Elder Sonny Pyles on the Conviction of the Elect under the Sound of the Gospel

I recently listened to a sermon entitled, "To Whom Do We Preach and Where", by Elder Sonny Pyles, and I highly recommend it.

The principal reason of it's value is that is establishes the historic Primitive Baptist view I have emphasized to Stephen Garrett that the gospel is the power of God to the elect that hear it. All truly regenerate men are convicted and recognize the truth of the gospel when it is attended with the spirit of God.

This sermon was probably preached sometime in the early to mid-80's, I would venture, because Elder Pyles mentions that his son, David, was a young minister. The time frame is certainly somewhere around 30-40 years ago. The sermon was added to the website in 2010, but that is not when it was preached, obviously.

If anyone could be proffered as a likely source of what the Primitive Baptists have believed, surely it is Elder Sonny Pyles, and he plainly states that the preached word "makes the distinction" between sheep and goats. He also argues that the gospel should be preached wherever the spirit leads and there is opportunity, and that when it is preached it should be an appeal to the spiritual mind that all of the elect have by virtue of regeneration. This is certainly the truth of the New Testament, and Brother Garrett is in error to assert that knowledgeable Primitive Baptists have ever denied it.

Brother Garrett needs to listen to it, and repent of his excesses in falsely depicting the Primitive Baptists.