God's grace walk away, having feasted upon our Lord. Luke 2.21 through 38 is the section that we're on. I'm going to read through 35 today, as it is the presentation, the circumcision in presentation, as well as the purification, the naming, but the big one for us this morning is the circumcision presentation of Christ. And then the two further witnesses Luke provides in this gospel to validate, to verify, to authenticate the identity of Christ and the work that He came to do. And that's Simeon, and then next week we'll look at Anna. Brothers and sisters, this is God's Word. Let me invite you to stand together with me as we read God's Word this day. And when eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived into the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and 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 behold, 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. 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, He then took Jesus into his arms and blessed God, and said, Now, Lord, thou didst let thy bondservant depart in peace according to thy word. For my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And his father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and the 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 from many hearts may be revealed." That's Father reading of God's Word. Let's pray together. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for this wonderful detailing that You ordained that Luke would give us about the early days, the early life of Jesus Christ. God, I pray that You would give us grace to, through the reading and by Your Spirit, to understand this passage and apply it to ourselves. To live as a generation as if we are the first Beholding Jesus, living in light of Him, and yet standing upon the shoulders of our brothers and sisters who have gone before. Bless this time, O Lord, may it be a time of feasting. Grant us unction. Grant us the grace, O Lord, that these words would be transformed by your Spirit to be food for our souls. And in feeding our souls, O Lord, you would do the work of attacking the viruses that seem to rot out our faith. Taking care of the bacteria and the ailments and transforming it slowly by slowly into the image of Jesus Christ. God, we pray. Bless this time of preparation now for your glory. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. Is Luke's purpose presentation, God's purpose presentation of Jesus Christ as one who identifies himself with his people? There's two things that God had his son participate in this passage, and that is circumcision and purification, or presentation, excuse me, circumcision and presentation, both of which speak to sin. Circumcision, the cutting away, the removal, presentation, the redemption, both of which speak to sin. Now commentators, if you've read many of them, or any of them, many of them are quick to talk about why would God the Father submit His Son who is perfect. He has no sin. He didn't need to be circumcised. He didn't need to be presented. He did not have sin. So why would God present His Son, circumcise His Son, as He did here? Why did He submit Christ? Why did Christ submit to these ordinances, to these laws, as the Word says? There's a lot of debate on that. However, the Bible does answer that question. Let me give you a couple verses that answer. Galatians 4. Listen to it and see if you can answer it yourself. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. Born of a woman, under the law, in order that he might redeem those who were under the law. Why the incarnation? Why did Christ become a man? The answer is to identify with us. He became a man born under the covenant of works that He might redeem those who were under the covenant of works. Romans 8, for what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering of sin. Why? That He might condemn sin in the flesh. Christ became one of us. to sanctify us, to deliver us, to condemn sin in the flesh, which involves not just justification but sanctification and ultimately glorification. Hebrews 2, therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things. Why? That he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since he himself was tempted in that which he was suffered, since he became man and was tempted as we are, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. So why is it that Jesus Christ became a man, why is it that Jesus Christ submitted himself to circumcision? Why is it that Jesus Christ submitted himself to presentation? To identify with you and me. Not only to forgive us, not only to fulfill the law, not only to sanctify us, but to be a faithful, compassionate, sympathetic high priest who understands all of the difficulties that we go through. Now, brothers and sisters, this is important. It's interesting that Luke, of all the childhood stories he could have related to us, this is the one of three, only three, of all those stories, he chose to share this story, which emphasizes the fact that Jesus Christ came to identify with you. Now, why? Why is he emphasizing that? He's emphasizing that. He could have just told the story when Joseph and Mary went to the temple when Jesus was 40 days old, two prophets came to Him, Simeon and the prophetess Anna. He could have just shared that, but he didn't. He first shares the identification part. Why? Because, brothers and sisters, as we saw last week, Simeon's message is a message of glory. joy and celebration. This child, he picks him in his arms, this child is three things. Salvation, a light to the Gentiles, and the glory of his people. This is what he is. And as I said last week, the rest of the life of Christ, the rest of the gospel witness is going to be shifting from each one of those elements. But there's more. Because at this point, brothers and sisters, the message of Simeon goes on a dark road. Because you can't have salvation. You can't have a light to the Gentiles. You can't have Christ being our glory. without battle, without warfare, without strife. And so we pick up the story, the declaration, the proclamation of Simeon, a prophet of God, with the knowledge that no matter how bad it may sound, understand Jesus identifies with us. He's with us. He walks with us through all of this. That being said, Simeon then turns in verse 33 to the father and mother. He blessed the Lord, gave the prophecy, now he blesses the father and mother and gives another prophecy, which likewise will be characteristic of the life of Jesus Christ. Would you notice we pick it up in verse 33. He tells us four things about the ministry, the work and ministry of Jesus Christ. Would you notice verse 33? And his father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about him. And truly, brothers and sisters, that is our first response. Last week, salvation, light of the Gentiles, glory. How amazing, how wonderful, how glorious. You can imagine how mother and father, Joseph and Mary, would at that moment be amazed just as we are. However, brothers and sisters, as I just said, and this is an important truth, the glory of what we just read about Christ as a Savior and a light and glory, the glory of that comes because Jesus Christ came to do battle. He came to do war. He came to fight a fight and to bring the glorious truth of salvation, the light and glory. to pass because of that battle. Notice with me verse 34. And Simeon then blessed them and said to Mary. Now that's an interesting description. You understand Luke is writing this around 68 to 80 AD. We don't know when. But he did a lot of research and then he compiled this passage, this gospel. So he's writing this 70 plus years, 75 years after this event. 40 plus years after Christ died. So either he's writing this from the perspective of now, of that time, or it really happened. That when Simeon came up, he blessed Joseph and Mary, and then, leaving Joseph completely out, he turned to Mary and said, so either he said it to both of them, and become, well the question is, why would he not tell it to Joseph? Well, because we know Joseph died before Christ entered ministry. Christ becomes an adult at 12. Joseph's there. We know that. Okay, so he did become an adult with Joseph. But somewhere between 12 and 30, Joseph dies. And so either In hindsight, looking back, it was only Mary who would see this fulfilled because Joseph would be dead, or Mary told Luke. It was the strangest thing. Simeon came up to us, he blessed my husband Joseph and me, and then his laser eyes focused on me, and he said this incredible statement. Okay, notice what he says. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary and 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 soul to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. Talk about shocking. I don't know if Mary, I'm sure she heard it, and I don't even know if Mary could have understood the implications of what Simeon said. But what she would have heard certainly was, this is bad news. This is not good. This is scary news. Oh God, help me. And guess what? Jesus identifies with her. He is definitely there to help her and to help us. Now there are four more descriptions that Simeon gives of Jesus Christ in addition to salvation, light, and glory. which also characterizes his gospel ministry. And so we're gonna see these seven themes, seven, right? The seven themes, once again, going on and on as we look at the life of Jesus Christ. Let's walk through these last four one by one. First one, verse 34. Christ would be the cause of separation or division among man. Notice 34. Behold, you're never gonna believe this, Mary, You're looking at this child, you think of salvation and light, and you have a big smile on your face because He's the glory of His people. Look at you now, but you're never going to believe this. In addition to that, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel. This is the first time in the New Testament that we read of what has been prophesied over and over and over again from the Old Testament, and that is that there is a conflict raging in this world. This is the first time in the New Testament, but not the first time in Scripture. You go all the way back to Genesis 3, verse 1, and you see Satan attacking God and his people, and then succeeding in that attack, and then you've got this prophecy in Genesis 3, right? That there will be Division. There will be conflict between the seed of Satan and the seed of the woman. There will be conflict between Satan and between Christ. And the rest of the Old Testament describes this conflict over and over and over as the seed of the line of Christ to seek to be wiped out multiple times. Well, here it's the first time. Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel. Notice those two words, fall and rise. The word for rise, anastasis. It's a word for resurrection. This child will be the result, the result of this child will be one of two things. It's gonna polarize, he's gonna polarize this world. Either you'll be in the camp of those who he raises from the dead, or you'll be in the camp of those who fall. The word for fall is translated in the New Testament in these contexts, a plague, a tragic event, or death. He will result in life or death. He's going to split the world on those Listen to Isaiah 8 and the prophecy there, speaking of the Messiah. But to both the house of Israel and Judah, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many will stumble over them. Then they will fall and be broken. They will even be spared and caught, or snared and caught. Amongst the people of God, Jesus Christ would be polarizing. So, get this, from Genesis 3 on, we know this battle's going on. When Jesus Christ came in order to bring salvation, to bring light, to be the glory of God's people, He had to come and do battle. And in the process of that battle, He separates the world into two groups, not based on color, or socioeconomics, or gender. Not based on all the divisions that we make in this world. There is a division, brothers and sisters, that we ought to be aware of. But it's not about race. It's not about money. It's not about what you do, gender, whatever. It's about Christ. Either you are for Him or you're against Him. That's how this world breaks down. When God looks at this world, He does not see race. He doesn't see socioeconomics. He sees those who are in His camp and those who are opposed to Him. Those who love Christ, those who hate Christ. Now, why is Christ so polarizing? What is it? Let me read to you John 3, 19-20. it's reflective of what we see here. And this is the judgment that the light is coming to the world and men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. Brothers and sisters, why the polarization of Jesus Christ? Understand this. It's your filling. In order to be saved, brothers and sisters, in order to be sanctified, our sin has to be exposed. It has to be exposed. And if your sin is exposed, Or the concept of that being exposed is incredibly offensive, brothers and sisters, to man. If you're saved, if you're part of the saved, you are described in 1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and righteous. You cannot be a Christian without being a confessor. And the first thing we confess is we are sinners. That's what defines us prior to Christ. That's what defines us. We think the world doesn't want to be defined by that. That's offensive. The idea that they're sinful makes them angry, makes them hostile, as we'll get to. But brothers and sisters, when you come to reality and God opens eyes, you realize the thing that defines you more than anything else is your sin. That's why you go to Christ. So that Christ no longer, or so that my sin no longer defines me, it's Christ and His work that define me. But when you recognize, no, it's your sin. We've got it wrong, because we are performance driven. We think that we want to define this is what we do, and how we look, and what we say, and all the different things that goes into life in this world. That's what defines me. I don't want to be embarrassed that you would think this, you know, I'm about you. But when you realize that coming to Jesus Christ means To be saved, or better yet, for us in Christ to be sanctified, our sin has to be exposed. Otherwise, we'll never be healed. It's part and parcel of coming to Jesus Christ. That's why Paul in Romans 3, you know Romans 3, it's a memory verse, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Everyone could say that. 323. But you know what, if you read the bigger picture, it says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely as a gift of grace, right? You go, how does 24 and 23 relate? All have sinned, fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. I don't understand how those fit. Well, if you understand being Being justified, verse 24, is a participle phrase modifying all. Let me translate the verse a little bit more wittingly. This is how it reads, wittingly, but accurately. For all being justified by grace have sinned. Do you understand, brothers and sisters? If you profess faith in Jesus Christ, you are proclaiming to the world you're a loser. You're a sinner. You cannot do what is necessary. You come to me and say, Greg, I'm mad at you because you did this. And we get offended when people come and say, you did this. Spouses to spouses, parents to children, children to parents. How dare you say I blew it there? And we defend and we blame shift. Brothers and sisters, get this. You're worse than that and God has forgiven you. That's why Christians, that's why people in Christ's camp are confessors first of their sin and then secondly of Jesus Christ. Right? Notice Christ is polarizing. He splits the world. And because of that, brothers and sisters, there's gonna be battle. Matthew chapter 10, 34, we read these words, because of Christ's polarization. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set man against his father, and daughter against his mother, and daughter-in-law against his mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Brothers and sisters, because Christ is polarizing, there will be conflict. And you hear that and you go, that's scary to me. But take comfort, brothers and sisters. Take comfort in what this passage says. Look at 34 again. Behold, this child is appointed. That word appointed means ordained. It means set apart. It's set out. Christ has been ordained for the fall and rise of many in Israel. We're talking here, this is your second fill in. We're talking here about the doctrine of sovereign election. Okay? Don't be frightened. Don't be scared. Why? Because God's on the throne. Right? He reigns. And those who are in his camp are there by sovereign election. Those who are not in his camp are there by sovereign predation. Passing by. It's called the doctrine of predation. God ordains it all. John 15, 16. You did not choose me, but I chose you. Secondly, 1 Peter 2, they stumble, speaking of non-Christians, because they're disobedient to the word and to this doom they were appointed. God is sovereign, and in His sovereign election, He chooses those who are His, and He passes by those who are not. We call this double predestination. But I understand what is being taught here, what Scripture says. God is, indeed, sovereign over who is saved and who is not. He is. But does that mean, therefore, we're robots? No. Does that mean people in hell have no choice? No. There's not a person in hell right now, right now, there's not a person in hell who doesn't want to be there. Christ describes hell as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's a Hebrewism, brothers and sisters, from Acts chapter 7, which means anger and frustration. Hell is a place where people are angry at God. They're not remorseful. They're angry. They're angry and even more angry at God. No one's there because no one's there going, boy, I would be in that salvation camp if I could have, but God didn't choose me. No one's there. They're all there out of anger and hatred because they hate Christ. Why? Because God passed them by when it came to grace. But on the contrary, everybody's in heaven, get this, everybody's in heaven who's there start as people who don't want to be there. You realize that? Every one of you in glory, every one of you saved, every one of you part of the camp who has been resurrected in Jesus Christ, in your flesh, you don't want to be there. Because of that battle between God and Satan. There's this battle, right? And in our flesh, we hate God. We hate Christ. We hate the things of the Lord. So in our flesh, we don't want to go to heaven. We want to go to hell. We want to be in that place. So the only reason that you and I are resurrected to the rise of many, the only reason is because of the grace and mercy of God who set his love upon you before the world began. Isn't that incredible? You've won the lottery, brothers and sisters. To use the mathematical language of luck, you are more lucky than anyone in the world who's won any lottery. Out of all the people who've ever lived, God chose you to save. He set His love upon you to redeem. He sent His Son to die in your place. Christ rose again for you. And thus, do you realize how special you are? Wow! Isaac Watts mulling upon this, speaking of the parable of the wedding feast. How sweet and awful is the place with Christ within the doors, while everlasting love displays the choicest of her stores. We're in this wedding feast with all this food, and it's all there by love. It's all there by grace, and it's all there for us. While all our hearts and all our songs join to admire the feast, each of us cry with thankful tongues, Lord, why am I a guest? Why me? I look at my life and I look at how wretched I was. Why would you save me? But He has. Why was I made to hear thy voice and enter while there's room when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come? And the answer is, t'was the same love that spread the feast that sweetly drew us in, else we had still refused to taste and perished in our sin. Brothers and sisters, first and foremost, the fourth name of Jesus Christ, the fourth ministry Christ came to do was to divide. But only by dividing does he save. He came to divide the world into two different camps. Fifthly, or second in your outline, Christ's person would evoke murderous rage. 34. We read in 34 of this passage, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother behold this child is appointed for the fallen rise of many in Israel and Secondly for a sign to be opposed the word for opposed is pretty strong It's not only that people would be divided on account of Christ. It's that those who are to the fall These people will respond to Jesus Christ with open hostility Murderous rage that's the idea Now what's interesting here, he says it's a sign to be opposed. Did you notice that? I don't know if that piques your curiosity, it piqued mine. He would be assigned to be, what does this, what do you mean? He just wouldn't be opposed, he'd be assigned to be opposed. What does that mean? It's one thing to say Christ would come, he'd divide, and he'd be opposed. Well that would mean there would be times that people would oppose him because of what he did. Right? He said, well, you're a sinner. How dare you call me a sinner? Right? You have to reveal your sin to be saved. I'm not a sinner. How dare you kill him? Whatever. Why is it a sign to be opposed? Well, it's the language of sign. We talk about the sign of baptism. What's the sign of baptism? Well, the sign of baptism is a message that adheres itself to baptism. No matter what you think or what you do, it's there. That's what it means by a sign of baptism, a sign of circumcision, a sign of the Lord's saving. What does baptism proclaim? It proclaims union, Matthew 28, baptize them unto the name. It speaks of union, of identity, the fact that this is someone God has claimed. Okay? It speaks of that. So whether you are in a good mood or bad mood, whether you recognize it or not, that is the message that is being proclaimed through baptism. When you look at Jesus Christ, he's not just going to be opposed by those who fall. He's a sign of opposition, which means everyone who looks at Jesus Christ who have fallen, hate him. They just don't go, oh, he's morally upright. They hate him. He brings hatred. He brings out the hatred of people. Christ doesn't bring hatred. He brings out the hatred of those who have fallen. And what's that hatred? It's murderous rage. Listen to Mark 12. Christ told a parable to illustrate this very point. It's a story of a landowner who builds a vineyard and then rents it out to some people. Let me pick it up. And at the harvest time, this landowner, who rented out his vineyard to a bunch of vine growers, at harvest time, this landowner, he sent his slaves to the vine growers, which correspond to the prophets. These slaves are like the Old Testament prophets. He sent them to the vine growers in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine growers. It's their rent. He sends them to collect rent. And these vine growers took this slave, beat him, sent him away empty-handed like many of God's people do to the prophets. And again he sent them another slave, another prophet. Then they wounded him in the head, which means pretty serious, treated him shamefully, Well, he sent them another, and that one they killed, and so with many others, beating some, killing others. Understand, those who are of the group of the fall, those who have fallen, tripped over Jesus, their response to all of the Old Testament prophets is to attack, to kill, to maim, to get out. That's exactly what happened. So the parable goes on. He had one more to send, a beloved son, obviously corresponding to Christ. And he sent him, last of all, to them, saying, They will respect my son. But those vine growers said to one another, This is the year. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. Their response was not one of pity. It wasn't one of respect. It was murderous rage. So they killed him. They took him out, and they killed him, and they threw his body out. They threw him out of the vineyard. Do you understand? They disrespected his body. Jews don't do this. But people mad with sin do, they kill them and just threw his dead body out to just perish on the road. Brothers and sisters, Christ is picturing here from this parable the response of the second, or for us, the fifth. ministry that Christ would have in this world. He'd be a sign, a picture. His presence would invoke or bring out the hatred of Satan's followers, of Satan's camp to God. Remember, brothers and sisters, there's a war going on. Genesis 3 tells us from the very beginning that there will be conflict between your seed and her seed. They will fight. They will battle. They will rage. And we know that that culminated at the cross where Satan and his followers thought that they had won such a wonderful victory. We finally crushed the seed we've been seeking to crush for more than 2,000 years. Where they tried to wipe out the line of Jesus Christ. We won. only to discover three days later that their very act of vengeance is what brought about salvation to their enemies. Amazing. Brothers and sisters, this is not just a sinful response on the part of man. It is the response of the part of man when it comes to God in Christ's murderous rage. Now, it's color coded. It's candy coated in our culture, right? But you see it. It amazes me that if you profess faith in Islam, you can kill homosexuals and liberals in our land will say, good job. You can treat women with disrespect and disdain. And the feminists of our culture will say, Good job. I don't understand that. Can you? Can you figure out how the very people who yell loudest against Christianity, against Christ, are mute when it comes to Muslims killing, maiming, destroying, belittling, you know, honor killings. My daughter was going to marry a non-Muslim, so I killed her. Mute! How is that? Because, brothers and sisters, you don't understand. There's a war going on. It's against man and God. The world hates God. And so they hated Jesus Christ. He not only is the opposed by the world, He's a sign of opposition. You see Him, you want to kill Him. That's the picture here. It's just crazy. In fact, the response to Mark 12, this parable, man, if someone came to your house and said, Got a story to tell you. Hey, Bob, yeah, I got a story to tell you. You know how you have that car? Yeah, well, that car, whatever, and the end of your story is, and you're dishonoring to God. Now, in your flesh, you might defend, but in Christ, you'd say, what? Really? Really? Oh, I'm so sorry. Guess how these people responded, the Jews responded, to whom Christ told this parable. Verse 12, 12, and they were seeking to seize him. because of that parable they wanted to kill him all the more. The second ministry of Christ is he evokes murderous rage. Notice thirdly or sixthly. Christ would evoke amongst his people the painful burden of a broken heart. Notice 35a. Directly speaking with Mary. And a sword, There's two, there's many words, but two main words that you know of about swords and weaponry in the Bible, because I've referenced them many times. There's ramphaia and there's machaira. A machaira is a little short dagger that the zealots used to kill Roman soldiers. They'd sneak up behind them, slit their throats. Okay, that's a machaira. This word is ramphaia, and it's the word used for cavalry officers who have this massive sword. who they come to Calvary, or to the foot soldiers, and they swing them, these swords are so heavy and so sharp, they literally could split a soldier in two. One swing, whap, that's this word. Mary, you're gonna be like in a battle, and a sword is gonna come, and it's gonna split you in half to your soul. That's what Simeon says. Now here before I've not said anything about how Mary would have responded to this, because he is speaking to Mary. And you can imagine for Mary at this point, she would be beside herself. What? My son? This would be the effect of Christ? He would sow division amongst my family members? I mean, think about it. The rest of Jesus' brothers and sisters, brothers, in their lifetime, in Christ's lifetime, rejected Him. They criticized Him. Right? There's this division. And Simeon's saying, that's going to happen to you, Mary. That your family, your very family member is going to attack this boy. This little 40-day-old boy. They're going to attack Him. They're going to seek to crush Him and destroy Him. They're going to try to kill Him. You can imagine how it would make you feel. But brothers and sisters, once again, he's writing this in 70 to 80 AD. So we're going to take this from the perspective of hindsight. Is he describing Mary's heart as a mother? Or is he describing Mary's heart as a follower of Christ? I think the answer is yes. But if there's an emphasis, brothers and sisters, I think the emphasis is on a follower of Christ. Listen to Zechariah 12, 10. It's a prophecy. It's a prophecy of this very moment, but it's a prophecy of you as well. Listen to Zechariah 12. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, so they will look on me whom they have pierced, whom they crucified. And they, not just Mary, will mourn for him. as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over him, like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. This is describing Mary, but it's describing every one of us. This is not just what Mary would do, this is what God's people, the risen, those who God resurrects, guess what's gonna happen to us? Well, and this presupposes something. If you're glorying in Christ, Salvation, I've got it. A lot of revelation to the Gentiles. I was a Gentile. He saved me. Praise God. So that's true of me. And then He's the glory of your people. If Christ is your glory, which means you're living vicariously through Him. That's what glory means in that context. Christ is your glory. You and I live our lives as if glory is getting the right person elected. Glory is getting the pay raise. Glory is getting the woman a wife or husband. Glory is getting that car. Glory is getting the degree. Glory is getting that house. Glory is having people say, man, you're a great person. So often in our flesh, that's how we live. But the more you grow in Christ, the more you mature in Christ, the more Christ becomes your glory. And you realize all of that stuff is just fodder. You know what, God? And do you know how that happens in your life, that you can see that? Because God tempers you and lets you see by the side of the grave how vain are the things we spend our lives to save, right? It's when you and I see that the only thing that's important in this world, the only thing, talk to aging saints, aging saints, they'll tell you, it's not the money, it's not the glory, the earthly glory, it's not this, it's not this, it's not this, it's Christ. And the greatest burden you'll ever have as a Christian parent or an older Christian is to hear that your children are not walking in the truth. It's not that they made their free throw. They passed that test. They were the best student in class. They were the best athlete. They were the man of the year. That won't be your glory. That will not be your joy. Your greatest glory, your greatest joy, all you get is Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory, right? So when he talks about Mary being burdened here, he's talking about every one of us. Tim Keller wrote these words, Simeon is predicting that Mary is going to have a lot of pain in her life, but she stands there as a representation of everybody who loves Jesus. The Bible teaches that if you love Jesus, if you stand by Him, if He's your glory, your treasure, your joy, a sword will pass through your heart as well. That means, as J.C. Ryle, the Bishop of Liverpool said, when a person becomes a Christian, a new peace comes into their life, but at the same time, a new fight comes into their life. Brothers and sisters, the more you grow in Christ, the more you value Christ, what you're going to discover is you're going to become more and more burdened. not for who's the next elected, not for masks or no masks, not for all the things that you and I are so easily distracted by. You and I will find ourselves more and more burdened that God be hallowed in this land. That his name be exalted. that his kingdom come and grow in your life, your wife's life, your children's lives, your friends' lives, the people you're praying for, that they would become more and more conformed to Jesus Christ and your greatest burdens and your greatest hurts and miseries will be all revolving around Jesus Christ. People who do not know Him who you wish that they did. People who you ministered and loved to and you poured into them, rejecting Him, walking away. Maybe they're still saved, but they're diving into sin. Those will be your burdens, and it's predicted right here. So brothers and sisters, we need to wrap this up. You go, but that's bad news. It is bad news, but it's good news. Because that's part of being in a war. We are part of a victorious general. We are part of his retinue, his glorious people, his glorious army, who are someday going to victoriously enjoy a meal. And that table in front of me right there, in front of you, is a foretaste of that meal. So how do we get from here to there? The answer is what we just saw at the beginning, the doctrine of identification. Do you know, brothers and sisters, He'll never leave you? John 16, 33. John 16, these things I've spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have the tribulation, I have overcome the world. And then He says, I told you these things beforehand, so that when it comes, you may have peace. Brothers and sisters, Christ is with us. And because He's with us, we don't walk this land alone. Yes, we live in a war zone, a war zone where people hearing about Christ's salvific work, the fact that He's the light of the Gentiles, He is our glory, our hope, our joy. Many people are going to mock that and make fun of it, and that's going to hurt us. It's going to hurt our souls. And we're going to realize that this world, ultimately, in the end, it doesn't matter how much money you had, how much wealth you had, what you drove, what matters is whether or not you had the wealth of the ages, Jesus Christ, or not. And because of that, there's going to be battle, there's going to be trials, there's going to be hardship. But listen to this. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin. That's His identification. Because of that, brothers and sisters, what are we called to do? Hebrews 4, 16. You know what the call is? The call is to cling to Christ. Because get this, He has clung to you. He clings to you. He's right now with you, beside you, within you, walking with you, before you, behind you, beside you, protecting you, walking with you. And brothers and sisters, by faith, all we need to do is get into the Word and talk to Him as He talks to us through it. Cling to Him. Rely upon Him. And we do that this morning through a visible table. We're going to go to a table of victory, a foretaste of the victory meal that we're going to enjoy at the end time, where Jesus Christ serves us. And where, according to 1 Peter, He publicly commends us. We're going to participate in this meal. This meal is designed for us to come and say, Oh God, I cling to you, not to money, not to success, not to the things that the United States says you gotta have, American culture says you gotta have. Lord, you are my joy, you are my glory, you are my joy. I cling to you. Let's pray. Father, what a delight it is to know you by name. Today, oh Lord, we've learned that you not only are Savior, you not only are light, You not only are our glory, our victory, our joy, but you also, your presence brings division. And your presence evokes murderous rage. And because we're associated with you, we know you have said, if they persecute me, they'll persecute you. And that's so Lord, your presence in our lives brings people just opposing us because. And your presence in our life, sixthly, brings at times burden as we see your name dishonored. Burdened as we see a society that one time so long ago bowed the knee by its leaders and members, but Lord now, God, we bow before you with a heart heavy, but a heart filled. because you are our glory, you are our life, you are our joy. God, we know to live is you and to die is gain. So now we turn to this table, which we will be enjoying someday upon our death, where you will be the servant and we will be able, without faith, but only by sight, to gaze upon your hands, your feet, your side, your face. How we long for that day, oh God. Until then, give us grace to make you ever and always, to delight ever and always in you and you alone in this battleground called life. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.