I knew a lot about religious guilt, that was one of the motivations as to why I chose the work of becoming a messenger of Jesus Christ’s gospel.  I wanted to tell others how to get rid of it.  That dear lady stood before me almost transfixed as I shared that message.  She had never heard it before.  I made it clear to her that Christ did not come into this world to put a guilt trip on us, but in fact, it was the exact opposite - He came to remove the guilt.  The surprised look on her face can not be described and had it not been for the Spirit of God confirming my words, she would have closed her door in unbelief.

A young man came to the door of a residence whose owners were away.  He had a paint brush in his hand so I used it as an analogy when sharing the gospel message.  He said that he had never really, “heard much about God and church,” but he often felt guilty because of his lack of knowledge and attendance.  His face was red with guilt as he said it.  His concept was that if he did go to church, it would make him a better person.  He was startled when I challenged that viewpoint.  I asked him, “a better person, in whose eyes?”

I then drew his attention to the brush by explaining that many church-goers see themselves discoloured like the walls of a room.  To brighten themselves up they go to church to get a paint-job and once they’re satisfied their “walls” have been “painted” through participation in the service, home they go with every intention of keeping the “walls” fresh and clean, but then the guilt trip comes on because somewhere along the line they’ve dirtied them again.  He looked at me strangely when I said that the greatest hindrance to knowing Jesus Christ, was the “paint brush.”

Jesus Christ is not in the painting business, He’s in the removal business.  The paint brush covers the dirt, but the reality is the dirt is still there under the surface no matter how efficient the brush and paint may be.  It’s the same with guilt.  No matter the quality and quantity of religious effort and practice, guilt will remain and control, if we have no personal relationship with the biblical Lord Jesus Christ.  Most religious practitioners do not believe that.  Others do believe it, but they prefer their own brush and paint in any case, because it keeps them in control.

I met countless religious and former religious practitioners with drinking problems.  That was another motivation why I chose to become a gospel messenger.  I could identify with these people.  Some drank to cover up guilt, others suffered guilt because they drank.  I called on an old religious lady who’s forty-seven year old son was in bed suffering with a bad liver, destroyed by booze.  At first he didn’t want to talk.  He thought I was a priest and he turned away with guilt.  I told him that I was not a priest, but that I had once been a heavy drinker.

I gained his full attention when I told him it was not the “religious’ Jesus who helped me to moderate my drinking, but rather the biblical Jesus.  He wanted to know the difference and I was pleased to tell him that he could find that out for himself simply by reading the gospel of John.  I told him that if he was serious about having his guilt removed then he must choose to believe and trust the promises written therein, as those from the Lord to him personally.  I then said, “Jesus is your only hope.”  He said, “I think you’re right.”  I said, “Prove it.” 

I explained to a young mother the purpose for my visit and immediately she began to cry as she told me she, “had not attended church for a long time.”  Her cry was not that of one who genuinely missed attending, it was a cry of guilt.  She had two young children and a new baby who kept her awake at night and it was during those times that, “I dwell on my sins and short-comings.”  Her guilt was far from alleviated by church-attending family members and friends either.  The words I spoke and the literature I left with her were designed to do so, however.

Guilt is a reality for all of us.  It comes as a result of sin and the Bible tells us all sin is an offence to God.  In fact guilt can really only be understood by relating it to God.  Sin has consequences.  But the good news of the Bible is that it reveals sin’s remedy too.  We see within its pages that in order to avoid its consequences, we must let God deal with our sin – and if we will do so – He deals with the guilt as well by removing it!  In Jesus Christ, we come face to face with the perfect remedy for those thoughts and acts committed that make us liable for judgement.

And New Testament Romans 8:33 tells us that once God has forgiven us and removed our sin and guilt, then nobody has the authority to put a guilt trip on us.  I am not saying that these people I spoke with were not guilty before God because of sin.  Perhaps they were.  But they had been lied to when they thought all they had to do to get rid of guilt was to, “come to church.”  From my experience I have found the church to be the one place where guilt can be freely spread around at no charge.  I am appalled at the number of Christians who receive such when they know they have received the free gift of Christ’s salvation.

A believer must expect to have guilt trips put on them by heathens, pagans, God-despisers, Christ-despisers, Bible-despisers and unbelievers of all kinds.  That is what they do.  It makes them feel better towards their own guilt.  Satan is a slanderer and an accuser and he uses those people for exactly that.  But, far too many Christians fail to hear him speaking through their own leaders, teachers, brothers and sisters and as a result, Satan is having a field-day in most church communities.  The Arch-enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ is very visible outside the church, but he can be well hidden inside, where he’s much more destructive.

I am suggesting that the reasons for the expressions of guilt in those people had to do with faulty concepts of God, based on known church rules, commands, formulas and traditions.  As a result, they perceived that if they were to attend, join and participate, then they would be meeting with God’s approval.  The reality is, they would not.  They would simply be meeting religious man’s approval.  The great enemy of religious man is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Why?  Because the gospel of Jesus Christ liberates.  It liberates all believers from obligations to meet religious man’s expectations.

So liberating is Christ’s gospel, that most people who people hear it and embrace it, eventually go on to inwardly believe that it cannot be that simple.  Inwardly they believe something like, “There must be more expected of me than this (simple faith & trust in the Lord to bring about His purposes within them).  Ably helped along by their leaders, teachers and peers, they then go on to develop guilt trips and act to overcome them by adding to the gospel.  Extra-biblical rules and traditions then set in and before they know it, out they go to impose the same on everyone else they meet.  

The Bible calls such additions and acts, self-righteousness.  The church is full of it and it is a putrid smell in the nostrils of God because it devalues the life and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ - the one and only Saviour and Solution to the world’s greatest problem – guilt.  “O foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?  This only I want to learn from you:  Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”  Galatians 3:1-3.            

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

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 womens 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 practised 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 sruggle.  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 scorpians and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”  Luke 10:19.    

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

She dare not miss the Ukrainian Catholic mass however.  She told me that if her attendance was limited to just this service (ours), then it would be as though she had not, “really been to church.”  Leila was one among millions of traditional religious practitioners to think and act this way.  She, like those millions, was not motivated by her love for God, she was motivated by her fear of God.  As the months went by we were able to share the true message of the gospel of Christ with her, which she readily accepted, but she still kept the double-service practice up for quite a long time afterwards.  Freedom in Christ is believed in the heads of many, but not in the hearts of many. 

Leila was a married lady, but she told me her husband Raymond, was not interested in attending either church, which concerned her because he was poor in health and, “if he was to die, where would he go?”  So she used to invite me to her home for coffee with the hope that I would get an opportunity to speak with him.  On the first couple of visits Raymond would come and sit for a while and we would talk about Ukraine, which genuinely interested me, because my friendship with two other Ukrainian families at that time, went back twenty-one years.

One time I called at their home uninvited.  Raymond came to the door looking like death-warmed-up, but he welcomed me with open arms – a complete transformation in comparison to previous visits.  He had been in bed so I asked him to hop back into it and that I would speak with him from there.  No sooner did he do that when he immediately opened up the conversation to talk about God.  He told me that, “ Jesus is not God as God is God, we only need to pray to the Almighty.”  By that statement he was saying that Jesus was not equal with God the Father.  He saw Him as a lessor – junior God.  That’s a common belief, and it’s been adopted by more than one “Christian” organisation.

Basically they see God as a God of justice, power, wisdom and love.  They believe that He is a Spirit Being.  They believe that He always existed and always will exist, that He is all-knowing, all-powerful and the Creator of all things.  They believe in His sovereignty over the universe and that He alone is to receive worship from mankind.  They claim to believe in one God as Christians do, but the similarities stop there.  They deny the one God who exists in three Persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  Not only is Jesus rejected as equal to God, but most often the Holy Spirit is rejected altogether as God.

Nevertheless, Raymond knew more about Jesus than most who hold those or similar views.  It appeared that he had not thrown out all his Ukrainian Catholic teaching but he got very confused in his attempt to justify his beliefs.  I responded by saying that his viewpoint contradicted Christ’s viewpoint because in His gospels we read of the Lord Himself telling us that when we see Him, we see God.  When we know Him, we know God.  If we believe Him, we’re believing God.  If we receive Him, we’re receiving God.  If we honour Him, we’re honouring God.  

I then asked Raymond if he thought Jesus was a liar.  He said no.  Next I suggested to him that if Christ was not a liar, then perhaps He was deluded because of such claims.  Raymond could not see Him as deluded.  So I said, “Raymond, you are left with no other alternative than to accept Christ for who He is – God.”  I could see him thinking that challenge through.  From there he moved on to the Trinity, asking me if I could explain to him the reality of God as a three-in-one Being.  Like most of us, he struggled in his endeavours to grasp such a reality. 

I explained that if a chemist in a laboratory can put ordinary liquid water in a vacuum tube and then create some ice and gas from it while retaining the water – all at the same micro-second – then it would not be too hard for God who created the water to be three-in-one at the same time.  I suggested that if he was willing to accept the New Testament’s declaration he would clearly see the Trinity revealed at Jesus’ incarnation Luke 1:35, at His baptism Matthew 3:16-17, and in what is known in Christian-speak as the Great Commission Matthew 28:19.  In Jesus’ resurrection the doctrine of the Trinity is also clearly taught.

By this time we were sitting in the kitchen having a coffee and it was there that he asked more about the function of the Holy Spirit.  So I gave the biblical account – God the Father sits on His Throne in heaven, Jesus sits at His right hand and the Holy Spirit is here with us waiting to be given the opportunity to open our understanding to the things of God.  He will teach us and guide us into truth and He will impart Christ’s life to us.  I then took a drinking glass from his shelf and put in some garden dirt, filled it with water and stirred it till it was discoloured.

The discoloured water represented us with our sin, guilts, fears, worries, confusions, anxieties etc, - all of which the Bible calls death.  I then held the glass under a running water tap and asked him to think of the Holy Spirit continually pouring His life into us and at the same time continually casting out that death.   I then explained it as receiving the “abundant life” that Jesus promises we will receive, but only if we turn ourselves over to Him.  The Holy Spirit never works independently of the living Lord Jesus Christ nor of the Bible that He (the Spirit) wrote.

Raymond’s understanding was at that very moment being opened by the same Holy Spirit who was working through me.  Sitting at the table, his eyes lit up and he smiled saying, “You have opened my eyes today.”  He agreed when I corrected him and brought to his attention that it was God Himself revealing this to him.  I encouraged him to trust the word of God as he read it because it was there that he could hear the Lord minister and speak with him.  He told me he was a soldier in the Waffen SS Ukrainian Division, fighting the Russians during the second world war. 

Prior to that day I sometimes had the thought that Raymond was carrying a lot of deep guilt.  Leila said he used to consume a lot of alcohol.  So when he told me of his SS days I simply said, “Raymond, the war was a long time ago but if you did something back then that constantly haunts you and fills you with guilt – tell the Lord about it and ask for His forgiveness before this day is over.  If you do so, forgiveness will be granted and you will know it.”  Often people told me about their past.  I’ve heard some bad stuff, but that day I encouraged him to give it to Christ alone.

I was invited for lunch on my next visit and both he and Leila shared much about their hardships in Europe during the war and afterwards as refugees.  Both saw Nazism and Communism as dreadful evils and they were grateful that Australia had been their home since the late forties.  Raymond told me that when he was a young man he did not drink alcohol.  But he once met two well-spoken (Ukrainian language) men who invited him to a hotel to drink.  Despite his reluctance, he was made to drink.  That was the second time a European migrant of the same era had shared such a story with me, or similar.

He does not remember skiing home in the snow.  He said, “Only God got me home.  It’s a miracle.”  The next day he went back to trace his path.  He found out that the two well spoken young men were Russian soldiers.  Only God knows the true heart of a person and what starts them off.  I thank God for His mercy.  The oppression some of those people were put under must have been horrendous.  As time marched on, Raymond and Leila sold their home and moved to a smaller, regional city.  “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.”  1 Corinthians 2:12.

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

Dan was a fervent crusader against the Pope and the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.  Every Sunday after the service, over tea and coffee (which he refused to drink), he could be seen without fail mingling among the fellowship, warning all who would listen to him.  Not only did he speak against that church but he was also “armed” with a shoulder bag full of anti-Catholic literature, in the form of pamphlets, newsletters and booklets, which he freely gave away.

Although he could be counted on to be with us after each service, not always would he be in attendance in the service.  Often at that time he would be with fellow crusaders standing outside a Catholic church or cathedral or rally somewhere, “doing the work of God,” telling Catholic practitioners of their errors.

I knew of some of those errors.  My religious upbringing was in the Roman Catholic church.  I was a former altar boy who also attended a primary-school convent for four years and was taught by dedicated nuns, so I knew their teachings very well.  When Dan spoke of the differences between the doctrines of Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, he did so using the Bible as his reference.  As a result, he was accurate with his biblical knowledge.  He certainly knew how to quote the Scriptures in their right context for his arguments, but sadly, it was all according to the letter of the law.  

Dan was a religious legalist.  And like all religious legalists, he lacked the presence, the grace and the power of God the Holy Spirit.  Listening to him speak, it was not difficult to discern bitterness within him, plus a zealous, religious, self-righteousness and a misguided understanding of biblical love.  He was also riddled with arthritis, which in my opinion, was an outward confirmation of my discernment.

Whenever Dan would came to me with the purpose of “getting into my ear,” I would listen, but then challenge him as to what God was saying and revealing to him personally.  He could never give me a direct answer.  I asked him about his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Each time I questioned him on it he would look at me and smile, continue with his mission for a minute or so and then move on to someone else.  This went on for some months.

Then one day I called to Dan’s home.  He invited me in and during the course of our conversation I yet again asked him about his salvation in Christ.  In answering, he spoke of his doubts in Christ’s forgiveness, saying he had lots of guilt for his past sins and, “one day I’ll have to give an account to God for every one of them.”  I thought as much.  Here sitting opposite me was a classic case of one who knows all the Scriptures one needs for legalistic religious purposes to pull down and put guilt trips on others, but he doesn’t know Christ’s forgiveness, mercy, peace and love for himself.

I could also discern the presence and powers of the demonic - both in Dan and in his house.  But I ignored those and simply shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him, regardless of his previous understanding of it.  As a result, Dan wanted to commit or re-commit his life to the Lord.  So I led him in a prayer enabling him to do so.  No sooner had he completed this however, when once again he proceeded to continue on with his zealous mission.  I encouraged him to lay that aside for a time and begin to use his energy getting to know the Lord through prayer and the study of His word.  He said he would do so, but I knew it would not be easy for him based on the demonic presence in him and around him. 

Four weeks later I revisited Dan at home at his request, specifically to do some foundational Bible teaching.  He was a living example of a Christian who has no foundation in the word of God.  His Biblical knowledge was extremely limited because of distorted and perverted teachings or understandings.  And as a result, he operated out of half-truths. 

The problem with people or churches who operate out of half-truths however, is that they open themselves up to the powers of spiritual deception by believing they have all the truth on any one subject.  That is why the New Testament gives the exhortation for Christians to study to show ourselves approved unto God, and become workers who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

We spoke about the influence and power of demonic beings, with Dan acknowledging that they were in him and in his home.  At nights while he was in bed, he said they would wake him from sleep with all sorts of disturbances, having done so for many years.  I asked him if he could recall his first encounters with them and he told me it happened when he was in Africa, “many years ago.”  He said it was there that he saw one which followed him around and it spoke to him often.   

I suggested to Dan that he probably had heaps of them following him since then and that, “they were doing so to this day.”  He agreed.  He confessed any known sin before God as a result of allowing these demons to come into his presence and then we began to pray some of them out.  In the space of about two hours, in Jesus’ name, we took authority over the religious spirit, the spirit of bitterness, uncleaness, sickness, afflictions. lies, deceptions - to name a few – and Dan was becoming a changed man before my eyes.

At a later date I called on Dan again and he acknowledged that he was feeling much better – less fearful, less oppressed etc and he had ceased his Catholic-bashing all the time I was with him.  I took the opportunity here to suggest to him that his anti-Catholic mission was not a ministry given to him by God.  

He continued to do a few basic Bible studies with me.  My objective was to make sure that he filled himself with the word of God, because it was the only way he could keep his deliverance from the demonic beings.  I explained to Dan that each biblical Christian is in a continuous spiritual battle with the demonic and as such, it was within his interests to discipline himself to prayer and Bible study, so that he could learn how to discern what was of God and what was of the devil.         

I told him that God would always give him authority over any demonic presence he came up against, but that God’s way is always through the excersise of these disciplines.  I gave him Jesus’ example from Matthew 12:43-45, where He spoke about the unclean spirit going out of a man, who then went through dry places looking for rest, but found none.  So he decided to return to where he came from.  On doing so he found the house empty etc, so he went and found seven others more wicked than himself.  They all entered and dwelt within the man and the last state of him became worse than the first.

The last time I saw Dan after those meetings, it appeared that he was continuing to take that advice.  “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonsration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”  1 Corinthians 2:4-5.         

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

Helen was a quiet, gentle lady who said she had been reading her Bible for a long time but didn’t know if the Lord Jesus was “in my heart or not.”  She knew the gospel of Christ, saying she believed it was true that God became a Man, that He came into our world and died for our sins and that three days later He rose again from death.  She said she also believed that He lives today. 

Once again however, like so many people I meet doing this work, that was the extent of Helen’s knowledge.  As the discussion continued it was clear to me that Helen had not made a personal committment to the Lord.  I discerned that she knew about Jesus Christ, but she did not know Jesus Christ.  So I asked her if she would like to ask the Lord to come and live within her, just like the Scriptures promise He will, upon invitation.  She said she would “like that very much.”  

Our prayer together was long and meaningful, with Helen telling the Lord that even though she’d lived life so far as a good citizen, she knew she was a sinner and asked His forgiveness.  No sooner had she finished the prayer when she told us, “I’m having the most beautiful experience from head to foot – a warm and cool peace, all at the same time.”  It was evident to us that she was experiencing the reality and power of Jesus Christ, a peaceful glow came into her eyes and upon her face.

This new experience for Helen enabled her to talk of the tragedy that took place quite a few years earlier.  She said that her husband suffered much guilt in his daily life, because he was driving the family car when there was a crash and their young daughter was killed.  And although he has no memory of the crash, Helen said her husband  “has never forgiven himself.”  As if that wasn’t enough for a family to bare, Helen then told me that they have another daughter, now married, but dying of cancer.

Some time later I visited Helen’s home and her husband came to the door.  He knew of my meeting with his wife, but said too much had gone wrong in his life for him to believe in a merciful God.  I told him I did not pretend to understand his pain, thoughts and feelings but I did say that Jesus Christ knew exactly where he was at and would be willing to come to his aid upon his invitation.

He said he thought he was beyond changing, “but I hope I’m wrong.”  He then said his wife had told him of her experience with Jesus so, “perhaps one day……”  He thanked me for the visit, telling me it was nice to talk with someone about his problems.

Two months after that visit I called again.  They informed me that their daughter was deteriorating quickly.  I said that I was praying for them, that they would all experience the reality of God’s comfort and peace in this tragic time.  Helen’s husband responded in a resigned manner by saying, “Well pray that she dies quickly.”  We spoke for some minutes and once again they were grateful for the time we had together.

Twelve months went by before I saw this couple again.  I had visited twice in that period but they were not home.  They informed me their daughter did die a few days after my last visit.  By now however, Helen said she was coming through the worst of her grief and gave testimony to the Lord Jesus as being very real to her since her first encounter with Him and especially so, during this recent sadness. 

She spoke about looking forward to the return of Christ, then she spoke of the wonders of our being made up of a body, soul and spirit and that even though our present body dies, one day it will be ressurrected anew to rejoin our soul and spirit and we’ll live forever. 

Her husband said he “was not convinced of any of this.”  And even though that appeared to be the case, he was opening up and sharing his thoughts and opinions - to which I give Christ all the glory.

Later in the conversation he shared that he was responsible for the road death of his young daughter, saying that he still had no memory of the event, but the guilt he experienced all these years was going.  As he told me this, I prayed that this was due to the reality of Christ touching his life, so I used the opportunity to remind him that Jesus spoke about forgiveness, healing and love and that these could all be his – all he needed to do was believe for them and ask for them. 

The invitation was left open for both these dear people to get in touch with me and/or my church for any help or assistance they might need in the future, but the offer was never taken up.  Like so many occasions in the past however, I once again considered it to be a great priviledge to be used of God for His ministry to them.  “……Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?”  1 Corinthians 15:54-55.

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

We spent about twenty minutes talking and then he asked me the purpose for my visit, explaining that he was not a regular church-goer.  I responded by saying that my work is not about getting people to come to church, but rather, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, that He is alive and that He wants all people to know that they too can know Him and trust Him with their lives.  I mentioned also that Jesus is not only a forgiver, but a healer – spiritually, mentally, morally, physically. 

Then Mr Brown, with arms folded said, “I’ve got a lot of guilt, you know.”  I told him that was good!  He was taken back a little with that statement so I proceeded to inform him that Jesus Christ specializes in the removal of guilt and, up until I met Christ, I too, was full of it.  I went on to say that in my case life did not even begin to work for me, until I was rid of guilt.  Because of the work I was now doing Mr Brown found that hard to believe, so I spent some time explaining the purpose of why Christ came into the world – essentially to set us free from guilt and the root causes of it, which the Bible calls sin.  Mr Brown was well aware of Christian terminology, but like so many people who don’t “go to church” he had little idea of their proper meanings or how they apply to us as individual people. 

I asked him if he’d like me to pray for him, he said he’d like that very much, telling me also that he was a diabetic.  So I put one hand very lightly on top of his head and among the many words of prayer I asked the Lord to fulfill His promise and reveal Himself to Mr Brown.  When it was time to go I encouraged Mr Brown in his own time, to tell Christ about his guilt, tell Him what he’d done and ask for forgiveness, regardless of how bad he thought the act was.  He thanked me and said he would do so, asking me to call again when next in the area.

About 3 weeks later I revisited Mr Brown and he was pleased to see me, immediately inviting me inside for a cup of tea.  Once we sat down, he looked at me with a smile and said, “I don’t have that guilt anymore.”  I told him I was very pleased to hear that and asked him how he now felt as a result.  He described it as a great burden lifted from his shoulders, saying he was sleeping better and longer at night.  He nodded in agreement when I said he was experiencing the reality and power of Jesus Christ.

Without any invitation on my part Mr Brown shared with me the major cause of his guilt.  He was a world war 2 veteran.  As an army soldier in New Guinea he  participated in some horrific fighting activities, leaving him ever since living with hideous memories which especially haunted him the longer time went on.  He shared with me, however, one event which was not war.  He and his mates were in a tent one night playing with a hand grenade.  It went off and blew up his best mate.  When he came home from the war Mr Brown stopped off in Sydney and called to see his best mate’s wife and to tell her that her husband died a hero.  He then said, “I’ve lived with the guilt of my actions and the lie I told his wife for over 40 years.  But now I know I’ve been forgiven.”  It’s a miraculous experience to witness the change in a person’s eyes when they share what Christ has done for them.

I visited this old gentleman another time intending to ask him to invite the Lord Jesus into his life to secure his soul for eternity.  My plans did not eventuate.  I just sat and listened to him share his life’s experiences.  He was full of stories, even those of a very personal nature.  He was engaged during the war but when he came home they never met up again, although he did see her from a distance.  He told me why but I feel restrained from sharing it.

Some 5 weeks later, I began to have continuous impressions on my mind to go to Mr Brown’s house.  I kept ignoring these impressions until one day I found myself walking to his house, regardless of any say I may have had over it.  Just a couple of houses from his residence, I heard a noise behind me and turning around, I saw a lady.  As I opened Mr Brown’s gate and walked up the path, the lady said, “Excuse me.  There’s nobody there.  Mr Brown died.”  I was stunned.  I immediately began to blame myself for not praying with him as I intended on that previous visit.  So I asked the lady what had happened, but she simply told me to go see his wife who was looking after the grandchildren “just around the corner.”  I thanked her and walked off.  Three or four steps later I turned around again but the lady had vanished.

I knocked on the door of the home where Mrs Brown’s grandchildren were living and she came to the door, whereby I introduced myself.  Mrs Brown knew my name, as her husband had talked of me and she was pleased that I called.  She invited me inside and sat me down.  Then she said, “He became a believer you know.”  I knew God had some information for me through this lady so I asked her to tell me more.

A few weeks earlier, Mr Brown was sitting up in bed one night reading a gospel tract.  She asked him where he got it from.  He explained that he’d been at the city library and was walking towards a tram to come home when a young Christian person stepped up and put the tract in his hand.  When he was dressing for bed he pulled the tract from his pocket.  So Mrs Brown told me she said to her husband, “Let’s read it together dear.”  They did so and prayed.  The next day, at around 4.30pm Mr Brown lay down for an afternoon nap and died in his sleep. 

Tears came to my eyes, not so much because of Mr Brown’s passing – knowing he was now with Christ - but because of the faithfulness of God.  It had been a great honour for me to be an instrument in God’s hand playing a part to prepare this old man for his death.  But the real lesson I learned and have never forgotten – I was not the only instrument.  As messengers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are all links in God’s chain.

This has continued to be a position of rest for me.  People come into my life as a messenger of the gospel, I work with them for a season and many of these same people go out of my life and I never see them again.  I get to experience the wonderful liberties of God by releasing such people back into His hands.  “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?”  John 11:25-26

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.