Two more attacks in the name of the so-called 'religion of peace' have been carried out in the past week in predominantly Muslim countries by Islamic State fighters.
Turkey and Indonesia are both in shock from deadly blasts in their capital cities where innocent civilians going about their daily tasks have been murdered.
Although they are targeting Westerners, the aim is also to hurt Islamic countries who they don't regard as true Muslims. So who are the true Muslims: Islamic State fighters or the ordinary Muslims of Turkey and Indonesia?
True Disciples
A similar question was asked about Christians in New Testament times. Who are the true Christians? The Apostle John wrestled with this question when he was living in Ephesus surrounded by many different religions and some Christians defected. His answer was to point to the life and the teaching of Jesus. He says "The man who says, 'I know him', (Jesus) but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4).
People flee the attacks in Istanbul, which killed at least 10. See Photo Credits.
Jesus himself strictly forbade violence. When a Samaritan village did not welcome him his disciples asked "Lord do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village" (Luke 9:54).
If you apply the same test of truth to Muslims, you have to examine the life and teaching of Muhammad.
The whole subject of his treatment of the people of Mecca is controversial in the history of Islam in terms of the reason why Muhammad slaughtered them, but what is undeniable is the teaching recorded in the Qur'an that he used as justification when some of his supporters were reluctant to carry out his orders. He claimed that Allah had revealed a command making fighting a binding duty for all Muslims:
Fighting is prescribed for you, and you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not (Qur'an 2:216)
According to the Apostle John, true Christians are those whose lives point to the life and teaching of Jesus. If you apply the same test of truth to Muslims, you have to examine the life and teaching of Muhammad.
God's Purpose: Salvation
So why has the God of Creation who holds the nations in his hands "like a drop in a bucket" (Isa 40:15) allowed these two atrocities to take place? It is surely because the time has come in world history for God to expose the great deception that has held many nations enslaved in darkness for centuries. From the middle of the last century there have been prophecies of a great Muslim harvest, releasing people from the fear and violence of Islam and it is in Indonesia, the largest Muslim population in the world, that this is happening on a massive scale.
People flee attackers in Jakarta. AP/Press Association.
We reported in Prophecy Today last year that the imams in Indonesia were anxious because some 2 million Muslims a year are converting to Christianity. The Prophecy Today team have visited Indonesia a number of times and seen at first hand the rapid growth of the church there.
We have seen thousands accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour in Jakarta, Surabaya and other cities in Sumatra where a kind of spontaneous outpouring of the Holy Spirit is still bringing whole communities into faith in Jesus.
One church leader, whose fellowship had only been founded six months, asked for advice on the right time to invite a pastor to lead the fellowship. He said they were already up to 500 but they thought they should wait until there were 1,000 in the congregation before appointing a minister.
Struggle Ahead
One church in Surabaya we have seen grow from 200 to more than 25,000. It is this kind of growth that could be seen in many other countries in the near future as the great deception of the so-called 'religion of peace' is exposed and the violence practised by Muhammad - endemic in the history of Islam - is recognised.
Why has God allowed these atrocities to take place? Surely the time has come for him to expose the great deception that has held many nations enslaved in darkness for centuries.
But this will not happen without a struggle in which many innocent people like those in Paris will lose their lives; and many Christians will be martyred - like those in Syria and Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. Islam will not release its hold upon the nations of the Middle East without a struggle and acts of terrorism are also likely to spread across the Western nations including Britain.
The Coming Disillusionment
The key to the future lies with the millions of Muslims spread across Europe and America as they begin to ask serious questions about whether the Islamic State are the true representatives of Muhammad. Once the serious study of the Qur'an and the historic documents of Islam begins, in the same way as the Bible has been subjected to intense academic scrutiny, the true nature of Islam and Allah, its god, will be revealed which will result in multitudes left disillusioned.
The great danger then will be who - or what - will fill the spiritual vacuum. Will the secular humanists win the disillusioned: or will those who seek the truth find Jesus as their Lord and Saviour? Much depends upon the ordinary Christians in the Western nations who are in daily contact with their Muslim neighbours. So many nominal Christians have imbibed the secular humanist values of a greedy corrupt and godless civilisation that they are no longer witnesses to the love and moral purity of Jesus.
If multitudes of Muslims become disillusioned with their faith, who – or what – will fill the spiritual vacuum?
Need for Repentance
Perhaps the greatest need right now in the West is for a wave of repentance to sweep across the nations, beginning with the churches who have failed to stem the tide of corruption that has engulfed whole generations. It may be that only some great catastrophe will open eyes that are blind to the reality of Western civilisation that is surely a stench in the nostrils of the God of Creation. But surely he who so loved the world that he sent Jesus to bring the light of life to humanity will find a way of steering the history of the nations to the point where there is openness to the Truth – the Truth that sets us free.
