Some church denominations combined for the purpose of promoting television messages which asked questions about death. They were thirty second spots asking something like, “What happens after death?” and, “Where do we go when we die?” As a result of that promotion, many people rang a church in their local area seeking further information or discussion.
Mr Ozoll was one of those people. He rang my local church and made a specific time for someone to visit him, but later rang to postpone it due to another commitment. A few days after, I rang him and introduced myself and asked him what time would suit him for me to come and see him. As I listened to him speak he sounded very confused and started to give me reasons why he thought there was no need to do so.
The Bible declares that Satan the devil is the god of this age, who’s function it is to blind the minds of people to keep them from believing Christ’s gospel. I therefore discerned the confusion from Mr Ozoll to be the work of that very same devil. It was not my first experience of his tactics, so as the man spoke I took authority over the spirit of confusion. It was not long before Mr Ozoll gave his consent for me to call.
My first visit was unsuccessful however, because the ignition in the car I borrowed would not shut the engine down when I went to turn it off. So I had to take it back to the church and get another one. I doubly knew this devil to be hindering my meeting with Mr Ozoll because the engine had no problems in shutting down back in the church car-park.
Mr Ozoll, a man in his late sixties, was waiting patiently when I returned two hours later. He invited me inside, made us a cup of tea and then he said, “What happens when we die?” Although he attended a church, I knew by such a question that this man was ignorant of the biblical revelations on death. He told me that some months ago he asked his own pastor this question and the pastor gave him seven different books on life after death. He gave me those books to look at, and the moment he did so, the telephone rang.
I used this time to peruse those books. Each one had something different to say, and every one of them used biblical Scriptures to backup their story. All the books, however, were based on occultic teachings – truths and half-truths laced with lies and half-lies. Mr Ozoll was originally from Latvia and as such, I found communication difficult with him, but when he asked me what I thought of the books, I simply replied, “All confusion.”
He relaxed in his chair, smiled and said, “Yes.” Then I handed him his Latvian Bible and said, “God. Jesus. All truth.” He nodded. Upon explanation, Mr Ozoll understood the doctrines of the fall of man, rebellion, sin, separation from God if we die in our sin etc. But then he went silent, dropped his head and began to cry. He said to me, “My wife died one year ago. I pray for her night and day. Where is she? Can she hear me? Are my prayers helping her?”
While he was on the phone, God made sure I noted a statement which clearly stood out in one of those occultic books, “Don’t mourn for your departed loved ones, because if you do you will hold them back from their progression in the other world.” Mr Ozoll shared that very same statement with me, explaining the torment that it was giving him. I said, “Mr Ozoll, that statement is a lie. It conflicts with God’s written word.” Again, what a wonderful release this gave him. Now his whole body and mind became relaxed.
I asked him if his wife trusted in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour when she was alive and he said yes. So I told him, “If that is so, she’s now in perfect peace in Jesus’ presence and she doesn’t need your prayers. But, if He was not her Lord and Saviour, then she’s in that dimension that the Bible calls hell, in which case your prayers are useless. So Mr Ozoll, stop praying for your wife and start praying to Jesus for yourself.”
It was clear to me that the Holy Spirit of God had His hand upon this man and had done so for a long time. God had well and truly prepared him. In spite of my difficulties in understanding him, Mr Ozoll had no difficulty in understanding his need for repentance, which opens the door for his spirit to become reborn. When I asked him if he wanted to receive the Lord Jesus and His free gift of salvation, he was quick to respond, “Yes. Yes I do.” With that he knelt before God, I lead him in a prayer and then he asked Christ to enter his spirit.
Then he sat back in his chair looking at me with a big smile. I knew the presence of the Lord was within him but he was pleased to confirm the reality with me. He kept thanking me for taking the time to sit and talk, helping him bring clarity to his thinking. I asked Mr Ozoll to tear up those occultic books and burn them. I also strongly suggested that he find someone in his church who understood and loved the Scriptures uncompromisingly, and who would take the time to sit with him so he could learn and build his faith upon them. I told him such a person would not be his pastor.
It had been nearly four years prior to that meeting with Mr Ozoll, that I had first walked into a church that was Jesus Christ centered and Bible based. One of the first statements I heard from the leadership was, “Most Christians are lazy. They will not diligently study the Bible for themselves. Most Christians are happy to settle for a word of God, rather than embrace the word of God.” God Almighty made sure that statement burned deep into my spirit. I have never forgotten it.
It was/is my experience to observe the truth of those statements among Christians. Most people simply believe whatever the leadership teaches, and fail to check it out for themselves. As a result, Scriptural ignorance is rampant as people settle for the doctrines and commandments of men. Others pick and choose which Scriptures they will accept and reject, others become extremely legalistic as they embrace partial truths and half truths, but teach them as whole truths.
If Christians fail to check out all that God declares on any subject, it is not too long before they will fall for something. If they continue such failure, then sooner or later they will fall for anything. Mr Ozoll’s pastor was one such person. As a leader of a church, he is commanded to have sound theology on the biblical declarations of life after death as it stands, for both believers and unbelievers. The fact that he was unable to lead Mr Ozoll to this, disqualified him as a legitimate, authentic leader. The church is full of such “leaders.”
Mr Ozoll’s pastor was deceived. As a result, he became a deceiver in the hands of Satan the devil, who’s primary function it is to deceive believers. The Bible tells us the devil seeks to steal, kill and destroy. And he will do that spiritually, mentally, morally, physically – it makes no difference to him how he does it.
Jesus and the apostles have made it quite clear that (as believers) we have all power and authority over this foul, lying, murderous adversary. But that power and authority is in Jesus’ name only and according to His written word. That is why the Biblical Jesus is hated – in the church or out of it. Go into most churches today around the world and you will find a “religious” Jesus, but a biblical Jesus is rare.
As Christians fail to study and know the written word of God and use it as a sword against the principalities and rulers of darkness, they become food for the devil, in which they then fail both themselves and the Lord Jesus Christ. They become useless in the hands of God, so He has no other choice than to bypasses them for people who will believe Him and pay the price – no matter what it costs. “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak it faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the Lord. Is not My word like a fire? says the Lord; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:28-29.