Well during this time of year we all have, of course, very busy schedules. And many times there are various different emotions and challenges trying to get family together, trying to get everyone on the same page as far as the schedule and as far as the celebration of the season, and it's not always easy keeping those schedules and getting folks together. I heard about one couple. They were very discouraged that they could not get their children together for the Christmas season. They had been married for 50 years, and the wife especially was saddened that she could not see her children on Christmas day.

And so her husband called his oldest son and he said, "Son, I don't know how to break this to you." He said, "Mom and I have had 50 years together; but enough is enough, we're going to get a divorce." And his son couldn't believe what he was hearing, and his son said, "Wait, Dad, don't do anything." He said, "I'll call you back."

And he called his sister and he said, "Mom and Dad are going to get a divorce." She said, "No way, they can't get a divorce. We've got to do something about that." And the son called his dad back, he said, "Dad, don't do a thing." He said, "My sister and I, we're going to fly out there for Christmas. We want to talk with you and Mom about this. Don't do anything till we get there."

The dad hung up the phone, he went in to his wife, he said, "Sweetheart, the kids are coming home for Christmas and they're paying their own way." Now that guy had a pretty good plan, I thought, really. Maybe a little fib along the way there.

But this morning we're going to see a man who really had nobody. He lived alone and served in the temple. He was, perhaps, a widower. He was a man who did not wait and wait and wait for his family to visit him; but he was waiting and waiting and waiting for the day when a young couple would come with the Messiah into the temple.

This man Simeon was a man who knew about the challenges and the brevity of life, and yet with all of the challenges of life and with a keen awareness of the brevity of life, this man lived with something that we often find evading us, and that is an inner peace. He was a man who knew what it was to walk with God. And as we see at the beginning of this particular chapter of the Bible, Mary and Joseph, of course, have seen the babe, Jesus, as he was born, as he was laid in the manger. We find in the early portions of this chapter also that Jesus is now brought Jerusalem, the Bible says in verse 22, to present him to the Lord. And the Bible says in verse 24 that they would offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord – a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.

And so, it was that they came eight days after the birth of Jesus, as Jewish parents faithfully did, to the city of Jerusalem. And the Bible tells us that as they were there at the steps of this old city, not many miles, just a few miles from Bethlehem where Jesus had been born, they now come to these steps sometimes referred to as the teaching steps. These steps were the southern steps of the temple mount, and theses steps also led to what was known as the Huldah Gates which were the primary entrance to the temple at the time of Jesus Christ. This particular part of the temple entrance was really the common man's entrance. It was here where they had several dozen of the baths where someone could literally cleanse themselves prior to going up into the temple. It was in those particular baths where it is believed that 3,000 people were baptized on the day of Pentecost after Peter preached, and it was in this place where the Lord Jesus was brought by Joseph and Mary.

Some time ago, Terrie and I were there visiting in Jerusalem, and we stood on those steps and we did some Bible studies together and just tried to envision in our mind as we opened Luke chapter 2, and we tried to envision the Lord Jesus as he was brought by his parents from Bethlehem a few miles away, and up through the valley and then up these steps, and what it must have felt like for Joseph and Mary, because they knew what they had heard from Gabriel, and they knew how the rejoicing from heaven had taken place. And they knew who Jesus was, but perhaps they wondered, "Will anybody else know?"

And on this day they will meet a man named Simeon, who upon seeing the Lord Jesus Christ immediately knew that this was the Son of God indeed. Mary and Joseph would meet Simeon, and here Simeon would have the fulfillment of the promise of God to him. And I want to say by way of introduction this morning that we who have been the recipients of many promises of God, including the second coming of Jesus Christ, need to take note this morning that God always keeps his word. And as he came the first time, he will come the second time.

Would you notice with me in this passage this morning the revelation of Christ? We see Christ revealed to Simeon. The Bible says in verse 25, "And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him."

You know, the Christmas story is wonderful for many reasons. One of the reasons to me is that it is a story of many common people. It is a story of carpenters and shepherds, and it is the story of people like Anna and Simeon, elderly, people who were simple servants in the temple, but they had great faith in God. They trusted in the Bible. They believed in the promises of God.

What do we know about this man Simeon? Let's just take a moment to study him this morning. We know, first of all, that he was a just man. His character was of such a nature that it produced a peacefulness in his life. There was no paranoia in this man. There was no anxiety in this man. This was a man who was just. And because he was just, and because he trusted in God, he is seen in the Bible as a man of great peace.

Often the presence of anxiety is a reflection of the presence of some other condition which is displeasing to God – perhaps a lack of faith, perhaps something of this nature. But here is a man who was a man full of the peace of God. We see the Bible tells us concerning the characteristics of Simeon that he was just, meaning he was righteous, he was devout, meaning he was pious. He was not a perfect man; there's no perfect man save the Lord Jesus himself. But this was a man who walked with God. This was a man who was serious about his faith.

Are you serious about your faith this morning? Perhaps this is something you should ponder the next few weeks before the new year comes, that 2019 would be a year when you get serious about your walk with God, your time with the Lord, your time in his word, your time in his house.

This was a man who was just and devout. We see the consolation of Simeon. The Bible says he was waiting for the consolation. The word "consolation" means solace, and in this context it means a messianic hope. He was waiting for the Messiah to come. This just man was waiting for the day that Jesus would come.

It doesn't only say that Simeon believed that the Messiah would come, it says that he was waiting for the Messiah to come. You see, it's one thing to believe that Jesus is coming, it's another thing to live your life as though he was coming. Let me say that again. It's one thing to believe on paper that Jesus is coming, every Baptist church believes that. It's another thing to live your life as though he could come today.

Simeon was waiting for the consolation. He was living his life with the expectancy of the consolation of Jesus Christ. And I believe that expectancy changes the way we live. It changes our priorities. It makes certain things less important. There is good, better, and best, and Simeon was doing the best in the light of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, we see his character and his consolation. But I want you to see also his companion. Notice, if you would, in verse 25 the Bible says here in this passage, the last part of the verse, "and the Holy Ghost was upon him." The Holy Ghost was upon him. What a companion.

You know, the Bible says that if you've been saved or born again, then there's been a moment in your life when the Holy Spirit took up residence in you. Every one of us today who are saved have the Holy Spirit of God living in us. Every Christian is a person that has possessed the Holy Spirit. He has possession, he has relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Now not every Christian is possessed of the Holy Spirit or controlled by the Holy Spirit, but every Christian has the Holy Spirit. What I'm saying here is that we all have the potential to be like Simeon, because the Holy Ghost was upon him. And if you're saved, the Holy Ghost is upon you. In other words, he wants to guide you just like he was guiding Simeon.

I don't know about you, but when I see men and women who've lived their whole life and they're getting up into years and they're still walking with God, I often say, "Lord, help me to finish like that. Help me to be like Simeon. I don't want my children to say, 'Dad used to be a great Christian. He once was a great pastor. He really used to give.'" I want to be like Simeon who finishes well, you see.

And here we see a man that was a just man, and he's walking in the Spirit. And nobody finishes well unless they listen to God's Spirit as he prompts them. It may be to prompt you to forgive, or to be faithful, or whatever. But we see that Simeon was a man who had the Holy Ghost upon his life. And the Bible says in John 16:13, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." In other words, the Holy Spirit wants to guide us into the truth.

And we have this picture here of Simeon walking and serving in the temple. And perhaps he helped with removing the sacrificial aspects of perhaps the remaining portions of the sacrifice, or perhaps he assisted the priests in cleaning, or perhaps he set up portions of the altar. I don't know exactly what Simeon did, but I know that as he did it, he did it in the Spirit, and the Lord was with him, and he walked with God. And he was a man that just simply tried to trust and obey, because he knew there was no other way to be happy in the Lord than to simply walk with the Lord. He was a just man.

The Holy Spirit never leads anyone to look at himself and his own accomplishments, but only and always at Jesus and his work. And this was the kind of man Simeon was. He was a just man, but he was also a very perceptive man. And I want you to notice this in verse 26, the Bible says, "And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ."

Now sometimes we talk about the word "revelation," the doctrine of the revelation of God, and we often discern the authenticity of a message by the source of the revelation. So when we think of revelation we want to know where did this come from. And we see in the case of Simeon that his message and his life is validated by the fact that it was not his own message that he spoke or followed; for the Bible tells us clearly that it was revealed. This expectancy of Jesus was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost.

Now sometimes we all struggle with discernment, and the Bible tells us when it comes to different religions to try the spirits to see whether they be of God. The Bible tells us that we should be very perceptive and discerning with respect to what we follow and what we believe. And sometimes it's difficult even at Christmas. I know for many of us men, it's been hard to be perceptive about basic things like, "What do you buy your wife for Christmas?" We need discernment for those things.

One man said to his wife the other day, "You know what I hate? The commercialization of Christmas. There's just too much emphasis on buying gifts." His wife looked at him and said, "You don't have a clue what to get me this year, do you?" Sometimes perception is difficult in many areas of life.

So how did Simeon perceive that Jesus was coming? Listen, how is it that some people seem to have a leading and a knowledge and a discernment, while others are just going on their merry way not even realizing really what they're doing? Why is it that some people live with the God-centeredness and others are just kind of just flailing out a day after a day with no real direction?

Well, he perceived by revelation. The Holy Ghost was revealing this to him. The Holy Ghost was teaching him and giving him the impulse and the understanding that the Messiah would come. And the Bible tells us that if we live in the Spirit, we should walk in the Spirit. In other words, if we will walk in the Spirit, if we will yield ourselves to him, he will guide us, he will give us the leading that we need, 1 John 2:20, "But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things."

You see, God says you don't have to follow after false teachers, antichrists that are mentioned in 1 John. You have an unction, you have the Spirit. In other words, you can have discernment, too. You can make right spiritual decisions like Simeon did. This is not some kind of brain surgery here. This is not some kind of science that we can't figure out. If you want to follow God, he'll lead you. The question is, "Will you follow him?" God says, "Draw nigh to me, and I'll draw nigh to you." So he perceived by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

But can I say this to you also? I believe Simeon perceived by faith. I believe it took faith to listen to the Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Bible. It is a God-breathed book; it's a Holy Spirit-given book. It's a wonderful book, but it takes faith to believe the Bible. And we must have that faith.

The Bible says we're to walk by faith, not by sight, 2 Corinthians 5:7. God wants us to be a people of faith. In other words, it's awesome that Simeon was such a good guy, and it's awesome that the Holy Spirit revealed to him Messiah is coming. But Simeon had to believe what the Spirit of God told him, and we have to believe today like Simeon of old. Can I encourage some of you that have been saved a little while, maybe a few decades?

I remember when I first came to the church we used to have a fellowship group called the Over 40s Fellowship, and that was for all the real old people in the church, because at Lancaster Baptist back then, if you were 40 you were like – probably came in on the ark. I mean, you were ancient, you know. How many of you wish for 40 again? Come on, let's be honest about it, right? Some of us have slipped right past 40.

But I want to challenge you on the subject of faith. Beware of losing faith as you grow older. A lot of times there's a fine line between counting the cost and having wisdom and just flat not having faith. You just listen to people as they get a little older and they're talking about the stock market, and interest rates, and tax rates in this place and that place, and they're calculating, and they're calculating; and sometimes their calculations are missing this very important element of just trusting God, because if God has brought you thus far, my friend, he's not going to leave you now.

Simeon was just trusting the Lord. He was a man just walking by faith. He was a part of that faithful Jewish remnant that believed the Messiah would come. He was a perceptive man who just kept it simple. God would reveal truth, and he would just trust God. And it's important to calculate and plan, but it's more important to trust in the Lord with all your heart. And I think that's something that some of us could give to the Lord this Christmas. We could just say, "Lord, I just want to give you my heart. I want to trust you with all of my heart."

He was a just man. He was a perceptive man. I want you to notice, thirdly, he was a tender man. Would you see that in verse 27, "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, he took him up in his arms." Here was a man who was led by the Spirit. What an awesome, awesome thought. He was a tender man like the shepherds of old. Though they were hard-working men, their hearts were touched when they heard about Jesus Christ.

We live in a day when someone could be getting beaten on a sidewalk and people walk by. We live in a day when there's so many pleas for help and funds and time and, boy, just overwhelming how many emails perhaps you have received this month as well from every kind of a cause. It seems like there's giving Tuesday, and giving Wednesday, and giving Thursday, and giving Friday. There's so many pleas. And it's very easy to get to that place where we just say, "Enough," right, "I'm tired of it all." But I just want to say that Simeon was a man that just kept following the Lord. He just stayed tender to serving the Lord.

George Mueller who had 10,000 orphans at one time in England, all provided for by faith, he said this: "Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will. Whatever it may be, when one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what his will is." In other words, just keep trusting him.

And so we see the revelation of Christ was made to a man Simeon who was a tender-hearted man, who was a man just following the Holy Spirit. And God can reveal his will to you, if you will keep that tender heart, that trusting heart, that faith-filled heart; God will take care of you.

But notice, secondly, here the reception of Jesus Christ. We see Jesus in verse 27; the Bible says his parents brought in the child Jesus, and Simeon took him up in his arms and blessed God. Notice the presentation of Jesus. Notice here this wonderful picture of Simeon. You know, all Simeon ever wanted was to see Jesus. And now picture Simeon, this older, faithful man we've just described, and now he holds the Lord Jesus Christ. What an awesome moment. And may I say to you again that revival is not about an experience particularly, revival is about a person. Revival is about the Lord Jesus Christ.

My mom is one of the greatest Christians I've ever known, and very beautiful and articulate woman, and always corrected my grammar whenever she heard me preach, always proofread my books. And today with Alzheimer's she just doesn't have that memory or that capability. And for some reason my mom always taught me to file things. I just have filed and filed and filed. And I've been able to use those files, for example, sometimes if there's a wedding or a funeral at church, or just to try to remember something about someone.

And one of the things I filed was all my mom's letters. And now that she has Alzheimer's, sometimes I just go to a file in my study at home and I'll just pull out some of the letters she wrote to me, and I'll think of her just sitting there talking to me at that moment, and especially during a time like Christmas. And the other day I was reading a letter from my mom, and she wrote an amazing letter of encouragement to me several years ago. But she said this, she said, "It is wonderful that we can have the incomprehensible peace of God. But the best promise is the God of peace."

Now Simeon had the peace of God, and it's wonderful that we can have the peace of God. And her note to me was written from Philippians chapter 4 on the peace of God which passeth all understanding. It's wonderful to have the peace of God. But what my mom was saying is it's much better to have the God of peace. In fact, you can't even have the peace of God if you don't have the God of peace living in your life. And Simeon who had the peace of God now is holding the God of peace; for Jesus Christ was deity wrapped in humanity, the Son of God in his very arms.

What an amazing moment in Simeon's life. We see that he immediately, in verse 28, the Bible says, "He blessed God." This is to say he gave a eulogy of praise to the Lord. We see the presentation of Jesus.

But now notice the prayer of Simeon. What does Simeon say? And, folks, if you don't get anything, get these next two verses. Look at verse 29: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to they word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."

Simeon said, "Lord, I'm ready to depart." In other words, "I'm ready to be released." In other words, he said, "Lord, I can die now, I'm ready. I've seen my salvation." And his salvation was not seen with a priest holding a wafer, or a preacher dunking someone in the water. It was not seen in some religious act, it was seen in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the reason for the season. Jesus is our salvation.

"Mine eyes have seen my salvation." He said, "I'm ready." And no one is ready to leave this world until they have met Jesus Christ personally. Until you have received him personally as your Savior, you're not ready to die until you have received Christ as your Savior.

Oh, the Bible says in Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace. And when you meet him, and when you know him personally like Simeon did, then you can say, "Lord, now I'm ready. I'm ready to depart. Lord, I'm old, I've lived a long life. I've tried to walk by your Spirit. I've tried to do what I can at the temple. But, Lord, I couldn't live much longer; but now that I've seen you, Lord, now I'm ready to depart." What a wonderful promise.

"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, then as your Savior he has justified you, and you can have peace with God. And so, we see the revelation of Christ was made to Simeon. And we see the reception of Christ that was given by Simeon. But notice finally, if you would, the rejoicing that we have in Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 30. The Bible says here, "For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."

Now the faith of Simeon has become sight, and so he begins to praise the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we close this morning, let's just listen to his praise service. This is his moment to lead in the temple a song of praise to Jesus. And you're going to find with me, it's a missions song. It's a song about what Jesus can do for the whole world, not just for Simeon.

Notice, if you would, first he speaks of his personal salvation. He says, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Let's say that verse together, shall we? "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Now I picked the shortest verse in the chapter for you, okay, so let's try it again one more time: "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation." That's his personal testimony: "I've seen the Lord. Mine eyes have seen salvation." But it's not just salvation for Simeon, it's salvation for all who believe. Aren't you glad for that this morning?

Notice what he says there in verse 31, "which thou hast prepared before the face of all people." You see, this is a missions song. John 17:3, "that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

"Herein his love," John said, "not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins."

This was praise that Simeon gave for the Savior. And he speaks of the power of the Savior in verse 31; it's for all people, "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."

You see, there's power in the preparation of Jesus. The Bible says, "which though hast prepared before the face of all people." That is, "to make ready." God had prepared all of this plan that we call Christmas. He had prepared this incarnation. But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. This was a prepared event. It was determined by God in history past that Jesus would come in this miraculous fashion, that he would be born of a virgin, that he would be born as the Son of God. It was prepared, verse 31 tells us.

But not only the power in preparation, but there's power in illumination, because the Bible says concerning the Lord Jesus in verse 32 that, "He will lighten the Gentiles." That is to say that Jesus is the light of the world, the he would bring an understanding spiritually to the Gentile world that the Messiah had come from the city of David, and that he had come by way of Joseph and Mary by way of the Holy Spirit, and that this powerful light would shine to the entire world, and that Jesus Christ would be known in every continent; and in every place that Jesus Christ is preached, men and women, and boys and girls can see the light and they can be saved, because Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

And this is what Simeon is singing. This is the song he's singing about. He's saying, "Mine eyes have seen my salvation, and mine eyes have seen the light of the whole world. He will light the Gentiles as well." It's the power of the Savior.

And then he tells us about the price of this salvation. And notice this as we close, verse 34, "And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, '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 thy own soul also.)'"

Before he finishes the song, Simeon gives us three quick truths about who Jesus is and about what Jesus would do. First, he says of this Jesus his Savior in verse 34, "This child is set." Now if you take notes I want you to take note of the word "set." "The child is set for the fall and rising."

Acts 4:11 says, "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner." In other words, Jesus is referred to as the stone which was set; and as the stone that was set, the Bible says, he was set aside by the builders. He was rejected, if you will, by those he came to save.

And the word "stone" speaks of Jesus Christ as the chief corner stone. And the Bible tells us that he was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel. First Peter 2:7, "The stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner." So Jesus Christ in this moment that Simeon speaks is spoken of as the set stone.

He is, secondly, spoken of as a sign. The Bible speaks of this. If you would, notice in verse 34 where the Bible says, "This child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against." This was referring to the miracle of Jesus Christ's incarnation, which would be spoken against.

There would be many that would deny the virgin birth of Christ. And many do today. Many other faiths, so called, will ridicule the truth of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. And while where you work you're going to be taught about tolerance, and while many times other religions talk about tolerance, when you insist upon the biblical truth of the incarnation of God through the virgin birth of Jesus Christ tolerance often goes right out the window, because people do not tolerate the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in John 20:30, "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

Jesus Christ is God's sign to the world that he would prophesy 700 years before that Jesus would be born of a virgin, that he would be born in Bethlehem, that he would give this truth. This was the sign of Jesus Christ. But what happened? Matthew 12:24, "When the Pharisees heard it, they said, 'This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.'" In other words, they not only didn't believe Jesus was the Son of God, they said he was a devil. And so, Simeon is saying, "Mary, this stone that has been set, he's going to be set aside by the children of Israel." And this sign of this miraculous birth, this sign will be rejected by those that choose not to believe.

And notice the third thing that he says in verse 35. He says this to Mary: "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also." He says, "Mary, this is going to be hard for you. This is going to be very difficult."

And I don't think there was ever a more difficult day for a mother than when Mary stood below that cross and watched as her son, the one that we're celebrating this morning, as her son hung on that cross, and as the blood of her son, the blood that came into his body by way of the Holy Spirit, not by way of any human being, that blood began to fall from that cross, and a sword pierced her soul. And in the midst of it, Jesus looked at John the beloved disciple and he said, "Behold, thy mother. John, take care of Mary." Many believe that's exactly what he did when he took her to Ephesus and cared for her in her latter days.

John 19:25, "There stood by the cross Jesus' mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he said, 'Woman,' he said, 'behold thy son!'"

Now, some would fall because they reject Christ. And so, Simeon says, "He's my Savior. He's the light of the whole world. But for some, they'll take this stone and set him aside. For some, they'll see the sign and reject it. And, Mary, for you, this is going to be very painful." This was a song of prophecy to Mary.

God revealed his promise to a Spirit-filled man. Now I know this was the greatest promise ever given to a man that the Messiah would come. But if God revealed his promise, and if Simeon chose to hear it, then I want to encourage you this morning, if anything, turn your spiritual hearing aids on today. And during this Christmas season and during this preparation for the new year, listen to God. Open the Bible. Ask him his will for your life. Stop making every plan without thinking of him; but like Simeon, just wait on the Lord.

Over in Korea where I grew up as a teenager, sometimes the Christians would come an hour, hour-and-a-half early to church, and they would not talk about football scores and things of that nature, they would just sit and pray, and they would wait on the Lord and listen. And by the time you stood to preach they wanted to know what the Bible said, because they did not want to set the stone aside and cast the miracle aside. They wanted to know what God had to say.

God always keeps his promise. And the question this morning is this: "Are we going to focus on the wrapping paper of the event called Christmas, or are we, like Simeon, going to focus on the personal presence of God with us today?" Now I like to see people get a present, but there's a big difference between seeing a picture of Jesus or seeing the wrapping paper of a gift and actually opening the gift and receiving it for your own self personally.

I saw a little video this past week that so illustrates this; and hopefully the quality is good for you here. I want you to see someone that caught ahold of what it means to have a personal gift for their very own. Let's see this right now.

[Video played, 0:35:00 to 0:36:15]

Your Christmas will either be about boxes and paper or, "Mine eyes have seen my salvation." Jesus Christ, my personal Savior.

Simeon was a man who waited and who knew the Lord. May God help us to know him. May God help us to listen to him and to walk with him. And when you know the Lord personally, you're able to say, "I'm ready to depart, Lord, whenever you call me home, because you're more than wrapping paper, you're my personal Savior."

[End of Audio]