“Now, I see here today more people that I am accustomed to having at the sermon. Why is that? It is Christmas day. And who told you this? You poor beasts. That is a fitting euphemism for all of you who have come here today to honor Noel (Christ-Mass - ed.). Did you think you would be honoring God? Consider what sort of obedience to God your coming displays. In your mind, you are celebrating a holiday for God, or turning today into one but so much for that. In truth, as you have often been admonished, it is good to set aside one day out of the year in which we are reminded of all the good that has occurred because of Christ’s birth in the world, and in which we hear the story of his birth retold, which will be done Sunday. But if you think that Jesus Christ was born today, you are as crazed as wild beasts. For when you elevate one day alone for the purpose of worshiping God, you have just turned it into an idol. True, you insist that you have done so for the honor of God, but it is more for the honor of the devil.

Let us consider what our Lord has to say on the matter. Was it not Saul’s intention to worship God when he spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites, along with the best spoils and cattle? He says as much: ‘I want to worship God.’ Saul’s tongue was full of devotion and good intention. but what was the response he received? ‘You soothsayer! You heretic! You apostate! You claim to be honoring God, but God rejects you and disavows all that you have done.’ Consequently, the same is true of our actions. For no day is superior to another. It matters not whether we recall our Lord’s nativity on a Wednesday, Thursday, or some other day. But when we insist on establishing a service of worship based on our whim, we blaspheme God, and create an idol, though we have done it all in the name of God. And when you worship God in the idleness of a holiday spirit, that is a heavy sin to bear, and one which attracts others about it, until we reach the height of iniquity. Therefore, let us pay attention to what Micah is saying here, that God must not only strip away things that are bad in themselves, but must also eliminate anything that might foster superstition. Once we have understood that, we will no longer find it strange that Noel (Christmas - ed.) is not being observed today, but that on Sunday we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper and recite the story of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. But all those who barely know Jesus Christ, or that we must be subject to him, and that God removes all those impediments that prevent us from coming to him, these folk, I say, will at best grit their teeth. They came here in anticipation of celebrating a wrong intention, but will leave with it wholly unfulfilled.”

- John Calvin, A sermon preached Tuesday, December 25, 1551, Sermons on the Book of Micah, translated by Benjamin W. Farley (P&R Publishing, 2003), pp. 302–304, emphases added.

Christmas Is A Roman Catholic Missions Strategy
http://www.puritandownloads.com/christmas-is-a-roman-catholic-missions-strategy/

"Christmas was not celebrated by the apostolic church. It was not celebrated during the first few centuries of the church. As late as A.D. 245, Origen (Hom. 8 on Leviticus) repudiated ...the idea of keeping the birthday of Christ, "as if he were a king Pharaoh." By the middle of the 4th century, many churches in the Latin west were celebrating Christmas. During the 5th century, Christmas became an official Roman Catholic holy day. In A.D. 534, Christmas was recognized as an official holy day by the Roman state. The reason that Christmas became a church holy day has nothing to do with the Bible. The Bible does not give the date of Christ's birth. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to celebrate Christmas. Christmas (as well as many other pagan practices) was adopted by the Roman church as a missionary strategy." - The Regulative Principle of Worship and Christmas by Brian Schwertley FREE BOOK at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/CHRISTMAS.htm or on the Puritan Hard Drive http://ow.ly/dZ3ua

History of Holy Days (Sabbath/Lord's Day, Christmas, Easter, etc.) by Dr. Steven Dilday
http://www.puritandownloads.com/history-of-holy-days-sabbath-lords-day-christmas-easter-etc-by-dr-steven-dilday/
Much needed preaching in our day, when many Protestants worship more like Roman Catholics than like the best Reformers. This sermon contains much important Scriptural and historical information. On this topic George Gillespie (a Scottish Covenanter and Westminster Divine), in his classic work, A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies Obtruded Upon the Church of Scotland (on the Puritan Hard Drive http://bit.ly/ci3g2z), writes, "Forasmuch then, as kneeling before the consecrated bread, the sign of the cross, surplice, festival days (Christmas, Easter, etc. - ed.), bishopping, bowing to the altar, administration of the sacraments in private places, etc., are the wares of Rome, the baggage of Babylon, the trinkets of the whore, the badges of Popery, the ensigns of Christ's enemies and the very trophies of Antichrist: we cannot conform, communicate, and symbolize with the idolatrous Papists, in the use of the same, without making ourselves idolaters by participation." http://www.puritandownloads.com/history-of-holy-days-sabbath-lords-day-christmas-easter-etc-by-dr-steven-dilday/

In 1899, the General Assembly of the PCUS was overtured to give a "pronounced and explicit deliverance" against the recognition of "Christmas and Easter as religious days." Even at this late date, the answer came back in a solid manner: "There is no warrant in Scripture for the observance of Christmas and Easter as holydays, rather the contrary (see Gal. 4:9-11; Col. 2:16-21), and such observance is contrary to the principles of the Reformed faith, conducive to will-worship, and not in harmony with the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." - Kevin Reed, Christmas: An Historical Survey Regarding Its Origins and Opposition to It (Free Online Book at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/Xmas_ch2.htm)

All human inventions which are set up to corrupt the simple purity of the Word of God, and to undo the worship which he demands and approves, are true sacrileges, in which the Christian man cannot participate without blaspheming God, and trampling his honour underfoot. - John Calvin on the Puritan Hard Drive http://ow.ly/dZ3ua.

Why Gradual Reformation Is Unbiblical & Separation Is Sometimes A Duty: Martin Luther & John Calvin On Reforming the Church Against False Teaching & False Worship By Dr. Matthew McMahon, Dr. Steven Dilday, John Calvin, Greg Price, et al.
http://www.puritandownloads.com/gradual-reformation-intolerable-luther-calvin-on-reforming-the-church-against-false-teaching-and-false-worship-by-dr-matthew-mcmahon-greg-price-dr-steven-dilday-brian-schwertley-others-free/

John Calvin, the Puritans and the Best Reformed Churches Against Christmas, An Historical Survey, by Kevin Reed
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/Xmas_ch2.htm

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