Praise the Lord for this All Hallows Eve, which some celebrate as " Halloween".The name "Halloween" comes from the All Saints Day celebration of the early Christian church, a day set aside for the solemn remembrance of the martyrs. All Hallows Eve, the evening before All Saints Day, began the time of remembrance. "All Hallows Eve" was eventually contracted to "Hallow-e'en," which became "Halloween."
Many believe that Evil spirits are more active and sinister on Halloween than they are on any other day of the year; in fact, any day is a good day for Satan to prowl about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). But "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). God has forever "disarmed principalities and powers" through the cross of Christ and "made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them through [Christ]" (Colossians 2:15).
Christian have many and diverse reaction to the
celebration of Halloween. We should respond to Halloween with gospel
compassion. The unbelieving, Christ-rejecting world lives in perpetual fear of
death. It isn't just the experience of death, but rather what the Bible calls
"a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will
consume [God's] adversaries" (Hebrews 10:27). Witches, ghosts, and evil spirits
are not terrifying; God's wrath unleashed on the unforgiven, unrepentant,
sinner. . . now that is truly terrifying.
Christians should use Halloween and all that it brings to the imagination--death imagery, superstition, expressions of debauched revelry--as an opportunity to engage the unbelieving world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus came, He saw, and conquered the enemy. He has conquered the grave and death. He is alive for evermore. We live in confidence, not in fear of death, not in the dread of the tomb, but in the sure and certain hope of that resurrection from the dead.
One of the readings for this day is taken from John.
Our God loved us so much that He sent His only son to suffer an agonizing death on a cross. Jesus, the Risen one, still goes to the very pits of hell to reach his beloved and cherished children. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He will always leave the 99 to find the 100th sheep who is lost, including the unrepentant murderer and the avowed atheist.
I have wonderful memories of growing up on a farm. I visited and a goat farm this week. I love the picture of Jesus holding the lamb and shepherd's staff and surrounded by sheep. There is a beautiful old poem written in the mid -1800's by Mrs. Elizabeth C. Clifton. It was set to music by IRA David Sankey in 1874. It is titled, "The Ninety and Nine" and It goes like this...........
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold;
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold,
Away on the mountains wild and bare,
Away from the shepherd's tender care.
"Lord, thou hast here thy ninety and nine:
Are they not enough for thee"?
But the shepherd made answer: "This of mine
Has wandered away from me;
And although the road be rough and steep
I go to the desert to find my sheep."
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed,
Nor how hard was the night that
the Lord passed through
Ere he found his sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert he heard its cry,
Sick and helpless, and ready to die.
"Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way,
That mark out the mountain track?"
"They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the shepherd could bring him back."
"Lord, whence are the hands so rent and torn?"
"They are pierced tonight by many a thorn."
But all through the mountains, thunder-riven,
And up from the rocky steep,
There rose a cry to the gate of heaven,
"Rejoice! I have found my sheep!"
And the angels echoed around the throne
"Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!"
Could not the Lord bring back his own from anywhere? From a mountain or a desert or the pit of hell?
Blessed be His Name.. He is the Lion of Judah..
In Him,
Brown
http://youtu.be/PygPri0-LNA
Christians should use Halloween and all that it brings to the imagination--death imagery, superstition, expressions of debauched revelry--as an opportunity to engage the unbelieving world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus came, He saw, and conquered the enemy. He has conquered the grave and death. He is alive for evermore. We live in confidence, not in fear of death, not in the dread of the tomb, but in the sure and certain hope of that resurrection from the dead.
One of the readings for this day is taken from John.
"...for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day." John 6:38 & 39.Jesus is to lose NOTHING - and he is to raise ALL on the last day. Isn't it perhaps possible that Jesus descended into hell to bring hope, to bring the Good News to those most in need of it? To those who had turned away from the love and mercy of God and were lost, alone, frightened, and miserable? Jesus' task was to lose nothing - to lose no one.
Our God loved us so much that He sent His only son to suffer an agonizing death on a cross. Jesus, the Risen one, still goes to the very pits of hell to reach his beloved and cherished children. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He will always leave the 99 to find the 100th sheep who is lost, including the unrepentant murderer and the avowed atheist.
I have wonderful memories of growing up on a farm. I visited and a goat farm this week. I love the picture of Jesus holding the lamb and shepherd's staff and surrounded by sheep. There is a beautiful old poem written in the mid -1800's by Mrs. Elizabeth C. Clifton. It was set to music by IRA David Sankey in 1874. It is titled, "The Ninety and Nine" and It goes like this...........
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold;
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold,
Away on the mountains wild and bare,
Away from the shepherd's tender care.
"Lord, thou hast here thy ninety and nine:
Are they not enough for thee"?
But the shepherd made answer: "This of mine
Has wandered away from me;
And although the road be rough and steep
I go to the desert to find my sheep."
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed,
Nor how hard was the night that
the Lord passed through
Ere he found his sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert he heard its cry,
Sick and helpless, and ready to die.
"Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way,
That mark out the mountain track?"
"They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the shepherd could bring him back."
"Lord, whence are the hands so rent and torn?"
"They are pierced tonight by many a thorn."
But all through the mountains, thunder-riven,
And up from the rocky steep,
There rose a cry to the gate of heaven,
"Rejoice! I have found my sheep!"
And the angels echoed around the throne
"Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!"
Could not the Lord bring back his own from anywhere? From a mountain or a desert or the pit of hell?
Blessed be His Name.. He is the Lion of Judah..
In Him,
Brown
http://youtu.be/PygPri0-LNA
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