The Mailbox Club Course 1 Lesson 3
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Dear Friend,
From the very moment you took the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, you have been on the narrow
road that leads to Heaven. Along the way, you and I will meet many other Christians who
are also on the road to Heaven.
It is wonderful to be a Christian, but we must realize that the road to Heaven will not be
easy. Why? Because we have many enemies.
The Bible tells us about three great enemies of the Christian -- (1) "the
world," (2) "the flesh," and (3) the devil.
What do these enemies do? They try to get us to sin. But God has made a way for us
to have victory over them. In this lesson we are going to see how we can overcome these
three enemies.
The Bible uses the word "world" in several different ways. Sometimes, it refers to thisearth which God created. Sometimes it refers to the people in the world as in John 3:16 where the Bible says, "For God so loved the world...."
A third meaning is found in I John 2:15 where the Bible says, "Love not the world..." What is the meaning of "the world" here? It means the attractive things of the world which Satan uses to draw us away from God.
God wants us to love Him with all our heart. Satan does not want us to love God, so he uses the attractive things of the world to draw us away from loving God and wanting to do His will.
What are some of the things Satan uses to draw us away from God? Satan may use TV or the movies, or a certain kind of music, or something else that we love.
Some of these things may not be sinful in themselves, but if they begin to take first place in our life, that is when they become sinful for us. If they cause us to spend less time in prayer and reading God's Word or keep us away from church on the Lord's day, they are sinful for us. The Bible says,
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." I John 2:15
The Bible says that Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world." God wants us to overcome the world and its sinful attractions.
How can we overcome "the world"? We overcome the world by loving the Lord Jesus with all our heart. The world has many attractive things and sinful pleasures, but they do not really satisfy our hearts. Only Christ can do this.
Do you want to have more love for Christ? Then think of His great love for you. As you think of how much He loved you and how He suffered and died for your sins, you will love Him more and more. And, if you truly love the Lord Jesus, you will love the things of God and not the things of the world. The Bible says,
"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:2
The second great enemy of the Christian is "the flesh." What is "the flesh"? The flesh is our sinful, human nature. Another name for "the flesh" is SELF. SELF is what we are inside.
To find out what we are really like inside, let us see what SELF is like. SELF is very proud. In fact, SELF thinks that he is the most important person in the world. SELF wants everyone to look up to him.
SELF is completely selfish. He lives to please himself. SELF always wants to have his own way -- he hates to have to obey somebody else.
SELF never likes to admit that he is wrong. He always tries to blame someone else. SELF is easily offended or "hurt." SELF does not like to forgive others; instead SELF holds grudges. God tells us that we should forgive others, but SELF never wants to obey God.
We may not like to admit it, but this is the way you and I are on the inside. SELF has been on the throne of our heart.
When we were saved, another person came to live in our heart -- the Lord Jesus Christ. This is wonderful, but there is still a problem. The problem is that SELF did not move out! SELF is still in our heart.
Perhaps you have already noticed that, even though you have Christ in your heart, you still do things that you should not do. The reason is that SELF is still on the throne of your heart.
When SELF Is on the throne, we commit many sins. We are proud. We are selfish. We are disobedient. We quarrel and lose our temper. We are unforgiving. These sins hurt the heart of the Lord Jesus. They make Him ashamed of us. God wants us to have victory over SELF.
What is the secret of victory over SELF? The secret is to make Christ the King of our life. We must take SELF off the throne and put Christ there.
The Lord Jesus really has the right to be King in our life. Why? Because we belong to Him. The Bible says,
"...ye are not your own... for ye are bought with a price...." I Corinthians 6:19,20
What was the price the Lord Jesus paid for us? The price was His own blood. He gave His life to redeem us.
To whom do we belong now? We belong to Christ. He has the right to be King in our heart. But even though Christ has the right to be our King, He waits for us to tell Him that we want Him to rule as King in our life.
When Christ is on the throne in our heart, we will have His love, His joy, and His peace in our heart. We will not commit the sins of SELF.
You must choose between SELF and Christ. You must decide who is going to be on the throne of your heart. If you choose to make Christ the King of your life, it means that you must obey Him.
You do want Christ to be your King, don't you? Will you stop right now and tell Him that you really want Him to be your King? Here is a prayer that you may pray:
"Lord Jesus, I thank You for loving me so much and fordi- ng for me. I belong to You now and I want You to be on the throne in my heart and be King in my life. I want to obey You and do Your will."
Remember, if Christ is your King, you must live to please Him and not SELF.
The greatest enemy of the Christian is the devil. He is also called Satan. The Bible says of him,
"...your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." I Peter 5:8
When you took Christ as your Saviour, you took a step that made Satan very angry. You left him and joined those who trust in the Lord Jesus. Satan knows that he cannot keep you from going to Heaven, but he will still do all he can to tempt you and get you to sin.
How does Satan tempt us? He tempts us by putting wrong thoughts into our minds. Satan can do this himself or he can use things such as the movies, T. V., or filthy reading material to put wrong thoughts into our minds.
Satan will tempt you with immorality and sex sins. He may tempt you to use drugs or to drink. He knows that these things will destroy your body and your mind.
Satan has other ways of attacking you. When you sin, Satan will try to make you think that God is angry with you and that He will not forgive you. Satan will try to make you doubt your salvation. Satan will try to discourage you and make you fearful and afraid. Satan is a terrible enemy!
Can we defeat Satan by ourselves? No, we cannot. He is much too powerful for us. But here is good news -- Christ has already defeated Satan for us!
When Christ died on the cross, Satan thought that he had won a great victory. But Christ did not stay in the grave -- He rose from the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ was victorious over Satan and all the powers of darkness.
Since Christ is our Saviour and we belong to Him, we share in His victory over Satan. Christ's victory is our victory. The Lord Jesus has set us free from Satan's power.
We do not have to be afraid of satan. Why? Because Christ lives in us, and He is greater and stronger than Satan. The Bible says,
"...greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." I John 4:4
What does this verse mean? It means that Christ who lives in us is greater than Satan who is in the world. Christ lives in us to give us victory over Satan's temptations.
The secret of victory over Satan's temptations is knowing that Christ lives in us and trusting Him to give us the victory. A little girl had learned this secret. She said,
"When Satan knocks at the door of my heart to get me to do wrong things, I just say, ' Lord Jesus, will You please open the door?' When Satan sees the Lord Jesus, he bows low and says, 'I'm sorry, but I have come to the wrong place, ' and he leaves."
What was this little girl's secret? It was this--she recognized that Christ was living in her heart and she trusted Him to give her victory over Satan's temptations. This is what we must do also.
Satan may tempt us, but he cannot make us sin. We can say "No!" to Satan. The Bible says,
"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7
What happens when we sin? Does God have a plan to take care of His saved children when they sin? Yes, He does. The Bible says,
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9
What does this verse say? It says that, if we confess our sins to God, He will forgive us and cleanse us.
What should we do when we sin? We should (1) confess that sin to God, and (2) believe that God forgives us.
To confess a sin means to call it by its right name and not make excuses. If we lied, we need to confess to God that we lied. If we got angry and lost our temper, we need to confess this to God. We should also make things right with other people. When we have done this, we should believe that God has forgiven us.
God wants us to have victory in our lives. The more we learn to trust and obey the Lord Jesus who lives in us, the more we will be able to say "No!" to the world, the flesh, and the devil, God gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says,
"Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:57
 Christ won the victory over Satan. Because Christ lives in me, I can have victory in my life. |
After we are saved, God wants us to win others to Christ. The Bible says that "he that winneth souls is wise." Proverbs 11:30 Would you like to know how to lead someone to Christ? Here are five steps to help you, Start at the bottom and read them.
We want to explain these steps to you so you can explain them to others.
Step 1 I have sinned
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
This verse tells us that we have all sinned. Before a person can be saved he must realize that he is a sinner.
The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death." This means separation from God, in hell, forever. How terrible! Because we are sinners and condemn- ed to death, we need a Saviour.
Step 2 God loves me
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever- lasting life." John 3:16
This means that God loves us and that He gave His Son to us to be our Saviour. Aren't you glad!
Step 3Christ died for me
"...God commendeth (He showed) His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. " Romans 5: 8
This verse tells us that Christ died for our sins. He paid the penalty of our sins by His death on the cross. But Christ didn't stay dead. He rose from the grave. He is a living Saviour!
Step 4 I receive Him
"As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God...." John 1:12
To become a child of God, we must come as a sinner to the Lord Jesus and receive Him as our Saviour. Ask your friend if he would like to receive Christ as his Saviour. Here is a prayer he can pray to receive Christ.
"Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned, and I am truly sorry for my sins. I thank You for loving me so much and for dying on the cross for me. Please come into my heart and forgive me of my sins. I take You as my Saviour right now."
Step 5I have everlasting life
"He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life.... " John 3:36
When I believe that Jesus died for my sins and I receive Him as my Saviour, I have everlasting life. I know this is true because God says so!
God said it!
I believe it !
That settles it !
End of Lesson 3
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