What I am about to write has a very dark appearance, and
lest the reader might conclude that such an experience is
the unavoidable lot of every Christian, I must say that it
is not. No one who will begin right, and begin in time, to
cast aside the suggestions of Satan need suffer such
things. Life is largely made up of habits, and only those
who get into the habit of listening to impressions and
ignoring reason and their better judgment are likely to
fall into the ditch of accusations about to be described.
To those who are in this dark pit
there seems no way of escape, and of all persons in this
world who need the encouragement and the prayers of God's
people, those who are tormented with accusations need them
most. I say tormented, because to be accused by Satan is
the purest type of torment and is akin to the torment of
hell. None but those who have felt the living torture of
accusation can realize the depth of suffering inflicted
thereby. And what is more cruel, the devil invariably
imposes accusations on the most conscientious persons.
Those who are hardhearted and stiffnecked he never
attempts to accuse, as they already belong to him. He
accuses the innocent and excuses the guilty.
The accusing spirit is generally so
well disguised that persons unaccustomed to his wily
tricks are easily deceived by him. Accusations often seem
so real that it is hard for the over conscientious soul to
discriminate between accusations and real conviction.
Satan will come with a load of accusations and without
asking permission will unload them at the door of some
conscientious child of God whom he thinks too feeble to
remove them; and if he meets with any resistance, he will
at once transform himself into an angel of light and
strike his victim with the fear that he may grieve the
Lord. Satan will cast an accusation at a soul, and if
inquiry is made as to where it comes from, he will reply
at once that it comes from God. He often continues this
deception for many days and weeks, and some times for
years, before he is detected.
Under the awful accusing powers of
the devil souls often hope for death to relieve them of
their anguish. But even here Satan appears and says,
"You cannot die, and you will never be free from
these awful feelings, and even if you were to die, you are
unprepared." Under such torment the nerves are often
wrecked and the reason almost dethroned, and still Satan
is not satisfied. Accusing spirits can never be satisfied.
If you are accused of committing sin and you undertake to
repent, the devil will then say you are not repenting
right, that your heart is not in it, or you are just going
through a form. If Satan can get you to give up and try to
repent, he will then say, "You had a much better
experience before than you now have, and it would have
been much better if you had not given it up."
Accusations very often get people
into the most rigorous bondage. For instance, Satan will
impress you to do some certain thing—possibly speak to
some one concerning salvation—and say, "If you do
not obey, you will lose your soul." Such suggestions
are usually made when it would be unreasonable or
impossible to obey them, then Satan will say, "You
have grieved the Lord."
It is almost enough to drive insane
anyone who will listen to the repeated accusations of the
devil. The past experience abandoned, the present one
unsatisfactory, and but little hope for the future, the
soul sighs and reels beneath the load, supposing that God
is grieved away, when it is only Satan's lie.
Satan is very cautious in his
approaches. He will not present too much at once, lest he
should be detected; and yet when the proper time comes, he
will present the most unreasonable things possible. He
generally begins by suggesting that you are not
sanctified. If he can get you to believe this, he will
begin to argue about as follows: "Now you know that
you could not lose sanctification without losing all, so
you are unsaved and will have to repent." On this you
give up and begin to try to repent; but as you cannot
think of anything of which to repent, you will possibly
conclude that you are all right after all. At this
juncture Satan again appears on the scene and suggests
that even if you were all right in the first place, you
are now backslidden, as you have doubted the Lord. After
you have struggled on under these false impressions for a
while, Satan will then advance far enough to tell you that
you have committed the unpardonable sin and grieved the
Holy Spirit entirely away. This lie is self evident to all
who are acquainted with the wiles of the devil, from the
fact that the one who has committed the unpardonable sin
does not feel convicted. But many poor souls have believed
this falsehood and on account of it have been driven to
the utmost bounds of human anguish. Mortal tongue can not
frame words to describe the suffering of a soul thus
accused of the devil. The imagination of Dante could not
dream of a darker scene than this nor could the brush of
the most skilled artist paint a picture so dismal.
Probably the next bold step Satan
will take is to suggest self destruction, or suicide. And
souls in this awful state of mental anguish have been
known to take their own lives, and so perish soul and
body, when mercy was freely offered.
The same vile spirit of the devil
that will accuse you about your own experience will, in
order to cut off any possible help he may see coming your
way, accuse others to you and cause you to lose confidence
in them, thus causing still greater discouragement.
CONFESSION
Along with the spirit of accusation
there often goes a disposition to confess all the deeds of
one's life. Satan will bring to your mind some past
mistake or sin or failure and tell you that if you do not
confess it, you will lose your soul. Then when you go and
confess to some one. Satan will turn and accuse you for
doing what he impressed you to do and will say that you
have made a fool of yourself and that the brother to whom
you have confessed will never have confidence in you
again. I have known persons under the spirit of accusation
to confess publicly to the secret sins of their life,
which the Lord had long forgiven and forgotten. Such
confession brings shame and disgrace to the cause of
Christ and nothing but discouragement to the confessor.
The spirit of accusation is a greedy tyrant that cannot be
satisfied. The person who tries to confess until the
spirit of accusation has been satisfied will find a life
long task.
The Bible teaches that we shall
confess our sins, but does not teach that we shall confess
them to everybody. Sometimes confession to certain
individuals is necessary, and sometimes when a community
has been wronged, sinned against, or disgraced, public
confession is required. "Confession to whom
confession is due" is a good motto. If you have
sinned against God and against Him only, then confess your
sins to Him alone, and He will be faithful and just to
forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
If you have wronged your neighborhood, your brother, your
wife, your husband, your children, or your parents,
confess your wrong to those whom you have wronged and to
them alone. If you have committed sin before the public,
have sinned openly, then confess your sin publicly.
Remember this and do not let Satan push you over the mark
and cause you to bring disgrace upon the cause of Christ
and discouragement to your own soul.
Sometimes people get into such a
habit of confessing past deeds that they are seized by an
irresistible desire to confess their past life, and their
only relief, it seems, is to pour out their confession to
somebody who will listen to their tale of woe. I have
known dear souls who were as honest as truth to confess
under the influence of accusation that they had been
hypocrites all their lives. Such confession never benefits
anyone.
I repeat, you cannot satisfy the
spirit of accusation, for it will accuse you till you
confess and then accuse you for confessing. So there is no
end to it, only by saying, "The Lord rebuke
thee." To open your heart to a spiritual adviser able
to instruct you is often beneficial, but continually
confessing, confessing, confessing, is a work of the devil
and will only tend to discourage and dishearten you.
With joy we point to a proffered
way of escape for every soul bowed down by the accusing
and discouraging powers of the devil. Everyone who will
take God's way may be set free, and instead of being
depressed by Satan may tread him under foot, for God has
promised "power over all the power of the
enemy."
The case of one oppressed with
accusation very much reminds us of a certain ship and its
crew that were once lost at sea. Having exhausted their
fresh water supply, they were famishing with thirst; and
on sighting another vessel passing near them, they cried
out, "Water! fresh water!" In reply the crew on
the passing vessel informed them that they were in the
mouth of the Amazon River, and shouted, "Let down
your buckets." Had not this lost crew been informed
that they were in fresh waters, many might have perished,
when help was near.
The accused and despondent soul is
almost famished, and cries out for help, when the waters
of life eternal flow so very near. Dear soul, there is
help for you; the water of life is offered free, and if
you will only drink, you may live.
There is one rule by which you may
always detect the spirit of the devil and distinguish it
from the Spirit of God. When the Spirit of God is
convicting you of sin, it will point out the wrong so
clearly that you will not be left in doubt; but when the
devil is accusing, he can never tell what is wrong. You
feel very bad, and in every way you may feel like a
sinner; but if you do not know that you have transgressed
God's written law, stand your grounds and defy the devil.
Satan may say that your trials are not like other people's
trials, or that they last too long to be trials only; but
if you continue to resist him, he must flee. You must be
willing to bear trials, for "blessed is the man that
endureth temptation." James 1:12. You must learn to
"count it all joy when you fall into divers
temptations." James 1:2. And "let patience have
her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing." James 1:4.
Yonder is a city of refuge, dear
accused and despondent soul, to which you may flee and be
safe. It is called Stability, and its streets are paved
with victory. In it floats the air of freedom, and all its
inhabitants though not without trials, are triumphant. The
road which leads to it is perseverance and faith. Flee to
it before the slayer strikes the final blow and your soul
is lost; for little does
Satan care whether you lose your
soul through accusation or through crime. Start today for
the city of refuge, for its gates are open wide to admit
the weary soul. Linger not to spend your time in listening
to Satan, for he seeks your destruction. Sternly resist
him and turn your back upon him forever.
"Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to
you." James 4:7, 8. Some people spend all their time
resisting the devil, consequently have no time to draw
nigh to God. Resist the devil, leave him with his
accusations, ignore him, draw nigh to God; God will draw
nigh to you, and victory shall be yours.
