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[0:00] From Luke 2, beginning at verse 22. Luke 2, beginning at verse 22.

[0:15] ! Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.

[0:55] He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

[1:09] Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.

[1:42] The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.

[2:09] There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was very old. She had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage and then was a widow until she was 84.

[2:23] She never left the temple, but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

[2:39] Well, it's a joy and a privilege to be back with you all. We miss you. We miss worshipping with you.

[2:51] And we're glad for the opportunities when we can do that again like tonight. Thank you for praying for us, for the church in Warsaw. I'm glad to be able to tell you that the Lord is blessing us there.

[3:02] Really, in remarkable ways, we're very thankful. We had nine visitors from Warsaw this morning, and we had five visitors from Grace Fellowship Church in Bremen.

[3:16] Thank you for sending folks down to us, or thank you for coming. If you're one of those who come, that's a great encouragement to us. We appreciate your prayers and your love for us down in Warsaw.

[3:28] Well, from Luke 2, where we've turned tonight, I want to consider some exhortations from the life of Simeon, where we've just heard read the life of Simeon.

[3:39] We don't know much about him. You've just heard everything that we know about Simeon, and those verses that Pastor John read. This summer, I had the opportunity to speak at a Reformed Baptist Family Conference down in Louisville, Kentucky, and I was asked to bring some challenges, especially to the older generation.

[3:56] And I want to bring you those challenges tonight, but as I said that day, they are not just for the older generation. They are for the young, the old, the in-between, however you want to classify yourself.

[4:10] These have application for each of us. I'm not going to be doing a traditional exposition of Luke 2 tonight, but rather drawing some exhortations that we can learn from this wise, godly, and probably older man, Simeon.

[4:27] We always assume he's older. It never actually says that. We just assume it because he's at the end of his life. And Anna, who he is at least presented to us next to in the passage, she's old, but it never says Simeon is.

[4:39] I assume he was, but we don't know that for sure. But we want to see what we can learn from this man and from the God who saved him. And so, five exhortations from the life of Simeon tonight.

[4:52] And the five exhortations are these. Speak God's Word. Live a holy life. Get excited about the second coming of Jesus.

[5:07] Delight in God's salvation. And fifth is depart in peace or finish well. And so, first of all tonight, from the life of Simeon, speak God's Word.

[5:20] The passage doesn't call Simeon a prophet, but it tells us the Holy Spirit was upon him in verse 25, told that he spoke God's words regarding the Christ child in verses 29 to 32 and 34 and 35.

[5:37] You see him actually speaking God's words as he talks with Joseph and Mary. That sort of thing sounds prophetic to me. He's filled with the Spirit, or the Spirit is on him, and he speak God's words.

[5:50] But, instead, we don't know a lot about Simeon, but part of what we know about him is that he spoke God's words. He spoke God's truth. He proclaimed joyful messages. He spoke of God's salvation that would be revealed to the Gentiles as well.

[6:04] That's good news. It's a happy message to proclaim. And it's easier for us sometimes probably to speak good news. But he also spoke hard messages. He spoke of Christ being the occasion of the rise and fall of many, one who would be opposed, and the pain that would come to Mary's own heart.

[6:22] Those are harder messages to proclaim. That's difficult. But whatever it was, he spoke God's Word in truth. He didn't hold back truth. He spoke it to the people that he met.

[6:33] In this case, Mary and Joseph, as they brought Jesus into the temple that day, he spoke the words of God. And when I challenge you to speak God's Word, I don't mean to suggest that we still have prophets today receiving new revelation from God.

[6:48] I don't mean to suggest even that all of you are preachers of God's Word. But we do still have the Word of God. But this book is His Word to us.

[7:01] And proclaiming God's Word is proclaiming the truth of this book. And you can do that whether you're a pastor or a foundry worker or a farmer or anywhere in between. And so, speak God's Word.

[7:14] I would challenge your pastors, only one of whom is here tonight, your pastors who are also my pastors, who have been set apart for the work of speaking God's Word, do that, proclaim His Word.

[7:27] Not your opinions. Not whatever your favorite soapbox is. Your pet peeves. You proclaim what God says. Thank you for doing that faithfully. For me. For all of these years.

[7:39] Excel still more. But not all of you are pastors. Some of you are grandparents and parents and teachers and Sunday school teachers and neighbors. Small group leaders.

[7:50] A Bible study leader. An older woman with something to say to younger women. Or maybe none of those. But let the words, whoever you are, let the words that flow from your mouth in any and every setting be saturated with Scripture.

[8:04] Speak God's words. And you all have heard me say this before. We should be like a sponge. And whatever you put a sponge in, it soaks it up. If you put a sponge in water, it'll soak up water.

[8:15] If you put a sponge in vinegar, it's gross, it'll soak up vinegar. And so then when you squeeze the sponge, whatever it's soaked up is what comes out. And we should be like sponges that are soaking in God's Word so that whenever we are squeezed, what comes out is Scripture.

[8:34] And so sometimes we're squeezed. We think of being squeezed by trials and difficulties. Think about being squeezed by praise. When you're praised, you're being squeezed. You're being tempted.

[8:44] And so somebody praises you for something. They remark on your amazing marriage that's lasted so many years or your consistent work ethic or your beautiful kids or grandchildren.

[8:56] And Psalm 103 should come dripping out of you. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. You get squeezed and Scripture should come out. You're squeezed by trial and sorrow and the comforting words of God's faithfulness and mercies that are new each morning should drip from your lips.

[9:14] Give your kids, your grandkids, younger men and younger women, your neighbors, whoever you come in contact with, give them God's Word. Speak God's Word. That's what Simeon did.

[9:26] He spoke the Word of God when Joseph and Mary came into the temple. Give us God's Word. Give people God's Word applied to our day. I'm thinking of parents, especially with their children. Give God's Word applied to our day and the problems of our day.

[9:39] We need to know what God's Word says about power and pride and authority and sexuality and pornography. And we need to know it in the open and not in dark and whispers.

[9:50] The prophets unashamedly spoke God's Word into the culture in which they lived regardless of what was going on around them. They didn't hold back difficult messages.

[10:00] They proclaimed them. They said, here is what God has to say about this situation. And that's what we must be doing with our children and young people. We need men and women and moms and dads and grandparents who will speak that way.

[10:14] And if your kids and your grandkids don't hear these truths from you about what's going on in the world, don't worry. They'll learn about it from Google or the movies or music or TV.

[10:30] No big deal. No, it is a big deal. They need to learn about it from you. They need to learn what God has to say about our world today from you.

[10:42] Speak God's Word. Speak messages that are joyful and glad and don't shy away from the messages that are difficult and painful. Speak God's Word.

[10:53] Secondly tonight, live a holy life. See in verse 25, Simeon was righteous and devout. There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was righteous and devout.

[11:04] That's the first thing we learn about Simeon. Besides that he was in Jerusalem and his name, he was righteous and devout. I don't have a lot to say here, but if you are one who speaks God's Word as we've just encouraged you to do, you have to live God's Word.

[11:22] You have to live according to that Word. If your children or churches or families or neighbors in the coming generation are going to take you seriously when you speak God's Word, then you have to live according to that Word.

[11:35] And this man did. He was righteous and devout. He lived by God's standard before God and men. Can you imagine if Simeon was a drunk? And he comes up to Mary and Joseph in the temple and he starts trying to speak God's Word to them.

[11:48] You can imagine that some people might come up to Mary and Joseph and say, don't listen to that. He's a drunk. He's perverted. Whatever it is, don't listen to him.

[11:59] He's a liar. Don't pay attention to him. But that wasn't the case. No one could say anything about Simeon's life that was bad because he was righteous and devout. And so his life supported what he said.

[12:11] It didn't undermine it. And so what about you? Could your life be described as righteous and devout? Does the way you live match what you say?

[12:24] Do you practice what you preach? By God's grace, in this room there are many here who have spoken God's Word and lived it out. Praise God for you men and women.

[12:35] Thank you. And don't rest complacent. Be vigilant in your holiness that you might not fall into hypocrisy. May it be said of you and me that we were righteous and devout to the end.

[12:48] That the way we lived matched the things that came out of our mouths. Don't teach your family and your church and the people around you patience while you blow up at their every little mistake.

[13:00] Don't preach diligence. Teach diligence while your life is defined by laziness. Don't tell us to not look at pornography and then go look at it. That will undermine the confidence of those to whom you speak.

[13:14] Not just their confidence in you, but their confidence in the Word of God that you claim to speak and their confidence in the God who gave that Word to us. If your life doesn't match your words.

[13:29] And for those of you that are a little bit older, if you want to lay claim to that classification, that's fine. If you don't, that's fine. But for those of you that are a little older, I'm 38.

[13:40] I feel older than I used to. Man. I know. I know. It gets worse. I don't need you people that are really older telling me. Actually, I do.

[13:50] And that's the point I want to make right now. We need examples. I need examples of older, wiser, godly men and women.

[14:03] Our children and our grandchildren need examples. Not just having heard it, but they see what it looks like to live a godly life in a wicked world. They need you to do that.

[14:14] I need you to do that. We need people that we can model our lives after. Many of you have done that. Thank you. And excel still more.

[14:27] If you're unconvinced of the significance of this, ask yourself which coach you would rather run sprints for. I don't want to run sprints at all. Me either. But if you had to, and you had a coach and he was going to make you run sprints, which one would you rather run for?

[14:41] Would you rather run for the guy who's fit and trim and will occasionally prove to you that he's got the chops to run the sprints with you and beat you? Or would you rather, sorry, I don't want to offend anybody, would you rather run for the fat guy that's sitting on the golf cart blowing a whistle and yelling?

[15:04] Who would you rather run? Run! Run! You can do better than that! You're like, you can't do better than that! Who would you rather run for? You'd rather run for the guy that's fit and trim and will prove it every now and then and show you that he can hang with you.

[15:22] So who would you rather hear God's Word from? Somebody that lives it or somebody that doesn't? Be righteous and devout by God's grace.

[15:33] Make sure your life doesn't undermine what you teach. Speak God's Word. Live a holy life. Third, get excited about the second coming of Christ and communicate that excitement to others.

[15:44] Simeon was excited about the first coming of Christ. See in verse 25, he's waiting for the consolation of Israel. He's waiting.

[15:55] He was looking for something. He knew that the return... Israel, gone into captivity and the exile. He knew that the return of Israel from exile to the promised land wasn't the final chapter and that final and true consolation or comfort for Israel had not arrived yet.

[16:11] There was more. Isaiah 40, verse 1 says, Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned.

[16:23] That hadn't fully come to pass yet. And Simeon was waiting for it. Waiting for that comfort, for that consolation. And William Hendrickson points out that he must have believed God's word.

[16:39] Simeon didn't read the prophecies and say, well, that hasn't happened. Still waiting for the consolation. Here we are, 400 years after the return from the exile and I don't think it's going to happen.

[16:54] No, Simeon believed God's word and so he was waiting. Waiting for it. And what we read here leaves us to believe that he was looking forward to the arrival of that consolation with great anticipation.

[17:06] In fact, when he holds that consolation in his arms, he takes Jesus in his arms. He delights in it. Behold, my eyes have seen your salvation.

[17:16] At that point, he was content to depart this earth having seen the fulfillment of God's prophecies and promises generally to Israel and to him specifically. Simeon had been told by the Holy Spirit, you won't die until you see the Lord's Christ.

[17:28] And he gets the Lord's Christ in his arms and he says, let your servant depart in peace. Seen the fulfillment of God's promise. He's waiting for the consolation of Israel and he gets there and he is content to depart.

[17:44] And my challenge for us tonight is to be excited about the second coming of Christ like Simeon was about his first coming. Come Lord Jesus should be our cry.

[17:54] Now I know that you don't have a special revelation from God saying that you won't see death until Jesus comes again. We don't need that though to be excited about the second coming of Jesus into the world.

[18:08] You don't need that personal word like Simeon had to be excited about the coming of Christ, the day of judgment and his eternal reign with his saints in the new heavens and the new earth.

[18:20] Because we have the word of God again. God has spoken in his word and we know that he's told us that Jesus is coming again.

[18:31] And we know what's coming with the second coming of Christ. And when we think about what's coming with the second coming of Christ, it should be hard to not get excited. In other words, it should be easy to get excited about it.

[18:45] The judgment day is coming when he returns. And that's sobering to be sure. But don't just think about the judgment aspect of that day. We do that and we rightly warn people to be ready for that day.

[18:56] And that must be proclaimed. But be just as excited about spending eternity with Jesus and hearing on that judgment day, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.

[19:10] Spending eternity then with Jesus. As excited about that as we are fired up about warning sinners about spending eternity in hell. If you think the judgment day is only a thing of sobering, a thing to sober us, check out what Malachi has to say about the judgment day.

[19:29] It's a glorious day for all who are in Christ. With Christ, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And we will have reason to jump for joy in the day of judgment.

[19:39] That's coming with the second coming of Christ. With that day comes the righting of every wrong, every injustice. And that allows us to live with peace now.

[19:52] We don't need to seek vengeance on our enemies. Because God will take care of it all in the day of judgment. And so we can live actually praying for our enemies instead of taking vengeance on them.

[20:05] And with that day is ushered in a new era that will never end. Get excited about it. It's a day when the lion will lie down with the lamb.

[20:19] A time and a place where there will be... Don't let this... Because it's familiar. Just roll out. Think about this. There is a day coming. There really and truly is a day coming when there will be no more sorrow.

[20:33] No more death. No more cancer. No more cancer. No more Alzheimer's disease. No more tears.

[20:46] No more suffering. No more sin. No more spiritual warfare. No more temptation to sin.

[20:59] No more broken relationships. No more futility and frustration in your work. No more bad customer service. No more sorrow and suffering.

[21:15] What a day. What a glorious day that will be. Are you excited about that day? If we don't meditate on these realities, then we won't be excited about it.

[21:28] Simeon, it looks like... It looks to me like Simeon thinking about Jesus coming. Because when he gets there, man, he's excited. My eyes have seen your salvation.

[21:39] Are you excited about the second coming of Christ? He's coming again. Do you believe God when he tells you that? And if so, are you eagerly looking forward to that day? You must be...

[21:49] Hold out the glory of heaven and the presence of Christ for the beautiful thing that it is. Get excited about it and communicate that excitement to those around you. I know. I know there is plenty in our world to be negative about.

[22:02] Plenty in our world that is not good. But, if all you ever talk about is what's not good, and you wring your hands, you wonder, oh, our country's going down the tubes, and all of these things.

[22:16] I'm not saying it's not bad. I know that it is. I'm not saying bury your head in the sand. If that's all you ever think about, and the realities of a faithful, sovereign God ruling and reigning and the prospects of the coming of Christ are far from your mind, and you won't be excited about the second coming of Christ, and you won't find reason for joy and comfort and encouragement, well, yes, everything is messed up all around you, but there's reason to be excited.

[22:44] Jesus is coming again. It won't always be this way. And I hope that you find joy in that. Be excited. Long for that day like Simeon.

[22:55] Long for the first coming of Christ. Fourthly tonight, delight in God's salvation. Simeon takes Jesus in his arms in verse 28, and he blesses God. Bless God.

[23:07] When you take the Word of God into your hands, do you bless God for that Word incarnate, Jesus revealed in Scripture and the salvation that He brings? Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel.

[23:19] It had been revealed to him that he wouldn't die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. You know that Christ is the Greek word for anointed one. And the Hebrew word is Messiah. He was looking for the Messiah, the promised one, the anointed one.

[23:34] He is the consolation of Israel. Salvation not just for Jews, but for Gentiles as well. He's the Messiah. The Lord's anointed, the Lord's Christ, was a term in the Old Testament for the King.

[23:44] 1 Samuel 26, first part of verse 11, David's talking about Saul. He has an opportunity to kill Saul. And he says, the Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed, against the King.

[23:59] Well, it had been revealed to Simeon that he wouldn't die until he saw the Lord's anointed. The anointed one, the Christ, the Messiah, the King that would sit on David's throne forever.

[24:12] And the baby Jesus in his arms was that one. And by the power of the Spirit, Simeon understood that. The salvation of God that had been promised and prophesied and looked for and hoped for for years and years and years was here.

[24:25] And it was in his arms. He said, my eyes have seen your salvation. It seemed to thrill Simeon. He delights in the reality of God's salvation, which is to say, he delighted in Christ himself.

[24:37] Jesus was this man's joy. Been longing for this day with great anticipation. And it's here now and he can't help but bless God and speak his truth about the child. Do you get excited when you look at Jesus?

[24:51] The goal when we gather for worship and we preach the Word of God is that we would see Jesus. Preached from Hebrews this morning and there's a phrase, we see Jesus. Jesus. Do you get excited when you see Jesus and the salvation?

[25:05] Do you delight in that? He knows that this is the one who would be the rising and falling of many. The way of salvation but also a stumbling block.

[25:17] But what a joy to hold the salvation of God in His arms. And I hope we too delight in that salvation like Simeon. It's a joy and a privilege to see and learn about Jesus from the pages of this book.

[25:31] And dear people, we have seen and know more than Simeon knew. In many ways. I know you didn't hold Jesus in your arms. But we've seen and know in some ways more than Simeon did and I think our delight should be as great or greater than His.

[25:51] Do you know how we'll know if you delight in God's salvation that's provided for us in Christ? Do you know how we'll know? You'll talk about it.

[26:02] We talk about what we love. We talk about all sorts of things that are important to us. Our work, our teams, our families, our houses, our kids, our hobbies, our favorite theologians, our despair over the state of our culture.

[26:16] What about our salvation? Does anyone ever hear you talk about that? Anyone ever hear you speak of how amazed you are at the reality that God sent His Son into the world to save a sinner like you?

[26:32] Simeon talked about it. And we should too. There's another way we'll know about your delight in God's salvation. You'll delight in the spread of that good news about that salvation in Jesus here and abroad.

[26:47] Simeon seemed to understand it wasn't just physical descendants of Abraham. It wasn't just Jews who would be saved, but those who had the faith of Abraham. So Isaiah 49 and verse 6, It is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel.

[27:06] I will make you as a light for the nations that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Simeon is excited about salvation being known among the nations. You see it in verse 32. He talks about light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.

[27:21] And we should delight in that as well. We'll know about your delight in God's salvation because you'll tell people about the Savior, the salvation that's found only in Him. You'll promote the proclamation of that message in your community and to the ends of the earth.

[27:34] You'll pray for and support and send missionaries so that other people can know about the salvation that is available to all. It's available to you tonight. Some of you don't delight in the salvation of God because you don't delight in the Savior.

[27:47] You haven't trusted in Him. But He stands with His arms open ready to receive you to take you into His arms.

[27:59] Simeon got to hold the baby Jesus. Jesus stands ready to receive you. And then you too can delight in the salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the reward of heaven, the day of judgment being a glorious day for you instead of a terrifying one.

[28:14] It can be yours. We have an amazing salvation in Christ. We look into His face in the pages of Scripture and say, My eyes have seen your salvation.

[28:26] It's an unspeakable privilege. May we delight in it. I think these last two points are really important. Being excited about the second coming and delighting in salvation.

[28:39] You notice both of them are positive. They're upbeat. They are encouraging things. And I wonder if as Christians, maybe even narrower as Reformed Baptists, years of feeling marginalized by society, maybe by other parts of Christianity, if some aren't a bit jaded in despair at what we see around us.

[29:03] You know, after 400 years or so of silence, Simeon might have had every reason to be jaded and cynical. He doesn't look to me like he was. Looks like he was looking for Jesus and when he got there, he was really glad.

[29:20] And I don't think we need to be jaded and cynical either. I think we can be joyful, delighting in the realities of the salvation that we experience even now. And the fact that Christ is coming again.

[29:35] And so as you see all sorts of things that aren't right in this world and rightly mourn, don't despair. And don't forget to rejoice. We know the outcome. Jesus wins.

[29:46] Believers today need more joy and less jaded. And lastly tonight, depart in peace. Finish well. And when I say depart in peace, I don't mean right now. Like as in, we're done with you, we don't need you anymore.

[30:01] Leave this world. Of course I don't mean that. But when the time comes, whenever that is, and we don't know. Simeon had an idea. It wouldn't be until he had seen the Lord's Christ, but he still didn't know when that was.

[30:12] We don't know. But when that time comes in the next days, weeks, months, years, all the time leading up to them, depart in peace.

[30:24] Finish well. I'll tell you when you're going to die. You won't die until you've breathed your last breath. There. So now you know. But of course, you don't know when that's coming.

[30:38] Again, it doesn't seem like Simeon knew when he would see the Lord's Christ. He just knew it would be before he died. And you notice what that didn't do for Simeon. Simeon didn't say, sweet, I know when I'm going to die.

[30:53] I know there's going to be something that happens, and until it happens, I'm not going to die. So I'm going to go and live however I want. I can do whatever I want, live however I want, until the Messiah comes.

[31:06] No. Simeon was righteous and devout. And somebody that says, I can do whatever I want until the Messiah comes, that's not a guy who's excited about the coming of Christ. It's not a guy who's delighting in the salvation of Christ.

[31:19] That's a guy who hopes Jesus doesn't come. That's a guy who, once Jesus does come, doesn't immediately say, let your servant depart in peace. That guy isn't at peace. He's worried about departing. But Simeon's ready.

[31:32] He's ready to go to depart in peace. He's run the race in a way that he seems to not have regret. He doesn't appear to fear death. This righteous and devout man, by the way he lived, was prepared to die.

[31:44] To finish well. Let your servant depart in peace. And what about you? How will you finish your race? Not knowing when the end will come. Does it matter if you're young or old?

[31:56] We all need to be ready to depart in peace every day of our lives. And so by God's grace, run and finish well, trusting in the Savior that Simeon was waiting for.

[32:08] If the end were to come today, and you were to have a few minutes before you passed out of this world into the next, where you were clear-headed, were able to think and speak clearly, would you be able to say what Simeon says, let your servant depart in peace?

[32:29] Or would you be in turmoil thinking all the sin swirling that you've been not dealing with and not caring about, all the people that you need to make amends with, and if you're resting in Christ, you can be ready to go right now in peace.

[32:46] What sort of life leads to being ready to go when God calls you out of this world? It's the life we've seen tonight. Righteous. Devout. Simeon believed God's words.

[32:58] You do the same. You take this Word of God and believe it. And if you believe it, then you speak it to others and you live by it. Living that righteous, devout life. And Simeon didn't just believe God. He rejoiced in God's truth.

[33:10] He trusted the Messiah before he ever saw Him with His own eyes. You do the same. Delight in the reality of salvation. Get excited about the fact that He's coming again. Put your trust in Him. Proclaim His truth.

[33:21] Keep short accounts. Forgive those who sin against you and seek forgiveness from those that you've sinned against. Depart in peace.

[33:34] Now, all of that probably sounds to you like a lot of do this, do this, do this, do this. And it is. But I think with good reason.

[33:47] God calls us. Young and old and in between to these things. But we have surely failed in all of these things, haven't we? I don't delight in God's salvation like I should.

[34:00] We could go down the list and see our failures. So does that leave us in despair? Or just trying harder from here out, which might last a week or so with our level of determination?

[34:14] No. Praise God. That's not where this leaves us. Remember what we said about delighting in salvation. I really am excited about the salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ. I'm not as excited as I should be, but I'm excited.

[34:27] I do delight in it. And that salvation is the key for following in Simeon's footsteps. Without that, this is just another list of commands that you can't keep. Commands that show you your shortcomings but give you no hope forever actually fulfilling them.

[34:45] But instead, what we have is the reality of the forgiveness of all of our sins and failures precisely because Christ has come. Because of that one, the Lord's Christ who Simeon held in his arms, he really was the salvation of God, the consolation of Israel, a light for revelation to the Gentiles.

[35:02] That's to us. Jesus is that for us. And he in his perfection takes our place under the wrath of God.

[35:13] All of my sinful failures in these five areas, all of them were punished on the cross there. And that gives me hope. That gives me courage that I can walk out of here by God's grace and live this sort of life.

[35:27] Now some might say, oh, you say you're forgiven. That's just motivation to keep right on failing. No big deal. If I sin, I'll be forgiven. And if you say that, then I say you almost certainly haven't really experienced such forgiveness.

[35:44] Because rather than encouraging us to go on and sin, the true follower of Christ will be drawn in love and amazement to the Savior so that he'll want to put to death his sin. Those sins for which Christ was promised.

[35:57] You'll be eager to live this righteous and devout Simeon sort of life by God's grace. You'll recognize that God has ordained that you're the one to point others in your family and church and community to Christ and you'll be eager to do that.

[36:09] You'll not be eager to fail and to sin just because you know you're forgiven and it doesn't matter. No. You'll press on by the grace of God and His power and His strength stumbling, falling, yes, back to the cross for fresh grace and forgiveness.

[36:24] when Jesus came into the world He died, rose again and ascended into glory He didn't leave us to fend for ourselves and seeking to follow Him He says, Lo, I'm with you always even to the end of the age and He gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit to dwell in us so He really is with us always to the end of the age and His Spirit dwells in us empowering us to live for Him in His strength and not in ours.

[36:53] And that means that we have everything that we need to follow Jesus glad to live for Him knowing what He has suffered and accomplished for us. Simeon had that Holy Spirit.

[37:06] Remember what we read about Him? The Spirit was on Him even before Pentecost. He enjoyed that gift and dear people, we have the same Holy Spirit dwelling in us empowering us to live this sort of life and so go from here not overwhelmed, not discouraged but encouraged.

[37:23] Because you have everything that you need for life and godliness. That delighting in salvation. That one, that's key for this whole thing. Without this, all of this crumbles.

[37:34] And we're just people trying to be good people and that will never work. We need forgiveness. We need the salvation that comes through Christ. You need to speak God's Word and live according to that Word and you need to be excited about Jesus coming again.

[37:53] And you need to delight in His salvation and you need to finish well. And that shows how much you need Jesus. Because you can't do those things. And neither can I. But Jesus working in us by His Spirit and forgiving us where we fall short can.

[38:10] Galatians 2.20, I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And in life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

[38:27] That's a salvation that I can delight in. That I can get excited about. And I hope that you can do. Jesus came. Praise the Lord.

[38:38] He's coming again. Until then, may we delight in that reality and eagerly proclaim it to others. Let's pray together. Father, we thank You for Your Word.

[38:50] We thank You for Simeon and his delight in Your salvation and his excitement about Your coming. And we pray that we would reflect those realities in our lives as well.

[39:03] That we might delight in who You are and what You have done for us. We who are so unworthy thank You for our Savior Jesus. We pray that You would give us grace and strength to live for Him all of our days until He comes again.

[39:17] We do pray, come Lord Jesus. We eagerly look forward to the day when You will come again and right every wrong and when there will be no more suffering. Until that day, give us grace to finish our course well that we might bring glory to Your name.

[39:31]  We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.