Intro.
What is Christmass?
I. Christmass is contempt of the First Commandment.
II. Christmass is contempt of the Second Commandment.
III. Christmass is contempt of the Third Commandment.
IV. Christmass is contempt of the Fourth Commandment.
V. Christmass is contempt of the Tenth Commandment.
Conclusion.

Introduction.
It’s that time of year again; when the greater part of the American people begin to decorate their homes, decorate a tree, set up nativity scenes, and spend vast amounts of money on extravagant ornament, decadent gifts, and the like. They begin to sing silly tunes, exchange duplicitous wishes of merriment, and frame their lives to the ostensible pretense that they are doing good. The strangest part of all, is that they do this madness in the name of Christ, and claim that they are doing all of this in celebration of His birth, when Christ was not born on December 25, but during the feast of Tabernacles in late September/early October. But if having the wrong date was not bad enough, the modern American church has gone to every length to do every evil thing imaginable and call it holy, as none of the things which are done during the latter part of December have anything to do with Christ, are not commanded in scripture, and for the most part are strictly forbidden and considered an abomination! If it was not reason enough for Christians to abolish Christmass, simply for the fact that it appears nowhere in Holy writ, above this also it is evident that the activities which are performed during Christmass time are in fact violations of God’s law, acts of idolatry and unrighteousness- things which He hates, and utterly despises. So in truth, men and women are going about their way to do the opposite of what Christ approves of thinking themselves approved by Him. What strange madness lurks in man’s heart to add sin to sin and imagine himself accepted for it. This is the very essence of the religion of natural men, even to utterly reject God’s law and set up for themselves a standard of their own by which they might judge themselves and be found pure. The Proverb says, “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.” (Prov. 30:12) and again, “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.” (Prov. 26:12) These are the ways of this generation. They are pure in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. They say, “we see!” therefore do they remain blind. They think scripture to be outdated, and the problems which are addressed only suitable to the times of the prophets. But the Pharisees are alive and well! The sins which the prophets condemned are repeated and indulged, and the people say, “we have done no wrong!” But the people of God walk by a different strain. We do not follow the ways of the world, nor do we fall prey to the idolatrous practices of the majority. As it is written, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” (Exodus 23:2) When God by infinite power subdues the will of His elect, He enlivens them, and quickens them by His Spirit that they might be enabled to know His law, to love His law, and to keep his law.  It is written, “I will put my laws into their minds.” That is that the Holy Spirit makes us willing and obedient, and ready to hearken unto His law which He writes upon our very hearts. We no longer desire to conform to this world, but to the word, which teaches us to put away such vanity from our lives. When we abide in the Word, and walk according to the commandments of God in true Christian sincerity, this is what is known as “walking in the Spirit.” There is no greater freedom than to be a slave to Christ and do whatsoever things He commands us from a willing heart and a ready mind. Jesus said in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.” And also in John 14:15 He says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Christ is not saying, “you will become my friends *if* you do what I tell you” but rather, “All my friends are separated unto God and are counted holy by Him on account of my blood, and they are known by their holy conversation. If you are lovers of me, you will be followers of my commandments, not your own fancies.” Therefore we walk even as Christ walked and hearken unto His voice in His word, rather than heed the silly songs of the fools of this world, as it is written, “we have the mind of Christ.” It says in the law, “ye shall keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.” [Lev. 22:31] and it is said of Christ, “I delight to do thy will, O my God and thy law is within my heart.” [Ps. 40:8]
It follows then that the whole of the duty of the Christian life can be summed up in the Ten Commandments by which God reveals to us His will and desire, for God is a just and holy God and He insists on the whole of His law. Our beloved Westminster catechism states, “The preface to the ten commandments [which is “I am the LORD thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage”] teaches us that because God is the LORD and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all His commandments.” [see also Lk. 1:74-75, and 1 Pet. 1:14-19]  It will not do to overlook God’s commandments, or think lightly of them. Keeping these commandments is what pleases Him, and disobedience incurs His wrath and vengeance, as it is written, “the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience”. [Col. 3:6] Therefore if we truly walk in the Spirit, and go where God leads us, we must heed His voice as it is spoken to us in the Word of God. John Calvin once said that we must hearken to the word of God as if we received it directly from God Himself speaking to us full of majesty and divine glory. The Christian therefore being filled with the Spirit willingly obeys His commands and hearkens to His voice.
God declares in His word that human tradition and will-worship is offensive to Him. Christ Himself says, “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” [Mk 7:7] We boldly protest therefore against the traditions of this world, and condemn Christmass as pagan idolatry, Papist pageantry, secular hypocrisy, and abhorrent ostentation, for it is not of God, it is not spiritual, nor is it commanded in His word, but it is the mixing of heathen, Jewish and Roman Catholic tradition and has slithered its way like a poisonous adder into American society, and even into the Reformed church. If one poison be deadly, what will be said of two? And if all these poisons be mixed together, (even Jewish, Catholic and pagan tradition) what will be the result of drinking down its dregs as we have done in this country every year? Therefore, if we are faithful servants of the Most High, we are likewise diligent to seek His will in all things, and we do zealously endeavor that none of our actions displease Him. As it is written, “He that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” [Heb. 11:6]
Jesus says in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”
God is not pleased by carnal inventions, man-made holidays, human traditions, and He is not truly worshiped by images, relics, trees, candles, lights or anything in the material world. The scripture says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” [2 Cor. 5:7] So that those things that are seen are not conduits of worship, but obstacles, and vanities if they are taken out of their proper sphere. To celebrate Christmass is to exchange the spiritual for the earthly, the glorious for the vain, the eternal for the passing, and the beauteous for the abhorrent. That is the antithesis of true worship. So how is it that those who profess to be Christians today are content, and even delighted to worship God in the opposite manner of what He delights in? If a righteous and holy man were walking down the street, and heard loud, profane music coming from one of the houses, and you stopped to ask them, “What are you doing, and what is the occasion?”
And they replied, “We are drinking, reveling, fornicating, listening to blasphemous and profane music, and we’re doing it for you! For your birthday!
Would you not be astonished and say, “I am a Christian. I hate all these practices, and today is not my birthday!”? So we see how ludicrous it is to celebrate such a spectacle of hogwash. Surely they must have a different Christ, for if they honored the Christ of scripture, they would inquire into His mind, and seek to know what He accepts, and then would they see that all of this is but idolatry and confusion, the very mad ravings of man’s abominable mind. But this is only a faint picture of the hatred that Christ has for Christmass idolatry. Men have forsaken the worship of God to serve themselves and their decorated pomp. They have traded His incorruptible likeness for the creature. They have profaned His name by calling it Christmass, and they have abandoned the Lord’s Day, by calling the day holy. They forsake spiritual worship for images, nativity scenes, sentimental songs, and trees decked with gold and cast contempt upon God’s word which prohibits all this! And above all this, they have dragged Christ’s name into their detestable practices by calling it “Christmas!” What could be more profane and wicked then to attribute all this to Christ’s name? Is this not the very definition of blasphemy? As the scripture says, “As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the LORD God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.” (Ezk. 20:39) and again another prophet says, “How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.” (Jer. 2:23-24) and, “For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” (Jer. 4:22) The church today is in a state of egregious apostasy and rebellion against God. They have forsaken the true God who delivered them out of heathen darkness, and turned to worship the creature in His stead. Therefore God has given them over to a wicked, and debased mind to do those things which are not fitting, and which do not give Him glory. Beware, therefore and diligently consider, that the things you do during Christmass time may very well be evidences that you do not serve the true and living God, but an idol of your own imagination. Calvin said that the human mind is a factory of idols. He says in his Institutes that the natural man although he knows that there is a God being convicted by the light of nature, yet he does not, nor cannot worship God apart from His word, and so he forms a god of his own choosing, of wood, stone, gold, silver, or even the stars in heaven. This is the religion of modern America. They are content believing that because they are conservative, family loving, morally upright people (according to their own standard, for “there is none that doeth good and sinneth not“) that this is all there is to religion, and so they continue believing the lie, and worshiping a god which cannot save them. The moral degeneracy of this nation is great, and the corruption of the church is widespread. Do not think that because the majority of the world and even the church supports a practice, that must mean that this practice is of God, for they are not the people of God. Most professing Christians do not know God. The remnant is few, the way is narrow, and blessed are all those who find it. So let us seek the will of God as revealed in His word, rather than from the mass of confusion that is in the church today. Let us hear what is written in the book of the law and do it, for it is written, “Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.”
What is Christmass?
Briefly, let us first discuss what Christmass is and define it properly before there are any rash declarations or vain excuses. Firstly, Christmass is a holiday. Now, the world rushes over this concept and hastily dives into their sin, not knowing what they do. A holiday is a “holy day”, a day set apart from other days for a special observance. There are other holidays that are more or less offensive to God according to their nature and what is practiced on those days, but as a general principle, all holidays are unlawful, because they are not holy. Surely we must be blind and stupid fools not to consider that God is the only one who has the authority to sanctify a day and make it holy! And yet, this does not even cross the minds of the heathen world, but will still condemn them for that they ignorantly call a day holy which is not holy, and offer sacrifice to God by that which is not consecrated by Him. God mocks such temerity in worship saying, “This hath been by your means. Will [the LORD] regard your persons?” God does not accept you, and he does not accept your works, so why is it that you think he will accept your days as holy? “I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.” [Mal. 1:9-10] Now, remember that the prophet Malachi is speaking to the church, to Israel, to those which were called God’s people. But they are not all Israel who are of Israel. They are not all God’s people who are called God’s people. Isaiah says again, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.” (Isa. 1:11-15) Follow carefully the argument of the prophet and carefully consider. Why is the LORD angry if the people are doing what He commanded? Now, we’re speaking of Christmass, which is that which God hath not commanded, so that if God says in His word that He hates the hypocritical worship of those who are outwardly doing something He has commanded, such as the sacrifice of lambs, for that they did not understand them, nor truly perform them in sincerity but hypocrisy, how much more shall He detest that which is not commanded but which is treated like it is accepted by Him? Such disgusting will-worship will not be tolerated by Him. He will punish you for your merriment, and your gilded pomp, He will cast you down, trample your idols in the dust and throw you into the lake which burns with fire forever. Notice what the prophet Hosea says. “The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.” [Hos. 4:19] The prophet here says a strong wind shall suddenly sweep away the people as a tornado sweeps up matter and throws it around violently, as Isaiah also says, “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.” [Isa. 28:17] Now what does this mean, “they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.”? Observe closely that the prophet is not saying that the people will be ashamed because of their observable sins, as those which are even condemned by the heathen, as theft, murder, adultery, and the like, but for their sacrifices, for their worship, for their false righteousness. For when judgment comes, and men stand before the only just and holy God, they will be utterly terrified, and immediately call to remembrance those things which most offended Him, shall quake and fear exceedingly and then shall they be swiftly judged and condemned as transgressors. So the prophet says, “they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.”
Men will be judged and condemned for their Christmass celebration as much as for their sins which men behold for that it is an idol which they have raised up, and a means to worship other gods which do not profit. Now, this is the substance of our argument, even that Christmass is a religious tradition which has no religious value. Now, if the argument be made that it is not religious, that they are not worshiping their trees and paying homage to their wooden images, nor adoring the lights and glittering facade then they must abstain from calling it Christmass, inasmuch as Christ’s name is therein declared, though Christ be nowhere present in it, seeing that Christ means anointed (that is anointed as a holy Savior), and the mass is a Papist tradition wherein Christ is “re-sacrificed” as it were for the forgiveness of sins, which practice is an abhorrent abomination, and is worthy of God’s fiery indignation and judgment. As it is written, “Christ was once offered for sins.” and, “how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” So that if Christmass is indeed religious it is abominable, and if not, why does it bear Christ’s name who is the author of true religion? as it is written, “Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.” Therefore, they do vainly cavil and bark who imagine that they celebrate in good conscience because they do not bow to the tree or worship at the nativity. They regard the day as holy, observe it as a special time of the year, and fancy in their minds that it is a day unlike the others, the very thought of which runs contrary to God’s commandments. Now, we ought also to observe that in the law, the priest went to make atonement for the people once every year. So, it is an especial offense to God to raise up a holy day in the place of that which was abolished by the death and sacrifice of Christ. We are commanded to keep the Lord’s day holy in remembrance of His death and resurrection. (which we will speak of in a later point) God hath surely abolished the old sacrifices and ceremonies which were only, “a shadow of good things to come” and “not the very image of the things”. And if all things are made new by the blood of the covenant, then must we also worship God in newness of heart, and not in the oldness of the letter. The day of atonement was accomplished in full upon the cross, let us not therefore return again to the weak and beggarly elements, as Paul says, which hold us in bondage.
Hear his argument, “Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.” (Gal. 4:8-10) As for the Christian; is not Christ in us, with us and for us so that, “He will never leave us nor forsake us?” Yes, so that a yearly sacrifice is not necessary, nor a yearly celebration, but the fulness of worship consists in the sincerity of the heart, worshiping God in spirit according to His commandments. As it is written, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecc. 12:13-14)
Let us therefore hear the sum of the whole argument, that this human tradition of Christmass is a breaking of God’s commandments, and therefore is to be utterly abolished. “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:16) “The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.” (Deut. 7:25-26)
“Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Deut. 12:28-32)

I. Christmass is contempt of the First Commandment.
With that being said, let us consider how this celebration is contrary to the commandments of God. We will in this brief discourse review the first four commandments, which comprise the first table, and finally the tenth. This is not to say that Christmass does not directly violate the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth commandments, for there is much disobedience, hate, envy, lust, adultery, theft and lying during this time, and on account of it, but since we are dealing primarily with its offense to God, we will focus more on the first table of the law, and explain from scripture how it is a breach of the same. For if it can be proved that it is an offense to God, what need is there to show that it offends our neighbor? seeing we shall be judged by the former before the latter. So, let us observe the first commandment, and we shall soon see that what is required in it makes no room for carnal celebration.
When God gave Moses the law, He spoke out of the mountain with terrible, and fearful thunderings saying, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Here in this command it is expressed to us that it is our duty to worship God, and that He will not tolerate the worship of any other, whether idols, self or mammon. Jesus says in Matt. 6:24, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Many today would interpret this to say, “You should not serve God and mammon.” But it does not say, “should not” but “cannot”, that is to say that everyone who serves mammon serves not the living and true God, and no one who serves mammon serves God. As our beloved apostle James also witnesses saying, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (Jam. 1:8) So it behooves us to take a close look at the corrupt principles of Christmass that make breaches upon this law.
i. The Principle of Self-righteousness.
Among the corrupt mortals of today, it is observed that this time of the year has a “spirit” of its own. Men and women everywhere of depraved notions and corrupt affections give each other vain credence, and play the hypocrite by imagining that those people are more righteous who are imbued with this “holiday spirit”. And so, in a word, the more corrupt you are in the sight of God, assenting to the evil doctrine of Santa, lying to children, decorating your house in pomp and luxury with lights, trees, wreaths, and whatsoever thing pleases the lustful eye, even so the more you are regarded as having this “spirit” and cheered on by those who celebrate this holiday. You will see often in movies wholly dedicated to this time of year that those who are most zealous in these idolatries are the ones regarded highest. Such twisting of natural order and abusing of God’s creation is worthy to be abhorred! They raise up idols and think themselves happy for it! They have departed from the true God and turned themselves to diverse vanities.
This is because there is nothing more common to human nature than self-love. Calvin writes in his Institutes that mankind is wholly swallowed up in deluded self-flattery. This holiday spirit is nothing more than a decorated form of man’s darling sin, his monster iniquity, yea the quintessence of all unbelief: self-righteousness. We ought to pay close attention to the scriptures and see that it is not for sins such as murder and fornication that men are said to be outside the realm of salvation, but for self-righteousness, even for believing themselves to be upright, and without need for the perfect propitiation and effectual sacrifice of Christ. For Christ Himself said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” If no need for repentance, no need for Christ, and no believe in a Savior. This is the sin which drowns men in perdition and from which all other sins spawn as from the pit of hell. As Christ the Lord saith in another place, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matt. 12:33-34) Whatsoever cometh forth from man’s nature is sin, and yet despite all this, he believes himself righteous. This is the “spirit of Christmass”. They imagine themselves secure, while God remains angry with them and will destroy them for their painted “righteousness.” Therefore, if we are to understand the heinousness of celebrating of a holiday such as Christmass, we must understand what is offensive and how. The first commandment (which we are here treating) deals with faith, and the manner of worshiping God. The scripture commands that God is to be worshiped only by faith, and until man comes to the realization of his innate depravity and sinfulness, he will continue his life (even in the church, and even under good preaching) elevating himself in his mind, and speaking peace to himself. At the very center, every man thinks himself to be righteous, and will perform all his actions based upon this corrupt principle. But when the law is preached, and by the Almighty power of God the sinner is made to see his wretchedness through the effectual call of the Spirit, then is he enabled to serve God in faith, and not before. Therefore all religion which hath its foundations in boasting and elevating man’s nature is abominable and not from God. Now this relates to the discussion at hand because Christmass is not the law, and yet because it is widespread, the celebration of it penetrates into the heathen world. Now, if God is only served according to truth, and Christmass is a religious observance, then it has nothing to do with the heathen, seeing they do not know God, and do not love God, and if Christmass is not a religious observance, then it would not bear the name of Christ who is the author of true religion. But the heathen do indeed partake, and many gladly, from which we see that it cannot be from God, for they hate God and His laws, as the scripture witnesses, “There is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:10-18) We see then that this is a breach upon Christ’s name, which we shall speak of when we touch upon the third commandment. But even here we see that all the commandments agree with each other, and each hath reference to another so that a breach in one is a breach in all, as it is written, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10) Now, the substance of our argument pertaining to the first commandment is this, that God must be known according to the true doctrine of the law and the gospel, and the means by which this principle is established is by the pure and simple preaching of the word, wherein a minister who is called and appointed by God draws out from the text in scripture principles, commands and inferences which apply to us, and by which we are persuaded of the truth of them, and do grow in the knowledge of God, as it is written, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Rom. 3:13-15) So we see that unless true ministers are sent to proclaim this gospel, there is no ordinary salvation. But during Christmass time, entirely antithetical to this, you have ignorant, rash and disgraceful pretenders brazenly, and impudently preaching a false Christ with no law, no justice, and no wrath. He is portrayed as a harmless child who has no concern for the holiness of souls, but rather an approver of their reveling and abominable practices! For if Christ is truly a Savior, then the scripture proves true that He delivers us from the ‘wrath to come‘ and if God’s wrath is mentioned, and Christ delivers us from it, then beforehand it must needs have been upon us, so that without the preaching of this wrath, no true remedy can be presented to the soul, seeing there is no wound made, and in the mind of the sinner, no healing needed. As Jesus says, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
But during this season men and women calling themselves Christian will wish all men corrupt, and depraved a “merry Christmass” meaning, ‘I hope you enjoy your time this year’, which is nothing but the elevation of self-love and the most despicable from of self-righteousness. Did God require this at their hand? Did He command them to do this? Then why do they go about and do this obstinately with no intention of amending? It is because they do not fear God and do not know Him. Christ does not dwell in the hearts of the proud. The first words recorded in scripture that the Son of God ever spoke in a sermon were, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” And we would do well to remember that it is a broken heart that pleases God, not a proud, obnoxious, rebellious heart, which will not hearken to His law. This evil practice of wishing people a “merry Christmass” is worthy to be utterly abhorred, and is contrary to the law of God, which teaches that man is sinful, and therefore he is not to find enjoyment in self, but in God. It is the world that seeks to flatter themselves into destruction, and those in the church will receive double destruction for placing these obstacles in men’s way,  imagining themselves and others righteous, and inviting men into religious worship when they have not yet been brought to nothing by the preaching of the law. How foolish and mad are men who will take the abominable practices of the Papists on their lips, all for the vain applause and praise of men! Go then and tell every man, and woman of every religious belief to have a good “mass”and then go worship Baal in his temple with them, offering sacrifice to devils which are the corrupt imaginations of your own darkened mind, but do *NOT* pollute God’s name and call it true worship. The people in the church today are a miserable, froward people, a people who have forsaken the LORD for idols, and they do worship their own selves in His stead. The wrath of the LORD is heavy upon them, and they do not consider it. “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.” (Isa. 1:3-4)
ii. The false god Santa Claus.
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thess. 5:22)
It is also worthy to be noted that among the idolatrous practices associated with Christmass is the worthless doctrine of Santa Claus. For when someone celebrates Christmass, they are at least tacitly assenting to all things associated with it. It will not do to say, “I celebrate Christmass but I don’t have anything to do with Santa.” This is to say, “I buy goods at the supermarket, but have nothing to do with food and drink.” or, “I am benefited by the sun, but not by light and warmth.” These things agree with each other and cannot be separated. The very purpose of Christmass is superstition and sacrilege. You cannot escape the consequences of yielding yourselves to these false practices. Christmass is wholly tainted with idolatry. If you celebrate Christmass, you give the heathen both excuse and opportunity to establish and diffuse the errors of their false religion. As was before stated, Christ is *NOT* in Christmass. Now, here we must properly distinguish between belief and practice, and faith and life. It is one thing to fall into a sin because of the powerful influence of the world, and be carried away from an honorable profession for a time. Aaron made the calf, Gideon made an ephod, and Solomon offered sacrifice to false gods. Now, while none of these men assented to corrupt doctrines, which destroy the soul, all of them were given over to egregious practices all of which are offensive to God. Even so, pertaining to Christmass, there are evil practices which a Christian may in a careless state, and without the means, (that is, faithful ministers and godly friends to hold them accountable) fall into. During this discourse, it is vital to keep in mind that the Christian religion is neither legalistic, nor antinomian. We do not condemn men because they fall short of perfection in the law, but as stewards of the truth, we do accuse them for falling short in the law, and rebuke them for those sins which we know to be obstacles, for their benefit and not for their destruction. And so, while someone may not necessarily be condemned because they put up a Christmass tree (although the practice is idolatrous and offensive to God) they may yet be condemned in believing corrupt principles which accompany the “holiday” season. And this is not because they fall short of perfection herein, but because these beliefs are antithetical to the gospel as a whole and destructive to the soul that assenteth to them. As it is written, “the just shall live by faith.” The purpose of this treatise then is to declare plainly that Christmass is not Christian, and therefore to celebrate is not Christian practice. And so, we come to deal with the evil doctrine of Santa Claus. The reason I call this a doctrine and not a practice is because this part of Christmass penetrates into the conscience, and into the spiritual realm. Putting up a tree (which we shall deal with in the second commandment) deals with corrupt actions, but holding it in your mind as good to teach children to be “good” because someone (anyone, but in this case Santa Claus) will give them gifts based upon their obedience/disobedience is not only evil, but damnable. The true God is worshiped only in sincerity. To place it upon the young and tender conscience of a child to abstain from evil because if you do, you will be blessed is the essence of false religion. This is the god of all heathen nations, one that will not destroy you for sin, but will reward your best efforts. We see then how this all fits together, the holiday “spirit” which is self-love, and Santa Claus, the false god who approves of you and flatters you in it. Even above this, he is given also those attributes which belong to God alone, as omniscience, “he knows when you are sleeping”, and the prerogative to bestow good on those who are approved by him, and therefore he is not merely a person who is falsely attributed existence, but a false god who is adored and worshiped by the masses. This is a great evil, and will undoubtedly incur God’s wrath and judgment. As stated previously, the true religion is founded upon the doctrine of law and gospel. The law demands perfection, and the gospel provides it in Christ Jesus. If you think your works are accepted by God, you have denied the law its use and purpose. Children should not be taught that they have it in themselves to “be good”, but as pertaining to nature that that they are sinners, and therefore at the mercy of God. And as pertaining to practice that God commands all diligence in obedience and reverence towards Him with due honor to the parents and their lawful authority. This is the beginning of true religion, even the sincere confession of sin. So, Chrysostom says, “The foundation of our philosophy is humility.” Christian parents ought to diligently catechize their children and instruct them in the essentials of the faith, lest they fall prey to these schemes of Satan, and become puffed up, flattering themselves unto destruction, as the children in the heathen world are wont to do, for as we have said before, there is nothing more common in human nature than self-love, and this principle of Santa Claus doth greatly aggravate and worsen this damnable sin of hypocrisy, and so how much more in children! Therefore, do we call the doctrine of Santa Claus an abomination, seeing it overthrows all true religion and the worship of God  and erects a stinking carcass in its place. “Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets. Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 2:25-29)
iii. The true narrative of the Incarnation.
“He was in the world, and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came to His own and His own received Him not.” (John 1:12) The world has many false gods but there is only one true God. If you do not fall into the left-hand ditch of ostensible lawlessness, you are bound to stumble into the right-hand pit of religious hypocrisy. We must remember that the Pharisees hated the Saducees, and the Saducees the Pharisees, but both hated God and were hated by Him. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil.” and convicted the Saducees of being ignorant of the scriptures and of the power of God. And so, while many avoid the snare of Santa Claus, yea may speak against it and despise those who are given over to that mindset, yet they may be guilty of a worse sin than even this, for that they raise up a false Christ and worship Him in the place of the true God. The scripture says, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20) We have an understanding of the truth and know the true God and the true Christ from a false one. Jesus said to His disciples, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. ” (Matthew 24:4-5, 23-25) The world and the false church say, “Here is Christ! He is in Christmass! He is in the manger!” And they worship Him according to their own carnal lusts and imagine that God accepts them for it. But we recall to mind the words of the prophet, “If ye offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evil? I have no pleasure in you saith the LORD, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.” They offer the works of their own hands (which is sin) and imagine themselves accepted because of it! This is not true religion. It is plain to those who have a right understanding, and a true knowledge of God that the Christ who is celebrated during this time is not Christ, but an Idol and an accursed image constructed according to man’s darkened understanding. The gospel of John shows us that Christ came to be the light of the world. That is that the world by sin was made into darkness, for that, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5) Therefore if we truly confess that Christ is the light of the world, we must also confess that we are in darkness, for this is the message which Christ came to proclaim, and the very cause for which the Pharisees crucified Him, for as we have said before, man is puffed up with self-love and desireth nothing more than for wicked men to flatter him, and think highly of him, and so when Christ cometh to “convict the world of sin” the very thought of which is abhorrent to man, he chafes and kicks, and seeks to murder those who so accuse him of sin for that they do not give him glory, but God only. As Christ said to His own brothers, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” (John 7:7) The world will never receive the true message of the gospel. If the narrative told during Christmass was the same as the message of scripture, no man in the church today would wish to celebrate, let alone the rank heathen in the world. Our whole complaint against it therefore is that it is not of God, and yet it is celebrated as if it was. And so, we boldly proclaim the name of Christ against false idols, and declare unto you that true gospel which was committed to the prophets and apostles, even that of the utter sinfulness of man and the great salvation which is in Christ the Redeemer. For if there be good in man, then no need for Christ, for then that which is good must be deemed so by God, and if good then man is justified, and has no need for Christ’s blood, and if not deemed so by God, then those which deem it good are not good, and so man is not good. And so we conclude that man who is evil calleth himself good and imagineth himself to be so, because he is evil by nature and other evil men like him also call him good. But God knoweth the hearts of men and calleth them evil, and so, those with the Spirit of God in them, who, ‘have the mind of Christ‘ call them evil also, and for this are so called evil by the world, as it is written, “An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.” (Prov. 29:27) and again, “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” (Mal. 3:18) As was before stated of Christ, “The world hateth me because I testify of it that its works are evil.” The world will have nothing to do with this Christ, because He does not approve of them. This is not the Christ of Christmass, but the God of heaven, who came to earth as a man to put away sin, and raise His brethren up with Him that they might live in God’s presence forever. The scripture says, “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.” (Isa. 8:18) Christ’s people were given to Him by the Father, and both they and Him are as signs and wonders, those who are of another world whom no man on this earth can know or understand. John Trapp says, “The tabernacle was goats’ hair without, and gold within. God hid his Son under the carpenter’s son. “The king’s daughter is all glorious within.” [Psalms 45:13] And all her sons are princes in all lands. [Psalms 45:16] Howbeit, they must be content to pass to heaven as Christ their Head did, as concealed men. “Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew not him.” [John 1:10] “Our life is hid with Christ,” [Colossians 3:4] as the life of flowers in winter is hid in the root.” Therefore, seeing that the greater part of the profane church, and the heathen themselves celebrate Christmass, we know it cannot be of God, for that which the natural man delighteth in is abhorrent in the sight of God, as it is written, “God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15) The true message of the incarnation is that man’s debt was too great for himself to pay being that he was under the guilt, power and curse of sin, and only God Himself could redeem Him, but was yet separate from Him, and could not be reconciled to him except by way of a Mediator, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever therefore doth not confess their sins that that they are utterly depraved and wicked, abhorrent in the sight of God by nature, wretched, miserable and liable to the wrath and curse of God, knoweth nothing of Christ and ought to shut his mouth regarding this, lest the fires of heaven consume him for profaning the name of Christ and thinking that the Lord of glory hath anything to do with idols. As the scripture says, “For such an High priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens.” That is to say such an High Priest was fit and suitable for those who are unholy, viciously depraved, sinful, and made lower than hell, in order to redeem them from all this to be holy, harmless, and just in the sight of God. If this be not our condition as men, this Christ is not our Savior. Therefore, let every man put away his false Christ, and search the scripture for the truth, for the world loveth a harmless child in a manger, but hateth the man who sitteth upon the right hand of God. As the scripture saith, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” (Heb. 10:12-13) And so we can plainly see the antithesis between the Christ of the scriptures and the Christ of Christmass. This is a different Christ, a different gospel, and so is an egregious contempt of the first commandment which demands us to worship the true God and believe in the true Christ. And so, to summarize the crimes against the first commandment which permeate the Christmass season: man is puffed up by nature and thinks himself to be righteous, therefore doth he go about merry-making and wishing others the same, persuading himself by all this that he is upright, though his heart belcheth out innumerable blasphemies against God and beareth secret hatred for his neighbor. He creates for himself a holiday, and crafts idols according to it so that he will not be held accountable in his mind (for the day of judgment will surely come upon all men.) and even conceives for himself out of the dark recesses of his defiled mind a false Christ, imagining himself blessed because he has the name and form of true religion, but being that the celebration of Christmass is not true worship, he remains in bondage to sin, and cannot escape his sinfulness, for that which is of the flesh profits nothing. Therefore do we conclude that the celebration of Christmass is an accursed and idolatrous practice, for that it does not promote the worship of the true God, but that of idols.
II. Christmass is contempt of the Second Commandment.
As the first commandment deals with the doctrine of the worship of the true God, the second deals with the manner in which He is worshiped. The LORD spoke to Moses on mount Sinai saying, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
(Ex. 20:4-6)
Another great misconception pertaining to Christmass is regarding the worship of images. For it is certain that the scripture demands that God is to be worshiped according to the manner which He hath ordained, and not according to our own fancies. For whenever an image is set up, and God is thought to be pleased by it, we are casting contempt upon this commandment. Calvin writes, “The purpose of
this commandment, then, is that God does not will that his lawful worship be profaned by superstitious rites. To sum up, he wholly calls us back and withdraws us from petty carnal observances, which our stupid minds, crassly conceiving of God, are wont to devise. And then he makes us conform to his lawful worship, that is, a spiritual worship established by himself. Moreover, he marks the grossest fault in this transgression,
outward idolatry. The commandment has two parts. The first restrains our license from daring to subject God, who is incomprehensible, to our sense perceptions, or to represent him by any form. The second part forbids us to worship any images in the name of religion.”
For if man’s nature was not so impudently inclined to this, there would be little need for the admonition. But seeing that not only is man’s nature sinful and easily stupefied by sense and perception, but he is also blind and stubborn, back-biting and denying the same, we see why this commandment is given so many words, and is set right after the first. Therefore is the order of the commandment confirmed, and we see the exceeding wisdom of God in giving it to man. But now we should see how this relates to Christmass.
i. The Christmass tree.
The prophet Jeremiah declares, “Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.” The prophet plainly shows us that there is nothing more vain than worshiping God by carnal means. Jesus also says, “The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.” We see no celebration of Christmass is scripture, and therefore conclude it is the fleshly imagination of man’s vaunted fancy. But note carefully the words of the prophet. He here rebukes the people for setting up trees, and decking them with gold, and do we see any practice more associated with Christmass than setting up a tree and covering it with useless pomp and ornament? The prophet reprimands and rebukes that which the people love and hasten to do. For when the season comes upon them, they travel great lengths to find a tree that fits their carnal scheme, and when they have found it they place it in their homes and cover it with colorful ornament, and curious ostentation. But we see how that their folly is reproved by the prophet. We have previously seen that in the first commandment God expressly declared to the people that they were to have NO other gods before Him (that is, before His face and in His sight). This first commandment then refers to who is worshiped, and the second how He is worshiped. For man’s eyes become an idol of themselves when they are given the preeminence over faith. When they behold something glistening and take that to themselves and set it up for a monument of their glory, then it is idolatry. The setting up of a Christmass tree then is nothing but idolatry, and we see the like same practices of sacrilege recorded in the Old Testament, which sacrilege was committed by the people of Israel. For when they saw that Moses delayed from coming down the mount, (the very time that Moses received the law) they made for themselves a golden calf and worshiped it saying, “This is your god that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” And Aaron proclaimed saying, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.” Therefore were the wicked people guilty of rank idolatry, and even made Aaron to share in their folly. It is evident from this passage, and others like it how silly and blind man is, who does not wait for God’s word, but rushes headlong into diverse vanities and iniquities. It should not surprise us then that man has taken up the very thing that is prohibited in the passage from Jeremiah, for that the people responded to the same prophet saying, “There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.” (Jer. 18:12) and which sentiment the prophet Malachi rebukes saying, “Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?” (Mal. 3:14) For casting off the quiet sincerity of spiritual worship, and reposing in God alone, man heaps up to himself idols which will not rebuke him for his iniquity. This is the very thing that God is prohibiting in the second commandment, even worshiping Him by means that He has not ordained in His word. He did not command you to celebrate His birth, therefore Christmass is a breaking of the second commandment (and the fourth, which we shall deal with in a later point). He did not command you to decorate a tree, therefore it is breaking the second commandment.
But evil men delight in making a mockery of true spiritual religion and in vain they worship God by an image. They insult the majesty of heaven and cast up spite by saying that God can be worshiped and honored by material things. God has commanded us in his Holy Word to worship only Him, and not to worship Him by anything that can be seen with the eye. Even pictures of Him are forbidden, as the apostle writes, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” (1 Cor. 5:16) Baptism and the Lord’s supper are the only outward ordinances ordained by God to be means of true spiritual grace which is of the heart. To set up idols in their stead is to despise these holy ordinances. But that could be a discourse of its own. If therefore Baptism and the Lord’s supper are the only sacraments of the New Testament, from whence comes all this tree-worship? Christmass trees themselves came from pagan Germany, and did not become popular until the 19^th century, when Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria of England brought them in from Germany. It was a traditional practice in pagan Germany to worship the trees, and when the Christian evangelist of the 8^th century Boniface saw the rank paganism of the German people, he chopped down the oak that they worshiped, (demonstrating that it had no power) and preached the gospel to them. Therefore we see that this breach of the second commandment contemns also the first, and there are many who do not only set up a graven image, but worship it with loud song also, singing, “O! Christmass tree! O Christmass tree! The prophet Isaiah says of these infidels, “He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?” (Isa. 44:14-20) The command resounds throughout all of scripture, “Learn not the way of the heathen.” [Jer. 10:2] “After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.” (Lev. 18:3)
“And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.” (Lev. 20:23)
“Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.” (Ex. 23:24)
“The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therin: for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.” (Deut. 7:25-26)
“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” (Eph. 4:17-18)
And,
“When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Deut. 12:29-32)
We are dealing then with a principle which prohibits a certain practice.
When Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron presumed to add to the worship which God had expressly commanded, He burned them with fire. (Lev. 10:1-3)
Meditate upon this, that the sons of Aaron were consecrated priests, they knew the will of God, they heard what they ought to do, and the ordinance which they despised was a ceremonial ordinance which has been abolished in Christ. In one sense, they sought to add to the work of Christ, which if even the smallest portion of our works contribute toward our salvation, be it merit, works or free will, it will only contribute to our damnation. Luther says, “If any man doth ascribe of salvation, even the very least, to the free will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright.” Christ is a perfect Savoir and to believe that you are able to do something to commend yourself to God, Christ means nothing to you. In the same way, the adding of religious ordinances that God hath not ordained is an egregious wickedness, and we see the lesson here in the punishment of Aaron’s two sons. In another sense, this ordinance which was so contemned by them was a “carnal ordinance” as Paul mentions in Hebrews. It is something that foreshadowed Christ to come, and proclaimed His work by a type. Therefore if Aaron’s sons were not spared from the consuming fire of God’s wrath for adding to what God proscribed in an ordinance that was soon to pass away in Christ, how much more violently do men assault the pure word of God by mixing their carnal abominations into spiritual worship? If Nadab and Abihu were eaten alive by the fires of God’s anger for mixing their carnal imaginations into that which was merely a type, what will be said of those who attribute the vast idolatries of Christmass with the holy name of Christ and call it a “holiday”? So we see it is no light offense, but grievous to celebrate that which God hath not ordained.
ii. Christmass lights.
Seeing that this is one of the practices that does not bring in so much ignominy, we will not speak so much on this, but seeing that much money is wasted on it, and that Christ’s name is dragged into even this, it is appropriate to apply these principles to this practice also. The setting up of lights comes from the Jewish festival of lights, and therefore is Christmass shown to be the mixing of Jewish, pagan, and Catholic rituals. The great madness of all this error is that men call it Christian, and imagine themselves to be serving God in this. Doth God care that your house looks decadent and extravagant, decked up with lights and ornament, and pleasing to the natural eye? Doth he care that you are made to look honorable in the eyes of your neighbors because you spent so much on the outward appearance? Doth he not see your heart, and the way you spurn His worship, and treat it with hypocrisy, and your neighbors with spite? Then what means all these festive lights? The nature of a light is to illuminate the darkness, not to deck yourselves with pomp and a false sense of worth. Therefore is the setting up of lights for the elevation of pride and the celebration of that which God hath not called for a great evil, and ought to be abolished with the rest of Christmass rituals.

I. Christmass is contempt of the Third Commandment.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Ex. 20:7)
As the first commandment deals with the worship of the true God, and the second with the manner of worship, it may be said that the third deals with the attitude of worship, or the reverence that is due the name of God. We must remember that we have not yet in our discourse touched upon the offenses done to our neighbor, for this is needless if we can prove it is an offense to God. All offenses against our neighbor are only offenses so far as they offend God, so Jesus says, “The first and great commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, strength and mind, and the second is like unto it, thou shall love they neighbor as thyself.” For inasmuch as we owe to God all glory, adoration, worship and praise, we owe Him also the correct manner in performing these, and the right frame of heart, lest coming hastily before Him He break out against us, as in the case of Uzzah. We read in 2 Sam. 6:6-7, “And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.” We ought to note carefully that Uzzah was not guilty of worshiping a false God (as far as the text aims to show us), nor was he guilty of adding false forms of worship as was the case of Nadab and Abihu, but he was stricken and killed immediately because he did not keep God’s ordinance holy in his mind, but thought it of little concern if he made a breach in the law for the sake of the external stability of the ark. This was not commanded by God. When the ark was built it was strictly commanded, 1. “see that thou make all things according to the pattern.” [Ex. 25:9, 40] and, 2. “And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.” (Ex. 25:14-15) No man was permitted to touch the ark but it was to be borne and carried by its staves, that man’s filthy hands would not pollute the holy sanctuary of God. He was expressly commanded therefore not to touch the ark, because it was only to be transported by the Levites, and in a prescribed manner. Trapp says upon the verse, “God will not take up with a careless and slubbered service: he “will be sanctified in all those that draw near unto him.” [Leviticus 10:3] The prophet says in Ecclesiastes (for all that speak by God are counted prophets), “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” (Ecc. 5:1-3) Our point then in this section is to show that a Christian hath a grave and sincere attitude towards the worship of God and does not rush hastily into the errors of the wicked. As it is written, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” (Ex. 23:2)
i. Christ’s name profaned.
Christmass idolatry is not only an insult to God in that it is an attempt to worship Him by images, but it is blasphemy and a profaning of His name being that Christ is not truly worshiped. The celebration of Christmass is largely a papist tradition. The Roman Catholic church who is the seat of anti-christ, that mother of all unbelief and hypocrisy, full of all abominations, spiritual adultery and whoredom has never worshiped Christ in truth. They are more vociferous regarding the honor of Mary than the honor of Christ. They do not believe in the Trinity, but add Mary to their list of dead saints and gods which they worship and serve. They either worship a dead Christ still hanging on a cross, (which is a striking condemnation of their fallen, and dead human nature) or a harmless Christ in a manger (which is a striking condemnation of their infantile stupidity). Truly the incarnation is a great mystery of religion, and such a subject that deserves our highest admiration, but we do Christ a disservice when we set our affections on a babe and not on the King of glory. During this time, pastors of all denominations forsake Christendom and take up the cause of Rome, profaning the Lord by soft sermons, appealing to the sentiments of people, and telling (as if the congregation was gathered for silly tales) the story of Christ in the manger. The glory of the incarnation is despised, and trampled on as men think it to be some measure of dignity restored to humanity. This is the very opposite of the reason for the incarnation. God became man and took upon Himself the likeness of sinful nature because man is by nature defiled, and corrupted by sin, and has no power in himself to be pleasing to God. The incarnation as well as the crucifixion, and resurrection is a manifest evidence of the utter wickedness and depravity of man. God came to save His people from their sins, and this was accomplished by humble means. We do not honor Christ when we imagine Him to be still in the manger, and is this not exactly what is done during this time of the year? Paul says in Corinthians, “Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.” (2 Cor. 5:16)
And again, “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Heb. 1:3)
And again, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” (Col. 3:1-4)
We are commanded by the God of heaven to set our minds on spiritual things, not on Christ hanging on a tree, and not on Christ in a manger. We are to lift our hearts to heaven where Christ is. He dwells on this earth no more, but has ascended to the right hand of His Father from whence He rules and judges all peoples, nations, and kingdoms, and from whence He will come again in righteous judgment and flaming wrath avenging His holy name upon all those that worshiped and served the lie. (Now while this also deals with the breaking of the second commandment, as all the laws of God have reference to each other, we deal with it in the third, because it is a great abuse of God’s name, and of Christ’s work of salvation.)
Celebrating something in Christ’s name that Christ has by no means commanded in His word is not honoring to Him but utterly abhorrent to Him. Will Christ be pleased by your fruitless works, by your decorating of trees, of the singing of sentimental songs, or by putting up accursed idols in your yard? By no means, but He will take vengeance on you, and curse you, give you over to confusion and cast you out of His sight, “because you do not lay it to heart.” (Mal. 2:2). Hear what the prophet is saying. “If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.” Wherefore are the people cursed? Even the priests who were entrusted with the ordinances, and were to be considered holy? Even because they did not reverence the LORD or fear His name, to give glory to Him, but made themselves vain by hypocrisy, dissimulation, and utterly twisted His worship by foolish traditions. God demands the affections of the heart, and true sincerity, and yet they said, “it is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have walked mournfully?” They saw no beauty in true worship, and so they were given to the worship of idols, which is the very essence of Christmass. Hear what the LORD saith against this people. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Ex. 20:7)
When God says that He will not hold Him guiltless who takes His name in vain, He is giving us a divine threat that He will punish all those who abuse His name. He is wiser to destroy and confound and terrify than you are to imagine it so. And is not all this worship which is done an abuse of His name? Yes, for though it is not commanded, but is the product, and invention of man’s own fancy, yet is it called Christmass, and treated like religious service. This is to profane the name of Christ, and cast contempt on His holiness. This is the substance of our argument here, even that God has commanded how He is to be worshiped in His word. He commands truth, sincerity and reverence, and to do what He hath commanded, and to refrain from doing what He has not commanded. but during Christmass time, not only do men do all that which is abhorrent in the sight of God, including all those evils previously mentioned, as worshiping a false God, being puffed up in wicked self-righteousness, adoring a false idol named Santa Claus, putting up trees and lights, and all those things yet to be spoken of as merry wishing, erecting for themselves a false holiday (holy day) in contempt of the Sabbath, and all those other covetous practices which are committed against their neighbors also, but above all this, they call it Christmass, and drag Christ’s holy name into it, which it was better for them not to have known the name of Christ, than to know it, and defile it with accursed practices, attributing all this to Him. As it is written, “”As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the LORD God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.” (Ezk. 20:39) Just as the Jews of old, this people is a stubborn and rebellious people, who will not hearken unto the LORD, but will be joined unto their idols. They will profess with their mouth that they know the Lord, that no one can judge them but God, that they are true worshipers and not rank idolaters, but we see their madness in their dissimulation and their willingness to worship according to their own traditions and not the word of God. Truly then is God’s name profaned by Christmass seeing it is not worship as He commands, but is man’s own tradition which is celebrated in the world by them who do not know God. As the prophet says, “When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” (Isa. 1:12-17)
ii. The mass.
We must keep in mind here that the third commandment relates to Christ’s name, and that there are a great many evils associated with Christmass that are offensive to it. The Westminster Larger Catechism states, “The sins forbidden in the third commandment are, the not using of God’s name as is required; and the abuse of it in an ignorant, vain, irreverent, profane, superstitious, or wicked mentioning or otherwise using his titles, attributes, ordinances, or works, by blasphemy, perjury; all sinful cursings, oaths, vows, and lots; violating of our oaths and vows, if lawful; and fulfilling them, if of things unlawful; murmuring and quarreling at, curious prying into, and misapplying of God’s decrees and providences; misinterpreting, misapplying, or any way perverting the word, or any part of it, to profane jests, curious or unprofitable questions, vain janglings, or the maintaining of false doctrines; abusing it, the creatures, or anything contained under the name of God, to charms, or sinful lusts and practices; the maligning, scorning, reviling, or any wise opposing of God’s truth, grace, and ways; making profession of religion in hypocrisy, or for sinister ends; being ashamed of it, or a shame to it, by unconformable, unwise, unfruitful, and offensive walking, or backsliding from it.”
We see plainly enough from this that to use the word Christmass at all with direct reference to Christ’s name is to use His name for that which is not approved of in scripture. God hath no greater delight than in His Son, and therefore His plan of redemption centers upon Christ and His own glory manifested in Him. Therefore Peter says, “that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” Now to take Christ’s name which is precious to God and use it for ill purposes such as reveling, vain merry wishing, excess of drink, idolatrous practices, covetousness and all those things that relate to Christmass is to relate them to Christ Himself. Woe, woe! to this generation that commits these grievous offenses against God, and Woe, woe, woe and a thousand woes be to those who do it in the name of Christ! Now on top of all of this, the word mass is generally used in the Roman church pertaining to the idolatrous doctrine and practice of re-sacrificing Christ for the forgiveness of sins. The Reformers wrote volumes condemning this practice as evil, for in the Roman mass Christ who was once crucified for sins is brought back to the cross to be crucified again, so that new sins not yet forgiven may be atoned for. This is to deny the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement and make it utterly worthless. Now, while there may be those entirely ignorant of this pernicious doctrine, and think it of no concern that the mass is named in the celebration, this is no excuse to remain in it! Christmass is accursed idolatry, and it’s very name is linked to Roman Catholic devil worship. Let no Christian have anything to do with it.
“hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” Jude 23 To sum up this argument, Christians are commanded to be pure, and to reverence God’s name, not attributing to Him that which is spotted and unholy, and therefore do in their minds know the mass to be an accursed doctrine, and therefore are to abstain from relating it back to Him. God hates the mass, and therefore that also which stinks of it. The very name of the celebration, “Christ-mass” is an offense to God and is reason for it to be utterly abolished.
iii. Profane merry wishing.
Everyone exposed to the celebration during this time well knows the joy and excitement people have concerning it, and their readiness to wish everyone in their path, “a merry Christmass”. The statement is engraved upon their minds even by songs as it is repeated over and over again. We must know first off, that this is a false joy, and a carnal seeking for pleasure, the approval of others, and the appearance that they are “good people”. As was mentioned earlier, there is nothing more common in man than self-love and self-righteousness, for every one of them is darkened in their minds, being given over to their natural corruptions through it. Man is a sinister and wicked creature by nature, and in order to persuade himself that he isn’t he invents for himself (with the help of the devil) practices that hide and mask in front of others his natural enmity with God and his hatred for his neighbor. And so he says, “How are you doing”? and to those close, “I love you” and during this time, “Marry Christmass!” all of which are evidences of the wickedness of his heart and natural inclination to cover his sins with painted ostentation. He does not care that he is not righteous, but is happy if he only appears to be. And this hypocrisy is what is condemned in the third commandment. My controversy then is not toward the heathen who know nothing of God’s law, but of the church which profess to follow it. For when asked, they will say, “we will obey and keep God’s commandments” as the children of Israel also did. But when they are tested, they fall short, and fall into more detestable forms of wickedness than even the heathen, for that the law makes sin to be exceedingly sinful, saying, “thou shalt not” and man daring to defy God to His face with all enmity and hypocrisy says, “I will not” and then proceeds to commit all those damnable offenses that are prohibited in the very laws the heathen are ignorant of. Therefore God gives His law to His people for their good, and the wicked in the church use it to make themselves more wicked than others. This is not because some are more or less depraved in nature, but only by this principle shown to be totally depraved, and especially by the teaching of the law. Therefore the Jews did abase themselves lower than the heathens and it is complained by the prophet Ezekiel that Sodom herself is even justified against them. Yet this is not to mean that Sodom is not also exceedingly wicked, but that through the law, and the Jews as an example, man himself as a being is shown to be utterly sinful, and abhorrent to God, being that his nature is inclined only to disobedience. And so, like the Jews of old who said, “we will surely do whatsoever God commands us”, so do these people in the church today say, “We believe in the keeping of the third commandment” and then blaspheme God by their foolish traditions and their manifold hypocrisy. For to place God’s name on that which is evil is a double evil. It is worse than atheism. It is to call God an approver of sin, while atheism is to deny His very existence. Therefore are hypocrites in the church worse in one sense than even atheists, and those who say, “put Christ back into Christmass” worthy of sorer judgment than those who take Him out of it because they hate all semblance of religion.
Therefore is this practice of profane merry wishing detestable in God’s sight, for that He did not command it, it is directed to the most hateful of men, its very purpose is to make yourself and others puffed up in carnal security, pride and hypocrisy, and is directly related to those sins previously mentioned, even attributing all this wickedness to the name of Christ.

Christmass is contempt of the Fourth Commandment.
i. What is a holiday?
As mentioned in brief before, a holiday is a special day instituted by man to overthrow the one holy day set in place by God Himself. And so men have “weekends” instead of the Sabbath, “Thanksgiving” instead of the Sabbath, and “Christmass” instead of the Sabbath. Now in the general, man hath no right or authority to make a day holy. In our times, in which corrupt men rule over the nations, the wicked in high places aim to create for themselves holidays, and even months dedicated to certain ideas. They have invented “Mother’s day” and placed it on the Sabbath days, and “Father’s day” and placed it on the Sabbath day, and even something so detestable and abhorrent as “Pride month” where Sodomy itself (that perverse and wicked practice not worthy to be named) is openly praised and thereby they take encouragement in their sin and revel in it. Now these are all the inventions of the world. Doth a Christian therefore have anything to do with them? The scriptures say no. John says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) and again in the same epistle, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4) Whosoever therefore hath faith is not of the world, because the world is not of God. Not because it was not created by God, but that through sin it was subjected to vanity and therefore doomed to destruction. Whosoever therefore lives of the world is dead to God, for he does not live for God but the world, and whosoever is delivered from this wicked world through the redemption that is in Christ and is given faith in Him by the Spirit, even he overcomes the world and opposes it through his faith. Therefore we boldly declare that those who have faith overcome the world, and those who do not overcome the world, but love the world have not this faith. And so we reject this world’s ideas of a holiday, seeing that God Himself has instituted one day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath, even the first, the Lord’s day, and has commanded that this day alone is to be kept holy. I don’t mean to unnecessarily burden weak consciences by intimating that all forms of practices involved in all of these holidays are either sinful, or proof of unbelief, but that we do not regard the days or weeks or months as holy or separate, but the Lord’s day only. For example, some holidays are more harmful than others. Truly it is worse to celebrate Christmass than the fourth of July, although there is a sense of ignorance if you celebrate American liberty when Americans are anything but free, because Christmass more closely relates to God, and is therefore more offensive. Even so, holidays that land on the Sabbath day are also offensive, even if you intend nothing more than to wish someone, “happy Mother’s or Father’s day”. This is a grievous offense, because God hath said, “I am the LORD, and my glory will I not share with another.” To put another holiday in the place of God’s is to commit outrageous sacrilege and to spit in God’s face, who hath declared the Sabbath day alone to be holy. Remember the law, “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Deut. 12:32) To use an example: to celebrate another day as holy, a day which God hath not appointed and called holy is like making a name holy, and calling it blasphemy to profane that which is already common. For instance, if a ruler should call himself a god, as the emperors in Rome often did, and then convict someone as guilty who spoke against him of blasphemy, this is to make that holy which God did not make holy, and is therefore an offense against the third commandment. Even so, to erect a holiday of your own, that which God hath not ordained, and then establish ideas, practices, frivolities, and festivities relating to that holiday, which hath nothing to do with God, and all of which also He hath not commanded, you are worthy of double idolatry. For first, God did not command you to make that day holy, and second, your practices are such things as He hates. How hateful then is Christmass! It is an abomination worthy to be despised by the godly. Therefore the substance of our argument here is that Christmass is a holiday established by the world and not God, and the only holy day God hath appointed is the weekly Sabbath. Any assent given to Christmass or conformity to it is an offense to God and a breaking of the fourth commandment.
ii. The time of Christ’s birth.
Another subject which must be addressed is the time of Christ’s birth. Many in the world do not know that Christmass is supposed to be the celebration of the incarnation and the birth of Christ, but those in the church who do know it are guilty, being that 1. as stated before, God did not command them to celebrate Christ’s birth, He commanded us to keep the Sabbath day holy, and 2. December 25 which is hailed as “Christmass day” is not the day of Christ’s birth, but only a relative guess of the time of His conception. Christ was born during the feast of Tabernacles in late September/early October, in the month of Tishri according to the Hebrew calendar. Therefore it is written of Him, “The word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) Literally saying, “He tabernacled among us.” This was the fulfillment of the Tabernacle built by Moses, and the Temple built by Solomon, and prophesied of in the structure of the Wisdom books written by King Solomon, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. Christ came and dwelt as a man with His people, He of whom it was spoken, “who can declare His generation?” (Isa. 53:8) and, “the ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Mic. 5:2) and, “his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6) and, “thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” (Ps. 138:2) and finally, “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.” (Heb. 10:5-7) quoting from Hebrews. Christ Himself was God manifested in the flesh, who took upon Himself a true body and a reasonable soul, consisting of mind, will and affections, the very soul represented in the temple consisting of the outer court, the inner court, and the Holy of Holies, and Solomon’s works, Proverbs (on Wisdom), Ecclesiastes (on love for God and keeping His commandments), and the Song of Songs, (on divine affections for Jesus Christ the Shepherd and King of His people). Therefore it was fitting for Christ to come during the feat of Tabernacles in which the people remembered the great deliverance out of Egypt by dwelling in booths, the very deliverance which Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of. Now, although the time of the year is known to us through various sources, the exact day is not known, and God means to keep it a secret for a reason. But wicked men, vaunted in pride by their own desires to worship this worthless god self have raised up a false image and established a false day upon which they claim that Christ was born, (which He was not), and celebrate it with diverse vanities which things He hates. Therefore is stubborn and backward man found out once again to be a detestable hypocrite, for that he has no intention of serving God on that day but himself, and so calling it a holiday to cover for its manifest unholiness, and Christmass to cover for its devlishness, and carnal worship celebrates not God but himself and his own idol constructed in his own mind. Therefore to sum up this argument, Christ was not born on December 25th, which means that to celebrate his birthday on that day is offensive, inasmuch as God hath not commanded it, no not even to celebrate it on the day He was born, which day is shrouded in eternal mystery, and therefore to call it the celebration of Christ’s birth is no more than a mockery and contempt of God who hath not revealed to man that day on which Christ was born and hath not ordained a day on which to celebrate it. Surely you see by now the grievousness of this idolatry. This is not an innocent festival but very vanity and unspeakable wickedness, for that in it man takes not the mind of God into account, and therefore casting off the fear of Him, makes for himself diverse idols who are ready to accept him for his ignorance and stupidity.
iii. What is the Sabbath?
As a final argument in this point, I think it necessary to show what the Sabbath is, that holy day which God hath appointed for His worship, and what duties are required on that day, so that being compared to the madness of Christmass celebration, you might find them to be antithetical to each other, showing that the one is the true worship of God, and the second is hypocrisy and lawlessness.
The LORD has sanctified the Sabbath day for His honor and worship, and stamped His holy name upon the first day of the week that we might reverence His authority, submit to His laws, heed His ministers, abstain from sin, and diligently worship Him on that day offering the whole day to His service. The scripture says, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Gen. 2:2-3) The Sabbath was ordained to be a remembrance to God’s great work of creation, and therefore was instituted before the fall. If Adam being a holy and upright man was given the Sabbath in order to remember God’s work of creation, how much more do we who are fallen into sin have need to be reminded of the new creation, and our spiritual rest in Christ! As the book of Hebrews says, “There remaineth therefore a rest [lit. Sabbath keeping] to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” (Heb. 4:9-10) For those who believe the doctrine of the gospel, and hold fast to justification by faith alone, there is nothing more needful than to be reminded of this principle, and of Christ’s marvelous work on the cross delivering us from our enemies, lest we let it slip in our minds. Therefore was the Sabbath established before the giving of the law, for that man owes worship to His creator, and then re-established at Sinai, for that man owes praise, honor, worship and glory to His Redeemer. Therefore the catechism states, “The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us that because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments.” And being that this commandment is on the first table, and comes directly after the third, (which is reverence for God’s name), we see how necessary it is for us to take to heart this commandment and remember it, keeping it near to us, and dedicating ourselves to God’s service on that day which He hath appointed for His own worship. Therefore the whole day and nothing less than the whole day is owed to God, for His creating us, and for His redeeming us, and we are miserable and thankless creatures if we offer Him anything less. Let us therefore remember the day as the commandment says, and keep it holy to Him, for His own glory and our good. The Westminster Larger Catechism says, “The sabbath or Lord’s day is to be sanctified by an holy resting all the day, not only from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful; and making it our delight to spend the whole time (except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy) in the public and private exercises of God’s worship: and, to that end, we are to prepare our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of that day.” Isa. 58:13-14 also says, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” Truly to keep the Sabbath day holy is a blessing in itself, and will bring the bounty of God’s goodness to us, for that the Spirit drops His heavenly dew more abundantly on the Sabbath than on all other days of the week together. Away then with the mad ravings of Christmass idolatry! What holiness in a day God hath not made holy? What joy without the blessing of God’s Spirit? What peace and communion without Christ’s word? Therefore is the word Remember placed in this commandment, because men are liable to forget it and replace it with other matters, either civil, leisurely, or as in the case of Christmass a holiday of his own devising. And so the Westminster says, “The word Remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment, partly, because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it, and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments, and to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion; and partly, because we are very ready to forget it, for that there is less light of nature for it, and yet it restraineth our natural liberty in things at other times lawful; that it cometh but once in seven days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to sanctify it; and that Satan with his instruments much labor to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.” These words contain much of the weight and substance of that which we mean to communicate here, even that men are ready to forget God’s holy day, and Satan much labors to blot out and erase the glory and memory of it, so that his instruments of impiety and unbelief may be established. Therefore, let us diligently study those things which we are commanded to do on the Sabbath, lest we should fall away, being led astray by the false joys of Christmass idolatry.
The shorter catechism briefly sums up those singular delights which the Christian church enjoys on her Sabbaths. It says, “The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.”
Therefore, for the advance of true piety, and the establishment of true religion, we will briefly view these duties.
a. A Holy Resting.
The Holy Spirit in the New Testament scriptures in order to reaffirm and establish the doctrine of true worship, and the keeping holy to God such set times as He hath appointed confirms it by recourse to the original sanctifying of the day at the creation of the world. Hebrews 4 says, “There remaineth therefore a sabbath-keeping to the people of God. For he that hath entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.” The apostle Paul in the epistle to the Hebrews uses this method often, first in chapter 1 saying, “God hath in times past” as a sure foundation on which to build the holy doctrine preached by the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says, “God spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets, but in these last days hath spoken unto us by His Son.” So much surer, and so much better is the new covenant, that we have in this covenant the Son of God speaking directly to us by His Spirit, and not in carnal types and shadows which were to pass away. So also in the second chapter, he says, “therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.” and, “how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” Therefore in the law itself, when we see a command given, the sins forbidden which are contrary to it, and the reasons annexed, we do not overthrow it by reason of the establishment of the New Covenant, but know that it is strengthened, not weakened by this. Christ came to make us holy, not to give us license to sin, as He Himself testified saying, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Therefore, lest any of you think in your minds that this “resting” mentioned in Hebrews 4 hath nothing to do with the Sabbath, let him take heed and judge carefully the words of Christ. “I came not to destroy the law.” Not the first commandment, not the second, not the third, and not the fourth. For He says, “The Sabbath was made for man.” That is for his spiritual refreshment, and nourishment in sound doctrine. Now, as a most firm and unmovable law written in stone by the finger of God (for was not the fourth commandment also written in stone?) we affirm that every man on this day is to repose and rest in the LORD God, and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, for it is only in His name that rest is found. This is the foundation of the doctrine of the Sabbath. For what man can rest who lives after the works of the law? Doth not the law demand perfection in all? How dost thou know, O man, whosoever of you desire to be justified by the law, whether you have done enough? So you chide your fellow man for his faults and imagine yourself more righteous than he, but you are still fallen short and therefore under the same condemnation. So, let every man know in himself that of himself he is sin, and a slave of the devil, willing and ready to do him service against the kingdom of Christ. But let every man that knoweth of the peace of Christ, and justification through His name rest in Him on this day, remembering His sacrifice which hath fully purchased all of God’s blessings for us, as victory over the devil and the world, and refuge from the wrath of God.
1. Justification by Faith alone.
This leads us to the principle of justification by faith alone, which is the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we will see our Sabbath keeping much different than the world’s celebration of Christmass. On this day we are to remember that we are dust and dung, worthless and detestable in the sight of God by nature, and that He who is holy and good is incensed against us for sin and doth always punish the same. So, we mourn and lament our froward nature, and repent of this, taking all our comfort and joy in the promises of the gospel. This hath nothing to do with Christmass celebration, for this is not experienced, nor can be by the world. And is that not the very essence of Christmass? Even that the world in all its vanity and wickedness is permitted to celebrate Christ, and pay Him homage, even if they do not believe in His name? Yes, and this accursed doctrine is antithetical to the true religion, for the scripture witnesseth concerning carnal men that they are enmity with God, they cannot please God, are under His wrath and curse, and are likened to briers and thorns rejected and nigh unto cursing. For the natural man cannot receive the things of God. He cannot keep the Sabbath by reason of enmity against God. Therefore is the doctrine of justification necessary for this principle of resting, for no man rests unless that He first believes, for to believe is to flee from yourself and find refuge in Christ alone. And this belief in the righteousness of Christ is the very same as to trust in Him for salvation, so that the scripture proves true, “whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” But the world hath Christmass, and what have they to do with Christ? They have that which is common to all men, and therefore shall perish with them, for as God alone is holy, so He maketh holy all whom He would have to be with Him, and so separateth them from the world that they are no longer members thereof, but strangers, being delivered from it by the death of Christ, as it is written, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” (Gal. 1:4) and again, “without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.” (Heb. 12:14) and again, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16). So, let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity, lest he also be caught in the snare of the wicked. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4)
2. The work of Christ.
Another peculiar benefit of the Sabbath is the remembrance of the work of Christ on the cross. It is not a frivolous, profane festivity, whereby we share sentimental stories of how we are touched by it, and so make light of it, or put our own thoughts into the narrative, and so twist it, or overthrow it by contradictory statements about free will and so deny it, or conjure up means of our own by which to worship and so pollute the sanctity of the day by foolish thoughts spawning from our corrupt nature, but it is a solemn observance whereby remembering ourselves to be brought into the world justly under the curse of God and liable to the miseries of life and the wrath of God, and knowing that we are under condemnation, do look unto the LORD for salvation and unto Jesus Christ for eternal righteousness, as the scripture witnesses saying, “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” (Isa. 51:1) and again, “That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.” (Ezk. 16:63) and, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zech. 12:10) Therefore is the worship of Christ upon the Sabbath day antithetical in nature to the carnal practices of Christmass.
b. All that day.
It must be noted, even if briefly, that the command to sanctify the Sabbath day is not open to interpretation, but is restricted and fixed to whatsoever the law saith. Now the law commands the keeping of the whole day holy to God. That is that we are commanded both in body and spirit to be pure, and without spot, and not to allow any stain of carnal thinking even to enter our minds, not of work, not of recreation. As every law of God, this is impossible for the natural man, difficult for the Christian, and yet the latter is helped by the Spirit of God. And so, acting in sincerity by divine assistance, we do keep the Sabbath contrary to the blasphemous cavillations of the antinomians. Therefore is the whole day to be kept holy, not only the morning before worship, not only the time spent in worship, not only the fellowship after, but the whole day. The prophet Isaiah says, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” (Isa. 58:13-14) The Westminster catechism also says, “The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions of the duties required, all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them, and being weary of them; all profaning the day by idleness, and doing that which is in itself sinful; and by all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations.” Therefore, let as many of us as are spiritually minded put away carnal holidays, and join ourselves to the Lord in the lawful keeping of the Sabbath, wherein is great reward.
c. Abstaining from worldly employments and recreations.
In a day and age when those who are of the world are ever increasing in the manifestation of their wickedness, and those in the church are learning to be ever more subtle in their denial of the gospel, often speaking against those things they are guilty of, it becomes the saints of God to keep the worship of God pure, and not allow any stain of worldliness to enter the mind or practice on the Lord’s day. When Abraham went up to worship God on mount Moriah and took his son with him, he left the servants and the asses behind as a testament to his faith. For on this holy day, when we ascend the mount of worship and seek to praise and adore the Lord God in truth, no thoughts of works or employment must enter there, or be found there. Hebrews 4 says, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own work as God did from His.” Those who worship God in spirit, and have no confidence in the flesh do not bring to the throne of God the defilement of their works, but beholding the righteousness of Christ by faith worship God according to His mercy in Christ. Therefore as Christians we are persuaded and compelled to practice this, putting away the thoughts of worldly employments on the Sabbath that we might dedicate the whole time to God. But Christmass is not dedicated to God, for their works are their celebration. But the LORD says by the prophet, “this hath been by your means. Will He regard your persons, saith the LORD?” and, “I have no pleasure in you, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.” The prophet Hosea also says, “They shall be ashamed of their sacrifices.” Seeing that the LORD desires purity, and this is only found in the doctrine of justification by faith alone, we therefore see that Christmass has nothing to do with God but is an attempt to appease Him with abominations which He hath not commanded. If worldly thoughts and works are unlawful on the Lord’s day, then we are behooved to delight only in Him. Whence comes this hypocrisy then to offer Him that which He hath not commanded on a day He hath not sanctified, with perversity of heart and intention to remain in sin? “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?” (Prov. 21:27)
d. Public Worship.
The subject of public worship is a difficult one seeing that the Reformed church today is wholly apostate, and they do all with unified voice preach Arminian doctrine under the guise of Reformed theology from the pulpit, calling the gospel an invitation, man only affected by sin and God desirous of all men’s salvation, and thereby inferring that the people must be made right with God by their works do not hold to the true Reformed religion. I do not say therefore that because we are commanded to worship God publicly that it is lawful to attend such a synagogue of Satan. Nevertheless, it is the duty of the Christian to attend the worship of God in the public assembly of the saints, when God has raised up a church which preaches the true doctrine of the gospel. Otherwise, let every Christian who cannot abide to hear the howling of fools which comes from today’s pulpits to worship in his own house, and if he is a father and the leader of a house, to teach his children the catechism, and the discerning between true and false doctrine, that his house may be a little church, and he may yet glorify God in this. But the celebration of Christmass invites all men to come to church to hear their carnal message about a carnal Jesus who understands them and wants to forgive them, and love them, and therefore the gospel is NOT preached, and if not preached then it is NO church, but a den of hypocrites. Zacharius Ursinus the author of the Heidelburg catechism writes that Christians are distinguished from the world by their doctrine, and they must be therefore separate from the world. Let the world then have their Christmasses, and their pompous pagentry. We will be content with the pure and simple worship of God, and the praising of His great name for what He hath done for our soul. To sum up, public worship is not optional but necessary, but in days of apostasy as we see ourselves in, it is unlawful to attend a wicked church.
1. The Preaching of the Word.
Another singular benefit of the Sabbath which is nowhere to be found in Christmass celebration is the efficacy of the word preached on the Lord’s day. My intention here is not to bring Christmass practices into the topic and simply expound upon Christian duty on the Sabbath in order to establish the point that Christmass has nothing to do with Christian worship and therefore should be considered anathema, an abomination, and a curse. Therefore, let him who has the ears to hear be fully convinced by this law that the world and the church are not in agreement, but the world hath her allurements, and the church hath her garments, which are to be kept clean. And so, the true church of God, being called by the word, convinced by the word, convicted by the word, brought to God by the word, humbled by the word, bruised and crushed by the word and therefore begotten to a living hope in Christ by the word hath no other desire than to hear it faithfully preached. For if a person truly loves God, and God’s voice is heard in that word, what would they delight to hear more than that same word? By this principle, then do we live. As the apostle says, “being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Pet. 1:23) and another apostle says, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you…” (Gal. 4:19) “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” (1 Cor. 4:15) Being therefore brought to conviction of sin by the preaching of the law and the gospel, and being united to Christ through the effectual calling of the Spirit of grace, we are continually transformed by it, sanctified by it, and shown the greatness of our Savior and the solemnity of our duty to Him by it. Let us therefore, as many as have this mind flock under the pure and faithful teaching of the word, for “if they escaped not him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.” (Heb. 12:25)
2. Public Prayer.
There is also a mighty efficacy in public prayer, that is the prayer of the preacher for the people. For God would show us what our relation to Him is by our relation to the minister. For He that is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth has condescended to our frailty, taking upon Himself our flesh, in order that He might redeem us from sin, teach us wisdom and lead us in the way of righteousness in a manner that reaches our feeble capacity. Therefore a minister is not a lord over God’s heritage as Peter saith, nor a master over men’s consciences, but a servant and a teacher of sound doctrine. Do you see a man who teaches sound doctrine? Be assured he is sent by God to preach His word. Therefore he is also called to prayer, as Christ also taught us and prayed for His disciples saying, “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:2-3) and again he says to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32) And so, the faithful ministers of the word are sent by God first to preach and then to pray for God’s people. We are delivered from sin only through the intercession of Christ, not by works, not by will, and therefore it behooves Christ’s ministers to pray for the people, that their faith fail not.
3. The Sacraments.
Another peculiar benefit of the Sabbath day is the administration of the sacraments; Baptism to confer the sign of God’s covenant upon those in the visible church, and the Lord’s supper to confirm our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The first demonstrates our union with Christ, and the second our communion with Him. These elements of water, bread and wine must be handled reverently, and with great care, lest they be considered common, as they are in the church today. As was mentioned before, not all Christians have access to the sacraments, because the church is apostate and serves a false god, and the apostle says, “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” (1 Cor. 10:21) and again, “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (2 Cor. 6:16-17) Therefore let us observe that it is the doctrine that carries weight here and not the common elements. For if any man have the elements without the doctrine he is shown to be a liar and a hypocrite, for that he has the form without the matter, and praises himself for being in the church, but doth not have the doctrine of the church. There is nothing more common than for men to rejoice that they have the outward representation, and deride those that be without it. But they being bold and presumptuous toward God receive not the doctrine which the sacraments represent and wholly reject the counsel of God showing themselves unworthy of it. For what is Baptism but the sprinkling of water? And what is water but an earthly element created for God’s purpose of manifesting to us the power of cleaning which is the office of the Spirit? Therefore let no man boast that he has water. If he do not believe the doctrine which the water represents, he has nothing, but deludes himself by a lie. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 9) as the apostle witnesses.
4. Fellowship with the Saints.
He that loves God loves those who are like God and desires fellowship with them for His sake. This is one of the many tests of true religion in scripture. The apostle John says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” (1 John 5:1) It is inconceivable therefore for someone to claim to love God, but cast contempt upon His ministers and saints who speak of His word, and love His holy name. There are more hypocrites than Christians in the church today, and therefore we are warned, not to love all men, but the brethren, as Peter says, “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood.” It is a civil honor we bestow upon the heathen and the hypocrites and this is such a love that reaches to the farthest reaches of this world. We cease not to do good for them, and pray for them, but we do not treat them as Christians or offer them the hand of fellowship. This is to give evangelical credence to devils. And these men are manifested in part by their own attitude towards the saints, that is those who bear the image of God and speak truly about His word.
The apostle writes, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” (1 John 3:14) and again, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20) God’s image is written upon the heart of His people, through which regeneration they know Him, speak of Him and delight to do His will. Those who are dogs and outsiders bark at the saints because of our doctrine, because they have no part in eternal life. They look at us with contempt and mockery, deride us, labeling us as, “sectarian”, “schismatic”, “hypercalvinist”, “uncharitable”, “unloving” and whatever they can conjure up in their darkened brain. This is because they do not have the love of God. They gather together in temples made with hands and boast that they have the numbers because they do not have the truth. Their hatred for God is manifested by their hatred for His people, as it is written, “as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.” (Gal. 4:29) But we, the people of God, desiring in all things to please Him, love also the saints, and do not shun fellowship with them, as it is written, “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Heb. 10:24-25) Let us therefore, as many as love God, love the brethren also, and do all that we can for their good and spiritual edification.
e. Private Worship.
As we open a new section of the discussion of the Sabbath day, let us call to remembrance what we are doing here and why we are laboring so hard to bring home this principle of the sanctity of the Lord’s day. For in that God hath surely set apart one day of the seven to be the weekly Sabbath, it is presupposed that, 1. He hath set apart one day of the week to be holy, therefore let no man call any other day of the seven holy. 2. He hath made the Lord’s day holy by virtue of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written, “he was raised for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” and, “there remaineth a Sabbath-keeping to the people of God.” Seeing then that a Sabbath is left for us, and God hath justified us by His own blood in the death and resurrection of Christ, and the scripture speaks of the first day of the week, and the Lord’s day as to when the people came together, broke bread, and heard the word preached, and Christ verily said He came not to destroy the law, there remains the principle that God hath consecrated this day only to be holy to Himself. 3. God also hath made fifty-two days of the year holy, which being the first day of each week are not days of our choosing. It is an egregious crime therefore to despise this day which God hath sanctified and raise up a day of the year, rather than of the week, on which cleverly devised abominations are committed and which things of idolatry and self-love the Lord God saith that He hateth. Let us remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, which intimates, 1. Keeping the Sabbath day itself holy, and 2. keeping the other days common. For to mix these two principles is a crime worthy of punishment, and God will not forgive those guilty of profaning His worship. As it is written, “If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him?’ Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.” (1 Sam. 2:25)
Continuing our discourse then on the Sabbath, let us be reminded that private worship is also required of us, for if we attend public worship and imagine our duty complete, is this not a proof of hypocrisy? Do we worship God where men can see us, and forbear his worship in the secret place? As it is written, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Matt. 6:5-6) Therefore, those who love the Lord, while holding fast to the necessity of public worship and the preaching of His word before the whole congregation do show forth their sincerity by worshiping Him in private, in the inner depths of the heart, zealously attending to His doctrine, clinging to His word, hoping in His promises, trusting in His mercy, and looking forward with eager anticipation to the resurrection of the dead, when they will finally leave this wretched life and be joined to Christ in heaven, as it is written, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:25) and again, “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.” (2 Cor. 5:4-9) And so, let us, as the holy prophets and apostles did of old send up unto God the sweet sacrifices of praise, giving thanks to Him, adoring Him with our lips and uttering those sighs and groans which cannot be spoken, even the worship of His glorious name in our inmost being.
1. Private Reading.
It is written in the scriptures, “These [Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)
While the preaching of the word, prayer from the pulpit and the word read and heard in the service is the chief means of grace, and the instrument which God ordinarily uses in the salvation of souls, yet as rational creatures, members of the church, and saints purchased by Christ, it is our duty to search the scriptures to examine the doctrine we are hearing. This is not only scarce in the Reformed church today, lamentably it is unseen. Men and women today flock to hear their favorite famous theologian, and do not even check the scriptures to ensure that what they speak is aligned with it. In fact, their darkened minds are so cornered by intimidation, their own self-love so promoted by them that they blindly follow them into damnation, and do not heed the warnings of the true prophets. This is only one reason why private reading is necessary, even that wolves are daily tearing up their prey, and making carcasses of those that would call themselves the people of God. But they do not know the scriptures. They are the blind being led by the blind, and they have no taste for God’s word, so they allow their wicked pastors to abuse the text for them and preach smooth things to them. This is not the conduct of the saints. We have pastors, and we hear the word faithfully, and therefore by that same principle, we heed diligently to the word, and daily examine it to confirm the doctrine being taught. Let us then briefly observe how the church is being led astray into error and the people are blindly following.
i. In Doctrine.
1. The doctrine of free will.
Is there anything more absurd than man’s free will? And yet pastors all across this nation preach in their sermons that Christ is dead for all men and desires all to be saved. Thus it is impressed upon the sinner to make a decision, or change his life in a way that the pastor can cover his faults and pronounce him clean. This is the doctrine of Rome. But the scriptures do not teach free will, but in every place take away from the glory of man, debasing him, and ascribing all kingdom, power, and glory to God alone. This is seen in Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:5-9, Romans 1-3, Isaiah 40-66, Daniel 4, John 1:13, Romans 9 and many others also.
2. The doctrine of common grace.
This is another poisonous doctrine spewed out by the mouth of Satan, and hath no basis in scripture, and yet the people believe it, why? Because the mouth of the false prophets have spoken it, and they being born of this world will believe any and all false doctrines. They abuse and wrest passages like Matt. 5 to cover the fact that they want to erase Malachi 1! So they say, “God makes his sun to shine on the unjust! So God doesn’t hate Esau after all! but God’s word is sure and established. He hath not only declared that He hateth Esau, but hath shown us what He intendeth to do with him, even destroy him utterly, as it is written, “Edom saith, we are impoverished, but we will return and build… Thus saith the LORD, they will build, but I will throw down, and they shall call them…the people against whom the LORD hath indignation forever.” (Mal. 1:4) Therefore doth Christ command us to do good to all men, and leave their destruction into the hands of God, for He will bring them down with a sore destruction, and “will leave them neither root nor branch.” (Mal. 4:1)
And many other such false doctrines do they hold, passing over the scripture that they might establish their traditions. But lest we stray too far off topic, let us return to the purpose of this discourse.
ii. In Practice.
1. The Celebration of Christmass.
If men searched the scriptures daily as they were commanded, and especially on the Sabbath, would they not surely find that these celebrations are nowhere to be found? When did God command men to join the world in reveling, excess of wine, inane and foolish song, self-righteousness, frivolous jollity, and flourishing of decadent ornament?
When did He command them to raise up trees to gather around, and take pictures around, place presents by, and adore, imagining it to be something when it is nothing? But He hath said in His word, “Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.” (Jer. 10:2-3) Therefore, if God hath surely commanded men not to do this, why do those highly esteemed in the church maintain these secular practices? Is it not because they have no knowledge of His word, as it is written, “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.” (Hos. 4:1) and again, “I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.” (Hos. 8:12) Therefore is the private reading of God necessary to aid us in confirming the word preached to us, and turning us from these vain and wicked practices which we see clearly condemned in the word of God.
2. Pictures of Christ.
Briefly, seeing it is such a disturbing reality in the church, and even among many calling themselves Protestant and Reformed, we ought to show plainly that the word of God manifestly prohibits any pictures or representations of Him. Deut 4:12 says, “And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.” But the people of the church pay no mind to the word of God, and the voice that is spoken. They heap to themselves images, pictures, statues, and other forms of idolatry, following after their mother, that great whore the Roman church which causes all men to drink of the wine of her fornication. Therefore, those that have ears to hear, and have a delight in the word of God, take heed to private reading, and let your minds be fully established in the doctrine which God reveals in His word, even that what He commands, even that we are to do, and what He does not command, that we are to abstain from. But lest we stray beyond what is meet, let us conclude this point with an exhortation to holy duties on the Sabbath day. For if God hath surely promised success to the saints, saying, “He that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6) even so, they by that command made effectual by the Spirit do seek Him in His word and do earnestly and zealously desire to know Him more, as He reveals Himself to us therein. Let us not then wander about aimlessly as the world does, not knowing where they go, for they travel about as blind men in a labyrinth of utter darkness, not rightly discerning any good thing. Let us diligently seek God in the scriptures, and open His word on the Sabbath believing that He will bless us abundantly by it, seeing that our life is bound up in the words spoken there. Let us hold fast to the promise with confidence, as it is written, “cast not away your confidence which hath great recompense of reward” (Heb. 10:35) and, “But Christ [was faithful] as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” (Heb. 3:6) and again, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…” (Heb. 10:22) knowing certainly that what God hath promised to us in His word even that He will accomplish. And so let us read, and so let us believe.
2. Private Prayer.
Let us not imagine, however that our duty is complete after that we have heard the word preached, and read the scriptures. Nay, our duty is a constant duty, and we would do well to remember what Christ hath done for us, even giving His life, so that we might ever keep in mind what a great service we owe to Him. Therefore the scripture saith, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) “pray for us” (Heb.13:18) “pray that the word might have free course” (2 Thess. 3:1) “The ears of the Lord are opened to the prayers of the righteous” (Ps. 34:15, 1 Pet. 3:12) “the prayers of the righteous avail much” (Jam. 5:15) and many more. Therefore, the Christians shows himself diligent in private devotion, praying for the success of the ministry, the growth of the church, the protection of the saints, the increase of godly families, and the advance of the kingdom of God. So the catechism says, “In the second petition [of the Lord’s prayer], which is, Thy kingdom come, we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.” And so, the life of the Christian is a busy life, for not only must he put his body to work, as other men, but his mind and his spirit too, evaluating the doctrine he learns by sermons, meditating upon the principles, praying upon them, and so much the more on the Sabbath day when God promises the most success. Let us then, as many as be spiritually minded pray earnestly and fervently in the secret place, knowing that God will draw near to those that seek Him in truth, for that is of His Spirit. Whom God wills to bless then, He draws, and whom He draws He blesses with grace that they might come to Him, and diligently seek Him and pray to Him for blessing that His grace might appear the richer. Puritan Samuel Bolton once said, “When God has a purpose to give, He stirs up the heart to seek, and this stirring up of the heart to seek is an evidence that He has a
purpose to bestow. He loves to bestow His mercy in a way of seeking, that
we may be encouraged to come to Him, and to regard our blessings as the
fruits of prayer and the performance by God of His promises to us.”
And so may the saints of God ever be encouraged to seek after God in prayer.
3. Memorization.
Another chief Christian duty, which gathers especial benefit on the Sabbath day is memorization of scripture. As the Spirit of God disposes all His gifts according to His own will, and the memorization of God’s word is truly a gift, we can except abundant results when we labor to hide His word in our hearts, that it might come the easier to our memory when it is quoted or when a passage in context is used. Whether it is the memorization of small portions at a time, or whole books of the Bible, God Himself will put it in our hearts that we might not forget it. Jesus says in John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Therefore we are encouraged to the work, and do diligently put forth our hand and mind to the plow, which work shall undoubtedly reap unspeakable benefits. This is wholly antithetical to the practices committed during Christmass time, for the worldlings, those children of the devil store things in their memory too; plays, lines, movie quotes, silly Christmass songs, and many other things that defile the mind with frivolous nonsense. Even Christmass hymns which seem on the surface to have good and pious lyrics may be used by the devil to further his cause. What better way to plague the minds of them than with the words of truth itself! So that when men sing,
“O come, O come, Emmanuel” they do not meditate on the necessity of the incarnation due to their wretched depravity, but puffing themselves up imagine an earthly Christ, an earthly salvation and an earthly Israel. This is not to memorize with profit. The saints lay the word of God in our hearts because we love the word, both its convictions and its comforts, its bruises and its balm, its humblings and its honorings. The saints put scripture to memory so that they might glorify God with all their mind, as the scripture commands us.
4. Recollection.
As the hearing of sermons is a chief duty of Christians on the Sabbath, so the recollection of what is said is related to it. When we listen to a sermon, if we would reap profit from it, it is requisite that we put to memory the main points and think about what was spoken. Every sermon has a passage, points, and a purpose. The preacher is called by God to bring out from scripture analysis, antithesis and application, and therefore are those that hear impressed with the duty of hearing it, laying it up in their hearts and practicing it in their lives, as the catechism teaches us. It may be helpful to us to take with us a notebook if we are prone to forgetfulness, and write down the main points, and what benefited us the most in what was said, then later on survey and review what was written so that what was spoken may be sharply impressed upon your memory. Remember, beloved your great calling, and who it is that speaks to you in the sermon. If you forget the pastor’s word, he may never know, but if you forget the word of Christ, and the prodding of His Spirit to obedience, He may take it hardly, and chasten thee with His displeasure. Be therefore exhorted to hear, and remember.
5. Meditation.
“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Col. 3:2
We are exhorted to hear the word, believe the word, obey the word, lay up the word in our hearts, practice the word, and cherish the word zealously as newborn babes their mother’s milk. And here we are exhorted to think upon the word. The Puritans called meditation the chewing of the cud. It is the process of thinking upon the relation between doctrines, how they fit together, the gospel, our great redemption in Christ, the many duties we owe to Him and so on. There is an infinite matter of meditation in scripture, and therefore we are commanded to not only hear the word when it is preached, but think on it also. For instance, let’s suppose the preacher says in the sermon, “In regeneration, the newborn believer understands for the first time that it is God alone that is to be glorified in salvation and not himself.”
Here is rich material for meditation! Here is treasure waiting to be reaped! In this one brief statement we have, 1. The necessity of regeneration, 2. the grace of God in saving souls, 3. the nature and essence of saving faith, 4. the understanding of sound doctrine, 5. The light of the gospel, 6. his previous condition of enmity, 7. the majesty of God who alone is to be glorified, 8. the God-glorifying nature of faith, 8. the glory of God in salvation, 9. the cross which alone accomplishes this, 10. the necessity of humility in faith, 11.the law which brings us to this knowledge, 12. Christ, a Savior suited for such sinners as we… and so on and so on, ad infinitum. Brethren, do not allow one sermon to be heard without profit. Do thy utmost to meditate on what is spoken and process it in your mind so that by God’s help it may become clearer. For this much is certain, that those whom God gives this blessed gift of meditation, through this means He trains them to proficiency in gospel doctrine. Therefore, hear the word and think upon it!
f. Works of Necessity and Mercy.
Since this is not a subject under much controversy in our days I will not spend so much time on it. there is much more danger in these apostate times of men lapsing entirely from Sabbath worship than in observing it in an unlawful and austere manner. The Lord says, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” meaning that it was made for man’s benefit, and not for his destruction. The purpose of the Sabbath is man’s rest, not his bondage. So the Pharisees much abused the purpose of the day when they rebuked the disciples for plucking grain on the Sabbath and even Christ for healing on the Sabbath! Being full of self-admiration and all wickedness, they looked beyond the reason for its institution and began to turn it into their own tradition. So, works of necessity as cooking, if prepared food is not available, and mercy, as healing and helping your neighbor is acceptable, but work, recreation and even thoughts of the same remain entirely forbidden.

The desire of the saint for spiritual worship rather than the sacrifice of fools.
So, we will end this section with some brief comments on Psalm 27:4, which says, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.” To fully establish this point that true spiritual worship is entirely antithetical to the practices of idolatry that consume Christmass time we should look closely at Psalm 27, wherein David full of divine zeal and burning affection lifts up his voice in adoration and true worship. “One thing” says he “have I desired of the Lord”. The Christian is characterized by single-mindedness. Christ says, “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light, but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” and the apostle James says, “the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Note, that it is the peculiar virtue of the Christian to be single-minded and to seek after the true worship of God. We do not join hands with Rome, or the modern Calvinist churches which have communion with the Arminians who deny Christ, but we keep ourselves pure and holy as God is holy, and separate from the world of unbelief and idolatry. John Calvin said, “To offer fellowship to heretics is to deny God.” This principle then also pertains to corrupt practices like Christmass. As was before explained, there are both false doctrines and false practices associated with Christmass, and shall a Christian then entangle himself therein to the defilement of his soul? God forbid. Shall a Christian have anything to do with Santa Claus whose name expresses blind sentiment, festering ignorance, and the goodness of children, when the Christian (by grace) believes in the doctrine of sin? God forbid. Shall a Christian celebrate those things in the world which defile true worship? Have we not seen that true Christian worship and especially on the Sabbath is manifested by holiness, prayer, Psalm singing, the hearing of gospel preaching, and the study and memorization of scripture? What have we then to do with Christmass? What has Christ to do with Christmass? What hath the Father of lights have to do with father Christmass? What hath a Christian to do with idols and vain trinkets? Let us therefore as many as be spiritually minded have this mind that David had, even the desire to worship God in His temple. Not a secondary, or tertiary desire which alloweth for that which stifleth and consumeth our desire for God, for God is not served with mammon. As Augustine saith well, “Whoever, then, has Christ in his heart, so that no earthly or temporal things — not even those that are legitimate and allowed — are preferred to Him, has Christ as a foundation. But if these things be preferred, then even though a man seem to have faith in Christ, yet Christ is not the foundation to that man; and much more if he, in contempt of wholesome precepts, seek forbidden gratifications, is he clearly convicted of putting Christ not first but last, since he has despised Him as his ruler, and has preferred to fulfill his own wicked lusts, in contempt of Christ’s commands and allowances.” Therefore as the saints of old, let us serve God with a pure heart, in singleness of mind, being willing to put away from our eyes these evil abominations, and put away from our hearts the corruptions which defile our soul. For it is certain that a Christian cannot escape unscathed from this festive revelry. You cannot innocently and lawfully partake in a celebration which gives assent to devils. As it is written, “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” Purify yourselves then, and come out from them. Let us go earnestly to the house of God to hear His word that we might know what He would have us to do.
“To behold the beauty of the Lord”. It is certain that the beauty of the Lord is a spiritual beauty. He is full of grace, wisdom, truth, righteousness, holiness, power, mercy and love. All of these are invisible and are comprehended in the soul, in the mind, the heart and the will. It is of the mind to believe, of the will to hope, and the heart to love. Therefore let us put away the cumbersome burdens of the flesh and look up to God, beholding His righteousness wrought for us, and giving Him the thanks and praise that He deserves. Let us not make vain excuses saying that we need Christmass to celebrate the incarnation, or to evangelize. This is but a cloak of hypocrisy. God will not be mocked. We celebrate His incarnation on the Lord’s day, and we evangelize as He gives opportunity. But He alone is to be worshiped, and He is not worshiped in any manner except that which He commands. He is righteous, pure and He is altogether lovely. Let us not dally therefore here in the natural plain, but ascend with our minds into heaven and behold Christ there by faith, for if Christmass is to be utterly abolished, it must be by faith, it must be because it is commanded, and we must be fully persuaded that it is so, or we sin in so doing. Let us diligently consider these points, and make every effort to study this doctrine of the law, and of God’s worship, so that we are not carried away into idolatry, which is the precursor to damnation. God will not be worshiped according to the fool’s manner of worship. He rebukes the people for setting up their own idols, and professing to know Him, and threatens judgment upon all people who go a whoring after other gods from Him. For it is certain that if we are worshiping according to these corrupt principles, we are not worshiping the true God, for He only hath made known how He is to be served and worshiped, as it is written, “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” And again, “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.” (Lev. 10:1-3) Though God’s worship is profaned in worse manner today than what these presumptuous men dared to offer, yet this word is sufficient warning to us to turn from this evil, and worship God in spirit, apart from images, and vain superstition. And so, we walking by faith and not by sight, look for the righteousness of God from heaven, a spiritual righteousness which supersedes all this brave ostentation and gilded ornament. We the people of God with one heart and one mind look unto Christ our Savior who became as we are that we might be made like Him, and therefore have no need of the foolishness of Christmass. And therefore to conclude this point, we have premised that Christmass brings with it many carnal associations, and is not merely a celebration of the incarnation. The word Christmass brings up thoughts of empty sentiment, superstition, self-righteousness, and is followed by the treacherous tradition of Santa, the idolatrous practice of decking Christmass trees, the singing of cheap songs which in no wise magnify the name of Christ, and the profanation of the Sabbath day. And therefore our conclusion is that Christmass cannot be celebrated in good conscience, but is the breach and contempt of all of God’s commandments. “For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.” Jam. 2:11

V. Christmass is contempt of the Tenth Commandment.
While many things could be said pertaining to the celebration of Christmass and the breaking of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth commandment, in order that we do not stretch the point too large, we will briefly show the mad hypocrisy that pays no regard for the tenth, and then conclude. For if we can prove that this practice is against the will of God, we have done enough, and the only manner of showing that it is not the will of God is to observe the law, and see what law it comes into contradiction with. For in that God hath said, “You shall have no other gods before me” He is saying, “You shall love the Lord your God.” For all negative prohibitions there is a positive injunction, and vice versa. Therefore we have already proved that it is an egregious breaking of the first table of the law, and especially of the Sabbath day, the only holy day God has consecrated to Himself. Therefore to extend beyond this is needless. Nevertheless for the sake of this law which is so impudently breached during this time, we will make a brief case concerning this also. The purpose of the tenth commandment is to reveal God’s will for the reasonable soul, and to humble man before Him. In order to stamp all holiness, and righteousness upon the law, and to put it well beyond all doubt that the world is guilty before Him, God hath in His divine and inscrutable wisdom couched the other eight commandments in between the first and the tenth. The first says, “You shall love the Lord your God.” which man cannot do because man is a rank idolater by nature. And the tenth says, “You shall be content with your circumstance.” which man cannot do because he is ever lusting in selfish ambition for more in life. Now, while we in no wise maintain that he has any ability to do the other eight, it is made clear that these two are as two high walls which hedge man in and stop his mouth from boasting. For if man say, “I do not serve idols, nor blaspheme God. I keep the Sabbath, I love my parents have never killed, nor committed adultery nor stolen nor lied.” Yet He cannot say he hath loved God perfectly, nor ever been content. These are the most demonstrable ways in which man is shown his guiltiness. So Christ says, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” (Matt. 19:21-22) Here we see the Lord hedging this rich man in with the law. He boasted in the law. He said he kept these other commandments from his youth. But God shows him the greatness of the law in the first and tenth saying, “Go and sell everything, and follow me.” And then he went away sorrowful, because He could not be content with God. So we see the nature of this commandment, and its relation to the others. God speaks out of heaven in thunder and terror saying, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” (Ex. 20:17)
And yet man when he is born into this world is born a coveting monster. He is not satisfied with anything, but goes from pleasure to pleasure, drinking himself to sin, and fornicating even to adultery, yet his soul is never satisfied. This is where Christmass comes from. Man is not content to worship God in spirit and truth which are heavenly, but heaps to himself diverse means of entertainment, festive merriment and many other ways he imagines himself to be worshiping. But this is not pleasing to God, nor is it worship, as we have before stated. During this time of the year more than any other, parents encourage covetousness by lavishing gifts on their children simply because it is a holiday. This is to set their minds on the earth. The anticipation every Christmass morning is, “what item shall I receive today?” “how shall my life be enriched by these toys?” etc… They are promoting the destruction of their children’s spiritual life by teaching them to desire happiness from this life, and not from the things of God. Do you need Christmass in your life? Then you are not content with God. Do you need gifts and presents? You are not content. This is not to say that earthly possessions don’t have their place, but we do not zealously pursue them, nor do Christians teach their children to seek after them. God has revealed to us that His will for us is to seek our blessedness in Him, and in true spiritual devotion. This as has been said before is antithetical to the adoration of all the images, ornaments, gifts, pageants, and other such worldly things that make Christmass what it is. If it is a gift, it is from the heart, and not because of a tradition, and therefore does the celebration of Christmass take items and make them to be something they are not. Items are not happiness, and the receiving of them is not true joy. “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Rom. 14:17)
If your desire is the eternal blessing of your children which is the very definition of love, you will see to it that your children are taught that we deserve nothing from God, but receive all things gratuitously by His hand. To teach humility then is a true gift. Are all gifts wrong therefore? Is it unlawful to give any material thing to another person? No, but making it a tradition to give a child something simply because it is a certain day, will turn their hearts away from God, away from contentment and they will expect it rather than be grateful for it. For it is certain that we deserve nothing, yea the wrath of God apart from Christ, therefore we are grateful for God’s gift of redemption and live in a manner pleasing to Him according to His commandments, even from the first to the tenth. This principle of humility is the only ground on which true religion is built.

Conclusion.
Therefore, let all those in Christ Jesus walk in the Spirit, and learn to abolish the vain practices of the world which are enamored and adored by the false church. The world will always be the world: corrupt, evil, vain, superstitious, and carnal. But we are separated from this world, called to be holy and sanctified by the Spirit, (if indeed the Spirit of Christ dwells in you). We are called out of this present evil age to be lights in the world, to walk as children of light, and rebuke the unfruitful works of darkness. Let us serve God in simplicity, in sincerity, in contentment, in humility, in the Spirit; for God is not pleased by the sacrifice of fools, and contrary to all modern teaching He does not accept you because you try hard. He does not accept your best effort. He does not accept that which He has not commanded. It is said in His law, “they that do them shall live by them.” Therefore those under the covenant of works are obliged to do the whole law. They under grace have the obligation to obey God in sincerity and do that which He commands. For though our faith be a weak faith, it is a real faith, though it is a feeble faith, it is a powerful faith, and though it is a small faith, yet it is a conquering faith. Therefore let no man say, “my personal celebration of Christmass is accepted because I don’t mean anything offensive by it.” That is the religion of Rome. They taught from the beginning that so long as man works as hard as he can to please God, God accepts this as righteousness. This is false religion and is born of hell. The truth is found only in scripture: How to love God, how to serve Him, how to walk in His ways, and how to please Him. God is an immutable Spirit and cannot change what He delights in. He delights not in vain images, in bold ostentation, impudent idolatry and decadent ornament, but in righteousness, love, mercy, and joy in the Spirit. Let us worship God then, in the Spirit, not profaning His name by superstitious merry wishing, nor profaning His Holy Day by adding another, nor let us be given to covetous idolatry, but let us give ourselves wholly to God, and incline our hearts to the diligent keeping of His commandments. The apostle John ends his letter with these words,
“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” (1 John 5:18-21)