God bless you. You can be turning to the
book of James Chapter 4. James Chapter 4. Hello Todd,
Liam. Your brother Bruce said something
about every message being the best. You know, my pastor is a pretty
good preacher. And after every message I preach, he said, that's
the best message I've ever heard. And he said to me, I think it
was the last time, he said, I've never preached like that. Yeah,
right. The point being, And Mindy and
I have said this many times. We hope that when we get, if
we get 80 or 90 years old, that the Gospel will be just as sweet
as it was when we first heard it. That's the way it is with
them. And truly grown in grace. And he, though the Lord's used
him mightily and maybe not a better preacher, not a better preacher
anyway in the 20th century, Yet he receives the word as a little
child, as a little child. I hope I get like that. Thank you for everything you've
done thus far. Thank you for the food last night,
ladies. Everything was delicious. I thank you for it. You know, as a young, when you're
a young preacher, Anytime you preach, you want to do well. Especially at a conference. You
want to do well. You don't want to fall flat. You don't want to fall on your
face. Brother Scott once said, I don't want to make a fool out
of God. He said, I don't want to make
a fool out of myself. But I believe the older you get,
the more you want to bring a message that will not only honor and
exalt our Lord and exalt our Savior and point men to Christ,
but to really help people. Really, not just do good, but
do people some good. Edify the people. That's what
I love about your pastor so much. I was reading this, and all messages,
any message from God comes from His Word. That's the only way
a preacher gets his message. There is no other message from
God but from His Word, right? And I know these men. I know
them well. And the way we get messages is simply by reading
God's Word and asking Him to speak to us, don't we? And He
speaks to us and gives us something that blesses us. And being men
of like passions, same sinners like you, something that blesses
us, We know it will bless the people. But I was reading through
the book of James, and this verse really struck me. James chapter
4. And in studying it, it was such a blessing. James chapter
4, verse 8. Just one line. James 4, verse
8. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Draw nigh to God and He will
draw nigh to you. He will. What a promise that
is. Now all that God is, all that God is, all the goodness
of God, all the fullness of God is ours, He says, if we are nigh
unto Him. God is love. Draw nigh unto God. God is mercy. You need mercy? Draw nigh unto
God. God is grace, God of all grace.
God is salvation, salvations of the Lord, in the Lord, to
be in the Lord, to be found in Him. He is our salvation. He is safety, peace. You need peace, draw nigh unto
God. Joy, contentment, righteousness, Happiness to be found in God,
to be found in Christ, to be found with God, near to God,
in Christ is to find all these things. Peace, safety, assurance,
freedom from fear. You need freedom from fear? Draw
an eye unto God. Freedom from worry? You need
assurance? Draw an eye unto God. Draw nigh
unto God. All this is found nigh unto God. Alright. I've got three words
here. Three words. I've got a word to the lost.
And in every congregation, there's always someone that does not
know the Lord. It's not in God. Not in Christ. I've got a word to the lost.
Draw nigh unto God. And He'll draw nigh unto you.
I've got a word to the backslider. Draw nigh unto God. He'll draw
nigh unto you. I've got a word to God's people,
a word of comfort, a word of assurance. Draw nigh unto God
and He'll draw nigh unto you. Alright, a word to the lost. Draw nigh unto God and He will
draw nigh unto you. Now Adam and Eve, when they sinned
in the garden, when our parents sinned against God, what's the
first thing that they did? They ran from God. They ran from God. They did not
want to be in the presence of God. When man sinned in the garden,
he lost three things, didn't he? He lost the knowledge of
God. He lost the understanding of God. He lost the image of
God. He lost communion with God. But who left who? Adam and Eve ran from God. Ran from the only source of love
and peace and happiness and mercy and grace. They ran from God,
didn't they? They ran from Him. Ever since, man by nature wants
nothing to do with God, doesn't he? As I said last night, that's
the reason this thing of coming to church and hearing the Word
of God and worshiping God, that our flesh is so averse to that,
our children. Man doesn't want anything to
do with God. Doesn't want anything to do with God. God is love. God is mercy. God is grace. God is all these
things. But yet man doesn't want anything
to do with these things. And so he doesn't have any of
these things. And he won't have any of these things. How far
off? Run him from God. Man does not
like to retain God in his mouth. The fool that said, no God, no
God for me. I don't want a God. How foolish
is that? How foolish is it, how dangerous
is it for a creature to reject his Creator? How foolish is it for the One
in whose hand our breath is and all our ways to run from Him
and have nothing to do with Him? You know, salvation is found
in two words, but God. But God. and you that were dead
in trespasses in, hath He quickened, brought nigh unto Him." It's
true that no man can come under Christ except the Father draw
him. Doesn't the Scripture say, draw us and we'll run to you?
Adam and Eve ran from God, but God. But Christ came to them. The Lord Jesus Christ came walking
in the cool of the garden that day, didn't He? He came looking
for them. Oh, how glad Adam and Eve were
later on that the Lord Jesus Christ came looking for them.
How about you? You were running. Aren't you
glad that you can run, but you can't hide? Didn't David say
that in Psalm 139? Whither shall I flee from thy
presence? Where am I going to go? It's foolish to try to hide
from God. The light and the dark are alike
to Him. I need to run to him, don't you? Draw a line to God.
I'm going to draw a line to you. Our Lord came to Adam and Eve
and convicted them of their sin. I know Adam and Eve were saved.
That's not presumption. But He saved me the same way
He saved them. He came looking for them, found
them, spoke to them. Adam, where art thou? Look where
you are. Look what you've done. What did
you do? Killed a lamb. Shed that lamb's
blood, skinned that lamb and covered it. That's how He saved
me. Covered their nakedness and told them the promise. Kicked
them out of the garden, yes, but left them with a promise. The woman's seed is coming. And
that's what they lived on from that day forward, didn't they?
Didn't they, Brut? And surely told them about the blood, there's
only one way to come to me, by the blood. Where do you think
Abel learned that? from Adam and Eve. You don't
think the first sinner, that he's the chief of sinners. Adam's
the chief of sinners. At the time, he's the only sinner.
You don't think the chief of sinners, the Lord's not going
to save him today. But the Lord came to them and
brought them back. How can a sinner come nigh unto
God? How can a sinner come nigh unto God? Look at James chapter
4 verse 6. It says, He giveth more grace. Verse 5, the Spirit,
the Scripture doesn't say in vain, the Spirit that dwelleth
in us lusteth to end it. There's a battle going on. He
giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. All right. First
of all, draw nigh unto God in fear and humility. We draw nigh
unto God in fear and humility. Look at verse 10. Humble yourselves
in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. Who does
God dwell with? Who will God have in His presence? Who will God have come near unto
Him? Listen to the Scripture. Thus
saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose
name is Holy. I dwell in the high and holy
place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit."
Didn't he say that? Listen to this, Isaiah 66. He
said the same thing. He said, Thus saith the Lord,
the heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool, all these
things that my hand make, but to this man will I look, he that
is of a poor and of a contrite spirit and tremble at my word.
We draw nigh unto God in fear and humility. We don't approach
a holy God. We don't approach our Creator
in presumption and carelessness. Do it in fear and humility. How do you come nigh unto God?
We come to Him. And Paul said this to the Ephesians
elders when he was leaving them. He said, I cease not to preach
two things to you with tear. Repentance toward God. Repentance toward God. We always
come to God in repentance, don't we? Repentance toward God. When that prodigal came back,
what's the first thing he said? I have sinned against heaven.
David, I have sinned against thee. Against thee and thee only
have I sinned. The Lord was bringing him back
to the Gentiles. And then Paul said, Repentance toward God and
what? Faith. toward our Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Lord said, No man cometh
unto the Father but by Me. No man comes to God except through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the sacrifice of Christ,
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the Scripture says,
They shall all be taught of God. Every one of God's children are
taught of God. And what do they do? What does
God, a holy God, teach all of His children who are sinners?
What does He teach them? To come to Christ. to come to
Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. They will all be taught of God
and they will all come one way. To come to a holy and offended
God, you come one way. By the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. One way. Oh my. Adam, Eve, Abel, they were all
taught one way, weren't they? Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. There's only one way for all,
and that's Christ. Christ is all. Do you remember
the story? I love the story of Jacob being taught by his mother,
Rebecca, in chapter 27 of Genesis. Do you remember that story? The eldest son was the one who
had the right to the birthright. accepted by the Father, whom
the Father loved. Isaac loved the eldest son, Esau. And so Rebecca, who represents
the Holy Spirit... Well, go over there. Genesis
27. I'm afraid to turn. I thought I might get stuck.
It would be a good place to get stuck. There's only one way to
come to the Father, and that's through the Son. One way to come
to God, and that's through Christ. Genesis 27. Look at this. If
you've never seen this, oh my. But Jacob wanted the blessing. Jacob wanted to be accepted by
the Father. He wanted the blessing of the Father. And the blessing
belonged to the eldest son, Esau. Okay? He owns the birthright. So that Rebekah, his mother,
taught Jacob, there's only one way you can come to the Father.
You've got to look like Esau. You've got to smell like Esau.
You've got to feel like Esau. You've got to bring that savory
meat that Esau always brings to the Father, that the Father
loves, that the Father demands. You've got to be Esau. You can't come to Him unless
you're Esau. You're Jacob. He's Esau. Alright,
look at it. So his mother, what she did in
verse 13, I'm going to get stuck right
here, but that's alright. His mother said, Upon me be thy
curse, son. I'll do this. See, the Spirit
of God is the one that does this, regenerates, makes us like Christ,
puts us in Christ. Verse 14, He went and He fetched
and brought these things to His mother, this savory meat. And
Rebecca took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, put them
on Jacob her son, put the skins of the kids of goat upon his
hands, upon his neck. She gave the savory meat and
the bread into Jacob's hand. She fixed it just like she knew
that the father loved. And Jacob came to the father
and said, my father. Didn't Christ say there's only
one way you can call him your father? Only one way you can
call God your father. You and me. I go to my Father
and your Father. Here am I, Jacob said. Who art thou, my son? How do
we come to God? How do we come to God? Christ
said, In my name. If you ask the Father in my name,
He'll hear you. He'll receive you. Who are you,
Jacob? He didn't say Jacob. Who are
you, my son? Jacob said, I'm Esau. Thy firstborn, the one with the
right to the birthright, I'm your son. We come to God in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at this, Isaac said
in verse 20, how is it you found this so quickly, this savory
meat? Where did you get this meat? Where did you get what
I love? Where did you get what I demand? Where did you get this,
my son? God gave it to me. Verse 21, Isaac said, Come near. I want to smell you. I want to
feel you. Come near now or you are going
to be found out. No. The blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son cleanses from all unrighteousness. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ covers. Come near. Come, draw nigh unto
God. How? Only in Christ. Only by faith in Christ. And
Jacob went near, verse 22, and his father felt him. He felt
him. And he said, it's the hands,
it's the works of my Son he saw. Isn't that wonderful? You ever
seen that before? I have and it's still wonderful. Look at
verse 25. He said, Bring it near. Come near. Come
near. Come a little closer." And he
never was found out. And he accepted him, Brother
Gross, didn't he? And he blessed him. He said, all that belongs
to the eldest son, the birthright, is yours, Jacob. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. By faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Without the shedding of blood,
no remission of sin. Without the covering of Christ's
righteousness, you can't draw an eye unto God. We draw nigh
unto God. We draw nigh in fear, humility.
We draw nigh in repentance against Thee, O Lord, have mercy upon
me for Christ's sake. We draw nigh unto God through
Christ our Lord by faith in Him. We draw nigh unto God by calling
on the Lord. He said, whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Someone says, I don't
feel saved. Then you haven't called on the
Lord. That's that promise there. It's a blessed promise. Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's a promise. Call on Him
in spirit and what? Truth. That's through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Whosoever shall call, the Lord
of glory will hear every sinner that calls on Him in spirit from
the heart and in truth. He'll hear them. He will save
them. That's the blessed promise. Draw nigh unto God, He'll draw
nigh unto you. This is a word to the Lord. This
is a word to anyone. Draw nigh unto God and He will
draw nigh unto you. The Lord Jesus Christ never spent
an idle moment. Everything He did, every step
He took, every moment of His life, every waking hour, and
He slept very little, He ate very little, was spent in doing
God's will. We were talking about this. He
had three and a third years to do an eternal work in. He said,
there are twelve hours in the day and I must work while it's
day. He said, I must work before the darkness comes. I must work
the works of my Father. From a child he was doing this
work. He died doing this work and he finished the work. He
was always about the Father's business. Always doing this work
of salvation, okay? Never an idle moment. The God
of glory. And he was walking along in the
direction of saving someone, of doing something, and one time
there was one person, an old blind beggar sitting by the wayside,
just hollered out, Jesus, our son of David, have mercy on me. And this God of glory, this one
with not a moment to spare, stopped. Stopped! I said, somebody called me. Bring
that man. Bring him near. Bring him right
up here. Bring him up here. Will the God of glory, will God
stop what He's doing for one sinner that calls on Him? Yes,
He will. Every time. Draw nigh unto God. He will draw nigh unto you. That's
a promise. Good man. Call on the Lord. Oh,
man. Call. Call. Go home. Call on the Lord. Right now.
No, don't wait. Do it right now. Right now. Here's a word to the backslider.
Turn to Jeremiah 3 with me. Some men don't like to talk about
backsliding. I heard a fellow say, well, that'll
encourage people in their false profession. I know that False
religion, you know, gives people that don't know the Lord, that,
you know, never come to worship, they give them an excuse to say,
you know, they made a confession. They're just backslidden. I know
that. But Scripture is just full of it. And it's talking to Israel
anyway. Every time it's talking to Israel,
talking to His people, which are a type of His true people.
But doesn't the Scripture say, all we like sheep have gone astray?
What's one of your favorite songs in our book? Is it not, Come
Thou Fount? Prone to wander? Isn't that your
favorite verb? Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. Isn't that what we're prone to
do? James just told us the Spirit in the Scriptures doesn't speak
in vain. The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy so that
we cannot do the things that we would. What's our hope? Draw a line to God. Satan, sin,
self, the world, flesh, the devil, all of these things tempt us
and allure us. And you're lying if you say they
still have some pull on you, some appeal to you if you're
lying about that. Our Lord said, of His people, My people are
bent to backslide. A perpetual backslide, isn't
it? That's what Israel was doing constantly, weren't they? How
about you? We fall to temptations. We end
up far off. We feel like we are far off,
don't we? And I guess we are. Look at Jeremiah 3 verse 12,
but our blessed God says this, verse 12, Go and proclaim these
words toward the north. Say, return. Draw nigh unto God. Return thou backsliding Israel,
saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon
you. I am merciful, saith the Lord. I will not keep my anger
forever. Return. Look at verse 22. Return
ye backsliding children. I will heal your backsliding. What did they say? We come unto
thee. Thou art the Lord our God. Draw nigh unto God. You know, though we are His children,
though a child of God is always His child, there's a union that
cannot ever be broken. We're in Him, aren't we? We'll
never be outside of Him like that ark. We're in that ark. You can't have one foot in the
ark and one outside of it. You're either in the ark or you're
not. We are in the ark. There is no such thing as being
in Christ and outside of Christ. There is a union that cannot
be broken, love that cannot be broken, yet we want somehow,
someway, we wander off. We wander off. We forget God.
Yes. Go a whore, in the Scripture
says. Don't we? Idolatry, covetousness. And the Scripture says, David
said this, David was a man after God's own heart. David dwelt
in close communion with his Lord, did he not? But David got in
such a state at times, didn't he? He said, God's hiding himself. He's a God that hides himself.
And he tried to pray, wouldn't he? Get in such a bad state,
he tried to pray. He said, the heavens are brass. He's not listening
to me. Right? Another time he said,
are His mercies clean, God? You ever been there? Every one
of God's people are there constantly. We feel afar off. We feel like
we're lost again. We feel like we're undone. We feel like we're without hope,
without God, without Christ. Draw an eye unto God. No matter
how far off. And He'll draw an eye unto you. That's what He said. We get far
off, but here's the blessed promise, our God's arm's not too short.
Not too short. He's able to save to the uttermost
in the coming to God by Him. No matter how far off, no matter
what you've done or where you've gone or how long you've been
away. And this can happen. David got in
a bad way for a long time, didn't he? Not once, but several times. Got down in Ziklag, and you'd
have never known he was a believer. You'd never know. We had a man
years ago that was coming and married a gal, and he wanted
out of that relationship. I warned him. Oh, my. Well, to make a long story short,
he left. He was gone for a long time.
And one day I just had him on my mind, thinking about him.
I called him. And she left, too. She was gone.
And finally I called him one day and said, I just had you
on my mind, John. And I'd like to see you come back and worship
with us. He said, you don't know how long
I've been waiting for a call like that. He said, I've been
wanting to come back so bad. I said, come on. Been there ever
since. Had him in there. Nobody does
any more for the church than he does. Nobody. Draw nigh unto
God, He'll draw nigh unto you. God is not only able, but He's
willing. The Scripture says He's a God
ready to pardon. Can you believe that God is more
ready to pardon than you are to ask for it? Can you believe that? Brethren,
He's not like us. Oh, you're going to have to serve
some time. No, but come on, draw an eye. Draw an eye unto God. He's willing. He's able and he's
willing. Draw an eye unto God. There was
a man years and years ago, back in the old days, a son like the
prodigal who left home, wasted his substance,
riotous living like that prodigal son. and wanted to come home,
wanted to be restored back to fellowship with his parents,
with his dad and his mom. He hadn't been in touch with
them for years. Hadn't been in touch with them
for years. And he wanted to come home, so he called home. He called
them. And there was no answer. And
he left a message somehow and said, I'm coming in on the noon
train. Tomorrow on the noon train. And
I'm coming home. This is John. If you'll have
me, he said, if you'll have me, when I get to the house, put
a white towel on the clothesline. Back when we had clotheslines.
Put a white towel on the clothesline. And that means you'll have me
home. If not, I'll just turn around
and go back. So he came in the next day on a noon train, and
he walked down that country road to his house, and he looked,
and there was a white towel on that line, and white sheets,
and white pillowcases, and white underwear, and white washcloth. Everything in the house that
was white was hanging on that clothesline. Welcome home, son. Welcome home. Draw an eye unto God. He'll draw an eye on you. He
hasn't moved. He doesn't change, does He? He
doesn't change. He will abundantly, the Scripture
says, turn. He says He will abundantly pardon. When the prodigal son came near
the father, when the prodigal son started heading back to the
father, what did the father do? He ran! Draw nigh unto God. What does he do? Run to you. And what did he do? Fell on his
neck and kissed him. Bring the fatted
calf, the best robe, all the goodness of God. Draw nigh unto
God. He'll draw nigh unto you. Now
here's a word for God's people, and I'll close. A word of exhortation
to Close communion with our Lord. You know, salvation is a sinner
being brought into a relationship with God. That's what salvation
is. A sinner being brought into a relationship with the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a union. It's a husband
and his wife. That's what it is. It's like
a marriage. Being brought nigh in close communion with the Lord. Like Enoch walked with God, didn't
he? Noah walked with God. Abraham was called the friend
of God. Friend of God. To be his friend is to have peace,
joy, contentment, assurance, safety. Draw nigh unto God. There's
safety. There's courage. I had an old
dog. And as long as that dog was by
my side, he was okay. You know that? As long as he
was by my side, he was okay. But he started chasing rabbits.
And he got in trouble. He got in trouble every time.
One time, Ran off chasing a deer. We lived on a little farm and
he ran off chasing a deer and somebody picked him up. Somebody
got him, Mike, and took him home with them. And I put out, I went
searching for him. And I put out a reward for him.
Just an old dog. He wasn't worth the reward, but
he was my dog. And I put out a reward. I'd have
paid just about anything to get him back. And buddy, I found
him. I found him. I paid the reward. I paid the price. That's a good
illustration. I paid the price. Christ paid our redemption. Brought
us out of captivity. We ran off and He brought us
back. And buddy, from that day forward, he's just scared to
death to leave the farm. Draw nigh unto God. A word of
exhortation to stay close. How do you draw nigh unto God?
How does a believer stay close to our Lord? Prayer. Communion with our Lord. Communion
with our Lord. Men like Noah and Abraham, David,
Daniel, you know, were they better men than us? No. They were sinners,
saved like bread. Had the same Word that we had.
Same promises that we had. Same God. Saved the same what? Blood and righteousness. Right?
Why were they so close to the Lord? Why did they have such
peace and such, apparently, Always calling on the Lord. Daniel,
we know that soul. Daniel, don't. Calling on the Lord constantly.
Isn't it? You know, even in our own relationship
amongst ourselves, if there's no communication between us,
there's no closeness. There's no closeness. There's
no nearness. There's no understanding of one another. If there's no
close communion, there's no understanding, there's no constant communion,
you don't feel near to that person, do you? There's all nine of them. You know, you call on somebody.
You ever call on somebody and they won't call you back? Huh? What do you think? You keep calling on them, keep
having them over for dinner, have them over for dinner and
they never call you. What do you think? They don't want my company. They
don't want my company. Ah, boy. I'll tell you what. Draw nine to God. He'll draw
an eye onto you. The opposite of all those things
is afar off from God. No peace, no assurance, no comfort,
no joy, no contentment. He's not going to let you. He's
not going to let you, is He? No relationship there. We spend
more time talking to men than we do our Lord. No wonder we
don't have any assurance. We spend more time listening
to men than our Lord seeking His A word from Him, it's no
wonder we don't have any peace and contentment and joy, and
full of doubts and fears and trouble. Nine to God is all these
things. Nine to God. Company of the world. God's jealous. We were talking
about that. God's jealous. What if your husband
or wife spent more time with other people than they did you? Huh? Huh? They're all nine to
God. and draw nigh unto them. Where
is God? Where is God? I'll tell you where
He's at. God loveth the dwellings of Jacob,
as I am more than all the dwellings of Jacob. There's a place, a
city of God, a holy place, a tabernacle of the Most High God is in the
midst of her. You're right here, aren't you?
In the church of God, in the house of God. That's where God
is promised to be every time. Every time. Draw an eye unto
God. God is where His Word is preached. God is where the Holy
Spirit is present through the preaching of the Gospel. That's
where you'll find Him every time. Draw an eye unto God. God is found in His Word. And
God is pleased by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe, even believers. Like one of our brethren said,
I get saved every time I hear the Gospel. But it's so, isn't
it? Do you not get more out of God's
Word? Do you not feel even a closer
communion with the Lord when you're amongst His people hearing
the Word of God? Do you not? You can read the Word of God
in private, but you don't get out of it when God blesses a
man to stand up here and preach, and the Holy Spirit is present,
and God's people are like a flock, and the Shepherd's there. He's
there. He's promised to be there. Draw
nigh unto God. Draw an eye unto God. He'll draw
an eye unto you. Oh, my. Draw an eye unto God. God is in the tabernacle of His
people. God is where His people is found.
God is where His people worship Him, where Christ is lifted up,
the communion of His body and His blood, fellowship of His
people. That's where the Lord is found.
A blessed promise. Draw an eye unto God. He'll draw
an eye unto you. May the Lord bless them.