of Ephesians chapter 2. The book
of Ephesians chapter 2. I'd like to read verse 12 and
verse 13. That at that time ye were without
Christ. That's when you were in the first
man Adam and When you were in a state of nature, you were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, having no hope,
and without God in the world. But now, in verse 13, but now,
in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. I want to be, down in my heart,
I would like to be very near the Lord. I certainly have that
desire. Now I know there are many, many
things that hinder, at least from a human standpoint, our
nearness to God. I do think there's a great deal
of ignorance about how sinners get near God. I think we were
talking about the ignorance that's in the world about how uh... sinners lost sinners how that
they can find an approach into god now realize that many of
us feel that there are many hindrances in our own lives that keep us
from being as near god as we would like to be we sometimes
wish that our sins would die well my friends i'm here to tell
you this morning that our sins will die when we do And not until. But I would also tell you this,
that only God can kill sin. Only God can overcome it. There
have been many, many times in my life when I've been made very
well aware of the fact that I was unable to handle this old carnal
nature this old sinful nature that we've been born with that
is ours by the fact that we were born of a woman into this world
and that the nature of our parents have been passed on to us even
yea even clear down to old Adam who sinned against God and fell
in the Garden of Eden And we might think, well, we can just
kill off these sins. We can mortify the deeds of the
body. Now, the scripture exhorts us
to do that. And I believe this is one of
the things that we cannot do unless we have the help of God.
I have made the statement on many occasions that I believe
that whatever God commands us to do as believers in this world,
we can only do by His enablement. We can only do as He blesses
us with the ability to do those things. And we must look to Him
for the ability to arise above the afflictions and rise above
the depravity of our own natures and live lives that are glorifying
to Almighty God. It's kind of like that wheat
that I have in my yard. It's called the spotted-knap
wheat. No relation, of course, to Carl
here, but It's a spotted knapweed. And that weed, you can't hardly
kill it. You just cannot hardly kill that weed. They say you've
got to use such powerful chemicals that it's really not safe to
use it. That it can get into the water
and it can kill anything else it touches much quicker than
it'll kill the spotted knapweed. And so that's the way sin is
in our lives. sin is not easily dethroned. And I want you this morning,
if you'll listen carefully to what we have to say, I believe
that the Lord will help you to see how that we, how we draw
near to God, how we get near the Lord. And this is so important.
And I'm not a theologian. I don't set myself up to be one,
but I'll probably be the closest thing that you're gonna have
to a theologian here in this place. for some time, and I will
give you what I know is right, and I don't have any doubt about
what I'm saying to you this morning. I know what I'm talking to you
about is absolutely fact. I know it's truth, and I want
you to listen and pay careful attention this morning. Now,
there are two phrases in this verse of Scripture. we are told
here, but now in Christ Jesus. Now in Christ Jesus, that's the
first phrase, in Christ Jesus, and then we have this phrase,
by the blood of Christ. Now these are the two pivots
of the doctrine of this text. in Christ Jesus and by the blood
of Christ. Made nigh, made nigh. This is
our privilege. This is the blessing. This is
the blessing. God's people in Christ, by his
shed blood, are made near unto the Lord. They are made nigh
the Lord. They come nigh to God as they
are put into Christ Jesus and then as the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ was shed on their behalf and as that blood washes
and makes atonement for their soul. Now, Jesus is the one source
of the blessing, and by the blood of Christ, we're told, by the
blood of Jesus Christ, is the other. Now we want to talk about
the believer's nearness to God. First of all, let's state the
doctrine that we have here in this text. First of all, that
is that all believers have been brought nigh. There is no believer
here this morning under the sound of my voice that is not near
God, that is not near or that has not been brought nigh. I
know you feel that you must desperately work at this in order to have
and to enjoy and to experience a nearness to God, but positionally
you are near God If you are a believer, if you be in Christ Jesus, you
are, you have been brought nigh, if you've been washed in the
blood, you are near to God. You have been reconciled unto
God. Now we were afar off. We were
a far off. That is, when we were in Adam,
before the Lord revealed himself to us, before the gospel came
with regenerating power, before the Holy Spirit came and indwelt
our hearts, we were a far off. That was our experience. That
was our state. We were cut off from God. We were in Adam. We were like
the prodigal son. We had no spiritual life. We
were alienated from God for the want of faith and love in the
Lord Jesus Christ. But now to commence, let me try
to explain the meaning of these two phrases, in Christ Jesus
and by the blood of Christ. We who sometimes were far off
are made nigh. Praise the Lord. Number one,
because we're in Christ Jesus. All the elect of God are in Christ
Jesus by a federal union. He, the Lord Jesus, is their
head. He was ordained of all to be
so from the foundation of the world These are the same people
that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 1 and verse 4 According as he
had chosen us in him Before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love according
as he had chosen us This is the people that have been brought
nigh. These are the people that are in Christ. These are the
ones that Paul is talking about. These are the ones that have
and enjoy a nearness unto God. They have been chosen in Him. Now, beloved, the only way that
a man or woman, boy or girl, can get into Christ. And this
is a very key element to understand the Word of God. It's in Christ. We have no spiritual life apart
from a union with Christ. We must be in Christ. There is no way that any soul
can get into the Lord Jesus Christ except they were elected and
chosen of God in old eternity and were placed by a sovereign
act of Almighty God into Christ. We were chosen in Him. Beloved God would have a family
and He would have a family in which there would be found no
trace of the fall. He would have a family in which
that family would be a family without spot, without blemish,
or any such thing. That family, according to Ephesians
1 and 4, would be holy and without blame before Him, a product of
His love for them. And so, beloved, as we stand,
we stand in Christ today if we be a believer. If God has given
us faith, if we have trusted Christ, if we rely on Christ,
this is evidence of the fact that God chose us and put us
into Christ before the foundation of the world. We read in Ephesians
1 and verse 30, or not in Ephesians 1, but in 1 Corinthians 1 and
verse 30, a very familiar verse, of God are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification
and redemption. So if there was not another verse
in the Bible that told us how we got into Christ Jesus, that
one verse would be sufficient for my soul. of God are ye in
Christ Jesus. And so we were chosen of God
and put into him and he is our federal head. He was ordained
of old to be so from the foundation of the world. As Adam was the
federal head of the human race, as in him we fell, so Christ
The second Adam, the Lord from heaven, stands as the head of
God's elect people, and in him they rise from the fall and they
live, and in him they lose all trace of the fall. Now listen
to me carefully. When we stand on heaven's shore,
when we're gathered in the glory land, when God's people all meet
together around the throne of God, there will be not one trace
of the fall evident. It'll be completely blotted out. It will not come in to that region. No trace of the fall in heaven. Because we stand holy and without
blame before Him in love. Without blame. And we stand there,
there'll be a static joy. in that day on the part of God
as he looks over that great host of people that great host of
people that are more numerous than the sand of the seashore
and as he looks upon them and finds not one fault with all
of them all of them will be absolutely perfect and they'll all be in
Christ Jesus. Now let me explain how this union
here leads to us being near God. Now this federal union leads
us in due time by the grace of God to manifest a vital union,
a union of life and for life even unto eternal life. of which we said faith is the
visible evidence. Now the soul of God's elect are
brought in due time to lay hold of Christ by faith, in due time. In this world God's people have
an experience of grace. There will come a time when God
will woo their hearts and bring them up out of the wilderness
and bring them and break their hearts and bring them to that
place where they feel a deep emptiness and where they feel
in their hearts a longing to have the life of God in their
soul where God begins to break up that old fallow ground and
breaks it up and the word is planted there in the heart And
the sinner embraces Christ. They love Christ. They come to
love Him. They may not be able to explain it in theological
terms, but they've been saved is what's happened. They've been
saved. God has come and done a work by His finger in their
soul. And so the Lord has given them
faith. It is so because Jesus has already laid down their soul
or already laid hold upon their soul by the power of His Spirit,
claiming them to be His heritage, seeing He has bought them with
His blood and His Father has given them to Him as the reward
of the travail of a soul. All who are in Christ Jesus from
the foundation of the world, those that are in the eternal
covenant of grace, shall in due time be in Him by the living
union of which we now speak. Now hear me out. I'm saying that
sooner or later in this world, between the cradle and the grave,
God's people will come into a vital living union of faith to the
Lord Jesus Christ. There'll be a living faith. their
hearts. We mentioned in our prayer a
bastard faith. There is much of that in the
land. There are many, many people who have a bastard faith. Their
faith is not wrought of God. It is not born of God in the
souls of men. God will put faith into the hearts
of his elect. They'll have a a true faith. All who are in Christ Jesus are
in the eternal covenant. Now it is clear that we must
be near to God in and by this union for Christ is ever near
to God. Now beloved this gets a little
deep but I love this. This I love and I just glory
in this great truth and I want you to listen to me. It is clear
that if a man or woman, boy or girl, be in Christ, in a living
union with Christ, having been placed there before the foundation
of the world in eternal election, and then having experienced the
coming of faith into the soul, that by this union we are near
God. For Christ is ever near to God,
and those that are one with Him must be near also. If Christ
is near God, then if we're in Him, then we must be near also. Jesus is Himself God. Here is
nearness that is outdone. How can you get nearer to God
than to be God? Jesus is God. Now as a man, He
is without spot or blemish, and so He is near to God in character. Jesus is near to God in character. No sin in Him. No sin in him. That's what the Bible says. There's
no sin in him. He was made to be sinned. The
Bible says that by imputation, Jesus was made to be sinned. But the Bible says he knew no
sin. He knew no sin, but in character
he was without sin, therefore he was as God, being absolutely
perfect, having no sin. As having finished the work which
was given him to do, he was near to God in acceptance. He was
near to God. He came into this world. He said,
I don't come having an agenda of my own. I come into this world
and I come here to do thy will, O God. And the Lord Jesus, in
John chapter 17, he said, I have finished the work you gave me
to do. I've finished that work. Therefore,
he was near God in acceptance. Now wouldn't you believe that
if a man was born into this world by the will of God and he lived
every day of his life in perfect conformity to God's will, if
he never did anything that was wrong and he finished the task
that God had given him from eternity to do, would you not agree with
me that he would be near God in acceptance? that God would
accept him? Here's an absolutely perfect,
what we might say, example of one who lived wholly, sacrificially,
vicariously to do the will of the Heavenly Father, the Lord
Jesus. So he is near God in acceptance. Sounds to me like that in that
that he's without sin, it sounds to me like that means that he
is accepted of God having completely fulfilled God's will in his life
and fulfilled the work that he was given to do. Oh, how I wished
I could do that. Sounds to me like it'd be an
awful good place to be found, wouldn't it? To be in Him? To
be in Him? Oh, it sounded to me like He'd
make a mighty good substitute to be in Him. And as having gone
up to heaven to take the promised crown, He is near to God in very
person right now. He's seated at the right hand
of God. Now everyone here believes that
Jesus died. Surely you believe that. And
you believe that he was buried in a borrowed tomb and that God
raised him up from the dead. You surely believe that. That's
the gospel. And we know that Jesus ascended
up into heaven. You can read it in the book of
Acts. The Lord Jesus actually ascended back to glory and He's
there accepted at the right hand of God. He's there seated today
at the right hand of God. Now beloved, in that sense we
are one with Him, since we are joined to Him, Since we are his
body and he is the head, since we are one, we must from that
very fact be near to God as near to God as Christ himself is today. We are actually, listen to me
now, we are actually our person It's accepted in the Beloved
One and we're near to God this very day. Now if we be one with
Christ by a real and actual union, where Christ is, we are. We must
be. That's our position. We're with
Him where He is today. Christ's standing is our standing.
That's what the brother was talking about this morning in his prayer.
We've been given right standing before God and the only reason
we have is because Christ has right standing before God. And we're in Him, therefore we
have right standing with God. Now as Christ is nigh unto God,
even so has He raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Him. Now the old poet said, and I've
quoted this a number of times in my life, but he said, we are
so near So very near to God we cannot nearer be, for in the
person of his Son we are as near as he. Now, I wish that every
one of you here would memorize that. I wish you would, because
it's never going to change. This is something that tells
the truth of the gospel as long as men live. I'm talking about
being in Christ Jesus. That if we be in Christ Jesus,
we're so near, so very near to God, we cannot nearer be. For
in the person of His Son, we are as near as He. Now then,
you can see what that phrase means, but now in Christ Jesus,
you who sometimes were far off, were, He said, made nigh, You
were made nine. Now then, the second thing is
this key phrase that we have here. The second key phrase is,
by the blood of Christ. by the blood of Christ. Now if
we're asked what power lies in the blood to bring us near, our
answer is that the blood is the symbol of the everlasting covenant
that was entered into between God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, wherein they contracted the Father having
a people, having chosen a people, and giving them to his son. His
son made the agreement with the Father and the Spirit that he
would come into the world and that he would buy those people,
that he would shed his blood to pay the debt they owed to
God and that the Holy Spirit would come and work that salvation.
That's the everlasting covenant of which the blood is a symbol. Now, covenants are made, victims
are offered, and the victim becomes the place and the ground of approach
between the two covenanting parties. The victim. Now, who's the victim?
The victim was the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He was the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. The blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ is expressly called the blood of the everlasting
covenant, for God comes in covenant near to us by the blood of his
only begotten son, Hebrews 13 and 20. Every soul who has faith
and rest upon the blood of Jesus Christ, that lamb that was slain
from the foundation of the world in the mind and heart of God
is in covenant with God. Meaning that God has accomplished
that part in Christ of that covenant, which was necessary to bring
that soul Deny God. Bring him to nearness to God.
Now there's reconciliation. Romans chapter five, if you would
turn there with me, Romans five, I want you to see this reconciliation
and see how that it's connected with the shed blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I want to read beginning with
verse six of Romans five. It says, for when we were yet
without strength, speaking of our standing in the old Adam,
had no strength to save ourself, had no strength to become what? In due time Christ died for the
ungodly and Then in verse 8, but God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we're yet sinners Christ died for us He died for
us verse 10 or verse 9 much more than being now justified by his
blood That means that God has given us a standing before Him
just as if we'd never committed a sin by the blood of Jesus atoning
for those sins. By God's justice being satisfied
when the blood of His Son was shed on the behalf of the elect. We are justified by His blood,
by His blood. Don't ever forget it, by His
blood. We shall be saved from wrath through Him will be saved
from going to hell through Him, through Christ, not through what
we've done, but by His blood. For if, when we were enemies,
and that's what we were in Adam, we were enemies of God, we were
reconciled to God, how? By the death of His Son. That's
how we were reconciled. Now, we're now reconciled unto
God. It means that we're friends with
God. That means that we're at one
with God and that we're no longer standing afar off. We're no longer
without God, without Christ. We're no longer away. We are
near. We're nigh. to the Lord in that
we have been reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Much
more being reconciled, we'll be saved by His life as He received
power and authority from God to take it again and to ascend
yonder and to be there making intercession for His people.
We're being saved He's able to save to the uttermost remember
Hebrews 7 and 25 Seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. We shall be saved to the uttermost
and so these verses speak Look at verse 11, and not only so,
but we also joy in God. Why? Because we're nigh. Why?
Because we're reconciled. Why? Because there's no enmity
anymore between us and God. God's got nothing against us,
and we got nothing against God. We've been reconciled unto God,
and so we joy in God forever. through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We don't stand back in dread and fear. No, we joy in God. There's been a reconciliation
by whom we have now received the at-one-ment. We are now at
one with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, now,
when we read the word blood as in this text, The blood brings
us near. It takes away the sin which separated
us from God. First John 1 and 7 says, the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. So when we read this word blood
as in this text, it means mortal suffering. In short, we're made
nigh by the griefs and the agonies of the Redeemer. The shedding
of blood indicates pain. It indicates the loss of energy,
health, and comfort, and happiness. But it goes farther still. The
term blood signifies death. Death. It is, and beloved, don't
ever forget this. This is so important that you
remember this in connection with what we're talking about today.
The death of Jesus is that in which we trust. Blessed as his
ministry was, great as his miracles was, heavenly as his teaching
was, holy as his life was, yet had he not died. had he not died
that just for the unjust there would have been no son of Adam
ever reconciled to God. could not be. He had to die. It wasn't that he needed to come
and teach. He needed to come and teach,
but that wasn't what saved us. And his miracles, wonderful as
they were, they could not save us. As heavenly, beloved, as
his teaching and his life was, as holy as it was, could not
save us apart from his death. It is by the blood that we are
brought nigh. There was an Israel saved in
Egypt the night that the death angel passed over. You remember
that? There was an Israel saved in Egypt the night the death
angel passed over because there was blood on the lintels of the
door and on the doorpost and God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. There was an Israel saved, and
there is an Israel saved today. And they hide behind what? They hide behind the blood. That's
what we're hiding behind. The blood of Jesus Christ that
makes an atonement for our sin. that covers our sin so that the
justice of God now is turned away and the hand of mercy is
free to bestow upon us all the blessings which God purposed
would fall out to his people in Christ Jesus. So the word
blood in fact refers directly to the crucifixion of our Lord. His death was not brought about
by the decay of nature. It was not brought about because
he got some disease, but it was brought about because the sharp
sword of divine vengeance fell upon him and he was slain by
the hand of God and the vengeance of God in order that his people
would be saved. The word blood, as we said, refers
directly to the crucifixion of our Lord. We're brought nigh
to God especially and particularly by a crucified Savior pouring
out His life's blood for us. Now the first, the grandest,
the highest, the most essential truth for us to lay hold of and
to preach is the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sakes according
to the scriptures and that this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners and for sinners he gave himself up to die that
just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. Now that's what
we're to believe and that's what we're to preach as God's servants
in this world. Listen to the words of the poet. Oh love of God, how strong and
true, eternal and yet ever new, uncomprehended and unbought,
beyond all knowledge and all thought. We read thee best in
him who came to bear for us the cross of shame. Set by the Father
from on high, our life to live, our death to die. There's where
it is. Now do you understand a little
clearer? But now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus. To preach the
atoning sacrifice of Christ is the surest way under God to draw
those that are far off Mentally spiritually near to God and so
beloved if you want to get a man near to God you mark it down
There isn't but one way to do it. You must preach a man standing
in the blood of the Lord Jesus.
There is no other way for a son of Adam to get near unto God. Now then, let's talk a little
bit, I have just a little bit of time left, let's talk a little
bit about experientially drawing near to God. If you turn to Psalms
73 and 28, we're told by the psalmist that it is good for
me to draw near to God. It is good for me to draw near
to God. Now this is the practical side
of our subject. We have showed that one must
be reconciled to God by the death of his son before he can ever
draw near to God in any other way. There is no way that you
can get the cart before the horse and draw near to God yourself
prior to God putting you in Christ and Jesus dying and shedding
his blood for your sin. We've showed you this, that we
must be reconciled to God. Now to do so would be like a
moth drawing near to a candle. For a man to draw near to God,
not standing in Christ Jesus, for a man to draw near to God,
the blood, having not covered his sin, would be just like a
moth flying into the heat of the candle and immediately being
destroyed, being devoured. You can't, as a sinner, get near
to God because you cannot, God will not allow you into his presence. He will not allow you to come
near to him. He has sent one who is approachable,
and that one who is approachable is Jesus Christ. He's the mediator
between God and man. But you can't draw near to God
until you be in Christ, until you come through his mediatorial
work. Now then, God is a consuming
fire, and while our hearts are not right with God, we cannot
approach to God. Before any of us can draw near
to God in acceptable prayer and praise, we must be washed in
that fountain that the songwriter said was filled with blood, that
drawing that is drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Well, practically, in
order to draw near to God, the soul must grasp the thought that
God is near it. Now this is so important. I want you to follow me. Before
a man you may have this deep longing and this desire to be
near God. Well the thing that you must
do first is grasp this thought that God is near to your soul,
regardless of what the devil tells you. And what your old
flesh nature would tell you, if you're in Christ, the blood
has been shed, you're near God. You're near God. Now, ignorance
is an effectual barrier. What we have here is only a shadow. Now we're looking for intimacy
with God. That's what we're looking for.
We're looking for nearness. We're looking to be in fellowship
with God. And what we have, even when we
have the very best here in this world, is only a shadow of that
which we're to have when we're with God in eternity. Ignorance,
I said, is an effectual barrier to any approach unto God. Now
listen to me. You must believe what I have
told you already this morning in this message. You must believe
it. I tell you on the authority of the Word of God. I tell you
this morning, I don't tell you this because I've read, just
read and read and read. I tell you this because thus
saith the Lord, this is the way a man gets near to God. And once
Christ, once we know that He stood for us and was our substitute
and that we are in Him, Once we know we believed on Him and
that His blood was shed for us, we know that we're near God.
Our approach is both mental and spiritual. We must not be ignorant
of what we've just taught here this morning. We must believe
that. okay now if we can believe that we're near to god and he's
near to us then we have become capable of spiritually and experientially
drawing near to god james four eight says draw an eye to god
and he will draw an eye to you what is it to draw near to god
well let's hurry here it is prayer i believe it is prayer experientially
it is prayer here we are we're joyful in the lord We have some
measure of strength, the joy of the Lord being our strength,
us having been put in Christ, Him having died for us, and we
knowing that our sins are forever put away, and knowing that we're
going to be with God in eternity with Christ, be no trace, no
trace of the fall there, and we're going to be there as holy
people, beloved people, people that are blameless in Christ.
All to His glory and praise, hallelujah. But to know that,
listen, we come to God in prayer. And prayer is this outward form
of drawing near to God. We are conscious that God is
hearing our heart talk. The searcher of the heart. He
reads us like a book. He reads our heart like a book.
We're in fellowship with Him. Drawing near to God, it's getting
to feel that the Lord is close to you and that you have no secret
which you wish to or can keep back from Him, but have unveiled
your most private thoughts and your sacred desires to Him. Hebrews
4 and verse 13 says, Neither is there any creature that is
not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and open
unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. A believer believes
that. A believer knows that. A believer knows that he can't
go in the basement and get away from God. A believer knows he
can't go over on the other side of town and go into the tavern
and get away from God. He knows that. He knows that
if he makes his bed in hell, behold, the Lord is there. He
knows that everything is naked and open under the eyes of God.
God is near his people. And we have no secrets that we
can keep from God. We have no secrets. We've unveiled
the very thoughts of our heart. Every thought, whatever goes
through our brains, God knows about. Don't the scriptures say
that He knows our thoughts afar off? Don't it say that? It does
indeed say that. Okay, and so the getting right
up to Jesus our Lord, the leaning of the aching head and the troubled
heart upon that heart that always beats with pity toward us. The casting of all of our care
upon Him, believing that He cares for us, that He pities us, that
He sympathizes with us. This is drawing near, beloved,
experientially to God. This is drawing near to God in
a practical way. Next, drawing near to God, I
believe, will assume the form of praise. It would be, I think,
a proof of our utter selfishness if we never approached God except
to ask for something. The soul will sometimes draw
near to God in thankfulness, and words will fail the soul. And like David, we must say,
what am I, and what is my father's house? that thou hast brought
me hitherto. A child of God becomes grateful
and thankful. The Lord's mercy will overwhelm
us. We sing that little chorus, oh,
how merciful, and we don't do that just to fill space. Every brother or sister here
would agree with me 100% that when we sing that, oh, how merciful,
it is because God has been merciful to us. God has been merciful
in that not a one of us here are deserving of the least of
His mercy. And we sing that out of a thankful
and a grateful heart. Okay? So let me just go ahead
and say that this is drawing near to God. This is drawing
near to God. We come to praise the Lord and
to praise Him. And drawing near to God bears
the element also of looking at things as God sees them. If you're
near God, I believe that we're one with Him in spirit. And the
Bible indicates that that is the case, that if there is a
living union with Christ, that we're one with Him in spirit. In spirit. Now listen to me. When we draw near to God,
there's this element of looking at things as God sees them, things
that are other words, in the divine light, to see them as
God sees them. Our light here below is nothing
better than a candlelight. We don't see things very well.
We too often judge our afflictions and the providential dispensations
of God by what we will call a glow worm or a candlelight, by a lightning
bug, by the light up from a lightning bug. We just don't see good here. But when we draw near to God
and get into His light and begin to look at things in their eternal
bearings, we cannot help but to be comforted because we begin
to see things, but not by natural light and human reason. We no
longer judge providence by the moment. But instead, we regard
it in its true magnitude, stretched from the framework of that eternal
love which knows neither beginning nor end. We begin to see things
from God's standpoint. Why God is doing this. Why God is doing, what he's working
toward. Beloved, it is right that we
get so near to God that we're pleased with anything and everything
that pleases God. Is that all right? Do you believe
that? Is it okay to get that near the Lord? Where you'd say,
Lord, just whatever pleases you, it pleases me. Now that's getting
down. That's getting down there. But
that's absolute trust is what we're aiming for. Ain't that
right? Absolute trust. We're talking about getting near
God. That's what we're talking about. We're not talking about
you getting near your girlfriend or near your boyfriend, a husband
getting near his wife. There ought to be absolute trust
in a human relationship such as the marriage. There ought
to be absolute trust. There ought to be. We're all
imperfect. And there are many, many failures
along these lines, but absolute trust is what we're aiming at. It is a high attainment when
a believer can honestly say, if I could have my will, my way,
it should be my will that God's will should be done. And that
I will, if you want to bring it to a vote, and if it is brought
to a vote and I'm present, I'll vote that the will of God be
done on earth as it is in heaven. That's the way I'll vote. Is
that the way you'd vote? Well, that's what happens when
a man gets near to God. You want to be careful. Somebody
will say of you, you're so heavily minded, you're no earthly good.
You don't want to fight anymore for what you want. You don't
want to fight. All you do is say, I just believe
God. Let him do what seems good in
his sight is the saying of a soul that is near God. Let him do
what's good in his sight. The heart has to pass through. And I tell you this because I
know it's the truth. The heart of a believer has to
pass through many fiery furnaces before it attains to this mind
and this heartfelt condition. You don't get there without some
experience. We're prone to just keep on trying
our way. We're prone to keep on demanding
our own will. We're prone to keep on saying,
it must be my way. until God, over the years, deals
with us, brings us to see the folly of our way and the folly
of our own nature, the folly of our own wills, and brings
us down to where we have no other plea except, Lord, if it pleases
you, it pleases me. It'll please me. And I remember
a few times when it was heartbreaking to come to that, but, Lord, have
your own way. Lord, your will must be done. Brethren, may the secret of the
Lord be with us. May the Spirit of the Lord overshadow
our spirits. May His will be our joy, His
light our delight, and Himself our all in all. It is good for
us to draw near to God. It is good. May the Lord bless
this message and enable you to retain it May it bear fruit in
each one of our lives. May the Lord have given somebody
here this morning a hearing ear. A hearing ear. Any preacher who thinks that
he has the ear, the inner ear, of everybody that hears him speak
is foolish. Only God can give you the ability
to hear these things that we've been talking about today. I hope
that mentally you grasp them, spiritually you grasp them, and
that every child of God will go out of here this morning and
say, it's just wonderful to be near the Lord. And I just want
to go and begin to pray and praise and rejoice in the Lord and get
just as near to Him as I can be. Because I know that I've
been brought nigh. I know there's nothing between.
You know, there's an old song that says, nothing between my
soul and the Savior. Nothing between. There is nothing
between. And we're not working on getting
nigh. It's already been done on the
behalf of believers. We're not working on that. It's
not a project for us. It's already been done. Isn't
that right? I'm telling you the facts. I'm telling you the truth.
It's already been done. And in Him, we're nigh. Praise
His name.