And of course, we are going to take
a Christmas-themed message here,
but I really just want to glorify Jesus Christ.
We're remembering the coming of Christ, December 25th.
Now, of course, I don't think anyone truly believes
that Jesus was actually born December 25th.
I think we all realize this is just tradition.
I don't know exactly who is the one
that decided to just pinpoint December 25th
as a day to celebrate.
And there are a lot of commotions about it being a pagan,
having pagan roots and all this kind of stuff.
So at the end of the day,
every day is a day that we can worship God.
God's created every single day, including December 25th.
And I think it's a wonderful time for people to come
and just to remember that Jesus Christ was born.
More important than just being born though,
that God the Father would send his son to be born.
And you know what?
Christ was born to die.
He came and he died for our sins.
He died for you and I.
And we don't think about that normally
when we experience a newborn baby.
But when we think about the life
that this baby is going to have,
hey, but when he came to Jesus Christ,
really, we start thinking about his death,
that he came here to die and take on the sins
upon his own body and being punished by the Father.
But I want us to read a few verses first.
Look at Luke chapter two, verse 25,
and what a great chapter Luke chapter two is.
So many great stories, so many sermons
that can come out of this.
But it says here,
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.
I want you to notice that Simeon here
has the power of the Holy Ghost upon him.
Number one, okay?
Then verse number 26.
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 so not only is this a man
that has the power of the Holy Ghost upon him,
he's also a man that receives
the teaching of the Holy Ghost, right?
The Holy Ghost revealed to him
that he would see the Lord's Christ,
that he would see the Messiah before he passes away.
Let's keep going, verse number 27.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple.
So what else?
Not only is he empowered by the Holy Ghost,
not only does he receive the teaching of the Holy Ghost,
he's also a man that he's been led by the Holy Ghost, right?
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.
Now we'll keep reading soon,
but I just wanted to just show you
that Simeon is definitely a saved, godly man,
empowered by the Holy Ghost,
being taught by the Holy Ghost,
being led by the Holy Ghost.
And so the title for the sermon tonight is
Simeon's Declaration of Jesus.
And look, at the end of the day,
the declaration of Simeon here,
it's not going to be anything new to you.
These are things that we're all already familiar with.
But one thing that I love about the Bible
is just how interconnected the scriptures are,
how it's definitely the thought of one mind,
the mind of the Lord God.
It's the writing of God.
These are not the writings of me men,
but God used men who were moved by the Holy Ghost
to pen these words.
And as Simeon makes this declaration about Jesus Christ,
I want to, we're going to look primarily
at the book of Isaiah.
So if you want to get ready,
keep one finger there in look to the tube
and also start turning to the book of Isaiah.
And they're going to be the two main references
that we're going to be flick back and forth.
But the point I'm trying to make today
is that Simeon definitely knew his scriptures
and he definitely knew the book of Isaiah.
Okay, it's a book that he's read,
it's a book that he's been well studied in,
that he was taught by the Holy Ghost.
Now let's backtrack a little bit.
Let's have a look at the declaration of Jesus from Simeon.
So let's backtrack back to verse number 25.
It says, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon and the same man was just and devout,
now those next words,
waiting for the consolation of Israel.
What is the consolation of Israel?
And the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Well, he's waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Point one of my sermon this evening
is that Jesus is the consolation of Israel.
Jesus is the consolation of Israel.
You say, what is the consolation?
Or to be consulting about that,
like if you're being consoled, what are you receiving?
You're receiving comfort, you're receiving understanding,
you're receiving aid, help and relief from somebody.
Well, you know what?
Who's the help and the aid and the relief?
The comfort, the consolation of Israel,
it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Point number one, Jesus is the consolation of Israel.
And so it is to be comforted.
And you know what?
We think about the comforter, we think of the Holy Ghost.
I mean, it makes perfect sense.
Jesus Christ refers to the Holy Spirit as the comforter,
but I just want to bring to you,
remember it's what he says in John 14, 16,
and I will pray the Father
and he shall give you another comforter
that he may abide with you forever.
And so while the Holy Spirit is the comforter,
it is another comforter, meaning that Christ himself
was that first comforter that came into this world.
And so he definitely is the consolation of Israel.
And boy, Israel needed consolation
in this time when Christ was born.
You know, Christ was born in a time when you had King Herod,
that was ruling in Jerusalem, ruling over Judea.
And you know, Herod, he's not even a Jew.
He's not even an Israelite, right?
If you know his history, he's an Edomite, right?
So he's one of the enemies, as it were, of Israel,
and he's ruling over that land.
You know, Israel does not have a son of David,
you know, does not have the lineage of David
ruling over the land at this point in time.
Herod's not even an Israelite, he's an Edomite.
But not only that, who's above Herod?
You've got the Roman Empire,
you've got an entirely different, you know,
Gentile power overseeing the land of Judea.
And this is the environment that Jesus Christ is born in.
And I love it.
I love it because I feel that there are so many parallels
in the time that Christ lived on the earth,
with the kind of situation we find ourselves in,
where you don't even know what powers
there are in this world.
We know that there will be a spiritual Babylon
in the end times.
And I do believe there is a spiritual Babylon
behind the scenes, you know, gathering power for itself.
And so, you know, we live in this sort of unsettled times
where there's greater powers
and they enforce their mandates
and they enforce their whatever,
their decisions upon the nation of this earth.
And it's quite interesting times that we live in,
but without getting too sidetracked.
You know, Jesus Christ is the consolation.
He is the comforter.
And brethren, as we come into Christmas,
you know, one thing I always remember in Christmas
as a child, I don't know if it's really advertised
that much, because I don't watch TV much,
but I remember as a child, I would watch TV
and come Christmas time, there was always advertisements
about people that are lonely during Christmas,
people that are homeless, maybe going without,
they don't have family.
And it always made me a little sad.
It always made me a little emotional
how there can be certain people
that are without a loved one in Christmas.
And I just wanna encourage you, you know,
if you are, if you're an online listener,
you don't have a family, you're all alone this Christmas,
you know, you may feel lonely.
You may need consolation.
You may very well need the comforter.
And let me encourage you that comfort is found
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, this past week, we've been doing
the soul winning mega marathon week.
And what great results, we had 23 salvations, praise God,
I'm still tired, I'm still sunburned from that.
But you know, on the last day,
we came across a saved person, she's from Iraq.
Initially, we asked her, so you know,
what kind of church do you go to?
She said Catholic.
So we immediately thought she was not saved, okay?
Turns out she was definitely saved.
And she just said Catholic because,
just to give an answer to the question,
because she was a Catholic in the past.
But she's heard the gospel, she's believed on Christ,
she understood salvation was faithful on Christ,
you could never lose it.
And, but one thing that she said,
she's a woman that lived alone,
like in a sort of a housing commission,
government housing situation.
She wasn't married, didn't have kids, didn't have family.
It doesn't look like she had any friends.
But one thing that came very clear as she spoke to us
was that her love was toward Jesus Christ.
And she said, even though, you know,
when I think about this world,
there are fears and there are concerns,
and I don't have anybody, but when I read God's word,
when I think about Jesus, I'm greatly comforted, she said.
I have peace in my life because of Jesus Christ.
And I thought, amen, praise God for that.
Praise God that, you know, she has nobody.
Hey, but she's saved, and she knows she has peace
and comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so let me just remind you guys, you know,
people sometimes feel sad during Christmas,
during New Year's Eve,
when they think about the rest of the world,
they think the world's having fun,
but forever the world's not having fun.
The world's getting drunk.
They're doing stupid things during these celebrations.
They don't have the peace.
They don't have the comfort that comes from Jesus Christ.
Praise God that Jesus Christ is the consolation,
not just of Israel,
but the consolation of every believer in this entire world.
Let's keep going there.
In which of the two of us, we'll get to Isaiah soon,
but Luke chapter two, verse number 26, please.
Luke chapter two, verse number 26.
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.
So what is it that they brought Jesus Christ to do
after the custom of law?
To be circumcised, okay?
Anyway, let's keep going.
Verse number 28.
Then took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
I'm just thinking about the amazing blessing
to be able to take baby Jesus into your arms,
blessing God, knowing this is the consolation of Israel.
This is my Lord.
This is my savior.
Imagine holding Christ in your arms as a little babe.
What an amazing experience that this man got to go through
before his death and bless God and said, verse number 29.
Now, Lord, now let us now thy servant depart in peace
according to thy word,
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, praise God.
Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
He's holding baby Jesus.
This is my salvation.
This is my savior, praise God.
So point number two, brethren,
is that Jesus is God's salvation.
Jesus is God's salvation.
Now let's turn to Isaiah 52.
Keep your finger there in Luke chapter two
and turn to Isaiah 52, please.
Isaiah chapter 52.
And so we're gonna be looking at a lot of references
in Isaiah just to piece these two chapters,
well, look to the two together with Isaiah.
As I said, I love the interconnectivity
that we see in the Bible.
But Isaiah 52 verse seven reads,
how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace,
that bringeth good tidings of good,
that publisheth salvation,
that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth.
Now, for many of you, you know that that's a passage
that we find in Romans chapter 10, okay?
And so this preaching of the good tidings
is the preaching of the gospel.
What is the gospel?
The death, the burial, the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I love the book of Isaiah.
Many times Isaiah refers to God as our savior.
And here it is that people are publishing
these good tidings, these good news of God's salvation.
And praise God that we have that benefit, brethren,
that we can go out, you know, every week,
we have the opportunity to open our mouths boldly
to preach the gospel of salvation,
the glad tidings to this lost world.
Let's keep going there in verse number eight.
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice.
With a voice together shall they sing,
for they shall see eye to eye
when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together,
ye waste places of Jerusalem,
for the Lord have, look at this,
comforted his people, he have redeemed Jerusalem.
How has God comforted his people?
By sending the savior, by the preaching of salvation,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't forget Jesus Christ was the consolation of Israel,
the comfort of Israel.
Yes, he is, but he's also the savior.
He's God's salvation.
Let's keep going there, verse number 10.
The Lord have made bare his holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations.
And all the ends of the earth shall see the what?
The salvation of our God.
Praise God for that.
So the entire earth,
we get to have the same blessing as Simeon here.
Simeon, the great blessing, to hold Jesus,
to hold baby Jesus and put his eyes,
I have seen the salvation of the Lord.
But what does it say there in Isaiah 52, verse 10?
Let's read it again.
The Lord have made bare his holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
Not only did Simeon get to see the salvation of God
in his arms as a little baby,
but we see the salvation of the Lord.
We have it documented.
We have it written.
We have word for word, the story of Jesus Christ.
And we can't see Jesus Christ right now
with our physical eyes,
but we see it with the spiritual eyes,
with the understanding and the knowledge
that comes from God's word.
I know that every one of you that are saved,
I would say the same thing, that we've seen God's salvation.
We have seen Jesus in the spiritual sense,
with the spiritual eyes,
but it is the same story that has been proclaimed
to the ends of the earth.
And again, I thank God that salvation
is not just for the Jews.
Salvation was not just for Israel,
but to everybody that walks on this earth.
And praise God that he uses mouths like mine,
mouths like yours, to proclaim the wonderful gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Please turn to Isaiah 25.
Turn to Isaiah 25 and verse number eight.
Isaiah 25 and verse number eight.
Another one of my favorite passages in the scriptures,
I should say, one of my favorite passages
in the book of Isaiah,
is here found in Isaiah 25, verse number eight.
Not only do we have salvation by Jesus Christ,
by placing our faith on his death,
his burial and his resurrection.
And the moment we do that, we know we're saved.
We know 100% that if we were to die today,
we'd be going to heaven.
But you know what?
We still haven't experienced the fullness of salvation.
Amen.
That's still a wonderful experience to be had in the future.
And we see here in Isaiah 25, verse eight,
you may recall these verses,
Isaiah 25, verse eight.
It says, he will swallow up death in victory.
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces.
When does this take place?
Well, you may recall this takes place,
well, this is repeated again,
in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 15,
about the resurrection from the dead,
about the rapture, okay?
And so there's going to be victory in death
when this body, when this dead body
is one day resurrected,
or if we make it to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,
this body is going to be changed
into that new glorified body.
And then the Lord Christ will wipe away
our tears from our faces.
But let's keep going there.
It says in verse number eight,
and the rebuke of his people,
shall he take away from off all the earth,
for the Lord have spoken it.
And it shall be said in that day,
lo, this is our God.
Notice that, it shall be said in that day,
lo, this is our God.
What day?
The day of the rapture,
the day that we get resurrected bodies,
and that we meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air.
What are we going to say about the Lord Jesus Christ?
Lo, this is our God.
As the Lord Jesus Christ is not some lesser God.
He is not just a man.
He is not just some prophet, okay?
He is our God.
You know, we believe in the triune nature of God,
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ is as much our God as the Father is,
as much as the Holy Spirit is.
It says, we have waited for him, yeah?
And he will save us.
This is the Lord.
We have waited for him.
We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
So we know that this resurrection takes place
at the time of the tribulation,
at the end of the tribulation.
Not only are we saved physically,
for those that make it all the way,
but we're saved in the completed sense,
because we receive those new bodies.
We are saved physically as it were with those new bodies.
And we can't wait to see Christ face to face in the air.
We can say, this is our God.
We have waited for him and rejoice and be glad
to finally be together with the Lord Jesus Christ,
delivered from the tribulations of this world.
Let's keep going there in verse number,
sorry, back in Luke chapter two, Luke chapter two.
And I think I've gone all funny again with the colors.
Oh, well, that's how it is.
But Luke chapter two, verse 31, please.
Luke chapter two in verse number 31.
It says, we continue the words of Simeon.
It says here, which thou has prepared
before the face of all people,
alight to lighten the Gentiles
and the glory of thy people Israel.
So there's another further two declarations
about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Number one, in verse number 32,
it says here that Jesus is alight to lighten the Gentiles.
So that's point number three, brethren.
Jesus is alight to lighten the Gentiles.
Now, if you can, please go back to Isaiah.
Go to Isaiah chapter nine.
Isaiah chapter nine for me, please.
Isaiah chapter nine, verse number two.
Isaiah chapter nine and verse number two.
And again, I always love these references to the Gentiles
because I'm constantly combating that stupidity
that Christ only came to the Jews.
He only came to Israel.
Then why is he alight to the Gentiles?
Okay, doesn't that tell us
that he's come for the entire world?
I mean, we see this already planned out
from the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah chapter nine, verse number two.
It says, the people that walked in darkness,
this is about reference to the Gentiles, by the way,
have seen a great light.
They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death
upon them have the lights shined.
And brethren, before we were saved,
we were in this shadow of death.
We were in darkness before we were saved.
But the moment that Christ was revealed to us
and his story, his gospel, we believed in Christ,
we received the lights.
There is a great light.
There's clarity, brethren.
We know and we understand now the world.
We understand creation.
We understand what the Bible teaches.
We understand future events
because this light has manifested all things.
We understand the wickedness
that takes place in this world.
We understand the difference between what is righteous
and that which is sinful
because of the light of Jesus Christ.
Christ has revealed great things unto us.
And he definitely is a light to the Gentiles.
Please go to Isaiah 49.
Go to Isaiah 49, verse number five.
Isaiah 49, verse number five.
It says, and now saith the Lord,
that formed me from the womb to be his servants,
to bring Jacob again to him.
These are the words of Christ.
It says, though Israel be not gathered,
yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God shall be my strength.
And he said, it is a light thing,
it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Israel
and to restore the preserve of Israel.
Then he says this,
I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles,
that thou mayest be, what?
My salvation unto the end of the earth.
Jesus Christ is a light to the Gentiles,
a salvation to the end of the earth.
Every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every person,
every ethnicity does have the opportunity
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is why anywhere you go, brethren,
people have heard of Jesus.
You know, I love going soloing in this local area
here in Fairfield because it is so multicultural.
There are so many different people,
so many different religions.
But one thing that is in common,
regardless of who I talk to, they've all heard of Jesus.
They don't necessarily know what he's done
or what he means or what the relevance is,
but they've heard of Jesus.
You know, anybody in this world has the opportunity
to hear of Christ and know of Christ.
And look, even if someone lives
in the deepest jungles of Africa,
if they want to know God's salvation,
then God will send them a soul winner.
God will send them a missionary
that they would hear the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ and believe.
And so Christ, his plan A was always to be a salvation
unto the ends of the earth.
He was always plan A to be a light to the Gentiles,
not just to Israel.
Now, when it says a light to light on the Gentiles,
we know that Christ, you know, one of the major issues
when Christ walked this earth was that there were several,
there were many Christ rejecting Jews.
And as far as a nation, if you could look at it as a nation,
that the entire nation, or not the entire nation,
but as a nation, they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, many did believe in Christ.
Many even continued to follow in his steps
and be great disciples for Jesus.
But the majority of the Jews rejected Christ
when he came the first time.
Now, if you can actually know,
I won't get you to turn there.
What can I get you to turn?
Please turn to John chapter eight.
Turn to John chapter eight, please.
Turn to John chapter eight.
I'm going to read to you from Acts 13, verse 46.
You go to John chapter eight.
I'll read to you from Acts 13, verse 46.
The reason we looked at Isaiah 49
is because it gets repeated by Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13.
46, the Bible reads,
then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said,
it was necessary that the word of God
should first have been spoken to you,
speaking to the Christ rejecting Jews.
It's necessary that the word of God, the gospel,
first goes to the Jews.
But seeing you put it from you
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Verse 47, for so have the Lord commanded us
saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles.
That's what we read there in Isaiah 49.
That thou shouldst be for salvation
unto the ends of the earth.
And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord.
And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Amen.
All right, so the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
can save the Jew just as much as it can save the Gentile.
You should be there in John chapter eight, verse 12.
Look at John chapter eight, verse number 12.
I had a look at this recently on Sunday
as I preached for Blessed Old Baptist Church.
But it says here in John eight, 12,
then spake Jesus again unto them saying,
I am the light of the world.
Is not just the light of Israel,
is not just the light of the Jews,
is the light of the world.
He that follows me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.
Okay, so Jesus Christ has come to be the light of the world.
But I also want us to remember what Matthew 5, 14 says.
Christ's word says, ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
And so Christ has come to shine a light in this dark world.
And now that we've believed in Christ,
we received the light of life,
we now become the light of the world.
Praise God for that.
As a response, we are to now shine
the light of the Lord Jesus Christ
to shine the light of his glorious message.
And brethren, I'm not sure how much soul winning
you guys have been doing in the last sort of,
well, I don't know now.
Now you guys have restrictions.
I'm not sure how far your restrictions
cause you to not be able to serve the Lord
to your full capacity.
But you know what?
Just remember that Christmas is a great time
to shine the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
People generally are just a little bit more receptive.
They're thinking a little bit more about
what it means to celebrate Christmas.
Why, what is Christ?
Why did it come?
People are just a little bit more receptive.
Generally speaking, people are more likely
to go to church during Christmas
or during Easter at this time.
So let me encourage you.
Hey, and it's school holidays.
So you're gonna knock doors of younger people.
And we know that younger people generally
are more receptive to God's word.
So let me encourage you brethren
to be the light of this world.
At least be the light there on the sunshine coast.
I'll keep going if you can please.
Actually, you're in John eight.
You're in John eight.
So maybe turn to John chapter one.
Turn to John chapter one.
John chapter one, verse five.
Speaking about Christ, it says,
"'And the light shineth in darkness
"'and the darkness comprehended it not.
"'There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
"'The same came for a witness
"'to bear witness of the light,
"'that all men through him might believe.
"'He was not the light.'"
That's John the Baptist.
He was not the light.
"'But was sent to bear witness of that light,
"'that was the true light,
"'which light of every man that cometh into the world.'"
And so I love that about John the Baptist.
He came to show people the light that came into this world.
He was not the light himself,
but Jesus Christ was the light.
Hey, that's John the Baptist.
Hey, you're a Baptist as well.
Amen.
New Life Baptist Church.
Well, if John the Baptist
is declaring the light to this world,
then let's make sure that New Life Baptist Church
is also declaring the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, if you can please turn back to Isaiah.
Turn back to Isaiah 40.
Isaiah 40.
And something else that we saw there,
let me just find my place here.
Not only did it say in Luke 2
that Christ is the light to lighten the Gentiles,
but then it said,
"'And the glory of thy people Israel,
"'and the glory of thy people Israel.'"
Point number four is that Jesus
is the glory of thy people Israel.
Pastor Kevin, Israel right now,
they don't glory in Christ.
You know, when we think of Jesus Christ,
we don't even think about that nation of Israel.
You're 100% correct.
That nation is a Christ-rejected nation.
So when we think about Christ
being the glory of thy people Israel,
we are definitely not talking about modern-day Israel.
We are definitely not talking about modern-day Jews.
Judaism, that's a false religion
that is a Christ-rejected religion.
But it is true.
Remember, Simeon here is being moved by the Holy Ghost,
he's being taught, he's being fueled by the Holy Ghost,
and he says these declarations about Jesus Christ,
the glory of thy people Israel.
So I want you to turn to Isaiah 40.
Turn to Isaiah 40 in verse number one.
Isaiah 40 in verse number one, please.
Isaiah 40 in verse number one.
I'm sorry that the video keeps playing around
with all the different colors.
But Isaiah 40, verse number one, it reads,
"'Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God.'"
And so what did we see about Christ before point number one?
Was that he's the constellation, he's the comfort.
And so here we are, the comfort ye,
comfort ye, my people, saith the Lord.
Verse number two, "'Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
"'and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
"'that her iniquity is pardoned,
"'for she hath received of the Lord's hand double
"'for all her sins.'"
Now let's keep going there, verse number three.
"'The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
"'prepare ye the way of the Lord,
"'make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'"
Hey, what is verse number three speaking about?
Well, for you that know your Bibles,
you know that's about John the Baptist, okay?
So what is John the Baptist preaching?
He's preaching comfort.
He's comforting the people of Israel
because he's shining people, sorry,
appointing people to the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I love the combination that we see here
in the book of Isaiah, the comfort, the lights.
John the Baptist, the one crying in the wilderness.
Verse number four, "'Every valley shall be exalted,
"'and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
"'and the crooked shall be made straight,
"'and the rough places plain.'"
Look at verse number five.
"'And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.'"
Who's the glory of the Lord that's gonna be revealed?
Jesus Christ.
As I said, point number four, the declaration of Simeon
is that Jesus is the glory of thy people, Israel.
What is the best thing about Israel?
Is it the city of Jerusalem?
Is that the best thing?
Is the best thing about Israel?
The stories that we see of the Old Testament saints,
is that the best thing of Israel?
You know, the best thing of Israel?
Could it be some of the Bible characters
that we love to read about?
Is that the best thing of Israel?
No, the best thing about Israel, brethren,
the glory of Israel is that that is the nation
in which Jesus Christ would be born.
He's the glory of Israel.
Here's the thing that, you know,
here's the person that modern day Israel
should be glorying about,
because all the prophets of old wrote about him.
You know, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time.
And what a glorious thing to have the scriptures
of the prophets, of the preachers of old,
that pointed to Christ.
And we have the truth of Christ revealed unto us
through the New Testament and through the birth of Christ.
Amen.
He truly is the glory of Israel.
And you know what?
If a Jew just wants the glory in God,
he has the glory in the Lord Jesus Christ, okay?
Let's keep going there.
Verse number five.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord have spoken it.
The cry, sorry, the voice said, cry,
and he said, what shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof
is the flower of the field.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it,
surely the people is grass.
It's saying just like grass perishes us,
we will perish as well.
We can't glory in man.
We can't glory in the flesh.
No matter what man can accomplish in this life,
this is not something that we ought to glory in.
We ought to glory in the one
that is the glorious one of Israel.
Verse number eight says, the grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, but the word of our God
shall stand forever.
And so how do we learn about the glory of Israel
through the word of God, which stands forever?
I'm never afraid this Bible is ever going
to be taken away from me because it stands forever.
It doesn't matter how much people try to stop the word,
how much people try to corrupt God's word or destroy it.
It's not going anywhere.
God's word is the vehicle in which shows us the glory
of the people of Israel.
That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you know what?
If I have a Christ rejecting Jew
listening to this sermon today,
they're going to hate the fact that the Bible says
Jesus is the glory of Israel.
But you know what?
If that person is to be saved,
if that person needs to have their sins forgiven,
it's only by the sacrifice of Christ,
by believing on the finished work of Jesus Christ
that he committed upon the cross.
So let's go back to Luke chapter two.
Luke chapter two and verse number 33.
Luke chapter two, verse number 33.
So Simeon says a lot of great words,
and we can see those parallels there in the book of Isaiah.
Verse number 33, it says, Luke 2, 33.
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.
And so point number five, brethren,
is that Jesus is the fall and the rising again of many.
Jesus Christ is the fall and the rising again of many.
Now I know which one I belong to.
You either belong to the fall or to the rising again.
I'm part of the rising again, brethren, okay?
I'm part of that, the rising again of many.
It's Jesus Christ that has given me salvation,
but he's also the fall.
Why? Because if you reject Jesus,
you will fall.
If you reject Jesus, the wrath of God abides upon you.
If you reject Jesus and you pass away,
you're going to spend eternity being tormented
in the fires of hell, okay?
Now let's go back to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter eight.
Isaiah chapter eight, verse number 13.
So Jesus Christ, as I said, point number five,
Jesus is the fall and rising again of many.
Let's turn to Isaiah chapter eight.
Isaiah chapter eight, verse number 13.
The Bible reads, sanctify the Lord of hosts himself
and let him be your fear and let him be your dread.
Brethren, we ought to fear the Lord, okay?
We don't want to be cast into hell fire, you know?
And that's a wonderful thing about fearing God
is understanding that God is a God that judges,
is a God that gets angry,
is a God that rejects those that reject his son.
And so a fear of God ought to enter our hearts
and desire to know salvation,
to desire that we are on our way to heaven
and it's only by Christ.
And at that moment, when you believe in Christ,
then you can rise.
And hey, there will be a literal rising
when this body rises from the dead,
that new resurrected body.
But let's keep reading there.
Verse number 14, Isaiah 8, 14.
And he shall be for a sanctuary,
but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense
to both the houses of Israel,
for again and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
So what is it saying here?
That Jesus Christ is going to be a stone of stumbling.
People are gonna fall, people are gonna be offended.
In the house of Israel, people are gonna be offended
when Christ comes to the earth, verse number 15.
And many among them shall stumble and fall
and be broken and be snared and be taken.
Jesus Christ, the fall and the rising again of many.
Jesus Christ was the reason many Jews fell.
They came and they had to make a decision
about who Christ was.
They saw the works of Christ.
They saw the miracles.
They knew the scripture spoke of him
and they had to make a decision.
Do I accept the Messiah?
Do I accept this man as the one that was promised
from the Old Testament text
or am I going to reject this man?
And those that reject it, they fell at the stone,
they fall and they're destroyed.
Now I'm gonna quickly read to you.
If you can please turn to,
I'll get you to turn to Luke chapter 20.
Go to Luke chapter 20, please,
since you're already in the book of Luke.
You turn to Luke 20 and I'm going to read to you
from 1 Peter chapter two, verse six.
1 Peter chapter two, verse number six.
You know, every human being on this planet
has to make a decision about Jesus.
Whether they go to church or not,
whether they consider themselves religious or not,
whether they consider themselves Christians
or of any other religion,
everybody has to make a decision about Jesus.
Do they accept him as the son of God,
as the savior who paid all their sins on the cross
or are they going to reject him?
Or are they going to think
that they're good enough for heaven?
Are they going to just view Jesus Christ
as some lesser man or just some prophet
or something like this?
Or are they going to believe on the son of God
who came to die for the sins of man?
We have to make that decision.
And for those of us that have believed in Christ,
hey, we love the rock of Jesus Christ.
We stand firm upon that rock.
And for those that reject Christ,
they fall, they stumble at the rock
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 1 Peter chapter two, verse six,
it says, wherefore also it is contained in the scripture,
behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded.
Brethren, if we believe on Christ,
nothing's going to shake us from that.
We have the foundation of Christ.
We know we have eternal life.
We know no matter what happens to us,
we go home to be in heaven with Jesus Christ.
Praise God for that chief cornerstone,
elect precious.
Christ is precious to us that are saved.
But look at, oh, you're not there,
but verse number seven reads,
unto you therefore, which believe he is precious,
but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner,
and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense,
even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed.
So we love that precious stone.
But those that reject Christ,
they stumble at the stone and they fall.
You're there in Luke chapter 20,
Luke chapter 20, verse number 17.
Luke chapter 20 and verse number 17.
Let's have a look at the words of Christ
about this spiritual truth.
In Luke chapter 20, verse number 17,
and he behold them and said,
what is it then that is written?
The stone which the builders rejected,
the same has become the head of the corner.
And so that's what I read from there in 1 Peter.
Look at verse number 18.
Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken.
So brethren, there are many that hear the gospel message.
They hear about this precious stone and they stumble.
Why?
Because most of this world,
they think they can make it to heaven.
They think they can be saved by their own good works,
by the keeping of the law,
by their false religion or whatever it is,
and to be confronted with the truth that they're not good,
to be confronted with the truth that there is none righteous,
no, not one, to be confronted with the truth
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
It causes them to stumble and to fall and to be broken.
But here's the thing.
These people that are broken in this sense,
they have the opportunity to pick themselves up.
Okay.
And instead of being broken by the stone,
they can actually believe on the precious stone.
They can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and be risen in that sense.
Okay.
To be part of the rising instead of being part of the fall,
if they believed on the precious elect stone of Jesus Christ.
But listen, for those that fall and they remain broken
and they remain offended and they never get saved
and they remain in that rejected state,
rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ then says in verse number 18,
but on whomsoever it shall fall,
it will grind him to powder.
So it's one thing to fall and to stumble
at the Lord Jesus Christ and be broken.
Okay.
It's offensive, but it's something entirely different
to be crushed into powder by that very stone.
And so, if there's anyone listening to the service tonight
and you don't know if you're saved
and you still think salvation is by your own good works
and by your own merits, then you know what?
I want you to stumble.
I want you to fall.
I want you to be broken,
but I want you to make the decision
that instead of remaining fallen,
because if I stay fallen,
I'm gonna be crushed to powder by the stone.
Christ is going to judge me.
Christ is gonna cast me in a hell fire.
If I reject him, I'd rather you rise up.
I'd rather you stand up and say, you know what?
This stone is stumbling.
It's a precious stone,
and I'm gonna believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we are going to rise one day, brethren.
This body, this flesh is going to be done away with.
I can't wait to be resurrected
and see Jesus Christ face to face.
Back to Luke chapter two, we're almost finished.
Luke chapter two, verse number 35.
What else does Simeon say?
Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also.
Speaking to Mary.
So she also is going to suffer with this child, okay?
And you know, the Roman Catholics, they're just crazy.
You know, they teach that Mary suffered for your sins
with Jesus Christ,
that she's a co-mediator with Jesus Christ.
But you know, she's the mother.
You know, Christ came as a man, 100% man, 100% God.
Of course, for his mother, Mary,
to see him suffer as he did,
to be rejected by the nation,
to be crucified on the cross,
to be whipped, to be beaten,
of course for her,
that experience would be like a sword
piercing through her soul.
So she did suffer in that sense.
She suffered as a mother,
would see the suffering of the son.
But then it says,
but the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
The thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
And so Jesus Christ came to be born in Bethlehem's manger,
but he came to die.
He came to die for you and I.
You know, the ultimate sacrifice,
the crucifixion on the cross,
his death, his burial, his resurrection,
all that to pay for our sins.
And so brethren, this Christmas, you know,
just speaking to the church now, you know, this Christmas,
what are your thoughts toward Jesus Christ this Christmas?
And if it says here that the thoughts of many hearts
may be revealed, how much do you love Jesus?
Christ says, if you love me, keep my commandments.
How much do you love Jesus?
You know, it's coming to church.
You know, church is the body of Christ.
You know, is church just a tool to you?
You know, we've been meeting for over four years, right?
And you know, maybe that newness has worn off.
I'm sure it has.
But you know what?
What does your heart reveal about Jesus Christ?
Do you love him?
It is the stone of Christ's precious.
You know, you are going to be ridiculed.
You are going to be mocked.
This world does not understand our love
and our appreciation for Jesus.
But you know what?
I want your hearts to be revealed.
You know, God knows our hearts.
God knows what we think about Jesus.
And I know that if you're part of New Life Baptist Church,
at least for the regular members there,
I have no doubt you guys are saved.
I have no doubt you've placed your faith on Christ.
I have no doubt you've not just fallen,
but now you've risen with Christ.
You've believed on that precious stone
and that reveals your heart.
But what about your heart every day?
Do you love the Lord?
Do you keep his commandments?
You strive to live and to follow after the steps
that Christ has given us.
And so brethren, he's come to save us,
but he's also to come to reveal the thoughts of our hearts.
And so brethren, in conclusion this Christmas,
as we think about Simeon's declaration of Jesus Christ,
let me just summarize once again those five points.
Number one, Jesus, the consolation.
Jesus, the comfort.
If you need comfort this Christmas, please go to Jesus.
He'll give it to you.
He'll give you peace.
Point number two was Jesus is God's salvation.
If you're saved, praise God.
Remind yourself how you've received this wonderful news,
this wonderful salvation.
And if there's anyone listening tonight,
if you're not saved and if you don't know
that you'll be going to heaven, please get in touch with me.
Please get in touch with our church.
You know, we will be more than happy to explain to you
the gospel message of salvation.
Point number three is that Jesus is a light
to lighten the Gentiles.
Point number four is that Jesus is the glory of Israel.
And point number five, Jesus is the fall
and the rising of many.
Okay, brethren, let's pray.