with me to Luke chapter 2. Luke 2 will begin in verse 21. I remember when I was a youth pastor in Longmont Colorado I had a friend that was planning a church his name is Dan Unruh and I can remember when they were renting a little room in a elementary school where their church would meet there were a couple of times we would go up and i would preach for brother dan and there were times when i would fill in for him when he needed to be away but i can remember when they had when their when their boys were just i mean infants teeny tiny i can remember dan saying yep this is my little sinner and mrs unruh was always like stop that that's my precious little baby you know and he's like that's just a little sinner you better get ready better get used to it And you know what? When we see cute little babies, we don't often think of them as sinners. But the Bible says that we come from the womb speaking lies. You don't have to teach your children to lie to be dishonest or selfish, do you? Matter of fact, the Bible says, Psalm 51, verse 5, the psalmist said, Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. The Bible tells us in Romans 1, by one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, and in death by sin. So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. But Jesus Christ was born of the virgin. He did not inherit the sin nature. There is only one baby that was born in sinless innocency, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pick up the narrative of the Lord as Joseph and Mary bring Jesus according to the scriptures. And this could be an entire different message, this is only a byline, but may the Holy Spirit use it in your family. Mary and Joseph were seeking, even with Jesus, and they knew him to be the perfect, sinless Son of God. They still sought to do right in his upbringing. And to do things not according to tradition, but according to the Word of God, and that is emphasized. Look with me beginning in verse 21. The Bible says, and when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared before the face of all people a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. four titles of christ that i want you to see this morning that describe this innocent baby that simeon holds in his arms the first is the consolation of israel adam clark in his commentary states that this was something that was looked for by devout jews during this time to the point when they would actually use it in a phrase such as So let me see the consolation if such and such a thing is truly so They were looking for that and I think this morning what a wonderful title the consolation of Israel not just of Israel But of all who will come by faith to Christ You know, there are many people who are very Burdened today Rand Homel, the director of The Wilds New England, just lost his mother in death. Other friends of ours have just lost loved ones. Billy and Evelyn Hall just lost a cousin, the wife of a cousin, in death in a car accident on Friday night. There are other difficulties and battles, whether they're physical ailments or parents who are grieved because their children are not faithfully walking with the Lord, and it grieves their heart, and there are other things. And isn't it wonderful that our Savior is consolation? The Bible tells us that we have a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. The Bible tells us of Jesus, our great high priest. We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. There is nothing that touches your heart and concerns you that does not touch the heart of God, for he loves you with an infinite and perfect love. He knows every detail about your life and he absolutely cares. He is a God that is near and not a God that is far off. Though God transcends his creation, he is not detached from his creation. Psalm 139, the psalmist starts out, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. And that word searched means to pursue a treasure. The idea is to mine into the earth to get treasure. Gems, precious metals. God minds into the heart. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17 in verse 10, I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins. And friend, you will never find consolation and peace in alcohol or in drugs or in some sort of intimate human relationship or in some religious ritual. The Bible says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible there in Hebrews chapter four, when the Bible says, it says in verse 16, let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. And that word mercy literally is the idea of lifting off the weight of a heavy burden. And isn't it wonderful that the Lord Jesus Christ can lift the weight of that guilt. We can experience forgiveness. Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you remember that day when you repented of your sin, placed your faith in Jesus Christ, and the burden of the guilt of your sin, that fear of the eternal future was gone? For there is now and therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. and the wonderful peace that flooded your soul when you knew you were right with God because your faith is in Jesus Christ, the one who died on the cross, was buried, and rose again for you, and you turned to the living Son of God and called on Him. And friend, now we still have that consolation. And the Bible says, when we look not at the things which are not seen, The things which are seen are temporal. The things which are not seen are eternal. And we are to interpret this temporal life in light of eternity, and we are to be looking to Christ. He is our consolation. Second of all, the Bible says that He is the Lord's Christ. Man, enraptured or enveloped within that title is the idea of the anointed one. The word Christ means anointed. In the Old Testament the word Messiah was that same word and it means anointed. And do you know who was anointed in the Bible in the old times? What? Three offices or ministries? It was prophet. Today I read in my devotions in Jeremiah 1 that the Lord himself reached out and touched Jeremiah's lips and anointed his lips. Isaiah was anointed with a coal off of the altar. So prophets were anointed. We know that kings were anointed. Samuel got to anoint with oil the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David. So kings were anointed. And the priests were anointed. You look in the Old Testament, the record of different priests. When you think about Aaron, the first high priest, and his sons, how that they were anointed for their office. But there was nobody that was able to be both priest and king. But Christ is prophet, priest, and king. He is the anointed of God. He holds the authority of all of those offices. He holds all of that power, and he has all of those ministries for us. And then if you would look back, the Bible also tells us, he says, thy salvation. In verse 30, he says, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. God's salvation is not for an exclusive few. Jesus said, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, would draw all men unto me. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3, 9, the Lord's not slack concerning his promises, some in count slackness, but is long suffering to us where, get this, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And Jesus said, he that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. God loves you. His gift of salvation is for you. And he makes it plain. He declares it. In this was manifest the love of God that he gave his only begotten son to be the propitiation, the full payment sacrifice for our sin. God doesn't hide his love. He doesn't make a mystery the way of salvation. It is declared plainly and clearly. And that message is for you. And you need to turn to the light of the truth of Christ's salvation. Isaiah 49, 6, the Father, God the Father, in this prophecy of Isaiah, speaks of his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I will also give thee for a light unto the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. And we see that verse wraps up two of these titles, also the next title, where in verse 32, Simeon says, And again, the picture there is that it is an all-encompassing gospel. It's not only for the Jews. It is for the Gentiles. Salvation is for all. The light of truth is manifest so that all men have opportunity. to stop trusting in themselves and their own moral character, to stop trusting in the rituals of a works religion, and instead place their faith in the finished work and the full payment sacrifice that Jesus Christ made when he died on the cross and shed his blood, was buried, and rose again for us, and that's where your faith needs to be, in Jesus Christ. And you need to claim the gift of eternal life. The Bible says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now it's a very little thing, but those CDs are in the back there. But what do you have to do for that gift to be yours personally? You have to walk up, you have to take it and walk out with it, right? Now that actually, whether you think about it or not, you actually have to exercise a little faith. Because I already made an announcement that we're giving them to you, but what if you walked out the door with that and it was a trick, and I had police ringing all the way around the church and said, whoever comes out with a CD, they probably didn't pay for it, and you need to arrest them, and I'll accuse them of stealing, and we'll just frame a whole bunch of people this morning. Or you could walk out with that CD thinking there's a CD in there. You're trusting there's one in there, right? What if they're all empty? Now let me preface that by saying, in our years of evangelism, once every few years, someone would come back the next night and say, hey, I need another CD, because here's the case, but there was not a CD in it. So every once in a while, that sort of thing happens. But I have good faith that there's a CD in every one of those cases. If not, see me, and we'll make sure you get one with a CD in it. Well, what am I saying? You have to believe that I meant it, and that I meant it for you to have it, and that what I'm offering you is real, and then you take it, and then it's yours. And it is the way of salvation. You may believe in the gospel, the good news of salvation, but only as a religious theory. It's not a personal truth to you. Do you know what? Here it is on Christmas Eve. God wants to give you the most wonderful gift you could ever receive. There's no way you can pay for it. There's no way you can earn it. You can't deserve it, wouldn't you? If you were to open, some families open presents Christmas Eve, some Christmas Day, whatever. But would you not be just a little bit hurt and offended if somebody opened a present from you and they took out their wallet or their purse and wanted to pay you for the gift? Or wouldn't it be just a little bit hurtful if you gave them a gift and you mean you shopped and you got exactly what you knew would be a perfectly fitting gift for them. And I mean it took a lot of research and it took a lot of planning and it cost you something and you wanted them to have it. You were so excited to see the expression on their face when they opened and received that gift and then they wouldn't take it from you. What kind of offense do you think it is that God gave his only son to be the sacrifice for your sin, to die on the cross, suffer in your place, to pay a price you could never pay, and suffer in your place, because even if you suffered for your sins, you could never pay for all your sins. But Jesus paid that for you. God the Father gave his son, Christ willingly sacrificed himself. God gives to you an opportunity to take a gift that is beyond price. You can't put a monetary value, you can't put so many hours of community surface value on the gift of eternal life. You cannot earn it, you can't pay for it, and you and I certainly don't deserve it, but God wants to give it to us as a gift. There's no better gift that you could accept this Christmas to the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. We're going to pray and then as you see we have our table set up. We're going to observe communion or the Lord's table this morning. So I'm going to pray and then I'm going to come down in front of the Lord's table. I'm going to make some comments and read a passage of scripture. This is a continued part of our worship and I will explain it in just a moment. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, now this morning as To come to the close of the message, I pray that the Spirit of God will continue to speak in hearts that those who have never received the gift of eternal life would today accept from your hand that priceless treasure that will last forever. And pray, Lord, for those of us who've received that gift. Lord that we would love you and Lord though we cannot repay that gift Because you have shown your love to us and we've accepted it as john said in first john 419 We love you because you first loved us. May we now out of a heart of gratitude and worship Want to give our lives to you not to pay back that what you've done for us could we could never do it but as an expression of our love and our appreciation and gratitude to you And Lord, now as we come to this time of communion of the Lord's table, may we recognize it for what it is and worship you properly. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.