“where Art Thou?”

6-08-2008

“WHERE ART THOU?” (adapted from a sermon by D. L. Moody)

(GENESIS 3:9) And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

THE very first thing that happened after the news of the fall of man reached heaven, was that God came straight down to look for THE MAN He created. As He walks through the garden in the cool of the day, you can hear Him calling “Adam! Adam! Where art thou?” Adam ought to have taken God’s place, since 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 find the rebel who had fallen — not to hurl him from the face of the earth, but to plan an escape for him 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 fellowship with God, even the professed child of God, he wants to hide from Him.

When God left Adam in the garden, he was in communion with his Creator, and God talked with him; but now that he has fallen, he has no desire to see his Creator, he has lost communion with his God. He cannot bear to see Him, or even to think of Him, and so he runs to hide from God. But his Maker follows him to his hiding place, where He asks, “Where art thou, Adam? 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 of his life—a small voice from within asks, “Where am I? Who am I? Where am I going? And how is it going to end?” I think it is good for any man to pause and question himself. A good question to ask is, “What does God think of me?” We wonder what the neighbors think of us, but it is much more important to be concerned about what God thinks of us. Am I in a spiritual union with my Creator, or am I 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 was out of communion with his Creator, ever knew what peace, and joy, and happiness, and true comfort are. But when we are in communion with God, there is light all around our path. You may think that your life is hid, that God does not know anything about you. But he knows our lives a great deal better than we do; and His eye has been on us from our earliest childhood until now.

At this point, I would like to divide my audience into three classes the professed Christians, the Backsliders, and the Ungodly.

First, I would like to ask the Bible scholars this question, or rather let God ask it — Where art thou?

What is your position in the church, and among your circle of acquaintances? Do your friends know you are a Christian? Suppose I were to ask those who were really Christians here to stand-up, would you be ashamed to stand up? Suppose I would ask every professed child of God here, “If you were cut down by the hand of death, do you have any good reasons to believe you would be saved?”

Think of your past: could you honestly say, “I am a Christian;” and would your life correspond with your profession? It is not what we say as much as how we live. Actions speak louder than words. Do your shopmates know that you are a Christian? Does your family know? Do they know you to be out and out on the Lord’s side?

Let every professed Christian ask, Where am I in the sight of God? Is my heart loyal to the King of heaven? Is my life here as it should be in the community I live in? Am I a light in this dark world? Christ says, “Ye are My witnesses.” Christ was the Light of the world, and the world would not have the true Light; the world rose up and put out the Light, and now Christ says, “I leave you down here to testifyof Me; I leave you down here as My witnesses.” That is what the apostle meant when he said that Christians are to be living epistles, known and read of all men.

Then, am I standing up for Jesus as I should in this dark world? If a man is for God, let him say so. If a man is for God, let him come out and be on God’s side; and if he is for the world, let him be in the world. This serving God and the world at the same time — this being on both sides at the same time — is the curse of Christianity at the present time. It retards the progress of Christianity more than any other thing. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” I have heard of a great many people who think if they are united to the church, and have made one profession, that will do for all the rest of their days. But there is a cross for every one of us to carry, every day.