 Luke chapter 2 verses 21 through 38 I'm going to begin reading here at verse 21 I'll read to verse 24 and we'll get into our study Luke chapter 2 beginning at verse 21 reading to verse 24 Luke writes and when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child his name was called Jesus The name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed They brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the law of the Lord every male who opens the womb Shall be called holy to the Lord and To offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons Beginning at verse 21 and looking at that for just a moment. It's quite obvious that Jesus Christ is born as a Jew in the Jewish nation and as a Jew being born in the Jewish nation. He followed the law of Moses Paul tells us in Galatians chapter 4 that that Jesus Christ was born under the law In order that he might redeem those who were under the law that they might receive the adoption of sons Jesus Christ as a Jew went through the normal procedures of a Jewish male And so what we find in verse 21 is that when the eight days are completed according to the law of Moses He's gonna go and he's gonna receive circumcision now Moses had given the law to the nation of Israel that That a male child was circumcised on the eighth day you find that in the Old Testament book of Leviticus chapter 12 verse 3 And so Jesus Christ is being taken in at the age of eight days in order to be circumcised now when he circumcised He is now recognized as a descendant of Abraham and a member of the Commonwealth of Israel And so normally at the circumcision on the day of circumcision as we'd already noted before with John the Baptist The name was given to the to the child And so the angel had stated to both Joseph and Mary that his name was to be Jesus And so that's what you see taking place here in verse 21 He is circumcised he's under the law because he's gonna fulfill all of its righteous requirements And he's given the name Jesus because Jesus is the savior of the world the name Jesus means Jehovah is salvation And so that's the name that he has given at the time of his circumcision circumcision now in verse 22 It speaks of the days of Mary's purification being over When a Jewish woman would give birth to a male child she would be ritually unclean for a period of 40 days And so Mary at the conclusion of her time of impurity would go and she would make an offering There were two things that she would do one is she would give an offering and you see the offering that she gives In verse 24 a pair of turtledoves are two young pigeons. She would give an offering of turtledoves or pigeons The reason she would do that is because she was poor if she had money and ability she would give a lamb But in as much as she and Joseph were financially poor They ended up giving the offering of the poor and so she would give an offering For her cleanliness and so she can be brought back into a relationship with Israel in the sense of being able to Fully participate in the various things that were necessary in order for her under the law to be able to regard it as improper Standing and so that's what she does. She makes this offering now One of the things I wanted to point out here is that she is obviously poor So this gives to us insight that this particular event in the life of Jesus predates The magi coming and seeing them and the reason that it predates that is because remember with me that the the magi brought Gold incense and myrrh So had they been already receiving the gold they'd have been able to use that to have a more costly Sacrifice so it gives to us insight that this predates the visit of the magi and what it's doing is she's basically just following The law of Moses she's being cleansed from her impurity and now presents herself and Jesus to the Lord now as this is taking place normally what would happen is The woman would make her offering After making her offering She would now do a second thing the second thing was she would have somebody normally a priest Who would she would present the baby to and the priest would say a prayer of blessing over the baby And she would also pay a five shekel What is called a redemption? Price you see in the Old Testament in chapter 13 of Exodus Moses had stated that The firstborn child Male was to be devoted to the Lord and so before the priesthood the firstborn male would be the priest And so that's how God originally was beginning to get priests to serve him But under the law of Moses ultimately a whole tribe the Levites became the priestly tribe And so when the Levites became the priestly tribe there was a cost of redemption for the firstborn males Jesus being from the tribe of Judah and not being a priest out of Levi Would therefore have a redemption price so what Mary would do is Mary would offer her purification Then she sought out a godly man normally a priest He would pronounce a blessing and then she would go on and she would pay this five shekel tax called the redemption tax And that's what's taking place here now as this has taken place notice verse 25 Behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was just and devout waiting for the constellation 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 So he came by 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 He 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 which you have prepared before the face of all peoples a Light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel and Joseph and his mother marveled at those things Which were spoken of him then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother Behold this child is destined for the fallen rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed We're introduced to two people in the following Passage one is Simeon the next we find in verse 36 a woman by the name of Anna And as we look at these people here, we're going to be seen godliness in action These are both godly people who are moved by the spirit of God Now as I mentioned a moment ago, Mary has been cleansed from her impurity. She can now present Jesus to the Lord and Now Simeon is there notice how Simeon is described Simeon is described as just devout and waiting Now when it says he's waiting for the consolation of Israel He's actually waiting for Messiah for God who is going to bring the one who consoles the nation of Israel and in verse 26 The Bible says that the holy spirit had revealed him or rather 30 yeah 26 It said the holy spirit had revealed to him that he would live to see the Savior So Mary is ready to present Jesus to the Lord and the spirit now brings Simeon into the temple This agent saint though can hardly contain himself. I want you to see that I want you to see how he responds here because as he's there Looking at this beautiful child as the holy spirit has brought him in to see him He takes him according to verse 28 in his arms and he blesses God and he begins to simply praise and prophesy Over this man over the baby and notice what he says in verse 29 You are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word as we look at this man I want you to see something about him want me to see that he's righteous I want you to see that he's devout that he is sensitive to the leading of the holy spirit And he's a man who patiently trusts in God's word These are the traits of a godly man a person who's righteous devout sensitive and patient Trusting in God's word and as he holds this baby in his hands He begins to praise God for God's faithfulness to God's promises and he's basically saying my days are over I can now come home to you. I've seen your salvation and this is a salvation I want you to notice that is not just for the nation of Israel This is the salvation that is for all mankind notice verse 31 He said to which you have prepared before the face of all peoples a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of her people Israel so he's alluding to the fact that God is bringing this light The Savior not to just the nation of Israel Jesus Christ as a Jew did not die for the nation of Israel alone Jesus Christ died for all mankind The Bible tells us God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son And so as Jesus Christ is now being held in the hands of this ancient prophet this priest who is who is blessing him and Prophecying over him. He's pointing out the fact that God has given to the world a Savior by the name of Jesus Christ Now when he speaks concerning this one who was a light notice verse 32 a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles He's actually alluding to various passages found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah He's alluding to Isaiah chapter 9 And and he's also alluding to Isaiah chapter 42 as well as Isaiah chapter 49 verse 6 Now Isaiah 49 6 says this it is to is it Indeed he says is it too smaller thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the Preserved ones of Israel I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth And so what he's seeing here through the movement of the Holy Spirit is that God fulfills his word That is a one thing that we as believers need to hold fast to is the reality of the fact that God is not a man That he should lie neither the Son of man that he should repent has he not said it will he not do it God tells us in his word that he is truth his word is truth and therefore when God speaks He always speaks truth and therefore when he makes a promise will always fulfill the promise So you can trust in the blessings and promises of God and that's exactly what Simeon is doing Simeon you by the Holy Spirit being a righteous a devout man Patiently waiting for Messiah being told by the Spirit you will not die until you see Messiah come He waited patiently until that moment came in his life, and then we ultimately seize Jesus Christ He takes him in his hands, and this is a small baby around a month or so old and as he holds Jesus in his hands there He can't help but burst out and praise and thanksgiving to God. It's now time for me to depart I can now go home and be with you because my eyes have finally seen what what people for centuries have awaited The salvation of Israel I have seen with my eyes what others have only spoken about written down in the book The men like Isaiah the men like Daniel and others like them prophets of old Who only could speak about what was could was going to take place? But never by themselves or in themselves really ever participated to the degree that Simeon did and he says in this I Rejoice God I am so grateful, and I am so thankful to you because you're letting your servant depart in peace according To your word my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all people Now as this is taking place, can you imagine what Joseph and Mary must have been thinking? I mean you see we have hindsight We're able to look back and see the whole story as it's unfolded And we've seen the first page of the story as well as the conclusion And we know the life of Jesus through the Gospels and we're able to now piece together his life and see portions of it Very clearly But Joseph and Mary on the other hand, this is all new to them all of this is brand new to them And so as they're there listening to Simeon as he's prophesying in this way, and he's he's just in such glory I'll notice that their response in verse 33 Joseph and his mother marveled at at those things which were spoken of him as They're listening it's much beyond anything that they could understand They weren't aware that Jesus was was a savior of all mankind for example Gabriel had said he's going to save his people from their sins and therefore they naturally would assume that that simply means Israel But now they're getting more insight Now as Simeon is speaking here He's actually bringing the fact out that Jesus Christ is a savior not of the simply the Jewish nation, but the world and They marvel as they listen and as this is taking place Simeon blessed them and Said to marry his mother Behold this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign Which will be spoken against and so as he begins to speak to to marry and remember with me. She's a young gal She's maybe 16 years of age as He's speaking to this young lady He's saying basically there are going to be people Who will stumble over Jesus Christ like they stumble over a large rock in the middle of a road? And as they stumble over him, they're going to be broken by him But there are others Who are going to see him as a way to heaven Infiguratively will climb on top of that rock dig it closer to God this child is destined for some to reject him and Others to receive him It's at the name of Jesus That that that every knee should bow see but the problem we as Christians already understand this the problem is not everybody wants to receive him So from some people's perspective Jesus Christ is a stone of stumbling a rock of offense Because over Jesus they stumble and will not be humbled on other people though We recognize him as being the one who breaks us and makes it possible for us to reach heaven through him And that's what Simeon is saying here. He's saying this child is destined for the fall and Rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against From the very beginning he's been spoken against into this day Of course, he continues being spoken against but notice verse 35 what he says to the mother there to marry He says a sword will pierce your own soul also That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed Mary The time is going to come When you're going to see something That is going to be so painful and so sorrowful that you're going to think that you're going to die under its pressure Now can you imagine what it would have been like to be Mary and sometimes? I don't think I give myself enough opportunity to dwell or meditate on that reality But this is the woman who gave birth to this precious little one She raised him like any mother raises a child There were times that Jesus was playing outside and if he ran and played like other little boys Which I'm sure he did there are times that he fell down there are times that he heard himself There were times that he'd cry there were times that Mary would hold him in her arms and would comfort him There were times when people might be unkind to him and it would make her angry There were times when Jesus Christ was Uncertain was not treated properly and as a mother any mother She would become defensive for him and all of those small sorrows In no way could add up to the one incredible sorrow that she would have when she watched what happened to her son And that's something that's Simeon is prophesying even as he's holding this infant a sword is going to pierce your soul sometimes Over the years I have asked the Lord to please give me a deeper appreciation For the pain that Jesus Christ went through So that I might realize the depth of my sin and the cost of salvation There was a point in my life when I felt that That it was basically God's job to forgive and I never really thought in terms of what it cost So when Simeon is speaking here and he's saying a sword will pierce your soul When Mary was there at the foot of the cross watching her son Jesus watching him die When she looked at his face and saw how it was beaten when she looked at the beard That had been pulled out of his skin When she saw that his head had been crushed through that reed and that there was blood that was Was now caked on his forehead and undoubtedly had traveled to his sides When she saw the bruising that had taken place when they had hit him When she would you hurt him moaning as he was there on the cross when she saw those nails that pierced him and She heard him speaking Can you imagine The incredible Pain that this mother went through All of us who our parents have had children our children who perhaps have gone through something that That was hurtful for them that we would have we would have taken the pain ourselves if the Lord would have allowed it I can remember my daughter Anna Was when she was a baby up to the age of almost three my Anna was one of these babies that jumped She was a jumping baby if you will I mean she jumped out of her fell out of her high chair. She broke her arms three times Before she was three years old Dislocated her arms twice. So within a two-and-a-half-year period three broken arms and two dislocations And I can still remember on one occasion I was teaching a Wednesday night Bible study and we got a phone call my wife Marie called and said I have I'm taking the baby to the hospital. She fell and I can still remember doing the Bible study Just like I'm right now and then making my way to San Antonio Community Hospital up in upland And I can remember going into the hospital and and then pointing a room out to me and as I went into the room How they said no it was Pomona Valley they said Here's who your baby is I remember going into that room and They were gonna put her in traction and so Marie and I couldn't be in the room at that time So we had a sit in a waiting room and and I can still remember Anna who was about two and a half years old as she was screaming and she was screaming for me She's screaming daddy dad And you know you've heard that before the calling out to you and as I sat in that waiting room And she was only like good, you know just a room away, you know the slot in the swinging doors closed But I could hear her on the opposite side. It was everything inside of me to keep me sitting down where I was at I wanted to get up so badly I wanted to go into that room and I wanted to hold her in my arms I wanted to take the pain from and I couldn't and I couldn't and I remember weeping I remember the with my wife just sitting there weeping as I heard her and that was she was only two But think about Jesus 33 years The precious most sweetest loving son that any mother could possibly ever desire and to see what they did to him So when Simeon is saying oh, Mary a Sword is gonna pierce you The pain that you are going to experience when your son dies on that cross Will be immeasurable and it's not a surface pain, Mary It's a pain that's going to go deep within you. It'll pierce you to the very soul as you watch what happens To your son. I was an assistant pastor in another Calvary Chapel back in 1979 and some friends of mine Had adopted a baby they were a couple that were infertile and had been married for two or three years and Were unable to conceive and so what they did is they adopted and and so it was a long process and Finally one day they gave us a call and they said listen We finally got our baby and we want to dedicate Dedicator could could you do that for us and I said well, let me see if I can I was only the assistant I asked the senior pastor and he said no that would be fine So we set up an appointment and they came on a Sunday morning and I held the baby in my hand I still remember doing this in my hands as I was holding this little one in my hands I began to pray as I normally do as you see I do here in this church But I looked at the mother and I said and her name was Donna. I said Donna I Don't know why but I need to tell you this I've never done this again. It's the only time I ever did this I said a sword is going to pierce your soul As I was holding this baby now, that's not what you're supposed to say on on dedication services You're supposed to say I'm holding the first woman president of the United States Now you don't you don't say a sword is going to pierce your soul But I sensed the Holy Spirit speaking and I looked at her I said Donna a sword is going to pierce your soul, but the Lord says that you will be all right You will be all right, and she looks at me and later on you know I keep praying for the baby and later on she approaches me after the dedication David what do you I said? I don't know I don't know I just I just sensed the Spirit of the Lord told me to say that to you Well, let me tell you what happened. She was bathing the baby and The baby you know how it is when you're bathing a small child the baby was slippery baby began to fall She just reached out like anybody would probably do and in doing so the baby's arm was broken They took the adopted baby to the hospital now this Donna was a nurse and Donna's a godly woman There's no way she would abuse a child, but they accused her of child abuse they took the baby from her and She lost that baby a sword will pierce your soul is what I told her and They took the baby the birth mother said I don't want my child with because they hadn't been finalized I don't want my child was someone who abuses total false allegation But you know what happened they She went home. They took the baby when they gave the baby back. She came home She wasn't feeling well. She went to the doctor and it turned out she was pregnant And so she ended up having more than one child You know and I remember this passage so well because I looked at her I said a sword is gonna pierce you but the Lord is gonna bless You'll be okay, and that's how I think it was with Simeon as he's holding Jesus he looks at Mary and he says a sword but he goes on to say that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed Because it's over Jesus Christ that the heart really is revealed How do you respond to him and and how do you look at him? Many hearts will be revealed by the way that they experience Jesus in their life. So that's Simeon We move on now to Anna in verse 36 now. There was one Anna a prophetess The daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher She was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity And and this woman was a widow of about 84 years Who did not depart from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and day and coming in that Instant she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all those who look for redemption in Jerusalem Now we have an opportunity to look at another godly person a woman by the name of Anna Now notice with me. She's a wonderful Example of a woman of God as a matter of fact Anna can be used as an example of godliness and Also as an example of the rewards of a lifetime of serving the Lord Isaiah 46 for says even to your old age. I am he and even to gray hair. I will carry you I have made and I will bear even I will carry and will deliver you So she's an example of a woman who is aged but is serving the Lord as we look at this woman I want to show you a few earmarks of godliness one. I want you to notice her name Her name is Anna now the name Anna is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word Hana and that word Hana or Anna simply means grace So this is a woman who is an example of grace This name actually gives us insight into living a holy life because the the the only one Only way anyone's ever gonna be living a godly life is is to first be a partaker of the grace of God And so Anna right from the beginning gives us an earmark of a godly person because she's a person who's known by Grace the grace of God and so first and foremost if you want to be a person who has a godly trait You walk in the grace of God you live in the grace of God you serve in the grace of God You've been saved by the grace of God Anna's an example of that. She's a woman who's from a godly family and she's a prophetess Notice she's the daughter of Fanuel and she's of the tribe of Asher Fanuel is the Greek word for penuel which literally means facing God and that speaks of her father being a godly man She's from the tribe of Asher the word Asher means happy because his birth made His mother happy when Asher was born to Zilpa Leah's handmade and so she comes from a godly lineage, but notice also that she was of great age Now I find that interesting here, and maybe this is something I shouldn't bring up, but I might as well We'll see at the end of the Bible study whether I should have said this or not But I want you to notice something I want you to see here that it says and I'll read verse 36 to you again It says there was one Anna a prophetess the daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher She was of great age apparently there was no shame in admitting that she was old Okay, here's a man thing ladies forgive me for it. I Just I find it interesting to note that sometimes we're afraid of growing older I know that Simeon was an older man because he was looking for the constellation Israel and it was not to die until he'd seen it And now we have an older woman here if there's anything the church needs today It's a godly example that comes through older men and older women a Godly example You know when when men begin to actually act their age and And when women don't have a problem with growing older I think that's a good thing because it makes the church healthier. I Don't think that the younger people in this church need me to be their buddy I think if they need anything from me, it's an example of an older man who walks with the Lord I think what they would prefer me to be is like a father to them or a grandfather to them somebody who's got some some experience in life and When we fail to accept the fact that to grow older in Service to the Lord is actually a benefit and a blessing that God has provided us with Instead of fighting against it trying to remain young I think we'll be a great benefit to the younger people in this generation that is looking for older people to set a Tone or a model they don't need buddies what they need are godly examples They need people before them that demonstrate that God blesses over a lifetime and that's what Anna was She's an older woman that God had blessed in Proverbs 16 verse 31 It says the silver haired head is a crown of glory if it's found in the way of righteousness Psalm 71 9 this says do not cast me off in the time of old age. Do not forsake me when my strength fails He goes on in verse 18 to say now also when I am old and gray-headed Oh, God do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation your power to everyone who is to come See it's a great desire in the heart of those who are growing older It should be that we can be a voice of what God can do over the lifetime Growing older was not a hindrance to her whatsoever was actually a badge of honor because she had received her gray hair Serving God in other words. She had longevity in her walk with God. It wasn't an on again off again thing It was a consistent thing over a lifetime now notice how verse 36 tells us she had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity and yet She's now 84 years old the women during the time of of christ Normally we're getting married somewhere between 14 and 16 And so if she was married we'll say at 16 She had been married seven years so her husband dies when she's 23 years old She now has lived to the age of 84 But she lived in a pure life This was a woman who was a virgin when she married, but she also remained pure after he died This was a young woman who maintained her purity I have seen unfortunately Some who have been married And they're either divorced or the husband has has died who do not maintain a pure life Anna did Anna was a woman who just was pure in everything including her physical purity She got married to the man she loved she remained with him seven years. He died She never remarried in her particular case. She never remarried now Marie told me that she'd never remarried again, but I'm not quite sure if that's a compliment Maybe it's been so bad. She doesn't want to duplicate it. I don't know she said, you know the first time I got married I married for love next time it's for money. So I'm not quite sure Now I've told her look honey if you go home to be with the lord I will remarry And I'm going to remarry probably a 25 year old woman. I say that to get her very mad and she does I have to confess King David had a young woman. Why can't I well, you're not the king. Well, I can be But this is a woman who maintained sexual purity. She was pure when she married She lived with her husband seven years and maintained her purity over a lifetime Verse 37 tells us that she didn't depart from the temple but served god with fastens and prayers Now this is a woman who was widowed, but she didn't turn to a man to meet her loneliness This is a woman who turned to god Because apparently she understood isaia 54 verse 5 when it says your maker is your husband The lord of hosts is his name and your redeemer is the holy one of israel He's called the god of the whole earth So her solution for loss was faithful fellowship in the house of god This is a woman who is fully committed to fellowship in other words when the doors were open. She was there She valued going to the temple because as she went to the temple she went to worship god That's what it says here in verse 37 when it says who did not depart from the temple But served god with fastens and prayers night and day This is a woman whose whole life was worshiping god Worshiping came from the joy became the joy of her heart It's like the psalmist in psalm 122 verse 1 who said i was glad when they said to me Let us go into the house of the lord That was anna anna was a woman once once once it was Open if you will she was there she was there worshiping and praising god Notice how it says that she was devoted serving the lord of fasting and prayer day and night At 84 years of age. She's still fasting and she's still praying This is because she's caught up with the kingdom of god This is because she's caught up with israel's hope in the coming of messiah And these were the things that she would lift up in her prayers to the lord Now notice in verse 38 it says in coming in that instant. She gave thanks to the lord This gives me some more insight into a godly woman. She was thankful You see hannah had known great sorrow Yet she had not become bitter Imagine that if you were we'll say 16 years old when you married And you live seven years and you had a happy and fulfilling marriage And then you're now 23 years old And uh your husband dies Someone shot me And your husband dies There are two ways that you can Respond to laws basically let me give you them very basically one You can become rebellious towards god and resentful and become bitter You can you can have a loss in your life And you can begin to be angry at god and say to god Why lord did you take this from me? You knew that this would break my heart We've gone through loss everyone in this room has You can get angry You can become rebellious You can blame god for your pain You can turn away from the lord and turn to the world for comfort Some women go through a breakup or or or widow who widowhood and they lose their sense of virtue They wake up when they realizing what they've become because they become what they feared the most That's because they didn't find the comfort in the lord And they began to seek it somewhere else But you also Through loss instead of becoming resentful and bitter You can actually become more compassionate and kinder and even more loving One of uh one of the the girls in our church who I've known since she was a little girl who is now in her mid 20s Approached me about three years ago four years ago now And she said I hope you don't take this wrong pastor And I said well what she said She goes something happened to you She goes I've been here as you know since I was a little girl I've sat under the ministry your ministry now for many years She said something happened in your ministry and I've seen it She said I don't know how to put this she said but since your father went home to be with the lord You become kinder You become more compassionate And I smiled at her and I said you know loss can do that to you It awakens you it awakens you to a variety of things And I said it awakened me I I said and I appreciate that I appreciate your insight Because I know you're saying that with kindness towards me And it's true you can take loss and you can get angry and bitter towards god Why did you do this? You know how I needed this person? Or you can say you know lord The lord gives and the lord takes away Blessed be the name of the lord Because I do remember when my father went home to be with the lord I do remember being in that waiting room and and hearing When over the loudspeaker system the words code blue came out and I do remember my mom turning to me saying that's they're speaking about your father and I said I know And I know that as we sat there as a family and we prayed Um, I knew I knew something was was taking place that that I had no power over And so when the doctor walked through those doors and some of you been there and And he looks through the room for the family and he says rose all his family and we raised our hand And he said we did everything and then he said all the things that they say that you don't hear anymore Just they're just words that are coming out in a mouth that's moving Because you go into that instant sense of he's gone And when we walk into the room he said you can go in and for a moment And we went into that room and and I do remember standing with my father there As he's in front of me and my mom standing here and and the family around him and his his shell I mean he was with the lord that was just a shell it was to be planted That's a seed that goes into the ground and I remember looking and saying under my breath I didn't even realize I was saying it I do remember saying the lord gives And the lord takes away And my mom who was right off to my right said blessed be the name of the lord I remember that very well And as we went out into that room there was another family there that was had a child that was in In the icu unit and And they they said what are you to us? What are you? We looked at him. What do you mean? What are we? What are you What do you ask? Because of the way you're taking that announcement We want to know what you are And we said we're believers in jesus christ Christians We have loss But that's only a sense in our heart because in reality My dad isn't lost. I know exactly where he is He's with the lord But you can go through grief and you become bitter Anna could have become bitter She's 23 years old The love of her life is gone But instead of becoming bitter She drew closer to the lord because that's the answer She became thankful Because her widowhood put her in the place to see the lord's salvation In second corinthians chapter one verses three and four Paul said blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ the father of mercies god of all comfort Who comforts us in all our tribulation That we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by god When the lord allows us to go through things It's not that we are going to be isolated by them But we learn things that we can encourage others when they go through those things too And then finally after all of this is taking place Notice how it says in verse 38 Coming in that instant She gave thanks to the lord and spoke of him to all those who look for redemption in jerusalem She did the work of an evangelist. She used her tongue to proclaim to those willing to hear that god had sent his messiah She began to proclaim that the one to deliver the world from bondage has shown up So as an example A man like simian A woman like ana as an example to us they teach us to use our speech To be an encouragement to people that they might come to the lord That we might be a witness for the lord in our lifestyle and the things that we say That we can use our god given influence to be an encouragement to those we love the most And so a godly man in the home can establish a strong structure where jesus is worshiped A godly woman in the home gives a sense of the compassion and love and kindness of god the faithfulness of god And that home becomes a church a sanctuary a place where crisis worshiped That's what god has called us to and we can live that way. There's no reason why we can't You see both of these people are filled with the holy spirit And it's through the working of the spirit in their life That gives them enables them to have a ministry that brings glory to god And so why can't I why can't we as a church walk in the spirit? Be in the place that god wants us to be for those divine appointments that he gives Simeon happening to walking into the temple at that moment has the opportunity at that moment To to to give glory to god and prophesy ana who's there who comes into that moment is able to once again prophesy and say oh god how wonderful you are why can't we do that and I think we can Because I believe that god by his spirit leads us into divine appointments all the time all we need to do is be sensitive to them And be open and we can use them as an example