Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin, Virgin mother and child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace. Amen. All right. Tonight after church, we'll go door-to-door. No, I'm just kidding. All right. Thank you for seeing us tonight. Thank you for this morning for your good participation and solemn service. How many of you have ever done Christmas caroling? All right? Maybe we do need to make this a part of what we do. My family, we grew up doing a bit of Christmas caroling. We'd go to Grandma Roth's. We would all, all the kids and grandkids would go around and visit some people that were shut-ins or elderly. And we would knock on their door and make a cold, big open it. And we'd stand on the porch and sing Christmas carols. Quite fun, and it's a blessing. to do, so maybe we need to consider that. Anyway, take it out of the way a little bit. Last Sunday morning, we saw the first part of Luke chapter 2, the text that we're in today. Luke chapter 2, if you want to turn there, and verses 21 through 40 is our test. But we saw Joseph and Mary, they're in the stable in Bethlehem, the inn is full, and she's just given birth to the Lord Jesus and wrapped Him in swaddle tin and put Him in the manger. We visited the hillside around Bethlehem and the angelic host came and proclaimed that this Messiah had been born, that Christ had been born in Bethlehem. The shepherds came and verified that it was indeed the Christ as was revealed by the angels. When you study Luke chapter 2, what you find is that Luke chapter 2 is a very clear declaration that this child is indeed the Christ and that that is emphasized through this lengthy chapter that has 52 verses, that over and over again, that is what we find. And so, we see that even in what we considered last week, that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. We talked about that Mary and Joseph were there because a census was taking place, the Bible calls it a taxing. But really, it was a record of who was in the different lineages. And so the significance of Bethlehem is that it's the city of David. It's the royal city, showing that Joseph and Mary had royal blood. And we know that the king of kings was born that day in the city. David had been promised 1,000 years before in 2 Samuel chapter 7. And when thy days be fulfilled, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he shall be my son. That is called the Davidic Covenant. It's the covenant given by God to King David that there was going to be somebody very significant in his lineage. And we know that that is the promise of the Messiah. It speaks about his kingdom. It talks about his throne. It talks about his eternal. and certainly is the Messianic prophecy of the Lord's coming. So that shows what Luke's emphasis was, that Jesus was indeed the Christ. When the angels came to the hillside and proclaimed that this was Jesus, the Messiah, that was born, and as the shepherds went down into Bethlehem, it was to, again, emphasize that this was the Christ to us, the reader, as we come to this text. Our text today, as we look at it, there's two who declare that this is the Christ. And that's going to be our emphasis this morning. And then at the end of the chapter, it actually fast forwards to the life of the Lord. It's really the only glimpse we're given into the childhood of Jesus at 12 years old. He's come in. He's at the temple. It says that, verse 46, it came to pass that after three days, they found him. His parents had sought him and couldn't find him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both curing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And what is Luke emphasizing? The fact that Jesus was a very special child because Jesus is the Christ. And so that is the emphasis of what Luke 2 is all about. So this morning, We're going to focus on the two who declared the Christ at the temple. There were two that were there, Simeon and Anna, who would declare the Christ. So look to verse 21. It says, when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, His name was called Jesus, who was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And we know that when the angel did come and said that his name was going to be called Jesus, it told us why his name would be called Jesus. In Matthew 121, she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And so this is, again, the Christ, this is the Savior. But we also see in that text that Jesus was subject to the law. He was circumcised. That was a sign of the covenant that was given to Abraham. And Jesus was humbly put under the law at his birth. In verse 22, when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. And again, Jesus is put under the laws as the firstborn child was to be dedicated to God and really given in a sense back to God almost like a Hannah did with Samuel, but not that Jesus would stay there in the temple, but that child was to be given to God. Verse 23, as it is written in the Law of the Lord, every male that opened up the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. That firstborn son was to be like a priest, offered to God, as the Bible says in Exodus chapter 13 and verse 2. And verse 24, it says, "...and to offer sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons." And we know that because of that verse that Mary and Joseph are not just young, they're probably late teens, you'd suspect, as far as their age. They're not just young, they're poor. Because the sacrifice that they could have offered according to the law, or should have offered if they weren't poor, was a lamb for burnt offering and a dove for sin offering. But because of their poverty, they just brought the basic things of two doves or two young pigeons. And now in our text we come to the first man that declares Christ Simeon. Or the first one. And so verse 25 says, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The second declarer is found in verse 36. And there was one Emma, a prophetess, the daughter of Canuel of the tribe of Aser. And so, you know, these two elderly servants of God, at least we suspect that Simeon was also an older man, but that are vassals that are special chosen vassals of God. for this special ministry of coming in in this instant and declaring Christ. And it's interesting, Jesus was being humbled by being put under the law, but at the same time he's being exalted by God by these two that are going to step out and declare about Jesus being the Christ. And the Spirit of God, as you study this text, puts a special emphasis upon the worthy walk of these two declarers of Christ. The Bible is very clear about the character of both Sinon and Anna. And that's the emphasis of what I want us to consider this morning. My message this morning is walk worthy of declaring Christ. Right? What were they declaring Christ? These were two special individuals chosen by God that God could take and put his hand down, and God's hand was already gone, that could come out and declare who this Messiah was. And I want to challenge us by their lives to consider our life as we declare Christ in our generation to those that need to hear that we would look at the characteristics of these servants of God and think, you know what? I need that kind of character or those kind of characters in my life. So let's pray and ask the Spirit of God to help us as we consider walking worthy of declaring Christ. Father, thank you for this text in Luke chapter 2. Father, we pray that we enter into the wonder of this story. that God took on flesh, and that He was born, and that He was entering into His own creation. And Savior, we thank You that You came. And we thank You that, like Anna and like Simeon, we can declare the Christ, and we need to declare the Christ. And Father, as we look at the lives of these great servants of God, who the Spirit of God takes pains to let us know about, God gives us grace to consider our own life in light of their life. And Father, we pray for a godly generation. Father, we pray for a powerful generation. And Father, I pray that you raise up in us these kind of character traits that we can see so clearly exhibited in these two's lives. Father, I can't speak without your enablement. I pray the Spirit of God would help me please to preach the Word of God biblically. Father, I pray help me preach it practically. Father, I pray help me preach the Word of God lovingly. And Father, I pray by your grace that you help me preach the Word of God powerfully. And Father, that the Spirit of God would speak today. That's the need. Father, the need for our church, the need for us in this hour is to draw nigh to God. Father, would you do that? Would you take away distractions? Would you take away other thoughts, other things? Satan is a deceiver. Satan is a great adversary to what you desire to do in this time. Father, we pray that you find the wicked one and spoil his goods. Father, that great victory will be wrought in our lives today by your divine grace. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. And so to walk worthy of declaring Christ. That's our idea. There's several points from Simeon's life and a couple points from the life of Anna as well. But to walk worthy of declaring Christ, you must be one of high character. Be one of high character. Simeon was a man of high character. Verse 25 says, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. Okay? So, let's take the character of Simeon as a spirit of God. Again, illumines it to us. He's just, he's devout, and he is waiting for the consolation of Israel. First of all, to be a person of high character like Simeon, somebody needs to be righteous. Righteous. The definition of just, okay, that's the first word that's used about sinning, is the word holy or right. He was a righteous man. And we would call this integrity, that Simeon was a man that had high integrity. Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Another term that we use for it is conviction. Simeon was a man of conviction. He knew right and wrong, and he stood for that which was right because he was a righteous man. I witnessed this past week, I was putting out flyers to a man that was 70 years old, and I wanted to share Christ with him. And so I asked him about sin, and we just got to that part in our conversation. I said to him, have you ever smoked? No. Have you ever drunk? No. Have you ever lusted after pornography? No. Have you ever lied? No. I said, you just did. And he goes, how's that? And I said, well, look, let's talk about it. And I started to talk about it with him. You know, he agreed with me. But from his perspective, he looked at his life and he thought he was a righteous man. But when he saw his life in light of what God says about his life, Very quickly, the perspective of his ideas about his life changed. As we look at Simeon, he viewed his life as God viewed his life, and he dealt with the sin that God saw in his life, and he took that from him, and he was a man that walked in integrity. Let me ask you this morning, how do you view your life? It's an easy thing for us to justify ourselves. It's an easy thing for us to say, you know what, about ourselves, this is what I see in my life. But do you see your life as God sees your life? Do you view your life through the eyes of God or through the eyes of man? Proverbs 21 verse 2 says, every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord pondered the hearts. In other words, if somebody was in disobedience to God today, and I went up to them and I said to them, look, why are you doing this? You know what the Bible says? They have an answer for why they're doing it. That they would justify themselves. That unless that person was repentant, unless that person was ready to respond to God, that they would say, you know what? I have this reason to do this. And yet it's not what God says. See, what we have when it comes to Sinion, we have the Spirit of God through Luke testifying to the fact that this man did not just say that he was just. He was just by the grace of God. See, I knew somebody like that today. Now, nobody here is a perfect person. Anybody here that has righteousness has righteousness that is from God alone. It's imputed righteousness. But are you somebody that is very careful in your walk with God? Are you careful about the things that you do, the things that you hear, the things that you say, the things that you do? Are you careful to keep a short account with God? That's the kind of man that Simeon was. He was a righteous man. Be righteous. Be one of high character. Secondly, be religious. Be religious. He was a devout. He was devout. He was a pious man who was careful in real religion. Not just religious, but he was really religious, if that makes sense. He was religious in the way somebody ought to be. He was somebody that practiced real, in our terminology, Christianity, because he had a genuine walk with God, and he was really a genuinely pious person. He was devout. Have you ever met somebody that was a devout follower of sport? Because we think about it, we understand what that means, right? If somebody's really a devout follower of, say, a football team, they're so dedicated that they do not miss a game, right? I mean, unheard of, unthinkable that. I mean, you know this person. That is their sport. That is their team. If their team is playing, there is absolutely no way that they're going to miss the opportunity to see that. In fact, some people are so dedicated, they'll travel to the games. And they're at the stadium. Here, you're at the stadium. Away games, you're at the stadium. Because they're so devout in their dedication to their sport. Their walls are decorated with sports paraphernalia. I mean, you come to their house, and you don't have to wonder, well, who's your team? You know what I mean? I mean, you know their team, they're wearing it, you know? I mean, it's right there in front of you, big dress, in a way that you look at it and say, you know what, I know you are devout, or whatever, because you've got it on, you know, and you're wearing it. All they talk about is sport. You know, come on, can we talk about something else? They're consumed by it. They wake up thinking about it. They go to sleep dreaming about it, right? Because they're devout. Let's apply it to somebody that is devout like Simeon. Simeon was not on again and off again. Simeon wasn't here sometimes, gone other times. Simeon was somebody that was devout. That means he was pious. He was there. He was there. He wasn't unfaithful. His worship of God was the single most important thing in his life. If you talk to Simeon, you find yourself pretty quickly talking about God, because he was pious. If he lived in our day, you wouldn't have to wonder if he'd be at church. Is that right? I think I'm right when I talk about Simeon this way. You wouldn't have to wonder if he was going to be there. If he wasn't there, you would worry because you know there's something really bad, wrong about this. Simeon's always here, right? Because he's pious. You wouldn't have to ask him to get involved. You couldn't keep him from being involved. I mean, that was his piety. I mean, he was real about God and he was invested in the things of God and had that faithfulness to God. Would I be right to say today that Simeon would have daily devotions? that in his house, if you were with Simeon, that would be a man that had a practice in his life of spending time in the Word of God and spending time in prayer. Yes, why? Because he was devout. He was a truly pious person. Again, as we think about Simeon, the one that declared the coming of Christ and his piety, let's consider our own. See, how far away is that from our idea? I mean, does anybody know that we love God? That we love to be in church? That we love to be in the house of God? That we love to be in the Word of God? That we're truly religious? That it's not a game with us? That it's not something we do to please people? It's not showing up to get it off our conscience so that, oh, I don't have to feel bad about that? But that is something that is very genuine in our heart. Say, you know what, I want to be there. I want to be faithful. Because I have that desire for God. Simeon was a truly pious man. And so be pious, be real religion, to have that character like Simeon had. And then be faithful. And I say the word faithful, and I could turn it around really, because that's the emphasis of what I want to consider, is that Simeon was full of faith. Simeon was a man that was full of faith. It says he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. You know what that means? It means that he was full of confident faith that the Christ was coming. He just knew. And we understand why he knew. It had been revealed to him by the Spirit of God, and yet there was that confident understanding in his heart. He didn't wonder if the Messiah was coming. He wondered when he was coming. He knew he was coming. As I suspect of our shepherds, God's Spirit declares of Simeon. You know, we suspected last week that perhaps they were talking about Christ, you know, or something like that, and you would suppose that there was that faith in them as well, but the Spirit of God didn't reveal it about them. But the Spirit of God does reveal it about Simeon. He was waiting. He knew that his Lord was coming. And yet, when you think about it, others probably doubted the Messiah was going to come. It had been centuries that had passed without further revelation from God. The prophecy that I referred to about the Davidic Covenant, that was a thousand years before. I mean, just imagine that, us being anticipating something that God had promised back, you know, in 1000 A.D. that was going to happen, that we are anticipating. Obviously, I praise God, I hope we're anticipating something that God said 2000 years ago, alright? But with that same idea of simian, that this is going to take place, simian maintained his faith. Adoniram Judson, the great missionary that went to Burma, and very little religious literary that was there. They were put into stocks, and their feet were raised up on a cane pole, four feet off the ground or whatever it was, with just their backs on the ground. And a fellow prisoner, missionary I believe as well, looked over at Adoniram Judson, and asked him what he thought about the prospect of the conversion of the heathen now. And he's reported to have set the future as bright as the promises of God. He's full of faith. Sidney was a man like that. Do you know any person who has a strong belief in the promises of God, even when the future looks very bleak? Are you somebody that has this idea that God can, even if God hasn't, to this point, in the sense of, we haven't seen it like that. Kind of like Gideon, all right? Gideon was a man that, he looked around, he said, I've heard the stories, my father's told us stuff, but if God before us, where be the many mighty miracles? Gideon had never seen it, but Gideon got to see it. That mighty man of Dallar. Is there in your heart today that anticipation that God can? And that God will. That's faith. Are you a person that has that character? You know, as we seek to reach somebody for the Lord Jesus Christ, how can I reach somebody and declare Christ to them if I'm not righteous? If I'm not really pious, I'm faithful to the house of God, and really I'm a zeal for God. If I'm not full of faith in God's ability, you know, you start to think about, you know, how can I be somebody in my day to declare Christ, to be somebody that declares Christ, I need to be one of character. And so to walk worthy of declaring Christ, you must be one of character. And then to walk worthy of declaring Christ, you must be one who is spirit-enabled. Spirit-enabled. And at the end of verse 25, if you look at it with me, it says that 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. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And we're just reading very few verses there, but three times the Bible emphasized about Simeon is that Simeon had a very close walk with the Spirit of God. It said in verse 25, the Holy Ghost was upon him. It says the Holy Ghost illumined his mind in verse 26. It was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost. And then in verse 27, that the Holy Ghost guided him. He came by the Spirit into the temple. There is a closeness of Simeon and that person, the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost. Let me ask you again this morning, are you aware of the Holy Ghost? In Paul's day, as he was preaching in Ephesus, in Acts 19, verse 2, he came into some people that had a profession of faith in Christ, or a profession of faith. And as Paul dealt with them, he realized that they didn't know about Jesus and the baptism of Jesus. All they knew about was the repentance that John preached in the wilderness that was preparatory for the coming of the Messiah. And so he said unto them, Acts 19.2, Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard, if there be a Holy Ghost. And so Paul preached unto them Jesus, then baptized them in Jesus' name, and as he prayed for them and laid hands on them, they received God's Spirit. As we study that, just like in Sunday school, we've got to compare scripture with scripture we've been talking about in Sunday school. We understand that somebody that does not have the Holy Spirit of God, they are not saved. Right? When people got saved, received Jesus Christ as their Savior, they received the Holy Spirit. What? No you're not. The body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which you have with God, and you're not your own. Right? That the Bible speaks about when you bought with a price. And so all of us this morning that are saved are somebody that has received the Holy Spirit. But as far as our understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, would be somebody this morning that would say, we have not so much as heard if there be any Holy Spirit. How aware are we of that precious person that God has given to us? Without that Spirit, and the power of the Spirit of God, the followers of Jesus are weak. Peter, pre-Pentecost, before the giving of the Holy Spirit, as he is there in that room, as Jesus is on trial, and Peter has a barmaid come up to him and say, aren't you one of them? And Peter denies Christ, and he denies Christ thrice, and he curses and he swears. But then after Pentecost, the same Peter is preaching to the multitude who took Jesus Christ and crucified Christ. And he says to them, you have taken by wicked hands, you have crucified and slain. You know, emboldened preaches. And so you look at Peter before Pentecost, after Pentecost, and he asks the question, did Peter not want to support Jesus? at the point of his death? Why didn't Peter stand up? I mean, you know the story. Peter wanted to. Peter, in fact, I mean, in his human will, he had said, you know, I'm going to stand with Jesus, and the Bible talks about it in Matthew 26, verse 33. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet thine never be offended. Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. And we focus on Peter because the Bible is very clear about Peter's denying of Christ. But notice all the disciples said, we're not going to deny you. But the Bible says when Jesus was taken, all men forsook him and fled. Peter at least went a step further. John went into that place. And yet, no matter how determined Peter was, Peter failed. You might be somebody that has looked at your life and you thought, I'm determined. I mean, I am not going to fail. I'm going to do this for God. But like Peter, if that is the extent of our confidence and our dependence, then we fail. Right? The flesh profited nothing. There's nothing that you or I possess of ourselves that is any good to help us in our walk with God. So what or who did Peter need? With 24 verse 49, Jesus said to his disciples, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. And the Lord said, having taught them for three years and all the information and knowledge that they had and the abilities that, at times, God had given to them, yet Jesus said, wait in Jerusalem until you be imbued with power from on high. Acts 1.8 speaks more specifically about that power. Where the Lord says, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Stay there and wait, because you haven't received power. Who? The Holy Spirit. Have you heard so much as, if there be a Holy Spirit? This past week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, I did evangelism. I think it was Wednesday. Tuesday, I didn't have any divine appointments. And the weather's cold, and you can make an excuse, you go, oh, the weather's cold, and nobody's out and about, and so it's just not gonna be possible to talk to anybody. But I prayed about it on Wednesday morning. I asked God to give me divine appointments, and it was that very cold, frosty morning where the frost never went off the tarmac, and it was white instead of black. And God gave me two divine appointments. A 70-year-old man I've already referred to that I spoke to for probably 15 minutes, and a man in his mid-30s that has some special health needs that was sitting outside of his house and I spoke to him for probably 15 or 20 minutes. I had a really good opportunity with the second man to speak to him. But you know, I need to be praying consistently for the Spirit of God to direct me For the Spirit of God to guide you. If you're not having a divine acquaintance, ask God. You know, pray God. If you don't know what to say, ask God for wisdom, what to say. How many of those that have done any evangelism know that often as they're speaking to somebody, something pops into your head and you're like, what? I've never thought about that before, but I'm going to say it. And you say it and you think, wow, that's a really good answer to that. Where did that come from? What do you know of the Spirit of God enabling you? And when it comes to your walk with God, as you seek to live in victory over sin, and do the things that God desires you to do, it will never be accomplished by saying, I'm going to pull myself up by my bootstraps and I'm going to be a better man for Christ. It will come as it does here, as we see in Simeon's life, as the Spirit of God empowers, as the Spirit of God directs, because the Spirit of God was upon that man. You know, we have a more precious experience of the Spirit of God than Simeon had. Pentecost was post-Simeon. It happened afterwards. But praise God we have that person of power today if you're saved. You know what it is to be fully submitted to the Spirit of God and to see the Spirit of God at work in your life. To walk worthy of declaring Christ, you must be spiritually empowered. And then be one who takes the Christ to yourself. Be one who takes the Christ to yourself. There's a very beautiful picture in the temple of this older man coming up to this young couple that have their baby Jesus. They're there at the temple and excited about bringing that baby there. And Simeon, perhaps as a temple official, is given the opportunity to take the Christ child to himself. I mean, it seems natural, as you read the text, that the parents aren't going, who are you coming to take my child away? So apparently, maybe as an official of the temple, Simeon was taking that little baby. And there's something precious about a baby, isn't there? I mean, something wonderful? That baby breath and the cuteness of that little infant, as long as they're not screaming or something. But a child that is just so wonderful, and there's something precious about. Simeon taking his child to himself. Simeon embraced Jesus. It says that when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took him up in his arms and he blessed God and sinned. And Simeon is praising God, praising God that he possesses the Son of God in his arms. So precious a picture. You know, let me ask you this morning, do you possess the Son of God in your heart? And as best I know, as I look at our congregation this morning, I think so. Do you possess the Son of God in your heart? Is Jesus as real to you as that baby was to Simeon? You know, as the psalm says, I know he lives. I know he lives. He lives with, in my heart. Do you have that sweet assurance that you are holding the Christ? Pastor Tannis that preached here on Thursday night, I'm so thankful he shared his testimony and the stories that go back to my life because Pastor Tannis went to Bible College at Maranatha Baptist Bible College. My dad pastored 15 minutes from there when I was 3 years old up to when I was 8 years old. Pastor Tannis was at the church when I was 4 years old. and had me in his class, you know, and would come over to our house when I, you know, obviously I was there, he was there. And, but that little church, that's where I got saved. That little church, my dad preached a message on hell. I listened to dad talk about it, it's a fire, it's eternal, it's separation from God. The sounds you hear there are leaping and gnashing of teeth, and as a little five-year-old, I thought, I'm gonna go to hell. And I went down to my dad's study, and I remember there were men that were in my dad's study talking to my dad. And I got past them, got to my dad and said, Dad, I want to get saved. And I remember the men went out, my dad and I sat down on this green couch in his office, straight across from his desk with a boot lamp. My dad was from Colorado, it was a cowboy boot with a lamp. And my dad showed me I was a sinner. that I was on my way to hell, but that Jesus Christ died for me, and that if I prayed and asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and save me, He would. And as a little boy, I got on my head, and I asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and to save me. And you know what? Ever since then, I possess the Christ. Do you possess the Christ? If you don't possess the Christ this morning, the thing is, you're not ready for eternity. You're not ready for that time of your life ceasing and you're not ready to enter into that eternal abode if you don't possess Christ. But notice what Sinion says as he's holding the Lord. He's ready to depart in peace. He says in verse 29, he says, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. 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." It means, my eyes have seen thy salvation. This is the Messiah. Listen, when somebody gets saved, their eyes see the salvation. They get it. They understand. This is it. This is Christ. And Simeon is able to say, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace. What's he talking about? Is he saying, let me die? Let me die. I've been promised, Simeon had been promised by God that he wouldn't die until he saw the Messiah. Now that he has the Christ, he's ready to go. I read and finished the last of the four books that I've been reading about Thomas Chalmers. And of course, you get to the end of the memoirs, and you read about his death. And the day of his death was just a normal day. He was in his mid-60s, and he had just gotten back from a trip down to London to speak to the MPs down there at Parliament about the Free Church of Scotland that had just come out recently, the last four or five years, and separated from the state church because of separation of church and state. And so he did that, he comes back from that trip, he's just been back a couple days, writes his sister a letter that she never received that said, I'm so glad I saw you, I don't know that I'll see you again this side of eternity, but I'm thankful. You know, his health was fine, but he just thought, you know, I don't know, and he didn't. That night, after tea, they had a cordial fellowship. There was a man that was staying there that was a good friend, and had a great conversation with him, and just went up to bed. And he would sleep with his head inclined, and so just kind of leaning up against some pillows. And he had a certain way with his arms that he would sleep. And his family knew that. And when they found him the next morning, the caretaker realized that soon after his head hit the pillow, He died because he was cold in the morning, but he was still in that resting position. You know, that's a great picture of a believer's death. Because for a believer, death is just sleep. So soon you can say, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. I'm not scared to die. Jesus came to deliver those who through all their life were subject to bondage because of their fear of death. And rightly so. But when somebody's saved, if I go to sleep tonight and I wake up in eternity tomorrow, it doesn't matter. But for somebody that's not saved, they're not ready to die. the Son of God, you're not ready to die. I spoke again to that man that I was witnessing to, and he said, I'm not scared to die. And he said to me, I'm not scared to die. He said, my dad had cardiac arrest, and his heart stopped, and he died, and they brought him back to life. I said, he didn't die. Your heart can stop beating, that's not death. That's not what the Bible says death is. By the way, come tonight, and the interesting thing about man, we think we understand about ourselves, but we only understand rightly about ourselves if we understand what the Bible says about ourselves, right? And so we have this concept that death is the cessation of your heart beating. No, it's not. I've read two articles lately about hypothermic patients that have had cardiac arrest for like six hours. And in one case, it was six or seven kids that had dumped out of a boat over in Norway or somewhere over there. And two hours later, the helicopter came, and they were all clinically dead. No heartbeat. Six hours later, they resuscitated them. And they began to come back to consciousness two days later. Very interesting. This gal, Audrey Schumann, 34, a British hiker in Spain in November of this year, she had a six-hour cardiac arrest because of hypothermia. She's fine. Why? Because she didn't die. Death is not the ceasing of my heart to beat. Death is the departure of my soul from my body. That's biblically what death is. And see, praise God that hypothermia has its way of stopping the heart and God medically has provided a way to save men's life that they could go into cardiac arrest For that long and live, praise God, right? But that's not death. Don't ever think, well, I've talked to somebody that's died. No. If they're alive, they're alive. Right? Unless it's Lazarus. Do you get what I'm saying? All right? Or somebody that's been dead for days. OK? But the Bible says death is the departure of the soul or the spirit from the body. Genesis 25, 8. And Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age. An old man full of years was gathered to his people. Genesis 25, 17. These are the years of the life of Ishmael, 137 years. And he gave up the ghost and died and was gathered unto his people. And Genesis 35, 29. Isaac gave up the ghost and died and was gathered unto his people. If your soul has not departed your body, you've never died. So people have this false assurance, well I've died and I've come back and it's fine. No it's not. Or I've talked to somebody, they've died and they've come back and they're fine. No, it's not fine because they didn't really die. Because death is that time where that soul departs from the body and when that takes place you enter into eternity. Like the Bible speaks about in Acts 16 verse 22, there's two places your body can go or your soul can go, and it's either heaven or it's hell. It came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. That's heaven. The rich man also died and was buried and in hell. He lifted up his eyes, being in torment. You know, lifting up your eyes, being in torments, in the lake of fire, is not this, Lord now let us thou thy servant depart in peace. It's Lord, actually not Lord at all, now I'm going to depart in wrath. And if somebody was here today and said, I'm not scared of death, you ought to be. If you're not saved, listen. If somebody said, I'm not scared of dying. We read that poem in Biblicals this morning. I am master of my destiny, captain of my fate. It matters not how narrow the way, how long the scroll of sins I committed. Yes, it does. It does matter. Somebody could have perfect peace today and think, well, I'm fine. No, you're not. Not if you're not saved. But, praise God, if you're saved, you can say with sin, hey, now, let thy servant depart in peace, it's fine, death is okay. To walk worthy of declaring Christ, I think, quite obviously, this morning, you need to possess Christ. You need to have Christ. You need to take Jesus to yourself so that you can rightly help somebody else to find Christ. And then to walk worthy of declaring Christ, you must be one who is aware of the suffering of Christ. One who is aware of the suffering of Christ and moreover why he suffered or why he would suffer. And so Simeon blessed them. and sent him to Mary, his mother. And I want to point out, Mary didn't bless Simeon, just to refute Catholicism. Mary didn't bless Simeon, Simeon blessed Mary. We were reading last night in our devotions as a family, and we saw where Mary and her brethren stand at the door knocking. They said, your mother and your brethren are outside. And Jesus said, who is my mother and my brethren? Those that hear the will of God and Do it, right? And so Jesus didn't venerate Mary and say, oh, it's Mary, stop everything. And I just mentioned that to refute Catholic Church false teaching that Mary is somehow an exalted person. Praise God, she's a glorious, godly young lady that God chose to bury the Christ child. But she didn't bless Simeon. Simeon blessed them as they came in. And he says to them, he spoke to them of his awareness of the suffering of the Christ. because the Christ would not be embraced. It says, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. If only the chief priests and Pharisees had a tender heart for God, they could have been there and listened in to what is this that's taking place. There is a man prophesying in the temple. Listen, for the last hundreds of years, heaven had been silent, and yet revelation has come again. And they could have heard something that would have helped them understand what was taking place later. Because Simeon talked about the fact that this man would be rejected, that Christ would be. The Bible says about it in John 1 verse 11, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. They didn't want a king that was humble. They didn't want a king that was lowly. They looked at him and said, isn't that just a carpenter's son? They didn't look at Jesus the way he was packaged and think, oh, this is the king. Imagine with me, on Christmas day, there's a billionaire and he's gonna have a bit of fun. And so he dresses up like a smelly old beggar and he's got these rags on. He's got brown paper bags that, and maybe he's got a little bit of tobacco juice, you know, coming out of his mouth and just, he looks a mess. And he knocks on a wealthy man's or somewhat wealthy man's door and in the bag he's got like 10,000 pounds. And he's going to give it to whoever will take it. And so he knocks on the door as a humble beggar. And the rich man opens his door, nose up in the air. Who are you? Get away. Get away. And this billionaire is just waiting for somebody that is going to love the beggar enough to take the bag, not because of what's in it, but out of love for the beggar. Right? Isn't that what God did with Jesus? Jesus wasn't dressed up so that people, oh, it's a king, bow down and worship him. This is so great. And you know, a lot of people look for Jesus in big places, cathedrals and religious services and all these Things like, that's the package that they want to open. They don't want to open a package in a small, independent Baptist church, pastored by an American pastor, that speaks with an accent, that speaks about the gospel, that you have to repent of your sin and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, by humbling your heart. But that humility would open the bag that is untold value. But God put it in a humble packaging. A lot of people are going to reject that. And Simeon knew about that. You know, when he asked her this morning again, have you humbled your heart to take the gift that Jesus Christ gave? And open that humble packaging to receive Christ. Simeon said, Christ will be crucified. He spoke about the crucifixion, at least with regard to Mary, verse 35. He said, Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. You know what Calvary does? Calvary exposes men's hearts. It shows our response to God. It shows whether we'll love God or not. We talked about it in study school, about God is not unjust to cast people into hell, and that God isn't predetermined them to wrath. He's predetermined that those that accept Jesus Christ as their Savior will be godly. There's so many people that rejected Christ, and this Christ was crucified. And in the audience at Calvary, as Jesus was being crucified, there was none who suffered as much as Mary. We don't know what happened to Joseph. Joseph was still around at the 12-year-old story that we read in this text. But that's the last mention of Joseph. I suspect that, personally, this is just me, not by research or anything, I suspect Joseph passed away. That's what I suspect. But whatever the case, Joseph is absent, so the only person standing there, and he's gone, we know he's at least separated from Mary, because of what we'll see even later in this text, okay? Or that we'll look at. But Mary's the one that held the baby in her arms. Mary's the one that had that toddler running around the house, Jesus, you know, Jesus pulled out, you know, trying to catch up with him as a teenager. Loving Jesus, encouraging Jesus. You know, even though Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is God, yet that mother-child relationship, the child that she gave birth to, unlike Joseph as a stepdad, okay? And so, that intimate relationship, mother and child, and she's there at the cross as the Son of God is crucified. What would that be like? I mean, this is not just, this is, you're my Messiah, this is her son, right? And to sacrifice that sword piercing their arm. Why? Because of the heartache of what Jesus would go through. But why did he go through it? Isaiah 53, 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. If we're going to declare Christ, we understand that Christ suffered, but we understand even more so that why he suffered, he suffered because of our sin, right? And so as we deal with sinners, as we deal with our own sin, we understand that that was why Christ suffered. And then to walk worthy of declaring Christ, just a few more points this morning. Be one whose life is dedicated to God. Paul speaks about it this way, he said, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. You know, the reasonable service would be kind of like this, it would be God standing here today, saying, Church, you're here today, let me just tell you that the one thing I expect, and it's not a big, high thing, is that your life is fully dedicated to me. It's your reasonable service. And when we look at the life of Anna, we see somebody that had a life that was dedicated to God. Verse 36, there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four scorned, four years, which departed not from the temple. So we come to our second example this morning, and it's a woman. It's Anna, all right? And by the way, you think about how the Bible treats women. I had a lady tell me, I don't believe in God. He's a misogynist, and He degrades women. And I said, look, the mother of the Lord is a woman. And you look at this dear lady, Anna, that's coming into this precious story to declare something glorious, an example to us this morning. God has a high regard for women. And so we read, there was one Anna, a prophetess and daughter of a new-year-old that, for these four score and four years, she was there in the temple. Surprisingly, scripture gives her age, but not the age of Simeon. All right? It's kind of backwards to us. We kind of say men's age. I'll say women's age. But the Bible here tells us that she's 84 years old, that she lived with a husband for these few years, seven years, from her virginity. So from that age of marrying, for seven years she's married. So she's probably mid-twenties when her husband passes away, becomes a widow. But you know what? The Bible, in giving her age, is emphasizing the fact Anna is dedicated to the Lord. You know, at 20, she's probably a beautiful young lady. She'd get remarried. It doesn't seem like she has any children even. So if somebody marries her, they're not marrying her and receiving a child. It's just she's on her own. And she could have lived that life of remarriage. But she dedicated her life to God. She gave her life to be fully lived for God. Amy Carmichael was a woman like that. She was a woman that chose singleness. She could have married. She was a bright, very bright lady. But she chose a life of singleness so that she could serve God. And there was a time where she had to get into a cave and pray and seek God. And she's praying about that with God. And she said, I had feelings of fear about the future. That was why I was there. To be alone with God. The devil kept on whispering, it's alright now, but what about afterwards? You're going to be very lonely. And he painted pictures of loneliness. I can see them still. And I turned to my God in a kind of desperation and said, Lord, what can I do? How can I go to the end? And he said in her heart, none of them that trust in me shall be desolate. That's scripture, all right? So the word of God, the spirit of God brought a verse to her mind. That word has been with me ever since. It's been fulfilled to me. In 1901, Amy rescued her first temple child in India. Such children were destined for a life of prostitution in Hindu temples. Over the years, she rescued and brought to her many other children in similar danger. A home was made for them amidst a community of believers, later called the Donover Fellowship. Like Amy, many at Donover chose to remain single, to attend upon the Lord without distraction, as one of them said. In 1960, Amy Ford formed the Sisters of the Common Life. For single women like herself, in a book of guidelines for them, Amy wrote, there's nothing dreary or doubtful about this life. It's meant to be continually joyful. She describes those who embrace this lifestyle as those being willing to follow the lamb wherever he go. And that they chose that. Now God hasn't called us all to that. Paul speaks about that, about being celibate and choosing that lifestyle, especially in days of persecution. And commends that as being great. But he says everybody can't handle that. That's not for everyone, but if that's something that God has for somebody like Anna. then it's a great testimony of somebody that was so dedicated to God that she remained single the rest of her life so that she could give herself fully to God. And see this morning, whether or not that's God's will for us, well God's will is what we talked about, that we be somebody that is fully dedicated to God, that we live our life for God. Those who are worthy to declare Christ must be fully dedicated to Christ. And then lastly this morning, I want to end with this, and that is, be one who is a prayer warrior. Be one who is a prayer warrior. Verse 37 says, and she was a widow of about four score and 40 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. And it's not to be presumed this morning that, like a monk, she never left that temple property. It's that when the temple was open, as it was daily, she was there. And her life was dedicated to God. But the way that she served God, the Bible says, is with fastings and prayers, night and day. She was instant, in season, out of season. She was somebody that knew what it meant to pray without ceasing. Again, not that every hour of every day her lips were moving in prayer, but that she was somebody that was in such close communion with God that she had unbroken fellowship with God. And she fasted, then without food, so that she could seek God. There's a man named John Nelson Hyde, called Praying Hyde. And in 1899, he wrote to his college saying, I have felt led to pray for others this winter as never before. I never before knew what it was to work all day and then pray all night before God for another. In college or at parties, at home, I used to keep such hours for myself, for pleasure. Can I not do as much for God and souls? In 1904, Indian Christians and Western missionaries gathered for the first of an annual series of conventions at Silka in what is today Pakistan. To support this time of spiritual renewal, John Hyde and his friends formed the Punjab Prayer Union, setting aside half an hour each day to pray for revival. The results of the prayers were plainly seen at the seal convention as a special anointing fell upon those gathered. Year by year, the prayer union fasted and prayed, and at each convention, a growing urgency for evangelism and intercession filled each attendee. John Hyde emerged as a prayer leader, and all were amazed at both the depth of his spiritual insight and the ferocity of his burden for India. And you read about a man that, I mean, had a great prayer life. I mean, the book about him and the way he's referred to in history is praying high. And I don't suppose today that I've got a prayer life that comes close to matching the prayer life of praying high. I suspect this morning, as I speak about Anna, the prophetess that served God with fastings and prayers night and day, I wouldn't be surprised this morning if none of us measure up to that level of praying, correct? But let me ask you, it's one thing to say, I can't begin to compare myself with Anna. It's another thing to say, I don't pray. It's another thing to say, I never fast. See, we ought to stop and think, you know, if I'm going to declare Christ, I need the power of God. If we're going to reach people in our community for Christ, and see the church grow, and see the church develop, you know, I need to fast and pray. This can't go forth but by prayer and fasting. We ought to be someone that can say, you know, Pastor, I don't... I can't begin to say that I pray like that alone, Pastor. I want you to know, Pastor, I spend 10 minutes in prayer a day. I spend 15 minutes in prayer a day. I spend 20 minutes in prayer a day. I spend 25 minutes in prayer a day. I spend 30 minutes in prayer a day. I pray daily. I've got that time set aside. I don't let anything take that time away from me. Because listen, You've got time to watch the telly. You've got time to cheer for sports. You've got time to do your hobbies. You've got time to do your things. But how much time do you take to seek God in prayer? And being able to think about that like that, you think, well, you know, that's convicting. If we're going to declare Christ, we've got to be somebody that is a prayer warrior. Somebody that's walking with God. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. And the life of Christ begins, and it's going to be done soon, right? 33 years old, into eternity. by death, resurrection, and ascension. Right? The Bible says in Isaiah 53, He is taken from the earth. And who shall declare His generation? Who? See, they declared to Christ. When's the last time you declared to Christ? Are you worthy to declare the Christ? I don't blame you for not declaring the Christ if your life's full of sin. I'm not suggesting this morning that I've got somebody here that, you know, has a really wicked life and everything, but I don't blame you for not speaking about Christ if your life is not what it ought to be for Christ. I don't expect you, if your life's full of sin and you're not devout to the house of God and the things of God, and you're not in faith waiting for Christ to come, I don't expect you to tell anybody about Christ. I don't. because you're not worthy to tell anybody about Christ. But if you want to tell somebody about Christ, you know, those are things that you need to examine in life, say, I need to be righteous, I need to be pious, I need to be full of faith to do that. Are you somebody that's Spirit-empowered? Where you're given to God, and it's not something, I don't want to make that idea too mystical, it's just, if I don't make you Spirit, how much more should I give the Holy Spirit to them to ask Him? God, guide me by your Spirit. Direct me by your Spirit. Help me to witness with the Spirit of God. I don't have the boldness, Lord. I don't. Give me the boldness to speak to somebody about Christ. Certainly today, if you don't possess Christ, you're not going to declare Christ. No. Why? Because you don't really even know if you have Christ. So the first thing is to take Christ into your heart, aware that the suffering of Christ was because of our sin. Somebody that's dedicated to God saying, you know what, well, I'm going to live my life for God. And you know, can I say this? You might be somebody that says, but I wasted so many years. I don't care your age today or anything. Some of us are older, some of us are younger. It doesn't matter. You can use every day after today for God. If you want to declare Christ, shouldn't you be somebody that's dedicated to Christ and say, you know, it's your life to live through me. Are you a prayer warrior? Do you fast and pray? God, we need the power of God to declare Christ. And so, like Anna, having that devout, pure relationship with God. May God help us to be that kind of person so that we can declare the generation of our Lord. Let's pray. Father, may the Spirit of God speak to hearts now in the quietness of this moment. Father, it might be that somebody here this morning, though I don't even suspect it to be the case perhaps, but they know in their heart they're not saved. That they have not taken Jesus as a personal Savior. Father, I pray that today would be the day that they take the Christ. And Father, there could be so many things that the Spirit of God spoke in their hearts about today in the text that we've considered. But Father, help us to make decisions. Finally, if somebody needs to have prayer every day, then they need to schedule it. If they need it fast, then they need to stop and think, you know, on this day I can do without breakfast, I can do without lunch, I can maybe even do without tea. Just to seek God and spend more time in prayer. Finally, that would be a great thing. But it might be somebody who's got sin in their life. They're not what they ought to be, so they can't tell anybody about Christ. They're not devoted to God. They're not pious. And so they've got to get right with God and be faithful to the house of God and be faithful to living for God because they want to, not because they have to. So many areas, Lord, that we've considered this morning, and I just pray that the Spirit of God would speak. And Lord, don't let us be deceived. If we listen to a message like this and the Spirit of God goes, hey, there's something that needs to change in your life, And then Father, if we don't change it, then we're the house on the sand, not the house on the rock. So I just pray, Lord, help us to do business with you. And I pray that you work. And I pray that you guide me in my path. Let's do this this morning. Let's stand, please. We're just going to bow our hands. We're going to listen to the piano play the hymn. But I'm just going to invite you to pray in your heart. as the hymn plays. And if the Spirit of God is speaking to you or heard about anything specific, just do business with God. Let's just spend this time in prayer. so so While the piano's playing, I just want to ask you, are you resisting God? And even as I search my own heart, is there anything that the Spirit of God has spoken to you about, and there's just a refusal to heal? Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would reveal those things. God, give us grace to heal. So. If there is anything in our hearts that we're holding back, it's just a reminder to us that our hearts could harden against God, and the Spirit of God may never again speak to us about it. So I pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit, if He's speaking especially to somebody about salvation, that they yield. Or, Father, another decision that's a concrete decision, Lord, to be off the recruit, to harden our back, is to be suddenly destroyed and die without remedy. And Father, I pray that in our heart, it's our desire to say, God, God, you have your way in our lives. And Father, thank you for each one that's here. Bless the Christmas holiday season. That can encourage everybody. Strengthen them and their family ties and their relationships with their neighbors and their community. And Father, we pray for the power of God upon our ministry and aspects of our ministry and Lord.