Thank God & Speak of Jesus
INTRODUCTION
A group of expectant fathers were in a waiting room, while their wives were in the process of delivering babies. A nurse came in and announced to one man that his wife had just given birth to twins. “That’s quite a coincidence” he responded, “I play for the Minnesota Twins!” A few minutes later another nurse came in and announced to another man that he was the father of triplets. “That’s amazing,” he exclaimed, “I work for the 3M company.” At that point, a third man slipped off his chair and laid down on the floor. Somebody asked him if he was feeling ill. “No,” he responded, “I happen to work for the 7-up company.”
MAJOR IDEAS
Action #1: Obey the Law ().
Action #2: Listen to the Spirit ().
The Holy Spirit’s distinctive role is to fulfill what we may call a floodlight ministry in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I remember walking to church one winter evening to preach on the words, “He will glorify me” (John 16:14), seeing the building floodlit as I turned a corner, and realizing that this was exactly the illustration my message needed. When floodlighting is well done, the floodlights are placed so that you do not see them; in fact, you are not supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained. The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief so that you can see it properly. This perfectly illustrated the Spirit’s new covenant role. He is, so to speak, the hidden floodlight shining on the Savior.
Or think of it this way. It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to Jesus who stands facing us. The Spirit’s message to us is never, “Look at me; listen to me; come to me; get to know me,” but always, “Look at him, and see his glory; listen to him and hear his word; go to him and have life; get to know him and taste his gift of joy and peace.” The Spirit, we might say, is the matchmaker, the celestial marriage broker, whose role it is to bring us and Christ together and ensure that we stay together.
Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.
Action #3: Believe in Jesus ().
Christ would cause the fall of many in Israel (verse 34). He became a stone to stumble over and a rock of offense to many proud, self-righteous Jews who would reject him and perish in their sins (see 1 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 2:16).
Christ was also to be the occasion for the “rising of many in Israel” (verse 34). When, for example, Saul who persecuted Christ was converted, there was nothing less than a rising again from the dead.
That he will also be a sign is not so obvious. The expression means that he will point to the action of God.
Through Christ “the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (verse 35). His Gospel was to bring to light the real characters of many people.
Elijah, “I am the only one left.” But God answered him, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel” (1 Kings 19:14, 18). There are more Simeons in the world than we suppose.
Simeon speaks like a person for whom the grave has lost its terrors and the world its charms.
Belief
Bullet-Proof Vests
Bob Vernon, formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, tells of how the Department would test bullet-proof vests—and demonstrate to rookie officers their value—by placing them on mannequins and then shooting round after round at them. They’d then check to see if any of the rounds penetrated the vests. Invariably the vests would pass the test with flying colors. Vernon would then turn to the rookie officers and ask, “So who wants to wear it now instead of the mannequin?”
Source unknown
Action #4: Thank God and Speak of Jesus ().
Fasting and prayer, practices which could be performed by individuals quite apart from corporate worship, point to a disciplined life.
CONCLUSION
This presentation of our Lord in the temple appears to have been the primary fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi 3:1, “suddenly the Lord … will come to his temple.” It was indeed a sudden, unostentatious coming. The only witnesses, apparently, were an old man and an old woman, and the only attendants a poor woman and her equally poor husband; and the form in which the Lord appeared was as a little infant in arms! How little we would have expected this.
he was “born under law” (Galatians 4:4). Without this he could not have fulfilled the law’s requirements. Without it he could not have been recognized as the son of David and the seed of Abraham. Let us remember, furthermore, that circumcision was absolutely necessary before our Lord could be heard as a teacher in Israel. Without it he would have had no place in any lawful Jewish assembly and no right to any Jewish ordinance. Without circumcision he would have been regarded by all Jews as nothing better than an uncircumcised Gentile and an apostate from the faith of the fathers.
“He who was above the law, would come under the law, to free us from the law” (Bishop Hall).
The “purification” contained three elements: Mary’s purification (Lev 12:6–8), which involved a sacrifice being offered at the Nicanor Gate in the court of the women; the redemption of the firstborn son (Exod 13:1–2), which involved five shekels (Num 3:47–48) and which Luke did not mention; and the consecration of the firstborn
The reference to their purification is strange. Some think Jesus is included, but it seems more likely that their refers to the same people as the following they, i.e. Joseph and Mary. If Mary was ceremonially unclean it was almost a certainty that Joseph would contract defilement and they would both need cleansing.
That Mary offered a dove as a sin offering (Lev 12:6) for her purification indicates that the mother of God’s Son also needed the forgiveness and redemption that her son brought.
The reference to their purification is strange. Some think Jesus is included, but it seems more likely that their refers to the same people as the following they, i.e. Joseph and Mary. If Mary was ceremonially unclean it was almost a certainty that Joseph would contract defilement and they would both need cleansing.
Christ would cause the fall of many in Israel (verse 34). He became a stone to stumble over and a rock of offense to many proud, self-righteous Jews who would reject him and perish in their sins (see 1 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 2:16).
Christ was also to be the occasion for the “rising of many in Israel” (verse 34). When, for example, Saul who persecuted Christ was converted, there was nothing less than a rising again from the dead.
That he will also be a sign is not so obvious. The expression means that he will point to the action of God.
Through Christ “the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (verse 35). His Gospel was to bring to light the real characters of many people.
Through Christ “the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (verse 35).
Elijah, “I am the only one left.” But God answered him, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel” (1 Kings 19:14, 18). There are more Simeons in the world than we suppose.
Simeon speaks like a person for whom the grave has lost its terrors and the world its charms.
Fasting and prayer, practices which could be performed by individuals quite apart from corporate worship, point to a disciplined life.
Root of all Evil
Q: Oswald Chambers said that the root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good. Isn’t it true that somehow we’ve got a generation of kids -- and perhaps their parents as well -- who think that God is not good, that sin is attractive, and that God is a type of kill joy?
A: I think that’s true. And that’s why, in my relationship with my own children, I have hammered home the idea that within every negative precept - every “Thou shalt not” -- there are always two positive principles. One, God gives them to protect us. And second, He gives them to provide. He’s not a cosmic killjoy who wants to take the fun out of life.
My new book has many illustrations of this. One is the story of a high school guy who wanted to go swimming with his girlfriend at midnight. The neighbors down the block had a pool, and he knew it. So they ran down there and scaled the fence even though there were No Trespassing and Do Not Enter signs. Just as he hit the diving board, the girl yelled, but it was too late. There was only a foot of water in the pool. He broke his neck, and he’s in therapy to this day. He didn’t realize that the signs on the fence - the precepts - would have protected him.
Josh McDowell, New Man, March/April 1995, p. 55
First Duty
Peter T. Forsythe was right when he said, “The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master”.
The Integrity Crisis by Warren W. Wiersbe, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 22
The Holy Spirit’s distinctive role is to fulfill what we may call a floodlight ministry in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I remember walking to church one winter evening to preach on the words, “He will glorify me” (John 16:14), seeing the building floodlit as I turned a corner, and realizing that this was exactly the illustration my message needed. When floodlighting is well done, the floodlights are placed so that you do not see them; in fact, you are not supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained. The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief so that you can see it properly. This perfectly illustrated the Spirit’s new covenant role. He is, so to speak, the hidden floodlight shining on the Savior.
Or think of it this way. It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to Jesus who stands facing us. The Spirit’s message to us is never, “Look at me; listen to me; come to me; get to know me,” but always, “Look at him, and see his glory; listen to him and hear his word; go to him and have life; get to know him and taste his gift of joy and peace.” The Spirit, we might say, is the matchmaker, the celestial marriage broker, whose role it is to bring us and Christ together and ensure that we stay together.
Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.
Belief
Bullet-Proof Vests
Bob Vernon, formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, tells of how the Department would test bullet-proof vests—and demonstrate to rookie officers their value—by placing them on mannequins and then shooting round after round at them. They’d then check to see if any of the rounds penetrated the vests. Invariably the vests would pass the test with flying colors. Vernon would then turn to the rookie officers and ask, “So who wants to wear it now instead of the mannequin?”
Source unknown