April 26, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
IGNORANCE OF GOD’S WORD IS SIN.
“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Prov.16:25, KJV.
Good morning on this first working day of this week, four months now grappling with this covid-19 global pandemic with no certain path forward for the rest of the world, but not for those who have been diligently storing God’s Word in their minds.
We should be alarmed and afraid, not of being infected and dying of the corona virus but of committing the sin of negligence that results in the sin of ignorance of God’s Word! Observe:
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The truth and the glory of God are inseparable; it is impossible for us, with the Bible within our reach, to honor God by erroneous opinions. Many claim that it matters not what one believes, if his life is only right.
“But life is molded by the faith. If light and truth is within our reach, and we neglect to improve the privilege of hearing and seeing it, we virtually REJECT it; we are choosing darkness rather than light.
“Ignorance is no excuse for error or sin, when there is every opportunity to know the will of God…..
“God has given us His Word that we might become acquainted with its teachings, and know for ourselves what He requires of us….”It is the first and highest duty of every rational being to learn from the Scriptures what is truth, and then to walk in its light, and encourage others to follow his example.
“We should day by day study the Bible diligently, weighing every thought, and comparing scripture with scripture. With divine help, we are to form our opinions for ourselves, as we are to answer for ourselves before God.” E.G. White, Great Controversy, 1911 ed., pp. 597, 598.
Apostle Paul warned: “How shall we escape if we NEGLECT so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?”(Heb. 2:4)
I took this counsel and guidance to heart at the very beginning of the calling to minister and help proclaim the third angel’s message, endeavoring by God’s grace in the Holy Spirit, to apply its principles, by “pen and voice,” by precept and example to all I was asked to minister to in the past, to this moment of time. The convenient and easy times to learn this principle and the opportunities God mercifully opened and offered to us, have already gone by, never more to return. We will only have to do the best of what remains—the only way we can redeem time and missed opportunities. And we will have to do it under adverse circumstances going forward. It is my hope and prayer that you will also do the same. NMF