Ezek.3:17-21

[Roy Monis]

Hi! All. Hope I'm in the right place!

Can someone please advise on this as, I believe, it affects not only me but every one in the forum.

God has spoken to his servant Ray and given him some priceless treasures which he has in obedience to God's Word (Ezek.3:17-21) conveyed to the wicked men, that's us, whether we listen or not, through his website and teaching classes. But now, having received the treasures, I believe God is speaking to us, the once wicked men who have received the treasures and obeyed. Because God has spoken to us through his servant, Ray, and now placed us in his position.

My question is; what do we do with these priceless treasures if we are not supposed to preach to those who haven't heard them, because all of us must have friends and family trapped in Babylon who would answer the call if they knew but have no computers or any knowledge of them so as to be put in contact with Ray's site. There must be thousands if not millions out there who feel uncomfortable in the Spirit but don't know what to do. By preach I do not mean to infer that I desire to convert them, that I fully understand to be the Holy Spirit's jurisdiction

I seek advice as this command carries with it a heavy penalty. What is my (our) position and how do I (we) exonerate myself (ourselves)?     

(17) "Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. (18) When I say to the wicked, You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. (19) Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. (20) Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. (21) However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself." (Ezek.3:17-21).

Hope someone can help and thank you.

Love in Christ Jesus

Roy
   

[Craig]

Roy,

This is only my opinion.

Unless you are called to teach or preach you would probably do well to keep quiet and live your life by the truths you have learned.  That should be better than any sermon.  And face it, even fewer are called to teach or preach the word, than are called to just live the word.

God will not lose any of His chosen, so if someone comes to you asking about what you believe or about God, be ready to show yourself approved to answer the questions.

Craig

[hillsbororiver]

Good answer Craig,

Roy, Ray writes a very good paper on this topic, here is the conclusion;

HOW TO DEMONSTRATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH

I personally know a man who has his little wife working two jobs to support their family so that he can study the Scriptures and enter into doctrinal debates with other Christians at the local Cafe as a perpetual hobby. Notice the admonition of the Apostle Peter:

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation [Gk: 'conduct'] honest [Gk: 'honorable'] among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may BY YOUR GOOD WORKS, [Not your clever Bible arguments], which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation" (I Pet. 2:11-12).

Your good works and righteous character will pay dividends to others eventually—if not in this life, then in the Judgment.

Read it all here; http://bible-truths.com/souls.htm

Peace,

Joe

[Deborah-Leigh]

Hi Roy

It is good that you are pondering which ways to think, behave and conduct yourself before others in order to PLEASE God.

For me the Scripture you have quoted says in a nut shell Don't be a hypocrite.

Learning to NOT be a hypocrite in a society that teaches you to BE ONE or else you are not being SOCIABLE, is a very difficult thing to learn to do. Like ice skating for the first time!When you get the hang of it one can do marvels on thin ice but until then it is practise practise practise how not to offend, how not to make others stumble, how to be an Ambassador for Christ and His Mercy, Patience and Wisdom. Quite a job we all have cut out for us....

Peace to you brother

Arcturus

[Karen]

 Hi All

This is indeed a topic that affects us all in someway and Roy as we have communicated off the forum, you are aware that I share some of your ponderings.

Anyway for quite some time now I have been more concerned with 'living' what I believe rather than 'telling' people what I believe and so I agree with the other comments regarding 'building character' and 'don't be a hypocrite'. Along with this there has also been a complete appraisal of 'what do I believe?'

I also re-read what Ray has to say in his writing about 'Winning Souls for Jesus' and again it has struck me that the way we live may well have the desired affect upon someone, if not now but in Judgement. So for my carnal mind that wants some instant gratification, yet again I  find I have to trust God's word and live in Faith. I am so glad that God has designed His Ways for our good, maybe there is an inherent danger in being able to preach his word effectively that we would think too highly of ourselves.

But I think there is a question about how do we conduct ourselves as group of believers in the flesh not just in an online forum. Now I know it seems rare that any of us are very close together to even meet together, but what if there were more?  How do we go about it?  I most definately don't ever want to go back to church!  I think at this moment in time I am still fearful of any such 'church format'.

Anyway there is a scripture that helped me a lot which has underpinned my belief that it is the quality of our relationships with people that is the most important thing. That even a fleeting momentary meeting can produce some kind of 'connection' and have a certain amount of depth, especially if we are open and allow our vulnerabilities to sometimes show.

1 John 4:6.  We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
it goes on...v7 Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God......

and of course it goes on in the beautiful way that John does in his writings, all about Love.

So I figure if we can make quality relationships with people then we are more able to show the love of God to them.

Karen

[psalmsinger]

This scripture helps us understand that we must prophecy, minister, teach, exhort, give, rule and show mercy according to grace and the amount of faith that God has given us.  I'm thinking that vs. 7 is telling us to "wait" and be sure by the nod of the Holy Spirit that we do all according to His Way and Will and not our own.  The Lord rarely gives me opportunity to share much any more so I'm a "lady in waiting"

Rom 12:6-8
6   Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
7   Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8   Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
(KJV)

I like this verse as it seems  sharing with "one another" within the body of Christ.  Combine that directive with being ready to give an answer to those who ask in sincerity about your faith. 

Col 3:16-17
16   Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17   And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
(KJV)


Rest in the Lord,
Barbara

[Roy Monis]

Hi! Everyone

Thanks for responding and your advice is much appreciated, consider my wrists well slapped.

Now will someone please explain; does asking advice on a plain Scriptural verse constitute being categorized as a hypocrite because that is not love seeing that it can give offense to your brother in Christ? The word "hypocrite" should not enter this forum unless absolutely warranted. One of the conditions of enrollment I believe to be "No name calling". Please stick to the rules.

Craig's reply I accept and totally agree with, it's a matter of opinion and it should rest at that. Thanks Craig you're a hero. 

I apologize for my curt response and I mean no offence, but words should be very carefully chosen before being used on this forum especially.

God bless you all for your replies and please remember my signature is, love.

Love in Christ Jesus

Roy   

[hillsbororiver]

Hi Roy,

Sorry you felt that you were being wrist slapped but after reading and rereading the responses I have to admit I did not see anything but an honest effort to share ideas and perhaps provide a way to reconcile the verses you quoted with not having an obligation to go door to door "winning souls."

We have to remember we can talk ourselves blue in the face in attempt to "convert" those who do not believe or have been tainted by man made doctrines. It is not up to us who seeks to truly know God.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

But there is an obligation we have been admonished of;

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

If we are indeed "sanctifying the Lord God in our hearts" we will manifest a Godly life and our actions will speak louder than any words we might speak, but always be ready to give an answer to those who have been drawn by God to ask.

His Peace and Wisdom to you,

Joe

P.S. Craig is my hero too! (When he isn't in a dress of course)

[Craig]

Roy,

I really think you misunderstood the replies, they were not calling you a hypocrite, but the belief some people have of going out and "winning souls" when the persons own life is what they need to work on first.

I for one do not think you or your question was hypocritical in any way, and don't think others did also, but they will need to speak for themselves.

To everyone on the forum, reading words with the person not in front of you speaking can be cause for many misunderstandings.  Please if you feel you have been slighted by someone in a post,  PM that person and nicely ask if that was their intention, if you continue having problems you are welcome to ask a moderator for advice. 

Craig

[Deborah-Leigh]

I don't want to close without revealing just who it is that constitutes the wild beast of Revelation 13 and the lawless one of II Thes. 2. I did title this Installment: Who is the Beast? And so I will tell you.

"So okay Ray, enough, TELL US WHO THE BEAST IS. Who? Tell us WHO?"

The "beast" is you!
http://bible-truths.com/lake13.html

And when I saw Him [in my SPIRIT] I fell at His feet as DEAD. And He laid His right hand upon ME [as He will upon YOU], saying unto ME [and unto YOU],

FEAR NOT" (Rev. 1:10-17).

Truly:  "We have seen the enemy and he is US."

http://bible-truths.com/lake14.html

[joyful1]

Dear brother Roy,
I share in your zeal in wanting to tell the "whole world!"

When I was buffeted by those that I first approached (even though Ray warned me ahead of time)....I began to ask God why? Why could they not hear the message? And why did they hate me? I guess I had to learn my lesson the hard way.

1-- Because they've not been given the ears to hear, nor the eyes to see yet.
           
     Romans 11:8
     as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that
     they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."

     (*Remember that this too is God's will and its His plan NOT ours, we don't  
     do the choosing, He does)

2--Because you WILL be hated of all men.

    Luke 21:17
    And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.


Ray's article: Winning Souls For Jesus ( http://bible-truths.com/souls.htm )was convincing and compelling for me personally. I found that he was able to put into words the "feelings" that I harbored in my own heart about this very subject.

::::cup of tea, anyone?:::::  Peace!  Joyce

[Phil3:10]

Roy,
I, like Craig, do not feel any of the posts were meant to be calling you hypocritical. I do think the biggest problem facing the organized church system is their belief in the outreach to others in a vain attempt to bring them to their concept of salvation. GOD calls whom HE will and will use the best method to reach each one of  us. Let us live as close to CHRIST as we possibly can and our example will do much more than any words we can say. I would always prefer to see a sermon any time that to hear one.  The Babylonian system has done more to hurt the cause of Christ than any thing I know off. I personally feel that missionaries do more damage than good. I cherish the humble people who have left their wonderful mark on my life and none of them have been preachers. I consider Ray Smith to be a teacher and he supports his teachings from GOD'S word. His example is worthy of following and his humble and contrite spirit have been a blessing to me.
Phil3:10

[winner08]

Hello everbody: I feel the way Roy does, I want to tell people what I learned on Ray's teachings. There's only one problem, nobody cares to hear it. Therefore, I just talk to the one person who's interested in what I learned. Then I"m so new at the truth, that I won't go around trying to teach. That's way over my head. I have a hard enough time trying to understand what I'm learning!

                                Peace to all

                                 Darren

[kweli]

A pill I'm finding harder to swallow is when church people will not at the very least believe the Word of God. But at least now I know why their bibles look so nice and neat, even after many many years in their possession. Anyway, it used to be me and knowing God, just as I was mysteriously dragged here, so will others, as He pleases. As long as I'm ready with an answer for my hope (thanks Joe)