======================================================================== 10 CANNONS OF GOD'S LAW by Ray Comfort ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of using the law as a schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ, highlighting the need for individuals to understand their sinfulness and the consequences of breaking God's law before accepting the grace and salvation offered through Jesus Christ. It stresses the significance of repentance, acknowledging one's transgressions, and seeking forgiveness through Christ to escape the wrath to come. Topics: "Law as a Schoolmaster", "Repentance and Grace" Scripture References: Romans 3:19, Romans 3:20, Psalms 19:7, Luke 13:3, Matthew 5:19, John 3:16, Acts 17:30, Hebrews 10:31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of using the law as a schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ, highlighting the need for individuals to understand their sinfulness and the consequences of breaking God's law before accepting the grace and salvation offered through Jesus Christ. It stresses the significance of repentance, acknowledging one's transgressions, and seeking forgiveness through Christ to escape the wrath to come. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now, it's always been my deepest desire to effectively communicate the message of God's love, His grace, and His mercy, but my zeal to reach the lost was somewhat frustrated a number of years ago when I came across some very alarming statistics. I had the privilege of ministering in approximately 300 churches trans-denominationally worldwide, and I found that the average fall-away rate with evangelical older calls from local church to large crusades was about 80%. That is, out of every 100 decisions for Jesus, up to 80%, even some 90%, fell away from their faith. And this greatly frustrated me, and I began wondering what was going on. And these were in line with our own local church statistics also, and I began studying the Book of Romans. And as I did, and as I read a small portion of sermon by Charles Spurge and the Prince of Preachers, I noticed that Spurge used a principle which has almost been tiny neglected by modern evangelical methods. Now, to illustrate what I'm trying to say, I'd like to give you a quote from a leading pastor and author in the United States. And he said this in a magazine, a Christian magazine. He said, I'm just finishing a series of messages on the Ten Commandments. He said, can you believe it? To most pastors committed to healing the hurting and preaching the gospel of grace, teaching the Big Ten hardly seems a source of comfort. But the fact is, we have had a record number of people respond to the Lord in recent weeks. So what this pastor is saying, he says, this is a little strange. I've been teaching on the Ten Commandments. He says, but in recent weeks, we've had a record number of people respond to the Lord. Now, you and I shouldn't be surprised when teaching on the Ten Commandments results in people coming to know Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that's the purpose for which the law was given. The Bible says in Psalm 19, verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. What is it that's perfect and converts the soul? Well, the scriptures tell us, Psalm 19, verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. Now, to illustrate the function of the 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 would probably say, what are you talking about good news? I don't have a $25,000 speeding fine. And your reaction would be entirely understandable. It would be a mystery to you. It would seem foolishness to you. It wouldn't make sense. And secondly, it would be offensive to you because I'm saying you've done something wrong when you don't think you have. However, if I handle it this way and said, on your way to this meeting, the police clocked you at going 55 miles an hour in an area set aside for a blind children's convention. There were 10 clear warning signs stating that 15 miles an hour was the maximum speed. You went straight through 55 miles an hour. What you did was extremely dangerous. There is a $25,000 speeding 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 explaining precisely what you've done, that you've broken the law, makes the good news of someone paying the fine for you make sense? Now in the same way, to approach an impenitent sinner and tell them the good news of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for them will be a mystery to them. It won't make sense. The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. It will also be offensive to them because you're insinuating they're sinners when they don't think they're sinners because there's plenty of people worse than them. Instead, if you and I follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and when we approach an impenitent sinner, we open up the Ten Commandments and show them they have violated God's law, that they have done something extremely wrong, they have sinned against a holy God, when they become, as James says, convinced of the law as a transgressor, then the good news of Jesus Christ paying the fine for them will make sense to them. It will not be foolishness, but the power of God to salvation. Now let's look at what the Bible says about the law. Romans 3 verse 19. It's interesting this verse begins with three words. Now we know. Sadly, much of the church doesn't know this. Now we know that whatever things the law says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may become guilty before God. So God's law was given to stop the mouth, to stop sinners justifying themselves and leaving the whole world guilty before God. That's the purpose of the law. Not just Jews, but the whole world. Romans 3 verse 20. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight. God's law cannot justify us. It just leaves us guilty. D.L. Moody said, The law can only chase a man to Calvary no further. And then Paul says, For by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law tells us what sin is. Romans 7 verse 7. Paul says, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. And then he said, Nay, I had not known sin but by the law. Paul said, I didn't know what sin was until the law told me. And Galatians 3 verse 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. So the law doesn't justify us. It just leaves us guilty before the judgment bar of Almighty God. And sadly around the turn of the century it seems the church as a whole forsook the law as an instrument of driving sinners to the Savior, as a schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ. So it had to find another reason for sinners to respond to the gospel. And the issue the contemporary church chose is the issue of happiness. Jesus became a life improver. The one who can give true peace, joy, and lasting fulfillment. Now to illustrate the unscriptural nature of this doctrine I'd like you to listen very carefully to this following anecdote. Because the pivot, or the essence of what I'm saying pivots on this particular illustration. So please listen very carefully. Two men are seated on a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put it on as it would improve his flight. He's a little skeptical at first as he can't see how wearing a parachute in a plane could possibly improve his 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 he has difficulty in sitting upright. However he consoles himself with the fact 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 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 25,000 feet 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. Now 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 toward those who gave him the parachute is one of heartfelt 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 in an experimental fashion puts on the Savior to see if the claims are true. And what does he get? The promised tribulation, temptation 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. He's disillusioned and somewhat embittered and quite rightly so. He was promised peace, joy, fulfillment and lasting happiness and all he got were trials and humiliation. His bitterness is directed to those who gave him the so-called good news. His latter end is worse than the first. Another inoculated and bitter backslider. Saints, instead of preaching that Jesus improves the flight, we must warn the passengers they're going to have to jump out of the plane. That it's appointed a man once to die and after this the judgment. And when a sinner understands the horrific consequences of breaking God's law that on judgment day Jesus said he'll be ground to powder and when you grind something to powder a thorough job is done. God's justice will be thorough. When a sinner understands that he flees to the Savior solely to escape the wrath to come. And that's what we should be preaching. There is wrath to come. That God commands all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. The issue is not one of happiness but one of righteousness. It doesn't matter how happy a sinner is. It doesn't matter how much he enjoys the pleasures of sin for a season without the righteousness of Christ he will perish on the day of wrath. Riches profit not in the day of wrath but righteousness delivers from death. Peace and joy are legitimate fruits of salvation but it's not legitimate to use these fruits as a drawcard for salvation. If we continue to do so sinners will respond with an impure motive lacking repentance. Without which you cannot be saved. Luke 13 verse 3. Now let's take a close look at an incident on board the plane. We have a brand new stewardess. She's carrying a tray of boiling hot steaming and bubbling 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 hot coffee all over the lap of our second passenger. Now what's his reaction? Does he go, whew, that's hot. Yes he does. But then does he rip the parachute from his shoulders throw it to the floor and say, the stupid parachute. No, why should he? He didn't put the parachute on for better flight. He put it on to save him from a jump to come. If anything, the hot coffee incident causes him to cling tighter to the parachute and even look forward to the jump. If you and I put on the Lord Jesus Christ for the right motive to flee from the wrath that's to come when tribulation strikes we won't get angry at God we won't lose our joy or peace. Why should we? We didn't come to Jesus for a happy lifestyle. We came to be saved from God's wrath and tribulation only drives the true believer closer to the Savior. You know, the only real reason the Apostle Paul wanted to stay around this place was to tell all the passengers to put their parachutes on. He said, for me to live as Christ means opportunities for Christ but to die as gain. Listen to what A.B. Earl said. A.B. Earl was a famous evangelist of the last century. He had 150,000 converts who held their faith to substantiate this claim. He said, I have found by long experience a 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 will not escape danger until they see it. You see, you try and save a man from drowning. When a man doesn't believe he's drowning he'll not be too happy with you. You look across a river you see a man swimming. You say, he's going to be pulled under a rip. I know there's a rip right where he's heading now. Yes, he will drown. So without warning him of his danger you dive and you grab him by the throat and you pull him to the shore. He's not going to be very happy with you. But let him swallow 15 gallons of water. Let him go down 20, 30 times. When he reaches up to be saved and you grab his hand he will understand what you're trying to do for him. He will appreciate it and he will cooperate with you. They must see themselves lost before they will cry for mercy. They'll not escape danger until they see it. Now it's my strong conviction from reading Scripture that the Bible and evangelism always gives law to the proud and grace to the humble. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. And we can see this. When man approached Jesus with no knowledge of sin or an arrogance standing up and tempting the Son of God and saying what should I do to inherit eternal life as in Luke 10 verse 25. That lawyer, the professing expert in God's law. When he asked what he should do to inherit eternal life Jesus didn't give him grace. He gave him the commandments. He said what is your reading of the law? What's your understanding of it? And he said you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and you should love your neighbor as yourself. And the man wanting to justify himself when Jesus said you go and keep the law and you shall live said who's my neighbor? And Jesus told him who his neighbor was and his responsibility to his neighbor under the law and it left him guilty. It stopped his mouth. When the rich young ruler wanted to get everlasting life Jesus gave him five horizontal commandments and then he went vertical and showed him that his God was his money and you cannot serve God and mammoth. When the humble came to Jesus Nicodemus, the leader of the Jews obviously understanding the law the leader of the Jews who acknowledged the deity of the Son of God he said we know that you come from God for no man can do these miracles that you do unless God is with him. Jesus gave him grace. Similarly with Nathanael. It was Nicodemus who came to Jesus. Nathanael also came in a spirit of humility. He was in his right indeed in whom there was no guile. In the day of Pentecost when Peter stood up he looked at the soil upon which he was sowing and he saw these were godly Jews. These were devout Jews from every nation under heaven who according to Matthew Henry the Bible commentator were there on the day of Pentecost to celebrate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. So when Peter stood up he didn't need to preach sin law, righteousness, judgment no, these were godly Jews who ate, drank and slept the law. They knew the holiness of God the justice of God the righteousness of God. The law brought the knowledge of sin. They saw that sin was exceedingly sinful because the commandment showed them sin was exceedingly sinful. So Peter stood up and merely told them the good news of the fine being paid for them and they were pricked in their heart and cried out men and brethren what shall we do? The law was a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ that they might be justified by faith in his blood. And as you study scripture you'll see many instances Paul and Athens these were Athenians they were into idolatry the whole city was given to idolatry so Paul didn't give them grace he preached against their idolatry. He said God is not fashioned with hands graven by art and man's device in a sense he preached the essence of the first and the second of the ten commandments to bring the knowledge of sin. He said God winked at your ignorance but now he commands all men everyone to repent because he has appointed a day in which you will judge the world in righteousness. Let me share with you a few quotes from men of the past John Wycliffe he said the highest service to which a man may attain on earth is to preach the law of God. The highest service to which man may attain on earth is to preach the law of God. Martin Luther said the first duty of the gospel preacher is to declare God's law and show the nature of sin. Why? Because it will act as a schoolmaster and bring him to everlasting life which is in Jesus Christ. In fact Jesus said if you teach the law you will be great in God's kingdom. Matthew 5 verse 19. Matthew Henry said those that would know the nature of sin must get the knowledge of the law in its strictness, extent, and spiritual nature. John Wesley who suggested we preach 90% law and 10% grace when speaking of those who didn't use the law as a schoolmaster said all this proceeds from the deepest ignorance of the nature, the properties, and use of the law and proves that those who act thus either know not Christ are either strangers to living faith or at least they are but babes in Christ and as such unskilled in the word of righteousness. Charles Spurgeon said they will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy law. D.L. Moody said this is what God gives us the law for to show us ourselves and our true colors. John Bunyan said the man who does not know the nature of the law cannot know the nature of sin and he who does not know the nature of sin cannot know the nature of the Savior. John Newton and if anyone had a grip on grace it was he who penned the words to Amazing Grace 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. Charles Finney said evermore the law must prepare the way for the gospel to overlook this and 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 if you use the law to bring the knowledge of sin you will not have to become involved in time-consuming follow-up. Now I can't find follow-up in scripture. I believe in feeding. I believe in nurturing. I believe in discipling new converts but not following them. They should be following us as we follow Christ. You see the Ethiopian eunuch was left without follow-up. How could he survive? All he had was God and the scriptures. Jesus said no one shall pluck you out of my Father's hand. When someone repents and puts their faith in Jesus Christ they repent towards God put their trust in Jesus Christ they're in the Father's hand. Their hand gets to the plow but they won't look back because they're fit for the kingdom. They have the knowledge of sin. If they're born of God they'll never die. If they're not born of God they can never live. It doesn't matter how much we prop them up. The ministry of proper will only last until judgment day when multitude will cry, Lord, Lord we did many wonderful things in your name and Jesus will say, depart from me you worker of iniquity you worker of lawlessness. I never knew you. The law works. It converts the soul. So I leave the ball in your court. Find yourself a sinner and experiment on him. But remember this one illustration. You're sitting in a plane. You're watching a movie. You're biting a cookie, suffing a coffee when suddenly you hear this is your captain speaking. I have an announcement to make. As the tail section has just fallen off this plane you're going to have to jump 25,000 feet. There's a parachute under your seat but I'd appreciate it if you'd put it on. Thank you for your attention. What? 25,000 feet? Oh man, am I glad to be wearing this parachute. You look beside you. The man next to you is biting his cookie, suffing his coffee, watching a movie. You say, excuse me, didn't you hear what the captain said? Put the parachute on. He turns to you and says, I really don't think the captain means it. Besides, I'm quite happy as I am, thanks. Oh, don't turn to him and see his zeal and say, please, put the parachute on. It'll be better than the movie. No, that doesn't make sense. You're going to give the poor guy a wrong motive for putting the parachute on. If you want him to put the parachute on and never take it off, tell him about the jump. Just turn to him and say, okay, watch the movie if you want. Jump without a parachute. Splat. I'm sorry, I beg your pardon. I said, if you jump without a parachute, you have to face the consequences of breaking the law of gravity. You're going to hit the ground. He says, oh man, I see what you're saying. Thank you very much. And as long as that man has the knowledge he has to pass through the door and face the consequences of breaking the law of gravity, there is no way you're going to get that parachute off his back. His very life depends on it. Let me repeat that. As long as that man has the knowledge he has to pass through the door and face the horrific consequences of breaking the law of gravity, there is no way you're going to get that parachute off his back because his very life depends upon it. Now, if you look around, you'll find there are multitudes of passengers enjoying the flight. They're enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season. They say, excuse me, did you hear the command from the captain of our salvation? Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. They say, I really don't think God means it. God is love. Besides, I'm quite happy as I am, thanks. Oh, don't turn to him in sincere zeal without knowledge and say, please, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, lasting happiness. He'll take away your loneliness, help your marriage problem, help your alcohol problem, help your finances, just give your heart to Jesus. No, you'll give him a wrong motive for his commitment. Instead, say, God, give me courage and tell him about the jump. Say, okay, you ignore God's offer of mercy, but if you pass through the door of death without the Savior, you have to face a holy God whose law you have violated. If you lust, you've committed adultery in the heart. God requires truth in the inward parts. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And Jesus said the fist of eternal wrath will come upon you and grind you to powder. God bless. If you bring to him the knowledge of sin and show him what is going to happen, that it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment, he will flee to Jesus Christ solely to escape the wrath to come. And like the man who had the knowledge, he has to pass through the door and face the horrific consequences of breaking the law of gravity, would never ever take that parachute off because his life depended on it. So those who have the knowledge of sin and know they have to face the holy God on the day of wrath, cling to the Savior. They hold on to their Savior because their very life depends upon it. I was sitting in a plane some time ago and a woman was sitting next to me so I began to relate to her. First the natural, then the spiritual. I said, where have you been? She said, such and such a city. I said, what have you been doing? She said, skiing. So for about ten minutes we talked about the joys of skiing, broken legs, etc. And she said, what do you do for a job? I said, I write Christian books. Have you had a Christian background? She said, Episcopal. I said, do you see a need of God's forgiveness? She said, no, not particularly. So I shared with her an anecdote. I said, this girl was looking at a sheep eating grass and she thought to herself, boy, that sheep looks nice and white against the green grass. Then it began to snow. And then the girl thought, boy, that sheep looks dirty against the white snow. Same sheep, different background. I said, if you compare yourself to the background of man's standard, you come up reasonably clean. Your life compared to Adolf Hitler's makes you look like snow white. But on the day of judgment, God is going to judge you by the pure white righteousness, the snowy white righteousness of His law. And when you have the law as your backdrop, you'll see you're not as clean as you think. And I took her through the law very gently and lovingly. I said, well, the first commandment is you shall have no other gods before me. That means you and I are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love one another as much as we love ourselves, but more. Jesus said, unless you hate your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, and your own life, you cannot be my disciple. That means your love for God should be so great that your affection for your mom and dad, your brother and your sister, and your own life should seem as hate compared to the love you have for the God who gave those loved ones to you and gave you life itself. And none of us love God like that. The Bible says there is none that seek after God. The second of the ten commandments is you should not make yourself a graven image. That is, you should not make a God either with your hands or with your mind. You should not make a God in your own image. Well, my God is not a God of wrath. My God's a God of love and mercy. My God would never create hell. Someone said that. You'd have to agree with them. Their God would never create hell because He couldn't. He doesn't exist. He's a figment of the imagination, that place of imagery. There is one God. He said, I am the Lord. I change not. A God who is a consuming fire, who has a passion for justice, righteousness, holiness, and truth, who is by no means clever or guilty. A God who said He'll hold every man accountable for every idle word that He speaks. God will bring every work to judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or evil. A God who sees the darkness as pure light. A God of holiness. And we have to face Him on judgment day. Third of the Ten Commandments is you should not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. And I explained to her, a man hits his thumb with a hammer. He wants to express how he feels. He doesn't feel good. So he may spit out a four-letter filth word beginning with S, or he may spit out the name of God or the name of Jesus Christ. In doing so, he brings the holy name of his Creator, the name that's above every name, down to the level of a four-letter filth word to express disgust. It's called blasphemy. Adolf Hitler's name was not despised enough to use as a curse word. And yet men blaspheme the name of the God who gave them life. Godly Jews won't even speak God's name. It is so holy. The Lord will not hold them guiltless who takes His name in vain. Fourth Commandment. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. This man and I went for 22 years violating the Sabbath. I didn't know it was supposed to keep the Sabbath holy. The work of the Lord was written in my heart. I knew God should be first. I knew I should esteem my Creator, but I was a rebel walking in rebellion. I said, I didn't keep the Sabbath holy. I didn't set aside one day in seven to rest my body and to worship God in spirit and in truth. The fifth, is honor your father and mother. When I was a teenager, I didn't honor my parents. I mean, there were times when I had a rebellious attitude toward my parents. The sixth is you shall not kill. But Jesus said, if you get angry without cause, you're in danger of judgment. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. God requires truth in the inward parts. Scriptures say the law is spiritual. Seventh Commandment. You shall not commit adultery. But Jesus said, whoever looks on a woman and lusts after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart. The law leaves us guilty. Death sentence under the law for transgression of the first seven of the ten commandments. And that's the standard for judgment on judgment day. For as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. You shall not steal. Eighth Commandment. What do you have to steal to be a thief? Paperclip, ten cents, ballpoint pen, pencil. God is not impressed with the value of the thing we steal. Thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God. The ninth is you shall not be a false witness. How many lies do you have to tell to be a liar? Just the one. All liars are like their part in a lake of fire. White lies, fibs, half-truths, exaggerations. The tenth commandment is you shall not covet. Who of us has not desired something that belongs to someone else? The covetous will not inherit God's kingdom. And the final noun in a coffin is who shall ever keep the whole law yet offend in one point. The same is guilty of all. If you're hanging by ten links of a chain and one link breaks, you go down. I said to her, if you want to enter the kingdom of God, this is the standard. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? He that has clean hands and a pure heart. And this woman said, I've been measuring myself by man's standard. And because she was contrite, I shared with her the work of the cross. That Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes or trusts in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And as we came in, we landed. She accepted the Savior. I said, you got a Bible? She said, I do have one at home. I said, know any Christians? She said, yeah. Someone has been talking to me about this sort of thing at work. Praise God. Someone had been sowing. I have a joy of reaping. He that sows is nothing. He that reaps is nothing. But it's God who gives the increase. Jesus said, lift up your eyes. Look in the fields. They're white to harvest. America is ready for revival. The problem is not with the harvest fields. They're white. The problem is with the laborers. We have failed through ignorance to pick up the sickle of the law and reap the harvest fields. I was on another plane. A Fijian woman was sitting next to me. I said, are you from Fiji? She said, yes. I said, what's the culture like in Fiji? And she shared about Fijian culture for about 10 minutes. I said, any live Christian churches in Fiji? She said, there are a few. I said, have you had a Christian background? She said, traditional. I said, do you see a need of God's forgiveness? She says, no. So I took her through the law. She put her hand on her mouth. She said, I am a sinner. And I had the joy of leading her to Christ. He that sells is nothing. He that reaps is nothing. It's God who gives the increase. I like, when I'm witnessing, preaching. Doing a bit of sleight of hand to get attention from people. I went into the store once to buy some sleight of hand material. And the guy behind the counter was so blasphemous in speaking to a customer. He kept blaspheming God's name. So I couldn't help it. I butted in and said, excuse me, is this a religious meeting? I said, I'll get you one of my books. I went into my van and got a book called God Doesn't Believe in Atheists. Proof the atheist doesn't exist. And I gave it to him. And two months later I went in and took another book in. One of our other publications written specifically for the unsaved. A book called My Friends are Dying. Gave it to him. Two months later he called me up and told me what had happened. He'd gone home, thrown the books down, and they got lost somewhere. Sometime later he found them, picked up God Doesn't Believe in Atheists. He was going to throw it out, opened it up, began reading it. Read the whole book. He said, it was strange because I hate reading. He said, then I went and picked My Friends are Dying. Read the whole book. Made a commitment to Christ. Went out and bought a Bible. Found where I live. Came around to see me. And two days after his conversion and reading his Bible, he told me he was already up to the book of Levititis. Sounds like a disease, doesn't it? Levititis. I guess then he was going to read Palms and then the book of Job. But in conclusion, which is a meaningless preacher's statement, Paul used it in Philippians chapter 3 when he said, Finally, my brethren. Two more chapters. In 82, when God allowed me to understand this truth of using the law as a schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ, it was as though God looked down at my futile efforts at evangelism. He saw me in the front lines of battle fighting off the enemy with a feather duster of modern evangelism. It was as though God said to me, Hey, the weapons of war are not carnal but mighty. Through God are the pulling down of strongholds. Here have ten great cannons. And as I stood behind the ten great cannons of those ten commandments, instead of mocking, the enemy would raise his hands and say, I surrender all to Jesus. I freely give. And they'd come across to the winning side and never desert. Such converts become soul winners, not pure warmers, laborers, not layabouts, assets, not liabilities for the local church. God bless you. Thank you for listening to me this morning. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/y7HuEFDwvw8.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/ray-comfort/10-cannons-of-gods-law/ ========================================================================