I invite you to turn with me tonight to Luke 2, Luke chapter 2 as we read together verses 21 through 40, a portion which speaks of our Lord being presented in the temple and there meeting Simeon and Anna. And tonight we consider in a particular way the episode dealing with Anna, verses 36 through 38. Beginning in verse 21, as we now give our attention to the Word of God. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. When the time of their purification, according to the law of Moses, had been completed, 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 who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 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 law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. The child's father and mother marveled 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 would be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too. 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 worshipped 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. When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, sometimes when promises are long in coming, we tend to lose hope. You see, the more time that passes as we wait for a promise to be fulfilled, the less we expect that it will really come true. Now boys and girls, you know what I'm talking about, don't you? Sometimes if you want to do something, let's say you want to go to Disneyland, you might ask your parents if you can do that, and your parents might say, yes, we'll do that sometime. Then time goes on. You see, your parents never promised you exactly when you would go. They just said, yes, we'll go sometime. And the days turn into months, the months turn into years, and after a while, boys and girls, you really don't expect to go to Disneyland because it's been so long and you've lost hope. You see, we tend to lose hope in really a short amount of time, don't we? We like our desires fulfilled immediately, and therefore when they don't happen immediately, we tend to lose hope. But Simeon and Anna didn't lose hope. They represented the unshakable faith and the undying hope of all those who looked for the redemption of Israel. Of those who never lost hope in the promises of God. Promises, I might add, that did not come with a date attached to them. Tonight, as we continue to celebrate in a specific way the coming and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, we consider together Anna. Mourning with hope. But now we cannot help but to compare and contrast Simeon and Anna. At least a bit. It appears that on this particular day, a day that no doubt began as any other ordinary day, these two people enjoyed the same blessing of all blessings in the temple. We might say the mother of all blessings. This was a blessing that prepared Simeon for death and a blessing that lifted Anna up from her mourning. Now with regard to Simeon, we're not given really much information about him, not much personal information. We're not told what he did for a living. We're not told if he held a high position in the community. We're not told anything about his family or how old he was. It's assumed, though, that he was an old man because Scripture says that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And then Simeon responds to the Christ child, Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people. So really, we don't know too much about Simeon, but in contrast to him, we are given a number of personal details about Anna. We know her father was a man named Phanuel. We know she was of the tribe of Asher. We know that she was very old. We're told that she had been married for seven years and that she had been a widow for many, many years. The NIV translators take the position that Anna was 84 years old at this time, but in the original it's not that clear. And there's evidence to support the fact that she may have been a widow for 84 years. And if that's the case, considering the seven years of marriage and the age at which young women often got married at that time, she might very well have been 105 at the time of this episode, about 105. but at any rate, she was a very old woman at this time. But God's Word points out that Simeon and Anna had something wonderful in common. They were godly people of faith. Simeon is described as righteous and devout. He lived righteously. And he took his faith seriously. That's really what it means to be devout. He was conscientious in matters of religion. He was conscious that all things, all relationships, every thought, every word, every deed was to be done to the glory of God. You see, beloved, God's glory is the highest goal of a devout person. God's glory is the highest goal of a devout person. Are you a devout Christian? And even though Anna is not described using the same words, it's clear that she, like Simeon, was also righteous and devout. She had committed her life to the service and worship of God and of speaking the truth of God to others. But Simeon and Anna also had something else in common, and that is that they lived in a bad time in Israel's history, both physically and spiritually speaking. Israel did not enjoy political independence. She was under the authority of Roman rule. As well, Israel had a cruel king named Herod reigning over them. Their religion on account of most of the people was external. With the legalistic scribes and Pharisees and with the worldly Sadducees, Israel was governed by spiritual leaders who gave lip service to God, but really trusted only in themselves. And I say that Anna was mourning. She was in sorrow. Why? Was she still mourning the death of her husband of seven years after he had been gone? Possibly up to 84 years already? Maybe. But I believe by what our Lord tells us in His Word, that she was mourning the condition of the Jews and especially their spiritual condition. In Scripture, fasting served a number of purposes. For example, humiliation and sorrow for sin. as well as lamentation in the sense of expressing sorrow for some sort of trouble or difficulty that one was experiencing. And given the spiritual darkness and degradation and despair in the lives of God's people as represented in the capital city of Jerusalem, not to mention the heavy hand of Roman rule, it's no wonder that Anna was mourning. And we might ask, well, was she the only one mourning? The answer is no. Simeon was also waiting for the consolation or comfort of Israel to come. There were others, as verse 38 says, who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. But another thing that Simeon and Anna had in common was that they were mourning with hope. Anna's was a hope promised and believed. Remember, hundreds of years before Israel, as a nation, had been destroyed when they were taken into captivity. As a world power, they were nothing. Yet Israel wasn't totally destroyed as a people. Anna is proof that there were some who remembered their past. And I believe this is supported by the fact that her genealogical heritage is given. Again, she is from the tribe of Asher, one of Jacob's twelve sons. She is a daughter of Israel. She too was a recipient of the covenant promises of God. She was familiar with her heritage. Even though God had been silent for about 400 years, as always, He had still preserved a remnant of those who were faithful to Him and believed His promises and kept looking for the fulfillment of these promises. Anna was one of those. Simeon was another. We also know that Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, as well as Mary and Joseph, are all described as righteous people. Like Anna, who was looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem, and Simeon, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, all of the faithful remnant, the faithful remnant, had this hope. And it was not in vain. They took God at His word, beloved. They believed the multitude of Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming Messiah. They never lost hope. Their hope didn't decrease with each passing day as ours often does. Instead, their hope increased with each passing day because they knew that with each passing day, they were one day closer to the time that God's promises would be fulfilled. promises that Isaiah spoke about when he prophesied, for example, in Isaiah 9, verses 6 and 7, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. And Isaiah says in chapter 40, Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling, in the desert prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up. Every mountain and hill made low. The rough ground shall become level. The rugged place is a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all mankind together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Then in chapter 60, chapter 60, Isaiah says, Arise, shine, for your light has come. And the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Beloved Anna not only received those promises, promises handed down from generation to generation to generation until finally they reached Anna also. She not only received those promises, But she believed those promises. She spoke of them. She is described as being a prophetess. Now most likely we are to understand here not that she was given special revelation into the future like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Elijah, but that she was given a clear insight into the Old Testament Scriptures and she understood the promises of God even better than the religious leaders of her day. And she spoke of those promises. As Paul would say, she was able to give edification with regard to those promises. And the beauty here is that even in the midst of a very low spiritual condition of the church of that day, God did not leave Himself without a witness. But we also know that Anna believed those promises because she dedicated her life to the worship and the service of the Lord. And beloved, it's clear that no true worship of God can exist without the hope of salvation. No true worship of God can exist without the hope of salvation. And that hope includes faith in the promises of God. Now, we don't know if Anna literally lived in the temple, but it's clear that her whole life revolved around temple service and worship. She never missed worship. She was there for the morning sacrifices. She was there for the evening sacrifices. And in the midst of a sad spiritual climate, the temple would have been a silent symbol to her of her hope. With the sacrifices pointing forward to the one great sacrifice to come. The temple, in a sense, pointed forward and upward. And it was a reminder to those who truly believed. It was a reminder of God's covenant promises. Anna's faith was demonstrated in her fasting. Fasting because of the sinful condition of the nation. It was demonstrated in her prayers. Prayers for the fulfillment of God's promise to send a Redeemer. You see, without even knowing His name, Anna prayed daily, Yea, Lord Jesus, come quickly. And beloved, Anna is an example for us of living from the promises of God. She never gave up hope. But instead, she encouraged and strengthened others with that same hope so that others too might live in eager expectation of God's promises that would indeed be fulfilled. and in our day beloved we know the part of the story clearly that they only knew dimly redemption has come our lord jesus christ has said whoever believes in me though he die yet he shall live and paul testifies of him whoever calls on the name of the lord shall be saved that's our lord's promise to us witnessed to our hearts by the holy spirit along with his promise to come again to judge the living and the dead you see beloved we are an in-between people we live in between christ's first coming and his second coming do you look forward to His coming again? Do you anticipate each and every day His coming again? Or as the years and even the centuries as you look back, as they go by, do you wonder more and more, is it really true? Is Jesus really coming back? It's been so long. But those who are really watching and waiting and are looking forward to His coming will not be disappointed. Anna wasn't. Her hope was fulfilled. Coming up to them at the very moment she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Now, it's hard to tell for sure, but it seems that this took place right after Simeon held the Christ child and spoke of Him. Anna very well may have witnessed that whole episode with Simeon and heard every word that Simeon said. And as we think back to all that the Bible teaches us about the things leading up to, including Christ's birth, it's very possible that she may have heard of the strange behavior of John the Baptist's father, Zacharias, the high priest. She may have heard of his explanation of the strange things that happened to him. She may have heard something of the report of the angels preaching the gospel of great joy to the shepherds. She may have heard the reports of the baby wrapped in claws and lying in a manger. After all, the shepherds certainly didn't keep this silent. Verses 17 and 18, When they, the shepherds, had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told of them about this child. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. All of these things may have been true for Anna. But for sure, at that very moment, the Holy Spirit witnessed to her heart that this child, whose parents, who knows, along with maybe other parents at that same time, were doing what God's law required on this very day with regard to the ritual for redeeming their firstborn, this child on this ordinary day was no ordinary child. This child was the one. This child was the very one promised by God so long before. The one spoken of by the prophets. This child was indeed the Redeemer of Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit brought Anna to see and to understand the significance of this child that he was indeed the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed of God to save His people from their sins even as the angel said to Joseph, Beloved, for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation from sin and sin's punishment and curse, their hope is fulfilled the moment they believe and trust in Jesus. When God's people are brought by the Holy Spirit to see that Jesus Christ has removed forever the chains of sin and made them co-heirs with Himself in the household of God so that now they are servants of righteousness, then in confidence they can sing with Paul Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Remember, Paul sang that in response to his own question. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Indeed, brothers and sisters, as we look at the world around us and see the consciousnessness of sin and shame, Even the falling away of many that call themselves church so that they make the Christmas holiday more important than the Lord's Day and cancel Sunday worship services. Even my wife had a conversation with one the other day, not one from here, talking about Sunday evening worship today. That person said, nobody's going to be there. She said, well, I have a husband at home working on a sermon for Sunday night, so I hope somebody's there. And he said, well, tell them not to work too hard on it. But when we see that, beloved, and when we look at the open, blatant, adultery, homosexuality, and godlessness of our nation and world, indeed, we mourn. We are to mourn for those who are so blind to their lost condition and their eternal doom. But we do not mourn as those who have no hope. As the psalmist says in Psalm 30, You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. You see, the believer's response to this hope fulfilled is to, like Paul and Anna, proclaim this hope. She gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Her thanksgiving, beloved, was a response of thanks to what God had revealed to her. In a sense, a response that she could not hold back. It was such a great revelation. It was a response that just poured forth from her. Her faith became sight as with her very eyes she beheld the Savior, the very One who gave her hope with God. and indeed was her living hope, this very child himself was her only hope of heaven. And that's true for you and me. And of anyone. Jesus Christ is the only hope. Our only hope. And He is our sufficient hope. And He is our complete hope. Anna had quite a story to tell to others who did not receive the same privilege of seeing the Christ child, but who, like her and Simeon, were also looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. But just as Anna was blessed to understand Old Testament Scriptures and the promises of the Messiah who was to come, and she prophesied about it, today, too, we are blessed. We are blessed by the illumination of the Holy Spirit to understand by faith the whole of Scriptures, of the promises and fulfillment of the Messiah who has come, who has satisfied God's wrath against sin so that our sins are forgiven and we stand as righteous before God. Beloved, this is the true message we are called to believe and we are called to proclaim. We are called to tell the truth that all men need a Savior and that there is a Redeemer. Jesus Christ, the Lord. And again, this is an urgent message. Why? Because He is coming again in all of His glory to judge the living and the dead. He promised us that. Do we believe the Word of God regarding a coming judge? When we wake up in the morning, do we say, yes, we're one day closer to His coming again? or instead every day do we tend to lose hope a little more every day and take our eyes off of the heavens and the clouds and it's coming. You see, our lives here are not, first of all, about our daily work. Now, those of you who are students in college, I'm not telling you to quit college and stop being educated. That's not the point at all. But our lives here are not, first of all, about our daily work, but about the Kingdom of God and spreading the Word of Jesus Christ. That's our true calling as recipients of God's promises and grace. That's our true calling as believers. And our vocation in this life, whatever that may be, is just a means to that end of getting the message out to every nation and preparing for Christ's coming. Beloved, we have celebrated Christ's coming and we are to celebrate His coming again. He has come. He is with us, even as He said. And He is coming again. And that is a reason to celebrate with hope and to never stop celebrating. And that good news is always worth telling over and over and over again. Indeed, sometimes we get tired of hearing each other's stories, don't we? Especially if we've heard them a number of times. My wife says I'm starting to repeat things. I guess after 20 years, maybe that's true. But may we never tire of hearing and telling the story. The true, true story of Jesus Christ and His saving love. Apart from Jesus, one has no hope. Only eternal despair. That alone is a reason to tell, isn't it? But for all those, only those, yet all those who look away from themselves and look to Him alone for salvation and trust in His saving work, He is their true comfort. Because He is their Redeemer. Beloved, rejoice. Give thanks and sing for the gift of your Redeemer. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, indeed, may we leave this place in this evening hour strengthened by your Holy Spirit in that hope. Lord God, you have blessed us with the revelation of your Word that you have kept your promises of so long ago to send your Son. We cannot imagine the believers of the old dispensation, the old time, the Old Testament time that looked forward to the coming of salvation and yet lived in faith of that coming. Yet You have given to us so much more as we are able to look back and see the fulfillment of that which they looked forward to. And now, Father, may we too look forward and live from the promises that Jesus Christ is coming again. That our eternal future is secure in Him. That we will rejoice in Your presence with all the saints forever and ever, one day. Thank You, O Lord, for that blessed assurance. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.