2 Cor. 4:4 π 2 Cor. 10:5 π Eph. 2:2 π Eph. 4:23
In the list of various ways by which ground is given to evil spirits, the first is by means of suggestions or thoughts admitted to the mind. Thoughts manifestly from Satan every believer rejects at once, when he becomes conscious of them; but thousands of "thoughts" come without any volition of the person, for few understand control of the mind, and how to "bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." ( 2 Cor. 10:5; top ) One of the symptoms of demon possession is absolute inability, even after volition, to change the course of thinking, or subject of thought, for the mind appears stiff and laborious in action. The man cannot let a specific thought go from his mind, even after he wills to.
The chief faculty open to the access of deceiving spirits is the mind, especially before the believer apprehends the need of a "renewed mind" ( Eph. 4:23 ), and realizes that his mind can be open to, and used by evil spirits, notwithstanding the Divine operation of God in the innermost shrine of his being. Also before he realizes what he has admitted as ground for evil spirits in his past life, for all the "thoughts" inserted by the god of this world blinding the mind ( 2 Cor. 4:4 ; Eph. 2:2; top ), form material for his later working; such as "thoughts" lodged there unconsciously, perhaps years before; mental conceptions admitted without examination; floating ideas which have drifted into the ground of the mind, the believer knows not whence; a sentence in a paper, a word dropped in his hearing; the flotsam and jetsam of the mental world, leaving unthought of effect upon him, colouring Scripture, and placing the mind almost at the mercy of any suggestion of evil spirits, under certain conditions, later on.
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