The Dangers of Spiritual Life 367
sinned, they should confess it immediately before God, asking for the
cleansing of the precious blood (1 John 1.9). Yet should the accusing
voice still continue, it obviously must be from the evil spirit.
Here is a matter of serious consequence. Before one knows how to
differentiate between the reproach of conscience and the enemy’s
accusation, he should ask himself whether or not he really abhors
sin. If this particular thing is wrong, am I willing to confess my sin
and eliminate it? If we truly desire to follow God’s will, not having
yet heeded the accusing voice, we can be quite confident in our heart
for it is not in us to want to rebel against God. Then, having
determined to follow God’s will, we should examine ourselves as to
whether or not we have actually committed that sin. We must know
beyond the shadow of doubt whether or not we have done it, because
the evil spirit frequently accuses us of many unrelated items. If we
have done it, then before we confess to God, we first must find out
through the teaching of the Bible and the leading of intuition,
whether or not this thing is verily wrong. Otherwise, though we have
not sinned, Satan will make us suffer for it just as though we had.
The adversary is skillful in imparting all sorts of feelings to men.
He may cause them to feel happy or sad; he may induce in them a
feeling of guilt or of none whatsoever. But a child of God should
understand that his feeling is not necessarily accurate when he thinks
he is not wrong, for often he feels right when actually he is wrong.
Moreover, he may not be wrong even when so feeling; it may be just
his feeling and not be factually grounded at all. Whatever he feels, he
must test it out for sure so as to know where he really stands. The
child of God should adopt a neutral attitude towards every
accusation. He should not take any action before he is ascured as to
the source of it. He must not be hasty, rather, he should wait quietly
for assurance as to whether it is indeed the chiding of the Holy Spirit
or but the charge of the evil spirit. If it originates with the Holy
Spirit, he will then deal with it honestly. The believer’s present
waiting is due to his uncertainty and not to rebellion. Nevertheless,