I was born into the Morrison family on June 3, 1948 in Hebron, PEI, Canada. My parents raised three boys and three girls on a family farm in the country. But I also had another birth. I was born again on June 21, 1968.
John 3:3 (KJV)
… Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The following is the account of what happened to me as a result of the working of the Holy Spirit of God.
We always went to Sunday School and church as a family when I was growing up. My mother was a born again Christian – or as the Bible puts it, saved. We had a neighbor who was a farmer and he attended the same church. He and my father had grown-up together in the same community and spent time trading work back and forth between each other.
In 1958 an evangelist named Frank Roebuck came to our area to have special Gospel services in the church. Several were saved at that time, including our neighbor, Foster Hierlihy.
As I grew into my teen years and finished high school, I became a fulltime farmer. Quite often I would work closely with Foster Hierlihy. Because of the life he lived, I was convinced he had something I did not have. I would later discover what Foster had that I didn’t have was the gift of God.
Romans 6:23 (KJV)
… the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
On one occasion Foster told me the story of the Passover from Exodus Chapter 12. It’s the account of how the children of Israel were in bondage to Pharaoh the king of Egypt. God promised to bring them out of Egypt and he would use the death of every firstborn in the land of Egypt to accomplish it.
God’s word to Moses was that he would smite the firstborn of every creature in the land of Egypt at midnight.
But God instructed the children of Israel to take a lamb without blemish, keep it to prove it over a four day period and at that time they were to kill the lamb and catch its blood in a basin. That blood was to be applied to the upper and side doorposts of their house, because God said in Exodus 12:23 (NIV) ‘when I see the blood, I will pass over you‘ and the firstborn in the house with blood on the doorposts were spared. That night in Egypt, the firstborn child in every family died, but those who were protected by the blood were saved.
This story is a great illustration of God’s salvation.
Ephesians 1:7 (KJV)
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins …
On June 20th, 1968 I went to see Foster to seek advice about a farm purchase. I drove over to his place and he got in my truck and we talked until the scho9ol bus came. At that point Foster said: “Arnold is not driving the bus.“
This is significant as Arnold was my future father in law and it turns out that he and his wife had been in an accident which put her in the hospital with serious injuries. We went to Summerside that evening to visit her and on the way home I said to Esther:
“I am not saved, what am I going to do?” to which she replied “Only believe.”
Acts 16:31 (KJV)
… Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …
On June 21st, 1968 I was working in the field below out house repairing the fence, thinking about the message I had heard the day before the car accident and my soul.
At that point my thinking had been about how good my life had been. Never once do I remember taking the Lord’s name in vain. I never drank, smoked, or did drugs. I paid one hundred cents on the dollar and because I was so interested in farming, I had never gone to a dance or partied, and Esther was my only girlfriend. I thought I was doing all that God required of me. I was self righteous.
Mark 2:17 (KJV)
… I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
I was in the darkness of my sins.
Colossians 1:13 (KJV)
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son
I was in unbelief!
Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
I was travelling down the broad and crowded road that the Lord said leads to hell and the Lake of Fire forever. (Matthew 7:13) While thinking on these things, the verse from John came into my mind:
John 3:18 (KJV)
He that believeth on him (Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
At that point I became convicted by the Holy Spirit of God that I was condemned already in the sight of God and heading down to hell and the Lake of Fire.
I knew that Christ died for sinners and thought if Christ dies for sinners (and he did) and I’m a sinner (and I was), therefor Christ died for Me!
Romans 5:8 (KJV)
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
That was the first time in my life that I realized why Christ dies. He died for me! My sins deserved eternal death, but Jesus died for Me!
That is how I received the same thing Foster had, the Gift of God, eternal life, through Jesus Christ out Lord. I have assurance of that from the scriptures and God says that we can know because of what His word says.
1 John 5:13 (KJV)
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Are you saved and sure of Heaven?
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