By David J. Stewart
James 4:8-10, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
I was thinking today, while listening to some preaching, about how real God
is to me. I feel God's presence, as if He were a person in the same room
with me. I feel His Spirit. I love the closeness of God. The way that you
get close to God is to get close to the Bible. I call it wallowing in the
Scriptures, like a pig wallows in the mud. We ought to desire to saturate
our selves with the Scriptures! You are only as close to God as you are to
the Word of God. You cannot be close to God and far from the Bible. Our text
Scriptures promise that God will draw close to us IF we draw close to Him.
You can claim that promise my friend! Do you want to be close to God. We
read in James 2:23, “And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was
called the Friend of God.” I don't know about you, but I very much
want to be God's friend.
James 4:3-6 plainly warns, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 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. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” As you just read, you cannot lust after the things of this world, and befriend the wicked world, and be close to God as His friend. The world is by nature the enemy of God.
NO ONE can work at an abortion clinic, or drive a beer truck, or support wicked politicians like Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, or pervert the Bible, or exploit people with shady advertising, or gossip about others, or hate your enemies, or despise sin-fighting preachers and WALK CLOSE TO GOD!!! It cannot be done, because God won't draw close to you. Read carefully the rest of James 4:8-10 after it mentions drawing close to God... “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” If you desire closeness to God as a Christian, then you must have purity of heart. You must be honest with yourself! We cannot fool God, for He continually monitors our thoughts (Psalms 139:1-5; Proverbs 24:13; Hebrews 4:13). God loves a pure heart, humility and a meek spirit. To be meek means a willingness to comply, obey and heed God's leading.
The Bible promises that God will lead the meek. Psalm 25:9, “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” That simply means that God will lead you if you will be led. God wants to draw closer to you than you could ever possibly want to be close to Him. The ball is in our hands. God resists the proud. If you are a parent, then you understand the frustration at times of wanting to give good things to your children, but you cannot when they are rebellious, unwilling to obey and stubborn. Rewarding bad character is counterproductive. You still provide for your children because you love them as your children, but you cannot give them the things that you desire to give them, because it would spoil them rather than bless them. Likewise, God cannot bless us the way that He wants to if we are proud, stubborn and unwilling to heed to His will. For to do so would only make us worse. Hebrews 12:6-8 teaches that God chastises and scourges His children when they are disobedient, which is good for us (Psalms 119:67,71).
1st John 2:15-17 commands us as Christian believers NOT to love the world, nor lust after the things in the world, nor to partake of the sinful pride of the world. 1st John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
Jesus said that no person can serve mammon (wealth) and God. Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Jesus said that we will love the one and hate the other. The world cannot harmonize with the kingdom of God. The most basic teachings of the Bible concerning the believer's Christian walk is that the world is God's enemy. Worldly celebrities avoid the precious name of Jesus like the A.I.D.S. virus. For if they mentioned the name of Jesus Christ in an uplifting manner it would mean career suicide, ridicule and loss of fame and fortune.
Whereas as born-again Christians, if we love the Lord we profess the name of Jesus with joy and gratitude, for all that the Lord has done for us. The wicked world doesn't honor the Lord. John 5:23,41 and 44, “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. ...I receive not honour from men. ... How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” Hollywood honors themselves, and not the Lord Jesus! Jesus said in John 5:44 that they won't believe because they are entrapped by the desire for worldly acceptance; therefore, they shun and reject the name of Jesus Christ.
When the Lord speaks of those who honor themselves instead of God in John 5:44, He is speaking of the large majority of people who reject Christ in pursuit of worldly fame, pleasures and fortunes. No wonder why Jesus said that no man can serve God and mammon (wealth). One will keep us from the other. The love of money leads people into sin and away from God (1st Timothy 6:7-10). If you want to draw close to God, then you must forsake the desire to make money. Christians ought not place any priority upon making money. The world worships money! There's nothing sadder than a person who is greedy, so cheap that they don't leave nice tips after eating out, or they envy others for having something nice.
I couldn't care less about how much money, homes or worldly possessions that anyone else has, because I'm laying up treasures in Heaven as the Lord commanded (Matthew 6:20). If you have money in this world, you are a moving target for every con, crook and shady person in society! Jesus warned that thieves WILL break through and steal in this world. Jesus said that lawyers stole people's houses in His day, just like today. Jesus said that religious cons existed in the Lord's day, just like today. Matthew 23:14, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.” They shall receive the GREATER DAMNATION!!!
I was reading the Bible today in the book of Titus, where God says that everything about the unsaved person's life and mind is reprobate and defiled. Titus 1:15-16,“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Notice that even their conscience is corrupt. They claim to “KNOW GOD,” but everything about their life denies it. There's no better example than the homosexual movement, who are increasingly claiming that God approves of their wickedness. The abortion industry falsely claims to KNOW GOD! The apostate religious community with all their false Bibles, worldly music concerts and theo-psychology don't KNOW GOD! What an interesting passage of Scripture! Titus 1:16 says “THEY PROFESS THAT THEY KNOW GOD” but they are deceived and DON'T know God at all. They don't know the Scriptures! They don't know the truth! They are actually pulling on the same rope as the Devil.
Ironically, I'm not talking about reading your Bible every day. There are deadbeat theologians who teach from the Scriptures every day, but they are far from God and useless for the cause of Christ. It's not what you know, but what you do with what you know. How real is it to you? Many people have the knowledge of God, but they don't have the sweet presence, fellowship and walk with the Lord that we all ought to have. So many people have religion, but they don't have the Holy Spirit of God within them, because they have never been born-again by the Spirit of God. They are religious and lost.
I often find myself saying, “Please Lord, don't ever give up on me,” but I catch myself before I finish the statement and am reminded of Hebrews 13:5, which is a PROMISE from God that He'll never give up on me. Hebrews 13:5, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Amen! I don't have to ask God to stay with me, because He has already promised never to leave nor forsake me.
I have covered several practical truths concerning being close to God. Are you close to God? Do you want to be close to God. I DO! I love the Lord and want to love people, or better said, I want to allow the Lord to love people through me (Galatians 2:20). The dearest thing to the heart of God is soul-winning. You'll never truly be close to God until you have a broken heart over sin and the lost who know not Christ. Psalms 126:5-6 speaks of those believers who go forth weeping, bearing the precious seed of the Word of God. The Bible teaches that people will come to Christ, if we'll simply sow the seed of the gospel.
Jesus taught in Luke 8:12-15 about the seeds that fell upon different types of soil. The fourth and final group are the faithful Christians who love the Lord, having an honest and good heart, who bring forth much fruit. Jesus said in John 15:1-15 that believers who abide in the Scriptures, and the Lord abides in them, will bear MUCH FRUIT! Soul-winning is not a method, it's a command. We're supposed to go soul-winning, sharing the gospel with others, whether our churches grow or shrink. Nothing is dearer to the heart of God than reaching the souls of men, being a fisher of men (Matthew 4:19). LET'S GO FISHING!
Of course, NO ONE can ever draw close to God apart from being a born-again Christian. That's the first step! Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” I love that! We are MADE NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST! The way to get close to God positionally (relationship wise) is based upon faith in the blood of Jesus, Who DIED, was BURIED and RESURRECTED three days later (i.e., the gospel - 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Fellowship wise, we draw near to God as a Christian by obeying James 4:8-10. The key to the Christian life is to fully understand that we cannot do it our self. Most religious people in the churches errantly think that God expects them of their own strength to live a good life. That's religious humanism.
Galatians 2:20 teaches the exact opposite. Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” It is Christ Who liveth IN ME. I rely upon God's Spirit in me to live the Christian life through me. Hence, when I do good it is the Spirit of Christ in me, and not any goodness of my own. I was saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and I live the Christian life by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! Thank God for the righteousness of Christ (Romans 4:5-6). God is so good to us all. America has forsaken God. All we are hearing in our churches these days is religious mumbo-jumbo, psychology and spirituality without the doctrine of Christ.
Most people who think they are going to Heaven are not. They are headed for Hell and damnation. Most people who profess to know God do not at all. If you are fortunate enough to have found the way and are truly saved by faith in the good news of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, then you are truly blessed of God. Very few people are saved (Matthew 7:13-14). Amongst those who are saved, hardly anyone walks close to the Lord, abiding in the Scriptures, praying and preaching the gospel. Most believers are worldly, either immature or backslidden. This is evidenced by the carnal church at Corinth (1st Corinthians 3:1 and 15).
Drawing close to God is not difficult or a mystery. You never have to wonder if God wants to be close to you, because HE DOES (2nd Peter 3:9; 1st Peter 5:7; Romans 8:32-34). God never has enough friends. In Job's time, he was the only friend of God in the land. When the flood came, only Noah and his family entered the ark. Eight people escaped the flood! Jesus foretold that in the end times that few people will have faith (Luke 18:8). The Lord foretold that the end times would be like the days of Noah, when sexual sins were epidemic and people went from one marriage to another (Matthew 24:37-39). People don't work things out anymore, they just file for divorce.
Do you have faith in Jesus Christ? Do you want to be close to Him? Jesus told us to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES in John 5:39, which testify of the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus is precious to every believer (1st Peter 2:7). What a privilege to have the Spirit of God living in my body (1st Corinthians 3:16-17). The Lord keeps us all breathing (Acts 17:25). Daniel 5:23,“...the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” Are you glorifying God? Have you acknowledged God in your life? Are you thankful to the Lord?
Please understand that we are made close to God by the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can't get any closer to God relationship wise than to be adopted into the family of God by faith in Christ. There is no other way to peace with God than through Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” And then when we are saved, we can now have the sweet fellowship with our heavenly Father, as we yield to the leading of His holy Spirit. Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Draw nigh unto God, and He WILL draw nigh unto you (James 4:8).
Matthew 4:19, “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Television's Bible Skeptics and God Haters
