Son of man (STAR TRAVELER), I have appointed you a watchman
to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn
them (LS and OVRTAXT) from Me. 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. 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. (EZEKIEL 3:17-19)
I’d say that you have done your job of sounding the warning. Well done good
and faithful servant.
His always... Jo
Hi Jo..., you were saying — “I’d say that you have done your job of sounding the warning. Well done good and faithful servant.”
Yes.., that’s about as far as someone can go. Certainly Christians are not like the Muslims, in that they’re going to cut off your head, if you don’t agree with them and do not convert to their religion. At the very least, Christians are like God, the Father, in that He gives everyone their free-will choice and does not force anyone.
It’s clear that there will always be those who reject God’s word, despite God’s long-suffering patience and His imploring those to not ignore their imminent fate without Christ as their Savior. And for those who do that, and are subject to the “second death” (of Revelation 20, at the Great White Throne) — we are actually grieved. Yes..., grieved.
That’s because for every one of those people who do reject the free gift of God, in the way of His Son, Jesus, the Messiah of Israel — they are either someone’s son, or father, or daughter or mother or close friend. It does grieve people. It also grieves God.
Many people may think this is merely a game of “my god is better than your god”, and ignore it. But, no..., it’s a matter of “life or death” and the eternal destiny of one’s soul and their forever-after existence. That’s why so many Christians are *so insistent* on the matter. They know the ultimate consequences. And that insistence does “put off” a lot of people. But, Christians persevere, because the stakes are *quite high*. It’s someone’s life that is at stake. It’s worth the aggravation of a lot of people for the sake of those few who do finally realize the importance of what God has done, though His Son, Jesus, the Messiah of Israel.
At some point, it does get to the point of “beating a dead horse” — and in more ways than one, that person is going to be a “dead horse.” And — even God — at some point, does *give up* on a person. The Bible tells us that He basically lets the person have his own way and leaves him to his own devices and that’s it.
The message never gets old (the message of salvation from the Bible), but for one individual or another, it may be the “end of the road” as nothing in this world will dissuade them from rushing headlong into destruction and their own personal damnation (at their own hands, basically). And there’s nothing that any of us can do about it.
That’s the nature of many of these kinds of conversations. We can only hope that there are many others who see it differently, compared to another who chooses his own personal destruction.
—
As a side note, Jo..., do you know where the term “Son of Man” comes from. Yes, Jesus used it several times in reference to Himself, but the people of Israel knew that it had a particular meaning. And Jesus used it in reference to Himself (as a fulfillment of prophecy about Himself). There was a book that was considered either authoritative and/or prophetic (at the time [and before] of Jesus). We no longer have that book fully or completely available to us, and neither is it in our canon of Scripture today (for whatever reasons that God chose that to be...). However, that book (for the Jews) was absolutely filled with references to the “Son of Man” which Jesus obviously used to point to Himself, as a fulfillment of what the book was saying. The people of that day had an understanding of what that “Son of Man” meant and thus, Jesus said that was Him.
That book is the Book of Enoch. If you get a chance to look through it sometime, it’s very interesting. We can’t use it as Scripture, because it’s not part of the canon that was passed on down to us, today. But, it does form a historical backdrop for understanding what Jesus was saying about Himself. It can put Jesus’ words into better context than we would have otherwise.
Anyway, I just thought that I would mention that. [And no..., lest anyone think that I would claim any connection or relation to “messiah-ship” { LOL... ]}that’s definitely not the case..., just through I better put in that qualifier there...]
Hey, don’t include me in that. I think Mormons are totally deceived by a false prophet, a lying demon and a made-up book.
Don't presume to get into a Bible quoting contest, please. It's demeaning and silly. Instead, let me quote Led Zepplin: I'm so happy you have a "Stairway to Heaven."