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Main Theme

Jesus shows us what is necessary for the one who chooses to follow him and honor God.

Outline

  1. Necessity of Prayer (1-13)
    1. Key Verse - If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (v. 13)
    2. Because God is wholly good, He delights in blessing those who come to Him rightly in prayer. The greatest blessing is having the Holy Spirit dwell within you.
  2. Necessity of Obedience (14-28)
    1. Key Verse - But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (v. 28)
    2. As Jesus explained his authority and power to cast out demons, where it came from, and its implications, he illustrated how those who have been cleansed from sin by grace through faith must walk in obedience. True faith leads to obedience to God.
  3. Necessity of Repentance (29-36)
    1. Key Verse -  The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (v. 32)
    2. Through the illustrations in this section, Jesus explains that he is wiser than Solomon (the wisest person to ever live) and greater than Jonah, who saw an entire city repent of their sin. If someone would travel a great distance to hear Solomon and repent through the prophecy of Jonah, those who hear the good news of Jesus must repent and place their faith in him or have their hearts hardened because of their rejection of Jesus.
  4. Necessity of Love for God (37-54)
    1. Key Verses - You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? (v. 40)
    2. While the Pharisees excelled at religious activities, their hearts were evil and not in love with God. Jesus reveals that worshipping God is not just about religious activities but about love for God. People who love God will naturally worship God through their actions.

 

Gospel Connection

Salvation, the forgiveness of sin and being declared righteous by God, is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone. We could never do enough or pray enough to make up for our sin. Our sin cannot be undone, and it must be punished. The good news of Jesus is that he paid the punishment for sin so that by grace through faith in him, we are forgiven and made new. The new life given to us is to be lived depending on God through prayer, honoring Him through repentance and obedience, and growing in our love for Him.

Whole Bible Connection

Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people had one main command: honor God. At times, they did, but most of the time, they failed, either because they worshipped the false gods of other nations or because they went through the motions of worship while their hearts were far from God. Throughout his life, Jesus taught and modeled that true worship of God flows from a heart that loves God. The more you grow in your love for God, the more you will worship Him.

Key Takeaways

Persist in prayer.  Prayer is one of the means God uses to bring about His will. The more we persist in prayer, the more our hearts will be realigned to desire God’s will, and the more we will see God working in us and through us.

Live out repentance.  Repentance is turning away from sin through taking responsibility for your sin, acknowledging its wrongness, and committing to forsake it. Often, we fail at the last part: forsaking our sin. True repentance of a sin will result in doing everything we can to rid our lives of that sin. Though we will never be sinless, we should be laboring to sin less.

Grow in your love for God.  The Pharisees were very religious. They engaged in all the religious activities and knew and could quote a lot of Scripture. Those are good things when they proceed from a heart that loves God. That is what they missed. They were engaging in activity from hearts that were not in love with God. However, the more we seek to know about God through reading, studying, and listening to His Word be taught, the more we will know God. The more we know God, the more we will love God, and the more we love God, the more we will glorify Him through worship and obedience to His Word.

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