Christian Love for Muslims

In 2001, two planes were hijacked by Islamic terrorists and destroyed the Twin Towers in New York. Since then, the world has not been the same. Islamic extremists have been engaged in Jihad, religious warfare, both with weapons and propaganda.

Many of us Christians have not known how to respond. I know an ex Muslim from Saudi Arabia to fearlessly shares the Christian gospel with every Muslim he sees.

God sent him to a secular university, where he completed his doctorate. There were many Muslims at that university and every one of them heard the message of Jesus.

One Muslim tried to kill him with poisoned food. A week later he met him and was astonished to find him alive. He had put enough poison in the food to kill a camel.

My Christian friend calmly answered with a promise from the Bible.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mk 16:17–18 NIV

The Muslim assassin was convinced by the power of God and became a Christian himself.

A Christian girl from England went to a holiday island in Thailand to reach out to people for Jesus. Many Muslims came to faith in Jesus, so other Muslims were determined to kill her.

When she was caught in an ambush, God made her invisible and she quietly walked away.

We must not be intimidated by Muslims. I have met a number of ex Muslims who no longer believe in Islam. Some have become Christians but others are in no-mans-land. They no longer believe in Islam but they are not converted to Christianity.

Some still believe in God and are appreciative if Christians pray for them.

I knew a young Muslim woman who wanted to know more about Christianity. She said her next door neighbour was a Christian who cared for her as if she was her own sister. They were both refugees and spoke the same language.

This woman asked me to help her learn more about Christianity, so I went to a Christian bookshop and bought a cassette tape with a reading of Mark’s Gospel in Persian.

If you are friendly with Muslims, you may be surprised to find how many are open to Christian love and truth.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Mt 28:19 NIV

Millions of Muslims are becoming Christians today. How is this happening?

Christian TV, friendship and love from Christians, miracle healings, supernatural dreams in which they encounter Jesus.

Pray for Muslims and don’t be afraid.

Delivered from Demons

 God created you. Your birth was planned and willed by God because he saw and loved you even before the creation of the world.

Regardless of whether the circumstances of your birth were favourable or not. God simply loves you.
No matter what you have done or what has been done to you. God simply loves you.

This creation is corrupted, but not completely ruined.

God has a cruel enemy who wants to poison and destroy all of God's works, and he has done a lot of damage, perhaps in your life as well.

No matter what has happened in your life, God has a plan to give you a good future.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jer 29:11 NKJV

I once saw a preacher from Brazil in a video recording. She told how she was dedicated to demons from birth because her whole family worshipped the devil.

As a small child, she was tormented by demons. She could not sleep without terrible nightmares.

At the age of twelve, she was possessed by demons that drove her to live on the streets as a prostitute. Gradually, she learnt to live her life as a witch with magical powers. She became known as a witch and Christians prayed for her.

She herself was cruel, but also terribly tormented. The devil is very cruel, even with his slaves. Her suffering became unbearable until she desperately sought help. She didn't know which spirit was stronger, the devil or God, but she prayed for help.

Jesus then visited her and she experienced a revelation, like in a video. She saw Jesus suffer and die on the cross, taking the punishment for her sin upon himself.

She converted to Jesus, but then her little daughter fell ill. The devils sought revenge and her daughter died, but she herself was forgiven and set free by Jesus.

Then God raised her up to give her testimony. Many prostitutes and occultists were converted. As a witch she was very dangerous, but as a Christian preacher she became a powerful weapon in God's hands.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

For if, while 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! Rom 5:10 NIV

Great Miracles before Jesus Returns

 The modern Pentecostal movement has been condemned by some as ‘from below’, but in China, South Korea, Indonesia, Africa and South America millions of people are flocking to Jesus, including Muslims and communists. Without signs and wonders, this phenomenon would be unthinkable.

Millions of Muslims are experiencing visitations from Jesus in dreams. Millions are converting to Jesus. But some question if this can be biblical.

In the Bible, God often spoke in dreams.

C Peter Wagner was a conservative, sceptical, by no means charismatic lecturer at an academic Bible school in the USA. He heard extreme stories of the revivals in Argentina and Brazil.

He wanted to investigate these reports and he visited South America. He attended events where amazing miracles happened. Poor people without access to a dentist got multiple gold fillings. The conservative academic Peter Wagner was convinced.

The Holy Spirit does work in our times and we see real miracles that are just as extreme as in the Bible and some real miracles that we don't find in the Bible.

“ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Acts 2:17–18 NIV

But there are Bible teachers who claim that these phenomena were only meant for Bible times. We must seek the answer in the Bible itself, for God's Word is our foundation.

So let's read on in the passage.

I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. Acts 2:19–20 NIV

So these signs and wonders are for the last days, for the end times, even for the time just before ‘the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.’

If we do not understand our time in this way, we need to ask God for wisdom and revelation.

End Time Miracles

 In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17 NRSV

When did this happen? ‘In the last days.’ What does that mean? In the last days of the ancient Jewish nation.

But this expression also has another meaning. We are now living in the last days just before the return of the Lord Jesus, the time when the last of all terrible world rulers will appear.

I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. Acts 2:19 NIV

Peter quotes the prophet Joel.

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:30–32 NIV

Some Reformed Christians believe that prophecy, signs and wonders were only for Bible times, but Martin Luther and John Knox communicated prophecies that were fulfilled.

In 1909, some conservative Christians in Berlin declared that the signs and wonders in the Charismatic movement came from below.

The Pharisees made exactly the same mistake when they declared the miracles of Jesus to be diabolical.

We see so many miracles in our time. I know a Christian in Germany whose young son played with his guardian angel.

I know a woman in Australia who visited heaven during an operation.

I spoke to a Persian woman in Germany who saw Jesus in a dream when she was a Muslim. Eight years later she converted to Jesus.

A woman I know very well escaped certain death by God saving her from a collision.

It was too late to brake. She could not avoid a collision. Then she felt a terrible heat. The vehicle drove through her car without making any noise, without causing any damage. It was like something out of a fantasy film.

The sensation of heat lasted for several days.

The extreme proliferation of signs and wonders in our time are a problem for many conservative Christians.

Not all stories are true and not all supernatural phenomena come from God.

We need to test revelations, but if we condemn all strange events as counterfeit, we will also reject the miracles of God.

Maybe you come from a conservative background. You find these dramatic testimonies dubious, but you're not sure.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Jas 1:5 NIV

Don't stay where you are. A true disciple is one who always wants to learn from God himself.

C. Peter Wagner was a conservative lecturer at a Bible school in America. He heard amazing testimonies of miracles in Argentina and Brazil.

He attended meetings where poor people received new teeth or gold fillings. He was then convinced that it was not a deception.

Dreams, Visions and Holy Imagination

 In the Old Testament, many prophets were seers. They received visible revelations as visions and dreams.

Revelations can also come as thoughts or audible words, but visible revelations were very important.

Jesus was also a seer.

Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. Jn 5:19 NRSV

God also gave the apostles visions and dreams.

But was this gift only for Jesus and the heroes of faith of the past?

According to the Bible, no.

‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17 NRSV

This prophecy was fulfilled in the New Testament, but should it not also apply to us?

What is the first and most important commandment of God?

He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ Mt 22:37 NRSV

Our heart is not just a machine that drives our circulation.

There is a girl who had a heart transplant when she was 10 years old. She started having a terrible dream. She kept dreaming of a man coming into her bedroom through the window. He came towards her and attacked her violently.

She had to see a psychiatrist. She was able to describe the man in the dream in detail. When the psychiatrist researched the story of the heart transplant, it turned out that her new heart came from a girl who had been murdered in exactly the same way.

With the help of the psychiatrist, she reported her dream to the police. The police then caught the murderer.

In the Bible we read that we think not only with our brains, but also with our hearts.

In this story we can also see that emotional thoughts and visual memories not only involve the brain, but also the heart.

Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus that the eyes of their hearts would be open.

so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, Eph 1:18 NRSV

An unholy heart can do great harm.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Mt 15:19 NIV

What do you see on the screen of your mind? Do you see porn videos and dirty daydreams, or do you see the answers to your prayers? Perhaps the conversion of your family, or the homecoming of your rebellious children?

A wicked heart and evil daydreams can ruin your life, but a holy heart and holy imaginations can lead you in God's ways.

Bruce D Allen loved Jesus and wanted to proclaim God's love as a preacher. He studied at a Bible college, but he was shy and afraid of public speaking. He went to chapel every night and preached with passion. He imagined the pews were full of listeners. One evening, God opened the eyes of his heart. Instead of human listeners, he saw holy angels.

He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ Mt 22:37 NRSV

You shall love your God with all your mind, with Bible study, with your intellect and with the screen of your imagination.

Different Ways to Reach People

We are often like a tram travelling on the same tracks.

Jesus was different.

Sometimes he communicated with parables, but sometimes with harsh rebukes.
He often led people to faith by healing their illnesses. Only after they were healed did they come to faith.

When he healed the sick, he didn't just have one method.

A leper asked for healing.

Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Mk 1:41 NASB95

He healed a blind man in a very unusual way.

Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” Mk 8:23 NASB95

A royal official begged Jesus to come to his home and heal his son.

“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed.
While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. Jn 4:50–51 NIV

We also read how Jesus sometimes gave an instruction or command.

But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”

Then the man got up and went home. Mt 9:6–7 NIV

God understands us. He created you and me.

God has very different ways of helping different people, healing us and awakening faith in us.

Some find God by studying the Bible. Others by receiving a miraculous healing in a meeting.

Many Muslims come through miraculous healings, and many others see Jesus in a dream.

How did you find your way to Jesus? There are so many different answers to this question.

Miracles Still for Today

 There is a highly questionable and controversial teaching that the supernatural spiritual gifts that appear in the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians were taken away by God in the first centuries of the Christian era.

This idea is supposedly supported by some verses in 1 Corinthians 13.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Co 13:12 NIV

This clear recognition is intended to point to the appearance of the New Testament. But neither Paul nor most of the Corinthians had seen the complete New Testament.

How many Christians in our day who know the New Testament have a clear recognition of God that so surpasses the revelations of the apostles themselves? This makes no sense.

This verse in 1 Corinthians is not a new idea. David had the same revelation in Psalm 17.

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness. Ps 17:15 NRSV

The psalmist was David, who believed that in his afterlife he would see God himself directly.

I once looked for this text in various Bible commentaries in a Christian bookshop. The commentaries were not Pentecostal, but they all explained that 1 Cor 13:12 is supposed to be a reference to our encounter with God in the next life.

David expected that he would meet God directly and visibly after his death. This had nothing to do with the appearance of the New Testament.

In our time, we need God's supernatural help like never before.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mk 16:17–18 NRSV

In our time, millions of Muslims are becoming Christians. In millions of cases, they are converted after seeing Jesus in a dream or vision, and in many others they are converted after experiencing healing miracles.

I know an Arab Christian who was formerly a Muslim. A Muslim Arab tried to kill him with poison, but he was unharmed. When the would be assassin saw him alive, he was shocked.

The Christian man quoted Mark 16:18. … and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Co 13:8 NIV

When will prophecies and tongues cease? When we see Jesus.
What about knowledge coming to an end? We still need knowledge because we are not face to face with God.
 

Prayer and Free Will

 God gave Adam and Eve the power to make the most amazingly powerful decision of all, to choose to obey God or disobey!! 

Humans were empowered to make real decisions, otherwise they would not reflect the image of the supreme decision maker, God.

And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Ge 2:16–17 CSB

God gave Adam and Eve the ability to sin, to resist His own will. This is what sin is.

This is the reality of free will. God has never removed this free will, to obey or resist His will. Why do born again Christians still sin, if they have been given a new heart and a new nature? Because we still have a free will which God has sovereignly determined that we should have.

If humans do not have a free will to obey or resist the will of God, if all our actions are determined by God, then we would have to agree with Calvin, who said “God not only foresaw that Adam would fall, but also ordained that he should.” (Calvin’s Inst., b. 3, c. 23, sec. 7.) 

.... “he fell not only by the permission, but also by the appointment, of God.” (Calvin Responsio ad Calumnias Nebulonis
cujusdam ad Articulum primum.) “He sinned because God so ordained,
because the Lord saw good.” (Calvin’s Inst., b. 3, c. 24, sec. 8.)

Does that mean every person has complete freedom to recognise the choice he or she is confronted with? Sadly not.

But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Co 4:3–4 CSB

• It is very difficult to believe if you are brought up to believe there is no God in a Communist country.

• It can be very difficult to believe if you are taught from infancy that Christians are bad people who believe in three gods.

• It can be difficult to believe in the goodness of God if you are brought up in a brutal, abusive family where you are led to believe in Jesus as a severe judge who hates you when you sin.

This is where we see the necessity of the mighty grace of God to open blind spiritual eyes.

How can we as believers penetrate this darkness?

There are many people who cannot believe only through hearing a message. They need a personal experience or direct encounter with God.

Millions of people are converted from other religions in our time through healing miracles and dreams and visions, in which Jesus personally reveals Himself.

This is the result of millions of Christians who pray for the conversion of atheists and believers in other religions. God commands us to pray and believe in His willingness to answer with great supernatural power.