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Men, this evening I'm going to be preaching on these announcements surrounding the birth of Christ. We're actually going to back up to chapter 1, and first we're going to look at the announcement made by Zacharias. He's actually talking about John the Baptist, but he's also preaching about the birth of Christ and alluding and looking forward to the birth of Christ. Then we're going to look at the announcement by the angels, and then lastly we're going to look at the announcement by Simeon. These three different announcements surrounding the birth of Christ. Let's start back in Luke chapter 1 verse 67. The Bible reads, his father, talking about John the Baptist, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. What's interesting about these announcements is that when we start out here in chapter 1, the focus is really on Israel, but as we move forward through these announcements, what becomes really clear at the birth of Christ is that Christ is coming not just for the nation of Israel, but that he's coming for the whole world, and that he's going to be a light unto the Gentiles, and that's kind of the major theme that is actually going to go through all of these announcements, how God is the God of the whole earth, and Christ is bringing salvation for everyone, and of course this is anticipating the fact that the New Testament's not going to be about just the Jews or Israel, but rather it's for the entire world. Now when you start out reading this, there are a few statements that are a little tough to understand at first, but let's go through this and see how this all fits together with the birth of Christ. It says first of all that the Lord God has visited and redeemed his people. Now the first thing I want to emphasize here with this announcement by Zacharias is that the point of the coming of the Messiah is to bring spiritual salvation to the nation of Israel and ultimately to the entire world. Now a lot of people, when they looked forward to the Messiah, were thinking of also political deliverance, or they're thinking that they're going to be delivered from the Romans or something like that, right? And that's the way that a lot of people looked at the coming of Christ, and even the disciples themselves in Acts chapter 1, after Jesus has resurrected from the dead, they ask him, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? So they're wondering what comes next? You know, you've died for our sins, you've been buried, you've risen again. They thought maybe at that time the Romans were going to be overthrown and that, you know, Christ is going to rule and reign now, and of course they didn't quite understand everything about end times and the second coming of Christ that's still coming. But a lot of people have that same attitude where they're looking at the Messiah as a political deliverer or a physical deliverer from, you know, the Romans or other oppression in that area. But of course this is a carnal viewpoint because far more important than just having your country liberated and given freedom is actually getting spiritual salvation. That's way more important, right? I mean, this life is but a vapor that appears for a little time and it vanishes away, but heaven and hell is forever. And being saved spiritually, being saved eternally and going to heaven is everything. And it's so funny how even to this day, though, there tends to be an emphasis on these carnal things about Israel and about some kind of a political battle or a military battle between Israel and their physical enemies Ultimately, though, what only matters is that which is spiritual. Everything that we see in this world is going to pass away, okay? But those who are saved, those who have eternal life, that is going to be forever. And so we start out in this first announcement sounding like we're talking about that sort of physical deliverer because it talks about them being delivered from their enemies. But I'm going to show you how this all kind of works together. It starts out by saying that God has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation, verse 69, for us in the house of his servant David as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began. So the Bible is saying, look, all the way back to Adam and Eve, the very beginnings of earth, this has been prophesied that Christ is coming. Even before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, even before King David, all the way since the world began, prophets have been preaching about the coming of Jesus Christ. And, of course, this can be seen even just by reading the book of Genesis because in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, it's already prophesied that the seed of the woman is going to come and bruise the serpent's head. As soon as man sins in the Garden of Eden, boom, we have a prophecy about Jesus Christ coming to rest. Jesus Christ coming to redeem man from his sins before there ever was an Israel or kingdom of David or anything like that. So all the way back since the world began, the holy prophets have been prophesying this. But then he says this in verse 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham. Let's jump back into that in a minute. But let's back up and think about the fact that he is prophesying that God is going to fulfill his promise that was prophesied specifically to the nation of Israel that they are going to be saved from all their enemies, right? Israel is going to be saved from their enemies. What does that mean? What is he getting at here? Well, stop and think about this, okay? Many smaller nations like the nation of Israel throughout history, they've been born, they existed, they died, and they no longer exist. Think about the nations that Israel replaced in Canaan, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Hittites. Where are those people today? Where are the Hittites today? Where are the Hivites? Where are the Jebusites, the Perizzites, right? They don't exist anymore. Those nations ceased from existing. And, you know, this is almost the fate that Israel had suffered in the time of the Babylonian captivity, right? Because Babylon came in and wiped out the temple, wiped out Jerusalem, and scattered the Israelites into all nations. They went into captivity into Babylon, into all their nations. And, you know, they're in danger of ceasing to exist, humanly speaking. But then God, of course, brought them back from Babylon 70 years later, re-established them in the land of Jerusalem in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. And their nation continued to exist, albeit at this time in Luke chapter 1, they are under the rule of the Roman Empire. They don't have their own sovereignty or autonomy or self-governance because they are ruled over by the Romans. Okay, so how is Israel going to be saved from their enemies? What does that mean? Well, let's get another clue a little bit further here. It says in verse 74 that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. So he's saying, look, isn't this great? God is raising up the Messiah. He's going to bring redemption. He's going to bring salvation. Obviously, spiritually is the most important thing. But also, he's going to deliver us from the hand of our enemies so that we can serve God without fear and righteousness and holiness. And we can continue to be God's people, worshiping God, serving God. My friend, stop and think about this. This prophecy only applied for those who believed in Christ and received Christ. Because what happened to Christ rejecting Israel in this very century? Did they get delivered from all their enemies? No, my friend, because Christ rejecting Israel got completely annihilated in 135 AD. Earlier in 70 AD, the temple was destroyed and they were really badly beaten by the Romans and destroyed from being a nation starting around 70 AD. But then by 135 AD, they were just annihilated. They're just gone. There weren't any Jews even allowed to live in Jerusalem after that. So would you call that serving God and righteousness and holiness without fear, you know, delivered from all their enemies? See, this is what you have to understand is that the kingdom of God in the ministry of Christ was transferred from the physical nation of Israel to a spiritual nation of Israel. Okay, so the way that this prophecy was able to be fulfilled is that God's chosen people, the spiritual Israel, is not that Christ rejecting nation of Judea that was wiped out by the Romans just decades after this was prophesied. But rather, the people who were able to serve God and be delivered from their enemies and preach and prophesy without fear and live for God and be protected and safe and that's all Christians. You see how that works? So those who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, a lot of those are from Israel. But ultimately, most of those would come from the Gentiles. That is the spiritual nation of Israel that is delivered from all their enemies. But if you approach the Bible from this wrong viewpoint that says, well, the Jews are God's chosen people and it's the physical nation of Israel, then you'd have to say this is a failed prophecy. Hey, Christ is going to deliver us from all our enemies. Uh, nope, temples getting destroyed in 70 AD. Nope, Jews are getting scattered into the four winds once again and this time it's for good. This time it's permanent. 135 AD completely wiped out from being a nation. Hundred years goes by, 200 years go by, 300 years go by, still scattered, still not a nation. Now, of course, there's a fake counterfeit Israel that was founded in the 20th century, a bunch of white people pretending to be Jews, but that's another sermon that shall be preached at another time. But it says here in verse 74 that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. That is a prophecy that is fulfilled in God's real people, God's true chosen people, those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. And the spiritual nation of Israel is not an ethnicity. It's not based on a genealogy. In fact, the Bible says avoid genealogies. Why? Because of the fact that we are saved and in Christ and that's what makes us elect, that's what makes us God's chosen people. That is what allows us to be saved spiritually and also God even blesses us in this earth as well and protects us and keeps us safe and blessed. So this is all fulfilled in us and it was all fulfilled in the saved Israelites, the ones who actually received Christ, right? Because in general, Jesus Christ came unto his own and his own received him not. But as many as did receive him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. So of course, not all the Jews rejected Jesus. Many of them got saved and this prophecy was fulfilled in them. The Jews that are being killed by the Romans, this is Christ rejecting Israel getting judged by God specifically for rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it says here in verse number 72, let's back up and cover some things that we missed here. In verse 72, it says to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father, Abraham. And of course, part of that oath that was sworn to Abraham was that in Abraham, all families of the earth would be blessed and you shall all nations of the earth be blessed. Well, that of course has been fulfilled through Christianity because every single nation in this world has saved Christians in it. Every family, kindred, tribe, every language is going to be represented in the book of Revelation in that throng of saved Christians. And so Christ has been a blessing to this entire world. Yes, he came to Israel. Yes, he fulfilled the promises made to their fathers. Yes, he came and delivered Israel from their enemies, but ultimately that was only for those Israelites who actually believed on the Lord and were saved because the unbelieving Israelites got destroyed. And look, let's face it, this really isn't anything that that that's that new because when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, here's what the Bible says in the book of Jude. The Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed them that believe not. So here, salvation for Israel is being prophesied, but what's he going to do in 70 AD? He's going to afterward destroy them that believe not. And he destroyed that Christ rejecting component of the nation and the saved Christians continued to thrive and live and go throughout the whole world, preaching the gospel to every creature. And of course, the reason why the Israelites didn't end up like the Hivites or the Parisites or the Jebusites is because of Jesus. Because first of all, the gods of those nations were fake idols that didn't exist. The God of the Israelites is the true God. He sent his son to be the savior of the world. And through Christ, the knowledge of the Lord has filled this entire earth as the waters cover the sea so that in every single nation on this planet, people know who Jesus is and therefore they know who Israel is. Why do we care about Israel? We care about Israel because Jesus came from Israel. Why do we care about the Old Testament? We care about the Old Testament because the Old Testament points us to Jesus, points us to the New Testament. Without the New Testament, the Old Testament wouldn't mean anything. Without Jesus, the Old Testament wouldn't mean anything. Think about it. I mean, if you're reading the Old Testament, what is this thing where Abraham is going to Isaac? He's going to off. He's going to kill Isaac. What? Sorry, I didn't say that very eloquently. Abraham is going to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. What? What's going on? Folks, without knowing about Jesus, it doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? In fact, nothing in the Old Testament really makes sense unless you're looking for Jesus, unless you're looking toward the Messiah. Once you get to the New Testament, that's when it all makes sense. It all comes together. It all fits. And then the entire world now knows about Jesus. The Gospel has gone around the world and continues to go around the world and bless the entire world. Therefore, Israel is even relevant today. Now, let's keep reading here, and I'm not talking about the fake nation of Israel. I'm talking about the biblical Israel. The Bible says in verse number 76, And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the highest. This is speaking of John the Baptist. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. And so notice that Jesus is the highest. Right? Because John the Baptist is the prophet of the highest, and he's preparing the way of the Lord. Who is he preparing the way for? Jesus. Right? And if we go back and look at these prophecies about prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight, you know, we're talking about preparing the way of Jehovah God. We're talking about preparing the way of the highest God Almighty, the most high God, which is Jesus. So these are great versus even on the on the deity of Christ showing us that Jesus Christ is not just a good prophet. He's not just a human being, but rather he is the son of God, and he actually is God in the flesh. He is labeled as the highest and the Lord and Jehovah and all of those terms are appropriate to apply unto him. And so John the Baptist is a prophet of Jesus. He's preparing the way for Jesus. He's preparing the way for the Lord to give knowledge of salvation unto his people. And again, the most important salvation that's in view is not just a physical deliverance from enemies, but that it's really about remission of sins, right? Getting your sins forgiven through Jesus. You see, those of us who are saved, the most important aspect of being saved is the fact that we're not going to go to hell when we die. All of our sins are forgiven. None of our sins are gonna be mentioned to us, and we're gonna just go straight to heaven and be totally forgiven of all our sins. I mean, that's the big thing about being saved. In fact, that's why it's called being saved. Because you're being saved from damnation and destruction, and you are getting eternal life in heaven. And so if the big thing about being saved is spiritually being saved, getting to heaven, sins forgiven, well, other benefits that come from being saved are also God's protection, God's blessing. God is gonna keep us safe. He's gonna watch over us. He's gonna answer our prayers. He's gonna bless us in so many ways and make our life so much better on this earth as well. Although, ultimately, the big one is going to heaven and escaping hell. And so that's the big one is remission of sins. Through the tender mercy of our God, verse 78, whereby the days spring from on high have visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. So Zechariah's prophecy is a little bit focused on Israel, and he's talking about how God is gonna send deliverance and salvation to Israel. And he mentions twice being saved from their enemies. And a lot of people are gonna interpret this as, you know, he's gonna overthrow the Romans. He's gonna make Judea independent of the Romans. But God has something else planned. What God's actually gonna do is bring spiritual salvation to the individual, and then he's gonna create a nation from within the nation that is made up of born again believers. And they're gonna be the ones that are delivered. They're gonna be the ones that are blessed and kept safe from their enemies. And the Christian religion is gonna begin to thrive in that first century A.D. and spread all over the world all the way up until this present day. But it's not just, oh, we're Jews. We're in Israel. We're gonna be saved from the Romans. Wrong. Because if you don't believe in Jesus, none of these promises are for you. You're not gonna be saved from your enemies. You're getting smoked in 70 A.D. That's what's actually gonna happen. And so once you understand the rest of the New Testament, and you understand the idea that Christians replace Israel, and that Jesus said the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, Israel, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit syrup, then this passage makes good sense. Whereas if you had this doctrine that the Jews continued to be God's chosen people after rejecting Christ, well, then that's a funny way of protecting them from their enemies when he sends their enemies in to burn down their city, destroy the temple, completely wipe them out, and ultimately annihilate them as a nation. That's a funny way of protecting them. But he protected Christians. He protected his real people. And here we are today. Christians are thriving. We're still evangelizing the globe. We're still preaching the gospel all over the world. And in fact, today, the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. These prophecies have been fulfilled. I mean, think about it. When this was first prophesied, this hadn't happened yet where, you know, Christianity just dominated the whole world as far as being the most well-known faith in the world. I mean, as far as the religious figure that most people are looking to today as their savior, it's Jesus. Now, I'm not saying that everybody who claims the name of Christ is actually saved. But if you just looked at a demographic, you know, rundown of the world today, out of 8 billion people in this world, 2.3 billion of them are saying that they're a Christian. That's the biggest religion in the world. So here's the prophecy that came true is that the earth was filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. You know, you have this tiny nation of Israel and a lot of people would just try to downplay the God of Israel like, oh, it's just, you know, you guys are just worshiping a tribal deity of some sheep herders and goat herders. Well, it's kind of funny how that tribal deity of sheep herders and goat herders has taken over the entire world and that every country in the world is worshiping Jesus right now. Of course, there are still lots of unbelievers because broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be which go in there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. But the knowledge is there. Canada knows who Jesus is tonight. The US knows who Jesus is. They might not be following him, but they know who he is. Mexico knows who Jesus is. South America knows who Jesus is. Australia knows who Jesus is. You could go to Antarctica. I could go to the base on Antarctica where a bunch of scientists are freezing their backsides off right now even though it's summer down there right now. There's still cold down there. And I could walk in and say, do you know who Jesus is? And every single person in that Arctic, Antarctic sub-zero science station, they're all going to know who Jesus is. I could go up in a spaceship and ask Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts. I could go up in the International Space Station. Everybody knows who Jesus is. I could go to India and they know who Jesus is. I could go to China and they know who Jesus is. I could go to Japan and they know who Jesus is. You say they're Buddhist, but they know who Jesus is. Because the earth has been filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. It's everywhere. The gospel is everywhere. And of course we want to get the gospel even more. We want to make it saturate this world even more. We want to preach a clear presentation of the gospel to every person in this world that we possibly can as Christians. So these prophecies have come true. Let's go to chapter 2. Let's look at the second announcement surrounding the birth of Christ. We looked at the announcement by Zechariah. Specifically it was about John the Baptist, but it was mainly pointed toward Jesus ultimately. Let's look at verse 10. This is the announcement by the angels. It says in verse 10, the angels said unto them. This is when the shepherds are out in the field watching their flocks. The angels said unto them, fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. Is this just for Israel? Is this just for the Jews? No. This is for all people on the planet. Good news for everybody. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. Now if you stop and think about this statement, peace on earth. And you know around Christmas time, this is a slogan that you'll see a lot, right? When you're looking at the Christmas decorations, some of them will just say peace on earth. And some of these decorations, they say the right things, but sometimes they're taken out of context. Because people don't really know Jesus. You know those of us who know Jesus, we look at these decorations and they mean something to us. And we actually get it. Like for example, I was talking to my sister in law earlier today. And she was bringing up how there's a lot of decorations this time of year that just say believe. You know what I'm talking about? Just believe. Which, you know, I see that and I'm just like, amen. You know, salvation by faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, right? But then a lot of people, it's like, believe in Santa. You know, believe in miracles, you know, believe. It's sort of just like this vague believe in friendship or love or, you know. Which I'm not saying that, you know, friendship and love don't matter. But I am saying that Santa doesn't matter. I don't believe in Santa. I don't believe in reindeer and elves and that evil German like gremlin that punishes bad kids on Christmas time. I forget what he's called. But what's he called? Krampus. Krampus? Yeah, I don't believe in Krampus either. Although there's probably some demon named Krampus, you know, tormenting Germans tonight. But the point is though that, you know, they got the slogan right but they need somebody to explain it to them. You know, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Peace on earth. What is peace on earth? Does this mean that we finally are going to, you know, end the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians? You know, are the Russians and the Ukrainians all just kind of like, you know, having like a Christmas thing tonight where they join hands and, you know, they put down their weapons and just drink hot cocoa or something? You know, the prophecy here for peace on earth, this is not the absence of physical warfare on the planet. The actual peace on earth is actually in our hearts. We have peace as Christians. You see, another theme that we're going to see over and over again is that all these wonderful promises of God, you only have access to them by believing in Jesus. You know, Christ came to bless the whole world but you don't get any blessings if you don't believe in Jesus. You don't get any presents, my friend. You get a lump of coal except this lump of coal is on fire. All right? It's worse than the lump of coal that Santa supposedly gives you. This one's on fire and it's on your head. Okay, so you get nothing unless you're saved and if you're a Jew, you get double nothing and two lumps of coal. And it's even hotter than for most people because unto whom much is given of him shall much be required. That's what the Bible says. And so what we see here is that, you know, peace on earth, it's talking about how we as God's people, we that are saved, we have the peace that passes all understanding. The peace that passes all understanding keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through Christ Jesus, by Christ Jesus we have peace. But there's no peace, sayeth my God, to the wicked. Right? Why is there always going to be warfare in this world? Because there's no peace to the wicked. But the whole world could be coming down around us. We that are saved, born again Christians, we have peace like a river in our hearts, spiritually. Peace on earth. And then I love this next statement, good will toward men. Good will toward men. You know, we only have access to the blessings by believing in Jesus. We only really have peace in our hearts by believing in Jesus. We only have a promise of safety and security and deliverance by believing in Jesus. But God does have good will toward all men in general, in the sense that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. The Father sent the son to be the savior of the world. You see, God's up in heaven tonight and he has good will and benevolence and love toward the world in general. Not just toward the saved, but toward the world in general. He's reaching out his hand tonight and inviting people to be saved, saying whosoever will may come. God did not just only love certain people. God did not just only love the people who would get saved. The Bible says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The only people who get everlasting life are the ones that believe in him, but he loved everybody. He loved everybody. He died for everybody. He made it available for everybody because he has good will toward men in general. Of course, the modern versions change this Bible verse, this wonderful Bible verse. Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will toward men. I mean, these slogans are everywhere around Christmas time. Good will toward men. But yet, in the modern versions, versions like the NIV, ESV, I don't have those pieces of junk in front of me right now. But these messed up perversions of the Bible, they say something along the lines of, well, good will toward men with whom God is pleased. You know, so instead of this being a universal expression of just good will toward all mankind, because remember, what did it just say a few verses up? This is good news, great tidings of joy, which shall be to all people. Hey, it's good news to you, whether you're in Africa or China or Europe. It's good news that Christ died for you. Well, you know, in the Calvinist version, the ESV, you know, it's good will toward those with whom God is pleased. I mean, it's good will toward everybody. He loved everybody. Now, you have to obviously receive that love. You have to receive the love of the truth. You have to receive Christ as your savior. But the invitation is there for you to be saved, no matter who you are. Peace on earth, good will to men. Let's go to the next announcement, the third and final announcement we're going to go over tonight. Now, I don't want to preach long tonight, because it's been, you know, we've already had the morning service, the cookie bake-off. And I, you know, I just appreciate having a packed house on Sunday night, church, on Christmas Eve, because a lot of people, they say, hey, you know, this is family time. Christmas is about family. No, Christmas is about Jesus. Last time I checked, we were celebrating the birth of Jesus, not the founding of your family. Let's do that on your wedding anniversary or on your, you know, firstborn son's birthday or something. And I'm glad that we have a church that people are showing up on Christmas Eve to worship Christ and keep it about Jesus. And they, you know, they can do the family stuff tomorrow on Monday. Men and tonight, do whatever you want after the service is over. But the third announcement is by a man named Simeon. This is after baby Jesus is born. And his parents take him to the temple. And of course, the Bible is very careful when it talks. It does call them his parents in general because they're raising him. But it's always very careful not to call Joseph Jesus' father. It'll say like Joseph and his mother, if you're reading a King James. Or it'll say, you know, Joseph, who as being supposed was the father of Jesus. You know, it always puts in some caveat not to call Joseph Jesus' father. But of course, Joseph and his mother bring him down to the temple and they circumcised Jesus on the eighth day. And Mary brings the offering in verse 24 of two turtle doves or two young pigeons, which proves that she was a poor person because that's the poor man's offering according to the book of Leviticus. And so his parents are of humble means. They didn't bring the standard offering. They brought the poor man offering that if you can't afford the other one. So they did the cheaper package. Not only that, of course, there's no room in the inn. And so Jesus is born and laid in a manger. He's literally born in a barn. I've always been offended when people say, hey, were you born in a barn? If they leave the door open because I'm thinking, hey, Jesus was born in a barn. But anyway, you know, Jesus is born in the stable, laid in the manger. The manger is where they feed the animals. It's like a feed trough that animals would eat out of. So they, you know, put the hay in the manger. They lay down, make a little bed for talk about a humble baby. He's the Lord of the of the earth. He's the creator of the universe. He's born and laid in a manger. OK. And then when his parents go to bring the offering of the Lord, they bring the poor man's offering of two turtle doves or two young pigeons. And of course, Jesus circumcised on the eighth day. Mary is purified, according to the law, after giving birth. Of course, if you have the modern versions, this is all different. Joseph is called Jesus's father. And instead of just Mary being purified, Mary, Mary and Jesus both get a sin offering, you know, as if Jesus needs a, you know, purification or a sin offer. He is the offering. But anyway, I digress. Let's get to the announcement by Simeon. Simeon is a guy in Jerusalem. Look at verse twenty five. And he was a just and devout man waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child, Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took him up in his arms and blessed God and said. So basically, this random guy just comes up and just picks up baby Jesus and swoops him up and says, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. What a powerful statement. Looking at baby Jesus, he says, I've seen God's salvation. Salvation is Jesus. Jesus is how we are saved. So funny when you ask people, how do you know you're going to heaven or what do you believe it takes to go to heaven when sometimes they claim to be a Christian? They don't even mention Jesus. Oh, I'm a good person. I keep the commandments. You live a pretty good life. I've been baptized. You know, I go to church. You know, it's all I did this. I did that. I rescue animals. I'm a good person. It's never like, you know, hey, Jesus died for my. That's when they're saved. Then they'll say something like, well, I'm going to heaven because Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I'm going to heaven because I'm a believer in Jesus and I put my faith and trust in Jesus. Right. But the unsaved people, they don't even someone mentioned Jesus. It's just all about keeping commandments, keeping the law of God, doing good works and so forth. But no, this guy gets it. He's looking at baby Jesus and saying, I'm looking at salvation. Mine eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord, which thou has prepared before the face of look at the end of verse 31. All people. I mean, look, this is being hammered in these early chapters of Luke one that salvation is for the whole world. It's not just for Israel. It's for all people. It's everybody starts out with Zechariah talking about Israel, and then he keeps broadening it to the whole world. And it's going to lighten the Gentiles and so forth. He says, which thou has prepared before the face of all people. Verse 31, verse 32, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people, Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of them. And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary, his mother, Hail Mary. Oh, Mary, will you please intercede with me to baby Jesus? No, he didn't say that because Mary is just an ordinary person. She's human. She's not God. She's not deity. She's not a mediatrix. There's one mediator between God and men, and that is the man Christ Jesus. But no, here's what he said to Mary. He said, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. The thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. So we see that Simeon has praised Jesus Christ as being the salvation of the Lord. Right? Just in bodily form, this is salvation, Christ incarnate. A light to light in the Gentiles, right? It's going to be for the whole world, all people. And then he specifically says to Mary, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against. So he's already predicting that in Israel, not everybody's going to get on board, not everybody's going to receive Christ. Many people are going to reject the Lord Jesus Christ. And many people are going to speak against Jesus. And he's going to be a divisive character because he will set a household of five people, two against three and three against two because truth is going to divide. And then he says this statement here, Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also. Now what does that mean? A soul shall pierce through thine own soul also. Well, there are a couple of different options here because the word soul often is used just to refer to the person in general, right? Often throughout the Bible, the soul is just the person. Okay. And so a sword piercing through thine own soul also could just be saying you personally are going to be pierced through with a sword. Like because people are going to speak against Jesus, because of their negativity toward Jesus, you are actually going to be killed, right? That's one possible interpretation here. And I would say that that is the most likely interpretation because there are a lot of prophecies about certain key followers of Christ and apostles that are going to be martyred. And so that's very likely, but we don't really know because another interpretation would be a looser, more metaphorical interpretation that just says, you know, a sword is going to pierce her soul, not meaning self, but soul as in her heart. Like she's going to be heartbroken and oh, it's kind of like a dagger in her heart, you know, seeing her son dying on the cross, right? Just humanly speaking as a mother, we know that Jesus's mother is going to be standing at the cross because Jesus talks to his mother while he's on the cross. And so she's going to be there and you could say metaphorically a sword is piercing her soul, right? Or she literally got killed by a sword, right? So who thinks it's the literal sword? Who leads toward the literal sword? Who says, no, no, no, she's just really sad watching her son. And then we have like more than half people not voting. All right. But we don't care because it's not, we don't base our doctrine on democracy anyway. Anyway, I don't think there really is a clear answer to this. I don't think we really know exactly what this means, but I will, I will promise you one thing. Mary died. Mary's dead. Now that might kind of go without saying, but you know, you know, she died and you know that she's a sinner, but she was saved by believing in Jesus. And that's why she called Jesus her savior. And, uh, Luke chapter one, she calls Jesus her savior because she needed to be saved from her sins because she is a human being and she was a good person, but she's not divinity. She's not perfect. She died. But the Catholic church came out in the 20th century and said, well, uh, they came out with a new doctrine in the 20th century that said, you know, she ascended to heaven, you know, like she didn't die. Cause I guess they thought about like, wait a minute, if Mary's sinless, what's she going to, you know, she can't die. So then the Pope issued some pronouncement and like, I don't know, was it 1950 or something? He spoke ex bathroom or whatever. What's it called? Ex cathedra, ex, uh, lavatorio or whatever. He spoke, he spoke ex porta potty and said, uh, that, Hey, you know, Maria ascended up to heaven. What a bogus doctrine. That's not in the Bible. There's nothing even to allude to that. But, uh, the Bible says here, a sword will pierce through thine own soul also. And then this last statement is significant that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed, right? Because many people are going to be exposed what they're really are, you know, because Christ is going to come and he's going to shine the light of the gospel. And those people who are sincere, who are truly looking for the Messiah, who truly believe on the Lord, who truly believe on the word of God, who are really lovers of truth, they're going to embrace Christ as their savior. And they're going to be revealed for the truth loving individuals that they are, the sincere individuals that they are, who truly want to know God and love God. Of course, they're going to embrace Jesus Christ, the true savior, God in the flesh, the son of God, right? But then also it's going to expose people like the Pharisees and the Sadducees who are outwardly very religious, but they're whited sepulchers. They don't really love God. They don't really want the Messiah. They're not really lovers of truth or seekers of truth. No, they are whited sepulchers, wolves in sheep clothing, and Jesus is going to expose them to. Today we see what they really are, don't we? We see today those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, those who are actual lovers of truth, and those who love lies who are part of the synagogue of Satan. And so many thoughts of many hearts in Israel were revealed and also all throughout the world as the gospel has gone around the world. And so in closing, I just want to say of these three announcements that the things that they emphasize are that Christ's ministry is first and foremost to save the soul, remission of sins, redeeming people, number one. Number two, it's not just for Israel. It's for the entire world. It's for everybody in the whole world. And boy, has that prophecy been fulfilled, you know, because when the Book of Luke was written in the first century A.D., Christianity is just getting off the ground. You know, you fast forward just a few decades and a few centuries, it's all over the world. Fast forward to 2023, 2023 years since what? Since the birth of Jesus. And now the earth is truly filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And we see also that there's a division brought about by the coming of Christ because it divides between two types of people, saved and unsaved. Those who believe and those who do not believe, right? Not talking about Santa now, right? Because that's what the world has kind of turned it into just believe in general. Just this kind of vague click your heels together and believe. But rather, it's about believing in the person, Jesus, right? Believing in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He brings salvation. Peace on earth. Amen. It's been fulfilled in the hearts of every believer in Christ. We have the fruit of the spirit, which is peace. And so we can have peace. We have joy. And we have safety, security, and blessings through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Spiritual salvation, yes. Also a better life on this earth right now. The whole world can be coming down around us. We have joy unspeakable and full of glory. And so I hope that you enjoy whatever celebrations you do tonight, tomorrow, and be meditating upon the Savior, Jesus Christ. And when you see that decoration that says believe, you know, understand what you need to believe, right? And when you see peace on earth, think about how it's the peace in the heart of God's people who believe in him. And when you see good will toward men, realize that God wants all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you for the gift of eternal life. And we thank you for sending your son to be the Savior of the world. Lord God, I pray that tonight and every night we would love you and worship you and honor you and adore you. And that you would be in all of our thoughts, Lord, as we enjoy family and friends. But first and foremost, we realize that you are the one who makes every good thing in our life possible. And all good gifts, every good gift and every perfect gift ultimately comes from you. And so as we receive gifts from friends, family, loved ones, brothers and sisters in Christ, help us to realize that we should ultimately be thankful to you for every good thing that we have. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.