Demons possess principalities, demons possess principalities.
Now, we're going to talk more about this next week, when we're, I'm going to do a sermon, Angels versus Demons,
and we're going to talk about some of these things, but I'll just show you this real quickly.
Now, in Ezekiel 28, what I'm showing you is actually about the devil.
So it's not just any old devil of the 50 million out there, it's the prince of the devils, the devil, Satan himself, Ezekiel 28 verse 2.
Notice Ezekiel is a prophet, and he's prophesying, and he says,
Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus.
Okay, he's talking to a political leader, this is a prince of the nation of Tyrus.
Thus saith the Lord God, because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas,
yet art thou a man and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.
Now, I want you to notice in verse 2, he's talking to this prince of Tyre, and he's talking to an actual man.
But this man has a lot of qualities that are similar to Satan's, because remember, Satan said, I will be like the Most High.
He tried to be like God, and this man is saying, I am God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas,
and look, there's been lots of men throughout history that thought they were deity, that took worship like deity, that thought that they were God.
Here Ezekiel's prophesying to this man, the prince of Tyrus, but then he transitions, and he starts talking to Satan, but he's talking to Satan through this man.
Notice verse 11. Moreover, the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, take up my lamentation upon the king of Tyrus.
So notice, now the title changed. We go from prince of Tyrus to the king of Tyrus, and saith unto him, Thus saith the Lord God, thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
And you say, well, how do you know it's not talking about the same guy? It's talking about Satan now. Well, look at verse 13.
Thou has been in the Eden, the garden of God. So that's definitely Satan, the serpent that was in the garden of Eden.
He says, thou has been in Eden, the garden of God. And here's the whole point I'm showing you, the whole reason I'm showing you this is to show you that these devils, these demons,
go to the book of Ephesians, if you would, Ephesians in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
these devils, they also possess, but they also control political leaders. So they don't just possess people, and they don't just possess powers, they actually possess principalities.
Now, the word principality is a position of authority as of a prince or of a chief ruler. It's a political position. These demons possess politicians and political power.
That's what we're talking about when we say principalities. And by the way, that's why Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12, one of the most famous verses in the Bible, says this,
Because remember, Ephesians 6 is all about spiritual warfare, it's all about putting on the armor of God, right? And he says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood.
He says, look, we're not fighting a fight, war, against human beings. He says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. He said, we're not wrestling against flesh and blood, we're not wrestling against humans.
That's what we're wrestling against. But against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Why? Because this world is controlled by the devil. It's controlled by the 50 million devils that are out there.
And look, every nation that has any power, that has politicians in it, those politicians, those kings, those presidents, those prime ministers, they are being controlled by the devil.
Now, I'm not saying that they're all demon possessed, but I'm saying it is the devil that controls this world. Sometimes I get frustrated with conspiracy theories, and I'm not trying to offend our church, I know we have a lot of conspiracy theories.
But you know, conspiracy theories, they always want to talk about like, oh, the Illuminati is controlling the governments, or this secret society, or that secret society, or the masons.
And I'm not saying that those don't exist, those may exist. But you know what the Bible teaches? The Bible teaches, yeah, there is a conspiracy. There is someone that is controlling the economy and the governments of the world.
But don't give the credit to the Illuminati and the masons and the secret societies. It's the devil. It's the demons, the devils. That's why it says we're wrestling against principalities and powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places.
And by the way, if you understood that, you'd be careful about getting too excited about some politician. Because look, I don't care, as much as you like Trump or whatever, you do not get to the Oval Office of Babylon, USA, the most powerful nation in the world.
You don't get there without a little help from the devil. He controls this world. He controls, he's the power of this world. So these demons, they possess political power. They possess principalities.
And we've been talking about governmental principalities, but let me just say this, just as we finish, they also possess religious principalities.
Go to 2 Corinthians 11. If you're there in Ephesians, just go backwards. You've got Galatians and the book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 11, we're almost done. 2 Corinthians 11, look at verse 13.
2 Corinthians 11, 13. Devils control politicians, but they also control false prophets. 2 Corinthians 11, 3. For such are false prophets, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
He says, look, false prophets, they are deceitful workers, but they look real nice. Joel Osteen looks real nice. When you look at him, he has a nice smile. He's got the smile and the face that the best surgeons could create.
He looks real nice, and they're transformed into the apostles of Christ. But notice verse 14. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
So look, if you ever meet the devil, he's not going to show up with horns and a pitchfork and a tail looking mean. He's going to look real nice. He's transformed into the angel of light.
Look at verse 15. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers, notice, he's got ministers, if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their work.
So notice, the devil controls false religion. By the way, that's why there is so much false religion out there. Because it's in the devil's best interest to have as much false religion out there to try to keep people far away from the truth.
This is what the Bible talks about the synagogue of Satan in the book of Revelation. This is why the Bible says in 1 Timothy 4, 1. Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.
Why? Why are there doctrines of devils? Because devils are highly religious. Where we talked about it, right? They're very religious. They know the truth. So they're able to trick people into that which is untruth and not truth.