Thoughts on Halloween

Be Filled With The Holy Spirit

    Is Halloween just good fun or demonic?  Both - depending on how you use it.  In Christ we are free!  Romans 14:14.

    “AMERICANS are obsessed with the supernatural,” said Jeffrey J. Kripal.  Just look at the TV shows about vampires and zombies.  Supernatural themes sell well - as they did in the First Century.

    As the world thinks of ghost & goblins, remember the ONE who is HOLY.  "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."  [1 John 4:4]  Note Eph. 6:10-18.

    1. Has the church pulled the plug on God’s Spirit?

    “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." Acts 19:1-2   

    "For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection--and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both."  Acts 23:8

    "...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."  Romans 14:17

    In New Testament times the Holy Spirit is described as Someone who “annoys us” and “moves us, makes us walk, pushes the Church to move forward.”  Note Acts 16:6-10.

    2. Compel them to come in.

    “Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”  Luke 14:23

    The goal is not to abandon the world, but to keep ourselves IN CHRIST and salvage as much as possible from this evil world.  Christians do renounce the falseness of the world, but do not reject the Creation itself.  [note Romans 8:19-23.]

    “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.  Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city." Acts 18:8-10

    3. Christian Love, Holy Joy.

    “And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.”  1 Thess 1:6-7

    "Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph 5:18-20(NLT)

    Following repentance (change your heart and life), a surge of Holy Joy springs up!  But a kind of joy can spring up from darkness also.  The temporary joy of wine will ruin your life.  For Christians the Holy Spirit gives true HOLY JOY.  This JOY is the New Testament worship of GOD who is Father, Son, Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).  In the Lord's Supper we give thanks to the Father through the Son.  Wine will ruin your life.  But he who is filled with the Holy Spirit is rooted in Christ and is gloriously sober.  Quoting Scripture and singing hymns would not be spiritual if there if not also humility, submission and the fear (reverence) for God.

    "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will."  Romans 8:26-27 (NLT)

    Helps. "He greatly assists or aids us."  [Often in ways that we are not aware of.]

    Our weakness. Assists us in our infirmities, or aids us to bear them. The weaknesses to which we are subject, and to our various trials in this life. The Spirit helps us in this ---

    (1.) by giving us strength to bear them;

    (2.) by encouraging us to make efforts to sustain them;

    (3.) by showing us power, and truth, and our Christian blessings, which help us to endure our trials.

    (4.) He will make a way to escape.  1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Peter 2:9

    For we don't know. This tells us of the aid which the Holy Spirit gives us. The reasons why Christians do not know what to pray for may be ---

    (1.) we do not know what would be really best for us.

   (2.) we do not know what God might be willing to grant us.            (3.) we are to a great extent ignorant of the character of God, the reason of His dealings, the principles of His government, and our own real needs.  Eccl. 8:16-17.

     (4.) we are often in real, deep perplexity. We are encompassed with trials, exposed to temptations, feeble by disease, and subject to calamities. In these circumstances, if left alone, we would neither be able to bear the trials, nor know what to ask at the hand of God.  John 16:33.