1. QUIZ TIME!
1. T/F/? Heaven is a place where all people will ultimately be reunited with their loved ones.
2. T/F/? Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.
3. T/F/? Even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation.

2. QUIZ TIME!
4. T/F/? God would be fair to show His wrath against sin.
5. T/F/? Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.
6. T/F/? An individual must contribute his or her own effort for personal salvation.

3. QUIZ TIME!
7. T/F/? Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.

10. 7.) Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.

12. A story with a central spiritual truth
What is a Parable?
A story with a central spiritual truth

13. WHY did Jesus use parables?
Emotional punch
To hide truth

14. WHY did Jesus use parables?
With truth comes responsibility.

15. I Corinthians 2:7,8
We declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

16. Matthew 13:13-15 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;     though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;     you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;     they hardly hear with their ears,     and they have closed their eyes.

17. Luke 18:9-14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

18. Luke 18:9-14 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

19. A principle for correctly understanding parables: Jesus sometimes gives the main theme of a parable in his comments before and/or after the parable.
Luke 18:9—To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 

20. Righteousness: the degree to which my actions conform to God’s character.

21. Luke 18:9-14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 

22. Luke 18:14
vs. 14--“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.”

23. Luke 18:11-12
11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

24. “…not a robber….” Romans 13:7
Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

25. “…not an evildoer….” James 4:17
“ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

26. “…not an adulterer….” Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

28. Luke 18:13
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

29. Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant