Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Introduction
Charles Eliot was the president and then the president emeritus of Harvard University.
It was the summer of his 90th year that went to visit his neighbors, the Peabody’s in Northeast Harbor, Maine.
Mrs. Peabody had just had a baby and so Mr. Eliot wanted to congratulate the new parents.
After they chatted a bit, Charles asked if he could hold the precious new baby.
She lifted her son from his crib and laid him in the arms of Harvard’s venerable president emeritus.
Mr Eliot held the baby for a few minutes and then handed the little bundle back to his mother.
Why did he want to hold the baby?
He said this, “I have been looking at the end of life for so long that I wanted to look for a few moments at its beginning.”
(In Reader’s Digest [8/83].)
Looking into the eyes of a sweet little baby gives us hope for the future.
That there are brighter days ahead.
New life gives us new hope!
But we also know that this world is full of uncertainty and evil.
Soon the hope that a newborn brings can be washed away by the harsh, sinful, painful realities of life.
The fact is, life is messy!
And no newborn can change this - except for One!
The Bible tells of another old man who was looking for hope.
Looking for God to keep His promise to His people.
His name is Simeon and while many had the wrong idea of who the Messiah would be, God gave this man a fresh vision of who Messiah truly is.
Our story starts after the birth of Jesus...
As we look at the love of this Character of Christmas, I want you to remember one thing...
Main Idea: Well Placed Hope Leads to God’s Greatest Blessing!
Simeon placed his hope in the right place and he was blessed for it!
There are three things we can learn from people of hope, like Simeon...
Body
People of Hope Believe God’s Promises (vs.
25-26)
Lead in…Throughout the birth narrative of Jesus I hope you have noticed a reoccuring theme.
Each one that we have covered so far, Zacharias, Elizabeth, and Jospeh have all been referred to as righteour.
Our next character is no different.
Take a look at the text with me...
22-
A resident of Jerusalem, Simeon was a godly man.
He appears nowhere else in the Scriptures and we know nothing else about him other than he was a “righteous and devout” man of faith in the promises of God.
Explanation - A resident of Jerusalem, Simeon was a godly man.
He appears nowhere else in the Scriptures and we know nothing else about him other than he was a “righteous and devout” man of faith in the promises of God.
He believed God! Like Abraham of Old, Simeon belived God and it was counted unto him as righteousness.
By the way, that the way this whole thing works with God.
It’s not by what you do, but faith in what He has done and will do.
And our friend, Simeon was a righteous man.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said,
“The proof of our having truly received the grace of God in Jesus Christ is that we are living a righteous life.”
The text tells us that He was “waiting for the consolation of Isael.”
What does that mean?
What does this mean?
The word, “consolation” (Gk.
paraklesis), means comfort.
We give someone the “consolation prize” because we don’t want them to feel bad, we want them to be comforted even though they lost the completion.
Well, the consolation of Israel was no “consolation prize!”
It is the ultimate prize because it is the ulitmate hope.
The hope that God would one day rescue is chosen people.
While many, many other Jews were not paying attention to the Messiah’s arrival, this righteous and devout Jew could not wait.
His messianic expectation was high!
And for good reason, because “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.”
What an amazing promise - and a promise given to him by God Himself.
It is obvious that the Holy Spirit was active in Simeon’s life.
Now only was the Spirit on him, but the Spirit spoke to him!
And the promise was, he would remain alive until he, personally would see the “Lord’s Christ” (Christ meaning Messiah or the King of the Jews.).
And unless this old man Simeon was going to outlive his contemporaries, the Lord was coming soon!
Simeon was a righteous man, a person of HOPE and He believed the promise God gave him!
God has given you many promises.
The Bible is full of them.
By the way, who wrote the Bible.
Certainly men like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, James, Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and many other men.
But really who wrote the Bible?
The Holy Spirit...
And those prophecies are riddles with promises for you.
He promises that He is good to you...
He promises that He is here with you...
He promises to provide for you...
And the most exciting thing of all is this, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of all the promises in the Bible...
Ever promise in the Bible not only points to Jesus, but is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus!
And a person of Hope believes in God’s promises...
C.H. Spurgeon said, “God’s promises are longer than life, broader than sin, deeper than the grave, and higher than the clouds.”
And he said in another quote...
“All the promises of God are ‘yea’ and ‘amen’ IN CHRIST JESUS.
And as He is ours, every promise is ours if we will but lie down upon it in restful faith.”
God made a promise to Simeon.
And when God makes a promise, He will fulfill it!
He will keep it!
And Simeon rooted his hope in God fulfilling His word.
Job -
Relationship with spouse, child, friend -
Where is your Hope this morning?
Money -
Future -
Christ - This is where Simeons
Application - Where is your Hope this morning?
Job -
Relationship with spouse, child, friend -
Money -
Future -
Or do you Hope in the promises in God word?
The ultimate promise - Jesus Christ?
And God has promised you that if you “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved.”
Review - Well Placed Hope Leads to God’s Greatest Blessing!
People of Hope Believe God’s Promises
2. People of Hope Will Eventually See God’s Promises (vs.
27-32)
Lead in…The beautiful thing about biblical hope is that is always will give way to a big fat yes! Why? Again, I’ll quote Spurgeon...
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