The Work of the Holy Spirit
Luke 2:25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. :26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. :27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, :28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, :29 ”Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; :30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, :31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, :32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel.” NASB
There is a new type of currency being used around the world that is called, cryptocurrency. It is decentralized money. That is, there are no banks, only computers. The money is based upon an unchangeable computer code. It is complicated, however, it is important to note that Governments and Banks are not happy with this new currency. Why are they not happy, because of the loss of control they have over billions of dollars of the new way of exchanging value. For instance, a young person in Los Angeles can trade computer programming work for this digital money and then take that digital money and pay rent to someone else who accepts digital currency and the government will never know. Worse, they will not be able to tax the transactions. No control. Something like this happened when Jesus was born. It wasn’t about money, but it was about control. Governments, leaders, and any organization gets very uptight at the loss of their control.
In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders did not have control of Jesus, His message, His claim to be Messiah, or His followers. Many people believed and followed Him to their own peril. The religious leaders never really even had a ball in the game from the beginning as the Holy Spirit was leading the whole process from pre-birth, during the pregnancy and birth, and exists through today to maintain the will of God in His people. Had the Jews followed the teachings and Holy Spirit their end would have been entirely different. We are no different. If we trust in the Lord with all our heart the Holy Spirit will lead us in the same way that He led Simeon in today’s Scripture.
The first lesson we can learn is that if we want the fruit of the Spirit, we have to have the Holy Spirit. In verse 25 we read the Holy Spirit “was on him.” Simeon was so used to acknowledging God in all his ways that God led him in truth and righteousness. For Simeon, his life was to seek first God’s kingdom which produced a righteous reputation and life. He was also known as devote, which is another way to say that Simeon was totally committed to God's cause and belief. For Simeon, he wasn’t interested in the structure of the Temple or its rules, he was solely committed to following God's leading. He was totally committed to accurately handling God’s Word. Like King David, he was a man after God’s own heart.
In verse 26 we see that the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that he would not die without first meeting the Messiah. Which brings us to the next point, if we want to see Jesus we are going to need the Holy Spirit. In order for any person to meet and know Jesus we must first be drawn by the Holy Spirit and convicted of our sins. Repentance and forgiveness turns the person to God and into an eternal relationship. However, we must ask God for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). The Spirit is responsible for teaching and reminding us of Jesus’ words and making them real to us. Simeon was thrilled when the Holy Spirit revealed the Living Word to him. Imagine Simeon’s joy as he held in his arms the promised Savior, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. No greater child could ever have been in that embrace.
Our last lesson, that comes from verse 27, teaches that if you want to be guided by the Holy Spirit you will need to go in the Spirit. Simeon, “came in the Spirit,” which is the safest and wisest way for any human to move. This characteristic would show up years later when the Apostles were choosing workers. One of the qualifications was that the person needed to be full of faith and the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5). Stephen was just that person. Like Simeon, he moved in obedience to the Spirits leading, in grace and power. He was a man after God's own heart.
For us followers of Jesus, we are to ask for the Holy Spirit, for Him to convict, teach, guide, and challenge us. He is our present, “God with us.” He seals us and connects our spirit to God’s Spirit. May we never lose sight of this eternal and important connection. Let’s pray: Father, may You send Your Holy Spirit to challenge and guide us, teach and reprove, and may He give us the discernment to understand and obey Your will. In Jesus’ name, amen.
