Dear brothers and sisters- in-Christ,

I cannot claim to have read many biographies but some only. Of the biographies of John Wesley, George Whitefield, John Sung and C.H. Spurgeon, all their deaths and burials are mentioned. Thus far, we have never read a story that speaks of its subject being dead, buried and to come back alive. The Gospel of John would not be different from other biographies if Christ’s resurrection was not recorded. But the fact that John shared the miracle of the resurrection is evidence that Jesus is not like others. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 1:3-4, “Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” The empty tomb is proof that the debt of sin was fully paid. The resurrection is also another proof of the complete work of atonement for our sins. Jesus’ resurrection was seen by His own disciples in John chapter 20 and five hundred brethren in 1 Corinthians 15:6. The events at Calvary had crushed all the hopes of the disciples with the death of Christ. But the resurrection morning brought renewed hope to them because Jesus had risen just as He had said. Brothers and sisters, the same encouragement can be ours as we consider what Christ’s resurrection means to us today.

1. It means that our salvation cannot be lost.

Firstly, a Christian is a new creature in Christ. On the contrary, for a Christian to lose his salvation means the cancellation of his standing before God as a new creature in Christ.

Secondly, a Christian is redeemed by the blood of Christ. For a Christian to lose his salvation, would entail the cancellation of the purchase of God for sin with the precious blood of Christ.

Thirdly, a Christian is promised with eternal life. For a Christian to lose his salvation means God has to cancel off eternal life.

Hebrews 6:4 says, “that it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost”. Moreover, no Christian can lose his salvation and nothing can separate him from the love of God is what Paul says in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2. It means that life does not end with the grave.

Many people think that death is the end of everything without realizing that life follows on the heels of death to heaven or to hell for an endless eternity while millions of dollars are spent on research to give people a longer life. The discovery of a drug for long life would mean that people may pay whatever price they are charged for. If only they knew of a way to live and it is free, eternal life will be theirs. John 11:25, “Jesus says, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he.”

3. It means our tomorrow will be better than today.

The enemies of Christ, the Jews of the Sanhedrin Counsel, the Roman soldiers and the devil thought that Calvary was the end of the story but it was not to be. Even Jesus’ own disciples thought it was all over but it was not over. The enemies of God could never fight against God and win. The disciples would realize that their sorrow would turn to joy on that resurrection morning. Dearly beloved, this life may be filled with sorrow but knowing Jesus as our Lord and Saviour means our tomorrow will be better than today. Pause and think for a moment, if the apostles were not eye-witnesses to the resurrection, what the unbelieving Jews claimed, that the body of Jesus was stolen could never be refuted. And if Jesus did not die but fainted (swoon theory) and resuscitated to life, we will be lost in sin forever and the Church will be silent forever, without having the Gospel to declare. There are enough proofs of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The most powerful testimony must be the lives of the apostles. They went everywhere sharing the Gospel and all their deaths were linked to the life and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their willingness to lay down their lives was the greatest proof that the message of resurrection was indeed of the truth.

Today, where do you and I stand as far as the resurrection of Christ is concerned? What will the evidence of the resurrection make you and I to be? And what difference does it make whether or not we believe that Christ died for us and rose from the dead on the third day for your sins and mine?

Brothers and sisters, knowledge comes with responsibility and knowing that through the Lord Jesus Christ, comes with forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God, it would take a fool to reject and to snub Him. Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” Have you experienced the powerful influence of the resurrection, to share in His sufferings and are you ready to follow Him in His death?

Pastor Douglas Ho

Testimony from Lois Tan Yan Fang

My aunt and two friends were the people who helped me see the goodness of God. These three people were the ones who shared with me the gospel, brought me to church, and after seven years, by God’s grace, I believed.

After saying the sinner’s prayer, the next step of faith is to get baptised. I am always afraid that by getting baptised is an act of defiance towards my parents. And so, I always leave the baptism issue aside, thinking that I can have more time to think things through slowly. And by prolonging baptism, it made me wondered too, especially during the Lord’s Supper, about who am I. Am I strengthening my faith over the years, or am I staying stagnant? Am I trying to shun off the responsibility of being a Christian? Our Father has shown me that it is almost impossible to grow in faith without baptism and a church to go to. In fact, by delaying baptism, I actually drifted away from God. Somehow or rather, I felt that it was not really necessary to take this second step of faith. Drifted away from God, was some experience for me. It felt like a ship with no anchor, a bird with no nest, a man with no brain. Everything was aimless as I do not see the purpose in what I was doing.

God has been very patient with me, and I am very thankful for that. He has placed that handful of Christians around me who helped me understand and eventually brought me to believe in Him and strengthen my faith in Him. I am no longer afraid of baptism; I am willing to take the step forward to pronounce my faith so that I will always have God to remind me that whatever I have gone through, they do not even equate to what our Lord had suffered for us and He understands the sufferings that we are going though.

This time, I have prayed and decided to be baptised. God has shown me I should not delay any longer and it is a right thing to do. I promised to grow in faith, read the Bible and to lead a prayerful life.

Testimony of Assistant Pastor & Mrs. Yap Yee Kin
(Parents of Elijah Ye Huai En)

By God’s grace, our family have been much blessed by the providence of God through many ways and  times in our constant need. It is with God’s immaculate timing that He has now put in our stewardship a newborn son – Elijah, after fours years since the birth of Samuel. Only God knows how much we can and cannot handle with our bare hands in raising a family. And He has seen fit that it is time that we take up a new challenge in raising another son.

It is our desire that his Christian name – Elijah – YAHWEH is God –  be a
constant reminder to him and us, that God is YAHWEH, no matter what happens in life, and that we should always live and serve Him only. We understand that the character in the bible is also a man of life passion, and yet his prayers were pleasing to the Lord because of a life that is in tune with Him. Therefore, we hope and strive to bring him up to a life that is righteous before God. It is a high calling, but that is the calling that God has called us all as children of God to be so.

May God grant us much grace and wisdom in the nurturing of this new young life. Indeed it is a responsibility that we hold with much thanksgiving and fear, knowing how unworthy as we are in managing our own lives. But we believe that it is a learning process for us, as much as it is for Elijah.

In this dark times, when we are surrounded on every side by the influence of the evil one, and the hearts of Christians cold, we pray  earnestly, that God will raise His prophets to declare His glory which never fails.

Testimony from Tammy Ho Pei Lyn

I remembered going to church when I was around kindergarten age when my parents first brought me to church, which was then Bible church and then to Calvary Pandan BP Church in my Primary school years. During this period of time, I thought that I knew the Lord personally because I had said the ‘Sinner’s Prayer’ when I was in Primary 6, where the time finally came during my Pre-University where I backslided from the Lord. That period of time was a time of wandering and lost years for me. I led my life as if God was not present and indulged in worldly and sinful activities that I am sure, had grieved Him. However, I thank the Lord that He did not give up on me but had brought me back to Him in the year 2002. It was then when I was hit with a strong trial and was feeling quite lost. However, the Lord helped me to remember Him during that difficult moment. At that time, the Lord led me simply to ask Him to give me strength and comfort through His Word and that was what the Lord did, He comforted me through His Word.

I was amazed and touched at how the Lord has not given up on me though I had been so disobedient all the while. It was then, that I slowly came back to the Lord and it was also then, that I knew what it meant to have a personal relationship with the Lord as well as a changed life which should start from the heart. I realized that how I had perceived Christ at that time was wrong, I didn’t know Him personally. I also realized that I was not firmly rooted and grounded in His Word and therefore, when temptations or troubles come, I would sway so easily. Thank God that He is a God who is faithful and merciful, and that He is the One who would keep me to the end, in my race here on earth.