Recently, a friend gave me a book entitled "Hell's Best Kept Secret" and asked me to read it. I was so intrigued by this little book that I even checked out the author's web site and then I read the book over again the next day. The very night I finished reading it again I had a dream that one day while I was out shopping I ran into the author, a fellow by the name of Ray Comfort. Now, I very rarely have dreams that I remember when I wake up in the morning, but this dream was different in that I remembered it and the conversation I had with Ray more or less in vivid detail; so much so that I was impressed to quickly write most of it down and I would like to share it with you now.

In my dream I was in the market for a new printer for my computer and was traveling around checking out several different stores and at one electronics outlet there was another man right beside me and we both seemed to be interested in the same printer.  It wasn't long before he asked me if I knew anything about this particular brand.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." I replied.

After a short conversation about computers and printers, we both introduced ourselves and I was really surprised because of just having read his book, but it was made plain to my mind that I shouldn't tell him that I had just read it or that I knew who he was.  Right after the introductions, Ray reached in his pocket and said, "Here’s a gift.”

“Oh…what is it?” I said.

“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.” he said.

Strange I thought to myself, but I said, as I looked at the penny, “Ten Commandments…Hey, thanks! This is interesting...”  I was resisting the urge to say something about the irony of his handing me the most Sacred Knowledge God has ever given to man, His Ten Commandments, and telling me a lie at the same time, even in jest.

“Ah, do you think you’ve kept the ten commandments?” he asked.

“All have sinned....” I said after I thought for a moment.

“Let’s go through them. Ever told a lie?” Ray quizzed.

“Well, yes…haven't we all?” I admitted and asked, thinking about the lie he told me when he handed me the penny.

“What does that make you then?” he asked.

“It makes us all sinners.” I replied.

“No, no. Specifically, what does it make you?”

“Well, I’m not a liar if that's what you're trying to get me to say.”, I said.

Ray says, “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? Have you ever stolen something?”

I said, "I can't deny that in the past I've come home from work and found a pen or pencil in my pocket at various times and never returned them even though I should have."

“What does that make you?”

“If you want me to say that I'm a thief, I can't say that.” I answered.

“Jesus said, ‘If you look at a woman and lust after her, you have committed adultery with her already in your heart’ (Mat. 5:28).  Ever done that?”

I replied, “Yes, too many 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?”

“Yes…I have many times in the past.” I said.

Ray then says, “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).”

After looking at Ray with a long pause I say, "Brother, you've called me a lying, thieving, blaspheming, adulterer at heart and you don't even know me or have you yet to ask me if I know Jesus Christ. Yes, all those things at one time I was guilty of, but my Saviour and Lord has forgiven me and lifted me up out of that terrible pit of sin that once held me fast. Occasionally, I find that during the rush of life, I have fallen and slipped back down toward that pit, but always when I cry out to Jesus in repentance He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse me and once again He justifies me, picks me up, and makes me just as if I have never sinned, so that is why, because of Jesus, I say I can't call myself those things you have called me--because He has cleansed me and called me His own."

Ray replied, "You should have revealed your belief at the first."

"The Lord spoke to my mind and told me to hear you out first. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to ask you some questions."

"Well..., I suppose so, what are they?" Ray said.

"God says in His Word to 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus' (Phil. 2:5), Ray, do you have the mind of Christ Jesus."

"Do you?" he shot back at me.

"If you don't want to answer, that's okay, but shouldn't we and  won't we, if we have the mind of Christ, do the things he was accustomed to do?" I asked.

"I suppose we should and would, what's your point?" he said looking a little agitated.

"I was just wondering why you told me there were Ten Canons pointed at me when you obviously meant there are only Nine that are loaded." I said.

"What do you mean?" Ray says.

"Since 'Sin is the the transgression of the Law' and the Bible tells us that Christ never sinned, we know that Jesus had it in His mind and heart to keep all Ten Commandments, did He not?"

"There's no question about it." he replied.

"More than this, He even says in Matthew 5:18, 19 in what is commonly called His Sermon on the Mount: "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  Anyone who breaks one of the least of these Commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these Commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven".  Since God tells us that "The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul" and His Law is "holy, just, and good", and throughout the Scriptures there is much, much more about God's Law being sacred, how can you have the arrogance and unmitigated temerity, to teach people they don't have keep one of the Commandments?" I asked.

I waited for a response, but Ray didn't say anything.

"A friend of mine just recently gave me your little book, 'Hell's Best Kept Secret' to read, and I thought it was very good, but then I got on your website and found your article, 'Freedom from Sabbath-keeping' in which you use the same type of justifications for not keeping the Fourth Commandment as many of the ones you corner use to justify telling lies and taking the Lord's name in vain. You say in that article that "Jesus did keep the Sabbath. He had to keep the whole Law to be the Perfect Sacrifice" but if we would have the mind of Christ, as God says we should, then it stands to reason that He also kept the Commandments to be our Perfect Example also."

"Nowhere does the Fourth Commandment say that we are  to "worship" on the Sabbath Day." Ray retorted.

"Ray, it sounds to me as if you're trying use "worship" as a smokescreen to change the subject.  We were talking about our keeping all the Commandments, even the 7th day, as the Fourth Commandment states and as Jesus, our Perfect Example kept.  One can and should gather together to worship the Lord or break bread together on any and every day if it is possible to do so, but how does that cancel out our obligation to keep the Seventh day holy as the Lord who hallowed and sanctified that day commanded?  How does that cancel out our obligation to keep the Seventh day holy especially since Jesus, our Perfect Example, always, "as His custom was", gathered together with His brothers and sisters in the Synagogue on the 7th day and Paul, and other disciples of Christ, Sabbath after Sabbath gathered together to preach in the Synagogues not only to the Jews, but to "the Greeks" and "the Gentiles"?  Just read chapters 13, 14, 17, & 18 in the book of Acts." (Specifically, Acts 13:42,44;14:1;17:4;18:4).

I waited for a reply from Ray, but there was none.

So I continued on, "Let's look at just one of those Sciptures as an example: "And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." (Acts 13:42,44).  Also, as for worship on the Sabbath day, the Scriptures speak in several places as the Seventh day being "a holy convocation" and I think you know that 'convocation' means 'a gathering together', don't you? So how could "a holy convocation" or 'a gathering together' that is "holy" on a day the Lord declares "sanctified and holy" be for anything else other than for worshiping the Lord?

"There isn't even one command in the New Testament for Christians to keep the Sabbath holy." Ray said.

Ray, do you know what Jesus said in reply to the question of His disciples:  "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" I asked.

If he knew he did not say.

I answered the question for him,  "Remember Jesus is replying to questions about the signs right before His coming at the end of the world and the first thing He tells them is, "Take heed that no man deceive you, for many shall come in my name" and after telling them of the many signs of the end of the world, Jesus included the admonition:  "pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:  for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24: 3, 20, 21).   It is plain from His Words here that He expected His true followers to be keeping the Sabbath up until the end of the world and even until His coming again!

But Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Ray said.

"If the Sabbath was made for man, then what was it made for?" I asked.

The great thing about dreams is you can even read someone's mind and I'm pretty sure I heard Ray think to himself : "I'd like to say the sabbath was made for the Jews (he says as much in his article), but that verse clearly says that the sabbath was made "for man", so I'd better not say anything", so that's what Ray said.

So I continued, "The Sabbath was made for man to lay down his common, worldly habits and work and to draw close in communion to his Creator and Redeemer and in and by that communion draw closer to each other. The Sabbath is holy and was made for man and not the other way around because it is a day given by the Lord to shut out worldly ways that we may learn practical Godliness."

Ray finally replied saying, "Romans chapter 14 tells us that 'one man esteems one day of the week; another esteems every day.' Then Scripture tells us that 'every man should be fully persuaded in his own mind'. We are not to judge each other when it comes to the issue of on what day we should worship."

"Should we judge anyone when it comes to the other Nine Commandments, Ray?

"Well..., no, we shouldn't." he finally said after several moments.

"Should everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind about those other Nine Commandments or should they obey them just because you or I say so?

No reply from Ray again.

"The truth of the Sabbath was buried under a lot of man-made traditions and erroneous reasoning long before Jesus walked the earth and has been ever since, and that's why Paul specifically mentions the Sabbath and that we should reason together from the Scriptures in determining what day we should keep so that all would be fully persuaded in their own minds. What good would it do for anyone to keep the Sabbath if he wasn't fully persuaded in his own mind that it was for his own best interests and that of others and mankind to do so?  If the Sabbath was made for man, then it was certainly to be a benefit to him, wasn't it?"

Ray didn't answer, but he looked as if he was mulling this over.

So I continued on, "Ray, "Let us reason together" as God says.  If Jesus changed the Sabbath day to Sunday or the first day, He certainly never told any of His disciples.  He didn’t say “Sunday or the first day was made for man”, or "Pray that your flight be not on the first day", did He?  Even Luke, who was a Gentile, records how that right after Jesus' body was taken down from the cross and laid in the grave, because the Sabbath was drawing near, rather than preparing His body for burial right then, "they returned, and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment" ( Luke 23: 53-56.).  In the New Testament, by my count, there are no less than 59 references to the Sabbath. The book of Acts [written by Luke, who was a Gentile] records Sabbath after Sabbath after Sabbath on which the Apostle Paul and his associates rested and worshipped, yet there is not one word in the entire Bible authorizing Sunday or first day keeping.  And these Sabbaths were not just for the Jews, but the Gentiles worshipped with them also: "And he [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks."(Acts 18: 4). One Sabbath is even noted in Acts 16:13 when Paul and his disciples went out of the city and kept the Sabbath by a riverside!"

In my dream it looked like Ray may have been gnashing his teeth, but again he didn't say anything.

I continued, "To be consistent and reasonable, if you're going to advocate and say we can have 'Freedom from Sabbath-keeping', you'd also have to say we can have 'Freedom from Honoring Our Parents', 'Freedom from Having to Tell the Truth', Freedom from Having to Be Faithful to Our Wives', 'Freedom from Having to Be Honest', 'Freedom from Having to Put God First in Everything', and so on with all the Commandments!"

"Ray, I have noticed a peculiar thing that you (and many other Christians do)--whenever you talk about lying, stealing, committing adultery or any of the other Nine Commandments, you always refer to them as being part of the Law of God, but when you talk about Sabbath-keeping you always refer to it as being part of the Law of Moses? Why do you do this? Did Moses write the TEN Commandments or did God write all TEN including the Sabbath Commandment with His own finger as it says in Exodus 31:18?  It is grossly untrue as you say in your article that you shouldn't separate the Ten Commandments (the moral law) from the ceremonial or civil law because God instructed the Israelites that it was to be separate. The Ten Commandments are Sacred because they are a transcript of God's character, and not only that, they are the foundation of His kingdom, that's why He told them to put the Sacred Ten Commandments inside the Ark of the Covenant and the rest of the law on the outside of the Ark."

Ray again had no answer.

"Truly, Ray, the Law of God is "our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith".  The Law of God can't save or give life, but it will lead to the One who will and can do both.  All of the Law of God is "Spiritual...Holy, Just, and Good" (Romans7:12,14) to those who love God and all of It, and to whomever desires to obey God's Law out of love for Him and by His Love dwelling in their hearts.  God winks at our ignorance, but He will not wink forever at our constant refusal of opportunities to get to know Him as Creator and Lawgiver, not just as King of Grace.  We are all sinful human beings and all our righteous is as filthy, mentrous rags, but if anyone says that it is impossible for anyone to keep the Ten Commandments he is denying the power of God and He tells us "from such turn away".  You are so right, Ray, when you say that the Ten Commandments were given to us so that "every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God" (Romans 3:19).

Ray didn't answer and that's when my dream ended and I woke up.
 

*No theological comments or responses by Ray Comfort were recorded in the above article unless in agreement with similar statements from his book, 'Hell's Best Kept Secret' or from his article, 'Freedom from Sabbath- keeping'.  Anyone who wants to read his book or article can do by going to his web site at   www.raycomfort.com .
 
 

The Promise of Rest

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said:

"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
   as you did in the rebellion."

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter His rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

The Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

"So I declared on oath in my anger,
  'They shall never enter My rest.' "

And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way:"And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter My rest."

It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their unbelief and disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:

"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts."

For if Jesus had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken of another day (other than the seventh since they kept it not, nor entered into His rest)?  There remains, then, the Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just AS GOD DID FROM HIS.  Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of unbelief and disobedience.

For the word of God is living and powerful. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,  Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

~ ~ From Hebrews chapters 3 & 4

"They have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image...."
Revelations 14:11.
 
 

THE KEY
 

Keys of Knowledge
 

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