Don't Walk the Talk. Walk the Word!

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

Welcome back, saints. We are back at it again. Just going to continue our walk through Luke today, continue taking a look at Christ's journey through the gospel. It's been an amazing walk the past few weeks with you guys. It's been great getting back at this with more frequency. I am sorry for the days that episodes don't make it out. I am striving to do this daily, but there's been a lot of technical issues in the background that are causing Uh, delays are causing me to have to scrap the episode. So I do apologize if the episodes do not make it out daily, but, uh, yeah, we're gonna continue to try to make it happen. Huge thank you to all you guys that are sharing out the episodes that have been there. Love seeing that more and more people are going back to the beginning and listening to, uh, the entire walkthrough, Luke, from the start. Um, so really cool to see that, guys. And, uh, without further ado, let's get down to it. So a little bit of a longer reading here today from Luke 7. We're going to be going through John the Baptist's disciples being sent to him, or being sent to Christ, and just kind of that dialogue, how that fleshes out. So as always, guys, I'll be reading from the ESV. If you're able to follow along in your own preferred translation, I encourage you to do that. If you don't have a copy handy of the scriptures, you just aren't able to read along, don't worry, I'm going to read out loud so that's there for you. But without further ado, let's go. Starting at Luke chapter 7, verse 18. The disciples of John reported all these things to him, and John, calling 2 of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? And when the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist sent us to you, saying, are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? In that hour he healed many people of diseases, plagues, evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, and lepers are cleansed. Amen. The deaf hear, and the dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me. When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, behold, I send my I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, we played the flute for you and you did not dance. dance. We sang a dirge and you did not weep. For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say he has a demon. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by all of her children. So this is kind of cool for me, just looking at the passage and thinking about what's going on here. It's pretty telling that John, who, who's gone through the baptism already, we know that that's happened. It's kind of this amazing thing where Christ, instead of just saying in words, yes, just answering the question outright, yes, he hears their question asked and then he proceeds to walk and spend hours. Or in that hour, he healed many people, diseases, plagues, evil spirits, and on many who were blind, he bestowed sight. It's amazing to see how he fulfills prophecy here, that that's the best way for him to affirm the question that they're asking, to give that clarity, to say, yes, I am the Christ. Words alone would not have been sufficient. Instead, what he does here is use the word of God. He knows the prophecy of dead being raised, lame walk, blind see, lepers cleansed, deaf can hear. He knows this thing. He's quoting these verses from the scriptures. In action, indeed. And people are saying, well, yeah, sure, I'm sure anybody could do that. Well, could they? Could anybody raise from the dead? Could anybody make the lame to walk, make the blind to see, make the lepers to be cleansed? I love that he tacks on there as well. And the poor have good news preached to them. We were looking at that with the blessings that he gives them in the Beatitudes. It's just this really, really amazing thing here. And he then takes that, that example that he set of these actions that portray who he is. And he moves on to John. And John, he starts to, he starts to speak to John or speak about John, I should say, to the crowd that has gathered. And he says, listen, if you guys want affirmation as to who John is, do the same thing. Take a look at him. What is he? What has he done? And he reaffirms in Scripture again, John's character is one that's not of a prophet or a king in a king's court. He's not a wealthy man. He's not a— he's not a judge or a king. He's— he is a prophet, though, and he meets the criteria of a prophet. Not only does he meet the criteria of a prophet, he meets the criteria of Elijah returned. And he quotes the scriptures that make that present and clear for those that would be gathered. So it's really, really interesting. And at the same time that he's now shown the actions of himself to prove, yes, he is the one that was meant to come. John's actions is, yes, John is who's meant to come. But then he addresses that people will often use the actions that they are doing to speak against him. For John the Baptist, he has come eating no bread, drinking no wine. You say he has a demon. Okay, great. So when John doesn't do what you do, do the bad things you do, he's got a demon. But when I came and I was eating and drinking and dining with, with sinners at their table. You said, look at him, he's a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. What he's trying to say here is, listen, my actions speak for themselves. My actions show who I am and what I'm doing. John's actions are testimony to what he is doing and who he is and who he's meant to be. You would say that our actions portray Some semblance of guilt. However, you guys yourselves contradict yourselves. You don't hold an equal judgment against everybody. Whatever is convenient for you to tear down the people that make you feel guilty, that's what's right and wrong in the moment. So for one person it's a sin, for the other person it's not. There is no clarity, there is no consistency, none of that is there. And your actions speak volumes to those around you that you being hypocrites. Is pointedly clear. And really, guys, just, just to look at this and consider as you head into your week, what do your actions say of you? Do you make commitments to the Lord? Do you have things that you see in scripture that you feel called to follow and do? Now, this is not me advocating for a works-based salvation, okay? I'm not saying that your deeds are required for salvation, just to be clear. Get that out of the way. But because of your salvation, your heart and your deeds and your mind and your words, there should be evidence of that salvation in your actions, in the things that you do, in the things that you say. It should be apparent to those around you. And no, we can't do miraculous things, bringing people back from the dead and making the blind to see. But we can do the things that we are called to do. We can observe that Great Commandment. We can, we can observe the Great Commission. We can do the things that Christ has asked us to do that are reasonable to do. So challenge yourself this week as you head into the week and take a look at your actions. Do your actions define who you are as a believer? Would somebody look at the things you do, the things you say, the things that you, you choose to give your time, your energy, your effort? And would they say that there's evidence of Christ in that? Do they see you as being a part of the kingdom? If no, that's okay. Own that, repent that, move away from it and move towards actions that are calculated, that are with effort and decision. Actions that glorify God. And if you are doing it, great. I edify you to continue in that. Encourage those around you that might otherwise not be doing the same. And when I say encourage, I don't mean chastise. I mean encourage. That's it for today, guys. There is no prayer list today. I am just going to pray for you guys as you head into your week because I want this message to, to hit home. And I'm going to ask anybody who's listening if you guys could just lift me up in prayer since I've been more dedicated to this podcast after coming back from my season of sharpening. There's been There's been significant struggles and trials, and I don't think those are going away anytime soon, and I'm not looking to back down from them anytime soon. But I would ask that if you're listening to this, that you would, you would lift myself and my family up in prayer as we are starting to see quite a few trials come against us since I've been diligent in starting this up and continuing in it. So, Lord, thank you so much for your word. Thank you so much for the fact that your word is living.

Amen.

And Christ chooses to show us that, that his actions, his deeds are the literal life of the word. They're living the scriptures in such a rich and powerful way, Lord. And I thank you that we've got the, the holy word to be able to go to and just see the example that was set, to see prophecy fulfilled in Christ's walk and by those around him. Lord, I pray that our own walks, wherever we may be, in whatever roles we have— father, husband, Deacon, elder, whatever it may be within the church, Lord, I just pray that we would seek you and we would seek to act in a way that shows the world your light, in a way that shows the world how much that salvation truly means. Pray that we don't get caught up in works for the sake of salvation, but realize that our salvation instead produces the good deeds and works that we desire. By your command, pray for all the men listening, Lord. Pray that they have an amazing week. Be with them. Challenge them with their trials, but also walk alongside. In your name we pray.

Amen.

Have an amazing day, guys, and all things considered, hopefully there are no technical issues this week, and I'm able to get an episode out every day. Until then, 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.