In the three and a half years I ministered as a public messenger of the Christian gospel, it seemed that just about everybody was an expert when it came to the Bible. To the clever and the sophisticated, it was a book of out-dated ancient literature used by the religious, the political or otherwise, to control the ignorant, the superstitious or otherwise. To the not-so-clever and the not-so- sophisticated, it was, “one of a number of books that contained a few truths and guidelines for mankind to live by, but written only by men.” To others who had no clue as to what it was, they told me it was, ” just a load of *!*!*! rubbish!”
Most of the people who gave me these opinions had never read the Bible. I found that fascinating. Here I was, talking with people from all walks of life, who in every sense seemed to be of sound mind, giving me their expert opinions on a book they had never read. I can think of no other situation where people could offer such opinions and get away with it. Their foolishness would show up very quickly. Nobody would give those opinions to a doctor, mechanic, truck driver, teacher or pilot etc, about the books they had studied for their qualifications. They wouldn’t dare do that. Bible-believers are accused by anti-Bible-believers as being, “so self-righteously right!” I found/find that interesting too, because of their great failure to acknowledge this same trait in themselves.
It’s true what the Bible says about the foolishness of the worldly wise. It’s also true what it tells us about the god of this age who has blinded the minds of those who do/will not believe. Yet again, the Bible is true when it tells us that if people continue to stubbornly disbelieve God, He Himself will personally see to it that they remain in such a state 2 Thessalonians 2:11. For some people, there were very deep hurts and bitterness underpinning their opinions, as they had suffered badly at the hands of God’s “leaders” and “followers” in the “church.” They were reluctant to receive His ministry of release, nevertheless.
Many whom I spoke with could quote Scriptures to back up their biases, but in every case they were quoting those same Scriptures out of context. Others attempted to interpret New Testament Scripture in the light of Old Testament Scripture instead of the other way round and all were ignorant of the New Covenant (new agreement) God has made, which supersedes the Old Covenant made with the Jews. In other words, they knew something of God’s Old Testament Law, but nothing about His New Testament grace (undeserved, unmerited favours towards us).
Another important statement needs to be made here. These same people were ignorant of the fact that they had no right to quote the word of God, whilst rejecting the God of the word Psalm 50:16-23. I found also, sadly, that these people saw the Bible as a book of rules. They had no idea that the Scriptures were given to us so that we could each come into accurate knowledge of God and then develop a loving relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ, under the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit. They rejected the Bible’s “rules,” but were quick to replace them with their own and lay them on me if that were possible.
One who holds their own set of rules and standards can never be ridiculed to the degree that a non-compromising Bible-believer can be ridiculed either. Why not? Because theirs are not written down for the whole world to judge, and, in any case, are subject to change at their mere wish or whim. Whereas, ours are written down for the whole world to judge and are not subject to change. The one who stands for something is also a threat to the one who stands for anything or nothing. If he thought he could get away with it, modern day compromising Cain would kill modern day non-compromising Abel in the twinkling of an eye. Nothing has changed about human nature.
A Bible-rejector can stand on his or her head and look sideways to New York in their denial of the Bible being God’s word if they so wish, but that will change absolutely nothing. Here’s why. The New Testament tells us that the kingdom of God is not a matter of words, but of power 1 Corinthians 4:20; 1 Thessalonians 1:5. In other words, the word of God lives. It is far more than mere black ink on white paper, like all other books. For a Christian, that should be the end of all arguments. In fact, there’s no need to argue. One who has experienced the truth and the reality of that power, is never ever at the mercy of the one who hasn’t. End of story.
Let me tell you a little of what I experienced of that power when ministering to others, because this is where the rubber meets the road. The power of God’s word may never show up in a seminary, Bible college, or church gathering, but it will always show up for a non-compromising Bible-believer, when he or she comes face to face with Satan the devil and his henchmen. How would one know that they were face to face with such? Only by studying the nature and character of these beings as revealed in the Bible. No other book on earth gives such revelation. Only in the Bible do we read of their origin, their work, their future and, their subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ at all times.
Only in the Bible do we read that Jesus tells His followers that we have all power and authority over these beings. In His name we cast them out, just like He did. I didn’t argue with that. I took it at face value and went out and did the same thing. How did Satan and his henchmen show up back then? Just like he does today. He showed up in human beings – good people, bad people, sad people, mad people. He showed up in the sophisticated and in the non-sophisticated; in the educated and in the non-educated; in the religious and in the non-religious. He showed up in the angry and in the pacifist – you name it.
Demons live in people. They need a body to express themselves in. I never bothered giving my ear to one who wished to dispute that. The one who had the demon/s wouldn’t dispute that either – most knew by experience! One insane young man met me in his kitchen. He held a two-litre container of milk to his lips and drank from it. His mouth received much less than that of his clothes and the floor, but when He finished he laughed and said, “I’ve got a demon in me.” I said, “Yes you have and more than one too.” I named some of them. He had a demon of insanity, gluttony, sexual lust and perversion. He agreed, but he wanted to keep them. He didn’t want to get released.
A Christian man came for counselling. He had a spirit (demon) of filth, violence, bitterness and rejection. He told us that he was sexually assaulted as a very young child, again he was seduced by an eighteen year-old boy when he was ten, he became a “peeping tom” who loved looking at women getting undressed and he used to beat up on his wife. At some point in his life he allowed these things to posses him. He didn’t want them any more so he got serious with the Lord and over the next few hours he got released. On-going ministry took place so as he could be grounded in the Scriptures – his only effective weapon against the demonic.
A Christian lady was in traction after a fall. Her sister, my wife and myself prayed for her and after the prayer she said that the pain got worse. I layed my hand on her forehead and asked the Holy Spirit to reveal what was going on. The lady then said she had deep unforgiveness. I asked her to confess it to God and forgive the person, saying if she did so He would honour her prayer. She did that and her healing came. Released by the power of God’s word. For years she had been bound by a demon of unforgiveness and didn’t know it. All she did know was that no matter how hard she had previously tried to get rid of her feelings over the years, nothing worked.
A Christian married couple rang seeking help because their ten year-old son came to their bedroom one night informing them that Satan appeared to him and told him to kill his parents. The parents did not dismiss this as, “silly nonsense.” They took it seriously. Rather than talk to the son we thought it better to ask the parents to come and talk. For the devil to come to a child, the question we always asked was, “how did he get access? Who gave him the legal right?” Usually it’s the parents because of either their involvement in the occult or someone in the family line.
We worked with the father first. His mother was a dominating woman, a hypnotist and into seances etc. She never wanted her son and told him often. He was born with a twisted leg and was put in a girl’s nightgown to hide it at night. He always sought for her approval but never got it. He hated his mother, brothers and sisters. He dressed in women’s clothes and underwear. He was into pornography. The man was controlled by the demons of rejection, anger, hatred, domination, fear of failure, lust, immorality, pornography and guilt. He had brought the devil and his demons into his home.
When this man saw the reality of what God showed him, he repented and asked to be released. Those demons put up a fight. They had resided within him for many years and did not go easily. But go they did – everyone of them. He was set free by the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His biblical word. The man’s wife was next. Her father was in the Masonic Lodge. He committed suicide. Her mother was an alcoholic who was also into the occult and practiced witchcraft. The lady openly shared her background with us and we were able to show her that the demons controlling her were: rejection, hatred, bitterness, criticism, selfishness, fear, anger, low self-esteem, self-blame and guilt.
Like her husband, she too had given the devil legal right to be in their home. This dear lady was heavily pregnant and I did not want her to go through the deliverance struggle that her husband had experienced. So I prayed about that and God answered immediately. Every one of those demons left that lady without a struggle. She yawned and coughed a couple of times and they were gone. A miracle took place before us all and she knew it by experience. She said she had never experienced such freedom before.
Both parents were worried about their son because he too “had some of these things.” God made it very clear to them that they need no longer be concerned. The devil and his demons had been cast out. That dear couple went back to their own suburb and church with a new respect for God and the power, authority, love, mercy, forgiveness, peace and healing that He’s revealed in His living, written word – the Bible. “Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19.