Let us imagine further that instead of resisting the voice on the basis of Scripture you entertain the notion. It is possible, in spite of the Scripture, that God indeed has chosen to exalt you over your fellow members of the Body of Christ or to make an exception for you in the area of sexual conduct. You always have had the feeling you have a special destiny, that God loves you in a special way and intends to treat you differently from other believers.

Your common sense may hold you back for awhile from overt acts but in your heart the concept is growing that you are especially favored of the Lord and cannot be deceived. Even though Christ has warned us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one," you cannot be deceived because you are one of God's favorites.

You will not ask your husband or wife or a fellow disciple to help you judge the voice because this would ruin it all for you—"they" never would understand.

Now Satan has brought you quite a way into deception. Satan has no power over a Christian unless he can persuade the believer to cooperate with him, to listen to his suggestions. If Satan can persuade the disciple to disobey the Word of God he can bring him under his power. This is how Satan destroyed Adam and Eve.

Overconfidence. The Christian believer is mistaken if he thinks that Satan will not lie persuasively to him. The overcoming disciple is mistaken if he believes that he cannot have dreams, visions, premonitions, fleeting glimpses into the supernatural, which are not of God.

The dedicated saint is mistaken if he believes that because he has surrendered to God he will not receive all kinds of pleasurable satanic sensations calculated to appeal to his individual personality. His consecration to God makes him the prey of the forces of darkness.

Passivity. The disciple is making a mistake if he throws his personality open, saying in effect, "I am without a will of my own. I will move however God moves me."

The believer who adopts this attitude will be moved by a spirit, true enough. But it will not be the Spirit of God. He now is open to every spiritual "revelation" that the cunning forces of darkness can manufacture. This deception has arisen in part from the teaching that the Lord is looking for "empty vessels."

We wonder how many Christians there are in the world who believe God will not allow them to be exposed to the counterfeit revelations of Satan. Whatever the number is, that is the number of Christians who are living in deception.

Instead of believing himself to be immune to deception or presenting himself as a puppet for the Spirit of God to move in the manner of a puppeteer, the Christian must judge all things through the Scripture, through prayer, through ministry and help from fellow members of the Body of Christ, through the counsel of devout and experienced elders of the church, and through a consistent life of cross-carrying obedience to the Spirit of God.

To be continued.