Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
August 22, 2011
August 20, 2011
people get ready!
I am a Christian. I am PRE-Tribulation in my "End Times" beliefs. I believe SOON very very SOON our Messiah Yahshua (Jesus) will be returning for His bride. Things are coming up in politics, signs in the heavens, and foreign countries that point to this Rapture happening in the near future. I will be posting videos over the next few weeks that I think explain how and why I believe this.
this one explains WHY the Rapture must be PRE-Trib.
(part 1) I'll add the parts 2-7 as they are made available
I am not debating this.
I am open to talking about it if you have serious honest questions. I will try to explain the best I can my beliefs (but I warn you now I stink at explaining myself in type... I can talk all day long but writing it out bogs my brain down)
Are YOU ready for Him to come back?
Am *I*?
this one explains WHY the Rapture must be PRE-Trib.
(part 1) I'll add the parts 2-7 as they are made available
I am not debating this.
I am open to talking about it if you have serious honest questions. I will try to explain the best I can my beliefs (but I warn you now I stink at explaining myself in type... I can talk all day long but writing it out bogs my brain down)
Are YOU ready for Him to come back?
Am *I*?
May 1, 2011
after the lastest headlines---
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth,
and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him,
and he turn away his wrath from him.
Fret not thyself because of evil men,
neither be thou envious at the wicked:
For there shall be no reward to the evil man;
the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
~Proverbs 24:17-20
February 18, 2011
December 29, 2010
October 12, 2010
September 22, 2010
August 24, 2010
the writing on the wall
I am planning to paint some verses on the walls of my home. Right now I am collecting ideas and this is what I have so far....
* The Beatitude verses
* Galatians 5:22-33
* Philippians 4:8
* 1 Peter 3:3-4
* Proverbs 31:36
* 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Childrens' Room:
* Psalm 127:3a
* Ephesians 6:11, 14-17
* Psalm 1
* I'm still looking for more verses for this room...
School/Family Room (has the main door we use in it):
* Joshua 24:15
* John 3:16
* Colossians 3:23
* Deuteronomy 6:6-9
* Psalm 119:105
* Proverbs 3:5
* Psalm 127:3-5 (hung by our children's pictures)
* Psalm 100
Dining Room:
* The Lord's Prayer
I think that is it...I'd love to put more up.
I was thinking of doing "Create in me a clean heart, oh God" like they did here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/sweetsavages/327390/
Cause I can not hand letter/paint words for the life of me. I shake too much anymore.
What are your favorite verses or Scriptural blessings?
* The Beatitude verses
* Galatians 5:22-33
* Philippians 4:8
* 1 Peter 3:3-4
* Proverbs 31:36
* 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Childrens' Room:
* Psalm 127:3a
* Ephesians 6:11, 14-17
* Psalm 1
* I'm still looking for more verses for this room...
School/Family Room (has the main door we use in it):
* Joshua 24:15
* John 3:16
* Colossians 3:23
* Deuteronomy 6:6-9
* Psalm 119:105
* Proverbs 3:5
* Psalm 127:3-5 (hung by our children's pictures)
* Psalm 100
Dining Room:
* The Lord's Prayer
I think that is it...I'd love to put more up.
I was thinking of doing "Create in me a clean heart, oh God" like they did here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/sweetsavages/327390/
Cause I can not hand letter/paint words for the life of me. I shake too much anymore.
What are your favorite verses or Scriptural blessings?
August 22, 2010
July 13, 2010
July 10, 2010
Doug Phillips: A Hopeful Theology of Miscarriage
In Doug Phillips’ talk, “A Hopeful Theology of Miscarriage”, he encouraged his audience to rethink their vocabulary and perspective on the unborn: to minimize the use of such terms as “fetus” or “embryo” that tend to dehumanize our thoughts of children in the womb and use more personal terms such as “baby” and “child” instead.
Doug outlined three major views held by Christian on pre-born and infant death:
“Miscarriage is for a moment; a soul is forever.”
Doug outlined three major views held by Christian on pre-born and infant death:
- All Children who Die Go to Heaven
- The Children of Believers go to Heaven
- All Children called of God go to Heaven, and Christians can have great Confidence in the Mercy and Goodness of God.
- The Kingdom of Heaven Belongs to Little Children (Luke 18:15-17)
- The Multitude of Children in Heaven (Revelation 7:9)
- At least some children are chosen and sanctified from the womb (I Samuel 1:8-2:21; Luke 1:15; Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 22:9)
- The hope of discipling our families on the priorities, nobilities, and sacrifices of Motherhood.
- The hope that tragedy provides to model confidence in the sovereignty of God to your children and the world.
“Miscarriage is for a moment; a soul is forever.”
June 4, 2010
Mystery Babylon – Who is it?
Mystery Babylon – Who is it?
Mystery Babylon – Who is it?
Monday, 1st February 2010
Urgent Questions
Babylon is Fallen, is Fallen
The prophecy about Babylon’s destruction
There it is—as crystal clear as it can be. The Revelation 14:8 prophecy plainly predicts the future fall of Babylon. Listen to it: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Knowing that this prophecy about the coming fall of Babylon exists, and knowing that the United States is fighting currently in Iraq —the nation that contains ancient Babylon, we simply must ask ourselves if the prophesied fall of Babylon has been fulfilled.
There are prophetic prognosticators in abundance ready to quickly and loudly proclaim that the time for the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy has arrived. But let’s see what the scriptures actually say.
When will the prophesied fall of Babylon happen?
Revelation 16:16 announces the beginning of the Battle of Armageddon: “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
The next three verses record the fall of Babylon the Great. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air…and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”
This passage clearly teaches us that the destruction of Babylon will take place at the time of the Battle of Armageddon.
Since we know that the Battle of Armageddon occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation, after the reign of the Antichrist and after the mark of the beast, it is obvious that the war with Iraq is not be the prophesied destruction of Babylon.
Another prophecy of Babylon’s Destruction
The entire ministry of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was devoted to prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying away of Israel into Babylonian captivity. He also prophesied the return of Israel to Jerusalem after 70 years and foretold the ultimate destruction of Babylon.
The prophecy against Babylon is found in Jeremiah 50:1-23.
“The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken…For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein… Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.”
Verses 17 and 18 establish for certain when this destruction of Babylon was to occur:
“Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.”
The above scriptures teach us that this particular prophesied destruction of Babylon would occur during the era of the Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar.
Furthermore, verses 39-40 declared that Babylon would never again be inhabited. “Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands will dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever…”
Two destructions of Babylon foretold
The prophecy of Jeremiah clearly stated that Babylon would be destroyed, never to be inhabited again. Yet the book of Revelation prophesies the destruction of Babylon at the time of Armageddon. How do we reconcile what appears to be a biblical contradiction?
Literal Babylon vs. Mystery Babylon
The physical city of Babylon was originally built by Nimrod after the flood. It was located on the Euphrates River, about 55 miles south of where Baghdad, Iraq stands today. The name Babylon came from the Tower of Babel that was constructed there.
Babylon became a large city of global prominence around 1728 B.C. during the reign of Hammurabi. The glory years of Babylon were achieved under Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 B.C.). The city declined during the reign of Belshazzar, and came to ruin when Xerxes, the Persian king, destroyed it in 478 B.C.
Thus, Jeremiah’s prophesied destruction of Babylon was accomplished, and, just as the prophecy said, it has never been inhabited to this day. Saddam Hussein launched a project to rebuild Babylon in the late 1980’s, but the effort was halted by Gulf War I and has yet to be resumed.
But if Babylon is never to be rebuilt, why are two entire chapters of the book of Revelation devoted to the destruction of Babylon? And why is the destruction of Babylon clearly described as occurring at the time of Armageddon?
The Babylon described in Revelation is called “Mystery Babylon.” The prophecy of Mystery Babylon is found in Revelation 17:3-5.
“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Who is Mystery Babylon?—4 clues
A mystery is something secret or hidden— a thing that some understand while others do not. In Revelation 17, there are several clues given to the identity of Mystery Babylon. We will discuss four of them here.
Clue #1—Mystery Babylon is a city
Notice in the above prophecy that a woman is used to symbolize Mystery Babylon. Verse 18 of the chapter tells us that the woman is a city. “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”
Clue #2—Mystery Babylon presides over a vast international system
In verse 1, we are told that the woman sits on many waters. Verse 15 explains the meaning of the waters. “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”
Not only is this woman a city, but the city is apparently the headquarters over a vast international system.
Clue #3—The city sits on 7 hills
In verse 3, we are told that the woman rides on a beast with 7 heads. Verse 9 reveals the meaning of the heads. “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.”
Remember, we’ve already learned that the woman is a city. This passage tells us that the city sits on seven mountains. There is a city on earth that is known as “The City of Seven Hills.” It’s the city of Rome.
But is Rome the headquarters for an international power that rules over “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues?”
The Vatican claims to rule over one billion Roman Catholics worldwide. Remember, this prophecy was written long before the Catholic Church existed and long before Rome became her headquarters.
Clue #4—She is clothed in purple and red
Revelation 17:4 “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:”
There are two ruling bodies in the Roman Catholic Church: The College of Cardinals and the College of Bishops and Archbishops. These two bodies are somewhat like the Senate and the House of Representatives here in the U.S.
An article appeared in The Criterion, a Roman Catholic publication, July 1, 1988. The article was entitled, “More than You Want to Know About Cardinals.” It stated, “Cardinals wear red, while non-Cardinal Bishops and Archbishops wear purple.”
So let’s review. Mystery Babylon is a city that sits on seven hills. Rome is known worldwide as “The City of Seven Hills.”
Mystery Babylon is to “sit” on peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues.” Rome is headquarters for the Roman Catholic Church, claiming one billion members worldwide.
Mystery Babylon is described as being clothed in purple and red. The official colors of the two ruling bodies of the Roman Church are purple and red.
One other factor should be understood. In Revelation 17, God chose to use a woman—a whore—to symbolize the Roman Catholic Church. Why?
It’s really very simple. In scripture, God always used a woman to symbolize a church. He used a virgin to represent His true church (II Corinthians 11:2), and He used a harlot to represent a false church— as he did in Revelation 17-19.
There can be only one conclusion: The Vatican is the Mystery Babylon of Revelation. And it is this false religious system that has deceived the people of the world that will be destroyed at the time of Armageddon.
What then is the war in Iraq?
If the destruction of physical Babylon is past and the destruction of spiritual Babylon is future, what role will the war with Iraq play in Bible prophecy?
Revelation 9:13-16 prophesies a war that will kill one-third of mankind—two billion people. It states that this war will begin in the area of the Euphrates River. Most of the Euphrates River is in Iraq— the nation with which the U.S. currently has 100,000 troops along the Euphrates River.
If this war with Iraq is indeed the one prophesied in Revelation 9:13-16, the face of the world will be changed forever. The cry for peace and security will give birth to a system of global law that will throw the planet into one-world government. The horrible carnage of two billion dead and the aftermath of nuclear war will create the perfect scenario for the ascent of the Antichrist into power.
This unprecedented disaster will also accelerate the Peace plan the the the International Community has been working on night and day between Israel and the Palestinians. It appears that the anticipated Middle East agreement will be the confirmation of the covenant, which triggers the final seven years to Armageddon.
The coming war with Iraq will not be the end of the world. It will not be Armageddon. And it will not be the prophesied destruction of Mystery Babylon.
But it will be the deadliest war the planet has ever seen!
Mystery Babylon – Who is it?
Monday, 1st February 2010
Urgent Questions
Babylon is Fallen, is Fallen
The prophecy about Babylon’s destruction
There it is—as crystal clear as it can be. The Revelation 14:8 prophecy plainly predicts the future fall of Babylon. Listen to it: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Knowing that this prophecy about the coming fall of Babylon exists, and knowing that the United States is fighting currently in Iraq —the nation that contains ancient Babylon, we simply must ask ourselves if the prophesied fall of Babylon has been fulfilled.
There are prophetic prognosticators in abundance ready to quickly and loudly proclaim that the time for the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy has arrived. But let’s see what the scriptures actually say.
When will the prophesied fall of Babylon happen?
Revelation 16:16 announces the beginning of the Battle of Armageddon: “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
The next three verses record the fall of Babylon the Great. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air…and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”
This passage clearly teaches us that the destruction of Babylon will take place at the time of the Battle of Armageddon.
Since we know that the Battle of Armageddon occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation, after the reign of the Antichrist and after the mark of the beast, it is obvious that the war with Iraq is not be the prophesied destruction of Babylon.
Another prophecy of Babylon’s Destruction
The entire ministry of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was devoted to prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying away of Israel into Babylonian captivity. He also prophesied the return of Israel to Jerusalem after 70 years and foretold the ultimate destruction of Babylon.
The prophecy against Babylon is found in Jeremiah 50:1-23.
“The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken…For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein… Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.”
Verses 17 and 18 establish for certain when this destruction of Babylon was to occur:
“Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.”
The above scriptures teach us that this particular prophesied destruction of Babylon would occur during the era of the Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar.
Furthermore, verses 39-40 declared that Babylon would never again be inhabited. “Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands will dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever…”
Two destructions of Babylon foretold
The prophecy of Jeremiah clearly stated that Babylon would be destroyed, never to be inhabited again. Yet the book of Revelation prophesies the destruction of Babylon at the time of Armageddon. How do we reconcile what appears to be a biblical contradiction?
Literal Babylon vs. Mystery Babylon
The physical city of Babylon was originally built by Nimrod after the flood. It was located on the Euphrates River, about 55 miles south of where Baghdad, Iraq stands today. The name Babylon came from the Tower of Babel that was constructed there.
Babylon became a large city of global prominence around 1728 B.C. during the reign of Hammurabi. The glory years of Babylon were achieved under Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 B.C.). The city declined during the reign of Belshazzar, and came to ruin when Xerxes, the Persian king, destroyed it in 478 B.C.
Thus, Jeremiah’s prophesied destruction of Babylon was accomplished, and, just as the prophecy said, it has never been inhabited to this day. Saddam Hussein launched a project to rebuild Babylon in the late 1980’s, but the effort was halted by Gulf War I and has yet to be resumed.
But if Babylon is never to be rebuilt, why are two entire chapters of the book of Revelation devoted to the destruction of Babylon? And why is the destruction of Babylon clearly described as occurring at the time of Armageddon?
The Babylon described in Revelation is called “Mystery Babylon.” The prophecy of Mystery Babylon is found in Revelation 17:3-5.
“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Who is Mystery Babylon?—4 clues
A mystery is something secret or hidden— a thing that some understand while others do not. In Revelation 17, there are several clues given to the identity of Mystery Babylon. We will discuss four of them here.
Clue #1—Mystery Babylon is a city
Notice in the above prophecy that a woman is used to symbolize Mystery Babylon. Verse 18 of the chapter tells us that the woman is a city. “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”
Clue #2—Mystery Babylon presides over a vast international system
In verse 1, we are told that the woman sits on many waters. Verse 15 explains the meaning of the waters. “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”
Not only is this woman a city, but the city is apparently the headquarters over a vast international system.
Clue #3—The city sits on 7 hills
In verse 3, we are told that the woman rides on a beast with 7 heads. Verse 9 reveals the meaning of the heads. “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.”
Remember, we’ve already learned that the woman is a city. This passage tells us that the city sits on seven mountains. There is a city on earth that is known as “The City of Seven Hills.” It’s the city of Rome.
But is Rome the headquarters for an international power that rules over “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues?”
The Vatican claims to rule over one billion Roman Catholics worldwide. Remember, this prophecy was written long before the Catholic Church existed and long before Rome became her headquarters.
Clue #4—She is clothed in purple and red
Revelation 17:4 “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:”
There are two ruling bodies in the Roman Catholic Church: The College of Cardinals and the College of Bishops and Archbishops. These two bodies are somewhat like the Senate and the House of Representatives here in the U.S.
An article appeared in The Criterion, a Roman Catholic publication, July 1, 1988. The article was entitled, “More than You Want to Know About Cardinals.” It stated, “Cardinals wear red, while non-Cardinal Bishops and Archbishops wear purple.”
So let’s review. Mystery Babylon is a city that sits on seven hills. Rome is known worldwide as “The City of Seven Hills.”
Mystery Babylon is to “sit” on peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues.” Rome is headquarters for the Roman Catholic Church, claiming one billion members worldwide.
Mystery Babylon is described as being clothed in purple and red. The official colors of the two ruling bodies of the Roman Church are purple and red.
One other factor should be understood. In Revelation 17, God chose to use a woman—a whore—to symbolize the Roman Catholic Church. Why?
It’s really very simple. In scripture, God always used a woman to symbolize a church. He used a virgin to represent His true church (II Corinthians 11:2), and He used a harlot to represent a false church— as he did in Revelation 17-19.
There can be only one conclusion: The Vatican is the Mystery Babylon of Revelation. And it is this false religious system that has deceived the people of the world that will be destroyed at the time of Armageddon.
What then is the war in Iraq?
If the destruction of physical Babylon is past and the destruction of spiritual Babylon is future, what role will the war with Iraq play in Bible prophecy?
Revelation 9:13-16 prophesies a war that will kill one-third of mankind—two billion people. It states that this war will begin in the area of the Euphrates River. Most of the Euphrates River is in Iraq— the nation with which the U.S. currently has 100,000 troops along the Euphrates River.
If this war with Iraq is indeed the one prophesied in Revelation 9:13-16, the face of the world will be changed forever. The cry for peace and security will give birth to a system of global law that will throw the planet into one-world government. The horrible carnage of two billion dead and the aftermath of nuclear war will create the perfect scenario for the ascent of the Antichrist into power.
This unprecedented disaster will also accelerate the Peace plan the the the International Community has been working on night and day between Israel and the Palestinians. It appears that the anticipated Middle East agreement will be the confirmation of the covenant, which triggers the final seven years to Armageddon.
The coming war with Iraq will not be the end of the world. It will not be Armageddon. And it will not be the prophesied destruction of Mystery Babylon.
But it will be the deadliest war the planet has ever seen!
April 9, 2010
CATECHISM FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
We are using the Reformed Catechism to teach our children the basics of our faith and fill in "gaps" we may have missed. It is amazing how much of this they already know even our 4 year old was shouting out correct answers as we quizzed them "game show style" in the SUV on a recent road trip.
An Introduction to the Shorter Catechism
Q. 1. Who made you?
A. God.
Q. 2. What else did God make?
A. God made all things.
Q. 3. Why did God make you and all things ?
A. For his own glory.
Q. 4. How can you glorify God?
A. By loving him and doing what he commands.
Q. 5. Why ought you to glorify God?
A. Because he made me and takes care of me.
Q. 6. Are there more gods than one?
A. There is only one God.
Q. 7. In how many persons does this one God exist?
A. In three persons.
Q. 8. What are they?
A. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Q. 9. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, and has not a body like men.
Q. 10. Where is God?
A. God is everywhere.
Q. 11. Can you see God?
A. No; I cannot see God, but he always sees me.
Q. 12. Does God know all things?
A. Yes; nothing can be hid from God.
Q. 13. Can God do all things?
A. Yes; God can do all his holy will.
Q. 14. Where do you learn how to love and obey God?
A. In the Bible alone.
Q. 15. Who wrote the Bible?
A. Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit.
Q. 16. Who were our first parents?
A. Adam and Eve.
Q. 17. Of what were our first parents made?
A. God made the body of Adam out of the ground, and formed Eve from the body of Adam.
Q. 18. What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?
A. He gave them souls that could never die.
Q. 19. Have you a soul as well as a body?
A. Yes; I have a soul that can never die.
Q. 20. How do you know that you have a soul?
A. Because the Bible tells me so.
Q. 21. In what condition did God make Adam and Eve?
A. He made them holy and happy.
Q. 22. What is a covenant?
A. An agreement between two or more persons.
Q. 23. What covenant did God make with Adam?
A. The covenant of works.
Q. 24. What was Adam bound to do by the covenant of works?
A. To obey God perfectly.
Q. 25. What did God promise in the covenant of works?
A. To reward Adam with life if he obeyed him.
Q. 26. What did God threaten in the covenant of works?
A. To punish Adam with death if he disobeyed.
Q. 27. Did Adam keep the covenant of works?
A. No; he sinned against God.
Q. 28. What is Sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God.
Q. 29. What is meant by want of conformity?
A. Not being or doing what God requires.
Q. 30. What is meant by transgression?
A. Doing what God forbids.
Q. 31. What was the sin of our first parents?
A. Eating the forbidden fruit.
Q. 32. Who tempted them to this sin?
A. The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam.
Q. 33. What befell our first parents when they had sinned?
A. Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.
Q. 34. Did Adam act for himself alone in the covenant of works?
A. No; he represented all his posterity.
Q. 35. What effect had the sin of Adam on all mankind?
A. All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery.
Q. 36. What is that sinful nature which we inherit from Adam called?
A. Original sin.
Q. 37. What does every sin deserve?
A. The wrath and curse of God.
Q. 38. Can any one go to heaven with this sinful nature?
A. No; our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven.
Q. 39. What is a change of heart called?
A. Regeneration.
Q. 40. Who can change a sinner's heart?
A. The Holy Spirit alone.
Q. 41. Can any one be saved through the covenant of works?
A. None can be saved through the covenant of works.
Q. 42. Why can none be saved through the covenant of works?
A. Because all have broken it, and are condemned by it
Q. 43. With whom did God the Father make the covenant of grace?
A. With Christ, his eternal Son.
Q. 44. Whom did Christ represent in the covenant of grace?
A. His elect people.
Q. 45. What did Christ undertake in the covenant of grace?
A. To keep the whole law for his people, and to suffer the punishment due to their sins.
Q. 46. Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever commit the least sin?
A. No; he was holy, harmless, and undefiled.
Q. 47. How could the Son of God suffer?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man that he might obey and suffer in our nature.
Q. 48. What is meant by the Atonement?
A. Christ's satisfying divine justice, by his sufferings and death, in the place of sinners.
Q. 49. What did God the Father undertake in the covenant of grace?
A. To justify and sanctify those for whom Christ should die.
Q. 50. What is justification?
A. It is God's forgiving sinners, and treating them as if they had never sinned.
Q. 51. What is sanctification?
A. It is God's making sinners holy in heart and conduct.
Q. 52. For whom did Christ obey and suffer?
A. For those whom the Father had given him.
Q. 53. What kind of life did Christ live on earth?
A. A life of poverty and suffering.
Q. 54. What kind of death did Christ die?
A. The painful and shameful death of the cross.
Q. 55. Who will be saved?
A. Only those who repent of sin, believe in Christ, and lead holy lives.
Q. 56. What is it to repent?
A. To be sorry for sin, and to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God.
Q. 57. What is it to believe or have faith in Christ?
A. To trust in Christ alone for salvation.
Q. 58. Can you repent and believe in Christ by your own power?
A. No; I can do nothing good without the help of God's Holy Spirit.
Q. 59. How can you get the help of the Holy Spirit?
A. God has told us that we must pray to him for the Holy Spirit.
Q. 60. How long ago is it since Christ died?
A. More than nineteen hundred years.
Q. 61. How were pious persons saved before the coming of Christ?
A. By believing in a Savior to come.
Q. 62. How did they show their faith?
A. By offering sacrifices on God's altar.
Q. 63. What did these sacrifices represent?
A. Christ, the Lamb of God, who was to die for sinners.
Q. 64. What offices has Christ?
A. Christ has three offices.
Q. 65. What are they?
A. The offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king.
Q. 66. How is Christ a prophet?
A. Because he teaches us the will of God.
Q. 67. How is Christ a priest?
A. Because he died for our sins and pleads with God for us.
Q. 68. How is Christ a king?
A. Because he rules over us and defends us.
Q. 69. Why do you need Christ as a prophet?
A. Because I am ignorant.
Q. 70. Why do you need Christ as a priest?
A. Because I am guilty.
Q. 71. Why do you need Christ as a king?
A. Because I am weak and helpless.
Q. 72. How many commandments did God give on Mount Sinai?
A. Ten commandments.
Q. 73. What are the ten commandments sometimes called?
A. The Decalogue.
Q. 74. What do the first four commandments teach?
A. Our duty to God.
Q. 75. What do the last six commandments teach?
A. Our duty to our fellow men.
Q. 76. What is the sum of the ten commandments?
A. To love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself.
Q. 77. Who is your neighbor?A. All my fellow men are my neighbors.
Q. 78. Is God pleased with those who love and obey him?
A. Yes; he says, "I love them that love me."
Q. 79. Is God displeased with those who do not love and obey him?
A. Yes; "God is angry with the wicked every day."
Q. 80. What is the first commandment?
A. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Q. 81. What does the first commandment teach us?
A. To worship God alone.
Q. 82. What is the second commandment?
A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any things 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, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Q. 83. What does the second commandment teach us?
A. To worship God in a proper manner, and to avoid idolatry.
Q. 84. What is the third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Q. 85. What does the third commandment teach me?
A. To reverence God's name, word, and works.
Q. 86. What is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.
Q. 87. What does the fourth commandment teach us?
A. To keep the Sabbath holy.
Q. 88. What day of the week is the Christian Sabbath?
A. The first day of the week, called the Lord's day.
Q. 89. Why is it called the Lord's day?
A. Because on that day Christ rose from the dead.
Q. 90. How should the Sabbath be spent?
A. In prayer and praise, in hearing and reading God's Word, and in doing good to our fellow men.
Q. 91. What is the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Q. 92. What does the fifth commandment teach me?
A. To love and obey our parents and teachers.
Q. 93. What is the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.
Q. 94. What does the sixth commandment teach us?
A. To avoid angry passions.
Q. 95. What is the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Q. 96. What does the seventh commandment teach us?
A. To be pure in heart, language, and conduct.
Q. 97. What is the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.
Q. 98. What does the eighth commandment teach us?
A. To be honest and industrious.
Q. 99. What is the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Q. 100. What does the ninth commandment teach us?
A. To tell the truth.
Q. 101. What is the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
Q. 102. What does the tenth commandment teach us?
A. To be content with our lot.
Q. 103. Can any man keep these ten commandments perfectly?
A. No mere man, since the fall of Adam, ever did or can keep the ten commandments perfectly.
Q. 104. Of what use are the ten commandments to us?
A. They teach us our duty, and show our need of a Savior.
Q. 105. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is asking God for things which he has promised to give.
Q. 106. In whose name should we pray?
A. Only in the name of Christ.
Q. 107. What has Christ given us to teach us how to pray?
A. The Lord's Prayer.
Q. 108. Repeat the Lord's Prayer.
A. Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Q. 109. How many petitions are there in The Lord's Prayer?
A. Six.
Q. 110. What is the first petition?
A. "Hallowed be thy name."
Q. 111. What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. That God's name may be honored by us and all men.
Q. 112. What is the second petition?
A. "Thy kingdom come."
Q. 113. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. That the gospel may be preached in all the world, and believed and obeyed by us and all men.
Q. 114. What is the third petition?
A. "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
Q. 115. What do we pray for in the third petition?
A. That men on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven.
Q. 116. What is the fourth petition?
A. "Give us this day our daily bread."
Q. 117. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. That God would give us all things needful for our bodies and souls.
Q. 118. What is the fifth petition?
A. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
Q. 119. What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
A. That God would pardon our sins for Christ's sake, and enable us to forgive those who have injured us.
Q. 120. What is the sixth petition?
A. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Q. 121. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A. That God would keep us from sin.
Q. 122. How many sacraments are there?
A. Two.
Q. 123. What are they?
A. Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Q. 124. Who appointed these sacraments?
A. The Lord Jesus Christ.
Q. 125. Why did Christ appoint these sacraments?
A. To distinguish his disciples from the world, and to comfort and strengthen them.
Q. 126. What sign is used in baptism?
A. The washing with water.
Q. 127. What does this signify?
A. That we are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ.
Q. 128. In whose name are we baptized?
A. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Q. 129. Who are to be baptized?
A. Believers and their children.
Q. 130. Why should infants be baptized?
A. Because they have a sinful nature and need a Savior.
Q. 131. Does Christ care for little children?
A. Yes; for he says, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."
Q. 132. To what does your baptism bind you?
A. To be a true follower of Christ.
Q. 133. What is the Lord's Supper?
A. The eating of bread and drinking of wine in remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ.
Q. 134. What does the bread represent?
A. The body of Christ, broken for our sins.
Q. 135. What does the wine represent?
A. The blood of Christ, shed for our salvation.
Q. 136. Who should partake of the Lord's Supper?
A. Only those who repent of their sins, believe in Christ for salvation, and love their fellow men.
Q. 137. Did Christ remain in the tomb after his crucifixion?
A. No; he rose from the tomb on the third day after his death.
Q. 138. Where is Christ now?
A. In heaven, interceding for sinners.
Q. 139. Will he come again?
A. Yes; at the last day Christ will come to judge the world.
Q. 140. What becomes of men at death?
A. The body returns to dust, and the soul goes into the world of spirits.
Q. 141. Will the bodies of the dead be raised to life again?
A. Yes; "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised."
Q. 142. What will become of the wicked in the day of judgment?
A. They shall be cast into hell.
Q. 143. What is hell?
A. A place of dreadful and endless torment.
Q. 144. What will become of the righteous?
A. They shall be taken to heaven.
Q. 145. What is heaven?
A. A glorious and happy place, where the righteous shall be forever with the Lord.
Copyright © 1996-2009,
Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics,
All Rights Reserved
An Introduction to the Shorter Catechism
Q. 1. Who made you?
A. God.
Q. 2. What else did God make?
A. God made all things.
Q. 3. Why did God make you and all things ?
A. For his own glory.
Q. 4. How can you glorify God?
A. By loving him and doing what he commands.
Q. 5. Why ought you to glorify God?
A. Because he made me and takes care of me.
Q. 6. Are there more gods than one?
A. There is only one God.
Q. 7. In how many persons does this one God exist?
A. In three persons.
Q. 8. What are they?
A. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Q. 9. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, and has not a body like men.
Q. 10. Where is God?
A. God is everywhere.
Q. 11. Can you see God?
A. No; I cannot see God, but he always sees me.
Q. 12. Does God know all things?
A. Yes; nothing can be hid from God.
Q. 13. Can God do all things?
A. Yes; God can do all his holy will.
Q. 14. Where do you learn how to love and obey God?
A. In the Bible alone.
Q. 15. Who wrote the Bible?
A. Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit.
Q. 16. Who were our first parents?
A. Adam and Eve.
Q. 17. Of what were our first parents made?
A. God made the body of Adam out of the ground, and formed Eve from the body of Adam.
Q. 18. What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?
A. He gave them souls that could never die.
Q. 19. Have you a soul as well as a body?
A. Yes; I have a soul that can never die.
Q. 20. How do you know that you have a soul?
A. Because the Bible tells me so.
Q. 21. In what condition did God make Adam and Eve?
A. He made them holy and happy.
Q. 22. What is a covenant?
A. An agreement between two or more persons.
Q. 23. What covenant did God make with Adam?
A. The covenant of works.
Q. 24. What was Adam bound to do by the covenant of works?
A. To obey God perfectly.
Q. 25. What did God promise in the covenant of works?
A. To reward Adam with life if he obeyed him.
Q. 26. What did God threaten in the covenant of works?
A. To punish Adam with death if he disobeyed.
Q. 27. Did Adam keep the covenant of works?
A. No; he sinned against God.
Q. 28. What is Sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God.
Q. 29. What is meant by want of conformity?
A. Not being or doing what God requires.
Q. 30. What is meant by transgression?
A. Doing what God forbids.
Q. 31. What was the sin of our first parents?
A. Eating the forbidden fruit.
Q. 32. Who tempted them to this sin?
A. The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam.
Q. 33. What befell our first parents when they had sinned?
A. Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.
Q. 34. Did Adam act for himself alone in the covenant of works?
A. No; he represented all his posterity.
Q. 35. What effect had the sin of Adam on all mankind?
A. All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery.
Q. 36. What is that sinful nature which we inherit from Adam called?
A. Original sin.
Q. 37. What does every sin deserve?
A. The wrath and curse of God.
Q. 38. Can any one go to heaven with this sinful nature?
A. No; our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven.
Q. 39. What is a change of heart called?
A. Regeneration.
Q. 40. Who can change a sinner's heart?
A. The Holy Spirit alone.
Q. 41. Can any one be saved through the covenant of works?
A. None can be saved through the covenant of works.
Q. 42. Why can none be saved through the covenant of works?
A. Because all have broken it, and are condemned by it
Q. 43. With whom did God the Father make the covenant of grace?
A. With Christ, his eternal Son.
Q. 44. Whom did Christ represent in the covenant of grace?
A. His elect people.
Q. 45. What did Christ undertake in the covenant of grace?
A. To keep the whole law for his people, and to suffer the punishment due to their sins.
Q. 46. Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever commit the least sin?
A. No; he was holy, harmless, and undefiled.
Q. 47. How could the Son of God suffer?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man that he might obey and suffer in our nature.
Q. 48. What is meant by the Atonement?
A. Christ's satisfying divine justice, by his sufferings and death, in the place of sinners.
Q. 49. What did God the Father undertake in the covenant of grace?
A. To justify and sanctify those for whom Christ should die.
Q. 50. What is justification?
A. It is God's forgiving sinners, and treating them as if they had never sinned.
Q. 51. What is sanctification?
A. It is God's making sinners holy in heart and conduct.
Q. 52. For whom did Christ obey and suffer?
A. For those whom the Father had given him.
Q. 53. What kind of life did Christ live on earth?
A. A life of poverty and suffering.
Q. 54. What kind of death did Christ die?
A. The painful and shameful death of the cross.
Q. 55. Who will be saved?
A. Only those who repent of sin, believe in Christ, and lead holy lives.
Q. 56. What is it to repent?
A. To be sorry for sin, and to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God.
Q. 57. What is it to believe or have faith in Christ?
A. To trust in Christ alone for salvation.
Q. 58. Can you repent and believe in Christ by your own power?
A. No; I can do nothing good without the help of God's Holy Spirit.
Q. 59. How can you get the help of the Holy Spirit?
A. God has told us that we must pray to him for the Holy Spirit.
Q. 60. How long ago is it since Christ died?
A. More than nineteen hundred years.
Q. 61. How were pious persons saved before the coming of Christ?
A. By believing in a Savior to come.
Q. 62. How did they show their faith?
A. By offering sacrifices on God's altar.
Q. 63. What did these sacrifices represent?
A. Christ, the Lamb of God, who was to die for sinners.
Q. 64. What offices has Christ?
A. Christ has three offices.
Q. 65. What are they?
A. The offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king.
Q. 66. How is Christ a prophet?
A. Because he teaches us the will of God.
Q. 67. How is Christ a priest?
A. Because he died for our sins and pleads with God for us.
Q. 68. How is Christ a king?
A. Because he rules over us and defends us.
Q. 69. Why do you need Christ as a prophet?
A. Because I am ignorant.
Q. 70. Why do you need Christ as a priest?
A. Because I am guilty.
Q. 71. Why do you need Christ as a king?
A. Because I am weak and helpless.
Q. 72. How many commandments did God give on Mount Sinai?
A. Ten commandments.
Q. 73. What are the ten commandments sometimes called?
A. The Decalogue.
Q. 74. What do the first four commandments teach?
A. Our duty to God.
Q. 75. What do the last six commandments teach?
A. Our duty to our fellow men.
Q. 76. What is the sum of the ten commandments?
A. To love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself.
Q. 77. Who is your neighbor?A. All my fellow men are my neighbors.
Q. 78. Is God pleased with those who love and obey him?
A. Yes; he says, "I love them that love me."
Q. 79. Is God displeased with those who do not love and obey him?
A. Yes; "God is angry with the wicked every day."
Q. 80. What is the first commandment?
A. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Q. 81. What does the first commandment teach us?
A. To worship God alone.
Q. 82. What is the second commandment?
A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any things 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, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Q. 83. What does the second commandment teach us?
A. To worship God in a proper manner, and to avoid idolatry.
Q. 84. What is the third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Q. 85. What does the third commandment teach me?
A. To reverence God's name, word, and works.
Q. 86. What is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.
Q. 87. What does the fourth commandment teach us?
A. To keep the Sabbath holy.
Q. 88. What day of the week is the Christian Sabbath?
A. The first day of the week, called the Lord's day.
Q. 89. Why is it called the Lord's day?
A. Because on that day Christ rose from the dead.
Q. 90. How should the Sabbath be spent?
A. In prayer and praise, in hearing and reading God's Word, and in doing good to our fellow men.
Q. 91. What is the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Q. 92. What does the fifth commandment teach me?
A. To love and obey our parents and teachers.
Q. 93. What is the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.
Q. 94. What does the sixth commandment teach us?
A. To avoid angry passions.
Q. 95. What is the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Q. 96. What does the seventh commandment teach us?
A. To be pure in heart, language, and conduct.
Q. 97. What is the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.
Q. 98. What does the eighth commandment teach us?
A. To be honest and industrious.
Q. 99. What is the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Q. 100. What does the ninth commandment teach us?
A. To tell the truth.
Q. 101. What is the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
Q. 102. What does the tenth commandment teach us?
A. To be content with our lot.
Q. 103. Can any man keep these ten commandments perfectly?
A. No mere man, since the fall of Adam, ever did or can keep the ten commandments perfectly.
Q. 104. Of what use are the ten commandments to us?
A. They teach us our duty, and show our need of a Savior.
Q. 105. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is asking God for things which he has promised to give.
Q. 106. In whose name should we pray?
A. Only in the name of Christ.
Q. 107. What has Christ given us to teach us how to pray?
A. The Lord's Prayer.
Q. 108. Repeat the Lord's Prayer.
A. Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Q. 109. How many petitions are there in The Lord's Prayer?
A. Six.
Q. 110. What is the first petition?
A. "Hallowed be thy name."
Q. 111. What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. That God's name may be honored by us and all men.
Q. 112. What is the second petition?
A. "Thy kingdom come."
Q. 113. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. That the gospel may be preached in all the world, and believed and obeyed by us and all men.
Q. 114. What is the third petition?
A. "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
Q. 115. What do we pray for in the third petition?
A. That men on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven.
Q. 116. What is the fourth petition?
A. "Give us this day our daily bread."
Q. 117. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. That God would give us all things needful for our bodies and souls.
Q. 118. What is the fifth petition?
A. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
Q. 119. What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
A. That God would pardon our sins for Christ's sake, and enable us to forgive those who have injured us.
Q. 120. What is the sixth petition?
A. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Q. 121. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A. That God would keep us from sin.
Q. 122. How many sacraments are there?
A. Two.
Q. 123. What are they?
A. Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Q. 124. Who appointed these sacraments?
A. The Lord Jesus Christ.
Q. 125. Why did Christ appoint these sacraments?
A. To distinguish his disciples from the world, and to comfort and strengthen them.
Q. 126. What sign is used in baptism?
A. The washing with water.
Q. 127. What does this signify?
A. That we are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ.
Q. 128. In whose name are we baptized?
A. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Q. 129. Who are to be baptized?
A. Believers and their children.
Q. 130. Why should infants be baptized?
A. Because they have a sinful nature and need a Savior.
Q. 131. Does Christ care for little children?
A. Yes; for he says, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."
Q. 132. To what does your baptism bind you?
A. To be a true follower of Christ.
Q. 133. What is the Lord's Supper?
A. The eating of bread and drinking of wine in remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ.
Q. 134. What does the bread represent?
A. The body of Christ, broken for our sins.
Q. 135. What does the wine represent?
A. The blood of Christ, shed for our salvation.
Q. 136. Who should partake of the Lord's Supper?
A. Only those who repent of their sins, believe in Christ for salvation, and love their fellow men.
Q. 137. Did Christ remain in the tomb after his crucifixion?
A. No; he rose from the tomb on the third day after his death.
Q. 138. Where is Christ now?
A. In heaven, interceding for sinners.
Q. 139. Will he come again?
A. Yes; at the last day Christ will come to judge the world.
Q. 140. What becomes of men at death?
A. The body returns to dust, and the soul goes into the world of spirits.
Q. 141. Will the bodies of the dead be raised to life again?
A. Yes; "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised."
Q. 142. What will become of the wicked in the day of judgment?
A. They shall be cast into hell.
Q. 143. What is hell?
A. A place of dreadful and endless torment.
Q. 144. What will become of the righteous?
A. They shall be taken to heaven.
Q. 145. What is heaven?
A. A glorious and happy place, where the righteous shall be forever with the Lord.
Copyright © 1996-2009,
Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics,
All Rights Reserved
December 25, 2009
Santa Claus- The Great Imposter part 4
4 • THE CONCLUSION And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. Luke 4:6-7
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Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God. . .
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In 1994, the satire magazine The Onion carried a parody of Santa Claus titled "Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God". Even though, it was written as a blasphemous parody much truth rings from the article. The article says:
"I love visiting each and every one of your homes, stuffing your stockings with toys, and enjoying the milk and cookies you leave for me. But mostly I love Christmas because it's the celebration of the birth of my son, Jesus the Christ. You see, I'm God. . . Don't I look familiar? I'm old, I have a white beard, I love everyone. I'm the same God as the one you and your mommy and daddy worship on Sundays. . .
Okay, I admit it. I'm not God. But I'm better than God. I'm jollier, and I give you real toys, not boring old psalms and empty promises you can only collect on when you die. Worship me, not Him! Worship Santa! I am God!"
(Santa Claus, "Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God!" The Onion, 29 Nov. - 5 Dec., 1994, p. 7)
And that is EXACTLY the message being preached to these little children! And they believe it!
You have to be blind to not see the possible connection. And you have to be spiritually blind to not see the possible spiritual damage such a massive, false-faith, God-like, LIE is doing to the faith and trust of that young child.
"Having eyes, see ye not" Mark 8:18
Landover Baptist, a sacrilegious spoof site on the Internet, carried an article titled "The Devil is in the Chimney." Though their motive is sacrilege, the obvious link from Santa to Satan is not ignored. Here's some of the article:
"And it takes no Sherlock Holmes to see that the Devil's annual disguise is none other than Santa! . . . Lucifer may be the wiliest of all the deceitful demons that ever drew breath of fire in Hell, but he was pretty sloppy when he decided to try to spoil our Savior's birthday with this disguise. His big devil ego got the better of him when he decided to name his Christmas Anti-Christ after himself. He just moved around the letters in the name, 'Satan,' into a sonogram and got 'Santa.' . . . Satan has tried to undermine Christmas by making Santa even more popular than Jesus!
You don't think so? Even the law of the land forbids a baby Jesus in the town square, but who is there instead? You guessed it! Santa! Every time a so-called Christian child asks Santa for something, he is praying to Satan. With each request fulfilled, parents are unwittingly making a pact with the Devil. They may as well be writing in blood, 'Satan please distract our children from Jesus with all these shiny toys!'. . ."
Someone once said, "Many a truth is told in jest."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But it is just fantasy. . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am sure many reading this are thinking, "Aw, c'mon, Santa Claus is just fantasy. What is the big deal. Nobody takes it serious."
And that is where you are WRONG – DEAD WRONG! Those little children take their Santa very serious! They literally worship him! They believe and love Santa with all their heart!
Most parents would never teach their beautiful little children such a lie as Santa Claus. Most parents would never openly lie to their children. Especially something that is a blasphemous imposter of the Lord Jesus.
And Satan knows this.
So he disguises the lie in a nice little package of make-believe and fantasy. He creates a harmless ol' jolly fellow that just loves little children. And most parents think, "Now what could be wrong with that?"
Fantasy. . . Satan's “magic weapon.”
Satanist Anton LaVey, author of The Satanic Bible and founder of the First Church of Satan, writes fantasy is a "magic weapon" in Satanism.
"Fantasy plays an important role in any religious curriculum, for the subjective mind is less discriminating about the quality of its food than it is about the taste. . . Thus, fantasy is utilized as a magic weapon [in Satanism]. . . The Satanist maintains a storehouse of avowed fantasy gathered from all cultures and from all ages."
(Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Rituals, p. 15, 27)
Lavey knows the message of Satan can be quietly preached under the mask of fantasy. Parents will allow things, such as Santa Claus, under the cloak of fantasy into their little child's tender mind that under "serious" circumstances they would never allow in a million years. It is just fantasy. But in the vulnerable mind of that little child – IT IS TRUTH!
Of course, you an dI do not take Santa serious. We know Santa Claus is fantasy. But those little children are deceived in believing "with all their heart" in a god that is a replacement for the Lord Jesus Christ.
What happens when these little children realize that Santa Claus is a lie? What happens when they later are presented with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? What happens when they are asked to "trust and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ"?
The following conversation of two young boys actually took place. And I am sure it has taken place many times. They were discussing the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the conversation:
One boy asks the other, "What do you think of all this Jesus Christ stuff"? And the other boy replies, "It all sounds like another Santa Claus to me – probably just another lie."
Santa is Satan's counterfeit of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Once you get that child believing with "all their heart" in Santa then the next logical step is – Jesus and Santa they are both the same – and they are both a LIE.
Obviously, not every person that believes in Santa Claus as a child will deny the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth is, the author of this article "believed in" Santa Claus as a child. The author did not trust the Lord Jesus Christ until he was 20 years old. And furthermore, there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever, that the lie and god-like attributes of Santa Claus influenced my early doubts and confusion about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Someone once said "Jesus Christ is nothing but a Santa Claus for adults." That was my belief of Jesus Christ. . . Another Santa Claus. . . Another lie.
But I can tell you this. . .
Thank God – I was wrong!
On July 30, 1975 as a 20-year-old young man, I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. And I can tell you – He is no Santa Claus! Jesus Christ is no fantasy! I have been saved for over 29 years. I've had 29 years to "prove Him." And I truthfully sing from the depths of my heart and soul, "'Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus"
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His Word
Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know: "Thus saith the Lord"
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! how I've proved him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!
I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end.
Have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ?
Have you ever received the Lord Jesus Christ as YOUR Saviour?
Friend, there is no way these connections from Santa to Satan and counterfeits of the Lord Jesus Christ is just an haphazard fairy tale of history. There is an author. There is an creator. And he is Satan.
And he wants to damn your soul in hell! And he wants to damn the souls of your children in hell!
And he will – if you let him!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever been saved?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friend, I want to ask you the most important question you'll ever answer:
Have you ever received Jesus Christ as your Savior?
Not joining a church, not religion, not baptism, not good works, not sacraments — but trusted Jesus Christ and Him alone, as your Savior. If not, Friend you could be — one year, one month, one hour, one minute, one heartbeat — away from eternity in a lake of fire!
Revelation 20:15 says, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Friend, God does not want you to go to hell. 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is. . . not willing that any should perish. . ." Jesus loved you so much He died on a rugged cross, to pay for YOUR sin, and to keep YOU out of hell! Revelation 1:5 says, ". . . Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
Friend, don't EXIT this message, until you MAKE SURE you've received Jesus Christ!
I assure you — if you die without Jesus Christ — it'll be the biggest mistake you'll ever make!
DON'T TAKE THE CHANCE!
Friend, If you've never been saved, don't wait another minute!
FRIEND, YOU CAN BE SAVED THIS VERY MINUTE!
It is simple to be saved ...
Know you're a sinner.
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" Romans 3:10
"... for there is no difference. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23
That Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins.
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, ..." 1 Peter 2:24
"... Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood," Revelation 1:5
And the best way you know how, simply trust Him, and Him alone as your personal Saviour.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God. . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1994, the satire magazine The Onion carried a parody of Santa Claus titled "Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God". Even though, it was written as a blasphemous parody much truth rings from the article. The article says:
"I love visiting each and every one of your homes, stuffing your stockings with toys, and enjoying the milk and cookies you leave for me. But mostly I love Christmas because it's the celebration of the birth of my son, Jesus the Christ. You see, I'm God. . . Don't I look familiar? I'm old, I have a white beard, I love everyone. I'm the same God as the one you and your mommy and daddy worship on Sundays. . .
Okay, I admit it. I'm not God. But I'm better than God. I'm jollier, and I give you real toys, not boring old psalms and empty promises you can only collect on when you die. Worship me, not Him! Worship Santa! I am God!"
(Santa Claus, "Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God!" The Onion, 29 Nov. - 5 Dec., 1994, p. 7)
And that is EXACTLY the message being preached to these little children! And they believe it!
You have to be blind to not see the possible connection. And you have to be spiritually blind to not see the possible spiritual damage such a massive, false-faith, God-like, LIE is doing to the faith and trust of that young child.
"Having eyes, see ye not" Mark 8:18
Landover Baptist, a sacrilegious spoof site on the Internet, carried an article titled "The Devil is in the Chimney." Though their motive is sacrilege, the obvious link from Santa to Satan is not ignored. Here's some of the article:
"And it takes no Sherlock Holmes to see that the Devil's annual disguise is none other than Santa! . . . Lucifer may be the wiliest of all the deceitful demons that ever drew breath of fire in Hell, but he was pretty sloppy when he decided to try to spoil our Savior's birthday with this disguise. His big devil ego got the better of him when he decided to name his Christmas Anti-Christ after himself. He just moved around the letters in the name, 'Satan,' into a sonogram and got 'Santa.' . . . Satan has tried to undermine Christmas by making Santa even more popular than Jesus!
You don't think so? Even the law of the land forbids a baby Jesus in the town square, but who is there instead? You guessed it! Santa! Every time a so-called Christian child asks Santa for something, he is praying to Satan. With each request fulfilled, parents are unwittingly making a pact with the Devil. They may as well be writing in blood, 'Satan please distract our children from Jesus with all these shiny toys!'. . ."
Someone once said, "Many a truth is told in jest."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But it is just fantasy. . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am sure many reading this are thinking, "Aw, c'mon, Santa Claus is just fantasy. What is the big deal. Nobody takes it serious."
And that is where you are WRONG – DEAD WRONG! Those little children take their Santa very serious! They literally worship him! They believe and love Santa with all their heart!
Most parents would never teach their beautiful little children such a lie as Santa Claus. Most parents would never openly lie to their children. Especially something that is a blasphemous imposter of the Lord Jesus.
And Satan knows this.
So he disguises the lie in a nice little package of make-believe and fantasy. He creates a harmless ol' jolly fellow that just loves little children. And most parents think, "Now what could be wrong with that?"
Fantasy. . . Satan's “magic weapon.”
Satanist Anton LaVey, author of The Satanic Bible and founder of the First Church of Satan, writes fantasy is a "magic weapon" in Satanism.
"Fantasy plays an important role in any religious curriculum, for the subjective mind is less discriminating about the quality of its food than it is about the taste. . . Thus, fantasy is utilized as a magic weapon [in Satanism]. . . The Satanist maintains a storehouse of avowed fantasy gathered from all cultures and from all ages."
(Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Rituals, p. 15, 27)
Lavey knows the message of Satan can be quietly preached under the mask of fantasy. Parents will allow things, such as Santa Claus, under the cloak of fantasy into their little child's tender mind that under "serious" circumstances they would never allow in a million years. It is just fantasy. But in the vulnerable mind of that little child – IT IS TRUTH!
Of course, you an dI do not take Santa serious. We know Santa Claus is fantasy. But those little children are deceived in believing "with all their heart" in a god that is a replacement for the Lord Jesus Christ.
What happens when these little children realize that Santa Claus is a lie? What happens when they later are presented with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? What happens when they are asked to "trust and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ"?
The following conversation of two young boys actually took place. And I am sure it has taken place many times. They were discussing the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the conversation:
One boy asks the other, "What do you think of all this Jesus Christ stuff"? And the other boy replies, "It all sounds like another Santa Claus to me – probably just another lie."
Santa is Satan's counterfeit of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Once you get that child believing with "all their heart" in Santa then the next logical step is – Jesus and Santa they are both the same – and they are both a LIE.
Obviously, not every person that believes in Santa Claus as a child will deny the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth is, the author of this article "believed in" Santa Claus as a child. The author did not trust the Lord Jesus Christ until he was 20 years old. And furthermore, there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever, that the lie and god-like attributes of Santa Claus influenced my early doubts and confusion about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Someone once said "Jesus Christ is nothing but a Santa Claus for adults." That was my belief of Jesus Christ. . . Another Santa Claus. . . Another lie.
But I can tell you this. . .
Thank God – I was wrong!
On July 30, 1975 as a 20-year-old young man, I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. And I can tell you – He is no Santa Claus! Jesus Christ is no fantasy! I have been saved for over 29 years. I've had 29 years to "prove Him." And I truthfully sing from the depths of my heart and soul, "'Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus"
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His Word
Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know: "Thus saith the Lord"
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! how I've proved him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!
I'm so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end.
Have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ?
Have you ever received the Lord Jesus Christ as YOUR Saviour?
Friend, there is no way these connections from Santa to Satan and counterfeits of the Lord Jesus Christ is just an haphazard fairy tale of history. There is an author. There is an creator. And he is Satan.
And he wants to damn your soul in hell! And he wants to damn the souls of your children in hell!
And he will – if you let him!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever been saved?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friend, I want to ask you the most important question you'll ever answer:
Have you ever received Jesus Christ as your Savior?
Not joining a church, not religion, not baptism, not good works, not sacraments — but trusted Jesus Christ and Him alone, as your Savior. If not, Friend you could be — one year, one month, one hour, one minute, one heartbeat — away from eternity in a lake of fire!
Revelation 20:15 says, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Friend, God does not want you to go to hell. 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is. . . not willing that any should perish. . ." Jesus loved you so much He died on a rugged cross, to pay for YOUR sin, and to keep YOU out of hell! Revelation 1:5 says, ". . . Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
Friend, don't EXIT this message, until you MAKE SURE you've received Jesus Christ!
I assure you — if you die without Jesus Christ — it'll be the biggest mistake you'll ever make!
DON'T TAKE THE CHANCE!
Friend, If you've never been saved, don't wait another minute!
FRIEND, YOU CAN BE SAVED THIS VERY MINUTE!
It is simple to be saved ...
Know you're a sinner.
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" Romans 3:10
"... for there is no difference. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23
That Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins.
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, ..." 1 Peter 2:24
"... Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood," Revelation 1:5
And the best way you know how, simply trust Him, and Him alone as your personal Saviour.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE SAVED?
Just pray this simple prayer, and mean it with all your heart.
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and unless you save me I am lost forever. I thank you for dying for me at Calvary. I come to you now, the best way I know how, and ask you to save me. I now receive you as my Saviour.
In Jesus Christ name, Amen.
December 24, 2009
Santa Claus- The Great Imposter part 3
3 • THE CAUSE Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11
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and thou shalt call his name. . . (Matthew 1:21)
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Santa.
You ever noticed how easy it is to transform "Satan" from "Santa"? Just move the "n" to the end. And presto! "Satan" appears. . . Hmmm….
An internet Google search on "Satan Claus" [not Santa Claus – but SATAN Claus] found over 1,700 hits! Obviously, there are many that tie the two together.
The rearranging of letters (called anagrams) to hide secret names or words has long been practiced in the occult. The Jewish Encyclopedia writes of the Jewish occult book called the Cabala:
The golden age for anagrams began with the Cabala. The Platonists had strange notions as to the influence of anagrammatic virtues, particularly of anagrams evolved from names of persons. It is not surprising, therefore, that the cabalists, like all the Neoplatonists, pretended to discover occult qualities in proper names and in their anagrams.
(www.jewishencyclopedia.com)
One of the most well known anagram in the occult world is the name of Sanat Kumara. Sanat is better known as Satan. Constance Cumbey, writes in her best-selling, new-age expose, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, ". . . they [New Agers] freely call Sanat Kumara (Satan) 'God'. And their doctrinal reference books by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Alice Ann Bailey freely cross-reference Sanat Kumara with Venus. In occult writings, Lucifer and Venus are one and the same."
(Constance Cumbey, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, p. 138)
Texe Marrs writes of 'Sanat' in Dark Secrets of the New Age:
. . . the New Age offers a being called Sanat Kumara. 'Sanat' is obviously a thinly veiled reference to Satan; nevertheless, New Age teachers evidently believe that the new spelling will alleviate the concerns of those not yet ready to confess Satan as their Lord and Messiah.
(Texe Marrs, Dark Secrets of the New Age, pp. 79-80)
Interesting. . . Where does that put Lord S-A-N-T-A?
H.P. Blavatsky, the Satanist and new age teacher writes in The Secret Doctrine:
many a mysterious sacred name. . . conveys to the profane ear no more than some ordinary, and often vulgar [common] word, because it is concealed anagrammatically or otherwise.
(H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol II, p. 78)
Like S-A-N-T-A?
Blavatsky also writes, the name is not important – but the letters.
"The name isn't important. It is the letters."
(H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol II, p. 350)
Blavatasky’s anagrams were used to disguise who her true god was. Blavatasky openly taught Satan is mankind’s true redeemer, creator and Saviour.
And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon, the ‘Lord of Phosphorus’ and Lucifer, or ‘Light Bearer’, is in us; it is our Mind — our tempter and Redeemer, our intelligent liberator and Saviour. . .
(HP Blavatasky, The Secret Doctrine p. 513)
Satan, the Serpent of Genesis is the real creator and benefactor, the Father of Spiritual mankind. For it is he . . . who opened the eyes of the automaton (Adam) created by Jehovah. . . he still remains in Esoteric Truth the ever loving messenger . . .
(H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol 3, p. 243)
Gail Riplinger writes in her excellent book, New Age Versions on the use of anagrams in the occult world:
Lucifer's True Identity as Satan is Revealed as the Anagram, a Transposition of Letters, To Obscure It. "Blinds," as esoterics call them, include scrambling the letters of a name to hide the true meaning of a word from the uninitiated.
(Gail Riplinger, New Age Versions, p. 52)
It is interesting Mrs. Riplinger also raises a red flag about the anagram Santa:
Gods of the New Age include Sanatan and Sanatsiyata, . . . New Agers say each name is 'concealed anagrammatically' 'and are aliases,' and are 'an anagram used for Occult purposes. Is Santa, the great usurper of Christ's attention at Christmas, an anagram? "Ole Nick" is listed among the fallen angels or devils in the Dictionary of Fallen Angels. Scholars concur that Christ was born in the fall on the 4th day of the feast of tabernacles. December 25 is actually "the feast in honor of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven, later called Saturnaha by the heathen Romans.
(Gail Riplinger, New Age Versions, p. 52)
It is also worth noting, Santa is Spanish for holy. Santa is also from the Latin word sanctus which means also saintly, holy. Our English words "saint, sanctify, et al" comes from santa. Sounds like Satan’s "I will be like the most High" plan is in action.
Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
Psalm 99:3
God’s name is called "holy" over 40 times in the King James Bible.
"Holy Claus". . .?
The name Santa Claus is also derived from the Dutch Sinter Klaas, which also was a form of Saint Nicholas.
What about Claus?
Is "Claus" another anagram for "Lucas"?
It’s no secret Lucas and Lucis are new-age "code words" for Lucifer. The Alice Bailey founded new age, occult publishing company was originally named Lucifer Publishing Company but in 1924 the name was cleverly changed to Lucis Trust. By the way, the Lucifer worshipping Lucis Trust is a major player in the works of the United Nations, formerly located in the United Nations building but now located on prime-time 1200 Wall Street.
Claus sounds a lot like "claws."
Maybe Santa Claus means "Satan's Claws"? Like a lion's "claws"?
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1 Peter 5:8
Jolly Old St. Nick
While Santa and Claus may be disguising their real meaning – there is no disguising St. Nick. He is a well-known character.
Old Nick: A well-known British name of the Devil. It seems probable that this name is derived from the Dutch Nikken, the devil...
(Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, p.650)
Nick, the devil.
(Walter W. Sleay, Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, p. 304)
Devil: Besides the name Satan, he is also called Beelzebub, Lucifer . . . and in popular or rustic speech by many familiar terms as Old Nick . . .
(Oxford English Dictionary Vol III D-E)
Actor Adam Sandler and New Line Studios are obviously aware Nick is an alias for Satan. Their movie Little Nicky is about the son of Satan named Little Nicky. A teaser for the film says, "If your mother was an angel and your father was the devil you'd be messed up too."
In the popular Cloud Ten Pictures "Apocalypse" film series Revelation, Tribulation, &; Judgment, the Antichrist just so happens to be played by none other than the actor "Nick" Mancuso. Hmmm… The Cloud Ten Pictures are based on Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkin’s popular Left Behind Apocalypse book series. Oh, the name of the Antichrist in the Left Behind series? Nicolae "Nick" Carpathia, of course. In fact, one of the books in titled, Nicolae, The Rise of the Antichrist.
It is also interesting, the book American Slang defines the slang word nick: to rob or steal. (Robert L. Chapman, American Slang, p. 297)
This is how the Lord Jesus characterizes the devil in John 10:
1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way [say a chimney?], the same is a thief and a robber. . .
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:1,9,10
Father Christmas
The Christmas Poem reads:
Hurry up please Christmas Day,
When Father Christmas on his sleigh,
Comes to pay a visit.
Into every house he creeps
While each of us soundly sleeps
While he pays a visit.
The famous anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss writes in his popular analysis of "Father Christmas":
Father Christmas is dressed in scarlet: he is a king. His white beard, his furs and his boots, the sleigh in which he travels evoke winter. He is called "Father" and he is an old man, thus he incarnates the benevolent form of the authority of the ancients.
In other words, Father Christmas is God incarnate.
Levi-Strauss goes on to write that children believe in him, paying homage to him with letters and prayers.
The Devil’s stated goal in Isaiah 14:13-14, is to be like God the Father.
And what better "I will be like the most High. . - name to fame" than "Father of Christ-mass".
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Matthew 23:9
What about Kriss Kringle?
And there is the seemingly innocent, friendly, jingle-jangle name of Kriss Kringle.
By far, the name Kriss Kringle is the most blasphemous. With Kriss, Satan slowly removes the mask. There is no doubt about the intentions of "Kriss Kringle".
Believe it or not. . . Kriss Kringle is German for "little Christ Child".
Kriss Kringle A US name for Santa Claus derived from the German Christkindl (little Christ child).
(Brewer's Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Phrase and Fable, p. 334)
Santa Claus or Kriss Kringle is the counterfeit "Christ Child"!
Is it possible that these subtle allusions to Satan and counterfeit attacks at the Lord Jesus Christ are just merely coincidences?
Keep reading. . . The evidence has just begun.
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His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow. . . (Rev. 1:14)
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His head and his hairs [his beard] were white like wool, as white as SNOW. . .
A perfect description of . . . Guess Who?
Who's got a beard that's long and white
Santa's got a beard that's long and white
Must be Santa Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
It is also . . . The Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 1.
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs [BEARD] were white like wool, as white as snow;. . . Revelation 1:13-15
The poem The Night Before Christmas describes Old St. Nick as:
"He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes – how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;"
Daniel 7:9 describes the Lord Jesus, as the "Ancient of days" with white hair, "like the pure wool."
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: . . . Daniel 7:9
Remember Claude Lévi-Strauss's popular essay of "Father Christmas":
Father Christmas is dressed in scarlet: he is a king. His white beard, his furs and his boots, the sleigh in which he travels evoke winter. He is called 'Father' and he is an old man, thus he incarnates the benevolent form of the authority of the ancients.
He is a Father. . . dressed in scarlet. . . He is a king. . . white beard. . . incarnate. . . authority of the ancients.
Who is Lévi-Strauss really describing?
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Who is this that cometh. . . red in thine apparel (Isaiah 63:2)
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Who wears boots and a suit of red
Santa wears boots and a suit of red
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
And must be. . . (Are you surprised?)
The Lord Jesus Christ?
1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? Isaiah 63:1-2
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. Revelation 19:11
Do you get the strangest feeling that someone is trying to "be like someone else"? (see Isaiah 14:14).
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And his feet. . . as if they burned in a furnace (Revelation 1:15)
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Hmmm. . . ?
Now who has their feet in an furnace? Who comes down a chimney into a furnace?
chim * ney
1. a structure, usually vertical, containing a passage or flue by which the smoke, gases, etc., of a fire or furnace are carried off and by means of which a draft is created
(Webster’s Dictionary)
Santa Claus. . .
And you already know who else.
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. Revelation 1:13-15
Satan was not just kidding when he said in Isaiah 14:14, ". . . I will be like the most High."
The Lord Jesus warned us in John 10 about those that ". . . entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way [say a chimney]. . ."
10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way [like a chimney], the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:1, 2, 9,10
A little interesting history on Santa and his chimney:
It seems the chimney tale came to us via Thor, the mythical god of fire and lightning. Satan (and Thor) are symbolized by the lightning bolt (Luke 10:18). Thor’s name means "thunder". The Thor story goes like this; Most families in the pre-patriarchal Scandinavian world would have an altar to Thor – their fireplace. Every year on his birthday, December 25th (of course) Thor would come down the chimney to his altar of fire, and bring presents to the kiddies. (sound familiar?) Oh yea, Thor was "nicknamed" "Klaus of the cinders" or "Sinter Klaus" (a.k.a Santa Claus), because it was believed he would be "singed" as went into the fireplace.
Thor liked to wear furs in red for fire, and white for snow. He is usually pictured with a long white beard. He had a palace in the north. And he also rode through the sky in a sled pulled by two goats, named Gnasher and Crasher. (Sound like someone else we’ve heard of?) Another of Thor’s nickname was "Old Nick." Thor also carried a "trident" – the pitchfork of Satan.
Just a coincident. . . ? Hmmm. . . Thor the "god" of thunder, fire and lightning. Sounds a lot like someone else. . . Like maybe. . . Santa and Satan
It is no secret that Thor symbolizes Satan. The rock group KISS, who dressed as demons from hell spewing forth fire and blood in their concerts, has a song dedicated to the god of Thor titled God of Thunder. Some of the lyrics:
I was born on Olympus
To my father a son
I was raised by the demons
Trained to reign as the one
God of thunder and rock and roll. . .
I gather darkness to please me
And I command you to kneel
Before the God of thunder and rock and roll
The spell you're under
Will slowly rob you of your virgin soul
KISS, God of Thunder
There is also the mythological creature named Chimera (coming from the same root word "chim" as chim-ney). Chimera is a strange creature. It seems Chimera is part lion, part goat and part serpent. That’s a strange combo. . .? I wonder where they got that from? Chimera breathes fire and lives in the underworld called Hell. (Hans Biedermann, Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 67)
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Is not this the carpenter. . . (Mark 6:3)
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Mark 6:3 tells us the Lord Jesus Christ was a carpenter.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. Mark 6:3
Santa is no plumber, or electrician, or blacksmith.
Santa is a carpenter.
Surprise. Surprise.
Wow! Who would have ever guessed it! What a coincidence.
Oh yea, remember the god-Thor? His symbol is a hammer.
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His house. . . was toward the north (Ezekiel 8:14)
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Everyone knows Santa lives at the North Pole.
Brrr. . . Why the north pole? Nobody lives at the North Pole. . . Why did they pick the NORTH Pole?
Could it possibly be because someone else lives in the north?
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; . . . Ezekiel 8:14
1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. Psalm 48:1-2
The Lord dwells in "the north, the city of the great King".
By the way, remember what Lucifer said in Isaiah 14:13, when he rebelled against God? Remember where he was going to exalt his throne?
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:12-14
Where else would Satan (oops. . . it’s just too easy to get those two mixed up) Claus be but in the NORTH?
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And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head (Mark 15:17)
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The ever-familiar holly plant that decorates our Christmas world has a very interesting history. A very interesting history indeed.
The iiex chinensis, better known as holly, is the substantial subject of myths and pagan worship. For instance, the pagan Romans decorated their houses and temples with the "sacred" holly, which represented their goddess Saturnalia. By the way, there's where our modern day custom of decorating with holly originated. Among history's most blatant devil-worshippers were the Druids. The Druids were known for their human sacrifices and the authors of our Halloween. The Druids wore the holly in their hair and considered the "holly" plant sacred, hence the name "holy" or "holly." The Druids also believed the "holy" berries represented the blood of their Goddess. (Hmmm. . . I wonder where they go that strange idea from?) As Christianity began spreading throughout the Roman world, the use of pagan holly was outlawed. Plant aficionado and author, Virginia Klara Nathan, writes:
"Ancient history says that the Druids used holly in their religious rites long before the custom came to the European continent. The Druids of ancient Britain and Gaul held the English holly tree sacred. The 'holy' connotation continued in later days in Europe, where the plant was widely believed to repel evil spirits. People planted trees and used their branches as protection against witchcraft, mad dogs, and other evils. With the coming of Christianity, the use of holly was condemned as a pagan ritual and forbidden by the Christian council."
(Nathan, Virginia Klara. "Red-Berried Hollies." Extension Technician, in The Virginia Gardener Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 12. qtd at )
Nathan also writes as many of the condemned pagan practices, began infilturating Christianity the thorny pagan holly plant became symbolic with the "crown of thorns" that the Lord Jesus Christ wore. The Germans even refer to the holly plant as Christdorn - meaning, "Christ's crown of thorns."
But Christian Romans continued to decorate with holly during festive seasons. European Christian symbolism included the belief that the spiny leaves and red berries were a reminder of the crown of thorns and the blood of Christ. The Pennsylvania Dutch held that the plant's white flowers represented Jesus' purity. The Germans called this plant Christdorn, Christ's crown of thorns. They thought holly had white berries until they were stained by Christ's blood.
(Nathan, Virginia Klara. "Red-Berried Hollies." Extension Technician, in The Virginia Gardener Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 12. qtd at )
Not surprisingly, considering the holly plant's storied ancestry, many writers believe the actual "crown of thorns" wore by the Lord Jesus Christ, was indeed the familiar "holly" wreath. Another plant enthusiast writes of the holly plant and it's portrayal of the "crown of thorns":
Holly lost its pagan associations and became a symbol of Christmas, with the sharply pointed leaves symbolising the crown of thorns which Jesus was made to wear prior to his crucifixion, and the berries becoming a symbol of the blood of Christ. Some refer to Holly as the Holy Tree and claim that it grew in Christ's footsteps. The white flowers represent Jesus's purity and birth, and the bitter bark is said to represent the passion. Some writers hold that holly was actually the plant which did actually form the crown of thorns and that the berries were originally white before being stained by Christ's blood.
("Holly Plant, Christmas Plants and Flowers," http://www.piglette.com/christmas/holly-plant.html)
And it is not surprising, one of the many portraits of good 'ol Santa blasphemously portrays him wearing the "holy" crown, symbolic of the Saviour's "crown of thorns." One author writes of this portrait of Santa or Father Christmas wearing the "crown of thorns":
Originating in England, Father Christmas was depicted as a friendly fellow wearing a crown of holly and a scarlet or green fur-lined robe. To many, this wreath of holly represented the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when He was crucified and the red berries are symbolic of the blood He shed."
("Santalady's Favorite Antique Post Cards and Related Traditions Picture," www.santalady.com/cards.html)
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. . . who rideth upon the heaven in thy help. . . (Deuteronomy 33:26)
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As everyone knows, Santa miraculously rides upon the heavens as he delivers his gifts and love. He has been described for so long, by so many, riding across the sky with his reindeers guiding his merry way – you can almost see Santa as you gaze up in the sky.
The famous poem The Night Before Christmas describes this amazing, flying, red-clothed, bearded, whited-haired, super-man:
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too
Following Satan’s ". . . I will be like the most high. . ." script to the letter, Santa mimics the Lord God as found in Deuteronomy 33:26
There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.Deuteronomy 33:26
It’s also interesting in Ephesians 2:2, Satan is depicted as "the prince of the power of the air. . ."
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 2:2
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Ho, ho. . . saith. . . (Zechariah 2:6)
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Satan Claus.
Right? Actually. . .
Ho, ho. . . saith the LORD. . . Zechariah 2:6
Remember in Chapter 2, "Ho!, ho!, ho!" is also the devil's trademark!
In these [Miracle] plays, the devil's common entry line, known as the "devil's bluster," was "Ho! Ho! Hoh!" (Siefker, Phyllis. Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997, p. 69)
Ho, ho, ho! the devil, the devil! A-comes, a-comes, a-comes upon me,. . . a popular old English play "Bomelio" (Dodsley, Robert. A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. VI. The Project Gutenberg Ebook.)
Ho ho ho, cherry nose. . .
Must be Santa, Santa Clause. . . or the devil.
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. . .and his angels were cast out with him (Revelation 12:9)
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Santa’s Little Helpers?
Santa has some cute little helpers called elves. Webster’s Dictionary has an interesting definition for the friendly elf:
ELF
1. A wandering spirit; a fairy; a hobgoblin; an imaginary being which our rude ancestors supposed to inhabit unfrequented places, and in various ways to affect mankind. . .
2. An evil spirit; a devil.
(Webster's Dictionary “elf”)
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft has some interesting insights into Santa's Little Helpers. For instance, elves are Satan's fallen angels:
A host of supernatural beings and spirits who exist between earth and heaven. . . Fairies [Elves] are fall angels. When God cast Lucifer from heaven, the angels who were loyal to Lucifer plunged down toward hell with him.
(Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 115)
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.Revelation 12:9
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft also writes that some elves have an appetite for human blood:
Some fairies [elves] were said to suck human blood like vampires.
(Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 116)
An interesting trick concerning elves is also given in The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft (p. 117). It seems some elves will grant peoples' wish and give them gifts – if that person will only deny their Christian faith! Can you say Santa Claus?
Elves are found in the writings of Satanist and new age-theosophy guru H.P. Blavatsky. She claims elves are "disembodied spirits," used in "magic and sorcery" and are "the principal agents in . . . seances." (H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, Vol I, p. 262)
Elves are also called trolls. Cathy Burns writes in Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated:
. . . the word troll comes from the Old Norse word for demon and is defined by some sources as a "devil": a person of great wickedness or maliciousness. . . Of course, Santa has his elves, too.
(Cathy Burns, Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, p. 67)
Elf: A small, often mischievous creature considered to have magical powers.' Although some of these creatures may appear cute on the surface, all of them are nonetheless demonic entities that have their origin in the occult world.
(Cathy Burns, Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, p. 77)
The Dictionary of Symbolism states about elves:
Living beneath the surface of the earth, they have ties to the word of the dead; these "little people" are often thought of as inhabitants of the underworld [hell].
(Hans Biedermann, Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 107)
Before you completely discount elves to the world of fantasy and kooks, consider the research of Dr. Kurt Koch. Dr. Koch is without question the world's foremost authority on demonism and the occult. Dr. Koch, a devout Christian, has spent a life-time traveling world-wide, researching and documenting the real-world of demonism, devils and the occult. Dr. Koch has three complete pages documenting "Goblins and Elves" in his book Occult ABC. Dr. Koch writes of elves:
These elves often appear to children and even play with them. The moment an adult comes on the scene, the elves disappear. . . If a person wants their help, he must apply to their chief, the devil himself [Santa?]. This however, would cost a person his salvation. The idea these spirits are demonic in origin is in accordance with the Bible.
(Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, p. 82, 83)
Dr. Koch claims these elves' "chief" is the "devil himself" – Santa's Little Helpers. Notice how Dr, Koch and others keep linking these elves back to children.
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft says elves, "love to visit new born babies of mortals. . ." (Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 116)
In Dr. Koch's book (pp. 82-85), he gives four detailed, documented actual accounts involving elves or demons. Dr. Koch, has encountered so many elf-demonic experiences, he says, "One could write a book just about these little people like the tomter [elves], but that is not my task." (Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, p. 83)
The great German Reformer Martin Luther also had encounters with elves or goblins. In his Table Talk book, Luther writes on one occasion:
The goblin [elf] jolted me in bed. But I took little notice of him. When I was almost asleep, he began such a rumbling on the stairs that you would have thought someone was throwing three score barrels of wine down them. I stood up, went to the stairs, and called out 'If it is you, so be it,' Then I committed myself to the Lord, of whom it is written, 'Thou hast put all things under His feet,' and went back to bed. That is the best way to get rid of him: to scorn him and call on Christ, That he cannot bear'.
(cited in Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, p. 84)
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft writes, "Many contemporary Witches believe in fairies [elves] and some see them clairvoyantly." (Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 117)
In fact, the very popular book teaching witchcraft to teenagers titled Teen Witch by witch-author Silver RavenWolf even contains a spell to invoke elves. The spell called "Elf Locker Spell" is a spell to keep people from breaking into a teenagers school locker. The spell conjures up elves to protect their locker. Witch RavenWolf details the spell:
At school, hang the mirror, asking the locker elves (yes, there are elves in school) to protect the locker (Silver RavenWolf, Teen Witch, Wicca for a New Generation, p. 215).
Then the teen witch does some other silly, stupid stuff, and casts their spell (which the book gives in detail). The end of the spell is very, very interesting. Here's what RavenWolf writes, "At home, set the milk and honey outside to nourish the fairies. (p. 215)" Did you say "milk and honey"? Can you say "Ho, Ho, Ho"?
The Elves of Oz.
One of the most demon-possessed individuals is rock star, Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy’s claim to fame was lead singer of the "Satan-rock" band Black Sabbath. Ozzy is known for such bizarre and demonic behavior as biting the head off a bat and a dove.
On September 2, 1989, Ozzy and his demons nearly murdered his own wife. Here’s how his wife, Sharon Osbourne, describes the terrifying moment to Barbara Walters on 20/20:
I was downstairs reading. He came down with just his underpants on. And he's like,"We've come to a decision." And I'm like, "We've"? And he said "You have to die." And then he just dived on me and got me down on the and was just strangling me. But he was gone. There was blinkers on his eyes. He had gone. It wasn't Ozzy.
(20/20, Barbara Walters, Nov. 6, 2002)
Sharon later openly tells Barbara Walters on 20/20 of Ozzy’s "demon" and "little people" [ELVES] that live in Ozzy’s head.
He's just got this demon inside of him. He just can't get rid of these little people [ELVES] that live in his head.
(20/20, Barbara Walters, Nov. 6, 2002)
Ozzy’s wife Sharon also tells People Magazine that being married to Ozzy:
. . . is like living with several different people. One day he can be loving and romantic, but the next day he'll turn into this Jekyll and Hyde monster. I never know what I'm going to wake up with.
(People Magazine, July, 10, 1989, p. 94)
Ozzy told Hit Parader Magazine:
I really wish I knew why I’ve done some of the things I’ve done over the years. Sometimes I think that I’m possessed by some outside spirit. A few years ago, I was convinced of that – I thought I truly was possessed by the devil. I remember sitting through the Exorcist a dozen times, saying to myself, ‘Yeah, I can relate to that.
(Hit Parader, Nov., 1984, p. 49)
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, [and Santa]. Psalm 106:37
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. . . for his great love wherewith he loved us (Ephesians 2:4)
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Oh, how he loves the little children.
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his site.
Santa loves the little children of the world.
They stand in line to sit in his loving lap. They get their picture with Santa. They tell Santa their most intimate secrets.
They love their Santa – because he first loved them.
Is there something slightly familiar with this picture?
13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Mark 10:13-14
We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19
Satan is accomplishing EXACTLY what he desired.
Satan’s ultimate goal is worship. And millions of children are lovingly giving him their God-given child-like faith. They love their Santa! They worship their Santa!
In Luke 4, when Jesus Christ was tempted of Santa (uh… I mean Satan) in the wilderness. Remember what Satan offered him, and remember what Satan requested in exchange:
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Luke 4:5-8
Satan’s ultimate goal is worship. He’ll "give" you gifts – "whomsoever I will I give it"
Little children worship Santa. Satan is stealing their child-faith at the greatest time of salvation in their whole life! What a plan! What a master-piece of deception! And the average parents are Satan’s greatest evangelists. Wow! What an incredible, subtle, diabolical plan.
Do you still believe Santa is just a harmless accidental character of history?
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. . . Ask, and it shall be given you. . . (Matthew 7:7)
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Millions of young children will anxiously climb into the loving lap of their Santa Claus. They will whisper in his ear their little hearts desire. Then they will jump out of bed Christmas morning, with eyes shimmering, and hearts pounding — and there is all the wonderful gifts Santa brought them.
At least, that is how they see it. . .
Jolly old Saint Nick,
Lean your ear this way!
Don't you tell a single soul
What I'm going to say;
Christmas Eve is coming soon;
Now, you dear old man,
Whisper what you'll bring to me;
Tell me if you can.
"Jolly Old St. Nick"
Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus!
Right down Santa Claus Lane. . .
Bells are ringing, children singing;
All is merry and bright.
Hang your stockings and say your prayers,
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.
Millions of children worldwide will be asking their Santa for presents. And here’s the kicker – come Christmas morning – they will believe Satan (not again. . . they’re just too much alike. . . I mean. . . Santa) lovingly gave them all their presents. Who is telling these children these lies?
Santa (or Satan. . . take your pick) has replaced God as the gracious giver of gifts and the one who answers their prayers. He is Mr. Everything to these kids at Christmas time. They just need to believe. The key to getting your gifts is "believing" in Santa. Millions of kids will be asked this Christmas, "Do you still believe in Santa?"
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21:22
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. . . .
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:7-8, 11
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17
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All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)
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Isn’t it amazing the power Santa has?
Is there anyone like Santa Claus?
He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Santa is All Knowing – He is Omniscient
He knows. . .ALL
He KNOWS when you’re awake
He KNOWS if you've been good or bad."
Bobby wants a pair of skates,
Suzy wants a sled
Nellie wants a picture book,
yellow, blue, and red
Now I think I'll leave to you
what to give the rest
Choose for me, dear Santa Claus;
you will know the best.
"Jolly Old St. Nick"
Santa knows everything.
Children are taught, religiously, that Santa knows everything. He knows when they’re awake. He knows when they’re sleeping. He knows what they want for Christmas.
Remember that child-like faith? That faith that belongs to God.Satan is robbing that precious faith with the false god of Santa!
Santa has all the attributes of God. Santa has replaced God in the lives of Santa-worshipping children. Just mention the name of Santa to the average child – and watch their little face light up. They love Santa with "all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their strength, and with all their mind." They stand in line to sit in his loving lap. They leave him milk and cookies. It may be a fable to the grown-ups, but those little kids – they believe and love Santa with all their little heart!
And why not? Why shouldn’t they believe in Santa?
They are taught, heartily, by the people they love and trust more than anyone on earth that Santa is a god. Santa knows things that are known only by an Omniscient God. Who else has such power? And why wouldn’t they believe it? Would "mommy and daddy" lie?
Of course not. . . would they?
The following verses would well fit the average child’s gospel of Santa:
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for Santa knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Matthew 6:8
Santa knoweth the days of the upright. . .
Psalm 37:8
Santa knoweth the thoughts of the wise, . . .
1 Corinthians 3:20
If you doubt the sincerity of the "Santa Claus-as-god-worship" – according to Encyclopedia Americana, during the Middle Ages, over 400 churches in England alone were named after "Santa Claus":
"His cult [Santa Clause] and his representation in art achieved their greatest popularity in the Middle Ages, and in England alone more than 400 churches are named after him."
(John E. Lynch., "Santa Claus", Encyclopedia Americana, 1988 ed., cited in Saint Who by Dr. Paul E. Heaton)
Santa is Everywhere – He is Omnipresent
He’s at the mall. He’s at the parade. He’s on the TV. He’s at the ball-park.
He is EVERYWHERE.
David’s testimony to the Omnipresence of God Almighty sounds much like the average child’s omnipresence faith in Santa.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Psalm 139:7-8
Santa miraculously visits millions of children, all across the world, in one "quick as a wink" night. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. . ." (1 Cor. 15:52) – Santa appears – all over the world!
The poem The Night Before Christmas says of Old St. Nick: ". . . And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof. . ." Where did that come from? – "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. . ." (1 Cor. 15:52)
He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake
Sound familiar. . .?
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
Santa is All-Powerful – He is Omnipotent
To the average child - Santa can do anything. The following are actual letters to Santa from children, taken from a local newspaper. Read these letters and look at the faith these children have in their god: (Knox 6)
"Dear Santa. . . If I could have one Christmas wish, it would be for my mom to get better. She has bad arthritis. Would you please heal her?"
"Dear Santa. . . For Christmas would you please give humanity a cure for cancer and a cure for AIDS, and would you please give us a new solar system where people live right?"
"Dear Santa. . . My mom and I both have disabilities. Would you please give both of us new bodies?"
"Dear Santa. . . Please bring peace on earth."
Is anything too hard for Santa?
Is anything too hard for the LORD? Genesis 18:14
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18
Come rain, sleet, snow, storm, hurricane, the darkest and dreariest of nights – Santa comes.
Their Santa NEVER fails!
In one night, the all-powerful, Santa delivers millions and millions of gifts to children all around the world. Who could do that? Now, who REALLY believes that? That little child who has been preached to about Santa. That is who. They believe it. Just ask one. Nothing is too hard for their Santa. If the Christian world had, even a small drop of the faith the average child has in Santa – we’d have revival overnight!
Isn’t it amazing what these little children actually believe "with all their heart" about their great god and saviour Santa?
These little kids believe and have more faith in their Santa than all the Christians of the world. If the Christians of the world could just catch a spark of that faith these kids have in Santa – we would have a world-wide revival.
Have you ever considered how unbelievable and powerful Santa is?
The scientific journal SPY magazine (January 1990) constructed a scientific analysis of Santa. Here’s some of there conclusions:
Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each house, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house.
. . . a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc. This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound.
The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons.
This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules [jewels-measurement of energy] of energy. Per second.
In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.
(SPY Magazine, January 1990)
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. . ." (1 Cor. 15:52) – Santa appears – all over the world! He just quietly "tip-toes" in – and "tip-toes" out. You hear nothing. You see nothing. He appears like a "thief in the night". (1 Thess. 5:2).
And we expect our children to believe in a supernatural being that can do all that?
And you know what – THEY DO!
And they believe it with all their little heart, soul and mind!
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
Matthew 22:35-38
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. . . thy years are throughout all generations. (Psalm 102:24)
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Where did Santa come from?
How did Santa get here?
When did Santa magically appear?
Like, Melchisedec (which most Bible students believe to be a reference to the incarnate Jesus Christ), Santa Claus is like the Son of God: "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God;. . ." Hebrews 7:3
Santa is from everlasting to everlasting. His "years are throughout all generations". Possessing the attribute of an eternal God, Santa ". . . thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." He has no beginning. He has no end. Like God Almighty, Santa is eternal.
The famous editorial, Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus, written by Francis P. Church and published in The New York Sun on September 21, 1897 to 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon, ends with the following words:
"No Santa Claus! Thank God, he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."
(Francis P. Church Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus, The New York Sun, September 21, 1897)
1 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. Psalm 93:1-2
Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Habakkuk 1:12
24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. Psalm 102:24-27
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. . .I will pour out my spirit. . . (Proverbs 1:23)
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The Christmas "Spirit"?
And yes, Santa has his own "spirit."
The "Spirit of Christmas." Isn’t that a little strange?
Gene Autry’s famous song "Here Comes Santa Claus" begins with the words, "Speakin' of Christmas spirit."
Ring a bell? . . .
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John 14:16-17 I wonder what John thinks of the "spirit of Christmas"?
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 1 John 4:1-3
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Come, ye children. . . I will teach you the fear of. . . (Psalm 34:11)
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Santa Claus.
You better watch out,
You better not cry
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why Santa Claus is comin' to town
He's making a list,
He's checking it twice
He's gonna find out
Who's naughty or nice
Children the world over are taught to FEAR Santa. You’d better go to bed little boy – Santa is watching. Millions of fearful children are told, "You’d better behave. Santa is watching. You might not get anything for Christmas."
Would not Psalm 76:7 certainly apply to Santa Claus in the eyes of most children?
Psalm 76:7
Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?
The fear of the Lord is the "beginning" of the Christian faith. And the fear of Santa is the beginning of the Santa faith – and possibly the destruction of their Christian faith!
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:. . . Psalms 111:10
While our children should be taught the fear of the Lord, most are taught the sacrilegious fear of the false god of Santa.
Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Psalm 34:11
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. . . every one of us shall give account of himself to. . . (Romans 14:12)
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Santa.
He's making a list, He's checking it twice
He's gonna find out Who's naughty or nice
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to. . . Santa?
Again as God does so does the one that says, "I will be like the most high". (Isaiah 14:14)
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. Revelation 20:12
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. . . then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. (Matthew 25:31)
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Take a trip to the local mall at Christmas time. Go watch Santa sitting on his royal throne. Kids are lined up to sit on his lap of judgement. What does Santa ask them, "Have you been a good little boy?" "Have you been a good little girl?’
Ever read Psalm 11:4?
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. Psalm 11:4
There’s no question Satan (or Santa. . . ditto) is sitting on his throne. There is no question it is a mockery and pretender of the judgement of a Holy God.
And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. 1 King 22:19
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. Revelation 20:11-12
Let us not forget the Bible says Satan (and Santa) has a throne.
For thou [Lucifer] hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Isaiah 14:13
In Acts 12, Herod is playing Santa, dressed in his Santa suit (royal apparel), on his throne, and the people saying, It is the voice of a god (a.k.a Santa), and not of a man. Sounds a lot like "you-know-who". And the angel of the Lord kills him for his blasphemy.
21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
24 But the word of God grew and multiplied. Acts 12:21-24
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. . . were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)
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Right on schedule. . . Santa also has a list to judge who's "naughty or nice"
He's making a list, He's checking it twice
He's gonna find out Who's naughty or nice
Over and over, scripture after scripture, Santa grants Satan's ultimate wish, ". . . I will be like the most High. . ."
Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. Mal. 3:16
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Rev 5:1
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev 20:12, 15
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And many believed on him. . . (John 10:42)
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I wonder how many children this Christmas will be asked, "Do you BELIEVE in Santa?" I know one thing – it will be more than all the Christians of the world asking "Do you BELIEVE in Jesus?". Satan will be preached more than the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. Santa's witnesses will happily witness for him – faithfully, day and night – around the world.
Do you really believe it’s just a coincidence that Santn (a.k.a. Satan), over and over, is counterfeiting the Lord Jesus Christ?
The heart of the Christian faith is "believing" in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the very core of the Christian faith. It is not works. It is not sacraments. It is not doing this or doing that.
It is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31
Belief and faith – is the essence and heartbeat of the Christian faith. It all hinges on believing.
Salvation is BELIEVING IN Jesus Christ.
And guess what? And the core of the gospel of Santa is also BELIEVE IN Santa.
"Little Boy, Little Girl, DO YOU BELIEVE IN SANTA?"
What happens when these children put so much false hope into a lie? What happens when that deceived child learns that wonderful Santa is a BIG LIE? Not only is it a false hope, not only is total deception – but it counterfeits the person of Jesus Christ! To confuse matters even worse the Lord Jesus is mixed into the lie by supposedly celebrating his birth.
Tom Clancy, in his novel, The Sum of All Fears, states the lifelong disappointment and skepticism after the deception of Santa is realized:
"After you stop believing in Santa Claus,
The whole world just goes downhill."
(Tom Clancy, The Sum of All Fears, p. 481)
Who that has ever seen the Christmas classic movie The Miracle on the 34th Street can ever forget the child-like faith of young Susan Walker (played by the cute Natalie Wood). Little Susie a skeptic, who doesn't believe in Santa Claus is "converted" by the loveable Kriss Kringle (played by Edmund Gwenn). The main plot of the movie is – faith and belief in Kriss Kringle or Santa.
Remember the highlight of the movie when Susan's mother, Doris (played by Maureen O'Hara) tells young Susan, " You must believe in Mr Kingle–and keep right on believing. You must have faith in him."
And young Susie begins repeating over and over, "I believe, I believe. . ."
Here's how the original author Valentine Davies describes the above scene:
"Susan thought it over for a moment and then began muttering with firm conviction: 'I believe, I believe, I believe–'
(Valentine Davies, Miracle on 34th Street, p. 116)
Towards the end of the movie, Santa gives Susie the "desires of her heart" and little Susie is saying, "You were right mommy, I do believe. I do believe. Mr Kingle is Santa Claus." Wow!
It is also worth mentioning what Santa gives to Susan. Not the typical child's gift of a doll, etc. But a house. Hmmm. . . Sound familiar?
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2
The movie ends as Santa (Kriss Kringle) "prepares a place" for little Susie. And they surprisingly see Santa's cane standing in the corner showing he had been there and did indeed – "prepare a place" for little Susie. By the way, did you notice the shape of Santa's cane standing in the corner? It looks like a "shepherd's" hook? Hmmm. . . Who was it that said, "I am the good shepherd. . ."? (Hint. see John 10:11)
Some reviewers wrote about The Miracle on 34th Street:
"I guess the reason I, and all the other reviewers, think this film is so great is that it brings back the time when we could 'believe in Santa Claus.'"
Who has ever seen "Miracle on 34th Street" can ever forget cute, little "Natalie Wood" says "when things don't turn out just right you still have to believe, and oh mommy I do believe, I do."
Another reviewer writes, ". . . this is a beautiful movie, that can make anyone believe in Santa Claus."
The name of the movie is The MIRACLE on 34th Street. Now who is it that does miracles?
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. John 2:11
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behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called. . . (Revelation 19:11)
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Santa Claus!
Most people are not aware that until the nineteenth century, Santa flew through the sky, visiting housetop to housetop, not in a sled drawn by reindeers — but on a white horse. It wasn’t until the poem, The Children’s Friend, was published in 1821 that the magical white horse was transformed into reindeer.
On the eve of December 6, the myth told that this bearded, white-haired old “saint,” clad in a wide mantel, rode through the skies on a white horse. (Renterghem, Tony van. When Santa Was a Shaman. St. Paul: Llewellyn Pub., 1995, p. 111)
Guess what? In Revelation 19, the Lord Jesus Christ at the Second Coming also comes back in the sky – on a white horse.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Revelation 19:11
There is also another character who travels on a white horse. The Antichrist! In Revelation 6, Satan’s man, the Antichrist also appears on a white horse.
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. Revelation 6:2
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Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of . . . (Titus 2:13)
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Santa.
This Christmas Eve millions and millions of little children will climb into their beds "looking for their blessed hope and the glorious appearing" of Santa Claus.
There is not a Christian on the face of this earth looking for and longing for the Lord Jesus Christ as much as the average child is longing for their god Santa! A child's stolen faith in the coming of Santa puts the Christian's faith to shame.
They get so excited. . . Santa is coming! Satan is coming!
Probably the greatest theme and most anticipated event in all the Bible is the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul mentions the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ over 50 times. For every one verse on the First Coming of the Lord Jesus – there are at least eight on the Second Coming. The last prayer in the Bible is in Revelation 22:20 – ". . . Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the Christian's "blessed hope":
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Titus 2:13
If the subtle serpent's ultimate goal is to ". . . be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:14) – the Second Coming will surely get his attention.
At Christmas time, little children believe in the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of Santa with every fiber of their soul. And why not, the ones they trust the most, mommy and daddy, are preaching this message in their little ears, over and over. Santa is coming! Santa is coming! And everywhere they go – the mall, the store, school – the gospel of the glorious appearing of Santa is proclaimed! Everywhere they look! Santa is coming! Santa is coming!
Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!
Here comes Santa Claus!. . .
What a beautiful sight.
All is merry and bright.
Hang your stockings and say your prayers,
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight
Jump in bed, cover up your head,
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight
So let's give thanks to the Lord above
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight,
Who comes around on a special night
Santa comes around on a special night
Who very soon will come our way
Santa very soon will come our way
What a cruel mockery of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
James 5:8
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
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and thou shalt call his name. . . (Matthew 1:21)
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Santa.
You ever noticed how easy it is to transform "Satan" from "Santa"? Just move the "n" to the end. And presto! "Satan" appears. . . Hmmm….
An internet Google search on "Satan Claus" [not Santa Claus – but SATAN Claus] found over 1,700 hits! Obviously, there are many that tie the two together.
The rearranging of letters (called anagrams) to hide secret names or words has long been practiced in the occult. The Jewish Encyclopedia writes of the Jewish occult book called the Cabala:
The golden age for anagrams began with the Cabala. The Platonists had strange notions as to the influence of anagrammatic virtues, particularly of anagrams evolved from names of persons. It is not surprising, therefore, that the cabalists, like all the Neoplatonists, pretended to discover occult qualities in proper names and in their anagrams.
(www.jewishencyclopedia.com)
One of the most well known anagram in the occult world is the name of Sanat Kumara. Sanat is better known as Satan. Constance Cumbey, writes in her best-selling, new-age expose, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, ". . . they [New Agers] freely call Sanat Kumara (Satan) 'God'. And their doctrinal reference books by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Alice Ann Bailey freely cross-reference Sanat Kumara with Venus. In occult writings, Lucifer and Venus are one and the same."
(Constance Cumbey, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, p. 138)
Texe Marrs writes of 'Sanat' in Dark Secrets of the New Age:
. . . the New Age offers a being called Sanat Kumara. 'Sanat' is obviously a thinly veiled reference to Satan; nevertheless, New Age teachers evidently believe that the new spelling will alleviate the concerns of those not yet ready to confess Satan as their Lord and Messiah.
(Texe Marrs, Dark Secrets of the New Age, pp. 79-80)
Interesting. . . Where does that put Lord S-A-N-T-A?
H.P. Blavatsky, the Satanist and new age teacher writes in The Secret Doctrine:
many a mysterious sacred name. . . conveys to the profane ear no more than some ordinary, and often vulgar [common] word, because it is concealed anagrammatically or otherwise.
(H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol II, p. 78)
Like S-A-N-T-A?
Blavatsky also writes, the name is not important – but the letters.
"The name isn't important. It is the letters."
(H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol II, p. 350)
Blavatasky’s anagrams were used to disguise who her true god was. Blavatasky openly taught Satan is mankind’s true redeemer, creator and Saviour.
And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon, the ‘Lord of Phosphorus’ and Lucifer, or ‘Light Bearer’, is in us; it is our Mind — our tempter and Redeemer, our intelligent liberator and Saviour. . .
(HP Blavatasky, The Secret Doctrine p. 513)
Satan, the Serpent of Genesis is the real creator and benefactor, the Father of Spiritual mankind. For it is he . . . who opened the eyes of the automaton (Adam) created by Jehovah. . . he still remains in Esoteric Truth the ever loving messenger . . .
(H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol 3, p. 243)
Gail Riplinger writes in her excellent book, New Age Versions on the use of anagrams in the occult world:
Lucifer's True Identity as Satan is Revealed as the Anagram, a Transposition of Letters, To Obscure It. "Blinds," as esoterics call them, include scrambling the letters of a name to hide the true meaning of a word from the uninitiated.
(Gail Riplinger, New Age Versions, p. 52)
It is interesting Mrs. Riplinger also raises a red flag about the anagram Santa:
Gods of the New Age include Sanatan and Sanatsiyata, . . . New Agers say each name is 'concealed anagrammatically' 'and are aliases,' and are 'an anagram used for Occult purposes. Is Santa, the great usurper of Christ's attention at Christmas, an anagram? "Ole Nick" is listed among the fallen angels or devils in the Dictionary of Fallen Angels. Scholars concur that Christ was born in the fall on the 4th day of the feast of tabernacles. December 25 is actually "the feast in honor of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven, later called Saturnaha by the heathen Romans.
(Gail Riplinger, New Age Versions, p. 52)
It is also worth noting, Santa is Spanish for holy. Santa is also from the Latin word sanctus which means also saintly, holy. Our English words "saint, sanctify, et al" comes from santa. Sounds like Satan’s "I will be like the most High" plan is in action.
Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
Psalm 99:3
God’s name is called "holy" over 40 times in the King James Bible.
"Holy Claus". . .?
The name Santa Claus is also derived from the Dutch Sinter Klaas, which also was a form of Saint Nicholas.
What about Claus?
Is "Claus" another anagram for "Lucas"?
It’s no secret Lucas and Lucis are new-age "code words" for Lucifer. The Alice Bailey founded new age, occult publishing company was originally named Lucifer Publishing Company but in 1924 the name was cleverly changed to Lucis Trust. By the way, the Lucifer worshipping Lucis Trust is a major player in the works of the United Nations, formerly located in the United Nations building but now located on prime-time 1200 Wall Street.
Claus sounds a lot like "claws."
Maybe Santa Claus means "Satan's Claws"? Like a lion's "claws"?
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1 Peter 5:8
Jolly Old St. Nick
While Santa and Claus may be disguising their real meaning – there is no disguising St. Nick. He is a well-known character.
Old Nick: A well-known British name of the Devil. It seems probable that this name is derived from the Dutch Nikken, the devil...
(Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, p.650)
Nick, the devil.
(Walter W. Sleay, Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, p. 304)
Devil: Besides the name Satan, he is also called Beelzebub, Lucifer . . . and in popular or rustic speech by many familiar terms as Old Nick . . .
(Oxford English Dictionary Vol III D-E)
Actor Adam Sandler and New Line Studios are obviously aware Nick is an alias for Satan. Their movie Little Nicky is about the son of Satan named Little Nicky. A teaser for the film says, "If your mother was an angel and your father was the devil you'd be messed up too."
In the popular Cloud Ten Pictures "Apocalypse" film series Revelation, Tribulation, &; Judgment, the Antichrist just so happens to be played by none other than the actor "Nick" Mancuso. Hmmm… The Cloud Ten Pictures are based on Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkin’s popular Left Behind Apocalypse book series. Oh, the name of the Antichrist in the Left Behind series? Nicolae "Nick" Carpathia, of course. In fact, one of the books in titled, Nicolae, The Rise of the Antichrist.
It is also interesting, the book American Slang defines the slang word nick: to rob or steal. (Robert L. Chapman, American Slang, p. 297)
This is how the Lord Jesus characterizes the devil in John 10:
1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way [say a chimney?], the same is a thief and a robber. . .
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:1,9,10
Father Christmas
The Christmas Poem reads:
Hurry up please Christmas Day,
When Father Christmas on his sleigh,
Comes to pay a visit.
Into every house he creeps
While each of us soundly sleeps
While he pays a visit.
The famous anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss writes in his popular analysis of "Father Christmas":
Father Christmas is dressed in scarlet: he is a king. His white beard, his furs and his boots, the sleigh in which he travels evoke winter. He is called "Father" and he is an old man, thus he incarnates the benevolent form of the authority of the ancients.
In other words, Father Christmas is God incarnate.
Levi-Strauss goes on to write that children believe in him, paying homage to him with letters and prayers.
The Devil’s stated goal in Isaiah 14:13-14, is to be like God the Father.
And what better "I will be like the most High. . - name to fame" than "Father of Christ-mass".
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Matthew 23:9
What about Kriss Kringle?
And there is the seemingly innocent, friendly, jingle-jangle name of Kriss Kringle.
By far, the name Kriss Kringle is the most blasphemous. With Kriss, Satan slowly removes the mask. There is no doubt about the intentions of "Kriss Kringle".
Believe it or not. . . Kriss Kringle is German for "little Christ Child".
Kriss Kringle A US name for Santa Claus derived from the German Christkindl (little Christ child).
(Brewer's Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Phrase and Fable, p. 334)
Santa Claus or Kriss Kringle is the counterfeit "Christ Child"!
Is it possible that these subtle allusions to Satan and counterfeit attacks at the Lord Jesus Christ are just merely coincidences?
Keep reading. . . The evidence has just begun.
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His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow. . . (Rev. 1:14)
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His head and his hairs [his beard] were white like wool, as white as SNOW. . .
A perfect description of . . . Guess Who?
Who's got a beard that's long and white
Santa's got a beard that's long and white
Must be Santa Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
It is also . . . The Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 1.
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs [BEARD] were white like wool, as white as snow;. . . Revelation 1:13-15
The poem The Night Before Christmas describes Old St. Nick as:
"He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes – how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;"
Daniel 7:9 describes the Lord Jesus, as the "Ancient of days" with white hair, "like the pure wool."
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: . . . Daniel 7:9
Remember Claude Lévi-Strauss's popular essay of "Father Christmas":
Father Christmas is dressed in scarlet: he is a king. His white beard, his furs and his boots, the sleigh in which he travels evoke winter. He is called 'Father' and he is an old man, thus he incarnates the benevolent form of the authority of the ancients.
He is a Father. . . dressed in scarlet. . . He is a king. . . white beard. . . incarnate. . . authority of the ancients.
Who is Lévi-Strauss really describing?
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Who is this that cometh. . . red in thine apparel (Isaiah 63:2)
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Who wears boots and a suit of red
Santa wears boots and a suit of red
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
And must be. . . (Are you surprised?)
The Lord Jesus Christ?
1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? Isaiah 63:1-2
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. Revelation 19:11
Do you get the strangest feeling that someone is trying to "be like someone else"? (see Isaiah 14:14).
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And his feet. . . as if they burned in a furnace (Revelation 1:15)
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Hmmm. . . ?
Now who has their feet in an furnace? Who comes down a chimney into a furnace?
chim * ney
1. a structure, usually vertical, containing a passage or flue by which the smoke, gases, etc., of a fire or furnace are carried off and by means of which a draft is created
(Webster’s Dictionary)
Santa Claus. . .
And you already know who else.
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. Revelation 1:13-15
Satan was not just kidding when he said in Isaiah 14:14, ". . . I will be like the most High."
The Lord Jesus warned us in John 10 about those that ". . . entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way [say a chimney]. . ."
10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way [like a chimney], the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:1, 2, 9,10
A little interesting history on Santa and his chimney:
It seems the chimney tale came to us via Thor, the mythical god of fire and lightning. Satan (and Thor) are symbolized by the lightning bolt (Luke 10:18). Thor’s name means "thunder". The Thor story goes like this; Most families in the pre-patriarchal Scandinavian world would have an altar to Thor – their fireplace. Every year on his birthday, December 25th (of course) Thor would come down the chimney to his altar of fire, and bring presents to the kiddies. (sound familiar?) Oh yea, Thor was "nicknamed" "Klaus of the cinders" or "Sinter Klaus" (a.k.a Santa Claus), because it was believed he would be "singed" as went into the fireplace.
Thor liked to wear furs in red for fire, and white for snow. He is usually pictured with a long white beard. He had a palace in the north. And he also rode through the sky in a sled pulled by two goats, named Gnasher and Crasher. (Sound like someone else we’ve heard of?) Another of Thor’s nickname was "Old Nick." Thor also carried a "trident" – the pitchfork of Satan.
Just a coincident. . . ? Hmmm. . . Thor the "god" of thunder, fire and lightning. Sounds a lot like someone else. . . Like maybe. . . Santa and Satan
It is no secret that Thor symbolizes Satan. The rock group KISS, who dressed as demons from hell spewing forth fire and blood in their concerts, has a song dedicated to the god of Thor titled God of Thunder. Some of the lyrics:
I was born on Olympus
To my father a son
I was raised by the demons
Trained to reign as the one
God of thunder and rock and roll. . .
I gather darkness to please me
And I command you to kneel
Before the God of thunder and rock and roll
The spell you're under
Will slowly rob you of your virgin soul
KISS, God of Thunder
There is also the mythological creature named Chimera (coming from the same root word "chim" as chim-ney). Chimera is a strange creature. It seems Chimera is part lion, part goat and part serpent. That’s a strange combo. . .? I wonder where they got that from? Chimera breathes fire and lives in the underworld called Hell. (Hans Biedermann, Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 67)
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Is not this the carpenter. . . (Mark 6:3)
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Mark 6:3 tells us the Lord Jesus Christ was a carpenter.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. Mark 6:3
Santa is no plumber, or electrician, or blacksmith.
Santa is a carpenter.
Surprise. Surprise.
Wow! Who would have ever guessed it! What a coincidence.
Oh yea, remember the god-Thor? His symbol is a hammer.
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His house. . . was toward the north (Ezekiel 8:14)
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Everyone knows Santa lives at the North Pole.
Brrr. . . Why the north pole? Nobody lives at the North Pole. . . Why did they pick the NORTH Pole?
Could it possibly be because someone else lives in the north?
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; . . . Ezekiel 8:14
1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. Psalm 48:1-2
The Lord dwells in "the north, the city of the great King".
By the way, remember what Lucifer said in Isaiah 14:13, when he rebelled against God? Remember where he was going to exalt his throne?
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:12-14
Where else would Satan (oops. . . it’s just too easy to get those two mixed up) Claus be but in the NORTH?
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And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head (Mark 15:17)
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The ever-familiar holly plant that decorates our Christmas world has a very interesting history. A very interesting history indeed.
The iiex chinensis, better known as holly, is the substantial subject of myths and pagan worship. For instance, the pagan Romans decorated their houses and temples with the "sacred" holly, which represented their goddess Saturnalia. By the way, there's where our modern day custom of decorating with holly originated. Among history's most blatant devil-worshippers were the Druids. The Druids were known for their human sacrifices and the authors of our Halloween. The Druids wore the holly in their hair and considered the "holly" plant sacred, hence the name "holy" or "holly." The Druids also believed the "holy" berries represented the blood of their Goddess. (Hmmm. . . I wonder where they go that strange idea from?) As Christianity began spreading throughout the Roman world, the use of pagan holly was outlawed. Plant aficionado and author, Virginia Klara Nathan, writes:
"Ancient history says that the Druids used holly in their religious rites long before the custom came to the European continent. The Druids of ancient Britain and Gaul held the English holly tree sacred. The 'holy' connotation continued in later days in Europe, where the plant was widely believed to repel evil spirits. People planted trees and used their branches as protection against witchcraft, mad dogs, and other evils. With the coming of Christianity, the use of holly was condemned as a pagan ritual and forbidden by the Christian council."
(Nathan, Virginia Klara. "Red-Berried Hollies." Extension Technician, in The Virginia Gardener Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 12. qtd at )
Nathan also writes as many of the condemned pagan practices, began infilturating Christianity the thorny pagan holly plant became symbolic with the "crown of thorns" that the Lord Jesus Christ wore. The Germans even refer to the holly plant as Christdorn - meaning, "Christ's crown of thorns."
But Christian Romans continued to decorate with holly during festive seasons. European Christian symbolism included the belief that the spiny leaves and red berries were a reminder of the crown of thorns and the blood of Christ. The Pennsylvania Dutch held that the plant's white flowers represented Jesus' purity. The Germans called this plant Christdorn, Christ's crown of thorns. They thought holly had white berries until they were stained by Christ's blood.
(Nathan, Virginia Klara. "Red-Berried Hollies." Extension Technician, in The Virginia Gardener Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 12. qtd at )
Not surprisingly, considering the holly plant's storied ancestry, many writers believe the actual "crown of thorns" wore by the Lord Jesus Christ, was indeed the familiar "holly" wreath. Another plant enthusiast writes of the holly plant and it's portrayal of the "crown of thorns":
Holly lost its pagan associations and became a symbol of Christmas, with the sharply pointed leaves symbolising the crown of thorns which Jesus was made to wear prior to his crucifixion, and the berries becoming a symbol of the blood of Christ. Some refer to Holly as the Holy Tree and claim that it grew in Christ's footsteps. The white flowers represent Jesus's purity and birth, and the bitter bark is said to represent the passion. Some writers hold that holly was actually the plant which did actually form the crown of thorns and that the berries were originally white before being stained by Christ's blood.
("Holly Plant, Christmas Plants and Flowers," http://www.piglette.com/christmas/holly-plant.html)
And it is not surprising, one of the many portraits of good 'ol Santa blasphemously portrays him wearing the "holy" crown, symbolic of the Saviour's "crown of thorns." One author writes of this portrait of Santa or Father Christmas wearing the "crown of thorns":
Originating in England, Father Christmas was depicted as a friendly fellow wearing a crown of holly and a scarlet or green fur-lined robe. To many, this wreath of holly represented the crown of thorns that Jesus wore when He was crucified and the red berries are symbolic of the blood He shed."
("Santalady's Favorite Antique Post Cards and Related Traditions Picture," www.santalady.com/cards.html)
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. . . who rideth upon the heaven in thy help. . . (Deuteronomy 33:26)
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As everyone knows, Santa miraculously rides upon the heavens as he delivers his gifts and love. He has been described for so long, by so many, riding across the sky with his reindeers guiding his merry way – you can almost see Santa as you gaze up in the sky.
The famous poem The Night Before Christmas describes this amazing, flying, red-clothed, bearded, whited-haired, super-man:
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too
Following Satan’s ". . . I will be like the most high. . ." script to the letter, Santa mimics the Lord God as found in Deuteronomy 33:26
There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.Deuteronomy 33:26
It’s also interesting in Ephesians 2:2, Satan is depicted as "the prince of the power of the air. . ."
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 2:2
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Ho, ho. . . saith. . . (Zechariah 2:6)
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Satan Claus.
Right? Actually. . .
Ho, ho. . . saith the LORD. . . Zechariah 2:6
Remember in Chapter 2, "Ho!, ho!, ho!" is also the devil's trademark!
In these [Miracle] plays, the devil's common entry line, known as the "devil's bluster," was "Ho! Ho! Hoh!" (Siefker, Phyllis. Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997, p. 69)
Ho, ho, ho! the devil, the devil! A-comes, a-comes, a-comes upon me,. . . a popular old English play "Bomelio" (Dodsley, Robert. A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. VI. The Project Gutenberg Ebook.
Ho ho ho, cherry nose. . .
Must be Santa, Santa Clause. . . or the devil.
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. . .and his angels were cast out with him (Revelation 12:9)
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Santa’s Little Helpers?
Santa has some cute little helpers called elves. Webster’s Dictionary has an interesting definition for the friendly elf:
ELF
1. A wandering spirit; a fairy; a hobgoblin; an imaginary being which our rude ancestors supposed to inhabit unfrequented places, and in various ways to affect mankind. . .
2. An evil spirit; a devil.
(Webster's Dictionary “elf”)
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft has some interesting insights into Santa's Little Helpers. For instance, elves are Satan's fallen angels:
A host of supernatural beings and spirits who exist between earth and heaven. . . Fairies [Elves] are fall angels. When God cast Lucifer from heaven, the angels who were loyal to Lucifer plunged down toward hell with him.
(Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 115)
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.Revelation 12:9
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft also writes that some elves have an appetite for human blood:
Some fairies [elves] were said to suck human blood like vampires.
(Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 116)
An interesting trick concerning elves is also given in The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft (p. 117). It seems some elves will grant peoples' wish and give them gifts – if that person will only deny their Christian faith! Can you say Santa Claus?
Elves are found in the writings of Satanist and new age-theosophy guru H.P. Blavatsky. She claims elves are "disembodied spirits," used in "magic and sorcery" and are "the principal agents in . . . seances." (H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, Vol I, p. 262)
Elves are also called trolls. Cathy Burns writes in Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated:
. . . the word troll comes from the Old Norse word for demon and is defined by some sources as a "devil": a person of great wickedness or maliciousness. . . Of course, Santa has his elves, too.
(Cathy Burns, Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, p. 67)
Elf: A small, often mischievous creature considered to have magical powers.' Although some of these creatures may appear cute on the surface, all of them are nonetheless demonic entities that have their origin in the occult world.
(Cathy Burns, Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, p. 77)
The Dictionary of Symbolism states about elves:
Living beneath the surface of the earth, they have ties to the word of the dead; these "little people" are often thought of as inhabitants of the underworld [hell].
(Hans Biedermann, Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 107)
Before you completely discount elves to the world of fantasy and kooks, consider the research of Dr. Kurt Koch. Dr. Koch is without question the world's foremost authority on demonism and the occult. Dr. Koch, a devout Christian, has spent a life-time traveling world-wide, researching and documenting the real-world of demonism, devils and the occult. Dr. Koch has three complete pages documenting "Goblins and Elves" in his book Occult ABC. Dr. Koch writes of elves:
These elves often appear to children and even play with them. The moment an adult comes on the scene, the elves disappear. . . If a person wants their help, he must apply to their chief, the devil himself [Santa?]. This however, would cost a person his salvation. The idea these spirits are demonic in origin is in accordance with the Bible.
(Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, p. 82, 83)
Dr. Koch claims these elves' "chief" is the "devil himself" – Santa's Little Helpers. Notice how Dr, Koch and others keep linking these elves back to children.
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft says elves, "love to visit new born babies of mortals. . ." (Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 116)
In Dr. Koch's book (pp. 82-85), he gives four detailed, documented actual accounts involving elves or demons. Dr. Koch, has encountered so many elf-demonic experiences, he says, "One could write a book just about these little people like the tomter [elves], but that is not my task." (Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, p. 83)
The great German Reformer Martin Luther also had encounters with elves or goblins. In his Table Talk book, Luther writes on one occasion:
The goblin [elf] jolted me in bed. But I took little notice of him. When I was almost asleep, he began such a rumbling on the stairs that you would have thought someone was throwing three score barrels of wine down them. I stood up, went to the stairs, and called out 'If it is you, so be it,' Then I committed myself to the Lord, of whom it is written, 'Thou hast put all things under His feet,' and went back to bed. That is the best way to get rid of him: to scorn him and call on Christ, That he cannot bear'.
(cited in Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, p. 84)
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft writes, "Many contemporary Witches believe in fairies [elves] and some see them clairvoyantly." (Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 117)
In fact, the very popular book teaching witchcraft to teenagers titled Teen Witch by witch-author Silver RavenWolf even contains a spell to invoke elves. The spell called "Elf Locker Spell" is a spell to keep people from breaking into a teenagers school locker. The spell conjures up elves to protect their locker. Witch RavenWolf details the spell:
At school, hang the mirror, asking the locker elves (yes, there are elves in school) to protect the locker (Silver RavenWolf, Teen Witch, Wicca for a New Generation, p. 215).
Then the teen witch does some other silly, stupid stuff, and casts their spell (which the book gives in detail). The end of the spell is very, very interesting. Here's what RavenWolf writes, "At home, set the milk and honey outside to nourish the fairies. (p. 215)" Did you say "milk and honey"? Can you say "Ho, Ho, Ho"?
The Elves of Oz.
One of the most demon-possessed individuals is rock star, Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy’s claim to fame was lead singer of the "Satan-rock" band Black Sabbath. Ozzy is known for such bizarre and demonic behavior as biting the head off a bat and a dove.
On September 2, 1989, Ozzy and his demons nearly murdered his own wife. Here’s how his wife, Sharon Osbourne, describes the terrifying moment to Barbara Walters on 20/20:
I was downstairs reading. He came down with just his underpants on. And he's like,"We've come to a decision." And I'm like, "We've"? And he said "You have to die." And then he just dived on me and got me down on the and was just strangling me. But he was gone. There was blinkers on his eyes. He had gone. It wasn't Ozzy.
(20/20, Barbara Walters, Nov. 6, 2002)
Sharon later openly tells Barbara Walters on 20/20 of Ozzy’s "demon" and "little people" [ELVES] that live in Ozzy’s head.
He's just got this demon inside of him. He just can't get rid of these little people [ELVES] that live in his head.
(20/20, Barbara Walters, Nov. 6, 2002)
Ozzy’s wife Sharon also tells People Magazine that being married to Ozzy:
. . . is like living with several different people. One day he can be loving and romantic, but the next day he'll turn into this Jekyll and Hyde monster. I never know what I'm going to wake up with.
(People Magazine, July, 10, 1989, p. 94)
Ozzy told Hit Parader Magazine:
I really wish I knew why I’ve done some of the things I’ve done over the years. Sometimes I think that I’m possessed by some outside spirit. A few years ago, I was convinced of that – I thought I truly was possessed by the devil. I remember sitting through the Exorcist a dozen times, saying to myself, ‘Yeah, I can relate to that.
(Hit Parader, Nov., 1984, p. 49)
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, [and Santa]. Psalm 106:37
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. . . for his great love wherewith he loved us (Ephesians 2:4)
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Oh, how he loves the little children.
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his site.
Santa loves the little children of the world.
They stand in line to sit in his loving lap. They get their picture with Santa. They tell Santa their most intimate secrets.
They love their Santa – because he first loved them.
Is there something slightly familiar with this picture?
13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Mark 10:13-14
We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19
Satan is accomplishing EXACTLY what he desired.
Satan’s ultimate goal is worship. And millions of children are lovingly giving him their God-given child-like faith. They love their Santa! They worship their Santa!
In Luke 4, when Jesus Christ was tempted of Santa (uh… I mean Satan) in the wilderness. Remember what Satan offered him, and remember what Satan requested in exchange:
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Luke 4:5-8
Satan’s ultimate goal is worship. He’ll "give" you gifts – "whomsoever I will I give it"
Little children worship Santa. Satan is stealing their child-faith at the greatest time of salvation in their whole life! What a plan! What a master-piece of deception! And the average parents are Satan’s greatest evangelists. Wow! What an incredible, subtle, diabolical plan.
Do you still believe Santa is just a harmless accidental character of history?
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. . . Ask, and it shall be given you. . . (Matthew 7:7)
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Millions of young children will anxiously climb into the loving lap of their Santa Claus. They will whisper in his ear their little hearts desire. Then they will jump out of bed Christmas morning, with eyes shimmering, and hearts pounding — and there is all the wonderful gifts Santa brought them.
At least, that is how they see it. . .
Jolly old Saint Nick,
Lean your ear this way!
Don't you tell a single soul
What I'm going to say;
Christmas Eve is coming soon;
Now, you dear old man,
Whisper what you'll bring to me;
Tell me if you can.
"Jolly Old St. Nick"
Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus!
Right down Santa Claus Lane. . .
Bells are ringing, children singing;
All is merry and bright.
Hang your stockings and say your prayers,
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.
Millions of children worldwide will be asking their Santa for presents. And here’s the kicker – come Christmas morning – they will believe Satan (not again. . . they’re just too much alike. . . I mean. . . Santa) lovingly gave them all their presents. Who is telling these children these lies?
Santa (or Satan. . . take your pick) has replaced God as the gracious giver of gifts and the one who answers their prayers. He is Mr. Everything to these kids at Christmas time. They just need to believe. The key to getting your gifts is "believing" in Santa. Millions of kids will be asked this Christmas, "Do you still believe in Santa?"
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21:22
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. . . .
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:7-8, 11
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17
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All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)
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Isn’t it amazing the power Santa has?
Is there anyone like Santa Claus?
He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Santa is All Knowing – He is Omniscient
He knows. . .ALL
He KNOWS when you’re awake
He KNOWS if you've been good or bad."
Bobby wants a pair of skates,
Suzy wants a sled
Nellie wants a picture book,
yellow, blue, and red
Now I think I'll leave to you
what to give the rest
Choose for me, dear Santa Claus;
you will know the best.
"Jolly Old St. Nick"
Santa knows everything.
Children are taught, religiously, that Santa knows everything. He knows when they’re awake. He knows when they’re sleeping. He knows what they want for Christmas.
Remember that child-like faith? That faith that belongs to God.Satan is robbing that precious faith with the false god of Santa!
Santa has all the attributes of God. Santa has replaced God in the lives of Santa-worshipping children. Just mention the name of Santa to the average child – and watch their little face light up. They love Santa with "all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their strength, and with all their mind." They stand in line to sit in his loving lap. They leave him milk and cookies. It may be a fable to the grown-ups, but those little kids – they believe and love Santa with all their little heart!
And why not? Why shouldn’t they believe in Santa?
They are taught, heartily, by the people they love and trust more than anyone on earth that Santa is a god. Santa knows things that are known only by an Omniscient God. Who else has such power? And why wouldn’t they believe it? Would "mommy and daddy" lie?
Of course not. . . would they?
The following verses would well fit the average child’s gospel of Santa:
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for Santa knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Matthew 6:8
Santa knoweth the days of the upright. . .
Psalm 37:8
Santa knoweth the thoughts of the wise, . . .
1 Corinthians 3:20
If you doubt the sincerity of the "Santa Claus-as-god-worship" – according to Encyclopedia Americana, during the Middle Ages, over 400 churches in England alone were named after "Santa Claus":
"His cult [Santa Clause] and his representation in art achieved their greatest popularity in the Middle Ages, and in England alone more than 400 churches are named after him."
(John E. Lynch., "Santa Claus", Encyclopedia Americana, 1988 ed., cited in Saint Who by Dr. Paul E. Heaton)
Santa is Everywhere – He is Omnipresent
He’s at the mall. He’s at the parade. He’s on the TV. He’s at the ball-park.
He is EVERYWHERE.
David’s testimony to the Omnipresence of God Almighty sounds much like the average child’s omnipresence faith in Santa.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Psalm 139:7-8
Santa miraculously visits millions of children, all across the world, in one "quick as a wink" night. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. . ." (1 Cor. 15:52) – Santa appears – all over the world!
The poem The Night Before Christmas says of Old St. Nick: ". . . And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof. . ." Where did that come from? – "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. . ." (1 Cor. 15:52)
He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake
Sound familiar. . .?
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
Santa is All-Powerful – He is Omnipotent
To the average child - Santa can do anything. The following are actual letters to Santa from children, taken from a local newspaper. Read these letters and look at the faith these children have in their god: (Knox 6)
"Dear Santa. . . If I could have one Christmas wish, it would be for my mom to get better. She has bad arthritis. Would you please heal her?"
"Dear Santa. . . For Christmas would you please give humanity a cure for cancer and a cure for AIDS, and would you please give us a new solar system where people live right?"
"Dear Santa. . . My mom and I both have disabilities. Would you please give both of us new bodies?"
"Dear Santa. . . Please bring peace on earth."
Is anything too hard for Santa?
Is anything too hard for the LORD? Genesis 18:14
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18
Come rain, sleet, snow, storm, hurricane, the darkest and dreariest of nights – Santa comes.
Their Santa NEVER fails!
In one night, the all-powerful, Santa delivers millions and millions of gifts to children all around the world. Who could do that? Now, who REALLY believes that? That little child who has been preached to about Santa. That is who. They believe it. Just ask one. Nothing is too hard for their Santa. If the Christian world had, even a small drop of the faith the average child has in Santa – we’d have revival overnight!
Isn’t it amazing what these little children actually believe "with all their heart" about their great god and saviour Santa?
These little kids believe and have more faith in their Santa than all the Christians of the world. If the Christians of the world could just catch a spark of that faith these kids have in Santa – we would have a world-wide revival.
Have you ever considered how unbelievable and powerful Santa is?
The scientific journal SPY magazine (January 1990) constructed a scientific analysis of Santa. Here’s some of there conclusions:
Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each house, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house.
. . . a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc. This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound.
The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons.
This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules [jewels-measurement of energy] of energy. Per second.
In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.
(SPY Magazine, January 1990)
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. . ." (1 Cor. 15:52) – Santa appears – all over the world! He just quietly "tip-toes" in – and "tip-toes" out. You hear nothing. You see nothing. He appears like a "thief in the night". (1 Thess. 5:2).
And we expect our children to believe in a supernatural being that can do all that?
And you know what – THEY DO!
And they believe it with all their little heart, soul and mind!
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
Matthew 22:35-38
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. . . thy years are throughout all generations. (Psalm 102:24)
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Where did Santa come from?
How did Santa get here?
When did Santa magically appear?
Like, Melchisedec (which most Bible students believe to be a reference to the incarnate Jesus Christ), Santa Claus is like the Son of God: "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God;. . ." Hebrews 7:3
Santa is from everlasting to everlasting. His "years are throughout all generations". Possessing the attribute of an eternal God, Santa ". . . thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." He has no beginning. He has no end. Like God Almighty, Santa is eternal.
The famous editorial, Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus, written by Francis P. Church and published in The New York Sun on September 21, 1897 to 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon, ends with the following words:
"No Santa Claus! Thank God, he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."
(Francis P. Church Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus, The New York Sun, September 21, 1897)
1 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. Psalm 93:1-2
Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Habakkuk 1:12
24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. Psalm 102:24-27
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. . .I will pour out my spirit. . . (Proverbs 1:23)
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The Christmas "Spirit"?
And yes, Santa has his own "spirit."
The "Spirit of Christmas." Isn’t that a little strange?
Gene Autry’s famous song "Here Comes Santa Claus" begins with the words, "Speakin' of Christmas spirit."
Ring a bell? . . .
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John 14:16-17 I wonder what John thinks of the "spirit of Christmas"?
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 1 John 4:1-3
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Come, ye children. . . I will teach you the fear of. . . (Psalm 34:11)
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Santa Claus.
You better watch out,
You better not cry
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why Santa Claus is comin' to town
He's making a list,
He's checking it twice
He's gonna find out
Who's naughty or nice
Children the world over are taught to FEAR Santa. You’d better go to bed little boy – Santa is watching. Millions of fearful children are told, "You’d better behave. Santa is watching. You might not get anything for Christmas."
Would not Psalm 76:7 certainly apply to Santa Claus in the eyes of most children?
Psalm 76:7
Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?
The fear of the Lord is the "beginning" of the Christian faith. And the fear of Santa is the beginning of the Santa faith – and possibly the destruction of their Christian faith!
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:. . . Psalms 111:10
While our children should be taught the fear of the Lord, most are taught the sacrilegious fear of the false god of Santa.
Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Psalm 34:11
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. . . every one of us shall give account of himself to. . . (Romans 14:12)
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Santa.
He's making a list, He's checking it twice
He's gonna find out Who's naughty or nice
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to. . . Santa?
Again as God does so does the one that says, "I will be like the most high". (Isaiah 14:14)
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. Revelation 20:12
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. . . then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. (Matthew 25:31)
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Take a trip to the local mall at Christmas time. Go watch Santa sitting on his royal throne. Kids are lined up to sit on his lap of judgement. What does Santa ask them, "Have you been a good little boy?" "Have you been a good little girl?’
Ever read Psalm 11:4?
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. Psalm 11:4
There’s no question Satan (or Santa. . . ditto) is sitting on his throne. There is no question it is a mockery and pretender of the judgement of a Holy God.
And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. 1 King 22:19
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. Revelation 20:11-12
Let us not forget the Bible says Satan (and Santa) has a throne.
For thou [Lucifer] hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Isaiah 14:13
In Acts 12, Herod is playing Santa, dressed in his Santa suit (royal apparel), on his throne, and the people saying, It is the voice of a god (a.k.a Santa), and not of a man. Sounds a lot like "you-know-who". And the angel of the Lord kills him for his blasphemy.
21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
24 But the word of God grew and multiplied. Acts 12:21-24
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. . . were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)
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Right on schedule. . . Santa also has a list to judge who's "naughty or nice"
He's making a list, He's checking it twice
He's gonna find out Who's naughty or nice
Over and over, scripture after scripture, Santa grants Satan's ultimate wish, ". . . I will be like the most High. . ."
Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. Mal. 3:16
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Rev 5:1
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev 20:12, 15
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And many believed on him. . . (John 10:42)
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I wonder how many children this Christmas will be asked, "Do you BELIEVE in Santa?" I know one thing – it will be more than all the Christians of the world asking "Do you BELIEVE in Jesus?". Satan will be preached more than the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. Santa's witnesses will happily witness for him – faithfully, day and night – around the world.
Do you really believe it’s just a coincidence that Santn (a.k.a. Satan), over and over, is counterfeiting the Lord Jesus Christ?
The heart of the Christian faith is "believing" in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the very core of the Christian faith. It is not works. It is not sacraments. It is not doing this or doing that.
It is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31
Belief and faith – is the essence and heartbeat of the Christian faith. It all hinges on believing.
Salvation is BELIEVING IN Jesus Christ.
And guess what? And the core of the gospel of Santa is also BELIEVE IN Santa.
"Little Boy, Little Girl, DO YOU BELIEVE IN SANTA?"
What happens when these children put so much false hope into a lie? What happens when that deceived child learns that wonderful Santa is a BIG LIE? Not only is it a false hope, not only is total deception – but it counterfeits the person of Jesus Christ! To confuse matters even worse the Lord Jesus is mixed into the lie by supposedly celebrating his birth.
Tom Clancy, in his novel, The Sum of All Fears, states the lifelong disappointment and skepticism after the deception of Santa is realized:
"After you stop believing in Santa Claus,
The whole world just goes downhill."
(Tom Clancy, The Sum of All Fears, p. 481)
Who that has ever seen the Christmas classic movie The Miracle on the 34th Street can ever forget the child-like faith of young Susan Walker (played by the cute Natalie Wood). Little Susie a skeptic, who doesn't believe in Santa Claus is "converted" by the loveable Kriss Kringle (played by Edmund Gwenn). The main plot of the movie is – faith and belief in Kriss Kringle or Santa.
Remember the highlight of the movie when Susan's mother, Doris (played by Maureen O'Hara) tells young Susan, " You must believe in Mr Kingle–and keep right on believing. You must have faith in him."
And young Susie begins repeating over and over, "I believe, I believe. . ."
Here's how the original author Valentine Davies describes the above scene:
"Susan thought it over for a moment and then began muttering with firm conviction: 'I believe, I believe, I believe–'
(Valentine Davies, Miracle on 34th Street, p. 116)
Towards the end of the movie, Santa gives Susie the "desires of her heart" and little Susie is saying, "You were right mommy, I do believe. I do believe. Mr Kingle is Santa Claus." Wow!
It is also worth mentioning what Santa gives to Susan. Not the typical child's gift of a doll, etc. But a house. Hmmm. . . Sound familiar?
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2
The movie ends as Santa (Kriss Kringle) "prepares a place" for little Susie. And they surprisingly see Santa's cane standing in the corner showing he had been there and did indeed – "prepare a place" for little Susie. By the way, did you notice the shape of Santa's cane standing in the corner? It looks like a "shepherd's" hook? Hmmm. . . Who was it that said, "I am the good shepherd. . ."? (Hint. see John 10:11)
Some reviewers wrote about The Miracle on 34th Street:
"I guess the reason I, and all the other reviewers, think this film is so great is that it brings back the time when we could 'believe in Santa Claus.'"
Who has ever seen "Miracle on 34th Street" can ever forget cute, little "Natalie Wood" says "when things don't turn out just right you still have to believe, and oh mommy I do believe, I do."
Another reviewer writes, ". . . this is a beautiful movie, that can make anyone believe in Santa Claus."
The name of the movie is The MIRACLE on 34th Street. Now who is it that does miracles?
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. John 2:11
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behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called. . . (Revelation 19:11)
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Santa Claus!
Most people are not aware that until the nineteenth century, Santa flew through the sky, visiting housetop to housetop, not in a sled drawn by reindeers — but on a white horse. It wasn’t until the poem, The Children’s Friend, was published in 1821 that the magical white horse was transformed into reindeer.
On the eve of December 6, the myth told that this bearded, white-haired old “saint,” clad in a wide mantel, rode through the skies on a white horse. (Renterghem, Tony van. When Santa Was a Shaman. St. Paul: Llewellyn Pub., 1995, p. 111)
Guess what? In Revelation 19, the Lord Jesus Christ at the Second Coming also comes back in the sky – on a white horse.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Revelation 19:11
There is also another character who travels on a white horse. The Antichrist! In Revelation 6, Satan’s man, the Antichrist also appears on a white horse.
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. Revelation 6:2
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Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of . . . (Titus 2:13)
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Santa.
This Christmas Eve millions and millions of little children will climb into their beds "looking for their blessed hope and the glorious appearing" of Santa Claus.
There is not a Christian on the face of this earth looking for and longing for the Lord Jesus Christ as much as the average child is longing for their god Santa! A child's stolen faith in the coming of Santa puts the Christian's faith to shame.
They get so excited. . . Santa is coming! Satan is coming!
Probably the greatest theme and most anticipated event in all the Bible is the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul mentions the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ over 50 times. For every one verse on the First Coming of the Lord Jesus – there are at least eight on the Second Coming. The last prayer in the Bible is in Revelation 22:20 – ". . . Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the Christian's "blessed hope":
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Titus 2:13
If the subtle serpent's ultimate goal is to ". . . be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:14) – the Second Coming will surely get his attention.
At Christmas time, little children believe in the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of Santa with every fiber of their soul. And why not, the ones they trust the most, mommy and daddy, are preaching this message in their little ears, over and over. Santa is coming! Santa is coming! And everywhere they go – the mall, the store, school – the gospel of the glorious appearing of Santa is proclaimed! Everywhere they look! Santa is coming! Santa is coming!
Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!
Here comes Santa Claus!. . .
What a beautiful sight.
All is merry and bright.
Hang your stockings and say your prayers,
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight
Jump in bed, cover up your head,
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight
So let's give thanks to the Lord above
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight,
Who comes around on a special night
Santa comes around on a special night
Who very soon will come our way
Santa very soon will come our way
What a cruel mockery of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
James 5:8
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
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