Turn with me if you would. This evening, as the Lord may enable us to portion of God's word that we read together in the gospel according to Luke chapter two, we'll read the words that we have in verse 32. A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. This morning we look to Genesis chapter one. And God said, let there be light. And there was light. The very first words that you hear written in the scriptures verse 3 of chapter 1. And God said nine times, God said in Genesis chapter 1, and God said, and God said. But the very first God said in the whole of Scripture is, let there be light. And there was light. And we saw this morning much of what Genesis, even the first three verses of Genesis, teaches us about revelation. teaches us about many things about where this world has come from. Men can just make their theories out of. As we said, science tells you what you see just now, knowledge. To go back, as they say, four million years or four billion years is just theory. But we come to the Bible this evening and it tells us As the Apostle Paul says, we believe by faith, we believe and understand that the worlds were created out of nothing by the Word of God. So this evening we want to carry on our thoughts regarding verse three of Genesis. God said, let there be light. You come to the beginning of the New Testament and we have verses here right at the beginning of the New Testament when Christ is taken to the temple in order to fulfill the law of Moses. The testimony concerning him is a light to lighten the Gentiles. Light has arisen upon this earth. John begins that way, doesn't he? He is the light of the world. Light has come into this darkness, but men prefer and love darkness rather than light. they will reject the light. Here we have words, a light to lighten the Gentiles on the lips of this man, Simeon, wonderful man, Simeon, found in the temple. What do we learn then this evening from these verses? Well, we learn the same thing as we do from Genesis chapter one, the unity of God's word. the unity of God's Word. You go to verses 22 onwards, we read there that when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name is called Jesus, on the days of our purification according to the law of Moses. It says there in verse 22, according to the law of Moses. Verse 23, as it is written in the law of the Lord. Verse 24, to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord. We are told why Jesus has been taken to the temple. It is to fulfill the law of the Lord. What's the law of the Lord? It's to fulfill the law of the Old Testament. To fulfill the ceremonial law that was given to Moses in the Old Testament. That tells you that the New Testament and the Old Testament are like two hands coming together and uniting as one. The Old Testament foretelling, by its law and everything else, foretelling the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the New Testament, is actual coming. And even as early on as the time when he is taken, as we are told here when the child was eight days old, we are being shown that he is fulfilling the Old Testament law. Jesus says, I came not to finish the law. He didn't say he came to finish it. He didn't say he came to put an end to it. He said, I came to fulfill it. His coming is the fulfilling of the law. Once again, we are seeing the unity that there is between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Just as in Genesis chapter 1 verse 8 says, speaks about the light, God commanding the light in creation, now at the beginning of the New Testament, light comes into this world. It's wonderful, isn't it? There's no different dispensations that you go through. As we said in the morning, revelation is like a stream. It begins in Genesis chapter 1, and it begins to flow. And in that revelation, God is adding to that river all the time. Streams are coming in. The fall of man. Why is there sin in the world? It's revelation. God's revealing why. Why are all these calamities taking place in the world? Why is there 9-11? Go back to Genesis. Fall of man, and you're told why. Is there hope for mankind? Well, it begins in Genesis 3, where the gospel is proclaimed. And that gospel is unfolded all the way down the Old Testament. More and more is being revealed. This river is widening and deepening all the time until you come to the final revelation of all, the word himself. In Genesis, we saw the spirit hovering upon the water and then we saw God by his word creating all things. We are told that God creates by his word, Jesus Christ. And now Him who is the Word appears as the greatest revelation of all, a fulfilling of all the revelations that you have seen in the Old Testament. So that when you come to Genesis, this river, it's one river. You don't come here, then there's a new dispensation. Then you come here, then there's a new dispensation. Even coming to the New Testament, there's not a new dispensation. It's the same river right through. It's like hand and glove. The Old Testament and the New Testament, hand and glove. Same church, the Old Testament as in the New Testament. The same Savior, the Old Testament and in the New Testament, Jesus Christ. The same way of salvation in the Old Testament as in the New Testament, salvation by faith alone, not by works. All these things uniting the two together. And here you find at the beginning of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, that unity is set out before you so clearly When at eight years of age he is taken to the temple, for what purpose? That he may fulfill the law of Moses. Verse 22, according to the law of Moses, were to be accomplished. Verse 23, as it is written in the law of the Lord. Verse 24, to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves and two young pigeons. He is fulfilling the law. How wonderful that is, that it brings about a unity, not just of revelation, but a unity in providence. Providence is unified in bringing this to pass. You look at the providence of the Old Testament. Everything in Providence down through from the time when it says in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, in the beginning God created. Right down to the end of Malachi and in the beginning of Matthew, the Lord Jesus, this child Jesus is taken into the temple at eight years of age. The whole of Providence is united. and bringing this very fact, bringing this to pass. Do you think it is an accident of history that Simeon happens to be in Jerusalem? Do you think it's mere act of providence that his parents bring him at this time when there is a Simeon there? My friend, nothing. In providence, is mere accident in history. The whole of history has been pointing to this time. Why do we know that? Because of revelation. The revelation that was given to Adam in Genesis 3, 15, the seed of the woman shall crush the head of the serpent. There is a promise there. And now that promise is coming to pass. It has been revealed by the Lord down through these many generations, through Abraham, that all the nations of the earth would be blessed. To David, that one would reign in his stead, whose kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom. This child that enters into this temple, at eight years of age, does so in accordance with the law of Moses, in accordance with the law of the Old Testament, that is telling us the unity of revelation and therefore the unity of providence. Everything will come to pass according to that which will glorify God. How wonderful, then. We find that there is that unity which is set before us. But also, the second thing that we even saw this morning, not just the unity of Revelation, but the progression of Revelation, the progression of divine revelation. This time was first prophesied, as I've said, way back in Genesis 3. It has been prophesied and spoken of down through the hundreds of years and thousands of years before in the writings of Moses, in the writings of the prophets, in the Psalms. It's all been prophesied. God did not, at the time of the fall, immediately come and reveal everything. And that's shown to you when you come to the Lord entering into the temple. Because what do you find? What do you find there? Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and about. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for the Messiah. The consolation of Israel is another name for the Christ of God. He was there waiting. Why was he waiting? Because he believed the promise. He believed what God had already revealed. God had revealed this down over many years at different times. Paul puts it this way, and he's opening to the Hebrews, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners speak unto the fathers by the prophets. In other words, different times, different ways, God had spoken to the prophets about this very moment. And Simeon believed these promises. Simeon believed what God said. Simeon is waiting for the consolation of Israel because he was a man of faith. He was a man of faith. Think of the type of man that Simeon was. What a man we have written of here. His name was Simeon. We don't know. People speculate as to who this Simeon is. The fact is, we don't know exactly who this Simeon is. If it was important that we knew who Simeon was, then we would have been told that. We are just told a man whose name was Simeon. But this is the important thing about this man. He was a just and a devout man. In his relations to God and his relations to his fellow man, he was just and he was devout. And he was waiting for the Messiah. What a wonderful description we have. And not only that, he had the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. He was a man who had the Holy Spirit. There we go, back to Genesis, don't we? Before there's light, before the light comes, here's the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember we had, merchefet is the word for the Holy Spirit over the waters in verse two of Genesis. It's hovering, it's brooding. In other words, although there is darkness and there is void there and there is nothing there, the Holy Spirit is hovering. Life is about to, something's about to happen. You see? Now, Simeon wasn't a man in darkness, he was a man in you, but he had the Spirit, and now he was greatly blessed because the Holy Spirit said to him and revealed to him that he would not see death until he saw the Lord's Christ, until he saw the Messiah, the one whom he was waiting for. I'll stop there just for a moment. Do you look for the day when you see the risen Christ? You're looking for the day when you will see Christ? You may not see Him come into this world, but God's people will see Him one day. They're told that. John says that. We will see. We don't know what we shall be like, but we shall see Him and we shall be like Him. Whatever that will be like. was awaiting the day when he would see the Christ of God. And he was given a promise that he would. He lived in that day when the Holy Spirit would speak directly to this man of God. But for all that this man had, For all that he was a godly man, a devout man, a man that was a just man, a man that was looking for the blessings of the Lord, yet there was something more that he desired and wanted. There was something else that he required, and that was to actually see the Christ. God richly blessed him and said, you will see Christ. That's telling you that Revelation is progressive. Even when Simeon had reached the point that he had reached in a day of darkness, in a day of small things, here was a man who was devout. Here was a man that waited for the consolation of Israel. Here was a man who had the Holy Spirit, yet there was something extra, something more that he could reach for. That was to see Christ himself, to see the Messiah that had been prophesied. That was the crowning glory. It was revealed unto him that he should not see death until he should see Christ of the Lord. Revelation is progressive. Even Simeon had another step to take. But yet the third thing we notice is that even though revelation is progressive, and it was always progressive, it begins with God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Then it progresses to the fact that the waters were dark and void, and the Holy Spirit hovered above it. Then it progressed to light. Genesis 1 progressing bit by bit, revealing to us all these wonderful truths, and then the Old Testament progressing down through the Old Testament. Yet, in every time, from the time of the fall, from the Adam's fall and the time of the time the gospel is first proclaimed, there is a sufficiency. for all that hear it. It does not mean to say that because revelation progresses down through the Old Testament, that somehow it wasn't sufficient for those who heard it, and that it wasn't a means of joy to everyone that heard it. Simeon here rejoices. He's going to see the Christ. My friend, go back in the day of Adam. Adam could have been destroyed immediately like that. But what hope the Lord gave to him when he preached the gospel to him. When he slew an animal and gave him a covering, there was hope. And there was sufficient hope there for Adam. in his day, such that even Enoch, now it must have rejoiced the heart of Adam to see Enoch, who walked with God. How was he able to walk with God? Because he had sufficient knowledge and he was taken up without even seeing death. He was received up into heaven. Enoch walked with God. And he was not, because God took him. There was sufficient in the revelation that was given to Adam that Enoch was wonderfully saved. There was sufficient in the revelation given to Noah that when the flood came, God saved him. And God gave him a wonderful sign that must have rejoiced his heart. Rainbow in the sky. God's covenant sign to Noah. Never again will a flood come upon the face of the earth. Here's the sign, Noah. A rainbow in the sky. A wonderful blessing indeed. And then you move on in Revelation, you come down to Jacob. Jacob at the end of his days, what a wonderful A wonderful picture you have of Jacob. We're taken into the deathbed scene of Jacob. Think of that. The Bible takes us into the death, takes a curtain back from the death of none other than Jacob himself, one of the great patriarchs of Israel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Think of what's been revealed to Jacob. The Christ has not come. They looked for the day of the coming of Christ, but there was sufficient revealed to Jacob that the curtain can be taken back from his deathbed scene when Jacob calls his children in before him. And he pronounces a blessing on every one of them. And think of the great blessing when he comes to Judah. And you, Judah, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his knees until the Messiah come. There was sufficient in that blessing to know that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. A sufficient blessing from Jacob. that after he had given the blessing to all these, his children, he lifted his legs up on the bed and he died. A sufficient blessing indeed. And that is true throughout the whole of the Old Testament. There was a sufficient blessing right throughout the whole of the Old Testament. Even though it was progressive, What was revealed was sufficient for the day in which it was revealed. But now, Simeon is in the temple, and now what is really needed is the ultimate revelation of Messiah. And Simeon beholds this child, and such is his joy and blessing that he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, now let thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. Sufficient, my friend. No Old Testament saint or no Old Testament Jew be able to say there was insufficient revelation made of the way of salvation. And we live in the New Testament. Has revelation, does it proceed? Well, the written revelation has ceased. We have all the revelation we need because it's not just that says, and the Lord and God said, let there be light. But the very Word itself has come into this world. Who is lying? There is no further revelation. God has spoken by his Son. End of story. But does that mean to say that the revelation that the Christian now has nothing more to look to? My friend, we have got to look forward to the fulfilling of all that revelation that has been revealed. The Old Testament saint could look forward to the coming of Christ. And no matter when they were, whatever historical situation they were found in, no matter what had been revealed, one thing was true, that Messiah, the seed of the woman, would come and would crush the head of the serpent. And they desired that day. They looked to that day. The true Israelite, the true Jew, was always looking for the coming of Christ. And my friend, the true Christian is looking for the coming of Christ today. Not the first coming. He has come. But the Christian is looking for the second coming of Christ. Because that is what has been revealed to us. That has been what has been clearly set before us. That same Christ who has raised up in glory will come again in similar manner. The same Christ. The same Christ who was crucified will one day return. So while the Old Testament saint is looking forward, so the New Testament saint is looking forward. And he's looking forward because of what has been revealed by God himself. Not the theories of men. Not what man thinks. Man thinks the world's four billion years old, some kind of theory of evolution. What nonsense. The fool does say in his heart, there's no God. But the Bible tells us that of the unity of the revelation, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the progression of that revelation, and the sufficiency of that revelation, no matter what time one finds oneself to be. Our text also speaks about light. What is the revelation that is spoken of here? What revelation are we talking about? A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. A light to lighten the Gentiles. This is God's light. Remember going back to Genesis, God said, let there be light. And there was light. Here you come to the beginning of the New Testament, what is God saying again? Let there be light. And there is light. Light has come into the world. God has sent his own beloved son, who is the light of the world. No wonder Simeon lifts up this child in his arms and said, and blessed God, now let those thy servant depart in peace. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. You would have thought he would have said, my salvation. Mine eyes have seen my salvation. He doesn't say that. He says, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Thy salvation. Notice the Holy Spirit. It is the man that has the Spirit of God that has now been revealed by the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit that hovered upon the face of the deep and the darkness is now revealing the light of the world. And notice this is light that has been prepared. This is not as dispensationalists will say. Dispensationalists will tell you, outright dispensationalism will say to you, God has lost control. The Gentiles have been brought in and that's never God's purpose. God's purpose is for Israel as a nation. Nonsense. Nonsense. God never loses control. Christ came into this world, and we are told here, thou hast prepared before the face of all people. When has God prepared this life? This is life that has come into the world. When has God prepared this life? He's prepared it in the councils of eternity, before this earth was ever in being, before time in eternity. in the councils of eternity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, manifestly between the Father and the Son, the councils of eternity, and the covenant of redemption, where the Son has agreed in covenant with the Father that he will come into this world. He is the light of the world. and he will give himself for his people. He has been prepared from all eternity. But he's been prepared in all the signs and shadows of the Old Testament. What was Genesis 3, 15? The seed of the woman shall crush the head of the servant. That is but preparing the way for the coming of Christ. all the promises, all the shadows. What was the temple or the tabernacle with the altar, with the shedding of blood at the altar of burnt offering, where the high priest would go into the holy place and then into the most holy place and sprinkle the blood upon the altar? What is that? It is the promises and the shadows of the Old Testament preparing the way for the coming of Christ. All the promises, all the shadows, the rainbow, the offerings, all the words of the prophets who spoke of the coming Messiah, who spoke about how he would be a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, how he would be born in Bethlehem of a virgin. What are all these promises? God preparing. Thou hast prepared before the face of all people. In other words, he has revealed this. What God could reveal things like that? What book could ever reveal the things of the coming of Christ? Well, God can forecast and tell you that Cyrus is going to be raised up 150 years before Cyrus is even there, before he's even ever born. Isaiah is speaking about Cyrus the king who would be raised up and who would be a shepherd to God's people. God is preparing the light to come into this dark world. dark world. What is that? It's before all men. You see, he's preparing this, but he's preparing it that it would be ultimately before the face of all men, that we can read today, before all pure and gentle, we can read today of all the things that God has done in preparing the coming of Messiah. appearing before the face of all men. Takes you back to Isaiah chapter 9. Think of the words of the prophet Isaiah. And you see something of that in chapter nine in verse two. Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, and afterwards did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea beyond Jordan and Galilee of the nations. Galilee of the nations is in dimness. It's under attack. Roman domination will bring a darkness and a dimness over beyond Jordan and Galilee of the nations. But what will happen? The people there that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light hath shined in Galilee. Down in Galilee, a place where there's a mixture between Jews and Gentiles. They're away from Jerusalem. They're in the shadow of death. They're only in a shadow. That God would come and a light would rise up in Galilee. And they would see a great light. They would witness a great light. How often does the old Testament prophesy that when Christ comes, it will be a blessing not just to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. A light to lighten the Gentiles. It will burst forth even out of Galilee. It will burst forth out of Jerusalem itself, and it will go forth unto the ends of the earth. Ah, what a wonderful picture you have there. You move on then to, for example, the Apostle Paul. Remember how Paul left Antioch? Antioch in Syria. Then he went through Cyprus. Went over with Barnabas onto Cyprus. Barnabas was from Cyprus. It was actually very good. He was from there, you see. Then they came through Cyprus. They left Cyprus, and then they come up to Antioch. Antioch up in the north, a separate Antioch. Paul was preaching Antioch in Pisidia, Pisidia up in the north. And he went as his wont was into the synagogue. That's where Paul went first of all. This is the glory of thy people Israel, is the fact that the gospel first came to Jerusalem. Wherever Paul went, he went first and foremost to the synagogue. When he's there, he preached about the Old Testament. He preached about how God, his sermon there. And he preached about Christ, how Christ had risen from the dead. But listen what he again says, for so he says, hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles. That's the Apostle Paul. He's to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and they glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. The apostle preached to the Gentiles, and he would be a light to the Gentiles. The Gentiles would be called out of darkness into his marvelous light, even as the Jews are called out of darkness into his marvelous light. That's what the gospel is doing just now, isn't it? When the gospel is preached, you are being called out of darkness. The darkness of unbelief, the darkness of believing evolution, atheism, the darkness of the world, the flesh, and the devil, the darkness of spiritual death, You are called by God's grace out of darkness into his marvelous light. That God would shine the knowledge of the glory of God and that we would behold the glory of God in the face of his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the light of the world. It's as though this world is lying in darkness. It's like when you go to Egypt, and remember when the children of Israel were in Egypt, there they are in Goshen, and God brings a judgment upon Egypt. And what happens? Egypt is darkened. It's like the lights are turned out. But down in Goshen, there's light. There it is. There's light with God's people. And that was true with all the plagues. So that was all true with all the plagues. It affected all the Egyptians, but there were God's people in the middle. They were saved. The only one it didn't apply to was death of the firstborn. Because death, not even that could prevent death. Only one thing could prevent death. That's the blood. They had to shelter under the blood. But when it came to darkness, there's Egypt in total darkness. No light. There's down in Goshen, the Lord's people in daylight. Well, that's the way the world is, you see. That's the way the unbelieving world is, is in darkness. There are many, many, many, the majority in this nation, they're in darkness. Spiritual darkness. Spiritual darkness. And what's needed? Spiritual light. the light of the glory of God, which you find in the face of Jesus Christ, his son. John intimates that right at the beginning. Remember, we go back, Genesis, like John, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word is God, nothing was created without him, he is the light of the world. There it is, following the same pattern, the light of the world. and the glory of thy people Israel. My friend, what do you think? You know what the Pharisees thought? The glory of the Pharisees was that they looked back. And they looked back to Father Abraham and they thought their glory was that temporarily they were Abraham's seed. Abraham is our father. That didn't. protect them when God's judgment came. Jerusalem was destroyed. They missed altogether the glory of Israel. The glory of Israel was the Messiah that was in their midst, that was seen in types and shadows, that was seen in all these types and shadows of the Old Testament. That was their glory. He was their glory. And they completely missed it. Simeon didn't. Simeon saw the glory of Israel in this child. He was the one alone that was their ultimate glory. And my friend, what's true of the Jews is true of the Gentiles. What is the glory of our nation? Where do you find the glory of our nation today? There's nothing glorious about our nation. In the political sphere, there's absolutely nothing that's glorious. In the moral sphere, there is absolutely nothing that's glorious. In the political sphere, the moral sphere, the social sphere, there is absolutely nothing glorious. Let me ask you this. What is there in your life that's glorious? The ultimate glory is Jesus Christ. He is the glory. He is the light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel. And if you have any other glory than Jesus Christ, then you should go and get rid of it because it is worthless. It is absolutely worthless. You think you're going to come before God at the end of the day and say, look at my glory. Look what I've done. You know what you'll be? You'll be in one hand with all the goals. Apart from me, I never knew you. But if your glory is the glory of Israel, my people. If your glory is Jesus Christ. Then you might be part of a congregation sitting in the back streets of Edinburgh, a few people coming, outwardly seen by the world as having no glory whatsoever. After all, who goes in there? There are no big important people that go in there. There are no big politicians that visit Arthur Street. There are no great footballers that come in here. There are no great actors, renowned people that come in here. Where do you find the glory? You'll find the glory at Hibbs Football Ground next to us there yesterday. You'll find the glory in some of the football grounds. You'll find the glory in the wonderful stadiums back with people giving their homage to some famous singer. My friend, you're walking by sight because that's not glory. Jesus Christ is the glory of his people Israel. And the glory of a congregation is Jesus Christ. And if you're part of a congregation where Jesus Christ is to be found, where God's people are to be found, then my friend, that's more glorious than any other place. But do you know, that Jesus Christ as your own light. Has he lightened your heart? Has he lightened your soul? Has he brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light? When Simeon saw him, that was his sufficient. When Paul saw him, for me to live is Christ, to die is great gain. Everything else, he says in the Apostle Epistle to the Philippians, everything else, is totally insignificant. Simeon said, Now let thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. Let us pray.