Yesterday we started looking at how Christians are supposed to treat strangers (foreigners) in their land. Our focus was on the Old Testament and today I want to focus on the New Testament. Before I do, I want to look at a passage out of the Old Testament.

But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:34)

The Instruction from God’s Word tells us to treat foreigners as if they had been born among us. We should love them as ourselves. We have an issue with a lot of Muslims coming into our land, and because of Islamic terrorism, we are uncomfortable with then living among us.

On this program we deal with the issues of Islam. Again, I need to remind you that our problem is not with the people, it is with the ideology of Islam and its religious and political system. Islam is an enemy of our values and our way of government. If left unchecked, it will seditiously try to destroy our system from within. Some of the Muslims in the West are here to do just that. They are, however, the minority. As a general rule, about 8 out of 10 Muslims here in America, are here to get away from the tyranny of Islam. We must ask why they still want to call themselves Muslims. It is because every Muslim knows that one of the laws of Islam requires the killing of anyone who leaves Islam. No one wants to have that target painted on their back. Many of the Muslims in the West are following a reformed version of Islam that is nothing like the Islam that Muhammad gave the world.

The militant Muslim follows the Islam of Muhammad, the real Islam. They will follow the Qur’an and the Sunna. They will not water down the teachings of Islam and try to explain away the violent, jihadi, passages by saying they don’t mean what they say.

There is a problem with Islam, and we speak out against this at Fortress of Faith. Please do not take this as an attack on Muslims as people. Some people say I am anti-Muslim, that couldn’t be further from the truth. We love Muslims so much that we don’t want to leave them in their error. We boldly take the Gospel to them so they can be rescued from an ideology that will take them to Hell. I don’t blame them for their belief system and the way they think, it is what they have been taught from a child. They don’t know anything different. This is why we must expose them to the truth that is found in God’s holy Word.

Directions to the Saints

In the New Testament we are given clear instructions on how to treat foreigners (strangers).

Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; (3 John 1:5)

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (Hebrews 13:2)

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

When we got saved, we received the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit enables us to do things that, humanly speaking, cannot be done. How does a person love his enemy? How can a natural man bless them that curse him? These are things that come from beyond us.

God expects us to act like we are His children, not children of the world. There should be something different in us that is obvious to others. The children of God do things differently from what the natural man does. The natural man loves his brethren and does good to his own. A child of God will do these things to foreigners and to people who are different from them.

It is interesting that while living under foreign occupation by Rome Jesus said:

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35)

We may say that they don’t deserve it, and it is not fair to expect this of us. They are different, they are weird, they are whatever. Is it fair that God loves you? When we look at our wretched sinful state, and who we really are, we don’t deserve God’s love. Aren’t you glad He loves us anyway?

When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment He replied:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40)

We are to, first of all, love God with all our heart, soul & mind. Secondly, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. If the strangers are now our neighbors, we should love them, even as we love ourselves. Someone called this the “Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

There was a well known preacher whose church gave millions of dollars to missions, whose name escapes me at this time, who said, “The Gospel is only good news if it reaches the lost in time.”

Aren’t you glad the Gospel came to your address in time? I am glad it reached mine. It changed the lives of my whole family. The Gospel can change the lives of Muslims as well.

Muslims are fleeing Islam and coming to the West in Mass Numbers, 2.5 million in 2016. They are doing this because Islam offers them a life of misery. Under Islam, people are without hope and without freedom. As a result, they are coming to us, and this gives us an opportunity to share the Gospel with them.

What if the ones we have contact with are the 2 out of 10 that have come here to do us harm? What if your neighbor is a terrorist?

Remember the Apostle Paul? He was the greatest terrorist to Christians. Listen to what the Bible says about him:

As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. (Acts 8:3)

Saul was a Jewish leader, a member of the Sanhedrin, and he had orders to imprison and kill Christians. His reputation was great, and he was feared by many. God was able to save this terrorist. He even used Paul (Saul) to give us most of our New Testament. This illustrates the power of God to even save terrorists. He can do the same thing today.

When I speak to a Muslim about our faiths, I would rather speak to a fundamentalist because he knows his scriptures. Most of the Muslims in America don’t know much about their own religion. It is shocking how little they know. It is easier to have a debate with a Muslim who knows the doctrines of his religion.

We need to remember, the Gospel can change people. Let’s pray for the strangers (Muslims) that are in our land, they’re coming in mass numbers. We can either gripe about it, or do something productive with the opportunity we have.

God has brought the Muslims to us, and I think that He would have us take the Gospel to them.