Christ is calling... WAKE UP!

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Welcome back to the Iron Saints Podcast with your host, Dan Willis.

Good morning, saints. We are right back at it. We are going to continue our journey through Luke, Luke 10 again today and see if we can't just keep on trekking right through into Easter, uh, make this Passover story line up along with the actual calendar. That's convenient how that's turned out, but, uh, let's see if we can't make it there. So let's get down to it. Yesterday we tackled Jesus sending out the 72 and showing that, you know, there are different roles inside what Christ had intended. The 72 that he had sent out were given different calling and workload than what the apostles had been sent out with. We saw that Christ had a desire to build faith once again by asking people to go out and meet certain criteria and just trust in him. And it was very interesting to see the differences between the apostles and the disciples that were sent. But all of this is working and building towards Jerusalem, and we know that. He said it several times now. So today we're going to dive in and we're going to take a look and rip through it. We're going to tackle a little bit more. We're going to see what happens when the 72 come back and see if that's the same or a little bit different than when the apostles came back. And let's see what we can take away today. So As always, guys, I'm going to be reading from the ESV. You guys are welcome to follow along in whatever version you would like. I do encourage you guys to have a physical Bible with you if you're going to do this. I understand if you're driving or you're on the road, it's not always possible, but whenever possible, it'd be— you have the word in your hand. It's just a little bit different, right? You've got the word right there in front of you. It's just a little bit different. So let's get down to it here. Ah, we are at Luke chapter 10, verse 13. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, you'll be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me. And the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. The 72 returned with joy, saying, Lord, even demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to the little Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. And no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Then, turning to the disciples, he said privately, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. So today is kind of a reassuring one. We've got the disciples coming back from their teaching. We've got Christ rebuking the nations. We've got a pretty great final passage there, depending on which side of the coin you land, I suppose. It can be both damning or saving. And it's nice that, again, we're seeing in Luke that one thing builds on the next, builds on the next. He sends the disciples out at the start of chapter 10, and then we head into him turning to the cities, turning to the peoples and saying, the things that I've done, the things that I've done should blow your minds. And they don't. They don't. You guys can say, well, we never saw proof. We never saw what we needed to see. You did. You did. And it still wasn't good enough. It wasn't enough. And if the cities that had long ago been destroyed and just wiped from the face of the earth, if they hadn't If they had seen an ounce of what I've shown you, they would have knelt to the Lord. They would bow down in awe. And instead, you guys mock and doubt. Your doubt is, it's built into you. It's there. You can't escape it. Even worse was the notion here that he added that rejecting Christ is to reject God himself in much the same way that we're told if you reject the Holy Spirit. It's rejecting God himself. All three of these persons are one and the same. Really, really not tiptoeing around the bush here. This is not a lot of gray area here. He's being very, very bold and very, very black and white. You've witnessed the thing that's been done. There's been testimony to it being accomplished. Any doubt? You reject it. So you'll be rejected. When the 72 get back, they're blown away. You won't believe this, Lord. You know, we went out, we were told to heal, we were told to spread your gospel. And apparently they were casting out demons, even though that wasn't part of the instructions. It happened. They found those that were sick. And then I guess in some cases it was because of demons and they were blown away. Look at the power and the authority that we have. That's interesting that Christ calls them right back to it and goes, whoa, whoa, whoa, give your heads a shake. Slow down. Slow down. The thing that you should be amazed at is not the fact that you have authority, because it's not your authority, right? It's my authority. Don't don't be surprised that my name can do this. That you can tread on serpents and scorpions. What he's saying is you've got this built-up picture that demons are these big, nasty, horrible things when in reality they're they're venomous pests. Snakes would have been a regular occurrence for them. Scorpions would have been a regular occurrence for them having lived where they lived, and there was a simple way to deal with these. It wasn't a thing of It wasn't a thing you could be naive around. There is a danger to them. They are venomous. But at the same time, the way that you deal with it is to stomp on their neck. You just crush the serpent. You crush the scorpion, right? The thing that you should be rejoicing in is the fact that this authority means anything to you, that you get to know who Christ is. That's the thing that should be absolutely amazing to you. And then he finally finishes with the, how blessed are you that you have eyes to see me? How blessed are you to have ears that hear me? It's such a blessing. And nobody gets this. Nobody gets this. See, again, in 10:22, all things have been handed over to me by my Father. Christ has authority over all things. Again, you guys don't need to be biblical scholars in biblical Greek to understand that all means all. When he says all, The translation into the English of all is all. So all things have been handed over to him by the Father. He has authority over everything. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son. And he has a caveat there. He adds to it, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. How amazing is that? Here's this beautiful, beautiful relationship between God and the Holy Spirit and the Son. And we get to enter into that because the Son so chooses, because Christ chooses to reveal him to us. And there are many that don't. There are many that won't. They don't have eyes to see. They don't have ears to hear. Their pride will keep them from it. Like the unrepentant cities that he mentioned. For whatever reason— wealth, knowledge, posterity, pride— There's lots of things that are going to keep you from hearing that. But to those that Christ says, see, hear, you're blessed, you're saved. So what's the takeaway from that today? It's Tuesday. Today's Tuesday, or second day of the week. You're probably not super drained yet heading into the week. I hope not anyway. So for the takeaway today, just take some time in prayer today and be appreciative of having been saved, having the eyes to see, the ears to hear, that we can open the word. And see Christ, that we can rejoice in the salvation that's been given by his choice. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Blessed are you that see and hear because the Son chooses to reveal himself to you. Be blessed today. All right guys, I'm gonna pray for us and get us out of here today. As always, if you guys have prayer requests, do not hesitate to send them either via the website or the social media channels. Those are all available in the description down below. Um, I'm just gonna pray over those prayer requests that came in. As always, they can be anonymous, they can be your first name, they can be your full name. It depends. Just let me know what you are comfortable with. Anonymity is not an issue. It never has been. But sometimes some of you men enjoy having your name there for people to pray for a little bit more directly, and that's okay too. So, Lord, thank you so much for giving us eyes to see and ears to hear. Thank you for the blessings that you've shown us, even in the trials. Lord, thank you for those, that we come to know you better through those, that we come to rely on you better, that we come to realize you are The authority over all things. Christ holds the power and the authority over all things. The more that we cling to him, the more that we cling to your, your teachings, your way, and we fall in reverence to the salvation that you've offered us for no merit of our own. How blessed we are. I pray for those that are facing trials right now, that they would be able to see them in the eyes of a blessing, myself included, Lord. Just pray that the hardships that we are currently going through Whether of finance or health or marriage or, or work, or there's so many trials that we face daily, Lord. And I just pray that in those, we would still see your blessing. We would still see your presence. We would still see your authority. Pray that all the men listening would have the time today to just pause for a moment, be still, know that you're God. Bless their day today, Lord. In your name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Have a great day, Saints. And again, a huge thank you to all you guys who have been listening. I'm absolutely blown away at what is going on with downloads from all over the world. It's crazy to see Europe starting to pop in and listen, Australia popping in and listening, Asia popping in and listening, Africa starting to pop in and listen. What was once just a North American podcast, which is great to see people here close to home listening, it's also pretty amazing to see people across the world starting to listen. If you guys have a few minutes at Any point, and you are appreciating the podcast, I would love to hear your feedback. If you haven't given it, leaving a review wherever you may be listening, whether that's iTunes or Spotify or anywhere where you happen to be listening, I would love to get more feedback from you guys and understand what it is that you enjoy about the podcast and what are some things that you think we might be able to work on a little bit. So let me know. Happy to see the reviews that have come in, and thank you so much, guys, for listening. Have a great day.

Thank you for listening to the Iron Saints Podcast. If you are looking to share your prayer requests, check the description for social media or email to contact the show. Blessings on you all until next time.