TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - June 13, 2025 - Faith Friday - The Faith of Mary, the mother of Jesus

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

In today’s Faith Friday edition, we explore the powerful and humble faith of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Through the angel Gabriel’s startling message and her courageous response, Mary becomes a model of obedience and trust in God’s divine plan. Rick and Doc unpack how Mary's “yes” to God exemplifies the heart posture of true discipleship: yielding to the Lord, even when the cost is great and the future is unknown.This episode calls believers to examine their own willingness to surrender to God’s purposes. Mary’s faith wasn't passive—it was brave, active, and anchored in relationship with her Creator. This is a timely reminder that great faith often begins with quiet submission and reverent fear of the Lord.Rick Wiles, Doc Burkhart. Airdate 6/13/25Join the leading community for Conservative Christians! https://www.FaithandValues.comYou can partner with us by visiting https://www.FaithandValues.com/donate, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961.Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!https://www.AmericanReserves.comIt’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today!https://www.amazon.com/Final-Day-Characteristics-Second-Coming/dp/0578260816/Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/final-day-10-characteristics-of-the-second-coming/id1687129858Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. https://www.sacrificingliberty.com/watchThe Fauci Elf is a hilarious gift guaranteed to make your friends laugh! Order yours today! https://tru.news/faucielf

Good morning everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna. It's Friday and that means it's Faith Friday. Every Friday in the year 2025 we are studying the topic of faith and we've learned a lot so far. We're halfway through the year and we've covered a lot of topics. Today we're going to talk about the faith of Mary, the mother of Jesus. We're gonna look at different aspects of Mary's faith. And then, because it's Friday, we always go to the Lord's table for Holy Communion, so we invite you to have bread

and your choice of grape juice or red wine available for the latter part of the service. Anybody in your home, your workplace, wherever you are, anybody who is born again and baptized is welcome to join with us in the Lord's Supper. So, Dr. Burkhardt is here with me and we are going to spend the next hour examining, our examining, discussing, analyzing the faith of Mary. Let's pray. Almighty God, our dear heavenly father, Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ,

our Lord and savior, and we ask that your Holy Spirit give us revelation and understanding and illumination about the faith of Mary, the young woman you chose to bring your son, Jesus Christ into this world as our Savior. We pray in His name, Jesus. Amen. So, Doc, I'm gonna do this differently than our normal morning manna. We usually focus on one group of scriptures. Today I'm gonna probably get maybe five different sets of scripture. So I'm gonna start with Luke chapter one,

verses 26 to 38. So I'll have you read those scriptures and then we'll discuss it and then we'll move on to the next one. What I'm trying to do is I'm gonna be moving through several books, the book of Luke and the book of Matthew, looking at verses that talk about Mary.

We're trying to get a painting of Mary's faith, just focusing in on her faith, not all the other things that took place in these scriptures. Just let's look for examples of her faith. Amen. So Luke one 26 through 38. All right, and I'm reading from the King James this morning

here on Faith Friday. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin, a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in under her and said, Hail thou that are highly favored, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said under her, Fear not, Mary,

be. And the angel said under fear not Mary for thou hast found favor with God. And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and he shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, saying, I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God and behold thy cousin Elizabeth she hath also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was

called barren for with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word, and the angel departed from her. God bless the reading of his word today. Amen. Excuse me. So we are searching for examples of Mary's faith. We'll start with verse 28, and the angel came into her and said, Hail, thou that are highly

favored the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. Rejoice, you highly favored one. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women." So this is known as the, this is the Annunciation, the angelic visitation to Mary. And so we see God's direct intervention. He sends an angelic messenger to Mary. The angel signifies that this is a divine mission. And what we're looking for here is how did Mary respond? Verse 2, the angel says, hell, thou art highly favored.

So clearly the angels letting Mary, this young, very young woman, possibly late teens, early 20, and the angel saying, I'm bringing a message from heaven, you are highly favored by God. and the Lord is with you and You are blessed among women Imagine receiving this kind of a of a greeting from an angel, right? First of all an angel. It's an angel then

My god, yes, it's not a angel. It's an angel. Then an angel chosen by God. It's not a prophet, it's an angel. So then we get to verse 29. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. In other words, she was perplexed and like, what kind of greeting is this? Why would an angel from heaven greet me with words of saying, I'm highly favored among women? Where's

this conversation going? It's already started You know beyond her comprehension, where does it go from there? So when she saw him, okay see Mary's is seeing an angel. She's not having a vision. She sees an angel, right? He's standing there She was troubled at this saying. Now we're getting into the faith part. She had unease. She was, there's not unbelief here. There's no fear. She's obviously not comfortable.

She's at unease. Okay? So the word says troubled greatly troubled She was troubled by his saying at his saying She startled She doesn't want to do she doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know how to react react to what he's saying what he just said to her this angel and She cast into her mind. What manner of salutation should this be. Then the angel said to her, this is verse 30, fear not Mary, for you have found favor with God.

The very first thing the angel says to her after the salutation is, don't be afraid. Banish fear. Do not be afraid. Right. Listen to me. I have a message for you. So, Mary, Mary did not respond to the angel saying,

this is crazy. I don't know what's going on around here. angel saying, this is crazy. I don't know what's going on around here. You know, she didn't panic. She didn't have a panic attack. Then we get to the part where the angel tells her, hey, you're going to have a baby. And the baby is going to be the savior of the world. Yes.

I mean, again, the conversation started out at an extreme level with an angel saying, you're blessed among all women. Now he's telling her,'re gonna have a baby and This baby is going to be the Savior of the world and he's God's going to give him the throne of

David Yes You shall conceive in your womb and bring forth the son and call his name Jesus. He shall be great. He shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and his kingdom shall have no end." There's a lot in there. I mean, there's a whole morning man a lesson just in that sentence. But we're focusing on Mary's faith.

Then Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? That's a very polite English way of saying, I've never had sex with anyone. How could I be pregnant and have a baby? right a legitimate question It is a legitimate question She's saying how shall this be since I'm a virgin Again she didn't say this is crazy. I don't believe it. You're talking out of your head

She's Again, she didn't say, this is crazy. I don't believe it. You're talking out of your head. She said, how shall this be? Her question was not a statement of unbelief or disobedience. It was an honest statement from a pure hearted young woman who was essentially told the angel, I desire to believe, but my mind cannot comprehend your words because I'm a virgin. How could I have a baby?

Please help me understand. See, if she had unbelief, no faith, she would have said, you're talking crazy. You can't have a baby without sex. I'm a virgin. How can I have a baby? Go get out of here. Go spread this nonsense to somebody else. I've got common sense.

She didn't she didn't respond like that. She didn't say, I cannot accept your words. They defy logic. No. Instead, she kept listening. But think about, think about Zechariah. Think about Zechariah. Just a few verses up in the first chapter of Luke. So she goes, how shall this be? She's asking a legitimate question. She's accepting the Word of the Lord, but stating,

I don't understand it. She's not saying I reject it or I disbelieve. This is the point I want you to see. She's not saying I disbelieve, I reject it. She's saying, I accept it, but I don't understand it. Here's the lesson with faith. Times God is going to ask you to do something that you cannot mentally comprehend how it can be done. And it's okay to say to God, I believe you, but I don't understand it. How can this be? Tell me Lord, how can this be? How can this be since I have not known a man? I've not had sex with a man. How can I get pregnant? It's impossible. So I mentioned Zechariah. Did I say Zechariah earlier? Zechariah. I meant Zechariah.

Zechariah is in Luke chapter 1 and you go to you look at verses 18 through 20. So Doc, would you read that Luke one, 18 through 20? Yes. So, in Zechariah said unto the angel, that being Gabriel, whereby shall I know this? For I'm an old man and my wife well-stricken in years. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, but stand in the presence of God, and since speak unto thee, and show thee these glad tidings. And

behold, thou shalt be dumb, not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season." What a contrast here. Yes, so this is in the same chapter, Luke chapter 1. Same angel, same angel too. Same angel. Before the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he made a stop at the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth to announce the birth of John the Baptist. Well, Elizabeth wasn't a virgin, but she was an old woman. And so you get the

same thing. How could this be? I'm past childbearing age. My womb is barren. Elizabeth didn't say these things. Her husband did. Right in the Holy of Holies, he said. To the angel Gabriel. He's talking to angel Gabriel and speaking words of unbelief. Zacharias didn't say, oh I believe the word of the Lord but I don't understand it. Help me understand. My wife is old. You say she's gonna have a baby. I believe you. But how could she have a baby? She's very old see if he had said those words Gabriel would have said Zach chill out I'm gonna tell you how this is gonna happen kind of like that I don't know exactly those words but that's not how Gabriel responded because Zacharias did not respond with faith.

He responded with unbelief, with doubt. And what happened to Zacharias? What was the penalty for speaking words of doubt and unbelief? He became mute until the time that John was born. The angel struck him, shut his mouth, could not open his mouth. You spoke and believe so you're not going to speak anything else until the child was born. God fulfills what he just said he's going to do.

what he just said he's gonna do. Are words important? Is the way that we respond to God important? You better believe it. Yeah. You better believe it. Unbelief can get you in a lot of trouble. Doubt and unbelief can get you in a lot of trouble. Because you know why? What you're saying to God is, I don't believe you. Well, you, that's saying

you're lying. Yes. Zechariah was literally saying to Gabriel, you're a liar. And by extension, God was lying. Right. Look at my old wife here. She's not gonna have a baby. You're crazy. Look at me. Yeah, look at me. This isn't gonna happen. And he's standing in the Holy of Holies in the temple. There can't be a more sacred place in the temple than the Holy of Holies. a more sacred place in the temple than the holy of holies. So Mary questioned the angel without doubting. Right. Questioning is permitted.

Doubting is not permitted. People talk about blind faith. Look, God doesn't expect you to be blind in anything. It gave you a brain. It's okay to say to God, I believe you, but I don't understand it. I can't comprehend it. Help me. Her believing obedience was evident in her question.

She sought clarification. She did not express doubt. She requested clarification. Mary's faith accepted a humanly impossible feat, giving birth to a child without having sexual relations with a man. She accepted it. Right.

But she didn't understand it. Those are two different things. In other words, she was saying, well, what's gonna happen next? Yes, how does this happen? How does this work? Whereas Zechariah was saying, this ain't gonna happen. Precisely. So she said, I am the Lord's servant.

Yes. Hallelujah. That was willful submission to God. I am the Lord's servant. She submitted. Again, I don't understand it. I can't comprehend it. I can't explain it. But I submit to your will. Her consent was an act of faith. And and her faith was grounded in humility and her faith was a full surrender. I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled. Yes. Let your word be done, Lord. Total surrender to God's will. Let your word be done, Lord. Total surrender to God's will. St. Augustine said, called her faith, called Mary's faith, the door through which salvation

entered the world. Think about that. Mary's faith was the door through which salvation entered the world. What would have happened had Mary said, I don't believe it, I don't want any of this. God had to find a woman who had faith. Mary's faith was the bridge between the old covenant and the new covenant. Amen. The early church taught that Mary's womb was the Ark of the Covenant. Yes.

That she, in her womb, carried the New Covenant. Her womb was the Ark of the New Covenant. Mary's language was the language of faith. She didn't have to muster up the right words. Language was the language of faith. She didn't have to muster up the right words. Faith was her way of life. Humble, obedient, faithful. A simple trust in God's promise.

Even when the promise was mysterious. How could there be a virgin birth? Who had heard of such a thing? Isaiah did. Yes. He prophesied about it. Maybe Mary thought about that. Could this be what the prophet Isaiah said? So Mary's response is a pattern of submission, of complete faith. It is an example to us to have complete faith in God's word. Mary didn't have the new covenant Bible in front of her.

It hadn't been written yet. She was in the process of being a star actress in the new covenant Bible. There was nothing there for her to look at other than the old covenant scriptures. But she had complete faith in the God of Israel. So she not only is the mother of Jesus Christ, she's the mother of all faithful.

Yes. We need to look to her as the example. Just as we have Father Abraham, you've got Mother Mary, both examples of faith. Abraham in the old covenant, Mary in the new covenant. So her faith is a model for all Christian believers. And contrasts Mary's obedience with Eve's disobedience. What happened in the Garden of Eden?

Eve did not believe the word of God. Right. Now we have the new Eve, Mary. Irenaeus, one of the church leaders of the second century, he called mary the new eve. So now doc, I want you to turn to Luke 1 verses 46 to 55. Yes. This is Mary's song of praise. Yes and notice that this song is all scripture. All of it is scripture and listen what she says here starting at verse 46. And Mary said, My soul does magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden for we hold henceforth

all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation he hath showed strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things

and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. And he spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. All scripture there, by the way. Yes. So Mary burst out into a song of praise.

This is a divine a divinely written poem inspired by the Holy Spirit inside Mary. But she's singing of her faith in God. She's singing about her faith in God's faithfulness. faith in God's faithfulness. She's saying, I have faith that His promises are already fulfilled. She obviously, as Doc said, it's all scripture, so Mary knew scripture.

Right. And it's an echo of Hannah's song in 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter two. So it is a song of praise, a song of faith. She's foretelling, she's singing her faith. That's the message I'm trying to get across in these verses. Mary sang her faith. It was a song of faith. And she prophetically foretold about God's kingdom that was coming through the sun she was going to bring to birth.

Yes. This is a hymn of faith, and she's proclaiming that she believes it, affection for God. She exalts, her faith exalts the praises of God that he is certain to fulfill his promises. Have you ever read the scriptures and seen faith? She's singing faith. Yes. faith. She's singing faith. Yes. That whatever the Lord says shall come to pass. She's so confident about it. She breaks out in song. Now, Doc, let's go to Matthew chapter 2, just several verses, verses 13, 14, and 15. This is about the flight of the Holy Family, Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child, leaving Israel and fleeing to Egypt. Matthew 2, verses 13 to Egypt. Matthew 2 verses 13 to 15. And when they were departed, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy

him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt. And was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken out of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son? the angel warns Joseph. I mean the Christ child has been born. Now an angel warns Joseph to flee to Egypt because Herod is killing the children in Palestine. You've got a crazy You've got a crazy Jewish emperor killing children. Not even a true Jew. Yeah, he was, it wasn't a real full-blooded Jew. He was an imposter and he's killing the children. And the angel says to Joseph in a dream, get your wife and your child and you need to get to,

you've got to go to Egypt right now. Where's, first of all, okay, Egypt, we're not talking here, if you're an Israelite, being told to go to egypt Definitely require faith because egypt and israel did not have good diplomatic relations They were enemies So imagine um, god tells you uh, you need to flee to cuba You need to flee to china. You need to flee to China, go to China right now.

You're like, what? Yes, that's where you're gonna find safety. How can I find safety in a country of enemies? I'm gonna hide you there. You see the faith that was required. First of all, Joseph had to believe the angels dream. Yes. Mary had to believe her husband.

And so the journey it represents, it fulfills Hosea chapter 1 out of Egypt. I called my son, but it's also an echo of Exodus. Except it's in reverse. They're leading Israel and going to Egypt. Yes, for the protection of the child. And the child is Israel's deliverance. And the child is Israel, according to Hosea 11.1. That's right.

Hosea 11.1 says, when Israel was a child, then I left him and called my son out of Egypt. Yes, the child is Israel. So the two countries were not friends. Mary's obedience required profound trust and faith in God. It was not an easy journey, it wasn't a safe journey. It was a perilous journey, but Mary's faith, her faith was, if God told us to go there,

then we will be safe. So Mary, as a believer, trusted God, and as a wife wife trusted her husband. She had to believe that Joseph was guided by angels and so she had to cooperate with her husband. Now, what if Mary had become stubborn and proud and said to Joseph, hey, I'm the one having the miracle baby, not you. I'm in charge here. I should receive the angelic dreams and visitations. I'm not listening to you, Joseph.

I'm favored among all women. He didn't say you're favored among all men. I'm favored. It's not about you, Joseph. Yeah, Joseph, it's not about you at all. You're lucky to be married to me. Imagine she talked like that. lucky to be married to me." Imagine she talked like that. Now she humbly trusted her husband to follow God's leading. All this had to fit together. This wasn't easy on Joseph either. I mean he's got a he's got a baby that isn't his He's he he's got he's got a wife that an angel has visited and said hey you

You're the top woman in all the world You got a miracle baby and now the king of of of judah is trying to kill the child. So all of this required faith. None of this was easy. They departed Israel and entered a foreign country for the sake of the child. So Mary's role was to be a faithful steward of the child that was going to bring about God's redemptive plan for humanity. As I said, the journey was dangerous.

It was arduous, it was perilous. They're in an enemy country, and yet they went there in faith by faith. And Mary trusted divine guidance amidst danger. She reasoned in her soul and said, if God is sending us there, He will protect us. Isn't this amazing that sometimes God hides you among your enemies? How does that work? Wait a minute, I thought the purpose here is to get us away from our enemies. And God says, no, I'm going to hide you among your enemies. Trust me, the Egyptians, they're nicer to you than Herod, the Jew.

So Mary and Joseph were obedient. They followed God's command immediately without hesitation, without questioning. There was submissive faith. And it was practical obedience. She aligned herself with God's instructions and carried out the angels' instructions. There was faith and practicality. Now, Doc, let's go to Luke chapter 2, verses 41 through 52. And this is about Jesus in the temple as a boy. He's now 12 years old.

And this is the incident in the temple where Mary and Joseph can't find their child. Right. All right. So picking up in Luke chapter 2 verse 41, now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus carried behind, and Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing

him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him, son, why hast thou dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought the sorrowing. He said unto them,

how is it that ye sought me? Wish ye not that I must be about my father's business? They understood not the same which he spake unto them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man."

OK, so every parent, every grandparent, you know, you know the absolute fear, panic that comes upon you when you can't find a child. Yes. Where is my child? Even when it's only a minute, it seems like forever, you can't find the child. All of a sudden you realize, I've lost sight of the child. I don't know where the child's at.

You're out in the crowd, and suddenly the child disappears. You're terrified. Has the child been kidnapped? Has the child been injured? Where is my child? So we understand Mary's panic and of course Joseph's also. And the boy is gone for three days. Not three minutes or three hours, three days. Imagine today you go to the police department to report a missing child and the officer says,

how long has your child been missing? And you say, three days. What reaction are you gonna get from the policeman? Three days? You're just showing up now? After three days? But back then they didn't have a police department to go to and report a missing child. But you got to know that they were, so they traveled in caravans to Jerusalem every year. You gotta know, they went to every tent,

every camel stop, everybody, and saying, have you seen Jesus? Have you seen him? Is he with you? Is he playing with your kids? Where is Jesus right now? And you've got to know as a mother, that tension every quick time you ask and you can't find

your child, that stress and that tension is increasing. Yes. So they finally find a boy, the Savior Jesus Christ, and what does she say? Why have you treated us like this? Why have you treated us like this? She didn't rebuke him. She didn't punish him. She didn't take off her shoe and beat him. She's like, Son, why have you treated us like this?

We've been looking for you for three days with sorrow. We've been looking for you for three days with sorrow. Her patience is actually an example of faith. There was faith in her patience. She knows that this child is unique, he's different. I don't know if she understands at this point, this is the Son of God. It means she knows the Holy Spirit is the one who came upon her. I don't know if her human mind could comprehend all these things. This is 12 years later. Right. Right now he's her boy.

He's a 12 year old son. Why have you done this to us? And yet she- In that moment, he's her child, not the son of the Most High, not the son of David. He's Jesus, her baby boy. Yes. That's right. It's a little Jesus, all right. But then it says, she treasured all these things in her heart.

Yes. The response of Jesus. Why are you panicking? I'm just about my father's business. Well, he's not talking about my father's business. Well, he's not talking about Joseph, stepfather. He's talking about his heavenly father. I'm here at the temple studying the Word of God, or at the synagogue. I'm here studying the Word of God. I'm about my father's business. And she treasured all of these sayings. The treasuring of these sayings and these events reflects her faith.

Her faith is in this. Her faith treasured, her faith said, there's something different about this child. I'm gonna hold onto this and think about it and ponder it and remember it. I'm confused yet there's something different about this child. So the treasuring of these unusual events was actually a work

of her faith. And she's actually growing in faith. Her faith is developing. Remember this woman, I mean we go back to the beginning and an angelic meeting says you're gonna have a baby. Look at all the things that happened. The wise men who came and presented gifts. The mysterious star light in the sky above Bethlehem. the mysterious star light in the sky above Bethlehem. The shepherds, everything. The shepherds. Look at all the things she treasured these things.

What does this have to do with our faith? There are things that will happen to you. There are mile markers. There are these timestamps in your journey. Remember them. Write them down. Journal them. Ponder these things.

Over time, you start to see the bigger picture. Without faith, you just dismiss it. Oh, that was weird. Now, Mary knew it wasn't weird. It was unusual, but not weird. Her faith said, hold on to this. Hold on to these sayings. Hold on to these events, these unusual things,

and ponder it and pray and think about these things. And it made her faith grow over time. So by the time that her little baby boy is now 33 year old man and he's nailed on a cross, she's starting to understand why she was chosen to bring this child into the world. But it took a lifetime. It took decades for her to get to that point.

Her faith was growing, it was maturing. She was pondering divine mysteries over time. So again, we see faith. Pondering faith is good. Meditating on things is good to understand what's taking place. It develops, it builds your faith. Now, I've got two more examples before we close. Let's go to the wedding at Cana. This is John chapter two verses one through five.

All right, and this John chapter two verses one through five for those following on with us here today. And I'm reading, And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother said unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, Do it." All right, so this is a Mary's faith prompted Jesus to do his first miracle ahead of time. He did it for his mama. You can't get around this. It was not his time to do the miracles, but for his mother he did it. Yes. He was like, Mom, Mom, this isn't the time yet to do this. But Mary's faith, see, her faith was growing.

He's now an adult. They're at a wedding. They've run out of wine. The wedding host has run out of wine. This is not Mary's party. She's a guest. But she feels... She feels pain for the host. Because she knows they're going to be embarrassed. They're out of wine. The party, people are going to break up and go home.

I feel sorry for them. What can I do? Oh, my son. Well, there's not been any miracles yet. Right. She didn't, she didn't have a list of miracles to say oh yeah I remember he did this this and this. No. Yeah she didn't have a wine miracle to pull out of the bucket. Right. But she knew. But she had faith. Amen. Her concern for the wedding party's host, her sensitivity to their situation, prompting her faith to act. Yes. Hallelujah. She activated her faith in her son, who she's never seen do a miracle yet but she's

catching on. He is the Savior. He is the Messiah and her sensitivity to her friends who invited her to a party, she wants to make sure they're not embarrassed, they're not hurt by running out of wine. Maybe they didn't have enough money to buy more wine. She just feels for them. And she's like, what can I do? Well, she doesn't have the money to go to the wine store and get more wine, but she's got a son.

And she knew by this point in his life, my son can make wine. It really is amazing. Her faith at this stage of her life. She called upon her son to use his power to restore the honor of the party host. Yes. Jesus says to her mom,

please mom, come on. It's a woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour has not yet come. Imagine, here's a 30 year old son looking at his mom saying, woman, what are you asking me to do, woman? And she doesn't answer him. Instead, she turns to the service and says, do whatever he says do.

Now that's a mother. She didn't even engage her son in this conversation. Her faith was so strong now, she turned to the service and says, just do whatever he says do. And Jesus is like, I don't have any, I've got to do this. My mother, my mother has gotten me into this situation. I have to do this miracle for her. He's happy to do it. He's amazed at his mother. He's not angry with her. But he did

say to her, Mom, woman, what do I have to do with this? This is not my hour. It's not time yet for my miracles. I've got to do some things yet before I start doing miracles. You're getting ahead of the script. You're jumping into the next scene of this play. But you're my mom. And mom, and Mary, this little Jewish mother, looks at the servants and says, just do whatever he tells you to do. That's faith. Right. So he didn't just respond to her because Mary was his mother, but Jesus responded to her faith.

Yes. That's what we want to Jesus responded to her faith. Yes. That's what we want to get across to you here. It's not about, yeah, I know Mother Mary was there, but it's not about that. It's not about that mother-son relationship. It's about faith. She knew Jesus had the answer to this situation. She knew it.

Whatever he says to you, do it. this situation. She knew it. Whatever he says to you, do it. She had directive faith. Her faith gave an instruction. Her faith spoke to others and said, do what the Lord says do. She had directed faith. It wasn't passive faith, she gave instructions. She gave instructions to other humans and said, I have faith in Jesus Christ, he's going to do a miracle, you do whatever he tells you to do.

Amen. Maybe she was thinking of a widow with the oil. Hey, go get some pots. He'll fill it up with wine. This is the Son of God. is the Son of God. Her faith is alive at this point. It has grown over years and years and years. She's been pondering these things for many years. And she finally came to a conclusion after pondering for decades, that young man is the Son of God. He's more than my boy. He's the Son of God. He's the Messiah. He's the Savior. And her perception of Jesus had changed. And all she knew was I put my faith in him and I tell people do whatever he says to do amen there are times that you and I need to tell people around us just do what God says to yes I'm not gonna have a

discussion here about this just do obey the Lord do do what he says to. Now one more story from the Bible and this is John 19, just two verses, John 19 verses 25 or three verses 25, 26, and 27. Yes, so that's John chapter 19 verses 25 through 27 as you're following along with this here taking notes. Verse 25 chapter 19 gospel of John, Now they're stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister Mary the by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home." Yes. So now Mary's faith stands by Jesus while others flee. Yes. This is now a mother's faith. She's not going to leave her son. Her faith was unshaken by the shame of the cross.

Let me repeat that. Her faith was unshaken by the shame of the cross. Her presence fulfilled the prophecy of a sword piercing her soul Her faith enduring sorrow There are times the enemy Satan will pierce your soul your faith will Will be wounded There are times your faith will be wounded There are times your faith will be wounded. There are times you will hurt when you are standing in faith.

There are times there is sorrow as you stand in faith. But her faith was steadfast. her son in agony. The child she gave birth to. Yes. So, we see tremendous faith in Mary's presence at the cross. The men were gone except John. Jesus hanging on the cross made provision for his mother's care. This amazes me. Yes. He says to Mary, he looks at John, he says,

Mary, mother, here's your son. He looks at John, he says, John, here's your mother. Hanging on the cross, Jesus made provision for his mother's physical care he appointed John as her caretaker saying John I need you to take care of It's an amazing scene. It is. Amazing scene. And the last thing I want to say about Mary and her faith. who held Jesus in her arms as a baby and held her adult son in her arms at death. Yes. She took Jesus, when they brought him down from the cross, she took him into her arms.

She's a mother. This is the baby boy she held at Bethlehem. Mary is the only human of all humanity who held Jesus at birth and death. It is a testament to her motherhood and to her faith and to her faithfulness that she stayed with her son. This is a different style of teaching Faith Friday. I felt like there are lessons in Mary's life that we can learn from her. We can learn about faith. Her faith grew.

It matured. It started at the angelic visit where she said, I believe but I don't understand. It ends at the cross and she's saying, I believe but I don't understand. How, God? Why is my son on this cross? But you know, Rick, her story didn't end there. She was there at Pentecost, too. I know. I know. So she had faith in the resurrection of Christ as well. And if you believe the legends, the church legends, she co-founded the first church in

England. She traveled. She took her son's message, the gospel, and traveled to other nations and established churches. The Bible doesn't tell us anything else about Mary. Joseph just completely disappeared. He'd gone. He exited way earlier.

Mary, I mean, we don't know anything else about her. Yeah, after Pentecost, we don't know anything. How long does she live? What age was she when she died? Where did she go? We know that John took care of her, but where did she live? What places did she visit? Can you imagine 25 years after the cross,

and you are a young believer, let's say in Ephesus or Rome, and the pastor says, our honored guest today is Mary. Mary, would you please stand up and let us recognize you? Can you imagine that? Wow. But her faith, her faith was pure. Even though she didn't understand, she submitted and believed.

That's the message I want you to have today. Now, Doc, we need to go to the Lord's table for communion. Yes. So, and I hope that you are encouraged by this message of faith in the life of Mary today. And I hope that you take these lessons and apply them in your own life. As Rick said, we are going to the Lord's table at this time. So if you would prepare the elements of the Lord's table that we're going to ask a blessing on it here in just a moment. And the elements of the Lord table bread and either red wine or grape juice. Who may participate? Well, if you're a confessing believer in Jesus Christ and you've been baptized in water according to scriptures in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, then you're qualified to receive the Lord's table. And we encourage you to do so. Why do we do this?

Because we are a church. We're a body of believers. And as a body of believers, we participate in the Lord's Supper as all churches should. All bodies of believers should. And so we encourage you to participate. Don't neglect the Lord's table. This is an important part of our faith and our walk with the Lord. So don't neglect this part. I'm going to ask Rick right now if he'd pray for us. You know, our Faith Fridays, it always seems that I have to ask the Lord, Lord, help my unbelief, help my faith. and once again here in the life of Mary, you just see her total abandonment to trusting God. Just forget everything else, but just trusting God that He's going to do what He promised that He would do.

And so Rick, would you pray for us right now about those sins of omission, especially, but even those sins of commission that may have taken place in our lives? Let's approach the Lord's table with pure hands and a pure heart today. Would you pray for us? Yes. Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Father, we come to you as your sons and daughters. We are living in fleshly bodies, Father. And you already know that we are subject to temptation

and sins and weaknesses. Father, we confess our sins to you and we repent and we ask for forgiveness. Father, we thank you for your mercy and your goodness. Help us to overcome and to live a clean righteous life that pleases you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. We're going to pray a blessing over the bread and the cup here at this time.

And so if you have those ready, let's pray together. Almighty God in your tender mercy, you gave the only begotten Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption. He offered himself and made once for all time a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. And he instituted this remembrance of his passion

and death, which he commanded us to continue until he comes again. So Father, we ask you to bless and sanctify with your word and Holy Spirit these gifts of bread and wine that we may partake of his most blessed body and blood. Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed once for all upon the cross. Let us therefore keep the feast. Hallelujah. On the night that he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, take eat. This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ was given for you. Preserve your body and soul to everlasting life.

This is the bread of heaven. Take and eat in remembrance that Christ died for you. After supper, Jesus took the cup and when he'd given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink this all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you, and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for you, preserve your body and soul to everlasting life. Drink the cup of salvation and remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for you and be thankful. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world, and blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the

Lamb. This sacrament is the gift of God for the people of God. Feed on Him by faith with thanksgiving that Christ died for you. Praise God. Hallelujah. So, Doc, on this Faith Friday, we just participated in a religious ritual that is based on faith. Jesus gave the bread to his disciples and said, this is my body eat. He gave the cup of wine and said this is my blood drink. In the natural realm it's bread and wine. Yes. him by faith. You said it in the liturgy, feed on him by faith. Yes.

People participate in faith Friday, we are participating in a ancient ritual that is based on faith. Absolutely. And our faith is, Jesus said, if you eat my flesh and drink my blood, I shall raise you up on the last day. There's your faith. Right. And you will be resurrected on the last day. And theologians down through the ages have tried to explain it, tried to give it a name, tried to do, you know, say, well, it's this, it's transubstantiation, it's consubstantiation, it's all these things. No, no, no. You are missing it. Don't think about the how of it, but the why of it. The why of it is faith. That's the why. That's at the heart of it right there.

Faith is what changes it. Faith is what changes every circumstance. And that faith is what changes every circumstance. And our faith is directed towards the promise of Jesus that you read in the book of John, if you eat my flesh and drink my blood, I will raise you up on the last day. You will be resurrected. Our faith, what we just enacted in re-enacting the Lord's Supper, okay, we just said we have faith that we will be resurrected on the last day, on the final day. Why? We have faith in what Jesus said.

And our faith was obedient. We carried out an act that our mind doesn't understand. Yes. My mind says, how could this bread and wine be the flesh and blood of Christ? I don't know. My faith says it is. And my faith says, Jesus promised I will be resurrected on the last day. That's what we do on Faith Friday.

Amen. Hallelujah. What a privilege. What a privilege. Well, we appreciate you joining us here on today's edition of Morning Manna and in particular this Faith Friday. And we want to encourage you you get alone with the Lord this weekend. Find some time to just bask in His presence, listen to the still small voice of God yelling at you. That still small voice trying to get your attention. He's got something to say to you and it usually involves

some act of faith on your part and so we want to encourage you, listen for the voice of the Lord. And in listening for the voice of the Lord, would you not hesitate to pray for us and pray for this ministry as well on a regular basis and lift us up before the Lord that the Lord will keep us on track to what he desires us to do and to accomplish everything he's called us to do. You're our partners in this. You're our faithful friends, our partners in this ministry, and we need your prayers now more than anything else. And we love you, we appreciate you. You're our church, and we love our church, we love our people. And we just want to encourage you to continue to grow in the Lord.

Rick, any final words before we depart for this week? Why does God always desire us to activate our faith? Because faith is an expression of our trust in Him. Yes. It's as simple as that. Faith is an expression of trust in God and in His Word. He desires us to trust Him, to believe Him. That's what faith is about.

We're expressing our trust and belief in Him and His Word. Praise God. Okay. All right. We'll see you on Monday. God bless you. We love you. We'll see you Monday.