This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, His Unblemished Life.
Simeon was a man anticipating Christmas—the very first Christmas.
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.
Many missed the first coming of Jesus because they did not understand (or did not believe) the clear Bible prophecies of the life of Jesus Christ. Be careful, lest you miss His Second Coming because of ignorance or unbelief!
Here are some things that were true of Simeon that ought to be true of every Christian.
The question is not whether you are a Baptist, a Methodist, or a nice person. Are you saved? This is why Jesus came. “You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21b).
Luke 2:25 says that Simeon was “just and devout.” That means he was right with God. How could Simeon be saved if Jesus had not yet died on the cross? The Old Testament saints were saved by looking forward to the coming of Jesus. (Read Romans 4:1-3; John 8:56.)
If Christ is not your Savior and Lord, you are not ready for Christmas, nor are you ready for the Second Coming of Jesus.
Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and that is why he was called devout.
“Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He [Jesus] is pure” (1 John 3:3; word in brackets added). If you are dabbling in the world, living carelessly in sin, you are not ready for Christmas or the Second Coming.
Blessed hope leads to blessed holiness.
The name Simeon in the Bible means “one who hears.” “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26).
The Holy Spirit who led Simeon also guides you. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). The Holy Spirit revealed the first Christmas to Simeon, and He reveals the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to you.
Are you sensitive to God speaking? How is your prayer life?
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…”
Here we have the Word of God, the Spirit of God and the Son of God coming together to bring the peace of God.
Do you have peace?
Simeon told Mary and Joseph what Jesus’ life would be like.
“For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples…” (Luke 2:30-31).
This sin-bound world needs a Savior. That is why Jesus came.
People get excited about baby Jesus this time of year. But many do not understand that Jesus came to save them from their sins. That same giddy crowd dancing around the manger will be in a drunken stupor a week later, singing “Auld Lange Syne.”
Get away from the sentimentality and understand that baby Jesus is the Savior of the world. He is the perfect lamb, the unblemished sacrifice!
“….A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:32).
Some people are afraid of Jesus. “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20).
If you are in darkness and want to know the way, Christ Jesus is the Light, the Way, and the Truth.
“Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel…’ “ (Luke 2:34a)
Christ is the foundation stone. (Read 1 Peter 2:6-8.) You can build on Him or stumble over Him, but you cannot go around Him. Christ will be your Savior, or your Judge. (See John 3:36.)
“This Child is destined…for a sign which will be spoken against” (Luke 2:34b).
Jesus was going to face mockery and blasphemy. Some said, “He is mad!” Others, “He has a demon!” If Jesus is not spoken against, the Gospel is not being preached.
Have you ever heard a person curse with, “Oh, Buddha!” “Confucius!” No—they take the name of Jesus Christ and profane it. They mock Jesus, for He is a “sign which will be spoken against.”
If you are His disciple, you will be spoken against as well. (See Luke 6:26.)
Simeon told Mary, “(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35).
Jesus divides our natural emotions and our desire for the will of God. (See Hebrews 4:12.) All who have received Christ feel that conflict, that sword inside between the old life and the new.
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34).
Who said that? Jesus did.
For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.
This doesn’t mean we should not love our families. But you should love Jesus more than you love them. In that way, you can love them better than you could without Jesus.
Not every church member is saved. Not all people sitting in churches are holy. We don’t know who is who—but God does.
At the final judgement, Jesus will divide the professing Church. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (Matthew 7:22-23)
“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel...that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34b-35b).
When you hear the Word preached, you might think, “I don’t agree. I will not accept that.” Christ is revealing your heart.
You might hear it and say, “That’s true. I need a Savior.”
“To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16) It is Christ who decides and reveals what is in your heart.
What did Simeon do? “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’ ” (Luke 2:28-30).
Luke 2:25-35, 6:26; Matthew 1:21, 7:22-23, 10:34-37; Romans 4:1-3, 8:14; John 3:20,36, 8:56; 1 John 3:3; 1 Peter 2:6-8
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
...You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
