Storms Creek Church 6-25-2023

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Episode Transcript

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Good morning, and welcome to StormStreet Missionary Baptist Church this Sunday morning radio
program. This morning, we'll bejoining Pastor Kenny Hurst as we once again
open descriptions and study God's Way.Okay, this morning, we are going
to be in the Gospel of Lukeonce again. We're in Luke Chapter two,

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and we're going to be focusing onverses twenty five down through verse thirty
five as we continue to look atJesus the early years. I'm just going
to read as we begin today,I'm just going to read two verses,
and that's verses twenty five and twentysix. Behold, there was a man

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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,
and it was revealed unto him bythe Holy Ghost that he should not
see death before he had seen theLord's Christ. Now we, as the

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children of God, we can beconfident that our heavenly Father is going to
do everything that he has promised todo. All the promises of the Bible
are going to be fulfilled. Andthat's because our God, our Father in
Heaven is faithful. For example,God promised that Abraham and Sarah that they

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would have a son, despite thefact that they were beyond the age where
they would be able to physically havea child. Even in their old age.
God promised them a child, andhe delivered Isaac was born to them.
God also promised to give the landof Canaan to the descendants of Abraham

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to Israel, and he kept hispromise. He brought them out of Egypt,
and he brought them into what wecall the promised Land. I think
the greatest and the most important promisethat God ever made was the promise that
one day a messiah, a deliverer, a savior would come. Throughout the

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Old Testament, we see either promisesspoken in regard to this, or we
see it pictured by all the differentsacrifices and rituals that the people of Israel
kept. We see this promise allthe way back to the beginning of the
Bible, back in Genesis, chapterthree and verse fifteen says, then I

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will put enmity between thee and thewoman, and between thy seed and her
seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
This is the first promise of adeliver one who would be of the mourn
of the seed of woman, whowould well he would deal a blow,

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a death blow to the serpent.In the New Testament, in Galatians chapter
four and verse four, we seethat Jesus came in the fullness of time.
He came at God's appointed time,at just the exact moment when God
saw fit for his son to comeinto this world, for him to keep

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his promise, that's exactly what hedid. So with all of these promises,
they are scattered throughout the Old Testament, and even we see as we
get into the New Testament, withall these promises, and despite the clear
testimony of scripture, only a smallbelieving remnant was actually prepared to receive the
Savior when he came. Now amongthat small number were those that Luke talks

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about here in the first two chaptersof his gospel. We see Zacharias and
Elizabeth both prepared to receive the Messiah. Joseph and Mary are prepared to receive
him. The shepherds that we seein chapter two that those who were around
Bethlehem and the hills there, theywere prepared. And now this morning.

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As we get to verse twenty five, really verse twenty five through thirty eight,
what you see is two people whoare going to bear witness to the
fact there are two people who wereamong that believing remnant, a man by
the name of Simeon and a womanby the name of Anna. Well,
as we focus on these witnesses,especially the witness this morning, the witness

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of Simeon, we have to keepin mind that in Jewish law, in
order for any matter to be established, it had to have at least two
witnesses. Couldn't this have one?So Simon by himself couldn't just be a
witness. There had to be anotherwitness, And that's where Anna will come

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in. But we're not going tolook at Anna today. We're going to
be focusing on Simon, and hetestifies to the fact that this child who
has been brought to the temple byhis parents, he is fulfilling all the
law, He's fulfilling the ceremonial law. He is the promised Savior. Now,

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as I said, we're looking atthe early years of Jesus's life.
There's not a lot given about hisearly years. In fact, practically nothing
is given. Mark and John don'tsay anything about his birth or about his
early life. Matthew says, alittle bit, Luke says a little bit
more. He gives us the detailsthat no other gospel writer gives us.

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So as we look at the Gospelof Louke, don't think of it so
much as a bibleography, because there'sso much that's left out. It's just
an account of the life of theSon of God and why he came to
this world. But just keep inmind also that if the Lord wanted Luke
to write more, if he wantedus to have more information, he would
have given it to us. He'sgiven us what we need to know,

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all we need to know in orderto have a right relationship with Christ and
to be able to be reconciled toGod. Well, what I want to
do this morning is I want tofocus on this man Simon. And there's
five things that I want to callyour attention to in regard to this godly

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man. First of all, Iwant you to notice his piety, he
says in verse twenty five. Andbehold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simon. What dowe know about him? Well, all
we know about him is what Luketells us here in this passage. Was

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he a priest, well, doesn'tsay he was. Was he a prophet?
Now, doesn't say he was.It seems that he's probably what we
would call a layman. Wasn't aminister, He wasn't called to a specific
office. He was just an ordinaryservant who lived there in Jerusalem, who

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faithfully served the Lord. His name, his name is important. His name
means God hears or God has heard. And so we would ask, what
is it that God has heard?Well, he's heard the prayers of Simeon.
Simeon has been a man who's beenpraying, probably for quite a while.

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What's he been praying for? BecomingMessiah? He's been praying that he
would see the Savior, he wouldsee the Messiah. Before he died,
we're told that he was looking forthe coming of the one who would deliver
him. Now, the difference betweenSimeon and you and I today is simply

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this. Simeon was looking for hisfirst coming. You and I today we're
looking for his second coming, forhis return. And I believe that it's
important for us to have the sameattitude that Simeon did in his looking for
the first coming of Christ. Hecontinually was looking for Jesus to come.

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A friends, that's the way it'ssupposed to be. With us today,
we did that same attitude. Weneed to be looking not for his first
coming, but we need to belooking anxiously for his second coming. So
I ask you today, are youlooking for the return of Christ? Is
that your hope? Is that whatyou desire more than anything else, and
that is to see the Lord JesusChrist as he returns to get his people.

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Well what about his piety? Well, we're told in verse twenty five
we're told a few things about himthat makes him a godly man. First
of all, we're told in versetwenty five that he was just or he
was righteous. Now, just likeAbraham, he had God's righteousness imputed unto

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him. How by faith he trustedin the one that God promised who would
come one day and deliver his people. And even though that was years and
years away, he put his faithin trust in that promise that God made,
just like Abraham had done. Know, what we would say about sam

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N is that he was a savedman, he was justified. We could
also say in regard to other men, he was righteous in his character.
But also we're told not only washe righteous, but he was devout,
means he was God fearing, hewas fully devoted to God. I think
this speaks that his attitude towards Godhis full devotion. So when we put

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both of these together, that hewas righteous he was devout. I think
another way that we could probably lookat this would be that he was both
justified and he was sanctified, orhe was in the process of being sanctified.
But there's another thing that I'd liketo call your attention to in regard

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to his piety towards his godly character, and that is he was waiting for
the consolation of Israel. He waslooking for the constellation. That word constellation
means to console, to comfort,same word that you used in John fourteen

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in regard to the Holy Spirit.You see, he was a compassionate man.
He was a caring man. Hewasn't just concerned with his own spiritual
well being. No, he wasdeeply concerned for his people, for his
fellow Jews. He wanted the Messiah. He wanted the Savior to come not

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just for his own comfort, butthe comfort the nation. So you have
to understand that it was a verydark time in Israel when Semeon was living.
Politically, it was dark because theywere under Roman rule, they were
under Roman bondage. Spiritually, itwas a dark time. The faith of

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Abraham was spoiled by the Scribes andthe Pharisees and the Sadducees and their false
teachings, because they were teaching thatorder for somebody to be saved, in
order for someone to be justified,in order for someone to be right with
God and go to Heaven, wehad to keep the law. You had

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to work, You had to earnyour way. It wasn't just a free
gift. No, if you wantedGod's favor, you had to keep the
law. And that meant just notonly the Mosaic law that was given to
Moses, but all the additions thatthey made, all those burdens that they
put upon the people that they weren'table to bear keep. In mind,

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add no word from heaven, novoice was heard for four hundred years.
It was just silence, No prophecies, no prophets, no one speaking on
behalf of God, no, justsilence. So that is added to the
darkness that was prevalent of that dayand time. So at this very dark

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time, in the midst of thisdarkness, God has this man Simon,
who is faithfully praying for the consolationof Israel. He was praying for salvation
not just for himself, but forall the Jewish nation. So you see,
he was a compassionate man. Hewas righteous, he was devout,

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he was compassionate. He was burdenedfor his own people. I think the
attitude of Simon could be summed upin a hymn that Charles Wesley wrote,
Come thou long expected Jesus, Comethou long expected Jesus born, to set
thy people free from our fears andsins. Release us, let us find

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our rest. In the secondly,I want you to notice his power.
The end of verse thirty five,it says the Holy Ghost was upon him.
How prominent the Holy Spirit has beenso far in loose Gospel. Back
in chapter one, in verse fifteen, in regard to the birth of John,

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it says that he shall be filledwith the Holy Ghost even from his
mother's womb. In verse forty one, we're told in regard to Elizabeth,
and it came to pass that whenElizabeth heard the salutation of Mary the baby
leaped in her womb, and Elizabethwas filled with the Holy Ghost. In

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verse sixty seven we're told that hisfather Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost.
And here in Chapter two, inverse twenty five, twenty six,
and twenty seven, it talks aboutSemion being filled with the Holy Spirit.
So the Holy Spirit is very prominentin the scene that we're looking at this

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morning. You know, when itcomes to the Holy Spirit in the ministry
of the Spirit of God prior tothe day of Pentecost, I think there's
a lot of misunderstanding, a lotof confusion. A lot of people don't
think the Spirit of God was doinganything much before the day of Pentecost.
Well, that simply isn't true.Everyone who was saved before Pentecost, before

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the Cross, back in Old Testamenttimes, they were saved the same way
that you and I are saved today. It is by grace through faith in
Christ and Christ alone. See allmen, all men, whether they lived
in Old Testament times or New Testamenttimes or day, all men are dead,

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and trespasses and sins all need tobe made alive. And that comes
about only by the Holy Spirit,who then when he gives life. When
he regenerates, he enables that onewho was dead and who's alive now to
be able to see to see Christ, to see him as their only hope

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of salvation, to see him asthe savior of the one that they must
put their faith and trust in.So we see the Holy Spirit convicted Old
Testament people like Semon of his sin, and in giving him life, he
prompted repentance. He was able thento be justified by putting his faith in

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Christ, that faith that was agift from God. He's sanctified by the
Holy Spirit. He's enlightened so thathe can understand the scripture. He's empowered
so that he can faithfully serve.So you see that all of this was
done before the day of Pentecost.It was all true in regard to this

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man Simon, who the Holy Ghostwas upon. He wouldn't be devout,
he wouldn't be righteous, he wouldn'tbe compassionate if it wasn't for the Spirit
of God working in him. Well. Thirdly, we see his promise verse
twenty six, and it was revealedunto him by the Holy Ghost that he

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should not see death before he hadseen the Lord's Christ, and he came
by the Spirit into the temple whenthe parents brought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom ofthe law. The Holy Spirit promised Simeon
something. And what did he promisehim, Well, he promised him that
he would not die until he hadseen the Messiah with his own eyes.

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Now, just imagine. I don'tknow how long ago the promise was made,
but just think if it had beena while. Day after day,
this godly man goes to the templehoping that today's going to be today when
he will see the Messiah. Theday's going to be that day. And
so he would go and he wouldlook and see if there was any babies

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that were coming, that maybe thiswill be the child. And so he
was anxiously looking day after day forthat blessed hope that he would see with
his own eyes. Well, onthe fortieth day after Jesus was born,
Simeon, we're told, was ledby the Spirit and he arrives at the

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temple at the exact same time thatMary and Joseph do with the Lord Jesus.
Let me ask you a question,do you think this is a coincidence?
I don't think so. No,I think this is just another occasion
where God is actively at work,directing in the affairs of men to fulfill

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his Purposey. It was God's will, his purpose for Simon to be there
at the same time that Mary wasthere presenting Jesus as her first born,
so that he could praise this oneand he could utter the prophecy that we're
going to look at in just aminute. Now. What promise has God
given to us that you and Iwe can claim today? Well, he's

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not promised us that we're going tobe able to see Jesus with our physical
eyes like Simeon did. No,we're not given that promise. But we
are given a promise, and thatis we're going to see Christ. We're
either going to see him when wedie, or we're going to see him
at the second coming. God willkeep this promise either way, And if

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you ask me, I would rathersee him at the second Coming and not
have to experience death. But it'snot up to me. But either way,
we're going to see Christ. Justto Simeon laid his eyes upon this
child who was the Messiah, theDeliverer. See Simeon saw him there at

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the temple for just a brief moment. You and I, on the other
hand, when we see him,we're going to see him, not for
a brief moment. We're going tosee him for the rest of eternity.
Now, of course today Simeon seeinghim as well, but at this time
this promise, he was able justto see him just for a moment,

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and then Mary Joseph would leave andthen send me in. Probably probably didn't
live much longer after that. Doyou know what, There's someone else is
going to see him too. There'sa promise, not in a good way,
but the unbelievers going to see himone day. And when he sees
him, he is going to bowdown and acknowledge that he is the Christ,

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he is the Lord, he isthe Son of God. But then
all then he's not going to bewelcome into eternal joy. He's going to
be cast forever into eternal suffering.So that is his promise. And then

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we see, fourthly his praise.Here he begins the final hymn that we
see in the first two chapters.Remember there's several hymns that are written in
these two chapters. Well, thisis the final one by Simon. He
says in verse twenty eight, thentook him up in his arms and blessed
God and said, Lord, Nowletst thou thy servant, depart in peace

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according to Thy word. From mineeyes have seen thy salvation. Simeon's praise
is fueled by his love for theSavior, the Savior that he really didn't
know or had very limited knowledge of. That's based on what we see in
the Old Testament. But he stillwas full of praise for this one whom

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he had not seen before. Butnow his eyes they hold of Today we
have a much greater knowledge than Simeondid. We have the completed scriptures.
And because of that, even thoughwe don't see Jesus with our actual wives,
we see him through the word ofGod through scripture, and that should
calls us to have love for himand to praise him because of what he

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has done for us. Simeon inverse twenty nine, was delivered from the
fear of death. You know,many believed that he was an old man
at this time, though we're nottold that he was, but the language
is used here seems to indicate thathe probably was an older man. Simon

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had no desire for this world.His desire is he wants to see the
Lord, and he says, nowI'm ready to depart, I'm ready to
be released, I'm ready to belet go. I'm ready to take down
my ten and I'm ready then tomove on. See, for the believer,
when death comes, it's only arelease, it's only a letting go.

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It means we are well. We'rebeing set free from this world and
the trouble and pain and sin thatgoes along with life here, and we're
being ushered into the next world.Like Paul Simon can now say that he
was willing to be absent from thebody and be present with the Lord.
And what gave him such confidence,Well, it's because his eyes have laid

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hold of Messiah. He has seenhim with his own eyes. He already
had faith, he already had believed. But now that faith is affirmed because
he sees this one with his owneyes. Now we've not seen Christ with
our eyes, but we do seehim by faith. And that is once

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we have looked to him by faith, then we're ready to depart from this
world. But if you have afriend, if you haven't looked to him,
if you haven't put your faith intrust in him, you're not ready
to depart this world. No,he talks in verse thirty about thy salvation.
This was the Lord's salvation. Salvationis of the Lord. The Father
planned it an eternity past, theSon accomplished it at God's appointed time,

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and the Spirit applies it when heeffectively calls the sinner to self. And
then finally notice his prophecy. Andwe're going to finish up with this verse
thirty one, which thou hast preparedbefore the face of all people, a
light to light in the gentiles andglory of thy people, Israel. This

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statement would be a shock to theJewish people. This salvation was only for
the Jews as far as thebor concerned, not the despised gentiles. But here
Siemen says, no, it's forthe gentiles as well. See you how
a devout Jewish man standing in aJewish temple, seeing a Jewish boy being
dedicated by keeping Jewish law, andthen Simen says that this salvation is for

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the gentiles as well. He's alight. A light is one of the
words used to describe them becoming Messiah. That he would be a light in
a dark world. He would bea light not just not just for the
Jews, but a light to theGentiles as well. Now there's a lot
of passages in the Old Testament thattalk about the fact that Jesus is gonna

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be a light. See, Israelwas to be a light to the gentiles,
but Israel felled. Well, Jesusdoesn't in Isaiah, and there's a
lot of verses in Isaiah to lookat. But in Isaiah chapter forty nine
and verse six we see these words, and he said, it is a
light thing that thou shouldst be myservant to raise up the tribes of Jacob

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and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also notice these words,
now give thee for a light tothe gentiles, that thou mayst be my
salvation unto the end of the earth. Now many of these predictions are going
to be fulfilled, if they haven'talready, at the millennium when Christ comes
to rule and reign over this earth. So this coming millennium, this new

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Heaven and the new Earth, thisnew Jerusalem, the eternal hope, internal
home for God's people, all ofthis is certain because of this young child
that Simon is holding in his hands. Imagine the joy that flooded his soul
as he held this child in hishands. Well, Verse thirty three tells
us that Mary and Joseph are well. They marvel at this, and that

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is because there was much about thischild that they didn't know. Like many
Jews of their day and time,they didn't understand the global scope of salvation
memory. In Matthew chapter one andverse twenty one, the angel Gabriel told
Joseph, you're to call his nameJesus, because he's going to save his
people from their sins. Well,Simon enlarges on what Gabriel has told him.

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Then verse thirty four, and Simonblessed them and said, and to
marry his mother. Behold, thischild is set for the fall and rising
again of many in Israel, andfor a sign which shall be spoken against
yea. His sword shall pierce throughthine own soul. Also that the thoughts
of many hearts may be revealed.Well, Simeon prophesies that this child is

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going to be either attracted to andcome to some, or he's going to
be he's going to repel, andothers are going to reject him. Now
this one, do this one theeternal destiny of both you and gentile will
happen today. Everyone who's listening tome, we all fall into two categories.

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We either those who have believed werejustified, or we are those who
reject him and we're still in oursins. I pray today that you have
looked to Christ because he and that'swhat verses thirty four and thirty five are
telling us. It's he's the onewho divides, because some will will come

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and some will not. And that'swhat we see even today. And I
pray today that you'll humble yourself andyou'll see this one who has the power
of life and death, and you'lllook to him by faith, just as
Simeon did. This is the onethat Simon testifies that this is the Savior,
this is the Messiah. Why doesSimeon only speak to Mary and not

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to both Mary and Joseph in thesetwo verses, verses thirty four and thirty
five. Well, I think it'sbecause when her son grows up, he's
going to be crucified, he's goingto be put to death, and she's
going to be there to witness it. It's going to be like somebody sticking
a sword in her. Whereas Ibelieve Joseph at this time has probably died.

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He's not mentioned anywhere during the ministryof Christ or at the Cross,
so he's probably died. So todayI pray that you will look to Christ,
this one that Simeon prophesied of,you will put your faith in trust
in Him. We'd like to thankyou for listening to our program this morning.

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We pray that God has used thismessage to draw you closer to Him.
Storms Creek Missionary Baptist Church would liketo take this opportunity to invite you
to any of its services. Wehave a Sunday School which starts at nine
thirty am, Sunday Morning Worship tenfifteen, and our Sunday Evening service starts
at six pm. We also havea Wednesday night Bible Study that starts at

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seven thirty pm. Storms Creek MissionaryBaptist Church is also on the internet under
Sermonaudio dot com. You can goto www. Dot Sermon Audio, look
for Storms Creek Missionary Baptist Church andlisten to any of our sermons in full
length audio. At the side.Again, we'd like to thank you for

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listening this morning, and may Godbless you throughout the week.