Let's turn to 2 Corinthians 11. I want to read verse 4. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." Another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel. These are things that are a feature of many false religions. In fact, all false religions, they come preaching another Jesus. a different Jesus from the one that is spoken of in the New Testament and indeed the Old Testament because he is in the Old Testament by prophecy and prediction as well as by Theophany and Christophany when there were pre-appearances of Christ in the Old Testament. But there are those who preach and who teach another Jesus. And one of those religions is Islam. The Muslims actually have some place that they give to Jesus in their system, although it is a lesser place than is given to Muhammad, which in itself is blasphemy. Anyone who puts anyone ahead of Christ is guilty of blasphemy. That's false religion. There are many things that were said about Islam that make it to be a religion to be feared. There's a lot of talk today about Islamophobia. The idea being that because of ignorance, because of false things that have been said, people are afraid of Islam and have no real reason to be afraid of it. It's not really a religion of violence at all, though there are those that have perverted it for their own purpose. It's actually a religion of peace. This is the mantra we hear all the time. This is what we get from politicians. This is what we hear from the media. from the liberal media. This is what they want you to believe. And anyone who says anything different is guilty of Islamophobia. The same type of way that they treat the whole issue of so-called gay rights and gay marriage. They'll say that anyone who says what the Bible says about those things is guilty of what they call homophobia. That's a word that has been invented to try to take away any criticism at all to try to make people accept this evil thing. Well, it's the same with Islam. Now we know that there's a lot of things that are happening in the world even today that give the lie to this idea that Islam is a religion of peace. Try telling that to people who are tortured, who are killed, who are imprisoned. by those who are following religiously the system taught in the Quran. I think of so-called moderate Islamic nations. Take for example Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is supposedly a friend of the United States. We do a lot of trade with Saudi Arabia. We even provide them with armaments Saudi Arabia is looked upon as a moderate Islamic nation. Saudi Arabia, however, does not allow the worship of any other religion within its borders than Islam. In point of fact, Jews are not allowed into the kingdom. Did you know that? Jews are not allowed into Saudi Arabia. Christians are warned that they risk arrest if they participate in religious services other than Islamic ones. Even if they have private prayer gatherings or private church services, they are in danger of arrest and imprisonment. The Saudi restriction on the expression of any religion besides Islam means, essentially, that Christian worship of any kind is banned. Now I'm not into wearing crosses around my neck for particular reasons, but in point of fact it is illegal to wear a cross in Saudi Arabia. It's illegal to utter a Christian prayer and Christians cannot worship privately in their own homes. At the time of the first Gulf War and what was known as Operation Desert Storm, There was a demand by the Saudi Arabian authorities that Christian or Jewish soldiers not be allowed to wear symbols of their faith when they were in active service in the Saudi Kingdom. This was mandated. Even Christian chaplains in the US Armed Forces were not allowed to bring Bibles into Saudi Arabia. These are facts. Now the media don't talk about that, politicians don't talk about it, but this is the kind of repression that takes place in so-called moderate Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia. And I could give many examples in Egypt, in Pakistan and various other places where awful things have been done and are still done in the name of Islam. Now all of these things would make us rightly to be afraid of Islam, afraid of the spread of Islam, afraid of the influence of Islam increasing in our own nation and it is. you go to places like Dearborn in Michigan, you'll find that there is a huge population of Muslims in that area. But my main concern and my greatest concern about Islam is the falseness of its teaching. Obviously these other things are of concern to us. The whole violent nature of Islam and the spread of Islam in the world. Its history is a history of violence. But I'm more concerned with what Islam says in terms of its doctrines and its teachings. There is a charm offensive going on all the time by Islam toward Christians and toward other religions. I, some time ago, downloaded an article, a lengthy article, on Christianity and Jesus from an Islamic perspective, but it's a false perspective. and a lot of what they say is patently false but this article was brought out i believe it was one year around christmas time and that was deliberately done because christians everywhere even nominal christians were celebrating the birth of jesus and so this islamic group put out this material asking some questions what are the origins of christianity Was Jesus born without a father? In other words, is the virgin birth really true? Is Jesus a son of God? Did Jesus speak as a baby? Was He crucified? These are all questions that were asked. And among the things that are spoken by these Islamists is the statement that historical facts reveal that Jesus never used the word Christianity. And I think about that, Jesus did not use the word Christianity, and my response to that is, so what? Why is that such a big deal, that the Lord never used the word Christianity? They tell us, furthermore, that Jesus and his followers, his disciples, used to worship in the temple which other Israelites used. The message of Jesus, they say, was to call people back to the religion of Abraham and Moses from which they had gone astray. Well, if you think about that, just for a moment, Jesus calling people back to the religion of Abraham and Moses from which they had gone astray. What was the religion of Abraham and Moses? Well, the religion of Abraham was that he believed in Christ. Jesus said in John chapter 8 and verse 58, before Abraham was, I am. He also said in a couple of verses before that, verse 56, that Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. And if you study Galatians chapter 3, you'll find that Abraham was of faith and all who are of faith are the children of Abraham. So it is true that the religion of Abraham certainly had Christ in view. He not only believed in Christ, he believed in atonement for sin by sacrifice. The Bible teaches that Abraham actually was converted, he was saved by faith. He believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness, Genesis 15 verse 6. If you read Genesis chapter 22, you'll discover that Abraham believed in sacrifice by blood which pointed forward to Christ. That's what the whole issue was of taking the ram caught in a thicket and offering it up in the stead of Isaac. You read Hebrews chapter 11, you'll find that that was all about looking forward to Christ. And then Moses, what about him? Didn't Jesus say that if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me? Because Moses wrote of Me. This is all very clear in John's Gospel. The Lord was dealing with people who thought they could follow Moses, but not follow Christ. and the Lord Jesus showed how impossible that was because he said, had you believed Moses you would have believed me for he wrote of me but if you believe not his writings how shall you believe my words so the idea that somehow Jesus was calling people back to religion which is the religion of Islam is a complete falsehood You'll find that the Jews did not reject Abraham and Moses. They thought they were following them, but they rejected the Lord Jesus. And that's exactly what Islam does. The followers of Muhammad do that. And you can read Matthew chapters 23 and 24 to see what the Lord had to say about these things. Muslims say, after Jesus, when Jesus was off the scene, Paul, who we know as the Apostle Paul, they don't call him that, Paul declared that belief in Jesus was sufficient for salvation. But, if we read the Gospels, we find that that's exactly what Jesus preached. Isn't that what the Lord said? I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. In John 6 and verse 47, the Lord Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. So Paul was not preaching any new doctrine. He was not teaching any new religion. He was teaching exactly what Christ Himself taught. Now, Islam says that in 43 CE, which is their equivalent of AD, When Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch to preach, they were ridiculed and were called Christians by the masses. The ones who were called Christians felt that if they are being given a name in reference to Jesus, there is nothing wrong in accepting it. Westerners have used the similar concept in labeling Muslims as Mohammedans. Somehow they see an equivalence here. between followers of Jesus being called Christians and Muslims being called Mohammedans. But when we stop to think about it and you read the writings of Islam, that is exactly what they are. They are followers of Mohammed. They believe that there is but one God, Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. They're followers of Mohammed. They are Mohammedans. That's what they are. They seem to have a problem with that. Now, according to Islam, Paul altered the message of Jesus. This is what they teach. This is what they preach. At the beginning, they say, rightly of course, Paul was a staunch opponent of Jesus and he remained a staunch opponent of Jesus for many years after his ascension. We don't have any problem with that. Paul himself said it. I was a blasphemer, I was injurious, I thought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Then the Muslims tell us when he did join the followers of Jesus later on He initiated many alterations in the teachings of Jesus, in hopes of winning over the Gentiles, that is the non-Jewish people. And then they tell us, in this particular article at least, that Paul introduced the following concepts into Christianity. The concept of Jesus as the Son of God. the concept of Jesus dying on the cross to wash eternal sins of Adam's children through his blood, and the concept of renouncing the law of Torah, the books of Moses. Now, if you think about those three things, those three claims that are made by Islam, that Paul introduced the concept of Jesus as the Son of God, Have these people never read John's Gospel? Did they never read John chapter 1 verse 1? In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The whole of John's Gospel teaches clearly the deity of Jesus Christ. There are more references, I would suggest, there by Christ Himself to His Sonship than there are in the other Gospels put together. In John chapter 10, you have references there to the Lord encountering the unbelievers among the Jews. And the thing that He said to them was, you're telling me that I'm blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God. Now, the Lord accepts that title, and furthermore, the Lord tells us what that title means in that portion. In John 10 and verse 30, He says, I and my Father are one. And He didn't just mean they were one in their aims and objectives and goals. And that's clear from the fact that they decided to stone Him. They tried to stone Him to death. And the reason they did that is because they thought and believed that He was teaching blasphemy. because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." This is what Jesus taught. This is what Jesus accepted as his own position. God manifest in flesh. So the idea that Paul was the one to introduce the concept of Jesus as the Son of God just isn't true. And if you read the book of Acts, you'll find that they taught, before Acts chapter 9, they clearly taught that Jesus was the Son of God. Paul comes on the scene at the time of the stoning of Stephen. He only becomes a Christian in Acts chapter 9, but in those first eight chapters you'll see that Christ was preached by Peter, by John, and by others as the Son of God. Very clear. In fact, Stephen himself, who was stoned, he said, did he not, basically on his deathbed, he wouldn't call it a bed, but he was being stoned to death, he was dying, and he said, behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. And you'll notice that he referred to him as Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. So the idea that Paul was the one to introduce the concept of Jesus as the Son of God is a complete falsehood. And then there's the statement that Paul introduced to Christianity the idea of Jesus dying on the cross to wash away sins through his blood. Again, I would reference John's Gospel. What was the message that John the Baptist brought? John 1.29, we all know it, don't we? Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Who was he talking about? He's talking about Jesus. He was pointing to Jesus at that very moment. It's a complete nonsense for anyone to say that Paul was responsible for teaching the first time that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of his people. The Lord Jesus himself talked about the fact in John chapter 10 and verse 11 that he was the good shepherd and the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. The Lord talked about going to the cross. The Lord himself talked about going and dying for men's sins. the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to do what? and to give his life a ransom for many that's what Jesus taught so I don't know where these people get this from but this is what they teach they also teach that the law of Torah was renounced because of Paul's teaching but do we not find that the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5 and verse 17 that he came not to abolish the law so to speak but to fulfill it It was fulfilled and it was established in Christ. And Paul confirmed what Jesus himself taught. What Paul taught, what we refer to as Pauline doctrine, is what Jesus taught, what the disciples taught. It's the same teaching. Now the Muslims will tell us, in what are essentially a bunch of lies and misrepresentation, that it was Paul who eliminated all the Jewish regulations, all the Old Testament regulations concerning food, and that he abrogated the injunction concerning circumcision. It was Paul who cancelled all that out. It was Paul who said all of that was no longer to be kept. Well, again, if you read the Bible, you read the New Testament, you discover in Acts chapter 10 that it was Peter, not Paul, to whom the Lord appeared in a vision. Peter is there on the housetop, he's praying about the sixth hour, Acts chapter 10 and verse 8. Verse 9, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour, and he became very hungry and would have eaten. But while they made ready, so they were in there cooking the food for Peter, he fell into a trance, he saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners and let down to the earth, wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air, and there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. And at that particular time, Peter could have belonged to one of these animal rights organizations, because he said, not so, Lord, for I've never eaten anything that's common or unclean. But then the Lord disabused him of that notion, because the voice spake unto him the second time, what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. And in case he didn't get it the first time, it says in verse 16 of Acts 10, this was done thrice, three times. and the vessel was received up again into heaven. And while there is teaching here about the Gentiles and the fact that they're not unclean, there's also very clear teaching about the New Testament situation as regards eating meat. And Acts chapter 11 further confirms that because God's servant talked about this very thing. He rehearsed the matter from the beginning, Acts 11 verse 4. He expounded it by order unto them, saying, I was in Joppa, etc., etc. I saw the sheep coming down. There were four-footed beasts of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things. I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter, slay, and eat. So if anyone is a hunter, you've got biblical basis for doing it. Don't let anybody tell you anything different. I'm tired of people preaching vegetarianism as a biblical doctrine, or veganism as a biblical doctrine. It's false. It's completely false. And if you read 1 Timothy chapter 4, the Apostle Paul goes further. and talks about every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer so when people read that I wonder how on earth they can come to the conclusion that it's wrong for Christians to eat meat now if you don't eat meat for health reasons that's your business but I'm here to tell you I eat meat for health reasons I belong to PETA. People Eating Tasty Animals. I feel very strongly about that. Because I hear people say things all the time that are completely unscriptural on these issues. I had a fellow tell me one time that he was on the Genesis chapter 2 diet. I said, well I'm on the 1st Timothy chapter 4 diet. But the idea that it was Paul who eliminated the regulations about food, the Old Testament laws about shellfish and pork and so on, that Paul was the one responsible for that, is completely false. And the idea that it's presented by Islam that the real followers of Jesus oppose these blatant misrepresentations of Jesus' message is a falsehood. They say all sorts of things to try to defend this idea that it was Paul who taught what is now believed by Christians rather than Jesus. And it just doesn't hold water. I could go into a lot more detail on this. There's much that I would describe as lies and misrepresentation by Islam of the Christian position. I mentioned at the beginning when I read the scripture there in 2 Corinthians 11, another Jesus. Islam presents another Jesus. They call him, by the way, in their religion, Isa. In English it would be I-S-A. and they try to tell us that that's the biblical Jesus. We'll talk more about that another time. Islam says that Jesus was born without a father. They mean that he did not have a heavenly father. They say the true story of Jesus' birth from Mary is narrated in the Holy Quran. were told that he was born without a father by the command of God. Mary was single and a chaste woman. But Muslims do not believe in the virgin birth as it is taught in scripture. Muslims do not believe that Jesus was begotten of the Father in the Trinity, that he is the eternal Son of the Eternal Father. They do not believe that. They say Jesus was born without a father, period. Which is not true. He did not have a human father, but he was begotten of the Father in the adorable Trinity. There are various other teachings of Islam that we haven't time to go into today. One of the most fantastic ideas is that Jesus actually spoke as a baby. Now I'm sure you've seen these little commercials and advertisements where little tiny infants are speaking and it's cute and it's funny. But the Islamists actually believe that that happened when Jesus was a small infant. That he spoke as a baby. and they give quotations to prove that but there's not a shred of evidence of that in the scripture and in fact it would go and fly in the face of the true humanity of Christ to say that because the Bible says in point of fact in Luke chapter 2 that when he was twelve years old and all of those things happened in the temple Then he went back to Nazareth with his earthly parents, with Mary, his mother, and his guardian, Joseph. He was subject unto them. And furthermore, the Bible says, Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Now what does that mean, he increased in wisdom and stature? Well, he grew up as a child, in a normal way, into adulthood. There's plenty of evidence that the Lord was truly gifted in knowledge as he was at 12 years old. The knowledge that he had brought astonishment to those doctors and so on. He is God manifest in flesh. There's no doubt about that. But I believe firmly that he grew up as any child would from infancy into puberty and adulthood and it was all a very natural process as far as that goes. He increased in stature. I don't know what the Lord, what his height or what his weight was when he was 33 years of age. But let's say just for sake of argument that he was 6 feet tall and he weighed 200 pounds, just for sake of argument. He wasn't 6 feet tall and 200 pounds when he was a baby. Right? I mean, that's pretty much common sense. He increased in stature. So the idea that as a little tiny baby he was speaking like as if he was an adult is just patently foolish and false. As I say, there are various other things that are taught which prove that Islam teaches and presents another Jesus. And we'll deal with this next time, but one of the worst aspects of Muslim teaching is that Jesus wasn't even crucified. The Quran rejects the claim that Jesus was killed on the cross. Now what is the central plank of our faith? What is it that we believe concerning Christ that is part and parcel and at the very heart of our salvation? It is that He gave His life a ransom for many. that he died on the cross for our sins. He was crucified, dead and buried and risen from the dead. Islam rejects all of those things, therefore it does present another gospel and another Jesus. We'll look further at this next time in the will of the Lord.