1. The Lost Sheep: this is a person who is crying out for salvation. He does not know where it will come from and how it will come. He is busy crying looking for light. Some people are looking for salvation and they don’t know the way. Some are in the church but nothing is happening in their lives and they know. He knows he is lost but he doesn’t know his way back.
2.
The Lost Son (The Prodigal Son): He asked his father to divide his property and give
him his portion which his father did. The bible said that he went about
enjoying himself and after that hunger strike him and he eventually returned
home crying, hunger dealt with him to the extent that he began eating pig’s
food. He later realized himself and went back to his father. Some sheep are
crying for salvation, they try Islam, Judaism and the rest yet they are not
satisfied. The difference here is that the lost sheep knows how to go back. Some
people backslides in the faith, some after getting money and they riches of
this world, the riches begin to control them. Money does not change who you are
rather, it optimizes who you are. If you don’t have the capacity to sustain
wealth, you will definitely waste the wealth. Money can actually deceive you if
you don’t an idea about its sustainability. When God blesses you what will you
do with it? Sometimes people are not
ready for God’s blessings. You don’t just need God just to service your needs.
3.
The Lost Coin:
Luke
15:8-10 says: Or what woman, having ten [silver] drachmas [each one equal to a
day's wages], if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house
and look carefully and diligently until she finds it? And when she has found
it, she summons her [women] friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for
I have found the silver coin which I had lost. Even so, I tell you, there is
joy among and in the presence of the angels of God over one [especially] wicked
person who repents (changes his mind for the better, heartily amending his
ways, with abhorrence of his past sins).(AMP)
This tells us that the lost coin is
in the house. There are people in the church who are lost but they don’t know
they are lost. The lost sheep is outside and he does not know his way back.
The
lost coin is the person lost in the house. Some are in the church but they are
lost, there are those genuinely crying to God, giving petitions and
supplications and God is revealing himself to them. The sheep knows his conditions
but the sheep does not know he is lost. There are those who are lost even in
the church.
HOW TO FIND OUT WHETHER YOU ARE
LOST
7
ways to assess your salvation. There should be self examination.
1
Corinthians 10:12 says: Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall.(KJV)
1. THE INWARD WITNESS
Romans 8:14 says: For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.(KJV)
1
Corinthians 13:5 says: Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is
not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;(KJV)
1
John 3:24 says: And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in
him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath
given us.(KJV)
We
can only confident that God is with us if we have the Holy Spirit living in us.
The bible said if any man does not have the Holy Ghost is not of him.
Romans 8:8-9 says: So then they
that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in
the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.(KJV)
You
need to test if the Holy Spirit is in you. Inward check will help you find
this. When the Holy Spirit is in you, you will know because he will be
directing you. If you have given your life to Christ and there is no difference
in what is going on inside you, then check yourself very well.
1 John 5:9-10 says: If we receive
the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of
God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has
the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar,
because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.(NKJV)
Romans 8:10-11 says: And if Christ
[be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life
because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from
the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.(KJV)
Romans 8:14 says: For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.(KJV)
You
can only be of God if you are led by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:16-17 says: The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that
we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.(KJV)
Inward
witness is the key to this.
1 John 3:19-21 says: And by this we
know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if
our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.(NKJV)
2. YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS SIN
1 John 3:4-9 says; Whoever commits
sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was
manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in
Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little
children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous,
just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned
from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He
might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not
sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born
of God.(NKJV)Romans 6:14 says: For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye
are not under the law, but under grace.(KJV)
You
test your salvation by your attitude towards sin. If you are genuinely born
again, it will affect your attitude towards sin. When you do something wrong
even when nobody tells you, you will know that you are wrong. There are those
who do not know when they sin that they have sinned. When you give your life to
Christ, you will begin to see some things you use to do before as wrong doings.
This is because the more you work with God, the more you come to know the
nature of God. What is your attitude to sin? There are believers whose conscience
has been damaged. When you get to that level, is possible you lose your
salvation. Don’t spend time in sin, whenever you sin, repent of it immediately.
This is the only way you can keep your salvation intact. Sin destroys like
fire. As you are living in it and nothing is going on in your heart, it is
possible you lose your salvation.
3. YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS YOUR
BRETHREN
1 John 3:10-15 says: In this the
children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For
this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one
another. Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And
wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's
righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not
[his] brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and
ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.(KJV)
There
is nobody that will have hatred for someone else and be saved. When you have
God inside you, you will begin to love the things that God love. God loves his
people. If you are born again, your attitude towards the brethren will change.
1
John 3:17 says: But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have
need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the
love of God in him?(KJV)
Sin
creates a sense of unworthiness. There are people who even after asking for
forgiveness still belief that God has not heard them. There are those also who
does not want o associate with the brethren. If you are among them, then you
are not saved.
4. THE DESIRE TO PLEASE GOD
Matthew 16:21-23 says: From that
time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem,
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to
rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But
he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence
unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men.(KJV)
God
just finished speaking to Peter. Most times satan wants to use the vessels that
God had just used. Jesus commanded satan to get behind him because He knew it
was satan that was speaking through Peter. When God speaks to you, he
challenges you. When God is talking to you, He does not promote the flesh. If
what you think that God is speaking to you is all about the flesh then is not
God. Genuine salvation changes your will or desires.
Philippians 2:12-13 says: Wherefore,
my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it
is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.(KJV)
Even
the desire to please God is created by God. You cannot even work out your
salvation on your own; it is the Holy Spirit that helps you. If you are saved there will be a will to
please God. If you are born again and there is no desire to please God then
check yourself. If God has changed you, even your will and emotions will be transformed;
you will become a product of grace.
1 Peter 4:1-2 says: Therefore,
since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same
mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no
longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but
for the will of God.(NKJV)
5. THE DESIRE TO GIVE TO GOD
2 Corinthians 8:1-8 says; Moreover,
brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of
Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear
witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they
were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the
gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we
had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the
will of God. So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete
this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything--in faith, in
speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us--see that you
abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the
sincerity of your love by the diligence of others.(NKJV)
A
person who is genuinely saved will have the desire to give to God. If you don’t
have the desire to give check your salvation. This is one of the joy of
salvation. The cross produces a superior level of
God’s consciousness. Benevolence will increase.
6. HOPE OF SALVATION
If
you don’t have confident for the life that is coming after now then there is a problem.
There is a reward after now. If you think about God honoring you, there are
things you will not do.
The
redemption of our body is this hope. The glory of God is going to deal with
corruption which is the old man.
Matthew
24:42-48 says: Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the
thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house
to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think
not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his
lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Blessed [is] that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and
if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;(KJV)
Leviticus
17:11 says: For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to
you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that
makes atonement for the soul.'(NKJV)
The
human body is sustained by blood but this body is not sustained by blood but
the life of God which is called Zoe.
7. MANIFESTATION OF FRUITS
A
person who is born again will manifest the fruits of the spirit. These are the
fruits of the recreated human spirit. If you are born again your spirit will
produce the above fruits.
Galatians 5:16-22 says: [This] I
say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and
these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that
ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the
works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told
[you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith,(KJV)
John 15:2 says: Every branch in me
that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.(KJV)
If
you don’t manifest the fruits of the spirit then you are not saved.
