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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

The Two Sons And The Big Loss

Willful Lostness And Coming Home

Divine Pursuit And Human Repentance

A Real Story Of Rejoicing

Rethinking The Prodigal Son Label

Questions To Reflect On And Closing

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Welcome again to the Daily Blade. I'm Jay Reisner. I'm filling in for Kyle and Joby this week. I'm lead pastor at Faith Bible Church here in Edmund, Oklahoma. This week we'll be looking, continuing to look at the parables of Luke 15. And today we've come to the third of the three parables in Luke chapter 15. This one about a man with two sons. It's found in verses 11 through 32. And as you probably remember, one of the man's sons, in a spirit of greed and selfishness, comes to his father and asks for his early inheritance, which is a total act of dishonor. But the text says that the father divides his life between the sons, gives the boy what he asks for, and the boy then leaves home. So this isn't a 1% loss like the lost sheep in the first parable in Luke 15. It's not a 10% loss like the coin in the second parable of Luke 15. This is a story of a man with two sons. So we're talking about a 50% loss, plus a third of the father's wealth is given to his son. And you know the story. The son squanders his riches. He's left desperate and starving to death, which brings him back to his father. His father is thrilled to see him return. He throws a party, invites all to come, and they rejoice with him on the surface. Happy ending. Great story. What does it mean? Well, once again, it's telling us something about lostness, and it's some telling us something about being found. This one tells us that man is willfully lost. So not naturally lost, like a sheep, not just helplessly lost, like a coin that's been kicked into the corner, but willfully lost, rebelliously lost. Like the sun in the story, mankind looks in the face of its creator and says, I want nothing to do with you. Give me mine. And then journeys away and lives how he wants to live, which takes us to all kinds of places and puts us in contact with all kinds of people that will hurt us and ruin us and use us up, leaving us with nothing. That's what we learn about our lostness. As for what it teaches us about what to do when the lost are found, well, nothing new. There should be a party. If one percent is lost and found, you rejoice. If ten percent is lost and then found, you rejoice. If one of two sons is lost and then found, what do you do? That's right, you rejoice. So these are similar parables. The third one is much more filled out in its details, but they are all about something that's been lost, and each story reconciles with the lost object being found the sheep, the coin, the sun. Now, you'll notice in the first two parables there is a shared emphasis. The emphasis is on God loving lost sinners enough to go after them and finding them. So the first two parables, they display the divine side of salvation. The third parable, the man with two sons, its emphasis is on the human side of salvation. That lost sinners must repent and return to God. Both of the realities of divine sovereignty and human responsibility are true and they must be held in the proper attention. But in all three, there is rejoicing. When a lost sinner is found, there should be rejoicing. I remember when I was in junior high and high school, we had a fellowship of Christian athletes leader who led our groups from the time I was in eighth grade until I graduated. And what he would do after sharing the gospel, what he would what he would do at the next meeting if a student had responded positively to the message of the gospel and put their trust in Christ, he would start the next meeting, not with a greeting, not with a welcome. He would simply get up and say, The devil's mad, but I'm glad he lost one he thought he had. And the whole group knew that somebody had given their life to Christ, and we'd all start cheering. And I remember that the time that it was my turn to be pointed out that I had given my life to Christ and to hear the affirmations and the cheers of my classmates, man, that was true rejoicing. Well, tomorrow we'll drill down a little bit more and look at the three people in the third parable. And you'll notice that I've been avoiding the typical name for this parable. It's most often referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. Well, I've avoided that title because it it emphasizes the prodigal son in a way that actually misses the point of the parable. And you'll see why as we move along. But ask yourself today, when was the last time I rejoiced over the lost being found? What do I want to rejoice over, or who do I want to rejoice over when they are found? And how might God use me to share with them the gospel of the Lord Jesus?

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