Luke 2:25-30
Who we are and what we do is very important to God. The two are linked to one another. Our character determines our productivity
before the Lord. It is possible and even
common for people of low moral character to accomplish many impressive things
in the sight of man. However, those
things will all burn away in the judgment of God. They are wood, hay and stubble in God’s
eyes. From man’s perspective there are
people who have great character that seem rather unproductive. They don’t build much, they don’t have much
and they many live in poverty and obscurity.
However, their lives and their efforts are of great significance to
God. He sees them as gold, silver and
precious stones. Today’s text introduces
us to an obscure person named Simeon who was used of God to bless Jesus in the
temple and to reveal who Jesus was as well as what He would do. It is always a great honor to be involved in
the work that God is accomplishing on this earth. God uses people who are devoted and
submissive to Him.
A DESCRIPTION OF WHO SIMEON WAS: When we are introduced to Simeon
the Scriptures make it a point to describe his character. We learn that he was a righteous and devote
man. He was a man that sought to live
according to the will of God and he was devoted to the glory of God. These two qualities must always go hand in
hand. It is possible for people to walk
in a fleshly form of righteousness in an effort to promote themselves. This is nothing but pride idolatry stuffed in
the skin of behaviorism. True
righteousness that comes from God will always be accompanied by humility and be
motivated by God’s glory and not our own.
We also learn that he was a hopeful man.
He recognized the promises of God and fixed his eyes upon the hope of
the coming of Messiah. John Piper calls
this “faith in future grace.” Simeon believed
that the promises of God were true and he waited expectantly for them to
happen. More importantly, he lived in
light of that hope. We must realize that
hopeful waiting is a big part of living a life that is pleasing to God. It is so easy for us to get caught up in the
here and now of our lives. This leads to
fear, anger, anxiety and depression as the effects of the fall are evidenced
all around us. God does not want us to
live like this. He wants us to joyfully
and faithfully look forward to an eternity with Him that makes any suffering in
the present fade into insignificance.
This holy and hopeful life was only possible for Simeon because he was
filled with the Spirit. The truth of the
matter is that none of us are righteous and none of us live in light of
eternity apart from the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our identity in found solely in Him.
A DECLARATION OF WHAT SIMEON WOULD DO: Because of Simeon’s
holiness and hopefulness through the power of the Holy Spirit; God give him a
great privilege of performing a very special task. God revealed to Simeon that he would not die
until he had seen the Messiah.
Generations of Jews had dreamed of the day that they would see
Messiah. Simeon was assured by God that
he would personally see the Person through whom His promises would come
true. He went to the temple on a regular,
if not daily, basis and was most likely wondering “is today the day?” That day finally arrived as the Spirit
reveled to Him that this baby named Jesus that was being presented in the
temple by this poor couple was actually the Messiah. Imagine the sense of awe and the racing of
his heart as he gently took Jesus from Mary’s arms into his own and he realized
that he was holding the Son of God. The
only possible response that he could have in that moment was to praise
God. Worship is the immediate and
automatic reaction of every person who truly comes into the presence of
God. This experience filled his heart
with peace, joy and assurance. This is
how God wants all of us to live but it is only possible as we have faith in the
promises of God and experience the presence of God in our lives. Simeon declares that he can now die in
perfect peace for God’s promises to him had come true. All of God’s promises always come true which is
why faith is vital to hope. The next
thing that Simeon does is to testify to all around him about who Jesus truly
was. If the first response of coming
into the presence of God is worship than it only stands to reason that the second
response is that of testifying. We say
that “misery loves company.” The Bible
teaches us that “joy loves company.”
When our hearts have been invaded by the peace, joy and hope; it is only
natural that our mouths will overflow with words of praise and testimony to
others. Because of who Simeon was in the
power of the Spirit he was filled with praises of God, was filled with the
peace of God and his mouth was full of proclaiming God to other.
APPLICATION: Holiness in character must be our priority each
and every day. Hope in the promises of
Christ must be the anchor of our faith.
Dependence on the Holy Spirit must be the means through which these
goals are accomplished. Worship must
flow from a life lived in the presence of God.
Peace must be the dominating emotion of our lives. Proclaiming the greatness of God must be the
primary activity of our lives.
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