REVIEW
So today, I believe we will be concluding our series on how to be the Lord’s witnesses, and I hope that you have been stirred to see the importance of our witness to the world.

We started off talking about the power that we have to even be the Lord’s witnesses in the first place and how the Holy Spirit is that power.  We also looked at how we are called to be witnesses before we are ever called to go witnessing. Therefore, the necessity of bearing His fruit and gifts in our lives. 

We have also been learning what it means to be the Lord’s witnesses and we have seen that this is a much bigger part of our purpose here on the earth than we’ve realized. In fact, aside from personal relationship with God, the reason we are here is to bear witness of the goodness & glory of God to the rest of God’s creation.

Then we began getting into some of the practical parts of being Christ’s witnesses such as how we can break through the darkness that has blinded the lost, how our spiritual sandals are this preparedness to share the gospel, and specifically where we are called to witness …

Now I would like to conclude this series with a couple of very practical things regarding how to be a witness—specifically how to actually witness to someone and how to prepare and give our testimony. 

Let’s begin with how to be a witness …

HOW TO BE A WITNESS
I’ve found that far too many Christians are not very confident and even are downright terrified to witness about Christ to others. This should not be so, saints. Sharing the Gospel with others should be second nature to us and we should never shy away from telling others about the Lord. Yes, we should always be ready to share the good news and love others enough to give them the truth.

The apostle Paul said he was ready: In Romans 1:15, he said, “So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.” This was after saying that he was a “debtor” to both Jews and Gentiles (vs. 14). In other words, he saw it like he owed it to, first, the Lord and then to every person to share the Gospel.

Church, I believe we are “debtors” as well. So, as the apostle Paul said, “as much as is in us” we need to be “ready” to share the Gospel. Amen?

Then Paul goes on to say in verse 16— “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

Church, we have nothing to be ashamed of! For this Gospel is the power of God to salvation. There is no other way. So, if we do not share it, how can man be saved?

We have a corner on the truth, saints! So we need to be bold and confident and know that the Gospel that we are sharing is the answer, whether the world realizes it or not.

But we still need to know how to share this good news and there are some very practical things that I believe are essential to being as effective as possible. So let me quickly share with you some tips on how to witness to others …

Now these tips are not the only way to do it. As always, the most important thing is to be led by the Holy Spirit. However, these are just some good practical wise tips that generally are good methods when approaching others with the Gospel.

The first is that whether you are in the “in season” or “out of season” time, to always have your spiritual antenna up.

By “in season” times, I am referring to those times where you are actively out looking to witness to others. This would be when I am going somewhere for the purpose of witnessing to someone—that is, I’m participating in a group who is going out to share the Gospel or I personally am going to a Christian meeting looking to share the love of Christ with others.

Now the “out of season” times would describe other times where we are out and about to do something other than witness. Like maybe going to the hardware store to pick up a tool or going to a restaurant to pick up a meal. Of course, we should always be looking to witness, but that’s my point: We need to always have our antenna up, and pick up on when the Holy Spirit is targeting a specific person.

You see, the Holy Spirit knows people—and He knows when they are ripe for the pickin’. So if we would just stay in tune with the Holy Spirit, He will show us who to approach and how to approach them.

It just goes back to the old adage—just be LED. The Holy Spirit is here to lead & guide us into all truth. Those who the sons of God, are called to be led by the Spirit of God. So when it comes to witnessing, being led by the Holy Spirit is key to being effective. By having our antenna up, we will be in the right place at the right time to share with the right person.

Secondly, after the Holy Spirit identifies the person or persons we are to share with, I believe a good rule of thumb is to start out the conversation with less “in your face” topics of conversation.

Now of course, a lot of this is determined by the time & situation. Sometimes you might need to move in a little quicker because time is of the essence. But if you have the time, I think it is better to start off the conversation with something that shows the person that you really do love them and care about them.

You see, there’s nothing worse than someone who just gets right into their sell. If you show actual care and concern for someone, I believe that most people will be more apt to hear what you want to tell them.

So, if you can, start off the conversation with something like— “Hey, is there anything I can pray with you about? Is there something you would like me to ask God for you?” Or you could simply show concern by asking them “How they are doing?” and make sure to tell them that you are not just asking to ask, but you really want to know.

The possibilities are limitless, but I’ve just found that a softer more loving approach is the best way to earn entrance into sharing the truth with people. And, in fact, if we are doing this right, the real reason we want to share the Gospel with them is because we do love them and want God’s best for them.

Thirdly, I would add that we need to listen in our heart to the Holy Spirit and pay attention to the pictures He is showing you.

What I mean by this is that when you and I have approached the person, we need to be listening to them, yes, but at the same time listening in our heart for things that the Holy Spirit would give us to share with them.

I’d also add that we need to pay attention to any pictures He might show us. It’s not always going to be words we hear from Him. Sometimes, we might see things in our hearts and while we cannot always make sense of what they mean, the person we are speaking to might be able to.

Many times, I have communed with the Holy Spirit in my heart while carrying on a conversation with someone. I’ll even ask Him questions in my mind, knowing that I need specifics from Him to better help the person I have in front of me.

I’ve had the Holy Spirit give me some really good things to share with people—some stuff that I never thought of before.

As you’ve heard me say already in the series, the Holy Spirit is “witnessing made fun!” And if we would just listen to Him, He can give us creative ways to evangelize and share the Gospel with others. He will do this through the various gifts that He gives us and through wisdom that was outside of ourselves.

And next, one very important thing to do when witnessing to someone is to keep it simple. You know … that old K.I.S.S. acronym … KEEP IT SIMPLE, SAINT (No, not stupid). Yes, we need to keep the Gospel simple, saints, by not overcomplicating the message, but simply sharing the things we have seen and the things we know.

You see, the devil will try and get us over into what we don’t know—he will do this by trying to convince us that we don’t know enough to share with others and he will also stir up those we might be sharing with to try and show us what we don’t know. Don’t fall prey to that.

Simply share the truth you do know, which is Jesus, His love for us, and your own personal testimony. As we’ve learned, these simple truths are what overcomes the devil in others.

YOUR TESTIMONY
Now when it comes to sharing our testimony, I believe there are some very important things we need to know …

For one, we need to realize that every born-again believer HAS a testimony. I’ve run into a lot of Christians that don’t believe that they really have a testimony because they maybe were brought up in a Christian home and never did some of the things that others did like coming out of a lifestyle of drug & alcohol abuse or being saved out of a life filled with committing what we consider to be the “big” sins, etc. No, the fact is, we all have a testimony, and all of our stories, which are different, can be used to help people who likewise have come from different backgrounds.

For example, if you are someone who might not have had a dramatic conversion, being raised in church and receiving the Lord at an early age, you should still have an “ah-ha” moment where your eyes were opened to know something about the Lord, right? Maybe it was when you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Maybe it was when you came to realize some truth like how your religious deeds do not justify you, how much God loves you, etc. It can even be when you received some healing or miracle in your life as a Christian. There are so many things we’ve experienced in our lives that can be used to help witness to others.

So I’d encourage everyone to think about what these things are. Go back and remember the various experiences you’ve had with the Lord and the things He’s done in you and revealed to you. In fact, you’ll be amazed at how much it encourages you to recount these things. Yes, the memory of all that the Lord has done in your life will stir you up in your soul!

But my point is that we all have a testimony to share with others. We might need to recall what these evidences of Jesus are in our lives, but they are there, nonetheless. Stir up the memory of these things, saints!

Now when we look at our testimony from this much broader scope, we ought to realize that we all have multiple testimonies we can share. So I believe a good practice is to write all of them down separately—perhaps in a journal. Yes, either put them on paper or save a file of them electronically.

One of the reasons I believe it is important to write our testimonies out is because it can stir up our minds to remember things. Not only that, but it can cement the memory of those things by simply writing or typing them.

Personally, this is how I discovered that God had gifted me to write as well as speak because as I began to put truths on paper, I realized how it flowed so easily. Perhaps you have a gift within you to write that hasn’t been discovered simply because you haven’t given it a try.

But another reason it is good to write out our testimonies is because it’s just good to be prepared.

You know, some of us are ramblers and most of the world has short attention spans. So that’s not a good combination. Therefore, it’s good to have our testimonies written out in a short and concise manner—no, not so that we can read it to others, but so we have them hidden in our hearts and, therefore, are prepared to share it quickly and efficiently.

Now we have our long, detailed testimony that we might get the opportunity to share with someone if we have an hour or so to sit down with them. But these times are few and far between when it comes to evangelism. What most of us will run into when trying to win people to Christ are the shorter five to fifteen minute time frame that we have to share our testimony. Those are the ones that we need to be differently prepared for.

So let me give you some tips on how to write out these shorter versions of your testimony:

1. Short background: Always be sure to start off with a brief general background of what it was like before. If you are giving the testimony of how you got saved, then share what your life was like before you met Jesus. If your testimony is of how the Lord healed you, then share what was physically wrong with you.  Now these are just general facts; no gross details are necessary. You can include things like – I had no purpose, no joy, was feeling unloved and lonely, etc.  But the explanation of the predicament is important to explain and share the thing you experienced.
2. What happened:    This is where you would state the events and circumstances that brought about the change.  It can include the steps you took, a Bible verse that you received a rhema (revelation) of, or if something miraculous happened.
3. The after effect:    This would be a brief description of how your life has changed, what a difference the Lord has made in your life, how what you have received has filled the deep needs you had beforehand. Perhaps you could share how you’d never change or go back to the old way of life. 

So basically what you are mapping out is the before, the after, and the line in between that divided between the before and after.

Now here are some other helpful hints to writing out your testimony – whether it’s the short or long version:

1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you as you compile your testimony. He can bring things to your remembrance you never would have thought of. He can inspire your words and guide you into the truths you are to emphasize. In short, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in preparing it.
2. It’s not necessary to memorize the whole thing word for word because you don’t want to sound mechanical when sharing it, but memorizing key words and their order might be helpful so that you remain fluid in your delivery.
3. You might even consider beginning your testimony with an attention getting sentence or story.  Sometimes these “attention getters” are good tools to capturing their attention.
4. Avoid religious words, phrases, and jargon unless you are prepared to explain their meaning. Don’t assume the listener knows what you mean by terms such as sin, saved, etc.
5. Share about what happened to you, don’t preach about what should happen to them. Say “I” and “me,” not “you.” This helps keep the testimony warm and personal and less “preachy.”
6. Even though it is your story, be sure to glorify God the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit because the Lord is the most important element of your testimony. You can do this by including less personal pronouns and more divine pronouns such as HE, HIM, HIS, etc.
7. Along those same lines, be sure to not glorify the sin, devil, etc. Some people’s testimonies spend far too much time talking about how bad their life was and then only spend a fraction of time sharing the change that occurred. This should be reversed. While it’s important to share the background to set up what happened, the “what happened” is more important in regard to why we are sharing our testimony with others.
8. Always include a “call to action” after sharing your testimony.  This might be you asking someone if they would like to experience what you just described or if they would be willing to come to a church meeting with you.

CONCLUSION
So, in review, my four tips for effective witnessing are this:

1. Keep your antenna up.
2. Start with less “in your face” conversation.
3. Listen and look for the Holy Spirit’s help when talking with people.
4. Keep it simple!

​If we will simply walk in these four simple guidelines for witnessing, I believe we can be very effective in testifying of and for the Lord.

REVIEW
So, we have been learning what it means to be the Lord’s witnesses and we have seen that this is a much bigger part of our purpose here on the earth than we’ve realized. In fact, aside from personal relationship with God, the reason we are here is to bear witness of the goodness & glory of God to the rest of God’s creation.

Most recently, we’ve started talking about some practical things regarding how to be a witness, and last week we talked about where we are called to be His witnesses.

We saw in Acts 1:8 that after Jesus said that His disciples would receive power to be His witnesses that He said it would be “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

So, we saw how these places are progressive: They were to start in Jerusalem, which was the city where they were currently at. Judea and Samaria were the regions surrounding their city. And to the ends of the earth obviously included everywhere beyond the previous two.

So, we looked at what these places symbolize to us:
First of all, Jerusalem being the place where they were currently at, shows us that God calls us to bear witness of Him where we live and with those close to us. And we saw how this can speak of many things:

Geographically speaking, our “Jerusalem” could describe our neighborhood, our county, or our own city. But our “Jerusalem” can also describe certain close people in our lives like our family, friends, co-workers, etc. So, in essence, our “Jerusalem” would be those close to us and where we are at. This is where we are first called to be His witnesses.

Now we saw that our “Judea and Samaria” symbolizes the places and people outside of where we live and those closest to us.

So geographically speaking, our “Judea” might be the state we reside in. So whatever we consider our “Jerusalem” to be, our “Judea” is the much more expansive part of it—like if we look at our “Jerusalem” as our immediate family, then our “Judea” would be our more far reaching family members like our uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. If we consider our “Jerusalem” our friends who are close to us, then our “Judea” would be those who are just outside of our inner circle of friends.

But we saw how our “Samaria” is different than our “Judea” in more ways than one because while our “Judea” are people who like us, our “Samaria” is not most people’s preferred place of evangelism.

Our “Samaria” is obvious: Geographically, it would be the places that are outside of our comfort zone. Like, for instance, to the southerner who was born & raised in Georgia, “Samaria” might be the northerner that talks a little differently and culturally, might be a little out of their comfort zone. But symbolically, the “Samaritan” might simply be the person who is different than you religiously, culturally, racially, sexually … the list can go on and on.

The bottom line is, Jesus was telling His disciples that they are not just called to be witnesses to those who are like them both physically and spiritually, but to those they don’t necessarily like, those who are different than them, etc.

Church, this is the Lord’s heart—that we possess His perfect love that goes beyond just loving our friends & family to loving the stranger & our enemies.  

And, last but not least, being witnesses in all of the earth doesn’t necessarily mean that we are all called to be world travelers. No, in this world we live in today, we are just one click of a button away from communicating with people all around the world.

So I see this as another way that we can be witnesses! We can utilize the technology that we’ve been blessed with today to share the Word with people! We can use email, social media platforms, YouTube, etc. to spread the Gospel and share what God has done in our lives!

We then looked at Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan and saw an excellent picture of how we are to love & witness to people! In this parable, Jesus perfectly illustrated how to love our neighbor as ourselves by what He did for us. And church, this is how we need to view & treat those first in our “Jerusalem,” then in our “Judea and Samaria,” and also everyone all around the world.

Jesus has said, “Go therefore!” Go into your Jerusalem! Go into your Judea and Samaria! Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and be His witness! Amen!

THE GOSPEL SANDALS
Now this week, I would like us to go over to Ephesians chapter 6 and take a look at a piece of our spiritual armor that echoes our call to be witnesses.

Now this chapter is basically devoted to the subject of spiritual warfare, and in it, the apostle Paul describes six pieces of armor that make up the whole armor of God. Well, one of these described by Paul are the shoes/sandals of the soldier—and that’s what I would like to talk to you about this week—the sandals of the soldier.
​
Let’s look at Ephesians 6:15 … In it, Paul said, “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
 
First of all, what is important to understand about this piece of the armor of God is that it is not just the sandals of peace, but it’s the preparation of the gospel of peace. This is important because the terminology makes a big difference in understanding what these sandals are.
 
You see, most people have taught how these are the shoes of peace and, therefore, the peace of God is one of our weapons. And while I certainly believe that peace is a virtue that we ought to use in combatting fear, worry, anxiety, etc., I don’t believe that this is the peace Paul was talking about here. No, the peace Paul is speaking of here is “the gospel of peace,” which is obviously talking about the good news we are called to share with the lost.
 
So, what is this gospel of peace? Well, we know that the word “gospel” means “good news,” right? Which is a very important point of what it is that we are sharing with those we witness to.
 
You see, the gospel is not that God hates sin, people are going to hell, and that there is a judgment to come. No, the gospel is the good news in light of these issues of sin, hell, and judgment. In other words, the sharing of the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ—everything from His death, burial, and resurrection and all that these events provided for mankind. That’s the gospel!  
 
But Paul tells us specifically what he considered to be the gospel that we are plundering the kingdom of darkness with – It’s the good news of “peace.” So, what is this good news of peace? Well, I believe that Second Corinthians 5:18-21 best describes what the gospel of peace is …
 
Verse 18 starts off by stating that we have now been reconciled to God and now God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Verse 19 states that this word of reconciliation that we have been given the responsibility to share with others is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. 
 
So, we can see from this passage of Scripture that this “gospel of peace” is referring to the good news that we can have peace with God. In other words, it is the good news of reconciliation—that is, that God is not mad at mankind but wishes to impart His righteousness to them and is not imputing their trespasses to them. 
 
If you recall, this gospel of peace was what was proclaimed at Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:14 when the angels appeared to the shepherds singing, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” What were they declaring? It was that with the birth of the Messiah, God has sent the Way for peace between He and mankind! Glory to God in the highest indeed!
 
Therefore, when our sandals are shod with this gospel of peace, we are to be proclaiming the good news that there is a merciful, loving God who is willing to reconcile them to Himself just like the angels were. This is the good news of peace, and this is what our walk should consist of—sharing the gospel of reconciliation!
 
HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET
 
But what do our feet have to do with the gospel of peace? The Scriptures give us the answer to this question…
 
In both Isaiah 52:7 & Romans 10:15 the Bible tells us “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation.” Wow! We can see here a direct connection between our feet and preaching the good news of peace. Notice the phrases, “good news,” “peace,” and “glad tidings of good things” in connection with the feet of those who bring the message of salvation.
 
Therefore, it seems very obvious that Paul’s intent of identifying our shoes with the gospel of peace is to describe how our walk is meant to be a walk encompassed in bringing the good news of reconciliation to a lost and dying world. This is our complete mission on this earth—to bring others into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 
 
In fact, the words “bring glad tidings” come from the Greek word that is transliterated “evangelism.” Did you know that this word “evangelism” literally describes a good message, a good report, and good news? So I submit to you if there is no good news being proclaimed, then there is no evangelism going on.
 
You see, we weren’t given shoes so that we can survive. We were given shoes to bring others unto salvation. This is a major misconception about spiritual warfare. Many only identify our armor with what we need to bring ourselves victory, but our armor is meant primarily to accomplish the great commission. In other words, our armor is meant to propagate the gospel of the kingdom and not to merely experience God’s kingdom in our own little sphere of life.
 
Now, according to these Scriptures, proclaiming these things makes our feet beautiful. We need to make sure our feet are “beautiful” and not “unattractive” by preaching condemnation and judgment.
 
Now I am not saying that there is not a time to preach “fire and brimstone” messages, but the most consistently effective witness is to tell people God loves them and wants to give them a life full of fulfillment and purpose. The apostle Paul said that it is the goodness of God that leads people to repentance. Unbelievers already have an inward intuition of an impending judgment (Romans 1:18-19).
 
Therefore, primarily preaching what the ungodly already know in their hearts does not offer the hope that they are looking for. In other words, they don’t need to hear more of what the problem is (i.e. sin & death, hell & judgment); they need to hear more of what the solution is to the problem. Yes, what they need to hear, and what is “attractive” to them, is the “good news” not the “bad news.” It is in this gospel of peace that righteousness is revealed (Romans 1:16-17).
 
Now again the sandals of a soldier are what he or she walks in, right? So regarding our spiritual armor, the sandals of the gospel of peace represent what our walk (or, lifestyle) should consist of. In other words, our life and conduct should be tied up with the sandals that are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
 
So this reiterates what we’ve already been learning about our witness: this is not just something that we do occasionally when there is initiative put forth to go witnessing. No, this is what our Christian “walk” is all about—being witnesses. Therefore, it’s not just something we do from time to time; it is who we are all the time.
 
So, what are these shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace? They represent a walk that consists of witnessing to others and sharing the good news- the gospel of peace!
 
So now that we have seen what the shoes of our armor represent, let’s look at what Paul specifically said regarding them and how they are to be walked in …
 
HAVING SHOD YOUR FEET
 
He begins by saying that we are to have “shod” our feet with this preparation of the gospel of peace…
 
The word “shod” comes from the Greek word hupodeomos which comes from the words hupo (meaning “under”) and deo (meaning “to bind”). Therefore, this word means to bind something very tightly under one’s feet. Of course, the shoes of the Roman soldier of those days looked more like sandals than what we think of nowadays when we think of shoes. Thus, the reason Paul describes to bind up tightly underfoot.
 
You see, our walk must be “wrapped up” in the preparation of the gospel of peace… All of us are well aware of what can happen if we have the laces of our shoes untied: We could trip up over them and also our shoes will not be as securely on our feet. Therefore, Paul uses this as an illustration to show us how, if the shoes of our armor are not securely fastened, we can lose our footing or stumble. What this means is that having our spiritual sandals tightly laced up is an important part to not stumbling around in our Christian walk.
 
If we were to have on all the armor of God except the shoes of the gospel of peace, how would that leave us susceptible to being defeated? It is because if we do not have our walks with a focus on reaching the lost then the enemy can and will confuse our purpose, destiny, and life. Without a lifestyle that is primarily focused on winning souls and sharing the good news with unbelievers, we will lose our sense of purpose and will “stumble” around. Church, that’s how one becomes “De feeted.” The high calling of every born-again believer is to be Christ’s witnesses and without a commitment to that calling, we are open to being confused and deceived by the enemy.
 
Oh, how many times have I heard Christians say, “I wish I knew what God has called me to do. I want to know His purpose for me.” Well, while I know what they are referring to (i.e. they want to know what their place is in the kingdom of God and what their specific calling is), I believe their “stumbling around” in finding their purpose is primarily because they have not “shod their feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” In other words, these people are trying to find their “ministry” but have missed the fact that their ministry is, first and foremost, “the ministry of reconciliation.” Therefore, if their walk in not “tied up in” sharing the good news with those they come in contact with, their walk will tend towards confusion and be void of purpose.
 
BE READY!
 
So, let me ask this question: what are we tying up our shoes of the gospel of peace with? Paul said that “having shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace!
 
The word “preparation” comes from the Greek word etoimasin which means “readiness or preparation.” So what Paul is saying is that the act of having our spiritual shoes shod with the gospel of peace is us being prepared or ready to share the gospel of peace throughout our Christian walk.
 
There are a couple of Scriptures that further describe this preparedness of sharing the good news … 
One is found in Second Timothy 4:2 which says, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” 
 
In this passage of Scripture, the word “preach” used here was from the Greek word that describes an imperial herald. The herald would go into the king’s throne room, receive the message from the king, and then go out on the balcony and deliver the message to the people. 
 
This is what we must do! We must spend time in the presence of the King of kings so that we can be full of the message to declare it to the people.
 
But this is one of the reasons so many “preachers/proclaimers” do not have beautiful feet. It is because they have never truly come to know their God. They have never spent time with Him to let Him teach them His true nature of love, goodness and peace. Therefore, they can only draw from the well that they have personally drank of.
 
Saints, we need to get into the presence of the King of kings and let Him teach us this “ministry of reconciliation.” Then, once we have received it for ourselves, we are able to proclaim it to others!
 
Then Paul says in Second Timothy 4:2, “Be ready…” Be ready to what?  Be ready to preach the Word!  The word “ready” was a Greek military term which meant “to stay at your post and not leave it.” We must always stay ready to share the gospel with people—that is, having our feet tied up tightly with the message of peace. 
 
He then says to “be ready in season and out of season.” This means we are to stay ready in the good times and we are to stay ready in the bad times.
 
What are the good times? An example of an “in-season” moment would be at church and someone comes to the altar to be prayed for. This would be an in-season moment because, hopefully, we would be prepared to minister to this person. Another example would be when we are specifically going to witness as a group somewhere. These are the “in season” times—the times when we are focused on being a witness and are in the position to witness. 
 
So, what are the “out of season” times? These would be the times where maybe it is inconvenient or is unplanned. For example, if we are in our  work place and a co-worker begins to open-up to you about their need for God. This is most certainly not a time or place where we are planning on sharing Christ with someone, but when these “out of season” opportunities present themselves, we must take advantage. Other examples of the “out of season” opportunities to share the good news may be when we are shopping at the grocery store, when we are at a sporting event, or when we are eating at a restaurant with family and friends. These are the “out of season” times—the times that we are not focused on and specifically prepared to witness. But it is during situations like this that God might lead us to tell someone about Jesus and we have to be ready to do so. 
 
Paul then said there are times we are to try and “convince” people of the truth, not argue with them.  There are times to “rebuke” people by calling them out on their sins.  There are times to “exhort” and encourage people in the Lord. We are to “convince, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering,” that is not getting quickly frustrated if they do not immediately say the “sinner’s prayer” with you, but bearing with them and giving the Holy Spirit time to work.  Sometimes it is just to be seed planting times. And, last but not least, Paul says we are to be this witness “with teaching”—that is, being able to explain and instruct in what the Scriptures say about Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection.
 
The other passage of Scripture that I want us to look at is First Peter 3:15… It says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”
 
Notice that Peter, first of all, said, “Set the Lord God apart (i.e. sanctify) in your hearts.” This literally means, “Make sure God has His own place of prominence in your hearts.” Why? Because whatever or whoever has that set apart place in your heart is what is going to be talked about the most, thought about the most, and lived for the most. 
 
Then Peter went on to say…”and always be ready …” Again, God tells us to be “ready” to be a witness. That is why Peter first said to sanctify the Lord God (the Greek literally has “Christ as Lord”) in our hearts because we will be even more ready to talk about who we have in our hearts the most. 
 
Ways we can be and stay ready are to be mindful of our surroundings and seeing the places we go as harvest fields. Also, we can be ready by being well grounded in what we believe so that we can be more convincing through our understanding and our confidence. 
 
Peter concluded this verse by saying (always be ready) “to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” “Giving a defense to everyone who asks” shows us that sharing the Gospel is not just going to happen because we approach people, sometimes it will happen when people approach us! So, we must be ready for that reason as well.
 
“The hope” that they will question us about is our lifestyles that reflect our belief in the resurrection, the second coming of Jesus, heaven, no fear of death, etc. Hope is one of our greatest tools to attract people to the Lord because they are without hope (Eph. 2:12).
 
Just like Paul did in Second Timothy 4:2, Peter tells us how we are to witness (or, in what spirit) when he says, “with meekness and fear.” “Meekness” describes being gentle and considerate. This would mean that we are not the only one who gets a word in, not being overly opinionative, and being considerate of their feelings. “Fear” literally means to be respectful or reverential. This would describe respecting their views and being careful not to offend them or drive them away because you place great value on them. A good example is how we witness to our loved ones. We are very careful with them. Why? Because we are afraid of driving them further away. This is the same attitude of meekness and fear that we are to witness to others in.
 
So, from these two passages of Scripture we should be able to see the importance that the apostles placed on being ready to share the gospel of peace.
 
IN CONCLUSION
 
So, in conclusion, I can promise you that if you do not have your walk prepared to share the good news, you will be susceptible to the enemy’s deception. If you do not stay on ready to fulfill the great commission, you will stumble and fall into one of the devil’s most deceptive devices—apathy.
 
Stay ready! Be prepared! Keep your shoes on, always being ready to move forward and take ground for the kingdom of God! There is no greater fulfillment; there is no greater sense of purpose than when we seek first the kingdom of God by sharing the gospel of reconciliation!