Not everyone is worth evangelising to.

Jesse Dornfeld

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Christ says, "brush the dust off your sandals and move on" but this must be understood to the call that the Apostles had, as "sent ones". Not everyone has the gift of evangelism like the Apostle Paul and as such, sometimes people never even tell a single person in their life about "the hope that is within them" which is an utter tragedy! Share your light to the world. Only when you have the judgement, through experience, on who not to evangelize to, do you understand what Jesus says when he says to, "brush the dust off your sandals."
 
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Gary Lee

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When you come across people who are swine and dogs, recognise them as such and do not waste your time on them.

I do not know how you received the light of the gospel.
But I'm sure you're grateful they didn't consider you a dog :)
(As I am also so very grateful)

It is my great privilege/pleasure to sow the light/seed of the gospel.
To anyone who will listen. (whosoever will)
This privilege/responsibility is for every believer.


The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
 
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Aussie Pete

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When Christ said, in Matthew 7:6, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." he is clearly saying that some (probably many, given Matthew 7:13-14) and not worth the effort.

When you come across people who are swine and dogs, recognise them as such and do not waste your time on them.
Do you know who "swine" and "dogs" represent? How do you recognise them?
 
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Aussie Pete

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Do you think that Christ would tell us to avoid them if we could not identify them?
There are many things that we are commanded to do or not do. How close to perfection is your obedience? How many mountains have you cast into the sea lately?
 
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Inkfingers

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There are many things that we are commanded to do or not do. How close to perfection is your obedience? How many mountains have you cast into the sea lately?

Well, I would be better if I was more able to:
* cast mountains into the ocean
* judge those who are dogs and swine and give them no pearls
 
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Aussie Pete

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Well, I would be better if I was more able to:
* cast mountains into the ocean
* judge those who are dogs and swine and give them no pearls
Mountains are the apparent impossible obstacles that stand between you and the fulfilment of God's promises.

Swine are pseudo-Christians. In the OT, swine are unclean animals but they have some attributes of clean animals in that they have a split hoof. Those supposed Christians may seem OK at first, but cross them in some way and they will give you grief.

Dogs are the Pharisee types - Philipians 3:2 "Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!"

In order to have accurate discernment, we need to stay close to Lord Jesus and ask Him to lead us in everything. There is no time in our lives that we cannot be deceived. We can and do let our guard down from time to time. We need to stay alert and not get slack.
 
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Saint Steven

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Context.. at the time the "bread" was only for the children no one else. He came to His own first.
The woman in that passage was one of two gentiles of whom Jesus said... (see bold)
Jesus had ignored her initially. She was one of the "dogs" the OP wrote about.

Matthew 15:24-28
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
 
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Saint Steven

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I believe its my job to inform. Not twist their arm or make them believe anything. I can't force someone to change. The desire for difference must come from them. We'll walk to the finish line with some and others have different companions.

Maybe my contribution was love, support, encouragement, etc. I'm okay with being a role player. God knows how to get His people. I'm a servant.

Yours in His Service,

~Bella
Exactly.

1 Corinthians 3:5-8
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
 
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Saint Steven

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Yes lifestyle evangelism :)
The next level up is the treasure hunt.
Ask God to describe the person he wants you to minister to.

Gather a few believers that want to participate. Pray for guidance.
Then ask:
- Where are they? (write down your impression)
- What are they wearing? (write down your impression)
- What is their prayer need? (write down your impression)
Head for the place where they are.

When you find the person, politely explain what you are doing and show them the sheet where you wrote down things about them. It usually gets their attention when a total stranger knows that they have an injured left knee. (or whatever) Ask to pray for them. Interview them about the injury/illness before praying. Monitor progress as you pray. Continue as led. It may, or may not, end in a gospel presentation. Invite them to church.

The ripple effect afterwards is incredible too. Everyone will want to know about their healing. How did it happen?
 
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Jesus is YHWH

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The next level up is the treasure hunt.
Ask God to describe the person he wants you to minister to.

Gather a few believers that want to participate. Pray for guidance.
Then ask:
- Where are they? (write down your impression)
- What are they wearing? (write down your impression)
- What is their prayer need? (write down your impression)
Head for the place where they are.

When you find the person, politely explain what you are doing and show them the sheet where you wrote down things about them. It usually gets their attention when a total stranger knows that they have an injured left knee. (or whatever) Ask to pray for them. Interview them about the injury/illness before praying. Monitor progress as you pray. Continue as led. It may, or may not, end in a gospel presentation. Invite them to church.

The ripple effect afterwards is incredible too. Everyone will want to know about their healing. How did it happen?
our church has a prayer wall and many on that wall have become saved over the past several years.
 
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Saint Steven

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our church has a prayer wall and many on that wall have become saved over the past several years.
That's a great idea.
I wonder how many of those who were saved would fit in the "dogs" and "swine" category of this topic OP?
 
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Saint Steven

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I do not know how you received the light of the gospel.
But I'm sure you're grateful they didn't consider you a dog :)
(As I am also so very grateful)

It is my great privilege/pleasure to sow the light/seed of the gospel.
To anyone who will listen. (whosoever will)
This privilege/responsibility is for every believer.


The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
That's a great post. Thanks.
Here is what I consider to be a companion passage to the one you posted.
Two gentiles that Jesus awarded the comment "great faith".

Matthew 8:5-10
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
 
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Jesus is YHWH

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That's a great idea.
I wonder how many of those who were saved would fit in the "dogs" and "swine" category of this topic OP?
I'm still waiting for an example from the OP with their personal experience to determine what is considered a pig or dog.
 
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Jesus is YHWH

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That's a great idea.
I wonder how many of those who were saved would fit in the "dogs" and "swine" category of this topic OP?
BTW- I know we started off on the wrong foot on the forum but I'm really glad we worked through things in several threads. Online it can take a while to understand where another person is coming from when discussing scripture. I'm happy to say that you are my brother in Christ even though we may still have our differences. That is what makes us individuals, we all have different experiences to bring to the table so to speak !
 
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Bible Highlighter

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By offering cross reference you infer that the people in your examples are people that qualify as the dogs and swine.

Your list is a list of sinners/bad people.

Again, that is your inference that I do not share. I believe everyone deserves a chance to hear the truth. The verses I provided show that answering a fool deals with something the other party said that was foolish. It's playing ball on their terms. Anyways, we are told to preach door to door in two's. If they don't hear that message, we should shake the dust off our feet and move on. That does not mean God cannot send another to water any seeds planted (as needed).

I think the pearls before swine issue is dealing with not casting what is sacred to you (like a personal testimony of God working in your life) or evidences that back up God's Word (like Biblical numerics, see this thread here) to either an atheist who is looking to destroy your faith, and or believer who justifies sin while under God's grace and has expressed that they have no interest in changing. Dogs were considered to be unbelieving Gentiles. Revelation makes it clear that sinners who are dogs will be outside the gates of the city of New Jerusalem. They are not believing the words of Jesus and or God so as to obey Him. They are in a way unbelievers of His Word even while claiming to believe in Jesus. Sure, they can take pick and choose certain passages or verses out of context to justify sin with the thinking they are saved, but that would be another Jesus or god that does not exist (But merely a god of their own imagining).

Side Note:

Granted, these believers who justify sin are temporarily in the Kingdom if they do wonderful works in Christ's name (spreading the gospel and helping the poor), but they are later cast out because they justified iniquity or sin (See: Matthew 13:41-42). For many today say they have received Jesus, but those same people do not receive His words. This is a problem because in John 12:48, those who do not receive His words, those very words will judge them on the last day (See: John 12:48). For many in the church today do not receive the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:28-30, Matthew 6:15, Matthew 12:37, Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 9:62, Luke 10:25-28. They either say that these words of Jesus no longer apply, or they say that His point of these words by Him was to show you cannot keep God's laws (When Jesus never said that was His point by those words). This is why Scripture talks about how there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth by these types. They thought they were doing God's work, and in living for Him, but they were sorely mistaken in that God agrees with their sin.
 
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Well, I would be better if I was more able to:
* cast mountains into the ocean
* judge those who are dogs and swine and give them no pearls
Are you going to share your personal experiences with people you have talked with, shared your faith with that you considered to be swine and dogs ?

What pearls did you share/cast ?

BTW- its not against the rules to share your experiences in witnessing the gospel to others.

hope this helps !!!
 
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Jesse Dornfeld

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The woman in that passage was one of two gentiles of whom Jesus said... (see bold)
Jesus had ignored her initially. She was one of the "dogs" the OP wrote about.

Matthew 15:24-28
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Thank you. That is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture. Oh, how much can we learn from Jesus who breaks every chain of oppression!

It should be understood that this person was a threefold enemy of Israel. She was a gentile, a Canaanite, and a woman. Jesus had zero business talking to her being a Rabbi. In fact, how I read this passage is that this woman was literally feeding here demon possessed child's food to the dogs thereby depriving her daughter even more. But she calls out to Jesus and says, "Lord, help me" which is a phenomenal statement. She is saying to Jesus he has authority of her fate. And as Jesus is a merciful person, he does what is right in that situation.

Now, notably, is that Jesus goes to that place specifically for her according to the Spirits leading. He goes north, talks to the woman, and then leaves. It does not say he stayed there to minister to the people. He went there specifically for her. Jesus left the 99 to find the 1 with this woman.

Blessings.
 
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It's all about to discernment... It is up to you how long you will preach the word to a hostile person or community. And we are giving straightforward instructions on what to do when we have had enough.
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Jesus gives a stern warning for those who didn’t receive the apostles that He sent because He already said that whoever doesn’t receive them, doesn’t receive the One Who had sent them which is why He said “but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town” (Matt 10:13b-15). The symbolism is that by shaking off the dust from their feet, they are showing that those in that town didn’t receive the message of the kingdom of heaven and that makes them unworthy. Anyone that rejects Jesus’ message can never be worthy to inherit eternal life but only worthy of the wrath of God (John 3:36b). If they neither listen to them nor receive them then the peace of God is to return to them because if no one believes in Christ, they don’t have what they need and that is the peace of God (Rom 5:1) and there is no condemnation lifted (Rom 8:1).
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For me, scripture is an all-powerful leaving being. It is to be treated with the highest respect and never to be trampled underfoot by swine.
 
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