[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Bible Study Title: Witchcraft In Everyday Life The Harlot Church System - Charles Elliott Newbold, Jr. Chapter 13 - Witchcraft In Everyday Life Ahab did an abominable thing in the sight of God: he married that woman Jezebel who brought her idolatries and witchcraft into the house of the Lord. Ahab's Jezebel, the Jezebel of Revelation 2:20, and the great whore of Revelation 18 were each known for their witchcraft. As for Ahab's Jezebel, 2 Kings 9:22 tells us, "It came about, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, 'Is it peace, Jehu?' And he answered, 'What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?'" As for "that woman Jezebel" in Revelation 2:20, Jesus said that she taught and seduced "...My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols." The Greek word for seduced has also been translated "beguiled" and "deceived." These terms are associated with witchcraft. As for the great whore that sits on many waters, Revelation 18:23 mentions that all the nations were deceived by her sorcery. WITCHCRAFT DEFINED The practice of witchcraft is a deed of the flesh. Paul writes, "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5:19-21 NKJV. The Greek word for sorcery is pharmakeia which refers to a person who prepares and uses magical remedies. The King James Version translates it "witchcraft". While witchcraft is a deed of the flesh, the spirit of witchcraft can influence our flesh to do all the other deeds of the flesh. It can entice our flesh to commit adultery and fornication. It can manipulate circumstances in our relationships to stir up contentions, jealousies, and outbursts of wrath. It can control all aspects of our flesh to do evil if we allow it to take dominance. Witchcraft, as a work of the flesh, has two dimensions to it. One is the strict, familiar concept that it ordinarily brings to mind. It conjures up the image of an old, bony-framed woman with a wrinkled face and a shrill voice, hunched over an iron kettle, brewing up a potion of spiders and herbs to cast spells on people. We think about voodoo dolls, ouija boards, tarot cards, crystal balls, palm reading, seances, astrology, meditation, parapsychology, psychic phenomena, and mental telepathy. The most blatant form of witchcraft is Satanic worship where children and animals are sacrificed for the sake of gaining spiritual power. All of these practices are the darker side of witchcraft. Jezebel certainly practiced the darker side of witchcraft and surrounded herself with prophets who did so. The Bible makes it absolutely clear that such practices are an abomination to God. Lev. 19:26; Deut. 18:10. The other dimension of witchcraft, is broader and more subtle. I define it as anything we do to manipulate other people to do things against their wills in order to achieve our own self-centered desires. Manipulation is an attempt to control someone else. Control and manipulation are the practice of witchcraft. In our day we do not use witch's brew to control other people. Rather, we do such things as play on emotions, withhold affection, provoke fear, provoke guilt, intimidate with anger, lie and deceive, or use self-pity. The practice of witchcraft in this broader sense of the term abounds in our lives and has devastating effects upon us in our everyday life. If we can see how it works in everyday life, perhaps we can see how widely it is practiced in this Thing we call church. (I will deal with the demons of witchcraft in the following chapter.) THE WIDESPREAD EFFECTS OF WITCHCRAFT The practice of witchcraft--trying to get others to do things against their wills--permeates every level of human experience, from politicians who deceive us to get our votes, to advertisers who send us subliminal messages, to merchants who try to hook us on their products, to clergy persons who try to dictate our consciences, to entertainers who play on our emotions. Everyone in the world wants something from us. They mostly want our money, and if they can, will exploit our bodies, souls, minds, time, and talents to get it. Most of us practice witchcraft without having an awareness of it. The practice of witchcraft is so subtle and common we either do not recognize it or have become de-sensitized to it. We just experience the frustration of it. The practice of witchcraft is the principal cause of trouble in the world. It is the principle cause of trouble in the home between husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters who try to manipulate one another. It is the cause of strife between friends and nations. It is the major source of conflict in churches. Guilt feelings, fear, depression, suspicion, mental ruminations and rehearsings, anger and bitterness, fantasies, confusion, jealousy, compulsions, and obsessions may be caused by the fleshly practice of witchcraft. Poverty, crime, sickness, disease, and conflicts in relationships are also among the effects of witchcraft. Witchcraft influences those behaviors in our lives over which we are powerless--things to which we can be addicted: smoking, drinking, drugs, TV, the Internet, music, food, sports, pornography, sex, relationships, and gambling. These effects of the practice of witchcraft are so universal that all of us will identify with at least some of these. Almost every one of us at some time or another will experience the frustration and anger that results from manipulation. The presence of witchcraft creates a negative atmosphere that drains life from everyone who is touched by it. INDICATIONS OF WITCHCRAFT Here are some of the indications of the subtle practices of witchcraft in everyday life: Witchcraft is indicated by lying and deceit. Lying is lying whether we think of it as a big black lie or a little white lie. We differentiate between black and white lies to justify ourselves or to lessen the consequences. When we lie, we are hiding some truth in order to make something happen or to prevent a consequence from happening. Truth never has to be twisted, manipulated, forced, or in any way tampered with. Once it is tampered with, it is no longer truth. It has become a lie. God does not have to lie, connive, or contrive to get people to obey Him. He simply sets forth His Word in plain truth and commands that men obey. Witchcraft is indicated by self-strength. We practice witchcraft when we put our trust in ourselves. We try to make things happen in our own strength, especially those things that should be left to the work of the Holy Spirit. Philippians 3:3 affirms that we as believers "are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Psalm 118:8 confirms: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Witchcraft is indicated by one's attempt to unduly control his life and the lives of others. Insecure people try to make their worlds safer by building rigid structures for themselves and for others in their lives. When we are insecure, we think we need to control God, other people, our environment, and every circumstance of our lives. We attempt to control what we feel, think, say, and do. Witchcraft is indicated by fear, worry, doubt, anxiety, and restlessness. When we are no longer able to control other people nor believe that we can trust God, we panic. However, we no longer need to fear, manipulate, and control other people and circumstances once we know who we are in Christ Jesus. We can "let go and let God..." We can rest in the knowledge that the Lord is God and is sovereign over all. Witchcraft is indicated by pride. Pride is a form of lying because pride hides. It conceals the insecurity that prideful persons do not want others to see. Pride indicates an over-awareness and preoccupation with Self. It manifests itself in either self-exalted or self-abased egos. Self-abasement is false humility. It is pride in disguise. Witchcraft is indicated by rebellion. It is the will of the flesh rising up against the will of God. King Saul came back from battle, having disobeyed God. God required Saul to utterly destroy the enemy. He did not do so. Instead, he brought some of the spoils of battle home with him. When questioned about it, he thought he could "con" God with the lame excuse that he had returned with the animals to make a sacrifice to God. The prophet Samuel answered, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 1 Sam. 15:22-23. Consequently, God rejected Saul from being King, not because he sinned--David sinned as much as Saul--but because of the condition of his heart. He was ambitious, deceitful, rebellious, stubborn, and idolatrous. Any ambition for Self is going to lead to the practice of witchcraft. Self will try to use people and coerce them to do things against their own wills. Witchcraft is indicated by stubbornness. "Stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 1 Sam. 15:23. Stubborn people are typically rigid, adamant, unreasonable, uncompromising, unyielding, and unteachable. They cannot concede to being wrong. They try to maintain their position and, thereby in this subtle way, practice witchcraft. People who have their confidence in God are not threatened by the suggestions, corrections, opinions, and actions of other people. They are able and willing to learn from others. Witchcraft is indicated by cursing. Without realizing it, we often speak curses out of our mouths. We curse others, other things, and even ourselves. James 3:10 teaches us that our tongues bless God and, at the same time, curse men who are made in the image of God. "Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so." We pronounce curses when we speak evil words, "cuss" words, false judgments, criticisms, or agree with an evil report. Parents speak curses and practice witchcraft over their children when they call them "bad," "ugly," "stupid," "clumsy," or "no account." People, especially children, tend to become what we call them. I believe demons are assigned to try to make good on these curses. Witchcraft is indicated by talkativeness. Talkative, rambling, interruptive persons are self-absorbed. Figuratively speaking, they have no ears. They dominate the conversation and often interrupt other people before others complete their thoughts. They are preoccupied with their own thoughts and are not really hearing what other people are saying. Consequently, they frequently misunderstand what other people are trying to say. They may use their talking to control and cling to others out of fear of losing them, even though their incessant talking has the reverse effect and drives listeners away. It is difficult to communicate with such persons. "Talkative people also use their wall of words to isolate themselves from real intimacy," observes Valerie McCarley. Witchcraft is indicated by unforgiveness. We practice witchcraft when we deliberately withhold forgiveness from others in order to manipulate their feelings or actions. We think we are punishing them by withholding forgiveness, but we are mostly punishing ourselves. We can be held hostage by our own unforgiveness of others and by the unforgiveness of others toward us. Ultimately, however, we who refuse to forgive become entangled in the root of bitterness. Bitterness can kill us. Witchcraft is indicated by impatience. Impatience means we are in a hurry for something to happen. We rush through traffic, get angry at people who get in our way or slow us down, and make impulsive decisions to buy things we do not need. We get impatient with circumstances, other people, ourselves, and God. "Why doesn't He do this or that?" Impatience is pushing for something for Self in disregard for others or for God's timing and will. Witchcraft is indicated by distrust in God. That is what motivates us to resort to it. It disregards the reality of the lordship of Jesus Christ. When we surrender to His lordship, we enter into a trust relationship with God. We trust that He is absolutely sovereign and that the Holy Spirit is our competent guide. We are secure in knowing who we are in Christ. No one can put fear, guilt, or condemnation upon us, nor can they provoke us to anger. We seek God's will only and not something for Self (which is usually at the expense of others). We will passionately determine to keep other people free of our control and manipulations. When we learn faith in God--that He is sovereign and in control--we come into that promised rest of Hebrews 4:1-11. The practice of witchcraft is further indicated by domination, intimidation, acts of violence, nagging, contriving, strife, stress, sulking, whining, charm, flattery, seduction, rape, blackmail, bribery, entrapment, jealousy, hypochondria, mind control, rejection and the threat of rejection, the power of suggestion, subliminal advertising, game-playing, and competitiveness. The practices of witchcraft as related to church are addressed in the next chapter. INDICATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT In contrast to witchcraft, the Holy Spirit is indicated by the power of God at work in our lives. He produces honesty, truthfulness, straightforwardness, trust, faith, confidence, rest, peace, joy, life, blessings, righteousness, light, power, health and healing, humility, submission, a quiet and gentle spirit, forgiveness, freedom, and liberty. The Holy Spirit operates when we base our security and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Zechariah 4:6b reads, "...not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." A life in the Spirit walks in the confidence of Psalms 37:23: "The steps of a good [righteous] man are ordered by the Lord." James 3:14-18 summarizes this contrast between the Holy Spirit and witchcraft for us: "But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." Note that James used these three words: earthly, sensual, and devilish. These agree with the progression of thought presented here that the flesh (that which is earthly) seeks something for Self (that which is sensual) which invites the demonic (that which is devilish). Witchcraft is a negative and destructive force of the human flesh and will. Any form or degree of witchcraft is an abomination to God. It is a counterfeit to the Holy Spirit. God's life-giving Holy Spirit will not abide where witchcraft is practiced. Just as we practice witchcraft in everyday life, we can be sure that it is also being practiced in the churches.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: All (#0)
They mostly want our money, When I read this article, it occured to me this was the widest aplication of witchcraft I have ever read about. It also occured to me, if this be true, it is describing politics. No wonder politics turns me off. It's repulsive.
#2. To: barkentine (#1)
Interesting article. Thanks for posting it. It would also include advertising wouldn't it? I noticed they quoted some of this from the new king james version of the Bible. I'm not to hip on the new king james version. I have heard some bad things about it. But it is still a good article. There used to be some witches that posted here. But I ran them off. One was Ferret Mike. The other was morgana le fay. Or something like that.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|