Five Questions

Toronto, Canada. March the 31st, 1961. Gospel meeting.

How mighty is this company tonight. Some in this hall tonight who are not yet under the shelter. I suppose that every one of us here who are Christians can look back to that time in our lives when we did not know the Savior.

And we let every boy and girl who has never yet received Christ as their personal Savior, tonight is lost. L-O-S-T. How solemn it is to come into this room.

The gospel goes forth. The enemy of your precious soul will do all in his power to stop you from hearing not the preacher's voice, but the very voice of God speaking to your precious, never-dying soul. I want to ask this question before we turn to God's Word.

I want to ask you, my friends, every man in this room, every woman in this room, every boy and girl in this room, I want to ask you this solemn question. If you had died last night, oh friends, how solemn this is. If you had died last night, I ask you, where would you be right now? Where would you be now? If you had passed away without Christ, you would be in eternal darkness, away from God forever, in your sin.

Now I'd like to bring before you tonight five questions in the Word of God. God ever asks man. It's a very, very solemn question.

...of Genesis, and the Lord God calls unto Adam and said unto him, Where? That's a very solemn question, because it tells us that man is lost. He's a fallen creature. I didn't know where man was.

It's not because God couldn't see Adam that I believe that God transformed a man. Where art thou? Where are you hiding? For of the unsaved man and woman is hiding a solemn question. Where art thou? Here was a man who had only sinned once.

That one sin he committed. Hiding behind the bridge of a diamond to hide away from God. He only had a record of one sin.

And that one sin drove him away. Now, my friends, I want to ask you tonight, if you're unsaved here, without Christ, without hope, without God in this world, I want to ask you about your record. ...the frontier self, my own self, that our sins are many.

You know that our life history is one that you know, my friends. You know, soundly know, who is the indeed expert God. And tonight we'd like to, at the very start of this meeting, we'd like to bring you into the immediate presence of God himself.

Not in the presence of a rich God who loves a sinner, but a God who takes sins with all his power, with all his might. And God asks that question, where art thou? He was dressed in his kidney paper, and he stands in the presence of God, and he says, I was naked. ...religion, naked.

Outside of his death and resurrection, outside of his precious blood, there is no salvation. For in his God is fire and grace. Into your very heart, into the very depths of your soul, my friends, where art thou? Where are you hiding tonight, my friends? Where are you hiding? Heaven bound or hell bound? There's no middle ground.

There's no neutrality. Either tonight you're on the way to eternal glory, or there's no record in the word of God, as if he that believeth in the Son of God hath everlasting life, first class. But he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God upon him.

And he hath made that wonderful discovery. And he hath found that the word of God concerning you is true, that all have sinned, and there's no difference. God speaks the whole world, and he says there's no difference, for all have sinned and come short.

My friends, it's a wonderful discovery to find out you're a sinner, but you'll never get to heaven till you do. Find out that, my friends, you'll never get saved. Never.

You'll never come to Christ, till you find you're a poor, lost, guilty, and a Christian that God has asked him. My brothers and sisters, what hast thou done? How, my friends, have we in chapter 3 been lost? In chapter 4, we find that man is guilty. How soft it is, lost and guilty.

God says to Cain, what hast thou done? And God not know, my friends, I speak rapidly. Did not God know that Cain's hands were stained with the blood of Abel? He knew that exactly, he knew it. He saw with his holy eyes Cain as he killed his brother, and yet he asked this question.

Why did he ask it? To point out to Cain he was guilty, and to point out to you tonight, my friends, that you are guilty. What hast thou done? The other night we were visiting the lady, and as she sat in her living room with her husband, both of them were smoking cigarettes, she said, well, I believe in all, I have my own beliefs, and I believe that you do the best you can and you live a good life and try to do what's right. What else can God expect from a person? And the speaker said this to her.

The one who was speaking to her said this, My dear lady, you realize tonight that you have a heart just like Judas' parents. You have a heart just like Adolf Hitler. You have a heart just like Eichmann that murdered five million Jews.

And your heart is no better than that man's, not a bit better, not one bit better. For you and I are sinners, my friends. I want to turn, I don't ask you to turn, but I'd like to read to you a few scriptures, some God's words that show God's thoughts about your heart and my heart.

In the 5th of Genesis, in the 6th of Genesis, Genesis 6, verse 5, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. 14th Psalm and the first verse. Now I want to say to anybody in this room tonight who's a stranger, I want you to solemnly realize that these are the words of the only living God there is.

The only living God who reads your heart through and through. All fingers make it open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Psalm 14, verse 1. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.

They are corrupt. They have done a vulnerable work. There is none that do us good.

The Lord looked down from heaven upon these children of man to see if there were any that did understand. And he saw they are all gone aside. They are all together become filthy.

There is none that do us good. No, not one. Not one, he said.

That's what God said. Not one. Jeremiah, chapter 17, Jeremiah 7. Is deceitful above all things, and desperately or incurably wicked.

Who can know us? I, the Lord, search the heart of the Old Testament, the Psalms, and the Prophets. All testify. Now turn to the Lord.

From us, the very Christ. It never bothered me. Open up your heart, your head.

The very death faces you. Young man, young lady, I inquire of Christ. He proves His love.

Oh, my friends. Friends of God, we speak of her. Not for all.

Three, two years ago, in the city of Montreal. And heard those who are now our brethren in Christ. With the same precious gospel of the grace of God.

We heard that voice touch in our poor, poor, lost, darkened hearts. That gentle voice said, tonight's the night. Tonight's the night to receive Christ.

And many a night we walked into that gospel hall, saying, no, we will not come. We will not come. But the wonderful love of God.

The matchless grace of God. The marvelous love of Christ. Has broken the barriers down.

Christ. Christ has won the hearts of many in this room tonight. I ask you to stay behind.

We don't believe in force and conversion. God forbid. But I say again.

And I say that God can. If God has spoken to your soul tonight. If God has spoken to you.

And I lay in the kiss of the serpent. I'm appreciating those hands.