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Well, this morning, I'm speaking to you from the book of Matthew, we have been on this journey for quite some time now and we come now to Matthew, chapter 9 and I want to say ahead of time that the sermon today will be a little bit technical, meaning it's going to be a bit difficult. It's not like a story, it's not so captivating but it is a very important, it's very needful.  It's technical, so I want to warn you ahead, in case you are dozing off to sleep, someone beside you may, “eh, it's technical, it's OK lah!” And you keep at it, alright. So the first half of it, I think will be rather tough, stick with me and then I think the second half would be way easier but the second half makes sense only when you understand the first half. Okay, even that explanation sounds technical.

Anyway, let's go into the sermon itself. I want to remind you about what has happened, alright. Jesus is displaying to us how He is compassionate to the lost, to the last, to the least, He is a friend of sinners. In the story, we concluded with last week, Jesus reached out to this man called, Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector, he is taking on a job that is despised by his people because they see that he is working for the Roman Empire, like a traitor, taking money from his own people and giving it to Caesar. Moreover, often times tax collectors will collect more than is necessary to line their own pockets. So Matthew was a man cut off from Jewish religious society, he's not allowed to enter the temple to worship God, he's an outcast.

But here Jesus came to Matthew's life and said to him, “follow Me.” I mean, that's amazing, this man who is an outcast, this man who has no hope spiritually speaking, now is invited to be part of Jesus preaching band he’s going to be part of the inner circle. He's going to be part of the 12 apostles, stunning! I think he must be overjoyed, he must be excited, “me to follow Jesus, the Son of God! Wow!”

So in that great excitement, he sets up a party, a feast in his house. He invited many of his friends, sinners and fellow tax collectors, The ‘Ah Bengs’ and ‘Ah Sengs’ of society, he got all of them together and he celebrated his following Jesus with this feast, partly to express his joy, I think partly also for an opportunity for them to hear Jesus.

So this is an amazing happy time, but just as we think everything is going on well, there are some critics, they are all His critics, isn't it? And so there's some critics, the Pharisees, the religious leaders, they are not very happy about this. They found something to accuse Jesus of and they said, “how can your master, how can this Jesus, eat with sinners and tax collectors .. it is so unbecoming of a holy man.” So Jesus then said to them, “you know the people who are well do not need a doctor but only those who are sick. So I've come not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus is giving them, given them an explanation. I'm not here to feast, I'm here to save, I'm here to reach out to them, so that they may come to know God. Well, that was the explanation given to this group of Pharisees who had a criticism.

Now, this morning, we hear of another group of people who had great difficulty understanding why Jesus would eat with them. And so we read in Matthew 9 verse 14 that's the basis of our thinking this morning, the disciples of John, of John the Baptist. They came to Jesus saying, “why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast.” [Matt 9:14] “Hey, we don't get it?” Ever since young, oh, not ever since young, these are disciples of John, they probably just learn from John that we understand that we need to be a people of repentance, we need to repent and we express that somewhat in our fasting. We fast often, the Pharisees fast often, how come Your disciples do not need to fast? Is there another way to God?

I think that's what they are asking. Now Jesus, then simply said to them, “can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them.”[Matt 9:15] So, He's saying, “hey why should they be mourning, why should they be sad, why should they be longing when the person they have been longing for is here. “I'm here, I’m with them. So obviously they should celebrate obviously, they do not need to fast.”

Now He uses the imagery of a bridegroom who is with them, because in those days, when the lady is betrothed to another, the bridegroom will actually leave to his hometown, build a house and maybe about six months to one year later, when a house is ready, he'll come back to the .. to his bride to receive her for himself. So, you can imagine the bride waiting six months to a year, “aiyoh, when is my darling coming back?” And [his longing], she's longing, her friends are longing, the whole family is longing and “when is my “心上人”[xin1 shang4 ren2, sweetheart] coming back.”  So, they will be in a sense mourning and longing and until the bridegroom comes, and there is joy.

So Jesus says, “you have been waiting for the Saviour, you have been waiting for the Messiah and I'm already here, so obviously My disciples will rejoice and there is no need to fast.” Now really, if Jesus ended here, it would have been a sufficient reply. Why do we need to fast when they do not need to fast? Simply because they believe the Saviour is here. You don't, they do, settles it.

But Jesus didn't just end here, He took this to be a teaching moment, a teachable moment and so He took opportunity to tell them more, explained to them more, why, what they have been believing is not relevant anymore or not relevant at all, but there is a new way that His disciples are believing in. So He's gonna tell us that there are actually two ways to God - an old way, which is actually a wrong way and a new way, which is the right way, which is the way He's proposing and to explain these two ways, he uses two simple illustrations.

The two illustrations tell us that the old and the new ways, do not mix, you cannot put them together. Now it sounds very confusing, but let me just explain that in verse 16, “no one puts a piece of unstrung cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment and a worse tear is made.” [Matt 9:16]

So illustration number one, to tell you the old and new can't mix, it's that of a cloth. So in those days they have clothings that shrink after they, after you wash. In fact today we still have clothing that will do that. So when you have an old garment that is washed and dried, washed and dried over and over again it is now seasoned, it doesn't shrink very much anymore, right? But you take a new piece of cloth, to patch up a hole in the old garment this new piece of cloth after it is washed, it will shrink and it will tear the inflexible piece of old garment, so it's a very simple illustration - don't mix the new and the old, nothing very difficult about this.

A second illustration in case you still don't get it, neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins and so both are preserved. {matt 9:17} Again, in those days their water bottles are not made of plastic or glass, their water bottles are made of animal skins and after a while when it's old, it becomes very brittle, it's not as elastic as it is used to be.  The skin, after you stretched and so on and you seasoned, it's washed, it becomes very inelastic. So when you put new wine into old skin, new wine is still fermenting, new wine is still bubbling, new one is still effervescent, so you put that wine, you stopper it, you close it up, the wine will keep releasing gases and it will stretch the inflexible wineskin and after a while it breaks, spills all over. So people are familiar, you don't put new cloth to old garment, you don't put new wine into old wineskins, you just can't do that.

2 WAYS TO GOD – OLD WAY & NEW WAY.  THE 2 WAYS ARE INCOMPATIBLE
Now what is Jesus saying, Jesus is simply saying that they are two ways to God there's an old way and there's a new way and you must never mix the two together, they are totally incompatible.

WHAT IS THE OLD WAY?  WHAT IS THE NEW WAY?
Now the question you have right now is what, what is the old way and what is the new way? Well, actually, Jesus is not very explicit in this text. He doesn't go on to explain what the new and the old ways are, but they are nonetheless obvious. Why? Because throughout the whole Bible and particularly in the life and times of Jesus, He often contrasts these two ways, and I think the best explanation, an illustration of these two ways - the old way to God, the new way to God is best seen in the story He gave in Luke 18.

There, Jesus describes the two approaches man can have to God. How can any man draw near to God? How can any man approach God? Two ways. First way, seen in the guy in front. Second way, seen in the guy behind. The guy in front, is called a Pharisee, he's a religious leader. He seems to be very pompous and proud in this picture, he seems to be dropping some money into a receptacle, a box and that represents one way we can have to approaching God. The second man at the back, he's a tax collector, so he's one of the despised of society, he comes in with his head bowed, with his hand on his chest, he seems very broken and humbled and he represents a second way to God. So the best is for you to read the verses for yourself.

So Jesus wanted to teach people a spiritual lesson about these two ways to God. So the Bible says He told this parable.  A parable is an earthly story to describe heavenly truths. So He gives a parable, a story to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt. This is the purpose why He gave the story.

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, God I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get. But, the tax collector, standing afar off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man, this tax collector went down to his house justified, rather than the other, rather than the Pharisee who looked very impressive. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. [Luke 18:9-14]

So the first approach to God or the first way to God is seen in the Pharisee, the religious leader. How does he approach God? He approaches God by telling God, this is what I do.  “I am not a sinner, I'm not as bad as the extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this terrible tax collector, I fast twice a week.” So he says, “God please take note of my record ah, I fast twice a week; many Gospeliters don't even fast their whole lifetime, I fast twice a week.” So he is depending on his works. “I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get, surely God, I'm further ahead to you, than all these terrible people are.” So what is he doing? He is someone who trusted in himself that he is righteous. Self-righteousness is one way people think they can have to approach God and in self-righteousness, necessarily you must exalt yourself, you must lift yourself up, you must think that the things you do somewhat elevates you to be above the rest of the world. Well, does this work with God? Is this accepted before God? The Bible says, “No, he is not justified, the tax collector is rather than this Pharisee.” So this is approach number one.

How about the second approach? The second approach is seen by the tax collector. The tax collector is someone who is humble, he's broken.  He does not come claiming any right for forgiveness, he comes as a broken man and all he says is, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Doesn't say anything he has done, doesn't say about anything he has achieved, all saying, “God, I admit, I am a sinner, I'm dirty, I'm helpless, I'm hopeless, all I'm pleading is Your mercy, not my goodness.” And the Bible tells us this man goes down to his house, justified.

THE OLD WAY -  REPRESENTED BY THE NEED TO FAST, THE WAY OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS, DOES NOT WORK
So very simple, the Bible tells us that there is an old way, I say it is old because that has been what the Jewish nation by and large has believed. They believe this old way, which is seen in the need to fast, the need to tithe, the need to obey the law. But actually, this is not an acceptable way.  Well, it is seen by their statement, “why do we and the Pharisees fast.” [Matt 9:14] We fast because we thought that’s the way to God, it is about self-righteousness and it doesn't work. This old way that the Jews, that the nation of Israel has always believed, does not work.

THE NEW WAY – REPRESENTED BY A FREEDOM FROM THE NEED TO FAST, THE WAY OF GOD’S GRACE, AND IT WORKS!
So here comes the revolutionary thought that man needs to come to God via not the old way of self-righteousness but the new way. A new way is marked by a freedom from the need to fast, you don't need to do these works and indeed you can't do these works to earn salvation before God. Salvation must be purely out of grace, that's why you do not need to fast and like the tax collector, seen in Luke 18, this man goes down to his house justified, it works!

I hope you will see this, not only from the teachings of Jesus, but really throughout the Bible. Human efforts to save himself, never works, that's why Jesus has to come. If I can save myself then God doesn't need to send His Son. But God's Son came into this world because we can't save ourselves and that's why God is showing His grace, when man doesn't deserve it, God sent His Son to save us from our sins. So over and over again, I want to remind you, this is the main thrust of the Bible really. The Bible tells us, the Gospel, the Gospel means the Good News of Jesus Christ, dying and rising to save us from our sins and “it is all grace, for by grace, grace is undeserved favour from God, we don't deserve it, but He gave it to us. For by grace you have been saved through faith, it is not of your own doing, it is purely a gift and to be absolutely clear it is not a result of works.” [Eph 2:8-9] Not by the old way at all, not at all.

Romans 3 verse 20, “for by the works of the Lord, no human being will be justified in His sight.” No way! The old way is a no way! You just can't get to God by the works of the law, for all are justified by His grace as a gift. You say, “what is church about? Is it about people who are trying to earn salvation by our works, therefore we come together?” No! Church is a group of people who have repented and believed in Jesus, who have received this gift, who have believed this grace of God in the Gospel, not by works but by grace.

Galatians 2:16, “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” Very clear, not the old way! Why?  If you want to follow the old way, you're under a curse, you're in deep trouble. “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse.” [Gal 3:10]

Why? “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law.”[Gal 3:11] You want earn your salvation, you've got to earn it by perfection. Can you do it? No! No human being can obey the law of God perfectly. That's why, if you want to earn your way to God via works, you are cursed, you're doomed, there's no chance, because you are unable to obey all the law of God. And that's why Jesus came. Jesus lived a perfect life, led a life without sin and then “He was crucified on the cross, becoming a curse for us.” [Gal 3:13] Why? Because we could never obey God's laws, we are a cursed people but “He took our curse upon Himself, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to us through faith.” [Gal 3:14]

In summary there are two ways to God - the old way, the new way. The old way is marked by a need to fast, by my works, by all my religious observances- tithing, praying, not sinning, not doing bad things. That's the old way.

But the new way is typified by a freedom from the need to fast. The old way is all about self-righteous, works. The new way is all about God's grace and the old way doesn't work but the new way does.

Now, let me say this again, why old because that's what the Jews have always believed in. Even though that's not the teaching of the Bible, they have misconstrued it and thought so for themselves.  So Jesus is here to clarify that and Jesus is saying, “you can't mix the two together, you can't have works and grace together, you can't.” He says, “you can't put this piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, you can't put new wine into old wineskin.”

You can't say, “I believe in Jesus and still think that I need to fast to earn my salvation.” It doesn't work! And that's what Paul is saying elsewhere, “if it is by grace, then it is no more, on the basis of works, otherwise grace would be no more grace.” [Romans 11:6]

A Christian doesn't live his life doing good works to earn salvation. You cannot mix that together, doesn't work! You, who would be justified by the law, if you want to earn salvation by obeying the law then you would have fallen from grace. Grace and works just don't mix together.

So my priority is to make sure you understand the verses, so let me just repeat or rewind. When Matthew 9:14 goes, “why do you or why do we and the Pharisees fast and You don't,” they are simply asking this question: is there another way to God? Because I see that what You're doing is very different from us. So Jesus replied, “well, you got to understand the bridegroom is here.” What Jesus is saying is, “this is a time of rejoicing in the Saviour, He is already here, I'm already here.” He did say that, “there will come a time when the bridegroom is taken away, then you will fast.” [Matt 9:15] This I think is His hint to them, that He will soon be gone, He will be crucified on the cross, He will leave them for a while and that will be a time for them to long for the Saviour again, but right now, the Saviour is with them. No need to mourn, no need to fast, rejoice.

Then He asked, or He went on to give this illustration that goes, “you can't mix the old way and the new way,” He talks about the new wine and the old wineskins, and He says, “the new wine of the Gospel of grace cannot be mixed with legalism or self-righteous works.” [Matt 9:15-17]

What Jesus I think is teaching, now you must understand, the people are listening in, “hey, your practice, your life is very different, why?” I think Jesus meant for all that to teach them the only accepted way to God is a humble dependence on the Gospel of grace, without the deeds of the Law.

Friends, if you're here with us for the first time, the past 20 minutes must be really difficult for you. I know, so much technicalities but maybe this is the one thing you need, I hope you realize, if you want to approach God, if you want to be reconciled with God, if you want to know God, then you must realize it is nothing to do with you earning merit before God. It has nothing to do with how you can please God with your own efforts. The only way a man can be reconciled with God is when we repent and believe in Jesus and what He has done, not of works, but of grace.

So what do you need? We need to simply say, “I'm a sinner,” like that tax collector said and simply say, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.” That is amazing grace, you know, that God can forgive us, just like that, even when we are so wretched and hopeless in sin. That's the Gospel, the Good News, the amazingly Good News of Jesus Christ.

WHY THEN DID GOD GIVE THE LAW AND CEREMONIES?
Now I just want to answer two questions before I move on to some applicatory thoughts. Some of you may then ask, “if salvation is not achieved by the works of the Law but by grace, then why in the world did God give the Law? I can't be saved by the law, why did He give the law? Why did He give the ceremonies? Well, the Bible has answer for you. Romans 3:20 tells us now you don't obey the law to be saved, “no man gets justified by obeying the law to be saved.” You can't! But what's the purpose of the law? Through the law comes knowledge of sin. How do you know you are a sinner? Until you see the standards of God.

So the law of God is meant to show you, your sins, not to save you from sins. The law of God is like an x-ray machine that shows you your cancer, but it's not a doctor that saves you from cancer.  The Jews have misconstrued that all together, they thought, ” oh the law, that's what I do to get saved.” No, that's what you read, that's what you know to show you that you are a sinner, so that you may then turn to Jesus. That's what Galatians 3 is saying, “the law concludes all of us are sinners. The law traps all of us to the understanding we are sinners, so that when we are trapped there, we have no choice but to say only Jesus saves.” [Gal 3:21-22]

So the law doesn't save, the law shows, shows you your sins and that's the same as for all the animal sacrifices the Jewish people have to have every year, every month, every week, every day. Every day, animals are being slaughtered, blood is being shed, you hear the shrieks and cries of animals. Why? To save the people from their sins? If I offer 10 goats, does it wash me 10 of my sins? No! Zero! Then, why sacrifice? Because in the sacrifice, there is a reminder of sins.

So why then did God give the Law and ceremonies? To save you? No! They are meant to show you, show me what? Show me my sins! Show me my sinfulness! When I read the law of God, it shows me how far I've fallen so that I may despair of even trying to save myself and say, “I need Jesus, I look to Jesus, God have mercy on me, a sinner.” That's the intent of the law.

IS IT WRONG TO FAST?
Okay, second question, now Jesus says no need to fast, then is it wrong to fast? Is it wrong to fast?  Well, answer is no, of course.  It's not wrong to fast. Jesus Himself fasted. The key is why do you fast? We must understand we don't fast to earn salvation. No one gets to heaven by fasting, no one gets to heaven by doing good works, so the key is not that you can't fast but why do you even fast? We fast to express and increase our hunger for God.[Check out sermon on fasting: matt 6:16-18] Now, if you are unclear what that is all about, I advise you to please check on the sermon few weeks ago, advertisement time, alright.

So just check up the message, I think we have a whole sermon about fasting and I think that is helpful, but I think at the end of the day you just need to understand Jesus is not against fasting. No, but He is definitely against people trying to earn salvation by their fasting. And this principle I think is applicable throughout the various means of grace, like praying, reading the Bible, serving, giving.  Is there anything wrong with praying, giving, serving, reading? Nothing wrong but it becomes wrong if you think that by praying and giving and serving and reading, you earn salvation. You get that?

We don't do any of these things to earn salvation. Salvation is given, not earned, but these are the things we do as means to help us grow as a Christian that puts us in a position where God can change us and grow us and these are things we do because we want to honour God and please Him but never to earn my salvation, alright. So, Jesus is not against fasting, but He's saying you guys thought that the way to God is via your works, as seen in fasting. I'm telling there's another way to God, your old way doesn't work. The new way of believing in the Saviour is the only way to God and that's what you must believe.

THE GOSPEL BRINGS JOY!
And I think I just now this is not an easy text, I'm sure you know, but I think there is one take away I have for this passage is this overwhelming thought that the Gospel brings joy because the words, the pictures, in this short four sentences, verses speak of great joy.

Jesus uses the imagery of a wedding, Jesus uses the imagery of a bridegroom. Now, weddings are supposed to be happy times alright, you agree unless you are forced into marriage, but apart from that weddings are supposed to be very happy times and Jesus is saying, “I'm here, the new way is here, you should be happy should be full of joy, your bridegroom is here and there will be wine, wine speaks of joy in the Bible and there is no need to fast.” Wah, Singaporeans cheer and, and so there is this, this Gospel, this new way of grace in Jesus brings great joy.

I think if you really understand and believe the Gospel, you should be a man or you should be a lady of joy, you should because that's what Jesus brings. Jesus, a real indwelling of Jesus in our lives through His Spirit should result in joy, for the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy. You know it's amazing, the very first miracle of Jesus, recorded in John was Jesus turning water to wine. Jesus brings joy to the wedding feast. The very first public miracle Moses performed in the Old Testament is water to ‘Yakult’, oh no, water to blood. I think there's that little message, that the law brings judgment, but Jesus brings joy because it's the Gospel, the Good News of salvation by His grace.

And so if a Christian really knows God, there should be joy. It's very sad when sometimes in church, people think that true godliness is seen in the very solemn, somber, gloomy look. I don't know about you but I'm sure you have seen churches of backgrounds, you come maybe from church backgrounds that everybody looks very serious and like, like they just sucked on lemon the whole day. That's how they look, you know. Now, I'm not, I'm not saying there should not be mourning in our life, there should be, blessed are those who mourn but remember the second half for, for they shall be comforted, I mean, the whole life cannot be one of a sucking of lemon appearance.

Spurgeon had a funny thing to say, he says, “when you preach about heaven, your face should shine that reflects the glory of heaven,” and then he says, “but when you preach about hell, your normal face will do.” He's saying, “wah, Christian that he sees everyone looks so sad, everyone looks so gloomy.” It's that Christianity? No! There should be joy, you should not walk around as if you're dying, wah, weather so bad ah, everything got, no, the Christian life should be one of joy, joy in Jesus.

Why, why, why joy in Jesus? Because all my sins, not in part but the whole is forgiven in Jesus. I mean, is there anything more important than that? There isn't! And if Jesus is mine, God is mine because of what Christ has done, I should be a person of joy. Don't you think? That's why the Bible says, “rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice,” because you have a firm assurance, you are saved.

You know, Nicodemus was never sure he's saved. You know, Nicodemus, Nicodemus found in John chapter 3, he is a ruler of the Jews, he must be very learned in the Bible, he's respected by all. He's probably rich, he has everything in life you thought of, and you would have thought, a master, a master teacher in Israel would think, that he save that he would be happy, but you know he wasn't! He was not sure about his salvation, he was not sure of what it means to be part of the kingdom of heaven. So at night, when nobody is watching he comes to Jesus and says, “would You,” he didn't quite get to say it but in his heart he would have said it, “would You help me because I'm not sure if I'm saved?”

It’s same for the rich young ruler who came to Jesus. What must I do to be saved? I mean, this guy is a rich young ruler, someone of positional and authority, but he never had that joy. But Matthew, Matthew who heard Jesus says, “follow Me,” have joy! Peter, Andrew, James, John – joy! They recognized Jesus will save them. And friends, if you today know Jesus, you can have this assurance of your salvation.

Now I want to clarify something, take opportunity to. Several weeks ago I said something to that effect, I can't remember the exact words but I say that I know I'm a Christian today, but 50 years later, I cannot be hundred percent sure. I think the effect it had on some people was “hah, what did you just say, Pastor, are you saying that 50 years later, you may not be a Christian, you may lose your salvation and so on and so forth, does this mean that a Christian can never have eternal security, does it mean that you believe that someone who is saved can lose his salvation?” And I can understand why you be saying duh, duh, duh, and shock like this.

So I want to be clear, I hope I will be clear here to help you I want to say, once, er not once and for all say that many times but I would say I believe that a man is saved by grace, without his works, agree? And I also think a man is kept by grace, without his works. If I am saved by grace then I am kept by grace it is not that I'm saved by grace and then by my works, my own efforts, I still can't. So no man is saved by his works, no man can lose his salvation by his works, it's grace from the beginning to the end.

It's like what John MacArthur said, “if a man could lose his salvation, he would.” Think about that again, if a man could lose his salvation, he would. Why? If salvation is dependent on your efforts, you would have lost your salvation a long time ago because we would have sinned and sinned and sinned and in my life, in your life, even if you are following Jesus today, you're still not perfect, you still sin all the time. So if you could lose your salvation, you would, but the amazing reality is that salvation is by grace, we’re are saved by grace, we are kept by grace. So I am saying, if a man is truly saved, he will never lose his salvation, never!  Once truly saved always saved, that is testimony to the grace of God.

But, how do you know you're truly saved? How do you know? God give you a receipt? One of the best tests of whether I am a true Christian or not, besides fruit and life change is that of time. The Bible teaches of faith, real faith that has this, enduring quality, they will keep believing, they will keep persevering. So if someone doesn't keep believing, doesn't persevere and he defects from the faith, he turns away from the faith, it just shows that he never had real faith to begin with. As I will say in this church, “the faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first” all Fs, can you repeat this, “the faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first. You know what you never had the real faith to start with.

So I'm saying that I can and anyone of us can, turn out to be self-deceived, we can turn out to be one of the hypocrites who know how to play the game but one day when we stand before God at judgment, Jesus will say to me, “depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you.” “But, but, but, but I did so much, I preach, preach, preach” “I never knew you.” Whoa, so there is a possibility of self-deception.

So I'm saying 50 years down the road, if I am truly saved, I am still saved, nothing will lose but I will not be complacent because I don't want to be shown at the end of the day to be a hypocrite, to be a false believer, and I diligently labour towards the point that I will keep believing, keep following Jesus and 50 years later, and if from God's perspective I can tell, He's given me true faith, I will keep persevering and I will be saved but I would never take this for granted.

So I hope that clarifies for you once saved always saved. But how do you know you're truly saved? Time - you keep believing alright. So my point is, if you really believe the Gospel, it brings you deep joy because it's not about what you do, it's what has been already done by Jesus on the cross. And you know the Bible tells us, “the joy of the Lord is our strength,” Nehemiah 8. The joy of the Lord is our strength, a Christian who is really understanding the joy of God lives in a very different way. Don't you think?  He won't drag his feet every day, he doesn't mop around like, like a Eeyore, you know Eeyore is the antithesis of the Christian, I think he is -  everything complain, everything got problem.

Well, a Christian is someone who has joy of the Lord. He, he, he walks with a spring in his step, he serves God with a passion in his heart. I think that would change the way we live. I think that would change the way we serve people. Now, people may be mean to us, people may say unkind things to us, but because of Jesus, because of the joy of Christ, because of the grace that I'm forgiven of my sins, I live a different life, I serve God with energy, with passion.

So let me ask you, “are you a people of joy?” I tell from the way you sing, you know. Amazing grace . . . I don't see joy. I see, I, I see a distraction from the Gospel, because if you really think about the words in the song, if you think about the truths in, in the song, it reminds you of this grace of Jesus. You're, you are , you are tasting, you are drinking the sweet wine of the Gospel.  You should be joyful, your life will change, it should make a difference! So how do you know a man is truly born-again or not?  One of the ways - joy.

I gotta joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, even kids know that. Now, let me say this, this joy is down in my heart, this joy is not circumstantial. This joy of the Gospel is not dependent on circumstances. Now let me be very clear, I'm not saying that Christians are fake-o's, hey Christian must be joyful. So every time I'm sick every time I'm in trouble, I say, “no lah, no lah, no trouble lah, I'm very happy.” You, you, you deny the, the agonies and sorrows. No, I'm not asking you to be a hypocrite, this is not about being fake or unreal. No! When sickness comes, when someone passes away, when there's a disaster, sure you must be sad, you are unreal if you say, “I'm not sad.” But the joy of the Gospel is even though I'm sorrowful and sad over my loved ones passing away, my business failure, my house breaking up, my home breaking up, I still am not overwhelmed but I have a deep joy that flows in my heart, like what Paul would say in 2nd Corinthians, “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”

Now, if you don't understand what I'm saying, I wonder if you really understand the Gospel because “Pastor, how can anyone be both sorrowful and rejoicing?” I say if you don't understand the Gospel, yes, you can't understand this. It's only when you understand the Gospel, how Christ loves you and gave Himself for you, for your eternal goodness and security and everlasting life then you can say even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, I'm still having the joy of the Lord.  Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

I've asked permission from Mr. Lam and I'll share this with you. I think I've mentioned him just about two, three weeks ago and all of you would know that Mr. Lam was stricken with ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, it's a neuromuscular problem, a disease that results in the inability of his nerves to fire the muscle fibres in his body. So his body gets thinner and thinner because there's no innervation, no supply, he gets weaker and weaker. And when he was first diagnosed with ALS, he was told by the doctors he has 3 to 5 years more to live from this condition because it's a progressive weakening problem, swallowing, eating, breathing would be a challenge. I've mentioned to Stephen Hawking has this disease. The ice bucket challenge is what brought some global prominence to this disease but it's a, it's an incurable disease according to medical science.

And all these times, Mr. Lam struggles with this. He can't, he can't walk properly by himself. Now he can't eat very well, he has .. for us eating is such a pleasure, for him is so difficult, he can't even swallow his food properly. Right now, he, he, I'm told he eats only ‘London Choco roll’, it's a kind of a cake stuff, soft, mushy enough for him to be able to swallow, that's all he eats. It's getting more and more difficult and so it's not easy for him. He said, “sometime back with my condition, life can be very difficult as it is just waiting to die.” Tell me, what else can he try to achieve? He says, “it's like waiting to die of a death sentence ALS 3 to 5 years.

Right now, he's in year five, but he says, “whenever I feel really helpless and when I don't know what to do, I remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 9. The Gospel, the Good News that Jesus has come for those who are sick.” He said that, “it is not the healthy who needs a doctor but the sick. He has come not to call the righteous, but the sinners and I am a sinner,” That's what he's saying, “I'm a sinner and I believe Jesus is here to save me.” He's not trying to earn salvation by his works, as a broken sinner, he comes and says, “Lord, thank you for Jesus who is here, as my spiritual Doctor, I know that Jesus will sit at the same table with me, He will never look down on me.” There's this hope, this joy that he has.

One of the key people serving Mr. Lam, is James and James has shared that, “you can see that Mr. Lam has a certain joy and a certain peace. It's pretty amazing that he wakes up daily, knowing that life is not long, but we rarely hear him complaining to us, there is always an effort to be happy.” This is a picture taken of him recently, nice picture, updated picture and was just about I think two, three weeks ago that he was unwell and was admitted to the hospital and at hospital they took some blood tests and they found that his haemoglobin level, that, that's a red blood cell level is four. Normal for men is 12 to 16, his level is four, four in our medical terms is really bad, he can't do much without being breathless and tired and you add that to his ALS problem.

But that's not all because after further check-up, they found that there's a growth in his stomach and it is confirmed to be stage four stomach cancer. It has spread, I think to his liver, elsewhere in his body. Typically for people with stomach cancer, you won't want to have it there, you will want to have it removed by surgery but for Mr. Lam surgery is no go, he, he, he probably can't survive the anaesthesia, he can't wake up without the machine or ventilation support and so he has to not go for surgery. The only other option is for him to go through chemotherapy and we all know chemotherapy whacks the cells, sometimes the cancer cells but oftentimes other cells and, and that might be too, too damaging for his body and so what has happened is that Mr. Lam essentially is, is now home, he's discharged not because he is well but because there's nothing much medical science could do for him.

He's at home, he's given a prognosis of just weeks to months to live because there's a stage IV cancer just growing and getting bigger and bigger there, he's probably going to lose more blood that way. And all he, well, he said, “all he really wanted now is just have a few nice meals with the people in church, the people who have been serving him, reaching out to him and he said that he, he's is really looking forward to his new body when he dies.”

Amongst many things I, I, I do not know, how you and I would think if we are in the same predicament, but we would say that there is nothing really to be happy about in this life, isn't it? I mean, why would a man be hit with ALS and stage IV cancer at the same time? But there is still joy because of the Gospel in Mr. Lam and there is great joy because he's absolutely right, he's going to go but he's not gone. He's going to be with our Lord and there you have a new body, he will be with Jesus forevermore. The Bible tells us he will be an heir and co-heir with Christ, all that is Christ is his, this is what the Gospel brings.

My friends, today you may be going through hardships and trials, you know our God loves you. If you believe in His Son, His love for you is clear. Jesus died for your sins and He's working all things for your good. I hope we all today, will not live lives that are legalistic and grim and solemn and gloomy because we are unsure [about our unsure] about our eternal state, but that you have that deep assurance, and joy in the Gospel that enables us to go through the hardships of life that enables us to serve Him with joy and passion so that when the world sees us, they realize this is a people who have something I don't have and that makes the Gospel, that makes God glorious.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. There are two ways to God, one is your self-righteous way, which ends up as a dead end which never gives you real joy, but there's a second way to God, it's a new way, Jesus teaches us in the Gospel, a new way of grace, a new way that fills our hearts with deep assurance and joy, a new way that really, really works, because Jesus has already paid it all.

This morning, if I could, by the grace of God, I want to urge you to turn and repent from that old way of trying to earn salvation by your own efforts and I ask you today to turn your eyes to Jesus.  Yes, to repent of your sins, to see the hideousness, the ugliness, the hopelessness of your sins and turn your eyes and look to Jesus on the cross, who has paid it all for you. He has risen from the dead, He is victorious over sin, Jesus saves. So turn your eyes unto Jesus today for the Bible says, “whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Dear church, we have plenty of bad news in the world today, but you add that all up, it doesn't even come close to the magnitude of the Good News of Jesus Christ and so I encourage you on a daily basis, come and drink the sweet wine of the Gospel. You say Pastor, “how do I get the sweet wine of the Gospel?” Go to the Bible, read the Scriptures with Gospel-centred lens and see the grace of God in Jesus Chris.  Drink it in, listen to it, read of it, so that each day your heart is topped up by the sweet wine of the Gospel and when you life is topped out with the sweet wine of the Gospel you walk with joy, you feast, you party, you invite friends and loved ones to come to know of this Jesus who brings joy. You serve with passion with energy, you, you meet the obstacles, the challenges, the trials and tribulations of life, not with devastation but with a deep, deep peace and joy within. I wish that for myself, I wish that for you, I wish that for this church. And so we cry out to God, “Lord, let the Gospel fill my life and let joy, be evidence in all that I say and in all that I do.” May this be your prayer this morning as well.

So Father, we thank You today for the Gospel, fill our hearts with joy, bring those today who have been trying to earn salvation to the foot of the cross. May they humble themselves, smite their chest and say, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.” And may this church, show a dynamism and stability and joy that the world will sit up and realize there is a God, there is a power [they] you have, we don't. And may there be opportunities for us then to share with them the Good News, the sweet wine of the Gospel, so bless each one here once again, we thank You in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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