Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 22

[Concluding Chapter IV, "Impressions from Below -- Results of Following Them"]
Despair. When Satan succeeds in deceiving a soul to do or not do, as the case may be, he often sweeps down on it like a cyclone, and accuses it of committing the "unpardonable sin." He quotes Hebrews 10:26,27, in regard to "willful sin" and its penalty; also 2d Peter 2:20,21, about the "latter end being worse with them than the beginning," and Hebrews 6: 46, about it being "impossible" for some "if they shall fall away to renew them again to repentance," and kindred passages. He blindfolds the eyes of his victims to the bountiful provision of pardon to the penitent, and with vehemence and persistence brings such Scripture as the above to their minds. Unless they fly to the blood and claim victory in Jesus, they become the victims of Giant Despair.

All the fearful results that follow a refusal to be guided by God are too terrible to tell.

The most vivid portrayal of them, perhaps, that can be found, is in the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel after they refused to be led into the promised land. The reader is referred to our book, Out of Egypt into Canaan, Chapter VII, where these events are particularly noticed, and also to the chapter on "Jonahs" in Revival Kindlings. May we each so resist "impressions from below," and be so fully "led of the Spirit," that we will never have personally the experiences to which this chapter points, but may continually abide in the sunshine of His smile, in whose "presence is fullness of joy," and at whose "right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 21

[Continuing Chapter IV, Impressions from Below -- Results of Following Them]
Disappointment. Most of failures in business doubtless come because God's guidance is not sought and followed. Failures in religious work may result from the same cause. Revival meetings which are projected for the sake of personal aggrandizement, or simply through sectarian zeal and rivalry, are doomed for this reason. I knew of a minister who held a series of meetings in a certain place chiefly to keep out another denomination. He was not led by God, and his efforts ended in disappointment. God will have His children learn to let Him lead, and if the lesson costs them a thousand disappointments it is better than that it should go unlearned.

Salvation Hindered. Neglect to follow where and when the Spirit leads, often greatly hinders the work of salvation.

Undue Hurry. Such persons forget that "If the Holy Spirit inspires anything, He always gives time to consult upon it with God." Impetuous, and hurried by the pressure of self or Satanic influence, they rush pell-mell in ways that are far more hurried than wise, and miss the guidance of the still small voice that would have brought certainty and satisfaction.

Formality. It is to be feared that some, like the Jews who rejected Jesus, influenced by their pride, preconceived notions and prejudices, have turned a deaf ear to divine guidance and quenched the Spirit; and, like them, kept up a mere formal worship, totally destitute of the life and power of heart piety. Substituting formality for Christianity, their condition is sad, and is one of the prevalent and pitiable results which flows from following "impressions from below."

Fanaticism. There is much more danger today of people perishing amid the icebergs of formality than in the wildfire of fanaticism. Both should be avoided. All fanaticism, from primitive times to the present, has come from discarding proper tests and following "impressions from below." This is one of the perils which threatens spiritual people, just as a fast express train is more likely to leap the track than a slow train. God's trains, however, never need to leap over the chasm of fanaticism, and never will if they follow His instructions.

Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 20

CHAPTER IV
IMPRESSIONS FROM BELOW -- RESULTS OF FOLLOWING THEM

"But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit; therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them." -- Isaiah 63:10.

When people act on every sudden and strong or repeated impression, instead of "pondering their paths" and submitting to the tests which will determine their character, sad results follow. The following are some of them:

Perplexity. Many have been perplexed and bewildered and driven to the very verge of insanity in this way.

The devil comes with a suggestion. He clothes it in robes of light so that it appears to be the truth. He persistently pushes it. If resisted, he claims that those who do so are resisting the Spirit If they yield to it, he then tears off his "robe of light" and laughs at their deception. He says, "no harm," when he seeks to allure astray, and afterwards accuses with fierce fury, a foretaste of the taunts with which he will tantalize the lost throughout eternity.

A student was tempted to leave school and engage in revival work. The proposal came unexpectedly, and he was pushed to a decision. He loved that work, and without reflection agreed to go. But this decision filled him with dissatisfaction, and as he prayed about it the Spirit took the providences connected with his coming to school and remaining there, and showed him that God's leadings still were schoolward, and as he was released from his hasty promise his perplexity vanished, and the sunshine of God's favor again beamed upon him.

Unwise Action. Every act that is not in harmony with God's will is unwise. He who acts hurriedly upon impulses is frequently betrayed into such action.

Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 19

[Knapp continues his discussion of "Impressions from Below:"]
10. The Opinions of Other People. There is a sense in which "in a multitude of counselors there is safety," but more frequently there is confusion. He who seeks counsel from others more than from God will soon find discordant human voices drowning the inner voice, and know the truthfulness of the declaration that "cursed is the man who trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm." God often leads His children contrary to the counsels of their best friends, to teach them to rely on Him. So the voices of even our best friends, much less the decisions of Madam Grundy, can not be substituted for the tests which will be named. Satan or self will sometimes originate a very strong impression in the mind of Bro. Impulse and Bro. Self-Confidence, and make them believe it is of the Lord. It may relate to the action of Bro. Tender Conscience. With the solemnity and dogmatic certainty of an infallible oracle, they inform him of the revelation which they claim to have gotten of God, implying that they doubt his decision, and, perhaps, piety, if he does not accept their message as divine. I have known persons to bring and urge such messages, when to follow them would be to violate conscience, common sense and the clearest teachings of the Word.

11. Signs. As Satan can easily counterfeit them as he did with Moses in Egypt, it is evident that they would be an unsafe standard by which to try impressions. It is perilous to depend upon them. Yet the whole Simple family frequently do it. If they have an impression that one of their family is not to live long, and a bird flies into the room, or a looking-glass is broken, they are alarmed. They think it a sure sign of further mortality if a grave caves in or it rains upon the coffin on its way to its last long home. They are sure it is a bad sign to begin a job on Friday, and are governed by many similar superstitions It is also believed that some people who don't like to be classed with the Simple family are affected by such signs to a greater degree than they are free to confess.

12. Chance Happenings. Another trick of the adversary to get people to avoid rightful tests of impressions, is to prevail upon them to submit them to some chance happening. Bro. and Sister Truth Seeker have often been led astray in this way. They are impressed to do a certain thing, and decide that if the sun rises clear they will do it, if cloudy, not. If a certain chance event occurs they will take an impression to be of God; if it does not occur, not of Him. It might fittingly be called "religious gambling." It is a sort of "toss penny" arrangement which finds no sanction since the Holy Ghost fell at Pentecost. That good people have sometimes resorted to it simply proves their infirmity. It was before Pentecost that the Apostles "cast lots" in electing a successor of Judas. Had they waited until after, they doubtless would have taken a different course, and been saved the mortification of choosing a man who never was heard of afterwards, and of forestalling the Spirit, who put Paul in the place of Judas.

Its use drives to wrong conclusions, dwarfs the reason, fosters ignorance, offers incense to chance, perplexes the conscience, pleases Satan and grieves the Holy Ghost. These, and other similar devices, are often used by "the world, the flesh and the devil," to accomplish their designs. The deception practiced is often so subtle as to escape detection only from those who have learned to try them by divine tests. While Satan is allowed great latitude in his efforts to deceive, yet he can go no further than God permits.

It would not be surprising if there are ways revealed whereby all his counterfeit coin can be detected, and God's voice always be clearly and unmistakably known.

Given a God with whom all things are possible, a Savior whose mission is to "destroy the works of the devil," and who has promised His children "power over all the power of the enemy," and such a provision may be confidently looked for.

Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 18

[Knapp continues his discussion of "Impressions from Below:"]
7. Passion. Many have attributed impressions to come from God which were born of no other parentage than their own rebellions passions. Saul of Tarsus, beneath the sway of this power, "breathing out slaughter" against the followers of Jesus, tells us that he verily thought he was doing God service. It is sometimes miscalled "righteous indignation," but loses none of the lion-like in its nature by the lamb-skin in which it thus is robed. Beware of its decision. Impulse and passion often prove a Niagara which drowns the voice of duty, and sweeps thousands of victims over the falls of irretrievable loss.

8. Prejudices and Preconceived Notions. These by their hue and cry attempt to deafen the ear to every voice which does not agree with them. Peter, though fully sanctified, had to be taken aside and given a special object lesson before he could distinguish, above the din of these two voices the Spirit's call to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. These two arbiters always interpret impressions according to their own views, and it is folly to appeal to them. Yet they are misleading millions. I have known their victims to be shocked at new and successful measures which the Holy Ghost would suggest in revival work, simply because these two censors were offended.

9. The Flesh. The voices of the body often clamor for excessive and unlawful gratification. Any impression which gives them license is popular with them. They are all ambitious to sit upon the throne of the soul and control its decisions, and must be "kept under," or instead of the "fruits of the Spirit," there will be the "lusts of the flesh," a harvest of thistles.

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 16

Frightful ... are the mistakes and disasters which have come from being led by untried impressions. To keep from the discriminating light of the detecting proof tests which God has provided, Satan has devised many ingenious and deceptive expedients. As the rightful judges never will render a decision in his favor, but always detect the slightest error, he makes a desperate effort to prevail upon persons to appeal to other judges whom he can bribe to decide as he wishes. If possible, he will push people to act upon doubtful impressions without trying them at all; but if they will "try the spirits, whether they be of God," then he insists that they shall be tried before a court of his dictation. The following are among the judges which he recommends, and which have betrayed multitudes:

1. Feelings. People who are duped by this judge follow their feelings instead of their convictions. Impressions which harmonize with their feelings are fondled, and other impressions are given a cold reception. If their feelings are crossed they raise such a cry as to drown the whisperings of the still small voice within, and then seek their selfish gratification. They sometimes do very unscriptural things because they "feel like it," and for the same reason avoid the cross and the self-denial which it imposes. They mistake the voice of their own feelings for a message from above, and following the decisions of this judge, they are betrayed into wrong action. Well did Wesley exhort his followers to "trample under foot the enthusiastic doctrine that we are to do good only when we feel like it." He who tests his convictions by his feelings, instead of God's judges, is as foolish as a man who would take his case out of a wise and righteous court and put it in the power of a crying child.

2. Imagination. Fancy is often quick to seize an impression, paint it and make it appear as real and beautiful as a blooming rose. The Christian, of course, renounces all imaginations that are known to be wrong; but in order to divert from the work and the life-plan which God has marked out, imagination will often paint another work and point to another plan which some wrong impression has suggested, and thus seek to lead from the path where duty calls.

A person sometimes has an impression that he ought to have a certain desirable appointment [to a position]. In fact, a number often feel "strongly impressed" that they should have the same place. Then they imagine themselves there, and when the appointments are made and their fancy bubble bursts they weep like children because the voice of their imaginations did not prove to be the voice of God. Sometimes imagination takes foreboding of evil and makes it seem as real as fact, and goads to worry over what never comes.

Every "imagination" that does not stand the tests above mentioned should be "cast down." He who substitutes it instead of them will find himself in as sad a plight as the student who might seek to make a paint-brush light his room instead of turning on the gas. The burden of Jeremiah's message against God's people was that they followed "their own imaginations" instead of heeding the voice divine.

Who is there that has not sometimes had a "strong impression" that an absent friend was sick, or in danger, or dying, and afterwards found that it was all imagination?

The devil is called the "Tormentor," and he loves to tantalize by this or any other means.

"Beware," wrote Wesley, "of a heated imagination. . . . . Some charge their own imaginations on the will of God, and that not written but impressed on their hearts. If these impressions be received as a rule of action instead of the written Word, I know nothing so wicked or absurd but that we may fall into, and that without remedy."

3. Chance Texts. The habit of turning to some chance text and hinging action upon that, has prevailed with some. This is as if a physician should prescribe for his patient by opening his books at random and writing out the first [prescription] which catches his eye! Or as if a lawyer would open a book of legal lore and give his client the chance counsel which he thus might find! Is spiritual indolence or ignorance less pardonable than medical or legal?

The come-outer is impressed that he should leave the church. He urges the divinity of his impression by taking as a test the first text which meets his eye as he opens the Bible. It chances to be, "Come out from among them and be ye separate." With this text Satan blinds his eyes to the whole teaching of Scripture in regard to the organized church, and on it he drifts down the stream of "come-outism," over the falls of final fanaticism.

Another person is impressed that women ought not to do public work. He opens his Bible, and by chance his eye catches, "Let the women learn in silence." The whole question is settled in an instant! And so easily, too! And thus wresting this Scripture from its proper place, he peacefully pillows his head upon it, and lies down on the railroad track of the facts of Scripture, right and sense in the matter, and is crushed by the wheels of truth as it steams with triumph on its destined way. "Search the Scriptures," not "fool" with them, is the divine command.

4. Dreams. God has spoken to men by dreams, but this is not His usual way. There is, under the spirit's dispensation, no Scripture warrant for depending upon them for guidance. Jeremiah called them "chaff" when compared to the revealed Word. He who substitutes the chaff of dreams for the wheat of Bible truth will soon become a spiritual starveling. Many people have allowed themselves to be alarmed because previous impressions were strengthened by dreams which were merely born of bad digestion. The Bible speaks of "false dreams" and "filthy dreamers," and complains of those who caused the people to forget God by "their dreams which they told every man to his neighbor."

A certain person received me very coldly where I was once engaged in revival work because of a striking dream he had had of an evangelist which he thought referred to me. Before the meeting closed he changed his mind, and thought it must have meant some other person.

A Christian lady of whom I knew, after losing her husband, dreamed that a relative came to her home and brought a man, and said to her, "I have brought you this man for your husband." The dream made a very deep impression, and the features of the promised husband were vividly fixed in her mind. She actually expected the fulfillment of the dream, but looked for it in vain to the day of her death.

All impressions made by dreams which do not meet the approval of the rightful tests should be allowed to vanish. To follow them may prove as fatal as for an engineer, because of "a strong impression made by a dream," to run his train without orders from headquarters. In either case fearful wreckage may be the result.

Mr. Wesley wisely warns: "Do not hastily ascribe things to God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions, or revelations to be from God. They may be from Him. They may be from nature. They may be from the devil. Therefore believe not every spirit, but 'try the spirits whether they be from God."'

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 15

CHAPTER III
IMPRESSIONS FROM BELOW
CONTINUED

"Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." -- Jesus.

Preceding chapters have noticed:

1. That impressions come through many different agencies.

2. That there is often a striking resemblance between those which are from above and those from below.

Many impressions are so evidently from God that they need no testing, but all that are in any ways doubtful should be summoned before a court of final appeal, the mention of which will soon be made.

Knowing that the person who will follow all impressions without stopping to test them will soon be at his mercy, Satan first of all seeks to ensnare by leading people to act at once without applying any test whatever. Then he will impress to do needless, unwise, untimely and ridiculous things, and seek to deceive his subjects into believing that the promptings came from God. There is not one instance in the New Testament where the Spirit led a person to do an outlandish thing. God don't lead in that way.

Others are impressed to talk to every one they meet, under all circumstances, about their souls. Some feel impressed to jump up and down and scream in meeting; others to lie down and let people walk over them to prove their humility; and at once putting these impressions in practice, they become the victims of Satan's wiles.

Saddest of all, the devil often succeeds in making people believe that these impressions are from above, and that they will resist the Spirit and backslide if they do not follow them. By this method he would keep those who will not do known sin, running on fruitless and often foolish errands.

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 14

[Continuing Knapp's discussion of wrong, or evil, impressions:.The material in this post was from a G. D. Watson, and quoted by Knapp:]
... Another trick of the devil is to get sanctified people where they are lead by impressions. Some are frightened right off and go down; but if the devil finds he can not scare you, and can not make you stop testifying, then he will go round and attack you on the other side. I don't know whether you folks will believe what I am going to tell you, but it is the truth. The devil can make people feel tremendously happy. I have learned a great deal in the past fifteen years of the experiences of people. He can produce a fictitious happiness, and he will make you feel so with special reference to getting you where you live on impressions, and then the devil has got all he wants. Then he puts on his Sunday clothes and turns himself into an angel of light.
 
People -- even Christian people -- do not believe Scripture at this point. I have seen people so deluded by the devil, and I have said, 'Don't you know the devil can turn himself into an angel of light?' 'Oh, yes,' they say; 'but the devil isn't leading me! If God tells me to do so, I will do it,' they say. 
 
Again he says, 'I am the Holy Ghost.' And you can not detect him unless God helps you. He will begin by making you do something that is very nice for God. For instance, he will make you pray, but he will make you pray in the wrong way and at the wrong time. He will tell you to do a great many things, but he will always tell you, or impress you to do these things in a queer, outlandish or unnatural way. He says to one sister, when the child is crying and the bread about to burn: 'Now, the Holy Ghost says you must go and pray an hour; let the baby cry and the coffee-pot boil over.' I know these are facts. And the person goes off as sincere as an angel, and kneels down and prays; and the baby may get scalded to death.
 
God the Holy Ghost, in all His leadings, never leads people in an abnormal way, or an unnatural or a strained way. God doesn't strain you; He doesn't put the thumbscrew on you, and strain your muscles until they crack and snap, but the devil does.
 
The devil knows he can not make us lie or steal, or do any of these things, but he is trying to make you do pious things in a most outlandish and most unnatural and most abnormal way. I tell you, there is a tremendous amount of that work done. People think they are led by the Holy Ghost, and they are led by the devil as an angel of light.
 
From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 13

[Continuing Knapp's discussion of wrong, or evil, impressions.]
7. Wrong impressions may be and often, though not always, are in harmony with our natural desires. The forbidden fruit which was proffered in Paradise, and which appeared so "good" and "pleasant" and "desirable," has lost none of its attractiveness, and is far from being exhausted.

8. Evil impressions may also, like the good, be attended by striking passages of Scripture, which seem to sanction them. The devil and his agents, as in the temptation of Jesus, never fail to quote Scripture when they can pervert it to deceive and to strengthen their purposes. Mrs. H. W. Smith says she knew an earnest Christian who had the text, "All things are yours," so strongly impressed upon her mind in regard to some money that belonged to another person, that she felt that it was a direct command to steal the money, and after a struggle did so, with most grievous results.

... In all of the above and other particulars impressions from below may be like those from above, and thus robed as "angels of light," Satan seeks through them to "deceive, if it were possible, the very elect."

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 12

CHAPTER II
IMPRESSIONS FROM BELOW

"Be not deceived."

As has been seen, Satan and his emissaries, disguised as "angels of light," by wrong impressions are ever seeking to ruin souls, and to divert God's children from their divinely appointed mission. He always shapes his methods to his victims, and whom he can not openly allure he seeks to subtly deceive. He accomplishes his purpose with many impressions in a way something like that by which we poison rats. We do not throw down a lot of strychnine and say, "Rats, eat it and die." We take just a little and mingle it with some meal so concealed that they will not suspect the poison, and then they eat the meal, and with it poison enough to cause their death. So Satan takes the meal of divine truth and mingles with it enough error to accomplish his purpose, and men eat and are betrayed.

Hence, we find that as a pan of meal which is prepared with poison appears precisely like one which is free from it, and would pass as harmless unless analyzed, so impressions from below may be apparent counterparts of those from above. They may exactly resemble them in the following important particulars:

1. They are inward impressions made upon our spirits.

2. They are often very strong impressions. Fanaticism is born in the land of strong but wrong impressions.

3. They occur repeatedly. See how Satan persisted with our first parents, with Job, and with Jesus. He will keep repeating his messages as long as he can deceive his victims into giving him a hearing, and all of his agents are possessed of like perseverance.

4. They frequently occur during prayer and other devotions. Nothing is more in keeping with their object than to divert from communion with God, hence the idea that impressions are of God simply because they occur at such times is erroneous. They may be from Him and they may be from below.

5. Like good impressions they may be brought to us by our friends. Job had more trouble from his friends than from both affliction and Satan combined. Though they meant well the impressions they made were not from above. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, Job's misguided counselors, have had their counterparts in all ages.

6. Wrong impressions, like good ones, may be attended by a chain of circumstances which seem to confirm their truthfulness. Satan is allowed great latitude, and shows great cunning in arranging his program to thwart divine purposes; selfish human nature also is eagle-eyed to claim as providential indications that were never so designed. It might have seemed providential to the assassin Booth that Lincoln was at the theater that fatal night, but does that prove that the murderer's impressions were of God?

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 11

[Knapp concludes his discussion of bad impressions]
Bad Reading. Its influence for evil can not be estimated. Its impression for wrong will be as deep and lasting as hell itself.

These, and other wiles, are shrewdly manipulated by Satan, and over them impressions are constantly reaching the mind. Their constant clicking is confusing and frequently confounding to those who have not the spiritual education to distinguish the sources from which they come.

The human soul beneath these influences is like a place where two winds meet, the cold blizzards from the frigid zone of Satanic temptation and the refreshing gales from heavenly heights; or where two armies meet in fierce and deadly fray.

The soul itself can decide which shall prevail, and upon its decision hangs its character and its destiny. He who sides with convictions from above shall wear a victor's crown forever; with impressions from below shall be crownless and Christless through all eternity.

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here. 

Excerpts from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 10

[Knapp continues his discussion of "Impressions from Below."] Satan, too, is shrewd to get, when possible, good people to carry his messages. He always does this when he can, as it helps to hide his purpose. Universalism is the most baneful kind of infidelity, because its messages are carried by men who profess to be ministers of Jesus. License of liquor could not live for a year were it not that the devil has secured for its defenders professedly good men. When men who are really good are deceived by Satan, and really think his messages are from above, the deception is deeper, and danger still more dire.

The Prayers of Mistaken People. The influence of mind over mind is marvelous. If a person of strong will determines a certain thing in regard to another, and persistently insists upon it, there is reason to believe that the other person will feel the influence thereof though thousands of miles away. Where a number of persons thus unite the influence felt will be still stronger, and it will be felt whether the people are in the right or wrong.

"The one accord" which is essential for a church to prevail in prayer embraces this principle. It is a power for good when in God's order, but when through ignorance or wrong motives it is not of the Spirit, it works perplexity and harm.

I know of an instance of a lady who has been tormented for over two years from this source. A good man, minister of the Gospel, became possessed of the idea that she should marry him. He said
that God had revealed it to him. The woman was fully saved, and felt just as sure that God had revealed the contrary to her. He commenced praying that God would show her her error, and while her convictions kept deepening that he was mistaken, yet often a disagreeable feeling would come to her as a result of his persistent, misguided prayer.

A person with weaker convictions of duty might have been lead to yield to such an influence, but being enabled to see through it all as a design of Satan, she simply suffered the perplexity, and remained firm.

Satan delights to get good folks to waste their prayers over what is not the mind of the Spirit, as it diverts from God-given work.

These impressions seek to pull one out of the path of duty, and as they come through the medium of at least professedly good people they are sometimes very perplexing.

The Flesh. Its appetites often clamor for unlawful indulgence, and cry so loud as to drown all other voices.

Self. The unrenewed and unsanctified I within always wants its own way, and will persistently plead for it. When messages from below harmonize with it, it is quick to carry them.

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Excerpts from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 9

He [Satan] is the author, directly or indirectly, of all "Impressions from below." Many impressions come from him directly. They frequently are shot by him into the mind, like the leaping of lightning from a dark thunder-cloud, and astound by their suddenness and awfulness.

1. Evil Angels. "There are," says a gifted writer on this subject, "the voices of evil and deceiving spirits, who lie in wait to entrap every traveler entering these higher regions of spiritual life. In the same epistle which tells us that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ, we are also told that we shall have to fight with spiritual enemies. These spiritual enemies, whoever or whatever they may
be, must necessarily communicate with us by means of our spiritual faculties and their voices, as the voice of God, is an inward impression made upon our spirit. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit may tell us by impressions what the will of God is concerning us, so also will these spiritual enemies tell us by impressions what is their will concerning us, though not of course giving it their name." --
From Christian's Secret of a Happy Life.

"I believe," says John Wesley, "that united under Satan, they either range the upper regions, whence they are called princes of the power of the air, or, like him, walk about the earth as 'roaring
lions seeking whom they may devour."' A greater than Wesley has said: "For we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness [margin, wicked spirits] in high places."

As good angels may be the messengers of impressions from above, so may evil ones, who are ever ready to blight and annoy and perplex and destroy, be of those from below.

Human Influence. Bad people are wires over which evil impressions fly thick and fast. An evil word or glance may make an impression that is lasting.

From Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.