Cash Godbold shares practical tips on how to share the Bible with Muslims. This is part 2 in a 3 part series.
Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Demonstrating the Power of God in and through You:
Hello. I want to continue to share principles that have helped me and that I hope will help you in your contacts with your Muslim friends and neighbors. Last lesson, we said that the way to manifest the love of God is to be friends with your Muslim neighbors. Say hello, converse with them about life, drink tea, and sprinkle in your conversation notable characters from the Bible and biblical teaching, but no preaching or long Bible studies at first. Hospitality is very important in all your contacts with them.
Remember to bathe this entire adventure in prayer for the lord to work in you and in them. If you have fear or hate, we must bring it to Jesus. The Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, then dropped the cross in a hole. As Jesus was hanging there in pain, he prayed, father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing. Which of the Roman soldiers asked to be forgiven?
Not one. Nobody, but just the same Jesus forgave them. When the g when the Jews were stoning Stephen and the stones were striking, were hitting him, Stephen prayed for God to hold not to hold this act to their account. Which one of the Jews asked to be forgiven? Not one.
Nobody. But just the same, he forgave them. When we pray the Lord’s prayer in church, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, that’s serious business. Usually, we pray, Lord, please forgive me and let me into heaven. And the lord looks down and says, alright.
I will forgive you, but you are to forgive that person next to you in a veil and robe. We need to deal with wrong attitudes in our hearts. Give what’s wrong that wrong attitude to Jesus and keep praying every day that the lord would fill your heart with love for those who are not following Jesus. So, we can manifest God’s love to them in friendship. This is our first principle.
Friendship is the way our neighbor understands the love of God. We must say hello to start a friendship, then it takes patience, hospitality, and wisdom. Be a friend. Men with men, women with women, never cross the gender line. From time to time, sprinkle your conversation with references to Old Testament characters.
Do not seek an argument. Do not blow the cover of your friend. Seek friendship to share the love of God and the message of forgiveness. Remember, these lessons are for you to study as a Christian and put into practice. They are not.
Again, I say these lessons are not to be given to your Muslim friends. The second principle, which I would like to bring out regarding Muslim outreach is that of the reality of the power of God. We proclaim a mighty God. And if we want our Muslim friends to consider our message seriously, God’s power must be visible and clearly so in our lives. First off, that the power of God which we proclaim be manifested, our lives should be characterized by praise and adoration.
If in my life there is little time consecrated to prayer you understand many Muslims believe that Christians do not pray. If in my life there is little time consecrated to prayer, the reading of the scripture, and to praise the God whom I claim is true, I will be viewed as a hypocrite. Many among Muslims are very religious. It is therefore important to them to see that I truly believe in the powerful God whom I proclaim and that I worship him. Let me give you just a little hint.
If when visiting with your Muslim friend, all you talk about is how bad your pastor is or how bad your church is or how bad the people at the church are, he’s gonna think your God isn’t very good. You should be rejoicing and thankful and say so. Amazingly, that’s what the New Testament tells us to do, and that’s what David tells us to do in the Psalms. The second thing is the power of God that we proclaim should manifest itself in our lives by the victory it gives us over sin. Our western world sends missionaries at the same time movies which evidence the most degraded of Moors.
In addition to this, it is from the West that the most vulgar pornography comes. The pornography and its origin both well known in the Muslim world. If I, as a Christian, watch films or TV or videos, which contain adultery, or my friend comes to visit and sees a magazine on my table with a nude woman, the Muslim truly searching for God does not recognize God’s power in me. 3, the power of God that we proclaim should be manifested in answered prayer on the level of our own lives. Gradually, as our Muslim friends see us petition God for needs and he sees that God answers these prayers, an interest in what you have to share by way of witness and proclamation will be born.
God does answer our prayers for financial needs, for health, and interpersonal relationships, so permit your neighbors to share in this. Matthew 413 to 16 says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. We are so taught about if you’re gonna pray, go in your closet. If you’re gonna give alms, don’t blow a trumpet. If you’re gonna fast, put on good clothes.
We don’t realize that this verse says a different approach to that same thing. All those things that I just quoted to you about getting into your closet is so you won’t be seen of men. If you are praying or giving alms or, fasting to be seen of people, then Jesus says, that’s wrong. If you are doing these things before men so that they can glorify your father in heaven, then that’s what Jesus says we should do. That, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.
Number 4. The power of God that we proclaim should be manifested in answered prayer with regard to our Muslim friends. If they can witness a response to prayer made in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, be it for needs financial or family or health, then a certain foundation will have been established on which you can base the sharing of the gospel. They know God has heard and answered regarding their personal problem because you said that God had healed your child when you and your wife prayed. Now this friend of yours has a sick son, so, of course, he’s gonna come to you and ask you to pray for his sick son.
And when that son is well, he knows that because that’s his son. That’s in his house. So he sees the answer to the prayer. In Hebrews chapter 2 verse 34, it says that God will confirm the message with miracles so that people can know that he is in it. God is going to allow your friend to have a need that he wants god to provide for him, and he’s gonna ask you if you would pray.
And when you pray and God answers, then he knows God has heard his personal need and God has answered his personal situation. That gives strong confirmation. That is a miraculous confirming of all the things that you’ve been saying all along. When my wife and I first went to, be friends with Muslim people, 2 men came to visit us, and they knew we were Christians. And we talked a while, and then they said, would you they will ask me if I would pray that they would get a ride to a town about 250 miles away.
They had been looking for a ride for about a week and found nothing. They were asking me to pray, and I was thinking, alright. Tonight, when I eat supper, I’ll pray about this. We were standing outside talking, but my wife who was inside the house heard us. And through the window, she says, why don’t you pray now?
Now I thought that was a wonderful idea, and that didn’t devalue me as a male to take her suggestion. In fact, I thought it was so good. I said, let’s pray. So we prayed that they would get a ride to this town that, they wanted to go to, and we prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, the lord. After some conversation, they left and went, to the center of town.
In the center of town, they saw a friend. That friend said, what are you doing here in town? They said, we’ve been looking for a ride to such and such of town for a week, and we haven’t found one. He said, am I not going there right now? Get your bags and put it in the vehicle.
We are ready to leave. After they came back, one of the men came to my house, and he said to me, I don’t believe in your god, but he sure does answer your prayers quickly. He had taken the first step toward the Lord in knowing that he was alive and that he answered prayer. That was a point of importance in his life. Pray also for the sick when you’re asked.
When someone asks for prayer, that opens the door for God to manifest his power. Say yes when you’re asked to pray. Tell him we close our eyes and pray in the name of Jesus. Find a quiet place, and if he’s willing, most of the time he won’t be because he’s so afraid of other people seeing him with a Christian that he doesn’t want to be with you especially praying. But if he’s willing in a quiet place where nobody can see you, tell him that we close our eyes so that we can think about the Lord as we pray and that we pray in the name of Jesus.
When you start to pray, praise God for how great he is. Pray for your friend’s request. 3rd, thank God that he has heard this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, the lord. That’s all you need to do. Don’t pray on and on and on about the tsunami in the Pacific, about aids in, South Africa, about the earthquake in South America, that’s not what you’re doing.
And he’s very concerned about you praying on and on and on, so make it short and sweet, to the point, and pray for what he’s asked for. When the occasion presents itself, teach from God’s word on the subject of healing, of faith, of obstacles to healing. I’m not asking you to be a healer. I’m asking you to be willing to pray that God would work to bring health to this person who’s sick. A Muslim neighbor may tell you about a family problem.
Pray for it. Note this occasion as a time to share biblical teaching on the resolution of such problems. Also, on the subject of forgiveness, faith, patience, hard attitude, not all of those things at one time, but at least something of teaching at that moment that he asked you to pray for a problem or that you prayed for it. Pray when requested for material needs, for work, money, housing. Conversation should ensue about biblical teaching addressing itself to the person trusting in something other than god or someone other than god.
Give attention also to the will of god and the working of the Lord in our lives, his purpose in our time of need. Talk about his love and how important it is to thank and worship him. Once a young man came to me and asked if I would help him with his taxes, which were CHF3,000. I told him I would pray that the Lord would provide that for him. Mind you, he wasn’t asking for prayer.
He was asking for CHF3,000. But after a while, I think he realized that praying was all I was going to do, and so he said pray. So we prayed for the CHF3,000 that the Lord would provide it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. After some conversation, he left and went on his way. I didn’t see him for a number of weeks.
When I’ve caught up with him, I asked him, I said, what happened about the CHF3,000 that we prayed for? He said, I didn’t tell you? I said, no. You didn’t tell me anything. He said, as soon as I got out your front gate, I met a man in the street who owed me a 1,500 francs for 2 years.
He reached in his pocket and pulled out the money and gave it to me. That in itself is a miracle. How did that man get to be right in front of my gate at that moment that this friend of mine was leaving. But, anyway, how did he have a 1,500 francs in his pocket? An utter miracle.
But my friend went on home to wait for his wife who was visiting her parents. When she got there, he told her about the taxes that they needed to pay and that he had half of it, a 1,500 francs of the 3,000 they had to pay. And she said to him, when I left home today, my father gave me a gift of 1,500 francs. Friends, that is a miracle of immense proportion. 1,500 plus 1,500 comes to 3,000 francs.
Exactly. And it comes from 2 different sources through 2 different people all in the same afternoon after I had prayed. That confirms the message of what you’ve been sharing and teaching during all of the months up to that point. When you pray, do it clearly in the name of the lord Jesus or the lord Jesus Christ or Christ the lord. This puts value in the fact that you do not approach God except by Jesus Christ and that Christ is Lord.
At the time the prayer is answered, the person in question has a marked reason to believe in Jesus and to embrace Him as his own Lord. When God answers the prayer that you prayed for your friend, make a point of getting together with him and telling your friend why God responded to his need when we prayed in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. That’s very important. It astounds me how often God answers prayer, and we don’t explain to people at all about it. And they don’t understand and they don’t know, so be willing to, explain that to them.
It is good, if you can, to tell your friend that you will spend the night praying for his need and that you will fast and pray for him. When he asks you to pray and you tell him you will, tell him you will pray all night or that you won’t eat supper so you can fast and pray for his need. You may ask others to pray with you, but do not say to pray for a Muslim. Just say, pray for a friend who needs a job, for instance, or whatever it is. People talk too much, and the word gets out, and then they will start looking for whoever that is who ask a Christian to pray.
Just say, pray for my friend. To say you fasted during a certain time in order to pray about his problems speaks powerfully and underlines your commitment to him. Sharing his grief in this way reveals that you care and are not just trying to pass off his problem with a little something religious. You demonstrate your love for him and god’s love for him. In addition, you exemplify, exemplify a man of god who seeks after God.
To propose prayer of this nature will open up avenues of ministry in the hearts of your Muslim friends. Do not neglect to prepare your own heart in proposing this fast or this night of prayer. If you promise to fast, you be sure and fast. If you promise to pray all night, you pray all night. Even if you fall asleep, get up and start praying again.
You keep your word to him before the Lord. In most cases, it seems wise to respond to request for things addressed to you as those described above by committing to pray for their problem. However, you will probably be asked to take someone to the hospital or to school or to something like that, and, certainly, you will want to manifest the love of God by helping out in this need. Just as, certainly, you will share the reason you render this aid. Give the cup of cold water in the name of Jesus.
Christians do so much to help people, but they refuse to do what Jesus said and tell the people that it’s because of Jesus. I do not know why we are ashamed to say anything about Jesus or to say he’s the one who changed us? Let me just tell you this. If you do something for them and you don’t tell them why, you know what they think? They think you did it because you’re a rich American, or they think you did it because you’re a good Jew, And Jesus doesn’t get the glory.
Jesus changed me, and the reason I’m willing to help people is because he changed me. Now in the situation of where there’s a marriage or a birth and you’re invited to go, of course, you’d take a gift that’s normal and culture, dictates that you just present that to the person. Some importance should be given to knowing some general Muslim thoughts on this subject. This helps us in our understanding of the reason for which we address ourselves in this manner to our friend’s problems. Peter and John, entering the temple, did not give alms to the sick beggar as he requested.
Jesus says, give to him that asketh of thee. Peter and John didn’t do that. Do you know the other passage right there in the same place, which says, do not give that which is holy to those who are just going to desecrate it. There’s a time to give and there’s a time not to give, and Peter and John did not give to the beggar. Instead, they responded rather to his real need.
In this way, they had occasion to witness deliverance of a man infirm since birth, and they also rendered a powerful testimony. Muslims think that often Christians buy their converts with medicine or gifts and it’s thought that we Christians render Muslims dependent on us at a financial level so that they will convert and to cause them to remain converts. So it is better that you pray when they ask you for something so that they can see the power of God and the answer in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord. They also believe that the charms which they can buy or talismans, are to specifically render us favorably, predisposed to whatever it is they ask us for. Additionally, according to their belief, this charm gives the bearer the benediction of his god permitting him to fool us or deceive us.
For instance, if he wants some cigarettes and he comes and asks you for $5 so he can buy some medicine for his child or milk for his child, and you give him the $5 and he goes and buys cigarettes, he feels he’s beat you. He feels his God is bigger. He feels he’s 1. Whereas if you say to him as Peter and John did, that you are willing to pray that God would provide the $5 for him to buy the milk or the medicine, and God answers that prayer when his baby does need the milk or the medicine, then he knows your god is powerful and alive. But he also knows that if god doesn’t provide it, then he he, God, knew that all he wanted to do with it was to buy cigarettes with it.
So by saying, I’ll pray that God will provide it for you, it separates the true from the false. And that’s very important in this situation. Expect to see the power of God confirm the gospel message. 4, which says, God will confirm the message by supernatural manifestations. Also, God will do it by dreams.
In the Muslim world, more and more often, there are dreams indicating that Jesus is Lord. And these days in which we live, God is working in a renewed way to reach the people of the entire world. During Ramadan, when they fast, they are looking to Allah to give them a dream at the end of the fast so that they will know what is going to happen in the coming year. It’s a way to find out their fortune for the next year. So they are praying that they will have a dream.
Christians began to try to understand this and they thought, you know, if God the father were to send dreams to these people of Jesus Christ, it would be a powerful testimony. So millions and millions of people during Ramadan pray that God would give dreams to Muslims of Jesus Christ. Guess what? God answers those prayers. If a person comes to you and ask you to explain a dream he had, Don’t go running away from him.
Don’t say I don’t know anything about dreams. Listen. Your Bible has plenty about dreams. Let me give you an easy, simple way for you to respond to him. When he says he’s had a dream, ask him to explain the dream to you, tell you what the dream was.
And when he does, then try to explain it from what you know in the bible. Basically, there are 2 types of dreams, and let me explain them to you so that you’ll know what to say and how to say it. There are the dreams in which Jesus in the dream tells the man who is sleeping that he is to get a gospel or a bible or he is to go to certain place and the gospel will be explained to him. Now it is important that you understand God does not explain the gospel in the dream. Nowhere.
He didn’t tell Cornelius what the gospel was. He told Cornelius to send for Peter and that Peter would tell him, And that’s exactly what Jesus what God does today in giving dreams of Jesus. And so when he comes and says, Jesus told me to get a Bible or Jesus told me to get the gospel, do your utmost to get a New Testament or a Bible for your friend and get it as quickly as you can so that he can begin reading it while the dream is fresh in his mind. The second thing that happens in the dream is that Jesus quotes a scripture. For instance, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Now when you hear that, I hope you think of a verse in the Bible that says that, and you can turn in your Bible to John chapter 14 verse 6 and show him that. And when he sees in the word of God, what he’s heard in a dream, he knows that God has spoken to him. And that’s tremendously important. It’s good for you to have some new testaments around, in your vehicle or in your house or in your pocket so that you can share it if the opportunity affords itself with your Muslim friends. It’s important to be prepared for god to do something that is spectacular.
In my class, one day, a young man gave testimony that when he was working in a particular area, he had a friend who was a Muslim. And one night his Muslim friend had a dream in which he saw Jesus, and Jesus told him to stop doing what he was doing and find out what the gospel was. In the morning when he awoke, he thought, you know, I really believe that was Jesus in my dream, but I don’t know what the gospel is. So he went over to his Christian friend. Where else would he go?
He wouldn’t ask a Buddhist about his dream about Jesus. They’re going to come to us who are Christians to ask us about what Christ said in the dream, and my Christian friend gave him a bible or a New Testament, and he read it and read it and read it. When you could lose your life over professing Christ, you wanna make sure you understand what you’re believing. And after reading it for a long time, he confessed that he wanted to follow Jesus Christ. Hallelujah.
That’s wonderful, and that’s what can happen right here in the USA. And we just need to, believe God to do that for us. Also, be willing to, pray for god to restore health to someone in a powerful fashion. A healing indicates that the all powerful God expects, excuse me, that the all powerful God accepts and responds to the prayers made in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that God desires that my Muslim friends, having always been taught that Jesus was not what he claimed to be, God desires these to know that he has sent the Christ to save the world, and there’s no salvation in any other.
Now I wanna talk to you about something that’s a little bit difficult, but, I want you to hear me at least because it is a fact. And though we don’t like the fact, yet we still have to deal with the fact. In some countries, some groups of Muslims deal with spirits to get advantages over other people or to get vengeance, with other people to provide their personal needs. This gives place or opportunity to the spirits. And when the spirits answer this call to come, they take up residence in the life of the person, and they give the person a great deal of pain and, problems.
When this is explained, the Muslim will often admit the truth in it and sometimes ask if Jesus can deliver them from the evil spirit. More powerful than demons, Christ desires to deliver those who ask him. God give gives even today deliverance by the strong name of Jesus in the framework of friendship, and outreach among Muslims. Now when you are asked to do something about helping them, you need to find someone who has dealt with this problem before and who will understand how to help you and your friend. And it’s good to have the whole church pray for you if your pastor thinks that’s a good thing.
When the occasion presents itself, do not neglect to explain clearly that this manifestation, whether it’s a dream or answered prayer or, restored health or whatever, is a manifestation of the power of God, and it is directly linked to the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what Peter and John did at the time God healed the crippled in Acts 3 12 to 26. When the love of God demonstrated in living fashion through friendship that you have with him is joined to the power of God in your life and through answered prayer and is manifested in a personal way, a powerful testimony exists. The Holy Spirit has already been using this type of witness in bringing Muslims to Christ around the world. Let us purpose, therefore, more and more to live this kind of powerful testimony while reaching out to our Muslim friends.
You would be surprised that the 100 of people who are coming to Christ from Islam. And I just encourage you to believe God, to be friends with them, and to live the power of God in your life. Biblical Bridges. The third principle constituting an advantageous avenue for sharing among Muslims is a biblical bridge. A biblical bridge is a person, an event, or a truth from the Bible that finds agreement both in the Christian and Muslim.
Three things are served by this bridge you and your friends share. Firstly, you have a point in common which he accepts and from which you too can continue in accord. This sympathetic exchange in the context of friendship is very important on the spiritual and functional level. Secondly, you’re breaking into a second stage where you both are accepting things that are true, things from God, and that possess a spiritual application. Thirdly, your friend will begin to think of you as a man or woman who has an understanding of the truth, as a man or woman of God.
I want to give you a number of examples from the Bible that you probably can use, that you would find agreement on. And here is a list of examples which we’ve used and certain spiritual truths drawn from them. Probably among these, you’ll find places of harmony affording bridges for you and your friend. Number 1, Adam and Eve. You should remember that Eve is called Hawa by them, and they were created by God.
You’ll find pretty unanimous agreement on that, and the destruction of their spiritual life, and the world in which God created for them by sin. Now the word sin does not carry the same weight with them that it does with us. With them, sin is like a personality imperfection or a faux pas or something. Whereas, you could use the word disobedience because that’s what Adam and Eve did. They disobeyed god.
The prophet Adam sinned, disobeyed, and God cared for them, searched for them, promised them a means of salvation. The second one is Noah, and he might be called Noe by them. The flood, the wickedness of man, the patience of God. God required that man repent. Repentance is a function that they accept.
The divine truth that God ordained that we follow him by faith, even if we’re alone in following him. The justice of God in bringing judgment on the wicked earth, and the prophet offered a sacrifice. You can follow sacrifices all the way through to the sacrifice that God sent for us. And the prophet also disobeyed God and sinned. The numb number 3, Abraham, Ibrahim.
God looks for faith even in a situation which seems impossible. The prophet, Ibrahim, Abraham, sins, disobeys God, the sacrifice offered for the remission of disobedience. But let me caution you when talking about Abraham, Ibrahim, that you do not give the name of the son who was offered as a sacrifice. They disagree with us. We say it was Isaac.
They say it was Ishmael. Just say God asked Abraham to offer his son. That gets away from trying to argue about who it was who, was being offered. Number 4, Moses, Musa. The Ten Commandments, don’t do all 10 of them at one time, but you can, from time to time, say that this is one of the 10 commandments of the prophet, Moses or Musa, the powerful works of God on behalf of Musa.
God guides the children of Abraham. Remember, they are the children of Abraham and provides their needs. The prophet Moses sinned, disobeyed God. He killed a man. And all the texts from the books of Moses, which are called the Torah, are very well known.
The books are well known. And if you quote text from these books, they will feel good about you saying, God spoke through Moses in the Torah. Now to them, all the books are in the Old Testament, except the poetic books, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. All of those are the poetic books, and they are called zabur zaburah. So, realize that everything else in the Old Testament is the Torah.
And then the New Testament is the. So if you say that Moses said something in the Torah or David said something in the Zobora or Jesus said something in the, that makes sense to them. They understand the use of those words. The 5th, one I’d like to propose is David. Now the prophet David, his name would be called Douda in some of their languages.
His sin of adultery is pretty well known. His disobedience of the 10 commandments, and he was confronted on the subject of his disobedience, and he confessed his sin. Psalm 51 is a good, portion in the Zabura to show them that the prophet himself confessed his sins, his repentance, and all text coming from the Psalms, the Zabura, are very, very good, and you can find some things that are very applicable to life there in Psalms, the zabora. Now we can go to number 6, which is Solomon, Solomon. He was blessed by God.
He received a great deal of wisdom, and all the text from Proverbs. If you would memorize from Proverbs text which are practical, maybe 3 or 4, so that you can toss them in from time to time in your conversation, It will help you. But the prophet, Solomon, sinned, he disobeyed God. His marriage to many women led him to idolatry, and idolatry, the worship of idols, is one of the most grievous of sins to Muslims. Number 7 is Christ.
He was sent by God, and that’s a title that they know and that they use for Christ, the sent one. And it’s a very beautiful, title, and it, says a lot. His birth announced by angels. His birth was miraculous. By the power of god, he healed people.
By the power of God, he called men to repentance. He taught the justice of God and the love of God. By God’s power, he called men to receive forgiveness. He taught on the existence of heaven and hell. If you tell the story of Lazarus and the rich man, they will be in agreement with you.
That’s something they believe in. God endowed Christ with power stronger than wind or stronger than water. He taught the necessity of a sacrifice for sin by God and God is sending him back. He’s coming again and that’s another title that they like and understand, the coming one. Christ is, his name in their language would be Alamasia or Issa is the name for Jesus.
But if you’re talking to somebody here in this country, they are going to know who Jesus Christ is, so you don’t have to worry about trying to use some other name. But if they use that name, I want you to be able to recognize it. Gradually, as you progress, meaning have gone through all the ones in the Old Testament and through the things that I’m telling you in the New Testament, then you can branch out and teach more of the following truths. Christ, by the power of God, forgave sins and accompanied his words with incontestable proof. You remember when they brought the man lying, who wasn’t able to walk, and Jesus said, take up thy bed and walk, and the Pharisees said, no.
No. No. Only God can do that. And he said, you then heal him.’ And they said, no, we can’t heal him.’ And he said, I’m going to show you I can heal him and I can forgive his sins.’ And Christ told him to begin with that he forgave his sins and they said, no. Then Christ said, take up your bed and walk.
Christ gave himself as a sacrifice according to the will of God, and you are not allowed to say that he died on the cross. But I think you would be allowed to say he gave himself a sacrifice by the will of God. God answers prayers God answers prayers made in the name of Christ. Christ is coming back in order to take with him to paradise with God those who follow him because they are forgiven. Christ lived by the power of God without sin, And all of the text, the parables, and the teachings of truth from the gospels, the, you can use from time to time if you will be careful with them.
Number 8 is biblical truths. All truths demonstrating that our holy book, the Torah, possess truth that this is a good book which blesses those who follow its teachings. This is very important in your friendship. For example, draw from the Bible for them some teaching on the subject of the family. They just need so badly to have some help about how a family is supposed to operate of practical finances and teach them that biblical prophecies are sure.
They they just have no teaching on the end times how this world is going to come to an end, and they may ask you. And it’s good to be able to point them to the word of God, show them the verse in the Bible, let them read it if they will, so that they can see that the Bible tells us what’s going to happen in the end, or give them a New Testament and let them read Revelation. It’s very, very good for them to see how practical our God is in giving us the Bible, which deals with life full orb. I wanna say a few words about how you treat your Bible. The Bible is a holy book to them, and it’s a holy book to us too, but, they have a lot more respect for the book than we do.
When you’re sitting in a chair, don’t place your Bible on the floor, and, don’t let your children sit on it. Don’t write in it. Don’t underline it. Have a Bible that is totally Bible and nothing else to use with your friends. They feel that if you put the Bible on the floor, then it may be that you have stepped in some dog poo or something, and you have put your Bible down on top of where you’ve stepped, and that would be horrible.
In fact, I don’t think that would be very good either. So we need to be careful. Your Bible should be on top of all the other books in your room if they come to visit you. It should be the highest book in your room. And for them, when they go to the toilet, they use their left hand for all of their procedure.
So they would carry their Bible in their right hand or the holy books in their right hand, and it would be good for you to learn to carry your Bible in your right hand because they just feel bad seeing a Bible in your left hand. God is at work in our generation, and we need to be aware of that and work together with him to that end. When, a film team came to show the Jesus film in a village, the priest of that village would not let the men are. He he told them they had to leave, that they couldn’t stay. They couldn’t give out their literature.
They couldn’t show the film. Nothing. They had to leave, and so they left. That night, he had a horrible night. Later on, he was go would say that was the worst night of his life.
The next morning, he got up and climbed up in the tower to give the call to prayer for the village. And as he looked out over the rising sun, where the sun was going to come up, he could see written in his own language, Jesus, son of Mary. This is one of their favorite, terms for Jesus, and it was written in his own language so he could read it in the sky. It shook him up so bad that he raced downstairs, forgot to give his call to prayer, and began searching for the film team. They weren’t in his village.
They had left and gone to another village. He went to the next village to find them and beg them to return and that they could stay at his house. He would feed them. They could give out their literature. They could show the film.
Anything just come back to his village. God is at work today in our generation, and we need to work together with him. I want to tell you one last story, and I want you to think about what I’ve been telling you today and look at the principles that I told you about. There was a Christian who was a friend with a Muslim man. The Muslim man came over to visit him very often and they drank tea together, and they talked about the Christian man’s life and his walk with God.
And after a long period of time of being friends, the Muslim man’s wife got mad at him, packed up her stuff, put it on her head and went home to mama. The Muslim man went to the priest and asked if he would pray that she would come back, And the priest said, yes, that he would be willing to pray, but that would require some money. So the Muslim gave him some money. After a week, she had not returned. And the priest said, if you want me to pray another week, it’s going to require some tea and sugar.
So the Muslim gave him some tea and sugar. The 2nd week, she didn’t come back. And the priest said, if you want me to pray another week, it’s going to require some grain to feed my family. So the Muslim brought him some grain. At the end of the 3rd week, she had not returned.
And the priest said, if you want me to continue to pray another week, then you’ll need to bring me some cloth or clothing for my family. After 2 months of this, the most Muslim said, finished. And he went to his Christian friend and he said, I know you pray. Will you pray that my wife will return? And the Christian said yes.
The next day, he spent the whole day in prayer that she would return. That night, the Muslim came to visit his Christian friend as he had done many nights before, and the Christian told him, ‘Tomorrow, you may go and get your wife.’ The next morning, bright and early, he was up and ready to go. He started down the road to get his wife, only to find her in the road coming home with her things. Hallelujah. God answered prayer.
The Muslim was so pleased that he went out and got tea and sugar and brought it to the Christian as a thank you gift. But the Christian said, I don’t want your things. I want to be a blessing to you. That’s the reason why I prayed. And the Muslim man misunderstood what the Christian was saying and thought that he hadn’t brought a significant gift, so he went out and got CHF5,000 and some cloth and brought it to the Christian, and the Christian said, no.
No. No. No. No. You don’t understand.
I am bringing you this. I I prayed for you so that you would become a Christian. You don’t need to bring me this to pay me. I wanted to do it for you so you will become a Christian. The Muslim said, okay.
And after a while, he went home. 2 weeks later, he and his wife came back to the Christian and said to them, we are ready to follow Jesus Christ. There you see the whole process that I’ve been talking to you about and you see an example of it working. Now it will take different forms, but I just encourage you to be patient and to use what you’re learning to be friends with Muslims who are around you. May the Lord bless you and enlarge his kingdom for Jesus glory.
Amen.