|
With all the discussion going on, thought I
might just forward this for you to think over.
Jim Hufferd
Sectional Commander North San Joaquin Section So. California District. |
------------------------------------------------------------ DayForward OnLine (10/13/00) HALLOWEEN TEACHING by Dr. Richard D. Dobbins ------------------------------------------------------------ The following message was first broadcast in October of 1999, but has never been sent out by Email. We began DayForward OnLine the very next week! We are sending it to you for your information and use. You have our permission to reprint it for ministry purposes. It is being sent in a format which will enable you to copy and paste it into a document for printing and duplicating for ministry purposes. For a printed copy, which you can also reprint, please REPLY to this message and ask for the Halloween teaching. Be sure to give your mailing address. ------------------------------------------------------------- HALLOWEEN ANGELS, DEMONS & SATAN The commercial world and profit-making spirit has turned Halloween into something that rivals Christmas. I think there are alternatives Christian parents should offer their children to Halloween decorations and celebrations. Many churches are beginning to do this. Let's dress up like Bible characters instead of demons. Let's come to church, with a special night for children and young people to have a celebration of the harvest season. Christian parents should teach their children about the pagan origins of Halloween. The word "Halloween" is a contraction from "All Hallows' Eve," related to All Hallows' Day--November 1--when the church set aside a day to honor all the saints. But Halloween has its roots in pagan practices that go back to fifth century B.C. in Celtic Ireland. The holiday the Celts celebrated on October 31--their end of summer--focused on their belief that on that day the spirit of everyone who died the previous year came back searching for a body to live in for the next year. The living didn't want to fall prey to these spirits, so they extinguished the fires in their huts to make them cold and undesirable and dressed up in ghoulish costumes and paraded around their villages being destructive. All this was to frighten away the spirits who were seeking to possess them. Certainly as Christians we don't accept the pagan superstitions. The church still has every reason to honor those that are with the Lord, and yet the pagan thinking of the world still keeps alive this whole superstitious tradition of Halloween. The tradition of "trick or treating" goes back to the pagan traditions of Beggar's Night. People would go from house to house, particularly the poor people, looking for "soul cakes." These were small pieces of pastry with currants in them. The more soul cakes given to the beggars, the more prayers the beggars would say for the family. We need to provide constructive and enjoyable alternatives to the commercial world of haunted houses, ghoulish costumes and trick or treating. Let's transform Halloween into a divine opportunity to get our children involved in biblical costume parties and food collection for the hungry. Let's take advantage of the enemy's efforts to divert our attention to celebrations rooted in paganism and use the occasion to do good. WHO SATAN IS AND WHAT HE IS DOING According to a recent poll, less than half of Christians who claim to be born again believe Satan is a real spirit being, and less than a third of Roman Catholics believe this. But, if you believe the Bible is infallible, you have no doubt that Satan is a real spirit being. In the Bible he is called "Lucifer, son of the morning" (Isaiah 14:12); the devil, which means slanderer or false accuser; and a variety of other names. Isaiah 14 tells us Satan is determined to overthrow God's rule of the universe. And according to Revelation 12:3,4 he persuaded a third of the angels to join in his effort. That is why he and his angels were cast out of heaven. THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS You cannot take the Bible seriously and not believe in angels. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of references to angels. David refers to them as spiritual beings created by God to praise Him (see Psalm 148). They surround the throne of God, administer praise and worship to Him, and are somehow involved with Him in carrying out His will in the universe. They are much more intelligent than humans, more powerful and more imbued with divine energy. Although angels have superhuman powers and knowledge, we need to understand that they are not omniscient (all-knowing, like God), nor are they omnipotent (all-powerful). One of the functions of the fallen angels who were thrown out of heaven with Satan seems to be to resist or oppose the prayers of God's people. Paul refers to this spiritual warfare when he says, "We do not wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers...against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). And despite Halloween depictions of gargoyles and grotesque looking demons, we really don't know anything from the Bible about what fallen angels look like. Paul says they may appear as angels of light and seek to twist and distort the gospel (see 2 Corinthians 11:14,15 and Galatians 1:8). The Bible does have a lot to say about the ministry of good angels. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him to protect them (see Psalm 34:7). How can we know if we've seen an angel? We really can't. We know from Scripture they appear in human form sometimes to godly people in need. We know that they are ministering spirits sent to care for God's people (Hebrews 1:7). FALLEN ANGELS AND DEMONS Halloween causes people to focus especially on fallen angels and demons. Although there is a lot of superstition connected to the subject, a Bible believer just cannot dismiss the matter. There are just too many references to evil spirits and demons in Scripture to dismiss them. We don't know from Scripture exactly who demons or evil spirits are, but we do know they are the offspring of Satan. They are involved in Satan's efforts to tempt God's people. There are cases when they afflict people with suffering and perhaps some diseases. And many times demons can oppress us. I believe the origin of much depression is demonic, is spiritual in origin. I am thankful for the role antidepressants play in helping depressed people, but I also believe there is a spiritual component that needs to be added to the treatment. There are cases, and they are very rare, of demon possession. In our work at EMERGE ministries for over 30 years, I remember a particular case of a medical technician who came to us and proved ultimately to be demon possessed. Although professing Christ, the woman had never really surrendered her life to Christ. The demon was exorcised through the ministry of her church and her pastor. She was beautifully converted to Christ, regained her sanity, and has gotten on successfully with her life. Christians cannot be demon possessed. That's one danger this woman will never face again. When Jesus comes into your life, the Bible says our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not share that temple with a demon spirit. COMMITTING THE UNPARDONABLE SIN Many Christians fear that they have committed the unpardonable sin because that sin which Jesus talks about is so badly misunderstood. He is misquoted so often, sometimes by zealous, well-meaning preachers who want to scare people away from rejecting the gospel. The Pharisees were attacking Jesus' ministry, saying He indeed cast out demons but that He did so by the power of Beelzebub--the devil (see Matthew 12). So the Pharisees were attributing the miracles of Jesus to the work of the devil. And Jesus warned them to be careful, because they would not be forgiven for attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil (Matthew 12:31,32). They were dangerously close to saying the Holy Spirit was a demon! Interestingly, I have never seen a person in my counseling career that believes they've committed the unpardonable sin that is not dealing with some kind of unresolved sexual guilt. I'm afraid that parents, in trying to control their children, teach them that the genital parts of their body are evil. And then the whole idea of sexuality gets connected with evil. From there, when you talk to people about sin they feel they've committed that is unpardonable, it's inevitably some unresolved sexual guilt. If you fear that you've committed the unpardonable sin, ask yourself this question: Is your conscience more difficult to satisfy than God's holy nature? If the blood of Jesus Christ was adequate for the holy nature of God, permitting God to forgive you, is it not adequate for you? Let Jesus help you forgive yourself. Dr. Richard D. Dobbins IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE THE PRINTED VERSION OF THIS MESSAGE, "Guidelines for Good Living," simply REPLY to this Email and ask for the Halloween GGL, #43, and PLEASE GIVE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS. Thanks. --- You are currently subscribed to dayforward as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
