God expects man to seek for the truth and to witness to it. “Everyone have a moral obligation to seek truth (especially religious truth) and to adhere to it and to live according to the demands of the truth”
Zechariah 8:3. Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.
Beloved, the scriptures revealed to us, the great love and ceaseless passion, God the Father always have towards Zion.
Most times when the Bible refers to Zion, it is referring to the church, the people of God, who He poured His love on, making His only begotten Son to die for them. See some of them.
Psalms 87:2. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Psalms 132:13-16. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
Joel 3:17. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
Beloved, because of this ceaseless and great love God always have to His church, His people and praise God, you are one of them, He gave so many reassuring prophecies about them. See some of them.
Zechariah 14:20 -21. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 1:26: And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Jeremiah 31:23: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
Jeremiah 33:16: In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORDour righteousness.
This was what informed the reassuring prophecy God sent to His people, that He was returning to dwell in their midst as it was in the beginning.
Zechariah 8:3. Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.
But then, this time, it shall be called the city of truth, a place where the wholesome truth of God shall be proclaimed, believed and wholeheartedly obeyed.
REMEMBER, THE ONLY THING, GOD DESIRE ALWAYS TO SEE IN HIS CHURCH, IN THE LIVES OF HIS PEOPLE, IS THE PROCLAMATION OF WHOLESOME TRUTH, WHOLEHEARTEDLY BELIEVED AND OBEYED.
Pause a little here, in your present assembly of worship,
Is the total truth proclaimed?
Is the total truth wholeheartedly believed and embraced?
Is the total truth wholeheartedly obeyed by all from the pulpit to the pew?
From the ministers to the members? THIS ALONE IS THE CONDITION AND GUARANTEE THAT GOD IS IN THAT ASSEMBLY.
Beloved, the buck of your eternal wellbeing’s decision stops with you, please place so much premium on your eternal wellbeing, to avoid, had I known. This shall never be your portion in Jesus name.
These are the various reasons why your loving Father in heaven places so much premium on the truth: they are inexhaustible, see some of them.
Psalms 145:18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Proverbs 22:21. That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
Malachi 2:6. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
Jeremiah 33:6. Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
Psalms 15:2. He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
Psalms 25:10. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
Psalms 51:6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psalms 98:3. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Psalms 100:5. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalms 119:43. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
Psalms 119:142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Proverbs 3:3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Proverbs 16:6. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.
Living by the truth is very very costly. Are you in particular living by the truth that God loves, through which His presence can be drawn to you? If you are, have you been persecuted for hating great wickedness and sinning against God, like Joseph?
Have you been threatened with furnace of fire like the three Hebrews? Has there been a confederacy against you and you have been threatened to be sent to Lions den, like Daniel ?
Is there a Haman pursuing you, who wanted to hang you on the gallows, because you will not worship the idol of a man but God alone? If you have received the entire truth and living by then see what Jesus said.
John 17:14-16. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
God the Father dwells in the city of truth, make sure you worship in the assembly where the wholesome truth is preached, believed and obeyed. It shall be well with you in Jesus name.
This alone is the guarantee that, you shall live with God in the city of Siion in heaven. May the good Lord help you in Jesus name.
Hebrews 12:22-24. But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Dearly beloved, Jesus your Lord is very very pleasant to all and sundry, only on this side of heaven. At the other side, He is only pleasant with the believers that believed and obeyed the wholesome truth wholeheartedly.
Please don’t ever forget this. So many surprises will happen in heaven. This is because only the few that walk with Him in white shall be found and many great names in today’s church world shall not be found, with the multitude thronging their assemblies, where the total truth is not preached, believed and obeyed by all.
This shall not be your portion in Jesus name. Because of this , please. give attention to these scriptures.
Revelation 3:4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
Revelation 3:10-11. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Matthew 7:21-23. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Luke 13:22-28. And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
The simple reason why this hard stance shall be taken by Jesus at the other side is because He himself was the truth personified.
John 14:6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 5:33. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
John 1:14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:16-17. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Have you ever taken time to have proper understanding of this scripture below:
John 4:23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Either on this side of heaven or at eternity, only true worshippers who lived by the total truth shall have undeniable access to the Father of our Lord and your own Father. Because when Jesus was here, during His earthly ministry, He tirelessly proclaimed the wholesome truth and was hated and severely persecuted, until He was hanged on the cross.
John 7:7. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
BELOVED, IF YOU ARE TRULY TRAVERSING THE PATH, OUR LORD WALKED, THE WORLD AND THE WORLDLING SHALL DO EXACTLY, WHAT THEY DID TO JESUS TO YOU. see it.
John 15:18-19. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Why will the world and the Worldling hates you in particular? See it.
John 17:8-9. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
John 17:14-16. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
1 John 3:13. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
All the prophets of old, the apostles and bible days believers and saints suffered inexplicable and unexplainable persecutions for wholeheartedly proclaiming, believing and obeying the truth. See this.
2 Corinthians 11:22-27. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
This was the lot of all the Bible days believers, have you at any time come closer to a little of these? When you sincerely believe and obeyed the wholesome truth, satan and his fiends will do same to you. If this is not your case, you really need to reexamine your profession of faith. See what our Lord and the scriptures says.
John 16:33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Acts 14:22. Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
2 Timothy 3:12. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
1 Peter 4:12-14. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
This was why the scriptures and Jesus our Lord took time to encourage His faithful believers, like you to endeavour to pay this price now, which is light affliction and for a moment, for a befitting prize at eternity. You shall not be missing there in Jesus name.
Romans 8:17-18. 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.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:35-39. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Corinthians 4:16 – 5:1. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Revelation 2:10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
JESUS ENCOURAGED, BELIEVERS OF ALL AGES AND YOU IN PARTICULAR, TO ENDEAVOUR TO PAY THE PRICE OF LIVING FOR THE TRUTH, AND WIN THE ETERNAL PRIZE.
Friend, you desire to be part of the dawning rapture shall be granted in Jesus name. In fact the rapture message in the Bible as far back as the Bible days were the only words of comfort for them and for us too in our days, especially this perilous time.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Why do you need this world of comfort? Because of the recurrent troubles from the prince of this world, satan , his fiends and human agents.
1 John 3:13. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
1 John 4:6: We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
1 John 5:19: And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
But then, when we finally meet Jesus in the air, we will understand by and by endure to the end like our beloved brother and apostle Paul.
2 Timothy 4:7-8. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
See how this song writer put it and fight the good fight of faith until the end. Receive grace in Jesus name. Listen to the audio message too. All your questions shall be answered when we meet our Lord in the air.
Tempted and tried, we’re oft made to wonder
Why it should be thus all the day long;
While there are others living about us,
Never molested, though in the wrong.
Refrain:
Farther along we’ll know more about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by.
2 Sometimes I wonder why I must suffer,
Go in the rain, the cold, and the snow,
When there are many living in comfort,
Giving no heed to all I can do. [Refrain]
3 Tempted and tried, how often we question
Why we must suffer year after year,
Being accused by those of our loved ones,
E’en though we’ve walked in God’s holy fear. [Refrain]
4 Often when death has taken our loved ones,
Leaving our home so lone and so drear,
Then do we wonder why others prosper,
Living so wicked year after year. [Refrain]
5 Faithful till death,” saith our loving Master;
Short is our time to labor and wait;
Then will our toiling seem to be nothing,
When we shall pass the heavenly gate. [Refrain]
6. Soon we will see our dear, loving Savior,
Hear the last trumpet sound through the sky;
Then we will meet those gone on before us,
Then we shall know and understand why. [Refrain
![SERMON | HOLINESS - THE PATH TO GODS HEART - BISHOP PETER BABALOLA [ General Overseer of Calvary Light of Christ Bible Church [ CLCBC ] ]](https://clcbconline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/HOLINESS-THE-PATH-TO-GODS-HEART-BISHOP-PETER-BABALOLA-300x300.jpg)