Muhammad – Page 2 – Media 4 Life Ministries

The Palestinians Deserve a State

The reality is that the entire world is crying for the Palestinians to be given a state. I say, “Yes, let’s give them a state.” Now that we are agreed on that though, the first thing we must do is to identify who the real Palestinians are. Neither they nor Palestine are mentioned in the Koran. Why?

A little lesson in history: The etymology of the word “Palestinian” in English is derived from the Old French word “Philistin,” from Late Latin it is “Philistinus,” and from Late Greek, “Philistinoi.” They were not an Arab or a Semitic people, but were more closely related to the ancient Greeks and originated in the Aegean region of Asia Minor. Any student of the Bible knows that the Philistines were enemies of Israel.

In the history of the Philistines is also the story of the young Hebrew man, David, son of Jesse, who was incensed that a Philistine warrior was allowed to challenge the one true God. The enemy of Israel had advanced to the Valley of Elah and there challenged the Israelites. They produced a brobdingnagian (gigantic) champion, Goliath of Gath. David volunteered to fight the giant and went out to face him with his slingshot and five smooth stones he had retrieved from a dry river bed. He slipped one of the stones into his sling and smote the Philistine on the forehead. He used the giant’s own sword to behead him. Jehovah God gave David the courage and skills not only to face Israel’s enemy, but to kill the challenger. The Israelites pursued the Philistines all the way to the city of Ekron.

The Philistines were ultimately defeated, absorbed into the Babylonian/Persian Empire, and by the late fifth century BC, had disappeared.

In 135 BC, Simon bar Kokhba, a Jew, proclaimed himself Prince of Israel, Son of the Star, the Messiah, and led a revolt against the Romans. The Roman governor and two legions of soldiers were defeated. Bar Kokhba controlled the state of Israel from the Fort of Herodium just south of Jerusalem. His coins were inscribed, “Year one—the redemption of Israel.”

The Roman emperor, Hadrian, in response razed 985 villages and killed almost 600,000 Jews. Hadrian wiped Jerusalem and Judea off the map and deliberately renamed the area Palaestinia after the Jews’ ancient enemy, the Philistines.

So, spread the word. Wanted: Non-Arab Philistines. As soon as all these peace-loving nations can prove that Philistines are back, then let’s persuade the Arab League to absorb them as refugees the way Israel did with the Jews and all nations have done. Let them then turn over the territories that have become a nightmare for the Jewish people to the Philistines. You can be certain of one thing: there will probably be some pretty large dudes in the bunch. Goliath was a Philistine, and from what I know about him, he was not what you would call a “happy camper.” I expect life will not be too pleasant for mythological Palestinians when they meet the original Philistines.

To fulfill the reality of a Palestinian state, the world must demand that the vast majority of the land occupied by Arabs in Judea and Samaria be returned to Israel. The people that call themselves “Palestinians” must return to the Arab lands from which they came. Then true Palestinians, the proven descendants of the Philistines, could have their land. Since there are none to be found on this planet, perhaps the next Mars rover will find them. By Dr. Mike Evans

The Muslim Dilemma

As Christians we have many opportunities to come in contact with Muslims, maybe at Starbucks, the grocery store or at work. It is not very tough these days to meet them. They are our neighbors, colleagues and fellow citizen of this great nation. Because so many people from different parts of the world with various backgrounds and different beliefs have come to this country, makes it much easier for us to share what we believe as Christians. We don’t necessarily have to travel abroad on mission trips. I do respect and admire those who do have the calling of God to go out into the world. God has brought many of them right here to America, from Europe, China, Asia and of course the Middle East. In the past I had plenty of conversations with Muslims, some of them were moderates almost secular and some of them very religious following the Quran. It is always exiting and interesting to me, starting up a conversation about God and faith.

I like to share my faith when the opportunity arises, and as Paul said: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Gentiles). Rom 1:16.

In the past I have tried to show them that the Bible is the true word of God versus the Quran. That Jesus was and is more than just a prophet of God. But those conversation never really went anywhere. Most Muslims have made up there mind that the Bible is corrupted and the Quran is the true book and that Muhammad is the greatest prophet of God. Most of these conversations or debates just go back and forth without any real outcome or a changed mind on either side. I believe that we have to go to the fundamentals, one of them is the subject of a just God.

Asking Muslims about Allah and how they view him, they will answer most likely with that Allah is just. Allah is a just god. My second question to them is, I am a sinner and you are a sinner, both of us will die and one day and stand before God to face judgment. If Allah is just, how do you as a Muslim have assurance to make into paradise? If Allah is a just god, he has to punish sin, he cannot let sin go unpunished.

Most likely the answer is that Allah is also merciful. That is what Muslims believe. Allah is just and at the same time merciful. If sin demands justice i.e. the punishment for the offense, how can Allah be just and at the time be merciful. If Allah is just and merciful at the same time, would he not compromise being just?

It would be like a criminal found guilty before the jury for his crime and the judge saying, well I feel really good this morning, I will let you off the hook. That judge would not be just. He would have compromised justice. Some may argue that they can be merciful and just let someone go. That is a human perspective and many people may think that way, but none of them or any of us for that matter know true righteousness. If Allah is a just god, he cannot be just and merciful at the same time. And that in my view is a dilemma for the Muslims.

A dilemma, because Muslims cannot be sure if they are good enough to make it into paradise. There is no loving relationship with Allah. So they try to weigh out the good and bad they have done, in hope that Allah will be merciful and let them into Paradise.

That is another reason that we see so many suicide bombers. For them according to the radical Islamist, it’s a short cut and assured entry into paradise where they will be welcomed by 72 virgins.

Do Christians have the same dilemma as the Muslims? The Bible clearly teaches the God is just and cannot let sin go unpunished. God is also perfect in His Holiness and a perfect God cannot compromise His justness. The Bible declares that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all have offended God, no matter who we are or from where we are, we all have fallen short i.e. missed the mark. How can God be appeased? How can we get a right standing before Almighty God?

The Bible says that we cannot come before God and stand on our own righteousness or by our works. The Bible also says that the law cannot make us righteous and save us from the wrath of God. What are we to do, how can we escape the punishment for our sins? May I say, nothing? God has provided a way out, and that way is Jesus Christ.

God in His foreknowledge has determined long ago before the foundation of the world that He would send His only begotten Son. Jesus Christ is the propitiation i.e. satisfaction or appeasement for our sins. Jesus who knew no sin became sin for the sinners. He suffered on the cross and paid the penalty that we deserved as sinners with His blood. Justice was served without God compromising His justness, and because the penalty for the sin of the world was paid in Christ, God by His grace showed mercy to those who will believe by faith in His Son Jesus. God loves us so much that He provided, the unblemished passover lamb, the only acceptable sacrifice and payment for fallen man.

The God of the Bible YHWH is truly just and merciful without compromising His perfect Holiness. For a Christian there is no dilemma, God is Holy, just and merciful to those who believe in His Son and His finished work on the cross.

The Islamic faith however has a dilemma, and if you are a Muslim, you have to ask yourself this question: How can Allah be just and at the same time be merciful? Do I have assurance of eternal life?

“He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” 1Peter 1;20, 21

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Eph 1:3-6

Relationship or Religion?

True and genuine biblical Christianity is not a religion but rather a close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There are many religious people out there that think they have to add to the grace of God by their works. They are trying to please God by their works. The problem with all religions is that man is trying to reach God on their own merits.

Christianity teaches the opposite, God has reached down to man. The religious people are trying desperately to please God with their righteous works and deeds. It is not the righteousness of man who God accepts, it is the righteousness of Christ which is imputed by God to every genuine believer. True Christians do not stand on their own righteousness, they stand on the righteousness which is in Christ.

Our own righteousness are filthy rags before God. “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6.

Salvation is believing in Christ alone, not any church, denomination etc. Jesus had to deal with religious people in His days i.e. the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were the conservatives and the Sadducess were the liberals of the day. They were doing all the outward religious practices, the looked and acted holy and people thought of them as the most spiritual people. Jesus confronted them on many occasions about their religious behaviors and teachings. The religious people thought that they obeyed the law of Moses perfectly. They thought that they have kept the Ten commandments perfectly. Jesus showed them otherwise.

In the sermon on the mount in the gospel of Matthew especially chapter five, we find how Jesus looked at the law. It was not the outward obedience and fulfillment of the letter of the law as the religious leadership believed and taught, but it was an issue of the heart. Here is one example, “you shall not commit adultery”. The religious leader would have boasted, “we never slept with a woman besides our wives, thus we never broke that law.”

Here is what Jesus said concerning adultery:“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Mat 5:27, 28. Clearly Jesus showed His authority over the law when He said, “but I say to you.” He raised the law up a notch, showing them that it was not the letter, but that the law was written upon every man’s heart. It was a matter of the heart, the law was a school master to drive man back to God. Jesus also said: “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. “These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” Mat 15:18-20.

Personally, I don’t care how religious or good some may think they are, or how spiritual, if the heart is not right, nothing else matters. How does God view man’s heart? “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah17:9, 10.

People that are portraying themselves as more spiritual or claim to have more knowledge, often border on self-righteousness. The bottom line is that religion, certain rituals, church membership, titles, affiliations or head knowledge that will and cannot save a person. Salvation is in Christ alone through faith. Genuine faith is demonstrated in good works, bearing fruit, we are not saved by working for our salvation. Salvation is a true gift of God and the person that believes and has received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is justified before God.

Christianity has no room for religion. Justification by God is a one time deal and cannot be improved on or changed. Sanctification is a life long process in which God changes the believer more and more into the image of Christ. It is Christ that has justified us the believers before God and it is God that works in the lives of every believer until they are face to face with Him. “..being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;…” Phl 1:6

Can man orchestrate his own salvation? (media4lifeministries.com)
A 2000 + year old desert religion; still relevant for us today? (media4lifeministries.com)
Christianity; the oldest “religion” in the World. (media4lifeministries.com)

Jesus or Muhammad?

Muslims around the world believe that Muhammad and Jesus/ Issa were prophets of God. The Muslims however regard Muhammad as the greater prophet.

My question to my Muslim friends is, if Muhammad was the greatest prophet, why was there no prophesy given of his coming? Not even one? The first coming of Jesus was prophesied long beforehand by the prophets of God in the Holy Scriptures. There are more than 300 prophesies concerning the first coming of the Messiah Jesus i.e. Yahshuah which means “God is salvation”. there are over 300 prophesies that were fulfilled by the Messiah. Why is there not one prophesy concerning the greatest prophet of them all, Muhammad? I find that very odd.

If God or Allah as the Muslims call him gave us so much information in His Holy Book about Jesus, why not once did He give us any indications of the coming of Muhammad? If we compare Jesus and Muhammad, we find that Jesus performed miracles. He healed the sick, made the blind see. He cast out demons and raised the dead. He set the captives free. He rebuked nature. He forgave sins, something only God can do. To top it all off, He died for the sinners by shedding His own blood on the cross. He than raised Himself from the dead and ascended to heaven. He overcame death and defeated sin. He promised that those who would believe in Him would have their sins forgiven and have eternal life, to be for eternity in Heaven with Him.

Did Muhammad do any miracles at all, did he heal the sick, made the blind see? Did he raise the dead, was he able to forgive sins? When Muhammad died did he raise himself and ascended to heaven? Jesus’ tomb is empty. Muhammad’s bones are still in his tomb in the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in the city of Medina. Muhammad thought that he was demon possessed. Jesus cast out demons. Jesus who was sinless taught His disciple and followers to, “love one another as I have loved you”. He came as prophesied to die for the sin of the world. He who knew no sin became sin for us. He gave His life because God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son. Muhammad on the other hand conquered with the sword and killed those who would not convert to Islam. Muhammad did not teach love but hate. Many Muslims would say that their religion is a religion of peace. Looking at the world and the history of Islam, I think it is quite the opposite.

Jesus came to give us eternal life and peace. As Christians we know that we have eternal life through Christ because of His sacrifice and our faith in His finished work. Ask any Muslim if he or she will go to heaven, and they are not sure if they will. They don’t know if they are good enough to apeace Allah. That to me is no security at all. The Bible, the word of God gives the Christians assurance of their salvation. Salvation is a gift of God by His grace through faith and faith alone. No one can be saved by doing good works or by working themselves into heaven, trying their best to somehow please God and hopefully God will accept their good works. God clearly said: “They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” Psalm 14:3. And in another place He said: “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6

No one, none of us can stand on his or her own righteousness, God regards our righteousness as filthy rags. Thanks be to God who imputed the righteousness of Christ onto the believers. Christians stand in the righteousness of Christ and not on their own. How glorious is that? My Muslim friend, consider Father Abraham. He believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness as it is written in the good book: “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:6.

The Apostle Paul addresses justification through faith in his epistle to the Romans:

“For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13.

“He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:20-22.

Paul goes on to say that it was not only imputed onto Abraham but to all that come by faith: “Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:23-25.

Believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior justifies the sinner before God. It is not what we have done, but what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus cleanses the sinner from all unrighteousness. King David knew this very well after his sin with Bathsheba: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.” Psalm 32:1, 2.

The blood of Jesus was sufficient for the to the Father. He has forgotten every sin that was committed and He will not remember them. “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear (reverence) Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:11,12.

My Muslim friend do you have that kind of assurance from Allah and his prophet Muhammad in the Quran? Can Muhammad give you forgiveness and eternal life? Can he wash your sins away and cleanse you from all unrighteousness? If you are not sure that you will go to heaven, don’t you think that is pretty risky not knowing were you will end up? Consider Jesus/Issa and His words. He is the only one that can reconcile you or anyone to the Father. He is the only way to the Father. But we must come through Him. I pray that you my Muslim friend would pick up the Bible the holy scriptures of God and get to know Jesus. Why He came and why He will come again for the believer and set up His kingdom here on earth. Not knowing were you are going for eternity, either heaven or hell, does that not scare you? Read the word of God and you will find Him. He will reveal Himself to you because He loves you and does not want you to perish.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6