Anna's Testimony

Thank you, choir. Today we're going to study a woman who embodies that verse in the book of Isaiah that we might understand the significance of God's word for our life. Let's pray together. Our most gracious heavenly father, as we gather together on this Lord's day, we are reminded once again of the supernatural power of your word and how it ministers to our lives. And we are reminded once again of our responsibility to proclaim that word. Today as we look at the life of Anna, that great prophetess, we pray that we would learn much from her and that our lives would emulate this woman because of her commitment to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Turn with me in your Bible to Luke chapter 2, please. Luke chapter 2, we are slowly but surely making our way through the first two chapters of Luke.

We have been in this gospel since the month of February. And so it's taken us quite a while to get through the first two chapters.

And I promise the remaining chapters will not take as long. They will take a long time, but they just won't take as long as the first two chapters.

But we have spent time looking at the arrival of the Messiah and the events surrounding the coming of the Son of God, the Savior of the world. And the thing that strikes us the most is that there were very few people really taking the Old Testament seriously, that were looking and longing for the arrival of the Messiah. And you know, from our vantage point, that's probably an encouragement to us because it answers the question why it is people today are not looking and longing for the arrival of the Messiah in their hearts, as they don't look for the coming of their Savior in their lives either.

And as we've studied this, we've come to realize that there was only truly a remnant of people who took the Bible seriously, who looked at the Old Testament prophecies and spent time in them in such a way that they would anticipate the coming, that one day Messiah would arrive, that that branch from the root of Jesse would arise and bring comfort and healing to the Jewish nation. We saw last week that Simeon was one of those people, his name means God has heard, and he was one who lived his whole life anticipating the coming of Messiah.

In fact, it was told him by the Spirit of God that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ. So he knew he was going to live until he saw the Messiah. The lady we're going to study today, Anna, didn't have that same assurance, but she had the same passion. She had the same eagerness about the coming of the Messiah. Anna's name means grace or gracious or favor, and she was the one who would speak with great grace. I remember way back in the early years of our church that the first baby born in our church was my daughter Anna, and she was the first baby dedicated in our church as well.

And upon her dedication, we talked about her name meaning grace, and the grace of God that transpired in the life of this church to begin this work for the Lord and to see God's grace moving in and among the church of our Lord. And that was the emphasis during her dedication, that the grace of God had moved among us and done a great and mighty work. And this woman, Anna, this great prophetess of God, would speak forth the Word of God. Let me read to you, just there's only three verses that record her existence, and they talk about her life, and these three verses are very power-packed.

So I want you to pay attention and listen carefully, and don't fall asleep, because if you do, we're probably calling you to read sometime throughout the sermon this morning. No, that's not true. We won't call you to read. We're just calling you to recite Scripture from memory. But anyway, Luke 2, verse number 36, and there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with the husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of 84.

And she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. And at that very moment, she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Three verses that speak to us so pointedly about our responsibility when it comes to our mission in life, our ministry in life, and the mark we leave in life. Talks to us about our impact, and how well and how deep we make an impact for the sake of the kingdom of God.

Most of us don't recognize this, but Luke speaks of 43 different women in his gospel. He has a prominent emphasis on the ministry of women. If you're a woman, it would be well for you to master the gospel of Luke, to see how God uses women to minister effectively for Him. There are 12 widows mentioned by name in the Bible. Three of those widows are in Luke's gospel. And Luke helps us understand their impact, their ministry, and how God used them, and therefore gives us many lessons about our lives.

And so when we look at Anna this morning, we want to look at, number one, her mission in life. Then we want to look at, number two, her makeup in life, her ministry in life, and then her mark in life, okay?

First of all, her mission in life. She had a three-fold mission, and this mission then becomes an example of the kind of mission that you and I are to have. A three-fold mission. It begins, number one, to speak for God.

To speak for God. She was a prophetess. She was the last Old Testament prophetess. During our baby dedication this morning, we talked about Miriam. She was a prophetess back in Exodus chapter 15. Judges chapter 4, there was Deborah. Second Kings 22, there was Huldah.

Isaiah chapter 8, there was Isaiah's wife. But Anna is that last of the Old Testament prophetesses. We know that Philip had some daughters. They, too, were prophetesses in Acts chapter 21. But a prophetess would be one who would speak the divine message of God. She would speak forth God's message. And this woman, Anna, was a prophetess. In other words, she would know the Old Testament in order to speak about the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah. And she would give forth that divine message in such a way that it would build the people of God.

If you read 1 Corinthians 14, verse number 3, you realize that prophecy is for edification, exhortation, and consolation. Prophecy builds the entire church. It's a speaking forth of the Word of God. Anna had a significant ministry in the temple of God. And that was to speak forth the prophecies concerning the Messiah, specifically to those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Remember, Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel. He was looking for the consoler, the comforter who would come.

Anna was looking for the same one. She referred to him as the redemption, the redeemer of Israel. She was a woman who loved the Lord so much she would listen to the Lord, and she would look for His appearing, and she would speak to others about the coming of the Messiah. God wants you to speak forth His Word to other people concerning Himself. Anna did. She was one of the lone remnant people who were actually anticipating the coming of the Messiah. She, along with Simeon. I'm sure there were others.

I just don't know who they are because the Bible doesn't record them for us. But we know of Simeon, we know of Anna, and they particularly had a great and powerful ministry, especially when it came to identifying the Messiah. And she was a prophetess. She would speak forth the words of God. And you've got to ask yourself the question, is that the way you are as a woman, as a man? I don't know about you, but I was led to the Lord by my mom. She was the one who introduced me to Jesus Christ. My wife is the one who's introduced my children to the Lord.

I haven't led one of my children to the Lord. She's led them all to the Lord. Except for Avery, she's not there yet, but she's going to get there. All right? But she has that influence in their lives where she speaks to them concerning the things of God every single day. And you know, you have a very powerful ministry, ladies, to speak forth the Word of God. That was Anna. She was a prophetess. She would speak for God. But number two, not only would she speak for God, she would serve her God.

The text says in verse number 37 very clearly that she never left the temple serving night and day. She served her God. And so her mission in life was not only to speak for God, but to serve her God. It wasn't to serve man. It wasn't to serve the priests at the temple. It wasn't to serve anyone else but her God. That's important. Why? Because a true mark of any godly person is that their mission in life is to serve their master no matter what their circumstances. And we're going to talk a little bit about Anna's circumstances, about her situation in life, and how her service was extremely unique.

But she would serve her God no matter what because that was her passion in life. And her service to God never waned because it was night and day. She was there in the temple looking for the opportunity of veiling herself to those who were in need that she might be able to speak forth the Word of God to somebody who was in need. She wanted to serve her God. That was her mission, to speak for God, to serve her God, and thirdly, to search for her God.

The Bible says that she was looking for the redemption of Israel. She was searching for her God. Now why would she be looking for the redemption of Israel? Because she knew the Old Malachi said in Malachi chapter 3, verse number 1, She knew that the Messiah that she was looking for would suddenly come to the temple. So she wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity. She was going to be there day and night to make sure that the Lord who would one day suddenly come to the temple, she would be there ready to receive him.

That's important, isn't it? See, she knew what the Bible said. And we know that the Lord suddenly came to the temple on this day because this was the day of his dedication as we have seen in Luke chapter 2. We know further that not only does he suddenly come during his dedication, but he suddenly comes later on in Luke chapter 2 for his declaration because he declares himself as the son of God. In John chapter 2, he suddenly comes again at that first Passover during his earthly ministry when he cleanses the temple.

So he comes at his dedication, he comes at his declaration, and he comes at his denunciation of the religious leaders in John chapter 2. He suddenly comes to his temple. They had ample opportunities to recognize Malachi chapter 3, verses 1 and 2. You see, and Anna was looking for that. She was anticipating the coming of the Messiah. She was searching for her God. She had eyes only for God. You see, now the difference between Anna and us is that when we come to church, we don't come searching for God, we come searching for something else.

We come for the show, or we come so others will see us, or we come because we feel like we have to be here to gain brownie points with God, or we come to see our friends, or we come for all kinds of reasons, but we're not coming to church to seek God. Anna came to search for her God because she knew that one day the Messiah would suddenly come to the temple, and she wanted to see him face to face, and she was always looking for the redemption of Israel. That's why she served God day and night. You see, when you're anticipating the arrival of the Messiah, your service never ceases.

Has your service ceased in the church of Jesus Christ? That means you're not anticipating the arrival of the Messiah, his second coming, because the more you long for him, the more you're going to serve him, because you want others to recognize him when he comes, and Anna was that way.

She was one who searched for God. She was one who served her God. She was one who would speak for God. That was her mission in life, and let me ask you, what is your mission in life?

What is your main objective in life? Is it to speak a word for God to other people, to introduce them to the Messiah? Is it to serve your God faithfully day in and day out? Is it to continue to search the scriptures daily that you might see the face of your God in the pages of the scriptures, that you might know him all the more? Does your heart thirst for him? Does it hunger for him? Do you want more of him? Somebody once said that your life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you like, but you can only spend it once, and that's true.

How do you spend your life? Is it spent speaking for God, serving God, and searching for God? If not, your mark in life will be extremely minimal when it comes to the things of eternity. Anna has these three verses in the Bible. She was one of many people, or one of the few people looking for the redemption of Israel. But God would honor her and place her in the scriptures as an example for us to follow. That was her mission in life. But number two, what was her makeup in life?

What made her the way she was? Three things I want you to see. Number one is her tribe. Number two is her time.

And number three is her trial. First of all, her tribe, her tribe was the tribe of Asher. Asher was the second son of Leah's handmaid, Zilpah.

That makes her the eighth son of Jacob. His name means happy. It's important to understand that because it was his birth that brought great joy to Leah. Now, note this. There are many books written. Historians have talked about the 10 lost tribes of Israel, those 10 northern tribes that were committed to idolatry and turning away from the true God of Israel. Many books have been written about the 10 lost tribes of Israel. Because in 722 BC, they were taken captive and they were lost and never to be found again.

That is just not true. Because eight centuries after 722 BC, you have an individual who is identified with a particular tribe, one of those tribes, which is considered lost. So no, they're not lost, right? Because she is from her father Phanuel, which means the appearance of God or the face of God. And she's from the tribe of Asher. Because 2 Chronicles records to us that certain of those tribes who went off into idolatry, certain individuals would make their way back down to Jerusalem to worship the one and true God.

There was a remnant that would come down and repent of their sins and get right with God. And one individual was Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. And he would raise a young girl to be one who would seek after her God. I tell you that because the Bible didn't tell us anything about her mother. We know nothing about her mother. We don't know if her father and mother were divorced. We don't know if her mother died. We know nothing. We know not much about her upbringing at all, which is probably good.

Because you see, what we tend to do is blame our upbringing for why it is we don't serve God as we should. Now somehow if I was born in a better family or a different family or a godly family, my whole life would be different. You were born in the family God wanted you to be born in. It's as simple as that. And you are in that family because God placed you there. And God uses those circumstances. He uses that mother, that father, that brother, that sister, that whole home life to help with your makeup in life.

And so many times we like to use our family as an excuse as to why we don't serve God or why we don't speak for God or why we don't search for God. But you can't do that. You can't do that. Because God will use you where you're at. And God will do a great and mighty work in your life if you're willing to be used of Him. And Anna was one who was willing to be used of her God. And so we move from her tribe to her time. She was advanced in years. She was aged. Now the text tells us this. It says, she was advanced in years having lived with a husband seven years after her marriage and then as a widow to the age of 84.

Some texts say for 84 years. So which is it? Well, if she was betrothed at the age of 12 like most Jewish girls were at that time and then married within the next year, so she was married around the age of 13, and her husband died after seven years, that would make her 20 years of age, right? 20 years of age when her husband dies. And she now is either a widow for 84 years making her 104 or she's 84 years old. You pick. I don't know. But both tell us she's advanced in years. I mean, 84, 104. I mean, when it comes right down to it, there's not much difference there, right?

Of course, unless you're 84, you're thinking, wow, I don't want to live to be 104. The point being is the Bible says she's advanced in years.

She's way up there. All right? She's getting older. She's not getting younger. And this was a prophetess. This is one who would speak for God. And you can imagine that her eyesight probably wasn't as good as it was when she was 20. You can imagine that her hearing probably wasn't as good as it was when it was 20. And so you know that things are not working nearly as well at 84 or 104 as they did when she was 24. The point being is that you're never too old to serve God, right? I don't care how old you are, God wants to use you.

And she was an older woman, and God was using her in a great way because there was only a few people looking for the redemption of Jerusalem, and she was one of them. And she would speak to people about the coming of Messiah. She wanted others to know. She wanted others to know who the king was, who the Messiah was. Here she was, advanced in years, serving her God. Folks, listen, I don't care how old you are, you've got a tremendous ministry in the kingdom of God. And you need to be able to understand what that ministry is as you speak for God, as you search for God, and you need to understand how it is you can better serve your God because Anna did.

Anna did. She understood. For instance, she was an older woman, right? She understood that older women were to train younger women. I believe she understood that principle. I mean, Paul speaks of it in Titus chapter 2 when he says this, older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior. Now, how old is older? I don't know. I think it's older than me, but I'm not sure. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, not enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be dishonored.

How is the Word of God dishonored in the church? The Word of God is dishonored in the church when older women don't teach younger women to love their husbands, to be keepers at home, to be reverent and kind, and to manage their children. That's how God's Word is dishonored. So as an older woman, and we're going to say that an older woman is a woman who has her children grown and gone, you've got to ask yourself, are you teaching younger women how to love their husbands? Are you teaching younger women how to raise their children?

Are you teaching younger women how to be kind and reverent? If you're not doing that, you are dishonoring the Word of God. Flip that over. If you're a younger woman, and you've been taught by an older woman, and you're not loving your husband, if you're not being the kind of worker at home that you need to be, if you're not being kind to your children, you then are dishonoring the Word of God. You see, we have to understand the importance of this, and that's why it's imperative that women growing up who have children teach their children these things, teach these principles.

You see, my wife and I have had a conversation over the last 12 years about her ministry in the church, and I keep telling my wife, your ministry is to our eight children primarily, first and foremost, because our children are in the church, and you are serving God in the church by raising a godly seed.

And the book of Timothy as well as Titus speaks of your responsibility to our children, and you have responsibility to our children to teach them day in and day out. And when they're grown and gone, you can spend all your time in the church if you want to, but while they're at home, you have responsibility to them to make sure they understand the principles of the Word of God. And some people don't like it when I say that, because they expect my wife to be at all the events and do all these things, and I tell her, you know what, honey, that's not your responsibility.

Your responsibility is with our children, because you see how they turn out affects the ministry, our ministry in the church, whether or not we're going to be in the church, you know, down the road or not. So you got to realize this plays a very vital role in the ministry of the church. And so Anna had this mentality. She was a prophetess. She would speak the divine message of God, and we know that she would speak it to women, because that's what they did in those days. Women taught women, and so she was probably teaching younger women to anticipate the coming of the Messiah, teaching younger women about who Messiah was going to be, how you'd recognize Him, how to be the kind of woman that God wanted them to be.

That's important. That was her makeup in life. She was older, but she never stopped serving her God. She never stopped speaking for God, and she never stopped searching for God, because that was her mission in life. And the third thing I want you to see about her makeup is her trial.

Her tribe was Asher. Her time was advanced in years, and her trial was that she was all alone. Now, you think about this. This becomes so important. She was all alone. As a young Jewish girl, she would be anticipating the day of her marriage. I mean, think about it. In that day and age, there wasn't much to look forward to, except for the person you were going to marry and the children you'd pray that you would ultimately one day have. And so she had spent her first 12 years looking for that right person, and she would be betrothed to this young man that we know nothing about whatsoever, and she would find herself married to this man, but for only seven years, and then he'd die.

And the Bible does not record that she had any children. So she had two problems. One, she was all alone because she was a widow, and number two, she had that stigma of being what?

Barren. And a Jewish woman being barren was a sign that she was cursed by God. So she had no children. She was all alone, and yet she continued to serve her God, speak for her God, and search for her God. She didn't let her circumstances govern how she ministered for God. She didn't let the negative circumstances of life keep her from doing what God had called her to do. How many times do we sit back and say, well, you know, things are just so bad at home. Things are so bad. It's just so bad at work.

I don't have time to serve the Lord because those things loom so big in our hearts and lives. What if Anna would have done that? I mean, she served her God for 84 years. I tend to think that she was probably 104 instead of 84. So she would have been a widow for 84 years and served her God for 84 years, night and day in the temple. She didn't want to miss anything. She was afraid that she might end up missing something. And so she would continue to serve her God. She knew what the psalmist said in Psalm 119.75, I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are righteous and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.

She knew that. She knew what the psalmist said. And she, as a widow, would be able to comfort other young widows in the temple. She, as a widow, would be able to explain to people that great and wonderful truth that says that Jesus is all you need, but Jesus is never all you need till Jesus is all you got. You see, Jesus was all she had. She didn't have anything else. She couldn't, when the plumbing broke at home, she couldn't say, honey, could you fix the plumbing? It's broken. She couldn't do that.

She had to go to God. That's the way my wife is at home, you know. She can't go to me and ask me to fix it because I can't fix anything. She's got to go to God all the time for those kinds of things. But the bottom line is this, that she couldn't have anybody at home to depend on. She didn't have a son that was raised to take care of things at home. She was all alone. When people at the temple would mock her because she was barren, she was a widow, she was probably scorned by God and their opinion, who would she go home and tell?

There was nobody to go home and tell. So what would she do? She'd pour her heart out to God. And the more she poured out her heart to God, the more intimate she became with Him. And she would search for her God. She would search the Old Testament Scriptures, and she would know more and more about her God. And she would be able to speak more fluently about her God to others. And that would motivate her to want to serve her God all the more in the church. You see that? See, her affliction, her trial was part of her makeup in life.

She wasn't scorned by God. She was used in a mighty way by God. So many times we forget that the affliction and trial that comes our way comes because God wants to do something in our lives so that our ministry for Him will be more effective, and the way we speak about Him will be more clear and more precise, and it will cause us to want to search Him more and more. Psalm 119.67 says, Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep Your Word. There's something about affliction that drives me to the Word of God, that keeps me into the Word of God, that keeps me seeking and searching after God so I can better represent God.

She became not only an effective representative of God, but she became the exact representation of God to those she ministered to. That was Anna. That was her makeup in life. Number three, her ministry in life.

Three-fold ministry. Number one was to pray. It was to pray. The Bible says, night and day with fastings and prayers.

She was a woman of prayer. This was her ministry. Her mission was to speak for God. Her mission was to search for God, and her mission was to serve God, but her ministry, her personal ministry, was to pray to God. She was a woman of prayer. Night and day she would pray. She would pray that God would do a mighty work, that God would send the Messiah, that God would answer her needs. The Bible says in Jeremiah 49 and 11, let your widows trust in me.

Over in First Timothy chapter five, verse five, it says this, now she who was a widow indeed and who has been left alone has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.

When Paul talks about taking care of the widows in the church and those who are the kind of widows that you are to support financially when they lose their husbands, you take the widows who are committed to their God in such a way that they entreat him night and day. They're women of prayer. And this was Anna. She was a woman who would beseech the throne of grace. She would ask God to do a great and mighty work. Are you a woman of prayer? Do you pray for your husband? Do you pray for your children?

Do you pray for your church? Do you pray for your ministry? Do you pray for your family, extended family? Do you pray for your neighborhood? Do you pray for your testimony? Are you the kind of woman who prays night and day? Anna was. And God put her in the scriptures as an example we are to follow. So she was a woman of prayer. She also was a woman of praise. The Bible says, and at the very moment she came up and giving thanks to God, continued to speak of him.

She was in the midst of prayer and fasting. She was in the midst of praising God and thanking God when she heard Simeon speak. Remember this is the context of the temple. And Simeon had just taken the baby Jesus into his arms and began to bless God and to bless Mary and Joseph. And it was speaking to Mary. And as he was speaking to Mary about the opposition the Messiah would face, about the revelation Messiah would give, about the affliction of Mary's own soul, Anna, because she knew the Old Testament, knew this was the Messiah.

And she was a woman who not only prayed and fasted, and that would mean that she was into self-sacrifice. She knew what it was to spend time with God, because she was so into the coming of Messiah she would forego some of the luxuries of life to spend time talking to the Messiah, or talking to God about the coming of Messiah. And so we begin to see now that she not only was a woman of prayer, but she was a woman of praise at that very moment. Now you think about this. At that very moment, just think for a moment, she's 84 years old, she's 104 years old, or somewhere in between.

She's up in years, right? She could have very easily said that day, you know, it was a late night last night. I think I won't go to the temple today. Instead, I'll just stay home. Or maybe she would have gotten up and said, you know, I did so much work. My back is killing me. My legs are sore. I just need to take some Advil and go to bed, and not go to the temple today. Just think of what she would have missed if she had not come to the temple that day. And the principle is very clear. Every time you miss the opportunity to worship God, you miss the blessing.

Did you know that? People say, well, yeah, I'm just too tired, dude. I was up late last night. Hey, I was up late last night. I was at the USC Nebraska game with my son, yelling my head off for the team that got whooped, Nebraska. You know what I'm saying? And you know, so I was there, and I was up late last night, and I had to fight the traffic to get home, and I was tired when I got home. But I got to come preach today. I got to show and preach. I still got to be here. You know, so many times you say, I'm just too tired.

It was a long weekend. I got too many things I got to do. It's a busy Sunday. See, we forget about the fourth commandment. We tell people, hey, you want to keep the commands of God? Oh, absolutely. You know what they are? Well, not really. You know where they're located? No, not really, but I want to keep them. Okay. Do you know what the fourth commandment is? No. What's that one? That's remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Well, I don't have to keep that one because that's not reiterated in the New Testament.

Well, that's not the principle of Sabbath rest, see? When God rested on the Sabbath, it wasn't because He was tired. It was because He wanted to reflect on His great work of creation. And God says He wants you to set time aside to worship Him.

Why? Well, number one, for reflection. Reflection, right? To reflect on the work of God in creation, to reflect on the work of God in redemption. But there's got to be some kind of reflection in our lives. If we don't spend a day doing that, we're not going to do that. Not only is Sunday the opportunity for us to have a time of reflection, it's also a time for us to have instruction in the Word of God so we might know more about who our God is. And Sunday also becomes a day of communication. It's a day set aside to communicate with God about the things that I've been instructed on and reflected about.

So Sunday, that Sabbath rest for us as Christians, becomes a time of reflection, a time of instruction, and a time of communication. It also is a time of, listen, emancipation. Sunday is a day that frees you from the everyday work of life and the everyday distractions of life. That's why Sunday needs to be different than every other day. If you do the same thing on Sunday that you do every other day, then you don't have time to be set free from those things. And folks, let me tell you something.

Sunday becomes a day of emancipation so that all those distractions and all those things I normally do every other day of the week, I can spend reflecting upon my God, receiving instruction about my God, and communicating with my God. So Sunday becomes a time of reflection, instruction, communication, emancipation. It also becomes a day of celebration. It's a day we gather to celebrate what God has done and to lift our voices together in unison as to His wonderful work. It also is a day, listen, of orientation.

Did you know that? That this day is a day of orientation. In other words, this day prepares you for tomorrow. And so if you miss today, you are not prepared for tomorrow. And every one of us need to be prepared for tomorrow because tomorrow we got to go to work, and we need to be prepared. And Sunday is a day of orientation. It's a day of preparation. It's a day to say, okay, this is who God is. This is what God expects you to do. Now go do it tomorrow. See? And so Sunday becomes a day of orientation.

It prepares me to go to work. I know tomorrow when I go to work, I'm going to be like Anna. I got to be the kind of person who speaks for God, who serves God, and who searches for God. So I'm going to get up in the morning. I'm going to search for God. I'm going to make sure when I go to work, I speak for God, and so I can effectively serve my God throughout the day. See, it becomes a day of orientation. It prepares me for tomorrow. And when I miss that Sabbath rest, when I miss that opportunity to set aside time for God, I'm not prepared for the week before me.

Also, this day becomes a day of anticipation. It reminds me that one day Jesus is coming back. And so it causes me to live in anticipation, not only today, but every day. It's a day of anticipation. When we partake of the Lord's table, what? As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. So now it's a day of anticipation. Now I live anticipating the arrival of the Messiah the second time.

As Anna was looking for the redemption of Israel, we are looking for the Messiah to come and take us home to be with Him. And so like Simeon was living the life of anticipation, as Anna lived the life of anticipation, so you and me need to live a life of anticipation. And those seven aspects make up that prime day, that Sunday, that first day of the week where we gather together to worship God.

See that? That's so important. So many times people just blow off church. And when they do, they miss the blessing. I'm reminded of the lady on Wednesday night who came to me in the foyer and she said, you know, I am so glad I came tonight. I said, really? I'm always, you know, flabbergasted when someone says they're glad they're here. She said, oh, I was so glad I was here tonight. She goes, if you knew the battles I faced every day in my family. And I almost didn't come because I was so tired today.

But because I showed up today, I realized all the things I've been doing wrong in my family. And now I know what I need to do when I face my battle with my family. That's amazing. See, that's what happens, folks. When the church gathers together and you don't show up, you always miss out on the blessing. You just miss out. Now you might get it next year or the year down the road when we review it or go over it again, but you've spent a whole year, a whole two years missing out on what everybody else learned and is putting into practice every single day now.

That's so important. And here was Anna. She didn't miss. She was faithful. But if she would have missed this day, she was old. She was tired. She wasn't getting any younger. She was there faithfully serving night and day. And then it happened. She saw the Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel. Her ministry was to pray. It was to praise. And it was to continue to proclaim the Redeemer of Israel. Because the Bible says she continued to speak of him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Israel.

She continued to speak about him. She didn't stop speaking as Simeon, who probably after he saw the Messiah died, because that's what his whole life was about, he went off the scene. Anna would continue to speak about this Redeemer to other people so they would understand who he was. Now, we've talked about her mission, her makeup, her ministry in life. This is her mark in life, three principles. Let me give them to you.

Number one, Anna becomes a portrait of perseverance, a portrait of perseverance, a pattern of passion, and a person of prominence.

This was her mark in life. She was a portrait of perseverance, listen, because of her anticipation. What kept her coming to the temple every day, serving night and day? She was looking for someone. She was looking for the Messiah. And that caused her to persevere through thick and thin. Through trial and through tragedy. She just kept persevering over and over and over again, because she had eyes only for the Messiah, and she kept anticipating his arrival, and that kept her coming all the time to serve, to search, and to speak for her God.

That's the way she was. She lived the life of anticipation. She loved the Lord. That's why I love that verse in 1 Corinthians 15, 58. It says, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And that is in the context of the time in which our lives will be changed, our bodies will be transformed, that which is perishable will become imperishable, that which is mortal will become immortal, and we will live with God forever and ever and ever.

It's all about anticipating the arrival of the King. And those who are steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord are that way because they live a life of anticipation. They can persevere because they anticipate the coming of the King. That's why Paul said, I have fought the fight. I have run the race. I have fought the good fight, he says. He says, he knows that there's a crown of righteousness in store for him, and not only for him, but for all those who love his appearing, right?

2 Timothy 4, 8. And then 2 Timothy 4, 9 says, but there was Demas who loved this present world, it has forsaken me. See, Demas loved the world. He couldn't persevere. He couldn't keep on going because he had one foot in the world and one foot in the church, and he couldn't balance them both, and he went the way of the world because he loved the world. He no longer could anticipate the coming of Messiah. He could no longer participate in the ministry of the gospel. And Anna, she becomes a portrait of perseverance because of her anticipation.

She becomes a pattern of passion because of her affliction. She becomes a pattern of passion because of her affliction. She had nowhere else to go. She had nothing else. Who could she hold on to? Who could she talk to? Who could she be with? You'd think that at 20 years of age, she could remarry at 20 years of age. She can find a new man. She could go to the temple and search for a new man. Instead, she went to the temple and searched for God because her whole life was wrapped up in God. She had this great passion to know her God.

And so she becomes a pattern of a person who not only won't quit but just can't get enough of God, just can't get enough of Him. She has to see Him. She wants to be with Him. She wants to communicate Him. She's made to tell other people who are looking for the same Redeemer she's looking for that she might instruct them in the ways of the Lord. She becomes a portrait or a perseverance and a pattern of passion. So many verses that speak about that. Psalm 63, 1 to 8. Psalm 73, 25 and 28. Psalm 103, 5 and 6.

Boy, great verses. In fact, you know what? I'll read Psalm 143. I know time is gone, but where are you going, right? Listen to this. Psalm 143, verse 1. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications. Answer me in Thy faithfulness and Thy righteousness. And do not enter into judgment with Thy servant. For in Thy sight no man living is righteous. For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me dwell in dark places like those who have long been dead.

Therefore, my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart is appalled within me. The psalmist says, I am at the end of my rope. And this is this. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all Thy doings. I am used on the work of Thy hands. I stretch out my hands to Thee. My soul longs for Thee as a parched land. I am being persecuted. My enemy is against me. He wants to destroy me. I am at life's end. I don't know what to do. But then I begin to think about my God. I begin to meditate on the works of God.

And I stretch forth my hand that I might know more of my God. See, that was Anna. Same way. I'm sure she knew Psalm 143 as well. When people would persecute her because of her barrenness, when people would make fun of her because God had condemned her and God had judged her and made her a widow probably because of that, what did she do? She stretched out her hands to God and sought more for Him because that was all she had. She becomes a pattern of passion, see, because of her affliction. She becomes a portrait of perseverance because of her anticipation.

And lastly, she becomes for us a person of prominence because of her adoration. She revered her God. She would pray to Him. She would praise Him. She would proclaim to Him, proclaim Him because she adored Him. And listen, remember we told you last week that Luke says, behold, there was a man. It's in the same context. Now he says, behold, stand amazed. There was a woman named Anna. She was a prophetess. She was up in the years. But God used her in a great and mighty way. She becomes a person of prominence.

She made a great mark in life. Why? Because of who she was and what she did for God. And God put her in the pages of Scripture so that you and I can read about her because God has that great and wonderful principle, he who honors me I will honor. And when you are set on honoring me, you will be honored in my kingdom, God says.

And Anna was a great woman of prominence. She was a widow up in years who had gone through much difficulty, and God used her because that's how God wants to operate in your life and in mine. Let's pray. Father, we thank You so much for Your Word and for Anna and the testimony that she gives to us. And I pray, Lord, that our lives would be locked in to her life, that we might understand what You did in her, that we might become the men and women You want us to be.