Sermon Tone Analysis

Happy New Year!!!

2021 is finally finished… completed... kupput… We made it through it!

I don’t know about you, but I am so grateful to see this last year come to a close…

But now it’s time to start thinking about the next year… What’s going to be different?

What are we going to change?

What do we want to see change?

Now is the time of the year when we ALL begin making resolutions… Amen?

The world seems to “gear up” for it!

Gyms put on extra staff, start special promotions, stock up on merchandise and supplements… stores and counselors prepare for what comes next… 30 days of devoted time spent making decisions to changes our lives… all so that we can give up and go right back to what we are doing now in 30 days!

(that’s the average time someone spends actually trying to accomplish their resolutions)

Can I make this suggestion for a “REAL” resolution this year — one that will truly bring change to our lives… One that we can easily accomplish?

— This year let’s resolve to “wait on the Lord”.

The prophet Isaiah tells us:

And in Psalm 27:14, David tells us:

In fact, ( a quick search reveals) that we are told at least 21 times in scripture to “Wait upon the Lord.”

(That’s an interesting number, because it is also the number of days it takes to create a habit)

Look back at that verse:

That word - translated “wait” - in both verses has the same meaning, “To await, to Hope, to wait for...”

In other words, we are told to wait, to Hope for, to have the assurance that God is going to do what He says He is going to do!

Waiting upon the Lord means putting our complete trust in Him.

It means TRUSTING Him… Trusting in His plan for our lives… Trusting in His provision for us… and Trusting in His Love!

The Psalmist tells us to “Be Still and KNOW...”

I want you to see something here… The word translated “Wait” in verse 7 is :

hit-lo-lel — “to be in labor, to writhe, to be troubled, to bring forth...”

David begins the passage with “hit-lo-lel”, but he ends it with “qaw-we” - “to await, to hope, to wait for.”

It means that we are to “patiently endure” whatever hardships we face, KNOWING that God WILL PROVIDE.

Look back at the beginning of this Psalm.

David tells us to “Trust in the Lord”… Why?

Because He will provide!

He “will give us the desires of our heart.”

Why?

Because when we “Wait” on Him, the desires of our heart become — HIM!

— I get asked this a lot: “Pastor… How do I trust in God?

What does that look like?”

Well, Let me tell you.... First, stop looking for Him in the World!

The world cannot tell us how to trust God.

We have to look to Him…

God has promised to provide for us, to direct our paths,… If we look to Him.

All we have to do is “Wait Upon the Lord.”

If there was ever a man who could exemplify what it means to “wait upon the Lord,” It was Simeon.

Look at Luke 2:25-33

Simeon is a Temple priest, who is called “a devout man.”

He has been waiting on the favor of the Lord… He has been waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled, and it is apparent that he has been waiting for a long time.

Now, Simeon is an interesting character… You see, he was caught in the inter-testamental period.

That is the period of time between the last writing in the OT and the NT — about 400 years.

During this time, the children of Israel had suffered as a “political volleyball,” first from the Syrians and now the Romans… Over the last 400 years, Simeon’s people had seen leadership shift from Mathias Maccabee to the Hasmonean Dynasty… to, in recent years, an Edomite family named Herod that married into the thrown..

Yet, in the midst of the political unrest and strife, Simeon and others like him were patiently waiting on the Lord to send His favor on His people…

Simeon lived his entire life “waiting on the Lord”… Why?

Because he trusted God!

I don’t think we fully appreciate that… I don’t think we really understand all that Simeon had seen and endured…

— Through the gorilla fighting of the Maccabean Revolt… Simeon waited on God.

— Through the political maneuvering of Johnathon and Jude… Simeon waited on God.

— Through the topsy turvy economy of the Jewish history… Simeon waited on God.

— Through the cultural transition from Greek Hellenism to a world controlled and dominated by Roman Caesars… Simeon waited on God.

How? How could Simeon wait through all that turmoil… through all that struggle and uncertainty… How could he just wait?

— People today seem to use God’s seeming “lack of movement” as an excuse to “blame” Him, or to “blame” the church… “God just doesn’t care!”

The answer is simple… Simeon had FAITH!

You see… God had made him a promise… and he had faith that God would follow through on that promise!

Conquer (nikonti) means “to conquer, to prevail, to be victorious.”

How do we do prevail?

How are we victorious?

Faith.

Faith is how we become a child of God...

What is Faith?

— Most would say: “believing in things unseen.”

(we’ve talked about this before) Faith is something more… (according to Stronge’s) Faith is “to believe to the point of complete trust in”… (We could say) Faith is “putting complete trust in something or someone unseen.”

(It is something deeper than simple “belief in”)

— We do that all the time… put our trust in governing bodies that we cannot see behind the scenes… put our faith in psychologists’ ideologies that come from sources we don’t know… put our faith in sciences that we cannot see, just because other people tell us to…

— Church… let me tell you, “Christian Faith is putting our complete trust… our total reliance… on God… Not holding back…Knowing that He has this!”

It is putting all of our eggs in one basket… holding nothing back… not having a “backup” plan… TRUSTING that… KNOWING that God CAN and WILL do what He promises to do for us!

Let me assure you: God is Faithful!

There are five things I want you to hear right now: (1) God is who He says He is… (2) God can do what He says He can do… (3) God will do what He says He will do… (4) God loves you more than you know… (5) God NEVER fails… He will NEVER leave you!

When God makes a promise to us, He WILL see it through!

But…

Sometimes - Church - we have to wait on God through all that we are going through…

Look at Paul… Paul struggled with a “thorn in his side”… something that caused him trial… something that caused him anguish… but look at what God tells him:

In these waning moments of 2020, someone here is waiting for God to move… to do what He has promised to do… Can I tell you this: “He WILL!”

We just have to WAIT!

God shows Simeon favor… He calls him a “righteous and devout” man… He was just, observing the divine law, holding God in reverence, and trusting His Word… Simeon knew who God was, and who he was in Him.

Simeon lived in the NT age, but was still under the OT paradigm… The Bible says two things about him:

He was waiting on the consolation of Israel.

That means, the Messiah… Simeon was waiting for the comfort, the solace, and the consolation that only God can bring.

Someone here needs to understand this: The world can bring you limited pleasure, but there are some things that only God can bring you.

The world can bring you advice — but only God can give you direction.

The world can give you a temporary high — but only God can give you Joy.

The world can give you a hug — but only God can wrap you completely in His unconditional Love.

The world can give you a few moments of happiness — but only God can give you pure, eternal Joy.

Simeon is waiting for God to send the consolation… he is waiting for God to send the Messiah — The One prophesied by the Prophets of old… He is waiting for God to send the One who Isaiah called Isa 9:6 “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

He is waiting for the OT prophecy to move from words to flesh.

He’s waiting for the prophetical to become physical.

We need to learn to do that!

We need to learn to wait — for the prophetical to become physical.

Think about this: We have an advantage he did not have!

Simeon was waiting on the Consolation, but… he was not baptized by the Holy Spirit.

Think about that…

Simeon did not have the strength that comes from being Baptized with the Holy Spirit… He is from the OT anointing of the Spirit, not the NT church age.

In the OT, the Spirit would “fall on” a man or woman, strengthening them for the task at hand, or giving them a prophetic voice, but… it was temporary.

David realized this fact, and it caused him to wish the Spirit had never left him… Ps 13:1-4 “1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.”