A Voice Crying
"Be Ye Separate Saith the Lord" 2 Corinthians 6:17
Friday, December 25, 2015
Sacred or Strange
Todays message is from Leviticus 9:22-10:3. Its a solemn warning against strange fire that pervades the evangelical church today. Enthusiasm and positive affirmation has replaced the divine visitation of the Holy Ghost in the midst of God's people. There is a right way to come to God and a wrong way. Please take the time to listen to this message. I trust it will challenge you and make you desire Gods sacred fire in your life and not settle for the false fire found in todays churches through profane music, humanistic philosophy and entertainment. Please click on the link to the right of this post.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Have a Drunken Christmas
The word Christmas comes from the Roman Catholic pagan observance of the Christ Mass. This pagan festival was not officially sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church until three and a half centuries after the birth of Christ. If this observance is so important and biblical why did it take 350 years to be recognized by church authority? Why is there no mention of Christs birth or Mary after the Gospels? Paul, Peter, James and Johns letters do not mention the observance of the birth of Christ or Mary the mother of Jesus. If observance of the advent of Christ is so important as the church behaves like it is today why did the New Testament epistles not mention it?
Pagan Origins of Christmas
When the gospel spread throughout the Roman empire people were converting from false pagan religions to the true and living God our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Over time abstinence from pagan practices became relaxed. New converts were bringing their pagan customs and traditions into the Body of Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote many of his letters to confront this damnable practice yet the church was giving little heed to Pauls writings.
The first mention of Christmas is not until the early 3rd century nearly 200 years after Christ and about 150 years after the last apostle died. There is no command in the scripture to observe Christ's birth and there is no example in the New Testament where the disciples observed His birth. Not until 4 generations after the apostle died is the first mention of it in church history. WHY?
I. Early Christians did not celebrate birthdays. It was considered pagan to observe birthdays.
In ancient cultures only the birthdays of “gods” were celebrated. The early Church Fathers condemned the observance of birthdays,
A. "...In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his [Jesus] birthday. It is only sinners who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world" - Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 Edition, published by the Roman Catholic Church
"Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts; Origen ... asserts (in Lev. Hom. viii in Migne, P.G., XII, 495) that in the Scriptures sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday." The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908, Volume III, "Christmas"
B. "Some one of those before us has observed what is written in Genesis about the birthday of Pharaoh, and has told that the worthless man who loves things connected with birth keeps birthday festivals; and we, taking this suggestion from him, find in no Scripture that a birthday was kept by a righteous man. " (Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol IX Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew Chapter XXII, p429)
C. “The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general.” (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries; New York, 1848, Augustus Neander - translated by Henry John Rose, p. 190.)
D. ". . . none of the saints can be found who ever held a feast or a banquet upon his birthday, or rejoiced on the day when his son or daughter was born. But sinners rejoice and make merry on such days. For we find in the Old Testament that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, celebrated his birthday with a feast, and that Herod, in the New Testament did the same. But the saints not only neglect to mark the day of their birth with festivity, but also, filled with the Holy Spirit, they curse this day, after the example of Job and Jeremiah and David."Origen of Alexandria, in 245 A.D., a dissertation Leviticus
II. The celebration of a false pagan god is exactly what the “Christmas” season of giving, charity and merriment is all about.
A. The Winter Solstice
Mithras was the Persian pagan sun god that was popularized in Roman culture when Roman soldiers returned and brought this custom with them. December 21st the winter solstice is the birthday of the Sun god, Mithras. This observance was very popular in Roman culture and widely celebrated. Following this festival is another one that extends the celebration called Saturnalia.
B. Saturnalia was a week long festival of drinking, feasting, performing acts of charity and exchanging gifts. This was widely popular among Romans. The Catholic church is notorious for adopting pagan customs, traditions and even gods. A Catholic monsignor once asked me why I would not want to become a Catholic. When I told him its too pagan for me he candidly affirmed that Catholicism has much paganism in it. The birth of the Sun conveniently and is easily changed to the birth of the Son. However, if one looks closely at Roman Catholic icons you will notice the image of the Sun burst is scattered throughout Catholic imagery. The Whore of Babylon just can't give up its pagan gods.
III. Pagan Customs
A. Many of the traditional Christmas customs come right from the pagan celebration of Saturnalia. Christmas is often referred to as a season of giving and charity. Consider the popular Charles Dickens, Christmas Story. The theme evolves around the spirit of charity and the story is void of Christ. Have you ever asked yourself why non- Christians can enthusiastically involve themselves in this spirit of charity? Its because Jesus is NOT the reason for the season. During the Roman Feast of Saturnalia this charity was exhibited in role reversal. Masters would wait on their slaves, serve them food and drink and perform menial tasks for them. Gift exchange at Christmas time has nothing to do with the Magi and everything to do with this pagan religion. Feasting and drinking were a huge part of Saturnalia that is also expressed during Christmas
B. Have a drunken Christmas is the same as Merry Christmas
“Merry” is an old English word that basically means to celebrate something by getting drunk. The word “merry” is used 29 times in the Old and New Testament and the context of each usage involves drinking. The scripture does not mention that Joseph and Mary were drinking when Christ was born. Nor does it mention the shepherds or heavenly host making merry. I can think of no other time in common vernacular when the word “merry” is used except in association with the alleged observance of the birth of Christ. Associating drunkenness with the birth of Christ comes a bit close to blasphemy and yet Christians naively use this expression thinking they are honoring Christ.
C. “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” Rev. 11: 10
I found this passage rather intriguing. The two prophets or witnesses of the Revelation are killed. People around the world exchange gifts and party.
Why are Christians exhorting others to get drunk in the alleged celebration of the birth of Christ?
IV. Three Reasons Christ was not born in December
A. The gospel of Luke tells us that shepherds were keeping watch at night. This is the most significant clue that Christ was not born in December. Shepherds stay in the fields only when lambs were being born in the Spring.
B. The census was a tax that everyone had to return to their place of birth and pay the tax. Joseph was from Bethlehem. People in those days walked every where. Travel could be very slow. Traveling during a cold rainy season would have made it very difficult for people to pay their taxes. The Romans wanted their money so they taxed people during seasons of the year that were good weather and comfortable for travel. December is NOT when the Romans would have taxed people in the land of Israel. It can snow in Bethlehem and Jerusalem in December.
C. As mentioned before Saturnalia was a widely popular festival in the Roman empire. While the Jews would not have celebrated this pagan holiday Roman soldiers and the many Roman citizens in Israel would have. Taxing people during Saturnalia would be unheard of. It would be like the IRS changing tax day from April 15th to December 24th.
As for all the other trappings of the Christ Mass I will not elaborate on wreaths, mistletoe or Santa only to say that elves are demons in German lore and the scriptures expressly condemn Christmas trees.
“Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2Thus 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. 3For 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. 4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.” Jeremiah 10
The sad thing is that churches I have been affiliated with are typically non-conformist, separatist type churches and yet they enthusiastically embrace this Roman pagan heresy. Did you know that early Colonial America, for the most part, did not celebrate Christmas? Anglicans and Lutherans did but Presbyterians, Puritans, Baptists including Southern Baptists and Quakers did not. Jonathon Edwards and the Great Awakening of New England did not observe Christmas because they understood it as Catholic paganism.
So Christian, you need to ask yourself some serious questions. If celebrating the birth of Christ is so important then why do you celebrate it at a time of year when He obviously was not born? If the scriptures commanded us to celebrate His birth it would have been more explicit in detail as to what time of year this should happen.
Its no mistake or happenstance that the widespread Protestant observance of Christmas in America began at the same time biblical liberalism was creeping into the mainline denominational seminaries. The popularity of Christmas in America increased with the downfall of the church. If you want to observe a pagan festival just do it and leave Jesus out of it. By assigning the name of Christ to a pagan festival you are doing the same thing that the Hebrews did at Mt. Sinai when they worshiped the golden calf and called it Jehovah.
Pagan Origins of Christmas
When the gospel spread throughout the Roman empire people were converting from false pagan religions to the true and living God our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Over time abstinence from pagan practices became relaxed. New converts were bringing their pagan customs and traditions into the Body of Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote many of his letters to confront this damnable practice yet the church was giving little heed to Pauls writings.
The first mention of Christmas is not until the early 3rd century nearly 200 years after Christ and about 150 years after the last apostle died. There is no command in the scripture to observe Christ's birth and there is no example in the New Testament where the disciples observed His birth. Not until 4 generations after the apostle died is the first mention of it in church history. WHY?
I. Early Christians did not celebrate birthdays. It was considered pagan to observe birthdays.
In ancient cultures only the birthdays of “gods” were celebrated. The early Church Fathers condemned the observance of birthdays,
A. "...In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his [Jesus] birthday. It is only sinners who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world" - Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 Edition, published by the Roman Catholic Church
"Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts; Origen ... asserts (in Lev. Hom. viii in Migne, P.G., XII, 495) that in the Scriptures sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday." The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908, Volume III, "Christmas"
B. "Some one of those before us has observed what is written in Genesis about the birthday of Pharaoh, and has told that the worthless man who loves things connected with birth keeps birthday festivals; and we, taking this suggestion from him, find in no Scripture that a birthday was kept by a righteous man. " (Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol IX Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew Chapter XXII, p429)
C. “The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general.” (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries; New York, 1848, Augustus Neander - translated by Henry John Rose, p. 190.)
D. ". . . none of the saints can be found who ever held a feast or a banquet upon his birthday, or rejoiced on the day when his son or daughter was born. But sinners rejoice and make merry on such days. For we find in the Old Testament that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, celebrated his birthday with a feast, and that Herod, in the New Testament did the same. But the saints not only neglect to mark the day of their birth with festivity, but also, filled with the Holy Spirit, they curse this day, after the example of Job and Jeremiah and David."Origen of Alexandria, in 245 A.D., a dissertation Leviticus
II. The celebration of a false pagan god is exactly what the “Christmas” season of giving, charity and merriment is all about.
A. The Winter Solstice
Mithras was the Persian pagan sun god that was popularized in Roman culture when Roman soldiers returned and brought this custom with them. December 21st the winter solstice is the birthday of the Sun god, Mithras. This observance was very popular in Roman culture and widely celebrated. Following this festival is another one that extends the celebration called Saturnalia.
B. Saturnalia was a week long festival of drinking, feasting, performing acts of charity and exchanging gifts. This was widely popular among Romans. The Catholic church is notorious for adopting pagan customs, traditions and even gods. A Catholic monsignor once asked me why I would not want to become a Catholic. When I told him its too pagan for me he candidly affirmed that Catholicism has much paganism in it. The birth of the Sun conveniently and is easily changed to the birth of the Son. However, if one looks closely at Roman Catholic icons you will notice the image of the Sun burst is scattered throughout Catholic imagery. The Whore of Babylon just can't give up its pagan gods.
III. Pagan Customs
A. Many of the traditional Christmas customs come right from the pagan celebration of Saturnalia. Christmas is often referred to as a season of giving and charity. Consider the popular Charles Dickens, Christmas Story. The theme evolves around the spirit of charity and the story is void of Christ. Have you ever asked yourself why non- Christians can enthusiastically involve themselves in this spirit of charity? Its because Jesus is NOT the reason for the season. During the Roman Feast of Saturnalia this charity was exhibited in role reversal. Masters would wait on their slaves, serve them food and drink and perform menial tasks for them. Gift exchange at Christmas time has nothing to do with the Magi and everything to do with this pagan religion. Feasting and drinking were a huge part of Saturnalia that is also expressed during Christmas
B. Have a drunken Christmas is the same as Merry Christmas
“Merry” is an old English word that basically means to celebrate something by getting drunk. The word “merry” is used 29 times in the Old and New Testament and the context of each usage involves drinking. The scripture does not mention that Joseph and Mary were drinking when Christ was born. Nor does it mention the shepherds or heavenly host making merry. I can think of no other time in common vernacular when the word “merry” is used except in association with the alleged observance of the birth of Christ. Associating drunkenness with the birth of Christ comes a bit close to blasphemy and yet Christians naively use this expression thinking they are honoring Christ.
C. “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” Rev. 11: 10
I found this passage rather intriguing. The two prophets or witnesses of the Revelation are killed. People around the world exchange gifts and party.
Why are Christians exhorting others to get drunk in the alleged celebration of the birth of Christ?
IV. Three Reasons Christ was not born in December
A. The gospel of Luke tells us that shepherds were keeping watch at night. This is the most significant clue that Christ was not born in December. Shepherds stay in the fields only when lambs were being born in the Spring.
B. The census was a tax that everyone had to return to their place of birth and pay the tax. Joseph was from Bethlehem. People in those days walked every where. Travel could be very slow. Traveling during a cold rainy season would have made it very difficult for people to pay their taxes. The Romans wanted their money so they taxed people during seasons of the year that were good weather and comfortable for travel. December is NOT when the Romans would have taxed people in the land of Israel. It can snow in Bethlehem and Jerusalem in December.
C. As mentioned before Saturnalia was a widely popular festival in the Roman empire. While the Jews would not have celebrated this pagan holiday Roman soldiers and the many Roman citizens in Israel would have. Taxing people during Saturnalia would be unheard of. It would be like the IRS changing tax day from April 15th to December 24th.
As for all the other trappings of the Christ Mass I will not elaborate on wreaths, mistletoe or Santa only to say that elves are demons in German lore and the scriptures expressly condemn Christmas trees.
“Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2Thus 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. 3For 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. 4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.” Jeremiah 10
The sad thing is that churches I have been affiliated with are typically non-conformist, separatist type churches and yet they enthusiastically embrace this Roman pagan heresy. Did you know that early Colonial America, for the most part, did not celebrate Christmas? Anglicans and Lutherans did but Presbyterians, Puritans, Baptists including Southern Baptists and Quakers did not. Jonathon Edwards and the Great Awakening of New England did not observe Christmas because they understood it as Catholic paganism.
So Christian, you need to ask yourself some serious questions. If celebrating the birth of Christ is so important then why do you celebrate it at a time of year when He obviously was not born? If the scriptures commanded us to celebrate His birth it would have been more explicit in detail as to what time of year this should happen.
Its no mistake or happenstance that the widespread Protestant observance of Christmas in America began at the same time biblical liberalism was creeping into the mainline denominational seminaries. The popularity of Christmas in America increased with the downfall of the church. If you want to observe a pagan festival just do it and leave Jesus out of it. By assigning the name of Christ to a pagan festival you are doing the same thing that the Hebrews did at Mt. Sinai when they worshiped the golden calf and called it Jehovah.
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