All right, go with me, if you
would, to the book of James, chapter four. James, chapter four. Verse 8 says, draw nigh to God and He will
draw nigh to you. Draw nigh to God and He will
draw nigh to you. We don't need that until we need that. Alright, now I'm going to repeat
that. We don't need that. Until we need that. Is it not so sad to you that
this flesh, our flesh, will not feel a need to draw nigh to God
until He puts us in a place where we have to feel a need to draw
nigh to God. Isn't that so sad? After everything that He did
to enable us to draw nigh to Him. It seems like such a simple
statement, doesn't it? That seems so simple. You know that is impossible except
for everything he endured to make that possible. Draw nigh
to God and he will draw nigh to you. After everything that
he did for us to make that possible, this wicked heart will not feel
the need to do that until he puts us in a position where we
have to, have to do it. Now, turn with me over to Exodus
chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3 verse 1 says
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 burnt. 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 God
said, 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's
what he said. Do not draw nigh to me. Look at Exodus 19. Verse 10 says, And the Lord said
unto Moses, Go unto the people and sanctify them today 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 put a boundary all the way around it. saying,
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. That's the word of the Lord.
Verse 20, right here in Exodus 19, says, And the Lord came down
upon the 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. You warn them, you charge
them, unless they come through that boundary curiously looking. Verse 21, the Lord said, go down,
charge the people lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze
and many of them perish. And let the priests also which
come near to the Lord sanctify themselves. Tell them to set
themselves apart. lest the Lord break forth upon
them. And Moses said unto the Lord,
the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for thou charged
us, saying, set bounds about the mount and sanctify it. And
the Lord said unto him, away, get thee downed, 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. And it says in chapter 20 verse
18, 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. They were afraid. They were afraid. And they stood afar off. And
I'll give you a side note here. That is how drawing nigh to God
begins. That's how drawing nigh to God
begins. That's how it begins for every
sinner that approaches him. You know well the story of the
Pharisee and the publican. They both went into the temple
to pray. That Pharisee walked right on up. God did not receive
him. He drew nigh, didn't he? He ran
right on up. God did not receive him. That
publican stood afar off. That's the only way to come before
God. That's the only way to come before
God right now. God has not changed. What he said in Exodus 19, he
says the same thing today. Do not draw nigh to me. Not in your sin. Not in your
error. Man ignorantly says, no problem,
I don't have any. I don't have any. Just like the
Pharisee in the temple did. He ran right up, I don't have
any. I thank you that I don't have any. Just like the rich
young ruler did. All these have I kept from my
youth up. What do I lack? I got it. I've
got this. He said, I'm warning you. I'm
warning you. And this is what I want to make
clear tonight. We cannot draw nigh to God except... I think about people coming in.
I think about people coming in off the street. And my exhortation
to us is draw nigh to God. It is. But you know what we need
to constantly be reminded of? We cannot draw nigh to God except... No man can come unto God the
Father except this happens. Turn with me to Psalm 69. 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 lovingkindness
is good. Turn unto me according to the
multitude of thy tender mercies. and 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 only way a sinner
can draw nigh to God. God must first draw nigh to that
sinner and redeem him. Now, I'll give you another side
note. Drawing night of God begins with a sinner standing afar off.
Knowing his place in humility and drawing night of God continues
with a sinner crying, Lord, I cannot draw night of you. This is drawing nigh to God.
Lord, I cannot draw nigh to you. I'll die in my sins. I need for
you to draw nigh to me. I think I better stay where I
am. I think I better stand still. I think I better put my hand
over my mouth. I need, my only hope is for you
to draw nigh to me and redeem me. I need you to die for me. I need you to put my sin away
first. I cannot step foot on that mountain
until you put my sin away first. My only hope is that you'll make
me acceptable to step foot on that mountain and not be killed
on sight. That's my only hope. Who shall
ascend into this holy mountain before I step foot on it? I need
for you to cover me in your blood. I need for you to cover me in
your perfection. The only way that's possible
is if you will cover yourself in my sin. Here I stand in it.
I need you to draw nigh to me and redeem me. That's what I
need. Alright, now flip through these scriptures with me. Psalm
85. Psalm 85 verse 9 says, Surely
His salvation is nigh them that fear Him. Surely. Surely. His salvation is nigh
them that fear him, those who stand afar off, crying, I can't
come to you. Surely, that's who his salvation
is to. David said, the Lord is nigh
unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be
of a contrite spirit. He is nigh unto them and he saves
them. He saves them. Psalm 145, go
over there. Psalm 145 verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon Him. To all that call upon Him in
truth. He will fulfill the desire of
them that fear Him. He also will hear their cry and
will save them. He will. Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 13 says, But
now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. Made nigh. You who were standing
afar off, fearing God, trembling over your condition. And He said,
surely, that's who I'll save. You are made nigh by the blood
of Christ. Hebrews 7. Go over to Hebrews
7. Verse 19 says, For the law made
nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. by the
which we draw nigh unto God. Verse 22 says, by so much was
Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Verse 25 says, wherefore
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him. That's the only way we can draw
nigh to God 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 them. Ever lives to make
intercession for us. Verse 26 says, For such an high
priest became us. He did indeed trade places with
us. He became everything that we
were. He became everything that we
were. And then he stepped foot on that
mountain and God killed him. He made himself to be exactly
what we were. And then he said, I'm going.
And he set his face like a flint to the mountain. He stepped foot
on that mountain and God killed him. Through that, we have now been
made to be everything He is. What is He? Verse 26 says, holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.
Is that not amazing? Go to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 verse 19 says, Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say his flesh, and having an high priest over
the house of God, 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. That right there
is what Christ made us to be. That's what he made us to be.
In him, that's what we are. With that being said, We are
still carrying around the body of this flesh. Alright? We are still carrying
around the body of this flesh. The body that was corrupted by
sin. This body and this flesh has
been corrupted by sin. It was conceived in it. It is
made of it. And it can only carry it out. That's all it can do. That's
all this flesh can do is carry out sin. And we're going to have
to continue carrying out sin until the Lord delivers us from
this body. We're going to have to. We're going to have to carry
out every single sin that he paid for. We're going to have
to. He paid for them because we did
them. And we're going to have to. He
paid for the sin of every second of our life. And as long as our
life continues, the sin will continue. And we're going to
have to carry out the sin that we haven't even committed yet.
Bad news, isn't it? We have to. Now, is that an encouragement
for us to just keep on sinning? God forbid. A child of God's
greatest desire is to finally be rid of the presence of sin. That's our greatest desire. A
child of God knows that the power of sin is gone. Sin shall not
have dominion over you. A child of God knows that the
penalty for sin is gone. Christ bore it. He put it away. But a child of God also knows
that he has not yet gotten rid of the presence of sin, and he
can't wait to get rid of it. But it's here. He knows the reality
of his condition. We know. We know that we're going
to be plagued by sin until God finally, physically sets us free
from it. And we also know this, because
Christ drew nigh to us, so nigh, so near, so nigh He united Himself
with us, so near He became one with us. Because of everything He accomplished
for us in drawing nigh to us, We now can come boldly unto the
throne of grace, boldly unto the throne of grace, that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, because we have to carry
out the sins we haven't committed yet, we are going to have time
of need. We're going to have it. We're
going to have it. I know that every person here
is burdened about something. I know that. The reason I know
that is because every person here is surrounded by and living
in sin. We're all living in sin. This house is a sinful house.
Because of Christ our Redeemer, and no other soul on earth but
a child of God can do this. Because of Christ our Redeemer,
we can take our burden to the Lord and leave it there. A soul that's not a child of
God cannot take his burden to the Lord and leave it there.
But God's children can. Because of what Christ did, He
enabled us to draw nigh to Him. And we can come boldly to the
throne of grace to find help in our time of need. Every time
of need that comes, there's going to be lots of them. I'm so sorry
you've got to keep sinning, but you've got to keep sinning. Not
an excuse. Through that sin, you're going
to have lots of them. Now, I know from experience, I'm telling
you from experience, this is my personal experience. Some
are going to hear this and they are not going to take their burden
to the Lord and leave it there. And they're not going to find
help in time of need. I know that from so much experience.
I can't even tell you how many times I have not taken my burden
to the Lord and left it there. I couldn't imagine how many times
I have not done that. And therefore I have not found
help in time of need. Through whatever it is I've been
going through, I've worried about it start to finish, through the
whole thing. I've wrestled with it start to finish through the
whole thing. I've struggled with it. I've feared through it. I've
twisted. I've turned all the way through
it and I never got any relief. Not one ounce of relief. Thank
God. His message to his beloved doesn't
change. It never changes. Take your burden
to the Lord and leave it there. That's what we kept reading over
and over and over again. Are you a broken hearted? Are you weary? That's who the Lord saves. Take
your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Every time God's child
comes to the gospel, the gospel tells that child, take your burden
to the Lord and leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. God in His kindness is going
to bring us to His Word. Through His Word, He's going
to repeat that to us over and over and over and over and over
and over and over until finally His child takes his burden to
the Lord and leaves it there. And at that moment, he's going
to find help in his time of need. It's real. Are you burdened over sin you
have committed? Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Are you burdened over sin that
has been committed against you? Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Are you burdened over every sinful
thing that you see in this sinful world? Take your burden to the
Lord and leave it there. Are you burdened over what may
come around the corner? What if this happens? What if
that happens? Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Are you burdened over whether
or not God has even chosen you in the first place? Has God even
chosen to have mercy on me? Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. It's the only answer. Lord, it's
in your hands. It's in your hands. It's in your
hands. If we will do that, for every
slice of life that is served to us. We will find help in every
time of need. If we will draw nigh to God,
our God. He said, I'll be their God. I'll wipe every tear out of their
eyes. I'll hold their right hand. If we will draw nigh to our God,
Our God will draw nigh to us. Couldn't help but think of those
two on the road to Emmaus. They were talking about everything
that had just happened on the cross of Calvary. Don't you love
that story? It's one of my favorite stories.
I only have 9,641 favorite stories in the scripture, but that's
one of my favorite stories. Those two were on the road to
Emmaus. They're talking about Christ crucified. Our Lord said,
where two or three are gathered together in my name, I'm in the
midst of them. Now here, these two men are walking,
talking about Christ crucified. And it says there in Luke 24,
while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew
near. He drew nigh unto them and he
said, what manner of communications are these that you have one to
another as you walk and why are you so sad? And that's exactly
what we'll hear. Why are you so sad? Don't you realize it is I? Don't you realize I'm doing this? Don't you realize I'm ordering
this and controlling this? Don't you realize this is all
for your good and my glory? Don't be sad. By the time those two men left
their communion with him, they started out so sad, they started
out so broken, so discouraged. By the time they left that fellowship
with him, their hearts were burning within them. They're so happy,
so glad. That's what will happen for us. That's what will happen for us.
The burden will be lifted. Because we're going to see His
purpose. We're going to see His providence. We're going to see
His payment. And He will say to us, if we
take that burden to Him, He will say to us, here, give me that.
Leave that right there. Draw an eye to God. Because you
can draw an eye to God. Take your burden to the Lord,
because you can take your burden to the Lord. You will be so glad
you did. You'll be so glad you did. He'll
draw nigh to you, and He'll tell you to leave it all right there,
and He'll give you rest. He'll give you rest. He'll remind
us, I control all, you control nothing. I know the end from
the beginning. You don't know where you are,
spinning all over the place. Leave it right there. I'll give
you rest, and He'll give us peace. And He will. He will. All right. Well, there's only
one song to sing now. Let's all stand together.