The Laws of the Spirit 381
heaven today. The spirit of the Christian is joined to the heavenly
Christ. Because of his ignorance, however, the Christian looks within
to find Him. He wishes to be united with the Christ Who is in him.
Hence his spirit cannot ascend above the clouds, but rather is
oppressed and tumbles into the soulical realm.
All these operations tempt the individual to live in his feelings
rather than in his spirit. He needs to know that before he becomes
spiritual and actually walks in the spirit the enemy is not compelled
at that time to resort to counterfeit; but after the person has
experienced the pouring of the Holy Spirit’s power into his spirit, he
faces a new world never before encountered. And just here is there
cause for alarm, for the enemy will work to induce him to cease
abiding in the spirit. If he succeeds, the believer will incur great loss.
The tactic of the adversary is to deceive him through the feelings of
the soul and body into thinking these are spiritual experiences for
him to enjoy.
Many who have entered into spiritual living shall meet defeats
because of their ignorance of its laws. The enemy foments within
them all sorts of physical sensations and supernatural experiences.
Should they lean on these supernatural phenomena or on other
sensational occurrences which come from the outside, their life in the
spirit will be obstructed. They will dwell in their outward soul or
body while their innermost spirit is denied the power to cooperate
with God. Naturally soul and body once again ascend, regain their
forfeited authority, and submerge the spirit completely.
While the spirit is submerged its senses are rendered inoperative.
When this occurs, many spiritual Christians feel they have lost their
spirit. Soul and body occupy such a large place that the entire being
can live by their sensations. Man’s sensory organs replace the
operation of the spirit. The movements of the spirit are buried
beneath the powerful sensations of the soul and body. And eventually
all spiritual life and work are completely terminated. If such a