And today, we come to Romans chapter 13. And if you have your Bibles, you can turn with me there. But, we are going to look at a subject or theme, called, “Holiness”. Yes, holiness - to be like God; to be like Jesus. Holiness. And, in order to start this, let's watch a simple little video clip or cartoon strip of what holiness should not be.

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If you are a Christian today, you have known Jesus, as your Saviour, I believe, holiness is what we long for. Holiness is what you desire to have. But we know, it's far harder than we had imagined it to be. This is the desire of my life, I want to be more like Jesus. I want to be more holy. I want to be ridden of the sins of life, to live in purity; to live in glory. And maybe, that's your desire too and if you're having the same desire, this is the message for you.

But, before I even explain to you what this is all about. I want to congratulate you on having the desire for holiness. Because, I believe if any man genuinely desires holiness, it is the sign that God is at work in his or her life. Because, it is only when God is working in one man's life, that he would even have to desire to run away from sin and to pursue God and holiness. I also want to say to you, “You have a great desire, if you pursue holiness because, we live in a world where people are pursuing happiness.” Isn't it so?

Everybody is in this world, looking for happiness. But according to the Bible, you can't have happiness, in and of itself. Happiness is not what you can look for apart from holiness. In other words, the real key to having happiness is when you have holiness. Then, happiness is a beautiful by-product. You say, “How does that work?”

Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. So, real blessedness; real happiness, is when we are pure in heart. And when we are pure in heart, we see God. It makes sense that happiness is when we see God. Because, true joy is found only in God. We live in a world, that we look for happiness everywhere. We look for happiness in the spouse. We look for happiness in our money. We look for happiness in a car; in a condo; in a mansion. But those things don't last. And they don't really satisfy. The only real source of joy is in God. Therefore, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. The real thing, we should pursue in our lives is holiness and not so much happiness apart from holiness.

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And I want to say one more thing about that wonderful desire of pursuing God. It's a sign that God is at work in your life. It's a wonderful desire, far above seeking happiness alone. And one more thing, and that is - God is with you, if you are pursuing holiness. So you see, God is absolutely committed, to helping you and I, grow in holiness. That's why, He gave you the Bible. It’s called, “The Holy Bible”. That's why He gave you the Holy Spirit. He is in us, to make us more holy. He is absolutely committed to helping us to be a holy people and He doesn't give up.

This week, I was in the Botanic Gardens. And I saw this little statue and of course, all of us know, this is Singa, right? And if you are older, you will recognize him as the courtesy lion. “Courtesy is for me (pastor tries to sing, oh no, courtesy is for free) alright. I can't remember. You know the song, alright, if you are old enough. Singa, the lion, and I took a photo of him. He's not, he's not quite perfect here because one of his arms got chopped off, somehow.

But when I saw Singa,, I was reminded of what happened this week in our news. Singa has decided to resign after thirty years. From the desk of Singa, it says, “Singapore Kindness Movement received Singa's resignation letter, herein, dated, 15, May, 2013. He decided to call it quits. You say, “Why? What's up with this mascot of the Singapore Kindness Movement?”

Well, he wrote a letter, it's as serious as that. Singa, has an open letter to Singapore saying, "I quit." He says, “I had enough. I am sure you guys have had enough.” He says. “After thirty years of begging, I have had enough of facing this increasingly, difficult and disagreeable and angry society.”

Hey, Singa says, “He has quit. Quit on the Singapore Kindness Movement.” But, let me tell you something, someone doesn't quit, when He is moving His people towards holiness. God has not quit and God will never quit. And if you today, have the desire in your heart to be more like Jesus, to be more and more holy and godly, and less and less sinful. It's a great desire! Because number 1, God is at work in your life. That genuine desire, is a result of God's work.

Number 2, I think, this is far above, searching for happiness. And number 3, God is with you.

Now, I am going to share with you about holiness. I'm going to just answer three simple questions.
1. What is holiness?
2. Why is holiness such a big deal?
3. How can I have holiness?

So, very simple, what is it all about? Why and how can we get there?

1]. What is holiness?
First of all, let's look at what is holiness. The word, ‘holiness’, or ‘holy’, really means “just to be separate, set apart, distinct”. That's it! Set apart. Distinct. Separate. Very simple concept. Holiness is to be apart from something, so that we may be near to something else or someone else. The Bible tells us, “God is light”. And if we are to be His children; we are to be followers. Then we are to be a people of the light. Therefore, holiness is to be in the light, in as much as we are to separate from the works of darkness.

This is what is said in Romans, we have been journeying in this book and it says right here, “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light”. (Romans 13:12 ESV)

Holiness, is to be separate from the works of darkness; to be walking in the light. Holiness, is not so much what you dress or wear, in a sense. Some of us, think that holiness is about a white cloak you wear. Or some hair, whether you have shaven it or not. Or whether you can eat this food or touch this food. No, holiness, is in essence, separation from the ways of the world. Separation from the works of darkness.

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You say, “What are the works of darkness?” The Bible says, “It is orgies and drunkenness, sexual immorality and sensuality, quarreling and jealousy”.

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. (Romans 13:12-13 ESV)

You notice here, they are three pairs of words. “Orgies, drunkenness”, “sexual immorality, sensuality”, and last pair, “quarreling and jealousy”. They are very obvious. The word, ‘orgies’ here really means, public rioting and noisy, late-night partying. That's what it is. In those days, they have late-night partying, where there is loud noise. There is music; there is sex and dance. That's the kind of words, that's the kind of pictures that orgies, represent.

People often ask, “Pastor, can we as Christians go to discos?” “Can we go to "Fire"?” And, oh no, not fire, fire is my time, a long time ago, alright. “Can we go to Zouk?” Er, what else do you have? You have whatever factory, or mumbo, jumbo all right. “Can we go to a discotheque?” I say, “Sure, if you're there to wipe the floor or mop the floor, sure you can.” But the word, ‘orgies’, tells us of a kind of a lifestyle, that is classified here, as the works of darkness.

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Again, people ask, “Pastor, can we drink alcohol?” “Is it all right to drink alcohol?” Well, the Bible here tells us, “We are to put off, drunkenness.” It's very clear. Now, in Christendom, they are different people with different ideas with regards to alcohol. There are some who believe you can drink as you want. There are some believe, you can't touch any of it. I think, in the Bible, it does not forbid the drinking of alcohol. But it does clearly forbid drunkenness.

So, if you are drinking to be drunk. That's wrong. If you are drinking till you are drunk. That's wrong. But if you're having an intake of alcohol, because you're eating drunken prawns, or tiramisu or yomeishu, I don't really think that's exactly forbidden in Scriptures.

But, this is what is forbidden - drunkenness. So, this kind of a lifestyle, of drinking, partying, having sex and so on, late-night rioting. He says, “Walk properly as in the daytime.” Holiness is walking in the light and separate from the works of darkness.

Two, it tells us, “Not in sexual immorality.” This literally, means, “the bed”, or “the forbidden bed”. Refers to all kinds of illicit sexual relationships - premarital sex; extramarital sex. That is clearly forbidden in Scriptures. No child of God should be labelled together with such things. And then, he asked the word, ‘sensuality’. That's the word, that means “abandonment, lust, lasciviousness”. It refers to someone who has lost self-restraint and is living in a shameless way, sexually. That would include, pornography and such like.

So, here are sins that are to be forbidden. Of course, quarreling and jealousy, refers to that pride, a contentious spirit in us. You know what? As a child of God, being holy, is not whether you touched this food with these hands, or wearing this cloak, or shaving your hair. It's about cleansing ourselves from the works of darkness. He says, in 2 Corinthians, “Cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV)

So, what is holiness? Separation from the works of darkness; to be walking in the light. Recognizing today, you and I are called to be children of the Light. We belong to the glorious day and those evil, shameful, defiling acts, thoughts, speech, should not be part of us. It should not! And our life is a progressive journey, further away from these sins, onwards, towards Christ-likeness. That's what it is. So, we are to be a holy people, in a sense. Away from sins, towards Jesus Christ. Towards God. Towards godliness.

2]. Why is holiness such a big deal?
You say, “Why?” Okay, the second question is, “Pastor, why should I even want to be holy?” I think, that's a very important question to answer. Because sin is very pleasurable. Do you believe that? Sin is actually very pleasurable. It is actually nice to sin, for a short time. It, of course, brings back vengeance and a hook at the end of it. But, sin is pleasurable! And so, we need to ask why? I know the Bible tells me, “To cleanse myself”. But why? These are some of the reasons, people give. “I know why, Pastor.” “I want to be holy because if I am not holy. If I am living in sin, then God will be angry with me and He is going to judge me. He is going to punish me. He is going to stop loving me and He will send me to hell.”

Wait a minute, I say, “No, no, no, no.” Even if you sin today, if you have truly, genuinely trusted, repented and trusted in Jesus as your Saviour, you don't lose your salvation after a sin, or even a series of sins. Because the grace of Jesus is greater than our sins. I share with you, this statement - "No sin in your heart can steal your salvation", alright? “No sin in your heart can steal your salvation”. The Bible tells us, “There is now no condemnation, to them that are in Christ. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus”.

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So, I don't pursue holiness because I am scared that I am going to hell. I don't pursue holiness because I am scared God will stop loving me one day. No! No sin in your heart can steal your salvation. But, look at the second half of this statement. It goes like this, “But no salvation in your heart wants to co-exist with your sin”. You get that? In other words, the reason why I want to pursue holiness is not so that I can be saved, but because I am saved. You get that?

The reason why I want to pursue holiness is because Jesus changed my heart. Now, I pursue holiness, not so that I can be saved. But, because I am saved. Because Jesus is in me, because God has worked in my heart. He changed my desire. I used to hate God, love sin. Now, that He has come into my life, I love God, hate sin. That's a 180-degree change. Now, no sins can steal this genuine salvation. But, if it is a genuine salvation, he wouldn't love to commit sins. He doesn't want to.

So, Jesus saves us. The work of grace, the salvation of God is that, He changed you or saves you, not so that you can continue to sin, but you won't want to sin. So, if I may say this, “The saving grace of Jesus makes us want to sin no more and not sin some more.” Okay. If you today say, “I believe in Jesus.” But actually, deep in your heart, you love to sin some more, I say to you, “Maybe Jesus is never really in your heart.”

The grace of God changes us, so that we will sin no more and not just sin some more. That's why I believe, this call to holiness, to put away the works of darkness, is given to us in chapter 13, not chapter 1. Most of us, think that chapter 1, should be holiness, so that God would love me. No, no, no. It's God loves you, He changes you. Now in chapter 13, after eleven chapters of telling how much He loves you, He says,” Love Him by pursuing holiness.”

So, I say to you, “The reason why I want to be holy, is because God loves me. He has worked in my heart to love Him. And because I want to enjoy intimacy with Him, I want to know Him in a deeper way. I say, ”Lord, help me to be holy.”” The reason why we want to be holy is because Jesus changed my heart. And now I desire Him. I have lost, in a sense, a large measure of the taste for sin. It is now repulsive to me and I want to love Jesus. I want to know Him and therefore, I pursue holiness.

So, the placement of Romans 13 and in this verse, tells us, the reason for pursuing holiness, is because of the love of God. And because I have a love for God, He has placed it within my heart.

“And therefore, the night is far gone, the day is at hand, so, let us cast off the works of darkness”. He saying, “Because you love Christ and He is coming for you soon, the night is gone, the day is at hand, He is coming for you soon. Now, pursue holiness.”

I think of it as a bride or a bride-to-be, she's going to get married and in three months’ time. Maybe she would be married to her prospective groom. So, what does she do in these three months? Well, in Singapore, every bride has to eat like a bird, starts to go on a diet, peck, peck, peck. You don't want to eat too much, so that you can fit into that wonderful, beautiful, gorgeous gown.

So, for three months, you ‘tahan’ (bear with it in Malay). And after three months, I don't know what you are going to do lah. But, during those three months, you really work at it. And in these three months, I also tell you, you will keep yourself pure. You will. Because in three months’ time, you will be married. And you love your groom and your groom loves you.

Now, Jesus is coming for us. He is coming for you and for me who have believed in Him. And if we know that our groom is coming, we keep ourselves pure, even as He is pure. The words here are found in 1 John, “And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure”.

……we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure. (1 John 3:2-3 ESV)

Wow, I want to be holy, because my Lord who loves me and who I love, is coming for me. “The night is gone, the day is at hand, so let us cast off the works of darkness.”

One more reason why I believe we should pursue holiness and that is this, implied in verse 12, ‘putting on the armour of light’. It says here, “When we are not casting off the works of darkness and putting on the armour”, We are left vulnerable and defenceless. Do you see that?

When you're working, when you are living in the works of darkness, you don't have the armour. You are vulnerable. You are defenceless. The idea here is, sin really hurts you and harms you. Sin really weakens you; sin really snuffed the life out of you. Am I exaggerating? No, because in 1 Peter it says, “The passion of the flesh which war against your soul”.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. (1 Peter 2:11 ESV)

You don't know it, but, sin really looks really, really nice and juicy. But, the moment you grab it and you take it, and you live it, it brings forth, death within you. It kills you. It wages wars against your soul.

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This week, in the news again. I read about this lady, a beautiful, twenty-eight-year-old Korean model. Her name is Hang Mioku. Maybe some of you may find her familiar. What is astonishing is that at twenty-eight years old, she has a total fascination of looking beautiful. So, she went to the plastic surgeon and got the plastic surgeon to inject silicone, so that her skin would be nice and smooth and soft. And she went for multiple procedures, till her face swells up. I mean, it is soft; it is smooth. It looks like it, but it is also swollen. There is too much of it.

Now, she was however, not satisfied. She wanted more. The surgeon, now stopped administering those injections. They looked at it and they say, “It is too much.” So, what she got was a bottle of silicone and she began to inject herself with the silicone. Soon, the silicone ran out and so what she did was she took cooking oil and injected herself. And what happened next was that her face was totally disfigured.

Subsequently, she went back to the surgeon. Now, the surgeons are willing to help her because it has really gone to a terrible mess. They operated on her and this was what she was left with. Now, you look at this, this is a lady, who started off fine. Absolutely fine. But she wanted more, and she didn't know that the more would actually bring her harm. She began to inject herself.

I think, as I look at this story. It's a sad tragic story. But, that's the story of our lives. We don't understand, we, we think that a little lust here; we think a little anger there is fine. We think a little retaliation and unforgiveness. We think a little bit of addiction to some substance is fine. It's enjoyable! We inject ourselves with the silicone and the cooking oil of sin. And then, we mess ourselves out. We mess up our lives, we become disfigured.

The passions of the flesh, wars against the soul. It's an incessant war, skirmishes that it conducts on your spiritual life. And what happens is that it weakens you and you are laid bare. You are vulnerable to the devil's wiles. You have no defence against him and he comes and he seeks, to snuff the spiritual life out of you.

Now, don't get me wrong. He can never rob away your salvation. He can never steal that away. But what he can do is, in this life, he can take away your joy. He can take away your assurance. He can take away your privilege of serving God. He can take away your influence. He renders you joyless; purposeless; lifeless, in practical sense. Why? Because we chose to harbour ourselves, putting on the works of darkness and neglecting the armour of light.

So, you say, “Jason, why do I pursue holiness?” Let me tell you why. God loves you and He changed your life. He changed your heart and He has now destined you to a wonderful life of intimacy with Him. Don't forfeit that by holding hands with sin! Pursue Him.

Number 2, because He is coming for you. Hey, keep yourself pure. Keep yourself pure, He is coming for you. And number 3, because Jesus does care for you. Therefore He warns you. He doesn't want you to be living in those self-injection mode and hurting your spiritual life.

3]. How can I be holy?
But lastly, how can I be holy? How can you and I today, lived that holy life? Well, it is found in this picture. I searched Google, for a long time to look for an appropriate picture. This is the best I could find. It's unfortunate that this is not quite an armour. But, I hope you get the picture. This picture here, tells us, how you and I as followers of Jesus Christ can pursue holiness? The verse it's found for us, in verse 12, “So then, let us, look at this, cast off, the works of darkness and then, put on the armour of light”.

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light”. (Romans 13:12 ESV)

So, very simple. Cast off. Put on. It takes two. It takes two parts - cast off, put on. You say, “Pastor, how can I be holy?” You have got to understand cast off, and put on. So, okay, what do I have to cast off? It says here, “Let us cast off the works of darkness.” The word, ‘cast off’, is to “put aside, to throw; to forsake; to separate”. So, he is saying here, “The way to holiness, involves, part 1, a forsaking, a casting off, a decisive action to leave the works of darkness.” It calls for a decisive action to say, “No.”

You want to live a holy life, say, “No.” Say, “No” to the works of darkness. And I say to you, “It's not easy.” If you're to live any period of life as a Christian, you will realize, that saying no to temptation is never an easy thing. Isn't it? Correct? No? Okay imagine, if you have a beautiful leg of lamb. But, but, but, you are determined to lose weight and the leg of lamb comes in front of you, what do you do?

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Wah, you have to fight very hard, every night, I fight very hard. Not that I have a leg of lamb, but there's ice cream in the freezer and you think about your stomach grumbling. And you imagine the pleasures that ice cream brings to you. And to say, “No” to the ice cream is sometimes very difficult. I wish I don't have to live with that kind of struggles, but I do. And saying, “No”, it's not an easy thing.

Saying, “No” to the works of darkness requires a determined effort. A decisive action to say, “No”. It's almost like Jesus saying, “If your eyes causes you to sin or if your hand causes you to sin …” What did He say? “Pluck out the eyes, cut off the arm, throw it away.” Decisive action! Don't even entertain that thought. Don't even get near to it. Forsake it. And I am not exaggerating when I say, “Don't even start entertaining that thought”. Because, in verse 14, he says, “Make no provision for the flesh.”

So then let us cast off the works of darkness …..and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. v13,14

The word, ‘provision’, is a Greek word that means “to think ahead”, -"pronoia". ‘Pro’ is ahead. ‘Noia’ is to think or Noia. And so it says here, “Don't even think ahead for the flesh.” You know how you sin? Most people say, “I sin because I just fell into it.” Now, the Bible does tell us, there are times that we just stumble and trip and fall into sin. Galatians 6:1, is such an example, “If a man be overtaken in a fault, he tripped, he stumbled.”

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)

But, by and large, our sins do not begin just in that split second. What it is saying here, is that there is a long-term planning committee in your head. You know, you plan for NDP (National Day Parade) , you plan one year. I don't know how long. Is it true, one year or more than a year - National Day Parade? To have that parade, you plan for a really, really long time. In reality, when you sin, it's because you have planned for it a really long time. You say, “How does it work?”

It works like this. Maybe, your friend said something unkind to you, or your mother in law said something unkind to you, or your boss said something unkind to you. You know what you do in your head? You start to plan. “我给你好看！你等！留得青山在，哪怕没材烧” “I’m going to wait. I'm going to buy time.” You say this to me, “I am going to remember it and I am going to find opportunities to get back at you.” Don't you think that's how we think? Someone says something unkind and you allow your mind to be thinking of all the possible scenarios and the nasty things, so that you can get back at him or her. And when the opportunity presents itself, what is unleashed, is not a sudden gush of emotions. It is something that has been planned for a long time.

Pornography, you don't just slip into pornography. You don't! You start, you start by thinking. You start by preparing for a quiet room where you are alone. You start by disabling all kinds of surveillances, your mother, your father have set up. You make sure that it is the right environment and whilst you did not begin saying, “I will do it.” You did do things, in order for that possibility to take place. There's a long-term planning committee in us.

And until you're willing to say, "No.” Right from the word, "Go", a decisive action against it, you will never really experience holiness. It takes a lot of effort. It really takes a lot of effort to say, “No.” Smoking, drinking, adultery, anger, worries, there is a long-term planning that we need to just say, “Stop! No!”

Now, if we feel that this is only all that is needed for victory and pursuing of holiness. Then I have given you a self-help talk. And really, you don't have to come to church to hear that. But the Bible, is not here to just give you self-help talk. It's to give you a Christ life, that you may have true victory. And so, real victory is not stopping at casting off. Remember, two parts? Cast off. Put on.

So, he says here, not only must be cast off, say, “No” decisively to the works of darkness. We need to sustain that and maintain that with putting on the armour of light. The word, ‘put on’ here is "to adorn; to wear; to endue”. Holiness is not all our effort. It takes all our efforts, but it's not all our effort. Because God is involved and we must depend on God. And the dependence is seen in putting on the armour. You see, if you have just cast off the works of darkness, you are left naked. You are left naked. You are defenceless. And the next moment, sin comes, you are dead meat. You fall for it.

The only way you can sustain it is when you put off the works of darkness and you now put on the armour of light. You see, you have got to have both! Put off, put on. And you put on the armour of light. It is not that you make the armour of light. You can't make it. It's a provision from God. It's what God gives to you. And our responsibility, is not to manufacture it, but to wear it - put it on by faith.

And this armour protects you from the wiles of the devil, protects you from sins. It is the armour of light. You say, “Pastor, what is this armour of light?” “What does it really look like?” “What is it really?” Most of us would immediately think of Ephesians 6, the armour of God that is described there, in all its details.

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But, I won't go there, because the text doesn't go that, the text here, just gives you a very simple, but powerful concept. The armour of light, according to verse 14, it's really, none other than Jesus Christ Himself. So, you look at verse 12, look at verse 14, he’s saying “The armour of light, the protection and the provision for holy living, is nothing less than Jesus Christ in you.” That is amazing! The battle again sin, requires nothing less than Jesus Christ Himself. So, how do you put it on? After you have said, “No” to the lust and temptations that arise. You got to set your heart, your mind on the Scriptures, on Christ and His glories, as revealed in the Scriptures. And you have got to pray, you have got to depend on Him.

You have got to put on the armour in prayer. You have got to pray. This is what the old-timers used to say, "The mortifying effect of prayer.” Wah, you say, “What's the chim word, ‘mortify’?” To mortify is “to kill”. You see, when you are tempted, the temptation is very much alive, is dancing in your heart. He wants to lead you to sin, but you have got to kill it.

How do I kill it ? You go to God in prayer. You go to God and you say, “Lord, help me, help me. I want to say, “No” to this sin and I want to put on that righteousness. I want to put on the armour of God. Help me.” “Instead of lustful thoughts, Lord, give me the purity of Jesus Christ. Instead of the angry, bitterness that is brewing within me, give me the patience and the kindness and the love of Jesus Christ.” You see, you have got to say, “No.” But you know that it is not you, but Christ who lives in you.

Put on Christ. That means, every day in your lives, when you read the Scriptures, you put on Christ. That's why, we encourage you to read the Bible, daily; to see Christ. And the Bible says, “When you see Christ in the Bible, the Holy Spirit does a transformation work in you, He puts on Jesus Christ in you”. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,[a] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

You behold Jesus in the Bible; the Holy Spirit makes you more like Him. So, every day, you read the Scriptures, and you pray the Scriptures that you will be more like Jesus. Putting on, putting on, putting on Jesus Christ. Fortifying yourself, strengthening your soul against sin. But it takes two hands to clap. It takes one, casting off, a decisive action, not even to go there. Takes a lot of effort. And then, it takes a lot of dependence, in prayer, in communion with Jesus that this may be put on.

And they have to come together. If you have casting off, without putting on, you will fall back into sin the ,next time. If you have putting on without casting off, you are not moving anywhere. You are passive in this, and there will be no real progress. You see, holiness in you is a joint venture. It's all of God. It's all of you! Together, in this process of growth.

A bit chim (profound in Hokkien dialect) but let me work it out in a simple way. Suppose, some of you today are suffering from substance abuse. I am not thinking this is impossible, I think it is. There are some who are suffering, not suffering, but you're stuck in alcohol, smoking. And I think this is not, like I said, improbable. It may be some.

How do you fight that addiction? You say, “Alright, I am going to grit my teeth. I am going to say no to cigarettes, I'm going to say no to alcohol. And I'm just going to say no to all these temptations.” You try it! Because, you did cast off, but you don't have put on. The next time, the temptation comes, it bites back stronger. It's almost like the man whose life has been cleanse of the devil. Because it's empty, nothing is in it, the devil brings in other friends and occupies it in a fiercer way than before.

You see, you can't cast off and stop there. You have got to put on! You have got to put on Christ! You've got to grow in the Scriptures. You have got to spend time looking at Him in the Bible. You've got to pray for the mortifying effect of sin. You pray till the grip of that sin of that temptation loosens. You pray and you in a sense, put a stranglehold on the neck of temptation, till it gives up. And you are pleading for God's power in your life.
Hey, you don't break free from substance abuse without God. And at the same time, you don't break free from substance abuse without you saying, “No.” Cast off. Put on.

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Pornography. Men, you have got to say, “No.” “Yah, Pastor, I have tried, I have failed.” Well, put on Jesus Christ. Are you reading the Bible? Are you even delighting in . . .? You see, some of us may read the Bible, as if it's like a talisman, you just read, mmmmmmmmmmmmm, and you say, “Okay, that's going to change my life.”

No, no, no, no! You have got to read with intent. You have got to read with dependence that the Holy Spirit will change you to Christ-likeness. At the same time, don't kid yourself. Don't imagine that you can kick that habit, sinful life away, if we just come to church. You can't! You got to learn to cast off. Takes effort. But you have got to have both, you see.

And I say, sexual sins are not just for men. I think for women too. Some of you married women, you are married. You look at your husband, you think he cannot make it. He is really lousy. He's ugly. He has a big tummy. And he's not very cool. And then you watch a Korean drama, “Wah, ‘zhen’ [very] handsome, Kim Jong Ju.. Ju!” Or whatever. I don't know what you want to call you see, but they all sound the same. “Wah, he’s so handsome. He's so romantic. He's so kind. He's still muscular.”

And in your mind, you start to fantasize. “He is my ideal man!” You know what? Stop! Stop watching Korean dramas. (Laughter in the congregation). That may be very painful for some of you. But stop, you have got to cast off. And instead of thinking about Kim Jong Ju or whatever, think of Christ. Is there a Jong Ju? I don't know. Think of Christ. Hey, you have got to cast off. Put on.

Same for anger. Maybe, today, there is someone you are really, really unhappy about. Said something really mean to you, did something unkind. And you're just fantasizing all the kinds of scenarios. Stop! Put on Christ - His patience, His love, His temperance. Think not of vengeance, but think of His love.

And you can go on, you may be a worry wart. You are worried, always worried. Let me tell you, “Worrying is a sin, alright.” So, what you do? Stop, stop worrying.

Oh, you say, “Pastor, that's easier said than done.” Yah, of course, it's easier said than done. But, you see, you can rely on the armour that God has provided. Stop! And what does the Bible says, Philippians 4, “Go to prayer, Go put on, and the peace of God that surpasses an understanding, shall guard your hearts.”

Timestamp 0:41:08

Cast off. Put on. Takes a whole lifetime to learn, isn't it? We change clothes every day. We change clothes every single morning. You change clothes after you bathe. Spiritually, we have got to be changing it all the time. All the time, casting off the works of darkness, all the time putting on Jesus Christ. You say, “Why?” Because, Jesus changed me, I love Him. He is coming for me and He cares for my soul. And He doesn't want me to be laid bare and vulnerable before the evil one who robs me of joy, of meaning, of purpose and instrumentality. That's why I want to pursue holiness!

I say to you, “Gospeliters, if we, as a church is to fulfil the mission God has given to us, of leading people to Jesus, of leading people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Then, it has to begin with us.” That life-changing relationship must begin in our lives, isn't it? It doesn't make sense, if I say, “I want to bring you into a life-changing relationship, but I myself am living in sin.” Oh no, We got to personally have that life-changing relationship and that is seen in the casting off, putting on. And that would be the loudest Gospel, the whole world can hear.

I want to share with you this picture. Something wrong with this picture. Anybody can spot it? His, his, his...? Teeth. A bit dirty, here. Wah lau, such a nice clean set of teeth and then got a dirty food stuck there. What about this one? He has? He has? also what? Dirty teeth, Ee! What about this fella? He also has, has, obviously dirty teeth - all three of them. All of us could see the dirty teeth, isn't it?

You say, “What's this all about pastor?” Well, this is an advertisement by a toothpaste company. And a toothpaste company is saying, “Dirt on the teeth is so obvious that everybody would see it and when they see it, they forget to see everything else that is wrong about the pictures.” You say, “What's wrong with the pictures?” Look at the first one. What's wrong with the first picture is that it has six fingers. Do you see that? But you say, “I don't care, because I see the dirt on your teeth.”

Now, the second picture. What's wrong with the second picture? Wah, you guys are sharp. I looked at this picture for a long time, I couldn't find anything wrong. Yah, he has an extra hand. I mean, how did he get there. But, when you look at the picture, it doesn't strike you as much as the food on the teeth. And then the last picture, what's wrong? Wah, you guys are very good. He has no ear.

When I saw this, I thought to myself, “No matter how loud you shout the Gospel, if our lives are like that set of teeth, has dirt. People can't hear.” They can't hear what is around. They are oblivious! They can't bother with what is wrong. They are just looking at your teeth. You see, we live in a day and age when we think that the Gospel ministry, is how many times I can preach? And how big a group I can preach to? And that's what we dream of. That's why, as a church, we may think evangelism is largely done by the Pastor. Just get him to preach, just get him to preach, just get Him to preach.

Timestamp 0:45:12

But, do you realize that people are looking at your teeth? Doesn't matter how loud you preach. Doesn't matter how many fingers I have. Doesn't matter where my hand is - whether I have an ear. They are looking at your teeth. We can't be fulfilling the mission of leading people to Jesus it we have dirt in our lives, you see. The Gospel ministry is not just oratory. It's not just clever marketing, sales speech talk. No, the Gospel ministry is the ministry that comes from authenticity in your lives.

Do you know why the book of Acts, moved in a tremendous pace? Do you know why there is so much life-changing dynamics in the early church? Is it because they were all gifted preachers? Sure, the Holy Spirit was with them to empower their speech and their preaching. I believe that! But beyond that, it was the life. It was the life of the early church, that turned the city upside down.

I am so sad today, we live in an age where we want to shortcut things. No need for you to grow, we just want to be a church that preaches the Gospel; neglect the spiritual growth and authenticity and holiness of God's people. Now, let me tell you something. Preaching the Gospel today is a very simple thing. I'm not saying, “To preach the message of the Gospel is a very simple thing.”

The years I grew up, we’ve got to memorize verses. You have got to memorize how to draw. Yes, got to memorize how to present. In today's day and age, you don't even need to memorize. I just found out, that you can have Gospel preaching app on your phone. Anyone has that? Apps, you know what are Apps, right? Those programs on your phone that allows you to do somethings. And they are Gospel sharing apps.

You just need to touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, it will show you a picture. It will show you the verses, you don't have the answers. You can just flip, flip, flip, the verses, the secret answers are all there. It's as simple as that! But, we cheapen the Gospel if we think that the app is the key to the worldwide evangelism.

Jesus didn't give His Life, so that we may use apps. Jesus gave His life, so that we might have His life. And with this life, it backs up the message of the Gospel. You see, when Jesus says, “You are the salt and the light of the world.” He is saying not so much of your words that glorify. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not getting off balanced in a sense that you don't have to preach the Gospel. You need to! And words do matter, a lot.

But I think, I am addressing an imbalance in church today, where we are so focused on the presentation of the message and we forget that we need to embody the message. “Let them see your good works that they may glorify Your Father which is in heaven.” That you may be “The salt and the light”, and that's why a large portion of the Scriptures, a large portion of the epistles, is not so much the techniques of preaching but life.

How can GLCC impact our nation and our world? Good preachers? Sure, we must pray for them. But lives. A life that is holy; separate from the works of darkness. Walking in the brightness of God's glory, demonstrating that Jesus changed us. Demonstrating that we believe that Jesus is coming again. Demonstrating that we know that there is a spiritual battle going on. Demonstrating that there is divine power in the indwelling Jesus Christ. This is what the world needs to see. The Gospel message is not only heard, it's also seen in the church. And may God bless all of us.

Timestamp 0:49:17

I end with this statement from Duncan Campbell. He's a man who has seen the revival, he says, “A baptism of holiness in other words an outpouring and enduing of holiness, a demonstration of godly living is the crying need of our day. It's not money. It's not cars. It's not Internet. It’s not! I cannot believe that it is. Because, all you need is that one guy at the radio station, broadcast, broadcast, broadcast and the world will be changed. No. It's you, it's me. It's all of us, having a demonstration of godly living.

A baptism of holiness, a demonstration of godly living is the crying need of our day. Duncan Campbell

Holiness, the pursuit of it. What a glorious thing! What a glorious thing, when you pursue holiness! God is with you, when you pursue holiness. You get joy, your heart rejoices, that you're more like Jesus. Your heart rejoices in intimacy and communion with Jesus, when you pursue holiness. You’re healthy spiritually, when you pursue holiness. God is glorified through your life.

We live in a day, where people and churches teach you, you get happiness, you come to church. Forget about sins; forget about holiness. You just come and God will bless you with riches and wealth and so on. They tell you a kind of a happiness that is phony. The Bible tells you about a holiness that is real; supreme; all satisfying; glorious. The world has yet to see, what the church ought to be. Isn't it? So, may we pray, and I ask the Lord today to so work in all our hearts that we would say with Paul, “Let us realize the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.” Let's bow for a word of prayer.

Timestamp 0:51:23

I like to give all of us a time to reflect. A message like this, is not meant to tickle our ears or to excite our emotions alone. I believe God has a message for us. Because all of us today, if you belong to Jesus, you want holiness. You would want it because He's changed your heart. But there is a big gap between what we want and how we live. Maybe, it's because you have failed to realize, that holiness is not in the externality, it’s in our attitudes - our thoughts. Maybe because we have failed to realize, that beautiful motivation for holiness. Or maybe today all you have done is to cast off, or all you have done is to say, “Let Jesus take the wheel.” But it’s a balance!

And maybe, God has said and pointed out something to you, right here, right now. There's a sin, a series of sins, there is a habitual sin, that is just ruining you. You're injecting yourself with all this disfiguring thoughts; actions; words. And it has waged war against your soul and you want to stop it. This morning, before the Lord, make a choice. It begins with you taking a decisive action, a choice, saying, “No,” and putting on Christ, saying, “Yes.”

There is a beautiful life of holiness, awaiting us. It is a beautiful life. A life of true joy; a life of true witness; a life that makes you healthy spiritually. A life that God, you know, would be pleased with. It's not far. It's right here - casting off, putting on. In this time, commune with your Father. Pray unto Him. Ask Him to effect that mortifying effect of prayer to your sins.

Do you want your parents, your loved ones to come to know Jesus? It's not you going to them with a tract? It's not you wrestling for time to share the Word? It begins with your life. May the beauty of Jesus be seen in you. Maybe friends, you are here today, first time, you do not know Jesus. And all this talk on holiness, just doesn't make too much sense to you, I understand that, because I was like you. I have no desire for holiness, until Jesus came into my heart.

How can Jesus be in your life, today? Well, you have got to recognize, that you're first separated from God. You have no relationship with God, except that of an enemy. We are born in sin, we are sinners by nature. But herein, is the love of Jesus. Herein is the love of God that He came to give His life, while we are yet sinners, hating Him, He gave His life. The Bible says, “Whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Make a choice today, cry out to Jesus, “He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.” May God by His grace, by the moving of the Holy Spirit, draw all of us, wherever we are, closer to Him.

May we as a church, shine brighter for Him. May GLCC, truly the Gospel Light Christian Church, may we live the Gospel, may we give the Gospel. Father, thank You for this time. Bless all that are gathered here, according to the needs of our heart. We thank You today, You have a great goal. A goal of redeeming and purchasing for Yourself, a unique people of Your possession. A people of holiness. A people that will glorify You. So, we pray, to that intent, that You will do it, right here, right now, in our midst, because we ask and pray all this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.