Ashingdon AM 25 10 2009 Living in the Light - What’s Wrong with Halloween? Ephesians 5:11-5:17 Deut 18:9-12
Late one dark night, two men were walking home after a party.
They were tired and desperate to get home
So they decided to take a shortcut through a cemetery.
They got to about the middle of the graveyard
they were startled and stopped moving.
There was a terrifying noise,
“TAP-TAP-TAP” coming from the shadows.
Trembling with fear,
they spotted an old man with a hammer and chisel, chipping away at one of the headstones.
“Hey Mister,” one of them said after catching his breath.
“You SCARED us half to death.
We thought you were a GHOST!
What are you doing working here so late at night?”
“Those fools!” the old man grumbled.
“They spelt my name wrong!”
Next Saturday is Halloween.
Halloween is one of those days that is viewed by different people in different ways.
Even here in church this morning there are different views and opinions.
Some people think that it’s just an opportunity for children to dress up and have fun collecting sweets and that really it’s not a big deal.
Some people think that due to the pagan origin and continued ties to evil that it should not be celebrated at all.
Let me say from the start that my message this morning is not about opinion it is about truth, the truth contained in God’s Word the Bible, the truth that God has given us and expects us to follow.
There may be times when you find it difficult to reconcile God’s truth to your own opinion or worldview, friends, God’s truth is eternal, it does not change, but our understanding of the truth does change as we allow God to work in our hearts and minds.
Maybe right now your sitting there and still thinking the same question many people ask,
“What’s wrong with Halloween?”
This morning we are going to answer that question from the Word of God
DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO AVOIDS BLACK CATS IN ORDER TO AVOID BAD LUCK?
This belief goes back to the Middle Ages when it was thought that a black cat was the companion or mascot of a group of witches, and that it changed into a witch or Satan after seven years of service.
People reasoned, a cat crossing someones path might be a witch or the Devil in disguise, up to no good.
It is true that the devil is up to no good, but he is not disguised as a black cat.
HE IS MORE CLEVER THAN THAT.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness...”
Satan may well appear as a person of light, meaning someone who is godly or well meaning.
How sad is it that today’s enlightened world encourages children to dress up as Satan or other evil things.
How sad is it that most parents will recognise that evil exists in the world but refuse to believe that Satan is real and not some sort of cartoon character.
Unfortunately, many people don’t believe that the devil really exists.
They think he’s a figment of our imagination –a character out of Dante’s Inferno.
They just don’t get it. They deny the obvious.
This Halloween, people will encourage children to masquerade as the devil and his gang of evil spirits.
Thousands of Christians will fully sanction this homage to Satan in direct violation to the explicit teaching of the Word of God!
Many Christian homes will be decorated with all the paraphernalia and trappings of Lucifer’s kingdom.-
Skulls, ghosts, witches, cauldrons, monsters, everything dark – anything macabre.
Halloween is a celebration of darkness.
I don’t like darkness.
Darkness hides things.
In the Bible, darkness symbolizes evil.
When I was a boy I used to sleep with a light on in my room.
It always made me feel better.
Friends, we are not supposed to live in darkness.
What we should be doing is lighting up the world
with God’s love.
Sometimes we can quote a verse of scripture out of context .
And misconceptions can come when trying to translate a concept from one language to another.
Anyone Eat Rice Krispies?
What noise do they make?
SNAP, CRACKLE, POP!
Ok in Chinese its translated as:
Break, crush, explode
The Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan
Finger-lickin’ good
translates as
Tastes like human fingers
The Pepsi Cola company found this out doing an ad campaign in Taiwan.
From 1963-1967 Their slogan was
“Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation.”
Unfortunately, translated into Chinese it read, “Pepsi Will Bring Your Ancestors Back From the Dead.”
Needless to say the ad’s were canceled - Pepsi couldn’t quite live up to that claim.
The resurrection from the dead is possible but only through the Lord Jesus Christ!
We are going to look at three passages from God’s Word and read them aloud together.
And let me be clear – they are not quoted out of context – or translated with any misconception.
The first passage is from the New Testament:
Ephesians 5:11-17 (New International Version)
11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
The second passage is from the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 18:9-12 (New International Version)
Detestable Practices
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.
The third passage is from the New Testament Ephesians 6:10-13 (New International Version)
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
The whole concept behind Halloween involves death, darkness, deception, fear, and pagan rituals.
Many Christians find Halloween an uncomfortable topic.
Let me ask you this question:
What in the world do witches and demons and vampires and skeletons have in common with the people of God, who John refers to as “children of light?”
Halloween is not something a Christian should celebrate,
it is not a night of innocent fun it is about glorifying Satan and evil.
Do I sound like an extremist?
Listen to the World Encyclopedia entry on Halloween:
Halloween’s beginnings preceded Christ’s birth when the druids, a pagan group of devil-worshipers in what is now Britain and France, observed the end of summer by making human sacrifices to the gods.
It was the beginning of the Celtic year.
They believed that Samher, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans,
who could escape only be assuming disguises and looking like spirits themselves.
The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks.
Most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to the old pagan rites and superstitions.
Present-day Satanists and witches still consider Halloween to be their “high holy day”–
like Easter is to us.
They say it is the ideal time of year to cast spells, see into the future and communicate with the spirits of dead relatives.
Many centuries ago the Church tried to change this seasonal emphasis by introducing “All Saints Day” on November first.
It was also called “All Hallows Day.”
Then it became the custom to call the evening before, “All Hallow Eve.”
Trying to Christianise a pagan calendar certainly is not working today.
In fact, you might say that “All Saints Day” has been almost obliterated in favour of Halloween.
In my opinion, for a Christian to celebrate Halloween makes about as much sense as Israel declaring a public holiday to celebrate the life of Adolf Hitler.
The point here is not to infer that participation in Halloween makes you a witch,
or a devil-worshiper, or occultist.
But I do believe that it is dishonouring to the
Risen Saviour whose coming was to
“destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
Another point:
In the passage we read from Deuteronomy - the Bible clearly tells us that God hates witchcraft.
Think about this -
Should our children,
who are an “inheritance of the Lord”
be dressed up like witches?
As Christians we should not compromise the truth – we should not welcome evil in any shape or form.
The truth is the truth and we should stand firm in God’s truth.
Dr. James Dobson, wrote this:
“There is a conspiracy being orchestrated with great care by those who hate the Christian system of values. They are dedicated to its destruction. A formidable army has been assembled on the battlefield, including the gay and lesbian movement; the Media and the street-corner pushers who are destroying our kids with drugs; the medical personnel who are slaughtering our unborn babies; the euthanasia organizations that are urging us to kill the old, sick and handicapped; the pornographers who are polluting our landscape; the media and universities who are committed to the humanistic perspective. These are the shock troops arrayed in full battle gear before us.”
According to Job 1:12 The devil has been allowed to afflict the righteous
and according to Luke 4:6. He also has authority over the world
There are two dangerous extremes to avoid with regard to our ancient foe.
1. Dismissing Satan as a myth.
2. Glorifying Satan.
He is not equal in power with God. In fact, he is not a god at all.
He is a fallen angel.
Jesus has victory over Satan.
Make no mistake about it, Satan’s power is great, but he is no match for King Jesus!
When our Lord was with us on this planet, He demonstrated over and over again His power over the evil one.
Consider the slaughter of the innocents and how He escaped.
Or what about the temptation experience in the wilderness, and the Pharisees attempt to have Him murdered.
Israel rejected Him, Most of His followers left Him.
And there was Gethsemane and Calvary.
But through it all, He was the victor.
And the Resurrection dealt the final blow.
Jesus said, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31).
Again, Jesus said, “The prince of this world has no hold on me” (John 14:30).
British broadcaster Malcolm Muggeridge said this ‘One of the peculiar sins of the twentieth century which we’ve developed to a very high level is the sin of credulity (or being open to anything).
It has been said that when human beings stop believing in God they believe in nothing.
The truth is much worse: they believe in anything.’”
“Why are people so gullible?
Maybe it’s because they do not want to face the truth!
People are willing to sacrifice the truth when it makes them feel uncomfortable.
Plato taught, ‘We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.’”
2 Corinthians. 4:4 says “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Whenever we are ignorant of Satan and his schemes we become like “sitting ducks” for him.
One writer put it this way:
“For many Satan or the devil is just an evil influence, or they think of the idea of the devil as merely a synonym for evil but deny that he is a real personal being at work in the world as he is described in the Bible.”
“To others he is the keeper of hell, a slithering snake in the grass, or something obviously evil and easily recognized.
For others, the ‘devil’ is merely the demon in a bottle of booze, or gruesome being with horns, a tail, and of course, the pitchfork, which he uses to pitch people into his jail, called hell.
But Satan isn’t the keeper of hell.
Biblically speaking, such ideas are nonsense and the product of man’s imagination, tradition, and Satan’s own deceptions.”
Satan is called by many names in scripture:
Satan (Job 1:6-9; Matt. 4:10)
The Devil (Matt. 4:1, 5, 9; Eph. 4:27; Rev. 12:9; 20:2)
The Serpent (Rev. 12:9)
Lucifer, Son of the Morning (Isa. 14:12)
The Evil One (John 17:15; 1 John 5:9)
The Dragon (Rev. 12:7)
The Prince or Ruler (John 12:31)
The God of This World or Age (2 Cor. 4:4)
The Prince of the Power of the Air (Eph. 2:2a)
The Accuser of the Brethren (Rev. 12:10)
The Tempter (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5)
Belial (2 Cor 6:15)
Beelzebul (Matt. 12:24; Mark 3:22)
Not everyone in life is so well named.
Why is Satan so well named?
Because God wants us to know who he is and how he operates!
Satan is alive and well on planet earth.
He is powerful but he is not all-powerful.
He seems to be ever-present but he is not everywhere present.
He does not have goblins assisting him in his evil work, but he does have his fallen angels or demons.
1 Peter 5:8-9 says “8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
“What’s wrong with Halloween?”
Simply put, It glorifies Satan – it does not glorify God.
Should a person be afraid of Satan?
It all depends on who you are and how you are living.
If you are not a Christian,
if you have not accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour,
then this morning you are not in Christ and you are wide open to the devil.
If you have not trusted Jesus as your personal Saviour then you have little defence against the evil one.
If you are not a Christian, then you are living in darkness.
BUT
if you are a person who has been Saved by Jesus then this morning, right now,
you are in Christ,
you are living in the light
you have the power of the living GOD behind you, with you!
AND Greater is He who is in us
than he who is in the world!
We are His family and He has saved us from darkness and brought us into His marvellous light!
Friend, this morning you can be part of God’s family –
you can choose to accept Jesus as your Saviour right now –
you can choose to abandon the darkness and walk in the light,
you can choose to have your sins forgiven –
God is willing to accept you
Are you willing to accept Him!
Satan has a few names or titles God has more.
In the bible there are 625 specific names or titles attributed to God.
Mark 4:39-41 “Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
If Jesus can make the wind and the waves obey him then surely He can save us eternally.
On Halloween do not glorify evil –
do not let your children embrace evil
Do not be afraid of the Evil one.
Walk in the light of His word
Walk in the light of his love.
Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world!
