|
Growing in Grace -
Lesson 9
KNOWING THE WAY OF
VICTORY
The Lord wants us to know the victory that can be ours daily. He
has already made that victory possible for each saved person. It
should be our daily experience to walk in victory. By victory we
mean that we live with a testimony of God’s grace in spite of
temptation, a rejoicing in trials, and a deliverance from sins and
habits that hinder us. There are three basic things we must do so
that we may walk in that victory.
THREE “R’s” TO REMEMBER
Rejoice in the Lord.
I Thessalonians 5:16— “Rejoice evermore.”
Philippians 4:4—”Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say,
Rejoice.”
Joy is a certain sign of victory and strength in our Christian
lives. It should be the norm in every Christian life.
Nehemiah 8: 10—”The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
You may not always have this joy. All of us experience “down” times
when discouragement and doubt may move in. These times do not rob
you of your salvation, for salvation was settled for eternity when
you accepted Christ. God never gave us salvation to take it away
from us every time we do something wrong. Our salvation is never in
question or doubt with God when we have one of these “down” times.
When the joy of the Lord is not present as it should be, there is
always a reason. It could be due to a physical condition. When the
body or mind or both become weary or are under great pressure, we
will probably lose our joy. Or it may be that sin is present in our
lives. This is most often the reason that we have lost our joy. Joy
is produced in the Christian’s life by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
When we sin or quench or retard His ministry through us, joy cannot
be produced. We must confess that sin and have the joy restored by
the Lord Himself (I John 1:9; Psalm 51:2-3, 8-10).
To keep the joy and strength of your salvation:
1. Keep a close fellowship and relationship with God (I John 1:7-9).
2. Confess sin as soon as it is realized in your heart (Psalm 32:
1-5).
3. Never look at your immediate situation from the human standpoint,
but keep
your eyes upon Christ, who gives the ability to conquer situations
of life,
keeping in mind Philippians 4:13. If we have our eyes upon
situations and
circumstances of life, we will have our joy replaced by fear, worry,
and distrust
(Philippians 4:4, 6-8; Psalms 5:11; 63:7).
Recognize the old nature.
Before you were saved, you had nothing but the old sinful nature
(Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:8-9; Galatians 5:16-17). As soon as
you accepted Christ as your Saviour, you received a new nature. This
new nature is literally Christ in you, the implanting of the divine
nature, which is the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the indwelling
of the Trinity (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; I John 3:9-10).
Therefore, to understand yourself properly, you need to realize that
as a Christian you now have two natures. You have the nature of sin
which you received at the time of your birth, and you have the
nature of Christ which became yours at the time of your salvation.
In a sense, you have become a dual personality with two natures
present in you, and this affects your thinking and actions.
Your experience will be that the old nature with which you were born
tries to get you away from God and Christian activities. It tries to
get you to continue in the old life and the sin of the past. It
tries to make you self-centered and to squelch all spiritual
activities such as praying, reading your Bible, testifying to
others, and going to church. This sinful nature cannot please God
(Romans 8:7-8).
At the same time, the new nature is tugging at your thoughts and
urging you to let your life and activities be Christ-centered. It
invites you to fill your life with Christ, to live a yielded, joyful
life of obedience.
In the midst of this, a tremendous battle is taking place. Paul
speaks much about this experience in Romans 7. Then the conflict of
the Christians is spoken of in Galatians 5:17. It is well for you to
realize that these two natures will always be present in your life.
It is for you to determine which nature will have the control over
you. It is really up to you. (Note Romans 8:5-13.) God has given us
the answer very clearly in Galatians 5:16. We must walk in the
Spirit, which means to walk yielded to the Holy Spirit, to mind the
things of the Spirit. It is like feeding two pairs of horses on
opposite ends of a wagon. The wagon represents our lives; the horses
represent the flesh and the spirit natures. We cannot feed both
natures and expect to have victory. We must starve the old nature
and feed the new nature. Thus our yieldedness to the Holy Spirit is
very important.
The activities of the old nature are mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21;
the character of the new nature is mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.
As a new Christian, you must let the new nature of Christ take over
the controls of your life right now and walk daily in the power of
the Holy Spirit.
Respond to God’s victory for you.
How good to be on the winning side! As soon as we accept Christ, we
are on the winning side. Christian friend, you are right now on that
winning side. In the greatest contest ever fought, we, as
Christians, were represented by Christ. There on the cross Christ
came out victorious for us. There on the cross the forces of sin,
death, Hell, and the grave were defeated. There the archenemy of our
souls, Satan, was defeated. Yet to look at some Christians, you
would think that they were on the losing side. They have no victory
in their lives, they lack any enthusiasm for the Lord. God’s people
should be an overcoming, victorious people. Paul spoke often of that
victory which is to be ours NOW. It is wise for us to note Romans
8:37, II Corinthians 2:14, I Corinthians 15:57, and I John 5:4.
How do we get that life of victory in Christ? It is already ours in
position in Him. He is our Victory (Ephesians 6:10). It is not a
matter of working toward a victory, but of walking in a victory
already secured by the power of the Lord. In Him we have already won
the battle. No matter how dark your circumstances or environment may
be, you can rejoice for you already belong to the Winner’s side. The
previously mentioned verses make this very plain. It is our portion
to rejoice in His victory (Philippians 4:4).
What will be the results of a victorious Christian life? One will be
personal contentment. You will have a joy and stability which will
even affect your daily life and personality. Then you will be a
source of challenge and blessing to others. A victorious Christian
is always a blessing to others. Your life can be contagious to
others. Lastly, you will be a better witness for Christ if you are a
victorious Christian who walks in His power. The success of the
early churches was primarily due to the fact that the individuals
who composed them had a quality of victory and Power in the Lord
that attracted others. This we can have today (II Peter 1:4; II
Timothy 1:7; Ephesians 6:10-18).
LESSON 9—ASSIGNMENT
1. Memorize I Corinthians 10:13. We suggest that you also memorize I
John 1:9.
2. Read John 15—21. Now read John 8:14. Please note the references
where Jesus
Christ is presented as the Son of God. Please record your findings
under
“NOTES” on pages 67-68.
3. Answer the following questions in your own words:
1. What is God’s will for us? (I Thessalonians 5:18)
______________________________________________________________
2. Outline or list the things necessary for joy in the Christian
life according to
Philippians 4:6-8.
a. ____________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________
c. ____________________________________________________________
d. ____________________________________________________________
3. What is it that usually destroys our rejoicing in the Lord, His
Word, and
salvation? (Isaiah 59:1-2; Psalm 5 1:3)
______________________________________________________________
4. What were you born with? (Romans 5:19a; 7:17-23)
______________________________________________________________
5. What happened in your life when you were saved? What did you
receive? (II
Corinthians 5:17; II Peter 1:4)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
6. To whom do I need to yield in order to have victory over the old
nature?
(Romans 6:13)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
7. What was Paul’s testimony? (Philippians 4:13)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
8. How can we have the victory that is needed in our daily lives? (I
John 5:4)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
9. Where is the place of victory? (I Corinthians 15:57)
_____________________________________________________________
10. Is there something that I can do to have that victory? (Psalm
37:4-5)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
NOTES:
1. A blessing I received each day as I read John 15—21:
Day 1—John 15 _________________________________________________
Day 2—John 16 _________________________________________________
Day 3—John 17 _________________________________________________
Day 4—John 18 _________________________________________________
Day 5—John 19 _________________________________________________
Day 6—John 20 _________________________________________________
Day 7—John 21 _________________________________________________
2. Promises in God’s Word concerning joy in my life:
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
3. Below 1 note all of the references I found in John 15—21
revealing that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God:
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
|
