26. The world.
Muhammad wanted a specific religious experience to come out of all his efforts. But he was willing to be intertwined with worldly connections if need be. After years of struggle with Mecca from his Medina sanctuary, a revelation confirmed that a treaty with Mecca was the thing to do. Thus he became wedded to the very system he had decried all this time. Later he overcame Mecca.
Jesus taught His followers to live at peace with all men, to be sure, but also to come out from the world and be separate. No ties, compared to the yoking of two oxen, were considered healthy to the child of God. The church must operate in the world, but be separated from it as far as ultimate dependence.
We grieve when we see Christian churches sending to the streets men with buckets to collect money for their assembly. God has ordained that the people of God care for their own needs and only reach out to the world to give, not to receive. God cares for His own.
Let it not be said that the church needs the government for its protection, its wealth, its power, its program. That is not who we are. The very windows of Heaven open when God's people are faithful to give to God.
27. Love.
Also mentioned above. Let me clarify.
Muhammad does not seem to have operated out of love, but rather out of a desire for greatness, then the spirit of revenge. There may have been a religious thread running through it all, but the god he promoted also never acted like our loving Heavenly Father.
Of course, he could not, for the whole idea of fatherhood made him angry.
I should not say there is absolutely no love in Islam or in the Koran. Every system, every religion, every organization, somehow manages to run across love at one time or another. The Koran even says, "It may be that God will establish love between you and those with whom ye are at enmity."
This was a revelation to Muhammad and his people. It is the revelation of Scripture. Our God is love, and "he who lives in love lives in God." Love is held up among us as the number one goal of all our virtues. Even greater than faith and hope and all the good works put together is a heart filled, like God's, with love.
Greater love has no one than this, said Jesus, that a man lay down his life for his friends. This is what Jesus did. He is perfect love in human form.
28. Sickness.
We speak it not in pride, but with joy we can announce that Jesus was never sick. He healed sicknesses, even raised the dead. But He never so much as caught a cold, according to the Scriptural record. Though sickness is on many pages of the Biblical text, since Adam's sin, no sickness ever touched the Son of Man.
Muhammad is seen as sick at least once in the narratives, and this time by sorcery. He became very weak and probably scared those around him with his appearance of one about to die. The story is that he was given more "surahs", revelations to add to the Koranic collection, for his healing.
29. The judge.
Often people would come to Muhammad asking that their problems be solved by him. Often he was glad to do so. Every dispute that was settled could only raise his star a little higher in the estimation of his growing following.
Although Moses entered into this behavior in the wilderness with Israel, Jesus never did. "Who made me a judge over you?" Jesus said to a man who wanted the Lord of Heaven to solve His family's inheritance dispute. But He went on to give the man the best help he could receive in this situation, a warning against greed.
Jesus was the Master teacher, and gave His people principles by which with careful thought and meditation on the truth, they could solve their own problems.
Muhammad created a dependence on himself that would spell loyalty down the road.
30. Anger
Muhammad seems to have lived a life of anger, generated in part by a fragmented family life, but fed by a growing rejection of his religion and his very person. Perhaps one of his finest moments of anger - and anger can bring good moments - was his appearance in the Holy Place in Mecca, when he returned to take over the city. Except for certain icons of the life of Jesus, every statue and picture in that place was destroyed, as Muhammad declared there is only one god.
Jesus had a similar moment in the Temple at Jerusalem. Here, the enemy was not all the world's religions. It was the activities of those calling themselves the people of God inside Judaism. People making a profit on the commandments, the rituals, the prescribed sacrifices of Moses.
So Muhammad attempts to rid the world of false religion, Jesus tries to cleanse His own people.
It's an important distinction, I think. The current religious situation has not changed. Islam self-righteously goes from nation to nation proclaiming that Allah and Muhammad need to be accepted. Jesus persists in visiting each heart and each church that will allow Him in, preparing His people for the New World He will soon establish.
For Jesus, a nametag and a series of prayers is not enough.
31. The reward.
"I am your reward," said Muhammad to the Medina Muslims who helped him go back to Mecca in triumph. He said this as consolation to some suddenly very resentful men, who had given their very life blood for his cause, then watched him give away rewards to his old Meccan family. But he was the reward for all men of all time. He, the Prophet, was enough for everyone.
Only One Person can say that He is everyone's reward. It is God Himself, and God Himself said it, to Abraham: "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
The Son was in the Father when these words were spoken. So here we have a choice to make.
Is Muhammad truly the reward for all Islam's labors? If it is true, it is tragically true. And is Jesus our reward, we who know Him personally? If that is true, it is our eternal delight.
32. One true religion
The Koran is at times confusing because of the law of abrogation that Muhammad introduced mid-stream. That law states that Allah is permitted to change certain teachings as time goes by and as necessity demands. It is important to know, in reading the Koran, which teachings were given first and which later, for the book's order has nothing to do with chronology, rather, with the size of each chapter. The largest chapters come first, and gradually dwindle in size until the last surahs are just a few words long.
Muhammad spends a lot of time condemning those who condemn Koran and Islam. The theme of Islam's purity and the corruption of other religions fairly shouts at the reader throughout.
But there are other lines of thought too, like this one: (V,48) "For each We have appointed a law and a path; and if God had wished He could have made you one people... So vie with one another in good works. Unto God ye will all be brought back and he will then inform you of those things wherein ye differed."
So join whatever religion you like, just keep those good works coming. You'll be all right. If that is the message of Muhammad, it is in contradistinction with the message of Jesus, Who clearly proclaimed, (John 14:6)
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father, but by Me."
Jesus leaves no one hanging in suspense here. It's Jesus' Way or the highway to hell. This is not a competition for the niceness award. This is life and death. John said, "He that has the Son has life. He that does not have the Son of God does not have life." Period. Discussion closed.
Muhammad could never say that about himself.
33. Curses.
Muhammad cursed those who came against him. Lings relates the story of such a man, and his subsequent death.
Jesus was about blessing. He cursed a fig tree once, but not men. He came to bring life and blessing, not cursing and death.
34. Who is this Jesus?
Muhammad and Jesus had two different ideas as to Who Jesus is. Throughout Koran, Jesus is called a created being, equal to all the prophets except in the area of His virgin birth. His mother is actually honored more in the Koran than He is. Perhaps this is borrowed in part from Romanism, as so much of Islam seems to be.
Jesus said He was One with the Father, preexistent with Him, in fact. He said that He had the power on earth to forgive sins, a power only God has. He said He and the Father would come personally to those who loved and obeyed Him.
35. End-time events.
Muhammad claims that a Mahdi, an Islamic Caliph-like Messiah, will one day come to earth. He will reign seven years. Antichrist will pick up where he leaves off. Then Jesus will descend to lead us all in an Islamic prayer.
Jesus, and through Jesus' Spirit, John, taught that a world ruler will ascend to the world stage one day, yes. He will be interrupted in his reign by the man of sin, the antichrist. It will look a little like Hitler's takeover of Germany and then his outreach to the world.
Antichrist will bring the world to the brink, and then Jesus will return. Fairly close to the Islamic view, minus the Mahdi and the Islamic prayer.
36. Death and burial.
In 632 A.D., Muhammad died and was buried. He was 63 years old at the time of his death.
In 33 A.D., Jesus died and was buried. He was 33 years old at the time of His death.
37. Resurrection. Appearances. Ascension. Ministry Now.
As we have come to the end of the story, we once more find things with which we cannot offer a comparison to the life of Muhammad.
Jesus rose from the dead. He is not in any of the tombs designated as His final resting place. For 40 days He appeared to witnesses who saw Him and touched Him, and ate with Him, and had deep discussions with Him. He is alive.
He then ascended back to the Father, and from His present location He pours out His Spirit on those who call upon His Name. He forgives their sins, hears their prayers, and gently leads them into the perfection He promised He would give them.
38. Following.
Muhammad. 1.5 Billion souls.
Jesus Christ. 2.1 billion souls.
In both cases there are many divisions, brand names. There are lukewarm and cold and fiery hot. There are ignorant and dead. There are intelligent and alive. Those who know their religion and those who are just a statistic. So who knows which man claims the most loyalty in today's world? Or in all the centuries before, technically all the way back to those who prophesied Christ, long before Abraham?
Jesus said with no apologies or shame that the road that leads to Him is a narrow one, and few there be that find it. Does that mean few compared to all the people who have ever lived? How few?
Militants on both sides, in either sense of that word, make lots of news and give false impressions. Jesus questioned, When the Son of man comes will He even find faith on the earth?
This is one category best left alone. Time and eternity will tell how many hearts have been claimed by each of these men.
39. His will.
More important than the above question of following, is the question of ideal Muhammadan thinking and ideal Christian thinking. We have covered much of this in the above report, and the reader must now ask, What is it really that Muhammad wanted, and what is it that Jesus still wants?
Was it war, or peace?
If peace, political peace or personal peace?
Was it righteousness imposed from without or from within?
Was it a worldwide governmental system?
Was it hate or love?
Was it a new leaf or a new life?
In Christ we have the option of stopping at any time and asking Him what His will is. And he has an uncanny way of letting us know. Unfortunately, Muhammad cannot now be accessed.
40. Conclusion.
The book of Hebrews says it best. Though the writer of that New Testament masterpiece does not compare Jesus to Muhammad, he compares him to beings greater than Muhammad. The Arabian leader would certainly agree that angels are at a higher level than himself.
But Jesus is exalted above the angels. Never did an angel hear, "My son," addressed to him. Jesus did. Never was worship directed by God to an angel. But the angels are to worship the Son. No angel is given an eternal throne, but the Son is. No angel was involved in creation, but the Son was.
If Jesus is greater than angels, and angels, including Gabriel, are greater than Muhammad, the logic is inescapable... Though Islam's revelation makes Jesus just another man, like Muhammad, to whom many "God" things happened, the revelation of the Holy Spirit says that Jesus is God, and thus "better."
Hebrews goes on to say that Jesus' priesthood is better than Aaron's. That His New Covenant is better than the old one called the law. That His sanctuary, His own person, is better than the old Tabernacle or Temple. That His sacrifice is better than the animal sacrifices. He's just better.
And again I want to stress, as I did early on, that Jesus is the Last Prophet. This is the year of the Lord, as even our calendars attest. The great millennial day of the Lord follows soon, but we are now in the days the prophets saw of Jesus coming. In their prophecies, they saw first and second coming at the same time and wrapped it all together as one day.
Example: (Isaiah 9) Unto us a Child is born [first coming]... and the government shall be upon His shoulder [second coming].
Example: (Isaiah 61) The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor [first coming] and the day of vengeance of our God [second coming].
Example: (Micah 5) Out of you (Bethlehem) shall come forth to Me [first coming] the One to be Ruler in Israel [second coming].
Example: (Zechariah 9) Your King is coming to you... lowly and riding on a donkey [first coming]...His dominion shall be from sea to sea [second coming].
If the comings of the Lord are viewed as one big coming, with merely an age of grace in between them, it becomes obvious that Jesus is for all those hundreds of years the only Prophet speaking the Words of God to His people, and even to the world. All other voices that rise during the coming of the Lord that is now happening are mere distractions, and the sheep will not hear them.
Should a concern arise in someone's heart about this or that prophet, the Spirit gave us tests we can use to determine who is and who is not from God. Here are a few, in I John:
1. 2:19 Antichrists leave the fellowship of the church. "If they had been of us they would have continued with us." Islam claims to be a confirmation of the "Book" and its people, but in fact Muhammad led his people away from the church.
2. 2:22, 3:23 Antichrists deny Father and Son. "He is antichrist who denies the father and the Son." "This is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ."
Islam believes in Jesus, but not that He is the Son. They believe in "God", but not that he is a Father. They therefore deny Father and Son.
3. 3:16 Denial of the sacrifice of Jesus. "By this we know love, because he laid down His life for us." Islam denies that it was Jesus on that cross.
Though I wish not to insult or disparage or judge, the truth is that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Muhammad cannot save. His way is the way of worldly conquest. It works for awhile. But it ultimately fails. All the kingdoms of this world have come down, including what looked like Christianity in the Roman Catholic System.
Only Jesus' kingdom will prevail. It will prevail because Jesus will see to it that it does when He returns. For now His people plod on, pulling souls out of the fire here and there, bringing the salvation of God to as many as possible, waiting for Jesus' revealing, and with Him, the revealing of all the Sons of God, who will transform this planet into a totally livable and enjoyable place again.
For, and once more we have no comparison for Muhammad, Jesus is the Eternal One. He lived in eternity past and He lives in eternity present and future. He is one with the Father, just as He said. Today He is speaking to as many as will hear, among Muslims, Jews, those calling themselves Christians but who do not know Him, to come out, be separate, be filled with Him, and wait for His appearing. Can you hear His voice?
