518 The Spiritual Man
do not reject every supernatural phenomenon; what we simply and
earnestly desire to do is to separate what is of God from what is of
Satan.
The basic distinction between the operating requirements of the
Holy Spirit and the wicked spirits can be summarized as follows:
(1) All supernatural revelations, visions or other strange
occurrences which require the total cessation of the function
of the mind, or are obtained only after it has ceased working,
are not of God.
(2) All visions which arise from the Holy Spirit are conferred
when the believer’s mind is fully active. It necessitates the
active engagement of the various functions of the mind to
apprehend these visions. The endeavors of evil spirits follow
exactly the opposite course.
(3) All which flows from God agrees with God’s nature and the
Bible.Let us disregard the outward form—it may openly identify itself
as devilish or it may disguise itself as divine (such indeed are the
terms given)—and simply inquire what the principle involved is. We
need to recognize that every supernatural revelation from the powers
of darkness demands the cessation of the function of the mind; but
that whatever comes from God permits its ability and function to
continue as usual without any interference. Both the vision the
Israelites beheld at Mt. Sinai recorded in the Old Testament and the
vision which Peter saw at Joppa mentioned in the New Testament
affirm that these people had complete use of their heads.
By examining every instance in the New Testament where God’s
supernatural revelation is recounted, we find that everyone there who
experiences a revelation does so with his mind functioning and with
the ability to control himself and use any part of his body. But
counterfeit supernatural revelations chiefly require the receiver’s
mind to be totally or partially passive, with the receiver no longer