The very first thing that happened after the fall of man was that God came straight down to seek out the lost one. As He walks through the garden in the cool of the day, you can hear Him calling "Where art thou?" It was the voice of grace, of mercy and of love.
Adam ought to have taken the seeker's place, for he was the transgressor. He had fallen, and he ought to have gone up and down Eden crying, "My God! my God! where art Thou?"
But God left heaven to seek the rebel who had fallen-not to hurl him from the face of the earth, but to plan for him an escape from the misery of his sin. And He finds him-where? Hiding from his Creator among the bushes of the garden.
The moment a man is out of communion with God, he wants to hide away from Him. When God left Adam in the garden, he was in communion with his Creator, and God talked with him. After he fell, he had no desire to see his Creator; he had lost communion with his God. He could not bear to see Him, even to think of Him, and he ran to hide from God. But his Maker followed him to his hiding place and asked, "Where art thou?"
Six thousand years have passed away, and this text has come rolling down the ages. I doubt whether there has been any one of Adam's sons who has not heard it at some period or other of his life― sometimes in the midnight hour stealing over him―"Where am I? Who am I? Where am I going? and what is going to be the end of this?" It is well for a man to pause and ask himself these questions.
It is of great importance to know where you are in the sight of God; and that is the question now. Am I in communion with my Creator, or out of communion? If I am out of communion, there is no peace, no joy, no happiness. No man on the face of the earth who is out of communion with his Creator can ever know what peace, joy, happiness, and true comfort are. He is a foreigner to these things.
First, I would like to ask the professing Christians this question, or rather let God ask it: "Where art thou?" Suppose I were to ask those who are really Christians here to rise. Would you be ashamed to stand up? If you should be cut down by the hand of death, have you good reason to believe you would be saved? Do your friends know you to have taken a stand for the Lord? If a man is for God, let him come out and be on God's side.
Now, let me address those who have gone back into the world―the backslider. Come now, backslider, tell me, are you happy? Have you had one happy hour since you left Christ? Does the world satisfy you, or those husks that you have received in the far country? I have traveled a great deal, but I have never found a happy backslider in my life.
If a man has been born again, and has received the heavenly nature, this world can never satisfy the cravings of his nature. Oh, backslider, He knows how bitter your life is; He wants you to come home. I have a loving message from your Father. The Lord wants you, and calls you back tonight. Return, and your Father will give you a warm welcome.
Now let me address the third class. "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter 4:1818And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:18). Sinner, what is to become of you? How shall you escape? "Where art thou?" Is it true that you are living without God and without hope in the world? Did you ever stop to think what would become of your soul if you should be taken away by a sudden illness? Where would you stand in eternity? I read that the sinner is without God, without hope, and without excuse. If you are not saved, what excuse will you have to give? You cannot say that it is God's fault. He is only too anxious to save you. I want you to know now that you can be saved if you will.
If you really want to pass from death to life, to become an heir of eternal life, to become a child of God, decide now to seek the kingdom of God. I tell you upon the authority of His Word that if you seek the kingdom of God you will find it.
No man ever sought Christ with a true heart who did not find Him. I never knew a man who made up his mind to have the question settled, who did not have it settled soon. Will you be wise and say, "Lord Jesus, I want Thee, I need Thee." Oh, may God bring you to that decision!