"Test Every Spirit"--the prosperity "gospel" part 2

Part 1 here.

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Those who preach the prosperity "gospel" also say that the work of redemption was not completed on the Cross! Think I’m kidding? Kenneth Copeland said,

"When Jesus cried, 'It is finished!' He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the throne...Jesus' death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption. The plan of redemption had just begun; there were still three days and three nights to be gone through." (1)

But the blasphemy doesn’t stop here. Apparently, God Himself spoke a new revelation to Brother Kenneth. Listen to this:

"It wasn't a physical death on the cross that paid the price for sin...anybody can do that." (2)

Listen to Fred Price:

"Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price." (3)

I don’t even know where to begin! This is so wrong on so many levels! The payment for our sins was the blood of a lamb without spot or blemish! DO NOT EVER let ANYONE tell you that ANYBODY OTHER THAN OUR LORD JESUS CHIRST COULD HAVE PAID THE PENALTY FOR OUR SINS!! And that the blood He shed on the cross wasn’t enough, that He had to go through a bunch of other stuff!
Colossians 1:19-20—For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself…having made peace through the blood of His cross.
Ephesians 2:14-16—For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having ended in His flesh…the law of commandments contained in ordinances [the rules and regulations of the law of Moses]…and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross… When Jesus said, “It is finished,” If He wasn’t talking about our redemption, what was He talking about?

You see how this prosperity "gospel" gets started. Man has “authority”, gives it to Satan, and Jesus died on the cross to get it back. And that brings us to prosperity. Now that Jesus has given us this “authority”, what do we do with it? Well, we it to speak wealth into our lives. We use it to speak words which will keep us from getting sick. It goes by many names. Word of Faith. Name-it-and-claim-it. By your “faith” you speak stuff into existence. Basically, you are a little god. Don’t believe me?

• Benny Hinn—“Are you ready for some real revelation knowledge...you are god!” (4)
• Paul Crouch—“I am a little god! Critics, be gone!” (5)
• Morris Cerullo—“You're not looking at Morris Cerullo—you're looking at God. You're looking at Jesus.” (6)
• Kenneth Copeland—"You don’t have a god in you, you are one." (7)

And since we are “little gods”, we can speak anything we want into existence, including wealth. Then, we take that “wealth” and we use it to bribe God to give us more wealth. When we give, we can DEMAND that God gives us more in return. Don’t believe me? Listen to Kenneth Copeland—

“As a believer, you have a right to make commands in the name of Jesus. Each time you stand on the Word, you are commanding God to a certain extent because it is His Word.” (8)

Jesse Duplantis—

“Every time you give Him $100, He gives you $10,000. Every time you give Him $1000, He gives you $100,000. Every time you give him $100,000, $10 million.” (9)

Rod Parsley—

"To reap a perpetual harvest you need to sow a perpetual seed. I got a need for seed." (10)

He went on to say,

“I just love to talk about money…I just love to talk about your money. Let me be very clear — I want your money. I deserve it. This church deserves it.” (11)

So, we take this authority, and we claim it for ourselves, and we use the word of God to twist His arm and give us whatever we ask for. And if you are a child of God, you will never be poor or sick. Fred Price—

“How can you glorify God in your body, when it doesn't function right?....What makes you think the Holy Ghost wants to live inside of a body where He can't see out through the windows, and He can't hear out the ears?” (12)

John Avanzini says,

“Jesus had a nice big house…Jesus wore designer clothes (13)…Jesus was handling big money.” (14)

And, since we are supposed to imitate Christ, we should have a life free of hardship or sickness. I'm sure that's somewhere in the Bible. Nope, it ain't in there! God never promises us a pain-free life for following Jesus. All these “prosperity” preachers go around saying how Jesus was rich. That He wore fancy clothes, and had a huge mansion. I dare anybody to find that in here. And I don’t care what Kenneth Copeland says that “God spoke to him”! I don’t give a rip about what Jesse Duplantis says that God “revealed” to him! I couldn’t care less about what Benny Hinn says that the “Spirit of God” spoke to him! These men are liars, they are deceivers, they are charlatans, they are blasphemers, and they are leading their followers down a path that will lead to their destruction!

Ever notice these people never tell you—they never quote anything about the life of the apostle Paul. Here was a man who Jesus Himself came to in a vision, Jesus Himself chose Paul to spread the gospel to Corinth and Ephesus, and Colosse, and Thessalonica. So you would think that Paul lived an extravagant life. Yeah, right. 2nd Timothy 3:10-13, Paul tells Timothy—But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me…And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution… In fact, Paul prophesied about people like Kenny, Benny, and Creflo. 2nd Timothy 4:3—…the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. When is God most glorified in us? It is when we either HAVE NOTHING or we RISK EVERYTHING. God was most glorified in Abraham when Sarah was unable to conceive, but Abraham believed the promise of God. That was the faith that was counted as righteousness, Romans 4:3.

God was most glorified in Moses, not when he lived in the house of Pharaoh, but when he led the people of Israel out of slavery. God was glorified in Ruth as she spent her days hunched over picking up stubble out of the wheat field. God was most glorified in David when he was a shepherd with a sling and a stone. God was most glorified in Nehemiah as he cried out to the pagan king Artaxerxes, “Please let me go back and rebuild the city of God.” God was most glorified in Job when God allowed Satan to take away his sons and daughters and house and cattle and servants. What did Job say? “Blessed be the name of the LORD.” God was glorified in Peter as he died, being crucified upside-down. John 21:18-19—"…but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. This is something that is missing in so many churches today. The idea of embracing the cross. Not simply looking at Jesus as a way to solve our everyday problems. But looking to the cross as the only way to solve our sin problem. What does it mean to embrace the cross?

When we embrace the cross does not guarantee “Our Best Life Now!” Tell the man in Iran who embraced the cross and was lashed with a whip. Tell the woman in Bangladesh who embraced the cross and had acid thrown on her that she’s having her “Best Life Now”. Tell the young man in the country of Sudan who embraced the cross—and you talk about a country where embracing the cross is more dangerous than anywhere else. This young man was caught, had his clothes ripped off of him, and a burning log laid on his bare chest. Oh, if only Mike Murdock could have been there to show him how to claim his blessing!

Embracing the cross does not guarantee a pain-free life! Embracing the cross does not mean that we will find favor with the world! Embracing the cross means that we will be the world’s enemy! Embracing the cross means that the world will look at us like we've lost our minds! 1st Corinthians 1:18—For the preaching of the Cross is foolishness to them that are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God unto salvation. Did you hear that last part? Unto salvation. Not “unto riches.” Not “unto health.” The Cross will not guarantee your “Best Life Now”, but it will guarantee you eternal life after you die.

Jesus did not die so you could name and claim a Mercedes-Benz! He didn’t die on the cross so you could avoid pain and heartache in your life. You want to talk about pain and heartache, then look at the cross. God had to allow His Son to die a death you and I could never imagine. Then, He had to place all the sins of those who would ever believe in Him on the shoulders of that dear Son as He died in—not only physical—but emotional and spiritual agony. And think of the pain and heartache you put God through until you called His name. Think of the pain and heartache God is enduring right now while those in positions of power figure out how to strike His name from our lips and our ears. Think of the pain and heartache He must feel when He tells someone who denied Him all their life—or someone who claimed to know Him, thought they knew Him, did many good works in His name—but they never knew Him, and He must tell that person “Depart!” And sends them to the lake burning with fire and brimstone. That, my friends, is a heartache we can't even begin to imagine.

Watch this video of John Piper explaining why he is so disgusted with the prosperity gopel. I'll give you a hint. It's because the prosperity "gospel" AIN'T THE GOSPEL!!



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References:

(1) Kenneth Copeland, "Jesus - Our Lord of Glory", Believer's Voice of Victory, April, 1982, p.3.

(2) What Satan Saw on the Day of Pentecost, audiotape #BCC-19, side 1.

(3) Frederick K.C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger, June 1990, p. 7.

(4) Benny Hinn, "Our Position In Christ", tape # AO31190-1.

(5) Paul Crouch, "Praise the Lord" program, July 7, 1986.

(6) The End Time Manifestation of the Sons of God, Audio Tape 1, Sides 1&2.

(7) Copeland, The Force of Love, 1987, Tape #02-0028.

(8) Our Covenant with God, 1987, p. 32.

(9) Jesse Duplantis (TBN, September 21, 1998)

(10) Rod Parsley, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004

(11) “An Empire of Souls,” op. cit., pg. 35 quoted from PFO Journal.

(12) Fred Price, "Is God Glorified Through Sickness?" tape # FP605.

(13) John Avanzini, "Believer's Voice of Victory" broadcast on TBN, recorded 1/20/91.

(14) John Avanzini, Praise the Lord (TBN), 9/15/88.

Permalink--"Test Every Spirit"--the prosperity "gospel"

Part 1.
Part 2.

"Test Every Spirit"--the prosperity "gospel" part 1

Let me ask you this: What would you think of someone who called themselves a “prophet of God”, who made this claim in 1989, that

“The Spirit of God tells me, an earthquake will hit the East Coast of America and destroy much in the 90's. Not one place will be safe from earthquakes in the 90's.” (1)

Or this:

“The Lord also tells me to tell you, in mid 90s, about '94 or '95…God will destroy the homosexual community of America…He will destroy it with fire.” (1)

Or, what would you think if the “prophet of God” made this claim:

“I'm prophesying this. Jesus Christ the Son of God is about to appear physically in some Churches, some meetings and to many of His people”, and that Jesus Christ would appear with him, physically, on stage, in Nairobi, Kenya? (1)

You’re probably guessing that I’m talking about some crackpot lunatic living in a run-down trailer somewhere in the desert, and nobody in the world would ever listen to this guy. Well, guess again. This man has a large audience, many people believe him to be a prophet of God, and many people believe him more than they do their own Bibles. The man is seen on TV stations around the country, and around the world. His name is Benny Hinn.

And he isn't the only false prophet of the “prosperity gospel” movement. Kenneth Copeland said that God is “being that stands somewhere around 6-2, 6-3, that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple hundred pounds, little better.” If you haven’t guessed already, we’re going to be looking at the prosperity "gospel" today. This prosperity "gospel" is more than just teaching a person how to twist the scriptures in order to demand God gives us everything we want. There is a whole system to it, and we’re going to look deeper at it today.

The cover of the September 6, 2006 issue of Time Magazine carried this headline: “Does God want you to be rich?” The cover story that week was about one of the most damaging movements to ever find its way into the church. It’s been around for years, but in the 1990’s a new crop of preachers gave it a much wider audience. People like Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley and Jesse Duplantis. These and others who followed the teachings of Oral Roberts and Ken Hagin began to spread this “gospel”—called the “prosperity” gospel—on the cable TV network TBN.

Not only do those who preach the prosperity “gospel” preach a different God, they preach a different Christ, and they pervert the Word of God for their own financial gain. But ya know what’s really weird? The “prosperity” part isn't the worst part of this teaching. I’m going to show you today how the prosperity gospel is built on lies, deceit, blasphemy, and a teaching that we are gods.

We’re going to see how this prosperity “gospel” is—and I do not use this word lightly, but I say this in all seriousness—this prosperity “gospel” is a heresy. The word “heresy” is used to describe a teaching about God, or Jesus, or salvation that is unbiblical, and can actually lead a person down a path that leads to them not being saved. For example, the Mormon teaching that God had a beginning, that He began by being born as person like you or me. That is a heresy. It is teaching a false God, and anyone who believes it is not saved. The Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim that Jesus was really Michael the archangel—these people teach a false Christ, they commit heresy, and anyone who believes them is not saved. Most people who follow the prosperity "gospel" are, indeed, lost. And if I would dare to say that ALL those who PREACH it ARE lost and without God. And I'll show you why.

It all starts with a lack of understanding of what the Bible says. Here is a quote from the latest issue of “Victory” magazine, from Kenneth Copeland Ministries:

…God is a being with authority. So, when He made man in His image, He gave him authority too… (2)

This is where “Brother” Copeland’s misunderstanding of Scripture begins. The verse he is referring to is Genesis 1:28—And God blessed them, and God said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." First of all, Adam had DOMINION over the earth, not AUTHORITY. Authority and dominion are two different things. The word “authority” means, “the power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed.” Dominion simply means, “To dominate.” In other words, God made man to be greater in rank than any other thing that He created. But authority over the Earth was NEVER given to man.

Think about it this way: If I am going out of town on a business trip, and I ask you, “Hey, can you watch my kid for a week?” I'll probably leave you with a list of things the child can and can't do; what he likes to eat, how late he can stay up, what shows he’s allowed to watch. I am giving you dominion over that child. I am placing that child in your care, and you are responsible for carrying out my desires for that child while I’m gone. Now, suppose you're driving the child to school. A car pulls out of Kroger’s and BAM!! Broadsides you. You take the child to the hospital, but in order for the doctors to do anything, they need to get permission from an adult—not just any adult—they need to get permission from someone who is legally able to give that permission. someone who can authorize treatment. That child’s parent or guardian. Someone with the proper authority.

God placed the care and nurture of Earth in Adam’s hands. But God has the final authority over it. We cannot do anything unless God lets it happen.

• Psalm 24:1—The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
• Isaiah 66:1—“Heaven is My throne, the Earth is My footstool.”
• Exodus 19:5--"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine."
• Deuteronomy 10:14--"Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it."

Well, next they say that when Adam sinned, he gave authority over to Satan.

God’s on the outside looking in. He doesn’t have any legal entree into the earth. The thing don’t belong to Him. You see how sassy the Devil was in the presence of God in the book of Job? God said, “Where have you been?”… He [Satan] didn’t even have to answer if he didn’t want to … God didn’t argue with him a bit! You see, this is the position that God’s been in … Might say, “Well, if God’s running things He’s doing a lousy job of it.” He hadn’t been running ‘em, except when He’s just got, you know, a little bit of a chance. (3)

This is of course wrong, because God has always had authority over everything. Adam never had authority to begin with. And guess what? Even Satan has to obey God! Think about what it says in the book of Job. Satan was wandering around the Earth, stirring up trouble. When Satan wanted to test Job, he had to get permission from God! And he could not do more than God allowed him to do. Job 1:12—“Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” A little later on in chapter 2, Satan still isn't convinced, so God gives Satan a little more latitude, but says in Job 2:6, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” That’s because everything in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, is under God’s control and authority! Even Satan! Even Satan is under God’s authority! Always has been, always will!

Well, according to the prosperity "gospel", why did Jesus come to Earth? Jesse Duplantis says that

“The very first thing on Jesus` agenda was to get rid of poverty…” (4)

“Brother” Copeland says the same thing. That when Jesus said, “Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…” that Jesus was telling them they weren’t gonna be broke no more. 1st Timothy 1:15 says, This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came to— get rid of poverty? Deal with social issues? Wipe out disease? No. Christ Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came, made Himself of no reputation, and humbled Himself and was obedient unto death even the death of the cross because we humans are sinful creatures who were destined for an eternity in Hell but He loved us enough to take the penalty for our sins on His own body on the cross! Speaking of the cross, what does “Brother Copeland” think about it?

“Don’t sit around begging God to do something about the curse of sickness or poverty or sin in your life. He’s already done all that needs to be done. He sent Jesus to the cross…He’s stripped Satan of his authority, and He’s given it back to you in the name of Jesus.” (5)

Jesus did not go to the Cross to die a hideous, brutal, shameful, humiliating death so we could drive a Bentley! Nowhere—NOWHERE—does it ever say that Jesus died on the Cross so you could have a pain-free life!!! He died on the Cross because we humans are selfish, with no desire to follow after God! And in order to redeem us from an eternity in torment and anguish and wailing and gnashing of teeth, He took our sins upon His own shoulders upon the Cross.

Jesus went to the Cross so God could, “… [strip] Satan of his authority, and [give] it back to you in the name of Jesus.” Hogwash! Matthew 28:18—And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." Did ya hear what I said my friends? We don’t have authority over ANYTHING!! Jesus has authority over EVERYTHING!!! We don’t have it in His name!!! He has it in His own name!!! To claim HIS authority for ourselves is nothing short of spiritual embezzlement!!

What would happen if I went around wearing a policeman uniform? And I tried arresting people because I though they were breaking the law? I’d get arrested, wouldn’t I? I would be breaking the law, and I would be punished. The same thing happens when we try claiming the authority that God the Father gave to our Lord Jesus Christ! WE would be in danger of judgment!

We’re just getting’ started here, folks!

Here’s a little something extra for ya. This past September 22nd was Yom Kippur, or the Old Testament “Day of Atonement.” It was the one day out of the year when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, with the blood of a lamb having no spot or blemish, to seek forgiveness of the people’s sins against God. But now, Paula White says that,

“…as modern-day children of God we should also remember and honor God’s biblically established laws, covenants, and decrees…As Christians, we are encouraged to observe the Day of Atonement also in remembrance of Christ.” (6)

THAT IS UNBIBLICAL!! The gospel according to Paula White says that as atonement for our sins, we need to send HER our money. At her website it says, “Honor God with your ‘Atonement Offering!’” Thing is,

• James 2:10--…whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
• Colossians 2:16-17--Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
• Galatians 3:24—Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Even "Pastor" Benny is getting in on the act. “Pastor” Paula is committing a sin by telling us we are to keep the OT law, and by perverting the Word of God. Not to mention the fact that she is a woman and calling herself a “pastor.” She is doing is what the writer of Hebrews warns us about in Hebrews 10:29—Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

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Part 2 tomorrow.
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References:

(1) Orlando Christian Center, December 31, 1989.

(2) Kenneth Copeland. Victory! Magazine. 9/07. p. 25.

(3) Copeland, "Image of God in You III," audiotape #01-1403, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1989.

(4) Nov. 1997 Voice of the Covenant magazine p.5.

(5) Kenneth Copeland. Victory! Magazine. 9/07. p. 5.

(6) From Paula White Ministries. See this link.

Permalink--"Test Every Spirit"--Islam

Part 1.
Part 2.

"Test Every Spirit"--Islam part 2

Part 1 here.

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So, is the Muslim Allah the same God that we Christians worship? Well, let’s look and see. In the Qur'an, Sura 4:171 says,

“Say not Trinity…God is One: Glory be to Him! Far exalted is He above having a son…”

Sura 5:73—

“They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One God. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.”

But we’ve seen several times that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one.

We also see in the Bible that God is the God of truth. That He does not use lies to accomplish His goals. That’s not the case with Allah. There is a term Muslims use, and it is taqiyya. Basically, it means hiding the fact that you are Muslim in order to save your skin. Sura 16:106--

“Anyone who after accepting faith in Allah utters unbelief except under compulsion his heart remaining firm in faith but such as open their breast to unbelief on them is Wrath from Allah and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty.”

In other words, if you renounce the name of Allah in order to save your life, that’s fine, just so long as you still believe in your heart. The following story is accepted as fact among Muslim scholars:

The non-believers once caught Ammar-bin-Yaser and they forced him to say praise their false gods and to condemn Prophet Muhammad... [He] gave in… to their demands. After that, when he returned to the Prophet Mohammed, [he] narrated the whole story to him. Prophet Muhammad asked him, how do you feel in your heart? To which Ammar replied, “I am fully content with Allah's religion in my heart.” To this Prophet Mohammed said, “If non-believers ask you to say the same again, say it.”

Yet Jesus told us in Matthew 10:33—“But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” Hebrews 11:36-38 tells of the numbers of faithful who, “were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection…others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned; they were sawn in two, were tempted, and were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” These people could have said at any time, “OK, OK, put out the fire! Put the saw down! I don’t want any trouble here!” and gone home and lived a perfectly happy life believing on the inside, and denying God to the world. But Jesus tells us in Luke 9:24-25—“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?”

And listen to the words of these saints of the early church:

• Polycarp—a disciple of John the apostle. Arrested in Rome…for being a Christian. And don’t think it can't happen in this country one day. All he had to do was say “Caesar is Lord!” and he’d be home in time for dinner. But instead, he replied, “86 years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” He was burned at the stake.
• Tertullian: "We cannot lie about our religion - to do so is to deny what we worship… Your cruelties merely prove our innocence of the crimes you charge against us. When you chose recently to hand a Christian girl over to a brothel-keeper rather than to the lions, you showed you knew we counted chastity dearer than life…And you frustrate your purpose. Because those who see us die, wonder why we do, for we die like the men you revere, not like slaves or criminals. And when they find out, they join us."

The world says that we worship the same god as the Muslims. Their god tells them it’s OK to lie in the name of Allah.

• John 17:17—“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
• Titus 1:2—“…in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie…”
• Hebrews 6:18—“…by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie…”
• Numbers 23:19—“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
• 1st Corinthians 14:33—“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…”

I read an article by Sam Venable in the Knoxville News Sentinel a few weeks after the attacks of 9/11. He was listening to a speech from a Muslim. When the man said that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and that “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for “God”, Sam just kinda said, “Well, OK! That’s good enough for me!” I haven’t read one of his columns since.

Well, let’s look at what Islam teaches about Jesus Christ. Sura 5:75—

“The Messiah (Jesus), son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger before whom many Messengers have passed away…”

Sura 112:1-4—

“Say: ‘God is Unique! God, the Source [of everything]. He has not fathered anyone nor was He fathered, and there is nothing comparable to Him!’”

To the Muslim, Jesus was no more than a glorified prophet. He was no more worthy of worship than Abraham or Elijah. In fact, Sura 4:171 says,

“O People of the Book…The Messiah Jesus son of Mary was (no more than) a Messenger of God…so believe in God and His Messengers. Say not "Trinity"…God is One: Glory be to Him! (far exalted is He) above having a son…”

But the glorious truth is that Jesus was the Messiah, the word of God made flesh, in fact God Himself in the flesh! John 1:1 says the Word was God; John 1:14 says the Word was made flesh and dwelt among men.

• Luke 1:35—“And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
• Matthew 1:18—“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”

Finally, do Muslims believe that Jesus died on the Cross? No. In fact, they don’t even believe He was crucified. Sura 4:157 it says of the Jews,

“…they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of Allah"—but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them…for…they killed him not…”

But the word of God says this:

• John 19:30—“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
• John 19:34—“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.”
• Romans 5:6—“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
• Romans 14:9—“For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”
• 1st Corinthians 15:3—“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures…”
• Then the words of Christ Himself, Revelation 1:18—“I Am He who was dead, and am now alive. And I live forevermore, Amen. And I hold the keys of Hell and Death.”

Christ died for our sins. But Islam, like many false religions, teaches that we can do enough “good things” to make us acceptable to their god. But there is no such thing as a man-centered salvation. So many look at Islam and say, “Ya know, it just looks so holy, and so religious. And it really stresses us being good people.”

My friends, any religion that says you can be good enough to earn your salvation does not make you a better person. It makes God less holy. It makes Him less perfect. Because look at Romans 5:6 I mentioned just now. Christ died for the ungodly. For ME!! I was ungodly. If you were talking to someone who knew me 6 ½ years ago, and told them I was preaching, they’d be laughing their head off. But you know, I was that thief on the cross. I couldn’t do enough; I couldn’t give enough to make things right with God. In fact, take that phrase out of your vocabulary. WE can NEVER make things right with God. We have to ask Jesus to do that. In Islam, there is no such thing as “atonement.” If you don’t do enough “good things” to outweigh all your “bad things” you wind up in the bottomless pit. And you can never be sure that you’ve done enough.

• If you follow Islam, you bring all your former sins with you. If you follow Christ, you leave all your sins at the foot of the cross!
• If you follow Islam, and you have too many sins to make up for, you must spill your blood to cover them. If you follow Christ, you can never have so many sins that the blood He spilled can't cover them!
• If you follow Islam, Allah keeps a journal of all your sins. If you follow Christ, the journal of all your sins is nailed to the Cross!
• If you follow Islam, you can never be sure you’ve done enough. If you follow Christ, you can be sure that He did it all!

"Test Every Spirit"--Islam part 1

One reason I feel God has led me to do this series is because we live in a world that is falling away very quickly. It’s accelerating every day. It’s like every day that passes we get three days closer to the end. And every day that passes, more people get sucked up into some false religious system, and end up on the path to eternal destruction. Well, today we will be looking at the second largest religion in the world. It is also the second-fastest growing religion in the world, claiming 1.3 billion followers. I am talking of course about Islam.

Let me say a couple of things to start off. You have no doubt heard what many uninformed people on TV or in the papers have said about Islam. They say it’s a “religion of peace”, and that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and that Muslims believe in Jesus. These statements are wrong! It is NOT a “religion of peace”, Muslims do NOT worship the same God as us Christians, and although Muslims do believe that Jesus Christ walked the earth, and was a “good man”, they do NOT believe that He was the Son of God. They consider that to be blasphemy.

And for people that think that Islam is some religion they practice way off in Lebanon, and Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, and that we don’t need to worry about it. Folks, it is spreading, and it is spreading quickly. It is spreading across Europe. It has gained a toehold—if not a foothold—in England, France, and Belgium, and there are many in positions of leadership in this country who would rather have us submit to Islam than to fight it. Oh, and don’t think there aren’t Muslims right here in K-Town. They have a mosque here in Knoxville, on 13th Street, in the Fort Sanders area, just a few blocks from the UT campus.

What is Islam all about? Is it about peace? Not really. The word “Islam” literally means “submission.” Muslims will say that this “submission” has several meanings. First, we bring our bodies into submission. Second, we submit to Allah. Finally, it is the goal of Islam that the whole world submits to Allah. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. You can find this in their Qur’an. Sura 2:193--

“And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah…”

If you’ve ever heard the word “jihad”, this is what it means. It means that Muslims are called to fight against us “infidels” until we submit to the religion of Islam.

Islam started in the year 610 AD, when Muhammed was meditating in a cave, and was visited by the angel Gabriel who recited the words of the Qur’an to him. But since Muhammed could not read or write, he told his friends what the angel said, and they wrote it down for him. How many were here when we talked about Mormonism? Both Mormonism and Islam have these things in common: an illiterate man, considered by his followers to be a “prophet,” all alone, told by an angel that the Word of God had been corrupted, and that he needs to write another book to be used alongside the Bible. The angel reveals this to the man, who dictates to a scribe, who writes down the words for him.

Now, after Muhammed received the Qur’an, how did Islam spread so quickly? Was it devout men preaching salvation through Allah? No. It was spread by three simple words: “convert or die.” It was not spread by loving people seeking the lost, and leading them to salvation. It was spread by the edge of a sword. Again, from the Qur’an, Sura 9:5—

“But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”

In other words, kill them until they practice Islam. Muslims are encouraged by their Qur'an to kill unbelievers…because Allah is “most merciful.” They are encouraged to slay those that persecute them. But what does the Bible say? Are we supposed to slay the enemy wherever we find them, as it says in the Qur'an? No. In the Great Commission, as it’s called, in Matthew 28:19-20—“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…” Muslims are encouraged to kill those who persecute them. But Jesus told us in Matthew 5:43-45—“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…”

So, how does someone become a “good Muslim”, and obtain salvation from Allah? There are five things you must do, and they are called the “Five Pillars of Islam.” And if you do enough of these things, enough times to outweigh your “bad deeds”, then you are considered to be a “good Muslim,” and you will wind up in Paradise.

• Shahadah is kinda like their initiation. When a person says they believe in no other god but Allah.
• Salah is the ritual praying toward Mecca they do 5 times every day. And if you ever see a Muslim pray, you see them turn to the right, then to the left. And they mutter something in each direction. That’s because—they believe—there is an angel on their right keeping track of all their “good deeds”, and one on the left with all their “bad deeds.” They bless the one on the right and curse the one on the left.
• Zakah is the third “pillar”, and it is the required giving of alms. Muslims are obliged to give a certain percentage of their money to the poor, the destitute, to new Muslims, and to those waging jihad. This is mandatory, and Allah keeps track of how much you give, and if you don’t give enough, then you're not a true Muslim.
• Sawm is the fasting they are commanded to do, especially during the month of Ramadan—that is supposed to be the month of the year when the Qur'an was given to Muhammed. During this time of fasting, they are not to eat, drink, smoke, or be a husband to their wife from dawn to sundown.
• Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, and a “good Muslim” is supposed to make that journey, if they can, at least once during their life.

And as I said, you must do enough “good things” to outweigh the bad stuff. Sura 101:2-11—

"What is the (Day) of Noise and Clamour? (It is) a Day where men will be like moths scattered about, and the mountains will be like loosened wool. Then, he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) heavy will be in a life of good pleasure and satisfaction. But he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) light will have his home in a (bottomless) Pit. And what will explain to thee what this is? (It is) a Fire Blazing fiercely!"

In other words, it’s up to you to save yourself. I use the word “saved” because it’s something we Christians can relate to. But in Islam, there is no concept of “salvation.” In fact, no Muslim, no matter how “good” they can be, is EVER sure that they have done enough. And just how much is “enough”? How much more “bad stuff” can you do to cancel out the “good stuff”? First, Sura 55:7-9—

“…He has set up the Balance (of Justice), in order that ye may not transgress (due) balance. So establish weight with justice and do not fall short in the balance.”

Sura 99:6-8—

“On that Day will men …be shown the deeds that they (had done). Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it.”

How big is an atom? Well, pluck a hair from your head. An atom is one one-millionth the width of that hair. And if you have done that much more evil than good, you will be cast into hell, according to the Qur'an. So, let’s say you’ve been really despicable all your life. You’ve killed, lied, stolen, and done all sorts of other rotten things, and there is no way that you could ever do enough to even come close to making up for it. How can you ever gain Allah’s mercy, and go into Paradise? Remember that word “jihad?” If you die as a martyr for Allah, then all of your “bad stuff” is wiped out. Wanna know why so many suicide bombers are Muslims? It’s because it is found in Islamic scriptures. In the Qur'an, Sura 46:4-6—

“…those who are slain in the Way of Allah- He will never let their deeds be lost. Soon will He guide them and improve their condition, and admit them to the Garden which He has announced for them.”

Now, not only do Muslims believe in the Qur'an, they also have what’s called “Hadith”, which is kinda like the sayings of Muhammed, and it is held in the same regard as the Qur'an. And this is what it says in the Hadith:

[A] martyr’s privileges are guaranteed by Allah; forgiveness with the first gush of his blood, he will be shown his seat in paradise, he will be decorated with the jewels of belief, married off to the beautiful ones, protected from the test in the grave, assured security in the day of judgment, crowned with the crown of dignity…[married] to seventy-two [virgins] and his intercession on the behalf of seventy of his relatives will be accepted.

In other words, you could be the most horrible person on the planet, but if you die while killing a bunch of Jews and Christians—“People of the Book”—you get to go past everyone else into Paradise with your 72 virgins. And if young, brown-eyed maiden aren't your thing, you can have little boys if you want.

This is one of those places where studying false religions shows just how wonderful our God really is! Islam says that you have to die so your sins can be forgiven. But, we know the truth: that Christ died so your sins could be forgiven! In Luke 23:43, as a thief hung on a cross at the right hand of Christ—this thief had NO CHANCE to do ANYTHING to make up for the horrible things he did. He had nothing to give to the poor. He couldn’t come down and be baptized. He couldn’t do ANYTHING….except confess Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory and Captain of our salvation, as his Savior and Lord. And what did Jesus say? “…today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Permalink: "Test Very Spirit--Mormonism"

Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.
Part 5.
Part 6.

"Test Every Spirit"--Mormonism (part 6)

Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.
Part 3 here.
Part 4 here.
Part 5 here.

Today, we are finishing up our look inside Mormonism--its beginnings, scriptures, beliefs about God, and their history. And in all actuality, this has been a very brief look. There is so much to slog through, we probably couldn't cover it in a year. That's why I have the permalink on the sidebar entitled "Are Mormons Christians?" It will be updated from time to time with more glances inside the LDS church.

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Well, besides the Book of Mormon, the LDS church uses a work called the Doctrine and Covenants. Originally, this was called the “Book of Commandments.” And it is supposedly made up of visions Joseph Smith had between 1823 and 1844. There were new revelations added more recently, and we’ll look at those as well. And if you want to learn about Mormon doctrine, this is the place to look. In fact Mormons use the Doctrine and Covenants more than the Book of Mormon. We’re going to see where some of the unorthodox beliefs of the Mormon church can be found.

First, there’s the whole issue of polygamy. Of course, Mormons like to use the less offensive term, “plural marriage.” In section 132, listen to these “revelations” from “God” to the “prophet”:

David…received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon and Moses my servants, as also many others of my servants…and in nothing did they sin…David’s wives and concubines were given unto him of me…And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me…if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him…And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.

“Hey, Abraham, and David, and Solomon, they had a bunch of wives and concubines! I’m just restoring things!” But nowhere does it say that GOD approved of their polygamy. Remember how I said they use the Doctrine and Covenants more than they do the Book of Mormon? Listen to what it says in Jacob 2:23-27—

…behold, thus saith the Lord: This people…seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son. Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord…Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have [but] one wife; and [no] concubines…

But you see, that’s the Mormon “God”. What does He desire, what does He command? Well, it depends on what day it is, and what kind of a mood He’s in. “I AM the LORD, I change not!!” What He hated yesterday, He hates today and He’ll hate tomorrow!

Listen to these Mormon apostles and prophets:

• Brigham Young, “The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.” (1)
• His chief counselor, Heber Kimball said, “You might as well deny 'Mormonism,' and turn away from it, as to oppose the plurality of wives.” (2)
• Apostle Orson Pratt—“…those who reject this principle reject their salvation, they shall be damned, saith the Lord…” (3)
• And, Michael D. Quinn, professor of American History at Brigham Young University, wrote that “President [Wilford] Woodruff personally authorized Apostle Abraham H. Cannon to marry a new plural wife...” (4)

Now, this polygamy in the Doctrine and Covenants, this was an “everlasting” thing, right? Eh, not so much. In the late 1800’s, Utah wasn’t a state yet. And in 1887, Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act, which basically outlawed polygamy. And if the Saints continued to practice it, Utah would not become a state. And since the Saints were getting by on their own, they really wanted Utah to become a state so they could get money from the federal government. So, in order for Utah to become a state, they had to renounce their beliefs about polygamy. Well, lo and behold, there came a “new revelation.” It is Doctrine and Covenants Official Declaration No. 1. These are the words of Wilford Woodruff, President of the LDS church, in 1890:

There is nothing in my teachings to the Church or in those of my associates, during the time specified, which can be reasonably construed to…encourage polygamy; and when any Elder of the Church has used language which appeared to convey any such teaching, he has been promptly reproved. And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land.

What does the Doctrine and Covenants say about God’s forgiveness of our sins? Doctrine and Covenants 82:7—

“And now, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God.”

Former LDS President Spencer Kimball wrote this in his book The Miracle of Forgiveness,

“Numerous folks have…recovenanted that they would live all the commandments…yet many there are who forget their covenants and break the commandments…Of those who break covenants and promises made in sacred places and in solemn manner, we can apply the Lord's words as follows: '... a wicked man, who has set at naught the counsels of God, and has broken the most sacred promises which were made before God, and has depended upon his own judgment and boasted in his own wisdom' (D&C 3:12-13).” (2)

In other words, if you repent of your sins, go live the best life you can, then slip in ONE LITTLE AREA, all of your former sins come back to you. WRONG!!! That is NOT the forgiveness GOD promised us in His TRUE WORD!! Psalm 103:12—As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgression from us. If you head out of here, keep going north, as soon as you hit the North Pole, you start heading south. But if you leave here, head west, you can keep going west around this earth 1000 times, and your back will ALWAYS be to the east. And in the same way, when we are in Christ, it’s like God’s face is looking west, and our sins are in the east. Romans 8:1—There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… When we call upon Jesus to be our Lord and our Savior, and we are reconciled to GOD, and sealed to GOD by the Holy Spirit, Christ’s righteousness is given to us, and He does not remember our sins anymore!

Finally, let’s take a quick look at the Pearl of Great Price. It’s kinda like a miscellaneous assortment of stuff. First, there’s the Book of Moses. These are supposed to be things that were removed from the first books of the Bible. In this “Book of Moses”, in the first chapter we find a couple of things that contradict Mormon doctrine. For one thing, “God” says,

“Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?” (Moses 1:3)

Now, the LDS church teaches that GOD had a beginning. Yet it says here that GOD Himself said He has no beginning. Another thing: “God” also says,

“no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth” (Moses 1:5)

So how did Joseph Smith remain in his flesh, on the earth, after being visited by the Father and Jesus? Chapter 2 and chapter 3 contain a revision of the first chapter of Genesis. Only now, every verse says, “I, God, said ‘Let there be light,’” and “I, God, said, ‘Let there be a firmament,’” etc.

Now, hold that last thought. Also contained in the “Pearl of Great Price” is something called the Book of Abraham. This is supposed to be some things shown to Abraham by “God.” Well, in chapter 4 and chapter 5, we have another revision of Genesis. Only this time, the verses start out by saying, “They (the Gods) said ‘Let there be light,’” and “They (the Gods) said, ‘Let there be a firmament,’” etc.

But let me point one thing out to you. In the introduction, it says,

“The writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus.”

Well, that ain't exactly so. Here’s what happened: in 1835, a traveling exhibit of Egyptian artifacts—including mummies—was rolling through Kirtland, Ohio, which was where the Mormons were settled at the time. The man in charge of the exhibit brought a papyrus for Joseph Smith to translate. This became the “Book of Abraham.” In 1871, the papyrus was lost…until 1966, when it surfaced in a vault at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. The LDS church confirmed that this was, indeed, the papyrus that Joseph Smith translated from. He would be vindicated as a true prophet of GOD!! Eh, not so much. According to the foremost Egyptologists, this papyrus was nothing more than an Egyptian embalming manual. The whole thing is a fraud.

One last thing about this Pearl of Great Price. It also contains their Articles of Faith. And the third and fourth Articles of Faith say,

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

In other words, the LDS church teaches a man-centered salvation. From the Book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi 25:23—“…we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” Absolutely not!!! There is absolutely no way that we could ever “earn” our salvation! There is no way that we could “do” enough for GOD to look at us and say, “OK, you've done enough!” But that’s what false religions do. They take the truth of the gospel—that WE cannot make ourselves righteous, that it’s only by the righteousness of Christ being given to us—and they say, “Nah, that’s not enough. You’ve got to do all this other stuff to have evidence of salvation!” But as Paul wrote in Romans 11:5-6--"So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." God does not make us earn His grace. Because we never could! It is given to us freely, that we may bring glory to Him! Hallelujah!

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References:

(1) Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, page 269. link.

(2) Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, p. 203. link.

(3) Journal of Discourses, vol. 17, p. 224-225. link.

(4) Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Spring 1985. page 62. link.

(5) Spencer Kimball. The Miracle of Forgiveness. page 57.

"Test Every Spirit"--Mormonism (part 5)

Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.
Part 3 here.
Part 4 here.

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My purpose for presenting this series is not so much that if we meet up with someone from the LDS church that we can win an argument, or make them feel bad and send them away. These people are lost. They don’t know GOD for who He really is. But what makes it so sad is, unlike people who KNOW they’re lost, who obviously don’t know the LORD, and have no desire to, these people think they are saved, and they think they know GOD, because they have been told by men who call themselves “prophets” that only THEY know the true GOD. And it is so hard to unweave what has been taught by these people, and it can be one of the most frustrating things you’ll ever do.

If you know someone who is involved with the LDS church, the best thing you can do for that person is to pray for them. Pray that the GOD of truth will open their eyes, so that they may see when you turn on the light for them. One of the books I’m reading makes this analogy. That if you are in a room blindfolded, and somebody were to turn on a light, you wouldn’t know it. But, if you take off the blindfold, and THEN they turn on the light, then you can see. Likewise, our attempts to bring Mormons to the truth will be useless unless we remember who it is that is the only one who can open their eyes, and call upon Him to do so. Only after GOD has opened their eyes to accept light into their body will they be able to see the truth.
2nd Corinthians 4:3-4—But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Acts 26:18—Paul, recounting his conversion, says that Christ told him that he was sending him to the Gentiles, “…to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God…”
Luke 11:34 (ESV)—“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.”

Can any of us say that before we came to know Christ, we would have read the Bible, and been affected, or changed by it? I started to read the Bible several times, many years ago. I was telling a friend of mine that for about three or four years in a row, I got saved every Easter. Charlton Heston led me to Christ many times. (I say this sarcastically. One does not get saved over and over again. Once we are truly sealed to God, we cannot be lost again.) I had the light right in front of me, but my eyes were darkened. I believed that GOD existed. I believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of GOD, and that He died on the cross for my sins, and that He rose again three days later. I knew all those facts. But guess what? Satan knows those facts as well, and it doesn’t do him any good. Unless GOD opens the eyes of the blind, they can not see. Unless we pray for those who are involved with the Mormon church, then all of our efforts to show them the truth will be in vain.

Well, we saw last week what they believe about GOD, about Christ, the Trinity, creation, the fall and the virgin birth of Christ. Today, we are going to look at what they consider to be “Scripture.” Mormons really have four sources of “Scripture.” The Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Bible, “…so far as it is correctly translated.” This is their 8th “Article of Faith.” When Mormon missionaries show up at your door, they will only be carrying a Bible, so that you get the impression that what they are telling you is in there. Next time, we will look at the many places where their works don’t match the truth.

First, let’s start by looking at the Book of Mormon. Just to refresh your memory, Joseph Smith claims that an angel named Moroni told him there were some gold plates buried in a hill called “Cumorah”, just outside his hometown of Palmyra, NY. And that this “angel” told him that these plates contained “the fullness of the everlasting gospel.” So, after leading Joseph by the nose for four years, the angel told him that he could go ahead and start translating the plates. Now, one thing to keep in mind here: the Book of Mormon is supposed to contain a record of a family of Jews that sailed from Israel to the Americas about 600 BC. That after many years, there were two brothers, Nephi and Laman, who had split the loyalties of the family, which led to a great war, with the complete destruction of every descendant of Nephi, with one exception. A man named…Moroni. And it was supposedly this same Moroni that buried these gold plates.

And in the year 1827, Joseph Smith began translating these plates. We have seen that he used a “seer stone”, a type of crystal used in the occult, put in a hat, and that a parchment would appear with the translated word on it. But he would never translate directly from the plates. They would either be in a box covered with a cloth, or they would be buried somewhere out in the woods. No one, other than Joseph himself, has ever actually seen the PHYSICAL plates. And they were supposedly written in a language called “Reformed Egyptian”—a language that no expert in the field of Egyptology or linguistics has ever heard of, or seen evidence of.

So, how does the Book of Mormon contain the “fullness of the everlasting gospel?” Because, apparently, some things had been removed from the Bible. The Book of Mormon calls them “plain and precious truths.” But how reliable is the Book of Mormon? Is it a divinely inspired record of an ancient people? Or is it a hoax invented by Satan, and given to the world through a teenager involved in the occult? Well, there was one incident that took place that gives us a pretty good indication that this is a work of fiction.

In 1827, when Joseph had completed about 116 pages, one of his scribes, a man named Martin Harris, asked if he could take the manuscript home with him. After asking “God” several times if he should let him, Joseph finally agreed. Three weeks later, Mr. Harris walked to Joseph’s house and told him the manuscript had been lost. The following story was told by Luck Mack Smith, Joseph's mother, and is found in a book titled Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet:

Martin Harris, having written some one hundred and sixteen pages for Joseph, asked permission of my son to carry the manuscript home with him, in order to let his wife read it...Joseph...inquired of the Lord to know if he might do as Martin Harris had requested, but was refused...

Joseph inquired again, but received a second refusal. Still, Martin Harris persisted as before, and Joseph applied again, but the last answer was not like the two former ones. In this the Lord permitted Martin Harris to take the manuscript home with him...

Mr. Harris had been absent nearly three weeks, and Joseph had received no intelligence whatever from him... we saw him [Harris] walking with a slow and measured tread towards the house... Harris pressed his hands upon his temples, and cried out, in a tone of deep anguish, "Oh, I have lost my soul! I have lost my soul!"

Joseph... sprang from the table, exclaiming, "Martin, have you lost that manuscript?..."

"Yes, it is gone," replied Martin, "and I know not where."

"Oh, my God!" said Joseph, clinching his hands. "All is lost! all is lost! What shall I do? I have sinned..." He wept and groaned, and walked the floor continually... what could I say to comfort him, when he saw all the family in the same situation of mind as himself, for sobs and groans, and the most bitter lamentations filled the house. However, Joseph was more distressed than the rest... he continued, pacing back and forth, meantime weeping and grieving, until about sunset...

The manuscript has never been found; and there is no doubt that Mrs. Harris took it from the drawer... (1)

Can you see the dilemma facing the young prophet? If he was truly commanded to publish this work, he couldn’t leave out 116 pages. But, if he did try to reproduce it, and it wasn’t an exact copy, and those pages turned up later, he would be exposed as a fraud. But, you see, Satan’s pretty smart. Because you see, apparently, God had anticipated this happening, and had told Nephi to write on another set of plates to make up for the theft of the first set.

But, you see, this doesn’t make sense. If Joseph had translated from the plates, why would he need the manuscript? Couldn’t he just retranslate the plates? Nope. Apparently, “God” told Joseph to write this “revelation”—

And because you have delivered the writings into his hands, behold, wicked men have taken them from you...And, behold, Satan hath put it into their hearts to alter the words which you have caused to be written, or which you have translated, which have gone out of your hands. And behold, I say unto you, that because they have altered the words, they read contrary from that which you translated and caused to be written… (2)

So, these “evil men” had changed what Joseph wrote. Now, here’s a question for your Mormon friend: If GOD could have anticipated this “alteration” and “work of Satan” to discredit the Book of Mormon, you mean to say He couldn’t have anticipated the same thing about the Bible being “altered”?

Now, let’s contrast Joseph Smith’s reaction when he lost those 116 pages, to something similar that happened to the prophet Jeremiah—a TRUE prophet. In Jeremiah 36, the prophet dictates to his scribe Baruch. The scroll is read to the prophets in the house of the LORD. Then the scroll was read to king Jehoiakim, who doesn't cotton too well to what Jeremiah prophesied. So he cuts up the scroll and burns it. What does Jeremiah do? Does he panic? Of course not! Jeremiah 36:32—Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe…who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. If someone claims to be a prophet, and they get a word from GOD, then they don’t need to worry about losing what they’ve written, because GOD will give the same message again!

So, would you like to see the “gold plates” this Book of Mormon was supposedly written on? Well, you can't. Because they're not here. You see, after Joseph got done translating, Moroni took them with him. And nobody knows where they are. So how are we supposed to believe that what is in the Book of Mormon is true? Well, you're supposed to pray about it, and if you get the right feeling, then you'll know it’s true. It is sometimes referred to as a “burning in the bosom.”

But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. (3)

May I say that if you read the Book of Mormon—and I wouldn’t recommend it without praying up really hard first—and after reading it, you pray about it—if you get a “burning in your bosom”, it is nothing but the fires of Hell burning in you. Knowing that it was Satan who invented the Book of Mormon, just who is it that you would be praying to?

See, another difference between the Book of Mormon and the Bible is GOD doesn’t mind if you question what you think you know. Acts 17:11—says that the Bereans “were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” When Thomas doubted, Jesus said in John 20:27—“Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” GOD isn't afraid of you seeking out the truth. Because if you find the truth, you have found Him!! Besides, when the NT manuscripts were being copied, and distributed throughout the land, there were literally thousands of copies made available to people all over the place. Yet only one man has ever seen the “golden plates” that became the Book of Mormon. And GOD supposedly told him not to show anybody else.

Part 6 tomorrow

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References:

(1) Lucy Mack Smith, quoted in Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet. 1853. pp. 117,118,120-123. (Cited by Utah Lighthouse Ministries. Salt Lake Messenger. Issuse no. 72. July 1989.) link.

(2) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Doctrine and Covenants 10:8-11. link.

(3) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Doctrine and Covenants 9:8. link.

"Test Every Spirit"--Mormonism (part 4)

Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.
Part 3 here.

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Mormons believe that our Heavenly Father and our Heavenly Mother begat us as “spirit children.” Well, among these “spirit children” were two brothers—named Jesus and Lucifer. Again, I am NOT making this up. Jess L. Christensen, an area authority in the LDS church, wrote an article in the June, 1986 issue of the magazine called Ensign, which is an OFFICIAL publication of the LDS church, and is considered to be authoritative by Mormons:

On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some---especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers…as the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus was Lucifer's older brother. (1)

Many Mormons seek to deny that this doctrine is taught, or ever was taught. There you have it, in black and white, right before your eyes. Does that sound like the true Christ? See, Lucifer was an angel, a created being. And if Christ was his brother that means that Jesus must have also been created. But we know that our Lord Jesus Christ is the uncreated, everlasting, eternal Son of the uncreated, everlasting, eternal Father. “From everlasting to everlasting, THOU ART GOD!!” Listen to what it says in Nehemiah 9:6—“You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.” Jesus created the angels, meaning He created Lucifer, meaning that Jesus and Lucifer CANNOT BE BROTHERS!!

So, what about creation? How did that happen? Well, apparently, GOD the Father called a meeting with His spirit children, to figure out a way that they could continue toward godhood. Joseph Smith:

In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it. (2)

One fellow who has studied this subject put it this way:

God presented to his children…a plan of salvation for their consideration. This plan was to be the means by which God's spirit children could continue their growth and development and thus attain exaltation. A world would be created—this earth—where they would be born of mortal, human parents and receive a body of flesh and bones. And they would not remember their premortal lives with their Heavenly Parents.

[…]

Two of God's children volunteered to serve as the world's redeemer: Jesus Christ, the first-born and eldest of all, and Lucifer, another spirit-child.

[…]

Ultimately, God chose Jesus Christ to serve as the savior and redeemer of the world. One third of all God's spirit children, however, took the side of Lucifer and rebelled against God. A war in heaven ensued; Lucifer and the rebellious spirits were finally cast out…

(3)
Genesis 1:1—In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth. And He didn’t need any help to try and figure out how to do that. Isaiah 44:24—Thus saith the LORD…"I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself…" He didn’t create them so that we could “become gods.” He created them for His pleasure. Colossians 1:16—All things were created by Him and for Him.

So, what do they teach about the fall of Man—Adam’s sin that brought death into the world? The LDS church considers the fall of man to be a GOOD thing. Another of their “scriptures” is called “The Pearl of Great Price,” and it contains something called “The Book of Moses”. Moses 5:10-13,

[Adam said]…because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy…And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil...

Another passage from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism says this:

These sources [the Mormon “scriptures”] dwell at length on the beneficial effects of the Fall as part of God's "great plan of happiness" for his children and testify that Adam and Eve are to be honored for their actions. (4)

But what does the Bible say about this event? Genesis 3:6-8—[Eve]… took of the fruit…and did eat, and gave also unto her husband…And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons…and…hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God… It also says that GOD told Adam that the ground was cursed because of his actions, and that he would be in sorrow all the days of his life. He told Eve, In sorrow you shall bring forth children… That doesn’t sound like “Happy Days” to me!! That’s because the fall of man WAS NOT A GOOD THING!! And think about this: wouldn’t this mean that GOD considered this sin to be “good”? So why is every other sin considered to be “bad”? GOD hates sin! GOD does not change. Do the math.

Next, we’re going to see what they believe about the virgin birth of Christ. Consider the following passages from the Bible.

• Matthew 1:18—Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
• Luke 1:34-35—Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God."

So, we can see from the TRUE word of GOD, that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, and causing her to conceive a body of flesh in her womb, which would eventually grow into the Man Jesus Christ. But, listen to another former LDS president and prophet, Ezra Taft Benson:

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which He performed His mission in the flesh was sired by that same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. Jesus was not the son of Joseph, nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost." (5)

The First Presidency and Council of Twelve said in 1916,

"Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh..." (6)

So you see, they don’t believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but by the Father. In fact, they don’t even believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ the same way we do. What they say is that Mary was a virgin when our Heavenly Father—literally—had sexual intercourse with her and conceived Jesus Christ in the flesh. This, my friends, is NOT THE TRUE CHRIST.

So, GOD learned how to be GOD, he bore “spirit children” with Heavenly Mother, two of which were the brothers Jesus and Lucifer. He created the universe, and put Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden where they sinned against GOD—which was a good thing. Because it gave us all the chance to become “gods” ourselves. I’m not making this up. But Joseph Smith did. If we live a good enough life, get married, have a bunch of kids, etc., we too can become a “god”…just like GOD. Again, Joseph Smith, from the King Follett Discourse:

Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God. And you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves…until you are able to sit in glory as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power. (7)

And the thing is, this “progression” doesn’t stop when we die. See, there are three “heavens” in Mormonism. The telestial for murderers, adulterers, and those who were Mormons but left the LDS church. The terrestrial is for “good people” who weren’t Mormons. The highest heaven—the celestial—is for Mormons who were the best Mormons they could be and had a bunch of children. And only those who get to the highest level of THAT heaven get to work towards godhood.

Well, there’s one problem—actually, there are many problems—with that belief. You see, in Hebrews 9:27, the writer say that …it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. Every time the Bible talks about heaven, or eternity, it talks about worshipping before the throne of GOD forever. It talks about the saints, and the angels, and the elders, and the four living creatures, directing our praise toward the Most High GOD. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we can do anything after we die to become more than that. And it certainly doesn’t say that we can become a “god” like Almighty GOD.

One last thing real quick. There’s the whole issue of “baptism for the dead”. How you're supposed to go back through your family tree, and if you find people who weren’t Mormons, you're supposed to have somebody dunk you in water, and somehow that gets them into a better heaven. Er, something. They base this on 1st Corinthians 15:29—Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Suffice it to say theirs is a completely unbiblical misinterpretation of this verse. You see, once you're dead, you're dead. There is absolutely no way that anyone who is living can get you into heaven, or a higher heaven.

---------------------

References

(1) Ensign. 1986. pp. 25-26. link.

(2) TPJS. p. 349. link.

(3) Doctrine of Exaltation, or Becoming a God. From Partakers of the Divine Nature. Jordan Vajda. pp. 27-40. link.

(4) Encyclopedia of Mormonism. p. 485.

(5) The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson. p. 7.

(6) First Presidency and Council of Twelve, 1916. Cited in Ensign. April 2002. p.13. link.

(7) Joseph Smith. King Follett Discourse. Mormon literature database—Brigham Young University. link.

"Test Every Spirit"--Mormonism (part 3)

Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.

-------------------------------------------

Unchangeable, unshakeable, unstoppable
That's what You are
---"You Are God Alone (not a god)" by Phillips, Craig & Dean

God is “unchangeable”. When He says something is going to happen, it’s gonna happen. If He says that something’s gonna happen at 2:30 today, you won't have to look at your watch at 3:00 and wonder why it hasn’t happened yet. Not only that, but He Himself doesn’t change. I’ve gone through many hairstyles in my life. I’m pretty much stuck with the one I have now, which isn't much. My physical body started out as two little cells that grew and grew. I came from my mother’s womb, I got bigger and taller. My views about many things have changed over the years. But GOD does not change! He is the same now as He was from eternity past, and He will be forever. He does not change!

You know, I can almost grasp the concept of a future eternity. That we will rejoice with the saints and the angels around the throne of GOD and worship Him in that brand new city. But eternity past? Before there was anything, GOD was. You hear little kids ask, “Well, who made GOD?” Nobody. Nobody made GOD. He has just always been GOD. Ask me to explain it. Hah! I can't explain something as simple as nuclear energy, let alone trying to explain GOD.

Last time we looked at the beginnings of Mormonism—the story of the “first vision” of Joseph Smith, a story which changed many times over the years. We looked at his character, that he was a treasure hunter and that he was fascinated with the occult. And these two aspects of his life made him the perfect target for Satan to begin this grand counterfeit to Christianity. Today, we’re going to look deeper into what Mormons actually believe.

I mentioned last time that if you were to ask a Mormon, “Are you a Christian?” they would answer unequivocally, “YES!” They would say what former LDS president and prophet Gordon Hinckley said--

“We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”

And you may then ask why we don’t consider Mormons to be Christians. Well, it’s because they don’t believe in the TRUE GOD, the TRUE Jesus Christ, and the TRUE Holy Ghost. And if you do not know and worship the TRUE GOD, then you cannot be saved. In John 4:24, Jesus told the woman at the well, “You worship what you do not know…God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” In fact, the official website of the Mormon church says,

“Jesus Christ taught that you must know the only true God to have eternal life (John 17:3). As His child, you must know who He is and what He is like to find greater peace and joy, both in this life and in the life to come.” (1)

In other words, if you believe GOD to be something other than what He really is, you are not worshipping GOD.

Consider some of the creeds of the early church. Now, these are not Scripture, and we don’t hold them in the same esteem as we do the words of Christ, or the prophets and apostles. But these creeds are based on Scripture. It’s not like the men who developed these creed did so to make themselves appear to be godlier than they were. They didn’t need to. These were some of the godliest men you could ever know. Listen to the Nicene Creed:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

And in the Holy Ghost.

[But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable' — they are condemned by the holy…church.] (2)

Now, some people get this whole thing backwards. They think that the Nicene Creed was invented to force Emperor Constantine’s beliefs on the world. When in fact, the Council of Nicea was called to answer many heresies that had sprung up in many churches. One of which was called “Arianism”, after a man named Arius. He taught that Christ was “created” by GOD the Father. They also had to battle against the Gnostics, who taught that material, physical things were evil, and if so then Christ could not have had a physical body. So, this council was not called to “invent” Christianity, but rather to defend it.

I’m telling you these things to prepare you for what’s next. The best way to show you what Mormons believe about GOD is to show you what they believe about how you can become a "God". One of the most famous speeches Joseph Smith ever gave was called the “King Follett Discourse,” and it was actually a eulogy he gave at the funeral of a man named King Follett. In this “King Follett Discourse”, Joseph Smith said,

God Himself who sits enthroned in yonder heavens is a Man like unto one of yourselves…I am going to tell you how God came to be God…we have imagined that God was God from the beginning of all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil so you may see…He once was a man like one of us… He is of the same species as human persons. (3)

ANATHEMA!! GOD was not “born as a man like us,” He did not “become” GOD. GOD has been GOD from eternity past, He will be GOD for eternity future!! There is none like Him, there can never be anyone like Him!!! He did not have to progress to godhood, GOD IS GOD.

• Psalm 90:2—Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
• Deuteronomy 6:4—The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.
• Isaiah 45:5—I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.

Well, I mentioned last time that Mormons do believe in a Trinity, consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In the Trinity we know, these three are one. Look at John 10:30, Colossians 2:9. Look at Isaiah 44:24 and John 1:3 and Acts 5:3-4. Compare these verses one with the other and you will find that they speak of a Trinity that is one in every essence, and every substance.

But listen to the Mormon version of the Trinity. From the LDS teaching manual called Gospel Principles:

Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are called the Godhead…It is perfect unity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost that binds these three into the oneness of the divine Godhead. (4)

Again, Joseph Smith:

I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father and the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute… three Gods. (5)

And from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:

GOD the Father is not one in substance with the Son or the Holy Spirit, but is a separate being. The Father existed prior to the Son and the Holy Ghost…They are His offspring. (6)

So, we see that they believe in many “Gods”. Mormonism is indeed a polytheistic religion. But, listen to the words of the prophet, in Isaiah 44:6-8—Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God…Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not one…" Now, this presents a problem for our Mormon friends. Either there is only one God as God says; or there are many gods that God doesn't know about; or there are many Gods, God Himself knows them but He's lying. Which is it?

Well, not only do we have a Heavenly Father, but we also have a Heavenly Mother. Don’t believe me? Listen to what it says in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:

Latter-day Saints infer from authoritative sources of scripture and modern prophecy that there is a Heavenly Father as well as a Heavenly Mother.

[…]

Latter-day Saints believe that all the people of earth…are actual spiritual offspring of God the Eternal Father…parenthood requires both father and mother, whether for the creation of spirits in the premortal life, or…on earth. A Heavenly Mother shares parenthood with the Heavenly Father…she is like Him in glory, perfection, compassion, wisdom, and holiness. (7)

• 1st Timothy 1:17—Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God alone who is wise, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
• Deuteronomy 33:26—There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun…
• Exodus 9:14—GOD said, “I will send all my plagues…that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.”
• 1st Samuel 2:2—There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee…
• 2nd Samuel 7:22—“Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee…”

See, Mormons believe that before we were born into these physical bodies, we were spirits in what they call the “premortal” state. They try to use Romans 8:16—The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of GOD. This is one time I thank GOD that He has allowed to hear true, solid, biblical preaching, when there is so much mushy-squishy namby-pamby fluffernuttery out there. That I have been able to sit under a pastor that doesn’t just jerk verses out a slap them at you, but has shown me how to use Scripture to interpret Scripture. That’s what we need to do here.

Because you see, the LDS church has got it backwards. We aren’t “spirits” who become flesh and blood. Listen to Isaiah 42:5—Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it… FIRST He gives us a body, THEN He gives us a spirit, and breath.

Part 4 tomorrow.

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References:

(1) Gordon B. Hinckely, cited by Robert L. Millet. link.

(2) Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetices. link.

(3) Joseph Smith. King Follett Discourse. Mormon literature database--Brigham Young University. link.

(4) The Prophet Joseph Smith. p. 190. link.

(5) TPJS. p. 370. link.

(6) Encyclopedia of Mormonism. 1992. MacMillan Publishing. p. 548.

(7) Encyclopedia of Mormonism. 1992. MacMillan Publishing. p. 961.