When we have trusted in Christ, we do what He tells us to do and no more. Only His will is important. Those who do not respect Him or us will not change their stance through continual nagging. Those who want to know more will ask when they are ready.
Mark 6:11 "Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that men should repent."
Matthew 10:14 "And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet."
Zechariah 7:12-13 "…12 They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore, great anger came from the LORD of Hosts. 13 And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts. "
We live in a time when the "churches" want body counts more than they want the hearts of people to be changed by Christ. It is harder to reach someone who has already accepted a false gospel than to reach an unbeliever who has never heard any gospel.
Jeremiah 23:16 (KJV 1900) "16 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord."
Philippians 3:12-14 "12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus."
When we speak the words of God, there will be many "professing Christians" who will be offended by them. They are either walking disobediently or they were never saved in the first place. Our job is not to convince someone intellectually, but to speak truth and leave their response to God.
When we begin to think it is up to us and our delivery for people to become born again, it is when we have lost our way, thinking we are the ones who bring the increase. We are not; we are only the messengers. It is the Holy Spirit Who works on people after they hear, and their choice to obey or not to obey.
1 Corinthians 3:5-7 "…5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. 6 I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.…"
It is important that we pray and read the word every time we hear a modern cliche in these days of apostasy. Many "Christians" say things that sound good but are not Biblical and are merely humanistic pressure for us to do things their way. Listen long enough to research God's Word, and if what is said does not align with it, correct it and disregard it.
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