2024-04-21AM- Draw Nigh To God

The speaker asks the congregation to focus and listen to the sermon. He also mentions upcoming revival meetings at other churches. He then begins discussing the book of James and how direct and serious James was in his teachings. James wouldn't be welcome in modern churches that prioritize entertainment over worship. The speaker emphasizes the importance of drawing near to God and warns against treating it as just a saying. He shares a personal story about a revival where he asked for prayer to draw closer to God, but learned that it requires personal effort. He hopes this message will inspire a revival and a genuine closeness to God. Join me in the Bible, if you would. James chapter 4. James chapter 4. I know sometimes when we come to church it's easier or we feel more in tune than at other times. I'm going to ask of our congregation today that you get with me on this. I'm not asking for ovations, I'm not asking for you to stand, I'm not asking for loud amens, but I'm asking that whatever's scattering about of your minds where they might be right now, I'm going to ask you to try to bring it in, bring it in and listen with me this morning. And before I begin, I do want to remind us next week, starting a week from today, Brother Richard Binkley at Full Gospel Assembly will be in revival. It'll be Sunday through Wednesday, so please remember that meeting. And Brother Stephen Jones at Refuge Pentecostal Church in Somerset, he's got his homecoming revival coming up next, the following weekend, May 2nd through the 4th. It's a Thursday through Saturday. Brother Darren Cunningham, Kevin Lloyd and Daryl Allen will be preaching that meeting. So if you can get over there, I know that he would really love the support. I'm really hoping that I can get over there for that meeting, most likely on the Saturday. But please remember these meetings. Remember the churches that are around us, these with whom we fellowship and those which perhaps we wouldn't, that God will have His way all among us for those that are saved by God's grace. James chapter 4, James 4, we're going to read just a portion of a verse from a text this morning. Verse 8, draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Father, thank You for our opportunity to be here. Thank You, Lord, for these musicians, God, who play so well and help us in our worship. Thank You, Lord, for leading us, for having one to lead us in our worship. Thank You for the testifying, the lessons that we've learned this morning. And here we are at this place, God. And I'm asking for that holy anointing. I pray for a difference to be made today, Lord. You know us all, where we are and what we need. And I ask for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in this house in the name of Jesus, amen. Draw nigh to God. That's what I want to preach for a title, just those first four words of verse 8. Draw nigh to God. Now this is just an amazingly wonderful statement that's made by James, the brother of Jesus, as he writes to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. You can read through the book of James and you'll find that this man must have been really something to listen to. He was very direct. He didn't beat around the bush. He didn't try to push something out ahead to soften the blow. He was there to deliver a message. And I think that often in our world today, in churches today, he wouldn't really be welcome. His attitude, his directness, his ability to reach people in the way that he does would probably be shunned in the modern pulpit today, where messages are mostly motivational speeches to get somebody to be nice to somebody else, or to get somebody to live a little bit of a better life, or to be a better citizen, or to be a better giver and supporter of the church. He probably wouldn't much be welcome in churches where worship has been turned into entertainment, where dances are performed on platforms, and music is played simply to satisfy the flesh. It's mimicked after the things of the world and it satisfies the fleshly desires. There's no conviction. There's no true worship. James likely would not be welcome in a place like that, where lights are dimmed and it resembles a nightclub or a concert hall, where people are encouraged to applaud the performers rather than come in and give worship to Almighty God. James would not be welcome in a place like that. According to the Scriptures, we could see that James would give a message something like this, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. He might say, if any man seem to be religious and bridle not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. He might look out and call out those in gay clothing with the gold rings and the goodly apparel that get higher respect than somebody else. And he'd look at a congregation and say, do not they blaspheme the worthy name by which ye are called? He would probably say, out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. It wouldn't bother him to get in a pulpit and look at a group of people and say, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. That wouldn't go over very well. It wouldn't go all that well in a lot of holiness churches anymore, where entertainment is preferred over worship, where motivational speaking is preferred over solid, biblical, good doctrine preaching. But this is the James who also writes this short little phrase to us there in James 4, verse 8, Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. It's a great statement made by James, and you can tell just by the writings. He's a serious man. He wasn't a player in the pulpit. He was in the early church, was elevated to the status that he led the church. The disciples of Jesus Christ gave him such respect, they came to him with questions, and he led the church. And so he sends this letter out to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. God said, I want gospel-like, holiness church to know these things. And so He preserved it for us down through the years, included it in the everlasting, eternal, infallible Word of God, so that we could know that we ought to draw nigh to God. That's my message today. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. This phrase is pretty easy to remember. It doesn't take a lot of effort to commit it to memory. After you've heard it just a couple times, well, you've got it. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. But if we're not careful, it will simply become a good saying. It'll be a familiar phrase. It'll be a cliché that we throw out. It'll be a great thing to put on a bumper sticker on our cars. And it'll lose its intended meaning because it comes so familiar to us. And this was never intended by the writer or by God for this simply to be an easily remembered proverb. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Instead, what this is meant to be is an invitation for anyone who's been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ to enter into private, holy communion with Almighty God in a divine relationship that is enjoyed by very few people. Draw nigh to God. Right now, it's 1135 Eastern Time, and I would guess that there are churches all over this eastern coast of our country that are in church right now. And if the preacher were to stand up and deliver a question, as I will right here, and say, Do you want to be close to God? Heads would nod. In unison, there would be agreement. Yes, we want to be close to God. That's why I come to church, so that I can learn how to get to God. The answer would echo. Yes, I want to be close to God. But the truth will be found to the answer in how much effort is really being put in getting close to Him. Let me say that again. The truth will be told by the effort that is put in getting close to God. We'll put effort into a whole lot of things in this lifetime, but it's a rare occurrence that people truly try to get close to God. Let me tell you of a story, a personal experience in my past. As a teenage boy in the church where I grew up, a revival came around. The preacher was good. I remember him. He preached good messages and things that would catch a young man's attention and would get moving on me. And I remember it was common among us that once the message was given, the altar call would be made. And at some point in the altar service, people would begin to line up up front, and there would be a prayer line where people would come forward and they'd express needs that they have in their life. And that night was the same way. The prayer line was formed, and no doubt there were people in that prayer line that they would whisper in the evangelist's ear, I'm really struggling right now. I need help. And he would pray for them. Somebody no doubt would say, I've got questions that I don't have answers to right now, and I need you to pray for me. Somebody probably said, I'm sick in my body and I'm hurting, and I want you to pray for me. But when it came my turn to step up to the preacher, I remember that he leaned down from the platform where he was to hear what my request was. And as a teenage boy, I looked up at him and said, I want prayer to get close to God. And I thought it was a pretty good request myself. I really did. I mean, who wouldn't want a young man to come up and tell the preacher, I want to get close to God. And the evangelist that day did lay hands on me. And he did pray for me. But before he did, he looked at me and he quoted James 4 and verse 8. He said, the Bible says, draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. What he was telling me and letting me know that the experience that I said that I wanted would not come because the evangelist laid hands on me. He was letting me know that a preacher praying over me was not going to get me closer to God. There was no anointed message that would be given that day that would put me one step closer to God. It would happen when I got up and made a move to get close to God. And then in turn, God would draw nigh to me. My prayer for this message is that it's going to help you realize that there is an eternal importance to truly drawing nigh to God. My hope is that gospel light holiness church breaks out in revival of a people who really get close to God. A closeness that does not last for a mere few days. And then we continue on with our distant relationship with God. A closeness that takes a people that say that we know that we are in the last days and transforms us into a people who live like we are in the last days. Prayer requests in this century are more often filled with requests for comfort while here on earth. We need to get out of that comfort zone, don't we? The theme of the American prayer life is make my life easier. The prayer uttered before leaving the house, help me find a good deal today. Bless me, Lord, with more stuff. Amen. While minimal time is spent calling on the name of the Lord, crying out for people that we know who most assuredly are living and dying without Christ. And very soon they are going to stand before God in the judgment and shall be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet shall be. Very often our prayers are spent dry and forced. There's a reason for that. It's because we're way back. Not anywhere near where He is. I'm trying to preach today drawn to God because it's as if we are crying out to God from a long distance away from Him. An outer court rather than in His presence. The New Testament temple that Herod restored and built began that in 20 B.C. And Herod had made up his mind. He was quite the builder. He was an architect. I mean, he made beautiful things. And he agreed with the population of the Jewish leadership, let me rebuild this place. They didn't trust him at first, didn't trust him at first, but he gathered supplies and he proved to them that he was willing to put this place together. And he built a grand temple. Just to get an idea here, the complex, the temple complex took up 35 acres. The place was huge. The outer walls around that complex were 60 feet tall. When you stood at the outskirts of that temple and looked up, you looked 60 feet to see the top of that wall. You can go now to Jerusalem. There's one wall remaining, the western wall. They call it the wailing wall. Sixty feet tall of stones, one upon the top of the other. Just that one place left after the destruction of this wonderful temple. But if you were to cross over Solomon's porch and step inside that complex, that great temple of God, you would find yourself in the outer court, which was called the court of the Gentiles. Because you and I could go in that place. And if we wanted to worship, we could go inside the wall of the temple and we could remain in the court of the Gentiles. We could pray and we could worship God. But that was as far as we could go, for there was another wall. And on this wall, there were signs posted that any non-Jew that passed this point would be found guilty and would receive the sentence of death. Gentiles were not allowed past the next wall, which was called the court of the women, where Jewish women could go in and they could worship and they could pray. You would get out from the court of the Gentiles was a gate called Beautiful. Remember hearing about that? That led into the court of the women. Once the men pressed past the court of the women, purified Jewish men could go into the next court, which was called the court of the Israelites. And these men could pray there and they could worship. But then there was a place where this altar was at that exit, where the sacrifices were burned, where these sacrifices were made, where the priests would meet beyond that point, where there would be the table of showbread and the candlestick. And beyond that was another place which was called the holy place, where the priests would go in and they would perform their duties. And then beyond that was one more place, a room 30 feet by 30 feet. It was called the most holy place. It was the place where the high priest went in one time a year and offered first for his own sins and then for the people. And the holy place, the most holy place, were separated, the one from the other, by a veil. A grand curtain that hung down between there. Exodus 26 and 31 says it was blue, it was purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. This separating veil was 60 feet high, 30 feet wide. And Jewish tradition says it was four inches wide. Four inches deep. That was the curtain. Nobody went in there but the high priest one time per year. Now I want you to think back outside of the most holy place, into the holy place, into the place where the altar was, into the place where the purified Jewish men could worship, into the place where the Jewish women could go, out into the outer courts where the Gentiles were. That was our place, brothers and sisters. We were far removed from that most holy place. We could not enter. But when Jesus breathed His last breath outside the city of Jerusalem, and He cried, It is finished. The Bible says in Matthew 27 and 51, Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. The earth did quake. The rocks rent. The sacrifice of the body and soul of Jesus Christ was made, and it far surpassed the blood sacrifice of animals all the way back to the giving of the law. Those offerings one after the other, time after time, the blood of bulls and of goats kept that veil intact, and it kept a wall of partition raised. Oh, but one day when Jesus gave His life, the Bible says that veil was rent in twain. And now, the common priests who were not allowed were now allowed. The purified Jewish men, they could peer into the most holy place. But what about the Gentiles? What about us? We were relegated to the outer courts. Remember? The signs were posted. Don't you go past this. You're taking your own life into your own hands. But Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 13 says, But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for He is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. The wall that kept us out is broken down. The veil that separated us from the holy presence of God was rent in twain. Every obstacle that kept us out has been removed by the sacrifice, the accepted sacrifice in the helm of Jesus Christ. The wall that said Jews only is gone. And now, you and I may move about freely past that wall of partition. And now, being a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, we can enter into that place that was reserved only for the high priest. Then, having boldness by the blood of Christ, we may enter into the holiest, into the presence of the Most High God. And so, I ask this morning, why then do men not draw nigh to God? It would seem logical to me that when my prayers were way back, and the wall came down, and the wall came down, and the veil was rent in twain, it only makes sense to me that I would get up, and I'd crawl over the rubble of that wall, and I would run from one court into the next, up past the altar, climbing the stairs, and enter into the holiest place of all, into His presence. Brothers and sisters, this mighty price has been paid that we may enter in. The sacrifice, supreme sacrifice, has been made, and it's been accepted in heaven. And when opportunity to approach the most sacred place has been opened to us, why, why, why are we remiss to get into that place and draw as close to God as is possible? It is a shame that on the day of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, that the barriers were removed and men still refused to go into the holy place. What good is access to the throne room of God if we don't go? So, when we are assured that if we would draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to us. It's that simple phrase that James made that we read that we can easily remember. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Our cry really should be the words of that old hymn, Just As I Am. Thy blood was shed for me, and we should be heard on our way into the holy place. I come! I come! Step back! Listen! Hall of Heaven! I come! I come! Can I tell you? I have spent much time in prayer, praying, Draw me nearer. Draw me nearer. So much so that I recognize that it has become a vain repetition to me. Words just spill out in prayer. Draw me nearer, Lord. Oh, draw me nearer to you. When all along God is saying, Draw nigh to me, and I will draw nigh to you. It's wonderful when we have the Spirit of God moving in this place, and we understand the manifestation of His Spirit, and we sense His presence, and we stand up, and we step out, and we press in that we might touch but the hem of His garment. He'll preach. It's a wonderful story about a woman that got made whole. But what if we could see Him high and lifted up like Isaiah saw Him in the temple? And what if we would run where He was in that long flowing garment of His, and envelop ourselves in the train of His glory? If we could reach out to Him and get so near to Him like Ruth did to Boaz, and she said to him, Spread thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. Spread therefore, oh, that instead of settling for a touch as He brushes by, we envelop ourselves in the presence of Almighty God, and we get where He is. Because the promise of this text is understood to mean that if I come near to God, He will reciprocate, and He will come near me. But I'm going to ask you, as you prepare to respond to this message, and I sure hope there's a response to this message. When you draw nigh to God, I'm going to ask you, go prepared. You're going to be in the presence of the Most High God. When I found myself this past week breaking through barriers that I myself had made, and getting into the presence of God, I sensed heaven's presence. He felt so near to me. I could picture in my mind angels standing by, wondering what this feeble man will ask of God once he has drawn nigh to God. I appeared there with stammering lips, and I knew not what to say. I had gotten there, but I wasn't prepared to be there. But let me tell you what first came from my mouth when I got there. Close to what Jairus said when he saw Jesus and fell down at His feet, and greatly besought Him, I said, My daughter lieth at the point of death. Come and lay Thy hands on her, and she shall live. That came out of my mouth as I was before God. And next, I said like the disciples, Lord, teach me to pray. Teach me to pray. James' words here in chapter 4 and verse 8 are simple. He declared himself, I am the servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. These simple words, easy to memorize phrase, is life changing if they're taken to heart. If they're taken to heart. It is earth shattering. Stubborn old strongholds can finally be torn down when we draw nigh to God. Principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places can be engaged in true spiritual warfare when we draw nigh to God. I'm going to ask you right now, I don't know what you're feeling right now, but I want you to respond to this message. Don't wait for another call. Don't wait for the nice music. Do not wait to get up and get into this altar and begin to draw nigh to God. Do not wait for the feeling to pass. Do not wait for the burden to lighten on your soul. Isaiah said, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Jeremiah, then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me. And I will hearken unto you and ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord. I come. I come. I come. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. Draw me near. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. To Thy precious bleeding side I am Thine, O Lord. I have heard Thy voice And it told Thy love to me. But I long to rise In the arms of faith And be kosher drawn to Thee. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord To the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord To Thy precious bleeding side. Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord By the power of grace divine. Let my soul look up with steadfast hope And my will be lost in Thine. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord To the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer...