ISLAM AND THE BIBLE

Devout Muslims desire to know God but they do not believe God is personally knowable. 
The Allah of the Qur’an is not personal but an unknowable supreme authority, lawmaker and judge.

The Bible tells a different story.

• God is love.

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8 (NKJV) 

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

• God is love. 

Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 (NIV) 

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV) 

We cannot be saved and enter Paradise by our good works or religious life but only by the love and mercy of God, the God who LOVES His enemies.

For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:10 (NIV)  

The Bible says that everyone who is motivated by hate and anger (or even by mere selfishness) is an enemy of God. 

• There are angry holy warriors of Islam like this. 

Jesus is quite different. When He was dying on the cross, He prayed for God to have mercy on His enemies.

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." ...Luke 23:34 (NIV) 

Even people who are unselfish and serve others from an attitude of self righteousness or religious duty are unable to know God. 

There are good moderate Muslims like this. 

• They live like good religious people who live morally good lives and help others. 

• They fear the fire of hell and they hope when they are weighed in the balance of judgement, their good deeds will outweigh their sins.

But the Bible teaches that we cannot earn salvation. We all deserve God’s punishment but God gives salvation and eternal life as a free gift to everyone who trusts in Jesus.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT) 

Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God.

• Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. Ephesians 2:8-9 (TLB) 

The Bible says we can know God personally as our Heavenly Father.

Islam teaches that Allah is the supreme God but he is not a father, has no sons or daughters and cannot be known personally. 

• Muslims hope to enter a Paradise full of luxury, happiness and sexual pleasure but in this Paradise, there is no personal friendship with a supreme personal God.

The Bible tells a completely different story.

And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." 

And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 

Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. 

I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.  

"He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. Revelation 21:5-7 (NASB)

The Qur’an teaches that Jesus was a prophet of Allah but NOT the Son of God.

The Bible says the only way to know God is by believing in Jesus as the Son of God.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NASB) 

Jesus answered, 

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NIV) 

JESUS, MUSLIM PROPHET OR THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD?

God so loved the world...

Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 
This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. 
And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 1 John 5:5-6 (ESV)

When the beloved Apostle John wrote these words, there were false teachers who declared that The Son of God did not really die on the cross.

The “Christ Spirit” came on Jesus when He was baptised in water and the same “Christ Spirit” departed back to heaven before the man Jesus was crucified and poured out his blood. So these false teachers said and they deceived many.

About 500 years later an Arabian religious leader named Mohammed came and taught the Arabs also to honour Jesus (Isa in Arabic). But Mohammed’s Isa is not the Jesus of the Bible.

The Muslim Isa was the son of Mariam and he was a great prophet and miracle healer. But Isa in the Koran was a man and not God. He did not die on the cross. Another man took his place before the execution.

• In Islam, Jesus did not die for your sins. Allah has no son. 

• Allah did not sacrifice his son to pay the penalty for your sins. 

  • Muslims are taught they must try to be good obedient Muslims in the hope that their good deeds might outweigh their sins. If not, they will burn in hell. 

• This terrible uncertainty is a thousand times worse than the Roman Catholic fear of a time of temporary punishment in Purgatory. 

• In Islam there is only one way to sure you are going to Paradise. You must shed your own blood for Islam.

Mohammed taught a Muslim martyr can go directly to paradise by shedding his own blood in holy battle against the infidels. 

• In the Palestinian territories in the Holy Land, Palestinian televison shows sexy girls calling teenage boys to become suicide bombers or terrorists. The reward is the assurance of a very carnal salvation, the instant transportation to Paradise where they can immediately lose their virginity with sexy girls and continue in the same manner for ever and ever.

But the Bible tells us that salvation comes not by pouring out your own blood but by believing in the Holy Son of God who poured out His blood on the cross to pay the penalty of your sins.

• If you believe and trust in the Son of God,

• if you are willing to receive the grace of God to transform your character,

• if you are willing to receive the supernatural eternal life that God gives as a free gift, 

  • you can not only be saved but you can be sure you are saved.

Jesus was born by water and blood. 

• As a natural human baby, he left his mother’s body with the flowing of water (amniotic fluid) and blood. As a Jewish baby boy he shed his own blood when he was circumcised and he was of course washed with water.
• As a young man he was baptised in the River Jordan and the Spirit of God came upon Him to empower Him for His supernatural ministry.

• As He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, His sweat came as water and then blood. 

• When He was whipped by Roman soldiers, the blood poured from His back.

• When they pushed a crown of thorns onto His head, the blood flowed again.

• When He gave up His spirit on the cross and died, a Roman solder thrust a spear into His side and out of the wound flowed water and blood, a sign of extreme torture and trauma.

All this is recorded in the Holy Bible, which was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. 

Many Muslims have read the Bible and the Koran side by side and decided the Bible is not mistaken. 

They have been converted to Jesus Christ by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God who inspired the Jewish and Christian Scriptures but who did not inspire the Koran.

Loving people where they are...

How did Jesus reach people?

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” Matthew 11:19 (ESV)

During His earthly life Jesus of Nazareth was known as a friend of sinners. The strictest observers of the Word of God accused Him breaking God’s law by hanging around with bad people. Were they right?

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Matthew 9:9-11 (ESV)

There are many Christian ministers today who will organise missions and outreaches. Some will invite drug addicts and prostitutes to come to Christian meetings. Why? To preach the gospel and save sinners.

But Jesus went a step further, a very big step further. He accepted invitations to eat and drink with the worst sinners in their own homes. If a notorious gangland boss invited Jesus to a party with underworld people, would Jesus go?

In the New Testament, we read that Jesus not only preached to sinners. He went to their homes and their dinner parties.

Does that mean that Jesus was always available for every invitation from any crook in town? No. King Herod was impressed by the stories of the miracles of Jesus and he wanted to see this new “celebrity” but Jesus avoided him. Luke 9:9 (NKJV)

There are some major Christian leaders today who are campaigning against human trafficking for sex slavery. They are actually going to pick up bars and houses of prostitution to make friendly contact with prostitutes and even sometimes with pimps. There are many hard core sinners and oppressed victims who cannot be reached by preaching but only by believers who dare to do what Jesus did, seek out the lost sheep in the dark places and reach them with genuine friendliness.

I have seen Joyce Meyer on Christian TV, talking to a poor Indian prostitute in her work place. English born minister, Kathie Walters goes out into the streets of American cities to talk to prostitutes. In one city she found that many of the young girls were from Pentecostal Christian homes. After sharing the love of Jesus with them, many turned to God, perhaps for the first time, and many returned to their families.

There was a young homosexual prostitute in Chile who was dying of AIDS. Many people would visit his hospital ward to mock and abuse the dying addicts and homosexuals. But one visitor was different. She was an old woman filled with the Spirit of Jesus. She went to this young man with compassion. She prophesied healing and restoration and he believed. He was raised up by the power of God and completely healed. His testimony reached many in the hospital including doctors who turned to Jesus. The doctors offered finance and help to plant a Pentecostal church nearby. Over time, the young man was restored in every way. He got married and began a ministry by sharing his testimony with many homosexuals, prostitutes and addicts.

But isn’t it dangerous to mix with sinners?

Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NKJV)

I believe this is one reason that Jesus sent out His disciples TWO BY TWO.

The Apostle Paul was single himself but he usually went on a mission with at least one partner in ministry. At various times these included Barnabas, Timothy, Silas and Luke. With the help of the grace of God, Paul penetrated dark places and planted churches in many previously unreached cities.

But there was one place where Paul’s great spiritual gifts only succeeded in winning a few converts. That was in Athens. In Athens Paul ministered alone and without a partner.

There is a new move amongst the people of God. Many are no longer looking to the priest, pastor or evangelist, the spiritual giant on the pedestal. Many are no longer waiting for the Man of God to move.

Many of us are rediscovering spiritual partnership, personal spiritual experience, spiritual community and teamwork. This is the way hundreds of millions will see that Jesus is alive in His people and many more millions will find God for themselves.

Please let me know what you think.
God bless you from
Bill Derham

Finding your purpose in life.

God has a good plan for you.. You have a high calling...

• For if by the one man's offence death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Romans 5:17 (NKJV)

The first man was Adam, created by the hand of God. Then God personally breathed His own breath into the first man and he became alive with the breath of God. Adam was created clean and good, in the image and likeness of God Himself.

God is wise and good. Adam was wise and good.

God is love. Adam loved God.

The God who rules eternity made Adam and Eve the rulers of this earth.

Every evening Adam walked and talked with God in the garden of Eden, in the lovely twilight. They were best friends. God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with the goodness of God.

There was to be a balance in Adam’s life. He was to live close to God and follow God’s instructions but these instructions included the responsibility to think for himself and make decisions.

The first job that God gave Adam to do was to name all the animals. Whatever word Adam invented for each animal became the word used by God himself.

Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. Genesis 2:19-20 (NASB95)

In obedience to God, Adam made the first free decisions in human history. But God also gave Adam and Eve another choice, to obey or disobey their loving creator. Why? Because God is free to make choices.

Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, so they must also have the freedom to make choices, including the decision to obey or disobey God. We still have that decision to make every hour and minute by minute.

The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." Genesis 2:16-17 (NASB95)

Then Satan, the former chief angel, appeared as a snake to Eve and deceived her.

Satan deceived Eve in the same way he deceives men and women today. He questioned the interpretation of the words of God.

Genesis 3:1-4 (NASB95)
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.' "
4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!

So Satan’s demons still whisper in our ears.

• “It is not really that bad. A man needs sex after all.”

• “God says you are called but do you really think you can do it?”

• “The bible says Jesus is your healer but look at all the people who pray and are still sick.”

• “The bible says give and God will supply your need but you really can’t afford to give.”

• “The bible says you are a priest of God through the blood of Jesus and the Spirit of God living in every believer but aren’t you just an ordinary sinful Christian?”

• “The Bible says your prayers can save your children but look how bad they are and you know it’s your fault because you were a bad parent.”

You may not be called to be a platform preacher but you are so loved by God and He has amazing plans for you. Trust Him!

You might be like Mary Magdalene who was delivered from demon possession and was appointed the first witness of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Please let me know what you think.
God bless you from
Bill Derham

READ the Bible. QUESTION assumptions.

What does the Bible really say?

Are the preachers and commentators always right?

We must never stop rethinking what we think we know already.

The book of revelation shows four mysterious living creatures before the throne in heaven.

“...the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. Revelation 4:7 (ESV) .”

(See also Ezekiel 1:10)

For nearly two thousand years, bible teachers have told us how Matthew was the story of Jesus the Lion King; Luke was the story of Jesus the perfect spiritual man; John presented Jesus as the eternal Son of God, like the majestic prophetic eagle descending to earth and returning again to His throne above the clouds; Mark presented Jesus as the humble suffering servant, like the ox which faithfully serves and then is killed as the perfect sacrifice.

Matthew wrote for Jews who were expecting a Messiah King.

Messiah would conquer the nations like David of old and rule the world according to the End-Time prophecies which are still unfulfilled. I believe Jesus will come again and fulfil every prophecy when He rules and reigns from Jerusalem for 1000 years, leading up to the last judgement and then the perfect eternal New Heaven and New Earth.

Matthew’s Gospel shows how Jesus fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies and established His credentials as the Messiah King by suffering, dying and rising from death.

Luke shows how Jesus lived as the perfect man of faith filled with the Holy Spirit and power. This introduces us to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Luke’s second book, the Acts, in which we get to walk in the same power of the same Holy Spirit who filled Jesus on earth.

John shows us Jesus as the eternal Word who created all things. In John, Jesus declares who He is and how we can have eternal life through Him. Jesus is God who became man for us.

...“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (ESV)

...“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58 (ESV)

...“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die...” John 11:25-26 (ESV)

In Mark, Jesus is indeed the servant who suffers and dies like an ox slaughtered on the altar in Jerusalem. Mark is a short book with only 16 chapters. From chapter 12 to 15, we see no miracles, only the journey to the cross and the death and burial of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice.

But what of the rest of Mark’s Gospel?

Here I must seriously challenge traditional teaching.

In Chapter 1, Jesus appears casting out demons. In Mark Chapters one to three and chapters five to ten, we see Jesus like an Imperial Roman general conducting a brutal military campaign against his enemies, the spirits of darkness. We see little teaching in words but repeated supernatural confrontations with the forces of darkness, casting out demons, healing the sick and working miracle after miracle.

Jesus was demonstrating in action the kind of Christianity which He called us to practise in Chapter 16 after His miraculous resurrection.

...“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ...they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:15-18 (ESV)

This is so controversial that many Bible scholars want to leave it out of the Bible. I believe this is nothing but intellectual unbelief. I believe this unbelief was already evident in scholars producing manuscripts 300 years after Jesus rose from the grave.

However, without this ending, Mark’s Gospel is an incomplete fragment, like a story with no proper conclusion.

For a scholarly discussion, see the following web page:

http://apologeticspress.org/articles/2780

Jesus always stood by the absolute authority and infallible truth of the scriptures but He was always challenging the way people understood these scriptures. We must do the same. It is easy for us Pentecostals to criticise the religious traditions of other churches but if Jesus of Nazareth was with us in the flesh today, He would also challenge our Pentecostal traditions and practises.

Please let me know what you think. I treasure every message I receive.

God bless you from
Bill Derham

Dear Believing Friends
Wonderful things are happening. Prepare to be surprised.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)

If we belong to Jesus, we believe in a God who delights to do new things.

“You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. Isaiah 48:6 (ESV)

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5 (ESV)

God is bound to be true to His wonderful and perfect character but He has never restricted Himself to merely repeat what He has done before.

Some people get upset when Christians report miraculous experiences which are different from the miracles recorded in the Bible.

Two preachers were having a meal in a café in Berlin. A pile of gold dust appeared under the table. A preacher in America was upset about such stories because there is no record of gold dust appearing in the Bible. He preached a sermon against gold dust but the babies in the church creche were covered in gold dust.

Some people are afraid of “lying signs and wonders.” The bible warns of lying signs and wonders but the only reference is in the story of the Anti-Christ in the book of Revelation.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 2 Thessalonians 2:9 (NKJV)

The only protection against being deceived in spiritual matters is to stay close to Jesus, to be led by the Spirit of God, to live in faith, hope and love, to obey God and to live by His Word.

Does that mean we should only believe in miracles if they are exact copies of miracles recorded in the Bible?

Why?

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12 (ESV)

How many of the people who criticise contemporary miracle stories are working the signs and wonders that Jesus did on earth? None that I know of.

If God is only allowed to repeat what He did in the Bible, how can it be possible for us to do GREATER works than Jesus did?

If God is only allowed to repeat what He has already done, how then can Bible prophecy be fulfilled?

But weren’t the miracles of Jesus all practical acts of mercy, like healing the sick and raising from death the son of a widow?

I wonder what was the practical benefit of Peter walking on water?

If the prophecy of Jesus is to be fulfilled, then people in these last days will see manifestations more amazing than Peter walking on water. If that does not happen, then the prophecy of Jesus will not be fulfilled and that would make the Son of God a false prophet.

But why should God be doing these things?

At the birth of Jesus, the wise men from the pagan east brought Jesus wonderful gifts, GOLD, frankincense and myrrh. If mankind gives God a gift of gold, should we surprised if a gracious God gives gold to mankind?

And what about the jewels?

“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones. Isaiah 54:11-12 (ESV)

But doesn’t this refer to the jewels in Heaven itself? Of course it does. But did not Jesus announce the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven? Did not Jesus teach us to pray: “Your will be done on earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN?”

If the first visit of the Son of God was heralded by human gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, why should the approach of the return of Jesus not be heralded by supernatural gifts from the Heavenly Bridegroom to His Bride to be, the Church. What could be a more appropriate gift to a bride from her husband to be? Does not a man announce his intention to marry a woman with a gift of a diamond ring?

Please let me know what you think.

God bless you from
Bill Derham