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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/marvin-johnson/my-near-death-experience/
I'm Marvin Johnson from the Ontario Assembly. I've been in fellowship there since 1977, the year the Lord saved me. I trust that what I have to say and what the Lord has done for me, I would tell it this afternoon, that I might encourage you in the things of God.
As I've been encouraged over almost 40 years in Christ and in the local assembly. I delight in this passage. Let's start reading at verse 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes come upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbleth and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war shall rise against me, in this will I be confident.
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.
He shall set me upon a rock. Let's go to Acts chapter 2 and verse 42. Very familiar to us that are gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctor and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers and fear come upon every soul.
Many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things in common, had things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
And they continued, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house to eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. Now I want to tell some of the experiences that God has brought me through. I'm 68 now. I'll be 68 in December. But God reached and saved me in 1977.
March 11th, about 8 .30 quarter to 9. But I want to tell you, I was born in Ontario and raised there. In 1950s the gospel came to Ontario. And I'm very thankful that I was born into a rich family. My mother wasn't saved yet.
But I can remember going to the gospel meetings in tents. Men like Paul Elliott and Oliver Smith and Brethren of Old have gone home to the glory. We're indebted there in Ontario to many assemblies. To the Heightsville Assembly, to the Blue River Assembly and many assemblies probably.
Who knows about what was behind the scenes in that day. I lived long enough to see a brother commended in the work of the Lord there in Ontario. And it delights my soul to see Brandon in the work. Not only Brandon but Christy too as well.
But I shouldn't be here in front of you. I should be in hell. And I'll tell you why. I was born, I was there when the saints broke bread in Ontario. And if I remember right it was in a butcher shop. And you could look down and see the stains of blood on the floor.
But I remember my mother was one of the first ones saved in Ontario. Not one of the first ones but she was one of the first ones that gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to impress upon you as David the desire.
One thing David desired that he might dwell in the house of the Lord as long as he lived. That's been my desire. God put that there when he saved me. I had to learn the local assembly all over although I was raised up around it.
I was there when they built the hall. I seen brethren work together. And it impressed me as a young man but I left home at 15. Departed from home. Departed from the truth. But God in his mercy reached and saved me when I was 27.
And brought me back to the truth of the word of God. But I gathered with the saints first in 1977. And I looked back over my experience. I didn't think I was going to be here today because in January my liver quit completely.
And I had to have a full transplant. And God tested me. And I thought sure they give me 10 hours to live and they shipped me from Gunderson to UW Madison. And I thought I'm surely going home to heaven.
I wasn't on the transplant list. There was no liver there for me. And I knew I was in bad shape. I could follow you. I knew your voice. But your first sentence I might remember the first word. But after that I couldn't remember no more.
But God in his mercy I was there. They kept me alive for 48 hours I believe. I believe it was Friday they shipped me down there and it was Sunday morning. They prepped me for a new liver. Some young person had passed away.
And donated their liver and it was a perfect match for me. It was a miracle. Because there's so many things that can go wrong with a transplant. It took a lot of units of blood because your main aorta runs to your liver.
And they got to take that out and put it in a new liver. So your chances of dying of bleeding are very great. And other complications come in. But one thing that impressed me the surgeon. He was from El Salvador.
Very gifted man. God had gifted him. But the thing I liked about him was he acknowledged the great physician. The real surgeon. And I lived through that. But the thing is it won't give you a transplant.
There's dividends in being a Christian. So I want to encourage you. You can't smoke. You can't drink. They won't give you a transplant. They want you committed. Just don't give them to everybody. That wasn't a problem with me.
I used to drink. When God saved me he gave me the power to quit that. To leave it aside. To live with him. For him. Well, I've been in the local assembly. God raised me up. Gave me health. To be back in the local assembly.
My first desire was to preach the gospel. And we did that. With Brother Jerry Jennings. We had a lot of cottage meetings. And I thought that was my calling. But it wasn't. I still have a desire for souls.
This is what I want to bring in. One thing about a transplant when they give it to you. They don't like to give it to old men. Or older people. But they did me. Because you can lose your mind. I did lose my mind for 11, 12 days.
And in my mind I woke up in hell. And I was mad about that. I wasn't very happy. It was a frightful place where I woke up in. There was no peace there. And I struggled with that. I laid 12 days, I sat on the bed with my eyes wide open.
I never slept. I don't remember a lot. But I do remember that I was in a place that was very frightful. And I wanted out of that place. And then it come to me, even in that condition, that Christ had died for me.
I was saved. And I was going in heaven. And I struggled. No peace, no peace, no peace. I struggled with that. I could tell you other things, but I won't. But I finally cried down to God in my soul. And within two days I got my mind back.
Then I woke up. There was my family. And I said to Carrie, would you take me home like this? My younger daughter. She said no. They had to tie me down. They had to have a guard there. Because I was kind of like a wild man.
Now they don't tell you all of those things. I'm glad they don't. But I struggled with God for a while after that. Why did he allow me to go to hell? To a place like hell? He did before I was saved in a snowmobile accident.
That's what woke me up to salvation. But after I was saved, I wondered. And I struggled for days with that. But I want to tell you our God is faithful. And it come to me. What I needed was, in that experience, is to have again a taste of hell so I might have a desire for lost souls.
The time he's given me, and I don't know how long, you can, your body can reject this liver. The first year is real crucial. But I'm back at the local assembly. And my desire was to preach the gospel.
But God let me get in depth so far. And I prayed that I'd get out so I could go preach the gospel full time. He didn't open that door. I got heavy equipment and excavation. And he didn't open that door.
The only way to pay for that equipment was to work it. You can't pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment with your hands. You have to work it. But it come to me one day, there's a great need here in Ontario.
There needs to be a servant here. With other servants. And he gave me a care and a heart for the saints in Ontario. And I've become a servant there in Ontario with my brethren. To help in the things of God.
I think God has direction for us if we have a desire. And I think of David's desire. And I hope I see young people here today and it delights my soul, and older people too as well. Because I know as an older person, it's not an easy goal when the body starts to fall apart.
And there's many needs in the local assembly. There's things coming in that we never thought would come in, do we, brother? And it's a delight to be in the house of the Lord. To be gathered to his name and to have you enjoy it, brother.
Can I ask you a question to answer in your own soul? Do you enjoy it? I think I enjoy life a lot more than I did before this happened to me. I know I do. I've learned lessons and I've learned the Lord.
The nurse said to me, what makes you tick? And I said, well, if the bottom falls out here, I'm going home to heaven. She says, well, I've seen other men in this type of situation and they have no peace.
They struggle and struggle. I said, well, the Lord saved my soul. I'm going home to heaven. That's going to be far better. She said, I thought so. I'm a Christian too. So, you know, what little do you know?
God can use you even in them places. When I was in UW, there were nurses that were different. They were female nurses that loved females. They told me that. And I witnessed to them. And I began to understand that God brought me there for that reason.
That I might witness to them. And there were surgeons there that were atheists that I could witness to and they were cold. So, we never know what God's going to bring us into. But I want to tell you to go on.
It's never over. I thought it was over for me. It's never over until it's over. God is a great God. He can raise you up. He can use you in a better way. He can fit you to do work. And He'll open up the way for you to do it.
Just to think about the local assembly. If there wouldn't have been no local assembly in Ontario, there would have been no gospel for my children. You think of that, brethren? Maybe you're just about ready to give it up.
Young people, maybe you're just ready to give it up. You don't realize the effect you have on people around you. You really don't know who you're affecting. It's one thing. It's a great thing to be in a local assembly.
The first you start out, you're reached and saved. You're like the blind man in the Gospels. One thing I know. I was blind and now I see we've been brought out into the marvelous light. We're saved. We're going to heaven.
You've got the knowledge of it. You've got the Word of God before you that tells you about it. You always go back, even though at the time you might do something that you wonder, am I really saved? Could I have really done that?
But God is faithful. He gives us equipment. He tells us if we sin. We can confess our sin in the blood of Jesus Christ, cleanse us from all sin, and fellowship can be restored. Isn't that a wonderful thing?
I learned that in the local assembly. I enjoy that day after day. I have to use it far too often. That's quite a thing, isn't it, brother? To know you're going home to heaven. Oftentimes you ask somebody, do you know you're going to heaven?
No. You have that knowledge. You have that gift from God that is eternal life. And the nice thing about it in the local assembly, you have brethren that remind you of this day in and day out. The Lord might come today.
We're going home to heaven. If you weren't in the local assembly, you wouldn't have that reminder all the time, would you? You'd soon become like David. How he feared that he'd become like them that go down to the pit.
So that's where the local assembly is to dwell together with brethren. Make sure you do it in unity. Be a brother that's a builder in the local assembly. Do all you can to build in the local assembly for your building for eternity.
One thing that's needful for you that you get in the local assembly, you sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus like Mary. You hear his word. Constant word in the local assembly. We've heard how the first thing we neglect the Bible.
We neglect his word. The one that gives us life and gives us power to live that life. That's the first one we turn our back on, doesn't it? I'm very grateful for your prayers. I know many of you prayed for me.
I am sure it was God that kept me and preserved me. I was on some awful powerful drugs and it changed your mind. And I'm still on some very powerful drugs. And they do affect my mind. But I'm sure your prayers helped me through those times of need.
Because you brought it to the throne of God to the great physician that could help me. That desire, brethren, cultivate it. To dwell in the house of the Lord forever. To see the Lord. I've been sitting in ministry meetings in the local assembly when I got a word from the Lord.
Here I am. Just the earthen vessel. God speaking to me. That's a high honor, isn't it? Not only a high honor, but it's a great blessing to know He wants you to do something. You've got confirmation now from the Word of God to do it.
That's guidance from the very throne of heaven through the Word of God. Have you ever been? I remember the gospel meetings. And God speaking to souls. And you could feel His presence. You could feel His power.
And souls were saved. What a blessing, isn't it, that we can have a part in that? When I was first saved, you know, you could witness to people and they'd come in and hear words. And some of them got saved.
That was a tremendous boost in my life. We could have a little part. We didn't save them. But God used us. Shouldn't that give you a desire to be in a local assembly where they do His work? They preach the gospel.
They not only preach the gospel, they live the gospel. That's our life. When are you the happiest? When am I the happiest? When I dwell in His presence. And know His presence in my life. And obedience.
Don't forget obedience. Not only sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus. She heard His Word. She was obedient to His Word. We see that in Acts 2, the pattern. They continue steadfastly. What's going to keep you and I steadfast?
By taking heed to the Word of God and obeying it. A man might not be very educated. I got an 8th grade education. I went 12 years old. But I only got an 8th grade. My dad had an 8th grade. He's just as smart as I was.
He was just as educated. I had the 12. But I didn't pay attention. It wasn't the teacher's fault. It was mine. But that doesn't limit you from knowing God. That doesn't limit you from getting that desire from God.
To dwell in the house of the Lord forever. His preservation. You know sometimes God would bring to me. I'll just tell you what kind of makeup I am. Just not because of me. But because of God. I want to honor God here today.
I want to exalt the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit of God dwelling in us. You know. Even when I didn't hardly know my own name. God would speak to me through Scriptures. They would come to me.
You know the highest Scripture I learned I think when I was in Sunday School. We got to pick our own Scripture to learn. I picked Jesus what? I always took the easiest way out. God wants to fill us with the Word of God.
But the enemy wants to keep us away from the Word of God. Because he knows we're more dangerous and more useful to God. And bring glory to God. Remember this. Now what brings God glory? Satan doesn't like.
So we're into warfare. God will preserve us and keep us here. Go on brethren. In simpleness just go on. Keep your eye on the Lord Jesus. He's your joy. If you make a mistake admit it. Confess it. Make it right.
Go on you'll be happier. You'll grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we're here. God loved his son. If you want more sons like him. We can be conformed to the image of his son.
To be like him morally. And someday we're going to be in his presence. Is that going to be something perhaps today? I hope I haven't wasted your time this afternoon. But I hope you have this desire as David had.
And God implanted in me early in life. In my Christian life. When I look back over life. There's nothing like it. There's nothing. Just think. I remember telling my older boy. Wyatt. Which is not saved.
This is what you're going to have to do with the company. And I started to tell him. I couldn't even finish. I just said. It's in God's hands. And he said. Dad. Why is God doing this to you? I said. You know.
I'm his. He bought me. At the price of blood. He can do with me what he wants. You know that's. The desire is to do what he would have us to do. Sometimes we're called into places we don't like to be.
We'd rather be someplace else. But it's a delight to be there. With God's presence. You know. I'll just tell you. Give me a grace that I never had. Before. Gives you help to go through these trials. Brother.
When you. Your anxiety. When you get into tight places. First of all, we get excited. Don't we? We think naturally right away. Don't we? The thing to do is to settle down. And call upon God. As the Old Testament saints did.
Call upon God. Get back to the foundation. Get back to Christ. Cultivate that desire. To dwell in his presence. That's where his place is. In the local assemblies. Promise to be in our midst. Where two or three are gathered together in my name.
In her mind. In the midst of him. Some would flock if the president come here today. Wouldn't they? They'd want to be around the president. But how much more? Together to the Lord Jesus. When he's promised just.
He would be there. It's not a man that he can lie. When he promised he'd be in our midst. He'll be there. Seek his presence. When you're in the local assembly. Think on those. He tells us how to think even.
I like that. Think on things above. When you get to looking at another brother and thinking he's inferior to you. Get that out of your mind. That's the wrong thought. Think on things above. Think upon him as you look upon him.
He's in Christ. God has paid a great price for that brother. He's precious to God. Maybe instead of condemning him. Step over there and help him. Encourage him. Be a builder. Have a desire to build in the things of God.
Have a desire. To be in the presence of God. And to do his will. While our short days. Will soon be gone here. So. Be as David. You desire to dwell in the house of the Lord. As long as you live. It's a great place of blessing.