Accusing Spirits
Of all persons in this world that
need the encouragement and prayers of God's people, those
who are tormented with accusing spirits need them most. I
say tormented, because to be accused by the devil is the
purest type of torment and akin to the torment of hell.
None but those who have felt the living torment of
accusation can realize the depth of suffering inflicted
thereby. And what is more cruel, the devil invariably
imposes the accusing spirits on the most conscientious
persons he can find. Those who are hard hearted and stiff
necked he never at. tempts to accuse, as they already
belong to him; but he will accuse the innocent, and excuse
the guilty.
The accusing devil is generally so
well disguised that persons who are unaccustomed to his
wily tricks are easily deceived by him. Accusations always
seem so real that it is hard for conscientious souls to
discriminate between the accusations of the devil and real
conviction from the Lord. Satan will come with a load of
accusations, and without asking permission, will unload
them at the door of some conscientious child of God who he
thinks is too feeble to remove them; and if he meets any
resistance he will at once transform himself into an angel
of light and strike his victim with fear lest he should
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 will often
continue this deception for days and weeks, and sometimes
for years, before he is detected.
IN DESPAIR.—Under theawful
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
undertake to repent, the devil will then say that 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 have now, and it would have been much better if
you had not given up." It were 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; and even the
physical strength, it seems, must fail.
Satan is very cautious in his
approach and 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, and if he can get you to believe this he will
proceed to argue about as follows: "Now you know that
you could not lose sanctification without committing sin,
and if you have sinned you are unsaved and will have to
repent." At this you give up and begin to try to
repent, but as you can think of nothing to repent of you
will possibly think of concluding 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 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 cannot frame words to describe the suffering
of a soul thus accused of the devil. The imagination of
Dante could not dream of a scene so dark as this one, 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 perish soul and body,
when mercy was freely offered.
The same vile spirit of the devil
that will accuse you about your own experience, in order
to cut off any possible help he may see coming your way,
will accuse others to you and cause you to lose confidence
in them, thus causing the greater discouragement.
Discouragement is a natural consequence of accusations,
when they are accepted, and a person who is accused will
often help the devil by bringing up things of the past
that have been forgiven and trying to repent of them. The
accused and despondent soul will often wander down by the
dark shores of the sea of forgetfulness, and finding there
a bark of discouragement will launch it and sail out
through the fog and mist of past life hunting for
something about which to mourn. Often some mistake or sin
of the past, which, like an ocean derelict, has long ago
been forsaken and forgotten, is found; and pulling it
ashore the discouraged soul, who is anxious to do
something, invites friends and brethren to help in asking
God to take notice and forgive. But God will not visit
such a scene. What He has forgiven He has forgiven
forever, and He cannot forgive it a second time.
"For," says he, "their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. 8:12.
If a man should come to God and
obtain forgiveness of his sins, and live a faithful life
for awhile, and finally backslide and be lost, none of his
former sins would be mentioned to him, nor would he be
punished for any of the deeds of his former life; but only
for those committed after his fall. Neither will the Lord
forgive only a part of our wrong doings. When He forgives,
He forgives all, and forgives forever. So the only
possible way out is to resist the devil and all
accusations; cut the shore lines and consign the past to
the waves of forgetfulness; make an eternal dereliction of
all past sins and mistakes that God has forgiven; and set
your face Zionward.
A WAY OF ESCAPE.—It is with joy
that we offer a way of escape to every soul who is bowed
down by the accusing and discouraging powers of the devil.
Every one 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 who is bowed down
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 lighting 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 Hudson River, and all they needed to do
was to draw water and drink. 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 freely, 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
will feel very bad, and in every way you may feel like a
sinner; but if you do not know 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 only trials; 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 and leave him with his accusation; ignore
him, and draw nigh to God, and God will draw nigh to you,
and victory shall be yours.
