Take your Bibles for the last time in 2024 and go with us back to Luke chapter 2 as we are going to look at our final sermon in our December series, which has been called Good News of Great Joy. We have so far looked at Luke chapter one at Mary's song as the angel Gabriel revealed to her that she would be giving birth as a virgin to the Messiah, the long-awaited Messiah. And then we also looked in chapter one at Zachariah's song of prophecy as he held his miracle son, John, in his hand and sang this song of prophecy with great joy, anticipating the Messiah that his son, John, would be the forerunner of. And then last Sunday, we looked at the birth of Jesus and the angels' announcement to the shepherds from Luke chapter to and the great joy that this news brought them, brought those that were aware of it in that time and also brought joy to the entire world. As prophesied by Micah, the prophet Jesus being the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, which meant a sovereign plan of God had to happen to get Joseph and Mary from their hometown of Nazareth about 90 miles or 70 miles away to Bethlehem. And so today we come to the days following the birth of Jesus. A lot of times when the nativity scene goes away and the Christmas season has come to a close, there's so much more about Jesus that we need to remember. And oftentimes we stop with where we left off. We leave him in a manger, but the truth is that he grew as a boy, he became a man, as we talked about on Christmas Eve, especially he came to die for our sins. The details before us today are the days following the birth of Jesus. They are only recorded in the Gospels by Luke. And so I want to encourage you one more time, if you're able to, to stand with me for the reading of God's word. We'll be looking at verses 21 through 38 of Luke chapter 2. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, His name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses was accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation or the comfort of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ or the Messiah. And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, or let me go ahead and die. Verse 30, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. And for a sign which shall be spoken against, yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser. She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four score and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Father, again, as we come to your word, we marvel at your sovereign divine plan to bring Jesus to this earth. Lord, I pray that today as we continue this story where many times we don't read further past where we were last week, I pray God that you would speak to us through this great text, through the prophecy of Simeon and Anna and Lord, the response of Joseph and Mary I pray, Lord, that you would speak to our hearts and help us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. In Christ's name we pray, amen. You may be seated. Last week as we left off, you remember the shepherds went back to their shepherd fields with a song of praise in their hearts and on their lips, and many times that is it. put away Luke chapter 2, don't we? We don't read further than that. We put away the nativity scene and we put away this whole story until next December when we resurrect it again at Christmas time. Really, that is how the world in which we live would like to keep Jesus, kind of tucked away in a manger as a baby. But the truth is that he grew. He grew as a boy. He grew as a man. There's more to the story. The narrative continues. And so what we see in this section before us today, which is One of my favorite sections, Simeon, one of my favorite characters in the Bible, we see several responses to the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, and they serve, of course, as examples for you and I. And I wanna just give you four words this morning, all right? Just write down maybe there in your Bible, I don't know if there's a... A blank note sheet in your bulletin, but there in the text this morning, I want you to just write down four words to remember in response to the birth of the Messiah. Number one is this, the word obedience. Obedience. The first response that we see in verses 21 through 24 is a response from Joseph and Mary. We saw last week that the Bible said that Mary pondered these things that she had just experienced. The responsibility, she kept them in her heart. The things about how she was going to raise God in the flesh. who would not only be her son, but would also be her savior. And now we read that Joseph and Mary are obedient, notice, to God's law. And you will see that phrase mentioned three times, verse 22, verse 23, verse 24. You will see the little phrase, the law. We see that they faithfully circumcised Jesus on the eighth day and they named him as had been instructed by Gabriel that we see in Matthew's record of this. As he came to Joseph, he said that his name would be called Jesus, which reminds us of the mission of Jesus Christ. It says, because he will save his people from their sins. And so, They circumcise him according to the law. They name him Jesus in obedience to the revelation that God had given them. And then in verses 22 through 24, they fulfill the purification and the presentation requirements in the temple. You see, Jesus came to deliver his people and part of that delivering was that he was born under the law and he obeyed the commands of the law. He is the only human, he is the only person ever born that was, as we sang this morning, completely holy. without any sin found in him. Galatians chapter four, verse four and five says this, but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman, notice this phrase, made under the law, why? To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. And we're also told in Matthew chapter five that he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. Jesus certainly broke religious traditions. He broke man-made regulations and rules, but Jesus never broke the law of God. And what we see here in our text is that even before Jesus could knowingly keep the law, that Mary and Joseph carefully followed the law regarding him by his circumcision and naming him on the cross. the eighth day. This was Mary and Joseph's statement of faith that they were going to follow God's law, God's word, relating to the Abrahamic covenant. Meanwhile, back in Nazareth, where Joseph and Mary are from, they are certainly looked down upon with this illegitimate child in their presence But no matter what the people say, no matter what the people think, no matter what the people believe, they are committed to identifying their son, who they know to be the Messiah, with the law of God, with the people of God, with the word of God, with the will of God. Look, make note of this, we are reminded here that responding to Christ begins with obedience. Responding to Christ begins with obedience. Like Mary and Joseph, we also are called to live in submission to God's law, God's word at large, which we now have in completion. And I wanna just ask you this morning, as we look at their commitment to the law of God, I wonder how committed are we today to the obedience of God's word? What priority does God's law, God's word have in our lives? How much time do we give to the reading, to the studying, to the meditating, to the memorizing of God's word, getting it into our hearts and our heads? This is, of course, one of the fundamentals, one of the basics, one of the things that all of us need in our Christian journey. We are reminded in Deuteronomy, listen, that Sunday is not the only time that we should come together to open God's word. that when we rise in the morning, that the word of God should be before us and in our hearts and in our minds, that as we go throughout our day, that the word of God should be in our hearts and minds. As we lay down at night, it is the word of God, God's law that should permeate our hearts and our minds. Psalmist said in Psalm 119 verse 11, thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee, against God. I think one of the obvious reasons that so many people struggle with sin is because God's law and God's word is not a part of their everyday life. The psalmist also said in that great chapter, the longest chapter in the Bible, much of it, most of it about the word of God. It says, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his ways by taking heed according to thy word. I love Psalm 19, verse seven through 11, that says, the law or the word of God, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, the statutes of the Lord. The statutes of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. And then he says this, more to be desired are they than gold. We as Christians ought to desire the word of God more than we do money, more than we do possessions, more than we do food. He says, moreover by them as thy servant warned, and in keeping of them, keeping of thy law, there is great reward. Paul says to Timothy, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God. And so Joseph and Mary give a great example in regards to the obedience to God's law and the naming of Jesus. So we see the obedience in response to the Messiah's birth. Second word, second thing I want you to jot down is the word worship. Not only obedience, but worship. And we have seen this several times going throughout Luke one and two. A larger portion of the text that we just read covers the worship of Jesus led by this man described in our text as a just or a righteous and devout man, a man named Simeon who had been waiting for the consolation or the comfort of Israel. Simeon was very familiar, of course, with the prophecies of Isaiah concerning the consummation, the comfort of the Messiah that he would bring to his people. And he is, as I said, one of my favorite Bible characters and an odd guy, perhaps. There's not anything else that we read about him other than what is written here in our text. And I just kind of imagine reading into Simeon that he was probably somebody that people kind of thought was a little crazy. This layman that kind of hung around the temple with this prophecy, with this idea after, remember where they were, remember it had been 400 years since they had a prophet to even speak. It had been a time of silence to say the least. Of course, now all these things are happening, and here comes Simeon, this man who says that God has told him that he is not going to die until he sees with his own eyes the Messiah. The name Simeon means hearkening or listening, and evidently, according to verse number 26, Simeon was listening to the Spirit of God, to the Holy Ghost. We're not sure how old he was or how long he had waited, but seemingly he is an older man and he's hanging on to this promise from God that he cannot die. Listen, he cannot die before meeting the Messiah. And let me just stop here and say this. No one should desire to die without meeting the Messiah. without coming into a time and place in your life where you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, because five seconds after you and I die, that will be the only thing that matters is what we did with Jesus Christ. Simeon is one who has been declared righteous by God and who lives a life that's cautious and careful to honor and obey God. That's his character. And so his response to seeing Jesus again was worship and thanksgiving. And I love verse 20, 80. He just goes over to where Joseph and Mary are in the temple And he picks up this baby, this firstborn son of a teenage mother, the long-awaited Messiah, and perhaps with tears in his eyes and no doubt with great joy in his heart, he sings a two-stanza song. One is personal and then the other one is prophetic. Personally, he says, I have seen the Messiah with my eyes and God, if you wanna take me now, that's fine with me. And I don't know about you, but I just love to be around people. We have some of them in our church who they are just ready to go. They're just waiting on God to take them. Brother Noel tells me all the time that he's surprised every morning when he wakes up that he's still here. that he prays every night, God, I'm ready if you're ready. But let me say, you can only say that, you can only say that if you have made peace with God. If you have accepted him as your savior. The truth is, is that you should be afraid to die if you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus. There's a world out there beyond this one, and those who know the Savior have been given this incredible promise, as Jesus said in John 11, 25. He said, I am the resurrection and the life, and he that believes in me, though he dies in this life, yet shall he live. Shall he live again. And then we see the awesome prophetic stanza in verses 30 and 32. Look at it once more. Verse 30, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou has prepared before the face, mark this, of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles. How many of you are thankful for that truth? A light, he's come as a light to give light to the Gentiles and the glory of thy people, Israel. In other words, Jesus is a Messiah that is offering salvation, not just to the Jewish people, but to the whole world. And Simeon praises Jesus as a light for revelation to the Gentiles and a glory to Israel. We've mentioned this throughout this series, but worship is a natural overflow of recognizing who Jesus is and what he has done in fulfilling his promises. And that's what we witnessed again here in Simeon's song. prophetic song of praise. So the first word is what? Obedience, say it good and loud, is what? Obedience. The second word is what? Worship. Obedience, worship. The third word I want you to see here is witness. Obedience, worship, witness. This third response is also demonstrated or exemplified to us by Simeon in this prophetic witness. He declares Not only that this Messiah will be a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel, but notice what he also says in verses 33 through 35, that Jesus will cause the fall and the rise of many and he will be spoken against. This speaks to the division that this Messiah will bring. This speaks to the dividing line that this Messiah who is born will bring depending on whether you accept him or reject him. He will bring salvation for those who would receive him as the gift of salvation. And he will bring judgment for those who receive him not. Jesus would later make this point in his own teachings recorded in Matthew's gospel chapter 12 and verse 30 and Luke's gospel chapter 11 verse 23, where he says, he that is not with me or he that is not for me is what? Against me. You're either for him or you are against him, he became. the one who would divide the lines. And so Simeon's prophecy is that Jesus is going to be a turning point. And based upon how people respond to him, some are going to rise and some are going to fall, but he is going to be the determiner of destinies. Simeon is stating what Isaiah had prophesied from Isaiah chapter 8 verses 14 and 15 when he says, and he, speaking of the Messiah, shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a djinn or a trap. for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken and be snared and be taken." And by the way, as we read on the Gospels, looking at the life of Jesus, that's exactly what happened, isn't it? He was rejected time and time again until we come to the end of the Gospels and we stand there as Mary stands there at the foot of the cross. The nation as a whole turns against him and conspires with the Romans to have him executed. And only a small group believed, only a small remnant, a fateful remnant would rise and the rest would fall over the rock of offense and the stone of stumbling. Then Mary's suffering, notice in the prophecy that Mary's suffering as the mother of the Messiah is also foretold. Not only does he say that Jesus is gonna be a dividing point, there's gonna be separation as some fall away and some rise, but there will also be opposition. And so he speaks here to Mary directly. I think it's important to note that he doesn't include Joseph in this address. No doubt Joseph probably, as far as we know, died before Jesus got into his adult ministry. We never read about Joseph during Jesus's earthly ministry. We don't read about him at the cross. You remember at the cross that Jesus gives the responsibility of his mother Mary to John. And so here Simeon speaks directly to Mary. And he says this, look at verse 35, a sword, will pierce your own soul. A sword will pierce your own soul. He is effectively preparing Mary for a difficult life as the Messiah's mother. Now look, imagine this. The Bible's just told us that she has pondered all these things that have just happened. She has just given birth to the Messiah, an angel has come to her, an angel has come to Joseph, an angel has come to the shepherds in the shepherd fields, an angel has come to Simeon. We're gonna see in a moment that Anna also prophesies of this great coming. Her heart must be full of joy in anticipation of the Messiah, but now Simeon has a word for her, and that is that although you have given birth to the Messiah, that your life will also become a life of sorrow and pain. And the truth is that as Jesus grew, Mary did experience more and more sorrow until the day that she stood there at the cross watching her own son be crucified. Jesus became the divisive figure in history. And listen, people are either going to hate him or love him. They're either going to accept him and support him or stumble over him. And this must have been difficult for Mary to hear. Look at verse 34. This child will be assigned to be opposed. They're going to reject him. They're going to oppose him violently. And again, this is a reminder to all of us that we must make a choice regarding Jesus. There is no neutrality. Simeon's prophecy calls on people to examine their hearts. What have you done with Jesus? Verse 35 says, the thoughts of many will be revealed. And then for you and I, as the followers of Jesus Christ, it is also a reminder that we must be willing to boldly proclaim the truth of Jesus, even when it is met with opposition. What have you done with Jesus? What have you done with him in salvation? But even after salvation, what are we doing with him on an everyday life? The first word this morning is what? Obedience. The second word is worship. The third word is witness. The fourth and final word is devotion. Devotion. This devotion to the Messiah is demonstrated for us by a prophetess named Anna. The text tells us that she had been married as a virgin. History records most of these girls, including Mary, married somewhere around 13, 14 years old most of the time. She is married seven years, the text tells us. Somehow her husband dies, we're not told how, but it does say that she has now been widowed for decades. But I want you to notice something about Anna, that she devoted herself to the worship and fasting and prayer. She gives herself to the Lord in great devotion. She's a tremendous example for all women, to widows specifically. She had spent her life in one of the temple apartments that were there, no doubt dedicating her life to service and care that she could provide to the temple, to the women who would come. And she responds with great devotion, great commitment to the Lord. And notice once more, verse 38, her response, and she coming in that instant gave Thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all of them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Her immediate response to seeing Jesus was to give thanks and to speak of him to others. Again, imagine here is Joseph and Mary coming to do, to be obedient to what God has called them to do with Jesus. Here is Simeon who comes and looks at this baby and holds this baby and prophesies over this baby. And then there is Anna who no doubt was a a constant figure in the temple, well-known, and perhaps Simeon calls her over there, and there's this little group that are giving thanks and speaking to others. I wish there was another verse or another few verses here that says that a crowd gathered around and they began to sing praises to the Messiah and they began to acknowledge the Messiah, but there doesn't seem to be a crowd. We're not told of a crowd. The church was first established as you read on into the New Testament on the day of Pentecost, after all of Jesus's ministry, after he was born, after he's prophesied that he would be born of a virgin, after he was born of a virgin, after he was raised, after his earthly ministry, after he died, after he rose victorious from the grave, as we get to Acts, following his resurrection in the upper room, There's not a large mass of people there. There's 120 followers of Jesus Christ there. It was always a very small group really looking for the Messiah. And here we are in the temple, the place where they had taught repeatedly about the coming of the Messiah, where people would get up and teach about the Messiah. And look at this, here he is. Here is the Messiah in their temple. Here is the Messiah being prophesied over by Simeon and Anna. But the majority of the people do not seem to be gauged in the birth of the Messiah. People were busy. They had stuff to do. And they took no notice of the one who represented every aspect of everything in the temple because this little baby that was in the temple was the bread on the showbread table. He was the light on the candelabra. He was the lamb dying for sins. He was the high priest interceding for sinners. He was the veil that would be torn and allow all who believe in him to enter into the presence of the everlasting God. But no one there, except for, as far as we know, Joseph and Mary and Simeon and Anna. It was the beginning of this type of response, wasn't it? It was the beginning of the majority of the people who would not recognize Him as the Messiah, which is why we're told in Matthew chapter 7 verse 22, that one day it says, many, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Why? Because he wasn't what they wanted him to be. It was not what they anticipated him to be. And so, as John tells us, his own received him not. But to many as did receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons and daughters of God, the children of God. And Jesus was the determiner of destinies. What we do with him determines our destiny. So I say with the writer of Hebrews this morning, Hebrews 3 verse 15 says, while it is said, today, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. If today the Holy Spirit is convicting your heart, if today the Holy Spirit is drawing you to himself, time is running out. Maybe you are on up in years, maybe you have been religious, maybe you have, been in church but you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, turning in repentance from your good works, from your sin and putting your faith in Him and Him alone. If you are not saved, if you don't know that you're saved, can I encourage you today to come in just a moment and to invite Christ into your heart, into your life and to trust Him as your Savior and your Lord. And then Christian, let me ask you this morning, are you given to the priority of God's word in your life? Are you given to his word as your life? Let me ask you this, is your life described as a life of worship? We've talked about that a lot in this month. Is your life described as a life of devotion? And is his word and his will the priority of our lives? These are four responses to the birth of the Messiah. Obedience, worship, witness, and devotion are those things as we examine our own hearts that we can see in our hearts and lives today. Let's bow our heads and close in prayer. Father, thank you for this great text, one that is very rarely mentioned or preached about, a lot of times just left off because it's not part of the traditional Christmas story, and yet it is very much a part of the Christmas story. Lord, I pray this morning that your Holy Spirit would draw people to you. I pray that even right now that we would not be preoccupied with other things, but in the quietness of this moment, That we as either believers or unbelievers would just say simply, Spirit of God, speak to me this morning. Show me my need in my life. And Lord, I pray that you would do just that. I pray that for Christians here, you would show us, Lord, our need of greater obedience, greater worship, greater devotion. And Lord, for anyone that is here today that is lost, we pray that they would come to faith in you today. Perhaps for those that are watching, Lord, that have never trusted you, I pray that today would be the day that they reach out to someone and they can know how they can be saved. We pray all this in Christ's precious name. Amen.