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We have a wonderful message to share with you today, the real message of Christmas and it’s really all about Jesus Christ, God's Son, born into this world and you ask, what child is this, why do we need to know about Jesus? The Bible tells us, Jesus came to be his own, in other words, He left heaven's glory to be born as man. Why would God's son leave the glories of heaven to be with us. He had a very clear purpose and mission, he came to save his people from their sins.

You see, all of us have a sickness, we have a disease. You say, no, Jason, I don't have diabetes or hypertension or ischaemic heart problem. I am not talking about physical diseases, it's a spiritual disease, it’s a disease of the soul, it's called sin.

You see, we think that we are diseased spiritually because we are not where we ought to be. Our Maker, God, made man to know Him, to love Him, to worship Him. But we are now spiritually diseased in that we don't love Him, we don't worship Him, we don't serve Him. In fact, man runs from God, in fact, man hides from God, disobeys God and hates Him.

0:02:35.6

Every morning, I wake up with my kids, and I have to teach them that if they don't get what they want, then they have to express their displeasure by sulking or pouting or making a big fuss, by whining, I want this.

You say, that is ridiculous, Jason, you would never do that. Of course, I would never need to do that, I am sure, no parents teaches a kid how to whine, how to sulk or to pout. You never have to teach your kid how to be selfish, to fight or to lie. Why, because we are all sinners, that's who we are, that's how we will live our lives, it’s the problem, the disease of sin.

I am pretty sure, you didn't have to go to school to commit hatred in your heart. You don't have to learn how to commit adultery in your mind, there is no university degree for selfishness because that's who we are, sinners, spiritually diseased.

This world is filled with crimes, murders, rapes, unfaithfulness. This shows us that we are a world filled with sin and that is why Jesus came to save us from our sins.

Now, some of you may say, I am not so convinced because, yeah, I may not be perfect, but I am really not that bad, I am not a rapist, I'm not a murderer, actually, my friends tell me, I am a pretty good guy. I have a good standing in society so I am not that bad, I don't really need Jesus.

My son Shawn, just got back his exams results. I asked him, how did he do? He says, okay, not bad. I asked him, why do you think it's not bad? Oh, because my classmate got 10/100.

You see, we are all like Shawn spiritually, I am okay, I am not bad, because we compare ourselves with the murderers and rapists and all the terrible crimes people do. Oh, but the measurement standards, the measurement or what we need to measure up against, is not man but God Himself.

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Looking at the 2 of us, who do you think is stronger? Who do you think is fitter? So if you, if we were to do a little competition here, standing broad jump, who do you think will jump further? I know why you laugh, because it is obviously me.

Well, suppose we jump and we gave ourselves a very good leap, Chee Keen jumps, 1.5 m, exaggeration. Alright and then, if I were to jump 2.5 m, it's obvious I would feel proud of myself, I say I am good, I say I am good, I win. But then, if I were to ask another one of you, maybe you are really athletic, you are strong, you have trained for this, you jump 2.7 m. Wah, that's not bad. But if I get another Olympic athlete here, he might be able to jump 3.3 m, I say, he's the best.

But, what if the standard is not 3.3 m, the standard is for someone right at the back, at the camera to be able to jump all the way up here on stage. You say, this is ridiculous, no one would be able to do this, it is impossible and that is exactly right spiritually. You see, we compare ourselves with one another, 2.5, 1.5, 3.3, but God's standard is absolute perfection, because He is the absolutely perfect and holy God. Now, the fact we can’t reach the standard doesn't mean God will lower His standard and that’s why before the sight of God, all are sinners.

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There is no one who could say I am not that bad before God. Imagine, there is a video camera stuck to you, it captures all your actions, records all the words you have said, including those lies and exaggerations you have any records all the thoughts you have in your mind, ah, none of us could stand before God and say, I am guiltless. So, I am really that bad.

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The Bible tells us, tells me, tells us, we are absolutely rotten to the core. The sin is a huge spiritual disease. Now, some of you may say, well, I, I, acknowledge I have done wrong things in life, but I have also done many good things. I have helped the poor, I have given to charity, I have been kind to my neighbours, so can this make up for my sins, compensate for my errors. Well, the Bible is very clear, it tells us that all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. All the things we think are righteous deeds, in the eyes of God are dirty rags. You can't cover up for your sins, because none of our deeds are done for God and that please God. You are absolutely corrupt.

So, the Bible tells us, none is righteous. You say, no, no, no, there must be at least one man who is righteous. But the Bible says, no, not one, not a single men on earth is freed from this disease of sin. So, the Bible tells us, we have all turned aside, no one does good, not even one.

Again, in Romans 3, it says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This is God's verdict on you, on me, we're all sinners in the eyes of the Holy God and that is why Jesus had to come.

You see, this sin, comes with a price. The Bible tells us, for the wages of sin is death, you will suffer in death. Death can mean many things, it can refer to a decay and that is why this world is breaking down as you know it. Look at our bodies, we decay, we break down. Some of you, you have bad knees, bad nose, bad eyes, bad hearts and one day, all these things will stop functioning, you, you call that death.

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There is also spiritual death in that we are separated from God who made us, we don't know Him, we won't seek Him, we don't enjoy Him and then one day, when you really die physically and you will stand before the God of this world in judgement, you will be sent to a place, the Bible says is hell, a lake of fire but where there is absolute darkness where you will suffer and perish forevermore, eternal torment, day and night. That's the wages of sin and it's a horrible thought.

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This is bad news, bad news that you are a sinner who would be damned for your sins, I'm not just talking to a few people here, I'm talking to all of us, the Bible says, all have sinned. But, this is the good news, Christmas, God sent His Son to become man to die for our sins.

In Isaiah 53, the Bible says, God puts on Jesus, our sins, our iniquity. He went to the cross, not because He was sinful because he was taking my sins and your sins that is why Jesus was born as man so that he may die for men. He became our substitute, our sacrifice. God punished Jesus, so that we who believe in Him, would not be punished. That is why on the cross, one of the last words He said, "It is finished!". The word there means the debt is paid. We owe God a sin debt that we would have to pay for, for all eternity in hell, but Jesus paid it all on the cross.

He said, "It is finished." He didn't say I am finished, He died for our sins. Three days later, He rose from the dead, proving indeed, it is finished.

Our prayer, is that you would know the message of Christmas, Jesus came, to be born as man, to die for men. We urge you to receive, to believe Jesus today.

But then, there would not be many who may receive Jesus, because, back in His days, the Bible tells us, His own people did not receive Him. He came to the nation of Israel, His people, but by and large, Israel rejected Jesus Christ. Maybe, it's pictured in the little manger, He had nowhere to be born, in a decent, no decent place to be born, but was found in a manger. For the rest of His ministry life, people rejected and opposed Jesus. Maybe, the ultimate demonstration is when they crucified Jesus on the cross.

Now, if Jesus came to save us from our sins, why would men not want Him and reject Him? There is a wonderful verse that tells us why, "the light, that is Jesus, He has come into this world and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. We love our sins. And we won't come to Jesus who is the light.

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Before we worship here at Punggol, we had a small little building at Bukit Timah. And just, within 2 minutes walk, 1 minute walk, would be the famous Adam Road hawker centre. And they have wonderful food like Nasi Lemak, prawn meat, prawn noodles. We enjoy all that, but there is a side effect, there are many rats there and sometimes, they take a holiday break in our church building.

So, there was once I was in the church building, and I heard someone aaaaah. I said, what happened? There's a rat, there's a rat. So, we decided to, king kan, king , kiang, kiang. We started to remove the things and the lady said, there's a rat behind here, I don't dare to pull the last styrofoam plates away, because it is hiding right there.

Last time, I used a lousy phone, I couldn't get a good picture and I don't dare to go near, in case it comes to me. But, believe me, there is a big rat there. No matter what we did, this rat wouldn't come out into the light. It loved to hide in the corner of darkness, because, I think the rat had a conscience, it knows it's a thief who stole from us, ate our food and hide here.

But then, when I saw the rat, I thought about you and me, we are all like the rats, we take the things from God, we enjoyed this world, but we love our little world and would not come to God. And that is why, the Bible tells us, they did not receive Him, they love their sins.

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I pray today, you would not do that, that you would realise that when you come out to Jesus, He is not going to whack you, He is going to heal you, heal you from your spiritual sickness of sin.

Now, the Bible tells us, there is good news, one of the best works in the Bible is the word "but". I'm afraid, the Chinese is not so explicit here, they only say 凡接待他的, whoever receives Him. So, they didn't add the word “but”. Oh, but this is such an important word, there are people who will not receive Jesus, but there are people who will receive Jesus, these are the people who are willing to come to the light to be healed.

Now, it's Christmas Day. Yesterday, was Christmas Eve. Maybe, for some of you were dating, some of you who are husbands and wives, and you must have spent a lovely dinner, evening having a romantic dinner. You probably spend quite a sum of money to have a nice romantic dinner. And maybe, the restaurant would look something like this, wah, very nice, very romantic. Why is it romantic, because it's very dark. You say, when you pay so much money to have, to be in the dark. I pay enough to give the electricity bills what, why is it dark, why do people think dark equals to romantic, because cannot see my pimples, cannot see my wrinkles, cannot see the vegetables stuck beneath, between the teeth. So, when I don't see so much, you are very beautiful, so that's why you pay so much to be in a dark place, because you want to look good.

0:24:03.3

But suppose today you have a medical problem, you go to the surgeon, and you say, doctor I want to be a healed of this, this growth, but I don't want to look so ugly, so please operate in a room. You say, would anyone say that? Of course not. I used to do some surgery before and one of the most important things in surgery is light, the surgeon always say, I want the light, give me the light, shine more light, let it be brighter, that's all they say. You see, no patient would go there and say, doctor, too bright, you see too clearly.

Ah, you see, if you want to be healed, you got to come to the light. So, there are people who see their sins, their own ugliness of soul, their disease and they say, I need to be healed. So, I am not going to hide in the romantic restaurant, I am going to come to the Spiritual Surgeon, Jesus Christ, I come to the Light, these are those who will be healed. And so, the Bible says, there is this tremendous promise, when you come to Jesus, He gives you the right to become the children of God. The Chinese has got it right, the authority to become children of God.

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You see, God says, as you come to Jesus, I forgive you of your sins, you are no more alienated from Me, but you are now reconciled with Me, I give you the promise of eternal life of heavens to come, or glories of having to come, you are now given the right to become My child, not just the right, not just the authority, but the actuality, you are born of God. So, God gives you a new life, a life from God, forgiven of your sins, reconciled with Him, with the hope of heaven, this is what we call eternal life.

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Let me share with you an illustration in China, and so, I will use Chinese to share that, there was a little rural village in China and in the village, there was a little church and there weren't many people attending that church. A small cluster of people gathered at that church. But there was a Sunday, many people came to church, the Pastor was very surprised, how come, there are so many worshippers this Sunday? After the worship, a lot of people came to the pastor, I have believed in Jesus, where is the water buffalo? And the pastor was like, what are you saying? And the people asked again, pastor, I have believed in Jesus, where is the buffalo? Pastor went, what? People say, that kind of buffalo, moo. The pastor said, we didn't say anything like that. But the people said, you said it, if you believe in Jesus, you get a buffalo. The pastor said, no, no, and we never taught that. No, the people said, you taught this. No water buffalo, have, no. Okay, and the people brought the pastor out, and they were brought outside of the church and turned around and looked and looked at the sign above the door. And the pastor took a look, and he saw the words, “believe in Jesus, receive a water buffalo”. In the pastor went, aiyoh, you got it all wrong, you misunderstand, the sign is made with paper, these Chinese characters are formed by paper cuttings. Yesterday, there was a heavy rain, strong winds and some part of the characters were blown away. What we wrote is believe in Jesus, and receive eternal life. And so some parts of the characters were blown off and that's why, and there is this misunderstanding about a water buffalo. Don't misunderstand, believe in Jesus, no water buffalo, believe in Jesus, receive eternal life.

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We laugh at this story in China, but in Singapore and many corners it's the same, many people think that by believing in Jesus, you get money, you get health, Jesus didn't come to give you money and health, He didn't come to give you water buffaloes, He came to give you eternal life, forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God who made you, He came to save you from your sins, He came to make you the children of God. You see, the Son of God became man, so that men can now become the sons of God, not because of who we are, but because of who God is, He is love who gave us His Son Jesus Christ.

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So, the Bible says God so loved the world, we have a great message of love to tell you, He gave His only Son, to be born into this humanity, that He may die for our sins. My friends, this is the real and ultimate Christmas gift, nothing greater than God's Son Himself, which you receive this gift. You say, how can I receive this gift? The Bible says, whosoever believes in Jesus.  When you realise your sinfulness, when you realise you're spiritually sick with sin and there is only one great Spiritual Surgeon, we trust that Jesus is the Son of God, the Saviour promised for thousands of years ago, you believe that He died and rose again victorious, this is the promise, you will not perish, but you have this eternal life, not water buffaloes, eternal life.

0:32:58.9

Whosoever, doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, man or lady, young or old, everyone of you, and you can be healed and cured of spiritual sins. 24 years ago, I heard the message of the Bible for the very first time, exactly on 25th of December, Christmas Day. 24 years later, my life is different, I am a different man, with a joy and peace in my heart, with a desire to love God and serve Him. I am confident of the hope of glory and heaven to come. I have confidence, all my sins are forgiven, I am a child of God, not because I deserve it, but God gave it.

I pray this morning, you like myself would receive this gift of Jesus Christ. There was no room for Jesus 2000 years ago, let me ask you, is there room in your heart for Jesus today.

Let's bow for a word of prayer. I want you to thank you for listening, but my prayer for you is not that you will just know these things in your head, but that you may believe in your heart. Coming to church is wonderful, but coming to Christ is the only way you can be saved. Do you know today, that the Bible is clear about your sickness of sins. We cannot stand before God and say I am not that bad or let my good works compensate. You don't have to wait for that day to know the verdict, the Bible has already concluded, all of us are sinners who will be damned in hell, but God loves you and therefore He gave you Jesus His Son, to die on the cross, to pay for your sins. This is the critical question, would you repent and believe in Him.

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I’ll like to give you this time, in the hustle and bustle and festivities of Christmas, to be still and know God and His Word. Please, think about this deeply for your own soul’s sake. Maybe, today you realised now that you are a sinner who needs Jesus to save you from your sins. Then, cry out in your heart to God, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner, I don't want to be proud and arrogant before You anymore, I am humbled before Your presence and I want to repent and believe in Jesus, Your Son. Save me, change my heart, I thank You for Jesus, I pray you will respond to God in such a way.

My friends, you can pray to God, right here, right now, believe in Him.

Father, we thank You for this morning, bless everyone seated in this room and those of us who are at level 2, that all who hear this message, will respond in repentance and faith towards You, may Jesus be received into many hearts today, we thank You, in Jesus Name, amen, God bless, have a wonderful Lord's Day.

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