Tree of Life for Week Ending 2-20-22

Doctrine of People Testing is continued, focusing on Elijah and Jezbel

Grace Bible Church

Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin

Tree Of Life

Week Ending 1-23-22

“The Doctrine of Demon Influence – Vital For Times Of Apostasy”

In this week’s synopsis we will examine the

following:

- Demon influence is a part of testing

- Definition of demon influence

- Difference between influence and possession

- Believers can not be possessed, only influenced

- Counterfeit PPOG – the Cosmic System

- Cosmic 1 and Cosmic 2

- Satan’s classroom

- Demon influence alters the personality

- False doctrine – demonism in disguise

- divine discipline for demonic activity

- Types of demon influence

- Avoiding demon influence

Let us as always take a moment to prepare ourselves for the study of the word of God in the

usual manner, by obeying the mandate of 1Joh 1:9 so that we can ensure the filling of the Holy

Spirit and obtain metabolized epignosis knowledge, converted to spiritual phenomena in the

soul, through His enabling power and ministry.

1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to

cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2Pe 1:1-3 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and

all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you

may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

Jm 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness,

in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

Now we are filled with the Holy Spirit who enables us to perceive and metabolize God’s word.

Thanks to God for furnishing everything we need for life and eusebeia (spiritual life)! (2Pe 1:3)

Last time we were studying the 8 categories of Christian testing in the PPOG. We are now ready

for #6, System Testing. But before we continue with that study we are going to examine a

spiritual phenomena which can be experienced as a part of several categories of testing for the

advancing believer: demon influence.

We know that a believer in Jesus Christ is sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30), and indwelled

by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5, 8:8, Gal 3:2, 4:6, 1Co 12:13), and therefore can not be demon-

possessed. Let me repeat that: NO BORN AGAIN BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST CAN BE

POSSESSED! But – a born again believer CAN be under demonic influence and/or oppression.

Demon influence is very very subtle at times or can be obvious after the fact in its

manifestations, but sometimes it is only to those with discernment.

Demon influence can enter into the believers life at any stage of maturity! Let him who thinks he

stands take heed! The devil is crafty beyond any human being and should never be

underestimated. He knows how to disarm us and get in “under the radar”, especially for the

believer without doctrine circulating in the soul. His doctrines are always attractive and/or

appealing to our sin nature and he has custom-tailored lies and lures for every kind of

individual/sin trend. Demon influence can be experienced as a part of disaster testing, thought

testing, people testing, sin nature testing, cosmic 1 and 2 testing, prosperity testing, or even

evidence testing. Since anyone can be affected by demon influence at any stage of spiritual

growth, and since any believer who is AWOL from the plan of God and therefore residing inside

the cosmic system is by necessity operating under some form of demon influence, such a

believer can become a source of testing for the positive believer in their periphery at any time.

So, lets study the doctrine of demon influence.

I. The Doctrine of Demon Influence

1. Definition:

Demon influence is demonization of the soul and personality of the believer or unbeliever living

in the cosmic system.

a) Demon influence is thought transference of demon doctrine to the believer or unbeliever in

the cosmic system.

b) Demon influence is the invasion of the soul by demonic viewpoint and doctrine, especially the

mind, emotion, and self‐consciousness of the soul.

Just as there are degrees of cosmic system influence and reversionism, there are degrees of

demonic influence which dovetail with that. The main point is this: the longer we remain out of

fellowship and in the cosmic system, the more vulnerable to and ultimately infiltrated by demon

influence we will become. This is why we can not ever afford prolonged periods of carnality – we

must keep short accounts by rebounding routinely. If you want proof of the efficacy of rebound,

you will see it when you stop doing it. The longer you refuse to acknowledge your sins to God,

the more off the rails you will get. Or just look at David after “Operation Bathsheba”: he got

worse and worse and discipline piled up until he rebounded in 2Sa 12:13. As long as we remain

in the PPOG and walk in the Spirit (filling of the Spirit) we “will not carry out the desires of the

flesh” (Gal 5:16), but whenever we enter into negative volition, we are already turning our ears

and hearts toward the cosmic system.

So, demon influence is the infiltration of satanic thought.

c) Demon influence isn't expressed in terms of what we normally think of as evil, e.g. murder

and mayhem, but in terms of improving this world, doing nice things for your fellow man, and

supporting crusades, or in the false religion of humanism.

d) Demon influence is the invasion of the soul with false doctrine and the false thinking and

scheming which proceeds from it.

e) Demonic influence is the policy and principles by which Satan operated prior to the creation

of man and afterwards as the ruler of this world.

This also corresponds to Cosmic One and Cosmic Two, the two states of Satan’s cosmic

system which is the counterfeit of God’s Divine Dynasphere, aka the PPOG:

Cosmic 1: Prior to the creation of man, Satan operated under the principle of legalism and self-

righteousness which we have called “creature credit” (think of Cain offering up the work of his

hands as a sacrifice to God).

Cosmic 2: At the time of Adam's fall, Satan operated under the policy of being antagonistic

toward grace and promoting religion with operation fig-leaves.

And so, these two viewpoints have infiltrated the viewpoint of the human race ever since the fall.

Point 2: The cosmic system is Satan's classroom for demon influence.

Cosmic one emphasizes preoccupation with self, having many categories of arrogance.

Cosmic two emphasizes antagonism toward the truth.

When the believer gets outside of the operational will of God, he inevitably enters Cosmic One

or Cosmic Two. In cosmic one, the whole system of prehistoric sins, which are connected to

arrogance, become the issue in the life of the believer. Cosmic one is living for yourself and only

caring about yourself as Satan did in eternity past before human history. The sin of

independence which Satan promoted in the prehistoric angelic conflict is the same sin that he

promotes when believers are involved in the cosmic system.

If the sins of arrogance are allowed to continue, it is inevitable that the believer in cosmic one

will become an abnormal person. Once this abnormality sets in, there is a system of locked‐in

arrogance that totally rejects truth or distorts truth by hallucination/delusion. The believer out of

fellowship can commit either prehistoric or historic categories of sins.

In cosmic one, you also are faced with rejection of doctrine because you're preoccupied with

yourself, which is an indirect rejection of doctrine. People who are preoccupied with self,

seeking pleasure and approbation for self, have no time for doctrine. Rather, they substitute

self‐indulgence and pleasure-seeking for learning doctrine. Pleasure is like a drug (from a

neurological/neurochemical standpoint, it is the same whether drug or sex or gambling or ice

cream) – it makes you feel good for a brief time but leaves you feeling low in the end because of

the contrasting states, and consequences. So you must try to keep the high going and will

frantically seek to do so. This takes up all of one’s time and energy, leaving none for anything

else, and only people or things that serve this aim will be given any notice or heed.

In cosmic two, negative volition toward doctrine is manifested by full rejection of and ultimately

an active and emotional hatred toward the word of God due to antagonism toward doctrine.

Negative volition goes from neglect and indifference to hostility and animosity, and then mental

attitude sins turn to overt attacks on God’s word and those who promote it, attacking PT’s,

doctrinal believers, churches, even Christianity as a whole.

1TI 4:1-5 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith,

paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy

of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage

and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by

those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and

nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of

the word of God and prayer.

One enters the cosmic system through an active or a passive decision from the free will. Once

inside the cosmic system, negative volition towards true doctrine creates a vacuum through

which demon doctrine enters, EPH 4:17. This is called ‘mataiotes’ in the Greek. This is a cognate noun which refers to aimlessness or lack of direction which leads to depravity or

degeneracy (“idle hands”...).

When you do not feed your soul with God’s word as commanded (Mat 4:4), then your soul instead pulls in cosmic/demonic doctrine which has an affinity with human viewpoint thinking and the sin nature. Then we see that a believer who enters into the

plan of God for a while but goes negative and is lost to demon influence goes down hard:

2Pe 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of

the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are

overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

The quickest way to get into the cosmic system and stay there is to live in sin habitually, 1JO

3:4‐10.

1JO 3:4-6 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is

lawlessness. And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him

there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows

Him.

“Practices” here is ‘poion’ which is a present active participle from ‘poieo’. The present participle

indicates that the action keeps on happening, it doesn’t happen for a defined time and end.

“Sins” in verse 6 is the present active indicative of ‘hamartano’ (hamartanei) which indicates the

action is ongoing, habitual, status quo.

1JO 3:7-9 Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is

righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil [living in the

devil’s cosmic system]; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God

appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is

born of God [living in the new man/PPOG] practices sin, because His seed abides in him;

and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

So when you sin and do not rebound – and recover, which means isolate the sin by “forgetting

what lies behind and reaching forward toward the goal” (Phi 3:13) and get back in the plan –

then you are in a state of “practicing sin”. You are in a state of habitual, status quo carnality. This

is the way to fulfill 2Pe 2:20 – ending up in a state worse than before you were washed clean!

Now, look at

1JO 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone

who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his

brother.

Now, notice that verse 8 says "When anyone commits a sin, he has become the agent of

the devil."

Just as the devil invented the cosmic system, so he also invented sin. But Christ destroyed the

basis for Satan's entire system when He judged sin at the cross. Through

psychological/emotional/human viewpoint living instead of spiritual living, the believer all too

often continues the lifestyle of spiritual death by living in Satan's cosmic system.

1. All spiritual living occurs inside the PPOG not in Satan’s cosmic system.

2. All spiritual living is under the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, not in Satan’s cosmic system.

3. All spiritual living in the PPOG is called the Filling of the Spirit that is Functioning in the PPOG

and is called walking by means of the Spirit, that’s not in not in Satan’s cosmic system.

Therefore, we have a warning to Church-age believers not to superimpose the life of spiritual

death on the Christian way of life in 1JO 2:15‐16.

1JO 2:15-16 "Stop loving the world or the cosmic system or nor the things in the cosmic

system. If anyone keeps loving the cosmic system [cosmic one and two], the love of

Father is not in him. For all that is in the cosmic system, the lust of the flesh, the lust of

the eyes, and the arrogant pattern of life, is not from the Father but is from the cosmic

system."

Loving the cosmic system means demon influence of your motivation, of your thought pattern, of

your decision making, and of your action. The love of the Father refers to virtue-love, one of the

highest problem-solving devices in the Christian life. The lust of the flesh is the Old Sin Nature

seeking to control the soul. The lust of the eyes is motivational evil in cosmic one. The arrogant

pattern of life is the functional evil in cosmic one.

As the leader of all fallen angels and as the ruler of planet earth, Satan has been able to

compile a cosmic system which is a mass of thoughts, opinions, speculations. All these systems

of false doctrines, panaceas, plans, categories for deceit, policies, and objectives by which

Satan seeks to control the world which he rules. Demon influence takes place in believers when

Satan uses his demons to influence believers, especially those who are positive toward

doctrine.

Point 3. The distinction between demon influence and demon possession.

In demon possession, the body of the unbeliever is indwelt by a demon or a group of demons,

resulting in subtle or invisible or sometimes overt and physical changes to the individual

personality or behavior. The laws of divine establishment protect the unbeliever from demon

possession (if they adhere to them) which is prevalent in countries where there is no

establishment, such as in Africa, India, South America, and the Indian tribes of North America.

Demon possession is defined as demon invasion of the body of the unbeliever only.

Generally,

this occurs through the phallic cult or some form of religion that is really out there, such as

voodoo or Santeria, or foolish people who practice various occult methods to invite demonic

possession for the purpose of increasing one’s creative or artistic abilities, or the practice of

ritual magic or witchraft, or spiritism. In contrast, demon influence is the demon invasion of the

soul with satanic thought.

Remember that Satanic thought isn't expressed in terms of evil, but in terms of improving this

world, doing nice things for your fellow man, and supporting crusades; Satanic thought is the

effort to create the perfect environment of the Millennial reign of Christ through human/angelic

effort and power, apart from and independent of God’s power. 1Pe 4:11 makes it clear that only

what is done using the power that God supplies (the filling of the Holy Spirit) glorifies God!

Whatever is done in the power of the flesh glorifies the flesh, no matter what lip service one may

pay! It is hypocrisy and evil according to God (Is 64:6).

Satan wants to create “utopia” on earth

and say to God, “we don’t need You or Your Son – we have done it on our own!” This is why

human good, no matter how appealing it may appear, is evil and arrogance according to divine

viewpoint. All secular humanistic, utopian schemes are 100% Satanic and represent the

ultimate goal of demon doctrine and demon influence – that man can perfect and save himself

by his own power and ingenuity, and through “universal brotherhood”. Reject these wholesale if

you want to stay away from demon influence.

All demonic activity is related to man's free will; human consent must be involved. Demon

possession never occurs apart from human consent whereby some form of bad decision is

made, so that the demon can invade the body of the unbeliever only. The believer is indwelt by

God the Holy Spirit who makes a temple out of the body of the believer, 1CO 6:19‐20, therefore

a demon cannot dwell in that temple.

1. The attack on the unbeliever is to keep him from being saved and line him up with Satan's

policy

2. The attack on the believer is to discredit him and to utilize him in some way against the Lord,

and neutralize his ministry and witness.

Decisions that result in demon possession include:

a. Idolatry, 1CO 10:19‐21.

b. Drug addiction, GAL 5:20.

c. Religious apostasy, ISA 8:19.

d. Phallic cult activity, ISA 2:6.

Point 4. Mandates against Demon Influence (Eph 4:27, Jam 4:6-8)

EPH 4:27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.”

“Opportunity” is the Greek word ‘topos’ meaning “land” or “place”, which here refers to a room or

property in your soul for demonic influence.

JAM 4:6-8 but He gives a greater grace. Therefore {it} says, [quoting PRO 3:34] "God is

opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit therefore to God. Resist

the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double‐minded.

Volition is our first line of defense in two categories. Volition is the first guardian of the soul.

Without positive volition, it’s like leaving your house unlocked and your door hanging open,

anyone can come in unopposed. Negative volition leaves the soul wide open and undefended!

Such foolish believers will end up as an “enemy of the cross of Christ” and die the sin unto

death (Phi 3:13), like the negative believers of the Exodus generation.

James 4:8 gives the command to have doctrine in the right lobe as the offensive action against

demon influence.

JAM 4:8 draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you

sinners; and purify your hearts [rebound], you double‐minded.

Being "double-minded" means to have some true doctrine while in the PPOG plus having some

doctrine of demons also stored in the right lobe. Having one foot in the PPOG and one foot in

the cosmic system. It is like dual citizenship. Remember, a man cannot serve two masters, he

will only love one and hate the other (Mat 6:24). Rebound and recover, name and cite your sins

and get back in the plan of God!

Point 5. Demon Influence is Relative.

One of the most fundamental operating principles of the cosmic system is relativism, so it is

fitting! And the reversionistic, cosmic Christian will use relativism to justify and rationalize their

behavior, saying “I’m not as bad as that one, I’m good.”

The degrees of demon influence correspond to the degrees of apostasy (cosmic saturation).

The longer one resides in the cosmic system without rebound and recovery, the greater the

degree of demon influence. Past a certain point, you cannot distinguish between the believer

and unbeliever in the cosmic system (1Co 3:3).

Eventually believers who remain in prolonged carnality and residence in the cosmic system will

exhibit changes in character, behavior, and even personality. They will become neurotic and

eventually even psychotic or sociopathic. They will be disturbed and either depressed or manic,

or bi-polar. They will suffer emotionally and psychologically. Remember 2Pe 2:20 – they will end

up worse than they were before they were saved.

Point 6. The False Doctrine of Demon Influence.

When we have consistent growth and momentum in the PPOG, we are building an edification

complex in the soul brick by brick – doctrine by doctrine. But in the cosmic system, we build an

arrogance complex in the soul brick by brick – humanistic lie by humanistic lie. The stronger our

complex is, the harder it is for the other to penetrate. The cosmic system is in the business of

supplying the bricks of arrogance and unbelief, there will never be a shortage. The market is

flooded! Believers are constantly inundated with cosmic viewpoint. But we have a defense in the

word.

1PE 5:8-9 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a

roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that

the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in

the world.

The world says “be impulsive”, the world says, “you deserve to treat yourself”, the world says,

“you know you want it!”, the world says, “do what feels right”, it says “follow your bliss (self-

indulgence)”. These are one form of “flaming darts.” False doctrine is another! That comes

mostly from pulpits, “you don’t have to rebound” or “you have to stop sinning to be saved” or youhave to prove you’re sorry for your sins” or “you have to be baptized in water to be saved” etc. Only bible doctrine can keep you too cool for the world school!

Part of how we defend against the cosmic system is by having an organized life and strong self-

discipline and routines, and concentration skills. Look at people who are struggling in life, who

always have so many problems, are always needing something, often expecting or demanding

it. Most of them have disorganized lives, and disorganized thinking behind that. They can’t

concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds, like a small child. They can’t sit still. They

are losing things, forgetting things, they are unreliable, always late, can’t hold a job. Such a

person can not execute the PPOG! Your life must be organized around PMAOBD. You need

routines and the ability to keep them faithfully, to make sacrifices and do it even when you really

don’t feel like it, i.e. after a bad day at work or when you are sick. A mature believer is someone

who always goes to work, who never misses bible class, who always keeps their word without

having to be reminded or hounded. That is the result of self-discipline from an organized life and

maturity. Also humility. Arrogance is self-absorption, it’s “me first”.

The arrogant person is stuck in childhood and can never truly grow up. They will only be reliable

when they are getting something out of it! Think about the tortoise and the hare. The spiritual life

is for the long-distance runner, not the sprinter. Spiritual maturity is the result of consistent,

steady, daily decisions to make metabolizing and applying doctrine #1 priority. It’s the person

who goes to the gym every day and stays consistent, even doing a small workout, not the one

who goes once a week but lifts the heaviest weights. Discipline and routine are key. A disciplined person is not easily distracted or derailed, but the disorganized and undisciplined

believer is always distracted and never builds any momentum. They never accept responsibility

and are always blaming others. This is arrogance and leads to cosmic one and two sins,

reversionism, spiritual regression, blackout of the soul. Demonic influence will fill the soul

through mataiotes. The more demonic doctrine you absorb the more you are resistant and even

antagonistic toward divine viewpoint.

Point 7. The Avoidance of Demon Influence.

Demon influence can only be avoided through life in the PPOG for the believer. Therefore, since

learning and applying doctrine consistently and growing to maturity is the means of learning to

stay in the PPOG, resistance is a matter of learning doctrine. Therefore, there are four R's in

spiritual metabolism.

A. Reception.

B. Retention.

C. Recall.

D. Resistance.

What really counts is retention, which is gnosis doctrine converted into epignosis doctrine. This

depends on diligent, consistent, disciplined and steady progress through PMAOBD. Like

exercise, you will see results over time – if you remain consistent. Ignorance from negative

volition toward doctrine cannot make application to experience; it can only emote in the face of

testing or disaster. So, standing firm in doctrine is the issue in resisting the devil in 1PE 5:9

Israel was destroyed multiple times under the 5th

cycle of discipline and held captive by their

conquerors because they were negative toward doctrine and arrogant, and through mataiotes,

they became more and more liberal and cosmic in their thinking, more and more loose, and

always got involved with demonism/paganism and idolatry, committing spiritual (and often literal)

adultery. This is a recipe for self-destruction for an individual or a client nation (ISA 29:4; 47:1-

15).

Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected

knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law

of your God, I also will forget your children.

DEU 18:9-12 "When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not

learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among

you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses

divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, [this

is demonism, occultism, mysticism] or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or

one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and

because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.

The practice of necromancy, which involves attempting to contact the dead, i.e. spiritism and

“mediums”, psychics, etc., is a sign of negative volition toward doctrine and it can result in the

sin unto death as in the case of 1CH 10:13-14. No believer in Jesus Christ should have

anything to do with these things. To do so is committing spiritual adultery and opening a direct

line for demon influence on your life.

Under the avoidance of Demon Influence notice what happens to those believers who allow

themselves to be influenced by demons. When demonism becomes normalized in a society or

nation and becomes popular or accepted it can even eventuate in the fifth cycle of discipline,

ISA 29:4; 47:1-15.

ISA 29:4 Then you shall be brought low; From the earth you shall speak, And from the

dust {where} you are prostrate, Your words {shall come.} Your voice shall also be like that

of a spirit from the ground, And your speech shall whisper from the dust.

Isa 47:1-15 recounts God’s appraisal of those of Israel who had turned from Him and His ways

and embraced the ways of the Canaanites and the Chaldeans, consulting with mediums,

astrologers who read the stars, seers and oracles, etc., and thought themselves strong and

secure on the basis of these things, but assures us that those things will not protect them from

His cycles of discipline which would soon be set upon them. Make no mistake, these things will

not be tolerated! They always exist in every civilization, but when they emerge from the

shadows and become embraced and celebrated and normal, God must snuff it out before it

corrupts the whole earth. It is like amputating a gangrenous limb to preserve the rest of the

body.

We have another account of this recurring with King Manasseh, in 2KI 21:1-16; JER 27:6-10.

The king “did evil in the sight of the Lord”, rebuilding the pagan temples and altars, to worship

the old idols of Baal and Asherah, who was a female consort of the ancient Ugaritic sun god,

and a fertility goddess. He consulted with mediums and diviners and put children into the fire as

sacrifices, as they did to earn prosperity from the god Molech. Vile practices! This is what

inevitably happens when you get involved with such people. We must have no part with them.

Once again, the nation would suffer the recompense of this when God had to snuff the fire out

again. He washes us clean, and we return to the mire, as it is written, “as a dog returns to his

vomit.”

We must live as one who is sanctified, being apart and separate from demon influence, even as

our nation becomes more and more involved with demonism and occultism, it is the same old

thing as in Israel. Whenever you as an individual or a family o a nation turns away from God and

divine truth, we inevitably turn toward demon influence, and that leads inexorably to demonism

and paganism and witchcraft, and all kinds of depravity and violence.

This is one reason why

the bible tells us explicitly not to be “tied together with unbelievers”, as in business or marriage.

This is what got the Israelites and it is getting us here as well – foreigners immigrate here and

bring with them their culture and religions, which are against God, and we celebrate

“multiculturalism”, which is nothing but demonistic and sometimes barbaric and vulgar religious

practices, such as voodoo and Santeria, eastern mysticism, new age, and shamanistic religions,

who use strong hallucinogenic drugs to commune with demons or “heal” or “cure” all kinds of

maladies.

All of these things have entered into the USA and taken root here. We must remain

separate from them, and not be closely involved with them, and we must remain firmly

established in doctrine and our local assemblies and in the PPOG, so that we can resist the

cultural influence of these things as they saturate American society more and more.

We see this shamanistic type of demonic practice in Col 2:18, where a description is given of

one who seeks visions, aka hallucinations, these are not visions from God, referring to this kind

of occult practice, which puffs one up, as one who thinks themselves to have access to a great

power. Translated “taking a stand on” in the NASB and others, or “intruding into” in the KJV, is

‘embateuo’, which here we can understand as someone who is engaged in a practice of taking

drugs or entering into a trance in order to have a vision (hallucination) as a means of

discovering what choices to make or what course of action to take, seeking knowledge of some

practical use, and detailing or bragging about this vainly.

COL 2:18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self‐abasement

[tapeinophrosyne - false humility] and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions

he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,"

Having visions, whether legitimate or false, puffs people up, as any kind of ecstatic experience

can do, because we tend to overemphasize these “spectacular” experiences or gifts, and think

we are special. Just look at the pentecostals for a great example of this. This is the meaning of

“inflated in his fleshly mind” in the first verse.

The word “sorcery” in the NT Greek is usually

‘pharmakeia’ from which we get our word “pharmacology”. This refers to the use of drugs in a

religious or ritualistic sense as a means of inducing visions. Drugs and even alcohol if abused

are a sure-fire way to bring demon influence into your life, and for unbelievers, it often leads to

demon possession. Some people in dark cults (even many celebrities and performers by their

own admission) deliberately invite demon possession as a way to gain artistic inspiration or to

perform beyond their normal ability.

But we are talking here about the way that this can puff up or inflate the ego and arrogance of

an individual, including believers. Paul received a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him from becoming

arrogant (puffed up) because of the “surpassing greatness of the revelations” he saw when he

was taken into heaven in 2Co 12:7. These things can easily take us out of the PPOG if we let

them and cause us to glorify self rather than God. We see this kind of thing in 1Cor 13 also

1Co 13:1 "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have

become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know

all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do

not have love, I am nothing."

The noisy gong and clanging cymbal refer to tactics of traveling merchants in the ancient world

who would use these to draw attention to themselves. This is very important here, because what

Paul is saying is that people are drawn to spectacular spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues or

prophesying or healings etc., the same way that people are drawn toward any other kind of

spectacle, but without correct motivation – love for God, aka motivational virtue – all you’re

doing is drawing attention to yourself, not God, and producing dead works at best.

But you can

see then how having visions, especially false ones from drugs or from demonic activity, being

definitely based on wrong motivation and based on arrogance, would puff one up!

But believers under demon influence can do this just as easily as anyone else, going into

ecstatics (often merely a form of self-hypnosis or hysteria), and forming false doctrines based

on hallucinations, and hen worse still, impressing others with their “spirituality” and “faith”, who

fall for this show hook line and sinker, believing this person to be a prophet. Look at David

Koresh or any other cult leader. They all fit this profile. What protects you from this kind of

satanic charlatanism? Sound doctrine in the soul!

This is a coordinated and calculated tactical attack from Satan on God and his system. First, it

attacks the authority of the word of God, because the victims of such attacks are led to believe

that divine revelation can come from outside of the bible, as in the OT (and these people always

reject dispensations, so they are vulnerable to this), and therefore the absolute authority of the

bible is undermined.

Second, it is an attack on the ministry of God the Holy Spirit and the divine power system, the

filling of the Spirit, because it emphasizes emotional or bodily sensations and sensory

experience over doctrine and thinking, and human energy over the divine power of GTHS. They

also often confuse emotional ecstatics with the filling of the Spirit, believing that these abnormal

states of arousal or intense experience are “spirituality. What a disaster!

This is a hugely effective strategy for the devil to undermine the word and neutralize the

believer. You can see how many churches and religious organizations are caught in this trap,

and how they reel in huge crowds of lost sheep, looking for the clanging gong and clashing

cymbal of the megachurch laser light show. People will base their theology not on the bible but

on emotional experiences, and when confronted with the bible truth which exposes the fallacy of

their experience, of course they will throw the bible out the window.

This is the meaning of

“fleshly mind” in the verse. Such believers base their life and faith and service on feelings and

sensations of the flesh, and the chemistry of the brain, rather than clear, rational, sound doctrine

in the right lobe of the soul. No surprise they go off the rails. This is the goal of demon influence.

Demon influence can be a part of any kind of testing for the believer, though they are primarily a

part of the cosmic one and two test, and the believer is never impervious to it apart from

remaning inside the divine dynasphere, inside the PPOG. Any time we step outside of the

spiritual sphere, even as mature believers, we enter into the cosmic system and are vulnerable

to demon influence.

Arrogance and demon influence represent the counterfeit power of the cosmic system, the

opposite of humility and the filling of the Spirit, which power the PPOG. Demon influence can be

overt and obvious, but more often it is subtle, and can slip under the radar or those who neglect

doctrine, or even be welcomed in if they aren’t recognized. Many unsuspecting believers may

expose themselves to it without even realizing it through music, movies, friends or associates,

partying, etc. May believers watch occult reality shows like so-called ghost hunter shows, where

they do all the things the idolatrous pagans and demon-influenced kings of Israel did, and think

it is just entertainment. But this is exposure to demon influence. The devil should never be

underestimated!

I hope this has improved your defenses against the demonic influence, which as we as a nation

devolve further into degeneracy and perversion and darkness, will be absolutely vital to avoid

becoming a casualty of intensifying spiritual warfare. Thanks to God for the opportunity to

fellowship in His word and the opportunity to carry His truth to the lost and dying world. In Jesus’

name!