Santa or Satan
Or is there a difference?
Please read this with an open mind. I do not claim to be a higher authority on any topic, but I would like
to share what the Holy Ghost has shown me on the topic of Ole Saint Nick. I preached this message in
1997, but without a tape, all I can do is use my outline and let the Spirit lead me.
Let me set the stage here for a minute. In 1 Samuel 3:18, Samuel told Eli of his demise. In the fourth
chapter, we find Israel at war with the Philistines. In the first battle Israel lost 4,000 men. To boost
morale, the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the battle. This frightened the Philistines, and made
them fight with all their might. They remembered what happened to the Egyptians and feared the same
end for themselves.
Israel lost 30,000 men in that battle and the Ark was taken. Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were
killed.
A Benjamite ran to Shiloh and delivered the bad news to Eli. Eli fell out of his chair, broke his neck and
died. Phinehas' wife delivered a male child and before she died she named the boy, Ichabod- The glory
is departed from Israel.
1Sa 5:1 ¶ And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by
Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the
earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the
ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut
off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
A commentator once said this is proof of God’s sense of humor, but I see a deeper message.
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:" II Timothy 3:16
When God enters our hearts, all other idols must be destroyed.
A lot of people have the notion that when you get saved, you can bring all the baggage of the world
along. In Mark 2:17 Jesus says He came to call "sinners to repentance." In Mark 6:12 He sent the
twelve to preach "that men should repent." A Biblical definition of repentance is a turning away from whatever you are trusting towards Christ. Then God begins to clean your life up through the preaching of His Word and personal bible study.
If you truly got saved, you CANNOT and WILL NOT bring along the filth of this world.
James 4:4 says, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity
with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
We can and must be friendly to the world, but we cannot be friends with the world. This does not mean
we must hide in our little hole and never associate with the world. We must be in the world in order to
witness. However, there are certain things of the world that we cannot participate in.
Surely, no Christian would think that to witness to a drunk, you had to share a drink with him. As I will
try to show you, this same rule applies to other worldly activities as well.
Matt 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee
be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will
hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. Proverbs 10:2
Believe it or not, Webster defines treasure as a PERSON esteemed as rare or precious.
Sound familiar? In the 4th century, the bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor or present day Turkey, would
deliver presents to good children at Christmas time. He is now considered the patron saint of children or
Saint Nicholas. Although this may be an inspiring story, it has led to the most protected form of idol
worship in our time. I believe that Saint Nicholas would hang his head in disgrace if he knew what his
good deeds had led to. Most preachers would rather smooth this over to keep from upsetting the
children. I believe if we'll pour the coals on the adults, we should do the same for their kids.
I believe the teaching of santa to children diverts their eyes from Jesus. With all the diversions the world so faithfully provides our children, why should Mom and Dad be contributing more?
I’ll try to hit on a few points and close:
I)I heard a man, trying to justify his teaching of santa, say that little kids don’t understand Jesus. I’ve
got news for him: they don’t understand santa until you tell them about him.
Proverbs 22:6,"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
It is our responsibility and duty to teach our children teachings that will lead them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord, not some fat man that doesn’t exist. I’ll deal more with this later.
II)Vs.24 say's, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.”
The first thing I notice here is the absence of ANY middle ground. It’s either one or the other; black or
white. He doesn’t say you should not, He says you CANNOT! This is not even a commandment. He is
stating the fact that if you try to serve two masters, you will actually only be “serving” one. By serving
that one, you will be despising the other. When Jesus states a fact, we had better pay attention!
1) Children see Santa as a god.
god- a natural or man-made object worshipped as divine.
worship- extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem.
Children actually worship santa. You may teach them about Jesus, but the mind of a child is more concerned with getting presents than serving God.
Our adult minds work just the same. Whatever offers us the most enjoyment, gets the most attention. How many times have you noticed the pews a little empty on Super Bowl Sunday. How many of you have ever wandered off to a Sunday football game. "Well, preacher, it's just a once a year thing I do for my kids." Yeah, once a year you teach them that God takes second place to your favorite team. Then they grow up, rebel against God AND you. Then you go crying to your Pastor, "WHY, Pastor, WHY!?"
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
III) The latter part of verse 24 say’s, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Mammon is literally
wealth. Wealth is all material objects that have economic utility.
Notice once again that Jesus was stating a fact, not a command. In 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul says,” For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
While it is true that we can serve God with mammon, we cannot serve God AND mammon.
1) Everybody wants to make a buck.
Christmas has became a harbor for greed and lust.
Surely we know that the actual date of Christ’s birth is not Dec. 25th. I do regard that as a Holy-day though, because it has been set aside for that purpose. Study the feasts of the Jews. God does something miraculous then tells His people to celebrate it. He even gives them a reason to celebrate it. When the children ask questions about the feast, tell them what miraculous thing God did for His people. Children in a Christian home should be getting the Gospel spoon-fed from birth, but there's just something special about waking up Christmas morning and sharing the story of the awesome gift God gave us some 2000 years ago. My kids know by the tears in my eyes how special that story is to me. O, What a Saviour!
A few years ago, people went to great lengths to get a certain doll for their child. Not so their child would have it, but so that they could tell everyone their child had it. They’re doing it again this year. I saw an ad, advertising a $29.95 doll for $400. Come March the stores won’t be able to get rid of them and they will eventually sell at the original price again. Merchants have placed the importance of this season on getting worldly gifts, leaving heavenly gifts out in the cold.
2) God never meant for Christmas to be commercialized. We have allowed the lost world to pervert yet another Christian tradition. We were blind to it when it first came on the scene, so we must now fight to bring it down and restore that which is holy and acceptable to the Lord.
Satan is not as stupid as some people believe. He uses our children and our desire to do good for them to pervert and warp what we as Christians hold with high regard.
3) Most people don’t know this, but Coca-Cola is responsible for the present day image of Santa. It was used for ads as early as 1951 and before. The colors of his suit were made to match the Coke colors.
4) Retailers will admit that the busiest time of year in all departments is Christmas. These are the same retailers who use the abbreviation X-mas. I know that in the Greek, Christ begins with an "X" but that is not in their minds when they remove "Christ" from the word. Ask them! Most won't even know the slightest thing about Greek.
They want to use the holiday to promote their business, but don't want to include the reason for the Holiday, Jesus Christ. This is not only insulting, but blasphemous.
IV)Matt. 18:1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of
heaven.
5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
1) Jesus always puts special emphasis on little children. He understands that they are impressionable and unable to make rational decisions.
2) The bible definition of offend is to cause to stumble or cause difficulty. Jesus is very clear here. He said, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” To me it sounds as if this is very important to Him.
At a certain age all kids learn the truth about santa. Here is my observation. If a child finds out that a man you told him about from birth was fake, how strong could his faith in Christ be? Have you seen Christ? Has Christ ever given you a tangible gift such as a bicycle? I know every good thing is from above, but in the eyes of a child, it easier to believe in santa than God.
3) We teach our children not to tell lies, even "white lies.” We are HYPOCRITES!!!
What does the Bible say? Rev. 21:7,8,"He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
This doesn’t mean you’ll lose your salvation for lying, but look at the company you are keeping: the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters. If you lie to your kids, God is linking you to some of the most horrible sinners on earth. If this is the crowd you choose to hang with, who will your children spend time around?
V) In II Tim.4:3,4 ,"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from
the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
When this happens, the hope of salvation is all but gone for this paticular person.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Do not put your children at risk. They count on you for the truth, if you don't give it to them, they'll listen to someone else. Who are your kids hoping to see this holiday season? Jesus--- Mine are.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and
his name shall be called WONDERFUL, COUNSELLOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE
EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE." ISAIAH 9:6
Funny, santa seems to be missing!
The store owners have a pretty slick way of taking Christ out of Christmas. I say its about time we, as Christians, refuse to allow worldly influence into our "HOLY-DAYS."
Those aren't ears on the Easter Bunny, they're HORNS! But that's a different subject.
Friend, if you've been teaching your kids that santa was real, don't get mad at me for telling you the Truth. Just get it right. God wants to forgive you, but you must ask for it. He's willing. Are you?
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