DOMINION OVER DARKNESS (PART VI) RULERS OF DARKNESS

Text: Eph. 6:10-18

“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. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto will all perseverance and supplication for all saints”.

Apostle Paul had given several admonitions and in conclusion, he said, ‘finally, my brethren’. In other words, in addition to everything I have told you, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. God is infinitely powerful, He is the Almighty. In The Living Bible, verse 12 of the above scripture reads, “For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies – the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world”. When Christians don’t understand this message, they become easy prey. They will be celebrating what they should have renounced, they will be clutching what they should have dropped; they will be eating what they should have rejected; they will be tagging along with those they should have nothing to do with, they will be frolicking with destiny destroyers and become easy prey to the devil. Reading through these scriptures, it might look like ordinary story but the truth is that there is no one who is not being fought. Spiritual warfare is not optional. Once you give your life to Christ, you automatically become a marked person and the best thing you can do is to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might in order not to fall prey to the wiles, antics, schemes and machinations of the one who has been in the business of opposing the will of God for thousands of years; he has been in the business of being the accuser of the brethren for thousands of years. The devil has been in the business of perversion, deception, destruction and has been in the business of anything that is evil for a long time. That is why he is the devil; the evil one.

There are innumerable unseen forces, bodiless spirits looking for bodies to inhabit in order to operate. Because you don’t see them does not mean that they don’t exist. Because you don’t see them does not mean that they don’t exact influence on you. There are so many things that exist that you don’t see. As an Electrical Electronic Engineer, by the grace of God, I can do an analysis of the movement of electrons in space; meanwhile, you cannot see them physically. The environment is filled with electromagnetic waves that you cannot touch. The fact that you don’t see the waves does not mean that they do not exist. The above scripture contains everything a child of God needs to walk in dominion over darkness. As mentioned in an earlier post, darkness gets personified from time to time. When people yield themselves to bodiless spiritual beings, they open themselves up just as I open myself up to the Holy Spirit and allow him to flow through me to touch lives. That is exactly how they open themselves up to all manner of spirits to use them. People can get into this knowingly or unknowingly. Those who get into it unknowingly are called ‘captives of the mighty’ while those who get into it knowingly are called ‘lawful captives’.

TO BE CONTINUED.