Unfortunately, when it comes to sharing the gospel, not everyone has ears to hear, not everyone has a willing heart. Some people have hardened hearts. They are cynical and skeptical of the foundational truths of the Bible. They do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God or that He died for our sins and rose again.

It is always a joy to share our faith with someone with a willing heart who is ready to believe and respond to the gospel, but how are we to respond to people with hardened, unwilling hearts? Some will say, “They are not chosen, they are not God’s elect.” Others will say, “Why waste your time on someone with a closed mind?” It seems many Christians write off the skeptics of the gospel as hopeless and neglect to witness to them. This should never be our attitude. Jesus commands us in today’s verse what we are to do.

Perhaps the Apostle Paul faced some of the most unwilling hearts in the world as he stood before Roman officials. Under great pressure, he did not flinch. He boldly proclaimed with convincing evidence the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and how the Lord had changed his life.

In Acts 21-25, we learn that Paul was arrested in Jerusalem on the false charges of instigating civil unrest by preaching against the Mosaic Law and defiling the temple by bringing a gentile into the inner courts. He was rescued from death at the hands of the mob and protected from assassination plots by a Roman commander named Claudius Lysias.

Why didn’t Paul just quit? Today, we have church members quit because of so many childish, immature areas. God help us! Don’t be a quitter today!