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 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,280 We are going to ask ourselves the question today as we look at 8 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,000 our text, or rather, we look at our series on world religions 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:33,360 and cults. We've been looking specifically 10 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:35,360 at Mormonism over the last couple weeks. 11 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:36,920 We're going to ask ourselves the question today. 12 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:39,560 Who is God according to Mormonism? 13 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,000 Who is God according to Mormonism? 14 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,160 Now, that might seem like an easy question to be able to 15 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:48,360 tackle because Mormonism talks about the Father, the Son, and 16 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,800 the Holy Ghost. And so one would probably think 17 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,960 just on the surface that they believe the same things that we 18 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,720 do about the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. 19 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,240 And, well, you here are a little bit more savvy than maybe the 20 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:01,960 person on the street who would not have that understanding. 21 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,560 And you know that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, of 22 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,960 which the Mormons speak of, are not the Father, Son and Holy 23 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:10,760 Ghost, the Trinity of of the Bible. 24 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,240 In fact, they are quite different indeed in so many 25 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,600 ways. And I mentioned before that the 26 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:20,440 Latter Day Saints Church so desperately wants to claim to be 27 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,280 part of the wider Christian tradition, but yet their beliefs 28 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,320 place them outside of traditional and orthodox 29 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:32,080 doctrine. But the LDS church desperately 30 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,360 wants to be called Christian. And that's an odd thing in so 31 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,120 many ways because as I've been talking with several of you just 32 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,880 about during the week, it's so obvious that when you get 33 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,600 beneath the surface that there is not a commonality that we 34 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,280 have. But yet there does seem to be 35 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,800 this desperation for them to be able to be accepted as 36 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,640 Christians just as we are now. This has not always been the 37 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:55,440 case. In fact, you will find that 38 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,600 through history, really up until the last few decades, the 39 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,760 Mormons had much give a similar stance and posture to the at 40 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,880 least outwardly to Christianity as Jehovah Witnesses. 41 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,039 Of course, Jehovah Witnesses believe that everyone is 42 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:12,040 apostate except for them. And Mormons in many ways feel 43 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,000 the same way. But outwardly they have a 44 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,160 different posture that we're going to talk a little bit 45 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,040 about. What they believe is the church 46 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,160 that is redeemed and the church is not redeemed. 47 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,520 We're going to look at that, Lord willing, next week. 48 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:26,160 But again, modern media campaigns is trying to move away 49 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,400 from the name Mormon. In fact, you'll see from our 50 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,680 video this morning that they call themselves that purposely 51 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,080 say that the correct name is Latter Day Saints. 52 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,920 They want to get away from the stigmatism of the name Mormon 53 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:39,920 and want to be called Latter Day Saints. 54 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,040 However, you can name it whatever you want. 55 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,800 You can put whatever wrapping paper you want around it. 56 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,400 Once you open it up and look inside, you'll find that it's 57 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,760 the doctrine of devils. And so we're going to look at 58 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,880 these teachings this morning about the Godhead, Father, Son, 59 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,360 and Holy Ghost and examine some of those key doctrines in these 60 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,600 areas. Again, Mormon views are 61 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,640 unorthodox in relation to the Father, the Son, and the Holy 62 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:10,440 Ghost, who again, altogether we would call the Godhead. 63 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,080 So going on to the next slide right there, the Godhead. 64 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,760 Mormons deny the Trinity. Can we just start right there? 65 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,160 Mormons deny the Trinity. Now, a surface reading of some 66 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,920 of their documents would make it seem like they believe that the 67 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:27,760 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one. 68 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:33,040 But instead be clear about this. Although again, on the surface 69 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,920 it would not seem to be the way. But as you get very deeper, much 70 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,680 deeper into their teachings, Mormons are polytheistic. 71 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:47,000 They believe in many gods, that Elohim, Father Son, Jesus 72 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,480 Christ, and Holy Ghost are just one of many gods and you as well 73 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,040 can someday be elevated to God as well. 74 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,560 The Mormons only worship the gods who are connected with this 75 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,160 planet. They only worship the gods that 76 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,800 are connected with this existence, this reality, if you 77 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:10,160 will, Elohim Son and Holy Ghost. The first article of faith of 78 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,800 Mormons says this. We believe in God the Eternal 79 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,120 Father, in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 80 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:21,920 Now again, just on its face, you might say, well, that doesn't 81 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,960 sound so bad that they believe in the three, but they don't 82 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,240 make clear that the three is actually one. 83 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,160 Why is that? Because they don't believe that 84 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,680 the three are one, that they are three separate gods. 85 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,320 Now this can be difficult to suss out. 86 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:37,400 In fact, I was talking with Miss Lisa yesterday. 87 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,880 We were looking at a verse. Mormon 7/7 in fact, I forgot to 88 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,040 pull it up and have it with me but Book of Mormon has a book 89 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,680 called Mormon inside of it. Chapter 7 verse 7. 90 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,040 It talks about them being one, and you'll find that there are 91 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:52,600 several verses that talk about that. 92 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,320 And of course, because the Mormons use the Bible, they have 93 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,120 some difficulty getting around certain doctrines because, well, 94 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,720 the Jehovah Witnesses, as we saw, kind of wrote those 95 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:03,440 doctrines out when they rewrote the Bible. 96 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,800 But the Mormons use the King James Version by and large. 97 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:11,080 And so they have to have excuses about why it says it says and 98 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,640 why they don't believe it. And so you will find that often 99 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,240 times that the Mormons will say something like this. 100 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:20,960 We believe in the unity of God or we believe that they are one. 101 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,680 But as you're going to see in just a moment, they truly don't 102 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:26,800 believe that God is 1. They only believe that he's one 103 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,600 in his purpose. They only believe that he's one 104 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,040 in his design. They don't believe that He's 105 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:33,400 actually one. They just believe there's a 106 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,400 harmony that they're all working together, but they don't believe 107 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:41,720 that they are actually one God. And so an online resource of the 108 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,640 Latter Day Saints describes their view of God. 109 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,320 These three beings make up the Godhead. 110 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,080 They preside over this world and all other creations of our 111 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,040 Father in heaven. The Mormon view of the members 112 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,680 of the Godhead corresponds in a number of ways with the views of 113 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,560 others in the Christian world, but with significant 114 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,840 differences. Latter Day Saints pray to God 115 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:06,120 the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. 116 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:08,720 They acknowledge the Father as the ultimate object of their 117 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,680 worship, the Son as Lord and Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as 118 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,600 the messenger and revealer of the Father and the Son. 119 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,400 But where Latter Day Saints differ from other Christian 120 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,960 religions is their belief that God and Jesus Christ are 121 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,360 glorified physical beings and that each member of the Godhead 122 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,920 is a separate being. We'll see in just a moment. 123 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:33,480 They believe that God the Father is a real physical being who can 124 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,480 have real physical relations. And we'll talk about the 125 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,680 blasphemy of all of that here in just a few moments. 126 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,680 But instead of taking my word for it, I want you to watch a 127 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,160 video from the Latter Day Saints website. 128 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,640 It's going to be about 7 minutes or so long, but I think it 129 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,520 perfectly encapsulates what we're about to talk about and 130 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,080 it's a good investment of our time because again, that comes 131 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:55,600 directly from the Latter Day Saints. 132 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,080 So why don't we go ahead and watch that together and then 133 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,360 we'll see what's next. Central to the beliefs of the 134 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,080 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is their concept of 135 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,640 God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. 136 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,160 Mormons, properly known as Latter Day Saints. 137 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,200 Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 138 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,520 refer to these beings collectively as the Godhead. 139 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,280 To understand the Godhead more fully, let's begin with the 140 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,360 Latter Day St. understanding of God. 141 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,840 Latter Day Saints acknowledge and Revere God the Father as the 142 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:31,640 ultimate object of their worship. 143 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:36,400 He is the Supreme Being, the all knowing and all powerful Father 144 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,040 of all mankind. They even refer to him often as 145 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,160 Heavenly Father, meaning the Father of their spirits. 146 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,720 God the Father appears in the scriptural record from time to 147 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,800 time at very important events, like during the creation of the 148 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,240 world as recorded in the Old Testament or in the New 149 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,720 Testament, for instance, when introducing his Son Jesus Christ 150 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,520 at the Savior's baptism. And lo, a voice from heaven 151 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:06,080 saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. 152 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,080 Latter Day Saints believe God is a loving Father to all His 153 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,320 children and wants them to have all that He has. 154 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,760 For this reason, He provided a plan of happiness and a Savior 155 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:21,520 to help his children learn of him and become more like Him. 156 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,480 Latter Day Saints pray to and worship the Father in the name 157 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,680 of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord, Savior and Redeemer of all 158 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,520 his children. Jesus Christ, God's Son, was 159 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:37,280 born in a Manger, lived among the children of God, and taught 160 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,280 His gospel of salvation. Jesus also suffered for the sins 161 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:45,160 of mankind, was crucified, and rose from the grave as a 162 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:49,400 resurrected and glorified being. He is the great example for all 163 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,080 of God's children. The Holy Ghost completes the 164 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,840 Godhead as the messenger and revealer of the Father and the 165 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,200 Son. We'll explain more about the 166 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:03,000 Holy Ghost a bit later. Together, the three members of 167 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,320 the Godhead are one in many ways. 168 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,920 But don't confuse the Godhead with concepts of the Trinity 169 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,600 found in other Christian faiths, as there are key differences 170 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,080 which for Latter Day Saints are very important to understand. 171 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,000 It can also be confusing at times when in Scripture they are 172 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,720 sometimes referred to as one God or when it says the Father and 173 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,960 Son are one. For Latter Day Saints, this 174 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,240 means they are all united in their thoughts, desires, 175 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:36,360 knowledge, power, and purpose to love, guide, and save all of 176 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,640 God's children. One important concept is the 177 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,720 understanding that each member of the Godhead is a different 178 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:47,280 individual being. For example, Joseph Smith, a man 179 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,800 whom God selected as his prophet to restore the Church of Jesus 180 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,640 Christ to the earth, revealed that God the Father and His Son 181 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,360 Jesus Christ are separate individual beings. 182 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,600 Joseph saw God the Father and Jesus in a personal visit from 183 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,400 them in 1820. In Joseph's words, when the 184 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,440 light rested upon me, I saw two personages whose brightness and 185 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,160 glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. 186 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:17,000 One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, 187 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:21,520 pointing to the other, This is my beloved son, hear him. 188 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,840 This is yet another example of God the Father introducing his 189 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,960 beloved son. Joseph later recorded a 190 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,960 revelation that he received describing their physical 191 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,960 bodies. The Father has a body of flesh 192 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,440 and bones as tangible as man's, the Son also. 193 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,280 But the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is 194 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:46,160 a personage of spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost 195 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,960 could not dwell in us. Now let's talk more about what 196 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,320 Latter Day Saints believe about Jesus Christ. 197 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,000 Jesus Christ is often referred to as the Son of God, also 198 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:01,000 called the First born. Latter Day Saints believe He was 199 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,800 the first Spirit child created of Heavenly Parents and is the 200 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,120 eldest brother to all of God's children. 201 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,040 They also believe through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus 202 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,160 Christ made in Gethsemane and upon the cross, he became the 203 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:19,240 Redeemer of all of God's children, literally the Savior 204 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,680 of the world. And Jesus's subsequent 205 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,360 resurrection prepared the way for every person, whoever lived 206 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:30,640 or who will live, to overcome physical death by also being 207 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,720 resurrected with an immortal physical body, as the Apostle 208 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:36,560 Paul explained in the New Testament. 209 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,120 Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. 210 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,960 Besides the many descriptions and names of Jesus Christ 211 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,000 referred to in Scripture, Latter Day Saints also believe Jesus is 212 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,080 the only way back to God the Father. 213 00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:55,080 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 214 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:57,960 No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 215 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,040 Now let's talk about the third member of the Godhead, the Holy 216 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,000 Spirit, also sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost. 217 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,960 He is, well, a spirit. He does not have a physical 218 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,680 body, but his spiritual influence can be felt by all of 219 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:16,920 God's children. This attribute allows him to 220 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,120 work in perfect unity with Heavenly Father and Jesus 221 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,720 Christ, fulfilling several roles to help God's children live 222 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,080 righteously and receive the blessings of the gospel. 223 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:31,360 For instance, the Holy Ghost witnesses of the reality of the 224 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:33,320 Father and the mission of the Son. 225 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,080 And in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul describes other 226 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,080 feelings associated with the Holy Ghost. 227 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:45,040 Lovejoy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. 228 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:49,920 The Holy Ghost also reveals and teaches the truth of all things. 229 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,080 God taught the Prophet Joseph Smith how all of God's children 230 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:58,080 can receive a witness of truth for themselves by the power of 231 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,800 the Holy Ghost. Yeah, behold, I will tell you in 232 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,680 your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come 233 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:08,240 upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. 234 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,440 So there it is. God the Father, his Son Jesus 235 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,400 Christ, and the Holy Ghost make up the Godhead. 236 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,280 They are three distinct beings with unique and important roles, 237 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:23,200 but together they operate in perfect unity and harmony. 238 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,520 God the Father loves all of his children and knows they will be 239 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,840 happier and more fulfilled if they listen to and feel the 240 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,400 direction from the Holy Ghost, follow the teachings and example 241 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,400 of Jesus Christ, and return to live with Him. 242 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:42,960 It's all part of God's plan, the Godhead, what it is and why it's 243 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,480 important to understand. Now you know. 244 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,960 Eid, So there's a lot to be able to cover there. 245 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,480 We'll cover it in just a moment as we look at Father, Son and 246 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:58,080 Holy Ghost. But I will say, did you catch 247 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:02,840 once again that they said that in other Christian faith or 248 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,160 religions or some other, but they use the term other 249 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,600 Christian meaning this. We're just like you all are. 250 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:12,080 But yet you saw they're not just like we are in any way, shape or 251 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:13,840 form. So let's look very quickly at 252 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,920 Father, Son and Holy Ghost and look at some of the differences 253 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,240 that we have from the word of God compared to what Mormonism 254 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:22,360 teaches. First of all, we look at the 255 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,600 Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father is called Elohim 256 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,600 and he was once a man who was created by another God. 257 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:31,400 Why does he have a physical body? 258 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:35,200 Because he was created by another God and became God 259 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,920 himself, who by the way, that other God who created Elohim, 260 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,280 well, he was a man at one point as well, who was created by 261 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,720 another God. And on and on and on it goes. 262 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,360 Again, when we say polytheism, you're saying that we're talking 263 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,080 about a multitude almost in an unlimited amount of gods, that 264 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,880 one is created to another, one is created to another, one is 265 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,760 created to another. And here in our reality, if you 266 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:03,440 will, in our realm, that here we worship Elohim, Heavenly Father 267 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,280 and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, according to Mormonism, 268 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,640 he was a created man of flesh and blood. 269 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,040 And again, the blasphemy of of our Savior, or rather our Lord 270 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:20,040 being a created being, the fact that he is not who the Bible 271 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,320 says he is, is of course of of the highest blasphemy. 272 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,200 He was glorified by obedience to his spiritual father. 273 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,360 And as I've mentioned to you before, his current residence is 274 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,880 on the planet Kolob. According to Abraham chapter 3 275 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,360 verses one through 4 of the Pearl of great price. 276 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:39,640 You say, where can we find the planet Kolob? 277 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,240 Well, it's just kind of one of those spiritual things that 278 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,200 again that you can't find it, but it's just they're kind of 279 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,760 like the golden tablets. Well, nobody can find them, but 280 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:49,840 you just have to trust them that it's there. 281 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,800 And again, this is not faith. This is to take the Word of God 282 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:55,680 and creating a perversion from it. 283 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:00,200 Now Joseph F Smith, who is the 6th President of the Latter Day 284 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,520 Saints, said this about the Heavenly Father. 285 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,920 I do not believe in the doctrine held by some that God is only a 286 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,560 spirit, and that He is of such a nature that He fills the 287 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,480 immensity of space and is everywhere present in every 288 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,200 person or without person. For I cannot, for I cannot 289 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,280 conceive it possible that God could be a person. 290 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,840 God the Eternal Father, who we designate by the exalted name 291 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,800 title, Elohim is the literal parent of our Lord and Savior 292 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,920 Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race. 293 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,640 Elohim is the Father, Father in every sense in which Jesus 294 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:40,200 Christ is so designated and distinctively He is the father 295 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:44,040 of spirits. Now listen to this Lorenzo Snow, 296 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:48,600 the 5th president coined a well known saying about eternal 297 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,680 progression and if we were to maybe encapsulate what Mormonism 298 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,080 is all about, it is this phrase right here. 299 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,960 So listen to it. Well, he, Lorenzo Snow said 300 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:03,280 this. As man now is, God was, as God 301 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,480 now is, man may be. Now think about that for a 302 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:11,240 second. As man now is, as we all are 303 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:17,640 flesh and blood right now God once was, and as God now is, man 304 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:22,280 may be that if you keep doing right, if you keep doing what 305 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,160 you are being taught by the Mormon church, eventually you 306 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:30,480 will not be like God. You will be God yourself with 307 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,520 your own world to populate and your own world to be able to 308 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:36,760 inhabit. And again, a lot of Mormon 309 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,400 teaching actually deals with the fact, you know, when we think 310 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,120 about heaven. Let me just stop here for a 311 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:42,800 moment. We think about heaven. 312 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,240 We think about the fact to be able to be with God for 313 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,040 eternity, to be able to worship Jesus Christ. 314 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,280 We see Revelation chapter 4, chapter 5, and we see those 315 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,240 heavenly scenes and we think about how wonderful it will be. 316 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,560 Most Mormon teaching does not actually focus on the fact of 317 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,720 being with God for eternity. It actually focuses on being 318 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,480 with your family for eternity. I want to be in heaven with my 319 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,200 family. I want to be in heaven with my 320 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,080 my wife and my children. Now again, let's be honest with 321 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,120 each other. We who know Jesus Christ our 322 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:13,480 Savior want our family to be saved. 323 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:15,880 Now why is that? Because we want them to be with 324 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:21,040 us in eternity with the Lord and to not to have to have the 325 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,200 devastating consequence of the penalty for sin, which is death 326 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,000 and hell, right? So we want that. 327 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:29,400 But to them, the issue is this. I have to have an eternal 328 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,760 marriage to be able to what? So that my wife and I can be 329 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:38,960 able to populate our own world as Gods as well as Heavenly 330 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:43,440 Father. And also the Heavenly Mother had 331 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:47,320 spirit children together, of which the oldest was Jesus 332 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:49,640 Christ, the second oldest was Lucifer. 333 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:55,840 Now this is again blasphemy in the highest order, as man now is 334 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,880 God once was, as God now is man. Maybe. 335 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,680 While the Bible does teach that we are to be conformed into the 336 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,320 image of Christ, Romans 828 through 30 talks about that. 337 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,080 Many places in the New Testament talk about it. 338 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:13,120 It never tells us that we will become Gods ourselves. 339 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,120 What are we supposed to be? We're to become like Christ with 340 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:19,600 the help of the Holy Ghost, but we are not to become our own 341 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:21,600 God. So how do we compare the 342 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,200 teachings of the Bible with the Book of Mormon and the other 343 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:28,840 spurious books of Mormonism? Well, you can see Mormon God the 344 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,920 Father was a created being, produced as a spirit child of 345 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,240 another God and his wife. But the Bible teaches that God's 346 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,240 an eternal being of the same substance as the Son and the 347 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,040 Spirit. Mormons teach that God the 348 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:45,040 Father was exalted to the good, to godhood by obedience to his 349 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,000 Father. But we see that God's always 350 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,680 been God, that in the beginning God was, that he already 351 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,600 existed. He existed outside of time 352 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:57,160 because he is the pre-existing, always existing God. 353 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,800 The Mormon Father is the father of all spiritual beings, 354 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,680 including Jesus. But yet we see according to the 355 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,120 Bible, that He is the creator of all other things outside of the 356 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:09,160 Trinity that God did not need to create. 357 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,680 God because he was pre-existing, but everything that you see, we 358 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:14,840 looked at this a few weeks ago. Everything that you see and 359 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,080 everything that you do not see all been created by God. 360 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,600 Mormon God the Father is one of three persons who are gods over 361 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:25,480 the earth, but yet we understand that God is one of the three 362 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,880 persons of the Trinitarian Godhead, meaning that we believe 363 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,000 in the true Trinity. The God of the Mormon seeks 364 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,800 counsel from other gods before making his plans. 365 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:39,640 He needs help to be able to administrate this world. 366 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,160 But yet we know that the Bible teaches that God exercises 367 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:45,440 absolute sovereign rule over the universe. 368 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:50,600 God needs counsel of no man. God needs counsel of no entity. 369 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,320 Why? Because it is US who need God, 370 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,360 not the other way around. And then we see the Mormon God 371 00:20:56,360 --> 00:20:59,920 the Father was a product of Joseph Smith, described in 372 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:03,440 contradictory ways in various revelations, and in fact, to try 373 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:07,760 to be able to harmonize Roman Mormon teaching rather through 374 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,480 the Bible. And then Mormon is the Book of 375 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,520 Mormon and the Pearl of great price and doctrines and 376 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,080 covenants is a very, very dizzying thing. 377 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,000 And it's one of the reasons why they're presidents have to have 378 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:23,000 revelatory abilities to be able to smooth over the problems of 379 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,680 which their own teachings create. 380 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,480 But yet biblical God the Father reveals himself consistently in 381 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,120 the Bible. I'm so thankful for 66 books of 382 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:34,320 the Bible that you can find these so-called contradictions 383 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,000 of the word of God. And anytime you try to search 384 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,320 out one of those contradictions, you realize this isn't the 385 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:40,720 contradiction. It's actually someone 386 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,880 contradicting themselves trying to work themselves in a pretzel 387 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,280 to try to be able to show that the word of God is wrong. 388 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,680 All those people have tried to prove the word of God wrong are 389 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,360 dead and gone, but yet the word of God stands, doesn't it? 390 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,200 So what do we see? Well, the heavenly Father of 391 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,160 Mormonism is not the God of the Bible. 392 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,080 But I also want to look at who is Jesus? 393 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:05,000 Who is Jesus? The Mormon view of Jesus 394 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,520 diverges from the biblical Jesus in many of the same ways as God 395 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,400 the Father. Jesus also referred to by the 396 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:17,000 Mormons as Jehovah is believed to be the first spirit child of 397 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,320 Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother in a period and state 398 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:22,960 that that is known as pre existence. 399 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:27,600 So before the existence that we see now that Jesus Christ was 400 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,720 that first spirit child. Thus the Mormon can affirm that 401 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,720 Jesus is the first born over all creation, as it says in 402 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:38,800 Colossians 1:15, but they must deny the very next verse where 403 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,840 it says as he's the creator of all things that Jesus Christ. 404 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:43,840 And we looked at that with Jehovah Witnesses, didn't we, 405 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,760 that Jesus is the creator of all things and they have problems 406 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:48,760 being able to wrap their head around that. 407 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,760 Jesus himself is a created being according the Mormon, so he 408 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,000 could not create other spiritual beings. 409 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,720 But Jesus is not alone as a spirit creature. 410 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,000 There have been billions of spirit being sired by the 411 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,600 Heavenly Father who were all together in pre existence. 412 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:08,720 Jesus being the eldest spirit brother of them all. 413 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,440 And again, the 2nd eldest spirit brother would have been Lucifer. 414 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,840 And in a great heavenly council where Heavenly Father needed 415 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:20,760 help to figure out his eternal plan, Lucifer presents one plan, 416 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:22,840 Jesus Christ presents another plan. 417 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,400 Heavenly Father chooses the plan of Jesus Christ. 418 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,040 And so because of that, Lucifer rebels say, well, that doesn't 419 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:31,680 sound like what I've seen in the Bible. 420 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,760 Exactly. Nowhere do we find in scripture 421 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,840 anything like that or the fact that Jesus and Satan are 422 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:43,120 brothers, the fact that they are really just in this eternal 423 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,720 power struggle like Jacob and Esau, that they are going 424 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,840 through all eternity, Jesus trying to one up Satan and 425 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,600 Satan, you know, just behind, oh man, I'm going to get you the 426 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:55,480 next time. But that they're really Co 427 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,720 equals and just Satan's just kind of this hapless guy who 428 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,160 just can't get his stuff together to figure out how to 429 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,840 get one over on Jesus. This is the teachings of the 430 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,800 Mormon church now, perhaps maybe the most blasphemous of all the 431 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,160 teachings about Jesus, and certainly there were many. 432 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,360 We saw just in the video a few moments ago that they believe 433 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:17,680 that the main atonement that was made for mankind was actually 434 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,160 made in the Garden of Gethsemane and not on the cross. 435 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,600 You might have caught that when it went through the second time 436 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:24,960 to talk about who Jesus Christ was. 437 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:27,760 But they believe, of course, first of all, that Jesus Christ 438 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,120 became a spirit child because of relations between Heavenly 439 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:36,640 Father and Heavenly Mother. But how did Jesus incarnation 440 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:38,920 take place? How did he come to this world? 441 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,840 And the belief of the Mormon church is that Heavenly Father, 442 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,840 who again has a physical existence, who has a physical 443 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:52,360 existence as you and I do, had a sexual relationship with Mary. 444 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:54,720 And that is how Jesus Christ became born. 445 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,320 That it wasn't that the Holy Ghost came over her and she 446 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,240 conceived, as the Bible says, but rather that there's this 447 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:08,240 lurid story of the Heavenly Father coming to Mary and having 448 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,120 child. Now there's a problem with that. 449 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:13,680 Well, there's a lot of problems with that, probably more than we 450 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:15,120 could cover in just the next few minutes. 451 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:21,000 But how was she the Virgin Mary? The answer would be well, she 452 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:22,680 could not have been. It could have been a virgin 453 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,640 conception in the fact that that would have been the first time 454 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,240 that she had had sexual relations, but it would not have 455 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:32,560 been a virgin birth. And so again, the fact that that 456 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:37,760 the story, the beauty of the incarnation of Jesus Christ 457 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:41,920 turned into this lurid tale of Heavenly Father coming and 458 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:47,720 seducing Heavenly Father coming and, and overpowering physically 459 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,920 Mary to have Jesus Christ born is beyond the pale. 460 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,800 And again, you're not going to find these in these beautiful 461 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:58,440 videos that they have out in Times Square at Christmas time 462 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,120 or that they put out when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings on 463 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:04,760 PBS every Christmas, which hopefully with the PBS cuts, we 464 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,240 don't have to watch anymore. OK, But you're not going to find 465 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:09,360 any of that. You're going to talk about the 466 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,960 beauty of Jesus Christ. But again, it's that dark 467 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,800 underbelly that I keep talking to you about that they want to 468 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:17,960 have all of this beauty up front. 469 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,120 Hey, we're all alike. That is not our Jesus and that 470 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:25,880 is not the Jesus of the Bible. Now again, making some 471 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,360 comparisons here, we say the Mormon Jesus was the spiritual 472 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:32,280 brother of Lucifer and all of the beings Biblical Jesus is the 473 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,280 creator of all other beings outside of the Trinity. 474 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,920 Spiritual, or rather the Mormon Jesus was a created being 475 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,320 produced as a spirit child of Heavenly Father and Mother, 476 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,680 while the biblical Jesus was an eternal being of the same 477 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,880 substance as the Father. And the Spirit in Jesus was 478 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,480 exalted to godhood by obedience to his Father. 479 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,400 But yet Jesus did not have to become a God because he always 480 00:26:56,400 --> 00:27:00,640 was God, eternally God. The Mormon Jesus is one of three 481 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,800 persons who are gods. But yet again, that the biblical 482 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,760 Jesus is one of three persons of the Trinitarian Godhead. 483 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:09,720 The Mormon Jesus provided A sacrifice that was not 484 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,160 sufficient to pay for sins and offer full righteousness. 485 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:14,520 A pastor, Why would you say that? 486 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,640 Because again, they need to work, they continue to need to 487 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:23,120 do to be able to reach exaltation, to be able to have 488 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:26,640 that heavenly family so that they can become gods as well. 489 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,520 But yet what do we see? Jesus sacrifice was enough 490 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,240 according to the word of God that his precious blood paid the 491 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,640 penalty for our sins. The Mormon Jesus is a spirit who 492 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:41,040 entered a body formed by sexual union of Elohim and Mary. 493 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:43,720 But yet we see the biblical Jesus was the creator of the 494 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,680 universe from existing matter out of nothing. 495 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:51,320 And so we reject wholeheartedly that which they say that going 496 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,720 back to that in just a moment, or rather going back to what was 497 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,840 said of Heavenly Father and his relationship with Mary. 498 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:04,000 The book Mormon Doctrine written in 1966 on page 547 says Christ 499 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,400 was begotten by an immortal Father in the same way that 500 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:09,880 mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers. 501 00:28:11,360 --> 00:28:14,480 Now think about that again. Christ was begotten by an 502 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:19,040 immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by 503 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:21,880 mortal fathers. Jesus was born in the same way 504 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:26,520 that you and I were, Father and a mother who had a relationship 505 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,200 together and a child is born and that's how Jesus Christ came. 506 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,920 And you want to call yourself the Church of Jesus Christ and 507 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:35,160 that's it. I mean, we just stopped right 508 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:36,800 there. You are the Church of Jesus 509 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:37,400 Christ. Nope. 510 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,040 You are the exact opposite of any church that is related to 511 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,720 Jesus Christ. And then we also see #4 after 512 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:49,520 looking at #1 the godhead #2 Heavenly father #3 Jesus and #4 513 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,440 we look at the Holy Ghost. Now, the teaching of Mormonism 514 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,600 and the Holy Ghost are the closest to biblical of the 515 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,440 Trinity. Now, I will say this, that's not 516 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,960 saying much. That's not a whole lot to hang 517 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:01,760 your hat on. The fact that, well, they're 518 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,160 closer about the Holy Ghost than they are with the Father and 519 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,080 with the Son, again, that's not a really a whole lot to brag 520 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:09,560 about. But I will say that the 521 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,840 deviations are less between what the Bible says and what the 522 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:15,760 Mormons say about the Holy Spirit. 523 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,160 But again, first and foremost, they deny that he's a member of 524 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,520 the Trinity. They deny that he is 1 God with 525 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:27,480 Father and Son after baptism in the Mormon church, a member of a 526 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,120 special Mormon priesthood, the Melchizedek priesthood, can lay 527 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,000 hands on an individual to impart them with the gift of the Holy 528 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:36,880 Ghost. And you see this picture here of 529 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,240 a man that has the Melchizedek priesthood. 530 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,840 There's 2 levels of priesthood in most wards, the Melchizedek 531 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,920 priesthood and the lower be the ironic priesthood. 532 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,680 And when you are saved in the Mormon church, and I use that 533 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,040 term loosely because they don't use the terms the same way that 534 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,320 we would because they don't believe the same things that we 535 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,960 do about eternity. But let's just say, just to 536 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,880 maybe make it just easier for us to understand when someone 537 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,240 becomes saved in the Mormon church, and again, they don't 538 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,120 have that time and place where they have that assurance because 539 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:09,320 they have to work their whole life. 540 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,920 But but just to be able to use that term and they are baptized, 541 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:17,340 but they do not receive the Holy Ghost when they are quote UN 542 00:30:17,340 --> 00:30:18,560 quote saved. When do they? 543 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:21,800 Someone who is a member of their church, someone who is the 544 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,280 Melchizedek priesthood has to lay hands or a group of them 545 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:28,280 have to lay hands on that man, that woman, that child. 546 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,600 I found pictures of children with the hands laid on top of 547 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,960 them. And in those times that is when 548 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:36,640 a person receives the Holy Ghost, may remind you once 549 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:41,640 again, the Bible does not teach that man gives the Holy Ghost to 550 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,240 other men. You do not come to me and say, 551 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,240 Pastor, I'd like the gift of the Holy Ghost. 552 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,120 And I lay my hands on you. The trustees lay their hands on 553 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,000 you, and we're deacons, they lay their hands on you, and we give 554 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:54,320 you the Holy Ghost. Nowhere do you see that in the 555 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,720 Bible practice. Nowhere is that taught in the 556 00:30:57,720 --> 00:30:59,760 Word of God. In fact, what does the Word of 557 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:01,880 God teach? It teaches that when you are 558 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,760 saved, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. 559 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:08,000 That the moment you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Holy 560 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,200 Spirit comes inside of you and tabernacles with you. 561 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,400 That you become the temple simple of God. 562 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:15,880 Meaning this. That Jesus or rather the Holy 563 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,360 Spirit lives within you. That is what the Bible teaches. 564 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,600 Not that you need me, That you need some other man to be able 565 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,240 to say well now do you want the gift of the Holy Ghost? 566 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,880 Now the Bible does not teach that, but yet the Mormon Church 567 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:29,920 does. When someone is confirmed as a 568 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,520 member of church, they are told to receive the Holy Ghost. 569 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,280 And so at some other point they have not done this to become a 570 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:39,920 member of the church. They are to receive the Holy 571 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,800 Ghost. Now the gift of the Holy Ghost 572 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:45,240 is not supposed to be forced upon anyone, but it becomes the 573 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,480 responsibility of the members to invite the Holy Ghost to live 574 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,880 inside of them. Elder David A Bednar said this. 575 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:58,200 As we receive this ordinance, each of us accepts a sacred and 576 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:03,160 ongoing responsibility to desire, to speak, to work, and 577 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:07,280 to so live that we indeed receive the Holy Ghost and its 578 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,280 attendant spiritual gifts. Meaning this. 579 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:11,520 It is your responsibility to make sure you have the Holy 580 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,360 Ghost inside of you. It is your responsibility to 581 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:18,120 make sure that His ministry is active within you. 582 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,080 You have to do. And again, we go back to this 583 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,240 over and over again, and we can go all the way back to week one. 584 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,080 We probably ought not to do that this morning, but we could go 585 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:30,040 all the way back to week 1 and say this, that when it comes to 586 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:33,280 false religion, there's really only two religions on the world. 587 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:37,720 In the world, remember there's God and not God, and that God is 588 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,440 well, what the Bible teaches about God and everything else 589 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,360 can be lumped into that other group and all those other groups 590 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:47,080 always say this. You do this, you do that, you do 591 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,200 this, you do that, you perform this, you perform that. 592 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:52,440 You stay away from this, you stay away from that. 593 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:57,080 And if you do, then you will receive XYZ. 594 00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:58,520 But what does the word of God say? 595 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,400 That Jesus did the work on the cross? 596 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:04,640 What do we need to just accept the gift of salvation that was 597 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,640 given and shed for our sins? And we'll be looking at that a 598 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:12,400 whole lot more this morning in our text during our sermon here 599 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,880 for friends and family Sunday. I just want to reiterate and 600 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:17,760 again, we're going to end a little bit early this morning 601 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:20,440 here in just a few moments to be able to get us ready for friends 602 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,280 and family Sunday. But I want to reiterate that you 603 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,320 are going to see especially over the next couple of months as we 604 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:29,520 get into the Christmas season, you're going to see a lot of 605 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,040 videos that are out there. Some of them will be so 606 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,400 flattering. Some of them will seem so 607 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,320 wonderful and you'll even then say, wow, that this is a very 608 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:39,920 God honoring video. This is a very God honoring 609 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:41,560 website. This is a very God honoring 610 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,360 publication that I would just encourage you watch it all the 611 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:47,800 way to the end because you might see that little logo in the last 612 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,480 two or three seconds that reveals it's from the Church of 613 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:51,640 Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 614 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,120 Turn it over to the back that publication. 615 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,440 Look to see if it's from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 616 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,440 Day Saints and you can find how offensive it is that they would 617 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,280 say we're all the same. Why won't you accept us? 618 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:08,719 Hey, we, we, we celebrate Jesus this time of year as well. 619 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:12,960 And the answer is not our Jesus. Why? 620 00:34:13,159 --> 00:34:17,880 Because not our heavenly Father and not our Holy Ghost. 621 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,159 And so the problem is whether they are a Trinity or not, of 622 00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:23,080 course we know what the Bible teaches, but they teach that 623 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,440 they are not, that they are three separate gods. 624 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:28,880 And of course they're only three gods of the many, many gods that 625 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,280 exists in all the realities and all the universe and all the 626 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,679 universes perhaps even as well. But beyond that, that even if we 627 00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:39,800 were to take the fact that they are wrong on the Trinity, 628 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,639 they're not just wrong on the Trinity, They're wrong on the 629 00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:46,040 Father, they're wrong on the Son, and they're wrong on the 630 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,480 Holy Ghost. They are discredited on every 631 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,840 level and on every plane. So next week we're going to take 632 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,239 the other doctrines of the Mormon church. 633 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,800 We're going to look at their church itself and some of the 634 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,680 other doctrines of salvation. And if you're like me, you 635 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,760 wonder if you are a Mormon, how do you know that you're saved? 636 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,480 How do you know that you can reach that eternal plane? 637 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,720 And the answer is just as confusing as it was when we 638 00:35:09,720 --> 00:35:11,120 studied the Jehovah Witnesses a few weeks ago. 639 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:13,760 Do you remember that video we watched where the man gave the 640 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,720 other gentleman 3 minutes? Can you tell me in 3 minutes how 641 00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:19,000 I need to be able, what I need to be able to do to get to 642 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:20,840 heaven? And the guy just kind of like, 643 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:23,800 well, and finally, after three minutes, he says, well, I just 644 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:25,320 don't think God would do that to anybody. 645 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:30,160 And you're going to find that the answer for the Mormon church 646 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,240 is going to be just as confusing as it was for the Jehovah 647 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:33,920 Witnesses. Why? 648 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,160 Because when you get away from the simplicity of the Word of 649 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:41,240 God, you're going to find that it is very, very difficult to be 650 00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:44,400 able to find what truth is, because truth is held in our 651 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:47,480 hands in the Bible. Thank you for listening to the 652 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,080 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 653 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,720 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 654 00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:56,840 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 655 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:01,720 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 656 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:05,640 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 657 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,680 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.