Hell's Best Kept Secret

The church I am pastor at is undergoing training in one of the most powerful, effective, and little-known evangelism methods there is. And one that has not been used much at all but the same one that Jesus used. In fact, it's not used for most church's Outreach or by the majority of Christians when sharing the Gospel with others. This powerful evangelistic tool is called Hell's Best Kept Secret. It's a production of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. It is from the ministry of Living Waters and uses the Law of God, in the form of the Ten Commandments to reach the person's inner conscience. Jesus used this method of evangelism. So did Paul, John, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, Martin Luther, and dozens of other famous preachers in the last few hundred years.

The trend in evangelizing the lost lately has been to use this type of language: Just let Jesus come into your heart...Jesus loves you...He will fill that God-shaped vacuum in your life....you will find peace, happiness, joy, and total fulfillment. The only problem is Jesus never did this. Nor did Paul or John....and this type of evangelism is not found in the Bible.

Let's see how Jesus told the young rich man who asked "How may I have eternal life?" "Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, 'Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?' 'Why do you ask me about what is good?' Jesus replied. 'There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.' 'Which ones?' the man enquired. Jesus replied, 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.' "'All these I have kept,' the young man said. 'What do I still lack?' Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus pointed the man to the Ten Commandments. He didn't say, "Just let me come into your heart...or let me fill that God-shaped vacuum in your heart....or I love you." No, he pointed the man to the Ten Commandments. For the young rich man, his money was more important and thus, he was worshiping it above God. That's breaking the First Commandment.

Everyone is born with a conscience. Conscience literally means; con (with) science (knowledge). Here's how God's Law can circumnavigate the opposition to the Gospel and the cross and go directly to the lost person's inner conscience, which then lets the Law convict them of their own sin. Romans 2:14-16 speaks of this conscience: "For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." Their conscience also bearing witness, Paul says, about God's Law indicated that they have a moral compass that they are accountable to.

What converts the soul? "The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul" (Psalm 19:7). The Way of the Master uses a four-letter abbreviation for how to use the Law of God to help reach the inner conscience of the lost. And it uses a simple four letters, W D J D. You can remember it by thinking "What did Jesus do?" But here's what this simple set of letters stands for and how you can talk to someone who is not saved:

W - Would you consider yourself a good person?

Most will say, "Yes, I do." Then...

D - Do you think you've kept the Ten Commandments?

Most will say, yes, some of them. I've never killed anyone. But then you can ask them, "Have you ever told a lie?" Most will say "Yes". Then, "What's that make you?" Most will say "A liar."

Then ask, "Have you ever stolen anything?" Again, most people will say "Yes". Then, ask them, "What does that make you?" Most will say, "A thief".

Next, ask them "Have you ever lusted in your heart when you looked at a man or woman" (depending on with whom you are speaking). Most will, again, say "Yes." Then say, Jesus said "anyone who looks at a woman (or man too) and lusts in their heart after them has already committed adultery with her." Jesus reckons hating someone with murdering someone in their heart.

J - Then, by your own admission, you are a liar, a thief, and an adulterer. If God were to judge you according to the Ten Commandments, would you be guilty or innocent. Most answer "guilty".

D - Do you think your destiny will be heaven or hell? Most will say "Heaven" because they believe God is a good God and would never send me to hell...since I have done a lot of good things in my life". Let's try this scenario in front of a judge. You just stolen something or got busted with cocaine. Do you think the judge will let you go just because he's a good person? No, it is because he is a good man that he will convict you. If you tell him that you've done a lot of nice things in your life, do you think that will help you? The Bible says in Revelation that all liars, adulterers, thieves, and murderers will be thrown into the lake of fire. Ask, "Does that concern you?"

By the way, if they say "Hell" is their destiny, then ask them, "Does that concern you?" Now, you can point them to Jesus.

Jesus knew that the young man was not perfect in his commandment keeping after all, and He confronted the young man with the hardest decision of his life. The one thing that struck right to the man's heart, that kept him from being perfect, was his love of money. He thought he was keeping the commandments, and Jesus didn't actually contradict him or condemn him. But to ask him to truly love God above all else, even to the point of giving up his vast wealth, seemed like an insurmountable difficulty! And after only a moment's thought, the young man decided which of the two, God or mammon, he would rather serve.

Now if you come out with the message of the cross, when they think they are a good person, it will be as Paul said: The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor 1:18). But if you are a doctor and you tell your patient that they are incurably sick and terminally ill, showing them the x-rays, the lab results, and show them that they don't have long to live, then they become very interested in the cure. If you try to give them the cure (Jesus) before they understand they are sick (condemned sinners), then they will never take you seriously. It's like telling them that someone's paid their $25,000 fine for a traffic violation that they never new they had violated.

James says they must be, "Convinced of the law as a transgressor" (James 2:9). The law is "The power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16). The Law of God stops the mouth of the sinner. It stops their excuses like "They are a good person"., because, "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." (Rom. 3:19)..."for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Rom. 3:20). It gives definition of the law: "Sin is transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4 ). Paul continues, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid! No, I had not known sin but by the law" (Rom 7:7). "Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24 ).

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."

"But we know that the law is good if it is used lawfully for the purpose for which it was designed." 1 Tim. 1:8 (The Amplified Bible) "The commandment is a lamp and the law is light." Proverbs 6:23 "By the commandment sin became exceedingly sinful." Romans 7:13

This is not talking about the Old Covenant Laws like sacrifices, ritual washings, and ordinances. Those where nailed to the cross by Jesus perfect, atoning sacrifice. For more on this powerful evangelization program, visit the highlighted links and request information. I am in no way associated with these websites, nor was I paid or compensated in any way. I just wanted to pass one of the most powerful ways to share the Gospel, using the person's own conscience to bring them to the need for the Savior. Let the Law do its work. The Law does the converting, by the Holy Spirit (Psalm 19:7).

Listen to what Charles Spurgeon says, who was one the greatest evangelists that has ever lived. "If men do not understand the law, they will not feel that they are sinners. And if they are not consciously sinners, they will never value the sin offering. There is no healing a man till the law has wounded him, no making him alive till the law has slain him." The first use of the law is to manifest to man his guilt. When God intends to save a man, the first thing he does with him is to send the law to him, to show him how guilty, how vile, how ruined he is, and in how dangerous a position. You see that man lying there on the edge of the precipice; he is sound asleep, and just on the perilous verge of the cliff. The law acts with man as the physician does when he takes the film from the eye of the blind. Self-righteous men are blind men, though they think themselves good and excellent. The law takes that film away, and lets them discover how vile they are, and how utterly ruined and condemned if they are to abide under the sentence of the law."

Originally published on Everyday Christian