A Field of Effective Service
That brings me to this. There is a large field of effective service in the realm of prayer and resistance concerning wrong things in the spiritual world. The perils of the unseen seem always to be turning up in some new garb, though in principle they are the same.
I remember attending a certain conference to investigate what was being taught and to see what was happening. Before long I became very conscious of being in a strange atmosphere. It was weird. So far as I know I had no prejudices. I said, “Lord, I am open to all truth, but I am closed to all error.” The longer I stayed, and the more I heard and saw, the more my spirit was aroused to war. For my own sake I found that I must resist, or be so enveloped as to lose my own power of choice and believe that everything from every quarter was of the Holy Spirit. I knew that it was not, and I said so. “This thing is of the devil,” I contended with bowed head, “and I resist it in the name of the Lord.” Some of the people were enraptured. Some looked mystified, and many stupefied; I was in deep agony of spirit and obliged to be against it.
The theme of the addresses was “The Baptism of the Spirit.” Many went forward to “receive the blessing,” as it was termed. While in the meetings, I quietly bowed before God and said, “Lord, I am against nothing of the Holy Spirit, but I am against the devil and his counterfeits, and I ask Thee to let me be of some use to Thee to protect these unwary souls.” I must shorten the story, but let me say this: not one of those who went forward during those meetings in which I so prayed received “the blessing” they sought. It was a lesson to me in resisting deceiving spirits.
The contention that where there is no “speaking in tongues” there is no true baptism of the Spirit, I hold to be unscriptural (1 Corinthians 12:10-11,13,30).
Now, I believe most certainly in that “enabling of the Spirit” which a vast number of believers need to make them effective for service, but there are grave perils in this realm. Souls must protect themselves (1) by knowing that unless they are watchful, they can be beguiled of the devil; (2) by insisting on retaining the full use of all their faculties of discernment and will; and (3) by refusing to be passive anywhere or in anything. Unless they do that and perhaps more, in full reliance upon the Holy Spirit to instruct them, they will be drawn into an evil, supernatural realm from which it may not always be easy to escape.
The Spirit of God will give us power for service in harmony with Scripture, and He will work through all our faculties, especially those of discernment and choice. It is when the mind and will are out of action that the devil has a free hand. It is doubtful if he ever neglects to take advantage of a situation of this nature. There is no use in quoting such passages as Luke 11:11 and saying, “God will not give me one thing if I ask for another.” We must have discernment—“understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:17) God has bestowed in Christ every gift that man needs (Ephesians 1:3; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). It is for us to take. We are to “apprehend that for which also [we are] apprehended.” (Philippians 3:12) If we continue to “Walk in the Spirit,” (Galatians 5:16) God will fit us, according to our need and measure, for all His will. Nothing else matters. Nothing else is necessary.