INTRODUCTION: I have been reading about Islam (Bibliotheca Sacra: October-December 2004, p.407). “Islamic theology…confines all humanity under one religion of works that has no room for the biblical concept of grace. It all depends on human merit. People are to be striving constantly in their own strength to please the Master, or else they will be severely punished…Also Islam’s view of faith amounts to an acknowledgement of certain ideas: there is one God; Muhammad is His apostle; the Qur’an is His word; and angels, the resurrection, and the judgment day are realities. Faith in Islam amounts to a slavelike submission to the power and will of God.”
- HIS PURITY (1 Peter 2:22)
- His Sinlessness
- Unconvinced of sin (John 8:46)
- Who knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21)
- Tempted, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15)
- In Him is no sin (1 John 3:5)
- Separate from sinners (Hebrews 7:26-27)
- His Sincerity
- Guile is trickery, deceit, cunning
- He came to bring salvation (Luke 19:10; Luke 7:31-35)
- HIS PATIENCE (1 Peter 2:23)
- Returning Not in Like Kind
- He received mistreatment (Matthew 26:47-54; Mark 15:25-32)
- He returned forgiveness (Luke 23:32-34)
- Resting Entirely on the Lord (Isaiah 53:10-12)
- HIS PAYMENT (1 Peter 2:24)
- His Sacrifice (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:28)
- His Substitution (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)
- His Stripes (Isaiah 53:5-6)
- HIS PROVISION (1 Peter 2:25)
- Our Rebellion (Isaiah 53:6; Luke 15:3-7)
- Our Return
- To the Shepherd (Psalm 23:1-3)
- To the Bishop (Hebrews 3:1)
The Ninety and Nine
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold,
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold--
Away on the mountains wild and bare,
Away from the tender Shepherd's care,
Away from the tender Shepherd's care.
"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for thee?"
But the Shepherd made answer: "This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me,
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry--
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.
"Lord, whence are those blooddrops all the way
That mark out the mountain's track?"
"They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back."
"Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?"
They're pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They're pierced tonight by many a thorn.
But all through the mountains, thunder-riv'n,
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heav'n,
"Rejoice! I have found My sheep!"
And the angels echoed around the throne,
"Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
"Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own."
Ira D. Sankey
