How Should Christians View Christmas?

Boy, on that last stance, I had to almost get on the chair to sing those notes.

Well, brethren, are you giving in the right spirit for Christmas?

Or do you have the Bah humbug spirit? Which is right? You know, the spirit, the merry spirit, the happy spirit, or the Bah humbug spirit this time of year?

I think some people would think that the happy merry spirit, you know, with everything would be the right. And, you know, of course, we all, of course, are aware of Ebenezer Scrooge, you know, and how he's decried because of his attitude toward Christmas. I was whistling in my mind this morning, you know, the song. It's beginning to look a lot like Bail Mass. You know, not quite the song that probably a lot of other people are singing. You know, this week I was listening to a talk show host, and they were defending the observance of Christmas on December 25th. And they were trying to prove it was the birth date of Jesus Christ on the air. I was just shocked. I listened. I was very intrigued to hear what kind of explanations that they would give.

And a couple of days later, I heard another program, and I believe it was on the Rush Limbaugh program. He had a guest host on his program who was using the same kind of reasoning. I don't know whether he caught this program I was listening to, and he heard that reason, and he began to talk about it. And he was justifying December 25th, and he was lambasting anyone to believe that, that in fact, this was of a pagan origin. And he says, we have a couple ways to prove that December 25th is the birth date of Jesus Christ. And so I sort of listened. What are your proofs? And I'm going to share a little bit of the folly of some of his arguments. You know, both of these individuals, though, on radio, by the way, made the argument that the Catholic Church, this is the proof, by the way, that they gave. They made the argument that the Catholic Church observed what is called the Annunciation. In March, which you may not be aware of, is the celebration of the announcement of when Gabriel told Mary she was going to give birth to the Son of God, called the Annunciation. That the Annunciation in the Church was observed long before Christmas was observed. And he argues that that took place in March. And the argument was that nine months after that was December 25th. So that was the proof. That was the proof. And so they argued that nine months later, this was, you know, the birthday that Christ and the Catholic Church observed the Annunciation long before they ever observed December 25th, this Christmas. However, brethren, the Annunciation was not observed in the Catholic Church in the West until 496 AD. So think about that. You know, Jesus Christ, as we know, was crucified in 31 AD. It was nearly 500 years later, over four centuries later, before they were observing in, you know, the Catholic Church, they were observing the Annunciation. Now, by the way, in the East it was observed a little earlier in 431 AD.

Wikipedia, by the way, says that Christmas, though, was observed in the Catholic Church in AD 354. And so both of these individuals, and by the way, the one that I was listening to was a Catholic priest who was saying that the Annunciation was observed in the Catholic Church long before Christmas was observed. And so here, from a historical perspective, you know, they're saying that Christmas began to be observed in the Catholic Church in 354, and the Annunciation was not observed until 496 in the West.

And so the Annunciation was not observed, in other words, for 130 years, until 130 years after Christmas was being observed. But again, this was the major proof that Christ was born on December 25th. It's amazing, you know, what people swallow and accept and do so rapidly. You know, it's interesting also, when I was looking some of these things up, to be sure about them, I looked under Christmas Exmus, as I have it here on my page, but this is what Wikipedia says about Christmas.

They say, many popular customs associated with Christmas developed independently of the commemoration of Jesus's birth. Now, get what he's saying here. That's what Wikipedia says. You can go look it up yourself. Look up Christmas. You know, we used to tell people, go look it up in the Encyclopedia Britannica. How many of you still have Encyclopedia Britannica? A few of you do, but I would say most probably rely on Wikipedia and some of these others. But it says, these customs, these popular customs, were developed independently of the commemoration of Jesus's birth, with certain elements having origins in pre-Christian festivals.

Now, what that is basically saying, pagan festivals, by the way. And it says that we're celebrated around the winter solstice by pagan populations who were later converted to Christianity. And so these customs began to come in to the church.

And by that, I'm saying the Catholic church. These elements, including the yule log from yule and gift-giving from Santa Nalia, became syncretized—this is their word, by the way, not mine—into Christmas over the centuries. The prevailing atmosphere of Christmas has also continually evolved since the holiday's inception, ranging from sometimes raucous, drunken, carnival-like state in the Middle Ages to a tamer, family-oriented and childhood-ed theme introduced in a 19th century reformation. Additionally, the celebration of Christmas was banned on more than one occasion within certain Protestant groups, such as the Puritans, due to concerns that it was too pagan or unbiblical.

And by the way, when the Puritans came to the United States, America didn't observe Christmas. It was forbidden in this country. So anyway, a little bit of the history about Christmas. I debated about whether to even talk about this subject today, because I assume everybody understands what I've been saying thus far in the church. But even so, you know, why is Christmas observed by so many people who claim to be Christians? They claim they want to follow Christ, and you know, after all, a Christian is defined by the definition of follower of Christ. But people claim they want to be followers of Christ, and the most reason they keep Christmas is to worship Christ, and they don't really care that the day originated from the pagans.

They just want to worship Christ. And of course, I'm going to have a little bit to say about that. But this is the kind of senseless human reasoning that people use. But in spite of it, even though I, you may have heard this subject, many of you over the years, in spite of it, it is a timely subject that needs to be covered.

Lest we forget, as God's people, the truth of these things. So today we're going to address the subject of Christmas. Peter says this, "...but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you." And it says, with meekness and with fear, we have to give an answer before God that is based upon the truth and meekness and fear of God.

We don't worry about necessarily what people think so much, but we better worry about what God thinks, about what we're doing as God's people. To be careful, again, that we are addressing all things, you know, out of great respect and reverence for God. But it says that we ought to be able to give a defense. If you had heard somebody on the radio talking about these things, what would you have said?

How would you explain your position? Could you defend the reason why you do not believe that December 25th is the time when Christ was born? Could you defend it? Would you be able to do that? You know, it's been a good while since we've gone through and talked about the course of Abijah and when, in fact, of course, remember Zechariah, you know, in the story in the account, you know, when the babe leaped in the womb of Mary, you know, and with the birth of John the Baptist, which was six months before, you know, Christ. It's been a while since we've gone through those things. I'm not going to go through them today, but, you know, could you talk intelligently about the course of Abijah and how that, in fact, the priests had certain times that they, you know, served in the temple and to be able to discuss again why it could not be that Christ was born December 25th, but rather would be born, you know, in the fall of the year? You know, you can do that just by going back and tracing it back, you know, and just to do a little bit of research on that topic. Of course, we know also the scriptures that talk about that there were shepherds that were in the field with their flocks, which would not have been the case in the winter time. You know, it wouldn't have been out in the field. There's no grass in the field in the winter, so they have to feed them in their barns. They have to feed their animals in their barns, and they would not be, again, out in the fields, which would have been the purpose, of course, for being in the field to begin with, to eat the grass. And, you know, so here we are supposed to be able to give a defense, and the revised standard version, in fact, says be prepared to make a defense. Or in the Greek, the Greek word is apologia, which means a verbal defense or a thorough explanation.

And after all, brethren, people call, you know, Christmas Eve, they call it a holy night, don't they? And so Christmas to them is a holy day, considered to be a holy day. You know, don't they sing the song, you know, that I forget how it goes, but, you know, oh holy night or silent night? Well, is December 24th beginning? I don't know when they live again, probably sundown. Is that a holy night? Well, I hope by the end of this that you will not consider it such, but just another day in a year. My sermon today, brethren, is how should true Christians view Christmas?

How should we view Christmas? You know, why don't we keep Christmas? Are we a bunch of scrooges?

Why don't we keep Christmas? If somebody asked you why you don't keep Christmas, what would you say? Well, because it's pagan, isn't that what we normally say? That's our stock answer, but if somebody really truly asks us, and oftentimes people don't want to know, but if they really do want to know, we should be able to give an answer and go beyond that. That's why we do not observe Christmas. You know, there's a book, by the way, called The Four Thousand Years of Christmas by Earl W. Count. If you've never seen that particular booklet, it's not a very big one, by the way, but it's called The Four Thousand Years of Christmas.

Now, that tie is kind of intriguing, isn't it? Also, by the way, on this radio program, they were talking about how the church had observed Christmas for 2,000 years, which is totally ludicrous. This individual knew nothing about the Bible, but the world has observed Christmas going back 4,000 years. 2,000 years before Christ ever came along, people were observing what was akin to Christmas. They wouldn't have called it Christmas, but it was many of the same custom. And so that title in itself should tell us something. Four Thousand Years of Christmas. Most reasons, sure, there may be paganism associated with Christmas, but we do it to honor Christ. Again, how do you answer that question, brethren? That argument?

Are things which happened in the Old Testament of no value to New Testament Christians today? You know, Timothy, remember himself, was told that the Old Testament scriptures could make him wise in the salvation. And of course, they didn't have the New Testament scriptures at all. And so the Old Testament, brethren, is just as important to a Christian as the New Testament scriptures. And in the Old Testament scriptures, the customs of Christmas are condemned.

And so, brethren, when people try to say, well, we do it to honor Christ, they forget about the history of Christmas. They forget about what preceded it and what was condemned in the Old Testament. And it should be, in fact, condemned in the minds of true Christians today, consequently, because of what the Bible says. Because if we do not pay attention to what the Old Testament scriptures say, then we're not going to be wise to salvation. You know, we can't, in other words, participate and be a part of the world's ways if we expect to be in the kingdom of God. Let's go over to 1 Corinthians 10, and we see Scripture here, right here in the New Testament, by the way.

That, in fact, tells us the importance of the Old Testament to us. But in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 11, let's notice here, it says, it says, now all these things, he was describing things, by the way, that happened in Old Testament times, that happened to the children of Israel, and that happened, you know, in the times of the patriarchs of old. He said, now all these things, verse 11, 1 Corinthians 10, now all these things happened to them as examples, that they were written for our admonition, they're written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. And that brings it right up, brethren, to you and me today, that these things of the Old Testament were written for us today. Therefore, let him who thinks he stand take heed lest he fall. We can fall just the way that the children of Israel fell and cut themselves out of major, major blessings. And so Paul says that without the Old Testament, brethren, we cannot avoid falling. You know, we could fail. We could be shift break spiritually speaking. And Paul goes on to say this, by the way, and you can write it down, Romans 15, verse 4, to show you how important the Old Testament is.

For everything was written in the past, was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. And that's from the NIV, by the way. And so everything was written down so that we would have hope for the future. And, brethren, let me tell you something. It is a serious, serious mistake in falsehood to relegate what God has commanded in the Old Testament, you know, to basically to not be observed, and that, in fact, then to replace what God has commanded with something that man has commanded. That's a serious, serious infraction. And yet, that is what the churches of this world have done for hundreds of years, brethren, going back almost 2,000 years. Mankind has been doing that. Now, by the way, not the true church of God, but mankind has done that. And quite frankly, you know, the churches have kept the world blind so the world cannot see the truth. You know, it's amazing, you know, when people finally do see it, their eyes begin to open up, a giant light begins to go on. Some of you may remember a number of years ago that Drew Carey, I think he was at a press, you know, their annual press meeting that they have. Oftentimes they invite a comedy figure in to talk with them as political figures and think it's a Washington press corps. And anyway, Drew Carey got up and he was talking, you know, this is a number of years ago, he was talking about the Bible. He said, I've been reading the Bible. You know, here's a well-known comedian. I think he's on the price of right, isn't he? I don't know if any of you ever watch him. But he got up and he started saying that I've been reading the Bible. He said, I read in the book of Revelation. And he said, I read this. And he said, I need that. I read that and I need that. And he went through and he was talking about some more, some many, many things. But he said, you know, you, some of you may not be aware of the fact that I've written the Bible and I don't see any of these customs of, you know, that most people observe. I don't see Christmas. I don't see Easter. I don't see any of these things in the Bible. He said, I see it. They're condemned. And so mankind is basically doing his own. So he's got his own things. Now, I don't know what Drew Carey thinks today, but that's what he said then. And, you know, I wondered what he believes, where he got it. He may have gotten it from us, but, you know, from the church. But people, when they, when they begin to see, their eyes begin to open and they, it's astounding. I don't know what others may think or believe, but it's interesting, you know, somebody like him, where the light begins to go off and he begins to see, begins to understand. But it is a serious falsehood, brethren, to do those things that God commands us not to do and to condemn those things that he commands us to do. God commands us to keep the Sabbath. He commands us to observe the Holy Days, that are seven annual festivals that reveal the plan of salvation. He commands us to do these things, but mankind systematically has done away with all those things. And for Saturday, the Sabbath, man observed Sunday. You know, Saturday was not good enough. The Sabbath was not good enough. We got to do Sunday. They've thrown out the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread because that wasn't good enough. That's what God commanded us to do. And they substituted Easter and Lent and all of these things that mankind does. And on Christmas, of course, in the Epiphany and the Annunciation, and all of these things that they do. It's a serious breach, brethren, but this is what the Church and the world have done, by the way.

Let's go to Deuteronomy 12. Deuteronomy 12, over here. So, brethren, we need to, again, have a certain view about Christmas as God's people. And how should we be viewing Christmas?

You know, frankly, I believe a person that they really truly are Christian, you know, they're not like Ebenezer Scrooge, but I think it vexes their soul to see man doing what he's doing.

And doing away with what God commands us to do. But in Deuteronomy 12, over here, and down in verse 29, notice it says, when the Lord your God, he's talking to Israel. Again, this is in the Old Testament, and it applies to us today, upon whom the ends of the world have come. When the Lord your God cuts off from before you nations, which you go to this dispossessed, they're going to come into the Promised Land, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, that you do not inquire after their God, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abomination to the Eternal which he hates they have done to their gods. For they burn even their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it. That pretty locks it up, doesn't it? Don't add to it, and do not take from it what I've commanded you to do. And that's what mankind has done altogether. You know, Christ came and He said, Don't think I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, I've come to magnify. I've become come to, in other words, emphasize the meaning of it. I didn't come to do away with it, but since that time, brethren, the Church of the world has done nothing but do away with the law of God. Do away, you know, with the law of the prophets. And what Christ goes on to say is not one jot or tittle would pass from the law until everything is magnified. And so here we see in Deuteronomy, this is an ancient times. God says, Don't add to it, or take from what I've commanded you to do. We're also commanded not to follow the other nations of this world, other people of this world, which is, again, man is want to do. And it's the implication is that he would reveal how to worship him. We don't have to go to the world to find out how to worship God. God reveals to us how to worship him. And so when somebody comes along and they said, Well, you know, I don't really care when, when, you know, the pagans observed December 25th, I do it to honor Christ. Well, see, that is a direct violation of Scripture. The Bible tells us how to worship God and how to worship his Son as well. Christ said, You see me, you see the Father. Let's go to Jeremiah 10. Jeremiah chapter 10, over here.

In Jeremiah 10, we ought to all have this in our scriptural vocabulary, but over here, to be able to turn to it. But notice here, in verse 1, it says here, the word which the Eternal speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord God, Do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven. You know, they think, of course, that the zodiac, the signs of the zodiac, you know, foreshadows different things and puts fear in their heart that they see these various horoscope-type things. Everyone's allowed to check my horoscope, by the way.

And I checked my horoscope a few days ago, and I was telling my wife about it. She says, And it said, If I fixed my house up, I'd feel better.

Boy, that was amazing. I mean, somebody must have really sat around and thought about that in a long time. But nobody sent me a check in the mail, though. You know, if they supplied the money, I might do that. You know, it'd make me feel better. But, you know, don't be dismayed by the signs of heaven. For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. Then notice what verse 3 says, For the cusives of people are futile, or vain in the King James, for one cuts a tree from the forest The work of the hands of the workmen with axe, they decorate it with silver and gold, They fasted it with nails and hammers, so they will not topple. They are upright like a palm tree. They cannot speak, they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good. And, of course, this was a candidate to worship an idol here. But we see here, you know, God revealing to Israel, look, the people, the customs of the pagans are vain and they're empty. Now, some have made the argument, well, this is not a Christmas tree here. This is a wooden idol.

Well, you know, tell me, what do we do with with trees? Do we not fasten it? I'm talking about what most people do. Fasten it with, you know, the crisscross boards at the bottom to make it upright. Do we not decorate it with pencil? And, you know, gold and silver pencil and all kinds of decorations? Do we not do that same type of thing?

And so it's going to be pretty impossible for anybody to tell me this. There's no illusion here to the Christmas tree. I don't care if you think it is a wooden idol, you know, deck with gold.

But the point of the matter is that it is an idol that people set up in their house.

And this custom, by the way, predates Christ's two thousand years. There you have the four thousand years of Christmas right there, you know, going back two thousand years.

I want to ask you the question, brethren. Has God, you know, since He commanded ancient Israel, has God changed his mind about what nations, pagan nations, the world do? Has he changed his mind? Has God gone through a rebirth? You know, as he changed his mind about paganism, since man has decided to do it anyway, God, we don't care what you think. We're just going to do what we want to do. And God says, all right, you know, we'll go ahead and let you do it. Go ahead and, you know, I'll take these things as you're worshiping me. You know, has God worked through his feelings, his upset feelings about the Madonna and the child? So he enjoys being worshipped with an evergreen tree and lights.

You know, can we baptize paganism and make it Christian? Is that what we've been able to do, syncretize, as Wikipedia says? If so, we don't find that kind of thing in Scripture. Does God want us to come up with new ways to worship Him aside from what He's given us? No, God has these ideas that He's presented to Israel, these laws that He gave to them. Is He willing to go ahead and hear our ways of worshiping Him instead? Since we don't like, I'm talking about mankind and Joe, we don't like what God says for us to do. Has God sort of come around to these things? It's okay with Him now? Well, what did Jesus Christ say that He was the same yesterday, today, and forever? He never changed. And why did God tell ancient Israel, I am the Lord God and I changed not? I changed not. So God doesn't change. You know, human beings, of course, we know we fluctuate. You know, we're like putty, aren't we? When it comes to our character and the way we think, sometimes. You know, we are like gadflies of ideas. You know, we're like the people on Mars Hill. They wanted to hear something new. It didn't matter whether it was truth or not, just something new. And people today, brethren, are more inclined to believe a lie than they are the truth, quite frankly. It just shows, I guess, how much, you know, our minds have deteriorated and people don't have the ability to think and reason. Let's go to Romans 12 in verse 2.

Because Paul over here talks about, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12 verse 2. I want to focus in on that. And do not be conformed with this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may be proved what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Did you catch what that says there, brethren?

Our minds must be transformed to conform to God's way of thinking. God's will. What's acceptable to God? Not that our minds, brethren, are transformed, you know, to accept pagan customs, pagan ideas, pagan laws and traditions that man has come up with. Our minds are supposed to be transformed, brethren, to reflect God's mind and not conformed to the pagan customs which the Bible even says he hates. I mean, we just read back in Deuteronomy, didn't we, about that? God hates the things that the nations of this world do. They're abominations in his sights. And one of the things he hated the most is they worshiped their gods, Moloch. They actually took children and burned them to their god. Imagine taking a small infant and putting, you know, an infant in the arms of Moloch, you know, the idol with a fire raging fire under it and having that child consumed by the fire. That's what the pagans did. That's the kind of religion they had. And, brethren, people, of course, today, they may not sacrifice their children in that way, but they sacrifice their minds. They sacrifice the minds of the children by telling them lies and teaching them falsehoods. Let's go to Matthew chapter 15. And, brethren, even the Jews were guilty of that, by the way. Tradition. All of us, of course, have seen Fiddler on the Roof halfway. Tradition. Tradition. Tradition.

If I were a rich man, well, you know, President Obama could do it. I could say too, but, uh, now I forgot where I was turning. Matthew 15.

That's a thing you don't need to turn anywhere. But, man is sold on his own tradition. Matthew 15 and verse 7. Notice here. Matthew 15 verse 7. It says, Hypocrites. Here Christ begins talking to the scribes and Pharisees. Well did Isaiah prophesy about you. He talked about you. You know, Christ pointed out the Old Testament. Make his wise into salvation again. These people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips. You know, people today talk about God. They talk about the Lord. This and the Lord that. But their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men, the commandments of human beings.

And so, you know, this is what Jesus Christ said, by the way. This is what he taught.

Jesus said they were worshiping God by humanly devised commands. And he said, that's vain. That is useless.

I guess God had not changed his mind at that time. You know, about Christmas and Easter and all those things that man observes today. No, his mind was not changed, brethren, because his mind does not change. Jesus Christ's mind doesn't change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

No, very clear, I think, that Jesus Christ is not prepared to respect man-made customs purporting to worship God and to worship Him. While Old Testament commandments are denigrated, you know how they refer to them as Jewish. They usually have a bite in their, you know, when they say that word Jewish, it's Jewish. It's Jewish. Well, God doesn't want us to, again, you know, to observe even traditions of the Jews. He wants us to observe the commandments that He gave. That's what He wants us to observe. So the Jews did do things wrong, and certainly the Christians, those claiming Christians, also have done many, many things wrong as well. Colossians 2. Let's notice over here Colossians chapter 2. Over here, Colossians 2 and verse 16.

Here Paul is writing to the brethren at Colossae, and he says, So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival of, or a new moon, or sabbaths, don't let anybody judge you, which are shadows of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. You know, if you, unfortunately, in the New King James this has been altered, so it does not say what it actually says in the Greek.

It means, brethren, here that these festivals, new moons, and sabbaths are a shadow of things to come, as we pointed out, the Holy Days, the festivals of God, picture things in God's plan of salvation. The seven annual festivals are shadows of things to come. You know, if Christ was the Passover, I think we all understand that. He was the Passover Lamb. We observe the Passover in the church. You know, ancient Israel put out leavening. And, of course, that was a symbol of sin. And we practiced the Days of Unleavened Bread today, and we put out the physical leavening, and we also put out that physical leavening because it depicts sin. And spiritually, we are to put sin out of our lives. Pentecost proceeded, you know, it was the day when the Holy Spirit was given. Interestingly, it was also about the time that the law of God was given on Sinai. Most people are not aware of that, but the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost. You can read in Acts 2. And so we observe Pentecost today, depicting the giving of the law of God and the coming of the Holy Spirit. And one day, the Spirit will be available to the whole world. So it has future ramifications as well. But Pentecost pictures the calling of the church today, by the way. We could go through each holy day and show what it means. What are pictures? And, you know, in fact, here, verse 17 here, when it talks about which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. If you look in the King James, they, frankly, are closer on this one. It says, so let no one judge you. And this sentence is completed in verse 17, but the body of Christ, but the body of Christ. The word substance here sort of does away with the meaning of this. What is the body of Christ, brethren? What is the body of Christ? It's the church. Let the church judge you. You know, in these things, you know, let the church teach you, guide you, in other words. But it's a lot of times in the newer versions, you find that a lot of things are watered down. So you've got to be careful as you read these things. But God's Holy Days picture something, and they also are days that worship God, but they also foretell things to come in His master plan of salvation for mankind. The Holy Days reveal to us, brethren, even the Sabbath reveals to a time of prosperity and incredible prosperity in the world, which the world doesn't know about, but someday will.

You know, what does Christmas mean?

I hadn't heard anybody on the radio, by the way, ever try to prove December 25th. I thought that was kind of interesting when those two radio people did try to do that. But if you go and you look in the Catholic Encyclopedia, you know, they will say, we don't know when Christ was born. They won't even try to give an answer. But oftentimes, people, they try to prove things. You can't do it. But what does Christmas mean? You ever heard anybody get up and give a sermon about Christmas? And what does it mean? I dare say most people don't even know what the word Christmas means.

They don't know it has to be a mass for Christ.

You know, mankind, brethren, has been duped by Satan by these pagan holidays.

A number of years ago, someone suggested, by the way, that the holy days of Leviticus 23, the holy days that we are to observe, were borrowed from paganism.

How many of you heard that, by the way? Again, there were a few people that hear that have heard that. It was purported, by the way, by our former association.

They've gone back into mainstream Protestantism. I guess the question is, I have, are some saying that God was not smart enough or original enough to come up with His own days, but He had to borrow them from paganism to give to ancient Israel? Is that what they're suggesting? That God had to go borrow these festivals from the world? Hopefully they're not saying that, but I think they are.

You know, the Creator of all things that created the human body that is so intricate, the human cell, you know, within the human cell itself, a marvel of creation. And God did this. You know, within the human cell there are little delivery systems, transportation systems. Every cell in your body, brethren, has these little processes going on. And the God that designed that couldn't come up with an original holy day, according to them. To me, that's ludicrous. The holy days were God's introduction to ancient Israel, and they certainly were not borrowed from paganism. That's ridiculous. Let me tell you, brethren, God's people will never observe Christmas. Never. And I mean that. In the Church, we will never observe Christmas. If you want to observe it, you're in the wrong place. You know, hopefully you don't want to do that, but, because, but, you know, we will never observe Christmas. On the other hand, brethren, we don't judge others outside the Church, you know, who do observe it. We're not judging them and condemning them. Far from it. But we recognize, brethren, that they are not called now. Their minds are not open. They do not see the truth right now. I know I'm talking about Christmas, and I sort of joke about some of these things. I'm not making fun of anyone, particularly I'm making fun of the holiday that man observes. Well, we know people in the world are not called now, and God is their judge. And it's going to, you know, how God's going to judge them. He's going to judge them based on what they understand. And if they understand and they do it anyway, well, you know, God will hold them accountable for that. It's like what Jesus said to the Pharisees. He said, your eyes see, and so your sin remains. So when we see, brethren, and we do not do, the sin remains if we're continuing to break and violate what God's commandments say. But one thing we've got to be careful about in the Church is not allowing it to come into the Church. You know, the Bible says a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And we will not allow somebody to be a member of the Church who observes Christmas, you know, in the United Church of God, and yet remain in the Church. You know, we would ask somebody if they claimed to be a member to simply, you know, go to church they're going to feel more comfortable with.

You know, on the other hand, the Bible says, you know, in 1 Corinthians 5, it says that we have to judge those who are within our fellowship within the Church. But Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 5, but what do I have to do with those who are outside? That's not my job to judge those in the outside right now. They're outside the Church. But we do have to definitely make determinations within the Church. And we recognize, brethren, Satan has deceived the whole world, as Revelation 12, 9 says, and it's a big world with many ideas, false ideas, whole religions founded around false ideas.

Satan, as the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4, 4, has blinded the minds of most people, so that the light of the glorious gospel cannot shine into their minds. And so people in the world are not likely to change overnight. But replacing the Holy Days, picturing God's plan of salvation for mankind with pagan holidays, is a way that Satan has done it in the world. Remember, the Bible says that Satan is made into an angel of light, and so he appears to be righteous, appears to be good. And so the world tries to do the same thing, mimicking their Father. But we must, brethren, judge those inside the Church. God is judging us regarding paganism and adultery, as well as all else who know in this world. Again, a person knows, and they keep doing it. God's judging them for the knowledge that they have. Knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and we don't want to skirt, brethren, on the edge of sin. Let's go to Revelation 2. Revelation 2. Here is a church that was, remember, one of the seven churches in Asia Minor. This church was in a very precarious situation in Pergamum. But notice in verse 12 here, it says, The angel of the church and Pergamos write, These things as he who has the sharp two-edged sword. This is, of course, Jesus Christ. I know your works, and where you dwell where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to my name, and did not deny my faith even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. And so this is what God says to this church in Pergamos, this mention here. But it says, I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam. So apparently not everybody in the church was this way, but there were those who held on to the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balek to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. Remember, these things were commanded to abstain from in the book of Acts, Acts 15, at the Jerusalem Conference.

He says, Thus you also have those that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. And it says, Repent, or else I'll come to you quickly, and fight against you, or fight against them with a sword of my mouth. He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

But here he says that there were those that held the doctrine of Balaam. There were those that also held the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which I hate.

Now, Nicolaitans, by the way, were followers of Nicholas.

Now, I'm not sure that it has any allusion to Saint Nick, by the way, but maybe, I don't know, maybe there is an allusion there to that. But Nicolaitans means followers of Nicholas. Young's Concordance says this about Nicholas, or that Young's Concordance says this about Nicolaitans. Nicholas, or the Nicolaitans, means conquer of the people. Or the word Nicholas, I'm sorry, means conquer of the people. That's from Young's Concordance.

In one of the seven disciples chosen to serve tables, remember back in the book of Acts, there were beacons that were chosen. Although Young says we cannot be absolutely certain, these are one and the same. Whether his name had any significance at all is unclear, but it's clear that he was followed by certain in the church into practices contrary to the doctrine, the doctrine of the church. This is what Smith's Bible dictionary, by the way, says about the Nicolaitans, Smith's Bible dictionary. Quote, I second mentioned in Revelation 2, 6, and 15, whose deeds were strongly condemned. They may have been identical with those who helped the doctrine of Balaam. They seem to have held that it was lawful to eat things, sacrifice idols, and commit fornication and opposition to the decree of the church rendered in Acts 15. The teachers of the church branded them with a name which expressed their true character. The men who did and taught such things were followers of Balaam. They, like the false prophet of pathor, united brave words with evil deeds. In a time of persecution when the eating and not eating of things, sacrificed idols, was more than ever a crucial test of faithfulness. They persuaded men more than ever that it was a thing indifferent. In other words, it didn't make any difference. It's like a lot of people today think, well, you know, it didn't make any difference. All Christmas was from, you know, a pagan origin. Doesn't make any difference. And not only do they do it, but they teach men so. It says, this was bad enough, but there was yet worse evil. Minglings themselves in the orgies of idolatrous feasts, they brought the impurities of these feasts into the meetings of the Christian church. So this is what happened.

And clearly, brethren, these warnings are here for us. And they're prophetic warnings. God is against His people fellowshiping with idolaters. And so we cannot allow paganism to creep into the church. You know, we are told in the Bible, you know, in 2 Corinthians 6, by the way, I won't turn there, but we are to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

And it goes on to say, you can read in 2 Corinthians 6 and verses 14 through 15, that what fellowship does light have with darkness? Or good with evil? And so we are not to be a part of this world in that way.

And brethren, that means we must, as God's people, separate from idolatry. The devil has always tried to entice God's people like he did in the time of Balaam and Berak, remember, with ancient Israel, where Balaam came up with a bright idea of tempting, you know, the men of Israel with the Moabite women.

So this is the way Satan works. He entices. And children are here, our teens, our young people need to understand that's the way Satan works. He makes his way look very good. You know, that's why, you know, you got Santa was a jolly figure, big fat guy, you know, a big long beard, red suit, you know, a lot of candy usually associated with Christmas, you know, and I think it was David Letterman I was watching the other night, he was showing a typical scene, and he talked of sort of this bucolic scene in New York City, and he showed a little clip of two Santas fighting each other. They were in a fistfight. But anyway, Satan does, not on David Letterman, but he tries to package it as something inviting. He does that with everything he does, whether you talk about Halloween, or you're talking about Christmas, or whether you're talking about Easter, or whatever it is. That's why there is a rabbit that lays eggs, and that's why there's a Santa that flies with reindeer, flying reindeers, with, you know, Rudolph with the nose, you know, and all of that. Anybody that studies math knows that he couldn't pass out gifts all in one night anyway, but you ever see anybody do a mathematical discussion of that? How long it would take? How much time it would take to distribute all these millions and millions of gifts like that? Kids, I hope that your parents long ago told you that there is no Santa. And you might be happy to know that if there was a Santa, he would live in Canada.

And so Santa is a Canadian. And the reason is, is because you all know that the North Pole moved. It's in Canada now. I'm talking about the magnetic North Pole. It's moved, and it moves about 40 miles a year, by the way. I believe about 40 miles a year. Maybe it's a decade. Don't quote me on that, okay? At any rate, I know it's in Canada by the way. Canadian territory. But, you know, Satan, again, makes what he does look appealing. I'm not going to go to James 1, 27, but it says there, pure religion and undefiled is to keep ourselves unspotted from the world.

That word, unspotted, means that we don't get contaminated by the world. That's from vines, by the way.

Some say, well, if it's okay to observe our birthdays, why not Christ's birthday?

Well, I don't observe my birthday. I don't know if you observe yours. It's kind of hard not to observe it as it goes by, though. You know, you wake up in your, you know, another year older. But I don't celebrate my birthday. Let's put it that way.

I don't know whether you do or not, but I never had a celebration of any birthday in my entire life. You know, I never had a birthday-type party. And I'm glad of that. I really am. And we teach in the church the birthday, you know, parties, you know, really teaches vanity anyway. But some will say, it's okay to observe birthdays. Why not Christ's birthday? Well, brethren, human births are observances of the passage of time. And I wouldn't say it's necessarily wrong to observe your birthday. If you go out and you buy your child, for instance, a meal that they might want. Or if it's a milestone in their life, our kids, when they turn like 13, we maybe got them something. When they turn 21, we got them something. You know, when they hit milestones in their lives. But we didn't do it every year. But, you know, it's okay to do that. But what is the difference, by the way, between Christ's birthday and your birthday?

Well, the difference is that nobody worships you.

You see. I know that might disappoint you, but no one worships you. But they do worship Jesus Christ. And if God was going to choose a day to worship His Son, it would not be, you know, through the pagan cousins of this world. In fact, December 25th is not His day of birth, anyway. Nobody knows. It was likely in the fall of the year when Christ was born.

And God, as we read in Deuteronomy 12.29, determines acts of worship, how we worship God. And Jesus, of course, is God. So we don't worship God in a way that He doesn't designate. And nowhere in the Scripture will you ever find it talks about celebrating the Son of God's birthday. Now, some will then say, what's wrong about giving gifts? Well, brother, there's nothing wrong at all about giving gifts. However, giving Christmas gifts is celebrating Christmas. You know, my suggestion, if you're going to give somebody a gift, you know, don't give it in the Christmas season. It might be mistaken for a Christmas gift, if you do. Do it another time.

You know, nothing, the Bible says nothing is unclean of itself. That word unclean in the Greek is from the Greek word koinos, meaning ceremonially defiled. So gift giving is not defiled of and by itself. It's what happens, what people do with something. For instance, cookies are not bad. Please don't stop making cookies, ladies. But Christmas cookies are. Chocolate Easter bunnies. Chocolate's not bad. I mean, who's going to argue against chocolate? But an Easter bunny? Yeah, that's bad. Making it into a chocolate Easter bunny.

You know, why? Because it's the spirit of the holiday. It's what this people do in the world.

The Bible says we've got to be careful that our own faith is not destroyed. You know, when we involve ourselves in something that is wrong. Because the Bible says, what's wherever not of faith is sin. What's wherever not of faith is sin.

So, brethren, we do not keep the holidays of the world, or most of the holidays of the world. We obviously participate in 4th July. We participate in Thanksgiving and things that we can like that.

But we do not participate in the pagan customs of this world that the Bible says God hates. You know, we do not keep the... we do keep the Holy Days mentioned in the Bible, the outline of God's plan of salvation for mankind. And we teach men to do that. We teach all people, in fact, that we have opportunity to, of this fabulous plan that God has. We don't judge others who don't know this truth, but we certainly hold fast to that truth as God's people. And God, we know, has a merciful plan, a tremendously merciful plan, which even includes those who do not understand Him or even believe in Him in this world right now at this time. We know that God's plan is inclusive of the world, even without their knowledge. So I ask the question, brethren, and the subject of this sermon is, how should true Christians view Christmas? Well, brethren, this is a scenario you've heard today of how Christians, true Christians, should view Christmas and the customs of this world today. Let's make sure, again, we reflect the mind of Christ as God's people in this world that is cut off from God.