The Path to Freedom 621
prophets (believers) receive is from the Holy Spirit, then the spirits
they receive will be subject to them. This means that the Holy Spirit
Who bestows diverse supernatural experiences upon men will not
infringe on their rights by manipulating any part of their bodies
against their wills. They continue to retain the power of self-control.
Only that spirit which is subject to the prophet or believer is from
God; any spirit which demands the prophet to be subject to it is not
from God. Although we should not oppose all supernatural elements,
we nonetheless should judge whether these supernatural spirits
require a man’s passive subjection or not. The workings of the Holy
Spirit and those of the evil spirit are fundamentally opposite: the
Former wishes men to be sovereignly free; the latter requires him to
be altogether passive. The believer should judge his experience by
this criterion. Learning whether he has been passive or not can be the
solution to all his problems.
Should the child of God desire freedom his folly must be
removed. In other words, he must know the truth. He needs to
appreciate the real nature of affairs. Satanic lies bind, but God’s truth
unshackles. Naturally the knowledge of truth is going to be costly,
for it will shatter the vainglory one has assumed due to his past
experiences. He looks upon himself as far more advanced than
others, as being spiritual and infallible. How hard hit he will be if he
confesses the possibility of his being invaded or if he is shown to
have been so invaded! Unless God’s child sincerely adheres to all the
truth of God, it becomes very rough for him to accept this kind of
painful and humiliating truth. One encounters no difficulty in
accepting that truth which is agreeable; but it is not easy at all to take
in a truth which blasts one’s ego. To acknowledge himself as liable
to deception is relatively easy; whereas to confess that he is
entrenched by the enemy already is most difficult. May God be
gracious, for even after a person has known the truth he may yet
resist it. The acceptance of truth is thus the first step to salvation. The
child of God must be willing to know all the truth concerning
himself. This requires humility and sincerity. Therefore let him who