'Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days-WHICH?' - Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from the book, "Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days--Which?" by Fred R. Coulter. It comes with a personal warning from the author: 'The Occult is going to sweep the world...and it is.!' Published originally in 2006 & now in its Second Edition, you may receive a free, no-obligation copy by placing your order at this page.

Chapter Fourteen

Conclusion

In Part One of this book, we provided a well-documented, historical account of the major occult holidays observed around the world—as well as concerning the practice of Sunday-keeping by mainstream Orthodox Christendom. The evidence conclusively demonstrates that such days are entrenched in ancient pagan sun worship.

The majority of professing “Christianity”—led astray in ignorance—has simply accepted the observance of these days as part of the “Christian” liturgy. With sleight of hand and sanctimonious falsehoods, religious and authority figures have assured their followers that because these formerly pagan festivals have been officially “Christianized” by the church, they are free to celebrate them as acceptable “Christian” holidays.

In Part Two, we analyzed the biblical perspective concerning occult holidays and Sunday-keeping, noting that God absolutely condemns the observance of such days and the false gods they actually represent. As the profound example of the children of ancient Israel and Judah illustrates—as well as in the case of professing “Christians” today—all must come to understand that it is impossible to worship the God of Truth with religious lies and myths rooted in occultism and the worship of Satan the devil.

In Part Three, we surveyed the biblical, seventh-day Sabbath, holy days and feasts of God. As emphasized in both the Old and New Testaments, God has consistently commanded His people to obediently observe His seventh-day Sabbath, holy days and festivals. As we learned, God reveals His plan and purpose for mankind through the meaning of these days. God gives this understanding to those who love Him and obey His commandments—and who keep His feasts and holy days. This—obedience to God’s way of life—is how true Christians are to worship God the Father and Jesus Christ in “spirit and truth.”

Today, we are living in the “last days”—and will soon come face-to-face with the impending “crisis at the close of the age.” The inconspicuous rise of the final world empire is already well under way—which will envelop all mankind into an evil New World Order. Numerous biblical prophecies depict just such a world-ruling system—led by the “Antichrist,” a false Messiah—coupled with an amalgamation of the world’s religions into a universal religion, all under the sway of a great “False Prophet.”

Warning!

Open Satan Worship Will Sweep the World and Usher in the Antichrist!

Historically, Satan has cleverly manipulated false religion, occult practices and witchcraft in order to deceive and corrupt all civilizations. He continues, today, to deceive the whole world (Rev. 12:9) into following him and his way of evil as the undisputed god of this present age (II Cor. 4:4).

However, Satan’s final and greatest deception is rapidly developing. Once reaching its zenith of satanic power, it will sweep all peoples and nations into blatant Satan worship—replete with false signs, miracles and lying wonders—all designed to usher in the Antichrist. Empowered by Satan himself, the False Prophet will call down fire from heaven, proclaiming the Antichrist as the savior of the world. With the exception of true Christians who have the Holy Spirit of God, all the world will be utterly deceived into believing that the Antichrist is indeed the manifestation of God in the flesh—the long-awaited Messiah.

The prophecies of the New Testament clearly show that this Anti-christ will arise out of the world’s extant political and religious system referred to in Scripture as the “mystery of lawlessness.” The coming of the Antichrist will be a spectacular event. The apostle Paul warned of his coming: “Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us, saying that the day of Christ is present. Do not let anyone deceive you by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first, and the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition, the one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is an object of worship; so that he comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God” (II Thess. 2:1-4).

Thus, the “man of sin” will be revealed “in his time,” appearing just before Jesus Christ’s second coming. “Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you understand what is holding him [the Antichrist] back in order for him to be revealed in his own set time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already working; only there is one Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst. And then the lawless one [the Antichrist] will be revealed (whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)” (verses 5-8).

It will be Satan’s grand finale at the close of the age: “Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved. And for this cause, God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie, so that all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but who took pleasure in unrighteousness” (verses 9-12).

Confirming what Paul wrote, Jesus Christ gave the apostle John a startling vision (recorded in the book of Revelation) of the coming New World Order and of the Antichrist who will arise out of that system. John depicted this political system as a “beast” with “seven heads and ten horns” (Rev. 13:1-9). A second “beast”—Satan’s unified, worldwide religious system—is described as having two horns “like a lamb;” it speaks, however, “like a dragon” and performs “great wonders” (verses 11-13).

The Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns.              One of the political beast’s “seven heads,” the coming Antichrist, is to receive a “deadly wound.” Once revived, however, he becomes the “man of sin,” the “son of perdition” of II Thessalonians Two: “[T]he dragon [Satan the devil, Rev. 12:3, 9] gave him his power, and his throne and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and THE WHOLE WORLD WAS AMAZED AND FOLLOWED THE BEAST. And they worshiped the dragon, who gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?’ And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to him; and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And he was given power to make war against the saints, and to overcome them; and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:2-8).

Not only will Satan himself be worshiped, but the Antichrist will be revered as very God! This worldwide manifestation of Satan the devil will be the total fulfillment of all occult agendas—the ultimate in occult worship since the beginning of human history!

The Beast with Two Horns That Speaks as a Dragon: As world governments align themselves with the New World Order, there will also be a unified world religion. This religious system is portrayed by the second beast of Revelation 13, which features “two horns like a lamb,” but speaks “like a dragon.”

Because of its lamb-like horns, this second beast appears to be “Christian”—but will actually be personified by the False Prophet, the world leader of Satan’s occult religions. “And I saw another beast rising out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon; and he exercises all the authority of the first beast before him; and he causes the earth and those who dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he performs great wonders, so that he even causes fire to come down to the earth from heaven in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by means of the wonders that were given to him to perform in the sight of the beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image for the beast, which had the wound by the sword, yet was alive” (Rev. 13:11-14).

Satan is preparing for his grand, worldwide finale by saturating every aspect of society with the occult. Satan, demon and goddess worship—the focal point of the occult—will be more fully brought out into the open. The Antichrist and the False Prophet will deceive all of mankind, uniting them in open rebellion against God! Only the few true Christians will not be deceived! Christians today are openly hated by this satanic, occult system. Once the Antichrist is in complete control of the world, however, the beast system will (again!) be given the power to martyr the saints (Rev. 13:7).

In Revelation 17, Christ gave John yet another vision of this evil religious system—this time symbolized by a woman “riding” the beast with the seven heads and ten horns (that is, the political system or New World Order). The “woman” is the great Babylonian harlot with her daughters— symbolizing all the occult religious systems of the world. “And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and spoke with me, saying to me, ‘Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.’ Then he carried me away in the spirit to a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, full of names of blasphemy. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and pearls and precious stones; and she had a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the filthiness of her fornication; and across her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And after seeing her, I wondered with great amazement.... Then he said to me, ‘The waters that you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.... And the woman whom you saw is the great city that has royal power over the kings of the earth’ ” (Rev. 17:1-6, 15 and 18).

The ten “horns” on the beast symbolize ten kings or nations that will receive power from the beast system—and will ultimately fight against Christ at His second coming. “And the beast that was, and is not, he is also the eighth, and is from the seven, and goes into perdition [led by the Anti-christ, whom Paul called the “son of perdition”]. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but shall receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast [the coming New World Order]. These all have one mind, and shall give up their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.... For God has put into their hearts to do His will, and to act with one accord, and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God have been fulfilled” (Rev. 17: 11-14, 17).

No human power will be able to stop this final, ultimate, satanic plot to be played out by the beasts of Revelation. Only the awesome dramatic return of Jesus Christ will bring it to an end: “And I saw heaven open; and behold, a white horse; and He Who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no one knows except Him. And He was clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and His name is The Word of God. And the armies in heaven were following Him on white horses; and they were clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations; and He shall shepherd them with an iron rod; and He treads the winepress of the fury and the wrath of the Almighty God. And on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.

“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of chief captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, and small and great.’ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war with Him Who sits on the horse, and with His army. And the beast [the Anti- christ] was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked miracles in his presence, by which he had deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Those two were cast alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone; and the rest were killed by the sword of Him Who sits on the horse, even the sword that goes out of His mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:11-21).

God’s Call to Repentance

Each of us must “weigh in the balance” our own beliefs to see how they compare to the teachings of the Bible and those of the true Savior of mankind, Jesus Christ. We each must ask, and answer, “Will I believe God, the Word of God, Jesus Christ and His teachings—will I love the truth? Or, will I believe the teachings and doctrines of men, and continue to follow the teachings of Satan the devil?”

There can be no middle ground. God will never compromise with evil, and God does not accept lying, satanic myths. If we reject the truth of God when shown to us, He will send a powerful delusion—and we will end up believing fully in Satan’s lies.

God calls upon you to repent of your sins—to turn from the way that seems right to men and to come out of this modern “Babylon the Great”—out of its corrupt governments and religions. “And after these things I saw an angel descending from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried out mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hated bird; because all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her luxury.’

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, so that you do not take part in her sins, and that you do not receive of her plagues, for her sins have reached as far as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she has rendered to you; and give to her double, even according to her works. In the cup that she mixed, give her back double. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give to her as much torment and sorrow. For she says in her heart, “I sit a queen enthroned, and am not a widow; and in no way shall I experience sorrow.” For this very reason, her plagues shall come in one day—death and sorrow and famine; and she shall be burned with fire; for the Lord God, Who executes judgment upon her, is powerful’ ” (Rev. 18:1-8).

When He returns, Jesus Christ will destroy this entire world system—a system based on witchcraft and the occult, and empowered by Satan and his demons! “Then one strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, ‘In this same way shall the great city Babylon be thrown down with violence, and shall never again be found; and never again shall the sound of harpers and musicians and flute players and trumpeters be heard in you; and never again shall any craftsman of any craft be found in you; and never again shall the sound of a millstone be heard in you; and never again shall the light of a lamp shine in you; and never again shall the voices of bridegroom and bride be heard in you; for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and by your sorcery all nations were deceived” (Rev. 18:21-24).

Personal Repentance

God the Father and Jesus Christ directly hold each one of us responsible to repent and forsake this great Babylonian system! All religious practices of this world and all “traditions of men” are inspired by Satan and his demons—they are not from God! Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, Good Friday and Lent have all been reconfigured and “Christianized” in order to deceive the masses—as part of a system designed to hold people in bondage and in ongoing sin against God!

We are to repent of our sins before God the Father, asking Him to forgive us through the blood of Jesus Christ. When He began His ministry in Galilee, Jesus commanded the people to repent! “The time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

After Jesus’ resurrection, He commissioned the apostles to preach the gospel in all the world and commanded them to preach repentance and remission of sins to all nations: “According as it is written, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. And in His name, repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47).

On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter preached a powerful message proving that it was the sins of the leaders and the sins of the people that resulted in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Once convicted in both heart and mind, Peter instructed them to repent of their sins and to be baptized: “ ‘Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with full assurance that God has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ Now after hearing this, they were cut to the heart; and they said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’ ” (Acts 2:36-38).

Several days later—when Peter and John had healed a man through Jesus’ name—Peter again called on the people to repent: “The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Son Jesus, Whom you delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, after he had judged to release Him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and requested that a man who was a murderer be granted to you; and you killed the Author of life Whom God has raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And through faith in His name, this man whom you see and know was made strong in His name; and the faith that is through Him gave this complete soundness to him in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I realize that you acted in ignorance, as did your rulers also; but what God had before announced by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, He has accordingly fulfilled. Therefore, repent and be converted in order that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:13-19).

Witnessing to the deceived, elite philosophers and pagan religionists in Athens, Greece, the apostle Paul declared to them that in times past they were, in ignorance, devoted to false deities. Now, however, God commands that all repent of such idolatry: “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we should not think that the Godhead is like that which is made of gold, or silver, or stone—a graven thing of art devised by the imagination of man; For although God has indeed overlooked the times of this ignorance, He now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:29-30).

As was true of the ancient Greeks, nearly all of Orthodox Christianity has been blindly and ignorantly worshiping the “unknown God” (verse 23). Today’s religious leaders have pushed aside the truth of God’s Word— His Sabbath, feasts and holy days—and replaced them with their own traditions, religious practices and observances. Under the guise of grace, liberty and church authority, those who have accepted such teachings have been ignorantly led into sin against God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote: “For all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Sin is the transgression of the laws and commandments of God (I John 3:4)—and all sin is lawlessness! The religious practices of this world have been shown clearly to be sin. Many are clever counterfeits,and they may seem right—but they are all sin.

Yes, it is true that Jesus Christ died for your sins—but you must repent and stop living in sin—and then be baptized. You must repent not only of your personal sins, but repent also of the sins of observing Sunday and the holidays of this world—the “sanitized” occult holidays of Satan the devil.

You need to repent of all sin, and have such sins “covered” by the blood of Jesus Christ. You will be forgiven—as God has promised! “If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness, we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the truth. However, if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:6-9).

God calls you to repentance. We must follow the example of King David, who, when he sinned against God, cried out for forgiveness: “Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I cry unto You daily.... For You, LORD, are good, and ready to forgive; and rich in mercy to all those who call upon You” (Psa. 86:3, 5).

Now that you know the truth about Satan’s occult holidays, and the truth about God’s Sabbath and holy days, what will you do? Will you be convicted of your sins, repent and forsake your past, and turn to God the Father and Jesus Christ with all your heart? Will you, like David, pour out your heart to Him, confessing your sins? You have God’s sure promise that He will forgive you all your sins. Then will you do as Jesus commanded—“go and sin no more”?

May God the Father and Jesus Christ lead you to understanding and repentance!

Please visit our Web sites, www.cbcg.org, www.biblicaltruthministries.org, and www.churchathome.org, where you will find numerous articles available on God’s way of life. We also have downloadable sermons on repentance, water baptism, how to keep the Sabbath and holy days—and much more. Be sure to download the nine-part series entitled, “Why God Hates Religion!”