All Saints' Day, The Forgotten Holiday

Most of us will never know what really goes on behind the scenes during the week of Halloween. If you have ever felt more Satanic oppression during this time than at others, you are not alone. Perhaps your spirit feels a burden you cannot shake, a heaviness you cannot explain, a depression you cannot dismiss. What's really going on? My mother told of a time when she and my father experienced unusual Satanic oppression when they had a next door neighbor who was a practicing witch. They had tried to witness to her and to be kind to her, but the goings on behind her doors were strange indeed. One day in particular, my otherwise soulmate parents were edgy and at odds with each other with no explanation.

Out of the blue, my meek and godly mother realized what was happening and openly rebuked the devil--something she had never done and which shocked her when she did it. Immediately, both my parents saw something leave their home--something like a streak of a comet's tail zooming past them. They had never experienced anything like this before in their lives, and if I had not heard them tell me this story themselves, I don't know that I would believe it. Both of my God-fearing parents lived as close to the Lord as anyone I ever knew, walking circumspectly, choosing any methods of entertainment very carefully, and faithfully having their daily times of prayer and Bible reading.

But, indeed, once the oppressive spirit left my parents' home, they began laughing out loud for joy. The oppression had broken, and the burden lifted. I don't think about this story much, but I have sometimes felt in my spirit an unusual heaviness and an inexplicable sadness, as if I have been under attack, and I didn't understand why. I have spent my time with the Lord each day and searched my heart for the reason. My sister and I came to the realization today that quite possibly this very time of year is more oppressive because of the celebration of Halloween. I think this is a thought worth exploring, but where would you begin? When I was a child, Halloween meant going door to door with a plastic pumpkin bucket and getting some free candy as you dressed up like a pilgrim or as Cinderella. It was innocent and fun. We didn't pay heed to skeletons, cobwebs, witches' hats, or skulls. But, now? Well, I don't think we would even want to know what really goes on.

With Wicca alone on the rise globally, it would be no surprise if the activity of darkness was flourishing now more than ever. I often think of how the Scriptures record the demonic activity surrounding our Lord's First Advent and wonder what parallels there will be with His Second Advent. We know this much: the world isn't getting any better, and those who think so are dreaming, in my opinion. Scripture is clear that evil days will grow worse and worse before the Spirit of Antichrist is unleashed upon the world. So, what is the Christian to do during these times? Surely, we have all the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6, but I wonder if we also could focus more intentionally on the often forgotten purpose of this week. Yes, the week of Halloween seems strewn with the macabre and the sinister, from October 30th, known as Devil's Night, which used to be celebrated in Michigan, to Halloween itself on October 31st, to the Day of the Dead, celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. The pagan origins of these celebrations with their connection to spiritism and necromancy are well known.

But, tucked away in the midst of these is a harmless day sometimes still celebrated by many Protestants and Catholics alike. This day is, in fact, the day to which "Hallowed Evening" is supposed to allude: All Saints' Day. Is this a Christian holiday? It is worth noting that this day, unlike Halloween or the Day of the Dead, did not have pagan origins or occult overtones. On the contrary, this holiday points to Hebrews 12:1 for its origins, and this thought brings a host of thoughts with it that I think we would do well to explore. Those who know and love this chapter and the chapter preceding it--Hebrews' Great Hall of Faith--will note immediately that this "great cloud of witnesses" of Hebrews 12:1 has indeed "witnessed" to the efficacy of our historic faith amid martyrdom and has proven that the Christian race can be won under any circumstances--as long as we look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Just exactly what this "cloud of witnesses" or martyrs is witnessing now may be unclear, and exactly here, superstitions and assumptions attach themselves that have no Biblical foundation. Scripture does not teach that the Christian "dead" can look down upon us. They do not become our guardian angels, as suggested in the great Christmas classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Nor are they even "dead," for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of the living, not the God of the dead (Matthew 22:31-33). Surely, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord ( II Corinthians 5:8). Although some believe that deceased saints are to be worshipped and prayed to, Scripture strictly forbids any contact with the dead or any worship of any being other than the Lord Himself. And yet, there is still a "mystic sweet communion" among all believers in the very real sense that we are all united in the love of our Savior from which nothing--not even death itself--can separate us (Romans 8:35-39; The Church's One Foundation). Charles Spurgeon believed that the veil between life and death is very thin and that the Church is one body of saints, since the separation at death is only temporary.

Certainly, we know this fact from Scripture, but we so seldom think of the "church triumphant," as departed saints are called, to focus instead on the "church militant," among those who remain behind, that we often cut ourselves off completely from the historic roots of our faith. Not only are these historic roots indeed part of our "great cloud of witnesses," they are the context in which we run the race set before us. And who is watching this race? It is an intriguing thought to hope that our beloved deceased in the Lord can in any way be aware of our spiritual difficulties and progress, but this is not the necessary intent of Hebrews 12. Even if only in our minds' eye we picture this great cloud of witnesses cheering us on, the race analogy is edifying. This much is clear: we are accountable to the body of Christ both on earth and in heaven.

Exactly what our deceased loved ones in Christ are presently doing to serve Him remains a mystery, but we know that, even as early as Deuteronomy 33:2, Scripture mentions that the Lord will come again with ten thousands of His saints. The text reads, "And He said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints: from His right hand went a fiery law for them." Jude 14 and 15 also mention this very thing--that the Lord's saints will come to judge the world in righteousness. We don't mention this fact in any way as an appeal to saints to deliver us from our present evil oppression, but we know that we are part of a mighty army in the Lord and that the Lord of Hosts is with us. We cannot even picture these hosts in our imagination. But the Lord wants us to remember this great cloud of witnesses for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that we are accountable if we defect from this army. Another glorious fact is that this army will and presently does overpower all forces of evil in the Name of the Lord Jesus.

I wonder if this thought takes us off guard in a day where our Christianity is so typically a mile wide and an inch deep. It is true that we have succeeded today in cutting ourselves off from our historic faith in ways unprecedented throughout two thousand years of Christendom. When do we even sing hymns that would unite us in spirit with the testimonies of saints gone before? But, not only do we have an historic faith, we are forbidden in Scripture to remove the ancient landmarks that our fathers have set (Proverbs 22:28), which includes not only property boundaries but our forefathers' Biblical traditions and doctrines. We live in a day of slippery slopes well greased with apostasy. How often do we even think of ourselves as accountable to the saints who will judge the world? Shall we live our lives in a manner in which our grandfathers would "roll over" in their proverbial graves? Or shall we celebrate and honor their legacy of godliness in a day where everything is changing faster than we can blink?

When great men of old like John Wesley loved All Saints' Day, I think there must have been something to it. Let this day step out of the cobwebs and stand up to be noticed. Let a Biblical view of the Lord's saints and of our rich heritage in Christ embolden spirits too easily cowed by an already defeated foe. The Lord of Hosts is with us. As for me, I want to remember this week my beloved parents who are now with the Lord and whose lives challenge me to be my very best in an evil day. Listen with me to the words of the great hymn found in old hymnals of every Christian denomination the world over: "For All the Saints," written by William Walsham How in 1864, as a processional for All Saints' Day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21GTTM2TIYA