Lesson 384 - Junior
Memory Verse
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Notes
God's Treasury
Boys and girls of the Junior Department, did you read the text of the lesson? Did the message of Paul the Apostle to the Romans mean something to you? or did these chapters seem difficult? Let us try to learn what Jesus says to us through His Word.
We read in the second verse of the fifth chapter, "We have access by faith into this grace." Let us try to imagine drawing back a curtain and walking into a treasure house, where on every side lies un-coined gold and masses of treasures. We may have just as much as we choose. Did you bring a tiny basket, or did you bring a great many vessels to be filled? Let us remember, "We have access," or the right to enter God's treasure house and receive good things from Him.
Some people, when they go to the altar of prayer, do not expect to receive anything from God; and, of course, they receive very little or nothing.
His Great Love
p>God's grace is His great love and favour toward man. Man did nothing to deserve being loved by God; but through Christ, He showed His great love. If every person could fully realise how great that love is, he would surely try in some way to return some of that love. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It does not say "commended," but "commendeth" -" God is still showing His great love. Christ died once, more than 2,000 years ago, and arose from the grave. But even today, through that death and resurrection, any and all people may be saved from their sin. Even little children, who are old enough to know right from wrong and realise that they are sinners, may come to Jesus and be saved from their sins.
Overcoming Sin
When a person has had his sins forgiven he must "watch and pray" so that he will not let the love of Jesus leak out of his heart, which is called "backsliding." For that reason we must go often -" at least once every day -" into God's "treasury" and receive grace to be able to overcome sin and Satan. How do we do this? By earnest prayer and reading God's Word. We ask Him to give us power to say "no" to sin and to fill our "vessel" with love. Let us dig deep and hard; not kneel in prayer only a minute or two, but pray until we feel that Jesus' Blood flows over our soul.
A Golden Chain
The one who is saved has peace with God; he has joy, hope, love, long-suffering, gentleness, patience, meekness, kindness, goodness, faith and grace. Let us think of each one of these as a link in a golden chain, one end of which is wrapped around our heart and the other end fastened to the Throne of God. We must not break one of the links, but keep the chain strong if we are to be carried on to the end. If faith is lost, the chain is broken; if we drop the link of love, the chain is not complete. It takes each golden link to make perfect contact with God.
Keep your chain strong, for it must carry a great deal of weight. Many hard things may come against your soul to try to break that chain. It is the work of Satan to get you to neglect prayer, and then your chain is weakened.
Why do we think of this chain as being made of gold? Because gold endures well. Someone has said, "Pure gold does not dread the furnace." God may permit every link of your chain to be tested to see whether or not it is pure gold! Job said, "When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" [JOB:23:10]).
Why did the three Hebrew children come out of the fiery furnace without even the smell of smoke? Because "the fire had no power" upon them [DAN:3:27]). Their bodies were not made of gold, but surely their hearts were as pure as gold and God did not let the fire hurt them.
Free from Sin
Christians do not commit sin. Paul tells us that when we are saved we are "dead to sin." Our sins were nailed to the cross when Jesus was crucified. When we pray and seek God for sanctification, and consecrate our life to God, once more the Blood of Jesus touches the heart and the old root of sin is destroyed. Just as Jesus died and was laid in the grave, so the old sinful nature dies and is destroyed at sanctification. The sanctified person is "dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The sanctified life is a life free from sin and condemnation -" free from inward and outward sin -" for Christ is the Master.
"One 'Little' Sin"
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Today, sin and temptation are on the increase. Very many millions "comic" books are sold each month, and most of them to children and young people. Some of these pollute the minds with acts of crime, lust, and murder.
p>"One 'little' sin brings many more." Long time ago, a college president said that in his twenty-five years as a college leader (at that time) he had never known a habitual cigarette fiend who could be trusted to tell the truth. A minister who interviewed boys in the death row in a state penitentiary said that all these boys wee cigarette smokers, and they all drank liquor. Perhaps, their first sin was disobedience, then a lie, then, a puff on a cigarette when no one was watching. Who ever thought that such seemingly "harmless" sins would lead, in the end, to the electric chair?
Mr. J. Edgar Hoover, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said: "We cannot stop crime by punishing the criminal. We must go back to early childhood before early associations are formed." At the present time the largest number of criminals are in their teens.
Value of Sunday School
Although cigarettes, comic books and bad associates lead in the wrong direction, the Sunday School leads exactly in the opposite direction. Millions of children in our country receive little or no religious instruction. If you are a boy or girl who is attending Sunday School, you should thank God for the opportunity, and you should appreciate your teacher who is trying to help you to escape "the wages of sin." We should try to bring other boys and girls to Sunday School. Let us not fail to win the reward of the Christian, the gift of God, "eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Questions
1. What does it mean to be "justified"?
2. What is the meaning of the word "grace"?
3. What did God do for us to show His great love?
4. Name one way in which we may repay Him in a very small way.
5. Which verse in the 6th chapter teaches us that a Christian does not commit sin?
6. The sinner is a servant of whom?
7. Who is master over the Christian?
8. Compare the difference in the reward of the sinner and that of the Christian.
9. Do you think it pays to serve the Lord? Why?
10. Which verse in the 6th chapter teaches us about sanctification?