"What’s Wrong with Halloween?"
(Eph 5:11-17 & Deut 18:9-12)
INTRODUCTION
- Many Christians will allow and even encourage their children to pay respect to the devil on October 31 WITHOUT REALLY KNOWING IT!
- The question many Christians ask, "What’s wrong with Halloween?"
- I hope to be able to answer that today from the Word of God
- What do you think about when you hear the word "Halloween"
- Most of us reminscence about our own childhood memories of this very celebrated holiday.
- You say, "I did it as a kid and it was fun", Besides, I don’t let my kids dress in scary
costumes
- Little princess, superman, snowwhite, etc...
- I can say personally that some of the best haunted houses that I went to as a kid were at BAPTIST churches
- So what’s so wrong with Halloween? (innocent fun, jokes, parties, etc)
- This morning I want us to look at WHY Christians should not participate or allow their children to participate in this OCCULT holiday
-We will look at
1. The Origin of Halloween
2. The symbols of Halloween
3. The Occult Practices of Halloween
4. A Christian’s View of Halloween
- Today’s text EPH 5:11-17 & DEUT 18:9-14
- Pray
TRANS: Where did halloween originate from?
1. THE ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN
- The custom of Halloween is traced back to the DRUID FESTIVAL OF THE DEAD,sometime around 100 A.D.
- It was commonly referred to as the SAMHAIN festival
- - a celtic celebration that focused on death.
- The Celts in Western Europe believed that ghosts and other spirit-beings visited on Samhain Eve - OCT 31st.
- The also believed that the barrier between the physical world and spirit world was at its weakest.
- The ancient Druids, (priestly class of Celts) believed that Samhain "the Lord of Death"
gathered souls of the evil dead who had been condemned to enter the bodies of animals
- Good people’s souls were reincarnated as humans
- The Druids would then offer sacrifices, prayers, and gifts to Samhain, attempting to lighten the punishment of the evil dead
The Druids would even pray for and to the dead in Roman temples trying to contact them through the spirit world
- We get the practices of SIANCES and now have the unscriptural teaching of purgatory in the Catholic church (EXPOUND)
- But what does the bible say about this, Paul said in II Cor 5:6 "to be absent from the body is to be present Pwith the Lord"
- That is if you are a believer but what about the unbeliever?
- Turn with me to Luke 16:22 - story of the rich man
- Died, looked up from hell- not purgatory, not a holding place but hell
- Look at verse 26, "they cannot pass to you"
- Heb 9:27 says (QUOTE)
- The only holding place for the unbeliever is hell and they await the Great White Thrown Judgment accordingto Rev 20:11-15
- Well that is the ancient side of it but what about in America?
- It did not come to America until the mid-1800’s
- The little pilgrim children never learned to say ’trick or treat’
- When he was a boy, George Washington never went out hunting for candy on Oct 31st and President Lincoln never dressed up as a pirate or ghost
- This holiday was not nationally known until a group of imigrants from the Celtic areas of Europe brought the old customs into America
- However in the 1950’s, the holiday as we know it was proclaimed a children’s holiday - a day of fun, dress-up, and candy
TRANS: Well then, what do some of the symbols represent or the costumes we let our kids wear?
2. THE SYMBOLS OF HALLOWEEN
- Everyone thinks it is so cute for little Johnny to dress-up like a ghost a gruesome dead character
- But where did that come from and what did it represent?
- The Celts hid themselves in ghoulish costumes or disguises so that wandering spirits would mistake them for one of their own and pass by without incident
- What about black cats? These were considered reincarnated evil souls sthat had the ability to divine or "see into" the future.
- Jack-O-Lanterns were carved out and a candle put in to try and frighten away evil spirits from the home or they were showing sympathy andsubmission to the evil spirits
- Bonfires came from the practice of "bonefires" which was a large fire containing bones of those that were being sacrificed to the God of Death - Samhain
- Skeletons, Skulls, corpses were all part of celebrating the ritual of the dead
- Bats and owls were said to have power to communicate with the dead since they were
reincarnated evil spirits
- Ghosts, demons, goblins were thought by the Celtics to have special freedom to travel among the living and frighten them into submission to their will.
- The practice of "TRICK OR TREAT" came about by giving treats to frustrated spirits of the dead so they would feel welcome and if they didn’t feel welcome, then came the so called "tricks" or havoc
- These are but a few of the symbols associated with this holiday
TRANS: So then, we have seen the origins and symbols, but how is this celebration tied into the OCCULT?
3. THE OCCULT PRACTICES OF HALLOWEEN
- One of the main attractions of Halloween is the wearing of ghoulish costumes that represent death and fear
- ALso, we love being frightened - (XPOUND)
- One of the most celebrated days for the practice of witchcraft is October 31st and is a day to be considered by most practicing witches a day of communion with the dead
- Many of you have participated in the unscriptural practice of summoning the dead through things like Quija board games and seances
- Many occult practices have human sacrifice ceremonies or drink the blood of sacrificed animals all done in the name of Satan
- Necromancing is the delving into contacting the dead and yet look what the bible says
about that in Deut 18:10-12 (turn there)
- All of these practices of Witchcraft,Voodoo, seances, human sacrifices, etc.. are part of
the occult
TRANS: Well, that brings us to the question, "What should be the Christian’s View of Halloween?
4. THE CHRISTIANS VIEW OF HALLOWEEN
- First we have to understand this one thing in Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood but against the rulers, against authorities, against the powers of darkness of this world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
- Halloween seems so harmless and yet we don’t fully understand that there is a spiritual war that is taking place and men, women, and children’s souls are what is at stake.
- We as Christians should not be partakers of something that derives from and represents darkness
- Eph 5:11 tells us to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness...
- Rom 13:12 says, "Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the
armor of 1ight"
- There is a continual battle that takes place in the supernatural and you and I are to be on the side of God and not Satan
- When we partake of the holiday Halloween,we are grieving the Spirit of God
- Eph 5:11-12 says, "Have not fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them. For it is shameful to even speak of those things which are done by them in secret."
- Again in Deut 18, the bible forbids us to participate in or support any activity with
occultic overtones and it even says in verse 12, "Anyone who does these things is
destestable tb the Lord" and detestable means to abhor something.
- Some may say "we do this for fun" but I tell you that anything that represents Satan and his domain cannot be handled or emualted "for fun".
- Doing so places you in forbidden and enemy territory and that is dangerous ground.
CONCLUSION
- Well, you have heard alot this morning and I hope you have let some of it sink into your heart
- The bible says in Phil 4:8 "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable or praiseworthy...think on these things"
- I don’t think Halloween or scaring our kids senseless is very pure or praiseworthy
- Rom 14:19 says,"Let us therefore follow after things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edify one another."
- Deut 4:9 says, "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget
the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and their children after them.
- Moms and Dads, you are held accountable for your kids in allowing them to participate.
- What we allow in moderation our children will excuse in excess.
-In a Gallop poll of teenagers 13-17,29% said they believed in witchcraft; 32% said they believed in Ghosts and more than half believed in the practice of contacting the dead (SEANCES)
- Satan knows your children are vulnerable and this is his greatest opportunity to rob them right out from under your nose.
- WWJD? Would He participate in a holiday that is set aside to honor Satan? or would He want us to flee from all appearances of evil.
- But, you can’t go away and say, we can’t celebrate Halloween because "the preacher said so."
- You must choose for yourself and search it out for yourself.
- I think Joshua put it best in Joshua 24:14-15, "Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped...and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesireable to you, then choose you this day whom you
will serve...but as for me and my household; we will serve the Lord."
- Pray
