I grew up in a Christian home and we attended many meetings and I was familiar with the gospel and the need to be saved from a young age. When I was 6 years old I had a false profession (I didn’t understand much, but people said you should be saved so I just told everyone I was).
After a tent meeting one night, Peter Orasuk said to me at the door, “Kara just make sure you really are saved” and that really bothered me because I knew I didn’t have a time when I got saved. For the next year I was always thinking about it and “trying” to get saved on and off, but I could never figure it out.
Finally one evening, September 11, 2002, at the age of 7, I was very troubled and scared about dying and going to Hell, so I asked my dad to talk to me about it. We sat in my room and he wrote out a bunch of verses for me to look at and we were reading them together. Then at the end we read John 5:24:
John 5:24 [24] Truly, truly, I say unto you, he that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
From this verse I understood that God was saying to me that if I hear his word (his word was saying in other verses that Jesus died for me on the cross) and believe his word and believe God who sent Jesus to die for me on the cross for me; then I would be saved. So I just believed and took God at his word that when Jesus died on the cross, he died for me.
I grew up in a Christian home, where both of my parents were both saved (They trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour). They regularly read the Bible to me and my 3 siblings, and faithfully brought us to the meetings at the Springfield Gospel Hall (now O’Leary Gospel Hall), among other special meetings.
There we heard from the Bible that we were sinners heading to Hell, and that we needed to trust in the Lord Jesus to save us from our sins. From an early age I had a desire to be saved, but it was not very urgent to me, and I was too proud/scared to tell my parents I was concerned.
It wasn’t until I was 13 that I started to be serious about it, and I began asking my parents questions and reading Bible verses that explained how to be saved.
John 3:16 [16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:36 [36] He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Romans 5:6 [6] For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 6:23 [23] For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
However, I couldn’t seem to ‘figure out’ how to believe, and this struggle continued on for a few years. When I was 15, I made a false profession where I prayed and said, “Lord, I believe“. Even though I thought I was sincere, I hadn’t acknowledged my sin and my inability to save myself. A cousin of mine quoted a verse to me, which gave me false security in my profession.
Romans 10:13 [13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
I held onto this until two men, Brody Thibodeau and John Meekin, came to visit me during a series of gospel meetings they were having in Rosebank, Prince Edward Island, in February 2013. They asked me how I was saved, and I told them my story. When I finished, they wisely asked me, “What gives you assurance” (what made me sure I was truly saved). At this point I realized I did not have assurance, I was not saved. They gave me some verses to read, prayed with me, and left.
I went to the meeting that night, but I don’t remember anything that was said. The next day, we went to my uncle’s funeral. The minister was able to tell us that my uncle had trusted the Lord Jesus shortly before he died. This was troubling to me, as I couldn’t see how I could be saved and be sure of it. This might have been the first time I truly believed and accepted that I was going to Hell, and could do nothing to save myself.
That night on the way to the meeting, there was a tape playing in the car of Christian hymns. One of the hymns was titled Man of Sorrows, hearing the fourth verse, I saw something for the first time.
Man of sorrows what a name for the Son of God, who came ruined sinners to reclaim: Hallelujah, what a Savior!
He was lifted up to die; “It is finished” was his cry; now in heaven exalted high: Hallelujah, what a Savior!
“Man of Sorrows” Verse 1 & 4 – P. P. Bliss
I realized when God (Jesus, who is the son of God) said, “It is finished,” (when he was on the cross) it must be true! I simply accepted that what Jesus had done on the cross was for me, and I was saved! This is the first time I had true peace.
Romans 5:1 [1] Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
I can say with confidence that knowing the Lord Jesus as Saviour is the best thing anyone can have in this world.
John 10:27-28 [27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: [28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
I grew up always going to “church” and learning about the Bible. My parents were both Christians who believed that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, just like the Bible says. We were taught that the Bible was God’s word and I always did believe that, but I had no interest in it personally and I did my best to avoid it.
Looking back God was definitely watching over me, as there were many times that if things had changed slightly, I would not be here. Many of these times were vehicle related and once stands out and actually scared me at the time. I was on my motorcycle, riding with a friend, passing everything in sight. At one point I was passing on a blind hill at roughly 3 times the speed limit and i knew if I met something, I would be dead. Right after, I remember thanking God for keeping me safe, but an hour later I had forgotten all about God again.
To make a long story short, when I was 18 I became interested in the woman that is now my wife and she was a “Christian” which simply means a follower of Christ (Jesus), the same as my parents were. Any time I thought of her, it forced me to think about the things that I knew the Bible said.
On August 24, 2016 I was faced with a verse from the Bible that says:
Romans 3:23 (KJV) [23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
And then in a few chapters:
Romans 6:23 (KJV) [23] For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I knew that I had done some bad things but I never thought that they were against God. After reading those verses I realized that my “sins” were against God since he was the one who said not to do them, and I also realized that based on the Bible I deserved to be punished by God for what I had done. Then it hit me that when Jesus died on the Cross, he was punished for my sin. And if he was punished then I didn’t have to be.
John 3:16 [16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I’m a simple guy, I live a simple life but based on the Bible I know that when this life is done I’ll be in Heaven, that’s what eternal life means. My brains aren’t going to get me there, my money isn’t getting me there, the pope isn’t going to get me there and my parents can’t do anything for me either. Jesus died for my sins and that is all the Bible says that I need. I believe it. The Bible says “whoever believes” so that tells me that anyone can go to Heaven and that’s why I’m sharing this. I know where I’m going and you can know too.
“The wages for my sin is death, but Jesus died for me” August 24, 2016
The Following Audio is taken from a Gospel Meeting on 2024-08-04
2024-08-04 – Gospel Meeting – Luke Hierlihy – Personal Testimony
My story begins in Summerside, PEI, Canada, where I was born on April 10, 1990. My family home is in Milo, PEI, where I was raised well by Christian parents along with two brothers and one sister. My parents were a dedicated part of the assembly of Christians that met regularly in the Springfield Gospel Hall. As a child, we learned many verses by heart and they have stayed with us until now.
Romans 5:6 KJV For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 3:23 KJV For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
I was a hyper child and very sneaky at times, proving that I was naturally a sinner, but that I constantly committed sin as well. Many times I got in trouble at home and at school for my bad and disruptive behavior. Sometimes I felt disconnected from others in different areas of life, and this produced a resentment towards people at times. Because of the biblical teaching at home and at the Gospel Hall, I knew I could be saved from my sin, and wanted that for myself from time to time.
Ecclesiastes 12:1 KJV [1] Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth …
At least twice during my childhood years I “tried to get saved.” The time I remember most was on April 1, 2003, when I thought I had believed and was saved. Following that time, I tried to live the Christian life, by reading the Bible(about 5 chapters a day for approximately a year) and praying to God.
I soon grew tired of that and eventually stopped.
Preserved in Jesus when My feet made haste to hell; And there should I have gone, But thou dost all things well; Thy love was great, thy mercy free, Which from the pit delivered me.
“Indulgent God, how kind” Verse 3 – John Kent
The teenage years were filled with many changes in my belief and in my actions. I met a few friends and started getting around with them, and becoming like them. I decided that maybe there was no God, so there’s no need to worry about the Bible. I got into watching a lot of movies, staying up late at night to pursue that kind of entertainment. After I got my first car, I sped all over West Prince for three weeks until my driving habits caught up to me and I crashed into a power pole. God miraculously preserved me and I walked away from the crash with a sore thumb.
But since I still lived at home, I respectfully went to the meetings with my family, never once that I remember pushing back against it. After I graduated from high school, I started working with Trevor Burden in construction. There was one experience I will never forget, a morning in the late fall of 2009, when we were on our way to work in Victoria West. There was a voice spoke in my head, saying, “Timmy, you are a sinner and you deserve to be in Hell.”
Needless to say, that turned my little world upside down, and from that point on I knew I needed salvation more than anything else. In the following year, I faithfully attended three series of special meetings in Rosebank, Freetown, and Springfield.
One preacher that stands out is Peter Ramsay, who during the meetings in Rosebank brought me a coffee to work on a cold winter morning, and spoke kindly to me.
In November of 2010, I spent many evenings asking God to show me how to be saved. I was starting to lose hope, until one night, 8:30 pm on November 28 to be exact, as the believers sang a hymn, they came to the words, “Trust Him with all thine heart,” I did just that, and immediately had peace in my soul.
Gospel Hymn Book 141: Out of Christ
Out of Christ, without a Saviour, O! can it, can it be Like a ship without a rudder, On a wild and stormy sea!
(Chorus) O! to be without a Saviour; With no hope or refuge nigh; Can it be, O blessed Saviour One without Thee dares to die!
Out of Christ, without a Saviour, Lonely and dark the way; With no light, no hope in Jesus, Making bright the cheerless day.
Out of Christ, without a Saviour, No help nor refuge nigh; How can you, O careless sinner, Dare to live, or dare to die?
Out of Christ, without a Saviour, Dark will the voyage be; Clouds will gather, storms surround you, O! to Christ for refuge flee!
Out of Christ, without a Saviour, Trust Him with all thine heart, Ere the door of mercy closes, And you hear His word, “Depart.”
At first I wasn’t sure if it was real, but I had a new joy in my heart that was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Over the next couple days, I was assured by God’s word that it was really what I had been longing for all along.
Romans 10:9 NASB [9] that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Since that time, I have obeyed the Lord Jesus in being baptized and joining the local assembly fellowship, and serving Him in my own weak and faltering way.
I have disappointed my Saviour many times, but He has never disappointed me.
I was saved when I was 6 years old, in the summer of 2002 when Murray McCandless and Robert McIlwaine were having tent meetings in Unionvale. I don’t remember much about the meetings at all, or much surrounding that time, but I remember for a span of several days (maybe a couple weeks?), in the night just before bed, I would get really scared and troubled.
The thought of going into my room alone for the night terrified me, and I was so scared that the Lord would come and I would be left behind. Each night it would be the same thing- I would be just about to go to bed and I would tell my parents that I was scared that the Lord would come and I couldn’t get to sleep.
I’m not sure how many nights this went on for, but finally, when both myself and my parents were at our whit’s end with all this, Mom told me that there was nothing that any of us could do, it is only the Lord who can save. She told me I would have to ask the Lord to save me, and then she shut the door. I remember being so terrified in that moment after she shut the door, feeling so hopeless and scared.
I thought on the words and finally cried out and asked the Lord to save me, thinking of the verse:
Romans 10:13 KJV [13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(I had no clue where that verse was found until a good many years later haha) In that moment I realized in my simple mind that I was without strength and it was only the Lord that could save me. I fell right to sleep after that, and when I woke up the next morning I can still remember the brightness of the room and remembering first thing that I was now saved!
In the months and years following that, I struggled with so many doubts, that left me unsettled and scared of the Lord’s coming at times, being unsure if I believed right, or if I was too young and simple in my thinking. I’ll tell you, if I wasn’t saved that first night, I got “saved” (assurance of salvation 😉) about a dozen or more times since! Every time, after exhausting myself with doubts, tears and questions, I would finally end up at the same conclusion: all that I have to count on to get to heaven is the God’s word and the Finished work that the Lord Jesus did to pay for my salvation.
1 John 5:12-13 NKJV [12] He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. [13] These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
I grew up in a Christian home where the Bible was read and we were prayed for every day. The Bible and God’s assembly were top priority in our home whether us as kids liked it or not. We went to every assembly meeting in the little gospel hall in Springfield West and gospel meetings within ~30 min drive.
I will make a point to mention that all of this ‘church’ going and scriptural activities, as beneficial as it is, did nothing to make us right with God or more fit for Heaven. From a young age I understood clearly that I was a sinner and that I could not go to Heaven in my sins. Around those years the second coming of the Lord Jesus to take the Christians home to heaven, otherwise termed the ‘rapture,’ was preached about frequently.
When I was 7 years old I began to be very concerned about the rapture happening and me being left behind to die in my sins. I knew that my opportunity to be saved would be over once the rapture happened. Many nights I lay awake for hours worrying that the rapture would happen and often I would go upstairs and listen at Mom and Dad’s door to hear their breathing. The devil would then give me a false sense of security so that I could go back to bed and get some rest but little did I realize that the Lord could have come as soon as I got back in bed.
This went on for several months that I recall and occasionally my parents, usually Mom, would sit up with me and read verses to me and share their testimony as well. Different times Mom would share stories to explain the principle of Jesus as my substitute paying for my sins and other aspects of salvation as well. Some nights I would cry myself to sleep for fear of going to Hell.
Sunday, Dec 1, 1996, at the age of 8, we went to meeting as usual and at Sunday school I got the weekly ‘Messages of God’s Love’ children’s paper. I didn’t read it in the afternoon or on the way home like I usually did but instead started to read it while sitting in gospel meeting that evening. Mom and Dad told me to put it away and listen to the preaching but I don’t remember what was preached about.
That night after getting in bed I took it out and began reading it again. It told a story of a boy who’s mother was baking with squares of unsweetened chocolate/cocoa and the boy saw them and wanted so badly to have some. He didn’t know how they would be bitter instead of sweet. When his mother was out of the kitchen for a moment he took a few squares and went to his favourite spot out in the yard and proceeded to eat one. He didn’t get very far into one when he realized it was not sweet and delicious as he had anticipated. He then proceeded to hide the remains so his mother would not find out he had stolen them.
Later on his mother asked him about the missing squares and he lied and said he hadn’t taken them but a little while later she found them. At this point in the paper it started talking about sin and how God knows all our sins and Numbers 32:23 was quoted:
Numbers 32:23 KJV [23] … be sure your sin will find you out.
Right then and there I realized that God knows all my sins and that because of my sin I would just have to go to Hell, and that that’s all I deserved. God had brought me to a point of despair and I knew that he would be righteous to send me to Hell and that on my own I had no hope.
The MOST WONDERFUL realization came with the next verse that was quoted:
1 John 1:7 KJV [7] … the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
I simply realized that that’s why Jesus died on Calvary, was to cleanse me from my sins so I would not have go to Hell. I am so thankful for that day I can look back to and for God’s word he has given me to assure me that I am saved, because I know that relying on my own abilities and good deeds I would have failed and lost my salvation, I have failed him many times.
Praise God, His promises are eternal and he says in John 10:27-29:
John 10:27-29 KJV [27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: [28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. [29] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
What peace there is in knowing Christ as my Saviour, Heaven as my home!
I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home 😊. We went to church twice every Sunday, prayer meeting Wednesday nights, had prayer circle every morning, and nightly devotions. As such, I never questioned the reality of God. I just didn’t realize I needed to be saved. My salvation story is pretty simple really…
We always had “Sunday afternoon rest time” in our rooms when we were young. I remember just sitting on my bed, looking out the window at the robins going by and thinking about what they talked about in Sunday school that day. I remember realizing for the first time that I was on my way to Hell, but also that the price had already been paid for my sins, and all I had to do was accept it. So I did 😊.
I prayed, thanking Jesus for dying on the cross for me, and asking him to forgive me for my sins (the church I grew up in, although it is supposed to be “non-denominational,” is pretty much Baptist, so the sinner’s prayer is commonly taught). I remember feeling such a sense of relief and excitement, and went upstairs to tell my parents 😊. I have no clue how old I was, or what day I was saved, I’ve asked my parents, but they didn’t keep track of it either.
When I first met Marcus, and everyone in the assembly seemed to have such clear, detailed salvation stories, that used to bother me and make me have doubts! Then one night, Scott McLeod talked about salvation being like an elevator. All you have to do is get in, and trust God to take care of the rest! And that gave me assurance that the details don’t matter to God.
It’s nothing that “I” do, or have done, but has everything to do with what He has done. He paid my dept at Calvary, I know I’m “in the elevator,” and trusting God to take care of the rest 😊.
When I was 8 my mom was saved and after that we always went to Sunday school and gospel meetings. My dad died when I was 4 but thankfully he was saved We had no car but we only lived two houses from the hall. I tried to get saved for many years. I was scared of the Lords coming which was preached often in those days. Many nights I would go to mom’s room and see if she was there and go back to my bed relieved that He hadn’t come yet. Another thing I feared was that the Lord would stop striving with me. As I got older, about 13, many of my second cousins also went to gospel meeting so because of pride we didn’t want to appear concerned.
I spent many hours reading, trying to believe but in my heart there was no repentance, I felt I was better than my friends who drank or smoked…
On November 11, 1973 mom and I (I was 15 ) went to Avonport conference with Lionel and Mackie Cress. That night Mr. Bingham and Arnold Gratton spoke. I don’t remember what was said but I knew I was going to hell. I told Mr. Bingham on the way out that I wanted to be saved. Mr. Gratton spoke to me, It was so dark. He read many verses, then he read John 3:36.
John 3:36 KJV [36] He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
I thought “I’m in the second part of that verse and I don’t know how to believe” It seemed that the wrath of God was hanging over my head. Then it dawned on me that’s why Christ died so I wouldn’t have to be in hell, I told Mr. Gratton and we got on our knees and He prayed. I felt such relief and rest. I remember getting up the next morning being so thrilled that I was finally saved.
A few months later two older preachers were having meetings in Clementsvale and they came up to visit one day when mom wasn’t home. They asked if I was saved and I told them trembling ( as I was very scared of most preachers) how I got saved. They said that’s not how you get saved.
So for many months I was very confused, and searching the bible. One night I told the Lord I need this settled tonight. I read for a long time then in Isaiah 53:6 the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The Lord gave me assurance that I was saved and He has been my Heavenly Father for many years now. It’s thrilling just to tell it again, How good is the God we adore!
The Following is a Transcript of the Audio above, there may be minor mistakes
I’m going to be very brief, and I’m going to try and remember some of the things that’s profitable, and tell you how I got saved.
I’m gonna read in the Gospel of John chapter 14, and verse 5 and 6.
John chapter 14:5-6 [5] Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? [6] Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
That is the scripture that led me to the Lord Jesus in 1959.
I was born in 1931, just out the road here to the Cain family. And I must tell you, that if it had been my choice, I would have never been born into the life we had to live back then. Because we absolutely had nothing. Nothing.
We were poor, we were laughed at, it was just a horrible life. And you know, the thing that I can remember most of all is when I was a child, the first thing I can remember, my mother was carrying me in the room one day and she was singing to me,
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong; they are weak, but he is strong.
And my mother used to tell me stories out of the Bible, and of course, I was a slow learner, I wasn’t catching on to some of the things she was telling me. And I’m telling you that my grandmother, Robison, I’m going to give her credit too. She tried to tell me some things about the Lord.
But anyways, as I got older, my mother had family altar. And it was very, very difficult for her because she had a lot of opposition. And my father wasn’t saved, but he was a, my father was a quiet man.
And I was thinking as I was sitting here, you know, my father was 20 years older than my mother, which is a way too much.
And when I could never understand why we didn’t have a father when he’d come home from work. He was too old to, he was tired out. And I never realized how he felt til just now. I realize how he felt because I’m there. He was tired out, he wasn’t able to give to us the things. So that was one thing I missed in life was a father, to be always there for him. He was too old. But I loved him just the same.
But anyway, my mother had family altar. And I’m going to tell you something right now that my mother had the gift of prayer. And I never heard anybody that could pray like her in my life. We would get down in the morning, she’d read the scripture, get us down to these old benches, you know, the wooden benches, that’s who we had. And she’d start to pray.
Well, these men would come in going to the woods. They’d be going with my father to the woods. And what they did now, back then, they took an old can and they’d heat tea and stuff back in the woods in light of fire. And so when they come in the door, you’d just hear their knees hitting the floor when my mother was praying. They’d just go down onto the floor. You’d just hear bang, bang, and you’d look and two or three more of them there. Les Waite, the Curries, and all of them. They’d be down on the floor.
Well, I’m telling you, my sister Doris said something and I agree with her. There was nobody that could bring heaven down but my mother. She could pray. You know, we never know when we’re born into the world what disappointments lie ahead of us. It’s a good thing we don’t.
Isn’t that right? It’s a good thing we don’t know the disappointments that lie ahead of us. Because if we did, we’d get down under with sorrow. We don’t know.
But anyway, that was good. I started to school. I went to school in my bare feet in the summer with no shoes. And, you know, it was very difficult. Then you had from five to ten in one school room and there you were, you know. And back then they strapped you if you did anything that was wrong. I mean, you’d get strapped. It wasn’t like today. They would take those pieces of straps off of the old belts in the machines and they would give you that over the hands. You’d be red raw. So you had to behave yourself.
So anyway, that was all right. When I got older then, I often thought, well, why was I born? You know, why is all this happening? And anyway, I kind of got away from my mother’s prayers. I kind of got away from the things that I got thinking different in my mind. And kind of rejected everything I had heard.
And when I got older, I started to drink. And I started to smoke. And I started to go to dances. And I started to play music. And I started to do everything to take up my attention. And, of course, people would come to my place and they, we would party and this was a big thing, you know.
But, you know, as I get older, as I went into this, I got awful weary of everything. And I thought, well, you know, why is all this happening? Why is all this like this?
Oh, yes, I got a job over at the local store. And I’ll tell you how much I was getting a week and I was paying my board $7. My mother used to go and grade potatoes all day for 50 cents a day. That’s the way it was. No money.
My father, he was a painter. And when my father went and painted, somebody would trade work with him so he’d no money coming in. So, he’d go over and paint the store and all our bill would be wiped off. And then my mother would give me a list to go over. And I’d go over to the store and all these people would be around and I had to go through the embarrassment of being turned down in front of all these people.
Life wasn’t easy back then. That made me bitter. Anyway, I continued on with my drinking. Continued on with my partying.
There was two things happened in my life that God spoke to me now and tell me about. I’ve never told this before. I used to make beer. I used to make it with this malt. And you had to put this malt into the oven in water and get it so it would run. And I put the malt in the oven and I forgot about it, and the can exploded. And I was going to reach into the oven and if I’d have been 10 seconds there, I would have lost my eyesight. My eyes would have been burned out of my head.
And I knew that was God speaking to me.
Another time, I come out of the store and we had lightning rods on the store. And they put a sign up and they put these here pieces of steel thing to hold the sign from banging. And you know that I went out of the store and the minute I stepped out of the store and underneath that sign, the store got hit with lightning over my head. And the lightning just wound around my head. I lost one of my shoes and my mother was looking out the window. She thought I was dead. We were going to a party that night. Well, I must tell you, we didn’t go to any party.
That was God speaking.
Now God speaks once, yeah, twice in a dream and a vision of the night. And he may, you know, I thought the other day, you know, God shook me over hell that night. I tell you, I got some scared. And we never went anywhere that night. I was in shock and I knew it was God speaking to me.
And you know, I’ll tell you that this Mr. Hardy, I got to give him credit too. He was preaching in the United Church and Mr. Hardy and his wife both came to visit me and tried to tell me the way of salvation. He came in one day. He asked me if I had a Bible and I said, well, I’ve got a Bible somewhere. Now then I near tore the bureau doors to pieces trying to find the Bible they gave me one at Sunday school. So when I got the Bible out, I thought, look, this man is coming down and I’m going to read the Bible. But I got my genealogies and Matthew and it discouraged me, and so I stopped reading that.
But however, this life went on like this for a long time. But in 1959, I went out one night and I said, Lord, I can’t stand this anymore. I can’t handle it. I said, I can’t handle this. I said, if there’s a God up there, do something. I can’t handle it. I can’t. And you know that about two days after, Donny MacKenzie came. And he said, Elwyn, I just got saved. I said, you what? And he said, I just got saved. Well, I said, that’s wonderful. He said, we’re having meetings down in the hall.
Now listen, I’ll have to tell you, when you go to talk to somebody, don’t get into the third chapter of Corinthians tell ’em about the wood, hay, and the stubble, because I didn’t know anything about that. That’s what he got into. He was talking about the wood, hay, and the stubble. Well, I didn’t know about anything like that. I was a sinner on my way to hell. I wasn’t saved. What good was that to me? So when you’re talking to somebody, try and give them something a little lighter. You know, because that’s kind of heavy.
But anyway, he said to me, Elwyn, I want you to come to the meeting. I said, I will come. I will come. Because I knew that that was an answer, a direct answer to the prayer that I had prayed. I knew that that was God.
So anyway, I started going to the meetings, and I got troubled about my soul. I would go down in the basement in the store, and there were these great big pillars down there, and I wouldn’t know what I went down after. I was so troubled about my soul that I didn’t know what to do.
So anyway, I kept going to the meetings. I kept going to the meetings, and one night I read the scripture that I read to you in the corner. And Evan McDougall came to the meetings that night. I took a lot of people with me. They didn’t get saved, and we were sitting at the end of the table, at my table up in the little house. I got a house, and we moved out to ourselves so we’d be able to carry on. You know the thing. You know what the young people do. They move away from their parents so they can carry on and think nobody knows about them.
Well that’s what I did. But everybody knows what’s going on, so it’s no secret. So anyway, we were up there, and Evan and I were sitting by the table. And do you know that just in a moment of time God opened my eyes, and I said, Evan, I just got saved. I clapped my hands. He said, you did? And I said, yes. And you know what I saw that night? I didn’t only see that God was the way and the truth and the life, but I saw when that man died in the middle cross, he died for my sins. That’s what I saw. He was taking my place. That was it. Hallelujah. You know, he was taking my place.
Now listen. This is the thing that I want to tell the younger people. God doesn’t see you anymore in Adam. He sees you in Christ. He doesn’t see you in any Adam anymore. He’s taken all your sins, and he’s put them behind your back, and your sins and your iniquities will he remember no more.
The world won’t do that, and do you know why they won’t do it? They don’t want to see you rise above what you were. My niece told me that the other day, and I thought, how true. She was attacked by two Christians. Now listen. I want to tell you this. I didn’t know this until a year ago. When we’re feeding on somebody else’s sins, we’re feeding on the sin offering, and God is not happy with that. If you’re feeding on the sin offering through the week, and then you come to remember the Lord, it’s not a good thing. So when you’re feeding on someone’s fault, that’s your feeding on. If you want to feed on something that lifts your spirit, feed on the burnt offering. Everything’s for God, you see.
And so, another thing I see, we’re not seen in Adam, we’re seen in Christ. And you know the children of Israel, I noticed something, I want to tell you this. The children of Israel, they fed on the manna that fell down in the wilderness. They fed on Christ’s humiliation. But when they get into the land, they fed on the foot of his exaltation. So what does that mean? That means that God does not want you and I to spend our lifetime in the wilderness. Because we’re not on resurrection ground. When you’re on resurrection ground, when you move into the book of Ephesians, because that’s the place where we’re…
See, here’s the essence of the gospel. I’m going to give it to you. Maybe there’s someone here who isn’t saved. When man sinned, God put cherubims and a flaming sword to keep the way of the tree of life. There was a barrier that was put there. Man couldn’t go beyond that barrier. But here is the gospel, the center and core of the gospel. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, when he shed his blood, when he gave his life as substitutionary death for you and I, he removed the barrier, he erases the sin question, he blesses you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, he raises you up and seats you together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages of the ages to come he’s going to show unto you the exceeding riches of his grace.
Now listen, why linger in the wilderness when you can have these things? God has something for you and I to enjoy. And one man said something last week. I’ll tell you what he said. He said, was it your death that when you die you’re going to heaven? Yeah, yeah, I’m going to heaven to die. Was it your death that purchased heaven? No, it wasn’t. Then he said it was the death of another, you can enjoy heaven now. You don’t have to wait till you get there. You can enjoy it now. And that’s what God wants us to do.
And you want to get in the book of Ephesians because that answers to the book of Joshua. It’s not the land of Canaan, it’s not heaven, but it’s our… You know, I like Sidlow Baxter. The first two chapters he says is our wealth, The next two chapters are walking, the next two chapters is our warfare. And we wrestle not against spiritual blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places. And God wants you to go in and put your foot in the land and he wants you to stand there and protect it. That’s what he wants.
Because Amalek came, he smote the children of Israel and the hinder parts, that’s the flesh. And that’s not going to be done away in our time. And that is the problem. Amalek. And you know when he had put the… Put the… In his stomach that he made, it says the dirt come out. And I thought, boy, isn’t that like the old flesh, the dirt comes out. You… But, you know, this… What the flesh tries to do is keep you from… Take, going into your inheritance, That’s what the flesh tries to do. That’s what he does with me. He tries to get… keep me from going into the book of Ephesians and taking what’s mine. See?
And so you… You have to reckon your self that I might know him, and the power of his… What? The power of his resurrection, the mighty power of his resurrection. And the fellowship of suffering that I might be made conformable unto his death. That’s Philippians. Oh, I was enjoying that.
Do you know what I took from that? Paul was dying daily. He was enjoying the things that belonged to him. Listen, Christian. You and I are wealthy. We’re sons and daughters of the man that’s on the right hand of God. And, you know, the Lord Jesus is exalted. And, you know, sometimes I think at night when I get in there, I think I can hear the seraphim’s wings rustling when I get in his presence. Such a wonderful place to be. And that’s what we need to do. We need to get into the presence of God, pray for one another, love one another. And that’s…
So I’m not going to say any more. I just want to leave you with those few thoughts because I’ve been enjoying it. And so I won’t say any more.
