"Holy Satisfaction" Luke 2:25–35

So a bit of a story before we jump into God's word.

Wednesday, April 17th, 2014, at 11am,

the Iron Lady, the Right Honourable Baroness Margaret Thatcher of Kestevin

! was laid to rest at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Her funeral was a state funeral attended by heads of state the world over, royalty and dignitaries.

It had all the pomp and ceremony and to the delight of a minister,

it was full of scripture, hymns and prayers.

For us this morning, I'm not going to do a deep dive into a funeral that happened 11 plus years ago,

almost 12 years ago, but for us this morning, what is of particular note is the recessional hymn.

When the coffin was taken out of St. Paul's, the Nunc Dimittis was sung.

It was put to music and sung.

If the Nunc Dimittis is unfamiliar to you, no problem.

It's the Song of Simeon.

In fact, it is the song we'll be looking at this morning, starting in verse 29 and going to verse 32.

It is also the song that is sung or prayed at the end of evening prayer every single day in the Book of Common Prayer.

The Book of Common Prayer is scripture put to prayers that it's really part of our tradition in the Anglican world.

The words are fitting for the bookend of one's day and especially of one's life,

as one rests satisfied with a job well done.

So agree with her politics or not, I don't bring her up to get political, agree with her politics or not,

Lady Thatcher accomplished a great deal in office and in life in general.

She came from humble beginnings.

She led the United Kingdom through turbulent times, including the Cold War.

She accomplished much.

And I would think that at the end of her life, she had a degree of satisfaction for what she did.

She had a very, very rich and full public life.

However, for the Lady Thatcher and for us this morning,

if we were given some quiet, which is a bit of a hot commodity for some of us with young kids,

if we were given some quiet to think about life and the things that truly matter

and we felt comfortable with sharing from our heart of hearts,

what would we describe as a life that is truly full, a life of complete satisfaction?

I think it's an important question for us to consider, regardless of where we are at in life.

If you are visiting or new, we've been asking some big questions in light of these four songs for the Savior

in Luke's early narrative in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1 and 2.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

And we come finally to the Nunc Timidus, which is just to say Latin for,

now let your servant depart in peace, which is the opening line in the song.

This prayer, this song of Simeon, has been in use in the church for at least since the 4th century.

It's very ancient, included in the daily prayers of God's people.

And as such, it has deeply shaped generations of Christians to take stock of their life,

whenever it would end, at the end of each day, in light of eternity.

And it helps us to ask this question.

If my life were to end, would I depart in peace?

If my life were to end, would I depart in peace?

A profound question, especially in our day.

You know, we have a very interesting culture here in the West, and in Canada in particular.

On one hand, when we're considering death, on one hand, death is tucked away.

It is unseen.

We live in a very kind of sanitized time.

We are not acquainted with death.

And yet, there's a bizarre obsession with the experience of death as we are eager to read or watch accounts of people

undergoing health treatments or end-of-life care, or to follow people as they post or vlog about their grief or loss.

It's a really interesting, I don't know if you want to call it a confusion, but maybe a lack of clarity around what death is and how we should live in light of it.

So, how should we prepare for the end?

What must we do to live a life of true satisfaction?

How can we, like Simeon, declare,

Now, let us, thou, thy servant, depart in peace?

As we consider some of these questions, let's turn our attention to the final song for the Savior.

And we're going to look at two things from the text.

First, we're going to look at the strength of faith.

And second, the satisfaction of peace.

A bit of a background just to orient us with the narrative before we jump into these two points.

Mary has had the baby Jesus.

And as per Jewish custom, after about 40 days, she is to present herself at the temple to be cleansed from ritual impurity.

Now, I'm not going to get into this at length.

Only just to say that Mary is going to the temple not because she has sinned, necessarily,

but because the law of Moses says that she has to offer sacrifice for her ritual impurity.

Now, not only are they at the temple making the trip from Nazareth to the temple in Jerusalem for that purpose,

but also Jesus being the firstborn out of Mary is, again, according to the scriptures, he has to be redeemed.

I won't get into that.

Only just to point out that Mary and Joseph, although they are very poor,

and we know they're poor because the sacrifice that they alter is not a lamb, but two doves,

which is like the very minimum for poor people to offer in the temple,

that they are devout people, that they are seeking to follow the law as the Lord has commanded.

So, with that as a background, we're going to look at the story and look at our first point,

the strength of faith.

So, turn with me, verses 25, and we'll read 25, 26, and 27.

Verse 25.

Now, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon,

and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel,

and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

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.

Christ is just the Greek term for the Hebrew word of Messiah.

It speaks of God's anointed one.

So, he was promised that he'd see the Lord's Messiah or anointed one.

Verse 27.

And he came in the Spirit into the temple,

and when the parents, that is Mary and Joseph,

brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law,

verse 28, he took him up in his arms and blessed God.

Let us pause there before we continue on.

Simeon has waited and waited and waited

for the long-promised deliverance of Israel.

To say consolation is to say a deliverance or a redemption

or salvation of the nation from their centuries-long exile,

both in body and in soul, as promised by God.

A bit of a background to where Israel's at by the time the first century comes.

They have been scattered across the known world.

They have been in exile for six, seven hundred years.

They have settled in faraway lands.

And as is the case for all kind of geopolitical movement,

they have assimilated and synchronized their customs and faith to local practices.

Oftentimes, retaining some key aspects of the faith,

but also incorporating things that were not commissioned by God in any way.

And yet, even in the land, so there's Jews scattered across the known world,

but in the land of Israel, there were also Jews,

Jews, although they were under Roman occupation.

And likewise, they were a hodgepodge of beliefs and customs.

Many were Hellenized, which is to say they acted and spoke

and participated in Greco-Roman life.

Others were adherents of various sects and cults

that emphasized certain parts of the Bible over others.

Some were violent.

They were freedom fighters or terrorists,

depending on what side of the equation you were on.

Some were violent.

Some were reclusive.

Some had power.

Some had none.

But most believed that there would be a Christ or a Messiah or a chosen one

that would deliver them from their enemies,

whoever their enemies would be.

They differed wildly on who that Messiah would be,

but certainly there would be a Messiah.

I guess the too-long, didn't-read of the whole matter was

Israel was a giant collection of various beliefs.

Very few followed the faith of the Scriptures.

Why was this?

I think in part because of the natural reality

of large amounts of people moving to different regions.

But on a spiritual level, I'll suggest to you this morning

that it is because the promises God made didn't come true

as fast as they wanted them to.

Trusting God is hard.

Having faith that endures is extremely difficult.

Waiting for God to confirm and do what he says in Holy Scripture

is not an easy thing.

So the temptation is either to twist or reimagine God's words and promises

so that they say something different,

or to make them overly figurative,

or even abandon Scripture altogether.

So you see, waiting is a very difficult thing,

and it has been the problem with God's people time and again

so that they wait, and then they wait, and then they begin to forget.

Constantly in the Scriptures, God tells them to remember,

and yet so few do.

If you or someone you know has gone through a deconstruction of their faith

or has left their faith,

I would wager that it is in part due to this relatable difficulty of trusting God

when he seems absent.

And I know that it is more complex than that,

but I would suggest that that aspect is included in somebody's story

or journey towards deconstruction or leaving the faith completely.

And as a result, a despondency can come when God is seen as untrustworthy,

when he is seen as unworthy to be the object of our praise and devotion

and our faith.

Waiting is hard.

Waiting is hard.

This is why Simeon is such a fantastic example of a faithful waiting,

a faithful trust.

So his age isn't given.

And I kind of wrestled with this

because almost all the commentaries suggest that he was a very elderly man,

especially with what he was saying.

But in nowhere does it say that he was an elderly man.

I'm just going to take it that he is.

That there's a lot of very learned people that went before me

that say he was an aged man, so he's an aged man.

So although his age isn't given, he is almost certainly elderly,

and he is eagerly awaiting God's salvation.

He says that he is both righteous and devout,

meaning he is careful in his conduct with people,

and he is reverent before the Lord.

He seems to have understood that the Lord would make good on his promise

to send the Messiah and to console or redeem Israel.

And more than that, he was promised to see that consolation in the Lord's Christ

with his own eyes.

How does one fight against despondency,

against losing one's trust in the Lord?

By faithfully waiting.

And here we have such a prime example to emulate.

Simeon has waited well.

If he is an elderly man,

it suggests in the text that he has waited a very long time.

He has not given in to the cults and the customs around him,

nor has he abandoned the biblical faith.

Which isn't to say, what I'm not saying is that he is this perfect person,

but that through the years he has maintained his faith.

He has remained faithful to believing in the promises that God has spoken of in the scriptures.

But, you know, put on your skeptics hat.

It could easily be said that anybody would have such a faith

if they were promised to see the fruition of that faith.

It says that the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not die before seeing the Lord's Christ.

But I want to suggest a bit of a pushback.

I've heard it said by some people that have struggled with their faith

that if God would only reveal himself to me,

okay, if God would only speak,

then I would believe it.

But I'm to believe that there is some being up there that I've never seen,

I've never heard,

I'm supposed to believe in this book,

how am I supposed to make sense of this?

Here's a bit of a pushback to that.

Simeon was an elderly man who was already walking in righteousness and devotion.

The text seems to imply that he was promised that he would see the Lord's Christ later in life.

That this wasn't something that he was given from this promise when he was a little boy,

but that he received this as an elderly man.

The text also implies that this righteousness and devotion that he exhibited was longstanding.

That he had a faithful walk with the Lord for many decades in his life.

And he was given the revelation from the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah

precisely because he was walking in faith,

not because his faith was waning or non-existent.

There's this very remarkable story later on in Luke's Gospel.

Jesus himself is teaching about,

he's giving a parable and it's about the rich man and Lazarus.

And what's interesting is that out of all of Jesus' parables,

which are instructive stories to communicate,

especially truth about the kingdom of God,

Lazarus, this poor man, is the only one who is named in any of the parables.

I'll try to sum up and be brief about this,

but Jesus tells this story about this rich man who was exceedingly wealthy

and this poor beggar, Lazarus.

They both die.

And in the afterlife, Lazarus is in heaven.

He is beside Father Abraham.

And the rich man is in hell.

The fire of hell is licking at him.

He is in anguish.

And he thinks that he can command Lazarus, who is in heaven,

to do his bidding like he could command Lazarus

to do his bidding when they were on earth.

And it becomes very clear that this is not the case.

The tables have turned.

And right at the end, he says,

if I can't be saved, then send Lazarus to visit my family

and tell them from the grave to believe in God

and to walk a faithful life.

And Father Abraham, he replies like this.

And this is from Luke chapter 16, verse 29.

Luke 16:29

But Abraham said,

they, that is the rich man's family,

they have Moses and the prophets,

which is to say the scriptures.

Let them hear them.

But the rich man said,

no, Father Abraham,

but if someone goes to them from the dead,

they will repent.

And Abraham said to him,

if they do not hear Moses and the prophets,

neither will they be convinced

if someone should rise from the dead.

I'll just say this.

We are so inoculated from belief in God,

okay,

as a people,

as human beings.

We will come up with all sorts of excuses

or proofs that that wasn't really what we experienced,

if we had some kind of religious experience.

We are so inoculated from believing in the Lord

that time and again,

and this is one example,

there's a few others,

where even the most dramatic instance

of God revealing himself

would not result in a saving faith.

And I would say to you this morning

that that's probably still the case.

Religious or not,

people will look to something metaphysical.

And when I say metaphysical,

beyond just the material world that they see,

saying it to the universe

or whatever kind of belief system

that in a time of crisis we lean upon,

say,

if only I can get through this,

I will believe,

or universe,

pay me back for all the good karma I have given.

Whatever it may be,

we are constantly

looking past this material world

and sometimes it works.

Maybe it's coincidence,

okay,

maybe it's not.

Sometimes it works,

and yet,

we continue on in cycles of unbelief.

I bring this up just to say,

Simeon is walking in a righteous and devout way,

and because of that,

he is given this promise,

but he doesn't become righteous and devout

because he was given a promise first.

Waiting is difficult.

It is very, very hard.

Having faith in God is a very,

I mean,

a near impossible task,

and yet,

this is what we are called to.

What is important to note in our text today

is that Simeon was led by the Holy Spirit,

which is to say that God had empowered him

to act righteously and devoutly

to do the things that God had called him to do.

So, back to the text.

Salvation had indeed come to

the one who,

with expectant faith,

waited for the Lord God to do

what he had promised.

And, as I have said,

Simeon's faith, I'm sure,

was beyond,

was far from being perfect,

and yet,

he was blessed because

he chose to believe.

The result was great comfort.

Not in a life free of pain,

but in one so satisfied

in purpose and meaning

that it says that he could

die a fulfilled man.

I want to say to you this morning

that faith

isn't so much

the amount of faith we have,

but the degree of,

or the,

not the degree of faith that we have,

but the person that our faith is in.

So, what can rid a man

of fear of death?

How can Simeon say,

I can depart in peace?

What can take away the terrors

of the graveyard?

What can help us see

soberly and clearly

so that the false promises

that money and power

and standing

and even health

will not bring us

ultimate satisfaction in this life?

How can we have clarity

in that regard?

It has to be nothing

less than faith

in God

who gives His redemption,

who gives His deliverance,

who gives His consolation

to all peoples.

This is what we see in Simeon.

That this faith that he has,

it buoys him up.

That God strengthens him

as he is walking with the Lord,

as he is choosing

to trust the Lord

and not in other things,

and the Lord is keeping him afloat.

And this will then bring us

to our next point.

For having such a faith in God

that brings about this consolation

will ultimately

also give us peace.

And a peace that is so profound

that life,

that the life to come

will be more of an exciting

journey

and prospect

and adventure

than anything else

in this life.

So we'll get to our second point,

the satisfaction of peace.

Look with me

at the Nunc Dimittis,

this prayer

and song of Simeon.

We'll look in verse,

actually we'll start

in verse 27

and read down to 32.

And Simeon came in the spirit

into the temple,

and when the parents

brought in the child Jesus

to do for him

according to the custom of the law,

Simeon took him up

in his arms

and blessed God

and said,

Lord,

now you are letting

your servant depart in peace

according to your word.

For my eyes

have seen your salvation

that you have prepared

in the presence

of all peoples

a light for revelation

to the Gentiles

and for glory

to your people Israel.

In some ways,

I imagine Simeon

as that knight

in the last crusade

who is pale and old

and has been waiting

for centuries

guarding the chalice.

He is weary,

and yet he is delighted

that his job is finished

and his time

has now come to an end.

Yet,

these words

are not those

of a man

who is weary

from pain

or frustrated

with his life.

Rather,

they are words

of a man

whose desire

for genuine peace

has come to fruition.

consider the peace

Simeon possesses

and how it is grounded

not in speculation

but in promise.

A peace so powerful

that he is ready

to die

without regret.

He is ready

to die

without fear

of unsaid words

or unfinished work.

Can you imagine

an ending

more glorious

than this?

A peace

that God

himself gives,

a peace

that God

has promised

in his word

that has come

to pass,

these promises

that were made

because mankind

lacked peace,

because it

was such

an elusive thing.

He may have

struggled

and muddled

through life

at certain

points,

but nevertheless,

here he is

at the end

of the day

and he has

peace,

so much peace

that he is

ready to depart.

Last week

during our

Lessons and

Carol service,

we read

a whole

number of

different

scripture verses,

nine in total,

and they were

communicating

to us

redemption,

redemptive history,

and it began

in Genesis 3.

I guess it would be

on this side

for you guys.

Genesis 3,

this promise

that was made

to Adam

and Eve

immediately

after they

sinned,

after they

broke covenant

and relationship

with God

because of their

selfish pride,

that God

would send

someone to

crush the serpent.

It's kind of

really interesting

language,

but it was

the first promise

that God

would not

allow mankind

to exist

in this state

of evil

and brokenness

indefinitely.

that this

promise

throughout the

Old Testament,

whether explicitly

or there

be allusions

to it,

it was

constant in

scripture that

God would

make a way

for peace.

No longer

would we have

enmity or

frustration in

our relationships,

either with one

another or

between us

and God.

And the

wonderful thing

about this

and what

we see

in Simeon's

prayer

is that

it was

according to

your word,

which is to

say that

it wasn't

a contingency

plan,

it wasn't

a plan B.

This was

not some

kind of

fix-up

because God

somehow

didn't get

the ingredients

in the

creation soup

just right

and dinner

was ruined.

That salvation

was planned

from the

beginning

and in the

presence of

all people,

which is to

say in the

ancient world

and according

to the

scriptures,

there were

the Gentiles

and then

there was

Israel.

And here

it is not

saying that

salvation,

even though

just previously

it said that

Simeon was

waiting for

the consolation

of Israel,

it isn't

just for

Israel,

it is for

all people.

So that

Gentiles,

those that

are not a

part of the

Jewish nation,

the Israelite

nation,

they are

no longer

destined to

walk in

superstition

and darkness.

And for

the Jewish

nation that

since they

have gone

off course,

they would

be brought

back home

and given

such an

incredible

honor that

the Savior

of the

world was

born through

them.

We sang

O Holy

Night and

I mean

capturing it

incredibly in

verse,

the thrill of

hope,

the weary

soul rejoices.

This is

exactly what

we're reading

about here

in Simeon's

song.

But the

temptation will

always be to

consider that

peace through

Christ is not

enough.

That what he

truly gives is

good but not

great.

That we must

add something

that is lacking.

I one time

went to,

there was a

Starbucks,

that was like a

massive frou-frou

Starbucks down

in the market

and I had my

birthday free

drink so I went

down there with

Christine,

I don't think

we had any

kids and I

ordered,

it was called a

Siphon Brew

Coffee and it

was like $11

for a coffee and

it took 25

minutes.

This lady was

like very

passionate about

coffee.

This is how I

give back to my

community.

Kind of like

interesting way to

give back to your

community that can

afford $12

coffees.

Okay, the

point is,

the point is

after all of

that, okay,

after all of

that, I'm

expecting the

best coffee I've

ever tasted,

okay, life

changing coffee

and she

says, do you

need room for

dairy?

And I think

you put dairy

into this, it's

like putting

lipstick on a

pig.

Like, why

would we do

this?

Is this supposed

to be the

best coffee and

we're going to

add to it to

make it better?

It's supposed to

be the best.

And I think we

do something

similar,

potentially,

with trusting

in the Lord for

his peace.

We have to

augment it.

We have to put

a bit of salt on

this Michelin

star dinner

that is in

front of us.

And yet,

if we do

that, it is

not a guarantee

that we will

have a higher

degree of

peace, but it

robs God's

salvation of the

peace that it

gives.

You cannot

have Jesus

plus, okay?

You cannot have

salvation plus,

plus whatever you

want to add after

that.

You can't have

that.

It's Christ

and with him

this divine

peace or

nothing at all.

Friends, let

us, like

Simeon, find

the satisfaction

that is divine

and worthy of

our faith.

This peace

that passes

all understanding.

And as we

wrap this up,

let's read the

narrative that

follows the

Nunc

Dimittis,

verses 33

and 35.

It's not a

part of the

servant song,

but it's

connected and

has just a

deep insight

that is worthy

of our

attention.

Read with

me verses

33 to

35.

And his

father and

his mother

marveled at

what was said

about him.

And Simeon

blessed them

and said to

Mary his

mother,

Behold,

this child

is appointed

for the fall

and rising

of many in

Israel and

for a sign

that is

opposed.

And a

sword will

pierce through

your own

soul also,

so that

thoughts from

many hearts

will be

revealed.

He says

three things

here.

We're going to

focus briefly

on just two

of them.

The first

is that

Christ will

be a

divisive

figure.

He was a

divisive

figure in

his day.

He continues

to be a

divisive

figure in

our day.

Why?

Because with

the coming

of Christ,

God will

make it

very plain

to the

human race

that we

are very

non-self

sufficient

people.

We cannot

enjoy either

consolation or

peace that

results in

long-lasting

satisfaction

because at

our core

we lack

a peace

and

consolation.

So we

cannot

create

something that

we desperately

need from

nothing.

Okay?

There's a

void

of peace

and

consolation

and

therefore

we

can't

produce

it

ourselves.

Sin and

evil are

so very

prevalent

and impossible

to deal

with.

It will

take nothing

short of

Christ dying

in our

place for

our sins

because we

cannot atone

for the

wrongs we

have done.

Which is to

say that

we cannot

save ourselves.

We cannot

give ourselves

lasting peace.

And the

coming of

Christ has

made that

very,

very clear.

there's no

amount of

good that

we can

achieve that

will tip

the scales

in our

favor that

we may

enjoy a

self-wrought

satisfaction.

And why

will this

cause many

to fall

and rise?

Well,

for those

that it

will cause

the fall,

be that

those that,

and maybe

some among

us or maybe

even seasons

in our lives

where we

think that

we can

actually exist

and live

completely

satisfied,

like a

deep,

like core,

heart of

heart satisfaction

apart from

Jesus.

Okay?

That is

what the

scripture will

call delusion.

And if you've

tried that

and have

come up

short,

you can say

actually it is

a bit of a

delusional

thought.

But for

those that

can recognize

that they

are in

deep need

of a

savior,

what Christ

extends

is mercy

and joy

and love

and an

eternal

satisfaction

that will

transcend

this world,

that will

be rooted

in an

unchanging

God and

therefore will

never change.

And it's

offered to

us as a

free gift

of grace.

The second

point that

he makes

is related

to the

first,

but it

speaks to

Christ being

both God

and judge.

Notice at

the very

end,

Simeon

says that

Christ will

cause the

thoughts

from many

hearts to

be revealed.

Throughout

the New

Testament,

there are

13 uses

of this

word

translated

here as

thoughts,

and in

every

instance,

it comes

with a

negative

constant,

it is

pejorative,

it's negative.

These thoughts

are bad

thoughts,

these thoughts

are vain

thoughts,

these thoughts

are doubting

thoughts,

these are

thoughts all

of which are

hostile to

God and

his purposes.

It is

really the

condition of

one's heart

that our

thoughts are

then reflecting.

Therefore,

when Simeon

says that

the thoughts

from many

hearts will

be revealed,

he means

that the

coming of

Christ will

show how

utterly

broken and

sinful and

deceived the

human heart

truly is.

And on one

hand,

the life of

Christ will

be so

utterly and

completely

perfect that

all of

existence will

see this

life as the

ultimate

exemplar and

therefore the

standard of

goodness and

of kindness

and love so

that even

people outside

of the Christian

faith can

talk about

Jesus and

often wonder

why his

followers don't

look like

him.

But it will

also mean that

no human soul

can hide their

wickedness from

his just

judgment.

Simeon is

saying that

Christ sees

all.

God sees

all.

And he knows

all.

And he is the

only one who

will perfectly

judge all

who ever

lived.

And all

who ever

lived will

be judged.

It's a

terrifying

thought,

okay?

It's a

terrifying

thought.

But maybe

not so

terrifying if

we consider

this incredible

scene once

again.

For what

we see is

Simeon,

this elderly

man, at

the end of

his life,

holding this

tender,

helpless baby

in his arms.

And yet

that child

was the

creator,

is the

creator of

all things.

The one who

actually is

holding Simeon

and holding

us this

morning.

That in the

incarnation,

God literally

became a

human being,

took on

flesh,

that God

became

enfleshed.

And it is

nothing short

of God

knowing our

sinful estate

and our

utter helplessness

becoming

himself helpless.

And although

he knew no

sin,

became sin

for us so

that,

what 1

Corinthians

tells us,

that we

might become

the righteousness

of God.

I'll end

with this.

God loves

you.

He loves

you.

He loves

you,

and he

loves you

in such

a way

that he

is willing

to go to

great length

so that you

will be with

him.

And yet,

he does so

knowing all

of your junk,

all of your

history,

all of the

things that

you would

blush to

confess.

He knows

it all,

and he

loves you.

His great

desire is to

console you

with an

everlasting

consolation,

to give you

peace and

satisfaction

to such a

degree that

this life,

although it is

wonderful and

good and

worthy to be

enjoyed,

it will

pale in

comparison to

the life to

come,

the satisfaction

and peace

that he

will give.

For he

will give

you himself.

The eternal

God has

welcomed us

into his

very presence

if we are

but to

trust in

him.

Again,

not a

perfect

trust,

but put

our faith

in Christ

himself

to remind

ourselves and

believe that

no achievement

that we

could do

can bring

us such

satisfaction,

that there's

no amount

of good

living we

can do

that will

bring us

a consolation

that will

even hold

a candle

to what God

is offering

us to us

in Jesus

Christ.

So I think

what Simeon

is telling us

to do this

morning with

his life

is to

trust in

Christ and

like Simeon

to enjoy

a holy

satisfaction,

a deep,

deep trust

that we

may know

the Prince

of Peace

all the

days of

our life.

as