I'd like you to turn with me tonight to the Gospel of Luke. This morning, with the Lord's help, we considered Joanna. I hope you don't mind, but we're going to look at another woman in the Scriptures. I'm sure the women will not mind that. Sometimes they're overlooked. We seem to look more at the men of the Bible. I want you to turn to Luke chapter 2. I'd like to thank again the Reverend Finite for his invitation to come. I never hesitate to say yes whenever he asks me to come to Lee's Summit. Enjoy coming here. Enjoy the fellowship with our brother and his dear wife, not to mention Mr. and Mrs. for their kindness and just their graciousness. I enjoy being with them. I don't embarrass them, but they are a wonderful couple. We talked about Joanna this morning, showing forth the grace of God. Her brother and sister most certainly show forth the grace of God. I always enjoy staying in their home and I thank them for that. We leave Lord Willing tomorrow, the flight goes out at about 4 o'clock and Lord Willing will arrive in Toronto about 7.30. So it's been a joy to be here, I can assure you. And I do thank you for the prayers in Port Hope. We pray for you. There may be quite a few miles separating us, but we all gather round the same throne of grace. And we pray one for the other. And we rejoice in what the Lord has done here over seven years. And seven is the number of perfection or completion. We know the work's not complete yet. There's a lot more to be done. But we rejoice in what the Lord has done over seven years. And so may the Lord bless you in the days to come. As I say, we always look forward to meeting up with your minister. We share a kindred spirit and we rejoice in one another's company, along with his dear wife and the two children who are growing up alright since the last time I saw them. So it's just a joy to be here and you fellowship with everyone that they've had fellowship with before. Turning to Luke chapter 2. We'll begin our reading at verse 25. 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, Now let us die thy servant apart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thy hast prepared before the face of all people. A light, a light in 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, for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, prophetess, the daughter of Samuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. She was a widow of about four score and four years. which departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and praying night and day. She coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Amen. The Lord bless the public reading of His own holy and infallible Word. Let us now consider the Lord's Word as the Lord would have it for us tonight as He has directed us to this portion of Scripture. Let us pray. Most loving and eternal and gracious God, we're glad that we're found this Sabbath evening in the Lord's house. We thank Thee, Lord, being in the Lord's house in the morning, It's a wonderful way to start the Sabbath. Being in the Lord's house in the evening, it's a wonderful way to close the Sabbath. And eternal God, we pray that tonight that Thou will come and sit with us. We pray, Lord, that Thou will be one of our number this evening. And may Thy presence be so real that we will feel as it were and hear the rustle of Thy garments. So, eternal God, Thou knowest all our needs tonight. Thy Lord knowest those who are Thine, saved by grace, prepared for the kingdom of heaven. Lord, Thou knowest those who were not saved. What a sad and sorry state to be in. Eternal God, we pray that Thou would speak to any in the meeting who is still a stranger to grace and to God. They know not their danger and feel not their load. And when others speak with rapture of the one who died on the tree, Lord, they would just say, Jehovah said, Kenya means nothing to me. Oh God, change that even tonight. That Lord, they might say, Jehovah said, Kenya is all things to me. Bless the work here in Lees-Summit. Pour out Thy Spirit upon it. I thank Thee for the congregation, for those, Lord, we've been able to renew fellowship with, and others, Lord, that we've met for the first time. And yet, such as being a member of the family of God, it's as if we've known one another for years. So, our God, it's a wonderful thing to be a Christian. We pray now that Thou would speak to us from Thy precious truth and touch the lips of clay Fill me, O Lord, with the Holy Spirit. And help me, O God, to preach the Word. And in so doing, to preach Jesus Christ. In His holy and precious Name I pray. Amen. Verses 36-38 deal with a woman called Anna. There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Pannuel of the tribe of Aesir. She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. She was a widow of about four score and four years. She 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. Spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. It's interesting to note how the Holy Spirit introduces this woman to us. He does so with the words And there was one Anna. And there was one Anna. This seems to be the Spirit's way of setting this woman apart as an exceptional individual. There may have been other women in Jerusalem called Anna, but this Anna was different. And she stood out alone and stood out from all the rest. And remember, the Holy Spirit, the author of the book, says, And there was one Anna. Just the way we say about an individual, Oh, there's only one of Him. You never meet another fellow like that. Not for the same reason that the Holy Spirit said, And there was one Anna. And she was like another servant of the Lord in Jerusalem, Simeon. Similar words are used to introduce us to him. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. When you read that, you think there was no other man in Jerusalem. Only this man. Of course, that's not true. But he was a man who stood out. No doubt there were other Simeons in the city, but the Simeon here stands out from all the rest, just as the Lord indicates that this Anna was different from all other Annas in the city. Indeed, as we look at those words again, and there was one Anna, they tell us that really there is only one Anna mentioned in the New Testament. She's just the one. She is the one Anna as far as the Scriptures are concerned. This means that we will never confuse her with some other Anna in Scripture because there are none. And when the Holy Spirit records a name like this, it's only there the once and we have three verses that tell us something about her. I feel that it's an indication that the Lord wants us to pay attention to her. Why else has the Holy Spirit recorded her name? Paul says these things are written for your learning. And the Lord has included this woman, Anna, to teach us something. So what can Anna teach us? Why was she given such a prominent position in Scripture? We know that this morning there were other women along with Joanna, but their names aren't given. But this woman's name is given. And first of all, we are told something about the life of Anna. Luke, of course, is the only one who mentions this woman and gives us a brief account of her life. We have read it there in verses 36 and 37. There was one Anna, a prophetess, daughter of Phaneuel of the tribe of Aesir. She was of a great age, had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. She was a widow of about four score and four years, and departed not from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And the first thing that we learn about this woman is her grace. When a person professes faith in Jesus Christ, then you expect to see evidence of grace in that person's life. And I know individuals who know them well. They profess to know the Lord. But you know, in all the years I've known them, I've never seen any evidence of grace. By their fruit ye shall know them. There's never been any evidence of grace. They never attend a prayer meeting. They never attend the house of God. But they say they're saved. There must be a big question mark over that. But here was a woman who showed evidence of grace in her life. As Job used the phrase in Job 19, verse 28, seeing the root of the matter is found in me. The root of the matter. And if the root of the matter, and the matter being salvation, is not in the soul, then there is no spiritual life in the soul. The Lord taught this in His parable about the sword, if you turn to Mark chapter 2. And there in Mark 4, we're reading verses 5 and 6. He's telling the story of the parable of the sword. We're reading verses 5 and 6. And some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth. And immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away. The disciples didn't fully understand this parable, and so when they were alone with the Saviour, they approached Him and asked Him to explain it. We go down then to verse 16. And the Lord said, And these are they That is, he's explaining those words in verses 5 and 6. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution arises, For the word's sake, immediately they are offended. No root in them. There was certainly the root of grace in the life of Anna. And if the root of the matter is not in the soul, then there will never be any evidence of life in the soul. There'll never be any evidence of grace in that person's life. You cannot. You cannot have the grace of God saving someone, regenerating that dead soul, raising it to life, and that person to continue on the way they were. It's impossible. There must be a change. The grace of God will work that change. And there is no doubt that the root of the matter was certainly growing in the soul of Anna. And it was evidenced in her life. We continue along the theme of grace. We remember this morning Joanna. A reference there to the meaning of her name. Grace of Jehovah. Well, Joanna and Anna. You can guess then that grace is the meaning of her name. In fact, Anna means gracious. And in the few words that have been written about her, we can see that she was a gracious woman. And being called Anna, she had the name to live up to. She was not only a gracious woman by name, but a gracious woman by nature. That is how she would be known. That is how she would be recognized when anyone would speak about Anna in conversation. I have no doubt they would say, is not a gracious woman? Do you know her? They would say, I know her well. She's a gracious woman. Not a lovely testimony to have. Instead of having a testimony where people would say, boy, that's a bitter individual. That boy's full of bitterness. That woman's a real gossip, isn't she? Instead, we have this woman, Anna, and she's gracious. You would love to be in that woman's company. You wouldn't mind being in her company. Instead of being in the company of someone who's bitter. I lived in Ulster. We've been in Canada now almost 21 years. There was a man and his wife there. I knew them very well. And when I left, with my wife and family. This man and woman, this brother and sister fell out with one of our ministers. They were talking twenty years ago. When I visited back in Ulster there just a couple of years ago, I was at a meeting and this couple was there. And obviously I went over to talk to them, shook them by the hand, And we'd hardly started the conversation. And she started to complain about this minister and what this minister had done to her. And I thought to myself, poor woman, poor woman, holding on to something like that for twenty years, being bitter in her soul for that length of time. What's to be gained from the like of that? Instead of the root of grace being evident in her life, it was the root of bitterness that was evident in her life. Anna was not a spiteful, bitter woman. She was gracious. Gracious. When she lost her husband, after only seven years. It is indicated here that she bore that loss graciously. No, she didn't blame the Lord. No, she didn't cry out against the Lord for taking her husband of seven years away. And she lived many years after the death of her husband. And I find that when something like that happens, a tragedy happens, and people who suffer, they'll go one of two ways. They'll go towards the Lord. They'll lean on the Lord. They'll ask the Lord to comfort them. Put your arms around me. Strengthen me. Or they'll go the other way and they'll blame the Lord. Well, Anna did nothing of the kind. She bore the loss of her husband and the pain of it with grace. Oh, how we can learn from Anna. As the prophet said to Israel, Jeremiah 22 and verse 23, How gracious shalt thou be when paying Come upon me. And true grace will shine through the pangs that come upon us in life. Grace will shine through the sorrow. Grace will shine through sickness. Grace will shine through suffering. There's a dear lady. She's 90 years of age. Gladys Maclean. She lives out in New Brunswick. She was a missionary in India for many years. I've never met her. But a number of years ago, a couple of her friends and her were visiting the churches around to visit Barre, Toronto, and passed by Port Hope. I didn't happen to be there that day. But since that time, she's made contact with me. And we keep up the correspondence. We phone each other now and again. She's a wonderful woman. She has multiple health issues. The last time I spoke to her, I said, Gladys, well, how are you keeping? She says, I'm not going to talk about myself. I'm here to talk about the Lord. That's a gracious woman. And Gladys and her friends download sermons from Sermon Audio of the Free Presbyterian Ministers and get tracts and booklets and put them into a little package. She says she calls them her power packages. She writes scripture on the outside of these packages and stickers and mails them off to different people. They send out over 600 sermons or 600 CDs containing a lot of sermons. That's her way of serving the Lord. She's confined to her home 24-7. She's on two oxygen bottles every day. She can't go outside. And there she is, showing the grace of God in her life. Lovely woman. Oh, to be like that. Just to be like that. Here we have Anna. Then we may say, well, people like that don't live today, but they do. Gladys is a woman like this, serving the Lord in her 90th year by doing this. Next, not only her grace, but her gift. The first thing we are told about Anna is She was a prophetess. It appears that there were some women whom the Lord gave the gift of prophecy to. In the Old Testament, we are told about Miriam, the prophetess. Exodus 15, verse 20. In Judges 4 and 4, there was Deborah, a prophetess. In 2 Chronicles 34, verse 22, there was Huldah, the prophetess. In the New Testament, we are told about the four daughters of Philip, the evangelist, who he had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. And then there is Jezebel in Revelation 2.20, of whom we are told, which calleth herself a prophetess. She called herself a prophetess. There's a few ladies like that today. In churches, they call themselves prophetesses. They didn't receive the gift from the Lord. But if Jezebel was a self-proclaimed and appointed prophetess, Anna's gift of prophecy was from the Lord. Turn please to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 7. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7, that the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy. to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues or languages, to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. And we are told here in the verse 36 of Luke 2, And there was one Anna, a prophetess, Now, we should not run away with the idea that this is a proof text for women to be preachers, to occupy a pulpit. Nothing whatsoever to do with that. Nothing whatsoever. A woman is not to be in the position of teaching a congregation and usurping authority over men. Hannah or Anna was a prophetess. And we just have to face up to the fact that there were some women, we've mentioned their names, whom the Lord was pleased to give them the gift of prophecy. The facts are there. But not everybody was given the gift of prophecy. We should remember that the spirit of prophecy which had been withheld for 400 years since Malachi's time had been restored to Israel when Christ was born. So the Lord, according to His sovereign will, blessed Anna with the gift of prophecy. It shows how the Lord honored this woman. Of all the women in Jerusalem, the Lord honored Anna with the gift of prophecy. And the Lord has honored all of his people with gifts. We should never forget that. And never use that as an excuse for not doing something. I've heard people say, What can I do? I don't have any gifts. 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 7, But every man hath his proper gift of God. One after this manner and another after that. And it behoves every Christian to seek the face of God and find out from the Lord what is my gift. Next, we notice her generation. We're told that Anna was the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser. She was the daughter of Samuel of whom we know nothing. But the name is equivalent to the place name that is found in Genesis 32, if you care to turn to Genesis 32. Genesis 32 and 30. And Jacob, called the name of the place Peniel. For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And he passed over Penuel. The sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. It's the same name, rendered differently. Here we have Peniel, Here we have Penuel. And then in Luke chapter 2, we have Thanuel. They all mean the same thing. We're given the meaning of the name there in Genesis 32. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel. What did he say? I call the place Peniel, for I have seen God. face to face, and my life is preserved. We know the story of how Jacob wrestled all night. How the Lord wrestled with Jacob until he broke Jacob. And then the wrestling match was over. And when the battle was over that night, He named that place Peniel. And He says, because I've seen God face to face. Do you see the connection? Hear Anna, the daughter of Thanuel. Thanuel means the same thing. I have seen God face to face. And what happened that day that Anna came into the temple? She saw God face to face. There was Christ in the arms of Simeon. And when Anna looked into the face of that child, she was looking into the face of Almighty God. She had seen God face to face. Little did that man know when he was given that name, how that name and meaning of it would be realized in his daughter, Anna. We are told also that this Anna was of the tribe of Esar or Asher. Asher was the eighth son of Jacob and Leah was his mother. Genesis 30, verses 12 and 13. And there we are given the meaning of Asher's name. Asher's name means blessed or happy. And so here is Anna from the tribe of Asher, a name that means blessed or happy. And how blessed and how happy Anna was when she came into the temple at that moment that Christ was there, how glad and happy she was when she saw the Lord. Verse 38, and she coming in that instant gave thanks. She's happy. And so there's Phanuel, meaning the face of God. I've seen the face of God. Anna saw the face of God. Of the tribe of Asher, which means blessed or happy. Anna saw the face of God and was blessed and was happy. Anna had been looking for the Messiah When she saw him, it filled her with happiness. So when a Christian has lost their joy and they're miserable, they go about. I heard someone say the other day about a Christian who has no happiness. They said they have a face on them as long as a coffee maker. I've never heard that before. But you know what I mean. There's no joy. You talk about the Lord, there's no joy. You talk about salvation, still there's no feedback, just no joy. And is it because it's been so long since they have looked into the face of the Lord Jesus Christ? Anna looked into the face of Christ and it filled her with joy. That teaches us, believer, keep looking into the face of Christ. Keep looking on to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. We have the life of Anna. We have also the labors of Anna. We are told that Anna was a great age. Now it would appear that she was over 100 years old. For we are told that she had been married for just seven years when her husband was taken from her. And we are told in verse 37 that she was about four score and four years. And if she married when, let's guess, let's say she married when she was 18, that means she would have been 109 years of age when she served the Lord in the temple. 109. And here we see, first of all, Anna the widow. Anna had been married for just seven years when her love was taken from her. Four score and four years Anna had been a widow. It's a long time. Apostle Paul informed Timothy, honor widows that are widows indeed. Then he goes on to say, now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate trusteth in God." 1 Timothy 5, verses 3 and 5. No one could deny that Anna was a widow indeed and that she was a widow who trusted in God. And in the desolation of her widowhood, she gave herself to the Lord. Eighty-four years of widow and departed not from the house of God. Eighty-four years she served the Lord in her 109th year. Do you know what Anna did here? She lost her husband of seven years. And when she gave herself to the Lord, the Lord became her husband. She made the Lord her husband. Isaiah 54 and verse 5 says, Thy maker is thy husband. The Lord of hosts is his name. Isn't that a lovely thought? Thy maker is thy husband. And as we have pointed out, Anna did not show any bitterness toward the Lord. for taking away her husband of just seven years. Rather than turning away from the Lord, she turned towards Him and looked upon Him as her husband. And when we consider what Paul said about the duty of wives to their husbands, Anna was a dutiful wife to the Lord. Turn to Ephesians 5. You're familiar with the portion? And in Ephesians 5, there we read in verse 22, giving thanks always for all things unto God, the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Isn't that what Anna did? Her husband was gone. But she submitted herself unto the Lord. That's what Paul said. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. And we read in verse 33, Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself. And a wife, see that she reverence her husband. We can apply that to her own family setup. But here it's applied to Anna. Anna submitted herself unto her husband, the Lord Jesus. And that meant that she had a husband who would never leave her nor forsake her. She had a husband who would comfort her, a husband who would strengthen her, a husband who would care for her, a husband who would look after her. I want you to notice also Anna the worshipper, Anna the widow. and of the worshipper. It appears that following her husband's death, that Anna gave herself completely over to the Lord. Read there in verse 36. Completely to the Lord. On other occasions when I've been here, I've told the story of Joseph Scriban, the writer of that hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Two great tragedies happened in his life. On the eve of his marriage day, on the eve of his wedding day, he went out with his fiancée riding a cross country on horseback. They were crossing a river. She fell off the horse and was killed instantly. He emigrated to Canada. And after a period of time, he met another lady. Once again, the plan to get married. Three months before the wedding date, his future wife was baptised in Rice Lake, which is just outside Port Hook. As a result of that baptism, she got pneumonia and she also died. Joseph Scriven didn't become better. Joseph Scriven said, it is evident that it's not the Lord's will for me to have a wife. I'm just going to give the rest of my life to Christ. And that's what he did. He would be seen around Port Hope giving out tracts. He would be found in Port Hope preaching in the open air. He would go around helping people. Elderly people, he would cut wood for them. He was a man like his master who went about doing good. Anna reminds me very much of Joseph Scriven. Anna gave herself over to the Lord. In as many ways says, Lord, I am now your wife. You're my husband. It says she departed not from the temple. The times of the temple services were 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. And this simply means that she departed not from those services in the temple. She was there at the 9 a.m. service. She was there at the 3 p.m. service. I remember. She's a woman of a great age. She's over 100. September last year, I preached the gospel mission in our Lurgan church in Northern Ireland. And you get to know the folk over a two-week period of the mission. There was one dear lady who was there. So every night I would stand at the door and she would come out. A frail little lady. It turned out her name was Gladys too. And she'd always say, I'm going to stay behind for a cup of tea tonight. She always stayed behind, got a chance to talk to her. And then, it might have been the last night or a couple of meetings before the last night, Gladys was standing in the vestibule. Some of the elders were standing beside me. And he says, do you know Gladys? I says, yes, I've been talking to her. He says, do you know what age she is? I says, I've no idea. He says she's just turned 99. And she never missed a meeting. Never missed a meeting. I said to her, well, make it another year, you'll be receiving a letter of congratulations from the Queen. You get 100, the Queen sends you out a letter. So you've only another year to go. She was an Anna as well. She departed not from the house of God. As much as lay within her, Anna was present at all the temple services. And how valuable this proved to be because it was while she attended one of those services that she saw the Lord, in verse 38. And she coming in at that instant, had she not been there, Had she not been as diligent, had she not been as devoted, she would have missed the Lord. The person she had been waiting for, for years. She wanted to see the promised Messiah. And she came in that instant. Does this not remind us of Thomas? Thomas missed the first meeting. And the Lord came to the first meeting after his resurrection. And Thomas missed that. He had to wait till the next meeting. And you know you miss a meeting. You don't know what you might miss. As we all know, the Lord comes down amongst us at times in a special way. And you wouldn't want to hear other believers say, my, what a great meeting this morning. You should have been there. The Lord was in her midst. If you love the Lord, you would be sorry that you missed that meeting. Hannah departed not from the temple. Departing not from the temple speaks to us of her diligence. Then her service in the temple speaks to us of her devotion. Her devotion to the husband, namely, the Lord Himself. There were no duties for women to perform in the temple, so why did she serve the Lord there? Giving all her days to the Lord in the temple. Verse 37 tells us how she served the Lord. She served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Do those words not express devotion of a dear saint who was of great age? We have seen what Paul said about those who were widows indeed. But we didn't read the whole verse. Here it is, 1 Timothy 5, verse 5. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. This was the instruction that Paul was giving to Timothy to pass on to widows. to trust in God and to continue, not go back or not sit still, continue in supplication and prayers night and day, along with fastings. That's exactly what Anna did. This was how she spent her time serving the Lord, fastings and prayers night and day. Night and day. Believer, this is a widow indeed. This is a widow of great age to serve God in the temple. Why? By fastings and prayers. Now, there's no Christian has an excuse for not serving the Lord. If you say, I have no talents, well, the Bible tells us you have. But let's, for the sake of argument, say you have no talents. What about fastings and prayers? Because do you notice what it says? It says that she served the Lord. That was her service. She served the Lord with fastings and prayers night and day. And this dear woman would put some of us to shame, for she was willing to miss a meal or two in order to spend more time fasting before God. She was willing to miss an hour or two of sleep that she might spend more time before the throne of grace. And remark this, her fasting and her praying was regarded in the eyes of God as a sign. And every minister knows the value of having a praying people behind him. Spurgeon said, I covet not your silver or your gold, but I covet your prayers. And you don't know what it's like getting into the pulpit to preach the Word knowing that behind you people are lifting you up at the throne of grace. On the other hand, you don't know how disappointing it is when God's people don't pray for their minister. And the minister sits in the prayer meeting and there's never a mention of his name. That's disappointing. But here was this woman and she served God with fasting and prayers. And finally, and with this we'll close, you have the love of Anna. If the Lord was the husband of this woman, then it was clear that she loved her husband and Anna was rewarded. Anna's diligence and devotion were well rewarded. She saw the Lord in the temple. Verse 38. The Lord Jesus had been brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph. And it was then that Simeon had come into the temple led by the Spirit of God. And as Simeon was holding the Christ child, he ministered unto Mary and Joseph. We read, "...and she coming in that instant." She came in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption. She came into the house of the Lord. Her eyes didn't fall upon Simeon. Her eyes didn't fall on Mary. Her eyes didn't fall upon Joseph. Her eyes fell on Christ. That's what made her rejoice. That's what gladdened her heart. It's like when the Greeks came to the Lord's disciples one day and said, Sir, we would see Jesus. I have a little plaque on my pulpit desk. That's the words I have on it. Sir, we would see Jesus. be a constant reminder, these people died here, they need to see Jesus. You have Anna's rejoicing. She gave thanks, I've already touched on that. And then you have Anna's report, for we are told And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of Him. I love those words, and spake of Him to all them that look for redemption in Jerusalem. We saw that this morning with Joanna. She saw the risen Christ. She had to speak of Him. She had to go and tell others. And here's Anna, she's seen Christ and she's compelled to go and tell others. We've seen the Lord, haven't we? Are we not compelled then to go and tell others about Him? It's like a woman, they come across a good cleaning product. She'll say to her friends and neighbours, I bought such and such a product, it does a great job. It takes out all the stains and so forth and so on. You should buy it. And that friend goes out and buys it too. What about Christ? What about telling others about the Lord and trusting that they will receive Him too? May the Lord bless this word about Anna to her heart.