Our Bibles today to Luke chapter
2. Luke chapter 2. The first part of this chapter relates
the birth of our Savior, but I want to begin our reading in
verse 21. And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which
was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses
were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him
to the Lord. As it is written in the law of
the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy
to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said
in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young
pigeons. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light
to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled
at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them,
and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for
the fall, and rising again of many in Israel. and for a sign
which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through
thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess,
a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was of 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. And
she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord,
and spake of him to all them that look for redemption in Jerusalem. And when they had performed all
things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into
Galilee to their own city, Nazareth. Now most of these verses which
I have just read concern what happened the day the Lord Jesus
Christ was carried by Mary and Joseph into the temple in Jerusalem. He was approximately six weeks
of age. And this fulfilled an Old Testament
prophecy that was given by the prophet Haggai. Haggai had prophesied
that to this temple, the rebuilt temple, after they came back
out of captivity in Babylon, that the desire of all nations
should come. Now the desire of all nations
is the seed which was promised to Abraham. And thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed. And you notice here
in our text some of the words of Simeon in verse 30. He said, For mine eyes have seen
thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people, not just the Jews, but all people, a light to lighten
the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel." The desire
of all nations had been brought to the temple in Jerusalem. We
read of two older persons that day in the temple, one by the
name of Simeon and then a widow named Anna. And it is this last
person of whom I want to speak this morning. It's about this
widow, this widow. And there are four things that
are mentioned about her that I'm going to call our attention
to, the Lord willing. And I pray, the psalmist David
in Psalm 119, he said, the entrance of thy words giveth light. And
my prayer is that God's word will enter into our hearts today
to give us light, give us understanding, give us knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Can you imagine what it was like
for this older man, Simeon, to take this baby, six weeks of
age, that's a small child, isn't it? And yet to take this baby
up in his arms and to confess, I have seen thy salvation. He didn't see God's salvation
in a plan. He didn't see God's salvation
in the Roman road. He saw God's salvation where
it is, in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. But it is four
things about this widow that I want to call our attention
to. And I pray that God will bless His word to all of us here.
First of all, her name. Her name, verse 36, Hannah. Now Hannah is the Greek form
of the name Hannah. Anna is the Greek form of the
Hebrew name Hannah. We're all familiar with Hannah.
in the Old Testament in 1st Samuel, the mother of Samuel. How she prayed for a son and
God gave her a son, Samuel. And her name, Hannah, means favored. Favored. Now, when we think of
favor, we automatically think of grace. Gracious or favored. Grace means unmerited favor. unmerited favor. And you know
in the scriptures many times a person's name reveals their
characteristics or things about them. And this woman, her name
was Anna. Gracious or favored. And someone
would surely ask this question, how could she be considered favored? How could she possibly be considered
favored when she became a widow at such a very young age? Let me remind us of this and
hear me now everyone here. We live in a day and we live
in a time when most people believe that God's favor only concerns
material things. People believe that they are
favored if they are wealthy. They're favored if they are healthy. They're favored if they have
all the things that this world has to offer. That's not always
the case. And we know that God's favor
has to do with spiritual blessings, with spiritual things. I would
say this morning, those are favored who have a poor spirit, who are
poor in spirit. I would say that those are highly
favored who mourn over their sinful condition. I would say
that those are favored who are meek, who are teachable. And I would say those who are
favored who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And why
would I say that? Because our Lord said that. That's
the reason I would say this. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that
mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. You're favored, you're blessed
if you hunger and thirst after righteousness. Because one day
soon you're going to need a righteousness that God will accept. And you
cannot render unto Him that righteousness. You can't do it. But thank God for the promise.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall They shall be filled. Hannah, she was favored. And I want you to notice also
that we are told the name of her father. Look, if you will,
here in verse 36. And there was one Anna, a prophetess,
the daughter of Phanuel. Now, Phanuel is the same word
as Penuel. You say, well, what does that
mean? That's the name. Penuel is the name that Jacob
gave to that place where he wrestled, or an angel of the Lord wrestled
with him all night. And the reason Jacob said that
he gave that name to this place was because, I have seen God
face to face. It was a pre-incarnate appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel of the Lord, that appeared
there that night and wrestled with Jacob. And Jacob wrestled
with him. Now Jacob was no match for an
angel. He was no match for an angel,
but the Lord wrestled with him. And he put his hip out of joint,
didn't he? And for the rest of his days,
Jacob went limping along. God's going to knock the legs
out from underneath those that he intends to bless. Men are
high and haughty and riding on their high horse, just like Saul
of Tarsus. But God has a way. Jacob called
this place Phineah, because I have seen the Lord face to face. And now here comes one of Jacob's
daughters, one of his great, great, great, great, great, great
granddaughters, Anna. And she came just at this instant,
and she saw that baby that Simeon held up, and she saw the face
of God. God. God Almighty. The Eternal God. The Lord God. The Eternal Son. Manifest in
the flesh. The second thing about her is
her age. Now we're taught, and rightly
so, you never ask the lady her age. I'll only mention this because
the Scripture does. And we're told that she was of
a great age. Now, what's a great age in the
Bible? For us, the great age might be
90, 85, 80, 70, 75. For some of you, a great age
would be 50. For some of you, it might be
30. But what is a great age in the
scripture, in the word of God? Well, this woman was clearly
over a hundred years of age. She would not have been given
in marriage until she was at least twelve and a half years
old. That's the time that the Jews
allowed a young lady, young woman, young girl to be given in marriage,
twelve and a half years of age. And she was married and she lived
with her husband for seven years. And he died. That would make
her 19 and a half at least. And then we are told she lived
84 years as a widow woman. That would mean that this woman
was over 103 years of age. Great age. Why do I call this
out to us? Why do I point this out to us,
that she was of great age? Well, for two reasons. First
of all, I mention her age because I want to impress upon all of
us here today, myself and everyone here, that God's children never
retire from serving the Lord. and never retire from serving
the Lord. You notice this woman, a hundred
and some years of age, and yet we're told she served God with
fasting and prayers night and day. She served God as long as
God keeps us in this world. And He's the one who keeps us
here. He's the one who gives us our breath. Every breath He
gives it to us. And our days are numbered. Our
time is fixed in this world. Scripture is very clear about
that. My times, the psalmist said,
my times are in His hands. The time of our birth, the time
of our new birth, and the time when we will leave this world.
It's fixed of God, and thank God it is. But as long as we
remain, I'm talking to God's children today, those who are
favored, who are greatly favored. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which He hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. As long as we are in this world,
here's a woman over a hundred years of age and yet she's serving
God with fasting and prayers night and day. We never get to the age that
we retire from God's service. As long as He keeps us in this
world, it may be in a restaurant, it may be on a hospital bed,
However, wherever, but as long as God gives us breath, as long
as we remain in this world, if we are His children, we have
a ministry and we are to serve Him. It may be just by praying,
and I shouldn't say it like that because prayer is a wonderful
work and it's a great work and it's a needful work. And when
we can't get out of bed and when we can't walk and talk or whatever,
we can call upon God and pray for God's blessing upon the ministry
of His Word and upon those who preach the gospel. As long as God keeps us in this
world, we are to maintain good works. But the second reason
I point her age out to us is this. I want to impress upon
us the faithfulness of God to supply the needs of His children. Eighty-some years she had lived
as a widow. They didn't have Social Security.
They didn't have things of that nature back then. But I'll tell
you what she had. She had something better than
Social Security. She had something that was never
going to run dry. Never going to default. You say,
what's that? She had God. She had God who
had promised to meet her needs. Just as he has promised you and
I to meet our needs. And in the scriptures we find
this about widows and orphans. God especially is concerned about
widows and orphans. And he has promised that if widows
or orphans are afflicted and they cry unto him, that he will
surely hear their cry. He declared himself to be a father
of the fatherless and a judge of the widows. Anna had been
a widow now 84 years, and just like in the days of Elijah, you
remember the widow of Zarephath. When Elijah showed up on her
door, she had just enough meal in a barrel and just enough oil
in a cruise to make one cake or two cakes, one for her, one
for her son, and that would be their last meal in this world. And yet, Three and a half years,
Elijah stayed there and every morning when she went to that
barrel, she looked over the side and there was meal in the barrel. And looked at the crews and there
was oil in the crews every day. And that doesn't surprise us
at all, does it? God said, I have commanded a
widow there to sustain the Elijah. God is not limited. You know
that scripture in Psalm 37 and verse 3 says, trust in the Lord. Now that's first. Trust and believe
in Christ. Trust in Him. Know Him as your
Lord and Savior. Trust in the Lord and then do
good. We are to maintain good works,
yes. And no work is a good work if
we do not, first of all, trust in the Lord. because that which
is not of faith is sin. Trust in the Lord and do good,
so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily, or truly, that should
be truly, thou shalt be fed. Now third, I want you to notice
her conduct. First of all, her name, gracious
or favored, her age. Now her conduct in verse 38. And she coming in that instant
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord. Her conduct, she gave thanks
unto the Lord. Now the likewise refers to Simeon. The first thing that Simeon did,
did you notice this as we read this? The first thing that Simeon
did was he blessed the Lord. Then took him up in his arms,
verse 28, and blessed God. The very first thing that Simeon
did was to give thanks or to bless God. The same is true,
likewise, of Anna. And that leads me to say this,
that God's children are thankful people. God's children are thankful
people. I took the time this past week,
and I want you to look with me. I took the time to look at the
places in the scripture, in the New Testament, in the Gospels,
where we are told specifically that the Lord Jesus Christ gave
thanks. There are four places, and I
want us to look at them. The first one is in Matthew chapter
11. Now, I'm not saying by any means
that the Lord only gave thanks unto God four times during His
earthly ministry. But I am saying that I found
these four times that are mentioned in the Word of God. First, in
Matthew chapter 11, In verse 25, the scripture says,
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. The first
thing we are told that the Lord Jesus Christ thanked God for
was God's sovereign grace. God's sovereign grace. That God
reveals these truths unto the babes. And they are hidden from
the wise and the prudent. Those who are worldly wise, those
who are so proud, they know everything. No one can teach them anything. These things are hidden from
them. But the Lord Jesus thanked God,
thanked His Father that He had revealed these things unto babes. Don't ever be ashamed of God's
sovereign grace, my friends. I know we're a small group, and
that's true all over this world. We're God's little flock. I recognize
that. But I'm telling you on authority
of the Word of God, God is sovereign and the dispensing of His grace
He does in a sovereign manner. He calls and He saves whom He
will. Our Lord thanked God, His Father,
for God's distinguishing, sovereign grace. All right, notice the
next time in chapter 15 of Matthew. Matthew chapter 15, verses 25
and 26. I'm sorry, I've got the wrong pass, 35. Matthew 15, 35. And he commanded the multitude
to sit down on the ground and he took the seven loaves and
the fishes and gave thanks and break and gave to his disciples
and the disciples to the multitude. This is when the Lord Jesus Christ
fed 4,000 men, not counting women and children. And we see here
that he thanked the Father for his provisions. That's a custom,
but it's a good custom that we have before we eat our meals
that we acknowledge and we give thanks unto the Lord for giving
us food. I've heard and known of some
men who came from very poor countries. I think of some men I've heard
about who came from the country of India, came to this stage
to go to Bible college. And they thank God before they
ate, and after they ate, they thank God again. And I know by experience, it's so
easy to go through a farm, isn't it? Bow your head, say some words, repeat the same thing. God, help
us to be thankful. Make us thankful. for his rich
provisions. Our Lord did. He thanked the
Lord for the bread and for the fish. Just a little amount, really. But with his blessing, with God's
blessing, it fed over 4,000 people. Now one other place, two other
times, but one other place. In Luke chapter, Luke chapter
22, if you will, Luke chapter 22 and verse 17. And then we'll see the fourth
place in this same chapter. But in Luke 22 and verse 17,
the scripture says, And he took the cup and gave thanks. And he said, Take this and divide
it among yourselves. Now this cup, now listen to me. When the Lord gave thanks, he
took that cup and he gave thanks, this was the last Passover that
was ever to be celebrated. That type that God had given
them way back in Exodus when they came out of Egypt, that
type was now being fulfilled. The Lord gave thanks. Notice
he said with desire. He, in verse 15, and he said
unto them with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer. Christ is our Passover. That
Passover type was fulfilled. You know what that picture, don't
you? The blood, God passing over that,
God passing over sinners under the blood of Jesus Christ. Now
the other place, look down just a few verses, in verses 19 and
20. And he took bread and gave thanks.
This is when the king of saints, the king of kings, king of his
church, when he gave a new commandment to his church, to those like
you and I. He took the bread. Picture that
in your mind. Take a few minutes now. The Lord
Jesus Christ took that bread and he gave thanks. Now that
bread symbolized what he was about to experience. It was going
to be broken. He was going to suffer. He was
going to be beaten, nailed to a tree. flesh broken, and he
gave thanks. He gave thanks. You see the willingness,
I might even say the anxiousness of the Lord Jesus Christ as the
good shepherd to lay down his life for his sheep, to purchase
his church with his own blood. And then we read, likewise, verse
20, likewise, also the cup. So he gave thanks for the bread,
which pictured his broken body, and he gave thanks for the cup,
which pictured his blood poured out for sinners. Now one other
thing about Hannah, back in our text, Luke chapter two. Her message, we've seen her name,
her age, her conduct, and now her message. And this is so important. Who's she going to talk about? And she coming in that instant,
verse 38, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of Him. She spake of Him. She didn't
go out speaking about A system of theology. Nothing wrong with
a good system of theology. We need one. But that was not
her message. Her message was Him. Him. Jesus Christ. And His redemption. Notice that. speak of him to all them that
look for redemption in Jerusalem." There are four words, four Greek
words in the New Testament which are translated by our English
words, redeem, redeemed, redemption. And all of them, all of these
Greek words cast a little different shade of meaning on our Lord's
redemption. But the word which is used here
It means deliverance through Christ's death. She spoke of
Him to all them that look for redemption, for deliverance,
deliverance from the guilt of sin, deliverance from the power
of sin. and deliverance from the penalty
of sin. She spoke of him. And we know
that we were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without
blemish and without spot. It's a wonderful short history,
isn't it, of a widow woman by Anna. What a testimony. What an encouragement to each
and every one of us here today. Do you know Him? Do you? Do you know Christ as your Lord
and Savior? If you do, you'll speak of Him.
You won't be talking about a lot of other stuff, but you'll be
talking about him.