A good Christmas
trivia question is, "Where is Santa Claus in the Bible?" Zechariah
2:6 reads, "Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith
the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith
the Lord."
“This is
God calling Israel back to Jerusalem for Jesus Christ's return to set up His
kingdom, and when He does, He says, 'Ho, ho,' ” explains Jordan. “He's not
Jolly Old St. Nick; He's 'Jolly Jehovah'! He's excited about regathering Israel
and putting them back into their land.
“People get
this idea of God being an ogre, but the Bible talks about God being the happy
God—the God, who when He sees His purposes being accomplished, shouts, ‘Ho,
ho.’
*****
It seems nothing could be more obvious
than the underlying Satanic-counterfeit theme to Santa Claus. If you simply take the name Santa and
make an anagram (where you confuse the letters to hide a word), moving one
letter, you get Satan.
As for the
name Claus, Jordan explains, “Who has claws? Doesn't a cat have claws? Did you
ever read that verse that talks about Satan going around as a ‘roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour’?
*****
“Revelation
1:14, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, says, ‘His head and his hairs were
white like wool.’ So what kind of hair does this other guy have?
“Verse 15
says, ‘And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.’ When
this other guy comes to your house, what does he come down? The chimney. Did
you ever look up the word ‘chimney’ in the dictionary? It means ‘a furnace of
fire.’
“Isaiah
63:2, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ coming, says, ‘Wherefore art thou red
in thine apparel.’ You got a guy in red clothes with white hair, shouting
"Ho, ho, ho" when he's coming.
*****
"Look at
what Deuteronomy 33:26 says about the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes back to
establish His kingdom: [26] There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth
upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
“By the
way, if you notice verse 24, it says, ‘And of Asher he said, Let Asher be
blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren.’
“Asher was first
the name given Leah’s boy back in Genesis when she said, ‘Happy am I, for the daughters
will call me blessed.’ Asher in the Bible means ‘happy.’
“So when
the happy God comes to accomplish His purpose, you know how He comes back? He's
riding in the sky from the land of the north.
*****
“In Matthew
7:7, when Jesus Christ's speaking to the ‘little flock’ in Israel, talking
about that future time when He comes riding in the heavens to establish His
kingdom—He says to that kingdom group of saints, ‘Ask, and it shall be given
you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.’
“You take
your kids down to the mall and what do you tell them to tell Santa? You
say, ‘Tell him what you want.’ Because whatever you want, he'll give it to you.
“In Genesis
18, the question's asked, ‘Is anything impossible with God?’ Whatever you want,
this dude will get you.
“In Matthew
28, Jesus said, ‘All power in heaven and earth is given to me.’ It’s said of
Santa, ‘Well, he knows everything. He knows when you're sleeping, he knows when
you're awake, he knows when you're bad, he knows when you're good. He's making
a list and checking it twice.’
“Revelation
20:12 says men are going to stand before God and the books are going to be
opened, and they're going to be judged out of the things written in the books.
God's got a list, too!
“Gets kind
of spooky, doesn't it? Think somebody's trying to counterfeit something along
the way here?!
*****
“Psalm 102
talks about God being ‘throughout all generations.’ Every generation going back
for what seems like forever has had Santa at Christmas.
“Titus 2:13
says, ‘Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’ Don’t the kids get all excited and even wait
up for Santy Claus’ coming?
“By the way, in John 10:42, it says about Christ ‘many believed on him.’
What you have to do with kids is tell them to believe in Santa Claus.
“I used to
tell my kids, ‘If you want Santa Claus to bring it to you, let him bring it,
but there's no big fat guy in a red suit with a white beard going to get credit
for what I spent my money on.’
*****
“The most
important time in the life of a person to reach them with the gospel is when
they're children. It's the most fertile time, but it's also the most important
time.
“Why would
you want your kid to have to lose an arm first, as it were, before they came to
Christ and learned to have His life live in them?
“Little
kids are impressionable. I've heard testimony after testimony from people who
say, ‘When I grew up, the stuff I was learning about God, and Jesus, and all of
that, it was just like all this Santa stuff. I gave up believing in God and
Jesus when I gave up believing in Santa Claus. It was all just the same
fantasy.’
“When we talk
about the incarnation of Christ, or His crucifixion and resurrection, we're talking
about historic realities; things that happened in history that prove God's love
is not a hoax or a fantasy.
“Your faith doesn't rest on a pathetic echo from the bygone past; it
rests upon historic realities that are as real in history as you sitting in
this room this morning. The only real ‘Ho, ho, ho’ is God Himself rejoicing in
what He's doing in His Son, not some costumed, bearded clown dunce trying to
get your money or your soul.”
(new article tomorrow)
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