Week 7: Introducing Islam and the Five Pillars | July 20, 2025 Sunday School

Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.

The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist

Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us

or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look

us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this

message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.

So maybe we ask ourselves this question, where does Islam

begin? Where did it begin?

Or or maybe a better question that would be this morning is

where do the people who believe in Islam believe Islam began?

And we can look for Genesis chapter 16 this morning and

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

where we would not necessarily ourselves see the foundation of

Islam. Yet Islamic authorities would

point to this chapter of scripture, or at least they

would point to a particular person as one who was with in

the lineage of what eventually would become Muhammad several

hundreds of years or 1000 years later.

So look at chapter 16 and verse #1 where it says now Sarai,

Abram's wife, bear him no children.

And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold, now the Lord hath

restrained me from bearing, I pray thee, go in unto my maid.

It may be that I may obtain children by her.

And Abram hearken to the voice of Sarai, And Sarai, Abram's

wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had 12-10

years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to

be his wife. And he went into Hagar, and she

conceived. And when she saw that she had

conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

Now, I'm not necessarily preaching from this text this

morning, but remember that anyone who has more than one

spouse has more spouses than God ever intended a person to have.

And so we look at Solomon, we look at David, and we see that

we talked about this a few weeks ago in Sunday evening service,

that there are many times when a man has more than one wife in

the Bible, that it's not explicitly condemned in those

verses. And there were maybe even some

who would say, well, does God endorse polygamy?

And I would just say, we'll look at the fruit of the tree that is

planted here. And every time there is more

than one spouse involved, it always leads to trouble.

Ask David, ask Solomon, ask Abram here, because this was not

a good situation. What was he supposed to do, wait

upon the promises of God? The promise of God was this, you

will have a son, and from that son will become a great nation.

But he circumvented what God had already said.

And by the way, there's a lot of issues that we're dealing with

today in the Middle East. There's a lot of issues that

we're dealing today with Islam because believe it or not, Abram

simply didn't trust God the way that you're supposed to trust

him. And it's a reminder to us here

this morning that our decisions have far more reaching

consequences than a lot of times we believe.

Our decisions affect our children.

Our decisions affect our grandchildren.

You say, well, I don't have any grandchildren.

Yep, Yep, me neither. But it will affect them.

It's hard for me to fathom. That's hard for me to recognize.

But if the Lord tarries, if he doesn't come, the decision to

dine and I make will affect not just my children, but my

grandchildren, my great, great grandchildren.

And it could affect for many, many generations.

That's true for all of us. And so here's what happens.

This is this, this, this, this situation takes place.

The Lord Abram tries to circumvent, to try to fulfill

what the Lord has said, instead of just trusting the Lord.

And now the situation is going to turn out of control.

Verse 5 And Sarah, I said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee,

I've given my maid into thy bosom.

And when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her

eyes. The Lord judge between me and

thee. But Abram said unto Sarah, I

behold thy maid is in thy hand, to do as it pleaseth thee.

And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

And the Angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of the water

in the wilderness, by a fountain in the way of sure.

And he said, Hagar, Sarah's maid, whence camest thou, and

whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the

face of my mistress Sarai. And the Angel of the Lord said

unto her, Return to thy mistress, Submit thyself under

her hands. And the Angel of the Lord said

unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall

not be numbered for multitude. And the Angel of the Lord said

unto her, Behold, thou art with child shall bear a son shall

call his name Ishmael, because the Lord hath heard thy

affliction, and he will be a Wildman.

His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand

against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his

brethren. You say, well, pastor, I see

what you're saying. You're trying to fit Islam into

what it says here about being a Wildman, being against every

man. It'll be a large nation in and

of itself. You're trying to shoehorn this

into Genesis chapter #16 to try to make your overall point.

And the answer is that's absolutely not true.

This is what Islam says of itself.

It says before Muhammad was that they could trace their lineage

back to Muhammad through Adnan. Adnan was supposedly a son of

Ishmael and established through Ishmael and Adnam established

the Arab and prophetic line separate from Isaac's line,

which leads to the Israelites. And this is found in classical

Islamic historical works such as Eben Ishaqs, Surat Rasul Allah.

And so this is not something that I'm just trying to fit into

the word of God. This is Islam saying it.

This is where we come from. If you were to go before

Muhammad. And what we see here from the

word of God is this, there's going to be trouble, there's

going to be difficulty, there's going to be hardship.

And So what I'm pointing to is what the Muslims would point to

here, and I'm just highlighting what they would say.

Muslims also consider Ishmael to be a direct ancestor to

Muhammad. So with all of this being said,

and using this maybe as a jumping off point for what we

are going to look at today, we're going to start by

considering the summarizing phrase of Islam.

And the summarizing phrase of Islam would be this.

There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.

Maybe you've heard that phrase before.

There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.

With this one phrase, Islam is summarized by its adherence.

It's reckoned that today there's about 2 billion Muslim believers

in the world. Now we're looking at a globe

that has somewhere around 8 billion people.

About 25% of the world's population claims to be of the

faith of Islam. And yet we see that while

America is not an Islamic nation and there's somewhere around

maybe 5 million of those who claim to be adherents of Islam

in the United States today, yet we do realize that it is

growing. And it is growing in the United

States at a very rapid pace, almost doubling since about

2013. That is large exponential growth

here in the United States. But I think a lot of times,

because we don't necessarily see a lot of Muslims in our

community. And certainly there are some, no

doubt that we see at different places, whether you're going to

the store or whether you're just out and around town.

There's a Islamic school in Mansfield that is not too far

where for some of you all live. Islam is a very, very large,

large world faith. Believe it or not, the most

populous Muslim country is not in the Middle East.

It's Indonesia, where there are over 200 million who claim to be

Muslim. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh

all account for half a billion Muslims in the world population

and Muslims are the majority in 49 different countries.

Out of the almost 200 countries around the world, about 1/4 of

them are considered to be Muslim majority countries.

So when one thinks of Islam, you likely think of this phrase here

that you might have heard before.

Maybe you couldn't have recited it to me, but you're at least

familiar with it. There is no God but Allah and

Muhammad is his prophet. Now this phrase is a creed or

it's a statement of faith. For someone to become a Muslim,

they must repeat this phrase three different times.

That is their way of maybe we could put it this way, becoming

saved in the Muslim faith that they would have to say three

times within in their heart there is no God but Allah and

Muhammad is his prophet. Now with such a simple

statement, you would probably think it's a pretty simple

religion, wouldn't you? You would think, wow, this, you

could summarize it in one sentence.

So there must not be a whole lot to it.

And the fact of the matter is that there is a great deal that

comes into the Muslim faith. Now, where did Islam come from?

Just a very brief history of it. Around 6:10, ADA man named

Muhammad received his first revelation from Allah while in a

cave outside of Mecca. You no doubt heard of Mecca

before and the pilgrimages that can sometimes take place there

that he received, by his account, a revelation from the

Angel Gabriel. And he believed that the Angel

Gabriel in that revelation was going to kill him.

He was surprised. He was shocked that he actually

lived through the experience. But it was yet through that

experience that the basis for what is called the Koran was

starting to be written today. Now, Islam spread very quickly.

Now you say how quickly did it spread?

Well, let's consider Christianity for a moment.

That you were to look at maybe a 20 year period after Christ

resurrected and the world was literally fact.

It said that the world was turned upside down by the fact

that the apostles and other missionaries would go around the

world just preaching and teaching Jesus Christ.

Islam also had a very rapid spread as well, but it's spread

was not by what we would call proselytizing or sharing the

faith. The spread of Islam had

everything to do with the sword. It had everything to do with

Muhammad being not just what is considered a prophet, but a

warrior prophet. And you can see just in a very

short period of time, from about 622 to around 7:50 AD, the rapid

expansion of Islam throughout not just the Middle East, but

into Africa, Asia, and then even into parts of Europe, what we

would call Spain and Portugal today.

The Quran in Surah 2 verse 216 says fighting is prescribed upon

you and you dislike it, but it's possible that you dislike a

thing which is good for you. The idea that fighting and being

able to fight the infidels was actually a very good thing.

The Prophet viewed war as a religious event, slaying those

who do not believe in Allah or in the last days.

It says in Surah 9 verse #29 he eradicated the Jews from Medina

and ultimately conquered his hometown Mecca with very little

resistance. There Muhammad destroyed

hundreds of Pagan idols from Kaaba and established Islam as

the official religion of the Arabian Peninsula.

And so you can see that in those just 10 years, that 10 year

period in the dark red, how very quickly the Islam faith spread

by the sword. Now after Muhammad's death, you

could consider that somewhere around 1400 years of conquest

followed the following Christian regions that were conquered by

Islamic forces are these Syria 634, Egypt 639, N Africa 700,

Spain 711, Morocco 722. In fact, although not overtaken,

even Rome was sacked by the Muslims in 846.

Muslim captured other territory, including Persia 642,

Afghanistan 670, Turkistan 715, and West Africa in the late 9

hundreds. And perhaps the greatest

expansion of Islam occurred under the Ottomans.

And you've likely heard of the Ottoman Empire conquered the

city of Constantinople in 1453, a city second only to Rome in

its influence. And the Turks would rule much of

the civilized world over the next 450 years and even

challenge Christian supremacy in the very heart of Europe.

Now, why is this? Well, one of the things that I

think is very telling about the faith Islam is that the name

Islam, the word Islam means submission or surrender,

submission or surrender. And there would be those Islamic

historians or theologians who would say that it means

submission or surrender to Allah, that it's totally

voluntary, that Islam literally means you're surrending yourself

to Allah and to Allah alone. And I would submit to you that

it is submission or surrender by the sort that is, you will

believe that we understand that really when it comes to matters

of the heart, can the sword solve anything, that really the

heart has to be changed and to truly believe.

And we believe that as believers, don't we, that we

believe that as believers that we can't force anyone or coerce

anyone into believing Jesus Christ their Savior.

But yet there is a pervasive amount of fear that you find

during this time, fear of death, fear of conquering, fear of all

of these different things. But not everybody would agree

with what I just told you. Even some secular historians

would disagree. James Missioner, for example,

said no other religion in history spread so rapidly as

Islam. The West has why?

They believe that the surge of religion was made possible by

the sword, but no modern scholar except that idea and the Quran

is explicit in support of the freedom of conscience.

And no offense to Mr. Michener, who passed away about 25 or so

years ago, but I would say to James Michener that that is one

of the most preposterous statements that one could ever

make because there are many reasons why what he just said is

not true. Well, why is that?

Well, first of all, because. Oh, yeah, you probably could

have read that right there. Doesn't that look nice?

All right, we'll move on now. If you don't, you don't have

time to read that. We're moving on.

We're moving on. Is it a religion of peace?

Well we ask ourselves this. Well the Quran doesn't agree

with what we just read. The Quran does not agree with

that Quran. Surah 9 verse 5.

Then when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters

wherever you find them and take them captive.

Besiege them and prepare for them each ambush.

But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor due,

then leave their way free. Surah 2191.

Slay them wherever you catch them.

Turn them out from where they have turned you out, for

persecution is worse than slaughter.

Sora 812 I will instill terror into the hearts of the

disbelievers. Smitey above their necks, smite

all their fingertips off of them.

Sora 47 verse 4. So when you meet those who

disbelieve in battle, strike their necks until when you have

inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds.

I would say that's for very specific verses on top of those

I had just told you before that seem that the Quran is

explicitly saying if you were a unbeliever that there are some

very severe consequences that should be placed upon you.

Now, Muslim theologians and even from some that I have just read

this week would say, now listen, that those are all in in the

sacred text, but you're taking them out of context.

You're taking them far away from what they meant because they

were meant for a specific time or for a specific reason.

And I will say I have a little bit of sympathy for that because

don't we realize as believers that there are difficult verses

in the word of God and someone who's maybe is an unbeliever

tries to throw that difficult verse in your face and you say,

well, listen, sure, that verse is in the Bible, but you don't

understand the context of that verse.

And so I want to be careful when I present these things to you

that I'm not just throwing random verses at you, that I'm

making sure that, you know, I'm being fair with what I say about

these other religions. So what I would say that the

Quran doesn't agree that it's a religion of peace, that

submission or the submission that means by the sword or

surrender. But I would say it's not just

the Quran that doesn't agree with that interpretation that

it's a religion of peace. But Muslim rule countries don't

agree with that, just the very fruit of those who live under

Sharia law. And there are many nations that

live under Islamic or Sharia law.

Muslim rule countries have no freedom of speech.

They have no freedom of religion.

In Muslim rule countries, proselytizing is illegal.

You realize that we cannot send missionaries into Muslim rule

countries to do what they would do in other countries.

Why? They're called closed countries

to the gospel. Now listen, no country is closed

from the Lord. The Lord can overrule whatever

any government wants to do, but at the same time, you cannot get

a missionary visa to go into Qatar.

You cannot get a missionary visa to go into Saudi Arabia.

There are other means that the gospel has to be propagated, and

typically it's by those who are within that country, those who

already live there. But even those understand that

if they come to Christ, that at best they may be thrown out of

their homes, they may be thrown out of their family, and at

worst they may lose their life. Though this is not a

hyperventilating pastor who is just trying to be over the top

with you this morning. This is pretty well founded by

what all of us have seen, by what the media often times

hides. But when they do portray it, it

is portrayed as this because it is real.

Muslim ruled countries are often places where women are treated

as property. In Saudi Arabia that a woman

could not travel until just a three or four years ago, could

not travel without permission from her husband, could not go

anywhere. And I have quotes that I won't

share with you this morning for the sake of time.

But the idea that a woman is a piece of property, that she is

not an actual human entity with the rights that a man has.

And so we we see that just Muslim countries don't agree

with this. They the very fruit of it.

And by the way, not to take an aside here, but there are Muslim

countries like Saudi Arabia who are putting millions and

billions of dollars into things like sports, into things like

entertainment and media. You see all the large

skyscrapers that are going up in those areas and theme parks and

all kinds of things to try to modernize and to try to give a

little bit of a different look at what a Muslim rule country is

like. And so you have to be very

careful about that propaganda because that's what it is.

It is propaganda. And so we would say the Quran

doesn't agree that it's a religion of peace.

Muslim rule countries don't agree.

That's a religion of peace, and jihadists don't agree that it's

a religion of peace. Our nation has some very unique

experiences, don't we understanding what Muslim jihad

is like. The idea that jihadists will

receive virgins as a reward in paradise comes from certain

interpretations of Islamic texts, particularly the hadith

literature. And the Hadith describes rewards

for martyrs, including how Reeves, which would be heavenly

maidens or heavenly virgins, promise to the righteous in

paradise. Now, to be clear.

Not every Muslim is a jihadist. I think we need to be clear

about that. The Muslim that you meet on the

street here in the United States of America may not believe and

likely does not believe what a jihadist who has been

radicalized believes. But where did those jihadists

get those beliefs from? They got them from the very

Muslim texts of which others are not taking a literal

interpretation of. And they are saying, Nope, this

is literally what it says, and this is what they're going to

do. They do it in the name of Allah.

And so I would say that questioning that Islam is a

religion of peace comes from three prongs.

That their own holy text does not say it's a religion of

peace. That how they live out that

religious text in countries that are fully run by Muslim clerics

and Sharia law does not agree. And that those who have been

radicalized or those who are living out the very most literal

words that come from the Muslim holy texts.

And so by looking at this, we say, wow, this is a very, very

dangerous line of thinking and it is spreading like wildfire

all around the world. Now.

Islam has five different pillars.

The five pillars of Islam are the five core tenets, the five

core beliefs of what makes Islam Islam.

They are signposts that point towards Islam.

But I would argue that there are also sign points, sign signs,

rather signposts that point away from Jesus Christ.

So these are signs that point towards Islam but point away

from Christ. Why is it important that we

learned this? Well, one apologist says if

you're prepared to deal with these five issues, then you can

really engage in effective ministry.

Again, why are we laying this so bare with us here today?

It almost seems like it's cruel or unkind.

No, no, If we want to win someone to Christ that has these

beliefs, we need to know what these beliefs are so that then

we can show what the word of God says about these things.

You know, we don't want to whitewash what they believe to

try to be overly kind here today.

In fact, that's not kindness at all.

We want to expose what the false belief is so then we can show

how the gospel can free them from this type of thinking.

I think it's very important that we do so.

But I'm going to explain the five pillars to you here this

morning in just a moment. But I have a video, a short

video that from an Islamic social media account of a social

Islamic group. So not my words, not a

Christian's word summarizing Islam, but Islam summarizing

itself and Islam's own words. It's about a 5 minute video that

I want to show you and then I'll give you some summarizing

thoughts about it. So if we could, let's go ahead

and run that. The five pillars are the core

beliefs and practices of Islam. The five pillars of Islam are

the framework of a Muslim's life.

They are the testimony of faith, prayer, giving Zagat, support of

the needy, fasting during Ramadan and the pilgrimage to

Mecca at least once in their lifetime.

For those who are able, one profession of faith, Shahada,

the belief that there is no God but God and Muhammad is the

Messenger of God, is central to Islam.

The testimony of faith is saying with conviction.

Allah Allah, Allah Allah Muhammad Rasulullah.

There is no one worthy of worship but Allah and Muhammad.

Sallallahu ayuwa sallam is the Messenger of Allah.

The first part, there is no true God, but God means that none has

the right to be worshipped but God alone, and that God has

neither a partner nor son. This testimony of faith is

called the Shahada, a simple formula that should be said with

conviction to convert to Islam. The testimony of faith is the

most important pillar of Islam. 2 Prayer Salat Muslims pray

facing Mecca five times a day at dawn, noon, mid afternoon,

sunset and after dark. Prayer includes a recitation of

the opening chapter of the Quran and is sometimes performed on a

small rug or mat used expressly for this purpose.

Muslims can pray individually at any location or together in a

mosque where a leader in prayer guides the congregation.

In prayer, a person feels inner happiness, peace and comfort in

that God is pleased with him or her.

The Prophet Muhammad, said Bilal, call the people to

prayer. Let us be comforted by it.

Bilal was one of Muhammad's companions who is in charge of

calling the people to prayers. Men gather in the mosque for the

noonday prayer on Friday. Women are welcome but not

obliged to participate. After the prayer, a sermon

focuses on a passage from the Quran, followed by prayers by

the Imam in a discussion of a particular religious topic. 3

alms Sagat In accordance with Islamic law, Muslims donate a

fixed portion of their income to community members in need.

Many rulers and wealthy Muslims built mosques, drinking

fountains, hospitals, schools, and other institutions as a

religious duty and to secure the blessings associated with the

charity. All things belong to God and

wealth is therefore held by human beings and trust.

The original meaning of the word zicat is both purification and

growth. Giving sicat means giving a

specified percentage on certain properties to certain classes of

needy people. The percentage due on gold,

silver and cash funds that have reached the amount of about 85

grams of gold and held in possession for one lunar year is

2 1/2 percent. Our possessions are purified by

setting aside a small portion for those in need, and like the

pruning of plants, this cutting back balances and encourages new

growth. 4 Fasting Psalm During the daylight hours of Ramadan,

the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, all healthy adult

Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink.

Through this temporary deprivation, they renew their

awareness of and gratitude for everything God has provided,

including the Quran, which was first revealed during this

month. During Ramadan, they share the

hunger and thirst of the needy as a reminder of the religious

duty to help those less fortunate. 5 The Pilgrimage to

Macaw The Annual Pilgrimage Hajj to Macaw is an obligation once

in a lifetime for those who are physically and financially able

to perform it. About 2 million people go to

macaw each year from every corner of the globe.

Although Macaw is always filled with visitors, the annual Hajj

is performed in the 12th month of the Islamic calendar.

Male pilgrims wear special simple clothes which strip away

any distinctions of class and culture so that they stand equal

before God. The rights of the Hajj include

circling the Kaabah 7 times and going 7 times between the

hillocks of Safa and Marwah, as Hagar did during her search for

water. Then the pilgrims stand together

in Arafah and ask God for what they wish and for his

forgiveness, in what is often thought of as a preview of the

Day of Judgment. The end of the Hajj is marked by

a festival, Eid al Ada, which is celebrated with prayers.

This and Eid al Fitter, A feast day commemorating the end of

Ramadan, are the two annual festivals of the Muslim

calendar. Right.

I think we could see from that that there's some major

differences, aren't there, between biblical Christianity

and Islam. And one of the things that I

want to impress upon you today is the fact that there are many

within Islam, but there are also many outside of Islam that try

to make clear to us as Bible believers that Islam and

Christianity really aren't that different.

They're just different expressions of the exact same

God. You call him Jehovah, we call

him Allah, but it's really just one God.

And I would say to you that, well, really, those who know

Islam understand that's not true.

It was just the first time I watched that video.

Just the stark impression on my mind was the cross with the

circle and the arrow going through it.

The thought that they said no to Jesus Christ.

If you could summarize Islam in just one slide, it would be that

picture that it's no to Jesus Christ.

And so that and that alone would prove to us no, they are not the

same that they cannot be compatible with one another.

That Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life and that

no man cometh under the father but by me.

And they expressly say we are not going through Jesus Christ,

we are going through Allah, which tells us that they are not

the same religion. But there are those again, who

are outside of even Islam that would say, and I mentioned to

you before that here in our town that the human Rights Committee

wants woman. That was very clear and saying

that Christianity and Judaism and Islam are all exactly the

same, that there is not any difference between one another,

that they're all expressions, different expressions of the

same God. And I would say to a true Islam

adherent, a Bible, even Christian and even a practicing

Jew would all say that's not true.

We, we all believe different things.

And so understand that there is that desire for unification,

that there is that desire for peace within, in one another and

harmony. But I would say to you that

unification cannot come apart from truth, that unity is a

wonderful thing. I like unity.

I'm glad that we have unity here at Liberty Baptist Church.

But our unity comes through the truth of Jesus Christ, doesn't

it? That you believe in Jesus and I

believe in Jesus. There's unity, but there cannot

be unity between those two. It's a square peg and a round

hole. There's no way to be able to put

them together. That doesn't mean that we're not

civil and polite and loving and kind to those who are the

Islamic faith we should be. Why?

Because we want to show them Jesus Christ, but at the same

time we cannot pretend that it's something it's not for the sake

of false unity, because that is something that Jesus Christ

himself would not have done. Because he was never one to put

aside truth in the sake of love. He spoke the truth in love and

that's why people came to him the way that they did.

So just as a review, what are these five pillars of Islam?

The 1st is the creed acknowledging Muhammad as the

prophet of Allah. The believer now submits oneself

to the teachings of Islam. The Quran, the holy book of

Islam, becomes the guiding principle of life and eternity.

And Muhammad is now the example by which a Muslim lives.

And Muhammad is revered as like a God in many different ways.

So first was the creed. The second is the time of

prayer, the lifeline of Muslims. Prayer is the central practice

of Islam. Muslims are obligated to pray

five times daily. They wash themselves beforehand,

recite their prayers in Arabic while prostrating themselves

before Allah. The Muslim is also required, as

we saw it, to pray specifically on Fridays at noon with their

Islamic community. If a Muslim does not pray

regularly, he will forget about Allah and His greatness.

And we saw a minimum of five times a day before dawn, noon,

late afternoon at sunset and night time in Islamic rule

countries, there will be the call to prayer that is made out

loud for everyone to hear. And I will say some of the most

faithful people to prayer that I've ever seen have been Muslims

over the years. I've not unusual.

I can think of two different occasions that I've seen someone

who has been praying, pointing themselves towards Mecca.

Once at a rest stop in Connecticut pulled over to the

side and they had pulled over the side.

I believe it was the sunset time for prayer and they had pulled

over to a corner of the parking lot and then had been saying

their prayers here in Easton over at the Burger King, not too

far from here. The same idea was that time of

day that they pulled over to the side a corner of the parking lot

and prayed. And I want to tell you that

there are many of Islam who are very devoted to their faith.

I would say that's a devotion that sometimes Christians don't

have. I'm going to Burger King.

I tell you what I'm going for. I'm going for a Burger King

sandwich is what I'm going for. And if I'm going to rest stop in

Connecticut, I really, I just want to keep on going 'cause I

don't stop in Connecticut. All things considered.

I don't even want to be on 95, you know.

But I will say there is a devotion that's there.

But devotion does not mean truth, and we have to be able to

understand that just because they are devoted, they are

devoted to something that is false.

But I do think that we can take some thought from that and even

use that. And we'll look at this in the

next couple of weeks to be able to use their dedication to

prayer, to be able to talk to them about our relationship with

Jesus Christ. So there's fasting.

And of course the Ramadan time of feasting is a one month time

where there is an abstentation from food, drink and stimulus,

activity and even marital intimacy, except it can be

broken of food and drink at night and this takes place of a

time of self restraint. Oh I got them in the wrong

order. So it's fasting almsgiving.

And you saw almsgiving. 2.5% is the amount of which they are

required and it is given through their church or through other

charitable organizations. This is given and then also the

pilgrimage and this is the climax of the Muslim experience.

Followers of Islam who are physically and financial able

are required to visit the holiest city of Islam.

Did you get the connection there between Ishmael Hagar, the

mother of Ishmael? We just read this and they made

that connection themselves. This was not something, again,

that I put into this text myself, but it was found by

them. This is what they would point to

as well. The structure, do you see that

cube that they were walking around there?

That structure most Muslims believe was first established by

the Old Testament prophet Abraham as the first House of

worship on earth had become corrupted with hundreds of idols

by the time of Muhammad. But Muhammad destroyed all the

idols, restored the worship of Allah that Abraham had begun.

So again, to take that which is found in the word of God and to

corrupt it and to turn it into a lie.

And Muslims face this building to perform their daily prayers

from wherever they live in the world.

And at least once during their lifetimes, they are required to

circle the cube building and pray.

Additional duties include visiting Muhammad's last sermon

site, throwing stones at the devil, and sacrificing an

animal. So these are the five pillars of

Islam, and it's a very brief description of the tenants of

Islam to give you a little bit of a better idea of what it is.

Now, the Quran summarizes the pillars in this way.

And listen carefully. Those who believe and do deeds

of righteousness and establish regular prayers and give

almsgiving will have their reward with the Lord Surah 2277.

I'm going to read that again. Listen carefully, those who

believe and do deeds of righteousness and establish

regular prayers and give alms giving will have their reward

with the Lord. Now do you notice the ands of

that verse? Do you notice the ands that are

found there? Is having a reward with the Lord

in Islam believing in Allah? The answer is no.

It's believing in Allah and do this and do this and do this

that you must adhere to all five of the 10s.

Now at the beginning you might have remembered that I said if

you were to receive the creed three times, that you were to

become a believer at that time. But that in and of itself is not

enough to secure salvation within the Muslim faith.

You know, you have to not just say the creed, but you must do

all of these for the rest of your life to be able to have any

hope of eternal life at that Judgement Day.

And at the Judgement Day you will find if you go to heaven or

you go to hell, could I tell you that that is an absolute.

That's such a sad thing to think that someone could adhere to all

those things and perhaps they didn't have the ability or, or

perhaps maybe they did have the ability or, or who who decides

if they have the ability or not to go to Mecca or not?

And maybe that's the reason they don't go to heaven and they

won't know that till the Judgment Day.

They won't know if they've done good enough to the Judgement

Day. They won't know that they have

done enough. So again, it's another one of

those lines of faith where it's not just about what has already

been done, but it's about what you do, your own works of

righteousness, all of these. Ands.

Now there's several quotes here that I have from some

apologists, Christian apologists about the five pillars and about

Islam that I think would be good for us to heed.

But once said this, the five pillars of Islam offer a

framework of works based righteousness that cannot bring

a Sinner to peace with God. They failed to address the need

for grace through faith in Christ alone.

Lee Strobel, you might know him from the The Case for God, that

book that was written several years ago that has a wonderful

book in many ways if you have the chance to read it.

Lee Strobel said Islam's 5 pillars focus on outward

religious duties, but lack the inner transformation and

forgiveness that Christianity teaches through Jesus sacrifice.

Another the five pillars are an attempt to earn favor with God

through deeds, but the Bible makes clear that salvation is a

gift, not the results of works. Another says Islam's emphasis on

ritual and law through the five pillars misses the gospel of

grace and redemption by Christ's blood.

It's amazing to me that we can have some commonality in names,

Abraham, Ishmael, Hagar, that there can be commonality and

things like prayer, fasting, even alms, giving offerings with

Stewardship Sunday. We're be talking about those

types of things today. That we can have some

commonality in certain things, but realize that there really is

no commonality because it all comes down to this Jesus Christ.

And if you deny Jesus Christ, then you cannot have truth in

your line of thinking, whether it's a religion, whether it's a

cult, or whether it's your own personal beliefs.

If you deny Jesus Christ, you are denying the truth of what

faith is truly all about. You say, well that's that's so

exclusive. Why would you say something so

exclusive? Well, because Jesus said

something so exclusive. But I'd also remind you that

it's so inclusive that all are called to be saved.

Oh, sure, it's exclusive. There is one way, but that one

way is open to all. It's open to you and it's open

to me. I don't deserve it.

If you think you deserve it, you've missed what grace is all

about. None of us deserve it.

We were all sinners in need of a Savior, yet He saved us through

His precious blood. Now, next week, we're going to

look at some of the fundamentals of our faith.

And how they compare to Islam. So we'll look at some of our

fundamentals and compare them to Islam.

And by the next week, Lord willing, we'll talk about how to

engage with someone who is a Muslim.

We meet these folks all over the place and in many walks of life.

And if you're not careful, you might try to avoid them because

you don't know how to have a conversation with them.

And I will tell you that you can have a Bible based conversation

with someone who is a Muslim and that the gospel can be glorified

in that. And you don't have to be

intimidated because we have the truth.

The truth is within us because of what Jesus Christ did for us

through salvation. 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.