Make Every Effort to Settle with God (Luke 12:54-59)

We should make every effort to settle with God before we stand before Him. In Luke 12, verse 58 Jesus said, "As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison." If we are involved in legal disputes and we are accused and guilty, the best thing to do is try to settle outside of court, because if it goes to trial, we will be found guilty and it will be worse for us. In modern day vernacular, it is as though Jesus said, "Do everything you can to settle outside of court, because if you stand before the judge it is not going to go well for you.” The spiritual application: If we wait to get right with God until we stand before him, then it is too late.

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00:00 Make Every Effort to Settle with God (Luke 12, verses 54-59)

11:28 Lesson 1: We should be more interested in ______________ matters than ______________ matters.

26:30 Lesson 2: Make every effort to ____________ ________ God before standing before Him.

33:52 Lesson 3: People can’t ____________ their ________ in hell.

40:15 Lesson 4: ________ ____________ can pay our debt.

Family Worship Guide

Directions: Read the verses and then answer the questions:

Day 1: Luke 12:54-56—What rebuke did Jesus have for the Jews in his day? Why do you think the Jews were unable to interpret the present time? What are you most interested in? What are you most knowledgeable about? After answering these questions do you think you’re more interested in earthly or spiritual matters?

Day 2: Luke 12:57-58, Revelation 12:10, Job 1:8-11, 2:3-5, John 8:44, Luke 13:34-35—What does the devil’s name mean? How does he live up to this name? What does it mean to settle with God? Why should we make every effort to do so? Explain Jesus’s second illustration in your own words.

Day 3: Luke 12:59, Matthew 25:46, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Revelation 14:11, Mark 9:48, John 5:29, Acts 24:15, Matthew 6:12, 18:23-27, 1 John 2:1—What did you learn about hell from those verses? Describe our debt. What makes it different than a financial debt? What can’t we do about this debt? What can we do about this debt? What does it mean that Jesus is our advocate?

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