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take the three simple steps that make His leading effective. These three steps are: reading the Word, believing the Word, and acting upon what the Word says. This last requirement is the decisive step (cf. John 7:17). When the parents of the child Jesus brought Him into the temple, Simeon at once knew he was face to face with the Lord’s Christ. “Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God” (v. 28). Simeon then was ready to leave earth’s scenes, and he could depart in peace (v. 29). As he came to the end o f life, his fellowship with God rendered the darkness full o f light, and his intimacy with God made the step from one world into the other only a matter for rejoicing; The reason he gave for his gladness was this: “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” Simeon had seen the child Jesus, and in that Child had recognized the salvation o f the Lord. Salvation is not merely a matter o f getting, into heaven, nor of es caping hell; it is not simply increasing in goodness and holiness, although salvation certainly includes all these things and more. But salvation is a Person, and that One the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Gen. 3:15; Ex. 15:2 ; Psa. 27:1; Isa. 49:6; John 1:12; 1 John 5:11, 12). II. T he P rophecy by S imeon (31-35). Simeon first revealed the far future by saying that this Child, the salvation o f the Lord, was prepared before the face of all peoples (v. 31). He would be also a “light to lighten the Gentiles” (or, “ for revela tion to the Gentiles,” R. V .). The Gentiles awajt the day when Israel will have been brought back to God, and when the Lord Jesus will have become, in actuality, “the glory of thy people Israel” (v. 32). The turmoil and unrest among the nations, and the gathering clouds and darkness over the world, would indicate that the day is not far distant when this prophecy of Simeon’s will see fulfillment. Joseph and Mary were amazed (v. 33), and Simeon thereupon gave them a direct word (vs. 34, 35). He blessed them, but he directed his words to Mary. He told her o f the immediate future, when the coming of Jesus into the world would be “ for a sign which shall be spoken against.” And in the process o f this fulfillment, a “ sword” would enter Mary’s heart. Prob ably the figure referred to the time when Mary would see her first-born son, the Lord Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross of Calvary. But Simeon told Mary also that that very event would be the revelation o f many hearts; it would show the peo ple’s settled and obstinate rebellion against God and His Christ. III. T he B oy J esus of N azareth (40). The picture here is of a normal child, growing as other children grow. As a child, Jesus was growing physically, men tally, and spirituals. There probably was nothing peculiar or strange in the outward appearance of Jesus as a boy. He was brought up in Nazareth, a city notorious for its viciousness and wickedness. Hence, the Lord Jesus knows the difficulties that beset the path of any boy who would please God, and He can sympathize with every one, wherever his lot may be cast. The vice and sin of Nazareth passed over Jesus as water runs off a solid rock, and left Him unmarked. During all His days on earth, Jesus Christ was “without sin.” He was always pleasing to the Father in
heaven, even as a boy living in the midst of terrible iniquity. His spirit was in touch with God. Points and Problems 1 . “Just and devoutt" (v. 25). These two words convey two distinct ideas in the original language. The first should be translated “righteous," and the second might be rendered “ G o d - f e a r i n g The word “righteous” describes Simeon’s at titude toward God’s law—not that he was sinless, but that when he broke the law, he brought the offering it required as an atonement. The word “devout” describes Simeon’s attitude toward God Himself. The opposites of these two words are “unrighteousness” and “ungodliness.” The unrighteous man is against God’s law ; the ungodly man is against God. The righteous man does what is right, but the godly man does what is right, and does it for the glory o f God. 2. “Waiting for the consolation of Israel” (v. 25). The word very beauti fully describes the Messianic relation of the newborn Babe: He would bring to Israel “beauty for ashes” and “the oil of joy for mourning” (Isa. 61:3). It is in teresting to note that the word "consola tion" in the Greek is only a slightly dif ferent form o f the same word as that used by our Lord when He said: “ I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter" (John 14:16). 3. “ The Lord’s Christ" ( v. 26) is the name given to the Child which Simeon held in his arms. If the reader will com pare Luke 1 :43 where Elisabeth speaks of Mary as “the mother of my Lord " strong proof of the diety o f Christ will be found. In 2:26 the name “ Lord” certainly refers to God, for to say that Jesus is “the Lord’s Christ” is the same as saying that He is “ God’s Christ.” Yet in the other passage ( 1 :43), exactly the same name is applied to Jesus H imself: He is “my Lord,” de clares the mother of John. 4. According to the Law, Mary and Joseph brought the Child to the temple “to present him to the Lord” (vs. 22, 27). Romans 12:1 uses the same word in ex horting the believer to “present’ the body to God. To present ourselves thus to God is to relinquish without reservation every personal claim we have ever made for a self-owned and self-directed life. Golden Text Illustration Willis Hotchkiss, the missionary to Africa, during his recent furlough, spoke about the difficulty o f the work of Christ where the language has not been reduced to writing. He said: “There was one word that took me two and a half years o f per sistent effort to find, one little word—the word ‘Saviour.’ I shall never forget the thrill o f joy that came to me when I dis covered the key. My head man was telling a story as we sat around the camp fire. He was telling of how he had rescued a brother missionary of mine from the attack of a lion. He went through the whole story without using the word I thought he might use, and which I could construe to be the one for which I was longing. I was about to turn away sick at heart when he re marked casually, in his own language, ‘The master was saved by Bachovi.’ “ I could have shouted for joy. I said, ‘Bachovi, this is the word I have been wanting you to give me for a long time, because I wanted to tell you that Jesus, the Son of God, died for you.’ “I can see the black face now as it
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