1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,560 Hi, this is Dave Olson. I'm the senior leader of 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:04,600 Heartland Church located in Ankeny, IA. 3 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:08,039 I hope the following message challenges, encourages and 4 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,160 ultimately changes you. Thanks for joining us. 5 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,400 We started a series couple of weeks ago. 6 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,880 We were calling it the Three Wise Women of Christmas. 7 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,040 We talked about the three wise Men and in fact, there's no real 8 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:28,720 historical precedence to think that there were 33 wise men. 9 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,280 There was, you know, big entourage. 10 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,560 But we, we make a lot of the wise men, but we don't talk 11 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,640 enough about the the women of Christmas. 12 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:40,360 There are three characters that were very key to what God was 13 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,280 doing in the Christmas story. Of course, Mary, she gets a lot 14 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,680 of press and rightly so. I mean, she yielded her life. 15 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,840 We're going to, God willing, look at her next week. 2 weeks 16 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:56,280 ago we looked at Elizabeth and her husband Zachariah and this 17 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,600 week what I want to look at is another woman of Christmas by 18 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,080 the name of Anna. We often don't think of her as 19 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,319 one of the women of Christmas but the fact that she was part 20 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,040 of the Christmas story. And in fact, we could call this 21 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,880 the three power couples of Christmas because we have 22 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,680 Zechariah and Elizabeth, who God used to bring John forth. 23 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,360 And then Elizabeth, who was the cousin of Mary, actually 24 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,320 mentored Mary through the pregnancy process. 25 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,680 And there's a reason for that. There's all of these individuals 26 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:30,560 were connected in what God was doing. 27 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,400 And then we have the the, you know, of course, Mary and 28 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,880 Joseph, they get a lot of press. We'll we'll deal with them next 29 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,520 week. But this week I want to look at 30 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:41,760 a, a couple called Simeon and Anna. 31 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:43,760 Now, some of you, if you know, you're Bobby, you're going to 32 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:45,600 say, wait a minute, pastor, you're stretching that they're 33 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:47,720 not a couple. Yeah, in the truest sense of the 34 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:48,320 word. You're right. 35 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,640 They're not married. They're they, we don't have any 36 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,000 reason to believe they knew each other. 37 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,080 But the Bible and the narrative connects them together. 38 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,240 There's something that God was doing through this couple, the 39 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,200 the first couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth and Simeon and Anna. 40 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,480 So here's our point. Here's where we're going with 41 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,120 this, that God never works in a vacuum. 42 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,039 He doesn't. When Jesus arrived on planet 43 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:15,440 Earth in the infant form, the initial invasion of the Kingdom 44 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,720 of God on earth, it didn't just happen in a vacuum. 45 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,040 There were things that were going on in the background. 46 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,840 The backdrop of this story was very, very important. 47 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,800 And the fact is God never moves in a vacuum. 48 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:33,480 What we see as the visitation and actuality, there's always 49 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:35,920 preparation before the visitation. 50 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,960 There's things going on in private before we see the public 51 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,320 manifestation and the people that are the private players, if 52 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:45,760 you will, the people that are part of what God's doing in the 53 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,600 background often don't get talked about, but they need to 54 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:54,280 because God is using these two couples to come alongside this 55 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,280 couple in the middle. And so we looked at Zachariah 56 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,040 and Elizabeth. We know that Mary, when she, you 57 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,160 know, they were cousins, when the Angel shows up to Mary, he 58 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,840 says you're going to you're going to give birth to a child 59 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,040 and he will be known as the son of the most high God. 60 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:14,440 And it always intrigues me that Mary didn't assume that this 61 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,880 would be the product of reunion with her fiance Joe. 62 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,400 She was already betrothed. They were going to get married, 63 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,560 but she didn't just assume, oh, I guess Joe and I are going to 64 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,640 have a baby for some reason, unlike her great, great, great, 65 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:31,800 great grand pappy Abraham, who when God said I'm going to make 66 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:33,840 you into a great nation, he thought I'm going to help out. 67 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,840 He had a baby with Haggar and we're still dealing with that. 68 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:39,840 If you know your biblical history and your modern Middle 69 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,480 Eastern conflict history, you know what I'm talking about. 70 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,440 But Mary didn't assume that. She said, how can this be? 71 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,600 And he said that the Spirit will come upon you. 72 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,840 And she understood that there was something supernatural about 73 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:53,840 this. It wasn't a prophecy about the 74 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:55,880 future. It was an invitation to 75 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,680 something now. And so Mary would became 76 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,080 pregnant. She became by the Spirit of God 77 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:03,960 as a virgin and she carried the Christ. 78 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,840 But the the Angel at the end of that, he said, and by the way, 79 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,120 your cousin Elizabeth, who's not been able to get pregnant, she 80 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,360 is with child right now and she's in her third month. 81 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,120 And so with that, the Angel tied her pregnancy. 82 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,720 Why did he mention that? Why was that important for her 83 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,880 to know? Was it just encouragement that 84 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,840 hey, you know, there's a lot of supernatural activity going on 85 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:27,640 here. I believe it's more than that. 86 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,720 Immediately Mary went to Elizabeth and she stayed with 87 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,840 her for six months. So the first six months of 88 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:39,960 Mary's pregnancy was the final six months of Elizabeth and she 89 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,480 was being mentored. So you have these three couples 90 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,200 now. I find it fascinating. 91 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,040 And I want to encourage you when you read the Bible, always look 92 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,560 for patterns, look for connections, look for things 93 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:54,920 that are showing up that look like patterns. 94 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,200 And you may not have understanding about it in the 95 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,520 moment, but write those things down because God wants to show 96 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,440 you things through the patterns. And so I've been, I've been 97 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,640 meditating on this, just asking the Lord what the deal is with 98 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,240 these three ladies because they all have, there's a, there's a 99 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,800 circumstance surrounding their family life that was unique. 100 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,760 So you have Elizabeth and Zachariah, She here, Elizabeth 101 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,320 is a woman well along in the years. 102 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,560 She's already past menopause. She's past her childbearing 103 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,120 years. And so she is a woman that 104 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:31,720 longed to have children. She's married, but they were 105 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,040 never able to have children. And we know they wanted children 106 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,760 because when the Angel comes to her, he says, or to her husband 107 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,560 rather, he says to Zachariah, your prayers have been heard. 108 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,200 So these prayers from decades ago, we're now going to be 109 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,760 answered. So there here was a couple. 110 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,920 She was married but never was able to have children until now. 111 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,760 Then you've got this other couple, Joseph and Mary, They're 112 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,560 just engaged. They, they don't even in the 113 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,280 biblical sense know each other. They've never consummated their 114 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:04,760 relationship. They're good Jewish believers. 115 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,240 They they haven't, you know, she's still a virgin. 116 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,000 And the Angel comes here and said, you're going to have a 117 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,560 baby early. You're going to have a baby not 118 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,320 only before you're married, but before you've ever known a man. 119 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,800 Whereas this couple has been married for decades. 120 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,760 And then now they're beyond the childbearing years and they're 121 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,200 going to have a baby. And then we have this third 122 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:26,200 lady, lady who is Anna now Anna it says we're going to read 123 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,160 about it in a moment here. Anna it says that was she was 124 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,400 married for seven years, then lost her husband until she was 125 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,560 84 years old. So from her the death of her 126 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,400 husband until she was 84, she never left the temple. 127 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,280 It meant that that's she just spent all her time at the temple 128 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,800 night and day, praying, fasting, and she was known as a 129 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,560 prophetess. And so she has spent all these 130 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,120 years. So we have one couple who they 131 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,600 were married, she had a husband, but she was never able to have 132 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,720 kids until there was this divine intervention. 133 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,560 Then we have another couple, they're just engaged. 134 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,240 And now she finds herself pregnant before time. 135 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,120 And then we have this other gal. Not only did she not have a 136 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:12,400 child, she lost her husband. And it ties her and this 137 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,640 gentleman named Simeon, not not relationally, but their 138 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,200 narrative, their story together. And so it's intriguing. 139 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,040 There's a pattern here talking about their unique family 140 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,040 dynamics and all that they're going through. 141 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,000 And I'm what I'm proposing to you this morning is again, God 142 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,000 never operates in a vacuum. There's always many things going 143 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,120 on in the background. And these two bookend couples 144 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,400 are paving the way for what Mary's stepping into these two, 145 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,840 this, this couple, they had to wait well beyond the normal 146 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:49,680 amount of time to have a child. And Mary entered into this thing 147 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:50,880 early. Why is that? 148 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,080 And I'm proposing to you that there is a generational 149 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,200 connection and there always is whenever God's moving afresh in 150 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,720 planet earth, whenever there's a fresh move of God, there is God 151 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:07,760 is operating behind the scenes. And so this couple, they, they 152 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:14,240 had to their, their delay was a divinely imposed, OK, some of 153 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,880 you been crying out for something and you feel like God 154 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,560 is saying no, but he may not be saying no. 155 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,600 He may be saying not yet. And the reason he's saying not 156 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,800 yet is because there's something being paved. 157 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,000 There's something being removed. And what Elizabeth and Zachariah 158 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,640 would give birth to was the man known as the greatest of 159 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,880 prophets in the Old Testament. He was a unique man. 160 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,720 He was a great man. And in actuality, he paved the 161 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,560 way for Jesus ministry. So whereas this couple, they 162 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:48,600 were told no all these years, the divine delay was divinely 163 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,200 imposed. And rather than getting 164 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,520 frustrated and offended and thinking, well, God, you know, 165 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:56,680 God's forgotten about us, God doesn't care. 166 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,640 They stayed in the faith, they served faithfully only to end up 167 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,600 giving birth in their latter years. 168 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,320 And there's a reason for that because they, what they were 169 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,160 going to give birth to was connected to what Mary would 170 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,760 give birth to. And that's why the Angel said, 171 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,720 hey, by the way, not only are you pregnant, but your Baron 172 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,920 cousin Elizabeth is in her third month. 173 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,480 There was a connection between these two things. 174 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,840 So what Elizabeth carried John the Baptist, according to 175 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:30,400 Isaiah, would pave the way. He would be the preparer of the 176 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:34,000 way for what Mary would carry the Messiah. 177 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:36,080 And so there was this connection. 178 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:40,160 And so that's why Mary, when she found out she was pregnant, she 179 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:41,600 found out her cousin was pregnant. 180 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,320 What'd she do? She hightailed it over and she 181 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:49,000 lived with her, her cousin Elizabeth through the final six 182 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,520 months of her pregnancy. She was going to be mentored by 183 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:54,200 someone older. Now I want to preach to the 184 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,360 young people here. God, often what God will do is 185 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,400 he will, he will cause the previous generation to pay the 186 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,640 price. They will have a divine delay. 187 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:07,400 God will tell them no longer than normal so that you can 188 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,640 enter in quicker than normal, so that you can move into 189 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:12,000 something. And you've got to always be 190 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,600 careful because we tend to put this way. 191 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:17,560 Anybody ever read about Charles Finney? 192 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:20,400 You know who Charles Finney is. If you've never read about him, 193 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,200 get his autobiography. Don't get the abridged version 194 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:27,600 because they kind of extract all the supernatural stuff out of 195 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:29,600 it. You need to read the the his 196 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:32,440 autobiography because he's an amazing man. 197 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:36,440 Saw a tremendous move of God known as the Second Great 198 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:42,000 Awakening in the United States and the Northeastern area of our 199 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,000 our United States just burned with revival. 200 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,600 There were 50,000 people a week getting saved at the height of 201 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,000 this revival. And back then the population of 202 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:52,600 the United States was much lower. 203 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,600 And we tend to know about Charles Finney and the great 204 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,440 revivals that he was. He wrote in his autobiography. 205 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,680 He said, I loved this phrase. He said it was as though a 206 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:08,400 pervading conviction registered upon the public conscience. 207 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,440 What he's talking about is there was an environmental presence of 208 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:17,800 the convicting power of God, so man could not live comfortable 209 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,040 in their sin. They were living under 210 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,640 conviction and people would people would be hanging out on 211 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,760 the street and someone would curse and then they they'd 212 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,520 apologize to each other. None of them are believer, but 213 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,920 there was just this pervading conviction. 214 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,040 What most of us don't know is that Charles Finney was the Mary 215 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,920 carrying the revival, but there was an Elizabeth and an Anna 216 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,720 behind the scenes in the form of a man named Father Nash. 217 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:48,240 Father Nash happened to be a Presbyterian pastor who, while 218 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,840 he was pastoring, got saved sitting under Finney's ministry. 219 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,240 He's he's a pastor, but he's not even a believer. 220 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,280 I mean, he intellectually believed he was not converted. 221 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,880 And Finney stirred things up. There was, I remember reading 222 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,440 one story where he was preaching and he was staying at the 223 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:09,520 pastor's house. He got to the pastor's house 224 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:14,320 that night and the wife she, she started yelling at the pastor at 225 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,200 Finney, how dare you speak of this, these types of things in 226 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,160 the services. If God wants to save me, he will 227 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:23,200 save me and when he's good and ready. 228 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,840 And she was just agitated under conviction and she stormed out 229 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,200 and the pastor looked at Finney and said see what your preaching 230 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,880 is doing to my congregation. She ended up getting saved by 231 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,920 the way. But what they, what happened is 232 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:40,320 Father Nash would go into a city in advance. 233 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,440 He'd go in two, 3-4 weeks in advance. 234 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:46,040 He would get a hotel room and he would lock himself away and pray 235 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,000 through until he'd had a breakthrough. 236 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,240 And he'd send send message to Finney, hey, we're ready. 237 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,280 Finney would get there and he'd say, can his father Nash staying 238 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:55,040 here? He'd go to an inn. 239 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,920 They'd say, yeah, this guy Nash, Yeah, he did Register here. 240 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:00,520 And he's been in his room the whole time. 241 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:02,280 He's never come out. And it's kind of strange. 242 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:06,400 There's weird noises coming out of his room, but he would pray 243 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,440 this thing through and then Finney would go in and it just 244 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,800 tremendous moves of God. Entire cities were saved, so 245 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:18,280 much so that 100 years later that sociologists were still 246 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,640 measuring. Secular non believing 247 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:27,480 sociologists were tracing cultural, cultural impact, 248 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:29,000 things that were part matter of fact. 249 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,640 They did a study of the kindest city in America. 250 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,880 This is about 30 years ago. And they found that Rochester, 251 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:38,160 NY was the kindest city in America. 252 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:40,560 And the way they found that out is they would have people go in 253 00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:43,560 and pretend they were blind and they drop money that kind of ask 254 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:45,440 for help. And I believe it was about 30 255 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,040 years ago and they found it was the kindest city in America. 256 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,880 And these non Christian sociologists traced it all the 257 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,640 way back to Finney's revivals. That lasting impact. 258 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:01,160 It was an amazing move of God. But when Father Nash passed 259 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,440 away, Finney stopped traveling because the impact of his 260 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,640 preaching had diminished. And so whenever God's moving, 261 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,320 there are numerous figures, numerous people involved. 262 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:18,160 Whenever God uses you, there are other people that were being 263 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:20,920 used by God to prepare you behind the scenes. 264 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:24,760 And it just may be that you might be the person behind the 265 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,360 scenes and not the person carrying the thing. 266 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,080 And so we always need to realize that we are interconnected. 267 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:37,800 And so when Mary was got pregnant, she went to Elizabeth 268 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,960 and she walks in the door and Elizabeth says, when I heard 269 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:42,800 your voice, my baby leapt within me. 270 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,600 And when God is doing something fresh in your life, what you 271 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,200 need to do is you need to find other believers that are a 272 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,160 little farther along than you are. 273 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,920 And when it's a God ordained relationship, I'm telling you, 274 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:57,680 your babies will jump when you talk. 275 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,120 You'll feel that witness within you that there's there's a 276 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,200 fueling of what the dreams, the things that you carry. 277 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,800 My spiritual mother, she I worked for her. 278 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,440 She was worked, she ran the kitchen at the Bible school I 279 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,080 was in. And so she started disciple and 280 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:16,320 we finally, I'd show up for work. 281 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,640 She should just sit down. I'll do the dishes, read this 282 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:20,440 article. And then she'd preach to me and 283 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,120 I'd read, reading these articles, but we'd go out for 284 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:27,440 coffee, we'd meet at McDonald's. And she was an old woman of 29. 285 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,040 I was 19. She was this real old gal. 286 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:33,280 But here's the thing. She used to tell me, some of you 287 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:35,760 have heard me say this before, but she used to tell me, listen, 288 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,680 Dave, you can either make your own mistakes or you can learn 289 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,000 from mine. And I thought, hey, she's paid 290 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,040 the tuition on that. I'm going to learn from her 291 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,320 mistakes. That is, that was a wise thing 292 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,120 for her to tell me. But she had an uncommon 293 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,360 relationship with the Lord. And the reason is she had been 294 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,320 through some hard things. And So what, when she was 16 295 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,160 years old, she got pregnant with with her boyfriend. 296 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,320 They got married, then they had another daughter immediately. 297 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:04,680 She had two daughters. And I believe by the time she 298 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:06,560 was 19, her husband had abandoned her. 299 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:08,640 And so I met her ten years later. 300 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,040 Again, she was this aged person of 29. 301 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,840 But because of what she'd been through, and she didn't allow it 302 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,080 to make her bitter, she tied into God and really sought the 303 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,160 Lord. And she had an uncommon 304 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:25,680 relationship. And that is who Anna was. 305 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,400 Let's, let's, let's look at this. 306 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:32,320 Anna had gone through some uncommon things and it made her 307 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:39,400 a tremendous woman of God. All right, look at a verse 25 in 308 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:45,520 Luke chapter 2, verse 25, it says now there was a man in 309 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,360 Jerusalem. So we're we're looking at the 310 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,280 wise women, a Christian, but we're going to look at the power 311 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:50,600 couples. OK, so we're going to start with 312 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:52,600 Simeon. This morning there was a man in 313 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,600 Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and 314 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,520 devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. 315 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,240 So let's just pause there. Jump with me to verse 36. 316 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,640 So in 25, it says there was a man in Jerusalem and explains 317 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,079 him in his circumstances in the scenario in which he runs into 318 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,280 Jesus. And then in verse 36 and it 319 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,960 says, and there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter 320 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,440 Ephanuel of the tribe of Astra. What is it talking about? 321 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,560 It's tying these two people together that there was this 322 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:26,520 aged man named Simeon and this aged widow named Anna. 323 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,480 And so although they're not connected relationally, they 324 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:31,920 were connected in the purposes of God. 325 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:34,440 So let's jump back to Simeon. I love this. 326 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,880 Listen to what he says, a man named Jerusalem whose name was 327 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,600 Simeon. Now, a lot of scholars surmise 328 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,600 that Simeon was the. Let me see if I can open this 329 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:47,920 up, this little note I had written one time. 330 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,200 There are many who believe that Simeon was the son of a famous 331 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:56,360 rabbi by the name of Hillel and the father of Gamaliel. 332 00:17:56,360 --> 00:18:00,080 Now many of you will remember Gamaliel because Paul was was 333 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,920 disciple by Gamaliel and he was a famous rabbi. 334 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,480 And he also was the one who stood before the Sanhedrin and 335 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,480 cautioned them, remember, when they were coming against Jesus? 336 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,920 And he said, hey, guys, just be careful because in coming 337 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,320 against this guy, you may find you're coming against God 338 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,880 himself. And he was rightly discerning 339 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,240 that was the case. That was Gamaliel. 340 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:29,200 And so many believe that Simeon was, you know, in the 341 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,160 generations of that. And he was a man of the Spirit. 342 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:33,880 Listen what it says, whose name was Simeon. 343 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,360 This man was righteous and devout, waiting for the 344 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:41,200 consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon 345 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,080 him. I love that he was anointed to 346 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:50,280 wait. Some of you need an anointing to 347 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,800 wait. It's one thing to wait. 348 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:56,440 It's another thing to wait with the anointing. 349 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,880 There is an anointing to wait. I remember years ago a young 350 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:04,840 couple that I I'd known for years, they came to me and they 351 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,920 said, Pastor Dave, they said we're, we're, we're leaving the 352 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:10,960 church. They're still serving the Lord. 353 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:13,120 We're still in touch. We write, you know, they, they 354 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:16,840 live out of state now, but This is why they said, they said we 355 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,680 just, it's too hard to wait for the promises of God. 356 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,600 They said, man, God has given us promises and we've been waiting 357 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,520 nine months and we've still seen no movement. 358 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,920 And they said, and you talk about promises God gave you 20 359 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,400 years ago. We don't, we can't do that. 360 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:42,320 I appreciated their honesty. I was a little disappointed in 361 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:48,440 their approach, but the fact is you need an anointing to wait. 362 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,760 We need to protect the promises of God. 363 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,480 We need to cultivate those promises because all of our 364 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,640 hearts can become faint. In fact, I would propose to you 365 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:04,000 that the reason we see these two people, Simeon and Anna, run 366 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:09,560 into Jesus along with Mary and Joseph, see Mary as as she's 367 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,680 conceiving by the Spirit. She goes to Elizabeth so 368 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:15,760 Elizabeth can encourage her and mentor. 369 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,440 But once she's given birth to this child, we're kind of going 370 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,560 after Christmas this morning. They go to dedicate Jesus at the 371 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:27,040 temple, and it says that Simeon was stirred by the Spirit that 372 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:28,760 day. He'd been waiting for the 373 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,560 consolation of Israel. What it's saying is he was been 374 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,000 waiting for the Messiah to arrive. 375 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:38,800 And the Lord had told him, you will not die until you lay hands 376 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,920 on the Messiah. He will be born before you die. 377 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:44,680 And that morning it says he was stirred by the Spirit. 378 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,520 The Spirit was upon him and he had been waiting. 379 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,560 He'd been anointed to nurse that promise. 380 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,520 Mary had been pregnant with something, Elizabeth had been 381 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:56,920 pregnant with something. But make no mistake about it, 382 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,800 Simeon had been pregnant with something for a long time and he 383 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,480 was about ready to give birth. A guy giving birth. 384 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,680 Let's just say it guys, most of us couldn't handle that, OK? 385 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,200 But anyways, we honor you women, OK? 386 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,240 So, but Simeon is carrying something, and that morning he 387 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,400 was stirred and he went to the temple and he saw Jesus. 388 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,000 Put that picture up there. Guys, some of you have seen this 389 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:21,840 picture before. I'm not sure. 390 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,560 I don't know if it was by Kincaid or what, but I love that 391 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:28,360 picture and it's Simeon dedicating Jesus. 392 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,320 Look at that tear coming down. This is a man who's carried a 393 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,080 promise for decades. Just keep that up there. 394 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,640 He's he's been carrying this promise for decades. 395 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,920 He'd been anointed to wait. And that morning he woke up and 396 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,480 the Lord said today's the day, go to the temple. 397 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:48,080 And when he saw the baby, listen to what his prayer is this this 398 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,040 so moves me. Listen to this he as it had been 399 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,600 revealed in by the Spirit of God that he would not see death 400 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,200 before he had seen the Lord's Christ and he came in the spirit 401 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,960 into the temple. So he's in the spirit that day. 402 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,360 He's being led by the Spirit. And it says when the parents 403 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:08,200 brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom 404 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,160 of the law, he took him in his arm. 405 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:14,200 So the parents had come to fulfill the the dictates of the 406 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:18,120 law and dedicate their first born son and Simeon. 407 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:19,800 So I mean, you know how people come up. 408 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:21,720 I'm one of those, hey, can I hold your baby? 409 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,200 And people let me usually because I'm a pastor and they 410 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:25,720 trust me and I can I hold your baby. 411 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,440 And so he scoops the baby up and listen to what he says. 412 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,800 This is beautiful. Keep your eyes on that picture. 413 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:36,120 Listen to this, Lord. Now you are letting your servant 414 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,680 depart in peace according to your word. 415 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:41,840 What he's saying is God, I'm ready to die. 416 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:48,280 I have been living for this moment all these decades, and 417 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,680 now I've laid my eyes on the promise. 418 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:55,720 This is what I've been living towards, and I could die a happy 419 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:57,520 man. That's the Dave Olson version. 420 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:05,280 I could die a happy man. You see what Mary was carrying 421 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,920 in a physical pregnancy. There was this couple, Simeon 422 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:10,760 and Anna, independently of one another. 423 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,760 But the Spirit of God ties them together in the narrative. 424 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:15,760 They had been praying this thing through. 425 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,320 They were the father Nash for the finny birth of Jesus. 426 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,240 They had been praying behind the scenes. 427 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,400 God never moves in a vacuum. Anytime you see God do anything 428 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,080 in anybody's life, there's other people involved that you may not 429 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,160 know about. But rest assured, there were 430 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,120 other people paying the price and often it's a generation 431 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,160 previous. Mary was a young version. 432 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:42,160 These two, these two couples were elderly and well along in 433 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,720 years. And the fact is God allowed a 434 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,680 delay in their life so that Mary could enter in early. 435 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,440 So I want to speak to those who are a little longer in years, 436 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:02,440 there might be have been a delay in some of the things you're 437 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:09,240 praying for, but God is faithful and it just may be that you're 438 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,720 paying the price for what the next generation is going to 439 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:14,040 enter into. And that is a noble thing in the 440 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:19,720 Kingdom, man, we are, we are indebted to some people that 441 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:24,520 held the line in this church. It was about 35 years ago now, 442 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,160 they almost closed this church. Heartland was on the other side 443 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,920 of town. There was probably 20, 25 people 444 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:35,920 left and it was, it was a struggling church and we almost 445 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,200 closed and there were a few people that held the line and 446 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,320 many of them have now passed on. There was Bill Culver, he was 447 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,080 here first service. He's still here. 448 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,640 One of the one of the last ones that are still with us, Jerry 449 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:52,040 and Kay Marlowe, they they're still with us. 450 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,240 There was Barb McAfee, who just went to be the Lord a few months 451 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:56,960 ago. But there were, there were 452 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:01,440 people who held the line here and there were they went through 453 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:05,880 some barren years at Heartland and stayed faithful. 454 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,600 And you and I are the recipients of that. 455 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,440 And we are actually reaping the benefit of their laborers. 456 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:17,880 And we're looking in this great thing we got going. 457 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:22,080 Yeah, thanks to them. And we've got to realize that 458 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,320 there's a humility that's required of us to honor the 459 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,320 laborers of those who have gone before us. 460 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,280 There is no such thing as the self-made man, the self-made 461 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,800 organization. There's always people that 462 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:43,360 deserve credit and honor, and it just may be that God has imposed 463 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:47,520 a delay on you so that someone else can break in early. 464 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,960 And they're the ones that that is going to be talked about. 465 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,880 But rest assured, when you get to heaven, there's going to be a 466 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:59,640 shared reward in these things. And so, but we need those 467 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:04,400 Zechariahs and Elizabeths. We need those simians and those 468 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,520 Anas. So listen to what it says here. 469 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,480 He said, Lord, verse 29 Now you are letting your servant depart 470 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,480 in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your 471 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,920 salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all 472 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,560 peoples, a light for revelation for the Gentiles, and glory to 473 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:23,640 all your people. Israel. 474 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,800 And his father and mother marveled at what was said about 475 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,080 him, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, This is heavy. 476 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,600 Behold, this child is appointed for the rising and falling of 477 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,400 many in Israel and for a sign that will be opposed. 478 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,960 And then he mentions this and a sword will Pierce through your 479 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,800 soul as well. So the thoughts of many hearts 480 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,560 will be revealed. He was a man of the spirit that 481 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,640 had been carrying this thing. And just think about that. 482 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,080 This guy, he's not blowing smoke here. 483 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,320 He said, Lord, I'm ready to go home. 484 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,760 This is the moment I've been living for, and now that it's 485 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,280 fulfilled, I can go home. I've finished my assignment. 486 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:11,400 He understood his life, his prayers, his walk with the Lord 487 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,520 was intimately connected to Jesus breaking into human 488 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:16,240 history. And once it was done, he said, 489 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:18,160 I'm ready to go home. I've got my reward. 490 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:20,880 But he's not the only one. Listen to this verse 36. 491 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,560 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Fenuel, 492 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,960 the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, 493 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,480 having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a 494 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,320 virgin. So conservatively speaking, if 495 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:40,080 she got married as an old woman of 20 in Jewish culture, if she 496 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,880 waited till she was 20 and she was married for seven years, she 497 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:50,520 was and her husband died at 27 and now 85, she's had a she's 498 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,560 had decades of seeking the Lord. That's what's going to tell us 499 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,640 now some translations, because the the Greek is a little 500 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,760 unclear. It we don't know if it says she 501 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:06,840 spent 85 years in the temple or if it was 85 years that she was 502 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,480 when, when she blessed the baby, you know, when she blessed 503 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:11,840 Jesus. We don't know. 504 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:15,320 Suffice it to say there's a whole lot of decades going on 505 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:16,960 that she's walking with the Lord. 506 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,240 Listen to what it says of her having lived with her husband 507 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,680 seven years from when for when she was a virgin. 508 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,840 So she was married seven years, and then as a widow until she 509 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:30,760 was 84, she did not depart from the temple worshipping with 510 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,320 fasting and prayer night and day. 511 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:39,400 And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to the 512 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:43,360 Lord and speak of Him to all who are waiting for the redemption 513 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:48,400 of Jerusalem. So both of them, God prompted 514 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:53,040 them to come to the temple that very day so they could lay their 515 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,240 eyes on what they've been praying about, what they've been 516 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,240 fasting for, what they've been going after. 517 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,400 Let me give a shameless plug for the 21 day fast we're going to 518 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:06,960 be going into in January. We've been doing a 21 day fast 519 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:12,280 for I think 2324 years now in January, I want to encourage 520 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,320 everyone of you to pray about what how you should take part in 521 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:21,040 that fasting. Jesus taught in the Sermon on 522 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,240 the Mount. He said when you fast. 523 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,080 He didn't say if you fast, if you decide to be one of those 524 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:27,840 radicals, you know you're going to fat. 525 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,360 No, he didn't say it. He said when you fast, you do it 526 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:34,040 this way. There was an assumption by Jesus 527 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:38,280 himself that those who follow him as disciples would learn to 528 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,960 live the fasted lifestyle, learn to fast from time to time. 529 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:44,560 And so we're going to go into a fast. 530 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,320 It's going to start January 5th. And I really want to encourage 531 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:54,240 you ask the Lord how you should take part in that some form or 532 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,680 fashion. Let's set aside the beginning of 533 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,040 the year and dedicate it to the Lord and say, God, we need to 534 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,760 hear from you afresh. I always, always take note at 535 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,760 the end of January, there's worship, isn't is it's 536 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,200 heightened. There's a potency to the 537 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,120 worship. It's because everybody's coming 538 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:15,640 down to the end of the fast. God wants to speak to us. 539 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,320 Take that time and set it aside for the Lord. 540 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:25,080 It's what Anna did and I believe the reason Anna and Simeon are 541 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:29,520 mentioned is because what the lifestyle they lived was 542 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,160 clearing the way for Jesus to enter human history. 543 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,520 Scripture says it was a Galatians. 544 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,840 I want to say it's chapter 4. Paul writes in the fullness of 545 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,360 time. God brought forth his son born 546 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:43,320 of a woman brought born under the law. 547 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:45,960 It says it's in the fullness of time. 548 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,680 That's a, that's a pregnant phrase right there. 549 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,520 The fullness of time. What is the fullness of time? 550 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,080 What he's saying is that time needs to come to fruition. 551 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,920 The fullness of time. There's the beginning of a time 552 00:30:58,120 --> 00:30:59,920 and then there's the fullness of a time. 553 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:04,000 And when the fullness of the time is met, all the criteria, 554 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,960 all the purposes of that season are met and it triggers into the 555 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,880 next season. And in the fullness of time, God 556 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,840 sent forth his Son and inaugurated an entirely new age. 557 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,480 The Kingdom age was inaugurated then. 558 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:22,640 And now we're living in in between the this present evil 559 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,000 age and the age to come. And we're living in the reality 560 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:27,920 of both. So it's the already and the not 561 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:29,960 yet. There's this battle we live in 562 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,680 right now. But make no mistake about it, 563 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:36,360 the age started then. That's why Peter stood up at 564 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,720 Pentecost. He said this is that in the last 565 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,600 days he's quoting from Joel. He said this is that this is 566 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:46,440 what Joel said in the last days that will pour out of my spirit. 567 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:52,880 The last days began then and you and I are living in that and 568 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,560 we're living. It's already broke in, but there 569 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,920 had to be a fruition. The the fullness of time and God 570 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:03,760 will introduce things into your life and that the time has to 571 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:07,920 come to fruition in the fullness and I would give a little 572 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:13,320 theology of time here. Time from a biblical perspective 573 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,200 is not the hands on a clock or the date on a calendar. 574 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,160 It is the fulfillment of a purpose and so time is either 575 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:25,880 compressed or elongated depending upon the human 576 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:31,160 cooperation with God's will. So a season when the children of 577 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:35,320 Israel came out of that of Egypt, an 11 day journey became 578 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,080 40 years. Why time was elongated because 579 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:44,000 of human disobedience. And so God is looking for those 580 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:45,800 who will enter into his purposes. 581 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:51,080 God is looking for those that take the tragedy in their life, 582 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,400 be it a a Zechariah and Elizabeth. 583 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,480 They didn't get bitter. They didn't understand. 584 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,840 They just, they had a they had a just settled. 585 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:01,720 I guess we're never going to have children. 586 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:06,120 But then one day the Angel shows up and says your prayers from 587 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:09,680 decades ago are still coming before the throne of God and 588 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:14,040 it's time. And they were delayed all those 589 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:14,760 decades. Why? 590 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,000 Because what was going to come from them was going to be 591 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:22,960 something of great impact. Or you have an Anna who this 592 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,120 young young gal, all the hopes and dreams of a young bride, 593 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,600 marries, and seven years into her marriage she loses her 594 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,160 husband. But coming to that fork in the 595 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,000 road, rather than getting bitter, rather than getting 596 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:38,720 frustrated, rather than abandoning her face faith, she 597 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,640 dug in more and she sought the Lord. 598 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:46,400 And God began to use that what she was going through for the 599 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,960 purpose of bringing Jesus into the world. 600 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,080 Many times we don't understand the impact of what we're going 601 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:57,520 through, but it's a matter of keeping the faith and those like 602 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:01,600 my spiritual mother that I told you about, I, I've, I've tracked 603 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:08,679 this over the years often, especially single moms who 604 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:12,840 really go after the Lord. They have an uncommon walk with 605 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:17,639 God because they need it. And rather than getting bitter, 606 00:34:18,199 --> 00:34:22,600 those that choose to seek the Lord, there's this depth to 607 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:27,480 their relationship with God, AW, Tozier famously said one time. 608 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:31,120 It's doubtful that God can ever greatly use a man until he 609 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:35,800 deeply wounds him. What he's saying he's he's not 610 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,400 saying that God just tortures you to see, you know, test your 611 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,199 faith. What he's saying is that there 612 00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:43,080 needs to be a tenderness in our life. 613 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:47,760 And often it's those, those junctures in our life where we 614 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:50,840 go through something, the very thing that makes some people 615 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,000 walk away and say, God, if your friend like that who needs 616 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:57,040 enemies and they get offended, others respond to that and say, 617 00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,200 God, I don't understand this delay. 618 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:02,080 I don't understand this death. I don't understand why this is 619 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:03,600 going. But I know this, I'm going to 620 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:05,880 keep seeking you. I'm going to keep going after 621 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,320 you. And that opportunity for 622 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,720 disillusionment actually is an invitation into revelation and 623 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:14,840 something deep in the heart of God. 624 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:21,240 And God is longing to release things into human history. 625 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,280 But there's always people that have to work behind the scenes. 626 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,040 I don't know if the frustration in your life, I don't know if 627 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,640 the crisis in your life, the spiritual warfare you're going 628 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:35,080 through right now. I don't know if it's because 629 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:37,760 you're going to give birth to something great or you're going 630 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,120 to be one of the players that paved the way for that to 631 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:41,680 happen. But I know this. 632 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:45,640 Not one tear is ever wasted in the Kingdom of God. 633 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:48,920 God will always use the pain you go through. 634 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,480 If you offer it up to Him, He will use it to open things up in 635 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:56,160 the human history. So I just want to encourage you 636 00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:01,040 this morning, don't allow the enemy to cause you to be 637 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,520 disillusioned and frustrated with God. 638 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:06,760 If you are, take it to him and talk it through. 639 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:11,960 Don't turn your back on him because if you will, I'm often 640 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:16,640 some of the greatest revelation, some of the, the, the, the, the 641 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:20,160 the greatest revelation lies right behind what seems to be a 642 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:25,040 contradiction in the Kingdom. And if we'll press in, God will 643 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:28,040 begin to show you and he will give you an uncommon 644 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:31,680 relationship And what comes from you will be an uncommon thing 645 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:35,400 that will actually be the John the Baptist type thing that will 646 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,960 pave the way for Jesus to come afresh. 647 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:42,000 Let's stand. Thanks for listening to our 648 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:43,720 podcast. If you'd like to help more 649 00:36:43,720 --> 00:36:46,320 people hear this message, you can get the word out by 650 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:48,640 subscribing and sharing it on social media. 651 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:51,480 If you'd like to support the ministries of Heartland Church, 652 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:55,240 you can do so at Heartland Church online.com/give.