A case presented in the light of over 500 verses from Holy Scripture.

Proverbs 15:28

“The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of

the wicked poureth out evil things.”

By Sean Morris

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I

The Hall of Death ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4

Introduction

Seven Lessons – Ten Sins – Three Threats – Many Dead

CHAPTER II

The Pagan Origins of Christmas……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30

CHAPTER III

Counterfeit Christianity……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 40

Christmas is a Feast of False Christianity

Are You Playing in Aaron’s Feast?

Grind the Golden Calf

Salvation by a Sword

The Prophet Like Unto Moses and The Aaron-ic Pharisees

John the Baptist and Understanding Repentance

Bring Forth Therefore Fruits

Are You Abraham’s Seed?

CHAPTER IV

Redeem Christmas for Christ?……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 82

The Sheep & The Goats –

Distinguishing Asa From Jeroboam

The Terror of Idolatry

REFERENCE CHAPTER V

Christian Liberty and Common Rationalizations……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 92

Conclusion

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Preface

Before you mistake me, or wrongfully condemn a regenerate friend,

Please be sure to read this book all the way to the end,

Then perhaps you will be equipped for the Holy Ghost to send.

To be offensive is not my intention, nor to be considered unkind.

I seek only honesty to scripture and the reader to have a meditation of a God-written picture, But these defy the defensive that are spiritually deaf and bring buffeting bitterness to the blind. Nevertheless, “I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, Because of the grace that is given to me of God” (Romans 15:15).

By his grace, I did feel led, to sometimes write in a mode different than truths just plainly said.

The purpose for this I cannot tell, but that I wished my readers would slow down and take in the smell. The knowledge I mean, as a savour, that my readers would smell carefully and mindfully to tell the flavor. To the end they understand the oracles of God and it does spiritually change their behavior.

When you read this book please remember this thing,

That there is a limited amount of communication that typed text can bring.

Therefore, please be careful not to judge my tone.

Hard truths written by themselves alone,

Leave room for readers to interpret a tone that was never shown.

Communication without body language may cause a reader’s mind to wander and roam,

Nevertheless be certain that these truths have broken my bones.

If I lived day by day without sorrow and grief,

Then the chapters herein written are not my belief.

My inner man may break and my bones shake,

But there are certain cries that do sinners awake,

And an assortment of methods righteous reasoning does take.

It may come in sharpness given to the heartless,

Paul‘s arguments that were sarcastic in rhetorical tactic,

Or the prophet‘s illustrative sermons of God‘s wrath that were frightfully enthusiastic.

Civilized men do not depict the love of urgency, and emotionless messages are not for emergencies.

In delivery of a message the prophets were often blatant and drastic,

To compel men to the truth and away from the fatal fantastic¹.

¹ Those individuals who are overcome by religious fantasy, that teach truths that are unbiblical fantasies.

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CHAPTER I

The Hall of Death

You could die for celebrating Xmas.

Introduction

Based on statistical analysis of 53 million deaths, The American Heart Association makes the gasping report, “there were more deaths on December 25 than on any other day of the year” – New Zealand Listener. E.J. Mundell, a HealthDay reporter said, “Americans are more likely to die on Christmas Day, the day after Christmas, and on New Year’s Day than on any other day of the year.” The Holy Scriptures do necessitate that men must die on Xmas for their sins. Hebrews 11 is called the Hall of Faith, but, I have titled this chapter the Hall of Death. Hebrews 11 reviews selected men through biblical history to show their righteous deeds of faith that a good man should imitate. As an antithesis of this, in this chapter I review throughout biblical history the sinful deeds of unbelief that, when committed, men underwent God’s penalty of death. Yes, the God of the Bible kills people! If a man walked the Hall of Fame he would learn of honourable sports heroes and their achievements. If a man walked the Hall of Faith he would learn of faith heroes. This Hall of death is marked with death threats and dead men, and if a man walks it he may learn the fear of God to avoid their sin. Learning from these men will result in the unavoidable conclusion that men (in general) must die on Xmas for their sins. Before I seek to prove this by a comprehensive biblical study in over five hundred verses, please give me leave for two needful addresses: First, a review of a reputable, peer-reviewed, medical journal that shows shocking death rates that climax on Xmas day or the day after. This is to justify my claim, or rather the biblical claim, that you could die for celebrating Xmas. Second, appeals of earnest entreaties and attentions concerning cultural or religious biases which are unbiblical and dangerous.

Such an alarming amount of people die on Xmas day, the day after, and the first of the year, consistently year by year, that careful studies were done to seek answers. My primary source which conducted the research from which I reference is a peer-reviewed, academic journal, Circulation, an American Heart Association publication. It is titled “Cardiac Mortality Is Higher Around Christmas and New Year’s Than at Any Other Time: The Holidays as a Risk Factor for Death.” To alleviate any confusion in having to find the web link from the Bibliography, the URL is http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dphillip/circulation_journal_holiday_heart_final_print_version.pdf. The intention of this research was to “build on earlier work published in Circulation by Kloner et al, who studied daily coronary heart disease (CHD) deaths in Los Angeles, California. These authors found that CHD mortality reached an absolute peak “around the winter holiday period.”” This earlier research done by Kloner showed a mortality peak with cardiac deaths, however, the question remained if these death peaks were consistent in noncardiac cases, and, if these deaths were due to the cold winter climate changes and the stress of the season. In other words, if the deaths were simply related to the heart, it would be understandable that they would fluctuate with the winter climates and the disorder the season brings. If

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the deaths are not simply heart-related and all deaths increase at this time, then what is cause?

To find evidence supporting any further conclusions, research must be done in a larger geographical region than Los Angeles to compare deaths in diverse climates and states across the USA. Also, the amount of people studied would be an important factor. Thus, further research began back in 1973, finishing in 2001. “To investigate these questions, we used death certificates to examine daily nationwide mortality. Following Kloner et al, we focused on cardiac deaths. In contrast to Kloner et al, we examined both CHD and non-CHD, both heart and nonheart diseases, a larger dataset (n_53 million versus their n_220 000), a longer time period (1973 to 2001 versus their 1985 to 1996), and the United States rather than only Los Angeles.”

The reputable information of this research, presents facts that shows this situation as mysterious and overwhelming. “The number of cardiac deaths is higher on December 25 than on any other day of the year, second highest on December 26, and third highest on January 1. The pattern is similar for noncardiac deaths. The number of noncardiac deaths is highest on December 26 than on any other day of the year, the next highest occurs on December 25, and the third highest occurs on January 1.” These are statistics of those who died, not accounting those who were sick, and sin can bring God to punish through both of these means (as will be thoroughly proved). How do we know if this is the wrath of God? If it can be proven biblically that there are particular sins committed on events surrounding these days that are of the sort that God has warned could be punished by sickness or death. I will make this case in chapter 1, however, I exhort you to check these facts presented in their sources, and know that the secular world recognizes an undisputable phenomenon. “In sum, both cardiac and non cardiac deaths spike during the 2-week holiday period from December 25 through January 7. In the 26 years under study, 42 039 “excess” deaths occurred during this holiday period (95% CI, 39 098 to 44 980). In other words, our findings indicate that during the Christmas/New Year’s holiday periods from 1973 to 2001, 42,039 more deaths occurred than would be expected if the holidays did not affect mortality.” Finally, what is worse for most is that the deaths are increasing. “Even before these follow-up studies are performed, however, the current evidence seems sufficient to demonstrate that the Christmas/New Year’s holiday season is a risk factor for both cardiac and noncardiac mortality. Because this risk factor is growing with time, it seems particularly important to investigate it and control it.”

This is good advice, but their research fails to prove the real cause for this problem. As doctors try to give explanations and grade different hypotheses presented, it appears that the authors of my primary source find most hope that “holiday-induced delays in seeking treatment” causes these deaths. This great pandemic claims over 42,000 dead, and it is because ill people are not quick enough to get to the doctor? When the statistics include cardiac and noncardiac deaths and spike on specific days of defiant revellings, namely Xmas and New Years Day, a God-fearing man should think again. Sadly, if doctors would but look to God and include him in their diagnosis, if their heart was pure before him, then perhaps they would be led into truth. When factual evidence concludes that “Americans are more likely to die on Christmas Day, the day after Christmas, and on New Year’s Day than on any other day of the year,” says HealthDay reporter E. J. Mundell, then we need more than fallible, man-motivated hypotheses; we need the unalterable, undeniable, infallible, eternal word of God to shine light on the gloom of this situation. Yea, if “all other ground is sinking sand,” it is a sure saying, on the Rock of God men can stand (The Solid Rock)! While the world stands aloof, and “people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6), let us turn our eyes to the eternal truths of God’s word that will undoubtedly reveal the mysteries of this

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widespread and consistent pandemic. Let us look to the word of God! If there be teachers and wise men, they will fail, for “I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation” (Psalm 119:99). If there be ancients and mighty minds of history, they will fail, for “I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts” (Psalm 119:100).

Is there deadly sin in Xmas? Some would refuse to participate in Halloween, few would disdain Easter “fun,” but Xmas is the beloved of them all. Xmas does not seem like the poignant evil of Halloween’s hellish creatures. It seems like a happy, not haunting season. Most would claim Xmas is just innocent fun and it is a beloved holiday to the majority of people. Holidays are parents’ memories and grandparents’ glories, all to be retold by a photo album or funeral stories. On Sunday the people go to a house called after God’s name; without any second thought the preacher assures all of no blame. ^„Christian liberty‟ he cries, no worries and take peace, God understands a seasonal game. But does he?

What saith the scripture? Truly, it is common for men in every generation to trust in respected teachers, preachers, and the ecclesiastical kingdom established before their birth. This kingdom of antiquity may demand trust for many, but there is no safety outside of what is clearly proven from scripture. As it is written, “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going” (Pro. 4:15). We are a world of expertise, and now organized education proliferates us with Doctors of “Divinity.” The professionals of each branch of society are deemed trustworthy because of their rigorous hours of schooling. Education is their high platform of authority, in subjection with no objection the lowly laymen become loyal learners. Nevertheless, God is not like the world. God educates the poor to prudence by faith. God has set his face against the wise, saying, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent” (1 Cor. 1:19). What could be more alarming to today’s trusting laymen than this declaration of God, that he is intent on making higher learning (wisdom) utterly vain? “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God,” and what will it profit a man if he learns the whole world and forfeits the knowledge of God (1 Cor. 1:21)? Therefore, any stature of man whose resume of accomplishments does demand respect, you may attend to his speech safely if each sentence or sermon can pass the scrutiny of scripture.

It is so easy to trust in outward appearance! Dear reader, I plead with you, do not be drunk with respect for your pastor or religious community, rather you should be circumspect. As it is written, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,” (Ephesians 5:15). According to the Webster’s 1828 dictionary, to be circumspect is: “Literally, looking on all sides; looking round. Hence, cautious; prudent; watchful on all sides; examining carefully all the circumstances that may affect a determination, or a measure to be adopted.” By your preacher you are impressed, every word he speaks does seem to be the best, but you are intoxicated and in danger if you fail to constantly test. “Prove [test] all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Christian liberty has never “legalized” or declared righteous the practice of sin, likewise, the worship of God in the way of the heathen. Christian liberty is spoken of in Romans 14:5 saying, “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5). These days that are permissible to esteem are not heathen holy days, they are not manmade religious services, feasts, or rituals. They are the God-ordained holy days of the Old Covenant, which were types and shadows of Christ. This passage speaks of not

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condemning a weaker brother that is unable to let go of the shadows that declared Christ. This brother is weaker because he is clinging to the shadows of Christ instead of resting and rejoicing in the fullness of the substance that those shadows declared, namely, Christ Jesus. Permission is granted to esteem those days which were before ordained of God. If the day is not a shadow, then there is no liberty to observe it (Col 2:16-17, Hebrews 7:18-19, 8:1-5, 9:9-12). For more information, and if you cannot proceed reading before the subject of Christian liberty is more thoroughly addressed, then please see Chapter V, the REFERENCE CHAPTER.

Arguably, Xmas is the most esteemed holiday in the world: crossing culture, race, and creed. With that in mind, it becomes increasingly relevant to understand that the esteem of the world is enmity² against God. Xmas’s popularity is glaring evidence that it is an abomination to God. That which the world and the common man esteem as wisdom, and even righteousness, is at complete enmity with God. The word enmity is synonymous with, in hatred of, or, an enemy of. Furthermore, the carnal man does not even realize it! “Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).

It is not good enough to simply do what is right in our own eyes. If it seems to be right, to be a criminal in the night, this is no justification before the Throne of Light. Likewise, carnal men are a hell-spring of iniquity, a haunting devils den of rottenness with thoughts of righteous ambiguity, all these criminals of sin will be daunted by the Lord’s righteous judgment of men. As it is written in Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Christ will return with eternal life to bring, electrifying everlasting hymns to sing, but many with shamefaced disappointment will undergo condemnation thinking they were innocent because they followed their congregation. The late Leonard Ravenhill once said something near to this, “The fastest way to hell is down the center isle of the average church.” Therefore it is necessary that, in defining morality, “the heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things” (Prov. 15:28). What about you?

I, by the grace of God, bring before you a matter. I beg you to first hear me, and please

remember, “he that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (Prov 18:13). The matter is the argument set forth in this book. Let me tell it in an allegory: Xmas has taken the stand of trial, the court room is the house of God, and the Judge is the Living Word of God. Let the correct interpretation of the word of God be the verdict, let me be the prosecuting attorney, and I bring to you by application of God-written law, “A Case Against Xmas.” I beg you to have the patience and humility to hear me. For, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble,” over righteousness the haughty do blindly stumble, and they are cast into hellfire like a dead branch bundle (James 4:6, John 15:6).

No man is of worthy intelligence, no nature is of any benevolence. Therefore let us look unto God alone. Let the written word declare to us the ways of the Living Word. Reader, I do earnestly hope that you examine yourself (2 Cor. 13:5)! Seek God that you would be saved from this generation of carnal men, who, by character and deed are in great danger. With an eyeglass of wisdom and a magnification of scripture, let us see clearly what is good and evil in this contemporary celebration of “Christmas.” Don’t be apathetic toward seeking the truth. Avoid the sin of self-government, and resist relativism, which is the

² An enemy.

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revelry of moral atheism. We are not dealing with a mere wrong, normal humanistic mistakes, or perhaps something to work on. Wake up America! Upon the corridor walls on the highway to hell there is a graven saying that is the devil’s spell, it is the bewitching and self-justifying excuse, “I am only human.” Jesus said, “Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matt. 7:13). It is true! I speak judiciously by the written word of God – sin dangerously provokes the eyes of His glory! The words and deeds of men are under the observance of a Thrice Holy Creator and Judge of all; and, think of it, the concentrated shadow of impending justice may presently compass you about. As it is written, “their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory” (Isaiah 3:8). O let the sleeping conscience awake! Scripture will magnify our habits to sin, multiply the enormity of crimes times ten, giving wisdom to fear in the end, finally showing that personal opinion is often a decree of satanic dominion. In the conclusion of this book may we unanimously confess, “My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy judgments” (Psalm 119:120).

Seven Lessons – Ten Sins – Three Threats – Many Dead

I suppose the first thought that comes to mind when a sincere follower of Christ is deciding whether or not to celebrate Xmas would be, is it in the bible? In other words, is Jesus’ birth dated in the bible, and is Xmas commanded to be celebrated in the manner that it is, or at all? The date and tradition is not in the bible, neither is it commanded. This begs the question, is it biblically safe and wise to worship God in a way he has not specifically commanded? One may say, “no, we cannot worship God a way he has not commanded; who are we to do this?” Another may say, “O, it is not that big of a deal, we can worship him however we creatively imagine; God knows our hearts and will be pleased. I think Christmas is ok.” O reader, the heart cannot be trusted. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it” (Jeremiah 17:9)? As “children of enlightenment” we are raised in a self-confident, cursed indictment. Under this guise of goodness the eyes of faith are gouged out.

Therefore blindness (a perverse distortion of who God is thought, believed, and taught to be) pervades America.

Good intentions may motivate man’s religious inventions, and seasonal climates commemorate these changing traditions, but God will punish these ambitions if they are not in obedience to what is written. To those who are biblically illiterate or unregenerate this may seem harsh, but it is because God is infinitely holy. For such men, it is easy to think that God would be like a man (Psalm 50:21). They think God would be like a human, enjoying what the world enjoys, having a personality that is passive, unruly, likable, and impersonal. He is NOT like us and we must learn his mind and thoughts.

He is God! He is the sole expression of unprecedented personal qualities, the single significant Figure of all that is. He says, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand” (Deut. 32:39). God is the dignity of a one-minded, thrice-numbered Jury, having the final blows of a Judge with death penalties and fury. He is the author of the Law, he is three persons in all, and God is the one only wise Trinity. Not only this, he bids men to come under his ruling, and that by a kiss. Yea, “kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put

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their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12). Since the world began men have tested the anger of God. God has become a historian so that history does not repeat itself. As the famous quote goes, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” -Winston Churchill. This is the mercy of God. He is a book­keeping God. He has recorded for us the chronicles of capital crimes wherein his wrath was kindled many times. He has accounted for us the memoirs of deeds that deserved instantaneous execution. Yea, and he is The Executioner, the obituary chooser, and he has written A Hall of Death with fire and blood.

A Hall of Death I say! This cloud of witnesses does provide examples to avoid instead of imitate. Their memory tells of deeds that were reprimanded by pitiless death. Do you trust in the benevolent pity of God when committing sins he has revealed pitiless wrath to in time past? Faith is to follow The Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, but God has provided A Hall of Death! The annals of this Hall of Death includes an unspecified number of executions, but this account of those who died preserves a selected ten sins, seven lessons, and three threats which we may take heed to. When focusing on the execution of those who physically died, I will occasionally and repeatedly magnify God’s wrath in eternal death as a sincere warning to my reader. Terrifying judgments of death within time are springboards to help us understand the incomprehensible terror of eternal judgments of the second death without time.

SIN #1 ~ An Unholy god

THREAT #1 ~ “Tear You In Pieces”

An unholy god is a creation of men, not The Creator of men. It is an idol god made up in the imagination of men. A God that writes the wish list of wicked men is not the God of Heaven. Furthermore, homage to such a god is a covenant with Satan. Do you want to know the true God? God has given us a light in the darkness, an inspired, God-breathed book. It declares the end from the beginning and leads all men to freedom. I say therefore, “study to shew thyself approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15).

There is a sin that aggravates the justice of God to “tear you in pieces”; do you believe that? It is even the evil thoughts that God is like you. The crime is, God says, “thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” (Psalm 50:21). A god “as thyself” would be an imaginary god, that is not God. In the next verse of Psalm 50, God addresses these sinners according to their crime, calling the whole people after their deeds, saying, “ye that forget God” (Psalm 50:22). You will incessantly choose sin if you liken God to men. Behold threatenings of God to such a person: he warns, “lest I tear you in pieces.” Psalm 50:21-23, “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.”

We are depraved from God’s holy ways before salvation. After salvation we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), the new mind of the Spirit (Romans 8:5-9), because of a new divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), to the end we may learn and obey the written word of God. The Holy Ghost will teach you to confess to God, I will “praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psa. 138:2). The leadership of the Holy Ghost is supremely and primarily through bringing to your remembrance the word of God. Jesus said, “but the Comforter, which is the

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Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). Do you know “the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15)?

Inherent in the definition of holy is the complete opposite of such a presumption that God is like men. Holiness is complete separation, otherness, and sanctification from mankind and the world. God commands man to do righteousness, and this is completely impossible for them except they partake of the holy empowerment of the life of Jesus Christ. The commandment of God is, “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed” by the recreating power of the Holy Ghost (Rom 12:1-2, 2 Cor. 5:17). Therefore, holiness is anti-worldliness, the love of God is a hatred of this world, and unsaved, once-born men are worldlings. Therefore remembering God in an unholy way, remembering him that he is like men, is forgetting him according to Psalm 50:22. If the god in your mind that you may call Jesus, and is thought of as altogether unholy and like yourself, you have forgotten God. That which is in your mind that is unholy is not God. This was the condition of those warned in Psalm 50. Lesson One: Remembrance of God is remembrance of his holiness. Forgetting God is forgetting his holiness. Remembering an unholy god is not God, even if it is in his literal name. Finally, an immovable perception of his holiness will be a barrier to offending Him unto wrath and death.

Before regeneration, “I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy” (Prov. 30:3) and after regeneration I was able to fulfill the commandment of God, “be ye holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Many claim to be learned in the ways of God but are oblivious to the frightful glories of God’s holiness. Seminaries today are cemeteries because “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov. 9:10). Truly, “happy is the man that feareth always: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief” (Prov. 28:14). Let sinners be converted to you Lord, and “let them praise Thy great and terrible name; for it is holy” (Psa. 99:3).

SIN #2 ~ An Unholy Assembly Because Of An Oblivion To God‟s Name

“On Xmas we gather together in Jesus‘ name to remember his birth. This is a witness to

unbelievers present or absent, an encouragement to believers, and happiness for the

children.”

What is Jesus’ name? Many people claim to meet in Jesus’ name on Xmas Day, but what is Jesus’ name? When you are near to God, in his presence, or meeting in his name, you must understand that there are inherent qualities of his name “being with you.” God is not a passive cloud but an atmosphere with the gravity of holiness, judgment, and truth! As an introduction to God‘s name I reference your attention to an angel spoken of in Exodus 23. Take note of the product of God‘s name being with him. Exodus 23:21, “Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.” The inherent quality of God’s name is that men must beware to obey, for it is a name that will not pardon transgressions. It is a name that is able to be provoked. Is this Name with you when you meet on Xmas Day? Indeed this is a dangerous Name! A terrible Name! A great Name! “Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy” (Psa. 99:3).

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Is this name the reason people congregate to worship on the tradition of Xmas Day? The saints are commanded to remember such holy attributes of God. If you are truly saved, God’s fear has been put within you. God said, “I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jer. 32:40). Not happiness, slackness or love but FEAR! Of a truth a hymnist did write, “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear.” Any assembly ought to be permeated with this remembrance if it is an assembly of the righteous, as it is written, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:24-27). What mind are we commanded to assemble ourselves together in according to Hebrews 10:24-27? It is an assembly for those who have received “the knowledge of the truth,” an assembly for the purpose to provoke each other to “love and good works,” for exhortation with the fearfulness that if we continue willfully sinning, God will hold us guilty of spurning the blood of the Covenant by which we were sanctified (read Hebrews 10:29). Is this your understanding? Do you assemble with these intentions and fruits?

You may attempt to worship on December 25^th in his name, but is it with the saints, or a mingled crowd of the regenerate and unregenerate? You should not even assemble without remembering that God’s anger can be provoked to judgment. You should not even assemble for worship with any person who is wicked, as it is commanded, “therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person” (1 Corinthians 5:13).

Every assembly ought to proclaim the truth of the Lord’s name. Can, or will, the Lord Almighty descend upon your meeting December 25^th? Let God proclaim his own name to us, let he himself silence all unholy relativism, and let us consult the dictionary that God authored. It is written, “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:5­7). The God whose name is love declares to you more of HIS NAME: Jesus does “by no means clear the guilty,” for his “Name is Holy” (Exodus 34:7, Isaiah 57:15).

It is easy for an idolatrous “baby jesus” figurine to misrepresent God! Such a gentle or helpless form of God incarnate is not the self-portrait of the Almighty. This form of the Almighty has become the sinner’s perpetual solace. They love “baby jesus” that they may only be reminded of one aspect of the Lord, that he is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness…keeping mercy.” Nevertheless God will “by no means clear the guilty.” He is the hunter of evil and visitor of justice.

Truly, are not all guilty? As it is written, “if thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand” (Psalm 130:3)? Nevertheless “there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared” (Psalm 130:4). God is pleased with the observance of the broken-hearted, contrite, and humble, not the self-willed and wanton. The heart can be broken by the hammer of God’s word. It is able to shatter pride to repentance through guilt, shame, and sorrow (Jeremiah 23:29, 2 Cor. 7:10). This is the birth pangs of salvation, “for thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in

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the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). Some of you would be wise to repent of your thoughts of the Lord that are utterly unholy and contradictory to his word! You can be broken over sin and always rejoicing, don’t doubt it, but these things are spiritually discerned. Your thoughts of his permissive will, your perception of good and evil, and your idea of God’s pleasure in your worship ought to be guiltless of any transgression scripture.

SIN #3 ~ Inordinate Worship – Strange Worship
Two Dead ~ Nadab And Abihu

They “offered strange fire before the LORD,
which he commanded them not” (Lev. 10:1).

Biblically, has anyone ever worshipped God in a way he has not commanded, even with good intentions in his heart, and died for it? It has happened! Any transgression, willful or not, there is consequence. Such a lesson Aaron’s sons forgot, thus they forgot God. Before reviewing their fatal err it is necessary to look at the multifaceted manner in which Satan will allure people to unholy, irreverent, and fearless services toward God. Satan will redefine grace to merit fearlessness. Don’t believe it! Rather, “let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29). To fear is a command of Christ, a forewarning to his disciples and enemies. He said, “but I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Lk. 12:5). If Satan can, he will dominate the religion of your culture and generation whereby the preachers, teachers, and leaders establish traditions that are contrary to the word of God. If Satan can infiltrate the established religion of your day, it will be a great threat to cause you to be leavened. Leaven is often a dilute form of truth, which is no truth, for truth must always carry a holy potency.

In Jesus’ generation a minority was absent from the traditions of the Pharisees as a minority today escapes the tradition of Xmas. Jesus said, and still says to you today, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition” (Matthew 15:3)? He said they were “making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye” (Mark 7:13). You would do well to avoid the same transgression, but you would have to know the “word of God!” If an entire religious system of preachers had a cumulative influence on doctrine and deed, the peer pressure to follow would be great. Shall we fear men or God? Hence the words of Jesus, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:12). If it was through the zeal of traditions men forsook Christ, through similar traditional ambitions men will forsake the body of Christ. What happened then must happen today. Don’t think that God will not test you with an “old prophet,” see how he tested “the prophet” in the days of Jeroboam (see 1 Kings 13:1-32).

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Two of Aaron‟s sons decided to worship the Lord in a way that was not specifically commanded in his word. This defines inordinate worship. Worship that is not commanded by ordinance is inordinate. God commands, “what thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deut. 12:32). There is no evidence of any willful defiance in Nadab and Abihu. They likely had a good heart, therefore, they are good biblical examples to those who advocate Xmas because “many people have a “good heart” when celebrating Xmas.” What happens when someone worships God in a manner that is not specifically commanded in his word?

Leviticus 10:1-5

And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them [made holy by them] that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said.

There are many sins that were not worthy of such a death. God seeks to establish a sure, fixed, immovable LESSON to succeeding generations when sin is punished in this manner. The only description of this crime is: Firstly, it was called “strange fire.” Secondarily, it was that “which he commanded them not.” In general terms, this defines strange fire – worship that God has not commanded! Do you have a fear of doing a form of worship that God has not commanded? It is strange, inordinate worship! Bp. Hall says, “It is a dangerous thing, in the service of God, to decline from his institutions; we have to do with a God, who is wise to prescribe his own worship – just to require what he has prescribed – and powerful to avenge what he has not prescribed.”

Some of my readers may speculate that there had to be more sin present in this “strange fire” for God to respond in this deathly manner, but I will soon go over another example where the men had a good heart, but were out of Divine institution, ordination, or order – and a man died (sins #4-5, Lesson 4). A perception of an unholy God will boil misguided zeal, in this Nadab, Abihu, and Uzzah died – not willful sin. God has left us two testimonies of this crime being out of order, and that is to extinguish all doubts. How is this just? They were NEAR to God. Some may draw deeper insights out of the origin of the fire used, and other details; nevertheless, the lesson still stands with this banner – avoid doing that which “He commanded not.” Lesson Two: Worship ONLY in the way which God specifically commands us.

I do not accept as valid the speculation that Nadab and Abihu were drunk. First, this was not mentioned as the crime, and so great a crime as this deserves to be mentioned. No, in all repetitions of this crime there is no mention of drunkenness, rather it was strange, inordinate worship (see Lev 10:1, 16:1, Numbers 3:4). Moses drew from these crimes and deaths the grounds to teach a need for recognizing a pervading holiness while being near to God. You can see this mind in the further instructions given to the remaining sons of Aaron (Eleazar and Ithamar). Moses quickly instructed them to avoid misguided zeal lest they transgress the holiness of God again. How? Directly after the death of Nadab and Abihu all the people would be in bewailing lamentation by uncovering their heads and rending

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(tearing) their clothes. Think of how quickly, and certainly out of a good heart, Eleazar and Ithamar would have desired to honor, express emotion, and love by bitter lamentation following the rest of the people. Moses quickly restrains them of this at the threat of DEATH! Read of the holy order required for these men of God, “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9).

Leviticus 10:6-7

“And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.”

The instruction not to drink wine (given in verse 9) is rooted from the same grave understanding that motivated the instructions of Moses in Leviticus 10:6-7. Namely, that God is holy, things must be done in order, and rambunctious, self-willed actions are criminal, and offensive to the Almighty – thus God is teaching his people to fear, not be fearless. These instructions were in regard to keep their life, not in reference to the specific crimes of Nadab and Abihu, but avoiding the shocking example of Nadab and Abihu in that they suffered death. “Lest ye die” are terms priests of old are familiar with, but how about you, professing priest of Christ (1 Peter 2:9, Lev. 10:6, 7, 9)?

In Leviticus 16 God advocates the holy requirements of the priests in all manner of preparations to come near to God. The LORD said, “come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not” (Lev. 16:2). Death at threat is given in the weight of the previous execution, hence “the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died” (Lev. 16:1). Nadab and Abihu offered before the Lord, or, came at their own appointed time, doing their own appointed thing, and all this “before the LORD.” Thus Moses instructs Aaron to keep careful awareness that he comes with the proper preparations at the proper times (Lev. 16). All these preparations of cleanness, atonement, and clothing are shadows fulfilled in Christ; thus, we must firstly be in Christ to come near, yet while we are near, the holiness and strictness of ordinate and inordinate worship still stands. If you think this manner of strictness changes in the New Covenant please continue reading through Sin #7. (See also Acts 5 – Being near the Holy Ghost).

What is the pointed explanation that we should hold tight and bind around our hearts? The Lord says, “in them that come nigh me,” that they will be made holy and glorified – therefore refrain from inordinate worship. Such a lesson would have been received with all gravity and sobriety by the men who carried the bodies of Nadab and Abihu out of the camp. Such sobriety attends the minds of those who attend a funeral today. With such sobriety you should remember lesson two. Do you have the faith to receive it? Xmas is not specifically commanded to be done in scripture as a form of worship to God in the manner the tradition teaches; it is strange, inordinate worship.

SIN #3 ~ rephrased ~ Ordinate Worship Done By Inordinate Individuals At An Inordinate Place & Time

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How were Nadab and Abihu so careless and light to do such a sin? Aaron, the high priest, would offer incense in a censer before the holy of holies, but this was specifically commanded by the Lord in Leviticus 16:12. Aaron was to do this within the holy of holies behind the vail. Aaron’s sons probably considered that God would accept this same form of worship repeated in another place besides the holy of holies, not from Aaron only but all priests at any time. At this point there is no reference to any other priests appointed for this task, but Aaron and Moses only. They were too light-hearted in their perception of being near to the Lord, and they could have really tried to do what was right even though it was not according to God’s commandments. Ordinate worship done by inordinate individuals is inordinate worship. Ordinate worship done at an inordinate place is inordinate worship. Ordinate worship done at an inordinate time is inordinate worship. Presumption of God’s permissive will proves deathly important for us today.

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5-6).

“Every part of the religion of God is Divine. He alone knew what he designed by its rites and ceremonies, for that which they prefigured – the whole economy of redemption by Christ – was conceived in his own mind, and was out of the reach of human wisdom and conjecture. He therefore who altered any part of this representative system, who omitted or added any thing, assumed a prerogative which belonged to God alone, and was certainly guilty of a very high offense against the wisdom, justice, and righteousness of his Maker. This appears to have been the sin of Nadab and Abihu, and this at once shows the reason why they were so severely punished. The most awful judgments are threatened against those who either add to, or take away from, the declarations of God. See Deu_4:2; Pro_30:6; and Rev_22:18, Rev 22:19” – Adam Clarke.

True Christian, you are now a priest in Christ. You should learn a lesson from the priests that were before you, namely Nadab and Abihu. Lesson Three: Priest in Christ, take heed. Resist any conclusion that God will accept your worship simply because it is like his commanded form of worship in other biblical instances and places. God accepted the censer of incense from the high priest, and God accepted the gifts from the wise men at the birth of Jesus but Nadab and Abihu copied and were consumed; Xmas is a massacre where men will follow in their dooms. Will you copy the wise men?

The next man in The Hall of Death, Uzzah, died for similar crimes of misguided zeal, forgetfulness, and unholiness. Perilous is a perception of God that is unholy and fiery is the death of the forgetful. To those who turn such forgetfulness into a lifestyle, it is written, “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17). My dear readers remember Nadab and Abihu!

The wrath of God is a kindled fire,

It burns men in a blink, still standing and entire.

Simple men stand unaware,

Under falling fire with no care.

It surprises the forgetful,

Caught up in sin habitual.

The Lake of Fire is a memorial of perpetual just burning,

A meditation of everlasting gnashing and turning.

An education, a memorization, ceaseless remembrance, and timeless learning.

Consider eternity: Judgment sentences that are everlasting. Think of it, the forfeiting of eternal delights, never to experience their perpetual basking. Will God pronounce to you that your “everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten” (Jer. 20:11)? Imagine hearing from the Great White Throne a voice that is like thunder, like the sound of many waters, saying, “I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten” (Jer. 23:40).

God surprises men with an eternal education with no graduation. On earth, a devouring fire burns flesh to ash, the pain of the mind does leave in a flash. However afterward, the soul is swallowed by hell in a dash, where there is no luxury of flesh to ash. The senses of the flesh do have limits they can intake, the pain of burning can be quenched by shock, but soul burning is an incessant scream of limitless pains with no break, second death’s digestion of constant oppression. Truly, “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings” (Isaiah 33:14)?

There is no anesthesiologist of hell, no pain medications to numb the mind, neither is there any hope that a man can tell. These are subjects of hell’s spell. Depression, oppression, incessantly the hatred of God becomes their obsession. No bed for the soul, no hospital in hell’s hole. In eternal nights of sleepless misery men seek to wake up from hell’s nightmare continually. Helplessly drowning in an ocean of lightning strikes, men seek salvation from God’s wrathful billows of brights. No help, no air, no strength, no one to care, they have become hell’s amalgamation. Who can understand the judgment of unceasing hellish nights? Let the earth quake at the threatenings of God who lives forever. The Lord said, “For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh” (Deut. 32:40-42).

SIN #4 ~ Trusting Peace Rather Than Biblical Permission

SIN #5 ~ Oblivion To The Due Order

One Dead ~ Uzzah

God must be shown to be holy and sanctified by those that serve him or are near to him. Uzzah came near to the Lord, the place where his name was, and he died. Such a death could have been avoided if Uzzah had known the word of God. While bringing the arc to the city of David, one of those who were not specifically commanded to carry the arc made a fatal mistake.

With Uzzah, like Nadab and Abihu, there is no apparent willful rebellion. Rather, David and his men are in good heart. They have apparent and earnest desires to please the Lord. Nevertheless, they were

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negligent to search the scriptures and follow after what was commanded! The following joyous scene could be much like the regenerate in prayer or praise on Xmas:

2 Samuel 6:1-10

“Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day. And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me? So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.”

Soon after this, David learned from this lesson that he must be careful to do everything according to God’s word alone to escape all consequence of wrath. God is holy! Learn this today, ceaselessly pray, and you’ll find your way to an everlasting day, for God hath made a way. “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein” (Isaiah 35:8). Truly, “whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment” (Ecc. 8:5). Both David and Uzzah had good intentions. He was in true heartfelt celebration of the Lord, yet he failed to do everything according to God’s word. Lesson Four: Remember, no such presence of happiness, peaceful worship, or even God‟s presence is a validating characteristic that what is being done at that very moment is pleasing or permissible to God. Presumption in worshipful conviction is unholy thought to biblical tradition! What seems like a peaceable decision in the morning may trouble you all through the night. For a careless day in the sun you may blister many days for one.

“David attempts to transport the ark on a “new cart” instead of using the rings and poles as the Law required (Exo. 25:12-15). Additionally, the “transporters” of the ark were not even authorized to carry it (1 Chron. 15:2, 13-15); i.e., the ark was not only transported in the wrong way, but was transported by the wrong people! Is not the celebration of Christmas the wrong way (pagan forms and tradition) with the wrong people (the heathen of the world join right in with the professing Christians)” – Dr. Scott Johnson. David consulted the word of God spoken through Moses and saw the due order that the arc should be handled and carried. He does it the correct way this next time:

1 Chronicles 15:11-15

“And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and

Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of

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the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because ye did it not at the  first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due  order. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD.”

Repetition is biblical and death is a token of remembrance. Priests in Christ take heed, do you think the Lord of Holy Glory is trying to show his people in future generations something important and worthy of application? Lesson Five: Seek God according to his word, as he commanded. This is the due order and this is your sanctity that makes you safe from wrath.

SIN #6 ~ Oblivion To The Fear Of The Lord

David was a King of Israel. He quickly learned the only safeguard from God’s wrath was to meditate on the law day and night. Doing this he would be careful to fulfill it! Does someone in your family or congregation have to die for you to take heed? Concerning the king of Israel, it is written:

Deuteronomy 17:18-20

“And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.”

A lesson that would have saved Uzzah: Lesson Six: You must learn the fear of the Lord by reading it in his word, and to this man it shall be well to prolong his days against death. Truly, lofty fearlessness of pride goes where the word of God commands not to go, and therefore “pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Note: it is pride that would cause a man to turn aside from the commandments and careful obedience to scripture. It is haughty eyes that don’t see and look upon the word of God day and night. It is the arrogant way of fearlessness that does not remember the word of God. If you told a learned Israelite the “ideal” way of worshipping God is according to a way that is not commanded by God, do you think you could get him to come along? Do you think you could get David to agree and come along? And what of Uzzah’s family? What about Aaron’s family? How is it that they used these experiences to such a healthy application but we cannot adopt the same wise mind?

SIN #7 ~ Disobedience And Fearlessness During Holy Worship Through

Remembrance

Many Sick & Dead ~ An Unspecified Number of Corinthians

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These examples from the OT that have been referenced were written for our example. For those who disagree with applying these OT judgments to NT believers, in case you have already forgotten Hebrews 10:24-31, read carefully: 1 Corinthians 10:11-12, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” The context of this verse is in reference to six OT sins committed in 6 different situations and times. In these references many more than six, sixteen, or even sixteen thousand died, and at the conclusion of this Hall of Death is 1 Corinthians 10:11-12. Those of you who ignorantly judge Xmas to be valid and righteous without careful prayer and study of scripture are subject to deception. You are not heeding the examples set before us. You may think this is extreme, but the truth is, God is extremely holy. I fear for any man who is so callused by culture or the religious influence of his time that he has no ears to hear the knocking of Christ on the door of his heart. The Triune, invisible God makes his will infallibly visible by his word. Are you so ignorant that you trust a fallible preacher over an infallible book?

In the same chapter, 1 Corinthians 10, verse nine references the fifth sin in this Hall of Death. The fifth sin resulted in that many “were destroyed of serpents.” Their sin is that they tempted Christ! It says, “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents” (1 Cor. 10:9). Yes, don’t tempt Christ! Do you see only love in the Savior‘s eyes, or will you know there are other emotions besides. Watch your steps and keep the righteous path, then you will not see the Savior‘s wrath!

God was in Christ reconciling the world, He commended love and gave good tidings to herald, but simultaneously he warns of wrath and perils. The Lamb that was slain will one day have a new fame, when all the kings of the earth cry out in shame, “hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand” (Rev. 6:16-17)? He was slain, praise the LORD, but he has slain, and will leave many utterly slain. Do you know this Jesus Christ? A Lamb is a harmless creature, it is gentle and humble. Of all the names of God which may announce that he is worthy to be feared, that would communicate an urgent falling terror, it is the wrath of the Lamb that makes the falling mountains an easier burden to bear! Ye men of the earth wake up, “awake to righteousness, and sin not” (1 Cor. 15:34)! On “flowery beds of ease,” hypocrites incessantly God’s wrath do tease, they sing of the Lamb like a peaceful breeze, knowing not there is overshadowing wrath to appease (“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”).

The holiness of God is generationally, perpetually, and inevitably the same! God and “Jesus Christ [are] the same yesterday, and today, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). Worship in the Old Testament is the same grave experience as worship in the New Testament. One form of worship in the New Testament is the remembrance of Christ’s body and blood through what is known as Communion. Is there a New Testament example of presumption, transgressing holiness, and unpermitted worship that is penalized with the consequence of death? Yes, it happened! Priests of the Lord, take heed to your fallen family members of the past, lest you be carried to your grave alike.

What was the sin in Corinth? During the worship of Communion the people sinned by eating and drinking the bread and wine unworthily. Generally speaking, they were treating it in an unholy manner, not after the due order according to Jesus’ word. Lesson Seven: It is easy for men, while ignorant of Scripture, to think lightly of worship through remembrance, thinking God is as lightly to be

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remembered as man, as events, and as unholy things. Communion was worshipping God through remembrance wherein physical objects represented and communicated spiritual truths. After this manner men have established unbiblical traditions of worship with different physical objects, different spiritual truths, but all this is done in a manner oblivious to the holiness of such a practice. Oblivious to the fact that death is possible to be demanded if perfect obedience in this practice is abandoned. Jesus gave no warning to his disciples who partook of Communion in the hours before betrayal, and this was the first Communion. We don’t read of Jesus earnestly pleading with them to remember not to transgress God’s holiness to stay alive. The Lord knew the disciples had “Moses and the Prophets” to instruct them of the holiness of God and the costly lessons previously written. The Lord did not shed the blood of guilty men, have it written in a book, and command you to study it if he didn‟t want you to learn and remember it.

You may be in the Spirit of God, daily experiencing his love, and even graciously feel your heart warmed to him on Xmas day. With all of this, you may wonder… If God hates Christmas so much then why don’t you know about it through his Spirit? First, perhaps he has tried to show you through your conscience. Secondly, whatever the circumstance, the Spirit of God leads you to read the Word of God, and if you neglect or refuse the needful diligence in studying it the scriptures warn of falling into deceit and folly. God did not shed the blood of many men of God, both priests and prophets, so we could learn the lessons their experiences established some other way. The Holy Spirit will lead you to study the bible; He is not an alternative path to Truth. Again remember, Spirit-filled Christian, this is for you: 1 Corinthians 10:11-12, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” God’s name is “The Word of God” for a reason (Revelation 19:13). Peace in your heart, or anything with your deceitful heart, is not the immovable discerner of what is holy. Rather remember lesson four: Lesson Four: Remember, no such presence of happiness, peaceful worship, or even his presence is a validating characteristic that what is being done at that very moment is pleasing, permissible, or holy to God. Observe the scene of sin resulting in sickness and death for the brethren at Corinth:

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

“Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself,

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and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh

unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [are dead]. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.”

How holy to God is worshipping through remembrance? It is a holy convocation, be deathly aware! If this was the holiness of God in the ordinance of remembering Jesus‟ death, would the holiness of God be different for the inordinate worship of remembering Jesus‟ birth? It is not necessary to consider such a question since it is not ordained, commanded, or instituted in scripture, but what if it was? Since it is not, wouldn’t the wrath of God be more incited against such fraudulent worship? Remember lesson seven, that, it is easy for men, while ignorant of Scripture, to think lightly of worship through remembrance, thinking God is as lightly to be remembered as man, as events, as unholy things. These Corinthians did not know the cause of their sicknesses and death. Paul informed them it was because they were worshipping God in an unworthy, unholy, selfish, and sinful manner. They were gathered in his name and were being unholy in heart and deed. Truly, his name was there in that he did “by no means clear the guilty!” The New Testament holy God is the same as yesterday’s. Do you think there has been, is, or will be sickness and death amongst your family, friends, and church congregation because of your sins of Xmas day?

For the Corinthians, at least two sins are evident in their observance of Communion. Selfishness turned the eating into their own “meal” and turned the drink into their own “thirst.” It is safe to say that if the Corinthians were not selfish they would have escaped death. The lust of food got the best of some and the thirst for wine made some drunk. In these lusts, the reason for the gathering was forgotten and transgressed. The lust of selfishness would have been prevented by a perception of holiness. Holy gatherings are attended with carefulness by a remembrance of God’s word and its lessons. They should have remembered lesson one. Lesson One: Remembrance of God is remembrance of his holiness. Forgetting God is forgetting his holiness. Remembering an unholy god is not God, even if it is in his literal name. Finally, an immovable perception of his holiness will be a barrier to offending Him unto wrath and death.

Has not Xmas become about you? Is the deadly sin of selfishness or an unholy mind present in Xmas? Xmas is a coming together in Jesus’ name; it is a gathering for the sake of remembrance of Jesus’ birth. The application of lessons 1-6 should be enough to cause a man not to celebrate Xmas. Remember lesson three! Lesson Three: Priest in Christ, take heed. Resist any conclusion that God will accept your worship simply because it is like His commanded form of worship in other biblical instances and places. Nadab and Abihu sought to copy the high priest, worshipping by censer and incense. Likewise professing priests in Christ copy the Sabbath and Communion by self-sanctifying a day and calling an assembly to worship God by remembrance of Jesus’ birth. Xmas is condemned! It is not biblically commanded and is therefore strange fire. The “spirit” of Xmas is a demonic spirit, the reason for the season has become a provision for biblical treason.

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Is it a selfish gathering? Need I make any comment? As the men of Corinth turned the bread into “their meal” and the wine into “their drink,” Christians aimlessly turn the presents given to Christ at his birth into their own presents. What was supposed to be a remembrance of Jesus body and blood became their bread and wine. What is supposed to be (traditionally speaking) Jesus’ presents has become our presents. The lust of covetousness is the joy of Xmas. Is this your worshipful remembrance of Christ? I think it is the lust of self, the lust of possessions, the covetous desires of men, and the love of money that causes men to bear the fruit of jolly presents on Xmas day. It is so strange that it has been

overwhelmingly accepted that Christ is worshiped on Xmas day. It is a worship of possessions and self!

What would the wise men have thought if they stumbled upon your Xmas day? The wise men said, “we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him,” (Matthew 2:2). How did the wise men worship Jesus? They worshipped through two apparent means, falling down and giving gifts. “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11). The wise men saw the star in the east and came to worship the Lord through a means of giving gifts. Professing Christians put up a star on a tree that has originated from Paganism and they worship each other like the wise men worshipped Jesus; through the means of giving gifts. Is there any selfishness involved here? If the wise men stumbled into your Xmas day they would fearfully wonder why everyone is worshipping themselves and falling down before a tree. The tree is like an idol, glittering to amaze, and people fall down before it like the idols of past days. This is a laughing stock of devils and an achievement of hell’s praise. “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen…For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good” (Jeremiah 10:2-5).

Falling down before an idol-like tree, the wicked worship each other through covetousness! Do you think this is a good idea? In this foolishness you would astonish the wise men! “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words. He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live” (Prov. 15:26-27). Anyone who does not hate covetousness is not even worthy to gather in the midst of the saints and God. Whether he is called a brother or not, he is a wicked person, and must be separated from the assembly of saints. If you think I am being harsh, accuse me not, it is written:

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

“I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”

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Even if Xmas was commanded of God to be remembered and men were honoring it in the unholy manner that people are today, they are simply adding iniquity to iniquity and giving great occasion for wrath. If God is true, and he is, then people are yearly stricken with sickness and death all over America because of the Wrath of God! December 25^th is the day of American catastrophe and men are smitten by wrathful atrophy. Celebrating a supposed birthday has become their death day, for as the antithesis of earth Christ does His work, “the LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down” (Psa. 146:9). Will not God judge us by the same standard? Xmas has turned into a despicable tradition of the false church, nullifying the commandments of God, and leavening the community with unholy revellings. I am sure the Corinthians were very jolly, but their laughter was turned to mourning and heaviness by sickness and death.

Has not Christmas become about you? It is selfishness with the potential sting of death. Jesus said, “Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Xmas conveniently multiplies the possessions that you have. People desire to see the life of Jesus and celebrate it with the giving of possessions. Jesus warns of considering your life to consist of possessions. Covetous desires is described as a snare and satanic net to cause men to err from the faith, even “foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1 Timothy 6:9). Ask any heathen that celebrates Xmas and you‟ll find they enjoy the presents. Ask most children and you will find the same thing. We are called to flee covetousness, but Xmas considers it a light thing. Can you not see? The golden calf of false Christianity is a covetous Santa Clause Christianity. Do you think that God is glorified amongst the heathen by this? Do you think they see that in Christ is abundant life when you celebrate his birth by enjoying presents? Blasphemy! This godless culture is mesmerized with materialism, so much so that their insatiable lust for these things has caused them to think that the Lord of Glory might be pleased with their celebration of possessions. Xmas is the heaven of the heathen with Christ sprinkled in as a light dazzle of religious symbolism giving society the pride that they gave their nod to God and their remembrance to the Savior…utter blasphemy, shame, and horror.

Do you think covetousness is a light sin? Do you remember 1 Corinthians 5:9-13? Therein is the command of God to expel from the midst of the Church all professing Christians that are covetous. The next chapter, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, God condemns the covetous to hell whether they profess Christ or not. Anyone who is a covetous person is going to hell! Idolatry is also mentioned in this list of condemnable deeds. Covetousness and idolatry is commonplace in Xmas celebrations. If the covetous “Christian” was to be expelled from all congregational settings that were permitted for the saved alone, which would include Communion, how abominable is a celebration of covetous “Christians” who attempt to worship God by Xmas? Communion is closed and Xmas is open, the commandments of God are trampled and broken, and men call for a holy day on a pagan holiday!

Any such people or congregations that do not hold to the doctrine according to godliness are men to withdraw yourself from (1 Timothy 6:3, 5). Those who are holding this contrary and ungodly doctrine are “destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself,” (1 Timothy 6:5). Christ-less and truth-less “Christians” are ruthless sinners to think that God is worshipped and worthily remembered by a supposed godliness in gaining gifts! From such persons “withdraw thyself,” flee their celebrations or churches. Is this at all troubling to you? Indeed, if all the false covetous Christians were removed from churches, Xmas gift-giving would cease by simply a lack of interest. The righteousness of hating covetousness is a pure witness of Christ to this darkened world. Many do seek the

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world to impress, but saints do rather have Christ to confess. Life preservation and the world in admiration, or, eternal salvation by a personal crucifixion, you cannot have both, there’s no negotiation!

Oh that Xmas would cease because the Christians were too busy to shop for presents. Yes, too busy washing their hands from the blood of their neighbors’ eternal souls by actually redeeming the time as a witness for Christ (Acts 20:20, 26-27, Ezekiel 3:18-21). A Christian with no witness is a murderer, a red-handed criminal. A Christian with no witness to sinners of judgment to come may excuse himself from the commission by trusting he is destined for greater or lesser rewards, but God will judge this man a ruthless murderer! Paul said, “I am pure from the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26).

SIN #8 ~ Inordinate And Self-Sanctified Day

SIN #9 ~ Oblivion to the Holiness of a Sanctified Day

One Dead ~ An Unnamed man

A self-sanctified day is a man-made day. Humanity is the antithesis of holiness, an impossible origin of the holy, and any counterfeit declaration is severe folly. It is the sin of a manmade holy-day though it is publicly known as a holi-day.

Have you considered the significance of the origin of worship by a sanctified day? The most renowned day that God sanctified was the Sabbath Day. He gave particular commandments articulating exactly how to be worshipped all day, to the end that God alone was sanctified. Nadab and Abihu thought they could be like the high priest, likewise men think they can do what only God can do. Firstly, mankind has the audacity to think that they have the right or capability to make a day the Lord’s when only he can sanctify a day to be HIS. Secondly, after choosing the day, then they define how God should be worshipped on the day. They have forgotten biblical lessons and therefore have forgotten God. Finally, on this day the worship chosen is not even guiltless of what is determined as righteous worship, namely that commandments are broken and ungodliness is advanced.

Jesus says most are blind at the end of time therefore the most do become a blind satanic host. A remnant preserved, yet few in number, wonder at the worldwide delusion and the accelerating plunder. The world is happily “remembering Jesus’ birth” by indulging in a polluted banquet of sinful, selfish, and violent covetousness. If a day of worship is set to remember Jesus’ birth wouldn’t it be likely that only those who are born again should attend it? Truly, only those who have undergone the glorious second birth could give glory to Christ’s birth. Likewise, only those who spiritually ate and drank the body and blood of Jesus were to take part in Communion (John 6). Those who seek to worship the Lord on Xmas, even if this was permitted, should then do it by the gift of his Spirit that never transgresses his truth. For “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The family of Adam tries to gather to honor Jesus’ name while only the family of Christ can. Adam must die and Christ must live, a new family the Holy Ghost does give, “for whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” (Mark. 3:35).

God sanctified the seventh day to be a day of his rest. This was the Sabbath. The heathen sanctified December 25^th. The Roman Catholic Church, and now the Protestant church, have adopted and sought to redeem it. If worshipping God through remembrance proved deathly important and grave,

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should we expect worship through a sanctified day is any less weighty? Do you think someone has died for unholy behavior on the Sabbath? “And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation” (Numbers 15:32-33). What was the final fate of the man who was brought to Moses, who committed what some may call a light crime on the Sabbath? O that men would gain gravity in all services to God! The place of his habitation is the “high and holy place,” the manner of his judgment is the heaviness of holiness, the descent of his presence melts the mountains to fountains, and he is the creator of hell (Isaiah 57:15)! Continue reading and see holy justice did descend upon the Sabbath breaker:

Numbers 15:34-41

“And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without [outside] the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

Ah, now what “professing Christian?” You are gathering presents like sticks, or rather, treasure on earth. You do this on a day you fraudulently sanctified in Jesus’ name! You are gathering treasures on earth and storing up wrath for Judgment Day (Matt. 6:19-24, Romans 2:5). Violating God’s word on the day he sanctified was the crime of the stick gatherer. What of your violations of his word in Matthew 6:19-21? “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Your heart will be where your treasure is, and of course, Xmas binds the hearts of men with the chains of earthly treasure to damn them with this world’s miserable destruction. Like the rich man in Luke 16, is this life your paradise? Take note of the previous verses before Numbers 15:32­33.

Numbers 15:27-32

“And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his

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iniquity shall be upon him. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.”

Sins through ignorance were forgivable, atoneable, but what of willful or presumptuous sins? Don’t commit the sin of “despising the word,” for which there is great consequence. For, “whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded” (Proverbs 13:13).

What of the New Testament Atonement? What of the New Testament availability of forgiveness? Don‟t think for a second that he is a different God! Read the New Testament application of merciless justice. Numbers 15:27-32 was the account of the OT wherein “he that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses” (Heb. 10:28). Despising the word was willfully or presumptuously sinning. The New Covenant includes the same warnings reemphasized as doing “despite unto the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29).

Hebrews 10:26-29

“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

A gathering together in his name on his sanctified day ought to be with the God of Hebrews 10:26-29. The grace of Christ’s birth should provoke love and even the selling of your possessions! Good works should be the product of the gathering of God’s people. Therefore, the wider context of Hebrews 10:26-29 is reliably the same message (see Hebrews 10:19-25).

What good is your profession of faith if it does not provoke to good works? What good is assembling in his name if it does not provoke to good works? Say your meeting does provoke good works, what good is your meeting if it is transgressing the former lessons 1-7 already accounted. We are to exhort one another, and even more as we see “the day approaching” of our Judgment. A true gathering is to store up treasure in heaven by being rich towards God in good works (Luke 12:21, 1 Timothy 6:18). Xmas makes men rich with regret in hell.

Again I ask, does someone have to die in your family or congregation for you to realize this is sin?

I do believe God is threatening with death if you celebrate Xmas this year. I believe this is the correct application of scripture, therefore, it is the word of God to man. Jesus and Abraham spoke of scripture as having a voice. Moses and the prophets were dead for a long time yet they are referenced as still speaking today. Therefore Jesus said, “they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (Lk. 16:29). This is THREAT #2! God is speaking to you by the scriptures a personal threatening of death, therefore hear ye him!

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Reader, how do you know someone has not died already because of this? When considering the biblical history of worship it has been consistently proven that the transgression of God’s revealed will in scripture often resulted in death. The Corinthian church, who was suffering sickness and death, did not know it was the wrath of God because of their unholy “worship,” Paul had to inform them of this. Perhaps someone near you has already died but there was no “Paul” to tell you the reason. I cannot help but be gripped with the fear of how many are sickly and dead on account of this great, unholy, unsanctified, blasphemous day of Xmas in the world.

I am convinced that people all over the world in jolly “Xmas spirit” take Jesus’ name upon their lips and think they are doing him service, and simultaneously they are under impending wrath that ends in sickness and death. Take the zeal you have for preventing abortion, the spread of cancer, or any other grave matter, and now think on your sin of Xmas Day! Christian, spread the news, if you care about your family. Someone could have already died in your family and this was the cause. Someone could be sick now and this is the cause! Tarry not to repent and perhaps the anger of God will pacify from killing your loved one. Indeed Christ saves us from God’s wrath by the fear of the Lord. Will you know that the Holy Ghost will lead you to safety by a fear of wrath? Indeed, in the name of God, in the name of righteousness, and in the name of holiness forsake Xmas! Furthermore, in the name of family, in the name of friends, in the name of the lost, and in the name of mankind, I plead, forsake Xmas!

On another occasion, two individuals died for simply lying to the apostle Peter. Another was blinded for a time because he opposed the work of God through the apostle Paul (Acts 5, Acts 13:11). On the day of “Jesus’ birth,” parents today think it is a game to lie to their children and drown them in toys. God is holy! Such greater and terrifying holy judgments are stored up until the day of wrath and

revelation of the righteous Judgment of God. Do you consider Christ to be weak and lowly upon his return? Rather, the “Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)”.

God and Christ are holy! The beasts in his heavenly presence exclaim no other name but “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY” (Rev. 4:8)! “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). We cannot worship God after the creative imaginations of our own heart. It is when men do what is right in their own eyes, according to the imagination of their own hearts, that the wrath of God is kindled more. God said, “This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing” (Jeremiah 13:10). Is not the God of this world entertainment, sports, luxurious pleasures, and possessions? Has Xmas coincidently taken the desires of this world and justified them as a service, worship, and honorable remembrance of Christ? Indeed, it is a snare for the heathen to consider their life to consist of their possessions, and blinded in sin, they think it honors the life of Christ by celebrating the joys of their depraved life.

Take heed of the New Testament holy God in the book of Hebrews 12:29, “For our God is a consuming fire.” Do you think that this letter, written to the Hebrew Jewish Christians, was not in remembrance of all that happened to the Jews in the past wherein God often consumed men with fire when they transgressed his holy ways? Do you think the Jewish mind would remember anything else but

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all these fiery events when a Jew addresses God as being “a consuming fire?” In Exodus 32, God almost consumed the entire congregation of the Israelites and intended to start the line of the seed over with Moses alone. If this had transpired the name Israelite would likely have ceased to be used, for the lines of Israel would have been lost except for Moses. God has consumed men with fire enough times to call him “a consuming fire.” Such times should be our remembrance rather than Xmas Day.

SIN #10 ~ A Strange god

THREAT #3 ~ God Shall Search This Out

“If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart” (Psalm 44:20).

Would to God that he is searching it out by the word of God in this book! The Holy Ghost is a comforter and convicter, He wields the sword of the word of God to deal with the heart (Eph. 6:17). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Henceforth I ask, “as though God did beseech you” by me, do you know God The Consuming Fire (Heb. 12:29)? God will search out your heart to see if you will repent, and if you do not forsake Xmas God could quickly bring parallel justice as all the examples of the past.

If we have forgotten God then he will conclude his search with the justice sentences in like manner of The Hall of Death, but likewise these sentences: “because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms” (Ezek. 23:35). “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children” (Hos. 4:6). Xmas is the lamentation, “so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me” (Hos. 13:6). “They have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God” (Jer. 3:21).

Whenever God would consume men with fire and burning, it proved to be a memorable event. In Numbers 11, the people remembered when the fire burned among them by naming the place after the event, “Taberah,” which means burning. Numbers 11:1-3, “And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched. And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.”

Let us take every lesson we can and learn from the example of those that were consumed, that we be not presumptuous like them! Let us remember these events, let them teach us, reprove us, correct us, instruct us, and save us! Let us make “known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:15-17).

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“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15). Every one of the seven lessons written to make up this first chapter, if they are transgressed it could mean sickness or death, therefore with this awful cost in mind make your choice. The scriptures are true, and, “in the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death” (Prov. 12:28).

Lesson One: Remembrance of God is remembrance of his holiness. Forgetting God is forgetting his holiness. Remembering an unholy god is not God, even if it is in his literal name. Finally, an immovable perception of his holiness will be a barrier to offending Him unto wrath and death. Lesson Two: Worship ONLY in the way which God specifically commands us.

Lesson Three: Priest in Christ, take heed. Resist any conclusion that God will accept your worship simply because it is like His commanded form of worship in other biblical instances and places.

Lesson Four: Remember, no such presence of happiness, peaceful worship, or even his presence is a validating characteristic that what is being done at that very moment is pleasing,

permissible, or holy to God.

Lesson Five: Seek God according to his word, as he commanded. This is the due order and this is your sanctity that makes you safe from wrath.

Lesson Six: You must learn the fear of the Lord by reading it in his word, and to this man it shall be well to prolong his days against death.

Lesson Seven: It is easy for men, while ignorant of Scripture, to think lightly of worship through  remembrance, thinking God is as lightly to be remembered as man, as events, and as unholy things.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou
and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

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CHAPTER II

The Pagan Origins of Christmas

To many, Xmas has become a day of fables with Santa Clause and his Reindeer. Is the Xmas tradition innocent or cute? Is it merely clever fiction and fables? What if it is an idolatrous way of worship? Do you think God would be pleased if I took an Islamic prayer rug, pointed it toward my church, and prayed the memorized prayer of Allah only replacing the name of Allah with Jesus Christ? Do you think God would be provoked to wrath? Do you think God would be pleased with worshipping him through an alien religious practice? Read the truth behind Xmas and reckon the facts! The Xmas tradition is a conglomeration of idolatrous worship practices. It is a fever of frivolous Heathenistic fun that will melt in wrath hotter than the Sun.

Dr. Scott Johnson’s article, in a concise form below,
sufficiently shows the Pagan and Roman roots to Xmas:

Roman Catholicism is a demonic blend of ancient pagan religions made to look like

Christianity.

1. The Origin of Christmas
2. Christmas customs are an evolution from times long before the Christian period — a descent from seasonal, pagan, religious, and national practices, hedged about with legend and tradition. Their seasonal connections with the pagan feasts of the winter solstice relate them to ancient times, when many of the earth’s inhabitant’s were sun worshipers. As the superstitious pagans observed the sun gradually moving south in the heavens and the days growing shorter, they believed the sun was departing never to return. So to give the winter sun god strength and to bring him back to life again, the sun gods were worshipped with elaborate rituals and ceremonies, including the building of great bonfires, decorating with great evergreen plants such as holly, ivy, and mistletoe. The winter solstice, then, was the shortest day of the year, when the sun seemingly stood still in the southern sky. Observing the slowdown in the sun’s southward movement, and its stop, the heathen believed that their petitions to the sun god had been successful. A time of unrestrained rejoicing and debauchery broke out, with revelry, drinking, and gluttonous feasts. Then, when the pagans observed the sun moving again northward, and a week later were able to determine that the days were growing longer, a new year was proclaimed.
3. — Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. It was not celebrated, commemorated, or observed, neither by the apostles nor in the apostolic  church — not for at least the first 300 years of church history!  History reveals that about 440 A.D., the Church at Jerusalem commenced the celebration of Christmas, following the lead of Roman Catholicism. It was sufficient for the early Christians that Jesus, their Lord and Savior, had been born. They praised God that Jesus Christ had, indeed, come in the flesh. The day and the time of His birth had no relevance to them, because Jesus was no longer physically on earth. He had returned to heaven. And it was the risen, exalted Christ to whom they looked, and that by faith — not a babe laid

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in a manger. Jesus Christ is no longer a baby; no longer the “Christ-child,” but the exalted Lord of all.

Hosea 4:6&7: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory  into shame.”

C, Seemingly forgotten is the essential role religion played in the world of ancient Rome. But the Emperor Constantine understood. By giving official status to Christianity, he brought internal peace to the Empire. A brilliant military commander, he also had the genius to recognize that after declaring Christianity the “state” religion (Constantine forced all the pagans of his empire to be baptized into the Roman Church), there was need for true union between paganism and Christianity. The  corrupt Roman Church was full of pagans now masquerading as Christians, all of which had to be pacified. What better way than to “Christianize” their pagan idolatries. Thus, the Babylonian mystery religions were introduced by Constantine beginning in 313 A.D. (and established a foothold with the holding of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.). The Constantine-led Roman Church was more than willing to adapt and adopt  pagan practices in order to make Christianity palatable to the heathen. Constantine used religion as a political tool, totally devoid of any true spirituality:

Pagan rituals and idols took on Christian names (e.g., Jesus Christ was presented as the Sun of Righteousness [Malachi 4:2] replacing the sun god, Horus, Tammuz, Sol Invictus ).

Pagan holidays were reclassified as Christian holidays (holy-days).

December 25th was the “Victory of the Sun-God” Festival in the pagan Babylonian world. In the ancient Roman Empire, the celebration can be traced back to the Roman festival Saturnalia, which honored Saturn, the harvest god, and Mithras, the god of light; both were celebrated during or shortly after the winter solstice (between the 17th and 23rd of December). To all ancient pagan civilizations, December 25th was the  birthday of the gods — the time of year when the days began to lengthen and man was  blessed with a “regeneration of nature.” Moreover, all of December 25th’s Babylonian and Roman festivals were characterized by 5-7 day celebration periods of unrestrained  promiscuous revelry and licentiousness.

In order to make Christianity palatable to the heathen, the Roman Church simply took Saturnalia, adopted it into Christianity, and then eventually many of the associated pagan symbols, forms, customs, and traditions were reinterpreted (or “Christianized”) in ways “acceptable” to lukewarm Christian faith and practice. (In fact, in 375 A.D., the Church of Rome under Pope Julius I merely announced that the birth date of Christ had been “discovered” to be December 25th, and was accepted as such by the “faithful.” The festival of Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithras could now be  celebrated as the birthday of Christ!) The pagans flocked into the Catholic places of worship, because they were still able to worship their old gods, but merely under different names. It mattered not to them whether they worshiped the Egyptian goddess mother and her child under the old names (Isis and Horus), or under the names of the  “Virgin Mary” and the “Christ-child.” Either way, it was the same old idol-religion (cf. 1 Thes. 1:8-10; 5:22 — Paul says to turn from idols, not rename them and Christianize them). Roman Catholicism’s Christmas Day is nothing but “baptized” paganism, having come along much too late to be part of “the faith once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

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1. Christianity had to undergo a transformation so that pagan Rome could “convert” without giving up its old beliefs and rituals. The actual effect was to paganize official Christianity. “‘A compound religion had been manufactured, of which … Christianity furnished the vocabulary and Paganism the doctrines and rights.’ The idolatry of the Roman world, though deposed from its ancient pre-eminence, had by no means been demolished. Instead of this, its pagan nakedness had been covered with the garb of a deformed Christianity” (W.E. Vine). Pagan customs involving vestments, candles, incense, images, and processions were all incorporated into church worship and continue today.

The following customs and traditions associated with Xmas all have pagan/heathen origins. (“Xmas” is the more preferable form for the day, since it at least leaves the name of our Savior out of the heathen observance.) Naturally, true Christians of the time would not keep these customs for such evil and perverse reasons, but the fact of their origins remain and should thereby be carefully considered by all who know and  love the Lord:

1. The blasphemous “Christ’s Mass” shortened to “Christ-mas” — The Roman Catholic “Christ’s Mass” is a special mass performed in celebration of Christ’s birth. In this mass, Jesus is considered both the priest and the victim, represented by the Catholic priest who offers Him as a sacrifice each time the mass is performed. In offering this “sacrifice,” the priest believes he has the power to change the bread and the wine of the Communion into Jesus’ literal flesh and blood, requiring the people to worship these elements as they do God Himself. A doctrine known as transubstantiation. This is obviously a denial of the gospel, and thereby, a false gospel (a re-doing of the sacrifice for sin — Hebrews 9:24-26: “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the  foundation of the world… Hebrews 9:12: “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal  redemption for us.” Yet, many who cry out all year long against the blasphemous Roman Catholic system, at year-end embrace Rome’s most blasphemous abomination of them all — Christmas!

2. Nativity Scenes

“Saint Francis of Assisi (A pagan Catholic) popularized the Christmas ‘crib’ or ‘creche’  in his celebration of the Nativity in Creccio, Italy, in 1223. Francis used wooden  figures of Mary, Joseph, the infant, sheep, shepherds, starting a tradition still popular to this day.” (Panati, p. 217).  — Nearly every form of pagan worship descended from the Babylonian mysteries, which focus attention on the “mother-goddess” and the  birth of her child. This was adapted to “Mary-Jesus” worship, which then easily accommodated the multitude of pagans “converted” to Christianity inside

Constantine’s Roman Catholic Church. If anyone were to erect statues or images of Mary and Joseph by themselves, many within Protestant circles would cry “Idolatry!” But at Xmas time, an image of a little baby is placed with the images of Mary and Joseph, and it’s called a “nativity scene.” Somehow, the baby Jesus statue “sanctifies”  the scene, and it is no longer considered idolatry!

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Exodus 20:4-5 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the  water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God…” Now even if you are not bowing down and  worshipping the nativity scene figurines, how do we get around the first part of the  commandment that tells us not to even make the images.

3. Christmas Tree (The sacred tree of the Winter-god) — Evergreen trees, because of their ability to remain green through-out the winter season when most other forms of vegetation are dormant, have long symbolized immortality, fertility, sexual potency,  and reproduction, and were often brought into homes and set up as idols. For ages, evergreen trees would be brought into the house during the winter as magic symbols of luck (Lucifer) and hope for a fruitful year to come. The five pointed star is a sacred symbol of Nimrod and also is a representation of the stars to which the ancient Chaldean astrologers looked for guidance.

The first decorating of an evergreen was done by pagans in honor of their god Adonis, who after being slain was brought to life by the serpent Aesculapius. The representation of the slain Adonis was a dead stump of a tree. Around this stump coiled the snake — Aesculapius, symbol of life restoring. From the roots of the dead tree, then comes forth another and different tree — an evergreen tree, symbolic to pagans of a god who cannot die! In Babylon, the evergreen tree came to represent the  rebirth/reincarnation of Nimrod as his new son (Sun), Tammuz. In Egypt, this god was worshiped in a palm tree as Baal-Tamar. (Heathen people in the land of Canaan also adopted tree worship, calling it the Asherah — a tree with its branches cut off was carved into a phallic symbol.) The fir tree was worshiped in Rome as the same new­born god, named Baal-Berith, who was restored to life by the same serpent. A feast  was held in honor of him on December 25th, observed as the day on which the god  reappeared on earth — he had been killed, and was “reborn” on that day, victorious over death! It was called the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.” Thus, the annual  custom of erecting and decorating evergreen trees was brought down to us through  the centuries by the pagan Roman Catholic Church — the paganism of Tammuz and  Baal, or the worship of the sun, mingled with the worship of Aesculapius the serpent.  Whether erected in private homes or in churches, decorated or not, the evergreen tree  is a glaring symbol of this false god.

Jeremiah 10:1-5: ^„Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the  people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the  workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”

4. Christmas Wreaths — In pagan mythology, evergreen means eternal life and a never-dying existence. Made from evergreens, Christmas wreaths were most frequently round, which symbolized the sun (just as do halos in most religious art). Hence, the round Xmas wreaths stand for an eternal sun and the circle of life. In addition, the round also represents the female sexual organ and is considered a fertility symbol.  Because of these pagan associations, the Christian church was initially hostile

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towards the use of wreaths and other evergreen derivatives. But in the same way it Christianized other pagan traditions, the church soon found a way to confer its own symbolic meanings. For example, the sharp pointed leaves of the “male” holly came to represent Christ’s crown of thorns and the red berries His blood, while the “female” ivy symbolized immortality (Sulgrave Manor, “A Tudor Christmas,” p. 6).

5. Mistletoe — The use of the mistletoe plant (which is poisonous to both man and animals) can be traced back to the ancient Druids. (The Druids were pagan Celtic priests who were considered magicians and wizards.) It represented the false “messiah,” considered by the Druids to be a divine branch that had dropped from heaven and grew upon a tree on earth. The mistletoe symbolized the reconciliation  between the gods and man. And since a kiss is the well known symbol of reconciliation, that is how “kissing under the mistletoe” became a custom — both were tokens of reconciliation. The mistletoe, being a sacred plant and a symbol of fertility, was also believed to contain certain magical powers. It was supposed to bring “good luck” and fertility, and even to protect from witchcraft the house in which it hung.

The practice of “kissing under the mistletoe” also had roots in the pagan celebrations of the Celtic Midsummer Eve ceremony. At the time the mistletoe was gathered, the  men would kiss each other as a display of their homosexuality. (The custom was later broadened to include both men and women.)

6. Santa Claus — Santa Claus or “Father Christmas” is a corruption of the Dutch “Sant Nikolaas.” (“Saint Nicholas” was the 4th century Catholic bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, who gave treats to children; he was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church, “regarded as a special friend and protector of children.” The red suit comes from the fact that Catholic bishops and cardinals in Italy wear red.) Santa Claus was also known as “Kriss Kringle,” a corruption of the German “Christ Kindl”– Christ Child. This has to be one of the most subtle of Satan’s blasphemies, yet most Christians are unaware of it.

Originally, the Santa Claus concept came from the pagan Egyptian god, Bes, a rotund,  gnome-like personage who was the patron of little children. Bes was said to live at the North Pole, working year-round to produce toys for children who had been good and obedient to their parents. In Dutch, he was called “Sinter Klaas.” Dutch settlers brought the custom to America. In Holland and other European countries, the original  Santa Claus was actually a grim personage who traversed the countryside, determined to find out who really had been “naughty or nice.” Those who had been acting up were  summarily switched. The association of Santa Claus with snow, reindeer, and the North Pole suggests Scandinavian or Norse traditions of the Yuletide season. (In Babylonia, also, the stag [reindeer] was a symbol of the mighty one, Nimrod. The symbolism of antlers worn on the head of a noble leader would demonstrate his prowess as a hunter, and thereby, influence people to follow him.)

Santa is the blasphemous substitute for God! He is routinely given supernatural  powers and divine attributes which only GOD has. Think about it. He is made out to

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be omniscient — he knows when every child sleeps, awakes, has been bad or good, and knows exactly what every child wants. He is made out to be omnipresent — on one night of the year he visits all the “good” children in the world and leaves them gifts, seemingly being everywhere at the same time. He is also made out to be omnipotent -­he has the power to give to each child exactly what each one wants. Moreover, Santa Claus is made out to be a sovereign judge — he answers to no one and no one has authority over him, and when he “comes to town,” he comes with a full bag of rewards for those whose behavior has been acceptable in his eyes.

Santa Claus has become one of the most popular and widely accepted and unopposed myths ever to be successfully interwoven into the fabric and framework of Christianity. It is a fact that Christ was born, and that truth should greatly rejoice the heart of every Christian. But the Santa Claus myth distorts the truth of Christ’s birth by subtly blending truth with the myth of Santa Claus. When Christian parents lie to  their children about Santa Claus, they are taking the attention of their children away from God and causing them to focus on a big man in a red suit with god-like qualities. All of this teaches the child to believe that, just like Santa, God can be pleased with  “good works,” done in order to earn His favor. Also, they teach that no matter how bad the child has been, he will still be rewarded by God — just as Santa never failed to bring gifts. Even in homes of professing Christians, Santa Claus has clearly displaced  Jesus in the awareness and affections of children, becoming the undisputed spirit,  symbol, and centerpiece of Christmas.

7. Christmas Eve — “Yule” is a Chaldean word meaning “infant.” Long before the coming of Christianity, the heathen Anglo-Saxons called the 25th of December “Yule  day” — in other words, “infant day” or “child’s day” — the day they celebrated the birth  of the false “messiah”! The night before “Yule day” was called “Mother night.” Today it is called “Christmas Eve.” And it wasn’t called “Mother night” after Mary, the mother of our Lord — “Mother night” was observed centuries before Jesus was born. Semiramis  (Nimrod’s wife) was the inspiration for “Mother night,” and “Child’s day” was the  supposed birthday of her son (Tammuz), the sun-god!
8. Yule Log — The Yule log was considered by the ancient Celts a sacred log to be used in their religious festivals during the winter solstice; the fire provided promises of good luck and long life. Each year’s Yule log had to be selected in the forest on Christmas Eve by the family using it, and could not be bought, or the superstitions associated with it would not apply. In Babylonian paganism, the log placed in the fireplace represented the dead Nimrod, and the tree which appeared the next morning (which today is called the “Christmas tree”) was Nimrod alive again (reincarnated) in his new son (sun), Tammuz. (Still today in some places, the Yule log is placed in the fireplace  on Christmas Eve, and the next morning there is a Christmas tree!)

Today’s Yule log tradition comes to us from Scandinavia, where the pagan sex-and-

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fertility god, Jule, was honored in a twelve-day celebration in December. A large, single log was kept with a fire against it for twelve days, and each day for twelve days a different sacrifice (many times human or animal) was offered. This is where we get the song (On the 12 days of Xmas my true love….) The period now counted as the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany was originally the twelve days of daily

sacrifices offered to the Yule log. (What, then, are we really doing when we send “Yuletide greetings”? Are we really honoring Christ by sending greetings in the name of a Scandinavian fertility god? These are the same customs being practiced today as in ancient paganism! Only the names have changed.)

9. Candles — Candles were lit by the ancient Babylonians in honor of their god, and his altars had candles on them. And as is well known, candles are also a major part of the ritualism of Roman Catholicism, which adopted the custom from heathenism. Candles approached the Yule log in ritual importance. Like the Yule log, they had to be a gift, never a purchase, and were lighted and extinguished only by the head of the household. Such candles stood burning steadily in the middle of the table, never to be moved or snuffed, lest death follow. The Yule candle, wreathed in greenery, was to burn through Christmas night until the sun rose or the Christmas service began  (Sulgrave Manor, “A Tudor Christmas,” p. 9). Obviously, candles should have no part in Christian worship, for nowhere in the New Testament is their use sanctioned.
10. Giving of Gifts — The tradition of exchanging gifts has nothing to do with a reenactment of the Magi giving gifts to Jesus, but has many superstitious, pagan origins instead. One prominent tradition was the Roman custom of exchanging food, trinkets, candles, or statutes of gods during the mid-winter Kalends (the first day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar). This custom was transferred to December 25th by the Roman Church in keeping with the Saturnalian festival and in celebration of the benevolent St. Nicholas. [Is it not the height of ridiculousness to claim that giving one another presents properly celebrates Jesus’ “birthday” (not that there is anything necessarily wrong in giving each other presents)? But what are we giving Him, if indeed we are specifically celebrating His incarnation?]
11. Christmas Goose — The “Christmas goose” and “Christmas cakes” were both used in the worship of the Babylonian “messiah.” The goose was considered to be sacred in many ancient lands, such as Rome, Asia Minor, India, and Chaldea. In Egypt, the goose was a symbol for a child, ready to die! In other words, a symbol of the pagan “messiah,” ready to give his life (supposedly) for the world. This is obviously a satanic mockery of the truth.
12. Christmas Ham — Hogs were slaughtered and the eating of the carcass was one of the central festivities of the Saturnalia. Each man would offer a pig as a sacrifice because superstition held that a boar had killed the sun deity Adonis. Hence, the tradition of the Christmas ham on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

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13. Christmas Stocking — According to tradition, a poor widower of Myra, Turkey, had three daughters, for whom he could not provide a dowry. On Xmas-Eve, “Saint Nicholas” threw three bags of gold down the chimney, thereby saving the daughters from having to enter into prostitution. One bag rolled into a shoe, and the others fell into some stockings that had been hung to dry by the fire. Hence, the beginning of the tradition of the “Christmas stocking” or “boot.”
14. Christmas Cards — The first British Xmas card can be dated back to 1843. The first cards featured pictures of dead birds! Evidently, the popularity of hunting robin and wren on Christmas Day made the dead bird image an appropriate one for

“holiday” cards. Often the text of the cards would also have a morbid tone. Later, the cards displayed dancing insects, playful children, pink-cheeked young women, and festively decorated Christmas trees. The first actual Xmas cards were really Valentine’s Day cards (with different messages) sent in December. Mass production of Xmas cards in the United States can be traced back to 1875. Initially, the manufacturers thought of Xmas cards as a sideline to their already successful business in playing cards. But the “tradition” of sending cards soon caught on, leading to a very profitable business by itself.

15. Christmas Carols — What do you suppose the reaction would be by a church’s leaders if its pastor were to propose that the following hymns be introduced into the church to commemorate the birth of Christ? After all, the tunes are quite lovely. Hymn #1 — A hymn by a Unitarian minister (Unitarians reject the Trinity and full deity of Christ) that does not mention Jesus Christ and reflects the liberal social gospel theology of the 19th century.

Hymn #2 — A hymn by an American Episcopal priest, the fourth verse of which

teaches Roman Catholic superstition about Christ coming to be born in people during the Advent season.

Hymn #3 — A song, the words by an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, the music by a Roman Catholic schoolteacher, containing the Roman Catholic superstition about halos emanating from holy people, with no gospel message.

Perhaps you would expect the church’s leaders to be very upset. It might surprise you to learn that they were upset when they suspected that the pastor might somehow prevent them from singing them! You see, those three hymns were already in the church’s hymnals! The pastor did not have to introduce them. The three theologically incorrect “Christmas carols” referred to above are It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and Silent Night. (See the sub-report for an evaluation of some of the most popular Xmas carols found in church hymnals today.)

1. European Xmas Traditions — In the early days of Christianity, as it moved north

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and west into Europe, many pagan celebrations were encountered. For example, in the late-6th century in England, the Angles and Saxons were found celebrating Yule. The Christian evangelists thought they would fail in any attempt to rival, suppress, or stamp out such long held customs, so they simply adopted popular dates for their own “special rituals and hallowed services.” In other words, it was easier to establish a festival celebrating the birth of Christ if it conveniently coincided with an existing popular pagan feast day. In this way, the pagan peoples (albeit potential converts to Christianity) could continue with their usual celebrations at this time of year, but the reason for the merrymaking could be redefined and attributed to Christ’s birth rather than to any pagan rituals. As paganism eventually died out and Christianity became widespread, Christmas became increasingly more associated with its religious foundations than any others (Sulgrave Manor, “A Tudor Christmas,” p. 2).

It was left to the Puritans to denounce everything. For them, Christmas was rightfully part popish, part pagan, and was forbidden to be kept as a holiday or feast day. The attack began in 1644 when the Puritans controlled the Parliament; December 25th was changed to a Fast Day. By 1647, even the Fast Day was abolished as a relic of superstition, synonymous with the Church of Rome. No observation on December 25th was any longer permitted, but the day was to be observed as a normal market-day. Christmas was accurately depicted by such names as the Profane Man’s Ranting Day, the Superstitious Man’s Idol Day, the Papist’s Massing Day, the Old Heathen’s Feasting Day, the Multitude’s Idle Day, and Satan — that Adversary’s — Working Day. In those days, any Christmas celebrations would be broken up by troops, who would tear down decorations and arrest anyone holding a service. Some who celebrated it in Europe were also thrown into prison. Because of the riots that broke out following the banning of Christmas, the celebrations and revelry were restored in 1660 by King Charles II, a Roman Catholic (Sulgrave Manor, “A Tudor Christmas,” p. 3).

1. American Xmas Traditions — America’s settlers (the “founding fathers” of so-called “Protestant America”) rightfully considered Christmas a “popish” holiday. In fact, it was only in the early 1800s that several founding members of the New York Historical Society “invented” Christmas. Before then, it was illegal in colonial Massachusetts to even take December 25th off work. Christmas was forbidden as “unseemly to ye spiritual welfare of ye community.” (It was banned in Massachusetts in 1659, and this law remained on the books for 22 years. In Boston, public schools stayed open on December 25th until as late as 1870!) It wasn’t until 1836 that any state declared Christmas a holiday (Alabama), and then there were no more state declarations until the Civil War. It was not until 1885 that all federal workers were given Christmas Day off. The so-called Xmas customs and traditions were later concocted more for commercial purposes than for religious.

Quoting from a 12/23/83 USA TODAY article about Christmas: “A broad element of English Christianity still considered Christmas celebration a pagan blasphemy. The

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Puritans, Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Calvinists and other denominations brought this opposition to early New England and strong opposition to the holiday lasted in America until the middle of the 18th century.” Henry Ward Beecher, a Congregationalist, wrote in 1874 of his New England boyhood:

“To me Christmas is a foreign day, and I shall die so. When I was a boy I wondered what Christmas was. I knew there was such a time, because we had an Episcopal church in our town, and I saw them dressing it with evergreens, and wondered what they were taking the woods in the church for; but I got no satisfactory explanation. A little later I understood it was a Romish institution, kept by the Romish Church” – Dr. Scott Johnson.

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Chapter III

Counterfeit Christianity

Christmas is a Feast of False Christianity

“And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought
them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving
tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar
before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.
And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace
offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (Exodus
32:3-6).

Is Satan‟s elusive scheme Xmas alone? Xmas is the tip of the iceberg. Only the tip of an iceberg breaks forth above the surface of the water while underneath there is an incredible mass of ice. A wise sailor in icy seas perceives the danger of a lingering tip of ice. He recognizes there is an enormous mass of ice below the surface of water. What breaks forth to our attention is the Xmas celebration, however, there is so great a mass of further rebellion against God that took place before Xmas did even break forth. There is a Trojan Horse of Satan that has long since been received by the once fortified walls of Christianity. Though a remnant remains, professing Christianity was sacked and conquered ages ago, and she now bears the festival and fruit of Xmas.

In Exodus 32 Aaron proclaims a feast saying, “To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:5-6). Does this sound right to you? The Israelites kept this feast by eating and drinking, arising and playing. The thrice-holy God of the universe has never given a commandment to keep a feast by playing. Likewise God has never given the commandment to keep a feast, festival, holy day, or holiday wherein children play with toys, men play with their gifts like boys, families sing songs with idolatrous joys, and fables drown godliness with incessant, extravagant noise. Xmas is a feast of rebellion, yet still this is the tip of the iceberg.

“Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and
drink, and rose up to play” (1 Corinthians 10:7).

Aaron proclaimed this feast in Exodus 32:5-6 and it was even called a “feast to the LORD” but this was after masses of the people had already fallen into blatant idolatry. This feast was proclaimed after the people had made a golden calf. Likewise, Xmas is called a “feast to the LORD,” and this feast is after the masses did make for themselves a counterfeit Christianity. The Israelites called the golden calf their God. Not just any God, they called the calf the God of Israel, the God of their fathers, the same God that delivered them from Egyptian bondage! “And all the people brake off the golden earrings

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which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:3-6). This feast was called as a result of their complete rebellion against the true God. Likewise it is today! False Christianity has proclaimed an Xmas feast which is a fruit of counterfeit Christianity.

Prestigious congregations of Christians may condemn Roman Idolatry, paramount bounds may have been accomplished in time past, but Roman fingerprints are all over this generation, and the children of “Christianity” have about followed their ways.

Their holy days are “ours,” and the way of the Heathen is Christ‘s baby shower! What heresy has crept in through subtle satanic power!

Preceding this, though Xmas is wrong, professing Christianity fell headlong.

Sunday attendance became the priest‘s confessional,

Baptism as the salvific, eternally securing ritual,

Pastors preach Christ crucified while living in sin habitual!

This horrendous revelry of playing in Exodus 32 was eventually interrupted by Moses. The idolatry happened in Moses’ absence on the Mount of God (Ex. 32:1). He was receiving instructions of all the holy precautions that must be taken to survive the grave and supreme privilege of God dwelling among them. The Tabernacle was like the Temple, and concerning this awesome and fearful privilege, King Solomon said it well: “But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built” (2 Chron. 6:18)! Moses, in a similar position as Solomon, surely was filled with wonder, thoughts that would gasp, “what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him” (Psalm 8:4)? And, “who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath” (Psalm 90:11).

This privilege is a responsibility, and for God to be near there is immediate, holy accountability. Moses, being so near to God, personally understood the immediate consequences of sin and the Lord’s reactions to rebellious men. Moses came to know the power of God‘s anger when, as the people fell into idolatry, they scarcely escaped it. The Lord intended to consume the whole congregation and begin a line starting with Moses alone. Doubtlessly the Israelites reached a population of over a million, and not all the Israelites participated in this reveling; nevertheless, justice did tempt God to kill every one of them! This was the purity of righteous anger against evil men that God alone does possess. God told Moses, “let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation” (Ex. 32:10).

At the words, “let me alone.” With possible destruction seconds from descending upon the Israelites because of the “wrath waxed hot,” no one would dare to stand in the gap except the Holy Ghost constrained it. In such a time, nothing but Holy Ghost inspired, loving, and earnest intercession could avail. Under this seal Moses pled for forgiveness, he cried to God for pardon, “and the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people” (Ex. 32:14). Even Elijah did not go out at the sound of

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the fire (1 Kings 19:11-12), but Moses in the grace of God did stand against this fire, to God be the glory. God did provide for us a window of revelation to understand the mysteries of justice, wrath, and the scarcity of salvation. As it is written, “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear” (1 Peter 4:18)?

Moses came down from the Mount with the fire of God’s wrath engraved in his mind. Moses was surely preparing his mind to do the stern requirement of righteous reproof, successfully overcome the difficulty of dealing with the unrepentant, and have the stedfastness to see obedience completed in full by dispensing mercy and mercilessness where necessary. With a heavy heart he approached the

congregation. Their wickedness was so boisterously sounded abroad that it reached the ears of Moses while the Israelites were still out of sight. There was so much noise that Joshua thought there was “war in the camp” (Ex. 32:17). Moses corrected him saying, it is “the noise of them that sing do I hear” (Ex. 32:18).

Are You Playing in Aaron’s Feast?

“And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made
proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early
on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and
the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:5-6).

It was the imagination of their own heart to eat, drink, and rise up to play. Carnality crosses culture and religion, and in all are like imaginations, thus Xmas has become a day of remembrance for all religions (Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism) and cultures (Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western) with a remnant excluded in the USA. If Xmas is so precious to the carnal mind, and the carnal mind is at enmity against God, then God is the enemy of Xmas whether it bears his name or not. If the world could build an altar of worship to gain the blessing of a false god, the sacrifice would be outward and the blessing would be prosperity. Covetous Christianity worships by playing with presents; such is the joy of Satan Santa, not the Lord Jesus. The baby child Jesus will remember such blasphemy on the day of his vengeance, returning in flaming abhorrence of this present world (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

Santa’s ^„Ho, Ho, Ho’ will be suffocated with breathless fear and woe when the Lord Christ makes his skyline entrance in flaming fire. Cool, painless coal and a naughty toddler’s frown will not be the gravity of his wrath. The kings of the earth will burn hotter than fossil fuels in the fires of Jesus’ vengeance. No eyes will trace the skyline for some idolatrous Santa sleigh; a True Holy Night will be made known when every eye will see Jesus.

In the very celebration of Xmas men celebrate life through materialism and physical prosperity. Physical prosperity is one of the greatest hindrances to spiritual prosperity. Christ’s birth makes impossible the former and establishes the latter. On Xmas “the wicked boasteth of his heart‟s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.” (Psalm 10:3). It is the day of blessings to the

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covetous, but the Lord abhors the covetous. It is the day of wicked men boasting of their heart’s desire, but Jesus commanded:

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:19-24).

It is no wonder most of America has graduated from Santa to a prosperity gospel “jesus,” who is not Jesus. Woe to the American dream! December 25^th has become a covetous celebration of covetous Christianity. This Santa brings people into the bondage of storing up treasures on earth, and this is the center piece of laughter on “the day of their lord’s birth.”

Men love to celebrate their birthdays, but saints love their death days. Mothers rejoice in a child born in the flesh while holy angels rejoice in children born again in the Spirit. If God were to celebrate when his Son was born, it would be in a manner that advances the cause of men recognizing they must die and be born again! We are born friends of this world and must be born-again friends of God, for, “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Is it a marvel to you that this world is so wicked, so anti-God and anti-righteousness, that if you are a friend of this world you are an enemy of God? Jesus said, “marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).

We are born into a sinful nature but God recreates into a “divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). Jesus Christ lives, and “as many as received him, to them gave he power to be come the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). True belief has the benefits of the second birth, and God turns the fleshly into spiritual, replacing self-will with God’s will. Why a spiritual birth? “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8). Has God put his love within thine heart? Is this your song?

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought.
I have light in my soul for which long I have sought,
Since Jesus came into my heart!

I have ceased from my wandering and going astray.
And my sins, which were many, are all washed away,
Since Jesus came into my heart!

(Since Jesus Came into My Heart)

If the love of God is in your heart, the world is not! As it is written, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but

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is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17).

It is apparent that the world and God define and consider life to be two different things. The only entrance into the Kingdom of God is a complete and total death to all that is considered life in this world. Simultaneously one is born again into all that is considered life according to Heaven. Did you know Satan is called “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4)? If God were to celebrate the birth of his Son he would commemorate the death of this world, Satan’s Kingdom, and you (your flesh). Therefore the gospel is presented in a manner that makes evident the poignant necessity of death. Xmas is anti-death, anti-gospel, and anti-cross, therefore it is anti-Christ. Xmas is a planting of thorns choking out the truth that men must die to live. Such thorns are deceitful riches, destructive lusts of covetous play, and the cares of this life (Mark 4:19). God curses the covetous and Xmas blesses them. Xmas is a feast of Satan that entangles men from attending the feast of the Lord (Luke 14:16-24). A love and attachment to this present life is rebellion against God, a love of sin, and even a love of Satan.

“But woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! For ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Lk. 6:24-26). You may still justify yourself for celebrating Xmas, but God knows your heart, “ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Lk. 16:15).

Eternal life is an utter death to this present life. Attachments to this present life are chains of the devil, a prison of iniquity, and hellish lusts of spiritual death. It is easy for a man to consider his life to consist of the things he possess‟. Jesus said, “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment” (Matt. 6:25)? And again, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man‘s life consisteth not in the  abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:15-21). The cross is a symbol of utter crucifixion of all that is considered life to the world, and that is “in the abundance of things he possesseth.” Xmas is a reveling in a false perception of life, a multiplying of possessions, wicked obsessions. It is ease and merrymaking provoking God to suddenly require your soul!

Read of another rich man, whom sincerely sought eternal life but was hindered because of what he owned “for he had great possessions.” This man sought out Jesus Christ with the earnestness that he came running, threw himself on his knees, and asked the question “what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” An amazing scene! It is a wonder that men think they can get eternal life today with no cost but kneeling and prayer. O, let us learn from this rich man.

“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto

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him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:17-25).

This rich man loved his life, his possessions, and his way instead of God. But how can a man cease from loving all of this? The gospel is that you must have such a revelation of Jesus Christ that you come to hate your life, finding Christ a worthy treasure, wherein, “for joy thereof” you forsake all to follow and have him.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Matthew 13:44-46).

Costless and cross-less Christianity tramples the pearls of God’s grace and love, which is in Jesus; it is false Christianity and spiritual idolatry. We are born into the Kingdom of Satan who has his reign of power and darkness in our flesh, we must be reborn into the Kingdom of God through a crucifixion of our flesh, and this is freedom from our Egypt (Ephesians 2:1-3). “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24).

There is no excuse for cross-less Christianity. There is no excuse or substitute besides losing your life, forsaking all in your heart, and utter whole-hearted surrender. It is not a coincidence that when God gives a parable in Luke 14 it is covetousness and an attachment to morally neutral things, the things that a man would consider his life, that hinder men from the “Great Supper” of eternal life. Please read of their excuses: Luke 14:15-24 “And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse.

The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and

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the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” If you will not see the treasure of God’s way, salvation, and Son, others of a more humble stature than you will surely respond without excuse. Perhaps it is the others who are not so blinded by great possessions, joys, and temporary gladness in this present Satanic Kingdom. As well, those not so blinded with Xmas Christianity. Xmas is the sabbath of Satan, a day of rest for reprobation.

Is not God worthy to be loved infinitely beyond all? In the same chapter Jesus says, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). What is your life, unconverted man? To be saved you must hate it, lose it, and it must be utterly crucified! “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24). Eternal life is by a cross, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13).

Professing Christian, faith is to forsake all fleshly value and kin, to be born of Another, eternal life to win. Repentance is a hating of your life because faith reveals the vanity and gross enmity of fleshly life. Jesus said to the “great multitudes” in Luke 14:25-26, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Men love these morally neutral things at the expense and transgression of righteousness. Christ was never seeking unity of family, prosperity, or even comfort at the expense of righteousness. It is no coincidence that Xmas has taken these morally neutral things and often made them the pinnacle importance in Xmas. The family is said to be the chief concern for those who celebrate Xmas. They say it is just about the family, and if you cease from celebrating Xmas you are forsaking the most important family time of the year. Even the family is a snare to following Christ. All that consists of your life as an unconverted, once-born man is a snare. The gospel is best given by the invitation of the cross, all mankind sharing in Jesus’ crucifixion. Again I say, Xmas is anti-cross and therefore anti-Christ. Any spirituality that is totally ignorant of these truths or any celebration that is not congruent with them is no day of worship to God. Xmas conveniently strengthens the bands that must be broken. Naturally all of society gravitates in this same effort for the world is Satan’s Kingdom.

In Mark 8, Satan and Peter did not want Christ to lose his life. Today, Satan and “saint Santa” do not want you to lose the day of jubilee in Counterfeit Christianity, namely XMAS. There is no unity between the desires of men and God. God can be a friend with men when they are crucified men, but until then they are satanic men. “The things that be of men” are the means of Satan to work through sin. In this state Peter did hear the sharpness of the Savior when he said: “Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men” (Mark 8:33). The Lord then preached a sermon to solidify this event – do you understand it yet?

“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel‟s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore

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shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:34-38).

Satan loves the things of men, even the prosperity of men, to the end that their souls would be damned. You must keep an unregretful love to God in heaven (your treasure must be in heaven) and because of this, you mustn’t look back to the Sodom of this world as God is coming to destroy it with fires of judgment. In so doing you will take heed to your soul and fulfill the commandment of Jesus to the saving of your life. As it is written, and I ask you, do you “Remember Lot‘s wife?” Jesus spoke this in the context of Luke 17:24-36. Herein are the earthly events in oblivion as Christ returns, with a strong exhortation to be among the saved that don’t make the mistake of Lot’s wife. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” and if your heart is in heaven then you are looking thereto for Christ, for righteousness, for relationship, and for present/future resurrection power.

Luke 17:24-36

For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot‘s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Here is the account of Lot’s escape and the terrible demise of Lot’s wife, likewise is the coming judgment against this world:

Genesis 19:15-28

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning

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this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

Behold this world will burn in a similar sense, and all men will undergo a similar spiritual trial:

2 Peter 3:9-14

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Do you love God? …then don’t look back!

This Xmas feast of Aaron is playing, yet still there is a golden calf intact

and glaring, and it is the dictator of this rebellious “worship.”

Grind the Golden Calf

“And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the
calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of
his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they
had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon
the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it” (Ex. 32:19-20).

“And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf!” Is Xmas wicked? Yes! Truly, we must cease from dancing, playing in a false feast, and this noisy adultery and revelry, but how much more must we cease from idolatry! This is my plea, the dancing don’t merely see, look to the calf which wrought the feast for thee, it must be ground else thou wilt perpetually be bound, for its dictations are all around. Yea, there would be no Aaron-ic feast without the golden calf. As Moses

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“took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire,” even so, let it be for us today! Upon the wings of the Spirit our lamentations do fly, and if the reader caught a glimpse with his eye, this petition is the record of our cry, that God would expose false Christianity as a lie, for this we plead and are willing to die. This burden and plight has pressed pen to write, in this paper contains my burdens and reins, that God would light a fire a-blaze, and burn this calf to men’s amaze!

Though there is physical idolatry in Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy, I am writing to Protestants, Evangelicals, Anabaptists, and the like. I write to all those who profess to believe in Christ. You hypocrites! It is easy to disdain a golden calf, but an unbiblical, self-created, self-defined, and self-suited god is an idol in your heart. It is a god that does not exist! This is a graven image formed by the fires of opinion and misinterpretation.

Those who are physical idolaters have a spiritual appetite and diet that is consistent with spiritual idolaters. Number the lusts that cause a people to reject God for physical idolatry, and you can count on the same lusts as motivators to reject God for spiritual idolatry. The westernized, modern man commonly deems physical idolatry to be savage, tribal, and expired. Most judge themselves to be totally untouchable by it. In the name of education or civilization they excuse themselves from the savage inferiority of physical idolatry. Such men may not worship a golden calf, yet all the while perfectly follow all the tenants, ways, and deeds of the physical idolaters. You can be a scholar in their religion only you deem your eye to be clean because you have no golden calf. Truly, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits” (Proverbs 16:2).

In Exodus 32 the Israelites rejected God and worshiped a golden calf. One in our generation, who does not know the content of this historical event, may think the Israelites returned to the Egyptian religion or some other major religion in the area. Perhaps they were following an Egyptian calf worshipping religion and the calf’s name was one of the Egyptian gods. Perhaps the calf’s name was one of the surrounding lands’ idolatrous gods. This was not the form of the Israelite rebellion. They made a golden calf and called it the Lord. Not only this, it was the lord calf that was worshiped for bringing them out of Egyptian bondage by a great deliverance through the Red Sea. It had the name and famous deeds of the Lord. Not just any famous deeds, but the very deeds that are synonymous with their salvation. These very deeds are a type and shadow of our salvation today (1 Cor. 10). It was the name and fame of God linked with their gospel! Why this is significant, I will soon tell.

God made a name for himself and the people quickly took his Great Name and gave it to a golden calf that was created by the hands of man. Surely, knowing the anti-God nature of man, their created god would not have the righteous laws of the true Lord. They are happy to keep the merciful redemptive salvation of Egypt, his name and his fame, only they will replace all Cod‟s laws to be according to their pleasures in sin. Coincidently this idol gave credence to their sins as a form of worship to the lord; therefore they ate, drank, and arose to play. Likewise this is the subtle form of spiritual idolatry that false Christianity has adopted. Xmas is but a proclaimed feast and worship festival of this false religion, and furthermore, this golden calf dictates laws, commands, and obedience according to self-willed evil lusts. The holy Lord God of the bible is worshiped after the manner of the heathen; the way of the calf-lord is entertainment, luxury, and possessions, or perhaps family, friends, and respect. This false god gives credence to their own desires and lusts, and all the while they worship this idol for bringing them out of the bondage of sin (our Egypt). They have left Egypt, yet all the while Egypt is in their hearts, and they

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wish to live as Egyptians in the Promised Land. If there is a false god of Christianity, then it is worshipped in the name of Jesus for bringing men out of the bondage and penalty of sin, he is called the God of ancient godly men, but in religion they celebrate salvation by living in sin. They proclaim freedom as forgiveness giving excuse to live in self will and pleasure. Freedom because Jesus died unto sin for men, that they might live in sin the world to win. They glory in a lie! Oh, with tears I write, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Gal. 6:14). Blessed be God, he has forbidden it!

The golden calf religion of the west is Christian idolatry, though Christ‟s name they do confess. They wear a kind of religious dress but their faith is an un-saving, counterfeit kind. False faith and counterfeit Christianity are evidenced by their fruits. Jesus said, “ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:16-20). What fruits? Many people think saving fruit of true faith is an open confession that Jesus is Lord. Is it possible that Jesus could be the Lord of a corrupt tree, the seed, stem, and vine of evil fruits? No, he is not the worker, owner, and possessor of such a man or religion. That is a self-defeating confession. If he is Lord then his will is done! The fruits of the Spirit are God-defined, and they are: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” “goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Gal. 5:22-23, Eph. 5:9). Fruits are evidences of the faith, and Jesus defined the boundaries of his Lordship, hear ye him when he said: “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say” (Luke 6:46)? This “Lord, Lord,” is a contradiction, a lie, and an insincere confession!

As the Israelites made a golden calf, and called it the Lord, so people today say to Christ, “Lord, Lord,” but what fruits do they have? Do you do what he says? You may believe Jesus exists, you may call him Lord, but Jesus said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

Matthew 7:21-27

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

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“Lord, Lord, I am sorry I got caught, I am sorry my deeds are wrong,

But Jesus‟ atonement is my Sunday song and to him I know I do belong.”

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NO! Repent, for regeneration the Son of God was sent!

Such Sunday singers and tithe bringers,

Church members of all ages and genders,

Examine your fruits not your Sunday suits.

At the altar you plead, the bible you daily read,

And you thank God for food and shelter – but do you know your need?

Jesus purchased sinners and pronounced them freed,

Therefore obeying the Word of God is a Christian‟s minute by minute deed!

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This hour may be a cloudless sky, men may now have a sunny time, but judgment can come in a single hour. A sandy foundation renders the most protective, luxurious, and profitable house useless. Two men, like two houses, will be tried at Judgment Day. Both men hear the sayings of Jesus, but only one does them. This one characteristic separates the two men. Thus, whatever your faith or confession, though you abide under an illusion of safety, though you may think you will be sheltered from the storm of Judgment Day, if you do not obey the word of God you will perish. You may confess Jesus as your Lord and have an earnest assurance that you have faith, but if your faith does not move you to hear the sayings of Christ [the bible] and do them, your faith is not of the saving, counterfeit kind. Is your faith and Christianity genuine? O readers, in this chapter please “examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates [or fail the test]? Study the scriptures presented, and test your faith by the word of God. A stubborn unwillingness to be introspective will be your greatest evil. A man can be so bound in pride that, though they are deceived, they cannot even entertain the possibility of deception. False assurance is their damnable regression, and they find repentance to be a depression. On the contrary, “godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Cor. 7:10).

Come now, you who judge yourself innocent because you follow the masses, do you know that the majority is usually wrong? The most who say “Lord, Lord” are a satanic throng. Few find, and ever found life in every generation through time. Eight were saved in the days of Noah, while (arguably) millions perished at the worldwide flood? Therefore Jesus said, “enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13-14). Don’t trust in numbers! Multitudes are always in deception marching in a broad-way band of procession, waving a banner of Christian profession and following generations past who had a sinful religious obsession. False prophets did always beguile the masses, therefore “beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15).

Languish in your sin you’re a rotting soul, and you will be covered in carnivorous fowls to feast on your rottenness like ravening wolves. As corpses attract vultures, so sinners attract false prophets. False prophets feed on the flesh of men in their false religion. You must understand that they are commissioned by Satan to make you a deceptive, counterfeit religion, and God will judge you as a spiritual idolater, a golden calf worshipper, and one worthy of eternal torture. A man of God, beholding

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this madness, would surely be staggered in emotion and pressed to make some kind of interruptive commotion, and so scare these feverish, feasting false prophet carnivorous fowls.

Moses succeeded in intercession to stay the fire of God’s wrath and came down from Mount Sinai with the Old Covenant in hand. Christ, for the purpose of intercession, came down from heaven with the New Covenant to establish and demand. Christ is the Prophet like unto Moses who is wholly in between the fire of his almighty wrath bearing the good news of an able escape. Moses went back up into the Mount to obtain a pardon for the people with an attempted self-sacrificial atonement. Jesus ascended back to heaven in atoning success. Moses found the people at his first coming in utter deception and idolatry, Christ found his people in terrible spiritual idolatry. Pharisaical Judaism is the golden calf of spiritual idolatry that the Prophet like unto Moses exposed, condemned, and grinded to powder when he came down from heaven. Let us search the scriptures to behold the attributes of this golden calf that we may have eyes to see the Sermon on the Mount for you and me.

“He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:10-11).

Have you ever imagined what it would have been like in Jesus’ generation where Satan’s crafty devices were ruling and governing the established religion of Judaism? Satan did not merely disguise himself as an angel of light to deceive one individual, but he clothed himself in the entire religion of Judaism. It was as if the hands and feet of Satan were Jewish “pastors.” Furthermore, upon their lips and as a seeming justification of their actions was the Holy Scriptures. How hardly would one be able to escape such a widespread delusion when these “pastors” season their teachings with “scriptural” justification?

It is significant that Jesus and John the Baptist were not educated in the Pharisaical “Seminaries;” they had a much different school of God. Their curriculum included the wilderness and their graduating class was one in number. The book of study was so simple a babe may know it, but too deep solely the Spirit can show it (1 Cor. 2:10). God’s Prophets were not the pride of the Jewish proselytes nor the prime pupil of their Rabbinic riddles, these men were strangers from the wilderness whose school was so humble it was a stumbling block and offence. To make manifest a deception that has fastened its death grip on an entire society and generation, one must steadfastly remember what “is written.” You must know what is written well enough to refute the sermons of Satan, whose rhetorical devices are as numerous as a locust plague, whose only appetite is the vineyard and planting of the Lord. All Satan’s fair speeches and scriptural gymnastics can only be resisted by a somber, courageous, unyielding wielding of, “it is written again” (Matthew 4:7)!

In Jesus’ day there were many traditions and denominations of men, yet he wasn’t a Pharisee, Sadducee, Zealot, or Herodian. All of these sects and beliefs were divided against each other, but when Jesus came in the way of righteousness they all united against Him. How did Jesus respond to such contention and perplexity, and how should we respond today? Jesus responded, “it is written” (Mark 9:13), “have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God” (Matt. 22:31), “is it not written” (Mark 11:17), “have ye never read” (Mark 2:25), “ye do err, not knowing the scripture, nor the power of God” (Matt. 22:29), and “it is written again” (Matt. 4:7).

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Salvation by a Sword

“Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.”

The Lord Jesus was the prophet like unto Moses. Jesus came to the Jews like Moses came down from Mount Sinai. They came with judgment and a call to salvation. Look at the nature of their call to salvation, the cry of mercy before judgment, the ark of escape before wrath. Look how Moses contradicted this wave of idolatry when he came down from the Mount and ponder this: if Moses had such a contradiction, and likewise Christ had such a contradiction, what of your witness of Christ to this adulterous, wicked, playing generation? Moses barely pacified the wrath of God through intercession…

“Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side?
let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together
unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every
man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the
camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every
man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses:
and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had
said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son,
and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.”

Will you, like Aaron, proclaim a feast of the Lord? Or will you rather be like Moses: bold as a lion and valiant for the truth in name of God? Be a true witness of Christ even if it costs you the life of your family! If you have no boldness at all in this matter you are unrighteous, as it is written in Proverbs 28:1, “the righteous are bold as a lion.”

Matthew Henry does notably comment:

“Now Moses clad himself with zeal as with a robe, and summoned all those to appear forthwith that were on God’s side, against the golden calf. He does not proclaim, as Jehu, “Who is on my side (2 Ki. 9:32), to avenge the indignity done to me?” but, Who is on the Lord‟s side? It was God’s cause that he espoused against the evil-doers, Ps. 94:16. Note, First, There are two great interests on foot in the world, with the one or the other of which all the children of men are siding. The interest of sin and wickedness is the devil’s interest, and all wicked people side with that interest; the interest of truth and holiness is God’s interest, with which all godly people side; and it is a case that will not admit a neutrality. Secondly, It concerns us all to enquire whether we are on the Lord’s side or not. Thirdly, Those who are on his side are comparatively but few, and sometimes seem fewer than really they are. Fourthly, God does sometimes call out those that are on his side to appear for him, as witnesses, as soldiers, as intercessors.

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[2.] How they were commissioned for this service (v. 27): Slay every man his brother, that is, “Slay all those that you know to have been active for the making and worshipping of the golden calf, though they were your own nearest relations, or dearest friends.‟‟ The crime was committed publicly, the Levites saw who of their acquaintance were concerned in it, and therefore needed no other direction than their own knowledge whom to slay. And probably the greatest part of those that were guilty were known, and known to be so, by some or other of the Levites who were employed in the execution. Yet, it should seem, they were to slay those only whom they found abroad in the streets of the camp; for it might be hoped that those who had retired into their tents were ashamed of what they had done, and were upon their knees, repenting.

Those are marked for ruin who persist in sin, and are not ashamed of the abominations they have committed, Jer. 8:12. But how durst the Levites encounter so great a body, who probably were much  enraged by the burning of their calf? It is easy to account for this; a sense of guilt disheartened the delinquents, and a divine commission animated the executioners. And one thing that put life into them was that Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, that he may bestow a blessing upon you, thereby intimating to them that they now stood fair for preferment and that, if they would but signalize themselves upon this occasion, it would be construed into such a consecration of themselves to God, and to his service, as would put upon their tribe a perpetual honour. Those that consecrate themselves to the Lord he will set apart for himself. Those that do the duty shall have the dignity; and, if we do signal services for God, he will bestow especial blessings upon us.” (Matthew Henry Commentary)³

“Who is on the Lord‘s side,” was cried aloud,

From the reveling masses the meek left the proud.

Those who had ears to hear did hear salvation‘s calling sound,

The Levites did leave their sin and gather around.

They came to the Lord and forgiveness was granted,

Their revelry was over-passed, though for the golden calf they had chanted.

Christ came preaching “come,” he left preaching “go,”

Likewise this divine commission did apprehend these saints to count their family a foe.

Their sword was taken from their side; it was raised for God as their family tearfully cried.

Blood was mercilessly shed and wrath was pacified in those who died.

For justice the impenitent bled, and the streets of sin did run red.

Idolatry had an enemy, it was the intercessor Moses who had no unrighteous affinity. His Captain was the Lord, the all Consuming Trinity, whom justly saves or burns his enemies even for a timeless infinity. Moses did conquer rebellion; he brought a sword to the unrighteous, impenitent battalion. Those who found mercy by repentance were sent to do merciless judgment against the impenitent. Their family members did cry, likewise ours don‟t want to die, but we are soldiers in arms already crucified, doing the commands of our Master who hath brought forth the sword. If Moses declared a consecration and salvation by a sword of vengeance, therefore what saith the Prophet like unto Moses to his generation? God said of Jesus, while speaking to Moses:

³Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody : Hendrickson, 1996, c1991, S. Ex 32:21

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“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him” (Deut. 18:18-19).

Truly, those who did not hear Moses died without mercy under the commissioned Levite sword. As it is written, “he that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses” (Hebrews 10:28). What can be said of Jesus Christ, and those that resist his words? They of whom are included in, “whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name,” they will surely undergo the gauntlet which God spoke of, saying, “I will require it of him” (Deut. 18:19). Therefore, “to day, if ye will hear his voice” through God’s written word, “harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7). “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven” (Hebrews 12:25). “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord” (Hebrews 2:1-3)?

Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, not dwell peacefully by them. “He that committeth sin is of the devil,” scripture says, “for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Jesus, the Prophet like unto Moses, called a line of allegiance against the prating fools and Pharisaical parties. Hear

ye his words: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but

a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).

Enmity, War, and a Sword!

Christ Jesus brought enmity in deed that sinners might be freed.

He testified with valiant opposition, the loving expression of a truthful, sword-wielding disposition.

A Christian must reconcile himself with the tribulations of truth. The word of God brings a sword of division, and if you speak it in love it will happen to you as it is written: “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth” (Gal. 4:16)? Thus it can be said, “For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love” (Psalm 109:4-5). Nevertheless, in Christ we partake of so great a love for others we verily can say in response to all the affliction and repercussions of righteousness, in first person, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Cor. 12:15).

Pick up sword in hand and follow your Lord; either that, or recognize you are of the world. If Jesus came to “destroy the works of the devil,” and “the carnal mind is enmity against God,” what great enmity will the followers of Christ have with the carnally minded (1 John 3:8, Rom. 8:7)? The sword brings division, sharp separation, a contrast as light to darkness. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved”

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(John 3:19-20). Light is distinct in that it is bright, yea, it scatters the night by effectual reproof against the works of darkness!

Today Christ lives, he hath brought many sons to glory, and his light still shines. This sharp sword is still dividing, the word of God is still living and active, the only question is: Which side are you on? Today, nothing new under the sun from yesterday, we are at enmity as darkness is to light, and whosoever is on the Lord‘s side is in the Light! Many “beasts” have made a religious fort and they do on every person “creep forth” while darkness has shrouded the land. But Christ is “for a covenant of the people, for a light to the Gentiles,” that the declaration of salvation would metaphorically and spiritually be, “the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Isaiah 42:6, Matthew 4:16). Verily, they which are saved are awakened by this light, as it is written, “awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14). However, citywide night through cultural and religious darkness pollutes the earth in perpetual days of spiritual darkness. In such a case the multitudes do sit in darkness under the “rulers of the darkness of this world” that are “spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). The devils are the authors of these religious faces and they steal the light of true graces. However, we must not forget the forewarned Sovereign plan that is now manifest in man: Firstly, that “Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth” (Psalm 104:20). Secondarily, “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1:4). Therefore it is true today: “But he that doeth truth cometh to the Light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:21).

“Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD‟S
side? Let him come unto me.”

To the unbelieving Jesus said, “the world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil” (John 7:7). This was the Prophet like unto Moses, and he says to you today, “who is on the Lord‘s side?” Will you come, and then will you go? Will you come to the Light, will you walk in the Light, and will you become a light? If you come to the Light you will pass from death to life, for “in him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). “Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14). Bask in this Light, for it makes all the dead “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son” (Col. 1:12-13). If you have this Light that is life, it shines with a brightness that is righteousness, “and if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:10). This light is a righteous effect of reproving evil deeds, “and all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light” (Eph. 5:13).

Can you say to God, “my soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me” (Psalm 63:8). If so, and your words are true, it will be as the Lord said of such a man, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Moses and Jesus Christ grinded the golden calf in their day, and now we must follow them. As Christ was a light so art thou regenerate Christian, hear your commission:

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“Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth😉 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:7-17).

Salvific light is a sin remover and a righteous intruder. This light is righteously bright, and therefore an expeller of sin; it is not relatively defined by men. It is no candle in a devil’s den, to give a warmness of light to help them sin. Costly hugs and kisses are the harlot’s love and wishes (Prov. 7:6-27). Feasts of peace on the eve of judgment are no banquet of the Lord (1 Sam. 28:22-25). They extinguish the fervency and every possibility of fasting; they replace the need of mourning with meat. This is the devil’s method of madness; he is a master builder making prisons of gladness. If there is no repentance, there is no life; therefore, preach repentance that they may have life! The comforts of this life are the witch’s love and harlot’s ways to steal repentance from sinners all throughout their days.

Nevertheless, blessed be God! Rays from Thy countenance are shed abroad; they circle, astound, and clothe Thy saints with armour shod. “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Rom. 13:12). “There be many that say,

who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us,” and he has, therefore we are victory bound!

On Jordan‘s stormy banks I stand, and cast a wishful eye

To Canaan‘s fair and happy land, where my possessions lie.

All o‘er those wide extended plains shines one eternal day;

There God the Son forever reigns and scatters night away.

I am bound for the Promised Land, I am bound for the Promised Land;

O who will come and go with me? I am bound for the Promised Land.”

(I Am Bound For the Promised Land)

It is a fatally dangerous thing to seek fellowship and unity with the darkness of Satan, even if it is done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, or because of his birth, cross, or resurrection; this is golden calf Christianity. It is equally as dangerous to seek friendship or fellowship with any snare of Satan that is done in the name of family, unity, prosperity, or covetous revelry. Our salvation was accomplished by the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and so, the Exodus through the Red Sea is the type of our salvation. Egypt was their bondage, and we were in bondage to sin. The Israelites celebrated their liberty from bondage in an unholy way and God called a call of salvation that was an utter separation, like the amputation of a poisoned limb, and the sword drew blood (Exodus 32:26-29). Those who were to escape death had to take sword in hand and kill their family members. Such is the cost today, in more ways than one (spiritually applied) but our sword is “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:17).

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Your enmity with the world

Is defined by a drawn and bloody sword

If you are a friend of God, your body is armor shod

Protection is needful against the surrounding innumerable foes

That rage in sin under impending woes

This day is a fight, there are endless days after night

At the Son split sky all saints will fly

O what bliss there will be, in the great By and By

It is of particular trial when one must take the sword of truth to the family. You become the enemy of false Christianity‟s creeds which dictate uncompromising family unity and goodly, comfortable, inoffensive morality. God desires family unity, but not at the expense of righteousness and truth; Christ declared a sword and disunity. The trial of keeping your eyes fixed on the Lord, not looking back to the cursed Sodom of this world, is undergone by every saint that sees the godly call to take the sword of truth to the family’s zeal in Xmas. This false Christianity must be exposed and how will this conquest prosper if Xmas is not opposed? How will your family have hope to see the blindness of their idolatry if you do not grind this golden calf to powder like war against a Satanic tower? “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood” (Jeremiah 48:10).

When you climb the cliffs of heaven’s sky to meet the King of heaven and Sinai, how will you look him in the eye having failed to stand in the gap against the impending fire that was well nigh to destroy the people? How will you gain salvation without the people’s sanctification? Make them holy from idolatry, grinding to powder Golden Calf Christianity! What kind of witness are you if you’re worshipping with Golden Calf Christianity and have beheld the truth of his judgments and the anger of his fire? Have you not seen the fire? God says, “Is not my word like as a fire? Saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29)? Does not the word of God unequivocally reveal the divine purpose of wrath against counterfeit Christianity and its banquet of Xmas, and in like manner say, “now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them” (Exodus 32:10).

God is against the prophets and preachers who advocate sitting on the bleachers to watch the festival of Aaron and the joy of false teachers. Moses and Jesus have come with a commission, the fight is costly, but it’s a worthy mission. “Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour” (Jeremiah 23:30). GO TEACH THE PEOPLE WHAT HE HAS COMMANDED, baptizing them in death, not presents; righteousness, not wrath; true love, not deceitful kisses; salvation, not Santa and Xmas wishes. Preach the cross brethren, and go unto Him from this

Pharisaical Golden Calf Christianity that stumbles at the cost of the cross. “Let us go forth therefore unto

him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Hebrews 13:13-14). Don’t seek sword-less unity at the expense of True Christianity, a bloodless sword is satanic affinity, a peaceful Adamic family is a Christ-less community. This world is not your city, your salvation is to slay without pity, though the family will cry insanity, go unto Him to an Eternal City. If you are worthy for the Kingdom of God you must be, or have been, rejected from the Kingdom of Satan.

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Our Master Jesus Christ has given us an example and he was forsaken and cast out of the camp of false Judaism. “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Heb 13:13-14). We are commanded, “go forth therefore unto him,” therefore what happened to him must happen to us; as he was hated we must be hated. Christianity is not merely imitating Christ; no, rather walking in him. Thus as he was, we are. For, “he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). Will you come to the Lord’s side? The honour of men is a path of wickedness, truly, “how can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only” (Jn. 5:44)? Jesus said, “I receive not honour from men,” and knowing this, will you come to him? Don’t let this be your indictment from Christ, the one he gave to the Pharisees: “search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:39-40). Will you come to the Lord? Do you follow Christ already? Hear now the test. Do you believe, and therefore seek the honour of God? To this man God shows his honour: Jesus said, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:26).

In a real degree, go where Jesus went on earth and you will be with him in heaven. Jesus said, “the disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Lk. 6:40). “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (Jn. 15:18-20).

The Prophet Like unto Moses
And the Aaronic Pharisees

And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast
brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord
wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said
unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man
that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they
gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf (Exodus
32:21-24).

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Moses said to Aaron the chilling words, “What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?” (Ex. 32:21).

Aarons hands did craft it, the gold in the fire he casted, while Moses on the Mount long lasted. The mischief of the people then had religion as a mask, this gave boldness for their sinful task. Their guilty conscience given peace, a new god now and Aaron calls a feast.

False prophets do “strengthen the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness” (Jer. 23:14). God says, “they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace” (Ezk. 13:10). Again, “with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life” (Ezk. 13:22).

Aaron is twice guilty; he crafted a religion for the filthy.

He justified the fall making a calf for them all.

In secret places Moses pled for graces,

While religion gave license to their stedfast, sinful faces.

In the midst of it all the fire did almost fall,

But when Moses came down he rebuked Aaron for it all!

Many would expect Jesus to have showered the Pharisees with soft reproofs and gentle corrections. You might expect he served them as the least of all men, not overturning their spiritual concessions. Or, perhaps, he honored them with entreaty not judging their professions. Some people witness by presents and vain physical possessions, but not the Lord of glory. He came to give himself, and he is the Everlasting Bread, Living Water, Imperishable Treasures, and Manifold Mansions. Do you love Him? He is that Bread (John 6:32), Water (John 7:38), Treasure (Matt 13:44), and all measure of blessing is given by a reconciliation to Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17-21) – a single-eyed consuming love to God alone. A salvation of indwelling love (1 John 2:5), that “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” – having nothing instead. “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:5).

In unfeigned love, the Lord, the Prophet like unto Moses, did rebuke the Pharisees more fiercely than Moses rebuked Aaron. The most loving person who ever walked this earth preached a sermon of woes to the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23 with no appeal for mercy, forgiveness, or hope, even proclaiming their state horrifyingly hopeless by the words: “ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell” (Matt 23:33)?

Spiritual idolatry was running rampant and the Savior of the world grinded the golden calf of Pharisaical religion by uprooting the blind guides which, he said, “my heavenly Father hath not planted” (Matt 15:13). He said, “let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matt 15:14). Jesus was offensive, he was merciless to defend the blind and defenseless, and he was the perfection of love that did cry aloud, calling the blind to a righteous attention. At one point his disciples said to him, “knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying (Matt 15:12)?

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Reader listen, Christ was “set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against,” and it was even spoken to Mary, “(yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Lk 2:34-35). Jesus “was the Word,” “His name is called the Word of God,” and “the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (John 1:1, Rev. 19:13, Hebrews 4:12). Reader, I preach to you today: Be born of the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, and you will find it Pharisaical in our day.

Many claim to walk in the Spirit, many love the saying ^„what would Jesus do,’ but “he that saith he abideth in him [in Jesus] ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). The Holy Ghost was not sent for world peace but spiritual war, and “when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). He is “the Comforter” that reproves in judgment “because the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:11). The Holy Ghost is a comfort to the saints, but gnashing disturbance to the lost (Acts 7:54). He is an incense of pleasure and life to the saints, but a stench of death to the wicked (2 Cor. 2:14-16). Henceforth to be a son of God you become an alien to the world, as it is written, we “should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not” (1 John 3:1). Is it any marvel that if you are a Christian the world will hate you? As it is written, “marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13). Walk in the Spirit of Jesus and you will see that this is the calling for you and me: “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach” (Heb. 13:12-13).

Aaron was a great man of God esteemed by millions of Israelites who passed through the Red Sea under his prophetic ministry. Aaron was used of God to be a chief prophet and speaker for Moses. The people were accustomed to listen to Aaron’s word as the word of God. What convinced the people that God was with Aaron? Aaron, by the side of Moses, was able to humble the pride of Egypt and all the glory of the world’s pinnacle society. Given such credibility and esteem that Aaron had, do you think the Israelites ever expected him to be wrong, that all of a sudden the Lord was not with his words, and he was a false prophet? Given all the incredible exploits and miracles done in Egypt, the common Israelite would fearfully attend to Moses’ and Aaron’s every word as to the Lord. With this Israelite mind, think of when Aaron proclaimed the “feast of the LORD” after making a golden calf.

The esteem of the Pharisees was similar to the esteem Aaron had; they are Aaronic. As Aaron was the mouthpiece of Moses, so the Pharisees had “Moses’ seat,” and therefore from them came the issues of truth, the gospel, and God’s word (Matthew 23:1-3). Before the public preaching of Jesus the Jewish religion was comparatively at rest. At this time the faithful remnant was mingled with all the spiritually idolatrous Jews. They were true Jews among the false. They still attended the synagogues and Moses‟ Seat. John the Baptist is an exception to this situation. John burned with the fire of his Lord. John’s faithfulness to bring the sword of the word of God cost him his life in perhaps three months. Satan’s golden calf came from the preachers and teachers of God’s word. I remind you again of this sweeping work of the devil: Satan did not take the common public to a wilderness and give them three temptations. Rather, he took over the whole religious system, preaching sermons of subtle deceit from the word of God. There is much that is spoken that is true, a great deal is to be attended to, while there is just enough corruption that can damn you to hell. In the mouth of the esteemed “pastors,” Satan preached

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his sermons and how will you escape unless you can say “it is written again” if this is happening in our day? Indeed, the righteous have a great need to “study” (2 Timothy 2:15 & Proverbs 15:28)!

When Christ now tarries the short while of forty days to come down, some “Aarons” that were of God have turned to the idolatry of the Pharisees. They have not made a physical golden calf, but Satan has created a carnal religion. Calf worship in the days of Moses was not considered savage. The most sophisticated societies on earth with great power and intellectual prestige worshiped idols. In Jesus’ day the most sophisticated preachers, pastors, doctors, and the most educated, honourable, successful, and influential religious men were children of the devil; children of the calf. Aaron crafted the golden calf and the Pharisees crafted a religion making it look like it was exactly what was biblically and truthfully written.

I contend that the professing Christian Church is almost completely carried away in damnable transgressions of truth in the Pharisaical craft. This calamity is so subtle and elusive I believe only a small remnant is escaping, and most who read this book are utterly snared and taken away. Furthermore, there is a remnant remaining, but they are utterly mingled in the Pharisaical system of false Christianity. When Jesus came he exposed the true witness of God and truth, and so much so that those who were of God had to come out of the religion of false Judaism and follow the remnant cult, “the Jesus followers.” Jesus was a true Jew in the midst of counterfeit Judaism. He called those that were of God to separate from the Pharisees, saying, “let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matt. 15:14). Still attending the synagogues became impossible for some because “if any man did confess that he [Jesus] was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue” (John 9:22). Sadly, many “feared the Jews” and therefore did not confess the truth (John 9:22), but will you confess the truth? We better start proclaiming among the multitudes the truth, exposing the Pharisees with a cry, “LET THEM ALONE,” or I fear God will soon say to us as he said to Moses, “LET ME ALONE” (Matt 15:14, Exodus 32:10). “Let them alone” Jesus said, “they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matt. 15:14).

The Pharisaical counterfeit clothing was like the miracles of Egypt. Such miracles were like God’s, they reached far enough to be deceptive to the hard-hearted, but they were not worthy enough to be called the “finger of God” (Ex. 8:19). Would you have discerned the Pharisees as sons of the devil if you were in Jesus’ generation? The Pharisees were the preachers, the scholars, the teachers, and pastors. They were the respected, the seminary professors, and the leaders of the established religion with walls and all. Their outward appearance was a blameless fulfilling of the law. They would tithe, have teachings on swearing and holiness (Matt. 23:16-22), compass land and sea in evangelism (Matt. 23:15), and make long prayers (Matt. 23:14). They wear the clothing of the religious (Matt. 23:5), attend the church services of the religious, fast (Mark 2:18), attend the feasts of the religious, obeyed the traditions of their day, and were zealous for “righteous” deeds (23:1-13). The only way to behold the unrighteous damnable ways of the Pharisees is if one knew what was truly written in God’s word.

May preachers today say that they follow Jesus, the apostles, and the truth. They esteem men of history like Spurgeon, Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, Booth, Murray, and Brainerd. Is this evidence that they are men of God? This can mean absolutely nothing! The Pharisees loved the true prophets from biblical history but they rejected and killed the true prophets in their day. They professed to be like the true prophets of the past, but were the false prophets of the present. Henceforth it matters not if a man

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professes to love and be like these men of old. The question remains: does he live, preach, and do the deeds of these men? Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets” (Matthew 23:29-30).

Furthermore, in the Pharisees hand they had the unadulterated perfect word of God which they read and taught from Moses’ Seat. Jesus said “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses‘ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not” (Matthew 23:1-3). The bible in hand, alongside true men of old they professed to stand. The Pharisees were the fundamentalists! They were so influential that the common people followed them in the masses. The Pharisees seemingly backed up what they believed, taught, and practiced with scripture, but they were blind to the salvific content of the Scripture. The Pharisees believed they were following the Lord, as the Israelites of Moses’ day believed they were following the Lord through their golden calf. They professed to be recipients of the gospel, believed it, and quoted it. How did Jesus expose such men like this? These men certainly believe in the lord, yet it is not the Lord. They believe in so much truth, but don’t do the truth.

Jesus addresses these “believers” in John 8:31-47. Beginning in verse 31 he addresses those of the Jews that believed on him. Since it says they “believed on him,” what do you think Jesus will say? Will Jesus commend their faith? Many today profess to believe in Jesus Christ and God, many commend any individual who professes faith, but read what Jesus said to these men that believed:

“As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham‘s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8:30-47).

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These Jews believed on him (vs. 30), yet were not free from the bondage of sin (vs. 31-32). They were utterly unable to understand Jesus because they had not the help of the Spirit of God (vs. 33). They had a form of the gospel for the Jews, they remembered it, and had it in their heart. Their gospel was that salvation would come through the seed of Abraham, and thus they professed, “we be Abraham‘s seed” (vs. 33). The scripture says, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made” (Gal 3:16). This is the Pharisaical craft, their golden calf, remember of Aaron that, “he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). Deliverance from Egypt and being Abraham’s seed was the gospel praises of both generations yet their leaders crafted a religion of idolatry. Jesus knows the Pharisees are Abraham’s seed according to the flesh, but shows them how they are not the spiritual children of Abraham, but the spiritual children of Satan (vs. 36-47).

Moses “took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder.” Likewise, Christ took a hammer as his grinding weapon and unashamedly burned the Pharisees golden calf in the fire: God says, “Is not my word like a fire? Saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces” (Jer. 23:29)? As formerly mentioned, the Lord was a light, he did wield a sword, he did oppose the multitudes calling for sides, and herein he did grind and burn. God did in Christ a work spoken of before, saying, “I will make my words in thy mouth fire” (Jer. 5:14). The fire went forth as Jesus preached, “it is written” (Mark 9:13), “have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God” (Matt. 22:31), “is it not written” (Mark 11:17), “have ye never read” (Mark 2:25), “ye do err, not knowing the scripture, nor the power of God” (Matt. 22:29), and “it is written again” (Matt. 4:7). Jesus said “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division” (Lk 12:49-51).

Jesus said the truth makes men free (John 8:32). The Pharisees were carnal therefore they received not the words of Jesus. Jesus said “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 8:63). The Pharisees professed to be the children of Abraham and God (John 8:33, 41). Jesus said, “If God were your Father, ye would love me” (John 8:42). Jesus said, “Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:43-44). Jesus declares a pattern of deeds whereby we may judge all spiritual offspring, saying, “ye do the deeds of your father” (John 8:41).

Many today claim to be a child of God yet live nothing like him. As for the term “Abraham’s seed,” a true Christian has become Abraham’s seed, as it is written, “and if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham‘s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). The question is not what you profess, it is not whom you confess merely by mouth, but what are the deeds that you do? Do you do the works of Abraham, the works of God, or the works of men and the devil? The deeds you do will determine the validity, and evidence the reality of, your salvation, your father, and your birth. As the saying goes, many talk the talk, but do they walk the walk? And if you don’t walk the walk you will be damned! You will go to hell! It is written, “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).

The Pharisees constantly studied the scriptures! Jesus said to them, “Search the scripture; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that

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ye might have life” (John 5:39-40). They knew so much truth but never came to Jesus who is “the Truth” (John 14:6). Have you come to Jesus Christ, have you met him in person, do you walk with him today? Many “Christians” today, “they profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). Many say they believe, but seek the honor of men instead of God. Jesus denounced the faith of men by what fruit they bore (John 5:44).

The most suppose the gospel to be but a profession and mental assent. They make it into a repeatable creed instead of a livable, active, life-giving seed. Like Jesus, John the Baptist fought for the true gospel, and it was radically revealed by his no-name wilderness cry. This burning man was no men pleaser but was valiant for truth like his Master to come. He was not deluded with the counterfeit cover of the Pharisees, but knew the true gospel. He knew holy methodology on how to oppose the subtle damnable heresies. He knew the rhetoric to expose lies, and he knew just how to seal the people in the deep, reviving truths of God.

Have you considered the cultural equivalent of the Pharisees of our generation and religion? Have you tested your preacher who has the Pulpit of God as the Pharisees had Moses’ Seat? Remember, “the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat,” they spoke so much truth that Jesus said “all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not” (Matt. 23:2-3). Have you ever considered that a son of the devil is in your pulpit and he preaches enough truth for you to righteously do what he says? Have you considered the stature of the Pharisees works? I say again, the Pharisees were the preachers, the scholars, the teachers, and pastors. They were the respected, the seminary professors, and the established religion with walls and all. Their outward appearance was blameless in the righteousness of their tradition. I repeat, they would tithe, have teachings on swearing and holiness (Matt 23:16-22), compass land and sea in evangelism (Matt 23:15), and make long prayers (Matt 23:14). They would wear the clothing of the religious (Matt 23:5), attend the church services of the religious, fast (Mark 2:18), attend the feasts of the religious, abide by the traditions of their day, and were zealous for “righteous works” (Matt 23:1-13). Do these seem like fruits to you? John the Baptist was a man after God’s own heart and preached to expose the flagrant abuses of the Israelites concerning truth and the gospel. Would you have believed the Pharisees were of the Devil? Do you judge your preacher based upon the same characteristics that the Pharisees had and so you deem him as a man of God? You could be a blind follower of the blind.

Sure, the Pharisees were outwardly beautiful, but Jesus cried “WOE” (Matt 23:27). “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matt. 23:27-28).

John the Baptist and Understanding Repentance

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It should carefully be noted that, a profession of true doctrine does not always testify to the reality of true deliverance. Lip service cannot be truthfully known to show heart worship. Most are not inwardly transformed, but outwardly conformed. John was no wise man to the Greek or the Jew, but his wisdom was from above. The Greatest of the Prophets stood against the most. John was a light that shed double-edged rays of truth into the hearts of the multitudes. I wonder at what Jesus said of John, saying, “what went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings‟ houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee” (Matthew 11:7-10).

Many modern preachers “build the sepulchre” of John the Baptist in the sense that they honor

such a man by profession, but they preach wholly nothing like him! These preachers preach nothing like him, but truly, we need no preachers but they who incessantly preach like him. Repetitious preachers are effectual teachers, therefore the Holy Ghost did inspire the apology: “I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things” (2 Peter 1:12). Modern preachers may say, ^„O how we need another John the Baptist,‟ but if he were here they would reject him. My reader, see the clarity, transparency, and rhetoric of John‟s preaching. See that in an hour of such a wide-sweeping deception there is only one remedy, and that is, sharp, truthful confrontation! John allowed no damnable deeds with truthful gospel creeds, he grinded the golden calf!

When John the Baptist came after having received the word of God in the wilderness, he came “preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3). Multitudes came for the remission of sins that many a modern preacher would have gladly baptized. What does your preacher say and do to candidates for baptism? Does he simply hear for a profession of faith in the doctrinal truth of the message of the gospel? Is there anything wrong with this? Take heed to the wise prophet John as he attends the flocking multitudes coming for baptism and forgiveness. “Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Luke 3:7-9).

Preach fruits, preacher, preach fruits! And you will draw their minds to the necessity of truth. Will you have your people understand repentance? Preach the deeds of faith and be relentless. Show them the exemplification of a worthy entrance, describing the straightness of the gate as worthy repentance. Walk them down the narrow way. Teach them to seek God by the means of grace that they may abide therein from day to day. They need to know practically what it is to be “made free from sin, and become the servants to God.” What fruits there are in serving God, and how we might have “grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). Tell them of holiness therein, tell them as it is written, that “ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22). The end of a fruitful, holy life is everlasting life! And preach it all as a gift of God lest any man should boast (Romans 6:23).

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John the Baptist discerned the hypocritical faith in the gospel truth that was common in the heart of the Jewish religion at his time. Is there a false faith in the truth of the gospel of your time? He opposed their baptism, seeing that they perceive not the truth; he calls them a generation of vipers. They were snakes, the seed of Satan, the planting of the religious Pharisees, and yet they had the gospel truth that the seed of Christ would come through Abraham‟s seed. John the Baptist attacked the very faith that they had in the truth. They had faith, but he proved it a counterfeit, un-saving, unworthy kind. Worthy repentance demonstrates itself through deeds. They might have had religion, church attendance, and tradition, but they had no inward deliverance from sinful self-will and ambition. You must die and Christ must live!

John went about preaching repentance, and in response to this they flocked to him for baptism. At the hearing of repentance they understood it not! They were too deluded. Not until the boldness and fervency of Baptist awoke them to consider what they must do. Not until they understood what they must do could they have comprehended what repentance is. John the Baptist warned at the threat of an axe and fire what men must DO. This pressed them to the true meaning of faith by comprehending what are the works of faith. Works of faith were exemplified by Father Abraham, who was “justified by works” and showed his faith “with his works, and by works was faith made perfect” (James 2:21-22). The multitude coming to John the Baptist may have all the professions of faith and church attendance but they are still only comparing themselves to their church body, their preacher, or such like people instead of the scripture. Since “they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves,” they just do after the works of the Pharisees instead of the works commanded in scripture (2 Cor. 10:12).

Do you judge your acceptance and worthiness of faith by your conformity to the characteristics of your church body? Have you ever even introspectively and healthily examined yourself to see if you have worthy saving faith as opposed to a false counterfeit kind? Have you ever heard your preacher plead with

your congregation, saying “EXAMINE YOURSELVES?” 2 Corinthians 13:5, “ examine

yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove [test] your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates [unsaved]?”

Those of you who mindlessly say, “we are saved by grace” and it is “the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast,” I urge you, have you ever tested yourself to see if you have saving faith (Eph 2:8-9)? There is a false faith with Pharisaical Christianity. “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?… Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:14, 17). God‟s Judgment is according to DEED and on this basis it can and will be done. True preaching that exposes this counterfeit Christianity will always cause the people to look at the validity of their faith based upon what they DO. True preaching of truth will accurately expose what to DO. True reception of the gospel through fear and faith will conclude in the people saying, as they said to John the Baptist, “What shall we do then?” When the unworthiness of their faith is exposed, true worthiness of faith takes its place at the time a man sees the relevance of the truth affecting and transforming what he DOES. John the Baptist taught them what true worthy fruits/deeds are, which is an evidence of the true saving repentance:

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“And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:10-14).

To those who had possessions, to the publicans, and the soldiers he told them what to do! Today there are multitudes of professing Christians baptized in the name of Christ, and as they went for baptism they were never hindered with the fearful warning of a preacher telling them what nature they are, namely, VIPERS; what false faith they have, namely, a fruitless one; and what fire awaits the fruitless! Such a call for the remission of sins without this clear articulation is a damnable heresy and fearfully condemned. Does your preacher preach the philosophies of Pharisees or the truthful bruising of Baptist? Stay the crowd, preacher, with an exhaustive articulation of worthy faith and repentance, or you will bear like woes of the Pharisees‟ sentence.

Examine your profession of Christ, because Pharisaical Christians “profess that they know God; but in works they deny him” (Titus 1:16). “He that saith, I know him [God], and keepeth not his commandment, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). Many say they believe the gospel, but the gospel “is the power of God” which makes a son of the Devil become a child of God. Nicodemus was a fellow Pharisee, and he was confused when Jesus said, “ye must be born again” (John 3:7). There are many religious people who, have “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” live a fruitless life. The problem is that most people think they are good people. They are not good; they are darkness, death, enmity, and iniquity! Christianity is not decent to good, but darkness to light; “for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:6-7).

Were you ever dead? The gospel is the power of God bringing life from death, “for to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). The gospel is not bad habits to disciplined people, irresponsible to responsible, unsuccessful to successful, it is salvation by resurrection, “even when we were dead in sins” (Eph. 2:5)! The gospel is a recreation, a new birth, a new creature: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Dead carnality, satanic darkness, and bankrupt spirituality is an alienated mind that is worldly, unholy, and sin loving. My readers, were you ever “alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works” (Col 1:21)? For such a man is the gospel, it is not for a culturally good man. So horrifying is a creature of the flesh that they are “shapen in iniquity,” even from birth, “in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5)! This once-born fleshly life which is simply being born of our mothers and fathers is a conception in sinful nature, begetting an offspring of enemies against God: “because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8).

Be not weary, for I inculcate.

For such widespread deceptions do necessitate a man of God to inculcate.

Constant repetitions at a heavenly rate can awaken sinners of their fate.

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Let the man of God not hesitate!
Forgetful, blind followers, past feeling need fervent reminders of truthful fears.
“To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”
(Philippians 3:1)

Can you imagine such a despicable creature that is always an enemy of God? Both in the most extravagant sin, and when a man is simply in lazy moments doing nearly nothing, he can never please God! Has God shown you your lost condition? Then this is the first step towards faith in Christ. Your inner man must quake, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Lk 18:13). This world is at war with God, so much so, that to be cool or popular, and “whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Jesus warned against “that which is highly esteemed among men” that it is an “abomination in the sight of God” (Lk 16:15). It is written, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him” (1 John 2:15). God is the antithesis of the world, and Satan is the ruler of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:16-17).

Jesus said “ye shall know them by their fruits,” and that “every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit” (Matt 7:16-17). “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt 7:19-23). Jesus said many will say, “Lord, Lord,” but “narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt 7:14). There are the many and the few, of which number are you?

Only the few find life because of the cost that must be paid. Christianity is best described as “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). How about you, have you ever died, have you been crucified with Christ? Many desire Jesus Christ to be crucified for them but they don’t want to be crucified with him, therefore they have not part in him. If you don’t want to “become the righteousness of God in him,” then you cannot be saved (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus said, “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it,” but how about you (Mark 8:35)? He said, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Have you ever been crucified, denied everything that you are, surrendered your life completely to God, to follow what his word commands no matter what the cost? Many say they have received Jesus Christ, but has he received you? For, “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13).

Henceforth living in Christ is expressed by a daily dying [mortifying] to this world: “Mortify [put to death] therefore your members which are upon the earth” (Col 3:5). What does all this mean? It means that you must live drastically different than everyone else on the earth that is not Christian, or you are hell

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bound! So drastic, that, it is as if you are not from the earth, but from heaven. The flesh and its works must die – this is the express power of the gospel and work of the Spirit. Henceforth, anyone who still lives in the flesh has no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Those who live in the flesh are evident by specified fruits or works.

*************** The Works of the Flesh ***************

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of
the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21).
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not
deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

**************************************************

The evidence of imputed righteousness is works righteousness. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 condemns those that have no works righteousness, that is, if you are still physically living after your seeming conversion, or, conversion produces works righteousness if you are still living to walk in Christ. What is the assurance of your justification and how much fruit must you have to make your election sure? 2 Peter 1:10 exhorts us, “give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” To guard against any relativity subject to Pharisaical profanity let us define biblically each fruit of the Spirit that are manifest qualities of saving faith. Permit me to be like John the Baptist. Let me be as clear as I can, making my reader know exactly what he must do to be saved, and, by do I mean the works that evidence saving faith, the steps of a recreated life, and daily persevering, reviving grace.

Bring Forth Therefore Fruits

“Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor,
and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will
burn with fire unquenchable” (Luke 3:17).

Before the antichrist is revealed to this world there are specific events that must transpire. There must be “strong delusion” and then the world will welcome him with open arms (2 Thess. 2:11). It is written, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:11-12). This delusion causes an orderly, robotic reprobation in worldwide unity. If you have this one mark (pleasure in unrighteousness) you can expect to be a part of this end time antichrist army.

The distinct mark of holiness for saints is that they, overwhelmingly and predominately, have no pleasure in unrighteousness. Pleasure in unrighteousness is reigning in all once-born men. They are

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captive under “the rulers of the darkness of this world” and even “the prince of the power of the air” (meaning Satan) (Eph. 6:12, 2:2). This great darkness is:

“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12).

Salvation is a creation of holiness! Why? Well truly, “there is none that understandeth,” but in Christ this is not so, for by him “it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 13:11). “There are none righteous,” nevertheless, you “become the righteousness of God in him” at salvation (2 Cor. 5:21). Though all the world has “gone out of the way,” the Lord Jesus Christ is our “Way, Truth, and Life” (John 14:6). The Lord makes the seekers of sin seekers of him, and that by the effectual spoken word. Herein is the Christian confession to God, that, “when thou saidst, seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, thy face, LORD, will I seek” (Psalm 27:8). Holiness is the inevitable exclamation of salvation!

If you are a light in the midst of a kingdom of darkness, if you love righteousness in a world dominated by satanic unrighteousness – This is an extraordinary situation. In this extraordinary situation love and righteousness would be active in extraordinary deeds. A Christ dominated, grace-filled, righteousness-loving, wise, seeker of God would be identified as a light of holiness. The darkness that blanketed Egypt, “even darkness which may be felt” (Exodus 10:21), was not in the place where the Israelites dwelt. “There was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Ex. 10:22-23).

Abominations are everywhere in this world, therefore the righteous have no ease. The nations seek paradise and retirement, and at enmity to them, the saints bear the baptism of death. Think of the great contradiction of saints and sinners! The one, a majority, seeks the welfare of life, a promise of many days, the hope of a sustainable environment, and a wealthy retirement. The other, an unhidden, interruptive minority, has visions of judgment burning and energizing their heart, that “the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). Therefore they number their days, neither trusting nor seeking many, having a heavenly hope to be spent and expended as a bold witness. The one, the majority, seeks to escape every memory and sting of death. Therefore the cinema is filled with the emotion of a life well lived. Movies are haunted with death‟s near and untimely touch, and excited with a fantasy of men heroically overcoming an early grave. The other, the minority, is sent to testify to the majority, to turn them from vanity – that they must go to a spiritual grave to be saved, crucify their present days, and all this to escape a second death.

Have you read the commission: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18)? This peculiar minority is rejected, reviled, and reproved, but they are compelled to sing:

This world is not my home; I‘m just a-passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven‘s open door,

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And I can‘t feel at home in this world anymore.
(This World Is Not My Home)

These are the runners of a righteous race (1 Cor. 9:24-27), fighters of a faith-filled fight (1 Tim. 6:12), exercising for everlasting life (1 Tim. 4:7), and wrestling against these rulers of the night (Eph. 6:12). The Spirit does well up a song for this season, and in it you can tell their spiritual endurance and reason:

O land of rest, for thee I sigh! When will the moment come,

When I shall lay my armor by, and dwell at peace at home?

No tranquil joys on earth I know, no peaceful sheltering dome.

This world‘s a wilderness of woe, this world is not my home.

I sought at once my Savior‘s side, no more my steps shall roam.

With him I‘ll brave death‘s chilling tide, and reach my Heavenly home.

We‘ll work till Jesus comes, We‘ll work till Jesus comes.

We‘ll work till Jesus comes, And we‘ll be gathered home.

(We’ll Work Till Jesus Comes)

Yea, in this hour, in this day of wickedness, it is evil for a man to be full of laughter and glee, with no sorrow. They have blind eyes of ease, callused hearts of careless, cold immorality; they are comfortable with the devil’s spiritual brutality, they agree to his decrees and follow him in actuality. On these terms Jesus separated the saved and the unsaved: The Lord said, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted,” and “Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh” (Matthew 5:4, Luke 6:21). “Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep” (Luke 6:25). Blessed are the saints, the forerunning messengers that proclaim a new world without end, they are the body of Christ. They walk the steps of their salvation in a Person, and “he is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isa. 53:3). The Lord calls out the contrary with woes because they are reveling in Satan’s jubilee and power. They are partakers of Satan’s commission and he has made them fat and full with the pleasures of unrighteousness, and they do “laugh now!”

The world is Satan’s Egypt that afflicts God’s people. The world is drunk to a stupor of laughing in lawlessness. It is a kingdom of criminal perversion deserving Sodom’s fiery fate. Sobriety and sufferings mark the messengers of the Lord. Grave matters grip the mind of godly men for they bear tidings of a fiery death or everlasting life. They are uninvited, unwelcome, uncalled by men, but sent by God. And, as the Lord said, our Exodus route from this Egyptian, Sodomite world will be as Lot’s. He referenced the crime of Lot’s wife who looked back to Sodom. He has declared a similar fate to this world, commanded you not to look back nor love the world, and if you will be saved it is because you are not like Lot’s wife. Jesus gave the warning: “Remember Lot‟s wife” (Luke 17:32).

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
(2 Peter 3:10)

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While the whole world is seeking another prosperous day of pleasure, fire will come in a moment. The last testimony of salvation for Sodom was to see the only righteous man (and his family) fleeing outside of the city! The last testimony to the old world was Noah (and his family) getting into the ark. This day came upon the wicked by surprise, yet for this day the righteous did prepare themselves. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:36-39).

“Look not behind thee… lest thou be consumed” (Gen. 19:17).

“But his wife looked back” (Gen. 19:26).

What are you looking for?

Judgment will not come in water, as Noah‟s flood, but in an unquenchable fire, and the saints will escape in an escalating ark having the resurrection as their attire! Men seek to hold on to this world, but into the lake of fire they will be cast and hurled, this pleasurable life will be swallowed up by Sodom-like fires. Though “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,” the saints know the season, and are ready for the flight, but what marks of readiness and watching makes them worthy? Think of it, Jesus said, “watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Matt. 24:42). The saints are “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). It does not slip their memory, for the righteous do “love his appearing (Tim. 4:8).

A looking that saves is the earnest expectation of the gospel message of his return. As mentioned before, the saints do know “the times and seasons,” but not the day of his return (see also Matt. 24:32-38). We are not in darkness that the Lord should come upon us as a thief, unaware and unprepared at his coming. We who are “children of light” live as “children of day.” We do not sleep, are “watchful” and “sober,” and we have put on the “breastplate of faith and love with the helmet of the hope of salvation.”

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-8).

“Grace reigns,” the scripture exclaims, “for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:21, Titus 2:11-13). In other words,

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“saving grace makes one have the earnest expectation of the gospel message which makes you deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. It makes you live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world because you are looking for… the glorious appearing… of Jesus Christ.” If you are not looking for his appearing then you are not living in the manner described. If you are living for his appearing you are living for the world to come, not this present world, “for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Heb. 13:14).

The marks of ready watchfulness begin as heart righteousness; heart Christ-likeness. It is written, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). If from your heart there is a “well of water springing,” thy heart will issue righteousness from day to day (John 4:14). “Grace reigns” in a Holy Ghost Geyser, “springing up into everlasting life” (Rom. 5:21, John 4:14), and this is your Noahic Ark of escalation (1 Pet. 3:18-22). Yea, “as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21). “Grace reigns through righteousness,” and “the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 5:21, 8:10). The Spirit of God is not a wellspring of happiness but righteousness, not relative morality but a blistering, holy, righteous mentality. For, “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16).

Unbelief is surrender to a godless night, a groping of blindness without arising to fight. All who know the true faith are recipients of a crucified Savior’s cross-bearing commission, they are enduring “hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” worthy to make this finish and confession: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 2:3, 4:7-8). Such grace did hold Lot captive at heart! That is to say, Sodom and Gomorrah was not in his heart, and these were the first fruits of his worthy escape. All recipients of our eternal escalation must be partakers of those fruits. They must be like unto Lot:

“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)” (2 Peter 2:6-8).

It is written that God “delivered just Lot,” meaning righteous Lot, because the “Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:10). What can be said of Lot’s practical righteousness by deed, what righteousness set him apart and worthy to be saved from the rest? He was “vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.” As he saw and heard their “unlawful deeds,” it “vexed his righteous soul from day to day.” It is apparent that Lot had a love of righteousness that did lead him from day to day, “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). This is the heart of God and the heart of his children in Christ.

What sins in Sodom did vex Lot? Don’t think that the vexing sins of Sodom were merely of the sexual kind, namely homosexuality. “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). Are these things vexing to you like homosexuality? What of

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other lawlessness that God has mentioned, for surely we must be vexed over the seeing and hearing of it all, especially those that are particularly the greater of sins. Galatians 5:19-21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, as before written, lists the works of the flesh, which, if anyone continues to do they are wicked enough to go to hell. Among the works listed they can be divided between culturally unacceptable sins and culturally acceptable sins. Many people scorn abortion, but have bloody hands because they don’t share the gospel. Many people help the poor, but neglect the spiritually poor. Many do shun adultery or fornication, but celebrate lust, gossip, idleness, covetousness, envy, and un-forgiveness. If you re-read those two portions of scripture (Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10) you will find the murderers condemned alongside the covetous, the adulterers alongside the envious, the fornicators alongside the drunkards, witches alongside liars, and so on (see also Rev. 21:8, Matt 6:15). All these deeds are declared damnable, and therefore are lawless. Righteous Lot was vexed by all the lawlessness, not by culturally or Pharisaically-defined lawlessness.

If Lot was temperate enough to refrain from, or in some sense hate: homosexuality, fornication [sex outside of marriage], adultery, drunkenness, and witchcraft [drugs]; nevertheless, if he did in heart lust for women outside of marriage, was drunken with concern for the cares of this life, and high on the ease and riches of an idle life – this is sure condemnation! (Lk. 21:34, Mk. 4:18-19) If your goodly godliness is caught in a garrison of guile wherein you idly Google your life away, that is, pursuing personal hobbies, interests, knowledge, sports, and gluttony – you are perishing! “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Lk. 21:36). O how beautiful you are on the outside! Innocence of murder, yet you hate, innocent of adultery, yet you lust, innocent of thievery, yet you covet, envy, and are jealous. You are “full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27). You may not be crowned a witch, but you love the imagination of magic in Harry Potter-like movies. You may deem yourself not as guilty as a wicked witch, but your sin of self-will is rebellion, anarchy against God, and witchcraft: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee” (1 Sam. 15:23).

You may profess to know the Covenant of grace, but if you are dominated in these sins of lawlessness (as stated in Gal. 5:19-21, 1 Cor. 6:9-10) you are perishing! The culturally acceptable sins are by name and definition:

Lasciviousness – looseness, unhindered sinful lusts, characteristic in a person who willfully sins.

Hatred – being an enemy, intense anger, great dislike, characteristic of the anger or dislike that a person

has when he says to another “I hate you.” It is not necessary that the hatred lasts forever but

only for a moment.

Variance – difference that produces dispute or controversy, disagreement, dissension, discord, argument.

Emulations – envious rivalry, a desire of superiority attended with effort to attain to it, striving to be

equal or better than others in achievement with sinful motives like self gain.

Wrath – unrighteous anger, vengeful anger, characteristic of a person easily angered.

Strife – a contest or contention for superiority, sinful competition, self promoting.

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Seditions – resistance against authority⁴, divisions, in form against divinely distributed rights to the common man it is characteristic in cliques, to look down upon through class, economic status, educational status, sophistication or civilization.

Envyings – painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage⁵, an object of envious notice or feeling (his new car made him the envy of his friends)⁶.

Covetousness – discontent in your life that motivates a fulfillment of that desire through the love of possessions, money, “style,” riches, luxury, laziness, and reputable lifestyles. Revellings – noisy partying and merrymaking commonly associated with drinking parties but are any unrighteous celebrations (that is any celebration that glories in sinful things). (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

All these sins are (if they are characteristic of your life over and against the fruits of the Spirit, done in persistence or perseverance) they are indisputably evidences of a life without saving grace! Those guilty of the latter description, those deeds that many justify with the saying, “I am only human,” these sins are lawless works that the scripture declares damnation. It is convenient for men to justify themselves but if the word of God condemns you its final. You must repent and rather let God justify you. If God justifies you then the word of God will confirm your salvation, if you have given yourself false peace then the word of God will condemn you. God has told us beforehand what will happen on Judgment Day, it is the word of God that judges us, and God has been merciful enough to warn you what will happen then. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away” (Lk. 21:33, Matt. 24:35, Mk. 13:31).

O friend, you must have a hatred for sin! So much so, that, if you are in the presence of these deeds, from day to day, you are vexed over them. If there is no vexation then there is no love for God or righteousness, you are in darkness. These deeds are the American Dream, popular TV shows, and mostly all media streams. It is the world and the merrymaking of the wicked. Thoughts are not harmless, but effectual definitions of the salvation of man: Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” So what about you? When you watch TV, movies, listen to the radio, CDs, and music? When you spend time with family, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers? Is the light of righteousness so pure, so bright, that darkness cannot dim its darling grip on your heart? If you are not daily vexed at the seeing and hearing of these things, as Lot would not have escaped, neither will you. O how quickly you justify yourself simply because you watch it on television, in the secret of your own living room. That room is your cave of covetousness. You love violence and bloodshed, for all manner of sin you restlessly thirst. “How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water” (Job 15:16)? Don’t deny it, repent! You must be born again! “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Turn to righteousness through Christ and don’t look back to this world. The godly man Lot, saw that all of Sodom was being dissolved, by faith he forsook it, and did not look back – in this manner are you looking for the day of God? Are you in like manner, “seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved?”

⁴Merriam-Webster, Inc: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass., U.S.A. : Merriam-Webster, 1996, c1993 ⁵Merriam-Webster, Inc: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass., U.S.A. : Merriam-Webster, 1996, c1993 ⁶Merriam-Webster, Inc: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass., U.S.A. : Merriam-Webster, 1996, c1993

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“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (2 Peter 3:11-14).

If you are “looking for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,” you have unregretfully turned away from, and fled from, that place wherein dwelleth unrighteousness! “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Like 9:62). A “looking for,” that saves, is an earnest expectation of the gospel message that makes a man “holy in conversation” and “godliness,” “diligent” in striving, “in peace,” “without spot,” and “blameless.”

A looking that saves is the earnest expectation of the gospel message which makes you “awake out of sleep,” seeking the “salvation” and “day” near at hand that will pierce the dark night of this world. Therefore, in preparation you seek an inheritance of this salvation by being found as one that is not of the night but of the day. You “cast off the works of darkness, put on the armour of light,” and “live in the day,” as one “honest,” not in the night as one who is “rioting, drunken, chambering, wanton, envying,” and entangled in “strife.”

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying” (Romans 13:8-13).

Sleeping, as you can see, is in a bed of unrighteousness. It is a delusion of snoring sinfulness. We must awake! “Awake to righteousness, and sin not” (1 Corinthians 15:34)! “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Ephesians 5:14).

It happened to Lot in like manner, as it is written: “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4). To the rest, a kind of delusion was happening, in like manner as it is written, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:3-4). Without this light one cannot awake, will always sleep in a bed of iniquity, in nightmares they are wallowing and turning, like a pig in their grave of rottenness and worming. Their life is a spiritual decomposing.

Lot was in vexation, as the blessed are in mourning, because he loved righteousness. If you love righteousness, no matter where you are, you will be affected by abominations. Are you one “of the men

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that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof,” wherever you are? Lawyer, teacher, professor, waiter, worker, prisoner, youth, elderly, middle-aged, and all – do you have the marks of the righteous? Don’t hypnotize your deceitful heart with ease, thinking God will have mercy on sins he has already written that he will be merciless to. Take heed, there is a day of no more mercy, are you a candidate?

“And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 9:4-8)?

“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1). There is mercy still today if you seek the Lord and repent. Find him today, while he may be found. Tomorrow there could be merciless wrath. “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 55:6-8).

If God has separated your heart from this world you will have a separated life.

Christians enjoy the company of Christians, and sinners should think it strange of you that you go not with them to their same merrymaking. You could exclaim in truth, “What do I have in common with unbelievers in their desires and lusts?” It is like the inevitable separation of light from darkness (2 Cor. 6:11-18)! “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead” (1 Peter 4:3-5). Those who are “quick” [alive] fellowship with those who are alive, they contend with those who are dead, that they might repent and be saved: “They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them” (Proverbs 28:4). Those who are alive have all things in common and daily seek one another’s presence in some fashion.

“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:42-47).

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If a man has no commonality with the world, becoming separate from the common man, this is a manifest product he is born of another world. Therefore “old things” have indeed passed away, and evidently, in the sight of all people, “all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is a holiness of heart, action, and life. Holiness is of salvific production, as it is written: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness by imputation is manifest through holiness by deed, and if a man lives after his conversion it will be manifest in this manner:

“Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake…Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:22, 26).

I hope you are beginning to see the established Kingdoms, light and darkness, spiritual life and death, Satan and God, heaven and earth, flesh and Spirit. The rhetoric of scripture is bound together with promises; henceforth let us turn to and learn from the faithful Abraham.

Are you Abraham’s Seed?

“If ye were Abraham‟s children, ye would do the works of Abraham… Ye do the
deeds of your father” (Jn. 8:39, 41).

The father of the faith and the first of the circumcision is Abraham. Abraham’s call began in the exemplification of salvation by separation. These three characteristics are well noted in the Old and New Covenants. God preached the gospel to Abraham, saying, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee” (Genesis 12:1). We see such eternally significant standards of separation brilliantly applied in the New Covenant. That which was typified by shadows in the old is magnified in substance in the new – “For all the promises of God IN HIM are yea, and IN HIM amen, unto the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20), therefore:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1).

The call to holiness is a conditional command bound with promises. The call is a break of yoke; the gospel content presses the purpose of God in regeneration. Wherefore a man recognizing a “divine nature” segregates fellowship, voids commonality, and establishes enmity with all unbelievers and this

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world (2 Peter 1:4). Reception of this gospel is a reception of “come out from among them,” and so we become children of Abraham who did obey his gospel, “get thee out.” If you receive this gospel, a gospel of holiness, you are received of God as your new spiritual Father, being born again his son or daughter. This is the unavoidable purpose of God in the gospel, past, present, and perpetually. Such an imputation of holiness, by the indwelling of the regenerating Holy Ghost, begets holy living in deed as the manifest qualities of Abraham’s seed. Are you Abraham’s seed?

Indeed this is a fearful call, a call of “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” It is a springing product of eternal life; “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” (Hebrews 12:14). Abraham was the father of faith, and the seal of his faith was circumcision. Are you circumcised?

“For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3). “In whom [Jesus] also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col 2:11-13).

“And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is
not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he
hath broken my Covenant” (Genesis 17:14).

Circumcision to Abraham was a mark of holiness which he and all the co-recipients of the Covenant had: “And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:11). Likewise “Christianity” today is innumerably leavened with false converts and lawless men, that the holy and the unholy has been mingled into what the common man thinks of when he imagines “Christians.” It is a shame, for, ye must be holy as much as “ye must be born again” (John 3). Holy by imputation springs holiness by deed, and spiritual circumcision is a seal of righteousness! If anyone does not have this seal they are cut off from God’s people! Herein are the saints manifest, they are sealed in imputed righteousness which is alive, working in works righteousness: “for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any things, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature,” and if a new creature, that is “the circumcision made without hands,” where the Spirit of God is a wellspring of righteousness! Henceforth “walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham,” “for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (Rom. 4:12, James 2:26).

The seal of the Spirit is a seal of solemnity, not sarcasm; sobriety, not a funny personality; a serious, striving, salty, seven-plan man whose sight is set on heaven, “after having done all to stand!” “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and

having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And

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take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:13-17). These are the signs of a saint, signs of the sealing Spirit, and that made manifest in the righteousness of faith!

Thus it was to Abraham, “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith.” (Rom. 4:11). I plead with you to repent and believe the gospel! It is the power of God! Bring forth fruit worthy of the gospel; meet for Christ, worthy of the name of Christ! And whatever you choose, whomever you may confess, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:19).

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CHAPTER IV

Redeem Christmas for Christ?

I have written thus far with the intent to expose the truth as honest as it stands, and give a commission that the scripture demands, but I did forbear until now to give any sufficient qualification preventing one to think that I proclaim all Xmas celebrators to be on hell’s brink. I prefaced in the beginning words that revealed my authorial intent, to the careful reader this was my hint: Before you mistake me, or wrongfully condemn a regenerate friend. Please be sure to read this book all the way to the end. Then perhaps you will be equipped for the Holy Ghost to send. I did forbear to give qualifications. I have been speaking biblical condemnations while purposefully forbearing merciful applications to be winsome for more regenerations. A salted flavor of merciful qualifications that the regenerate would not think I condemn them to hell, would be opportunities for sinners to have self-justifications. I desired not to run in vain, I spoke to the lost, their souls to gain. Condemning Xmas is a doorway to salvation; the godly should show a witness of segregation, that when the false see the true in separation, then they will be inclined to think of the new creation. I condemned without hesitation, hoping eyes could not stop reading this shocking situation. With ceaseless woes and billows of biblical blows, I endeavored to deliver a message that would bring salvific lows.

Regeneration removes none of the threats of temporary wrath to sickness and death, but mercy is likely for those who are not willfully sinning. Today, redeeming Christmas for Christ has become the mission of professing Christianity. “Let’s put Christ back into Christmas” is their cry, but Christ was never in Xmas. Xmas is unredeemable and abominable; it cannot be redeemed! God hath forbidden it, as formerly argued, but there is more: Firstly, this chapter is intended to declare more of the offences of Xmas against God, to cause my reader to understand iniquity upon iniquity, and further justify God for consistent and consequential sickness and death. Truly, the Lord is righteous. Secondarily, it is necessary to make a distinction between the eternal fate of all those who are present in, participating in, or advocating Xmas. We must divide the multitude in two categories of biblical instruction, and separate the sheep from the goats.

The Sheep & The Goats – Distinguishing Asa From Jeroboam

Xmas is “Christianizing” Paganism, seeking “worship” of the true God through the way of the heathen. This is no new sin under the sun. God commanded his people not to deviate from the biblical body of commandments at all, saying, “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deuteronomy 12:32). He furthermore did forbid any adoption, redemption, or even learning of the worship, rituals, and way of the heathen: “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen” (Jeremiah 10:2). Seeing these transgressions are commonplace in Xmas participations, it is needful for the reader to learn the terror of pastime condemnations. Let us remember the historical tragedies of the physical Israelites and so litmus test the acid rain of wrath spiritual Israelites face today. Is the way of the heathen redeemable for Christ? If the devil can convince you it is, you could die under the Lord’s wrath.

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When the Lord commanded not to add or diminish from his commandments, he had in mind to remove all temptations for his people to learn, redeem, or add a way of worship or ritual that was not invented or commanded by God. Heathen practices were particularly attractive to rebellious sinful people; therefore, God directly referenced these temptations, and stated their way of salvation: that is, “what thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deut. 12:32). See how this commandment was in direct reference to heathen practices by reading the former verses of Deuteronomy 12, verses 29-31:

“When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”

See, the Lord says, “thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God.” Why? Because these gods and their ways are advancements for iniquity, and groundwork for abominations. Therefore God states his reasoning: “for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods.” Answer God, “what agreement hath the temple of God with idols,” yea, and the ways of idolatrous worship redeemed “unto the LORD thy God” (2 Corinthians 6:16)? “Thou shalt not do so,” God says! This could be rephrased, ^„thou shalt not redeem these ways and use them as worship “unto the LORD thy God.”‟ You may think, “This is not clear enough.”

Well, why don‟t you review the whole chapter then and see what the Lord says concerning the physical remains of these heathen ways. We have already learned that Xmas is riddled with the resurrected remains of these heathen idolatrous practices, but God commands specifically against the redemption of places, practices, and objects: “Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come” (Deut. 12:2-5). It does not matter what you think, but what God says, and two verses down from these verses is: “ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes” (Deut. 12:8). You better believe that the transgression of these commandments concluded in “snares of death!”

“The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” (Proverbs 14:27)

Eventually some of the worship to the LORD, inside and out of “the house of the LORD,” was authored, copied, or “redeemed” from other religions, gods, devils, and the heathen. In the Israelite historical timeline this happened in many instances. Those of you who deem it righteous to redeem

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idolatrous ways of worship for the Lord are privileged to learn from the instance of King Jeroboam and King Asa. Of the multitude carried away in Heathenistic redemption, some are in danger of temporary wrath, and others of eternal wrath. King Jeroboam is the ensample of those who are in danger of eternal wrath, King Asa of temporary wrath.

After Jeroboam “redeemed” the unredeemable his fate was very different from Asa’s. All of Jeroboams’ family, seed, and children were put to death under the wrath of God. It is written in 1 Kings 15:29-30, that the Lord (through an instrument) “smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite: Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.”

As for King Asa, he suffered no death for his “redemption” of the unredeemable. Why? Both men committed sins, but Jeroboam’s were more severe than the Asa’s. There are greater and lesser sins in the sight of God. The idea that “all sins are equal” pervades this religious western culture, but it is not true. There is greater and lesser condemnation because there is greater and lesser sin. Jesus preached of greater and lesser condemnation in Matthew 11:20-24, this would necessitate greater and lesser sin. Jesus spoke to Pontius Pilate of greater and lesser sin, saying, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin” (John 19:11). Why were Jeroboam’s sins lethal and Asa’s not?

Jeroboam had a golden calf! Yes, Jeroboam was in complete willful rebellion against God, spiritual idolatry, physical idolatry, and heathenistic redemption. The former chapter depicted Counterfeit

Christianity, and therein is the present generation’s type of a golden calf. Those of you who are unregenerate, willful sinners, are in the snares of death that got Jeroboam! Asa committed his “redemption” of the unredeemable with no golden calf, henceforth his sin was not willful, and therefore God had mercy on him. This is the qualification of mercy, and it is a separation of judgment distinct to the measure of sin from the sheep and the goats, or, the Asa‟s and the Jeroboams. It was said of Asa that, “the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.” Meaning, he was not aware of this sin. Thus, if he had been aware that this was sin then he would have ceased to do it. This book may have come into the hands of a regenerate friend of God, and you may not have known Xmas was sin, but now you have no excuse. If you do not repent after this I fear for you, for the fate of the Corinthians can be your fate quickly! You should have studied to shew yourself approved. But God who is rich in mercy has kept you alive even after there were biblical examples of death for the sins you have committed heretofore. However, God consistently judges according to the measure of light a person has, and now you have light, therefore follow your God and repent. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

As for Jeroboam, he made a new god! He “made two calves of gold” and told the Israelites, “behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28). “And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan” (1 Kings 12:30). “And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made” (1 Kings 12:32). Asa was the king of Judah. Judah is a type of the faithful remnant minority in the midst of the counterfeit majority,

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Israel. Jeroboam was the king of Israel. On account of Jeroboam‟s complete idolatry Israel was forsaken.

On the high places of Jeroboam was an entire false religion, a golden calf, and to no surprise they called for a feast.

The high places that Asa did not take down were not used as a whole new religion. They still worshipped the true God, only the place itself was not taken down as a place of acceptable worship. Asa did not bow his knee to worldly-wise, counterfeit Judaism. Asa did not make golden calves, call them LORD, and channel sacrifice to the LORD through them. Before the Temple was built in the days of Solomon, it was permitted to worship the LORD through sacrifice in high places, as did the Patriarchs, yet absolutely without graven images. Similar sacrifices were done in a holy, biblical manner at the Tabernacle of old. All of this took place before God placed his name in his habitation, at the building of the Temple. After the Temple was built, God commanded sacrificial worship to be in that location alone. The verse revealing this is in Deuteronomy 12:5, as formerly addressed.

There are whole-hearted, true Christians that celebrate Xmas. No matter how costly it may be to your family, friends, and life, you must follow what is written. It is easy for the unbiblical public to be emotionally attached to the long-time reverence of the high place sacrifices, which were the ways of the patriarchs. All such like motivations of burden or cost should be guarded against when considering Xmas “worship.” John Gill re-enforces this point in his commentary:

1 Kings 15:14

But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

“1Ki 15:14 But the high places were not removed,…. That is, such as had been used for the worship of God, before the temple was built, which yet now should have been removed, since sacrifice was now only to be offered there; but he might think they were still lawful, or the people had such an opinion of them, that it was difficult and dangerous to attempt to remove them; otherwise high places for idolatry were removed by him, 2Ch_14:3,

nevertheless, Asa’s heart was perfect all his days; he was sincere in the worship of God, and did everything to the best of his knowledge and capacity for restoring true religion, and destroying idolatry” (John Gill Commentary).

Take heed, modern-day Asa, my true brethren, you now have no excuse. Asa worshipped the true God in a manner that was biblically forbidden, yet his heart was right, but now the test of your heart is at hand. You have seen the darkness of this forbidden worship of Xmas. Be merciless to the misguided zeal of your fellow people, take down the high places, and redeem the time by eradicating unredeemable Xmas.

As for my readers who are Jeroboam, reconcile yourself to the fact that the Holy God of the universe, as revealed in the bible, may be willing to riddle your Xmas living room with your carcasses if you do not repent. “And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars” (Ezek. 6:5). Again I say, the golden calf is Counterfeit Christianity. The redemption of idolatrous ways is an added mixture of sinful revelry that pervades all of their morality, not simply the Xmas feast. Unregenerate reader, you are guilty like Jeroboam because you

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are a worldling. A worldling is dead. You may sing hymns but you are dead. Your hymns are like the fumes of rotting flesh to God (Rom. 3:13). You are a friend of sin and you still claim Christ as your kin, this multiplies your condemnation times ten! Your rotting soul does misrepresent Christ Jesus, and soon it will be evident to all – “Behold, The Judge standeth before the door” (James 5:9).

The Terror of Idolatry

“They are just objects of wood and stone, these symbols are innocent alone.
Decorations set the mood in a happy tone.”

There are those who argue that the meaning of the pagan and idolatrous objects used in the participation of Xmas have lost their first meaning, therefore, they have become innocent. Since they are not used for idolatry, have they become innocent? Firstly, God hates the inanimate object itself, and so should you. Secondarily, paganism is inseparable from many daily tasks and activities, but this is never an excuse to use paganism as a means of worship to God. The days of the week have pagan origins and I am renouncing them, but when it comes to the holy procession of worshipping God the scriptures are certain – no dead pagan rituals are acceptable worship to God. Worship or works in Jesus’ name must follow the strictness of God’s word.

God says idols are cursed. He warned the Israelites that if they brought one into their house they would be cursed like it. Xmas is a spoil of treasure to many, and so were cursed objects to Achan; but Achan did not survive his crimes.

“When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of
silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them;
and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it”
(Joshua 7:21).

Such words are the confession of the criminal whose “simple” crime caused Israel to fall in battle against the people of Ai. The cost of this loss was not illustrated in the number of men that died, or in that Israel fled before the people of Ai. The significance of this defeat would embolden the surrounding nations of the Promised Land to rally together to extinguish Israel. Such an urgent situation is accurately illustrated by the response of the courageous “general” Joshua when he heard of Israel’s defeat before Ai. It is written that, “Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads” (Joshua 7:6). Joshua urgently sought guidance because he recognized that they were cursed of God to fall in battle against Ai! The Lord guided Joshua to find the culprit that single handedly jeopardized and dismantled national security. God said, “Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you” (Joshua 7:12).

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God gave Joshua the shocking condition, “neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you” (Joshua 7:12). God said Israel was accursed, that it was on account of a man who was accursed, and this was on account of what objects a man coveted and took which were cursed. Joshua found the man who took the cursed things which made the whole nation accursed. His name was Achan. Think of the hatred that Joshua and all the people came to have against idols! How cursed are idols? The people learned quickly how cursed idols are by the merciless judgment that transpired against Achan. As the fate of Jeroboam, now also Achan, his sons and daughters were slain without pity.

“And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day” (Joshua 7:24-26).

Avoiding cursed things became a vital imperative for a common Israelite, a lesson again written in blood. Thirty-six men died at war outside the camp, Achan and his family died within the camp, and the whole nation‟s security was in jeopardy with every life on the line. Think of the emotional pain as a consequence of this public execution! Many soldiers who have seen the gore of war are haunted by its scenes of battle whether awake or asleep. The cries of their fallen comrades do restlessly echo in the annals of their mind. For the Israelite there is a very different cause, but a similar gruesome end. The Israelite remembers the cries of Achan, his wife, and children, as they lifted their voices for mercy when they were stoned to death. Think of the gripping emotion in their cries, begging mercy with their eyes. Think of the after-effect of this on the whole Israelite nation. Some men are driven to mad fury by jealousy over their wives. Some parents have murderous rage against kidnappers and sexual assaulters. With how much more hatred would the Israelite have against all idols? To what extent would he go to see them all destroyed? What satisfaction would he have knowing all idols have been grinded to powder?

The example of Achan was one of many lessons that illustrate the unfailing truth of God, as it is written, “The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing”

(Deuteronomy 7:25-26). The righteousness of an Israelite is evident in that they learned to be like their LORD. Are you like the LORD? The Lord utterly hated, detested, and abhorred a non-living object called an idol, and the Israelites learned to do the same. Such an object was, and is, bound with curses, fellowship with devils, and could aggravate the damnation of devils. Note: If a man could imagine defining how holy the LORD is, the strictness of his hatred, and the fierceness of the word CURSED, he would surely underestimate it. Therefore, let every man – “write him a copy of this law in a book (the bible),” “and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God” (Deut. 17:18-19).

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Santa Clause decorations turn your whole house into the decorative beauty of idols and are the manifest joy of your spiritual idolatry. Santa is the epitome of spiritual idolatry made into a heartthrob jolly man: exactly what the heathen would want God to be. Is Santa Clause not an idol? To kids he is physically, to parents he is spiritually. Santa is a replacement of God. Santa has been given the qualities and characteristics of God, and worthy of him alone. Is this not an idol?

Santa is mysteriously in the North and out of sight (like heaven), yet possesses omniscience to know if children are naughty or nice (like God). He judges the children in one sanctified day rewarding them according to their deeds (like God’s Judgment). Yet when did you ever see the punishment of bad children by presents filled with coal? Sinners love a god of no justice whose wrath is cool coal instead of flaming fire. On this one day Santa comes in the night while the world is unaware and asleep; his coming is like a thief in the night (like God’s Judgment, 1 Thess. 5:2). He has the power to judge the entire world in one day (like God’s Judgment). Santa is the giver of gifts, the esteemed figure of the covetous children. O the cloak of Satan to please men with possessions. Satan is stealing the hearts of children as a true thief in the night.

Xmas is the heathen’s heaven, and their cumulative lust and dream of a Judgment Day with God. Everyone esteems the kindness, care, and love the season brings. However, this “kind and generous” community of families id a grief to God; a mockery of blasphemy that tries the forbearance of a jealous God! I urge you, do not eat and drink in the forbidden, forsaken, land of pseudo-Christianity. The land is defiled with blood. But you will say, ^„What blood? There is no sacrifice here.‟

Thus Santa Clause is the spiritual kidnapper of the Western world’s children, and America’s children are being spiritually given over to the fire of Satan’s hell because the professing Christians that are either spiritually destitute, or dull of hearing infants in danger of wrath. But you will say, ^„What is he talking about?’ Come now ye sinners and adulterous Christians, the blood of your children does rise up to God for judgment and wrath. What will ye do in the end thereof when the God of Abel lays hold on judgment? Satan was able to cause those who follow Baal to physically give their children to be burned as a sacrifice to Baal. Satan has craftily accomplished this task in false Christianity by the multitudes on December 25^th. The parents may not believe in the reality and existence of Santa Clause, but their children do.

Santa Clause is prayed to by the children who have complete faith in him. The word prayer means ask. When children write a letter to Santa of their wish list, they believe Santa is really receiving their prayers or petitions. It is grammatically correct to say, ^„I pray you Santa, please give me a toy truck.‟ It would be the same to say, ^„I ask you Santa, please give me a toy truck.‟ Don’t tell me God is not jealous of this Devil named Santa. Answer God now, will you really tell him there is no spiritual consequences to all of this?

Many religions all over the world practice a form of demonic worship by leaving food out for dead relatives that die, spirits of dead people, evil spirits, or idols. This is like sacrifices in the OT, food sacrifices, drink offerings, etc… This is a very religious and spiritual significant practice. According to the scriptures, these practices are not giving offerings to dead people but to devils. It is written, “What say I then? That the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils” (1 Cor. 10:19-20). If a man believed in the idols of the context of 1

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Corinthians 10, such a man was having communion with devils. The idolatry in 1 Cor. 10 would be the offended, defiled conscience of the man who eats of things sacrificed to idols while yet believing the idols are real. What of your children who believe Santa is real when they pray, offer food offerings, and sing Santa’s worship songs called carols? The devil Santa Clause has required an offering as well, that is, cookies and milk. I do certainly believe that you give your children to utter defilement of their conscience and faith because your own faith is utterly shipwrecked with the pleasure of unrighteousness.

You may not believe that Santa is real. It may be a simple game to you. Remember, the children really believe that when they leave cookies and milk out for Santa he is pleased and eats it. Xmas is uniquely the pattern of heathen worship of devils. The parents of America are giving their children over to demonic worship and spiritual destruction. The Devil is stealing, killing, and destroying spiritual lives through a holiday that is remembered as a reputation of generous giving, life, and prosperity. Families remember Jesus’ birth by the offering of their children to idolatrous worship. They honor Jesus’ birth with the spiritual death of their children.

Take heed to the warning of 1 Corinthians 10:7 & 14, “Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play…Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” I hope this book is the way of escape for you and your family. I hope you flee from the wrath of God by fleeing form idolatry

Let the godly withdraw themselves from the abhorrent tradition of men that nullifies the commandments of God. Such practices are the ways of the Pharisees and children of Satan who have grossly adopted the same religious affections. Jesus said in Matthew 15:3, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” I utterly transgress this devilish tradition of Xmas and call all my beloved brethren to do the same. It is for the Lord’s name’s sake, for your own sake, for your family’s sake, for America’s sake, and for the semi-innocent, deceived children. The abominations of the people have reached even to the house of God; therefore, it is no wonder that the plague of blasphemy and delusion sweeps across the land. It is time to take the spear of truth and thrust through the adulterous woman of false Christianity and her glory gown of Santa Clause to stay the plague of abounding sin. (Num 25:7-8) O that God may bring back his glory to the house called by his name (Ezek. 8). Let all the faithful give the witness of sighing and crying for these abominations and so be worthy to escape his wrath that will begin at the house of God (Ezek. 9:4-9). Who is this uncircumcised Philistine Santa Clause that defies the commandments and armies of the Living God? Take up sword and Spirit, children of David, saints of God, and slay Goliath the Satan Clause.

There is an Altar of Santa on Christmas day,

A sacrifice is done as the children shout, ^„hooray.‟

The altar glistens with gold, silver, and all manner of twinkling things.

This makes curious eyes enamored with all that the season brings.

Looking down to the ground the blood can be found,

The presents round the tree do all their hearts astound.

They are the hope of the children, the bountiful reward of sin.

The presents are like a little bloody mote,

Which adds stripes of honor to General Lucifer‟s coat.

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Santa has rosy cheeks and a red gown, his pockets are full of Evergreen life.

It is stained money – for it is green and bloody. Like the reward of Judas, that is

Santa‘s jolly ^„HO,‘ only his presents are blood money of the sacrificed soul.

The delusion and enmity of Evergreen money,

Has caused parents to give away their children to what they think is funny.

The ground of this Xmas fellowship should be forsaken,

It is stained with the blood of the children‘s souls the devil Santa has taken.

Offer your children, make this an unholy night.

Give your children‘s heart of faith to this Phantom in Rudolf‘s red light.

Honor his coming with Christmas lights

You‘ll find great provocation from the God of all Might.

The blood of your children cries out to Him in the night.

What will you do when He requires it at your hand?

You let them go under Santa‘s knife without a reproof or even a fighting stand.

Will you weary God and think you‘re a witness,

By decorating your house with bloody Santa‘s Christmas?

Blood and Money, Blood and Money, Christmas colors indeed,

Green and Red, Green and Red, the lights of worship in the night of the dead.

O God, have mercy, bring Judgment to Your saints,

Save us from Thy wrath, and the ignorance of Judgment‘s fate.

When God comes, when God is there,

All idolatry falls face down decapitated beyond repair.

Grind to powder false Christianity as the golden calf of Satanic profanity.

Is there no sacrifice required of this idol that is one of lifeblood? Is there no blood staining the altar of this idol’s un-holiday? What could provoke God more than the shed blood of innocent children? This devil Santa has required a sacrifice and you have given it willfully, your very own children. They betray Christ and all sing, ^„Ho, Ho.’ The children cry hooray, these are shouts of praise on this doomsday. God is weary of Xmas, it is a bloody day. The Israelites used to sacrifice their kids to Molech but now professing spiritual “Israelites” give their kids to Santa. Read of his judgments toward them, and think of it in context for you:

Leviticus 20:2-6

Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

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God required death of the man who gave his seed to Molech! Behold now, as they did, will you hide your eyes from all this wickedness? O that one of you would not be “the man” whom God says, “I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off” (Lev. 20:5). Asking a Christian to happily attend a festival in the name of some witchcraft goddess and sit idle while the abominable deeds of practicing magic happens, asking a Christian to happily attend a party commemorating the establishment of some pornographic business, asking a Christian to attend the sacrifice of their children to Satan in Satanism, or asking a Christian to attend the dedication of children in the religion of Molech or Baal worship, is all like unto attending Xmas. Will you not stop this madness and idolatry? Will you cease only when God makes you cease? It is written, “And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you” (Lev. 26:30).

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REFERENCE CHAPTER: Christian Liberty and Common Rationalizations

Christian Liberty?

“G. 1 Cor. 8:4-13; Rom. 14:1-13; 1 Cor. 10:14, 18-21 — These passages concerning Christian liberty are discussed in more detail under Roman numeral IV. [Christian liberty can best be defined Biblically as “the freedom to engage in practices not prohibited by the Scriptures or denying oneself what is permitted (i.e., a moral choice of self-discipline) in order to be a more effective witness for God.” So the question must first be answered, “Is Christmas permitted?”] Briefly, some claim that Paul is teaching that the participation in pagan forms condemns no one, and therefore, participation in Christmas and its forms, even though arising out of pagan idolatry, is inconsequential. However, Paul nowhere approves participation in acts of idolatry, of which the participation in the pagan forms of Christmas comes dangerously close to doing. Instead, Paul is speaking of the liberty to continue in Jewish days of worship/festival that had been previously ordained under the Jewish law. There is certainly no liberty to bring outside pagan forms into the church’s worship services. Likewise, there is no liberty to Christianize Babylonian/Roman pagan holy days as special days.

Christians in the first century churches had the liberty to observe Old Testament holy days and feasts (days that had previously been revealed by God) if they were so immature as to do so. The weaker brother, Paul wrote, was at that time not to be censured for continuing to attach some importance to the Old Testament holy days, as a clear knowledge of their abolition in Christ was not yet given to him (the weaker brother). But to observe a pagan holy day is something this passage does not sanction. They certainly did not have the liberty to regard Babylonian/Roman pagan holy days (days that were invented by the devil) as special days. Again, that would have been idolatry, worldliness, and perhaps even a form of Satan worship on their part. Therefore, how can the observance of Christmas Day, or any other Babylonian/Roman Catholic holy day, be a matter of Christian liberty?

Yet when some of us refuse to regard the pagan holy days as special days, we are the ones often referred to as the “weaker brother” in this matter! Are we opposed to such days because we are “weak in faith”? Faith would be defined as believing what the Word of God says about a matter and acting upon it. It was by faith that we stopped regarding pagan holy days as special days. Would we be more mature Christians if we would start regarding such days again? It would certainly be much easier on our families and us” (Dr. Scott Johnson).

“A. Romans 14:1-13 — This passage is speaking of Jews who were observing the Old Testament Jewish holy days/festivals and dietary laws even though they were now believers in Christ; but they were also judging their Gentile brothers-in-the-Lord who did not observe the Jewish customs. Likewise, the Gentile Christians were judging

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their Jewish brothers who were seemingly caught-up in ceremonial law. Paul was thusly saying, “To you Gentile Christians — leave the Jewish Christians alone, because they are not violating any Scriptural commands by their actions (i.e., it’s a “disputable” matter [doubtful or gray area] and not a moral issue). To you Jewish Christians — it’s okay for you to observe the Jewish festivals and dietary laws because they were given by God in the Old Testament, and thereby, are considered to be previously approved worship forms, but don’t judge your Gentile brothers, because there is no Biblical command for either of you to continue to observe these things.” (Actually, it wasn’t “okay” [see IV.C. below], but Paul allowed it as an act of an immature/weaker brother [see II.G. above].) If a moral issue is involved (i.e., a practice that is covered in Scripture), then this passage and its application to Christian liberty (i.e., the freedom to engage in practices not prohibited by Scripture) would obviously not apply. And as brought out earlier in this report, the celebration of Christmas appears to be such a moral issue, because its celebration is not only not from God, but is from ancient paganism itself!

1. 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 — The Gentile Christians, who had been raised in an idolatrous system, were having a problem with their Jewish brothers who were eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. (Apparently, this was the only “healthy” meat available.) Similar to the Romans 14 passage above, Paul says that eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols is not a moral issue, and thereby, is not prohibited. However, Paul does not say that it is okay to go into the pagan temple itself; in fact, in other passages (1 Cor 10:14, 18-21), Paul specifically prohibits getting involved with the pagan feasts. In other words, it’s not a moral issue to partake in the byproducts of a pagan religious system (note, however, that there is no indication here that the Jewish Christians were using the “idol meat” as part of their worship), but it is not okay to partake in the religious system itself (because the corrupt character of the participants would be harmful for believers). Rather, we must be separate from the worldly system (2 Cor 6:14-7:1). Therefore, when items (byproducts) associated with a pagan religious system not only develop religious associations of their own, but have been integrated into what would otherwise be true Christian worship (as the celebration of Christmas has clearly become in our culture), then we should pull away from them so that there is no confusion over our allegiances.
2. Galatians 4:9-10; Colossians 2:16-17 — Both these passages of Scripture refer to the Jewish holy days under Old Testament law. If Christians were not even to observe the Old Testament holy days — days that did have divine sanction, for a time — they certainly don’t have the liberty to observe pagan holy days!
3. James 4:11 — James is saying that Christians may only judge a brother on matters determined in God’s Word (i.e., moral issues). If a matter is not covered in the Word, then these are matters of Christian liberty (á la Rom. 14:1-13 and 1 Cor 8:4-13), and he who judges in these areas of Christian liberty is, in effect, judging and condemning the Word of God as being an imperfect standard to which the judge, thereby, refuses to submit. On the other hand, since we have clear Scriptural precept that condemns the things that go on around December 25th in the name of Christ, the celebration of Christmas does not appear to be a matter of liberty, but one of moral conduct” (Dr. Scott Johnson).

Rationalizations

“D. Avoid the Rationalizations that:

1. “Christmas Provides a Festive Time to Share the Gospel” — One cannot take something condemned in God’s Word and “use it” to spread the Gospel; neither will God bless it to spread His Word. Unacceptable worship and the “mixing-in” of unholy/pagan forms is surely not the normal means through which God blesses the faithful. Satan works to blend together his system with God’s system, because when unacceptable worship (paganism) is blended with true worship (God’s truth), true worship is destroyed. In fact, any time one mixes pagan ideas and practices with the pure religion of Christ, it is condemned in Scripture as the heinous sin of idolatry! God has always detested taking those things dedicated to idols and using them to worship Him. As a matter of fact, this “special time of the year” is probably more a hindrance to the receptiveness of the gospel message than a help. Much of the celebration observed by our contemporary society deludes people into assuming that God is pleased, when in reality, He is offended by false religion, pseudo-worship, and alien philosophies. The ecumenical spirit and a counterfeit “love” under the guise of “peace and goodwill among men,” more than likely dulls one’s sensitivity to his desperate need to repent of sin and be reconciled to a holy God.
2. “Christmas is Merely the Honoring of Christ’s Birth” — Someone says, “I know Christmas is of pagan origin, but I still think it’s not wrong for a church to have a special time for honoring Christ’s birth.” But since when did Protestants believe that Christians have the right to add to the Bible? Is the church a legislative body? Are we to follow the Bible in our faith and practice, or the thinking of fallible men? If we have the right to add a special holy day to the Christian economy, then we can add 10,000 other things. Then we will be no better than the false cults and the Roman Catholics who follow heathen traditions! [Besides, celebrating Christ’s birth is a form of worship. But since Christmas is a lie, those who celebrate it are not worshiping in “spirit and truth” (John 4:24).]
3. “All I’m Doing is Putting Christ Back into Christmas” — The modern conservative cry to put Christ back into Christmas is absurd. As detailed earlier in this report, Jesus Christ was never in Christmas. It’s a lie to say He was. He has no part in a lie. When anyone takes the truth and mixes it with a lie, they no longer have the truth. They have changed the truth into a lie. Neither is it possible to take a lie and mix it with enough truth to change the lie into the truth. You still come out with a lie. One may say, “Well, I know it’s not the truth, but I’ll put Christ back in Christmas and glorify God in it then.” No, you won’t. Christ never was in Christmas. You cannot change a lie into the truth. It should in reality be called Baal-mass, Nimrod-mass, Tammuz-mass, Mithras-mass, or Mary-mass. Christ-mass is a lie. Why use a lie as a good time for a fundamental truth (the incarnation) of the Christian faith?
4. “I’m Using Christmas to Witness for Christ, Just Like the Apostle Paul Did” — Some say that all they are doing is taking the “truth” from Christmas (i.e., the incarnation of Christ) and “cultivating” it as the Apostle Paul did (Acts 17/Mars Hill), taking the

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opportunity of the season to witness to a lost world. This would be fine if these Christians were actually doing only as Paul did. Paul, in addressing the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, proclaimed to them that their “unknown god” to whom they had erected an altar, was none other than “the God who made the world and all the things therein.” Paul was not intimidated by the pagan surroundings and symbolisms, nor did he berate the Greeks for their error, but merely showed them the truth of the gospel of Christ.

But do Christians really use the “opportunity presented by the season” in the same way as Paul used the opportunity of the pagan altar? Do Christians personally stand in front of their hometown public displays of Xmas (Nativity scenes, etc.) and preach the gospel? To paraphrase Paul, do they say: “Men of Indianapolis, I see that in every way you are very religious; what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you”? Do they come out of the public schools, where they have just attended their children’s Xmas programs, and preach to the attendees about the true God who has been grossly misrepresented in the program they have just witnessed?

Hardly. Even to most of those who understand the true origin of Xmas, this “unique time of year” means inviting unbelievers into their homes to gather around the Xmas tree, to enjoy the beauty of the wreaths, absorb the heat from the Yule log, etc., reasoning that they are only using the pagan forms and the pagan festival season as an opportunity to witness. If Paul meant this in Acts 17, he would have met the people in the Athenian temple or in his or their homes, gathering around their idols that he had Christianized and was now using as a part of his worship. Most of the people who decorate their homes and churches with Xmas trees, holly wreaths, Nativity scenes, etc., all supposedly to be used as “opportunities” via “Xmas coffees,” neighborhood “grab bag” gift exchanges, Xmas concerts, etc., are thoroughly convinced that they’re doing God a service. And since they are not involved in the crass secular “commercialization” that the world revels in, but have instead “put Christ back in Xmas” (so to speak), they reason that all is Biblical and pleasing to God.

5. “It Doesn’t Mean Anything to Me” — Many Christians who routinely make a habit of picking-and-choosing which Biblical commands they will or will not obey, have likewise carried this practice over into a justification for celebrating Christmas. They claim, “but the Christmas tree, mistletoe, Santa Claus, etc., don’t mean anything pagan to me, so I’ll exercise my Christian liberty and partake in all of it.” Obviously, if one were to take such a cavalier approach to the physical world (i.e., “I can drink rat poison because I choose not to regard it as poison”), it would likely lead to a quick physical death. Why, then, do Christians think they can avoid spiritual harm by ignoring God’s spiritual warnings?
6. “The ‘Connection’ Has Been Broken” — There are those who clearly recognize the pagan nature of the various Christmas worship forms and practices. Nevertheless, many of these Christians claim that because of the long passage of time from their pagan inception to the present (6,000 years?), the “connection” to paganism has been sufficiently diminished to allow the adoption of these forms and practices into our Christian worship and celebration. While it may be true that most symbols have lost their original demonic meaning and significance in a modern society, it is strangely bizarre and ironic that Christendom seeks to commemorate Christ’s birth with the faded symbols of Satan. And even though some of God’s people may be naive and

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ignorant about the source of these things, surely God is not. Can such things please Him? And think about this — if it were possible to “disconnect” current practices from their pagan/occultic roots, why does Scripture not provide us any guidelines as to:

• how much time is necessary for the “neutralization”/disassociation process to occur; and
• which of the hundreds of ancient pagan rites would then be acceptable for adaptation into Christian worship (since some are obviously much more pagan/occultic than others)?

7. “There Are Hundreds of Other Items of Daily Life that Have a Pagan Origin” — It is said, “Such things as the wedding ring, certain clothing customs, the modern division of time into hours and minutes, the names of the days of the week, etc., all have pagan connections in their origins, so isn’t it a contradiction on your part to say that their meanings have sufficiently changed while Christmas’s meanings have not?” But we are not saying that their meanings have changed. The question is one of using things of pagan origin in our worship of Christ. So we would ask the question back, “Which of these pagan items do we focus on to celebrate the birth of Christ? Or which of these is ‘Christianized’ and brought into our weekly worship of, or our daily devotion to Christ, as you do with the pagan forms and traditions of Xmas?” The origin and meaning of a custom, tradition, or form does not take on significance unless it is somehow specifically incorporated into, or lined up with, our worship. As we have already detailed in the section on Christian liberty (Section IV.B.), these rings, clothing customs, etc. would be merely the byproducts of paganism, not paganism itself, and they have developed no religious connotations or associations of their own, as have the Xmas customs and traditions.
8. “Baptism (and Circumcision) Have Pagan Origins and God Still Gave Their Use in Scripture, So What’s Wrong With Using the Pagan Forms of Christmas?” — This argument is frequently made by pastors who say that to be consistent, those who would have us forbid the forms, symbols, and traditions of Christmas should also be calling for us to abandon believer’s baptism; i.e., shouldn’t the would-be banners of Christmas be saying, “Since the ancient mystery religions practiced forms of baptism, therefore baptism is a pagan custom and should be outlawed for the believer in Christ”? This is a strange argument for anyone to make, particularly a theologian (and, in our opinion, reveals a low view of Scriptural admonitions). If baptism were absent from the Bible, as using pagan forms and traditions to celebrate or commemorate the birth of Christ are totally absent, there would then be no Biblical justification for baptism. But God has not commanded us to celebrate or commemorate Christ’s birth in any way. He has commanded us to baptize (Matt. 28:19)” (Dr. Scott Johnson).

“The very popularity of Christmas should cause the Christian to question it. Anyone and everyone can celebrate Christmas without question — outright pagans, nominal Christians, and even Buddhists and Hindus. If, in reality, December 25th were a date set by God to remember the birth of Jesus, there is no doubt that the world would have nothing to do with it. After all, God has commanded one day in seven — the Lord’s Day — to worship Him. Does the world observe it? Of course not. As expected, the world loves Christmas, but hates the Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:18, 23-25). It shuns anything pertaining to true religion. Shouldn’t the Christian be just a little suspicious of a celebration in which the whole sinful world can join without qualms?

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One way to test the Scripturalness of our practices is to reflect on what we would expect missionaries to teach new converts in a foreign culture. We assume that they would use the Bible as their guidebook. If they could start new local churches without importing American culture encumbered with Roman Catholicism, liberal Protestantism, and crass commercialism, wouldn’t it be wonderful? Missionaries who have urged new converts to forsake all pagan superstitious relics have later been questioned about the apparent inconsistency of their own American Christmas customs. Nationals perceived them as idolatrous even though the missionaries were oblivious to that possibility!

When Christmas is exposed for what it really is, this angers people. It angers Evangelical Protestant people! And there is reason why it does so. When the pagan celebration of Christmas is rooted up, and rejected, then what has become a

Protestant tradition is, in effect, being rejected! And that is why people become angry. It began as a Roman Catholic holy day, and then it became a Protestant holy day. And if anyone dares show it up for what it really is, they face the wrath of the Protestant religious machine. And these days, that can be very ugly.

Christmas is a thoroughly pagan holiday — in its origin, in its trappings, and in all its traditions. Perhaps we should contemplate the words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, delivered in a Lord’s Day sermon on December 24, 1871:

“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, because [it’s] not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Saviour’s birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. …

“It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known, therefore superstition has fixed it; … Where is the method in the madness of the superstitious? Probably the fact is that the holy days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. … We venture to assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Saviour was born, it is the twenty-fifth of December. … regarding not the day, let us, nevertheless, give God thanks for the gift of His dear Son.”

And from Dr. H.A. Ironside’s Lectures on the Book of Revelation (1920: p. 301):

“It is a lamentable fact that Babylon’s principles and practices are rapidly but surely pervading the churches that escaped from Rome at the time of the Reformation. We may see evidences of it in the wide use of high-sounding ecclesiastical titles, once unknown in the reformed churches, in the revival of holy days and church feasts such as Lent, Good Friday, Easter, and Christ’s Mass, or, as it is generally written, Christmas. … some of these festivals … when they are turned into church festivals, they certainly come under the condemnation of Galatians 4:9-11, where the Holy Spirit warns against the observance of days and months and times and seasons. All of them, and many more that might be added, are Babylonish in their origin, and were at

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one time linked with the Ashtoreth and Tammuz mystery-worship. It is through Rome that they have come down to us; and we do well to remember that Babylon is a

mother, with daughters who are likely to partake of their mother’s characteristics …” And, finally, from Alexander Hislop’s 1916 classic, The Two Babylons: Or the Papal Worship:

“Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan superstition. That Christmas is a Pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time of the year and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin.”

We can summarize by saying that nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to commemorate the birth of our Lord, and God the Father evidently deemed it unwise to make the date known. Hence, it will always remain unknown and is not to be ceremoniously remembered and celebrated. (In fact, as pointed out in the Ironside quote above, God has warned us about getting entangled with any special days [Gal. 4:10]). Notice though, that we are commanded to remember Him in His death (but no special day was specified for this either):

“Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; this DO in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:18,19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).

To commemorate His death is Scriptural. Any day of the year will do. To commemorate His birth is non-Scriptural, even extra-Scriptural (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:19), whether one chooses December 25th or any other day.

If God had desired us to remember the day of Christ’s birth, He could have left us the precise date. But if He had, He would have vindicated every astrologer in the past 2,000 years. In occult circles, the anniversary of a person’s birth is the most important metaphysical day of the year. The Bible recognizes no such significance. It is intriguing that there are only two birthday celebrations recorded in the entire Bible and they were both those of ungodly kings — and both resulted in an execution (Gen. 40:16-22 and Matt. 14:6-10/Mark 6:21-27)!

The Apostle Paul says: “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross [not the manger] of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). By itself, we find no salvation in the birth of the Lord Jesus, for salvation was only made possible through His death (i.e., His shed blood) and resurrection. Our focus should be on the cross and our ascended Savior, not in a cradle.

Those who love Jesus should certainly rejoice that He was born and lived amongst us as a man. But if we truly want to glorify Him and bear testimony of who He is, we must stop marrying that blessed gift with the debauchery of paganism. If we want to honor His birth, let it be done as He would have done it: year-round unselfishly serving our fellow man as an unending act of love for our God. Let us put away all of the mixture of pagan customs and take up His mantle and His pure worship, and show the confused world that there is a difference” (Dr. Scott Johnson).

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Conclusion

“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For
which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost,
whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and
is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to
build, and was not able to finish. Or what King, going to make war against another king,
sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him
that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way
off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever
he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good: but
if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the
land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”
(Luke 14:27-35).

Builder, count the cost to build. King, consider if you are able to make war. Disciple, are you
able to bear the cross? Are you able to finish the building, win the war, and endure the cross
to the end? “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfill the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:14).

As Jesus Christ traveled and preached the unadulterated truth of God, behind him was a wake of religious disaster wherein division, contentions, differences, and dangers were like a kindled fire and slaughtering sword (Lk. 12:51). The golden calf of Judaism’s idolatry could only be seen by those who had eyes to see. The Lord’s method of drawing the line of allegiance was by the wielding of what was written. The Lord knew that no man could come unto him accept the Father drew them (Jn. 6:44). All scriptural truth could be quoted, all opposing heresies could be effectually refuted, but only those who had eyes to see him would come to him – this is a gift of God. “Our strivings would be losing, were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing” (Luther, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”). Only those who are quickened by the Spirit will see the golden calf. Therefore, spiritual idolatry is unveiled by the revelation of God rather than the glaring and obvious appearance of physical idolatry. Therefore, if all men have paid allegiance to the spiritual idolatry of their age, and this homage has been done in their heart, then we must understand that this altar in the arena of the heart is untouchable by man.

If a man purposes to tear down the spiritual idolatry of his age, as Christ strove to do, he could only wield the efficacy of truth, the brilliant light of God’s word, while relying on God to do the work in the heart. God “giveth the increase” (1 Cor. 3:7). Though many a righteous soul does long to desecrate the altar of False Christianity that is blatantly overbearing the masses from sea to sea, they cannot go into the heart and grind it there, but only fall to their knees and plead for the Savior, if haply he may enter into the heart and conquer when they preach the word.

The righteous over-comer of this rough world’s sea is no sailor. He is not found in the boat of worldly wisdom, but walking on the sea of miraculous salvation. Dependent upon God is the gift of sight to see him, this coupled by a call to step out and join him. At this time a worldly sailor may flee life’s safekeepings and foolishly be empowered to do the impossible. Though sea billow of temptation and every exploit of Satan foams to cause a man to fear, one thing is the victory! Faith and eyes fixed on him,

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when in danger, just cry aloud, and suddenly he will be near. Never to return to the boat of man’s trust but always forsake the worldly way. To the islands of heaven no man can set sail, over the billows of the flesh no man can avail. They finally must resolve to die, nevertheless live, and they must walk thereto in Christ, miraculous water-walking power he will give.

Preach, man, preach! Let no man quench thy zeal, let persistence match your hope, and cry for Christ to avail. Let all know your hope, to see the idol of pseudo-Christianity be grinded up to no repair. The idol is in the heart, our weapons are of the righteous art, and with a faithful wielding of, “it is written again,” God hath miraculous righteousness to impart. “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21). When God comes, all idols will be decapitated and fallen face down. Such great reasonings, disputings, and contentions are necessary for our calling. We are called to be followers of Christ, which is namely, to “walk in the Spirit:” whose ways were exemplified in the footsteps of the apostles which were before us (Gal. 5:16). Their examples were alike, as Paul said, “for I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9). Paul said, “Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me” (1 Corinthians 4:16).

The bittersweet taste of our calling to be the least among men is colorfully evident in the description of the apostles’ sufferings written in 1 Corinthians 4:10-17. Please read it slowly and let it rest in your heart remembering that these sufferings were a consequence of their obedience to God‟s Word. Prepare your heart to be a follower:

“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:10-17).

Reason with the lost both within and without the church walls, do this with persistence and tears, both night and day, and be ye followers of Paul. Remember his example as if he had spoken to you this word: “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31). Be spent and expended in this worthy work, and God will shew forth his hand at his time. Though there are troubles, say alongside them, “and I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Corinthians 12:15). With persistency seek to prevail, “persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23). Let God therefore be your friend and shew forth the world and false religion as your enemy. Preach truth, brethren. Preach, and make them take sides while you unashamedly proclaim for the Lord’s sake and theirs, “Am I therefore become your enemy,

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because I tell you the truth” (Galatians 4:16)? And the God of grace for empowerment, lovingkindness for great consolation, and fierceness for moral fortitude will be with you; he and the fullness of his Spirit, from now unto the end, Amen.

With these annals of history in your mind, seeing the hall of faith and all these men through time, yea, with so great a cloud of witnesses; Because of the Pharisees and Aaron, because of the altars of gold and the name of God that is stolen, because of Achan and the just curses pronounced by a holy God and a Covenant broken, I end with this exhortation and charge:

Be thou the man of God against your altar, destroy the cursed and do not falter! In the name of Moses, in the name of Jesus, in the Spirit of all the men of God through the ages, be ye followers of their faith and stand to resist the devil. Make God’s name known by snatching souls from the gates of hell. You will not regret it if you keep the faith, though the baptism of death will be your fate. Show the world “who is on the Lord’s side” by being a city on a hill which cannot be hid. And ever remember…

There is an uncross-able chasm of difference,

An enmity which is immeasurably immense,

An unbridgeable canyon of width and breadth,

Between two natures of governance, inner life and death.

The hands and feet of Jesus or the satanic savour of the things of men,

One of these two will define your ethics, righteousness, and sin.

Carnality and Spirituality are the opposite of one another,

These create two religions that are an antithesis of each other.

Laws of morality that determine steps of obedience from an antagonistic locality.

No rest, union, and sympathy can be built in mingled intimacy,

Constant contention and no rest will they ceaseless wrestle and stress.

O that a spiritual man would walk this road of Christ‟s sufferings and distress,

To show the world the foolishness of God in a Kingdom of Nobility,

A poor man in unceasing jeopardy,

Because of beasts of wisdom growling their rich piety.

Unbelief is utter blindness from the biblical bias,

It is poverty from the warfare of the Almighty,

It is surrender to satanic captivity.

O what wonder that all this is hidden,

Even that the Kingdom is to children given,

Pleasing to God he makes the babe have sight,

He takes the lowly contrite,

And makes them scale the cities of Satan as a penetration of Light.

My javelin is Thy Truth, my hand is cleaving tight.
I cannot thrust it enough, at every enemy in sight.

The crept in Goats have abounded, and I am utterly surrounded.
It seems all are unawares, many wrapped up in worldly cares.

O Lord let me not whimper, in shameful defeat.

No matter how out-numbered and lonely, may I not retreat!

Let Thy grace make a river, empty Thy arrow-filled quiver,

Let my heart resound though I am encamped by thousands round and around.

Though the religious enmity influx iniquity, disciples of Judas like a Sea in quantity,

What wilt Thou O God do in this hour?

Let Thy arrows of Truth come like a rain shower.

Kill every Old Man, Adam, and Cain, break down every strong Satanic Tower.

Rejoice O Heavens, victory is won, make my arm like Samson’s and let thousands be to one.