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...
they could not be pusuaded to
nlinquuh
many of their superstitions,
whicb, rathet lhan forego allogether,
they chose
to
blend
and
incorporille
witb
the new faith"
(Popular Anttquities of
Great Britaín,
John Brand, p. xi).
And in
Our
Da
y
Now come down lo lhe lweolielh cen–
lury. Wbal aboul you and yout chil–
dren? Whal comes
10
your mind wben
thinking about Halloween? You proba·
bly picture weird and frighleoing ma.sks
or petSOos porlrayed
as
wilches and de–
moos. Maybe you think of purnpkins
aod lurnips hollowed out in the sbape of
eerie-looking faoes wnh lighted candles
placed inside
10
help bring out the more
frightful side of these c:arvin&s. Gener–
ally you eovision children, dressed up in
revolting costumes going from door
lo
door yelling "lrick or lreat."
The
G(){)d Housekupíng Book of En–
tertainm«nt,
on page
168,
has a section
on whalto do on Halloween . Notice the
astnnishing advtce gtven.
"'range, black and
red.
the devil's col–
on,
are tbe colors associated with Hal–
loween aod thts scheme should be
carried out
u
far as possible ..
.'Ha
ve
paper streamers and lantenu banging
from the ceiling, or. if you would like to
bave somethi.og less usual, you could
make a giant spider's web with black
and orange strin&s, or in narrowstrips of
crepe paper coming from the four cor–
ners of tbe room, complete with a large
spider - one of the
devil'$ favorite fol·
lowers."
No Blblkal Basls
Nowhere does the Bible - which
should be the foundation of our beliefs
- conunand us to pray to anyooe except
God the Father and bis Son or lo make
intercesslon for the dead. Praying for tbe
dead is oot biblical (Plalm 49:7). None
of God's people in the Old or New Tes–
taments has ever prayed fot so-called
departed souls. There is a rea.son for
this. Map just does
not
have an irnmor–
tal soul.
Nowhere does the Btble speak of a
person having an "immortal soul." In
o ther words, there is no such thiog men–
tioned in God's divine Word as souls
leaving the body at death. This er–
roneous idea also stems from paganism.
The Bible does speak. however, of a
·
~soul.~
But by tbe word "soul,
~
it merely
means a person, a human being, or a
living
being.
' 'The soul that sinoeth, it
shall die"! ( Ezek.
18:20.)
lf man hadan
immonal soul, he could not possibly die.
AU this
is
explamed fully in out free
booklet entitled
Do
You Have an
·
!Jn.
mortal Soul?
Write for your free copy.
HaUoween and several other annual
festivals people observe in the Christian–
professing world have no biblical basis,
but rather originate in pag'anism.
Of course. rigbt here many people
might say, "WeU. what
diife"nce
does it
make even il'll is pagan? We doo't wor–
ship demons. lt's all harmless fun for the
lciddies."
Yet. it
is
a "religious" holiday. And
religion is the obedience, service, and
adoration rendered to the object of one's
worship,
lt
presupposes profession, prac–
tico or ohservance of whatever belief
and practice - in this case Halloween -
WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER
11.-~975
(Continued from page 1)
an outgoing CONCERN for others. Ooo
Itas that character! He has an outgoing
concern
for you and for me. He OAVE
His only begouen Son to reconcile
us
to
Hun,
and make the
sovs
of His charac–
ter and everlasting life possible for
us.
He showers on
us
every good and pre–
cious gin. He even puts within us H1s
OtVII<ll NATUIUl -
when
we repent and
turn
from
the WllONG way of THtS
WORLD, begin to
resist
it. and tum TO
Hím through fajth in Jesus Christ as
personal Saviour!
God's divine nature is tbe nature of
love - of gtving, serving, helping - of
out~oing
concern.
lt
is tbe nature of hu–
mlltty.
Now wben one
is
oooverted - has
repented, and
turned from
Satan's and
tlus world's false WA
y
and bas
at once
received God's Holy Spirit - bis lfUWAN
nature,
as
1
said before, does not ftee. lt,
too, remains. lt
sti/1
exerts a pull. We
SUJl live in THIS PR.ESENT 6VIL WOilLD,
and
/t
exerls a pull. God still aUows
Satan to be around - and
Hl!
exertS a
pull.
So we now bave THllEE PUU.S to
Rl!·
SLST - tO OVEilCOlofE! We mwt
OOW
O~F·
eome
these three - Satan.
tltl$
world,
aod out
own
SELVES. We bave to battle
against these
three,
in order to develop
and Strengthen lliGBT CHAI\ACTEI\
within us. God says plainly it is TlfE
ovBRCOMtillS who shaU be saved - who
shaU RSIGN with Christ!
No human being is strong enough to
do this BY HJMSELF! He musl seek, and
IN FAITH receive, the help and power Of
Goo.
E
ven with God's power be will not
oveteome such foroes easily. or aU at
once. IT ts NOT EASY! Christ plainly sa.id
the way to ultimate salvation
1$
hard,
difficult. lt's a coostant IAlTUI - a
struggle against self, the world, and the
devil. The creatioo ofCHARACT61l comes
lhrougb EXPERIENCE - il talces TtMB!
l'lus development is a PROCI!SS.
lt
is a
matter Of GROWTH - DEV!LOPI46NT. lt
requires, to become PERFECT, fuU and
right tti'IOWLEDGE of the very Word of
Ood - because Jesus taugbt that we
must
li~
by
EVERY Wotm or Goo.
The natural, uncoovetted mind ca.n–
not fully and rightJy UNDEIUTANO the
Seriptures of God. Tbe acqulSition of
this KNOWLEDGE, in itself, is a procedure
requiring TIMR.
lt
is the DOERS of this
Word, not hearets only, who . shaU be
saved.
as required by sorne superior authority.
Since this holiday is caUed "Chnstian"
one assumes that the autbority cited
would be the superior authority of the
Christian
faith - Jesus Cbrist. The
sbocking point. bowevet, is that NO·
WHEIU! can you find he commands, sane–
tions, or alludes to this holiday in the
Bible.
lt is time we diScover the source of our
religious beliefs aod find out whether we
o,ught to observe tbem. O
But can any man
oot
immediately
and aU at once, this new WAY he now
learns about7 Can aoy man,
aU
at once,
break aU
HABns
he now sees are
wront~
No, he finds be has a FlGHT against
acquired former habits.
He slill has this PULLofhurnan nature
to overcome. This nature is A LAW work·
ing wilhin h.im. The apostle Paul calls it
the law ofsin and deatb.
Paul was
convert<d
Paul was a real
Christian. He bad repented, accepted
Cbrist, and received the Holy Spirit.
Witb
bis
WINO,
he wa.nted with all his
bean. and in
real
m
tense sincerity, to
oo
God's
WA Y/
But did Paul
oo
il
per–
fectly?
Let bim tell. LISTEN!
"For wc know that the law is spiri·
tuaV' be wrote, " but
1
am camal, sold
under sin. For lbat wbich
1
do,
1
aUow
not: for what
1
would, lhat do
1
not; but
wbat
1
bate, tbat do l . ... Now then it is
no more
1
tbat
do
it, but sin that dwdl–
eth in me." He is speaking of human
nature witbto bim. He continues,
" ... for to WtU is'present with me: but
how
to
peñorm that wbich is good
1
find
not. For the good tbat
1
would,
1
do not:
but lhe evil which
1
would n.ot, that
1
do.... O wretched roan that
1
aro! Who
sbaU deliver me from the body of this
death?" Then he thanks Ood. that Goo
wu-
tbrougb Jesus Christ, and by the
power of His HOLY SftRrr. Bt!T
/T
TAKESTIMEI
The truly oonverted Christian
will
find that he onen sturnbles,
undtr
t~mp
tillion,
and falls down - even as a physi–
cal cbild, leaming to walk. onen falls
down. But tbe year-old child does oot
get discouraged and give up. He gets up
and starts out again.
TIU! TRULY CONVEI\TI!:D CHRISTIAN
/S
NOT YET PERFECTI
God
LOOKS ON THE HEART
-
tbe inner MO'TlVE - the real
intent!
lf
he
is t.rying - it be gets up whenever he
falls down, •nd in repentance asks
God's forgiveness, and sets out to do bis
very best NOT TO MAltE THAT M lSTAltE
AGAJN - and to persevere with renewed
elfort lO OVEllCOMB. God is
ricb
in merey
toward that man in bis striving
to
over–
.come.
Speaking lO CONVEilTBO CHRISTIAN$,
Jobo writes: ' 'These tbinss write
1
unto
you, that ye sin not. And
if
any man
sin . .. ,.
(even tbough he ought not)
" - ..
we have an advoe:ale
with
the
Father, Jesus Ch.rist the righteous: and
be
is
tbe propitiation for
oVR.
sins . .."
Y
es,
for tbe SINS of converted Onts·
nANS. Such people oneo are under
beavier temptation than before con·
version. Tbey are STRIVING against sin -
STIÚVJNG to overcome. But tbey are not
yet peñeet. Sometimes they are caught
off g¡¡ard. They ma1 actuaUy sin. Theo
they WAXE UP,
u
11
were, and realize
wbat they bave done. Tbey REPENT.
They are lilled with remorse -
truly
sorry-
disgusted with themselves. They
go lO Ooo, and CRY Ot!T for
HELP –
for more power and strengtb from God
lO
OVERCOME!
This is the WAY ofthe Christian!
· lt
is tbe way of a constant BATTLI!- a
striving against SIN - a
~eeking
God in
eamest prayer for · help and spiritual
PoWER to overcome. They are coostantly
GAINING GROUNO. They are coostantly
OROWII'IO in God's JtNOWUIDOJ!, from
the BlliLE. They are coostantly rooting
out wrong babits, driving themselves
into R.IGHT babits. They
are
coostantly
growing eloser
to
Goo through Bible
study and prayer. They are constantly
growing in
CBAR.ACTEI\,
toward
per–
fection, even though not yet perfect.
With Paul, they say: ". . . Not as
though
1
had already attained, or were
already perfect: butl Fou.ow AFTE& ...
Brethren,
1
count not myself to have
apprehended: but
thU oM tlung
1
do,
fOROIITTINO those thin&s wbicb are be–
hind, and reaching forth unto !hose
th.in&s which are before,
1
PllBSS
TO·
WAit'O
THE
MAJllt FOil TlfE PlUZB OF THE
IIIGH CALLING OF
000
IN CHIUST
JESvs!"
But, someone may ask, what if one's
lite is cut off, and be dies
before
he has
attained this perfection? ls he saved, o r
lost?· The answer is tbat we shall nevet
obtai.n absolute peñection in
thU
lífe.
1
said, earlier, tbat
a
person who is
oooverted does receive tbe Holy Spirit at
a dejinite time -al/atona/
Not the full
measure Christ bad - he is oot at once
fui!
grown spiritually - only
a
spiritual
babe in Chrtst. Yet he is theo a cbanged,
converted man - cbanged in mind, in
attitude, in the
di~ction
he has set him·
self to
sttive
to travel.
E
ven though he
has not yet reached peñection - even
though he may have stumbled under
temptation, and taken a spiritual fall -
as long as,
in
lus mind and hcarl, be
is
earnestly striving 'to
tn.vel
Goo's WAY,
10 overcome and
grow
spirituaUy - as
long as God's Spirit is in him - as long
U
be
is
being LIID BY the Spirit of God,
he is a begoueo SoN ofGod.
lf, anywhere aloog this lite's journey,
lhat lite is cut short, such a roan will be
resurrected.
lt
is only the one who deliberately
QUITS and GtVES UP
~
wbo IU!IECTS
God, and God's WAY, and rejects Christ
as his Saviour - who turos noM this
direcuon ofGoo's WAY,
In
Iris
mlnd and
heart
-
in
bis
inner INTENT - who delib-–
erately and intenllonally in
bis
miod
TUt\NS PROM Christ, who is
JOS!.
lf, once
having been convened, having received
God's Spirit, aod TAsTED of the joys of
Goo's WAY, one deliberately rejects that
way, makes the oECtstON, not under
stress of temptation. but deüberately
and finaUy, NOT to go God's way, then
God says it is IWPOSSIBL.E
to
renew such
a one to repentance. He would have to
REPENT of that decision. But it he Wtl.l.·
FULLYmade it. not in a time of tempta–
tion, but calmly, deüberately, willfully,
then he just Wtl.l. NOT ever repent of it.
But anyone who FEARS he may have
committed tbe "unpardonable sin" - is
perhaps worried about it, and HOPES he
has
not
commiued it, and still WANTS
to
have Ood's salvatioo - no sucb has
committed it. Sucb a petSOn NAY repent
and go right on to salvation IF HE WANTS
To!
lf YOU have stumbled and fallen
down,
DON'T
BE OISCOUP.AGI!()l Get up
and press on ahead!
1
f you see a Christian do something
wrong, DON'T SIT IN JUDOMENT ANO
coNOBMN - that's · God's business to
judge. not yours! Let's have compassion
and merey - WE don't kn9w the inner
hearl ofothers- only Goo does! O