 Every time that I plunge into the scriptures, I just fall more in love with it. I don't know about you, but I think that's the way it should be. That every time we open up the scripture and we study the life of Jesus and the prophecies, man, we just fall in love with Jesus. And even as today, we're gonna be looking at communicating the gospel. Part one, communicating the gospel. I once again want to preface this with saying, one of the most powerful tools that you have as a Christian is your life. Don't ever forget that, your life. You might meet a Muslim, you might have a neighbor, you might have a friend, you might have a relative that's a Muslim. You might be able to share with them, you might be able to say all these things to them and you might just tirelessly share with them. And they may not come to faith, but most assuredly I say to you that they are looking at your life and your life speaks volumes. I can, I say that with experience because I know that having lived with the Muslim people, they watch your lives and it's a very powerful thing. They're looking to see how you speak, how you behave, how you treat your wife, how you treat your husband, how you treat your children, how you treat your enemies. How do you react when you hear of evil in the world? You know, the things that we see going on in our country, not only here, but also across the land, across the sea. They are watching, they're listening to us and it's a powerful tool that they can see a life that is holy, a life that is full of love, a person that is willing to love on them, give your time to them, cry with them when they cry and when they're hurting and rejoice when there are things that cause them to rejoice. And you know, Paul says in one of the passages and I can't remember where, I wanna say it's Thessalonians or something, but he says, I not only imparted to you the word but are very lives. That's powerful, giving of your life. And that's what's gonna win this world over. You know, when all is said and done, Jesus says the Son of man came to seek and save the lost and to give his life a ransom for many. And that's what you and I have been called to. If you choose to be used of God, then there's gonna be a price that you have to pay. And that's why a lot of people are not willing to pay that price because it can be a high price. Our brother Said right now, he's paying a high price. He may lose his life. But I tell you this, that God's glory rests upon that man. But the thing is, he was willing to say, I'm willing to pay the price, no matter what, I'm willing to pay. And so we need to say, we need to say, Lord, here I am, Lord, send me, whatever you wanna do with me, I am a life, I am simply a vessel. Use me and God will use you. God will use you and what a beautiful thing it is, a vessel in the hand of the Lord, amen. Well, so I hope you got today's session. The notes are in the back there, session five, communicating the gospel. And then also we had two other sheets that I had some photocopies made for you. I really encourage you to read these. These are from the month of Ramadan that has been going on and the Christian world has been praying for the Muslims as they are fasting Ramadan. Most probably today is gonna be probably the last day of Ramadan today or tomorrow, but most likely today. And so I photocopied Faith for the Miraculous and Barriers to Movements. Just some very important things. I encourage you to read those, check them out. This Faith for the Miraculous is really neat because it tells you a story, a real life story that happened to this woman where Jesus appeared to her. And this has happened, this has happened. I've experienced that with one of the widows in Morocco who came to Christ, her and all three of her daughters. And she's told us stories of Jesus coming to her and Jesus sending her to the shop and saying, go over there. There's a bag of wheat waiting for you. And she goes and then she's like, the guy's gone and there's a bag of wheat that somebody left for her. And stories like this that just, they give you goosebumps. You're just saying, this is amazing. But he's moving, he's moving in the lives of people in Syria and Iraq and Iran and all over the Middle East. And so just let this be an encouragement. And yeah, it's just a great encouragement for you. Now an announcement concerning I had shared with you that there is gonna be an event tomorrow at Ayala Park. The Chino Mosque right here off of Edison and Central is going to be hosting a Ramadan festival for the end of Ramadan. So it's gonna be, the festival is from 9 to 12 30 tomorrow, 9 a.m. to 12 30 p.m. So we are going to meet. So anyone that can come out, I encourage you to come out. We're gonna be meeting at 9 30 a.m. Next to the skate park. So if you go down central, turn left on Edison and then that first parking lot entrance turn right where the skate park is. There's a gazebo that we're gonna meet right there. Okay, at 9 30 a.m. we're gonna pray for about half hour. And then we're gonna break up, disperse and we're gonna be able to give you guys materials. And we'll be in groups, so you'll be together. And what we will be doing is distributing the Bibles and tracks to the Muslims as they enter and exit. Okay, once we're there, we'll have to figure out where they're at, where the carnival is at. And also, we're gonna encourage you to leave and then go inside and be able to mingle and be with their people and maybe the Lord will open up a conversation for you, okay? We're also gonna be joining with another brother who has a ministry from Anaheim, the Arabic Christian perspective, Pastor George Seig. And he's gonna be coming out. He does a lot of ministry. I don't know if any of you were here when we had a debate. I think it was about a year or two years ago here at our church, okay? He's the one who helped put that on, okay? And he does a lot of ministry, a lot of events, big festivals. There was one in Dearborn, Michigan recently where it's the largest Arabic festival in the United States. He was there with a group of people and so he's gonna come alongside us and I'm excited. I'm excited to see what God's gonna do. If you can't make it tomorrow, I hope you can. But if you can't, pray for us, okay? That we'll be able to reach as many people with his love, with his word, okay? So tomorrow's the day. And so any other questions, you can talk to me afterwards. So let's get into our session today on communicating the gospel. So now, a lot of this here, there are, first of all, when you go ministering to Muslims. One of the things that we look at, or you're gonna see here, is that as we look into the Islamic religion, there are so many things that we can build bridges on, bridges on or upon, okay? There are things that they already believe in. And so you can meet them where they are at and the things that they are familiar with and you're able to bridge and come along and present Christ. You know, there are several stories in the Bible. You know, you think about the Ethiopian eunuch, okay? Yes, he was reading from the scriptures, the Muslims have the Quran, but nevertheless, Philip came alongside and said, what are you reading? And then he talked to him, okay? Paul, when he went into Athens, right? He saw all these idols and he says, I see here that you have an idol to the unknown God. And he began to take that and preach Christ to them, okay? One of the things that you wanna look for is in the Muslim religion, there are certain things, certain areas that stand out, okay? One of those things we're gonna look at here is the sacrifice of when God told Abraham to sacrifice your son for us in the Bible, Isaac, for the Muslim Ishmael. But every year, they have the Feast of Sacrifice where they are commanded by God to sacrifice a sheep. And so that's one area where you can build upon and you can ask them about that and ask them to explain to you what is it that they understand. So we're gonna look at that, okay? But that's really important. But some of these things too have been from my own experience. Things that God has ministered to me, things that God has used in my time on the mission field for 13 years. And I'm sharing with you some of the things that God has used. And as you talk to a lot of different ministries, there are different methods and different things that people share. But I think, you know what? Let's glean, let's glean and let's present it to the Lord and let's go out and let's give them Christ. Let's give them Jesus. Okay, so the first thing I wanna look at here in communicating the gospel is the uniqueness and supremacy of Jesus, contrasting Jesus with Muhammad. Now I wrote here, major on the majors don't major on the minors, okay? That's something, sometimes we can get so off track on these little minor issues that are not really the big issue, okay? This is a huge issue. Because as I wrote here, the central figure of Islam is Muhammad. Let me share with you something that a Muslim who came to Christ told me in Morocco. He said, you can go out into the street right now in the public and you can blaspheme Allah. And people will shrug you. They'll say, oh, he's a lunatic. They may do nothing to you. But he says, you go out into those streets and you blaspheme Muhammad, you will deal with the authorities. They'll take you to jail. You will get a good beating, okay? Muhammad is central to Islam. Obviously, there's a very demonic spirit behind it, okay? Everything rises and falls upon who he is and what he did. In Islam, Muhammad is the seal of the prophets, okay? In Arabic, Khatim el-Enbiya, the most exalted standard of character among humans and a beautiful pattern that should be followed by all who would seek after God. Okay, this is what the Muslims believe. Muhammad, to them, he is the seal of the prophets. He is it. Everything that Muhammad stood for, everything he is, is beautiful and he is the pattern for all Muslims around the entire world, okay? In the Christian faith, it is Jesus Christ who is central. As Christians, we believe not only should we imitate his life, words, and works, but Jesus was the eternal God manifested on earth as a man. Remember what we talked about? Jesus is God manifested or revealed on earth as a man. If we want to know exactly what God is like, look at Jesus. Now, this is what's so amazing. If you think about this, if you really just think about this, they are imitating and they exalt Muhammad to a point of deification, okay? And that's a whole other subject that people talk about and Christian apologists would debate because even in their statement of faith where they say there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. And every time even when Muslims say the name of Muhammad, they say peace and blessings be upon him. But also that word can mean peace and prayers be upon him, which means they are actually saying, let's pray upon Muhammad. Now it's very interesting because in the Arabic language, and I've had discussions with Muslims, the preposition is not pray for Muhammad but it's like praying to Muhammad, okay? So there is a point where they're actually exalting Muhammad. The problem is he's a man. Now on the reverse, for us, they can say, yeah, you want to become like Jesus but the thing is Jesus is God in the flesh. We're not making him God, he is God who became a man. And yes, we are commanded to imitate and to follow Jesus. Okay, so when we look at these two figures, this is where everything rises and falls upon Jesus and Muhammad. If a Muslim, if a Muslim sees that Muhammad is false, if a Muslim is convinced in their own heart that Muhammad was not a righteous man but was in fact an evil man, if they see that, their whole world, guys, will crumble. And when you begin to show the strength of Jesus and the supremacy of Jesus and how beautiful Jesus is in light of everything else, that's when it's powerful, okay? So looking at the unique, miraculous life of Jesus. Okay, Jesus' life, he began with a miracle. His life was full of miracles and his life ended with a miracle. Okay, that's one of the things that I share with my Muslim friends. Jesus is the only man, the only person on this earth whose life began with a miracle. Life was full of miracles and his life ended with a miracle. And I turn around and I say that to them. Can you say that about Muhammad? Can you say that about Muhammad? Okay, they cannot. Look at this. In the prophecies of the Old Testament, okay, we have multiple prophecies, okay? You have heard it said and I haven't looked at all 300 but there are over 300 prophecies of Jesus Christ, okay? But they're very, very interesting and very powerful. His birth, okay? It comes to mind. It's in Micah in the prophet Micah. It says, and you, Bethlehem, though you are little among the countries, out of you will come one whose goings forth are from everlasting. That word literally means from eternity past. And you tell a Muslim this, do you know that a prophet Micah prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus that he would be coming from eternity? He has his origin in heaven, okay? It's a powerful passage. His life in the Old Testament is prophesied. His ministry, you see it all through Isaiah in different places where it says he will heal the sick, he will bring the lame, he will raise the dead. Okay, his suffering, Psalm 22, the Psalm of the cross, right, where Jesus is quoting that and he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Where it talks about not one of his bones would be broken. That was exactly fulfilled at the cross. Okay, Zachariah, what does it say there? They will look upon me whom they have pierced. This is God speaking. He says, they will look upon me whom they have pierced and they will weep, okay? His death, his resurrection, his resurrection is prophesied. I believe it's Psalm 16, Psalm 16, the very end there where it says you will not allow your holy one to see corruption, okay? The end of Psalm 16. The second coming of Jesus, the second coming of Jesus, I just quoted to you, Zachariah, okay? It talks about Jesus, the Messiah will be coming back. The book of Daniel, that is a powerful passage. The prophet Daniel sees the ancient of days seated on the throne, okay? It also tells us of Enoch in the book of Jude. It says that Enoch prophesied of the Messiah coming with 10,000s of his saints. Can you say that about Muhammad? They'll say no. Jesus is coming back a second time, okay? In his birth, notice the place is prophesied. The virgin birth is prophesied. There is an angelic proclamation, okay? All of these things are very fascinating when you share this with the Muslim because let me tell you something. Don't suppose that Muslims know all this, what you know. They don't. Most of them have no clue. But that's where you are God's messenger to go and proclaim this, okay? The place, the virgin birth, the fact that he was born of a virgin. But there was an angelic proclamation to who? An angel proclaimed the birth to Mary. An angel's proclaimed to the shepherds. It was revealed to Joseph in a dream. And then there came worship from the Gentile wise men. I mean, look at the amazing, this birth is extremely unique. It is very powerful. The testimonies of others, Elizabeth, Zacharias, Simeon, Anna, all of those, read those. You may even have a time and opportunity to read them to your Muslim friends. Look at what this man Simeon said. He said, a sword will pierce your heart, Mary. Look at what Anna said. Look at what Zacharias said, where he said, a star from on high has visited us. The day spring from on high has visited us. He's just talking about the Messiah, okay? Next, in his life and in his miracles, his sinlessness, Jesus received worship from men and demons. Okay, take him to the passage where he meets the man of Gadarenes and the demons come before him and bow down before the Son of God. Man, these demons were afraid. They knew this person had in a second could cast them into hell. Jesus had power, authority. Jesus healed the sick, the lame, the blind. He raised the dead. He walked on water and commanded the weather. He casted out demons. He had total authority simply by his word without using aggression. This is something they don't know because remember, Muhammad came with the sword. He enforced it upon the people and that's what you are seeing even now. In the Middle East, they are to either convert, pay a tax or die, okay? Muhammad used aggression and they are simply following in the footsteps of their leader, Muhammad, even now. Jesus in his death, it is miraculous. The fact that he gave up or dismissed his spirit. Have you ever considered that? The fact that Jesus, he gave permission. He gave up his spirit. I can't do that and neither can you. No man, no prophet. You can tell a Muslim, no man has ever had the authority to give up and dismiss and say, you may go. Spirit, go to the Father. Jesus did. In his resurrection, Jesus conquered death, okay? John chapter 10, that passage, powerful. Jesus says, nobody takes my life from me. I lay it down. I lay my life down. Jesus gave his life. Nobody took it from him. He gave his life willingly and voluntarily. In his ascension, it's miraculous. From heaven, he came and to heaven, he returned. And what I like to share with my Muslim friends is, Jesus is the heavenly man. Every other man is earthly or you can say earthy, but Jesus is heavenly because he came from heaven and he returned to heaven, okay? Ask questions about Christ's uniqueness. Why the virgin birth? What about the first messianic prophecy in Genesis? Okay, I've had some very interesting discussions with people because once again, these are things that a Muslim has never been confronted. Remember what I told you? They live in a box. They live in a box. They have never been challenged with all of a sudden this prophecy from Genesis that they've never heard of where God says the seed of Satan will be at enmity with the seed of the woman. And you can ask your Muslim friend, okay, wait a minute here. It says the seed of the woman. Does a woman have a seed? No. And that word seed in Hebrew is sperm. So literally saying the seed, the sperm of the woman. Wait a minute. No, the woman has an egg. But it says, and he, the seed of the woman will bruise or rather, I'm sorry, that the seed of Satan will bruise his heel and he will crush his head. Okay, this is a powerful prophecy. Share that with your Muslim friends. Is it significant that Jesus was sinless? Absolutely. Is God telling us something? Okay, questions. Once again, questions are great. I love to stir questions in their minds. Is God telling us something? Do you think that God is trying to tell us something? Okay, what are the differences between Adam and Jesus? When you talk to the Muslims, they will normally say, well, Jesus is just like Adam. Okay, Adam had no father and no mother. It's true, he didn't. And they'll say, Jesus is just like Adam. And they'll say, okay, but wait. Did Adam sin? Yes, he did. For us and for the Muslims, he did sin. Jesus never sinned. And you can build on that and go and talk about other things. But these are some passages I would encourage you to read Romans chapter five, verses 12 through 21. Look at that passage where it says, through Adam, through one man entered sin, through one man entered condemnation, through one man came judgment to all. But then it says, but through one man came the gift of righteousness, through one man Jesus came salvation, through one man came the gift of everlasting life. It's powerful, okay? Adam and Jesus and look at 1 Corinthians 15 and also check out 1 Corinthians 15, verses 21 and 22. Now, contrasting Jesus with Mohammed, once again, this is really where I love to stay. I really love to focus on the person. Let's talk about these two people and Safi. As we say in Morocco, Safi, that's it. Let's not go anywhere else. Yeah, we can talk about the history of the Bible and the translations and the Quran and this version and that. Okay, let's, you know what? Let's talk about Jesus and let's talk about Mohammed. Let's talk about them because I tell you it rises and falls upon these two people. Now, one of the things I encourage you is that Muslims love to hear real stories and historical events are a great way to share with them. And this is why it is so powerful to read stories that you have studied not only in church but in your devotions, parables of Jesus, stories of Jesus. And these are awesome. I mean, I recall memories of one particular event. I'll never forget it. We were in Morocco in this remote village in a small little motel and we were sitting, they had a little fireplace because it was wintertime and I was sitting with the owner of the hotel and his two brothers. And I think my wife was there and my mom. We had finished dinner and we were talking and there were a few people in the motel was not too many other different foreigners from England, Switzerland, different people. So we're talking with them and I share with them the story of the paralytic. And I told him the story and we're gonna look at that but the story of the paralytic where the friends brought this man on a bed and Jesus said to him, looking at the faith of his friends and he said, son, your sins are forgiven you. And you can see these men as you're telling the story their eyes are just fixed on you. And then the Pharisees said, wait a minute, who is this man who forgives sin? For no one can forgive except God alone. He blasphemes. And then Jesus turned and he said, what is easier? To say son, your sins are forgiven or to say arise, take up your bed and walk. But I say to you that you may know that the son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, pick up your bed and walk. And it's like, boom. And then you begin to sit and talk and say, what is Jesus trying to tell us? And they told me he could forgive sins. And I said, right. And I said, so who can forgive sins? And they said, God. And then I said, well, I'll let you think about that. And you know what? You're allowing the living word of God to do its God's own work in their hearts. See, sometimes we wanna rush a salvation. We don't need to. God will do it. The spirit of God will do it. But the stories from the Bible are awesome, okay? So let's look at the contrast between Jesus and Muhammad. First of all, Jesus claimed equality with God. Jesus said in John chapter 10 within those verses, verses 30 through 33, I and my father are one, okay? Other passages, John chapter five, verses 17 through 29. And then again in Luke 22, where he's before the men there at the judgment before his crucifixion. And he says, you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the father. And they said, you're blaspheming, okay? Jesus was claiming equality with God. And they knew the Jews. See, what I told my Muslim friends is, listen, the Jews understood. That's why they said, you're blaspheming. They understood that he was blaspheming. But either he was or he wasn't. So was Jesus a liar? They will say no. So if he's not a liar, then he was telling the truth, okay? Now, on the other hand, Muhammad was only a man. In Surah 18, verses 110, Muhammad said, I am but a man like yourselves. I am but a man. Muhammad didn't claim anything other than being a man. Next, Jesus forgave sin. Okay, I share with you, got ahead of myself, the paralytic man, wonderful story. Again, the sinful woman, remember in Luke chapter seven, verses 36 through 50, where the woman came and fell before Jesus there at the Pharisees house and broke open this fragrant alabaster and began to weep over his feet and wipe his feet with her hair and Jesus forgave her sins. Powerful passage, once again, seeing where Jesus is receiving a sinner and yet when there's repentance, there is cleansing and there is a forgiveness and restoration. But Muhammad, on the other hand, could not guarantee anyone forgiveness because remember, he's only a man. He could not guarantee anyone forgiveness. Next, Jesus performed many miracles and they were astonished. This is from Mark 737. They were astonished beyond measure, saying he has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. And also, I gave you some other references here, John 21, 25. Muhammad, on the other hand, did no miracles. Surah 1759, and we refrain from sending the signs only because the men of former generations treated them as false. In the Quran, Allah is saying, we've refrained, we did not send any signs by you by Muhammad. And then also, you may wanna write this down, Surah 17, verse 93, 17, verse 93, where Muhammad is claimed as only a messenger and nothing but a man, only a messenger. And also, Surah 13, verse seven, 13, verse seven. You can read those later on when you have some time. Next, Jesus knew what was inside people's hearts. Okay, this is an amazing fact, once again. If Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, then when you really look at it, everything we're gonna look at, the life of Jesus, if you said, if God was on earth, what would you expect? What would you really expect God to be like? Well, Jesus is the revelation of God on earth, okay? So Jesus knew what was inside people's hearts. In Revelation 2, verse 23, it says, I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts and I will give to each one of you according to your works. Jesus searches the minds and hearts and he knows. But also, you can read there in the Gospel of John, chapter two, verse 24 and 25, where the apostle John says, Jesus knew what was in the hearts of man. He knew what was in the hearts of man. On the other hand, Muhammad did not know hearts. Surah 11, verse 31, I tell you not that with me are the treasures of Allah, nor do I know what is hidden, nor claim I to be an angel. So he didn't know. Next, Jesus didn't use aggression and forbade his followers, Matthew 26, 52, but Jesus said to him, put your sword in its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. When Jesus sent out his disciples and when he gave the great commission, what did he do? Did he say, go and fight in the name of God until all are submitted to the religion of truth? As it says in the Quran, no. He said, go into all the world and make disciples and preach. The sword of the Christian is the word of God that we preach. That's it. Muhammad, on the other hand, used aggression and urged his followers to. Okay, remember, Muhammad, this is not what people are doing now today and we stop at that. We need to say no. It actually originated with Muhammad and he commanded his followers to do so. Surah 484, and there are others that we looked at, I think our first session or second session, then fight in Allah's cause. Thou art held responsible only for thyself and rouse the believers. In other words, encourage others, other Muslims to do the same, to fight. Next, Jesus taught against avenging our enemies and to love them. You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek turn the other to him also. And then, but I say to you, Jesus said, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. So if we were to meet face to face somebody from ISIS what would Jesus tell us to do? It's pretty powerful. He says, pray for them and ask God to bless them, bless your enemies and do not curse. Do good to those who hate you. And then you can turn to your Muslim friend and say, let me ask you a question. If Benjamin Netanyahu came to your house, how would you treat him? How would you treat a Jewish person? Do you love the Jews? I've asked direct questions to my friends. Do you love the Jews? They can't, either they say nothing or they just, they just say no. They can't. But I tell them with all sincerity, I love the Muslims and I love the Jews and we love all people as Christians. We love the losts and we pray for you. On the other hand, Muhammad taught revenge and hatred against enemies. Surah 2, 194. If then anyone transgresses the prohibition against you, transgress ye likewise against him. Okay? If anyone does something to hurt you, then you transgress. Can you imagine? Allah is telling him to sin against that person. Do something to bring revenge to that person. Surah 3, verse 32, say, obey Allah and his messenger. But if they turn back, Allah loveth not those who reject faith. Next, we see that Jesus was sinless, which we talked about in John 8, 46. Jesus said, which of you convicts me of sin? And here are some other references. On the other hand, Muhammad was a sinner and needed forgiveness in the Quran, Surah 47, 19. Know therefore that there is no God but Allah and ask forgiveness for thy fault. Okay, this is Allah saying this to Muhammad, telling him to ask forgiveness for your fault and for the men and women who believe. In other words, something I was reading from a commentator, he said, ask forgiveness for thy fault and for the men and women who believe. In other words, you're all the same. You're all sinners, the same. But you will talk to Muslims where they will tell you, no, Muhammad, he was cleansed of sin. There was a revelation, there was a vision where Muhammad had an angel open up his chest and take and remove all the sin out of him. Okay, well, wait a minute, my friend, why does the Quran, do you believe this verse? Yes, well, it's the Quran. Okay, you can talk about other things, but the Quran is the Quran. What does this verse say? It says that Muhammad needed to ask forgiveness. And here's another verse, Surah 48, verse two, where Allah tells him that you need to ask forgiveness of your past sins and your future sins. So these are just some things that you should know. Okay, next, Jesus received the blind, the lame and the poor. He received them. He didn't turn them away, Luke 18. On the other hand, there is an interesting passage in the Quran where it says that Muhammad actually rejected a blind man and was rebuked. Actually, Allah rebuked him because he turned away from him. Here it is, Surah 80, verses one through 10, but this is not all of them, but you can read that. The prophet frowned and turned away because there came to him the blind man interrupting. Of him, this is Allah rebuking Muhammad, of him was thou unmindful. God is telling him, what's up with that? You're turning your back on this blind man that came to visit you and to maybe hear about me and you turned away from him. So here's Muhammad rejecting a blind man. Jesus never turned anyone away. Jesus taught monogamy. Now this is a whole other subject that we're not even gonna go into. Have you not read Matthew 19 verses four through six? The two shall become one flesh. And we all know that passage. Muhammad, on the other hand, taught polygamy and promiscuity with slave girls. Now once again, when I've talked to my Muslim friends, I would sometimes, when I've had multiple conversations, I tell them, have you ever heard of the Mormons? And first of all, in the Middle East, they've never heard of them, never, never. So you're like, oh man, you need to check them out because they are very similar to your religion. So it's just like a trip, okay? Surah four, verse three, if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four. Okay, a Muslim is legally, under the Quranic law, able to marry up to four wives. But if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one. Or a captive that your right hands possess. These are the slaves that they are allowed to possess. Okay, a captive that your right hands possess that will be more suitable to prevent you from doing injustice, okay? You obviously know this is what we're seeing going on right now with ISIS. That's why you hear of child slavery, okay? And girls being raped at a young age because they are allowed to marry up to four women, but they can have captive as many as they want. There's actually other passages in the Quran where it says, as many as your right hands possess, as many as you want. Okay, so this is in the Quran. This is in the Quran, Surah four, verse three. And then Surah four, verse 24, also prohibited are women already married except those whom your right hands possess. So you cannot marry someone that's already married, but you can have as many captives and slave girls as you wish. And there's a whole other story too with that that Muhammad did with his, yeah, with Zaynab. Jesus came to save lives. Jesus came to save lives. I love this verse, Luke 9.56, Luke 9.56. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. I love this verse. The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And then John 10, 10, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Keep this verse always on your mind because when you see the Muslim people, they have been, they are under the oppression and under the deception of the evil one who is a thief. And he has come to steal them, to kill them, and to destroy them, but Jesus has come to give life. Here is Jesus in all his glory and all the gospel. He's come to give them life, but guess what? It's almost like there's a wall and Jesus is like, I wanna get, they need to know this, but that's where you come in. Who's gonna tell them? Who's gonna access, go to them and bring them that light? That's you and that's me. What a privilege, but we need to tell them this. But look at, Muhammad destroyed lives, Sura 929. And don't forget about all the history of when Muhammad fled Mecca and then when he came from Medina back to Mecca to bring Islam, all of the wars and all the lives and the death that went on. It says, fight those who believe not in Allah nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by Allah and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of truth, even if they are of the people of the book. In other words, even if they are us Christians, until they pay the jizya, which is a tax with willing submission and feel themselves subdued. So Muhammad destroyed lives. Jesus did the opposite, he came to save lives. And then last, and I'm sure there's many others. I would encourage you to sit down and think of what Jesus is and what he did. But Jesus died voluntarily, resurrected, ascended and is alive in heaven. This is a huge contrast. Revelation 118, I am he who lives and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. Declare that, speak that with love and with authority. Do you know that my Jesus has the keys of death and Hades? What authority does Muhammad have? He has none. Jesus, my Jesus has the keys of death and Hades. Muhammad on the other hand died and was buried like any mortal man. And his tomb is in the city of Medina, Saudi Arabia. Go to Jesus' tomb. He is nowhere to be found. He's risen just like he said. And the angels once again, Jesus' life was full of angels proclaiming left and right. And then at the end, the angels came and proclaimed they're at the tomb. So it's a miraculous life. Jesus contrasted with Muhammad. Something else that I am giving to you that I encourage you to share is the seven I am statements of Jesus in the gospel of John. If you've never done a study on this, I encourage you. Study these seven I am statements where Jesus says I am the bread of life in John chapter six. I am the light of the world. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the true vine. Study these, know these. When we were in Morocco as a family and with other missionaries, we put these verses to memory in Arabic. We had, that was one of the things we did as a ministry when we got together as a church. We were like, okay, let's memorize these seven I am statements in Arabic so then we can share it with our Muslim friends and it's wonderful. But I would encourage you to memorize this in English and do it with your family. This is a great family activity, the seven I am statements of Jesus. Next, the second coming of Christ. In all three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, it is Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, Deliverer who is returning to establish his kingdom. It's interesting to discover the title Messiah of Jesus is also used in Islam, okay. In the Quran, Jesus is referred to as Messiah, al-Masih. However, if asked to give the meaning of Messiah, Masih, they will have no answer. You can ask them, okay. What is, can you tell me what are the names of Jesus? Ask them, what are the names of Jesus in the Quran? And they may tell you, well, his name Jesus is Aisa, okay. They may tell you other things. But Masih, which is Messiah, what does that mean? They cannot tell you what Messiah means. But that is important for us to know. Messiah means anointed one. It means Deliverer. But anointed for what? That's my question. He was anointed for what? He was anointed or chosen to redeem humanity. Okay. Now we're gonna go into the next section, the Scarlet Thread of Redemption. This is an important subject. First of all, it's important for us as Christians to understand this because it really, it puts together. It gives me a greater understanding and appreciation of the scriptures. And it really deepens your faith. When you understand from Genesis 1.1 to Revelation 22.21, there is a Scarlet Thread of Redemption. There is woven in the pages of scripture a principle, the principle of the blood atonement. Okay, let's look at this. The Bible is a book of redemption. History is his story. The story of God's redemptive work on earth. God's story of salvation and deliverance for sinful and lost mankind. Really, when you think about it, from Genesis, from when God created the earth and created man and man fell, and you look at all from the Old Testament to the New Testament, that's really exactly what it is. It's God's redemptive work. It's his story unfolding of how he was going to redeem mankind. And then in Revelation, bring mankind to enjoy his glory into his presence. It's awesome. Now I took this next portion out of the New Open Bible, the New King James Version. It says this in the preface. The idea in the word redemption is twofold. It refers to a deliverance, by the way. The word redemption and the word redeem is understood and known by Muslims. They know redemption, okay? They know what that word means, okay? Fidia in Arabic, Fidia. But the idea in the word redemption is twofold. It refers to a deliverance and it refers to the price paid for that deliverance, a ransom. Our Lord's redemptive work for us is threefold. First, it is closely related to forgiveness since we receive forgiveness through the redemptive price of Christ's death. Second, it involves justification since the deliverance establishes us in a restored position of favor before God. Third, it promises final deliverance from the power of sin at the coming of the Lord. This redemption is the scarlet thread. And Leviticus 17 verses 10 through 11, it says, and whatever man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell among you who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people for the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Okay, so now let's look at this scarlet thread of redemption. It starts in the Garden of Eden. Let's look at Genesis 3 verse 21. We know that Adam, Eve took of the fruit that was given her, she was deceived, and then Adam disobeyed God. He took of it also and fell into sin. And we know that sin entered the world through disobedience. And so the curse came to Adam, came to Eve and came to all creation. Sin entered the world. And it says in verse, we'll start in verse 20, and Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living. Verse 21, also for Adam and his wife, the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them. So here we see the very first sacrifice for their sin. God clothed them with tunics of skin, tunics of the skin of an animal. Therefore, an animal had to die to cover their sin. So Almighty God was the initiator of a blood sacrifice. He was the very first one, if you will, who said, I am bringing this principle to humanity, so I am initiating the sacrifice. He was the first and the last one to make an atonement for sin. The first Adam was created perfect, but willingly sinned. The last Adam, Jesus, was born sinless and never sinned. Okay, amazing. Scripture refers to the first Adam, but Jesus is called the last Adam, and he was sinless. So sin entered the world and God initiated a blood sacrifice, Garden of Eden. Next, we look at the offering of Abraham, offering his son Isaac in Genesis chapter 22. The Muslims everywhere are familiar with this story because every year each family sacrifices a sheep in remembrance of this story. And I would remind you, it has to be a male sheep, a ram, okay? Many parallels and foreshadows of Christ we see in this. If you wanna turn there, if you wanna turn in your Bibles to Genesis 22, but we're just gonna look at these points here. First of all, verse two, there is a father-son relationship. We do not see in this passage in Genesis 22 a mother going with her daughter or a mother going with her son, but we see a father going with his son. Father-son relationship. Also, in verse two, where he says, take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. Well, guess what? This is also something very interesting. This is the very first mention in the Bible of the word love. This is the first mention of the word love in the Bible. And it is the love between a father, a father to his son that he is about to sacrifice. Isn't that powerful? Man, the more we just get to know God's word, it just becomes just more beautiful. The very first mention of love is here. Also, we see an offering on a mountain in Moriah. In verse four, we see the third day he arrived to this place. Okay, look at that. Verse four, then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. Now, when you look at the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, and it talks about Abraham in obedience going to offer up his son, Isaac, it says in Hebrews 11, 19, that Isaac was raised up. Okay? But it says in a figurative sense. Why? Because Abraham, though God was commanding him and he went to sacrifice his son, Abraham knew in his mind, I don't know what God's going to do. I have no idea what he's going to do. But I know this. My God is faithful. And if God commanded me to kill my son, sacrifice my son, somehow, some way God is going to raise him up. So in the heart and in the mind of Abraham, he was obedient, but he believed that God would resurrect him if need be. And so it says on the third day, he arrived to that mountain. And then in verse five, we see the very first mention again, the first mention of the word worship. Worship in verse five. And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, the lad and I will go yonder and worship. He said, my son, the lad, the young boy, and myself, father and son, we are going to worship. What was he going to do? He was going to sacrifice. Sacrifice equals worship. That was the first mention of worship in the Bible. Verse six, Abraham placed the wood only on Isaac. It doesn't say that Abraham took some of the wood and his son took some of the wood. He laid the wood. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. Once again, who took the cross? It all had to be taken by the son. In fact, the Bible, check it out. In Hebrews chapter one, within those first three, four verses, it says of Jesus who by himself purged our sins. Do you know that Jesus had to do it all alone? Nobody could do it. He, himself, by himself, had to purge our sin. And Abraham placed the wood on Isaac alone. And then it says the father, Abraham took the fire and a knife. What did God the father do? God the father had to punish and pour out his wrath upon his son at that one moment in time. Abraham here, he took the fire in one hand and he took the knife in another hand. Verse eight, God himself will be faithful to provide the lamb. Look at what he says. And Abraham said, my son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together because Isaac said, father, where is the lamb? Where is the sacrifice? It's gonna be you, but what did Abraham say? He said, his answer was he didn't say it's gonna be you. He said, God will provide for himself. Man, what a man of faith. God, imagine God telling me you're gonna go and sacrifice your son. But then I say, you know what? God's gonna provide for himself. I have no idea what God's going to do, but he's going to do something, miraculous. And then verse nine, Isaac went willingly. Jesus, what did he say? He says, I lay my life down. No one takes it from me. Isaac went willingly. These are things, these are areas that you can point out to Muslims. And then in verse 13, Abraham slayed a ram instead of his son because God provided a ram from heaven. God provided it. It didn't come from a man. You didn't see like a man running up the hill and saying, here, here, no. But the prophecy follows. God provided a ram there in the thicket. And Abraham slayed the ram. The ram died instead of his son. This is substitutionary atonement because you and I are supposed to die. You and I are supposed to drink of God's wrath fully because we deserve it. We deserve the lake of fire forever and ever and ever. But the Bible says God poured out all his wrath on his son. Imagine, Jesus drank the cup of the wrath of God. And the Bible says here, this is why it's so important that Abraham sacrificed now the ram so that Isaac now was free, but the ram had to die in his place. And God emphasizes three times that Isaac is Abraham's only son. Even though we know he has Ishmael, but he says, Isaac, your son, your only son, God didn't recognize the son of the flesh. God blessed him, but God did not recognize Abraham's work of the flesh. He said, your son, your only son. This is the one I recognize. And guess what? God will not recognize anything that you try to buy your works or somebody coming to God when they on judgment day and say, oh, I came through Muhammad, I came through Buddha or I came through my own works. God says, I don't recognize anyone except one, my son, the one whom I have set my seal upon. And that's exactly the same here. So we see that right there through the offering of Isaac, okay? Next in the scarlet thread of redemption as we're moving down through the scriptures, Exodus chapter 12, once again, beautiful, amazing passage, the Passover. Read it, when you have a chance, go home and read it. Exodus chapter 12. But we see a couple of points to point out once again to the Muslims. Verse five, the lamb had to be without blemish, without blemish. It could not have a broken leg. It could not have like one eye missing. It could not have a torn ear or something. Okay, it had to be perfect without blemish. Number one, number two, it had to be a male lamb, a male. Next, verse seven, God commanded them to apply the blood of the lamb on the door posts and the lintel, the door posts and the lintel. In other words, all around the entrance into that house, God says, apply the blood, put it on there. I need to see the blood. This was man's responsibility. Notice, God doesn't say, you know what? All the houses of the believers, I'm gonna somehow put magically the blood on there. No, guess what? They had to get dirty. They had to go and take a lamb and then fight it and take it and put it down and they had to cut it and kill it and I've seen it. They get blood all over their necks and their faces and they had to get the blood and then put it all, you know, they had to do it themselves and guess what? When a person wants to follow Jesus, what does Jesus said? If any man desires to come after me, let him pick up his cross and follow me. I need to do something. I can't just sit there and then salvation just comes to me. I have to die. I have to pick up my cross and I have to confess and I have to say, Lord, I repent of my sins. I have to receive Jesus. See, he doesn't just bring everybody to heaven. I have to receive him is something I need to do. So there it is, man's responsibility. Verse 13, when the Lord sees the blood, okay? The Bible says when the Lord sees the blood, his judgment will pass over. So the question is, does God see the blood upon your soul? That's the question that lies over every, really over the head of every person on this earth. Does God see the blood of his son over your soul? By the blood of the Passover lamb, the Israelites were redeemed from slavery. So a very great passage to share and then once again, a story, a wonderful story, a real historical event. Then next we see the Old Testament priesthood and the sacrificial system all through the scriptures. And there I gave you the references in Leviticus and then Hebrews as a commentary on Leviticus and speaking and explaining and showing us why it was so important that the Old Testament, the priests had to go in and on the day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the high priest went in once a year into the Holy of Holies by himself alone, okay? All of this and there had to be a sacrificial system, atoning for their sins and you see it throughout. You can look at Kings and the Chronicles and the sacrifices that they were made. Look at what David says and all of the sacrifices, okay? Then we come to John the Baptist, John the Baptist's declaration in John 129 when John the Baptist is there and he sees Jesus, he says, behold the Lamb of God. Now this is not the Lamb of a man, right? That I took from the farm where I went out and I bought it. He says this is God's Lamb, the heavenly Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is in contrast to all, imagine the millions of sheep that were slaughtered every year, okay? For Israel and for the families, he says, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And this is a great passage to share with Muslims. I asked them, do you know, do you believe in John the Baptist? They say, yes. You know, I get excited. Do you believe in John the Baptist? Yes, Yahya. Do you know what he said, right? You know what he said, right? They're like, no, what did he say? Oh, my friend, it's very important. Let me show it to you. You blessed out your Bible. John 1.29, John the Baptist said, behold, the Lamb of God. Have you, have you known the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world? Let me show you, okay? Then we see Jesus's declaration of himself. Jesus in Matthew 26, 28, Jesus said to his disciples, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. This is when Jesus was celebrating Passover and he took the bread and he says, the bread, this is my body broken for you. The wine, this is my blood poured out for you. But he says here, this is my blood of the new covenant. That was the old covenant where man approaches God and the blood was simply a covering, a covering for your sin. But now this is the new covenant that is now no longer a man making a covenant with God, but now this is God the Father making a covenant with God the Son. It is unbreakable and it was shed for the many for the remission of sins. Then we also see going on into the New Testament we see the apostles testimony. So here we are, we've moved from the Garden of Eden, the scarlet thread of redemption, the blood, the blood, the blood, the blood, the blood. That's why we tell people this is a bloody book. It is. And not only does it proclaim that there is no way to God except through the blood, but martyrs, multitudes have shed their blood to preserve the scriptures. And so we need to never forget that. But check it out, Romans 3.25, whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. Ephesians 1-7. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Hebrews 9 verse 12. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. This is a powerful passage. With his own blood, he entered the most holy place. 1 Peter 1, 18 through 19, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. So ask Muslims questions about this scarlet threat of redemption. Why would God require blood sacrifices throughout history to cover sin? We need to ask these questions. Is God just? Is God merciful and gracious? How can he be equal in both? Now, this is one of the issues and subjects that I would encourage you to ask Muslims. How do you receive God's forgiveness? And they will say they must repent. They have the word repent, tova. Okay, they must repent and they plead with God to forgive them. But the question is, so you ask God for repentance. I mean, you ask God to forgive you and he forgives you. So God is merciful, but where is God's justice? Where does God punish your sin? That is the question. Where does God punish your sin? Because you're telling me that God is merciful to forgive your sin, but where is his justice? There is a lack of justice in your understanding of God. See, for the Christian, for us, this is where the cross and where the blood atonement comes so perfect because there at the cross, God judged our sin and because of that made a way for our forgiveness. But for God, for God to simply come and say, I forgive you your sin, even if you repent, there is a lack of the justice of God. There is no justice in God. But the Bible says in 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, God is just to forgive you your sins, just and faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So there is God is just, his justice and his mercy is met perfect at the cross. Why would God ask Abraham to give his own son as a sacrifice? Why wouldn't God ask Abraham to give all of his livestock? That makes more sense to me or give all of his wealth. Why his son? Why his son? He has never done that before. He had them sacrifice sheep. God asked to sacrifice animals. So why in this mysterious passage, why would he ask Abraham to sacrifice a human, his son? Do you know what the Muslims say? They say if Abraham had sacrificed his son, this is what they say, then we would all have to sacrifice our own son, our firstborn son, because we would have to do just as he did. But this is important, guys. This is a prophecy, a foreshadowing of the coming one, the Messiah. So would sacrificing his son demonstrate the depth of his love for God? That's my question. When Abraham went obediently and took and said yes, even though it doesn't make sense in my human mind why I should sacrifice my son, I will do it. And that demonstrated his love and his obedience to God. He trusted God. And oftentimes I cannot fully understand or comprehend what God is telling me to do, but we do it. And that is a demonstration. This is a very important question. Has Allah ever demonstrated his love for mankind? Okay, now notice I say demonstrated, not talked about or said, because maybe they can show you different verses in the Quran where God says he is merciful or he is kind or loving maybe, though that's a stretch. But where has Allah demonstrated his love? Okay, this is what's so powerful. God demonstrated his own love toward us, Romans 5.8, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God didn't simply talk about it, but God showed us. He demonstrated his love through sacrifice. Anything that cost him and was very precious to him. You see, that's where love is really shown. And that actually goes into the arena of me in my own life, in you, in your life, in your personal life. If something doesn't cost you, then it really isn't demonstrating love. I am coming to realize that day after day. If it doesn't cost you something, then are you really sacrificing? And if you're not sacrificing, then where is love? Love and sacrifice are coupled together. Love and sacrifice. Okay. Lastly, this is called the path of the prophets. And we have, there is also a track that we're going to be distributing tomorrow called the path of the prophets. And this is a wonderful way to share with Muslims, the gospel. As we said before, Christians and Muslims have much common ground on which we can meet. This is a great advantage, even if we can't agree on everything. Taking a Muslim through the path of the prophets, the history of redemption, looking at the lives of each of the prophets that the Bible and the Quran itself attests to is an excellent way of unpacking truth from beginning to end, rather than the typical way of starting at Jesus. Okay, look at these prophets. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Jonah, John the Baptist. All of their lives and their stories point to Jesus. They all point to Jesus. And actually there's a verse in Revelation 19 where I believe it's the angel that says, Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. In other words, what that means is everything in prophecy is pointing to Jesus. Wow, everything is pointing to Jesus. But you can take a Muslim through the path of the prophets because they already believe in these men. They already believe in these prophets. And it's something that actually you're opening their eyes through the truth that is already revealed in scripture. So look at this, Adam. Adam transgressed against God and death was the consequence. He attempted to use fleshly means to cover his sin and shame, but it was insufficient. Okay, this is a picture of man. We try to cover our sin by doing our thing, by coming to God my way. So that's why we have all these religions of the world. Okay, but every religion, remember, you may have heard this, is man's attempt to reach God. But Christianity is God coming to us, not me attempting to reach him. It's him reaching us. Remember the picture I told you before of a hole, a deep hole, and of men falling into that pit? No one can help the other get out. It has to be someone from above that has not fallen into the pit. And that's what happened to Adam. He fell and he tried to cover his sin, but it was insufficient. Next, let's look at Noah. Noah was righteous, but mankind had become wicked. He obeyed God and built an ark to save his family from God's judgment that was coming. He built an ark. And what was that ark? That ark was a refuge. And what was Noah doing? I know as one of my favorite prophets in the Old Testament because God always speaks to my heart. And especially in Hebrews 11 where it says, Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his household. And so I always tell my family, I am to be like Noah. I need to make sure my household is in that ark. If not, I'm not doing my job. But you guys have been called to be like Noah. You are warning people and you're saying, come, get into the ark, get into the ark. Because God's judgment is coming. But we are called to tell people, get into the ark. The ark was God's provision to preserve Noah and his family. And that's exactly what you are. You're proclaiming the gospel to get into the ark. But that ark is a picture of Jesus Christ, the salvation to all who come and escape the judgment that is coming. There is a very real judgment that is coming to this world. Next we see Abraham. Abraham believed in God. He was declared righteous by believing, not doing, but the Bible says believing. It was accounted to him righteousness. Thus was called the friend of God. Okay. Also for the Muslims, he's called the friend of God. God's promise was fulfilled in Isaac. Remember that whole story, how God had promised through his seed, through his son, he would bless the whole world. And remember through the line of Isaac came the Jewish people which produced the Messiah, which brought salvation and ultimate blessing to all mankind. Okay. God tested his love by commanding him to offer his son. God made provision and substituted a ram. Okay. So the story of Abraham. Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob was revealed through dreams that he would be chosen by God for a unique and exalted role. They believe in this story. They believe that he had these dreams. So once again, you can build on that, use that because this goes right into prophecy. Joseph was rejected by his own family. Okay. See if it doesn't ring a bell. Joseph was rejected by his own. He was sold to Gentiles. Joseph was purchased as a servant to Potiphar. Later accused wrongfully, imprisoned with two other men. How many people were imprisoned with Joseph? Two men. How many people that died with Jesus on the cross? Two men, one on his right, one on his left. And remember, one was saved and went to paradise. The other didn't. When Joseph was in prison, one was saved. The other one died. Prophecy guys, beautiful. One was saved. The other executed after being humiliated. And in the lowliest of places, Joseph was exalted to the second position in Pharaoh's kingdom. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, the Father is greater than I. And the Jehovah's Witnesses love to use this verse to say, see, Jesus is not equal to God. You're not understanding the difference between nature and position. Jesus positionally was under the Father. Okay. Jesus is second and Joseph was exalted to the second position in Pharaoh's kingdom. Beautiful. But look at that passage. Show them, talk about it. Read it with a Muslim. Next, we see Moses. Moses was chosen to be the deliverer of Israel. One man to take all of Israel out of Egypt. God redeemed them by the blood. God gave Moses the law which revealed God's holy and righteous standard. God's law was given to show man his sinfulness and God's holiness. This is why God revealed the law. The Bible says in the New Testament that God's law is like a mirror. I don't go to the mirror to wash my face. The mirror reveals that I am dirty and I need to go to the water. So when I look into the law of God, it reveals my sin and I am guilty before God. The problem is a lot of people, why, do you know why I believe a lot of people have left the church and people have fallen away? Because they have not fully, there's several factors, but they have not fully felt their own sinfulness and guilt before God. And secondly, they have not fully received the love and the grace of God. See, the thing is we wanna give the medicine but we have to know that we have a great sickness and if I know I have this sickness and I am desperate for it, I will willingly and desperately take this medicine and I will hold on to it with all my life. But when people throw away the medicine, they don't fully understand how severe it is. It is very severe and so Moses was used by God. God gave him, revealed to him the law which was that holy and righteous standard. And so you can talk with a Muslim and say, how do you stand up to God's law? The Bible says that if you have fallen in one point, then you are guilty of them all. Okay, and remember what Jesus says, look at the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, you have heard it said if you murder, okay, you shall not murder, but I say to you, if you hate your brother in your heart, you have committed murder. Have you ever hated someone? Okay, all of those things and the whole beatitudes. So that was Moses. Then we see David, the prophet David, wanted to build a temple for God, but wasn't permitted. God declared to him that one of his descendants would establish an everlasting kingdom. Here David wanted to build God a temple, but remember God said your hands are bloody and your son Solomon will build to me, but that it is in your heart, you are blessed. But he said, from you will come one who will build, have an everlasting kingdom. My friend, who is that? Who is that that has that everlasting kingdom? That is Jesus. Also that this one would suffer and be sacrificed and conquer death. Now you can take a Muslim into the Psalms and say, let me show you what the prophet Nebi Dawud, David Dawud, what he said, Psalm 22, Psalm 16, Psalm 23. Okay, look at the Psalms. And actually it's Psalm 21, the Psalm of the king, Psalm 22, the Psalm of the cross, Psalm 23, the Psalm of the shepherd. All of those are speaking of different facets of Jesus. So that's David. Then we see Jonah. Jonah was sent by God. They believe the prophet Eunice, Eunice Jonah, was sent by God to preach his message to the Ninevites, but he refused. God prepared a large fish to swallow up Jonah. And there he remained three days and three nights. Not two, not four, not five, not 10, but three, three days and three nights. And then he came back to life. Jesus, I did not give you the reference, but in the gospel, he refers to this event and he said, just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale, so the son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, okay? Jesus refers to that as a prophecy of himself. Then we have John the Baptist, Yahya. John the Baptist prophesied of Jesus and declared that he was the Lamb of God. Okay, so these are ways, these are the path of the prophets. And I hope that this can be material that you can use and that it will help you. And once again, as I said, it is a, you can build on stories. I encourage you to do that and use this material and let's pray. Let's always be praying for what God, God can take the seeds and plant them and bring fruition because God wants to bring himself glory. He wants to bring glory through those people. So let's close in prayer. And if we have any questions and answers, we can do a little bit of that afterwards, okay? Once again, let's take some time. I wanna open it up, not only myself to pray, but I would like to open up for you to pray for the Muslims, especially right now, as they are ending Ramadan, pray that God would reveal himself to them in visions and dreams, pray that God would send laborers their way and pray for tomorrow's outreach, that the Muslims, as they're coming to celebrate and yet they're on this path of destruction that God would meet them, that many would come and be able to open the scriptures. So I wanna open up this time of prayer, maybe about 10 minutes or so, and so let's open up this time, okay? Let me start. Father, I thank you, Lord, for these things, Father, that you reveal to us through the scriptures, Father. We thank you for your word. We thank you that your word is a lamp into our feet and a light into our path. We thank you, Lord, that the entrance of your words gives light. We thank you that you said we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. You said, Lord Jesus, sanctify them by your word for your word is truth. We thank you, Jesus, that you came to bear witness of the truth. And we thank you, Jesus, that you said my kingdom is not of this world. Lord, we thank you that, Lord, our kingdom is from above. And Lord, we're simply pilgrims that are passing through this earth, but there is a heavenly kingdom that is awaiting us. And Lord, your word tells us in Hebrews chapter 12 that we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. And Lord, we know that, Father, all of those great and awesome and amazing saints and prophets that have gone before us, Lord, they encourage us to live lives for you. And we wanna be, Lord, as Enoch, as Noah, as Moses, as Joseph, and Lord, help us, Lord God, as we go day to day, Father, that, Lord, you will use us, Father God, pour out your Holy Spirit in our hearts so that we can share your truth with the Muslims around us.