The Savior

[0:00] This text introduces us to two people. We're only going to talk about the first, Simeon and Anna. Simeon took a particular interest in baby Jesus and announced a blessing on him that left Mary and Joseph in a state of awe. And for the purpose of our study this morning, I want to latch on to a specific phrase that Simeon uses. Look at it there in verse 30. And he says, My eyes have seen your salvation. My eyes have seen your salvation.

[0:38] Of course, we've noted throughout these last six weeks that Jesus is the Savior who has come to earth from heaven. But in this passage, I think we are compelled by Luke to move on from the fact of Jesus' coming to the purpose of his coming. And this word salvation that Simeon uses in verse 30 perfectly summarizes the purpose for which Jesus came. And using this interaction with Simeon, I want to show you three things about the person and the work of Jesus and this child. I want to show you that Jesus himself is our salvation. I want to show you also that the events surrounding his birth ultimately serve the purpose of pointing forward to his inevitable death. He's our salvation. His birth is not about his birth. His birth is really about his death. And there's things that are happening here in the passage we just read that make that very clear. And then the last thing that maybe you'll see is that Jesus might not be the kind of Savior that you expected.

[2:00] I think for most people, maybe even the people who came to adore him in these passages, Jesus the Savior ended up being quite a surprise to them. I think there's some things that we can notice in these passages as we go. Again, latching onto that word salvation. First thing is this, I want you to see salvation symbolized. Salvation symbolized. Now, surely we can feel some sympathy for Mary and Joseph at this point in the narrative. An angel has just informed them in recent months that their new child is the Son of God and the Messiah. And that led to a series of other encounters that all have served the purpose of affirming that truth for Mary and Joseph. Now, becoming new parents is frightening enough on its own. Perhaps you remember the moment that maybe Ashlyn just turned 11 last week, and we were talking about a picture that I have of the first time that I ever held Ashlyn right after she was born. And I can remember some of the feelings of,

[3:08] I'm responsible for this. Like, if we mess this up, Julie, we've messed a lot up. Like, there's some serious implications to our ability to care for this child that we've been given. Okay, that's scary enough on its own. Now, put yourself in Mary and Joseph's shoes. An angelic figure has come to you and has said, not only are you going to have a child, but this child is the Messiah. This is the Son of God, and it's up to you to raise Him. You're going to have to be responsible for His care. You're going to have to be responsible to train Him and to raise Him to be a good Jewish young man, perhaps, is what's in their mind. Can you imagine the pressure? And they got off to a terrible start because they had to make this 90-mile walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem. And upon getting there, they can't even find a decent place for Mary to give birth when she goes into labor. And surely, you men can identify, perhaps, with Joseph, who probably is just thinking of himself as such a failure.

[4:13] Here, his wife is giving birth to the Son of God, and the best that he could do was a filthy manger to provide for this new child. And certainly, there's some excitement, maybe a bit of adrenaline rush as the shepherds rush down and they visit, but eventually the shepherds leave, and it's just them.

[4:38] It's just them amidst the animals. And perhaps there's a moment in all of that where Mary looks at Joseph and says, what do we do now? What are we supposed to do? There's no manual here on how to raise the Messiah. Like, is there special instructions we're supposed to follow? The angel didn't tell us all of that. He just said, you're going to have a son, and this is who he'll be, and this is what you should name him. And as we'll see in verses 21 to 24, the answer is that they did exactly what the law of God said to do. That's what they went with. After eight days, they circumcised Jesus. They gave him the name that was supposed to be given to him. Then after 40 days, they journeyed to Jerusalem so that they could present him to God in exactly the way that God's law had said to do it. Now, it's not the main point of the text, and it's not the main point of the message, but it is helpful nonetheless to note that in a moment of uncertainty, Joseph and Mary didn't wait for a sign in the sky before they decided what to do next. Oh, it was ordinary, routine faithfulness to God and to God's word that actually marked their lives. Alistair Begg was so helpful on this, and I've listened to him preach this passage, and he said, some of us are waiting to see what God does before we do what God says. And he says that's completely upside down. Joseph and Mary said, we will do what God says, and then we'll see what God does. And there is just a helpful side note here for us, isn't there, that just the ordinary faithfulness, they immediately upon not knowing what to do, not having any further instruction, they immediately went to the word of God, and they said, what does the word say for us to do? What does God say in his law that we are to do? And that's what they did. And it was through that ordinary obedience, that ordinary faithfulness, that God began to do this work in their lives, that God provided for them everything that they needed to raise this child exactly as he intended. And I think that's a helpful note for us, maybe just to tuck in the back of our minds as we move forward. Now look at verse 21. At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

[7:23] And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first 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. Now the routine faithfulness of Joseph and Mary to do the things described in these verses may not seem like much, but it is actually of utmost importance as we understand the person of Jesus. Each step they took was either in obedience to God's law or in obedience to the direct instruction given through the angel. And their actions are important on two levels. The first is this, it was necessary that Jesus perfectly fulfill God's law.

[8:20] It was necessary that Jesus perfectly fulfill God's law. He said this himself, Matthew chapter five, the sermon on the mountain, Jesus says, do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

[8:32] I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. So that for Jesus to be the Savior, for him to actually be the one to bring us salvation, it wasn't enough for him just to stay out of trouble.

[8:51] This isn't only about his sinlessness. There is also this dynamic of fulfillment in Christ. It was necessary that he fulfill all the laws, that he fulfill all the pictures, that he fulfill all the promises recorded in the Old Testament. But as a baby, baby Jesus has no control over his own circumcision. He has no control over his own presentation to the Lord. Things that would be necessary for him to be the fulfillment of what those things were to picture in the plan of salvation.

[9:25] No, God providentially used Joseph and Mary's ordinary obedience so that he could fulfill his saving purposes in Christ Jesus. Do you see that? Jesus sat eight days old, didn't look up at Mary and say, all right, Mary, it's time. We better get this taken care of. Don't forget the angel said, Jesus, yes, make sure you do that. Jesus doesn't do that. No. He uses Mary and Joseph's ordinary obedience and faithfulness to accomplish his purpose.

[10:07] Now, I imagine there were many days that they felt keenly the weight of responsibility given to them. But the fact of the matter is that God's purposes could never be thwarted.

[10:23] Joseph and Mary weren't perfect people. They weren't perfect parents, but they had a perfect son, and God was using them to accomplish his purposes, and there was nothing that they were going to do that was going to keep God from doing that. He raised them up for this task. And though they weren't perfect, he sovereignly governed their lives so that his will would be accomplished through them.

[10:50] Now, in their minds, they just thought, we're just doing what every good Jewish family does. I doubt Joseph was sitting in Bethlehem thinking, you know, if we don't do this, he won't be the Savior. No, that's not what they're thinking. But their obedience, whether they understood it or not, was far more necessary to God's plan than that. And I don't know about you, but I find incredible comfort in that.

[11:16] The Christian life is dynamic. That there's no failure that I can exhibit that will hinder God's sovereign purposes in this world.

[11:33] Even when I do fail, and when I do sin, it is because God is allowing that to take place in order that he might accomplish his purposes in my life and in the lives of others.

[11:45] And I find comfort in the fact that as I go about my evangelism, perhaps, or as I go about raising my children, doing as much as I can to the glory of God, recognizing that I'm an imperfect father, and I'm an imperfect pastor, and I'm an imperfect Christian, I'm an imperfect friend, and all of those kinds of things.

[12:01] That God is always working in me. He's always working through me to do his will in my life and in the lives of people around me.

[12:12] And that's exactly what he's doing with Mary and Joseph. So it's first important on that level that Jesus had to be the fulfillment of all of these things. And he is that, and God uses Mary and Joseph's ordinary faithfulness for it.

[12:27] But the second reason this is so important is that these actions were symbols of the salvation Jesus had come to provide. Or symbols. Now, we don't have time to go into all of the details here.

[12:40] I'll have to leave it to you to look into some of these things on your own, but let's just touch on the three things here. First is circumcision. Circumcision was a sign of the Abrahamic covenant.

[12:51] It marked Israel's national identity as the people of God. It was a command of God for them to fulfill in obedience to him.

[13:02] But it was also meant by God as an object lesson of the need for cleansing from sin. This act of circumcision reminded them that from the very moment of birth, they are guilty in Adam, that they are under sin, that they have a nature of sin.

[13:25] And this act of circumcision communicated to the people over and over their need for cleansing, their need for mercy, and their need for grace. It was a physical symbol of the spiritual cleansing of the heart that takes place at salvation.

[13:43] And of course, circumcision was never capable of providing salvation, but it did remind the people that they needed salvation.

[13:54] And so it's necessary that Jesus go through this to fulfill the law of God and to point toward the symbol that it represented. The second thing is Jesus' name.

[14:06] Jesus' name. And it's also an important symbol of salvation, as was noted by the angelic message to Joseph in Matthew 1. She will bear a son, the angel says, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

[14:25] We've talked about this before. Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Old Testament named Joshua, which means God will save. Yahweh will save.

[14:36] So even the name of Jesus communicates that God had sent him to bring salvation. And then the third thing here is the sacrifice that they made.

[14:49] If you want to learn more about this, you can go to Leviticus chapter 12, and I think it's Exodus chapter 13, and you'll see all the things that the law had laid out here. But in short, the law considered a woman who gave birth ceremonially unclean for a certain period of time.

[15:07] And it depended, the time frame depended on whether or not their child was a boy or a girl. Now why there was a difference, I don't know. We'll have to ask the Lord when we get to heaven one day, but there was a difference.

[15:20] If you had a boy, you had to wait seven days for the initial part of their ceremonial cleansing, and then on the eighth day is when the circumcision was necessary for the boy.

[15:31] Then after that, they waited another 33 days. And after 33 days, that's when they would have presented the boy to the Lord. That's when the mother would be considered ceremonially clean and could go to the temple and could participate in all the things of worship in Israel that were necessary.

[15:49] If it was a baby girl, it's different. All of those things were doubled. Had to wait 14 days initially, and then another 66 days beyond that.

[15:59] So when we see that Mary and Joseph have come to the temple, and they have come to present baby Jesus to the Lord, the time frame here is all related to Leviticus chapter 12.

[16:11] But the thing that was necessitated in the law was a sacrifice. And there were two parts to it. The first part was a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering.

[16:24] The second part was a young pigeon or a turtle dove that would be for a sin offering. But the law made a provision for those who couldn't afford a lamb.

[16:36] If they didn't have a lamb or they couldn't afford to purchase a lamb, they could offer two birds instead of just one bird, and that would be enough for the burnt offering and for the sin offering.

[16:48] And so clearly, we see Mary and Joseph's poverty coming through as they didn't even have the money to pay for the lamb at this point. But then they go through the process, and what is it that they're doing as they offer these sacrifices?

[17:00] They're recognizing their need for atonement. They're recognizing their need for cleansing, forgiveness from God. You see, everything the Bible records about Jesus ultimately points forward to his salvation.

[17:18] And the events of his death, his birth, ultimately point toward his purpose, which was that he came to die. He came to be that sacrifice.

[17:28] He came to be that agent of cleansing that would provide true cleansing from sin. We're in desperate need of that cleansing.

[17:41] Jesus provides the salvation we need by dying as our sacrificial lamb. So we see here, salvation symbolized. Number two, salvation personified.

[17:53] Salvation personified. Look with me at verse 25. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.

[18:06] 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. Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple.

[18:18] And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law. So Luke sets the scene for us. He mentions Simeon's character and faith first.

[18:31] Three things just to note in passing about it. We see first that Simeon was devoted to God. Luke says he was righteous and devout meaning he was obedient to God's word and careful to live his life for God's glory.

[18:50] So this is a unique man. He's devoted to God. Secondly, Luke tells us about his faith in God's promises. His faith in God's promises. That he was waiting for the consolation of Israel means that Simeon was a disciplined student of the Bible.

[19:09] That he was filled with expectancy about the Lord's Christ. And then finally we're told that Simeon was used by God.

[19:20] So the Spirit of God reveals to Simeon. We're not told how or in what way but reveals to Simeon that he would see the Messiah before he dies. And then the Holy Spirit leads him into the temple at precisely the time that Joseph and Mary are arriving at the temple to present Jesus to God according to the law.

[19:45] And here's the simple thing. Just like every believer God's salvation was revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit through the Holy Scriptures.

[19:58] There's no difference here for him than there is for any other person that comes to Christ. The Spirit leads us. The Spirit guides us. The Spirit opens our understanding of God's Word in order that we might be saved.

[20:12] Look at verse 28. Here's what Simeon did. He took him up in his arms and he blessed God and said, Lord, now your servant, you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

[20:25] For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.

[20:36] And his father and mother marveled at what was said about him. So directed by the Holy Spirit, Simeon immediately knew that Jesus was the promised Christ.

[20:50] And he took the baby up in his arms and he began to worship God. And again, Simeon's character and faith are revealed here. The word used for Lord that translates Lord here is the Greek word despotes.

[21:05] Now that's not the typical word for Lord in the New Testament. Typically it's kurios, but not here. It's despotes, despot. Most often this is used in the New Testament to translate slave owner.

[21:22] And then he follows it up with servant. Dulos literally means slave. This tells us something not about the dynamics of slavery in that time. It tells us something about Simeon's mind toward God.

[21:35] He viewed God as his Lord, as having full control, full authority over everything that Simeon did and thought and believed and he's recognizing in this moment of worship that God is his Lord, that he is the slave of God.

[21:52] He is the servant of God. And we see his character, his godliness, his devoutness, his righteousness coming through. The point is that he viewed his whole life as being devoted to God and his purposes, a distinguishing mark for a Christian.

[22:09] And then his faith was in God's word. Did you see that? He says, now you're letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

[22:20] Another distinguishing mark of a Christian. But it's the rest of Simeon's statement that I want to draw your attention to. There's two things of note here about his recognition of God's salvation.

[22:34] First, salvation is a person. It's a person. For my eyes have seen your salvation. He doesn't say I have experienced God's salvation.

[22:46] No. He says I have seen your salvation. So when he looked at baby Jesus under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Simeon knew he was gazing upon the one and only Savior.

[23:04] You see, Simeon knew that salvation is not a place like heaven. So when we share the gospel, we don't win people to heaven because salvation is not heaven.

[23:18] Simeon recognized that salvation is not a thing like material or wealth or prosperity.

[23:32] So when we share the gospel, we're not persuading people to a better life because that's not what salvation is. Salvation is in a better life. Simeon understood that salvation was not an ideal state of inner peace or a fulfillment.

[23:52] So when we invite people to the gospel, we're not inviting them to a new spiritual level of peace that's going to finally settle all the chaos in their lives and it's going to set their minds exactly where their minds need to be.

[24:06] That's not the message of salvation. Salvation is a person in Simeon's eyes. Salvation is Jesus. And to receive salvation is not to grasp onto health or wealth or personal fulfillment.

[24:23] It's to leave all of those things actually. At least your primary desire for all of those things and to cling trustingly to the baby. To cling trustingly to the Savior.

[24:36] To cling trustingly to Jesus. Salvation is a person. So when we share the gospel we're sharing a person. We're bringing people to a person.

[24:49] But then salvation is also we see here for all peoples. Salvation is for all peoples. Look at what Simeon says. This salvation is prepared in the presence of all peoples.

[25:04] A light for revelation to the Gentiles for glory to your people Israel. excuse me. So Jesus is salvation and Jesus is for everyone who will come to him in repentance and faith.

[25:24] Simeon's actually quoting Isaiah here. In Isaiah chapter 49 is God speaking of the Messiah says is it to light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and bring back the preserved of Israel.

[25:39] I will make you as a light for the nations God says. That salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

[25:52] Jesus would later identify himself in this way. Remember John chapter 8. Again Jesus spoke to them saying I am the light of the world.

[26:06] Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. John affirmed this at the beginning of his gospel in John chapter 1 he said the true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

[26:23] He was in the world and the world was made through him yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own people did not receive him. but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become the children of God who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God.

[26:47] And here's the point. Jesus is the only light that can overcome the darkness of sin in your life and in my life.

[26:57] And according to the Bible to receive salvation is to receive Jesus and the way you receive Jesus is by believing in his name.

[27:11] Then and only then will we receive forgiveness of sin. Then and only then will we be reconciled to God in peace as his children.

[27:23] We're almost finished. The third thing I want you to see is salvation clarified. So we've seen salvation symbolized. We've seen salvation personified. I want you to see salvation clarified.

[27:39] Excuse me. Generally the Jews believe that the Messiah would be a towering political military leader. And that ultimately the salvation that he brought would be the destruction of Israel's enemies.

[27:55] Jesus actually proved to be a surprising Messiah for them at least in that he did not meet those expectations. You remember in our study of Mark even the disciples didn't grasp all of this until after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

[28:13] See Jesus' focus was not on deliverance from Rome. His focus was on deliverance from sin. His peace was not a national peace.

[28:25] It was a peace with God. The life that he offered was not full of material prosperity. He actually promised the opposite in many cases. It was a life of spiritual prosperity.

[28:39] mercy. But Simeon turns his attention here in verses 34 and 35 to Mary in particular. And he pronounces a prophetic blessing on Joseph and Mary.

[28:52] And there's a mysterious prophecy in this of what the child's future would be. Look at verse 34. We're almost there. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, Behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel for a sign that is opposed.

[29:14] And then he kind of has this side statement for Mary and a sword will pierce through your own soul also. So that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. Jesus' life and ministry as you know would expose and confront Israel's sin particularly their spiritual pride.

[29:40] He would reveal the true nature of their hearts so that the spiritually arrogant would be judged and the humble would ultimately be exalted. So Jesus confronts those who trusted their Jewish heritage or their commitment to the law.

[29:59] He judged them. He condemned those people. while he acknowledged that or those who acknowledge their sin and cast themselves on the mercy of God were saved.

[30:12] And you can step back and you can read the Gospels again and you'll see that this was consistently the teaching and the interactions that Jesus had. Those who constantly trusted in how they were brought up.

[30:25] Those who constantly trusted in their religious associations and their religious observances. observances God or Jesus condemned those people. He told them straight out I didn't come for you.

[30:39] No it was the humble the abased those who acknowledged their sin who cast themselves not on their own goodness or efforts but cast themselves on the mercy of God those were the ones that Jesus went to.

[30:55] And this comes through most clearly in Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees. We could go to several places. Let's just look at one. You're in Luke. Would you flip over to chapter 18?

[31:07] Just quickly chapter 18 of Luke. You probably know the story well but I think it would serve us well as we finish to look at it together. Luke 18 verse 9 Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and in doing that they treated others with contempt.

[31:34] These are the people Jesus is addressing. He's telling this parable about them. Here's the parable. Two men went up into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee the other a tax collector.

[31:46] We're looking at two completely opposite people here as far as culture was concerned in their day. The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus God I thank you that I'm not like other men extortioners unjust adulterers or even like this tax collector I fast twice a week I give tithes of all that I get but the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner notice what Jesus says I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but the one who humbles himself will be exalted this is such an important parable of the

[32:49] Lord because we see the same dynamic play out all the time if you're around Christians or those who profess Christianity you see this all the time there are those who fit this equation of what this Pharisee was God I thank you that I'm not as bad as those people I thank you that I've never been guilty of homosexuality I'm thankful that I have never been guilty of abortion or influencing somebody in that way I thank you Lord that you didn't make me like them but instead you have given me the wisdom to go and give my money to the church you've given me the wisdom to actually go to the church services and I do this and I do that and look at my upbringing and look at all that I have done I have all the pedigree that's necessary to be a Christian and Jesus looks at those people and he says they will not inherit the kingdom of heaven he looks rather at the one who stands far off who's unwilling in acknowledging their own sinful condition to even lift their eyes up to God who beats their breast and says have mercy on me

[33:55] God have mercy on me a sinner have mercy on me for all the times that I thought being a good Christian boy or a good Christian girl was enough to get to heaven was enough to get peace with God forgive me for all the times that I have rebelled forgive me for all the times that I have been filled with spiritual pride have mercy on me God Jesus says that's the one who goes home justified that's the one to whom God's grace has been given that's the one who can take assurance in the reality of their salvation Jesus says you see Jesus is a surprising savior for many people Simeon says this one will be appointed for the rising and the fall of many in Israel the rising of the prostitutes the rising of the tax collectors the rising of the publicans and the fall of the Pharisees and the fall of the

[34:55] Sadducees and the fall of the others who were so filled with spiritual pride as to think that their salvation had anything to do with them Simeon's prophecy comes to be very true as we read the gospels but he doesn't stop there it was for this reason that Jesus was opposed by many in Israel to the point that they sought to execute him and you see how Simeon's prophecy is working here and we see this is exactly what Jesus did Jesus went through and he he's telling parables like this about how Pharisees are going to go to hell and how tax collectors are going to go to heaven that didn't win him a lot of fan favorites Jesus became opposed so that the religious elite and the powerful of his day fought against him because he was a surprising messiah he wasn't the savior they actually wanted they wanted the savior that would come and say you've been good little

[35:55] Jews and good little Pharisees and good little priest and good little! they wanted deliverance from Rome and they wanted themselves to be elevated and when Jesus came clearly showing the power of God on his life clearly teaching in a way that people were drawn to because he was the son of God because he wasn't the messiah they expected they rejected him and Simeon said this is what will happen he will be a sign that is opposed and that's exactly what happened with Jesus life he was opposed to the point that he was crucified and then there's this little side statement for Mary a sword that pierced Mary's soul as well you mothers surely you can relate to this what it must have been like for Mary to sit in Nazareth that that's where she remained during the days of Jesus ministry wondering where her boy was knowing that as

[36:56] Jesus said to one man the son of man he has got no place to lay his head foxes have holes and birds have nests Jesus said but I have no! I have no place to lay my head and perhaps Mary hearing Jesus saying that at some point along the way in his ministry perhaps she lays awake at night wondering where is my boy today is he safe has he had food today remember when Jesus visited his hometown in Nazareth they were so offended by his teaching in the synagogue that they tried to murder him right then and there they tried to cast him off of a cliff you know Mary was there what it must have been like for her to walk through town and hear the snickers or hear the reviling that came from the others that were in Nazareth or that were passing through when she visited Capernaum to hear of the plots against her son that were taking place for three years to have him put to death what it must have been like for Mary to stand at

[37:57] Golgotha and gaze for those six hours at the broken body of her son as he died on the cross yes a sword pierced her soul too but it was this very opposition that God determined to use to bring us salvation it was Christ's crucifixion that made an atonement for our sins and through it he fulfilled his purpose as the savior and Simeon here with a measure of mystery especially to Mary and Joseph at least at this point prophetically states and clarifies the purpose of salvation how it would actually come the wonderful truth of this verse is what we call the doctrine of imputation

[38:58] We read it in 2 Corinthians 5 for our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God that's the transaction that happens on Calvary Jesus the righteous one has the wrath of God poured on him our sin imputed onto Christ so that by faith God then imputes the righteousness of Christ onto us salvation had nothing to do with Rome salvation had everything to do with sin this is how Jesus became our savior and man's response to this gospel is how Jesus reveals the true thoughts of our hearts that was the final thing that Simeon said he will reveal the true thoughts of our hearts how does he do that by how we respond to this gospel message you can be a

[40:10] Christian all day and not be a Christian it's when it comes down to the actual truth of the gospel that reveals the truth of what is in your heart it's not about all those exterior things that all of us are really good at faking it's not about that it's what do you do with Jesus what will you do with Jesus and who would have thought that a man's interaction with a young couple their new baby would be so helpful in helping us to understand the significance of this child we're closing this study of the narrative of Jesus birth today and I hope that you have seen through this maybe perhaps seen afresh it's not that you haven't seen it before I recognize that but maybe you've seen afresh the purpose for which Jesus came he is salvation for everyone who will receive him and to receive him is to trust in him alone as

[41:20] Lord and Savior and to trust in him as Lord and Savior is not a matter of intellectual ascent it's a life transforming work of the Holy Spirit of God this is why he came to us and now he invites us to come to him which is where we leave it all what will you do with this Christ