Finding Peace of Mind and Heart
God places no stumblingblocks in the
way of those who choose to respond to his invitation. Millions of people
have found peace of mind and heart in the words of Jesus: "Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with
me."’ But sometimes unanswered questions block the door so we
find difficulty in opening it. Perplexities hinder us. God is willing to
remove all hindrances for the one who seeks truth. Some of these
problems are as follows:
- "The honoured Qur’an
rightly says that there is only one God. Is there anything in the Holy
Bible that teaches people to worship three Gods?"
The Holy Bible teaches only a pure and
holy monotheism. Said Moses: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is
one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might."2 These words
have been the sacred watch-word of the Jews for 3,000 years, repeated
each morning and evening while their Temple stood, and still cherished
today in their synagogue services. Jesus said they are "the first
commandment of all." The New Testament says, "There is no God
but one."3 Nothing in Scripture contradicts this truth. It
is not fair to attribute to it a teaching of polytheism.
The "Trinity" means a unity
of three manifestations forming one God. However, the word
"Trinity" is not found anywhere in the Bible. This may be
surprising to some! No inspired prophet or apostle ever took his pen to
write the word. There is no true Bible basis for speaking of God as
"three." Textual scholars agree that a passage in 1 John 5:7,
8 that speaks of the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit as
"three" is a gloss that is not found in the authentic early
Greek manuscripts. The Bible is in perfect harmony in teaching a
consistent and pure monotheism.
The idea of worshiping or venerating
the Virgin Mary, bowing to images, and the invocation of saints, are all
inventions of the apostasy from the pure teachings of the New Testament.
T5ey are remnants of ancient pagan polytheism that have no place among
true believers of the Bible. You don’t reject genuine money because
some counterfeit money is in existence; good common sense can easily
distinguish between the counterfeits that have crept in through the
great falling away in the early centuries, and that pure truth of
Scripture that shines brightly from its pages.
The one God is infinite in his nature,
his character, and his revelations of himself. He has many sacred names.
The Bible speaks of him as a Father: "Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."4 The
apostle Paul speaks of Him as "one God and Father of all."5
Jesus spoke of him as "my Father, " and as "your
Father."6
The Bible recognizes Jesus as "the
Word" of God, and the honoured Qur’an also speaks of him as the
same.7 But this does not mean that the Word is a second God. The
Word is a revelation of God in language humans can begin to understand.
"The Word became" flesh and lived for a while among us. We
have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came from
the Father, full of grace and truth."8 The idea is that we
see in Jesus a manifestation of God’s glory of character as a son
naturally resembles his illustrious father. The idea is not a
blasphemous implication that God slept with a woman and produced a
natural son!
No infinite human language can
adequately disclose the infinite grandeur of God. However, one simple
illustration has helped some people. Suppose you have never seen,
tasted, or even felt water (H2O). You find a block of ice, and you
wonder what it is. It is mysterious — you cannot eat it or drink it,
or use it. It seems cold. But then someone melts it over a fire, and it
turns to water; now you can drink it, and even bathe in it. It is
comfortable. Now you know what it is! The water has revealed what the
ice is; yet the two are one — H2O.
But the water is subject to gravity and
remains in one place. If you heat it further, it turns to steam, a
vapour or a cloud, and fills the sky. Yet this is not a third substance;
it still is one — H2O.
An African believer thought of God the
Father, Jesus the Word, and the Holy Spirit as compared to a tree: it is
one tree, with the root hidden from sight, and the trunk revealing the
presence of the root, and the branch bearing the fruit.
We could never know or understand Allah
unless he revealed himself in the Word, Jesus. Yet Jesus as the
revelation of Allah’s love introduces us to a third manifestation of
the one God — the Holy Spirit, the One who is omnipresent, called to
"abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world
cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him," yet
he bears "the fruit of the Spirit, … love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith."9
Thus the one who believes the Holy
Bible thinks of God as one, prays to God as one, and worships God as
one. And he praises God for his love in revealing himself to us and
adopting us in Christ as his children, so that we are no longer
"orphans," "aliens … and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world."10
This book began with the inspired story
of the man who sold all his possessions in order to buy the field that
contained the treasure. Let a Muslim who accepted Christ as his Saviour
tell his story. He is Dr. M. Abdul Qayyam Daskawie of Pakistan:
I am the man whose ploughshare turned
up the treasure and the merchant who was looking for the pearl [of
great price]. The good life in Christ, the knowledge of God that he
has brought, and the indestructible hope that he has given me, more
than compensate for any trouble I have suffered.
Christ is the pearl of great price
— the best, the purest and the highest the world has ever known. Had
I my life to live again I would not make it any different in this
respect; and had I a thousand lives to offer, I would offer all to
him. The knowledge of a God who loves and who is "abba,
Father," is beyond belief but true. I know of nothing higher or
better.
To me the marvel of marvels is the
story of a God who dared to be man, yes, man enough to stoop
down to my level to love me to manhood. How wonderful is the heritage
which is ours in Christ! He is "the crystal- clear Christ,"
who lies open to the closest scrutiny. …
Without the glass the colour of wine
you cannot see,
Though with the wine the glass itself
shall hidden be,
So every act of Christ the invisible
God portrays,
To all the world divine effulgence he
displays.11
- "How can the Bible be the
true Word of God if it has been changed by people in past ages?"
The Bible is the best-preserved book in
all world history. Its original autographs like those of the Qur’an
have long since turned to dust; but the accuracy of the Hebrew and Greek
text is abundantly verified by the open scientific discipline known as
"textual criticism."
The Hebrew text of the Old Testament
has been strikingly verified by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
beginning in 1947. These manuscripts, preserved in caves in the dry
atmosphere of the Dead Sea area, were written approximately 100 years
before the time of Christ. Their discovery suddenly shortened by about a
thousand years the interval separating the time when the Old Testament
books were written and the oldest Hebrew manuscripts in existence. This
discovery therefore proves beyond doubt that the Jews in no way altered
or corrupted the Old Testament, for the Dead Sea Scrolls substantiate
the Hebrew text as the Jews have preserved it. The honoured Qur’an
does not deny this fact.
Orientalist W. F. Albright says that
"the Hebrew Bible … has been preserved with an accuracy perhaps
unparalleled in any other Near-Eastern literature."12 This
is because the Hebrew scribes were almost fanatically careful in their
copying of their Scriptures, counting each letter to make certain each
copy made was perfect. They considered it to be a terrible sin to alter
anything, even like the crossing of a t or the dotting of an i.
The Greek text of the New Testament is
confirmed by ancient papyrus manuscripts discovered in the Egyptian
province of Faiyum in the 1930s. They date back to within about a
hundred years of the death of the apostles. Further, a fragment of the
Gospel of John was found that prominent scholars date to the time of the
Emperor Trajan (A.D. 98-117), only a few years after the death of the
apostle John himself! These confirm the accuracy of the New Testament
text.
The trustworthiness of the four Gospels
is also attested by innumerable cultural, linguistic, and historical
details. Superficial contradictions or discrepancies are resolved by
more careful study. Most important of all, the New Testament speaks to
the human heart. Millions testify that reading it builds faith, and
brings repentance and heart submission to God. No clever forgeries,
telling lies, deceiving people with made-up so-called
"gospels," could accomplish such high and holy results.
- "Has the name of Muhammad
been erased from the Holy Bible?"
Copies of the Bible exist today which
have survived from many years before the time of Muhammad, such as the
Vaticanus (first half of 4th century), the Sinaiticus (also 4th
century), and the Alexandrinus (early 5th century), but the
name of Muhammad does not appear anywhere in them. Thousands of ancient
Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Bible are in existence; not one
mentions his name. These ancient copies agree with our present copies of
the Bible.
The name of Muhammad appears in a
forged document which is self-styled "The Gospel of Barnabas,"
written about A.D. 1500. It should not be confused with the
"Epistle of Barnabas," which is an early document that does
not contain the name of Muhammad, but is not a part of the New
Testament, and is also not inspired, as any reader can see.
- "Did Jesus predict the
coming of Muhammad?"
Jesus did not mention the name of any
prophet that would come after him. He said, "I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with
you for ever; even the Spirit of truth. . . . He dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you."13 The Greek word for Comforter is parakletos,
from para meaning alongside of you, as in the word parallel;
and kletos, meaning called. Thus the Parakletos is the One
called to abide with us forever, and to be "in" us. This
cannot refer to any prophet. Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit. (See
pages 123, 154.)
- "Since Allah commanded Moses
to take off his shoes, ‘for the place where you are standing is holy
ground’ (Exodus 3:5; Acts 7:33), why don’t those who accept the
Bible take off their shoes when they enter a church?"
The principle of true worship requires
heart reverence. Allah says, "TO this man will I look, even to him
that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."14
"A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."15
The social manner in which heart
reverence is expressed can vary from age to age, and in different lands
and cultures. The custom in Moses’ day and place was to take off one’s
shoes as a sign of respect and reverence; by the time of the New
Testament, this custom had long died out, for we find no mention of it
in the practice of the apostles.
The principle of reverence should
pervade both private and public worship. Shouting, clapping, beating
drums, and dancing are not acceptable New Testament patterns of public
worship. Paul say, "God is not the author of confusion, but of
peace, as in all churches of the saints." Let all things be done
decently, and in order."16 Jesus said, "The hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is
a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth."17
- "Does the Bible teach the
necessity of performing ablutions before prayer?"
Jesus taught the essential meaning of
true prayer (du’a) as follows:
Thou, when thou grayest, enter into
thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which
is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be
not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things
ye have need of, before ye ask him.18
We do not read that Jesus ever
performed ablutions before he prayed, or that he required them of
others. We know that he dismissed as meaningless the Jews’ washings
and ablutions in connection with eating. He said: "Laying aside the
commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots
and cups: and many other such. … Full well ye reject the commandment
of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."19 He said
nothing about washings before prayer.
The honoured Qur’an expresses the
principle of true religion: "Why not the original path, the path of
Abraham? He was a man of faith and not an idolater."20 All
who believe the Word of Allah recognize Abraham as the pioneer of
righteousness by faith. This is the pure way of truth that Abraham and
all the prophets have been constrained to declare to the world. In
contrast, the theory of righteousness by works, by human merit, is the
very essence of idolatry, the root from which all false religions,
superstitions, and polytheism have sprung.
Iblis would have us believe that man
can be his own saviour; this turns man’s attention to himself and to
his own works of righteousness as the real object of his trust. Hazrat
Abraham’s "original path" is a path of complete trust in
Allah, looking to him alone as Saviour and Redeemer of our souls.
Nothing can overthrow the beautiful, pure "good news"
expressed in these words:
Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. … They which be
of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham, … that the blessing of
Abraham might come of the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.*’
While cleanliness of the body is good,
and is always our duty to maintain as much as possible, we must look to
a divine Saviour to cleanse the heart by his grace. Such faith is the
essence of pure, true worship.
- "What is the principal
difference between Jesus and the prophets?"
All the inspired prophets have been
spokesmen for God, communicating to mankind a knowledge of His will.
"No prophetic message ever came just from the will of man, but men
were under the control of the Holy Spirit as they spoke the message that
came from God."22 Prophets pointed out the right way.
But Jesus is more than a prophet for he
says, "I am the way."23 He himself is the ladder
that the patriarch Jacob (Y’acuob) saw in his dream, connecting earth
and heaven. The relation of Jesus to all the prophets is beautifully
disclosed in the words of his follower, Peter:
The prophets made careful search and
investigation, and they prophesied about this gift which God would
give you. They tried to find out when the time would be and how it
would come. This was the time to which Christ’s Spirit in them was
pointing, in predicting the sufferings that Christ would have to
endure and the glory that would follow. God revealed to these prophets
that their work was not for their own benefit., but for yours, as they
spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers
who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from
heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to
understand.24
Words like those stir the depths of the
human heart! How hungry we are to understand more! What must be our
response? The apostle continues:
So then, have your minds ready for
action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which
will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed [at his second
coming]. …
You know what was paid to set you
free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors.
It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold; it
was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect
or flaw. … Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death
and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.25
Will you choose now to fix your faith
and hope on Him?
The
Daily, Practical Life of Faith |
