The Mind a Battlefield 519
able to employ parts of his body either in part or in toto. This
constitutes the fundamental antithesis between what is of God and
what is of the devil. Where the speaking in tongues is related, for
example, the speakers have both control and consciousness of
themselves. On the day of Pentecost Peter could hear the mocking of
the peoples and answer them, proving that he and his colleagues
were not drunk but were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). Those
who spoke with tongues in the church at Corinth could count the
number of two or three, could control themselves to speak in turn,
and if no interpretation was given could keep silence (1 Cor. 14). All
retained their consciousness and could restrain themselves. This is
because “the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets” (1 Cor. 14.
32). But in counterfeit experience the spirits usually demand the
subjection of the prophets to them. Herein can we see which is of
God and which is of the devil.
We have written at length on how to differentiate between special
phenomena given by the Holy Spirit and those given by evil spirits.
We shall conclude by briefly observing how they differ in ordinary
occurrences. Let me only illustrate by using the example of the
guidance of God. Now it should be called to mind that the Holy
Spirit wants us to be enlightened and to know (Eph. 1.17-18). God’s
Spirit never treats men as puppets, summoning them to follow Him
without any consciousness. He does not even ask them to do good in
that way. He usually expresses His thought in the depth of man, in
his spirit. Hence His guidance is never confused, vague, puzzling, or
compulsory. But not so with the evil spirits. Simply note how they
operate: (1) Their thought always invades from the outside, entering
primarily via the mind. It does not come from the innermost being, is
not a revelation in the intuition, but is a flashing mental thought. (2)
Their thought forces, pushes and coerces man to take action
immediately. It never affords man time to think, consider or examine.
(3) It confuses and paralyzes man’s mind so that it can no longer
think.