I arrived home one night at about 11.30 after a Bible study with some friends. On my door was a note to call my friend Roland at his home, regardless of how late it was. I said to myself, This will have to wait a while. As I entered the place, I noticed that the spirits had been restless: almost everything was out of place. I wasn’t troubled over that, because I’d become accustomed to dealing with the unusual.
During Bible study the pastor had made me aware of the fact that Jesus’ ministry in heaven is to help people in trouble and that He specialises in hopeless cases. The pastor’s words kindled great hope in my heart, causing me to think that if Jesus specialises in hopeless cases, here was a really hopeless case for Him to work on.
I thanked the Lord for encouraging my heart to turn toward Him and His Word. I acknowledged the fact that demon spirits had been holding me back from the power of His love. And because of this, I wanted to turn my life over to Him and serve Him however He saw fit. I told Jesus that I was a hopeless case and seeing that He specialised in hopeless cases, I was willing to turn over to Him my body and my mind for Him to re-create.
I talked with the Lord for some time, because my needs for His grace were many. I thanked Him for hearing me and for blessing my life. After my conversation with the Lord in prayer, I sat in my rocking chair and picked up a book to read. As I did so, the piece of paper with the message to phone Roland began to levitate and float around the room. Then it was slapped on my open book with such force that it knocked the book out of my hands and almost off my lap.
My first impulse was to tell the spirit a thing or two, but I just took the piece of paper and placed it between pages of the book and continued to read. A short while later the book was pulled out of my hands and thrown against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Not because of the pressure applied by the spirit but due to respect for my friend, I decided to phone him. I looked at my watch. It was 1.00 am. The phone rang twice.
“Hello! Morneau, is this you?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Morneau, you daredevil! What am I saying? I didn’t mean it that way. I meant to say that you’re gambling with your life. Have you lost your mind?”
I replied, “You sound so upset, friend; what’s your problem?”
“My problem? I have no problem. You’re the one in great trouble and you sound as if you haven’t a care in the world. Morneau, I’ve always admired your daring spirit, but now you’ve gone too far—way too far. You’ve turned the power of the spirits against yourself—spirits that have benefited you—and you’re going to be destroyed. I’m surprised that you’re still alive. I’m concerned about you, man. It’s because I care for your wellbeing that I’ve been sitting by this phone all evening waiting for your call. By Wednesday evening, according to the satanic priest, you were in deep trouble with the spirits. But now it’s too late, too late.”
“Roland, if you’ll calm down,” I replied, “it would be easier for us to understand one another. Now, explain yourself about Wednesday and this ‘now being too late.’ ”
He then regained his composure to the point that the tone of his voice returned to its normal range. “Last Wednesday when I entered our place of worship,” he said, “I was immediately taken into the high priest’s office. He asked if I’d seen you in the past week. His facial expression led me to understand that something awful had happened. I asked him if you were dead—had you perhaps had an accident? He said that you were in a situation more horrible than that. On Tuesday night, during the sacred hour of midnight [the hours of noon and midnight are sacred, according to demon spirits], a spirit counsellor appeared to him and told of your being involved in studying with Christians—the very people the master hates most on the face of the earth. I was asked to try to get a hold of you and make you aware of the danger you’re in, but I couldn’t reach you.”
“Roland,” I said, “I’d like you to know first that everything is under control. I’m in no great danger.”
“That’s what you think. At six thirty this evening the high priest called to inform me that, according to the spirits, you’ve been in church this very day with those Christians and that has infuriated the master to the highest degree. What do you have to say about that?”
“Yes, I’ve been studying the Bible, I’ve gone to a Christian church and I couldn’t care less about the way the fallen cherubim feel about me. If you’d like to know more about my activities of the past week, why don’t you come over in the morning and I’ll tell you all about it?”
We agreed on 10.00 am and ended the conversation. I prayed to Jesus and then went to bed. I must have been in bed about 20 minutes when the lights went on. I turned them off and went back to bed. Instantly, they were back on again. I then decided to sleep with the lights on. A couple of minutes later almost everything was being moved out of its place. A picture on one wall moved across the room and hung on the opposite wall. A table lamp moved from its place and hung in midair without any visible support. As I observed the activities carried on by the spirits, I became aware of the fact that my prayers to Jesus had placed the demon spirits under some kind of restraint. They were limited in their capacities for destruction. They couldn’t converse with me, as I believed they’d have liked to.
I then commanded the spirits to leave, on the order of Christ Jesus. The lamp fell on the floor as well as all the pictures that had been moved from their usual places. I picked up the lamp and straightened the damaged shade, but I left the broken glass from the pictures to be swept up in the morning. I thanked Jesus in my heart for His loving care over me and returned to bed.
A great sense of satisfaction came over me at the thought that these powerful demon spirits had left the premises on my command in the name of Jesus. That encounter also served to strengthen my conviction that everything was truly under control.
To my amazement, at about 4.00 am, their irritating behaviour was repeated. I sat up in bed and tried to figure out why Jesus had allowed the spirits to return. I concluded that maybe I should hear for myself how demon spirits felt about my accepting Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, seeing that my friend Roland was so shaken over what the spirits had told the satanic priest. I opened a conversation with a spirit: “So, you want to talk to me? OK, speak up. What do you have to say?”
“Why do refuse to talk to us?” asked the spirit in a voice that moved about the room.
“I’ve found a better Master.”
“Why have you given us up,” replied the spirit, “when we have great wealth prepared for you?”
I said within myself, Lord Jesus, please help me! Then a beautiful and powerful Bible verse came into my mind—a verse that the pastor had brought to my attention that very day: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11, 12). Immediately, I felt that the Spirit of God would carry me through this encounter victoriously. A great calm came over me and I became bold in the Lord.
As our conversation went on, and by the grace of Jesus, I was sustained in my determination to resist the spirit and confess Jesus as my only Master and Saviour.
“Listen to me,” said the spirit. “I’m telling you the truth. The master has great wealth prepared for you if only you’ll give up associating with the people he hates. Don’t pass up the wealth the master is offering you. I plead with you, don’t pass it up.”
“Spirit, I want you to know that 10 days ago I’d have fallen for your line of glory, but not today. I’m now an educated former demon worshipper. Jesus is now my Master; and by His grace, I will be a commandment keeper and will join those Christians you hate. Now, there’s one more point I want to bring to your attention. You and your spirit friends are in reality a bunch of cheats. You’re offering me gold today if I’ll forfeit the rights given to me by the world’s Redeemer to eternal life. Forget it! I can wait for the coming of the Lord, then I’ll possess all of your gold in the earth made new.”
“Very well,” said the spirit. “You’re refusing wealth and fame from the master, so it will be that poverty shall be the lot of your life. That is, if you manage to stay alive any length of time. You will from this day on walk under the shadow of death. We are experts in the work of bringing about misery and destruction in the lives of poor mortals.”
Those words were then followed by a laugh such as I’d never heard before in my living days. A shiver went up my spine and I probably would have been absolutely terrified except for the fact that the Spirit of God blessed my mind immediately with the assurance that if one strikes the doorpost with the blood of Calvary’s Lamb, he or she can rest in perfect peace from the hand of the destroyer.
“Spirit,” I said in answer to his last statement, “I want you to know that I’ve placed myself in the care of the Life-Giver, the Christ of Calvary, and I’m prepared to walk under the shadow of death as long as He walks with me by the presence of His Spirit. Now I command you in His name to depart from me and come no more.”
There was a door in my bedroom that opened to a rear balcony. The demon opened it and slammed it against the wall with such force that the door handle almost went through the plaster. The first part of my command was carried out with great haste, but I was surprised to find that in the nights ahead, the spirits kept coming back. I wasn’t aware of the fact that, in reality, they had an open invitation to my place, until the pastor made me mindful of it a few days later. I had a number of items on a wardrobe shelf that I’d used to conjure demon spirits. After I removed and disposed of them, I had no more trouble with the demons.
