In this sermon, the speaker focuses on Luke chapter 8, which contains three parables and four miracles. The main theme is that Jesus is the friend of all mankind, particularly those who are receptive and believe in Him. The speaker emphasizes the importance of trusting God even when it seems like He is not working for us. The sermon explores the story of Jesus calming the storm on the lake, highlighting how Jesus's power over nature demonstrates His authority and the need for faith. The sermon also briefly mentions the upcoming miracles involving demons, disease, and death, which further develop the theme of faith.

There we go. I'd like to remind myself, so I'll just do it out loud so we can all share. And that is, when we come to the Bible, though it is a human book, no question about it, we need academics, we need scholarship, we need to know what a paragraph is and a word is and relationships. But it's also a divine book. And God has promised if we would come as little children that he would reveal to us and minister to our hearts. So I'll invite you to join me again in prayer and we'll commit our time unto the Lord. Our Father, we thank you for this precious book. And Lord, we come to it and we acknowledge that on our own we don't get past the words, we don't see your heart. But we thank you that you guide our meditations and our thoughts and you do incline our hearts to fear your name. And so we just pray this morning that we might really be detached from all of the affairs and cares of our lives in these moments. That we might focus together again in a refreshing way upon our dear Lord Jesus. We thank you that we can trust you to minister unto every heart because we gather in your name and we just trust your Holy Spirit. So we give our little study, our time to you in the matchless name of our Lord. I'll ask you to turn please to Luke chapter 8 if you would. The Gospel of Luke chapter 8 and I'll sort of summarize a little bit. We're way too deep into the book to make summary practical. If you have missed any of the lessons and are interested, you know Lillian. We take them here and Lillian makes copies so if you just let her know she'll be glad to give you those tapes. We've been discussing the first nine chapters of the book of Luke. Which covers basically at least from chapter 4 on what we call the Galilean ministry of our Savior. And in this particular section he's more of a doer than a sayer. He is certainly a teacher and he teaches all through the book. But Luke has divided the material in such a way that first he does and then he says. He's grouped the material. And so in this first part there are many miracles and he reaches out to the oppressed and so on. And then he moves to the parable where he begins to teach us. So we've called him, since the whole book describes him as the son of all mankind. In the Galilean ministry we've divided it up as the friend of all mankind, the doer. And then the teacher of all mankind. We're in this section, sort of a transition really, between his Galilean ministry and his Judean ministry. We've come to chapter 8 and I told you last time one way to remember this chapter. Is that it contains three parables and four miracles. I tried to relate that to the fact that Luke is ramping up the message. He's homing in, he gets closer and closer. For example, the whole book says he's the son of all mankind. And then we've been looking at he's the friend of all mankind. But last week we were introduced to the parables. He describes who mankind is. Yes, he's the friend of all mankind but the parable of the sower teaches us he's the friend of all receptive mankind. To the good soil, those that want him, those that are open to him. And so he keeps nailing down closer and closer. Son of all mankind, friend of all mankind, friend of all receptive mankind. But then we need to know who is receptive. And so he begins then to explain in the parables and the miracles. To be a receiver means to be a believer. And then of course, what is faith? And so he keeps getting down more and more. And then these four miracles. First of all, the parables. We have in 4-15, the parable of the sower. In verse 16-18, the parable of light. And then in verses 19-21, the illustration of the family. We'll look at that this morning. And then we move to the miracles. And he describes again, he's developing faith for every man, woman, and child. The first miracle is on a man, verses 22-25. The second miracle is on, or rather, 26-39. And then in verse 40-48, a woman, the one who reaches out, touches his garment. And then 49-56, a little girl, Jairus' daughter. And all of this is introduced by the great miracle of the stormy sea, which introduces faith. So let me just summarize that. He's the friend of all mankind. He's the friend of all receptive mankind. Receptive mankind are those who believe. Every man, woman, and child who believes. And so he keeps narrowing it down so we know exactly who Jesus is. Before I give the principles of the wonderful verses, I'm going to ask you to follow along as we read from verse 19-21, the visit of his family. And his mother and his brothers came to him, and they were unable to get to him because of the crowd. It was reported to him, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wishing to see you. But he answered and said to them, my mother and my brother are those who hear the word of God and do it. Now before we look at the miracle, I want to say a few things about this particular visit of his family. I don't know if you're familiar with the question, and I don't like to be dogmatic on things the Bible's not dogmatic on. But you may have heard this or thought about it. The question is, did our Lord Jesus have literal brothers and sisters? And here it says that his family came, your brothers are outside, and your mother, Matthew also adds, and your sisters. Now let me just give you a couple of principles on this and give you what I think the Scripture teaches. There's three approaches to this problem. In Matthew 13 and verse 55 and 56, when it says your brothers, it gives names. James, that would be the same one who wrote the epistle of James. Joseph, Simon, and Judas. And then it also mentions sisters, but it doesn't give names. Some have explained that by saying Joseph was married before he married Mary. And so he had another wife, and these were children by his first wife. Depends on which book you read. I have one commentator named John Gill. He not only says that Joseph was married, but somehow he dug up the name of the wife. And her name was Esca, E-S-C-A-J, he says. If that's the case, that would make these brothers and sisters half-brothers and half-sisters of our Lord Jesus. Others approach it by saying that they're literally children of Mary and Joseph. Because of Matthew 1.25, it says he knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn son. Implying that afterwards they could have had children. And so some say that they're literal. Now as you know, some in the Roman Catholic Church would have a problem with that. Because they not only believe that Mary was a virgin, but they also believe she was a perpetual virgin. In other words, all her life she remained a virgin. And so they have a struggle with that particular approach. There's another approach in John 19.25. It talks about the children of Mary's sister. And a couple of them have the same name. As a wife of Clopas. And that would make brothers and sisters really cousins. And some say, well when it says brothers and sisters, the Greek word can mean brother or sister. Or it can mean relative. It can mean cousin. Now I bring this up to answer this question. What can be said for certain? And the answer is nothing. Nothing can be said for certain. And I just think it's better as Christians. If we don't raise snakes where we can't kill them. And we don't take a rugged stand on things that would be divisive to the people of God. I call attention to this because I don't want to be dogmatic on what is not 100% certain. Our faith does not grow through possibilities or probability. Our faith grows through certainties. And we're always safer to take a stand on what is 100% certain. And the thing that's 100% certain is he had a family. Whether they were relatives or cousins or some other thing or half brothers or sisters. It doesn't change the principle that we're going to look at. I just brought that up so that I wanted to. There you have it. Okay. The story as it ties in to this wonderful emphasis in Luke. Jesus is the friend of all mankind. He's the friend of receptive mankind. Luke says that his family came because they were unable to get to him because of the crowd. That's the only reason Luke gives. They were there and they sent word because there were so many people they couldn't get to him. But the other gospel gives us the reason they came. Did you ever wonder why they came? Did his family have a problem and said we need Jesus right away? Or did they have some questions to ask? Or were they encouraging him? The Holy Spirit tells us why they came. At first it's a startling answer why they came. Let me set it up for you. As the Galilean ministry of our Lord Jesus came to an end, our Lord Jesus seemed to become bolder and bolder in what he said. And the rejection became hotter and hotter in what he said. For example, he was already using strong words like whitewashed supplicant. And generation of vipers. And adulterous and evil generation. Well, if you recall those things, you wouldn't have a good response. And so the Pharisees had come to the place where they not only disliked him, they hated him. And the Bible says they had already begun to make plans to kill him. I call attention to this because what if that were someone in your family? And he was getting bolder and bolder and the opposition was rising. Would you want to go see him? Maybe tone him down a little. Or in some way curb all the things that he's saying. Did his family come because their son, their relative was getting famous? And because they wanted to encourage him? How did the family respond to the claim that Jesus made that he's Messiah? It's very interesting. In John 7 we have this clue. In John 7 verse 1 it says the Jews were seeking to kill him. And then verse 5 says and not even his own brothers were believing in him. Not even his own brothers. Now we sort of read that la la la. But it wasn't easy. I just can't imagine on the level of earth. Growing up with a brother. And then finding out he's God. Or finding out that he's Messiah. It must have been an awful time for the family. For those that were close in the family. Now Mark tells us why they came on this occasion. There's a parallel passage in Mark chapter 3. Listen as I read verse 20 and 21. And they came home and he came home. And the multitude gathered again to such an extent that they could not eat a meal. And when his own, his family, heard of this. Now listen to this. They went out to take custody of him. For they were saying he has lost his mind. That's what his own family said. His mother, cousins, brother, sister, whoever his family were. They had said he's lost his mind. Literally the Greek is his senses are snatched away. And they just said his senses are snatched away. The man's been disabled. Now I have no doubt when I read this. That their response was prompted by love. They desired to protect the Lord Jesus from himself and from his schedule. They said that he was working so hard he couldn't rest. So many people he didn't eat. He was praying all night and preaching all day. And he wasn't eating properly and all that kind of thing. I know a little bit about this because even though she looks like sweet Lily over there. She's really quite a watchdog when it comes to my schedule. And she'll just park at the door or at the phone. And she does protect me. And I guess any family is going to protect somebody in their family. And the family of the Lord Jesus had come to believe quite honestly. That their son, their relative, had become a little fanatical on all of this. And he was making amazing claims and saying things that were getting him in awful hot water. And people were trying to kill him. They came that day on purpose to take him by force. They had planned to take custody of him. To drag him away. And to bring, because he needs his rest. He's not going to take it. We'll force it on him. And out of love, they were protecting him from himself. And from his schedule. And basically, this is an amazing thing. That someone out of love can protect someone else from the will of God. Which is basically what they were doing at this time. Now it was at this time when everybody around was rejecting him. Luke is saying, to whom will he reveal himself? He'll reveal himself to his friends. Who are his friends? Those who receive. Who are those who receive? Well at this time, the Pharisees were rejecting him. The Sadducees were rejecting him. The priests were rejecting him. The scribes were rejecting him. Welcome family. Wouldn't you expect that the family at least might stand up for him. Or stand with him. But instead, and he knew their mind. He's lost his mind. His senses are snatched away. Let's go get him. Force him away. Give him a little privacy. The man needs some rest. He needs to eat and so on. Now, there's a couple of precious things that come out of this story. Those wonderful words in verse 19 and 20. Mother, brother, Matthew adds the word sister in the same record. Try to get your mind into this beautiful picture. When he got word, your family is outside. It's not just like, oh your family is here. That isn't the point. He knew why they were there. Your family is here. And then he looked out among his disciples. Those who were listening. Those who were receiving. And he made this amazing comment. As he looked out over the group. He said, who's my mother? Who's my brother? Who's my sister? And he made this comment. Anyone who does the will of my father. That's my mother. That's my brother. That's my sister. He wasn't slamming. He wasn't blasting his literal family. But he was taking encouragement in the fact. Who is the receiver? Those who do the will of God. Those who love the Father's will. And he looked out and he said in verse 21. My mother, my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. It's Matthew 12.50. That says, whoever does the will of my father. Who's in heaven. The same is my brother, my sister and my mother. The first wonderful truth that's implied here. Is the wonderful relationship. That is possible with the Lord. If we love the will of God. Think about that. He who hears and does the will of God. Jesus said that's my mother. That's my brother. That's my sister. I think we've all experienced from time to time. That our ties in the Lord. Can be thicker than blood. And our ties in the Lord. Sometimes can make us closer than our own family. People that we are related to. In the flesh and so on. It's amazing to me to realize that. My faith. If I love the father's will. I can be as close to Jesus. As Mary was. When she was bringing up her little child. That's a precious relationship. To think that I could be like that. And that's what he said. That whoever does the will of my father. They're like my brother and my sister. Now that's not the main point. That's the point that blesses my heart. Because I say wow. I can be that close to the Lord. Like his own family. But that's not the point Luke's making. He's not saying meditate on this. Think of how close you can be to him. That's not what Luke is saying. You know what Luke is saying? Luke is saying not that you're close to him. But that he's close to you. In other words Luke is saying. And I don't want to charge our Lord with infirmity. And pretend he had needs and all. But I'm the level of earth. Understand what I'm saying. Our Lord Jesus was standing alone. Nobody was standing with him. At this point only a few that were receiving. But nobody was standing with him. He needed a mother. He needed a brother to stand with him. He needed a sister. And he looked out for those who were receiving him. By faith and listening to the word. And he said you know you can be a brother to me. It isn't that I'm blessed because of my relationship with him. It's that he's blessed. Because he allows me to be his brother. It's one thing to say he's my brother. Boy am I blessed. But you're his sister. You're his brother. You're his mother. And you minister to him. I think one of the most precious things about doing the will of God. Is the fact that every time I do the will of God I minister to Christ. Some of you who have had the experience of being mothers. Would understand this even more than I when I just recited. You know what it is to mother somebody. Did you ever think of the fact that you can mother Christ. You can mother the Lord by loving the will of God. And I can mother the Lord by loving the will of God. And by doing his will. And so it's a great comfort. The point I'm trying to make. Luke is saying he's a friend of all. He's a friend of all who receive. He's a friend of all who receive. Who will receive? The ones that hear and do the will of God. Those are the real receivers. And as close as his family. In fact closer than his own family. Now I'm going to ask you to turn again to chapter 8. To this first miracle. He's now going to expound. I'm a friend of all who receive. Those who receive are those who believe. Now we're going to answer the question from the first miracle. What is faith? What is faith really? I want to believe. I want to be a receiver. I want to bless the Lord. I want to be regarded by him. Closer than his own family. But what does it mean to really believe? So now we begin the series of miracles. And the first one is what I like to call lab. When I was in high school we had a lecture in lab. Lecture in lab. And they tell us what it is. And then they put us back there and see if we could do it. And my wife could tell you a strange story. I didn't do well in lab. In fact one of my experiments sent our professor to the hospital. I didn't do good in lab. And so the Lord doesn't just tell you something. But after he tells you that. He engineers a storm in your life. As soon as he fed with the 5,000. He said immediately. He said get in the boat. And there was a storm. And after the storm you know what he said? You learn nothing about the miracle of the Lord. He was testing that in the storm. And so there is lecture and there is lab. Welcome to lab. Verse 22. It came about on one of those days. He and his disciples got into a boat. And he said to them. Let's go over to the other side of the lake. And they launched out. But as they were sailing along. He fell asleep. And a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake. And they began to be swamped and in danger. And they came to him and woke him. Saying master, master. We are perishing. And being aroused. He rebuked the wind and the surging waves. And they stopped and they became calm. And he said to them. Where is your faith? And they were fearful and amazed. Saying to one another. Who then is this? That he commands even the winds and the water. And they obey him. To more vividly realize this scene. I am going to pull together. Matthew tells the story. Mark tells the story. Luke tells the story. And each one adds a little flavor. A little bit of their own description to it. So let me just sort of set it up again. And retell the story I just read. The way Matthew says it in chapter 8.24. It says. And there arose a great storm in the sea. I've studied the Bible long enough to know that. God doesn't use the word great. In a meaningless way. If he says great. It's great. And it was a great storm in the sea. Mark 4.37. Describes it. A fierce gale of wind. And the waves were breaking over the boat. So much so. The boat was already filling up. That gives you an idea. How great the storm was. If you look at Luke 8.23 there. It says. A fierce gale of wind descended upon the sea. Now why did he say descended upon the sea? Well if you know the topography there. The Sea of Galilee was really a great target for sudden violent storm. Because it was about 600 feet below the level of the sea. And surrounded by these mountains. They sort of acted like a funnel. And the cold wind would come down and hit the warmer air. And in five minutes you could have a boiling cauldron in the Sea of Galilee. And they often had these squalls. I like what the Expositors Bible Dictionary uses. The Greek word here. The Greek word is seismos. You can guess what comes from that. And actually what the word is saying is. And there was an earthquake in the sea. And it just describes the severity of this particular storm. Now add to that that these fellows were not novices on the sea. They were sailors. They were fishermen. They were on the Sea of Galilee from their youth. And when you read the record they were terrified of this particular storm. It's a real storm and a real danger. They're not going to be terrified by a shadow of danger. In Luke 8.23 they began to be swamped and in danger. Verse 24 describes it as surging waves. And so it was a very real storm, a very real danger. Now the Bible tells us about the response that the disciples had. You know our Lord Jesus went down and evidently His family was right. They came three different times. Matthew describes one time. They wake Him up. Mark describes a second time. And Luke describes a third time. I don't know if they came one time and everybody said something different. Or if they came three different times. I am inclined to believe they came three different times. Here's what Matthew said, 8.25. I picture them whatever they do on the stormy sea. Row or pull ropes or bail or whatever they do. And they did that for a while and then somebody runs down and says, Save us Lord, we're perishing. And then went back up to do more rowing or whatever they did. But Jesus didn't wake up. Mark 4.38. Someone else comes down. Rouses Him again and says, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And then went back up and did what they did. And then Luke tells us the third time. They went down and you can almost see the frustration in this word. Master, Master, we are perishing. And you can just see them coming sort of to the end. Now, because of this terror in the disciples, this is not an ordinary storm and they're expecting to die. I've read some commentators where they tried to take the panic out of these disciples and said they were just discussing a theological problem. I don't think they were discussing a theological problem. In other words, they say, Do you not care that we are perishing? And we meaning the program. You know, you've got a mission here and it's not going to happen if you drown. And so the whole mission is at stake. I don't think that's what that sort of, in my view, robs the disciples of their humanity. They were scared to death. They thought they were going to drown and they woke him up because they needed help. Now, I want to sort of lay the story down so that we can pick up the thrust of Luke. Luke now is presenting faith. He's a friend of all. He's a friend of all who receive. Who receive? Those who believe. What does it mean to believe? And so he keeps getting closer and closer to what he's trying to communicate. Now, let me just sort of back off. And in a sense, I'll tell you up front, I'm going to pull your leg a little, but let me just back off and sort of nail down first what healthy faith is. And then we'll come back to the story and I think you'll see it apply. Many would say that in order to have healthy faith, you've got to have these three ingredients. Number one, healthy faith must come to the end of its own resources. Those writing it down, you may have to scratch this out afterwards. I tell you, I'm pulling your leg here. But anyway, healthy faith must come to the end of human resources. There's a verse in Psalm 107 and it says that they came to their wit's end. And so some would say, if you're going to have faith, the starting point of faith is saying, I can't do it. I've got to come to the end of myself and then come to, after I've exhausted all of my human wisdom and human strength and resources, and so on, I come to the end. Number two, they say that healthy faith not only is coming to the end of self, but then running to the Lord Jesus as the only solution to the problem. We've got to run to the Lord and He's the only one that can do it. Sort of let go, let God, dump all your burdens on the Lord, and so on. And then finally, they say to have real healthy faith, you've got to come to the end of yourself, you've got to give it all to Jesus, and then you've got to get out of the way and let God do His thing. And let God work. So many people sort of give their burden to the Lord and then they take it up again. And they just sort of can't leave it there. And so they say that's what real faith is. Coming to the end of yourself, giving it to Jesus, and then getting out of the way. Let's come back to our story. The question is, did these disciples come to the end of their own ability to help? And if you read the record, I think with all of their bailing and sailing skills, when that was exhausted, they said, Master, we perish, help us, save us, don't you care that we're perishing. They came to the end of themselves. Did they turn it over to Jesus? I think they did. I think if you read the record, they came to the Lord, they woke Him up, they said, save us, no one else can save us, we're perishing, the boat is sinking, help, help, you're the only one that can do it. Did they get out of the way and allow God to do what only God can do? And the answer is, again, they certainly did. In Luke 8, 24, it says, it became calm. I told you that Matthew said there was a great storm. He also says, and behold, a great calm. I think the calm was every bit as great as the storm was great, and as immediate. And our Lord Jesus stood up, and the Bible says He held His hands out over the storm and used the Greek word, same one He used when He cast out demons. He said to the storm, be muzzled. And He muzzled the storm, and there was a great calm, immediately. And when it was all over, look at verse 25, What kind of a man is this, that even the wind and the seas obey him? So, that should be healthy faith. The disciples came to the end of themselves, they gave it to the Lord, and they got out of the way and let God do what only God could do. If that's the case, then here's my question. Why didn't Jesus give them an attaboy? Why didn't He say, good work, you have healthy faith. You came to the end of yourself. You gave it to the Lord. You got out of the way. I did a wonderful thing. Instead, He said in Matthew, Why are you timid, O men of little faith? Instead, He said in Mark, Why is it that you have no faith? And in Luke, it's just sort of a misplaced faith. Where is your faith? They came to the end of themselves. They gave it to the Lord. They got out of the way. And instead of Him clapping and saying, I'm really proud. You came to the end of yourself. You gave it to me. You got out of the way. I did a miracle. Instead, He rebukes them for little faith, no faith, weak faith, misplaced faith. And my question is, if that's healthy faith, how come they didn't get credit for healthy faith? And I think the point is, that Luke is calling attention to a far more profound look at what real faith is. Now remember what He said right at the beginning. He had told His disciples, Blessed are those who hear the word of God and do it. And whoever does the will of God, that's my mother, my brother, my sister. Jesus gave a word. Here's what He said. Mark records it. Luke records it. Listen carefully. We are going to the other side. That's what He said. Somewhere along the way, they interpreted that, we are going to the bottom. I don't know how they misconstrued that, but He gave a clear word, we're going to the other side, and then He went to sleep. Same as to say, now I'm at rest about this, and you're in lab, you're in a test, and we're going to see if you really believe what I've said. I said we're going to go to the other side. Real faith lets Jesus sleep. Real faith rests. Real faith does not need to see an active God. Do you think the Lord Jesus was in more control over the situation when He stood on the deck with His arms outstretched and He yelled out, be muzzled, or when He was asleep and it looked like He saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing? I call attention to this because it's so practical in our lives. Many times, quite honestly, friends in Christ, it seems like Jesus is sleeping. And like the disciples, don't you care? Don't you know what's happening? Can't you see the wind and the waves and the boat and all that's going on in my life? And God seems like He's unconscious. It seems like He doesn't care. It seems like He's detached and He's just oblivious to everything that's going on. The reality is this. You are going to the other side and I am going to the other side. And even when it looks like God is not in control, there is no need for anxiety or fear or depression. After all, didn't He call us to the ship? And isn't He on the ship with us? If we go down, He goes down. I mean, we're that much related to Him. And we're as safe as safe can be. Real faith lets Him sleep. I know for years I was one of those that I was looking for signs, you know, if you're real, blink the lights, do something, let me know. I need to really have some evidence that you're here. You know, as I go on in the Lord more and more, real faith, the way they would have had real faith is just to weather the storm. They would have arrived on the other side to let the Lord Jesus sleep. This need for sight and manifestation and signs and wonders. When I first trusted in the Lord, it always, I had this exuberance of emotional joy. And I always had the bubble, you know. And I just felt like God dipped the jug of honey over in my soul. And I was just, everything was so great. And then that bubble went away. And I thought, oh my, God has left me. In fact, I did something. I actually hitchhiked back out to the place I first trusted the Lord. I thought if I could sit in the same chair, then maybe that bubble would come back, you know. And all that kind of thing. As you go on in the Lord, you're going to see. The Lord's on the throne, whether He seems to be or not. Whether He seems to not care or not. Whether it looks like He's sleeping or not. Two final thoughts on all of this. The first is, and this is rather paradoxical. I hope you don't misunderstand this. And also don't judge your brothers and sisters on this. I'm not saying this so that we judge one another. But I'm saying for your own life, don't look at the great things that the Lord does and measure your faith by that. Say, boy, I must have wonderful faith. Look what God did for me. Look at the great deliverance. Look at the great time. Sometimes, many times, and I'm tempted to think most of the time, when God does a great thing, He's not responding to faith. He's responding to unbelief. He does it to encourage your faith. These disciples, can you imagine them going to church? Anybody got a testimony? Their hands would go way... Let me tell you, we were on a boat today, and in a moment of time, He stood up there and put out His hands. He said, You know why He did that, disciples? Because you have little faith. Not a lot of faith. God doesn't do great things in response to faith. He usually does great things because we can't trust Him. He does great things to encourage us along the way. And then here's the second thing I want to say, and we'll wrap it up with this. I don't know anybody who wakes Christ more than I do. He won't get mad if you wake Him. He would rather that you just weathered the storm and trusted Him and got to the other side. But every now and then, there's going to be a financial storm or a family storm or a health storm or a church storm or an academic storm or some kind of storm. Like that storm at the Sea of Galilee. It's going to be sudden. It's going to be unexpected. It's going to be violent. And your heart's going to sink. And you're going to run to Jesus. Wake up, don't you care. Hello, God, come on through. It's okay. He'll rebuke you mildly. And He'll probably do one of the greatest things you've ever seen done. He'll meet you where you are. He'll do a great thing. But as you go on in the Lord, this is real faith. Let Him sleep. He's not really sleeping. He's in charge. He's testing your faith. He's building you. He's conforming you. He's conforming me to Christ. And so Luke now begins. There's going to be three other miracles following this. But he lays down the great foundation. He's the friend of all mankind. That is, all receptive mankind. Who is receptive mankind? Believers. What does it mean to believe? It means to trust God, even when it looks like He's not working for you. When it looks like He's just unconscious. Trust Him anyway. That's what real faith is. Now He's going to develop it in terms of demons, disease, death. And we'll pick that up next time. Tom, answer the question. Why didn't Mary's mother, why didn't she tell the brothers? I don't know the answer to that. I mean, they were all together and they thought he was crazy or something, saying he was the Messiah, but the mother... I think Mary struggled as well as everybody else, even though she had a lot more... She certainly did. But a couple of times, Mary, you could see her hesitation when she was very anxious for him to turn the water into wine. He had to remind her, my hour's not come yet. Wait, you know. I don't know the answer. I don't know. I know she pondered these things and considered them, but it must have been... Again, I'm thinking humanly. I just can't imagine someone in my family and then just, as amazing as it is, this is God's. And even for Mary, I think she must have... Hard to believe. Yeah. Was I right? Did I really say that answer? And he saw so much. Well, many believe that. It's just no way to know. Well, let's bow, please, before the Lord. Our Father, we do thank you for your word. Lord, we know that you do teach us, but then there is lab, and you send us out in life and in storms. And Lord, we just pray that in our own lives that we would just believe your simple word because you've said it, that we would, by trusting you, be delivered from fear and anxiety. Lord, we know if we do wake you, you're so faithful, you'll meet with us, teach us again. Thank you for being so patient. We pray, Lord, that you bring us back again to continue our study in your precious word. Work these things into our lives and make them life. Amen.