History Of The First Christmas Celebration

The early Christians were persecuted throughout the first three centuries under the Roman Empire for refusing to worship the Roman gods and the Emperor.   The worst period of persecution was under Emperor Diocletian from 303 to 311 AD.  It ended when the next emperor Constantine signed the Edict of Milan in 313 AD.  He convened the first of seven ecumenical councils in Nicaea in 325 AD.

Christianity was made the state religion in 335 AD, and the first Christmas celebration was celebrated by the early Christians thereafter in 336 AD.  There was about a few hundred churches scattered across the whole Roman Empire then and there was no central authority. The fourth ecumenical council of Chalcedon was held at a later date in 381 AD implying that there was still no central papal authority then.  Our formal doctrines were derived from these ecumenical councils especially that of Nicaea and Chalcedon.

The bishop of Rome gained prominence over other bishops primarily because it was the capital of the Roman empire then before it moved to Byzantium which was renamed Constantinople.  The church of Rome was the first to celebrate the Christmas before the few hundred churches also celebrated over time.   How did the individual church bishops arrive at such a decision to celebrate the Lord’s birthday based on theological or liturgical reasons was still debatable because it was not determined at any of the seven ecumenical councils. Papal authority was only formalized in 440 AD under Pope Leo I which was more than 100 years after the first celebration.  

It is clear that neither the state nor the later papal authority started the first Christmas celebration but rather the early Christians in Rome.  

To me, the Christmas celebration is a matter of conscience just like whether we should eat food offered to idols.  Scripture did give us clear instruction on such matter of conscience.  The small budding church in Ephesus faced such dilemma on whether to eat food offered to idols which was sold in marketplaces or being invited to feast by pagan friends.  In my opinion, one will be making a wrong turn to contend against each other on such matter of conscience.  After the Reformation,  the Lutheran church continued to celebrate Christmas proving that the matter of conscience of Christmas celebration was not in conflict with the matter of truth detailed in the five solas.  

Natural Function

Rom 1:26-27

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

Any violation of the natural function is an abomination to our Lord God. An affront to His wisdom of His created order. The churches can argue that times have changed and the unnatural relationships can have committed faithfulness to each other is immaterial.

Likewise God has mandated that man is the head of the family. We can argue that women today are well educated and can just be as capable. (God has created men and women to be equal and all will be like angels in the coming glory. Gal 3:26-29. But for the time being, that is what God had decreed for the family relationship in this life.). It is also a clear scriptural command that women are not allow to teach and have spiritual authority over men. 1 Tim 2:12-13. The reason given was that Adam was formed first, then Eve – telling us that God’s sovereign will in His created order settled the issue.

Likewise the medical drugs invented so far either enhance or inhibit the NATURAL FUNCTION of the human organs or cells. Should one day the drugs interfere with the natural function of our cells (especially to alter to bad function), that is also a violation of God’s created order in my opinion.

The Parable Of The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealthin wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

We are created to have dominion of God’s creation and yet our first ancestors sinned by wanting to go their own way with their lives and their inheritance.  God simply gave them up to their sinful desires.  All unrighteousness will end in misery, and so the younger son discovered after all the years of wild living.  

I have heard numerous sermons on this parable but none stressed another crux of the parable is the spiritual bankruptcy of the younger son when he came to his senses.  He said to himself, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.”    The younger son acknowledged he had sinned against heaven and against the Father.  And he was no longer worthy to be a son and he was willing to submit himself as a hired servant.  That is a very clear penitent confession of his spiritual bankruptcy. Did he come back and demand that he be treated as a son again ?  No.   Did he come back unrepentant with past brutish behaviour and start asserting his authority as a son again ?  No.  

The false hyper grace pastor had twisted this wonderful message of repentance and grace by suggesting firstly that when the younger son said those words to himself, he was schizophrenic. By coming to his senses as stated in Scripture, it was obvious that the younger son was remorseful and decided to make that journey back to seek the father’s forgiveness.  The second twisted suggestion was that the father did not even bother to hear the son’s confession of sins before he welcomed him and so, there is no need to feel godly sorrow for sin or contrition, or to confess one’s sins and repent. We know God the Father is omniscient.  Surely He know our hearts when we are repentant and ready to return to Him. Any sensible person will not conclude that the younger son returned without any hint of repentance and be an ingrate all over again. Won’t he be so thankful forever to be received again as a son of the Father ?  Won’t he be a filial and responsible son from then on ?

Scripture Reading Fellowship

Rev 1:3. Blessed is the one who reads ALOUD the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Spent an afternoon with some brothers and sisters in Malaysia to read the book of Revelation aloud.  We took turns to read one chapter each and it took us 2 full hours to read through all the 22 chapters.  Amazing that none of us took our eyes off the Scripture while it was read continuously.  It was quite a feat given that some of us have short attention span.  All thanks and glory to our Lord.

The book of Revelation starts with a promise of blessing to the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy in Revelation and keep it to heart.  And it ends with a very severe warning to anyone who adds or takes away the words of this book of prophecy.  

Rev 22:18-19. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

I have read the book of Revelation many times but I failed to note the severity of the warning in Rev 22:18-19 all along.   The consequence of taking away words is so much more severe than adding words to it.  

The commentary from BibleRef.com states :

“In the prior verse (Rev 22:18), God warned against “adding” to Revelation, presumably by either adding to the text or trying to force in meanings which the Holy Spirit did not intend. God’s warning here extends to those who detract from the book of Revelation and presumably from all Scripture. As with the prior warning, this can be taken to mean editing the text, or trying to explain away or misinterpret those aspects of the message we don’t like (1 Cor 4:6). Those who take away from God’s Word will not share in the tree of life or have access to the eternal city.”

All these years that I have heard sermons on Revelation,  the emphasis was always on the coming glory of new heaven and new earth but the judgments mentioned in the main bulk of the prophecy from chapter 4 to 18 would be skipped over as not to offend the congregations used to hear only feel good messages but not doomsday messages. To me, it is likened to explaining away all such unpleasant judgments, or even belittling these words of prophecy as one translation mentioned (See below).


Testimony (29)

I joined an 8 day package tour to Yunnan and Hainan from 30 Aug to 6 Sep 2024. When we arrived in Haikou Hainan on 4 Sep, the tropical storm from the Philippines had morphed into a super typhoon about to hit Haikou on 6 Sep. All flights out of Haikou on 6 Sep were cancelled and all modes of transportation were halted on 5 Sep to facilitate safety preparation. My youngest son hoped I could attend his army basic training passing out parade on 7 Sep and we had also planned and booked an overseas holiday together from 8 to 13 Sep. The return flight rebooked by the airlines was scheduled so far out to 11 Sep as all flights from Haikou back to Singapore from 7 to 10 Sep were fully booked. Knowing the near impossible odds of making it to the parade on 7 Sep and going on our overseas holiday on 8 Sep as well, I prayed to the Lord anyway that somehow the impossible could happen.
In this package tour, the owner of the travel agency also joined us surprisingly. He checked on a possible flight to return from Sanya in the south away from Haikou in the north. (See the path of the super typhoon Yagi.) He made a quick decision to transfer us down to Sanya on the 5 Sep. We were actually on the way to drop one couple who preferred to stay in Haikou and in the nick of time, we made a U turn back to Sanya and as a result, we avoided a lockdown on all modes of transportation out of Haikou on the 5 Sep. And he managed to get seats on the Cambodian Airways 12.50 pm flight out of Sanya on 7 Sep. I prayed that the Sanya airport would be opened to allow inward flights on 7 Sep morning or the 12.50pm flight would be cancelled too and that would nullify the alternative effort. And it was a direct 3 hour flight back to Singapore. Had there be a stopover in Cambodia, I would have also missed the passing out parade held at 5 pm.
Hallelujah ! All thanks to the Lord for answering my prayer to clear all obstacles. I made it to the passing out parade on time. The ceremony was held in a stadium just 10 mins away from the airport.

PS – Another typhoon was on the way to Shanghai when my son and I were in Shanghai from 8 to 13 Sep. We left before the typhoon hit Shanghai in 75 years on 16 Sep 2024. I would normally rest for a few days before embarking on another trip and not immediately the next day after returning on 7 Sep. Had our holiday been delayed to 13 to 18 Sep, our holiday would be ruined due to the arrival of the Bebinca super typhoon on 16 Sep 2024. All thanks and glory to our Lord !









Sin Leading To Death

1 John 5:16

16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 

Heb 6:1-6

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, [fsince they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

Heb 10:26-29

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 2How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Heb 12:16-17

16 that there be no sexually immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that even afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

There are many explanation of this verse 1 John 5:16 regarding the sin leading to death.  Some interpreted that it is referring to specific sin that causes physical death such as death of some after partaking of the Lord’s supper without judging themselves or the death of Ananias and Sapphira in lying to the Holy Spirit. Or the unpardonable sin of attributing the works of the Holy Spirit as the works of the devil mentioned by our Lord. Others believed it is referring to sin of murder and we should not feel the necessity of praying that he or she should escape the physical death penalty.

Looking at the whole counsel of 1 John which was addressing the gnostics, John could be referring to the sin of apostasy.  The apostate had professed faith and even tasted the good things of the faith and yet could sin wilfully, or repudiate our Lord by denying His deity, incarnation and the sufficiency of His atonement.  Heb 6:1-8; Heb 10:26-29; and Heb 12:16-17 tells us that for such a person, there is no more place for repentance.  It is not a momentary weakness leading to sin but a continual hardening of heart in sinning. So there is a difference in the degree of sin.  The example given of Esau in Heb 12:16-17 describes him as a godless and immoral person. Esau could exchange his birth-right for a meal which clearly revealed his apostate state of belittling and trampling hard on God’s promises and blessings. That was not a momentary weakness. That was complete hardness. For though Esau wanted the blessings back with tears, he was rejected for he found no place for repentance.

In the present woke society in the western capitalism states, many so-called believers are sinning wilfully and may harden their hearts to a point of no return. In the coming persecution, these believers may willingly renounce Christ in order to escape reproach, suffering or martyrdom. There may be remorse but they cannot be renewed to repentance.



Parable Of The Talents (II)

In Matt 24/25, our Lord’s disciples asked Him what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of age.  He gave 4 consecutive parables in the parable of the faithful servant, the parable of the talents, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins and the parable of the sheep and goats.  The parables gave instruction and responsibility to His disciples as stewards to care for His Kingdom.  The main instruction of the first and the last parable was to care for His people, especially the least of the brothers.  All four parables expect faithfulness from the stewards. 

In the parable of the talents, our Lord expected the disciples to understand both the spirit and the letter of His instruction to invest in His Kingdom while He would be away for a considerable period of time.  The first and second servant understood perfectly and invested with the resources given as faithful stewards.  These two servants fully knew their Master well that He expected them to be faithful in fulfilling His instruction. The third servant failed to know the character of His Master well and avoided any risk AT ALL COSTS. Thus he was not faithful in fulfilling the instruction of His Master.  

If our Lord expects us to bear fruit in every good work (Col 1:10), how often will we avoid sharing with the least of the brothers by hoarding our wealth – choosing to believe that giving is loss and not gain ?  If our Lord expects us to bear fruit as in sharing the gospel with all, how often will we avoid all risks to our jobs and career as not to share the gospel so that we do not step on toes in a woke and all inclusive society today ? Besides, how often are we rich towards ourselves first without being rich to God when we are given material blessings ?   The landowner in the parable of the rich fool was not greedy.  He had an unexpected abundant harvest that his present barns could not hold.  His first thought was to build bigger barns instead of caring for God’s people with the excess abundance. How often do we think of upgrading our standard of living FIRST when we receive a promotion, salary raise, big bonuses or unexpected abundant business profits ? If we are not obeying His 3 demands of discipleship in the first place (Luke 14:26,27,33), how can we be faithful servants till the end ?

As our Lord’s disciples, we have no excuse if we do not invest in His Kingdom of the highest priority and we should be content with just food and lodging.  1 Tim 6:6-10. But sadly the majority of Christendom in the western capitalism states tend to live with indifference to our Lord’s warning and instruction in these end times as goats rather than sheep.  And not being faithful to investing in His Kingdom at all.

Message Of Economic Flood Shared With ICCC Malaysia

Over 2 Saturdays,  I shared the message of the Coming Economic Flood via zoom with the members of International Christian Chamber of Commerce, Malaysia.  For the first session, I shared about what the Rev 18:17-19 judgment is all about and how the current situation is setting up for this judgment which I believe will happen before all the other major prophecies in the end times.  For the second session, I shared about the necessary spiritual and physical preparation given the examples of our Lord’s warning about the AD.70 massacre and Agabus’ warning of a global famine in Acts 11:27-30.   

The current economic slump faced by China and the hardship caused by the inflationary climate in Southeast Asia are evident in daily life. If the churches have prepared for such crisis prior to the pandemic, the current hardship can be mitigated. But this current hardship will pale in comparison to the coming judgment which will destroy all wealth.

The ICCC president himself has embarked on such physical preparation and my message apparently reinforced the purpose of his endeavor.

Parable Of The Rich Fool

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” 

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Since I believed and was baptized in 1976,  I have heard numerous sermons on this parable.  The sermons would emphasize that having wealth is not a sin but only the love of it.  It is such a relief to many believers who live in such an affluent society as mine thinking that as long as we are not greedy to gain more, we are fine.  Is the parable that warns against all kinds of greed really says so ?

Our Lord already stated that life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.  In another word,  having an abundance or being rich is already a red flag.  Is the rich man in the parable greedy ?   It was his own land that yielded an unexpected abundant harvest.  It was unexpected because his present barns could not hold all.  This situation is no different from what we will face when we have an unexpected salary increase, promotion or a good business year.   There is no greed to gain more in such a situation.  Yet God was displeased with his mind being rich towards himself and not towards God.  The rich man’s first thought was how to place the abundance and to store up enough for him to take life easy from then. He could very well used this extra abundance to bless others –  to satisfy both spiritual and physical hunger – and thus laying up treasure for himself in heaven.  Ambrose once said,”The bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever.”   Actually our Lord Jesus said a lot about the danger of riches, sometimes calling riches unrighteous or deceitful.  God even called this rich man a FOOL.   Yet how many affluent believers really feel the serious danger in the warning ?

If Christ comes today,  how are we going to answer what we do with our possessions ?  

主耶稣真是好


主耶稣真是好

主耶稣真是好

主耶稣真是好

我们来赞美祂 (2x)


副歌:

拜一,拜二,拜三,拜四

拜五,拜六,正个礼拜,我们来赞美祂 (2x)

Jesus is so good (3x)

Let us come and praise Him

Chorus :

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,

Friday, Saturday, the whole week

Let us come and praise Him


“To say that God is good means that God always acts in accordance to what is right, true, and good. Goodness is part of God’s nature…Ultimately, God’s goodness is seen in His plan to redeem us from sin. The gospel is “good news.” In His goodness, God sent His Son to become the perfect and blameless sacrifice so we could be forgiven of our sins. God does not want “anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), and it is “the goodness of God [that] leadeth thee to repentance” (Romans 2:4, KJV).”

  • Gotquestions org

God’s goodness should lead to thankfulness on our part: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1; 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 118:1; 136).