054. What character of preaching would you advise to bring to the people a realization of th...

What character of preaching would you advise to bring to the people a realization of the awfulness of sin, and to bring upon them conviction of and for sin? The law was given to bring men to a knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20), and I find that the preaching of the law does bring men to such a knowledge. I preach on the Ten Commandments, looking to the Holy Spirit to show men how they have not kept them. I also preach on Matthew 7:12, the so-called Golden Rule, to show people they have not kept that and therefore cannot be saved by the Golden Rule: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even to them.” I preach on Matthew 22:37-38, and by the use of these verses seek to show people that they have not only sinned but they have broken the first and greatest of God’s commandments: “Jesus said unto him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” But we read in John 16:9 that the sin of which the Holy Spirit convicts men is the sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ, and we see in Acts 2:37 (compared with the words of Peter that precede) that the sin of which the Holy Spirit convicted so many thousands on the day of Pentecost was the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ. Working along this line I find that holding up before men the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for us, then driving home the awfulness of the sin of rejecting such a Savior, brings the deepest conviction of sin. But in all our preaching we must bear in mind that it is the Holy Spirit, not we ourselves, who convicts men of sin. He does it through the truth that we present, but we must realize our dependence upon Him and look to Him and count on Him to do the work. Here is where many make a mistake. They try to convict men of sin instead of putting themselves in such an attitude toward the Holy Spirit that He will convict men through them.