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Bro. Otis Fisher
Fourth chapter of James, verse 8, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. How do we draw nigh to God? What does nigh mean, Joy?
All right. Now how do we get closer to God, Virg? Bill, how do you draw closer to God? David, just every day, just normal working, how can we draw nigh to God in that? That's good, even while you're working.
How can you work, though, and draw near to God? Jesse? All right, but you can't pray all of the time, that that we consider prayer. You can't keep your mind centered on God all of the time. What do you do?
What? All right, that's getting close to it. You live for him day to day. Joy, how do you do that? All right, Bill? That's getting down to it. You live each minute of each day in a positive way, doing those things, whatever it is you're doing, the very best that you can, with whatever you have, wherever you are, right now.
Now how do we cleanse ourself? Greg, how do we cleanse ourself? All right, but you stop doing them because you know it's not honoring him. It's not stopping because I don't want to do it. It's because it does not honor God.
You honor God in doing everything honest. That's right, that's good. We think we're so smart, so strong, so good, God says there is no good within us, none at all. You cannot work good enough for him to approve you.
There is nothing that attracts him to us. Now we think we're attracted to each other, but there is nothing in us that attracts God to us. Do you ever think about that? Only God can lift us up. Be afflicted and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Never, never treat sin lightly. You're prone to say, well, that's just a little sin, doesn't make any difference. It does make a difference.
Never joke about sin. When I hear a Christian that's making jokes about sin, I rather suspect that when he thinks he's where no one can see him, he indulges in it. Ten, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up.
Humble yourself. That's a mouthful. John, how do you humble yourself? All right? Bill, how do you humble yourself? You can't make much difference, can you? We have been brought home to that this week.
All right? That's right. God, now, if we humble ourselves, God will lift us up. Will lift us up. Greg, what is the up? David, what is the up? Yes. All right. Clarence, how does he lift you up? How does he lift you up?
John, showing us what? The assurance. All right. That's good. The assurance. He makes us know that we belong to him. It's hard to get up if you don't know. He what? Put the sun on himself. Yes. Now, these are imperative verbs.
Greg, what do I mean by that? All right. Humble yourself and lift yourself. God will lift you up. That's right. That's right. So many of us, so many times, instead of going to God, we go to our neighbor.
We go to someone we know. And we ask, what should I do? Well, now, that's all right. But first, you ask God. All right. Who is it that moves in this? What? God doesn't move. That's right. That's what I want to enjoy.
God doesn't move. We do. We humble ourselves. He will lift us up. Yes. Be close to God in duty, and he will be close to you in mercy. His mercy is always there. Sometimes we've got it hidden. We cover it up with ourself.
But it's there. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother and judges his brother speaketh evil of the law and judges the law. But if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Now, we come to judging. We come to doing the law. What law is he talking about, David? All right. Let me go at it another way. If you judge a person in a thing, what does that say about you, Greg? It means you've done it.
We can judge only where we have participated, and I wouldn't wish that on anybody. There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judges another? Bill, go to Matthew 10, 28, please, and read it.
There is one lawgiver, only one, who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judges another? Yes. Yes. Man cannot destroy both the body and the soul. If a person should, if you should come to a place where your soul is in danger, rest assured it's in God.
No one can do anything to you unless God has approved it. Now, we don't understand that, but we know it's true. 13. Yes. To judge somebody, first of all, at the highest point, means you're judging whether they are saved or not.
We don't know that. Only God knows that. If I judge a person, and I have to go by what he's doing, if I see him doing something wrong, a brother, and I feel it is detrimental to him, then I think I am obligated to tell him privately, keeping all of the time God in mind.
To judge somebody irrational, on the judging part, is wrong. To say, well, that's not of God, is wrong. To judge somebody that you think is not right, you may need to talk to them about it and find out.
I think the judging here, there's only one law giver. The judging is not, or it is to not judge somebody on their spiritual state. We don't know that. It's impossible for us to know that. We must give everybody the benefit of the doubt.
Now, if God is who we believe him to be, he's already controlled everything. Everything is according to his decree. So who am I to find fault with anything? The awful bombing and plane crash in New York City was orchestrated by God.
I couldn't understand it. There's been lots of good come out of it. Now, the devil played out the part. He had the men to do it and so forth. But it was really all orchestrated by God. It didn't surprise him.
So, Clarence, I think that there is one law giver. There's only one. And we must be very careful when we judge people. It's just better to not judge anybody. To hold our condemnation, even to judge those that did the bombing, would not be right on my part.
No individual has a right to judge. Our law has a right to judge, but not you and I. You said that we're not judging Henry. He said it was a wrong act. So you wouldn't be judging the man if you were judging the act of juries.
That's right, Jesse. That's right. That's right. We have laws. We could not operate without laws. The laws are to be upheld. God's law is the only thing that's higher. He ordained these laws to come into existence.
Therefore, we observe the laws. Anything else? That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Did you want to say something? Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a city and continue there a year.
Buy and sell and get gain. Greg, why is that wrong? We can go if it's God's will. We can go into business if it's God's will. Now, we have to live in such a way that that's automatic. We don't have to stop and say, now if this is God's will, I'll do it.
We should do nothing that was outside of his will. We could go into such and such a town and establish a Bible study. Well, is that wrong? If it, that's right. Bill, go to Isaiah 40 and 9. Greg, go to Daniel 4 .35.
Got it, Bill. All right, we're to point out God. Now, Daniel 4 .35, to question God. Are we given work to do because we need it to stay out of trouble? Are we given work to do because we need it or because the work needs doing?
We need it. Providence is God's government of the world. He who properly trusts in divine providence, trusts in God, must walk uprightly before him. For it is absurd to expect God to be our friend if we continue to be his enemy.
Fourteen, whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. My life is nothing. All of my life has been put together for this time right now.
Everything has brought me to here right now. No matter what it was, it's brought me here. All of the accumulations of everything I've ever done, has ever been done to me or for me, has brought me here right now.
And right now is the important thing. Each one of us could say the same thing. It's brought you here. I've got another scripture here. Clarence, go to Daniel 5 .23. We don't know what will be tomorrow.
We think we do, but we don't. How many of you could have guessed ahead of time that the plane was going to run into the building? None of us. Clarence? Daniel 5 .23. This is a picture of the one that did not do what he was supposed to.
He holds your breath. Maybe he holds your breath in his hand. For that you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this and that and the other. The conclusion of we shall go into a far country.
But now you rejoice in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. Now, if you boast in your rejoicings of what you did and what you accomplished, that's evil. If you give God the praise for it, that's good.
When we know it's probable that we shall continue to live, yet it's a possibility that we might not draw the next breath. We may die at any time. We are in the very best state of mind for attending to God's work.
Think about it. Judgment day is coming. Could be the next minute. Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Whether you get it done or don't. The one that knows to do good.
You know this is what I'm supposed to do. When you don't do it, it's sin. To do less than your very best is worse than doing nothing. How is that, Bill? That's right. So, that's worse. God demands of us our best in each and everything.
He sends all events. How many of you believe that? He sends all events. Proverbs 16 .33. Joy, would you turn to that and read it aloud? 16. Yes. 33. How many of you understand that verse? How many do not?
How many are not decided? If we do our best in each and every task, we will not be guilty of a mistake. Now, if you do your very best in this task. Now, we're talking about things that are not sinful.
If you do your very best, it's not a mistake. Even if your neighbor says it is. If tomorrow you discover a better way of doing it, and having done it today, you can do it tomorrow. And you do not do your best, it is a mistake.
All mistakes are sin. Think about it. A mistake is not doing your best. That's right. We're responsible for what we think, what we do, everything. But the doing of it belongs to God. Faith is doing all with a positive attitude.
Anything done from doubt is not weak faith. It's absence of faith, if you do it from doubt. There's no faith at all. Faith exists only in the positive, absolute knowledge that what you say or do is right.
That will eliminate a lot of our conversation, a lot of our doing. If I know to do it, and I don't do it, it's wrong. Therefore, I'll do it the very best I can. Whatever it is, God's given me this to do.
All right, you've got five minutes. Any questions? Then I'll stand, and Jesse, will you dismiss us, please?