The Voices of Christmas Part IV
Simeon – the Voice of Faith
Over the last few weeks we have looked at some of the people who would unwittingly participate in the great drama that would surround the birth of our Lord.
A drama that was written before the foundation of the world
LUKE 2:25-35
NOW THERE WAS A MAN IN JERUSALEM CALLED SIMEON, WHO WAS RIGHTEOUS AND DEVOUT. HE WAS WAITING FOR THE CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS UPON HIM. 26 IT HAD BEEN REVEALED TO HIM BY THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT HE WOULD NOT DIE BEFORE HE HAD SEEN THE LORD’S CHRIST. 27 MOVED BY THE SPIRIT, HE WENT INTO THE TEMPLE COURTS. WHEN THE PARENTS BROUGHT IN THE CHILD JESUS TO DO FOR HIM WHAT THE CUSTOM OF THE LAW REQUIRED, 28 SIMEON TOOK HIM IN HIS ARMS AND PRAISED GOD, SAYING:
29 "SOVEREIGN LORD, AS YOU HAVE PROMISED,
YOU NOW DISMISS YOUR SERVANT IN PEACE.
30 FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOUR SALVATION,
31 WHICH YOU HAVE PREPARED IN THE SIGHT OF ALL PEOPLE,
32 A LIGHT FOR REVELATION TO THE GENTILES
AND FOR GLORY TO YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL."
33 THE CHILD’S FATHER AND MOTHER MARVELED AT WHAT WAS SAID ABOUT HIM. 34 THEN SIMEON BLESSED THEM AND SAID TO MARY, HIS MOTHER: "THIS CHILD IS DESTINED TO CAUSE THE FALLING AND RISING OF MANY IN ISRAEL, AND TO BE A SIGN THAT WILL BE SPOKEN AGAINST, 35 SO THAT THE THOUGHTS OF MANY HEARTS WILL BE REVEALED. AND A SWORD WILL PIERCE YOUR OWN SOUL TOO."
1. Rooted in Scripture—
LUKE 2:29A
SOVEREIGN LORD, AS YOU HAVE PROMISED…
His waiting was rooted in scripture; the promise was rooted in revelation.
LUKE 2:25 AMP
…THIS MAN WAS RIGHTEOUS AND DEVOUT [CAREFULLY AND CAUTIOUSLY OBSERVING THE DIVINE LAW], AND LOOKING FOR THE CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL…
2 TIMOTHY 3:16
ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED…
We know that Simeon was a righteous and devout man, not one given to baseless beliefs. His was a faith rooted in God’s Word – in this He had confidence.
There were many who had come and would come claiming to be the Christ but God’s Word is the only and final arbiter of the truth.
MATTHEW 24:5
FOR MANY WILL COME IN MY NAME, CLAIMING, ’I AM THE CHRIST,’ AND WILL DECEIVE MANY.
Particularly leading up to the destruction of the Temple Jesus prophesied that false Messiah’s would come.
MARK 13:21-23
AT THAT TIME IF ANYONE SAYS TO YOU, ’LOOK, HERE IS THE CHRIST!’ OR, ’LOOK, THERE HE IS!’ DO NOT BELIEVE IT. 22 FOR FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS WILL APPEAR AND PERFORM SIGNS AND MIRACLES TO DECEIVE THE ELECT-IF THAT WERE POSSIBLE. 23 SO BE ON YOUR GUARD; I HAVE TOLD YOU EVERYTHING AHEAD OF TIME.
That last verse is the key – He has told us everything ahead of time. These prophecies have dual fulfillment. We live in the day of false Messiahs too.
One afternoon in 1965, Daniel Waswa, a citizen of Kenya, struggled up a hill and was crucified by his wife at his own direction. As he hung on the cross, he told the gathered crowd, “I am dying for the sins of all Kenyans.”
After nailing her husband to the cross, the woman collapsed on the ground and died, apparently from shock.
Waswa’s neighbors knew this was no spur-of-the-moment act. He had talked about it for a year and had told them he had been called by God for this purpose.
They begged him to let them take him down. He refused all requests. Finally he was taken down still alive, but he soon died from the nail wounds which had become infected.
Superstitious people now make pilgrimages to the spot where Daniel Waswa died and pray for him to forgive their sins.
There have been over 1,100 religious leaders in different parts of the world in the last fifty years who have claimed to be Christ and the Savior of the world. Most of these false christs have risen in Africa, in India or in the Orient and have spread into the West.
If we are going to truly know Jesus, we must know Him as He reveals Himself through His Word. We cannot create Jesus in the image we want Him – we must accept Him as His Word reveals Him.
MATTHEW 7:21-23
"NOT EVERYONE WHO SAYS TO ME, ’LORD, LORD,’ WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT ONLY HE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. 22 MANY WILL SAY TO ME ON THAT DAY, ’LORD, LORD, DID WE NOT PROPHESY IN YOUR NAME, AND IN YOUR NAME DRIVE OUT DEMONS AND PERFORM MANY MIRACLES?’ 23 THEN I WILL TELL THEM PLAINLY, ’I NEVER KNEW YOU. AWAY FROM ME, YOU EVILDOERS!’
Simeon leaves for us a legacy of faith – faith that was rooted in scripture…
2. Resulted in Serenity—
LUKE 2:29B
YOU NOW DISMISS YOUR SERVANT IN PEACE.
What a gift the Lord gave Simeon! He would die in peace having seen the consolation of Israel!
The word translated ‘peace’ here in the Greek is the word we get serenity from and is also the Greek form of the Hebrew word ‘shalom’.
According to a conception distinctly peculiar to Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is: Rom 8:6
Simeon received what mankind longs for. He could now pass on – he had seen the promised Messiah.
This was the Messiah who would bring peace…
ISAIAH 9:6-7A
FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN, TO US A SON IS GIVEN, AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE ON HIS SHOULDERS. AND HE WILL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE. 7 OF THE INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT AND PEACE THERE WILL BE NO END.
We must allow the Prince of Peace to rule the kingdom of our lives. Peace is a rare commodity in our world.
Peace is rare: Less than 8 percent of the time since the beginning of recorded time has the world been entirely at peace. In a total of 3,530 years, 286 have been warless. Eight thousand treaties have been broken in this time. —Personnel Journal
If peace could be packaged it would be priceless but when we speak of peace we are not necessarily speaking of the absence of war or armed conflict.
JOHN 14:27
PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU; MY PEACE I GIVE YOU. I DO NOT GIVE TO YOU AS THE WORLD GIVES. DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED AND DO NOT BE AFRAID.
Jesus brought a peace that could be compared with nothing the world gives because of its source…
JOHN 14:26
THE COUNSELOR, THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME, WILL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS AND WILL REMIND YOU OF EVERYTHING I HAVE SAID TO YOU.
His peace flows from His Word.
LUKE 2:13-14
SUDDENLY A GREAT COMPANY OF THE HEAVENLY HOST APPEARED WITH THE ANGEL, PRAISING GOD AND SAYING, 14 "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE TO MEN ON WHOM HIS FAVOR RESTS."
Simeon leaves for us a legacy of faith – faith that was Rooted in Scripture, Resulted in Serenity and…
3. Required for Salvation—
LUKE 2:30
FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOUR SALVATION…
This was the long awaited consolation of Israel. It has been more than 400 years since the prophets spoke – at long last salvation had come.
Simeon would not have seen the Consolation of Israel had he not believed in what God’s Word said.
Habakkuk 2:4
The righteous will live by his faith
Simeon was a man who knew what it was to live by his faith.
The very reason that Jesus came was to bring salvation not only to the Jew but also to the Gentile…
LUKE 2:30-32
FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOUR SALVATION,
31 WHICH YOU HAVE PREPARED IN THE SIGHT OF ALL PEOPLE,
32 A LIGHT FOR REVELATION TO THE GENTILES
AND FOR GLORY TO YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL."
The light was dawning…
JOHN 1:9-12
THE TRUE LIGHT THAT GIVES LIGHT TO EVERY MAN WAS COMING INTO THE WORLD. 10 HE WAS IN THE WORLD, AND THOUGH THE WORLD WAS MADE THROUGH HIM, THE WORLD DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM. 11 HE CAME TO THAT WHICH WAS HIS OWN, BUT HIS OWN DID NOT RECEIVE HIM. 12 YET TO ALL WHO RECEIVED HIM, TO THOSE WHO BELIEVED IN HIS NAME, HE GAVE THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD
Salvation was not to the noble of birth, nor to those with the right bloodline. Salvation was come to any who believed.
Simeon leaves for us a legacy of faith – faith that was
Rooted in Scripture,
Resulted in Serenity,
Required for Salvation
