Fifty Shades of Grace --Intro Part 3

Two Kinds of Sinners

When some people realize that they are sinners they get all defensive and try to make all kinds of excuses about why they had to do or think bad things. They will try to blame their sins on other people. They look at other people’s sins and think, “I’m not THAT bad!” They feel pretty good about themselves. Jesus calls those people self-righteous. They think they are better than other people. They might even read their Bible and go to church. They might do all kinds of good things hoping to impress God and make Him happy. But that is NOT what makes God happy. Those are the people who will go to hell. 

Then there are the kind of sinners who feel so bad about their sins that it devastates them. They think they are the worst of sinners because God has shown them what is really inside their hearts. They feel really bad about themselves and believe they are worse than other people. They are very sorry for their sins and they repent every day and ask God to have mercy on them and forgive their sins. These people do not try to impress God or try to make Him happy because they know that no matter how hard they try, they will fail every time. Instead they put their trust in Jesus who did everything right. This is the only thing that makes God happy.

See what Jesus says about the two kinds of sinners:

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Pharisee and the tax collector were both sinners. But one was very sorry for his sin and the other was not. He thought he was better than everyone else. Which kind of sinner are you?

If you are the kind of sinner who feels better than other people and who makes all kinds of excuses for your behavior and tries to justify everything you do, you are in big trouble. You are like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day and you will not be saved unless God changes your heart and helps you to see just how bad you really are. You need to ask God every day to change your heart and reveal your sins to you. Then when he does change your heart, when he shows you what a big sinner you are, REJOICE! 

Rejoice because you know the Holy Spirit is working in you. 

Rejoice because you can confess your sins to God and be forgiven and go to heaven when you die. 

Rejoice because Jesus has already lived the perfect life in your place and he died to pay the penalty for your sins. 

IT”S OUTRAGEOUS!

IT”S SCANDALOUS! 

IT’S…GRACE.

BEWARE: There are some people out there who will tell you that all you need to do to be saved is say a prayer and accept Jesus in your heart. That is not true.  It is not about us accepting Jesus. Jesus is the one who reaches out to us and changes our hearts to make us love him. When he does that, he makes us very sorry for our sins, and when we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, then we are justified before God. Justified means that it is just as though we had never sinned. But even better than that—it is just like we did everything right. We are not saved because of something we do. We are saved by grace. If you do not know if you are saved, then pray every single day that God will change your heart and reveal your sins to you. Ask him for his mercy and grace. He makes this promise to you: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” If you ask for mercy and ask for grace, he will give it to you and you will be saved. 

Fifty Shades of Grace -- Intro Part 2

Two Kinds of Places--Heaven and Hell

The Bible says that we are all sinners! Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”. That means that we all deserve to go to hell. Most people never talk about hell. They think you should never tell children about hell because it might upset them. But Jesus talked about hell a lot. The Bible gives us some descriptions of hell that are really scary:

It is in outer darkness. That means it will be so dark, you can’t even see your hand if you put it in front of your face. God is light, and when he removes the light, only darkness is left, and it will never ever be light again. No morning will ever come, and the sun will never rise again.

Matt. 8:11-12  I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,  while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matt. 22:13-14  Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’  For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matt. 25:30  And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Hell is a place where Satan and demons and all the hordes of evil dwell. Hell is filled with monsters who are filled with hatred and violence. They will terrify all those who live in hell. 

Rev. 20:10  and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Hell is a place of utter torment. That means that the people are in terrible pain and the pain never goes away, ever. Jesus says it will be like being thrown into a lake of fire. If you have ever been burned, you know how much that hurts. 

Judgment Before the Great White Throne

Rev. 20:11-15  Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

If we go to hell, we will never ever see our loved ones again. There will be no human fellowship or love in hell—no parents or brothers or sisters or cousins or grandparents or friends. We might hear the screaming and terror of other people, but no one will care about us and no one will ever hold us again or try to comfort us. In hell, there will be no water for us when we get thirsty and no food for when we get hungry. There will be no medicine to take for pain. We will just suffer forever. 

Rev. 21:8  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Luke 16:22-26  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.[f] The rich man also died and was buried,  and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 

God says this is what all people deserve. Every one of us deserves to go to hell, because every one of us is sinner. 

But not all sinners will go to hell. Some will go to heaven. 

Heaven is going to be a place just like the earth we live on right now. 

Isaiah 65:17

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

Isaiah 66:22

“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain.

2 Peter 3:13

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

We will have brand new bodies that will never get sick or die or feel pain. We will be with all of our loved ones who love Jesus. 

1 Corinthians 15:42-44  So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 

Rev. 21:1-4  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We will have feasts with the very best food ever. 

A piece of heaven!

Waiting on the cookies!

Rev. 19:9  And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

The new earth will be like the Garden of Eden restored only much bigger. It will fill the whole earth and the glory of God will be in all of it. 

So there will be heaven and hell—two kinds of places for two kinds of sinners. 

Fifty Shades of Grace -- Intro Part 1

Two Kinds of Children

There are two kinds of children in the world—at least according to Santa—naughty and nice. Naughty children get coal in their stockings and nice children get an abundance of toys and beautiful clothes and good stuff like American Girl dolls and gift cards to iTunes. 

Every family probably has both kinds of children. There are the good ones who do everything right and obey all the rules and get good grades in school, and the naughty ones who break all the rules and make everybody else miserable. Which one are you? Maybe you are a combination of both!

Does it seem like you are always in trouble? 

Do you like to take risks to see what you can get away with?  

Do you sometimes do mean things to your brothers or sisters? 

Do you fail over and over even though you try to be good? 

Do you feel like you will never be good enough? 

Do you worry that God is disappointed because you can’t keep the rules? 

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, that is great news for you because YOU are exactly who Jesus came to save! It’s YOU he wants! 

Jesus loves sinners! 

Jesus came to save sinners just like you!  

IT’S OUTRAGEOUS! 

IT’S SCANDALOUS!

IT'S…GRACE.

Maybe you are the child who does everything right. 

Do you live to make mom and dad and your teachers proud of you? 

Do you hate it when your siblings and your friends break all the rules? 

Do you tattle on them so that everyone will know you are the good one? 

Do you take pride in being good?  

Did you know—that is BAD NEWS? 

It is bad news because Jesus did not come to save good people. He did not come to save the righteous, but sinners! 

OH NO! WHAT SHOULD YOU DO??? 

Well, maybe we should take a closer look inside your heart. 

Are you proud of yourself because you believe you are better than other kids who break the rules? 

Do you spend a lot of time looking in the mirror and admiring yourself? 

Do you display all your trophies so you can remind yourself how wonderful you are? 

Do you ever gossip about other kids to make yourself look good? 

Have you ever excluded somebody on purpose just because you didn’t like them? 

Do you secretly gloat when someone else gets punished? 

Are there kids at school that you look down on because they are not as smart, pretty, popular, athletic as you? 

Are you jealous of kids who are smarter, prettier, more athletic or popular than you? 

Let’s see what the Bible has to say about those things:

Pride: 

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 11:12 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Jealousy and envy and slander:

Mark 7:21-23 “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Proverbs 10:18 The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool. 

Psalm 101:5  Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.

WOWZERS!  If you think you are pretty good and you think you are better than other kids who do really bad things and who get in trouble all the time, do you know what that makes you? A BIG FAT SINNER! 

YEA! 

WHAT?!?

Remember, Jesus loves sinners! 

IT’S OUTRAGEOUS!

IT’S SCANDALOUS!

IT’S…GRACE.

“Let's face it: most of our children believe that God is happy if they're "good for goodness' sake." We've transformed the holy, terrifying, magnificent, and loving God of the Bible into Santa and his elves.” 

― Elyse M. Fitzpatrick, Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus