Imagine, two of Jesus’s own disciples, with whom he had broken bread just days before, couldn’t recognize Him when He opened the scriptures to them. Were they too busy wrangling with the possible different meanings they could remember in scripture or from the temple leaders which they felt substantiated their false assumption that He had been defeated with crucifizxion? Isn't that what we're seeing with this cult phenomenon?
It wasn’t until He broke bread and blessed it and gave it to them that they had the darkness lifted! Do ya suppose that is related to the necessity for the Eucharist and Apostolic Authority? The burning in the bosom thingy might be lifted with the body and blood of the LIVING Christ, offered by those in Apostolic Authority. Ya think?
No. This burning in the busom thingy will not be lifted through some mystical ritual which non-Christians are specifically prohibited from participating in anyway, lest they eat and drink unto themselves damnation. If you think that giving the Eucharist to non-believers is going to make them open their eyes to the error of their ways, then you need to take another look at the whole ceremony and ritual. It is only for disciples to partake of and not seekers and not unbelievers.
The Holy Spirit will convict these people in due time and in due course. You will not, by your own arguments or by the application of some mystical ritual bring them to the foot of the cross. That is not your job. That is the job of the Holy Spirit and the harder you try to do the Holy Spirit's job, the more frustrated you will become with the results.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It is the hearing of Word of God and the drawing of Christ unto himself (and nothing else) which will draw a man to Christ. Your best bet, if you wish to be a part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, is to simply present the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit bring faith. If they are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, then they will come when he calls. If they are not open, then they will not hear when he calls.
It was not some brilliant argument that brought me out of Mormonism and into a relationship with the true and living Christ. Nor was it some ritual or sacrament. It was the Holy Spirit. Others may have participated in the process, by presenting the Word of God so that I might hear it. They didn't do it by calling me an idiot or saying I was mired is spiritual darkness. Those who are mired in spiritual darkness are often convinced that what they see is light. It is not their fault. You cannot logically convince them that the light that they see is darkness. That is something that requires spiritual discernment and THAT is a gift of God.
Carry on.
NO.