GOD SEEKS THE SINNER... but never leaves us!

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 is a new day and we are back with another episode. I am thrilled, absolutely thrilled to see you guys back. I, I never could have imagined after a few months off that you guys would continue to be listening the way that you have. The podcast is very quickly heading to 9,000 downloads, and that's because of you guys. It is so encouraging to see men from all over the world coming together, listening to worship every day. I am overjoyed to be able to do that with you. And today we are going to continue on through Luke. Now, if you're new to the podcast, you've never been here before, that's not a problem. All of the episodes are there for you. If you want to start at the beginning, go back to Luke 1, please, I encourage you to do that. If you just want to hop in right where we are, that's okay too. So we're in Luke right now, guys. We are going to continue walking forward. Uh, yesterday we finished off Luke 14, so we're headed into Luke 15 today. So do what you got to do. Grab a coffee, grab your Bible, grab your Pen, your journal, whatever you need. If you can't get your hands on any of that and just gonna listen today, that's okay too. But without further ado, let's get down to it. Luke 15, here we go. So as always, guys, I will be reading from the ESV. Everybody's got their own translation that they prefer. Please feel free to read yours, follow along on your own. I always encourage you guys to grab your own Bible and follow along. If you're at work, if you're at the gym and you can't, no problem. Don't worry. I read the passage first before we start to break it down. So let's get down to it. We are gonna continue going through a full chapter every episode now. Um, I had slowed down a little bit and been doing small segments of chapters, but I think we're just going to dive right in, do a full chapter. The episodes don't seem to be going past 10-15 minutes, so I think that that's okay. Let's get down to it. 15, verse 1. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. So he told them this parable: What man of you, having 100 sheep, if he's lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he's found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons Who have no need of repentance. Or what woman having 10 silver coins, if she loses 1 coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house, seek diligently until she finds it? When she's found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost. Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over 1 sinner who repents. He said, there was a man who had 2 sons. The younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had, took a journey into the far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of the country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion. He ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near, drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound. But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you. I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him. And he said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this. Your brother was dead and he is alive. He was lost and is found. All right, guys, this was not a small passage. There's an awful lot chucked in here, but really what we're going to take a look at today is this idea of God's love and our response as Christians. Now, I know that there are a lot of folks that listen to this. Maybe some of you are not yet Christian. There's been a lot of takes on the prodigal son. And looking at the father and looking at the prodigal son. But the thing that I would like us to focus on today, and the thing that I'm feeling called to share with you guys, is this idea of the other son, the son who stayed home, the older son who did what was right in the Lord's eyes. And for many of us, whether we, you know, were born in Christian families, grew up as Christians, or we've been walking the Christian walk for a while now, this is a huge risk and a huge trap that we might find to be one of the 99 sheep who's in the field, to be one of the 9 coins in the woman's pocket, to be the older son who never left and who has worked diligently diligently all of these days and yet asked or felt like they've asked for nothing and received nothing. That's a bit of a wow moment. Often when I read the parable of the prodigal son, for me it's like, oh, you know, the father was obviously hurt. He should have been hurt and wasn't. He has open arms. He loves whoever comes to him. And that feels really good as a sinner who's not yet come to know Christ. But For the son that has been with the father, what's amazing to me is he doesn't realize, he doesn't focus, he doesn't appreciate what it means to have been in the father's house all along. So as much as the younger son didn't appreciate who the father was and left and wasted what it was that the father had given, is it not just as bad for the older son who had been there all along not to realize that the blessings that the father has have always been there for him? Always, always, always. You are always with me, he says. All that is mine is yours. How crazy is that to think that God reaches out to you and says, listen, you have no need for jealousy. You have no need to covet what a sinner receives or what another person receives in this world. All that I have, all that is mine is yours, and you are always with me. How much more could you possibly ask for as a follower of Christ? Even more so when we abandon this idea of, well, look at what somebody else has. Look at what they're getting. I'm not getting that. I'm a follower of God. I'm a son of God, and I don't have those things. I don't have the car, the girl, the money, the wealth, the position, the title. Great. Is that what's important? Are those things what's important? I would really ask you guys to pray and wrestle with this today. Take that time and really wrestle with this idea of the older son, because that's us. That's us as brothers in Christ. Yeah, we stumble, we have mistakes, and this brother's clearly making a mistake right here and now, but we're not stuck in those mistakes. God's call is so simple. You are always with me. All that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. Rejoice when you see God doing good for others. Don't feel pity for yourself. Don't envy. Don't covet. Instead, rejoice, especially when people are coming to Christ. Rejoice. It's a huge thing. It's not a small thing. It's a huge thing. Rejoice. And know that you are always with the Father and the Father is always with you. All right, guys, before we get out of here, I do want to pray for you. As always, down below, if you look in the description, there's emails, there's social media channels. If you have prayer requests that you would like me lifting up in prayer, I am happy to do that for you. In fact, I very much want to do that for you guys, so feel free to do that. I know I've been away for a few months and I, I just, I dropped the ball on that. I wish I could have been here all the time for you guys and I wasn't, so I'm sorry. But if you have prayer requests, if you have things going on in your life and you need prayer, don't hesitate to reach out. I'd be more than happy to lift you guys up in prayer on the episodes anonymously if you want, first name only, whatever. Don't hesitate to ask for prayer if you need it. But without further ado, here we go. Jesus, thank you so much. Thank you so much that we are yours. Thank you so much that we have you. Thank you so much that you're not going to leave us, that you're not going to abandon us. I pray that you do a work in our hearts, Lord. If there are those that are listening that do not yet know you, that are the prodigal son, Lord, please work in our hearts, soften it, bring the gospel, bring Christ into that heart, change that heart, bring it to you. For those of us who have been walking a while with you, Lord, we've been working your fields, we've been tilling the soil, we've been doing the work that you've called us to do. Please, Lord, help us to battle the jealousy that, that we wouldn't covet the good things that you give to others. sinners or saints. Please, Lord, please be with us in this. To those that don't know you, Lord, we want to see them come to Christ. To those of us that do know you, Lord, please, please, please forgive us our sins. Forgive us our jealousies, our shortcomings, and help us to realize that we have you, and that is the greatest gift and blessing of all. For those of us that are ill, or for those of us facing issues of poverty or relationship, I pray that you're in that place, Lord, and that you would help us in those moments, that you would hear our cries for help, And you would be the good Father who hears that cry. You tell us, what father gives a starving son a snake when he asks for bread? We are your son, Lord, and we can rely on you. And I pray that we would rely on you in our times of pain and hurt and trial and struggle, but also that we would rejoice in those that we see you bless. Pray that every man listening to this would have an amazing day today, Lord. In your name we pray.

Amen.

That's it for today, guys. Thank you so much for all you're doing, listening, sharing the podcast, giving feedback. All of it goes such a long way, and I am so appreciative. I will catch you tomorrow with the next chapter of Luke. Take it easy.

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.