2 Timothy 4:1-2
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
Paul exhorts every believer that we need to share the gospel, because the Lord will judge us in the future. For believers, we may not need to go through the great white throne judgment, yet we will go through God's judgment for our works. In Matthew 25, the Lord tells a parable of the talents. On the one hand, the parable tells us that as long as we are faithful in offering ourselves to serve God, God's reward is the same. On the other hand, for the inattentive servant who was not faithful in the work God entrusted him, he was thrown outside with weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is not saying he was not saved, but it is saying his salvation is like someone who escapes the fire, and he was not able to get any reward from God. I think of the one day when you and I will stand before God's judgment seat to settle accounts. Therefore, we need to strive to share the gospel.
How should we share the gospel? Verse 2 says, "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season." Sharing the gospel needs to be done at every moment, non-stop, all the time because our life is a witness for the Lord. Sharing the gospel is not necessarily by the words from our mouth, more importantly, it is from our life. Can other people see in us a life that they would admire? Someone said, "Actually, there are five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, plus yourself." Other people see the other 4 books, but for the people around you, they see the 5th book - you. Whether you are prepared for it or not, whether you want it or not, God has already put you in the position to share the gospel. On the other hand, sharing the gospel is not only to be done when things are going well. In reality, when the church in China was in the midst of persecutions, the gospel was widely spread. Their testimony was like in the early church. At the time, many people in the prison do not have enough to eat, so the Christians gave their own bread to others who need it. Their testimony caused many people to be touched and to believe in the Lord.
Lastly, it is the attitude when sharing the gospel. We must do it with great patience and careful instruction. For many people you share the gospel with, one time is not enough. Sometimes, even one year, two years, three years and there's no fruit. But you must not stop caring about them. You need to faithfully continue to pray for them until God's Spirit works in them. Not only do you need to have patience, but you need to lead them with "great patience". May God give us this kind of attitude, so that we can be fishers of men.
