Weights of spiritual oppression.

'Laws of the Spirits'

'(1) Weights on the Spirit

 The spirit needs to be kept in a state of perfect freedom. It should always be light, as though floating in the air; only so may life grow and work be done. A Christian ought to realize what the weights laid on his spirit are. Often he feels it is under oppression, as if a thousand pound load were pressing upon his heart. He can unearth no reason for this weight, which usually steals in upon one quite suddenly. It is employed by the enemy to harass the spiritual, to deprive him of joy and lightness, as well as to disable his spirit from working together with the Holy Spirit. If he does not recognize the source of this heaviness and the meaning of the oppression in the spirit, he cannot instantly deal with it and thereby restore his spirit immediately to normalcy. The believer may be puzzled by such a sensation, interpreting it to be something natural or something occasional. He consequently may disregard it and allow his spirit to come under suppression. How often he continues to work without paying due attention to the weight, and frequently giving the enemy ground to play his trick at will upon him. Many times when this one is supposed to be used by God, he instead is powerless to accomplish God’s work because he carries this heavy weight with him. The consciousness of his spirit grows very dull beneath such oppression. That explains why Satan and his evil hosts focus their assault on placing a heavy weight upon the believer’s spirit. Alas for the child of God; for he often is unaware that the source of the weight is satanic; and even if he is aware, he may not resist. With this load upon his spirit the Christian is bound to suffer defeat. If he encounters it in the morning and does not deal with it at once, he experiences defeat the whole day long. A free spirit is the basis for victory. In order to fight against the enemy and to live out God’s life, we must possess a spirit altogether untrammeled by weight. When it is oppressed the Christian is deprived of his power of discernment and naturally misses God’s true guidance. Whenever the spirit suffers oppression the mind cannot function properly. Everything comes to a halt or else everything goes awry.

It is of utmost consequence to deal with the heavy weight or oppression of the spirit immediately. Never adopt an attitude of indifference, for if you do you will suffer for it. The weight will grow heavier and heavier. And should it not be dealt away with, it will become a part of your life. Whereupon you will view all spiritual affairs as bitter and acrid, retarding your spiritual advance. In case you do not treat the weight the first time it will come upon you more easily the next. The way to handle it is to stop the work at hand at once, set your will against this weight, and exercise your spirit to oppose it. Occasionally you may have to utter words audibly against it; at other times with the power of your spirit you should resist in prayer. It is also indispensable to deal with the cause of such heaviness because the oppressive load shall remain as long as the cause goes unresolved. In addition to resisting the enemy’s work there should be the uncovering of the cause behind that work. And if successful, you will thereby regain the place you previously had yielded to the enemy. If you have the power of discernment you will come to see it was because of your failure to cooperate with God at a particular time with regard to a particular matter that the enemy gained ground to crush you with such a heavy weight. The lost ground must be regained. If we resist the enemy by discovering the cause of his working, he shall flee. ' (Excerpt from The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee)

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

(WEIGHT) Luk 8:14  And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 

(WEIGHT) Luk 12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 

(WEIGHT) Luk 21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 

(WEIGHT) Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 

Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 

(WEIGHT) 2Co 7:1  Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 

(WEIGHT) Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 

Col 3:6  For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 

Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. 

Col 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 

Col 3:9  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him

(WEIGHT) 1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 

1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

(WEIGHT) 2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 

(WEIGHT) 1Pe 2:1  Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings

(WEIGHT) 1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

May we learn.

By the grace of God may we learn and never stop learning, may we ever be growing in His grace and His knowledge.

2Pe_3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

We can't stop learning. We can't stop seeking. We war with ourselves and the awfulness that we are in the light of the Savior.  Place us in the light of His righteousness and we are nothing but the darkest, dirtiest, filthiest of beings and we will never be anything else of our own accord. Only when our Savior places the blood of His sacrifice over us can we be cleansed. We are NEVER cleansed by any cleaning we may try to do on our own. We must seek Him, believe in Him, choose Him. He wants us to learn of Him, to learn of His word, to walk in the light He has given us.  As soon as we accept Him as our Savior we know that He will see us through to the end when we are finally with Him, totally and completely His. Our Savior seeing us through is teaching us through the Holy Spirit to live as He would have us live each and every single day.  May we learn.

All in His love!

'The Laws of the Spirit

 A Child Of God must learn to recognize the sense of consciousness of his inner being as the first condition for a life walked after the spirit.

If he does not discern what is the sense of the spirit and additionally the sense of the soul, he invariably shall fail to do what the spirit requires of him. For instance, when we feel hungry we know we should eat; when we feel cold we know we should be clothed. Our senses express needs and requirements. We must therefore know what our physical senses mean before we can know how to satisfy them with material supplies. In the spiritual realm, too, one must come to understand the meanings of his spirit’s various senses as well as their respective supply. Only after an individual comprehends his spirit with its movements can he walk by the spirit. There are a few laws of the spirit with which every Christian ought to be acquainted. If he does not understand these laws or fails to see the significance of recognizing the sensations of the spirit, he will miss many of its movements. His failure to discern its senses undermines the proper place of the spirit in his daily walk. Hence once we have known the various functions of the inner man, such as intuition, communion and conscience, we need to identify their movements which can then enable us to walk by the spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, our spirit will be operating actively. But we shall incur loss if we disregard these operations. It is thus imperative that we observe the way the spirit habitually moves. A Christian should know more about the operation of his spirit than about the activity of his mind. '   Excerpt from The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee

The Holy Spirit is a God.

The Holy Spirit will work in us, with our spirit- this is truth! Our spirit truly is NOTHING without the Holy Spirit to guide it. We need this OUTSIDE Holy influence in us. We don't manufacture the Holy Spirit of our own accord. The Holy Spirit is GOD with us, the Holy Spirit is our COMFORTER.

Act 5:3  But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 

Act 5:4  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

Lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to a God. The Holy Spirit truly is a God. And the Holy Spirit will live in us! We DO NOT become God, NOT EVER! But the Holy Spirit, God will live in us!

Joh_14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Joh_15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me

Joh_16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

'In stressing the significance of the Holy Spirit we are at the same time emphasizing our own spirit since the latter constitutes His base of operation. Our danger, upon apprehending the work and function of man’s spirit, is to rely entirely on it, forgetting that it is merely the servant of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit and not our spirit is the One upon Whom we wait for direct guidance into all truth. If man’s spirit is divorced from the divine Spirit it becomes as useless as the other parts of man. We should never reverse the order of man’s spirit and the Holy Spirit. It is because many of the Lord’s people are ignorant of man’s spirit and its operation that we have presented in these pages a detailed account of it. This does not mean, however, that the position of the Holy Spirit in a man is inferior to that of his own spirit. The purpose for understanding this faculty of man is to help us to obey Him more and to exalt Him more. This should exert great influence on our guidance. The Holy Spirit is given primarily for the benefit of the whole body of Christ. He abides in each individual because He dwells in the whole body of Christ and each is a member of it. The work of the Spirit is corporate in nature (1 Cor. 12. 12-13).' The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee

1Co 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 

1Co 12:13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 

Power, Godly Power.

The power of God- the power of the Spirit- the power of our Savior.  There is POWER in the Love of God.

Mat_22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

Mar_12:24  And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?

Luk_4:14  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

Luk_5:17  And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Luk_9:43  And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God.

Luk_10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Act_8:10  To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

Rom_1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom_15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Rom_15:19  Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

1Co_1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

1Co_1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1Co_2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1Co_5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ

2Co_6:7  By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left

2Co_12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2Co_13:4  For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.

Eph_6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

2Ti_1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God

Heb_7:16  Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

1Pe_1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Rev_12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

The following is an excerpt from - The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee

'Do we not realize that the flesh craves priority even with respect to keeping the Holy Scriptures? The spirit has intuition; but it also has power. It is consequently null and void if we understand any doctrine in our mind while at the same time it remains unexecuted by the power of the spirit.

'Although the Word does emphasize the believer’s personal spirit, the Word also informs us that the significance of one’s spirit is due to the indwelling Holy Spirit. The reason why we must walk and live in the spirit at all is because our spirit, being the habitation of God’s Spirit, is where He expresses His mind.'

The power of God, the power of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, truly we can't ignore that there is power involved.  The spirit has power. We truly may comprehend every single word written in God's word and yet it may have no effect on us or our lives. We can memorize word after word, scripture after scripture, verse after verse knowing them backwards and forwards and still not be touched by the power of the Spirit of the word of God.

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

The SWORD of the Spirit. The power of the Spirit.  The word of God.

If we don't have the sword of the Spirit we don't have the word of God- not the word of God as it is intended we have the word in our life - alive with the power of the Spirit.

There is power truly in the Word of God and the power of the Spirit will work in us by the grace of God.  We need the power of the Spirit working in us with our spirit. We need our spirit intuition working only through the Holy Spirit, and not by any other power. Please, Lord, please let Your Spirit live in us. 

Spiritual Intuition and God's Word.

'What we receive in the spirit’s intuition needs to be certified by the teaching of God’s Word. To follow intuition alone and not in conjunction with the Scriptures will undeniably lead us into error. The revelation of the Holy Spirit sensed by our spirit must coincide with the revelation of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. Since our flesh is continuously active, we must be ever vigilant against its intrusion into our keeping the teaching of the Holy Scriptures.' The Spiritual Man - by Watchman Nee

Isa 8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 

The word of God must be our standard in all things.

God will never contradict Himself, including His word. If you are being led down a road that is contrary to God's word then you are not on God's path at all. By the grace of God we will learn to listen to the spirit's intuition and in learning we take it to the Bible and know it's of God.

The Devil truly does use many evil strategies to attack us and he will even use God's word if it suits Him, He used it with Jesus-

Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 

Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

So while we must have any intuition we receive never contradict the Bible, we must pray for comprehension and truth, and protection from all the evil deception Satan would use against us.

All by the grace, the love, and the mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ now and forever! 

Faith in Forgiveness.

Yesterday we studied an excerpt from The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee, yet did not discuss any of it. Truthfully the excerpt is extensive and says so incredibly much it needs slow digesting, at least for me.

We know our Savior would have us to be His.

1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ's…

1Co_15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

2Co 10:7  Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.

Gal_3:29  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Gal_5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Can you say you are Christ's?

We need to be able to say we are Christ's.

Satan would have us DOUBT that we are Christ's. If we believe that we are embroiled in a spiritual warfare  then to comprehend that Satan can accuse us and make us feel guilty of sin to suit his purpose is paramount.

These words--  'The child of God should adopt a neutral attitude towards every accusation. He should not take any action before he is assured as to the source of it. He must not be hasty, rather, he should wait quietly for assurance as to whether it is indeed the chiding of the Holy Spirit or but the charge of the evil spirit. If it originates with the Holy Spirit, he will then deal with it honestly. The believer’s present waiting is due to his uncertainty and not to rebellion. Nevertheless, he absolutely must resist making all confessions to men which are motivated by sheer force from outside, for the enemy often tries to compel him to do this. Real conviction from the Holy Spirit leads us to holiness while the aim of Satan is solely to accuse.'

This is an ACTIVE spiritual life, this duty we have to comprehend our own sins. Are they real sins? Or is Satan stirring us up to believe that we have sins that can never be forgiven? Does Satan bring to mind our past sins that have long been forgiven just to stir up our feelings to try and lead us to despair? Does Satan try to get us to doubt God's forgiveness? Why do we heed Satan and distrust God's word? If we have truly repented and confessed our sins the God has forgiven us. Do you feel a sense of disbelief because the wickedness is so great and seemingly unforgiveable? Then you are doubting Christ's sacrifice and the power of that sacrifice. If the sin keeps haunting us we need to use our shield of faith against it and as soon as the haunting begins counter it with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We need to ask ourselves if we've repented, if we've confessed, and then ask ourselves if we believe in the forgiveness our Savior offers.  If the answers are yes to all of those questions then we need to stop listening to the accusations. If we can't stop listening to them because Satan is badgering us, then when we hear the accusations we need to stop believing them.  If a person is accused of something they didn't do and someone relentlessly accuses them of it, do they ever believe they've done it? Maybe if they are tortured to that end, brain washed, they might through sheer mental and emotional distress, but otherwise you can't convince someone they've done something they haven't. We have to believe just as strongly that we are forgiven, we have to be convinced of it and nothing Satan tries to get us to believe can affect us, can get us to believe otherwise. Faith, we need that faith. And by the grace and mercy of our Lord we will have that faith.  We can't let ourselves be led by our feelings, but rather the truth as it is in our Savior Jesus Christ!

More on this tomorrow by the will of our Lord!

All in HIS amazing LOVE now and forever!

Amen.

Satan Accuses Us- Guilty or Not.

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Dan 9:4  And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 

Dan 9:5  We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 

Dan 9:6  Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 

Dan 9:7  O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 

Dan 9:8  O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 

Dan 9:9  To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 

Dan 9:10  Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 

Dan 9:11  Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 

Dan 9:12  And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 

Dan 9:13  As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 

Dan 9:14  Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. 

Dan 9:15  And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 

Dan 9:16  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 

Dan 9:17  Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 

Dan 9:18  O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 

Dan 9:19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 

(Excerpt from The Spiritual Man  by Watchman Nee)

'The Accusation of Satan

 Satan has another way to assault those who set their heart on following the leading of the spirit’s intuition. This is by counterfeiting or fasely representing one’s conscience with all sorts of accusations. To keep our conscience pure we are willing to accept its reproach and deal with whatever it condemns. The enemy utilizies this desire of keeping the conscience void of offense by accusing us of various things. In mistaking such accusations as being from our own consciences we often lose our peace, tire of trying to keep pace with the false accusations, and thus cease to advance spiritually with confidence. Those who are spiritual ought to be aware that Satan not only indicts us before God but also to ourselves. He does this to disturb us into thinking we ought to suffer penalty because we have done wrong. He is alert to the fact that the children of God can make no progress spiritually unless they have a heart full of confidence; consequently he falsifies the accusation of conscience in order to make them believe they have sinned. Then their communion with God is broken. The problem with believers is that they do not know how to distinguish between the indictment of the evil spirit and the reproach of conscience. Frequently out of fear of offending God, they mistake the accusation of an evil spirit to be the censure of conscience. This accusation grows stronger and stronger until it becomes uncontrollable if not listened to. Thus in addition to their willingness to yield to conscience’s reproof, spiritual believers should also learn how to discern the accusation of the enemy. What the enemy charges the saints of may sometimes be real sins, though more often than not they are merely imaginary—that is, the evil spirit makes them feel they have sinned. If they actually have sinned, they should confess it immediately before God, asking for the cleansing of the precious blood (1 John 1.9). Yet should the accusing voice still continue, it obviously must be from the evil spirit. Here is a matter of serious consequence. Before one knows how to differentiate between the reproach of conscience and the enemy’s accusation, he should ask himself whether or not he really abhors sin. If this particular thing is wrong, am I willing to confess my sin and eliminate it? If we truly desire to follow God’s will, not having yet heeded the accusing voice, we can be quite confident in our heart for it is not in us to want to rebel against God. Then, having determined to follow God’s will, we should examine ourselves as to whether or not we have actually committed that sin. We must know beyond the shadow of doubt whether or not we have done it, because the evil spirit frequently accuses us of many unrelated items. If we have done it, then before we confess to God, we first must find out through the teaching of the Bible and the leading of intuition, whether or not this thing is verily wrong. Otherwise, though we have not sinned, Satan will make us suffer for it just as though we had. The adversary is skillful in imparting all sorts of feelings to men. He may cause them to feel happy or sad; he may induce in them a feeling of guilt or of none whatsoever. But a child of God should understand that his feeling is not necessarily accurate when he thinks he is not wrong, for often he feels right when actually he is wrong. Moreover, he may not be wrong even when so feeling; it may be just his feeling and not be factually grounded at all. Whatever he feels, he must test it out for sure so as to know where he really stands. The child of God should adopt a neutral attitude towards every accusation. He should not take any action before he is ascured as to the source of it. He must not be hasty, rather, he should wait quietly for assurance as to whether it is indeed the chiding of the Holy Spirit or but the charge of the evil spirit. If it originates with the Holy Spirit, he will then deal with it honestly. The believer’s present waiting is due to his uncertainty and not to rebellion. Nevertheless, he absolutely must resist making all confessions to men which are motivated by sheer force from outside, for the enemy often tries to compel him to do this. Real conviction from the Holy Spirit leads us to holiness while the aim of Satan is solely to accuse. He indicts us to make us indict ourselves. His motive is nothing other than to make Christians suffer. Sometimes after one has accepted the enemy’s imputation and confessed accordingly, Satan may next fill him with a false peace. This is no small danger for it deprives the believer of any real contrition over defeat. The reproach of conscience ceases once the sin is confessed and cleansed by the precious blood, but the accusation of the enemy continues even after what is accused has been dealt with. The former leads us to the precious blood; the latter drives us to despair, causing us to reckon ourselves irredeemable. The purpose of Satan is to engineer our fall through accusations: “Since we cannot be perfect,” sighs the believer resignedly, “then what is the use?” At times the accusation of Satan is added to the rebuke of conscience. The sin is real, but when it has been treated according to the mind of the Holy Spirit the accusation continues because the evil spirit has joined his indictment to the reproach of the conscience. It is therefore a matter of utmost concern that we preserve an uncompromising attitude towards sin: not merely yielding no ground to the enemy to indict but also learning how to differentiate between the reprimand of the Holy Spirit and the accusation of the evil spirit and learning how to distinguish what is exclusively the enemy’s charge from what is his charge mixed in with the reproach of conscience. We must realize most assuredly that the Holy Spirit never reproves further if the sin is cleansed by the precious blood and forsaken.'