Good afternoon, church. All right. We are approaching the year-end festive season again, where I think I have to honestly say it is a fairly great challenge for every preacher of God. And why so? Because every year I find myself having to preach from the same account, reading

from more or less the same text with regard to the birth of Jesus. And the challenge I believe every preacher will face every year is how to give a refreshing message to the church from the very same account of the Nativity. You know, every time when I

observe how this great event is being celebrated, which presumably is one of the most celebrated events around the world, I couldn't help but sense the carnality, the secularized spirit around. In fact, the message of Christmas has been terribly misapplied and

misunderstood for many years. And to the world, it is merely a season of shopping, feasting, gifting, and of course, profit-making. Whereas many in the church come this season only thinking romantically about Bethlehem, about the stars in the sky, the shepherds in the

field, and the angels singing. And of course, to those who are in pain and suffering, they might cynically ask, "Where is the Prince of Peace in a world filled with so much trouble? Where is he in my illness, in my loneliness, in my sadness,

in my emptiness?" So on. And for the most part, Christmas has become a season where most people just want to be celebratory without pondering deeper into its meaning. And life has been stressful for some, and for some others it has been

Punishing. So this is a time where most people just want to find a little consolation, as it is the most common way men face stress, failures, setbacks, and pain: to just settle for a short moment of happiness and then very quickly get back to reality without

any real solutions. Now I believe the real Christmas message goes far deeper. It heralds the entrance of God into human history; it is heaven descending into this sinful and painful world, such that most of the stories during Christmas usher in a hope, a new hope, to this

despairing, hopeless, and frustrated world. Now it is not a hope brought about by some temporal comfort. Now the coming of the Prince of Peace means so much more, and most of the time people tend to have a great misunderstanding about this peace they

seek. Peace in walls, they seek peace in stress, and peace in family or marital fields. But Christmas was about the Son of God primarily bringing us the peace of God and peace with God, and it is the ushering of this peace that is so

heavenly, that is so consecrated, that few of us have known about it. But for those who really understand God's promise of salvation, that peace is vital to everything in our lives. It carries so much weight, and that peace gives us so

much hope also. And I like all of us to approach this Christmas with this spirit; approach this Christmas with an anticipative spirit in the peace of God, in the peace that God would want to bring to us, our families, our relationships. And let us also be made

instruments that could bring forth peace to others. Now, I would say, please anticipate these great things happening to us instead of just being carried away by some celebratory mood of this season. Because, after being through so many Christmases, we don't want

to make the same mistake of being brought to a high in this festive season and only to be brought to a low very quickly with the ushering in of a new year with more problems and stress confronting us in school and at work. Now,

we should be wise enough—we should be wise, knowing not to be brought into such repetitive or meaningless repetition. Now, as a people given the truth, we should be wise and set apart in our approach to things. Now, we should all have a

different spirit. I would say, now, in all my years of serving the Lord, I can truly say for sure, those with a different spirit, those with a different hope, will see the glory of God. And when we have a different spirit, our message will be different; it will not be like a typical

Christmas message of celebration. And then our hope will be different; not hoping for the typical experience of hope and joy. And even as we age, we will have real hope—hope in the Lord, hope for the next generation—and not because of what we could do, but because of what God has done through

His Son. So, with that, I want to direct you to a very familiar passage where the coming of Christ was being uniquely anticipated by some people. Now, I draw your attention to Luke, chapter 2, verses 21 to 38. Now, the account goes like this:

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to

Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord: 'Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord.' And to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord,

a pair of doves or two young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon. This is the description of Simeon: He was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the

Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Lord required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God,

saying, 'Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.'  So by that we know he's an old man, waiting to go, but he's kept alive by some anticipation. And so now he has seen the Lord Jesus,

he said, 'You may now dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations— a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.' The child's father and mother

moved at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed."

And a sword will pierce your own soul too." Now that's the account of Simeon. And then there was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,

and then was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of

Jerusalem. Now, here in this record, the birth of Jesus has been immensely and patiently anticipated by two old, godly persons in the temple. Now, what is different about their anticipation from that of the shepherds and Magi was that, instead of the news of

nativity being told them through a sudden announcement, what was different for Simeon and Anna was that they spent all their years—in fact, most of their years—in anticipation for the coming of Christ. And both of them have been long past the best years of their life, and

they are living their last days only for one hope: that they were revealed by the Holy Spirit that they would see the Lord's Christ. Now let's talk about the man Simeon. Apparently, I said he was an old man living his last days. The Bible described him as

Righteous and devout. Now, we have many different understandings about being righteous and devout. Does being righteous and devout only mean a person lives with good morals, or does it mean he's devoted to some religious exercise, like worshipping and prayers? Now, we like to attribute certain

traits to one who is being described as righteous and devout. But one thing that stands out about Simeon's righteousness and devotion is that he was waiting for something in light of God's promise. He was patiently waiting for deliverance with hope, even though there was pain and harshness in

everything he sees and feels around him. You see, he had lived long enough to see how the people of God suffered. He, being very old, I would presume, has most likely seen how the Romans took over Jerusalem in 63 BC and how he

witnessed Herod despicably taking over the kingship of Jerusalem with the help of the Romans. To the sufferings of the people everywhere among the people of God, there was no comfort; there was no comfort for the people of God living in this fallen world. You see,

Simeon was full of empathy for the people of God. Although he knew what happened to the people of God was because of their sins and their paganistic way of life, yet Simeon was equally anticipative about what God had

promised him—that is, before he died, he would see the Lord's Christ, which he called the Consolation of Israel, which was one of the titles given to Jesus in the early chapters of the Gospel. Now, what an important title: the Consolation of Israel. Now, our language today doesn't

Give a good representation of the word consolation. Consolation is mostly associated with what we know as a consolation prize. No, it's like you don't win a great prize; you win some sympathy prize, so you call it a consolation prize, so to speak. Now, this is not what

consolation means here. What consolation meant here is the descriptive name given to the promised Messiah. It bears almost the same meaning as the Great Comforter, Paraclete, Comforter, which is the name Jesus has given to describe the Holy Spirit. So you see, Jesus is coming

coming as the Great Comforter of his people. He is not just a mere consolation for his people; rather, he is that great comfort given in great affliction. He is that great strength given us in our great weakness. He is that great hope given in great

desperation. Now, Simon is led by the Holy Spirit both in hearing God's promise to him and being promised to go into the temple at the right time. But in fact, I would assume that Simon came relentlessly into the temple every day looking for the

Messiah, and he was probably a common visitor in the temple, and he was probably a very familiar face to everyone in Jerusalem. Pilgrims to Jerusalem could have known him also, whether rain or shine, feeling good or not. Simeon came almost every day, and people must have asked him

why he was there every day.  And maybe along the way, people would laugh at him and say, 'Simeon, why are you doing this again?' To which he would reply, 'I am going to see the Messiah, the Consolation of Israel.' Now you see, even in his old age,

And finally, he refused to surrender himself to death because of that great promise given by God. Now he trusted in God, and his trust in God and love for his people prompted him to stay alive. Now we all know that when our strength is gone and when our physical function is

breaking down, what we would wish for is to leave this degenerative body. Many of you are young here, young and healthy, and you may not resonate with this, but you know the philosopher Kierkegaard once said, "There's no greater anguish for a

human being than for him to want to die and not be able to." I don't know how much you resonate with this. You know, reading about Simeon, I was brought to remember how my dad was during his last few months. He was losing all his

strength and mobility, even his very strength to breathe, and everywhere in his body was pain and weakness. And so many times I recall him telling me, "I would rather leave this life than live in pain." Now it's tormenting to stay alive

when you are suffering. You think about Job; now he cursed the day he was born when he was in great suffering. Then Hebrews 11 also tells us that it was common for the saints of old to long for a better country after enduring so much suffering; they could

not wait to get there. Now, but Simeon, he refused to give up life. Now his frail body just would not give up, and not because he was afraid of death, not because this is a life that is too good to give up, but Simeon was anticipating the birth of the

The consolation of Israel, his anticipation to see God's promise fulfilled with his very eyes, spurred him to live on. You see, for Simeon, it was enough to just have a glimpse of Him, just a glimpse. Now, he didn't have to see Jesus grow up; he didn't

have to see Him start His ministry, do all the miracles, preach about the kingdom of God. Just a glimpse of His infancy was good enough, because that would mean the very promise of God's salvation would go on to fulfill itself. So when Mary and Joseph brought

the child Jesus to the Temple, according to the custom of the law, you see, Simeon interrupted them and he took the baby into his arms. And under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he began to sing a new song, celebrating God's salvation:  "Oh Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You

may now dismiss Your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all nations; a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel." You see, that's the new song, and Simeon was contented. He's ready

to go. He said, "I have seen the light of salvation that God has promised His people, which is the consolation of Israel I'm waiting for. So that is enough. Let me die. I am tired. I have endured so much. I have prayed so much. I have seen

the salvation that You have promised. Now, God, let me go home." Here is a man who truly lived in anticipation of Christ's glory. He was not living for the world; he was not living for temporal pleasures. And that is why he was satisfied in his last days; he praised

God, even though His body is degenerating now, over here, my brethren, we saw Simeon doesn't just end with this praise; he has some extraordinary prophecies which he was prompted by the Spirit to give to Mary.  And hereby the Spirit, he

prophesizes: this Child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed; and a sword will pierce your own soul, too. Now what

does that mean? In other words, this Child, Jesus, will come to raise many people; He will be their Rock and will bring them to a glorious position before God. But Jesus will also be a rock of offense, and people will stumble because of Him, as it is the truths that He spoke,

the miracles that He does, will only show how man refuses to come to the true and living God. The evil hearts of these men will be revealed, and they will fall into greater wickedness than they are in right now. Every time they reject this

Child, the sin that is in them will be greatly magnified, and these people's sin will reach to the fullest measure, where they will one day wish for the death of this Child. And that is what Simeon is telling Mary, seemingly to say, 'Mary, you have to

be prepared for that; a sword will pierce your own soul when that happens.' And we all know that happens on the cross, right? But coming back, we want to ask, why did the coming of Jesus bring so much strife? Oh, the simple answer is because Jesus does not come as a people's

Please note, he does not come to bring a celebratory mood to mankind; he is not a celebrity to start with. He is not here to entertain people with his birth story; rather, he is here to reveal the very sins of men. And all who repented of

their sins and turned to him will be brought to life, and all who rejected him will see death. So Jesus doesn't come as a neutral figure; he doesn't bring neutrality; instead, he brings controversy. He is not someone where we can, after hearing him, sit on the fence and remain

a spectator. It's either we follow him and live, or we reject him and die. And for that controversial truth to be realized, Jesus, the Son of God, has to give himself up as a sacrifice. So Simeon knows that he was not waiting for a grand finale; rather, he was

waiting for the arrival of the greatest work in history. He was waiting for this controversial work of God upon mankind. He was anticipating that for years, and he saw it; he was ready to go. Now that's about Simeon, all right. What about Anna, the

prophetess? Now much of the same thing can be said about her. There's only three short verses about the prophetess Anna. Now I can imagine Anna to be a saintly woman who has devoted herself to the work of the temple. You see, I imagine her gracing the

temple with her presence. Now she probably has an aura that captivates and engages those in the temple. One of the few things said about her is she is old and a widow. Now you assume that she was married at 14 years old, which is a

Common age for women to wed at that time. Then she married for seven years, and then her husband died. Anna would have been 21 years old when she became a young widow. Now, the text here reads that she was a widow until she was 84 years old, but some translations

say that she had been a widow for 84 years, which would make her around 105 years old when she met the family of Jesus.  Imagine this woman, described as someone who fasted often. We can probably imagine she was

thin, but she had an expansive presence. Being of a great age gave her some kind of social standing in her community as an elder. Now, what would you think of such a woman? I don't know if you could resonate with this because when you

think of such a woman, 84 or 105 years old, a widow at 21, is she pitiful? Is she someone whom we would want to sympathize with? No, rather she is someone whom we want to exemplify, and the Bible exemplifies her.

Why? Because since she was widowed, she never set eyes on any other man. This is atypical of women because women who are widowed young would usually feel helpless; they want stability for their future. A typical woman in such circumstances would want to find a man

whom she can depend on. But for Anna, her hope and trust is in God. And so this wrinkled, saintly woman, after her husband passed, is described as one who never left the temple. You see, she worshipped with fasting and prayer every day and night, and I

Believe that the Holy Spirit has revealed to her that she will witness the coming of Christ; she will see the embodiment of God. So when she comes into the temple on the day Jesus is there, she sees what others could not: the moment

she arrives, she praises God and talks about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem, and she was thrilled and overjoyed. Now you see the story about Simeon and Anna. Now, what are a few things that we could see in common about them? Now I'm

going to just give you four important points to conclude, and also as a form of application. What is the commonality about Simeon and Anna? Number one: they lived in anticipation to see the fulfillment of the Nativity. Now, to put it this

way, their anticipation was in God, not in men. They hoped in God's promises; they knew they would see the goodness and deliverance of God's people. So the story of Simeon and Anna tells us that it is very important what Christians should hope

for. Now, my brethren, I make no apology to say that most of the time we hope in the wrong things. We hope in a good life; we hope in a happy marriage; we hope that our children will grow up well and successful; we hope that we will live to

a ripe old age, that we will age gracefully and healthily, and so on. Now, honestly, I see so many Christians putting their hopes in these things. I mean, these are things given to us out of God's grace, and God would graciously

I wish to bless us and lead us in those things, but these are not things we should be hoping for, my brother. Christianity is about God coming to save us from sin, from this fallen world, not just helping us fulfill our earthly dreams. And if you get Christianity right,

you will not put your anticipation on these things. I mean, don't get me wrong, God is happy to satisfy your needs for His glory, but putting your goals and aims on these things only leads us into futility. Why? Because these are things that pass away; they should not become

our anticipation. They distract us from what God has gloriously promised us in Christ. Now, reading about Simeon and Anna, you must be reminded of these things, and I have to remind you that our human nature is so, so forgetful. You

see, each time when we are struck by a trial in our life, we just lose the glorious hope, and our hope becomes short-lived; it becomes temporal, it becomes typical, it becomes earthly, and then we are trapped just by the here and now. You realize

that—now, most of you know that for the past month I was in and struggling with a neck pain. I mean, it was—I mean, I told you it was quite intense—um, and and the pain even caused numbness and a weakening of my left arm. Now, I am not

ignorant to its complications. I've consulted doctors, physiotherapists. I've read the internet; it could be this or that, you know. But one thing that I cannot fail to notice is how my heart responded through this ordeal. Now, let me relate to you, together with

All my pastoral experience: what I've commonly noticed is that throughout our lives, every time pain strikes—whether physical or emotional—strangely, our hope turns temporal. It becomes, 'Oh, I just hope God makes

me well again.' You know, 'I just hope my health gets better. I only hope the doctor gives me good news. Oh, I only hope my marriage or my children turn for the better.' You see, what has become of our glorious hope in

Christ? What has become of our Christian anticipation? Now, that is the common human tendency. But as a people with the promises of God, we must refuse to be given to that kind of tendency. This is the time we must set ourselves on higher hope, on a higher

anticipation. Remember Simeon? When he was old and frail, he wasn't hoping for his health to get any stronger. Remember Anna, the widow? She wasn't hoping to get married again. They set their hopes not on physical liberation, but on a

spiritual liberation. They longed to see Christ and His glory. And believers of God must learn to set our anticipation on that which involves the glory of God. Hope in God even in your pain, in your suffering, in your setbacks. Hope in His goodness, hope in His powerful

deliverance. Hope in what He could do through your pain and suffering. Hope in how Christ can be testified to and glorified through your life. And more so, put your hope in what is eternal and make light of what is temporal. And the promise of God is

No one who hopes in him will ever be put to shame. Amen. So if you possess such hope, Christmas will be a sacred season for you; one that is not about celebration, but one that is filled with anticipation for greater things to happen, for salvation to come upon our

loved ones, even if not for this season, but in years to come. But you must start anticipating now; live with that kind of anticipation. With each Gospel message you've heard, you have this in you. If my loved ones, if my unbelieving friends or

King, if only they could hear this! You must make this your prayer in anticipation, my brethren. Now that's what I'm trying to relate to you about the hope that Simeon and Anna had. And the other common thing I noticed about Simeon and Anna was that they

are both old, very old. In fact, when they saw the infant Jesus… Now I think the Bible emphasizes that to tell us that true anticipation stands the test of time. Now so often we see some people put their hopes in something, and for a while they don't see anything

happen; they give up hope, and then they hope in something else, and then change again and hope in something else. You get what I mean? And that's because… that's because I tell you why: they are putting their hope in chance, in luck, in some few

good sentiments. Now I don't know if you notice that many people love to buy lottery tickets or 4D tickets nearing New Year. Nearing New Year, now why do you think so? Because there is a few good sentiments in the air. Now people are hoping for some good

Things happen in the new year, or during great festival seasons. But the fact is, only the bookies are laughing all the way to the bank during those times. You see, we've always been deceived by generally good sentiments: 'Oh, this is the time to get rich!' 'This is the time to meet the love of my life!' 'This is the time to change jobs; the job market is good now!'

Most often than not, we are driven by sentiments that are not grounded. I would say, you think about it: in the case of Simeon and Anna, what positive sentiments could they have when they are anticipating something year after year, but it didn't happen? It didn't happen yet, but their anticipation grew stronger. Now, which means to say they are not relying on sentiments; they are

relying on the promises of God. They put their trust in God, and time proves it. Time proves it. If you are a genuine believer and follower of God, you will not be dissuaded by the long wait. The best is given to those who wait, according to

God's promises, because the willingness to wait shows the genuineness of your faith. Now, get this: I say this again, the willingness to wait shows the genuineness of your faith—that you are putting your trust in God's promises, not luck, not chance, not some

Be Anticipative More Than Celebrative For Christmas

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