A Strange but Productive Day in Salisbury
After days of wet weather, it was wonderful to see the sun shining. Finally, we could return to the streets to share the good news. As we unloaded the car and headed to our preaching location, we caught the lift. Into the lift came a group of older people, who were talking about not being good enough for Heaven, with one lady saying she was “going down to Hell.” I chimed in by commenting that no one is good enough for Heaven, but by the look I received I don’t think my comment was appreciated!
When everything was set up for the outreach, I began by preaching on “Are You Good Enough for Heaven?” The brief conversation in the lift provided a great opening for proclaiming the gospel. As I preached, I hoped that the elderly group would walk by, and perhaps hear how Jesus is the One who can take us to Heaven. A few people did pause to listen, including a young lady who took a copy of John’s Gospel.
Things were going well, but then a few strange things began to occur. At one point, while Paul was preaching on “Bridging the Gap” and explaining how religion cannot make someone right with God, a group of young people walked up to the free literature table. They paused, looked at the table, and then said, “@#$& God!” With that, they walked away. No one had spoken to them, they just wanted to express their hatred of God (see John 3:19-20).
Then along came a man who at first began to engage a team member in discussion. His demeanor caught my attention as he was getting very close to the team member and kept leaning into him. I went across to offer support if needed; it was then that I heard he kept referring to himself (or something inside of him) in the third person. Whenever the conversation went to the gospel, he would become agitated and speak of ‘him’ not liking it.
Eventually, he sat down on the seat next to the open-air board and began to interrupt a gospel conversation a team member was having, so I knelt next to him and began to chat. The man was mixed up and something wasn’t right. He was either very unwell mentally, or demon-possessed. What raised my concern about demon possession is that he hated it whenever Jesus was mentioned. When I shared the gospel, he would say, ‘he’ doesn’t want to hear it. The ‘he’ was a person inside of the man I was speaking with; the man went on to say that the ‘he’ was becoming agitated. As we continued to talk, the man was quick to declare that Jesus never came in the flesh (2 John 7), and that Jesus was still dead. The only solution for this man’s spiritual problem was for him to come to Christ, so I called on him to repent and believe, then left him alone. But the man remained for the rest of the outreach, and at times interrupted conversations and made comments during the preaching.
It was now time for me to preach again, so I spoke on “Who is Jesus Christ?” Using Colossians 1, I looked at three key truths about Christ. A few people listened, with one John’s Gospel being taken at the end.
Paul finished the outreach by preaching again; this time he spoke on “Have You Got the Message?” As with the other message, a few people paused to listen.
As we packed down the board, I noticed that team members were still in one-to-one gospel conversations; it seemed like many people were being engaged with the good news. As we began to leave the man who I suspect may have been possessed said, the “he” was happy that we were leaving. I wasn’t surprised!
When it comes to the subject of demon possession there are two possible extremes Christians can fall into. On one hand, we have those who see demons under every rock and behind every bush. Then, on the other hand, we have Christians who do not believe that demon possession occurs today. I think it is more biblical to be in the middle of those extremes. Demon possession still occurs, and Christ can still set possessed people free. Not every evil action is a result of demons, often it is just the result of wicked people acting according to their sinful nature. How should we respond to demonic activity? By taking heed of the words of Jesus, “However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20).
SDG!
__________________
Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND PRAYER NOTES