The earth which was made an habitation for man (Gen. 1:26. Isa. 45:18) has now become the abode of Satan and his demon host. Instead of man having dominion over the earth as intended by God, Satan has become the world’s unseen ruler. Satan, called the god of this world by Paul (II Cor. 4:4) and prince of this world by Jesus (John 14:30) is indeed the head of this whole world system.
Behind the governments of the world, including the political and religious systems, are the unseen rulers of darkness headed up by Lucifer. There is not a government or political or religious philosophy in the world that has not been corrupted by Satan. In fact many of them are his inventions from start to finish to lead men astray. Though we look upon and blame human personalities behind these systems, the real enemy is Satan and his demon host.
Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” The amplified translation states it thusly: “For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood -- contending only with physical opponents -- but against the despotisms, against the powers, against (the master spirits who are) the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.” Moffatt’s translation is also interesting. “For we have to struggle, not with blood and flesh but with the angelic authorities, the potentates of the dark present, the spirit forces of evil in the heavenly sphere.”
From these translations, we learn that our real enemy is not man but forces of evil, called powers, principalities, master spirits, world rulers, spirit forces, angelic rulers, angelic authorities and potentates. These are all living and operating from the supernatural invisible realm of darkness. Webster defines the word “principality” as a prince of a territory. It is evident from these scriptures that Satan’s kingdom has many fallen angelic spirits of a very high order, called world rulers, master spirits, and princes over vast territories.
We are prone to think of Satan’s emissaries as living only in a disembodied state, hovering around in space and whispering evil into our ears. It is true, there are literally billions of evil spirits living in the atmosphere around the earth, tempting, deceiving, harassing, and vexing mankind. But the devils that we need most to be on the alert for are those who are trying to influence us through man. This is where Satan through his demon host does his greatest damage in leading men to ruin. As folks used to say when I was a little boy, “the devils you need to watch out for are the two-legged ones.”
Though we do not wish to minimize the need for guarding our minds against the enemy that whispers in our ears, we must also be on the alert against him deceiving us through man. This type of deception may be on a much higher plane, but it is just as destructive and can lead into a morass of spiritual and moral corruption that brings forth death.
Demons’ greatest work of deception and evil is accomplished as they project themselves through the life and personality of the person they indwell. Their evil spirit nature is actually imparted or ministered in this manner, even as God’s spirit of rightousness and life is ministered to man through human vessels. As the word of God is the vehicle or means through which God enters a human life; Satan’s word, the lie, is the means used to enter and destroy man.
Religious, political, or philosophical delusion is actually the worst type of demon possession. First of all it is not considered demon possession because those possessed are otherwise normal and sane. The only abnormality recognized by the world is extreme insanity that requires a padded cell.
Demon possession that causes the victim to beat his head against a wall is minor in comparison. There is actually more hope for one obviously demented than for demon deluded people who are considered perfectly sane.
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