In the sermon titled 'Anna, The Second Prophetic Witness,' Jason Dohm discusses the role of Anna, a prophetess, as a significant witness to the birth of Jesus, paralleling Simeon's prior testimony. Anna, from the tribe of Asher, is highlighted as a devout widow who spent her life in the temple, dedicated to fasting and prayer. The sermon emphasizes that God's purpose in sending multiple witnesses, including Anna, was to fortify Joseph and Mary for the challenges ahead as the earthly parents of Jesus and to establish a foundation of testimonies concerning the Messiah's presence on Earth. Anna's recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, despite his infancy, underscores her spiritual insight and the importance of her witnessing role. The sermon also reflects on the broader biblical context of female prophets and the unique spiritual opportunities available to widows. Through Anna's story, the sermon conveys themes of divine preparation, encouragement, and the fulfillment of God's promises, while urging believers to give thanks for Jesus, share the message of redemption, and trust in God's preparation for future hardships.

The title of the message this morning is Anna, the second prophetic witness. Last week, in last week's text, Joseph and Mary encountered Simeon in the temple, A man who had cultivated a life of doing what was right. It said he was just. And worshiped God by practicing his religion from the heart. It said he was devout.

Simeon was waiting for God to comfort Israel by fulfilling all the promises to send a Savior. And the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon, and the Holy Spirit had actually revealed to Simeon that he wouldn't die until he had seen with his own eyes this promised Savior. Listen to what Simeon said in verses 29 through 32 as he encounters Jesus he says 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 the peoples alike to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. Last week I quoted Isaiah 49 verse 6 where God says to this promised Savior, it's too small a thing for you just to save Israel.

You'll just have to save to the ends of the earth. You'll just have to save the Gentiles too, because you're too great a Savior to just save this one nation. Simeon realized that to see this baby, to see Jesus, was actually to see the salvation of God to the ends of the earth. How marvelous. Now just at that moment, same moment, and a long, long time widow, a prophetess, comes and interacts with Joseph and Mary.

What is all this about? Well, I'm sure there are several things that all this is about. But my view is that more than Anything else, God is doing two things. He is sending wave after wave of witnesses to fortify the earthly parents of the promised Savior. In other words, there are hardships ahead for Joseph and Mary.

They have been given a great privilege, but that doesn't mean it's going to be all sunshine and lollipops. There's going to be a lot of hardships associated with being earthly parents. God is fortifying and preparing them for that moment. Secondly, God is sending witnesses, not one, not two, not three, not four, think of all the witnesses we've already seen, of credible witnesses that the Messiah is in the world to make things ready for Jesus and his public ministry. Decades later, there are going to have been these testimonies out there that the Messiah was in the world.

So God is encouraging and building up Joseph and Mary for the difficulties that would be involved With the life that he has given them together First it was the angel Gabriel Then Elizabeth and the things that she said then the shepherds who had seen a multitude of the heavenly host then simian and Now Anna what a parade of witnesses encouraging Mary and Joseph that God is doing this. So you're going to want multiple witnesses that God is doing this and you're going to want multiple witnesses that God is with you. So These are the things that are happening in this passage. As we come to the text, let's ask God to help us. God, I thank you that These things were done publicly and That there's witness after witness after witness we don't have to take the testimony of One person that says that an angel appeared to him but that we're given this rich parade of witnesses.

Help us to know that these things are true, these promises really have been fulfilled. Thank you for how you worked to prepare us for things in our future. I pray that you would come and bless the preaching of this text, that it would help us, encourage us, and build us up. In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, let's begin by looking at verses 36 and 37.

Hopefully you're still in Luke chapter two, follow along as I reread verses 36 and 37. Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, 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. These two verses we have Anna, a second witness, who are we encountering in the text? It's Anna, a prophetess of the tribe of Asher, an old woman, a long time widow, and a radically devoted servant of God.

So I just want to take those one by one. Anna was a prophetess. What is a prophetess? A woman who is a prophet. This is the point in the text where people who are theologically reformed, that's me, probably you, and who affirm that scripture teaches male headship in the church and in the home, that's me and probably you, tense up.

Rather not face a text about a prophetess because of our Reformed theology and our embrace of male headship Can sort of set us on edge My encouragement to myself and to you Would be to train myself to be happy about anything that is in any text. I don't think we need to fear any Bible texts. We need to work carefully to make sure we understand what's actually being said, what's not being said. Amen to all that. But let's train ourselves to be happy about anything that is in any text, to give God thanks for it, and to never feel the need to apologize for it, or to explain it away.

John MacArthur wrote a book titled Charismatic Chaos. It's a good book actually. So you know how he felt about modern-day prophecy? And He was also right in the middle of the gender role wars for decades, right in the middle of the gender role wars. He inserted himself in the middle of those wars.

He was a warrior in those wars. And He explains this away by making this into Anna teaching scripture to other women. That's what he says her being a prophetess is. Now while I loved John MacArthur dearly and continue to appreciate his massive contributions and they are massive. I think this is a big mistake.

I found nothing in my studies this week that made me think we should deviate at all from the normal understanding of prophet and prophecy. What is that? The Greek lexicon says this. A woman to whom future events or things hidden from others are at times revealed, either by inspiration or by dreams and visions a female prophet a female who declares or interprets oracles and oracle is just a prophecy A female who declares or interprets a prophecy. Here's the Strong's definition.

A female foreteller or an inspired woman. That's what it means. That's what Anna was. How long had Anna been prophesying? The text doesn't say.

How often did Anna prophesy? The text doesn't say. What were those prophecies? One word of one of those prophecies the text doesn't say. Because None of those things are important for understanding what this text is communicating.

If it was important to understanding this, the text would give us those things. But it doesn't, so it's not. What is important? Anna is a prophetess. She has received direct at times has received direct revelation from God and and communicated it.

She has been the recipient of supernatural revelation in ways that you and I never have. That's what's important to this text. Like Simeon, the Holy Spirit was upon her. Like Simeon, Anna was enabled by the Holy Spirit to recognize that this baby was the fulfillment of God's promises as the Messiah. She was Holy Spirit inspired to recognize This is the Messiah.

That's the importance of Anna being a prophetess in the text. So Anna was a prophetess, a female prophet. And Anna is not alone in Scripture. Here is the comprehensive list. I'll give you the whole list and it won't take long.

Miriam is called the prophetess. Exodus 15 verse 20. Deborah is called a prophetess. Judges 4 verse 4. Huldah, she's the one you don't know, Holda, is called the prophetess, 2 Kings 22 verse 14.

And Isaiah's wife is called the prophetess Isaiah 8 verse 3 and finally in Acts 21 verse 9 Says that Philip had four virgin daughters Who prophesied so that's it Genesis to Revelation, that's the whole list Six instances. So we should consider this rare but wonderful. What are we encountering in our text? Something that is rare six times from Genesis to Revelation, but wonderful. Who can't look at Anna in this passage and thank God?

There weren't many of these wonderful women of God in scripture, but they're inspiring. I'm inspired by Anna in our text, and they're important. This is important. Next, Anna was of the tribe of Asher. Twelve tribes.

Tribe of Asher is one of them. That is not especially significant except to say that the tribe of Asher was taken into captivity by the Assyrians more than 500 years earlier and they never returned. Okay, so the kingdom splits into a southern kingdom, Judah and Simeon, two tribes, and the Northern Kingdom, ten tribes. And the first of these two kingdoms that went into captivity was the ten Northern tribes. The Assyrians came, conquered them, took them into captivity, and brought in other nations that they had conquered and settled that area.

So by the time of Nehemiah we're reading about how they had become a mixed people. This is the Samaritans, okay? These people have been resettled here who married and had children and so really the purity of the line of Abraham was destroyed by this, by these intermarriages. And there were some people left in the land after most had been taken into captivity, and this is a daughter of the tribe of Asher. Judah came back from the Babylonian captivity.

At least some of the captives came back 70 years later. That's what we read about in Nehemiah. The 10 tribes never came back. They were assimilated into those places and God never brought them back. So she is part of one of those tribes where a few were left and a few remained.

And she is a daughter of that tribe. Next, Anna was an old woman. The New King James says She was of a great age. What a judicious way to say that. I might just adopt that.

No, actually that's probably not permissible either for me to say such things. NASB and the ESV render it advanced in years. NIV just says very old. So you get the picture. She was an old woman.

Verse 37 says that she is about 84 years old. And it's ambiguous in our text, meaning you can't tell whether it means that she's 84 years old or she's been a widow for 84 years. That's because it's actually ambiguous in the Greek. Linguistically you just can't tell whether what's being said is she's an 84 year old or that she's actually been a widow for 84 years. That would make her 105 years old, 110 years old if she was married very early in life.

Most of the translations have made the choice to represent 84 as her age. So I can go with that. Google says that at the time of Jesus, if you survived birth, and many didn't survive birth, but if you survived birth, you might live into your 50s or even longer, but into your 50s was a good long life in the time of Jesus because of all sorts of factors, we have longer lifespans now. So in any event, Anna is an old woman. However, you take that, Anna is an old woman.

Next, Anna was a long time widow. Many decades before, she got married and she lived with that husband for seven years. And then he died, leaving her a widow. And she's lived as a widow for the overwhelming majority of her life so if you just make a line a timeline of her life she's born she gets married seven years later he dies and then most of her life is over here after her husband had died the overwhelming majority of her life has been spent as a widow few of the people who knew Anna or knew of Anna would have known her as anything but a widow. Anyone who knew her husband, there are probably almost nobody who remembers the time when her husband was alive and they were married.

Finally, Anna was a radically devoted servant of God. What does the text say? She did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Now you can take this to a literal extreme, meaning she never left the temple and she never slept and she never ate. I don't believe that.

I think she probably slept and I think she probably ate and I think she probably left the temple from time to time. The point is her life was spent in the temple fasting and praying not just during the day but but daytime and nighttime. She was a radically devoted servant of God. The temple is where we would expect to find Anna and the temple is where she is in our text. In Psalm 84 verse 2, the sons of Korah say, My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord.

And Anna says, Amen. This was a woman whose soul longed, yes, even fainted for the courts of the Lord. She loved to be in the courts of the Lord. That's where you would find Anna. That's where we find Anna.

Now there are two texts that I think help us understand what is said here. The first is 1 Timothy 5, where Paul speaks of honoring widows and financially supporting certain widows under certain circumstances. So in 1st Timothy 5, Paul says honor widows, you should be honoring widows and you should be financially supporting certain widows under certain circumstances, not before 60 years old and they ought to have lived lives like this. Now listen to 1st Timothy 5 verse 5. 1st Timothy 5 verse 5.

Paul writes, Sound familiar? This is Anna. She is really a widow. She was left alone by the death of her husband. She's trusting in God and continuing in supplications and prayers night and day.

This is just like Anna. Of course, Anna was before Paul was writing this, but he's describing her for sure in the life that she lived. That is the calling of women whose husbands die and who don't remarry, okay, then what should they do with their life? Well, they probably have to do something for a provision before they're 60, but their Calling is to continue in supplications and prayers night and day The second text that I think throws light on this is first Corinthians 7 This will be a longer one. You can feel free to turn there if you'd like again.

This is Paul writing, this time to the Corinthians, 1st Corinthians chapter 7. What I'm getting ready to read is primarily targeted towards people before they get married. But fundamentally, he's talking about the single state, and widows are that. So I'm acknowledging that most literally Paul is talking to people before they get married, but I'm saying that the principle here absolutely applies to people. If you were to lose your spouse, this would become true of you again.

First Corinthians 7, I'll be reading verses 32 through 35. Paul writes, But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. There is a difference between a wife and a virgin for an unmarried woman.

The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be both holy, both in body and in spirit. She who is married cares about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper and that you may serve the Lord without distraction." So young people who aren't married, the principle here is you're in unusual years where you have the ability to seek God and serve God in an undistracted way that married people are out of that window because marriage brings with it obligations that in some ways curtail the ability to be totally devoted to God in that way that you could when you were a single. If you lived that way as a married person, it would be wrong. It would be to ignore the obligations that you have to your spouse.

So a single person can live this way and be devoted to God in that way that if a married person was you would rebuke them and say, you need to give some attention to your spouse. A widow like an unmarried woman or an unmarried man, has the unusual ability to serve the Lord without those distractions that come with marriage and then with children and then with educating children. We can tell you. Ask us at lunch. So this precious sister in the Lord Anna as a widow has the calling to continue in supplications and prayers night and day like Paul says 1st Timothy 5 and has the opportunity to serve the Lord in this undistracted, fully devoted way, as Paul is speaking of in 1st Corinthians chapter 7.

And that's what she's doing. That's the calling, 1st Timothy 5. And that's the unusual opportunity, 1st Corinthians 7. And that's the life that Anna is cultivating. I love this.

This is inspiring. She literally gave her life to fasting and praying. Gave her life to fasting and praying. Night after night, day after day. What is fasting?

It is bypassing the physical need for food. After a meal or two, skipping a meal or two, your body is crying out for food. It is craving food. It's bypassing the physical need for food in order to seek the Lord with an unusual single-mindedness and intensity. So there's a usual seeking of the Lord, and this is ratcheting up the single-mindedness and the intensity of seeking the Lord.

That's what she's doing. She's saying, I will set aside food in order to get focused on seeking the Lord and ratchet up the intensity of seeking the Lord for things in prayer." That's what she's doing. What's she praying for? Maybe a better question is, what wasn't she praying for? Night and day, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, what wasn't Anna praying for?

But without a doubt she was praying for God to be merciful to his people Israel. God have mercy on my people. And for God to send the Savior that he promised so many times to send. The end of 1 Corinthians, maybe you've heard the term Maranatha. Do you know what it means?

It's the Greek words means, oh Lord come. That's how Paul ends 1 Corinthians 6. 6.15. Oh Lord come. That's how John ends Revelation.

Come quickly Lord Jesus. Undoubtedly in her prayers there was this impulse of the saints. Oh come. We have so many promises that you would send a savior. Please send him.

I can see that we need him. Please send him. And now Jesus is here in the temple. And now Anna, this devoted prophetess, recognizes the moment when she encounters Jesus even as a baby. You remember Jesus saying, oh, if only you'd have known the day of your visitation.

Jesus came to them And they missed the moment. They didn't recognize the moment. Anna, as a prophetess, the Holy Spirit is upon her. And even though he's a baby, he's not saying a word. He can't say a word.

She recognizes the moment. The people of Israel missed the day of their visitation. They miss their Savior. But not Anna. She recognizes the moment when she encounters Jesus even as a baby.

So that's Anna, a second witness. Simeon. Now Anna in the temple. Verse 38. Back to Luke 2.

Now verse 38 by itself. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. In this verse we have Anna's thanksgiving and testimony. Taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks. Testimony fills in the blank.

Anna's thanksgiving and testimony. Now what is that instant and coming in that instant? I think it has to be this moment when Simeon, who has the promise from God that he won't die until he's seen the Lord's Christ, sees Jesus and knows this moment is the fulfillment of that promise and speaks in that instant anacoms. God has sovereignly created this holy intersection of lives. Just the right place, at just the right time.

Joseph and Mary coming for Mary's purification rights and the presentation of Jesus as the firstborn. And there's Simeon at just the right place in just the right time, Having been told, you won't die until you've seen the Messiah with your own eyes. And here's Anna, the prophetess, who receives this special revelation from God so she doesn't miss the moment. She knows this is the one that the people who have been looking for redemption have been looking for, looking for. This is the one, a holy intersection of lives, three parties coming together in just the right place at just the right time.

Anna recognizes the moment. She can see this for exactly what it is. What does she do? She gives thanks to the Lord. Thank you, God.

Simeon's eyes have seen your salvation. My eyes have seen your salvation. Thank you. The light of the Gentiles is right here. The glory of your people, Israel, is right here.

Thank you. Anna has been activated as a witness for Jesus, the Lord's Christ, the Lord's Messiah, the Lord's anointed Savior. She's been activated as a witness for Jesus. She says, the text says, she spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She knows people who like herself have had this impulse.

Oh Lord come, Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus, and she knows more people who have that impulse and she speaks to them of Jesus. We've been looking for redemption, he's here. To look for redemption is to look for a Redeemer So to see Jesus even as a baby is to find redemption for Israel she lives in Jerusalem in Jerusalem as messed up as the spiritual environment was, and we're going to be encountering that all along our working through Luke, and this is one messed up place spiritually. You would think this is the place that's supposed to have light, and holy cow, they're in darkness here in Jerusalem, as messed up as the spiritual environment was, and as off track as so many of the Jewish leaders were, there is still this body of people who know God's promises and are watching and waiting for their fulfillment. That's what Jesus said, watch and wait.

Watch and pray. Watch and pray. They're watching and praying for the fulfillment. They are looking for the redemption of Israel. Anna speaks to them of Jesus.

He's here. Our redemption is here. What is redemption? The Greek lexicon says this, a ransoming deliverance especially from the penalty of sin. Okay, redemption is ransoming.

Then What's ransoming? It is obtaining the release of a prisoner by making the payment demanded. So redemption is Ransoming and ransoming is obtaining the release of a prisoner someone's in prison and we go get him out of prison How do we do that? We make the payment demanded We're slaves to sin by nature and by practice. True.

We're slaves to sin by nature, meaning we have a secret awful attraction to sin. Why do we sin? Because we want to sin. We have a secret secret awful attraction to sin. We're slaves to sin by nature.

But then also slaves to sin by practice, meaning we live it out. And we're attracted to it and we go for it over and over and over again. Even after we're born again there are remaining corruptions and we still finding ourselves doing what we know we shouldn't do and not doing what we know we should do. This is the essence of Romans chapter 7 what Paul says there. Why is that?

Because we're slaves to sin by nature and by practice. I am the prisoner. What will my release cost? The wages of sin is death. The payment demanded is death.

So a ransom is obtaining the release of a prisoner by making the payment demanded. What is the payment demanded? Death. That's what it will cost for my ransom. Now Jesus comes, stands in the gap and says, I will pay that for him.

I will pay that for Jason Dome. I will do it. He owes it for his release, but I will Do it. I will die His death. Oh, praise God!

No wonder Anna gave thanks to the Lord. This is what sets her to giving thanks. The thought of a ransom paid, the payment demanded being paid. Anna is a prophetess and the Holy Spirit has connected the dots for her so she knows that she knows that she knows that this means that That this baby Means that God is ransoming his people He's making the payment demanded for their release from prison. So that is Anna's Thanksgiving and testimony.

Finally verses 39 through 40. Last two verses of our text. So, when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, They returned to Galilee to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon him.

Here in these two verses we have a transition through Jesus's boyhood. I look back to verses 21 through 24. Look back at verses 21 through 24. 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 in the days of her, Mary's 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 turtle doves or two young pigeons. So this is what is required by the law when a baby is born, particularly a firstborn male, there's circumcision, then there's going to the temple for purification and the presentation of the firstborn. So you keep in, we kept encountering the phrase, according to the law of the Lord, or according to the law of Moses. So they perform what the law requires then they go home. The purpose of these two verses is to transition us from Jesus at 40 days old, That's how old he is in our text.

Jesus at 40 days old to Jesus at 12 years old. So it's a bridge from 40 days old to 12 days old. And we'll pick up next week with Jesus at 12 years old. So these two short verses take us through 12 years. What do they tell us?

There are some things they tell us, some things they don't tell us. What do they tell us? That Jesus grew up in Nazareth. When we get to chapter 4 verse 4 we'll read, so Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. So chapter 4 verse 4 will be very explicit.

Jesus was brought up, he grew up in Nazareth. These verses tell us that Jesus developed. Jesus was not born as we see him in his public ministry. A healing preaching infant. No.

He was not born as we find him in his public ministry. That was the culmination of Jesus growing and becoming strong in spirit and being filled with wisdom. The NASB translates it increasing in wisdom. Getting more wisdom. NASB has this note, literally becoming full of wisdom.

As fully God, how did the creed say it? Very God, a very God. Jesus was born the Lord's Christ. He was born the Messiah, God's anointed Savior. As fully man, or as the creeds would say it, very man of very man, Jesus grew and developed.

Both of those things are true. He was born fully God, born the Lord's Christ, but he was also born fully man and being fully man He grew and developed. I acknowledge that this is very hard to understand. This is a great mystery, and I actually think The less I say about it, the better. I'll just add this one thing.

This is what makes Jesus a sympathetic high priest. He experienced what we experience, only without sin. Children. All these heads popped up when I said children. Children.

Jesus knows what it's like to be little and growing and experiencing things for the first time. Isn't that hard to believe? Jesus knows what it's like to be little and getting bigger and learning things and increasing in wisdom. Experiencing things for the first time. It makes him a sympathetic high priest because he understands.

Finally, these verses tell us that the grace of God was upon him. God's favor rested on Jesus. Actually, like the translations that render it favor there. The favor of God was upon him. Both are fine translations.

When we think grace though, often we instantly go to undeserved favor and that's true of you but not true of Jesus. He's the eternal beloved son and the favor is deserved. So Our normal definition for grace might have us thinking something that's not quite what's being communicated here, so I like it. Wow, the translations that have rendered it. The favor, the favor of God was upon him.

At Jesus' baptism, a voice comes from heaven and says, You are my beloved Son. You are my greatly loved Son. In you I am well pleased. I'm so pleased with you, son. As the only begotten son, God's love and favor rests on Jesus.

Not rest dead, past tense, Rest on Jesus who is alive. He has always enjoyed and is enjoying his Father's love and favor. They rest on Jesus. They always have rested on Jesus. So what?

So Ephesians 1 verse 6 says that believers are accepted in the beloved. It is my union with Jesus by faith, being in Jesus by faith That gains my acceptance by God so that then God's favor rests on me Because In God's economy. I'm not a separate entity from his loved son. I'm in his son and in his son, Jesus, his favor on Jesus is his favor on me because I'm joined with him by faith. I'm in union with Him by faith.

So believers, don't read, and the grace of God was upon Him dispassionately. No! Because that is how the grace and favor of God is upon us. Seeing in our text the grace and favor of God upon Jesus means it's mine. My faith in Jesus.

Union with Christ does that. What don't these verses tell us? That wise men from the east came to honor Jesus, having seen His star and followed it to his birthplace. That an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him to flee with his family to Egypt, because Herod would seek to destroy Jesus. That Herod did search out and kill all of the baby boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under.

That Joseph and Mary and Jesus only returned to Nazareth after Herod died. So all that's missing. It just says, they fulfilled the law and went home. Yeah, there's a few things in between. Was Luke ignorant of these things?

I doubt it. Were they necessary for Luke's inspired purposes as he wrote this gospel? No, they were not. Those things were made available to us by Matthew in Matthew chapter 2. All the gospel writers don't record all the same things.

What would be the point of that? Then you can have one gospel. No, we have four gospels and they relate different things that are good for us to know. That brings us to Jesus when he was 12 years old. That sets the table for next week's Text applications, I'll give you three one Never cease giving thanks to God for Jesus What if you made that your life's great occupation?

Okay? I have to do a lot of things, but my one big thing is going to be giving thanks to God for Jesus. I think that would be a life well spent. When the prophetess Anna encounters Jesus and knows this is the redemption of the people of God before me. She gave thanks for Jesus.

And now all these things are before us in their fullness. We should never stop giving thanks to God for Jesus. We owe everything to this. Two, speak of Jesus to people who need redemption. Now Anna spoke of Jesus to people who were looking for redemption.

I'm saying, forget that. Speak of Jesus to people who need redemption. They don't know they need redemption. They're not looking for it. They don't want it when you speak to them, but they need it.

They are prisoners of sin by nature and by practice. And they have one hope and only one hope, and it's this Jesus. Speak of Him. You know, it's possible to so overcomplicate evangelism that it makes us tense up. When really if we would just tell people what God has done for our souls through his son Jesus Christ, they might learn something that they desperately need.

There is only one way out of that prison. And it is someone who's willing to make the payment for their release. And the payment is death. And it is Jesus who was a lamb without blemish who offered himself up as a substitute. Number three, finally, God knows how to prepare and fortify us for future hardships.

When I look at this parade of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary and Matthew 1 coming to Joseph, then Mary visits Elizabeth and Elizabeth has all these things to say about this baby that she's pregnant with. Then the shepherds come having been told things by the angels. Then they encounter Simeon who has this promise that he won't die until he sees the Messiah with his own eyes. Now Anna it gives me such confidence that God is using things in my life to make me ready for a future that I don't know anything about. Today's encouragements are probably to make you ready and fortify you for tomorrow's hardships.

Enjoy days of encouragement, amen. But be strengthened and fortified by them because God is probably making you ready for tomorrow's, next week's, next month's, next year's hardships in advance. How kind. He's doing it here. We can have confidence that He will do it in our lives.

Today's hardships are probably making us ready for something in a way that we need it for the future. God knows He does all things well. God does all things well. So the encouragements, praise God. The hardships, praise God.

He's doing things, He's setting things up for our future. Let's pray. God, how sweet to know that you care for us in this way. The most fundamental way that through union with your son by faith being In Jesus, your favor rests on us, but also even that you have considered our future and you know how to do things today that makes us ready for that future. Thank you for your great care for your people.

Thank you in Jesus name. Amen.