Great is Thy Faithfulness with Pastor Robert J Morgan

Creation Fellowship

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

I'm on it. We're going. It says you're live.

00:17

I'm Terry Camerizzo, and I'm here on behalf of Creation Fellowship Santee, and we're excited to have another edition of our

00:27

Virtual Fellowship 2020, and we're going to get things started by having a word of prayer.

00:34

So, Michael, would you go ahead and lead us in a word of prayer? Heavenly Father, how grateful we are,

00:40

Lord, that we can come to you one more time, that we can join together as a band of believers to lift up the name of Jesus.

00:47

We're so grateful, God, that you hear our prayers, that you answer our prayers ever before we call them, Lord. And we thank you tonight that even in a world of chaos, in a world that doesn't look like we think it should sometimes, that you're still in control, that you know all, that you see all,

01:03

Lord. And as we look to you during this time, Lord, of uncertainty for the USA, we ask you for protection.

01:09

We ask you for providence, Lord, that you would just be there for us, be there for this country,

01:15

Lord, that you would just help us to remember what we founded on, Lord, what the United States was founded on, the word of God, and we're so thankful for that,

01:23

Lord, because your word stands true. Your word stands fast, and it will stand forever, and we thank you for that,

01:29

Lord. And we pray that tonight as Pastor Morgan comes, Lord, to share with us that you would bless him, that you would comfort him,

01:35

Lord, that his spirit would be lifted up, God, and that your name would be lifted up most of all. But as he brings forth the word that he's going to give us,

01:44

Lord, we pray that peace would be with him, that peace would be in that home, that your comfort would be there,

01:50

Lord. Again, we ask for that, Lord. Will you tell us to bring the things that we need to you,

01:55

Lord? And sometimes we don't even know all those needs, but we know that Pastor Morgan loves you,

02:00

Lord, and that he works for you, and we're so grateful for that, God, and we're blessed to have him here tonight, and we ask you to bless our time together,

02:10

Lord, and use these words, use this message to win some soul to you. We thank you that we know that your words are forever, and God, as this goes forth, we pray your blessing upon it.

02:21

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So we are happy to have

02:28

Pastor Robert J. Morgan with us again this evening. He is the teaching pastor of the

02:34

Donaldson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee, where he has served for over 40 years. He's a best -selling gold illuminations and gold medallion winning writer with over 35 books in print and approximately 5 million copies in circulation in multiple languages.

02:52

Rob has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. He speaks widely at churches, conferences, schools, and corporate events.

03:02

He was also a homemaker and caregiver for his late wife of 43 years, Katrina, who battled multiple sclerosis and passed away in November of 2019.

03:12

He and Katrina have three daughters and 16 grandchildren, and they are co -owners of Roan Mountain Bed and Breakfast in Roan Mountain, Tennessee.

03:21

In 2014, Pastor Morgan was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from his alma mater,

03:30

Columbia International University. And tonight we're so happy to have him back.

03:35

A couple of months ago, I was thinking forward about tonight and it being the Thursday after the election, and no matter the outcome, whichever candidate won or as it is right now, which

03:48

I kind of expected that we wouldn't even know, but I had a feeling that there would be some chaos going on.

03:55

And so I thought it would be great if we could have a message just reminding us that not only is our God not surprised by any of this, but that he's already written the last chapter too.

04:04

So Pastor Morgan is working on a new project, Great is Thy Faithfulness, and he's here to share a message of hope with us based on Romans 828.

04:13

Thank you, Pastor Morgan, for being here. Well, you're welcome. I'm very happy to be there, to be with you and to share this evening.

04:22

We have had a chaotic week. And I'll be honest with you to say that I've been anxious through this week.

04:30

I think people around the world and across the United States of America have had a lot of anxiety this week.

04:41

And, you know, families have been divided. The nation is divided. We still don't know what's going to happen.

04:48

There are important issues in play. I will say that overall I am encouraged.

04:55

There are forces of atheistic socialism that have not prevailed, as they would have thought they might have been some of the elections that we've had, and the

05:08

House of Representatives and the state houses and the state congresses and in the

05:14

Senate. So, you know, I'm not –

05:19

I don't endorse candidates. There are some issues that I believe very deeply in, such as the care of and the protection of pre -born human beings and the freedom of religion and of speech that we need to have as Christians and support for the state of Israel.

05:45

There are some things like that that I believe very deeply in. But I don't endorse candidates.

05:51

And so I'm just waiting with everybody else to see what happens. But in the meantime, I've been thinking a great deal about the supremacy of Jesus Christ and the way that is revealed in the book of Revelation.

06:07

And this coming Sunday, I'm actually preaching from Revelation chapter 1 that Jesus Christ is in charge.

06:15

He's in charge of history. And, you know, I think the book of Revelation was written during the days of Domitian, who was the

06:26

Roman emperor. John the Apostle, who was the Bishop of Ephesus and over a series of churches in Asia Minor, was exiled during the reign of Domitian at the end of the first century.

06:42

And what many people don't know is that while John the

06:47

Apostle was on the island of Patmos in exile because Emperor Domitian wanted to shut down the final remaining surviving apostle, wanted to bring to an end the message of the original apostles,

07:09

John had a great revelation of the future. At the same time in Rome, Emperor Domitian, who was only in his early 40s, half the age of John the

07:21

Apostle, Emperor Domitian had a dream. He dreamed that he was going to be assassinated and that he would be assassinated at the middle of the day, about noon.

07:35

And sure enough, when he was 44 years of age and on September the 18th of AD 96, an aide came into his office with a dagger up his sleeve and he killed the emperor.

07:56

And the emperor's dream came true. But who remembers Domitian? Who remembers all of these

08:02

Roman emperors who rose and fell, who came to power and who were assassinated?

08:09

Nobody really remembers them. But here we are 2 ,000 years later on the verge of the revelation of John the

08:18

Apostle. And I think that some of the events of the book of Revelation, we can begin to see as being plausible in our own day and time.

08:30

So it reminds us that, I mean, it reminds me that the rulers of this world, whether it's

08:38

Trudeau, whether it's Trump, whether it's Biden, they come and go, they rise and fall, but the word of God and the pre -planned providence of God for human history endures.

08:53

And so I don't have my hopes or my faith on any one politician or on any one individual.

09:00

It's on the Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead, who is coming again and who has history in his hands.

09:11

And so I want to encourage all of you, if you're disturbed about American politics, just to keep your eyes on the

09:19

Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as it relates to Romans 828, I believe this is the climactic promise in the

09:28

Bible, because when you read the book of Romans, this is the core book of the theology of the

09:37

Bible. It's the book in which the Apostle Paul gives his delineation of justification by grace through faith.

09:50

He wrote it from the city of Corinth. He wrote it to Roman Christians so that if something happened to him, there would be a deposit in the center of the

10:02

Roman Empire of his great theology of justification. And in chapter 1, verses 1 through 17, he gives his prologue from chapter 1, 18 through chapter 3, verse 20.

10:19

He talks about the evil that is dominant in this world. In chapter 3 from verses 21 to 31, he gives the spinning core of the doctrine of the

10:31

Bible, that we are saved by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.

10:38

In chapter 4, he says this is a very old doctrine.

10:43

It isn't something new. It goes back to Abraham who believed in God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

10:49

In chapter 5, he says this is something that gives us access by grace through faith in Jesus Christ through the one who is our new

11:01

Adam. In chapter 6, he says we have died with Christ. We are dead to sin.

11:07

In chapter 7, he says even as Christians, we may still struggle with sin. And in chapter 8, he says we have victory by the

11:16

Holy Spirit who takes the victory that Christ won on the cross and applies it to our lives.

11:24

So this is the core of the Bible, Romans chapter 1, verses 1 through 8.

11:32

And then he comes to chapter 20 to 8, 26, and he says likewise the

11:39

Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses because we don't know what we should pray for as we ought.

11:48

We don't know the future. So we don't know the very things that we should specifically pray for. But the

11:53

Holy Spirit prays for us with deep groans that cannot be uttered.

12:01

And God the Father hears the prayers of God the Holy Spirit. And he knows what is best for us.

12:09

And he answers the prayers of the Holy Spirit. And as a result, all things work together for good to those who love

12:19

God, who are called of God, and who are destined to fulfill his purpose of conforming to the image of Christ.

12:29

And then after he says this, Paul says in essence, what else is there to say?

12:35

What more can we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

12:40

He who spared not his own son, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?

12:48

Who can bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who can be condemned?

12:54

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us and who rose again and who is also at the right hand of the

13:03

Father making intercession for us. What can separate us from the love of Christ? I'm convinced that neither life nor death nor angels, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth nor any other thing in creation can separate us from the love of God which is in our

13:21

Lord Jesus Christ. So that promise in Romans 8 .28 is at the very climax of the theological explanation

13:32

Paul presents in the core book of the Bible, the book of Philippians, the book of Romans.

13:40

And I think that Romans 8 .28 is a promise in the Bible that summarizes all of the other promises.

13:48

So whether it's elections, whether it's doctors' diagnoses, whether it's financial distress, whether it's personal problems or family problems, whatever it is, nothing is exempt from that all -encompassing promise that God gives us in Romans 8 .28.

14:09

It is a promise that has no expiration date. We can never wear it out.

14:16

It is effective every day of the year, whatever happens to us. It is eternally efficacious.

14:24

All things work together for good for those who love the Lord Jesus, for those who are called according to his purpose.

14:32

So I keep that promise with me very close at hand. And I know the

14:38

Lord Jesus is sovereign in this world. He is in control. And that promise is

14:43

God's guarantee to us in all of the contingencies of life. So, Terry, that's sort of the message that I wanted to share.

14:52

I'll be glad to discuss it. I'll be glad to talk with it. But that's my heart and my passion tonight on this

15:01

November evening of 2020. Okay.

15:08

Well, then, does anybody have some questions that they'd like to throw out there to talk with Pastor Morgan about?

15:17

You can put them in the chat, whether you're watching on Facebook or whether you're watching here on Zoom.

15:25

If you would like to post a question in the chat or even if you'd like to turn on your microphone, you're welcome to turn on your camera.

15:34

We're still live. If you have a question that you'd like to discuss with Pastor Morgan, now would be the time to do that.

15:45

So, in the meantime, I want to mention that I've been studying,

15:53

Pastor Morgan, your 50 final events of the world, I forget the exact title.

16:00

World history, yeah, 50 final events of world history, yeah. Do you want to tell people about that course that you have available?

16:08

Yeah, this is a course in the book of Revelation. I believe that Jesus gave us the book of Revelation to show us what would happen in the future and specifically in the seven final years of world history, which is a time of tribulation.

16:26

And the name of the book is not obscurity. It isn't confusion. It is the book of Revelation.

16:33

He reveals it. And I believe that the events in Revelation are linear.

16:40

They are chronological. One happens after the other.

16:46

And at any moment, I think there's going to be a rapture of the church. It may come before we're finished discussing this.

16:54

The events of Revelation will begin to unfold. There are 50 that I delineate between Revelation chapter 6 and chapter 19.

17:04

Jesus comes again in chapter 19 at the end of the book of Revelation.

17:11

And at the end of the seven years of tribulation, he will save the nation of Israel, usher in a millennial reign.

17:19

Then there will be the great white throne judgment. And then we're ready for eternity. And I'll tell you, as far as I'm concerned,

17:27

I'm ready for eternity right now. But there is a process in history that God is going to pursue.

17:35

It cannot be denied. No election can deter him. No president or parliament or Congress can stall him.

17:44

His purposes in this world will be fulfilled. And we just need to keep our eyes on Jesus, who is coming again.

17:53

And his second coming is absolutely secure. And Jesus said, when all of these things begin to happen around you, lift up your eyes because your redemption draws near.

18:06

So we have this course on the book of Revelation available at my website, robertjmorgan .com.

18:15

But, you know, I think any of us can open our Bibles, begin with Revelation chapter 1, go through all 22 chapters.

18:24

And if we just look at the events as consecutive events that will unfold one after the other, then

18:33

I think that we cannot help but be hopeful and be full of the

18:42

Holy Spirit. I miss my wife, Katrina, so much. But sometimes

18:47

I look up in the sky and I say, she's right there beyond the clouds. I'll be with her soon.

18:53

Jesus is coming again. All of our problems on earth are temporary.

18:58

All of our blessings are eternal. So I just say, even so come, Lord Jesus. Amen. And we, you know,

19:07

Pastor Morgan, I've been praying for you because I know next week is going to make one year since she went home to be with him.

19:14

So we're praying for your comfort through that. Thank you so much.

19:19

I'm going to go visit her grave site on that day and then go do a television interview.

19:29

So I'm going to keep occupied. But, you know,

19:35

Terri, when we buried her in that cemetery in East Tennessee, I looked out over all of the graves and my dad and mom are buried just very close to where she is and where I will be buried,

19:52

Lord willing. And I thought to myself, on the day of rapture, this cemetery is going to become a launching pad.

20:02

And I could, in my mind's eye, just see all of these bodies shooting upward like missiles towards the sky to be with the

20:11

Lord Jesus in the air. And, you know, our grave sites are launching pads for the missiles of our resurrection bodies.

20:21

And can you imagine what it's going to be like on that day when he comes again? That's exciting.

20:28

It is exciting. Okay. I have one question from Pauline.

20:35

What if they steal the election, Pastor Morgan? How can we stand the injustice? Well, here in the

20:42

United States, if you are a conservative,

20:48

I'm not going to talk about Republicans or Democrats. I'm just going to talk about people who have

20:54

Judeo -Christian beliefs and who are conservative in their theology and in their politics.

21:03

What happened is amazing. The Senate held strong against the socialist forces.

21:16

The House of Representatives is amazing what happened there. Pelosi thought that they would absolutely have a blue wave over the

21:28

House of Representatives. They have lost seats. It may even be possible that they will lose control of the

21:35

House of Representatives because there's still outstanding races to be had. But Pelosi's in deep trouble.

21:42

In the state houses in the 50 United States, conservatives prevailed in an amazing way.

21:53

What is really remarkable is that African Americans and Hispanics and even the gay lobby voted conservatively in a way that has surprised all of the experts.

22:10

Even if Biden and Harris win the presidency, they don't have any freedom at all to enact their agenda because they don't have any power base in Congress.

22:29

In addition to that, it was only the providence of God that gave us a

22:36

Supreme Court justice who has turned the tide in the way the

22:42

Supreme Court is going. So overall, the socialistic forces had a tremendous defeat.

22:51

The conservative voices in America have had a tremendous victory. We've got to pray about the presidency here and be very vigilant and watch very closely.

23:04

But overall, the election has been a tremendous refutation of atheistic socialism.

23:13

And so I take encouragement in that. I'm still like a cat on a hot tin roof about the presidential election.

23:24

But, you know, some of that is out of our hands when it comes to the point of just trusting

23:31

God with things. You know, the Lord is still Lord.

23:38

History is still His story. He allowed Sennacherib to come to power.

23:44

He allowed Nebuchadnezzar to come to power. He allowed Domitian to exile

23:49

John the Apostle. But Domitian was assassinated and John the Apostle had a vision on Patmos that has encouraged us for 2 ,000 years.

24:00

So at some point, we have to trust God with the zigs and zags of history.

24:05

And all I can say is I'm thankful that things have gone as well as they have with this election against all of the pollsters, against all of the media, against all of giant tech that has done everything they can to discourage

24:22

Christian and conservative voices in America. There has been a tremendous repudiation of that.

24:29

And so we've got to watch, you know, we've got to watch diligently the presidency.

24:34

But there is an awfully lot to be encouraged about tonight, really, to be honest with you.

24:40

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you. Thank you for reminding us of those positives.

24:46

On a related note, though, we do have Erica asking, where do we go from a

24:52

Biden -Harris presidency? So if they do get it, if they do win, how do we obey the government and render to Caesar with how evil the government will be, practically speaking?

25:06

Well, we become aggressively defensive. We just have a very aggressive defense.

25:14

I think that it's a call to all of us to speak up more loudly for the life of the pre -born, these innocent human beings who don't have a voice.

25:28

I think we can we can. I'm determined to speak up more loudly for the pre -born than I ever have.

25:35

We can speak up for religious freedom. We can push back against big tech when they try to silence us.

25:44

We can create more platforms for conservative voices. And I think we need to remember that whoever is in power tends to lose seats in the next election.

25:56

So if Biden and Harris do win the presidency, which is no given right now, but if they do,

26:05

I think that 2022 is going to be a great year for Republicans or for conservative voices.

26:13

And we need to play the long game on this. I think we have some, you know, the underreported story that the media isn't telling you is how many

26:24

Republican women won office in the Congress and throughout

26:31

America this year. A lot of conservative women. And, you know,

26:36

I would vote today for, again, I don't want to become political here, but I would vote today for Nikki Haley.

26:42

I would vote today for Condoleezza Rice. I mean, there are some. I'm not at all against having a woman as president of the

26:52

United States if she shares my values. I think of what Margaret Thatcher did for England and the fact that all of these conservative women won seats in the

27:05

United States House of Representatives as Republicans. That is something that CNN isn't telling you.

27:14

It's something that MSNBC is not telling you. And, yeah,

27:20

I see the note about Pence. He's my hero. You know, if Pence and Nikki Haley would team up, then boy, what a great force they would be.

27:34

Vice President Pence is a tremendous Christian man. And I don't know, honestly, if Donald Trump is a

27:43

Christian. I have a friend who visits the Oval Office regularly, and he told me that he is not sure if Trump is genuinely born again, but that President Trump loves to be prayed for.

27:59

And when you walk into the Oval Office and you say, Mr. President, can I pray for you? He immediately folds his hand and bows his head, and he wants to be prayed for.

28:12

And nobody has stood up for Christian rights for the unborn or for the nation of Israel like Trump.

28:21

And Pence has been right there beside him. And Nikki Haley is right there. And Marco Rubio is right there.

28:27

And Senator Cruz is right there. I mean, we have some people who are genuinely born again.

28:33

Secretary of State Pompeo is a wonderful Christian. I mean, there are

28:39

Christians right now in Washington who are fighting for Jesus Christ.

28:45

Some are Democrats. I think most are probably Republicans. But there are genuine believers in Washington.

28:53

And I want to remind you, Terry, that on the Mediterranean Sea, we had three men on a ship with 276 souls in a storm in the book of Acts chapter 27.

29:12

Three out of 276. We had Paul, Aristarchus, and Luke.

29:19

And the presence of those three Christians saved the entire ship.

29:25

And the presence of a deep Christian minority in any nation.

29:31

If there had been 10 people in Sodom, you know, things would have turned around.

29:36

It's the presence of a strong Christian minority in any society that saves us from the wrath of God.

29:44

It is only the church of Jesus Christ and our nation that is saving us from the wrath of God.

29:51

And I think there is a coming revival in the United States. I think we can see signs of it.

29:58

So I'll have to tell you that despite the stress of this week,

30:03

I am pretty encouraged. And my eyes are on the Lord Jesus. And even back to the pre -born babies.

30:14

I don't know if you know this, but a few weeks ago we had Seth Gruber as our speaker. And so he was able to tell us some of the things that he's been seeing happening.

30:24

And also I heard Jeff Durbin. I don't know if you're familiar with him, but he's part of a pro -life movement.

30:32

And they're working right now like actively about to pass a legislation in Arizona to make all abortions illegal.

30:42

So it won't be the first state. There's at least one other state that he mentioned that that's happening in. This is the civil rights issue of our day.

30:49

This is what slavery was 150 years ago. It is standing up for the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

30:59

So I don't have any hesitation about campaigning for this issue.

31:06

And honestly, I think millennials are attracted to the same thing.

31:15

I mean, there were a lot of young people who voted for Trump this year. Now, not all of them.

31:22

I mean, my own grandchildren. I shouldn't even tell you this probably, but they were

31:28

Biden supporters. I think they were taken in by all of this, but I've been talking to them about it.

31:34

But I think millennials understand that there are some civil rights that are threatened by socialism and communism that are embraced by Christians.

31:49

It was Christians who changed the Roman Empire from a society that would leave babies out to perish and would euthanize the old people into a place where human life was viewed with dignity as men and women who were created in the image of God.

32:10

And that is a profound message. We have that going on our side, that the dignity and humanity and hopefulness of human life is something the

32:22

Bible embraces. And that is a very hard message to counter.

32:28

I think we have a stronger message, even politically, than we realize when we talk about these issues.

32:37

So, Pastor Morgan, we saw that you went to Washington, D .C. on September 26th.

32:43

Can you tell us a little more about your time there? Well, I took my nephew and we went up a couple of days early.

32:50

I wanted to go to the Museum of the Bible with him, which I've been to before, but it was so mobbed with people we couldn't even get in, really.

33:00

But we were part of the prayer march there. There were so many people that we, you know, even communications broke down.

33:10

We were supposed to be able to hear in our ears and through our phones the instructions and the prayers, but there were so many people that the networks broke down.

33:20

So, you know, we just wandered around after the initial opening at the

33:26

Lincoln Memorial. We just made our way to the Capitol praying. But the number of people there was amazing.

33:33

There is a very strong nucleus of evangelical believers in the

33:39

United States that know that the gospel is true, that Jesus rose from the dead, that he's coming again.

33:48

This is a message that is expanding. And I think, you know, the devil sent

33:54

COVID to try to close down churches. He sent the media to try to silence us.

34:00

But do you remember what Gamaliel said in the Book of Acts? And this man was not even a

34:06

Christian, but he said to the Sanhedrin, he said, you had better not oppose these people, because if this movement is from God, it cannot be stopped.

34:18

You cannot stop it. And that is true today for the Church of Jesus Christ. We are unstoppable, because it is not from us.

34:29

It is from God. It is what God is doing in this world. And, you know, it's interesting to me that the greatest church growth in the world today is reported to be in the nation of Iran.

34:42

And the Ayatollahs are doing everything they can to stop it. But the church is growing there.

34:49

And I'm just I am prophetically optimistic. I'm a prophetic optimist.

34:56

Things may, from time to time, seem discouraging. But the Lord Jesus is in control of everything.

35:04

He is coming again. And he is doing his work in this world in the meantime. And I'm not going to be silenced.

35:12

And I'm not going to be discouraged. Amen. And I've been listening to your podcast, the one about what's bothering you, that series that you did.

35:26

And I really appreciate the things that you said. I think the first day that I listened, the first episode,

35:31

I was going through a lot of stuff. And I've been listening on my walks in the morning. And that morning, I was walking through the neighborhood with tears streaming down my face.

35:39

And if any of my neighbors saw me, they must have thought I was bananas. But that's okay. But I really appreciate it.

35:47

And maybe you could just briefly explain what you said about if you imagine the trinity around you with giving you a

35:55

Sharpie and a note card, right? Yeah, I'd be glad to. Yeah, my podcast is at RobertJayMorgan .com.

36:03

It's a free subscription to it. But suppose that God the

36:10

Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit just came down and surrounded you.

36:16

And they said, what are you anxious about? What are you worried about? And they gave you a three by five card and a

36:22

Sharpie and you wrote it down. What would they say? Well, my thesis is that God the

36:28

Father would say, do not fret. Because Psalm 37 says, do not fret because of evildoers, nor be anxious because of the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut off.

36:43

And it goes on to say, delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Wait graciously and patiently for him.

36:52

And, you know, Psalm 37 is the Bible's definitive passage against anxiety.

36:59

Jesus would say, do not worry about tomorrow. Look at the birds of the air.

37:04

Look at the flowers of the field. Why do you worry about what you will eat or drink or about what you will wear?

37:10

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you.

37:17

That's from Matthew chapter six. And God, the Holy Spirit would say through the pen of the

37:23

Apostle Paul and Philippians chapter four, do not be anxious about anything.

37:29

But in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God that passes all understanding will be with you.

37:40

So God the Father in Psalm 37 says, do not fret. Jesus says in Matthew six, do not be worried.

37:48

And the Holy Spirit says through Paul and Philippians four, do not be anxious about anything.

37:54

So I deal with those. I do an exposition of those three passages, you know, on my podcast.

38:01

And I will tell you, they have encouraged me because I'm given to anxiety.

38:06

It's very easy for me. In fact, you know, I've been anxious this week, but I keep going back to those great definitive passages, the anti -anxiety passages of the

38:19

Bible. Yes. I especially like the one of Psalm 37 and putting in my own personal, like putting in my name.

38:28

And when it says like, do not fret, it will only lead to harm. And I put in a specific kind of harm that it could lead to that I wrestle with.

38:37

So personalizing the passage really makes it makes a big difference. So that's true.

38:44

Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's wife, said to find a verse and put your name in it. And I've always thought that was great advice.

38:52

Just find a verse and put your name in it. That's what my friend

38:57

Gwen, who is here, she always reminds us to do that, too, in our small group. So Cheryl is with us.

39:04

And Cheryl wanted to go ahead and turn her microphone on and ask you a specific question.

39:09

Sure. Hello, Pastor Morgan. Hello, Cheryl.

39:15

How are you? I'm fine. I know you don't know me, but I've seen you preach

39:20

Shadow Mountain many times. I live in San Diego. And like you,

39:28

I recently lost my husband. And when I found out that your wife had died,

39:36

I was crying for days because I know how much that hurts.

39:42

And I searched the Bible for hope in, you know, what living alone now means without my spouse.

39:58

And I was wondering if you could address that since you're now in the same place.

40:06

Yes. Well, I'm still adjusting to it, Cheryl. I have the hardest time in the evenings.

40:14

I don't know what to do with my evenings now because Katrina and I had a routine. I would fix supper and we'd watch something on TV and I'd get her to bed.

40:24

And, you know, during the day, I stay busy. But in the evenings, I haven't quite.

40:31

It's been a year and I've not quite adjusted to that. But I am happy that she's in heaven.

40:42

I can see her in my mind's eye walking and leaping and joyful in heaven and being reunited with her mother and with my parents and being with the

41:01

Lord Jesus. And that gives me a great deal of joy. And none of us are here for very long on this earth.

41:09

And the Lord still has work for you and for me to do. If he didn't, he would have taken us on to heaven.

41:16

So I feel like that I need to finish the work that God gave for Katrina and me to do.

41:23

So I just keep myself busy. And I just bought a new commentary on the book of Acts and in the evenings

41:31

I read it. I may watch a TV show to wind down before I go to bed, something innocent and simple.

41:41

But I stay busy. I get up in the morning and have my devotions and spend time with the

41:48

Lord. I say, what do you want me to do today? I've got, you know, things that I can do for him.

41:58

And I just try to stay busy. And then in the evenings, I try to keep myself occupied until I can go to bed a little bit earlier than I used to and try to get a good night of sleep.

42:13

But we can't stop living. Our spouses wouldn't want us to.

42:19

Jesus doesn't want us to. We have a reunion coming up. And between now and then we just have to do whatever

42:26

God calls us to do. So I'm not going to sit around moping or feeling sorry for myself.

42:34

I have a lot of grief, but I have a lot of joy and purpose in life too.

42:40

So I would just encourage you not to give up and, you know, to process grief the way we all have to do, but to realize that if God wanted to have taken us to heaven with our spouse, he would have, but he still has work for us to do.

42:59

And so we must be about our father's business. That's about all

43:05

I know to say at this point. You know, maybe a year from now, I'll have figured it out better.

43:11

But at this point, that's about all I know to say. Well, thank you for that.

43:16

That was encouraging. And I'll look forward to a book on it. Well, I don't know.

43:23

I don't know. But, you know, the Bible says that he will never leave us or forsake us.

43:32

And I need that promise. So I just hold on to it.

43:38

You know, there's a verse of the hymn, Haferma Foundation, that says the soul that on Jesus hath lain for repose

43:49

I will not, I will not desert to expose. That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

43:58

I will never, no, never, no, never forsake. Amen.

44:08

Wow. Well, thank you for sharing that part. And, you know, you mentioned watching a

44:14

TV show, an innocent TV show as you're falling asleep. And I know this is going to sound a little bit funny, but I've realized because I have the

44:24

Amazon Fire TV stick, and so I can listen to things on YouTube.

44:29

So I've been listening to some of our past creation fellowships some nights when I'm falling asleep.

44:35

And my mom just mentioned that she's been listening to Bible Gateway. You can listen to the

44:41

Bible being read. She fell asleep to listening to Psalm 37 being read.

44:47

So. That's, that's wonderful. We need to develop those practices because, you know, what, what you are thinking about when you fall asleep stays in your subconscious mind all night long.

45:04

And I've learned. There was a novel I was listening to a spy novel, and I would listen to it before I fell asleep and I began dreaming as being chased by bad guys and everything else.

45:20

And I realized I can't do this. I've got to, I've got to have something wholesome in my mind before I go to bed.

45:27

I changed my habits. So you're absolutely right, Terry. Well, just so that you know, last night

45:34

I was being chased or having some kind of an emergency while you were waiting for our fellowship to start and nobody else was here to help me.

45:42

It was all, it was all my responsibility and I and I had to delay starting like 30 or 60 minutes because there was some emergency going on and you were so patient.

45:54

Well, we, you know, our, our dreams reveal what is on our subconscious minds.

46:07

And if there are fears inside of us, they often show up in our dreams.

46:13

And so I try before I fall asleep to think of three things to thank the

46:21

Lord for in that day. And I just say, Lord, thank you for this and for this and for this and and then

46:32

I have some Bible verse usually that that if I wake up in the middle of the night, I'll go to that Bible verse.

46:39

So we have to to condition our minds scripturally because If we don't, the world was just run roughshod over us, but the power of the

46:53

Word of God in their minds. That's a very powerful tool. And that's the, that's a really great suggestion.

47:02

So Michael would like to hear a little bit about your testimony. Could you share your testimony of how you became a

47:07

Christian. Yes, you know, the funny thing is, I cannot remember not being a

47:14

Christian. I grew up in a Christian family. I heard the gospel.

47:21

You know, as early as I can remember. And I do not remember the exact moment when

47:29

I received Christ the Savior. It seems like I've always known him, but I do remember a time when

47:35

I was 11 or 12 years old and we had a preacher that came to our church and he said, if you

47:42

Have never received Christ to save your you need to do that tonight.

47:48

And I went home and I was troubled because I didn't know whether I had really actually received

47:55

Christ to save your or not. And I went into the bathroom. And closed the door and knelt down by the bathtub and said,

48:03

Dear Lord, if I have never received Jesus as Savior. I want to do that right now.

48:09

And I have assurance of salvation from that moment. I don't know the date, but I was 11 or 12 years old.

48:17

Now as a teenager. You know, like a lot of teenagers. I didn't really understand very much about what life was about.

48:28

But at 19 years old. I had a man challenged me about my spiritual commitment and I knelt down at the end of the dormitory hall and South Carolina.

48:41

I was 19 years old. It was September the third of 1971 and as seriously as I knew how

48:49

I yielded myself fully to the Lord Jesus Christ. And to me, that was the turning point in my whole life.

48:58

Everything in life changed from that day. Now I think I was saved before then. But, you know, we come to a point where we recognize that vocationally and and every way.

49:14

Jesus has to be absolutely the Lord of our lives. And to me, that was the evening when

49:20

I settled that Then when I was 23 I think

49:27

I was 23 I was trying to figure out what to do with my life and I went out one evening in a canoe and just said,

49:34

Lord, what do you want me to do And it's as though he whispered back and said, I want you to be a pastor.

49:41

And so from that moment on, I felt like that God wanted me to be a pastor. And then

49:47

I got married. We pastored together for 43, 42 years of our 43 years and then

49:54

I had to Leave that full time pastor role to take care of my wife and now

50:01

I'm just in a post pastoral ministry. I miss being a senior pastor, but I feel like that God has given me this time to preach and to teach and Write and to create resources.

50:15

So I'm just trying to take advantage of every day for the Lord. But, you know, that in a summary is my testimony.

50:23

I think we We go through stages, you know, from Sometimes we we go through stages in our

50:35

Christian life and I feel like that I received them as Savior as a child.

50:41

I found assurance. Real assurance when I was 11 or 12 I yielded myself and full surrender.

50:48

When I was 19 I felt called to vocational ministry when I was 23

50:53

And here I am at 68 still trying to grow in Jesus. So that's, that's sort of the summary of my testimony,

51:01

Michael. You know, that's, that's the short version of it. I tell the longer version and a book that I wrote called

51:11

Always Near and that's available on Amazon or from my website.

51:18

About and it's a book on the presence of God in our lives and it's called Always Near and I opened that book by sort of sharing more fuller my testimony.

51:33

Okay. Thank you. That was, that was excellent. I I like what

51:41

Pastor Jeremiah said one time, and I know you know him well. I grew up in a

51:48

Christian home as well. And my mom is a pastor and we had, I would say, like him, we had a drug problem when

51:55

I was a kid. Every time the doors opened at church, we got drugged to church, so That's right.

52:00

It's a good problem. It is a good problem. It's a foundation, though. It does.

52:06

I You know, Some people have a dramatic conversion testimony of the moment they receive

52:16

Christ as Savior. And I used to be frustrated because I didn't have that exact moment.

52:22

When I knew I became a Christian, but I came to realize what a blessing that is to grow up in a

52:31

Christian environment and maybe progressively you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

52:37

But you are spared from so much of the rugged edges of life that so many people experience so You know, my,

52:50

I hope my own daughters appreciate having grown up in a Christian environment.

52:55

It really is, is a blessing. That's, that's the way every child should grow up in the nurture and admonition of the

53:02

Lord. So, Pastor Morgan, you've been able to go and visit a lot of different churches,

53:09

I think, especially since you're not a senior, senior pastor anymore. That's one of the things that's probably part of your ministry that it's easier for you to go in and travel and fill in places.

53:20

Right. So, um, what it, what about, do you have a story that would be the most interesting place that you've ever gone

53:29

Well, I loved being in Ghana, a couple of years ago. I realized that the people of Ghana are by nature so happy so joyful.

53:45

You can see it in the streets and there are so many Christians and Ghana, the, the gospel is just spread through that land and I was

53:59

Speaking in the conference with people from many different nations and there was a young man from Vietnam and he had tattoos on his arm and I said,

54:11

What are those tattoos and he said, Well, When I was growing up.

54:17

I wanted three things love and life and eternity.

54:25

And he said, I didn't know where to find them. But I had those symbols tattooed on my arms. And later, he said,

54:32

I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ and that fulfilled those items that I'd had tattooed and he said,

54:40

Now I'm trying to do everything that I can to spread that message throughout Vietnam so You know, there is a growing our family is growing

54:57

Our Christian family on this planet is growing. It could be that Canada and America are a little bit harder

55:07

Western Europe is a little bit harder right now. I think we're we're needing a revival.

55:14

But when you look globally, the Church of Jesus Christ around the world is growing.

55:21

More than it ever has before. And we just need to stay encouraged and recognize that We have brothers and sisters new ones every single hour on this planet and we'll meet them all in heaven, but God is doing something in this world and I love traveling around and getting some exposure to that.

55:54

I'm sorry, I lost your voice. That was my fault. Okay, so you have quite a few books about hymns that then sings my soul is that the name of your hymn books.

56:08

Yeah, the story. The stories behind them. Yeah, I love contemporary

56:14

Christian music. So I'm a great fan of the freshest music, but I don't want us to lose the great hymns of the faith.

56:22

They mean so much to me and And they keep coming back into my mind.

56:28

And one of the problems with today's music is it doesn't last very long. I was talking to a one of America's premier worship leaders today and he was talking about the song.

56:42

That you know that God is a good, good father. That was a very popular and and I mean it hit the top of the charts.

56:53

About three years ago, and now we never sing it anymore. I mean, it came and went

56:59

And the problem with that is that we need to have some lifelong music songs that we sing when we're five when we're 10 when we're 20 when we're 30 when we're 40 songs that we know when we're 60 when we're 70s.

57:18

We need some great stories and songs that stay in our hearts forever and and then your music is coming and going so quickly that that people aren't learning it.

57:32

And so I'm an advocate for including hymns and every worship service.

57:38

And my book then sings my soul. My series of books. I hope you know helps propel that message.

57:45

So we have a few of us are asking the same question is, do you have a favorite him story.

57:53

Well, one of my favorites is the story behind blessed assurance. This is

57:58

Fannie Crosby, who was the blind him writer of the late 1800s. She lived in near poverty in New York City worked in the rescue mission should have been blinded from infancy, but she had a very wealthy friend named

58:14

Phoebe nap. Phoebe had a mansion in Brooklyn and Fannie would go over and visit very often and Fannie Crosby went over one day and Phoebe nap said

58:25

I've written the music. To a song, but I don't know what the song is.

58:31

Let me play it for you. And she played it and Fannie Crosby clap their hands.

58:37

That little blind lady and she said that music says blessed assurance. Jesus is mine.

58:44

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine and she wrote the words immediately. And that was how we gained the great him blessed assurance.

58:53

Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine and I just think it's so amazing how that music and message came together so immediately there and the music room of that nap mansion in Brooklyn.

59:11

That's a great story. I love, I love her story about how she talks about how

59:20

She doesn't count her blindness. She didn't count her blindness as a as a bad thing because one of the things that she was excited about was that when she got to heaven.

59:30

The first face that she would ever see was Jesus. Yeah, she was only six weeks old and she developed an eye infection and a doctor or a quack doctor came by and prescribed the poltergeist for her eyes that blinded her

59:48

Or she was narrowly blind. She could see light and darkness and and you know some vague shadows, but basically she was blind.

59:56

But as a result of that she came to memorize vast amounts of scripture. Now she wasn't saved until she was in her 40s.

01:00:05

But after she was converted that scripture made its way through her mind and to hymns and she would compose hymns by the hundreds and thousands to God be the glory and all the way my

01:00:21

Savior leads me and blessed assurance and so many of them. You know, it was, it was something only

01:00:28

God could have done. Okay, well, Pastor Morgan, if you want to share one more time that your website and also maybe just a brief

01:00:42

Reminder again about the hope that we can take with us tonight. Yeah, my website is robertjmorgan .com

01:00:49

and so all of my resources are there on my podcast and also on Facebook and Instagram.

01:00:57

I put a one minute sermon every day. 59 seconds. So people

01:01:04

I'm preaching through the Bible minute by minute. So I would love for people to visit my social media pages.

01:01:12

We, you know, elections come and go. Jesus is here to stay.

01:01:20

Presidents and Congress's come and go, they rise and fall nations and empires arise and then they they, you know, disappear into the mists of history.

01:01:36

But God is sovereign. Jesus is coming. We are his kingdom.

01:01:43

We are embedded in this world to do his will. Whether it's Nero, whether it's the mission, whether it's

01:01:50

Charlemagne, whether it's Henry VIII, whether it's Trump, whether it's Biden. Those things come and go, but Jesus Christ remains true forever.

01:02:03

The same yesterday, today and forever. And we are serving him. So we've got to keep our eyes on him and And do whatever he's called us to do as long as we're in this world.

01:02:16

And then we'll be gathered to him. We'll work till Jesus comes and we'll be gathered home.

01:02:22

And that's, that's my great belief, my hope and my assurance.

01:02:29

Amen. Well, thank you so much for joining us. We're going to go ahead and stop our recording and stop our live stream.