Don't Be Taken Captive By The Traditions Of Men Col 2-8.wpd
Don’t Be Taken Captive By The Traditions Of Men
Colossians 2:8
To which the passage speaks – It seems all throughout history man has invented certain holidays, feasts and festivals so that he would have a reason to celebrate.
Included in this list of feasts, festivals and holidays are birthday parties, St. Valentine’s Day, Easter, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.
The list goes on. You would see if you looked in Scripture that not one of these has been instituted by God. There were some that were instituted by God but they are not included in this list but include, Pentecost, Tabernacles, Sabbath, Passover, etc.
Some of the holidays, feasts and festivals invented by man have Biblical roots. They are Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter (Resurrection Day). And some are harmless like St. Valentine’s Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day. But some are not so harmless like Halloween. Some are not against God’s Word like, St. Valentine’s Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day. While some are directly against His word like Halloween. Before you get angry with me and walk out, set still and listen to the Word of the LORD as He instructs us according to the truth.
But before I do let me share with you a bit of history. This that I will share with you is a common basic understanding of the history of Halloween. There are some who deny that this is the history but what I will show you is that it really doesn’t matter where it comes from it but does matter what it is today and where it is going.
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Some people say that it is as some have been informed that it is dressing up as evil characters to trick the evil spirits into thinking that you are the same so they will leave you alone.
The Lord tells us in James that the only way to be left alone is to draw near to God in obedience to Him. See James 4:7-8
Now I know that some of you might say “my son, my daughter only dress up in cute little costumes like princesses, or butterflies and go and collect candy and this is harmless. And I would tend to agree with you that yes this is harmless. But the holiday itself is not harmless nor does it have harmless roots or a harmless destiny.
This is what I see on Halloween. I see that on this day harmful pranks are being done all over the country on this night and witches and warlocks do celebrate this as their greatest holiday. On the news, 10-29-08, two guys put a likeness of Sara Palin hanging outside their apartment with a noose around its neck and a likeness of John McCain standing in flames. When asked if this is a statement of hatred for McCain, they said it is fun and twisted, in the spirit of Halloween, “everybody knows that” they said. So my friends do we do as the Roman Catholic Church and take a pagan holiday and try and add to it or do we not participate at all? Let Scripture be the judge.
1. Don’t let yourself be taken captive(to be taken off as spoil from war) according to the traditions of men (Col. 2:8)
Ex. While some traditions are harmless and even good there are some that are not, like Halloween. It is filled with mysticism and Ouija boards and astrology and fortune telling and all kinds of evil spiritisms. And it is this that I believe the LORD is warning us against. This holiday doesn’t stand for harmless fun of little princesses and butterflies but witchcraft and sorcery and mayhem. Where murder and trickery are glorified. God says “don’t let yourself be taken captive by this kind of thing. That means don’t be taken prisoner by this sort of thing. When one country would conquer another country they would carry off the people and their belongings as spoils of war.
These things are the evil principles of the world. A holiday that promotes witchcraft is a holiday that God would have us not to participate in. Why? God would not be against us celebrating holidays that glorify Him like, Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas but I believe He is against such holidays like Halloween. Let me illustrate. Galatians 4:1-11; Colossians 2:20-23
Ill. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 ; Isa. 65:1-4 ; Lev. 18:24-30
Appl. I see haunted houses where people can go and be scared by pretend witches and warlocks, by axe murderers and vampires. I see on TV that almost every TV station plays shows and movies where people are getting murdered by monsters, ware-wolves, vampires and deranged killers. I see kids going out and if they don’t get candy they destroy a person’s front yard and throw things at their houses. This my friends doesn’t seem harmless to me. If you say that we don’t do those things we just dress up and have fun it says in 1 Thess. 5:21-22 don’t even have the appearance of evil. Why do we want to promote something like this.
Let us see what God has to say about what we are suppose to do.
Ephesians 5:11 ; Romans 12:2 ; 1 Thess. 5:21,22 ; John 3:19,20
Colossians 2:8b-15 ; 1 Cor. 10:31
2. Rather than according to Christ ( Col. 2:8)
Ex. Romans 15:5 We are told that we are to seek to have the mind of Jesus not the mind of the world who is under the power of the evil one. See also Phil. 2:5
Conclusion – I am here to tell you the truth as Scripture is our judge. Halloween is not a holiday to participate in. But an event to take advantage of and share the Gospel of Jesus to those lost individuals. Mat. 10:16 says to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves. Let us not take part in unfruitful deeds of darkness but let us be a light in the dark and evil world.