 Okay, good morning everyone. It's good to be together again new week. Let's begin this time with a word of prayer. Just thank the Lord for His grace. You know week after week we meet and we study together. It is God's grace upon our lives. So let's just thank the Lord. Father, we thank you so much for this new week that you have blessed us with the God. We thank you for your mercies that are new every morning, for your grace upon each of our lives, for the ability to learn, to grow, to develop ourselves as a God. Lord, even as we look forward to this week in this class, I pray Holy Spirit that you will speak to us. We will speak in us and through us as a God. Lord, we just submit this time even as we learn. We pray God that you will empower us. You will strengthen us. You will anoint us for your purposes Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, how's everyone doing? Good. Okay, so last class we did chapter 8 and we looked at very important points on understanding and reason. If we look at the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts, right? Let's just do a quick review. I know a few of last class there was a little bit of a confusion but maybe some of you have missed the class. The recording is available. You can listen to it. But let me just do a quick review and then we didn't complete this chapter. We stopped in between, so let's try and complete this and get into chapter 9 as well. Okay, so understanding and reasoning and this is what the Apostle Paul did, right? In Acts chapter 17, Paul goes into Athens, right? In his second missionary journey, he goes into Athens and we look at two things. Who are the two kinds of people in Athens? Epicurean and Stoic. Right? So these two kinds of people both had their own belief system. But their belief systems were different yet it was not in nowhere close to what the Bible or according to the, you know, what the Bible teaches. So the Epicureans believed that everything in this world is from God and in the end, pleasure is the end of everything. The Stoics believed one day we will die. We will know God is a big fire. One day we will die and we'll unite with that fire. So the Apostle Paul has gone to that place and he's sharing about the gospel. Yesterday on Sunday, we looked at the power of the gospel, right? So he's sharing about the gospel. It was something that was unique. It was something that they have never heard in their life yet they said, Hey, Paul, we want to hear you again. So you come to this main council, right? The main place where all these political decisions and all these reasonings and arguments and everything is resolved in this place. So you come to the center of the city and you speak to us, right? And so we picked up some points on how the Apostle Paul spoke to the people who were listening to him, right? Let's look at those few points. It's all in Acts chapter 17 onwards, right? First thing that he did was he said in Acts 17, 22, he said, You are very religious. So what did Paul do? He didn't condemn them. He said, Hey, you're all very religious. I was searching for a God. When I walk around, I see that you've written, you've got a temple and you've got a statue. It says to an unknown God. So you're very religious. He didn't condemn to he used something to relate and to understand with them. That is that became a starting point. So what did he say? See, I see that you have a statue saying an unknown God. Now, let me explain to you what this unknown God is or who this unknown God is. And he begins to share the gospel. Thirdly, he says, Acts 17, 28, some of your own poets have said for we are his offsprings. So this was very, I think this was the most powerful impact that would have happened to those who are hearing because for the Epicureans and the Stoics, God was just somebody outside this world, outside in the cosmos, a fire. Now, their own poets are saying we are his offspring. So God is a fire, then we also must be a fire. If God is a statue, then we also must be a statue of spring. You know, the word offspring means a resemblance of we are offsprings of our parents. Somewhere or the other, we resemble our parents, offsprings. So Paul is making an argument there and he says, your own poets have said that we are his offspring. I'm not saying anything. So here again, you see Paul is taking the safe place. He's putting the ball in their court, meaning he's saying your people, your community, your writers, your philosophers have written, we are God's offspring. So if you put a statue and say to an unknown God, how can we be God's offspring? So the third point is also to understand. So the Apostle Paul, he learned about the culture. He probably went back and read. What are these Athens all about? What are they doing? It's not like Apostle Paul has gone there two, three times, visited the place, spent a holiday there, come back. No, it's the first time he's in Athens. There's no record of him going there ever, first time. And so he was able to make an effort to learn about their belief system. And thirdly, he moves or fourthly, he moves into sharing the gospel. And so first thing, what does he do? He recognizes where they are in their spiritual aspect. They're all religious. Two, he says, I see a statue to an unknown God. What is unknown to you? Let me bring it to you. So what is he doing? He's got a starting point. Three, he says he made an effort to learn about their books and their philosophers. Four, he brings the gospel in, talks about God's judgment, God's forgiveness and how God can restore us. And he shares the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what was the outcome? We saw two outcomes. First outcome was some of them mocked. Everyone say mocked. The word mocked means nonsense you're talking. It's not making sense. Remember, the Athens are all philosophers, great learners. For them, we die, become a fire and become a ball of fire. And that makes sense, but this does not make sense. Some of them criticized. What are you talking? One man came from heaven. He lived a good life. He had some disciples. Then he had to take all the sins of the world. So he took all the sins of the world. He put it on himself and he willingly died on the cross. And if we believe in his death, we believe in his resurrection, we have eternal life. Does that make sense? It doesn't make sense. So some of them what they said is foolish. Doesn't make sense at all. But the others, some of them believed. And some of them who believed were people who were in the congregation. So we're talking about leaders. There are some of those who believe were political leaders. They believed. And it goes on at the end that few of them believed and they became a community of believers. A church was planted. How long all this took? You want to say a 10-minute sermon? Within 10 minutes, right? Now, what is the most important thing that I learned from this passage? Apostle Paul, he did not boast about his revelations. He did not boast about who he is. Does he? Now he's old man. He's an old man. He's almost, he's more than 50 years old. He's standing there, right? And he's talking. He didn't say, hey, you know what? I met Jesus. I was the commander of the temple guard. You asked me 10 questions in Judaism. I will answer all of them correctly. And I will ask you questions. Let me see if you will answer. I know more than you. Was it true? Yes. Because it says that he was a learned man, studied under Gamaliel. And he was commander of the temple guard. So he knows he was a strong man. He had so many things under him, but Paul does not boast about anything. Does he say anywhere? No, I did this, I did this, I did this. This is what it is. This is what the gospel is. Through the gospel, you will be saved, right? So it's a very important learning. Yes, testimonies are important. We share our testimonies. Many times people have asked me, why don't you share your testimony? Testimonies can bring an encouragement. Wow, you know, God has changed his life so he can change my life also. That's good. But the real change happens and the power of the gospel. That's the real change. See, testimony, people will forget after one week. After two weeks, they'll forget. After one month, they'll forget. Or maybe after a year, they'll forget because, you know, it's a testimony of somebody else. But when the gospel, when the message of Christ goes into us, we will not forget it. Even in our death bed, we will remember the time somebody shared the gospel with us. Maybe you were 10 years old. Somebody shared the gospel in children's church. You become a believer. Now, you're 100 years old, you're on the death bed. You're going to die any time. You will remember, hey, when I was 10 years old, I gave my life to Christ. What was the message? This Sunday school teacher said that, you know, when we are all sinners, but Jesus died on the cross. And because of his death, we find forgiveness of sins. How many years later? 90 years later, in his death bed, he's remembering that. That is the power of the gospel. And throughout those 90 years, he must have heard many testimonies. He must have forgotten many testimonies also. But his testimony will be true to himself. So very important lesson. Good to share testimony. We talked about it, right? Two-minute testimony, five-minute testimony, 10-minute testimony, all of that. But rely on sharing the gospel. And many times we may feel, I need to add something to this. It's very simple. It's too simple. God loved this world. He came into this world as a human being. He lived among us. He lived a holy life. He was crucified. He took up our sins. He resurrected on the third day, and now we live again. When we die, they will live again. It's too simple. Can we add something to it? Not required. That is more than enough. That's what Paul says, no? The message of the cross. It is foolishness to those who are perishing. It won't make sense to them. But for you and I, it is a gift of God. It is salvation. So why is it that when people ask you, hey, why you believe in Jesus? Why is that conviction there? Because of the gospel, because of what Jesus did. Nobody can tell you don't believe in Jesus. Even if they say, what will you say? I can't help it. I have to believe it. Show me proof. Where is Jesus? I don't know where is proof, but I know that the Bible tells me Jesus came into this world. From where that conviction came. We can look at our own selves and say, who told us? How many of you were unbelievers before? You were from another faith. Anyone here? You were from another faith. And there are so many people I meet who are from other faiths. Who told them? Who told them they can go back now? Why is it they are willing to give their life for this gospel? Have you ever thought of it? You know, sometimes we are all born in a Christian home. We see all those Bible verses everywhere. It's all common. Yes or no? I grew up in a Christian home. Everywhere there's Bible verses, but nothing I knew. It becomes common, but the reality sinks in when we understand. Why is it that people right now also are willing to give their life for Jesus? And I saw one video recently. This video, somebody shared it with me. This video, there's a Palestinian Christian. So a Palestinian Christian. And the reporters are saying, if you don't, how can you believe in the Israel God, the God of Israel? First of all, Israel don't believe, many of them don't believe in Jesus. But the interviewer didn't do his study. So says, how can you believe in the God of Israel? So he's saying, that's not the God of Israel. That's my God. God has chosen me also. And he said in the interview, he's saying, right now, if I call five people, they can come and kill you. So I called. And he's saying that, cool. And that interviewer was shocked. So you're not afraid of your life. He's saying, no, I'm not afraid. Anyway, I'm going to die someday. But that video was so powerful because the interviewer was also asking, do you have wife and children? He said, yeah, I have wife and children. Where are your children? They're in the school. So is it okay? You'll not see your children again. He's saying, no, it'll be painful. But I know that, I know what Jesus did for me. So there's no way I can deny him. You see that? Who, for where did that come? The power of the gospel, the message of the cross. And it's deep inside. Nobody in this world can take it up. But anti-conversion bill can come. Any conversion bill, reversion bill, any bill, it doesn't matter. Any bill, let it come. The Bible says the gospel will only advance. Of course, we, you know, yesterday we talked about this that we change the way we minister to people. We change the way we reach out. But the gospel will only advance. Everyone say advance. The devil, what he wants to do, he wants to stop the church. So he'll do, he'll make, you know, little persecutions here and there. But the gospel will only advance. It will only grow. But what about people who are leaving Christianity? Five leave, 500 will come. That's how God works. 500 leave, 5,000 will come. 5,000 leave, 5 million will come. God is a God who's working, right? So his gospel is powerful. Let's look at a few insights. This is where we stopped last class. Okay, a few additional insights. Preach Christ and his work on the cross. Understand, reason, but remember that reasoning alone cannot do everything, right? So when you're ministering to a Hindu or a Muslim or a person from another faith, only reasoning will not do all the work. Reasoning is important. What did Paul do? He reasoned with them, then he brought the gospel. He said, this is what Jesus did, right? Do not get into meaningless arguments and debates. Now, many times when we are communicating with people, ministering the gospel, it can become an argument. Tell me where Jesus said, I am God. In the Bible, I am God. Where is Jesus said? So, you know, the people from other faiths will say, it's not there in the Bible. So many times, I would get so upset. I'd say, what do you mean it's not there in the Bible? John 1, 1, in the beginning was a word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh. Who became flesh? You became flesh. Jesus, the word became flesh. Way later on in the end of Revelation, he says, the word was sitting. He's the word, he became flesh. And all through, Jesus himself was saying, before Abraham was I am. God tells Moses, if they ask who sent you, what do I say? Say, I am sent me. And all through, what does Jesus say? I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the light of the world. I am this, I am before everything I am. So obvious, but where is it written? Jesus saying, I am God. So many times they don't. But sometimes it, when it gets into meaningless debates, see there are times people will only want to debate. They only wanna talk. They don't want to, their mind is not open. They just wanna, okay, tell me, I will tell you back. They have something on the other. Their mind is closed. Now we must understand, we must have this ability to be able to look at people. I mean, you're talking to them to decide, is it the right time to go ahead or not? What did Paul do? 10 minutes he preached. He shared the gospel and he finished. Probably he would have said, okay, I am done. And after he was done, he said, people criticize and sneer at him. Nobody interrupted him. 10 minutes shared. So don't get into meaningless arguments and debates. Debate is good, but when it's getting into an argument, stop. Let's move on. Everyone with me? Okay, let's look at this. Understanding Hindus and Muslims. Now, living in India, how many of you have Hindus and Muslims as friends? All of us. If you don't have, make friends. Don't be people who say, oh, I'll be only with Jesus. I'll sit on Jesus' lap. No, don't do all that. God said, Jesus said, go into this world. I'm sending you into this world. So be open to people. Be open to meeting with people. Points to emphasize while speaking with a Hindu. Now, for example, there's a Hindu, a friend you have, and he's your childhood friend, your good friends. Now, what are some of the ways that you can minister to this person? Maybe he's lived in your colony from the time you're five years old, and even now you're friends with that person. So how can you minister to them? Now, he's your best friend, he's a good friend, but we need to be careful how you will minister. So let's look at a few points. First one, point out the existence of sin and evil. Now, the Bible talks about sin, evil, death, all of that. Now, look at what Hinduism talks about. Karma and reincarnation. What is karma? If you do good in this life when you die, you'll become someone better in your next life. Karma is you do good to me, good will happen to you. Reincarnation, that is, if I have done very good, if I've given to the poor, if I have looked after my parents, I've lived a good life, I've done all the sacrifices, I've done everything, offerings, and all of that I've done. I've been a good person. So next life, instead of becoming an animal, I'll become something better. I'll go next level. Now, if you go deeper into Hinduism, you have different, right? The Shatriyas, the Vaidyas, and the Shudras, and all of those things, right? So they believe that when you're born, you're born in one of those three sects, right? The Shatriyas are the highest, the Brahmins, who are part of the Shatriyas, the Vaidyas, and then the Shudras who are the lowest. And so for them, you're going up to the level. You die, you have a good, you live a good life, reincarnation. Now, how can you bring out the gospel? One thing you can ask is, how do you know your sins are forgiven? Have you ever asked that to a Hindu? So we all sin, the Hindu will say, yes. Do we all, are we all evil? They'll say, yes, because they believe it, right? Now, so you and I are sinners. So how do I know that my sins are forgiven? So the Hindu will say, I go to, you know, these places of worship, I do what I have to do, and I give sacrifices, I offer things, I do all the offerings and I come back and I know that God will forgive me. They will say that, right? Okay. Now, next follow up question you can ask is, that means you're getting forgiveness through your own works. So the more you work, the more God will forgive you. They'll say, yes. Now comes your question. So let me tell you about why, what we believe in. I'm also a sinner, just like you, just like me. I'm not very holy. I'm also a sinner. But when God saw my sin, he knew that the sin cannot be taken on by my own self. So that is why God had to become man to identify with me and to take up my sins on the cross. So now I know I am forgiven and I'm not coming by my work, but I'm coming by the work that Jesus did. So you see the difference here? Now, while we are saying this, many questions may come to our mind. Will he understand? Will he understand? Don't worry. Because what you're doing, you're sharing the gospel. Right? It's the gospel what he's sharing. And it's the power of God. It may go into his mind and when it goes into his heart, he can become a believer. Okay? Two. We talk about forgiveness, contrasted with karma and reincarnation. Right? So again, it's not by the works that we do. When we, you know, in Hinduism, there's a lot of things that that they do to obtain forgiveness. I'm sure you know about it. Kneeling and walking up the steps, rolling on, you know, walking on fire, walking on so many things. Right? These are all done for forgiveness. God forgive me. Otherwise I'll hit myself. I'll beat myself. I'll go through all of this. But in Christianity, it's a wonderful that forgiveness is through the blood of Jesus. So you just say, hey, I'm forgiven, not because I climbed up this hundred steps or walked on salt and walked on fire. I'm forgiven because of what Jesus did. By myself, I cannot be forgiven. Even if I hire an aircraft and go around the world two times, I cannot be forgiven. By myself, it's not possible. But through the blood of Jesus, I find forgiveness. So these words, right? Forgiveness, evil, sin, use these words when you're sharing. Purposely use it. Sometimes we feel that they may not know. No, they know. They know. They would have heard it. When you talk about sin, anyone will know it. Evil. Forgiveness. Anyone will know it. So you bring out these words, word choices are very important when ministering to people. Three, when you talk about to Hindus, Christ contrasted with many avatars, meaning now when you look, when you read about Hinduism, you see that there are many avatars, right? Meaning many, many gods and goddesses. And this one God portrays himself in many avatars, right? I would also say many positions or many kinds of gods. That's what Hinduism is. So in Christianity, Christ is the most unique. Tell me who is in which religion has a person come, he has lived and resurrected again. No religion. Now, the way you put it across was very important, right? Now imagine you're speaking to a Hindu. You don't say, okay, tell me where is where is your God? Tell me. He fell in the water and he's gone. My Jesus walked on the water. That's the wrong way to bring it out, right? Now, you've got to learn how to put it. What is Christ's uniqueness? If you look through history, does history prove that these gods and goddesses lived? Is there a historical proof? There's no historical proof. Does history prove that Jesus is, Jesus lived? Was Jesus just some person who lived in the sky? There was a person. Okay, whether he's God or not, that is secondary. There was a person named Jesus. He lived during the Roman century, Roman government. There was a man named Jesus. Who is Jesus? He was the son of Joseph and Mary. Where does he live? He lived, he was born in Bethlehem, lived in Galilee, Jerusalem. There was a person named Jesus. So, even Romans or Gentiles have written that there is a man named Jesus. You cannot change that. So, that's historical proof. There is historical proof that Jesus died on the cross. Roman philosophers have written Jesus died on the cross. When they write their books, no, they've written. There was a man named Jesus. He died on the cross. Now, whether he took up the sins of the world or that is secondary, but did he die on the cross? Yes. So, you've got history to back you up. Okay. So, this is my history. And history proves that Jesus was taken and put that he died and he was put into the tomb. History is proving. And history also proves because some of your own writers, the Romans and the Greeks have written that his body was not seen after three days. It is not there. It is impossible to steal a body. Can four or five people come, carry Jesus' body and go? You know, the Roman, around the tomb, there was a Roman centurion. Right? If you see, what is century? What is century? Hundred years. Okay, hundred. A Roman centurion. You know how many soldiers were there around that tomb? At least about hundred soldiers. So, you're saying the disciples went hiding, opened the tomb in front of about a hundred soldiers guarding the tomb. But anyways, what we're trying to say is look at the uniqueness of Christ. Bring it out. The world says when somebody hits you, hit them back. Jesus said, somebody hits you. Show the other cheek. Hey, what's unique about this? In the world, leadership means to stand and to tell people what to do. Jesus is saying, if you're a leader, you become a servant. You wash your feet. The leader should wash the servant's feet. But in other religions, the servants wash the leader's feet. What is so unique about Jesus? Bring it out. Right? Everyone with me? Bring out his nature, his attributes and who he is. He was sinless. He was perfect. And he came and he did a perfect work. And then, fourthly, he is a loving God seeking personal relationship rather than, you know, just by self effort. Now, when you look at Buddhism, Hinduism, other religions, they want to obtain this thing called Nirvana. How many of you know what's Nirvana? Nirvana means a place of complete rest and peace. So what do they do? They pack up their bags, everything, they go into the mountains and they sit in the mountain and begin to meditate. Why? They want to attain that place of perfect peace away from the world. Right? Now, they do that by their own efforts. It may take 5 years, 10 years, 30 years. They're still sitting in the mountain in quietness. Why? Because they want that perfect peace. But look at Jesus. He wants a relationship with us. God is putting his hand out and saying, I want to have a relationship with you. It's not like we are using our own effort and saying, God, where are you? God, where are you? I want this peace. No, God is stretching out his hand and he's saying, I want to have a personal relationship with you. So what does that mean? There is no other religion that has, that God has a personal relationship with you and me. There's no other religion. In Hinduism, no. In Islam, no. That's why people who are, you know, Muslims get very upset with us as believers. Why? How can you be friends with God? Who are you? You're nothing. You're a human being. How can you have a relationship with God? No. It's not possible. They don't understand that it's not we that is reaching out. God is reaching out to us. When we try to reach out, we will fail. That's what happened in the Old Testament. They're trying to reach God. God said it's time I reach out to my people. Right? So when we talk to them, think about all this, right? You can have a personal relationship with God. And finally, Christ's power to transform an individual life versus engaging with self-actual actualization, self-realization and self-discipline. Now, self-discipline, self, you know, governing, all of this is important. But as believers, you and I depend on Christ's power. We are disciplined. We live a good life, a holy life, not by our own strength. We're depending on God's power. But here, it's more about self. I must do it. I must get well. I must prepare myself. If I do it, everything will be right with me. Now, there's nothing wrong with that. But if you look at it, you'll be depending on yourself. And so, if you become prosperous and famous and successful, because I did it. But here, in Christianity, God may make us prosperous, successful big businessmen, you know, doing great things. What do we say? It is by hopefully, we'll say it's by God's grace. God's grace. But here, I did it. I am the one who woke up early boarding. I am the one who worked 10 years constantly. You know, 12 hours shift every day. That is why now I am the CEO of the company. And the believer here is saying, I worked hard, but it is not me. It is the grace of God. You see the difference? Both put in 12 hours. Both put in a lot of effort. One is saying because I did it. One is saying it's the grace of God. So that's the difference. Christ's power to transform and change our lives. Secondly, let's look at how a few points to emphasize while speaking to a Muslim. Everyone with me? Okay. Now, if you go deep into Islam, you know, Islam has after the 9th towards the 10th century, Islam has two sects within them. One is the Shia Muslims and one is the Sunni Muslims. That's not in your notes. You learn more in the next semester. So, there are the Muslims who are very strong in their faith. There are some that are okay. I don't have to do this. Just like Christians. I don't have to go to church on Sundays. Once a month is alright. In the same way, there are Muslims. I don't have to go to the mosque on Friday. Once a month is alright. But you have some of them who go every day. So there are different kinds of people in different kinds of levels. Each Muslim is different. Find out what they believe. Because not all Muslims believe in the same thing. As I said, when Islam was founded, later on they became two sects. Think about it in Christianity. There are some who believe in speaking in tongues. There are some who don't believe in speaking in tongues. There are some who believe in miracles. There are some who don't believe in miracles. There are some who believe in the rapture. There are few of them who don't believe in the rapture. There are few of them who believe in the judgment seat of Christ. Some of them, they don't believe in the judgment seat of Christ. So, there are differences. So, always find out what kind of person, what is his belief system. Now, if you ask a Muslim, hey, what do you believe in? Just generally, what do you believe in? He's not going to get angry and say, I'll put you to jail. He's not going to say that. He will say what he believes in. It's a very simple question. You're not saying believe in. But all you're saying is, hey, what do you believe in? It could be a stranger. What is your belief system? Then he will share. Then you will get to understand, okay, this person is a religious person. Or you may find, hey, you know, you may ask somebody else, hey, what do you believe in? I don't know. My parents are Muslim. I'm also a Muslim. But I don't really go to, you know, on Friday prayers. I don't really follow all of that. Only a few festivals I go to. Apart from that, I don't know much. So, you know, okay, this other person is, he knows, he's religious. He's going to Friday church, Friday prayers and he knows, but this other person does not believe. So, you know how to enter in a wise way. So let's look at a few points on how the traditional Muslim and the modern Muslims, their two belief systems, how we can reach out to them. Okay. Number one, establish genuine friendship. Very, very important. Now, I do understand there will be times you're on, you know, you're meeting somebody, but you cannot, you know, establish a friendship. You're just meeting them for maybe 10, 15 minutes. And so that is a time when you just try to share as much as you can, just given the gospel in a very powerful way. And then trust the Lord to work in their life. The seed is sown. You've done your part. But in places where you can build friendships, establish friendships. How many of you have heard of Nabil Qureshi? He was a very famous Muslim. Now, he had a friend named David Wood and they were very close friends. Now, David Wood was a very strong Christian, very strong Christian. Nabil Qureshi was a very strong Muslim, but they were very close friends. Okay. The religion did not, you know, separate them. So in his testimony, you know, he says we were always learning more and more. David Wood will study the word and he will try to come up with all kinds of things to share. Not condemning, but sharing about the Bible and Nabil Qureshi will try all he can to prove the Bible wrong. So this went on for four months, five months, six months and almost one year down the line, right? Nabil Qureshi could not find anything wrong in the Bible. He could not find anything wrong. He could not prove anything to David Wood, his friend. How do I find something wrong in this? But David Wood is going on finding many things wrong. And we keep telling him, so this man, Nabil said, I need to think about this now. So he began to spend more time in the Word, in God's Word, in the Bible. And what started as a way of, you know, bringing the God of winning an argument or winning a debate, he turned out to become a believer. Now, this is the one of times where nobody preached the gospel to him. Nobody preached to him and said, you believe in Jesus, nothing. All he did was, he read the Bible and he said, I could not find anything wrong. I could not prove him wrong. David Wood, in the end, David Wood baptizes him. What a baptized this man. How genuine friendship established that. It could be with a Hindu, with a Muslim, but people from other faiths established that friendship. Gain their trust. Now, it's not like you're, you know, trying to, you know, gain trust and then deceive them. You're not trying to do that. Gain their trust in a sense that, hey, whatever I do, let me be true to God's Word, true to what I say, right? Three things that we would normally question, that Muslims would normally question. Number one, whether Christ is Lord. That's the number one question. How can God become man? It is blasphemy. It is impossible. You're saying, God became man. So for them, it is too much. They believe Jesus is a prophet. They believe what he is and what the miracles that he did. You know, the Quran itself says he was a prophet, the greatest prophet. The only woman mentioned in the Quran is Mary. The only woman mentioned. So we believe a lot of things, but is Christ God? They will never believe it. It's a question mark for them always. Two, whether he died on the cross. The Muslims believe that when Jesus was on the cross, he may not have died. He may have, you know, recovered from his physical illness and may not have died on the cross. Or it was somebody else who died on the cross, different belief systems. And three is whether he rose from the dead. These are the three main questions. A Muslim will ask. Whether Jesus is God. Two, whether he died on the cross. Three, whether he resurrected from the dead. Now, how can you and I counter these questions? If I am a Muslim, for example, I'm a Muslim. I'm asking, how do you know Jesus died on the cross? What will you say? Anyone would like to share? How do you know Jesus died on the cross? Or how do you know Jesus is God? What can we say? You're saying Jesus is God. Came into this world. Right? How do you know Jesus is God? What is the proof that you have? What can we say? Is it written in the Bible? Okay, but the Bible is not. It's good. It's written in the Bible. But how do you know the Bible is true? Pastor, can I say something? Yes, go ahead. Pastor, Jesus Christ is the only I'm in profit among all the other religions that he died and he was resurrected and he appeared to 500 people. He was after resurrection for 40 days on earth and there is evidence with his apostles, the first people with him. Okay, so basically first hand first hand witnesses, right? Even Poromita writes historical proof that says, okay, that Jesus was a person. Yes, we can bring out all of this. But what is something that we can always say is number one point. How do you know that Jesus is Lord? Number one, you bring out historical proof, saying there was a man named Jesus and this is historical proof. Two, you bring out his deity. As a man, he walked on water. There's historical proof for that. So what you said is written in the Bible. So you got to establish the fact that the Bible is not just somebody's writing. It's history also. Is there a place named, you know, what is Gog and Magog? You've seen that in the Old Testament. That's Russia, right? So it's not just a book where, you know, an angel came and said, you're right. No, history is there in this. There's history in this. When you look at Daniel and the Revelation, he talks about Alexander the Great. So there's many, there's history. So you prove first that this Bible is also a historical book, right? As it is a spiritual book. And when you establish that, you're able to bring in this point. That Jesus is God because in, he was a man, but as a man, he also did these things, which nobody has done. Right? Two, whether he died on the cross, again, you've established it, right? History proves it. People, eyewitnesses, as Gertrude said, eyewitnesses have seen it. Romans, Gentiles, Jews, everyone has seen it. History attains to it. And then whether he rose from the dead. So even as you bring this up, right? Bring it out in clarity. Now remember, when you share, there are times you cannot, you know, the reaction from the person who's listening is not under your control. You cannot say you have to believe what I'm saying. No, it's not under your control. They believe or know that's up to them. But you're doing the part of sharing the Gospel with clarity. Right? Let's just look at a few things here. The nature of God. He's a God who is loving, a loving Creator God. And he's a God who wants to have a relationship with us. But for the Muslims, he is not a God who is a loving God. He's a God who's of moral vengeance and anger. Right? I'll just take a minute. Right? At this minute is sin. For a Muslim, sin can affect only people and not God. For a Christian, sin not only affects the sinner, but it affects our relationship with God. Then there's forgiveness. Now for a Muslim, we know that they go to Hajj. Hajj is a place which they go to every year and they perform all these sacrifices for forgiveness. Again, by works. But here in Christianity, we don't come by works. We come just the way we are and we find forgiveness through the cross. Then we see the fatherhood of God. In Islam, the relationship between God and man is more than that of potentiate and subject between the father and son. So again, the relationship, a father and son relationship. It's not there in Islam, but it's there in Christianity. Paul writes, he says, through his spirit, we call out above father. And finally, the Christian life is a life of faith, a life of a walk of love written by God's word. We be obedient to God's word. And then we are led by the Holy Spirit. But in Islam, it is fatwa, which means it is a list of rules that we must follow, legal opinions and a lot of learned interpretations that you have to follow to attain this place of holiness. Again, you see the contrast between works and God's grace. So we'll stop here and we'll get into the next chapter nine, next class. But what I want you to do is just take time to learn and read about other religions. I'll help you to share the gospel. Thank you so much. Thank you to our online students. I'll see you next class.