Simeon's Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2:25–35) — The Songs of Advent

We live in an age of quitters. We live in an age where perseverance is increasingly rare, where hope has been commodified and sold back to us as a sentiment, where the long obedience in the same direction has been replaced by a frantic search for the next dopamine hit.

We're surrounded by people who give up on marriages, give up on callings, give up on truth itself, all because they lack the one thing that our text today puts front and center, hope grounded in the promises of God.

But there is another way, right? There is a way that leads through suffering to glory, through darkness to light, through death to life.

And that way is embodied for us today in a man who had been waiting his entire life for one moment, the moment when his eyes would see

God's salvation. We've been walking through these songs of Advent in Luke chapter one and two, these magnificent hymns that Luke records for us at the beginning of his gospel.

We heard the song of Mary, who magnified her Lord and rejoiced in God, her savior. The song of Zacharias, who praised

God for the dawn breaking into our darkness. And the song of the angels, who announced good news of great joy to the shepherds.

And now we come to the song of Simeon, the nunc dimittis in the Latin, a song about departing in peace, about seeing salvation, about a hope that conquers even death itself, giving it its name, where he says, now you let depart.

And in all of these songs, we see examples of the faithful life for us to imitate, the woman willing to be used by God as he pleases, the father learning to rejoice through the silence, the laborers hearing the gospel call and responding in faith.

And today, the faithful man receiving as God gives and finding peace in his promises, not in our expectations.

And so today, as we prepare our hearts for Christmas, we stand on the threshold of celebrating the first advent of our

Lord. It's this day that we need to hear this song. We need to understand what it means to wait for the consolation of Israel.

We need to learn what it means to hold the Christ child in our arms and to recognize that in him, all the promises of God are yes and amen.

And so let us hear the word of God this Lord's day from Luke chapter two, verses 21 through 35.

And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

And when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the

Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that opened up the womb shall be called holy to the

Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to that, which is set in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves were two young pigeons.

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the

Lord's Christ. And he came by the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child

Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took him up in his arms and blessed

God and said, Lord, now let us thou thy servant to part in peace according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the

Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.

And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary, his mother, behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.

And for a sign which shall be spoken against, yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Thus ends the reading of God's Holy Word. May he write it on our hearts by faith. Let's pray.

Father, again, we thank you for your word. And we ask now that as we would consider this passage from Luke chapter two, that you would grant to us faith that would receive what it is that you'd have for us, or that you would grant by your spirit that you'd make clear to us, your people, what it is that you'd want us to learn.

Lord, may it not be the things of man that would come forth, but truly the things of God that would be heard and received here by your people today.

We ask your blessing on the preaching of your word that you would, that we know that your word does not return to you void of the purpose that you sent it out for.

So we ask that the purpose of your word today would be a great blessing upon your people.

We ask your help in Jesus' name. And amen. Amen. Now Luke, as is his style, is nothing if not meticulous.

And we see that in the way that he sets the scene for us here. Eight days after his birth, the child was circumcised and named

Jesus, the name that the angel had given before he was conceived. And this is the name that means that God saves.

This child has come to fulfill the covenant, to be the yes to all of God's promises and to save his people.

And then when the days of Mary's purification were complete, according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary bring the child to Jerusalem to present him to the

Lord. Again, Luke is careful to show us that they are following the law exactly here. They're doing everything by the book.

Jesus has come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. He, even as an infant, and through the faith of believing parents, is obeying the word of God.

And this is important because if these things didn't happen, if Jesus wasn't purified in this way, if Mary wasn't purified in this way and Jesus presented in this way, then he's not a perfect sacrifice for us in his death.

But he does obey every jot and tittle for all of his life. And in these early years, it's because his parents believed and obeyed.

Now for us parents here, I hope the hearer would understand the call to us here.

Right, your children might not be able to understand the fullness of what is required of them, mature enough to know how to apply their faith and obedience, but you do.

And so be sure to raise them in it and not believe the lie that somehow holding them to the standards of the faith at a young age is legalism.

We bear with them in their young frame and in their weakness, but we don't let them live in disobedience and call it patient parenting, right?

You owe them a proper teaching of the ways in which they should live even at a young age. Again, we note that Jesus obeys the law here because of believing parents, right?

Let the hearer understand. Now back to the text, verse 24. Every male that opens the womb is to be consecrated to the

Lord. They're to offer a sacrifice, right? Here's where it's getting interesting, that the sacrifice that they offer, that Joseph and Mary offer, is a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.

And that is not the normal offering. If we look at Leviticus chapter 12, we see as God prescribes this law to his people, that the normal offering for the dedication of a child like this, this type of presentation of a son is a lamb and a dove.

But there's a provision in the law for the poor, that if you cannot afford a lamb, then you can bring two birds instead.

Again, Leviticus 12, verses six through eight. When the days of her purifying are fulfilled for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, who shall offer it before the

Lord and make an atonement for her. And she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.

And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, turtle doves, or two young pigeons, the one for the burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall make an atonement for her and she shall be clean.

Again, this tells us something crucial, that Jesus was born into poverty. Mary and Joseph couldn't afford a lamb.

The King of Kings, the Lord of glory, comes into the world in such humiliation that his parents can't even afford the standard sacrifice at his presentation.

They're poor. And yet by the kindnesses of our God, they have enough to honor his word.

Again, we see this principle throughout the scriptures that God does not require you to be rich, but that regardless of your riches, you give him your heart.

It's crucial for us to remember because it's easy in our wealth to think that the requirements that God places on us to give generously and sacrificially in all areas of our lives, not just our wallets, is somehow meant to be a burden to us.

But the truth couldn't be more opposed to this, right? We've fallen in love with our wealth so much that we miss how gracious God is to make provision for us, even when we can't give as we should.

This is a poor family, and yet God makes a way for them to fulfill the obligations. His requirements are not meant to be a burden to us, but it's the traditions of man, as we hear from Jesus in his ministry to the

Pharisaical Jews, that have made the commands of God into burdens on his people. But in their heart, in the spirit of the law, there is rest for the people.

God's commands are not a yoke upon you. And so we take care to ensure that we don't receive them as such.

The Lord is kind to his people, and so we take care to receive his law in that way, by the spirit of life in Christ, not according to the flesh.

Again, the Lord Jesus enters the world in poverty, and yet there is obedience. This is the pattern of his entire life even, right?

The son of man had nowhere to lay his head, he who was rich became poor for our sakes, and it begins here at his presentation in the temple with a poor man's offering.

Yet this is how God works. This is that upside down kingdom. The way up is down, the way to glory is through humiliation and suffering.

And if this is how the king entered the world, we should not be surprised when we're called to walk a similar path.

Now, it's at this point in the narrative that we're introduced to a man named Simeon. Verse 25, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was

Simeon, and the same man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the

Holy Ghost was upon him. Now, let's let that description kind of sink in for a minute here. In a city full of scribes and Pharisees, full of religious professionals at this point who had turned the law of God into a burden and a tool of oppression, here's a man who's actually righteous according to the scriptures.

Here's a man who is actually devout. Luke doesn't waste words as he lays the scene out for us.

When he tells us that Simeon was just and devout, he's telling us that these characteristics are rare.

It's a unique thing. When he's describing this character, he's describing him in the rare things that make him who he is, right?

He is a just and a devout man. He's living at a time when true piety like this is not common.

This man stood out. He was unique in the sense of faith. He was a remnant, a faithful Israelite indeed.

And so we notice what characterized this faithful man, that he was waiting for the consolation of Israel.

He was waiting for the promises to be fulfilled. He was waiting for the Messiah. Now, how long had he been waiting?

We don't know exactly. Often when we think of Simeon, we think of this really old man, like 200 years old or something that's somehow been holding on for all this time.

But we actually don't know how old he was at this point. But we do know this, that the

Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

This man had been given a promise and he believed it, right? He staked his life on it. He ordered his days around it and he waited.

This is what faith looks like, right? Faith is not a vague optimism that things are gonna turn out okay.

It's not a desperate whistling in the dark. It's resting on the promises of God and ordering your life accordingly, no matter how long it takes.

Simeon had been waiting years, maybe even decades, and yet he never gave up. He never stopped believing in these promises.

He never stopped watching and waiting for the consummation or the consolation of Israel.

And then one day the Holy Spirit moved him, right? And in verse 27, it says that he came by the

Spirit into the temple. This was not a coincidence. It wasn't luck. This was the sovereign orchestration of God bringing together the faithful remnant and the promised

Messiah. The Spirit who had been upon Simeon, the Spirit who had revealed to him that he would see the

Christ, now led him to the temple at precisely the right moment. And when the parents brought in the child

Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, what does Simeon do? He recognizes by the

Spirit's leading and he receives the promise that God made to him in faith. Simeon took him up in his arms.

So you almost picture this, this man, probably an old man and this poor young couple and a baby, nothing spectacular to the eye, no halos in the temple, right?

No angelic choirs at this moment, no signs and wonders, just a man who had learned to recognize the work of God when it came clothed in humility and meekness and weakness and received it in faith.

And we don't know, again, and I'm about to speculate here a little bit for sure, but what we do know, or excuse me, what we do know is that Simeon was promised he'd see the

Christ before he departed, right? So we know that promise was extended to him and we know how it's kind of playing out.

We're seeing that he's receiving this Christ child and he's believing that the promise has been fulfilled now, but could it be that for Simeon, this is a little bit unexpected, again,

I'm speculating here, but like many of the Jews of the first century, could it be that Simeon also expected this

Messiah to be more of a warrior, right? A grown man, at least, who would overthrow the

Romans. Was he actually expecting his meeting of the Christ to be the meeting, meeting a baby in the temple that he actually think that's how it was going to turn out?

Again, we don't know exactly what he was expecting, but I think it's fair to presume that in his interpretation of the promise, when it was given to him, just like most of the

Jews, is that he expected a man who would be able to lead some sort of a political revolution, not a baby.

But what sets Simeon apart from the unbelieving Jews that we meet later on in the gospel accounts was that he came by the spirit, right?

And the Holy Ghost revealed the Christ to him and Simeon doesn't let his expectations define how he's going to receive the fulfillment of the promise.

He receives by faith, not by sight. He's a just and a devout man. And he trusts his

God to bring about the consolation of Israel in the way that he sees fit. And he receives the promised

Messiah into his arms. And in receiving, Simeon blesses

God and he sings. This is where we get to his song, that Nunc dimittis. Now you let depart.

I am ready, Lord. The Nunc dimittis, one of the most beautiful songs in all of scripture for its simplicity and the beauty of what it's conveying to us.

I think it exemplifies in many respects the growing up of the Christian at warp speed, right?

In the book of Hebrews, we read that, you know, we're supposed to grow up from the elementary doctrines of Christ, right?

We see Simeon receive Christ as a baby and he grows up right there, right? He moves from receiving

Christ as savior, as the Messiah, which is where we all need to begin. But he doesn't cling merely to those, again, elementary doctrines.

He understands the implications of Christ on all of life. And he gives us a great lesson,

I think, on the Christian doctrine of death and how we are to receive it and understand it.

He says in verse 29, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.

Here's where the rubber meets the road, right? It's where we see what hope actually does in the life of a believer.

Hope, real biblical God grounded hope takes away the fear of death. The worst that they can do to you is kill you.

And yet if you've seen God's salvation, if you've laid hold of Christ by faith, then death is not the end.

Death is departure, it's going home in a sense. Death is peace for the believer. The power of true faith reveals itself most clearly when standing in death's shadow.

Simeon demonstrates this again in verse 29 when he says, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace.

This is a man who can face death without trembling, without bargaining for more time, without the desperate clawing at life that characterizes our age.

And why? It's because his eyes have seen God's salvation. And it's not some mere

Stoic resignation, right? The Stoics taught indifference to death. Christianity teaches triumph over it.

Faith doesn't simply let us or help us to accept death, it defeats death's power to terrorize us.

As the apostle Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 55, oh death, where is thy sting?

Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting has been removed. The victory has been lost. Christ has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

The martyrs understood this, right? When Stephen was being stoned, he looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Death became a doorway, not a dead end. The early Christians went to their deaths singing hymns because they knew as Jesus promised, that he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

This is why Jesus could say, fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. The worst that human malice can accomplish is to hasten our journey home.

The believer who has laid hold of Christ by faith knows that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Death is not loss. It is profit. It is not the end. It is the beginning. And the psalmist declares, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil for thou art with me. And we notice he doesn't say that if I walk, but though I walk, death is certain, certain for all of us.

And yet fear is not, doesn't have to be because the good shepherd is present in the life of the believer.

The rod and the staff are there. We do not walk alone into that darkness. So this faith stands in stark contrast to the world's terror.

Our culture spends billions, billions of dollars every year denying death, hiding it, sanitizing it, pretending it away.

But faith looks death in the face and it declares with the prophet Hosea, oh death, I will be thy plagues.

Oh grave, I will be thy destruction. These words find their fulfillment in Christ's resurrection, the first fruits of those who sleep.

And we join him in that chorus. The life of convicted faith is powerful because it has conquered the last enemy.

When you have nothing to fear from death, what can the world threaten you with? This is why the gospel spread like wildfire through the

Roman empire. One of the reasons, because Christians died well. They died with such peace and such joy, such confidence that the watching world had to ask, what do they know that we don't?

These martyrs went to the stake singing hymns. This is what enabled Polycarp to say to the proconsul, 86 years

I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?

They knew Jesus who said, I am the resurrection and the life. They knew that neither death nor life nor angels or principalities or powers or things present or things to come nor height nor depth or any creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our

Lord. This is the power of true saving faith, not to avoid death, but to overcome its terror and walk through it in peace.

So many Christians treat Jesus as an insurance policy, something that you acquire to cover your bases just in case.

Too many treat him as a ticket to heaven, as something you get stamped so you can enter the gates someday. But Simeon shows us a different way.

Simeon shows us what it means to cherish Christ, to delight in him, to recognize that he himself is the treasure, not just the means to some other treasure.

Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, he says. Not just heard about it, not just believed in it abstractly.

I've seen it, I've held it, I've cherished it. This is the difference between dead orthodoxy and living faith.

This is why we sing, why we rejoice, why we can't keep silent about what we've seen and heard, and why

Simeon can sing about departing in peace because he knows what comes next. He knows that this child in his arms is the defeat of death itself.

He knows that in Christ, the grave has lost its victory and death has lost its sting.

And as he continues in verse 30, Simeon then tells us more of what the salvation is.

It's a salvation that God has prepared before the face of all people, right?

God prepared this salvation, God set it up. God orchestrated it. God brought it about.

It's not plan B. It's not God scrambling now to fix a problem that got out of hand. This was prepared before the foundation of the world and it's for all people.

Simeon sees what many of his contemporaries, in again, first century Judea, they couldn't see this, that this salvation breaks out of the narrow confines of ethnic

Israel and it goes to the ends of the earth. This child is a light to lighten the

Gentiles and the glory of thy people, Israel. Again, we notice the structure of how

Simeon's saying this. He says, the light goes to the Gentiles. The Gentiles are sitting in darkness and this light is going to dawn on them.

The nations are gonna stream to this light. The gospel is going to go to the ends of the earth. As Isaiah prophesied, the servant of the

Lord would be a light to the nations that God's salvation might reach to the ends of the earth.

This is the scope of salvation from Jew to Gentile, from Israel to the nations,

Jerusalem, to the ends of the earth. But it doesn't mean that Israel is left behind or replaced, right, as some would accuse us of believing in this respect because we see the application so much more broadly.

No, this child is the glory of thy people, Israel. Simeon says, he sings.

He's the fulfillment of all Israel's hopes. He's the one Moses, excuse me, he's the one that Moses wrote about.

The one that the prophets foretold. The one the Psalms celebrated. Every promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob finds its yes in him.

Every type and shadow in the law points to him. Every sacrifice in the temple points to him.

Israel's glory is not that they are ethnically superior or religiously pure as they believed at the time.

Israel's glory is that from them came the Christ according to the flesh. Israel's glory is that they were the vessel that God chose to bring salvation to the world.

And he now was bringing consolation to them through this child, comfort to them through this child.

And Simeon in many ways, I think is representative of faithful Israel, that remnant of the truly just and devout, right?

They can receive the Christ with faith and welcome the death of the old covenant. But for unfaithful

Israel, they receive the Christ with hatred and murderous disdain because they're trying to preserve a thing that is ready to die.

Do you see the connection there? Simeon recognizes that death is natural and it's even natural for the old covenant to die.

He represents faithful Israel that will receive from God this new covenant in Christ with faith, seeing it as fulfillment.

Unfaithful Israel, who we meet later in the life of Christ, are the ones who cling to life. They cling to their life because they don't trust in the promises of God.

They don't receive Christ with faith. They receive him with hatred and a murderous disdain. And what do they do in clinging to life that heap death and destruction upon themselves with no peace to be found for them in it?

The Christian Simeon models for us, receives the promises of God in faith and even understands that believing in God for the first century

Jew means death to the old covenant. For us, it means death to the old man that we may find new life in him.

The birth of Christ represents the birth of new life in us in many respects, obviously the resurrection even more so, but it also represents the death of us, the death of the old man and new life in him.

Again, Simeon makes this connection for us. Right after he finishes his song, he says to Joseph and Mary, after they marvel at what's been spoken about the child, he turns to Mary, speaks a word that I'm sure was very difficult to understand in some respects for her.

Looking at verse 34, he says, "'Behold, this child is set for the fall "'in rising again of many in Israel "'and for a sign which shall be spoken against.

"'Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also "'that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.'"

This is not a comfortable message that Mary's receiving. It's not what we typically associate with Christmas.

Now, I've seen my wife give birth to several children and it's not something that you say to a woman who just gave birth, something like this, but it's the truth, right?

And Simeon is speaking prophetically to Mary here. The coming of Christ again is not just good news.

It is good news for God's people, but it's not only that. It's also a crisis, it's a judgment. It's a dividing line, a sword that separates.

Jesus himself would later say, "'Do not think that I've come to bring peace on earth. "'I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.'"

"'This child,' Simeon says, "'is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel. "'Some will stumble over him, some will be offended by him, "'some will reject him and fall into ruin, "'but others like Simeon will rise.

"'Others will be lifted up. "'Others will find in him their salvation and their glory. "'And this Christ will be a sign "'that is spoken against,'

Simeon says." And from the beginning to the end of his ministry, Jesus will be a controversial figure.

Religious leaders will hate him. The crowds will be divided over him. And even his own brothers, you certainly could speculate that there's questioning of him, questioning of what it is that he's doing and why.

And it continues to this day, obviously, right? We look at our culture. The name of Jesus is the most divisive name in human history, there's no question, right?

Men will tolerate most any religion, any philosophy, any worldview, except for a biblical and orthodox

Christianity, one that sees Christ as exclusive. They'll speak against him, they'll blaspheme him, they'll mock him, they'll try to erase him from public consciousness.

If you look at Littleton Town Common, it's not hard to see it, right? Even this happy holiday season, they have a

Jewish menorah out there, but Christmas is celebrated with trees and lights, no crosses at Easter time on the

Littleton Town Common, I can't imagine, at least not in the past, in the future there will be. But the culture hates him, we see it every day.

We're not too obtuse to not observe these things, this hatred of Christ, because he is a divisive figure.

As Simeon says, as he knows that this coming, it reveals the thoughts of many hearts, this is why. This is why we know that he's prophesying that this will be the case, that this

Jesus who will come will not be received by all. Zacharias talked about sons being returned to their fathers as he quoted

Malachi in his song. That will not be the case for everyone, Simeon is saying.

There will be some that hate this Jesus, they'll hate this savior, this Messiah, and they will seek to even destroy him because it's revealing the thoughts of their heart, the love of sin that they have in their hearts.

In the presence of Jesus, you can't remain neutral, right? There's no such thing as indifference. He forces you to take a position, he exposes what's really in your heart and he brings to light the hidden things of darkness.

And many people, again, they don't like what they see when the light shines in, and so they will fight against that light with everything that they have.

But little do they know, maybe they do, the darkness cannot overcome the light.

To wayward Israel, this Jesus will be a stumbling block and an offense, and because of that,

Simeon tells Mary, again, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also. Again, a prophecy of the cross, it's a glimpse ahead to the day when

Mary will stand at the foot of the cross and watch her son die. It's a reminder that following Christ, that being associated with him even, that cherishing him will cost you something.

And more than that, it will cost you everything, right? Even an association with the true biblical

Christ will cost you. If our church here in Littleton grows in its reputation or its notoriety in the area someday, walking in and out of the doors of this church will cost you something from when it comes to social capital.

And what do we say to that? We praise God that he would deem us worthy, he would count us worthy to be like Mary in that respect.

But that's true of his church, we have to receive it like her, and we get to hear from Simeon like she did, that this is the reality that we live in.

There's a hatred of Christ, there's a hatred of his people, and we must be ready for the ramifications of that.

But to faithful Israel, again, Simeon exemplifies this here, he less speaks to it, but he exemplifies it.

This Christ is the glory of Israel, the true Israel, the people of God throughout all time. He is the consolation, he's the comfort and difficulty for the people of God forevermore.

Wayward Israel will see him as a stumbling block in the fence, to faithful Israel, we will hold him and cherish him as a child.

We will love and embrace the Lord Jesus for all that he is and all that he's promised to be and promised to us forevermore.

Advent, as we prepare to close here, Advent is anticipation, right? Christmas is joy.

These two seasons, really important for us to hold intention with one another. We don't want to skip past the first just to get to the joy.

Advent, we have anticipation, Christmas joy, but it comes and goes so quickly. And then what follows in the life of the

Christian is sacrifice. In the life of Christ, that's certainly what came, right? Persecution, it's that long, hard road of obedience is what follows that anticipation and the joy.

In God and his mercy, he gives us these glimpses at the beginning so that we're not surprised when the hard things come.

I really do think that this, the way in which we look at most all of our lives, we should, it's very often we'll see that the beginning is filled with lots of excitement, right?

Because in time, as that excitement fades, the joy fades, it gets more difficult.

But we need to remember those good things, can't lose sight of those good things, to almost use as a fuel to persevere because we trust in our

God. And so what do we do with all of this? How do we live in light of Simeon's song? Well, first we recognize that God works in a particular way, right?

He gives us, again, great reasons for joy and encouragement at the beginning of a thing to sustain us through difficult times.

The birth of Christ, again, surrounded by angels and songs and prophecies and miracles. God pulls out in a way, it seems, all the stops to announce the arrival of his son because he knows what's coming.

He knows about the flight to Egypt, the slaughter of the innocents, the poverty of Nazareth, the hostility of the religious leaders, the betrayal, the trial, the cross,

God knows all these things. And he knows that we need to remember the good, that we need to remember the joy.

We need to remember the promises. When the hard times come, and they will come, we must have something to hold on to.

We must be able to look back and say, God was faithful then, God was good then, God was powerful then, and he has not changed.

To forget the works of God is to replace him with idols. We can't be a people who forget.

This is why we celebrate Christmas. It's why we sing carols and light candles and tell the story again and again.

It's not just because we're sentimental or nostalgic, right? It's because we need to remember.

We need to rehearse the faithfulness of God so that when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we can say with confidence,

I will fear no evil for you are with me. But we're not just looking back, right?

We're also looking forward. Advent teaches us to live in that tension even now between the now and the not yet.

Christ has come, that's Christmas, but Christ is coming again. And just as the first advent was preceded by centuries of waiting, of hoping, of faithful remnants like Simeon holding fast to the promises, so we're now living in the time of waiting for his return.

And what sustains us in this waiting, right? It's the same thing that sustains Simeon and Mary and Zacharias and even the shepherds.

It's the promises of God in the presence of Christ. We have seen his salvation.

We have held him by faith. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

And having seen him once, we can wait for him to appear again, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

But here's the warning, and we can't miss this, that if when hard things come, you forget past and future good, if you forget what

God has done and what God has promised, then you have forsaken your God and his promises.

You've abandoned your post. You've given up the fight. Christian life is not easy, and Jesus never promised that it would be.

He promised that in this world, we'd even have tribulation, that we'd be hated for his name's sake. And he also promised that those who live godly lives in Christ Jesus would suffer persecution.

We'd be persecuted even for obeying. He also promised that he would be with us always, even to the end of the age.

He promised that nothing could separate us from his love. He promised that he who began a good work in us would complete it.

And so we hold fast, right? We persevere, we wait with patience. We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

We're not Simeon, right? We haven't yet finished our race. We haven't yet received the signal that we may depart in peace, but we are walking the same path that he did.

We're holding the same Christ. We're trusting the same promises. And when our time comes, when we breathe our last, we'll sing the same song that he did.

Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.

Until that day, we wait, we worship, we work, we witness, we war against the world, the flesh and the devil, and we do it all with joy because we know how the story ends.

We do it all with hope because we've seen the salvation of God. We do it all with courage because the worst that they can do is kill us.

We have no fear of that. Advent is coming to a close. This is our last

Sunday in Advent. Christmas is upon us. And soon we're gonna gather together here next Sunday. You'll gather with your families to celebrate the birth of our

King. But we can't forget what Simeon knew, that Christmas is not the end of the story.

Christmas is the beginning. It is the first shot fired in the war to reclaim the world. It's the beachhead from which the kingdom of God will advance to the ends of the earth.

It's the light dawning in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. And so take

Christ in your arms this Christmas. Hold him close, cherish him. Let his light shine in your heart and let his salvation fill you with peace.

Let his promises sustain you through whatever trials may come. And remember that he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?