Important to share God’s Word with others
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Faith Fitness
Bro. Sam Kaufman
As Christian people, one of our best witnessing tools is sharing the Bible with others.
God opens many doors for us to tell people about God’s Word. Paul asked others to pray for such opportunities for him.
In Ephesians 6:18-20, Paul makes one of those requests: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints: And for me, that utterance may be give unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
There will be times when we, too, need to open our mouths boldly to proclaim the gospel to a lost and dying world. After all, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
For people to believe, they first have to hear the gospel. Those who know God’s Word can impart it.
That means we need to become well acquainted with the Bible. We need to first take in the Word of God, comprehend it and then share it.
We can share it among each other and with those who don’t know God.
The Bible gives us various directives concerning sharing God’s Word. One of the most important is to preach the truth in love.
We always need to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us. God will help us and use us to share the gospel.
Paul instructs Timothy in II Timothy 4:2 to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
The above verse means that we are to preach the word in conditions that are favorable (in season) and other times when it is not so popular (out of season). The latter is definitely the most challenging.
At times, we can expect rejection and even persecution when we share the gospel. Even so, we can’t allow those prospects to suppress the Word of God.
That’s why Paul asked the saints to pray for him to have boldness.
The devil doesn’t like it when God’s Word goes forth. Satan attempts to silence us from telling others about Jesus, but Jesus commanded us to “go ye into all the world and teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
That commission will require us to open our mouths.
In the Old Testament, God commanded Jeremiah to preach a captivity message to his own people because of their idolatry and disobedience.
It obviously wasn’t taken too well by the people. Jeremiah faced backlash and various forms of persecution by sharing God’s message.
It wasn’t an easy task for the prophet. Jeremiah faced constant friction, but God was with him.
It got to the point, however, where Jeremiah became discouraged with sharing the message. The prophet definitely encountered an “out of season” preaching ministry. The people didn’t want to hear what Jeremiah had to say from God.
But that didn’t diminish Jeremiah’s responsibility in sharing it, and the same goes for us.
There is so much power in God’s Word and the unction that comes with preaching it.
We have a vital message with eternal consequences to share. Paul recognized the importance of his calling to preach.
“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.” (I Corinthians 9:16-17)
Jeremiah became so discouraged by the negative response of the people that he decided for a brief time not to share what God had given him. The response we get from proclaiming the Word will vary, but the seed is still being sown. Jeremiah couldn’t refrain too long from preaching. Here is his well-known response:
“For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jeremiah 20:8-9)
