Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20060709.htm

PROFITABLY LEARNING FROM THE ERRORS OF THE CULTS
Part IX: Profitably Learning From The Errors Of Islam
(2 Timothy 2:15; 4:1-4)
  1. Introduction
    1. September 11, 2001 changed the way we view the Islamic faith, for the attack on America by Muslim terrorists brought into sharp focus the need for us to know and respond to those who hold to this faith.
    2. Islam arose due to the failure of Christians to discern and proclaim Scripture truth, a lesson we need now:
  2. Profitably Learning From The Errors Of Islam, 2 Timothy 2:15; 4:1-4 (I am heavily indebted to the SIM NOW, July-August, 1989 magazine, p. 2-5, that is published by the SIM International mission).
    1. To understand the Islamic faith and its related movements today, we need to know its origin as follows:
      1. "Islam" means submission to Allah, the Muslim God, and a "Muslim" is one who submits to Allah.
      2. Islam's founder, Mohammed, was from Arabia and felt a concern that his people depart from idolatry without turning to the dead Judaism or weak, fifth century Christianity he saw. Thus, "Historians would conclude that much of Mohammed's misunderstandings of Christian truth was due to the doctrinal confusion and ignorance into which the church at that time had fallen," Ibid., p. 3.
      3. When Mohammed tried to counter idolatry among his people, he was resisted, and fled to Medina in A. D. 622 "from which the Muslim calendar dates." (Dave Hunt, The Berean Call, July 2003, p. 3). He made a 10 year treaty with his foes as he was not strong enough to fight them, and broke it 2 years later when he captured Mecca and purged its Ka'aba of 300 idols, Ibid. Mohammed redefined its chief god, the pagan moon god, Allah as the One God, Ibid. This act of making a temporary treaty only to break it when he had the power to defeat non-Muslims became the pattern for later Muslim expansions, Ibid.
    2. Significant beliefs of the Islamic faith are as follows:
      1. Orthodox Muslims hold there is no human free will, that God ordains good and evil, faith and unbelief.
      2. They hold that Allah is one without any partner or multiple persons, and that He is self-existing.
      3. Mohammed is seen as the last, greatest prophet with many Old Testament figures and Jesus as lesser.
      4. Muslims hold the Law of Moses, David's Psalms and the Gospels of Jesus were divinely inspired, but have become corrupt from the originals and are no longer reliable. They hold the Koran is the holy book written in heaven in Arabic and given in oral form to Mohammed by the angel Gabriel.
      5. Dreading the Day of Judgment, Muslims believe every man's good and evil deeds will then be weighed to see if he has earned heaven! God can then decide where his soul should go for reasons known only to Him! The only exception is death in holy war, or "Jihad," when one goes directly to Paradise!
    3. Key practices of the Islamic faith include: praying toward Mecca 5 times a day, observing the day fasts of the month of Ramadan, making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime, naming the 99 known names of God on a rosary (the camel knows the 100th -- that's why he smiles) and taking up to four wives.
    4. Scripture exposes the shortcomings of the Islamic faith as follows:
      1. God does not author evil or unbelief as Islam teaches, cf. Romans 1:18-20; Isaiah 14:12-14. Rather, Satan authored sin, and man heeded his temptation to sin and authored his own unbelief in God.
      2. Scripture reveals Three Persons in a Single Godhead comprise the Triune Godhead, cf. Ps. 110:1; Acts 5:3-4; John 10:30. Islam errs in denying the multiplicity of the Persons of God in the One Godhead.
      3. Jesus, not Mohammed, is the Greatest Prophet; He fully "exegeted" the Father, John 1:18; Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 273.
      4. Jesus countered Islam's claim that the Bible is corrupt, for He said not one letter or part of a letter of the written Word would change or pass away until all was fulfilled, Matthew 5:17-18.
      5. Contrary to Islam, one gains eternal life by faith alone in Christ's atonement, Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:23-24.
      6. Also, one can know in this life if he is heaven-bound by way of 1 John 4:1-3 and 1 Corinthians 12:3.
      7. Where Islam denies that Jesus died, Scripture reveals He died for sin and rose again, 1 Cor. 15:1-11.
Lesson: In borrowing from pagan ideas, Islam came to exist due to the spiritual vacuum created by the failure of Christians in Mohammed's generation to discern and proclaim the Bible's truth!

Application: (1) May we in the pew study and heed Scripture in the Holy Spirit's power to witness of the truth to the world. (2) May pastors and teachers especially do this, 2 Timothy 2:15; 4:1-4!