Chapter 6
Additional Facts about Halloween
In order to
better understand the inner meaning of Halloween, we need to see it in
light of what God thinks about such activities. It is urgent that we
understand the Word of God on these matters.
Few people
realize how very dangerous it is to dabble in spiritism. Here is a
powerful warning, excerpted from portions of pages 533-562 of the book,
Great Controversy. This will help you understand the seriousness of the
matter:
"Immortality,
promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited by
transgression. Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he
did not possess; and there could have been no hope for the fallen race
had not God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within
their reach. While ‘death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned,’ Christ ‘hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel.’ Romans 5:12, 2 Timothy 1:10. And only through
Christ can immortality be obtained. Said Jesus: ‘He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life’ (John 3:36). Every man may come into possession
of this priceless blessing if he will comply with the conditions. All
‘who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and
immortality,’ will receive ‘eternal life.’ Romans
2:7.
"The only
one who promised Adam life in disobedience was the great deceiver. And
the declaration of the serpent to Eve in Eden—‘Ye shall not surely
die’—was the first sermon ever preached upon the immortality of the
soul. Yet this declaration, resting solely upon the authority of Satan,
is echoed from the pulpits of Christendom and is received by the
majority of mankind as readily as it was received by our first parents.
The divine sentence, ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die’ (Ezekiel
18:20), is made to mean: The soul that sinneth, it shall not die,
but live eternally. We cannot but wonder at the strange infatuation
which renders men so credulous concerning the words of Satan and so
unbelieving in regard to the words of God . .
" ‘The
wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.’ Romans 6:23. While life is the inheritance of
the righteous, death in the portion of the wicked. Moses declared to
Israel: ‘I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and
evil.’ Deuteronomy 30:15. The death referred to in these
scriptures is not that pronounced upon Adam, for all mankind suffer the
penalty of his transgression. It is ‘the second death’ that is
placed in contrast with everlasting life.
"In
consequence of Adam’s sin, death passed upon the whole human race. All
alike go down into the grave. And through the provisions of the plan of
salvation, all are to be brought forth from their graves. ‘There shall
be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust’; ‘for
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.’ Acts
24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22. But a distinction is made between the
two classes that are brought forth. ‘All that are in the graves shall
hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, onto the
resurrection of damnation.’ John 5:28, 29. They who have been
‘accounted worthy’ of the resurrection of life are ‘blessed and
holy.’ ‘On such the second death hath no power.’ Revelation
20:6. But those who have not, through repentance and faith, secured
pardon, must receive the penalty of transgression—‘the wages of sin.’
They suffer punishment varying in duration and intensity, ‘according
to their works,’ but finally ending in the second death. Since it is
impossible for God, consistently with His justice and mercy, to save the
sinner in his sins, He deprives him of the existence which his
transgressions have forfeited and of which he has proved himself
unworthy. Says an inspired writer: ‘Yet a little while, and the wicked
shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it
shall not be.’ And another declares: ‘They shall be as though they
had not been.’ Psalm 37:10; Obadiah 16. Covered with infamy,
they sink into hopeless, eternal oblivion.
"Thus
will be made an end of sin, with all the woe and ruin which have
resulted from it. Says the psalmist: ‘Thou hast destroyed the wicked,
Thou hast put out their name forever and ever. O thou enemy,
destructions are come to a perpetual end.’ Psalm 9:5-6. John,
in the revelation, looking forward to the eternal state, hears a
universal anthem of praise undisturbed by one note of discord. Every
creature in heaven and earth was heard ascribing glory to God. Revelation
5:13. There will then be no lost souls to blaspheme God as they
writhe in never-ending torment; no wretched beings in hell will mingle
their shrieks with the songs of the saved.
"Upon the
fundamental error of natural immortality rests the doctrine of
consciousness in death—a doctrine, like eternal torment, opposed to
the teachings of the Scriptures, to the dictates of reason, and to our
feelings of humanity. According to the popular belief, the redeemed in
heaven are acquainted with all that takes place on the earth and
especially with the lives of the friends whom they have left behind. But
how could it be a source of happiness to the dead to know the troubles
of the living, to witness the sins committed by their own loved ones,
and to see them enduring all the sorrows, disappointments, and anguish
of life? How much of heaven’s bliss would be enjoyed by those who are
hovering over their friends on earth? And how utterly revolting is the
belief that as the breath leaves the body the soul of the impenitent is
consigned to the flames of hell! To what depths of anquish must those be
plunged who see their friends passing to the grave, unprepared to enter
upon an eternity of woe and sin! Many have been driven to insanity by
this harrowing thought.
"What say
the Scriptures concerning these things? David declares that man is not
conscious in death. ‘His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his
earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.’ Psalm 146:4.
Solomon bears the same testimony: ‘The living know that they shall
die: but the dead know not anything.’ ‘Their love, and their hatred,
and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion
forever in anything that is done under the sun.’ ‘There is no work,
nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.’ Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10.
"When, in
answer to his prayer, Hezekiah’s life was prolonged fifteen years, the
grateful king rendered to God a tribute of praise for His great mercy.
In this song, he tells the reason why he thus rejoices: ‘The grave
cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into
the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall
praise Thee, as I do this day.’ Isaiah 38:18-19. Popular
theology represents the righteous dead as in heaven, entered into bliss
and praising God with an immortal tongue, but Hezekiah could see no such
glorious prospect in death. With his words agrees the testimony of the
psalmist: ‘In death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave who
shall give Thee thanks?’ ‘The dead praise not the Lord, neither any
that go down into silence.’ Psalms
6:5; 115:17.
"Peter,
on the Day of Pentecost, declared that the patriarch David ‘is both
dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us onto this day.’ ‘For
David in not ascended into the heavens.’ Acts 2:29, 34. The
fact that David remains in the grave until the resurrection proves that
the righteous do not go to heaven at death. It is only through the
resurrection, and by virtue of the fact that Christ has risen, that
David can at last sit at the right hand of God.
"And said
Paul: ‘If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet is your sins. Then they
also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.’ 1 Corinthians
15:16-18. If for four thousand years the righteous had gone directly
to heaven at death, how could Paul have said that, if there is no
resurrection, ‘they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
perished’? No resurrection would be necessary . .
"But when
about to leave His disciples, Jesus did not tell them that they would
soon come to Him. ‘I go to prepare a place for you,’ He said. ‘And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto myself.’ John 14:2, 3. And Paul tells us further, that ‘the
Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the Archangel, and the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.’ And he adds: ‘Comfort one another with these
words.’ 1
Thessalonians 4:16-18 . .
"Before
any can enter the mansions of the blessed, their cases must be
investigated, and their characters and their deeds must pass in review
before God. All are to be judged according to the things written in the
books and to be rewarded as their works have been. This judgement does
not take place at death. Mark the words of Paul: ‘He hath appointed a
day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man
whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance onto all men, in
that He hath raised Him from the dead.’ Acts 17:31. Here the
apostle plainly stated that a specified time, then future, had been
fixed upon for the judgement of the world.
"Jude
refers to the same period: ‘The angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.’ And, again,
he quotes the words of Enoch: ‘Behold, the Lord cometh with ten
thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.’ Jude 6,
14-15. John declares that he ‘saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened . . and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books.’ Revelation 20:12.
"But if
the dead are already enjoying the bliss of heaven or writhing in the
flames of hell, what need of a future judgment? The teachings of God’s
Word on these important points are neither obscure nor contradictory;
they may be understood by common minds. But what candid mind can see
either wisdom or justice in the current theory? Will the righteous,
after the investigation of these cases at the judgment, receive the
commendation, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant . . enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord,’ when they have been dwelling in His
presence, perhaps for long ages? Are the wicked summoned, from the place
of torment to receive sentence from the judge of all the earth: ‘Depart
from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire’? (Matthew 25:41).
Oh, solemn mockery! Shameful impeachment of the wisdom and justice of
God . .
"Nowhere
in the sacred Scriptures is found the statement that the righteous go to
their reward or the wicked to their punishment at death. The patriarchs
and prophets have left no such assurance. Christ and His apostles have
given no hint of it. The Bible clearly teaches that the dead do not go
immediately to heaven. They are represented as sleeping until the
resurrection. 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Job 14:10-12.
"In the
very day when the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl broken
(Ecclesiastes 12:6), man’s thoughts perish. They that go down to
the grave are in silence. They know no more of anything that is done
under the sun (Job 14:21). Blessed rest for the weary righteous!
Time, be it long or short, is but a moment to them. They sleep; they are
awakened, by the trump of God, to a glorious immortality. ‘For the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible . . So
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.’ 1 Corinthians
15:52, 54. As they are called forth from their deep slumber they
begin to think just where they ceased. The last sensation was the pang
of death; the last thought, that they were falling beneath the power of
the grave. When they arise from the tomb, their first glad thought will
be echoed in the triumphal shout: "O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where to thy victory?"
Verse 55 . .
"The
doctrine of man’s consciousness in death, especially the belief that
spirits of the dead return to minister to the living, has prepared the
way for modern spiritualism . .
"The
fallen angels who do his bidding appear as messengers from the spirit
world. While professing to bring the living into communication with the
dead, the prince of evil exercises his bewitching influence upon their
minds. He has power to bring before men the appearance of their departed
friends. The counterfeit is perfect; the familiar look, the words, the
tone, are reproduced with marvelous distinctness. Many are comforted
with the assurance that their loved ones are enjoying the bliss of
heaven, and without suspicion of danger, they give ear ‘to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils.’
"When
they have been led to believe that the dead actually return to
communicate with them, Satan causes those to appear who went into the
grave unprepared. They claim to be happy in heaven and even to occupy
exalted positions there, and thus the error is widely taught that no
difference is made between the righteous and the wicked. The pretended
visitants from the world of spirits sometimes utter cautions and
warnings which prove to be correct. Then, as confidence is gained, they
present doctrines that directly undermine faith in the Scriptures. With
an appearance of deep interest in the well-being of their friends on
earth, they insinuate the most dangerous errors. The fact that they
state some truths, and are able at times to foretell future events,
gives to their statements an appearance of reliability; and their false
teachings are accepted by the multitudes as readily, and believed as
implicitly, as if they were the most sacred truths of the Bible. The law
of God is set aside, the Spirit of grace despised, the blood of the
covenant counted an unholy thing. The spirits deny the deity of Christ .
. But none need be deceived by the lying claims of spiritualism. God has
given the world sufficient light to enable them to discover the snare.
As already shown, the theory which forms the very foundation of
spiritualism is at war with the plainest statements of Scripture. The
Bible declares that the dead know not anything, that their thoughts have
perished; they have no part in anything that is done under the sun; they
know nothing of the joys or sorrows of those who were dearest to them on
earth.
"Furthermore,
God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with departed
spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people who
claimed, as do the spiritualists of today, to hold communication with
the dead. But the ‘familiar spirits,’ as these visitants from other
worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be ‘the spirits of
devils.’ (Compare Numbers 25:1-3, Psalm 106:28, 1 Corinthians
10:20, Revelation 16:14.)
"The work
of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to the
Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of death (Leviticus
19:31, 20:27). The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt.
The claim that men can hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as
a fable of the Dark Ages. But spiritualism, which numbers its converts
by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions, which has made its way into
scientific circles, which has invaded churches and has found favor in
legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings—this mammoth
deception is but a revival, in a new disguise, of the witchcraft
condemned and prohibited of old . .
"There
are few who have any just conception of the deceptive power of
spiritualism and the danger of coming under its influence. Many tamper
with it merely to gratify their curiosity. They have no real faith in it
and would be filled with horror at the thought of yielding themselves to
the spirits’ control. But they venture upon the forbidden ground, and
the mighty destroyer exercises his power upon them against their will.
Let them once be induced to submit their minds to his direction, and he
holds them captive. It is impossible, in their own strength, to break
away from the bewitching, alluring spell. Nothing but the power of God,
granted in answer to the earnest prayer of faith, can deliver these
ensnared souls.
"All who
indulge sinful traits of character, or willfully cherish a known sin,
are inviting the temptations of Satan. They separate themselves from God
and from the watchcare of His angels; as the evil one presents his
deceptions, they are without defense and fall an easy prey. Those who
thus place themselves in his power little realize where their coarse
will end. Having achieved their overthrow, the tempter will employ them
as his agents to lure others to ruin.
"Says the
prophet Isaiah: ‘When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that
have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To
the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word,
it is because there is no light in them.’ Isaiah 8:19, 20. lf
men had been willing to receive the truth so plainly stated in the
Scriptures concerning the nature of man and the state the dead, they
would see in the claims and manifestations of spiritualism the working
of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders. But rather than yield
the liberty so agreeable to the carnal heart, and renounce the sins
which they love, multitudes close their eyes to the light and walk
straight on, regardless of the warnings, while Satan weaves his snares
about them, and they become his prey. ‘Because they received not the
love of the truth, that they might be saved,’ therefore ‘God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.’ 2
Thessalonians 2:10, 11 . .
"Many
will be confronted by the spirits of devils personating beloved
relatives or friends and declaring the most dangerous heresies. These
visitants will appeal to our tenderest sympathies and will work miracles
to sustain their pretensions. We must be prepared to withstand them with
the Bible truth, that the dead know not anything and that they who thus
appear are the spirits of devils.
"Just
before us is ‘the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.’ Revelation 3:10.
All whose faith is not firmly established upon the Word of God will be
deceived and overcome. Satan ‘works with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness’ to gain control of the children of men, and his
deceptions will continually increase. But he can gain his object only as
men voluntarily yield to his temptations. Those who are earnestly
seeking a knowledge of the truth and are striving to purify their souls
through obedience, thus doing what they can to prepare for the conflict,
will find, in the God of truth, a sure defense. ‘Because thou hast
kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee’ (verse 10),
is the Saviour’s promise. He would sooner send every angel out of
heaven to protect His people than leave one soul that trusts in Him to
be overcome by Satan.
"The
prophet Isaiah brings to view the fearful deception which will come upon
the wicked, causing them to count themselves secure from the judgments
of God: ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at
agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not
come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have
we hid ourselves.’ Isaiah 28:15. In the class here described
are included those who in their stubborn impenitence comfort themselves
with the assurance that there is to be no punishment for the sinner;
that all mankind, it matters not how corrupt, are to be exalted to
heaven, to become as the angels of God. But still more emphatically are
those making a covenant with death and an agreement with hell, who
renounce the truths which Heaven has provided as a defense for the
righteous in the day of trouble, and accept the refuge of lies offered
by Satan in its stead—the delusive pretentions of spiritualism.
"Marvelous
beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this generation.
Thousands reject the Word of God as unworthy of belief and with eager
confidence they receive the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics and scoffers
denounce the bigotry of those who contend for the faith of prophets and
apostles, and they divert themselves by holding up to ridicule the
solemn declarations of the Scriptures concerning Christ and the plan of
salvation, and the retribution to be visited upon the rejecters of the
truth. They affect great pity for minds so narrow, weak, and
superstitious as to acknowledge the claims of God and obey the
requirements of His law. They manifest as much assurance as if, indeed,
they had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell—as if
they had erected an impassable, impenetrable, barrier between themselves
and the vengeance of God. Nothing can arouse their fears. So fully have
they yielded to the tempter, so closely are they united with him, and so
thoroughly imbued with his spirit, that they have no power and no
inclination to break away from his snare.
"Satan
has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. The
foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden:
‘Ye shall not surely die.’ ‘In the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’
Genesis 3:4, 5. Little by little he has prepared the way for his
masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not
yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be
reached in the last remnant of time. Says the prophet: ‘I saw three
unclean spirits like frogs . . they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole
world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.’
Revelation 16:13, 14. Except those who are kept by the power of God,
through faith in His Word, the whole world will be swept into the ranks
of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled to a fatal security,
to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God.
"Saith
the Lord God: ‘Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness
to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and
the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death
shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when
the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden
down by it.’ Isaiah
28:17, 18." —Great Controversy, 533-562
"When Saul
inquired for Samuel, the Lord did not cause Samuel to appear to Saul. He
saw nothing. Satan was not allowed to disturb the rest of Samuel in the
grave, and bring him up in reality to the witch of Endor. God does not
give Satan power to resurrect the dead. But Satan’s angels assume the
form of dead friends, and speak and act like them, that through
professed dead friends he can the better carry on his work of deception.
Satan knew Samuel well, and he knew how to represent him before the
witch of Endor, and to utter correctly the fate of Saul and his
sons." —2 Bible Commentary, 1022
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