Morris Grovum – End of Convention Quiz - Penang 2009
This is the last day of our convention; and for some it’s the last day
of our convention season. Some have had just one and some have had two:
Singapore and Pt Dickson. When we were at school, at the end of year;
there would be a little examination. So today I am going to give you a
little quiz and have 9 different questions to ask. If you are taking
notes you can write them down but should you disagree with the teacher,
please come to me after the class.
I would like to share a little
of my experience. I heard the gospel when I was 22 years old; I was
cat-napping for 22 years. Then I went into the work in 1969; and that
was 40 years ago, but I feel I am still in kindergarten. At first my
Mother and Father were opposed to the gospel, but then they softened up
and both made their choice. I would see my Father reading his Bible and
then he would pray. And he was faithful until he passed away at 92 years
of age, having had a stroke a few days before. My Mother made shipwreck
four or five years after she made her choice. I had a birthday coming
up and she asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and because there
were friends coming over. I said, “All I want is a better Mother.” I was
home a couple of years ago. It was on a Sunday afternoon and we had a
gospel meeting and Mother went with me. She said, “Morris I hope you
won’t be too disappointed if I don’t make my choice today.” That showed
me something was troubling her. This week there were three funerals. One
of our friends going home from a Wednesday night meeting and there was a
head-on crash and she was killed. The only certain thing about life is
that it is uncertain!
Well, Question No. 1: There are two places
where God dwells. You children, where is one place God dwells? In
heaven? Yes, that’s right, but where else does God dwell? He dwells in
the hearts of his people. John 14:23 “If a man love me, he will keep my
words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make
our abode with him.”
About 15 years ago my companion and I were
called to a funeral on a Wednesday afternoon. That night we had a
meeting and the local school teacher had just arrived there. She pulled
up and asked the folks of the home, “Can I come to your Bible study
meeting?” She stood up and started asking questions, so we told her we
would answer her questions afterwards. After, when we were leaving, she
said, “God loves every one.” But I said, “One thing I know, God loves us
a little more.” Later she said, “That’s right – “If a man love me, he
will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto
him and make our abode with him.” Yes, God loves the whole world, but
God loves his own a little more – his children. And he and his Father
will come and dwell in their hearts.
Question No. 2: And this is a
little harder. Now, we believe in the devil, and where does the devil
dwell? And this was a surprise to me. In Revelation 12:7, 8 and 9 “And
there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him.” This is a vision of what had happened. He was cast out
into the world and his angels were cast out with him.
So, when we
step out from this convention it’s into enemy territory! The devil has
no other place to dwell and the devil is not just floating around in the
air, but wants to dwell in the lives of people. He’s not floating
around in the air, but he comes on two legs! I wondered when Jesus was
tempted by the devil if he came on two legs? “You are the Son of God:
you can make these stones into bread. Look after yourself first: think
of yourself first!” But Jesus said, “It is written man shall not live by
bread alone but by every word of God.” “He may have come if you were
the Son of God; you know Caesar who is the Emperor – when he snaps his
finger the whole world has to jump.” But that was a lie, so maybe he
came to Jesus on two legs. “You can throw yourself down from this wall
and God will lift you up.” I don’t know how the devil came to Eve in the
Old Testament because it says the serpent came. But the devil said to
her, “You can serve God and you can serve yourself. You can partake of
the tree of knowledge and good and evil.” The tree of life is Jesus, but
the tree of knowledge is the dependency in every life! We can make our
own choices and refuse what’s wrong. Where did Eve make her mistake? She
started discussing these things with the devil; and the second thing
was, she should have gone to her husband.
Did you know that the
devil has children? You read about that in John’s epistles. Did you know
the devil has ministers? II Corinthians 11:13 “For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel
of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their works.” The devil is a professional. You see him
sometimes with three horns; but he came to Eve with words. He wants to
come and he’s his own minister. He poses as a minister of righteousness.
But Satan himself was transformed into an angel of light. They dress up
like ministers of righteousness. Satan means opposer. The dragon means
cruel, and the devil is deceitful! Peter said, “The devil is a roaring
lion seeking whom he can devour.” You just have to resist him; we don’t
have to fight him. What’s an example? A few years ago in Saskatchewan,
one of our friends was in hospital; and they have over ten different
denominations there. This man knew all too well that our friend, Martin,
had a Sunday morning meeting in his home. Well, this minister came in
and asked, “What church do you go to?” And Martin said, “The same one
that you read of in the Bible.”
In South Africa a worker told us
of a boy and his mother. His mother told him, “If you ever see a lion
coming at you to attack, don’t run, because he will have you for supper.
Turn around and stare the lion in his eyes.” So, the boy listened. A
few years later when he was walking down this trail, he was 15 years
old, and there was a lion. The first thing he thought of was running,
but he stared at that lion. The lion came right up at him, pawed at the
ground a bit, then turned around and left. We have nothing to be ashamed
of; nothing to apologize for. But if there’s somebody seeking and
searching, I just like to tell them, “I’m part of the church that you
read of in the New Testament.” Someone else said, “I belong to the only
church you read about in the New Testament.”
Question No. 3:
Where is the verse in the Bible that says God’s way is light? I love the
words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 11:28-30 “Come unto me all ye that
labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
So God’s way is not hard; God’s way is easy. The only thing that makes
God’s way hard is when we resist; when there’s rebellion inside us
that’s rebellious to God’s will. In Alberta, every winter they have this
demonstration of horses with their beautiful harnesses. We were
watching them, and one particular team seemed unmatched. One pony was
very resigned while the other one was jumping around against the
harness. That particular pony was all wet and sweated up. When a horse
starts to sweat, white foam covers him. For that little pony the way was
hard, whereas for the other one it was easy. If we are resisting the
way and will of God we are fighting and we get frustrated and the way
becomes hard. We may not think so if we are fighting on the inside. It’s
something that’s often on the outside. If we become a rebel it often
becomes evident on the outside. Just one sign is what a man or woman
does with their hair. The mark of a rebel for a man is when he lets his
hair grow long. If a woman is rebelling she starts chopping off her
hair. Most of the ladies in Vietnam have lovely, long hair, but one day a
young lady turned up and she wanted to demonstrate her rebellion. She
said she was trying to be a Buddhist and she is still fighting. But
Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I think of
those folks in Vietnam that carry loads on their shoulders. One time we
were on the beach and there was a little lady carrying water from the
ocean up to the restaurant. I said, “Let me carry that for you,” and I
tell you that load was heavy. But she knew how to carry her load.
There’s a certain way to do it and that’s with a willing heart. That
makes the burden lighter. I’m sure that lady didn’t put a couple of
stones in her load. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you for I am meek and
lowly in heart.” That’s part of the secret. Jesus was saying, “I am
meek and humble.” We often think those two things are the same. Meekness
is the fruit of the Spirit, and Jesus had wonderful meekness. If we can
take insult without resentment we have meekness. Who was insulted more
than Jesus? Have you ever had anyone call you a devil? That would be an
insult. I looked up the meaning of Beelzebub; and it meant Lord of the
devils. Jesus was meek and took insult without resentment. Humility is
having an understanding and acceptance.
Galatians 6:3 “If a man
think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth
himself.” We are just about 50kgs of dust. It’s so easy to be proud, but
proud people are easily offended. But if we are humble it doesn’t
matter what people tell you because if you are nothing, you won’t get
offended. A little girl got home and told her mother, “They told me I
look ugly.” And mother said, “What did you say?” She said, “I think you
look nice.” So Jesus was meek and humble. If we are meek and humble,
that makes the load lighter. There’s nothing heavier than to carry a
feeling of unforgiveness. That’s a heavy load.
Question No. 4:
How can you lower the standard of Jesus? We often hear that expression
that so-and-so lowered the standard of Jesus. We can live beneath the
standard if we want to, but you can’t lower the standard of Jesus. We
want to seek to uphold the standard of Christ. In Acts chapter 1:9 who
were there with Jesus? “When he had spoken these things, while they
beheld, he was taken up: and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold
two men stood by them in white apparel which also said, Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is
taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven.”
So it’s not going to be a 2009 version;
he’s going to come back the same Jesus that we are hearing about. He
will be looking for the same kind of church, the same kind of people and
the same kind of ministry. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and
forever, and we will all be judged by the word of Jesus. All mankind
will be judged by the very same kind of Jesus and the same words of
Jesus. We can live beneath it, if we want to; but the standard of Jesus
is fixed.
Question No. 5: When do you think the anti-Christ will
come? Some time in the future? No! 1st Epistle John chapter 2:18 “Little
children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that anti-Christ
shall come, even now are there many anti-Christs: whereby we know that
it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for
if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but
they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all
of us.” So the anti-Christ has been here 2,000 years. Chapter 4 tells us
what it is: “Beloved believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the
world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and
that is that spirit of anti-Christ, whereof ye have heard that it
should come; and even now already is it in the world.” The anti-Christ
spirit is a spirit that comes into the lives of people in false religion
that makes them think they have Christ, but they have something exactly
the opposite. Right away their face turns red and you can feel that
enmity. They hardly know what’s happening and they start to argue. Do
you know what it is? It’s the spirit of anti-Christ that’s fighting
against the Spirit of Christ.
Question No. 6: Ten times in the
Epistle of John he wrote about “my little children.” So where were the
big children? All the big children had gone out.
When I was home I
attended some twenty plus conventions, and I wondered, “Is it going to
be the same spirit at the next convention?” And what a thrill it was to
go from convention to convention amongst God’s people. If we ever get to
be big children we won’t last long. People with all the answers seem to
have all the problems. Good to have the spirit of a little child. When a
little child grows, he can grow up to be a perfect little child.
Question No. 7: What is the first thing that’s going to happen when
Jesus returns? The answer is in 1st Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.” The way I see it is: it’s those that have died
in Christ and are waiting for the resurrection. When Jesus comes he will
bring with him those souls and they will be reunited. Those that reside
on the earth; their bodies will be changed with the resurrection body
and God’s people will be caught up and taken from the earth. Jesus said
it will happen as fast as lightning. In one place where two will be in a
field, one will be taken and the other will be left.
Question
No. 8: Is that when every eye will see him? I think the answer is no! My
companion in the third year of the work was a great teacher. He said
there were two faces to Christ’s coming. He will come for his people;
and the next – he will come with his people. So, after Jesus comes there
is going to be a state of turmoil and tribulation on the earth. Matthew
24:27 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even
unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For
wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”
God put something in the eagle and that’s where they will be gathered
together. God put something in his people that we will be drawn to
Christ as we are drawn to Christ today. When you go on a vacation, what
do you do? Some of our friends when they go on a vacation, come Sunday,
they find out where the meeting is and they are there. Verse 29
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Jesus said
it would be like lightning, but he didn’t say anything about the
thunder. Verse 30 “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory.” That’s when Jesus will come for his people. I have several
verses of when Jesus will come with his people -1 Thessalonians 3:13 ”To
the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God,
even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his
saints.” First, he will come for his people. Then in the ages he will
come with his people. Between that time there will be terrible
tribulation on the earth. Enoch prophesied of this, and that’s when the
judgment day will happen. That’s not when Christ comes for his people
because he will come with his people – that’s when the marriage feast is
going to take place. Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and
every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him (the Jews):
and all kindred of the earth shall wail because of him.” If twenty buses
were to go over to the main land, we could all get on. But if there was
only one bus going, we would be left standing there. You plan to be on
the bus, but you are left behind. So who are those that will be left?
Jesus spoke of the ten virgins. The five foolish were right there with
the wise. They were thinking that these five virgins were foolish
carrying this extra oil; but they will be left. In the message to the
Laodiceans (Revelation 3:15) the Lord said, “I know thy works that thou
art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because
thou are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my
mouth.” Going to a meeting doesn’t make us a Christian. It’s like a
passport to another country. If you are going to another country you
need a visa; and that’s like having the Spirit of Christ.
Just
imagine the portion of those that are left. I think of four different
classes. Think of the prodigal who knows exactly what he should be
doing. They know where God’s people are, and they feel, “If I need it,
they are there.” That year I went home, a sister and some friends were
having lunch together in a café and this trucker fellow came in. So when
they went to pay their bill they were told, “That trucker that was
sitting over there, paid your bill.” Maybe he was someone who grew up in
a home, but he wasn’t willing. When Christ comes back there’s going to
be a class of people on the earth who will know what they should have
been doing. But they weren’t doing: and they will be in the midst of
this tribulation. The weeping will be of those who never knew there was
such a thing as God’s way. The wailing will be those who came right to
the door. And the gnashing of teeth are those who left it and walked
away! If they are living when Christ returns they will be caught in that
calamity that we read of in the 9th chapter Revelation verse 20 where
one third of everything happening, it says, “Yet they repented not of
the works of their hands.” It seems somehow, there’s an opportunity for
people to repent. I don’t think any of us want to be caught in that
time. When Jesus comes he is coming with power and glory. It’s going to
be a glorious time and he’s going to reign for 1,000 years on this
earth. Meekness is a terrific power. We read where every knee shall bow,
but in this day every knee will bow. Everyone will submit to the King
of kings on that day. So we have a terrific lot to look forward to in
following Jesus and walking in this way.
Question No. 9: What is
the last prayer in the Bible? It’s found in the second last verse of
Revelation chapter 22, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus. And the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” I hope that can be our prayer also,
“Come, Lord Jesus.”
Morris Grovum
