I John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Galatians 1:10  For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Today is marked on our calendars as halloween. This event has been around all of my lifetime. It was a big deal in the school I attended, but not a big a deal in our home when I was a child. Personally I never cared much for it. I never liked dressing up and was content to stay out of that event. I did not know the history of the event, but the witches and the destruction that was associated with the day when I was a child made me wonder about the event.
I do not remember any teaching on the day, either good or bad, in the church my parents attended. As a young person, the church would hold youth events on that evening. Sometimes I would attend them and sometimes I just did not bother.
After I was saved at age 20, of course my conscience was awakened and I questioned the validity of this event more. In my weak position as a new Christian I could not find any justification for the events of that day.
Halloween seems to be viewed by most professing Christians as something to shrug the shoulders at. Just leave things alone and if a person wants to have ‘fun’ with the day that is okay. If someone objects to it, they are often ostracized as being too “straight”. The attitude seems to be ‘live and let live’.
The Bible has much to say to Christians about separation from the world. There can be no doubt that the origins of halloween are of pagan roots. Apparently the earliest record of the day goes back to the time of the Celts and the Druids. They believed in Samhain. This belief assumed there was a boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead. They believed that on October 31, the separation of good and evil was at its weakest point. They believed that the worlds of the living and dead became more blurred at that time. They believed there was more spirit activity at that time and that the spirits would appear more frequently in the natural world at that time.
They believed the spirits of the dead would come back at that time to damage any crops left out and do other damage to people and property. Thus the roots of the day deal with the dark side of spirituality. We know that the dark side of spirituality is where the devil operates.

II Corinthians 4:3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

We know that witches were forbidden by God in the nation of Israel. Witches were not to be tolerated. King Saul, a secular king of Israel tried to act spiritually and had all the witches removed from Israel. However, on the last day of his life he was in great fear for his life and he could not get an answer from God as to what lay ahead for him. He had pushed God away and God left him to his vices. He sent his men to find a witch. They found one and God allowed that witch to call up Samuel. Samuel’s message to king Saul was not at all good. He rebuked him and told him he would soon die.
True to Samuel’s word, Saul died in battle that next day. His death was a judgment from God.
The nation of Israel was warned several times, not to learn the way of the heathen. Those words fell on deaf ears for many.
Several sites I checked all speak of halloween as originating among the heathen. In our opening verses we see that God’s people are not to love the world. There is much darkness in the world. Those who are truly born again are to be a light in this dark world. There is nothing in halloween that is designed to point people to Christ. It is an event that exalts the devil and his activities. As the saying goes, you can dress up a pig but it is still a pig. In the same vein, you can try to downplay the nature of halloween, but it is still halloween. Advertising in stores and scenes on people’s yards still point to the darkness of this event. There is nothing in the Bible to show that any God-fearing people ever kept an event that would have similarities to halloween. A person would be hard-pressed to suggest that God would be pleased with anything that is part of halloween.
In the Gospels we find the disciples being afraid of Jesus as He came walking on the water to them. They assumed they saw a spirit and they were afraid. Jesus called out to them and calmed them by declaring Who He was. He entered the ship where they were and immediately the storm ceased. The disciples were amazed at what they had witnessed. Jesus was not an unknown or scary spirit. He was and is the Eternal Son of God. Jesus did not come to scare people. He came to save people.
As Paul was directed to write in Galatians 1:10, true Christians are not like politicians. They do not throw truth to the wind and just seek to please people. True Christians study God’s Word and they speak the truth. They seek to help others to know God’s peace and blessing.
It is true, that God gave man free will. Adam was told what to do in the Garden or Eden. He was also told what not to do. He needed to choose whether he would obey God or not. Adam soon chose not to obey God. The result was disaster for him and for all humanity and in fact for all creation.
The nation of Israel was told not to learn the way of the heathen. It did not take long for them to choose to learn the way of the heathen. The end result was that God sent nations in to punish them and eventually they were sent into exile. They lost control of the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In 1948 they were given “permission” by the world to live in part of the land God promised to their forefathers. They are certainly not enjoying the peace and blessing God intended for them in that land.
In reality it was God Who brought the Jews back to the land He had promised to them centuries earlier. God has shown the world that all their efforts to wipe out Israel have failed and they will continue to fail.
Since the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has cut off Israel at the root and He has graffed in a new entity. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus promised to build His church on Himself. He promised the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. Today we see that most places that call themselves churches are certainly under the direction of the devil. The music, the immodesty, indeed even the teaching do not come from the Word of God. Jesus has not failed. His churches are still around. They are still beacons of light and truth.
I believe those who are truly born again will see that this day, October 31 should be used for God’s glory, not to exalt the devil. Halloween is not part of God’s work. The world is in big trouble and is heading for destruction due to the judgment of God upon it. Those who are saved have the privilege of showing the world a better way. Choose wisely. If you are saved, the Holy Spirit dwells in you and He will guide you to do that which glorifies God the Father. Halloween does not glorify God in any way.
Pastor Bartel