All right, turn with me now to
James chapter four. James chapter four. I was reminded
this week of this verse of scripture And in just dwelling on it and
thinking about it, it made me want to look at it for our message
tonight. James four, the first sentence
in verse eight says, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh
to you. Draw nigh to God and he will
draw nigh to you. What a glorious sentence that
is. What a glorious sentence that
is. That is a sweet promise from
God. That's what that is. That's something that we can
trust. It's something we can count on. It's something that
we can believe. And that sunk in with me as I
was dwelling on this. If he says he will, he will. Draw nigh to God and he will
draw nigh to you. That is encouraging to me. That's
just comforting. That is, he will. That's something
every believer longs for, truly longs for. In Christ, we have
been called into a relationship with God. In Christ, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we've been called into a relationship with the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit. That relationship is parent to
child. That relationship is husband
to wife. And that relationship is friend
to friend. We have a heavenly father. We
have a heavenly father. We are adopted into his family. Made to be a part of a heavenly
family. Family is a wonderful thing.
It truly is. The Lord has created this relationship
of family and to enter into the fact that we have been adopted
into a heavenly family. We have a heavenly husband. With
the Lord Jesus Christ, we are brought into a holy matrimony. It's a match made in heaven.
People say that, you know, oh, that's a match made in heaven.
This really was a match made in heaven. The loving union of
a husband and a wife. We have a heavenly friend. By
the Holy Ghost, we've been made to be kindred spirits. That's what friends are, kindred
spirits. This is what the Lord said. And
this is an amazing statement. But he said in his own words,
God said, Abraham is my friend. I've always loved that. Abraham
is my friend. But do you know Abraham is not
the only one he said that about? He's not the only man that he
said that about. Look with me, if you would, at John 15. John 15 verse 13 says, greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. Who did Christ die for? Who did
Christ die for? He died for his friends. He laid
down his life for his friends. Verse 14 says, you are my friends
if you do whatsoever I command you. What does he command of
us? Rest, trust, believe, look to, follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 15, henceforth I call you
not servants, For the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth,
but I've called you friends. For all things that I have heard
of my Father, I've made known unto you. I've told it all to
you, as a friend tells his friend. As a friend confides in a friend. We have a friend, the scripture
says, that sticks closer than a brother. So close, he said in Isaiah 41,
he said, I'll sit there with you and hold your right hand.
I'll say to you, fear not, I'll help you. I'll never leave you,
I'm with you always. That's a friend, that's a friend.
So don't turn back, but James said, If you will, as a child,
draw near to your heavenly Father. When he said God, he was speaking
of our heavenly Father. And if you will, as a bride,
draw near to your heavenly husband. When he said God, he was speaking
of Christ. And if you will, as a true kindred
spirit, draw near to your heavenly friend. When he said God, he
was speaking of the Holy Spirit. He said, if you'll draw near
to your, and I say this term with fear and love and respect,
if you'll draw near to your significant other, he will draw near to you. He will. Now it's important when
we consider drawing near that we understand this first. If we're going to talk about
the subject of drawing near to God, this is so important. This
is the most important thing. We must start right here. We
cannot draw near to God for salvation. We cannot. We cannot. That is not what James is referring
to. Look with me at John chapter
6. John 6 verse 44 says, And this is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. He said, no man can come to me. And those are those are definite
words. Can it means ability, not may
or. No man has the ability. No man
can come to me. Except one way. the Father which
hath sent me, draw him. And I will raise him up at the
last day. In order to come to him, in order
for us to draw nigh to him for life-giving salvation, he must
draw us. If we're gonna talk about drawing,
that has to go to him. He must, that's the only way,
it's the only way of ability. He must draw us. Because as children, naturally,
we are all, this word says, rebellious children. Doesn't it call us
children of wrath, even as others? Isn't that what it says? Disobedient
children. This is us. Runaway children.
We love Come Thou Fount. Love that song. Prone to wander,
Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. As the Apostle Paul said, O wretched
man that I am. As David said, I acknowledge
my transgression. My sin is ever before me. It's
ever before you. estranged children, that's what
we are naturally. As a wife, naturally, all we
are is adulterous. We're unfaithful. That's what
we are, unfaithful. God told a man named Hosea, in
the Old Testament, Hosea, this man represents Christ. He said,
I want you to marry a woman named Gomer. Gomer was an adulterous woman. Everybody knew it. She was a
woman of the night, a harlot. That's us. He said, I want you to take her.
I want you to love her. I want you to call her your own.
That's what Christ did for his bride. As friends, naturally,
not only are we no friends at all to him, but do you know what
the scripture says concerning us? It says we naturally are
His enemies. We were at enmity. That means
the enemy of. Sin ruined us in every way possible
and made it so that we cannot come to Him that we might have
life. He said in John 5 verse 40, you
will not, even if man had the ability. He wouldn't. He said, you will not come to
me that you might have life. No man can, no man will. We are completely ruined. And
in that ruin, we have become dead to him. That's what Ephesians
2 says. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. Dead in every way, but in spite
of us. And this is the glory of the
gospel. This is the message we love to preach. This is the message
we love to hear. In spite of us, he is the loving
father. In spite of us, he is the faithful
husband. In spite of us, he is the committed
friend. Last Wednesday night we read
Ezekiel 36. All those things that he said
he was going to do for us. He said, you've sinned against
me, you've sinned against me, you've sinned against me, you've
done wicked, you've this, you've that. He said, this is what I'm
going to do. I'm going to gather you to myself. I'm going to cleanse
you from all your filthiness. I'm gonna take that stony, hard,
cold, dead heart out of you, and I'm gonna give you a heart
of life. I'm gonna give you a heart of love. I'm gonna give you a
heart of flesh. He said, I'm gonna put my spirit
within you, and you're gonna be my people. And I'm gonna be
your God, he said, and I will save you. We talk about being
saved, Only a person who needs to be saved needs to be saved.
And he said, I will save you. The father is the one who drew
us to Christ for salvation. And when he did that, Christ
saved us by taking all of that rebellion, all of that adultery,
all of that hateful sin away from us. And he personally took
it with himself to the grave. Everything that we were, everything
that was so contrary to God, he took all of it to the grave.
Greater love hath no man than this. He laid down his own life
for his friends. When he did that, we in turn
cried, Abba, Father. Isn't that right? Abba, Father. We in turn cried when he did
that and took all that away. We cried, where is my beloved? Where is my friend? So when it
comes to salvation, when it comes to life, when it comes to that
actual union that we have, God did that. God did that. God did all of the drawing in
salvation. We only draw nigh to him. because
He has already drawn nigh to us. That's the truth. We only
come to Him because we have been made to come to Him. He said,
my people shall be willing in the day of my power. That means
when He says come, they come running. They all come running. But because we have been made
to come, and this gets us into the message tonight. Because
we have been made to come to Him, we can come to Him. Because He has drawn us to Him,
we can draw not to Him. Because He made union, we can
enjoy the closeness of that union. Now how do we do that? How do
we do that? Because we've been made able
to draw nigh to Him. Because we are allowed and because
we've been given a desire to draw nigh to Him. How do we do
that? How do we really do that? Let
me just tell you some things and then we'll see it in the
Word. We draw nigh to Him in prayer. We draw nigh to Him in reading
His Word. We draw nigh to Him in hearing
His Word preached. That is the reason we're here
right now. We're not here because that's
what you do on Sunday night. That's what good Christian folk
do. We're here to draw nigh to Him. You're not here to hear
me. I don't need to hear me. We're
all here to draw nigh to Him. If we draw nigh in hearing the
word preached, we draw nigh in gathering with his people. He
said, where two or three are gathered in my name, truly in
my name, gathered around my name, speaking of my name and the things
concerning me. He said, I'm in the midst of
you. I read for a scripture reading the two on the road to Emmaus.
That's one of my favorite stories in all the scripture. I only
have 9,000, but that's one of them. That really is one of them. I just, I love that these two
precious men are walking down the road talking about him, talking
about all these things that have happened. And it, he says, he
drew not to them. and He revealed Himself to them. And that's how it is in religion.
Man, you know, starts out trying to do what he thinks is right
in religion, and he's kind of going through the motions and
saying these things, and the Lord was standing right there
with them, and they couldn't see Him. He hadn't given them eyes
to see Him yet. As He is, they knew of Him, but
they didn't know Him. And they said all their statements
and said all their peace. And you know, we thought he was
going to be the one to redeem us. And that's what false religion
says about him. Well, you know, I mean, he did
die, but you still got to do what you got to do. He didn't
officially redeem us. And then he said, oh, fools of
heart. And that's what happens when God comes to a sinner, pierces
the heart. That's the first thing that sinner
realized. Oh, I'm a fool in heart. So slow to believe. Ought not
Christ to have suffered these things? There was no other way
of salvation. What men see to be, you know,
well, if I would have been alive back then, I would have stopped
it. I would not have let them, what men see to be defeat, all
of a sudden becomes victory. That is redemption. And all through
the prophets, and all through the Psalms, he starts opening
Christ to them. Everything they see, they see
Christ in it. They don't see law, they don't see duty, they
see Christ. And he shows, I finished it,
I finished it, I finished it, I finished it. And then all of
a sudden they thought, did not our hearts burn within us? While
he drew nigh to us, spoke with us of all these things concerning
himself. Well, if we would like to draw
near to him, these are some of the things that he says will
cause that to happen. All right, I wanna see some of
them in the Psalms. Go with me over to Psalm 34. Psalm 34 verse 18, it says, the
Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. and saveth
such as be of a contrite spirit." Not a haughty, proud heart. Not a self-righteous heart. Not a, you know, I've got this
thing and everybody else needs to get on the bandwagon with
me. A broken and a contrite heart. That sorrow is a sorrow over
sin. That's what it is. That realization
of our utter need, when the Lord just strips everything out from
under you, everything that you thought you were standing on
to please God, all of your self-made foundation, when God breaks it, just breaks
it. And we see that utter need, realizing
He's the only one that can help us. The Lord is near that person. In this chapter, this has always
been one of my favorite verses of scripture, verse six, it says,
this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of
all his trouble. That's glorious. If we long to
be near him. Entering into our desperate need
of Him, that will draw us to Him. Seeing that desperate need,
that'll draw us to Him. Look with me at Psalm 85. Psalm 85 verse 9 says, surely
His salvation is nigh them that fear Him, that glory may dwell
in our land. An understanding of His holiness,
an understanding of who He is, a true reverence for Him. True
reverence. David said, what is man that
thou art mindful of him? While so many people are crying,
look at me, aren't you proud of me? Am I not worthy? David said, what is man that
thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man that you would
visit him? That fear and that reverence,
understanding that he's high and we're low. Entering into just how far we
ought to be from Him. We talk about drawing nigh, that
starts with the realization of just how far we ought to be from
Him. How far we deserve to be from
Him. And without Him, that distance,
without Him, we have no hope. Because without Him, we are without
God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, we who
sometimes were far off, the scripture says, are made nigh by the blood
of Christ. That fear of standing before
God without Him. Can you enter into the thought,
dread the thought, of standing before God without Christ? That
fear will draw us nigh to Him. That realization will cause us
to run to Him. Look with me at Psalm 119. Psalm
119 verse 151. It says, Thou art near, O Lord,
and all Thy commandments are truth concerning Thy testimonies. I have known of old that Thou
hast founded them forever. We draw near to Him through His
Word. This is His Word to His people. He has a particular people, and
this is His Word to His people. Right here in Psalm 119, verse
103, David said, how sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea,
sweeter than honey to my mouth. How sweet these words are to
me. Verse 105, he said, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a
light unto my path. Where does that path lead? David
said, I have this path and thy word is a light unto my path.
Where does the path lead? Straight to him. This word right here will draw
us straight to him. I want to give you, this is something
that I cut out. I read it and I taped it in the
inside cover of my Bible. It's so good. This is author
unknown. But it says, this book is the mind of God. the state
of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the
happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts
are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable,
unchangeable. Read it to be wise, believe it
to be safe, practice it to be godly. It contains light to direct
you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the
traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the
soldier's sword, and the Christian's character. Here, paradise is
restored. Heaven opened and the gates of
hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject,
our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should
fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly,
frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise
of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will
lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in
Christ, yes, to glory itself for eternity. This precious,
precious word, it'll draw us straight to Him. Verse 169, right
here in Psalm 119, verse 169, it says, let my cry come near
before thee. Let my cry, we just read this
poor man cried. Let my cry come near before thee,
O Lord, give me understanding according to thy word. We draw
nigh in prayer. Prayer is just talking to Him. That's what it is. It's just
talking to Him. As a child, can talk to his or her parent. As
a wife, can talk to her husband. As a friend, can talk to his
friend. We draw nigh to Him by talking to Him. Turn with me
to Psalm 145. Verse 18 says, The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. Call
on the name of the Lord. Only a sinner that God has quickened
to call. will call. Only a sinner that
God has made to call will call. But the commandment of the word
is call on the name. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. May God quicken us to do that.
We are drawing nigh to him right now. Where two or three? I do pray two or three. I pray
a lot more than that. I pray we are gathered in His
name. He said where two or three are
gathered in His name, He is in the midst of them. He's in the
midst of them. Hebrews 10 says we draw near
by faith. And Romans 10 says faith comes
by hearing and hearing the Word of God. So all of these things
cause us to draw near to Him. But there are times that It's
not a Sunday, and it's not a Wednesday, and there's no worship service
to attend. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. There are times that you may
not have a Bible with you, and you're not able to read what
He's written. There are times that you may
be alone. There may not be two or three to gather together.
In those moments, what do we do to draw nigh to our Lord?
Go with me to Colossians 3. Colossians 3 verse 16 says, Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. If all you can remember is the
first line of Psalm 23, Quote that to yourself. That's all you can remember.
The Lord is my shepherd. If it's just Genesis 1-1, quote that to yourself. In the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. You may get a few of those verses
in the middle of Ephesians 1. to the praise of the glory of
his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. May get a few out of Ephesians
too. For he is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us. If you start getting them all
mixed up and they're not coming to you like you like you want
them to, sometimes we our minds aren't working like we we hope
it will start singing. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. Now I'm found. I was so blind. Now I see. If everything else
fails, verse 17 right here says, whatsoever you do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by Him. Just start giving thanks. Just
give thanks. Just start being thankful. Thank
God for everything that He's done for you in Christ. If you're
depressed, start giving thanks. It will pull you right out. If you have any need whatsoever,
just start giving thanks. I want to close this by personally
encouraging each person here to do a few things. I sincerely
mean this. I strongly want to encourage
each person here to do a few things. Number one, sing these
songs in your heart throughout the
day. Think of some of these hymns.
Some of these, not every hymn in that book, but some of the
men who wrote these songs knew the gospel. And there are some
good songs in here. Sing the songs that glorify Christ
in your heart. Number two, if you're not a regular
listener to sermon audio, become one. as often as you can. Listen to men that you know and
trust will preach the truth to you. Don't just listen to everybody
on there, because not everybody on there is preaching the truth.
Listen to men that you know will bring God's word to you, but
hearing the word preached will do wonders for your peace, your
hope, your faith, in Christ, if we would like to have more
faith, faith is such a wonderful thing. That trust, that belief,
it comes by hearing the gospel preached. Faith cometh by hearing. So listen to the gospel preached
as often as you can. The third thing I want to personally
encourage each person to do is pick up the phone, and call a
brother or a sister from this congregation. Call somebody you've
never called before. Call somebody that you believe
will turn the conversation to Christ. I promise you it will
strengthen you. It will encourage you. It'll
bring the two of you closer together. It will bring the two of you
closer to Him. When two brethren speak to one
another and the conversation turns to Christ, it's a glorious
thing. It is truly a glorious thing.
So if we will consciously draw near to Him through these ways
that He's given us, He will, according to His Word, according
to His promise, He will draw nigh to us. Alright? So let's
draw nigh to Him. Alright, let's all stand together.