DRAW NEAR TO GOD--------David Guzik is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara:

DRAW NEAR TO GOD

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your 
hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-
minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be 
turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves 
in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:8-10)

James, writing at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gave us a 
remarkable promise: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to 
you." The call to draw near to God is both an invitation and a 
promise. It is no good to submit to God's authority and to resist the 
devil's attack and then fail to draw near to God. We have it as a 
promise: God will draw near to us as we draw near to Him.

Adam Clarke said it well: "When a soul sets out to seek God, God 
sets out to meet that soul; so that while we are drawing near to him, 
he is drawing near to us."

What does it mean to draw near to God? Spurgeon considered a 
few ways:

- It means to draw near in worship, praise, and in prayer.
- It means to draw near by asking counsel of God.
- It means to draw near in enjoying communion with God.
- It means to draw near in the general course and tenor of your life.

In one way, this text illustrates the difference between the old 
covenant and the new covenant. In the old covenant, God told 
Moses to not come any closer to the burning bush and take off his 
shoes. Under the new covenant, God says to the sinner: "Draw 
near to Me and I will draw near to you." Now the ground between 
God and the sinner has been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, and 
we can come close on that blood.

This also shows what God wants to do for the sinner. It doesn't say, 
"Draw near to God and He will save you" or "Draw near to God and 
He will forgive you," though both of those are true. But what God 
really wants to be near man; to have a close relationship and 
fellowship with the individual.

As James continued, he reminded us of an important aspect of 
drawing near to God: "Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and 
purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and 
weep!" As we draw near to God, we will be convicted of our sin. So 
we lament and mourn and weep as appropriate under the 
conviction of sin, and we are compelled to find cleansing at the 
cross.

James concludes the thought: "Humble yourselves in the sight of 
the Lord, and He will lift you up." As we come as sinners before 
holy God (not as self righteous religionists, as Jesus explained in 
Luke 18:10-14), we appropriately humble ourselves before God. 
Then He will lift us up, because God resists the proud, but gives 
grace to the humble, and grace - the unmerited favor of God - 
always lifts us up.

Get lifted up – by humbling yourself in the sight of God.

By David Guzik


David is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara:
www.calvarychapelsb.com