The Rise Of Islam And The Last Days Series

THE RISE OF ISLAM AND THE LAST DAYS

JOHN 14:1-7

INTRODUCTION:

I HOPE THAT YOU CAN SEE THAT A PICTURE IS UNFOLDING IN THIS SERIES OF MESSAGES. I BELIEVE THAT THE COMING OF THE LORD FOR HIS BRIDE, THE CHURCH, IS IMMINENT. EVENTS PROPHECIED IN SCRIPTURE, SUCH AS IN MATTHEW 24 HAVE COME TO PASS, AND I BELIEVE THAT EVENTS HAPPENING NOW IN OUR WORLD ARE LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR

THINGS WHICH ARE TO HAPPEN AFTER THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. SOME OF THESE MODERN DAY EVENTS ARE:

1. THE FORMATION OF THE NATION OR INDEPENDENT STATE OF ISRAEL.

2. THE PRESENT OIL CRISIS.

3. THE RISE OF THE RELIGION OF ISLAM, WHICH WE WILL LOOK AT TODAY

4. THE RISE OF THE NEW ROMAN EMPIRE AS PROPHECIED IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL.

THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK OF THE COUNTRIES SURROUNDING ISRAEL ATTAKING HER IN WHAT WE WOULD CALL A SNEAK ATTACK. LISTEN TO EZEKIEL 38:14-16.

EXEKIEL 38:14-16:

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

NOW WE’LL BE TALKING MORE ABOUT THIS INVASION IN A FUTURE SERMON, BUT RIGHT NOW SUFFICE IT TO SAY THAT THIS PROPHECY IS REALLY CLOSE TO BEING FULFILLED. IN FACT IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE FULFILLED ONLY A FEW THINGS HAD TO TAKE PLACE.

1. THERE HAD TO BE A NATION OF ISRAEL, WHICH CAME INTO EXISTENCE IN 1948.

2. THERE HAD TO BE A COALITION OF NATIONS TO BE INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK AGAINST ISRAEL WHICH INCLUDES THE GREAT NATION TO THE NORTH, WHICH IS RUSSIA.

IS THIS ALLIANCE CLOSE? YES. THE ALLIANCE IS SPOKEN OF IN EZEKIEL 38:4-5, AND CONSIDER HOW THESE COUNTRIES ARE CONNECTED: 1. BY OIL

2. BY THE ISLAM RELIGION

3. WE WILL SEE THEY ARE PART OF THE NEW ROMAN EMPIRE WHICH WILL ESSENTIALLY BE MUSLIM IN NATURE.

THESE COUNTRIES WILL INVADE ISRAEL DURING A TIME OF PEACE FOR ISRAEL, AND I BELIEVE THAT WHAT WE ARE SEEING IN THE WORLD NOW IS SETTING THE STAGES FOR THIS GREAT BATTLE.

NOW ONE OF THE INGREDIENTS FOR THIS BATTLE THAT I BELIEVE IS BEING ESTABLISHED NOW, IS THE EMERGENCE OF THE ISLAM RELIGION AS A WORLD- WIDE POWER. IN THIS MESSAGE I WANT TO SHARE A BIT OF THE HISTORY OF ISLAM, THE DANGER IT POSES TO THE WORLD, AND WHAT WE CAN DO IN THE FACE OF THIS THREAT.

POINT ONE: THE HISTORY OF ISLAM

MUHAMMAD IBN ABDALLAH WAS BORN TO A POOR FAMILY IN 570 A.D. IN MECCA. HE WAS RAISED BY HIS PATERNAL GRANDFATHER, GREW UP TO BE A CAMEL DRIVER AND THEN A MERCHANT.

AT THE AGE OF 26 HE MARRIED A WEALTHY CARAVAN OWNER NAMED KHADIJA. SHE WAS FORTY YEARS OLD AT THE TIME OF THEIR MARRIAGE AND IN SPITE OF HER AGE, SHE AND MOHAMMAD HAD SIX CHILDREN.

WHILE MEDITATING IN A CAVE ON MOUNT HIRA OUTSIDE OF MECCA ON THE 17TH DAY OF RAMADAN IN 610 A.D. MUHAMMAD WAS VISITED BY AN ANGEL THAT TWO YEARS LATER HE WOULD IDENTIFY AS GABRIEL, WHO WAS SENT FROM ALLAH. THIS REVELATION WAS THE FIRST OF SEVERAL THAT WOULD HAPPEN OVER THE NEXT 23 YEARS, AND WOULD BECOME THE TEXT OF THE “QURAN”.

THE RELIGION THAT WAS FORMED OUT OF THESE RECITATIONS WOULD BE KNOWN AS ISLAM. THE CLAIM OF THE RECITER, MUHAMMAD, WAS THAT IT WAS THE LAST OF THE DIVINE REVELATIONS BEFORE THE END OF THE WORLD. THE RECITER CLAIMED THAT THE RELIGUION WAS A “CORRECTION” OF THE PRIOR DIVINE REVELATIONS TO JEWS AND CHRISTIANS.

HERE ARE SOME ELEMENTS OF THE ISLAM RELIGION THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.

THE QUR’AN IS THE “HOLY” BOOK OF THE RELIGION OF ISLAM. THE QUR’AN ACCORDING TO MUHAMMAD, CAME TO HIM VERSE BY VERSE, LINE BY LINE, CHAPTER BY CHAPTER, AND HE RECITED IT OUT LOUD. THE WORD QUR’AN MEANS “THE RECITATION.”. AS OTHER REVELATIONS WERE RECITED BY MUHAMMAD, HIS COMPANIONS COMMITTED THEM TO MEMORY. THOSE WHO COULD WRITE, WROTE THEM DOWN ON PIECES OF PAPYRUS, FLAT STONES, PALM LEAVES, AND A NUMBER OF OTHER THINGS.

NOW THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS IS THAT MUHAMMAD HAD TO RECITE THE REVELATIONS BECAUSE HE COULD NEITHER READ NOR WRITE. THE REVELATIONS CAME TO MUHAMMAD IN THE ARABIC LANGUAGE, THE LANGUAGE ACCLAIMED BY MUSLIM’S AS THE “LANGUAGE OF GOD” MUSLIMS BELIEVE THAT THE QUR’AN WAS, IN FACT, RECITED TO MUHAMMAD BY THE ANGEL GABRIEL IN ARABIC AS THE VERY WORDS OF ALLAH. THUS, THEY BELIEVE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO TRANSLATE THE QUR’AN IN ITS ‘REALITY’ INTO ANOTHER LANGUAGE.