My Christianity and Christmas!
So I claim to be the âelectâ of God for whom Christ died. I know enough theology to debate any Atheist or Evolutionist and prove him wrong. But could it be that I am just a spiritually dead Christian with a lots of doctrine in my head?I have heard this for a long time now that Christmas is Pagan and an offence to the God I claim to love and obey, but I could care less. I donât want to be that âoddballâ who shuns Christmas and preaches against it. I have no desire to go forth unto Him, outside the camp (of apostate christianity) bearing His reproach like all the Elect! [Heb. 13:12,13].
âItâs not a moral issueâ I reason! And where does the Bible say âdonât celebrate Christmasâ? Ha, spoken like a genuine purebred goat, you say! Maybe youâre right! Maybe I need to âexamine myself whether I am in the Faithâ [II Cor. 13:5]. The true saint of God they say does not abstain himself only from those things which are morally wrong, but hates âevery false wayâ [Psa. 119:104].
Could it be true that many such dry, dead, graceless head-knowledge Christians are burning in Hell right now who professed to know God but denied Him in works! [Titus 1:16]
Could it be that âCome out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thingâ is not just good advice but a command? Looks like my very affiliation and participation in the pagan festival of Christmas reveals my true identity. Maybe after all I am just a goat with a head full of theology, and the âroot of the matter is not in meâ! [Job 19:28].
Sometimes I wonder, âWhy not go all the way and join the Pagans in celebrating all their other Babylonian festivalsâ?!
But wait a minute! Isnât the Christmas season a great time to win the lost? At least they are more open to the Gospel! Doesnât the end justifies the means. I would love to organize a Christmas program, a Rock or Rap concert, do anything as long as I can lead folks to Christ and get them to pray and ask Jesus into their hearts. After all what better day for lost souls to make a decision and open their heart to invite Jesus in than his Birthday?!
And surely I canât deny my kiddies a good time by being such a nonconformist radical. Yes Moses took all the little ones with him out of Egypt (Ex 10:9,10). But times are different now! There are times when I have to follow the multitude to do evil and allow my children to mingle with the present day Egyptians in their âpleasures of sin for a seasonâ? (Hebrews 11:25).
But seriously here is the truth: âIn the sight of God the circus and the theater are far less obnoxious than the âChristmas celebrationâ of Romish and Protestant âchurches.â Why? Because the latter are done under the cover of the holy name of Christ; the former are notâ. [A.W. Pink]
The question is not whether I will lose my salvation if I join in this pagan abomination done in my Lordâs name, but whether I am saved to start with! I am smart enough to know who it is that celebrates âChristmasâ! The whole âcivilized world.â Millions who make no profession of faith in the blood of the Lamb, who âdespise and reject Him,â and millions more who while claiming to be His followers yet in works deny Him, joining in the merrymaking under the pretense of honoring the birth of the Lord Jesus!
Putting it on its lowest ground, I must ask myself, âYou claiming to be His friend, will you unite with His enemies in a worldly round of fleshly gratification?â Am I kidding myself that He whom the world cast out is either pleased or glorified by such participation in the worldâs joys? Verily, âthe customs of the people are vainâ; and it is written, âThou shalt not follow a multitude to do evilâ (Exodus 23:2)
Without labouring the point, I as a true child of God should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather exposes them [Eph 5:11], not that I might be saved, but because I am! It cannot be overstressed that âChristmasâ is a worldly festival, and everything connected to it â (the Christmas Tree, Santa Claus, the Mistletoe, the elves all of them) has a Satanic significance. And Godâs Word makes it plain that if I am a friend of the world then I am the enemy of God! [James 4:4]
If the Master walked into my house this month and saw my decorated Christmas tree [Jer 10:2-4], the Satanic Pentagram (Christmas Star), Santa Claus etc would he commend me with a âwell done thou good and faithful servantâ or âdepart from me I never knew youâ?! Surely I ought to know the answer to that! If as I claim, Christ has set me free, then it was not that I might be delivered to do all these abominations! [see Jer 7:10]
And I think it is high time that I stopped justifying my celebration of this paganism by quoting other blind Christian leaders who are leading their blind congregations into the ditch!
So I think for a start I am going to âTest everything (even Christmas) and hold fast to that which is good and Scripturalâ [1Thes 5:21]
I think I am going to quit justifying myself and seriously âExamine myself, whether I am in the Faith!â! [2Cor 13:5]..
HOPE & PRAY YOU WERE BLESSED *
By,
Mike Jeshurun
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