This is another tremendous message by Paris Reidhead.
Starting in Romans 3:19-31, this sermon shows the purpose and necessity of the Law in producing genuine conversion. Although all can recall wrongdoing, the Law has been given to convict us of sin – to show the enormity of our crime against a holy, just, and righteous God. Until we are convicted of our crime and cry out to be free, the Gospel of salvation holds no real meaning. Unfortunately, most preaching over the last 100 years has not started with the Law but has instead been offering a Gospel to people who are really unaware from what they must be saved. The Holy Spirit has thus been stripped of “the only tool He has ever used to prepare men for Grace.” The Law was never intended for Salvation, but to reveal the character of both God and man and to point to man’s need of Christ.
Unfortunately I find that even within the Conservative Holiness Movement, we are losing the emphasis on both the preaching of the Law to bring about conviction of sin, and we do not use the Law in witnessing as it must be to bring about conviction. Instead, we have jumped on board with mainstream Christianity and have adopted the method of witnessing that tells people “God has a wonderful plan for their life…” and if they will only give God a try He will make their lives so much better…
This sermon is another must-listen.
Great sermon by a great preacher! In the same vein as Spurgeon’s ‘Uses of the Law’ and Comfort’s ‘Hell’s Best Kept Secret’. I was greatly encouraged to hear this sermon and hope that others will listen and use the law to make sin ‘exceedingly sinful’.
Thanks sooooooooooooo much for publishing this sermon! It seems that we(our generation)have bought into the notion that the purpose of preaching is to make and keep people comfortable. The greatest care is taken to avoid giving offense to any. We follow the worlds’ marketing strategies to fill our buildings with happy people rather than accepting the reproach of Christ in proclaiming His Lordship and the demand that He makes that all men everywhere repent, and believe the Gospel!