"Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name ...and WHAT IS HIS SON'S NAME, if you know?" Proverbs 30:4 Who is this SON "who has established all the ends of the earth?" On the Dome of The Rock mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is written, "God has no Son." Oh the vileness of Satan, to put such a blasphemous thing on the most holy spot on earth, to declare on that holy mount that God has no Son! This shows only so obviously who the god of Islam is. The blasphemer. The chief liar. "Who is a LIAR but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also." 1st John 2:22-23 So who is the father of Islam? Who is behind that blasphemous declaration on the Temple Mount? Whoever it is ...is a liar. Jesus said of Satan: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, FOR HE IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF IT." John 8:44 What are some of the main teachings of the Muslims' "holy" book, the Koran? One is violence and another is murder, their main teachings are lies and deceit which they admit, calling it "Taqiyya," which is permission to lie to anyone who isn't Muslim. Jesus made it very clear then, that Islam is the religion of Satan. Islam lies, kills and destroys. It is not "politically correct" to make such statements. It is impossible to be politically correct and to walk in truth. What is directed by the world will always oppose the Word of God. One must decide which he will adhere to, because you can't have it both ways. Can you imagine Jesus - when he walked this earth - can you imagine him being "politically correct?" Neither can his followers be politically correct. When one is born again through faith in Jesus Christ, his whole world view is changed. The light goes on and he sees what it was impossible to see before. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is God who came into our world to become the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Truly God, truly human, and truly the Son of God. "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also;" John 14:7 Islam says that it recognizes Jesus. Oh yes, ask any Muslim and they will tell you that. Oh yes, they say, Jesus was a great prophet! Well ...the question then, is this: if Jesus was a great prophet, why do they not believe what the great prophet said? Do great prophets lie? Jesus clearly said that he is the Son of the Father, and that he came to be crucified as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. Jesus also said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 No one, absolutely no one, can come to God, except through Jesus Christ because he is the one sent of God to atone for the sins of man. No one else can do that. And that is the truth. The politically incorrect truth. "Nor is there salvation in any other, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG MEN by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 MORE: Who Is Jesus Christ?
Isaiah 53:1-8 “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Oh Lord, many, so many do not believe… “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground.” And truly it was dry ground. Israel had been 400 years without a prophet. By that time they had turned from God's commands and taught for doctrine the commandments of men. Truly the ground was very, very dry. “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” Most of the pictures we see of you Lord, are soft and pleasing. But you took upon yourself human flesh that was not pleasing …and you were rejected. “He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him; he was despised, and we did not esteem him.” And so it is today, Lord …you are still despised; forbidden in government, banned from schools, your name is blasphemed throughout the land. Lord, it’s the same now. The land is so dry …as it was then. Come soon, Lord Jesus. Come, oh come Emanuel…. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” They didn’t understand, Lord. Messiah was supposed to restore the kingdom to Israel. But you were crucified. They thought God was rejecting Jesus. “But he was wounded FOR OUR transgressions, he was bruised FOR OUR iniquities; the chastisement FOR OUR peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.” You showed us from the very beginning. After Adam and Eve were found in sin, you clothed them with the skin of a lamb, they were literally covered by the lamb. Cain’s offering was rejected, because he brought the works of his hands. Abel’s was received, because he brought the lamb, as you had showed them. We can’t come to God through our good works, we can come only through the Lamb. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one of us, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:4-6 Just as I am without one plea, but that your blood was shed for me. “He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” He was silent because he was doing this willingly …because of his love …for you; for me. “He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people he was stricken.” He paid a debt he did not owe I owed a debt I could not pay… God sent his Son to redeem mankind. But few receive him.
"He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor,
but a man of understanding holds his peace."
Proverbs 11:12
"A man of understanding…"
We all have people we don't like. But what we do with that shows who and what we are. How we behave toward those we don't like says much about our character. The human thing to do is to criticize them and express our disdain for them, and worse - gossip about them. We fancy that we are better than them ...and perhaps we are ...that's not the point. The point is that the believer represents Christ before the world, and we need to keep that in mind ESPECIALLY when we are around those we do not like. Kindness speaks more about us than all the preaching in the world.
vs 13:
"A talebearer reveals secrets,
but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter."
"A faithful spirit…"
Faithful to whom? To the one who has revealed a secret to us? Well yes, we are faithful if we do not share that secret with others. But how much more is our faithfulness revealed when we keep in mind that it is to God that we are being faithful? There is a saying "What would Jesus do?" If we want to follow Jesus Christ, everything we say, everything we do, must be done in the context of this question, "What would Jesus do?"
Many times what Jesus would do is "hold his peace." What do I gain by speaking against the one I don't like? Nothing. Absolutely nothing is gained. All that results is a black mark on my soul. When we are with someone we don't like, the temptation to voice our disapproval can be great. To answer them back after a hurtful remark comes almost automatically. But if we want to be true and faithful followers of Jesus Christ, we hold our peace. We silence our tongue. We keep in mind that Jesus died even for this one whom we dislike. We maintain our behavior as he would, and we choose not to grieve the Holy Spirit within us.
"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.
The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body,
and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell."
James 3:6
In my prayer time one day, I was complaining to the Lord about how offended I was by something someone said, and how intensely I dislike her."
He answered me, "I love her." What a sting to my heart. But I learned from it.
Many times silence is the best option. It takes wisdom and understanding of the Word of God to motivate us to reply – or not reply – as Jesus would. It takes wisdom that doesn't come naturally. It has to be sought after, by spending time daily in the Word of God, and seeking the will of God in our lives.
Oh what damage Satan can bring about simply by tempting us to sin with our words! Maybe we don't commit murder, maybe we don't steal, but to sin with our words is just as sinful. Our words can destroy a person. Let us always be aware whom we represent, that we might not sin against anyone with hateful words or judgments, or criticisms. Let us ever answer the temptation with "What would Jesus do?"
"Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
keeps his soul from troubles."
Proverbs 21:23