Hello everyone! For one of the passtimes Bicento and I love,is to jump into our car and go exploring our island; it seems there are always place we have not seen or not in a long long time. This particular picture was taken in the North East part of the island not long ago:large spacious areas filled with rocks and stones that make you stand in AWE! Here is one particular stone that intriqued us!

And now to what the Bible teaches us about Negligence to God's Word:

In our past three blogs we emphasized the importance of faith. We actually could have gone on writing on the importance of the doctrine of faith, because all other fundamental doctrines are interlaced or interconnected with the faith. Apart from faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is quite impossible to please our God. That is why in this short message today we want to write about the matter of NEGLIGENCE or IGNORING.
In Hebrews 2:1-3, we read the following words, “We must pay the more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by the angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?”
Dearly beloved friends of our Heavenly Father, and by our Lord Jesus Christ Who gave Himself voluntarily to free us from the bondage of sin by means of His death on the cross. It is to us who are alive today that this solemn warning is directed.
Very many people living here in Aruba and in the Antilles have heard the Gospel again and again. Yes, we have heard it from our childhood. Do not forget that the word “Gospel” means Good News. And that Good News is that we can receive forgiveness of our sins, if we repent and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our only Savior.
Now, what does to neglect or ignore mean? Actual every day in one form or another we experience the meaning of that word. At this very moment that I am writing, my wife is busy in the kitchen preparing food. She is putting either what is fish or meat in a pan and putting it on the burner to simmer or cook. What will happen if she begins to do other work and neglects or ignores the pan on the lit burner? Well, She will come back to find the pan and food burned into charcoal. This can easily be taken care by buying another pan and purchasing other food.
HOWEVER, in relation to the blessed Gospel of our Lord, it is another matter and here in Hebrews 2:2 we read the following words: “HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE NEGLECT (ignore) SUCH A GREAT SALVATION?” The message and warning in those words is that there is NO ESCAPE. During my short life span, I have heard about other chances or opportunities after death. We were even taught that there is a place called purgatory, where a person goes after death with sins not confessed. That person will pass through the purgatory fires till he is purified of his or her sins. Such teaching is not Scriptural; it is not found in the Bible, and what is more, it contradicts the Gospel of Grace. The clear and persistent teaching in the Word of God is that: whoever hears the message of pardon and eternal life which is only in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and is thus convinced by the Holy Spirit of God, such a person, whoever that may be, admits that he is a lost sinner.
Then that person repents of his sins and puts his or her faith absolutely and completely in the Lord Jesus. That person then receives pardon of all sin, and begins a new life. The Bible calls that transformation, regeneration or being born again. No matter if you are someone advanced in age, or a young person, or a child who has reached the age of understanding… you are a new creation. However, you are a baby in spiritual matters, and are in need of the spiritual milk of the Word of God. You will need to grow and become an adult in spiritual matters. (Read Ephesians 4:1-16 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-31).
In conclusion for today I give this warning in the love of Christ. Remember I started this message using the word “negligence”. There are so many precious souls living here in Aruba and in the Antilles, and yes, around the world who permit this danger of negligence to overtake their lives. Many, no matter what age, when hearing the Gospel – the Good News – say, “yes, it was a good message, lovely words,…” but what happens? Nothing! The person keeps on living his or her life, religiously not religiously, and does not OBEY, God by repenting and believing ( having faith) in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By doing NOTHING, the just judgment remains: “HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE NEGLECT SO GREAT A SALVATION?”

FAITH continued

Cactus growing in the form of a donkey's head! It was an incredible sight.

In our first message about FAITH, we mentioned about warnings the Holy Spirit gives in the Scriptures for these last days we are living in. The Scriptures say: SOME will abandon the faith, or fall from the faith, by giving heed to deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Since the Apostle Paul mentioned that some will abandon the faith, this solemne warning is especially to such who teach and preach to others.

For that reason, the Apostle warned Timothy to teach the Word, or preach and proclaim the message of the Gospel. The Gospel means "good news". The exhortation was to be ready at all times to preach the Good News. Paul said to Timothy: I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage -with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great amount of teachers so say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

Be sure of this dear friends in the Lord, the Holy Spirit is not warning us today of this great danger which will have tremendous consequences for those who turn their ears away from the Truth in Christ to live in the world of deceit and lies. And worse when we come to the place where people do not want to hear about repentance from sin and faith in Christ for eternal life. Then the Apostle Paul concludes with these words of encouragement for each one who has his or her faith in Jesus today and is willingly walking in His footsteps: "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of rightousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to ALL who have longed for His appearing."
(1 Tim. 4:6-8).

The Word of God solemnly exhorts and encourages us about FAITH in Christ in our daily life. But this FAITH comes through the Word of God in the Scriptues. That is why the Lord gave gifts to people. God gave spiritual gifts to the Church - the body of Christ - after Jesus' resurection and ascenion. Read Ephesians 4:1-16. In verses 11-13, we read: "It is He who gave some to be Apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ."

It is not the will of God that we remain infants tossed to and fro by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

The Lord willing we will continue this topic in our next Blog as a conclusion for now. Take time and study more on this topic and together let us do what the Scriptures exhort us to do: examen ourselves to determine if we are in the faith.

FAITH

Today we want to share a little about what the Scriptures say about Faith, but in particular what we read about faith in the New Testament. The O.T. mentiones the word "faith" only two times, whereas the N.T. mentions this word "faith" around 240 time! Surely this would indicate to us that Faith must be an important factor for our daily lives.

Also, I would like to emphasize that this message is for such who have already professed or confessed FAITH in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In 1 Timothy 4:1,2 we read the following: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith, and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared with a hot iron"..etc. These warnings are for each and every one of us, who profess FAITH in Christ. Why? It is not possible to "abandon" or "fall from" something you do not have. These words are directed to believers. These Scriptures indicate the possibilty for believers to follow deceiving spirits and thereby abandon the faith.

Take your Bible and turn to 1 Timothy 3:6. Here we have a similar exhortation:"If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree to the sound doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to fiancial gain." Continue to read through verse ten.

Dear friend, believe it or not, any one of us who is sincerely believing in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, can be in danger of falling into false and wrong teachings. The true answer is found in verses 6-8. In is in this category each one who believes in Christ for his or her salvation, belongs in: "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it."

GODLINESS is each one of us living in fellowship daily with God, our Heavenly Father, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is the greatest blessing one can have, and it can be mine and yours! The Apostle Paul calls this GREAT GAIN or TOTAL SATISFACTION.

There will be more on this subject of FAITH in our next blog, the Lord willing.So remember to log in soon.
Betty and Bicento Henriquez