Blessings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ my friends and fellow warrior's for the Kingdom of God!
How to Effectively use God's Law: taught by Mr. Ray Comfort. These are my notes on this teaching. I pray you find this enjoyable, and spiritually inspiring.
Romans 3:19-20 says, "Obviously the law applies to these to whom the law was giving, for it's purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show the entire world they are guilty before a Holy God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we really are."
Romans 7:7, "It was the law that showed me my sin." What law showed Paul his sin? The moral law of God. Known better as the Ten Commandments!
Let's look at the (RCCR) principals found in God's word.
R - Relate to the person
C - Create an opportunity to talk about the main idea / product
C - Conviction of the person towards the idea / product
R - Reveal the idea / product
When speaking to any non-christian you always begin speaking in the natural before speaking about things of the spirit. Doing this is non-threatening to others and they normally don't get offended as quickly.
1 Cor. 2:14-15 says, "But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.
So, with this understanding use something to build a bridge to the person like sports, weather, etc.
In John 4 Jesus is speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, and he starts in the natural, "Please give me a drink of water." Why did he do that? Because he wanted to relate to her in the natural realm. (Principal #1)
Then Jesus used (Principal #2), He created an opportunity to share the things of God, and he says, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is saying to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you Living Water." Jesus deliberately mentioned things in the spirit realm, thus swinging the conversation towards the things of God.
*** If someone is open to listen to you, it is because God is making them open to listen to you and the message you have to share with them. John 6:44 says, "No man comes to the Son unless the Father draws him to the Son." So please remember what Romans 3:11 says, "There is no one seeking God!"
*** Please remember if the person is not open to listen to you, don't stick around and get beat up, simply thank them and walk away. Pray the Lord opens their heart for the next person he sends to them that they will be open to listen at that time!
Next Jesus used (Principal #3) Convict: Jesus used #7 of the 10 Commandments, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Jesus brought conviction to her when he said, "Go and call your husband to come here." She replied, "Sir I have no husband." Jesus then replied, "You are right in saying I don't have a husband, for you have five husbands, and he whom you have now is not your husband, this you said truly."
***See my friends, the unregenerate (not reforming or showing repentance) person not only has no desire of the things of God, they have no understanding of the character or true nature of God. They have no understanding of God's righteousness. Romans 10:3 says, "They go about to establish their own righteousness being ignorant of the true righteousness which is of God." ***(NOTE) ask any unregenerate person if they think they are a good person and most will say, "Yeah, I think I'm a good person" and in Proverbs 30:12 God says, " every man is pure in his own eyes."
The reason people do that is because when they don't have any understanding of the righteousness of God, they have no other standard by which to compare themselves to other than the standards they have in their own minds.
****A little girl is looking at sheep eating grass and she thinks, "oh how white the sheep look against the green grass." Then it began to snow, and the girl looked back at the sheep and thought, "how dirty the sheep now looked against the pure white snow." Same sheep.....different background! See when you and I compare ourselves to the background of man's standards we come out reasonably clean...eg; "I've never killed anyone." But when we have the snowy white righteousness of God's law as our backdrop, suddenly we can see ourselves in truth. That is the purpose of the law.
Then Jesus used (Principal #4) and he revealed to the woman that he was the Messiah she was waiting for. See once the law of God humbled her, she was ready for God's grace in her life. This is the way we need to design the way we speak to others, and model ourselves after our Teacher, our Lord, our Savior, our redeemer!
****BIG NOTE: We must be aware when witnessing to sinners that they think they are justified in their own minds, and will say stuff like, "I'm not a bad person, there are plenty of people way worse than me", or "Hitler makes me look pretty good. What's wrong with a little lust?" They are justifying their sin and trying to get out of it, and they aren't sorry about it whatsoever.
What we as witnesses must do is give them the law. Show the law is objective [expressing, orderly, with facts] there is no such thing as a little transgression, and the angle doesn't matter. But when someone hangs their head and says, "yes I have sinned" then we give them mercy and the gospel, and the cross. [Mercy rejoices over judgement].
Charles Finney once said, "The spirituality [that is the essence of the law] should be unsparingly applied to the conscience until the sinners self-righteousness is annihilated, and he stands speechless and self-condemned before a Holy God."
How do you say to a stranger / sinner, "Have you any excuse for going the wrong way on a one way street?" How do we do that? We must read God's law to them. In Isaiah 42:21 it says, "He will magnify the law and make it honorable." What Jesus did was bring out the spiritual nature of God's law. The Ten Commandments are like mighty cannons and they annihilate the fig leaves of everyone's self-righteousness.
(The Ten Commandments) explained in detail:
1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me!
This means God your creator demands to be the focal point of your affections. Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27 all say, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength and all your mind, and then to love your neighbor [all other people] as much as we love ourselves. And that our love for others like, mom, dad, wife and kids seems like hated compared to the love we have for the God who gave us those loved ones to us. Jesus said, "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me, is unworthy of me, and anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is unworthy of me." What is Jesus saying? God must be first place in your life!
Don't love the gift more than the giver. That is called Inordinate Affection, [a desire for lusts of the flesh, a desire for things of this world, and things the flesh pulls your clean spirit to.] This is also known as a soul-tie.
2) Thou shalt not make yourself any graven image!
This means you should not make up a god to suit yourself, either with your hands or your mind. NOTE: some say, "My god isn't a god of wrath & judgement, my god is a god of love and mercy. He would never create Hell." Agree with them - they are correct, say, "your right your god would never create Hell because he couldn't, because he doesn't exist. He is a figment of your imagination and a place of imagery. You have shaped a god to suit yourself, and that is called idolatry, and the Bible says, (Idolators will not enter the Kingdom of God!)"
3) Thou shalt not us the Lord thy God's name in vain!
Never use God's name as a cuss word, use it lightly or fail to give it honor. This is called blasphemy, and the Bible says, "The Lord not hold him guiltless of those who take God's name in vain." Jesus said, "Every idle word a man speaks, he will give an account for on the day of judgement."
4) Thou shalt keep the Sabbath day holy
Romans 14:5 says, "One man chooses one day, another man chooses another day." Don't be troubled by which day you pick as the Sabbath day, just pick one and give it to the Lord. It's a matter of conscience not legalism. D.L. Moody once said, "The law can only chase a man to Calvary, no further."
5) Honor thy Father and thy Mother
The Bible says, "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." Having a bad attitude, selfish attitude, not wanting to help out or go out of your way for your parents. Treating them disrespectfully and not yielding to their authority. Ephesians 6:1-3 states, "Children, honor / obey your father and mother because you belong to the Lord, for it is the right thing to do." Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise attached to it: "If you honor your father and mother, things will go well for you and you will have a long life on the earth."
6) Thou shalt not murder
The Bible is very clear when it says, "Whoever hates his brother in his heart is a murderer." Even Jesus said, "If you get angry without cause, you are in danger of judgement."
7) Thou shalt not commit adultery
Jesus said, "I say to you that whoever looks upon another person with lust has committed adultery in his heart." 1 Timothy 1:10-11 (Fornication) - [refers to sex out of marriage] The law is for people who are sexually immoral or who practice homosexuality, or slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or those who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to us by our Blessed Father God.
8) Thou shalt not steal
Stealing only once makes you a thief and we have all stolen something in our lives. The value of the item is totally irrelevant.
9) Thou shalt not be a false witness
Don't lie to people! This includes fibs, white lies, half truths and exaggerations. All liars will have their part in the lake of fire.
10) Thou shalt not covet
Who can say, "I have never desired something that belonged to someone else?" The final nail in that coffin is James 2:10-13, "For the person who keeps all of the law except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. For the same God who said you shall not commit adultery, also said you must not murder. So if you murder someone, but don't commit adultery, you have still broken the law. So whatever you say, or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you."
God sees our thought life, He knows every hair on our head, and every word we have ever spoken. He knows us by name, and he sees the things we do in the darkness. The wrath of God abides upon us all, because we are transgressors of the law. Every time you sin, it builds up God's wrath against you.
What do we do when we take a sinner through the law? Watch and listen to their mouth! Do they want to justify themselves, or is their mouth stopped? Romans 3:19 says, "The law was given to stop every mouth and leave the whole world guilty before God."
Now, if the person hangs their head and says, "yeah, I've broken the law" they are then ready for the grace of God. But if they defend themselves and try to justify their behavior by saying, "it's natural" respond with, "well of course it's natural to sin because it's human nature." See my friends it is natural to lie, you have to be taught to tell the truth. So you must learn how to turn away from your natural, sinful, human nature and abide in the virtues of the spirit, (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control). These things must be learned, and lived out in your life.
Sinners are children of wrath so let them have a little fear of God. Proverbs 9:10 states, "The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom." In Hebrews 10:31 it says, "It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord."
So let their conscience accuse them! Let the law make them tremble. God had to go to terrible extremes and place His son on the cross so that we could all be forgiven. 1 Timothy 1:8 says, "We know that the law is good when used correctly." The law was not designed for legalism, it was designed to bring the knowledge of sin. To show God's righteousness so we will all see our need for a savior.
Please understand that this is not HELL FIRE PREACHING! That does more damage than good! You can not simply tell people, "If you don't believe in Jesus, your going to Hell!" NO ONE WILL LISTEN TO YOU!
We must use God's law and allow it to convict the sinners conscience. There is a right way to present judgement to people. There is a right way to present the reality of Hell to people. Think about the following EXAMPLE: I am an officer of the law, and I burst into your home grabbed you by the arm and said, "I'm an officer of the law, and your going to prison for a long time" and I just dragged you right out of your home. Your going to be very angry, and bitter, and you'd be frustrated because what I have done to you was totally unreasonable! It makes no sense what so ever!
Now, on the other hand if I came to your door and said, "I'm an officer of the law, and we found those six pot plants in your back yard, and your going to prison for a long time." What I have done now is mush more reasonable. I have read the law to you. Your not going to be happy, but now you can understand why you are guilty and now under arrest, and it is because you transgressed the civil law.
That is why we must use God's law, so the sinner finds himself convicted and in need of repentance. My friends you will suffer persecution sharing the Gospel. It's all part of being a true Christian and sharing the Good News with others. The following verses you'll read about Paul's persecution while preaching. In the book of Acts 13:45 / 13:50 / 14:5 / 14:9 / 16:23 / 18:6 / 19:26 / 20:23 / 22:21 / 23:1 / 23:10 / 23:11 & 24:5.
1 John 3:13 reads, "Marvel not if the world hates you." If you water down the gospel, the world will love and praise you, but if you mention sin, righteousness, judgement and repentance they will hate and persecute you.
It says in 1 Peter 4:14, "Rejoice and be glad when you suffer for the name of Christ, for the glory and the Spirit of God rest upon you." So fear God and never ever water down the gospel because you will strip it of it's curative properties. Be a true and faithful witness. Our motivation must always be LOVE! From beginning to end. Remember if you really love them, you will plead with them not to walk off the edge of the cliff of sin into eternal separation from God.
For some really cool gospel tracks, and ideas for open air witnessing check out the following website,
www.livingwaters.com. You can also see Ray Comfort in action on Youtube conducting open air witnessing in California, and around the world.
Be blessed my friends, in Christ Name!
