Have You Seen God's Salvation? - [Luke 2:25-35]

I'd ask you to take your Bibles, please, and open them to Luke, Chapter 2. Luke, Chapter 2, if you'd not bring a

Bible, there are Bibles in these rows in the pockets, the little one. If you turn near the latter half of that Bible on page 45 is

Luke, Chapter 2. I grew up in a town of Westboro, and behind our house was a field, and in the corner of that field there was a dumping area or a private dumping ground, and I remember one time, and I'm not equating anything good to that dumping ground, it's what

I found there. One time I was digging around before high school, I must have been junior high time or maybe right before, and I found this copper coin about this big, about that thick, and it was a commemorative coin of the landing of Christopher Columbus in the

United States, and I thought I had hit the jackpot. And I polished that thing up, and I remember keeping that for years and years and years, but it was tucked away in this obscure place that no one would ever have thought of to find it.

And this morning, here is a text, here is a part of the Bible that I dare say probably many have not heard a message on this text in Luke, Chapter 2, and I'd like to begin reading in Luke 2, and in verse 25,

Luke 2, 25, and there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the

Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the

Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child

Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law, then he took him into his arms and blessed

God and said, Now, Lord, you are releasing your bond -servant to depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the

Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. This is the text this morning.

In this Gospel of Luke, he is giving us some eyewitness testimony regarding what manner of child had been born in Bethlehem.

In this chapter, Luke gives the account of at least four witnesses to what took place at the coming of this baby.

You remember Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, an aged man named Simeon, and an older woman named

Hannah. This message this morning is about Simeon, of course, this older man who testifies of Jesus.

Luke is a very detailed writer, and it's interesting that he zeroes in on people who gave eyewitness testimony.

That's very important to all the facts surrounding the birth of Christ. And Luke is concerned that an accurate account regarding the true identity of this child could be recorded.

And we have the gift of this divinely inspired passage of Scripture this morning to consider.

And as we will see, Luke will bring forth this testimony. He will bring forth the testimony of an eyewitness of this righteous and godly servant named

Simeon. And through his words, we will come to see that the baby that was born of a virgin is in fact the

Messiah. In verse 21, it tells us, when eight days had passed before his circumcision, his name was then called

Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. The Bible tells us there that Mary and Joseph had already circumcised

Jesus when he was eight days old. And in obedience to God, they named him

Jesus, which means God saves or Jehovah saves. And it is now a month later or so, about 30, 40 days later.

And I will let John MacArthur give us the background for what is taking place with Mary and Joseph bringing the baby into the temple.

I quote in verse, this is John MacArthur's quote, in verse 22 to 24, when they came to the temple, they came to do two things.

They came for the purification and they came to pay a five shekel silver ransom price.

Every firstborn male had to be given to the Lord. And you just sort of offered him to the Lord for the

Lord's service. It was not required that you take your child to the temple and present him to the Lord. That was an unusual thing to do, indicating that they went over and above because they understood who this child was.

In a very real sense, they were saying, this isn't even our child. We have come to give him to God.

In a very special act, they are giving him to God, realizing this child of all the children ever born is uniquely

God's virgin born, the son of the most high God. MacArthur goes on to say, nothing in his circumcision indicates this is the

Messiah. Every Jewish boy had that. And nothing in Mary's purification indicates that this is the

Messiah. All the Jews who had a boy would do that. Nothing in the presentation of the five shekel ransom price would indicate he was the

Messiah. But taking him to the temple, naming him Jesus, presenting him to the

Lord, were their clear testimonies as to the identity of this child.

Now if you look in verse 25, we come to another eyewitness. It is at the time of the presentation of Jesus, and it is an old man named

Simeon. Not too much is known about him unless all that we find is in this brief account in Luke 2.

He's a righteous or just man, depending on your translation, and a devout man, which is another way of saying he was a believer.

He was a righteous man or he was right with God. He was converted. He was a godly man who was living just towards man and devout towards God.

He was careful to obey the law of God. Because of his godly character, this man is a very credible eyewitness to the birth and identity of this child who was born.

And in verse 25, it tells us, and we sang about it in the first hymn. I don't know if that was picked by somebody.

They knew what my text would be this morning. But I love when the Lord confirms that we sang about this portion of the text.

It says that Simeon was a man who was looking for something, and it says here, he was looking for the consolation of Israel.

The Holy Spirit was upon him. And Hendrickson paints a vivid picture of what was taking place in Israel at this time.

Why would Simeon and all the rest be looking for the consolation or the comfort of God? Conditions, Hendrickson said, were very, very bad in Israel at the time of Jesus' birth.

Think of the loss of political independence, cruel King Herod, externalization of religion, legalistic scribes and Pharisees and their many followers, worldly -minded

Sadducees, the silence of the voice of prosperity, et cetera. But in the midst of all this darkness and degradation and despair, there were men and women who were hopefully looking forward to and earnestly expecting the consolation of Israel.

And Simeon is numbered among those people. He is waiting. He is possessed with a spirit of anticipation in the promises of God to be fulfilled and for God to send the

Messiah. And it says in verse 26, we read this in this text, "...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.

God in a special way had let it be known to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen with his very own eyes the

Messiah." What a promise for him to have held on to all of the years of his life. Can you imagine the thoughts in his heart when he woke up each morning?

Will this be the day that I see the Messiah? Will this be the day that I behold the Christ of God?

Will this be the day that God brings salvation to Israel? He did not know exactly how this revelation would take place, but he did know that it would happen.

So on this day, the day Mary and Joseph bring Jesus into the temple to dedicate him unto the Lord's service,

Simeon too goes into the temple as he always did to serve, to worship God, and to anticipate the coming of the

Messiah. Every day thousands of people would be around the temple and around the temple court.

Joseph and Mary are in this group. Simeon is not aware of this, but God has something special in store for this visit.

And in verse 27 it says, "...and he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child

Jesus, to carry out for him the custom of the law." So he's in there led by the

Spirit of God, and Mary and Joseph bring Jesus in to carry out the custom of the law.

And Simeon meets Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus. And no doubt there are introductions made and conversation follows.

And that conversation must have taken place between verse 27 and 28 because in verse 28

Simeon makes out this great declaration, this wonderful blessing to God starts.

So between 27 and 28 there had to be some type of conversation. And I can only imagine how

Mary and Joseph begin to tell the amazing account of how the angel Gabriel had come to Mary, and an angel had come to Joseph and told them what

God was about to do in their young lives. She being a virgin would be found with child.

She would become pregnant after the Holy Spirit would come upon her. She would bring forth a son and call his name

Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins. And as Isaiah prophesied, and it was written in Matthew, recorded in Matthew chapter 1, he would be called

Emmanuel, meaning God with us. And they were both describing the miraculous and extraordinary details concerning the baby that Mary was holding in her arms.

They might have also recounted with Simeon there and his knowledge of other Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming of the

Messiah, such as Genesis 49 .10, which said the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah.

And this was true of Jesus' genealogy. Micah 5 .2, the place of the

Messiah's birth would be Bethlehem. And they told Simeon that that's exactly where Jesus was born.

And in Isaiah 7 .14, the Word of God tells us, Therefore the

Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name

Emmanuel. And Mary and Joseph knew that she was a virgin when this baby was born. And Simeon is listening intently.

He is taking it all in. And then they go on to inform him that everything that the angel said would come to pass came to pass.

Mary and Joseph never had physical relations. Mary was truly a virgin. And she became pregnant.

And the baby Jesus was born, a special baby who was a miraculous gift from God.

No doubt they could have gone on to tell Simeon about barren Zacharias and Elizabeth in their seventies or eighties who were able to conceive a son who would fulfill another prophecy to be the prophet or the forerunner of Christ, John the

Baptist. And also of the angels of Luke chapter 2 who appeared in the field to tell the shepherds that Mary and Joseph had met the wonderful news of a

Savior who was born in Bethlehem, the city of David, and how that baby would be wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And that's exactly what happened to them. Their story is unfolding and Simeon is hearing this and his eyes probably are growing larger and larger and his heart is beginning to warm.

The Spirit of God is upon him, the scripture tells us here. It is time for a special revelation from God.

In his mind, Simeon could have been thinking, is this the one? Has he really come? Is God fulfilling his promise to me?

Simeon listens intently to Mary and Joseph's account and he believes it.

Why does he believe it? Well, again, in verse 25, it says that the

Spirit of God was upon him. It has also been revealed to him in verse 26 that he would not die until he had seen the

Lord's Christ. And somehow at this time, the Spirit of God orchestrated this meeting at the temple, no accident but orchestrated by God so that he could hear this account, he could meet these people and the

Spirit of God confirms Mary and Joseph's story in his heart. A virgin having a baby, no earthly father is involved.

God planted his son, as it were, in the womb of this young teenage girl. The messages from the angels, the eyewitness testimony of the shepherds and the eyewitness testimony of this young couple comes to Simeon's ears and it penetrates his heart.

And by the wonderful moving of the Holy Spirit, Simeon believes all of it. Remember, Simeon has received a revelation that he would not see death or he would not die.

That's what that means. He would not die until he had seen the Messiah, the Lord's Christ. And Simeon did not know how the revelation would take place.

He did not know when the revelation would take place. But this one thing he knew, God had made a promise to him and it would come to pass.

And wonder of wonders, this day at the temple, when Mary and Joseph are there with Jesus, God fulfills his word.

It is according to the word of God. And now we read the most precious words in verse 28.

Now, then he took him into his arms. He, Simeon, took him,

Jesus, into his arms and blessed God and said, consider what had taken place this day for Simeon.

He had gotten up and ate his breakfast just like any other day, got dressed. He went to the temple to serve

God. He sees thousands of people, hundreds of couples, and no doubt thousands of babies coming and going from the temple.

There was nothing different, humanly speaking, about this baby. Two arms, two hands, two legs, two feet.

And generally, he looked like any other child. But now, Simeon has been shown that there is something special about this child.

Simeon was blessed by God to have this amazing moment where he would hold in his arms the

Savior, the Son of God, the Messiah of the world. And my brothers and sisters in Christ, consider how sacred a moment this is.

Here is Simeon receiving the fulfillment of God's promise. And not only that, this whole event is taking place to confirm the identity of the

Savior of the world, the only one who came to seek and to save the lost. We have recorded here credible evidence, eyewitness testimony concerning how

God visited earth to bring salvation to undeserving sinners. This baby was the fulfillment of every

Old Testament prophecy from Genesis forward regarding the coming of the Messiah. And Simeon believed every one of those promises.

He believed the Old Testament scripture. He was a righteous and a just man who was waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled.

And now it is happening right before his very eyes. We are not exactly sure what Simeon expected all through his life when it came to seeing the consolation of Israel, to seeing the

Lord's Christ. Had he been looking for a king who would appear with great pomp and splendor?

Had he been looking for some type of conquering powerful warrior who would put down the Roman rule? Would the consolation of Israel be a great prophet who would come like Moses and lead the people out of bondage with great signs and wonders?

We're not sure what he thought would happen, but in our text we know exactly how it was revealed by God to Simeon.

He didn't get a king in a royal procession or a warrior on a white horse or a thundering prophet like Moses, but he did get a tiny little baby that he was now holding in his arms.

This baby was born of this young couple, Mary being a peasant girl and Joseph a carpenter.

Neither one of them rich, neither one of them from royalty. They are both from the lowly village of Nazareth.

Yet through the Spirit's revelation, Simeon is convinced this baby is the one he had been waiting for all these years.

And Simeon takes him up in his arms and breaks out in the blessing that is recorded here in Luke from verses 29 down.

I'll read just 29 and 30. Now Lord, you are releasing your bondservant to depart in peace according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the

Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. God told

Simeon, God revealed to Simeon that this baby that he was holding was the

Messiah. Sometimes when I read that, all I can say is, wow, it is absolutely amazing.

Can you just imagine how excited Simeon is at this moment? How many have ever heard this text preached?

Raise your hand. You ever heard it preached? Very, very few hands. Great. Well, at least we're blessed of God to be able to look at it this morning.

And here we're seeing the blessing that Simeon received. The Spirit of God is upon him to reveal the truth concerning the

Messiah. God floods his heart with the truth of the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecy and Simeon just embraces it all.

What a day of day, what a wonder of wonders. And this moment is one of those hidden treasures of the

Bible. Some would consider this text to be insignificant. I mean, it's just a few verses about some old man in a church and a poor young couple comes in with their baby and he gets all excited.

No big deal, right? Well, wrong. And Alexander McLaren writes this, this scene when this old man took the infant in his withered arms is one of the most picturesque and striking in the gospel narrative.

I have been living this text for about three weeks or more, just thinking, rolling it over and meditating upon the wonder that we're hearing about this morning.

God confirming to this man and allowing us to be able to understand who

Jesus is, his true identity as the Messiah, the Savior of sinners, the identity of the

Messiah, the Redeemer, the one who would ransom captive Israel had come. It's not just an old man holding a baby at a church dedication service.

This is all about a converted, seasoned saint, godly man who knows the promises of God, anticipating the promises to be filled and he is now an eyewitness of that fulfillment.

This was his driving passion in his life. He knew that God would fulfill this promise.

This is what he had longed for. He knew it would take place because God is faithful to keep his promises.

So Simeon takes the baby Jesus into his arms, we read here in verse 28, takes him up in his arms.

And you can only imagine what he is feeling and what he is thinking when he holds the baby close to him, knowing now what he did not know a few moments before.

Many of us have held babies. They're cute, right? They're cuddly, they're soft, they're small and very precious and yet the babies that we hold is nothing like what

Simeon held in his hands. Babies truly are a gift from God. But this baby that Simeon was holding is an unspeakable gift from God.

And it says that Simeon takes the baby and I don't think he's doing one of these things.

He's doing one of these things and he intently focuses on this baby.

And he looks into the face of this baby, holding him close to his chest, feeling his little arms and legs move, sensing his breathing, feeling his little heart beating, gazing into his face and eyes.

And I can just imagine the thrill that came over his soul as he says within himself, God has shown me that this baby is

God's fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the scriptures. This baby is the one

I've been waiting for. I am holding in my arms God's salvation. Matthew Henry wrote that Simeon embraced the baby.

When he embraced Jesus, he said, with the greatest affection imaginable. He laid him in his bosom as near as his heart as he could, which was as full of joy as it could be.

This little one in this old man's arms is the Messiah, the consolation, the comforter of Israel, the

Savior of the world. When Simeon held Jesus in his arms and looked into his face, he was looking into the face of God.

This ought to be something that causes us just to be thrilled when we read it and we consider it. We know more than Simeon.

We've got the rest of the story. This is all he had, the prophecies before. We know of the whole life of Christ.

But Simeon is thrilled. God has come in the likeness of man to rescue the perishing and care for the dying.

This baby is the one who would redeem God's people and save all those who would ever come to believe upon the

Lord Jesus Christ, to the saving of their never -dying souls. Simeon was promised he would see the

Lord's Christ, but he got more than the promise. He not only saw the Lord's Christ, he got to hold him in his arms.

We cannot fathom the wonder and the awe of this moment, but we thank God that we can read about it here and behold the joy and glory of this moment.

Simeon says in verse 29, Now, Lord, you are releasing your bondservant to depart in peace.

By that I have said, he was saying, I am ready to die. God had told him he would live until he had seen the

Lord's Messiah. And now that he had seen him, he was ready to be released. And that word release there,

McLaren says that it is a technical word for relieving a century from his post.

It conveys the idea of the hour having come when the slave who has been on watch throughout the long, weary night or toiling through all the hot, dusty day may extinguish his lantern and fling down his tool and go home to his little hut.

Simeon had seen, he had held, and no doubt possibly even kissed the Messiah. And now he says he's ready to die.

His heart is full. His joy is complete. He is calm. He is assured. He is ready to leave this world.

And wouldn't it be nice to know what he knew to get to that point? And if you stick with me, you too can come to know what

Simeon knew. Why was he ready? How had he been made ready with confidence?

The answer is given in verse 30 in his declaration, for my eyes have seen your salvation.

The revelation he received from God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit concerning Jesus made him sure, sure enough that he could say that he was ready to die.

And this is no hope so shabby, flimsy, peasant fairy tale full of holes and questionable credibility.

This is a sure account backed by scriptural prophecies that had come to pass, backed by many eyewitness testimonies to recent life events, and it was all confirmed to him by the

Holy Spirit. Notice if you will, when Simeon is holding the baby, he said that his eyes had seen what?

God's salvation. But what was he looking at? Was he looking at a church building?

Was he looking at a mere human? Was he looking at a list of religious do's and don'ts? Was he looking at a baptismal or church member certificate?

Was he looking at a one, two, three plan of salvation? And some of you are trusting in those things to save yourself.

You are thinking that because you are a church goer, God will accept you. You think that because your parents are

Christians or were Christians or maybe because you were baptized as a baby that you're all set. You think that somehow

God is going to overlook your sin because you've been confirmed or because you've put a dollar in the offering plate each week and because of that, all is well with your soul.

You think your religious good deeds will earn you credit with God and hopefully you will make it to heaven one day.

And oh, my friend, nothing could be further from the truth. One, two, three steps, certificates, memberships, sacraments, good deeds.

You can try to hold those things in your hands as it were, so to speak, and look at them and think that they will save you, but you do not realize that salvation is not of your own works.

Simeon was looking for salvation and he did not see it when he looked at the temple. He did not see it when he looked at the priests.

He did not see it when he looked at all the people walking around him. He saw God's salvation when he looked at that baby.

Salvation is never in a place. It is never in an institution. It is never in a religion. It is never in a system of works.

Salvation is in a person and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. Simeon said his eyes had seen

God's salvation and he said that when he looked into the face of the God -man, the baby Jesus, he was holding in his arms.

John MacArthur says of Simeon at this moment in this verse, he had a full understanding of salvation.

He understood that salvation was the word for deliverance and it could mean deliverance from your enemies and those who oppress you, but that did not end it.

It was not just deliverance from other nations in time and space. Zacharias, the high priest knew,

Mary knew that this child would not just extend the borders of Israel, would not just bring sovereignty back to Israel over its enemies, but would bring forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation with it.

That is all embodied in this word salvation because when Jesus was named Jesus, it was not because he would save his people from their enemies.

It was because he would save his people from their sins. There's more to the blessing.

We cannot go into it this morning from verses 29 and down, but we will consider verse, just continue to look here in verse 29 and 30 because God is using

Simeon here as a wonderful and powerful testimony to the reality that this baby in his arms was in fact the

Messiah. In this obscure, virtually unknown passage of Luke chapter 2,

Simeon is an incredible witness to who this child is and he plays an important role in being a credible eyewitness testimony to God's redemptive plan for saving sinners.

And as we read about this account, there is no doubt that Simeon believed the baby Jesus was the

Messiah. And I ask you that hear my voice this morning, do you believe it? Simeon holds a baby in his arms, a baby around 40 days old, no halo around his head, no royal robes or costly jewels.

Jesus is not even able to speak, no theology coming from his mouth. All he can do is just coo and gurgle and look at you as babies do.

But Joseph and Mary told Simeon all they knew about Jesus. The wonderful, amazing and miraculous story of how

God had visited them with this child and Simeon comes to believe all of it by the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

And many of you have heard more than Simeon heard because you have heard all the story, all the gospel of Christ, his perfect life, his perfect substitutionary death upon the cross, his burial, his resurrection and his ascension and yet still you do not believe.

My hope and the hope of every Christian in this room here this morning would be that this might be the day that God would open your heart to where you would receive the

Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, as Lord, as the only one who died for you.

We've looked at the text and to be faithful as far as for preaching, this is a difficult, difficult text of scripture to look at as far as giving you some points.

But for those of you that are taking notes, you're thinking, where are the points? Brother Dave, here they come, number one, just a few points of application.

First, you need to remember that God is faithful to keep his promises and he can be trusted.

It says in verse 29, Simeon says, Lord, you are releasing your bond servant to depart in peace according to your word.

This was something that God was doing in Simeon's life that was according to promise, according to the word of God.

In this message this morning, we've heard about fulfilled prophecies regarding the Messiah's first coming.

And since God keeps his word and kept his word regarding Jesus' first coming,

BBC and my fellow heirs of God's salvation, the same is true concerning the second coming of Jesus.

It too has been prophesied in the Bible. And did you know that there are more prophecies in the

Bible regarding the second coming of Jesus than there are of the first? And if the first took place, certainly the second will take place.

And since he did come the first time, Jesus is coming again and Christians ought to find great comfort in knowing that the

Lord will come again and receive us unto himself. God will fulfill all his promises concerning us.

Read the New Testament. Read 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 where it says, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with those in the air to meet the

Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. It's going to happen. It's going to take place.

Albert Bonds wrote these encouraging words, God never disappoints.

To many it might have appeared improbable when such a promise was made to an old man that it should be fulfilled but God fulfilled all his word, keeps all his promises and never disappoints those who trust in him.

How wonderful. Brother and sister in Christ, you can hang your never dying soul, your life upon the promises of God's word.

Secondly, if you will ever be saved, you must look outside of yourself and look only at God's salvation in Jesus Christ.

We have clearly seen that Simeon had seen God's salvation, right? Holding the baby, looks, my eyes have seen your salvation.

Who is he holding? Jesus. Who is the only savior of sinners? Jesus. He said in John chapter 14,

I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Acts 4 .12 says there's neither is there salvation in any other for there is none of the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

He didn't see salvation when he looked in the mirror and some of you think that. I look in the mirror and I see who's going to save me, myself, no.

He didn't see salvation when he looked at other adults surrounding the temple. No, he saw it when he saw

God's son, the babe in his arms. We who have been saved this morning should be very thankful this

Christmas season for how God has given us the unspeakable and wonderful gift of his son

Jesus so that we could be forgiven and become the children of God. Point three, you will never be ready to die until you have seen

God's salvation. No one, did you hear me?

No one is ready to die until they have seen God's salvation. Simeon was convinced and ready to die because he had seen

God's salvation. I ask all of you here this morning, have you seen

God's salvation? Some of you think you're saved because you've seen the inside of a church or you've seen the inside of a confessional or you've seen yourself doing some piddly religious works.

I'm not asking you about that or talking about that. I'm asking whether or not you have understood that you are a great sinner deserving to be judged in hell because of your lies, your stealing, your anger, your hatred, your cheating, your drunkenness, fornication and so on and you've come to understand that you need a savior and Jesus is that only savior.

There is no other name as I said earlier on the heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

You must look to Jesus alone in order to be forgiven and brought into a real living relationship with God.

You must turn from your sin and turn to Jesus Christ believing he died on the cross to pay for your sins.

He was buried and rose again on the third day so that all of your sins could be washed away. Like Simeon, you must embrace the savior.

You must believe what God's word says about Jesus, that his name shall be called

Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. The Bible says that if you will call upon the name of the

Lord, you will be saved. If you look at a church or if you look at religious practices, you are doomed.

If you look at your own righteousness, you cannot be saved. God doesn't save according to your own works or my own works but he does save according to his mercy,

Titus 3 .5, not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us.

If you look to Jesus, if you see him as it were with an eye of faith as God's salvation for your soul, you will be forgiven and accepted by God.

This baby grew up to live a perfect life and to die a perfect sacrifice for sinners upon the cross and oh may today be the day you confess with your mouth

Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead so that you will be saved too.

And I ask one more time, have you seen God's salvation?

If you haven't, you are not ready to die. I say that again, if you have not seen God's salvation in Jesus Christ, you are not ready to die.

No one is ready to die until they like Simeon have seen God's salvation.

And if you are not a Christian, I ask you, what one good reason do you have for not believing upon him?

And I think if you really think that answer to that question through, you will see that it will be some poor flimsy excuse and it will not hold much water when you stand before God.

And I would beg you and I would beseech you this morning to call upon the name of the

Lord and beg for mercy. Look to the cross where Jesus died for sin and trust in him alone.

My fourth and final point, if you have seen God's salvation in Jesus Christ, you can be convinced that you are ready to die.

That's wonderful. I mean, I don't know how much you put in the offering plate, but it was worth a whole lot more than that.

This message, this piece of the text of scripture, I quickly just want to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ, five minutes and I will be done.

Simeon had beheld the face of God when he looked into the face of this divine infant on this sacred day in the temple.

He believed all the prophets and the testimony of Jesus's parents, and he was convinced by the spirit of God that he had seen

God's Messiah. Because of that, he was ready to leave his post as a bond slave of God, verse 29, and go home to be with the

Lord forever. My dear ones here today, young or old, and you know, particularly, isn't it just so neat, so special?

The Lord uses broken vessels. The Lord doesn't use the powerful. The Lord does not use the mighty. Here we have, as it were, as much as we can kind of consider about this man's life.

He was an old -aged seasoned saint. And for all of you here today that are, let's say, 55 and older,

God uses and can use you in your life. I mean, he used Simeon here as a great testimony and testifying to who

Jesus is. And you can do the same in your life, and you can have the comfort and the assurance and the confidence and the blessing that came to Simeon when he had seen the

Lord's Christ, when he had seen God's Messiah. So I want to especially encourage our seasoned saints here this morning.

Simeon was an old man. God assured him he was ready to die. How? He had seen God's salvation when he had seen the baby

Jesus. And oh, may you all join Simeon and be convinced that you are prepared to meet

God your Father. The day is coming when you will be able to extinguish your lanterns, put down your tools, and be released, for every

Christian here this morning, and be released from our ministries as bond slaves here on earth and be received up into glory.

Why? Because we're so smart? No. Because we've done something in and of ourselves? No. It's because God has allowed us, revealed to us

His Son, and we have seen God's salvation, Jesus Christ. McLaren, my final...

Oh, I think I skipped a paragraph here. Sorry. Oh, brother and sister in Christ, your heart should be so full of joy, like Simeon's was, because no matter what comes your way, you have seen

Jesus Christ by faith, and you are ready to die. Jesus has become your salvation, and you are ready to depart in peace, because you too have seen

God's salvation. My last quote from McLaren is, quote, we may go in peace if our eyes have seen

Him who satisfies our vision, whose bright presence will go with us into the darkness, and whom we shall see more perfectly when we have passed from the sentry box to our home above and have ceased being slaves in the far -off plantation and are taken to be sons in the

Father's house. And may we all be able to say with confidence and with assurance,

Lord, release your bondservant to depart in peace, because our eyes have beheld

God's salvation. And every Christian in this building this morning should be able to say amen and thank

God for what He has done, holding the baby, God's salvation. Have you seen

Him? May this be the day when you do. Let us pray together. Our Father in heaven, thank you for this time we have been in your word.

We thank you for the joy and the glory and the awe and the wonder of what you did when you by your

Spirit moved upon this old man's heart and life, bringing him to the temple for him to have the fulfillment of the promise come to him.

And we have the benefit of the recorded account of an eyewitness who, when this account is penned here in this book, we are assured of the identity of this baby as being

God Himself, the Messiah who had come. And our hearts are filled with wonder and awe as we worship and adore you this morning.

Oh, Father, save the lost and encourage the saints here this morning. Father, please, as we leave this place, help us to have this text upon our hearts, and it would not leave us today as we meditate on it, so to speak, so that we would be so encouraged to think like Simeon.

As Christians, like Simeon, we are ready to die because we have seen God's salvation. Thank you,

Father. Glory be to your wonderful name. We praise and exalt and magnify the precious name of Jesus Christ our