Understanding how to witness pt 6
1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 8, says, “But we know that the law is good if it used lawfully for the purpose for
which it was designed.” God’s law is good if it’s used lawfully for the purpose for which it was designed. Well, what
was the law “designed” for? The following verse tells us: “The law was not made for a righteous man but for
sinners.”
It even lists the sinners: homosexuals, fornicators. If you want to bring a homosexual to Christ, don’t get
into an argument with him over there sin; he’s ready for you with his boxing gloves on. No, no. Give him the
ten commandments. The law was made for homosexuals. Show him that he is damned despite his perversion.
If you want to bring a Jew to Christ, lay the weight of the law upon him; let it prepare his heart for grace as
happened on the day of Pentecost. If you want to bring a Moslem to Christ, give him the law of Moses; they accept
Moses as a prophet. Well, give them the law of Moses and strip them of their self-righteousness and bring them to
the foot of a blood-stained cross.
Think of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-11). Violation of the seventh commandment.
The law called for her blood (Lev. 20:10). She found herself in between a rock and a hard place. She had no
avenue but to fling herself at the feet of the Son of God for mercy; and that is the function of God’s law.
Paul spoke of being shut up under the law (Gal. 3:23). It condemns. You say, “You can’t condemn sinners.”
Brothers, they’re already condemned. John 3, verse 18: “He that believes not is condemned already.” All the law does
is show him himself in his true state.
You might recognize this. Your table needs dusting in your living room. So you dust it clean; all the
dust is gone. Then you draw back the curtains and let in the early morning sunlight. What do you see on the table?
Dust. What do you see in the air? Dust. Did the light create the dust? No, the light merely exposed the dust. And
when you and I take the time to draw back the curtains of the holy of holies and let the light of God’s law shine upon
the sinner’s heart, all that happens, is that he sees himself in truth. “The commandment is a lamp and the law is
light” (Prov. 6:23). That’s why Paul said, “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). That’s why he said, “By
the commandment sin became exceedingly sinful” (Rom. 7:13). In other words, the law showed him sin in its true
light.
Never, ever, would I approach someone
and say, “Jesus loves you.” Totally unbiblical; there’s no precedent for that in Scripture. Neither would I go up to
someone and say, “I’d like to talk to you about Jesus Christ.” Why? Because if I wanted to awaken you from a deep
sleep, I wouldn’t use a flashlight in your eyes. That will offend you. I’d turn on the light dimmer very gently. First, the
natural, then the spiritual. Why? Because “the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God; neither can
he know them. They are foolishness to him because they are spiritually understood” (1Cor. 2:14).
The precedent in Scripture is given in John 4 for personal witness. You can see Jesus’ example with the
woman at the well. He started in the natural realm, swung to the spiritual, brought conviction using the seventh
commandment, and then revealed Himself as the Messiah. So, when I meet someone, I’ll talk about the weather, I’ll
talk about sport: let them feel a little bit of sanity. Get to know them; maybe joke here and there and then
deliberately swing from the natural to the spiritual. Now, the way I do this is that I use gospel tracts.
I say, “Ah, do you think you’ve kept the ten commandments?” He says, “Ah, yeah…pretty much.” I
say, “Let’s go through them. Ever told a lie?” He says, “Ah, yeah…yeah, one or two.” I say, “What does that make
you?” He says, “A sinner.” I say, “No, no. Specifically, what does it make you?” He says, “Well, man, I’m not a liar.”
I say, “How many lies, then, do you have to tell to be a liar? Ten and a bell rings and ‘ppppbbbbtttt’ across your
forehead? Isn’t it true if you tell one lie, it makes you a liar?” He says, “Yeah…I guess you’re right.
” I say, “Have you ever stolen something?” He says, “No.” I say, “Come on; you’ve just admitted to me you’re a liar.” I say, “Ever stolen something, even if its small?” and he says, “Yeah.” I say, “What does that make you?” He says, “A thief.”
I say, “Jesus said, ‘If you look at a woman and lust after her, you commit adultery with her in your heart’ (Mat. 5:2
.
Ever done that?” He says, “Yeah, plenty of times.” “Then from your own admission, you’re a lying, thieving,
adulterer at heart, and you have to face God on judgment day; and we’ve only looked at three of the ten
commandments. There’s another seven with their cannons pointed at you.
Have you used God’s name in vain?”
“Yeah…I’ve been trying to stop.” “You know what you’re doing? Instead of using a four-letter filth word beginning
with ‘s’ to express disgust, you’re using God’s name in its place. That’s called blasphemy; and the Bible says,
‘Every idle word a man speaks he’ll give account thereof on the day of judgment’ (Mat. 12:36). ‘The Lord will not
hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain’ (Ex. 20:7). The Bible says if you hate someone, you are a murderer
(1 John 3:15).”
Now the wonderful thing about God’s law is that God has taken the time to write it upon our heart. Romans
2, verse 15: “…which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness…”
Go to pt 7 now
the rev
Linear Mode
