"Mohammed's Marriage To A Little Girl"

(The Blight Of Islam - Part 2)

First John 4.1

EXPOSITION:

1. Turn in your Bible to First John 4.1. When you have found that verse in God’s Word please stand and read silently while I read aloud: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

2. The apostle John, the longest living of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, reminds his readers that "many false prophets are gone out into the world." How are we supposed to know who is a true prophet and who is a false prophet?

3. John tells us. There are two ways John urges us to employ in order to discern the true prophet from the false prophet. First, "believe not every spirit." That is, stop believing every spirit. Christians need to stop being so gullible that they are easy prey for anyone or anything that claims to represent God.

4. Second, "try the spirits whether they are of God." And that word "try" translates the Greek word for testing ore to determine whether there is gold or silver present. In other words, John is directing his readers to carefully scrutinize spiritual matters and men who claim to be prophets of God to make sure they are genuine.

5. This evening I propose that we put both the Lord Jesus Christ and the founder of Islam, Mohammed, to the test. Let’s place them in a side by side comparison for the purposes of evaluation, since surely no one can argue against an intelligent and cognitive approach to deciding which of these historical figures, each the founder of a world religion, is the true prophet of God and which is the impostor.

6. Thus, we shall examine the legitimacy of Islam by subjecting its founder to scrutiny, while at the same time examining the legitimacy of Biblical Christianity by subjecting its Founder to scrutiny. Let us, this evening, weigh seven considerations for the purpose of comparing and contrasting the Lord Jesus Christ with Mohammed.

1A. First, LET US CONSIDER THEIR ANNOUNCEMENTS

That is, let us consider the prophetic announcement of their coming.

1B. The Prophetic Announcement Of The Lord Jesus Christ Is Well Documented In God’s Word

Because of the press of time, allow me to quickly recite to you specific prophecies about the Lord Jesus Christ’s coming, and the relevant Scripture passages.

1C. Seven hundred years before His birth His birth place was predicted by Micah, in Micah 5.2, even though it was not the home city of His mother.

2C. One thousand years before it occurred David predicted the precise form of His death, though it was a method of execution not then known, Psalm 22.

3C. His virgin birth was predicted six hundred years before it occurred, in Isaiah 7.14.

4C. More than four hundred years before His birth His forerunner was predicted, Malachi 3.1.

5C. More than five hundred years before His birth the amount of money for which He was betrayed was predicted, Zechariah 11.13, to be thirty pieces of silver.

6C. A thousand years in advance of His death it was predicted that men would gamble for His clothes, Psalm 22.

7C. A thousand years in advance it was predicted that His legs would not be broken as the legs of all others who were executed were broken, Psalm 34.20.

8C. Finally, more than five hundred years before it occurred, and exactly 483 years from the historical event Daniel indicated would start the numbering of the years, the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into the city of Jerusalem was predicted, Daniel 9.24-26.

9C. Folks, these are only eight of hundreds of predictions that were literally fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. They, and many other prophecies, are announcements, if you will, of His coming given centuries in advance.

2B. Now Let Us Consider The Advance Warning Of Mohammed’s Coming

1C. Look high and look low. Look in the Koran and look elsewhere if you want to, but you will find no ahead of time announcement of Mohammed’s coming.

2C. He appeared without notice or notification of his coming.

2A. Second, LET US CONSIDER THEIR BIRTHS

1B. First, The Birth Of The Lord Jesus Christ

1C. I’ve told you that the place of Jesus’ birth was predicted to be Bethlehem, Micah 5.2.

2C. I’ve told you that Jesus was born of a virgin, Isaiah 7.14.

3C. I should tell you that it was predicted that He would be born a Jew, of the tribe of Judah, and of the house and lineage of David.

4C. Should I point out that Jesus was named before He was born? Matthew 1.21.

2B. Now, We Consider The Birth Of Mohammed.

1C. Except for passing references to the fact that Mohammed was born into a poor family, that his father died before he was born, and his mother passed away before he was six, leaving him to be raised by a grandmother and an uncle, there are no claims made by Muslims regarding the birth of Mohammed.

2C. So, Jesus was announced, while Mohammed was not. Jesus’ birth was predicted and was truly miraculous, since He was sired by no man and was delivered by a virgin. But Mohammed had both a mother and a father, making his birth, in contrast to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ’s, quite ordinary.

3A. Third, LET US CONSIDER THEIR LIVES

1B. First, The Life Of The Lord Jesus Christ

1C. The Bible declares that Jesus lived a life without sin, Hebrews 4.15.

2C. The Bible records many signs, wonders and miracles performed by the Lord Jesus Christ, from feeding five thousand with but a few loaves and fishes, to walking on the water, to raising the dead, to giving sight to the blind, to healing the crippled, to cleansing the lepers, to casting out demons.

3C. As well, Jesus claimed to be God, claimed to be the exclusive Savior of sinful men’s souls, claimed to forgive sins, and claimed to Himself give men eternal life.

4C. During His lifetime Jesus raised His hand against no man. As a matter of fact, He actually healed one of the men who arrested Him for trial and crucifixion after the apostle Peter had wounded him with a sword by cutting off his ear.

2B. What About Mohammed’s Life?

1C. From authoritative sources, such as Fazlur Rahman, Ph.D., professor of Islamic Thought at the University of Chicago, and from Edwin M. Yamauchi, Ph.D., of the Institute For Religious Research, I find that the Koran makes no claim that Mohammed ever worked a miracle.

2C. And Muslims acknowledge that Mohammed committed sins, but that he was somehow cleansed of all unworthy thoughts when he was 12 years old and enabled to intercede on behalf of sinners.

3C. Far different in his approach to life than the Lord Jesus, Mohammed was active in the pursuit of open warfare against those who opposed him, at one time according to Muslim scholars commanding an army of 10,000. He ordered the killing of many of his opponents, and many others died at the hands of his followers during his lifetime.

4C. So, one claimed to be God while the other claimed to speak for God. One performed miracles while the other did not. One refused to resort to violence, though He could have called ten thousand angels, while the other was very familiar with violence and presided over the deaths of many who opposed him.

5C. Very different births, very different lives.

4A. Fourth, LET US CONSIDER THEIR BRIDES

1B. Of Course, The Lord Jesus Christ Never Married And Never Sired Children, But That Doesn’t Mean He Has No Bride

1C. Just as Israel is likened as a wife to Jehovah, in the Hebrew Scriptures, so the Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as having a bride, with Him being the bride groom.

2C. But the Bride Groom has a spiritual wife, comprised of all who are born again through faith in Jesus Christ.

3C. John the Baptist referred to his Lord Jesus as the Bride Groom in John 3.29, and Paul reminded the Corinthians that he had espoused them as a chaste virgin to Christ, in Second Corinthians 11.2.

4C. The Lord Jesus Christ will someday come back and take His bride to heaven with Him, His bride being comprised of all truly born again Christians. Needless to day, the union between Jesus and His bride will be a spiritual union, not a physical union.

2B. Mohammed, On The Other Hand, Had Many Wives

1C. His first wife was a businesswoman who proposed to him, though he was twenty years younger than she was. So long as she lived Mohammed took no other wives.

2C. But when his first wife, Khadija, died he married at least ten women and had an additional number of concubines.

3C. The youngest wife he took was a nine year old girl named A’isha, who actually brought her toys with her into her marriage with Mohammed.

4C. Though none of Mohammed’s sons lived to adulthood, he did adopt a son named Zaid, and when he received a special revelation authorizing it, he married Zaid’s beautiful wife, Zainab.

5C. Under Islamic law taught by Mohammed men who are Muslims are allowed to marry no more than four women at a time, though Islamic divorce can be accomplished by reciting a single phrase three times in succession.

6C. So you can see that, with respect to their brides, there are vast differences between the Lord Jesus Christ and the founder of Islam, Mohammed.

5A. Fifth, LET US CONSIDER THEIR DEATHS

1B. What Can Be Said In A Brief Period Of Time About The Death Of The Lord Jesus Christ?

1C. The Lord Jesus Christ did not die the death of an aged man. He did not die the death of someone who was sick or ailing. He died an unimaginably brutal death at the hands of Roman soldiers who were expert at inflicting painful deaths as a climax to great suffering.

2C. But since the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was predicted as far back as Genesis 3.15, and in great detail in both Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12.10, it is fair to ask What was accomplished by His death?

3C. By His death and the shedding of His blood He accomplished a number of things, including:

#1 Satisfied God’s righteous demand that sins be punished as a ground for forgiveness being granted.

#2 Shed His Own blood for the remission of sins.

#3 Suffered a vicarious death on behalf of sinners.

#4 Fulfilled many prophecies of His sacrificial death.

#5 Fulfilled many Old Testament types.

#6 Positioned Himself to conquer sin, death, Hell and the grave by means of His glorious resurrection.

2B. What About Mohammed’s Death?

1C. Islamic scholars tell us that in 632 Mohammed became ill with violent headaches and a fever. Before he died he exhorted the Arabs to remain united, proclaimed the duties of married couples and abolished usury and the blood feud.

2C. When he announced that if he owed anything to anyone that person could claim it, a hush fell on the crowd. One man supposedly came forward to claim a few coins.

3C. Mohammed finally succumbed and was buried in the house of his wife A’isha, who had nursed him during his last days. The prophet’s tomb at Medina is, after Mecca, the site most venerated by Muslims.

4C. So, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the prime of His physical life was an event of cosmic proportions, bringing to a climax God’s redemptive purpose in the sacrificial death of His Son. The death of Mohammed was the death of an old man who got sick and said a few words before he died.

6A. Sixth, LET US CONSIDER THEIR RESURRECTIONS

1B. The Resurrection Of The Lord Jesus Christ Is, Of Course, Foundational to Christianity

1C. First of all, it was predicted 1000 years before the resurrection occurred. Second, it occurred despite adversarial forces placed at the tomb to prevent any such thing from happening. And third, the Lord Jesus Christ showed Himself alive with many infallible proofs.

2C. The women saw Him. The apostles saw Him. The men on the road to Emmaus saw Him. Thomas was invited to thrust his fingers into Jesus’ crucifixion wounds. Years later the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.

3C. As a matter of fact, when Paul wrote his first Corinthian letter more than 500 eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection were still alive, and that was more than twenty years later.

4C. So important to Christianity is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that the apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain," First Corinthians 15.14.

2B. But What Do Muslims Say About The Resurrection Of Mohammed?

1C. The story of Mohammed’s ascension into heaven is thought even by Muslim scholars to have been modeled after the ascension of Jesus to heaven.

2C. But Islam has Mohammed’s ascension into heaven without any real evidence of a resurrection and no real significance in Mohammed’s death.

3C. What, then, did Mohammed’s death accomplish? They make no claim that it accomplished anything.

4C. One’s death was redemptive, while the other’s was not. One’s death was sacrificial, while the other’s was not. One’s death was predicted, while the other’s was not. One’s death was meaningful, while the other’s was not.

7A. Finally, BEFORE MY SERMON LET US CONSIDER THEIR LEGACIES

1B. First, The Legacy Of Jesus Christ

1C. For the press of time, let me urge you to consider only the first followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. What happened to them? What did they do? What were they like?

2C. Well, we know that they turned the world upside down, Acts 17.6. But in what fashion did they accomplish the spread of the Gospel?

3C. By preaching and teaching and suffering martyrdom. They did not wield the sword, but suffered great persecution at the hands of the Romans and the Jews and others.

4C. So, Christ’s legacy is a legacy of forgiveness, of mercy, of grace, of goodness.

2B. But What Of The Legacy Of Mohammed?

1C. His followers were warriors first and foremost. In about the same amount of time Islam spread about the same distance across the face of the earth, but by different means.

2C. Their message was convert or die at the hand of the sword. And convert many people did, for fear of execution.

3C. What a different legacy was left by Mohammed than the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sin of the world. Amen?

CONCLUSION;

1. There are different ways of evaluating a religion to determine whether or not it is of God. You can examine the religion’s origin, as we did this morning, or you can examine the religion’s founder.

2. Consider Jesus. Now consider Mohammed. One was announced, while the other was not. One had a miraculous birth and a miracle filled life, while the other had the blood of his enemies on his hands.

3. One is now calling our for Himself a spiritual bride, while one had many wives, including a nine year old little girl and the wife of his adopted son.

4. One’s death was redemptive and full of profound meaning and accomplishment, while the other’s was just an ordinary death.

5. One rose from the dead, with many witnesses attesting to His victory over sin, death, Hell and the grave. The other supposedly did the same, only there were no witnesses.

6. Finally, consider their two legacies. Enough said? One founded a religion that is legitimate and that truly represents God, while the other is a blight on mankind and is a counterfeit, Johnny-come-lately.

7. Brother Isenberger now comes to lead us in a song before my sermon.

INTRODUCTION:

1. My friend, Christianity is real and Islam is fraudulent. Christianity is the direct result of God intervening in the affairs of men to extend mercy and grace to the undeserving.

2. Islam is the direct result of Satan intervening in the affairs of men to deceive and delude them. I urge you to stop your ears from hearing the doctrines of demons that forms the basis of all Islamic belief and practice.

3. Instead, listen to the good news of Jesus Christ come to save sinners from their sins.

1A. GOD LOVES YOU, MY FRIEND

1B. That Is The Clear Declaration Of Scripture And The Motive That Lies Back Of All God’s Dealings With Men.

2B. As John 3.16 Declares, "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."

2A. TO EXPRESS HIS LOVE GOD SENT HIS OWN SON

1B. How Did He Send His Son? By The Virgin Birth. Listen To How The Virgin Mary Found Out, In Luke 1.35: "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

2B. But Why Did God Send His Own Son? Why Did Jesus Come? Listen To What Joseph Was Told, In Matthew 1.20-21: "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."

3A. THIS WAS ALL DONE SO THAT GOD MIGHT PUNISH HIS OWN SON IN YOUR STEAD

1B. The Bible Says That The Soul That Sinneth, It Shall Surely Die. So, Because Of Your Sins You Must Suffer Death, Eternal Death, Unless Someone Who Is Capable Of Doing So Intercedes For You And Satisfies God’s Demand Of Punishment For Sin.

2B. My Friend, Don’t You See? That Is Precisely Why Jesus Suffered The Cross. God Punished His Own Son Instead Of You. As Romans 5.8 Declares: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

3B. Listen To How Paul Explained It To The Corinthians: "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," Second Corinthians 5.20-21.

4A. BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL PUNISH YOU IF YOU REJECT HIS SON

1B. God Is, After All, Holy. And His Holy Nature Demands Holiness: "holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord," Hebrews 12.14.

2B. You See, Your Sins Are All Recorded In God’s Books In Heaven. And Unless You Are Cleansed By The Precious Blood Of Christ You Will Someday Be Judged For Those Sins: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: . . . and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works," Revelation 20.12.

3B. And What Will Happen When You Are So Judged For Your Sins? "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire," Revelation 20.13-15.

4B. Such Will Be Your Punishment For Your Sins, Especially For The Sin Of Rejecting Jesus Christ As Your Personal Savior.

5A. BUT GOD WILL SAVE YOU BY HIS SON IF YOU WILL COME TO JESUS

1B. You See, God Is Merciful And Gracious. His Mercies Endure Forever. And He Is Not Willing That Any Should Perish, But That All Should Come To Repentance, Second Peter 3.9.

2B. His Great Desire, Which Is Why He Sent His Son Jesus In The First Place, Is For You To Be Saved. If Only You Will. If Only You Will.

CONCLUSION:

1. What does Jesus want you to do, my friend? Come to Him.

2. What did Paul instruct the Philippian jailer to do? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. How did Paul describe what he did? He trusted Christ.

4. It all means the same thing, to cast yourself upon Jesus as the Savior of your soul.

5. Something unusual tonight. Brother Isenberger comes to lead us in a song, "Only Trust Him."

6. Let’s stand and sing it together. If, after we’ve sung that song and dismissed, you want to talk to me about getting saved, please step onto the conference room and I will speak to you as soon as I am able to.

"The Blight Of Islam" Part 3

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