Can the gospel really dissolve deep-seated prejudices that have been hardened by centuries of hatred and strife? The experience of Yishael Allon of West Valley City, Utah, gives the answer. Yishael is Jewish. About 17 years ago, he met his cousin’s wife Sandy, who was dying of leukemia. Peace filled her heart and a love radiated from her life that gave her a “special glow.” “She was the first real Christian I had ever met,” writes Yishael. “She was different. I would question her, and all she’d talk about was Jesus.” In 1980, Yishael heard the gospel on the radio and received a Bible. As he read Isaiah 53, the Holy Spirit convinced him that the prophet was speaking about Jesus – the same Jesus that Sandy knew. Yishael recalls, “I believed in the Lord Jesus and became a ‘completed Jew.’ “Now here’s the answer to the question of prejudice. Yishael says, “A year and a half later, the Lord gave me His love for my enemies – the PLO who murdered 37 of my friends.”


View more sermon illustrations for inspiration for your next message.

Share this content with your peers!

In our relationships
with others, often what passes for love is little more than a neat business
transaction. People are kind to us, so we repay them with equal consideration.
When they treat us unjustly, our negative response is really what they asked
for. Everything is so balanced, so fair, so logical with this eye-for-an-eye
and tooth-for-a-tooth kind of justice. But Christian love never settles for
only what’s reasonable. It insists on giving mercy as well as justice. It breaks
the chain of logical reactions.

General Robert
E. Lee was asked what he thought of a fellow officer in the Confederate Army
who had made some derogatory remarks about him. Lee rated him as being very
satisfactory. The person who asked the question seemed perplexed. “General,”
he said, “I guess you don’t know what he’s been saying about you.”
“I know,” answered Lee. “But I was asked my opinion of him, not
his opinion of me!”

________________________
Sermon’s Illustrated


View more sermon illustrations for inspiration for your next message.