Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. If you would like to turn with
me in your Bible, I'm going to read the first part of James
chapter 4, verse 8. James chapter four, the first
part of verse eight says, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Now that's a sweet and wonderful
exhortation and draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to
you. We can read that and we can understand
that, but there are times in our lives when we truly need
that. Sometimes we can look at that
and acknowledge that that's a wonderful thing, but. There are times when
we are in certain positions in life, things are happening and,
and we are at a, at a place where we need that. We desperately
need that. We read that and think, Oh, I
wish I could do that. I pray that the Lord will enable
me to do that. Draw nigh to God and he will
draw nigh to me. Now it's sad to me, it's very
sad and it's probably sad to you too, that usually we will
not in the heart draw nigh to God until God puts us in a position
where we need to draw nigh to him. When everything is going
fine and life is moving forward, Usually this heart is not focused
on the things of God. Usually this heart is not dwelling
on him. It's that time of true need that
we cry out and call and, and draw nigh to him. And that's
sad to me. I, I wish it wasn't so, but this
is just sinful flesh. And I pray that the Lord would
overrule it. I pray that the Lord would teach us. Because
after everything that Christ did to enable his child to draw
nigh to God, to draw nigh to the throne of God, because we
have liberty in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the
blood he shed, because we are made able to draw nigh to him,
I pray that the Lord would cause us to do so. If I'm in Christ
and if you're in Christ, may the Lord truly cause us to draw
nigh to God. Now, with that being said, I
want to show you something in Exodus chapter 3. I want to show
you something that's very important to understand. about drawing
nigh to God. This is the most critical thing
that any of us could understand when it comes to this thing of
drawing nigh to God. Look with me, if you would, at
Exodus chapter 3. It says in Exodus 3 verse 1,
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest
of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert.
and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the
midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses
said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the
bush is not burned. And when the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of
the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. And he
said, God said to Moses, draw not nigh hither. Do not draw nigh to me. Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy
feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Do not draw nigh to me. That was God's word to his own. Moses was his own. Do not draw
nigh to me. Look with me at Exodus chapter
19. It says in Exodus 19 verse 10 and the Lord said unto Moses,
go unto the people and sanctify them today. Set them apart. and tomorrow, and let them wash
their clothes, and be ready against the third day, for the third
day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon
Mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto
the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, And I'm repeating this today
because this word still holds true today. I'm telling myself
and you this today, take heed to yourselves that you go not
up into the Mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever toucheth
the Mount shall be surely put to death. There shall not in
hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether
it be beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth
long, they shall come up to the Mount. Now, if you'll look at
verse 20 right here in the same chapter, Exodus 19 verse 20,
it says, and the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of
the Mount. And the Lord called Moses up
to the top of the Mount and Moses went up and the Lord said unto
Moses, go down, charge the people lest they break through unto
the Lord to gaze. And many of them perish. He said,
go back and warn them, tell them again, tell them again, just
in case they break through this border that I have set just to
gaze and see what's going on. Verse 22, and let the priest
also which come near to the Lord sanctify themselves, lest the
Lord break forth upon them, even the priests, the preachers, the
religious leaders of the people. And Moses said unto the Lord,
the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai for thou chargest
us saying, set bounds about the Mount and sanctify it. And the Lord said unto him, Away,
get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou and Aaron with
thee. But let not the priest and the
people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break
forth upon them. So Moses went down unto the people
and spake unto them. He told them, This is what God
has said. This is what God has said, and
I'm repeating that declaration right now. This is what God has
said. In chapter 20, Exodus 20, it
says in verse 18, and all the people saw the thunderings and
the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain
smoking. And when the people saw it, they
removed and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak
thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us,
lest we die. What they were saying is we need
a mediator between Him and us. Would you mediate for us between
God and us? Because if he speaks directly
to us, we're going to die. We're going to die. They were
afraid. They feared God. They feared
God. That's what's missing today. Men and women do not fear God. They were afraid they stood afar
off. And I'm going to tell you this,
this is the honest truth. That's where drawing nigh to
God begins. The exhortation is, draw nigh
to God and He'll draw nigh to you. That's where it begins. If I want to draw nigh to God
and if you want to draw nigh to God, here's where it begins.
The fear of the Lord. Not drawing nigh to Him, standing
afar off. You know the story of the Pharisee
and the publican who went into the temple to pray. I've mentioned
it many times, I'm sure you know that story well. That Pharisee
walked right on up and God did not receive him. You know that
story in Luke 18? You can read it for yourself
in Luke 18. That Pharisee walked right on in and walked right
on up to God and God did not receive him. That publican stood
afar off. And that's the only way that
we can come before God today, right now, today. If you in your
heart have a deep desire to draw not to God in your heart, fear
him and stand afar off. We don't just run up to God as
though we're worthy to enter into his presence. In heart,
in fear, in reverence, we stand afar off. God has not changed
from what he declared in Exodus 19, what we just read. He has,
he said, I'm the Lord. I change not. He has not changed. It's the same thing today. He
said, do not draw nigh to me. not in your sin. That's the reason
we can't draw nigh to him. I'm a sinner. You're a sinner.
No sinner can just approach God. We cannot draw nigh to him in
the error of our sin and the rebellion of our sin. Man very
ignorantly says, oh, well, that's no problem for me because I'm
not a sinner. It amazes me how many people believe they're not
sinners. That amazes me. That amazes me. Men and women
actually believe that they're not sinners before God. And they say, well, I can run
right up because I don't have any sin. Oh, it's been decades
since I sinned. I haven't sinned in a long time. And just like that Pharisee in
the temple, whoever runs up and says, I this and I that, not
going to be received. That rich young ruler said, all
these have I kept from my youth up. I'm good. I've got this.
No problem. He said, I'm warning you. I'm
warning you, and this is what I want us to set to understand
right now. This is what I want to say to
us. I want to make this very clear. We, me and you, we cannot
draw not to God. Except. We cannot draw nigh to
God, except no man can come to the father, except this happens. This right here happens. Turn
with me over to Psalm 69. No man can walk up to him. No man can come into his presence
and draw nigh to him. Except this right here happens.
Psalm 69 verse 15 says, Let not the water flood overflow
me. Neither let the deep swallow
me up and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O
Lord, for thy loving kindness is good. Turn unto me according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Mercy is not getting
what we deserve. I'm pleading mercy. And where
is it? Verse 17. Hide not thy face from
thy servant, for I am in trouble. Hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto
my soul and redeem it. That's the prayer. That's the
hope. And that's what must happen.
If we're going to draw nigh to him, he must first draw nigh
to us, our sinful souls. and do something for us. He must
redeem us. Now, drawing nigh to God begins
with a sinner standing far off in fear, knowing our place in
humility. And drawing nigh to God continues
with a sinner crying, I cannot draw nigh to you. As he stands
there afar off, I see your holiness. I see your righteousness. I see
your judgment against sin. I see that I'm a sinner. And
I cannot draw nigh to you. I will die in my sins. I understand
that. I need you to draw nigh to me
and redeem me. That's where drawing nigh to
God continues. I need you to die for me. I need you. This is drawing out
of God. I can't come. I cannot come. I need you to
put away my sin first. I can't come in my sin. You must
put away my sin first. My only hope is that you will
make me acceptable to step foot on God's holy mountain and not
be killed on sight. If I step foot on the holy mountain
of God right now, in my sin, I'll be killed on sight. I know
that. I know that. Before I come, before
I draw nigh, I must be covered in your blood. I must be covered
in your perfection. And the only way that's possible
is if you will be covered in my sin. The only way I can put
on your righteousness is if you will put on my sin. I need you
to draw nigh to me and I need you to redeem me. I need you
to pay my price, suffer my punishment and redeem me back to God. Make
me acceptable to stand in his presence again. Now flip with
me through some scriptures. I want to, I want to go through
a few scriptures and I want us to see the word declare that
very thing to us. Okay. Look with me at Psalm 85
Psalm chapter 85 verse nine says, surely His salvation is nigh them. His salvation is near them that
fear Him. His salvation is near them that
fear Him. Those who stand afar off crying,
I can't come to you. David said in Psalm 34 verse
18, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. and
saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. He's not unto them and
he saves them that are broken and contrite over their sin.
Alright, now turn with me to Psalm 145. Psalm 145 verse 18 says the Lord
is nigh he's near unto all them that call upon his name to all
that call upon him in truth Lord, here's the truth. I'm a sinner. I'm unworthy. I try to put on
a front in front of other people. I try to look all like a holy
roller, you know, a perfect Christian man. But before you, um, I know
what I am. I come in truth. I'm a, I'm an
unworthy center. Verse 19 says, He will fulfill
the desire of them that fear Him. He also will hear their
cry and will save them. Go with me to Ephesians 2. How
will He save them? Ephesians 2 verse 13. It says,
But now in Christ Jesus, Ye who sometimes were far off, standing
there far off, standing there in your sin, standing there in
your fear, but now in Christ Jesus, Ye who sometimes were
far off are made nigh, brought nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ,
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what brings a
sinner near to God. That's what draws a sinner to
God. Look with me at Hebrews chapter
7. Hebrews 7 verse 19, it says, for the law made nothing perfect. May the Lord help me to make
this clear right now. Drawing nigh to God has nothing
to do with our ability to keep his law. That's what man thinks
drawing night of God is. Well, now, if you want to draw
night of God, you better do the commandments. You better obey
those 10 commandments. I'm telling you the best we've
ever done is absolute filthiness in God's eyes. No man has ever loved his neighbor
as he loves himself. No man has. Our Lord said all of these things
that we're trying to do in deed. He said, you've broken it in
the mind. You've broken it in the heart. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. The deeds of the law is not what
will bring a sinner near to God. It's not. The law cannot make
anything perfect. The law cannot make a sinful
man like me perfect. It says in verse 19, Hebrews
7, 19 for the law made nothing perfect. But the bringing in
of a better hope did. By the which we drawn out of
God, there's another way that we sinners drawn out of God.
It's not through the obedience of the law. David said, I love
this law. I say, I love this law. Oh, I
love this law. I wish I did love my neighbor
as myself. I wish I did. I wish I was not so selfish.
I want to do whatever the Lord commands me to do because I love
him and I thank him for shedding his blood for my soul. But I
acknowledge it's not my deeds that saves me and brings me back
to God. It's the blood of my better hope. It's the blood that Christ shed
for me. Verse 20 says, And inasmuch as
not without an oath, he was made priest. For those priests were
made without an oath, but this with an oath by him that said
unto him, The Lord swear and will not repent. Thou art a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. What that means is Jesus Christ
was made to be a high priest for us. Verse 22 says, by so
much was Jesus made a surety of a better Testament. And they
truly were many priests, all those priests. Because they were
not suffered to continue by reason of death. God raised up a priest
and that man would work in the temple for a while, picturing
what Christ would truly do for his people. And then he'd die
and God would raise up another priest and then he'd die. But
Christ has been made a priest for his people and he will never
die. Verse 24 says, But this man,
because he continueth ever, because he continues forever, he hath
an unchangeable priesthood. No one is taking his place. No
one is taking over for him. Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God, draw nigh to God,
approach God by him, by him. That's the only way we can draw
nigh to God. That's the only way and be accepted. That's the only way, by Him,
in Him, with Him, through Him. Verse 25 says, seeing He ever
liveth to make intercession for us. Every soul He paid for and
redeemed, that blood speaks on our behalf as we continue through
the rest of this life. committing the sin that Christ
paid for all of our sin from the cradle to the grave. We still
have to live it out. But as we live it out and carry
it out in our shame, that blood of Christ speaks on our behalf
saying, I paid for that. I paid, I make intercession for
that. Verse 26 says, for such and high
priest became us. He traded places with us. He
didn't just pay the price. He made himself to be us. He
became us. He became his people, those that
the father gave to him. He became everything they were.
And then he stepped foot on that mountain in everything that they
were. And God killed him. Christ made himself to be them
stepped foot on the mountain and God killed him. And through
that. We have now been made to be everything
that he is, the righteousness of God. The perfection, the holiness
of Christ. Verse 26 goes on to say, holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than
the heavens. That's what God's people are
made to be in him through the substitution of him. Hebrews
chapter 10 verse 19 says, having therefore brethren boldness to
enter into the holiest by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
by a new and living way. which He hath consecrated for
us through the veil, that is to say His flesh." When He died
on that cross, when He shed His blood, that veil which kept His
people out of the Holy of Holies was rent in twain, opening up
a clear shot into the presence of God. And it says in verse
20, "...by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for
us through the veil, that is to say His flesh." And having
a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near because
of what he did, because of everything he endured and accomplished for
his people to be able to draw nigh and not be killed on sight.
Because of that, verse 22 says, let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Out of
His side flowed blood and water. Blood that purges, blood that
pays that debt, blood that satisfies God, and water that cleanses
and washes us whiter than snow. That's what Christ has made us
to be in Him. In Him, that's what every child
of God is. In the Lord Jesus Christ, now the commandment can
come to each one of His people. If you are a sinner and God has
revealed all these things to you, if you see that in your
sin you cannot approach Him and you fear this holy God, if you
see that Christ made Himself to be what you were, To put away
that sin, to make you acceptable back to God. If all of your hope
is in Him, then draw nigh to God. Through Him, draw nigh to
God. And God will draw nigh to you.
Till next week, may the Lord bless His word to our hearts.
You have been listening to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like
a copy of this message or to hear other messages of Sovereign
Grace, log on to our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 1045 a.m., and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 730 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.