Good morning, brethren. Let's turn in our Bibles to Luke chapter 2. While we turn there, let's ask the Lord's blessing this morning. Our God and our Father, You are the holy, righteous God of heaven and earth. Lord, what great grace and what great love that you've made us to be your children, sons of God. Lord, we thank you for saving us. We thank you for providing your son, our salvation. We thank you for preserving us and giving us a hunger and a thirst to hear the gospel, to hear our Redeemer proclaimed, to gather here and worship you. Lord, be with us now. Cause us truly, truly, truly to worship in our heart. Forgive us, Lord, of our sin. For Christ's sake, in his name, amen. Luke 2, verse 36. Luke 2, 36. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Feniel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Now this is the only place in scripture where Anna is spoken of, but the Lord saw fit to include her in the scripture here, speaking of her that day when they brought the Savior to the temple, and Simeon had said those glorifying words concerning Christ and the Lord included here that there was a sister named Anna there, a faithful woman who God had made faithful. I've titled this Our Dear Sister Anna. Our Dear Sister Anna. We're gonna consider her this morning. Most importantly, we're seeing what God the Father and our Lord Jesus did in saving Anna. That's what Anna would want us to preach as we consider her, she'd want us to glorify Christ. And we know that because in verse 38, it says, she spake of him. She spake of him to all them that look for redemption in Jerusalem. So as we consider our sister Anna, we're considering our savior and the salvation that he accomplishes for his people. Now, first of all, we know everything in this word is to glorify Christ, everything. And that includes names that God uses in the scripture. So as we look first, we're gonna see God's grace in her name and the name of her relations, her family. It says, verse 36, and there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phineal of the tribe of Asher. The name Anna is the same as Hannah, Samuel's mother. And the name means grace. It means grace. This was a fitting name for her because God saved her by grace like he does all his people. We're saved by God's grace, by his grace. It was electing grace. It was grace that made the father choose his people in Christ before he created this world. all of grace. Look with me over Ephesians 1-3. You're very familiar, but I want you to see it. And I want any who hear this message at any time, I want them to look this scripture up and see what God said. This is what he brings his people to say. We glory in God our Father for his grace. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. We speak about God's grace being sovereign grace. It means God chose, he chose whom he would and he passed by whom he would. He did it, as scripture says there, according to the good pleasure of his will. We're saved by the will of God, not by our will. To the good pleasure of his will, he sovereignly chose whom he would by grace. And we speak of free grace. That means we were not, we did nothing to merit God choosing us. When it says he did this before the world was made, before the foundation of the world, he's declaring before we had done any good or evil. The reason was all to the praise of the glory of God's grace. Now, Anna was the daughter of Phineo. Phineo, now it's spelled slightly different here in the Greek, but the Hebrew, the same name is the name that Jacob gave to the place where the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus wrestled him and put his thigh out of joint and made Jacob prevail with him. And Jacob said this in Genesis 32, 30, Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. That's what it means, the face of God. Anna was looking for Christ to come. And it was because God by grace had regenerated her and given her faith, and she beheld the face of God by faith when she beheld the Lord Jesus. Before he'd ever come, she had faith and beheld the face of God through faith in the face of Christ Jesus. That's so with everybody God calls. You know, 2 Corinthians 4, 6, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shine in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We behold God's glory in Christ, in the face of Christ, by faith. And she was looking for him to come. She was looking for Christ to come. And by God's grace, when they brought him into the temple that day, and she looked upon our Savior, she beheld the face of God face to face. She beheld him. And you and I, who've been called by God keeping us and preserving us to persevere in faith, we're looking for Christ to come again. And one day, we're gonna behold the face of God when we behold the Lord Jesus. That will be so for all who Christ has called. She was of the tribe of Asher, or Asher. Asher was the son of Leah. He was the head of this tribe. And when she gave birth to him, Leah said, happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed. And so she called his name Asher. And that's what it means, blessed. Anna was the daughter of Asher. Her father was the son of Asher. So she was the daughter of the blessed. That's what she was. Well, brethren, everyone got caused by his grace. sons and daughters of the blessed, the God-man, the Lord Jesus. He's the blessed man. He's the blessed man and he blesses his people by his obedience on our behalf. Every person in the world, this tribe was carried away captive. This was one of the 10 tribes that was carried away captive. But even though they were carried captive by the enemy, the Lord had an elect remnant. Anna was one of those and the Lord called her. We were all, every son of Adam was carried away captive by Adam's one transgression. We became the lawful captives of the devil, captives of our own sin nature, but by God's grace he had an elect remnant and he called us and he gave us faith to see Christ has saved us, he has redeemed us. That's so of all his people. Now that's the first thing, we see the grace of God in these names. Now secondly, let's see the grace of God and what he worked in Anna, how he made Anna faithful. She continued assembling with God's people to worship the Lord all her life. From the time God called her, he kept her faithful and she never forsook assembling with the Lord's people. It says in verse 36, she was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity and she was a widow of about four score and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Some believe Anna was between 100 and 103 years old at this time. They married young. They married somewhere around age 13 to 15. I have a great-grandmother who married my great-grandfather when she was 13. By the time she was 16, she had had three of her five children already. But that was so with Anna. She was with her husband for seven years, and he died. And then she continued from there. And from there, from her husband dying, she had lived 84 years. So she's probably about 100 to 130, somewhere in there. But here's the point to get. She never stopped assembling with the Lord's people. It says she was in the temple and served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Christ is our true temple, brethren. And when he's united us with him, when he regenerates us and makes us one with him, we're never leaving Christ the temple. We're in him continually. But it doesn't mean she never left that physical temple and went home. It means she never forsook assembling with the Lord's people. When it says she served God with fastings and prayer, fastings was devotion of the heart. That's what it pictured. Doing without earthly meat and living upon the Lord. And that's what fastings represented. Prayer, as we saw just recently, prayer is living absolutely dependent on the Lord Jesus. We need him for everything. That's why we pray. Without him, we can do nothing. And that was Anna. She had a new heart devoted to Christ by God's grace, and she lived entirely dependent upon the Lord. And she never forsook assembling. You know, by this time, the Pharisees had completely, they had no spiritual understanding. And so when they read in scripture or heard the prophet speak of fasting, they thought they were righteous by just doing the outward deed, fasting outwardly. And they just repeated their prayer. They just said their prayers. That was not the case with Anna. And that's not the case with the Lord's people. He gives you a new heart to be devoted to Him, and He gives you a heart to live upon Him. And that's what our sister Anna did. Now, when her husband died, she didn't stop assembling with the Lord's people. She did this for 84 more years. Now, sadly, I have known women, I've known men also, who when their spouse died, their believing spouse died, they disappeared, they stopped assembling with the Lord's people. If a person assembles to hear the gospel simply because a believing spouse does, that's the only reason, and they prove it by departing once that spouse dies, that person never really assembled ever. You know, faith is proven to be the gift of God by you continuing believing God to the end. That's how to be proven we believe God. You'll continue to the end. And it's the same with a person assembling. If a person departs after a spouse dies, they never really were assembling in their heart anyway. They came there in body, but not in heart. I pray, Lord, keep us from that. Keep us from that. I've known a whole lot more who continued assembling with the Lord's people after their believing spouse died. That's what I want to be. That's what I hope you are. The Lord doesn't save everybody in a household. Simeon, we just saw earlier, Simeon, it's believed his son was Gamaliel, and Gamaliel didn't believe the Lord. The Lord saved Simeon, but he didn't save Gamaliel. We don't know about Anna's husband, but we know the Lord saved Anna. He doesn't save everybody in the house. He takes two or three of a house, calls those that are his. And he makes himself preeminent in our heart so that it's not our family relations that cause us to assemble to hear the gospel, it's Christ. Hannah's earthly husband died, but by her continuing, it was manifest that preeminently her husband was Christ and she knew that. We're not gonna have those relationships in glory. And now in the heart, the Lord works it so that he is preeminent in our hearts above all, above all. And when they gathered there, when they assembled under the old covenant, the high priest and the sacrifices, all those ceremonies is how the Lord preached Christ to them. That was their worship. That was how they worshiped through the high priests and the sacrifices. And it all pictured Christ. Go over to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9. Christ is the fulfillment of every bit of that. Now we gather to hear the gospel priest and hear Christ declared. But then, this is how Christ was preached. It was through the ceremonies. Hebrews 9 and verse 8. We've seen how everything in that temple pictured Christ. Everything, every minute detail. When the Lord told Moses, make it according to the pattern I showed you in the mount, the pattern is Christ. The pattern is Christ. When God said, let us make man after our image, Christ had not become a man yet. But God, who knows the end from the beginning, made man after the image of Christ. Christ is first. Man was made after the image of the Lord who became a man. And so it was with his temple. Everything about it pictured Christ. This is how they worshiped and served Christ. Verse eight says, the Holy Ghost, Hebrews 9, eight, the Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was yet standing which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. They stood only in meats and drinks and different washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. But for the believer in that day, the Holy Spirit made them know that those things didn't wash them. The Holy Spirit made them know that these things pictured Christ their surety. who was coming and who would wash them forever by his blood. Read on. But Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. You see, by the grace of God teaching Anna, just like he's taught you in our day. She was taught before Christ come, we've been taught after he came. But when the grace of our Lord gives you a new heart and the Spirit reveals Christ, he makes you see, whether you live then or now, he makes you see Christ is salvation. He was Santa's life, just like he's your life. He was her righteousness. When she saw that lamb slain, she saw her substitute slain by faith. She saw her substitute slain and his blood wash her from her sin. When they took that hyssop of that red heifer and they burnt that heifer and they mingled that water and took that hyssop and they sprinkled the unclean and they were ceremonially made clean by that, Hannah saw in that, she saw Christ who washes us with his blood. purged us from dead works in the conscience to serve the living God. When she saw that high priest enter into that holy place on the day of atonement, she saw Christ, her high priest, who she knew would come and would accomplish redemption and then enter into the true holy place in glory. The Lord has always saved the same way, by his grace, by giving a new heart, by giving faith, by Christ the Lord, causing his people to look to Christ only. And so, go down and look at Hebrews 10. I meant to tell you to stay in Hebrews. Hebrews 10. And so, since Christ was her life and Christ was her righteousness and Christ was her hope and Christ was her true husband, when her husband died, by God's grace preserving her, she continued assembling with the Lord's people. And that's what the Lord's gonna make his people do. Look here in Hebrews 10.23. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Here's the chief way we do that. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. as the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. If we turn from Christ, we forsake Christ, we forsake his people, we forsake his gospel, after that we claim we believe Christ, There's no more sacrifice for sin. Miss Christ and miss salvation. Forsake Christ and we forsake salvation. That's what it means. That's the willful sin it's talking about, leaving the gospel, leaving Christ, leaving the only salvation there is. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how but sore punishment suppose ye Shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. Now, I've noticed this over the years, brethren. I've done it. I've noticed other preachers do it. We tend to speak more strongly in the areas where we consider ourselves to have been faithful. within to speak more strongly. And that can hurt, and it's very painful to brethren who don't see themselves as having been faithful in that area. So I want to say this with love. I want to say this with grace. There are brethren who the Lord saved after they had put down roots and had family and what have you in areas where there is no gospel. There are brethren who the Lord saved after they had all these ties to an area, but they're truly saved. They heard the gospel preached and Christ gave them a new heart and faith and they really believe him. But they got these ties and they're not with brethren, they're not where the gospel is. Now that's an exception, that's not the rule. But I say this to them, if the Lord has given you a heart to want to relocate to be where there is a faithful church and honor the gospel, the Lord will provide for you to do that. If he's given you the heart to want to, the Lord will not dishonor the faith he's put in your heart. He will bless you wherever you go to hear the gospel. If he's called you to do a certain thing and you desire to do it by his grace, he's going to provide for you to do what he's given you to do. I've known brethren who were in that situation who expressed that to me and I made that statement to them. If you have a heart to be under the gospel, the Lord will provide if you go to a different place where you can hear the gospel. And I've seen revenue move from one side of the country to the other, and the Lord provided. He did provide. I'm thankful we have the internet for folks who are in that condition where they can't gather with God's people. I'm thankful for that. But that again, that's the exception, that's not the rule. But to folks who can assemble and are not with the Lord's people, I simply say, assemble with the Lord's people. Gather with God's people. You that the Lord has made faithful to assemble, you know this. It's not only for our own personal benefit, it's for the benefit of our brethren. It provokes them to love and to good works just by you simply assembling with his people. It's very discouraging when brethren are not here. But it's very encouraging when we're all together. The Lord did that on purpose. He saves this way on purpose. And just by your presence, it is very strengthening and encouraging to your fellow brethren. It's not just for our own, it is much for our personal benefit, but not only for that, it blesses our brethren when we're present. And so, This is what Anna did, and Anna knew this. Christ was preeminent to her, and she was there in the Lord's house every time they assembled. Now here's one last thing. God made Anna a prophetess. He made her a prophetess. Now, that does not mean that she was made a preacher. It does not mean that. There's a lot of scripture that where God said that a woman was not to preach. A woman's not to usurp authority over a man. Eve was first beguiled in the garden. That's one of the reasons God gives. But here's the preeminent reason. Christ is our husband and the church is the bride. And we're in submission to Christ, trusting Christ to provide all for us and to lead us and teach us. And that's why a woman is to be in subjection to her husband, to learn in silence in the congregation, not usurp authority over a man. And that's the picture because we all are the bride of Christ. Every one of his people, and we're learning everything from Christ, our husband. We don't lord over him. We don't say we let him do anything. We don't say we gave Christ permission to save us. No, He saved us. He loved us and laid down His life for us. He loved us and called us. He loved us and drew us to Him and provided all our righteousness and all our holiness and everything we need. We're made accepted of God in Christ the Beloved. And so, but what it does mean is she was given a heart to know things the Lord was about to bring to pass. Just like a prophet, they knew things the Lord was going to do ahead of time in the future, the Lord revealed it to them. The Lord did that for her. There are no prophets and prophecies today. That was while the New Testament was being written, the Lord provided this. If you hear somebody today tell you the Lord revealed to them something that's gonna happen in the future, you're hearing a false prophet. You're hearing a false prophet. If you hear a woman preaching in our day, you're hearing a false messenger. The only woman in scripture that was a preacher is Jezebel, who led people astray. If you hear somebody tell you, and they start leading a group of people, saying they know this is the date Christ is going to return, this, no. You're hearing a false messenger, and that isn't going to be the date that he don't return. Because he said, nobody knows the hour of the day. And, but what she had was the understanding to know they had not had a prophet for, I don't know, three or 400 years. But right before Christ came, he gave them prophets and prophetesses. And there was four or five in scripture that were women. And it was so that there'd be a male and a female bearing witness that Christ was here. And that's, he used Simeon for that and he used Anna for that. But the key is this. They weren't just trying to impress people by telling them future events. She spake of Christ. She preached Christ. When she was in the market and the women and the children would ask her, those looking for redemption, she would tell them what the Lord had revealed to her. Christ is here. He's coming. He's near. And she spoke of him. He's our redemption. when she was on her way to the temple, and she's traveling, and women and children usually travel together, and they're together, and they're talking, she's speaking of Christ to them. She's pointing them to her Savior, her Redeemer, and their Redeemer. And that's the point, brethren. Most people who try to impress men that they have some kind of special knowledge given to them by God, they're speaking of events, and they're speaking of things that will happen. That's not what the Lord revealed. He reveals in his people Christ and brings his people to bear witness of him being all salvation. He's our Redeemer by the blood of the cross. He's our Redeemer through regeneration, freeing us from our sin nature. And he's our Redeemer who one day is going to deliver us out of this world into glory. She had been made faithful by God and she looked for Christ to come. And by God's grace, she saw Christ come. And you and me have been given faith to trust Christ and believe and look for Him to come again. And He's coming again. Are you one who is looking for redemption from Christ Jesus, our Redeemer? Are you looking for Him to come? Then if He's given you a heart to believe, and you've never done it before, He's given you a heart to believe for the first time, be baptized publicly, professing that he is your all and unite with his people under the preaching of the gospel and continue to the end. That's what he brings his people to do. And for you and I, who he has called, let's learn from our dear sister, Anna, and let's continue assembling. Let's continue looking to Christ alone. Let's continue speaking to one another of Christ alone. And by God's grace, we will behold Christ one day. One last scripture, Romans 8. I mean, Revelation 8. Revelation 8. I didn't write that down wrong. I'm almost certain. Revelation 22. Look at verse 17. I'm sorry, verse 16. I, Jesus, Revelation 22, 16, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David. He was before David and bear David, and he came through the lineage of David. He's the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star, and the spirit and the bride say come, and let him that heareth say come. and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Look down here at verse 20. Verse 20. He which testifieth these things saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. You know how you're gonna be made ready? looking for him when he returns, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. That's how. That's what kept Anna looking, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go to him, brethren. Our Lord, we thank you for faith. We thank you for repentance. We thank you, Lord, for revelation. Thank you for righteousness, for holiness, for redemption. We thank you for acceptance with holy God. Lord, all of this is by your faithfulness, by your precious blood, by you making us holy and righteous and accepted of God. Lord, we thank you. We thank you that you saved us. We praise you, our Father, for choosing us and sending your dear son. And Lord, we ask you, make us faithful, make us continue like Anna, make us assemble together and make us speak of you, bear witness of you to one another. Lord, however you're pleased to do it, we pray that you would use us for your honor and your glory to help one another look only to our Savior, the Lord Jesus. We thank you and we praise you in the name of our Savior. Amen.