chapter 2 with the wise men this week we're in Luke chapter 2 and another part of the story of the nativity as we're looking at last week. Six times God has blessed our family with a newborn baby in our home And we had one girl and then five boys. And I think as we've had our boys, the nurses kind of thought, what's the matter with this guy? Oh, it's another boy, or something like that. Because our girl came first, and then our boys. But as a parent with that child, it's precious to introduce that child to other people. I remember after Kaylee was born, Katie has two aunts on her birth mom's side. and they came over drove about three and a half hours to come over and see Kaylee and Kaylee wouldn't cooperate. She was asleep the whole time that they're there eyes closed I mean I took a milk jug out of the fridge put it up against her cheek You know trying anything just gotta wake her up and as soon as they drove out of course she came wide awake but they didn't get to see her awake at that time but You know, it's fun to take that child to church, you know, and introduce that child to the people that are there. And as in ministry, those people would be the ones that would often be holding our kids, except for when we started our church here, you know, and they'd be carrying that child while we were doing our ministry things that we'd be doing. Out shopping, our children would get looks and smiles from strangers. And it wasn't because our kids were weird looking. Our kids were born With a lot of hair and you guys know what that's like, but with your kids, you know And so you walk into the shop and it was a very common expression Look at all the hair. All right, and that was just part of our life with our kids But it's fun to let people behold your child who and I you know over that little newborn baby and so this morning I As we look at the story of Jesus' birth, right at that point in his life, he's a brand new baby. They're taking him into the temple, first time out, to be able to go and to present him to the Lord. He's going to the public place of worship. People are gonna be beholding him for the first time. And so we see that in our text here in Luke chapter two and verse 21. It says, 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's written in the law of the Lord, every male that opened at the womb shall be called fully to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, okay? So, as they bring them to the temple, you know, he's one of the babies probably that are there on that day to be dedicated. There's probably others that are going to be presented to the Lord, and I just kind of imagine a lot of people that are seeing them aren't really seeing them, maybe just this young Jewish couple, they're coming in, they've got that infant Jesus swaddled up, wrapped up in the arms of his mother Mary, and to them, they'd have no idea who they're beholding. Can you imagine? I mean, imagine that you were there and you had no idea that was the Christ, you know? What that would be like, you'd think, man, I wish I would have seen that baby, but they would just not have been aware of who that was. However, there are two people, Simeon, that baby for who he is, they're going to be holding him with eyesight that's different than others that were seeing him on that day. They would correctly identify him for who he was and who he still is. And so this morning, as we again look at the nativity, this time going back in time from what we looked at last week as he was a couple years old, last week as we're looking to have him possibly up to two years old, hearing some people were who He is. As I look at the Nativity, I need to behold Him for who He is. And so to consider this morning, who do you see in the arms of Mary? If you were there on that day and you were beholding it, based on your perspective of the Christ or the child that was there, who do you see in the arms of Mary? And let's pray and ask the Spirit of God to bless the Word of God to our hearts when we come to it. morning. Father, we thank you for the grace that you give. Thank you again for the Lord Jesus Christ. It is exciting to focus on his birth. It's a joy to think about Jesus, but then to step back and say, wow, that little bundle contains something amazing. And father how we would have loved to seen the Lord Jesus Christ on this day that we're reading about and I praise you that the Word of God Allows us to enter into that story to that first experience of Jesus Christ ever going physically bodily into the temple the temple where by the grace of God he's going to reign someday and And Father, it's just amazing to think about our Savior. And so I do pray that the Spirit of God will bless this morning, bless the children, and this time in here as well, help Mrs. Short and her class, that the Spirit of God will minister to the hearts of those that are in there. And Father, here, that we have open hearts, open minds, that, Father, our greatest desire is that the Spirit of God would speak to our hearts this morning and encourage us in our walk with you. And Father, I pray for your help as I speak the word this morning. I pray the Spirit of God would guide me, direct me, enable me, equip me, and help me, and Father, to present it in a way that is God-honoring and a blessing to the hearts of God's people. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. And so, who do you see? As you look at that baby in the arms of Mary, or as we'll see, Simeon takes him in his arms as well, but as you look at that bundle of joy, who do you see there? And so the first thing that we need to behold, we need to behold the Messiah, the Christ child. And so verse 25 in Luke 2, it says, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just in the bow, 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 it came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him, after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms and blessed God, and said." Okay, and so now as we enter into the story, God's Word introduces us to a man that is a tremendous man of God, okay? He is a just man. The Bible speaks about Job as being a just man, a God-fearing man. That means that he was holy or righteous. to follow God. Simeon truly walked with God. He had imputed righteousness like Abraham had by faith, believing God. He had been made righteous by God. So truly this is a man of God. He was devout, meaning that he was religiously pious, okay? So again, he's not just a hearer of the word, but he's a man that is actually doing it. He's practicing his faith. He's not somebody that just, you know, believed God and then maybe walked away or strayed. He's somebody that is currently very close to God, walking with God. And then he's full of faith. The Bible speaks about his waiting for the consolation of Israel. The consolation of Israel is the Christ. the one that would be sent by God, the Messiah. And Simeon believed God's word, what God had said in his word. He had scripture, not the New Testament, but he had the Old Testament, and many prophecies about that coming son, such as Isaiah 9-6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. There was a desire in the heart of this man to see that child that God was going to send, that one that would be the Christ. What I love about Simeon, he's walking with God. The Bible says about him, the Holy Ghost was upon him. It speaks about this, about Simeon before the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost to the church and the blessings that we have with the Holy Spirit, but the Bible identifies this Old Testament believer as somebody that was a spirit-enabled man. The Holy Ghost was upon him. It was revealed unto him, it says, by the Holy Ghost. So he was in communication with the Holy Spirit And the Bible says as well, he came by the Spirit into the temple. And so as you read about that, he didn't just happen to be in the temple. It wasn't like, oh, that was a coincidence. I had somebody yesterday say about this property, that was lucky, or you're lucky, or something like that. And I said, not happenstance, in the circumstance. And so it's the same with Simeon. He enters in right as Jesus comes in, but it wasn't just by chance. It was that the Spirit of God brought him there right then because he was waiting for the consolation of Israel and he was going to get to meet him. Simeon is one of the first believers to positively identify Jesus as the Christ. He's one of the first to articulate it and be recorded in scripture as identifying that this baby was indeed the Christ child. Matthew 16, 16. Simon Peter, I'm sorry, the Apostle Peter 30 years later would do this. And as recorded in Matthew 16, 16, Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. But 30 years later, Peter would say, thou art the Christ, but go back to the birth of Christ. This newborn baby can't speak, can't do miracles, can't do incredible things, but the Spirit of God revealed to Simeon that this is the Christ, the one that was sent by God. And so as we look at Jesus this morning, Jesus did not become God's plan, Jesus was God's plan. He was the one that the Bible spoke about in the Old Testament that said, this is the one that's going to come, that's going to be the deliverer for his people from their sins. So again, as we look at that child, there ought to be something in our hearts that correctly identifies him and says, that is the Christ. And I love it that that name, Jesus Christ, Jesus Messiah, all throughout the New Testament, it's told to us that Jesus is indeed the one sent by God. And so behold the Christ. But then behold God in flesh. God in flesh. It says in verse 27 and 28, it says, and he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and he blessed God, and said." Okay, so he's got the child Jesus there, and we see that here, in this case, the humanity of Christ. We see that he is God in flesh. He was born into a poor family. That's clear from our story, because as they come, they're not offering a lamb. They come with an offering, but it's a bird sacrifice instead of because that was allowed because of their poverty. They're submitting to the law. Jesus is there to be circumcised. The sign of the covenant of the Jewish people that that were consecrated to God and into that covenant relationship was a sign of circumcision. The son of God, Jesus, had been made into human flesh. We see, even in our text here, the Bible speaks about him, his humanity, and that it speaks about the fact that he's eight days old. His parents have him there to be circumcised, and Simeon takes baby Jesus into his arms, and he holds God in flesh. It's incredible to consider that God could be put into human form. Over 600 years before Jesus' birth, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that God would become flesh. Isaiah 7.14. It says, therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel. Well, that name Immanuel, we know, means God with us. And the scripture is very clear about that. Remember, there was a story where the angel came to Joseph and declared that that name meant God in the flesh. If you wanna turn there, it's found in Matthew 1. In verse 18, and it says, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was his spouse to Joseph, before they came together, she was bound with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets, saying, here it is, the older virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, and then it goes, the angel went on to say, which being interpreted is God with us. All right, so Emmanuel, God with us. And so we see the humanity of Christ as he comes, but we're reminded of his deity, that he is God in flesh. I've said before to our church, I remember Kaylee coming out of the hospital for the first time. And what it was like having that precious child in a car seat, you know, and I drove the car up there by the hospital and you take that baby and you put that baby in the back seat. I don't know if it's this way for everybody, there yeah I mean that was I don't I think I kind of got used to it after a couple more but but there was that sense of you know that life that precious life is back there and that we were very careful with our children you know how would you feel if you're holding baby Jesus I mean a responsibility I suppose it'd be a little bit like holding an earthly king. Imagine somebody that helps out as a nursemaid with a prince or something like that. You got the prince at nursery. I mean, that's a tremendous responsibility to think that God with flesh was there in the arms of Simeon. As the carol sings, or says, God with man is now resigning. that God became a man. Philippians 2 speaks clearly about this. In Philippians 2 verse 5, it says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself with no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And so as Simeon holds him, he looks at him and being found in fashion as a man, again in God and flesh. The deity of Jesus is a watershed doctrine. We're talking this morning a little bit about that truth. Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons in Islam, reject the deity of Christ. And so who do we behold? Praise God. As a church, the doctrine that we believe and hold very dear to our hearts is that doctrine of the deity of the Christ, but we behold, as we see him there, his humanity. The third, behold the Savior, behold the Savior. And so God became a man and God sent a Messiah as our Savior because man needed a Savior, because man needed to be saved. And so as we behold that child, we behold the Savior. It says in verse 21, it says, 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. Okay, so his name is Jesus. Why Jesus? Why was that name given to him? Well, Matthew 1.21, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save His people from their sin. That name Jesus speaks about the fact that Jesus is the Savior. I praise God this morning that Jesus didn't come to save His people in their sin, that He didn't come to save them with their sin, but that Jesus Christ came to save them from their sin, to set them apart from their sin. So how did He do that? Or how does He save people from their sin? Well, Jesus Christ saved us from sin's penalty. Praise God this morning. If you're saved, we're not getting up in the morning afraid to die and afraid of hell and eternity away from God because that punishment for our sin by the grace of God has been taken away. But for those that aren't saved, as they wake up today, they're under the judgment of God. They're under the wrath of God. This is John 3, 18. Says, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. And so somebody that's not saved today, it's not that in the future they will stand before God and God's gonna look at them and say, you're guilty and you deserve to go to hell, but that today as God looks at that person that does not have Jesus Christ as their Savior, that God looks at them as condemned already. In other words, sentence has already been passed against us. Now, praise God, when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, he saved us from that so that, as we talked about this morning, the convictor of sin, righteousness, and judgment brings us to a point of understanding the wrath of God against us so that we look at that and say, I am in a bad place. I need to be rescued from what? I need to be rescued from the punishment of my sin. Now, as soon as I got saved, God did that. Praise God, that's what the Savior is all about if I'm saved, right? And so he saves us from that. Have you been saved from that? Do you know for sure today that if you die, that you're not gonna be cast into a lake of fire, but that by the grace of God, you received God's gift of everlasting life? That's what we're speaking about there. But he saves men, not just from the punishment, but he also saves men from sin's power, sin's power. You know, going back to Old Testament Israel and Israel in Egypt, when they were in Egypt, they were enslaved. They were in bondage until the day that came finally where God was dealing with Egypt through the plagues that were taking place. And then God said, okay, it's time for the Passover lamb. There's a judgment that's coming. It's a judgment against every household that's there. It's only one thing that can save the firstborn son in that household. And that is if there's blood from an innocent lamb that was slain, as God said, it's a Passover offering, eaten, consumed, the blood put on the doorpost, and then the death angel would pass over, right? And so they did that in obedience to God, and then they were brought out of bondage through the blood, and they were set free. And it's a picture of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Somebody that has been set free by the grace of God, not only has been saved from the punishment of their sin, but they're no longer in bondage under Egypt. They're no longer under the world. They're no longer under the slave that they were to sin. Sin is bondage and sin is constraining. And if somebody is not born again, their life is enslaved to sin. But when somebody gets saved, God sets us free from the power of sin, not just the punishment of sin. I think it's important that we focus on this. So that as a New Testament believer, I don't say, well, I've got to be enslaved to that because before I got saved, that was my lifestyle. That's the way I was. And I've got to stay there. No, by the grace of God, through the power of the cross and what Jesus Christ did in shedding his blood, he has set us free from the power of sin as well. Romans 6, 16. It says, know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? Then it says this, but God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Our expectation as a church is when somebody professes faith in Christ, if it's genuine and they've truly accepted Christ, that God breaks, not just takes away the punishment of their sin, but that he gives them the power to have a life that is absolutely changed and set free from sin. So when we rejoice in the Savior, it's twofold. It's God has broken that. I love what they said 100 years ago, the Edinburgh newspaper about, The Charlotte Street Chapel was thriving back in the early 1900s and God was doing a good work there and the secular newspaper said the Redeemed Drunkards Band was on the street again tonight. A religion that can make a drunkard a good father and a loving husband is a religion worth having. We're in the New Testament at times, by the grace of God. It ought to be our expectation that the power of God is sufficient, that when we see somebody saved in our church, God is gonna change their life by His grace, because He sets them free, not just from the punishment of their sin, but from the power of their sin, because He's our Savior. He saves His people from their sin. And so we behold him as a savior from sin. We behold the only way of salvation. Verse 29, it says, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. All right, Simeon is an older man. He's been told he's not gonna die until he sees the Lord's Christ. He looks at Jesus and he says, I see it. There was not an A plan and a B plan. There was not option one and option two. It was Christ and Christ alone. And Simeon looks at the Christ child and says, this is it. This is what God has done. Praise God for the plan that he gave. And that's not plan A, B, C, or D. It's not baptism this morning. It's not good works. It's not dressing yourself up and getting to the house of God and going to church. But it's that we look at Jesus Christ, what he did when he died on the cross, that he paid the price for our sin, that he didn't stay in the grave, but that he rose from the dead, and we put our faith in that. And the Bible says that's the only way of salvation. That's the way that God gave it. I was witnessing to a friend of mine in Lone Head. He was a coal miner. And he had heard the gospel so many times, but finally, I was at his house, and I looked at him, and I said, I said, look, I said, if you're down in that Chilean mine, and the collapse has taken place, and they've drilled down through, and you got that rescue capsule that has come down, and the rescue capsule's there, and you're not gonna get on it, I said, I would plead with you. I would say, look, that's the only way. There's no B, there's no C, there's no two, there's no three. That's it. I don't care if you're claustrophobic. I don't care what other logic is going on in your head. You're thinking, well, surely there's something else. Maybe there's gonna be something. I would say, I would plead with you. Look, the air can run out. There could be illness. I would do everything in my power to get you on there. And I said, look, Jesus Christ is the only way. There's not another way. You need Christ. And just trying to emphasize, there's not another option. So as we look with Simeon at the Christ, we see the option. We see the way that God gave. And then behold, not just the only way of salvation, but behold the obvious way of salvation. Verse 31, it says, which thou has prepared before the face, of all people. It was obvious. Some things in life aren't obvious. When we arrived here in Scotland, our first day was kind of interesting. We found out that in our 16 pieces of baggage, one piece was wrong. I tied orange ribbons around the handle of every one, and all 16 pieces had orange ribbons, but one other guy had had the same idea, I guess, and had tied an orange ribbon on his. We had his piece of luggage, and apparently he maybe had our piece of luggage, but we're missing one, and one's there. trying to figure out which piece is the wrong piece. And right then, Parker fell. Parker, at that time, was about two years old. He decided to climb an IKEA bookshelf, and one of the shelves was loose. He fell, and when he fell, he must have brought that board down on his face or something. He split his lip wide open. And so he's bleeding, and I've got to drive on the opposite side of the road from what I was used to for the first time. I've got to drive a manual. I'd only driven a manual for one month in my entire life, and that was five years before that day. And so I had to go through Sheriff Hall roundabout. It's my third roundabout. We lived in S Bank, right? And so, I mean, I got through there. I got to the Royal. I'm patting myself on the back saying, hey, you've done great. Get there. I'm dead tired. I've got my son. We go in, and we're at the Royal. And of course, at the Royal, I don't know this, I'm new to the area. So I get there, I go on triage and everything. They said, okay, we've seen him, this is what we think. We think he might need surgery for that, but you've got to go to SickKids. And she said that, she said, it's right down in Edinburgh. And she made a statement kind of like this, you can't miss it. Like it's obvious, okay. Well, now I've lived here for, 14 years almost now, and I'll just tell you this, if I'm gonna describe sick kids to any back in the old place where it was down by the meadows, I would not say to anybody it's obvious. Now the GPS saved me and got me there, so praise God for that, and the story worked out, he got a surgery, he's fine now, and may not be able to have a beard, but anyway. And so, some things in life are obvious, some things are not. You know what, Jesus Christ is obvious. It's easy for anybody. It's not some abstract truth. It's a truth that, I would say this, is more promoted and more known in our world almost than anything. It is out there. Now, we gotta continue to get it out there as a church, but it is obvious that Jesus Christ is God's way of salvation. Paul, when witnessing the King Agrippa, he said in Acts 26, 26, for the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely. Friar persuaded that none of these things are hidden for him, for this thing was not done in a corner. Jesus Christ wasn't crucified in some back alley somewhere. Jesus Christ was crucified outside the city walls of Jerusalem by two main crossroads with truth written in multiple languages, the King and the Jews, on his cross. Everybody knew about the Christ. And so again, as we speak about the only way of salvation, we also say this morning, it's the obvious way of salvation. It's a way that has clearly been given. And so we behold the Savior, and then hurrying on this morning. Behold the light of the world. Behold the light of the world. You know, I like light. I'm sure if I asked this morning, how many of you like light? Everybody raise your hand. You know, we've just passed the winter solstice. I mean, we're into the longest nights of the year. I don't know about you, I can long for that springtime or that sun is getting up there and it's shining and it's bright. Right now sometimes I run with a light pack on. It's my light as I'm running around Roslyn. I look forward to when that sunshine is up there, lighting my path up, you know? And we can soak in the sunlight if we get it in the summer, right? To feel that warmth of that. You know, praise God he gave us a physical sun. We miss it when it's not there. We love it when it's there. And praise God this morning that God gave light, spiritual light, in the person of his son, Jesus Christ. And so it's a light to dispel darkness. Look at verse 32. It says a light to lighten the Gentiles. What a prophecy about the work of Christ that the gospel would go not just to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. In John 8, verse 12, then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 9, 5, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. of the world, okay? And so, light is important. Again, if you're running in darkness, that's not good. So I was out on one of my runs about a week ago, and all the rain that we've had and things, and so I'm running in the dark, and when I get onto the path that goes around Roslyn, sometimes I turn the light off, and I had the light off, but it was dark out. And it was so dark, actually, I was listening to preaching. This is kind of funny. Yeah, I'm listening to preaching, and they asked the question, and the answer to the question was the Father. And so there I'm running, and I just said it out loud. I don't normally speak out loud when I'm running, but I did. I go, the father. As I said the father, I noticed there was a lady just off the path right here with her dog. And I can just imagine, you know, someone runs past you, the father, you know, or something like that. So I mean, that was kind of funny. Completely that if you ever run with me just know this I'm gonna go past whatever's there I don't stop and so and so I just decide I'm going into the bushes right beside it, but I didn't know it was briars And I hit the briars. I mean they wrapped me up I mean I I had jogging bottoms on and I mean they just I got scratches to prove it And I mean it just I stopped I couldn't go anywhere It totally stopped me. Why? Because I was running and I couldn't see. If I could have seen that, there's no way I could have... I'll tell you this, I'm not going that way again because I know it's there, but I mean the last thing I want to do is run into a bunch of briars. You know there's people today that they're running through life and they're running in darkness. They can't see where they're going, and because of that, their life is getting snared up all the times by drug, by drink, by immorality, and all these things are impacting them and their thorns. They hurt their health. They hurt their finance. They know they're off the path. They know that they're messed up. Why? Because they don't have the light. And Jesus is the light. He's the one that can illumine these things and go, hey, don't go into the briars. Don't go there. Don't go down that path because that's a bad path. I'll show you what the path is. It's a path of righteousness. How does he do that? He's the light. He's a light that reveals truth, but he's a light as well that reveals his glory. Notice what it says. He's the light of the Gentiles, but also the glory of thy people, Israel. The glory of that people is real. You know, we're at an exciting stage, and again, I encourage you, if you haven't seen the sanctuary today, to have a look, because it's starting to take shape. You walk in now and go, okay, so I get an idea of what this is going to look like. And so the walls are finished, the ceiling is finished, and it's beautiful, and it's all glory to God and all credit to God. God's done a great work. But one of the cool things there is the illumination that we put in, the lights. And so as I've taken people back, we had Asher and his sister Abigail visit with us, was it last week or two weeks ago? And I took them back there, and it's great, you know, showing somebody a place, and you walk around the corner and you flip the lights on, and you kind of hear them. It's glorious to illumine that space, and wow, what a place that's gonna be to worship God. You know, Jesus didn't just dispel darkness with his light, but his glory was seen in his light. Okay, we see that most clearly at the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ. As those men went up there, Peter, James, and John, and the Bible says that he was so brilliant that no fuller, no painter could paint anything that white. That's how brilliant the Lord Jesus Christ was. His glory was revealed. I'll tell you this, that baby that's there, that he's holding, the glory of God is veiled, right? Imagine, Simeon's got the baby, and all of a sudden, the transfiguration takes place with that child. Can you imagine? happen at the Temple Mount? I mean, people are gonna fall on their face and be like, Peter, as he says, should we, you know, blurt out something about, you know, for Moses and Elijah and Jesus, because he was afraid, he didn't know what to say. If the people began to understand the glory that was there in Christ, just imagine what it'd be like. Do we see the brilliance of that baby? Do we behold God in flesh and go, wow? And then, behold a stumbling block or a stepping stone. A stumbling block or a stepping stone. Verse 33, it says, and Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, behold, this child is set for the fall. and rising again of many in Israel. Jesus is a rock, and some people would stand upon that rock and step upon that rock, and other people would stumble upon that rock. Romans 9.33 says, as it is written, behold, I lay in Zion, Jerusalem, a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Okay, so there's some people it's gonna be a rock of offense to them, and you might wonder, Why was Jesus a stumbling block or how was Jesus a stumbling block? Well, Jesus was a commoner. He didn't come as a king. He came to a poor family. Jesus was uneducated by men's standards. They knew he hadn't had the rabbis instruct him this as they had had the rabbis instruct them. He was an open air preacher. He didn't look like a king. He didn't seem to have an army. Question, was he the king? Yes. Did he have an army? Yes. But he didn't look like he did. His identity was veiled. It's like the Carol says, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, held incarnate deity. And so again, as they look at him, he was a stumbling block because he wasn't what they expected. They expected the knight on a charger, you know, and instead they got the humble carpenter, You've heard the story of the prince and the pauper and that fable, and the prince discovers a peasant that looks just like him, and so he decides to swap places. And so he goes outside the security of the palace, and of course, as a peasant, he's treated meanly by his own men, okay? But there's some people in his realm that treat him with respect and kindness, even though he's just a poor man. Of course, when he gets back into his position as king, those that treated him meanly, he deals with them. Those that treated him with respect as well, he deals kindly with them. As you look at the babe, does your knee begin to bow? Is there something in you of homage to the king? God help us from being anybody that would be obstinate against the Lord. And so he's either a stumbling block or he's a stepping stone. Either we stand upon him in faith or many sadly trip over him into hell. And so, moving on. Behold God's sacrifice for man's sin. God's sacrifice. At the temple that day, Mary and Joseph had a sacrifice. I spoke about what it is. It's those two birds that they're gonna offer as a sacrifice. Other people there had lambs, and I can just imagine a child there at the temple walking in and looking at the lambs, and just something in them as a kid. I don't know about you, but I love lambing season here in Scotland. They're so cute. They're kind of frisky like a puppy and jumping around. They're a lot of fun. And I went, and this lamb looked at me and just came running towards me. And he got about 10 feet away and goes, you're not my mommy. And then he took off, you know, but they're cute as can be, right? You just love to cuddle them, but they wouldn't want to cuddle the lambs at the temple. Why? Because that's a sacrifice. You don't want to get close to that. That's going to be killed. And so as you look at Jesus, what are you looking at? I mean, you want to just take the baby in your arms, That child is what John the Baptist would say, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, a sacrifice rejected by men. Notice what it says, verse 34. Behold, this child, this baby, is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken again. A lot of people are gonna speak against him. A lot of people are gonna despise him. He's gonna be crucified because men rejected. Their tongue is gonna be waged against him. Mark 15, 29, and they that pass by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, ah, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself, come down from the cross. Likewise said the chief priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes. He saved others, himself he cannot save. Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend down from the cross. Did they believe that he was a Christ? No. that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. And so it's very sad. As they hold the baby there, a lot of tongues are gonna wave against that sign. It's a sacrifice that would reveal the thoughts in men's hearts. Look at verse 35. Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also. He's talking to Mary. That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Just eight days after the birth of Jesus, Simeon prophesied of the crucifixion. He's telling Mary, there's gonna come a day of great sorrow that's gonna reveal the heart of men. You know, John 19.25 tells us that Mary was there at the crucifixion. It says, there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. when Jesus therefore saw his mother from the cross. And the disciple standing by whom he loved, he said unto his mother, woman, behold thy son. Then said he to the disciple, behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her into his own home. It seems when you study scripture that Joseph has died. The last time we see Joseph is at 12 years of age as Jesus goes into the temple. It's later on actually in this text, speaks about it. And so that's the last time that Joseph is there. Jesus is called the carpenter in Mark 6 verse 3. It's not just the carpenter, the son of Mary. And so Jesus may have had to step into the family business, be a breadwinner for his family, provide for his mom and his siblings. Here, Jesus convinced Mary to the care of John, the beloved disciple. Again, if Joseph was there, that wouldn't make sense, but Joseph isn't present, isn't declared to be present. He convinced her to his disciple. Mary was a courageous woman. You know, we're not Mariologists here at our church, but we have high regard for this woman that was chosen of God to give birth to the son of God that was a great mother and stood there at the cross. But as her heart, her soul was pierced, the hearts of men were revealed. revealed in how they responded to the crucifixion of Christ. There were some that were broken. Others were belligerent, right? They didn't care. Some were humbled. Others were proud. Some submitted and were thankful. Others were stiff-necked and ungrateful. And so as we look again at this son, The prophecy tells us that we behold the one that would either be a stumbling block or a stepping stone. He was a sacrifice for our sins. And then lastly, this morning, we finish with behold the Redeemer. It says in verse 36, and there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser. She was of a great age and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years. She's 84 years old. 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. Anna looked at that baby, she said, I see the Redeemer. He's the one that's gonna buy us back to God. Okay, to be redeemed is to be bought back. The hostage situation in Israel that's happening right now is a very, a graphic illustration for us of what it means to be redeemed. Those hostages that were taken on what, October 7th was it? When they were taken, they lost their freedom. They were taken into bondage. They were treated very cruelly. And our hearts still go out to those hostages that are held, but there's negotiations that's taking place and have taken place. And on one day, some 100 of those that were held in Gaza were set free. And imagine what it's like to be on that bus that you see the pictures of and the people cheering and waving and looking in and that person that had gone into a death situation where it looked like their life was over, they're redeemed by their nation and they're set free. And again, it's a picture of us when we got saved by the grace of God, God stepped in, we were under bondage and God redeemed us and brought us back to himself. And this woman looked at that and said, this baby, is the one that will do it. This is the Redeemer, Jesus giving his life for us so that we can be set free. Another great woman of God, Frances Crosby, wrote that hymn, Redeemed. Redeemed how I'd love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child, and forever I am. Those people are not going back into Gaza to be the slaves of Hamas anymore. And if we're a child of God, by the grace of God, we are not going back into the bondage that we were in before. God has set us free, praise God, through the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So again, as we look at the temple story that we're reading about, most people looking at Jesus, they just see a little Jewish boy that's gonna get dedicated to God and consecrated to God. And they did that, verse 39 and 40. When they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. And it'd be so regrettable if you were there on that day and you didn't understand who that was. But it's even more regrettable today if you don't have a proper understanding of who Jesus is. Because everything about him is vital to us. And so as you behold that baby, do you behold the Christ? Do you look at Jesus and say, he's the one that the Bible spoke about in the Old Testament, the one that would come and die for our sin? Do you see him as God in flesh? Do you recognize the deity of Jesus, the only way of salvation that God had provided, the light of the world, the one that is the illumination that we need, the stumbling block to us, or the stepping stone, the sacrifice for man's sin that God would give, and the Redeemer, the one that would buy us back by his shed blood on the cross for our sin. And so God help us, we come to the Christmas season, help us behold that baby and say, I know exactly that is according to the Word of God. Let's pray. Father, may the Spirit of God just work in our hearts here this morning. It might be this morning that somebody has never taken Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And Father, first we pray for them. Our prayer would be that they get saved even today, that they see Jesus for who He is and receive Him into their heart as their Father, those of us that are saved, we gotta stop and consider it. You know, if I was holding Jesus Christ in my arms, how would I hold him? And Father, I think we would all recognize how we should hold him. But the fact is, we all hold him in our hearts this morning, and some of us hold him very carefully, and Father, some may not. Now, my prayer would be that we all hold him very carefully. My prayer would be that we all cherish him. My prayer would be that we all honor him highly great regard. But Father, it might be the Spirit of God convicts us before anything, and you know, you've taken Jesus, you've treated him as if he's a commoner instead of the king. And so I just ask this point, maybe you speak to our hearts, Lord, help us make some decisions about our life based on the truth of what we consider, because it is life-changing truth. You didn't save us in our sin or with our sin, but you saved us from our sin. And Father, if our life doesn't back up our profession, God help us to consider whether or not we're truly saved. And so may the Spirit of God help us to truly let the Spirit of God speak to our hearts in this time. May we respond accordingly. It's in Christ that we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, instead of saying that, Carol, him, imitation, we've been saying 201, oh come all ye faithful. 201, once you find it, please stand with me.