Today I want to share a story that illustrates God’s forgiveness. I was visiting with a very good friend of mine and his daughter, who live out of state. I don’t mean to freak anyone out here, but he told me a story about demon possession. Back in the 1980s, he was having a worship gathering at his home, and in attendance was a man who claimed to be a demoniac — a demon-possessed person. In the middle of this worship service, this man began to manifest this demonic spirit to the point where he was writhing, screaming, and foaming at the mouth. It took four grown men to hold him down, in an effort to pray for him. 

Just before they prayed, my friend said a little prayer for himself. He prayed that if he was going to face this dark situation, may the Lord forgive him of his sins. Meaning, he wanted to go before this challenge as a forgiven man. As they began to pray for this possessed man, the demon inside of him began to call out all of the secret sins of the men who were holding him down. My friend had hidden sins that nobody knew about, so if the demon exposed them, it would have been humiliating and embarrassing. 

Friend, this man whom God protected, thought because he prayed that way, He couldn’t see his sins anymore. But his daughter rightly reached over and said, “No dad, it’s not that He couldn’t see them anymore, it’s that they didn’t exist.” Gone, like that! That’s the Gospel and the heart of God. Isn’t that such a gift? It’s no wonder you’re God’s beloved treasure.