Understanding how to witness part 1

[revmalone]

What Are the 10 Commandments for?

The Bible says in Psalm 19, verse 7, “The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.” What is it that the
Bible says is perfect and actually converts the soul? Why scripture makes it very clear: “The law of the Lord is
perfect converting the soul.”

Now to illustrate the function of God’s law, let’s just look for a moment at civil law.
Imagine if I said to you, “I’ve got some good news for you: someone has just paid a $25,000 speeding fine on your
behalf.” You’d probably react by saying, “What are you talking about? That’s not good news: it doesn’t make sense.
I don’t have a $25,000 speeding fine.” My good news wouldn’t be good news to you: it would seem foolishness. But
more than that, it would be offensive to you, because I’m insinuating you’ve broken the law when you don’t think
you have.

However, if I put it this way, it may make more sense: “On the way to the meeting, the law clocked you at
going 55 miles an hour through an area set aside for a blind children’s convention. There were ten clear warning
signs stating that fifteen miles an hour was the maximum speed, but you went straight through at 55 miles an hour.
What you did was extremely dangerous; there’s a $25,000 fine. The law was about to take its course, when
someone you don’t even know stepped in and paid the fine for you. You are very fortunate.”

Can you see that telling you precisely what you’ve done wrong first actually makes the good news make
sense. If I don’t clearly bring instruction and understanding that you’ve violated the law, then the good news will
seem foolishness; it will seem offensive.

But once you understand that you’ve broken the law, then that good news
will become good news indeed.

Now in the same way, if I approach an impenitent sinner and say, “Jesus Christ died on the cross for your
sins,” it will be foolishness and offensive to him. Foolishness because it won’t make sense.

The Bible says that:“The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness” (1Cor. 1:18). And offensive because I’m insinuating he’s a sinner when he doesn’t think he is. As far as he’s concerned, there are a lot of people far worse than him.

But if I take the time to open up the divine law, the ten commandments, and show the sinner precisely what he’s done wrong, that he has offended God by violating His law, then when he becomes, as James says, “convinced of the law as a transgressor” (Jam. 2:9), the good news of his fine being paid for will not be foolishness, it will not be offensive, it will be “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16).

 

[revmalone]

Understanding how to witness pt 2




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Why use the law? What does it do?

Romans 3, verse 19. is the functions of God’s law for humanity. "Now we know that whatsoever

things the law says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may

become guilty before God."

So one function of God’s law is to stop the mouth. To stop sinners justifying themselves

and saying, "There’s plenty of people worse than me. I’m not a bad person. Really." No, the law stops the mouth of

justification and leaves the whole world, not just the Jews, but the whole world guilty before God.

Romans 3, verse 20: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by

the law is the knowledge of sin." So God’s law tells us what sin is. 1 John 3:4 says, "Sin is transgression of the law."

Romans 7, verse 7: "What shall we say then?" says Paul. "Is the law sin? God forbid! No, I had not known sin [font=Arial,Italic]but

by the la[/font]w."

Paul says, "I didn’t know what sin was until the law told me." In Galatians 3:24, "Wherefore, the law was

our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith."

God’s law acts as a schoolmaster to bring us to Jesus Christ that we might be justified through faith in His blood. The law doesn’t help us; it just leaves us helpless. It doesn’t justify us; it just leaves us guilty before the judgment bar of a Holy God.

And the tragedy of modern evangelism is because around the turn of the century when it forsook the law in

its capacity to convert the soul, to drive sinners to Christ, modern evangelism had to, therefore, find another reason

for sinners to respond to the gospel. And the issue that modern evangelism chose to attract sinners was the issue

of "life enhancement". The gospel degenerated into "Jesus Christ will give you peace, joy, love, fulfillment, and

lasting happiness."

Now to illustrate the unscriptural nature of this very popular teaching, I’d like you to listen very

carefully to this following anecdote, because the essence of what I’m saying pivots on this particular illustration; so

please listen carefully.

(The Story)

Two men are seated in a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put is on as it would improve his

flight. He’s a little skeptical at first because he can’t see how wearing a parachute in a plane could possibly improve

the flight.

After a time he decides to experiment and see if the claim is true. As he puts it on he notices the weight of

it upon his shoulders and he finds that he has difficulty in sitting upright. However, he consoles himself with the fact

that he was told the parachute would improve the flight. So, he decides to give the thing a little time.

As he waits he notices that some of the other passengers are laughing at him, because he’s wearing a parachute in a plane. He begins to feel somewhat humiliated. As they begin to point and laugh at him and he can stand it no longer, he slinks in his seat, unstraps the parachute, and throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because, as far as he was concerned, he was told an outright lie.

The second man is given a parachute, but listen to what he’s told. He’s told to put it on because at any

moment he’d be jumping [font=Arial,Italic]25,000 feet [/font]out of the plane. He gratefully puts the parachute on; he doesn’t notice the

weight of it upon his shoulders, nor that he can’t sit upright. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would

happen to him if he jumped without that parachute.

Let’s analyze the motive and the result of each passenger’s experience. The first man’s motive for putting

the parachute on was solely to improve his flight. The result of his experience was that he was humiliated by the

passengers; he was disillusioned and somewhat embittered against those who gave him the parachute. As far as

he’s concerned it’ll be a long time before anyone gets one of those things on his back again. The second man put

the parachute on solely to escape the jump to come, and because of his knowledge of what would happen to him

without it, he has a deep-rooted joy and peace in his heart knowing that he’s saved from sure death. This

knowledge gives him the ability to withstand the mockery of the other passengers. His attitude towards those who

gave him the parachute is one of heart-felt gratitude.

Now listen to what the modern gospel says. It says, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He’ll give you love, joy,

peace, fulfillment, and lasting happiness." In other words, "Jesus will improve your flight." So the sinner responds,

and [font=Arial,Italic]in an experimental fashio[/font]n, puts on the Savior to see if the claims are true. And what does he get?

The promised temptation, tribulation, and persecution. The other passengers mock him. So what does he do? He takes

off the Lord Jesus Christ, he’s offended for the word’s sake (Mark 4:17), he’s disillusioned and somewhat

embittered, and quite rightly so. He was promised peace, joy, love, fulfillment, and lasting happiness, and all he got

were trials and humiliation. His bitterness is directed toward those who gave him the so-called "good news". His

latter end becomes worse than the first: another inoculated and bitter backslider.

Brothers, instead of preaching that Jesus improves the flight, we should be warning the passengers they’re

going have to jump out of the plane. That it’s "appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb.

9:27). And when a sinner understands the horrific consequences of breaking God’s law, then he will flee to the

Savior solely to escape the wrath that’s to come. And if we’re true and faithful witnesses, that’s what we’ll be

preaching. That there is wrath to come; that God "commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).

Why? acts 17:31

"Because He has appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness" You see, the issue

isn’t one of happiness, but one of righteousness. It doesn’t matter how happy a sinner is, how much he’s enjoying

"the pleasures of sin for a season" (Heb. 11:25). Without the righteousness of Christ, he’ll perish on the day of

wrath. "Riches profit not on the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death" (Prov. 11:4). Peace and joy are

legitimate fruits of salvation, but it’s not legitimate to use these fruits as a draw card for salvation. If we continue to

do so, sinners will respond with an impure motive lacking repentance.

go to pt 3 now

 

[revmalone]

Understanding the 10 commandments pt 3​

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Now, can you remember why the second passenger had joy and peace in his heart? It was because he

knew that parachute was going to save him from sure death. And as a believer, I have, as Paul says, "joy and

peace in believing" (Rom. 15:13), because I know that the righteousness of Christ is going to deliver me from the

wrath that’s to come.

Now with that thought in mind, let’s take a close look at dirrerent incident on board the plane. We have a brand

new stewardess. She’s carrying a tray of boiling hot coffee. It’s her first day; she wants to leave an impression on

the passengers, and she certainly does. Because as she’s walking down the aisle, she trips over someone’s foot

and slops that boiling hot coffee all over the lap of our [font=Arial,Italic]second [/font]passenger. Now what’s his reaction as that boiling

liquid hits his tender flesh? Does he go, "Ssssfffff! Man that hurt"? Mmm-hhh. He feels the pain. But then does he

rip the parachute from his shoulders, throw it to the floor and say, [font=Arial,Italic]"The stupid parachute[/font]!"? No. Why should he? He

didn’t put the parachute on for a better flight. He put it on to save him from the jump to come. If anything, the hot

coffee incident causes him to cling tighter to the parachute and even look forward to the jump.

Now if you and I have put on the Lord Jesus Christ for the right motive, to flee from the wrath that’s to

come, when tribulation strikes, when the flight gets bumpy, we won’t get angry at God; we won’t lose our joy and

peace. Why should we? We didn’t come to Jesus for a happy lifestyle: we came to flee from the wrath that’s to

come. And if anything, tribulation drives the true believer closer to the Savior. And sadly we have literally multitudes

of professing Christians who lose their joy and peace when the flight gets bumpy. Why? They came lacking repentance, without which you can’t be saved.

Remember Romans 7, verse 7? Paul said, "I had not

known sin but by the law." How can a man repent if he doesn’t know what sin is? Any so-called "repentance" would

be merely what I call "horizontal repentance". He’s coming because he’s lied to men, he’s stolen from men. But

when David sinned with Bathsheba and broke all ten of the ten commandments (when he coveted his neighbor’s

wife, lived a lie, stole his neighbor’s wife, committed adultery, committed murder, dishonored his parents, and thus

dishonored God), he didn’t say "I’ve sinned against man." He said, "Against you, and you only, have I sinned, and

done this evil in your sight" (Ps. 51:4).

When Joseph was tempted sexually, he said, "How can I do this thing and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:9). The prodigal son said, "I’ve sinned against heaven" (Luke 15:21). Paul preached "repentance toward God" (Acts 20:21). And the Bible says, "Godly sorrow works repentance" (2Cor. 7:10). And when a man doesn’t understand that his sin is primarily vertical, or against God only he’ll merely come and exercise superficial, experimental, and horizontal repentance, repenting to you but then later fall away when tribulation, temptation, and persecution come.

A.B. Earl was a famous evangelist of the last century who had 150,000 converts to substantiate his claims.

Satan doesn’t want you to get a grip of this, so listen very closely.

A.B. Earl said, "I have found by long experience [that’s the true test] that the severest threatenings of the

law of God have a prominent place in leading men to Christ. They must see themselves lost before they will cry for

mercy; they’ll not escape danger until they see it."

You see, you try and save a man from drowning when the man doesn’t believe he’s drowning, he’ll not be

too happy with you. You see him swimming out in the lake; you think, "I think he’s drowning. Yes, I believe he is."

You dive in, pull him to the shore, without telling him anything. He’s not going to be very happy with you. He won’t

want to get saved until he sees that he’s in danger. They’ll not escape danger until they see it.

go to pt 4 now

 

[revmalone]

Understanding the 10 commandments​

pt 4​

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Suppose You came to me hold a tube and said,

"This is a cure to Groaninzin’s disease; I sold my house to raise the money to get this cure. I’m giving it to you as a free gift." I’d probably react something like this: "What? Cure to what? Groaninzin’s disease? You sold your house to raise the money to get this cure? You’re giving it to me as a free gift? Why, thanks a lot. Bye.…

That guy’s a nut." I mean, that’s probably how I’d react if you sold your house to raise the money to get a cure for a disease I’d never heard of and your giving it to me as free gift, I’d think you’re rather strange.

But instead, if you came to me and said,you’ve got Groaninzin’s disease. I can see ten clear

symptoms on your flesh. You’re going to be dead in two weeks." And I became convinced I had the disease (the

symptoms were so evident), and said, "Oh! What shall I do?" And then you said, "Don’t worry. This is a cure to

Groaninzin’s disease. I sold my house to raise the money to get this cure. I’m giving it to you as a free gift." I’m not

going to despise your sacrifice; I’m going to appreciate it and I’m going to appropriate it. Why? Because I’ve seen

the disease that I might appreciate the cure.

we have preached the cure without first convincing of the disease. We have preached a gospel of grace without first convincing men of the law, that they’re transgressors; and, consequently, almost everyone you witness to around

the Bible belt has been born-again six or seven times.

You say, "You need to give your life to Jesus Christ." "Uh, I did that when I was seven, eleven, seventeen, twenty-three, twenty-five, twenty-eight, thirty-two…" You know the guy’s not a Christian. He’s a fornicator. He’s a blasphemer, but he thinks he’s saved because he’s been "born-again".

What’s happening? He’s using the grace of our God for an occasion of the flesh. He doesn’t esteem the

sacrifice. For him it’s not a bad thing to trample the blood of Christ underfoot (Heb. 10:29). Why? Because he’s

never been convinced of the disease that he might appreciate the cure.

Biblical evangelism is always, without exception, law to the proud and grace to the humble. Never will you

see Jesus giving the gospel, the good news, the cross, the grace of our God, to a proud, arrogant, self-righteous

person. No, no. With the law he breaks the hard heart and with the gospel he heals the broken heart. Why?

Because He always did those things that please the Father. God [font=Arial,Italic]resists the proud [/font]and gives grace to the humble

(Jam. 4:6; 1Pet. 5:5). "Everyone who is proud of heart," scripture says, "is an abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 16:5).

Jesus told us whom the gospel is for. He said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed

me to preach the gospel to the poor, the broken-hearted, the captives and the blind" (Luke 4:18).

Now, they are spiritual statements. The poor in spirit (Mat. 5:3). The broken hearted are the contrite ones (Is. 57:15). The captives are those of whom Satan has taken captive to do his will (2Tim. 2:26); and the blind are those of whom the god of this world has blinded lest the light of the gospel should shine on them (2Cor. 4:4). Only the sick need a physician (Mark 2:17), and only those who are convinced of the disease will appreciate and appropriate a cure.

So we’re going to now very briefly look at examples of law to the proud and grace to the humble. Luke

10:24…Luke 10:24.

go to pt 5 now

 

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Understanding 10 commandments pt 5


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In Luke 10:25 we see a certain lawyer stood up and tempted Jesus. This is not an attorney, but a

professing expert on God’s law. He stood up and he said to Jesus, "How can I get everlasting life?" Now, what did

Jesus do? He gave him law. Why? Because he was proud, arrogant, self-righteous. Here we have a professing

expert on God’s law tempting the Son of God. And the spirit of his question was, "And what do you think we’ve got

to do to get everlasting life?" So Jesus gave him law. He said, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of

it?" He says, "Ah, you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; love your

neighbor as yourself." And Jesus said, "This do and you shall live."

And then the Scripture says, "But He, [font=Arial,Italic]willing to justify Himsel[/font]f, said to Jesus, ‘Who’s my neighbor?’ " The [font=Arial,Italic]Living Bible [/font]brings out more clearly the effect of the law on the man. It said, "The man wanted to justify his lack of love for some kinds of people; so he asked, ‘Which neighbors?’ " See, he didn’t mind Jews, but he didn’t like Samaritans. So Jesus then told him the story of what we call the "good Samaritan" who was not "good" at all. In loving his neighbor as much as he loved himself, he merely obeyed the basic requirements of God’s law.

And the effect of the essence of the law, the spirituality of the law (of what the law demands in truth), was that that man’s mouth was stopped. See, he didn’t love his neighbor to thatdegree. The law was given to stop every mouth and leave the whole world guilty before God.

Similarly, in Luke 18, verse 18, the rich, young ruler came to Jesus. He said, "How can I get everlasting

life?" I mean, how would most of us react if someone came up and said, "How can I get everlasting life?" We’d say,

"Oh…quickly say this prayer before you change your mind." But what did Jesus do with His potential convert? He

pointed Him to the law. He gave him five horizontal commandments, commandments to do with his fellow men. And

when he said, "Ah, I’ve kept those from my youth," Jesus said, "One thing you lack." And he used the essence of

the first of the ten commandments: "I am the Lord your God…You shall have no other Gods before me" (Ex. 20:2-

3). He showed this man that His god was His money, and "you cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt. 6:24). Law to

the proud.

Then we see grace being given to the humble in the case of Nicodemus (John 3). Nicodemus was a leader

of the Jews. He was a teacher in Israel. Therefore, he was thoroughly versed in God’s law. He was humble of

heart, because he came to Jesus and acknowledged the Deity of the Son of God. A leader in Israel? "We know that

you’ve come from God for no man can do these miracles that you do unless God is with Him." So Jesus gave the

sincere seeker of truth, who had a humble heart and a knowledge of sin by the law, the good news of the fine being

paid for and "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son." And it was not foolishness to

Nicodemus but the "power of God to salvation."

Similarly, in the case of Nathaniel (John 1:43-51). Nathaniel was an Israelite brought up under the law in

deed, not just in word, in whom there was no guile; there was no deceit in his heart. Obviously the law was a

schoolmaster to bring this godly Jew to Christ.

Similarly with the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). They were devout Jews, godly Jews, who,

therefore, ate, drank, and slept God’s law. Matthew Henry, the Bible commentator, said the reason they were

gathered together on the day of Pentecost was to celebrate the giving of God’s law on Mt. Sinai. So when Peter

stood up to preach to these godly Jews, he didn’t preach wrath. No, the law works wrath; they knew that. He didn’t

preach righteousness or judgment. No, no. He just told them the good news of the fine being paid for, and they

were pricked in their hearts and cried, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (vs. 37). The law was a schoolmaster

to bring them to Christ that they might be justified through faith in His blood.

Go to pt 6 now

 

[revmalone]

Understanding the 10 commandment​

pt 6​

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1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 8, says, "But we know that the law is good if it used lawfully for the purpose for

which it was designed." God’s law is good if it’s used lawfully for the purpose for which it was designed. Well, what

was the law "designed" for? The following verse tells us: "The law was not made for a righteous man [font=Arial,Italic]but for

sinner[/font]s."

It even lists the sinners: homosexuals, fornicators. If you want to bring a homosexual to Christ, don’t get

into an argument with him over there sin; he’s ready for you with his boxing gloves on. No, no. Give him the

ten commandments. The law was made for homosexuals. Show him that he is damned despite his perversion.

If you want to bring a Jew to Christ, lay the weight of the law upon him; let it prepare his heart for grace as

happened on the day of Pentecost. If you want to bring a Moslem to Christ, give him the law of Moses; they accept

Moses as a prophet. Well, give them the law of Moses and strip them of their self-righteousness and bring them to

the foot of a blood-stained cross.

Think of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-11). Violation of the seventh commandment.

The law called for her blood (Lev. 20:10). She found herself in between a rock and a hard place. She had no

avenue but to fling herself at the feet of the Son of God for mercy; and that is the function of God’s law.

Paul spoke of being shut up under the law (Gal. 3:23). It condemns. You say, "You can’t condemn sinners."

Brothers, they’re already condemned. John 3, verse 18: "He that believes not is condemned already." All the law does

is show him himself in his true state.

You might recognize this. Your table needs dusting in your living room. So you dust it clean; all the

dust is gone. Then you draw back the curtains and let in the early morning sunlight. What do you see on the table?

Dust. What do you see in the air? Dust. Did the light create the dust? No, the light merely exposed the dust. And

when you and I take the time to draw back the curtains of the holy of holies and let the light of God’s law shine upon

the sinner’s heart, all that happens, is that he sees himself in truth. "The commandment is a lamp and the law is

light" (Prov. 6:23). That’s why Paul said, "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). That’s why he said, "By

the commandment sin became exceedingly sinful" (Rom. 7:13). In other words, the law showed him sin in its true

light.

Never, ever, would I approach someone

and say, "Jesus loves you." Totally unbiblical; there’s no precedent for that in Scripture. Neither would I go up to

someone and say, "I’d like to talk to you about Jesus Christ." Why? Because if I wanted to awaken you from a deep

sleep, I wouldn’t use a flashlight in your eyes. That will offend you. I’d turn on the light dimmer very gently. First, the

natural, then the spiritual. Why? Because "the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God; neither can

he know them. They are foolishness to him because they are spiritually understood" (1Cor. 2:14).

The precedent in Scripture is given in John 4 for personal witness. You can see Jesus’ example with the

woman at the well. He started in the natural realm, swung to the spiritual, brought conviction using the seventh

commandment, and then revealed Himself as the Messiah. So, when I meet someone, I’ll talk about the weather, I’ll

talk about sport: let them feel a little bit of sanity. Get to know them; maybe joke here and there and then

deliberately swing from the natural to the spiritual. Now, the way I do this is that I use gospel tracts.

I say, "Ah, do you think you’ve kept the ten commandments?" He says, "Ah, yeah…pretty much." I

say, "Let’s go through them. Ever told a lie?" He says, "Ah, yeah…yeah, one or two." I say, "What does that make

you?" He says, "A sinner." I say, "No, no. [font=Arial,Italic]Specificall[/font]y, what does it make you?" He says, "Well, man, I’m not a liar."

I say, "How many lies, then, do you have to tell to be a liar? Ten and a bell rings and ‘ppppbbbbtttt’ across your

forehead? Isn’t it true if you tell one lie, it makes you a liar?" He says, "Yeah…I guess you’re right.

" I say, "Have you ever stolen something?" He says, "No." I say, "Come on; you’ve just admitted to me you’re a liar." I say, "Ever stolen something, even if its small?" and he says, "Yeah." I say, "What does that make you?" He says, "A thief."

I say, "Jesus said, ‘If you look at a woman and lust after her, you commit adultery with her in your heart’ (Mat. 5:28).

Ever done that?" He says, "Yeah, plenty of times." "Then from your own admission, you’re a lying, thieving,

adulterer at heart, and you have to face God on judgment day; and we’ve only looked at [font=Arial,Italic]three [/font]of the ten

commandments. There’s another seven with their cannons pointed at you.

Have you used God’s name in vain?"

"Yeah…I’ve been trying to stop." "You know what you’re doing? Instead of using a four-letter filth word beginning

with ‘s’ to express disgust, you’re using God’s name in its place. That’s called blasphemy; and the Bible says,

‘Every idle word a man speaks he’ll give account thereof on the day of judgment’ (Mat. 12:36). ‘The Lord will not

hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain’ (Ex. 20:7). The Bible says if you hate someone, you are a murderer

(1 John 3:15)."

Now the wonderful thing about God’s law is that God has taken the time to write it upon our heart. Romans

2, verse 15: "…which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness…"

Go to pt 7 now

 

[revmalone]

Understanding the 10 commandments​

pt 7​

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Now the wonderful thing about God’s law is that God has taken the time to write it upon our heart. Romans

2, verse 15: "…which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness…

" Now,[font=Arial,Italic]conscience[/font]means "with knowledge." [font=Arial,Italic]Con [/font]is "with," [font=Arial,Italic]science [/font]is "knowledge." [font=Arial,Italic]Conscienc[/font]e. So when he lies, lusts,fornicates, blasphemes, commits adultery, he does it [font=Arial,Italic]with knowledge [/font]that it’s wrong. God has given light to every

man. The Holy Spirit convicts them of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).

Sin which is transgression of the law (1 John 3:4); righteousness which is of the law (Rom. 10:5; Philip. 3:9); judgment which is by the law. His conscience accuses him-the work of the law written on his heart (Rom. 2:15)-and the law condemns him.

So I say, "So if God judges you by this standard on the day of judgment, are you going to be innocent or

guilty?" He says, "Guilty." I say, "Well, do you think you’ll go to heaven or hell?" And the usual answer is, "Heaven."

A product of the modern gospel. I say, "Why do you feel like that? Is it because you think God is good and he’ll

overlook your sins?" He says, "Yeah, that’s it. He’ll overlook my sins." "Yeah,

well, try that in a court of law. You’ve committed rape, murder, drug pushing-very serious crimes. The judge says, ‘You’re guilty. All the evidence is here. Have you anything to say before I pass sentence?’ And you say, ‘Yes, Judge. I’d like to say I believe you’re a good man and you’ll overlook my crimes.

The judge would probably say, ‘You’re right about one thing. I [font=Arial,Italic]am [/font]a good man, and [font=Arial,Italic]because [/font]of my goodness, I’m going to see that justice is done. [font=Arial,Italic]Because [/font]of my goodness, I’m going to see that you’re punished.’ " And the very thing sinners are hoping will save them on the day of judgment, the goodness of God, will be the very thing that will condemn them. Because if God is good, He must by nature punish murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, fornicators, and blasphemers. God is going to punish sin wherever it’s found.

So with this knowledge, he’s now able to understand. He now has light that his sin is primarily vertical: that

he has "sinned against heaven" (Luke 15:21). That he has violated God’s law and that He has angered God and

the wrath of God abides upon Him (John 3:36). He can now see that He is "weighed in the balance" of eternal

justice and "found wanting" (Dan. 5:27). He now understands the need for a sacrifice. "Christ redeemed from the

curse of the law being made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). "God commended His love toward us in that while we were

yet sinners Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). We broke the law; he paid the fine. It’s as simple as that.

"Christ redeemed from the curse of the law being made a curse for us." And, therefore, exercise repentance towards God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21), put his hand to the plough and not look back because he’s fit for

the kingdom (Luke 9:62). That word [font=Arial,Italic]fit [/font]means "ready for use". The soil of his heart has been turned that he might

receive the engrafted word which is able to save his soul (Jam. 1:21).

John Wycliffe, the Bible translator. He said, "The highest service to which a man may obtain on earth

is to preach the law of God." Why? Because it will drive sinners to faith in the Savior, to everlasting life.

Martin Luther said, "The first duty of the gospel preacher is to declare God’s law and to show the nature of sin." In fact, as we read these quotes, these men have so much conviction you can feel their teeth grit. They say things like, "If you do not use the law in gospel proclamation, you will fill the church with false converts." Stony ground hearers who

will receive the word with joy and gladness.

Listen to what Martin Luther said. He said, "Satan, the god of all dissension stirs up daily new sects. And

last of all which of all others I should never have foreseen or once suspected, he has raised up a sect such as

teach that men should not be terrified by the law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ." So

what’s Luther saying? He saying, "Listen, guys. There’s a demonic, Satanic sect that’s just risen up. Man, I never,

ever would have believed this could happen. He’s raised up a sect such as teach that men should not be terrified

by the law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ," which perfectly sums up most of our

evangelism.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness."

How many non-Christians do you know who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness?

The Bible says,"There is none who seek after God" (Rom. 3:11). It says they love the darkness, they hate the light; neither will they come to the light least there deeds be exposed (John 3:19-20). The only thing they drink in is iniquity like water

But when I was confronted with the spiritual nature of God’s law and understood that God requires

truth in the inward parts (Ps. 51:6), that He saw my thought-life and considered lust to be the same as adultery,

hatred the same as murder, I began to say, "I can see I’m condemned. What must I do to be made [font=Arial,Italic]righ[/font]t?" I began

to thirst for righteousness. The law put salt on my tongue. It was a schoolmaster to bring me to Christ.

Charles Spurgeon said, "They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy law." D.L.

Moody, John Bunyan, John Newton, who wrote "Amazing Grace" (and if anyone had a grip on grace it was

Newton), he said that "the correct understanding of the harmony between law and grace is to preserve oneself from

being entangled by errors on the right hand and on the left." And Charles Finney said, "Evermore the law must

prepare the way for the gospel." He said, "To overlook this in instructing souls is almost certain to result in false

hope, the introduction of a false standard of Christian experience, and to fill the church with false converts."

You see, saints, the problem is that Lazarus is four days dead (John 11). We can run in the tomb, we can

pull him out, we can prop him up, we can open his eyes, but "he stinketh" (vs. 39). He needs to hear the voice of

the Son of God. And the sinner is four days dead in his sins. We can run up and say, "Say this prayer." Still, he

needs to hear the voice of the Son of God, or there is no life in him; and the thing that primes the sinner’s ear to

hear the voice of the Son of God is the law. It’s a schoolmaster to bring him to Christ that he might be justified

through faith (Gal. 3:24). Brothers, the law works; it converts the soul (Ps. 19:7). It makes the person a new creature

in Christ. That old things pass away; behold, all things are become new (2Cor. 5:17). So find yourself a sinner, and

experiment on him.

Now you understand what the Bible teach on What the 10 commandments are to be used for.


May God reward you for seeking the truth with souls for your labors.

love in Christ

Rev Malone