Sermon Illustrations
Converted Muslim's Testimony: "I Am Forgiven!"
A website called muslimjourneytohope.com has video testimonies of many who have converted from Islam to Christianity. One video clip is of an Iranian-born man who had been a militant Muslim, trained by Hezbollah. While on a trip to Malaysia, he was arrested and jailed—which only fueled his passion for his religion. He taught Islam to the other prisoners. Every ten days he read the Koran cover to cover. Over time, he even developed extraordinary spiritual powers, including the ability to inflict curses on people. But one day this man had a terrifying vision of Satan coming for him. Without really knowing why, he cried out, "Jesus, if you are true, show me yourself!" Before he finished his sentence, everything was back to normal. "But that was not my conversion," the man says in the video. "That was the beginning of my confusion." He kept asking himself, Why would Jesus help a Muslim?
For two weeks he fasted and prayed, asking God, "What is the way you want me to follow?" No answer came. Then, just when he decided to give up and go his own way, the presence of God filled his cell. He was confronted with God's holiness and had a crushing sense of guilt. He was sure he would die. Over and over he cried, "God, forgive me! God, forgive me! God, forgive me!" It was then that he felt a touch on his shoulder, and a voice said, "I forgive you." The man says in the video that in that moment, "I physically felt forgiven." Still, he was concerned. The Koran says no one can know they are forgiven till they die. With that in mind, he asked, "Who is this God who forgives now? Who are you?"
The voice replied, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
The man didn't recognize those words so he said, "What is your name?"
"Jesus Christ," the voice said.
At this point in the video, the man begins weeping. "Eighteen years have passed," he says, "but I still can't forget his love, his mercy. … I am forgiven!"