All right, if you have a sword, pull that baby out of its sheath.
Should strike fear in the hearts of the wicked one in his cohorts.
It's kind of like my dad when he used to take his belt off.
You know, that f-th sound as it went through all the belt loops.
I was cruising for bruising.
And I can't remember what title I gave Jen for the message, but I think it was something like, be redeemed,
or are you redeemed, waiting for the Messiah?
And it's fun to be able to go through God's word and just, you chronologically going through the book of Luke
and just how things seemed to line out.
I didn't really purposely end Genesis on purpose when I did,
but it all seems to fit.
And here we are at the after the birth of Jesus
and what happens next is,
it's really fascinating.
It's really fascinating.
God's word because it is so alive.
I don't know. Did you see the picture that they got now for the hanging on?
Uh, huh?
It looks like me.
Well, when I was about seven years, is that it?
When I was about seven years old, they had this cult roping contest.
And they gave us all a seven-year-olds, a little rope, and you run into this herd of colts and try to rope one.
And in the herd, get this, this is Scotty Brown for you.
In the herd was one. In the herd was one.
A mule. Mules. Mules are an interesting creature. But I throwed my loop randomly into that herding.
Guess what I caught. I caught them two ears. Went right down over his head. And away we went. And
I wouldn't let go. And they had had a grand entry and several horses had peed. And there was these
great big urine puddles in the arena. And I got drug through that stuff. But I would not let go.
That's the kind of tenacity I need to have nowadays hanging on to the Word of God.
So anyway, it's good stuff.
It's cowboy stuff, right?
It just is.
And these two old ladies were so impressed, one gave me a quarter and the other gave me a candy bar.
I was in the tall cotton.
It ruined me forever.
Right.
But God's word is so powerful.
and it's so alive, telling the future before it happens.
And you can never lose sight of that because I think that sometimes as you read through God's
word and you realize that God is telling you things that are going to happen before they happen,
that's miraculous, right?
Only God can do that.
I think we talked last time about if you, you know, if you have that ability to tell the future
before it happened, you know, you'd go buy a power ball ticket.
And then that would ruin.
you know, but so anyway, you hear this testimony of those people who have won one millions of dollars.
It doesn't go well. But, uh, because the Bible says to store up treasures in heaven, right?
We're moth and rust and the IRS and the bank can't take it from you. Um, and so that's, that's, uh,
the power of God's word. And we're, we're looking this morning, uh, Mary, she's pondered these things in her heart at the
birth of her son and some powerful things are happening with the shepherds and their proclamation.
And it was very, very out of character for them.
They weren't going around talking about peace and the glory of God and goodwill towards
men.
That wasn't their characteristic.
And yet, yet they were.
And they were proclaiming this news about this savior,
who is Christ the Lord.
Is he your Lord this morning?
I hope so. So, um, she was pondering these things in her heart.
No doubt, right?
No doubt.
That would have been something that was quite fascinating for her and Joseph, seeing the
response. No doubt they had their own response to the birth of this child,
but to the world around them's response and even heaven itself.
the response to the birth of the of the Christ's child.
And so there he was born in a barn.
Mary pondered these things in her heart that were said by the angel
who had visited her before she had conceived.
Now after the birth, the shepherd's coming and going around,
telling all the people of this incredible message of praise and peace and goodwill.
And so for the next seven days, I wonder how long they had to stay in the end.
We don't know.
Obviously, because Joseph was from the lineage of David, he probably had family there in
Bethlehem.
So they probably went ahead and hooked up with a family member and had had food and sheltered
for the next several days.
Because we pick it up, pick the story up in verse 21.
And it says, and when eight days were completed,
for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel,
before he was conceived in the womb. So two things here in verse 21. Right. First, he was, he was circumcised.
The cutting of the flesh. Jesus's flesh was cut. And it was the covenant mark of God.
Circumcision was way before the law, right? It was God's covenant with Abraham.
It was a covenant to show that this person believed in Almighty God.
That's what it was for, this circumcision.
And Donald Gray Barnhouse, the old preacher.
I don't know if you're who remembers Barnhouse.
I remember listening to him on a radio program when I first got saved back in the 80s.
Man, that was a long time ago.
And, and, but he said this about it.
He said, his, Jesus's circumcision was his first suffering for us.
Right?
He didn't have to do any of this.
Jesus didn't.
He didn't have to come down off his throne.
Right?
He didn't have to become like you and me.
And be all stinky and poopy and, you know, no doubt he burped.
He didn't have to do that.
But he did.
Because of his great love for us. Incredible. He was subjected to the law and filled it perfectly.
And this was also mentioned in the law of Moses because it was the covenant mark of God.
In fact, God was going to kill Moses. You remember? Maybe some of you don't remember.
That's a fascinating read, by the way. There in Exodus, you remember when he sees the burning bush, right?
He sees the burning bush. And he sees the burning bush.
has a conversation with God.
God tells him, he says, you go, you tell Pharaoh to let my people go.
And so here Moses was, and he didn't know if he could do this.
I can't talk.
And pretty soon he sins Aaron.
And so he's convinced he starts to go.
And it says, God grabs Moses and is going to kill him on his way to tell Pharaoh to let
the people go.
And you're like going, is God psychotic?
Has he lost his mind?
No, but Moses, because he was a Hebrew, he knew that he should have circumcised his boys and put the covenant mark of God on his boys, and he didn't do it.
And God goes, I'm going to kill you. Right? I'll get somebody else. Because you know God can use a donkey, right? We're all in good company. So if the Lord calls, just go. Don't give the donkey the glory. Right?
And so you remember Zapora takes a sharp rock and cuts the foreskin off her son and throws it at Moses.
And says you're a bloody husband because of the circumcision.
And no, just put the covenant mark of God upon your children.
That would translate today.
You don't have to be circumcised.
I'm thankful for circumcision.
It's kind of the Western way, but you don't have to be because the Bible says it's symbolic, right?
One who is, it's a circumcision of the heart.
It's that you no longer live in the flesh, but you're going to live in the spirit.
You're going to have a sensitivity to the spirit of the Lord.
That's really the symbol of circumcision.
And, you know, Colossus chapter 2, verse 10 says,
And you are complete in him, who is the head of all Prince of Apostion.
and power in him.
You were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins
of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.
That when Jesus comes into your life, right, the fleshy stuff just kind of drops off.
It should go away.
And it's disgusting.
And my life was that way as well.
It still is at times.
It's disgusting when we've claimed to, to, you know, it's disgusting.
be walking in the spirit and we catch ourselves walking in the flesh.
It's just nasty.
It's disgusting.
I had me a moment the other night.
Road rage.
What is it?
Like that little kid said,
why do all the idiot drivers come out when I'm on the road?
Yeah, I must confess I'm the biggest idiot driver.
No, but I'm getting ready to turn.
This guy flashes me.
I can tell he's in a hurry.
He's wanting to turn left, but I'm turning right.
So I have the right way.
Right so he flashes me, and I dim my lights, and I turn.
And then he just come in right on my fender with this big truck.
And I'm so, you pot liquor.
Maybe I didn't say that.
I'm not sure.
But I hit the brakes, you know, and he, man, come right up to me.
And he lays on this horn and he's got a horn that sounds like a train horn.
I mean, it was deafening.
And then my eye really got up and my blood pressure.
And I'm thinking, I'm going to knock this guy out.
I have had it.
We're going to the pavement.
And then I got to thinking, oh, you got a separated pelvis, dude.
You can't even walk.
I'm thinking, man, maybe I can find a rock on the side of the road to throw at him or something.
And it's in those moments the Lord has to like, Scotty, come on back here.
Come on back here. Come on now. Get on back here, boy. That ain't you no more. That's behind you.
That you got to get rid of that. And I was, I was actually shun.
I thought I was so much better than that. Right? And that pride just creeps in. It's just,
it's nasty, it's ugly, it needs to be cut off. And so Jesus went through this, this thing for us.
It's, it's, you know, it's a spirit thing. This, this circumcision that we no longer walk in the
flesh, you know, I just want to break into song, you know, newsboys, right? It's just a spirit thing. It's a
it's like a circuit judge in the brain.
Do you guys know that song?
Right?
You just, yeah, you just kind of want to be bop.
Yeah, it's a spirit thing.
You know, get charismatic.
We're going to get crazy this morning.
But it is a spirit thing, right?
It's the, it's the Holy Spirit.
And, um,
His name, the name of God is really connected to circumcision.
And so this mark is on on the Lord Jesus.
And it tells his name.
Right.
Both Mary and Joseph was told the name that the baby was going to be named.
Both of them were told.
told that. Now, the angel goes a little bit further with Joseph. He didn't go quite as far with Mary when he
says, you should call his name Jesus. And that's all it says. But when Joseph is thinking about
divorcing Mary because she's pregnant and he goes, it wasn't me. Right? And he's thinking about it.
The Lord spoke to his heart and said, no, no, no, no, no. No, you take her as your wife.
For that which is conceived in hers of the Holy Spirit. And you shall show. And you shall,
call his name Jesus because he will do what. He will save his people from their sins.
And that's you and me. That's why you're going to call him that. You're going to call him Jesus.
It's the equivalent of the Old Testament, Joshua or Yahshua is how the Hebrews pronounce it.
Yahshua. Right? It means Jehovah is salvation. What a name. What a name. The name,
Jesus. And so here at eight days, he circumcised. They, they, they, they,
record what his name is going to be. And then they have a 33-day wait.
33 days. They wait and they come back to the temple. Now think about if Jesus would have been born
in Nazareth. That's an 80-mile track. Now, a girl, just after having a baby, is not going to travel 80 miles.
But God saw to it. That get them to Bethlehem, which is only about 5 to 7 miles from Jerusalem.
and that way they could go to the temple.
And they go and they do a dedication and a purification.
After Mary was purified, that goes along with Leviticus chapter 12 when it talks,
a woman after her baby boy was born that she had a time where she was unclean for 40 days.
And then they would bring a sacrifice to the temple.
Verse 22, it says, now when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were
completed, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
And so every son that opened the womb, the Bible says, the first one is mine.
He's mine.
You dedicated your kids to the Lord?
I remember dedicating my kids to the Lord.
Not really knowing what that meant.
Right?
not really knowing what that meant.
And then we had a pastor and he put together a little instruction sheet for those who dedicated their kids to the Lord.
And that when you dedicate your children to the Lord, they are given to you by the Lord.
Yeah?
They are given to you by the Lord.
And they are the Lord's to take any time he wants to.
Oh, wow.
That adds a lot more weight to it.
Do we really want to do this?
Whose hands you're going to put your kids in that's any better than that?
Right?
Now, I'm telling me.
All my kids have scared me.
Now you're a grandkids scaring me.
Right?
I'm just scared for them.
Because I know where you're going.
I know what you're doing.
I know what you do.
My grandsons are getting older now and they're kind of on their own.
I know what you're doing. Right. I'm just like that jewel brown with that preaching finger.
You keep doing this boy and it's going to be a curse to you. Right? I do. I want to scare him.
I want to scare him. I do want to beat him sometimes. But we haven't come to that yet. Right?
But they've been dedicated to the Lord. They know who Jesus is. Right? And they're stepping over his
His crucified, resurrected body to do some of the stuff they're doing.
And maybe you're doing that today.
Right?
You know better.
You know it's not right.
And so, dedicate him to the Lord,
pray for him, and let the chips fall where they may.
Because eventually,
God in his faithfulness is going to give them a day of reckoning.
And so this purification happens at 40 days.
They were to bring a lamb for a sacrifice.
If they couldn't afford a lamb, then they would bring two turtle doves.
And it's written in the law of the Lord verse 23,
every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.
and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord,
a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
And that's what they did.
They were dirt poor, these two.
And so, Warren Weirsby puts it this way.
When the child was 40 days old,
Mary and Joseph had to come to the temple for the purification rights
described in Leviticus 12.
They also had to redeem the boy,
since he was Mary's firstborn.
They had to pay five shackles to redeem the redeemer
who would one day redeem us with his precious blood.
Jesus was redeemed.
Right?
According to the law.
That's why he completely and totally fulfilled the law.
So when you read the Old Testament law,
that which is written the letter of the law,
Jesus fulfilled it to a time.
T. Why? For you and me. Because you and I don't have the moxie. We don't have the guts. We don't have the
wherewithal. We don't have the ability to fulfill the law. But Jesus did. And he does. And the
redeemer was was redeemed. Job tells us something interesting. He says, can anything
clean come out of that which is unclean? Can anything clean come out of that which is unclean?
And speaking of the birth of a child, right? That everyone is born in sin. That we've all sin and
fallen short of the globe. We're actually born into it. It's our nature. And Jesus was born in this nature of
sinful man, and yet he never committed his sin, but kept the law. That's why he's our hero.
Right? That's why Jesus is our hero. He was, he was qualified to be the one who could redeem us.
No one else could. Not, not the richest man in the world could redeem a lost sinner.
And that's God's grace. That's incredible grace.
And so 2 Corinthians chapter 8 says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be rich. He was the lamb. There was to be a lamb offered for him, but they didn't have it.
but ultimately he was the lamb. John the Baptist pointed to him there in John chapter one and spoke
and said, behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Now, we get to one of the songs
that we've looked at through the Christmas season here. And we're going to read verse 25 through
35. And it says, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was
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.
And so he came by the spirit into the temple.
And when the parents brought in 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.
And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him,
and then Simeon blessed them and said to marry his mother,
behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel.
For a sign which will be spoken against.
Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
Simeon's song.
Simeon steps up and he sees God's salvation.
He's been spoken to by the Lord.
And we don't know much about this guy, right?
We know he's just and he's devout, but was he a priest?
Did he have some clout there in the temple?
Could you imagine doing a baby dedication?
I could imagine doing a baby dedication up here.
And some old man steps up on the stage and says, can I hold the baby?
What would you go?
I don't know.
And so, Simeon,
holds the baby. And he starts talking about him. First of all, he says, I can die now. I can die now.
I've seen the salvation of mankind. God's done it. Just like he said he would. Clear back in Genesis
all the way through the law and all the way through the prophets and the Psalms. God's told us about
this salvation that would come for you and me. Born of a virgin, Emmanuel, God with us.
Simeon's going, ah!
I can die now.
Do you ever feel like that?
You're just like, do you have those moments?
It's just gloration.
I can go now.
I can get out of here now.
I think there used to be an old TV.
This is your life, right?
Hey, this is your life.
And it's all good.
He says you're letting.
Now, people say, well, Simon was old.
We don't know that from scripture.
You don't know.
how old he is. We just know that he's ready to die. That's a good place to be, folks. Just be ready.
Just be ready because you don't know. You just don't know. I started Pastor Gordon's book this week.
And can I just tell you, you just don't know? Right? Fascinating. Fascinating read. I'm only a few
pages in, but it's pretty gripping the things that Pastor Gordon experienced.
But one thing he learned at a fairly young age is, you just don't know.
You're here today and you're gone tomorrow.
And so that being ready is so cool.
But Simeon just thinks, man, I've seen it.
Right?
He was a just man.
He was a devout man.
He was waiting for the consolation of Israel.
Consolation.
Now, when I was growing up, consolation always meant in second place.
or third. Maybe it's third. Third place. Consolation. But it actually can literally mean comfort.
The God has come to comfort us. Jesus has come to comfort us where he said, come unto me.
All you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest, rest for your souls.
God has given us comfort for our souls in sending this, this Christ child, this baby to us.
to give us that hope. Now, he's devout. He loves God, no doubt, and he listens, right?
His name means listening. Simeon was waiting and listening what the Holy Spirit was saying to him,
and that God had promised him, right, had revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit.
that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Wouldn't that be cool?
If the Lord just showed you and I, hey, you're not going to die.
You're going to, you're going in the rapture.
Just like, Kaching, you know, you'd be so excited.
Really? I don't have to die.
But then, but then you think.
Now, wait a minute, how long is this?
Right?
I don't know how long I want to hang around.
I've seen people hang around too.
into their 90s and stuff.
And I'm wondering, I'm just one old gal.
Her name was Dorothe. I loved Dorothe.
We used to go see her. I used to take the kids into the rest homes and we would talk to the people.
And these first and second graders would lead old people to Jesus.
It was a wildest thing you ever saw.
It was so cool.
And I just wanted to be like them.
But there was this one gal named Dorothe.
And every time I saw Dorothe, she goes, I don't know why I'm still here.
She was 97.
And she said,
I had a dream last night.
And Peter came to me. I said, St. Peter? She goes, yeah, St. Peter.
And I asked St. Peter, I said, St. Peter, how come? I'm still here.
And he said, Peter said to her, Northa, your seed isn't dusted off yet.
So, Dorothe said, would you please pray that my seat gets dusted off soon?
Right? She was ready. She wanted out of here.
And she was going to see the Lord.
And she did.
Doroth, it's amazing.
How many, as you get older, right?
As you get older, you go to more and more funerals.
Why is that?
I know that's elementary, right?
Duh.
Stupid.
Right?
People live and people die.
Right, but as you get older, why is it?
There's just more people die.
As you get older.
And then pretty soon it's you.
Showing up at all these funerals.
But Simeon, he was excited about what the Holy Spirit was meant.
This gives me hope that as I get older, you know, Lord, can you still use me?
You know, I am slipping a little.
You know.
And the Lord can use us.
He uses. He speaks to Simeon.
and about this, this consolation of Israel.
It was a Jewish, it was a traditional Jewish prayer.
May I see the consolation of Israel.
That was a prayer that people would pray.
Maybe we should be praying.
Lord, we hope to see the rapture.
But the Holy Spirit was all over this guy.
And he knew when he came into the temple, maybe he had heard.
Maybe it had heard some stories about Zechariah and Elizabeth
and this miraculous conception that she has.
And this baby's born.
And the things that Zachari might have even been there at the dedication
where Zachariah spoke those prophecies over his boy,
John the Baptist. And then hearing of Mary and Joseph. And that she's claiming this, she's still a virgin.
And she hasn't had this baby yet. And maybe he was very tuned in to Isaiah chapter 7.
And he comes in and he sees this baby and he goes, bingo, that's it. That's God's salvation.
God's salvation. I can go now in peace because I have seen your salvation.
This is the one you told us about in your word.
Everyone throughout history
has been affected by this baby coming.
Right?
Everyone throughout history.
In verse 31, it says,
I think I have it in my Bible.
which you have prepared before the face of all peoples.
All peoples.
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel.
Both groups of people are there.
All of humanity.
And that's what the blessing to Abraham was when Jesus came.
It was to all of humanity, not just to Israel.
Jesus did say, right?
Or Paul said that Jesus came for the Jew first.
Yeah, because he was Jewish.
Duh.
It's the same as our own families, right?
Who gets the attention first?
Our families.
Those who are close to us.
But then he offered this salvation to the whole world.
First John says it wasn't just for our sins as Jews,
but the sins of the whole world that Christ came and died for yours and mine.
The glory of Israel.
Verse 33.
Says, and Joseph and his mother marveled at these things,
those things which were spoken of him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to marry his mother,
behold, this child is destined for the fallen rising of many in Israel.
And for a sign which will have be spoken against.
yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed.
He says, this child, this person, this God man, this Christ, is going to be for the rise and fall of many.
Because every person that is faced with the person of Jesus Christ does one of two things.
Right? He is lifted up. He is lifted up and he walks in peace with God.
or he's abased, he's opposed by God.
He's crushed down under the wrath of God,
which we're all under until we come to Christ.
For the rise and the fall of many in Israel.
Think about how the Jews struggle with Jesus.
I love those guys.
I can't even remember their names,
but they have a ministry where they go and they speak Hebrew and they're Jewish
and they're born again and they go talk to people.
on the street. And they read them, Isaiah. Chapter 52, chapter 53, chapter 54. They read that to these
people and they go, Old Testament, New Testament. And the Hebrews always go, oh, it has to be New Testament.
That sounds like Jesus. Oh, no, it's Old Testament. You guys don't read this. You should.
The rise and fall. Many Jewish people been faced with who Jesus is and have rejected him.
But the early church was all Jewish. All the apostles were Jewish.
It was very Jewish to be Christian back in the day.
Joseph and his mother marveled.
We can imagine their combination of joy surprise to see how God has touched the hearts of others with an understanding of their son.
No matter how well you know Jesus, there is something special.
about seeing someone else come to know him. Keep praying for those family members that have yet to
receive Christ. Keep praying for him. I'm telling you, I'm living proof. Yet grandmas don't
shut up, so just give up and give your heart to Jesus. My grandma was, she vehemently prayed for me.
Jesus asked the Pharisees, what do you think about the Christ?
Who son is he? Really, who is Jesus to you?
Is really what he's saying?
And he's either your everything or nothing.
See, Jesus doesn't allow you to have just a little bit of him.
I just want a little bit. I just want some fire insurance.
Just so I don't go to hail.
No, no, that's not how it works.
He's your everything or he is nothing to you.
Right?
He is your everything or he is nothing to you.
Because he doesn't settle for second best.
He does not share his glory with another.
He refuses to do that.
And when you look at what he did,
and you think about who he is, and he still did what he did?
You have no argument.
You and I.
You have no argument.
And for a sign, it says, spoken against.
Right?
And for a sign which will be spoken against,
that literally means a target to shoot at.
And the skeptics that you talk to.
around the world and they try to destroy who Christ is. Shame on them. Right? They'll, they'll, they'll,
they'll shoot it the virgin birth. They'll shoot at the miracles. They'll shoot at his death, his resurrection,
his deity. They'll just keep shooting. And he is who he said he is or he's nobody. Just like he's
everything or he's nothing to you.
And then he mentions the sword.
It was important for Mary to know that mothering the Messiah would not be all sweetness and light.
It was both a great privilege and a great burden.
And we know so often as parents, right, our kids do burden us.
Especially when they get out of the house and start making the stupidest decisions you can ever imagine.
Why are you doing that?
Because I've done that.
I know it don't work.
Right?
And a sword would pierce through her soul.
Possibly no other human agonized as much over Jesus' rejection and suffering as his mother did.
This is not only because of the natural love of a mother,
but also because his rejection was her rejection.
But praise God, his vindication was hers also, as well as yours and mine.
God's not going to let you go through this life, folks,
following him and surrendering to him.
Right.
And not give you an out of boy on the end of it.
He's not going to do that.
That's not the way he works.
right.
But we just can't get discouraged when those tough things come.
And then verse 40, and the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
This is what the Holy Spirit does.
And because of whose Jesus is, this is what happens at church.
When you proclaim the word of God.
The thoughts of many people's hearts are going to be revealed.
How does that happen?
by the Holy Spirit.
You've been to a church service, you're right?
I've had people come up to me.
I had a girl come up to me once in.
Who told you?
Told me what?
Who told me?
Who told you what I was doing?
I said, nobody's told me what you were doing.
I don't even know you.
No, God was putting a finger.
Through his word, was putting a finger on the thing she was doing.
That was wrong.
It wasn't me.
I didn't know what the girl was up to.
You know, people get mad.
Why'd you tell your pastor on me? I didn't tell my pastor anything. Right? That's, that's the Holy Spirit.
That's what, that's what he does. He reveals your heart to you. Kind of like he did with me in my car the other night.
Right. So that's nasty. That's scotty. That's so wicked. You're so evil. You got murder in your heart right now. You're a murderer.
And I was. Thanks be to God for his indescribate. That's so wicked. You're so evil. Get murdering your heart right now. You're a murderer. And I was. Thanks. Thanks be to God for his indescribes.
gift in his forgiveness, amen. Right? First Corinthians chapter 14 says this. And thus, the secrets of his heart are
revealed. And so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.
When you hear the word of God and it just, it resonates with your heart. It's like a, it's like a
quickening. You're just making, makes you alive. You might, your heart might even skip a beat.
And you're going, wow, this is incredible. How is God doing this?
He's doing it by his Holy Spirit.
He's doing it because he loves you.
And the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed.
Has God revealed yourself to you?
So often people are so blinded by their own quote unquote goodness that they can't see a need.
They don't see their need for God.
And those are blinders.
Those are scales that need to come off.
Well, it wasn't just Simeon.
I'm going to wrap it up here.
Sorry.
Verse 36.
It says, now there was one Anna, a prophetess and daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher.
And she was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity.
And this woman was a woman.
widow of about 84 years who did not depart from the temple but served God with fasting and
prayers night and day and coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him
to all those who looked for looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Right? God's perfect timing.
Some has rightly said, right? God is seldom early but he's never late. Right? God has seldom early, but he's
but he's never late.
This meant that she had a special gift of declaring and interpreting God's messages.
Other prophecies prophetes, sissis in scripture, were Miriam, Deborah, Holda, like that one.
If you've got pregnant with a little girl, Holda, Holda, Holda.
Noah Daya, and also the wife of Isaiah.
And then we see Philip, the evangelist, had.
four daughters that were prophetesses. That they, they were women who drew near to God and God had given
this gift. And that's what I read about there when I read First Corinthians chapter 14. It's
talking about the gift of prophecy. That actually not prophecy, not that I can, and I pray that I
prophesy when I stand up here. Not that I'm foretelling anything, right, but that I proclaim
the word of the Lord in truth and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Right. That that word,
would go out and that thoughts would be revealed and that hearts would be comforted from the
preaching of the Word of God. She was, she was from the tribe of Asher. That's interesting.
A daughter of Fanuel. Her name Anna means grace, but her dad's name means the face of God.
Probably a good guy to be raised by. Now it does say that she's of great age and so commentators,
go back and forth. How old is Anna? Right? She's been a widow for 84 years. And she was with a husband for seven years.
And so, you know, conservatively speaking, she might have been 14 when she got married.
What would that make her? Well, over a hundred years old. She was of great age. Right?
But what she do. Even in her old age, she served God day and night. And she heard these things.
And she too was blessed.
Why?
Because, right?
She spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Israel.
Anna pointed to Jesus and said,
there's our Savior.
That's the one who's going to save us.
He's our consolation.
The takeaways this morning.
It's be faithful in looking for redemption.
The Bible equates redemption to the coming of Jesus to take us out of here.
That our bodies actually will be redeemed.
Now, it's funny, somebody that stood up here and looked out, said,
there's a lot of old people at out west.
I said, well, there's just them people that really want their body redeemed, right?
Right?
That this thing is going to, it's going to, we're going to get a new one.
And it's going to be incredible.
It gives a whole new meaning to a total makeover.
And it will be eternal, but we're looking forward to that, right?
Just as Simeon and Anna were looking forward to the coming of the Savior, the first time,
you and I need to be looking forward to the second coming of the king of kings and the Lord of Lord's.
right, where he calls us up. And, uh, you know, it's, it's sometimes it provokes jealousy. It provokes
heartache when people get to go be with him before that time. I do a lot of funerals and I, and I see that.
I see that, that heartache, but also the joy. Right. There's, there's both. This life is just full of it.
It's full of tragedy, but it's also full of joy. And it's full of the people. And it's full of the
of God and the grace of God. We just have to stay focused on the right thing. I'm going to close by
reading 1 Corinthians chapter 1 to you and just reminding you that that Jesus, for all the reason,
he came, and who he came for. Verse 27 in 1st Corinthians chapter 1, it says,
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. That'd be you.
you and I. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.
And the base things of the world. And the things which are despised, God has chosen.
And the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are. That no flesh should glory in his
presence. None of our, none of us would glory in the presence of the Lord in this body.
That's why we need a new one. Right?
that no flesh should glory in his presence.
But of him, you are in Christ Jesus,
who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption.
We have all of that in him.
Not cool.
That's just such a good deal for us who are base and despised by the world, right?
And we're not mighty.
We're those weak things.
that as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.
I pray that you find yourself in 2025, glorying in the Lord, looking for his coming,
his appearing, as Jude tells us, right, the glorious appearing of our great God and
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, he's coming, and he's coming soon.
May we find ourselves bringing glory to the name.
that is above every name. Let's pray, shall we? Father, thank you for your word that's, uh,
Lord, it's light. It's truly light to our path. And, um, it's a, it's a lamp to our feet.
Lord, you have, uh, we have so much to look forward to. We have a new year. We have the, the growth of our
children and grandchildren to look forward to. We have a new place. Lord, you went to prepare a place for us.
We have that to look forward to. We have a new body in your glory.
God, Holy Spirit, would you lead us as your people? Lord, just as you seem to be leading these elderly
folks with with Simeon and Anna. Lord, you led them and they were committed and they were devoted to you.
May we find ourselves in that same place. Lord, if there's any here today that question their
devotion to you, I just pray that they would come and hook up with a prayer team and be prayed for.
And just, Lord, that you would change lives and continue to change us. Lord, we need to.
We can't get stagnant.
We've got to keep moving towards that glorious day.
You have prepared for those who love your appearing.
So help us to love that with all of our hearts in Jesus' name.
And everybody said, amen.
God bless you guys.
Happy New Year!
It's coming.
20-24 is over.
If you need prayer, the prayer team will be up here.
God bless you.
Have a great day.