Week 8: Islam and the Fundamentals of the Faith | July 27, 2025 Sunday School

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Deuteronomy chapter #13 Last week we started as we looked at

the five pillars of Islam and you might remember from our

study of the five pillars of Islam, we saw that there was the

creed and that creed is this, there is no God but Allah and

Muhammad is his prophet. That someone was to recite that

three times to make them part of the faith.

But then we also saw that there are the other 4 pillars which is

prayer and that prayer would be offered five times a day towards

Mecca as well as those Friday prayers that everyone would

gather together for in a more of a service like would be

reminisces of how we gather together on a Sunday.

Of course the only thing that is similar is the fact that they

gather together. What happens in that service is

much different than what we would have happened in a Bible

preaching church. But they have prayer five times

a day. They have alms Guild giving

which is 2.5% of their income in certain situations that they

would give to the poor, to the needy or to the mosque.

Testing from sun up to sundown during the monthly celebration

or rather the month long celebration.

Ramadan takes place once a year would fast from sun up to

sundown and then a pilgrimage that everyone would be required

to travel once in their life to Mecca as long as they were

physically and financially able to do so That these were the

five pillars of Islam. And you might even remember we

watched a little bit of a video at the end of the lesson to be

able to show you in Islam's own word.

Now, again, just like no one person can speak for

Christianity, no one person can speak for Islam and all the

different flavors, if you will, of Islam.

But I think what we saw was a very down the middle from their

own mouth, from their own theology explanation of these

five pillars. And then I had mentioned that we

are going to this week, look at the fundamentals of the faith,

the fundamentals of the Islamic faith and see how they match up

with Bible believing Christianity.

That was 4 that I want to look at, but I'm afraid that getting

into my study that we're only going to look at two of them

here this morning. We'll look at the other two next

week. And then by God's grace, we'll

be looking at how we can better give the gospel to someone who

is a Muslim and be able to have some understanding of where they

come from so that we can be able to share the faith with them.

Now, of course, we understand that there aren't different

types of salvation. There's way to salvation, Amen.

And we can't give a Islamic person a different version of

the gospel that we would give someone who is a Jehovah

Witness, that we would give someone who is a Buddhist.

No, no, there's only one way to salvation that's through Jesus

Christ. That's salvation by grace

through faith alone. But we also understand that

understanding where they are coming from, understanding that

where their belief system lies, helps us to be able to better

present biblical truth to them. And so that's what we want to

present to the next couple a couple of weeks, the

fundamentals of Islam compared with Bible believing

Christianity. And then in that last week, we

will see how we can take those things and be able to show the

gospel to our Muslim friends and neighbors.

So well, let's look at two of these fundamentals here today.

The fundamentals we're going to look at are the sacred texts and

authority and creation. Of course, we understand that as

Bible believers that the Bible talks much about, well what the

Bible is to us and how it relates to us in our life, where

authority comes from, and also creation.

It's interesting that even creation itself will be part of

our message this morning in second Peter chapter #3 because

creation and the literal 6 day creation found in the Word of

God is often questioned from within Christianity and outside

of Christianity as well. So we'll be looking at that here

this morning. So first of all, we are going to

look at sacred texts and authority, the Quran, Surah 17.

When I say Surah, that is really meaning chapter the way we would

use the word chapter today. But Surah 17 verses 1:05 to 1:07

says this. So this is the Quran in its own

words about itself. It says We sent down the Quran

in truth, and in truth has it descended and We sent you but to

give glad tidings and to warn sinners.

It is a Quran which We have divided into parts from time to

time in order that you might recite it to men at intervals.

We have revealed it by stages. Say whether you believe it or

not. It is true that those who were

given knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down

on their faces in humble prostration.

So the Quran is saying of itself that this is a sacred text.

The Quran to someone who is of the Muslim faith would be to

them what the Bible is to us. But that does not mean that the

Quran is on the same level as the Bible.

There are obviously many, many differences.

Well, the biggest being. One is true, the other is not.

So the primary source of authority for Muslims is what's

called not just the Koran, but according to Surah 8522, the

Glorious Koran. It is the holy book of faith for

Muslims. It is a book that consists of

114 chapters, 6616 verses, 77,943 words and three 338,606

letters. And according to Muslim

teaching, each and every part of the Quran has been dictated by

Allah. The story of the Quran comes

through the Prophet Muhammad. And of course, remember, Allah

is God, Muhammad is the Prophet, and the Quran was received by

mankind through the Prophet Muhammad, although the sacred

text has little to say about him.

There's very few mentions of There's more mentions about

Jesus and Moses and Abraham in the Koran than there are

actually about Mohammed. But the Quran itself affirms it

to be irreproducible in Surah 223, incorruptible 15/9 and

inspired 4251. It is the word of Allah recited

in Arabic 12/2. According to Quran, it replaces

the corrupted text of the Bible, revealing to Jews and to

Christians much that they had hidden or that had passed over

in the Bible, and that now this is the better version of the

scriptures than what the Jews and the Christians had had.

So according to Muslims, this is the most pure, this is the most

most authoritative book, that the Bible is filled with errors,

whether it be Old or New Testament, that there are

certainly names that are mentioned in the Bible, but that

if you want to know who these people really are, you have to

find the Koran and find what the Koran says about those people.

And again, it says it's irreproducible, meaning this.

Not necessarily that you can't copy it, because obviously there

are many copies of the Koran that have reproduced, But the

idea is that it is the pinnacle of literature that there can be.

Nothing greater has been and will never be anything greater

than Quran. In fact, one of the proofs that

Muslims use that the Quran is the word of Allah and it is the

supreme authority, is that it stands at the very height of

literature and that no one has ever or will ever, ever be able

to write anything of its nature. In fact, I have a short video

that I want to show you about that.

And so we're going to watch that for a couple of minutes and then

we will make some comments about it.

The Quran is the direct word of God.

For that you should watch until the very end.

No matter how amazing Ronaldo is at football, you will always

have other amazing footballers like Messi.

No matter how amazing Charles Dickens is at writing, you'll

always have other amazing authors.

No matter how amazing some Youtubers are, you will always

have other amazing Youtubers. The point is that humans can

always imitate humans. This is very important.

Now focus with me for a second. Allah poses an incredibly

powerful challenge to all humanity in the Quran where he

says we're in Kung tum fiori Ben minman zalala abedina, that if

you are in doubt of this Quran, then produce even a chapter like

it. Basically, Allah is asking you

to imitate just one chapter. And considering the shortest

chapter in the Quran is just 10 words long and the fact that

humans can always imitate humans, they shouldn't be too

hard, right? That's literally like Ronaldo

challenging humanity to imitate just one of his goals that he

scored throughout his entire career.

Now if that doesn't sound easy enough, then Allah says and call

upon your helpers and witnesses other than Allah if what you

say. Is the truth.

In other words, not only is Allah basically telling you you

can get all the help that you like, He's also telling you to

call upon your own witnesses, your own scholars that don't

even have to be a Muslim and get them to testify that what you've

produced is like the Quran. Now here's the punch line.

Then Allah says for ILM Tefalu, Wellen Tefalu.

And if you are not able to do so and you will never be able to do

so. In other words, Allah has sealed

the challenge from the very beginning.

And guess what, more than 1400 years have passed and the Quran

remains at the pinnacle of the Arabic language on a level of

its own. And not only that, there's not a

single historical account of a reputable source saying that

someone has successfully managed to imitate the Quran.

So to summarize, humans can always imitate humans.

And because the Quran cannot be imitated, it is therefore from

God. And when you look into the

Quran, you'll actually realize that it answers all life

questions. No stones are left unturned.

And for that, I would absolutely love to invite you to pick up or

put it on and read it for yourself.

So the argument, and this is not a novel argument that is being

made by this gentleman. Some of the research that I have

done that this is an argument that has made many, many times

over that one of the greatest arguments that the Quran is the

height of spirituality and that there is no other book than the

Koran that will teach you things of Allah and things of the

world. And those types of things is the

fact that nothing else has ever been recreated like it.

And then no matter how hard anyone tries, it is the very

pinnacle of that. And the challenge has been laid

out by Allah. If you want to try to make

something better, make it. And so the biggest problem that

I have with that, there's a lot of problems that I have with

that. The biggest problem that I have

with that is that something greater came before the Koran.

That would be the Word of God. And that there is much of the

Koran that is either borrowed or outright well stolen from the

very word of God that the pinnacle was and is remains the

word of God. And that the Quran, like many

other of these will all other texts that try to present

themselves as a religious authority outside of the word of

God, have either begged, borrowed or stolen from the word

of God names like Jesus and Muhammad or Jesus.

And we'll see Adam in a moment. Abraham, Isaac.

These are names and then sometimes even themes that are

taken directly from the word of God.

And so no, the Koran is not God's word.

The Koran is not equivalent to the Bible.

The Koran is not irreproducible, incorruptible or inspired.

The Koran is rank heresy from beginning to end because it

teaches that there is another God.

What we understand that the Bible says there is but one God.

There's only one thing that he said I would agree with and that

would be this, to be able to pick up a copy of the Koran and

to be able to read it on your own.

Say, pastor, why would you suggest something like that?

I would encourage you and I would encourage you to be very

careful in how you do so, but do not just take my word for

certain things that are being said here.

I have a copy of the Quran in my office that I have read through

myself, not cover to cover, but I've read fairly extensively

because I wanted to see for myself what the Quran said.

It You say, well, did that weaken your faith?

Well, no, it only strengthened my faith when I saw the

difference of what was being written there compared to the

purity and the authority and the beauty of the word of God that

we're able to hold in our hands. No, no, I'm very confident that

we have. The very word of God in the

Quran is filled with errors, and the greatest error of all is

this, that Allah is God. And really every other error

flows from that very fatal flaw that is at the very top of their

religion. Like Mormonism.

The words of Allah came on a tablet that was preserved.

This tablet, of course, does not exist and is only mentioned in

one verse of the Koran. As such, many Muslims regard the

tablet as metaphorical, meaning Allah promises to preserve the

Koran from distortion here on earth.

Other Muslims believe this verse is literal and that there is a

heavenly tablet that is secured for all eternity as well.

But a critical investigation of the Quran exposes many of the

contradictions of their own claims.

For instance, they say that the Quran is to be unchangeable in

634 and 1064, but Allah removes verses as He pleases.

Quran 1339. The Quran is regarded as

preserved. Surah 80, 522 Yet Allah causes

Muhammad to forget some of the passages.

Surah 87, verses 6 and 7. The Koran states that it's

dictated from Allah, Surah 39, one and two and will be guarded

from corruption. Surah 15-9.

Yet there were varying copies of the Koran during the earliest

days of Islam. These differing manuscripts

caused the third leader of Islam, Uthman, to choose one

copy over the others and to burn the others.

Additionally, A Quran discovered in Yemen in 1972, perhaps the

oldest manuscript that is currently in existence, was

found to have small but intriguing aberrations from the

standard Quranic texts. As in, they are finding newer

copies, and the newer copies contradict the older copies that

were out there. How can this dictation by Allah

have any irregularities, however small they may be?

And early leaders in Islam admitted that they did not have

the entire Koran. The second leader of Islam,

Umar, stated. Let none of you say I have got

the whole of the Koran. How does he know what all of it

is? Much of the Koran has gone.

Let him say instead I have got what has survived.

So even the very second leader, the spiritual successor of

Muhammad, said this. We don't have the whole Koran.

We have as much as we can have. And we're just going to have to

do the best we can with what we have.

And so there are a great many contradictions that take place

with their sacred text, which is the Koran.

But also secondary to the Koran is the hadith.

And that word hadith means traditions.

It is another sacred book which gives example for Muslims to

live by revealing the life and manner of Muhammad.

So the hadith is where the Quran has very little to do with

Muhammad. The hadith is all about

Muhammad. Here's how he lived.

This was his manner of living. And this is how you can live by

following the great prophets example.

But as we saw last week, well, Muhammad is no St.

We looked at a lot of issues about him last week in brief,

but I would put him down as an authority as well because the

hadith points to Muhammad. And you certainly have a lot of

talk about Muhammad. You have Allah, the Quran, the

hadith which speaks about Muhammad, and even when Muhammad

is named, and I've watched several videos about Islam just

this last week, when Muhammad is named, it's right behind it.

May peace be upon him, may peace be upon him.

It has to be said when you say his name in a way that's very

reminiscent about how people would talk in Islam about Allah.

So when I look at sacred texts and authority, I would include

Muhammad in as that authority as well.

There's a reason why for that, that we'll look in Deuteronomy

in just a second. Well, we talked last week about

his warrior past that we saw that Islam means submission,

right? And that submission, while they

would deny that it has anything to do with the sword, because

submission has to do with committing to the will of Allah.

History is very clear. Remember the map that we showed

you last week of how Islam spread like wildfire across the

Middle East and into North Africa and even into points of

Europe of places that we would call today Portugal and Spain.

That this was not a missionary endeavor like we would see in

the book of Acts, where Paul and Barnabas or Paul and Silas or

any of the other apostles that went to corners of the globe.

That the word of God spread and people believed and people

rejoiced and lives were changed. No, no, this was quite

different. This was submissioned by the

sword. This was you believe or you die.

And this is history. This is not just the conjecture

of a wild Baptist preacher who's trying to put Islam in a corner.

No, history is very clear. Muhammad's life is very clear

about this. And so because of this, Muhammad

as an authority should be judged by this.

As we look at Islam as a whole, we should be able to look at the

Koran and be able to point out the many irregularities in the

Koran. We should be able to look at the

hadith that points to Muhammad and say, yes, there's some grave

and great irregularities in the life of Muhammad.

Muhammad's personal failures, not just his warrior past, but

his personal failures were very great.

Muslims are forbidden to marry. Listen to this.

According to Surah 4 verse 3, there's there are required to

marry no more than four women. A male can have up to four

wives. But after four, that's when you

have to stop Muhammad however, and isn't this by the way, isn't

this the way that cult leaders and religious leaders of false

religions act that he says, well, I have a special

revelation, you know, hey you peasants, you only get 4 women.

But you know, for me, Allah has told me I can have as many as I

want. And the sordid history of him

taking on wives to himself speaks very, very poorly of this

religion as a whole. Muhammad received a special

revelation that he could marry as many as he wished due to

Allah's favor. Surah 33 verses 37 and 51.

He took full advantage of this blessing.

For example, Muhammad was infatuated with a woman named

Zainab. But there was one problem.

Zeynab was married to Muhammad's adopted son, Zaid.

Eventually, the Prophet convinced Zeynab to divorce her

husband, Muhammad's son, and marry the Prophet.

As stunning as it sounds, Muhammad married his

daughter-in-law. Yet that's not even the most

controversial of all of the marriages of which he partook in

such was involved a young girl by the name of Aisha.

Bukhari's hadith states that Aisha was six years old when the

couple was betrothed and she was 9 when they consummated their

marriage. Now I'll be honest with you, I

read this in my materials of which I have possessed and and

that is I said is this is this for real?

This can't be real and I went through and by Muslims own

sources they would acknowledge. Yes, that's what it says.

And it doesn't just say it in one passage, it says it in

several different passages of the hadiths that Aisha was six

years old when they were married and nine years old when the

marriage was consummated. Recognizing that the hadith is

considered authentic and authoritative to Muslims, it's

difficult to imagine any justification of this as

standard or action by a biblical standard, much less desire to

consider Muhammad as many do, as the excellent exemplar one

should follow. This is the man who should be

followed. This is the man who heard from a

righteous God. My only answer to that would be

absolutely not that. I know that I'm saying this

online before God and man, but I'll say it because it is what

it is. The man was a pedophile and it's

gross and disgusting and disturbing on every single

level. And this is something that has

been commonly reported through the centuries.

This is not a religion that should be followed.

It is a religion that should be swept into the dustbin of

history, never to be visited again.

But yet, remember, there is over a billion adherents to the

Muslim faith here in the world today, somewhere between 1 and 2

billion depending how it's reckoned.

Now, I think a lot of those might be cultural Muslims.

They live in Muslim countries, so they're just counted as

Muslims. But yet nonetheless, somewhere

between 1 and 2 billion people believe that this man is an

authority who heard from God. And it's not just wrong, it's

disgusting and it is an abomination before a good and

right and holy God. Of course, as believers, our

perspective on sacred texts are much different, aren't they?

What is our final authority for faith and practice?

Well, the good news is you're holding it in your lap right

now, aren't you? Or it's on your phone or tablet

right now. It's the word of God, isn't it?

That the Word of God is our final authority for faith and

practice. And often times when people ask

me what makes you different as a Baptist, particularly talking

about Catholics and other denominations or even other

religions, but what makes you different as Baptists?

My answer is always this, that we believe the Bible and the

Bible alone. That we don't need any other

type of sacred book, That we don't need any other type of

authority. That if the Bible says it, we

believe it, and the Bible says did not do it, we know we're not

supposed to do it. The Bible says to do it, we know

we're supposed to do it. This is where we get all of our

authority right here in the word of God.

And so it's much different from what you would see within the

Muslim context. Second Timothy 316 and seven.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for

obstruction of righteousness to the man of God may be perfect,

thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Doctrine, reproof, instruction, and righteousness.

I love those 4 categories. Doctrine is what's right,

reproof is what's wrong, correction is how to get it

right, and instruction and righteousness is how to stay

right. What more do you need in life

that all of that is found in the Word of God.

Second, Peter 120 and 21. We just looked at these a few

weeks ago, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the

Scriptures of any private interpretation, for the prophecy

came not in old time by the will of men, but holy men of God

spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

That what we have here is a book, a compilation of 40

different authors, but truly those 40 different authors were

really 40 different Penman. That there is one author to the

Word of God, and that is God himself.

Psalm 12/6 and seven. The words of the Lord are pure

words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified 7

times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord,

Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.

By the way, why do I believe that we have the preserved Word

of God today? And why do we use our King James

Bible just as a reminder that the Bible talks that there is a

preservation of the Word of God, that it's not just, well, there

were originals and they are correct, but we don't know that

we can have the correct word of God anymore.

I'm so glad that God is so mighty and He's so great that He

didn't just inspire His word, but He supernaturally preserved

His word, so that we can know that we have the word of God.

Matthew 518 For verily I say unto you, to heaven and earth

shall pass away, not one jot or one title shall pass away from

the law, till all be fulfilled. Proverbs 35 and 6.

Every word of God is pure. He has a shield unto them that

put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto his words,

lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Isaiah 40, verse 8. The grass withereth, the flower

Isaiah 40:8

fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.

John 1717. Sanctify them through thy truth.

Thy word is truth. But as far as Muhammad, the

Bible has clear commandments of what should be done with false

prophets, particularly in an Old Testament context.

Hopefully you're in Deuteronomy 13.

Remember 30 minutes ago when I asked you to open there?

All right, I'm forgotten. All right, Deuteronomy 13.

Let's look at verse #1. In this retelling of the Law by

Moses, it says, If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer

of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign

or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee,

saying, Let us go after other gods which thou has not known,

and let us serve them that should not hearken unto the

words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.

For the Lord your God prove with you to know whether you love the

Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep

his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him

and cleave unto him. And that prophet or that dreamer

of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken to turn

you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the

land of Egypt, and redeem you out of the House of bondage, to

thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee

to walk him. So shalt thou put the evil away

from the midst of thee. So in this Old Testament context

that we have here, when the there was a prophet who would

come and speak to the people of Israel and they would say,

here's a sign, Here's a wonder because the Jews required a

sign. We see that quite often the Old

Testament reiterated the New Testament that the Jews wanted

to see a sign. But part of that was this issue

of, you know, there's also another God I want to tell you

about. It's not just about Jehovah.

There's these other gods as well.

Or maybe they would say outright Jehovah's false and this other

God is the true God or this whole group of gods are the real

God. The Bible was very clear.

This is not only not someone that should be heeded, it's

someone that should be put away entirely.

Now, I want to be very clear. What I'm saying here is that I'm

not calling for those who are adherence to Islam or those who

preach from the Koran to be killed.

That's not what I'm saying here. We're understanding this was Old

Testament regulation that was given to the people of Israel.

But I do think what is very clear here is that those who

teach that there are another God must be disregarded and must be

put off to the side and say, we as believers, we don't believe

that, and that it will come to not whether it's here in this

life, it will come to not, not at the great white throne.

Judgment. Jeremiah 14, verses 14 and 15.

Jeremiah 14:14

Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets, prophecy lies in my

name. I sent them not, neither I

commanded them, neither spake unto them.

They prophecy unto you a false vision and divination, and a

thing of naughty, and the deceit of their heart.

Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets, that

prophecy in my name, and I sent them not.

Yet they say, sword and famine shall not be in this land.

By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

He was saying here in the book of Jeremiah that those who were

talking about sword and famine, he says this if I didn't come

for me, then it's going to be placed upon you.

He says if that message of sword and famine didn't come for me,

then you're going to get the sword and famine that you have

prophesied for those other people.

And I will say this, the fruit of Islam today is that the whole

Middle East as well as Islamic countries are filled with

turmoil more often than not. That it is not a religion of

peace. It has not been a religion of

peace. And again, I want to be very

clear that there are very peaceful Muslims who live here

in our nation and that there are live in other places.

But we are looking at the overall arching look over 1400

years of this doctrine. And we would say this, that

those who live in a peaceful manner are the minority and

those who live according to Sharia law and according to

these other thought processes like women being property, as we

looked at last week, that this is really the literal

interpretation, the Quran that is used in many, many parts of

the globe. And it's very, very sad.

The bottom line is the prophet should live or die by his words.

That's what the word of God says.

The prophet. You say it, you got to live by

it, and then you'll have to be judged by it.

And I just think of Mount Carmel.

There's Elijah and all the prophets of Baal.

O Baal hear us. O Baal, hear us.

O Baal, hear us. Well, he didn't hear because he

couldn't hear because he wasn't. And that's the bottom line,

isn't it? What happened?

They live by their words, and by the end of the day, they died by

the words. And again, I want to be very

clear that I'm not calling for the death of anyone here today.

We want to love people who do not believe in Jesus Christ as

their savior. We want to love them to the

gospel. But at the same time, we cannot

hide the differences and call that love.

We need to expose the differences so that we can

expose them to the to the saving power rather of Jesus Christ.

And so the first of the fundamentals that we want to

compare Islam to Christianity, to a sacred text and authority.

The second is this creation, creation.

Now it's important that these go together because the second

makes sense of the first. If the Bible is your authority,

then we have a very clear understanding about creation.

When you have a different authority than the idea of

creation can be quite different. Now I will say on its face,

Islam and Christianity seem to have commonalities when it comes

to creation. Those similarities include that

heaven and earth were created in six days.

And may I remind you, sometimes we say they're created in seven

days, but really was six days because the Lord rested on the

7th day. Now if you say 7 days, no one

should get upset about that. But if we're being very literal,

which we ought to be very literal about the word of God,

it was created in six days. Humans were given responsibility

over creation. That's another similarity that

the woman was tempted in the garden.

Genesis chapter 3 is where we would find that and that Adam

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

and the woman were removed from the garden because of sin.

So there are similarities at the 1st and it would almost be to

the point to make you think that we believe the same things about

creation, but that certainly is not the case.

In fact, this is where the similarities end.

First of all, the Quran does not give a detailed account of

creation. In fact, creation itself is only

mentioned in about 30 verses of the Quran.

Not much at all when you consider that we have Genesis

1-2 and three on top of a multitude of other verses found

through scripture that affirm that the creation was not just a

myth, that it was not just an analogy for something else, but

it was a real event that took place in six days.

In fact, Jesus himself affirmed this, didn't he, That he will

also said that this was the creation.

And he affirms the first 12 chapters of Genesis himself.

Muslim clerics allow for evolution, saying that their

version of creation is likely just an allegory.

In fact, they use a verse that sounds very similar to what we

have in our Bible, very similar to what we're going to look at

today in second Peter chapter #3 where it says a day in the sight

of the Lord is like 1000 years. And so their idea as well,

listen, time is, you know, he said six days, but it really

could have been a whole lot more and it could have evolved.

But you know, the problem is, is that their verse does not have

the context of creation. And I would say this some, but

some Christians would even say, well, we, you know, our Bible

says a day is like 1000 years. So couldn't creation have been a

whole lot more? What we're going to see this

morning that that verse has nothing to do with creation

whatsoever. In fact, it talks about the

timetable of when Jesus is coming back, that there were

those who were concerned about was he coming back yet?

Is he, is he, why isn't he here yet?

Like, listen, God's timetable is not our timetable, but we also

don't get to take that one little snippet of verse and try

to apply it to twisting Genesis chapters one through 3 into

something that it is not. There's a lot of differences

between the Bible, the Quran. I'm going to run through these

quickly. As far as it goes to creation, I

know it's a little bit smaller there, but hopefully it's big

enough for you to see. The Bible says there's precise

details of six days of creation, but there's very little detail

in the Quran, in the Bible. Listen to this.

Jesus is the creator. John 11 through three in the

beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word

was God, and the same was in the beginning with God.

But in the Quran, Jesus was a created being.

They affirm that Jesus was alive, but there Jesus is not

our Jesus. I want to be so very clear about

that, that just because they mentioned Jesus, he was one of

the prophets, but Muhammad is the greatest of the prophets

according to the Quran, that Muhammad is the greatest of the

prophets and Jesus was just one of the minor prophets.

And to that we say we cannot agree in any way, shape or form.

Eve was honored in creation and Bible taken out of the side of

Adam and Eve is never mentioned by name in the Quran whatsoever.

I mentioned on the previous slide the fact of the woman.

The woman, Well, that's because Eve is never mentioned by name

and that name is just supplied by others later.

Well, where did they get that name from?

I wonder? Kind of like where they got a

lot of other names and information from.

And they want to have the the standard of, well, could anybody

make a book like this? And I think it's already been

made and a whole lot better and a whole lot truer, you know, and

righteous. So Eve was on her creation.

Eve was never mentioned by name. The Bible, mankind was made in

the image of God and the Quran. Mankind is a small creation.

Satan is seen as a cunning serpent in the Bible, but in the

Quran, there's no mention of Satan as a serpent.

Adam became a living being while the last Adam, Jesus Christ,

gives life. And Adam was the first Muslim,

and he was the first prophet of Islam as well.

Adam and Eve we're tempted by Satan to eat from the three of

the knowledge of good and evil. And then Quran Adam and Eve were

tempted by Satan, who also tempts the rest of humanity.

The Bible, Adam and Eve's sin recognize the need for a savior,

and the Quran recognizes that Adam and Eve's sin illustrated

the need for guidance. Now, this is where it's actually

quite important, this last part. We understand that because

mankind fell in the garden, there was a need for the Savior.

You remember on Wednesday night that we looked at Genesis 315,

that first mention of the gospel, the proto evangelium.

And why couldn't I say that on Wednesday night?

So I was, I was like drooling on myself trying to say that on

Wednesday night. But the proto evangelium tells

us that that there was going to be a savior.

Remember, it was hidden in mystery at the time that that

mystery gradually unfolded throughout the New, the Old

Testament until Jesus revealed himself in his incarnation in

the New Testament. But we realized through all that

that mankind needed a savior. According to Islam, mankind does

not need a savior. Mankind needs guidance.

That's a big difference. That may not sound like much but

it's a huge difference since mankind according to the Quran.

Since mankind has not fallen and death is natural.

Oh no, I'm sorry for Christians. Mankind need a savior to redeem

them, but in Islam they need a prophet to guide them.

The path to heaven is paved by good works, not grace.

By listening to the final Prophet Muhammad, not God our

savior. This is a burdensome struggle,

but it's great virtue for the Muslim meaning this is that they

know that mankind has had struggles, that different

prophets have guided them along the way.

But the greatest Muhammad, greatest prophet of all,

Muhammad, he is the one that you really need and he is going to

lead you into everything that you need.

That really there was no understanding of what quote UN

quote salvation was until Muhammad came.

You know, you and I understand that salvation has been around

well since mankind's been around you say, well, I thought

salvation was just about Jesus and everybody after No, no, that

salvation has been this. There were those in the Old

Testament that believed in the promise of the Messiah and

looked ahead and those of us know that Messiah is Jesus

Christ and we look back. But salvation's always been by

faith. That's what it's always been.

It's always been through Jesus Christ and the to the Islam, a

believer that they just need guidance.

And Muhammad is the one that gives guidance.

And when you don't believe that you are a fallen creature in

need of the grace of God, you're in a very, very difficult place.

So what does the Bible say about this?

We'll turn to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

Some very familiar verses there. Ephesians chapter #2

we'll begin in verse #4 Ephesians 24.

But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he

loved us even when we were dead in sins.

Now I'm going to stop right there.

When someone is dead in sins, do they need guidance?

But they need a whole lot more than guidance, don't they?

If some, if something is dead, you can't really guide it

anywhere. You can't, you can't, you can't

move it around, right? It's there.

It can't move it. It, it's beyond guidance at that

point. It needs to be made alive again.

And we can't do that ourselves. We were dead in our trespasses

and sins. Could we make ourselves alive

again? We cannot.

Was there enough good works that we could do to revive ourselves?

We couldn't. We're dead.

So what we need is much different than what Islam

promises. Instead it says this.

It says, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us

together with Christ by grace you're saved, Hath raised us up

together, and made us to sit together in heavenly places in

Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the

exceeding riches of his grace. In his kindness toward us

through Christ Jesus for by grace are you saved through

faith and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast

what we need is the grace that only comes by Jesus Christ.

It's not by works, it's not by guidance, it's not by any of

those types of things It's by Christ and Christ alone.

I'll leave this with you and we'll, we'll leave off for today

and we'll hit the other two fundamentals next week.

But it's fairly often that I walk around downtown Mansfield.

And I've mentioned this to you before many times that maybe a

couple times a week that I go out there.

And it's been a habit that I've formed ever since my surgery a

few years ago to make sure my legs get the stretching that

they need. But there is an Islamic school

that is there just off of Main Street in Mansfield.

And it's very often that I see children getting off of the

train at the train station and walking a few blocks over to the

school and usually in their traditional garb.

And, you know, you look at that and you look at that within the

context of the society that we live.

And they look, they look different and we have some

preconceived notion sometimes because of some things that have

happened in our nation in our past.

And sometimes you can look at people that are in that

situation and you really don't have a lot of regard for them if

you're not careful. But I want you to know that when

we look at those Muslims that are here in our communities and

there are more than sometimes we realize that instead of being

put off by them or their appearance or put off by the

prayers and put off by the other things.

Know what we need to do is to put on compassion and love and

realize these are some people that have been very, very

misguided, likely for generations and generations in

their family that they know no other way.

They've never even considered another way that we need to show

them not just Jesus, but the Jesus of the Bible.

Not just the Jesus that was a good prophet, but the Jesus that

was the Creator, Godfather, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Three and one. This is who they need.

But I'm afraid often times, because there are all these

grave differences and because of some of the things that we have

seen in the name of Islam over the years, that we just kind of

have no regard for them. Listen, we must have hearts of

compassion for all who do not know Christ, no matter what

their belief system is. Because listen, as we go back to

lesson #1 all the way back at the beginning of May, if we go

back to lesson #1 really it all comes down to this.

There's only two religions, God and not God.

There's one God, God's Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Everything else falls under the category of not God.

No matter what the flavor is, no matter what the clothing is, no

matter what the garb is, no matter who the authorities are,

no matter what the sacred books are, no matter what any of those

things are, there is one God. And it's up to us to be able to.

Thank you, Ralph. That's a good one.

So and so that's what we need is to be able to look at those

people who maybe look different than us or have different types

of beliefs than us or different types of habits than us and

realize this. We need to radiate Jesus Christ

to them because they are lost unless they come to know Jesus

Christ, the Jesus Christ of the Bible, as their Savior.

So next week we're going to look at the two other fundamentals,

and that's going to be the nature of God and the nature of

salvation. And we'll look at those in a

greater way. Thank you for listening to the

sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.

If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we

can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at

[email protected]. Or you can visit us this Sunday

at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.

May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.