"Salvation to All"
Notes
Transcript
“The flawless plan proceeded with incredible speed and remarkable efficiency. The rescue of all thirty-three miners trapped under seven hundred thousand tons of rock put an end to the longest underground entrapment in the history of the world. The saga, which started on August 5, 2010, when the mine collapsed, dragged on for sixty-nine days as the world watched spellbound in solidarity with the Chilean people and its government, while the rescuers continued their restless efforts. Can you imagine being alive, nearly half a mile underground (2,041 feet), knowing that there is absolutely nothing you could do to get out? Help could only come from above, and it did. No cost was too great. It was after seventeen days with no contact with the miners that the word that they were still alive circled the globe. For fifty-two days after that the country placed all of its resources in bringing the trapped miners to the surface. Nothing like this had ever been successfully attempted before.
“Meanwhile, the men underground had only two choices: faith or fear. And they chose faith over fear. As they waited, they prayed. One of them, Sepulveda, described his choice: “I was with God and with the devil. And I reached out for God.” On October 12, global audiences in the hundreds of millions—myself included—watched the live TV images showing the first rescuer arriving at the bottom, filmed by the miners. Just over twenty-four hours later, all thirty-three miners and all the rescuers were on the surface, celebrating in joy beyond words. “I can’t describe the joy we are all feeling right now,” said one of the miners. I can’t even describe what I felt, and I was just watching it on TV! Two words kept coming up in the interviews that followed: all and joy. All had been rescued: the healthy and the sick, the strong and the weak. All had been saved through the plan designed from above. The resolution of the rescuers to reach the trapped miners overcame all the obstacles they found. And at the end, only pure joy remained. All had been saved from sure death.”
“The Gospel of Luke was written to announce a rescue of even greater magnitude! The human race was buried under sin, with no possibility of eternal survival. Help could only come from above. “And it did!” announces Luke in the most excited tone. The Savior of the world came down to fulfill Heaven’s plan to rescue the world! As you can imagine, this Gospel is filled with joy and excitement, because no cost was too great for Heaven, and salvation has been achieved for ALL!”
Our Scripture lesson this morning is taken from Luke 2:22-38:
Luke 2:22–38 ESVAnd 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 turtledoves, 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 Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about 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 sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. 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.
May God bless this the reading of His holy and infallible Word.
Today marks the beginning of not only a new week, but a new year. As with any New Year, your heart is probably filled with a mix of hope and apprehension. For who knows what this New Year will bring? Most would agree however, that this New Year is opening with more apprehension than normal. I am not going to list all the items of concern we face not only in this nation, but globally. You know what they are, and my goal this morning is to point you to the reasons we have for comfort, not for distress.
In our text we meet a man by the name of Simeon. He is described as “righteous” and “devout”; and most importantly, as “waiting for the consolation of Israel”. In other words, he was waiting for the promised “comfort” which Isaiah prophesied about in these familiar words, “Comfort, comfort says the Lord” (Is 40:1). In addition, we are told “the Holy Spirit was upon him”; in other words, Simeon was a prophet.
One of the prophecies he had received was a personal one. We are told the Holy Spirit “revealed to him…that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Anointed”. The promise that the Anointed One would come had sustained God’s people for generations, even in the darkest of times. Now, God had revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he saw with his on eyes the Messiah! As Simeon took up the baby Jesus into his arms he exclaimed, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace” (Luke 2:29). Simeon was saying that because his eyes beheld the Messiah, he now had God’s peace in both life and death:
Jesus Provides Comfort in Life and in Death
Jesus Provides Comfort in Life and in Death
When we face apprehension, one is the best strategies for coping with it is to ask oneself, “What is the worst thing that can happen to me?” The answer to that question is that we would die; but death has no power over the person who trust in Jesus, the Messiah. In his prophetic word to Mary and Joseph, Simeon gives three reasons we need not fear anything death or life can throw at us:
First, because Jesus is the incarnation of God’s salvation. This is found in vs. 30:
Luke 2:30 ESVfor my eyes have seen your salvation
Jesus is God’s plan of salvation!
Jesus is the solution to the penalty of sin—that is, eternal death and separation from God.
Jesus is the solution to the guilt of sin—that is, we are forgiven of our sin.
Jesus is the solution to the corruption of sin—that is, we will be made holy and righteous someday.
Jesus is the solution to the consequences of sin—that is, heaven and earth will be remade perfect someday.
Every dark cloud that hangs over your life this morning, will someday be dispelled in Jesus Christ—He is the incarnation of God’s salvation!
God’s plan of salvation finds its terminus in Christ. Jesus accomplished everything that is necessary for our salvation. There is no “plan B”, nor is there any need for another “savior”.
Second, Jesus is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles”. Ever since the Tower of Babel, every nation, save one, was under the control and blinding deception of Satan. Only the nation of Israel, that sprang from the loins of Abraham received the light of God’s revelation. This world would be a dark place indeed if it were not for Christ. Now, however, Christ and His Church are like a lighthouse shining in a dark storm.
In the past, the light of the Gospel shown brightly in our nation. Today, however things have grown very dark. This is the reason many of you feel apprehension about this New Year—our nation is under God’s curse and judgement—but, the light still shines! Our calling is to shine the light of the Gospel in Greene County. As the storm rages, we do not know who or how many God will call to the light, but our job is to be faithful lighthouse attendants and shine the light in the darkness! There is no need for apprehension if we are doing our job.
Third, God’s salvation in Jesus is “for the glory of God’s people Israel”. The “mystery” of the Gospel—that which was previously not revealed under the Old Covenant, is that the Gentiles will be engrafted into the Commonwealth of Israel. All of God’s people, Jews and Gentiles, will share in Christ’s glory!
Do you understand what this means? If you are in Christ, your future is not just good, it is glorious! Concerning this future glory, the Apostle Paul writes:
Romans 8:18 ESVFor I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
All the things you might be apprehensive about this morning are dispelled in the light of our future glory in Christ!
Is it any wonder that after hearing these things about Jesus, we are told Joseph and Mary “marveled” (Lk 2:33).
As they “marveled”, Simeon turned to Mary and said:
Luke 2:34–35 ESVAnd 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 sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
In this sentence, Simeon is preparing Mary for the fact that the exclusive nature of God’s salvation in Christ will bring persecution and pain.
Jesus is the Only Comfort
Jesus is the Only Comfort
Those five words are the most offensive thing a person can say. The world hates the truth that Jesus in the only comfort.
Several weeks ago, in our series from Deuteronomy, we learned about the Shema:
Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
The Hebrew word “one” in the passage has the sense of “one and only”. In other words, there is no other god that can give us comfort.
The Shema finds its New Testament equivalent in John 14:23:
John 14:6 ESVJesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the one and only way. Jesus is the one and only truth. Jesus is the one and only way to have life.
In the next chapter, John 15, Jesus explains that this is why the world hates Him. He then goes on to explain that this is why the world will hate all who are faithful to Christ.
Jesus is the Great Divide, He causes the “the fall and rising of many in Israel”. All who trust and obey Him will flow into God’s eternal ocean of love. All who do not will flow into the “lake of fire, prepared for the Devil” (Rev 20:10-15). When Simeon said, that Jesus was “a sign that is opposed”, he was speaking of the opposition to Christ, which ultimately culminated in His crucifixion.
It is important that we understand this, because the increased persecution the church is facing is causing great anxiety in the hearts of many Christians. The time has come for North American Christians to remember our comfort is not found in religious freedom, but freedom in Christ. To confess that Christ is our only comfort, it to confess that Christ’s comfort is greater than all our earthly tribulations.