John Piper on Personal Experience With Exorcism

Renowned pastor and preacher John Piper shared about his "only and the most extraordinary" experience exorcizing a demon in his early ministry years, sharing details of dealing with a possessed female college student.

The reformed theologian who recently stepped down as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn., shared "a rare story" from long ago when some college students had called him at night saying they had cornered a girl they said was demon-possessed in a video posted on the Desiring God website.

When Piper and an associate reached the students' room, they saw a young woman in her 20s who looked "very hard and angry and dark in her face." The students told Piper it was not her – not her voice, not her face – and she was possessed.

Not knowing what to do, Piper began to read the Bible. "For the next two hours... roughly... she would shout, scream, come over… knock the Bible out of my hand. She pulled out, at one point, a knife, a little pen knife (with about a four-inch blade). I still had my winter coat on ... So I thought to myself if she sticks me with that, it won't kill me."

But the girl only threatened, she didn't hurt anyone.

When the group began to sing, "Alleluia," she got "absolutely wild." "She threw herself on the ground… screaming" before she lost consciousness. This "mesmerized" everyone. When it was over, she looked different, her voice was different, and she didn't remember anything at all. "I handed her the Bible and asked her to read Romans 8. She read all Romans 8. And that's when we left her," Piper recalled.

Subsequently, the girl came to church. Piper ministered to her in the following months, and she said she had been into "Satan stuff" on the West Coast. Piper said he wouldn't give details because she could get arrested if he did.

Piper suggested that when a Christian comes across a person who appears to be possessed, they should ask God for discernment. "We should pray that God would deliver people from Satan," but we must not presume that the person is demon-possessed. He advised Christians to be "very very slow" in their conclusion.

He also referred to the Lord's Prayer, "...Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one...," and reminded that "that's a daily prayer." We have an enemy, Piper said, who is every day trying to destroy us, therefore the way to live is to steadily pray to Jesus and read the Bible.

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