Sanctified By His Truth

[background music] [Speaker 1] A verse of the scripture came to my mind now. I want us to look at it just before we go into continuing from where we stopped. A scripture just came to my mind. I want us to look at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Be watchful, be careful, be sober. 1 Corinthians 5. Are you there? [Speaker 2] Yeah. [Speaker 1] It says 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 6. Your translation, KJV. [Speaker 2] "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" [Speaker 1] Your translation, NIV? [Speaker 3] "Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?" [Speaker 1] Yes, another translation. [Speaker 4] "It's terrible that you should boast about your spirituality, and yet you let this sort of thing go on. Don't you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected?" [Speaker 1] Soon all will be affected. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Let's be watchful, let's be careful, let's be vigilant with our Christian work, with our Christian life. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. So, we'll pick the matter from where we left it exactly two weeks ago. Praise the Lord. We left the matter at God wants all men to come to the knowledge of the truth. And we zeroed in on the fact that except we can understand the truth about the hope of our calling, the possibility of enduring to the end is not there. Can we all still remember that? That was where we zeroed in two weeks ago. That one major reason beyond the fact that Jesus said until we know the truth we cannot be free, one compelling reason for why we must seek to come to the knowledge of the truth, why we must cry after it, why we must seek after it, why we must pursue it, is the fact that the Bible says that I desire that the Lord will grant unto you the spirit of wisdom, of revelation in the knowledge of him, so that the eyes of your understanding might be opened that you might know the hope of your calling. That was when we gave the illustration of the little boy who shared intimacy with the driver, who happens to be his father. Today I want us to move, still moving on on this matter. Why is God persistent? Why is God insisting? Why is it a strong desire with God that after people get born again, they must strive to come to the knowledge of the truth? This is pleasing and acceptable to God. If a man is not coming to that knowledge, the life is not pleasing. The life is not acceptable. I want to call your attention to a very familiar scripture in John. John chapter 17. Are you there? Okay. I will take my reading from verse 11. [Speaker 4] "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 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. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." [Speaker 1] We are starting to bother ourselves with this passage. We want to look at it a little closely. We are looking at why is it that God is not pleased with the fact that people just get born again? He wants all men to be saved, but again, he wants them to come to the knowledge of the truth. You will notice that Jesus was saying something about sanctification. This was his last intercessory prayer. John 17, that was the last major intercessory prayer. In speaking that prayer, Jesus made some very fundamental things that worth close consideration. He was saying that I am leaving, but they are here. I am not asking you to take them out of the world. I am asking you to keep them. But when he got to verse 14, look at what Jesus said. What did he say? He said, "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." What made the world to hate them? The word. Is that not? If Jesus did not give them his word, would the world have hated them? No. I am talking about why it is pleasing to God that all men come to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus is opening our eyes to a very serious matter. That enmity between his own and the world cannot emerge. It is not possible for it to emerge except the word is given to them. If they don't have it, they cannot become opposed to the world. I mean to the world, not in terms of humanity, but as where we say, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, love of the Father is not in him. But all that is in the world, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, they are not of the Father, but they are of the world. And the world passeth away and its lusts thereof, but he who does the will of God abides forever." That world that is enmity against God, it is impossible for anybody that belongs to God to have a common stand with God such that as the world is an enemy of God and God is an enemy of the world, except the word of God is given to a man, that enmity cannot emerge. What it means is that except the word of God comes to us, except there is an increasing understanding of the truth, it is not possible. There is nothing by which the person who got born again can be separated unto God. God is separated from the world by his holiness. The world is evil; God is holy. That was why when he got to verse 17, what did he say? He says, "Sanctify them," that is, separate them, set them apart by your what? By your truth. Your word is truth. So if you go back up, it means I have given them the truth, and the world hated them. For us to have a clear understanding of that, look at John chapter 3. John chapter 3. The popular scripture from verse 16. Everybody can chorus that from anywhere. [Speaker 5] "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." [Speaker 1] Are you following something? Go back to 19. "This is the condemnation: that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." Now, how should 21 ordinarily should have been written when you want to contrast it? It should be, "But he that doeth light." But what did he say? "But he that doeth the truth cometh to light, that his deeds might be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." The point I am making is many of us today, we are struggling to be holy. We are doing everything to be sanctified, to be separated from the world. There are sincere believers. And they are sincere. But they still find themselves commit fornication. They are sincere; they still find themselves having marital instability. They are sincere. They find themselves struggling with lying. They are sincere because when you meet them, sometimes they wonder, "Am I really a Christian?" When you say, "Are you born again?" they will say, "I am, but..." But when you say, "What is the but?" they say, "I don't understand. It is just up and down. There are still some things in my life I don't know." It is not as if they are hiding their life. I am not talking of walking in darkness. I am not talking of hiding. You know there are some who are in iniquity and they act as if everything is okay. I am not talking about that. That is why I said they are sincere. There are believers who understand that the foundation of the Lord standeth sure, it hath this seal: "The Lord knoweth them that are his. Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." There are believers who know that. There are believers who have that terror of God in their heart. They know that, "This way I am going, am I really a Christian? Can I describe my life as a Christian?" When you say, "Brother, come and lead prayer meeting," they will say, "I don't want to lead." When you say, "We want to put you in the executive," they will say, "No." By the time you move closer, they say, "Sir, I am struggling with something. I only look good. Let me tell you my life. Sister, sir, I still tell lies. Such people like me should not lead the people of God. My life is not correct." That is why I call them sincere believers. Do you understand what I am trying to say now? That is why they are sincere. The situation in their life is a struggle. It is not a pattern. Even though it is a continuous thing in their life, it is a daily whipping. Some of them have even fasted and fasted. They have fasted. Some of them have declared forty days fasting. And yet the matter is still there. What I am bringing to you, what I am trying to make you understand, is that there is no any other way by which we can be separated from the world in a way that the world will hate us. If the world loves you by its system, you are not of God. Definitely get that very clear. Because the world is an enemy of God. He said, "I gave them your word." And what happens? "The world hated them." If the system of the world, the way the world does their affairs, if it is not finding problem, opposition, resistance from you, it is not finding something completely different with you, you are not on God's side. But I want you to note how the Lord achieved that in the believer. How did he achieve it? He achieved it by giving them his word. What I am saying is that it doesn't matter how a man struggle and struggle and struggle. If he is not given the word, if the Lord does not give you the word, it must be a direct giving. The emphasis I am making this evening is that there must be a giving. Don't forget where we started from. Madeline cried. The elder could not help her. She went to them. All they could tell her is that your testimony is correct. Oh, I cannot live. No. Oh, I cannot. Oh, the world is perfect and God is perfect. It is not possible. Nobody can be able to live without continuing in sin. We are human beings. And she ran to the elders. What did the elders do? They confirmed it for her. Is that the point I am making? Because that is the experience of the elders. The elders came, they went in and they saw that yes, the wrappings were one side, the linen were the other side. And they came and told her, "You are correct. It is Jesus that been stolen." So there are errors you believe that elders have been confirming. Elders, traditions, will not be able to help you. You get the point I am making? You'll notice that what helped Madeline was that she cried. And the Lord quickened her eyes. That is what we are talking about, your eye of understanding being opened the last time. And where the elder saw wrapping and linen, she saw angels. And my prayer is that, Lord, may the climax of certain men's experiences be my foundation. That is where those men climaxed their spiritual life. If not that God came to rescue Peter later. You know he had to appear to them later? In John, if you look at the story in Luke 24, where he appeared to them, he did what? And he opened their mind so that they can understand the scripture. If that did not happen to Peter, Peter would still be preaching that Jesus was stolen even though he was a disciple, because he had an experience. He entered; he saw. What I am saying is that there are issues in your life until the Lord give you his word, you can never be sanctified. It is not a thing that men can do for you. He says, "They are sanctified because," he said, "the world hated. I gave them." You see when you see the Lord saying "I"? If you go back again to the church, he said, "I will build my church." You get it? And that is why I tell every time, I keep saying, if you have a proper understanding of the Lord and his church, you will know that you will be daily on a consistent basis run away from touching God's glory. When men try to call you some name and try to praise you, you will run. If you properly understand the issue of the Lord and his church, if you know that Paul plants, Apollos waters, it is only the Lord that gives increase. But what I am saying this evening, very emphatically, is that sanctification, what separates a man and makes a man an enemy of the world, what makes a man have courage to say, "Look, if you want to kill me, kill me," what makes men to become like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? What makes men to face the whole army of Israel running away, and they are running towards Goliath with ordinary catapult and they are not scared? Is that the Lord gave them his word. If it does not happen to you personally, I am telling you, you cannot be sanctified. You can't. It is not. You see people, you see some believers, they will make altar call today for people who did not live well in the last one year, they will go out. Give them another two years, they will make another strong altar call. Go and check; they will go out. You will say, "This brother is not even serious." The brother is serious. But the brother doesn't understand something. That the way out of a situation is not by running from brother Wale to brother Lade to brother Tade and brother Rade like that. It is not. What the missing dimension is that something must be given to him. It must be personally given to him. It must be handed over. It must be a one-on-one handing over. It cannot come through somebody. Maybe if I use an illustration, maybe it will help; it will make it simpler so that it will not be complex. Somebody preached to you about salvation and you got saved. For some of us, is that not the reality of our salvation? You know for some of us nobody preached. We just encountered God in our home like my own story. But for some of us, somebody preached the word. And somehow as the word was being preached, there was a conviction within. Who have such an experience that that was your experience? Okay. But you know that that salvation experience was more than the fact that the person preached. Is that not true? Something happened inside you that you were sure, you knew that ah, something even though the person left, you were still ah, I am. You can, you can say, even though you may not be able to put the experience in words, you knew something happened beyond the person. Is that not true? Is that not true? What I am talking about, so that you don't think I am saying what is the essence then of preaching? That's not what I am talking about. So you don't misunderstand me to say that we no more listen to preaching. How will it be that people who lock up themselves inside a room? Because you have said the Lord must give it personally. I am trying to remove confusion. You get the point? But I am saying that, oh, thank you Jesus. Something occurred to me now. Let's check something in Matthew 7. I think it's Matthew 7. I think it's Matthew 7 if I'm not wrong. Matthew 7 verse 6. Yes, read for me. [Speaker 6] "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs." [Speaker 1] You don't give what is holy unto dogs. [Speaker 6] "Neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." [Speaker 1] Another translation. [Speaker 6] "Do not give good things that are of God to dogs. The dogs will turn round and attack you. Do not throw valuable things to pigs. The pigs will only trample on them and bury them in the dirt." [Speaker 1] Do you get what this passage is saying? Do you know from the background from which this thing is being said? What's the background? You know Jesus was speaking about and why worry about the speck that's in your brother's eye when you have a log in your own eye? How can you think of saying to your friend, "Let me help you get rid of the speck in your eye," when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye, then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye. Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don't throw your pearls to pigs. They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you. Look at the background. You get the background? You see what we are saying is this. Is it that Madeline was better qualified than Peter in terms of spiritual work? Eh? No. But why did Peter? Peter went home on his first belief. Madeline, who had the belief test, went home with the truth to preach. You know she went back to meet them and told them the truth? This time they persecuted her that you must be dreaming. Me that saw the clothes! What gave Madeline, what gave her a head ahead of Peter? You see, "You will seek me and you will find me after you have searched for me with all your heart." What we are saying about this matter, it is not how many times you listen to sermon that brings the change. Not as if some people have not listened and they have changed. Are you understanding me? It is not how many times somebody preached to you that brings the matter. What brings the matter is the earnestness and the passion that is in the heart to seek the Lord. You see, God knows the man who desperately realized his poverty. He said, "For blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." It doesn't matter how many times a man listen to a sermon over and over over again. As long as the Father cannot see a sense of his desperate need for the Lord in the matter of his life. If the sense is the desperate need for men, the sense is a trust in people, the sense is a trust in some things, in some method, and in some traditions, the person will go on and on and never get it. But if the desperation in the heart of the man is that, "Lord, I need you." How the Lord will bring that to pass depends on him. It can be in a class like this. It can be while you are doing your quiet time. But we are talking of a seeking that goes beyond a trust in a system, in a man, in a method, but a desperate search, looking and crying for Jesus. And you are saying, "Lord, I don't know how you want to do it, but give me your word. Lord, give me. Give me your word. Give me your word." Zachariah did not know that it was by the daily routine of going to perform sacrifice that there will be a visitation. He had been praying. Is that not? That day when he met with the Lord, he wasn't expecting to meet with the Lord. He went there as a matter of duty. Am I correct? Am I correct? And as he was doing his normal duty, Bible says by lot it fell on him by lot. You get the point? So that we are not saying that there are some things which by responsibility falls on you, in some system that you may belong to. "Ah, I have learned discipleship class. We should not be responsible to anybody again." That's not what we are preaching. What I am trying to make you understand was that, see, it doesn't matter how many times you gather and gather and gather and gather and gather and gather around and read and read and read the Bible and pray and pray and pray and pray. There is something your eyes must be opened to. There is something you must see personally that, "Lord, I need you." There must be this personal cry. There must be this thing that makes you to know that, look, Lord, except you do something about my case, I will die. Lord Jesus, it is you. Lord Jesus, it is you. You see, it is that desperate cry, it is that that I am talking about. That sanctification, to be sanctified, to be separated from the world in a way that the world will hate you. Do you know how the world, if you look at everybody that entered Babylon, the world did not hate the Levites in Babylon, did they? The high priest, did they? The world was only looking for somebody to kill or some people to kill. Who were those people? The three boys at the issue of the image and Daniel in the matter of prayer. What is the secret behind those three people? What did Daniel say at the end of his work with God? What did Daniel say in 11:32? [Speaker 7] "And such as do wickedly against the covenant..." [Speaker 1] "And such as do wickedly against the covenant..." [Speaker 7] "...shall he corrupt by flatteries." [Speaker 1] So flatteries will work in the life of some people. As many that do wickedly against the covenant, flatteries will work. Error will work. Deceit will work. But there's another group of people. Who are these group of people? [Speaker 7] "But the people that do know their God..." [Speaker 1] "But the people that do know their God." Did you see something personal here? The people that know God would have been very, very general. Is that not true? What did he say? "The people that do know their..." Have you seen possession? Possession! Possessive word coming into it. What we are saying this evening, I am telling you why the Bible says God wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. It is until you personally don't come to the knowledge of the truth, if you personally don't have him giving you his word, apart from the fact that you cannot endure to the end (that was where we started two weeks ago), what are we saying today? You cannot be separated from the world. [background noise: baby crying] If the world don't get you with the lust of the eye, they will get you with the lust of the flesh. If not with the lust of the flesh, it will be with the pride of life. If you look into our system today, look into our churches, you will notice that where some are not immoral, where some are not covetous, you may see arrogance. I am talking of this separation. You see, to be sanctified, it is not how much a man strives; it is how much he is given his word. It's not by trying. You see what I am saying is that we need to appreciate that we don't have the capacity to be holy. Nobody have one capacity. Nobody have one ability to be holy. And that is why you will notice that every time I always make reference to this scripture, Paul said, "For by grace I am what I am." If we go talk in another place, he will say, "I labor mightily by his working that does work effectually in me mightily." You will notice that he is always making reference to something. When he's talking about the good pleasure of God, he says, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." You will notice they always making reference to a working that is working in them. That working that is working in them is that he daily gives his word. He gives his word. He gives his word. When a matter arises, he gives his word. When it comes again, he gives his word. There is this spring inside them. It's a living spring. It's a living water. He said, "He that believeth in me, out of him shall flow rivers of living water." There is something that springs inside. The boldness is not bold-face; it's inside. You know bold-face? Inside there is fear. You are shaking. You know sometimes if you see some local dog, if somebody comes, they will be moving back. They are afraid. It's bold-face. The one that have courage inside, as he barks he also jump at you. If you don't quickly run, if the owner is not there, you are finished. Those are the correct dog. Some of them don't even bark. They just [growling]. If you don't go backward, the next thing is that you are on the floor. Those ones they are not bold-face. Inside them is courage. Courage is something inside. [speaks native language] It's something inside. That thing inside that separates us from the world, that sanctifying influence that separates us from the world, is as the Lord gives his word. He said, "I have given them your word, and the world hated them." If you are struggling, brethren, if in place you are struggling, don't submit to your struggle. There is a Lord that want to work in you both to will and to do. It is only that we don't give what is holy to dogs. We don't cast pearls before swine. Until the hunger corresponds to what is needed, nothing happens. There must be a hunger. There must be a seeking. There must be a desperate. There must be a zeal. There must be a passion. There is something that drives. If you go and check Jesus, he said, "The zeal for thy house has eaten me up." There is a passion that must be built, that must come up in the life of a man that qualifies him. There is a desperate, there is a seeking, there is a hunger, there is something that is there, and that is what the Lord sees in a man and the Lord satisfies. You see, when you satisfy a man who is not hungry, he will despise the food. Do you understand me? If a man is not hungry and you go and prepare food for the man, even if the food is delicacies, he just goes like this. He will just taste it. But have you thought of people, just like this, and then you put the thing down? Why? There is no hunger. There is no desperation. The revelations of God, they are too precious to be cast before swine. They are too precious to be given out to men who are full. There is a way God knows that a man is full. There is a way God knows a man is desperate for him. I am not talking about desperate for a method. Please go and mark my word. Many are desperate about a system. Desperate about a man. Desperate about a method. I am talking about a direct cry that says, "Jesus, I need you." And you are saying, "Lord, I don't know how you want to do it, but give me your word. Lord, give me. Give me your word. Give me your word." Madeline did not know that it was because I saw the desperation. That's why I had to first show myself to you. I first needed to go up, but when I saw the desperate situation I said if I don't do something now, you will die here. Do you know that that was what Madeline was doing there? She wanted something different. She was not satisfied. She was not ready to die with that level of revelation. She was not ready to die with that struggle. There is a struggle in your life, and you are telling God, "I'm refusing to end like this, because I know you can do something about it." That is the kind of situation that brings God to lead men into sanctification that comes by his word. Let us pray. Let us talk to the Lord. Let us talk to the Lord. Coming to the knowledge of the truth. The truth is light. The truth is life. The truth is light. The light himself is the Lord. He said light came. The light himself is the Lord. There is this, we are shifted from seeking the Lord; we are seeking men. We are shifted from seeking the Lord; we are seeking systems. "Ah, if I can just go to this system, it will be well." It's not about the system. There is something that happened that is about the Lord. There is the Lord is saying return back to me. Cursed is the man who put his trust in man, who makes flesh his arm, whose heart departs from the Lord. The Bible says he shall be like the tree in the wilderness. He will not see good when good is coming. He will not see revelation. He will not see insight. He will not see them when they are coming. He said, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is." He said, "He will be like a tree by rivers of water." That life, it will ever be green. Sister, brother, it is possible to be consistently green in all season. In dry season. In good season. On the mountain. In the valley. When things are fine. When things are not fine. When there is money in your pocket. When there is no money. When your needs are met. When your needs are not met. It is possible for the tree of your life to be green. People will still consistently see freshness. They won't even know that you have a problem. It is when you say, "Look, there is this issue," they will say, "Eh? So you mean you have not eaten today? Ah, it is surprising. How come you could still be smiling?" Because there is something about you. Oh, so you mean that you don't have a job in the last two ah, I can't believe it. So what is the source of your joy? If it is me, I would have died. I am telling you, it is possible for the tree to be green. He says the leaf is green in all season. It will not cease from bearing fruit. It does not cease. And the reason why the several seasons are changing you is because you have not gone deep into this situation. There is a place where the tree remains ever-green regardless of the season. Regardless of the circumstance and the situation, it remains green. Can you ask the Lord? Can you talk to the Lord? "Lord, I am looking beyond man. I am looking beyond system." It's not about your church. Don't say, "Ah, it is that my own church I'm confident of." It's not about, look, these are the things that is frustrating revelations in our time. That was what God did in the time of Gideon. He said, "Look, if I give these people victory, they will not give the glory to me. If I give them victory ah, no, no, no, if I give them..." He said, "Gideon, go and reduce the number." Today God keep reducing us because he knows we will not give him the glory. He knows that our trust is not in the Lord. Our trust is in something. Our trust is in some system. Our trust is in some method. We are believing in some men in quotes. Your error can even be brother Wale. Your error can be brother Wale. If I meet brother Wale, that can even be your error why God has not taken you deeper. No. You must look beyond the people. There is a desperation that must come into your heart that, "Lord, Lord, yes, I attend this system. I go to this place, but Lord, except you meet with me in this system, I am finished. Except you come to my situation, Lord, it is you." That is what will make you not to resort to give the glory to men. That what will make you know that, ah, oh, I cried to the Lord and the Lord answered me in the days of my affliction. The Lord answered me in the days of my cry. Can you look beyond whatever system? Can you look beyond men? Can you tell God, "I need you. Lord Jesus, I shift to you. I shift." Do you know that these are things too if you bring marriages? There are men who are trusting their wife to behave well. There are wives trusting their husband to behave well. No. You need to trust the Lord that your wife will behave well, then the Lord will work it in your wife. You need to trust the... The thing is about the Lord. It is the Lord that works. There is a need for trust. Our trust must first be in the Lord. Because the things that are seen, they must not be created from the things which do appear. That is the way God creates things. God normally create things from what does not appear so that you can't trace the thing that is happening to the things that do appear. You can only trace it to God. Bible says by faith we understand that the things that are seen are not created from the things which do appear, but they are created by the word of God. They are created so that the holiness in your life, you cannot trace it to something that appear. You can only trace it to the word of God. Paul said, "I don't want your faith to rest in men, but to rest on the power of God." If the faith of a man rest in men, there is a problem because the word, the revelation of God will cease. The revelation of God will cease. I want you to talk to God. "God, I shift my focus to you. Lord, I desperately need you. Lord, I need you. I need you. I need you, Lord." In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. [Speaker 1] Thank you Father. Blessed be your name. Ah, in the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. [outro music]