All scripture quotations in this volume are from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated Second printing 2003 ISBN 978 – 34658-7-2 Published by: LoveWorld Publications BLW Inc. UNITED KINGDOM: NIGERIA: Christ Embassy Int’l Office P.O. Box 13563 Suite 209/210 Estuary House Ikeja, Lagos. Ballards Road Tel:234-1-774 0109 / 774 0243 Dagenham RM10 9 AB 234-802 3324 187-9 P.O. Box 21520 London, E10 5FG USA: Tel:44-208-517 2367 Executive Building, 7100 Baltimore Avenue Suite 211, College Park, Maryland 20740 Tel:1-301-985 9200 e-mail:[email protected] webseite:www.christembassy.org © copyright 1999 LoveWorld Publications All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part withoutexpress written permission of BLW Incorporated is prohibited. 2 CCCCCooooonnnnnttttteeeeennnnntttttsssss 1. The Real You 7 2. You are a New Creation 11 3. You have the Life and nature of God 13 4. You are the righteuosness of God! 17 5. You are Justified! 19 6. You are Sanctified! 21 7. You are delivered! 23 8. God’s Spirit Abides in you! 25 9. What do you do when wrong thoughts come to your mind? 27 10. What do you do when old friends try to discourage you? 35 11. What do you do when persecutions and afflictions come? 41 12. The Holy Spirit and You! 47 13. Must you go to church? 57 3 DDDDDeeeeeaaaaarrrrrlllllyyyyy BBBBBeeeeelllllooooovvvvveeeeeddddd,,,,, Congratulations on the free gift of eternal salvation which you received when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. I want to share with you truths that are fundamental to the Christian life; upon which you can build a strong and vibrant life. Study this material diligently and it will yield for you an eternal harvest. I pray that God will give to you, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowl- edge of Him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may realise how great is the hope to which He has called you and know all that is freely given to you in Christ, Amen. This material will help you start off your new life in Christ Jesus. As you study it, look into your Bible and study the scriptures yourself. I believe that the message contained in it will change your life and help to shape your future according to the principles of God’s Word. God bless you richly, in Jesus’ Name, Amen. PPPPPaaaaassssstttttooooorrrrr CCCCChhhhhrrrrriiiiisssss OOOOOyyyyyaaaaakkkkkhhhhhiiiiilllllooooommmmmeeeee 11111999999999999999 6 1 THE REAL YOU You are more than the body that you see. You are more than the case that houses your senses (your senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell). Inside you, there is something much more than your body. It is the spirit, and this is real man. This inner man is the one the Bible refers to in 1 Peter 3:4 “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.” When a man’s body dies, his sprit lives on. He is still as much the human per- son he was before he died; he hasn’t lost any- thing except that he has lost the ability to func- tion in the physical world. his body may be 7 dead but the real person, the spirit man still has all the consciousness he had before he died. Jesus Christ told a story in Luke Chapter 16 about two men who died. One was a beggar named Lazarus. The point is not that he was a beggar; but that though he was poor he had a righteous hear. When he died, he was taken to Abraham’s bosom. The second man also died. That man had been rich in his world, but in spite of the fact that he had ev- erything in this world, he did not live a righ- teous life. Noted that when he died, his body was buried on earth, but Jesus said that in hell, he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom and he recognised Lazarus. This means that he could still see. Then he called out to Abraham ‘please help me’ (you see, he could still talk). Abraham spoke back 8 to him and he heard Abraham’s voice; imply- ing that he could still hear. The man said that he was still thirsty, and not only was he thirsty, the place was dry. And he begged; “please let Lazarus come and give me a drop of water to cool my thirst; yet another point to note-he could still feel. All of his senses were still intact. In fact, he could remember because he sad, ‘Please, send somebody among the dead to go to preach to my brothers’. He said he had five brothers on earth ‘maybe if someone from the grave goes to them from among the dead they will believe’. He remembered! This lets you know that man’s spirit lives on. And when a man is born again, it is his human spirit that is born again.2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (KJV) says,“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things 9 have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” 10