Amen. For our new test of reading now, please turn to Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Revelation 21. We’re going to read Revelation 21, verses 10 and 11, and then 22 to 27. So Revelation 21, starting at verse 10. Let’s give it full attention. This is the word of our God. And he carried me away in a spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Its radiance like a most rare jewel, like Jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great high wall with 12 gates, and all the gates, 12, and on the gates, it had the gates, 12 angels. and then jump to verse 22. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. into it the glory and honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it. Nor anyone who tells what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated.

But as it’s time for Brother Fishel to come up now, to bring his word to us. I invite you to please join me in prayer again. Heavenly Father, your word says in Psalm 19 that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise and simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than fine gold, even much fine gold, and sweeter also than honey and drippings of honeydew. So, Lord, as we now turn to the reading and preaching of your word, we pray that you would bless our time together, and so illuminate this text to us, that we may find your word to be more desired than gold and sweeter than honey, or that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

Well, good morning to you all. It really is such a pleasure to be here this morning. As Tony mentioned earlier, I lived in Fort Wayne for about six years after college and had no knowledge of Presbyterianism or Reformed theology and maybe a faint understanding of Calvinism at the time. And so after leaving and moving to Houston and really coming to know the Reformed faith, it is such an encouragement for me to know that this church exists. I pray regularly for you. It is a joy to be here to worship with you. here in Fort Wayne, Northeast Indiana region. I really am so thankful for your presence and just sitting in here, faithful witness of the gospel. So thank you for just being here. Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter two. We’re reading verses 21 through 38 this morning. Here now in God’s holy, inspired, inerrant, infallible, and life-giving word, beginning in Luke two, verse 21.

And 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. 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 there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people in Israel. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said of him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a side that is opposed, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was 84. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day, and coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

And it is absolutely true. It is given to us in love for our good. As we look at this passage together this morning, we’re going to do so under two headings. First, the witness of the law, and then the witness of the faith. And what we’ll see in each of these sections and really throughout the entire text, from start to finish, is that this text is meant to show us that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is the Christ. salvation into the world, that he perfectly fulfilled the law in every way, and that he really is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So let’s look at our first section together, the witness of the law. We’ll be back in verses 21 and 22. It reads, and at the end of eight days when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus. before he was conceived for women. And when the time came for purification according to the law of Moses, pause real quick. Here we see the first of several mentions of the Old Testament law throughout our passage. And specifically that Mary and Joseph were careful to obey all of it. In verse 21 mentions the circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Genesis 17. Verse 24 mentions the sacrifices that were to be given according to the law. Verse 27 mentions, again, Jesus being presented as the firstborn child according to the law. And then finally, in verse 39, it says that they have performed everything according to the law of the Lord. Luke is repeating this refrain about the law of the Lord over and over again to make this point, that Jesus fulfilled all of the law. In all of his life, Jesus perfectly fulfilled all of God’s commandments. So in fulfillment of these commands, Mary and Joseph ensure that three specific laws are kept in this passage. The first is circumcision, and in verse 21, this of course would have been done to every Jewish male since God had commanded it in the days of Abraham in Genesis 17. This was done as a sign of God’s covenant sealed in blood. And the fact that circumcision was given to Jesus showed that he really was a member of Abraham’s family. that he was a part of the covenant community. And so with this sign, he was identifying with his people and showing that he was one of them. So first, Mary and Joseph had Jesus circumcised. And then 40 days after the circumcision, they took him into the temple to fulfill two specific Old Testament laws. Firstly, they presented the baby Jesus at the temple. It says in verse 22 that they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. And this is fulfilling what Exodus 13 commands. where it says, consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both man and a beast, is mine. With these words from the law of Moses, God laid a claim on the firstborn from every family. These children were to be set apart for service to the Lord. And so this is what Mary and Joseph would have done. They were obedient to the law. So they brought this infant Jesus into the temple to be consecrated for service to the Lord. And then the second law they were seeking to fulfill was the purification law. After a woman gave birth in the Old Testament law, she was declared ceremonially unclean for a period of time. Leviticus 12 says that she must not touch anything holy or come into the sanctuary for about 40 days. After that point, she was supposed to come into the sanctuary and offer a burnt offering to the Lord. And that offering was specifically supposed to be a link. This is what says in Leviticus 12 when this law is written. It says, and if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons, one for the burnt offering and another for the sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her and she shall be clean. So if a woman is too poor to afford a lamb to bring to the burnt offering, she can instead bring a substitute offering of these two If you look at verse 24 of our text, it says that Mary and Joseph came to the temple to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord, and it mentions the sacrifice, a pair of two turtle doves or two pigeons. So Mary didn’t bring the lamb that was required. She brings two turtle doves and two pigeons. She brings an offering prescribed for those who weren’t wealthy enough to afford a little lamb. You know, when we speak of the incarnation, we think about Christmastime and Jesus being born in a manger. We think about the humility of Christ. And of course, you know, Christ was born as an infant in a manger, surrounded by barnyard animals, but there’s an additional humiliation in his incarnation. That Jesus wasn’t born into a wealthy and well-to-do family, but rather poor peasants who probably struggled to afford even that small offering of turtle doves. When Christ humbled himself and came to earth, he really humbled himself. This family was unlikely and lowly from an earthly perspective. And with the exception of Simeon and Anna later on in our passage, no one else noticed them that day. They were remarkably earthly. They were unremarkable. But they were anything but unlikely. Because this family, in their devotion to the Lord and desire to fulfill all of his commands, they were actually richer than the wealthiest of families. You know, Mary and Joseph may have been physically poor, but spiritually, they were so rich. In their desire to raise this child up in the nurtured atmosphere, And there’s a point of application here, especially for the young people. I’m so, so glad to see so many young children in worship this morning. It’s a joy in my heart. But so, young children, listen for just a second here. This is such a beautiful application for you. You have to realize how blessed you are. Just as baby Jesus was born into a faithful and spiritually rich family, so too are many of you. Young children, many of you were born into faithful families with covenant parents who love you, who desire to raise you in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Your parents have been crying for you since the day they knew you were even conceived. They’ve been crying for you your entire life. You likely maybe have grandparents who are crying for you, and even look around the rest of the sanctuary. Children, do you see how many other people are in this church that pray for you, that care about you, that love you, You are richly blessed. Don’t forget that, don’t take that for granted. Realize how blessed you are. Now in this text we have these two specific laws that were fulfilled in the temple that day. Now Luke makes a big deal of explaining the laws. He gives us lots of background information, quoting from the Old Testament. And so the question is, why does Luke bother with this? Why does Luke bother to give us so much background in the midst of this narrative? Well the reason is, He wants to show that all of Christ’s life was lived in perfect obedience to the law. In every single moment of Christ’s life, he lived without sin. Even as a child, even as an infant, he lived in fulfillment of God’s law. This has remarkable implications for you and I 2,000 years later. Listen to what commentator Philip Graham Ligon said about this. He says, in his circumcision, Jesus received the lawful sign of the covenant. In his presentation at the temple, Jesus was consecrated to God as the law required. And then, all through the rest of his life, he lived in perfect obedience to the whole will of God. He did this for our salvation. We are saved by Christ’s death on the cross, but we are also saved by his life on earth, in which he fulfilled all of the righteousness that we owe to God. This is a hugely important idea for us to grasp. We commonly refer to these as the active obedience of Christ and the passive obedience of Christ. If you’ve read any theology books, you may have come across those terms. But let me start with the one you probably are more familiar with, and that’s the passive obedience of Christ. This refers to his willingness to die on the cross for the sins of his people. And so in the cross, he took the punishment for our sin upon himself. And because of his sacrifice on the cross, we are forgiven of our sins. So that all who are in Christ, he paid the penalty so that we are forgiven. So he passively experienced death on the cross. But the other side of that coin is the active obedience. What he actively achieved in this life. And this is what’s really on display in Luke chapter two. that throughout his entirety of his life, Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law. He perfectly led a holy and righteous life. And here’s the amazing part. That righteousness that he gained through his obedience is given to us. The perfect righteousness and obedience of Christ is credited to our account as believers. How amazing is that? Listen again to what Puritan John Owen said about this. The Lord Christ fulfilled obedience which it did require. Christ’s fulfilling of the law in obedience unto its commands is no less imputed to us for our justification than his undergoing the penalty of it is. In other words, Christ perfectly kept the law throughout his entire life. That righteousness is imputed, it’s credited, it’s given to us. that Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law in all of his life, from that very first Christmas to the purification rite, to the presentation to the temple, and then continuing through every moment of his life, Jesus fulfilled the law. Hear these words from 2 Corinthians 5, 21. For our sake, he, God the Father, made him, God the Son, to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Dear Christians, from the moment you first believed and trusted in Christ, his righteousness was given to you. It was imputed to you, it was credited to your account. So not only are you forgiven of your sins, you absolutely are, but you’re also declared righteous in God’s eyes. So when God looks on you, he doesn’t see your sinfulness or your rebellion against him, but he sees the perfect righteousness of Christ as if it were a cloak draped over you. If you are united to Christ by faith, then you have become the righteousness of God because of Christ’s perfect obedience to the law. Now, don’t miss the implication of this. This means that you’re not saved by your own good works. Right? There’s this idea that’s you know, if you’re just a good enough person, you’ll get into heaven. That if you’re good enough, then maybe the guy next door, then somehow then God might, if you’re good outweighs your bad, then God will love you and welcome you into heaven. Hear me, that idea is wrong. It is plainly unbiblical. You cannot get into heaven simply by trying harder or being nicer than the guy next door. Your sins are so great that any and every work you do is marred with sin. You cannot save yourself by being good enough or nice enough. And this is where every other religion goes wrong. Every other religion or worldview is all about what you have to do, what you have to accomplish to be saved. That if you do these good works and try hard enough, you’ll somehow please God. But Christianity is the exact opposite of that. You cannot, in your own strength, earn God’s salvation. You cannot just try hard enough and be nice enough to be saved. Instead, you need a mediator. You need a perfect substitute who lived a perfectly righteous and holy life on your behalf, who perfectly obeyed all of the laws of Moses from the Old Testament, who died on the cross the death that you deserve to die. You need a mediator, and it’s only by faith in that mediator that we are saved. And so that’s why Luke indicates all of these details about the law. It’s to remind us that Christ fulfilled every order. He’s the only one who perfectly upheld the entirety of the law of Moses. Let’s move on to our second heading, the witness of the faithful. In the rest of this passage, we see two characters interact with Jesus at the temple. And from what we can tell, these are the only two characters attention to Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus on that day. In the world’s eyes, both Simeon and Anna were unremarkable. You know, one of them is an older widow and the other one we barely know anything about. And yet, just as God had done with the humble Virgin Mary, about this baby Jesus. Look with me at verse 25. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of his people. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. So we have this interesting character of Simeon. We don’t know much about his text, about him from the text. We don’t know his job or his age or his family lineage. out of the Holy Spirit. Luke describes them as righteous and devout. In the Old Testament, numerous people are described in this way. It’s righteous and devout. It doesn’t mean that they were perfect. someone who’s faithful and obedient to the Lord. And that kind of obedience is only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is exactly what verse 25 says about it, that the Holy Spirit was upon him. In some way, you know, decades before the Holy Spirit would come at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was upon this man, Simeon. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, he lived a righteous and devout life. And then we have this character Anna. Anna is described in a similar way in verse 36. It says, and there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in her years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was 84. worshiping and with fasting and prayer night and day. Now, interestingly, Luke gives us plenty of details about Anna. We know Anna’s job. She was a prophetess. We know her family history and which tribe of Israel she descended from. We know her age, although this is disputed. If you look in your ESV translations, there’s a footnote in the middle of verse 37, and the which would make her 105 years old. And the original Greek could go either way, but either way, she’s either a seasoned saint or a very seasoned saint. But just like Simeon, Luke makes mention of something that is far more important than any biographical detail we could learn. He mentions that her life is centered on the worship of God, that she didn’t depart from the temple worshiping and fasting and prayer night and day. Her life was centered on God’s work, she had dedicated her life to giving glory to God. What greater thing could be said about any of us? Not that you spend every waking moment inside this sanctuary, but rather that your whole life is focused on giving glory to God alone. I mean, really, is there anything we should be striving more than being people who are devoted to the glory of God, to pursuing holiness? Let me encourage you to take a page from The Life of Simeon Banner. Be devoted to Bible reading. Be devoted to worshiping with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. Be committed to serving and caring for each other and meeting each other’s needs as a congregation. Not to earn brownie points in heaven, right? Not to earn our salvation, but rather for your own discipleship, for your own growth in Christ, for your own maturity in the Lord, so that it might be true of you as it was said Now look with me at verse 26. And it had been revealed to him, to Simeon that is, by the Holy Spirit, he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. By the working of the Holy Spirit in his life, somehow, Simeon knew that he would see Christ. In his lifetime, he would see the Messiah that had been promised to the Israelites all the way back in Genesis chapter three. And his whole life was spent waiting patiently for God to do what he had promised. And we can imagine what kind of anticipation must have filled Simeon’s life. He must have spent years waiting in the temple in Jerusalem, watching his new parents would bring their infants in to be presented, and perhaps he excitedly greeted each one and said, welcome, is this the promised Messiah? He waited and waited and waited for God to do what he had promised. Then verse 27 says that he came in the spirit into the temple, and when the parents He took him up in his arms and blessed God. What a joyous moment this must have been. You know, my wife and I have a newborn son, Titus. He’s about eight weeks old. And when my parents first got to hold him, they picked up this long-awaited child who was only two weeks old at the time, and they were so glad. So you can imagine Sydneyans’ anticipation, waiting year after year after year to hold the newborn Messiah. In God’s perfect timing, Simeon walked into the temple at the same time that Mary and Joseph were coming in, and this promised child was finally here. Commentator William Hendrickson writes that Simeon is holding in his arms and seeing with his eyes not just the little baby, but salvation that is the one through whom God would save his people. Can you imagine this? I mean, can you imagine holding this child in your arms knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that you are holding the promised Messiah. Throughout the narrative of Luke 1 and 2, God has been revealing to different people who this baby was. From the beginning of Jesus’ life on earth, God has made his plan abundantly clear. He used the angel Gabriel to show Mary who her child would be. Then God used a multitude of the heavenly that the Messiah had been born. And now God was using this seemingly unknown man, Simeon, to declare to all the people in the temple that day who this Jesus was. Look at this declaration from Simeon. And note, he’s saying this loud. He’s saying this loud enough that everyone in attendance would have heard these words. Beginning in verse 29, it says, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace. of salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light from revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. You know the song that Simeon declares is commonly called the nuke diminutus, that’s the Latin translation of the first two words in the Greek. then Mary’s Magnificat, then Zechariah’s prophecy, and finally, Simeon’s song. And he begins with this phrase, Lord, you are now letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word. Remember that the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not die until he saw him in the sight of him. And so now that Christ had come, now that he was holding Christ in his arms, he’s essentially saying, God’s promise has been fulfilled in my life, and I can die in peace and comfort. and Simeon should have true peace. After all, he held in his arms the Prince of Peace that was prophesied back in Isaiah chapter nine. He was truly ready to die in peace, for in his arms was God’s salvation. It says in verse 30, for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples. This baby Jesus was and is God’s salvation. This 40-day-old infant was the one through whom God would provide salvation to all people. Continuing in verse 32, Simeon declares that the infant Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. This very infant would bring salvation not only for the Israelites, but also for the Gentiles. That is for anyone and everyone outside of the people of Israel. Now remember the context here. Simeon is standing in the midst of the Jerusalem temple, likely surrounded by hundreds if not to worship the God of Israel. And Simeon declares that this baby is the salvation, he’s the light, the revelation to the Gentiles. In this moment, Simeon is declaring what Paul would later repeat a few decades later in Romans 15. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. Yes, the Israelites were God’s chosen people, but God had chosen them for the express purpose of being a light to the nations. The Lord treasured the people of Israel, but he had a special affection for them, but he chose them for a purpose, because he wanted his salvation to reach to every tribe, to every tongue, to every nation across the face of the earth. And in this moment, God is using his lowly servants that it’s for all peoples. It’s for anyone and everyone who believes. Catch this. Simeon in verse 32, speaking of the Gentiles, he’s speaking of you and I. He’s speaking of us. He’s speaking of every person outside the nation of Israel to whom the light of Christ would go forth. How incredible is that? God’s promised salvation from Genesis In response to this prophecy from Simeon, it says in verse 33 that his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. Now this doesn’t mean that Mary and Joseph were marveling at new information. They knew who Jesus was. The angel Gabriel had told them exactly who their son was going to be. Mary even called Jesus my savior in her magnifica. So you know that common song around Christmastime, Mary did you know, the answer is an obvious You know, but these two parents are marveling at who their newborn son was. It’s a renewed amazement over the truth that had just been spoken about their son. He really was the promised Messiah who would bring salvation to all peoples. Now, up to this point, Simeon’s song was being declared loudly for everyone to hear. Then he quiets his voice and speaks directly to Mary and Joseph. It says in verse 34, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, This is a harder section. That this word of prophecy that he’s speaking to Mary is a hard truth. That this infant son that he was holding in his arms, he was appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel. This means that Jesus is a stumbling block. that everyone, the Israelites especially, that everyone in the world today who encounters Christ through his word and through his church, everyone has to come to a decision. Will they reject him as their savior? Or will they receive him as the promised Christ who’s come to bring salvation to the world? It is utterly impossible to have an encounter with Christ and then walk away neutral. that the thoughts and intentions of every man’s hearts are revealed by Christ. You’re either for him or you’re against him. There’s no middle ground. Commentator William Henderson again says, by means of their attitude to Jesus, men would be constantly revealing their thoughts or deliberations of their hearts. They would show that they were either for or against him. Neutrality would be forever impossible. And so this word that Simeon is speaking challenges us to self-examination. It remains true that there’s no neutral ground with Jesus. There’s no neutral ground with Jesus because he reveals our hearts. He reveals our heart-level posture towards Christ. Either you’re for him or you’re against him. So who do you say he is? Who do you say Christ is? Do you really believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ? Do you really believe that he’s the promised Messiah, and that he has died for the forgiveness of your sins, and that he’s given you, imputed to you, credited to you his righteousness? Do you believe that? Have you trusted in him? In the middle of these hard words, there’s a parenthetical statement that Simeon speaks directly to Mary. This will certainly be the case in Mary’s life. Over the next few decades, deep sorrow would come upon Mary. You know, it must have been hard and scary for this new mother to have to flee and head to Egypt to flee persecution. Or later on to see her son rejected by the masses and betrayed by one of his disciples. Or consider this, Mary would witness the death of her own son on the cross. As one commentator said, a great sword would go right through this mother’s soul. But her coming sadness of seeing her son’s death on the cross is paired with real hope. It’s paired with hope that her son’s death would be the means through which Christ would bring salvation to the whole world. Now do you remember the offering that Mary and Joseph brought with them to the temple that day? They brought with them two turtledoves or two pigeons, even though the preferred offering was supposed to be a lamb. Don’t miss the irony of that offering they brought that day, because the lamb was there. Not brought by Mary and Joseph, but presented by God himself. That his son, Jesus, is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He’s the perfect and spotless lamb who’s given in your place on the cross. Lamb of God. Do you really believe that he lived the perfect life that you failed to live on your own and that he’s given you his righteousness? Do you really believe that he took your place on the cross and died the death that you deserve to die? I urge you don’t delay. Don’t delay the claim to Christ. Don’t put off believing Christ for some future day when it will allegedly be easy. Trust in him now. Believe upon him now for the Savior of the world has come.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Son. By faith, we have seen your salvation. We have seen your Son, who is a light for revelation to the Gentiles, who is our light. At the work of your Holy Spirit in us, would you please glorify yourself in us? Just as you did with Simeon, just as you did with Anna, please glorify yourself in us. Lord, please help us this week in this upcoming new year to trust in your salvation, to rest in the promise of your word, to respond with obedience to your word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.