Sermon Text: Psalm 65
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 17th December 2023
Sermon Text: Psalm 65
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 17th December 2023
“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD” (Psalm 34:11). It is a divine mandate to teach our children the Word of God with all dedication. As a church, we prayerfully commit ourselves to making every effort to teach our children to fear the Lord and walk in His ways. May God be pleased to bless our efforts at home and in the church to nurture our children in the Lord.
Daily Vacation Bible School, held a week ago (29 Nov - 01 Dec 2023), has been a joyful and blessed event for about 45 children who gathered. They were nourished in the Gospel truths through the Bible lessons, spiritual songs and other activities prepared for them. Many brothers and sisters co-laboured with the GCM committee. The GCM Committee’s meticulous efforts in organising this event are praiseworthy. Our preachers, together with other GCM teachers, laboured to bring the Word of God to the children. We also rejoice in the labour of many in various areas – transportation, refreshments and meals, art and craft, singing, media presentations, etc. – for the smooth and efficient running of the DVBS. We also thank God that through this event, we could reach children from outside our church with the Gospel. May the Spirit of God work in the children’s hearts to grant them regeneration and sanctification through His Word which they heard in the DVBS.
Annabelle’s Testimony
Psalm 100:1, 3 – “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands... Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
I thank God for another opportunity to attend DVBS, with the theme for 2023 as: “Be Strong in the Lord”. I wish to testify of God’s goodness towards me through the lessons I learnt from our preachers.
On Day 1, in the morning session (taught by Pr Kelvin Lim), the main focus was on the words, “Finally, my brethren” in Ephesians 6:10. They remind us that God has saved us and called us out of sin. Therefore, we can call one another brothers and sisters in Christ. We also have a unique relationship with God, whereby we can be strengthened in Him.
In the afternoon session, Pr Ho taught us from Matthew 13:1-8 on the Parable of the Sower. Jesus taught by the seashore, and told the people a parable of a sower who sowed seeds on a farm. Some seeds fell on the wayside, and the birds came and ate them up. Some fell onto the stony places where there was not much water and minerals. When the sun rose, the plants’ roots died because it was too hot for them. Other seeds fell among the thorns, and when the plants grew, the thorns choked them until they died. But the seeds which fell on the good ground bore fruit. The seed represents God’s Word, and the grounds represent the hearers’ hearts. The wayside refers to people whose heart is hardened, while the birds represent the devil. The stony places refer to people who have a shallow response to God’s Word. They are very excited to hear the Word of God, but they have no interest in God controlling their hearts wholly. When they are under pressure, they give up. The thorny places represent those who are over-worried and too concerned about things in this world that their interest in God’s Word dies off. The good ground denotes those who hear God’s Word with a receptive heart and, hence, are enlightened by it. From this parable, I learnt that we must fight sin and not let sin control us. We must not be overly worried about the world, but we must be concerned about the things of God (because He will provide for all our needs). We must ask ourselves 2 questions: 1) Do we have time for God? 2) How do we accept God’s Word? Let us put aside time for God and accept His Word wholeheartedly.
On Day 2 (morning), I learnt from Pr Kelvin that the phrase, “Be Strong in the Lord”, is a command to be strong in the Lord, resist temptation, read the Bible and pray. “Be Strong in the Lord” also involves a combat. We must put on the whole armour of God so that we can withstand in the evil day and prepare for the spiritual battle. God gave His children a command to combat the evilness of their day. In the afternoon session, Pr Jeremiah taught us the Parable of the Wheat and Tares (from Matthew 13:24-30, 34-43). In this parable, a sower sowed good seeds in the field. While people were sleeping, his enemy sowed tares among the wheat. In due time, both wheat and tares sprung up. The servants of the sower were very curious about where the tares came from. The sower explained that an enemy had secretly sown the tares. The servants then asked whether to pluck out the tares. The sower said no because they might accidentally pluck out the wheat. Instead, they should only gather the tares at harvest time to burn them up. The sower is Jesus, while the good seeds are Christians. The field is the world, the enemy is the devil, and the tares are ungodly people. From this parable, I learnt that when Jesus Christ returns, He will separate the godly from the ungodly. He will judge the ungodly, and will no more show them grace and mercy. There will be punishment, judgment and hellfire for eternity. God gives us chances to repent. When we do something wrong, we must repent quickly.
In the morning of Day 3, Pr Kelvin gave us 3 points to remember the DVBS theme. First, I learnt that “Be Strong in the Lord” is to make Christ known (Ephesians 6:19), and to make known the truth about the Gospel. The truth of the Gospel is the greatest knowledge that anyone can have. Second, it is for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:20; Romans 1:16). We must not be ashamed to stand up for Jesus, as it is the divine duty of Christians to speak a word for Christ. Third, it is for the praying for the saints regarding the work of the Gospel (Ephesians 6:18), so that more souls can be added to heaven. In the last session, Pr Samson taught us from Matthew 13:47-52 on the Parable of the Dragnet. This parable is about a fishing net that was used in the olden days (still in use today). The dragnet is a gigantic net that is pulled by the boats and is used to catch fish. The fishermen would bring the net to the shore when the net was full. Not every fish they caught was good, as there were also other sea creatures like squid, prawns, and even much dirt! The good would be separated from the bad. If you repent of your sins and believe in the Lord, you are the good fish. Those who believe in Christ will inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 25:34). Those who reject God will be thrown into the fire (Matthew 25:41). We have to repent now (Matthew 4:17)! Jesus is coming soon!
I look forward to DVBS 2024, and pray for more children to join us for a blessed time of spiritual nourishment, God willing!
Sermon Text: Psalm 64
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 10th December 2023
Sermon Text: Psalm 63
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 3rd December 2023
In this battle of Satan against God’s sovereignty, he often targets God’s dear servants. In the case of Job, he schemed to “touch all that he hath” (Job 1:11), and later to “touch his bone and his flesh” (Job 2:5). His intent of “touching Job” in order to cause trouble in his life was that he may turn Job against God by causing him to curse God! Usually, with most believers, he would try to “take them out” through sinful temptations. He does this relentlessly through the allurement of sensual living and the unholy pursuit of creature comforts through affluent lifestyles, which many – even godly people – find so hard to resist. However, sometimes the devil may find it difficult to trap believers by temptation alone, as in the case of godly and spiritually well-exercised saints (like Job). When he can’t get a foothold in their spiritual lives to cause damage to their testimony, he would unleash his second ploy, i.e. through unimaginable pain and sorrow. The ultimate intent of such fiery trial was to turn people against God. In one way or the other, the devil is constantly trying to instigate believers’ distrust of God’s sovereignty.
In the case of Job, the cruelty and sadism of the devil was clearly seen when he challenged God to grant him permission to attack Job concerning his possessions and his body. In one day, all his vast numbers of sheep, camels, oxen and asses were wiped off, and all his ten children were crushed to death in a collapsed house caused by a whirlwind (Job 1:13-19). In another day, his whole body was wrecked with sore boils, resulting in excruciating pain and agony, so much so that his abode became next to a heap of ashes outside as he could not stay in the house due to his disease (Job 2:7-8). Through all these, the devil was instigating Job to curse God “to thy face” (Job 2:5b) and bring dishonour to His name! Thank God Job endured – in all this Job neither “charged God foolishly” nor did he “sin with his lips” (Job 1:22b; 2:10c).
Dear Christians, truly there are times when we struggle to explain the cause of our sufferings. Frankly, so many types of trials and calamities befall God’s people that we can’t fathom the exact cause(s). But would there ever be a trial upon God’s people if God does not permit it? It is important to understand that God always has a hand in the troubles we experience. In God’s sovereignty, He “opens the floodgates” of trials for you to suffer. You become, as it were, the “battle front” being engaged by the merciless devil. This is not because God has abandoned you, but rather, He counts you worthy to suffer to prove His supreme point that His arch-enemy cannot do anything to completely usurp His authority.
Oh, this is a most formidable “battlefield”! But beloved believer, persevere and stand firm. Knowing that God allows your trials, may you “watch thou in all things, endure afflictions” (2 Timothy 4:5a) and “greatly rejoice … through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7). So, if you are in the midst of some unexplainable trouble, be assured that God’s sovereign hand is there. It is not that He has turned against you, but He has only taken away your “fence” which has protected you all this while. By God’s sovereign will, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us”, being “persuaded, that neither death, nor life … nor principalities, nor powers … nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39)!
Unfortunately, the reality is that many who suffer horrendously or see the righteous suffer undeservedly may conclude in their heart that there is no God; or if God exists, He is one with limited power. Their initial enthusiastic faith in a loving God quickly “vaporises” in the fiery furnace of sufferings. Many such professing believers end up as agnostics. They fail to “hold fast their integrity”, unlike Job (cf. Job 2:3), and lose trust in a sovereign God. That is exactly Satan’s diabolical objective – to prod believers to defy God’s sovereignty.
To thwart the devil’s undermining of our “integrity” (through the use of intense sufferings upon believers), we do well to consider Job’s reaction. Job’s horrendous trials did not distract him from the sovereignty of God; God was still the object of his heart’s love. He cherished and worshipped God even in his abject poverty and suffering. Take note of his heart’s confession in Job 1:21, “the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” He didn’t utter these words out of bitterness that God did not care for him, but out of worship and deference to – not in defiance of – God’s sovereignty (cf. Job 1:20). Scripture says “he holdeth fast his integrity”.
What is Job’s “integrity”? It is his firm belief that God is sovereign, even in his troubles. Things had not spun out of control; nor had God difficulty in keeping chaotic situations in check. He refused to react according to his downcast emotions. Job’s integrity is that he had always ordered his life by subjecting it to God’s sovereignty. His was not a mere intellectual faith; his was a faith with works (cf. James 2:17-18). He had experiential faith, hence he spoke with experiential knowledge that God is sovereign. His unshakeable conviction of God’s absolute sovereignty in all aspects of his life and the world around him, helps him to have proper behaviour in his doings and dealings. That is the believers’ integrity, which the devil is constantly trying to undermine.
The apostle Paul hits the nail on the head when he warns Christians in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”. The devil is constantly on the prowl. He is not going to stop his attack just because his wicked ploys were thwarted from time to time by godly saints who, like Job, hold fast to their integrity amidst their suffering. He is going to take this battle till the end of time; in the meantime, you and I are his targets. The way to continue to fight the battle when the devil, by God’s permission, comes to “touch” or trouble us, is to stay in submission to God. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). That’s where our safety is. Even if he would tear us apart, stay under the mighty hand of God in total submission to Him, knowing that God will not allow the devil to utterly destroy us.
Thank God, there is ultimate victory for us, for God is still in control. We cannot be subdued because our sovereign God is watching over us! Remember, Satan is already a defeated foe. The devil can battle against God’s dear child, but not beyond what God allows (cf. Job 1:12; Job 2:6). May we then, by faith, continually trust in and uphold God’s sovereignty over our lives, come what may – that is how we glorify God in this formidable but conquerable “battle front”.
Sermon Text: James 1:25
Speaker: Pr Kelvin Lim
Date: 26th November 2023
Apart from God and Job, the one major character in the first two chapters of the Book of Job is, undeniably, Satan. In these first two chapters alone, Satan is referred to some 13 times. Thus, Christians cannot just pass over this character. We need to take a good look at this character and the way he functions.
The name “Satan” in Hebrew means “adversary”. He is God’s enemy, as well as the enemy of God’s people. He is the unceasing, untiring adversary of both God and man. His hatred towards God knows no bounds. He has no regard for God and would throw any challenge at Him, as demonstrated in his temptation of Christ in the wilderness (cf. Matthew 4:1-11). That is how cunning and wicked this adversary is. He would go against God to the very end, as is clearly seen even at the end of Christ’s millennial reign on earth, when the Lord would chain him and cast him into the eternal lake of fire (Revelation 20:7-10). Meanwhile, there is a cosmic battle (of cosmic proportions) being raged by Satan against God, whereby believers often get “caught in the crossfire” (cf. Job 1:8-19)!
So, whether we understand it or not, we are all caught up in this great battle that the devil is waging against God. Yet God is not a helpless onlooker who could only stand idly by and watch as events unfold. He is actively involved in defending, protecting and guiding us in the midst of this terrible battle. No evil (whether natural or man-made or satanic) may encroach upon us outside of His jurisdiction (cf. Job 1:12).
Be that as it may, the devil is constantly trying his level best to deal a “knockout blow” to believers that would keep them downcast and in deep despair, and ultimately instigate them to deny God’s sovereignty (cf. Job 1:11b; 2:5b). As the apostle Paul warns us, we must not be “ignorant of his devices”, lest “Satan should get an advantage of us” (2 Corinthians 2:11). From the episode of Job’s sufferings, we see in a very clear manner how the devil uses us as his “arena” in his battle against God. One of his most diabolical and favourite tactics is to turn the ones whom God has created in His own image (even mankind) against Him. Oh, we must not be ignorant of this cunning device of the devil, which he tried viciously against Job! From our biblical understanding of the Book of Job, the devil is trying to challenge the sovereignty of God over Job’s life. This should not surprise us as he has always been a “challenger” and usurper since time immemorial, soon after he was created. He had been an angelic being of heaven, one of God’s created angels; in fact, he was the chief of the cherubims.
In Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17, we read of the condemnation and downfall of the devil. When he, being lifted up with pride, rebelled against God and tried to usurp God’s authority, he was cast down to this earth (cf. Revelation 12:9). Since the day he was cast out of heaven, he has been constantly trying to usurp God’s glory. According to his warped and malicious mind, the best possible way to usurp God’s glory is through mankind by instigating their defiance of God’s authority. That’s disobedience, which was the first sin of mankind! Having succeeded with Adam and Eve, the devil is still trying to do the same with their descendants – but in different ways. He uses different things in different people’s lives to bring about defiance of God’s sovereignty.
In a myriad of ways, the devil is trying to captivate believers’ souls to love things other than God. Whether it be our studies and scholastic pursuits, our job, profession and career prospects, our children, our house, or even our physical appearance, the devil wants to take our allegiance away from God through all these distractions. His is a twisted theology – “worship God in order to get the things that you love”. That is precisely the “prosperity theology” promoted in Charismatic circles. Worship God to be rich, powerful, famous, prominent. That’s false religion! Rather, true religion is coming to God as our true wealth, He being the greatest Lover of our infinitely precious souls. We cannot love anything more than God if we put God as the object of our heart’s devotion. Didn’t Jesus say, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30)? In getting believers to love material things, possessions, position, status, relationships, etc. more than God, Satan’s ultimate objective is to usurp God’s sovereignty over believers’ lives. Oh, be not ignorant of the devil’s devices!
Now, it must be categorically stated that God has no problem giving material prosperity and abundance to His children, if He so chooses. This is reflected in Job’s possession of great substance and his prominent status in the society of his time (Job 1:3). But that is not what God is most happy about with His children – not wealth and health. There is something else that He is more concerned with. In commending Job before the devil, God said, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” (Job 1:8). God specifically mentioned four outstanding spiritual virtues of Job, namely his blameless life (“perfect”), his righteous character (“upright”), his reverence of God (“feareth God”), and his careful shunning of sin (“escheweth evil”) which reflects his purity of heart. Instructively, God did not commend Job regarding his material abundance, house and animals, or his efficiency in managing wealth. But look who’s talking about all these? “Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land” (Job 1:9-10).
In his reply, the devil blatantly sidestepped God’s focus of His discussion. God is talking about Job’s spiritual maturity, well-being, wholeness, integrity. But the devil wanted to draw attention away towards material things – “his house”, “all that he hath”, “work of his hands”, “his substance”. The devil was saying that everything was going well for Job – his business was good, his family was flourishing, he was in good health. His insinuation was that Job’s piety was all because God had put a protective “fence” around him. Malicious as he is, the devil then put forward a challenge to God. He sadistically added that if God were to “touch” (i.e. to destroy, to cause maximum damage to) all that Job had, Job will defy, rebel against and “curse” God, not fear and worship Him (Job 1:11)!
Herein is the intense and fierce conflict between God and Satan. God is watching over His servant and rejoices in His servant’s recognition of His sovereignty over his life, as well as his complete surrender to God as his Master. This harmonious and perfectly maintained “Master-servant” relationship provokes Satan. How vicious Satan is! He cannot stand the sight of God’s servant being at peace with his heavenly Master. He is full of jealousy, wrath and hatred. “Sovereign God and submissive servant” – this is the relationship that is under attack! Satan regards it with contempt and disdain: “Doth Job fear God for nought?” He could not – and will never – accept that anyone could love God so intrinsically without thinking of getting any external benefit in return. He wanted to prove God wrong.
(To be continued next week)
Sermon Text: Psalm 3
Speaker: Rev. Paul Cheng
Date: 19th November 2023
For more than three decades, our church has been organising the yearly Daily Vacation Bible School (DVBS), with two primary goals – (i) salvation of children, and (ii) spiritual nurture of the believing children. The best way to achieve this goal is to teach the truths of Holy Scripture to children with love, faithfulness and fervour.
The importance of teaching children God’s Word is repeatedly emphasised in Scripture. One biblical passage that testifies to the necessity and urgency of teaching children God’s truth is 2 Timothy 3:15, where Paul powerfully (though very briefly) narrates Timothy’s salvation and spiritual nurture from his childhood. “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The Greek word for “child” (bréphos), used by Paul, denotes “infants” or “babes”. So, at a very early stage of childhood, Timothy was being instructed in the Scriptures. It is such early, sustained instruction of the Word that granted Timothy the biblical wisdom of salvation to put his faith in Christ.
Such a clear biblical admonition and example must surely instil in us the earnestness to teach our children both at home and in the church. We covet all the church members to pray for and participate in bringing children to the upcoming DVBS. Parents must not let this opportunity slip by. This is more important than all other educational and leisure activities. I urge all the members and friends of the church to invite and bring children to the DVBS. Please do not delay any further.
Let us pray for all our preachers and sisters, who are involved in the DVBS as teachers of God’s Word to the children. Let us also uphold the Children’s Ministry Committee members who have laboured in organising this event for the spiritual benefit of our children. Praying for all serving and contributing to this particular programme is a great need. “Brethren,” as Paul said, “pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you” (2 Thess 3:1).
Dear Pastor,
Greetings to you in our Lord’s most blessed Name! I am writing this email to share with you some updates from our side.
Last week, we had a long holiday here in the Philippines. On October 30, we had the Barangay Elections, and then Oct 31 was declared a holiday in view of the “All Saints’ Day” and “All Souls’ Day” on November 1 and 2, respectively. It somehow gave us the opportunity to spend some profitable time with our families and loved ones, especially the opportunity to share with them the truth about the commonly practised observance of holidays by the Roman Catholics. I thank God also for the time to reconnect with my siblings as they came over during the holidays…
By God’s grace, we are pressing on in the work of the ministry. Thank God for the completion of the repair works at the Care Ministry. Praise God for the labours of our Care Ministry brothers in assisting the carpenter that we had commissioned for the job. We hired only one carpenter to save on the cost of labour, and he was assisted by all our Care brothers under the supervision of Dn Samuel Mingo. I have some photos to share with you.
As to the Sae Young property, the Korean owner arrived around the third week of October but has gone back again to Korea, as what we learned is that she is undergoing treatment. The agent told us that she was not in favour of our offer for the property.
Also, I would like to inform you that Rev. Lagapa has invited us (Rev. Donald, Eld. Eli, Pr Edsel and myself) to attend the Bible Conference to be held in Bukidnon on December 4-6 with the theme: “The Reformed and Premillennial Faith”, with Dr Jeffrey Khoo as the speaker. Rev. Donald and I will share God’s Word in the morning devotions while Eld. Eli and Pr Edsel will facilitate some activities planned.
We are now in the month of November, barely 2 months to the combined Youth and Bible Witness retreat. We have been in prayer as we look forward to your and the brethren’s coming, looking forward to a blessed time of hearing and learning God’s Word, as well as a time to fellowship among brethren.
We are in constant communication with Dn Norefel, trying as much as possible to assist and facilitate the ongoing preparations, particularly in the transport arrangement among others. Thank God for the opportunity to co-labour with all of you in this special activity.
On behalf of the church and my family, thank you for your prayers and support. Please do extend our greetings to your family and the church. Thank you!
Respectfully,
Rev. Reggor
