Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
The speaker is talking about the importance of drawing near to God and committing to a closer relationship with Him. They emphasize that it will require personal sacrifice and facing opposition from the enemy, but it is necessary for spiritual growth. They mention the story of Nehemiah and how he remained committed to his work despite opposition. The speaker encourages the audience to be doers of the word and not just hearers, and to worship God with sincerity and true motives. They also mention the example of Isaiah and Elijah, who experienced God's presence when they drew near to Him. Well, I want to go to James chapter 4 tonight, verse 8. You'll be able to quote it by now, right Haley? Yeah, I know you will. You'll be able to quote it, won't you? Amen. James chapter 4. And again, we will just read the first portion of this verse. James 4 and 8. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Thank you so much, Lord, for the opportunity, God, to trust us with Your plow. Thank You, God, that You would put the work into people like us. Thank You. I'm asking You tonight to move in the remainder of this service. I pray that my words may be anointed, God, that they not merely be my words, but that You put Your voice in me. I pray for the edifying of Your church through this preaching, and I pray change takes place. More change. Let it take place among us in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I'll put a slightly different spin on it tonight. The title of my message is, I Will Draw Nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. I want to stand here tonight, and I want to publicly declare my commitment that I am determined, I am going to draw nigh to God. I'm doing it. I am drawing nigh to God. I'm no fool, and I know that it's going to cost me personally to draw nigh to God. I know that when I make this commitment that I am going to draw nigh to God, it is going to cut into time that takes up right now other things in my life, things that I spend time doing right now. Things are going to have to shift if I am determined tonight that I am going to draw nigh to God. And I get it tonight that I am going to face opposition from the enemy of my soul who wants and desires my complete destruction. I know that I am going to face him when I am determined that I am drawing nigh to God. But I also know that in these last days, I cannot afford a long-distance relationship with God. I know that right now, I will not get anywhere with God in an on-again, off-again relationship with the Most High. I must draw nigh to God. And I will draw nigh to God. When my enemy begins to call out to me like Nehemiah's enemies called out to him, I must be determined that I will respond like Nehemiah did in chapter 6. It says here, Sanballat ad-Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they sought to do me mischief. I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should I cease work whilst I leave it and come down to you? Now, I believe it was Brother Michael, at some point, whether he said it to me personally, I believe he said it to the church, and I don't know if it's his quote or if it's somebody else's. I believe it's a great quote. I'm not a great man, but I'm involved in a great work, and I cannot come down. That's what Nehemiah said. I will not leave it, and I will not come down. And the Bible says they sent to him four times after this sort. And I answered them after the same manner. Every time the call came, step back. Every time the call came for a break away from going on to God, I must answer in the same manner. If you continue to read there in Nehemiah 6, you'll find that because the people had a mind to work, because Nehemiah was determined he was not coming down, he was not going to succumb to the voice of the enemy, they succeeded in their mission. And the wall was built just like they had intended to do. And when that happened, listen to this, verse 16 of chapter 6, it came to pass that when all our enemies heard thereof and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their eyes. For they perceived that this work was wrought of God. That's what I want. I want hell to walk around hanging its head when they've cast their doubts upon me. When the devils have come to me and said, back off. When the devils have said to me it's too much effort. When the devil has said to me, I'll oppose you greater than you've ever known. I want them to end up hanging their heads and saying I can't help it because this is a work that is wrought of God. I must ask myself, why should I pause my pursuit of drawing nigh to God at the suggestion of the enemy of my soul? My answer is, I'm doing a great work right here so that I cannot come down. Why should I cease drawing nigh to God and come down to You? There's been a lot of talk around here lately about drawing nigh to God. A lot has been said concerning this subject. Messages have been preached under the anointing and the unity of the Spirit, inviting us, Gospel Light Holiness Church, to get closer to Him. But let me remind you, it is not enough for us to have an intellectual understanding that we need to draw nigh to God. It's not enough for us to memorize the first few words of James 4 and verse 8. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. What really matters is that we determine in our minds that we're going to get about doing it. We're not just going to talk about it. We're not just going to preach about it. We're not just going to testify about it. But we're going to get to it and we are going to draw nigh to God. It was James that said, Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only. Because when you're hearing and not doing, he said you're deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way. Straightway forget of what manner of man he was, but whoso looketh into this perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the Word, this man shall be blessed in his deed. Now I've got confidence in you, my brothers and sisters in this church. We've supported one another. We've been there for one another. We've worshipped together. We've had great experiences together. And I've got confidence that you will draw nigh to God. But I have to stand up here tonight and say I cannot wait for you to draw nigh to God. Neither can you afford to wait on me for you to draw nigh to God. I must make up in my mind I must draw nigh to God. And I will draw nigh to God. This cannot be just simply showing up and being a partaker of religious ceremony. It cannot get to the place where all I'm doing is going through the motions. Now I'll tell you, if we're getting close to God, there it most certainly will be an outward display, a true desire, and a real show, a mark of true worship in the house of God. But it cannot be gestures. It cannot be words. It cannot be motions. It has got to be a true drawing nigh to God. In Isaiah chapter 58, the prophet was commanded, cry aloud, spare not. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet. And if you go through Isaiah chapter 58, you would actually get pretty encouraged because the words, it starts out very optimistic. God begins to describe the people that He's talking to. They seek Me daily and delight to know My ways. Oh, I'd love for it to be said about Gospel Light Holiness Church. They seek Me daily and delight to know My ways. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching God. And it all sounds wonderful. I don't know how anybody could hardly complain except the people, once they've done this, once they've said that they sought God, once they asked of the ordinance of justice, once they delighted in approaching unto God, they were left asking, then why isn't God paying attention to us and where we are? We've afflicted our soul and you have not acknowledged it. Here's the answer. God said, because you're not doing it right. It's not enough to bring the sacrifices, children of Israel. Oh, people of Judah, it's not enough for you to show up at the feasts and go through the ordinances. God knows where man's heart is. God refused and will always refuse to acknowledge a false piety without proper heart motives. God refused and He will always refuse a fake piety that does not have proper heart motives in it. There are no rituals that can be performed no matter how precisely and right in line that they are done without a right heart before God. God Himself knows the heart. You'll have to ask yourself this question. Is my worship true? Are we Pentecostal people that do what we do simply because that's what Pentecostal people do? Or do we come into the house of God and are our hearts set to truly give honor unto God? God knows the heart. God knows where you are. Are your prayers in your prayer closet fervent? Are your prayers effectual prayers? Or do you meet up with Him in empty rituals? The Lord said to them people in Isaiah chapter 58, when they finally turned themselves around and when He saw them truly seeking God with all His heart, He said, Then thou shalt call, and the Lord shall answer. Thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. I mean, we talk about Isaiah in chapter 6 saying, Here am I, Lord. But how much greater it is that we can get so close to God that we hear Him utter these words. Hey, son. Hey, daughter. Here I am. And we'll get that if we will draw an eye to God. I Kings chapter 19, we see that great prophet Elijah. He's up in a cave, lodging in a cave in Mount Horeb. And the Bible describes while he's there on that mountain some tremendous events that take place while he's there. Here's what the Bible says. The Lord passed by. And I don't know how we can get any better than that. That we can have a testimony of where we are in a prayer closet, or a gathering like we are, or in a camp meeting, or a revival, or any special meeting, that if we can end up and say, The Lord passed by. What a wonderful, powerful statement. We know what it's like. We've been there when the Lord has passed by our way. But it continues on. Once the Lord passed by, the Bible says, there was a great and strong wind and it ripped the mountains and break in pieces the rocks. Elijah's up on this mountain and there comes like a freight train a wind that tears and rips apart mountains and breaks rocks into pieces. After the wind calmed down, the Bible says after the wind, there was an earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire. These were natural occurring instances, natural occurrences driven by a supernatural power. But the Bible also says once the wind went through, once the earthquake happened, once the fire died down, after the fire, a still small voice. Now we know this, that Elijah was alone in the cave. But what we don't know is who was over on the next mountain. We don't know who was down in the valley beside the mountain. I don't know if there were villages out there, I don't know if there were people out there camping, or if there were people out there hunting. But if anybody was anywhere around that place when the Lord passed by, they would no doubt be in awe of the power of the wind that came by that place. A wind strong enough to rip the mountains and to break apart the rocks. And even if there were people that were miles away when the earthquake took place, they would have felt the earthquake. They would have felt the earth shaking underneath their feet. And if there was anybody in that area when that fire came down, they would have been surprised and in awe at the brightness of the fire. And they would have felt the heat of the flame. But there was only one man who was close enough to God to hear the still, small voice. Now I want to pray that we experience the wind. I want wind that is so strong and powerful that it rends some mountains and breaks some rocks in the lives of our people. I want us to pray that we experience a spiritual earthquake that changes the landscape. I want us to pray for Holy Ghost fire to fall down in the midst of us. And we know we've had services like that where we've felt the wind. We've had those experiences where the earthquake just shook us. And we have felt the fire fall. We've felt it in this place. We've felt it in places that we've been before. And you know that when that happens in a church house, when it falls like that, anybody in the house, no matter where they're sitting, in the way back or up front, and no matter what spiritual condition they are in, they will have to acknowledge something happened in the house. But only those who have drawn nigh to God will ever experience that still, small voice. Only those who have made up the mind I'm getting close to God, will detect that faint whisper of God. I must draw nigh to God. And I'm telling you tonight, I will draw nigh to God. John's Gospel chapter 13. Jesus is talking to His disciples and He reveals to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me. This shocked them. They didn't know what to think about it. The Bible says the disciples looked one on another doubting of whom He spoke. But there happened to be in that place, now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples whom Jesus loved. Out of the 12 men that were in that room with Jesus on that day, there was only one man who was close enough to Jesus to whisper, Lord, who is it? And out of those 12 men that were there with Jesus in that room, there was only one man who leaned on His bosom close enough to hear Jesus respond, He it is to whom I shall give sop when I have dipped it. Everybody wanted to know the answer. Everybody was curious, what's going on here? What it is that's going to happen? But there was only one that got close enough to Him. You'll find in John chapter 13 after that, they still didn't know. The rest of them still didn't understand what was going on. Only one man in the room who was close enough to the Master understood exactly what was going on. Now I want you to know that no matter where you are, if it's way below the bottom, God has the ability to hear you pray. If you are in a far country, far removed from God, He has the ability to hear you pray. For His ear is not heavy that He cannot hear. Neither is His hand short that it cannot save. But I'll tell you right now, while He has the ability to hear me wherever I am, I don't have the ability to hear Him unless I draw nigh to God. Wouldn't it be nice, brothers and sisters, if we could fully rely on the discernment of the Spirit rather than what we see on the outside to make decisions? When somebody comes in the church and they look a little shifty to us, wouldn't it be great if we had nothing to do with the outward appearance, but we had drawn so nigh to God that we knew what that individual needed and we knew what song to sing and we knew what testimony to give and we knew how to preach and how to pray? Wouldn't that be awesome if we got so close to God that He whispers and we hear? We will only get there by drawing nigh to God. I must draw nigh to God. And I'm telling you tonight, I will, by the grace of God, I will draw nigh to God. Now, we all are going to have to understand, and I certainly hope we do, and this should go without saying, that a praying hands emoji is not the same as praying. Now, I'm not saying quit sending those. Not at all. I think they're encouraging to see that. But don't ever get to the place where you substitute that for real praying. I realize I'm going to have to learn effectual, fervent prayer. I have got to learn how to pray in such a way that it parts the heavens and God comes down and draws nigh to me. I have got to learn the art of prayer that pulls down the strongholds, those existing stubborn strongholds that are in the life of the people that I love. I have got to learn how to pray like that. It is in that kind of prayer that He teaches my hands to war. It is there that I gain the power to storm the gates of hell and to wage war against principalities and powers. Brothers and sisters, I want to learn the discipline of intercession. Do you know why? Because she's not going to go to Him. I must bring her to Him. I must learn to intercede. I want to learn how to pray in such a way that it causes a disturbance in hell. Do you remember in Acts chapter 19 that evil spirit spoke up and he said, Jesus I know. Paul I know. I can guarantee you that hell did not know who Paul was for his eloquent preaching. I am convinced it was because he knew how to draw an eye to God. He learned the art of prayer. He knew how to get close to God. And hell paid attention to that because he made a difference in that kingdom. Souls who were traveling on their way to hell, he snatched them out because he drew an eye to God. And hell said, I know that man. And it's because he would draw an eye to God. I've got neighbors, coworkers. I have unsaved loved ones. They have good jobs. They make decent money. They pay their bills. They get sick. They get better. They learn along life's way. They learn to be kind to one another. Life lessons. So for me to spend my time praying, I need a job. I need a good job. For me to spend my time... I mean, you know how the world does it? They work hard and they make right decisions. When they get sick, well, they do what we do. Take medicine. Go to the doctor. Get things worked on. Get it fixed. So if my prayers are simply to be like my unsaved neighbor, if my prayers match, or my yearning in my prayers is to do what they're doing and do as good as they are, I might as well be doing nothing. I've got to concern myself with things outside of this physical world. I've wondered in myself how many people that God has heard pray. Truly pray. And I wonder in my spirit, and I've talked to Him about this. I've told Him again and again, Lord, teach me to pray. He's heard people pray. And I want to know what that sounds like. Because I want to send out those kinds of prayers. The kind of prayers that get the attention of God. I want to pray like that. Truly, truly pray. Three weeks ago, I guess it was, I was listening to an audio book by Leonard Ravenhill. It was after God had moved on me to preach along these lines. But so much of what I heard in that book was pushing me and convicting me. And I told my wife, I said, it amazes me the testimonies that I hear in his writings, the people who prayed. Leonard Ravenhill's gone. And I don't know a whole lot about him. If you've got dirt on him, keep it. I don't want to hear it. But my wife, she asked me, she said, well, somebody's got to pick up that mantle. Yeah, that's right. She said, well, why don't you? My instant thought was, there's no way. I can't be that. I can't do that. Well, Brother Ron, you said tonight, you talked about a lack of ability. We have shared before and we've talked before, and I've heard it from you. I feel like I'm the least among us. I've not heard anybody here boast of your abilities to do things. And when I read of these great men of prayer, E.M. Bounds, Leonard Ravenhill, A.W. Tozer, these men of prayer, I find out they really weren't great men. But they drew nigh to God. That's what made the difference. A.W. Tozer has a doctorate, or had, he's dead now, but he had a doctorate degree. Dr. Tozer is what Leonard Ravenhill called him. But I also saw that A.W. Tozer made it to one day of eighth grade and that was the end of his education. So he wasn't super educated. Probably an honorary doctorate is what he got. But he was a powerful force. And what he did still reverberates and it's affecting lives today. So I'm ashamed to say that when my wife said, why don't you? My first thought was, you're crazy. Because I'm me. But I have to quit acting like a son of Adam and start behaving like a son of God. So tonight, I'll say this again. I must draw nigh to God. I will draw nigh to God. And here's my invitation. Are you with me? Are you with me? A couple weeks ago when I preached draw nigh to God, I said the truth will be told in the personal efforts that we put into drawing nigh to God. Would you stand with me tonight? Lord, I thank You for the opportunity to deliver a message. I thank You, God, for giving me the opportunity to stand before my family tonight and to declare, Lord, what I have already told You. I will draw nigh to God. And Lord, You've already done some works in this place. You have already been moving on us. There have been changes in lives of people in this place. But don't let us stop. Don't let us be happy with a relationship with You that comes and goes. God, I pray that You will find an entire church of people tonight that will say, I will draw nigh to God. I invite you to come into this altar tonight. I would ask you to join me in making this commitment. No longer is it an encouragement of just throwing out there, hey, draw nigh to God. I'm asking you tonight to make a commitment to God. I will draw nigh to God. I will know what it feels like to lean on His bosom. I will know what it feels like for Him to cast His skirt about me. I will know what it feels like to have His mantle cast on me like Elisha built Elijah's mantle. I will draw nigh to God. It's my commitment.
