Xmas
by A.W. Pink
"Thus saith
the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen...for the CUSTOMS of
the people are vain" (Jer. 10:1-3).
Christmas is coming! Quite so: but what is "Christmas?" Does not
the very term itself denote it's source - "Christ-mass." Thus it
is of Roman origin, brought over from paganism. But, says
someone, Christmas is the time when we commemorate the Savior's
birth. It is? And WHO authorized such commemoration? Certainly
God did not. The Redeemer bade His disciples "remember" Him in
His death, but there is not a word in scripture, from Genesis to
Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth. Moreover, who
knows when, in what month, He was born? The Bible is silent
thereon. It is without reason that the only "birthday"
commemorations mentioned in God's Word are Pharaoh's (Gen.
40:20) and Herod's (Matt. 14:6)? Is this recorded "for our
learning?" If so, have we prayerfully taken it to heart?
And WHO is it that celebrates "Christmas?" The whole "civilized
world." Millions who make no profession of faith in the blood of
the Lamb, who "despise and reject Him," and millions more who
while claiming to be His followers yet in works deny Him, join
in merrymaking under the pretense of honoring the birth of the
Lord Jesus. Putting it on it's lowest ground, we would ask, is
it fitting that His friends should unite with His enemies in a
worldly round of fleshly gratification? Does any true born again
soul really think that He whom the world cast out is either
pleased or glorified by such participation in the world's joys?
Verily, the customs of the people are VAIN; and it is written,
"Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil" (Ex. 23:2).
Some will argue for the "keeping of Christmas" on the ground of
"giving the kiddies a good time." But why do this under the
cloak of honoring the Savior's birth? Why is it necessary to
drag in His holy name in connection with what takes place at
that season of carnal jollification? Is this taking the little
one with you OUT of Egypt (Ex. 10:9-10) a type of the world, or
is it not plainly a mingling with the present day Egyptians in
their "pleasures of sin for a season?" (Heb. 11:25) Scripture
says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is
old, he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6). Scripture does
command God's people to bring up their children "in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4), but where does it
stipulate that it is our duty to give the little one a "good
time?" Do we ever give the children "a good time" when we engage
in anything upon which we cannot fittingly ask THE LORD'S
blessing?
There are those who DO abstain from some of the grosser
carnalities of the "festive season," yet are they nevertheless
in cruel bondage to the prevailing custom of "Christmas" namely
that of exchanging "gifts." We say "exchanging" for that is what
it really amounts to in many cases. A list is kept, either on
paper or in memory, of those from whom gifts were received last
year, and that for the purpose of returning the compliment this
year. Nor is this all: great care has been taken that the "gift"
made to the friend is worth as much in dollars and cents as the
one they expect to receive from him or her. Thus, with many who
can ill afford it, a considerable sum has to be set aside each
year with which to purchase things simply to send them out in
RETURN for others which are likely to be received. Thus a burden
has been bound on them which not a few find hard to bear.
But what are we to do? If we fail to send out "gifts" our
friends will think hard of us, probably deem us stingy and
miserly. The honest course is to go to the trouble of notifying
them - by letter if at a distance - that from now on you do not
propose to send out any more "Christmas gifts" as such. Give
your reasons. State plainly that you have been brought to see
that "Christmas merrymaking" is entirely a thing OF THE WORLD,
devoid of any Scriptural warrant; that it is a Romish
institution, and now that you see this, you dare no longer have
any fellowship with it (Eph. 5:11); that you are the Lord's
"free man" (1 Cor. 7:22), and therefore you refuse to be in
bondage to a costly custom imposed by the world.
What about sending out "Christmas cards" with a text of
Scripture on them? That also is an abomination in the sight of
God. Why? Because His Word expressly forbids all unholy
mixtures; Deut. 22:10-11 typified this. What do we mean by an
"unholy mixture?" This: the linking together of the pure Word of
God with the Romish "Christ-MASS." By all means send cards
(preferably at some other time of the year) to your ungodly
friends, and Christians too, with a verse of Scripture, but NOT
with "Christmas" on it. What would you think of a printed
program of a vaudeville having Isa. 53:5 at the foot of it? Why,
that it was altogether OUT OF PLACE, highly incongruous. But in
the sight of God the circus and the theater are far less
obnoxious than the "Christmas celebration" of Romish and
Protestant "churches." Why? Because the latter are done under
the cover of the holy name of Christ; the former are not.
"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth
more and more unto perfect day" (Prov. 4:18). Where there is a
heart that really desires to please the Lord, He graciously
grants increasing knowledge of His will. If He is pleased to use
these lines in opening the eyes of some of His dear people to
recognize what is a growing evil, and to show them that they
have been dishonoring Christ by linking the name of the Man of
Sorrows (and such He WAS, when on earth) with a "MERRY
Christmas," then join with the writer in a repentant confessing
of this sin to God, seeking His grace for complete deliverance
from it, and praise Him for the light which He has granted you
concerning it.
Beloved fellow-Christian, "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh"
(Jas. 5:8). Do we really believe this? Believe it not because
the Papacy is regaining its lost temporal power, but because GOD
says so - "for we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). If
so, what effects does such believing have on our walk? This may
be your last Christmas on earth. During it the Lord may descend
from heaven with a shout to gather His own to Himself. Would you
like to be summoned from a "Christmas party" to meet Him in the
air? The call for the moment is "Go ye OUT to meet Him" (Matt.
25:6) out from a Godless Christendom, out from the horrible
burlesque of "religion" which now masquerades under His name.
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that
every one may receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). How
solemn and searching! The Lord Jesus declared that "every idle
word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in
the day of judgment" (Matt. 12:36). If every "idle word" is
going to be taken note of, then most assuredly will be every
wasted energy, every wasted dollar, every wasted hour! Should we
still be on earth when the closing days of this year arrive, let
writer and reader earnestly seek grace to live and act with the
judgment seat of Christ before us. HIS "well done" will be ample
compensation for the sneers and taunts which we may now receive
from Christless souls.
Does any Christian reader imagine for a moment that when he or
she shall stand before their holy Lord, that they will regret
having lived "too strictly" on earth? Is there the slightest
danger of His reproving any of His own because they were "too
extreme" in "abstaining from fleshly lusts, which war against
the soul" (1 Peter 2:11)? We may gain the good will and good
works of worldly religionists today by our compromising on
"little (?) points," but shall we receive His smile and approval
on that day? Oh to be more concerned about what HE thinks, and
less concerned about what perishing mortals think.
"Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil" (Ex. 23:2). Ah,
it is an easy thing to float with the tide of popular opinion;
but it takes much grace, diligently sought from God, to swim
against it. Yet that is what the heir of heaven is called on to
do: to "Be not conformed to this world" (Rom. 12:2), to deny
self, take up the cross, and follow a rejected Christ. How
sorely does both writer and reader need to heed that word of the
savior, "Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown" (Rev. 3:11). Oh that each of us may
be able to truthfully say, "I have refrained my feet from EVERY
evil way, that I might keep THY WORD" (Psa. 119:101).
Our final word is to the pastors. To you the Word of the Lord
is, "Be THOU AN EXAMPLE of believers in word, in deportment, in
love, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Tim. 4:12). Is it not
true that the most corrupt "churches" you know of, where almost
every fundamental of the faith is denied, will have their
"Christmas celebrations?" Will you imitate them? Are you
consistent to protest against unscriptural methods of "raising
money," and then to sanction unscriptural "Christmas services?"
Seek grace to firmly but lovingly set God's truth on this
subject before your people, and announce that you can have no
part in following Pagan, Romish, and worldly customs.
