Quote from Forum Archives on December 27, 1998, 11:10 pm

Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Standing Shoulder to Shoulder With You In The Trenches
As We Fight The Good Fight

TITLE: "The Man Who Waited On God"

Dear Fellow Servant of the Lord:

Well, here I am, a full year later, still writing these letters! It's
hard to believe time has flown so rapidly, and now I write to you for the
final time in 1998.

I pray, as we draw near the next to last year of this millennium, that
you continue to prosper in all God has purposed for you, and that your
gratitude exceeds your regrets, your joy overshadows your
disappointments, and your vision has not been diminished as a result of
set backs.

FINAL CHARACTER OF THE SERIES:

A special joy for me during this holiday season has been to research and
then write about some of what I called "secondary" characters in the
Christmas story. The more I think about them and the more I read the
stories, the more fascinated I become with the faces standing in the
shadows of the greatest birth in all of history. Who knows? ---- by the
time another Christmas or two goes by, I may have written about all of
them.

Today, however, I want to conclude by talking a little about the old man
in the temple ---- Simeon. Except for a few remote references made in
passing in the Epistles, only eleven verses containing approximately 210
words are allotted in the entire Bible for this man standing in the
shadows of Christ's birth.

Yet, that brief account speaks volumes about "The Man Who Waited On God".

THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF THIS MAN:

Frankly, Simeon was apparently what most people would probably call a
"nobody". He held no priestly office; little is known of him, even in
earliest church writings. Nothing is said, even in the Bible, about his
occupation, his rank, his wealth, or his family. All we know of him is
written in this brief scriptural vignette and minimal verification in
other documents.

And yet, he became one of the greatest witnesses to Jesus Christ in all
the Bible. He did more to validate the person, origin, and purpose of
Jesus in fewer words than just about any other biblical character.

But ---- he was an insignificant man. Like lots of guys I've met over
the years who, like a distant meteor, shine brightly in the black and
void skies far away from most human view, and then fade quietly into the
silent past after their faithful service to the Lord has been fulfilled.

May we have more insignificant men and women declare the revelation of
Christ!

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS MAN:

Though seemingly paradoxical, insignificant Simeon was extraordinarily
significant.

John Calvin, in his >Harmony of the Gospels<, makes this pertinent
comment which tells us something of the day in which Christ came.
"Though nearly the whole nation was profane and irreligious, and despised
God, yet that a few worshippers of God remained, and that Christ was
known to such persons from His earliest infancy."

1. He was significant first because he was In The Minority ---- a "one
of a kind" in his time. Like Simeon, you and I will most likely find
ourselves in the minority ---- laughed at, discounted, ---- even
ignored. Just another guy "at the temple" who is crazy enough to really
believes what he reads and proclaims.

2. He was significant also because of His Character. He was . . .

1) "Righteous"

2) "Devout"

3) "Looking for the consolation of Israel"

3. He was significant, thirdly, because of His Spiritual Discernment.

How many people do you think were in the temple area the day Joseph and
Mary brought Jesus to the temple just eight short days after his birth?
I suspect there were several hundred ---- and yet only Simeon and Anna
apparently knew just Who this little baby was!

Have you ever taken time to think about the dynamics of such unique
factors? Here is a baby born just a few miles south of Jerusalem, in a
setting people would surely talk about, accompanied by an angelic chorus
and a most unusual star above His place of birth, definitely known about
by at least the Inn keeper, his family, and the other travelers who slept
there, and then seen by numerous local towns people plus a bunch of
shepherds who couldn't keep quiet about it, but instead, told everybody
they saw.

And then just eight days later they travel less than a half day's walk to
Jerusalem, and nobody says anything? ---- or even pays any attention?

I mean, when you see a bunch of shepherds "glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen", you'd think the word would have spread
to Jerusalem. If it did, then we must say that the general populace
either didn't believe the shepherds, they were too preoccupied with life
to pay attention to what the shepherds had said, or they didn't think it
was all that timely and significant ---- maybe because they had already
lost hope, and the spiritual fires had long ago been extinguished in
their hearts.

Not so with Simeon, though. I have a suspicion that Simeon knew, perhaps
even before human words had reached his mortal ears, that the Christ was
in his vicinity.

Why do I suspect that? Because . . .

"The Holy Spirit was upon him". Simeon, for reasons known only to God,
was flat filled with the Holy Spirit. There was a spiritual dimension to
that man unlike most others around him. And, it apparently was not just
an occasional phenomenon, but more likely a daily condition, in that
indications are that he frequently prophesied to the people.

Chances are he was such an oddity that some people saw him as an
eccentric old man while others avoided him because he had this strange
"ability" to say things about them that nobody else should know.

At any rate, Simeon had this undeniable capacity to hear God and then
speak it out to others in life-changing ways.

4. He was significant in that he was a man Driven By A Promise from God.

"Revealed by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had
seen the Lord's Christ".

We need more men and women like Simeon! Much like Jacob, we need to lay
hold of God and not turn loose until we clearly have a promise from Him
---- just for and specifically for us.

Friend, when you hear and receive such a promise, you, like Simeon, will
also be a person driven by absolute confidence in God's faithfulness to
keep His Word.

Too many of us in ministry have "seen death" before we saw the "Lord
Christ" in a situation, and therefore saw something die an early death,
prematurely to God's intent.

If that has happened to you, just be assured that Christ also conquered
death, and His resurrection makes your own resurrection possible.

5. He was significant because of Where He Was Situated ---- in the
temple ---- and the Condition In Which He Arrived.

"He came in the Spirit Into the temple". Now, it is significant that it
was his spiritual discernment that brought him to the place where he
needed to be in order to receive Whom God had promised (The Christ) and
What God had promised (to see Redemption arrive).

It was interestingly pointed out in several writings that the phraseology
for "in the Spirit" was referring to more than just a state of spiritual
maturity, but was actually describing a condition of Simeon being
"prophetically" driven by the Holy Spirit to go to the temple on that day
at that time because God was going to do something very special for him.

If that is true, can you imagine the sense of excitement, expectancy,
anticipation that Simeon felt? Incredible!

God periodically graciously blesses us by engineering things so that we
show up at just the right place at the right time to be blessed. The
most likely place for that to happen is usually in His presence.

Then, there are times when we feel "driven", knowing that "something good
is about to happen".

Be sure you are always situated "in the temple", my friend, whether by
custom, or by revelation. It's a good place to be ---- especially if
your going to "see the salvation of the Lord".

THE CONDITION OF HIS SITUATION:

Simeon lived in a society, though much more primitive than ours in many
ways, that was nonetheless much like ours ---- a society so familiar with
spiritual jargon but yet so void of spiritual life that he stuck out more
as an oddity than as the norm.

Listen to what Calvin said in his >Harmony of the Gospels<:

"The Evangelist (Luke) mentions no more than two who recognised Christ at
Jerusalem, when he was brought into the temple. These were Simeon and
Anna."

He continues, "As to his condition in life we are not informed: he may
have been a person of humble rank and of no reputation. Luke bestows on
him the commendation of being just and devout; and adds, that he had the
gift of prophecy: for the Holy Spirit was upon him.

"Devotion and Righteousness related to the two tables of the law, and are
the two parts of which an upright life consists. It was a proof of his
being a devout man, that he waited for the consolation of Israel: for no
true worship of God can exist without the hope of salvation, which
depends on the faith of his promises, and particularly on the restoration
promised through Christ.

"Now, since an expectation of this sort is commended in Simeon as an
uncommon attainment, we may conclude that there were few in that age who
actually cherished in their hearts the hope of redemption. All had on
their lips the name of the Messiah, and of prosperity under the reign of
David: but hardly any one was to be found who patiently endured present
afflictions, relying on the consolatory assurance that the redemption of
the Church was at hand."

So, it is evident that such a man as Simeon was very different from most
people, even the most religiously faithful. He was the kind of man every
pastor would do well to have in his church.

Interestingly, there are such men and women around ---- in Most churches
I believe there can be found such a person as this. The problem is that
they are often, like Simeon, so non-descript that we fail to see them.

Let me suggest you take a look at your people ---- especially the older
folks ---- and see who the quiet, unassuming, soft spoken man or woman is
who has no personal agenda and may not even be in a position of appointed
or elected responsibility.

It may be Simeon ---- or Anna.

FINALLY:

I wonder what it would be like to hang around a Simeon ---- or, even
better, to have one in your church? Or ---- maybe even BE a Simeon
yourself?

To be a man or woman who at first glance was totally "insignificant"
rather than being someone who stood out and was "ooooh'd" and "ahhhhhh'd"
because of his abilities, personality, status, or accomplishments ----
not having to worry about preserving his reputation or meeting up to the
expectations of others. Or, being critiqued or judged for his
performance or his failures.

And yet, to be absolutely and thoroughly significant in God's purposes
because you were a man or woman who was

1. A person in the minority, and yet unafraid.

2. A person of character who could be identified as righteous, devout,
and with a living hope expecting the coming of Christ at any moment.

3. A person with spiritual discernment that really understood both the
heart and the words of God.

4. A person driven by a Divine promise from God that kept him focused
and committed, no matter the cost.

5. A person who lived his life exclusively "in the temple" of God's
intimate presence.

Friend, maybe you and I could make our hearts' desires for 1999 that of
becoming more and more like Simeon. If we did, perhaps God would bless
us with the honor and privilege of someday declaring Christ in such a way
that nations would be changed.

Have a great 1999! I look forward to writing you again next year, next
week.

Remember! ---- There are only 368 days left until the Next Millennium!
---- Only 368!

In Christ's Bond,

Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright December, 1998. All rights reserved.

If this letter has blessed you and you know of someone else who needs to
be encouraged, feel free to forward it in its entirety to all such people
you know.

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Hang in there! I'm with you!

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