Transcript: Simeon and Anna's Faithful Pursuit of Jesus [Luke 2:25-38]

Hello there, good morning and good evening and a warm welcome to one and all of you. And I greet you in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As always it gives me a great pleasure and I want to thank God for what we are doing through these short sessions. And it's been a wonderful time so far that we are able to discuss, meditate and contemplate more from the word of God. and these are truly the last days that's the reason we keep on emphasizing one thing for sure that do not waste time in anything else other than word of God I mean to say do not waste your time but invest your time the time you are wasting invest it in the word of God and that's what is going to give you that clarity that's what is going to give you that light so the more you understand this right the more you will know that your life changes. And on the same lines, we are going to talk about two important people. One person's name is Simeon. Turn your Bible with me to the book of Luke, chapter 2, verses 25 to 38 will be our meditation verse. But we are going to specifically talk about two people, and both of them are equally old, Simeon and Anna. In the Old Testament also there is an Anna. but we are not talking about that Anna here, the prophet Samuel's mother. No, this is a different Anna, New Testament Anna. But we will talk about Simeon. And the verse goes like this, Simeon sees God's salvation. Today, many people don't understand the reason for salvation, the meaning of salvation, the purpose why salvation is being given to the mankind. And perhaps that is the important reason why most of the people live in dark, live in deception. If you want to know more about this, take and read Titus chapter 2, verses 13 onwards. If you read, you will understand. There Paul the Apostle describes beautifully the power of salvation. It introduces redemption plan of God. Sorry, it executes the redemption plan of God, the deliverance plan of God. And you and I get that grace of God. and you and I are instilled with that Holy Spirit anointing and gifts and the fruit of the Spirit, everything follows but not without salvation, right? Salvation is equivalent to saving somebody and delivering them from all sorts of bondage, any kind of bondage, bondage of sickness, bondage of disease and poverty problems, right? And pestilence and famine and anything it could be. So, God saves you and me and that's exactly the definition of salvation. But today, you need to understand that without a savior, there is no salvation. Because why? Animals' blood were not able to bring salvation to this world. therefore the son of God himself came and shed his precious blood therefore you and I were purchased for a price Bible says and therefore we belong to him that's what 1 Corinthians 6.20 says he died as a lamb without blemish and therefore you and I have that entrance into the kingdom of heaven into the throne room of God while we live here on earth we get that access to the throne room of God and you and I are able to talk to him as how the son talks to the father Alright Once again I welcome warm welcome to you So we are going to talk about Simeon and the Bible says like this Behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was just and devoid waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him Point to be noted Holy Spirit anointing was not yet given because Jesus is not even was not born now he is born he is a baby He has to be taken up only then the Holy Spirit's anointing is going to be given. but even before Jesus was taken up there were very few people who had the Holy Spirit that was Simeon. Simeon was one of those. Now what does it say is although the pattern is Jesus must be taken up and then the Holy Spirit will be given to everyone God is ready to even to pen the rules and change the pattern Simeon's lifestyle, Simeon's attitude, Simeon's belief Simeon's faith that he will be able to see the Messiah before he's going to be taken off from this world or taken away from this world before he passes away from this world attracts God the Father and therefore the Holy Spirit was sent on him and he was given that waiting you know, the spirit of waiting, right? and the more you wait, you need to be stronger in faith waiting is not at all easy understand this clearly waiting is the most terrible thing that could happen in anyone's life because the more the delay happens, the longer the waiting period, the easier it is for anyone to fall in deception. Yeah, it's not easy. And Simeon, although he waited for a very long time, he's a very old man and he was not at all slipping in faith. Why? Because the Holy Spirit kept him occupied, kept him motivated, kept him inspiring, kept him, you know, with that strong belief that he had in God that he is going to definitely see what he wants to see. This is the principle number one, right? But today you and I do not have any restrictions. The Holy Spirit anointing is given to anyone. Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. They all will receive the anointing. It is given for free. Philippians 2, 10, 11, John 14, 6. He is the life, the way and the truth. If you confess and you accept, that's enough. God says, I will accept it. No problem. Right? What a simple thing, right? But those days, very, very few people, and Simeon was one of those who acquired it with great hard work and struggle and efforts. Right? It did not come for free. That's why you and I don't understand the value. A person like Simeon understand the value a lot. Right? And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. right there was he was a prophet he had the gift of prophecy and revelation from god was given to him and he would not see that before he had seen the lord's christ what does it mean is his petition was always just one and only thing principle number two learn from simeon that when you pray don't talk in stories talk in bullet points right go to the father in heaven maybe fasting prayer no problem Write it down in a paper. Write it bullets. What do you want to see? You know what was in the paper of Simeon whenever he went to the Father's house or synagogue or church? Only one bullet. Want to see Jesus Messiah baby born before I pass away from this world. That's all he wrote. His motive was only that. His objective was only that. His aim was only that. His goal was only that. To see Christ before his death. And God honoured it. and he was being led by the Holy Spirit so he came by the Spirit into the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do him according to the custom of the law he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said yeah the Holy Spirit revealed said this is the Jesus whom you want to see and whom you have been waiting to see and now he is available for you. Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. Yeah, watch this out. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all the peoples. A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. He says this, not only me, the whole land of Israel is going to see the life of salvation. And he was the first person to witness it. He was the first person to receive it. He was the first person to experience it. What a privilege, right? The third principle is, don't you want to be the first person who wants to experience a miracle in your family, at your workplace, in your neighborhood? Don't you want to be that person who is witnessing the light is born, right? The light travels through you, which means what? You will be taken as a blessing by God across the ends of the earth, right? To be his servant, to be his instrument. and you don't have to let that privilege go to anyone. Simeon never let go of that. Why? Because he stuck to that goal. He stuck to that vision. So you and I are given multiple visions by God. But the point here is, are we sticking to the vision? That is the question you and I need to ask to ourselves. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. And then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his brother, blessed Mary his mother, behold this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. He is already prophesying more than that because this child is going to be used miraculously by the father. And all the messianic prophecies also leads towards the direction. He's going to, his words will almost pierce the hearts of the people and all that. Right? And he's talking one more thing. Yes, his sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. You know, what does it mean? The kind of death that Jesus would go through was crucifixion, which was revealed in Genesis 3.15 itself. Lord the Father only told. but Simeon was able to even see what Mary is going to go through during the last moments that Jesus would be hanging on the cross and he will be looking down and imagine the only son son of God she brought it up and she got that privilege he is going to hang naked and in just three nails what a terrible scene it is going to be and he says Mary your heart will be pierced your flesh will be pierced and yes, Mother Mary weeps and Jesus is not able to bear the way how she is weeping and he said, do not be worried even if I am leaving behind another replacement in my place and his name is John the Apostle and they were all blood relations only and Jesus said that and that prophecy is given to Simeon what I am trying to say here is God could use you across the ends of the earth as his instrument, as his servant But for that you need to stick to one objective, one goal, one motive and to the vision which God implanted in your minds and heart. And you shouldn be forgetting that You shouldn be distracted Simeon is a classical example Another example we will see that and we will close is Anna Now there was one Anna a prophetess the daughter of Phanuel the tribe of Asher She was at a great age and lived with a husband seven years from her virginity Seven years from her marriage her husband dies and this woman was a widow of about 84 years. Can you believe? Which means roughly around 56 years she was in the temple. And who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayer day and night. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Now that we close. Now, this woman went through a terrible situation at a very, very young age. Very, very sad. But there are many people who convert their sadness, their grievous moments into something that is fruitful and meaningful for God. It's not easy. It's definitely not easy. In fact, she had gone through a tougher situation than Simeon. Imagine all the years she sits in the feet of the Lord and she was doing only two things. Simeon did one thing. What? I want to see Jesus Messiah before I'm taken away from this earth. And this woman also did one thing, fasting and praying for the redemption of Israel, for the salvation of Israel. Perhaps because of people like these, Jesus was born. Because of prayers that went to heaven from Anna and Simeon, Jesus was born. Today, the lesson that you and I could learn is, you may pray, you may be praying for second coming you may be praying for rapture and all that but more than that you know what prayer God desires, you and I got to pray for the salvation of this world majority of the world, 99% of the world is not saved, that includes many Christians, that includes many believers in Christ, they don't walk according to the word of God, they walk according to the flesh because the pressures of the world choke them and who's going to pray for them, we got to be that Simeons. We got to be that Annas. Yeah? My brothers and sisters. If you are a saved child of God, if you have gone through water baptism, if you have been redeemed and delivered, if God has blessed you, please do not forget your brethren. Yeah? Unbelievers also are your brothers and sisters. My brothers and sisters. Therefore, do not forget to pray like Simeon, to pray like Anna. And only prayers can bring salvation. Only prayers can bring deliverance. And these two people did that religiously. that's the reason Jesus was born. The reason. And they were able to witness that. And you will also be able to witness that while you are living on earth. Even before you are taken up. And God is going to show all that you desire in your heart right in front of your eyes. You need to dream. You need to have big visions for the mankind. Big visions and dreams. I need to build big houses and big cars. Not that. These are all materialistic things. Yeah. Nice to have. Pray about it. God will give. But what for the mankind? What do you want to do for the world? That is lost. That is unsaved. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are very few. Today is your chance. Today is my chance. May God bless you and continue to pray for everyone in the world. And may God bring salvation to every one of us. God bless you. Subscribe to our channel. Get access to all our playlists. We have many videos like these. 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