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"Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." Draw nigh to Him by prayer, by contemplation, by reading His Word. When He draws nigh to you, He lifts up for you a standard against the enemy. Let us take courage; for the enemy cannot pass this standard (MS 92, 1901). {7BC 937.9} |
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So we may resist temptation, and force Satan to depart from us. Jesus gained the victory through submission and faith in God, and by the apostle He says to us, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4: 7, 8. We cannot save ourselves from the tempter's power; he has conquered humanity, and when we try to stand in our own strength, we shall become a prey to his devices; but "the name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Prov. 18:10. Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name. {DA 130.4} |
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From these scriptures it is evident that it is not God's will that you should be distrustful and torture your soul with the fear that God will not accept you because you are sinful and unworthy. "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you" (James 4: 8). Present your case before Him, pleading the merits of the blood shed for you upon Calvary's cross. Satan will accuse you of being a great sinner, and you must admit this, but you can say: "I know I am a sinner, and that is the reason I need a Saviour. Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin' (1 John 1:7). 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (verse 9). I have no merit or goodness whereby I may claim salvation, but I present before God the all-atoning blood of the spotless Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is my only plea. The name of Jesus gives me access to the Father. His ear, His heart, is open to my faintest pleading, and He supplies my deepest necessities." {FW 105.4} |
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Jesus Christ has given Himself as a complete offering in behalf of every fallen son and daughter of Adam. O what humiliation He bore! How He descended, step after step, lower and lower in the path of humiliation, yet He never degraded His soul with one foul blot of sin! All this He suffered, that He might lift you up, cleanse, refine, and ennoble you, and place you as a joint heir with Himself upon His throne. How shall you make your calling and election sure? What is the way of salvation? Christ says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." However sinful, however guilty you may be, you are called, you are chosen. "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." Not one will be forced against his will to come to Jesus Christ. The Majesty of heaven, the only-begotten Son of the true and living God, opened the way for you to come to Him, by giving His life as a sacrifice on Calvary's cross. But while He suffered all this for you, He is too pure, He is too just, to behold iniquity. But even this need not keep you away from Him; for He says, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Let perishing souls come to Him just as they are, without one plea, and plead the atoning blood of Christ, and they will find acceptance with God, who dwelleth in glory between the cherubim above the mercy seat. The blood of Jesus is a never-failing passport, by which all your petitions may find access to the throne of God. -- "Christian Education" (Supplement), 1893. {FE 251.2} |
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The word of God says, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." It will require an effort on your part to walk with God. Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, "Stretch forth thine hand." The afflicted man might have said, "Lord, I have not used it for years; heal it first, and then I will stretch it forth." But instead of this, when Jesus commanded him to stretch it forth, he exercised the power of his will, and moved it just as if it were well. The very exercise of the will power was evidence to Jesus that the man believed; and his hand was healed in the act of stretching it forth. God would have you put away your darkness, and show that there is a power in the Christian religion that there is not in the world. He wants to make you all light in him; he wants to fill your hearts with love, and peace, and hope. If, then, you continue to cling to your darkness, you dishonor him; for you do not correctly represent to the world a sin-pardoning Saviour. If you are gloomy, desponding, hopeless, you are a poor representative of the Christian religion. Christ died for all. The sacrifice was complete. It is your privilege and duty to show to the world that you have an entire, all-powerful Saviour. It was the Son of the infinite God who died to purchase a full and free salvation for all that would accept it. Then why not take him as your Saviour? He rebukes your unbelief; he honors your faith. {HS 142.1} |
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I implore you to trust wholly in God. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." James 4:7, 8. The Christian life is a life of conflict, or self-denial and conquest. It is a continual battle and a march. Every act of obedience to Christ, every victory obtained over self, is a step in the march to glory and final victory. Take Christ for your Guide and He will lead you safely along. The pathway may be rough and thorny and the ascents steep, requiring toil. You may have to press on when weary, when you long for rest. You may have to fight on when faint and hope on when discouraged, but, with Christ as your Guide, you cannot lose the path of immortal life. You cannot fail to reach the exalted seat by the side of your Guide, whose own feet trod the rough path before you, evening the way for your feet. If you follow pride and selfish ambition you will find it pleasant at first, but the end is pain and sorrow. You may follow selfishness, which will promise you much but will poison and embitter your life. To follow Christ is safe. He will not suffer the powers of darkness to hurt one hair of your head. Trust in your Redeemer and you are safe. {OHC 25.3} |
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Many nights during the past nine months I was enabled to sleep but two hours a night, and then at times darkness would gather about me; but I prayed, and realized much sweet comfort in drawing nigh to God. The promises, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8), "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him" (Isa. 59:19), were fulfilled to me. I was all light in the Lord. Jesus was sacredly near, and I found the grace given sufficient, for my soul was stayed upon God, and I was full of grateful praise to Him who loved me and gave Himself for me. I could say from a full heart, "I know whom I have believed" (2 Tim. 1:12). "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13). Through Jesus Christ I have come off more than conqueror, and held the vantage ground. {2SM 241.2} |
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To the students of South Lancaster Academy I would say: "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." Never be ashamed of your faith; never be found on the side of the enemy. "Ye are the light of the world." Your faith is to be revealed as precious truth, truth which all should have and all must have if they are saved. As a people, we are in the minority. We are not popular. Our enemies will be watching us for evil, to betray us and to ruin our souls. They will not appreciate our motives. They will misinterpret our earnest zeal and our intense desire to have others see and understand the truth, that they may do the will of God by obeying all His commandments. But we should fight the good fight of faith, and be found "steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." {5T 520.2} |
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Do you feel your insufficiency for the position of trust that you occupy? Thank God for this. The more you feel your weakness, the more you will be inclined to seek for a helper. "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4: 8. Jesus wants you to be happy, to be cheerful. He wants you to do your best with the ability that God has given you and then trust the Lord to help you and to raise up those who will be your helpers in carrying burdens. {8T 128.3} |
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See also Promises found in the writings of Ellen White |
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We have the promise, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." This is a precious promise to me for the reason I believe it. I believe God will do just as he said he would. And while we comply with the conditions to draw nigh to God, it is our privilege to claim the promise. Christ has said, "Without me ye can do nothing." It is useless to think that we can do anything unless Christ is abiding in our hearts. {RH, July 12, 1887 par. 1} |
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