The Gospel for Islam

The Holiness of God and the Problem of Sin

If you're going to take responsibility for your sins, my friends, there is only one place you're going to go, directly into the wrath of God. You cannot pay for your sins. That's why I begin with the holiness of God.

We have not seen a holy God presented to us this evening by Mr. Zaatari. We have seen a God who can wink at sin. There is a story in the Hadith, I will briefly explain it to you. Muhammad told us about a man who killed 99 people.

And he went to a priest and he asked how his repentance could be, if God would accept his repentance. When the priest said, God will not accept your repentance, he killed the priest, so now he's killed 100 people.

So he goes to another man, who seemed to be a little bit wiser than the priest, and he said, how can God accept my repentance? He said, if you'll go to a certain city, a certain village, they will tell you how God will accept your repentance.

Well, while he's on his way, the time for his death comes. And so, the angels come to argue over his soul. And Allah decides that if he is closer to the city he was going to, than the one he was coming from, he will go to paradise.

If he's closer to the city he was coming from, he will go to the fires of hell. And Allah actually makes the earth to shrink between the man and the city he was going to. So it's one cubit closer, he's one cubit closer to where he was going, and so he goes to paradise.

That sounds like, well, that's a very merciful story. There's a little bit of a problem. And that is God's law against murder is not fulfilled. This man's sin is not atoned for. God's glory has been sullied, and yet this man somehow goes to paradise.

Upon what basis? How is God's glory demonstrated by such an act of forgiveness? It is not. And that's the difference between us this evening. We have heard it said, I don't want an innocent man taking my sin.

Well, someone needs to take your sin, because you stand before a holy God. The God of the Bible, which Muhammad did not know. He did not know the Bible, he was ignorant of the Bible. He thought he was preaching in consistency with the Bible, but he was not.

He contradicted it over and over and over again. He was not a prophet of God. That proves he was not a prophet of God, because a prophet of God would know what was in the scriptures that already existed at that time and in that place.

And so he contradicted what the Bible said. He didn't know about the holiness of God, and so he has led people astray. That is not an excuse for us today. We can look at the Bible. We know what the Bible said.

We can compare the Quran. We can see the Quran comes later. It claims to be consistent with the Torah and the Injil. It is not, and therefore must be rejected. Rejected. He didn't know about the holiness of God.

The False Analogy of the Judge and Bob

When an illustration was used by Mr. Zathiri, I hope you understood how different it is. Mr. Zathiri has stood before us, and he said, I reject this gospel. I reject this idea of accepting Jesus as my savior.

Well, thankfully, one thing is very clear this evening, is that my Muslim friend does not understand the gospel that he is rejecting. Because what was the illustration he used? You have a man, and he is before a judge, and he is guilty.

And so, in comes Bob, and the judge says, I'm going to place your punishment upon Bob, upon an innocent man you're placing. He says, is that justice? And we can all say, no, that's not justice. And I, hopefully, if you're a Christian here tonight, you are also saying in your mind, and that has nothing to do with Christianity either.

And if you think it is, you have no idea what you're talking about. Because that's not what happens. Instead, you see, the judge has justly condemned the man for his evil deeds. And in comes the judge's son.

And the judge's son comes in voluntarily. The judge's son is a perfect man. He can actually bear the penalty that is due to someone else. He has no penalty due to himself. And he voluntarily comes. In fact, it was the purpose of the father and the son.

That's exactly what would happen. And so, he voluntarily comes. And out of love, bears the penalty of that sin. And, and, this is another thing that Mr. Zothary has missed this evening. He doesn't just leave the man in that condition.

Regeneration, Imputed Righteousness, and the Contrast with Muslim Works

The Spirit of God comes and changes his heart. The whole truth of regeneration has been completely missed this evening. In Mr. Zothary's responses to the biblical presentation. God does not simply transfer my sins to Jesus.

He also imputes Jesus' righteousness to me so I can stand before a holy and just God. But he also changes my heart. How often did we hear this evening, the Muslim must do this. And the Muslim must do that.

And the Muslim must fast. Sammy told us he fasted today. Because it's Ramadan. And we must pray. And we must go on Hajj. And we must do all these things. You start by saying the Shahada. You have to do all these things.

The Muslim does, does, does. And the Christian says, Jesus Christ did perfectly in my place. He says, oh, but you need to take responsibility, my friend. Everything that Sammy this evening has told us he does.

And that a Muslim must do is as filthy rags before a holy God. He said, we Muslims, we are very, very humble. If you think that your fastings and your pilgrimages and your giving of Zakat. And your getting up and doing the Fajr prayer at 420 in the morning during the summer.

Is somehow going to impress a holy God. You haven't met the God of the Bible. Because as soon as you take even the slightest bit of satisfaction in what you have done. You have sullied those things. Those things will not avail before a holy God.

That is not humility. That is the very pride of self-righteousness. That keeps a person from hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My friends, Mr. Zaatari stood before us and said, is that justice? The cross is very important to justice.

The Cross, God's Justice, and Assurance in Christ

God is a just God. God from all eternity determined that he was going to demonstrate the full range of his attributes. He was going to demonstrate his justice and his wrath. And he was going to demonstrate his love and his mercy.

And he did so in Jesus Christ. But the cross for me is not justice. It's not fair. It's called mercy. And when the Spirit of God opens your heart and your mind to understand. Your true standing before a holy God.

You will not cry out for justice. You will cry out for mercy. Justice will be done. Justice will be done. Every single sin will be punished. It will either be punished in the sinner. Who rejects God's gracious invitation to come to him.

And God. It is punished in the perfect substitute. My friend, when you look at the cross of Christ. If you do not see in that cross. The wrath of God against sin. You're only seeing a part of the cross.

When you look at the cross of Christ. I hope you see God's holy wrath against sin. Which is poured out in all its fury. Upon the substitute Jesus Christ. Because only once you see that dark background.

Can you begin to understand. The death of Christ for his people. That is demonstrated there. That is why I quoted to you the words of scripture. From Galatians 2. Crucified. That is the confession of the believer.

I've died. I can no longer live my own lust. My own desires. I've died with him. His death is my death. His barrel is my barrel. His resurrection is my resurrection. I have been crucified with Christ.

There's no longer I who live. But Christ lives in me. And the life which I live. I live by faith in the son of God. And listen to these words. The son of God who loved me. And gave himself for me. Loved and gave during the heiress.

They're referring to a single act. It's the giving of Christ. That demonstrates God's love for us. You ever wonder whether God loves you? God has proven his love for you. God has proven his love for you in a way that could never be questioned.

Has Allah proven his love? The Muslim has no assurance. Because he has no mediator. He has none that can stand in his place. He has to stand before a holy God. And he does not know whether that God is going to be merciful.

The reason the Christian can believe. And know that God is going to be merciful. Is because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. God accepted his work. And raised him to his right hand. And that is our assurance of the gospel.