Jesus doesn't negotiate. GOSPEL IS TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT!

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

Good morning, saints. It is a new week and we are right back at it. I hope you guys had a fantastic Lord's Day. I hope the weekend was great for you and your family. Or just you. The amazing thing on this podcast is there's so many different guys from so many different walks, and I'm I'm constantly reminded of that. I was just looking over, you know, the demographics of, of who's been listening, and the range is so far from 13 to 18 all the way up to the 60s. So it's really, really interesting to see how men from all ages are just kind of being pulled back to the Word, and that's such a blessing. So thank you to all of you that are listening. Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to leave reviews wherever you are listening. It's definitely growing. And it's pretty amazing to see. So thank you for that. But that's that. Let's get down to it. We're going to continue through Luke today. Luke has been what we are walking through. We've kind of done the first part of Christ's journey where he does miracles. He's walking with his apostles. There's lots of lessons and teachings, but we are getting closer and closer to the crucifixion alongside the actual calendar. So it's kind of nice that we are heading into this, not so much Jesus, but for us that we are heading into this around the same time as Easter in the real world. So we get to tackle this and wrestle through it. We're going to see that Christ has to face quite a bit of suffering in the upcoming passages, but it's for God's glory and our good. So here we go. Let's get down to it. So I always love to have my Bible open when I'm reading scripture. For some folks, they're able to just listen. That's great as well. If you're on a commute or in the workplace, your hands are full, you're not able to hold a Bible, completely understandable. Uh, know that I am always going to read the passage for you guys, but at the same time, I, I do encourage you to have a Bible in hand if you can and follow along. Now, I'm always reading from the ESV. Feel free to follow along in whatever translation or paraphrase you prefer. But today, Luke chapter 10. That's right, we've made it to 10. Jesus sends out the 72. After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him, 2 by 2, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord, to the Lord of the harvest, to send out laborers into his harvest. Go away. Go your way. Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you, heal the sick in it, and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wave off against you. Nevertheless, know this, the kingdom of God has come near. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Okay, so we've got Jesus here today and he is not pulling punches, let's say. He decides after a time, okay, there's a lot of work left to do. I've got this This death and resurrection thing coming up. I've gotta get ready to go, but I've gotta start getting people moving here. And the apostles aren't enough. 12 isn't enough. I need more. So he appoints 72 others. Now, these are not apostles. These are just disciples of Christ that have been with him, that he's confident or capable of doing the task that he's about to set them out for. Recognize, guys, from those of you that had listened to the episodes from Luke 8 that we did, this is a little bit different. He's not sending them out in the same way. With the apostles, he sent them out to heal and cast out demons, right?

Yeah.

In this one, he's just sending them out to heal. There's no mention of demons anywhere. Also, the process here seems a little bit different than when he sent the apostles out. Here he's telling them, go out with nothing. Again, we see that he constantly is trying to build faith in his believers, right? Go out with nothing. Go out without your knapsack, no sandals, no money bag. Just go out, hit the road, go as you are. You're going to look impoverished. Go where you are with the gospel. That's enough. That's sufficient. You can do that. That's enough. And then he goes on to elaborate of When you get to where you're going, just bring me. Don't negotiate. Don't haggle. The gospel doesn't need defense. The gospel doesn't need to be glamoured up. Christ has come. That's enough. And he gives them this caution of if that's enough and a home welcomes you in, it's important that you remember your character. Okay? Remember that you represent Christ in where you were going and what you were doing. And if that's true and somebody does welcome you into their home, eat what they offer to you. Don't go house to house to house to house, right? So you're not looking to buffet the city. Oh, this is a city that welcomes Christ. Great. I'm going to hop to this house and that house and oh, what are they cooking for dinner over there? No, the house that welcomes you in, stay there. Okay. This isn't about where you're going to stay. You're not looking for the classiest establishment here. You're going with purpose to spread the gospel. This isn't a cruise. It's not a vacation. There's work to be done here. So stay humble in whatever house has you. And then he gets to the last part of this that is Hard, but it is just. And that is, if you come to a town and they will not receive you, you offer the gospel and they want none of it, dust from the feet should be wiped off and eat. For them, it will be worse than Sodom. Now, I'm sure most of you remember Sodom and Gomorrah, but for those of you who may be unaware, Sodom and Gomorrah are the 2 cities that God razed from the earth in Genesis for their debauchery and sin. Now there was all kinds of sin in that city. It was terrible. Abraham pleads for the city to save even just one. If there was one who is worthy of being saved, will he save just one? And the Lord says, if there's one, I will save the whole city. But there was none. And so he razed the whole city to the ground. How can you be worse than that? What's worse than death? Because he, like, fire from on high, fire from the heavens obliterates all of Sodom and Gomorrah. They're gone. Poof. In ash, ash and smoke. All that's left really would be something worse than death, which would be your soul. This is a huge caution that those who are out there that will reject the kingdom are rejecting their salvation. They're facing something that is an absolute travesty. Now, again, what's interesting here and is very, very different from what we see in a lot of evangelism that is practiced today, and this is kind of the point that I want us to consider today, when these apostles go, They're not given more than this is who Jesus is. This is what Jesus does. This is what we know. That's what they're given. That's what they go with. None of these men are given any indication that they have any seminary-level training. None of these men have been given tracts or pamphlets. None of these men have been given a process even. There's no breakdown of well, first you say this and then you do that and then you do. There is none of that. They're called to go into places and have genuine, real conversations with people, share Christ openly and honestly. And those who would receive it, great, enjoy it, rejoice in that. And those who won't, won't. So don't. That's a huge shift from a lot of evangelism out there today where, well, you should take the time and you should really negotiate and convince and have proofs and they're going to come at you with science and worldly concepts and you need to have the apologetics ready for that. None of that is here. None of that model is here. This is complete trust and faith that the Holy Spirit has prepared a harvest and we are just to go and work it. And that's a real challenge. But at the same time, it's a real blessing and it's a real acknowledgment to the glory of God that he has prepared all things. He has. He has prepared all things. He's ready. The harvest is ready. That means somebody had to plant it. Somebody had to care for it. Somebody had to tend it. And here it is now. That person is only God. God has prepared this. He has prepared the way, and all he needs are the workers to go out and collect. That's it. It's that simple. So today's challenge to get your week started is just that. When you're out in the world today, out and about, people are asking you how your weekend was. Maybe, maybe we don't share about the, you know, the sports game that we watched. Maybe we don't share about the movie we went to see at the theater. Maybe instead we share about the sermon on Sunday morning. Just share the sermon. And I'm not saying you're going to share the sermon with the hope of, well, if they don't get it, Sodom is going to rain down. That's not the hope. The hope is that they do get it. The hope is that you keep it simple. You share testimony, you share Christ and the work that he's doing in your life, what you saw on Sunday morning. And then with that, you continue to move forward. Don't get caught up on the people that aren't interested. The harvest is plentiful. The workers are few. Okay? If you happen to trip across somebody who is not interested, Oh well, not interested. I know it's hard. It's going to be hard, but there's so many that will say yes that we have to, have to, have to remain committed and focused. Absolutely have to. There is no question. It must happen. And Jesus is saying it needs to happen in a big way because for him, well, there's this deadline. For us, there's always a deadline. We only have as much time as we have. And with that, we want to be As much as possible, bringing as many to Christ as we can, sharing the gospel in faith, trusting the Lord has prepared a harvest. So this week, as you head out, wherever that may be, on your walk, your work, your relationships, make a point to just speak openly and honestly about Christ, who he is, what he's doing in you, and what he's done for you. Just let people know. See what happens. All right, guys, I always want to close in prayer. Again, huge shout out to all of you guys that are dropping prayer requests. Please continue to do so. The social media channels are down below. Feel free to post there as well. I am working on something with a large Christian group online for men specifically. I may start to include that Facebook link down below in the description of the podcast, and you guys will be able to add to the prayer wall that's there as well. I will be lifting up those prayers as well. So without further ado, Lord, I bless These men, all who are listening, but the saints especially who are brothers in the faith, this podcast was intentionally built for them so that they would take the time to dwell on your word each day, that they would take the time to wrestle, that they would take the time to sharpen themselves and to sharpen one another. Pray for the men that are struggling, Lord, that are feeling distant from you and far from you, and they want to return. They want to grow. They want to strengthen. I pray that they would, in many ways, like the disciples we read about today, go out and journey. Amen. And find that faith. Realize the harvest is real. The gospel is real, and there's a power and authority to it. Lord, pray for those whose families are facing separation, either already divorced or facing divorce, or there's trouble within the marriage. I pray that you're there, Lord. Your your hand is in that. That is a real difficult struggle to go through, and I know, Lord, you are used to a dysfunctional marriage with us. But Lord, we always have you, and you never turn from us, and you never. Stray from us and you love us immensely. I pray that the men who are struggling through, Lord, that they would struggle in the same way that you struggled for your bride, that they would fight. The marriage is worth it. Their bride is worth it. Their children are worth it. Pray that you would put it in their heart, rekindle that fire, save those marriages, build those families. Lord, I pray for those facing illness for themselves and their loved ones. Illness takes its toll in a big way. It may just be the flesh, but the flesh has its toll. Pray that you would place your hand of healing on those people. You would bless them, the young and the old. Be with them. You may not always remove the thorn from their flesh, Lord, but you can always be a healer to their soul. So be with those families. Help them to be at rest and be at ease in those situations where it seems like there is no hope. Pray for those where there is endless and abounding hope, that they would continue to hold that hope, Lord, that they would not become discouraged. I pray for those that are ill, Lord, that they would see your healing hand. In your name we pray. Amen. That's it, guys. I hope you have an amazing week. This week we're going to keep going through Luke 10 this week, and we're going to keep moving towards the crucifixion of Christ over the next couple of weeks. Just a reminder, guys, I'm going to leave all the episodes up, but when we move into Acts after the book of Luke, it will be the start of the second season. So for those of you that follow along episode by episode, don't be surprised. If you see it, go back to episode 1 because that will be season 2, episode 1, and we'll be in the book of Acts. That's it for today. Thanks again, guys, and have a good one.

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.