This Child is Set For the Rise and Fall of Many
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Text:
And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and 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 he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 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. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 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,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
Focus Verse:
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;
Scripture is broken down into three sections that we will exegete.
Verses 25-28
Verses 25-28
The Bible says that there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon who was just and devout.
He was just, he was a pious and upright man.
And he was devout meaning that he was full or reverence to God. He was dedicated to God. He frequent the temple often worshipping God.
He had a desire, he knew that at any moment the Messiah would come. His desire was after the things of God.
He wanted to see the consolation of Israel. The statement consolation of Israel means comfort or refresher. What many did not understand is that when Jesus came they were looking for comfort from Roman rule and occupation. But Jesus came for something much greater than that. He came to console us, for anybody that needs to be consoled, for anyone who is going through hard times, Jesus came to console, for anyone who use to be in the LORD but you left him, you’ve backslidden, Jesus came to be a refresher, for those who are hurting, those who are in pain whether it be physical, mental, or even spiritual, Jesus came to be a comforter! He IS THE CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL!!!
The Holy Spirit was upon him. When you are upright before God, when you are dedicated to serving God and worshipping God. I’m sorry, I know that COVID19 has changed a lot of people, and people no longer come to church like the use to, but you need to know that your blessing is in the house of the LORD! Had Simeon stayed home.....he would have missed his blessing.
While he was at the Temple, while he was a pious, upright man, that was dedicated to God, the Holy Ghost revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen the LORD’s Messiah.
The Bible then says in verse 27 that the Spirit led him to the Temple. The Bible says:
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
All you need to do is do right, live for the LORD, and the Holy Ghost will lead you and guide you, and bless you and keep you. This is what it did for Simeon, it lead him to the temple, it blessed him to see the Messiah, it kept him until he was able to see the Jesus with his own eyes. The Holy Ghost is a keeper!
Verses 29-32
Verses 29-32
The bible then states in verse 28 that Simeon takes the baby up in his arms and praised God.
He praises Him because God was faithful, he praises Him because God has kept him, he praises him because He got to witness with his very own eyes, what the prophets had foretold for thousands of years.
He praises a prayer and asks the LORD to let him die in peace now that he has seen salvation. That’s the only way to die for the believer, it is to die in peace and the only way to die in peace is for Jesus to be in your life.
Simeon said in verse 30 “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” You need to know that this is what Christmas, Christ-mas is translated Christ-worship. If you think it is about getting a bunch of presents you got it all wrong. If you think it is about a tree and a bunch of lights, and having the best Christmas decoration in the whole neighborhood....you have it all wrong!!! True Christmas is about worshipping Christ.....and for the true believer Christmas isn’t on the 25th, we WORSHIP CHRIST EVERYDAY!!!!
Why do we worship Christ, because he brought (past-tense), brings (present-tense), and will bring (future-tense) salvation. He delivered or saved me from my sins (past), he is working on me and perfecting, he saves me out of my troubles (present-tense), and in the future he will save me from death, hell, and the grave, he will save me and give me eternal life, he will resurrect me. THIS IS WHY I WORSHIP CHRIST AND I WORSHIP CHRIST BECAUSE HE CAME INTO THE WORLD TO GIVE ME SALVATION!!!
Simeon said “mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people.
The next verse is what I like. Jesus is a light to lighten the Gentiles (non-Jews) and the glory of your people Israel. Jesus is the light that shines into darkness. If you are living in dark times......LOOK TO JESUS!!!! If you are living in sin, sin represent darkness......LOOK TO JESUS!!! JESUS LIGHTS UP THE DARKNESS.....JESUS HAS THE POWER TO BRING YOU OUT OF DARKNESS.....I SAID JESUS HAS THE POWER TO BRING YOU OUT OF DARKNESS!!!!
Verses 33-35
Verses 33-35
Let’s close with this last portion of scripture:
So now the Bible says in verse 33 “And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.” Remember, I taught Wednesday night for those who came to bible-class, that some strange phenomenon has surrounded this child. Angels showing up, Mary being pregnant without having sexual intercourse with a man, an angel telling her fiancée Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary to be his wife because she has been found with child by the Holy Ghost.
Then the night that Jesus is born, Angels show up in a field singing praises and letting shepherds know that a savior is born. Now, this man who they don’t know began to start prophesying about their child.
Simeon then blesses both Mary and Joseph, and gives one final prophecy.
“Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.”
Many in Israel, would fall because of him, they would reject him, yet, many not only in Israel, but outside of Israel would rise because of Him. Is there anyone in here that can say you are one of the ones that rised because of Jesus. Because He brought you out of a horrible pit. I rised because Jesus made my life better than it was......and guess what I’m still rising. Can I tell you another thing......I’M GOING TO CONTINUE TO RISE.....UNTIL EVEN IF MY BODY GOES IN THE GROUND......ONE DAY IT’S GOING TO RISE FROM THE GROUND AND BE CAUGHT UP TO MEET JESUS IN THE AIR!!!!
All because of Jesus we can honestly say we are going somewhere!!! All the believers in the house just testify to someone and tell them “all because of Jesus I’m going somewhere”.
Simeon said that Jesus is a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And this my friends are why many reject Jesus today, because they love darkness more than they love light.
Many tomorrow will celebrate Christmas but you are celebrating it for the wrong reason. And I find it somewhat of an oxymoron if you will. Because you call yourself celebrating Christmas, and celebrating Christ, but you are celebrating the one who is going to judge you:
Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations.
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
This same baby Jesus, this same Jesus that your about to celebrate tomorrow, this same Jesus who some are giving false-worship to, how in the name of God can you celebrate a holy God but live willfully in sin? How can you celebrate Christmas and you want to get drunk and smoke weed and do all sorts of ungodly things?
The world has taken Christ out of Christmas......its just a holiday. No TV shows talk about Jesus, it’s about Santa, and if you move a couple of letters around you get “Satan”, it’s about rain-deer, it’s about romance, it’s about a Grinch, Jesus......is no where to be seen at all.
It’s commercial, the banks are profiting off a holiday that is suppose to be around the worshipping of Christ.
And this same Jesus who the world falsely celebrates or acknowledges Him once, or if they are lucky twice a year. Is coming back to judge the world.
For the believers we celebrate Christmas all the time, it’s not about the giving of gifts and the family gatherings, and the ugly Christmas sweaters.
But for the unbelievers, the sinners, the ungodly people, it should be a time to repent!
John said:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
I hate to ruin someones Christmas, but Christmas isn’t worth celebrating if you haven’t repented!!!! It’s not worth celebrating if you don’t live righteously for God.
Jesus was born, he came into the world for the purpose of the rise and fall of many. Which one are you?
