For this reason, excessive laughter, sensual excitement, and all “rushing” which rouses the physical life to the extent of dominating mind and spirit, should be avoided. Believers who desire to be “spiritual,” and of “full age” in the life of God, must avoid excess, extravagance, and extremes in all things. (See I Cor. 40:25-27.)

Because of the dominance of the physical part of man, and of his misunderstanding of supernatural experiences felt in the body, the body is made to do the work of the spirit, and is forced into prominence which suppresses the true spirit life. Under such conditions the body feels the pressure and feels the conflict, and thereby controls the mind in the place of the soul and spirit. Believers should learn to discriminate, and know how to discern the true feelings of the spirit, which are neither emotional nor physical. (See Mark 8:12; John 13:21; Acts 18:5.)

Through ignorance, a large majority of believers walk after their feelings, i. e., their sensations and emotions, under the impression that they are “walking after the Spirit.” Because of what this means—depriving the believer of vital spirit power—the Satanic forces use all their wiles to draw him to live in his emotional sensations, sometimes flashing visions to the mind, making presentations to the mind during prayer, or giving exquisite sensations of joy, buoyancy of life, etc., to the body.

In the progress of the renewal of the redeemed man, it is to the interest of the forces of evil that any element of the fallen life, whether of the sensations of the body or of the psychic world, should be kept active, for as the believer becomes “spiritual,” he becomes more and more united in actual spirit-union with the Lord of Glory, and hence more and more escapes the power of evil spirits, and becomes equipped to recognize them and war against them.

But it must first be recognized clearly that the “Fall” was the result of believing the lie of Satan, the fallen archangel—that he could become as God; and that when Satan succeeded, there entered the race of fallen man a poison which runs through every element of his being.

This poison—the desire for hidden knowledge and powers—gives Satan the power of access to every part of man’s tripartite nature; i. e., (a) the fallen spirit, dead to God, is open to the hellish dark world of spirits ruled over by the Prince of Darkness; (b) the soul, including the intellect, imagination, thought, will and