00: The love of God is greater far the tongue or pen can ever tell.
SPEAKER_00: It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.
SPEAKER_00: The guilty pair bowed down, bowed down with care, God gave his son to win.
SPEAKER_00: His erring child he reconciled and pardoned from his sin.
SPEAKER_00: When years of time shall pass away, and earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, when men who have refused to pay, here refuse to pray, on rocks and hills and mountains call, God's love so pure shall still endure, all measureless and strong, redeeming grace to ape Adam's race, the saints and angels song.
SPEAKER_00: Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, where every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
SPEAKER_00: O love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong, it shall forevermore endure.
SPEAKER_00: The saints and the angels song.
SPEAKER_00: With every head bowed, every eye closed.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give you just a few moments this morning to pray.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus didn't come just to be out there somewhere, he came to be here and there, to be near and other far, transient as well as imminent.
SPEAKER_00: And right now, according to his word, he is as close as a breath of you talking to him, of repenting of your sin, of trusting him.
SPEAKER_00: And you may have come into this room separated from him, but you don't have to leave in the same condition.
SPEAKER_00: As the Spirit of God works in you to open your eyes to the truth of Jesus, he gives you that confidence, that assurance of salvation, as well as the assurance of judgment, of wrath, of condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: And it might be that this morning is your day, your opportunity to come into a relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In just a few moments, we're going to close the service in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: We'll be leaving, but there'll be pastors and deacons who will stand here at the front, and they'll be here to receive and talk with and pray for anyone and everyone who wants to come.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps come to the altar, perhaps just have some sort of counsel or wisdom or just a arm around the shoulders to say we love you and we're here for you and with you.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever your need, wherever you're at, this is your opportunity to be with him and to know him.
SPEAKER_00: He did way too much for us to take it, way too little.
SPEAKER_00: We owe him all.
SPEAKER_00: The love of God is too great, too strong, too pure.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, I pray that we we see you for who you are.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you open our eyes, open our hearts, let us know.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, the words that don't please you, let them wash away.
SPEAKER_00: But from your word help us to trust and to obey.
SPEAKER_00: In Christ's name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Would you stand with me, please?
SPEAKER_00: As you're standing, I'm gonna dismiss you with a benediction.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews chapter thirteen.
SPEAKER_00: Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You're dismissed.