Hell-O-Ween

Hell-O-Ween

Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …

Jude 1:24-25

“To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy –

“To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …

Philippians 4:8

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.”

Please open your Bibles to Deuteronomy 18:9-15

Samhain Does anyone know what Samhain is/was?

Encyclopedia Britannica

“In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic Festival of Samhain was observed on October 31, at the end of summer…. Between sunset on October 31 until sunrise on November 1, the Celts believed that the veil between our existence and the spirit world was the thinnest. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, goblins, black cats, fairies and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Samhain was thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes.

“In Ireland especially, people thought that ghosts and spirits roamed after dark on Samhain. They lit candles or lanterns to keep the spirits away, and if they had to go outside, they wore costumes and masks to frighten the spirits or to keep from being recognized by these unearthly beings.”

What do we see in Samhain? October 31, souls of the dead, ghosts, witches, goblins, fairies, demons of all kinds roaming about, divinations, invoking the devil for help, lanterns to keep the spirits away, costumes and masks …

Let’s see what the Bible has to say about such things … Deuteronomy 18:9-15

(Prayer for help …)

Now, just imagine that you are a Christian who actually knows the Word of God and you go into a land where Samhain is part of the local religion.

What do you do?

Do you go out, stand on a platform and declare that they are all going to Hell?

If you tried that in a thoroughly pagan land such as northern Ireland was in those days, you probably would have been forcefully invited to join into (and I mean literally being thrown into) one of their fires that were used to ward off evil spirits.

What else could you do? Could you try to find a way to integrate their pagan beliefs into Christianity by introducing something similar enough that it would be accepted?

The church of Rome did that when they declared October 31st and November 1st to be days to remember the “saints”. November 2nd was made “All Souls Day” to remember those in heaven and purgatory. There was even an attempt made to create an “All Dammed” day to remember those in hell but seemed to be a little too much.

What else could you do? Could you stay in and pray that the Lord would enable you to somehow to reach these people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Could you do this while still keeping the Gospel pure and undefiled?

Let’s try to look at it this way …

Suppose in your spiritual life you are driving down the highway; the Highway of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible, God’s Holy Word is your GPS. And suppose you are passing an on ramp but the on ramp just doesn’t look right. It appears that someone is trying to bring something onto the Highway of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is not in the Bible. Suppose they are saying that the devil is not an actual being. Suppose they are saying that there is an evil force at work in the universe that opposes the good force in the universe but it’s not a devil. Suppose they are saying that there really is no devil and there really are no demons in opposition to what the Bible says. (Luke 11:14, Mark 9:25, Matthew 25:41)

What do you do? Do you move over to let them merge onto the Highway of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with this false teaching?

What if you do let them merge and by letting them merge you are entertaining their false teaching as truth. You start to read the Bible and you see where Jesus is casting out demons and where Jesus is saying that Hell was created for the devil and his angels.