The Spiritual Man

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The Phenomena of a Passive Mind
It Is To Be Sorely Lamented that so many
Christians, unaware of the basic difference between the
activity of evil spirits and that of the Holy Spirit, have
unconsciously permitted the enemy to enter and occupy
their minds. Let us touch briefly on the phenomena of a
mind under the attack of evil spirits.
Flashing Thoughts
After one’s mind has sunk into passivity he will receive many
thoughts injected from without, notions which are unclean,
blasphemous or confused. These pass through his mind in
succession. Although he decides to reject them, he is powerless to
stop them or alter the trend of his thinking. His mind is like a
perpetual motion machine: once begun, it cannot be halted.
Regardless if he opposes with his will, he cannot thrust those
thoughts from his head. Notions which are counter to the believer’s
will are given by evil spirits.
Sometimes these ideas flash into the person’s brain like lightning.
They enable him to understand or to discover special matters. They
may arrive in the form of a suggestion, urging him to do this or that.
Often they appear to have arisen from the person himself, but upon
close examination he knows he has not initiated them; they are but
the deeds of evil spirits in a passive mind. The child of God ought to
resist flashing thoughts which demand action of him because these
do not originate with the Holy Spirit. And should he follow them he
will realize how worthless they are.
We know that in these latter times evil spirits especially engage in
much teaching (1 Tim. 4.1). The Lord’s people should guard against
such teachings imparted to passive minds. Not a few think they have