5.7 How Evil Spirits Deceive - Column 1

from

Chapter 5: Deception and Possession

from War On the Saints
by Jesse Penn-Lewis

Taking the columns one by one we shall see how subtly the evil spirit works, first to deceive, and then to gain access to the mind or body, or both, of the believer. One principle governs the working of God, and the working of Satan in seeking access to a man. In the creation of a human being with a free will, God, Who is Sovereign Lord of the Universe, and of all angelic powers, has limited Himself in that He does not violate man's freedom in obtaining his allegiance; neither can Satan's evil spirits enter, and obtain possession of any part of the man apart from his consent, given either consciously, or unconsciously. Just as a man "wills" a good thing, and God makes it fact, so when the man "wills" an evil thing, evil spirits make it fact. Both God and Satan need the will of man for working in man.

In the unregenerate man the will is enslaved to Satan, but in the man who has been regenerated, and delivered from the power of sin, the will is liberated to choose the things of God. In one who has thus been brought into fellowship with God, Satan can only gain ground by stratagem, or, in Bible terms, by "wiles"; for he knows he will never get from a believer deliberate consent to the entry, and control of evil spirits. The Deceiver can only hope to obtain that consent by guile: i.e., by feigning to be God Himself, or a messenger from Him. He knows, too, that such a believer is determined to obey God at all costs, and covets the knowledge of God above all else on earth. There is, therefore, no other way to deceive this one, but by counterfeiting God Himself, His presence and His workings; and under pretence of being God, to obtain the co-operation of the man's will in accepting further deceptions; so as eventually to lead to "possession" of some part of the believer's mind or body, and thus injure or hinder his usefulness to God, as well as that of others who will be affected by him.


[5.6] True and Counterfeit Accepted Together
π
[5.8] Distinction Between the Person and the Presence of God
5: Deception and Possession - Table of Contents
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