If you have a desire to witness to the masses for the glory of God, there are a couple of items you must possess, a thick skin, a heart for them, and a clear understanding of the Word of God.
It is the Holy Spirit that can bless you with two of these, and part of the third one, but without sitting down for lengthy periods of time with the Word of God, praying for Spiritual discernment, you will achieve few of your desired goals in this area.
Street preachers and those of us who spend long hours attempting to reach the lost over the internet air waves are well aware of this, not so much the pastor of a church with a physical location, those that walk through those doors want to be there, at least most of them. These men of God get to know those in their congregation, some over a long period of time and many of them quite personally. Not so for those that have been sent out into the world, at the most you will have a few minutes with those you are speaking with, or perhaps only a few sentences typed into the keyboard, each moment must be left up to the Lord, and each word must be direct and to the point.
Within a matter of moments, you must be able to “read the crowd,” pick-up on who that person is, what they believe, what they want, and what you know they need. “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.” (James 5:12) This is imperative at those times, you must know in all assurance that this is what the Lord wants you to do, and you will know, for it will not only be a joy to you, but a burden, one that you will look forward to carrying.
1 Corinthians 9:16 becomes a reality to you, “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!”
In this search for the lost you will come across many wicked people, and thus the need for that “thick skin” we spoke of earlier, you cannot let them get to you, get under your skin. That does not mean that you do not have a heart for them, they are after all who you are searching for, but if you cannot lay them aside when it is time to, you will find yourself in Proverbs 14:7, “Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.”
Here is where you must understand the Scriptures, for they alone can answer clearly to anything that anyone may place before you, now, whether or not they accept the truths of whatever conversational topic of the Word of God that you find yourself in with them is another matter altogether, that is not up to you, you are a messenger, tasked with giving the message of the grace of God through salvation in Jesus Christ. And here is where 1 Corinthians 13:2 comes into play, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”
The Word of God can move mountains, it can change a heart of stone into one of flesh, if those you are speaking to are difficult to love, that matters little, Christ loves them, He died for them, and His Word is quite clear, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
We are to love our enemies, (Matt. 5:44) and if they have denied the Most Holy One then they are our enemies.
The love that we show to them is shown by our words to them, more specifically, the Words of God, the Scriptures. The street preacher, the internet preacher, the man that goes out into the masses of humanity for the glory of God each day knows full well that those he is going to meet that day he will likely never come upon again, and so his words must be concise, direct, and to the point, there may be no second chance. Glorify God, exalt His name above the heavens, encourage the brethren, and with the Words of God allow the Holy Spirit to do His work, by convicting them either of His Sovereignty, or their sinful pride. You are a messenger, go and give the message.
