17. Was it Demon Power? (Japan)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN WAS IT DEMON POWER? (JAPAN) On Resurrection Sunday morning of 1957, our church group at Toyahashi-shi, Japan, met as was the custom for their early sunrise service along the river bank near the house. After a time of worship and praise to our risen Saviour, we returned to the house to have a time of prayer before breakfast. That morning ten women were planning to follow the Lord in baptism in the river, which, of course, was still quite cold at that time of the year.

During the prayer session, one of the ten who planned to be baptized started to moan and groan. Her voice kept getting louder and louder, until she was actually screaming. I confess that at the time I did not know what to do or think. She threw her songbook and Bible in my direction. I do not know if she intended to hit me, but they glanced off my shoulder. The young Japanese worker surmised before I did that it was demon power and motioned for me to go with him to where she was, by this time half lying on the floor. We put our hands on her head and held her down, because she was tossing about and swinging her arms and screaming. At the time I did not understand what she was crying out, but later learned that she was saying, “I can’t do it! I can’t believe it!” By this time stories that I had heard from Dick Hillis, a former missionary to China, came to my mind. He told of his experiences in casting out demons among the Chinese, and at the time I must confess that they were hard to believe. By this time, I realized that this must be a demon and proceeded to pray and act in the way the Bible commanded. About thirty of our Christians, who had gathered, had also realized that this was not from God and were crying and pleading before God to release her from this awful power. The young worker and I, with our hands on her head, cried out in the name of Jesus, as the apostles of old, demanding the demon to leave. Again James 4:7 was the promise which the Lord gave, so I demanded, in the authority which God had invested in me by my position in Christ, for the demon to release her. After a short while, she calmed down and I was able to talk to her. I remembered that Dick Hillis had said that he did not believe a demon could possess Christians, but could come upon them and control them, that is, oppress them. In order for relief, the Christian must demand the demon to leave. I told this young woman to confess the sins that she had been harboring in her heart, and then command the demon in the name of Jesus to leave. She then prayed, confessing hatred of her father, stealing, and other sins.

I read 1 John 4:1-3 to the group and showed them how we are told to test a person to see if he is demon-possessed or not. I asked the young woman if she believed that Jesus had come in the flesh. She said she did, after which we had a time of praise to God for causing the demon to release her. I had her publicly confess the sins which she had confessed to the Lord, as a warning to the group lest any of them should fall into the same condition.

God used this confession to bring revival to the group and there were many confessions of sin. This woman was baptized that morning, and became a real testimony to the name of Jesus.

Through her testimony her 70-year-old mother turned from worship of ancestors to the true and living God. My heart is refreshed and blessed every time I see her.

Abram Miller Nagano Ken, Japan ~ end of chapter 17 ~ http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/

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