On the evening of that awful day of the first sin, God asked the question of Adam, " Where art thou?"
The voice of God echoed throughout the Garden of Eden.
Until that day, the voice of God had been the sweetest music to Adam.
He had such wonderful joy of being able to communicate with his Creator and his heavenly Father.
Now, all of that was different.
As the voice of God was heard in the garden, Adam was filled with fear, and tried to hide himself.
That is the history of every son of Adam from that day until now.
Every sinner is trying to hide from the presence of the all-seeing eye of God.
This accounts for a large share of the skepticism and atheism of our day.
It is sinful man trying to hide from a holy God.
People will give many reasons why they are skeptics or atheists.
But in the majority of cases, the real reason is that sinful people are trying to hide themselves
from the discomfort of God's presence by denying that He even exist.
That also accounts for much of the neglect of the Bible.
People will tell you that they do not read their Bibles because they have so many other things to do
or because they are not interested in the Bible.
They declare that the Bible is dull to them.
But the real cause that people neglect Bible study is that the Bible brings God near to us
as no other book can, and people are uneasy when they become conscious of the presence of God.
Therefore, they neglect the book that brings God near.
This also accounts for the reason many will not attend worship services at the house of God.
People will give you many reasons why they do not attend church services.
Some will tell you that they cannot dress nice enough.
In the first church that I pastored, there was a family that gave this as an excuse not
to attend church services.
In that family was a father and mother and three children.
The church decided that they would get new clothes for the entire family.
The family expressed appreciation for the new clothes, but they still didn't attend.
In that same church, I visited a lady on a Saturday morning that said she was too tired
to come to church on Sunday morning.
That next week, I went to a store and bought her a bottle of Hadacol which was a popular energy drink.
The next Saturday morning, I took that bottle of energy and gave it to her, and said to her
that she had no reason not to be a church in the morning.
She did come to church the next morning and she came for many weeks thereafter.
Some do not attend because they would say that the services are not interesting.
But the real reason why many are habitually absent from church is because attending
services in the the house of God makes them uncomfortable in their sins.
No one has ever succeeded or will ever succeed in hiding from God.
God's said to Adam, "Where art thou?"
Adam had to come from his hiding place to meet God face to face, and make a full confession of his sin.
Sooner or later, no matter how carefully we hide ourselves from God, every man and woman
will have to come from their hiding place and meet God face to face.
God puts the question to every Christian, and to everyone who is not a Christian.
"Where are you?"
Where do you stand concerning spiritual and eternal things?
Where do you stand concerning God?
Where do you stand concerning Jesus Christ?
Where do you stand concerning heaven and hell and eternity?
"Where are you?"
Every truly intelligent person should desire to know just where he or she is.
Every wise businessman should desire to know where he stands financially.
Every wise businessman will periodically take an inventory of his stock, examine his accounts,
and find out precisely what are his assets and his liabilities.
He may discover as a result of his scrutiny that he does not stand as well as he thought he did.
If that is true, then he wants to know that in order that he may conduct his business accordingly.
Many have failed in business because they were unwilling to face facts and find out just where they stood.
I read of a very brilliant businessman who was truly gifted in his business.
But he allowed his business affairs to get into a bad condition.
Several of his business friends came by, and advised him to go through his books, and find out
just where he stood.
They said to him, "If you are in bad shape, we will help you out."
But the man was too proud to take their advice.
He was too proud to admit that his business was in danger of failure, so he refused to look into it.
He determined that he would just plow through it.
But instead of plowing through it, he plunged into utter, financial ruin.
Although, he was an exceptionally brilliant man in certain areas, he experienced
complete financial shipwrecked.
He never got on his feet again.
When he died, he did not have enough money to pay his funeral expenses,
simply because he was not willing to humble his pride and face facts.
Many people are too proud to face the fact that they are morally and spiritually bankrupt.
So, they have determine just to grit their teeth, and plunge ahead.
If they continue to in that fashion, they will plunge into utter and eternal ruin.
Every person wants to know where he stands physically.
He wants to know the condition of his lungs, heart, stomach, and other information concerning his health.
He may be worse off than he thinks he is.
He may think his heart is healthy when it isn't.
But he wants to know about his health so he will submit to many tests and to many other procedures.
Many have gone to a premature grave who might be with us today, but they were not willing
to discover out their real condition, and to take proper steps to ensure their health.
Every sailor at sea wishes to know exactly where his ship is located.
He needs to know its exact latitude and longitude.
Some years ago, men at the church where I was pastor took a fishing trip to Florida.
The captain of the boat on which we were fishing took us out more than 2 miles into the Gulf of Mexico.
He said that would be the location where we would catch all the fish that we wanted.
I ask him how could he know the exact location of where he was yesterday and where we are today.
He showed me a global positioning instrument on his boat.
He said that when we got to a certain latitude and a certain longitude that we would be
in the same place in the Gulf of Mexico that he was in yesterday.
We are all sailing across a perilous sea toward an eternal port.
Every truly intelligent man and woman should desire to know just where they are -- that is,
they should want to know their exact spiritual latitude and their exact spiritual longitude.
So, the most important question we can ask ourselves is, "Where are we?"
We should consider that question seriously.
This is not a question to trifle with.
It is amazing how many men and women may be sensible about everything else.
They wouldn't think of ignoring their financial standing, and where they are financially.
But then, the greatest question of all eternity as to where they will spend an eternity,
they treat as trivial -- as unimportant -- and, maybe even as a joke.
My pastor told of a revival meeting in which he was preaching in a small Tennessee city.
The pastor had told him of a man who live in that city, and owned his own business.
He also said that many Christians had been a witness to him without any results.
So, the pastor took the visiting evangelist to visit this man at his place of business.
My pastor asked this man, "Sir, are you lost?"
The man looked at him, and laughed, "Well, if I'm lost, someone will find me."
The next morning, some children on their way to school found him lying dead
across the front door of his business.
We would never expect that thinking, reasonable men and women would push aside
the most important question of their life concerning heaven and hell.
Anyone who trifles with questions like these is a fool.
It doesn't matter about your culture, your nationality, your social position, or your reputation.
Unless you face the great question of your spiritual condition with the most profound earnestness
and seriousness, you are playing the part of a fool.
This question must be considered honestly.
Today, many people tried to deceive themselves, others, and even God.
They know in their innermost hearts that they are wrong, but they try to persuade themselves
and others that they are all right.
Some might even think that they can deceive God.
God will not be deceived.
It is the height of folly to deceive yourself.
The biggest fool on earth is the person who fools himself.
Be honest.
If you are unsaved, admit it.
If you are not a Christian, admit it
If you're on your way to hell, acknowledge it.
If you are an enemy of God, face the facts.
If you are a child of the devil, realize it.
Be honest with yourself -- God knows everything about you.
Everyone should consider the question, thoroughly.
Many people are honest and serious to a certain point, but they do not wish to go any further.
They are superficial.
They will give these tremendous questions a few moments of thought, and then, their weak minds grow weary.
They might say: "I guess I'm all right -- I will just take my chances."
No one can afford to guess on questions like these.
We must be absolutely certain.
It will not satisfy you to hope that you are saved.
You must know that you are saved.
You cannot guess about anything that important.
It will not satisfy you to hope that you are going to heaven; you must know.
You cannot rest till you know for certain just where you stand with God.
You must consider these questions prayerfully.
God tells us in His Word, and we know from experience, that the heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9)
The one thing that our heart must not be deceitful about is our spiritual condition.
Every man and woman is by nature fully aware of the faults of others and blind to many of their own faults.
Everyone must face this question in prayer.
God will show us where we stand with Him.
We must pray like David: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts;
and see if there be any wicked way in me." (Psalm 139: 23-24)
Only when God sheds the light of the Holy Spirit into our hearts and shows us ourselves
as He sees us, will we ever know ourselves as we really are.
To see ourselves in the light of God's presence, as God sees us, will only be in answer
to a definite and earnest prayer.
A pastor attending a pastor's conference told a fellow pastor that he'd had an awful experience that morning.
He said that a member of this church was dying.
She sent for him to come, and see her that morning.
He said that he had hurried to her home, and entered her bedroom.
He said the minute he entered the room, she cried out from her bed:
" O, Brother Pastor, I have been a professing Christians for 40 years.
Now, I am dying, and I have come to believe that I was never saved at all."
Can you imagine the horror of being a professing Christians for 40 years,
and your life is almost over, and find that you have never really been a Christian.
Of course, it is better to find it out now than in eternity.
There are many who have their names on the roll of a church who have never been saved.
So, let us consider this question scripturally, according to the Bible.
God has given to us only one safe chart and compass to guide us on our voyage
through life toward eternity.
That chart and compass is the Bible.
If you steer your course according to the Bible, you will steer safely through life and death.
If you steer according to your own feelings, and according to the speculations of philosophers,
or according to anything other than the clear declaration of the Word of God,
you will steer your way to an eternity without God.
But you can be sure!
If God saved you, you can't lose it because it depends on God.
If you saved yourself, you can lose it because it depends on you.
Your salvation is eternally secure if God did the saving.
The promise of God's Word, not your feelings, is your authority.
His word is totally reliable.
As a Christian, you must live by faith trusting God and His holy, inspired Word.
For years Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation, had attempted to earn his salvation
by his dedication and good works.
When he discovered that great biblical truth "The just shall live by faith," his life was dramatically changed,
and he no longer labored for the assurance of his destiny in Christ.
He believed what God's Word had to say, and he had assurance of his salvation.
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, was not sure of his salvation as a young man
even though he was the son of a minister, the leader of the Holy Club at Oxford
and a missionary to the Indians of America.
Upon his return to England, he met Jesus Christ at an Aldersgate meeting where he heard
the reading of Martin Luther's treatise on faith as a preface to the Book of Romans.
Wesley explained what happened in his autobiography.
"About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart
through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.
I felt I did trust in Christ, and Christ alone, for my salvation -- and an assurance was given me
that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
Before the experience at Aldersgate, Wesley had engaged in a frenzied effort to try to earn
God's salvation by his good works.
Then, he received the assurance of God's salvation by faith.
So, if you think that salvation is a cooperative venture between yourself and God
-- where you do your part and He does His part -- then you're in big trouble because anything you start,
you could mess up somewhere along the way.
But if God started it, He'll also finish it.
Some may ask: "Preacher, how do you know you are saved?"
I know it because the Word of God tells me that I am a Christian.
I know I am saved even when I don't act like it.
I know that some of you are saved even when you don't look like it.
Thank God for the Word of God!
First John 5:13 says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God;
that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
Repeatedly in the First Epistle of John, it says K-N-O-W: "that ye may know that ye have eternal life."
You can know by your absolute trust in the Word of God, not upon emotions.
Emotions are important.
I wouldn't give you a nickel for a religion without emotions.
And don't rest your faith upon tears.
I wouldn't give you a nickel for a religion without tears.
But rest your faith upon the eternal truths of God's unchanging Word.
John 5:24 says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation;
but is passed from death unto life."
If you have never personally received Jesus Christ, or if you have any doubts about your salvation,
you can receive Him right now through faith.
You can open the door of your life to Christ by expressing your faith to Him in prayer.
The following prayer may express your desire:
Say: "Lord Jesus, I need You.
Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins.
I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord.
Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.
Please, take control of my life.
Make me the kind of person that You want me to be."
Now, you do not become a Christian by simply praying this or any other prayer.
You become a Christian by faith and by faith alone.
Faith is putting your trust in God and His promises.
I encourage you to say this prayer aloud in faith, for it is through prayer -- talking to God
-- that you can express your faith in Christ and the promises of His Word.
If you have invited Jesus Christ into your life, you can now have confidence that He is in your life,
and has given you eternal life as He promised.
So, you ask me how do I know for sure?'
My answer is: "Because I was there when He saved me: and He lives inside me -- right now!"
In The Garden
"I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known."
"He lives... He lives... Christ Jesus lives today!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart."
That's not a hope-so salvation, but a know-so salvation, with eternal life.
