Sunday Mornings at Short Creek

Kingdom Character Series – Matthew 2

“Witchcraft in the American Church”

January 26, 2025

 

Matthew 2:13 – “The Escape to Egypt”

 Now, when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”

• This passage is used by the New Age Movement to substantiate its deception that Jesus was just one of many enlightened individuals throughout history.
• They grouped Jesus with other significant religious figures, such as Muhamad, Budha, and Krishna.
• A lie is easily believed where there is little to no Truth.
• Darkness is the result of the absence of light.

 

Witchcraft is any attempt to connect with and manipulate the supernatural outside of the Lord God Sabaoth, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

• Witchcraft is tabooed by orthodox religious sentiment.
• Witchcraft is similar to divination, which is an attempt to communicate with evil spirits.
• Witchcraft involves seeking power or knowledge apart from God.
• Witchcraft promises spirituality but leads to emptiness and death.
• Only Jesus has the words of life.
• If we can rid ourselves of God or diminish who He is, we can rid ourselves of morality and live life as we would.

 

One of the most prominent signs that we are living at the end of this age is the abundance of false teachers who teach not just bad doctrine but false doctrine that leads people to something other than the Gospel of Christ – doctrines that diminish the relevance of the Great Commission and create confusion concerning what it means to be a disciple of Jesus “THE” Christ.

Satan is the master at telling half-truths, twisting scripture, and subjecting the irrelevant to the necessity of the absolute relevance of the Gospel. We in the American Church get lost in eschatology, politics, prophetic words, our denomination, non-canonical books, traditions, preferences, and Bible translations because of our pride and the enticement of the enemy.

Even ministry, deliverance, and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit can become distractions, leading us down paths that distract us from our Kingdom Mission, the Great Co-Mission.

 

John 8:44 (NASB) You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

• Satan’s most prominent lies are not the lies being told in the world, but the lies being told in the church.

 

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NASB) The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving (unfaithful, faithless) so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants (slaves to Christ) on account of Jesus. 

• Those in the church caught up in the deception of the church, will say nothing or very little about the essential doctrines of salvation.

 

1 John 4:3 (NLT) But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and, indeed, is already here.

• The very essence of the lie of the antichrist is and has always been an attempt to destroy or diminish the identity of Christ.
• Satan seeks to mix in paganism, witchcraft, and compromise into the message of the Kingdom.

 

2 Corinthians 2:11 tells us not to be caught up in Satan’s deception by being ignorant of his schemes.

 

The American Church has become so biblically illiterate and doctrinally challenged that they cannot see the immense heresy in the following statements.

 

Dr. Schuller: “Tell me, what is the future of Christianity?”

Dr. Graham: “Well, Christianity and being a true believer, you know, I think there’s the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside the Christian groups. I think that everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the body of Christ. And I don’t think that we’re going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. What God is doing today is calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light they have, and I think they’re saved, and they’re going to be with us in heaven.”

Dr. Schuller: “What I hear you saying is that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart and soul and life even if they’ve been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you’re saying?”

Dr. Graham: “Yes it is because I believe that. I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, have never heard of Jesus but they’ve believed in their hearts that there is a God and they tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.”

• Moral Therapeutic Deism
• Good people don’t go to heaven; forgiven people do.

Dr. Schuller: “This is fantastic. I’m so thrilled to hear you say that. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy.”

Dr. Graham: “There is. There definitely is.”

 

Matthew 7:13-14 (NASB) Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

• In context, this passage doesn’t deal with the contrast between the world, those outside the church, and the church. It is dealing with those who are in the church who believe a lie and are on their way to hell and those in the church who KNOW the Truth and are on their way to heaven,.

 

1 Corinthians 1:18-19 (NKJV) For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

• message of the cross.God’s total revelation, the gospel in all its fullness, which centers on the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ, the entire divine plan and provision for the redemption of sinners, which is the theme of all Scripture, is found in the message of the cross.
• Translates the word from which “moron” is derived.
• perishing or being saved.
• being saved – Every person is either in the process of salvation (though not completed until the redemption of the body; see  8:23; 13:11) or the process of destruction.
• One’s response to the cross of Christ determines their perishing or their being saved.
• To the Christ-rejectors who are in the process of being destroyed, the gospel is nonsense. To those who are believers, it is powerful wisdom.

 

The New Age, New Thought, and those who practice various neo-pagan religions teach that Jesus studied mysticism while in Egypt as a child.

• Jesus was a high priest of the ancient Egyptian religion of Isis and Osiris.
• Jesus was a mythical person who was created by stealing from pagan mystery religions.
• Jesus was just one of numerous “crucified saviors” found in various ancient religions.
• The main features of Jesus’ birth, life, and death are reworkings of older myths and legends.

Claims such as these have been around for many decades—many dating back to the nineteenth century—and they continue to hold sway among those attracted to esoteric (mysterious, secret), New Age, and neo-pagan beliefs.

• With the success of The Da Vinci Code, the idea that Christianity is largely or even completely derived from pagan beliefs has reached a mass audience.

Jesus in India

• Jesus is said to have traveled to India during his youth and studied the teachings of Hinduism, particularly the Vedas, with Brahmin priests, potentially learning about concepts like non-violence and spiritual enlightenment.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:2-3, 9-12 (NKJV) not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 

If we can reject, discount, or compromise the true identity of Jesus, we can reject biblical morality as described in scripture. We cannot have abundance, healing, salvation, and eternal life without holiness.

So, folks gravitate towards anything that denies the Truth. And because the American Church has so watered down the Gospel of Christ, folks are easily deceived by the father of lies.

 

John 5:14 (NKJV) Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

 

New Age, New Thought, Witchcraft Beliefs in the Local Church!

 

Traditional biblical understandings of who Jesus is and why he came to earth are denied or radically twisted to fit into the Eastern worldview. Christ’s uniqueness is downplayed, and he is seen as just another “ascended master” or one who has already found moksha—release from the cycle of death and rebirth. 

Moksha is a key concept in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.

Gnosticism is a big part of this. This early, heretical movement offered salvation through secret knowledge (gnosis). One achieves salvation by acquiring knowledge of secret and hidden truths—usually, only an elite few gain such special knowledge and insight.

The Gnostic Jesus was not a Savior; he was a revealer. He came for the express purpose of communicating his secret gnosis. We are not sinners in need of salvation – we are ignorant people who need to realize that we are already divine.

 

The New Thought Movement is a philosophical and religious movement that originated in the United States in the 19th century. It’s based on the idea that thoughts can help people understand divine mysteries and improve their lives.

 

Some say the story of Jesus is based on the Egyptian myth of Horus. The two share many similarities, including: 

• Birth:                     
  • Supposedly, both were born to a virgin
• Disciples:          
  • Both had twelve disciples
• Miracles:
  • Both performed miracles, such as healing the sick, walking on water, and casting out demons
• Execution:        
  • Both were executed between two thieves
• Resurrection: 
  • Both rose from the dead and ascended into heaven

 

Explanation

• Horus was the Egyptian god of the sun.
• In the Book of the Dead, Horus is described as being tempted in the desert, baptized in a river, and raising Asar from the dead.
• In most retellings of the myth, Horus is not reported to have died but instead is said to merge with Re, the sun god, and be reborn daily.
• Some people believe that the story of Jesus was based on Horus, while others believe it was based on Lord Krishna of India.

 

Christian Witchcraft? Good Witches?

 

The Eight Rules of Manifestation are:

• Believe in yourself:Have faith in your abilities.
  • Any ability outside of Christ is witchcraft or idolatry!
  • Rooted in pride and in your supposed goodness.
• Create an action plan:Break down your goals into steps and take consistent action. 
  • This issue isn’t with making a plan; it is with what the goal is. Is the plan Christ founded and Great Commission Centered.  
• Take action:Trust your intuition and seize opportunities that align with your goals.
  • Trusting your intuition will lead you astray. As believers, we are called to be spirit-led, not gut-led.
• Focus on the positive:Surround yourself with supportive people and maintain a healthy mindset.
  • We don’t need more positive thinking; we need to know and walk with the mind of Christ!
• Visualize:Imagine what you want to manifest.
  • We are not little gods.
  • Our Words carry cultivating power, not creating power.
  • We cultivate the Truth of God’s Word, His Promises, His Righteousness, His Redemption, and His Will as speak His Word over our lives as well as the lives of others.
• Stay humble and grateful:Be thankful for what you have.
  • Just know all good things come from The Lord God, Jehovah, our provider.
• Upgrade your beliefs:Let go of limiting beliefs and replace them with positive ones.
  • This statement rails at the very essence of the Gospel.  
• Become a conscious creator:Take inspired action to manifest your desires.
  • If you are trying to manifest your desires, your understanding of the Kingdom of God is way off.
  • We are called to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all we need will added.

 

1 Corinthians 11:1-4 (NASB) I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. ² For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. ³ But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴ For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, this you tolerate very well!