Preface: The following is a post that is only about a month old. The Scripture verse in it is when Simeon blessed God for being able to see the salvation of Israel in the baby Jesus. I'll add here a few more words that Simeon spoke....
"Behold this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel..."
John Piper's sermon of the day today....Friday, December 16....is on those few words. You can easily Google it as...Belief In Jesus, Its Barriers And Blessings. Please consider adding this to your daily devotions in this season that we celebrate the birth of Jesus!
Simeon....And Us
All Scripture is remarkable.....the shortest verse in the Bible...."Jesus wept".....is remarkable......the simplest genealogy or the most seemingly bland descriptions of vestments....are remarkable. This is God's hand-written book....written specially to us. How can we go even a day without putting down everything else and saying....'and now for the good stuff?' Even if we dig a ditch for twelve hours a day....(I've basically done that)....how can we not cherish the few moments left to spend in God's Word?
We are though in the habit of reading some particular verse....and finding it enthralling....and then saying that it is a wonderful verse....as if others are not.....when all of Scripture is God's word. I'm not criticizing this....I do it all the time....it's not elevating one verse above another.... but demonstrating that God moves afresh in us through His word each and every time that we open it to read.
Simeon....we don't know anything else about him.....he must have been old.....and desiring greatly to see the coming of the Messiah....and God told him that he would see the coming of God's anointed before he dies.
When I read that yesterday I thought about Christians today who are doing the same thing....only now it is in desiring to see Jesus Christ....the King of Kings....in His glorious return to this fallen world....in these the most evil of times. The Holy Spirit somehow told Simeon to go to the temple....and Simeon saw Mary's child....and held him....and knew that this was the Messiah that he had waited for.....
"And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
"Lord, now You are letting Your
servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which you have prepared before
the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your People Israel." Luke 2: 25-32 NKJV
Come Lord Jesus....maranatha....surely this is the season for Thy return in glory. Open the eyes of Thy children Lord....for we have fallen asleep....our shepherds even slumber.....false teachers....and antichrists.....and delusion are everywhere. Thy precious good news of salvation by grace alone...through faith alone....in Christ alone....born anew Lord....from above....born again....has been trampled upon....the great miracle of this mercy turned into a cheap grace....where we have become the center....thus Thy glory has departed from the church...and we wander aimlessly....attributing Thy might and power to mere princes....and not only princes but at times the worst of men....leading us as pied pipers with the music of the night....that is nothing but a funeral march. Let us see Thee as did Simeon....only returning in the clouds. Give us not only the vision but the strength and the faith necessary....for Thou knows our frame....that we are dust....Lord Thou and Thou alone are our strength and our shield. Do all this for Thy name's sake!
