Sermon - "God Is Not Allah & Allah Is Not God" (THE BLIGHT OF ISLAM

"God Is Not Allah & Allah Is Not God"

(The Blight Of Islam - Part 4)

First Corinthians 8.4

EXPOSITION:

1. I have preached three sermons on "The Blight Of Islam" so far. This morning’s message is the fourth in what was planned to be a series of five messages. I now believe the topic is so profoundly important, and the broadcast and print media of our nation is so terribly wrong in their perceptions, or at least in their admissions about Islam, that I cannot fulfill my pastoral responsibilities with fewer than seven messages, and perhaps even an eighth.

2. Recognize, I am not beating a dead horse. Neither am I riding an issue into the ground. What I am doing is taking advantage of a crisis situation to show you, even if the rest of the world will not see, what we are all up against in this 1400 year long conflict with Islam.

3. My friends, our entire civilization is timidly locked into the absurd mindset of multiculturalism, into the mindless straight jacket of political correctness, and into the confused and syrupy blindness of ecumenicalism. So duped are the cultural and religious leaders of this country that they simply will not believe that the terrorists of September 11th could possibly be anything other than a terrible aberration, and that Islam could not be an evil religion, could not be a wrong religion. If that were true, you see, then people might have to make value judgments. And our cultural and religious icons don’t want anyone making value judgments.

4. Our president fully realizes that the American people have no interest in making value judgments and exercising anything remotely like spiritual discernment in order to see Islam as it really is. His job is to mobilize the resources of the United States to protect and defend the population. And we should prayerfully support him in that endeavor, and continually thank God that we have been given this man to lead us, of the candidates we had to choose from.

5. But for you in the auditorium this morning, the conflict is a considerably more complex issue to understand, and far more important. You see, while the president and the United States are involved in a geopolitical crisis and a new kind of military conflict, you and I are simply seeing a slightly new twist to the age old conflict. And by new I mean new to you and me, certainly not new in any absolute sense.

6. So, these messages are delivered for the purpose of preparing you for the spiritual conflict that lies ahead. And it is hoped that you will leave this auditorium after each of these messages more fully convinced and better equipped to deal with "The Blight Of Islam." At the same time, it is hoped that you will better recognize the terrible plight of Muslims, who are tragically shackled by their enslavement to Islam.

7. To date our considerations of "The Blight Of Islam" have focused on the externals, what is supposed by Islam’s origin, a comparison of Islam’s founder with Jesus, and how Islam was advanced in its early years. Each time we turned to our subject we were able to do so without dealing to any great extent with Islam’s beliefs, without dealing with Islam’s doctrines.

8. That changes today, as we begin to examine the theology of Islam, what they actually believe. I promise you, this portion of our study will seem to the Neville Chamberlains of the world to be very volatile. "This is not the time for harsh rhetoric," they will whine with trembling voices. But I anticipate no harsh rhetoric. I foresee only the direct confrontation of Islam’s beliefs as they are, but which compromisers want to deny.

9. What I promise you is an honest consideration of Islam’s views as they currently exist, as they are taught by contemporary Muslim scholars, and as they are received by the vast majority of Muslims in the world today, despite their collective denials and attempts at deception.

10. An illustration of their deception: We are told by Muslims who appear on television, on the radio, and whose writings appear in print media, that Islam is a peaceful religion, just like Christianity. We are told that terrorism is only an aberration, and not the true nature of historical, orthodox Islam. We are told that the word "jihad" is misunderstood and that it refers only to a righteous struggle against injustice and oppression, and that calling for "Islamic jihad" doesn’t necessary mean killing and bombing and terrorism.

11. But if that is the case, why did Osama bin Labin call for an "Islamic jihad?" If that is true, why have the Iranian clerics in the past called for "Islamic jihad?" Why do the different Islamic terrorist groups refer to their activities as "Islamic jihad?" Surely, these people know their own language. And surely, if they were misusing their own language or distorting the theology of their own religion their clerics, their religious teachers, would speak out against them for heresy.

12. But that doesn’t happen, does it? High ranking Muslim scholars do not correct these statements or demand retractions from these men, do they? No. And why not? Because Osama bin Ladin and Hezbollah and al Fatah and the other terrorist organizations are not theological heretics in Islam. They are right in the middle of the main theological stream of their religion, as it is and as it has always been.

13. That said, allow me to begin summarizing for you the main tenets of Islam. Let me describe for you what they believe. And as I do, please remember that I am not rehearsing to you my own opinions. I have no experience with Islam that would make me a knowledgeable expert. But I have access to experts, both the writings of credible authors and the testimonies of those who minister to Muslims, who have firsthand knowledge of Muslim’s beliefs.

14. This morning we will briefly consider only three points of Islamic theology, the revelation of the truth, the inspiration of the truth, and the identity of this god of theirs, Allah.

1A. First, THE ISLAMIC VIEW OF REVELATION

1B. Revelation Is The Communication Of Otherwise Undiscoverable Truth

1C. "Islam began with the supernatural visions and revelations that Muhammed claimed he received from Allah through the angel Gabriel beginning in 610 A.D."

2C. "The authoritative Cambridge History of Islam discusses these revelations by noting that, "Either in the course of the visions or shortly afterwards, Muhammed began to receive ‘messages’ or ‘revelations’ from God . . . He believed he could easily distinguish between his own thinking and these revelations . . . Muhammed continued to receive the messages at intervals until his death."

3C. ". . . Islam began as a consequence of supernatural revelations received by Muhammed. Whatever Islam has accomplished historically, what it is today, it results largely from these supernatural revelations received by Muhammed some 1,400 years ago."

2B. How Does The Revelation Of Islam Compare With Revelation In The Christian Religion?

1C. To this point, there is no obvious differences between what is claimed by Muslims and what is claimed by Christians regarding the revealed truths that led to their respective religions, insofar as the method of revelation is concerned.

2C. We have many passages in the Bible that record God revealing truth to men. And Second Peter 1.21 speaks to that process of God communicating to and then through men: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

3C. It is not to be disputed by either Islamic or Christian scholars that God does reveal truth. The issue really is who did God reveal truth to, and would God reveal error to anyone?

4C. Additionally, Mohammed received some unusual revelations. On two occasions Mohammed received revelations that corresponded exactly to the selfish wishes of a friend, after the selfish friend had told Mohammed what he wanted. Convenient.

5C. On one occasion he received a revelation that corresponded exactly to what his young wife, A’isha, the one who was nine years old when he married her, selfishly wanted. Convenient.

6C. And then there are the revelations allowing him alone to marry as many women as he wanted, while all other men could only marry four wives. Again, how convenient.

7C. So, our objection would not be so much with the Islamic notion of how revelation was accomplished, but with its timing and its content and its purpose.

2A. Next, THE ISLAMIC VIEW OF INSPIRATION

1B. Christianity Has A Well Developed Theology Of Inspiration

1C. Second Timothy 3.16 Is Well Known To Bible Readers: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

2C. The particular Greek word translated by the English phrase "given by inspiration of God" is "qeopneustos," and literally means "breathed out by God." Thus, the Word of God, taking into account the final product rather than considering the means to achieving that final end, is a book that has been breathed out by God.

3C. Vitally related to inspiration are the words "verbal" and "plenary." That is, the inspiration of the Bible extends to the specific choices of words to be used, that’s "verbal," and the inspiration of Scripture extends to every portion of the Bible, which is what the word "plenary" refers to.

4C. Of course, if the Bible is inspired, then it is a true record, and it is without error, since in the Bible God is repeatedly referred to as One Who is truth, and it is stated that He cannot lie. That would mean, if there are errors in the Bible, factual mistakes, then the whole notion of inspiration is called into question.

5C. Yet the Christian Bible, scrutinized as it has been over the centuries, is acknowledged to be without error.

2B. The Koran, Of Course, Came Along Some 500 Years After The Bible Was Completed

1C. Therefore, if the Koran is a product of divine activity it would be reasonable to expect the high demands of Biblical inspiration to be measured up to by the Koran. That is, it would be appropriate to expect the Koran to be internally consistent, as the Bible is. Further, it would be appropriate to expect the Koran to be factually correct, as the Bible is.

2C. But if you expect the Koran to be internally consistent and to be factually correct, you would be wrong. It is neither internally consistent nor factually correct.

3C. For example: One chapter of the Koran, called by them Suras, had in the days of A’isha some 200 verses. But after the passage of only a few decades that same Sura had only 73 verses. Folks, Muslim scholars acknowledge that 127 verses of the original were lost and have never been found!

4C. Example: In the Koran we find that Mohammed stated that lightning and thunder were two angels, just like Gabriel is an angel. Now, you might think that such belief is just the opinion of a pre-scientific holy man, but contemporary Islamic scholars in Egypt and Saudi Arabia agree with Mohammed to this day.

5C. Here’s another example: In the Koran the world is taught to be flat. I know that some will say, "But that’s what the Bible teaches, too!" O, no, it doesn’t. Isaiah 40.22 clearly teaches that the earth is round, and Job 26.7 most definitely shows that the earth is in space. But the Koran, in several places, declares the world to be flat, a doctrine that is believed by contemporary Islamic scholars!

6C. But that’s not all. In the Koran Miriam, the brother of Moses, and Mary, the mother of Jesus are confused. They are, after all, the same name in Hebrew. But Mohammed thought that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the sister of Aaron and Moses. That would make Moses and Aaron the Lord Jesus Christ’s uncles. In fact, they were separated in time by more than 1500 years.

7C. And do you remember the evil Haman, who conspired in the court of the Persian king during the time of Esther to bring about the deaths of all Jews? That was during the captivity, after the Persians had conquered Babylon. But in the Koran this wicked man, Haman, is represented as the prime minister of Pharaoh, even though he was born a thousand years afterwards.

8C. Sadly, though these errors are glaring in the Koran, and cannot be disputed or defended, they are blindly believed by Muslim clerics and scholars. And the Koran is accepted as true and without error by all orthodox Muslims.

3A. Finally, THE IDENTITY OF THE ISLAMIC ALLAH

Let us grant that Mohammed did receive supernatural revelations of some kind, although some of those revelations seem in retrospect to be incredibly self serving and trivial. Let us further grant that there was a supernatural element involved in the writing down of those revelations for future generations, even though there is no comparison between the historical and scientific accuracy of the Bible and the Koran.

What of their god, who they address as Allah? Who is Allah? What is He Like? Is Allah God? Let’s investigated the identity of this one named Allah by observing what he has done, according to the Koran.

1B. First, The Case Of The Beautiful Daughter In Law

1C. Mohammed sired no sons who lived to adulthood, so he adopted a son named Zaid. Zaid married a stunningly beautiful woman named Zainab, who Mohammed accidentally observed scantily clad one day when he went to his son’s home to visit.

2C. Mohammed was overcome with lust because of her beauty. In the Koran we are told that Allah turned Mohammed’s heart to desire Zainab, and that it was Allah’s will for Zaid to divorce his wife so his adopted father could marry her.

3C. Thus, the Allah of the Koran gave Mohammed his lust for his daughter in law, and destroyed the marriage of a young couple, so that Mohammed might marry yet another wife. Quite a difference from the response of the God of the Bible when king David lusted and then took another man’s wife, the woman Bathsheba.

2B. Next, The Absence Of The Love Of Allah

1C. Allah in the Koran does not love as does the God of the Bible. In First John 4.8 & 16 we are told "God is love." And John 3.16 is the Bible’s most famous verse: "For God so loved the world . . . ."

2C. In the Koran are listed ninety nine attributes of Allah. Ninety nine qualities and characteristics of this one who revealed the Koran to Mohammed and then inspired its writing, but not a single mention of him loving or being love is found anywhere in that book.

3C. My friend, love is a profoundly important word. It speaks of motive and relationship, of meeting needs and of the inclination of the heart. But Allah, who is acknowledged by Muslim scholars to be unknown and unknowable, is not love and does not love.

4C. What a stark contrast is this Allah to the God of the Bible, Who not only is love, but He loves even those who are opposed to Him. He loves us so much in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, Romans 5.8.

3B. Finally, Concern About The Name Of Allah

1C. It is accepted by all Muslims that before Mohammed’s time the Arabians were an idolatrous people who worshipped many gods. But it is angrily opposed by many that Allah was the chief of the deities they worshipped, the head of a pantheon of 360 gods worshipped in Arabia.

2C. But it can be rather easily proved that Allah was the name of one of the false gods worshipped before Mohammed’s time. Here are two proofs:

3C. First, in the Koran itself, Sura 6:109, it can be see that pre-Islamic Arabs made their strongest oaths in the name of Allah, because they believed him to be the most powerful of their gods.

4C. Second, and just as convincingly, the fact that Mohammed’s own father was named Abdullah, which means "the servant or slave of Allah" shows conclusively the position Allah had among the Arabs before Mohammed introduced Islam.

5C. Folks, these proofs don’t show who Allah is. But they do show who Allah isn’t. Allah isn’t God, the God of the Bible. He isn’t your God and he isn’t my God. He isn’t the God.

CONCLUSION:

1. We’ve run on a rather long time this morning, and it’s needful to stop here so I will have a bit of time left for my sermon.

2. Let me just wrap it up by pointing out two important things: First, from the getting of the Koran by the Muslims, and from the material contained in the Koran about Allah, which I have only given you a brief glimpse of, two things are obvious beyond denial:

3. First, the Koran has no legitimate claim to being authored by God, because of it’s many errors. And I’ve not even begun to show you the extent of the Koran’s errors.

4. Finally, Allah is not God. God is not Allah. Do not let anyone tell you that Islam and Christianity are comparative or in any way related religions, for despite some obvious copying from Judaism and Christianity, they are religions who have entirely different deities.

5. Now, before my very brief sermon, Gary Isenberger comes to lead us in a song.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Please turn in your Bible to First Corinthians 8.4. As you find that verse, please stand and look to the last phrase of the verse: ". . . there is none other God but one."

2. Christianity and Islam are the two world religions which make two common claims. Both claim to worship one true God, though Islam believes the Christian concept of God’s trinity is an impossibility. Nevertheless, Christianity claims to worship one God, and Islam claims to worship one God, regardless of what Islam thinks about Christianity’s claim.

3. As well, both religions claim to have Scripture given by inspiration. Christianity claims the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek New Testament that comprise the Bible, while Islam claims the Koran.

4. I have already touched on some of the differences between the Bible and the Koran, insofar as the presence of scientific and historical inaccuracies are concerned. I have also touched on some of the differences between the Bible and the Koran, insofar as internal inconsistencies are concerned.

5. What I want to address at this time, in the few minutes remaining to us this morning, is the fact that there is only one God. The existence of only one true god is accepted as true by Islam, and it is a foundational truth upon which Christianity exists. There is only one God.

6. There are three considerations for you to ponder in this regard.

1A. IT IS POSSIBLE TO MISTAKE WHO THE TRUE GOD IS

1B. The Entire Arabian People Were Once Wrong About The True God, Were They Not? They Freely Admit That They Were Once Idolaters, Thus Admitting That They Were Mistaken.

2B. Likewise, Genuine Christians Were All Once Wrong About The True God, Ephesians 2.2: "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."

3B. Therefore, If Both Christians And Muslims Were Entirely Wrong About This Most Important Matter, How Can We Be Sure That Muslims Are Not Wrong Again? How Can We Be Sure Christians Are Not Wrong Again?

4B. After All, Satan Is The Great Deceiver, Is He Not? And The Human Heart Is Capable Of Great Self-Deception, Is It Not? Therefore, I Suggest That We Submit Both Islam And Christianity To The Test Of Determining Who Is Wrong. Which System Of Belief Is Not True? Which Is Not Sanctioned By The One True And Living God?

2A. After All, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR BOTH ALLAH AND GOD TO BE THE ONE TRUE GOD

1B. I Say This Because Things That Are Different Are Not The Same. In Like Manner, Beings That Are Different Are Not The Same. And Allah And The God Of The Bible Are Not The Same.

2B. One is Personal And The Other Is Impersonal. One Is Both Capable Of And Interested In Establishing Communion And Relationships With His Creatures, While The Other Is Not Only Unknown But Unknowable. One Is Love, As An Essential Attribute, And The Other Is Nowhere Said To Be Love.

3B. One Has For His Book To Communicate Truths About Himself To Mankind The Bible, While The Other Has For His Book To Communicate Truths About Himself To Mankind The Koran.

4B. My Friend, If One Were To Study The Koran And Then One Were To Study The Bible You Would Quickly Conclude That They Speak Of Two Different Beings As The One True And Living God. And This Is Undeniable, Since Two Beings Who Are Different Are Not The Same.

3A. But, IT IS POSSIBLE TO DISCERN WHICH IS THE ONE TRUE GOD

Use your own judgment to arrive at a decision that may have for you eternal consequences.

1B. Which Is The One True God, The One Who In The Bible Is Love And Who Loves, Or The One About Whom No Mention Of Love Is Made In The Koran?

2B. Which Is The One True God, The One Who Is Displeased And Who Punishes The Man Who By Lust Destroys The Marriage And The Established Home Of Another, Or The One Who Not Only Sanctions Such Lust But Initiates It And Authorizes The Ruination Of A Marriage And The Destruction Of A Home?

3B. Which Is The One True God, The One Whose Bible Is Both Internally Consistent And Without Either Scientific Or Historical Errors, Or The One Whose Koran Is At The Same Time Internally Consistent And Prone To Both Historical And Scientific Errors?

4B. Which Is The One True God, The One Who Makes Himself Known To His Creatures And Seeks Communion With Them, Or The One Whose Followers Admit That He Is Both Unknown And Unknowable?

CONCLUSION:

1. My friends, I could go on and on and one. My comparisons and contrasts are not limited by the material I have for your consideration, but by the time I have in which to present it.

2. I have supposed that things which are different are not the same. From that I have shown that consideration of the Bible and the Koran leads anyone who is intellectually honest to conclude that God and Allah are different . . . therefore they are not the same.

3. Two beings who do not have the same attributes cannot be the same God. As well, since they are not the same, only one can be true, while the other must be false.

4. I maintain that any reasonable consideration of the facts available shows God to be God and Allah to be other than God. The God of the Bible is the only true and living God, thus Allah is an impostor, and his religion is false.

5. If you are considering the Bible’s claims about God and the Koran’s claims about Allah today, I have given you sufficient information and truth with which to know that the God of the Bible, Jehovah, He is God.

6. Are you, therefore, set? Is that all? Do you have enough? No. Knowing that the Bible is true and the God of the Bible is the real God is only the beginning. Unless you are truly born again you are still estranged from God. But at least now you can be confident who the God is you need to be reconciled with.

"The Blight Of Islam" Part 5