"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:27-28)

Reading the accounts of Cyclone Nargis in Myanma sends a chill to one’s spine. According to Wikipedia, "Cyclone Nargis (JTWC designation: 01B, also known as Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis) was a strong tropical cyclone that made landfall in Burma (also known as Myanmar) on May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 22,500 fatalities with a further 41,000 people still missing, and estimates on the final total of fatalities ranging up to 100,000. It is the deadliest named cyclone in the North Indian Ocean Basin, as well as the second deadliest named cyclone of all time, behind Typhoon Nina. Including unnamed storms, Nargis is the 12th deadliest cyclone of all time. Nargis was the first tropical cyclone to strike the country since Cyclone Mala made landfall in 2006.

The first named storm of the 2008 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Nargis developed on April 27 in the central Bay of Bengal. Initially it tracked slowly north-westward and, encountering favourable conditions, it quickly strengthened. Dry air weakened the cyclone on April 29, though after beginning a steady eastward motion Nargis rapidly intensified to attain peak winds of at least 165 km/h (105 mph) on May 2; the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre assessed peak winds of 215 km/h (135 mph). The cyclone moved ashore in the Ayeyarwady Division of Burma near peak intensity and, after passing near the major city of Yangon (Rangoon), the storm gradually weakened until dissipating near the border of Burma and Thailand." (Source: Wikipedia 2008)

While we praise and thank God that Singapore has been spared constantly from such natural catastrophes, we must never take such warnings for granted. It should serve as a warning and spiritual wakening for Christians. The questions are: Are you saved? Are you genuinely born again? Do you have the assurance of salvation?

Our Lord Jesus Christ says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27) The Amplified Bible translates it this way: "The sheep that are my own hear and are listening to my voice; and I know them, and they follow me." First of all, we thank God that salvation in Christ is initiated by God Himself. It is a deliberate plan of God. He knows those who will be saved and He redeemed them from sins through the blood of Christ. Jesus says, "I know them." What a great comfort to know that our salvation in Christ is not by chance. It is not God’s after thought. God knows us and He saves us. It is clear from the scriptures that God has chosen us "before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). His design for Christian living is "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" (Eph. 1:4) God therefore initiated the salvation process, and reveals it to us in His good time. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17) We not only hear His voice through reading the Bible, we continue to listen to His voice by reading the Bible everyday. The key to our assurance of salvation is to continuously listen to His voice through daily Bible reading and meditation. "The sheep that are my own hear and are listening to my voice." We must not neglect our daily Bible reading.

Secondly, we need to follow His voice. One clear sign of being a born again believer is to pursue lifelong discipleship in Christ. Every born again believer is a disciple of Christ. Discipleship is not optional. We cannot be a born again believer and not be a disciple of Christ. Paul says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1) Once again, the Amplified Bible puts it this way: "I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship." There are two important points here: Christian discipleship is a deliberate effort. We are to make a decisive dedication of our bodies to Christ. While salvation is initiated by God, Christian discipleship is initiated by us in response to His call to salvation. It is our daily spiritual worship of God.

Third and finally, those who are Disciples of Christ can never lose their salvation. Jesus says, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:28) "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23) Eternal life in Christ is a gift of God to those who are Disciples of Christ. No one can take it away. Once saved, always saved! No one, not even Satan can pluck us out from the hands of God. We owe it to ourselves to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). The apostle Peter says, "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." (2 Pet. 1:10) Like a good athlete, we must be subject to daily discipline in training and then compete according to the rules in order to win the crown of glory in Christ.

Can one be assured of salvation in Christ? Absolutely "yes"! Our salvation is secured in Christ as long as we listen to His voice daily till we see Him face-to-face. Those whom God has chosen, He will help us to persevere and walk according to His will. Jesus says, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Matt. 24:13) "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5:11-12) "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

May the Lord speak to us and enable us to persevere in our daily walk with Christ so that we will always stay on course and not be distracted. In the end, we may all testify as the apostle Paul in his closing words to Timothy: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." (2 Tim. 4:7-8)

—Fellow disciple of Christ,
Elder (Dr) Sherman Ong

Death and disaster has enshrouded the news for the past two weeks. First came the news of cyclone Nargis. Rev Andrew Kam, our missionary in Myanmar reports, "One of our church members’ relatives in Irrawady delta died and he and his friends just got rescued. He said how terrible strong wind struck them and the strong wave just came suddenly, it swept away all the houses and animals and those who were in the houses. When they look up for the way to escape, there is strong wind, when they look down – the strong wave. Nowhere to escape. He is still not in good mind condition. We pray for him. He had been holding on to one big tree near the house till the next day."

Then came the news of the China quake with heart-wrenching accounts of children buried under piles of collapsed school buildings. We cannot imagine the intensity of the trauma experienced by those who have survived these calamities. But while we pray for them and send aid to them through various channels, let us not overlook the sober message behind these events: How frail our life is! James put it this way: "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (James 4:14) We may plan and prosper and build up a personal empire of wealth, power and influence in this world, but in the end, death comes and brings all of that to an end.

Human life was not originally created to be so frail. Man was created to enjoy eternal life with God. But sin came into the picture and with that, we now have to live with the possibility of having our lives taken away at any time. Moses wrote about this in Psalm 90:7-9 – "For we are consumed by Thine anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told."

Our only hope is found in Christ: Human life on earth may be frail because of sin, but Jesus Christ gives us eternal life beyond the grave. And not only that – Christ also gives us a real sense of comfort and peace in our hearts that enables us to cope with the frailty of our present earthly existence. Verse 14 of Psalm 90 reads: "O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." The word "mercy" here is the Hebrew word chesed which really means "love" – the wonderful love of God which comes only through Jesus Christ, as He gave His own life on the cross to save us from our sins.

In contrast to the frail and futile life we had before, this new life we have in Christ is one that manifests the beauty of the Lord, and that accomplishes a work that will abide for all time. This is described in v.17 of the same psalm: "And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea the work of our hands, establish Thou it."

We who have found this beautiful new life must now keep on living it fully. How do we do this? The answer is found in v.12 – "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." This is a prayer to God for divine help to spend our time wisely. Let us constantly take stock of our time, and ensure that we spend it well. It makes good sense to invest it in the things of God, knowing that He alone never changes. And if you are wasting much of your time please take steps to change the way you use it. Let us number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom! — Pastor

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1) Family Worship at the home of Mr & Mrs Amos Hoon, Friday, 23 May 08, 8 pm. Address: 642A Punggol Dr #16-345 S821642, Tel: 6312-5906. Speaker: Elder Lim Teck Chye.

2) VBS general staff briefing at Chinese Service Hall TODAY, 12.30pm-1.30pm. All teachers and helpers are required to attend.

3) YF Retreat 2008, "To Gather". Date: 6-7Jun 08. Theme: Fellowship. Venue: New Life BP Church. Speaker: Dr Khoo Hock Seng. Registration fee: S$10. Register now! Drop the form in the box at the front entrance or register online at http://www.lifeyf.org/retreat2008. Forms available at the front entrance. Registration closes on the 25th of May. Contact: Jonathon Khoo (91025650).

4) Life BPC Bible Camp: Kindly be advised to register for the camp as soon as possible with one more week to go before the closing date on 25 May. To date, we have 336 campers who have registered and the registration will be closed when the critical number is reached in view of the capacity we can handle.

Lifers who would like to contribute offerings to help to defray the camp expenses are encouraged to designate the offering "For Church Camp 2008."

Camp Fees: Full payment must be made latest by 25 May 2008 (Sunday). Cheques should be crossed and made payable to "Life B-P Church" or Life Bible-Presbyterian Church", with your name indicated on the reverse of the cheque. For cash payment, please bring exact amount of cash.

5) Gospel Sunday: Invite your friends and loved ones to the Gospel Sunday on 22 Jun 08 (10:45 am). Please pray for Prof William Harding (English) and Rev Tang Wai Kay (Mandarin with Cantonese interpretation) who will speak on "Heaven Our Eternal Home."

6) Our condolences to Soh Hwee Tyng and Soh Hwee Kuan and family on the homegoing of their father, Soh Koon Peng, 79 years, on 13 May 08.

Saturday, 21 June 08. 7-9 pm

Life B-P Church Sanctuary

In conjunction with the Missionary Fellowship’s 18th Thanksgiving Anniversary. Please invite your friends to come!