Priscilla Shirer brings a message to She Rises Conference to encourage us to eagerly seek after God’s presence and direction in our lives! This video was brought to you by TBN Networks®. SUBSCRIBE here and never miss an upload! https://www.youtube.com/c/PraiseTBN/?… WATCH full Praise episodes for free on the TBN app: https://watch.tbn.org/praise
NEED PRAYER? TBN’s Prayer Partners would love to pray with you and are available 24/7: 714-731-1000 (U.S. and Canada) and +1-714-731-1000 (International). On the air since 1973, TBN’s flagship ministry and talk show Praise is one of the most recognizable — and most watched — Christian programs in the world. Taped before a live audience and hosted by TBN’s own Matt and Laurie Crouch along with other popular personalities, Praise features the best in contemporary Christian music and worship, fresh and impacting ministry voices, engaging interviews from a wide variety of guests, and a fast-moving hour of relevant talk you won’t want to miss! #praise #tbn #priscillashirer 00:00 Intro 00:23 Smelling Like Your Environment 02:25 Desensitized to God’s Presence 06:35 Having an Encounter with Jesus 13:45 Affluence Can Be a Distraction 15:37 God’s Work is Limitless 19:36 The Manifest Presence of God 21:24 The Work of the Holy Spirit 23:35 The Holy Spirit Is Upon You 28:28 Walk in Your Calling 29:22 The Revelation of the Holy Spirit 31:29 The Leadership of the Holy Spirit 32:58 Spiritual Parents 41:18 Experience Jesus for Yourself!
I won’t let everybody keep spoon feeding
me the word of God I’m gonna go to the
scriptures myself and know that I too
can have an ongoing fervent relationship
with Jesus I’m gonna gather him up in my
own arms and when you do you will see
him and experience him and encounter him
in a way you have never encountered him
there was a commercial that came to my
mind as a Honey Nut Cheerios commercial
this lady’s got a hair net on she’s been
working in the factory all day long
they’re interviewing her and she says
you know I’m just like regular working
moms sometimes after work I gotta go to
the grocery store so I do I run my
errands I go to the grocery store and
she says sometimes I’m walking down the
aisleway and gross in the grocery store
just one aisle after the other and every
aisle I go down I see people going
they’re wondering why they why they can
smell what to them smells like fresh
bread baking somewhere or cookies
somewhere and then she said every now
and then I’ll walk past and I’ll just
put people out of their misery and tell
them hey you’re just smelling me
because I smell like the environment
I’ve been in all day
foreign
[Applause]
like this we go back into our homes and
our jobs and our neighborhoods and our
high schools and our universities and
people are just like where you been
something different about you
you smell like the environment you’ve
been in all day
Lord Jesus I thank you for this place
that is permeating with the fragrance of
your presence
I thank you father in Jesus name that
our lives will have the residue of your
presence on them that father from this
place we will never ever be the same
again we are your daughters Lord and we
are coming over your word now to hear a
fresh word straight from the mouth of
God lord I am so glad that everybody
else in this room is here but I didn’t
come to see everybody else I came to see
you and so Lord I am asking that you
would open up the windows of heaven and
come down and speak to your daughters we
are listening in Jesus name everybody
agreed when they said amen
amen you may take your seats
years and years ago man my babies were
little I remember this because I
traveled to Memphis on one particular
occasion and I remember this because I
was exhausted I was so tired
um you know my kids were small at the
time and I happened to take this
particular trip uh by myself and I
traveled to Memphis and I remember being
so excited when the lady picked me up
from the airport that was a part of the
church that I was going to be
ministering at she took me to from the
airport to the hotel it was an early
evening I was so glad anybody ever been
glad to just go to bed at 8 pm
I could not wait I laid down in the bed
ready to get a good night of sleep and I
was jolted awake about two o’clock three
o’clock in the morning because there was
a train that went by right outside the
window of our hotel
the conductor of the train was sitting
on the horn as the long train blazed
right outside of the hotel where I was
sleeping I sat straight up in bed sort
of alarmed by the noise went and looked
out of the window and realized that
literally the train tracks were right
there and it was one of those very long
trains with a lot of cars that went
whisking by it took a while for the
train to finally pass by and settle I
tried to go uh back to sleep as best I
could
lady came back to pick me up that
particular morning because the
conference started I had to be there
very early in the morning so it was
about 6 30 or so anyway that I was going
to have to get up and get dressed and
get ready for a 7 15 or 7 30 pickup and
so I got in the car and I didn’t really
really say anything no big deal we had a
great day at the conference I went back
to sleep that night thinking of course
that the night before had been a fluke
and that that train wasn’t coming by
again went to sleep about 8 30 9 p.m so
glad to get a good full night of sleep
but 3 A.M you guessed it that train went
roaring by right outside the window I
sat straight up in bed not believing
that this was happening again and I
couldn’t even get back to sleep that
night I couldn’t wait for that sweet
lady to come pick me up the next morning
I sat down in the car and I said so hey
did you know that there is a train
that goes by about three o’clock in the
morning at least the last two mornings
that that I’ve been here that train has
gone by in the middle of the night woken
me straight up out of my sleep and she
had this look of complete horror and
regret written all over her face she
said I am so sorry I didn’t even think
about the fact that that train goes by
because those of us who live in this
community have grown so used to the
sound of the train that it doesn’t even
occur to us when it’s passing through
anymore
it occurs to me that those of us who
live particularly in this western part
of the world where the presence of God
has been so lavishly given to us where
on every street corner we see another
church with a pastor that preaches the
good news of Jesus Christ where we can
turn on Christian radio stations or go
across town to the Christian bookstore
where we live as women in a day and age
and generation where there have never
been ever in history so many bible study
resources by women for women what could
it be that we’ve grown so used to the
blessing of the presence of God that
when the train of God’s glory Falls when
God’s presence comes and marks and and
and permeates our presence that we don’t
even recognize it anymore
that God has so blessed us that we’re
too blessed for our own good
that we don’t see the Fingerprints of
God in our lives that when there’s even
just a hint of disappointment or
discouragement or frustration or
irritation in our life that we are
blinded to the fact that even when
things are dark the light of God’s
presence can still be found it will just
open up our eyes
may we never be desensitized to the
presence of God
and if you have your Bibles and you want
to look with me at a passage of
scripture I’ll just read it to you that
I want to point out today if you still
you know actually use the Bible with
paper Pages like I do or your iPhone
your iPad any manner of Inez is fine in
Luke Chapter 2 there are a group of
people who are about to be in the
presence of God and they’re not even
going to recognize it
I will tell you as you turn to Luke
Chapter 2 that the author Luke wrote
this gospel and recorded these stories
really to show us how to have an
encounter with Jesus to not miss him
when his presence is near and by the way
this is our goal as Believers this is
the reason why he died on the cross of
Calvary so that we could not just know
about him but so that we can encounter
him we’re not just supposed to read in
the Old Testament about how he divided
the Red Sea or caused the walls of
Jericho to come tumbling down or met
with a man named Moses in the form of a
burning bush or shoot up as the angel of
the Lord in a wine press while a fearful
timid Gideon was beating out wine uh
threshing wheat rather in that wine
press we’re not just supposed to read
about others that had an encounter with
Jesus we’re not just supposed to see and
applaud and experience the testimonies
of other people they’re supposed to
encourage us to realize that if regular
folks like that can tell honor him so
can we
and Luke comes along and he writes story
after Story in his gospel to show us
that we can have an encounter with Jesus
these people that he is writing to and
that he’s writing about we’re in a time
of national Decay there is chaos
happening and swirling around them
morally and socially and you and I can
relate to that because they were not
just in a time of national Decay so are
we
our country is in a state of more social
Decay and decline than we’ve ever seen
before and the more God is marginalized
and segmented to the periphery of
society the worse things are going to
get the more he has completely ignored
and disregarded the more we’re going to
see the influx of chaos and destruction
but today I don’t want y’all to worry
about the White House I want to get to
your house
I want to talk about the destruction and
the Decay happening maybe underneath the
roof of your own home Luke is writing
not just then but now to people who need
a savior folks who are waiting on a hero
to show up and rescue them
from the plight of their own
circumstances Luke was writing to them
but by the Holy Spirit he is writing to
us today for any of you who are in a
state of decline in some area of your
life where we’re seeing against the
backdrop of Darkness this need we have
for the Savior to manifest himself for
us to not just know about him from afar
applauding him in the testimonies of
other people but if anybody wants to
experience him themselves then Luke is
writing to you and I want somebody to
know this today that sometimes sometimes
your difficulties are less about the
Enemy being against you and more about
God wanting you to show wanting to show
you what it looks like when he is for
you
sometimes it’s about him finally wanting
his daughter’s eyes to be open so that
when he shows up they’re sensitive
enough to see him in Luke chapter 2
verse 25.
it says and behold
there was a man in Jerusalem whose name
was Simeon this man was righteous and
devout and looking for the consolation
he was looking for some hope y’all
looking 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 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 he took Jesus he went
over to this couple grabbed this 40-day
old child into his arms and he blessed
God and said now Lord you can let your
servant depart in peace because
according to Thy word my eyes have seen
your salvation you have prepared your
salvation in the presence of all the
people a light of Revelation the glory
of thy People Israel and Mary and Joseph
they were amazed at the things that were
being said about their son Jesus Christ
here on this occasion Mary and Joseph
have come into the temple for um the
purification ceremony it was traditional
it was ceremonial that about 40 days
after a baby was born and the
purification process had taken place
that the parents of a new baby would
bring their baby into the temple to
offer specific sacrifices a burnt
offering a sin offering
um and just to present their child to
the Lord now traditionally when folks
came into the temple they would bring
sacrifices and if you look back into the
Book of Leviticus the details of those
sacrifices are given they would need to
have a pigeon for a particular sacrifice
they would need to have a lamb for
another sacrifice and there is a caveat
I’m just going to take a little Rabbit
Trail for a second because I love that
y’all like rabbit trails
there’s a little caveat given in Luke
Leviticus chapter 12. that says that if
someone is not wealthy enough if they do
not have the resources to actually
purchase a lamb for this sacrifice that
they actually can just bring two pigeons
and I didn’t read all the details here
but a few verses earlier than where we
started in verse 25 it tells us that
Mary and Joseph come into the temple
with two pigeons or two turtle doves
they don’t have a lamb which indicates
to us that they have expended so much of
their resources that they are in a state
of poverty at least enough that they
were not able to afford their own lamb
they’ve got two pigeons that’s all they
had to bring on this occasion as they
bring their new baby into the Tabernacle
to present him to the Lord they’ve got
these two pigeons which means that when
they walk into the temple people would
have looked at them and recognized them
as a couple that was um instant had
insufficient funds as a couple that was
like talking as a poor couple they would
have been looked down upon people would
have marginalized them because they did
not have the accoutrements of wealth
that everybody else in the building had
so they did not have a lamb and yet they
have in their possession the lamb that
takes Away The Sins Of The World God
tell everybody who is in the room and
you felt like an outcast because you
don’t wear what everybody else wears you
can’t afford to drive what everybody
else drives you you don’t have the
resources to live in the neighborhood
where everybody else lives listen my
friend even if you do not have a lamb
you might be in the perfect position to
make sure you have intimacy with the
lamb who takes away the sins of the
world
and cannot tell you that sometimes it is
our affluence that keeps us from having
the Lamb of God in our grasp intimacy
and fellowship with him like never
before
the people that I have met that have
more of an integral intimate ongoing
fervent passionate relationship with
Jesus Christ they are not the people
sometimes that live in the Mansion on
the hill it’s the people in a Hut in a
village with fats roofs and dirt floors
who have in their desperation had an
encounter with Jesus Christ
and y’all I have met people in third
world countries who pray for us
oh they pray for us they feel bad for us
because they say we pray
anemic self-centered prayers they listen
to our prayers that are so focused on
having more Comfort than we already have
we’re in their desperation they have met
with Jesus they have seen him with their
own eyes they have been marked by the
presence of God they have watched God
show up in so much Splendor and they
want that for us
sometimes when we can afford our own
lamb
it pushes out the opportunity and the
margin that should be reserved for the
lamb
comfortable people
pray anemic prayers
desperation
it’s insufficiency it’s lack it’s
emptiness when you find yourself in that
state where like Mary and Joseph you
don’t have enough to buy your own lamb
anymore
that might be the perfect setup for your
encounter with the Lamb of God
and so they are coming into the temple
with the lamb
he’s in their arms they walk in
to the temple
y’all there at church
there’s a group of people including
religious leaders Pharisees and
Sadducees that have all gathered around
probably hundreds of people all carrying
their sacrifices that have joined in on
this occasion
and they’ve been waiting all of these
people have been waiting on the Messiah
they’ve been waiting for the kingdom of
God to be at hand they’ve been waiting
on a king to ride in on a white horse
and to redeem them from all that has
been lost and how they’ve lost as a
nation they’ve been waiting for somebody
to rescue them from the oppression of
Rome they have been looking for a Hero
and the hero comes in and they do not
recognize him
they are at church
and they do not recognize the presence
of
God the reason why is because he has
come in a package that they do not
prefer
he has come in a package that does not
align with their expectations and so
because he does not look like what they
wanted him to look like about what they
had in their own estimation prepared as
the package that would be in their
estimation the best package for the king
to arrive because their circumstance
does not look like and he has not
appeared the way that they preferred
they downplay the Messiah when he
arrives I want to submit to you
that Jesus is there
in this difficult moment in your
marriage in this trying moment in your
finances in this struggle on your job in
this difficulty in this relationship
you’re rubbing Corners with your boss or
your spouse or the struggle you’re
having on your University campus or in
your high school campus this hard time
that you were having he is there he just
may have come in the package you don’t
prefer
and that oftentimes the Fingerprints of
God are not recognized not because he’s
not there it is just because the
expectation we have set up about what he
looks like and how he will speak and how
he will move the prayer request the
solution that he will bring doesn’t
align with the prayer request that we
have prayed we have boxed God into the
way we want him to answer instead of
believing that his ways are not our ways
and his thoughts are not our thoughts as
high as the heavens are above the Earth
that’s how high his thoughts are above
our own and so we box God in when we say
Lord answer my request in this
particular way do you know that you
limit not God but you limit I limit our
experience of God when we say Lord
answer my request exactly this way I
have learned to pray here Lord is my
request you said that I can make it
known here’s how I would like to see you
move in my circumstance thank you Lord
that I can come boldly and make my
request known so I’ve made my request
but at the end of that prayer I’ve
learned to pray Lord Do It
or do something better
thank you
because do you know there are categories
of options that our brain doesn’t even
know are available and accessible to us
and if we limit God to what we can think
and what we see as the way we have not
even considered the categories of
opportunity that this Divine holy
Almighty being has accessible to him
y’all he’s not just thinking about you
he’s thinking about your children and
your grandchildren and your
great-grandchildren and those that
aren’t to come and how his kingdom
purposes are going to be outworked in
this generation and so on this occasion
the Messiah shows up and nobody
recognizes him except somebody say
accept
except a guy named Simeon
he had been told and promised
just like we have
that we he would see the Manifest
presence of God he’d been told it
he’d been promised just like we’ve been
promised because of our relationship
with God through Christ Jesus and the
Holy Spirit indwelling us that we will
see the Fingerprints of God working in
our lives this is called the Manifest
presence of God
it is unique to omnipresence
omnipresence means that God is
everywhere all at the same time I’m so
grateful for God’s omnipresence because
God’s omnipresence means that when I fly
back to Dallas where I live when my new
friends that I just met from Uganda fly
back to where they live
um that when you all fly back to
wherever it is you’ve come from whether
all over different areas of California
or afar it means that no matter where we
go he is as much with me as he is with
you
because he is omnipresent
but if you’re anything like me you’re
grateful for his omnipresence but you
want more than that
you want the manifested presence of God
I’m talking about where you can look
back over your circumstances and realize
that his fingerprints were all
throughout that thing I’m talking about
where you can see footprints in the sand
as you actually recognize that God was
walking beside you the whole way I’m
talking about what other people call
coincidence encounters you see The
Sovereign hand of God that was aligning
your footsteps and setting you in the
right place at the exact right time the
Manifest presence of God
I wanted to know what made simeon’s eyes
open to recognize what nobody else in
this scenario did I figured whatever
opened up his eyes might open up our
eyes as well are you ready three things
that I want to point out to you it says
in verse 26 about Simeon it says that it
had been
actually verse 25 I want to start there
there was a man in Jerusalem whose name
was Simeon he was righteous devout
looking for the consolation of Israel we
could spend a whole lot of time in those
three but here’s where I want to harden
the Holy Spirit was upon him
the Holy Spirit was upon him
it says
that he came into the temple verse 27 in
the spirit
verse 26 says it had been revealed to
him by the Holy Spirit look at the
presence of the holy spirit permeating
this text look at how the author has
over and over and over again highlighted
the work of the holy spirit in opening
up simeon’s eyes to be able to recognize
the manifested presence of God before
him in the person of Jesus Christ Luke
here he is just in the second chapter of
this book and by the way just in these
first two chapters he is already alluded
to the spirit 10 times the work of God’s
spirit is so powerful and so needful to
a fruitful experience in the life of the
of the believer that even before the
book of Acts even before Pentecost even
before the spirit has come
Luke points out the movement of the
spirit here in the life of Simeon this
shows you how important the spirit’s
work is how critical it is to making
sure that your spiritual senses your
spiritual radar is heightened so that
you can detect the presence of God
the Holy Spirit was upon him now I want
you to see the work of God’s spirit this
is just the first characteristic of
Simeon but I want to just just take some
time for just a few moments on it the
work of God’s spirit is so important it
deserves a little bit of our attention
here there are three ways that the holy
spirit is described as relating to
Simeon in these few verses just just a
few ways that the Holy Spirit relates to
Simeon in these few verses the first
thing it says is that the Holy Spirit
was upon him now listen I want you to
know that if you have placed faith in
Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit lives on
the inside of you
Ephesians chapter 1 says that the moment
you believed you received the Holy
Spirit you were sealed by the Holy
Spirit of promise I want you to know
that at the moment you became a believer
in Jesus Christ you received the most
incredible gift you will ever receive
this side of Eternity and that is the
very presence of God living on the
inside of you the holy spirit is not a
ghost or a wind or a fire or a dove he
is often symbolized by those things but
don’t minimize him that ain’t who he is
the holy spirit is the third person of
the Trinity not third because he is
least in value just third because he’s
the last to be revealed to us in the
pages of scripture but all of the Power
all of the glory all of the authority
all of the Grandeur of God the father is
in the person of the Holy Spirit
which means
if you’re a Believer and the Holy Spirit
lives in you
that means all of the Grandeur and all
of the greatness all of the authority of
God himself now lives on the inside of
you so if you are a Believer you have
the Holy Spirit you are not waiting on
more of the holy spirit all of the Holy
Spirit you ever gonna get you got the
moment you got saved
now you do need to be filled by God’s
spirit so that his influence in your
life grows and grows so that you operate
under the gifting of the spirit so that
you can live according to the fruit of
the spirit that means living beyond your
natural capacity it means when your
patience runs out you can still have
more patience with that person it means
when gentleness has long since left the
building you still find you got a little
gentleness for that when self-discipline
I mean you just don’t have no more
self-discipline in that area we need the
fruit of God’s spirit so we need to be
filled by the spirit as we yield to him
in obedience we are filled which means
he influences us more our mind is
renewed and transformed we are
Sanctified into the image of Christ
Jesus
so the holy spirit is in you
but Simeon
his relationship with the spirit is not
described in that way
it doesn’t say that the spirit was in
him it says that the Holy Spirit was on
him
which means
there is a difference between the spirit
being in you
and the spirit
listen to me
the gift of God’s spirit in you oh this
brings tears to my eyes
the gift of God’s spirit in you
he will never leave you nor forsake you
there is nothing you can do to work
yourself out of a relationship with the
Holy Spirit
okay
but him being on you
you gotta live a life I I want to live a
life that is a magnet for the presence
of God to rest on me
we can sit in this conference until
we’re blue in the face and applaud the
truths of God and say Amen to the truths
of God but if we leave this room and
live in a way
that is out of alignment with the truth
of God we will not have the spirit rest
in
if you want the mark of God’s presence
on you I’m talking about where other
people can see you operating in your
gift moving about in the assignments
that you have been given where they can
just see there’s a unique favor on your
life toward that particular task or that
particular Endeavor where you are marked
by something that gives you favor that
gives you his grace for a particular
area of your life then you must live I
must choose to live in a way that honors
God so that God’s presence can rest upon
us
because he will not force himself on you
he offers you this resting of his
presence and his grace upon your life if
you will choose to live in a way that
does not uh disturb his presence that
does not keep him from being able to be
near you because you have chosen here it
is to be
listen to me
are you listening
y’all we live in a day and age where we
have become more interested in being
impressive
than being holy
where we are more interested in making
sure we have likes
and Friends
and the Applause of people more than
just being flat out holy
by making sure that political
correctness is not our main goal
that we’re not after the Applause of
people we’re after the Applause of
Heaven
you gotta choose to be ye holy
so I implore you Sisters by the mercies
of God to walk in a manner worthy of the
calling by which you have been called
so the spirit rested upon him let me
just show you quickly verse 26 says that
the spirit revealed feel him
so that means the spirit not only rested
upon him the spirits revealed to him old
preachers called this illumination
it’s shining a spotlight it’s when
you’re sitting in church on a Sunday and
your pastor opens up the Bible to preach
and man he just reads or she reads that
first two verses that they’re going to
be preaching from and you sit straight
up in your seat because you feel like
it’s all about you
anybody know what I’m talking about
it’s where you’re trying to figure out
how did did the church bug my house how
did they know
that’s the illumination of the spirit
it’s when he it’s when the old truths of
scripture scripture leap up off the page
and for lack of a better way word it’s
when they grip you in your soul where
you see how that intersects with
something you are personally facing
today that is the revelation of the holy
spirit this is what the Holy Spirit does
he reveals he illumines he shines the
spotlight Simeon was there that day
because he had been promised by the
revelation of God’s spirit it wasn’t
just a random promise it was his promise
oh you’ve had that happen over the
course of these days that we’ve been
gathered you probably have had that
happen where something that has been
said it wasn’t just great to hear it it
gripped your soul you knew it was an
assignment for you it was a conviction
that you knew the Lord was going to send
you out of here with that assignment
because the Holy Spirit revealed it to
you God’s spirit rests he reveals and
then he ruled Simeon because it says in
verse 27 that he came in the spirit to
the temple meaning the spirit told him
on this day to go into the temple and it
says that he came into the spirit under
the into the temple under the conviction
of the Holy Spirit when the spirit said
go
Simeon said yes sir
he submitted to the leadership of the
Holy Spirit
and he was in the right place at the
right time to run right smack dab into
the Messiah because he was submitted to
the leadership of the Holy Spirit
do you know that the more you ignore
ignore that still small conviction the
quieter that voice will become
not because he is no longer speaking but
because you’ve built a callous of
disobedience
you have muffled the voice of the holy
spirit so it is better to be so
sensitive to God’s holy spirit that
sometimes you give when maybe he hasn’t
even prompted you to give but it’s okay
because to the best of your capacity
you’re obeying the holy spirit of God
just to keep those Airways open and
clear from the Disobedience that will
begin to muffle his voice in your life
because more than anything else the
enemy wants you disconnected
from the privilege of hearing the voice
of God y’all this is what separates our
faith from every other so-called faith
on the face of the Earth it’s that our
God is alive
it’s that he speaks it’s that we have
the privilege to hear his voice
never downplay or minimize the value the
beauty the lavish Grace of this
privilege that we have to hear the voice
of God
so the Holy Spirit rested upon him there
are two other things that I want to
point out to you that were symbolic or
was were significant about Simeon that
opened up his eyes to see Jesus as he
was to be seen in this package that
other people downplayed and found
insignificant that they totally ignored
because they didn’t think that their
king would look like that here’s what
opened simeon’s eyes not only that he
was in the spirit when he came into the
temple and by the way
here’s another Rabbit Trail sorry
if we came to church in the spirit
it would change our experience in church
can I just say that
because while everybody else was looking
at that poor couple wondering why in the
world they were in their midst and
discounting Mary and Joseph
Simeon came in the spirit and he was
less concerned about who was wearing
what and who was driving up what and who
sat where and who was in his seat and
whether or not it was hot outside and
they had to walk forward to go take
their children to Sunday school they
were he was less concerned about his
convenience whether or not the preacher
preached good was irrelevant to him he
was looking for Jesus
whether or not the microphones were
perfectly balanced or the lights were
exactly as they should be whether or not
the LD screens were on full display that
day whether or not the ushers were or
were not kind was not his priority he
had come with his eyes peeled for Jesus
we would be less critical and less
skeptical if we came to church in the
spirit
then the pressure wouldn’t be on the
person who’s on the stage because you
didn’t come to see them you came to see
Jesus
okay verse 27.
so he comes in the spirit and then look
what happens in verse 27 the parents
bring in the Child Jesus
Jesus comes in in his parents arms look
at the Savior look at how the Manifest
presence of God arrives on this
remarkable day watch him show up into
the experience of this aged saint named
Simeon in a very personal way and onto
the landscape of human history he
arrives in the arms of his parents
there is something about the way we see
Jesus when we look at him through the
well-worn paths that have been hewned
out by our parents our grandparents our
great-grandparents our forefathers and
our four mothers spiritually speaking
the people who have gone before us and
have walked with Jesus just a little
while who’ve spent their lives serving
him I am always nervous when I see a
young group of Christians with their
little skinny jeans and their lattes and
their avocado toast
which I love by the way
I’m just always a little nervous when I
see them instagramming all their
religious experiences without the
oversight of some spiritual parents
because y’all we have modernized Jesus
today
the modern version of Jesus that we have
crafted he has made him watered down now
he’s tolerant of sin without the
expectation of Holiness our Jesus is
politically correct
we need to see Jesus coming in the arms
of our parents the people who have gone
before us the folks who have walked the
road a little while who know what
hymnals are
who sang the good old hymns that were
based in some theology we got to make
sure that our new praise and worship
songs I love them we got to make sure
they’re rooted in some good theology
and so the package may change listen
y’all I still go to the kind of church
it’s come a long way but it started when
I was one year old the church that I go
to now so you know back in the day there
was no way in the world I would have
ever gotten on a stage with with pants
on are you kidding
anybody know what kind of church I’m
talking about we still have a few people
in our church a few mothers of the
church if anybody knows what I mean
genes in the church are you kidding
they came in in their suits I’m talking
about where the skirt matches the jacket
[Applause]
like they were bought together
and not only that but underneath that
suit she’s gonna have some actual
pantyhose on I’m not talking about Spanx
with the feet cut out ah I mean
pantyhose
the ones with the girdle top anybody
know what I’m talking about anybody
remember that
and she’s gonna have a handbag in her
hand and that handbag that clutch is
going to match that jacket which matches
that skirt which matches her patent
leather shoes that she has on her feet
closed toe patent leather shoes
but the outfit is never complete
[Applause]
ain’t no regular hat right you know it’s
got some it’s a feather or a net or
something that’s sitting just like this
and she’s gonna worship God
anybody know what kind of church I’m
talking about
and I love when she comes up to give a
testimony
about what she has seen the Lord
it might not be modern it might not be
new and improved
but it’s the Jesus of Abraham Isaac
it’s the god of our forefathers
there’s some things you cannot learn on
there are some things you just need to
be with a mother of the church somebody
who’s walked the road a little bit
longer than you to make sure you can
bounce off of her or him the from the
true theological biblically based
unchanging venerated word of God
so the package may change but the
principles never do y’all
Jesus was never politically correct he
was always a revolutionary he never
dismissed sin he called it out in in
Grace but most certainly in truth he was
never watered down he always said I am
the only way
I am the truth and I am the life he
didn’t acquiesce or tolerate he loved
but he did say repent for the kingdom of
God is at hand
God made us in His image
and one philosopher said we have now
returned the favor favor by trying to
make him in ours
we got to see Jesus as he’s always meant
to be seen and sometimes it requires you
going to find a parent a spiritual
parent who can show you the Jesus of the
Bible
Simeon saw Jesus because he as he was
meant to be seen he saw him in the
package in which Our Savior wanted to
come because there were some spiritual
parents who were willing to bring him in
so I speak to the younger people that
are in this room I’m telling you
check your arrogance
check our lack of teachability where
sometimes we just think we know it all
so we won’t recognize and see the beauty
of our savior because we won’t receive
him from the parents who are trying to
give in to us
so the package may change change the
package enjoy that freedom but watch and
make sure that you’re sticking to the
true milk of the word of God
and then can I implore you who are in
this room and you’ve sort of graduated
to that parent Department
take this as your privilege
carry Jesus to those who need him
to see him and experience him as you
will bring him Simeon shows us that in
order to have our eyes open his
experience demonstrates to us that we
need to have the Holy Spirit upon us and
we need to be looking for how the
parents bring him into our experience
but finally it says in verse 28 that as
soon as he caught a glimpse of him
he went over look look at the boldness
look at the audacity look at the
eagerness of Simeon he runs over to the
parents he takes the baby
out of their arms and gathers him to
himself
because an experience with Jesus from
afar wasn’t enough for Simeon
can I just tell you in this room that
God does not have grandchildren
you got to have your own relationship
you have to make your own choice you
have to go and gather him up for
yourself
you have to taste and see for yourself
how good he is you can celebrate him in
the testimonies of other people in the
experience of other people till you are
blue in the face but there’s gotta come
a time where you decide I’m gonna stop
sitting on the periphery and applauding
his experience with other folks you got
to decide today will be the day that I
go and gather him up for myself that I
start to spend time with him in prayer
and in conversation so that I can take
advantage of this privilege to hear his
voice and to speak to him in prayer that
I won’t let everybody keep spoon feeding
me the word of God I’m gonna go to the
scriptures myself and know that I too
can have an ongoing fervent relationship
with Jesus I’m gonna gather him up in my
own arms and when you do you will see
him and experience him and encounter him
in a way you have never encountered him
before