Merry Christmas Church. Last week we started a mini-series around the subject of Christmas. And I began by telling you that very on early in my ministry I realized that Christmas messages are very much a unique challenge and I suggested that there may be three reasons why they're a challenge. One is that soon early on in ministry you realize that you have in your church what I call CEOs. Those are people that are Christmas and Easter only and you understand that if that's the case they might come Christmas and Easter only and leave with the idea or the impression that the only thing the Bible talks about is Christmas and Easter. And so you become aware of that. Another concern about the Christmas message is our culture's over-familiarity with the storyline. The idea is even if you've never opened the Bible and you just simply walked down a cart aisle or watched, you know, the Hallmark Channel, you would get the general gist of Christmas. Maybe not exactly accurate, but nonetheless. The third reason, it's a challenge, is that there just isn't that much information about the birth of Christ in Scripture. You have a handful of amazing Old Testament prophecies. Then you have sort of the four gospels. John's prologue is sort of a theological treatment of the Word becoming flesh. Mark skips the birth narrative altogether, and then you're left with just Matthew and Luke. There just isn't that much there. But what I've noticed, and what this series was built around, is that of that small handful of people, who the scripture records interacting with the birth of Christ, that you have people associated with the birth of Christ that really, in an odd, strange way, represent, in a figurative way, all of mankind. That is to say, they epitomize the extreme ends of the human continuum. We titled this series, Daniel and I did, The Great and the Small, the Young and the Old of the Birth of Christ. And what I mean by that is you really have surrounding the birth of Christ people who were at that time the greatest of the great. That would be the Magi. They were kingmakers. They were courtly appointed majestic scholars that traveled the world. They sort of became the check and balances of the royal court throughout the four major early empires. throughout the Babylonian, the Medes, and the Persians, the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire. You can trace back sort of the Moorings, even back to the Egyptians, and even into Rome. And even as we looked at the Magi, you see Herod calling his own sort of Magi, his wise men, a choir. When was Christ to be born, and where was he to be born? And then you see the real Magi worshiping him as king. You had the Magi, and then you had the small, the lowliest of the strata of human experience, which would have been shepherds. In that culture in that day, they were the bottom rung, the dreg of society, forbidden by Jewish law even to give testimony in a court. They were seen as such unreliable, dishonest, uneducated, lowly paid people, and yet they become the first witnesses, the first witnesses of the birth of Christ. the great and the small, and then Daniel this morning, the young, John the Baptist, even in pre-birth, leaping for joy at Mary with her pre-born Christ, the young and the old. And tonight we have the old. We have the record of Simeon literally hanging on life by a thread until he sees this newborn child. So I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me tonight to the final, the old, and look at Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, beginning in verse 21. As you're turning there, in fact, we all somewhere exist on the continuum between the greatest of the great and the lowest of the lowest, between the youngest of the young and the oldest of the old. We're all somewhere in between the magi and the shepherd, Preborn John and Simeon hanging on life by a thread. Luke chapter 2 beginning in verse 21. And when eight days had passed before his circumcision, his name was then called Jesus. The name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him up to Jerusalem, To present him to the Lord as it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout looking looking for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him, and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for him the custom law, he then took him into his arms and blessed God. and said, Now, Lord, you are releasing your bondservant to depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, from Magi to shepherds, from old to young, in the presence of all people, a light, a revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. And his father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said to him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child, this child is appointed for the fall and the rise of many in Israel and assigned to be opposed. A sword will pierce even your own soul to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the coming of Christ. Not just the birth of Christ, but the life of Christ, the words of Christ, the works of Christ, the Word became flesh. Father, even though we have the Old Testament, apart from Christ, you would be virtually unknowable. A God so holy, so transcendent, so otherly, So unlike us, that though we would have words, you still would be unknowable virtually. And so you became man and dwelt among us. And we in human form beheld your glory, the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Father, you came to declare the greatest message the world will ever hear, a message not only of salvation, but a message of revelation. Who exactly is the God that created the world, the cosmos, created us, the God with whom we have to do? Jesus is the answer to all of those things. He came to declare those things and to give his life, a ransom for many. Tonight we would pray for the one who preaches on this Christmas Eve for his sins, or indeed many. We don't need him, we need you. And we would pray with all sincerity that we would not just be challenged tonight, but changed. Not just confronted, but conformed to the image of him with whom we have to do. Amen. A few points and we'll be done. First of all, I want you to notice the consolation, the consolation. Verse 25 and 28, look at it again. There was a devout man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout. And notice, he was looking for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him, been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. He wouldn't see death till he'd seen the Lord's Christ. Looking, looking for the consolation of Israel. The English translation of the Greek right there, consolation, to me, just doesn't cut it. Wouldn't have been the word I would have picked. When I think of consolation, I think of something like a consolation prize. The price is right. So far, you've earned $6,000. We have three doors. Behind one of these doors, a brand new Dodge Charger. You want to take a shot? Sure. Door three, oh, I'm sorry. Johnny, tell them what their consolation prize is. You've won an electric knife with three blades and a carrying case. Not very consoling. Oh, I lost six grand and a car, but I do have an electric knife. Looking for the consolation of Israel. Is that really the right word? If you look at the word consolation, maybe you'll draw a line underneath of it. The actual Greek word is the word paraklesis. And it literally means to come along one side. To stand by someone. On one hand, the word can mean to come alongside and to comfort someone or to console someone. As if, you know, losing six grand and missing a car, like your knife is consoling, it's comforting. Not really. In the Old Testament, the great messianic promises that when the Messiah came, he would come alongside to comfort and to console. One of the most powerful Old Testament prophecies about the birth of Christ is in Isaiah chapter 40, where after 39 chapters of, woe is me, the prophet says, comfort, oh comfort my people, says your God. Speak kindly to Jerusalem, call her out. Her warfare has ended, listen, and her iniquity has been removed and she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. That is to say, be comforted because as sinful as you are, salvation will come from the Lord's hand in double portion. And then it goes on to describe the preparation, as Daniel said this morning, for the coming of a king, clear the way for the Lord, make smooth the desert, let every valley be lifted up, every mountain be made low, the rough, rugged plain become a vein, the terrain, rugged terrain, a broad valley. This is preparing the entrance into the agora of the city for the coming of a king. We see this in Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where they cover the ground with palm fronds, the entrance of the king. And when you've done this, verse 5, the great promise is this, then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together. And that is such an amazing promise that the section ends by saying this, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. The Old Testament declared that the coming of Messiah would bring great comfort and consolation. But literally the best rendering of the word to console or consolation of Pericles literally means, because it has sort of a legal nuance, it means to be one's advocate, to come alongside, to defend somebody, to plead one's case. In fact, another form of the very same word is the very word Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit in John 14, where he says, I go, but if I go, I will send you another Periclete. another who will come alongside of you." Simeon wasn't looking all the days of his life for comfort. He was looking for an advocate. He was looking for someone who would defend guilty, sinful Israel before a holy, righteous God. Simeon is told by God that he will not see death until Israel's advocate, Israel's intercessor, Israel's Messiah would be seen. Secondly, and briefly, not only the consolation, but I want you to notice the watcher. Again, God tells Simeon that through the Holy Spirit, he won't die until he sees the Messiah. I have to say, I'm a little bit jealous. Can you imagine if you had that promise? I would love for the Holy Spirit to tell me, you won't die until you see Jesus. Of course, on this side of the Ascension, that would mean I wouldn't die at all. Everybody say Amen. I wouldn't die at all. But then again, you're not going to die until you see Jesus. Tonight, if you're a believer, you know what? You might not see Jesus before you die, but you'll see Jesus right after you die. In my mind's eye, as I think about this text, here is Simeon, and he is a very aged man, hanging on life by a thread. And with every passing day, I see his aching, aged body, struggling off of some sort of bed platform, trying to get to his feet and make it to the temple, struggling through the senior years of life with whatever might have been Touching him, realizing with every passing day the narrowing of that promised encounter became realer and realer. That is to say, if he didn't come today, certainly it's more possible and more of a chance that he'll see him tomorrow. Unbelievable. And I believe, though the text doesn't say that, that death came soon after seeing Jesus, Simeon. And it came soon after seeing Jesus as a way to confirm that indeed the Christ he saw was indeed the Christ that was promised. The account of Simeon is so powerful. This aged man had lived his life since he had received the promise literally as a sentinel, a watcher, waiting for the promised Messiah. Church history has given him the name Theodokos, which means the God receiver. And in my mind's eye, though, the text doesn't say it has to be true. that he never missed the temple rites associated with the birth of the circumcision of newborn baby boys in Jerusalem. Because the Messiah would have to go through the law. The Messiah would have to vet his way and make himself known to Israel in all righteousness. And so he would stand there, in my mind's eye, on the temple, watching these parents bringing their children for purification and so forth, and wondering, I wonder if it's them. I wonder if it's this baby, or that baby, or that baby. And yet, day after day, no confirmation until this day. The Holy Spirit reveals to him, this is the one. Third point, and not only the consolation and the watcher, but I want you to notice the defining. As Mary and Joseph entered with this infant Jesus, all of a sudden out of the blue comes a stranger, this old man stranger. And it had to have been startling. Startling. This old man comes to me without asking permission, yanks the baby from his or her arms and holds him in the air and begins making these powerful declarations. I might have thought, honey, he's lost his mind. This is advanced Alzheimer's, something like that, right? He grabs the baby in his arms, lifts him up, and listen to verse 29-32. The Lord is now releasing his bondservant to depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. All of a sudden, with that baby lifted up in his arms, the sentinel sounds off the long-awaited alarm. He declares, God's word has been fulfilled. God's salvation has come. My days as a watcher are over. The encounter also demonstrates that Simeon had been told more by God than just he would not die before seeing Christ. He was also apparently told by God what the child would mean to him, what the child would mean to Mary, and what the child would mean to every one of us here tonight. What this child would mean to him, what the child would mean to Mary, and what the child would mean to every human being in the human strain. For Simeon, the child meant freedom to pass on. For Mary, the child would be a sword that would pierce her own heart. Of course, we see that at the foot of the cross, a sign to be opposed. But for all of humanity, this child, this child would be life and eternity defining. I want you to notice very carefully verse 34. It says this, behold, this child is appointed, for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, and will be a sign to be opposed, and a sword will pierce even your own soul. To what end? To the end that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." This child is defining for every human being that will ever live. What someone does with this child, What someone does with this Jesus is the revelation of who they are before God. A line in the sand. Jesus would say it this way, you're either with me or what? Against me. What someone does with Jesus really is that truth or reality that strips away All pretense. All pretense. It strips away any form of fake, phony righteousness or religiosity. You can be a church man, a church woman. You can be giving your sacrifices, tithing of your mint and sage and all. And yet what you do with Jesus really shows and reveals who you are before God and who you are with God. Reject me, Jesus would say, and the Father will reject you. Receive me, believe in me, and the Father will receive and believe in me. How a person responds to Christ reveals the true nature of their heart, despite all the pretense. How a person responds to Christ reveals what a person's true relationship is with God. How a person responds to Jesus determines, according to verse 34, either they're rising or they're falling. He is defining. If you have your Bible tonight, let me invite you to turn with me, if you would, for a minute to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7, we have the conclusion of what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. And beginning in verse 13 of chapter 7, you have what I call make up your mind time on the mount. This is sort of Jesus, a New Testament messianic invitation after a sermon. Verse 13 begins with a call, enter, enter. And as you would read through this, he's talking about destruction or salvation. Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. Many are those who enter it." You see, what someone does with Jesus is defining the rising and the falling of many. Verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of God, but he does the will of my Father who is in heaven. You see, it's not just what you say, it's what you do with Jesus. Bad trees cut down, good trees, produce fruit. But the section I would draw your attention to is verse 24, the last section of this invitation, where Jesus gives this powerful illustration that how a person responds to him defines or determines their rising or their falling, and he talks about a house. Verse 24, therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, slammed against the house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine, verse 26, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rains fell, floods came, winds blew, slammed against the house, and yet it did not fall. And it fell, excuse me, and it did fall, and great was its fall. And when Jesus had finished these words, crowds were astonished, amazed at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes. Why? Because he was God. And Jesus is saying it's like this, how one responds to me reveals the true nature of your heart. It's a house. Your life is a house. And the rain and the winds and the hurricane forces aren't speaking, are not speaking about difficulties in life, they're speaking about the judgment. The whole section isn't weathering the storms of life, it's weathering the final judgment. It's the difference between falling and rising, being fruitful or being thrown into the fire. You see, Jesus in His first great inaugural preaching session would say, listen, what was prophesied about me by Simeon the aged is true. I am a lion in the sand, rising and falling depend upon how one responds to me. The nature of one's heart in reality, the right relationship with God in reality, rising and falling, Jesus is the lion in the sand. One final point, the consolation. The paraclete, the one who will defend us as sinners before God, this man lived his life looking. The watcher, Simeon, hanging on life by thread until the promise is fulfilled. The defining, this child that I'm holding, this child is the single individual in all of human history upon we will eternally fall or eternally rise. Fourthly, the righteousness. This is powerful. You'll notice that this entire text takes place with the newborn Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Simeon in the Jerusalem temple. Mary and Joseph are there with the baby to follow the detailed steps of Old Testament law that called for certain things to be done after the birth of a male child, particularly the firstborn male child. They're there to fulfill Old Testament law, God's law. Three, in verses 21 through 27, three separate ceremonies are described. The first, in verses 23 and 24, is what is called the purification ceremony. The second, in verse 23, is the presentation of the firstborn to the Lord. And the final one is the dedication of the firstborn to the Lord's service. Why is this recorded? Why do we care? The old covenant is ending. Jesus is bringing the new covenant. Why do we care that the old covenant is being fulfilled in the life of Jesus? I want you to notice this very carefully in your Bible. I want you to see where the emphasis is laid. First of all, verse 22. concerning the purification. It says in verse 22 that it was done, listen to this, according to the law of Moses. Verse 23 says, as it is written in the law of the Lord. Verse 24, according to what was said in the law of the Lord. Verse 27, to carry out the custom of the law. Here, the point is made pristinely clear in verse 39. Notice it. Don't miss it. When they had performed everything, everything according to the law of the Lord. From the very beginning, Christ fulfilled the entire law of the Lord. even in his infancy when he is seemingly not in control of God, in his providence, and in his sovereignty. Jesus, from infancy, fulfilled the entire law of the Lord. His entire life was lived in obedience to the Father's law. Why is that important? Do you know what sin is? Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, Paragraph 6. Here's what sin is. Every sin, both original and actual, is a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary unto, does in its own nature bring guilt upon the sinner whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and made subject to death with all its miseries, both spiritual, temporal, and eternal. What this passage is demonstrating is the sinlessness of Christ, who lived his life from infancy onward, fulfilling every yacht and tittle of the law of God. Theologians refer to this as the impeccability of Christ. For us, Simeon wants us to know that this infant he holds in his hand is the only sinless person that has ever lived since the pre-fallen Adam. The Westminster Confession goes on to say that sin, which is a violation of God's law, binds over the sinner to the wrath of God, the curses of the law, and made subject to death and all of its miseries. In the same promise, Simeon will go on to say, listen, Mary, your heart will be broken because he will experience, your son will experience unspeakable miseries. And yet it's not because he has broken the law. As the gospel of Jesus Christ unfolds from infancy, we must know that all the miseries, the hatred, the pain, the death, the exercising of God's full wrath upon his Son, that Christ, who endured all this, endured it sinlessly, that it fell on the sinless Son of God who fulfilled the entire law of God." See, what most people, Christians in particular, don't consider is that our justification before God is not based merely on the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ and the ascension of Christ. But our justification before God also depends on the impeccable life of Christ, the sinless life of Christ. Christ lived the life that we should all have lived but didn't. We are saved not only by the death, resurrection, ascension of Christ, but we are saved by the impeccable, sinless life of Christ. For instance, Jesus would say this after the resurrection. Luke 24, 44, he said to them, these are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about me in the law and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled by me. Or Matthew 5, 17, do not think, listen to this, do not think that I have come to abolish the law. I did not come to abolish it, listen to this, but to what? Fulfill it. Truly I say to you, until heaven and earth passes away, not the smallest letter or stroke of the law shall pass away until it's fulfilled, and the implication is fulfilled by me. The Bible speaks of both the passive obedience and the active obedience of Christ. Most Christians in modern day American evangelical are pretty comfortable with the idea of the passive obedience of Christ, which is the idea that Jesus willingly took the path that God had ordained from him. He submitted himself to the father's plan in obedience. But the act of obedience, Christ, is the other side of the coin, and it's so powerful, and that is that Jesus lived his life purposely fulfilling every jot and every tittle of the law in our place. You see, we believe the Bible teaches what we call, it's a big word, don't let us scare you, double imputation. Which means this, all of us are comfortable with the idea that when Jesus hung on that cross, sinless, righteous Christ, that my sins were credited to him. Can everybody say amen? Jesus died for my sins. Can you say that? Do you believe that? That the sinless God bore my sins. He didn't commit them, but they were credited to him. The Bible goes on to teach us this, that when we believe that, My sinful life is credited to him so that his perfect life can be credited to me. One last passage, and you can go home and open gifts, okay? But this is the best gift you'll ever hear. Look with me, if you would, at 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, beginning in verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now all these things from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ. To reconcile means to end the war. Sinners rebelling against God's authority, God's law. It is through Christ that God reconciled us himself through Christ and gave us as Christians a ministry of reconciliation. Namely that we are declared that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself so that he could not count their trespasses against him and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation which is the gospel. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. That is, when we preach the gospel, as I am this very moment, I can say this with the authority of God's word, that though these are my words, this is God's command, demand, hope, call for you, as it was for me when I heard the gospel. Verse 21, here's the gospel. He, that's God, made him, that's Christ, who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Can I tell you what that means? It blows my mind. God treated his son on that cross as if he had lived my life and your life. So that by faith, when we get to heaven, God will treat us as if we had lived his life. God made him who knew no sin to be sin our sin, so that in him we might become his righteousness, the righteousness of God himself through Christ. That's the gift. Let's bow our heads in hearts of prayer. Father, we thank you for the consolation that is ours in Christ, one who came alongside as an advocate because we could not help ourselves nor defend ourselves. Thank you for Simeon who lived his life looking only to find. If you're here and you've never looked, look and you'll find. Jesus said, seek and you shall find. Father, we thank you for the Watcher. We thank you for a man, an example of a righteous man who lived his life with one priority, and it was a messianic priority. It wasn't money or power. I'm sure he forsook and gave up many things to fulfill that which God had shown him. He lived Christocentric. Christ dominated his life, his thoughts, his day, his time. Father, we thank you that Jesus Christ is defining. And though the world rejects sort of the idea that there could only be one way, I'm thankful tonight that there is only one way. I'm thankful that we have certainty that if we're made right with you through Christ alone, we alone are made right. He is the line in the sand. The world is not made up of Eastern people or Western people or Democrats or Republicans or whatever. It is made up of those who will either rise or fall because of their relationship to Jesus. The ground is leveled in Christ. Either male or female, wise, full, poor, rich, young, old. He is defining. And we're thankful tonight, Father, for his righteousness. We're thankful that when I get to heaven, I won't stand before a holy, righteous God as myself, but rather a new creation. A new creation in that the righteousness of Christ has been credited to me. And when the Father looks at me, he will see his Son. That is the best news in the world. Father, we thank You for this Christmas season. Be with us as we leave this place. We pray that You'd be glorified in our attitudes, our words, our actions, our joy. Help us this season to somehow experience holes, rents, in the thin veil that exists between this world and eternity. Give us glimpses of the other side, the glory that belongs to our Savior and the glory that is to come. We ask these things in Jesus' name and all God's people said, Amen.