Principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world

Thought others may enjoy the background of what led to the decision to deceive Ahab which resulted in his death. That part of the story is equally as intriguing and relevant.

1 Kings

The king of Israel(Ahab) said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes.” The king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.
31 Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Don’t fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.”
32 When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely that is the king of Israel!” and they came over to fight against him. Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 34 A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel(Ahab) between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around, and carry me out of the battle, for I am severely wounded.” 35 The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. 36 A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”
37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria. 38 They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves, according to YHVH’s word which He spoke.

God does speak directly to our minds, but not all such things are of God. This is why we are to test the spirits to see if they are of God or not.(1 John 4:1-6) This 'testing' isn't just what prophets say, but everything said to us, audibly or otherwise.

I fully agree with most of what you said though.

All angels have free will to serve God or not to serve God ------Lucifer was a great angel according to scripture and was sent by God to earth to oversee the Garden of Eden ----then pride came over Lucifer and He wanted to be higher than God ----so Lucifer had a name change -by God ---he became Satan and was cut from heaven and he took some angels with him ------so Satan has quite a few bad angels with him who are allowed by God to infiltrate people's mind and put bad thoughts in their mind---Satan is allow to temp us to sin -----

Satan and his tribe have God's permission to Keep us from God and His Faith building Word -----

God also has access to our mind and God puts good thoughts in our mind ------

So here lies the Battle of the Mind -------so you are at war in your mind every minute of every day -----and it is all about who will win your soul today -----Satan wants to destroy your Faith in God and will do everything in His power to keep you from God's word as that is where you get your Faith from -----and God wants you to read and study and meditate on His word so your Faith gets strong and Satan can't knock you off of your Faith in God -----

You win or loose the war in your mind -----who will Win the wrestling Match of your mind today ??





God tells you how to keep the fiery Darts from the Evil one from extinguishing your Faith ------



you have to resist strongholds of the mind ----by casting them down and replacing them with God Word



these are just a few strongholds of the mind ----doubt ---unbelief and anger could be added to the list

Gee, that's so helpful.

Not at all.

Maybe next time, try embodying your user name, or at least provide an explanation as to your concerns.

C. S. Lewis, greatly overrated.

An excerpt from the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/24/books/c-s-lewis-sins-and-all.html

In the United States, among Lewis's Protestant devotees, there is an analogous awkwardness about his passion for alcohol and tobacco. Some of Lewis's American publishers actually ask for references to drinking and smoking to be removed from his work, and one has the strong feeling that this is not so much because they themselves disapprove of the activities as because they need a Lewis who was, against all evidence, a nonsmoker and a lemonade drinker.

You see, many applaud this man who wrote stories about witches, & other mythical animals from old religions to show a "godly" storyline about good vs. evil.
It seems alright in the minds of many to write this way, "because he is a christian".
Since Harry Potter & Lord of the Rings are about good vs. evil, maybe we should put them in the "christian" category as well.

Just in case your genuinely enquiring some people like myself have an alternate view as in regards to the principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, Demons were in the gospel accounts but they were cast out, they were swept clean from this world for a time, so our fight while not a physical battle or against flesh and blood, is a spiritual battle against the rulers of this world who are in darkness and ignore the morals set forth in the bible.

The government who supposedly represent the main cross stream of people where I live, have introduced same sex marriages etc etc, Evolution is taught in schools and Colleges, those who go through the system seem to be the majority entering into power, the animosity towards God seems to grow with each generation.

In some the mocking of not believing in evolution causes doubts, its not some telepathy from an invisible being putting doubts in your head, its your own weakness.

Which is why we need to equip the armor of God to put 100% trust into God and believe in Salvation for example, to enable us to quench the darts of the wicked one(the head of those who have not yet seen the light, those under darkness)etc etc.

I guess Im just trying to say its humans or the world system sinful man has put in place, which also is ungodly by default which is what we battle against. And not everyone believes its some Demon putting thoughts into our brains because we are so good and perfect they cant possibly be our own thoughts yada yada

Yes, they are.

Backing up just a bit, Paul said:

Ephesians 6:10-12

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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."

Our real battle is spiritual in nature in that we are battling against "the wiles" or the schemes "of the devil". For this cause, Paul said that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood". In other words, we are wrestling against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. The Greek word which is translated into English as "high" is epouranios, and it is translated as "heavenly", "celestial", and "in heaven" in every other place that it appears in the new testament.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2032/kjv/tr/0-1/

In fact, just about every other Bible version translates this Greek word into English as "in the heavenly places", "in the heavenly realm" or "in the heavens".

https://biblehub.com/ephesians/6-12.htm

Again, we are not wrestling against flesh and blood or humans, but instead we are wrestling against spirit beings whose normal realm of operation is in the heavens.
You can see how they seek to influence us by looking at Christ's temptation in the wilderness.

Matthew 4:1-11

"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him."

Behind every temptation is the tempter, and the tempter is the devil. Jesus dealt with him in the spirit, or by using "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) against him, and we need to do the same.

Paul said:

2 Corinthians 10:3-6

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled."

Again, we do not war after the flesh, but in the spirit realm. For this reason, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual instead. Any time that an imagination or high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God enters into your mind, you need to cast it down and bring it into the obedience of Christ. This can only be done through the use of spiritual weaponry because it is such things as "seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1) that we are constantly at war with.

Consider Peter:

Matthew 16:13-23

"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

The revelation that Peter had concerning Jesus being "the Christ, the Son of the living God" did not come through "flesh and blood". Instead, it was a spiritual revelation which came from the Father in heaven who "is a Spirit" (John 4:24).

Similarly, when Peter rebuked Jesus, he was not doing so simply as a "flesh and blood" human. No, instead, Jesus said unto him, "Get thee behind me Satan" because Peter's words were being influenced or inspired by Satan at that moment in time.

And so it is with us today.

We are all being inspired by someone.

Either by the Spirit of God or by evil spirits.

In order to overcome in this spiritual battle, God has provided us with spiritual armor, and we would be wise to put it on, and use it.

in reguards to Jezebel. It’s an evil spirit that perhaps manifested in her and actually is quite active in both men and women today according to Dr.Brown

God has spoken to me directly about 40 times in my 50 years as a Christian. It has never been to my mind. He speaks through His word and through His people mostly. I can't explain it, but the spirit and the mind are not the same. Ask God to show you what I mean.

Demons act on a Christian in this way-


Christians are not immune to spiritual attack. I don’t believe we can be in dwelt by demons but we can certainly be deceived and influenced by them and I point at primarily evidence in
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭25‬-‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul was speaking to Christians in

When we allow our flesh to take over and we as Christian’s rage, lust, envy, covet, lie, resent, allow strife and bitterness into our hearts these sin create an open door for Satan to create a stronghold in our lives. Satan can’t kill a believer, Satan can’t force a believer to do anything but he can deceive you into believing a lie. He can take something that is 95% truth and sprinkle 5% lie into it and put his spin on it . He can deceive just as he did with Eve. When we agree to the lie he may speak we open the door for further attack and a deepening stronghold that begin to manifest as addictions, depression, etc . He can’t kill us but he can oppress our minds making us so miserable that we wish we were dead.

The early Christians and the early church took this very seriously and we should be operating on the same assumption today . Jesus won the war but Jesus has tasked us and given us authority to fight the individual battles which is why we were given spiritual armor. Make sure you don’t misunderstand…. This is very real armor in the spiritual realm this isn’t some cute metaphor . We can get injured and beat up pretty bad spiritually if we’re not actually utilizing our full armor and weapons.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭10‬-‭11‬, ‭13‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I like this little animated scene showing our spiritual armor being used in the spiritual realm.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬


“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
‭‭2 John‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭10‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬



“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭12‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

‬‬
“in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭44‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬



The battle for the mind described in Romans7. It’s a civil war in a Christians mind. Here is where the battle rages. Roman’s 8 describes the means in which we achieve victory in the battle through Holy Spirit.

“Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬


We can pray against this stuff. Rebuking the foul spirits in the name of Jesus and sending them to Jesus to deal with . In this late hour I would not bind anything but immediately in prayer send these foul spirits to Jesus for him to cast down. We have that authority.

Warfare prayer is not a backup or specialty form of prayer. There are some experts in the field same as healing or preaching. But we are all called to preach the gospel and to resist the enemy. Rom8:21- glorious freedom to practice warfare prayer .
When we begin to rule in the category of reality as there is a way things work and we are living out our daily lives in the context of war. You can begin to make sense of scripture like ps9:1-3

The question must be, "did I choose to think that thought?" That's the test. If I am thinking about something and an unrelated thought floats in, I reject it instantly. The same goes with imaginations. Sometimes my mind is at rest. If a thought "crosses my mind" that I did not choose, again I reject it. Also, it is fine to be neutral about a thought until you are sure of the source.

The worst time of my Christian life started with a thought. Satan even injected a bible verse that I took the wrong way. Thoughts came like lures along the wrong path. They seemed to fit - until my mental house of cards collapsed. It took me a long time to recover from this incident.

you may also find this sermon useful

Clearly, the problem is a lack of discernment between fiction and non-fiction, not between Christian and non-Christian.

I liked the movie made on him more recently. I like his work . God used (Mere Christianity) to help me through some rough areas of life.

🤔 as a Protestant I don’t think it is that big of deal. Even the prince of preachers-Spurgeon Smoked cigars. His “boiler room” and sermons became very effective and famous. I think we forget these men were human some times and struggled with sin like every one else. These things were also very cultural back then before political correctness pervaded our societies. God still used these men imperfect as they were to bring many to Christ and strengthen Christians faith.

People can lie to us, and we can lie to ourselves, but it's always done for what is perceived as personal gain. Whether you or something else, it is the lie-baby that we must cast down since Satan is the father of lies. While too many nurture the lie-baby to maturity, the best course of treatment of the lie is to abort it.