By: Dr. Labib Mikhail

Is Jesus Christ God’s Last Messenger, or is it Muhammad? This book is written to give the answer to this question. There are great contradictions between the Bible and the Quran. The stories of the Quran are distorted stories of the Bible. In addition, Jesus did not come to modify Judaism, He came to fulfill the prophecies of the Old testament. May the Muslim reader read this book with an open mind and examine the verses mentioned in it and think seriously about his or her eternal destiny. Muslims in the West are trying to introduce Muhammad to the Christians as the Last Messenger of God. It is very important to introduce Jesus Christ in His uniqueness and glory to the Muslims and give every one a chance to choose, either Jesus or Muhammad.

This book is dedicated to my wife, Esther, who has lovingly stood by my side through my years of ministry and my life’s battles, who encouraged me to write, who sacrificed a lot to raise our three precious children, Harvey, Eva, and Sonia, and taught them how to love the Lord and how to excel in their studies and how to serve others.

In the Horizon section of The Washington Post on Wednesday, May 13, 1998, Carolyn Ruff wrote a long article entitled, Exploring Islam. I will quote a few lines from that article. She said:

Islam is an ancient religion with profound historical and theological ties to Judaism and Christianity. All three religions worship the same God, acknowledge large parts of the same Bible and revere Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses. And, as do Christians, Muslims regard Jesus as the messiah. In fact, Islam teaches that it represents the modern mainstream of a primordial, monotheistic religion that began with the earliest humans. Over millennia, the religion took form with the early Jewish prophets, was modified significantly by Jesus and finally shaped by Muhammad, the final prophet, who died in 632 AD.

Moreover, there are great contradictions between the Bible and the Quran. The stories of the Quran are distorted stories of the Bible. In addition, Jesus did not come to modify Judaism, He came to fulfill the prophecies of the Old testament. He said:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17).

The writer of the book of Hebrews says:

God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

(Hebrews 1:1-3 - NKJ).

Islam is not built on any biblical foundation, and in spite of that, the Quran says that Muhammad is the last messenger of God to humanity:

Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things (Surat Al-Ahzab 33:40).

This book is written to give the answer to this question.

This book is also written to be used as a training course for those who work among the Muslims. It mentions Muslims’ questions and objections and gives a satisfactory answer to them.

The Bible exhorts Christians:

But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:14,15).

And may the Muslim reader read this book with an open mind and examine the verses mentioned in it and think seriously about his or her eternal destiny.

Muslims in the West are trying to introduce Muhammad to the Christians as the Last Messenger of God. It is very important to introduce Jesus Christ in His uniqueness and glory to the Muslims and give every one a chance to choose, either Jesus or Muhammad.

My sincere prayer is that the Blessed Lord may use this book for His glory.
Springfield, Virginia Dr. Labib Mikhail
June 1998

Before speaking about Christianity’s solid foundation, I would like first to emphasize that true religion is a personal experience. It is a spiritual relationship between the individual and God. This spiritual experience demands a divine miracle and will never be achieved by mere intellectual knowledge or good deeds. The Bible calls that experience the new birth.

Moreover, I would like to say that this book is written out of pure love for our Muslim friends, and to share with them the truth concerning Jesus Christ, for I believe wholeheartedly that the incarnated Son of God, who was crucified on Calvary’s cross, is the only way to eternal life. He said,

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6 - NKJ).

The issue of the truth concerning Jesus Christ is the most controversial issue between Islam and Christianity. Islam says that Jesus Christ is a mere human being and a mere prophet. Christianity believes that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God, and God’s last messenger to the world, who was incarnated in a human body. This fact is of vital importance, because on that particular belief hangs the eternal destiny of every human being.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).

An authentic source and solid foundation of divine revelation is imperative. This authentic source is the Bible, which was given throughout history by divine inspiration to the prophets and the apostles of God.

The Bible was written in a period of 1500 years by forty different writers but with amazing unity among its sixty-six inspired books. It is the story of the plan of God for man, from his fall and deterioration to his redemption and glorification.

The late Robert Chapman of England wrote the following statement concerning the Bible:

This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, test the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its sacred contents (The Bible Has the Answer, page 31).

There are many internal and external proofs of the inspiration of the Bible.
 

FIRST: THE PROPHETIC PROOF           [TOP]

Another prophecy is the one concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, which was uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, we read:

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation (Luke 19:41-44 - NKJ)

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down"
(Matthew 24:1,2 - NKJ)

The return of the Jewish people to their homeland after 2500 years of dispersion was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah:

Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep Him as a shepherd does His flock" (Jeremiah 31:10).

And again by the prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 11:11:

And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea, and He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcast of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

We should remember that a remnant of the Jewish people came back to Israel in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra, during the reign of King Cyrus of Persia. That first return was designed so that Jesus Christ would be born in Bethlehem of Judea according to Micah 5:2. The second return mentioned in Isaiah 11:11 and in other prophetic utterances serves to pave the way for the second coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ: "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east" (Zechariah 14:4).

This is a solid proof of the divine origin of the Bible, for only God who inspired the Bible by His Spirit knows the end from the beginning.

The prophet Isaiah recorded the words,

I am the LORD: That is my name: and my Glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them (Isaiah 42:8,9).

1. The discovery that the planet earth is a circle.

Hundreds of years before Copernicus and Galileo discovered that the planet earth is a sphere, the prophet Isaiah declared : "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth" (Isaiah40:22), while the Quran, which came almost 1300 years after Isaiah, says that the planet earth is flat.

These are the words of the Quran, "Do they not consider... how the earth has been flattened out?"

(Surat Al-Ghashiyah 88:20 - T.B. Irving - The First American Version).

2. The discovery that the planet earth is hanging on nothing.

Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who went to the moon, was asked, "What is the most magnificent thing you have seen in your way to the moon?" He replied, "The most magnificent thing I have seen in my space journey is that the planet earth is hanging on nothing." What this astronaut declared had been uttered by Job thousands of years before.

Job said:

He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing (Job 26:7).

People know the effect of the sun on them, but they doubt the effect of the moon.

In 1959 psychologists declared that the moon has a great effect on man’s behavior, and there are cases of insanity called "moon’s insanity."

The Bible talked about the effect of the moon thousands of years ago.

The psalmist says:

The LORD is thy Keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night" (Psalm 121:5,6).

When Dalton presented his atomic theory, saying that the atom has neutrons, electrons and protons, and claiming that if we can crush the atom, we can destroy the universe, scientists stood in wonder. Hundreds of years before Dalton’s atomic theory the apostle Peter, who was a fisherman, wrote by the Holy Spirit the following words concerning the crushing of the atoms:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements (atoms) will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (2 Peter 3:10 - NKJ).

That discovery was mentioned thousands of years ago in Ecclesiastes 1:7:

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

This discovery was mentioned in the Book of Leviticus 17:11,

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

That discovery was mentioned in the Book of Genesis thousands of years before it was discovered:

And God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth": and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:11,12).

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth (Genesis 5:3).

In 1902 Charles Bradky and Jesse Lovejoy succeeded in duplicating one of the natural processes of nitrogen compound production by passing air through a powerful electric arc.

Thousands of years before those two scientists’ experiment, the Bible told us of the electric effect of thunderstorms to mix nitrogen with rain to fertilize the desolate wasteland:

Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? (Job 38:25-27 - NIV)

No one can invent the moral code written in the Bible. It is beyond the human ability to be conformed with that code apart from the grace of God.

Who can practically apply the command of God:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:4,5).

Who can apply God’s command:

If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him thou shalt surely help with him (Exodus 23:4,5).

You have heard that it was said "Do not commit adultery." But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27,28)

Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44 - NKJ).

The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:3-6).

Again we read:

Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband (I Corinthians 7:2 - NKJ).

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25 - NKJ)

Likewise you husbands, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered (I Peter 3:7 - NKJ)

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them (Colossians 3:19 - NKJ).

... and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:33 - NKJ).

Now read the following words which describe true love. You will come to the conclusion that these beautiful words could only come from God, whose name is "LOVE."

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love (I Corinthians 13:1-13 - NKJ)

I advise you to read the Bible for yourself and discover the high ethical commands given by God to control human behavior; you will be absolutely convinced that the Bible is the true Word of God.

I mean by that the testimony of the Bible concerning Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and the corroboration of the Old Testament by Jesus Christ. No corroboration is as compelling as that of Jesus Christ. He spoke clearly about the inspiration of the Old Testament. In Matthew 22:41-49, He mentioned the words of David in Psalm 110:1 as pronounced by the Holy Spirit. He confirmed the authenticity of the Book of Daniel in Matthew 24:15. He used the words of Deuteronomy 8:3 when He was tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-4). He said to the Jews:

Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are which testify of Me. Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you - Moses, in whom you trust.

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me (John 5:39,45,46).

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear... And the LORD said to me...I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him (Deuteronomy 18:15,17,18).

(a) The promised prophet must be raised up for the Jews, not for the Arabs.

(b) The promised prophet must be from the midst of Israel.

(c) The promised prophet must be from among their brethren, not a foreigner. God commanded the Jewish people concerning choosing a king, saying,

When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me, you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother (Deuteronomy 17:14,15 - NKJ).

(d) The promised prophet must be like Moses.

The only one who was like Moses is Jesus.

1. Moses was rescued from drowning in his childhood by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:6-10). Jesus was rescued from death in His childhood by going to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15).
2. Moses "was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds" (Acts 7:22). Muhammad was illiterate (Surat Al-Araf 7:157). We read concerning Jesus, "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).
3. Moses was a miracle worker. Muhammad did not perform one miracle. Jesus performed many miracles:

And many other signs [miracles] truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:30,31).

4. Moses was an Israelite, Muhammad was an Arab, Jesus was an Israelite.
5. Jesus testified that Moses wrote about him (John 5:45,46); Peter declared that the prophecy of Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 was concerning Jesus; Stephen declared that Moses’ prophecy was about Jesus (Acts 7:37). I will mention only the words of the apostle Peter:

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you... Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities (Acts 3:22,26).

Now, we come to the prophecies which were recorded by the Old Testament prophets concerning Jesus Christ. These accurate prophecies challenge the mind and lead any sincere truth seeker to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Last Messenger of God, and the Savior of those who believe in Him.

All the details of Jesus’ incarnated life from His birth to His crucifixion, to His ascension, to His second coming, were foretold in a great number of prophecies in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before His birth.

I will mention a few of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus Christ.

1. His virgin birth was foretold in Isaiah 7:14.

Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (Matthew 1:18-23).

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose going forth have been from old, from everlasting.

Moreover, there were two villages named "Bethlehem," one was allotted to the children of Zebulun:

The third lot came out for the children of Zebulun... Included were Kattah, Nahallal.. and Bethlehem (Joshua 19:10,15).

The other Bethlehem is situated six miles south of Jerusalem, and is called Bethlehem of Ephratah and it was on the borders of Judah, thus it was called Bethlehem of Judaea. The prophecy of the prophet Micah was so accurate that it mentioned Bethlehem Ephratah or Judaea.

Matthew recorded the fulfillment of this prophecy:

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. (Matthew 2:1-2).

In Psalm 22:16 King David said,

They pierced my hands and my feet.

The apostle John, who was a witness to the whole drama of the crucifixion, said:

Then (Pilate the governor) delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst (John 19:16-18).

Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah described His sufferings in these graphic words:

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 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. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 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 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. And they made His grave with the wicked but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall proper in His hand. He shall see the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:1-12 - NKJ).

And they made His grave with the wicked - but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth (Isaiah 53:9 -NKJ)

According to Roman law Jesus was to be buried with the wicked as a crucified criminal, but God fulfilled his word and that is what Matthew says:

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed (Matthew 27:57-60 - NKJ).

King David recorded:

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption (Psalm 16:9,10 - NKJ).

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth... Him being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him: "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh will also rest in hope, because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of joy in your presence." Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on His throne, he foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses (Acts 2:22-32 - NKJV).

King David recorded in Psalm 69:18:

Thou hast ascended on high...

And He (Jesus) led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven (Luke 24:50,51).

Al-Imran 3:55:

When Allah said: O Jesus! Lo I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the day of resurrection (Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall - English translation of the Quran).

After His resurrection Jesus met with His disciples and said to them:

These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. And He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day (Luke 24:44-46 - NKJ).

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:1-4).

...and I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn (Zechariah 12:10)

... and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee (Zechariah 14:5)

And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives...(Zechariah 14:4).

The Quranic proof is an external proof of the inspiration of the Bible. And before I quote the Quran to prove the authenticity of both the Old and the New Testament, I would like to state that I am using the Quran because our Muslim friends believe in it. Another fact should be emphasized, the fact that we have ancient copies of the entire Bible which are called the Codices. These Codices go back to the year 350 AD. I will mention some of these codices:

1. The Codex Vaticanus (325-350 AD) is kept at the Vatican Library in Rome.
2. The Codex Sinaiticus (350 AD) is kept in the British Museum.
3. The Codex Alexandrinus (400 AD) is kept in the British Museum.
4. The Codex Ephraemi (400 AD) is kept in the French Library.
5. The Codex Bezac (450 AD) is kept in the Cambridge Library.

The Quran states explicitly that the Old and the New Testaments to which I referred, and which were in the hands of many Jews and Christians in the days of Muhammad, are the inspired Word of God.

In Surat Al-Maidah 5:43,44 we read:

How can they choose you as a judge when they have the Torah, which contains God’s judgment?... We have sent down the Torah containing guidance and light (T.B. Irving - The First American Version of the Quran).

Again in Surat Al-Maidah 5:46,47 we read:

And had Jesus the son of Mary follow in their footsteps in order to confirm what had come before him from the Torah and we gave him the Gospel which contains guidance and light, to confirm what he already had in the Old Testament, and as guidance and lesson for those who do their duty. Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God has sent in it. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are perverse (T.B. Irving - The First American Version of the Quran)

It is clear from these Quranic verses that the Torah and the Gospel were sent down from God.

What is the Gospel?

A Muslim friend said to me, "The Quran mentions only one Gospel which was given to Jesus Christ, but in the New Testament there are four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. How do you explain that?"

First of all let me say that the word "Gospel" is the translation of the Greek word "Evangelion" which means the Good News or the Joyful News.

The Good News which was given to Jesus is that God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to "demonstrate His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

The apostle Paul defines the Gospel in the following words:

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you... that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once (I Corinthians 15:1-6 - NKJ).

The Gospel was given in four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The four books were in reality one gospel in different settings, but their focal point was the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of Matthew is the Gospel of Jesus the King.

The Gospel of Mark is the Gospel of Jesus the Servant.

The Gospel of Luke is the Gospel of Jesus the Perfect Man.

The Gospel of John is the Gospel of Jesus the Son of God.

The four Gospels are in reality one Gospel.

Let us go back to the Quran. In Surat Al-Maidah 6:68 we read:

Say: "People of the book, you will not make any point until you keep up the Torah and the Gospel" (T.B. Irving - The First American Version of the Quran).

There came a time in the life of Muhammad when he doubted the revelations he received. Allah commanded him to ask those who read the Scriptures that were before him, the Torah and the Gospel, that is the whole Bible.

And if thou [Muhammad] art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the Scripture [that was before thee],verily the truth from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of the waverers. And be not thou of those who deny the revelations of Allah, for then wert thou of the losers (Surat Yunus 10:94,95).

The verses I mentioned from the Quran are explicit in confirming the authenticity of the Bible.

Then we read in Surat Al-Hijir 9:15:

Lo! We even We, reveal the reminder [that is the Word of God] and Lo! we verily are its guardian. (Muhammad Pickthall - Translation of the Quran).

Again in Surat Yunus 10:64:

There is no way to alter God’s Word.

Now read the following words:

If God is immutable, unchangeable, and most certainly He is, then this principle must be applied to all His books. He cannot guard one of His books and leave the other to be tampered with. No one would trust a God who guards some of His Word and leaves some to be tampered with. The conclusion is, since the Bible is the Word of God, then it is guarded and kept pure throughout history by the power of God. We have no choice but to accept it as such without any dispute, and receive it as a solid foundation to prove the deity of Jesus Christ and that He is God’s Last Messenger.

We can say with complete confidence that there is not one archaeological discovery which upsets the Bible record.

Some critics of the nineteenth century asserted that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Bible, as writing was unknown in his day. But in 1902 archaeologists discovered the famous stele of Hammurabi, who was known by the name Amraphe, King of Shinar in Genesis 14:1, a black stone monument on which is engraved the code of laws known as the laws of Hammurabi; this engraved stone was in existence about 1750 BC, hundreds of years before Moses.

Sir Charles Marston wrote, "As one goes over the ancient cuneiform writings, some before Abraham, the engraved seals from Babylonia, Assyria and other early civilizations, a remarkable trend of evidence is revealed... We derive the impression that the stories of the Creation, the Fall of man, the Death of Abel, as described in Genesis, were then matters of current knowledge."

Recent excavations on the site of Samaria show the actual ruins of the ivory house of King Ahab mentioned in I Kings 22:39.

In brief, the archaeological discoveries show that all the historical events mentioned in the Bible are true.

Certainly the rocks and antiquities declare the truthfulness of the Bible.

Anywhere the Bible is preached and accepted, by genuine faith, it changes lives. Homes are secured. Children are raised in the fear of God. The crime rate drops.

Many years ago, my wife and I went to England to attend the Keswick Convention. We realized that there were no policemen in the village. When we asked a friend who used to attend that convention to explain this, she replied, "during the convention, people sense the presence of Christ. In fact, they leave their homes unlocked. No burglary was reported to the police for many, many years." To test this statement, my wife and I decided to go to a few homes to see if their doors truly were unlocked. We opened the first door, noting that the cabinets were full of silver plates and precious china. We opened the door to another house to discover the same reality. Then to the third. And we came to the conclusion that because of the effect of the Word of God and the presence of Christ during the Keswick weeks, there were no crimes committed.

The Word of God has the power of regenerating the sinful individual, as the apostle Peter says, "Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever" (I Peter 1:23).

A Muslim friend said to me, "The Jews and the Christians tampered with the Bible, they corrupted it. We Muslims cannot trust your Bible." I answered him with the following words:

1. If the Torah and the Gospel were tampered with by Jews and Christians, then the testimony of the Quran to their authenticity is false. If you say that the Bible was tampered with after Muhammad, that means that the Allah of the Quran did not know that the Bible would be corrupted. Either way, we have to conclude that the Quran is not trustworthy.

2. There were thousands of manuscripts of the Bible in more than one language in the hands of many Jews and Christians. If anyone wanted to corrupt the Bible, he must have access and authority to collect all these manuscripts to corrupt them, and that is next to impossible.

3. The honesty of the Bible declares it never was tampered with. The Bible is absolutely honest.

It shows how Abraham, the great grandfather of Israel, for fear of being killed, told Sarah to lie about her relationship to him. It shows Jacob, the father of Israel, to be a deceiver. It shows how Moses, the great prophet of Israel, in his first attempt to help his own people, killed a man, and then ran for his life to the desert. It records the fall of David, Israel’s most loved king and spiritual leader, when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of a great officer of Israel’s army, Uriah, and conspired to kill him to cover his sin.

The Old Testament speaks about the people of Israel as "rulers of Sodom, people of Gomorah" (Isaiah 1:10). The New Testament speaks about the apostle Peter and how he denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62). It speaks about the sins in the Corinthian Church (I Corinthians 5:1). It teaches that the way to heaven is narrow, and demands honesty in searching, while the road to hell is wide open. A book with this honesty is not corrupted.

4. The integrity of those whom God entrusted to keep His Word pure.

The Quran declares:

It is we who revealed the Torah [to Moses]: therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed to Allah’s will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: For to them was entrusted the protection of Allah’s Book, and they were witnesses thereto: Therefore fear not men, but fear Me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by what Allah hath revealed, they are unbelievers (literally infidels) (Surat Al-Maidah 5:44).

The important question is, "Will God entrust His word to people who would corrupt and alter it?" Obviously not.

Moses said to the children of Israel:

We shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you (Deuteronomy 4:2).

What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: Chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God (Romans 3:1,2).

The New Testament ends with these words:

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book  (Revelation 22:18,19)

This we have seen in the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Jesus, and the prophecies mentioned in the Book of Daniel and other prophetic books.

6. Most of the New Testament writers were martyred.

No one will die for a lie.

7. To claim that the Bible was corrupted, we have to give satisfactory answers to the following questions:

When was the Bible corrupted?
Who corrupted the Bible?
Why should anybody corrupt the Bible?
What portions of the Bible were corrupted?
Where is the uncorrupted Bible to give evidence of the corruption of the Bible we have?

To prove that the dollar somebody holds is forged, you have to have the authentic dollar to compare it with the forged dollar. The question is, "Do you have the true Bible to compare it with the corrupted Bible?" If the answer is "no," then to claim that the Bible was corrupted is totally false.

The truth is that the Bible is the gold standard by which the Quran should be examined.

Allah commanded Muhammad,

If thou wert in doubt as to what we have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book [the Bible] from before thee (Surat Yunus 10:94).

To believe that the Bible is corrupted is to believe a great deception that will hinder you from reading and searching the greatest book in the world - The Holy Bible, the Glorious Word of God. The result will be that you will not know the only way to God’s grace, forgiveness and eternal life, who is Jesus Christ, God’s Last Messenger.

The apostle Peter said concerning Jesus Christ:

Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Since the case of the authenticity of the Bible is settled once and for all, let us now proceed to mention the Biblical proofs that confirm that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God and God’s Last Messenger to mankind.

The beginning of every human being on this planet earth is the day of his birth, but Jesus Christ is different; he is everlasting.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).

...for I have come down from heaven.

And God said unto Moses, I AM that I AM: and He said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you (Exodus 3:14).

In His prayer recorded in the Gospel of John, Chapter 17:5, Jesus said:

And now, Father, glorify Me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

Father... You loved Me before the foundation of the world (NKJV).

The Old Testament mentions Him in the Book of Psalms:

The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool" (Psalm 110:1 - NKJV).

Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who 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).

Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (I Peter 1:18-20).

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness - a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time... (Titus 1:1,2).

He was before Abraham.

He was with the Father in glory before the world was.

He was loved by the Father before the foundation of the world.

The plan of salvation by His precious blood was foreordained before the foundation of the world and before the beginning of time.

Knowing this truth, we should dismiss any idea of a sexual act concerning the case of the Sonship of Jesus Christ, for this unique Sonship is not physical. It is eternal.

The apostle John said:

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14 - NKJ)

He was born of a virgin.

A Christian writer once said:

There are three great barriers between God and the human race. One is the barrier of nature. God alone is God and we are mere humans. It is impossible for us to approach Him. The second is the barrier of sin. God is good and we are sinful. The third is the barrier of death. God is eternal and we are mortals. There is no way any of us could cross or break down any of these barriers. But God, who is almighty, and nothing is impossible with Him, broke the three barriers by the incarnation of His son Jesus Christ.

All humans are sinful.

The Quran declares in explicit words that all humans are by nature weak, that they cannot resist temptations to do evil, they are in a state of loss, their souls are prone to evil, they are wrongdoers and ungrateful.

Here are the verses of the Quran:

Allah would make the burden light for you, for man was created weak (Surat Al-Nisa 4:28).

Lo! man is in a state of loss (Surat Al-Asr 103:2).

... the [human] soul certainly incites evil

(Surat Joseph 12:50 - King Fahd Holy Quran).

... verily, man is given up to injustice and ingratitude

(Surat Ibrahim 14:34 - K.F.Holy Quran).

Truly Man is to his Lord ungrateful

(Surat Al-Adiyat 100:6 - K.F. Holy Quran.)

Man is [self] destroyed: how ungrateful

(Surat Abasa 80:17).

Muhammad was born with a sinful nature.

Ibn Hesham, who wrote Muhammad’s biography, recorded that some of Muhammad’s friends asked him to tell them about himself:

I was nursed at Bani Saad Ibn Bakr. While I was with a brother taking care of the sheep behind our houses, two men in white apparel came to me with a golden basin filled with ice, they took me, opened my chest, took my heart and opened it and took from it a black worm and threw it away. They washed my heart and my chest with that ice until my heart became clean (Ibn Hesham, Biography of Muhammad, Volume 1, page 302,303).

The Bible declares that all humans are sinful by nature:

God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one (Psalm 53:2,3 - NKJ).

There is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10).

Abraham lied because of fear (Genesis 12:13).

Moses disobeyed God (Numbers 20:6-13).

Isaiah cried out, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5).

Muhammad was no exception.

The Quran declares that Muhammad needed forgiveness for his past and future sins.

In Surat Al-Fath 48:1,2, we read:

Lo! We have given thee [O Muhammad] a signal of victory. That Allah may forgive thee of thy sin that which is past and that which is to come (Muhammad M. Pickthall Translation).

Many times Allah commanded Muhammad to ask forgiveness for his sins:

And seek forgiveness of Allah. Lo! Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful (Surat Al-Nisa 4:106).

In contrast to all other prophets Jesus Christ was sinless.

We read in I John 3:5 about Him, "And in Him is no sin."

We read in II Corinthians 5:21, "Who knew no sin."

We read in I Peter 2:21,22, ... "Christ also suffered for us.. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth."

Jesus Christ never attempted any form of repentance or made any confession that He had sinned.

Jesus is the only prophet who never had to ask forgiveness.

He challenged His critics, saying,

Which of you convicts me of sin? (John 8:46).

Perfection is one of the attributes of God. We have seen that Christ is perfect; then He must be God the Son.

Once a young ruler came to Jesus saying, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Jesus said unto him, "Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but God" (Mark 10, 17,18).

Jesus was saying to this young ruler that if he recognized and confessed that Jesus was good, then he should also confess that Jesus is God.

Jesus Christ is absolutely good. Therefore He is absolutely God the Son.

Since Jesus Christ is sinless, then He is truthful, all what He says is truth and nothing but the truth. What did He say about Himself?

He claimed much.

He said:

1. I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst (John 6:35).
2. I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life (John 8:12).
3. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (John 10:9).
4. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11).
5. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live (John 11:15).
6. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).
7. I and my Father are one (John 10:30).

The glory of Jesus Christ was demonstrated at the time of His transfiguration.

This glorious event is recorded in the three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. I will quote only what Matthew recorded:

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only (Matthew 17:1-8).

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (2 Peter 1:16-18).

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

• Jesus has power over the devils:

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand:) and were choked in the sea (Mark 5:1-013).

• Jesus has power over nature:

And the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." And when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow: and they awoke Him, and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said to them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" (Mark 4:35-41). (Read Job 38:8-11.)

• Jesus has power over sickness:

When evening had come, they brought to Him many that were demon-possessed: and He castout the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick (Matthew 8:16).

• Jesus has power over death:

And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." And he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother (Luke 7:12-15).

(Read also John 11:38-44).

• Jesus gave power to His disciples:

And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease (Matthew 10:1).

(Acts 3:1, 9:32-35, 9:36-42, 14:8-10, 16:16-18).

The Quran says about Jesus Christ:

And Allah will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel, and [appoint him] a messenger to the children of Israel, [with this message]. I have come to you with a sign [miracle] from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it. And it becomes a bird by Allah’s leave. And I heal these born blind, and the lepers, and I bring the dead into life by Allah’s leave and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a sign for you if ye did believe (Surat Al-Imran 3:48,49 - King Fahd Holy Quran).

Jesus Christ gives many blessings and gifts to those who believe in Him as the Son of God, Savior, Lord, and God’s Last Messenger.

• He gives rest.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28 - NKJ).

There is no human being who could give rest to all who labor and are heavy laden. God only is the one who gives that kind of rest.

• He gives satisfaction.

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun...Therefore, I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit (Ecclesiastes 2:11,17).

He said to the Samaritan woman:

Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14).

• He gives assurance of salvation from the wrath of God and a promise of eternal life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (John 5:24).

These are the words of the Quran:

Man says: "What! When I am dead, shall I then be raised up alive?" But does not man call to mind that We created him before out of nothing? So, by thy Lord, without doubt, We shall gather them together, and [also] Satans [with them]; then shall We bring them forth on their knees round about Hell; ... Not one of you but will pass over it (literally enter it); this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished (Surat Maryam 19:66-70 - King Fahd Holy Quran).

Many years ago, someone wrote a beautiful article concerning Jesus Christ. Let me quote that article.

"More than nineteen hundred years ago there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life. This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively. Only once did He cross the boundary of the country in which He lived; that was during His exile in childhood.

He possessed neither wealth nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous, and had neither training nor formal education.

In infancy he startled a king; in childhood He puzzled doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon the billows as if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep.

He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service.

He never wrote a book, and yet all the libraries of the country could not hold the books that have been written about Him. He never wrote a song, and yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all the songwriters combined.

He never founded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many students.

He never marshaled an army, nor drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun; and yet no leader ever had more volunteers who have, under His orders, made more rebels stack arms and surrender without a shot fired.

He never practiced psychiatry, and yet He has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near.

Once each week the wheels of commerce cease their turning and multitudes wend their way to worshipping assemblies to pay homage and respect to Him.

The names of the past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone; but the name of this Man abounds more and more. Though time has spread nineteen hundred years between the people of this generation and the scene of His crucifixion, yet He still lives. Herod could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him.

He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils, as the living, personal Christ, our Lord and Savior."

We are either going to be forever with Him, or forever without Him. It was the incomparable Christ who said:

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 (Revelation 3:20).

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).

The Bible speaks about:

• His everlasting existence
• His miraculous incarnation.
• His sinless life.
• His claims.
• His glory and power.
• The gifts He gives.
• His uniqueness.

You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16 - NKJ).