The supreme question is: "What must I do to be saved?"

What is implied in this question when it is asked intelligently? There
is implied first of all that there is an absolute difference between
being saved and lost. There is implied in it that there are two
classes of people, not the cultured and the uncultured, not the learned
and the unlearned. They are the saved and the lost. They are those
that have life and those that do not have life.

I am perfectly aware that we of to-day do not like such dogmatic
divisions. But I call your attention to the fact that they are the
divisions that are made in the New Testament. They are the divisions
that Jesus made. He puts folks into two classes, and only two. There
were two gates, one was broad and the other narrow. There were two
foundations on which a man might build, one was of sand and the other
of rock. Mark you, He did not divide men into the perfect and the
imperfect, but into those that had life and those that did not have it.
And it was He that said, "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that
hath not the Son hath not life." So this question, if it means
anything, means that there is such a thing as being saved and there is
such a thing as being lost. That fact is recognized throughout the
entire Bible.

This question implies, in the second place, a consciousness of being
lost. "What must I do to be saved?" When this man asked that question
there were many things about which he was uncertain. He was uncertain
as to how he was to get out of his darkness. He was uncertain as to
how he was to be saved, but of one thing he was sure--he was dead sure
that he was lost. He did not try to dodge that fact. He did not shut
his eyes to it. He did not try in any way to deny it.

And, if you are here without God I hope you will not deny it. For if
you have not taken Jesus Christ as your personal Savior you are lost.
Then the best thing you can do, the first step to be taken in the
direction of getting saved, is to realize your lostness. A man will
not send for the physician unless he believes himself sick. He will
not try to learn unless he realizes his ignorance. Neither will he
turn to God for salvation unless he realizes that he is lost. Oh, it
is a good day for a man when he gets a square look at himself. It is a
great day when he has a glimpse of himself as God sees him. It is a
great hour when, conscious of his guilt, he bows himself in the
pr