Introduction; Content, Part 1

Introduction to Preaching That Quickens: Content, Manner, Instrument

0:00 Now, the subject that was assigned to me in preparation for this conference is that which has been printed in the program, Preaching That Quickens. And as time permits, I hope to be able, in the three sessions allotted to me, to divide that broad, that vast and vital theme into three major headings. I hope to be able to address myself to Preaching That Quickens, its content, secondly, Preaching That Quickens, its manner, and then thirdly, Preaching That Quickens, its instrument. But as we stand on the threshold of our first study tonight, I trust to get well into the subject, Preaching That Quickens, its content, I have been constrained to introduce this entire theme by underscoring three very basic principles which ought to condition all of our thinking, all of our praying, and of course, whatever we think and pray about with any degree of seriousness ought then to condition our actions as the servants of Christ. And I do this not for filler, but because I'm convinced that unless our thinking,

Principle 1: The Centrality of Preaching in Quickening

1:26 is constantly carried out within the framework of these three principles, sooner or later we're going to move off dead center from the teaching of the word of God on this vital subject. The first principle that I would seek to underscore in your hearing by way of introduction is that which I'm calling, very simply, the centrality of preaching in the work of quickening. The centrality of preaching. Now, I trust that each of us who has given any thought whatever to the subject of quickening or revival has come to a deep conviction with respect to the fact that divine quickening and revival is nothing more or less than an intensification to an extraordinary degree of the ordinary ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now, Pastor Chantry alluded to that principle this afternoon. He certainly illustrated it from some of the passages to which he made reference, but it's vital for us to understand that. The work of God in quickening, whether it's in a more limited sense, an individual congregation

2:47 and some spillover into a small community, or whether in a larger community and numbers of congregations. Or whether it touches the spiritual. whole segments of entire nations. The work which God does in divine quickening is not qualitatively different from the work that he does in his more ordinary seasons of operation in the hearts of men. Some of you are very much aware that in the East this past year we were troubled with a drought, and we would have daily reports as to the percentile of our reservoirs with respect to total capacity. They are 57 percent full, 53, 72. And when you have partially filled reservoirs, there are basically two ways to see them brought to capacity. You can have the kind of rains that some of our brethren from out in Wyoming are experiencing, 21 inches in 21 days. Well, needless to say, with that amount of rainfall

3:50 and all of its runoff, your reservoirs will be filled very quickly. Or they may be filled very quickly. They may be filled very quickly. They may be filled very quickly. They may be filled in the way ours were filled, over a more gradual intensification or really a restoration of the normal amount of rainfall, and by degrees, up until a few weeks ago, our reservoirs were filled to capacity. But when a reservoir is filled, it is filled with water. The water has come from clouds which God has formed, which have in turn precipitated that moisture upon the earth. Well, in that particular analogy, there is at least some illustration of this basic principle.

4:31 What God does in revival is not to send a different commodity down from heaven. It's to open up larger clouds and to send down greater measures in a shorter period of time, but it's the same thing. It is the gracious, powerful influence of the Holy Spirit working by and with the truth which God has formed. He has ordained to accomplish His own sovereign ends. And so when we turn to the Scriptures, we find again and again that God is committed to using the truth as His great instrument in bringing to pass His work of quickening, whether in an individual soul or in the souls of multitudes, in a season of reviving and quickening. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13 and 14, John 7, 17, and Ephesians 4, 15 are some of the pivotal texts which underscore this truth. Now, since preaching is the grand instrument appointed by God for the dissemination of His truth,

5:40 any serious concern with revival will ultimately bring us to a serious concern with preaching,

5:51 because preaching is the grand instrument for the dissemination of His truth. And since the application of truth to men's minds and ultimately to their affections and wills by the Spirit is the ordinary means God uses to accomplish His work of conversion and sanctification, we cannot be concerned biblically with revival and quickening without at the same time being deeply concerned with the subject of preaching. Broadus was right on that point. John Target, when he wrote on page 3 of the Dargan edition of his classic work on homiletics, said, In every age of Christianity since John the Baptist drew crowds into the desert, there has been no great religious movement, no restoration of Scripture truth, and reanimation of genuine piety without new power in preaching, both as cause and effect. In other words, every season of quickening has found preaching as God's instrument both as cause and effect. New power in preaching was used of God to precipitate

7:16 the quickening, to sustain and to extend that quickening. And this is true because of this simple, this fundamental principle which we must clearly understand the centrality of preaching in the work of quickening. Now, if we understand and believe this principle relative to the centrality of preaching, it should have at least two powerful dimensions of influence upon us. Number one, it should immunize us from chasing the fads of man made for revival. And you will find that the bottom line of all man-made schemes to produce revival is that in some way or another they are a deflection from the centrality of preaching as the primary means both to precipitate, sustain, and extend the influence of that quickening. And one can read in the history of revivals what has happened when revivals that began in a relatively pure context deviated from the centrality of preaching in their

8:34 ongoing work and became less and less pure, and there was more and more of the mixture of the strange fire of carnality as the revival moved from the centrality of preaching. And so understanding this principle should immunize us from this tendency. And then secondly, it should spur us on to direct all of our faculties and spiritual energies to an understanding and pursuit of the kind of preaching God has most frequently owned in seasons of quickening. If preaching is the grand instrument of God's revival, then we ought to be deeply concerned to discover what kind of preaching has God the Spirit most frequently owned in such seasons of refreshing. But then there is a second principle that must condition our thinking, our consideration of this subject together, and it is the principle of the sovereignty of the Spirit in conjunction with the preaching that causes the revival of the spirit. And that is to say, to the idiosyncratic reason of the spirit. The sin of the spirit is the sin of the spirit. So,

Principle 2: The Sovereignty of the Spirit in Quickening Preaching

9:51 I will add here that the sin of the spirit is the sin of the spirit. The sin of the spirit is the sin of the spirit. The sin of the spirit is the sin of the spirit. The sin of the spirit quickens. The sovereignty of the Spirit in conjunction with the preaching that quickens.

9:59 The great rule of Scripture is set forth in such texts as John 3, 8. The wind or the Spirit blows where He wills. You hear the sound. You don't know where the wind comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. There is an element of holiness and scrutability, an element of mystery in conjunction with the work of the Spirit in the hearts of men. First Corinthians 3, 7. One waters, one sows, another waters, but God, God gives the increase. And as we were reminded this afternoon, we see that in the record of Acts. In Acts 2, Peter is preaching. He's preaching biblically. He's preaching

10:48 scripturally. And in the midst of this preaching, there is such a mighty opportunity. The resurrection of the Holy Spirit, that multitudes are pricked to the heart, break Peter off in the very midst of his sermon and cry out, many brethren, what shall we do? Well, the same Peter, no indication, as we were reminded again, that he was in a backslidden state, is recorded as preaching in Acts chapter 3, preaching biblically, preaching in the same basic framework and style as we find in Acts 2.

11:22 But there is no record that anyone was pricked in heart. And Peter carries his sermon through to a grand conclusion with the call to repentance and to conversion. But that call does not follow the piercing cry, many brethren, what shall we do? Now, he gives the call nonetheless.

11:41 And in those two chapters and in comparing them, we have one of the most powerful antidotes against hyperism. Peter did not lay the demands of repentance and faith merely upon sensible sinners. He did that in Acts 3. He said, repent, insensible sinners. In Acts 3, he had the same message. So there is no biblical warrant for the idea that we preach the duty of repentance and faith only to sensible sinners. Peter must perhaps, wasn't conscious of it, but surely the Holy Ghost was, in giving us that marvelous antidote on the threshold of apostolic preaching. Well, back to our subject. We don't want to get into hyperism, but there

12:30 is this principle, you see, of the sovereignty of the Spirit in conjunction with the preaching that quickens. We see it throughout the book of the Acts. We see it in reading the history of revivals. Some of you, no doubt, are aware of that amazing movement of the Spirit of God under the ministry of a man by the name of John Livingston, when 500 people showed signs of conversion as a result of that one sermon.

12:59 But there is no proof of that. There is no proof of that. There is no proof of that. There is no other time in the life history of that man when such a movement of the Spirit of God was experienced. We see that likewise in the lives of men such as Tennant and other men who were mightily used of God at certain periods in their lives. And their biographers tell us that there was no indication of a waning piety in the other periods of their lives and ministries when they did not see the 100th part of the blessing that they knew in other times. And we must understand and continually think and pray and wrestle with this subject of the preaching that quickens in the light of this great biblical principle of the sovereignty of the Spirit in conjunction with the preaching that quickens. And if we understand and think within the orbit of that principle, it too will have some very practical effects upon

13:57 our lives. First of all, it will keep us from any notions that God has bound himself to any particular means

14:09 in such a way that if those means are prayerfully used, God must bring a certain end in the

14:18 prayerful use of those means. That's Phineism as it was opened up to us this afternoon. And this is a temptation to which every earnest man is subject to. And this is a temptation to which every earnest man is subject to. This is my belief that the only solution is to seek the things God has to offer us. This is to seek the things that God has made available to us. This is the greatest and most precious gift that God has given us. This is to seek the subject. He searches his Bible. He's constantly pleading with God, Lord, teach me what it is to preach. Show me the kind of preaching you are pleased to own in bringing life to sinners and in increasing the life that is already in your own people. A heart that is beating with some degree of God-given passion to see Christ's honor vindicated in our own generation. And that heart joined to a diligent mind, searching the scriptures, searching the records of revivals, searching the sermons that are left of men who were used of God in those seasons. And when a man is earnestly praying and pleading and pouring out, as it

15:18 were, his life's blood in order to somehow at least come near the standard of preaching that God has owned in seasons of revival, if he does not understand that, he is not able to do it. He is not able to do it. He is not able to do it. He is not able to do it alone.

15:30 You can't understand this principle. He can become cynical or he can become so desperate that he will begin to create his own fire. He will begin to doubt the promises of God. He will begin to question whether or not he can believe anything. Well you see, the fatal flaw lies in the assumption that God is bound even to his own means to bring a certain end. Then it will also keep us in a posture of dependence. upon the Spirit of God while carefully performing our duty. If we are convinced that God is utterly sovereign, then it will create in our hearts that spirit of dependence upon Him, not one that looks to the sovereignty of God as a blanket for sluggishness, but one that rests upon divine sovereignty for comfort and consolation

16:29 in the midst of the most... ...to be, for naught.

16:38 And then the third blessed effect it will have upon us is this, that if God should to any degree bless our efforts, born of the pain and agony of honest inquiry into the Scriptures, born of constant pain and agony of seeking to bring one's preaching, both content and form and manner, into line with the great principles, principles of the Word of God and the principles underscored in the history of revivals, such a man, if he's blessed of God to any degree, if he understands this principle of the sovereignty of the Spirit, he will be a man who will be on his face lost in wonder, love, and praise should God be pleased to own his efforts to the bringing of souls from death unto life and bringing the Church to a new level, of spiritual vigor and power. How wonderfully this is illustrated in the 11th chapter of Acts. You'll remember Peter has come back and given the report of what happened in the household of Cornelius. We might call that, in terms of the things we're talking about in these days, a household revival.

17:54 When Peter is preaching and Cornelius and the entire household is gathered together and the Holy Ghost falls in power upon that entire household, in their hearts, their hearts are cleansed by faith and Peter comes back and gives this report to his fellow Jews in the Jerusalem Church. And there is this beautiful statement in Acts 11 and verse 18. Then they held their peace, saying, What?

18:22 Not all Peter found the teaching that quickens.

18:30 No, it says they held their peace and then they glorified God, saying, God has granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life. They understood the principle of the absolute sovereignty of God in conjunction with the preaching that quickens. Peter's preaching was calculated to be quickening preaching. But they understood that that preaching without the sovereign blessing of God would never have produced the results that it did produce.

Principle 3: General Congruity Between Divinely Appointed Ends and Means

19:10 But then, let's add to these two principles a third. And the third principle that I want to underscore tonight, the centrality of preaching in the work of quickening, the sovereignty of the Spirit in conjunction with quickening, and then the third, the general congruity between divinely appointed ends and means. The general congruity between divinely appointed ends and means. The general congruity between divinely appointed ends and means.

19:48 And what do I mean by the language, the general congruity? Well, I mean simply this, that as a rule, God does not work in a manner that could ever be called capricious. Now, he does surprise us, and so Edwards could write the surprising work of God. But it was not a capricious work of God.

20:11 And there is general congruity, generally in every quickening that God brings, a congruity between the ends he is accomplishing and the means he is using to accomplish those ends. And perhaps no text in the book of Acts underscores this more powerfully than does Acts 14 and verse 1. When Luke records the history of the triumphs of the gospel in the book of Acts, he does so not only as a historian, but as a theologian. And so again and again he attributes the success of preaching to the divine agency. And he brings that forward with tremendous stress in Acts 2.47. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

21:12 Then we move on to Acts chapter 5, verse 31. He has exalted the Lord. Then we move on to Acts chapter 5, verse 31. He has exalted the Lord.

21:16 Then we move on to Acts chapter 5, verse 31. He has exalted the Lord. He has exalted Him to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance and remission of sins to Israel. The text in Acts 11.18.

21:26 We move on into chapter 13. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Acts 16.14.

21:34 Whose heart the Lord opened so that she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul. Luke is not at all embarrassed to write his history from a thoroughly theological perspective. But the very same Luke writes in Acts 14 and verse 1 these words. And it came to pass in Iconium that they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews and so spake, and the two particles together underscore the conjunction between the manner of their speaking and the results that followed.

22:18 They so spake, or spake in such a manner that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed. Now if all we had was this text and not the others I've quoted, we might think that Luke was saying that ultimately this coming...

22:44 This coming of a multitude to faith rested upon the preaching style, technique and content of Paul and his companions. But we know from the other statements that Luke does not intend to give that impression at all. And yet within that setting of this strong emphasis upon the sovereignty of the Spirit in the work of quickening, he is not at all embarrassed to say that there was a close conjunction between the multitudes believing and the manner of their speaking. And if we are not convinced of that general congruity between divinely appointed ends and means, then, Reverend, we simply will not be prepared to pay the price initially made of the great principles of Scripture that address themselves to our subject, the preaching. Now if we are convinced of this general congruity between divinely appointed ends and means,

24:02 it will of necessity drive us to the Scriptures with this question, Lord, to own, to bring quickening. It will drive us to our study of church history, to our study of the sermons of men of God, to the history of revivals, with that question always before us, and then it will be followed by a second question. What is there in the manner of preaching that bears resemblance to that pattern which God has been pleased to own in accomplishing his ends of quickening? We will be prepared to undergo the humbling work of constant comparison. And it is humbling. It is humbling. And it is labor.

24:59 And I say this. I trust in no way to be misunderstood. As demeaning as it is humbling. It is humbling.

25:03 It is humbling. And it is the place of fervent prayer. But God to make us able preachers will not cure that end. The apostle Paul said to Timothy, stir up the gift of God that is in you.

25:25 Do your self-approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, cutting a straight course in the word of truth. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, but the divine mandate. Yes. do so prayerfully. We must do so continually crying to God for light and understanding and transparency and judgment and honesty. But brethren, let me press it upon your conscience tonight. Do you spend any time waking up in your preaching that would be used of God to bring in true quickening if He is the God appropriate means to accomplish His own ends? There is no man, I don't care how experienced he is in the work of the ministry, how much he may be set in certain patterns of his ministry that is beyond that constant scrutiny in the

26:34 light of the Word of God bringing his whole effort under the searchlight of the Scriptures again and again and again. Well, brethren, if we understand and seek to think in the light of the Word of God, we will be able to do so. And if we understand and seek to think in the light of the Word of God, we will be able to do so. And if we understand and pray and labor in the light of these three basic principles, I believe God will keep us in His grace from turning to one side or to another in our pursuit of seeking to be preachers whom God would be pleased to use in bringing about real quickening.

27:13 You see, if we never live to see the quickening we long to see, if we've given ourselves to being and becoming the most quickening, preachers by the grace of God we can become, well, we'll be more useful in ordinary days. We may never see extraordinary days, but in seeking to prepare ourselves to be instruments for extraordinary days, we increase our use. The second great thing will be accomplished. At least there'll be some kind of a standard for another generation upon whom the Spirit of God may come with greater power than He's ever come upon us. And what? What greater legacy can we leave to another generation than some men who know what quickening preaching is because they sat when they sat under your ministry?

28:13 And they may have never seen a revival,

28:17 but they can say, I saw in the context in which he gripped conscience by the sheer power of his own walk before God,

28:37 a preacher who knew how to set before me the terrors of the law and the glories of God's grace reflected in the face of the world. I saw in the context in which he gripped conscience by the sheer power of his own walk before God, a preacher who knew how to attack my imagination as well as my conscience, who knew how to reach in and lay hold of my affections as well as my judgment, and by the grace of God sensing his inward pressure and the external pressure of his church that his hand is upon me for the ministry. Lord, I thank you. I've seen what preaching is.

29:17 That man whom you used to mold me. What? What greater legacy could we give to another generation that may under the blessing of God see what we have never seen?

29:31 Isn't that worth it, brethren?

29:34 And of course the third great effect of living in the light of that principle will be we can die with a good conscience.

29:42 It is no sin to die having never seen revival if the cause does not lie with you.

29:55 If it has not been due to our slothfulness and laziness and unwillingness to live, and unwillingness to live, and unwillingness to live, and unwillingness to live, and unwillingness to live, and unwillingness to live, and unwillingness to wrestle with the subject of preaching that quickens. If we have wrestled, we have sought under God to engage in that kind of preaching. At least we can go into his presence with a conscience at rest. And brethren, there is no greater companion in life or death next to the Lord Jesus than that of a good conscience.

Content of Quickening Preaching: The Strictness and Spirituality of God's Law

30:27 Well, so much for those introductory principles. I hope God will embed them very deeply in, in all of our spirits. Now let me just begin tonight, and I know many of you have traveled long and are weary, and I feel the weariness of beating around from airport to airport and the rest. Let me at least begin tonight, and perhaps I'll only touch the first heading, to address myself to the preaching that quickens, its content.

30:55 In other words, we're going to seek to come to grips with some of those lines of truth which God has most frequently owned in seasons of quickening and reviving. Now as we do, please understand me. I am not saying that all of these truths have all been equally present in every revival. I am not saying that.

31:21 Just the opposite is true. Because the basic mindset in certain seasons of the history of the church and the climate of society has been conditioned in a certain way, there are certain truths which God, by the Spirit, has brought forward with unusual prominence in power in certain seasons of revival. For instance, when you think of reformation, what doctrine do you think of immediately? Justification by faith.

31:50 When you think of the Great Awakening, what doctrine do you think of? Regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Now not in absolute terms, but in terms of predominant emphases. So I am not saying that all of these truths have been equally present in every season of revival.

32:06 Nor am I saying that if these truths are preached clearly, powerfully, compassionately, earnestly, and above all under the unction of the Holy Ghost, there will automatically ensue a period of quickening. I am not saying that. But what I am saying is this, that as we search the Scriptures, read the history of revival, we do see a pattern emerging that there are certain fundamental and significant truths which have been owned of God again and again in seasons of quickening. And my thesis is that if our prayers are to be something more than pious whinings before God, we must join to our prayers the kind of preaching which God has been pleased to own in the history of revival. And the first is what I am calling the strictness and the spirituality of the law of God. Preaching that quickens its content. And I would place at the head of the list the strictness and the spirituality of the law of God.

Defining the Strictness and Spirituality of the Law

33:25 And I use that terminology with my thinking, I trust, conditioned by such passages as Romans 7, verses 7 through 13, and 1 Timothy, 1, verses 8 through 11, and Romans 3, verses 19 and 20. I'm assuming that most of you men are familiar with these passages, and in the interest of time, I will not read them in your hearing. I will make several allusions to them. But in these passages, Romans 7, 7 through 13, 1 Timothy 1, 8 through 11, Romans 3, 19 and 20, the word law used by the apostle is obviously referring to the moral law, that is, God's standard of righteousness found everywhere in the Scriptures, but epitomized and codified in the Decalogue. That standard of righteousness found everywhere in the Word of God, but epitomized and codified in the Decalogue, and further summarized in that demand of the Word of God. The universal, I'm sorry, of perfect love to God and perfect love to one's fellow man. Now in these passages, it is clearly stated that it is the God-given intention

34:53 that the law should function as the revealer of sin. The law is not made for a righteous man. By the law cometh the knowledge of sin. That's by the commandment, might become exceedingly sinful.

35:13 In other words, God is ordained that His law should be the instrument to show what sin really is. Both its relationship to the character and rights of the living God. Now when I use the terms the strictness and the spirituality of the law, what do I mean? Well, I mean simply this, that as a condition of its demand for the law, that the law should be the instrument for perfect, perpetual, personal obedience to sin is one that continues in all that are written in the book of the law to do them. If sin is transgression of the law and the wages of sin is death, then it is by the application of that strict, inflexible standard to the consciences of men that they come to understand something, of what sin is. And by the use of the term the spirituality of the law, I'm pointing to the fact underscored by the Apostle

36:35 in Romans 7 and verse 12, the law is holy and the commandment holy and righteous and good. And then his further statement, the law spiritual, chapter 7 and verse 14. In other words, the law goes than the mere external deed. The law touches as our Lord expounds it in its searchingness in Matthew chapter 5.

37:08 The first things of the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. And the Apostle indicates in this very passage, Romans 7, that it was the tenth commandment in its paid spirituality that was used of God to break through the veneer of his own self-righteousness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37:27 . . . . Now he is not saying that the law thou shalt not covet is the only spiritual commandment. But it is the one that is more patently spiritual. You don't covet with your hands, with your feet, with your tongue, but with your Heart, according to our Lord . . . . . . . . . . and it touches the deepest springs of the Heart . . . .

37:49 But in his pharisaic blindness the Apostle Paul did not understand this until God thehabaim . . . . . came to understand . . . . spiritualiity of the law of God, came to understand his sin. And again and again, in the history of revival, the testimony comes through loud and clear that it is the preaching of the strictness and the spirituality of the law of God which has often to precipitate a season of quickening, and if not to precipitate it, when revivals began to gather momentum and there was more and more a temptation for carnal excitement to enter,

Five Effects of Preaching the Law with Power

38:51 wise preachers would turn to religious enthusiasts for true Holy Ghost conviction, lest their wounds be healed slightly as they rolled upon the crest of another man's genuine emotion born of genuine conviction and a genuine sight of Christ without presence and sight of sin that alone will make Christ precious to the heart. And under the blessing of God, in the modern seasons of revival, such preaching has produced some marvelous effects, and I want to summarize them under five headings very quickly. Number one, often such preaching has produced a sobering sense of the majesty and the holiness of God. A sobering sense of the holiness and the majesty of God. The God of Sinai is the God who comes down to man and in trumpet, that God, when He comes to the heart of a sinner, bringing home to the deepest recesses of that heart

40:15 the consciousness of the spirituality of the Lord,

40:24 being in reflection of the very Holy Ghost. There has often been upon whole assemblies a sobering sense of the majesty and the holiness of God. Men knew the truth experimentally of Hebrews 10.31, our God, not once, but our,

40:52 the market revivals has again and again not been that of a giddy and hilarious joy, but of an almost frightening majesty of God. Made men want to hide.

41:13 Furthermore, such preaching on the strictness and spirituality of the law in seasons of revival has often produced not only this sobering sense of the majesty and holiness of God, but a, a terrifying sense of guilt and of deserved damnation. A terrifying sense of guilt and of in a very real sense of the preaching of the law with power by the Holy Ghost in seasons of revival has produced a preview of the day of judgment. Just as believers have an earnest spirit, the down payment of the glory to come, they've tasted the of the world to come, and something of the sweetness of the beatific vision. When seen through a glass, darkly we've seen enough to ravish the preaching of the strictness and the spirituality of the law in seasons of revival. It's as though men have been dragged before the very judgment bar of God, and it has not been unusual for them physically, literally to tremble,

42:36 to fall as dead men. How was the Holy Ghost producing an effect far beyond the legitimate cause? Because, because, give as it were, to that day, men are smitten with the sense of sin as guilt against Almighty God who is Creator, Sovereign, and in the light of that guilt, they sense their deserved damnation. Brethren, for the life of me, I cannot understand how any sane man who loves the majesty of God as an enthroned judge and ruler, and ruler, and ruler, and ruler, and ruler,

43:53 have been produced not only this sense of guilt,

44:57 and sobering sense of the divine majesty, but a humbling sense of the depth of sin's power and man's utter helplessness to change it. You see, when men begin to understand the spirituality of the law, that it touches the deepest springs of intention and desire, and for that they are not only looking but with tremendous power, and when that happens, You know what happens in men? They not only are brought to the conviction that they need an objective righteousness and one to bear away their guilt on just grounds, but they need an internal liberation and deliverance. They need not only justification, but regeneration.

45:53 And what is the note on which God begins the chord of grace in the heart of sinners? Blessed are the poor in spirit. He's the king of heaven. As one of the old writers said, when God begins to sound the chord of grace in the human heart, he begins with the face note. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

46:26 Those who have been brought to see that they are destitute in the inner man. And what is God's instruction? By the law.

46:36 The knowledge of sin. By the law. And then the fourth effect this is often produced is that of an overwhelming sense of the worth of the work of Christ.

46:56 An overwhelming sense of the worth of the work of Christ. Jesus stated it so simply when he said of that woman, she loves much because she's been forgiven much. To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. But to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much.

47:18 And when hearts that have been brought into contact with the strictness and the spirituality of the law, that have come to the discovery and felt sense of something of the magnitude of their guilt and the depth of their bondage, are brought by the word and the spirit to the understanding that Christ bore our sin in his body up to the tree. Our sin. What was that that he took up to the tree? Not just a few bad words and a few naughty thoughts here and there.

47:53 But the whole mountain of my iniquity, the tip of which has been discovered to me by the spirit through the law. When I realized that he took, that he was made sin for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God in him. This is why in seasons of revival again, it has often happened that when people have been able, by the spirit, to lay hold of the heart of the gospel proclamation, Christ died for sinners, it is overwhelming. It wasn't, oh yeah, the outside I believe, Romans 3, 23, fine, now John 3, 16, fine, what I do next?

48:31 Pray a little prayer after me, pray a little prayer, get a little Protestant absolution, you're forgiven, all is well, also cut and dried. None of that. Why?

48:41 Because people have been brought by the spirit through a discovery of the strictness and spirituality. The spirituality of the law, to see something of the magnitude of their guilt and the depth of their bondage. And then in the discovery that Christ in his death bore this for them, that he came under, as it were, sin's power, and not only died for sin, but and broke out his death.

49:10 Often it has produced an overwhelming sense of the worth of Christ's work. And then amazingly enough, it did this even for Paul. The fifth effect upon believers in the season of quickening. It brings to them an invigorating sense of the concreteness of sanctification.

49:30 It brings to them an invigorating sense of the concreteness of sanctification. You see, in a season of quickening, when the consciences of believers are being made more tender, and their hearts inflamed with greater zeal, one of their great questions is, how can I know if I have the real thing? When I see what God is doing. Doing for my brothers and sisters all around me, and compare it with my own state.

49:56 Do I have reality? And if I do, how can I measure it? You see, in the midst of Romans 7, there's a tremendous note of encouragement. As Paul faced the law in all its strictness, he could say, I delight after the law of God in my inner parts.

50:13 That's encouragement. Amidst the groan and the cry and the tension of Romans 7, that he can say, I delight. I delight to that. What a wonderful thing for believers when consciences are sensitive to look at an objective standard and say, oh God, you know, and I know, that in spite of all of my pains, in all of the areas in which I continue to come short and never outgrow praying the prayer, and the framework of prayer taught to me by my Lord, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

50:53 Lord, I thank you I can say, when I look at the standard of your holy law, that I delight in that law after my inward parts, and I seek by your grace to frame my life by its standard. You see, God has established an inseparable connection between those two great mountain peaks of revelation, Sinai and Calvary. And if I may use the imagery, the very subsoil of Mount Calvary is Mount Sinai. Take it away and the cross will fall.

The Inseparable Connection Between Sinai and Calvary

51:27 Subsoil of Mount Calvary! Is Mount Sinai on the cross that it is the alone?

52:16 Paul had such confidence in the cross, for when he gives his only systematic exposition of the gospel in the book of Romans, where does he see it? Not in the course of the law! Now what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law. Notice, not whatsoever things it said, past tense, legate! Now to Calvary and to the work of Christ. Chapter 3, verse 21. But from 1.18,

53:25 to 3.20, he's screwing the law into the consciences of men. And if you claim to have a more glorious gospel than Paul, keep your gospel. Now I don't mean to be sarcastic, but brethren, the souls of men are at stake!

53:48 And a generation that has cauterized its conscience to a degree perhaps unparalleled! We need to have preachers helping them in the further process of cauterization. We need to have preachers helping them in the further process of cauterization. We need to have preachers who will dare, we need to have preachers who will dare, preachers who will dare, with all of the authority, preachers who will dare, with all of the authority, the authority to which that law is joined in the court of heaven.

Sprague's Testimony on the Law's Role in Conviction

54:13 Thunder it into the ears of the men, and tell men that the wages of sin is death, and tell men that the wages of sin is death, THE SOUL THAT SINNeth ITSELF SHALL DIE! The soul that sinneth it shall die! Now in this context I wouldn't do this in a popular message, but I do want to read from Sprogg's lectures and revivals but I do want to read from Sprogg's lectures and revivals, motivation. The first is the edification I hope you'll receive from the page or so that I want to read. The second is that if you don't possess this book, I trust you'll get it. It's the finest thing I know, and I'm not a great authority on these things, but of the books I've read on the subject of revival, I don't know of any one volume that contains more sound, biblical, practical sense than does this volume. But in the section dealing with the divine agency in conjunction with revivals, his first sub-point is the distinct work of the Spirit, and under that heading he says his first work is the work of conviction of sin. Now I quote Sprague, page 99. The kind of truth which the Spirit uses in accomplishing this work is primarily the law of God. By the law, says

55:30 Sprague, page 99. The apostle is the knowledge of sin. God's law is nothing else but a transcript of his moral character requiring all his creatures to be holy according to their measure as he is holy. It is the eternal standard of right, and every departure from it is sin, the abominable thing which God hates. But if men are practically ignorant of this standard, they will of course be in the same degree. Ignorant of their sins. And it is only in proportion as the law is brought home to them in its high and awful bearings that they can have any conviction of sin. And the more they view the law in its amazing extent as reaching to the thoughts, affections, purposes, as taking cognizance of the whole inner man, and during every period of their existence, the more they view it in connection with the awful attributes of Jehovah.

56:30 Especially his omnipotence, his omniscience, his holiness, and his truth. So much the more dark and dreadful appears the guilt of sin. So much the more numerous and appalling their own personal transgressions. I say then that the law is the great instrument which the spirit of God wields in producing conviction of sin. Let that never be brought into contact with the conscience.

56:59 The law is the great instrument which the spirit of God wields in producing conviction of sin. Let that never be brought into contact with the conscience. and the sinner would go slumbering to his grave. If we might suppose the case that it should be kept out of view in the next world, the hell which the Bible describes could not exist.

57:14 There are indeed other parts of divine truth beside the law which the Spirit uses in the work of conviction, but they are subordinate to this. For instance, the great doctrine of Christ crucified for the sins of men has often been a powerful influence of convincing men of sin. For herein, the honors of the law are maintained. And the argument which the Spirit uses with the sinner's conscience is that if sin be such a tremendous evil as to demand for its expiation the death of the Son of God, then repentance of sin must be an immediate and imperative duty.

57:53 And I doubt not that many a sinner, while he has yet been blind to the gospel, the glories of redemption, has derived his deepest conviction of sin from the views which he has taken of this doctrine and the question which has forced itself upon his conscience with fearful urgency, if these things be done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? The same is true of various parts of the divine revelation. The Spirit in His gracious sovereignty uses them to convince men of sin, and sometimes even those truths which might seem to us, least adapted to that end. But the influence which they exert is indirect and uniformly terminates in bringing God's law to bear upon the conscience. In other words, we may preach from Sinai to Calvary in the application of truth to men's consciences. We may preach from Calvary back to Sinai. There is such an integration, and I am not asserting that the only way deep and pungent conviction of sin will be produced is by a thorough, powerful, searching exposition of the ten words of Moses.

59:11 I am not asserting that. I would have no biblical grounds to assert that. But I am saying that unless the demands of the divine law are brought to bear upon the consciences of men in terms of the strictness and the spiritualness and the spirituality of that law, whatever our particular starting point may be, we are taking, as it were, out of the hands of the Spirit the very instrument He has chosen by which to pierce the hearts of men.

59:54 Well, brethren, I think that's enough for tonight. God willing, we'll take up other lines of truth tomorrow night. But let me ask you as you sit here, how long has it been since you have prayerfully, at least with tears in your heart, preached through those ten words? Since you have sought to bring to bear upon the consciences of your hearers the strictness and the spirituality of God's holy law, could it be that your sobs and your groans in the face of the carelessness below standard of practical godliness, the absence of any sense of the majesty of God, the frightening indifference about the day of judgment, could it be, my brethren, I only ask the question, could it be that some of those things are in part the fruit of your own fail to use this divinely appointed news? If so, may God have dealings with us, and may we go back to our places of responsibility determined that we shall, by the grace of God, prayerfully seek to employ His own divinely chosen instrument, for bringing men to the knowledge of their sins, all to the end,

61:22 that Christ may become exceedingly precious.