Regular playing cards are not as innocent as some people would like to believe.  I believe that they are used by Satan to seduce people into other activities.  I also believe that they will cause a Christian to lose his love for Jesus and his desire to live for Him.  Some of the most common places you will find a deck of cards (besides our homes) will be with prostitutes, gamblers, thieves, murderers, in taverns, brothels, prisons, insane asylums, gambling dens, etc., but never at a prayer meeting.  Just recently I ran across an article by J.D. Carlson dealing with this subject, and I am going to share it with you.

SHOULD CHRISTIAN PEOPLE PLAY CARDS?
J.D. Carlson

I am giving this message on card playing because I have been asked by several people to deal with this topic.  For millions of people the card game has a strong and a strange fascination.  Where ever you go you see people playing cards.  On my missionary journey, as I fly, I often see people playing cards by the hour.

I would remind you today that cards have always been looked upon with suspicion by good and godly people.  My mother felt so bad when my dad, who was a wonderful man, said he saw no harm in card playing and introduced it to our home.  My father said he saw no harm at all in card playing.

People ask me, "What really is the difference between playing a game of checkers and a game of cards?"  Well, there is an ocean of difference between the two games and I will endeavor to show you why.

The Church in days gone by took its stand against the card game; ministers preached against it and big bonfires were built as people burned their playing cards.

Dr. Talmadge, as great a minister as ever served the Presbyterian denomination, said he would rather have his children play with a nest of rattlesnakes than with a deck of cards.  Of course this was years ago.  Today and for many years the Church and the pulpit have been silent in speaking against card playing.

This is interesting!  The first deck of cards was invented by King Charles of France in the year 1392.  King Charles was an insane man, by the way.

Now you perhaps have never heard this - so notice carefully what I am going to say.  A deck of cards used to be called, "The Devil's Bible" and in the Seventeenth Century it was called, "The Devil's Picture Book".  This is very important for us to know.  Each card in the deck has a special meaning.  Men who know tell me this is true, the cards have a secret language.  Here is what I mean.

The KING card represents the Prince of Darkness - The Devil

The 10 SPOT speaks of the spirit of lawlessness.  It speaks in opposition to the moral law as found in the Ten Commandments in the Bible.

Then the CLUB card represents violence and murder.

The JACK speaks of the loose living man, the lustful man, the licentious individual who only lives to satisfy his lower nature.

The QUEEN card represents Mary - the mother of our Lord.  In the language of the cards, however, Mary is represented as an impure, dissolute, immoral woman.

There is the JOKER.  It represents Jesus Christ.

But, also, the climax of all that is diabolical in connection with the language of cards is this: Jesus Christ, the joker, is said to be the child, the offspring, of the licentious Jack and the Queen.  I wish I didn't have to tell this.  It is so vile, so dreadful in its implication, that every man and woman who loves and adores the Saviour who died to redeem us with His own blood must cry out in protest against such blasphemy.

So every card in the deck has a secret meaning, and all alike are teaching opposition to God and His sacred Word.  After what has been said about the Jack, the Queen, and the Joker, there is no need of further exposure of the card language.

Let me ask you a question: "Why don't people when they play cards first ask God to bless their card game?"  Can you do that?  Of course you cannot.  Well, the Bible said, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Colossians 3:17)

Remember that nine-tenths of all gambling is done with cards.  Also, remember that nine-tenths of those who gamble today learned to play cards at home.

No Christian should play cards.  Surely no Sunday School teacher should play cards.  The Bible said, "Touch not the unclean thing" (II Corinthians 6:17) As far as I am concerned I would not allow the "Dirty Deck" to desecrate my Christian home and tarnish my testimony.

Back to Being Berean: Various Subjects and The Bible's Answers