THE HOMAGE OF SIMEON AND

ΑΝΝΑ,

LUKE ii, 25-38.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:

There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem,

Every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls Playing in the streets thereof.

Zechariah viii, 4, 5.

XIII.

THE HOMAGE OF SIMEON AND ANNA.

LUKE ii, 25-38.

"AND behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, The Saintly

Character.

Luke 1, 26.

whose name was Simeon; and this man was right-
eous and devout, looking for the consolation of
Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him." Brief
as this description is, it sets the aged Simeon be-
fore us in a clear and most engaging light. First,
he was "righteous and devout," a conscientious
and strict worshiper according to the rites of
Judaism. Like his contemporaries Zacharias and
Elisabeth, he was righteous before God, walking Luke i, 6.
in all the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord blameless. Again, he was "looking
for the consolation of Israel." A choice spirit
was Simeon in that Sadducean age, earnestly
believing in the long-promised Redeemer, and
yearning for his advent. Nor was his yearning
unsatisfied. In his own case was literally fulfilled
the last prophet's memorable prediction :

Behold, I send my messenger,

And he shall prepare the way before me:

And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple;
And the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in,
Behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.

Malachi iii, 1.

Heb. ix, 28.

Gen. v, 24.

The Gracious
Revelation.
Luke ii, 26.

In like manner will the consolation of Israel suddenly return, when he shall appear a second time, apart from sin, for the salvation of those who, like Simeon, are looking for him. Once more: "The Holy Spirit was upon" Simeon; that is to say, he was in a marked degree the subject of the Spirit's influence. He was emphatically a child of the Spirit. And so, to sum it all up, Simeon, like ancient Enoch, walked with God; and, although he was not translated, yet he received a still richer blessing; for he was permitted to gaze with the eyes of the flesh on the long-expected Messiah of Jehovah.

"And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." This pre-intimation, be it observed, was not a mere presentiment; it was a direct revelation by the Holy Spirit. Yet, if Simeon had been questioned about it any time before this memorable day in the temple, I doubt whether he would have affirmed that he was conscious of having received any distinctively supernatural communication. He probably would have answered: "I have a strong conviction that I shall not die until I behold the consolation of Israel." However this may have been, I believe that something like this has often occurred in the history of the Church, and may often occur again. Although the Holy Spirit is a supernatural being, yet, generally speaking, he acts so naturally on our feelings and expectations that we are not distinctly conscious of being under his influence. Who shall venture to affirm that those strong pre

sentiments which we sometimes have-for example, concerning the conversion of children or kindred, or the restoration to health and home of far distant sick friends-may not be intimations to us by that Holy One who is emphatically the comforter and teacher and guide and helper and inspirer of his people? If the Holy Spirit can act on us in respect to duty, as we believe he does, why can not he act on us in respect to desire and foresight? But let us not imagine that every presentiment is his impulse. How often are our saintliest and intensest expectations disappointed! Blessed are we if, like the patriarchs, we die as well as live in Heb. xi, 13. faith, although we have not received the promised blessings, but only seen them, and greeted them from afar. In all events, no one who has ever heard the glad tidings need die before he has in the truest sense seen the Lord's Christ. God grant

that we may all be sealed with the Holy Spirit of Eph. i, 13, 14. promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory.

"And he came in the Spirit into the temple." The Holy Spirit then not only revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he had seen Jehovah's Anointed: the Holy Spirit also prompted Simeon to visit the temple the precise hour the Divine Babe was to be brought in. Ah, little do we imagine how many of the blessed coincidences of life are really arranged by that Holy One under whose administration we are living. Little did Simeon, although looking for the consolation of Israel, imagine that he would see the Lord's

The

Divine Impulse. Luke ii, 27.