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Luke chapter 2, and we're just going to look at a few verses from Luke 2 again before we start this sermon. Luke chapter 2 and verse 36. Luke 2 and verse 36 says this, And there was one Anna, a prophetess, a daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asa. She was of a great age, and had lived with her 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 looked 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. And the child grew and waked strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. A few months ago, if you remember, we started a series that I'm going to revisit from time to time on a Sunday morning. You might have wondered if I ever was again, or you might have even forgotten about it, but it's called Lessons from Heroes. Lessons from Heroes. And what we did is, last time we looked at Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, and just looked at lessons we could get from what is a very, at least, lesser known character from the Bible. And something I want to do is just go through some of these lesser known characters, but they're lesser known heroes, or in this case, we're going to look at a heroine from the Bible. Today, we're going to look at Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, a lesser known hero from the Christmas story. So the title of the sermon this morning is Lessons from Heroes, Anna the Daughter of Phanuel. Anna the Daughter of Phanuel. I'm going to pray before we get going with the message. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for, well, you know, these great lessons we can get from just little passages about these lesser known characters. Specifically today, it's going to be Anna. And just help us all to learn from Anna, help us all to just grow in our faith and just grow in strength, just having, you know, taken some great examples from her, hopefully, this morning. Help me to preach this message just clearly and boldly and accurately, and everyone to just really have attentive ears. Fill me with the Spirit, please, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. OK, so before the men here switch off, in case anyone's thinking, oh, here we go, this one about women here. Well, and in case the women start getting nervous, right, and they're starting to shift a little bit, going, OK, we're going to get it from the pulpit now. Well, I think there's a lot we can all learn from Anna. There is a lot we can learn from her. She is a genuine hero, OK, and she has some really great qualities that we're going to look at that we can all aspire to. From basically just three verses of scripture, for me, you could preach several sermons, OK? However, I'm not going to preach several sermons. I'm going to preach a six point sermon instead. I'm letting you know already it's six points, so everyone knows what they're getting. But there's one overriding point here, OK? The overriding point, the one point of the sermon, is to be more like Anna, OK? That's the point. We want to be more like Anna. And just to set the scene here, the Lord Jesus Christ has just been born. He got circumcised the eighth day and brought to the temple after a further 33 days, OK, after the days of her purification. So he's around six weeks old and they bring the sacrifice required of those that couldn't afford a whole lamb. A pair of turtle doves, the two young pigeons. Then this simian turns up, OK? And we're going to just look at that briefly from verse twenty five. It said, And behold, there is 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 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us now thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, in which thou hast prepared before the face of all people a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. By the way, the Gentiles weren't Plan B, OK? If you read the Bible, you'd see that pretty quickly. But let's keep going. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which are spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rises again of many in Israel, and 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. These talk about the crucifixion, I believe, and the effect upon Mary, as well as upon the remnant of Israel, we saw in the verse before, as a people with many accepting and rejecting, as we see in the Scriptures. Verse 36 says, And there was one Anna, a prophetess, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asa. She was of a great age, and lived within the husband seven years from her virginity. She was a widow of about four school and four years, which she parted not from the temple itself 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. And when they performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned him to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and waked strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Told his lessons from here I was, Anna the daughter of Phanuel. Point number one, Anna was a prophetess. Point number one today is Anna was a prophetess. It's said in verse 36, And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asa. She was of a great age, and had lived within husbands seven years from her virginity. What does that mean? What does it mean that she was a prophetess? Was Anna preaching new revelations, do you think? Now, there had been some Old Testament prophetesses, Deborah in Judges 4, Holder in 2 Kings 22. However, there was silence for Malachi to John the Baptist, who is only seven and a half months old right now. And in case any women here with feminist leanings get carried away, those were rare unique circumstances in the Old Testament. And God's clear about how things are to be done in the New Testament Church, okay? That's pretty clear in the Bible in 1 Timothy 2-12, Paul instructs Timothy the pastor, But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. So if you don't like that, but that's what the Word of God says, okay? Women priests, vicars, pastors, church leaders, and church are saying in inverted commas really there, of any kind, just show really what little regard they have for the Word of God. That's all they're really saying. They're saying, we don't really care what the Word of God says, we know better. No, no, no, because that was back then, but we're much more evolved now, aren't we? You know, we know much more than what God did then. Now, the Bible's clear, isn't it? It's clear as day, and when I see any of that stuff, women behind pulpits preaching in one way or another, women trying to lead churches, trying to introduce themselves as one of the leadership of the church, all that stuff, look, really, all they're really saying is, we don't care what the Bible says. All that tells is, how much they say I'm a Bible-believing church, we don't really believe the Bible. It doesn't matter how many times they say, we believe the Bible. They don't, if they can't even get that simple part right. If they can't understand a clear teacher like that, how on earth would they understand the rest of the Bible? How could you understand, if you can't understand that, I mean, that's saying something, isn't it? Either you're too stubborn to do it, or you just have no understanding, you can't even read clear scripture, right? However, no, Anna was prophesying, or what Anna was prophesying is made clear if we carry on reading. Look, it said in verse 36, She was preaching the Gospel. Anna was preaching the Gospel. She spake of him the Lord Jesus Christ. The same as Philip's daughters in Acts 21, they prophesied, they preached the Gospel. Okay, the word prophesy, turn to Matthew 26, by the way, where we're going to see an example of where prophesying is talking of a past event, but the word can apply both to preaching of future events and to just preaching God's Word in general. For example, just to give you a dictionary definition from 1828, Webb says, 1828 says, That's what prophesying is. In Matthew 26, okay, you're in Matthew 26, I'm just going to give you an example here. The kangaroo court have just claimed that Jesus is worthy of death. Verse 67, it says this, Saying, this is verse 68 of Matthew 26, So they're hitting him from all angles and then saying, if you're God, then prophesy which one smote, that's past tense, you. They're saying, they're not saying prophesy of a future event, they're saying prophesy of a past event. Agreed? Pretty clear, yeah? It's basically relaying the words of God. And most of the time, that is of future events. For example, that's what we do when we preach the gospel, don't we? When we preach the gospel, a lot of the time we are prophesying of future events. We're prophesying of future judgment. We're telling them what's going to happen in the future, the judgment that will happen after you die. We're prophesying of those events. We prophesy of what will happen for eternity if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, where you will spend eternity. We are basically predicting the future. By the way, eternal security, you can't really predict the future unless you believe in eternal security either. We are prophesying, however, the word can be used for any sort of preaching. Because it's all used in the word of God. As long as it's preached in the word of God, you're prophesying. You're prophesying the word of God. Turn to Revelation 22. We're not adding some extra biblical so-called revelation to the completed words of God, though. In Revelation 22, the end of the last book of the Bible, we're given this warning. Revelation 22 and verse 18. Revelation 22, 18 says this, For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, that if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. There's no adding to the complete words of God, Mohammed, you reprobate. Okay, there is no adding to the complete words of God. You can't do that. Okay, if you're doing that, well, the Bible gives a strong warning against doing that, doesn't it? There's no adding to the complete words of God, Pentecostal prophet from Revelation Fire Ministries, or whatever ridiculous name they want to call it, to claim that they've got some sort of new revelation. There's no adding to the words of God. Okay, it's done. It's completed. The scripture's completed. There's no taking away either from the complete words of God, Westcott, Hort, and all the other self-proclaimed Bible-correcting scholars. You can't take away from the word of God. You can't add to the word of God, okay? Now, when we preach the Gospel, we're preaching the same Gospel that God's prophets and prophetesses have preached since as early as Abel. If you're out prophesying the Gospel, you're a prophet, okay? Moses said in Numbers 11, 29, you'd have to turn there, would God that all, he said all, the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them. You know what he's saying? He's saying young, old, male, female, pastor, newly saved kid, God wants all his people to be prophets. He wants all his people to prophesy, to preach the Gospel. He said, would God that all the Lord's people were prophets. It's a great commission. Whether you're a gifted speaker or talking is a struggle for you. Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets. All of them. If you're one of God's people, you're one of God's people if you're saved. Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets. You say, well, I don't get many people saved. Turn to 1 Corinthians 9. It's a waste of time, me going out. Some people say that, right? And look, there are people out there that will respond to different people, to different approaches. That's just the way it is. People will respond to different people. You might find it hard to get people saved. Jude said in verse 22 to 23, you're turning to 1 Corinthians 9, he said, and if some have compassion, make your difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Some people just require different approaches, don't they? Have you noticed that when you're soul winning? Some people just need a different approach. Sometimes when you really feel led by the Spirit, you almost feel led to approach a different way to someone. Maybe you're not quite as hard lined as maybe you were with the person before. Some people need the fear of God put in them. Some need to see your compassion. And sometimes, by the way, that could be over a long period of time. I think that could apply to people you know as well. Sometimes, no, they don't get saved when you first preach the Gospel, but they might see your compassion over years, and there's something different about that. That's a genuine love, unlike the rest of the clowns who have their fake love a lot of the time, right? However, these aren't the only two approaches. Paul varied the angle with many, didn't he? But Paul makes it clear here in 1 Corinthians 9 that he became different people almost to different people to preach the Gospel. He said in verse 16, For though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel. No, we're not special because we go out soul winning. If anyone gets a bit puffed up by that. Just everyone who doesn't is well out of God's will. That's just the reality. Woe is unto you if you preach not the Gospel. Said in verse 17, For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will a dispensation of the Gospel is committed unto me. He's saying you get a reward if you go and willingly get people saved, or at least try to get people saved. But if not, you're still expected to dispense the Gospel to people. No, it's got nothing to do with these ridiculous dispensation lists, just lies and unbiblical nonsense. He's just talking about, you need to give out the dispense, give out the Gospel. It's committed unto you to do that. What is my reward then? Verily that when I preach the Gospel, I may make the Gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the Gospel. For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews, I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under the law is under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law is without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have made all things to all men that I might by all means save some. Basically, he varies his approach. But some approaches might be less natural for some. So Paul was able to vary his approach, and we should all be able to vary our approach to some degree, but just some just might not fit me so much as someone else. You know, being a Jew isn't my forte, but brother... No, okay? I'm joking, okay? Okay, but it might not be. But someone else might be able to kind of find things in common with a Jew, for example, what the world calls a Jew. You might knock doors for a whole year, okay, for a decade, and not get someone to save them and find that one person, that one person that would probably have listened to you above the rest of us, for whatever reason. There was something about you that made them want to hear, that made them listen, that made them say, yeah, okay, I want to listen to that person. Maybe they've had some issues, maybe... Look, some of the women can find it harder sometimes. Just a lot of the time, men don't really want to be taught stuff by women. That's just life, isn't it? Okay, so sometimes they can find it a bit harder to get people saved. And maybe you might go a long time and it's like, you know, I'm not finding people that want to hear. But maybe you'll find out one woman that has real issues and has had real problems, past experiences and stuff with men that she just doesn't want to hear a guy telling her anything about God. And maybe she'll listen to you. Maybe she won't. But there's someone out there, I think, that will listen to you. And that's something to remember, because how important is a soul? Because we could come back with numbers, can't we, and be like, look, it's nearly 750 this year, and just be thinking it's all about number, number, number. But that one salvation is worth so much, isn't it? It really is. It is so worth it. And by the way, it is not whether or not you get someone saved, okay? It's not just about that. They might just be left with a good day. We're knocking every door in the West Cliff and surrounding areas this year, and do you know what we're going to be doing next year? Knocking every door. And do you know what we're doing the next year? Knock every door. And maybe someone goes out, doesn't get anyone saved this whole year, two years, five years, but they leave a good taste in people's mouth. And they're polite and they're kind and they're nice. And then maybe next year, someone else knocks on that door and, oh, yeah, I remember, I had a nice person knock on their door last year. Yeah, and maybe that time they're ready to listen. Maybe now they have time to listen. Maybe now something's changed in their life and they're more humble and they're ready to listen and they want to hear about salvation. It's not just about the getting souls saved. And remember that, please, when you're knocking doors around here. Yeah, look, sometimes you just get complete idiots, but it's very hard to keep your tongue with and everything else. But we want to be trying to leave a good taste in people's mouths because we're going to be knocking those doors year after year after year. And we don't want it to be written off because when that could have been avoidable. And whoever you are, OK, whoever you are, even if you're here and you're going, I don't even know how to preach a gospel, you're at least able to go and help someone else. You're at least able to go and support. You're at least able to be a silent partner. You're able to pray. You're able to just be there. Now, Anna was very elderly and she was a prophetess. Go back to Luke chapter two. She was a prophetess. We're going to look at that again in a minute. But Luke two, you're going back to the title is Lessons from Heroes. Anna, the daughter of Fanuel. Number one, Anna was a prophetess. OK, she preached the gospel. And number two, with that in mind, Anna was of a great age. Anna was of a great age. It said it and there was one Anna in verse thirty six, a prophetess, the daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asa. She was of a great age and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four school and four years, which departed not from the temple, but serve God with fasting and prayers night and day. She was a great age. And there's two ways you could look at this. I look at it like this. She'd been married for seven years and I think widowed for eighty four years. That's how I see that. Verse thirty seven said and she was a widow of about four school and four years. And that's following on from it saying she had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity and she was a widow of about four school and four years. That's ninety one. That's seven and eighty four, by the way. That's ninety one years on top of whatever age she married. So I'm going for around one hundred eleven at least. That's what I want to go with. Now, I might be wrong. Maybe she was four school and four years, and that's just what it's saying there. But you understand what I'm getting at when you look at that passage. She lived with her husband seven years from her virginity and she was a widow of about four school and four years. I think she's been widowed for eighty four years. That's why I said she was of a great age. You didn't just say she was elderly. She was of a great age. I reckon she's probably around one hundred eleven plus. That's what I think. But even eighty four is old enough. Eighty four is still a great age, isn't it? Well, I think she was of an even greater age. Anna the sole winner. Anna the prophetess, not Anna the ex prophetess. Anna the sole winner was still preaching the gospel at one hundred eleven odd years old. What's your excuse again? Oh, it's a bit cold, a bit cold out there. Oh, it's a bit hot. Some people it's a bit hot in the summer. I'm a bit tired. I'm a bit tired today. I'm a bit tired this week, this month, this year. Now, you might say, well, wasn't she just stuck in the temple? Because I think you could read that and think that. It said in verse thirty seven, she was a widow of about four score and four years, which departed not from the temple. Oh, OK. She was just like part of the furniture, you know, just kind of stuck there, never moved, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day. Now, that would only really work if probably there was a toilet right in the temple and everything. I mean, how would that even work? Well, no, I don't think that's what it's saying. It says, because then look at verse thirty eight. And she coming in, 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. I think verse thirty seven is really saying that her life was centered around the temple. OK, she departed not from the temple. That was the center of her life. She was there come rain or shine. In fact, she was there daily just getting involved in everything in the temple. How would she have spoken of him to all? She spake of him to all them that look for redemption in Jerusalem. Were all them that looking for redemption all coming to the temple necessarily? It's not the case nowadays, is it? The New Testament version, is everyone coming to the house of God who wants salvation? No. Many times you go out and you knock a door, they get saved, they still don't come to the house of God. She spake to all them and she coming in in that instant. For me, she wasn't just stuck in the temple the whole time. Now, you could say she might not have got out and about very easily. And maybe some of us will be physically hindered long before her hundred and eleventh birthday. I don't know if anyone's paying 111 here, but maybe it's going to be a bit harder life before that. But if your mouth still works, you can still preach the gospel, can't you? If your mouth works, if you're able to think, you're able to talk, you're able to preach the gospel. And she's a great example to all of us as we get older, isn't she? Every single one of us, look at Anna the prophetess. She's a prophetess at minimum 84, I'm going for well over 100 years old. Where there's a will, there is a way, by the way, OK? There is a way of preaching the gospel. So you might get to the point where you're like, look, I'm not actually, I'm not physically able to get out and knock doors. I'm not able to get out and do that. However, what did we do in Covid when you weren't really allowed to go and knock doors and you were going to get a lot of grief, you knocked on people's doors? We just set a table up. We set a table up in the middle of estates, right by the shops, and with Bible tracts and Gospels of John and New Testament Bibles and said, we'll give them away. And when they came over, we then talked to them about the gospel, and we got a lot of people saved during that time. We weren't out knocking doors, but you know what? An old lady in a wheelchair could have sat there and done exactly what we did. There is a way. You can get out. You can find a way of preaching the gospel. And at the very least, by the way, before anyone starts thinking, you know, I'm feeling a bit tired today, can I just set a table up outside? OK, that was something that we did because of the circumstances at the time. OK, and I do believe that the best way to go out and go door to door and preach the gospel, although there's nothing wrong with doing other ways and stuff alongside, but that needs to be our main focus, isn't it, right? Daily in the temple, in every house. OK, however, there are other ways as well. For example, what if Anna was sitting in the temple and was there every day, and every time people came in, she tried to preach the gospel? At least she's still trying to preach the gospel. At least she's still trying to get people saved. And a lot of people don't do any of that. Where there's a will, there is a way. And like I said, maybe it was outside the temple. Maybe she just sat outside the temple, nice and warm, wrapped up, and just gave out invites to the temple, you know, gave out some invites, tried to preach the gospel. She was still a prophetess, wasn't she? Whatever she did, she found a way to make sure that she was preaching to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. You don't have to turn there. You turn to 2 Timothy 4. But in Acts 4.20, you turn to 2 Timothy 4. In Acts 4.20, after being threatened, Peter and John said this. They said, For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. That's a good attitude, isn't it? We cannot. We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. We can't not do it. But it wasn't just prophesying. She departed not from the temple. She served God night and day, we saw. She was well over a hundred. And she was serving God night and day. And she had no husband to encourage her, by the way. In the hard times. No husband to lead her there when she felt weak, when she felt spiritually weak, when she wasn't so up for it. No husband to be answerable to it in the other areas of her spiritual life. No one who's saying, well, what are you doing? Are you not going to go to church today? Did you, you know, oh, how come you're not reading your Bible today? None of that. She didn't have any, she didn't have that at all. What an example to all of us, right? What an example to every single one of us. Some of us need our wives' encouragement sometimes, don't we? She didn't have any of that. And she was there night and day. We want to all be Annas, don't we? We should all look at her and go, I want to be more like Anna. And as I grow older, I want to be more like Anna. To do our best for the Lord, even when we feel we are of great age. Some people feel they're of great age younger. OK, but Anna was really of great age. And even when we start to feel like that, maybe we won't be as physically able as Anna probably is. We still want to make sure we're serving God, don't we? To be like Paul, who said in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 6, I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Isn't that how we want to... That's how we should be feeling. We should be able to say, no, I've finished my course. I've kept the faith. Anna was clearly finishing the course, wasn't she? She was keeping the faith to the end. Not sitting in an armchair somewhere watching the equivalent of daytime TV. I don't know, I'm sure they would have come up with something. It's Israel. Some sort of daytime plays or something to wheel them out in front of, brainwash them a little bit. I don't know, but I'm sure there was something. She wasn't doing that, was she? She wasn't doing that. She was serving to the end. Go back to Luke chapter 2. The title is Lessons from Heroes. Anna, the daughter of Phanuel. Number one, Anna was a prophetess. Number two, Anna was of a great age. And number three, Anna was a chaste bride. Anna was a chaste bride. It said in verse 36, And there was one Anna, a prophetess, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asa. She was of a great age and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity. Anna was only married for seven years until her husband died. And when she married her husband, she was a virgin. She was a virgin. She had never had a physical relationship with another man. Oh, poor girl. What a poor thing. If only she had shacked up with a few boyfriends first to really know that she was ready to marry. If only she had played the field a bit, right? Isn't that how the world teaches it now? If only she had kind of tried a few men out. That's the wicked world's view. If they can't drum the natural desire for marriage out of you completely, at least, you know, kind of basically play the whore until, you know, you decide it's time to get married. And for men, play the whoremonger as well. It's not just about women. But what's the reality? The reality of that is that men and women come to marriage damaged from previous relationships. That's the reality. People who have lived how the world tells you to live come to marriage damaged. Now, hopefully, a lot of the time it's not irrevocable damage, but sometimes it is. Some people are just so messed up from previous relationships, it's very hard for them to have a proper relationship, to have a proper marriage. Because all that stuff just poisons you, it ruins your mind. It's stuff that you shouldn't be doing with people that aren't your husband or your wife. And listen to me, you have to take the temptation of fornication seriously. And I'm not just talking to the singles, I'm talking to the parents as well. Okay, it is a temptation. And it is actually quite a strong temptation for many. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. This isn't one of those sins that we just assume no one in here, none of the kids they get older will ever get into. Oh, well, they're all Christians, they read the Bible, it'll be fine. As long as they read their Bible in the morning, they'll never be tempted by fornication, will they? Well, 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul said this to the church, by the way, which he had made a point of saying that he gave thanks for. The church which having said he gives thanks for them, not for the grace of God upon them, like the Corinthian church, he gave thanks for the Thessalonians. He said in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 3, you'll turn to chapter 4, he said, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, the sight of God and our Father. This was a highly esteemed church of believers. It wasn't like the Corinthian church pre the first epistle, who had all sorts of wickedness going on. This is a church which was esteemed up here, okay? And he said this in verse 1, further more than we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, as you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus, for this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God. Now, concupiscence is unlawful lust in the more modern sense of the word, how we'd understand it, okay? He said in verse 3 that ye should abstain from fornication. Now, this is to refrain yourself. It suggests a certain amount of difficulty, doesn't it? The word abstain. And a possible form of partaking or at least temptation to it, doesn't it? The word abstain. For example, you wouldn't see an instruction to abstain from murder, would you? Oh, just abstain from murder, please. You wouldn't use the word for that because that shouldn't be a temptation, okay? In fact, furthermore, would you hear just abstain from mass murder? Just abstain from serial killing? No, because it's not a temptation. Shouldn't be a temptation. Just abstain from sodomy. That's all. Thessalonians, guys, just abstain from sodomy. No, because it's not normal. It's not a normal thing that normal people have to try and abstain from, okay? It's a symptom of a reprobate mind. But that's not what he's talking about here. He's saying abstain from fornication because it's a very real temptation. That's why. Because it's something you have to refrain from, you have to abstain from. He said, for this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication. That means we have to take the temptation seriously. Doesn't it? That means we have to look at it and go, that is a real temptation. We have to, all of us here, take it seriously. And I reckon that Fanuel, and you're going, who's Fanuel? That's Anna's father. I reckon he took it seriously. I reckon he took that seriously. For example, I reckon there was probably no alone time with the young men for Anna. I reckon he didn't say go and just go out on dates together with the young men of Israel or the young men of Jerusalem. And I'm sure it'll be fine, won't it? I bet he didn't, did he? I bet he probably took an active interest in who dated her before marriage, don't you think? I think as a father, as a loving father, as a father that married to basically succeed in marrying off his daughter, a virgin, marrying off his daughter, who went on to be this heroine from the Bible, who's still serving God well into her hundreds for me. I reckon he took it seriously. I reckon that Fanuel said, look, that's a temptation, that's a risk. And you know what, and I'm sure he probably would have taken it seriously for his sons as well. And not put them in situations where there's that risk, the temptation and the rest of it. And that's something that we can all take as parents as well, can't we? And that's something as single people that don't have the parents, that aren't living in their parents' homes, you need to take it seriously, because it's something we have to abstain from, not something that's just, oh, it's one of those things that no one really does. I mean, we're surrounded by fornicators. Our world is full of fornicators. They're all fornicating. Anna is a lesser-known hero of the Bible, and God wanted us to know this detail about this hero, didn't he? He didn't have to say that. He could have just said she was this old. He could have just said she was widowed for this long, from when she was married. No, from her virginity. He wanted us to know about her. Go back to Luke 2, the title is Lessons from Heroes. Anna, the daughter of Phanuel. Number one, Anna was a prophetess. Number two, Anna was of a great age. Number three, Anna was a chaste bride. Number four, Anna was giving her life to God. Anna was giving her life to God. Verse 36 says, And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asa. She was of a great age, she lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four school and four years, which departed not for... It seems as though she was there every day. She was just someone that you would always see there. She was just regularly in the temple, I reckon every day, although she served God with fasted prayers night and day, I reckon in the temple. Now for most, there were only set times to come to the house of God. For Anna, she departed not. Her life was centered around serving God. She basically put God at the center of her life. And first off, okay, she's a great example to those that don't have the responsibilities of marriage. Okay, she's a great example. For those of you, whether you're single, you're unmarried, maybe you've been married and you're no longer married for whatever reason, whatever this... She is a great example, isn't she? Look, focus on serving God. You have time to serve God. But, because, look, here's the thing as well. There are those that have responsibilities of dependent children. There are those that have responsibilities of working and dependent children, and should have less time to serve God and to do the things of God. However, you often see something the opposite in life. But she is an example to all of us, because whether your day is spent doing spiritual things or you have other responsibilities in life, it should all have the Lord at the center of it. Your whole life should. 1 Corinthians 10.31 says, Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Whatever we do should be to the glory of God. Serve God when you work, serve God in your chores, serve God when you school, serve God in your marriage. Put God at the center of it all. Do it all that he might be glorified through you, but don't then skip the spiritual things. Don't go, well, I'm serving God in my marriage because I'm loving my wife like he tells me to. You know, I'm submitting to my husband like God tells me to. I'm, you know, I'm work here unto the Lord, so there we go, I'm serving God. No, there's still spiritual things to do, right? Turn to Psalm 27. So we serve God in all areas of our life, but there are still specific spiritual things that he requires of us. He expects us to be soul winning, in the word, in prayer, in church. Whether we're working full time with a family or we're a retired widow. Or we're the king of Israel, David, the king of Israel. And by the way, that was probably a very busy man. Set in Psalm 27.4. One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. I bet he was a busy guy, David. He had a family, a big family, had a kingdom, Psalms to write. They don't just write themselves, right? He had a lot to do, right? But he wanted to be in the things he got all the days of his life, didn't he? And something that you notice in life is often, like I just mentioned earlier, it's the busiest people are the most likely to be free to thrive. The busiest people are most likely to be soul winning. Bible reading, prayer warriors. That's just something you see a lot. However, Anna, who maybe didn't have all those extra responsibilities in life, she was still very busy for God, wasn't she? Night and day, she departed not from the temple. She served God in fasting prayers night and day. And do you know what happened to such a dedicated woman? She saw the baby Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. And the more we're in the things of God, the more we will see Jesus in our lives and not risk missing out on seeing God working amongst his people, not risk missing out on so much being done for God, because we're not busy. We need to be, you just need to be busy. I mean, you take nothing else away from the sermon. Just go away going, I need to be busy. I need to get busy. And if I don't have enough in my life to be busy with, if I'm not working for whatever reason, I'm not looking after a family. I'm not looking after a husband. I'm not doing all that stuff. Get busy, get busy in the things of God. That's what she did. Said, I don't have really much else to do, really. So I'm going to be in a temple night and day. I'm going to be praying and fasting and I'm out soul winning and I'm preaching to everyone. That is a great example, isn't it? Go back to Luke 2. The title is Lessons from Heroes. Anna, the daughter of Phanuel. Point number one, Anna was a prophetess. Point number two, Anna was of a great age. Point number three, Anna was a chaste bride. Point number four, Anna was giving her life to God. And point number five, Anna was a prayer warrior. Anna was a prayer warrior. It said in verse 37, and she was a widow of about four school and four years, which departed not for 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. So at 100 plus years old, Anna was fasting and praying night and day. Wow. She wasn't just praying before she ate, was she? Well, she wasn't because often she was praying and not eating. Because that's sadly, a lot of people, your prayer life consists of God, thank you for this food. And it shouldn't be like that, should it? And Anna, she was praying when she wasn't eating. Why? Why was she fasting? Why was Anna fasting? Because it's something that is expected of us as believers, believe it or not. Because denying the flesh is a great way of ensuring that you're in the Spirit. Or in Anna's Old Testament case, the Spirit will come upon you. Turn to Mark chapter nine, where Jesus shows the disciples that there are certain things that we can't achieve without fasting. There are things in life that you can't achieve without fasting. In Mark nine, this guy brings his son who's possessed and in a bad way, okay? His disciples couldn't cast the devil out, but of course, Jesus could, okay? Afterwards, they ask him why? They're like, why could we not do that? It says here in verse 28 of Mark nine, and when he was coming to the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. He said, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. For me, there are three main categories of times to fast and pray. And I don't know if you remember, one of the first sermons I did when we, possibly even before the church started, was the power of fasting. I still love that sermon, because I put so much study into that. It's something I've studied for a long time. And this is my conclusion of that. And also we looked at it, I think, when in Matthew maybe six it was as well, but three categories for me. We fast when seeking forgiveness. So for example, we've done something bad, we're out of God's way, because it's a way to get back in God's will. So it's a way to get back in God's will quickly, back in the spirit after failures in life. It's a great way to almost like springboard back, is fasting, get back in the spirit. Number two, we fast when suffering tribulation. So as a way of staying close to God and praying in the spirit and make sure that we're dealing with it in the right way. And number three, we fast when serving God. So specifically before or during doing great things. So when we're about to do something great for God, there's about to be something big that we need to do, that we have to do, that we're gonna do, whatever it is, that's a great time to fast as well. Such as here in Mark nine. And then also Anna, the hundred and something year old prophetess, still serving God night and day and preach the gospel to all around. So she was serving God in a magnificent way. And I think that was interlinked with the fact that she was regularly fasting and praying. And notice the result of this prayer warrior, said in verse 37, back in Luke two. And she was a widow of about four school and four years, which departed not from the temple but served God with fasting prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord. So she wasn't just praying for her family to get saved. No, there's nothing wrong with that, for praying for your desires for your wants. And there's a hundred other requests that we could pray for and there's nothing wrong with praying. We should be requesting things in prayer. God wants us to ask for things in prayer. But she also gave thanks to the Lord. This was a spiritual woman who was used to thanking the Lord. The likewise here, notice in verse 38, it said, and she coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord. It could be along with Simeon, perhaps, who in verse 28 blessed God. Or could it be, I don't know, that's a little way back for that. Or could it be likewise in that it was instant? Is she coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord? Maybe she just instantly gave thanks to God. That's what the likewise is about. Because when you fast in praying night and day, you're gonna respond in the right way to seeing the Lord, aren't you? Give thanks straight away, instantly just thank God. That's what should be the result. And not everyone had that result when they saw God. And that's something we should see. When we see God in our lives, what's the response? Should be, straight away, thank you. Thank you for answering my prayers. Thank you for doing this, thank you for doing that. Yet Simeon, it's not like that, is it? Simeon, you see God work in your life, and then you try and take the credit for it yourself. You try and justify it, you try and explain it away, you try and rationalize it according to an unbeliever's view. But so often we see God work in our lives that we should just turn around and say thank you. The title is Lessons from Heroes, Anna the daughter of Phanuel. Number one, Anna was a prophetess. Number two, Anna was of a great age. Number three, Anna was a chaste bride. Number four, Anna was giving her life to God. Number five, Anna was a prayer warrior. And point number six, Anna was a proper soul winner. Anna was a proper soul winner. We're gonna look at this passage one last time, these three verses. Verse 36 said, And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asa. She was of a great age, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four school and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting 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. Did it say, And Anna spake of herself in her testimony? Didn't, did it? Did it say, And Anna told everyone that would listen about the reprobate doctrine? It didn't say that either, did it? Did Anna speak all about the temple and what great events it has coming up? She didn't do that either. Anna spake of him. She spake of Jesus Christ. She spake of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 4-5 says, For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. That's who we preach to the lost. Keep the doctrine for the saved. Okay, keep the doctrine for the saved that need to hear the doctrine. Preach the gospel to the lost. And now, look, don't get me wrong. Sometimes there are people, when you preach the gospel, there are people that maybe need to hear the reprobate doctrine. Just say, they're like, how on earth, what are you talking about? That some child abusing serial killer can put their faith in Christ, and that's it, they're saved. No, no, they're given over to a reprobate mind. They're gone. Oh, what are you saying that he didn't die for? Yeah, because when you cross reference the Bible, there are people that never have forgiveness, like blaspheming the Holy Spirit, like removing from the word of God. The Bible's clear that there are people that are given over to a reprobate mind. And sometimes you do need to explain it, but you don't need to explain that to everyone you preach the gospel to. In fact, you don't need to explain that to all your unsaved family and friends before you even try preaching the gospel. And a lot of people do that, right? They're like, let me tell you about reprobate, let me tell you about the pre-trib, post-trib, I've got to explain it to you. It's like, preach him the gospel. Speak of Christ, right? Anna was a proper soul winner. She also preached to all, but it wasn't all that she came across. I don't think Anna forced people to listen and pray. Okay, she didn't. Look, that's one of those things that, it kind of is one of those things you kind of need to tell me about, okay? Because we had nightmares with that before. So we had such a strong group of people here doing exactly that and just forcing, bullying, coercing people to listen to them when they didn't. And then by the end of it, they're just saying whatever they want them to say and praying, that in the end it became, it started, it starts to encourage other people. Yeah, you've got to really push. You've got to make them listen. You know, put your foot in the door or something else. And that's what we don't want, okay? We don't want any of that. Anna didn't do that. She didn't preach to false prophets for fun debates. She didn't. Did you know that? Anna didn't just go, oh, well, he said he was a Catholic priest. So I thought, here we go, this is going to be fun. Let's spend 20 minutes ripping apart his false doctrine. What a waste of your time. What are you going to get him saved? You ain't going to get saved. He's given over to a reprobate mind as well. He's a false prophet. He's reprobate concerning the faith. She didn't force people that she knew, and this is something that we have to watch out for, to hear the gospel out of being polite and not wanting to offend. I was guilty of this before. I was a coach, so I was just like, right, in between rounds, you're hearing the gospel. I can't even breathe. I'll... It's like, okay, do you believe? Whatever. Just don't make me do a hundred kicks again, you know? But that's not the right way of dealing with things. You know, you've got to let... And then when I started to learn to just ask them and really make it clear they have the option. Look, everyone has to understand that they have the option. It has to be their choice to hear the gospel. And that's something you need to make clear when you preach the gospel. And sometimes it's hard when you're sort of halfway through and you can see them drifting. You can see they're not really interested and you kind of... And party thinks, well, I'm already like, if I could just keep going. But really that's a good time to just say, would you like me to carry on? Because if they don't want you to carry on, there's one of two things that will happen. Number one, you're just going to waste your time. And you could have gone to someone else and preached the gospel. And they're just going to say, okay, well, at the end they'll just say, yeah, I don't really believe any of that anyway. Didn't you see my eyes going 10 minutes ago? Or number two, they're just going to end up disagreeing with you to shut you up and get you off their doorstep. And we don't want either of those, do we? We want people that want to hear the gospel. She spoke of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Didn't she? She spoke of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Turn to Romans 3. She found people that wanted to be saved, that wanted redemption. And there's only one way of redemption. It's through Jesus Christ. That's what it's talking about. Romans chapter three and verse 23, Romans 3.23 says it like this. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We're all sinners, okay? Everyone's a sinner. We all need redemption. But Anna preached the gospel to those that wanted redemption. Everyone needs it. Everyone needs the gospel. But they don't all want the gospel. In fact, most don't want the gospel. She preached to all them that looked for redemption. And that's what we're looking for when we go out soul winning. We're looking for people that are looking for redemption. We're looking for people that want to hear the gospel, that want to get saved. Now, of course, some need warning that they need redemption. Okay, some need warning about what's going to happen. But that's probably a good time to check if people want to listen, isn't it? That's a good time to check in. Maybe someone says, yeah, all right, yeah, whatever. Okay, and I wouldn't say, oh no, because they didn't go, oh, what must I do to be saved? Yeah, preach the gospel. But I would say after showing them the wages of sin, that they're a sinner and all sinners go to hell. All sinners go to hell. That's a good time to check in. Do you want to know how not to go to hell? Isn't it? They need to know they need redemption. But if they don't want redemption, you've shown them that they need redemption and they don't want it, that's a good time to move on as well, isn't it? Why carry on if someone says, yeah, whatever. Oh, I'll just go wherever my family's gone. Well, as long as I'm with little Fido. That's what they do, don't they? Oh, well, I'll go wherever Fido's going. If he's not there, I don't want to be in heaven. So what do you do with someone like that? Do you know what? You say, okay, well, have a great day. And maybe hopefully next year they might hear. If it's local area and if it's not local area, look, maybe one day you give them something, you give them some stuff to go away with. At least there's a video there. But maybe look at that when you're ready and you have time and you decide you don't want to go there. But if people don't want to hear the gospel, they don't want to know how to get saved. They're not looking for redemption. Why waste your time? There are so many people that we can find that do want to hear. And that's what we're looking for. But once Anna found those that look for redemption, did she only preach to those that came to the temple? Did she just put out invites and go, come in, come into the house of God, and then I'll preach to you? Because that's what most, sadly, IFB churches do nowadays. They just give out church invites. Invite, invite, invite. Come here and then we'll preach the gospel to you here. Time after time after time, week after week after week in the service so people just hear the gospel a thousand times. And do you know what? Probably still half of them are unsaved. You know what's the most effective type of soul winning is one-on-one soul winning, isn't it? One-on-one soul winning is someone speaking clearly to you and, ideally, some sort of give and take, some sort of getting them involved, get them to answer, get them to talk a bit, get them to actually give you some feedback, get them to ask you the questions and show you the issues they have. Me just preaching gospel messages. You know what happens? People's eyes just glaze over and they just say, yeah, whatever, heard that a thousand times. And sadly, that's what a lot of churches do, but she didn't do that. She didn't only preach to those that came to the temple. She didn't only preach to those in the rich areas. Do you know that? She didn't. She didn't only preach to those that were in the rich parts of town or the poor areas. She didn't only go to the poor. And I say that because, look, somebody might get frustrated sometimes and it can be hard. You know, like last week we went to an area and suddenly the driveways were a bit of a, you know, probably half marathon. The doors, you know, were like these huge wooden doors with all these like elaborate designs all around it and everything else. And the Teslas were in the driveways and you're thinking, this is going to be rough. Okay. Maybe there could have been one person. And there was, in fact, we found one guy that seemed to be very interested, but was on a work call. And he said, I'm definitely going to go away and look at that. And that was worth it, wasn't it? She didn't just go to the most receptive areas. And sometimes it's nice to be in receptive areas. I'm not saying that. We want to go to those that want to hear the gospel and we're going to be doing that. However, we still have a responsibility to our local area because who did Anna preach to? She, she spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. We can't preach to everywhere in the world, unfortunately. Now we can try through social media to reach those from every different corner, but we can't get out and knock doors everywhere. But we can knock doors where our church is and we can preach to those around and we can go on excursions and go on trips and go to places. But we have a responsibility for here. The saved people in wherever, you name it, they have a responsibility for their local area. Now, if they don't fulfil that responsibility, we unfortunately, as Sing Stan, can't deal with that everywhere. But we can preach the gospel to all those that look for redemption in the south end. We can, can't we? And we can keep going out and keep finding those that want to hear. And then we find our ways to go to very receptive places. For example, missions trips and other things like that. And our soul winning nights go to other areas as well and our marathons as well. But she was soul winning. Anna was soul winning in her local area. It said in verse 38, as she, coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She didn't avoid the funny looking one. She didn't avoid the rough side of Jerusalem. I bet it was a rough side of Jerusalem. She didn't avoid that. She was 100 something years old. She spake to all them. And I'll tell you what, all them that looked for redemption didn't come to the temple. I guarantee you. Because there's nothing new under the sun. And it's the same now. I reckon she was going out 100 something years old and going to every part of Jerusalem, finding people that want to hear the gospel. What a legend. 100 something years old. She spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Anna was a proper soul winner. Anna wasn't, she didn't go with the latest fads. She didn't let someone persuade her. Oh no, no, no. What you need to do is, you know, have the flashing lights and the rock music and get the kids in here. No, she went out and she preached the gospel. The title is Lessons From Heroes. Anna, the daughter of Fanuel. Number one, Anna was a prophetess. Number two, Anna was of a great age. Number three, Anna was a chaste bride. Number four, Anna was giving her life to God. Number five, Anna was a prayer warrior. And number six, Anna was a proper soul winner. Anna was a proper soul winner. There's a lot of lessons, isn't there? Just three verses in the Bible and they're great little nuggets like that. And so much you can gain from these people that I will keep going with this series over time and just try and find these little bits and pieces because they're there for a reason, right? That little passage about Anna is really, ultimately, what's the main reason that those three verses are in the Bible? For us to learn from. For us to see her as a real life example. That's a real life person. This isn't just, you know, made up stories. This isn't like, sometimes, it's not that people don't believe the Bible, but you can kind of put it in a separate, almost compartment a bit. Well, that was kind of Bible times. Or that was, well, that was just like a one-off. Regardless, Anna was a real person. She was a real person that lived, that I believe, whether she was 84 or 100 or something, anyway, I mean, either way, it's amazing, okay? But I believe it's saying that she was well over, well over the hundreds and she was preaching the Gospel to everyone. She was in the temple daily. She was praying and fasting. That's an example to every single one of us here, isn't it? That was the Lessons from Heroes, Anna the daughter of Fanyol. And on that, we're going to pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for, well, you know, the great lessons we can get from so many people in the Bible and especially Anna. Thank you for her. Thank you for her as a great example for all of us here to try and follow that lead by Anna. Well, we thank you for that redemption. We thank you that right now we've looked at a story that although is in that sort of Christmas chapter, really, of Luke too, it's all there and it's all possible because of the birth of Christ and then obviously Christ going on to die on that cross, being buried and rising again to pay for every single one of our sins. We thank you for what this time of year should make us think about and should make us remember, Lord, and help us to all just really keep you at the centre of our next few weeks, especially just remembering what this time's really all about. Help the soul willing to go out this afternoon and the evening service, the carol concert, to be a great success and in Jesus' name for all of this. Amen.