If you want God to deliver you, if you want His powerful working in your life, it will come on the heels of a season of waiting. God will not disappoint those of you who wait for Him. He will not let you be put to shame. Nobody who has ever waited for God ever in history has been let down. You will not be the first.
Waiting is an essential. even an appointed part of the Christian life. Welcome back to the Summit Life podcast with JD Greer. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry or explore ways to partner with us, visit jdgreer.com. One of our favorite things about this ministry is hearing from you.
We recently received this message from a listener. We are now missionaries in Thailand and we use your content in Canada in our life groups for many years. I've gained knowledge I use now as we work with university students in Bangkok, as we share God's love to students and young adults, and have seen many lives transformed. I mean, isn't that amazing? Share your story with us by calling 866-335-5220 or visiting the Share Your Story page at jdgreer.com.
Okay, who out there loves Christmas? I know, I know, we're not quite there yet, but sometimes I do wish that that season would come just a little quicker.
Well, today Pastor JD takes us to those first days Jesus was here on earth and tells the story of Anna and Simeon, two of the first people to meet him. Here's Pastor JD with a message he titled, The Christmas We Weren't Expecting. Joshua Bell is perhaps the world's most famous violinist. At 39 years old, he was called America's greatest classical musician. The kind that people would fill up Carnegie Hall at a minimum of $100 a ticket just to hear him play his Stradivarius violin.
In 2007, a news outlet put him up to an experiment. He was in Washington, DC for a concert, and so the day after the concert, they had him go down anonymously into the Les Font Metro station in DC, right in the middle of rush hour, his $3.5 million Stradivarius violin in hand, and he played for an hour with his hat out. To collect tips. Keep in mind, thousands of people had just paid hundreds of dollars each for a ticket to hear this guy play the night before. Over the 43 minutes that he stood there in the Les Font Metro station playing Bach and Brahms and other classical pieces, they say that no more than six people stopped and he made a grand total of $32.17 in donations, not counting one $20 tip from one person right at the very end who recognized, actually recognized who he was.
It is possible, it is possible to miss some of the greatest things in your life. because your heart is not tuned to listen for them or look for them.
Sometimes our hearts are so dull and so distracted that we don't recognize majesty even when it's right in front of us. If there were a theme for Luke's rendition of the Christmas story, I think that might be it. Luke chapter 2, if you got your Bible. We have been working our way around the Gospel of Luke for a while now. And so for the next few weeks, we're going to look at what Luke says about the very first Gospel.
Christmas. Of course, they didn't call it Christmas, but that's what it became. One of the big themes in Luke's Gospel is that the first Christmas came and went with most people totally unaware that anything at all had even happened. Have you ever gotten an unexpected or an unwanted Christmas gift? Think about it for a minute.
What is the worst? Christmas gift that you've ever received. One of our missionaries told me recently that she got a gift from one of her new friends in her new country. She opened it up. She was pretty excited.
And it was a local variety of candy, beef-flavored candy, she said. I think this is the worst Christmas gift I've ever received. I'm sure it's hard to hide your disappointment in the face of a gift like that. I remember one year, one of my relatives, the kind of, you know, that relative that you could always depend on for a good gift, you know, count on the good aunt or the good uncle. I remember opening up the gift and that year they gave me a belt.
I was sure, I'm sure it was a nice belt. I'm sure my mom had told them that I needed a belt, but still, y'all, it was a belt. I had opened the package so expectantly, so excitedly, and I literally had to fight back tears when I saw what it was. This was last year, by the way. No, no, just kidding.
I was like 10 years old. God's gift to us at Christmas was unexpected, but if you knew what you were looking for and your heart was tuned to listen to the right things and you could recognize majesty when you saw it. It wasn't disappointing. Luke chapter 2. Let's begin in verse 22.
And when the days of their purification, that is, Joseph and Mary's purification after Mary had given birth to the baby Jesus, according to the law of Moses, were finished, they brought him, that is, Jesus, up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, which was the next stage of their ritual offering process. Verse 23, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male. Will be dedicated to the Lord. Verse 24, and to offer a sacrifice according also to what is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. In Leviticus chapter 12, when it refers to the law of the Lord, it's a reference back to Leviticus 12, where God commanded each Israelite family to dedicate their firstborn to God by means of an offering.
That was because in the Exodus, God had spared the lives of all of Israel's firstborn sons if they put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost of their homes. When the angel saw the blood of the lamb, he would pass over that house and spare their son.
So when they gave birth, when Israelites in future generations gave birth to a firstborn son, they were to travel to the temple and offer a lamb to commemorate that Passover.
Now, this text says that Mary and Joseph offered two pigeons instead of a lamb, which is a very important detail to note, because that was an exception made in the law for exceptionally poor families. If a family just could not afford a lamb, the law said that instead of a lamb, they could offer two pigeons or two turtle doves or a partridge in a pear tree or whatnot. What that shows you is that Jesus was not just born middle class. He was not just born lower middle class. He was born poor.
And I want you to let that sink in for just a minute. A pastor friend of mine, Pastor Thabidi Angabuile. He asks, he says, what does it mean? What does it actually mean? that Jesus chose to be born into poverty.
Well, he says it means at least five things or one, it means that poverty by itself is not a sin. And it's not shameful in and of itself. He says, number two, it means that poverty is not a sign of God's disapproval or that you've done something wrong. He says, number three, it doesn't mean poverty does not prevent a person, he says, from worshiping God. I mean, after all, didn't God in the law make the provision for them for a poor person to still be able to offer their first and their best?
People, even when they're on hard times, can still offer the first and the best of what they have to God. Number four, he says, it means that poverty now does not necessarily doom you to poverty forever. And some of you should be encouraged by that, right? Jesus' life certainly took a turn. And then, number five, it also means he says that a cross, that poverty is a cross that God entrusts to some of us for a season.
Maybe for a lifetime. And it is possible for us to be faithful in that season.
So just listen to me. If you're poor. Or if you feel downtrodden. You should not feel second class. Jesus identified with you First.
God has a plan for you where you are. And that plan can turn out very well indeed.
So we see that Jesus was born poor. But what happens next is totally unexpected. Verse 25, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout. He'd been looking forward to Israel's consolation.
And the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. If you underline stuff in your Bible, kind of underline that, or. You know, whatever, smudge it with lipstick or prick your finger, dab it in blood, that's an important little phrase, that he would not see death before the Lord's Messiah. Guided by The Spirit, there's your second reference to the Spirit of God.
Simeon entered the temple. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him up in his arms. Praised God and said, Now, master, you can dismiss your servant in peace as you promised. For my eyes have seen your salvation. You have prepared it in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to your people, Israel.
Y'all, this is crazy, right? Mary and Joseph are simply there with hundreds of other moms and dads presenting their babies, and an old guy. A stranger, an old guy, suddenly runs up to them, grabs their baby, and starts singing. Mary and Joseph were like, hey man, I mean, respect the social distancing, please. You at least got to sanitize before you do that.
I mean, old ladies do this kind of stuff all the time, right? Pinching babies without asking permission and saying weird stuff like, oh, I could just eat you up, right? But old men typically don't do this. Which leads to another important detail in this story. Luke says it was the Spirit of God that gave Simeon this insight.
It says that three times in that little passage. All right, that's an important insight. That is the only way anybody ever accurately recognizes Jesus. The irony here In this whole story is that all of these rituals that the Israelites are going through. All the going to the temple and all the offerings and all the Passover stuff, those were all given to them to prepare them for to recognize the Messiah when he came.
The irony is that those Israelites most steeped in the rituals were the last ones in line to recognize them. And I think that there's a very important lesson here for you and for me. keeping rituals and traditions and Advent celebrations are great, but more often than not, they can keep you from seeing Jesus. I mean, think about it, right? How many of you have already started to just go through the motions this season?
Day after Thanksgiving, you bought the tree. Where you set up the tree? How many of you fake tree people out there? Just raise your hand. You're a fake tree person.
I'm a fake tree person. How many of you destroy our environment every year by cutting down a real tree? Why don't you raise your hand? No, no, I'm just kidding. Whatever.
You got the tree. You listen to the never-ending Christmas music on K-Love. You watch all of the Hallmark movies about the big city lawyer girl who comes home and falls in love with a tractor-driving high school dropout who looks like Matthew McConaughey guy. You set up your stockings and your manger seams, and even your little heretical elf on the shelf to teach your kid to be little self-righteous Pharisees. Right, maybe you're even doing some Advent readings.
Maybe you're doing the Advent blocks that we've given out to our families here at the Summit Church, but there's very little reflection. or very little wonder over. Who Jesus actually is, you. Need the Spirit of God to open your eyes to the majesty of Jesus. That's the only way that you can see it.
So let me urge you this season to pray that over yourselves and your families. Pray it for your family as you go through your Advent traditions. Pray it for those to whom you give this book, Searching for Christmas. Right, it's not a good book that's going to open their eyes to who Jesus is, it's only the Spirit of God. You and I never talk to men and women about God until we've talked to God about those men and women.
The good news, the good news for you is that this is the Spirit's mission on earth. It's why Jesus said, John 16, Jesus sent the Spirit to earth to teach people to see Jesus. But here's the catch. If you want to call it a catch, you have to ask for his help. He gives the Spirit without measure, he said, to all those.
but only those who ask for him. Verse 33, his, that is, Jesus' father and mother, were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, indeed, this child is destined. to cause the fall and the rise of many in Israel. And to be a sign that will be opposed.
And a sword is going to pierce your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. We will come back to that in just a minute. Verse 36: there was also a prophetess. named Anna, a daughter of Fanuel, of the tribe of Asher, dancer Vixen, her prants, or whatever. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage.
And there was a widow, and she, and after that, she was a widow for 84 years. She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers. at that very moment. At that very moment, she came up and began to thank God and to speak about him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Israel. All right, so what you got here is you got two people.
Two people who have something in common. They're both old. And they're both hanging around the temple waiting. longing for something. First you have Simeon, whom the text says was waiting for the consolation or comfort or the relief of Israel.
For most Jews, that referred to a, or they pointed, they thought, to political deliverance. Because for nearly 700 years, Israel had been subject to oppression by foreign powers. It had started with the exiles to Assyria and then to Babylon, but after that came subjugation to the Persians, then the Greeks, and then the Romans, under whose rule the Israelites were now. and who were probably the worst of all the oppressors. And even when the Jews were in their own homeland under self-rule, their kingdom did not have near the glory that it once had had under King David or King Solomon.
So Israel was waiting. They were waiting for consolation, for deliverance, for justice, for restoration, the promised glory. Simeon being old. represents for Luke that posture of long waiting. Then, beside him, you've got Anna, whom it tells us has been a widow for 84 years.
After being married for seven. It is safe to say, I think, We can say that no girl of 16 years old dreams about her life turning out this way. Being married for seven years and then having your husband die and then living for 84 years alone? Especially in those days. because widows usually had very little way of providing for themselves, which often meant that widows were lonely and poor and had nobody to take care of them.
I think we could say that for Luke, she represents somebody for whom life has turned out very differently than what she had expected or hoped. Hers, I think, is not so much a yearning for political deliverance. She yearns for what? For personal relief. She yearns for personal consolation and comfort.
So let me make a couple of, I think, important observations about this story. Observations that should impact you and me. Number one. Number one, waiting. is a key component of the Christian life.
Waiting is a key component of the Christian life. There is a reason. that Luke brings these two characters into the story. It is to show you that Jesus comes to those who wait. And there is a reason that both of these characters are old.
Because for Luke, that shows that they've been waiting for a long time.
Sometimes you and I talk about the Christian life as if it is instant fulfillment. Immediate answers to prayer requests. If you do A, oh, yes, God will give B. Right? And if you do A in your marriage, then your marriage is going to turn into B.
And if you do A with your kids, then your kids will turn out like B. But friend, that is just not always true. Many of you find yourself in a posture of waiting this Christmas. You're in a time that feels dark. a time of confusion, maybe you even feel abandoned.
Maybe it's a season for you of yearning and longing, a longing for something to be set right. Injustice seems to reign everywhere around you. Maybe you yourself have been the victim of that injustice. Maybe you, like Anna, are yearning for some... Need to be fulfilled.
Life just has not turned out the way that you would always expect it. Maybe it's a longing for to have your family put back together, or maybe to have a family of your own. You were hoping to be married by this Christmas and. And here we are again, entering another Christmas season, and you're still single. Maybe you're grieving the death of a child this Christmas.
Maybe you're grieving a miscarriage this year. Maybe you're still waiting on a prodigal who is yet to return home. I don't know. I don't know. And here's the thing.
You've tried everything that you know how to try. You try to do it God's way. I mean, you went and got advice, and you talked to the pastor, and you believed God, and you trusted Him, and you worked hard. And still things have just not gotten better for you. Why isn't the marriage getting better?
Why isn't the situation changing? Simeon and Anna's story show you that God sees you. God has not forgotten you, and waiting does not mean that you've done something wrong. Waiting is in fact an essential, I would even say an appointed part of the Christian life. You see, the prophet Jeremiah said in the book of Lamentations: the Lord is good to those who wait for him.
The prophet Isaiah agrees. He says, blessed are those who wait for him. And those that wait for me shall never be put to shame. If you want God to deliver you, if you want His powerful working in your life, it will come on the heels of a season of waiting. God will not disappoint those of you who wait for Him.
He will not let you be put to shame. Nobody who has ever waited for God ever in history has been let down. No one, not even one. You will not be the first. Waiting is an essential.
even an appointed part of the Christian life. And that's what we're reminded of at Christmas. I love how Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who ended up being a martyr of the Nazi regime, I love how he said it. The Advent season. The Advent season is a season of waiting.
But our whole life Our whole life kind of feels like an Advent season, he says. That is the season of waiting for the last Advent. Advent just means coming. The last coming for the time when there will be A new heaven and a new earth. Christmas reminds us that while we've got a lot to be thankful for here.
A lot of us are still waiting. In fact, we're all waiting for the second coming of Christ. We're all waiting for the new heavens and the new earth. We're all waiting for Jesus to come and make things right and for all the sad things in our lives to become untrue.
So I would just say to you this weekend, whether you've got a specific need. That you're waiting on God to do something in. Or whether it's just a yearning for heaven. Simeon and Anna show you that God has not forgotten you. The joy and the comfort of Christmas is for you.
Even if your situation is not going to change this weekend. Which leads me to number two. Number two, God's answer did not match their expectations. God's answer did not match their expectations. I think it's safe to say that neither Simeon nor Anna.
was thinking that a helpless baby Born to a dirt poor family. Was God's answer to their longing. But he was. You see what Israel thought they needed most What they thought they needed from God was different. from what they actually needed most.
What they thought they needed most was political deliverance. What they thought they needed most was a new husband or a restored fortune. But what they actually most needed was restoration with God. This, Jesus says, is eternal life. not streets of gold and not perfect health.
You want to know what eternal life is? To know God in Jesus whom he has sent. You can have that knowledge in pain as well as you can have it in health. In fact, sometimes you can have it better in pain than you can in health. Jesus said, The abundant life that I'm talking about is not a Mercedes-Benz, and it's not a 5,000-square-foot house, and it's not a second home at Hilton Head, and it's not a perfect family, it's not all the people around the table.
You want to know what the abundant life is, Jesus says. It's knowing me. And walking in the fullness and joy of your Heavenly Father. We may think that what we most need is physical health this Christmas or financial assistance or family reunion, but what we most need deep in our souls is reunion with our Heavenly Father. You see, you and I were created for God.
Whether you've ever realized that or not. Maybe I'm going to start filling in the gaps for you. in ways that are making connections maybe you've never made, maybe you've never understood, never thought of yourself as a religious person. But see, I know a secret about you. That is you're created from God.
Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher and mathematician. He famously said that the human heart has a, it's like a gigantic hole in it, a void, a vacuum, he called it. He said, we spend all of our lives trying to figure out what goes in that hole. These are when we try to romance and we turn to romance. Then, if I meet Mr.
Wright or Miss Wright, then Well, then that's going to take care of it. He said, but that hole is not filled by money. It's not filled by romantic love. It's not filled by family. It's not filled by job success.
It's not filled by prosperity or political peace. That hole is in the shape of the love of Jesus Christ. And that's why, no matter what you find in life, you're always going to feel like something is not quite there, something is still missing, because you're created not for health or prosperity, you're created for fellowship with God. You're not even created for family. You're created for fellowship with God.
That's why Saint Augustine said 1500 years ago. Our hearts are restless. until they learn to find their rest in you. Imagine a world where everyone has access to the life-changing truth of the gospel. That vision drives everything we do here at Summit Life.
From daily devotionals and a catalog of articles to Summit Life radio and podcast programs, we strive to make the gospel accessible to all. Our mission is to take people deeper into their relationship with God. And advance the gospel wider into the world. This work is only possible because of friends like you. Your prayers and financial gifts sustain this ministry and allow us to share the hope of Jesus Christ with more people every day.
More than 500 monthly gospel partners have already joined us in this mission, and we're inviting you to do the same.
So whether you commit to pray for this ministry or to give a monthly gift, your support makes an eternal difference. Visit jdgreer.com today to learn how you can partner with us. Let's work together to advance the gospel deeper and wider than ever before. You were created for God. You need to be restored to Him, and only this Messiah.
Only this Christ born as a baby. To live the life you were supposed to live and then die the death you were condemned to die in your place, only that baby could fill that hole. The arms that you've been searching for in romance have actually been his arms. The security that you look for in money is actually found in the presence. of Jesus and his promises, the significance that you craved.
From your p from your dad. from your spouse. from the approval of others. from likes on a Facebook post. That significance is found in hearing God the Father say to you, you are my beloved son or daughter in whom I am well pleased.
Now I want to be very clear.
Okay, God is good. We're supposed to ask. for that goodness to break into our lives and our families. At this church, we believe. that we can and should pray for physical healing.
We should pray. You can pray, and you should pray for an end to loneliness. You can even pray for political help. But first and foremost, Jesus came to lead you and me into fellowship with the Father. Because again, that's eternal life.
That's the fullness of joy. That is life abundantly. And apart from that, Any other fix is only going to be superficial anyway. What God did here was unexpected. But it was exactly what they needed.
Can I ask you? this weekend. Are you ready for God to do the unexpected in your life this Christmas? Be honest. Are you ready?
For God to do the unexpected in your life this Christmas. I do not care how spiritually mature you are. or how much you know, or how certain you feel that you know exactly what you need most from God. I'll just go ahead and tell you: as a guy who's been a pastor for almost two decades now with a PhD in theology, you've got to always be ready for God to do the unexpected in your life. And if there is no room in your heart for God to surprise you, I mean legitimately surprise you, I mean, I didn't see that come and surprise you.
Well, then maybe it's not God you're actually worshiping. Maybe it's not God you're really seeking. You see, if you're really going to come to God, there's got to be room in your heart for Him to surprise you, to do the unexpected.
Sometimes the greatest love that God might show to you or to me is not in fixing our problems. But when he uses that problem to open your eyes to see the treasure you have in him, and sometimes that comes through pain. I mean, think about it. How does a surgeon bring peace to your body? Not by telling you everything's gonna be okay.
If you got a tumor in you, he's got to cut you. He's got to cut you to take that tumor out so that you can have peace. How does a therapist bring peace? to a downcast or a depressed person.
Well a lot of times it's by dredging up the past, isn't it? Getting you to remember and confront those painful memories often This is the irony. You gotta feel worse. before you can feel better. It's the same thing with spiritual healing.
Sometimes the paths toward peace lead us through valleys of pain. It's like we often say here at the summit church, sometimes Sometimes God answers our prayers. By giving us what we would have asked for if we knew what he knew. And what he knows. Is that your deepest longings, the deepest longings in your heart, and the peace that you're really looking for.
Those are found in the knowledge of him. Those are found in the knowledge of him. Simeon said two things that Right at the end that I want to close us with. Two things. Look at them.
Verse 29. After this encounter, Simeon said, I can depart in peace. Hey, what had changed in Simeon's life? Having had the Spirit of God. Opened his eyes to see who Jesus really was.
He could depart in peace. Nothing had changed about his circumstances. Israel was still under Rome's rule. When Simeon left, he would still be a victim of injustice. Walking out of that great temple, he might be confronted by a Roman soldier who would say something rude to him or push him or maybe even take his money.
Yet Simeon says, in the temple, I am at peace and I will leave at peace. Nothing had changed with Anna's circumstances, had it? She's still over 100 years old and she's still a widow. Yet? She's at peace.
Here's my question. Can you Be at peace. Today. When you leave Whether it's one of our campuses or the home that you're sitting in, can you be at peace today? What do you require?
In order for you to be able to say, I can depart in peace. Do you require a change in circumstances? Do you require resolution of some injustice? Do you require some kind of personal vindication? Do you need a new husband?
Do you just need a husband? Do you need your kids to come to faith? Imagine this um Imagine this ring of keys right here. Is representing the keys to your heart. Remember how in the old days people would just collect keys and the really important people would have them all, and I was like, That person must be important.
They got keys everywhere.
So imagine this just representing one of those big old key rings and here's what most of us have done. Yeah, this is the this represents The keys to peace in my heart. And so you've taken one. And you've given it to your spouse. My wife gets a key, and my kids get a key, and my stockbroker gets a key, and my boss gets a key, and my girlfriend's got a key, and your boyfriend's got a key, and the school I'm trying to get into, well, they got a key also, and then you step back.
And you tell all those groups that all those people that they better treat you the way that you want to be treated because they've got the keys to your peace.
Well y'all, that's not a good plan for a couple of reasons, right? Number one, they're gonna let you down. Guaranteed. You don't even have to have much life experience to know that. And when they let you down, it's hard for you to even be mad at them.
Let me tell you how I can say that. Because the person who's let you down most is staring at you every morning when you look in the mirror. Am I right? Every morning when I look in the mirror, I am looking at the person who has lied to J.D. Greer more than any other human in history.
Every morning when I look in the mirror, I'm looking at the person who is disappointed and let down J.D. Greer more than anybody else.
So here's what I know, if I've let me down, I can't be surprised and other people let me down either. Because probably I've let them down. In fact, I'm sure of it.
So it is silly for me to give them the keys to my peace. Listen, if hope for you is found And somebody taking the key and using it the right way, then all hope is, listen. is delayed disappointment for you. That's all it is. You've given it to them, and you might be able to delay your disappointment for a little bit, but it's coming.
No, no, no, only Jesus should have the key to your peace. There should only be one key on that ring. And you should be able to hand it to Jesus and you should be able to say, you've got the key to peace in my heart because only you're going to be faithful with it and you're what I've created for and your promises are sufficient and only you can guarantee it. That's what Simeon and Anna do here. They saw that Jesus held the key to their peace.
And once they saw Jesus, And once they'd entrusted themselves to him, then they could depart in Peace. Is he? And he alone, the keeper of your peace today. Here's the second thing that. that Simeon said that is so important.
Verse 34, this child is destined to be a child. to cause the rise and the fall of many. Simeon said this baby's going to bring a dividing line. Verse 35. See me, it says he'll cause offense.
Because of him, Simeon said, the thoughts of a lot of hearts are going to get exposed. What they really think about God, this baby boy is gonna grow up and reveal that because of his claims, the truth about their heart will actually be revealed. And we can pull back the veil on their fake religiosity because that baby is gonna grow up and preach that none of us are good enough to get to heaven. And he's gonna have to give us that as a gift through his work, not ours. And we're gonna have to receive that humbly like beggars.
Jesus did not come to make you a better person. He came because you could not be a better person and you'd have to depend on him and him alone to save you. And a lot of people aren't going to like that. because it's going to attack their pride. Because they want somebody to improve them.
They want a new and better version of them. But Jesus said, You are dead in your sin, and I gotta put my life into you. You gotta admit that you're worth nothing. spiritually to God, or you're at least worthy of nothing spiritually. And you gotta receive the gift humbly.
He's going to demand absolute lordship from us. And a lot of people aren't going to like that either because while they got no problem with religion, they want to retain control of their lives. They want control of their pocketbooks. They want control of their destinies. They want control of their relationships.
And so, this baby boy is going to grow up and say, if I'm not Lord of all, I'm not Lord at all. And they're not going to like that because, as religious as they are, they want to keep their hands on the reins. And this baby boy is going to grow up and insist that more than we need fixes to our problems. We need him. And a lot of people aren't gonna like that either, and they're not gonna be satisfied with that.
And that's gonna reveal that a lot of them aren't interested in God. What they're actually interested in is what they think God can do for them. This baby boy is going to bring a dividing line. And all of us are going to be challenged. Hey, get this.
Simeon, talk about a guy. with some backbone. Simeon looks at Mary. Yep, Mary, and looks at her and says, and a sword will pierce your soul also. Hey, can we just acknowledge there are few people in the Bible that are presented as admirably and attractively as Mary, right?
I mean, yet even Mary. Didn't get it completely right. Mary was seriously mistaken. At first. as to what her son was all about.
And more than once, more than once, she tried to stop him. Mark 3.31, look it up, especially if you grew up in a church that taught you that Mary was sinless. Mark 3.31 says that Jesus' mother and brothers Found his claim so absurd. that they thought he was literally, verse 31, insane. Verse 21 says that they tried to bring him home out of his ministry.
They tried to bring him home by force because they thought, verse 21, he was out of his mind.
So Simeon looks at Mary and says, Jesus' claims are going to challenge even you, Mary. Why do I point that out? Because that means you should expect that he will challenge you also. In fact, I would say that one of the signs that you've really encountered Jesus is that you've wrestled with him. Because, see, really giving yourself to Jesus is going to feel in some ways like a sword has come into your soul.
Really wrestling, really encountering Jesus means your pride is going to get challenged. And that control you want over your life, that's going to get challenged too. And he's going to challenge you at the core of your idols. And if you've never wrestled with that deep challenge, you probably have never grappled with the real him. You've just gotten religious.
This baby boy is gonna draw a dividing line, and that dividing line is gonna separate people for eternity. John 3: He that believes and obeys the Son has everlasting life. And those that don't believe and obey the Son will perish without him. The most important question you will ever consider is: what side of that dividing line are you on? Have you surrendered to Him?
Have you given yourself to Him? Or are you still without Him? He's a dividing line. My kids and I were on a trip recently. And we were coming out of the RDU airport, and we walked in this little corridor, the TSA corridor, where you pass like the.
There's this little like line with lights in it and it represents the security line. And my kids, every time we go on a trip, every time they say, dad, don't you remember that time you made the security alarm go off? Every time we go now, they say, Dad, this is the play. I'm like, I remember the place because it was, you know. We were walking up the line.
I was just trying to be, you know, dad jokes.
So I was like, oh, look, there's this line here. And I thought it was like a zone, like sort of a general kind of like. Just, you know. Don't go past this area and come back.
So this little line on the floor, I was like, you know, hey kids, look. I'm in. I'm out, I'm in, I'm out. And they're all, you know, and all of a sudden the lights start flaring and the alarm goes off and the whole air, and like the security guards come running down the thing. And I'm like, you know, I get down on my knees.
No, I didn't get down on my knees, but it just, it was a moment because. And kids are like, remember that? I'm like, I remember that. Remember the time you almost got arrested at? I remember that.
But it's a lime. Right. And you're either on one side or the other. You're either in or you're out. It's a dividing line.
What side of the line are you on with Jesus? Have you ever come to a place where you've acknowledged that you can never be good enough to earn heaven? Have you come to a place where you surrendered yourself to him knowing that only his mercy could save you? And that you were putting him in charge of your life. You can be a better person.
He came because you couldn't be a better person and have you received him. acknowledging that only he can save you. Right? And having received that, can you now say, I am ready to depart from here and I am ready to be at peace? I want you to bow your heads, if you would.
At all of our campuses And our homes Hey friend, it's very simple, okay? Have you received him? If not, you could do it right now through the We call it surrender in faith. That's the biblical words. Surrender in faith.
Jesus, I turn over control of my life to you. I can't save myself. You've got to save me. I receive you right now as my Savior. Say it to him wherever you sit.
However old you are. Jesus, I can't save myself. Only you can save me. If the mission to advance the gospel deeper and wider through gospel-centered teaching, resources, and church planting is something that you have a heart for, visit us at jdgreer.com to learn more and join us with a gift today. The world is in great need and we have the greatest news ever told.
Let's steward that responsibility together. See you next time here on the podcast. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries. Yeah.
