I invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 2 this morning. Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2 and verse 21 is where we will begin reading this morning. Luke 2 verse 21. Luke chapter 2 and verse 21, and I'm going to read through verse 35. We will not focus on that entire passage this morning, but I will read that passage this morning. Luke chapter 2, verses 21 to 35. And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who 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 behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting 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 so he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Well, maybe in 2020, Some of us have spent a lot of time waiting for one thing or another. We have waited for restrictions to end. We have waited for things to go back to normal, and they started to go back to normal, and now it seems like we're back again, waiting for things to even go back to semi-normal. We've spent a lot of time waiting. Not all the waiting that we do in life focuses on that which is earthly. We are also called to wait spiritually, aren't we? Of course, the greatest one for whom we wait is Jesus himself. In fact, it is a mark of a converted person that their life changes and all of a sudden they have a different expectation, a different outlook on life. Paul described the way that the gospel had changed the Thessalonians in this way. He said that they turned to God from idols to serve the living God and to wait for his son from heaven. whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from wrath to come." We today wait for the return of Jesus. We wait for the second coming. But in the passage that we read this morning, a man named Simeon waited for Jesus first In his example, as well as his experience, we find encouragement and hope. Because though we do not find ourselves waiting for the first coming of Jesus, we do find ourselves waiting for the second coming of Jesus. We are waiting for Jesus to come a second time. Remember the book of Hebrews tells us, that Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and for those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear the second time apart from sin unto salvation. We are waiting for Jesus. Think about Simeon's waiting this morning. In verses 22 and following, we find that The days of Mary's purification according to Moses' law are completed. And they then bring Jesus into Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Of course, this indicates that they're not in Jerusalem themselves at this time. They're still in Bethlehem. they come to Jerusalem to present Jesus to the Lord according to the law of Moses. In the law of Moses, it was a part of the law of God that the first male son that a woman would have would be brought before the Lord and would be holy to the Lord. Jesus, of course, was Mary's firstborn son. And so they bring Jesus to the temple for this dedication. Verse 24 tells us that they offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. This indicates to us that they were poor, Mary and Joseph. Because this was the sacrifice that would be given by someone who was of lesser means. By the way, I also think, this is evidence for us, that the wise men haven't arrived yet. Because if the wise men have arrived, you know what the wise men come bringing, right? They come bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They come bringing these costly gifts. And so at this point, Mary and Joseph are still poor. And they, in keeping with God's law, bring Jesus and dedicate him to the Lord. Now, verse 25 tells us about a man named Simeon. Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Here's a man who is waiting for the consolation of Israel. I want to talk first of all about waiting, a word about waiting. There are right and wrong ways of waiting, aren't there? Anyone who has ever dealt with children know that there are right and wrong ways of waiting. You tell the child you have to wait. There are right and wrong ways of waiting, not only physically, but there are right and wrong ways of waiting spiritually. Simeon is a man who has the Holy Spirit upon him. We remember that in the Old Testament ministry of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit would come upon a person for a particular time and purpose. The ministry of the Holy Spirit has changed now since Jesus has gone back to heaven. He has sent the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever. But in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come upon someone for a particular time, for a particular task, for a particular service. And here we find that the Holy Spirit has come upon Simeon for the purpose of helping him to wait at helping him arrive at the temple at exactly the right time and helping him to recognize Jesus, the consolation of Israel. Simeon with the spirit upon him and because the spirit is on him, waits in all the right ways. Sometimes we think of the word waiting and we think that waiting means inactivity. That's not true, spiritually speaking. We occupy until Jesus comes. How did Simeon wait for Jesus, and how does that encourage us to wait as we also wait for Jesus? Well, first of all, Simeon waited in holiness. He waited in holiness. Look at verse 25. This man was just and devout. This man, Simeon, was just. He was a righteous man, counted righteous by faith, as every true believer is counted. But he is not only a believer in word, he is a believer in deed. This is a man who is marked by righteousness, by devotion. He is devout. Think about someone who is devout and we're talking about someone who is dedicated to their beliefs. Think about even sports fans today. There are fans who are devout Maple Leafs fans. In spite of the fact that we may never see the Maple Leafs win a Stanley Cup, there are still devout the devout Maple Leafs fans, and they are devoted to the Maple Leafs. Well, Simeon is not simply devoted to some kind of an earthly pursuit. He is devoted to living right. He is devoted to God. He is devout. I wonder if your friends and neighbors were to describe you, and describe the way that you look at life, and the way that you look at faith, the way that you look at religion. I wonder if devout would be one of those expressions, would be one of those characteristics that they would describe you as. It seems more and more that many Christians don't want to be seen as too devout. It seems as though more and more professing Christians want to be seen as just a slightly sanctified version of a cool person in the world. I was telling my wife yesterday that I get a little bit scared, a little bit hesitant when I see people that are Christians that want to be cool. And I'm not saying that it's wrong to dress in clothes that are in fashion, that's not my point here. But for a Christian to want everyone to think that they're cool, That scares me a little bit. I think it rather if people knew that we were devout in our faith. That we were people who took our walk with God seriously. We have joy in God, but our faith is vital to us. Simeon waited in holiness. You know, there's a temptation the longer that you wait. There are many temptations that are thrown your way to get lazy in your Christian walk. Just as there are temptations when we are given a task on earth. I've told the story before of my dad saying, I'm going to be gone for a little bit. I don't know when I'm going to be back, but I want you to mow the lawn by the time I get back. Well, it was a nice summer day and it was a Saturday as I remember and I just felt like being a little bit lazy and reading a book. And so there I sat reading a book and a couple hours passed and all of a sudden I think, oh, I was supposed to mow that lawn. And I go running out to start mowing the lawn and I'm basically just starting the lawn mower when my dad shows up. He was not impressed. There's a temptation When we wait and we don't know when our Lord will return, there's a temptation for us to maybe get complacent, like I did when it came to mowing the lawn. May we never be complacent in our Christian walk. One Christian of years gone by put it this way, may I never loiter on my heavenly journey. Simeon waited in holiness. But Simeon also waited in faith. Simeon believed the promises of God. He is waiting for the consolation of Israel. He is waiting for the Messiah because he believes that the Messiah will come according to the promises of God. He trusted God that this consolation of Israel, the Christ, would come. Simeon waited in keeping with the Old Testament promises of God, but Simeon also waited because he had the benefit, as the scripture tells us, verse 26, it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. We do not have the right to expect any similar revelation from the Holy Spirit concerning our own lives. In other words, you don't have any right to expect the Holy Spirit's gonna come to you this evening and say, don't worry, Jesus is coming back before you die. By the way, I know of some people that have said that that's happened in their life, that God has told them they weren't gonna die before the Lord came back. And they died before the Lord came back. And some of them, having borne false witness against the Lord by saying God had said that, later went into all kinds of other weird and wacky prophecy. Not just prophecy, but heresy. We have to be careful that we stand firm on God's word and not upon our own impressions and not upon our own wishes and hopes. I remember years gone by, there were some people that I know that are all into prophecy and they're constantly setting dates or coming as close to setting dates as possible without actually saying that they'd set a date. And one day, this is going back almost two decades ago, they came into church and my friend was there and they came walking up to him and they said, don't buy any green And their point was, if you buy green bananas, they're not gonna have a chance for those things to ripen before the Lord returns. And you're just gonna lose those bananas. So don't buy any green bananas, because the Lord is gonna come back. Well, friends, we don't have that kind of revelation as to when the Lord will come back. But we do know that he will come back. And we wait like Simeon by faith. We believe the promises of God. You know what Peter tells us about the scoffers that will come? And they're already here. In the last days, scoffers are gonna come, and what are they gonna say? Where is the promise of his coming? For since our fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have from the beginning of the world. Scoffers will say that today. But friends, God's word is sure and certain. We wait for his son from heaven by faith because God has told us that he will return. Because Jesus has told us he will return. We remember that Jesus said, if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. We wait by faith. We trust God. We trust God's word. Simeon waited in holiness. Simeon waited in faith. And Simeon also waited in anticipation. In verse 25 in our New King James Version, we read that Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. In verse 38 in the New King James Version, we read about a woman named Anna who goes after seeing Jesus and giving thanks to the Lord, she spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Israel. In the King James, you'll notice it says waiting for both. Why is there a difference between verse 25, waiting, and verse 38, looked for, if they're the same basic word? Well, it's because the idea that is contained in this word, waiting, is one of anticipation. You're looking and longing for the coming of the Messiah. And so Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was looking, hoping, longing, anticipating the coming of Jesus. And so it was with those who looked for the redemption in Israel. Both were waiting with anticipation. There's different ways we can wait, isn't there? When it comes to our attitude. Just in normal life. I'm grateful that I have a doctor that runs things on time. I have one of those rare doctors that actually keeps the schedule. And if you are 15 minutes late for your appointment, you have to reschedule. That's how exact he is. You set your appointment and you get in on time. It's very rare that I actually even wait five or 10 minutes past the time of my appointment to get in. But that has not been always my experience with doctors, as no doubt many of you have also experienced, where you get an appointment with a doctor, and your appointment is for 3.30, and at 4.30, you're still there. At that point, you're not particularly waiting with any kind of joy or eagerness or anticipation. You're getting more and more and more grumpy as the time goes on. Also, no doubt there's been times where you have experienced waiting with joy, waiting with eager anticipation. One of the things we're not gonna be able to do this year is our New Year's Eve get together. And some of you remember the way that we do, we play games and so forth, and then I'll usually deliver a short word and then pray, and then we'll count down the time. And as we're counting down that time until the new year, we're all sort of eagerly anticipating the arrival of the new year. There's a kind of anticipation that you have, the kind of waiting that you have, the kind of attitude that you have when you're sitting or standing in line for an extended period of time waiting to get into the grocery store because of the COVID restrictions. And there's a kind of attitude that you have in waiting when it's five minutes before the end of class before the summer break. When it comes to waiting for Jesus, we're waiting with anticipation. The idea that our Lord could come at any time and we are eagerly longing and looking for him. Is that your perspective as you wait for Jesus? As the Thessalonians, They turned to God and they waited for his son from heaven. As the author of Hebrews says, and those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time. Let us eagerly anticipate that Jesus is coming again. He hasn't come yet. That doesn't mean he's not coming. That means we're one day closer to when he does come. And so friends, Simeon is a great example to us because Simeon waited in holiness. He waited in faith and he waited in anticipation. But Simeon really isn't the point of this whole thing, is he? I think about Simeon's waiting, but what's more important is the one that he waited for. The waiting was worth it when he had seen Jesus. Look at it with me in verses 27 and 28. So he came by the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, or now let your servant depart in peace. According to your word, my eyes have seen your salvation. And so he burst forth in praise. The waiting was worth it to Simeon when he had seen Jesus. Now, I wonder what Mary and Joseph must have thought initially when Simeon came in. Those of you who have had a child or been in care of a young child, if someone randomly came up to you and grabbed that child in his arms, you would initially be a little bit apprehensive, I bet. But it became very clear after Simeon, this aged man had taken Jesus in his arms, that this was not just some weirdo. This is a man who had joy in God and joy in this little child. Simeon recognized Jesus for who he was. Now I can depart in peace, he says. I don't know how old Simeon was, but he was aged. And he is waiting for one last thing in this earthly life before he could depart and be with God. And this was it. And now that he had seen Jesus, he could depart in peace. He sees Jesus, and it's not like he is underwhelmed by Jesus. It's not like, oh, I was hoping for something better. The waiting was worth it when he had seen Jesus. So who is this one who makes waiting worth it? Because we're right now waiting for Jesus too. Who is the one that we're waiting for? Who is the one who for us makes waiting worth it? Well, let me focus on a few ways that Simeon describes Jesus. First of all, salvation for all peoples. The one who is worth waiting for is the one who is salvation for all peoples. He's not just someone who knows how to get salvation. He himself is salvation for all peoples. Look at it with me in verse 30. For my eyes have seen your salvation, verse 31, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples. Matthew 1, verse 21, we remember that verse around Christmas time. You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. John 14, verse six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Jesus is the savior of all peoples. One of the reasons why our church is involved in missions is because we believe that Jesus is not just a savior for Canadians. He's not just a Savior for people who live in Toronto. Jesus is the Savior, the only Savior, for people of every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation. That's who Jesus is. Acts 4.12, neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. This is Jesus. our Savior. The one who is worth waiting for is our Savior. Simeon also describes Jesus as light. Look with me in verse 32, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles. This, of course, is in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Isaiah chapter nine, verse two, By the way, Matthew chapter four verse six will quote Isaiah nine two, referring to Jesus' ministry. In Isaiah nine two, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. To those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. In Isaiah 42, verse six, some of you were here on our Wednesday nights when we went through the servant songs. In this servant song of Isaiah 42, the Lord says to Jesus, I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness. I will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, a light to the Gentiles. And of course, we hear the words of Christ himself. "'I am the light of the world. "'He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, "'but shall have the light of life.'" John 8, verse 12. And this is the reality. The world in which we live is in darkness. The kind of darkness that you cannot see anything properly in. The kind of darkness that you cannot see the way out. I remember on one occasion taking a trip to a cave, and we went deep into this cave with this tour guide, and he said, do you want to see what it's like to experience absolute darkness? Because this is about as close as you can get to it. And so he turned off all the lights. We're deep in this cave, maybe, I don't know, half a mile underground or something, and there's absolute darkness. You couldn't see anything. That's the kind of darkness, spiritually, that the world is in. The kind of darkness that obscures their view of any true knowledge of anything. The very thing that people who are in darkness need is light. When we were down in that cave, if the lights had remained off, we would have been hopelessly, helplessly lost down there. that we needed was light. And so this world needs light. And who is Jesus? He is the light who brings revelation to the Gentiles. He reveals who God is. He reveals the truth. He himself is that light. And Jesus is also the glory of your people Israel. Verse 32, glory. What is our glory? One of the things as I meditated on this passage that I both mourn and anticipate from this passage, who is the glory of Israel? Jesus. But right now, the people of Israel as a whole, in general, reject Jesus, the one who is their glory. Oh, but there are brighter days coming, I believe. where all Israel will turn. They will look upon him whom they have pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for the firstborn. There is a day coming where they will see Jesus for who he is. Jesus is the glory of the people of Israel, but he is also the glory of us. Those of us who are children of Abraham by faith, whether Jew or Gentile, he is the glory. What is our boast? It's in Christ. It's his cross. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 31, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Jesus is our glory. We read accounts where Jesus shows something of his glory. Think of the Mount of Transfiguration, where Jesus shines brightly on that mountain. Terrifyingly so. You think about John's account in Revelation chapter one, he tells us that here's Jesus, the one like the son of man, he has a garment down to the feet. He has a golden band around his chest, his head and his hair are white like wool, white as snow, his eyes are a flame of fire, his feet are like fine brass as if refined in a furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters. He sees Jesus, the one who has the seven stars in his hand, the one who has the sharp two-edged sword that comes out of his mouth, the one whose countenance is like the sun shining in strength, And what does John do when he sees the glorified Christ? He falls at his feet as dead. Jesus is the truly glorious one. He is the glory of his people. We have no boast but Jesus. All of this to say, this is the one who is worth waiting for. the one who is our salvation, the one who is our light, the one who is our glory. He is the one worth waiting for. And here's where I want to encourage you. If you have turned from your sins and trusted in Jesus, if you have accepted Christ on Christ's terms, if you are one of his, you will see him. You might see him in death. You may fall asleep in Jesus before the return of Christ, but you will see him. You may be alive and remain until his coming and be caught up in the air with him to meet him in the air. But one way or another, you will see Jesus. So here's my encouragement to you. Keep watching and waiting. There's a hymn that we sing sometimes. watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love. It's gonna be worth it all when we see Jesus. I wanna turn to one passage in conclusion, because I want you to see this. It's such a wonderful, incredible passage. Isaiah chapter 25. Isaiah 25, verses eight and nine. Who's the one we're waiting for? Who's the one that makes waiting worth it? Isaiah 25, verses eight and nine. He will swallow up death forever. and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from the earth for the Lord has spoken and it will be said in that day, behold, this is our God. We have waited for him and he will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. What a day that will be. Friends, Jesus is our God. He will save us. He is the Lord and we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. So let's keep waiting. Let's wait as we should. Jesus will come and it will be worth it all.