1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,120 or contact us at mylibertybaptist.org or just 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,760 look us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,960 message from God's word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,760 So I'm. Going to encourage you to open 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:30,440 your Bibles, please, to Revelation chapter #22 and I 9 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,120 will warn you that we will be looking at Revelation chapter 10 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,480 #22 at the end of the lesson, so you'll have it open for a while. 11 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:39,680 It's not that I have forgotten it, but it is just the fact that 12 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,800 I am making sure that we have ourselves ready for where we 13 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,840 will be at the end of of the message. 14 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,920 But I do want to give us a little bit of a review because 15 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,160 obviously we were not able to have our class last week and we 16 00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:56,560 were looking at introducing the Mormons a couple weeks ago and 17 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:01,720 we saw from Galatians chapter 1 and 2nd Corinthians chapter #11 18 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:03,880 we saw a couple problems with Mormonism, didn't we? 19 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,000 Just from the Word of God, Just a very basic study because 20 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,680 Galatians chapter 1 says beware another gospel, which is not the 21 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:12,920 gospel. It is a perversion of the 22 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,200 gospel. If anyone is to preach any other 23 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,400 type of gospel, it may be another gospel, but it's not a 24 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,040 saving gospel. It is a false gospel. 25 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,000 We saw that from Galatians chapter #1 two weeks ago. 26 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,760 And then we also saw from Second Corinthians chapter #11 not just 27 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,160 to beware a false gospel, but to beware false teachings about 28 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,000 Jesus Christ. And just because someone names 29 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,800 the name of Jesus Christ does not mean that they are talking 30 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,880 about our Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible. 31 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,520 We saw this back with Islam, didn't we? 32 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,560 Several weeks ago? We saw that Islam Quam does name 33 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,760 the name of Jesus Christ. They admit that Jesus Christ is 34 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,600 a real figure. In fact, they call him the 35 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,560 greatest of all the prophets and try to make it sound like that 36 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:55,880 should be good enough. But you and I both know that 37 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,480 calling him the greatest of all the prophets is not something 38 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:00,520 that is actually holding him up high. 39 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,000 It's actually, well, keeping him very low. 40 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:09,160 Gotcha, guys. And so understanding that helps 41 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:13,320 us to be in the place where we get to say, even with Mormonism, 42 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,800 OK, they're saying all of these different things about Jesus and 43 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,280 we will reject those. What kind of things were they 44 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,680 saying? That Jesus is the spirit brother 45 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,480 of Lucifer, That Jesus was the first born spirit child of the 46 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,280 Heavenly Father. The Godhead consists of three 47 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,360 separate gods, not one Trinity. Jesus atonement actually 48 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,040 occurred primarily in the Garden of Gethsemane, not at the cross. 49 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,520 Jesus visited and ministered to people in the Americas. 50 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,480 After his resurrection, Jesus progressed to godhood through 51 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,480 obedience as part of eternal exaltation, meaning this that 52 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,880 Jesus was not originally God, but became God. 53 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,320 And so we may be talking about Jesus, they may be talking about 54 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:56,840 Jesus, and we may be talking about Jesus, but we're not 55 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,640 talking about the same Jesus. And that's why you have to be 56 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:03,720 very careful when going through videos and online materials 57 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,560 about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the 58 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,840 Mormons, because often times they'll portray Jesus in such a 59 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,640 way in those two-minute or three minute videos, as you say, wow, 60 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,760 that's really God honoring wow that they're really speaking 61 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,960 very highly of Jesus. But then once you kind of get 62 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,280 under the surface, you start to realize that there are the 63 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,040 doctrines of devils that are being promoted by the Mormon 64 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,760 church. And so Galatians one the other 65 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,920 gospels are not the gospel. First Corinthians are rather 2nd 66 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:35,280 Corinthians 11. The other Jesuses are not really 67 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,000 Jesus. And so that brings us to where 68 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:42,080 we are here today with a very many great contradictions of the 69 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,320 Mormon church. And we had a video that you 70 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,360 might have seen last week. And I know they got shown very 71 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,840 early on in Sunday school before the other sermon was shown. 72 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,240 But one of the first one they showed was a cartoon. 73 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:57,040 I don't even remember seeing that cartoon last week. 74 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,200 Did anybody see that? All right, some of you did tell 75 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:00,400 me you were awake last week. All right, good. 76 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,920 Ironically, I wasn't all right at that moment, but I was trying 77 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:06,280 to wake up, all things considered. 78 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,840 But there's a cartoon that was shown that talked about all the 79 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,240 different types of doctrines that come from the Mormon 80 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,320 church. And you look at that cartoon and 81 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,480 it looks like maybe it was made somewhere in the 70s. 82 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,920 And I tried to verify its authenticity from the Church of 83 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:23,320 Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 84 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,680 And I will say I was not able, no matter how much I tried to 85 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:31,520 verify its authenticity as being from the Mormon church. 86 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,960 However, everything that was in that video were very real Mormon 87 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,680 teachings. The fact that God Elohim was 88 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,480 from the space station planet Kolob, but where he was 89 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,240 originally from, they Mormons don't talk a lot about Kolob. 90 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,000 You could imagine why. All things considered, if they 91 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,320 lead with that, probably a lot of people would head for the 92 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:54,440 hills. And it's a good reminder to us 93 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,200 that false teaching doesn't rear its head at the 1st that false 94 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,520 teaching will start with that, which seems reasonable. 95 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,960 And then once the hook is set, then you start to realize the 96 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,640 things that are false. And so the Mormon church isn't 97 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,080 going to come right out and say, you know, Elohim was from the 98 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,480 planet Kolob because a lot of people would say, well, goodbye, 99 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,360 all right, I think that conversation is done. 100 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,680 But once the teaching starts to set in, the Mormon church 101 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,440 doesn't say, you know, Jesus and Satan were spirit brothers with 102 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:25,480 one another, because most people would say, I don't think that 103 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,360 sounds right. Even people that don't know a 104 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,160 lot about the Bible would probably question that thought 105 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,920 process. But this are these are the types 106 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,880 of things that are taught and that was shown and portrayed in 107 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,720 that video last week. So we ask ourselves this 108 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:40,720 question. We know that they're wrong, but 109 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,960 why are they wrong? And all of this focuses on on 110 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,640 the founder of Mormonism, the founder of the Church of Jesus 111 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,160 Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that is Joseph Smith. 112 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,800 So our lesson today is called Joseph Smith and Counterfeit 113 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,200 Christianity. And you see right here, Joseph 114 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,800 Smith, the founder of the Mormons, He was a man who found 115 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,520 the golden plates from God at age 17. 116 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:09,080 From his life not only emanated the Book of Mormon, but also the 117 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,280 other books that doctrines uncover. 118 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:26,000 That's again one of the reasons they would say, well, we're 119 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,240 Christians like you are. You believe the word of God and 120 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,160 we believe the word of God. The problem is to them the Word 121 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,600 of God is the Bible and the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great 122 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:37,640 Price and the doctrines of covenants. 123 00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:42,760 And three of those came from the mind of Joseph Smith and are not 124 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,360 the word of God. He was a martyr and a hero to 125 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:51,040 the Mormons, but he was also a polygamist, a petty thief and a 126 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,760 practitioner of the occult. He married somewhere between 30 127 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:01,760 to 35 women in his life, the youngest of those being 14 years 128 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,680 old. Now, we think of polygamy and 129 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,720 certainly polygamy was a great part of the Mormon church. 130 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,640 And you often find when the Mormon church has any kind of 131 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,600 pressure, particularly political pressure or PR pressure, they 132 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,520 have this amazing change of thought where they had a 133 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,120 revelation from God where they would change, for instance, 134 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,040 polygamy. They were not allowed to become 135 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,920 a state, the state of Utah while polygamy was being promoted. 136 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,320 Well, and then lo and behold, the president of the Mormon 137 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,320 church had a revelation that all of a sudden polygamy is not good 138 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,400 anymore. Well, isn't that politically, 139 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,400 politically expedient? We find in the 70s and into the 140 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:48,320 early 80s that there was a lot of confusion and a lot of bad 141 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,520 press for the Mormon church because of the teaching that if 142 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:57,800 someone had dark skin that they were the brethren of Lucifer and 143 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,720 that they could not have part and parcel in the Mormon church. 144 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:02,280 This was starting to be reported. 145 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:04,240 This is starting to be taught. Of course, there was a lot of 146 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,960 negativity about that. And lo and behold, revelation 147 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:09,520 that, well, maybe that's not the case anymore. 148 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,360 And so you find this over and over with the Mormon church that 149 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,920 they are not actually tied to the word of God. 150 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,600 No matter how many versions of the word of God, they have four 151 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,280 of them and they still are constantly changing and start 152 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,440 constantly doing things. But that goes all all the way 153 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,960 back to Joseph Smith, the revelator himself, who received 154 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:33,480 these golden plates and that was followed for about 20 or so 155 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,679 years before he was killed, martyred, however you want to 156 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:42,400 look at it, however, that he was lynched for his beliefs. 157 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,760 Now we know of Joseph Smith, but the second president of the 158 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,320 Mormon church who you were also likely familiar with is Brigham 159 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:52,880 Young. Now, why are you familiar with 160 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,520 Brigham Young? It likely is because of Brigham 161 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,840 Young University. And so we are familiar with them 162 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:02,960 because of college athletics or you're familiar with them just 163 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:04,560 because of the College in general. 164 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:10,080 But once the Mormons arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley, they 165 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,640 arrived with Brigham Young because Joseph Smith died in the 166 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:16,840 Midwest. And so they continue to migrate 167 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,520 into Utah. They build what is now known as 168 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,440 Salt Lake City, UT. And much of the modernization, 169 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:29,040 much of the what we see today of the Mormon Church, a lot of the 170 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:33,640 secrecy, a lot of the temple worship, a lot of those types of 171 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:38,680 things were started by Joseph Smith, but they ended up really 172 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:44,760 being modernized and really put into practice by Brigham Young. 173 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:49,560 And so Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, both together, we're not 174 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:54,520 just the founder and the 2nd president of the Mormon church, 175 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:58,600 but really much of what you see today emanates from these two 176 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,320 false prophets. So what does Mormonism look like 177 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,240 today? So we see the past there, but 178 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,800 what does it look like today? Well, the Mormon temple, the 179 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,560 grand temple that you see in Salt Lake City remains today. 180 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:14,920 And the headquarters of their church are located across the 181 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:16,840 street. Again, the Mormon Church is 182 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:21,240 very, very concerned with public relations. 183 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,200 They want to look good in the public eye and they want to look 184 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,400 like believers. They want to look like fellow 185 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:31,240 Christians, which they are not. Fellow Christians with us. 186 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,400 That's why you're probably likely very acquainted with the 187 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:36,840 Mormon Tabernacle Choir. What do they do? 188 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:41,480 Well, they're online and they have specials on television and 189 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,440 they do all different types of music. 190 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,080 In fact, sing some of the great hymns that we are familiar with. 191 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,440 Why? Because they are trying to be 192 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,160 one in arms with us. Some of you might remember the 193 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,240 Winter Olympics in 2000 were held in Salt Lake City. 194 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,960 A lot of the medal trophies were held in front of the temple. 195 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:00,760 Why? Public relations? 196 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,480 To be able to have that good look where these athletic 197 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,720 winners are there and the close-ups are there with them in 198 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,240 front of the Mormon temple. They are absolutely obsessed 199 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:15,800 with the look of Mormonism, as well as looking like they are 200 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:20,400 fellow believers with us. It is from Salt Lake City that 201 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:24,760 the office of president has been passed from Brigham Young to 16 202 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:26,920 other men. Now, as of a few weeks ago, the 203 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,480 president of the Mormon church was a man named Russell Nelson. 204 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,800 However, you might have noticed in the news that the Mormon 205 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,240 president passed away. And when a Mormon president 206 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,560 passes away, there's a secret conclave that takes place, in 207 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:45,120 some ways very similar to the Catholic Church selecting a 208 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,120 Pope. Not exactly the same, but the 209 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,400 secrecy that takes place and how it's done. 210 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,640 And as of Tuesday, the Mormon church has selected their next 211 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,040 president, president, which is a man named Dallon H Oaks. 212 00:11:57,520 --> 00:11:59,920 The president, listen to this, is the head of the church. 213 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:05,200 He is a modern prophet, seer and revelator, meaning this, that 214 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:09,880 God speaks directly to the president and whatever he says 215 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,480 is the word of God. OK, that's a very dangerous way 216 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,960 to look at anything, let alone we know we have the word of God 217 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,240 that has been settled for us and what the word of God says is 218 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:23,800 what it is. But not only are the four books 219 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,000 that they have not enough, but then you have the constant new 220 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,400 revelation that can come from your president. 221 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:33,800 They also have two members of the First Presidency that also 222 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,080 assist the president and then the Quorum of the 12 apostles. 223 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:41,360 They believe that they have continued the 12 apostles today, 224 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,600 that the 12 apostles who passed away from that time, there was 225 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,800 no apostleship, but they have resumed apostleship today 226 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,520 through these 12 apostles. There's also the Quorum of 70, 227 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:56,520 each with the president and all types of other councils. 228 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,840 And then at the local level they have stake presidents and the 229 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:06,120 stakes are kind of like a diocese to the Mormon church, so 230 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,480 that as you have different wards, that's what they call 231 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,920 their churches wards. Wards make up a stake, and those 232 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,640 stakes make up bishoprics. And then you end up looking at a 233 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,400 whole nation as they all all worship together. 234 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,920 So Speaking of worship, what does Mormon worship look like? 235 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,080 Well, a typical Mormon attends a worship service and Sunday 236 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,920 school classes on Sunday. These meetings take place in 237 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,120 Ward Chapel. So I forgot to show you that a 238 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,000 few moments ago. But that is the temple there in 239 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,600 Salt Lake City, of which you are probably very well acquainted. 240 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,640 But then we also see that this is a typical LDS ward and it 241 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:45,640 looks very much like a church, doesn't it? 242 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,200 And looks in many ways, again, the desire that they have. 243 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:51,400 And this is different from the Jehovah Witnesses. 244 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:55,800 The Jehovah Witnesses kind of shy away from being other like 245 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,880 other Christians because they believe that other Christians 246 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,440 should be avoided. But the Mormon church, although 247 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,280 they don't associate with us as Christians because, well, they 248 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,480 are not, but the same time they have this intense desire to be 249 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,680 able to look like Christians and even their wards, if you looked 250 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:12,920 at that, you would say, well, that kind of looks like a 251 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,960 Baptist Church, doesn't it? You might not even know any 252 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,400 different. But that is a typical LDS ward 253 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,720 and there are several in the area, the closest one being in 254 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,520 West Bridgewater to us. Meetings of the ward and the 255 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,000 stake are held regularly on Sunday. 256 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,160 The service and meetings would look very much like a typical 257 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,160 evangelical church. There is a sacrament meeting of 258 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,880 the whole ward where hymns are sung, they have communion of 259 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,000 bread and water, prayers are spoken and speakers present, 260 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,560 teaching. But no Mormon ward has an 261 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,360 official pastor like we would be familiar with ourselves. 262 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:52,600 Now, you might have just caught something that I said, and it 263 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,280 may have sounded very strange to you. 264 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:56,600 And that's communion of bread and water. 265 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,400 How many of you heard that? Now I think of bread and water 266 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:00,040 and I think of prisons. What I think of. 267 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:05,680 Not necessarily the communion, but in my studies looking at 268 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,600 Mormonism, and I thought, you know, why would they say that 269 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,280 communion would be bread and water? 270 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:15,080 Because it seems pretty clear in the word of God that it would be 271 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:16,760 unleavened bread in the fruit of the vine. 272 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,880 Why? Because each of those are 273 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,880 symbolic of the perfect body and the perfect blood of Jesus 274 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:24,600 Christ. And just as a reminder here, I 275 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,040 know who I'm with today, but we probably should just remind 276 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,760 ourselves anyway that when we take the Lord's Supper, as we 277 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:32,680 often do a couple times a year, we take the Lord's Supper, that 278 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,800 we are not actually taking in Christ's body and blood. 279 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,720 He said this due in remembrance of me. 280 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,800 And so we don't believe in transubstantiation as the 281 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:45,080 Catholics do, that it literally becomes Christ's body and blood 282 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,280 and the bread and the wine that they use disappear. 283 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,880 They're not even there physically, chemically, they are 284 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:52,440 gone. We don't believe in 285 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,600 consubstantiation, of which Lutheranism believes, of which I 286 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:57,680 was brought up when I was a child. 287 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,800 In fact, when I was confirmed, I had to be able to explain what 288 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,680 consubstantiation was. And it's basically, again, 1/2 289 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:08,440 Catholic teaching that, yes, that when the pastor blesses the 290 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,880 bread and the wine, it is Christ, body and blood, but yet 291 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:14,840 it is also still the bread and the wine. 292 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,320 But we would believe that it is symbolic, it's a memorial. 293 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,560 Why do we believe that? Well, because that's what Jesus 294 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,040 said and it is still very important. 295 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:26,680 It is still a wonderful reminder to us in First Corinthians, 296 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,120 teaches us in First Corinthians Chapter 11 that those who took 297 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,840 it without really having introspection in their life 298 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,080 found that they had some very great difficulties in their life 299 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,640 because they took it unworthily. And so just because we look at 300 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,480 it as the Bible does, as a memorial, doesn't take away from 301 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,880 the beauty of what the Lord's Supper is. 302 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,400 But now I hear as I'm studying bread and water. 303 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,720 Why bread and water? Well, listen to this. 304 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,840 This is from the Doctrines and Covenants chapter 27 verses 2 305 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,480 and 3. Joseph Smith says it Mattereth 306 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,760 not what you shall eat or what you shall drink when you partake 307 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,440 of the sacrament. If it so be that you do it with 308 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:08,400 an I single to my glory. So basically Joseph Smith said 309 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,960 to the Church of the Latter Day Saints that you know what I 310 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,280 believe it really doesn't matter what you take as the elements of 311 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:18,960 the Lord's Supper. And so Joseph Smith's words have 312 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,800 overruled the word of God. That's pretty normal for what we 313 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,440 see from Mormonism, isn't it? And so they say, listen, it 314 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:29,200 doesn't matter what you use for the Lord's Supper. 315 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,920 And I've heard people say the same sometimes as believers. 316 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,360 And it does matter again, because that unleavened bread 317 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:39,440 symbolizes the sinless body of Christ and the fruit of the 318 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,640 vine. No degradation that comes from 319 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,760 alcohol as as that alcohol degrades. 320 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,000 No, no, not at all. It's the fresh fruit of the 321 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:49,040 vine. That's what we see. 322 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,920 And that's what I believe is very clear in the word of God. 323 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:56,440 But church leaders have the Mormon church leaders in Salt 324 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:01,440 Lake City have asked to use water because it is inexpensive 325 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,520 and universally available, meaning this listen, not every 326 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,240 place could buy grape juice. Some of these foreign missions, 327 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:09,840 they're not able to get grape juice in, but just use water. 328 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,200 It's OK. It's not a big deal. 329 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,040 And of course, we made mention of, I believe a couple weeks 330 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,000 ago, the fact that the Mormon church has somewhere of assets 331 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,880 around $300 billion. I think they could afford to 332 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,080 make sure that places have grape juice in these other countries, 333 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,160 but yet they've conveniently changed the word of God. 334 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,280 Now, again, this isn't my message, but I'm going to take a 335 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:36,920 brief time out here just to say not Joseph Smith, not bring them 336 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,680 young, and by the way, not we either have the authority or the 337 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:43,760 ability to change the word of God to fit our own situations. 338 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,920 Well, I know what the Bible says, but stop right there. 339 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:48,840 You don't want to finish that sentence. 340 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,120 I know what the Bible says, but I believe, well, stop right 341 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:54,720 there. Listen, you don't get to have a, 342 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,200 what is it called a private interpretation of the word of 343 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:00,240 God. Know what the word of God says 344 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:04,120 is what goes and no man can just have a revelation and say, well, 345 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:06,160 it really doesn't matter what the elements are. 346 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,240 Well, I mean, I guess at this point when you're making 347 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,440 everything else up, you might as well just go ahead and do that 348 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:12,640 too. But we understand that it's so 349 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:17,400 far unbiblically from what the word of God says that we just 350 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,880 reject that out of hand. Other classes that take place at 351 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,480 the typical ward chapels teach on topics from the Mormon 352 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,360 scriptures. They have something that looks 353 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:28,400 very much like Sunday school that we have. 354 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,480 They have general meetings of the state, biannual, biannual 355 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:36,120 conference in Salt Lake City, which is broadcast around the 356 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:39,600 world. And I have found myself in each 357 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,080 of these three studies we've done, we've done Islam, Jehovah 358 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:47,760 Witness, and Mormonism so far. And I found myself really diving 359 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,480 deep on YouTube for each of them to just find out what is 360 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:54,120 believed and what is being said and what's being spoken. 361 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,040 And I found that when it comes to Islam that, well, there's 362 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,360 really no central core. And so because of that, you have 363 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:03,680 all kinds of different videos that are out there from all 364 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,040 kinds of different beliefs. And be honest with you, there's 365 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,680 a lot of infighting within Islam about the different types of 366 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,400 laws and the different. Types of ways to look at Islam, 367 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,040 Jehovah Witnesses, well, they believe the internet's the 368 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:16,320 devil. And so they're not really making 369 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:20,640 any videos on on online. And everything we found was from 370 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,760 lds.org because remember they had a revelation that lds.org 371 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,280 was safe. You can look at lds.org, but you 372 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,120 couldn't look at the rest of of the Internet. 373 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:34,200 But Mormonism is very active on YouTube, Mormonism very active 374 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,240 on social media, Mormonism very active on TikTok, believe it or 375 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,720 not. And there's a lot of families, 376 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,400 there's a lot of young women that are on there that are 377 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:49,840 trying to show this, this Mormonism life that's out there 378 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,640 and show how appealing it is. But what they don't show, again, 379 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:56,440 as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, the seedy underbelly of 380 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,680 what Mormonism truly is, the falsehood, that's about it. 381 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,720 But again, this all goes back to the public relations of which 382 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,240 they have that they desperately want to look like fellow 383 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,280 believers with us. So we see that they have these 384 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,080 wards, but they also have temples as well. 385 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:14,800 And it's not just the temple in Salt Lake City. 386 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,800 Mormons have temples all over the world. 387 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:23,200 As of today, there are 201 temples on 6 continents with 388 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,040 more under construction. Now, I put in quotes there the 389 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,560 Boston Temple because of course, as you know, anyone from outside 390 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,680 of Boston thinks everything is Boston, right? 391 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,880 We live in Boston, don't we? We know we don't live really 392 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,000 close to Boston at all, but if you are from somewhere else in 393 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,600 the country, they say, oh, don't you live in Boston? 394 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,000 And you get to the point you say, yeah, I live in Boston. 395 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,520 Sure, why not? That helps. 396 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,320 That makes it easier. But there's Boston Temples 397 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,040 actually in Belmont, MA, and it is their 100th temple. 398 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,760 Each Mormon temple is extremely secretive. 399 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,600 When a new Mormon temple is opened, the very first day, part 400 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:03,160 of it is open to the public. So the public, the media are 401 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,920 allowed to go in and to explore a very small portion of the 402 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,000 temple. After that, only faithful, 403 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,000 practicing Mormons are ever allowed into the temple. 404 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,280 There are only very few people that are actually allowed 405 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:19,880 inside. They have different rituals that 406 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,640 take place there. One of their primary rituals is 407 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,920 the endowment ceremony. This ceremony happens when young 408 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,800 people go on their mission or before they're married. 409 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:33,440 So you know that young Mormons often go on to, they go around 410 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,080 the world. Young men spend 2 years, I 411 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,080 believe young ladies spend 18 months. 412 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:42,040 They have an endowment ceremony that takes place at the temple 413 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:46,480 before they go on their mission. Marriages take place inside the 414 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:47,840 temple. Now why is that? 415 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,520 Well, because they believe that those marriages that take place 416 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,080 last not just for life, but last for eternity as well. 417 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,280 Well, why is that important? Well, because remember, Elohim 418 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:02,560 had children with his spiritual wife. 419 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,280 That's where Jesus and Lucifer came from. 420 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:10,120 And that you in your marriage in the Mormon temple will also be 421 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:14,640 able to be married for eternity and to populate your own worlds 422 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,800 in the same way that Elohim has. Again, absolute blasphemy. 423 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,000 But this takes place within the Mormon temples, away from the 424 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:27,080 eyes of others. You also find that they have 425 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,600 baptisms for the dead that take place within the Mormon temple. 426 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,360 You say baptisms for the dead. Now, the first time I heard of 427 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:36,280 that, I thought they're taking bodies and baptizing them. 428 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:37,720 You know, that seems very strange. 429 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,200 But what they do is they would take someone in proxy and say, I 430 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:46,040 am going to baptize this person on behalf of my great 431 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,000 grandfather who has passed away with the hope that this baptism 432 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:55,000 for the dead will help them to be able to experience some sort 433 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,320 of life eternal. Again. 434 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:58,400 Nowhere is this found in the word of God. 435 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,120 I know I'm saying something to you that's so plain, fully 436 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:03,160 obvious that everyone understands that. 437 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,400 But this is the types of things that take place, the holy 438 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,400 garments, and sometimes they're called the secret underwear that 439 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,400 they have as Mormons. But all of those things are 440 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,640 things that take place within the Mormon temple, very 441 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,880 secretive. A lot of the background for 442 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,240 these things, if you were to study it, goes back to Joseph 443 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,920 Smith's preoccupation with Freemasonry, and you see how 444 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,720 deep he was into Freemasonry and into the occult in general. 445 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,880 And you find that a lot of that just carries over into Mormonism 446 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:41,200 and into the Mormon temple endowment ceremonies, the 447 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:45,840 special or the eternal marriages, proxy baptisms, 448 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:50,880 baptisms for the dead, the secret garments that they wear. 449 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:54,600 All of this and more take place ceiling ordinances. 450 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,560 They are on behalf of other people so that their marriages 451 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,320 and families may continue into life after death. 452 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,040 So with all of that being said, we have a few more moments. 453 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,600 Let's consider this. What is the Book of Mormon? 454 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,360 We talked a lot about the New World Translation a few weeks 455 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:13,680 ago, didn't we? In fact, we saw how we can show 456 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,040 someone that is a Jehovah Witness salvation through the 457 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,160 New World Translation in the sense that there are some places 458 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:21,840 where the deity of Christ can still be found. 459 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:23,280 And we looked at that a few weeks ago. 460 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:27,240 But this Book of Mormon, what is it and where does it come from? 461 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:28,800 Now? The Book of Mormon is the 462 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,840 foundational text of the Latter Day Saints. 463 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,560 It's presented as an ancient record translated by Joseph 464 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:39,240 Smith during religious revivals in 19th century New York. 465 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:43,800 Again, there were these golden plates that were found in age 24 466 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,080 following visions, including one with an Angel named Moroni. 467 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:54,240 In 1823, he found those golden plates near a hill in Palmyra, 468 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:59,480 NY, and it was the the language that was on these plates was 469 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,280 called Reformed Egyptian. Now there is no such language as 470 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,920 Reformed Egyptian, but these golden plates had that and over 471 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,720 a period of time he had a special pair of glasses and with 472 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,520 angelic help he was able to translate from those golden 473 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,880 plates the Book of Mormon. Now you ask yourself today, 474 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,360 where are those golden plates? And the answer is they don't 475 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:25,800 exist. They have a, they have 476 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:30,040 documented somewhere between 10 or 15 individuals who said that 477 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,720 they saw those golden plates, but that is the only record 478 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,440 whatsoever. Now, when you look at the 479 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:39,200 preservation of the Word of God, it's amazing how God has 480 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,160 preserved His word through the ages. 481 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,920 But I would also say this, if you had golden plates, it would 482 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,160 seem like, well, those would be durable enough to hang out for a 483 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,440 while. It would seem like that would be 484 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,320 something that could be inspected or look upon today. 485 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,960 Now, there are recreations of these golden plates that are in 486 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,880 many of these temples. However, there is no real record 487 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,280 of what took place. He retrieved these plates in 488 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,960 1827. Thin metallic leaves bound by 489 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:11,000 rings weighing 40 to 60 lbs, accompanied by the Urim and 490 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,920 Thummim for translation. Of course, the Urim and the 491 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,280 thumb and the Old Testament were put on the breastplate of the 492 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,400 priest, and that was one of the ways of which the priests were 493 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:22,240 able to communicate with the Lord. 494 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,240 But they take this and take it in a different direction. 495 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:32,200 18271829 Smith dictated the text to scribes like Emma Smith and 496 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:37,600 Oliver Cowdry using a sear stone in a hat, producing over 500 497 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,440 pages in about 60 days. So once again, these special 498 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,440 glasses, the sear stone in the hat. 499 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:48,040 Again, Joseph Smith had this preoccupation with the occult, 500 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,240 whether it was a divining rod. You know, sometimes it's talked 501 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,800 about divining rods using water. A seer stone was something that 502 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,560 you were supposed to be able to hold or you able to put in your 503 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,520 pocket or put in a hat and that you could receive some sort of 504 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,560 divine revelation. Again, none of this is found in 505 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,880 the Word of God. This is all of the occult. 506 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,560 And I believe very clearly that probably Joseph Smith did have 507 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,440 some visions. I believe Joseph Smith did see 508 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,920 some things. I believe Joseph Smith very well 509 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,600 experienced many of the things he thought experienced. 510 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,280 But I know this, it didn't come from God. 511 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:22,880 That means there's only one other option of where it came 512 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,120 from. I believe it was satanically 513 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:31,360 motivated and that he was open through his part in the occult 514 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,440 to be able to receive these things and to be able to deceive 515 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:36,960 many. Now, what does the Book of 516 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,760 Mormon cover? The narrative covers Israelite 517 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:44,560 migrations to the Americas around 600 BC, civilizations 518 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,160 like the Nephites and the Lamanites, wars, and then 519 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,040 Christ's post resurrection visit. 520 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,480 It incorporates extensive biblical quotes such as from 521 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,040 Isaiah in familiar scriptural language. 522 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,640 In fact, there is much from the Book of Mormon that basically is 523 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,000 just plagiarized, well from the Bible and that he just took 524 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,680 parts of the Bible and then move things around. 525 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,640 And of course, it goes without saying, there is no historical 526 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,480 recording of the Israelites coming to the Americas around 527 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,720 600 BC. We know the dispersion that took 528 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,960 place in Israel, and we know that that was not to the West 529 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,400 all the way to the Americas, that that was to the east. 530 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,920 That was to Assyria and that was to Babylon. 531 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:24,960 That's where the dispersion took place. 532 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,840 There is no record because it did not happen. 533 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,520 Witnesses, though, as I mentioned before, authenticated 534 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,120 these plates. Three said they saw the plates 535 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:38,400 through angelic vision. 8 handled them physically and 536 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,120 published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon, an account written by 537 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:46,000 the hand of Mormon upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi. 538 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:50,720 Smith called it the most correct book on earth and a companion to 539 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,680 the Bible. That's the words of someone who 540 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:57,560 is delusional, that this is the most correct book on earth. 541 00:29:57,920 --> 00:29:59,560 But it has faced scrutiny over time. 542 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,680 Why? Because of its many mistakes, 543 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,640 things that were not native to that time period in the Americas 544 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:10,040 were incorporated into the writing, like horses and steel. 545 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,120 Things that well before Columbus was in this area would not have 546 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:16,920 been an issue at that time. But Joseph Smith and his 547 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:19,920 ignorance just adds these things in as something that was 548 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,720 commonplace in the Americas of which it would not. 549 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,520 But yet, despite all of the issues of the Book of Mormon, it 550 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,120 fueled growth, missionary work, and the western migration that 551 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:35,880 went from New York to to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois. 552 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,520 And then finally, as they got kicked out of place to place to 553 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,880 place to place as people did not want to have them in their 554 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,960 communities, they finally decided the only option they had 555 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,640 was to go West to a place where no one else was. 556 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,960 And that is why they ended up settling in Salt Lake City, UT. 557 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,560 Today it remains the Book of Mormon, a core scripture. 558 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:00,480 It's studied with the Bible. It is studied like the Bible and 559 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,920 it's other texts emphasized as in continuing Revelation and 560 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,280 personal faith confirmation. So you remember a few minutes 561 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,640 ago I said we need to go to Revelation chapter #22 and I 562 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:10,840 told you I wouldn't forget about it. 563 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:13,200 I haven't forgotten about it, but look at Revelation chapter 564 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,560 #22 verse #18 and I believe we've looked at this a few weeks 565 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:18,880 ago, but I think it bears repeating for us to look at 566 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:24,360 again today. Beware those who say they have 567 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:27,440 another word from the Lord, that the word of the Lord has been 568 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:29,200 closed for us. Why is that? 569 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,120 Well, First Corinthians, rather chapter 13 says when that which 570 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,720 is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away 571 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:38,440 with it. And I believe very clearly it 572 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,600 doesn't say when that who is perfect has come, because that 573 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,240 would be Jesus. But when that which is perfect 574 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:45,120 is come, what is that talking about? 575 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:47,280 It's talking about the Word of God. 576 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,960 We don't need prophecies. We don't need to have these 577 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,880 visions, those things that authenticated the apostles as 578 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,520 they went from place to place that they were really speaking 579 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,240 the Word of God. We don't need authentication of 580 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,440 the speaker in these means because you can authenticate 581 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:04,440 what I'm speaking by looking in your Bible. 582 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,680 You don't need me to do a miracle to show that I'm 583 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:10,520 authentically from God. You could just listen to a 584 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,160 message and say, well, was that a biblical message? 585 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,320 And that is what authenticates what I'm speaking. 586 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,400 But the Mormon Church has gone against what this has said. 587 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,960 And look at what it says in verse #18 It says, For I testify 588 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,640 unto every man that here at the words of the prophecy of this 589 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:30,120 book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto 590 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:32,520 him the plagues that are written in this book. 591 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:35,840 If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this 592 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,160 prophecy, God shall take away His part out of the book of life 593 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,440 and out of the holy city, and from the things which are 594 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:45,280 written in this book, he which testified these things sayeth. 595 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,880 Surely I come quickly, Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus, and 596 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,240 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 597 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:56,120 Amen. God takes a very dim view of 598 00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:00,080 those who add to His Bible and those who take away from His 599 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,840 Bible that God's Word is settled. 600 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,200 That means we cannot add to it. We cannot take away from it. 601 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:07,640 By the way, that's not just talking about the Mormons. 602 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:11,320 That's talking about anyone that has the idea that they are going 603 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,400 to be able to make another testament, that they are going 604 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,240 to have another word. Again, I can't stand in front of 605 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,240 you this morning and say I have a prophecy from the Lord and I 606 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:21,920 need to be able to give it to you today. 607 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,960 Listen, head for the hills if you hear me or anyone else say 608 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:27,600 something like that because that is not what we need. 609 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:32,440 What we need is the 66 books of the Word of God taught and 610 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,720 preached and lived. Everything that we need that 611 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,520 pertains to life and godliness is found in this book. 612 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,720 To have another testament would be to say that this isn't 613 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,640 enough. To have to take another 614 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:46,720 testament and say, oh, by the way, that's still not enough. 615 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:48,360 And then we need a doctrine and Covenant. 616 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:50,080 Oh, that's not enough. And then we need to Pearl a 617 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,600 great price. Well, listen, once you open the 618 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:56,400 door, nothing is enough. It just has to be the Word of 619 00:33:56,400 --> 00:34:00,320 God and the Word of God alone and to the Mormon Church holds 620 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,080 to the Book of Mormon. And now you have found if you go 621 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:06,280 to a hotel, there was a time, it still is the case that the 622 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,280 Gideons, and I don't know a lot about the Gideons, but I do know 623 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,600 this, they put a King James Bible in every hotel room that 624 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:15,480 you find. Every single hotel room around 625 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:19,639 this country has a King James Bible from the Gideon 626 00:34:19,639 --> 00:34:22,679 International group. But there's been a movement over 627 00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:27,239 the last several years to as well as have that Gideon's Bible 628 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:30,159 to also have a Book of Mormon. And if you go into many hotel 629 00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:33,199 rooms now and you as I do, just because I'm nosy and go start 630 00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:35,280 going through the drawers and try to find where that Bible is, 631 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,440 like I got my own, but I'm just curious that Bible's in there. 632 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:39,000 A Book of Mormon is in there as well. 633 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:41,280 And So what I do, I'll just share this with you because you 634 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,560 could do this as well. What I do when I find one of 635 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,520 those Books of Mormon, I just get one of the tracks that I 636 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:46,719 have and I put it right in the front. 637 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:48,560 So if someone's going to open that Book of Mormon, they're 638 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:49,760 going to find the truth in there too. 639 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,320 That's the only truth that's contained within the Book of 640 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:53,840 Mormon is that track that I put in there. 641 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:57,280 And so that's my little way of protesting, and that's my little 642 00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,880 way of making sure that if someone does pull it out that 643 00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:03,200 they do receive the truth. But everything revolves around 644 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,360 the Book of Mormon. Now, what we're going to do next 645 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,440 week is we're going to start to really break down some of the 646 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:12,160 major doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 647 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:14,000 Saints. We're going to look at these 648 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,160 three other books, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and 649 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:18,840 Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price. 650 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,240 I've given you just a few of them already, but we're going to 651 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:25,560 take what we can find from those in more of a greater scale, and 652 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:27,840 then we're going to start comparing them to the word of 653 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:29,360 God. This is kind of the way that 654 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,240 we've done this series for the last few cults and religions 655 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:35,560 that we've looked at is that we try to give you an introduction, 656 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:37,200 then dive deep into the doctrine. 657 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,800 And then once we've done that, we ask ourselves, well, how do 658 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,280 we witness to these people? How do we win someone? 659 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:44,920 How are we going to get that guy that's riding down your street 660 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,040 on a bike with his little tie and his white shirt? 661 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:50,720 How are you going to be able to talk to him about Jesus Christ 662 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:54,240 in a way that he can understand that Mormonism is false? 663 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:55,920 That's what we're going to look at, but that's what's coming 664 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:59,320 next few weeks, All right. Thank you for listening to this 665 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,920 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 666 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:05,480 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 667 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,640 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 668 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:13,520 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 669 00:36:13,720 --> 00:36:17,400 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 670 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,480 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.