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Thank you for today, Lord, and for everyone that's here, and for you to bless the pastors and preachers. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, welcome everybody. Welcome to Hold Fast Baptist Church Christmas Service. Merry Christmas to you all. I was reading, you know, it's an interesting year because this year, as happens every few years, Christmas Day is on a Sunday. And I was reading yesterday in the news that a record number of churches have canceled service on Sunday this year. And, you know, that kind of goes against, some of my church members are here with me today. I actually believe, my name is Pastor Jared Pozarnsky, by the way. I'm the pastor of Hold Fast Baptist Church. I actually believe, and my church members, you know, have heard me say this maybe a million times, that we actually should have more church today, especially in our country, not less church. So thank you for allowing us to come here. Instead of having two church services on Sunday, now we're having three because we're having one with you all. So thank you for joining us. Merry Christmas. The message I want to give you this morning is just talking about Christmas presents or Christmas gifts, as it would be. In my family, we usually open up Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve. So yesterday in my house, we exchanged gifts and the kids, my kids are a little bit older, they're here with me today. So the kids now, when they get older, they get a job and they can give you a gift, right? You don't just give them gifts. My kids gave us gifts and we gave gifts to our kids. And to be honest with you, obviously I always loved Christmas, the gift part of Christmas, especially when I was a child. But to be honest with you, when I got older, this tradition of just giving stuff back and forth to each other, it really kind of baffled me. I really didn't understand it. And the older I get, the more silly it actually begins to seem to me. I mean, yesterday in my house, you know, we exchange stuff, right? I give some stuff to my kids and then my kids give some stuff to me. And then if you're like us, we have family that is all across the country. We have friends that are all across the country. So not only are we giving stuff back and forth to each other in our house, but we're literally buying stuff and then we're shipping stuff all the way across the country in boxes to people that we know and people that we love, of course. But all this effort, so we open up all our stuff, all our gifts from each other yesterday, and then we get on the phone with people that we sent packages to and we tell them, Merry Christmas, and they say, hey, thank you for the stuff. And then we say, thank you for the stuff that they sent us and we sent them. So this morning or this afternoon, I guess, I'd like to just kind of explore the biblical basis of why we do this. Because I think, I think that sometimes we lose perspective on why we have the traditions that we have. And all the traditions that we have as Christians should be based in the Bible. All right? You know, I always say we're a Baptist and people don't know what that means. I say, well, when the Bible is your boss, you're a Baptist. So if it's in the Bible, we believe it. If it's not, we don't. It's very simple to be a Baptist. So let's look at this idea of Christmas gifts and where it comes from. Now, I think if you would go out on the street and you would ask somebody on the street, why do we give each other presents and gifts for Christmas? You know what people would say? They would say, well, because this fat man and a slave flies around magically around the world pulled by reindeer and he gives people presents. So that's why we give presents to each other because of, you know, Santa Claus. Well, you know, I've never taught my kids Santa Claus. Why? Because I'm a Baptist and it's not in the Bible. It's not real. All right. So, you know, my kids, if you ever heard about those kids that went into a group of kids and told them all that Santa Claus wasn't real. That was my kids. That was my kids that did that. All right. So guilty right here. So if you would ask somebody on the street, why do we give presents for Christmas? They'd probably say something along those lines. You know, something about some secular idea of Santa Claus or some myth. Now, many Christians today, if you would pull a Christian aside and say, why do we give gifts for Christmas? I think maybe what they would do is maybe they would quote Acts Chapter 20, where Paul was quoting Jesus and he said, blessed is the giver. You know, it's more blessed to give than to receive, Jesus said. OK, I mean, that that's a decent answer, you know, from the Bible. It's in the Bible. It's more blessed to give than to receive. That's why, by the way, if you ever want to feel better about yourself, you know, do something for somebody. You know, it always makes you feel better about yourself because it's fulfilling those words that Jesus said that is better to think about other people than about yourself. Right. As a matter of fact, people that are depressed many times, they're just too self-focused. You know, they're too focused on themselves and you could focus on other people. That actually brings you joy. So that's a decent answer. It's in the Bible, but that's not the answer. Right. Maybe other Christians would say, well, because the wise men, because the wise men, when they went to visit Jesus when he was born, of course, the wise men weren't at the birth of Jesus. They were there when Jesus was maybe one years old or one and a half years old. But maybe they would say because the wise men gave gifts to Jesus, the gold, the frankincense, the myrrh. You know, in Matthew Chapter two, we see the story of the wise men going to visit the young child Jesus. So many people would think maybe that's why we give Christmas gifts. Not a bad answer. But that's still not the original reason that we give Christmas gifts. And that's what I want to share with you this morning. I'm going to read for you. It's actually our verse of the week in the bulletin this week. I'm just going to read for you Isaiah Chapter nine and verse number six, where the Bible talks about it talks about a proof. This is a prophetic verse. Hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus was even born, talking about the prophecy of the coming Messiah. And this is what the Bible says. And this is the original reason why we give gifts to each other at Christmas. The Bible says in Isaiah Chapter nine and verse number six, it says, for unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. A son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. This is my favorite part of this verse. The Mighty God. Jesus Christ, the child that was born on Christmas, that what we celebrate Christmas for was God in the flesh, the Bible says. The Mighty God. But the point I'm trying to make is the Bible says that unto us a son is given. So this gift of Jesus Christ was given to earth, given to mankind, given to whosoever the Bible says. And I'll explain that to you in a little bit. But the difference between this gift and all the stuff that we got yesterday, or maybe the stuff that you got today. Look, I got this tie yesterday. It's a nice tie. I'm very thankful the person, I actually got this tie and this shirt. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for two women in this room right here, I would never have anything that matched. But I got this tie yesterday and it's a very nice gift and I'm very appreciative that somebody that loves me would have spent the time to go and find me a tie and a shirt that matches. So I don't look like a fool when I stand up and preach to people. But guess what? I have 37 ties. I love this tie. I'm wearing it today. I'm wearing it today. But this gift, this son that is given to us, is something that none of us can do without. This is the difference between the gift that God gave us on Christmas and my tie and the stuff that you get. You say, why do I, Pastor Jared, why in the world do I need this gift of this son? That's what I'm going to explain to you in the next few minutes. I'm going to show you from the Bible why everyone needs this gift that God provided for us, that we celebrate on Christmas. See, we have a problem as men and women in this world. We have a problem and our problem is that we are not righteous. The Bible says there is none righteous, no not one. Righteous meaning perfect. The Bible says that nobody is perfect. You say, well of course nobody is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. The Bible says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Meaning every single person that has ever been born is a sinner. And you say, what does that mean? Well the Bible defines a sin as the transgression of the law. Many people have heard of the Ten Commandments. Every time you lie, you steal, you're bad to your parents, any one of those Ten Commandments, the Bible actually has hundreds of commandments. And the Bible says that every time that we break one of those commandments, it's called a sin. This is our problem and this is why we need this gift that God has provided that we celebrate on Christmas. So we have this problem where we've broken God's law. You say, well nobody is perfect, Pastor Jared. Look, I'm a sinner too. You say, you're the pastor of the church. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner, just like you, just like anybody that goes to my church, just like anybody. The problem we have though is the Bible says that for our sin, we deserve something. This is the problem that mankind has and why this gift is so much different than any other gift you could possibly get. More money than you could possibly get. Anything on this planet anybody could do for you or give to you is nothing compared to this gift. And the reason is that you are a sinner. And the reason is that the Bible says in Romans 6 23, it says the wages of sin is death. You say, what does that mean? That means what we deserve for our sin is death. If I go and I work and I build something for a living, my wages is money. I build somebody a porch and I fix their electrical problems on their house. People will give me money. But the Bible says the wages that we deserve for our sin is death. The Bible is not just talking about a physical death. We're all going to die physically one day. The youngest child in this room will die physically one day. What the Bible is talking about when it says the wages of sin is death or what we deserve for our sin is death is talking about both a physical death and a spiritual death. Or what the Bible calls a second death. In Revelation chapter 20 verse 14 the Bible says in death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Meaning when we die the Bible clearly teaches that our soul will either go to heaven or it will go to hell. And the Bible says that because of our sin we actually deserve to go to hell. That's not good news Pastor Jared. That doesn't sound good at all. Don't forget the gift though. Don't forget the gift. I'm trying to get you to understand. I didn't come here on Christmas Day to ruin your day. I came here to make your day. But first I need you to understand the position that we are all in. Because if we didn't need to be saved, if we weren't in trouble, God wouldn't have had to send His Son and give His Son to us. So I need you to understand before we get to the good news here is that because of our sin which we have committed we deserve this. We deserve that death that the Bible says. But look here's what the Bible says at the end of this verse. The Bible says the wages of sin is death but then it says but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You've got it. You've got it. And notice what was that word again? Somebody in the church service here said it. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So first of all you need to understand is this is a gift. Now when I gave my son a gift yesterday I didn't say here you go Jacob. Here's a gift. Here's a Christmas gift. Now give me five dollars. How about if I told Jacob, how about if I gave this Christmas gift to Jacob and I said here you go Jacob. That's yours. You can have that. All you have to do is go out and mow the lawn and wash my car. Is that a gift? That's not a gift. But here's the thing folks. A lot of people think if they're pretty good they're going to go to heaven. But the Bible says that eternal life is a gift. Meaning it's free. You don't pay for it. You don't earn it. Look if he had to give me one penny for that it might be a good deal but it's not a gift. So the Bible says that eternal life is a free gift. This is why we give gifts on Christmas. The next thing I want to point out is what is the gift? The gift says the gift of God is eternal life. How long is eternal? Does anybody know how long eternal is? Jacob how long is eternal? Does eternal ever end? Eternal is forever. So this gift is life that never ends. Meaning if you get this gift you will never get the second death. You will never get that spiritual death that the Bible is talking about. And guess what? This gift is provided by the son or what the Bible calls Jesus Christ. This gift is through Jesus Christ. Meaning I gave Jacob that gift and that gift that I gave Jacob was through me. But this gift is through Jesus Christ. So what God did for you, if you're within the sound of my voice, what God did for you and why we celebrate Christmas is because 2,000 years ago God became a man. He became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, he was both God and man at the same time. The Bible says that Jesus lived on this earth. He did all sorts of miracles that are in the Bible. He healed the sick. He took people that were lame and he made them walk. He took people that were blind and made them see again. But the most important thing that Jesus did, those are all great things that he did, but the most important thing that Jesus did was when he was 33 years old. The Bible says Jesus was arrested. He was tortured. He was beaten. The Bible says that Jesus was beaten to the point where you couldn't even tell he was a man anymore. And the Bible says that when Jesus, after that happened to him, he was put on the cross. And the Bible says that when Jesus was on the cross, he bare our sins in his own body. It was like every sin that anyone in this room here had done, at that moment it was like Jesus had paid for it. Because guess what folks? Somebody has to pay. This is why it doesn't matter how good you are. Because God, the Bible says that God is the righteous judge, meaning God is a perfect judge. You hear a lot about God being loved today. That's true. God does love us. But God is also a perfect judge. Think about this for a second. Say I went out in the parking lot out here and I stole that guy's red pickup. And I stole his pickup and I drove it in a ditch and I lit it on fire and I ruined it and then I got arrested. And I stood in front of a judge in Fresno and the judge said, Pastor Jared, did you steal that truck? And I said, yeah, judge, I did. I did. I stole that truck. But I'm really nice. It's funny to think that he would let me go. If he's a good judge, he has to punish me for what I did. This is the problem that we have. But you see, Jesus, he had no sin. He was a man and he was God at the same time. But the Bible says while he was tempted like us, he knew no sin. That's why he could be that perfect sacrifice for us. Brother George here is a good friend of mine and I'm pretty sure that if Brother George had to die for me, he would. But guess what? George can't die for my sins because George has his own sins to pay for. No matter how much I like George or even my own children, I can't die for their sins because I have my own sins to pay for. The Bible says Jesus was a lamb without spot. He was the perfect sacrifice and that's why God had to come do it himself. So the Bible says that Jesus, he died, he was buried and after three days and three nights, he rose again from the dead. And a lot of people think if they're pretty good, they're going to go to heaven. It has nothing to do with how good you are. Listen to this. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 8 and 9, it says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. And then just to make sure we get it, the Bible says, not of works. So you see folks, you can't earn this gift. You can't pay one penny for this gift. The Bible says if you think that you're going to be good and get to heaven, you're actually not going to get to heaven because it's a gift. You say, well, is everybody going to go to heaven then? Is everybody going to get this gift? This is the most important part of my message this morning. You say, look, if I can't do, because look folks, I have talked to thousands of people all across this world and most people think that if they're good, they're going to get to heaven. That is not what the Bible teaches. You say, well, Pastor Jared, how can I get this gift? Look, is it hard to get a gift? Was it hard to get that? It's easy to get a gift. It's easy to get a gift. And the Bible explains to us, this is the most important part, the most famous verse in the whole Bible. John 3.16, the Bible says, God, for God so loved the world. See, He does love you. That He, I just keep saying this word again and again today, that He gave. You understand why we give Christmas presents now? That He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. That whosoever, you know what whosoever means? That means anybody. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Did that say whosoever come to my church? Did that say whosoever get baptized? Did that say whosoever be nice? No, it says whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. Should not perish meaning you will never get the second death. But instead you'll have everlasting life. You'll have eternal life in heaven is what the Bible is saying. This is the gift. He gave His only begotten Son and all you have to do is believe. Now look, I could read you verses for two hours that say the same thing but my favorite one that is so simple is John 3.36. It says, the Bible says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Now, hath, we're King James only in our church. Hath is an older word for have or you currently possess it. The Bible says these two words over and over and over when it talks about believing on Jesus. And the Bible defines believe on in Ephesians chapter 1 as to trust. So what the Bible is saying is when you believe on the Son, when you trust on Jesus' sacrifice, the Bible says, does it say you're getting it over time? Does it say you earn it over two or three years? No, it says when you trust on Jesus, you haven't. Just like that. And it's everlasting. Meaning it can never end. It can never be taken away and it can never end. Because let me ask you a question. Let's go back to the gift that I gave Jacob. Let's go back to this gift. Jacob, let's say I gave you this gift and I said, Jacob, this is yours and that's yours forever. All right. And then I came back two weeks later and I said to Jacob, hey, I don't like the way you're treating your sister. Give that back to me. Was it ever forever? So what did I do to Jacob when I told him it was forever? If I take it away for any reason, did I tell him the truth? I lied to him, didn't I? Now look, I've read this Bible cover to cover many times. And there's only one thing in this Bible, in God's perfect word, there's no contradictions in this book. There's nothing where... This book, this book was written over 1500 years by 40 different authors that didn't know each other. And there's no contradictions and it all points to the same person, this Jesus Christ that I'm telling you about this morning. There's no other explanation than the Holy Spirit wrote this book. And there's only one thing in this book that God says he can't do. Can you imagine? God created this whole universe, he created you, he created me. Imagine something God can't do, but God does say I can't do one thing. And in Titus 1, 2, God says in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. What I'm trying to get you to understand is when God says if you believe on my son, if you trust on Jesus, I will save you in a moment. The Bible says he seals you with the Holy Spirit. Meaning, you can't break that seal. The Holy Spirit is God. You can't break that. Are you stronger? Is anyone in this room stronger than God? God keeps your salvation. There's nothing you could ever do to lose your salvation. I was raised Catholic. And the first time somebody told me this, the first time somebody told me that all I had to do was trust on Jesus and I'd be saved and sealed for the rest of my life and I'd have eternal life. I said to that person, I said to that person, are you telling me that I could believe on Jesus, I could trust on Jesus, and then I could be a drunk and I could beat my wife and I could live that kind of life and still go to heaven? And the answer is yes. Now look, the Bible says when you get saved, God seals you and he adopts you into his family and you become his son, you become his daughter, you become adopted into God's family. God will chastise his children on this earth. But he will never take away your salvation. The comparison is this. Jacob is my son. If Jacob is bad, you know, I'll punish him. If Jacob grows up to be a wicked young man one day, maybe I'll even kick him out of my house, God forbid. But will Jacob ever stop being my son? No. That's what the Bible teaches. Folks, I've met drug addicts who are saved. They have ruined their life on this earth. They will be of no profit to anyone on this earth. But the point I'm trying to get you to understand is God cannot lie. He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life. And if he ever takes it away, it was never everlasting. So that's how you can know for sure that you're going to go to heaven. Because trusting on Jesus is all it takes. And folks, if I'm trusting that I have to be a good person, I'm trusting that I have to go to church, I'm trusting that, you know, I have to give money to church or I'm trusting in helping or doing good works or volunteering. If I'm trusting in those things, who am I believing on? I'm believing on myself. Trusting on Jesus or believing on Jesus, it's 100% Jesus and 0% you. And the Bible says if you can do that, because guess what folks? It takes a humble person to believe that they have nothing to do with their own salvation. You know, think about it this way. A lot of people think, well, there's all these different religions in the world. You say, how many religions are there in the world, Pastor Jared? I'm going to answer you the question, there's two. You say, what? There's thousands. No, there's two. There's what I'm telling you what the Bible says. That salvation is all through Jesus and he paid the whole thing. Not 90% of it, not 95% of it, not 99% of it. He paid the whole thing. And if you trust on that, you're saved. And then there's what all the other religions teach, which you have to do things to get yourself to heaven. You have to do good works. The Muslims believe that, the Buddhists believe that, the Mormons believe that, the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that, the Catholics believe that. It's all the same thing. It's works-based salvation. It's trusting on yourself and not Jesus. But the Bible says it's only Jesus. And that, folks, is why we give Christmas gifts. Because that is the gift that God gave to us and it's the gift that everyone must have. It's a gift, actually, that's so free that it must be rejected for someone not to receive it. So look, folks, the Bible says this. The Bible says, and I don't know, I'm hoping that most of you trust on Jesus or maybe you don't. But the Bible says that if you do believe these things, if you do trust on Jesus, the Bible says in Romans 10, 9, it says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For how long? Forever. So what God is saying here is if you believe these things, if you haven't believed these things and you believe what I'm telling you, you believe that you're a sinner, you believe that you need salvation, you believe that because of your sin you're condemned, as the Bible says. And you believe that God gave this gift of his Son, this perfect sacrifice. And if you believe, as the Bible says, that if you trust only on Jesus, what God is saying is he just wants you to confess that with your mouth. He just wants you to ask for that. He just wants you to tell God that you believe on his Son and trust only on his Son. So if you haven't done that in your life and you believe these things, you can have this Christmas gift now. You can have this gift of eternal life today. And once you get it, you know you always have it. It doesn't matter how young you are or how old you are. Because, folks, when it comes to eternity, our lives on this earth, whether you're 8, 40, or 90, are just like that. Our lives are like water spilt on the ground, the Bible says. The Bible compares our lives on this earth like a vapor. The most important thing you can do in this life is to trust on Jesus Christ. Trust on this gift that God has provided for all of mankind. And anybody that trusts on it will be eternally saved. So I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray and you can pray in your hearts. You can pray in your hearts if you would like. And if you want to talk to anybody after the church service, I will hang around or you can talk to one of the men or ladies. My wife is here as well. If you have any questions about this gift, please come talk to us. Otherwise, let's just go ahead and pray in our hearts. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this gift of Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that if there's anyone here today that hasn't trusted on you, Lord, I pray that they would pray in their heart that, Lord, I know that I'm a sinner. Lord, I know that you died for me. I know that because of my sins, I deserve to go to hell, as the Bible says. Lord, I know you sent your son Jesus Christ this gift for me. And Lord, I'm only trusting on Jesus Christ and nothing of myself. Lord, please take me to heaven when I die. Lord, I pray that if there's anyone here that hasn't received that gift and hasn't asked you for this gift, Lord, that they would believe on you, they would trust on you, and that you would seal them for eternity, Lord. Thank you for sending your son for us. Thank you for doing everything for us. When all we've ever done is sin against you, you came here to redeem us. We love you and we pray these things in Jesus Christ. Amen.