Guard your tongue...OR GET CUT DOWN!

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

Welcome back, Saints. It's a new day. I'm excited to be back here with you guys. We're finishing off the week today, Loop 13. We're going to head into that, but I just want to give a huge shout out to all of you guys that have been listening, seeing numbers starting to come in from other parts of the world, Australia, Europe, listening in. So I'm glad that the podcast is reaching over into Europe. For all you North American folks that have been here for the whole ride, thank you so much for continuing to be here. But like I said, we are going to continue on through the book of Luke. We are at Luke chapter 13. It's taken us about 50 episodes to get here. So if you are new and you want to start from the beginning of the book, you don't have to listen to the episodes as of today. You can go back and listen to the first one and follow all the way through. It is a devotional, so that option's there for you if you want. But if you just want to pick up and go from where we are right now, no problem with that either. So grab your Bible, grab your coffee, let's get Get down to it. Luke 13. All right, guys. So as always, I will be reading from the ESV. If you guys want to follow along, I encourage it in your own Bible. It is always handy to have a Bible handy. If you guys are on the road, you're driving, or at the office, you just can't. No problems. Don't worry. That's why I read the scripture out loud. But we're going to do chapter 13 of Luke from verse 1, probably till. Let's say 17 today. All right, guys, so here we go. There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. For those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. He told this parable. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and none was found. And he said to the vinedresser, look, for 3 years now I have been coming seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? And he answered them, sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you can cut it Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and behold, there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, woman, you are freed from your disability. And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, there are 6 days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. Then the Lord answered him, you hypocrite, Hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. All right, it's been a little bit since we got a showdown with the Pharisees, but we're back. Where to start? Let's start at the beginning. Why not? That's a great place to start. Starting off with the idea of perishing, okay? Jesus is not here being literal, saying a tower is going to fall over on you if you sin and don't repent. He's not saying that the punishments of Rome are going to fall on you in the same way because you have not sinned and repented, or because you have sinned and not repented, I should say. What he is getting at here is You're focused on the things of this world again, and you need to be focused on the things of the next. All of these people that did the things that were sinful that led to their destruction, yes, it led to their physical destruction, but that's not the end of it. There's an eternal destruction that comes with that as well. And that's the caution that we take from the start of this. It's interesting, we always see that there's context in scripture. They like to put it together. So the next one to follow is the parable. And this helps us understand a couple of things.

Yeah.

It helps us understand what he's trying to present in the start of this chapter at 13, where he's talking about essentially things that are not producing good fruit and an opportunity. Okay, so the opportunity is Christ, right? Repent. Sin, repent. Holy Spirit works in your heart. You come to a place of repentance. Bam, done there, right? What we have here though in the parable of the fig tree is just that. It's alluding to the thing he just spoke about of, I've got a fig tree, it's not bearing any fruit. Cut it down. Somebody shows up and says, you know, let me let me dig around it, put some manure on it, see how it does. That's Jesus. That's Jesus saying, I know that this nation of Israel has not produced the fruit that it was supposed to produce. So what I'm going to do instead of cutting it down is give me give me some time here and let's see what we can do. We then go into another story of him coming up against the Pharisees. He does a work of the Lord, sets somebody free. And the Pharisees come at him again. Now, the warning at the beginning does apply to those that will not follow Christ, and we see it very clearly here. His frustration with these guys is enough. The tone when I read this is not nearly enough, and I've got to get better at having that dramatic— well, it's not even dramatic, the real way that he would have said this. His rage should be flowing on this, right? This is one of those moments where Christ Righteous anger. It's not you hypocrites. It's him yelling both barrels. You bloody hypocrites. Like, at this point, do you not understand? When it's okay for you to bend the rules, it's fine. But when it leads to somebody else's well-being, you stand up and speak out against it. Where is your heart? Your heart is more for your rule than this person. That's wrong. You're, you're in the wrong here. Now, Christ is not saying that you should go out and sin. In no way is he saying that. But he's saying the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He's saying this person was in need of healing, and so the Lord saw fit to heal on the Sabbath. That seems like a Sabbath thing. The Sabbath is meant for rest and healing and relaxation. How can a woman who's meant to rest— or yeah, how can a woman who's meant to rest, who has been suffering pain for time immemorial, Do that properly. So God chooses to free her of that. 18 years freed so that she can rest on the Sabbath. And the Pharisees just can't see it. So challenge for today: keep your eyes open. So often we let the mouth move before the eyes have seen. Be slow to speak. Look at what's happening. Make a decision. See God in what it is. See, see whether God has a purpose in this. See what God is calling you to do in it. But be slow to speak because so often, just like these Pharisees, our mouth opens and then we step in it. So finish your week off strong. Keep your eyes open. Keep your mouth closed until you need to have it opened. All right, let's get down to prayer. All right, guys, as always. I love to pray for you guys. The prayer requests that are coming in are great, but I have made the decision to make prayer requests anonymous. There are lots of folks out there that are perfectly okay with having their names on it, their first names on it, not a problem. But, but there are a lot of folks that would prefer to remain anonymous. So just for the sake of not having to figure out if you want to be anonymous or not, or that conversation happening, when a prayer request comes in with a name or otherwise, I'm just gonna pray for it. That being said, if you want to submit a prayer request, you can go to the website, sharpensiron.com, or you can go to any of the social media channels that are in the description below and send me a DM. I'm more than happy to take a look at those prayer requests. But let's get down to it. Lord, I lift up the men that are listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would strengthen them, that you would embolden them, that you would be giving them the gift to be slow to speak. Help them to be the tree that does bear good fruit. Help them to not do that out of a sake of earning salvation, but because they've been saved, because they haven't been cut down. Lord, I pray for those that are facing illness, either themselves or their family. I just would lift them up to you. Lord, I lift up those who have lost a loved one lately. I pray that you would be on the hearts of them and their children, that they would be able to come together and see you in a greater way, Lord. I pray for all the men out there that are struggling for work, Lord. It's a difficult time for many, and you are a great provider. So float a hammer for those men. Help them to find a way. In your name we pray. Have a great weekend, guys. I will catch you Monday with another episode.

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.