God's Search for Your Lost Soul — 1 Timothy 1-2

0:00 Good morning. Good morning. A wonderful thing to be with the Lord and with his people. It's very precious to gather together to the Lord's name. And what a wonderful thing to gather to his blessed name to do this in remembrance of him just like we did this morning.

0:22 This could be the last time we do it here. You don't sound very excited. As if you want to stay around. Well, the only reason we're left around to shine, that the Lord day after day might be reflected in our lives, so people around us will see Him in us and through us and come to know Him as Lord and Savior. Do you know the last person who is chosen to be in the church when he's saved, then the Lord will come down from heaven to receive us to himself.

0:58 What a day that will be, when my Jesus, I shall see. We will be able to tell him from myriads and myriads of angels. You know why? Not only of the brightness of His glory, but also the token of His love, His pierced hands, His pierced side, we will be able to tell Him right away. And immediately we will prostrate before Him and kiss His blessed feet.

1:27 It's because of those wounds of the cross that we have placed in heaven, that we have been chosen, accepted in the beloved. And beloved, when we go to heaven, our eternal theme, He is worthy. We are going to heaven not because of we are worthy, not because of our merits, of anything that we've done, but it's only because of who He is and what He has done. Again, would like to extend my heartfelt thanksgiving to the saints here, to Brother Ray, who introduced me to the saints and allow me the privilege to come here before you and to share what God is doing through us and how God saved me out of Islam and out of atheism and out of the filthiness of sin. Whether I was religious or agnostic or atheist, I was a sinner.

2:17 I was a miserable, wicked, wretched sinner. But it's only the grace of God that could seek and save such a wretch like me. And if anyone today who is not yet saved, today could be the day. And the Bible says, Do not harden your heart. For today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart, the Holy Spirit could say.

2:40 Because you don't guarantee that you're gonna make it home today. Anyone has guarantees that he's gonna make it home after the potluck, the whatever is prepared before us, for us back there, sweet dish, salty dish, are you guaranteed you're going to make it home? Yeah, I thought so. So I pray that you will make sure that you have secured your eternal security. Anyone doesn't have insurance here?

3:09 All of us have some kind of insurance. All of us, even little baby back there. We all have insurance. We all are insured. Are you eternally insured?

3:21 There is no insurance and no assurance only in the Lord Jesus Christ and his precious blood. And by the way, the premiums are already been paid. Tethylistai. Knows? I'm not speaking in tongues here.

3:37 Yes, that's Greek. It is finished. Paid in full. Praise God. And therefore you can be saved today.

3:48 I'm gonna share with you a little bit if Timothy will thank you so much. Just a little bit of what God is doing in us and through us and I pray that this five minute presentation will be encouraged. I'd like to read a portion of scripture with you from first Timothy one. First Timothy chapter one and starting at verse 12. This is the sixth time Paul is sharing his testimony in the New Testament.

4:21 It's recorded seven times for us starting in Acts nine where it actually took place and later on he shared it six times. This is the sixth time here or the fifth time and then this last time is in second Timothy one. But here in first Timothy one verse 12, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me because he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry. Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief and the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.

5:15 Beloved, every time I reflect upon where the Lord Jesus brought me out of and how he saved me, three verses again comes to mind in addition to what I read. John 15 verse 16, The Lord Jesus said to his disciples, You did not choose me, but I have chosen you. And I have set you up that you may go and bear fruit, that your fruit may abide. In Galatians four verse nine, the apostle was writing to the Galatians, he was rebuking them from going back to the old testament and the law and forsaken the grace of God and he's saying, but when you came to know God, but rather, you were known by God. And in first John four ten, here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation of our sins.

6:13 What I can gather from these three verses, beloved, the following, I did not choose him. I did not know him. I did not love him. But rather, he chose me. He knew me and he loved me.

6:27 This is Christianity, We don't search for God. Sheeps only know how to get lost. Only the good shepherd goes after the sheep. And when he goes after us, he finds us. And when he finds us, he brings us back and he saves us.

6:45 Blessed be his name. Human, humans, we are spirits, souls and bodies and we just know how to get lost. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each and every one of us turned to his own, her own way. But blessed be his name, he came from heaven.

7:26 Can it get any more deceptible than this, beloved? It cannot. But I thank God that He made Himself known to me. I did not seek Him, but I thank God for the Holy Spirit who worked in my life, which you're gonna see a little bit of my testimony for the sake of time, just we're gonna go through some highlights, just to see how God searches for my soul. And if you're not saved yet, be assured that today could be one link out of a long chain that I can put under this title, God's Search for Your Lost Soul.

8:02 And I pray that today this link will be captured and you will come to know the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior. And to those of us who have known the Lord, been known the Lord for so many years, I pray that we will be refreshed again to see how the Holy Spirit can go to rebuke and to convict, to bring convictions to the lost souls, even from an early age, to make the statement that we're sinners, we cannot save ourselves and then to lead us to the foot of the cross to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. With this in mind, so we'll go real quickly here. From the darkness of Islam to the light of Christ, I'm gonna skip some of these. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you before you were born, I set you apart.

9:07 These words were told by God to Jeremiah, Jeremiah one:five. Beloved, do you believe that God knows you before you were even born? When you were formed in your mother's womb, God knew you. It's amazing when we think of his knowledge. David in Psalms 139, he could go, This knowledge is above me.

9:29 I cannot attain to it. I cannot understand. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I praise you. They kill babies in the wombs today.

9:39 And now they are trying to legislate if they can kill the baby after he's born. Beloved, they're killing people, they're killing babies. They're give an account for every baby that has been aborted. Fifty million babies were killed in the past fifty years in America. They will give an account and the Lord Jesus will bring them to judgment.

10:10 I was born in Saudi Arabia. I don't look Saudi, I look Muslim. Wherever I go, okay, turn aside, we need to search you. The idea here is, my mom and dad were working, my dad was working in Saudi Arabia so I was born there, though I am Lebanese, my folks were Lebanese. And then, this is it, right there.

10:32 And that's me right there, I was only 40 old. That's my dad, my late dad, my mom, my grandma. And my dad used to take pilgrims to pilgrimage, to Mecca and Saudi Arabia to do the pilgrimage rituals of Islam. Brought back to Lebanon when I was only three years old. Lebanon was a beautiful country.

10:57 We endured fifteen years of war. You're gonna see these beautiful scenes now, you're seeing? In a minute, wait till you see it. Total destruction. Let me say something about Lebanon.

11:08 Sadly, was supposed to be the only Christian country. The president, this is according to an agreement between Britain and France back 1860, Sykes Picot agreement that the president ought to be Maronite, Catholic Maronite. The one in charge of the ministers, the prime minister will be a Sunni, Muslim Sunni and then the parliament, the head of the parliament will be a Sunni Shia because we have diversity, we have Christians and we have Muslims in Lebanon so they have to divide it so they will be in agreement. When I was seven years of age, this is not me but this is just a picture of a boy praying and this is what we wore for prayer. By the way, in Islam, God only understands Arabic and you have to face Mecca, which way is Southwest here?

12:04 So your prayer is only accept... Oh, this way or that way? This way. Oh, this way. Okay.

12:09 Okay. Let's go. Southeast. This is the only way that God will accept your prayer. Does that remind you of something from the Bible?

12:23 Alright? The Jews. Yeah. I'm sorry? Yes.

12:33 In first Kings seven, Solomon, when he was dedicating the temple, Oh God, and when your people sin against you and you allow them to be taken into a different country and from there, from the place of their exile they pray toward this house you hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people. Islam did not bring anything new. They just copy paste Judaism plus idolatry. This is Islam. It's very sad.

12:59 They mixed Judaism and idolatry and put it together. And here they have a religion. So here I am, I'm doing my Islamic prayers. And by the way, we cannot just pray on the ground. Know, you have to put some kind of a rug because ground is unclean.

13:13 You know why? Because Satan dwells under the ground. Again, this is what Muslims believe. So we had to do all these things, all these rituals. I started praying my prayers when I was seven and I came to know the Lord Jesus when I was 22.5.

13:27 About fifteen years I did prayers five times a day, every day, 17 ups and downs. Going up, you know, just praying to Allah, reciting verses and surahs from the Quran. Fifteen years, thousands of prayers: Have I ever met God? Have I ever talked to God as my father? Have I ever had a relationship with God?

13:50 No! In Islam there is nothing called relationship with God. Because God in Islam, he is one God and his oneness is absolute. Absolute. So the idea there is he is one.

14:04 He doesn't have persons in the Godhead like it's revealed in the Bible. He's one and therefore he cannot be in relationship with anyone. And I pray that you will take what I'm sharing today seriously and appreciate the faith that you have. The faith that we have in the Bible, beloved, this is the only word of God. This is the word of God and the only word of God.

14:43 And Elohim right there, it pertains to Trinity. That's in plural. And how we thank God for the Lord Jesus who came to reveal who God is. God is a Father. He's a loving Father.

14:54 He loves you. In Islam we used to pray, we used to do fasting. We fasted a whole month, thirty days in Ramadan. I was eight when I started fasting Ramadan and we had to read the Quran, memorize the Quran and try to do our best. Why?

15:07 Because if you don't do it, God is going to send us to hell. Imagine this kind of a God that you just, okay, don't throw him in hell. He's a furious God, he's always upset, he's always mad at you and you have to just satisfy him. Just exactly the same idea as idols and as the Greek mythology. They used to offer their children and sadly the children of Israel, they were offering their children just like the heathens.

15:35 This is the concept of God, of Islam. He is a hateful God. He's just waiting for you to strike you down. Do you want to have any relationship with such a God? I wouldn't.

15:46 But sadly, here we are. We were there and this is what we had to deal with. So I was reading the Quran at seven. When I was eight years old, I thank God for what took place in Lebanon. Lebanon was occupied, the southern part of it, by Israel.

16:06 The southern part was occupied by Israel because they wanted to protect their northern borders from the Palestinians that they were driven out of their land. And now the Palestinians are fighting back Israel and they're doing all sorts of resistance and attacks. So Israel decided, you know what, We're going to come and take over this portion. They called it the buffer zone. My village happened to happen in that area, to be in that area.

16:31 Though we lived in Beirut, the capital, but once, I mean, when school finishes, so we will spend the summer vacation back in the country. And the country was under the Israeli ruling. But the occupation, I should say. And here we had a TV station called the Middle East TV sponsored by the seven hundred Club Ministries. And they did show good news.

16:57 There was a program called the Good News in Arabic. It's a gospel preaching program and here they are, here's the preacher preaching the gospel. I didn't understand a word, I didn't care for it, I was only eight years old. But I love the Arabic language. And when they start their program, they would start their program with two verses from the Bible.

17:16 I did not know they were from the Bible. But the words in Arabic, they rhyme. I love poetry. Here they are: As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a faraway land. Proverbs 2five 25.

17:35 I memorized that verse. Do I get a gift? I memorized that verse when I was eight years old and I was still a Muslim. The second verse: Is it not yet a very little while that till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field? Lebanon was mentioned in the Bible over 75 times, by the way.

17:58 And the fruitful field be esteemed as a force in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness the humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord. This is on Isaiah 29. And then the deaf shall hear, the blind shall see. How could that be? I had no clue.

18:20 But I memorized those verses when I was just still eight years old. Later on, you know, we would time our watches exactly for an hour for that preacher to get out of here and then we would go play and come back. At 6PM we will be stoned right there in front of that little TV. Why? Cartoons are on.

18:42 Anyone recognize these? Superbook? Flying house? Anyone? Yes?

18:48 Alright, good for you. The rest, your homework, Google it. When I visited CBN in Norfolk, Virginia, they were about to launch the three d Superbook. Just like the same idea as the Pilgrim's Progress. The story of this Superbook or the flying house, two kids as you see with their robot, they fly back in the time and they live the stories of the Bible.

19:13 And to me as a Muslim kid, you know, they were fascinating. I'm reading the Quran, I'm trying to get myself acquainted with the stories of the prophets in the Quran, Adam and Eve, Moses, David and so forth. Here, they came alive. Because these kids when they travel back in the time and they live the stories of the Bible, what I knew from the Quran I'm seeing it in front of my own eyes. Muhammad took some of the stories of the Bible.

19:39 Okay, the skeleton is there. You can tell the story though of course he modified it according to his own liking. But I was able to tell that they were with Adam and Eve when they took of the tree and they ate of it and they fell into sin. So we saw them there. Or were Moses driving the people out of land of bondage of Egypt going through the Red Sea, parting the Red Sea, going in the wilderness, striking the rock, water gushes out.

20:05 And so, wow, it's relevant. So we loved it and we would just watch it. We would wait every year just to go back to southern part of Lebanon just to be able to see it because the broadcast was only in that area. It wasn't in elsewhere. This was eight years of age.

20:24 1982 was a very, very bad year in Lebanon. War started in 1976, ended up around 1990. Like I said, fifteen years. Over one hundred thousand were killed. I've seen my own friends dying in front of my own eyes.

20:37 Missiles, shells, you name it. We've seen it. We've seen all kinds of weapon. When missile will be shot, we will know what kind of it. When an RPJ, you know, yeah, that's whatever he said, that's the one.

20:51 So we would tell exactly what kind. Is it Russian made or American made? Can you believe it? We were eight, nine, 10 years old and we knew all kinds of weapons. That's what war brings.

21:17 This is why today, you know, the Lord is using me a lot in media, because the Lord used the media in my life. And I know how powerful it is. Beloved, on regular basis, God is my witness, the Messenger, the Facebook, the YouTube, the programs, I get people from all over the world, Muslims. Brother Ishmael, we have questions as to the Christian faith. Some of them, they still in Islam, some of them already left Islam.

21:41 Like we said, you know, the rise of the radical groups of Islam, you know, they brought the true identity of Islam before the Muslims and now they have to make a decision whether to stay in Islam or to leave Islam. And praise God, many are leaving Islam. Many are turning to atheism. It's very sad. But you know, we develop programs just to reach them.

21:59 I'm glad you left Islam. I'm with you. I've been there. I left Islam as well because this is not the true and the living God. But you went the extreme and you said there is no God, no I warn you.

22:10 And then we go to preach to them. Now there is a God, there is a loving God and he's not that God that was revealed in the Quran, but he's the one who's revealed in the Bible in the person of his son, the Lord Jesus. 1982, I saw the movie Jesus of Nazareth, the one that was produced in 1978. The way that they showed it on public TV and like I said, Lebanon was considered a Christian country so there was a freedom of religion. So that means they can broadcast Christian material on public TV.

22:43 The way they showed it on TV, just the same idea on Via Dolorosa, The Way of the Cross. It was around Easter time. So they started on Monday and they made their way to Good Friday. So every day they would show a half an hour portion of the movie because it's about a three hour lengthy movie. And we traced it.

23:03 We saw the movie. I was 12, my sister was 10. We had six other brothers and sisters. We're a family of eight brothers and sisters. And my dad was still in Saudi Arabia.

23:15 My mom was in the kitchen working, helping. And Mother's Day is coming up. Is it? It is, it is coming up. And if it's not coming up, we will make one.

23:29 We thank God for all the moms. So my mom was busy in the kitchen, you know, fixing, you know, taking care of eight kids. My dad's still in Saudi Arabia and I was the oldest. I was the first born and I was in control with the remote control. You got it.

23:47 Good Friday, the Lord was on the cross. We were in tears. We were sobbing. Today, you know, you hear the story of the cross, we go and we remember the Lord, we reflect upon his death. A lot of times, sadly, I feel as if it doesn't change anything in us.

24:07 As if it doesn't mean anything to us anymore. I took it real hard. I was 12 and I looked to my sister and I told her, He did everything good. He healed the people because we traced His life in the movie. And I said, He didn't do anything wrong.

24:26 Why are they killing Him? I asked that question why Jesus died. Connor, who one? Which one is Connor? Conor, yes, see?

24:43 I knew it was Conor. Why did the Lord Jesus die? How old are you? Wow, I did not know he was 12. See?

24:53 I was your age Conor and I did not know that Jesus died for my sins. Don't take that for granted. My mom came running from the kitchen. Who died? Who died?

25:11 And both of us, we said, well Jesus died. Look into the TV, she went crazy. Her children are watching a Christian movie, Jesus died. And you know Muslims believe that Jesus never died? So I had to be taken to the witch head because remember I'm the first born, I'm the oldest, right?

25:33 I was trying to lead my brothers and sisters astray but I did not know any of this. This is my first time being introduced to these things Because Satan is so clever and cunning and sinister and he wants to remove the name of the Lord Jesus from every mind. He wants to take away the greatest of his person. He wants to deceive people. And even among the so called Christians, yes he died on the cross, but you know what, you have to do your part.

26:02 It is salvation according to millions of Christians is Christ plus. And the Bible says Christ alone. You cannot add anything to it. You can take anything away from it. He said it is finished and the proof he is risen from the dead.

26:23 Beloved, we follow a risen Saviour. We look to the cross and it's empty. We look to the tomb and it's empty. But by faith we look up and we see him on the throne of God. And this is where we can have a relationship with him.

26:38 We follow a risen, glorified Saviour. He conquered death. He atoned for sin. He satisfied God, glorified God. The wrath of God is satisfied as we sang this morning.

26:52 The hush, the storm of Calvary has been hushed forever. Praise God. The streams of God's judgment were ceased forever. The fiery wrath of God was quenched forever when the Lord Jesus said, It is finished. We can rejoice, beloved.

27:14 We can take it to heart. So, after that mom said, you know these are the infidels. These are the one who made a God out of a man. You see how the misconception that Muslims have, they believe that we made a God out of the Lord Jesus. So he's a man and we made him God.

27:37 A lot of times I found this to be true, sadly, among even the assemblies. We don't know what does it mean that God became a man or incarnation. And I always put it in this format: God who is unlimited was united with the man who is limited. Though the unlimited God did not degrade himself to become limited and the limited man did not upgrade himself to become unlimited, the unlimited remained unlimited and the limited remained limited in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in perfect and eternal union. And it took place right there in Nazareth in the womb of Virgin Mary.

28:31 This is incarnation. God became a man remaining who he is becoming who he was not though remaining who he was. I love that. Let me run it one more time. Okay?

28:52 Becoming what he was not, he became a man. He's not a man, but he becoming what he was not, though remaining who he is, he's God. And the Lord Jesus, you look at him, he's born. Who can be born? A man is born, a human is born, not God.

29:07 God cannot be born. God is there. He's there from eternity to eternity. Who eats? Who drinks?

29:13 Who gets weary? Man. Who dies? Man. But at the same time, this one who is born, he is Emmanuel, God with us.

29:24 The one who was weary, he saved the Samaritan woman, the whole city came and were saved. The one who was asleep by the end of the boat, they woke him up. Lord, don't you care that we perish? He rebuked the wind, and to the sea he said, Hush! And there was a great tranquility.

29:41 Who is this man? But at the same time the one who died rose. Destroy this naos, John two, Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in the third day, in three days. His disciples did not understand what he was talking about, but they did understand when he rose from the dead because he is God. Again in 1982, another bad thing took place.

30:32 Okay, so now they are trying to push Israel away from Lebanon and they are doing a lot of suicidal bombing. So see Beirut right there up in the picture? This is the capital. They said, You know what? We're going to take over Beirut.

30:47 And even the Time, a magazine wrote about it, Israel tightens the news with the help of The United States. At the time, there was a severe attack on the Islamic militias, just like what's happening right now in Syria. Same idea took place, but in that time, beloved, I've seen my own friends dying in front of my own eyes and I didn't get not even a scratch. We carried their bodies and the wounded ones to hospital, to emergency room. I came to face with death face to face so many times and not only me, many of the Lebanese children at the time.

31:29 But that same year as well, something else happened. See the tank there? What's on it? Those people, they're Christians, so called Christians. Throughout the period of three days, they went into a Palestinian camp and they killed 1,500 people.

31:56 Men, women, children, elderly people, young people, slaughter. And when I saw this, that made the news the following day, and I saw what they did and I saw the cross, I hated the cross and I hated Christians. This was in September 1982. In May 1982, I loved the cross because the Lord Jesus was dying on it, right? And I asked the question, Why did he die?

32:22 And I didn't have an answer. So the cross meant something for me. It meant that there's sacrifice. Someone is given his life, but I don't know why. So the cross was something good.

32:33 It left a good feeling in my heart as a 12 year old. But later on, five months later, I hated the cross because what was done in the name of the cross and Christianity, it ruined the meaning of Christ, the meaning of the cross in the minds of the Muslims. Beloved, how sad it is that the Lord Jesus is being insulted by those that his name is called upon. It's very sad. Why am I saying this?

32:59 So we, the ones that we know the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior, the true believers, may the Lord help us not to insult his name. May the Lord help us to exalt his name in holy living. The way we conduct our life, the way we wear our clothes, the way we deal with each other. Oh beloved, people are watching us. At that time, I didn't want anything to do with Christianity.

33:23 I didn't want anything to do with Christians. I hated the Christians and I hated the cross because murder was taking place. There it is, massacre in Lebanon. 1983, you know what this is? This is the US embassy that was bombed.

33:39 Two seventy three people were killed. Many of the Marines were killed right there in the name of religion. Though this is the U. S. Embassy and imagine that this thing will take place.

33:52 So many died in Lebanon and I witnessed this hand in hand. Brother Ray, keep me in check how much time I still have. Thank you. Now I'm 13. My dad is back from Saudi Arabia.

34:13 And I had a lot of issues with my dad. I hardly saw him. He was always away. So when he's back, I was a teenager and I was a rebellious teenager, And he started forcing Islam on me. I was doing my Islamic prayers but now he wants me to become more devoted, more into it.

34:38 So he'd take me now to the mosque and we would do group prayers. This is what happens, you see it on TV now in Europe. They just go in the streets on Friday. They don't care. They want to stop the traffic, people from going to work, just go in the streets.

34:53 What kind of a God is this that He will allow you to ruin people's life? Want to pray? The Lord Jesus said, Go into your closet and pray. Come together in a place of meaning and pray. So this is how we did it.

35:11 I will not forget a discussion that took place with a sheikh. I was going through turmoil. I was 15. I was committing all sorts of sins and trying to pray my prayers and now all of a sudden I start thinking about what I have believed as a Muslim and I had a problem accepting God's forgiveness. In Islam God is all forgiving.

35:41 But the question: Is there a guarantee that your sins are forgiven? No. And I want you to appreciate the forgiveness that we have in Christ, beloved. In Islam, God is all forgiving. Is there a guarantee?

35:54 No. The Bible says that we have through his blood the redemption, even the forgiveness of our sins according to the richness of his grace. Why I know for sure that my sins are forgiven? Why? I want to hear from the young people.

36:18 Why your sins are forgiven? Conor. See? Because he died on the cross. Because he paid for it.

36:27 You see, anyone can tell you your sins are forgiven. Right? But the Lord Jesus gave me something I can hold on to. He paid for the price of my sins. In Islam there is no payment.

36:43 You know in Islam how you pay for your own sins. How? You atone for your sins. Listen to this horrible doctrine. You did bad, right?

36:52 Now go do some good ones. You sinned, you committed adultery, you lusted, you stole, raped, you did these days. Okay, do five prayers. Fast five days. Does that remind you of something?

37:06 I'm sorry? Say five times Hail Mary and, you know, same idea, right? Religion is religion. It doesn't make any difference what title, Islamic, Catholic, Christian religion. By the way, Christianity is not a religion.

38:05 The wages of sin is? Good works. Good intentions. Going to bible study or to Sunday school. No.

38:15 The wages of sin is? Death. Death. Amen. I like that.

38:20 Thank you. What's your name? Dre. Yes. Eternal separation from God.

38:28 That's the wages of sin, beloved. So here I am, I'm praying my prayers and asking God for forgiveness. I was 15 years of age and then all of a sudden it dawns on me, Ishmael, who are you mocking? You have some sin lined up after you finish your prayers. Sadly, many so called church goers, they come to church and they know after the service is over they have some sins lined up.

38:56 I used to do it as a Muslim. And I said, Who are you mocking? My conscience was loud and clear and up and running. Thank God for conscience. Thank God for this little device in you that doesn't make you feel good.

39:11 I like that. So, and at the same time I had a problem. Okay, if God is gonna forgive your sins, I was brought up, if you do something good will be rewarded for it, if you do something bad you will be punished for it. Who's gonna pay for my sins? So I was faced with those two dilemmas.

39:30 My sins that I've committed, who's gonna pay for them? And my sins that I'm going to commit in the future, I have no power to say no to sin. And I quit on God. I quit on God, I went to, but let me go back here. So I had this discussion with a sheikh, Islamic leader.

39:48 He saw me that I was going bad to worse day after day, not feeling good, not up and running like I used to. He said, wanna have a talk with you. So after he dug into me and then I was able to share with him what happened, what's going on, the struggles I'm facing, he said, How old are you? Said, I'm 15. He said, you're too young to think of these things.

40:06 I said, I'm going through them. He said, repent to Allah from all your heart. I said, I am trying to repent. And by the way, repentance in Islam is totally different than the true repentance that is revealed in the Bible, beloved. Feel sorry for your sins, stop doing this and stop doing that, change your own things.

40:21 I couldn't change myself, I needed an outer power to change me. The Bible, beloved, the Gospel of Christ is the dynamite of God. There is nothing that can break my sins away, break me away from my sins only but the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God, the dynamite. And here, he said, You know what, Ishmael? I said, What?

40:43 He said, One day you'll grow up and you'll go to Mecca and do the pilgrimage. And then after you do those things, you know what happened to you? You're going go back like a newborn baby. Yeah, they believe in the second birth, but you earn it. But the second birth, I have nothing to do with it.

41:02 Anyone help his mom come out of his mom's womb? Anyone? We all wanted to stay there. We didn't do anything with our birth, physical, and we didn't do anything with our spiritual birth. Yes, the Holy Spirit convicted us, and yes, I had to be responsive to the work of the Holy Spirit, and I need to come to the place to realize I was a sinner, doomed for hell, eternity without Christ.

41:26 And then when I came and I repented, then the Holy Spirit gave me the gift of faith through which I believed in the Lord Jesus and trust him to be my Lord and Savior. I didn't have that in Islam. So he said, you will go there and your sins will be forgiven. This is what? 1,600,000,000.

41:45 Muslims on the face of the earth, this is what they believe, that if they go this, if they fast Ramadan, if they do their prayers, maybe God will forgive their sins. But today, beloved, I'm standing here to declare that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, alone can wipe away your sins, can wash you clean from all your sins, will cleanse us from all iniquity. When he said this, I said, What if I don't make it? Because the next week another suicidal bomber took place, the bullets passed by my ear all over the place, my friends died in front of me and I came face to face with death. I said, What if I don't make it?

42:24 I quit on God. You know, for a short period, yes, there's no God. All of a sudden, no, there is a God, but maybe if there is a God, guess what? He doesn't care. I know today millions, they have this thought today.

42:44 Yeah, maybe there is a God out there, but you know what? He doesn't care. But let me tell you one thing. Let me tell you how much God cared for you. God cared for you that He was willing and He did to come down from heaven, to take a body like yours without sin and to experience your weakness, your infirmities, your sins on the cross, to bear your sins on the cross and to die for them.

43:09 Is this a caring God or no? He cares. Now when you're betrayed, when it hurts, when you're left alone, you go to him and as our high priest, Lord, it hurts. He tells you, I know. I know exactly how you're feeling.

43:25 I've been there. I've been through this before you that I may be able to aid you and give you grace and lift you up. I'm your God and I suffered like you. Thank God for Jesus, beloved. Thank God for our blessed Lord Jesus.

44:02 Beloved, God will never leave a soul who is sincere and seeking to know the truth. And by the way, he's the one who's working on me since I was eight by the Holy Spirit. I joined the American University of Beirut and there God was waiting for me. Whoever started, Mr. Bliss, he was a missionary down there in 1866 and 1870.

44:27 Yes, this is where they built the university in 1866 and they came out of Philadelphia. You know why? I love The United States. I wasn't born here, but I love The United States. Because I came to know the Lord here in Detroit, and because God used The United States for the past two hundred years now to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

44:53 We need to pray for our country, beloved. We need to claim our country back. We thank God for Mr. Trump. Do you thank God with me for Mr.

45:00 Trump? He's not perfect, is he? I pray for his salvation. I pray that he will know the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior. Thank God for Mr.

45:08 Pence. Mr. Pence, many times he declared his faith in the Lord Jesus. He could say, I am Christian, conservative, and then he goes on. But first he's Christian.

45:18 I like that. We need to pray for our leaders, beloved. We need to pray for peace here in The United States so we can proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus. We need to be proactive and take our part according to one Timothy two:one-two. Living words inscribed on dead stones.

45:37 Can you read it? That they may have life and have it more abundantly. Those words, beloved, those words were engraved right there in Arabic and English. I did not know where these words are from. There was no reference.

45:54 Can anyone tell me where these words are found in the Bible? John ten ten. This is the last portion of John ten ten, because John ten ten, it says, The thief does not come but to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. So, I read those words, they did something in me. Who is he speaking here?

46:17 Who are they he's addressing? And what's this abundant life he's talking about? This was in 1987. 1989, Lebanese civil war left one hundred thousand people dead. 1989, I arrived to The United States, came to Detroit.

46:36 Joined the Oakland Community College, trying to earn my degree in pharmacy, but the Lord had different plans for me. Economy collapsed in Lebanon. Trying to wrap up here. A lot of stories there, but just one quick story there. Each US dollars will equal 6.5 Lebanese pounds.

47:00 This is before the civil war. Overnight in 1990, dad would call me from Lebanon. He said, Dad, I cannot support you anymore. I said, Why? What happened to your wealth that you made in Saudi Arabia?

47:10 He said, Didn't you hear the news? I said, No. He said, Well, the economy collapsed and now each U. S. Dollar equals 3,000 Lebanese pounds.

47:24 So many had heart attacks, many people died, imagine they lost all their wealth. 1991, the first time ever a Bible was given to me. But when I was given the Bible from a coworker, I had to work in different places and this person, he saw that I was trying to be a devout Muslim. When I came to The States, so the report would go back to Lebanon that your son is up and running, he's doing his faith, he's going on in his faith, his Islamic faith. So I start hanging out, going to mosque and doing things.

48:01 By the same time I was living in open debauchery. So he came to me, he gave me a Bible and he said, See what God wants from you. I said, Well, you've given me a Bible, it's a corrupt Bible, I don't need it. Then he gave me a little argument. He said, Don't you believe that the original Bible, God gave it?

48:15 I said, Yes. He said, So you're telling me that it's been corrupted? I said yes. So he said, You're trying to say that he couldn't preserve his word? He had a point there.

48:26 So I grabbed it. But at the same time, I wasn't convinced, so I went to a nearby Islamic bookstore where I lived in Dearborn, and I got a hold of the books of this man. Do you know this man? Anyone? Ahmad Diedad.

48:41 He died now. He just bashing the Bible. He was just making fun of the Bible. He was just proving that the Bible is all wrong. Do you know how he died?

48:53 Cancer. His tongue. God cannot be mocked, beloved. Though many try to reach to him. So I met this person and I told him, So you gave me a Bible, but I came up with 17 contradictions.

49:12 I was reading for the books of this man. I wasn't reading the Bible. He introduced me to a pastor who went to be with the Lord now. And this pastor shared with me all what you can think of. He shared with me the gospel, the deity of Christ, the oneness of God, the Trinity, the crucifixion, the incarnation, you name it.

49:33 He just shared all these things with me. And finally, he couldn't convince me. And then I said, Okay, this was in 1992, and I said, From here we part, you go your way, I go my own way. You're infidel, I will be just praying to Allah to guide you. He said, Before you go, I just want to share with you the shameful biography of Muhammad.

49:54 And he started slowly but surely from my own books sharing how shameful the life of Muhammad was. I was in shock. I was in denial. And when I left his house, I made sure I broke his stained glass door window, the windows of his door. Went home, tried to go to sleep, I couldn't.

50:41 I heard this voice inside of me in Arabic, Iqra al Kitab al Muqaddas. Read the Bible. Read the Bible. Can God speak to peoples in their conscience? Can God appear to them in dreams if He wishes?

50:58 We cannot limit God. God today, beloved, he's using dreams. He's appearing to hundreds and thousands of Muslims and he uses the dream as a spark so they know what they're doing is wrong and they will start searching for the truth and he's bringing them our way and they're confessing the Lord Jesus to be Lord and Savior. So I said, I looked around, who's here? Again, the same voice, read the Bible.

51:24 And then I went on a search for that Bible that was given to me about six, eight months ago and 31,000 verses, 66 books, I want to know the truth, I want to know it now. And you know, I don't recommend you read your Bible this way. Whatever you do, go do it quickly. He went and he killed himself. Judas.

51:45 Don't read your Bible like this. So, but this is how God used it and it turned to be John one:one-three. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God, and word became flesh. Why is this so significant to me?

52:04 Because you ask any Muslims, who is Eisab I Mariam, who is Jesus Christ? He used the word of God. It's in the Quran twice. And here I am, the Holy Spirit is using what I know of Christ and the word was God and became flesh. Immediately I turned to heaven and I said, Are you the Christ?

52:24 I asked, If you're there, who are you? Are you the Christ? Pilgrim's Progress, you just saw the movie. I felt. I was relieved of my sins.

52:38 Peace, unspeakable peace filled my heart. And then as if I was carrying the load of the world like Atlas, and then I was released of it. I went into deep sleep. The second day I found myself getting dressed, getting in my car, and going into this pastor's house. When they saw me they were afraid, they were about to, you know, call the police on me.

52:57 I was so outrageous last night and broke the window, the glass of their door, and I went and I gave them a hug and I kissed them and I apologized. They knew the Lord did something that night. Their prayers were answered. Are we praying for the salvation of souls, beloved? How do we expect to see people saved in our midst and we're not praying for them?

53:18 Or we're not reaching out to them? May the Lord help us to be doing that. So they were singing, My life went before me just like a videotape, you know, like 35 millimeters. And I confessed to God and I told them right there, I'm a sinner, deserved hell. Immediately, the image from the movie, Jesus of Nazareth, that I saw in Beirut ten years ago flashed in front of my own eyes.

53:39 And I saw the Lord Jesus dying there on the cross for me, for me. I knelt down on my own, no one taught me, and I told him, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I've been running away from you for so long. Thank you that you died for me on the cross, save me. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

53:59 All things have passed away, behold, everything becomes new. I'm going to leave you with these three questions. You may say, Brother Ishma, good for you. My question is, how about you? Do you know him as Lord and Savior?

54:15 You may say, yeah, but I have other things. You may say, maybe not now. You may say, maybe someone else. I was born in the assembly. I go to Sunday school.

54:27 I have ministry. Are you saved? You may say, It's not me, someone else. But I'm asking you, if it's not you, then who? You may say, Not now.

54:37 Let me live my life. Life is not guaranteed. Life is so short and it could end any moment. If it's not now, then when? You may say, Brother Shem, maybe some other time.

55:03 Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you saved my soul. You searched for me. And I thank you that you brought me to yourself. I pray for any soul even here today that has not known you as Lord and Savior. Maybe it could be young, but you died for all.

55:23 You love the children. You said, Let the children come to me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And maybe an older gentleman or a lady. I pray that today your cross will be revealed before the eye of every person and to be assured that you were there for that person. And I pray that today there will be union, will be repentance, faith in you, Lord Jesus, and to embrace you as Lord and Savior.

55:55 And as to us, Lord Jesus, the ones who've known you for so many years now, oh, how I pray that you will help us to love you more and to appreciate you more and to share you more with others. Oh, that we may know you and make you known. We ask this in your precious name, Amen.