Book Review: Understanding Life and Eternity
Understanding Life and Eternity: A Collection of Sermons
by Bobby E.K. Sng
Christians Assembly Hall (2022)
Library call number : 248 SNG
This two-volume collection* features sermons by Dr Bobby Sng which were originally Sunday pulpit messages delivered to his home church, the Wilkie Terrace Christian Assembly, during the course of approximately the last decade of his life. This collection captures the godly character and theology of a man whom countless people have had the privilege to learn from and to serve with. These are Christians who served with him in his church, those who served with him in the student and post-graduate worlds, those who worked with him as co-labourers in various national and international Christian organisations and movements and many more who were simply his fellow sojourners in life.
The book transports me back to my student and early post-graduate years and to the countless times I had sat and listened to Dr Sng unpacking biblical truths for the “average Christian” through his Bible expositions. And I am especially struck by his words quoted in the ‘Foreword’ that “what a person does with his life must express his understanding of life and eternity” – a reminder of the two-world perspective that we are called to embrace, and one that I think describes aptly the Christian that he was.
The book is very readable as they were messages delivered over the pulpit for the larger congregation, but also packs many theological truths that challenge us to deeper contemplation as to their implications for us as individuals and as a church. These truths touch areas of God’s grace amidst our suffering, understanding Christ in the Gospels, discipleship and the Christian witness and service in an unbelieving world, running the race with the end in mind, and so on.
On his 75th birthday, Dr Sng asked himself “What have I done with my life?” His question called his original audience and today’s sermon readers to ask ourselves the same question—that we might do something meaningful for God and for others (Volume 2, page 24). This challenge, among others in the book, is a sobering but timely trumpet-call for us in the light of this world that we live in, and even more so in the light of eternity.
– Nua We Boon, VCF Chairperson 1984/1985
*These two volumes are sold as a set at the Bible Resource Centre, 7 Armenian Street, Bible House, Singapore 179932 (Tel: 6337 3222) for SGD 20.00 before GST.
