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my life 4 jesus.co.za |
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You have Magnified Your Word above All Your Name, Ps. 138:2 |
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Muslims (and Christians) for Christ In obedience to the commission of our Lord Jesus Christ to “go and make disciples from all the nations; baptizing [the disciples] in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I [not churches] have said…” (Mt. 28:18-20.)
Renette Vermeulen
[Acknowledgement to the people who did the images and photos used in this study]
THIS PHOTO INTENDS TO WAKE JESUS’ BELIEVERS UP TO THE FACT THAT MUSLIMS NEED TO KNOW AND SERVE THE TRUE GOD OF THE BIBLE, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST Hardcore News reported that Sweden legalized Islamic child “marriage.” This is child porn, child molestation, and child rape. Sweden also legalized hardcore drugs. This is how First Wold countries in Europe are coping with the immense Muslim ‘refugee crises,’ as Muslims flee from their communist countries. In actual fact, this is the United Nation’s way of creating a Fourth Borderless, One World, ruled by the New Morality (or total immorality,) where everything ungodly in the form of ‘human rights’ is merely discarded as ‘culture’ and, therefore, made acceptable.
Þ Find the list of subjects in this article on this page Foreword Every believer should read this study, not only the ‘evangelists’ of Jesus, who ‘work’ among Muslims. The aim of this study is not to teach Muslims about the Bible, unless they are really interested. It was written for Jesus’ believers to clarify the confusion, which we often find in Scripture when certain verses and passages are taken out of context to ‘prove’ false doctrines. Many truth-seeking believers in Christ have been grappling with questions concerning Scriptural ‘controversies’ and so-called ‘discrepancies’ in the Bible. Therefore, an article such as this can bring believers and others who question the authenticity of God’s Word to the unchangeable truth of the Bible, as revealed in the full context of Scripture and in church history. Thus, this article is not so much for Muslims as for true believers in Christ, who are searching for deeper, personal understanding of the Word of God to be able to defend the Gospel of Christ. This article is not to condemn anyone. Jesus Himself said He did not come to condemn, but the “Words which He had spoken, will judge us all in the Last Day,” (Jn. 12:47-48.) Although the questions and answers in this article touch on subjects that might offend Muslims and even some Christians, we must understand that the love of Christ, which is the Truth of Christ, is not the murderous spirit of religion. Religion is the worship of anything: money, power, antichrist religion as well as unbiblical Christianity. More people and animals have been killed in the name of some religion or another, (Christianity too,) than by any other war that was fought on earth. How can the God of Love condone such atrocities? The God of the Bible commanded that His believers must be willing to share their beliefs with anyone who ask them to give and account of the hope that is in them, (1 Pt. 3:15.) Therefore, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ invites people from all religions and church denominations to discuss, as reasonable, civilized people, the differences that separate people from one another. It is only though open dialogue that we can come to understand one another on this side of the grave. It would be presumptuous to think Christians can understand a complicated religion such as Islam, merely by answering some of their questions, just as it would be futile to try to explain the entire Bible to Muslims in a few short pages. As a result, the purpose of this article is to exhort sincere believers to become more effective witnesses for our Lord by “examining and testing ourselves to see whether we [ourselves are truly] in the faith,” (2 Cor. 13:5.) And of course, the aim is also to address Muslims’ open and direct criticism of Christianity, the Bible, and the God of the Bible; defending the Truth of the Gospel of Christ in the hope that Muslims might see Christ Jesus and His Gospel of Redemption, Salvation, and Blessing in true, Scriptural light. As a result, I invite both Christians and Muslims to speak to me concerning anything I might misunderstand, as we all only know in part, and none of us will ever become all-knowing on this side of the grave.
TRUE BELIEVERS WILL REPENT FROM NEGLECTING THE COMMISSION OF JESUS The Holy Spirit came to convince the whole world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is also true that God does speak to unbelievers (and believers) in visions and dreams. However, most amazingly, God prefers to speak to the unbelieving and disobedient world through His body of believers. It is vital, therefore, to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ has “redeemed us all with His own blood believers from every tribe, and tongue, and nation” by personal, saving faith in Him, which “comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Hence, real salvation can only come by hearing, understanding, accepting, and living the whole truth of Biblical Scripture, (Rom. 10:17; Jn. 16:8; 1:12-13.) Fact remains, unbelievers might never know Jesus as the Savior of the whole world if God’s children do not bring them His Good News of redemption, salvation, and blessing in Christ when the Holy Spirit opens a door to speak to them! Consequently, it would be foolish to think God will light a lamp and put it under a basket. God will always place a lamp on a lamp stand to shine forth its light in the darkness. It is, therefore, of great comfort to realize that God has sent the Holy Spirit to lead Jesus’ obedient disciples through the dark unknown. While walking in The Way of our Lord, the only reliable ‘lamp for our feet’ will be the truthful context of Biblical Scripture as taught by the Holy Spirit Himself. Nothing more; nothing less, (Mt. 2:6.) Even when the Holy Spirit speaks directly to us, He will never say anything that is not true in the context of the Bible. He is the Spirit of Truth, Who leads us into “all truth,” (Jn. 16:13.) My prayer is that God may give us all the grace to let His light shine so boldly and fearlessly “before men, that they may see our good works [of sincere love or agape for Christ and our fellow man,] and glorify our Father in heaven,” because for too long, the believers of the Lord Jesus Christ have shirked their responsibility and turned a blind eye to the spiritual need of the millions of Muslims (and other religionists) all around us, while overlooking the Lord’s commission to evangelize the whole world as He commissioned His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. We are willfully disobedient to the commission of Christ if we sit back and, without moving a finger to intervene, even when the Holy Spirit opens doors for us to do otherwise, watch millions of lost souls stumble towards the everlasting fires of hell without a living relationship with God in Christ. May God help us to realize that, to place ourselves and our human pleasures above the commission of Jesus, is self-indulgence and brazen idolatry. Once equipped with the truth of the Bible, every Scripturally born again believer has to make a difference in his or her personal world by preaching the Gospel to every person who would choose to open their ears, hearts, and lives to the truth of Christ Jesus the Lord, (Mt. 5:14-15; Rev. 3:20.) To be effective “evangelists” to the people of the world and among Christians, who are perishing through a lack of true knowledge of God and His Word, we do not have to run to and fro searching for souls. We must simply make ourselves available to God; surrender ourselves and our entire lives to Him; earnestly intercede for the lost and suffering, and believe He will teach us, lead us, and bring us to the lost to declare to them “the whole counsel of God,” (Acts 20:27.) We cannot address every ill of this broken world; nor can we, as mere human beings, convince people of the truth in any way, as that is the work of the Holy Spirit, (Jn. 16:8-12.) Neither can we share the truth of the Bible with every person, because Jesus has also commanded us not to “give what is holy to the dogs or to throw our pearls before swine,” (Mt. 7:6.) The Lord Jesus Christ is the most precious Pearl in the universe; we should commit His Gospel of grace to people of character, “faithful people, who will be able to teach others also,” (2 Tim. 2:2.) Additionally, only the Holy Spirit, Who searches the hearts of all humanity, can lead us to the right people or bring them to us where, compelled by our love for our Savior and humanity, we may have the incomprehensible privilege to preach His Gospel of grace to them, (Rom. 8:14.) Jesus became flesh, (God became a mere man,) “to destroy the works of the evil one!” (Jn. 1:1-14.) He has “called us into His marvelous light” to shine His exposing, saving, liberating light of truth into every dark corner of the satanically captured minds in this world, and none of us dare refuse this high calling. Yet, only God can turn the rotted potter’s field of this fallen world into productive soil. Only Jesus can instruct us how and when to sow the right kind of seed in His fertile meadow. Only God can make it grow. We simply have to trust Him and be sensitive to the leading of our Helper, the Holy Spirit. Then, as God Himself decrees, we will reap the bounty of truly born again souls at exactly the right time.
“GOD LOVES YOU” AND “GOD IS LOVE,” WE HEAR ALL THE TIME. TRUE, BUT DO WE REALLY LOVE GOD? The contextual Truth of God’s Word puts a completely different spin on this question. 1 John 4:20 asks, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love, [agape in deed and truth,] his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God Whom he has not seen?” “What,” we might say, “I don’t hate anyone!” Really? Well, if we deceive, spitefully use, and neglect to evangelize the world with the Truth of God’s Word as the Holy Spirit opens opportunities, which is Jesus Himself and the only redemption, salvation, and blessing this world will ever see, we “hate” them and thus “murder” them, and “do not have eternal life abiding in us,” (Jn. 3:15.) So, everyone who lies like in teaching us false doctrines, lies to us and murders us. And if we teach his false doctrines, we do the same to other people. Jesus declared in John 14:15, 21, “If you love Me, keep My [Moral-Law] commandments. [21] He that has My commandments and keeps them, he is the one that loves Me: and he that loves Me will be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” Thus, Jesus said obedience to Him Is Love for Him. No other ‘love’ for Him exists, (Rom. 12:1-3.) Although God’s loves the whole world, and gave His Son so that they can be saved by personal faith and discipleship in Him, only those who sincerely obey Him belong to Him, (Jn. 3:16-17.) That is why Acts 5:32 declares, “...God gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him.” God declared that He loved the whole world so much, He gave His Word of Truth – “His only begotten Son, so that whoever [personally] believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life,” (Jn. 1:1-14.) We dare not separate love and truth. So, Truth without the motive of Godly love is a harsh, devastating power; and love without Godly truth is a deceptive, humanized weapon of destruction. That is why, for the love of God we worship Him in spirit and in truth, (Jn. 4:21-24.) For the love of His truth we obey the God of Truth, (2 Ths. 2:10-12.) For the love of the lost, our prayers to God engage the enemy in a full-blown battle, (2 Cor. 10:4-6.) For our love of the damned we risk life and limb to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, (Jn. 15:13.) For our love of the brethren we rebuke, warn, admonish, and nurture, (Eph. 5:8-13.) For our love of Christ’s body of believers, we seek God’s truth to bring them the ‘whole counsel’ of God, (Act 20:27.) For “though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, [in truth and deed,] I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge… but have not [the God of] love, [Jesus,] I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods and feed the poor, [as being the perfect humanist,] and though I give my body to be burned, [as a fanatic martyr,] but have not [real Christlike] love [in Gospel-Truth,] it profits me nothing.” It is, therefore, a dire misconception to say that a ‘good’ humanist like the Roman Catholic ‘mother’ Theresa had godly love just because she “laid down” her life for the poor on the streets of Calcutta. Without preaching the Truth of Scripture, her humanist love meant absolutely nothing, as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:3. Constance Cumby made a valid stand against New Age teachings and New Age interchurch-ecumenism when she quoted Theresa of Calcutta, describing her Catholic gospel of works as saying, “What we are all trying to do by our work, by serving the people, is to come closer to God… We become a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Catholic, a better whatever we are, and then by being better we come closer and closer to Him… We live that they may… go home according to what is written in the book, be it written according to Hindu, or Muslim, or Buddhist, or Catholic, or Protestant, or any other belief… We try and give them whatever they want.” This is the deception of universalism and the gospel of “another Jesus,” not Bible Truth. Just as every other false doctrine, Theresa’s humanist, New Age, (Roman Catholic) religion, according to the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible, was hatred for the lost of this world! (Jn. 8:44; Prov. 8:36; 1 Jn. 4:20.) It was the deceptive, Social Gospel of that deadly, suffocating snake, disguised as the lamb with two horns, which God warned us about in Revelation 13:11. Such humanist gospels always teach some form of self-rescue or salvation by works, which exclude or partially exclude the completed atonement of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. May the God of the Bible continually and increasingly manifest His greatest gift of all; His all-powerful Godly love in Scriptural truth, through the lives of all His sincerely born again believers. From this vivid example of universalism and it’s false gospel, let us not think those who seem religious, but reject God’s Truth to embrace their own perceptions of His Word, have the Real Holy Spirit of the Bible! Redemption, salvation, and blessing in Christ pivot only on one thing from our side: full and perfect surrender to Jesus Christ above all else, (Mt. 22:36-40; Jn. 13:34.) This is how serious Jesus takes His Word and commission to the world, (Mt. 28:18-20.) This is because God’s True Word is nothing like our words. It is “Spirit and Life” or Jesus God Himself, Who “became flesh, or a mere man to atone for all our sin, [bondage, and cursedness,]” (Jn. 6:63; 1:1-14; Gal. 3:10-14.) So, doing with God’s Word as we please, we are actually doing with Jesus Himself as we please! It is time that believers repent from their arrogance to turn the Almighty God of the Bible into their “Big Daddy,” and start respecting or fearing Him by searching and obeying His Truth. Paul warned in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-12, “...The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God, AND on those [so-called believers] who do not obey the Gospel [Word] of the Lord Jesus Christ...” So, where does the shallow perception of “love for God and His love for us” come from? Believers were indoctrinated to think they do not have to take responsibility to understand and obey the Word of God by studying the Scriptures carefully, prayerfully, and personally. Thus, the devil, through false church doctrine, separated “love” from obedience to God’s True Word. Believers think they may also shirk their responsibility to preach the truth of God’s Word to all religionists, Christians included, when the opportunity arises, as if Jesus did not buy with His own blood every person who would choose to believe in Him, accept Him, and follow Him as His disciple, (Jn. 3:16-17.) Thus, religionists also separated the Truth of God’s Word from the so-called “love” of God to make Christians believe they are entitled to make of God’s Word what they want; not what is actually written there. But Jesus Is Love, and He Is Truth; He does not merely ‘love’ and speak truth. Separating God from Being Love and Truth Himself was the beginning of every religion and church denomination. The false god of all religion, as known also in Christianity, is not interested in the Scriptural Truth of the Creator God of the universe, and controlling everyone by “giving them what they want,” he deceives and leads the “whole world” astray, (1 Jn. 5:19.) As Jesus’ sincerely born again believers belong to the God Who Is Love and Truth, they have the immense privilege to shine the true Gospel-light of Jesus Christ into the lost and dying world all around them, (Eph. 1:12-14.) This is the true calling that Jesus’ placed on the life of every sincerely born again believer in his or her personal world, (Acts 1:8.) And although Jesus’ believers received diverse gifts from the Holy Spirit, the goal of His gifts is to equip the body of Christ to evangelize the world, so that God may be glorified through every blood-cleansed life, (Eph. 4:12-16.) Yet, in our pursuit of gifts, which we think make us ‘special,’ we neglected the greatest gift of all – the gift of Godly ‘love’ or agape in truth. Most of Jesus’ believers were never taught that everything done without the motive of Godly love in Godly truth is sin. Truth is Love, and Love is Truth. Yet, we were brainwashed to believe that the gift of love pivots on our share of ‘good,’ religious works. We were taught that ‘good,’ smiling Christians are loved and accepted by all, because they always ‘do good’ in the way churches taught them to do. So, Christians are never seen “dissecting” God’s Word to find the truth of what He really said there; confronting sin, calling sinners to repentance, or preaching the Biblical, New Testament Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to everyone the Holy Spirit sends to them – while rejecting ear-soothing church doctrines because that is hatred for people turned into “love.” And of course, those under the spell of “church love,” do not want to suffer persecution by the hands of their unrepentant friends and family by telling them the truth. Yet, Jesus warned, “If you love [your family] more than Me, you are not worthy to be My disciple…” (Mt. 10:37.)
THE DREADFUL DANGER OF CLINGING TO SAFE ZONES Quite humanly, Jesus’ believers have become accustomed to their comfort zones. Reassuring sermons. Safe church benches. Warm fireplaces. Dinner tables laden with food… There is nothing wrong with the abundant blessing of God on their lives, but, safely seated in Christ’s abundance, believers are also in danger of becoming selfish. By clinging to our safe zones, we can grow weary and fainthearted in our attempts to bring the Truth of Jesus’ Word to a dying world. While we proclaim the speedy return of the Lord, we are also in danger to forget the True Words, which Jesus has spoken concerning the perilous times in which we live. “Because lawlessness, [everyone doing as they please,] will abound, the love [for God] of many will grow cold,” Jesus said. “But he who endures to the end [in his love for God] will be saved. And [because of their love for God,] this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the entire world as a witness to all the nations, and [only] then the end will come,” (Mt. 24:12-14.) We so readily deceive ourselves to think that the world is populated with Christian churches; therefore, the whole world has already been evangelized. In reality, the whole religious world was poisoned with false Christian doctrine and pretentious church systems. Hence, those many church towers on the horizons of the world - emblems of idolatrous masonic worship, enshrined in Christian dogma. The Lord Jesus yearns to return for His own, but He is waiting for the day when the whole world will be evangelized by the preaching of His True Gospel — not the false gospels of church Christianity! Sadly, the salt of the earth, (many true believers,) which has to disinfect the spiritual diseases of this world and preserve the truth of the Word “has lost its flavor. It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out,” (Mt. 24:14; Lu. 14:34.) May the God of love and truth set our hearts ablaze with the true fire of His Spirit; with His Godly, punitive love for the perishing world; with His desire to add the millions of suffering souls on earth to the multitudes who are already kneeling before His glorious throne in heaven, (Rev. 7:9.) May the God of Love truly reveal to us “what spirit we are of,” and banish the evil, self-righteous spirits of church legalism and church madness from our hearts and souls; so that we do not call God’s consuming fire down from heaven as Elijah did under the Old Dispensation of the Law. May we rather call down the grace of God upon all those who are lost and enslaved in spiritual and emotional darkness, (Lu. 9:51-56; Rom. 12:1-3.)
THE CALL OF OUR HOLY GOD - SEEK THE LORD YOUR GOD DILIGENTLY AND LIVE IN HOLINESS Sadly, believers lost sight of the fact that Muslims and other religionists are mostly people who earnestly seek after their gods. As a result, one of the gravest criticisms against Christianity is the lukewarm and sinful lives that most Christians,(not true believers,) lead. Candidly, Muslims describe a Christian as someone “who lives in debauchery and sin.” What a terrible, true charge against many of those who were redeemed by the precious wounds and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ! Oblivious to the grace of God in Christ, (not that the grace of God is a license to live in unrepentant sin,) these religionists apparently fail to understand how people, who claim to have a special relationship with the Living God, can |
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