April 2010

"Eostre"

April 2, 2010

“Eostre”

Blessings Folk!

Hang on and seek to be offended not!

This is the week when man, yes, man, gives special emphasis to the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

There is nothing wrong with this.

We should constantly give remembrance for what the Lord did for us.

Yet, there is a grave problem involved.

Now...hear me carefully.

We are doing the same thing that Solomon did.

1 Kings 3
3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

Solomon loved the Lord.

Solomon walked in the statues of his father David...many are defined in Proverbs.

“only”...uhoh...the New American Standard translation says “except”…

Solomon sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. (There is much to this beyond what we will cover today.)

Suffice it to say, that in some form, Solomon was combining the worship of the True God with the practices of the pagans.

One of the gods that was worshipped upon the high places was Asherah - a fertility goddess.

This form of goddess is found throughout the Bible...Asherah, Diana of the Ephesians, etc.

The Anglo-Saxon version goes by the name Eostre, from which is derived the word “easter.”

Yep.

“Easter” is a spring rite of worship unto a pagan goddess of fertility especially emphasizing “new life” and “fertility”. Common symbols were rabbits, eggs and the like.

Hummm.

Now some things are becoming clear.

Nowhere in the Word of God do we see that we are to have a yearly celebration of the resurrection of the Lord...nor of His birth.

Again, there is nothing wrong with these, in and of themselves.
Again, we are to live every moment in the power of the resurrection.

What is wrong is that we have adopted pagan practices and the strategies of man in an attempt to “bring people to Christ.”

We deny the Word and Power of the Gospel while giving away prizes to attract people to Christ.

Go to church on Easter...maybe win a car!
http://www.huliq.com/8738/92355/go-church-easter-win-fabulous-prizes

How about a “pirate ship” presentation of the Gospel to children?
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/30/2642405/sacramento-area-churches.html

The word “easter” appears once in the KJV in Acts 12:4 where it translates the word “pesach”. Everywhere else “pesach” is translated as “Passover”.

The sad truth is the church continues to be slowly deceived and infiltrated by untruth.
We are not surprised by this.

Jude
 17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

2 Peter 2
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, [pronounced] long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.

The Word tells us that in the last days such would occur.

Now, some things are not to cause separation.

For instance, I believe there is no such thing as “Good Friday”. I believe the Word is clear on the sequencing of the death of Jesus. He was in the tomb three full days and nights. The disciples wanted to remove His body from the cross due to the “sabbath” that followed. This sabbath was not the weekly sabbath, but the high day sabbath related to the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. Jesus was probably crucified on our Wednesday.

Still, I will participate in “good friday” events, because we are remembering what the Lord did for us.

But, when “easter” involves egg hunts, “getting people to come to church”, etc. etc. I believe we do much harm to the Kingdom.

I repeat.

Every moment is a declaration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

In Him, the true believer lives and breaths and has their very being.

Acts 17:28
For in him we live, and move, and have our being;...

Let us not be ignorant of the strategy of the evil one.
Let us seek the Lord and His desire and design.
Let us reject the practices of man and embrace the power of the Spirit.

Titus 2
 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

One other aside...you do know that the very exhalation of “living and breathing” has now been declared as being an environmental pollutant? Watch what happens next week. Something is afoot.

Blessings!