When the mind of a believer has fallen into the condition mentioned in the preceding chapter, he should seek the way of deliverance. In the preceding chapter we could only briefly discuss the general phenomena and could not point out everyone's condition. Since the extent of each one's passivity is different, the extent of the attack by the evil spirits is different; therefore, the extent of the mind's torment is also different. But when a believer sees that his own mind has any of the conditions mentioned in the preceding chapter, he should be on the alert. It could be that he has given ground to the evil spirits and is being attacked by them. If this is the case, he should seek the way of deliverance.
After reading the lesson in the preceding chapter, most believers will wonder why they did not pay any attention to the torture in their mind. Is it not strange that a believer never knows the condition his mind has fallen into? He always seems to have considerable knowledge about other things, but concerning his own mind, he seems to know nothing. Although he has suffered much torment, he still has not paid much attention to it. He must wait for others to remind him before realizing his own condition. Why has he not thought of this before? Does this not tell us that evil spirits and our minds have a special relationship with each other, and that the knowledge in our minds seem to be shallower than anything else? Everyone who has suffered from evil spirits should answer this question.
When the believer's eyes are opened to see his own condition, he naturally wants to seek the way of deliverance. But the lying, evil spirits will not be so gentle as to allow their prisoners to go free. They will try their best to hinder the believer from gaining deliverance. Their method is to use many lies as excuses.
Evil spirits will tell the believer, "Your sudden and good thought is of God...these sudden revelations are the result of being spiritual...your bad memory is caused by something in your physical body...your sudden forgetfulness is natural...oversensitivity is a matter of disposition...a weak memory is hereditary...insomnia is an illness...you are tired...your inability to think is the result of overwork...you cannot stop thinking at night because you have used your mind too much during the day...unclean thoughts come from the sins that you have committed...your inability to listen to others is because of differences in the environment...the blame is altogether on others." There are innumerable excuses that evil spirits purposely devise other than just these. If the believer does not know that he is truly being attacked, that he has truly deviated from the normal condition, evil spirits will use these and similar excuses to cover up the ground that they have gained. Little does he know that the real reason is his passivity; his mind has become blank and occupied by evil spirits. These sicknesses are the result of evil spirits' working. Of course, we must also admit that behind these excuses, there are also natural causes mixed in with them. But the experiences of many believers tell us that evil spirits are most subtle. They can work alongside natural causes and make the believers think that their activities are only related to natural causes, coming from things like the disposition, the physical body, the environment, etc.; therefore, the believers forget that evil spirits have blended themselves into these causes. Evil spirits love to cover up their work with a little natural cause. One thing, however, is certain: if the cause is natural, the original condition of the man should be restored when the natural cause is eliminated. If there is a supernatural cause mixed in with it (due to evil spirits), the man will not be restored even when the natural cause is eliminated. All the cases, involving a person who is not restored when the natural causes are eliminated, are due to a mixture with supernatural causes. For example, when you have insomnia, the evil spirits may give you an excuse, saying, "You have worked too hard; you have overexerted your mind. This is why you have this illness." If you believe their word, you will stop working and rest for a while, trying not to use your mind at all. But while you are sleeping, you will still have thousands of thoughts going through your mind. This tells you that your illness is not solely related to natural causes because after you have eliminated the natural causes, your symptoms are still not cured. Therefore, there must be some supernatural causes mixed in with it. If you do not try to deal with the supernatural causes, no cure will be effective no matter how much you eliminate the natural causes.