Halloween, Trick or Treat?

Page 1177

And against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God,

so that when the day of evil comes,

you may be able to stand your ground,

and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,

with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,

with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,

which is the word of God,

and pray in the Spirit on all occasions,

with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert,

and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Pray also for me,

that whenever I open my mouth,

words may be given me,

so that I will fearlessly make known

the mystery of the gospel,

for which I am an ambassador in chains.

Pray that I may declare it fearlessly,

as I should.

Thank you very much, Harry.

Well, please keep your Bible at the ready.

We're going to be looking at a few different passages this morning.

Well, let's pray together.

Father, we ask that you would be present

by the power of your Holy Spirit.

Not just present, but active.

That you would be active through the word of God.

speaking into each and every individual here.

Speaking to all of us together.

That you would help us to understand better

the world in which we live.

And the kind of people we should live in this world.

We ask for your help in all of this.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

So, the title.

You can't really see it,

but I'll tell you what it is.

Halloween.

Trick or Treat.

So, is it a fun night for the kids?

Or is it the sinister work of the devil?

Now, for many people,

Halloween is just a bit of innocent fun.

A chance to dress up as a ghost,

or even Spider-Man,

and collect as many sweets as possible.

For others,

Halloween has a dark and a more fearful side.

A night when evil and death are celebrated,

and the ways of Satan are explored.

What do you think about Halloween?

Well, we're going to look at God's Word,

and see what it has to say,

and how we as Christians should respond.

But before we get into God's Word,

just a few things.

Firstly, it is big business.

In the US,

Halloween is worth more than $4 billion to the economy.

Second only to Christmas.

But it's not just in the US.

Here, specially themed shops have opened up for the festival,

and you can even buy cards,

which you can send to people wishing them a scary Halloween.

Homes are decorated with pumpkin-shaped lights.

Giant cobwebs are sprayed onto walls.

Ghosts and witches hang from the front doors,

and gardens are transformed into miniature graveyards.

Where we live,

I think ours is the only house

that doesn't have a decoration up at the minute.

So is it just a bit of fancy dress

with an opportunity for retail stores

to make lots of money?

Well, it could be,

but I think there's a little bit more to it than that.

It does have very dark beginnings.

Halloween has its roots

in the Celtic festival of Samhain.

It is spelt S-A-M-H-A-I-N,

pronounced Samhain.

It marked the beginning of the Celtic year.

Going back almost 2,000 years ago.

The end of summer

and the beginning of winter

at that changeover point.

Summer being the season of life

when everything begins to grow,

and winter being the season of death

when everything begins to perish.

Now as summer ended

and winter began,

it was believed that Samhain,

the lord of death,

would send evil spirits

to attack human beings,

taking them from the world of life

and bringing them to the world of death.

And to escape the attack,

people would dress up as evil spirits

in an attempt to try and fool the plan of Samhain.

They thought if the evil spirits saw them dressed up,

they would be overlooked as fellow evil spirits

and they would be able to escape their attack.

Which explains, of course,

the origins of the scary masks

and costumes that people are going to be wearing.

And also the lights,

the pumpkin lights and bonfires that there may be,

were also to try and dispel

the evil spirits from getting close.

Now how much of that is all fable

or real belief at that time?

I don't know.

I wasn't around there 2,000 years ago.

And if you did a survey today

and asked all the little children

as they wandered around knocking on your door

how much of the origins they know,

I'm sure they don't know very much.

I certainly don't know a lot about

the origins of Halloween.

But having said all of that,

this has developed,

or Halloween has developed,

into a fascination with

evil and death.

We can't get away from it.

Movies from Hollywood like

Nightmare on Elm Street

and the Saw trilogy,

I haven't seen it, don't worry,

have only influenced it further.

In fact, it won't be uncommon

for people to try and contact the dead

through various mediums

and perhaps explore the darker side of life

through games like the Ouija board.

So maybe

it is a little bit more sinister

than innocent.

But you say,

wasn't Christmas

a pagan festival?

Well, yes,

Christmas was a pagan festival

and over the years

it has become Christianized

to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,

God incarnate.

Jesus, the God-man,

coming into the world.

So,

why can't we do exactly the same

with Halloween?

Why can't we Christianize it?

Well, that's exactly what some people

have done.

For some,

Halloween is a religious festival.

Halloween is a shortening of

All Hallows' Eve,

or what has become known better as

All Souls' Day,

celebrated on the 1st of November,

and has now been part of the church calendar,

I think,

since the 600s.

So it's a time

when people remember the dead

and when some people

will pray for the dead.

Now,

for followers of Jesus Christ,

to remember

and to give thanks to God

for the lives of loved ones

is a good thing.

I'd encourage us to do that,

to remember

and say thank you to God

for the people

who have influenced us

in our lives.

But to pray for the dead,

that's a different matter altogether,

because

to pray for the dead

is as profitable

as asking the inhabitants

of their local graveyard

to cut their own grass

and say get up out of the graves

and cut your grass.

You see,

the Bible makes it very clear

in Hebrews 9,

Hebrews 9:27

verse 27,

I'll just quote it for you,

that we are destined

to die once

and after that

to face the judgment

of Christ.

And at that time,

at that judgment,

God will bring those

who love him

and turn to him

to his heaven,

to his kingdom,

his eternal kingdom

of light.

And he will separate

those who have ignored him

and rejected him

to hell,

to a kingdom of darkness.

So praying for the dead

is actually too late.

While our prayers

are effective

for people today,

and I encourage people

to pray for each other,

it is effective now

for those who are living,

but our prayers

are ineffective

for those who have died.

So what are we to do

with Halloween?

What does the Bible say

about it?

Well,

I've looked through the Bible

and it never mentions Halloween,

and it doesn't say anything

about All Souls Day.

But it does have a lot

to say about evil,

death,

and Satan,

and who has

the ultimate power.

So let's have a look

at what the Bible says

about the devil

and his ways.

The devil's trick.

The devil,

as some will say,

is a made-up character.

Well, he's not a made-up character.

And death and evil

are not just pretend ideas

that just come out

to haunt us

on the 31st of October.

No, the devil is very real,

and his influence

in the world

is very real.

Scripture calls him

the god of this world,

the prince,

or the ruler

of this world.

Meaning that he presides over

and he leads the world's rebellion

against God.

Now, while we must

take him seriously,

we must also remember

that he is primarily

a trickster.

He's a liar.

He's a fraud.

He is an angel,

or he masquerades

as an angel of light.

In fact, the Bible

gives him the title

of deceiver

and father of lies.

in Revelation 12,

Revelation 12:9

verse 9,

he is described as

that ancient serpent

called the devil

or Satan

who leads

the whole world

astray.

So he is chiefly

a trickster.

He tells lies

to people.

And I'm going to suggest

this morning

that one of the things

we need to be careful of

is not to believe

the lies of the devil

who will say

that Halloween

is all just a bit of fun

and fancy dress.

So don't take it

so seriously.

Why are you getting

all excited about it?

It's only pretend.

It's fine.

Now, while we don't want

to over-hype Halloween

and suggest

that all the little kids

who are going to be

knocking on our doors

this evening

looking for sweets

are somehow involved

in a seance

or involved

as a devil's servant,

I think that would be

terribly unhelpful

to think that way.

However,

we do need to be careful

that we don't dismiss it all

as just simply

fun and games.

The mature Christian

will take these things

seriously.

The Apostle Peter

says this in 2 Peter 5

verse 8

Be self-controlled

and alert.

Your enemy,

the devil,

prowls around

like a roaring lion

looking for someone

to devour.

You see,

the ultimate purpose

of the devil

is to disrupt

the work of God

and to distract

people from God.

And one of the ways

he will do this

is to get us to think

that evil and death

and Satan

are not real.

They're all just

made up.

So we must be

on our guard.

So let's have a look

at three things

under the heading

of the devil's trick.

Firstly,

that evil

is real.

History

and our own experience

today

tells us

that evil

is very present

in our world.

But what we don't

always appreciate

is that the devil

stands behind it all.

He is,

if you like,

the chief

instigator

promoting it.

Have a look

at John's gospel,

chapter 8,

verse 42.

John chapter 8,

John 8:42

verse 42.

It's on page 1074.

Now the context

of this

is Jesus

is contrasting

those who are

children of God

and those who are

children of the devil.

And this is what it says,

John 8,

John 8:42

verse 42.

Jesus said to them,

he was speaking

to the religious leaders,

if God were your father,

you would love me,

for I came from God

and now I'm here.

I have not come

on my own,

but he sent me.

Why is my language

not clear to you?

Why don't you understand

what I'm saying?

Because you are

unable to hear

what I say.

You belong

to your father,

the devil,

and you want

to carry out

your father's desires.

He,

the devil,

was a murderer

from the beginning,

not holding

to the truth,

for there is

no truth in him.

When he lies,

he speaks

his native language,

for he is a liar

and the father

of lies.

So in these

couple of verses,

we see that the devil

is described as a murderer

and a liar.

That is his character.

And all those

who do such things

and those who approve

of them

are also children

of the devil

because the people

he was speaking to

were trying to plot

the death of Jesus.

But there's something

else deeper than that.

Murder and lying

is not just a choice

that we make.

It's actually

carrying out,

if you notice carefully,

verse 44,

it is carrying out

the desires

of the devil.

So behind all evil

in this world,

be it the Holocaust

in which more than

six million Jews

were murdered,

or an unnoticed lie

to your friend

in the workplace,

the devil stands

behind it.

We can't blame him,

we are still responsible

for our actions,

but we must also

understand that

our wrong actions

are fulfilling

what the devil wants.

So our choices,

our behavior,

the things that we say,

they're not just

our free choice

to behave and to act

however we want.

It's telling us

very clearly

that we are ruled

by the evil influence

of the devil.

evil.

So evil is

very real.

Well, evil's

not the only thing.

Death is also

very real.

In the Bible,

when it talks about death,

it's not just physical.

It is also something

eternal

and spiritual.

And it is the consequences

of our rebellion

against God.

Have a look here

at Hebrews chapter 2,

Hebrews 2:14–15

verses 14 to 15.

Hebrews 2,

Hebrews 2:14–15

verses 14 to 15.

It's on page 1202.

And the context

in this section here

has been describing

the person of Jesus,

his work,

and how Jesus

defeated death.

So Hebrews chapter 2,

Hebrews 2:14

verse 14.

It says,

Since the children,

that's us,

have flesh and blood,

that's how we're made.

It says,

Jesus too

shared in their humanity.

He came into this world

to be like one of us.

So that,

by his death,

he might destroy him

who holds the power of death.

And who's that?

That is,

the devil.

And to free those

who all their lives

were held in slavery

by their fear of death.

Now we all know

that death is something

that happens to us all.

But notice here

that it is attributed

as being under the power

of the devil.

In other words,

his accusations,

his charges against us,

will lead to our death

and our eternal separation

from God.

So without Christ,

without his intervention,

it is telling us

that the whole world

is held in slavery

to the power of death

and under its master,

the devil.

Death is not just the end.

We don't just suddenly

cease to exist.

It is serious.

If we are to die

without Christ,

it is to enter

into an eternity

with the devil.

evil.

So evil is very real

and death

is very real.

And all of this

leads us to the conclusion

that Satan

and his work

is very real

and we ought

to take it seriously.

Have a look at Acts

Acts 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13.

Acts chapter 13.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

It's on page 1107.

Acts chapter 13

Acts 13 · chapter mention

and starting at verse 6

and the context here

is that Paul is on his

first church planting trip

with his buddies

and they arrive on the island

of Cyprus

where they face opposition

from Satan

through a sorcerer.

Now a sorcerer

was somebody

who was involved

in all kinds of things.

They could use

a mix of science.

They could use drugs

and the occult

to try and trick people.

So let's read

from chapter 13

verse 6.

They travelled

through the whole island

until they came

to Paphos.

There they met

a Jewish sorcerer

and false prophet

named Bar-Jesus

who was an attendant

of the proconsul

Sergius Paulus.

The proconsul,

an intelligent man,

sent for Barnabas

and Saul

because he wanted

to hear the word

of God.

But Elymas,

the sorcerer,

for that is what

his name means,

opposed them

and tried to turn

the proconsul

from the faith.

Then Saul,

who was also

called Paul,

filled with the Holy Spirit,

looked straight

at Elymas

and said,

You are a child

of the devil,

an enemy

of everything

that is right.

You are full

of all kinds

of deceit

and trickery.

Will you never

stop perverting

the right ways

of the Lord?

Now the hand

of the Lord

is against you.

You are going

to be blind

and for a time

you will be unable

to see the light

of the sun.

Immediately,

mist and darkness

came over him.

Perhaps the reason

for that was

to symbolize

or the imagery

of the darkness

of his life

and the way

he was following.

Immediately,

mist and darkness

came over him

and he groped

about seeking

someone to lead

him by the hand.

When the proconsul

saw what had happened,

he believed,

for he was amazed

at the teaching

about the Lord.

You see,

it's not that

Satan is not real,

but that he is real

and therefore

we do need

to take him seriously.

Like Elymas,

people can

and they do

interact with Satan.

I don't believe

that people can speak

directly to the dead,

but I do believe

that Satan

can speak acting

as if he were

the dead.

and willing people

as in this case here

can be used

by Satan

to do his specific work.

I'm just reminded

of my brother Philip

when he first came

to Cork

to university

in the flats

where he was living.

He was woken up

one night

to terrible commotion

and terrible noise

upstairs

and he went upstairs

to see

what was going on.

and Ouija boards

or seance

of some description

was happening

and he could feel

the evil.

He could feel

the presence

of it all

and he rang up

Ted Kelly

who was his pastor

who came round

and to pray

for Philip

for the people

who were in that situation.

So it does happen.

It is very real

and we shouldn't

take it lightly.

So Halloween

I suggest

is not something

to be passed off

as just fun

and fancy dress.

While there is

much innocent fun

involved

there is a more

sinister side.

And behind it

stands the work

of the devil

who wants to

disrupt the work

of God

and distract

people from God.

And he will use

all that he can

including Halloween

to trick people

into believing

that evil

and death

and Satan

are not real.

Samhain

and his evil spirits

may be a fable

that have been

passed down

through folklore

but the devil

and his schemes

are not

and they must

be taken

seriously.

So his biggest

trick

is to say

to us

it's all

fun and games

it's not real

don't worry

about it.

Now having

said all that

as we think

about what

I've called

the saviour's

treat

having said

all of that

we must be

careful that

we don't make

Halloween into

something that

it is not.

I don't believe

that every kid

and everybody

who's going to be

collecting sweets

or buying pumpkins

or anything else

is involved

in kind of

satanic behaviour

but we must

also be careful

not to make

the devil

into something

that he is not.

Sometimes we can

think that

behind the scenes

in this world

in which we live

there's a big battle

between good and evil

a little bit like

Gandalf

and Saruman

in Lord of the Rings

and we're all wondering

who's going to win.

No we must

never give

the devil a position

and a power

that he doesn't have.

The message of the Bible

is very clear

that the devil

is a defeated enemy

and he has no more power

than God allows him.

Perhaps

the most famous incident

is when he comes

to Job

and it is God

who allows

the devil

to come to Job

in the way

that he does.

In fact

the whole purpose

of Jesus Christ

coming into the world

was to defeat him

and to destroy

his works.

That comes in

1 John 3

1 John 3:8

verse 8.

But for us

let's have a look

at Mark's Gospel

chapter 1.

Mark's Gospel

chapter 1.

Now no sooner

does Mark

introduce us

to the coming

of Jesus

and his ministry

and immediately

after Jesus

is baptized

we see that

Jesus is confronted

personally

by Satan

himself.

Chapter 1

verse 12

it says

that once

the Spirit

sent Jesus

out into the desert

and he was

in the desert

for 40 days

being tempted

by Satan.

Now we know

that Satan's

purpose

through the

temptation

was to

distract

Jesus

from his

task

and what

he came

to do.

But having

failed to

distract

Jesus

Jesus

does go

on to

make very

clear

what he

has come

to do.

Flick over

to Mark's

Gospel

chapter 3

verse 22.

Mark's

Gospel

chapter 3

verse 22.

And the

context here

is that

Jesus

has been

driving out

demons

from people

and the

religious

leaders

think that

because

Jesus

is driving

out

demons

that

Jesus

must be

some

kind

of

evil

spirit

himself.

So

Mark

Mark 3:22

chapter 3

verse 22.

And the

teachers of

the law

who came

down from

Jerusalem

said

he

that

Jesus

is possessed

by Beelzebub

that's another

name for

Satan.

By the

prince of

demons

he is

driving

out

demons.

So

Jesus

called

them

and spoke

to them

in parables.

How can

Satan

drive out

Satan?

If a

kingdom

is divided

against

itself

that

kingdom

cannot

stand.

In the

same way

if a

house

is divided

against

itself

that

house

cannot

stand.

And

if

Satan

opposes

himself

and is

divided

he

cannot

stand

his end

has

come.

In

fact

no one

can enter

a strong

man's

house

and carry

off his

possessions

unless he

first ties

up the

strong

man.

Then

he can

rob his

house.

Now

pay close

attention to

verse 27

because Jesus

here is

stating his

mission.

Jesus

is saying

that he

is the

true

strong

man.

that he

is the

one who

has come

into the

world

to tie

up

Satan.

To

free

people

from his

influence

and

captivity.

To

carry

off his

possessions.

As we

saw earlier

in John's

gospel we

are all

born

captive

to

Satan.

We

are all

his

children.

But

Jesus

has come

to release

us from

his

power.

So that

we can

be

his

children.

Jesus

has come

to release

us from

the grip

and the

fear of

death and

to give

us life.

He's come

to bind

Satan so

that he

can release

us to

bring us

into his

family.

And as

we will

see Satan

can't stop

the mission

or the

ministry

of Jesus.

So very

quickly we'll

look at three

things here.

Jesus'

authority

over evil.

As Jesus

begins his

work he

makes his

mark in

the world

by destroying

evil spirits

and demons.

So back to

Mark chapter

Mark 1 · chapter mention

1 and

verse 23.

We see this

throughout all

the gospels

that there's a

strong emphasis

on the way

in which he

deals with

demons and

evil spirits.

Verse 23 of

chapter 1.

And just

then a man

in their

synagogue

who was

possessed by

an evil

spirit cried

out,

What do

you want

with us

Jesus of

Nazareth?

Have you

come to

destroy us?

I know

who you

are,

the Holy

One of

God.

Be quiet,

said Jesus

sternly.

Come out

of him.

The evil

spirit shook

the man

violently and

came out

of him

with a

shriek.

The people

were all

so amazed

that they

asked each

other,

What is

this?

A new

teaching?

And with

authority?

He even

gives orders

to evil

spirits and

they obey

him.

You see,

the powers

of evil,

as powerful

as they

may be,

are actually

submissive to

the powers

of Jesus.

They know

who Jesus

is,

they know

his name,

they know

what he

has come

to do,

that he's

come to

destroy

them,

and they

are afraid

of Jesus.

So Jesus

does have

authority

over evil,

and not

only that,

he has

authority

over death.

Look at

Mark's

Gospel

chapter 5.

This is

the story

of Jairus'

daughter.

They had

come initially

to Jesus

to tell him

that Jairus'

daughter was

dying,

and on

his way,

verse 35,

we read

that while

Jesus was

still speaking,

some men

came from

the house

of Jairus,

the synagogue

ruler.

Your

daughter

is dead,

they said.

Why bother

the teacher

anymore?

Verse 39,

he went

in and

he said

to them,

why all

this commotion

and wailing?

The child

is not

dead,

but asleep.

But they

laughed at

him.

After he

put them

all out,

he took

the child's

father and

mother and

the disciples

who were

with him,

and he

went in

where the

child was.

He took

her by

the hand

and said

to her,

Talitha

Coom,

which means

little girl,

I say to

you,

get up.

Immediately

the girl

stood up

and walked

around.

She was

twelve

years old.

At this

they were

completely

astonished.

death to

Jesus

was just

like waking

somebody up

from their

sleep.

In an early

morning,

just giving

them a tap

and they

wake up.

That's what

it's like

for Jesus.

He has

the supreme

power.

But that

was only

the beginning

because throughout

the rest of

Mark's gospel,

Jesus repeatedly

says that

he himself

must be

killed.

And after

three days,

he's going

to rise

again.

So when

Jesus does

die,

his disciples

go looking

for him

in the

tomb.

Look at

Mark's

gospel,

chapter 16.

Mark's

gospel,

chapter 16,

verse 5.

So the

story of

Jairus'

daughter was

only a

little picture,

a little

cameo,

of a

greater

victory over

death,

Jesus'

resurrection

from the

dead.

And in

verse 5

of chapter

16,

it says,

as they

entered the

tomb,

they saw

a young

man dressed

in his

white robe

sitting on

his right

side,

an angel,

and they

were alarmed.

Don't be

alarmed,

he said.

You are

looking for

Jesus the

Nazarene,

who was

crucified.

He died.

He has

risen.

He is not

here.

See,

look,

have a look

around the

tomb.

Search all

you like.

you won't

find him.

So,

Jesus rose

from the

grave,

defeating

death,

and the

promise is

that everybody

who believes

in him

will also

live.

Or as we

read in

Hebrews

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

he destroys

him who

holds the

power of

death,

and he

takes away

our fear.

So,

he has

authority

over evil

and over

death.

And this

all points

to the

fact that

Jesus

ultimately

has

authority

over

Satan.

Have a

look here

at

Colossians

Colossians 2:13

chapter 2

verse 13.

Colossians

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

And that's

on page

1183.

Colossians

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

We're

looking at

all these

different

passages

because

there's

no one

place

where it

deals

with all

of these

things

together.

Now,

Jesus'

authority

over

Satan

is seen

supremely

when Jesus

died on

the cross.

We're going

to pick

it up

in the

middle

of verse

13

of chapter

2,

where it

says,

God made

you alive.

So,

we'll read

from there.

God made

you alive

with Christ.

He forgave

us all

our sins,

having

cancelled

the

written

code

with its

regulations,

that was

against us

and that

stood

opposed

to us.

He took

it away,

nailing it

to the

cross.

And having

disarmed

the powers

and authorities,

that's a

reference to

Satan and

his angels,

having disarmed

the powers

and authorities,

he made a

public spectacle

of them,

triumphing

over them

by the

cross.

Now,

for people

looking at

Jesus'

death at

a local

and a

physical

level,

Jesus,

the man,

just simply

died.

But on a

cosmic and

a spiritual

level,

Jesus'

death was

the once

and for

all defeat

of Satan.

Behind the

cross,

or if you

like,

at the

cross,

there was

an invisible

battle taking

place,

a battle

that Jesus

fights in

our place,

a battle

that sees

our release

secured

and Satan

disarmed.

Let's have a

look at those

two issues,

our release

secured and

Satan disarmed.

Look at

verse 14,

as Jesus

died,

he was

suffering the

execution for

you and

for me.

As it says

at the beginning

of verse 14,

Jesus cancelled

the written

code.

It's telling

us that he

took the

death sentence

that you

and I

deserve for

our rebellion

against him.

What was

against us?

Verse 14,

Jesus took

it away,

nailing it

to the

cross.

He paid

the penalty.

He became

the death

penalty for

us,

so that we

don't have to

die for our

rebellion.

Because we

had sided

with the

devil.

Jesus has

secured

our release.

But that's

not all.

As Jesus

died, he

also defeated

Satan.

The power

that Satan

had over us

to condemn

us and to

point at us

and say,

have you seen

the way

they've messed

up, the way

they sinned,

the way they've

done all these

wrong things?

The penalty

for sin is

death.

They deserve

to be sentenced

and to be

killed.

Well, that

power to

condemn has

been completely

taken away.

Look at

verse 15,

the beginning.

It says,

he has

disarmed

the powers

and authorities.

So Satan

can no longer

threaten us

with death

and separation

from God.

He may try

to.

He may tell

us all kinds

of lies that

were just not

good enough

for God.

but as we've

been saying,

he's a trickster.

He has no

power.

In fact,

Jesus' death

was a cosmic

victory.

He made,

look at the

end of verse

15,

he made a

public spectacle

of them.

Here were the

forces of evil

thinking that

they were

getting rid

of the

Messiah,

Jesus Christ.

But he

turned that

event into

a public

spectacle for

the whole

world to see

that Christ

in the

weakness,

even in

death itself,

was triumphing

over them

by the

cross.

So Satan

has been

disarmed.

So Halloween

reminds us,

I think,

of the trick

of Satan,

but it also

reminds us

of the

Saviour's

treat,

that Jesus

is the

supreme power

and authority.

When we

submit to

Christ and

trust in

his death,

the power

and the

influence of

Satan is

broken.

We are

set free.

As we were

thinking about

the pumpkin

earlier,

he transforms

us from the

inside,

he takes

all the

mess,

takes all

the sin,

deals with

it all,

and he

replaces it

with his

light,

so that we

can shine

for him.

So finally

then,

how are we

to celebrate

Halloween?

Maybe you've

already made

your plans,

and you've

already set

your mind

very firmly

what we're

going to

do.

Well,

this is what

I think.

I'm not

going to

tell you

what to

do,

as far as

trick-or-treating

goes.

That's up to

you,

and your

mum and

dad,

and it's

not the

place of

this church

to tell

you either

whether you

should trick-or-treat,

or anything

else.

I think we've

looked at enough

to say what

we need to be

careful of.

but let me

suggest two

things in

which I

think we

can positively

engage with

Halloween.

Firstly,

if your

parents here,

or even

older people

and you do

talk to

others,

engage with

your children.

Halloween is

actually an

ideal time to

talk about

big issues,

like evil,

and death,

and Satan.

When was the

last time you

had a conversation

about those

things with

your kids?

Now's your

opportunity.

Find out what

they know about

it, and more

importantly, what

the Bible teaches.

We've looked at a

whole range of

things in the

Bible this

morning.

They need to

know about the

devil, who he

is and what he

does, because

people will say

he doesn't exist,

he's not real.

We also need to

prepare them for

the devil's tricks.

Remember what we

read in Ephesians,

the armour of God,

finally, be strong

in the Lord and

in his mighty

power.

Put on the

full armour of

God so that

you can stand

against the

devil's schemes.

But don't

stop there.

This is the

opportunity for

us to talk