Site icon Dr. Labib Mikhail

God’s Last Messenger

kirollosa

 

Is Jesus Christ God’s Last Messenger, or is it Muhammad?

This book is written to give the answer to this question.

There are great contradictions between the Bible and the Quran. The stories of the Quran are distorted stories of the Bible. In addition, Jesus did not come to modify Judaism, He came to fulfill the prophecies of the Old testament.

May the Muslim reader read this book with an open mind and examine the verses mentioned in it and think seriously about his or her eternal destiny.

Muslims in the West are trying to introduce Muhammad to the Christians as the Last Messenger of God. It is very important to introduce Jesus Christ in His uniqueness and glory to the Muslims and give every one a chance to choose, either Jesus or Muhammad.

Introduction               Dedication and Introduction

Chapter One               Christianity’s Solid Foundation

An Issue Of Destiny

Chapter Two              The Bible Was Never Corrupted

Chapter Three           The Biblical Proofs of the Deity of Jesus Christ

Chapter Four             The Biblical Revelation of the Triune God and the identity of Jesus Christ

 

The Bible reveals and Triune God

Chapter Five              The redemption of mankind

Chapter Six                Evidences that demand a verdict

The conversion of Saul.

The miracles performed by the apostles in the name of the ascended Christ. Accepting martyrdom for the sake of the crucified Christ.

The singing Churches.

The confessions of Jesus’ disciples. The divine attributes of Jesus Christ.

The declarations of Jesus Christ and His apostles. First: That Jesus Christ is God’s Last Messenger

Second: That Jesus Christ is more than the prophets. He is the Eternal Son of God

Third: That Jesus is the heir of all things.

Fourth: That Jesus is the Creator and the Upholder of all things. Fifth: That Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind.

Jesus Christ’s warning of false prophets.

  1. The true prophet must receive a direct call from God
  2. The true prophet must perform divine miracles to authenticate his
  3. The true prophet must utter true and accurate
  4. The true prophet must be in agreement with the former revelations given by the true prophets of God.

Why is Israel preferred above all creatures.

First, because God committed His Word to them.

Second, and more importantly, because Jesus Christ had to be from them.

What does Islam offer, and what is new in Islam?

Chapter Seven           What shall you do with Jesus Christ? More Materials

About the Author          Hard Copy

 

DEDICATION      

This book is dedicated to my wife, Esther, who has lovingly stood by my side through my years of ministry and my life’s battles, who encouraged me to write, who sacrificed a lot to raise our three precious children, Harvey, Eva, and Sonia, and taught them how to love the Lord and how to excel in their studies and how to serve others.

INTRODUCTION

 

In the Horizon section of The Washington Post on Wednesday, May 13, 1998, Carolyn Ruff wrote a long article entitled, Exploring Islam. I will quote a few lines from that article. She said:

Islam is an ancient religion with profound historical and theological ties to Judaism and Christianity. All three religions worship the same God, acknowledge large parts of the same Bible and revere Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses. And, as do Christians, Muslims regard Jesus as the messiah. In fact, Islam teaches that it represents the modern mainstream of a primordial, monotheistic religion that began with the earliest humans. Over millennia, the religion took form with the early Jewish prophets, was modified significantly by Jesus and finally shaped by Muhammad, the final prophet, who died in 632 AD.

This is a great deception, because the Allah of Islam is not the God of the Christians. The God of the Christians is a Triune God, the Allah of Islam is not.

Moreover, there are great contradictions between the Bible and the Quran. The stories of the Quran are distorted stories of the Bible. In addition, Jesus did not come to modify Judaism, He came to fulfill the prophecies of the Old testament. He said:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17).

Besides, Muhammad did not shape Judaism and Christianity. He destroyed Judaism and Christianity in the Arabian peninsula and when he denied the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he killed Christianity, because the cross of Christ is the heart of Christianity.

The writer of the book of Hebrews says:

God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

(Hebrews 1:1-3 – NKJ).

Judaism, which was founded by the prophet Moses, laid the foundation for Christianity by its prophecies, offerings, symbols and teachings. Christianity is built on that foundation. Many prophecies told about the coming of Christ and when Christ came all the prophecies concerning His first coming were fulfilled to the letter.

Islam is not built on any biblical foundation, and in spite of that, the Quran says that

 

Muhammad is the last messenger of God to humanity:

Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things (Surat Al-Ahzab 33:40).

Is Jesus Christ God’s Last Messenger, or is it Muhammad?

This book is written to give the answer to this question.

This book is also written to be used as a training course for those who work among the Muslims. It mentions Muslims’ questions and objections and gives a satisfactory answer to them.

The Bible exhorts Christians:

But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:14,15).

May every Christian who has a burden to win the Muslims for Christ be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks him or her to give the reason for the hope that they have.

And may the Muslim reader read this book with an open mind and examine the verses mentioned in it and think seriously about his or her eternal destiny.

Muslims in the West are trying to introduce Muhammad to the Christians as the Last Messenger of God. It is very important to introduce Jesus Christ in His uniqueness and glory to the Muslims and give every one a chance to choose, either Jesus or Muhammad.

My sincere prayer is that the Blessed Lord may use this book for His glory. Springfield, Virginia Dr. Labib Mikhail

June 1998

CHAPTER ONE     

CHRISTIANITY’S SOLID FOUNDATION

Before speaking about Christianity’s solid foundation, I would like first to emphasize that true religion is a personal experience. It is a spiritual relationship between the individual and God. This spiritual experience demands a divine miracle and will never be achieved by mere intellectual knowledge or good deeds. The Bible calls that

 

experience the new birth.

Moreover, I would like to say that this book is written out of pure love for our Muslim friends, and to share with them the truth concerning Jesus Christ, for I believe wholeheartedly that the incarnated Son of God, who was crucified on Calvary’s cross, is the only way to eternal life. He said,

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

And what Jesus said we should believe because Jesus cannot lie.

AN ISSUE OF DESTINY

The issue of the truth concerning Jesus Christ is the most controversial issue between Islam and Christianity. Islam says that Jesus Christ is a mere human being and a mere prophet. Christianity believes that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God, and God’s last messenger to the world, who was incarnated in a human body. This fact is of vital importance, because on that particular belief hangs the eternal destiny of every human being.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).

Now, the question is, “What is the basis for the Christian’s belief that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God and God’s Last Messenger to the world?”

An authentic source and solid foundation of divine revelation is imperative. This authentic source is the Bible, which was given throughout history by divine inspiration to the prophets and the apostles of God.

The Bible was written in a period of 1500 years by forty different writers but with amazing unity among its sixty-six inspired books. It is the story of the plan of God for man, from his fall and deterioration to his redemption and glorification.

The late Robert Chapman of England wrote the following statement concerning the Bible:

This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened,

 

and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, test the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its sacred contents (The Bible Has the Answer, page 31).

The Bible is like a piece of gold. It carries in itself the proof of its purity.

There are many internal and external proofs of the inspiration of the Bible.

 

FIRST: THE PROPHETIC PROOF

There are many prophecies in the Bible which were fulfilled to the letter. Prophecies concerning the rise and fall of the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire are all mentioned in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 2.

Another prophecy is the one concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, which was uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, we read:

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation (Luke 19:41-44 – NKJ)

Concerning the destruction of the temple, we read:

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down”

(Matthew 24:1,2 – NKJ)

These prophecies were fulfilled to the letter when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in the year 70 AD.

The return of the Jewish people to their homeland after 2500 years of dispersion was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah:

Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep Him as a shepherd does His flock”

 

(Jeremiah 31:10).

And again by the prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 11:11:

And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea, and He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcast of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

God permitted two world wars to gather back the people of Israel to their homeland. In the first World War, George Belford gave England’s promise to the Jewish people to make Palestine their homeland. The land was prepared for the people, but the people were not prepared to go. In the second World War, Hitler’s genocide of the Jewish people persuaded them to return to their land. This return is the second return mentioned in Isaiah 11:11.

We should remember that a remnant of the Jewish people came back to Israel in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra, during the reign of King Cyrus of Persia. That first return was designed so that Jesus Christ would be born in Bethlehem of Judea according to Micah 5:2. The second return mentioned in Isaiah 11:11 and in other prophetic utterances serves to pave the way for the second coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ: “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east” (Zechariah 14:4).

This is a solid proof of the divine origin of the Bible, for only God who inspired the Bible by His Spirit knows the end from the beginning.

The prophet Isaiah recorded the words,

I am the LORD: That is my name: and my Glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them (Isaiah 42:8,9).

All the prophecies mentioned in the Bible concerning nations were fulfilled to the letter, and the unfulfilled prophecies will certainly come to pass. No similar prophecies appear in the Quran.

SECOND: THE SCIENTIFIC PROOF

There are many scientific discoveries which were recorded in the Bible hundreds of years before scientists discovered them.

1.   The discovery that the planet earth is a circle.

 

Hundreds of years before Copernicus and Galileo discovered that the planet earth is a sphere, the prophet Isaiah declared : “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth” (Isaiah40:22), while the Quran, which came almost 1300 years after Isaiah, says that the planet earth is flat.

These are the words of the Quran, “Do they not consider… how the earth has been flattened out?”

(Surat Al-Ghashiyah 88:20 – T.B. Irving – The First American Version).

2.   The discovery that the planet earth is hanging on nothing.

Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who went to the moon, was asked, “What is the most magnificent thing you have seen in your way to the moon?” He replied, “The most magnificent thing I have seen in my space journey is that the planet earth is hanging on nothing.” What this astronaut declared had been uttered by Job thousands of years before.

Job said:

He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing (Job 26:7).

3.   The discovery of the effect of the moon.

People know the effect of the sun on them, but they doubt the effect of the moon.

In 1959 psychologists declared that the moon has a great effect on man’s behavior, and there are cases of insanity called “moon’s insanity.”

The Bible talked about the effect of the moon thousands of years ago. The psalmist says:

The LORD is thy Keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night” (Psalm 121:5,6).

4.   The discovery of the crushing of the atom and atomic energy.

When Dalton presented his atomic theory, saying that the atom has neutrons, electrons and protons, and claiming that if we can crush the atom, we can destroy the universe, scientists stood in wonder. Hundreds of years before Dalton’s atomic theory the apostle Peter, who was a fisherman, wrote by the Holy Spirit the following words concerning the crushing of the atoms:

 

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements (atoms) will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (2 Peter 3:10 – NKJ).

5.   The scientific discovery of the science of meteorology concerning the water cycle.

That discovery was mentioned thousands of years ago in Ecclesiastes 1:7:

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

6.   The scientific discovery of the importance of the blood.

This discovery was mentioned in the Book of Leviticus 17:11,

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

7.   The scientific discovery concerning genetics.

That discovery was mentioned in the Book of Genesis thousands of years before it was discovered:

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth”: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:11,12).

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth (Genesis 5:3).

8.   The scientific discovery concerning the effect of thunderstorms in mixing oxygen and nitrogen to fertilize the plants through rain.

In 1902 Charles Bradky and Jesse Lovejoy succeeded in duplicating one of the natural processes of nitrogen compound production by passing air through a powerful electric arc.

Thousands of years before those two scientists’ experiment, the Bible told us of the electric effect of thunderstorms to mix nitrogen with rain to fertilize the desolate wasteland:

Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and

 

make it sprout with grass? (Job 38:25-27 – NIV)

The accuracy of the scientific facts mentioned in the Bible is a strong proof of its divine origin.

THIRD: THE MORAL PROOF

No one can invent the moral code written in the Bible. It is beyond the human ability to be conformed with that code apart from the grace of God.

Who can practically apply the command of God:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:4,5).

Who can love God with all his or her heart, his or her soul, his or her might? Who can apply God’s command:

If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him thou shalt surely help with him (Exodus 23:4,5).

Who can practically apply the words of Jesus Christ when He said,

You have heard that it was said “Do not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27,28)

Another command given by Jesus is this:

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, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44 – NKJ).

Concerning marriage, we read what Jesus said:

The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.

Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:3-6). Again we read:

Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband (I Corinthians 7:2 – NKJ).

The Bible principle concerning marriage is one woman for one man. From the beginning God created one woman “Eve” for the man Adam. Polygamy is not God’s command.

 

God set the standard of how the husband should deal with his wife and how the wife should deal with her husband.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25 – NKJ)

Likewise you husbands, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered (I Peter 3:7 – NKJ)

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them (Colossians 3:19 – NKJ).

… and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:33 – NKJ). According to God’s commands, there is no wife beating.

Now read the following words which describe true love. You will come to the conclusion that these beautiful words could only come from God, whose name is “LOVE.”

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love (I Corinthians 13:1-13 – NKJ)

This high moral code is evidence that these words came from the true God and not an invention of man because man cannot invent a code beyond his ability.

I advise you to read the Bible for yourself and discover the high ethical commands given by God to control human behavior; you will be absolutely convinced that the Bible is the true Word of God.

 

FOURTH: THE MESSIANIC PROOF

I mean by that the testimony of the Bible concerning Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and the corroboration of the Old Testament by Jesus Christ. No corroboration is as compelling as that of Jesus Christ. He spoke clearly about the inspiration of the Old Testament. In Matthew 22:41-49, He mentioned the words of David in Psalm 110:1 as pronounced by the Holy Spirit. He confirmed the authenticity of the Book of Daniel in Matthew 24:15. He used the words of Deuteronomy 8:3 when He was tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1- 4). He said to the Jews:

Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are which testify of Me. Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust.

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me (John 5:39,45,46).

In Deuteronomy Moses wrote about Jesus, not Muhammad, as some Muslim scholars claim. Here is the prophecy of Moses:

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear… And the LORD said to me…I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him (Deuteronomy 18:15,17,18).

This prophecy is absolutely about Jesus, not Muhammad, for the following reasons:

When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me, you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother (Deuteronomy 17:14,15 – NKJ).

The conditions for choosing a king must be applied to the coming prophet.

The only one who was like Moses is Jesus.

 

  1. Moses was rescued from drowning in his childhood by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:6-10). Jesus was rescued from death in His childhood by going to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15).
  2. Moses “was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds” (Acts 7:22). Muhammad was illiterate (Surat Al-Araf 7:157). We read concerning Jesus, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).
  3. Moses was a miracle Muhammad did not perform one miracle. Jesus performed many miracles:

And many other signs [miracles] truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:30,31).

  1. Moses was an Israelite, Muhammad was an Arab, Jesus was an
  2. Jesus testified that Moses wrote about him (John 5:45,46); Peter declared that the prophecy of Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 was concerning Jesus; Stephen declared that Moses’ prophecy was about Jesus (Acts 7:37). I will mention only the words of the apostle Peter:

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you… Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities (Acts 3:22,26).

By these words, the case is closed; any claim that Muhammad is the prophet like Moses is invalid.

Now, we come to the prophecies which were recorded by the Old Testament prophets concerning Jesus Christ. These accurate prophecies challenge the mind and lead any sincere truth seeker to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Last Messenger of God, and the Savior of those who believe in Him.

All the details of Jesus’ incarnated life from His birth to His crucifixion, to His ascension, to His second coming, were foretold in a great number of prophecies in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before His birth.

I will mention a few of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus Christ.

1.   His virgin birth was foretold in Isaiah 7:14.

Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and

 

bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.

Matthew recorded the fulfillment of this prophecy in the following words:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (Matthew 1:18-23).

2.   His place of birth was foretold in Micah 5:2.

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose going forth have been from old, from everlasting.

Note that the one who is to be born in Bethlehem is “Everlasting.” His birth is not his beginning. He was with the Father from eternity. He is also to be ruler in Israel, and that part of this prophecy shall be fulfilled when He comes again.

Moreover, there were two villages named “Bethlehem,” one was allotted to the children of Zebulun:

The third lot came out for the children of Zebulun… Included were Kattah, Nahallal.. and Bethlehem (Joshua 19:10,15).

This Bethlehem is situated six miles west of Nazareth.

The other Bethlehem is situated six miles south of Jerusalem, and is called Bethlehem of Ephratah and it was on the borders of Judah, thus it was called Bethlehem of Judaea.

The prophecy of the prophet Micah was so accurate that it mentioned Bethlehem Ephratah or Judaea.

Matthew recorded the fulfillment of this prophecy:

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. (Matthew 2:1-2).

3.   His death by crucifixion was foretold in Psalm 22:16.

In Psalm 22:16 King David said,

 

They pierced my hands and my feet.

Here we must note that King David died a dignified death on his bed in his palace, but the One who died on the cross and whose hands and feet were pierced was Jesus Christ.

The apostle John, who was a witness to the whole drama of the crucifixion, said:

Then (Pilate the governor) delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst (John 19:16-18).

4.   His sufferings and His place of burial were foretold in Isaiah 53.

Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah described His sufferings in these graphic words:

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from Judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall proper in His hand. He shall see the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:1-12 – NKJ).

In that chapter Isaiah prophesied about His place of burial:

And they made His grave with the wicked – but with the rich at His death, because He

 

had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth (Isaiah 53:9 -NKJ) It is of great interest to see how this prophecy was fulfilled.

According to Roman law Jesus was to be buried with the wicked as a crucified criminal, but God fulfilled his word and that is what Matthew says:

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed (Matthew 27:57-60 – NKJ).

5.   His resurrection was foretold in Psalm 16:9,10.

King David recorded:

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption (Psalm 16:9,10 – NKJ).

On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter applied this prophecy to the resurrection of Jesus, when he said to the Jews:

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth… Him being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him: “I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh will also rest in hope, because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of joy in your presence.” Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on His throne, he foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses (Acts 2:22-32 – NKJV).

6.   His ascension was foretold in Psalm 68:18)

King David recorded in Psalm 69:18:

Thou hast ascended on high…

Luke recorded the fulfillment of that prophecy saying:

And He (Jesus) led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up His hands, and

 

blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven (Luke 24:50,51).

The Quran also mentioned the ascension of Jesus in Surat Al-Imran 3:55:

When Allah said: O Jesus! Lo I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the day of resurrection (Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall – English translation of the Quran).

We have to remember that the Quran declares that Jesus ascended to God Himself. After His resurrection Jesus met with His disciples and said to them:

These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. And He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day (Luke 24:44-46 – NKJ).

Jesus Christ put His stamp of authenticity on the books of the Old Testament, when He showed His disciples what Moses, the prophets and the writers of the Psalms wrote concerning Him: He showed them that His crucifixion was a “must,” and that His resurrection is the evidence of His deity, as we read in the letter to the Romans:

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:1-4).

7.   His second coming was foretold in Zechariah:

…and I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn (Zechariah 12:10)

… and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee (Zechariah 14:5) And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives…(Zechariah 14:4).

This Messianic proof is a very solid proof of the authenticity of the Bible. No wild imagination can write these prophecies and fulfill them. These prophecies were God- inspired.

 

FIFTH: THE QURANIC PROOF

The Quranic proof is an external proof of the inspiration of the Bible. And before I quote the Quran to prove the authenticity of both the Old and the New Testament, I would like to state that I am using the Quran because our Muslim friends believe in it. Another fact should be emphasized, the fact that we have ancient copies of the entire Bible which are called the Codices. These Codices go back to the year 350 AD. I will mention some of these codices:

  1. The Codex Vaticanus (325-350 AD) is kept at the Vatican Library in
  2. The Codex Sinaiticus (350 AD) is kept in the British
  3. The Codex Alexandrinus (400 AD) is kept in the British
  4. The Codex Ephraemi (400 AD) is kept in the French
  5. The Codex Bezac (450 AD) is kept in the Cambridge

These ancient Codices were in existence before the Quran which came after 600 AD. What the Quran states in its verses is a proof that these codices are inspired by God.

The Quran states explicitly that the Old and the New Testaments to which I referred, and which were in the hands of many Jews and Christians in the days of Muhammad, are the inspired Word of God.

In Surat Al-Maidah 5:43,44 we read:

How can they choose you as a judge when they have the Torah, which contains God’s judgment?… We have sent down the Torah containing guidance and light (T.B. Irving – The First American Version of the Quran).

It is clear from this Quranic verse that it was not necessary for the Jews to go to Muhammad for judgment, because they have the Torah which came down from heaven, and contained all the needed guidance and light. There was no place for Muhammad.

Again in Surat Al-Maidah 5:46,47 we read:

And had Jesus the son of Mary follow in their footsteps in order to confirm what had come before him from the Torah and we gave him the Gospel which contains guidance and light, to confirm what he already had in the Old Testament, and as guidance and lesson for those who do their duty. Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God has sent in it. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are perverse (T.B. Irving

– The First American Version of the Quran)

According to this Quranic verse, Jesus confirmed the Torah, which He actually did on many occasions as we stated before. He proclaimed the Gospel. More importantly, the

 

people of the Gospel – the Christians – should judge by the Gospel. They are not in need of the Quran. The Quran says, “Those who do not judge by what God has sent down in the Gospel are perverse.”

It is clear from these Quranic verses that the Torah and the Gospel were sent down from God.

What is the Gospel?

A Muslim friend said to me, “The Quran mentions only one Gospel which was given to Jesus Christ, but in the New Testament there are four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. How do you explain that?”

First of all let me say that the word “Gospel” is the translation of the Greek word “Evangelion” which means the Good News or the Joyful News.

The Good News which was given to Jesus is that God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to “demonstrate His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The apostle Paul defines the Gospel in the following words:

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you… that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once (I Corinthians 15:1-6 – NKJ).

In this passage we see that the death of Jesus Christ was to fulfill the Scriptures, and that His burial and resurrection were also to fulfill the Scriptures. The crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ were not a man made story. It was a Biblical and historical reality, foretold in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament.

The Gospel was given in four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The four books were in reality one gospel in different settings, but their focal point was the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of Matthew is the Gospel of Jesus the King. The Gospel of Mark is the Gospel of Jesus the Servant. The Gospel of Luke is the Gospel of Jesus the Perfect Man.

 

The Gospel of John is the Gospel of Jesus the Son of God.

But the four Gospels concentrated on one issue, the crucifixion, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The four Gospels are in reality one Gospel.

Let us go back to the Quran. In Surat Al-Maidah 6:68 we read:

Say: “People of the book, you will not make any point until you keep up the Torah and the Gospel” (T.B. Irving – The First American Version of the Quran).

It is clear from this Quranic verse that the Quran does not supersede the Torah or the Gospel, because if the Quran superseded them, why is it that the people of the book will not make any point or have any guidance until they keep up the Torah and the Gospel?

There came a time in the life of Muhammad when he doubted the revelations he received. Allah commanded him to ask those who read the Scriptures that were before him, the Torah and the Gospel, that is the whole Bible.

And if thou [Muhammad] art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the Scripture [that was before thee],verily the truth from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of the waverers. And be not thou of those who deny the revelations of Allah, for then wert thou of the losers (Surat Yunus 10:94,95).

This verse declares that the Quran does not supersede the Torah and the Gospel. Muhammad had to ask those who read the Bible before him to be sure of the revelations he received.

The verses I mentioned from the Quran are explicit in confirming the authenticity of the Bible.

Then we read in Surat Al-Hijir 9:15:

Lo! We even We, reveal the reminder [that is the Word of God] and Lo! we verily are its guardian. (Muhammad Pickthall – Translation of the Quran).

Again in Surat Yunus 10:64:

There is no way to alter God’s Word.

It is very clear from these verses that Allah promised to guard His word. There is no way to alter it.

Now read the following words:

 

If God is immutable, unchangeable, and most certainly He is, then this principle must be applied to all His books. He cannot guard one of His books and leave the other to be tampered with. No one would trust a God who guards some of His Word and leaves some to be tampered with. The conclusion is, since the Bible is the Word of God, then it is guarded and kept pure throughout history by the power of God. We have no choice but to accept it as such without any dispute, and receive it as a solid foundation to prove the deity of Jesus Christ and that He is God’s Last Messenger.

SIXTH: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROOF

We can say with complete confidence that there is not one archaeological discovery which upsets the Bible record.

Some critics of the nineteenth century asserted that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Bible, as writing was unknown in his day. But in 1902 archaeologists discovered the famous stele of Hammurabi, who was known by the name Amraphe, King of Shinar in Genesis 14:1, a black stone monument on which is engraved the code of laws known as the laws of Hammurabi; this engraved stone was in existence about 1750 BC, hundreds of years before Moses.

Sir Charles Marston wrote, “As one goes over the ancient cuneiform writings, some before Abraham, the engraved seals from Babylonia, Assyria and other early civilizations, a remarkable trend of evidence is revealed… We derive the impression that the stories of the Creation, the Fall of man, the Death of Abel, as described in Genesis, were then matters of current knowledge.”

Recent excavations on the site of Samaria show the actual ruins of the ivory house of King Ahab mentioned in I Kings 22:39.

In brief, the archaeological discoveries show that all the historical events mentioned in the Bible are true.

Certainly the rocks and antiquities declare the truthfulness of the Bible.

SEVENTH: THE EXPERIENTIAL PROOF

Anywhere the Bible is preached and accepted, by genuine faith, it changes lives. Homes are secured. Children are raised in the fear of God. The crime rate drops.

Many years ago, my wife and I went to England to attend the Keswick Convention. We realized that there were no policemen in the village. When we asked a friend who used

 

to attend that convention to explain this, she replied, “during the convention, people sense the presence of Christ. In fact, they leave their homes unlocked. No burglary was reported to the police for many, many years.” To test this statement, my wife and I decided to go to a few homes to see if their doors truly were unlocked. We opened the first door, noting that the cabinets were full of silver plates and precious china. We opened the door to another house to discover the same reality. Then to the third. And we came to the conclusion that because of the effect of the Word of God and the presence of Christ during the Keswick weeks, there were no crimes committed.

The Word of God has the power of regenerating the sinful individual, as the apostle Peter says, “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever” (I Peter 1:23).

CHAPTER TWO

THE BIBLE WAS NEVER CORRUPTED

A Muslim friend said to me, “The Jews and the Christians tampered with the Bible, they corrupted it. We Muslims cannot trust your Bible.” I answered him with the following words:

  1. If the Torah and the Gospel were tampered with by Jews and Christians, then the testimony of the Quran to their authenticity is false. If you say that the Bible was tampered with after Muhammad, that means that the Allah of the Quran did not know that the Bible would be Either way, we have to conclude that the Quran is not trustworthy.
  2. There were thousands of manuscripts of the Bible in more than one language in the hands of many Jews and If anyone wanted to corrupt the Bible, he must have access and authority to collect all these manuscripts to corrupt them, and that is next to impossible.
  3. The honesty of the Bible declares it never was tampered The Bible is absolutely honest.

It shows how Abraham, the great grandfather of Israel, for fear of being killed, told Sarah to lie about her relationship to him. It shows Jacob, the father of Israel, to be a deceiver. It shows how Moses, the great prophet of Israel, in his first attempt to help his own people, killed a man, and then ran for his life to the desert. It records the fall of David, Israel’s most loved king and spiritual leader, when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of a great officer of Israel’s army, Uriah, and conspired to kill him

 

to cover his sin.

The Old Testament speaks about the people of Israel as “rulers of Sodom, people of Gomorah” (Isaiah 1:10). The New Testament speaks about the apostle Peter and how he denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62). It speaks about the sins in the Corinthian Church (I Corinthians 5:1). It teaches that the way to heaven is narrow, and demands honesty in searching, while the road to hell is wide open. A book with this honesty is not corrupted.

4.   The integrity of those whom God entrusted to keep His Word pure.

The Quran declares:

It is we who revealed the Torah [to Moses]: therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed to Allah’s will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: For to them was entrusted the protection of Allah’s Book, and they were witnesses thereto: Therefore fear not men, but fear Me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by what Allah hath revealed, they are unbelievers (literally infidels) (Surat Al-Maidah 5:44).

This verse declares that the Torah was revealed to Moses, that it gives guidance and light, and that the prophets, rabbis and doctors of law were entrusted the protection of Allah’s book.

The important question is, “Will God entrust His word to people who would corrupt and alter it?” Obviously not.

Moses said to the children of Israel:

We shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you (Deuteronomy 4:2).

The apostle Paul declares:

What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: Chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God (Romans 3:1,2).

God committed His oracles to the Jewish prophets. They were trustworthy. They kept His Word pure throughout history.

The New Testament ends with these words:

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in

 

this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book (Revelation 22:18,19)

5.   The fulfillment of Biblical prophecies to the letter.

This we have seen in the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Jesus, and the prophecies mentioned in the Book of Daniel and other prophetic books.

6.   Most of the New Testament writers were martyred.

No one will die for a lie.

7.   To claim that the Bible was corrupted, we have to give satisfactory answers to the following questions:

When was the Bible corrupted? Who corrupted the Bible?

Why should anybody corrupt the Bible? What portions of the Bible were corrupted?

Where is the uncorrupted Bible to give evidence of the corruption of the Bible we have?

To prove that the dollar somebody holds is forged, you have to have the authentic dollar to compare it with the forged dollar. The question is, “Do you have the true Bible to compare it with the corrupted Bible?” If the answer is “no,” then to claim that the Bible was corrupted is totally false.

The truth is that the Bible is the gold standard by which the Quran should be examined. Allah commanded Muhammad,

If thou wert in doubt as to what we have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book [the Bible] from before thee (Surat Yunus 10:94).

This means that the Bible is the gold standard by which the Quran should be examined. It is inconceivable that Allah would command Muhammad to seek advice from people who read a corrupted book or a book which could be corrupted!

To believe that the Bible is corrupted is to believe a great deception that will hinder you from reading and searching the greatest book in the world – The Holy Bible, the Glorious Word of God. The result will be that you will not know the only way to God’s grace, forgiveness and eternal life, who is Jesus Christ, God’s Last Messenger.

 

The apostle Peter said concerning Jesus Christ:

Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

CHAPTER THREE

THE BIBLICAL PROOFS OF THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST

Since the case of the authenticity of the Bible is settled once and for all, let us now proceed to mention the Biblical proofs that confirm that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God and God’s Last Messenger to mankind.

FIRST: HIS EVERLASTING EXISTENCE

The beginning of every human being on this planet earth is the day of his birth, but Jesus Christ is different; he is everlasting.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).

In John 6:38 Jesus said:

…for I have come down from heaven.

He also said to the Jews, in John 8:56-58, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” We have to notice that he did not say, “before Abraham was, I was,” but he said, “I AM,” using the same title God used when He talked with Moses at Horeb:

And God said unto Moses, I AM that I AM: and He said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you (Exodus 3:14).

He was not before Abraham in the mind of God. He was not before Abraham in His rank. He was before Abraham in His existence, for He is everlasting.

In His prayer recorded in the Gospel of John, Chapter 17:5, Jesus said:

And now, Father, glorify Me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

Again in verse 24 in the same chapter He said:

Father… You loved Me before the foundation of the world (NKJV). Jesus came down from heaven.

The Old Testament mentions Him in the Book of Psalms:

The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your

 

footstool” (Psalm 110:1 – NKJV).

It mentions Him also in the Book of Proverbs:

Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and what is His Son’s name, if you know? (Proverbs 30:4).

Moreover, the plan of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world and before the beginning of time:

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. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (I Peter 1:18-20).

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time… (Titus 1:1,2).

Jesus came down from heaven. He was before Abraham.

He was with the Father in glory before the world was.

He was loved by the Father before the foundation of the world.

The plan of salvation by His precious blood was foreordained before the foundation of the world and before the beginning of time.

We all agree that God is eternal and everlasting. Consequently, His attributes must also be eternal and everlasting. He should not lose any of His attributes nor acquire new ones. So, if God is the eternal Father, then Jesus must be His eternal Son, for there is no eternal fatherhood without eternal sonship.

Knowing this truth, we should dismiss any idea of a sexual act concerning the case of the Sonship of Jesus Christ, for this unique Sonship is not physical. It is eternal.

SECOND: HIS MIRACULOUS BIRTH

The apostle John said:

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14 – NKJ)

 

Jesus’ birth was a miraculous birth. He was born of a virgin.

A Christian writer once said:

There are three great barriers between God and the human race. One is the barrier of nature. God alone is God and we are mere humans. It is impossible for us to approach Him. The second is the barrier of sin. God is good and we are sinful. The third is the barrier of death. God is eternal and we are mortals. There is no way any of us could cross or break down any of these barriers. But God, who is almighty, and nothing is impossible with Him, broke the three barriers by the incarnation of His son Jesus Christ. He broke down the first barrier by taking our human nature upon Himself, thus we are able to approach Him. He broke down the second by bearing our sin; and He broke down the third when He died and rose from the dead.

THIRD: HIS SINLESS LIFE

All humans are sinful.

The Quran declares in explicit words that all humans are by nature weak, that they cannot resist temptations to do evil, they are in a state of loss, their souls are prone to evil, they are wrongdoers and ungrateful.

Here are the verses of the Quran:

Allah would make the burden light for you, for man was created weak (Surat Al-Nisa 4:28).

Lo! man is in a state of loss (Surat Al-Asr 103:2).

… the [human] soul certainly incites evil (Surat Joseph 12:50 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

… verily, man is given up to injustice and ingratitude (Surat Ibrahim 14:34 – K.F.Holy Quran).

Truly Man is to his Lord ungrateful

(Surat Al-Adiyat 100:6 – K.F. Holy Quran.)

 

Man is [self] destroyed: how ungrateful (Surat Abasa 80:17).

All these Quranic verses declare that man is evil by nature. Muhammad was born with a sinful nature.

Ibn Hesham, who wrote Muhammad’s biography, recorded that some of Muhammad’s friends asked him to tell them about himself:

I was nursed at Bani Saad Ibn Bakr. While I was with a brother taking care of the sheep behind our houses, two men in white apparel came to me with a golden basin filled with ice, they took me, opened my chest, took my heart and opened it and took from it a black worm and threw it away. They washed my heart and my chest with that ice until my heart became clean (Ibn Hesham, Biography of Muhammad, Volume 1, page 302,303).

It is clear from this authentic story that Muhammad was born with a black worm in his heart and needed surgery to get it out.

The Bible declares that all humans are sinful by nature:

God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one (Psalm 53:2,3 – NKJ).

The apostle Paul says:

There is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10). All prophets were sinful men.

Abraham lied because of fear (Genesis 12:13). Moses disobeyed God (Numbers 20:6-13).

Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).

Muhammad was no exception.

The Quran declares that Muhammad needed forgiveness for his past and future sins. In Surat Al-Fath 48:1,2, we read:

 

Lo! We have given thee [O Muhammad] a signal of victory. That Allah may forgive thee of thy sin that which is past and that which is to come (Muhammad M. Pickthall Translation).

According to this Quranic verse Muhammad was a sinner and was living in sin, for the verse declares that there will be sins that he will commit later on.

Many times Allah commanded Muhammad to ask forgiveness for his sins:

And seek forgiveness of Allah. Lo! Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful (Surat Al-Nisa 4:106).

Read also Surat Muhammad 47:19 and Surat Al-Nasr 110:3. In contrast to all other prophets Jesus Christ was sinless.

We read in I John 3:5 about Him, “And in Him is no sin.” We read in II Corinthians 5:21, “Who knew no sin.”

We read in I Peter 2:21,22, … “Christ also suffered for us.. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.”

Jesus Christ never attempted any form of repentance or made any confession that He had sinned.

Jesus is the only prophet who never had to ask forgiveness. He challenged His critics, saying,

Which of you convicts me of sin? (John 8:46).

No one dared to challenge Him, for he is sinless and perfect.

Perfection is one of the attributes of God. We have seen that Christ is perfect; then He must be God the Son.

Once a young ruler came to Jesus saying, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Jesus said unto him, “Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but God” (Mark 10, 17,18).

Jesus was saying to this young ruler that if he recognized and confessed that Jesus was good, then he should also confess that Jesus is God.

Jesus Christ is absolutely good. Therefore He is absolutely God the Son.

 

FOURTH: HIS CLAIMS      

Since Jesus Christ is sinless, then He is truthful, all what He says is truth and nothing but the truth. What did He say about Himself?

He claimed much. He said:

  1. I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst (John 6:35).
  2. I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life (John 8:12).
  3. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (John 10:9).
  4. I am the good The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11).
  5. I am the resurrection and the He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live (John 11:15).
  6. I am the way, the truth and the No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).
  7. I and my Father are one (John 10:30).

Who could claim that he is the bread of life, the light of the world, the only door for salvation, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth and the life, and that He and the Father are one but the incarnated Son of God. None of the prophets claimed any of these attributes.

FIFTH: HIS GLORY AND POWER

The glory of Jesus Christ was demonstrated at the time of His transfiguration.

This glorious event is recorded in the three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. I will quote only what Matthew recorded:

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my

 

beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only (Matthew 17:1-8).

Peter wrote about the glory of Jesus Christ which he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration, saying,

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (2 Peter 1:16-18).

The apostle John testifies concerning the same event saying,

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

The power of Jesus Christ was manifested through His miracles.

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

And all the devils besought him, saying, send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand:) and were choked in the sea (Mark 5:1-013).

Jesus Christ commanded a legion, which is a large number of devils from that man, and the people of that town “come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid (Mark 5:15).

 

•       Jesus has power over nature:

And the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” And when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow: and they awoke Him, and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said to them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:35-41). (Read Job 38:8-11.)

•       Jesus has power over sickness:

When evening had come, they brought to Him many that were demon-possessed: and He castout the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick (Matthew 8:16).

•       Jesus has power over death:

And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother (Luke 7:12-15).

(Read also John 11:38-44).

•       Jesus gave power to His disciples:

Moreover, Jesus Christ gave power to His disciples to perform miracles:

And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease (Matthew 10:1).

The book of Acts recorded many miracles that the apostles performed in the name of Jesus

(Acts 3:1, 9:32-35, 9:36-42, 14:8-10, 16:16-18).

The Quran says about Jesus Christ:

 

And Allah will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel, and [appoint him] a messenger to the children of Israel, [with this message]. I have come to you with a sign [miracle] from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it. And it becomes a bird by Allah’s leave. And I heal these born blind, and the lepers, and I bring the dead into life by Allah’s leave and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a sign for you if ye did believe (Surat Al-Imran 3:48,49 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

The power of Jesus Christ demonstrates His deity.

SIXTH: THE GIFTS HE GIVES

Jesus Christ gives many blessings and gifts to those who believe in Him as the Son of God, Savior, Lord, and God’s Last Messenger.

•       He gives rest.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28 – NKJ).

Jesus Christ gives rest from the burden of sin, from the sense of guilt, from care.

There is no human being who could give rest to all who labor and are heavy laden. God only is the one who gives that kind of rest.

•       He gives satisfaction.

Nothing in the world can fully satisfy the heart of man. King Solomon tried to find happiness in material things, but at the end he said,

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun…Therefore, I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit (Ecclesiastes 2:11,17).

But Jesus Christ can satisfy the human heart. He said to the Samaritan woman:

Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14).

•       He gives assurance of salvation from the wrath of God and a promise of eternal life.

 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (John 5:24).

This is contrary to what the Quran says. The Quran assures every Muslim that he or she must enter hell.

These are the words of the Quran:

Man says: “What! When I am dead, shall I then be raised up alive?” But does not man call to mind that We created him before out of nothing? So, by thy Lord, without doubt, We shall gather them together, and [also] Satans [with them]; then shall We bring them forth on their knees round about Hell; … Not one of you but will pass over it (literally enter it); this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished (Surat Maryam 19:66-70 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

What a great difference!

SEVENTH: HIS UNIQUENESS

Many years ago, someone wrote a beautiful article concerning Jesus Christ. Let me quote that article.

The Incomparable Christ

“More than nineteen hundred years ago there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life. This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively. Only once did He cross the boundary of the country in which He lived; that was during His exile in childhood.

He possessed neither wealth nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous, and had neither training nor formal education.

In infancy he startled a king; in childhood He puzzled doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the billows as if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep.

He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service.

He never wrote a book, and yet all the libraries of the country could not hold the books that have been written about Him. He never wrote a song, and yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all the songwriters combined.

He never founded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as

 

many students.

He never marshaled an army, nor drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun; and yet no leader ever had more volunteers who have, under His orders, made more rebels stack arms and surrender without a shot fired.

He never practiced psychiatry, and yet He has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near.

Once each week the wheels of commerce cease their turning and multitudes wend their way to worshipping assemblies to pay homage and respect to Him.

The names of the past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone; but the name of this Man abounds more and more. Though time has spread nineteen hundred years between the people of this generation and the scene of His crucifixion, yet He still lives. Herod could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him.

He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the living, personal Christ, our Lord and Savior.”

We are either going to be forever with Him, or forever without Him. It was the incomparable Christ who said:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).

This is Jesus Christ as the Bible presents Him. The Bible speaks about:

 

In the light of all these, we have to declare with Peter:

You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16 – NKJ). At the same time, Jesus Christ is God’s Last Messenger to the world.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE BIBLICAL REVELATION OF THE TRIUNE GOD AND THE IDENTITY OF JESUS CHRIST

The belief that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God is based on the belief in a Triune God.

The belief in a Triune God is not a Christian invention, but is a Biblical doctrine. Let me ask you this question: “From where did we get our knowledge about God?” From one of two sources:

From our foolish hearts and darkened minds, which is what the pagans did, and this is what the apostle Paul recorded concerning the pagans:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and to birds, and four- footed beasts, and creeping things… who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the creator, Who is blessed forever, Amen (Romans 1:21-25).

Or we know the true God by a special revelation from Him, which we Christians have received in the Bible.

We take God at His word and believe His revelation of Himself.

God is everlasting, having no beginning; therefore He must be self-existent and self- sufficient.

No one can fully comprehend God. The finite human mind cannot contain the infinite God. If we could contain God in our minds, He would no longer be God.

Important questions

 

There are many important questions concerning God that need an answer such as:

Before God created angels and men, with whom was he talking?

Before God created angels and men, whom did He love, since we read in I John 4:16 that “God is Love.” And in the Quran we read: “Lo! my Lord is Merciful, Loving” (Surat Hud 11:90).

Before God created angels and men, whom did he see, and whom did he hear?

If God’s attributes were not functioning without His creation, then He is incomplete in Himself, being completed by His creation. This is a heresy.

All the former questions concerning God have a satisfactory answer in the belief of a Triune God.

THE BIBLE REVEALS A TRIUNE GOD

 

 

The Old Testament uses the plural name of Deity.

Notice the singular and the plural in the verses.

Here we have to notice the two words, “I” and “US.” For the One who says “I,” says also “Us.” That indicates the oneness of the Triune God.

It is of great importance to notice that God never used the word “We” or “Us” to magnify himself in the Bible.

It was not the custom of the kings of the great empires to use the word “We” to magnify themselves.

King Nebuchadnezzer, the Emperor of the great Babylonian empire, issued a decree saying, “Therefore I make a decree…” (Daniel 3:29).

 

King Darius issued a decree saying, “I make a decree…” (Daniel 6:26).

So when God uses the words “We” or “Us,” it is not to magnify Himself but to indicate that He is a Triune God.

Balak the king of the Moabites was afraid of Israel. He sent to Balaam the prophet to come and curse Israel. Balaam said to Balak: “The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak” (Numbers 22:38). Three times God met Balaam in that occasion. The Bible recorded these three times in the following verses:

This is a clear revelation of the Triune God.

Then we read in Psalm 110:1:

The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Jesus asked the Pharisees concerning this passage saying:

What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son of David. He saith unto them, how then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? (Matthew 22:42-44).

The only right answer for this passage is the belief in the Triune God. For in this passage we see “The LORD” is God the Father. “My Lord” is God the Son, David in Spirit calls Him Lord, and that Spirit is the Holy Spirit.

Again, we read in the book of Proverbs:

Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists?

 

Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know? (Proverbs 30:4 – NKJ) Dr. Charles Bridges says in his commentary on Proverbs:

There is a Son in the Eternal Godhead; a Son not begotten in time, but from eternity (Proverbs 8:22-30); his name therefore, not as some would have it, a component part of his humiliation, but the manifestation of his Godhead: co-existent with his Father in the same ineffable nature, yet personally distinct. “What is his name? and what is his Son’s name?” Sovereignty-Omnipresence-Omnipotence is His. He too controls the winds and water, and establishes the earth…”

We have to realize that these passages are taken from the Old Testament, the book of the Jewish people who believed in monotheism.

We come now to the New Testament.

On the occasion of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, we see clearly the Triune God.

In Matthew 3:16,17, we read:

Then Jesus, when he had been baptized, came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (NKJ).

In this scene we have:

In the gospel of John we read these precious words of Jesus Christ:

… If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (John 14:23)

Jesus says here that His Father, Himself, and the Holy Spirit, the Triune God, dwells in the heart of the person who loves Jesus Christ and obeys His word.

We read twice in Surat Al-Baqarat 2:87 and 2:253 the relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

In verse 87 we read, “We gave Jesus the son of Mary evidence and assisted him with the Holy Spirit. In verse 253 we read, “We gave Jesus the son of Mary explanation, and endorsed him by means of the Holy Spirit.” (Irving – First American Version of the Quran).

 

The Holy Spirit is not the angel Gabriel; Gabriel was never called the Holy Spirit, even in the Quran.

The Triune God is the God revealed in the Bible.

This profound mystery of the Godhead is summed up in the words of Dr. Boardman, the great theologian:

The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead invisible.

No one has seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (John 1:18 – NKJV).

The Son is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-14 – NKJ).

The Holy Spirit is all the fullness of the Godhead acting immediately upon the creature.

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God (I Corinthians 2:9,10 – NKJ).

The Quran declares that God is visible and invisible, and seated Him on a throne:

He is the first and the last, and the outward (literally the visible) and the inward (literally the invisible); and He is the knower of all things. He it is who created the heavens and the earth in six days; then He mounted the throne (Surat Al-Hadid 57:3,4 9 – M. M. Pickthall Translation).

God is invisible. The apostle Paul says that He is:

…dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen (I Timothy 6:16).

But God became visible in the person of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says:

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (I Timothy 3:16).

I wonder why it is difficult for our Muslim friends to believe that Jesus Christ is the incarnated Son of God, while the Quran incarnated God in many of its passages.

 

The Quran gave God a face

Every one upon it will disappear while your Lord’s face will remain full of majesty and splendor (Surat Al-Rahman 55:26,27 – T.B. Irving – The First American Version of the Quran).

The Quran gave God a hand

The ones who swear allegiance to you merely swear allegiance to God. God’s hand rests above their hands… (Surat Al-Fath 48:10).

The Quran gave God an eye

Allah said: “Granted is thy prayer, O Moses! And indeed We conferred a favour on thee another time [before]. Behold! We sent to thy mother, by inspiration, the message: ‘Throw [the child] into the chest, and throw [the chest] into the river: The river will cast him up on the bank, and he will be taken up by one who is an enemy to Me and an enemy to him: But I endued thee with love from Me: And [this] in order that thou mayest be reared under Mine eye.’ ” (Surat Ta-Ha 20:36-39 – King Fahd Holy Quran)

The Quran seated God on the throne

He it is who created the heavens and the earth in six days; then He mounted the throne (Surat Al-Hadid 57:4 – M. M. Pickthall English Translation).

The Quran gave God a face, a hand, an eye, and seated Him on a throne. If that is not incarnation, what is incarnation then?

My Muslim friends may say this is allegorical.

I know that such expressions in the Quran, where it is said that God has face, hand, eye is to be understood only in the sense that those human expressions are used in order to bring the infinite within the comprehension of the finite.

The conclusion is that incarnation was a must even in the Quran so that Muslims may comprehend at least a glimpse of the Divine.

We Christians accept the Bible revelations concerning God and His attributes. We have seen that all the Biblical revelations speak about a triune God.

Mathematically we accept unity and multiplication when we multiply 1 X 1 X 1 and

 

know that even though each one is distinct from the other, the result is one.

It is very important to keep in mind that the Bible is the only source by which we can know the True God.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND

 

There are two things that demand a divine redemption: First, the Holiness of God. Second, the sin of man. It is a fact that all human beings are sinners.

The apostle Paul says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That means that all human beings are measured by God’s standards and are all found wanting.

This is the Bible’s declaration about man.

As I mentioned before, the Quran declares in Surat Al-Asr 103:2: Lo! Man is in a state of loss.

Again the Quran declares in Surat Joseph 12:53:

I do not claim to be innocent myself: One’s soul is prone to evil.

Man is totally depraved. He is in a state of loss. His soul is prone to evil; therefore he is helpless and cannot save himself.

Look around and see the violence, the wickedness, the deception, the killing, the perversion of the homosexuals.

All these things demonstrate that human beings are sinful by nature. How could any man obtain the forgiveness of a Holy God?

 

Good deeds cannot annul ill deeds, or pay for man’s sin against a just and Holy God for sin is an offense against a Holy God.

You cannot offer good deeds to obtain God’s mercy and forgiveness. In fact, this would be an insult to the Holy God.

The prophet Isaiah says concerning good deeds:

But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6 – NKJ).

How can we possibly think that we can exchange filthy rags for God’s forgiveness, if we really believe in a Holy and Just God?

The Quran declares that there is no human means to redeem a individual if he or she rejects faith.

Those who reject faith, neither their possessions nor their progeny will avail them aught against Allah: they are themselves but fuel for the fire (Surat Al-Imran 3:10 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

Job asked this important question:

… but how can a man be righteous before God? (Job 9:2). God is a just and holy God.

God is a merciful and loving God.

Because He is just, He must punish the sinner according to His word: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

Because He is merciful and loving, He must provide a way to reconcile His justice with His mercy and forgive the sins of the one who will come to Him. That way was the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.

God was not taken by surprise when Adam and Eve sinned. He knew they would sin. We read in the book of Acts, “Known to God from eternity are all His works” (Acts 15:18 NKJ). God knew from the beginning that Adam and Eve would sin; therefore, before He created them, He provided the way for their redemption

The apostle Peter says:

Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, he indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the

 

world, but was manifested in these last times for you (I Peter 1:18-20 – NKJ).

The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

The apostle Peter declared to the Jews who were gathered on the day of Pentecost:

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it (Acts 2:22-24).

By the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, Jesus came to be crucified.

Counsel demands a Triune God. In eternity the Triune God knew that man would fall into sin, that he needed to be redeemed to reconcile God’s justice with God’s mercy and demonstrate God’s love to man. Jesus offered to redeem man. Jesus is called in the Gospel of John, the “Word.” At the same time He is the creator of man.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:1,3).

In the Quran Jesus is called the Word of God:

Behold the angels said: “O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: His name will be Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the hereafter and of [the company of] these nearest Allah

(Surat Al-Imran 3:45).

Jesus is a Word from God. The Word of God is not created.

When the Quran says, “The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam, He created him from dust, then said to him, ‘Be’ and he was” (Surat Al-Imran 3:59), it contradicts itself, because Adam was not created by the word “Be,” but by the breath of Allah.

Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: “I am about to create man from clay: when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit, fall ye down in prostration unto him” (Surat Sad 38:70,71).

 

Likewise, Jesus was not conceived by the word “Be,” but by the Spirit of God.

And Mary [mother of Jesus] the daughter of Imran, who guarded her virginity (literal translation); and We breathed into [her body] of our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of his revelations, and was one of the devout [servants] (Surat Al-Tahrim 66:12).

The Quran gives a clear permission to the Muslim to believe in God’s son, if he or she is convinced by clear evidence that God has a son.

The Quran says:

Say: “[Muhammad] if the Most Gracious Had a son, I would be the first to worship” (Surat Al-Zukhruf 43:81).

The Most Gracious had a Son, His Son is the creator of all things. The creator of mankind became the Redeemer of mankind, to open the door of mercy for mankind.

The Quran declared the same truth about Jesus Christ:

We will grant Him as a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained (Surat Maryam 19:21).

Jesus Christ was a sign for mankind by His birth from the Virgin Mary without a man. But He was a mercy from God by His death in the place of sinners on the cross.

If He did not die on the cross to save sinners, then what mercy was it in Him for mankind?

I am aware that the Quran says concerning Muhammad:

We sent thee not, but as a mercy for all creatures (Surat Al-Anbiya 21:107 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

But my question is, what mercy was in Muhammad for all creatures while he did not redeem them?

Was Muhammad merciful when he commanded the Muslims to fight, torture and kill the Jews and the Christians, and anyone who opposed him.

These are the words of the Quran:

Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which

 

hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad], nor acknowledge the religion of truth [Islam] from among the people of the Book [Jews and Christians] until they pay the jizya (poll tax levied from those who did not accept Islam) with willing submission and feel themselves subdued (Surat Al-Tauba 9:29 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad] and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is execution, or crucifixion, or cutting off hands and feet from opposite sides (that means cutting the right hand and the left foot) or exile from the land (Surat Al-Maidah 5:33 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

The word “mercy” according to Webster’s Dictionary means: “A refraining from punishing offenders… kindness in excess of what may be expected… the power to forgive.”

All these meanings cannot be applied to Muhammad but can be applied only to what God did through the death of His Son Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says,

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved) (Ephesians 2:4,5).

In the cross of Jesus Christ God demonstrated His love, His wisdom, and His justice.

A young man from Morocco said to me, “God would not let one of His chosen prophets be killed, let alone if that prophet, as you Christians claim, is His Son.”

My answer was that the Quran mentioned that the Jews killed many of the chosen prophets of God.

I will mention some of these Quranic verses:

  1. Why then have ye slain the prophets of Allah in times gone by, if ye did indeed believe?

 

 

 

 

 

(Surat Al-Baqarah 2:91 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

  1. Certainly record their word and [their act] of slaying the prophets in defiance of

 

right

 

 

 

 

 

(Surat Al-Imran 3:181 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

  1. [They have incurred divine displeasure] in that they broke their covenant; that they rejected the signs of Allah; that they slew the messengers in defiance of right (Surat Al-Nisa 4:155).
  2. We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of messengers; We gave Jesus the son of Mary clear [signs] and strengthened him with the holy spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you a messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride? Some you called impostors, and others ye slay (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:87 – King Fahd Holy Quran)

There are other verses in the Quran which mention the killing of good and chosen prophets.

But in the case of Jesus Christ we have to be reminded that He came to die. His death was the focal point of His mission.

When Jesus came to the coasts of Caesarea Philippi He asked His disciples,

Whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven… From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day (Matthew 16:15-17, 21).

After the confession of Peter, declaring that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus revealed to His disciples that He would be killed but He would be raised again.

In the cross of Jesus Christ God demonstrated three things:

  1. HIS LOVE

 

We see the power of God in creation. But the only way to see the love of God beyond any shadow of doubt is to see it in the cross of Jesus Christ.

 

The apostle Paul says,

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8 – NKJ).

Again we read in the Gospel of John:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

The apostle John says:

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (I John 4:9,10).

Here I should say that there is a great difference between mercy and love. The Quran declares that God is merciful. The Bible declares that God is love (I John 4:16).

Mr. Abd-Al-Masih in his book, Who is Allah in Islam? wrote:

Islam acknowledges Allah to be the merciful one. Perhaps you may ask, “Is not this name, which occurs in the Quran more than any other name, equivalent to love? Are not mercy and love the same?” Perhaps an illustration can help to clarify the comparison between these two words. If a groom would say to his bride, “I have mercy on you and will marry you,” what would her reaction be? She would run away from him! But if he says, “I love you, this is why I will marry you,” then the relationship will be as it should be.

I repeat, God demonstrated His love toward us in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Alas, the Muslim cannot confess that God is Love, because that name is not mentioned in the Quran.

  1. HIS WISDOM

 

The wisdom of God is far above the wisdom of man:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8,9).

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33).

The apostle Paul says:

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God

 

by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (I Corinthians 1:21- 24).

God planned in His great wisdom a way to reconcile His love and mercy with His justice and righteousness.

In the cross of Jesus Christ,

Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm 85:10 – NKJ).

3.   HIS JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

Christianity does not proclaim a God who is a despotic dictator who forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills, without any basis of justice, but a God who is a righteous and a just God, and who is at the same time the justifier.

The only logical solution for the problem of sin is the death of the perfect Savior, Jesus Christ, this is why Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (I Corinthians 2:1,2).

Paul knew that the crucified Christ is the central theme of Christianity, and that without the cross there is no Christianity, and no salvation.

When the Quran declared that Jesus Christ was not crucified, saying, “… they killed him not, nor crucified him” (Surat Al-Nisaa 4:157), it meant that the prophecies concerning Christ’s crucifixion in the Old Testament, the four Gospels, the letters of the apostles and the book of the Revelation are all false. In other words that the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation is not God’s infallible word, and who would believe that conclusion but a fool?

The apostle Paul summed up the central theme of Christianity in Romans 3:23-26. He says:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;… to declare, I say, his righteousness… that He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

A FINAL WORD        

 

To conclude this chapter, I should say that there are certain things that God cannot do. God cannot lie, because He is Truth.

God cannot sin, because He is Holy.

God cannot forgive without atonement, because He is Just. The Psalmist says:

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne (Psalm 97:1 – NKJ) The declaration of war spoken by God to Satan after the fall of man is recorded in Genesis:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15 – NKJ).

The only seed of the woman is Jesus Christ, because He was born of a woman without a man. He was born without sin. The Quran declares that Jesus was born pure and faultless.

The angel Gabriel said to Mary:

I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son (Surat Maryam 19:19 – M. M. Pickthall Translation)

Satan bruised Jesus’ heel when He was nailed to the cross. Jesus thwarted the plan of Satan and will bruise his head when He comes back and cast him into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

It was said that God created Jesus of a woman without a man to complete the creative cycle.

For He created Adam from the dust. Then He created Eve from Adam to show his power.

Then He creates human beings from man and woman together.

Then to complete the cycle He created Jesus from a woman without a man.

This is a great error.

Because God created Eve from Adam to make her equal to him, we read in the book of Genesis:

 

And the LORD God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him (Genesis 2:18)

And when God brought Eve to Adam, Adam said:

This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man (Genesis 2:23).

But Jesus was born of a virgin without a man, not to complete the cycle of creation, but that He should be born without sin.

This is what we read in Hebrews 10:5:

Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.

Jesus was born by a miracle that He would not inherit the sin of Adam. The apostle John says:

And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin (I John 3:5).

The sinless Savior died for the sinful man.

We have to remember an important fact, which is that the principle of redemption is predominant in all the history of mankind.

The Quran mentioned redemption explicitly when God called Abraham from heaven and commanded him not to slay his son. Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, Abraham took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. The Quran mentioned this event in the words:

Then we ransomed him with a momentous [great] sacrifice”(Surat Al-Safat 37:107). That was said concerning Abraham’s son. But we have to realize that God is the one who ransomed Abraham’s son. The great sacrifice was prepared by Him. Redemption was His plan, not Abraham’s.

Here I should emphasize that redemption is by blood. The ram was slain to redeem Abraham’s son.

God commanded the children of Israel to offer four kinds of bloody offerings. The burnt offering. The peace offering. The sin offering. The trespass offering. All these offerings were a symbol of the final and complete offering of Jesus Christ on the cross.

For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14 – NKJ).

It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

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 (Leviticus 17:11 – NKJ).

And according to the law almost all things are purged with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22 – NKJ).

Now let me ask you a question concerning the ram which Abraham offered:

Do you think that the cheap ram which Abraham offered as ransom for his son was a great sacrifice, or was it a symbol of the real great sacrifice, Jesus Christ, who gave His life a ransom for many?

Most certainly that ram was a symbol of Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus Said:

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad (John 8:56). John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said:

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

That means that Jesus Christ took away the penalty of the sin of the world by His death. This refers to the sin which we inherited from Adam.

Moreover, Christ bore the sins of every individual who will believe in Him, for these sins were known to Him before that individual was born, for with God all things are present.

The apostle Peter says:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed (I Peter 2:24).

God knows the end from the beginning. Before you were born, He knew you and all what you will do:

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed and in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them (Psalm 139:16 – NKJ).

By the foreknowledge of God, Jesus bore our sins in His body. The Quran declares three days in the life of Jesus Christ.

The day of His birth. The day of His death.

The day of His resurrection.

 

The Quran quotes Jesus as saying:

Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive (Surat Maryam 19:33).

It is clear that these are successive days..

The day of Jesus’ birth.

This is the day when He was born in Bethlehem; that is the day when He took the form of a servant, and became a man. Here I should say that it is impossible for the finite to be infinite, but it is quite possible for the infinite to become finite and remain infinite. The king can wear a soldier’s uniform and remain a king. Incarnation does not belittle Jesus Christ, for all the bodily functions are God’s design, and are pure as long as they are used in the manner which is in accord with that design.

The day of Jesus’ death.

This is the day when He was crucified on the cross for the sins of mankind; that is the day He died. Any other explanation will be in error.

The day of Jesus’ resurrection.

This is the day when He was raised from the dead by His own power. He said to the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up… He was speaking of the temple of his body (John 2:19-21), and by the power of the Father (Acts 2:24), and by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:4).

This is the day of His resurrection. Again, we see the Triune God in that glorious day.

By His triumphant resurrection Jesus Christ was declared to be the everlasting Son of God. The apostle Paul says concerning this fact:

Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:3,4).

The death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary was a necessity to demonstrate God’s love, God’s wisdom, and God’s justice and righteousness, and that is to glorify the holiness of God and redeem mankind.

These are three successive days. The day of birth, the day of death, the day of resurrection. That is the only logical interpretation.

 

I have to conclude with these words: If Jesus Christ demonstrated by His death on the cross the love, the wisdom and the justice of God, if He said on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), that means that the plan of God for the redemption of man was accomplished. It means that no one will come after Jesus Christ,it means that Jesus Christ is God’s Last Messenger.

CHAPTER SIX

EVIDENCES THAT DEMAND A VERDICT

The conversion of Saul.

The miracles performed by the apostles in the name of the ascended Christ. Accepting martyrdom for the sake of the crucified Christ.

The singing Churches.

The confessions of Jesus’ disciples. The divine attributes of Jesus Christ.

The declarations of Jesus Christ and His apostles. First: That Jesus Christ is God’s Last Messenger

Second: That Jesus Christ is more than the prophets. He is the Eternal Son of God Third: That Jesus is the heir of all things.

Fourth: That Jesus is the Creator and the Upholder of all things. Fifth: That Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind.

Jesus Christ’s warning of false prophets.

  1. The true prophet must receive a direct call from God
  2. The true prophet must perform divine miracles to authenticate his
  3. The true prophet must utter true and accurate
  4. The true prophet must be in agreement with the former revelations given by the true prophets of God.

Why is Israel preferred above all creatures.

First, because God committed His Word to them.

Second, and more importantly, because Jesus Christ had to be from them.

What does Islam offer, and what is new in Islam?

There are many evidences that demand a verdict that come to mind when we discuss the deity of Jesus Christ and declare that He is God’s Last Messenger.

Here are the evidences:

1.   The conversion of Saul.

How could we explain the conversion of Saul, the fanatic Jew who became the apostle Paul, the great advocate of Christianity?

The only explanation of his conversion is his personal encounter with the risen and ascended Christ on the Damascus road.

 

When he was presented to King Agrippa to examine his case, Paul said to King Agrippa:

I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision (Acts 26:9-19).

Paul wrote to Timothy:

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief (I Timothy 1:12-15 – NKJ).

2.   The miracles performed by the apostles in the name of the ascended Christ.

How could we explain the number of miracles performed by the apostles in the name of Jesus Christ, recorded in the book of Acts after His ascension, unless we admit and believe that Jesus Christ is the living Son of God?

In the third chapter of the book of Acts we read about a lame man healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter, seeing the man who was lame from his mother’s womb, said to him,

Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk… and immediately his feet and ankle bones received

 

strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked (Acts 3:6-8) (Read also Acts 8:32-35). Another miracle was performed in the name of Jesus Christ:

Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately. So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord (Acts 9:32-35 – NKJ).

3.   Accepting martyrdom for the sake of the crucified Christ.

The book of Acts tells us of the martyrdom of Stephen, one of the seven chosen deacons (Acts 7:54-60) and of James, one of the apostles (Acts 12:1,2).

History tells us that Paul and Peter were martyred upon the command of the emperor Nero.

The Christians of the early centuries lived in the catacombs in Rome and suffered torture and death by fierce lions at the Coliseum.

During the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (AD 162-180) Polycarp was martyred.

Polycarp, who was a student of the apostle John and the overseer of the church in Smyrna, heard that soldiers were looking for him and tried to escape but was discovered by a child. After feeding the guards who captured him, he asked for an hour in prayer, which they gave him. He prayed with such fervency, that his guards said they were sorry that they were the ones who captured him. Nevertheless, he was taken before the governor and condemned to be burned in the market place.

After his sentence was given, the governor said to him, “Reproach Christ and I will release you.”

Polycarp answered, “Eighty-six years I have served him, and he never once wronged me. How then shall I blaspheme my King who has saved me?”

In the market place, he was tied to the stake rather than nailed, as was the usual custom, because he assured them he would stand immovable in the flames and not fight them. As the dry sticks placed around him were lit, the flames rose up and circled his body without touching him. The executioner was then ordered to pierce him with a sword.

When he did, a great quantity of blood gushed out and put out the fire. Although his Christian friends asked to be given his body as it was so they could bury him, the

 

enemies of the Gospel insisted that it be burned in the fire, which was done (The New Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, page 16,17).

All those were martyred for their belief in the crucified and risen Christ. No one will die for what he believes to be a lie.

4.   The singing Churches.

Jesus promised, “I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

In spite of persecution and restraints, the Church of Jesus Christ flourished throughout the centuries in all continents.

Christians did not use the sword to force people to embrace Christianity. People were converted by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God.

There is another important factor I want to call your attention to, which is that wherever Christians gather for worship they sing with joy.

Why do we hear Christians singing with joy in their churches, while there is no singing in the Muslim’s mosques? The answer is that, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christianity became the religion of victory and joy.

The songs Christians sing in their worship services at churches are about what Christ did on the cross, about His glory, about His resurrection.

They sing:

When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. They sing:

Jesus, Name above all names,

 

Beautiful Savior, Glorious Lord. Emmanuel, God is with us, Blessed Redeemer, Living Word. They sing:

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. They sing:

I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today; I know that He is living, Whatever men may say; I see His hand of mercy

I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him He’s always near.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way, He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart. The singing churches are evidences that demand a verdict.

The resurrected and living Christ is the only logical answer for all these evidences.

5.   The confessions of Jesus’ disciples.

 

There is another fact to which I want to call your attention. When the Son of God left His glory in heaven and took the form of a servant, He did not say that He was God explicitly because He came to die, not to be glorified. He said to His disciples:

For even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

His Deity was hidden in His humanity, but He caused those who were with Him to declare His Deity. All of them were Jews who believed in monotheism.

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven’” (Matthew 16:17).

My Lord and my God (John 20:28).

That was not an exclamation, it was a confession.

All these confessions clearly indicate that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God.

6.   The divine attributes of Jesus Christ.

We all agree that God has three personal attributes.

He is omnipresent – that means he is everywhere present.

He is omniscient – that means He is absolutely perfect in knowledge.

He is omnipotent – that means that He can bring to pass everything which He wills.

Jesus Christ claimed all these attributes.

He claimed that He was omnipresent when He said,

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is the son of man who is in heaven (John 3:13).

While he was on earth He was also in heaven.

 

He also said,

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20 – NKJ).

He claimed that He was omniscient when He said,

… No one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal (Matthew 11:27 – NKJ).

That is a knowledge above our comprehension, a knowledge no one can claim.

Jesus knew that He would be crucified. From the time of Peter’s confession to Jesus, saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God… from that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matthew 16:21 – NKJ).

The gospels are full of incidents that show that Jesus Christ is omniscient.

He claimed that he was omnipotent when He said:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one (John 10:27-30 – NKJ).

This oneness of the Father and the Son is not in purpose but in power and essence. Jesus as the Son of Man was given all power in heaven and on earth. He said,

All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

When Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you,” (Mark 2:5) the scribes who were sitting there reasoned in their hearts:

Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go your way to your house.” And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:6-12 – NKJ).

It is of great interest to acknowledge that after His resurrection and ascension to heaven, Jesus declared explicitly that He is God.

 

He said to John:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last (Revelation 1:11).

The Quran declares in Surat Al-Hadid 57:3 that only God is the First and the Last. It says:

He is the First and the Last.

If Jesus says that He is the First and the Last, then He is God the Son.

In the same book of Revelation, that most profound prophetic book, Jesus declared that He is the judge of mankind:

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be (Revelation 22:12).

Again He declared in the gospel of John:

For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him (John 5:22,23 – NKJ).

The Quran declares in Surat Al-Fatihah 1:1,4, that God is the ruler of the day of judgment. It says:

In the name of Allah,… owner of the day of judgment. The Quran also declares:

And [Jesus] shall be a sign [for the coming of] the hour of judgment” (Surat Al- Zukhruf 43:61).

7.   The declarations of Jesus Christ and His apostles.

When the chief priests and the Jewish elders questioned the authority of Jesus Christ, He said to them:

Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.” And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him (Matthew 21:33-39 – NKJ). The important verse in this parable is, “Then last of all he sent his son.”

The Son of God was the last messenger to come and to be crucified. No one is to

 

come after him to establish a new religion.

We have to realize that Judaism by its offerings, prophecies, types and symbols was the foundation for Christianity. In Christ all the offerings, prophecies, types and symbols were fulfilled. There is no room for any other religion after Christ.

Moreover, God sent Moses who was a true great prophet. By him God gave His law to the Jewish people. Then in due time God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who was much greater than Moses:

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to Him who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honour than the house (Hebrews 3:1-3).

It is unlikely that God would send a lesser person after He sent His only Son.

At the last Passover supper, before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples to wait for His coming. He never told them to wait or expect any other prophet after Him, for He was the last messenger of God to mankind. It is useless to search the Bible for prophecies concerning the coming of Muhammad, for there are no such prophecies at all.

Jesus said to his disciples before His crucifixion:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also (John 14:1-3)

These are clear words that Jesus will come to take His own at His second coming. His own should not look for the coming of anyone else, they should wait only for His coming.

The apostle Peter spoke to the men of Israel, after he healed the man born lame in the name of Jesus Christ, saying:

The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given

 

him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I know that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you (Acts 3:13-20).

The one who will come again is Jesus Christ. There is no need for another one. The apostle John wrote:

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure (I John 3:2,3).

The only hope for true believers in Jesus Christ is His second coming. It is called the blessed hope.

The apostle Paul recorded:

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:11-14).

The true Christians are commanded to look for “that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”

There is no place for another prophet to come and establish a new religion. The blessed hope is the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The writer of the book of Hebrews says:

God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1-3 – NKJ).

Here we have to notice some facts.

First: That Jesus Christ is God’s Last Messenger. God spoke to us by Him in these last

 

days.

 

Second: That Jesus Christ is more than the prophets. He is the Eternal Son of God.God has in these last days spoken to us by His son.

Third: That Jesus is the heir of all things. The Quran declares that God alone is the heir of all things.

 

It is We who inherit the earth, and all beings thereon: to Us will they all be returned (Surat Maryam 19:40).

And if Jesus Christ is the heir of all things, then He is God the Son.

Fourth: That Jesus is the Creator and the Upholder of all things.

Through whom also He made the worlds; who being… the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power.

Fifth: That Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind.

He had by Himself purged our sins.

This is Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God as revealed in the Bible, on the basis of His everlasting existence, His sinless life, the Biblical revelation of the Triune God, the redemption of mankind, and His claims. We Christians believe, and rightly so, that Jesus Christ is God’s son manifested in the flesh, and God’s Last Messenger to the world..

He is coming again, and He is coming soon, and every eye shall see that He has on his robe a name written: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Revelation 19:16).

In that day, the words of the apostle Paul will be fulfilled:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10,11).

8.   Jesus Christ’s warning of false prophets.

Jesus Christ gave His disciples a clear warning of false prophets:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:15,16).

The apostle John also said:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (I John 4:1 – NKJ).

 

To identify the false prophet, we have to identify the true prophet.

Here, I would like to call your attention to the fact that there are three kinds of prophets:

I will only discuss the qualifications of the true prophet who is called by God to be the founder of a divine religion.

1.   The true prophet must receive a direct call from God Himself.

Moses, the founder of Judaism, is the best example in that matter. God appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush and told him,

Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10 NKJ).

That was a direct call from God. After Moses received that call, God never ceased to speak to him. Again and again, we read in the Torah: “And the LORD spoke to Moses” (Leviticus 11:1).

The Quran says, “And to Moses Allah spoke direct” (Surat Al-Nisa 4:164 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

A call through an angel, a spirit, a vision, or any third party, is not sufficient to qualify a person to be the founder of a new divine religion.

  1. The true prophet must perform divine miracles to authenticate his

 

 

Moses was a miracle worker. God authenticated his call by the miracles he performed. He brought ten plagues on the land of Egypt (Exodus 7:19-12:1-39). He divided the water of the Red Sea, and by that miracle the children of Israel escaped from the bondage of Egypt and the tyranny of Pharaoh (Exodus 14:12-29). He performed many more miracles.

 

Jesus Christ, who is the founder and foundation of Christianity, performed many miracles, which are recorded in the gospels. Jesus said, “… the works which the Father has given me to finish – the very works that I do – bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me” (John 5:3 – NKJ).

A prophet without miracles is not fit to be the founder of a divine religion and is not a credible messenger of an almighty, eternal God.

  1. The true prophet must utter true and accurate

Moses, the founder of Judaism, uttered accurate prophecies which were fulfilled to the letter during his life. Moreover, he told the children of Israel that they would be scattered among the nations and a sword would be drawn out after them (Leviticus 26:33). That prophecy was fulfilled to the letter throughout their history, especially through the holocaust of the Jews by Hitler during the Second World War. Furthermore, Moses told them that God would not cast them away, but would fulfil His covenant with their fathers (Leviticus 26:44,45). The return of the Jews to their land and the existence of Israel as a nation is a fulfilment of that prophecy.

Moses also prophesied about the coming of a prophet like him: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren, Him you shall hear” (Deuteronomy 18:15). That prophecy was fulfilled to the letter in Jesus Christ, as we mentioned in a previous chapter.

Christ uttered many prophecies: He told His disciples that he would be crucified (Matthew 16:21); He told them about the destruction of the temple:

And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Matthew 24:1,2).

That prophecy was fulfilled to the letter.

In the Olivet discourse Christ told His disciples about the signs of the end time. He told them about the signs of the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:5-8).

He told them about the coming great tribulation (Matthew 24:15-21).

He told them that He shall come in glory and all the holy angels with him (Matthew 24:29,30).

 

All these prophecies will be fulfilled to the letter before His second coming.

The prophet who does not utter true and accurate prophecies is not a true prophet.

  1. The true prophet must be in agreement with the former revelations given by the true prophets of God.

When Jesus Christ came He was in complete agreement with the Old Testament, which contains the former revelations given to the true prophets of God.

After His resurrection, he met two disciples in the road to Emmaus and:

Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27).

In His Olivet discourse, He said to His disciples:

Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place (Matthew 24:15 – NKJ).

That means that Jesus Christ was in total agreement with the Book of Daniel and the Old Testament prophecies and prophets.

The Quran recorded that Jesus said:

And [I come – referring to Jesus Christ] confirming that which was before me of the Torah (Surat Al-Imran 3:50)

Agreement with the former divine revelations is a sign of the true prophet. Was Muhammad in total agreement with the Old and the New Testaments? Let us examine this point.

In the Old Testament we read:

When a man takes a wife, and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, if the latter husband detests her, and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband, who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

Does the Quran agree with this clear commandment?

 

Here is what the Quran says:

So if a husband divorces his wife [irrevocably], he cannot, after that, remarry her until after she has married another husband and he has divorced her. In that case there is no blame on either of them if they re-unite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allah. Such are the limits ordained by Allah, which He makes plain to those who know (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:230 – King Fahd Holy Quran)

What the God of the Bible calls “abomination” that brings sin on the land, the Quran calls the limits of Allah.

Who would believe that these two revelations are from the same source?

Again the Word of God says in the four gospels and with many witnesses that Jesus Christ was crucified and killed:

So he (Pilate, the governor) delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center (John 19:16-18).

The prophecies in the Old Testament clearly declare that Jesus Christ must suffer and that He would be crucified and killed as the Lamb of God to pay the penalty for man’s sins, and reconcile the justice of God with His mercy (Isaiah 53:1-12, Psalm 22:16). All the prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the suffering, the crucifixion, the burial and the resurrection of the Messiah, which were written centuries before His birth, were fulfilled to the letter in the person of Jesus Christ as mentioned before.

Then, after six hundred years, Muhammad, who never lived in the land of Israel, who was not yet born at the time of the crucifixion of Christ, came and declared in the Quran:

That they said “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah” – but they killed him not, nor crucified him. Only a likeness of that was shown to them. And those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no [certain] knowledge. But only conjecture to follow, for a surety they killed him not (Surat Al-Nisa 4:157).

That means that God, blessed be His holy name, performed a great deception when He placed someone else other than Jesus Christ on the cross, according to Muslim scholars’ interpretations, and for six centuries left the world to believe that Jesus Christ was truly crucified. This is something no one would imagine that a Holy and truthful God would do.

Would we accept the declaration of the Quran that Jesus Christ was not crucified and ignore what was recorded in the four Gospels, the book of Acts, the letters of the

 

apostles, and the book of Revelation concerning the crucifixion of Christ, knowing that some of the writers were eye witnesses of that crucifixion?

The revelations of the Quran do not agree with what is recorded in the New Testament.

Moreover, Jesus told his followers, “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” (Matthew 5:44). He also said to Peter, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52), but we read in the Quran, “O Prophet [Muhammad] rouse the believers [Muslims] to the fight (Surat Al-Anfal 8:65). A prophet who incites his followers to fight, torture, and kill their enemies is not in agreement with the former divine revelations.

Any prophet whose stories or teachings contradict the former revelations of God is not a true prophet, for God does not contradict Himself.

These are the four qualifications of a true prophet who is called by God to be the founder of a true religion. Apply them to any prophet or any person who is introduced to you as a prophet sent from God. You will reject at once the false prophets, and will not be trapped by their deception. Remember that Christ said, “Beware of false prophets” (Matthew 7:15).

9.   Why is Israel preferred above all creatures.

God said concerning Israel:

But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish (Isaiah 41:8-11)

The Quran mentions that Allah favored Israel and preferred them to all creatures and gave them things which He did not give to any other of His creatures:

O children of Israel! Remember My favour wherewith I favoured you and how I preferred you to [all] creatures

(Surat Al-Baqarah 2:47 – M. Pickthall Translation)

O children of Israel! Remember my favour wherewith I favoured you and how I

 

preferred you to [all] creatures (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:122)

And verily We gave the children of Israel the Scripture and the command and the prophethood, and provided them with good things and favoured them above [all] peoples (Surat Al-Jathiyah 45:16)

And [remember] when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Remember Allah’s favour unto you, how He placed among you prophets, and He made you kings, and gave you that [which] He gave not to any [other] of [His] creatures (Surat Al-Maidah 5:20).

Why did God favor the children of Israel above all people? Why did He give them the Scripture and the prophethood? The answers are clear in the Bible:

First, because God committed His Word to them.

What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles [the word] of God (Romans 3:1,2 – NKJ).

Second, and more importantly, because Jesus Christ had to be from them.

 

 

The apostle Peter says:

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God (Romans 9:3-5 – NKJ).

God preferred Israel above all creatures, because His Son, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, had to be from them,

for salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22).

10.   What does Islam offer, and what is new in Islam?

This is an evidence that demands a verdict

It is of great importance to know that true religion must give answers to the basic spiritual needs of mankind.

There are four basic spiritual needs of the human heart:

 

  1. The need to be loved and to
  2. Assurance of total forgiveness of sin and relief from the sense of
  3. A way of life designed by God, the Supreme Authority, to show man how to please God and deal with his fellow man.
  4. Complete assurance of eternal life with the Holy God in a holy, heavenly

Are these needs met in Islam? I would leave the answer to the sincere researcher.

Most importantly, what is new in Islam? Monotheism is clear through the Bible. The True God was known centuries before Muhammad.

The only new doctrines that Islam brought is legalizing polygamy and the beating of wives:

Marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly [with them], then only one, or that which your right hand possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice (Surat Al-Nisa 4:3).

If we know that Muhammad, the excellent example of the Muslim, married fourteen women, we must not expect that any Muslim will do better than Muhammad.

There is no real love between a man and his four wives, it is only a physical relationship.

Moreover, Islam allows husbands to beat their wives in case they fear their disloyalty:

As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, beat them (Surat Al-Nisa 4:34).

What woman would like to exchange the biblical commandments to their husbands, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25 – NKJ), with what the Quran says?

Something of great interest should be mentioned here before the conclusion of this chapter, namely that there came a time when Muhammad doubted the revelations he received, and was commanded to ask those who read the Bible before him.

These are the words of the Quran:

If thou [Muhammad] wert in doubt as to what we have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book [the Bible] before thee (Surat Yunus 10:94).

If Muhammad doubted the revelations he received, then we have the right to doubt these revelations.

 

Islam has many more things contrary to Judaism and Christianity. Space will not permit elaboration.

These are evidences that demand a verdict, and the verdict is that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of the living God, the only Savior of mankind, the judge of all the earth, and God’s LastMessenger, and whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life:

He that believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36).

CHAPTER SEVEN

WHAT SHALL YOU DO WITH JESUS CHRIST?

When the chief priests and elders of the Jewish people delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, the governor examined his case.

…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9 – NKJ).

Pilate tried to set him free; he said to the Jews, “I find in Him no fault at all” (John 18:38). The multitudes requested that Jesus must be crucified. At last Pilate asked, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:22 – NKJ).

This question is a personal question that you have to ask yourself after reading the previous pages: “What shall I do with Jesus Christ?”

You might answer, I believe in Him as a great prophet, but I do not believe that He is the Son of God, and I do not believe that He was crucified. In that case, Jesus Christ the great prophet will not benefit you. If you reject Him as the Son of God and as your only Savior you will face eternal judgment.

The right decision is: “I trust Him as my Redeemer, I believe that He is the Eternal Son of God, that He died on the cross for me, and I receive Him as my Lord.” If you make that decision, you will be saved.

The Bible says:

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36 – NKJ).

A true story is told about a man from Afghanistan. He decided to challenge the Christian preachers. He challenged them on many occasions. He mastered the Arabic language,

 

and studied the expositions of the Quran. Someone gave him a Bible. He began reading the New Testament to find faults in it, so he could challenge the Christians from their book.

He went to Mecca for a pilgrimage. When he came back he decided to study Christianity more deeply.

He found two verses in the Quran which perplexed his mind:

The first verse:

Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own [Scriptures] in the Taurat and the Gospel. (Surat Al- Araf 7:157 – K.F. Holy Quran).

The second verse:

And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: “O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah [sent] to you, confirming the Taurat [which came] before me, and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad. But when he came to them with clear signs, they said, ‘This is evident sorcery!’ ” (Surat Al-Saff 61:6).

He searched the Bible to see what it says about Muhammad but he found nothing. Then he consulted a Muslim commentary on the Quran. He found that the commentator quoted a verse from the Gospel of John:

And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever (John 14:16).

and on that verse he wrote that the original language of the Gospel is Greek, and in the original Greek the word for comforter was periklutos, which means “Praised One,” that praised one is Muhammad, for that is the meaning of his name, and that Christians substituted parakletos for periklutos to remove the reference to the prophet Muhammad. Since he did not know Greek, he consulted a Greek professor, who was teaching in a seminary, about these words. The professor assured him that the word periklutos is not in the Greek text of the Gospel of John. He then explained to him the original Biblical word parakletos, and how the promise of Jesus in John 14:16 was fulfilled by the coming of the Holy Spirit. He also mentioned that Jesus commanded His disciples “not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, ‘which’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’ ” (Acts 1:4,5 – NKJ). He also told him that the Holy Spirit came on the disciples at Jerusalem as they were told by Christ.

He told him that Muhammad is not the Holy Spirit, because he was not a spirit. Moreover, the Holy Spirit according to Jesus’ promise had to come not many days from

 

the day he promised its coming and that the Holy Spirit came ten days after the ascension of Christ. But Muhammad came six hundred years later. The man went to his home and prayerfully opened his New Testament. He found these verses:

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:15-17 – NKJ).

That settled the matter. Muhammad did not abide with the Muslims forever. He died and his grave is in Al Madina. Muhammad was seen, but the Holy Spirit no one can see.

Muhammad cannot dwell with anybody or be with anybody all the time. This is an attribute of God alone.

He also found Jesus Christ’s commission to His disciples:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

He realized that Muhammad could not be the Holy Spirit, because that would make the verse read, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of Muhammad.” This is impossible, because Muhammad was not yet born. In addition, there is no baptism in Islam.

He went back to the Bible.

He found out that the Bible mentions the word “salvation” many times, while the word “salvation” is not mentioned in the Quran. He wanted to know the meaning of salvation.

A Christian preacher told him that salvation means many things.

First, that he would be saved from the wrath of God. Second, that all his sins would be blotted out and totally forgiven.

Third, that he would have a new nature given to him by God. Fourth, that he would be delivered from the power of Satan. Fifth, that when the day of resurrection comes, he would have a glorified body.

He told him that Jesus Christ is the only way for salvation.

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Freedom from the judgment and the wrath of God? That is something he longed for.

 

He went back to the Quran to examine its teachings about salvation, and found out that the Quran teaches clearly that no human being can escape condemnation and hell, in spite of all his good works:

Man says: What! when I am dead, shall I then be raised up alive?” But does not man call to mind that We created him before out of nothing? So, by thy Lord, without doubt, We shall gather them together, and [also] Satans [with them]; then shall We bring them forth on their knees round about Hell;… Not one of you but will pass over it (literally enter it); this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished (Surat Maryam 19:66-70 – King Fahd Holy Quran).

These verses from the Quran shocked him. He consulted the expositors of the Quran to see how they interpreted them. He found that the great expositor Ibn Kathier recorded this story to explain these verses:

A man named Abu Maisarah used to say before going to bed, “I wish that my mother had not given birth to me”… he used to cry bitterly. When asked why he cried, he answered, “I cry because the Quran tells us that we will enter Hell, but it did not tell that we will come out of it.”

He was shocked, he read the verses again with terror, dismay, and disappointment:

“There is not one of you but will enter it.”

There is no hope to escape Hell.

He turned to the New Testament and read the words of Jesus:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (John 5:24).

He read also the words of the apostle Paul:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1).

He found out that he could not be saved by his good works or righteous deeds, but by faith in the complete work of redemption Jesus did when he died on the cross.

He read in the book of the prophet Isaiah:

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6 – NIV).

Then he read in the letter of Paul to the Ephesians:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9).

He realized that no one can be saved by his good works.

 

The Holy Spirit opened his eyes to see the glory of Jesus Christ, and to understand His words:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6 – NKJ).

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)

He was heavy laden, and he found Jesus Christ. He knelt down and confessed his sins and received Him as Savior and Lord and was baptized.

He knew that becoming a Christian meant that he would lose his country, his inheritance, his rights, his family, his friends, in short everything. Then he read the words of the apostle Paul:

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead (Philippians 3:4- 11).

These words filled his heart with joy and comfort.

After his conversion, he decided to dig deeper in the Bible. He found in it a great library, the only book inspired by God. He found that the book of Genesis is the book of beginnings. That in that book we can know how man was created and how he fell into sin, and how races and languages were divided (Genesis 11). He found that the book of Ecclesiastes tells that all things under the sun are “vanity of vanities” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). He found in the book Job that God in heaven is the One who controls the affairs of men. He found in the book of Ezekiel the origin of Satan, how he was created and how he fell into sin. He found that the Bible is a book of prophecies, the book of the blessed hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ. He found that there is no marriage in heaven, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of

 

God in heaven (Matthew 22:30). He found the magnificent picture of the life to come recorded in the book of Revelation:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son (Revelation 21:1-7).

He fell in love with the Bible and felt pity for every Muslim who does not read the Bible. He knew for sure that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, the Last Messenger of God to mankind, and that believing in Him as such is a must for every Muslim because the Quran says:

Say: [Muhammad] “If the Most Gracious had a son, I would be the first to worship” (Surat Al-Zukhruf 43:81)

His search for the truth convinced him that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and should be worshipped.

Dear reader, what shall you do with Jesus?

I pray that you might believe that He is your Savior and Redeemer and receive him as your Lord and as God’s Last Messenger to mankind so that you may have complete assurance of your salvation from the wrath of God and a total confidence that you will spend all eternity with God in his holy, pure heaven:

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).

More Materials          

 

For more information about Islam and Christianity order these books and videos:

  1. Islam, Muhammad and the Quran
  2. Is the Messiah God?
  3. Muslim-Christian Debate in Canada (2 hour video)

 

  1. Radical differences between Christianity and Islam (video)
  2. Basic principles for successful witnessing to Muslims (video)
  3. Answering Muslims’ Questions and Objections (video)
  4. The uniqueness of Jesus Christ (video)

From

Blessed Hope Ministry

  1. O. Box 2581

Springfield, VA 22152 United States of America

About the Author      

Dr. Mikhail is a pastor, journalist, television and radio speaker. He is the author of more than fifty books in Arabic and seven books in English.

Dr. Mikhail has translated several English volumes into Arabic including Survey of the Scriptures, Volume 1, by Dr. Alfred Martin of Moody Bible Institute; Let Us Go Soul Winning, by Dr. Jack Hyles, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana; Seven Steps in Salvation, by Dr. M. R. DeHaan, teacher of Radio Bible Class; The Way Back, by Richard W. DeHaan, teacher of Radio Bible Class.

Dr. Mikhail was the president of the General Bible Baptist Council in Egypt for five years. He was professor of homiletics, psychology, and church history at Faith Mission Bible College in Cairo, Egypt, for three years.

Dr. Mikhail holds earned degrees including B.A., M.A. and ThD from International Bible Institute and Seminary.

Prior to moving to the United States, Dr. Mikhail founded and pastored churches in Egypt for thirty-four years. He has preached to thousands in evangelistic campaigns throughout the major cities of Egypt, and Dusseldorf, Germany. He lectured in conferences at the Billy Graham Center of Wheaton College, Illinois; in Jerusalem, Israel, and in many seminars and prophetic conferences in Canada and the United States of America.

Dr. Mikhail pastored Evangelical Bible Church in Fairfax, Virginia, for ten years. He retired in December 1992 to consecrate his time to writing.

 

Dr. Mikhail debated Imam Ahmad Husein at Northern Virginia Community College, on May 14, 1986. The topic of the debate was the “Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.” He also debated Dr. Jamal Badawi, Imam of the Islamic Association of Maritime Provinces in Canada, at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on February 1, 1988. The topic of the debate was “The Deity of Christ.” (A two hour video of the debate is available.

He wrote this book to prove that Jesus Christ is God’s Last Messenger to the world. This book is fully documented and convincing, and submitted with sincere prayer.

GOD’S LAST MESSENGER

First Printing 1998

© Copyright 1998 by Dr. Labib Mikhail Blessed Hope Ministry

  1. O. Box 2581

Springfield, Virginia 22152

 

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

Quranic quotations mentioned in this book are from The Glorious Quran Text and Explanatory Translation by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall; The Quran, The First American Version, by T. B. Irving; and Mushaf Al-Madinah Al-Nabawiyah, King Fahd Holy Quran.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from Dr. Labib Mikhail except in the case of brief quotations in reviews and critical articles.

ISBN 1-890297-07-0

Printed in the United States of America

 

Exit mobile version