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Hell's
Best Kept Secret
By Ray Comfort
www.livingwaters.com : Listen
to this article in mp3 format
In the late seventies, God very graciously opened an itinerant ministry to me.
As I began to travel, I found that I had access to church growth records, and
found to my horror that something like 80 to 90% of those making a decision for
Christ were falling away from the faith. That is, modern evangelism with its
methods is creating something like 80 to 90 of what we commonly call
backsliders for every hundred decisions for Christ.
Let me make it more real for you. In 1991, in the first year of the decade of
harvest, a major denomination in the U.S. was able to obtain 294,000 decisions
for Christ. That is, in one year, this major denomination of 11,500 churches
was able to obtain 294,000 decisions for Christ. Unfortunately, they could only
find 14,000 in fellowship, which means they couldn’t account for 280,000 of
their decisions, and this is normal, modern evangelical results, and something
I discovered way back in the late seventies; it greatly concerned me. I began
to study the book of Romans intently and, specifically, the gospel proclamation
of men like Spurgeon, Wesley, Moody, Finney, Whitfield, Luther, and others that
God used down through the ages, and I found they used a principle which is
almost entirely neglected by modern evangelical methods. I began teaching that
principle; I was eventually invited to base our ministry in southern
California, the city of Bellflower, specifically to bring this teaching to the
church of the U.S. Things were quiet for the first three years, until I
received a call from Bill Gothard, who had seen the teaching on video. He flew
me to San Jose in northern California; I shared it with a thousand pastors.
Then in 1992 he screened that video to 30,000 pastors. The same year David
Wilkerson called from New York. He called from his car. (He had been listening
to the teaching in his car and called me on his car phone.) Immediately, he
flew me 3,000 miles from L.A. to New York to share the one-hour teaching with
his church; he considered it to be that important. And recently I heard of a
pastor who had listened to the audio tape 250 times. I’d be happy if you’d
listen just once to this teaching which is called “Hell’s Best Kept Secret.”
The Bible says in Psalm 19, verse 7, “The law of the Lord is perfect converting
the soul.” What is it that the Bible says is perfect and actually converts the
soul? Why scripture makes it very clear: “The law of the Lord is perfect
converting the soul.” Now to illustrate the function of God’s law, let’s just
look for a moment at civil law. Imagine if I said to you, “I’ve got some good
news for you: someone has just paid a $25,000 speeding fine on your behalf.”
You’d probably react by saying, “What are you talking about? That’s not good
news: it doesn’t make sense. I don’t have a $25,000 speeding fine.” My good
news wouldn’t be good news to you: it would seem foolishness. But more than
that, it would be offensive to you, because I’m insinuating you’ve broken the
law when you don’t think you have. However, if I put it this way, it may make
more sense: “On the way to this meeting, the law clocked you at going 55 miles
an hour through an area set aside for a blind children’s convention. There were
ten clear warning signs stating that fifteen miles an hour was the maximum
speed, but you went straight through at 55 miles an hour. What you did was
extremely dangerous; there’s a $25,000 fine. The law was about to take its
course, when someone you don’t even know stepped in and paid the fine for you.
You are very fortunate.”
Can you see that telling you precisely what you’ve done wrong first actually
makes the good news make sense. If I don’t clearly bring instruction and
understanding that you’ve violated the law, then the good news will seem
foolishness; it will seem offensive. But once you understand that you’ve broken
the law, then that good news will become good news indeed.
Now in the same way, if I approach an impenitent sinner and say, “Jesus Christ
died on the cross for your sins,” it will be foolishness and offensive to him.
Foolishness because it won’t make sense. The Bible says that: “The preaching of
the cross is to them that perish foolishness” (1Cor. 1:18). And offensive
because I’m insinuating he’s a sinner when he doesn’t think he is. As far as
he’s concerned, there are a lot of people far worse than him. But if I take the
time to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, it may make more sense. If I take the
time to open up the divine law, the ten commandments, and show the sinner
precisely what he’s done wrong, that he has offended God by violating His law,
then when he becomes, as James says, “convinced of the law as a transgressor”
(Jam. 2:9), the good news of the fine being paid for will not be foolishness,
it will not be offensive, it will be “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom.
1:16).
Now, with those few thoughts in mind by way of introduction, let’s now look at
Romans 3, verse 19. We’ll look at some of the functions of God’s law for
humanity. Romans 3, verse 19: “Now we know that whatsoever things the law says,
it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the
world may become guilty before God.” So one function of God’s law is to stop
the mouth. To stop sinners justifying themselves and saying, “There’s plenty of
people worse than me. I’m not a bad person. Really.” No, the law stops the
mouth of justification and leaves the whole world, not just the Jews, but the
whole world guilty before God.
Romans 3, verse 20: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” So God’s law
tells us what sin is. 1 John 3:4 says, “Sin is transgression of the law.”
Romans 7, verse 7: “What shall we say then?” says Paul. “Is the law sin? God
forbid! No, I had not known sin but by the law.” Paul says, “I didn’t know what
sin was until the law told me.” In Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore, the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” God’s
law acts as a schoolmaster to bring us to Jesus Christ that we might be
justified through faith in His blood. The law doesn’t help us; it just leaves
us helpless. It doesn’t justify us; it just leaves us guilty before the
judgment bar of a holy God.
And the tragedy of modern evangelism is because around the turn of the century
when it forsook the law in its capacity to convert the soul, to drive sinners
to Christ, modern evangelism had to, therefore, find another reason for sinners
to respond to the gospel. And the issue that modern evangelism chose to attract
sinners was the issue of “life enhancement”. The gospel degenerated into “Jesus
Christ will give you peace, joy, love, fulfillment, and lasting happiness.” Now
to illustrate the unscriptural nature of this very popular teaching, I’d like
you to listen very carefully to this following anecdote, because the essence of
what I’m saying pivots on this particular illustration; so please listen
carefully.
Two men are seated in a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put
is on as it would improve his flight. He’s a little skeptical at first because
he can’t see how wearing a parachute in a plane could possibly improve the
flight. After a time he decides to experiment and see if the claim is true. As
he puts it on he notices the weight of it upon his shoulders and he finds that
he has difficulty in sitting upright. However, he consoles himself with the
fact that he was told the parachute would improve the flight. So, he decides to
give the thing a little time. As he waits he notices that some of the other
passengers are laughing at him, because he’s wearing a parachute in a plane. He
begins to feel somewhat humiliated. As they begin to point and laugh at him and
he can stand it no longer, he slinks in his seat, unstraps the parachute, and
throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because,
as far as he was concerned, he was told an outright lie.
The second man is given a parachute, but listen to what he’s told. He’s told to
put it on because at any moment he’d be jumping 25,000 feet out of the plane.
He gratefully puts the parachute on; he doesn’t notice the weight of it upon
his shoulders, nor that he can’t sit upright. His mind is consumed with the
thought of what would happen to him if he jumped without that parachute.
Let’s analyze the motive and the result of each passenger’s experience. The
first man’s motive for putting the parachute on was solely to improve his
flight. The result of his experience was that he was humiliated by the
passengers; he was disillusioned and somewhat embittered against those who gave
him the parachute. As far as he’s concerned it’ll be a long time before anyone
gets one of those things on his back again. The second man put the parachute on
solely to escape the jump to come, and because of his knowledge of what would
happen to him without it, he has a deep-rooted joy and peace in his heart
knowing that he’s saved from sure death. This knowledge gives him the ability
to withstand the mockery of the other passengers. His attitude towards those
who gave him the parachute is one of heart-felt gratitude.
Now listen to what the modern gospel says. It says, “Put on the Lord Jesus
Christ. He’ll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and lasting happiness.”
In other words, “Jesus will improve your flight.” So the sinner responds, and
in an experimental fashion, puts on the Savior to see if the claims are true.
And what does he get? The promised temptation, tribulation, and persecution.
The other passengers mock him. So what does he do? He takes off the Lord Jesus
Christ, he’s offended for the word’s sake (Mark 4:17), he’s disillusioned and
somewhat embittered, and quite rightly so. He was promised peace, joy, love,
fulfillment, and lasting happiness, and all he got were trials and humiliation.
His bitterness is directed toward those who gave him the so-called “good news”.
His latter end becomes worse than the first: another inoculated and bitter
backslider.
Saints, instead of preaching that Jesus improves the flight, we should be
warning the passengers they’re going have to jump out of the plane. That it’s
“appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). And
when a sinner understands the horrific consequences of breaking God’s law, then
he will flee to the Savior solely to escape the wrath that’s to come. And if
we’re true and faithful witnesses, that’s what we’ll be preaching. That there
is wrath to come; that God “commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts
17:30). Why? “Because He has appointed a day, in which He will judge the world
in righteousness” (vs. 31). You see, the issue isn’t one of happiness, but one
of righteousness. It doesn’t matter how happy a sinner is, how much he’s
enjoying “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25). Without the
righteousness of Christ, he’ll perish on the day of wrath. “Riches profit not
on the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Prov. 11:4). Peace
and joy are legitimate fruits of salvation, but it’s not legitimate to use
these fruits as a draw card for salvation. If we continue to do so, sinners
will respond with an impure motive lacking repentance.
Now, can you remember why the second passenger had joy and peace in his heart?
It was because he knew that parachute was going to save him from sure death.
And as a believer, I have, as Paul says, “joy and peace in believing” (Rom.
15:13), because I know that the righteousness of Christ is going to deliver me
from the wrath that’s to come.
Now with that thought in mind, let’s take a close look at an incident on board
the plane. We have a brand new stewardess. She’s carrying a tray of boiling hot
coffee. It’s her first day; she wants to leave an impression on the passengers,
and she certainly does. Because as she’s walking down the aisle, she trips over
someone’s foot and slops that boiling hot coffee all over the lap of our second
passenger. Now what’s his reaction as that boiling liquid hits his tender
flesh? Does he go, “Ssssfffff! Man that hurt”? Mmm-hhh. He feels the pain. But
then does he rip the parachute from his shoulders, throw it to the floor and
say, “The stupid parachute!”? No. Why should he? He didn’t put the parachute on
for a better flight. He put it on to save him from the jump to come. If
anything, the hot coffee incident causes him to cling tighter to the parachute
and even look forward to the jump.
Now if you and I have put on the Lord Jesus Christ for the right motive, to
flee from the wrath that’s to come, when tribulation strikes, when the flight
gets bumpy, we won’t get angry at God; we won’t lose our joy and peace. Why
should we? We didn’t come to Jesus for a happy lifestyle: we came to flee from
the wrath that’s to come. And if anything, tribulation drives the true believer
closer to the Savior. And sadly we have literally multitudes of professing
Christians who lose their joy and peace when the flight gets bumpy. Why? They’re
the product of a man-centered gospel. They came lacking repentance, without
which you can’t be saved.
I was in Australia recently ministering; Australia is a small island off the
coast of New Zealand. And I preached sin, law, righteousness, holiness, judgment,
repentance, and hell, and I wasn’t exactly crushed by the amount of people
wanting to “give their hearts to Jesus.” In fact, the air went very tense.
After the meeting, they said, “There’s a young guy down in the back who wants
to give his life to Christ.” I went down the back and found a teenage lad who
could not pray the sinner’s prayer because he was weeping so profusely. Now,
for me it was so refreshing, because for many years I suffered from the disease
of “evangelical frustration”. I so wanted sinners to respond to the gospel I
unwittingly preached a man-centered message. The essence of which was this:
“You’ll never find true peace without Jesus Christ; you’ve a God-shaped vacuum
in your heart that only God can fill.” I’d preach Christ crucified; I’d preach
repentance. A sinner would respond to the alter; I’d open an eye and say, “Oh
no. This guy wants to give his heart to Jesus and there’s an 80% chance he’s
going to backslide. And I am tired of creating backsliders. So I’d better make
sure this guy really means it. He’d better be sincere!” So I’d approach the
poor guy in a Gestapo spirit. I’d walk up and say, “Vhat do you vant?” He’d
say, “I’m here to become a Christian.” I’d say, “Do you mean it?” He’d say,
“Yeah.” I’d say, “Do you REALLY MEAN IT!?” He’d say, “Yeah, I reckon.” “Okay,
I’ll pray with you, but you’d better mean it from your heart.” He said, “Okay,
okay.” “Now you repeat this prayer sincerely after me and mean it from your
heart sincerely and really mean it from your heart sincerely and make sure you
mean it. ‘Oh, God, I’m a sinner.’ ” He’d say, “Uh…oh, God, I’m a sinner.” And
I’d think, “Man, why isn’t there a visible sign of contrition. There’s no
outward evidence the guy is inwardly sorry for his sins.” Now, if I could have
seen his motive, I would have seen he was 100% sincere. He really did mean his
decision with all his heart. He sincerely wanted to give this Jesus thing a go
to see if he could get a buzz out of it. He had tried sex, drugs, materialism,
alcohol. “Why not give this Christian bit a go and see if it’s as good as all
these Christians say it is: peace, joy, love, fulfillment, lasting happiness.”
He wasn’t fleeing from the wrath that was to come, because I hadn’t told him
there was wrath to come. There was this glaring omission from my message. He
wasn’t broken in contrition, because the poor guy didn’t know what sin was.
Remember Romans 7, verse 7? Paul said, “I had not known sin but by the law.”
How can a man repent if he doesn’t know what sin is? Any so-called “repentance”
would be merely what I call “horizontal repentance”. He’s coming because he’s
lied to men, he’s stolen from men. But when David sinned with Bathsheba and
broke all ten of the ten commandments (when he coveted his neighbor’s wife,
lived a lie, stole his neighbor’s wife, committed adultery, committed murder,
dishonored his parents, and thus dishonored God), he didn’t say “I’ve sinned
against man.” He said, “Against you, and you only, have I sinned, and done this
evil in your sight” (Ps. 51:4). When Joseph was tempted sexually, he said, “How
can I do this thing and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). The prodigal son said,
“I’ve sinned against heaven” (Luke 15:21). Paul preached “repentance toward
God” (Acts 20:21). And the Bible says, “Godly sorrow works repentance” (2Cor.
7:10). And when a man doesn’t understand that his sin is primarily vertical,
he’ll merely come and exercise superficial, experimental, and horizontal
repentance, and fall away when tribulation, temptation, and persecution come.
A.B. Earl said, “I have found by long experience that the severest threatenings
of the law of God have a prominent place in leading men to Christ. They must
see themselves lost before they will cry for mercy; they’ll not escape danger
until they see it.” Now I’d like you to do something a little unusual. I’ll not
embarrass you; I give you my word. But I would like to ask, how many of you
were thinking of something else when I was reading that quote from A.B. Earl?
Now, I want to admit something to you. I was thinking of something else when I
was reading that quote from A.B. Earl: I was thinking, “Nobody’s listening to
me; they’re thinking of something else.” So, to make a very important point,
I’d like you to be really honest. If you were thinking of something else and
you haven’t got a clue what A.B. Earl said, could you raise your hand up nice
and high…up nice and high. It’s usually half to two-thirds and we’ve got that
here tonight. Let’s try again.…God bless you, Pastor, for your honesty.
A.B. Earl was a famous evangelist of the last century who had 150,000 converts
to substantiate his claims. Satan doesn’t want you to get a grip of this, so
listen very closely. A.B. Earl said, “I have found by long experience [that’s
the true test] that the severest threatenings of the law of God have a
prominent place in leading men to Christ. They must see themselves lost before
they will cry for mercy; they’ll not escape danger until they see it.”
You see, you try and save a man from drowning when the man doesn’t believe he’s
drowning, he’ll not be too happy with you. You see him swimming out in the
lake; you think, “I think he’s drowning. Yes, I believe he is.” You dive in,
pull him to the shore, without telling him anything. He’s not going to be very
happy with you. He won’t want to get saved until he sees that he’s in danger.
They’ll not escape danger until they see it.
You see, if you came to me and said, “Hey, Ray,” and I said, “Yeah.” You said,
“This is a cure to Groaninzin’s disease; I sold my house to raise the money to
get this cure. I’m giving it to you as a free gift.” I’d probably react
something like this: “What? Cure to what? Groaninzin’s disease? You sold your
house to raise the money to get this cure? You’re giving it to me as a free
gift? Why, thanks a lot. Bye.…That guy’s a nut.” I mean, that’s probably how
I’d react if you sold your house to raise the money to get a cure for a disease
I’d never heard of and your giving it to me as free gift, I’d think you’re
rather strange.
But instead, if you came to me and said, “Ray, you’ve got Groaninzin’s disease.
I can see ten clear symptoms on your flesh. You’re going to be dead in two
weeks.” And I became convinced I had the disease (the symptoms were so
evident), and said, “Oh! What shall I do?” And then you said, “Don’t worry.
This is a cure to Groaninzin’s disease. I sold my house to raise the money to
get this cure. I’m giving it to you as a free gift.” I’m not going to despise
your sacrifice; I’m going to appreciate it and I’m going to appropriate it.
Why? Because I’ve seen the disease that I might appreciate the cure.
And sadly, what’s happened in the U.S. and the Western world as follow is that
we have preached the cure without first convincing of the disease. We have
preached a gospel of grace without first convincing men of the law, that
they’re transgressors; and, consequently, almost everyone I try and witness to
in southern California or around the Bible belt has been born-again six or
seven times. You say, “You need to give your life to Jesus Christ.” “Uh, I did
that when I was seven, eleven, seventeen, twenty-three, twenty-five,
twenty-eight, thirty-two…” You know the guy’s not a Christian. He’s a
fornicator. He’s a blasphemer, but he thinks he’s saved because he’s been
“born-again”. What’s happening? He’s using the grace of our God for an occasion
of the flesh. He doesn’t esteem the sacrifice. For him it’s not a bad thing to
trample the blood of Christ underfoot (Heb. 10:29). Why? Because he’s never
been convinced of the disease that he might appreciate the cure.
Biblical evangelism is always, without exception, law to the proud and grace to
the humble. Never will you see Jesus giving the gospel, the good news, the
cross, the grace of our God, to a proud, arrogant, self-righteous person. No,
no. With the law he breaks the hard heart and with the gospel he heals the
broken heart. Why? Because He always did those things that please the Father.
God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (Jam. 4:6; 1Pet. 5:5).
“Everyone who is proud of heart,” scripture says, “is an abomination to the
Lord” (Prov. 16:5).
Jesus told us whom the gospel is for. He said, “The spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, the
broken-hearted, the captives and the blind” (Luke 4:18). Now, they are
spiritual statements. The poor in spirit (Mat. 5:3). The broken hearted are the
contrite ones (Is. 57:15). The captives are those of whom Satan has taken
captive to do his will (2Tim. 2:26); and the blind are those of whom the god of
this world has blinded lest the light of the gospel should shine on them (2Cor.
4:4). Only the sick need a physician (Mark 2:17), and only those who are
convinced of the disease will appreciate and appropriate a cure.
So we’re going to now very briefly look at examples of law to the proud and
grace to the humble. Luke 10:24…Luke 10:24. And when I give you a reference
from the pulpit I’ll give it twice, because I know that men are present, and
men need to be told things twice.…Men need to be told things twice. This can be
backed up biblically. When God speaks to men in the Bible he uses their name
twice. “Abraham, Abraham…Saul, Saul…Moses, Moses…Samuel, Samuel…” Because men
need to be told things twice. Women once. I don’t know how many times I’ve sat
in a pew, preacher said, “Ah, Luke 10:25.” I turn to my wife and say, “What’d
he say?” She says, “Luke 10:25.” I say, “Thank you, dear.” HELP-MATE. That’s
why God created women, because men could not handle it on their own. The whole
thing is: men lose things, women find things. “Where’s the keys love?” “Hangin’
on your nose, Dear.” I mean, I don’t know how many times I’ve opened the
cupboard, “[Burp] There’s no honey here, Honey!” She says, “Here is here,
Dear.” Where would man be without women? Mm? Still in the Garden of Eden. Eve
found the tree. Adam didn’t really know what was going on. In fact, if you look
at the creation of woman, to create woman the Bible says God put man into a
deep sleep. And Scripture doesn’t say he ever came out of it.
In Luke 10:25 we see a certain lawyer stood up and tempted Jesus. This is not
an attorney, but a professing expert on God’s law. He stood up and he said to
Jesus, “How can I get everlasting life?” Now, what did Jesus do? He gave him
law. Why? Because he was proud, arrogant, self-righteous. Here we have a
professing expert on God’s law tempting the Son of God. And the spirit of his
question was, “And what do you think we’ve got to do to get everlasting life?”
So Jesus gave him law. He said, “What is written in the law? What is your
reading of it?” He says, “Ah, you should love the Lord your God with all your
heart, mind, soul, and strength; love your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus
said, “This do and you shall live.” And then the Scripture says, “But He,
willing to justify Himself, said to Jesus, ‘Who’s my neighbor?’ ” The Living
Bible brings out more clearly the effect of the law on the man. It said, “The
man wanted to justify his lack of love for some kinds of people; so he asked,
‘Which neighbors?’ ” See, he didn’t mind Jews, but he didn’t like Samaritans.
So Jesus then told him the story of what we call the “good Samaritan” who was
not “good” at all. In loving his neighbor as much as he loved himself, he
merely obeyed the basic requirements of God’s law. And the effect of the
essence of the law, the spirituality of the law (of what the law demands in
truth), was that that man’s mouth was stopped. See, he didn’t love his neighbor
to that degree. The law was given to stop every mouth and leave the whole world
guilty before God.
Similarly, in Luke 18, verse 18, the rich, young ruler came to Jesus. He said,
“How can I get everlasting life?” I mean, how would most of us react if someone
came up and said, “How can I get everlasting life?” We’d say, “Oh…quickly say
this prayer before you change your mind.” But what did Jesus do with His
potential convert? He pointed Him to the law. He gave him five horizontal
commandments, commandments to do with his fellow men. And when he said, “Ah,
I’ve kept those from my youth,” Jesus said, “One thing you lack.” And he used
the essence of the first of the ten commandments: “I am the Lord your God…You
shall have no other Gods before me” (Ex. 20:2–3). He showed this man that His
god was His money, and “you cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt. 6:24). Law to the
proud.
Then we see grace being given to the humble in the case of Nicodemus (John 3).
Nicodemus was a leader of the Jews. He was a teacher in Israel. Therefore, he
was thoroughly versed in God’s law. He was humble of heart, because he came to
Jesus and acknowledged the Deity of the Son of God. A leader in Israel? “We
know that you’ve come from God for no man can do these miracles that you do
unless God is with Him.” So Jesus gave the sincere seeker of truth, who had a
humble heart and a knowledge of sin by the law, the good news of the fine being
paid for and “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son.”
And it was not foolishness to Nicodemus but the “power of God to salvation.”
Similarly, in the case of Nathaniel (John 1:43–51). Nathaniel was an Israelite
brought up under the law in deed, not just in word, in whom there was no guile;
there was no deceit in his heart. Obviously the law was a schoolmaster to bring
this godly Jew to Christ.
Similarly with the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). They were devout
Jews, godly Jews, who, therefore, ate, drank, and slept God’s law. Matthew
Henry, the Bible commentator, said the reason they were gathered together on
the day of Pentecost was to celebrate the giving of God’s law on Mt. Sinai. So
when Peter stood up to preach to these godly Jews, he didn’t preach wrath. No,
the law works wrath; they knew that. He didn’t preach righteousness or
judgment. No, no. He just told them the good news of the fine being paid for,
and they were pricked in their hearts and cried, “Men and brethren, what shall
we do?” (vs. 37). The law was a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ that they
might be justified through faith in His blood. And the hymn-writer said, “By
God’s word at last my sin I learned; then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary.”
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 his perversion; 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. I heard
of a Moslem reading our book Hell’s
Best Kept Secret, and God soundly saved him purely through reading the
book. Why? Because the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.
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.” Saints, 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.
Ladies, 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.
Now, normally at this stage of this teaching I go through the ten commandments
one by one, but what I’ll do is share with you how I witness personally because
I think it would be more beneficial. Now, I’m a strong believer in following in
the footsteps of Jesus. 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. We
have something like 24, 25 different tracts; we’re a ministry to the
body of Christ. We’ve printed millions and millions of tracts and our tracts
are unusual. If you get a hold of them, what you’ll have to do is have a stack
on you because people chase you and ask for more. Let me give you an example.
This is our optical
illusion tract. Which looks bigger, if you can see? Does the pink look
bigger? Can you see that? For those listening by tape…They’re the same size;
it’s an optical illusion. I say, “It’s actually a gospel tract; instructions
are on the back…how to get saved, actually.” I say, “You can keep that.” He
says, “Hey…thanks a lot! This is neat…Whoa!”
“Got another gift for you.” And out of my pocket I get a pressed
penny with the ten commandments on it. We have a machine that does
this. We buy the pennies new from the bank; nice golden-looking pennies and we
feed them into this machine and it presses them, or it will do your thumbnail
if you want to hold still. But it presses them with the ten commandments. It’s
legal to do this: this is considered art. It’s not defacing a penny. So I say,
“Here’s a gift.” He says, “Oh…what is it?” I say, “It’s a penny with the ten
commandments on it; I did it with my teeth.…I do the i’s with my eye teeth but
the e’s are really difficult.”
Now, what I’m doing is putting out a feeler to see if he’s open to spiritual
things. If he negatively says, “Ten commandments? Thanks a lot,” he’s not open.
But the usual reaction is, “Ten commandments…Hey, thanks! I appreciate this.” 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. 5:28). 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…” Now, conscience means “with
knowledge.” Con is “with,” science is “knowledge.” Conscience. So when he lies,
lusts, fornicates, blasphemes, commits adultery, he does it with knowledge that
it’s wrong. God has given light to every man. The Holy Spirit convicts them of
sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). Sin which is transgression of the
law (1 John 3:4); righteousness which is of the law (Rom. 10:5; Philip. 3:9);
judgment which is by the law. His conscience accuses him—the work of the law
written on his heart (Rom. 2:15)—and the law condemns him.
So I say, “So if God judges you by this standard on the day of judgment, are
you going to be innocent or guilty?” He says, “Guilty.” I say, “Well, do you
think you’ll go to heaven or hell?” And the usual answer is, “Heaven.” A
product of the modern gospel. I say, “Why do you feel like that? Is it because
you think God is good and he’ll overlook your sins?” He says, “Yeah, that’s it.
He’ll overlook my sins.” “Yeah, well, try that in a court of law. You’ve
committed rape, murder, drug pushing—very serious crimes. The judge says,
‘You’re guilty. All the evidence is here. Have you anything to say before I
pass sentence?’ And you say, ‘Yes, Judge. I’d like to say I believe you’re a
good man and you’ll overlook my crimes.’ The judge would probably say, ‘You’re
right about one thing. I am a good man, and because of my goodness, I’m going
to see that justice is done. Because of my goodness, I’m going to see that
you’re punished.’ ” And the very thing sinners are hoping will save them on the
day of judgment, the goodness of God, will be the very thing that will condemn
them. Because if God is good, He must by nature punish murderers, rapists,
thieves, liars, fornicators, and blasphemers. God is going to punish sin
wherever it’s found.
So with this knowledge, he’s now able to understand. He now has light that his
sin is primarily vertical: that he has “sinned against heaven” (Luke 15:21).
That he has violated God’s law and that He has angered God and the wrath of God
abides upon Him (John 3:36). He can now see that He is “weighed in the balance”
of eternal justice and “found wanting” (Dan. 5:27). He now understands the need
for a sacrifice. “Christ redeemed from the curse of the law being made a curse
for us” (Gal. 3:13). “God commended His love toward us in that while we were
yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). We broke the law; he paid the fine.
It’s as simple as that. And if a man will repent, if a woman will repent and
put their faith in Jesus, God will remit their sins so that on the day of
judgment, when their court case comes up, God can say, “Your case is dismissed
through lack of evidence.” “Christ redeemed from the curse of the law being
made a curse for us.” And, therefore, exercise repentance towards God, faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21), put his hand to the plough and not
look back because he’s fit for the kingdom (Luke 9:62). That word fit means
“ready for use”. The soil of his heart has been turned that he might receive
the engrafted word which is able to save his soul (Jam. 1:21).
Now, I haven’t got time to share these quotes with you, but their in our
literature. I’m sure you’ll recognize these names. John Wycliffe, the Bible
translator. He said, “The highest service to which a man may obtain on earth is
to preach the law of God.” Why? Because it will drive sinners to faith in the
Savior, to everlasting life. Martin Luther said, “The first duty of the gospel
preacher is to declare God’s law and to show the nature of sin.” In fact, as we
read these quotes, these men have so much conviction you can feel their teeth
grit. They say things like, “If you do not use the law in gospel proclamation,
you will fill the church with false converts.” Stony ground hearers who will
receive the word with joy and gladness.
Listen to what Martin Luther said. He said, “Satan, the god of all dissension
stirs up daily new sects. And last of all which of all others I should never
have foreseen or once suspected, he has raised up a sect such as teach that men
should not be terrified by the law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the
grace of Christ.” So what’s Luther saying? He saying, “Listen, guys. There’s a
demonic, Satanic sect that’s just risen up. Man, I never, ever would have
believed this could happen. He’s raised up a sect such as teach that men should
not be terrified by the law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace
of Christ,” which perfectly sums up most of our evangelism.
John Wesley said to a friend, in writing to a young evangelist, “Preach 90
percent law and 10 percent grace.” And you say, “90 percent law and 10 percent
grace? Pretty heavy. Couldn’t it be 50-50.” Think of it like this. I’m a
doctor; you’re a patient. You have a terminal disease. I have a cure, but it’s
absolutely essential that you are totally committed to this cure; if you’re not
100 percent committed, it will not work. How am I going to handle it? Probably
like this.
“Come in here. Sit down. I’ve some very serious news for you: you have a
terminal disease.” I see you begin to shake. I think to myself, “Good. He’s
beginning to see the seriousness of this situation.” I bring out charts; I
bring out x-rays. I show you the poison seeping through your system. I speak to
you for ten whole minutes about this terrible disease. How long, then, do you
think I’m going to have to talk about the cure? Not long at all. When you’re
sitting there trembling after ten minutes, I say, “By the way, here’s the
cure.” You grab it and gulp it down. Your knowledge of the disease and its
horrific consequence has made you desire the cure.
You see, before I was a Christian, I had as much desire for righteousness as a
four-year-old boy has for the word “bath.” What’s the point? See, Jesus said,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” How many
non-Christians do you know who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness?
The Bible says, “There is none who seek after God” (Rom. 3:11). It says they
love the darkness, they hate the light; neither will they come to the light
least there deeds be exposed (John 3:19–20). The only thing they drink in is
iniquity like water (Job 15:16). But the night I was confronted with the
spiritual nature of God’s law and understood that God requires truth in the
inward parts (Ps. 51:6), that He saw my thought-life and considered lust to be
the same as adultery, hatred the same as murder, I began to say, “I can see I’m
condemned. What must I do to be made right?” I began to thirst for
righteousness. The law put salt on my tongue. It was a schoolmaster to bring me
to Christ.
Charles Spurgeon said, “They will never accept grace until they tremble before
a just and holy law.” D.L. Moody, John Bunyan, John Newton, who wrote “Amazing
Grace” (and if anyone had a grip on grace it was Newton), he said that “the
correct understanding of the harmony between law and grace is to preserve
oneself from being entangled by errors on the right hand and on the left.” And
Charles Finney said, “Evermore the law must prepare the way for the gospel.” He
said, “To overlook this in instructing souls is almost certain to result in
false hope, the introduction of a false standard of Christian experience, and
to fill the church with false converts.”
Saints, the first thing David Wilkerson said to me when he called me on his car
phone was, “I thought I was the only one who didn’t believe in follow-up.” Now,
I believe in feeding a new convert; I believe in nurturing him. I believe in
discipling him—biblical and most necessary. But I don’t believe in following
him. I can’t find it in Scripture. The Ethiopian eunuch was left without follow-up.
How could he survive? All he had was God and the Scriptures. You see,
follow-up…now let me explain follow-up for those of you who don’t know.
Follow-up is when we get decisions, either through crusades or local church,
and we take laborers from the harvest field, who are few as it is, and give
them this disheartening task of running after these decisions to make sure
they’re going on with God. What it is is a sad admission of the amount of
confidence we have in the power of our message and in the keeping power of God.
If God has saved them, God will keep them. If they’re born of God, they’ll
never die. If He’s begun a good work in them, He’ll complete it to that day
(Philip. 1:6); if He’s the author of their faith, He’ll be the finisher of
their faith (Heb. 12:2). He’s able to save to the uttermost them that come to
God by Him (Heb. 7:25). He’s able to keep them from falling and present them
faultless before the presence and glory with exceeding joy (Jude 24). Jesus
said, “No one will pluck you from my father’s hand” (John 10:29).
You see, saints, the problem is that Lazarus is four days dead (John 11). We
can run in the tomb, we can pull him out, we can prop him up, we can open his
eyes, but “he stinketh” (vs. 39). He needs to hear the voice of the Son of God.
And the sinner is four days dead in his sins. We can run up and say, “Say this
prayer.” Still, he needs to hear the voice of the Son of God, or there is no
life in him; and the thing that primes the sinner’s ear to hear the voice of
the Son of God is the law. It’s a schoolmaster to bring him to Christ that he
might be justified through faith (Gal. 3:24). Saints, the law works; it
converts the soul (Ps. 19:7). It makes the person a new creature in Christ.
That old things pass away; behold, all things are become new (2Cor. 5:17). So
find yourself a sinner, and experiment on him. But as you do so, remember this
one anecdote.
You’re sitting on a plane, sipping you’re coffee, biting a cookie, and watching
a movie. It’s a good flight, very pleasurable, when suddenly you hear, “This is
your captain speaking. I have an announcement to make. As the tail section has
just fallen off of this plane, we’re about to crash. There’s a 25,000 foot
drop. There’s a parachute under your seat; we’d appreciate it if you’d put it
on. Thank you for your attention, and thank you for flying with this airline.”
You say, “What!? 25,000 feet!? Man, am I glad to be wearing this parachute!”
You look next to you; the guy next to you is biting his cookie, sipping his
coffee, and watching the movie. You say, “Excuse me, did you hear the captain?
Put the parachute on.” He turns to you and says, “Oh, I really don’t think the
captain means it. Besides, I’m quite happy as I am, thanks.” Don’t turn to him
in sincere zeal and say, “Oh, please, put the parachute on. It will be better
than the movie.” Now, that doesn’t make sense. If you tell him that somehow the
parachute will improve his flight, he’s going to put it on for a wrong motive.
If you want him to put it on and keep it on, tell him about the jump. You say,
“Excuse me, ignore the captain if you wish. Jump without a parachute…SPLAT!” He
says, “I’m sorry; I beg your pardon.” “I said, if you jump without a parachute,
law of gravity. ‘Ppppbbbbtttt’ on the ground.” “Ah! Goodness me! I see what
you’re saying! Thank you very much!” And as long as that man has knowledge he
has to pass through the door and face the consequences of breaking the law of
gravity, there’s no way you’re going to get that parachute off his back,
because his very life depends on it.
Now, if you look around you, you’ll find there are plenty of passengers
enjoying the flight. They’re enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season. Go up
and say, “Excuse me. Did you hear the command from our Captain about salvation,
‘Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.’ ” He turns to you and says, “Oh, I really don’t
think God means it. God is love. Besides, I’m quite happy as I am, thanks.”
Don’t turn to him in sincere zeal without knowledge and say, “Please, put on
the Lord Jesus Christ. He’ll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and
lasting happiness. You’ve got a God-shaped vacuum in your heart only God can
fill. If you have a marriage problem, drug problem, alcohol problem, just give
your heart to Jesus.” No. You’ll give him the wrong motive for his commitment.
Instead say, “Oh, God, give me courage!” and tell him about the jump. Just say,
“Hey, it’s appointed to man once to die. If you die in your sins, God will be
forced to give you justice, and His judgment is going to be so thorough. Every
idle word a man speaks he’ll give account thereof on the day of judgment; if
you’ve lusted, you’ve committed adultery. If you’ve hated someone, you’ve
committed murder. And Jesus warned that justice will be so thorough, the fist
of eternal wrath will come upon you and [SMACK] grind you to powder. God
bless.” Now saints, I’m not talking about hell-fire preaching. Hell-fire
preaching will produce fear-filled converts. Using God’s law will produce
tear-filled converts. This one comes because why? He wants to escape the fires
of hell. But in his heart, he thinks God is harsh and unjust, because the law
hasn’t been used to show him the exceeding sinful nature of sin. He doesn’t see
hell as being his just desert, that he deserves hell. Therefore, he doesn’t understand
mercy or grace; and, therefore, he lacks gratitude to God for His mercy. And
gratitude is the prime motivation for evangelism. There’ll be no zeal in the
heart of a false convert to evangelize. But this one comes knowing he has
sinned against heaven. That God’s eye is in every place beholding the evil and
the good and God has seen darkness, as though it were pure light. He’s seen his
thought life. If God in His holiness on the day of wrath made manifest all the
secret sins of his heart, all the deeds done in darkness, if he made manifest
all the evidence of his guilt, God could pick him up as an unclean thing and
cast him into hell and do that which is just. But instead of giving him
justice, he’s given him mercy. He’s commended his love toward him in that while
he’s yet a sinner Christ died for him. He falls on his knees before that
blood-stained cross, and he says, “Oh, God, if You do that for me, I’ll do
anything for You. I delight to do Your will, oh, my God. Your law is written
upon my heart.” And like the man who knew he had to pass through the door and
face the consequences of breaking the law of gravity and would never take his
parachute off because his very life depended on it, so he who comes to the
Savior, knowing he has to face a holy God on the day of wrath, would never
forsake the righteousness of God in Christ because His very life depends on it.
Let me see if I can coagulate this teaching as we draw it to a close. I was in
a store some time ago, and the owner of the store was serving a customer and
using God’s name in blasphemy. Now, if somebody used my wife’s name in
blasphemy, I would be extremely offended if they used her name as a curse word
in that sense. But this guy was using God’s name as a curse word, when God had
given him life, his eyes, the ability to think, his children, his food; every
pleasure he’s ever had was given to him by the goodness of God, and he’s using
God’s name as a curse word. Indignantly, between him and his customer, I leaned
and said, “Excuse me. Is this a religious meeting?” The guy says, “What?
H-E-L-L no!” “Yes it is, because now you’re talking about hell. Let me get you
one of my books.” So I went out to my car and got a book that I’ve written
called God
Doesn’t Believe in Atheists: Proof the Atheist Doesn’t Exist. And it’s
a book which uses logic, humor, reason, and rationalism to prove the existence
of God, which you can do in two minutes without the use of faith. It’s a very
simple thing to conclusively, absolutely prove God’s existence; and it proves
also that the atheist doesn’t exist. In fact, let me show you our
bumper sticker. “National Atheist’s Day: April 1.” So I gave him this
book, and two months later I went in and gave him another book I’ve written
called My Friends Are Dying! A book which is a true and gripping story about
the ministering of the gospel in the most murderous portion of Los Angeles; a
book which also uses humor in its presentation. I gave him those books and he
called me and told me what had happened. He told me his wife kept giving him
filthy looks, because there he was reading a book called My Friends Are Dying!
and laughing every two minutes. But he was cleaning out his room and he picked
up God Doesn’t Believe in Atheists. He said, “Ah,” and he opened it up and read
the first page and then he read the whole book, 260 pages. He said, “It was
weird because I hate reading.” Then he read My Friends Are Dying!, gave his
life to Christ, bought himself a Bible, came around to say, “Hi,” and told me
after two days of being a Christian, in his Bible he was already up to what he
called the book of “Lev-ih-tie-kus.” And I guess he was going to read “Palms”
and then John. But up until his commitment, the man was a practicing witch.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.”
And it’s as though God looked down upon me, as for many years I open-air
preached, and as I fought off the enemy with the feather duster of modern
evangelism, it’s as though God said, “What are you doing? My weapons are not
carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2Cor. 10:4).
Here are ten great cannons.” And as I lined up the ten cannons of God’s law, no
longer did sinners scoff and mock. No, their faces went pale; they lifted their
hands and said, “I surrender all! All to Jesus I freely give!” They came across
to the winning side never to become deserters. Such converts become soul
winners, not pew warmers, laborers, not layabouts, assets, not liabilities for
the local church.
And now saints, with every head raised and every eye open, and no music
playing, let me challenge you as to the validity of your salvation. Modern
evangelism says, “Never question your salvation.” The Bible says the exact
opposite. It says, “Examine yourself and see if you’re in the faith” (2Cor.
13:5). Better now than on the day of judgment. The Bible says “make your
calling and election sure” (2Pet. 1:10), and some of you know that something is
radically wrong in your Christian walk. You lose your peace and joy when the
flight gets bumpy. There is a lack of zeal to evangelize. You never fell on
your face before Almighty God and said, “I’ve sinned against You, oh God! Have
mercy upon me!” You’ve never fled to Jesus Christ and His blood for cleansing,
in desperation crying out, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” And there’s a lack
of gratitude; there’s not a burning zeal for the lost. You can’t say you’re on
fire for God; in fact, you’re in danger of being one of the ones that are
called “lukewarm” and will be spewed out of the mouth of Christ on the day of
judgment (Rev. 3:16) when multitudes will cry out to Jesus, “Lord, Lord.” And
he’ll say, “Depart form me you worker of iniquity—lawlessness: I never knew
you” (Mat. 7:22–23). No regard to the divine law. The Bible says, “Let everyone
who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity”—lawlessness (2Tim. 2:19). So
today you need to readjust the motive for your commitment. Friend, don’t let
your pride stop you. I would like to pray for you: I’ll remain up here, you
remain in your seat. And if you’d like to be included in this prayer, I’d like
for you to slip up your hand, but remember this. If you say, “Well, I should
put my hand up but what will people think?” that’s pride. You prefer the
praises of men to the praises of God (John 12:43). Everyone who is proud of
heart is an abomination to the Lord (Prov. 16:5). God resists the proud but
gives grace to the humble. So humble yourself before the mighty hand of God;
He’ll exalt you in due time (1Pet. 5:5–6). Call it a recommittal; call it a
committal. But whatever you call it, make your calling and election sure.
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