The Paganism Of Christmass

THE CHRIST-MASS STORY

2007-11-17T04:26:00.000-08:00

No authoritative historical evidence points to December 25th as the day of the Lord Jesus birth. Traditionally, December 25th was the date of a Roman pagan festival inaugurated in 274 AD, as the birthday of the unconquered sun which at the winter solstice begins again to show an increase in light. Sometime before 336 AD the Roman Catholic Church, unable to stamp out this pagan festival, spiritualized it as the Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.

The term "Christmas" literally means "Christ-Mass," and should probably be prounounced that way to remind us of it's true meaning. In the Roman Catholic Church, three masses are usually said to symbolize "the birth of Christ in the bosom of the Father, from the womb of Mary and mystically in the soul of the faithful." We have inherited then a holiday that is based on a form of worship (the Mass), which is absolutely contrary to the Gospel, and a perversion of the person and work of the Lord Jesus. (The Mass in Roman Catholic tradition is a ritual whereby the bread and wine are said to change into the actual body and blood of Christ, under a priest's blessing, and offered again to God). It is a denial of the finished work of the Lord Jesus, and Him as the only Mediator between God and men, 1 Timothy 2:5.

When people say, "Let's keep Christ in Christmas," we must answer, "He was never in it." To celebrate December 25th with any sort of religious significance is superstitious idolatry, and has no scriptural warrant whatsoever. Religion may have its Christmas one day in 365, but, the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ has the gift of Christ, through the Gospel, by the Spirit, 365 days a year!

By Ken Wimer

QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTMAS KEEPING IDOLATERS

2007-10-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

Please note, before you read these questions.
If you do not and have never told your children about the lie of Santa Clause yet at the same time have taken part in this pagan Roman Catholic holiday please don't act all smug, and convince yourself you celebrated this Romish holiday in a christian way using liberty as an excuse, enough of these questions still apply to you.

1. If you are a Christian, how can you teach your little ones to delight in and love a Christmas tree which actually is a pagan symbol of sun and serpent worship?

2. How can you before the all-seeing eye of God tell your children the lie about Santa Claus and his reindeer? You should read Rev. 21:27. Do you think that the God who holds our destiny in His hand will preserve the freedoms of our future generations if we make them a nation of liars?

3. How can you have the brazen boldness to tell your children you are a Christian, and then connect pagan idolatry to the story of the birth of Christ?

4. How can you help a bewhiskered clown, dressed like a dunce, who is hired by some commercial establishment to lie to children all day long, betray your own trusting child into a maze of falsehood to save your face before the Christmas idolaters?

5. How can you expect your children to have any confidence in whatever you teach them, when they find you have lied deliberately to them for years about Christmas and Santa Claus – and during those years you punished them for telling untruths?

6. Does not your heart smite you as you think of them growing up in servitude to the pagan observances and celebrations of Rome, instead of the real truth of the Gospel of Christ?

7. How can you have the shameless boldness before God, to teach your children paganism and the Word of God at the same time? Do you expect that God will spare a people, whose chief delight is to make a mock of the birth of His Son?

8. Does not your conscience accuse you as you combine the story of our adorable Saviour with the Roman heathen idol, the Christmas tree of Baal-Berith?

9. How can you expect your children to believe you, that they must worship Christ alone, if they see you indulge in an annual festival which had its beginning among the devil worshippers of ancient Chaldea?

10. How can you expect your child to believe your witnessing to him about Christ when he finds out you have been lying to him about Santa Claus and his reindeer, etc.?

11. Do you believe that a festive season which not only came to us through Rome from Babylon, but is in itself a system of perpetual lying to little children, is of God?

12. Can you teach your children to honor the Lord and the Lord's Day and then help them engage in honoring a heathen god, Baal-Berith, a Christmas tree, and all the God-dishonoring observances connected with it?

13. How can you tell your children with a clear conscience that you are a child of God yourself when they watch you celebrate annually a Romish Christmas, and lie to them like a child of the devil?

CHRISTMAS IS SPIRITUAL ADULTERY

2007-09-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

"These be thy gods, O Israel ...
To morrow is a feast to the LORD."
Exodus 32:4-5

"Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot."
Jeremiah 3:6

For a Christian to have a Christmas tree and engage in Christmas customs around December 25 is the same betrayal as a woman making love to her husband while thinking about another past lover, or with treasured intimate mementos of his in her dresser, or using sexual techniques she learned from him. If you think this is extreme or harsh, read Ezekiel 16 and/or 23 carefully.

1. Adultery is horrible. When a woman gives her body and love to another man for intimate sexual pleasures, she terribly betrays her husband. He is defrauded by having his most personal and prized object treacherously shared with a competitor. Adultery is outrageously wicked (Leviticus 20:10; Numbers 5:11-31; Job 31:9-12; Proverbs 6:32-35).

2. Jealousy is the result. It is the anger, envy, and pain when something dear to you is given to another. It occurs intensely in a husband, when his wife gives her body and love to others. Adultery causes great jealousy, as Scripture and nature show (Numbers 5:11-31; Proverbs 6:32-35).

3. God is Jealous. He created and saved His people from serving the devil to be His very own bride. He expects total adoration and perfect obedience. The first and great commandment is to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. He will not share your love or interest with other things. His name is Jealous, and He burns in jealous rage when His people even flirt with anything else (Exodus 20:3-5; 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; 6:15; 29:20; 32:16; Joshua 24:19; Isaiah 42:8; 48:11; 1 Corinthians 10:22).

4. God hates idols and icons. God condemned all idols, any graven image or likeness of any thing, and any devotion given to them, because He is jealous of any flirting or distraction by His chosen bride with the false gods of paganism. Their gods are bugs, trees, stones, and stars. He is the invisible Spirit of eternity. He does not want any other object getting even indirect attention. He even hated Moses' brass serpent (Exodus 20:3-5; Deuteronomy 4:15-26; 5:8; 2 Kings 18:3-4; Isaiah 40:25).

5. False religion is spiritual adultery. The Old Testament condemned association with false religion as spiritual adultery with false gods in the most graphic terms. Due to the ignorance of most Christians, they are unaware of these awful charges and descriptions in the word of God (Exodus 34:10-17; Leviticus 17:1-9; 20:1-8; Numbers 14:33; 15:37-41; Deuteronomy 31:14-21; Judges 2:17; 8:27,33; 2 Kings 9:22; 1 Chronicles 5:25; 2 Chronicles 21:12-15; Psalm 73:25-28; 106:34-43; Jeremiah 3:1-5,9; 13:25-27; Ezekiel 6:8-10; 16:15-38; 20:28-32; 23:1-49; 43:7-10; Hosea 1:1-3; 2:1-5; 4:12-19; 5:1-7; 6:4-11; 9:1; Nahum 3:1-7).

6. Props to worship God are condemned. The Lord knew His people would be intrigued by the customs of pagan religion, including the use of green trees. So He condemned any flirting with false gods by His people using their customs in worshipping Him. Their intentions or motives toward Him did not matter! He was extremely jealous of their use of traditions and/or objects from His competitors while professing to love Him only (Exodus 32:1-6,26-29; Deuteronomy 12:1-4; 12:29-32).

7. Christians cannot flirt with the world. The blessed God plainly condemns friendship with this world as spiritual adultery. If you love the world, then you have betrayed and cheated on the Lord. He hates everything the world loves, and He demands His people to come out from them and not even touch their things, including Christmas, which is the world's favorite religious and commercial festival (2 Corinthians 6:14-17; Luke 16:15; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; Revelation 18:4).

8. True saints are chaste virgins. Paul's ministerial work, based in godly jealousy and fear, was to present churches and saints as chaste virgins to Christ, pure from fornication with another Jesus, spirit, or gospel. There is another Jesus presented by Satan, but loyal saints will have nothing to do with this pretending seducer. Neither will they be moved by the Christmas spirit that infects so many during the final weeks of the year (2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Ephesians 5:27; Colossians 1:28; 1 John 4:1-6).

9. Compromise is adultery against Christ. We are living in the perilous times of the last days, when an effeminate and compromising brand of Christianity threatens the true saints and churches of Jesus. Most so-called Christians today love the world and pleasure more than holy living and doctrinal preaching. They have no heart for earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints. They prefer fables of Santa and Christmas dramas at church rather than hard preaching of God's inspired Scriptures. They have turned from the Lover of their soul to entertaining seducers (2 Timothy 3:1 - 4:5; Jude 1:3).

10. Roman Catholicism is the Great Whore. The Bible describes the church of Rome as a garishly dressed harlot with a chalice full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, because she adopted many pagan customs to seduce her followers into spiritual adultery. This has been the near universal understanding of God's true saints for 2000 years. But she is not alone, for the churches of the Protestant Reformation are her harlot daughters by retaining many of her sacramental and liturgical corruptions (Daniel 7:1-28; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; Revelation 13:1-18; 17:1-18; 18:1-24; 19:1-4).

11. Christmas is Catholic. For Bible believers, the name of the winter feast is enough - Christ's Mass. The mass is a Catholic blasphemy in which they pretend to turn a cracker into God on their altars. They bow, worship, and talk to their cracker before eating it. Then they lock the leftover God in a little house made to keep Him safe. The Lord Jesus Christ died once for His elect, and He has never been on the altar of any Catholic Church. He is coming soon to vaporize it with the breath of His mouth (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 10:10-14).

12. Christmas is pagan idolatry. Superstitious pagans soon invented the worship of agriculture and the sun, for they realized their lives depended on both. Winter celebrations developed long before Jesus to celebrate harvest and the Invincible Sun. It was common to use evergreen branches, wreaths, and trees in their winter festivals. The Bible condemns green trees, even if they are used to worship God and celebrate the birth of Jesus (Deuteronomy 12:1-4; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6,13; 10:1-16).

13. Christmas is spiritual adultery. Taking an evergreen tree, putting it in your house, decorating it with twinkling lights, sitting in the dark, and adoring it to the tunes of Christmas carols is spiritual adultery. You are professing to love Jesus Christ, but you are doing so with the mementos and techniques brought from other lovers - the world and pagan religion. You are not content with Jesus Christ and His pure gospel found in the New Testament - for there is no Christmas there. You have added seductions of the world to keep you happy in your marriage. Jesus Christ is offended at your whorish ways.

14. Only total rejection will work. God is jealous. He will not let you flirt with His competitors. He will not let you keep mementos from past lovers, like an evergreen tree. He will not let you remember the important dates of past intimacy with paganism, like December 25. He will not let you use a blasphemous combination of His name, like Christ's Mass. He demands that you separate totally from your past lovers, the world, and false religion (Romans 12:1-2; 16:17-18; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 3:10-11; Revelation 18:4).

15. There are many Scriptures to help. The Bible clearly condemns observing Christmas and other holy days of Rome's whitewashed paganism. We are Bible Christians, and our religion is based squarely on the word of God without any regard for human tradition, popular opinion, warm and fuzzy feelings, or the countless compromises and inventions of contemporary Christianity.

HOW TO STOP CELEBRATING THE WORLD'S HOLY DAYS

2007-09-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

When the Lord reveals the evil of pagan holy days, there are always questions about informing family and friends about the change in your life. This short document suggests a few approaches to be wise and righteous before God without being unduly antagonistic or offensive to those who do not yet see the truth (Romans 12:18; 1 Corinthians 7:15).

It is not wisdom or zeal to blast those that do not understand your change. Jesus Christ taught His disciples to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matt 10:16). Paul avoided offence when he could without compromising the truth (1 Corinthians 9:19-23; 10:31-33). He even claimed to be a Pharisee, when he thought the ploy would save him in a religious trial (Acts 23:6-10). And it did!

1. Prepare your defense.

Do not wing your presentation. Measure your audience (see #4 below). Choose your approach and gather material to bolster your testimony. This website has documents with plenty of Bible, historical evidence, and links to convince anyone that you are not merely being emotional or over reactive. For example, most people are entirely unaware that Christmas celebrations were against the law in the early days of the U.S. and in Puritan England. Show that your decision is based on thorough study of much information.

2. Do it in October.

The best time to discuss holidays is October! Lump them together – Halloween, Christmas, and Easter. Since most can see the pagan origin of Halloween, put the emphasis on this devilish day. You can then tack on Christmas and Easter. By dealing with all three holidays at once, you avoid two more conflicts in the next six months. By choosing October to inform them, you can objectively present the truth before the “Christmas spirit” or spring enthusiasm makes it impossible for most people to even think.

3. Reassure your family.

They need to know you still love them, gatherings, feasts, birthdays, giving gifts, etc. Plan a big family event at Thanksgiving. This holiday did not come from pagans; it came from the Pilgrims. The Bible requires and commends thanksgiving, unlike a Christmas tree or Easter egg hunt. It is by carefully presenting your continued love of the family and acceptable gatherings that you can disarm them from thinking you have become a nutcase like the Jehovah's Witnesses or Worldwide Church of God!

4. Measure your audience.

Every audience is different, and you should approach each one differently. If you are dealing with professing Christians, then select a few of the plainest and most powerful Bible verses for your position. If dealing with unbelievers, consider the history and origin of the holidays with articles from encyclopedias, books, or newspapers. If dealing with a civil rights activist, appeal to your right to worship God according to your own conscience, as long as you do not violate the rights of anyone else. Be wise!

5. Accept allowed holidays.

Make sure they know you will celebrate allowed holidays such as July 4, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, family birthdays and anniversaries, and so forth. There is nothing in the Bible against these days, in spite of what Russellites claim (the Jehovah’s Witnesses). Abraham threw a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned; the Jews threw a great feast called Purim after defeating their Persian enemies; and Jesus attended an extra scriptural feast (Genesis 21:8; Esther 9:28; John 10:22).

6. Reject all cults.

Emphasize you are not a Jehovah’s Witness, member of the Worldwide Church of God, groupie of Jim Jones or David Koresh, or an orthodox Jew. You are a Bible Christian seeking to practice Christianity according to the Bible, rather than according to the traditions received from Roman Catholicism or other human sources. Do not go to foolish extremes to avoid incidental contact with the holidays, for the Lord understands that you cannot avoid any and all indirect association with them (2 Kings 5:18-19; 1 Corinthians 5:9-10).

7. Affirm Christianity.

Declare your total devotion to Jesus Christ, and confess Him as the one and only true God. Remind them that you celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus in the way He ordained, through baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper with wine and bread. Some will think you must not be a Christian, because you are not celebrating the world’s “Christian” holidays. You can settle this confusion by defining true Bible Christianity – the worship of Jesus Christ according to the Bible without any addition of human traditions.

8. Appeal to conscience.

For the most stubborn cases, make an appeal to the right of an individual to worship God according to his own conscience. Remind them that you allow them this freedom, and you are simply asking the same for yourself as well. Explain that to celebrate these three holidays has become a matter of conscience for you, which does not allow you to participate without sinning against God and yourself. If appropriate, say to them, “Please do not require me to sin against my conscience and against God.”

9. Be ready to answer.

Many will simply hear your appeal and arguments and grant your withdrawal from the holiday activities. However, others will defend themselves and attack your position. If they say, “I do it to the Lord,” answer with Deuteronomy 12:29-32. If they say, “Romans 14:5-6 allows each person the right to holidays,” answer that those were Jewish days from Moses’ Law, not pagan holy days from devil worship.

10. Live above reproach.

The greatest testimony with the most power is a righteous life. Shame any person that speaks against you by living a godly and holy life that is known by all (1 Pet 2:11-12; 3:15-16). The greater your daily character, the more credible your doctrine and practice. If you have any outstanding character flaws or known sins, then confess them freely to those that know. The goal of every Christian is to let his good works glorify His Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Do not give anyone an excuse from your life to discount your words.

REASONS NOT TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS

2007-09-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

We Don't Celebrate Christmas Because
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the LORD condemns using pagan religious practices in His worship (Deuteronomy 12:29-31).
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the LORD condemns adding to or taking away from His commandments (Deuteronomy 12:32).
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the LORD condemns doing anything under green trees in His worship (Deuteronomy 12:1-4).
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the LORD condemns the heathen use of decorated trees at a solstice (Jeremiah 10:1-4).
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the LORD commands us to separate from and not touch pagan religion (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
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the LORD commands us to come out of Roman Catholicism and her sins (Revelation 18:4).
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the LORD condemns turning to the left or right from His commandments (Deuteronomy 5:32-33).
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the LORD told the apostles to teach us to observe only His commandments (Matthew 28:20).
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the LORD rejected David's worship for a small detail and killed Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:1-10).
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the LORD rejected and killed Nadab and Abihu for offering different fire (Leviticus 10:1-7).
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the LORD rejected Moses from seeing Canaan for a slight modification (Numbers 20:12).
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the LORD rejected Cain's worship simply for bringing an alternative sacrifice (Genesis 4:7).
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the LORD rejected Saul forever for noble intentions in a modification (1 Samuel 15:22-23).
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the LORD rejected Uzziah and gave him facial leprosy for a new idea (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).
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the LORD rejected and killed Ananias and his wife for fudging a large gift (Acts 5:1-11).
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the LORD requires reverence and godly fear in worship to avoid His fire (Hebrews 12:28-29).
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the LORD seeks true worshippers to worship Him in truth, not superstition (John 4:23-24).
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the LORD commands us to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered (Jude 1:3).
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the LORD requires us to esteem all His precepts but to hate all other ideas (Psalm 119:128).
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the LORD commands us to prove all things by Scripture and reject the bad (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
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the LORD expects us to be noble and search Scripture to know true worship (Acts 17:11).
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the LORD gave Scripture to perfect us, which does not mention Xmas (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
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the LORD condemns fellowship with men having only a form of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5).
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the LORD condemns loving pleasure more than God as perilous times (2 Timothy 3:4).
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the LORD condemns anything different from His Word as dark ignorance (Isaiah 8:20).
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the LORD abominates anything popular with the world and esteemed by it (Luke 16:15).
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the LORD condemns friendship with the world as becoming His enemy (James 4:4).
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the LORD condemns traditions in His worship as evil and vain hypocrisy (Mark 7:5-13).
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the LORD hates the polluting of His glorious name with pagan idolatry (Ezekiel 20:39).
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the LORD condemns the superstitious idolatry and blasphemy of the Mass (1 Corinthians 11:26).
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the LORD condemns bringing any item of false religion into our houses (Deuteronomy 7:25-26).
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the LORD commands us not to set up any image, which He hates (Deuteronomy 16:22; Exodus 20:4-6).
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the LORD hates religion that goes under green trees (1 Kings 14:23; Isaiah 57:5; Jeremiah 3:6).
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the LORD condemns adopting any practices of the pagans around us (Leviticus 18:1-4).
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the LORD condemns sun worship (Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kings 23:5; Job 31:26-28; Ezekiel 8:16).
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the LORD endorses only apostolic traditions, and they never celebrated it (2 Thessalonians 2:15).
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the LORD is honored by gifts to Him rather than a selfish exchange of gifts (Matthew 2:11).
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the LORD teaches us to remember His death rather than His birth (Philippians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:3).
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the LORD gave baptism and His supper to remember His death (Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:26).
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the LORD resents the hatred of pagans who exchange gifts against His men (Revelation 11:10).
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the LORD condemns "the spirit of Christmas" as another spirit He hates (2 Corinthians 11:1-4).
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the LORD condemns a mother and child wearing halos as another jesus (2 Corinthians 11:1-4).
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the LORD condemns a tradition glorifying sun worship as another gospel (2 Corinthians 11:1-4).
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the LORD loves us to give up dear things as proof of our love to Him (Matthew 10:37-39).
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the LORD did not come to bring peace on earth but rather a dividing sword (Matthew 10:34).
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the LORD blessed giving over receiving, but Xmas is selfish exchanging (Acts 20:35).
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the LORD calls Jewish holy days matters of liberty, but not pagan holidays (Colossians 2:16).
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the LORD calls Jewish holy days matters of liberty, but not pagan holidays (Romans 14:6).
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the LORD considers the birth of His Son worthy of honor rather than folly (Herewsb 1:6).
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The two chief New Testament ordinances - baptism and the Lord's supper - pertain to His death, not His birth.
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celebrating Christmas sincerely is identical to Jeroboam's two calves (1 Kings 12:26-33).
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Aaron led Israel to worship the LORD with a golden calf to their judgment (Exodus 32:1-5).
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it breaks the first commandment by having other gods - the sun god Mithra (Exodus 20:3).
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it breaks the second commandment by having images - a Christmas tree (Exodus 20:4-6).
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it breaks the third commandment by taking His name in vain - "Christmas" (Exodus 20:7).
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it breaks the fifth commandment by promoting children's greed over parents (Exodus 20:12).
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it breaks the tenth commandment by promoting covetousness to children (Exodus 20:17).
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many Baptist martyrs gave their lives to oppose Catholic superstitions and traditions.
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it was a crime to observe Christmas in America, when our country truly feared God.
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it was a crime to observe Christmas in England, when that country truly feared God.
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all the God-hating, Christ-denying, and sin-loving pagans get excited about this day.
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Santa Claus is a pagan mockery of God the Father with white hair, grandfatherly image, eternal, lives in the North, unlimited resources, omniscient of children's behavior, omnipresent for a night, hears confessions, comes as a thief, blesses children, and distributes judgment for works.
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the name Christmas came from "Mass of Christ," and Christians hate the Catholic mass.
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every sincere birthday party honors the one born that day rather than all the mere guests.
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a gift exchange dictated by a calendar is not a message of love but a ritual of obligation.
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a gift exchange at the winter solstice was invented by pagans to celebrate the sun god.
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Christianity is giving gifts unexpected without obligation to reciprocate (Luke 14:12-14).
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secular encyclopedias will gladly tell you that Christmas came from pagan sun worship.
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the first state in our Bible-oriented country to make it a holiday was Alabama in 1836.
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a little drummer boy did not travel to the manger to play his drum for the infant Jesus.
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for the two centuries following the Pilgrims, Christians in America called it "popish."
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English parliament under Oliver Cromwell outlawed it in 1644 and punished violaters.
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loving Jesus Christ is keeping His commandments, not decorating a tree (John 14:15).
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you cannot do unto the LORD what the LORD has condemned (Deuteronomy 12:1-4; 12:29-32).
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Christmas is not a matter of liberty left up to our consciences and/or heart preferences.
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true followers of God will not follow a multitude or majority to false worship (Exodus 23:2).
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Xmas is most adored by women, whom God calls silly and weak (2 Timothy 3:6; 1 Peter 3:7).
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a time of unbridled greed, covetousness, and materialism cannot honor Jesus Christ.
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this unique holy day in the Roman Catholic calendar is exalted by three profane masses.
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the world loves a jesus helpless in a manger, but God's Christ is the LORD and Judge.
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on Christmas Eve the Pope of Rome conducts a special mass seen by much of the earth.
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godly parents don't lie to their children about a Roman Catholic myth named Nicholas.
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the Bible is totally silent about using this day or any such celebration to honor Christ.
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the gospel according to Christmas tradition, cards, and plays corrupts the Bible facts.
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the Pilgrims in 1620, seeking to worship God in truth, formally banned the holiday.
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the Puritans in 1659, seeking to worship God in truth, set a 5 shillings fine for keeping it.
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the modern Christmas tree was not introduced to this country by Germans until 1821.
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Jesus was not born in December, for one-half year back from Passover is rather October.
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Jesus was not born in December, for shepherds did not stay in the fields during winter.
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Jesus was not born in December, for taxation would not have been in the dead of winter.
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Jesus was not born in December, for wise taxation would have been shortly after harvest.
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Jesus was not born in December, for careful calculation of the priest's courses exclude it.
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the Roman feast at the winter solstice was to the sun god Mithras from the Persians.
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the Roman, extended feast prior to the winter solstice was to Saturn, god of agriculture.
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so many consider Christmas a "sacred cow" and beyond questioning or condemning.
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our past lives suffice us for lusts, excess of wine, revellings, and banquetings (1 Peter 4:3).
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Emperor Aurelian picked December 25 for this holiday in 274 to worship the sun god.
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pagan sun worshippers had a great festival to the sun at the winter solstice before Jesus.
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it would be wrong to have a golden calf with candles to worship the Lord our Strength.
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the public schools in Boston were still open for classes on December 25 as late as 1870.
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the "birthday of the invincible sun" (dies natalis Solis invicti) was this date in Rome.
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December 25 was chosen by being the date of the winter solstice in the Julian calendar.
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Satan uses this pagan feast to steal glory from the Son of God for ignorant sun worship.
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Christmas American-style is oppression of parents by greedy children (Isaiah 3:1-5, 12).
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Jesus promised that the majority are on the wrong road leading to death (Matthew 7:13-14).
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all the unique customs of Christmas may be traced individually to pagan religious rites.
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Hindus, Jews, Mormons, Pagans, and other cults celebrate it while despising Jesus.
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using Scripture's silence to justify anything not expressly forbidden will lead to Coke and chips for the Lord's supper and ouija boards for difficult decisions.
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it creates the most foolish, hectic, stressful, guilt-ridden, and unproductive time of year.
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the LORD is a jealous God and will judge any playing with other gods (Exodus 34:12-16).
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New Testament charity may accommodate weakness, but it cannot error (Romans 14:1).
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the moderation taught in the New Testament is temperance or self-discipline (Philippians 4:5).
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it would be identical to offering incense to the brasen serpent of Moses (2 Kings 18:4).
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the only day observed by the apostles was the Lord's day (Revelation 1:10; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).
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we choose to emulate Jacob, who put away family idols to worship God (Genesis 35:1-5).
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we choose to emulate Jehu, who defiled Baal worship to please God (2 Kings 10:26-28).
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we choose to emulate Josiah, who defiled all pagan worship to please God (2 Kings 23).
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we choose to emulate Asa, who defiled his mother's favorite idol (2 Chronicles 15:12-16).

2007-01-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

Jeremiah 10:1-3
“Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen...for the customs of the people are vain”

Christmas is coming! Quite so;

but what is “Christmas?”

Does not the very term itself denote its source—“Christ-mass”?

Thus it is of Roman origin, brought over from paganism. But, says someone, Christmas is the time when we commemorate the Savior’s birth.

It is?
And who authorized such commemoration?

Certainly God did not. The Redeemer bade His disciples “remember” Him in His death, but there is not a word in scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth.

Moreover, who knows when, in what month, He was born?

The Bible is silent thereon. It is without reason that the only “birthday” commemorations mentioned in God’s Word are Pharaoh’s (Genesis 40:20) and Herod’s (Matthew 14:6)

Is this recorded “for our learning?”

If so, have we prayerfully taken it to heart?

And who is it that celebrates “Christmas?”

The whole “civilized world.” Millions who make no profession of faith in the blood of the Lamb, who “despise and reject Him,” and millions more who while claiming to be His followers yet in works deny Him, join in merrymaking under the pretense of honoring the birth of the Lord Jesus. Putting it on its lowest ground, we would ask:

is it fitting that His friends should unite with His enemies in a worldly round of fleshly gratification?

Does any true born-again soul really think that He whom the world cast out is either pleased or glorified by such participation in the world’s joys?

Verily, the customs of the people are vain; and it is written,

Exodus 23:2
“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil”

Some will argue for the “keeping of Christmas” on the ground of “giving the kiddies a good time.”

But why do this under the cloak of honoring the Savior’s birth?

Why is it necessary to drag in His holy name in connection with what takes place at that season of carnal jollification?

Is this taking the little one with you out of Egypt (Exodus 10:9-10), a type of the world, or is it not plainly a mingling with the present day Egyptians in their “pleasures of sin for a season?” (Hebrews 11:25).

Scripture says:

Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Scripture does command God’s people to bring up their children

Ephesians 6:4
“in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”

but where does it stipulate that it is our duty to give the little one a “good time?”

Do we ever give the children “a good time” when we engage in anything upon which we cannot fittingly ask the Lord’s blessing?

There are those who do abstain from some of the grosser carnalities of the “festive season,” yet are they nevertheless in cruel bondage to the prevailing custom of “Christmas”; namely, that of exchanging “gifts.” We say “exchanging” for that is what it really amounts to in many cases. A list is kept, either on paper or in memory, of those from whom gifts were received last year, and that for the purpose of returning the compliment this year. Nor is this all: great care has been taken that the “gift” made to the friend is worth as much in dollars and cents as the one they expect to receive from him or her. Thus, with many who can ill afford it, a considerable sum has to be set aside each year with which to purchase things simply to send them out in return for others which are likely to be received. Thus a burden has been bound on them which not a few find hard to bear.

But what are we to do?

If we fail to send out “gifts,” our friends will think hard of us, probably deem us stingy and miserly. The honest course is to go to the trouble of notifying them—by letter if at a distance—that from now on you do not propose to send out any more “Christmas gifts” as such. Give your reasons. State plainly that you have been brought to see that “Christmas merrymaking” is entirely a thing of the world, devoid of any Scriptural warrant; that it is a Romish institution, and now that you see this, you dare no longer have any fellowship with it (Ephesians 5:11); that you are the Lord’s “free man” (1 Corinthians 7:22), and therefore you refuse to be in bondage to a costly custom imposed by the world.

What about sending out “Christmas cards” with a text of Scripture on them?

That also is an abomination in the sight of God.

Why?

Because His Word expressly forbids all unholy mixtures; Deuteronomy 22:10-11 typified this.

What do we mean by an “unholy mixture?”

This: the linking together of the pure Word of God with the Romish “Christ-mass.” By all means send cards (preferably at some other time of the year) to your ungodly friends, and Christians too, with a verse of Scripture, but not with “Christmas” on it.

What would you think of a printed program of a vaudeville having Isaiah 53:5 at the foot of it?

Why, that it was altogether out of place, highly incongruous. But in the sight of God the circus and the theater are far less obnoxious than the “Christmas celebration” of Romish and Protestant “churches.”

Why?

Because the latter are done under the cover of the holy name of Christ; the former are not.

Proverbs 4:18
“But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto perfect day”

Where there is a heart that really desires to please the Lord, He graciously grants increasing knowledge of His will. If He is pleased to use these lines in opening the eyes of some of His dear people to recognize what is a growing evil, and to show them that they have been dishonoring Christ by linking the name of the Man of Sorrows (and such He was, when on earth) with a “Merry Christmas,” then join with the writer in a repentant confessing of this sin to God, seeking His grace for complete deliverance from it, and praise Him for the light which He has granted you concerning it.

Beloved fellow-Christian,

James 5:8
“The coming of the Lord draweth nigh”

Do we really believe this?

Believe it not because the Papacy is regaining its lost temporal power, but because God says so—

2 Corinthians 5:7
“for we walk by faith, not by sight”.

If so, what effects does such believing have on our walk?

This may be your last Christmas on earth. During it the Lord may descend from heaven with a shout to gather His own to Himself.

Would you like to be summoned from a “Christmas party” to meet Him in the air?

Matthew 25:6
“Go ye out to meet Him”

The call for the moment is out from a Godless Christendom, out from the horrible burlesque of “religion” which now masquerades under His name.

2 Corithians 5:10
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”.

How solemn and searching! The Lord Jesus declared that

Matthew 12:36
“every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment”.

If every “idle word” is going to be taken note of, then most assuredly will be every wasted energy, every wasted dollar, every wasted hour! Should we still be on earth when the closing days of this year arrive, let writer and reader earnestly seek grace to live and act with the judgment seat of Christ before us. His “well done” will be ample compensation for the sneers and taunts which we may now receive from Christless souls.

Does any Christian reader imagine for a moment that when he or she shall stand before their holy Lord, that they will regret having lived “too strictly” on earth?

Is there the slightest danger of His reproving any of His own because they were “too extreme” in “abstaining from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11)?

We may gain the good will and good works of worldly religionists today by our compromising on “little (?) points,”

but shall we receive His smile and approval on that day?

Oh to be more concerned about what He thinks, and less concerned about what perishing mortals think.

Exodus 23:2
“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil”.

Ah, it is an easy thing to float with the tide of popular opinion; but it takes much grace, diligently sought from God, to swim against it. Yet that is what the heir of heaven is called on to do: to “Be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2), to deny self, take up the cross, and follow a rejected Christ. How sorely does both writer and reader need to heed that word of the Savior, “Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11). Oh that each of us may be able to truthfully say, “I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Thy Word” (Psalm 119:101).

Our final word is to the pastors. To you the Word of the Lord is,

1 Timothy 4:12
“Be thou an example of believers in word, in deportment, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity”.

Is it not true that the most corrupt “churches” you know of, where almost every fundamental of the faith is denied, will have their “Christmas celebrations?”

Will you imitate them?

Are you consistent to protest against unscriptural methods of “raising money,” and then to sanction unscriptural “Christmas services?”

Seek grace to firmly but lovingly set God’s truth on this subject before your people, and announce that you can have no part in following pagan, Romish, and worldly customs.

Arthur W. Pink

2007-01-03T03:02:00.000-08:00

Protestant HoHo (i.e. Christmass) Carols

The Light Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas; and strange as it seems
I wasn't indulging in covetous dreams;
But reading my Bible, I searched for a clue
Why Christians take part in this holiday too.
I plainly could see that it carried His name,
But the spirit behind it just wasn't the same.
The songs spoke of wise men, of virgin and child,
Of shepherds, of God, and all men reconciled;
But nothing was said of the blood and the cross;
Of repentance, and faith, and of counting the cost.
They sang of the babe, His miraculous birth,
But not of the day when He'll judge the whole earth.
My Bible said nothing of Santa, or toys,
Of Frosty the Snowman, and small drummer boys.
A reference to Rudolph not once did I see.
But it seems Jeremiah did mention the tree.
I sat and I pondered this curious matter,
When out on the roof there arose such a clatter
That I knew in a moment he soon would be here;
So I prayed in the Spirit and stood without fear.
He slipped down the chimney, quick as a flash,
And stepped from the fireplace all covered with ash.
There stood St. Nick with his bag and his beard,
He looked at the Bible I held, and he sneered,
"Another fanatical Christian, I see;
No stockings; no holly, no pictures of me."
I asked him if Jesus was God in the flesh,
He said that was something he couldn't confess.
He said, "I am Santa, I come from afar."
I stood in the truth - "The Devil you are.
That suit and that beard doesn't fool me one bit.
Your jolly deception is straight from the pit.
Beneath all your Ho Ho Ho's Lucifer lurks;
With your all-seeing eyes and your gospel of works
Like a thief in the night you impersonate Christ,
Returning to judge the naughty and nice."
"So call Christmas pagan," he said, "That's O.K.
'Cause that's what my sons at the Watchtower say.
You'll look like a pagan or like a deceiver,
But none will suspect you to be a believer."
I said, "I don't care what your servants will say,
My loyalty lies with the Ancient of Days.
No matter how many abuses are hurled,
My Bible says be not comformed to this world.
You have no power, and no part of me,
So I stand on God's Word, and command you to flee."
He squealed like a pig that was stuck with a knife.
He ran to the chimney and climbed for his life.
And I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
"Merry Xmas to all, and a long, dark night."