Sermon Tone Analysis

Seeing the outcome before the outcome.

luke 2:22-

It may surprise you to learn that I am not the most patient of people.

Some of the things that I am involved in at work are long running change projects across multiple business units, with tens of senior managers all of whom know much more about their individual areas than I ever will and 100s of people of people who work for them.

I am working with them on what will probably be a two-three year journey.

I know it is going to take time to achieve and yet I am still impatient and want to get things moving.

The people around me are keen to see things happen to and are often asking how things are going, when will this happen, how long will something take depending on the mood I’m in and who it is I’m talking to, my answer varies from "In a little while", to "Sometime soon", to "Sometime before I retire" or on occasion just a outpouring of my frustration and a revealing of what some may see my impatient attitude.

Of course I like to think of it as being committed and driven to see improvement.

I fear though that the impatient tag may be truer.

d depending on the mood I’m in and who it is I’m talking to, my answer varies from "In a little while", to "Sometime soon", to "Sometime before I retire".

You might gather from the last answer that there are times when I don’t want to think about it because it feels like it’s going to take so long.

In this age of instant gratification we don’t like having to wait, do we?

We get very impatient with the sort of planning process you have to go through for any large project.

We get annoyed when decision makers take longer than we want to make their decisions.

We live in a time of instant gratification we don’t like having to wait, do we?

We get very impatient with the sort of planning process you have to go through for any large project.

We get annoyed when decision makers take longer than we want to make their decisions.

We get frustrated that the kettle takes so long to boil, the post doesn’t arrive until after lunch time, the internet page takes more then 1/2 a second to load and God hasn’t answered the prayers I said in under 30 seconds this morning.

It is increasingly troublesome to our minds the God just doesn’t seem to keep pace with our desires and demands (by which of course I mean prayers.

I want to look at a passage today from Luke. that I think can teach us much about how God delivers despite our impatience.

It points to the answer to what I believe is a common question asked by christians today.

Can we trust the Word of God even when he does not seem to meet my timescales?

Can we trust in Him when all the odds seem stacked against it?

I believe we can and should, God and His Word are the only unchanging truth in all that changes around us.

I believe that God is a faithful and powerful to day as ever, but we have started to measure God by the standards of today, the timespans, the attention spans rather than recognising that God is God of time and eternity.

He controls time and not time dictates to God.

We read in

We have to.

His Word is the only unchanging truth in all that changes around us.

ESV “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

God acted in the FULLNESS of time, the words used in the Greek convey the meaning of an exact place in time.

– the right time, the perfect time, at precisely the moment God wants it to be.

Nothing was delayed noting happened too soon.

Historians tell us this TIME was good because:

I think we can learn a great deal about how we are to rely of Gods promises from the passage in and how we are to be as we wait for Gods perfect timing.

The Roman Empire brought about peace to the entire region and established a road system that facilitated travel throughout the land.

The passage is from the take end of the story of Jesus birth.

The Gospel message would be able to reach the farthest lands.

The Greek civilisation provided a trading language which was adopted as the common language of the empire, so making it possible to communicate the Gospel to all the different people groups in one common language.

In this FULLNESS of time, two believers of God met Christ in the Temple.

ON SCREEN

• God fulfils His promises in His own way and at His own time.

• ESV “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

• In the FULLNESS of time – the right time, the perfect time, at precisely the moment God wants it to be.

Nothing was delayed.

God fulfils His promises in His own way and at His own time.

Historians tell us this TIME was good because:

• The Roman Empire brought about peace to the entire region and established a road system that facilitated travel throughout the land.

• The Gospel message would be able to reach the farthest lands.

God acted in the FULLNESS of time, the words used in the Greek convey the meaning of an exact place in time.

– the right time, the perfect time, at precisely the moment God wants it to be.

Nothing was delayed noting happened too soon.

• The Greek civilization provided a trading language which was adopted as the lingua franca of the empire, so making it possible to communicate the Gospel to all the different people groups in one common language.

In this FULLNESS of time, two devout believers of God met Christ in the Temple.

Historians tell us this TIME was good because:

The Roman Empire brought about peace to the entire region and established a road system that facilitated travel throughout the land.

The Gospel message would be able to reach the farthest lands.

The Greek civilisation provided a trading language which was adopted as the common language of the empire, so making it possible to communicate the Gospel to all the different people groups in one common language.

In this FULLNESS of time, two believers of God met Christ in the Temple.

Simeon

Simon was a man that could see beyond today’s situation

Simeon was waiting for the “comfort of Israel” promised in and he was certain it would come.

His confidence in this was from two places:

The promises of God in scripture : Most of Simeon’s prophesying is a weaving of passages; he was clearly a man who – like most devout Jews – had saturated himself in the Word.

Gods promises can come from scripture: Most of Simeon’s prophesying is a weaving of passages; he was clearly a man who – like most devout Jews – had saturated himself in the Word.

God’s Promises through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit revealed he would not die until he saw the Messiah.

2. The Holy Spirit revealed he would not die until he saw the Messiah.

Those two sources of God’s promises are as reliable to day as 2000 years ago.

The scriptures and the the Holy Spirit still convey amongst other things the promises of God and reveal the plans that God has for us.

Simeon was a man who could see the outcome before the outcome arrived and he was led by the Holy spirit to act according to the outcome and not the situation

THIS IS WHERE YOU GOT TO.

show us things?

I believe so – but we should not expect others to put faith in what the Holy Spirit might show us & recognize our fallibility.

Some people try to bully others by claiming to be led by God, a vison, etc.

5.

He also sense he had completed what God had for him.

We can have that, too.

6.

Waiting

The Holy Spirit reveals

Both of them – Simeon and Anna – were clearly led by God.

It was quite miraculously.

• 2:25b-27 “…the Holy Spirit was upon him.

26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.”

• The word SPIRIT came up 3 times in 3 verses.

The Spirit of God led him into the Temple at the right time and to recognise the child Jesus.

Luke continues the emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the devout.

• 1:15 John the Baptist “will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.”

• 1:35 Angel to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”

• 1:41 “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”

• 1:67 “His father Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied…”

Simeon and Anna are part of this unfolding work of God’s Spirit in the lives of the devout.

Revelas

He was specifically LED by the Spirit to approach the baby Jesus.

2. The Holy Spirit revealed he would not die until he saw the Messiah.

The reality of the day was that this was a helpless six week old baby born to insignificant parents.

3. Can the Holy Spirit show us things?

I believe so – but we should not expect others to put faith in what the Holy Spirit might show us & recognize our fallibility.

Some people try to bully others by claiming to be led by God, a vison, etc.

4. Simeon was ready to die in peace – a privilege all believers have.